ã€ŠCard Room (Rebirth)ã€‹


 Chapter 1: Card World

    In the cold winter months, the temperature plummeted and the heavy snow for several days turned the entire city of Jiangzhou into a world of silver.

    School was off for winter vacation and the students had already returned home. Xiao Lou was sent by the department to attend an academic exchange. This meetingsted until the 28th day of the 12th lunar month. Then after a day of rest, he packed his bags and flew back to his hometown to spend the new year with his grandparents.

    As a child, his parents had been too busy working and Xiao Lou lived in the countryside for a while with his grandparents. He had been too young at the time and only had a vague memory of his childhood. However, he returned to his hometown every year during the Spring Festival because the New Year reunion was a tradition of the Xiao family. His father and uncle would bring their wives and children home to spend the new year together.

    By the time Xiao Lou arrived home, it was the afternoon of New Year¡¯s Eve. He entered and his female cousin Xiao Xinyue greeted him with a smile. ¡°Brother, why are you sote? Grandmother was just saying something about you!¡± She came over and whispered in Xiao Lou¡¯s ears. ¡°She is asking why you aren¡¯t married yet.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Every New Year¡¯s Day at home, he would be urged by his elders to marry.

    Xiao Lou was now an ¡®old, unmarried youth.¡¯ The 27 year old was still a single dog.

    He went to school early and was admitted to medical school at the age of 17. After graduating from university, he stayed on as a teacher and became an associate professor at a young age. Xiao Lou was tall, had a gentle personality and looked very handsome. It was reasonable to say that he should be very popr in the blind date market¡­

    Unfortunately, he studied forensics.

    If a person heard the word ¡®forensics¡¯, they naturally thought of corpses. Who wanted to be with a man who dissected corpses every day?

    In fact, Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t a criminal forensics investigator and there was no need for him to go to a murder scene to identify the cause of death.

    After graduation, he stayed on at the medical university under the rmendation of his supervisor. He usually spent most of his time teaching students of the Forensics Department. In his spare time, he would go to the Jiangzhou Forensics Identification Centre to help. The cases sent to the identification centre were generally to identify car ident injuries, fighting injuries and asionally gic identification and poison identification. He hadn¡¯t seen a corpse in a long time.

    Xiao Lou went to the living room and politely greeted the elders. He distributed the gifts to everyone and then his grandmother asked him with a smile, ¡°Little Lou, when are you bringing a wife home to grandmother?¡±

    Xiao Lou ced one hand on the olddy¡¯s shoulder and spoke warmly, ¡°Grandmother, I am currently too busy at work. I want to wait until I am 30 to consider marriage.¡±

    Xiao Xinyue teased him from the side, ¡°Brother, if you studied clinical medicine and went to the hospital as a doctor then you will definitely have many girls waiting in line to chase you. Now when they hear that you are a forensics doctor, most of the girls are scared away. Hahaha.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at his cousin and smiled. ¡°This is professional prejudice. A forensics doctor doesn¡¯t dissect living people. It isn¡¯t as perverted as horror movies. Moreover, I haven¡¯t touched a corpse in a long time.¡±

    Hearing the word ¡®corpse¡¯, Xiao Xinyue¡¯s scalp became numb and she immediately turned away.

    They headed to the dining room and prepared to start the meal. Xiao Lou helped his grandmother sit down and changed the topic by asking Xiao Xinyue, ¡°Do you have any idea what school you want to apply to next year?¡±

    His youngest cousin Xiao Xinyue was 18 years old and would face the university entrance examination next semester. The moment Xiao Lou asked this, the elders started discussing what courses would be good for a future job. Xiao Xinyue actively joined the discussion and no one mentioned Xiao Lou¡¯s marriage, causing Xiao Lou to feel slightly relieved.

    The New Year¡¯s dinner finished and the elder started to y mahjong. Xiao Lou took his cousins to the next room to y.

    Xiao Xinyue took out a brand new deck of cards. ¡°The three of us will y Fight the Landlord (card game). How about the losers drink?¡±

    His younger male cousin Xiao Wei rolled up his sleeves and looked eager to try. ¡°Come, I am the best at Fight the Landlord!¡±

    Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t interested in ying cards but every Spring Festival, the elders would always y mahjong. It was too boring for two people to y cards so he had to apany them as an elder brother.

    Fight the Landlord was one of the mostmon ways to y cards. The rules were very simple. The ndlord¡¯ could add a few hands to enhancebat power while the other two ¡®peasants¡¯ needed to unite. The two sides were divided into two camps and whoever lost their cards first won.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s first hand was very good and he directly got a king bomb. (TL: In the game, the two jokers are the highest rank. A king bomb is having two jokers).

    Seeing the king bomb in his hand, he didn¡¯t hesitate to say, ¡°Calling me Landlord.¡±

    Xiao Xinyue and Xiao Wei had to join forces to beat him.

    The result was that in this game, Xiao Lou¡¯s cards were too good. In addition to the big straight of 9, 10, J, Q and K, he had several pairs, four bombs (four cards of the same rank), and a pair of king bombs. He simply didn¡¯t give the opponents a way to live.

    The younger brother and sister looked at him with a sullen expression as he finished ying all the cards in one breath.

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°I won, you drink Coke.¡±

    Xiao Xinyue and Xiao Wei had to drink Coke with a bitter expression.

    Next, regardless of whether Xiao Xinyue was thendlord or Xiao Wei in the vige, every time they would be beaten by their big brother. Xiao Lou¡¯s cards tonight were so good that people couldn¡¯t evaluate it. Several times, he touched a king bomb and the brother and sister almost vomited as they drank.

    The trio yed until midnight.

    The deafening sound of fireworks came from outside and the brother and sister excitedly ran to the yard to set off fireworks. Xiao Lou had just put on a coat and went outside when his mobile phone lit up and a message appeared on the screen. ¡°Happy New Year.¡±

    Sender: Yu Hanjiang.

    Seeing this familiar snowy avatar, Xiao Lou¡¯s lips slightly curved and he quickly replied, ¡°You too. Happy New Year.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°When are you going back to school?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°I¡¯ll be back on the seventh day after New Year¡¯s Day.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang: ¡°Thank you very much for your helpst time. Once youe back, I¡¯ll invite you to dinner.¡±

    Xiao Lou: ¡°Captain Yu is too polite. I¡¯ll contact you when I¡¯m back.¡±

    There was the sound of ¡®bangs¡¯ from outside the window. A variety of colourful fireworks blossomed, the night sky bing as bright as the day.

    Xiao Lou stood in front of the window and stared at the conversation records in his phone. He couldn¡¯t help recall the first time he saw Yu Hanjiang.

    It was a rainy day. A girl from the medical university fell to her death. This alerted Jiangzhou¡¯s criminal police. Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t familiar with this girl but herst ss happened to be his ss. As a person rted to the case, Xiao Lou was asked by the police to make a statement.

    Walking into the police squad, he saw the man at first sight. The man was wearing a dark blue uniform and stood upright at the window. He was tall with long legs and a handsome face, looking like the most exquisite statue.

    He seemed to sense the gaze and the man turned to look at Xiao Lou. He came over and nodded, saying, ¡°Hello, I am the the group leader of the criminal police¡¯s Major Crimes Unit, Yu Hanjiang. Professor Xiao, pleasee over here and cooperate with the investigation.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded politely to him. ¡°Hello, Group Leader Yu. I will cooperate fully.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang walked into the inquiry room with Xiao Lou and made the ¡®please sit gesture¡¯ before lightly asking, ¡°Name, age and upation. These are the necessary procedures for making a statement. Please answer truthfully.¡±

    In the process of writing the statement, the man¡¯s voice was low and powerful. His expression was extremely serious and his eyes as sharp as a sword. He gave off a strong sense of oppression when staring, causing Xiao Lou to be almost breathless.

    Even if Xiao Lou didn¡¯t have a direct rtionship with this matter, he didn¡¯t want to look this man in the eye.

    These eyes were deep and cold, like an ice-coveredke in the cold winter months which made people¡¯s backs cold.

    The resolution of the case was much faster than Xiao Lou had imagined. It was determined to be murder and the police caught the murderer the next day. It was the girl¡¯s roommate who pushed her down the stairs. This incident caused a sensation on the Inte.

    At that time, Xiao Lou noticed that the Jiangzhou police¡¯s efficiency of solving the case had greatly improved.

    He inquired about Yu Hanjiang through his forensic ssmates and discovered that Yu Hanjiang¡¯s background was very mysterious. He suddenlynded as the group leader of the police¡¯s Serious Crimes Unit at a young age. The Serious Crimes unit was a special action group set up in Jiangzhou City to investigate murder, rape and other major criminal cases. Since Yu Hanjiang took office, many unsolved cases were solved and he greatly improved their efficiency when handling cases.

    This iron-faced man was selfless, cold-blooded and ruthless, causing criminals to be disheartened. It was said that just one look could make a guilty person tremble. It was said that he had tremendous skills at investigating a criminal and the stubborn suspect would plead guilty under his questioning. In just two years, the name Yu Hanjiang had be a legend among the Jiangzhou police.

    After hearing this, Xiao Lou admired this man and felt that Yu Hanjiang was very young and promising.

    He thought there wouldn¡¯t be too much of an ovep but within a few days, Yu Hanjiang suddenly found his office at the Forensic Identification Centre, requesting Xiao Lou to help identify an extremely rare poison. Xiao Lou specialized in forensic toxicology identification at the postgraduate level and published several high-value papers. He was well-known in the forensic field which was why Yu Hanjiang found him. The two people also exchanged WeChat and telephone numbers.

    Xiao Lou assisted the police in identifying the nature of this poisoning case and this was the ¡®thank you¡¯ that Yu Hanjiang was referring to. The two of them had seen each other four times but thanks to their busy work, their friendship wasn¡¯t deep. Therefore, Xiao Lou was very surprised when the indifferent group leader invited him to eat.

    Xiao Lou, who was standing at the window and immersed in his memories, didn¡¯t find that the ying cards on the table gained a blood red lustre at that moment. The luster gradually formed a vortex that distorted the space near the cards, as if to suck everything into the cards.

    On the seventh day of the new year, Xiao Lou flew back to Jiangzhou after saying goodbye to his family. Thinking of the Wechat conversation on New Year¡¯s Eve, Xiao Lou sent a simple message to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Hello, I am back. Do you have time for a meal together?¡±

    There was no response.

    He thought the other person might be busy and sat on the sofa of his living room, looking at the news while waiting for a reply.

    It was past dinner time and Yu Hanjiang still hadn¡¯t sent a reply.

    In any case, Group Leader Yu had a special status. If he didn¡¯t return the message then he might¡¯ve encountered a difficult case and was investigating and collecting evidence. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t want to disturb the other person and went to eat a bowl of noddles.

    He finished eating and wanted to go to the supermarket to buy some daily necessities. As a result, he was crossing the road when he suddenly saw a bus driving around the corner and rushing quickly towards him.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes widened and his heartbeat almost stopped.

    He ran agilely but the speed of the bus was too fast. He had just taken a step when his body mmed into the air!

    He suddenly turned in the sky and Xiao Loupletely lost consciousness.

    Once he woke up again, there was a white mist around him. In the midst of the mist, a cold and mechanical voice clearly entered his ears. [Xiao Lou, congrattions on being selected by the Card World. You are now faced with two choices¡ª

    A: Die with peace of mind and forget everything. Your soul will bepletely dead and never feel pain again.

    B: Keep your memories in the Card World to be reborn and ept new challenges. However, the rules of survival in the Card World are very cruel. Rather than being alive here, perhaps it would be better to simply die.¡±

    Xiao Lou felt some doubts.

    Was this voice an illusion? It also gave him two strange options?

    Since he didn¡¯t respond, the mechanical voice said, ¡°I will give you 10 seconds to consider before your memory is cleared. Countdown 10, 9, 8¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke decisively. ¡°I choose B.¡±

    Whether the voice was an illusion or not, he could only choose thetter of the two options.

    He was only 27 years old and didn¡¯t want his memories erased and topletely die. If he had a chance to revive, no matter how hard and danger the new world¡­ well, at least he was alive?

    There was hope in living.

    Xiao Lou quickly calmed himself down and asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    The other party spoke coldly. ¡°I am the Card World¡¯s high intelligence elf system. You can¡¯t see me but I can see you.¡±

    The feeling of being monitored made Xiao Lou frown. He took a deep breath and continued to ask. ¡°What is the Card World you keep mentioning?¡±

    The next moment, countless cards appeared in front of him.

    They were the ying cards he used when ying with his younger cousins on the night of the Spring Festival. The back contained the familiar blue diamond pattern, which was the mostmon one in stores. 5 of Hearts, 8 of Diamonds, 10 of Clubs, J of Spades¡­ various ying cards became a long chain that swayed in front of him, like a film ying at four times the speed.

    In the white fog, the card chains were arranged in horizontal and vertical directions. The four types of cards mixed together with no rules at all. At a speed visible to the naked eye, the cards formed a huge card wall in 10 seconds.

    The system dered, ¡°yer Xiao Lou, wee to the Card World.¡±

 Chapter 2: Rose Funeral

    Xiao Lou stood in front of the card wall and was dazzled by therge umber of cards. He was surprised to find that each card had an animation in addition to the markings such as 2 of Hearts or 3 od Spades in the upper left corner.

    These cards seemed to have countless condensed spaces. Each card was like a thumbnail TV screen that yed different plots.

    The card in front of him had the clearest animation.

    Xiao Lou stared and saw that in the card world, a short girl was being chased by several ugly zombies. The girl identally slipped and fell to the ground, allowing the zombies to quickly surrounded her. They tore off her head and gnawed with relish. The girl¡¯s horrified eyes seemed to stare straight through the card window at Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s scalp was numb and he felt nauseous. He clenched his fists hard, his nails prating deeply into the palm of his hand. The intense pain told him that this wasn¡¯t a dream. It was another space that he couldn¡¯t understand and consisted of cards.

    That girl certainly couldn¡¯t live but having her ¡®brain eaten by zombies¡¯, this type of death was too cruel.

    Was she, like himself, inexplicably pulled into the Card World? Xiao Lou closed his eyes and couldn¡¯t bear to look again.

    The system coldly asked, ¡°Do you see the Card World?¡±

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and replied, ¡°I see it.¡±

    ¡°You have only one chance to modify your choice. A or B, what do you choose?¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t hesitate. ¡°I choose B.¡±

    The system dered, ¡°The option has been confirmed.¡±

    ¡°Congrattions on being the 86587847th Card World challenger. Before entering the new world, you can change your image and gender. You have three minutes to make the initial data adjustments.¡±

    There was a mirror in front of him. The young man in the mirror was handsome and his eyebrows were gentle. It was just that at this moment, his face was somewhat unnaturally pale. It was difficult for anyone who suddenly encountered such a thing to calm down. Xiao Lou was already a rtively calm person since he didn¡¯t scream when he saw the girl being eaten by the zombie.

    Xiao Lou nced at himself in the mirror and spoke calmly, ¡°I won¡¯t adjust my looks or gender.¡±

    Perhaps a lot of people who died unexpectedly were sent to the Card World. There were more than 80 million challengers. If he didn¡¯t adjust his appearance, he might meet someone he knew before. Even though he didn¡¯t understand this Card World, the only thing he could do now was abide by the rules of the new world and increase the chances of living as much as possible.

    ¡°Challenger Xiao Lou, the initial data storage was sessful.¡± The mirror disappeared and the mechanical voice of the system was heard. ¡°Next, I will read out the basic rules of the new world.

    ¡°In the Card World, every card contains a different small world. You can understand it as a secret room.¡±

    ¡°The type of secret room is determined by the type of card. The Hearts represent solving puzzles, Diamonds represent a secret room with different mechanisms, Spades is a survival room and Clubs is a challenge room.¡±

    ¡°The difficulty of the secret rooms are from low to high, in turn it goes from D, C, B, A, S and SS is the highest difficulty. Only by passing the SS-grade secret room can you obtain a new life and return to the human world.¡±

    ¡°If you seed, you can get rewards. If you fail, you will be sent to the nightmare room for punishment. yers who can¡¯t survive the nightmare room will bepletely wiped out of the Card World.¡±

    ¡°The rules will only be told once. Then please select a card.¡±

    Four cards emerged in the air in front of Xiao Lou¡ªHearts 2, Diamonds 2, Spades 2, Clubs 2.

    These four cards, unlike the cards on the card wall, didn¡¯t have a dynamic plot and looked like the most basic ying card. The front was printed in colour and it was unknown what he would face after opening the card.

    One card was a world. Which one should he choose?

    Xiao Lou thought carefully before reaching out to draw ¡®Hearts 2.¡¯

    He loved to read detective mystery novels since he was a child. Ever since he was pulled by his roommates to y a secret room game during university, he liked this thrilling, logically and rigorous escape room game. Every time he went to a city, Xiao Lou would go the secret rooms to y. He had yed hundreds of secret rooms and had rich experience. However, in his world, most of the secret room games were puzzle-solving or mechanisms. He had never heard of any ¡®survival¡¯ or ¡®challenge¡¯ secret rooms.

    Thinking about the video where the girl was eaten by a zombie, the Spades secret room was likely to face a crisis of survival. The Clubs challenge room was difficult to the determined based on the name and it might be worse to rush into it. Rtively speaking, the hearts puzzle-solving room sounded friendly and Xiao Lou was good at them.

    To be safe, he chose hearts first.

    ¡ªThe card selection is over.

    ¡ª 2 of Hearts Secret Room (Rose Funeral) is open.

    ¡ªChallenger Xiao Lou, the data is read.

    ¡ªThe time limit is 30 minutes. Exceeding this time will be judged as a failure to clear it.

    There was a system prompt and a red light emerged from the card 2 of Hearts. The red light quickly formed a vortex and Xiao Lou was directly sucked into the Card World.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s vision suddenly turned ck. Once he regained his vision, he found himself in a narrow, empty corridor.

    The light in the corridor was very dim and there was a door at the end. The surrounding walls were bare and were the mostmon white wall. Meanwhile, there were dust-stained beige tiles on the ground. No useful clues were found.

    A transparent suspension box with the countdown of 30:00 appeared in front of him. Xiao Lou found that the countdown had started and quickly walked to the door.

    He pushed open the door and quickly looked through the house.

    This was a three bedroom, threemon room residence with an area of approximately 120 square metres.

    The furniture was a warm colour and looked very warm. There was a soft fabric sofa in the living room, a thick carpet under the coffee table and arge LCD TV on the opposite side. The dining room was clean and neat, with a bunch of roses on the table.

    The three rooms next to it were open. One was the master bedroom, one was a child¡¯s room with cartoon wallpapers and the other was a study.

    The entire house was to the north and south and the square shape was the mostmonyout for a family of three.

    The moment he entered the house, Xiao Lou smelt a strange scent that seemed to mix with the aroma of roses.

    He followed the scent to the master bedroom.

    There was a double bed in the middle of the bedroom. At this time, the bed was covered with bright red rose petals. A woman wearing white silk pyjamas had fallen asleep on the rose petals. Her hands were gently ced on her abdomen and she seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

    However, her chest had been opened up and there was arge pool of blood.

    The woman¡¯s pyjamas were stained with blood around the chest area and the delicate face covered with makeup clearly showed signs of death. His lips were blue and her skin as pale as paper. The strong smell in the air wasing from this woman¡¯s body.

    The 2 of Hearts secret room was actually a murder scene!

    Xiao Lou almost gagged at the strong smell. He squeezed his nose hard and his eyes started to look around carefully.

    As a yer with many years of experience in escape games, he had yed many puzzle-solving rooms and saw many horrible scenes. His forensic expertise almost made him immune to corpses so when he saw the female body on the bed, he didn¡¯t panic and made himself calm down quickly.

    The card of hearts represented a ¡®puzzle room.¡¯

    Since this room was a murder scene, the puzzle to be solved was naturally the cause of death of the deceased.

    Xiao Lou endured the smell of the corpse and stepped forward to start aprehensive inspection of the dead.

    The deceased, a young woman in her 30s, died in her pyjamas at home.

    There was arge blood stain on her chest. The fatal wound came from the stab to the heart. The weapon should be a sharp knife that directly pierced the aorta of the heart. The technique was clean and neat. In addition, she had no other injuries on her body and no traces of being abused.

    This was the master bedroom with a separate bathroom.

    Xiao Lou started to look for clues and started with the bathroom first.

    There were many long hairs on the floor of the bathroom. They were brown and curly, just like the deceased. It shouldn¡¯t be left in the bath from before she died and there wasn¡¯t time to clean it up. There were also some clothes she had changed out of in the bathroom and there were some dark red marks on the clothing.

    Xiao Lou picked them up and examined it. It looked a bit like blood but it actually wasn¡¯t. It was obviously different from the blood on her pyjamas.

    [Countdown 28:10]

    [D-grade secret room special tip: clue collection 5%.]

    The moment he picked up the clothes, the line in front of the suspension box suddenly changed. The clue collection degree, this prompt was very important. For neers to the Card World, they could at least be sure that what they found was rted to the case.

    It seemed that these clothes were indeed rted to the case. Xiao Lou carefully looked through the pockets of the clothing and found nothing else. However, the dark red traces on the clothing seemed to remind him of something.

    He put down the clothes and continued to look for other clues.

    The bathtub and the toilet were very clean. The toiletries ced on the sink weren¡¯t abnormal. In the trash can, there was some toilet paper and it looked dirty. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t hesitate to reverse the trash can and dump out all the garbage inside.

    He found some shredded paper.

    Xiao Lou quickly went through the dirty toilet paper and found all the shredded pieces of paper. He put them together and it was actually a photo, a photo of a marriage certificate.

    [Countdown 27:45, clues collection 15%.]

    Xiao Lou remembered the two clues and walked out of the bathroom. He started to rummage through the bedroom.

    The secret rooms he used to y generally had a time limit of more than one hour. The difficulty meant it was usually three to five hours. Somerge secret rooms even took seven or eight hours to escape.

    Half an hour to solve a puzzle was too short.

    Fortunately, this secret room wasn¡¯t too difficult. After all, it was a D-grade secret room and there was the clues collection tip.

    Xiao Lou flipped through the closet and quickly analyzed it in his mind.

    The photo of the marriage certificate was torn and thrown into the toilet¡¯s trash bin, indicating that the woman¡¯s marriage was broken. Her residence still had male clothes and shoes, indicating that the two people hadn¡¯t reached the divorce step. Her death was likely to be rted to her husband and the next search focus should be on her husband¡¯s things.

    Xiao Lou rummaged through all the clothes pockets of the male master in the closet at a very fast speed. He only found a wallet with no cash and bank card. However, there was a photo of a couple, which was the couple on the marriage certificate.

    In the photo, the woman was dressed in a white wedding dress and she was happily nestled in the man¡¯s arms. The handsome man and beautiful woman were a good match.

    [Countdown 24:06, clues collection 25%.]

    Searching the wardrobe took a lot of time. Xiao Lou calmed down to think before turning to the dresser and bedside table.

    He saw an exquisite perfume bottle on the dressing table and opened it. It had the scent of roses.

    The drawer of the dresser contained a card that read: Dear, this bottle of rose perfume is for you. I wish you a happy birthday and an always beautiful youth¡ª Your best friend, Liu Wei/ July 17th. The word ¡®friend¡¯ on the greeting card was drawn over with a big red cross.

    Birthday, rose perfume, cross-out card and the new character Liu Wei. All these clues were crucial. In the suspension box in front of Xiao Lou, the clues collection degree jumped directly from 25% to 50%!

    [Countdown 22:00, clues collection 50%.]

    [You have collected half the clues and suspicious people have appeared. Do you want to identify the murderer? Yes/No]

    [Tip: The shorter the time of the instance clearance and the more clues that are collected, the higher the reward will be.]

    Xiao Lou thought about it and chose ¡®No.¡¯

    He still had 22 minutes left and not all the clues had been found. It was very likely he could make a mistake with the identification of the killer.

    At present, several clues had been found that pointed to the murderer being either the husband or the girlfriend. The husband cheated with the friend and was discovered by his wife. The heroine ripped up her marriage certificate in anger and drew a big red cross over the greeting card sent by her friend. Perhaps there was a dispute on her birthday and the heroine was killed by her husband or girlfriend.

    If it was such a story then most of the clues could be reasonably exined.

    But¡­

    Was it really that simple?

    Xiao Lou nced at the gorgeous rose bed and quickly turned to go outside the room.

    This absolutely wasn¡¯t the first crime scene.

 Chapter 3: Rose Funeral (Middle)

    Xiao Lou¡¯s major was forensics and he was best at toxicological identification. However, he liked detective reasoning novels from a young age and loved to y escape room games, making him very familiar with the basic reasoning process.

    When the police were dealing with a murder case, it would greatly help the detection if they found the first crime scene.

    Xiao Lou judged this wasn¡¯t the first crime scene for a very simple reason.

    The heart was the blood supply centre of the human body and was like a powerful pump. The regr beats every minute could send blood to all parts of the body. The deceased¡¯s fatal wound was in the heart and the position of the knife was close to the aorta. If the deceased was killed in bed, the aorta would be cut and blood would ssh out on the pillow, sheets and even walls.

    The surroundings were very clean and there were no traces of blood stter.

    Her blood only soaked the clothes on her chest. Judging from the amount of bleeding, it was around 10. This wasn¡¯t even half a normal person¡¯s blood donation. She was obviously killed elsewhere and only once the blood drained out was she carried to the bed in the bedroom.

    Killing, bleeding and then putting the dead on a bed covered with rose petals, this murderer was clearly a psychopath!

    Xiao Lou turned to the kitchen to search for other evidence and also to prove his reasoning.

    The deceased¡¯s clothes in the bathroom had something like blood stains on them but from his professional point of view, they were more like juice stains. The first thing he thought about rted to juice was the kitchen.

    Xiao Lou went to the kitchen and indeed saw a watermelon on the table. The watermelon was cut in half. Half should¡¯ve been eaten while the remaining half was now rotten and smelly. The stains on the heroine¡¯s clothes were from the watermelon juice.

    There was a fruit knife inserted in the watermelon and Xiao Lou gently pulled it out.

    The sharp and slender fruit knife was exactly the same as the fatal wound on the woman¡¯s body when he examined it.

    This fruit knife was the murder weapon that killed the woman!

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart beat violently.

    He started to search the kitchen carefully. If he wasn¡¯t mistaken, this was the first crime scene!

    The kitchen should¡¯ve been cleaned without any visible blood.

    He crouched down in the corner to check the floor drain and found some hair on the edge of the floor drain. They were short ck hairs around 3cm long, obviously belonging to a man. On the water behind the pipe, there were still a few drops of blood that hadn¡¯t been cleaned.

    The discovery of the first crime scene and the murder weapon made the clues collection reach 70% in an instant.

    Xiao Lou routinely turned over the trash can. There were many vegetable leaves, fruit peels, egg shells and frozen meat bags in the kitchen¡¯s trash can. It could be inferred that the heroine was making a meal at home before she died. In addition, it was for more than two people. The vegetables and meat were at least five dishes. She couldn¡¯t eat so much.

    Other than that, nothing was found in the refrigerator and the cabs.

    Xiao Lou turned and went out. There was arge bouquet of roses on the dining table facing the kitchen. The ss vase containing roses was very delicate and the water inside was still clear. The roses were very good but some of the petals had been removed. It was probably the origin of the rose petals in the bedroom.

    Xiao Lou turned over the trash can of the dining room. The dumped garbage contained some peels and a card. It was the type of heart-shaped cardmonly used in flower stores and the strong words read: Happy birthday, your husband will always love you.

    The clues collection became 75%. The roses and card were clearly useful in the case¡¯s reasoning.

    Xiao Lou walked into the study opposite the dining table.

    A bookcase upied a wall and contained many medical books on them. Several specialized in cardiac surgery.

    Next to the bookcase was a verymon desk with a deskmp. There were three drawers on the right side of the table and a small cab with doors on the left. Xiao Lou opened a drawer and found a passport and medical practitioner qualification certificate in the first drawer. It belonged to the male of this family. Xiao Lou finally found out the information of the husband¡ª Zhao Sen, born on October 26th, 1988, a Han person and a surgeon.

    The other drawers contained lists of property fees, bank documents and medical papers which didn¡¯t help the case.

    Xiao Lou closed the drawers and opened the cab door in the lower left corner.

    A ck safe was found in the cab with a password lock. It was a four row digital numerical lock. From top to bottom, it was 123, 456, 789, *0#. He had seen many simr safes. After pressing the correct numerical password, the # key needed to be pressed again to unlock.

    A numerical password¡­

    The numbers involved in this case were only the birthdays of the husband and wife.

    The female friend gave perfume to the heroine and said happy birthday. The husband also gave her roses and told her happy birthday on the card. Multiple clues mentioned the ¡®birthday¡¯ and this date definitely wasn¡¯t simple.

    The man¡¯s birthday could be found on the doctor¡¯s qualification certificate, October 26th, 1988. As for the woman¡¯s birthday, Xiao Lou clearly remembered the date that the female friend¡¯s greeting card wrote on the greeting card, July 17th.

    The password of the safe was four digits. He entered 1026 and the password was incorrect. Xiao Lou followed by entering the woman¡¯s birthday 0717 and pressed the # key.

    A clear sound broke the quiet of the murder scene and the safe really opened.

    The degree of clues collection suddenly reached 90%!

    At this point, there were 18 minutes left on the countdown.

    The inside of the safe had a structure of a upper and lower floor. A folder was ced on the upper floor. Xiao Lou took it out and quickly read it, extracting key information.

    There were two insurance contracts. The first insured person was Zou Xiaomei and the beneficiary was Zhao Sen. The rtionship between the two was husband and wife. The second was the opposite. The insured person was Zhao Sen and the beneficiary was Zou Xiaomei.

    The couple boughtmercial insurance for each other, including medical insurance and personal ident insurance. The annual payment amount was more than 10,000 yuan. If the insured person was hospitalized due to a serious disease such as cancer and cardiovascr disease, the hospitalization expenses within 500,000 yuan would be fully reimbursed. If the insured person was killed identally, the beneficiary would directly obtainpensation of up to 2 million yuan from the insurancepany.

    Xiao Lou saw this insurance contract and was frightened.

    He also boughtmercial medical insurance for his parents and it was normal for rtives to buy insurance for each other. However, it wasn¡¯t umon for murder to ur out of a desire to swindle insurance. He once saw the news about a son killing his mother just for the insurance money.

    In this case, the rtionship between husband and wife had broken down. Once Zou Xiaomei died, Zhao Sen would get up to 2 million yuan inpensation!

    Xiao Lou¡¯s back was cold as he put down the insurance contract and continued to examine the lower level of the safe.

    There were several albums on the lower level.

    The albums contained many photos of Zhao Sen. From elementary school to junior high, high school and university, he recorded hisplete growth trajectory. He should have congenital myopia since he was wearing sses from a very young age. From the photo albums, Zhao Sen seemed like a very gentle person¡ªbecause he was smiling in every photo.

    In addition to the personal photo albums, there were several wedding photo albums. The husband and wife seemed very loving when they just got married. The man was holding his wife and the woman was leaning into his arms and smiling.

    Turn back again¡­

    Xiao Lou saw a photo from the wedding scene.

    It was a group photo of four people. In addition the groom and the bride, there were the best man and the bridesmaid.

    This photo was obviously taken from the side and none of the four people were looking at the camera. In the photo, the groom and bride were smiling at each other while the bridesmaid was looking at the best man in deep affection. Not far away, the best man stood in the crowd and raised the goblet to make a toast, but his eyes were staring straight at the bride.

    Xiao Lou immediately raised his spirits. The fourth person rted to the case had appeared!

    The best man appeared in Zhao Sen¡¯s personal photo album. In Zhao Sen¡¯s graduation photos, they were posing shoulder to shoulder and should be good friends. Therefore, Zhao Sen invited him to be the best man.

    It was reasonable to say that you shouldn¡¯t covet your friend¡¯s wife and men generally avoided a good friend¡¯s wife. Yet this best man was staring like she was prey. It obviously wasn¡¯t an attitude he should have towards his friend¡¯s wife.

    Xiao Lou continued to rummage through the safe and found a bag in a hidden location on the lowest lower.

    He opened it to take a look and the bag contained a contract that was a secret investigation agreement between Zhao Sen and a private detective. The investigation was about the rtionship between his cousin He Yongqiang, this wife Zou Xiaomei and his wife¡¯s friend, Liu Wei. Once Xiao Lou pulled out the contract, arge stack of photos also fell out.

    He picked up the photos. All of them were photos of eating together or shopping together. In some photos, Liu Wei and He Yongqiang were holding hands and behaving intimately. In other photos, it was Zou Xiaomei and He Yongqiang holding hands and embracing. He Yongqiang was obviously a scum walking on two boats. He was in a rtionship with the young and beautiful Liu Wei while also hooking up with Zou Xiaomei!

    Thest few photos were very extraordinary. Zou Xiaomei was wearing light silk pyjamas and acting intimately with He Yongqiang in the bedroom¡­

    These photos at home were taken from a bird¡¯s eye view and there was a time stamp in the upper right corner. It was obvious that Zhao Sen had installed a surveince camera at home to monitor his wife¡¯s movements at any time. These photos were screenshots from the surveince.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    What a dog blood drama!

    It wasn¡¯t the husband Zhao Sen who cheated, it was the wife Zou Xiaomei who died in bed!

    If he didn¡¯t open the safe in the study that it was likely he would misjudge that the man had cheated and the woman tore up her marriage certificate angrily. No, it was the woman who cheated and the person she cheated with was her husband¡¯s cousin and her friend¡¯s boyfriend.

    This reversal came quickly.

    The shocked Xiao Lou put down the photos and quickly adjusted his mood. He nced at the prompt in the suspension box. The clue collection was fixed at 90% and the safe was a big clue that ounted for 15%. Based on the clues of the safe, he knew the names of all the people involved in the case. The deceased Zou Xiaomei, the husband Zhao Sen, the lover He Yongqiang and the female friend Liu Wei.

    These four people had aplicated rtionship. He Yongqiang was Zhao Sen¡¯s cousin and Liu Wei¡¯s boyfriend. Zou Xiaomei and He Yongqiang cheated, which was equivalent to wearing two green hats for her husband Zhao Sen and friend Liu Wei.

    As victims, both Zhao Sen and Liu Wei had reasons to kill her. However, more confirmation was needed to determine the exact killer.

    The clues collection was only 90%. Thest key clue hadn¡¯t been found.

    Xiao Lou turned to the living look and carefully looked through it without discovering anything.

    He went to thest child¡¯s room to search and found a mobile phone and charging station next to the pillow in the child¡¯s room. The mobile phone had a pink outer casing and should belong to the deceased Zou Xiaomei.

    Such a key clue was actually in the further child¡¯s room that most people wouldn¡¯t search in first.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up and he immediately picked up the phone.

    He pressed the power button and a line popped up on the screen stating ¡®Please enter a password.¡¯ Then a numeric keypad appeared.

    Xiao Lou subconsciously entered the woman¡¯s birthday ¡®0717¡¯ but a warning popped up. ¡®Password verification error. The phone will automatically lock after five errors. The remaining number of attempts: 4.¡¯

    He followed by inputting the husband¡¯s birthday 1026. Once again, the prompt appeared. ¡®¡®Password verification error. The phone will automatically lock after five errors. The remaining number of attempts: 3¡¯

    The birthdays weren¡¯t the password? Then what was it?

    The countdown in the suspension box was at 15 minutes.

    Xiao Lou frowned and fell into thought.

    The bedroom, bathroom, study, kid¡¯s room, kitchen and dining room. He had searched all of them. The woman¡¯s birthday was July 17 and the man¡¯s birthday was October 26. Apart from that, there were no other numbers rted to the case.

    In reality, the mobile phone password of the deceased could be set freely. If the police couldn¡¯t crack it then it would be solved by professional technicians. However, now he was alone in the secret room and found a phone but couldn¡¯t resolve the password. Did he just guess?

    Xiao Lou picked up the phone, thought about it and turned back to the bedroom.

    If the ¡®please enter the password¡¯ prompt popped up on the phone lock screen, most people might be too caught up in the password and waste time looking around for password clues.

    However, Xiao Lou had searched through all the rooms at the fastest speed. He was confident that he didn¡¯t miss a single ce.

    Since the phone¡¯s password wasn¡¯t a birthday and there were no other numbers rted clues throughout the house, the prompt to enter the password might be a ¡®disturbance.¡¯

    Who said that a phone could only be unlocked with a password?

    Xiao Lou took the phone back to the master bedroom, walked to the bed of roses, raised the deceased¡¯s right hand and ced her right thumb on the phone¡¯s fingerprint button.

    The pink phone and charger left at home naturally belonged to the woman.

    The woman was lying in bed. She might be a corpse but her fingers were still there.

    Wasn¡¯t it more convenient to unlock with her fingerprints?

 Chapter 4: Rose Funeral (End)

    However, things weren¡¯t as simple as Xiao Lou thought.

    He put the deceased¡¯s right thumb on the button but the phone screen didn¡¯t light up. Instead, there was a warning message. ¡®The fingerprint isn¡¯t recognized. Verification error. The phone will be locked after five errors. Remaining attempts: 2.¡¯

    Not recognized? Was it the wrong finger or something else?

    Xiao Lou looked at the dead body and suddenly had a thought. After death, the body would be cold and stiff within three hours. After 12 hours, the stiffness of the body would reach the peak and only start to ease in 24 to 48 hours.

    Judging from the stiffness of the deceased, her death time should be between 24 and 48 hours ago. The water in the vase of roses was very clear and it could prove that the roses had been ced in the water no more than two days ago.

    The principle of fingerprint unlocking was that the microcurrents carried by the human finger activated the phone¡¯s capacitive sensor. The uneven fingerprint path would draw a unique graphic password on the sensor, corresponding to the entered fingerprint graphic, thereby unlocking the phone.

    After death, the cells¡¯ metabolism would stop. Moreover, Zou Xiaomei¡¯s death was more than 24 hours ago. There were no currents in the body and the fingerprint couldn¡¯t activate the sensor of the phone.

    The fingerprints of the dead weren¡¯t the same as the fingerprints of the living. He was a forensic doctor and actually ignored this key point!

    If the numerical password was wrong and fingerprint unlocking didn¡¯t work, was there another way to unlock the mobile phone?

    He had used two tries on the birthday numbers and after the fingerprint test was wrong, most people would subconsciously change fingers to continue the test. Xiao Lou had realized there were no currents in the deceased¡¯s body and simply gave up on the idea of trying fingerprints.

    He had only two chances left and had to find another way as soon as possible.

    Xiao Lou carefully observed the phone and found that on the back of the mobile phone, there was a small button next to the camera. He pressed it gently and a scan box appeared on the screen of the phone. He thought about it before pointing the scanning box at the face of the deceased.

    ¡ªFace scanning.

    ¡ªUnlocked sessfully, the clues collection is 100%

    Xiao Lou was shocked!

    in the 2 of Hearts secret room, the phone was the most critical clue and the password certainly wouldn¡¯t be unsolvable.

    Numbers, graphics, fingerprints and faces. There were several ways to unlock the phone and there was always one way that would work.

    The birthday numbers didn¡¯t work. This was the first difficulty. Most people might panic when they reached this point. If they tried numbers like 6666/8888, they would only waste their chances. If the fingerprint didn¡¯t work, it was easy to lead people to the wrong area and make them try the fingerprints of other fingers, so as to reach the unlocking limit of five attempts and the phone would be locked.

    In fact, the real method of unlocking was hidden behind the phone. The facial recognition next to the camera!

    Facial scanning usually relied on characteristics like forehead width, eyebrow distance and lip size toprehensively drew a geometric figure as the unlocking password. As long as the person wasn¡¯t too disfigured, the changes in facial characteristics wouldn¡¯t be too great even when dead.

    Of course, if the phone had a high-tech living body detection system and needed characteristics such as pupils and retinas, this was a dead end.

    Fortunately, the unlocking function of the woman¡¯s mobile phone wasn¡¯t so advanced. It only needed to detect the distance between various points on the face. After pairing most of the facial features together, the mobile phone was finally unlocked sessfully.

    There was only one bar of battery left so Xiao Lou quickly opened the photo album.

    There were many selfies in the album, each one had a star. Obviously, Zou Xiaomei was a somewhat narcissistic person and her friends circle also took selfies every day. In her address book, apart from her husband Zhao Sen, her lover He Yongqiang and her friend Liu Wei, she had three other people set up as a star friend. They should be colleagues/ssmates associated with this case.

    Xiao Lou rummaged through her friends and saw the three most recent ones she praised.

    The first one was one her husband sent to his circle of friends at noon on July 15th. ¡°I have a business trip on the 17th. I¡¯m attending a medical conference on cardiac surgery and can onlye back at the end of the month. This year, I can¡¯t apany my wife for her birthday [sad].¡±

    Zou Xiaomei had praised it and written: ¡°Work is important. Travel smoothly and take care of yourself!¡±

    The second was a photo that He Yongqiang sent from the gym on July 16th. The man was tall and the photo deliberately showed his chest muscles. ¡°The result of training for a month.¡±

    Zou Xiaomei had given him andpliment and the message: ¡°Your body is awesome.¡±

    Then there was the news sent by Liu Wei at noon on July 17th. ¡°I wish my best sister, big beauty Zou Xiaomei a happy birthday [cake][cake].¡± The woman liked andmented: ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Xiao Lou turned off the circle of friends and opened the WeChat chat interface to continue looking for clues.

    He opened the chat record between the deceased and He Yongqiang, scrolling to the top. The first contact between the two of them was in Marchst year. He Yongqiang first added Zou Xiaomei and said, ¡°Sister-inw, you were beautiful and sexy at today¡¯s wedding!¡± Zou Xiaomei had sent a shy expression back. ¡°Thank you, Xiao He. I heard your brother say you are still single. My female friend is also single. Do you want to meet?¡±

    ¡°Okay, give me her contact information.¡±

    At first, Zou Xiaomei introduced her friend to her husband¡¯s cousin and the cousin politely called her ¡®sister-inw.¡¯ Then it changed after chatting with her.

    In March of this year, Zou Xiaomei¡¯s husband was on a business trip on their wedding anniversary. She was happy at home and He Yongqiang said he bought too much fruit and would send her some. She didn¡¯t refuse.

    What happened between the man and lonely woman after the fruit was delivered could be easily guessed. Since then, the chat record became more and more embarrassing, the ¡®sister-inw¡¯ changed to beauty and little baby¡­ Xiao Lou got goosebumps seeing this!

    Xiao Lou quickly moved away from these contents and slid to the bottom.

    July 18th, 18:00.

    ¡°He said that he will travel for half a month. Will youe to my house tomorrow night and spend my birthday with me?¡±

    ¡°No problem, I wille after work around 7 o¡¯clock.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll cook and we¡¯ll have dinner together to celebrate.¡±

    This was thest conversation between Zou Xiaomei and He Yongqiang.

    Xiao Lou then opened up the chat with her husband and friend.

    There was no problem with the female friend¡¯s chat record. The friend said she couldn¡¯t apany the heroine on her birthday on the 17th. She specifically delivered a bottle of rose perfume as a birthday present and it seemed she didn¡¯t know she was wearing a green hat.

    There were three recent chats with her husband. The first one was asking about his travel after seeing the circle of friends. Zhao Sen answered that he would travel for a month. Then at noon on July 16th, she sent a message to him. ¡°Sorry husband, I¡¯m working today and can¡¯t go to the airport to send you off.¡± The other person replied, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, I will contact you at the hotel.¡±

    Thest one was the message that Zhao Sen sent to her at 00:00 on July 17th. ¡°Dear, I am at the hotel. Happy birthday. I can¡¯t apany you this birthday but I will prepare an unforgettable birthday present [smile][smile][smile].¡±

    The row of meaningful smiling emojis made Xiao Lou feel creeped out.

    So far, the clues collection of this case had reached 100%.

    He first ruled out He Yongqiang as the murderer. He had hooked up with Zou Xiaomei and they talked sweetly, with no disputes. He Yongqiang had no reason to suddenly kill her on her birthday. For the remaining two suspects, the female friend didn¡¯te to the scene on the birthday. The husband Zhao Sen was on a ¡®business trip¡¯ but the ¡®unforgettable gift¡¯ he mentioned on WeChat was very suspicious.

    At first nce, this case had been nned for a long time.

    Zhao Sen was thoughtful and asked private investigators to investigate her. He installed surveince cameras at home to monitor Zou Xiaomei¡¯s movements. Most importantly, he was a doctor and could kill her simply and neatly. He probably said he was going on a business trip to rx his wife¡¯s vignce, so he could suddenly attack and kill her.

    At this point, there were 12 minutes left on the countdown. Xiao Lou organized his thoughts and reached out to press the ¡®murderer confirmation¡¯ button on the suspension box.

    System: ¡°Do you want to confirm the murderer?¡±

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°Yes.¡±

    System: ¡°Who is the murderer who killed the deceased? He Yongqiang/ Zhao Sen/ Liu Wei?¡±

    Xiao Lou chose Zhao Sen and a ¡®ding¡¯ entered her ears.

    [Congrattions to the challenger Xiao Lou for perfectly clearing the D-grade secret room ¡®Rose Funeral¡¯ in 18 minutes, the instance clearance score is greater than 99% of the challengers. ]

    [Unlocked all hidden plots and obtained the reward ¡®Plot Card: Rose Funeral¡¯.]

    [Clearing the secret room¡¯s fixed reward: ¡®Tool Card: Fruit Knife¡¯, ¡®Tool Card: Rose Perfume.¡¯]

    [This instance clearance is evaluated as S-grade. A perfect clearance will get an extra lucky draw chance. Please return to the personal space for settlement of the rewards.

    The murderer was really Zhao Sen.

    The difficulty of this secret room wasn¡¯t about the identity of the murderer. Even if someone couldn¡¯t unlock the mobile phone in the end, the clues in the safe allowed them to specte that the murderer was probably Zhao Sen. The difficulty of the secret room was finding all the clues to rify the murderer¡¯s motives formitting the crime and their means ofmitting the clue. The clues collection degree had to be 100% in order to achieve the ¡®perfect instance clearance¡¯ condition.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s clearance score was greater than 99% of the participants must be due to hem being stuck on the mobile phone password.

    In this secret room with a strange atmosphere and a female corpse, people¡¯s spirits would be in an extremely tight state. They had to calm down and quickly collect clues. The first time they would think of using fingerprints but not the face and other means to unlock the phone.

    Thanks to being a forensic doctor, he wasn¡¯t afraid of the body.bined with his experience, he was able to get through in 18 minutes.

    Xiao Lou sighed with slight relief and gave one final nce to the female corpse lying on the bed before being forcibly transferred out of the 2 of Hearts world and returning to the white Card world.

    The huge card wall in front of him had changed dramatically. All the video animations of the cards were gone, as if the windows of those worlds had changed.

    There were only four symbols left on the front of the card. They were arranged form 2 to K in order of hearts, spades, diamonds and climbs. The card ¡®2 of Hearts¡¯ shone softly and the lower right corner showed the small word ¡®cleared.¡¯

    Xiao Lou remembered that the system hinted it would reward him with the Rose Funeral plot card. The 2 of Hearts card of printed with a red rose in the middle. He curiously reached out and touched the card. The next moment, the card suddenly flipped and zoomed into a wall LCD screen before ying a video.

    Xiao Lou was more and more shocked. This plot card actually showed the whole process of the murder!

    It was simr to what he inferred. At noon on July 17th, Zou Xiaomei received two birthday presents. One was the rose perfume sent by her female friend. After she saw it, she crossed out the word on the card and put it into a drawer. The other was Zhao Sen¡¯s 99 roses that he sent to her. She cut up the card and threw it into the trash before inserting the roses in the vase.

    At 7 in the evening, He Yongqiang arrived. Zou Xiaomei came out of the kid¡¯s room and left her phone on the table. She went to the kitchen to take out the prepared dinner and the two people had a romantic candlelight dinner.

    After dinner, Zou Xiaomei went to the kitchen to cut watermelon and identally spilled watermelon juice on her clothes. She went to the bathroom to take a shower and put on sexy silk pyjamas to return to the dining room. The two people were being intimate in the dining room when Zhao Sen suddenly opened the door and entered the house. The two caught people were scaled and pale. Zou Xiaomei hurriedly put on her clothes while He Yongqiang¡¯s teeth were shaking. ¡°C-Cousin, listen to me.¡±

    ¡°There is no need to exin, ¡°I came back to specifically for you.¡± Zhao Sen smiled and pushed up the sses on his nose before walking behind He Yongqiang. The next moment, he took out a white handkerchief from his pocket and mmed it over He Yongqiang¡¯s mouth.

    He Yongqiang stared with eyes wide in horror but the strong man quickly fell unconscious under the influence of the anaesthetic.

    Zou Xiaomei trembled and hide. ¡°You, what are you going to do?¡±

    Zhao Sen dragged the unconscious He Yongqiang to the kitchen, putting on clean gloves and taking out surgical tools from the medicine box. He simply cut open He Yongqiang¡¯s chest, dug out the heart, ced it on a te and handed it to Zou Xiaomei. ¡°Don¡¯t you often tell Ah Qiang that you hope you are the only one in his heart? Now I am giving his heart to you. He belongs to you alone. Isn¡¯t this birthday present unforgettable?¡±

    Zou Xiaomei saw the bloody heart on the te, screamed and turned to run outside. She ran to the door, only to find that it was locked by Zhao Sen with a key. Zou Xiaomei panicked and looked for the key to open the door, her entire body shaking.

    The man walked behind her and asked with a smile, ¡°Don¡¯t you want to go with him?¡±

    Noticing the man¡¯s meaning, Zou Xiaomei cried out, ¡°No¡ªdon¡¯t kill me!¡± Then the next moment, Zhao Sen grabbed her by the hair and dragged her back to the kitchen. He took the fruit knife and waved it in front of the woman¡¯s eyes, asking softly, ¡°Do you want to go by yourself or shall I help you?¡±

    ¡°Ahhh, don¡¯t kill me¡­ I¡­.¡± The woman¡¯s struggles came to an abrupt end the moment the fruit knife urately pierced her heart.

    Zhao Sen flushed the blood from her chest with a faucet until her blood stopped flowing and her body waspletely cold and stiff. He slowly put her clothes on, wiping some of He Yongqiang¡¯s blood on it before turning to clean the fruit knife. He put the fruit knife in He Yongqiang¡¯s hand, leaving He Yongqiang¡¯s fingerprint on the handle and then inserted the weapon into the watermelon.

    He took Zou Xiaomei to the bedroom, took some roses from the table and arranged a beautiful rose bed.

    He returned to the kitchen to clean the scene, put He Yongqiang¡¯s body into arge suitcase and turned around, leaving the house with the suitcase.

    Before leaving, he stopped at the entrance and raised his mouth slightly towards the camera installed in the corner.

    The smile was facing the screen.

    Xiao Lou saw the screen zoom in on the strange smile and felt the hairs of his body stand up.

    The Rose Funeral plot card showed the hidden plot.

    In the secret room of 2 of Hearts, it wasn¡¯t only Zou Xiaomei who died. He Yongqiang was also dead!

 Chapter 5: Lucky Draw

    The plot card was equivalent to reproducing the plot from a god¡¯s perspective. It should be the reward for the yers who found all the clues to ¡®perfectly clearing the instance.¡¯ This plot was so immersive that Zou Xiaomei¡¯s screams still echoed in the air.

    Xiao Lou might like detective reasoning novels but he still felt cold at seeing such a cruel murder scene.

    Zou Xiaomei and He Yongqiang were indeed wrong but weren¡¯t Zhao Sen¡¯s means too abnormal?

    Digging out his cousin¡¯s heart, killing his wife and taking away his cousin¡¯s body¡­ moreover, he deliberately left He Yongqiang¡¯s fingerprint on the fruit knife and his blood on the deceased¡¯s body. Wasn¡¯t this nting me?¡¯

    If this story had a follow-up then Zou Xiaomei¡¯s body would be discovered. The police would find the weapon when investigating the scene and the fruit knife had He Yongqiang¡¯s fingerprints. He Yongqiang¡¯s blood would also be found on the deceased. The most suspected person would naturally be He Yongqiang!

    However, He Yongqiang was already dead and it was unknown how Zhao Sen disposed of his body.

    If there was no evidence of death, the case would be a pending one.

    Zhao Sen might¡¯ve forged evidence that he was on the business trip. In this way, Zou Xiaomei died from an ident and he could get 2 million yuanpensation from the insurancepany.

    This Zhao Sen¡¯s psychological distortion and deep thoughts gave him goosebumps.

    Xiao Lou stabilized his violent heartbeat and called out, ¡°System elf?¡±

    This time, it wasn¡¯t the cold male mechanical voice but a gentle female voice that greeted him. An adult woman in a long red dress with a graceful body and curly hair to her waist suddenly appeared in front of him.

    The beauty looked at him with a smile. ¡°Hello, Xiao Lou. I am the keeper of Hearts. You can ask me any questions you have.¡±

    Keeper of Hearts?

    Xiao Lou stared at the 2-K Hearts arranged on the wall and couldn¡¯t help wondering, ¡°Why is there no A of Hearts on the card wall?¡±

    The beauty in red smiled. ¡°I am the A of Hearts.¡±

    ¡°Can you exin?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± The voice of the beauty was very kind. ¡°You should know that a deck of cards has a total of 54 cards. In this card word, A of Hearts, A of Diamonds, A of Spades and A of Clubs are the gatekeepers of the four types of secret rooms. The other cards contain different secret rooms and small worlds and you need to challenge them.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Since the A of Hearts is the keeper and I started from 2 of Hearts, the most difficult one should be the K?? There are also double kings above the K, which is what the system told me before¡­ the final SS-grade secret room?¡±

    The beautiful woman looked at him with admiration. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know much about ying cards but he knew that J stood for Jack (servant), Q for Queen (queen), and K for King (king). A was for Ace (supreme) and there were the coloured joker and ck and white joker. They were often called the kings and was what he referred to when he mentioned two kings. Some areas called them the big ghost and small ghost.

    In this card world, the A was the gatekeeper and 2 to K were all types of secret rooms. The difficulty was from D to C, B, A and S. The four types of K should be the most difficult S-grade secret rooms. Then the final ones were the SS-grade secret rooms where the kings sat.

    The 2 of Hearts room that he just passed was the simplest D-grade room.

    As a single-person secret room, it threw people directly into a room with a body and there were only 30 minutes to crack the murder case. Most people would be scared to death by the female body on the bed. Even if they were courageous enough to calm down and look for clues, in the end, more than 90% of people couldn¡¯t solve the mobile phone password. They only guessed the murderer and the probability of a perfect clearance was less than 1%.

    No wonder his pass rating was greater than 99% of the challengers.

    A D-grade secret room already had this difficulty. He could imagine how terrible the rooms afterwards were.

    Xiao Lou slightly frowned and continued to ask, ¡°The plot card can only be obtained with a perfect clearance? If the clues weren¡¯t all collected, for example, the final solution can¡¯t be opened. However, the murderer is correct and it is also an instance clearance, so the reward will change and be less?¡±

    A of Hearts nodded. ¡°Yes, collecting 50% of the clues allows you to pick the murderer and this is correctly counted as clearing the Hearts secret room. It is only when the clues collection is 100% that it is regarded as a perfect clearance and you can get the plot card as well as a chance to draw additional prizes. With the plot card, your understanding of this secret room will be moreprehensive. If you happen to meet the characters of the secret room again, this plot card might help you.¡±

    In the plot of the 2 of Hearts room, Zou Xiaomei and He Yongqiang were killed. Liu Wei, the female friend, never appeared. There was another person, Zhao Sen, the murder who took away his cousin¡¯s body in the suitcase. It was possible to encounter this perverted murderer in the future?

    Thinking of Zhao Sen¡¯sst smile to the camera, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help his scalp feeling numb. He took a deep breath to calm himself down before asking, ¡°Where are the rewards?¡±

    A of Hearts spoke very softly. ¡°You can find your card bag in your pocket.¡±

    Xiao Lou ced his hands in his pockets and found a small card bag that could be found in real life.

    The ck card pack was only half the size of his palm and the surface had the words ¡®Card Room¡¯ written on them. This card back was like a folded book page. Once opened, the card pack showed a dozen card slots.

    At this time, the first three grids contained the cards he had just obtained.

    [Plot Card: Rose Funeral]

    Rarity: S

    Description: Obtained after perfectly clearing the 2 of Hearts secret room, Rose Funeral. Less than 1% of people can get a plot card. The plot card is very rare, so keep it well. You can y it at any time and enjoy the wonderful clip of Dr. Zhao Sen killing both people.

    [Tool Card: Fruit Knife]

    Rarity: C

    Description: The murder weapon that killed Zou Xiaomei. It is 20cm long and 5cm wide. It is extremely sharp. A fixed reward for clearing the 2 of Hearts secret room, it can be held in one hand. The fruit knife from a rotten street isn¡¯t expensive.

    Note: This knife belongs to you and you can use it for whatever you want. You can kill people with it if you are bold enough.

    Number of times avable: 10/10.

    [Tool Card: Rose Perfume]

    Rarity: C

    Description: A birthday present Liu Wei gave Zou Xiaomei. After opening it, the strong scent of roses can be smelt.

    Note: When necessary, you can spray it on your body and attract all targets within 30 metres to smell you, making you die more simply.

    Remaining capacity: 100ml.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s expression gradually stiffened as he looked at the description on the cards.

    He opened a D-grade difficulty room and was directly transferred to the scene of a murder. He finally passed the instance only for the reward cards to ridicule him. What did it mean by die more simply? This Card World was full of malice everywhere.

    He was a forensic scientist and it was unbearable to go through such a scene. What about the average person?

    What would happen if all the people who died unexpectedly were forcibly dragged into the Card World? What if those under the age of 18, timid girls or slow old people entered 2 of Hearts and suddenly saw a bed with a corpse. How would they react? Wouldn¡¯t they be frightened?

    Could they clear the instance within 30 minutes? If they failed and were thrown into the punishment room, wouldn¡¯t they die in an even worse manner?

    Thinking up to here, Xiao Lou looked at the beauty in red in front of him and whispered, ¡°How many challengers are in this Card World? How high is the survival rate of challengers who failed to pass an instance and entered a nightmare room?¡±

    A of Hearts replied, ¡°The number of yers in the Card World is currently more than 80 million and it is increasing every minute. The survival rate of the punishment room after failing an instance is less than 1%. Thus, try not to fail. The nightmare is definitely something you don¡¯t want to experience.¡±

    She paused before smiling. ¡°You are the calmest human I have ever seen. Most people whoe out of the Hearts room are shivering with fear. You weren¡¯t repelled by the body and could calmly sweep the phone over the face of the body.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    It seemed that all his actions in the secret room were monitored by the keeper.

    For a forensics professional like him, forget a corpse. Even if the difficulty of the Hearts room was upgraded to a serial murder case, he wouldn¡¯t be afraid when ced in a morgue.

    Still, just because he wasn¡¯t afraid didn¡¯t mean he liked it.

    He was a normal person, not a pervert. He didn¡¯t want to see it every day.

    Xiao Lou frowned and continued to calmly ask, ¡°I remember the system elf telling me that clearing the SS-grade room will allow me to return to the human world. Then how many people have cleared it?¡±

    A of Hearts shrugged with regret. ¡°No one has seeded in clearing the instance.¡±

    This answer made Xiao Lou feel very surprised. There were more than 80 million challengers, among which must be masters of reasoning. Yet no one had reached the end. This wasn¡¯t normal. Either the world was deliberately difficult to humans and didn¡¯t want to let humans seed in returning or the difficulty of theter rooms were too terrible and the reasoning master couldn¡¯t solve the puzzle.

    If it was the former then asking was no use. A of Hearts couldn¡¯t tell him, ¡®we are deliberately making it hard for you.¡¯ If it was thetter, perhaps there was hope. No matter how difficult the secret rooms, as long as they weren¡¯t unsolvable then there would always be a way to get an answer.

    Xiao Lou thought of a question. ¡°Are the deceased and murderer in the secret room human beings from Earth like me, or are they high intelligence creatures¡­ made by you?¡±

    A of Hearts smiled. ¡°This question is beyond the scope of my answers. What do you think?¡±

    There was a bold spection in Xiao Lou¡¯s heart. The cold system elf had told him, ¡°You can¡¯t see me but I can see you.¡± It could see all the humans that entered the world, which meant it should have a high status in this world.

    The red beauty in front of him called herself A of Hearts. She was only responsible for the Hearts level and other levels had different people responsible for them.

    Perhaps this world could be understood as a massive multiyer online game.

    Challengers were humans who died identally and were forced into the Card World. The people in the secret rooms such as Zou Xiaomei and Zhao Sen, the A of Hearts who wasn¡¯t in the secret room and the system elf whose image had never been seen but whose voice was heard didn¡¯t need to clear the instances. They were the original inhabitants of the Card World, simr to NPCs in a game.

    However, unlike other games, the NPCs in this world were much more powerful than the yers.

    After a yer failed to break through, they could kill the yer. They had feelings, IQ, would kill and be fierce. If an abnormal killer like Zhao Sen was encountered in other secret rooms, it was possible for him to dig out the yer¡¯s heart without saying a word.

    Other games were ying games but this was saving their lives!

    A of Hearts didn¡¯t answer his question, indicating that he just asked the core rules of the world. The vivid ¡®humans¡¯ in the secret rooms were essentially different from humans like him.

    Xiao Lou temporarily suppressed the thoughts in his mind and changed the topic. ¡°Do I have a chance to draw another card?¡±

    There was a mention that a perfect clearance gave an extra lucky draw and this reward would be settled when returning to the personal space. This ce should be his personal space. There was a thick white fog, a huge card wall and the corresponding level keeper.

    Sure enough, A of Hearts smiled. ¡°Yes, you perfectly cleared the room and can get the S-grade rare card with a drop rate of 0.01%. Please draw a card and try your luck.¡±

    The next moment, a golden treasure chest appeared in front of him.

    This was probably the best news that Xiao Lou had heard sinceing to the strange Card World.

    The fixed rewards ¡®Fruit Knife¡¯ and ¡®Rose Perfume¡¯ were both C-grade cards and their uses were limited. The fruit knife had a limit number of uses while the capacity of the rose perfume was only 100ml. He hoped that the bonus S-grade card would be rtively strong equipment that would help in the spades survival room.

    Unfortunately, from small torge, he had only won five dors from lottery tickets. His luck with a draw wasn¡¯t very good.

    Xiao Lou stepped forward and reached into the treasure chest.

    There were many cards in the treasure chest. The new cards felt good to touch and the materials used should be very advanced. Xiao Lou tried it and found that he could only grab one card at a time. If he grabbed more than one, the other cards would automatically fall back into the treasure chest.

    He wasn¡¯t greedy and casually drew out a card.

    [Congrattions on obtaining the S-grade rare card ¡®Summoning Card: Tao Yuanming.¡¯]

    Xiao Lou, ¡°???¡±

    Shouldn¡¯t he get a knife that cut a person in an instant or a ranged gun?

    What the hell was Tao Yuanming?

 Chapter 6: Secret Room Record

    The Rose Funeral was a plot card, the fruit knife and rose perfume were tool cards and this Tao Yuanming had the prefix of a summoning card¡­

    Would he be able to summon Tao Yuanming?

    Xiao Lou immediately brought this card to his eyes and carefully observed it.

    The back of the card was silver-white, with the four patterns of hearts, spades, diamonds and clubs. There was a middle-aged man drawn on the front, with the words ¡®Tao Yuanming¡¯ written on top. The man had his hair long in the ancient style and was wearing a grey robe. He had a big straw hat behind him, a fishing rod in his hand and a leisurely smile on his face.

    The character was vividly drawn but the card description made people speechless.

    [Summoning Card: Tao Yuanming]

    Rarity: S

    Description: The draw card pool is limited and there is a very low probability of drawing this after a perfect instance clearance. P.S Your luck is very good to draw Tao Yuanming. Remember to not wash your hands before the next lucky draw.

    Additional Skills 1: Remember Peach Blossom Spring.

    Tao Yuanming described a fascinating paradise in Peach Blossom Spring, there thend is fertile and the water abundant. People live and work in peace. They don¡¯t know the world and live a happy and leisurely life.

    How to use: Summon Tao Yuanming in any secret room and used the skill ¡®Remember Peach Blossom Spring.¡¯ Tao Yuanming will find a separate space of Peach Blossom Spring in 10 seconds. The entrance to the Peach Blossom Spring is very hidden and other people can¡¯t see it. You can instantly move to the entrance and hide in the Peach Blossom Spring.

    The Peach Blossom Spring willst for 30 minutes and automatically disappears after this time. Tao Yuanming can find a Peach Blossom Spring every 24 hours. If seen in the process of looking for a Peach Blossom Spring, the skill release will fail.

    Note: In level one, you can only enter the Peach Blossom Spring yourself. For each additional level, you can bring one more person into the Peach Blossom Spring.

    Additional Skill 2: Unlock when the card grows to level 10.

    Xiao Lou saw thisplicated skill and stopped for a moment.

    What was this mess?

    Remember Peach Blossom Spring? He had read Tao Yuanming¡¯s text in school but he couldn¡¯t remember the specific contents.

    Xiao Lou carefully read it twice and finally understood the usage of this Tao Yuanming card.

    Tao Yuanming¡¯s Peach Blossom Spring space was a hidden space based on the description, because ¡®other people can¡¯t see the entrance¡¯. In other words, as long as Tao Yuanming¡¯s skill was released sessfully, whether it was an NPC in the secret room or another yer, they couldn¡¯t see the entrance. However, Xiao Lou could hide inside the space at any time.

    If he didn¡¯t understand incorrectly, Remember Peach Blossom Spring was actually a transfer skill.

    At present, he could only transfer one person. Once the level of the card increased, he could transfer partners into the Peach Blossom Spring.

    It was worthy of being a S-grade rare card. Instantly hiding in the Peach Blossom Spring was equivalent to the group going missing.

    The skill cooldown time might be 24 hours but the Peace Blossom Springsted a long time. 30 minutes was enough to avoid a fatal risk at critical times.

    Remember Peach Blossom Spring should be used when other people can¡¯t see it. The Peach Blossom Spring was found in advance as a hidden terrain to escape. It was considered to be a safe haven in advance in the dangerous Card World.

    As for the second skill, it wasn¡¯t unlocked. It needed to reach level 10 before he could see it.

    Xiao Lou understood the use of this card and asked, ¡°How do I improve the level of the card?¡±

    A of Hearts answered, ¡°Every S-grade card is upgraded in different ways. This requires you to slowly explore it. Your luck is really good for you to draw a summoning card. This is the first time Tao Yuanming has been drawn from the rare card pool. At present, there is only one.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    He was an unlucky person in the real world. Presumably, his luck had changed after being dragged into the Card World?

    S-grade cards were very strong but they needed to be patiently trained. Improving the card¡¯s level could enhance the skill effects and unlock more skills. It was still unknown how to upgrade the level of the Tao Yuanming card but Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t impatient. At least this card gave him an opportunity to escape in a critical moment.

    He looked up and questioned, ¡°How does the summoning card work? Do I call it out and use it directly?¡±

    ¡°Extract this card from the card pack and summon Tao Yuanming, asking him to release the skill. He will automatically release the Peach Blossom Spring at your designated position. The fruit knife and rose perfume can be used directly. The card package is very important for everyone. You should organize it clearly or in a critical moment, you won¡¯t know which card to use or won¡¯t be able to find it.¡±

    Xiao Lou opened his card pack and rearranged it.

    He put the ¡®Plot Card: Rose Funeral¡¯ at the end and put the S-grade summoning card, Tao Yuanming in the first grid. This made it convenient to take out and open the Peach Blossom Spring to escape. The C-grade cards fruit knife and rose perfume were ced in the second and third grids respectively. They were the only cards avable at the moment and he would adjust itter.

    He had just sorted out the card package when he heard A of Hearts say softly, ¡°After clearing the instance, there will be 15 minutes of rest time. You can now rest, adjust and prepare for the next challenge.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded, ¡°Okay.¡±

    The moment his voice dropped, a sofa appeared in this personal space. Xiao Lou walked over to the sofa, closing his eyes and meditating.

    The first pass gave him a lot of information. He still needed to organize it and the 15 minutes of rest time was just to slow his brain.

    The difficulty of a card room was much greater than the escape rooms he had yed in reality.

    In reality, the secret rooms rarely gave a body and most of the games were multiyer cooperation games. There were familiar partners around you and everyone could chat, greatly reducing the psychological fear.

    If Rose Funeral was a four person secret room and one person each searched a room, the difficulty of clearing the instance would be greatly reduced.

    In this Card World, could they team up and cooperate?

    Xiao Lou thought for a moment before opening his eyes and asking the keeper, ¡°Is the experience in the secret rooms limited to that secret room? If you are injured in the secret room, will the injury be automatically recovered after leaving it?¡±

    A of Hearts looked at the young man in front of her with amazement. She had seen many people who cried, yelled or were so scared they peed their pants. People like Xiao Lou who could be so calm after the first pass were really rare.

    She gazed at the young man in front of her with interest and asked, ¡°How did you figure it out?¡±

    Xiao Lou extended his hands and spoke calmly, ¡°I don¡¯t have any traces on my body or hands. This means that all the data from the secret room was cleared the moment I was sent out of 2 of Hearts. The challenger enters the secret room and the secret room returns the challenger in their original state. It is like a game. The instance will be constantly reset to meet the new challenger. Perhaps these small secret rooms can be understood as countless parallel spaces?¡±

    A of Hearts, ¡°¡­¡±

    He had just entered the Card World for less than half an hour and could actually analyze so much? A of Hearts was really impressed with the man in front of her and nodded appreciatively. ¡°What else did you guess?¡±

    ¡°There should be teamwork in theter high level secret rooms?¡±

    ¡°Tell me your reasons.¡±

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°The difficulty of a single room isn¡¯t too big and it won¡¯t reach a point where there is no way to pass. This world isn¡¯tcking in detectives. You told me that none of the over 80 million challengers have cleared the final room, indicating the difficulty of theter rooms is beyond imagination. It is very likely that arge number of challengers will need to work together to solve the puzzles. However, gathering a group of masters together is a huge problem in itself.¡±

    If all the secret rooms were single-person secret rooms, there should be masters of meticulous thinking among the more than 80 million challengers such as those who work in criminal investigation, forensic science or novel writers. They were rigorous in logical thinking and it was impossible for all of them to fail to pass.

    This was unless theter rooms needed a teammate.

    A team secret room was the hardest. The clues were too scattered and they could lose as long as one person made a mistake.

    Thus, no one could clear the instance smoothly.

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°Of course, this is just my inference.¡±

    A of Hearts smiled. ¡°Your guess is correct. The D-grade single-person rooms are novice level to give you time to adapt. From C-grade onwards, the secret rooms are more difficult and does require teammates. Hopefully by then, you won¡¯t be too burdened by your teammates.¡±

    Sure enough, a team was the most uncontroble. In the event of a pig teammate, even a god couldn¡¯t clear the instance.

    Xiao Lou was silent for a moment before asking, ¡°Your so-called clearance is to open all the top-level secret rooms of Hearts, Diamonds, Spades and Clubs? Or can I selectively only clear Hearts?¡±

    This was the crucial problem. If the instance clearance referred to all four types of secret rooms, the difficulty wouldn¡¯t only quadruple. If he could only solve the Hearts secret rooms, the probability that he could reach the end would greatly increase.

    The next moment, A of Hearts poured cold water on his head. ¡°We don¡¯t encourage serious challengers to do this. The final instance clearance naturally refers to all of the K of Hearts, K of Diamonds, K of Spades and K of Clubs. Only the challengers who have cleared the four K rooms are eligible to get the admission ticket to the final sun and moon god SS-grade level.¡±

    It seemed that the idea of only clearing the Hearts room wasn¡¯t possible. However, since he could form a team in theter stages, he could find some teammates who were skilled and make up for his own shorings.

    A team can be a pit and sometimes encountering a pig teammate could bring the entire team down.

    However, sometimes the power of a team was the most powerful.

    Everyone was collecting firewood and igniting the mes high. His teammate might think of things that he couldn¡¯t. Brainstorming was very helpful in clearing a room, which was why secret room games in reality were multiyer cooperation games.

    Thinking up to here, Xiao Lou asked, ¡°How can I find my teammates?¡±

    A of Hearts exined patiently, ¡°There is a limit to the number of people in a team. You can find a teammate to enter with in advance. If you can¡¯t find it, you will randomly match with other yers at the same time. In this world, the type of teammates you encounter is also your luck.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Thank you, I understand.¡±

    15 minutes passed quickly.

    A of Heart gave a reminder. ¡°The rest time is over. Please go to the card wall and select the next room.¡±

    Xiao Lou stood up and went to the huge card wall again.

    On the card wall, 2 of Hearts was cleared and the next level was 3 of Hearts. For Diamonds, Spades and Clubs, he could still choose the second level. The higher the level, the higher the difficulty. Xiao Lou would naturally start from the second level. In order to consider itter, he must be familiar with the characteristics of the four types of secret rooms. This meant taking a look at diamonds, spades and clubs.

    Xiao Lou decided to go to 2 of Diamonds first.

    Diamonds was a mechanism type room and there should be certain risks. For example, stepping on the wrong mechanism meant being shot into a hedgehog or inputting the wrong password would result in being dropped into a pit, etc. Still, based on his experience with 2 of Hearts, the novice level shouldn¡¯t be too scary. 2 of Hearts had a ¡®clues collection¡¯ prompt and the mechanisms of 2 of Diamonds shouldn¡¯t be too difficult.

    Compared to the Spades¡¯ survival room and the Clubs¡¯ challenge room, it was wiser to select Diamonds to try and get more rewards.

    Xiao Lou reached out and pulled out the 2 of Diamonds card.

    At this time, the transparent floating box above his head suddenly filled withrge blood-red letters.

    [Congrattions to the challenger Yu Hanjiang for perfectly clearing the 2 of Hearts secret room, Rose Funeral, in 13 minutes and 15 seconds, refreshing the world record of the 2 of Hearts secret room!]

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang?!

    The police group leader that he knew?

    The surname of Yu wasn¡¯t verymon, not to mention this name was written exactly the same.

    Moreover, Yu Hanjiang was a policeman. As the group leader of the Major Crimes Unit of the Jiangzhou police, this man had cracked countless unsolved cases since taking office and became a legend among the police. Xiao Lou still remembered that he met Yu Hanjiang because of a murder. A girl in his school was pushed down by her roommate and the murderer was caught within two days.

    In terms of solving a case, Xiao Lou could only be regarded as an amateur yer while Yu Hanjiang was a professional yer.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s puzzle-solving process in the Rose Funeral secret room was smooth yet it took 18 minutes. Meanwhile, Yu Hanjiang perfectly cleared it in 13 minutes. However, Yu Hanjiang was a group leader of the police unit and had seen too many murders. His ability to search for evidence on the sport and his ability to analyze the case were extremely strong. In addition, the fingerprint of the deceased couldn¡¯t unlock the mobile phone and Yu Hanjiang should¡¯ve thought of this instantly. In the past, he might¡¯ve encountered a situation where the deceased left a mobile phone that couldn¡¯t be unlocked.

    Based on thisprehensive inference, Xiao Lou was almost certain that the YU Hanjiang who refreshed the world record of the 2 of Hearts secret room was the group leader of the police that he knew!

    It was just, how did Group Leader Yue to the Card World?

 Chapter 7: Numerical Puzzle

    After confirming that the Yu Hanjiang who refreshed the 2 of Heart¡¯s world record was the person he knew, Xiao Lou opened his mouth and asked, ¡°This Yu Hanjiang, how do I add him as a friend?¡±

    A of Hearts smiled. ¡°There is no such thing as adding friends in the Card World.¡±

    Xiao Lou changed his words. ¡°How do I team up with him to clear the instance?¡±

    A of Hearts patiently exined, ¡°If you want to challenge a secret room with someone, you must find the secret room keeper to buy a contract and establish a contractual rtionship with the person you want to team up with. In this way, you will be bound together for future secret rooms. If he opens a new secret room, you will be pulled into the secret room. Simrly, if you open a room then you will pull him into the secret world where you are.¡±

    ¡°How much is the contract?¡±

    ¡°Buying a contract requires the consumption of gold coins that can be obtained in the process of clearing the instance. Try and earn them from the subsequent secret rooms.¡±

    Hearing the answer from the keeper, Xiao Lou helplessly pinched his eyebrows. The currency in this world was ¡®gold coins¡¯ and he was currently penniless. He had to wait to buy the contract for the team since he couldn¡¯t afford it at all. What¡¯s more, the D-grade secret rooms were single-yer. There was no way to form a team. He could only wait until he earned moneyter.

    Knowing that Yu Hanjiang had alsoe to the Card World, Xiao Lou¡¯s mood was quiteplicated.

    In this strange Card World, he should be happy to meet a familiar person.

    However, he came to this world because of a car ident. It was likely that Group Leader Yu also came to this world as an ident. In the real world, Yu Hanjiang might¡¯ve died.

    Thinking of the young criminal policeman who had solved countless unsolved cases, Xiao Lou felt very sorry.

    What had happened to Group Leader Yu? No wonder why he never returned the WeChat that day.

    In any case, since they were reborn into this world, the only thing they could do was live.

    He thought that it would be no problem to survive the C-grade secret rooms with Yu Hanjiang¡¯s skills.

    It was possible to form a team after going to the C-grade rooms. At that time, he would find a way to earn some gold coins, buy a contract book and then find Yu Hanjiang to clear the Hearts room. Since there was a professional criminal investigation master such as Yu Hanjiang, the murderers in the world of Hearts wouldn¡¯t be able to hide.

    Xiao Lou put away his thoughts and spoke calmly, ¡°Continue to break through.¡±

    The moment he finished speaking, the 2 of Diamonds card that he already extracted emitted a familiar red light. A strange force surrounded his body and he was sucked into the card room.

    It was a dim enclosed space that was only four square metres inside. This meant people would feel cramped just taking two steps.

    The light in the entire chamber came from an open shlight hanging in a corner. Next to the shlight was a pendulum clock and the hour hand pointed to 19:00.

    The moment Xiao Lou entered the space, the pendulum clock started swinging regrly with a clear ¡®tick¡¯ sound.

    A text prompt popped up in the suspension box.

    [Wee to the 2 of Diamonds room, ¡®Numerical Puzzle.¡¯]

    [Please find the mechanisms at the fastest speed, crack the password and open all the password locks.]

    [D-grade secret room¡¯s friendly tip: The instance can be cleared by opening two password locks. Opening all password locks is a perfect clearance.]

    [The clearance time is limited to 15 minutes. If this time is exceeded, you will fail. Please pay attention to the pendulum clock on the wall.]

    The timing mode of the Hearts world was simr to the ¡®time bomb¡¯. The red countdown number was always moving in the suspension box. The iprehensible puzzle plus the countdown would inevitably give people psychological pressure.

    The timing mode of this Diamonds world was a pendulum clock. This secret room was limited to 15 minutes and once the pendulum clock in the room moved from 19:00 to 19:15, the instance would end.

    In the quiet and enclosed space, the ticking of the clock seemed to be multiplied and this would seriously interfere with people¡¯s thinking.

    Xiao Lou closed his eyes and forcibly ignored the clear bells in his ears, forcing himself to calm down.

    He picked up the shlight in the corner, raised it and carefully looked around the room.

    Xiao Lou had yed many secret room games. Some secret rooms were set up to have a stepping mechanism on the floor. If you identally stepped on a square, you were likely to fall into a pit. Therefore, after entering the secret room, he didn¡¯t move around but stood in the middle of the secret room. He first figured out the locations of the mechanisms he needed to crack. Once he confirmed that there were no problems under his feet and above his head, he stepped forward to look at the walls.

    There were many characters drawn on the four walls and arge hole dug under the walls. There was a wooden box inside and a lock on the box. Thebination lock had four gears that could be unlocked by turning the gear to the correct number. At this point, all the locks and gears were in the initial state of 0000.

    There were four password locks. Since only two was required to clear the instance, they could pick the ones they were good at. The D-grade secret rooms were really friendly to novices.

    However, Xiao Lou wanted a perfect clearance.

    It was only by getting a perfect clearance that he could draw a card and possibly get a S-grade card. In addition, obtaining more cards wouldn¡¯t hurt.

    Xiao Lou gazed at the wall in front of him.

    Under the light of the shlight, a nine numbered square appeared in the middle of the wall.

    X/9/2

    3/X/7

    X/X/6

    In a mathematical reasoning problem, a 3¡Á3 disk was called a ¡®pce¡¯ and an advanced logical reasoning problem with nine pces was called ¡®Sudoku¡¯. This was a frequently tested topic in professional quizpetitions.

    Sudoku was a 9¡Á9 disk with 81 squares. The challenger needed to infer the numbers on the remaining spaces ording to the known numbers, satisfying every horizontal row, vertical row and every 3¡Á3 single pce. They had to all contain numbers 1-9 and not repeat.

    At this time, Xiao Lou was facing a 3¡Á3 single pce disk.

    He even did 9¡Á9 Sudoku problems so forget the 3¡Á3 single pce question. It wasn¡¯t difficult for him at all.

    In this pce, the four vacant Xs were the password.

    The numbers to fill in the nine squares were 1-9. The numbers that appeared so far were 9, 2, 3, 7 and 6. ording to the most basic ¡®no repeating a number in a single pce¡¯ rule, the missing numbers were 1, 4, 5 and 8.

    How were these four numbers arranged as the password?

    First, look at the known numbers. The third column of numbers wasplete. 2+7+6 = 15. He could infer that the rule of the nine squares was for the horizontal and vertical columns to add up to 15. Then the first line was a 4, the second line was a 5 and the third line was an 8 and 1 respectively. This satisfied the rule of ¡®horizontal and vertical columns = 15.¡¯

    The password was 4581.

    Xiao Lou walked in front of the box and turned the password lock from 0000 to 4581.

    There was a creaking sound and the box in front of him opened. He was surprised to find that there was a card inside the box.

    [Special Effects Card: Nine Pces Grid]

    Rarity: C

    Description: Afterpleting the nine square pce reasoning problem of the 2 of Diamonds secret room, it can be obtained from the treasure chest.

    Note: Throw the special effect card Nine Pces Grid to the designated position and immediately form a 3m x 3m nine-square grid surface, locking up all targets within the nine square grid and making them unable to move for 9 seconds.

    Number of times avable: 9/9.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up!

    The Hearts secret room was a unified settlement reward in the personal space after the instance was cleared. In the Diamonds secret room, there was a reward treasure chest waiting for every puzzle solved. It was like ying a stand-alone game and going through a maze, getting a treasure chest every time an area was unlocked.

    Nine Pces Grid was a special effects card. It might only be a C-grade rarity but it was arge-range skill that locked all targets in a 3¡Á3 square. In a key moment, he could let the enemy stay in ce for nine seconds and quickly escape.

    This cardbined with Tao Yuanming¡¯s Remember Peach Blossom Spring meant that escaping wasn¡¯t a problem.

    The harvest of the special effects card was an unexpected surprise. Xiao Lou¡¯s spirit was raised and he immediately walked to the left wall to continue the puzzle.

    The mathematics problem on this wall was slightly moreplicated than the nine square grid.

    He saw four lines on the wall:

    4894=1236

    9795=1645

    7743=1412

    8376=??

    Xiao Lou only looked at the question once before quickly answering.

    Many people heard ¡®numerical puzzle¡¯ and subconsciously felt that their mathematics wasn¡¯t good enough. In fact, numerical puzzles weren¡¯t about a mathematicalputing ability but logical reasoning ability. The key was to find the rule between the numbers.

    In order to solve this question, careful observation was needed.

    Xiao Lou only yed secret room games and had a lot of experience with numerical reasoning.

    The trick to numerical reasoning was to ignore the size of the number itself and look at each number separately. For example, the hint of this question was 4894=1236. It was easy to find that once you looked closely. 4+8=12, 9¡Á4=36. The simple addition and multiplication of numbers coincided with 12 and 36.

    The same was true for 9795=1645. 9+7=16, 9¡Á5=45.

    In other words, the first two numbers were added together to get the first two results. Thest two numbers were multiplied to get thest two results. The three hints followed the same rule, proving that the solution was correct.

    The final reasoning result of thest 8376 was obvious. 8+3=11, 7¡Á6=42. The answer was 1142.

    1142 was the password.

    Xiao Lou went to the treasure chest, quickly changing the password lock to 1142.

    Sure enough, there was a click and the box opened sessfully in front of him.

    There was another card in the treasure chest.

    [Special Effects Card: Mathematical Equation]

    Rarity: B

    Description: Afterpleting the equation-based reasoning problem of the 2 of Diamonds secret room, it can be obtained from the treasure chest.

    Note: The effect of this card is very special. You can throw the mathematical equation at any specified target so that the target receives the same damage you suffered. Simply put, you drag them to share your fate when dying and it isn¡¯t a loss :).

    Number of times avable: 2/2.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Why was a smiley face drawn at the end?

    Was it necessary to drag someone else to death? The style of this Card World should improve!

    Forcing the other person to receive the same damage as him meant sharing an end with others? Xiao Lou¡¯s mouth twitched and he put the card in his card pack.

    The rarity of the Mathematical Equation card was B, indicating that the number of challengers who solved this problem was rtively rare.

    For this type of logical reasoning problem, it was very simple after finding the rule. If the rule wasn¡¯t found then it couldn¡¯t be solved. It was really hard for those who hadn¡¯t yed secret room games or touched numerical reasoning. It was estimated that they would be confused over this question.

    Fortunately, the D-grade chamber could selectively open mechanisms. There were two choices out of four, the probability of finding a question to answer was quiterge.

    A prompt popped up on the suspension box. [Two mechanisms have been opened and the instance clearance condition has been reached. Do you want to leave the 2 of Diamonds secret room? Yes/No.]

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t hesitate to choose No.

    He turned t the next wall, shining the light on it and continuing to crack the next mechanism.

    A perfect clearance was his pursuit!

 Chapter 8: Perfect Clearance

    Xiao Lou quickly cracked the numerical puzzles on two walls. At this time, he only used 30 seconds. The hour and minute hands on the pendulum still pointed to 19:00 and only the second hand pointed to 30 seconds.

    30 seconds to crack two maths problems, this was thanks to Xiao Lou ying many secret rooms. He had a wealth of game experience and could think of a solution when seeing the question.

    The harvest of two special effects cards made Xiao Lou full of power. He put away the card and headed to the third wall.

    The third wall was different from the first two.

    He saw four Chinese characters on the wall:

    Ìï¡¢Íõ¡¢åø¡¢ÈÕ.

    There were no hints for this question and he could only use his imagination.

    The four Chinese characters represented the final password. It wasn¡¯t as simple as the strokes in the Chinese characters. If it was the strokes then only a few words would be written, not four words.

    Common ground must be found to convert the Chinese character into numbers.

    Xiao Lou shone the shlight on the wall, carefully observed for 10 seconds and quickly came to a conclusion.

    Don¡¯t think of them as Chinese characters or surnames and phrases. Simply treat them as graphics.

    The thing these four characters had inmon was that there was a ¡®symmetric axis¡¯ in the middle that could be folded.

    Ìï, if folded symmetrically from the middle would be the number 8.

    Íõ, if folded symmetrically from the middle would be the number 3.

    åø became 4 after being folded symmetrically. (The font makes this character look a bit different. Click here for an example of a symmetrical version)

    ÈÕ when folded up and down became the number 0.

    The four characters all had a symmetry axis and happened to be numbers after folding. This was the logic of this puzzle.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t hesitate to adjust the gears of the password lock to 8340.

    As he expected, there was the unlocking sound and a card in the treasure chest.

    [Tool Card: Folding Paper]

    Rarity: A

    Description: After solving the Chinese characters puzzle of the 2 of Diamonds secret room, it can be obtained from the treasure chest.

    Note: Have you ever yed an origami game? Use your imagination to fold the paper into the shape you want and it will quickly erge into the real object. For example, if a paper boat is ced into the sea then it will be a small boat. Fold a horse and you can have a horse mount. It isn¡¯t rmended to fold into a ne, which is the origami technique that most people know. The folded aerone can easily crash when erged into a solid body.

    Number of times used: Unfortunately, such a strong folding paper can only be used once.

    Xiao Lou could only fold the simplest paper ne. Even if it was magnified by a hundred times, it couldn¡¯t carry people and fly. He didn¡¯t know any other origami and it was better to save this first. If he met people who were proficient in origami then he would give it to them. It had a rarity of A and the function of the real object must be very strong. It couldn¡¯t be wasted. If a car or boat was folded at a critical moment, their lives could be saved.

    Xiao Lou put the Folding Paper card away and turned to crack thest puzzle.

    There was still a treasure chest left and opening it would pass the instance perfectly.

    He shone the shlight on thest wall and saw many messy arrow symbols on the wall.

    ¡û¡ý¡ú¡ý¡û

    ¡ú¡ý¡û¡ý¡ú

    ¡û¡ý¡ý¡ú¡ü¡û

    ¡ú¡ý¡ý¡û¡ü¡ü

    The corners of Xiao Lou¡¯s mouth raised.

    He happened to have done this type of puzzle.

    At that time, he and his friends had been ying a vampire-themed secret escape room. They had encountered a simr mechanism in the secret room but it wasn¡¯t arrow symbols on the wall. It was English letters such as RDDLUU, where U stood for up, D for down, L for left and R for right. It also meant up, down, left and right in the four directions.

    What was the rtionship between up, down, left, right and numbers?

    As long as you followed the direction stated with your fingers and wrote it in the palm of your hand, you would get a number.

    ¡û¡ý¡ú¡ý¡û£¬Left, down, right, down, left, this wrote out the number 5.

    ¡ú¡ý¡û¡ý¡ú£¬right, down, left, down, right, this wrote out the number 2.

    ¡û¡ý¡ý¡ú¡ü¡û£¬the answer was 6£»¡ú¡ý¡ý¡û¡ü¡ü£¬the answer was 0.

    The arrow code of this wall gave the result of 5260.

    Xiao Lou quickly moved the gears of the password lock to 5260 and sessfully opened the treasure chest, obtaining thest card of the 2 of Diamonds secret room.

    [Tool Card: Four-way Arrow]

    Rarity: A

    Description: After solving the arrow puzzle of the 2 of Diamonds secret room, it can be obtained from the treasure chest.

    Note: Can be used in a flexible way. In particr, when encountering a maze, you can use the arrow to give your teammates some tips so they won¡¯t go to a dead end. The tool card has a very high viscosity and can be glued to any location on the ground, branches, buildings, etc. Once the tool card is left in ce, it can be customized to seven colours to prevent people with bad eyes from seeing it.

    Number of uses: Unlimited.

    Xiao Lou looked again at the description and found a key word mentioned in this Four-way Arrow tool card¡ªmaze.

    This showed that in future Diamond rooms, it was very likely he would encounter a maze full of mechanisms!

    Moreover, this card clearly referred to ¡®teammates¡¯, proving that the maze in theter period was indeed a team model and multi-path exploration. Perhaps a person stepping on the wrong mechanism meant all their teammates would be shot into a hedgehog.

    If the Diamond room was developing in the direction of a ¡®mechanismbyrinth¡¯, challengers not only had to find their way out of the maze but also use their brains to solve puzzles and open the right mechanism, facing punishment that might arise at any time. A rain of arrows, a knife array, boulders, puzzles, poison, mes¡­ there were too many ways of punishment and the difficulty if thete secret rooms would exceed his imagination.

    Xiao Lou was just thinking this when two lines popped up on the suspension box.

    [Congrattions to the challenger Xiao Lou for perfectly clearing the D-grade secret room ¡®Numerical Puzzle¡¯ in 58 seconds, the instance clearance score is greater than 99% of the challengers!]

    [This instance clearance is evaluated as S-grade. A perfect clearance will get an extra lucky draw chance. Please return to the personal space for settlement of the rewards.]

    Xiao Lou saw the perfect clearance prompt and pressed the ¡¯exit¡¯ button to return to the personal space.

    At the same time, the 2 of Diamonds secret room.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the equations on the wall and frowned slightly.

    He hated maths the most. Seeing 4894=1236, he only had a splitting headache.

    Just then, red letters suddenly filled the suspension box above his head.

    [Congrattions to challenger Xiao Lou for perfectly clearing the 2 of Diamonds secret room, Numerical Puzzle, in 58 seconds, refreshing the 2 of Diamonds¡¯ world record!]

    Yu Hanjiang who hadn¡¯t solved a question in one minute, ¡°¡­¡±

    Entering the room, moving and turning the password gears for four walls took time. A 58 second perfect clearance meant answering four questions. In other words, Xiao Lou took an average of 10 seconds to clear each question.

    This Xiao Lou, wasn¡¯t the speed at cracking the numerical mechanisms too fast?

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and looked at the announcement again.

    The Xiao Lou he knew was a professor in the Department of Forensic Medicine at the medical university.

    Their first contact was because a girl from the medical university fell to her death. Once the investigation started, the students mentioned that herst ss was Professor Xiao¡¯s ss. The students also evaluated Professor Xiao very highly. In the beginning, Yu Hanjiang thought that the highly respected Professor Xiao would be an old expert around 40 or 50 years old. He hadn¡¯t expected Xiao Lou to be so young.

    It happened to be raining the day that Xiao Lou came to the police station to make a statement.

    The man¡¯s ck hair was wet from rain and it was attached to his ears, lining a clear face. His eyshes were long and thick. The rain on it covered the ck and clear eyes with a gentleyer of water.

    He wore a white shirt and his clothes was wet from the rain, but he didn¡¯t look embarrassed. The man¡¯s posture was straight and upright. He had a clean temperament and hisughing eyes made people feel friendly at first sight.

    Yu Hanjiang had been exposed to people from all walks of life but Xiao Lou¡¯s temperament was undoubtedly unique. Gentle, graceful and talented, this was the student¡¯s evaluation of him. The medical students regarded him as a male god and it was said that his ss was always packed. In the university where the ss rate was extremely serious, his ss actually had students from other departmentse to listen.

    In the process of writing the statement, this man was always calm and it could be seen that his psychological quality was very high and he was well-bred.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s first impression of him was very good.

    The girl¡¯s case was quickly resolved and he thought they would have no more intersection. Then the Major Crimes unit encountered a bad poisoning case. Yu Hanjiang went to send the poison to the Forensic Identification Centre and he met Xiao Lou again.

    The two people became familiar with each other and added each other as friends. Xiao Lou helped a lot during the investigation of the case and Yu Hanjiang wanted to invite him to dinner. It was just that the Spring Festival was approaching and Xiao Lou pushed the dinner back.

    Unfortunately, on the seventh day of the new year, there was no time for Yu Hanjiang to meet Xiao Lou¡­

    The familiar name caused countless memories to rush through his mind. Yu Hanjiang took a deep breath and quickly stabilized his mind.

    A person who could perfectly pass the numerical puzzle secret room in 58 seconds was obviously a master of numerical puzzles. Was this Xiao Lou and the young forensic doctor he knew the same person? Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t determine this.

    He only knew that Xiao Lou was widely acimed at school. As for whether he yed puzzle games in private, Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t know.

    Perhapster he could find a chance to contact this Xiao Lou and check?

    Yu Hanjiang put away his confused thoughts and continued to focus on the mathematical puzzle on the wall.

    Back in Xiao Lou¡¯s personal space, he also saw the news of the 2 of Diamond¡¯s world record being refreshed.

    He felt some surprise.

    Spending 10 seconds on a question was normal for him. After all, he yed too many secret room games and the mostmon mechanism in a secret room was a numerical puzzle.

    Perhaps the people who came to the Card World didn¡¯t have as high a psychological endurance as him and the people who often yed numerical puzzle games were less likely to be seen. Thus, he picked up this world record for cheap.

    The 2 of Diamonds room wasn¡¯t difficult. As long as the interference of the clock¡¯s ticking sound was ignored and the challenger calmed down and carefully observed to find the logic of the numbers, the answer could be quickly obtained.

    The 15 minute numerical puzzle room was perfectly cleared by Xiao Lou in 58 seconds.

    What card would he get from this perfect clearance draw?

    Looking at the 2 of Diamonds on the card wall, there was a green ¡®passed¡¯ in the lower right corner. Xiao Lou calmly dered, ¡°Where is the keeper of the Diamonds room? Come out and meet me.¡±

 Chapter 9: S-Grade Tool Card

    The keeper of Hearts was a beautiful sister. Xiao Lou thought that the image of the keeper of Diamonds would be simr. As a result, he just finished speaking when he heard a clear and sweet child¡¯s voice in his ears. ¡°Hello, I am A of Diamonds. Congrattions on your perfect clearance!¡±

    Xiao Lou turned and saw a small loli sitting on the sofa. She wore a red, knee-length dress, white stockings and a pair of red bow shoes. There were two ponytails on the girl¡¯s head and her chubby baby¡¯s face had a big smile. Her eyes were curved and there was a lovely dimple on the corner of the left side.

    She looked only seven or eight and her soft white face easily made adults feel soft.

    However, remembering that this was the keeper of Diamonds¡­ Xiao Lou quickly put away his love of children and got straight to the point. ¡°I perfectly cleared the instance so can I draw a card?¡±

    ¡°Of course, try your luck.¡±

    A glittering treasure chest appeared in front of him. Xiao Lou walked quickly and put his hand into the box, pulling out a card.

    [Congrattions on getting the S-grade ¡®Tool Card: Compass¡¯!]

    Since the perfect clearance of 2 of Hearts and drawing the summoning card Tao Yuanming, Xiao Lou had a preliminary understanding of this Card World. He didn¡¯t feel any surprise when getting the Compass. He picked up the card and looked at it carefully.

    [Tool Card: Compass]

    Rarity: S

    Description: A mathematical tool that ismon in reality but extremely rare in the Card World. After perfectly clearing a room, there is a very low probability of obtaining it from the limited card pool draw.

    Additional Skill 1: Draw a Circle.

    How to use: Take out thepass tool and draw a circle at any position. After 10 seconds, the circle will be a metal ring of the same size. You can let the ring float and use it as a weapon to attack the enemy. The power of the ring depends on how you use it. Please understand it for yourself.

    Note: The growth is level one and the drawn circle will be solid after 10 seconds. For every increase in level, the time it takes for the drawn circle to be solid is reduced by one second. At full level, it is reduced to 0.5 seconds.

    Additional Skill 2: Unlocked when the card grows to level 10.

    Xiao Lou read the description and immediately activated this tool card, wanting to try out the actual effect.

    The card activated and a silverpass appeared in his palm. It was simr to thepass used in junior high school mathematics, except that there was a knob at the two legs of thepass which allowed him to adjust the length.

    He first drew a regr sized 1 cm diameter circle on the ground and then followed by adjusting the length of the legs to the maximum, drawing a circle with a diameter of 100cm. After 10 seconds, two silver-white metal rings of the same size as the circles he just drew appeared. The rings were very thin and the touch was like silver wire. The rings floated into the air with his movements.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was happy as he tried to control the rings to fly around his personal space.

    Two rings, one big and one small, actually floated in the air ording to the movement of his fingers and didn¡¯t fall.

    This type of anti-gravity phenomenon like ¡®magic¡¯ made it difficult for Xiao Lou to adapt for a while. Then he thought of himself in the Card World and how he could summon Tao Yuanming¡­ there was no need to talk about the scientific basis of making a floating ring.

    The world itself wasn¡¯t scientific.

    Xiao Lou put the rings down and quickly figured out the usage of the S-grade tool card, ¡®Compass.¡¯

    The circle drawn by thepass could be adjusted freely between 1cm and 100 cm. Small earrings, rings, h hoops for adults¡ªthe size of the circle was the size of the metal ring.

    The powerful part of this card was that it was very flexible to use. He could draw a ring the size of a bracelet and use it as a hidden weapon to attack others. He could draw a big ring that could be used to trap the enemies. When necessary, he could use a thin metal ring to break the neck of others.

    In theory, with thepass in hand, he didn¡¯tck any circr weapons. They could be painted on the spot, regardless of the environment.

    This was really an S-grade tool.

    Xiao Loufortably put the new card into his card package and rearranged the order.

    The plot card ¡®Rose Funeral¡¯ was still ced in thest grid. He also ced the Four-way Arrow and Folding Paper that he just obtained in the back. These two cards were temporarily unavable. They would be taken outter if necessary.

    Then he followed up by cing the Compass in the second grid for convenient ess at any time.

    Xiao Lou finished the arrangement and once again checked the position of each card. Tao Yuanming was still in the first grid, Compass was in the second grid, followed by Nine Pces Grid, Mathematical Equation, Fruit Knife and Rose Perfume. Then there were more than a dozen card sloths and finally Rose Funeral, Four-way Arrow and Folding Paper.

    He currently had a total of nine cards, two of which were S-grade.

    Xiao Lou found that the S-grade cards were all cards that could grow. They had the highest versatility and no limit on the number of uses. Tao Yuanming could be summoned at any time and use Remember Peach Blossom Spring once a day, while Compass could always draw a circle and wouldn¡¯t be damaged.

    An A-grade card was weaker than an S-grade card. For example, Folding Paper could only be used once. Four-way Arrow had no limit on the number of uses but only had the role of ¡®guidance.¡¯ It was a god card in the maze but not a big deal outside the maze.

    Cards below A-grade were even worse. For example, the tool Fruit Knife could only deal damage 10 times, Rose Perfume had a 100ml capacity before it was used up, Nine Pces Grid could only be used nine times and Mathematical Equation could only be used twice.

    Judging from the cards currently obtained, there was no hierarchical fraud in card rarity.

    This meant that an S rarity card was the most powerful, an A-grade card had a miraculous effect in some secret rooms but hadrge restrictions, B and C-grade cards were rtively simple to obtain while there were countless low rated cards that were also very easy to use.

    In theter stages, if he wanted to clear more advanced secret rooms then it was better to have more S and A-grade cards on his body.

    In the Card World, the cards drawn would increase the yer¡¯sbat power. Therefore, in the next secret room, Xiao Lou should aim for a perfect clearance as much as possible. Even if he had to use the low level cards he obtained, he must pursue a perfect instance clearance to draw more S-grade cards.

    Xiao Lou put away the card package and look at the little girl on the sofa. ¡°I can rest for 15 minutes after the clearance is over?¡±

    The little girl supported her chin with a hand and smiled. ¡°The Diamond rooms have no break time. You need to select the next card as soon as possible within one minute.¡± She waved her hands and four cards suddenly flew in front of Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou frowned. It seemed that the rules set by the keepers of each type of secret room were different. After the Hearts secret room, he could rest for 15 minutes while the Diamonds secret room didn¡¯t give any rest time and he could only continue to the next level.

    At present, the second rooms that Xiao Lou could choose were 3 of Hearts, 3 of Diamonds, 2 of Spades and 2 of Clubs.

    He could go to 3 of Hearts to solve the case or go to 3 of Diamonds to continue opening the mechanisms. He had confidence that he could clear it. However, he couldn¡¯t always avoid Spades and Clubs. Since he decided to be familiar with all the secret rooms, Xiao Lou simply pulled out Spades in order.

    This was the first time he had drawn a ck card.

    The unknown secret room and the ck light of the card made Xiao Lou feel a bit uneasy.

    Still, he didn¡¯t have time to think much about it. His body was forcibly sucked into the world of 2 of Spades by a familiar, strange force.

    This was a deste town.

    The grey sky cast a shadow over the entire town.

    Most of the stores had their doors closed, the streets were empty and there were no pedestrians. There were many abandoned vehicles parked on both sides of the street and no living people in all the cars. Some cars had a rusted appearance.

    There was a garbage can not far ahead. The garbage inside obviously hadn¡¯t been cleaned out for a long time and it smelt rotten.

    A gust of wind blew through the garbage can and a stic bag in the trash was blown out.

    Next to it, a dry tree was blown down to the ground with a loud sound. The crows on the tree were startled and screamed as they flew into the distance. A few mice next to the trash can were rmed by the crow¡¯s voices and scurried around. Arge mouse passed by Xiao Lou and stopped to look at him.

    Xiao Lou was immediately alert.

    This was an unusual environment. What type of ce had hee to?

    Just then, the floating text box above his head familiar gave the familiar prompts.

    [Wee to the 2 of Spades secret room, Zombie Town.]

    This is a remote town. Due to its beautiful scenery, it was once a popr tourist destination in the Card World.

    Six months ago, a family of three travelled here and this coincided with a heavy rain. The eight year old boy was sent to the hospital for treatment after a high fever. At first, everyone thought that he only had a cold and a fever but the doctor couldn¡¯t cool him down, no matter how many attempts were made. The boy died because of the ineffective rescue and he was ced in the morgue in preparation for burial after the rain.

    However,te at night, the little boy suddenly climbed out of the morgue.

    He was gnawing on his mother¡¯s neck when the nurse on duty found him. The nurse screamed and called the security room. The little boy attacked the people around him like a mad dog but the security guards at the hospital quickly subdued him and locked him up.

    Even so, there were too many people bitten by him and some left the hospital.

    The virus started to spread rapidly.

    The infected people frantically bit at their own kind.

    The original scenic town turned into the most terrible hell on earth overnight!

    [2 of Spades secret room survival target: Avoid the zombie attacks and go to the hospital in the town centre. There will be someone on the roof of the hospital outpatient building to save you.]

    [The time limit to clear the instance is 60 minutes and it will be a failure once the time is over.]

    [D-grade secret room¡¯s friendly tip: The zombie¡¯s attacks are very strong but their movements are slow. Once caught by them, you will immediately be infected with the virus, be a zombie and stay here forever.]

    Unlike the simple tips for Hearts and Diamonds, the Spades room had a more detailed background.

    Xiao Lou was currently in a world infected with the zombie virus.

    Thest line of the tip made Xiao Lou feel creeped out.

    In other words, if he was identally scratched by a zombie in this secret room then he would get a virus and stay here in the form of zombies. Perhaps many of the zombies he would encounter in the 2 of Spades secret room were challengers like him.

    Living in the form of a zombie in this Card World, it was better to simply die!

    Xiao Lou clenched his fists hard, nails hurting his palms. The sharp pain made him calm down quickly.

    Hearing a noise behind him, Xiao Lou turned around.

    He saw that several zombies had smelled the living and were slowly surrounding him.

    Some zombies had distorted features, somecked arms and legs and some had holes in their stomach. A female student in a school uniform whose body was intact but her eyes were muddy and staring at him without any feelings. Drool was flowing from her mouth.

    The distance between him and this female zombie was no more than five metres.

    The moment he turned back, his eyes happened to meet the female zombie¡¯s dead, fish-like eyes.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou stiffened and turned without hesitation to run!

 Chapter 10: Zombie Town (1)

    The moment he entered 2 of Spades, Xiao Lou had carefully observed the surroundings.

    In front of him was a long deserted street that was wide. Apart from many abandoned vehicles on both sides of the road, there were no obvious obstacles that would block his escape route.

    The zombies were very aggressive and he would suffer in closebat, but it wasn¡¯t difficult to avoid their pursuit. They were slow moving and he could maintain his safety by running fast.

    However, Xiao Lou ran for 100 metres and found that he had been thinking too simply.

    The town had arge poption and everyone had be a zombie after the virus spread.

    As he ran, more zombies smelt a living person and surrounded him.

    His current location was called People¡¯s Street. It was very wide and should be the main road in town. At the end of the street, there was a sign showing ¡®¡ûCentral Hospital/Grand Theatre, ¡úScience Museum/Xiushui Park.¡¯

    To get to the hospital, he had to turn left at the end of People¡¯s Street.

    However, People¡¯s Street had arge number of winding roads and countless stores. Almost every winding road had zombies patrolling and in many stores, zombies were trying to climb outside.

    He wouldn¡¯t lose if he was simply racing with the zombies. The problem was that no matter where he went, there were zombies in the vicinity!

    At first, only four zombies were chasing him. Then he ran 100 metres and the zombies chasing him became more than a dozen. A zombie child with blood on his face ran out of a store on the left while there were two zombies with twisted heads in the alley to the right¡­

    If this continued, the number of zombies would only increase.

    If a zombie suddenly emerged from a fork and scratched his skin, it would be all over.

    He didn¡¯t want to be infected and be a zombie, forever staying in 2 of Spades!

    Xiao Lou ran while quickly thinking of countermeasures.

    The rapid running made him breathless and his ears could clearly hear his intense heartbeat. Perhaps it was due to this high concentration that his thinking became clearer and sharper than usual.

    He noticed that there was a tobo and alcohol supermarket just around the corner that was open.

    The tobo and alcohol supermarket at the entrance of themunity was a small business and the area was generally less than 60 square metres. If there were zombies inside then the number wouldn¡¯t be too much. It was possible for him to use a tool card to clear the space.

    He had to make himself a separate space.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath, took off the jacket that inconvenienced him and threw it into the trash can. He quickly ran into the tobo and alcohol supermarket, mming the ss door shut and locking it from the inside.

    He turned to watch the inside of the supermarket with vignce. There was a slightly fat middle-aged man sitting in front of the counter. His head was pulled to the side and only half the flesh remained on his neck. He still had a pack of cigarettes in his hand and was probably the original owner of this tobo and alcohol supermarket.

    Hearing Xiao Lou enter the supermarket, the zombie stood up awkwardly with only half a head, struggling to look at him.

    The next moment, the zombie saw a sharp fruit knife.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s hands fell, the actions decisive and clear!

    The zombie originally only had half his neck remaining. Xiao Lou¡¯s knife descended and the skin and blood vessels were cut off, the head rolling to the ground.

    His movements were too neat. Before the head moved, the zombie didn¡¯t have time to see what the person in front of him looked like.

    Xiao Lou put away the fruit knife, his heart beating quickly.

    It was the first time he had killed a human. No, the thing in front of him couldn¡¯t be called ¡®human.¡¯

    As a forensic doctor, Xiao Lou clearly understood every structure of the human body.

    In normal humans, the neck artery being cut meant they would¡¯ve died long ago. The blood vessels in the left side neck of the middle-aged man were all cut and his head was only half attached to his neck. The blood in the body was drained and all the brain cells had died. The man had no consciousness. He was just a dead body able to walk because a special virus was driving his body.

    In the face of the dead body, Xiao Lou didn¡¯t hesitate to take out his fruit knife and instantly cut the other¡¯s neck, just like dissecting a body.

    Xiao Lou was relieved after cleaning up the zombies in the tobo and alcohol supermarket.

    He wasn¡¯t very good at fighting. Hacking at a zombie was okay but letting him fight one against many was simply looking for a dead end. He could only rely on skills to get rid of the zombies. The cards that were previously obtained from clearing the Hearts and Diamonds secret rooms could finally be used.

    The fruit knife was a tool card that he pulled out of the card bag. In the 2 of Hearts secret room, it was the weapon Zhao Sen used to kill Zou Xiaomei.

    Xiao Lou quickly opened the card bag.

    He calmly summoned Tao Yuanming and had Tao Yuanming used Remember Peach Blossom Spring.

    Remember Peach Blossom Spring needed 10 seconds to cast and the process of casting couldn¡¯t be seen or the skill would fail to release. He had run too fast and the zombie group couldn¡¯t catch up with him for 10 seconds. This was enough for Tao Yuanming to sessfully release the skills.

    Xiao Lou stared out the ss door. The slow moving zombies were slowly gathering in his direction. He took a deep breath to stabilize his emotions and counted down in his heart¡ª10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1¡ª

    Now!

    As the entrance of the Peach Blossom Spring appeared, Xiao Lou quickly put away Tao Yuanming, took out the rose perfume and sprayed it on his body. Then he opened the ss door of the supermarket and rushed out like he was running a 100 metres race.

    Rose Perfume was a C-grade card that was a fixed reward from clearing 2 of Hearts. There was a saying on the card description: Spraying the perfume on your body can attract all targets within 30 metres close to you.

    This tool card had a ¡®pulling¡¯ function.

    The zombies were slow to respond and sometimes couldn¡¯t sense his presence 30 metres away. If they suddenly attacked from behind or the side when he approached, this would make him unable to prevent it.

    Therefore, Xiao Lou simply sprayed himself with the rose perfume, bringing over all the distant zombies.

    It was very strange to be chased by more than a dozen zombies. Wasn¡¯t this simply digging his own grave?

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t think so.

    Rather than fighting the zombies one by one, it was better to resolve them all at once.

    In the deste town, the young man was moving fast, his figure running like the wind down the long street. He ran to a corner and looked at the zombies in the vicinity. His fingertips shed and he suddenly threw out a special effects card.

    The Nine Pces Grid.

    A 3m x 3m nine-square grid was created. All zombies that stepped into range were frozen for nine seconds!

    Xiao Lou sessfully controlled the group of zombies behind him and continued to run forward.

    Nine seconds was enough for him to run a long distance.

    However, in the process of running, the rose perfume attracted new zombies. He escaped the chase of the zombies in a thrilling manner. Whenever there were too many zombies, he would throw out the Nine Pces Grid to settle the zombies.

    His movements were agile and calm and his escape route was very clear.

    At the end of the People¡¯s Street, turn left and his destination, Central Hospital was there.

    Xiao Lou soon came to the door of Central Hospital and swayed in front of the outpatient hall. The zombies in the outpatient hall were all alerted and more than a dozen zombies came out!

    Sure enough, the end of the mission contained the most zombies.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t enter the hospital. He led all the zombies from the outpatient hall and continued to run forward!

    Further forward was the Grand Theatre.

    This was a three-storey building and the zombie virus had spread in the middle of the night. There shouldn¡¯t be too many zombies in the Grand Theatre.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s left hand held the Nine Pces Grid while the fruit knife was in his right hand. He entered the Grand Theatre in a high state of alert.

    Sure enough, the number of zombies was less than imagined.

    Xiao Lou sighed with relief as he used the fruit knife to handle the two zombies at the door and quickly walked to the centre of the theatre stage.

    Momentster, the hundreds of zombies chasing him flooded in like the tide!

    This image was scary and phobia sufferers would probably vomit.

    Nevertheless, Xiao Lou was extremely calm. He stood alone on the stage of the Grand Theatre, watching the zombies calmly.

    All the zombies stumbled through the aisles and surrounded the stage, drooling at Xiao Lou.

    Just as they were preparing to flock and have a good meal¡ª

    The slender young man on the stage suddenly disappeared without a trace.

    The zombies, ¡°?????¡±

    The hundreds of zombies stared nkly at the empty stage.

    Xiao Lou appeared in the Peach Blossom Spring.

    The moment he was surrounded by zombies, he once again took out the Tao Yuanming card and triggered the effect of the Remember Peach Blossom Spring skill.

    He really moved to the Peach Blossom Spring.

    Looking around, the mountains were covered with peach trees. The peach blossoms were blooming and pink petals flew with the wind. The entire scene was as beautiful as a dream. The stream was ying a pleasant note in his ears and Tao Yuanming was sitting at the stream fishing.

    [The card ¡®Tao Yuanming¡¯ has grown by +1.]

    [The skill effect of Remember Peach Blossom Spring has improved and one more partner can be brought into the Peach Blossom Spring.]

    These two lines hovered on the suspension box.

    Xiao Lou was slightly stunned. He had asked how the growth of the card could be improved the moment he saw the description. The other person had replied that the cards upgraded in different ways and he had to explore it himself.

    It seemed that Tao Yuanming¡¯s growth should be rted to the number of times he entered the Peach Blossom Spring?

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes quickly swept over the Peach Blossom Spring. The scenery here was very beautiful and he was the only one present apart from Tao Yuanming. He sighed a bit before turning back to the entrance and taking the initiative to leave this space.

    He really returned to the tobo and alcohol supermarket.

    The zombie that had been cut by him was still lying on the counter while his head was on the ground, eyeballs almost popped out of the sockets.

    There was no abnormality in the surrounding space. Even if someone passed by, there was no way for them to see the entrance of the Peach Blossom Spring.

    Xiao Lou disappeared into thin air and appeared out of thin air.

    Peach Blossom Spring was equivalent to an independent safe house and transfer station in the Card World.

    There was no need to mention Tao Yuanming¡¯s skill. This was too powerful, space teleportation!

    Xiao Lou had just run a few kilometers and was tired and half dead. His heart was almost beating out of his chest but at this moment, he saw the empty streets and finally sighed with relief, a big smile on his face.

    The zombies around him were led to the Grand Theatre and thanks to the effect of the rose perfume, he had missed none of them.

    The clumsy zombies were probably still in a daze around the stage of the Grand Theatre.

    Xiao Lou wiped the sweat from his forehead and walked out.

    Without the annoying zombies blocking him, he went all the went to his mission target, the Central Hospital.

 Chapter 11: Zombie Town (Middle)

    Central Hospital was thergest public hospital in town. There were four white buildings of a uniform style, each written respectively as the ¡®Outpatient Building, ¡®Inpatient Building¡¯ ¡®Inspection Centre¡¯ and ¡®Office Building.¡¯

    The clearance condition of the 2 of Spades room was to reach the rooftop of the Central Hospital¡¯s outpatient building and someone woulde to save him.

    Xiao Lou walked into the outpatient hall and the suspension box in front of him refreshed. [You have reached the destination of Central Hospital. D-grade secret room¡¯s friendly tip: You can avoid the zombies, take the elevator directly to the rooftop of the outpatient building and leave Zombie Town. If you want a perfect clearance, please explore and find the serum samples of the first infected person.]

    The 2 of Diamonds¡¯ clearance time was 60 minutes. Most challengers should carefully avoid the zombies and handle them using weapons. After arriving at the hospital hall, there were originally a dozen zombies here that were scattered around. As long as the challenger avoided them and smoothly entered the elevator to the roof of the building, they could pass the instance.

    The difficulty wasn¡¯t great if they just wanted to pass through the 2 of Spades room.

    However, it obviously wasn¡¯t that easy to get a perfect clearance.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s approach was very thrilling but he took care of all the zombies on the road. He lured them and trapped many zombies in the Grand Theatre, using the trick of the ¡®vanishing and leaving an empty shell.¡¯ Thus, the hall was empty when he entered the outpatient building. He would walk directly to the elevator and push the button to the highest level.

    Thinking of the power of this S-grade Tao Yuanming card¡­

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t hesitate to turn and walk out of the outpatient building.

    A perfect clearance and gaining S-grade cards were his goals. If even a D-grade secret room couldn¡¯t be perfectly cleared then the difficulty of obtaining S-grad cards in theter stages would be more and more serious. Peach Blossom Springsted for 30 minutes and this gave him confidence. If he couldn¡¯tplete this task then he could rush back to the Peach Blossom Spring to take refuge.

    The next step was to find the serum sample of the first infected person.

    There were three more buildings, the inpatient building, the inspection centre and the office building. ording tomon sense, if a special patient was encountered at the hospital then the serum sample should be taken to the blood testing area of the inspection building.

    Xiao Lou looked at the countdown in the suspension box. There were 40 minutes left, he had to hurry.

    If he wanted to go to the inspection centre, he had to first go through the inpatient building.

    The door of the hospital was open and Xiao Lou saw several broken bodies on the ground. Most of the bodies were covered with wounds and there was a lot of dry blood around them. There should be fierce battles here.

    Thinking about it, the little boy climbed out of the morgue in the middle of the night. There were very doctors on duty at the clinicte at night and not many patients came to the emergency room in the middle of the night. The inpatient building was the ce that had the most people at night.

    After the outbreak of the virus zombie, the impact on the inpatient building was the greatest.

    Many patients might¡¯ve been sleeping at the time and were awakened by outside movements. Arge number of medical staff and patients fled madly, some of them were infected and mutated into zombies, infecting more and more people¡­ he could imagine that the process was very bloody.

    Xiao Lou raised his ears in an alert manner and tried to step forward with light feet.

    There must be arge number of zombies in the inpatient building. He didn¡¯t want to rm the zombie¡¯s nest¡­

    However, within a few sounds, he had a sound from the hospital that was at first like rats biting popcorn. Soon, the sound doubled and amplified. Countless messy footsteps gathered together and there was the bang of heavy objects falling to the ground. It seemed that something had knocked over a metal cab.

    The harsh sound made Xiao Lou¡¯s scalp numb and then he saw an incredible scene.

    Numerous zombies were rushing from the inpatient building like ants!

    Most of the zombies wore blue and white hospital clothes while some were dressed in nurse¡¯s clothes or white coats¡­

    This scene was spectacr and wouldn¡¯t lose to the sight of elementary students leaving school.

    Xiao Lou stiffened and he raised his legs to run.

    In the process of running, a faint rose scent filled the air. Only then did he realize he had made a serious mistake. He had the strange rose perfume on him. The 30 metre range wasn¡¯t just horizontal but also vertical.

    He had just passed downstairs the inpatient building and the 30 metres vertical distance meant that the zombies on all 10 floors were rmed.

    Previously he relied on the rose perfume to facilitate his unimpeded arrival to the hospital. He didn¡¯t expect that the helpful rose perfume would now harm him by alerting the most terrible zombieir in the inpatient building!

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face was blue.

    The thing that made him even more rmed was that although the zombies wearing hospital clothes were slow, there were some young doctors who became zombies and were more active than ordinary zombies! In particr, the surgeons had to spend a few hours in front of an operating table and the strength of their legs couldn¡¯t bepared to average zombies.

    Several young man doctors caught up with him. One of them was a tall male doctor whose rotten hand almost touched his neck. Xiao Lou¡¯s back was cold and his fingertips shed as he threw the Nine Pces Grid without hesitation.

    The 3¡Á3 metres grid settled the zombies behind him, saving his life in a thrilling way!

    There was no turning back. Xiao Lou could only keep running forward with fear lingering in his heart.

    He had entered the central heart of the hospital and the rose perfume was on his skin. It was useless even if he took off his clothes. No matter where he went, he would attract the zombies around him to chase him. The zombies in the inpatient building, the inspection centre and the office building would be a terrible number he couldn¡¯t imagine.

    He was stupid enough to spray rose perfume and enter the deadir!

    What to do?

    Xiao Lou ran while his mind spun quickly.

    Of course, he could take out the Tao Yuanming card and hide in the Peach Blossom Spring again.

    However, the Peach Blossom Spring onlysted for 30 minutes and it would disappear after 10 minutes. If he wanted to perfectly clear the instance, he had to find a solution for the zombies of these three buildings. Otherwise, the rose perfume meant he wouldn¡¯t be able to sessfully get the little boy¡¯s serum samples.

    He could still use Nine Pces Grid four times but there were so many bodies¡­ right, the Compass!

    The Compass obtained from 2 of Diamonds could draw a circle at any position and the drawn circle would be a metal ring after 10 seconds.

    Without a weapon, he could make a weapon using the Compass!

    The key now was where to lead the zombies to?

    Xiao Lou quickly observed his surroundings. He had just passed the inpatient building and running 50 metres would be the inspection centre. After that was the office building and then¡­

    He saw an empty yground.

    Next door to the hospital was an elementary school. It was probably due to the chaos of the zombie virus that the wall between the hospital and the elementary school copsed, so that one side of the hospitalplex was connected to the yground of the elementary school.

    The broken wall was only one metre wide. Once he entered the yground from the broken wall, the chasing zombies behind him would definitely cause a ¡®traffic congestion¡¯ which would give him some time.

    Xiao Lou decisively made the empty yground the end point.

    Sooner orter, he would have to enter the inspection centre so it was better to take zombies away from the inspection centre now.

    Xiao Lou made up his mind and stayed at the bottom of the inspection centre for a moment.

    The inspection centre was a total of 10 floors and Xiao Lou stayed at the door for a few seconds, leading all the doctors on duty down.

    Running in front was a young male doctor. The white coat was stained with blood and there was a stethoscope hanging around his neck. After smelling Xiao Lou, he turned to Xiao Lou and revealed two bony hands that directly grabbed at Xiao Lou¡¯s face.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face was tense and his right leg mmed out.

    The young zombie was knocked to the ground by him!

    The zombie fell to the ground and quickly got up again. The body¡¯s white bones rubbed against each other, making a creaking sound.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t dy the time. He turned in the direction of the yground and ran quickly, using the Nine Pces Grid along the way to dy time.

    The Nine Pces Grid was used up while he dragged hundreds of zombies behind him.

    The zombie group was left behind as Xiao Lou agilely bypassed the hospitalplex and reached the yground, taking out thepass from his card pack.

    He adjusted the legs of thepass to thergest size and started to draw a circle on the big yground.

    The circles one by one covered the entire yground floor.

    Behind him came the sound of footsteps.

    The crack in the wall that was only one metre wide couldn¡¯t fit so many zombies at the same time. Some zombies couldn¡¯t wait and started climbing the wall. They stepped on other zombies and climbed one by one. This image was almostparable to Resident Evil¡¯s sci-fi blockbuster!

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart trembled slightly but his movements didn¡¯t hesitate.

    After drawing arge number of circles with the Compass, Xiao Lou held his breath and counted the time in his heart.

    10 seconds passed and the circle he first drew became a ring, followed by the second and the third. Xiao Lou had drawn the rings with the technique of connecting the rings together so the created metal rings all connected together, covered by the green grass of the yground.

    The zombies were finally here!

    Xiao Lou stood in the middle of the yground, calmly looking at the dead in front of him.

    There were no traces of hesitation or fear in the man¡¯s dark eyes.

    For him, this group of zombies was nothing more than a group of moving corpses. A forensic doctor wasn¡¯t afraid of corpses.

    The moment that the zombies were covering the yground, Xiao Lou¡¯s right hand jerked up.

    Go up!

    All the rings on the ground suddenly floated like there was a magic spell on them!

    The dense, silver metal rings were like a huge mesh trap. They lifted up with Xiao Lou¡¯s instructions and covered almost all the zombies!

    A one metre diameter ring could hold several zombies in the same circle. These zombies didn¡¯t have the sense of ¡®unified action¡¯ and moved forward in different directions, soon falling down. Their expressions were dull and they couldn¡¯t seem to figure out why they couldn¡¯t move.

    The zombies¡¯ actions were clumsier than humans and they had no IQ.

    Once several zombies were put together in the same ring, they didn¡¯t know and kept moving, restraining each other and pulling at each other,pletely losing their ability to move.

    Xiao Lou looked at the zombies around him and smiled.

    His fingertips shed and he disappeared without a trace.

    Only 100 zombies were left stumbling around the yground in the rings, unable to move at all.

    The author has something to say:

    Zombie group 1: In a daze in the Grand Theatre¡­

    Zombie group 2: Plying a ring game in the big yground¡­

    The zombies are really poor to meet the big devil Xiao Lou.

 Chapter 12: Zombie Town (End)

    Xiao Lou entered the Peach Blossom Spring again and the prompt appeared in the suspension box.

    [The card ¡®Tao Yuanming¡¯ has grown by +1.]

    [The skill effect of Remember Peach Blossom Spring has improved and two partners can be brought into the Peach Blossom Spring.]

    [The remaining time for the Peach Blossom Spring is 4:30.]

    Tao Yuanming¡¯s growth indeed depended on the number of times he entered the Peach Blossom Spring.

    Xiao Lou went to the Hearts and Diamonds rooms first and got many useful cards. Tao Yuanming, Nine Pces Grid and the Compass saved his life in this secret room. If he came to the Spades room from the beginning, he would experience something terrible when encountering the zombies.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath, turned away from the Peach Blossom Spring and returned to the entrance of the tobo and alcohol supermarket.

    Shortly after he left, the Peach Blossom Spring disappeared due to the 30 minute time limit. At the same time, the lower right corner of the Tao Yuanming showed a ¡®not able to be summoned¡¯ prompt that wouldst for 24 hours.

    This meant he could no longer rely on the space teleport of the Peach Blossom Spring.

    He had to be extra careful if he encountered arge number of zombies again.

    The clearance time for 2 of Spades was 60 minutes and he had already used 35 minutes.

    Xiao Lou looked at the clearance time bar and sped up his pace towards the Central Hospital.

    Just now, he deliberately stayed at the entrance of the inspection centre for a moment, using the 30 metres vertical distance of the rose perfume to draw all zombies on the ten floors to the yground ring. Therefore, he didn¡¯t encounter any zombie attacks after entering the hall of the inspection building.

    Xiao Lou stood in the hall and carefully gazed at the signs.

    The first floor was the CT and MRI imaging inspection department, the second floor was the pathologyboratory, the third floor was the pathogenic microbiologicalboratory and the fourth floor was his destination, the blood testing centre.

    Xiao Lou went to the elevator and pressed the up button. He found that the elevator wasn¡¯t working and turned to climb the stairs.

    The strange that was when he reached the stairs, a cool feeling flowed over his back and he felt that a pair of eyes were staring at his back. Xiao Lou turned around but found there was only a long and empty corridor behind him.

    He frowned, ignored this weird feeling and used his long legs to quickly go upstairs.

    There were some broken corpses on the corner of the stairs that exuded a strong smell. The higher he got, the worse the odour. Xiao Lou covered his mouth and nose with his sleeves and strode towards the blood testing centre.

    The zombies in the inspection centre had been led to the yground by him. Apart from the disgusting smell, there was no trouble on the road. However, he was stunned the moment he reached the blood test centre on the fourth floor.

    There were countless blood samples here.

    Red, green, purple, ck, yellow, blue¡­

    There were rows of test tubes of different colours, at least a few hundreds.

    Xiao Lou was a forensic doctor and naturally knew what the colour of these ss tubes represented. When a hospital drew blood from a patient, it would use test tubes of various colours to separate the blood ording to the contents of the examination. The red tube would be used to check the blood biochemical index, the purple tube was used to check the blood routine, ck was to measure the erythrocyte sedimentation rate, blue was to measure prothrombin¡­

    Ordinary outpatients and inpatients usually got the test results within three days of taking blood butrge hospitals needed to draw blood from hundreds of patients every day. It was normal for arge number of blood samples to umte.

    How could he find it?

    Xiao Lou quickly looked around. Suddenly, he saw all the test tubes had barcodes and the patient¡¯s name. Xiao Lou recalled that in the plot introduction, the boy was admitted to the hospital for an emergency and his fever couldn¡¯t be lowered. Finally, he died and was sent to the morgue.

    Death in a hospital was a very serious matter. The doctor had to sort out the case of the deceased within 24 hours, writing a ¡®death analysis¡¯ report and issuing a medical death certificate to the family. After the boy¡¯s death, there must be case data kept in the emergency department. If he knew the boy¡¯s name, wouldn¡¯t he be able to obtain the serum sample?

    Yes, as the protagonist of the 2 of Spades room, the little boy must have a name!

    There were still 20 minutes left to clear the instance. Xiao Lou decisively turned and went downstairs.

    He quickly ran back to the outpatient building and rushed into the doctor¡¯s office of the emergency centre on the first floor.

    The movements caused by the virus outbreak made the office messy. Xiao Lou saw the case rack in the corner instantly. There were many cases on it. He took out all the cases and quickly scanned their first pages.

    Those who didn¡¯t match the gender and age were thrown away. He screened three male children in half a minute and among them, only one was admitted to hospital because of a ¡®fever¡¯ and thest page had ¡®analyze the cause of death¡¯ written on it.

    Liu Xiaoyuan, 8 years old, he matched the plot description received when entering the secret room.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes brightened. He held Liu Xiaoyuan¡¯s case file as he quickly returned to the blood testing centre.

    The number of serum samples in the testing centre was numerous. Xiao Lou swept through them, ignoring the samples of unrted people. Finally, he sessfully found the serum samples of a patient called ¡®Liu Xiaoyuan¡¯ in the corner.

    Red, yellow, blue, green, ck and purple, the blood test tubes of various colours were preserved.

    The child¡¯s condition was tooplex and the doctor obviously couldn¡¯t diagnose it. Therefore, he took a lot of blood to do aprehensive examination. It was also the routine operation of the hospital to do a full inspection in difficult cases.

    Xiao Lou took the six blood samples from the test tube rack and headed downstairs.

    He had used up 45 minutes.

    The moment he returned to the outpatient building and took the elevator to the rooftop, he would be able to pass the instance.

    He had just walked to the first floor of the inspection centre when he suddenly heard a clear and sweet voice behind him. ¡°Congrattions for perfectly clearing the 2 of Spades room. I am A of Spades. You cane to me to receive your reward.¡±

    Xiao Lou hesitated and looked around for the sound.

    There was a long corridor on the first floor of the inspection centre and the voice wasing from behind the iron door at the end of the corridor.

    Xiao Lou walked to it and found that the upper part of the door contained strong iron bars while the lower part was locked from the outside. Through the gap in the iron bars, a small room around 10 square metres could be seen. There was a bed with security clothes still hang on the wall. This should be the security lounge.

    A little boy who only reached Xiao Lou¡¯s waist was standing by the bed. He was dressed in ck and stood with his back to Xiao Lou, his voice clear. ¡°The key to the door is in the pocket of the security guard there. Open the door for me.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked back and saw that on the side of the corridor, there was a dead security guard. The neck was bitten and the head was missing.

    The little boy said, ¡°Yes, it is him. Take the key out of his pocket¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t take the key and asked calmly, ¡°Why aren¡¯t you facing me?¡±

    The little boy smiled. ¡°As a keeper, I need to be more mysterious.¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke lightly, ¡°When I went upstairs, the person staring at me from behind was you¡ªLiu Xiaoyuan.

    He was making a statement and his tone was very positive.

    Hearing this, the boy¡¯s back slightly stiffened. ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°The first infected person Liu Xiaoyuan, who was locked up by the security guards. I didn¡¯t expect you to retain consciousness.¡± Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Did you want to trick me into helping you open the door? Unfortunately, I¡¯m not that stupid.¡±

    The little boy turned around.

    His face was as pale as paper, his lips covered with blood and the two tiger teeth were as sharp as the fiercest beast. There were no whites in his eyes and no pupils, it was only a shocking pure ck.

    Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t scared and looked at him like it was expected.

    Since his deception failed, Liu Xiaoyuan¡¯s facial features gradually distorted and he reached out with bony hands, trying to force the iron bars open. ¡°Let me out! Let me out¡ªAH!¡ª¡±

    His voice was so loud it soon became a scream.

    It was a high-pitched sound simr to a beast leader. It echoed in the empty inspection building and made the surrounding air twist.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eardrums were stabbed with pain and he realized that this person was summoning the zombies. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t hesitate to turn and run!

    The zombies trapped in the ring on the yground started to move after hearing the sharp whistle. If Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t trapped them in advance then at this time, Xiao Lou would be flooded and buried alive by zombies.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    The 2 of Spades room actually had a pit at the end.

    After getting the serum, many challengers knew they would be getting a perfect clearance and their spirits would be rtively more rxed. If they heard someone saying ¡®I am A of Spades¡¯ at that time, maybe they would believe it.

    Fortunately, Xiao Lou was careful enough and cautious enough to notice the little boy wasn¡¯t right and didn¡¯t listen to his words by opening the door.

    This little boy was the boss of A of Spades!

    A scream directly summoning the zombies was really frightening!

    Xiao Lou rushed back to the outpatient building, pressed the elevator button and took the elevator to the rooftop.

    A helicopter was waiting on the wide rooftop for him. The moment he walked onto the roof, the helicopter started. The propellers roared and the surroundings filled with heat.

    The suspension box above his head filled with familiar words.

    [Congrattions to the challenger Xiao Lou for perfectly clearing the D-grade secret room ¡®Zombie Town¡¯ in 50 minutes, the instance clearance score is greater than 85% of the challengers!]

    [This instance clearance is evaluated as A-grade. A perfect clearance will get an extra lucky draw chance. Please return to the personal space for settlement of the rewards.]

    Look, this was the right style of the secret rooms.

    Before the challenger cleared the instance, the secret room keepers wouldn¡¯t inexplicably affect the instance clearing process. Even if A of Spades really appeared, he wouldn¡¯t be locked up behind an iron door. Moreover, the little boy had his back to Xiao Lou and asked him to take the key. That¡¯s how he knew that this little guy was Liu Xiaoyuan who was locked up by the security guards after the initial infection.

    A 60 minutes secret room, Xiao Lou used 50 minutes to clear the instance and was almost pitted at the end. It was really dangerous.

    He wasn¡¯t very good at the survival type secret rooms. In the previous Hearts and Diamonds rooms, his clearance score was greater than 99% of the challengers. This time, it was only more than 85% of the challengers, indicating that 15% of people passed the instance more smoothly than him.

    Perhaps there was another method?

    Xiao Lou sat on the helicopter while thinking about it. Just then, another prompt filled his suspension box.

    [Congrattions to the challenger Yu Hanjiang for perfectly clearing the 2 of Spade secret room, Zombie Town in 15 minutes, refreshing the world record of the 2 of Spades secret room!]

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    15 minutes?

    He had to lure the zombies, slipped by the zombies and run for his life while Yu Hanjiang actually used 15 minutes to perfectly clear the instance?

    Excuse me, Group Leader Yu of the criminal police force, did you push past them with a bulldozer?

 Chapter 13: New Card Reward

    It was the first time Xiao Lou had taken a helicopter.

    There was the deafening roar of the propellers above his head as the helicopter quickly took off. Xiao Lou sat down firmly and looked down out the window. He wanted to see if the zombies on the yground had escaped the control of the rings after Liu Xiaoyuan¡¯s call. The result was that he unexpectedly discovered there were countless identical zombie towns on the ground!

    There seemed to be a transparent barrier between each town so that they weren¡¯t connected to each other and didn¡¯t affect each other.

    He saw humans running in every town. Some people were panicked and stumbled, others were fast, agile and calm while others were fighting wildly with the zombies.

    The speed of the helicopter was too fast. He didn¡¯t have time to see it before the small worlds became a ck spot and quickly disappeared.

    Xiao Lou frowned and fell into contemtion.

    During the time when he was rushing through the zombie tide, there were many people like him challenging this secret room. He didn¡¯t know how many people would pass the instance or how many would fail and stay here forever.

    As if guessing his thoughts, the man sitting in the front row of the helicopter suddenly spoke. ¡°Those who can¡¯t even pass a D-grade secret room aren¡¯t suitable to survive in the Card World. Staying in the Zombie Town with no consciousness and no pain is the best ending for them.¡±

    The man¡¯s voice was as cold as a piece of ice in his throat.

    Xiao Lou suddenly remembered the first time he came to the Card World and the cold mechanical voice asked him to ¡®choose A or choose B¡¯. The man¡¯s voice in front of him was exactly the same as the system.

    With a slightly stunned heart, Xiao Lou sat up straight and looked through the istion ss.

    The man in the driver¡¯s seat worerge sunsses that covered half his face, revealing only the sharp jaw.

    The man clearly didn¡¯t look back but seemed able to clearly grasp all of Xiao Lou¡¯s movements. The moment Xiao Lou looked at him, the corners of the man¡¯s mouth raised slightly and he said, ¡°Hello, I am the one who picked you up to the Card World. You can also call me A of Spades.¡±

    The keeper could be seen after clearing the instance.

    Xiao Lou had seen the Hearts sister and Diamonds loli. Now that he saw the adult male Spades, he quickly epted the setting and tentatively asked, ¡°All those who clear the Zombie Town, do you drive the helicopter and pick them up in person?¡±

    ¡°I know what you want to ask. Yes, I can generate countless copies and pick up all the challengers, just like the Zombie Town can generate countless parallel spaces.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s previous guess was correct. There were only 54 cards in a deck but the world represented by each card had countless instances. Even though he and Yu Hanjiang were both in 2 of Spades, there was an unknown barrier between the worlds and they couldn¡¯t meet. The countless towns below him were the proof.

    He could only wait for the multiyer secret rooms where challengers entered the same space. He needed the contract and to find Yu Hanjiang as soon as possible. However, A of Hearts told him that a contract needed to be purchased with gold coins. At present, he didn¡¯t know how to get gold coins.

    Thinking up to here, Xiao Lou asked, ¡°A of Hearts said that I can earn gold coins in the subsequent instances but I have never found a ce in the secret rooms to earn gold coins?

    A of Spades told him, ¡°You will soon know.¡±

    ¡°How many gold coins does it cost to buy a contract?¡±

    ¡°10,000.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Perhaps it was because Spades represented the cruel survival room but Spade¡¯s keeper was very cold. He wasn¡¯t as responsive as the previous guards who answered Xiao Lou¡¯s question.

    Xiao Lou had to shut up and no longer talk.

    The helicopter quickly arrived at its destination.

    It was a floating tform surrounded by a familiar white fog. In the middle of the white fog, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t see the world outside and could only see the huge card world in front of him.

    At this point, the card 2 of Spades had a green ¡®cleared¡¯ in the lower right corner.

    The keeper told him, ¡°The rewards have been settled. Please check the card pack.¡±

    Xiao Lou opened the card pack and found there were two new cards.

    [Tool Card: Zombie Virus]

    Rarity: A

    Description: A fixed reward for clearing the 2 of Spades secret room, Zombie Town.

    Note: The transmission of the Zombie Virus is spread by droplets. The virus spread through the air and will rapidly spread around. All living things (including yourself) within 100 metres will be affected. Infected organisms might experience symptoms such as elevated blood temperature, limb weakness and turning into a corpse within 10 seconds. After changing into a corpse, movement speed will drop by 80% and attack power will double. Unless the head is cut off, any damage to the body can be regrown.

    Number of uses: Once.

    [Tool Card: Special Effects Vine]

    Rarity: A

    Description: Perfectly clear the 2 of Spades secret room and get the serum samples of the initially infected.

    Note: The serum of the first Zombie Virus infected person, Liu Xiaoyuan has produced antibodies to the Zombie Virus. After some research, experts finally made a zombie vine and those who take the vine will gain immunity to the Zombie Virus.

    Number of uses: Since you¡¯ve brought back six serum samples from the infected person, a six-tube vine is made. The vines of the red, yellow and blue tubes canpletely immunize you from the Zombie Virus. The vination effect of the green, purple and ck tubes are further improved. It can immunize all toxins such as a poisonous mist, suffocation gas and poisonous snake bite. Inject the green, purple and ck vine and you won¡¯t be affected by poisons for the next 10 minutes.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up. He brought back all six blood samples of the infected person and finally got the six-tube vine. Later, it would save his life if he encountered a poisonous fog environment.

    The fixed reward for clearing 2 of Spades was the Zombie Virus card, which would transform him into a zombie when used directly. It was only when the perfect clearance was obtained that the two cards could be used together without a negative effect.

    Although these two A cards had limitations but it was undeniable that in some circumstances, the A card wasn¡¯t worse than the S card.

    As long as the cards were used flexibly, each card could y their own functions. For example, the C-grade fruit knife, rose perfume and B-grade Nine Pces Grid were a great help to Xiao Lou in the previous Zombie Town.

    What card would he get with this draw?

    Xiao Lou saw the golden treasure chest in front of him and stepped forward, pulling out a card.

    [Congrattions on getting the A-grade card ¡®Summoning Card: Zombie Leader¡¯!]

    Xiao Lou actually drew an A-grade card this time. Perhaps it was because the clearance time was 50 minutes and the final score was only A?

    Xiao Lou picked up the card to look closely at the description.

    [Summoning Card: Zombie Leader]

    Rarity: A

    Description: After a perfect clearance room, there is a higher probability of obtaining it from a qualified card pool. The strength of an A-grade card is slightly lower than S-grade but is it is better than a S-grade card in that it is full level and all skills are automatically unlocked.

    Additional Skills 1: w Attack

    The zombie leader Liu Xiaoyuan stretches out his ws and attacks close enemies at a very fast speed. The creatures exposed to Liu Xiaoyuan¡¯s ws will immediately be infected with the Zombie Virus and be Liu Xiaoyuan¡¯s zombie.

    Additional Skills 2: Zombie Maniption

    Liu Xiaoyuan makes a shrill whistling sound and summons six beginner zombies to assist. This summoning is only avable once every 24 hours. The summoned zombies are slow but they are very aggressive and can listen to your instructions and distract others. Creatures that bleed after being attacked by the beginner zombies will be infected and will be zombies within 10 seconds without vination.

    Note: Liu Xiaoyuan¡¯s race is a zombie and his weakness is his head. Once his head is cut off, he will immediately die and the card is also damaged.

    On the surface of the card, a pale little boy with a pair of sharp tiger teeth was drawn. His eyes were ck ink and he stared at Xiao Lou like he was going to jump out of the card.

    Xiao Lou thought of the scene in the hospital where this little guy lied to him to open the door and his mood wasplicated.

    He actually drew the Liu Xiaoyuan summoning card!

    Later, he could summon this little zombie but his back was cold. Could he be sure that Liu Xiaoyuan wouldn¡¯t attack him in turn?

    Xiao Lou put away his strange thoughts and looked up at A of Spades. ¡°Can I rest?¡±

    ¡°There are 5 minutes of rest time.¡±

    Xiao Lou felt helpless. Hearts was the most merciful of the guards and gave him 15 minutes. Diamonds didn¡¯t let him rest while Spades only gave him 5 minutes. He had been running through the Zombie Town for so long and his physical exertion was severe. He currently felt his body was extremely heavy and his legs seemed to be filled with lead. He could hardly walk.

    Still¡­ five minutes was better than nothing.

    Xiao Lou instantly sat down on the sofa, massaging his stiff muscles to adjust himself as soon as possible.

    A of SPades asked him, ¡°Where are you going next?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it. ¡°The only one I haven¡¯t pass is 2 of Clubs so I will go there.¡±

    ¡°2 of Clubs is thest D-grade secret room.¡±

    ¡°There are only four D-grade rooms?¡± Xiao Lou was surprised. He thought that the novice stage wouldst several levels to give the neers who came to the Card World time to adapt. He didn¡¯t expect there to only be 2 of Hearts, 2 of Diamonds, 2 of Spades and 2 of Clubs.

    ¡°The D-grade secret rooms are just to let you know the approximate types of four secret rooms. One level is enough.¡± A of Spades waved his hand and 2 of Clubs flew directly from the card wall to in front of Xiao Lou. ¡°There are many people in 2 of Clubs and the Clubs side will match you to the opponents.¡±

    ¡°The opponents?¡± Xiao Lou looked up with surprise.

    ¡°It is a challenge secret room so there will naturally be opponents.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± If he knew this, he wouldn¡¯t go to Clubs. Was there still time to change secret rooms?

    At the same time, within a personal space.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s clothes were stained with mud and his face was covered with dust. His image was a bit of a mess.

    He had killed too many zombies in the process of breaking through the instance. These low level creatures might not have any impact on him but handling them took some effort.

    However, once the dirty clothes entered the personal space, they were quickly restored at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    It was as if nothing had happened.

    This should be the data cleanup. Once the challenger left the secret room, everything they had experienced in the secret room would be cleared but the physical exhaustion was still present. Yu Hanjiang took a deep breath and calmed himself down before whispering, ¡°What should I do if I want to team up with a person?¡±

    A of Spades replied with a nk expression, ¡°Buy a contract with gold coins. It is 10,000 gold coins and you can find a way to obtain them in the subsequent secret rooms.¡±

    ¡°So troublesome?¡±

    ¡°You can clear the rooms alone. No one is forcing you to team up.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang raised his eyebrows and didn¡¯t speak any more nonsense.

    As a challenger, his eyes were fearless. The tall and upright man stood on the floating tform surrounded by white mist, as calm as if he was standing in a police station.

    He pulled a card from the treasure chest and after reading the description, simply said, ¡°I will go to 2 of Clubs next.¡±

    ¡°Please wait, I am matching your opponents for you.¡±

    After a moment, Yu Hanjiang received the prompt, ¡°The opponents matching has beenpleted, you are yer No. 3.¡±

    At almost the same time, Xiao Lou received the prompt, ¡°The opponents matching has beenpleted, you are yer No. 1.¡±

    [Secret room generating.]

    [The challenger data is read.]

    [Wee the challenger to enter the 2 of Clubs secret room, ¡®Challenge 10.5¡¯!]

 Chapter 14: Challenge 10.5

    Xiao Lou saw the yer No. 1 prompt. Before he could think carefully, his body was sucked into the world of 2 of Clubs.

    To his slight relief, the world of 2 of Clubs wasn¡¯t a barren mountain or a terrible zombie beast.

    This was a square enclosed room with an area of 10 square metres. There was a door in front and the left and right sides had a mirror upying the entire wall. There was a desk in the middle of the room and a 16 or 17 year old boy sitting on the boss¡¯ chair behind the table.

    He was wearing a ck tuxedo with a neat white shirt and bow tie. His skin was white and his facial features clear, but his face didn¡¯t have any expression. It was like a delicate and beautiful sculpture was sitting there.

    The teenager looked up at Xiao Lou and spoke lightly, ¡°Hello, I am the keeper, A of Clubs. Wee to the Clubs room.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about how Liu Xiaoyuan of the Zombie Town tried to trick him into opening the door by saying he was A of Spades and his back instantly tensed with vignce. His entire body was in a state of alert as he calmly asked, ¡°The keeper? Shouldn¡¯t you appear after clearing the instance?¡±

    The teenager replied, ¡°The Clubs room is different. A challenge game needs a fair referee so I showed up early.¡±

    The teenager sat on the chair calmly and didn¡¯t show any signs of attacking Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou felt slight relief and asked, ¡°You are personally acting as the referee?¡±

    The teenager nodded. ¡°I will give you some basic items before the game starts.¡±

    The moment he spoke, some items appeared on the table in front of Xiao Lou.

    There was a formal ck suit, a silver metal mask, a strange bracelet and 10 gold coins.

    Gold? Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes brightened as he took the gold coins and examined them carefully.

    A circr gold coin had a diameter of approximately 5cm. The front, bottom, left and right sides of the front were imprinted with patterns of hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs and the reverse side was written ¡®1000¡¯. This should be the value of the gold coin.

    The gold coins of this Card World were muchrger than the coins in reality and their value was exaggerated. It directly started at 1,000.

    A of Clubs opened his mouth. ¡°I hate challengers who wear colourful clothing. Please change into this set of clothes and I will send you to the Clubs room.¡±

    He hated colourful clothing so he had everyone wear a ck suit? Was he certain this wasn¡¯t going to a funeral?

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t have time to spit out these words when his clothes suddenly changed. He magically put on this ck suit directly and wore the silver mask on his face. The bracelet was automatically ced on his wrist and his clothes disappeared without a trace.

    The instant change of clothes startled him slightly but many things in the Card World couldn¡¯t be exined scientifically. He quickly epted the set of equipment from entering the Clubs room. He wore a ck suit and the mask covered his face, revealing only a pair of eyes.

    Xiao Lou retracted his gaze from the mirror and asked the teenager, ¡°What are these items used for?¡±

    ¡°The mask is for the protection of the novices, lest your expression reveal too much information to the opponents. The hand string is a transfer bead that allows you to get a good card. There is only one chance to use the transfer bead in each game. The 10 gold coins are the principal I am giving you.¡±

    Xiao Lou gently raised an eyebrow. ¡°Principal? Is the 2 of Clubs secret room a betting game?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The Clubs room below B is friendly to neers and you can make some gold coins through the low level rooms to prepare for the future. In the Card World, if you don¡¯t have gold coins then you won¡¯tst long.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    It turned out that A of Spades wasn¡¯t lying when he said that Xiao Lou would ¡®know soon.¡¯

    The first three secret rooms rewarded him with cards while Clubs rewarded him with gold coins. Gold coins could be used to buy items such as ¡®contracts¡¯ from the keepers and he might also purchase equipment he neededter.

    He had the transfer bead so the other challengers must have the same items. It would be particrly critical when winning a big bet using the transfer bead.

    Covering the whole face with a mask would help neers a lot. Otherwise, if a person had a good card, others would be able to tell just by looking at their expression. Now everyone wore a mask and could only rely on guessing.

    Xiao Lou rarely yed card games. Fight the Landlord was his cousin¡¯s thing and he had never heard of 10.5. A contract required 10,000 gold coins and he had exactly 10,000 as principal. He didn¡¯t want to make more money. As long as he kept these 10,000 gold coins, he could buy the contract and then go to find Yu Hanjiang.

    Xiao Lou was bowing his head to think when A of Clubs¡¯ cold voice was heard. ¡°Go, the game is about to begin.¡±

    The front door slowly opened. Xiao Lou took a deep breath and walked in.

    The moment he entered, there were six doors that were also open at the same time.

    Seven challengers walked into the gaming area.

    This was a high-end casino that was more than 100 square metres. There was an oval table in the centre with a dark green, velvet tablecloth. There were eight luxurious seats around the table, seven of which were marked with 1-7. The remaining seat had no number but the ¡®club¡¯ pattern was drawn.

    A of Clubs, who had just given him the items, was sitting on the chair.

    The keepers could split into countless copies. Just now, there were seven A of Clubs who gave items to everyone at the same time. Therefore, the seven challengers were dressed in the same ck suit and silver mask, the style a bit strange.

    The thick carpet on the ground was very soft and everyone¡¯s footsteps were absorbed by the carpet.

    The surroundings were very quiet.

    The crystal chandelier above their heads cast light like a broken diamond. The silver masks on the faces of the seven people reflected the same cold metal lustre. The quiet room gave a sense of oppression that seemed to draw air away. No one dared to speak.

    Then A of Clubs slightly opened his mouth. ¡°Everyone, please sit at your number te.¡±

    Everyone moved.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s gaze swept around.

    No. 2 was a 1.6 metres girl with long, straight hair. Her skin colour was pale and her body was thin. It was hard to imagine how such a thin girl like her passed the other secret rooms.

    No. 3 was a tall, strong adult male with a height close to 1.9 metres. His slender legs were eye-catching and the man was perfect. He wore a suit and looked like the cover model of a fashion magazine. Perhaps he adjusted his image when entering the Card World?

    No. 4 was a full-bodied mature woman with curly hair and red nail polish. No. 5 had a braid behind him but he was clearly a man looking at his figure.

    No. 6 was a middle-aged fat man with a beer belly. No. 7 was a tall girl with a high ponytail who seemed very refreshing

    Four men and three women, he hadn¡¯t expected there to be so many contestants in the game.

    Xiao Lou walked over to sit on the right hand side of A of Clubs in the number 1 spot and the others took their seats in turn.

    He turned his head to look at the opponents in this game again when he happened to meet a pair of eyes. It was a pair of dark, deep and cold eyes.

    No. 3. The other side might be wearing a mask but his sharp, sword-like gaze seemed to see directly through the mask to Xiao Lou¡¯s face. It seemed to be able to see to the bottom of the human heart, revealing all the ugliness and evil thoughts deep inside people.

    Staring at these eyes, Xiao Lou¡¯s back stiffened and an image shed through his mind.

    On a rainy day, the group leader of the police stood at the window and turned to look at him with such a gaze.

    Xiao Lou had seen many people but Group Leader Yu¡¯s eyes left too deep of an impression. The pair of cold, deep eyes were like the water of a winter pool. Just looking at it deeply imprinted it in Xiao Lou¡¯s mind.

    Even if the man¡¯s face was covered by the mask, he could recognize this person by the eyes alone.

    He had just seen the announcement that Yu Hanjiang refreshed the world record for 2 of Spades. Based on the time calction of when Yu Hanjiang cleared 2 of Spades, it was highly likely he would enter 2 of Clubs. Moreover, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s height was close to 1.9 metres, his legs were long and his body was also worthy.

    No. 3 was Yu Hanjiang!

    Xiao Lou heard the sound of his heart beating violently. He didn¡¯t expect that he would actually meet the group leader directly in the 2 of Clubs secret room.

    Thetter was clearly slightly stunned. It was unknown if he recognized Xiao Lou but then the man¡¯s cold eyes rxed slightly and he nodded gently to Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou also nodded politely in response.

    In this strange Clubs room where the rules weren¡¯t clear, the two people were afraid to say anything more. Still, one look and one nod were enough.

    ¡®It is him.¡¯ Both thought at the same time.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang came to a tacit understanding.

    They couldn¡¯t acknowledge each other when the rules were unclear, nor could they let the other challengers know that they knew each other.

    Seeing that all seven people were sitting, A of Clubs took out a deck of cards and read out the rules of the game with a nk expression. ¡°Challenge 10.5 , this is a type of poker game. During the game, you aren¡¯t allowed to usenguage or physical movements tomunicate with each other. The offenders will be directly eliminated.¡±

    The teenager nced at everyone and his slender fingers spread out the deck of cards on the table.

    This was a brand new deck and the order of the four suits was from A to K.

    Removing the jokers, there were four suits of A-K cards for a total of 52 cards.

    The teenager pointed to the ying cards on the table and said, ¡°in The 10.5 game, A, 2, 3, 4 all the way up to 10 are called ¡®point cards¡¯, where A stands for 1 point and 2-10 stands for their respective points. J, Q and K are called ¡®people cards¡¯ and they all represent half a point. The goal of the game is to make the points of the ying cards in your hands add up to 10.5.¡±

    ¡°One game has a total of five rounds and there are five types of final hands. Please look at the screen.¡±

    On the big screen to the side of the room, five hands were listed in order fromrgest value to smallest.

    King: the total points of the five cards was exactly equal to 10.5. For example, A, 2, 3, 4, K.

    Five small people: After five rounds of dealing cards, they happened to get five people cards such as J, Q, K, Q, K.

    Five small: the total number of points of the five cards was less than 10.5, such as A, A, 2, 2, 2.

    10.5: there were less than five cards in your hand but the number of points was exactly 10.5, such as 8, 2, K.

    t cards: The sum of the cards in your hand was more than 10.5, such as 7, 6, or less than 10.5, such as 2,7.

    Seeing that everyone was looking seriously at the screen, the teenager continued speaking, ¡°This is a D-grade secret room. In order to take care of neers who never y poker games, this will remain on the big screen and you can always check it.¡±

    ¡°Once the game starts, you can choose ¡®deal a card¡¯ or ¡®don¡¯t deal a card¡¯ for every round of dealing.¡±

    ¡°The first round of dealing forces everyone to bet 1,000 gold coins. In the second round of dealing, you can actively fold. If you fold then you won¡¯t lose any gold coins. If you don¡¯t fold, you have to call at least 1,000 gold coins. The person who calls afterwards must be equal to or greater than the previous yer. If the gold coins in your hands aren¡¯t enough then you can go all in.¡±

    ¡°If all five yers in this game are t, no one reaches 10.5 and there are no five small cards or five small people, it will be regarded as a failure and all the gold coins bet will be recovered by me.¡±

    ¡°In the seven games, the number of folds can¡¯t exceed five times. People who lose all their gold coins will be thrown to the Nightmare Room to be punished.¡±

    ¡°The rules of the game have been exined. I will give you five minutes to understand.¡±

    Xiao Lou might rarely y poker games but the screen showed the sequential card types and A of Clubs exined it clearly. He carefully read it twice and quickly understood.

    In the seven rounds of games, everyone was forced to bet 1,000 before the cards were dealt and they couldn¡¯t fold more than five times. This meant they must at least call for two rounds and couldn¡¯t fold all the time.

    If they couldn¡¯t win one game, they would lose 10,000 gold at the end of the seventh game and be thrown into the Nightmare Room to ept punishment.

    The Nightmare Room, the name alone caused the listeners to feel cold. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t want to personally experience it.

    Winning money from other people while ensuring you didn¡¯t lose was the key to the game.

    Everyone had the transfer bead and equal opportunities.

    When to use the transfer bead to get the best cards, when to call and when to fold¡­

    This wasn¡¯t only a betting game but also a psychological game!

 Chapter 15: Playing Card Master

    Five minutes soon passed. The bell in the middle of the table rang. The teenager put all the cards on the table into his hand and said, ¡°Please prepare.¡±

    Everyone¡¯s eyes gazed at him.

    The young man¡¯s slender hands shuffled quickly and the 52 cards moved in his hand. The entire room was quiet apart from the sound of him shuffling.

    Momentster, the teenager¡¯s shuffling ended and he said, ¡°This game doesn¡¯t have a dealer. The seven people will fight each other and thergest card size wins.¡±

    ¡°You can fold the cards at any time but each person only has five chances to fold. You must call after you have used all of them up. You can only use the transfer bead once in the seven games. The transfer beads will try to get you the best cards. Please pay attention to the timing.¡±

    ¡°The game is starting. Everyone, please bet 1,000 gold.¡±

    Everyone was cooperative and threw a gold coin into the prize pool in the middle of the table.

    ¡°The first round of drawing will start from No. 1 and rotate counterclockwise.¡±

    The seven challengers received a card in turn face down. The back of the card was a solid ck.

    Xiao Lou gently opened a corner of the card¡ª2 of Hearts.

    He nced around. Everyone¡¯s face was covered by a mask and the expression couldn¡¯t be seen, but some people¡¯s eyes revealed obvious frustration. It was probably because the card they got in the first round was very poor.

    The teenager said, ¡°The second round of dealing is beginning. Starting from No. 1, do you want a card?¡±

    ¡°I want a card.¡±

    The teenager gave him a card. 3 of Diamonds. Xiao Lou thought for a moment. ¡°Raise 1,000.¡±

    2 of Hearts and 3 of Diamonds. His hand added up to five points and he could continue ying.

    The teenager stated, ¡°No. 2, please choose.¡±

    Sitting on Xiao Lou¡¯s right hand side, the No. 2 girl had pale skin and her slender figure made people worry. She whispered, ¡°I want a card.¡± Once she opened the card, the girl¡¯s voice shook a bit. ¡°F-Fold.¡±

    The cards she threw down was a 9 of Diamonds and an 8 of Hearts. Her points added up to more than 10.5 and her luck was really bad.

    No. 3. Yu Hanjiang spoke calmly, ¡°I want a card.¡±

    The teenager gave him a card. After seeing it, Yu Hanjiang simply dropped the two cards to the discard pool in the middle of the table. ¡°Fold.¡±

    The No. 4 woman received a card and hesitated a moment. She put a gold coin into the prize pool and said, ¡°Call.¡±

    At this time, the 2nd and 3rd positions had folded while the 1st and 4th had called 1,000. The prize pool of the game reached 9,000 gold coins.

    No. 5. The man with the braid asked for a card. He gently raised a corner of the card with his finger, looked at the points of the two cards and then did an unexpected move.

    The man pushed all the gold coins in his hand into the centre of the table. He spoke calmly, ¡°All in.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    The others, ¡°¡­¡±

    ying so fucking big in the first game?!

    Most people would choose to wait and see in the first game. Only two rounds of dealing had passed and he actually used all his gold coins for an all in. If he lost then he would immediately be thrown into the Nightmare Room by the keeper!

    Normal people wouldn¡¯t fight like this. There were only two possibilities for why he chose to go all in.

    First, the two cards he got were really good and it was worth gambling for an all in. For example, the first was 10 and the second was a J/Q/K, directly making 10.5 points. He didn¡¯t want any more cards and was forcing people who hadn¡¯t made 10.5 to call or fold.

    The second possibility was that the cards in his hand actually weren¡¯t good and he deliberately went all in to force psychological warfare.

    If it was the second type then this person was simply ying with his life!

    Xiao Lou looked at the other person. Through the silver mask, he could only see the eyes of the No. 5 man.

    It was a pair of narrow and long phoenix eyes. He had single eyelids and the corners of the eyes were slightly raised. The eyes were calm and without waves, as if he wasn¡¯t in a secret room but drinking, singing and chatting together with a few buddies in a KTV.

    Once No. 5 went all in, the air in the room seemed to be drawn away in an instant and a tense pressure lingered.

    The No. 2 girl¡¯s eyes moved uneasily while the No.3 Yu Hanjiang just sat there watching the change. Xiao Lou and the No. 4 curly-haired woman who called instantly became tense.

    The teenager stated, ¡°No. 6, please choose.¡±

    ¡°Fold.¡±

    The No. 7 high ponytail girl was the same. ¡°Fold.¡±

    The keeper opened his mouth. ¡°The third round of dealing, No. 1 please choose.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked for a card and it was 4 of Spades. He was currently holding 2, 3 and 4 which added up to 9. He could use a transfer bead to make five small or a 10.5 hand. However, if he called then the amount couldn¡¯t be lower than the previous person. The fifth person went all in so if he wanted to call, he must also go all in.

    Fight with number five? It wasn¡¯t necessary so Xiao Lou simply stated, ¡°Fold.¡±

    The No. 4 woman also threw her cards on the table. ¡°Fold.¡±

    No. 5 was so crazy that she didn¡¯t want to fight with him. Xiao Lou had a strange intuition. At this time, the man¡¯s face under the mask should be full of smiles.

    1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 had all folded and 5 automatically became the winner of the first game.

    The keeper revealed his cards. It was 7 of Clubs and 3 of Clubs, which added up to 9 points. His cards weren¡¯t good at all. In another round, a big card might make him go over 10:5.

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This Ü³Ü³!

    Everyone¡¯s heart was probably swearing.

    These cards were so rotten yet the man dared to go all in. He was bluffing?

    It was just that when the man pushed all his gold coins into the prize pool, his actions were particrly simple and his eyes and voice were calm. Everyone was convinced that his actions were particrly good and he probably had a 10 and a J/Q/K that could make up 10:5.

    As a result, it was a 7 and a 2, making up 9 points. It was worse than a few hands that people had discarded!

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged a look. There was no doubt that they had met a very bold person.

    Xiao Lou rarely yed poker but he knew that Macau had a lot of professional casinos and Las Vegas was the ce where the world¡¯s gambling gods gathered. It was verymon to have bets of millions in a game.

    ying poker didn¡¯t necessarily mean having good cards. If they yed a psychological warfare game then they could still kill the opponent.

    No. 5¡¯s psychological warfare was yed very well. In the first game, he directly went all in, forcing everyone to fold. He won 9,900 gold coins and now had 18,000, instantly bing the biggest local tyrant.

    Next, as long as there weren¡¯t too many waves, he wouldn¡¯t lose enough gold coins to be eliminated and sent to the Punishment Room.

    If he used the chips in his hand to keep raising, the others would be in a very passive position.

    The most terrible part of the Clubs room wasn¡¯t the rules of the game. It was an uncontroble opponent.

    The keeper started to reshuffle. ¡°The second game is starting, please prepare.¡±

    Xiao Lou sat up straight, his mind absolutely awake.

    Every person was forced to add 1,000 gold coins to the prize pool in the middle of the table. The fewer gold coins in their hands, the more nervous everyone would be. If Xiao Lou¡¯s guess was correct, many people should use the transfer bead in this game.

    The keeper finished the first round of dealing and looked at the thin girl. ¡®The second game will start from the second position. No. 2, please choose.¡±

    The girl in the second position trembled and she sounded like she was going to cry. ¡°Fold.¡± Her cards were a bust again. The first was an 8 and the second was a 5. Her points were more than 10.5 and her luck was very bad.

    No. 3 Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t fold but chose to raise. ¡°Raise 1,000.¡±

    The No. 4 curly-haired woman had an 8 and a 7. It was more than 10.5 and she had to fold.

    It was the turn of No. 5. All eyes were on the richest person here. They thought he would raise a big amount and force others to fold. They didn¡¯t expect that No. 5 would fold his cards very simply, making everyone stunned.

    The No. 6 fat man came to his senses, picked up his own card and asked for a card before saying, ¡°Call.¡±

    The No. 7 ponytail girl folded her cards. Only Xiao Lou was left to speak.

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang. The two people were opposite each other on the long table and couldn¡¯t see each other¡¯s expressions.

    Still, based on the other man¡¯s calm eyes, Xiao Lou noticed that the other side was bound to have the advantage. Yu Hanjiang must¡¯ve used the transport bead.

    It was currently only the second round and Yu Hanjiang was so confident. Obviously, his hand was very good or with his man¡¯s calm personality, he wouldn¡¯t inexplicably call in the second round.

    Xiao Lou had two A and his hand was good. However, since Yu Hanjiang wanted to win this game, he didn¡¯t have to fight with him. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t hesitate to drop the two As in his hand into the discard pool. ¡°Fold.¡±

    Only Yu Hanjiang and the No. 6 man were left in this game and it ended the third round of dealing.

    Yu Hanjiang put gold coins into the prize pool. ¡°Raise 1,000.¡±

    ¡°Call.¡±

    In the fourth round, Yu Hanjiang continued asking for cards and raising 1,000. His calm and cold voice caused great psychological pressure for No. 6.

    No. 6 asked for a card and his hands started to tremble slightly. So far, No. 6 had bet 2,000 plus the opening 1,000 gold. There were 3,000 of his coins in the prize pool.

    He had used the transfer bead in this game and the cards in his hand were J of Hearts, Q of Spades, K of Diamonds and J of Diamonds. If there wasn¡¯t an ident, he could also get a person card in the fifth round and form a ¡®five small people¡¯ hand out of J, Q and K.

    If it wasn¡¯t for the help of the transfer beads, the probability of getting the five small people hand was extremely low.

    However, there was a bigger hand above the five small people¡ªthe king!

    Should he bet or not?

    The fat man¡¯s heart was extremely worried. He had used the transfer bead in this game. His future cards couldn¡¯t be better than this game. If he missed this opportunity then he wouldn¡¯t be able to win.

    He hesitated for a long time. Just as the countdown was at 10 seconds, the fat man gritted his teeth and put a gold coin into the prize pool.

    His lips slightly quivered as he spoke. ¡°Call.¡±

    The keeper¡¯s expression remained nk. ¡°It is thest round. No. 3, please choose.¡±

    At this point, both of them had four cards in hand and there was the final card.

    Yu Hanjiang had been ying as stably as a mountain but after asking for the card in thest round, he decisively pushed all his gold coins into the prize pool. ¡°All in.¡±¡¯

    The man¡¯s low voice echoed in the quiet space like a hammer hitting everyone¡¯s heart.

    Unlike No. 5¡¯s open and rxed style, No. 3 was a bit scary. It was as if he would definitely win if he bet. This type of aura made the hearts of those around him tremble.

    Facing Yu Hanjiang¡¯s cold eyes, sweat instantly appeared on the forehead of the No. 6 man. By this point, he determined that both he and No. 3 had used the transfer bead.

    The keeper only told him that the transfer bead would give him one of the best hands but didn¡¯t tell him¡ªif there were more than two people who used the transfer bead at the same time, who would get the better hand?

    By calling up to now, he had clearly been riding a difficult tiger!

    He now had only 5,000 gold coins left in his hand. If he folded at this time, he wouldn¡¯t be able to fight at all. 1,000 would be deducted in every game and in the seventh game, he would be eliminated!

    He could only gamble. No. 6 took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. ¡°Call!¡±

    All the yers felt cold. The situation caused by the transfer bead was really fierce. Both people went all in. It was either ¡®you die or I die.¡¯

    They didn¡¯t expect the second game to be so fierce. The existence of the transfer bead was both beneficial and disadvantageous.

    The keeper¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°It is the end of the game. Please show your cards.¡±

    No. 6 showed them first. His hands were shaking and he directly opened all five cards.

    J of Hearts, Q of Spades, K of Diamonds, J of Diamonds and¡­ K of Hearts. He actually made up a hand of all J, Q and K!

    The atmosphere in the room became more and more tense. All eyes were on Yu Hanjiang.

    Unlike the fat man¡¯s shaking hands, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s strong fingers were always stable.

    He gently opened the first card¡ª 2 of Clubs.

    The fat man¡¯s eyes opened wide. Would it be five cards less than 10.5? If it was a five small hand then it couldn¡¯t match his cards and he would win.

    Yu Hanjiang opened the second card¡ª3 of Clubs.

    The third card¡ª2 of Hearts.

    The fourth card¡ª3 of Diamonds.

    Everyone in the room held their breath and Xiao Lou¡¯s palms were sweating. He felt like his heart was going to stop beating.

    Under everyone¡¯s watchful eyes, Yu Hanjiang calmly opened thest card.

    K of Spades.

    2, 3, 3, 2 and K. The five cards perfectly made 10:5.

    King. The hand that Yu Hanjiang got was actually the biggest hand in the game¡ªthe king!

 Chapter 16: The Secret of the Transfer Bead

    No. 6 sat in his chair, eyes full of incredulity.

    The other yers also looked different. Everyone didn¡¯t expect the effect of the transfer bead to be so powerful, directly letting the two people get the biggest card hand type. This was simply the king hitting the little king on the head, making blood flow!

    The No. 6 yer lost all his gold coins.

    The keeper nced at him. ¡°No. 6, you have lost your gold coins and are knocked out.¡±

    No. 6¡¯s entire body started to tremble violently. His expression couldn¡¯t be seen with the mask but his eyes full of tears caused Xiao Lou¡¯s heart to sting. Everyone was unlucky whening to this Card World. No.6 just wanted to live.

    Using the transfer bead at the same time as Yu Hanjiang and PKing with him, this luck was really a bit bad. It was thrilling that Yu Hanjiang won and a pity that No. 6 lost.

    Behind the keeper, a ck door slowly opened. The teenager made the ¡®please¡¯ gesture and sad, ¡°Go, I hope you cane out alive.¡±

    No. 6 stood up and turned to the door. His feet fell, every step looking extraordinarily difficult.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at his back and whispered, ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    No. 6 and looked back at Yu Hanjiang, speaking in a choked-up voice. ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t matter. I just wanted to win against you¡­ in fact, sinceing to this strange world, I have been thinking I could at least pass the first few levels. I didn¡¯t expect it to be so fast¡­¡±

    He paused before suddenly smiling, ¡°For me, it is a relief!¡±

    He gritted his teeth and walked resolutely into the pure ck door. The door closed slowly behind him.

    The atmosphere inside the room was even more depressing. Xiao Lou felt like his heart was firmly held by one hand.

    Since entering the Card World, he had been alone and his spirit was highly tense. His desire to live urged him to keep moving forward. He had no time to stop and think carefully about the problems of ¡®life¡¯ and ¡®death.¡¯

    Now he directly saw a living person being eliminated but couldn¡¯t do anything about it.

    Xiao Lou gently closed his eyes and clenched his fists under the table, quickly adjusting his mentality.

    He didn¡¯t have the energy to grieve for others. If he didn¡¯t concentrate, the next person to be eliminated might be him.

    No. 6 left and the room fell into a suffocating silence.

    Just then, the No.4 curly-haired woman suddenly stood up and roared toward the keeper, ¡°Hearts, Diamonds and Spades all have a clearance rule. Only the Clubs room uses luck to eliminate people. This is too unfair!¡±

    The teenager looked up at her coldly. ¡°Luck is also a type of strength.¡±

    The woman raged, ¡°If it is pure luck then why don¡¯t you set up a table of mahjong? This olddy often ys mahjong!¡±

    The teenager whispered to her, ¡°Do you think that No. 3 can win just because of luck?¡±

    This question caused the woman to freeze for a moment. She turned to look at Yu Hanjiang with some doubts, seeing his deep and calm eyes.

    The teenager ordered, ¡°Sit down or do you want to go out directly?¡±

    The woman was stunned and didn¡¯t say anything else, sitting back down stiffly.

    This episode made everyone in the room feel awkward but the teenager spoke like nothing happened. ¡°The third game begins. I¡¯ll remind you again. Please pay attention to the timing of using the transfer bead.¡±

    Everyone had 1,000 gold coins deducted again.

    The third round started with No. 3. Yu Hanjiang took a card. He started with the 8 of Clubs and got 7 of Spades. This added up to 15 points and he discarded it directly.

    No. 4 was still a bit agitated after exchanging words with the keeper. This round, she was hotheaded and directly used the transfer bead. Once it was her turn, she simply dumped all her coins into the pool. ¡°All in!¡±

    There were three games with a 1,000 bet for each game. Her first call failed and she had another 1,000 gold coins deducted. At this time, she only had 6,000 left.

    She went all in and if others wanted to follow then they needed to bet at least 6,000.

    No. 5 folded. No. 6 was eliminated and the No. 7 high ponytail girl folded her cards. The No. 1 Xiao Lou did the same. Only No. 2 was left. If she folded then No. 4 would automatically be the winner.

    However, at this time, the No. 2 girl spoke in a quivering voice, ¡°I-I will call.¡±

    Her voice was extremely weak and couldn¡¯t be heard if people didn¡¯t listen carefully. Fortunately, the room was very quiet and her faint voice passed smoothly into everyone¡¯s ears.

    The No. 4 woman thought victory was within her grasp and her expression under the mask slightly distorted. She didn¡¯t expect that this little girl with the lowest sense of existence would actually stand up to her at this time!

    The cards were dealt and it quickly entered the fifth round.

    The No. 4 woman found that her hand was A, A, 2, 3 and 3, adding up to 10 points. It was 0.5 short from the biggest hand, the king. This type of hand was called ¡®five small¡¯ and she looked at the card hands listed on the screen again. ¡®Five small¡¯ was the thirdrgest hand among all of them.

    The woman held her breath and looked at No. 2. No. 2 revealed her cards with a pale and thin hand.

    J of Hearts, J of Diamonds, Q of Clubs, Q of Diamonds and Q of Spades¡ªfive small people!

    If the case where 10.5 wasn¡¯t made, the ¡®five small people¡¯ was bigger than ¡®five small¡¯. The No. 2 girl had won.

    The curly-haired woman copsed and threw the cards on the table, her eyes bloodshot. ¡°Why? I also used the transfer bead. Why is my luck worse than you?¡±

    The No. 2 girl was startled by the scream and bowed her head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡±

    The keeper opened his mouth calmly. ¡°No. 4 is eliminated from the game. Please enter the Nightmare Room and ept the punishment.¡±

    The woman reluctantly stared at No. 2 and turned to the Nightmare Room.

    She walked to the door only to suddenly turn back, dering coldly, ¡°Don¡¯t be proud too early. It is painful to stay in this strange Card World for even one more day. It is better to just die! You are alive now but perhaps afterwards, you will suffer a more terrible torture!¡±

    Her eyes swept across the room, leaving a cold and bitter look before she walked into the ck door.

    The door closed behind her.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t speak. He gazed at Yu Hanjiang and thetter looked back at him. The two people looked at each other.

    Who didn¡¯t know the cruelty of the Card World? However, if they gave up hope, who could save them?

    She hadn¡¯t yet noticed the rule of the transfer bead and it was normal to be eliminated.

    Xiao Lou looked thoughtfully at the teenage guard.

    The second game, Yu Hanjiang and No. 6 PKed. The former got the king hand while thetter got all J, Q and Ks. In the third game, No. 2 and No. 4 PKed. No. 2 got JJQQQ while No. 4 got AA223, all small cards¡­

    There were 52 cards and how low was the probability of getting these cards in five rounds of dealing? Wasn¡¯t the coincidence a bit too much?

    Xiao Lou carefully pondered on the words of the teenager. Did No. 3 really win through luck? What if it wasn¡¯t luck?

    Xiao Lou¡¯s back suddenly froze.

    The transfer bead allowed the users to get the best cards, what did this mean? For the person who used the transfer bead, the cards in their hands could be controlled. Who could control the cards in everyone¡¯s hands? It was none other than the Clubs teenager sitting in the middle and shuffling!

    In other words, this card game wasn¡¯t based on luck, winning or losing didn¡¯t depend on the timing of the transfer bead. The Clubs teenager was clear about who would get what cards.

    Xiao Lou understood the true rules behind the 2 of Clubs¡¯ elimination of people.

    Out of seven yers, two were eliminated in the blink of an eye and only five people remained.

    The teenager spoke faintly, ¡°Continue.¡±

    The fourth game should start with No. 4. Since No. 4 was eliminated, it went counterclockwise to No. 5.

    The braided man had won the first game and had many chips in his hand. He had been watching the past few games leisurely and also didn¡¯t intend to participate in the fourth game. He simply folded his cards.

    No. 7 asked for a card and looked at Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou smiled kindly at her and the girl was stunned. She seemed to understand Xiao Lou¡¯s meaning. She blinked at Xiao Lou and then pushed all the chips in her hand into the prize pool. ¡°All in!¡±

    It was Xiao Lou turn and he dered, ¡°Fold.¡±

    No. 2 just won a game and wouldn¡¯t fight in this one. She followed by folding her cards.

    Yu Hanjiang also folded his cards. Since everyone folded, the No. 7 woman won without a fight, receiving 5,000 gold coins. She was very clever and instantly understood what Xiao Lou meant.

    At present, No 2, 3 and 5 had each won a game and only he and No. 7 hadn¡¯t won.

    The two people didn¡¯t have to use the transfer bead to fight. Use it separately and win one game each, living together to the end. Although everyone in the Clubs room was an opponent, there was no hate for anyone. If they could live together, there was no need to push people to a dead end.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes were very friendly and there was a gentle smile in his eyes. The No. 7 girl understood this and used the transfer bead first, going all in. She guessed that No. 1 would fold his cards. In the fifth game, if No. 1 bet then she would simply fold her cards and let the other side win.

    They didn¡¯t know each other but two people were already eliminated. There was some tacit understanding.

    After the fierce matches in the first three games, the fourth game was surprisingly mild. The No. 7 girl won easily.

    The teenager¡¯s eyes swept across the table. ¡°The fifth game is starting, begin.¡±

    Every person had the base amount of 1,000 gold coins deducted. At this point, Xiao Lou had five games deducted and the failed bet in the first game. He only had 4,000 gold coins in his hand.

    He had folded five times and if he folded again, he would have fewer chips. He had to use the transfer bead in this game.

    The No. 7 girl understood is meaning and certainly wouldn¡¯t call. The No. 2 girl had won once and was timid. She wouldn¡¯t fight with Xiao Lou. It was even more unlikely for Yu Hanjiang to face off with Xiao Lou.

    The only unknown person was No. 5. This man with a braid had suddenly gone all in during the first game, relying on psychological warfare to beat everyone. Then he kept watching. If Xiao Lou spected correctly, this man should often y poker games and be very familiar with all types of routines.

    Moreover, No. 5 hadn¡¯t used the transfer bead. If he happened to use it at the same time as Xiao Lou, look at the tragic situation of the second and third games when the transfer beads shed. Xiao Lou might lose.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and sat up straight.

    The keeper stated, ¡°In the fifth round, the order of cards is counterclockwise and No. 7 will start first.¡±

    No. 7 got the card and after looking at Xiao Lou, she simply abandoned it. It was Xiao Lou¡¯s turn.

    He opened the first card and saw K of Clubs. Then he stated, ¡°Give me a card.¡±

    The teenager gave him a card and it was A of Clubs. He immediately used the transfer bead on his wrist under the table and said with a smile, ¡°Call 1,000.¡±

    ¡°No. 2, please choose.¡±

    No. 2 was cautious and directly folded her cards to ensure peace.

    ¡°No. 3, please choose.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang decisively discarded his cards.

    It was No. 5¡¯s turn and everyone was tense. If he folded his cards then Xiao Lou would win directly. However, if he used the transfer bead then victory in this game wasn¡¯t necessarily decided.

    No. 5 was the first to win a beautiful psychological war and won 18,000 gold coins in one breath. Since the second game, he had been folding and watching. In the fifth game, he had 14,000 gold coins left.

    Meanwhile, Xiao Lou only had 4,000 left. If No. 5 bet 4,000 then he could force Xiao Lou to go all in.

    No. 5 didn¡¯t do so. His narrow phoenix eyes curved in a smile as he said, ¡°Call.¡±

    The two girls who had already folded nced at each other, their expressions a bit nervous. No. 5 had many gold coins and wouldn¡¯t be eliminated even if he lost. No. 1 was different. He had too little money and if he lost then he might be thrown into the Nightmare Room.

    Yu Hanjiang also nervously clenched his fists as he watched Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou just gave him a ¡®don¡¯t worry¡¯ look.

    The keeper opened his mouth. ¡°The third round of dealing, No. 1 please choose.¡±

    ¡°I want a card and call 1,000.¡±

    No. 5 stated, ¡°I want a card, call.¡±

    ¡°The fourth round of dealing.¡±

    ¡°I want a card and call 1,000.¡±

    No. 5 stated, ¡°I want a card, call.¡±

    One gold coin after another was thrown into the prize pool.

    Xiao Lou and No. 5 continuously called!

    Unlike the previous games, the two yers in this game were very stable. They only invested 1,000 gold coins every time. It was just that Xiao Lou calling four times was no different from going all in. He only had 4,000 gold coins and now he had no more in his hand. If he lost then he would be eliminated.

    Everyone¡¯s hearts were in their throats.

    The keeper stated, ¡°The dealing has ended. Please reveal your cards.¡±

    No. 5 smiled and opened his cards.

    J of Hearts, Q of Spades, K of Diamonds, J of Clubs and K of Hearts. It was the ¡®five small people¡¯ hand.

    Xiao Lou smiled and calmly opened his hand. K of Clubs, A of Clubs, 2 of Clubs, 3 of Clubs and 4 of Clubs!

    1+2+3+4+K, the points were exactly 10:30. Another king!

    Xiao Lou¡¯s hand was even better than Yu Hanjiang¡¯s king hand in the first game. Not only did he use five cards to perfectly create a 10.5, it was also a pure clubs A,2,3,4 flush!

    The two sisters on the sidelines were frightened, their hands covered in cold sweat.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s clenched fists slowly loosened. He nced at Xiao Lou and found that thetter was extremely calm.

    In such a thrilling life and death situation, Xiao Lou was like¡­ he already expected it?

 Chapter 17: Clubs Secret Roomâ€™s Solution

    The teenager keeper dered, ¡°The fifth game, No. 1 wins. Since No. 5 didn¡¯t lose all his coins, both can advance to the next game.¡±

    The two females present looked at Xiao Lou and were both relieved.

    Xiao Lou smiled and took back the 5,000 basic bet, plus the 4,000 of his call and 4,000 from No. 5 for a total of 13,000 gold coins.

    The guard said, ¡°The sixth game is beginning. The dealing is random.¡±

    The previous rounds were counterclockwise and this time it was random. This round of dealing was random and happened tond on No. 7.

    No. 7 directly folded her cards and Xiao Lou followed. No. 2 and No. 3 also folded their cards. The four people¡¯s cards in the discard pool all added up to more than 10.5. There was a 7 & 8, 9 & 5 and other rotten cards.

    It was No. 5¡¯s turn. The other four all had cards that were more than 10.5. No. 5 did nothing and directlyy down to win, gaining the 5,000 ante.

    At this point in the card game, the slower people understood the way to live.

    If the cards weren¡¯t good, fold directly and only lose 1,000 gold coins. If they had to call, pay less and they would keep their lives. If they had gold coins then they wouldn¡¯t be eliminated.

    However, there were only five chances to fold.

    For No. 5, he went all in during the first game and yed the fifth and sixth games. He only folded three times and had more opportunities to fold. He had more than 10,000 gold coins so in the seventh game, he could immediately clear the cards by simply folding.

    The remaining four people had exhausted all their folds. In the seventh game, the four people had to keep calling.

    Still, by this time everyone had formed a tacit understanding. Only call the minimum amount to save their lives.

    The dealing order was random and the seventh game ended up starting with Xiao Lou first.

    For the opening card, Xiao Lou got an A.

    The keeper opened his mouth. ¡°The first round of dealing. No. 1, please choose.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at his card and then swept a gaze over the table before suddenly smiling. ¡°I don¡¯t want a card, call 1,000.¡±

    Everyone was startled.

    In order to get 10.5 points, at least two cards were needed. This was only the second round and he only had two cards. Yet he didn¡¯t want a card? Did he get too many cards and was afraid to get more than 10.5. Or¡­

    Sitting on his right side, the No.2 girl¡¯s eyes turned around before they suddenly brightened as if she understood something. ¡°Call 1,000, I don¡¯t want any cards!¡±

    No. 3 Yu Hanjiang was the second to understand. ¡°Call, no card.¡±

    No. 5 shrugged and indeed folded. The No. 7 sister also understood and threw a gold coin into the prize pool. ¡°Call 1,000, no card.¡±

    Xiao Lou took the lead to stop getting cards in the second round of dealing in order to give everyone a hint. Don¡¯t receive any more cards and let the game end in the second round. Directly lose the game and their losses could be reduced to a minimum.

    At this time, everyone didn¡¯t have a transfer bead and it was almost impossible to get 10.5 out of natural luck.

    In thest game, the four people had to call. ording to the rules of the game, they had to call 1,000 coins every time they took a card. Why throw out a gold coin in vain and bet on luck? Wasn¡¯t it better to stay their hands?

    At this moment, the four yers tacitly chose not to receive a card. The game was automatically ended.

    The keeper stated, ¡°The dealing has ended. Please reveal your cards.¡±

    No. 1 Xiao Lou: A of Hearts.

    No. 2 girl: A of Diamonds.

    No. 3 Yu Hanjiang: A of Spades.

    No. 7 ponytail girl: A of Clubs.

    The four people actually got all As!

    Since No. 5 folded and the other four were t, there were no winners and the gold coins were recovered by the keeper.

    The teenager dered, ¡°The seventh game is over. This card game has finished.¡±

    He took the gold coins back from the table. ¡°Congrattions to the five challengers for sessfully clearing the 2 of Clubs secret room, Challenge 10.5. The remaining gold coins in your hand are the rewards for this room.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Thanks to Xiao Lou taking the lead to suspend the dealing in the second round, the loss of gold coins was only 2,000. If they kept asking for cards and calling until the fifth round, their losses would be as high as 5,000 coins.

    This was the wisest decision to make sure everyone was alive. Don¡¯t be greedy and stop in time.

    The No. 2 girl sitting next to Xiao Lou admired him and gave him a thumbs up. He took the lead in suspending the dealing and sessfully rewarded everyone with 3,000 more gold coins.

    Just then, No. 5 smiled and suddenly asked, ¡°Clubs, you have been secretly controlling the cards in this game, right?¡±

    The Clubs teenager looked at him in an expressionless way.

    No. 5 continued, ¡°I have yed thousands of card game and the probability of gaining ¡®king¡¯ or ¡®five small ones¡¯ is less than one in 10,000. There is also thest game where everyone started with an A. It is impossible to have such a coincidence unless you are in control.¡±

    His words caused the crowd to prick their ears and Xiao Lou to raise his head. Xiao Lou had long discovered this.

    If the keeper wasn¡¯t controlling the cards then it was hard to exin the second and third games.

    The transfer bead could ensure that they got good cards. Then what about when two people used the transfer bead at the same time. Were the better cards really just determined by luck?

    No. The person who remained and the person who was eliminated had been in the hands of the Keeper of Clubs.

    In the second game, Yu Hanjiang and No. 6 used the transfer beads at the same time. No. 6¡¯s hands had been shaking nervously while Yu Hanjiang always remained calm. The keeper decided to eliminate No. 6, controlling the cards to allow Yu Hanjiang to get the ¡®king¡¯ hand while No. 6 was eliminated.

    In the third game, the No. 2 thin girl and the No. 4 curly-haired woman used the transfer beads at the same time. No. 4¡¯s mental state had exploded while the No. 2 girl might be thin but she was stable until the end. Thus. the keeper controlled it so No. 4 was eliminated.

    The coincidence of two consecutive games didn¡¯t make sense at all.

    In addition, there were the keeper¡¯s words. ¡°Luck is also a type of strength.¡±

    Xiao Lou had understood the secret of the Clubs room at that time. The keeper was in control of the cards and eliminated people ording to their strength.

    The keywords: luck, strength.

    The Clubs secret room didn¡¯t look at luck but strength.

    In the fourth game, Xiao Lou hinted to No. 7 to use the transfer bead. No one fought and No. 7 directly won.

    In the fifth game, No. 5 wasn¡¯t calling to force Xiao Lou to death. It was because No. 5 also saw the truth of the Clubs room and was doing a test. He had 14,000 gold coins in his hand and wouldn¡¯t be eliminated even if he lost 4,000. It was understandable to do a test. If Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t hold onto his mental state at this time, the two people would PK and it was likely that the keeper would control Xiao Lou¡¯s cards to knock out Xiao Lou.

    Fortunately, Xiao Lou was steady. The transfer bead wasn¡¯t used blindly before the drawing. It was about looking at the timing ording to your hand and deciding whether to use it or not.

    Before drawing a card, using the transfer bead blindly meant really giving your life to the unknown ¡®luck.¡¯ Maybe the keeper wasn¡¯t happy and would directly give you AA222.

    It was only after touching two cards and then using the transfer bead that you could guess the type of hand you would receive based on your cads. There were always five hands on the screen to bepared to.

    For example, getting J and Q and then using the transfer bead, the best type of hand that could be received was the JQK¡¯ five small people.¡¯

    In the fifth game, Xiao Lou had received a K of Clubs and A of Clubs. If he used the transfer bead at the time, the best he could get was the ¡®king.¡¯ He made sure he would take the king by calmly calling to the end.

    The keeper was obviously very satisfied with Xiao Lou¡¯s performance and directly gave him a straight of clubs.

    ¡­

    The teenager heard No. 5¡¯s question and lightly nced around the table. ¡°Who else has questions about the game?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and stated, ¡°The four secret rooms have their own rules. The Clubs secret room definitely won¡¯t be eliminated by luck. I agree with No. 5¡¯s view that this isn¡¯t a gambling game but a game of the mind. Since the first game, you have been controlling our hands. In the fifth game, I first got the K of Clubs and A of Clubs. My guess is that you gave me all clubs, right?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    No wonder why Xiao Lou could be so calm. He originally guessed that he would win.

    Thinking carefully, every time the teenager shuffled, the cards would move in a dazzling manner between the slender fingers. It was reasonable to say that he shuffled the cards so many times that he would distribute the 52 cards evenly. No one would happen to get A234K or JJJJK.

    In terms of probability, this possibility wouldn¡¯t necessarily appear in tens of thousands of games. Today, it appeared so many times and in thest game, everyone¡¯s initial card was an A.

    There was only one exnation: the keeper was manipting the game.

    He could secretly arrange the cards and points. The person he wanted to get an A would get an A immediately.

    Why control the cards?

    The crowd remembered that when the No. 4 woman questioned him, the keeper¡¯s calm words were, ¡°Luck is also a type of strength.¡±

    It was this!

    The keeper judged everyone¡¯s strength and controlled everyone¡¯s points so that the strong people lived to the end.

    The Clubs room was actually testing everyone¡¯s psychological quality.

    The No. 7 girl was stunned and spoke softly, ¡°Then the Clubs room actually had a perfect clearance method. If the seven of us had a tacit understanding from the beginning and every person uses the transfer bead in turn, one person would win while the others fold or only call 1,000. After seven games, everyone will have gold coins and no one would be eliminated.¡±

    ¡°It makes sense.¡± The No. 2 girl whispered. ¡°Unfortunately, everyone doesn¡¯t know each other and were suddenly pulled into a gambling game. There is no possibility of a tacit understanding. People are selfish and will want to win. They won¡¯t think of others and a win-win situation.¡±

    The girl¡¯s words hit the nail and silenced the room again.

    Seven people with a tacit understanding would cooperate with each other and use the transfer bead in turn. Each of them winning a game was the method to perfectly clear the Clubs room. However, who could selflessly think of a win-win situation from the beginning? Even if they thought so, how to guarantee that the other six people would cooperate?

    A person¡¯s heart was unpredictable. Unless everybody knew that there was a tacit understanding of ¡®living together¡¯, the Clubs room couldn¡¯t be perfectly cleared.

    The teenager heard this and the tight corners of his mouth finally curved. He nodded to everyone and said, ¡°You are very smart. Yes, I have been controlling the cards from the beginning. The people left behind and the people weeded out depends on your performance. The seven people who came to clear the instance yesterday fought and only three survived in the end. It is excellent that five of you ended up surviving.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou heard up to here and his back was cold.

    The keeper secretly controlled the cards. Wasn¡¯t this ying everyone between his palms?

    The teenager seemed to see through Xiao Lou¡¯s thoughts and said, ¡°The D-grade Clubs secret room is the preliminary screening of the challenger. I will judge your strength and control your cards to eliminate yers so it is far. If you really gamble then your luck might not necessarily be good. People like No. 4 and No. 6 have a poor mental state and aren¡¯t suitable for the Card World. Being eliminated in the early stages is a kindness for them.¡±

    Xiao Lou frowned. ¡°How can you guarantee that the elimination of challengers is based on strength and not your personal preferences?¡±

    No. 4 stood up to him and in the next game, he eliminated No. 4. Strictly speaking, the No. 2 thin girl wasn¡¯t suitable for surviving in the Card World. If No. 2 and No. 4 PKed, either of them could be eliminated.

    ¡°My hand contains the clearance ratings of your other rooms.¡±

    He waved and in front of everyone, there were the S, A, B and other clearance scores. The eliminated No. 4 and 6 had three clearance scores of all C¡­

    The teenager continued, ¡°I know the keepers of Hearts, Diamonds and Spades. The 2 of Clubs secret room is a primary screening barrier and it is bound to eliminate some yers who perform too badly. As a keeper, I decide if you stay or leave ording to yourprehensive performance. Setting up a game of gambling is the final test of your psychological quality. Are there any more questions?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    So far, everyone understood the rules of the Clubs room.

    The D-grade secret rooms were the easier but everyone was thinking tooplicated when it came to Clubs. The moment they heard it was ying cards, everyone¡¯s first reaction was to wonder if their luck was bad and they would subconsciously feel nervous.

    In fact, the moment they entered the Clubs room, the ones who stayed and the ones who were eliminated were based on theprehensive assessment in the teenager¡¯s hands.

    The 2 of Clubs room being a poker game was thest chance for everyone to fight.

    If they could hold their mental state in the highly stressful card game, they could get a good card. Even if their results in the first three rooms weren¡¯t good, they might still pass the Clubs room.

    People like No. 4 and No. 6 had a very poor psychological quality. Their first few clearances were very difficult and they encountered the tense Clubs game. Their mental state copsed and it was impossible to live to the end. No. 5 was the exact opposite. He scored a C in Hearts, a C in Diamonds, an A in Spades and he was able to live in the Clubs room. He was courageous enough to start a game of psychological warfare.

    The No. 7 girl looked at Xiao Lou and whispered, ¡°Thank you.¡± If it wasn¡¯t for Xiao Lou seeing through the rules and suggesting she use the transfer bead while voluntarily folding the cards, the next one to be eliminated would be her. It could be said that Xiao Lou gave her victory.

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t thank me. In the future, the secret rooms will be more difficult and you have to be careful.¡±

    The No. 7 girl nodded lightly. ¡°I know.¡±

    The room was silent again.

    The Clubs teenager nced at everyone. ¡°After this level, you should understand that the Clubs room is a ¡®challenge¡¯ room and it will be a direct confrontation between yers. It might be ying cards or other confrontational situation. As long as you enter a Clubs room, you might be eliminated. You must be prepared before entering a Clubs room.¡±

    The five survivors were worried and didn¡¯t want to experience the Clubs room at all.

    Just then, the silent Yu Hanjiang suddenly opened his mouth. ¡°The four D-grade secret rooms are over and next are the C-grade secret rooms. Can we form a team?¡± He nced at Xiao Lou as he spoke.

    Xiao Lou immediately followed up with the question, ¡°A team needs a contract. Can I buy it now?¡±

    He counted the gold coins in his hand and he just had 10,000. He could finally buy a contract!

 Chapter 18: Contract

    The others heard the words ¡®contract¡¯ and were all stunned.

    The No. 2 girl asked incredulously, ¡°What contract?¡±

    The teenager exined, ¡°The Clubs room will match challengers with the same progress. The five of you have cleared all the D-grade secret rooms. Starting from the C-grade secret rooms, multiyer and cooperation mode will open. A contract is a must have for the formation of a team.¡±

    The girl wondered, ¡°What if you choose the Clubs room first? Can you team up with someone else after clearing the instance?¡±

    ¡°No, for people who choose the Clubs room in the beginning, I will look at their performance and eliminate some yers with poor psychological quality. If they win the game, they can keep the money first and if they find someone they want to form a team with, they can find a keeper and buy the contract.¡± The teenager¡¯s eyes swept over the crowd as he spoke. ¡°The five of you will now progress through the C-grade rooms and can purchase it directly.¡±

    He raised his hand and three types of contracts appeared on the table.

    The beginner contract book is worth 10,000 gold coins and allows two people to bind together in a team. The intermediate contract is 50,000 gold coins and allows five yers to establish a contractual rtionship. The advanced contract is expensive and requires 180,000 gold coins, allowing 8 to 15 yers to establish a contractual rtionship.

    The gold coins in Xiao Lou¡¯s hands were limited and the only person he wanted to bind to was Yu Hanjiang. He didn¡¯t hesitate to buy a beginner contract book directly with 10,000 gold coins. Yu Hanjiang originally wanted to buy one but put away his gold coins when he saw that Xiao Lou had already bought it.

    After getting the contract, Xiao Lou opened it and found there were some terms written on it.

    [Contract Code for the Card Secret Rooms]

    1. The challengers who establish the contractual rtionship will immediately be fixed teammates. Any teammate who opens a new secret room will call other teammates from the contract to enter the world at the same time. People in other secret rooms aren¡¯t affected by the call.

    2. The first person to sign bes the owner of the contract by default. The owner can cross out the names of other people on the contract and terminate the contractual rtionship with the other party, but this isn¡¯t allowed when a secret room is in progress.

    3. The contract can be upgraded. A beginner contract binds two people. 40,000 coins must be paid to upgrade to the intermediate and 170,000 coins to upgrade to advanced. After the upgrade, the original contractual rtionship still exists but the signature page will expand and new people can continue to be added.

    4. Write your own name on the signature page with the special feather pen thates with the contract and then give the contract to the person you want to invite. After the other party agrees and signs the book, the contract will automatically be generated.

    5. In addition to the owner, the other signers can actively erase their name or die in the secret room. Then the contractual rtionship is terminated. If the owner of the contract dies in the secret room, the owner of the contract is transferred to the second signer.

    6. Everyone in the Card World is allowed to sign only one contract.

    7. Thest team code can be added and modified by the owner of the contract.

    This book had a very good texture and was like the mysterious magic books in Western fantasy movies. The pure ck leather cover is surrounded by a beautiful pattern border and the middle of the book had ¡®Card World¡¯s Contract Book¡¯ stamped. The inner pages of the book were yellowed paper while the code text on the first page was red like blood. A red feathered pen was sandwiched in the middle of the page.

    The second page was the signature page, which currently only had two spaces.

    Xiao Lou picked up the pen and seriously and correctly wrote down the name ¡®Xiao Lou.¡¯

    After writing, he smiled at the other three people and handed the contract book directly to Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou, very simply picked up the pen and then wrote next to Xiao Lou¡¯s signature, ¡®Yu Hanjiang¡¯ in handsome characters before handing it back to Xiao Lou.

    The two people didn¡¯t speak from beginning to end but acted tacitly like they had been negotiating for a long time.

    The other three, ¡°¡­¡±

    They were bound so easily? The onlookers suddenly felt some envy.

    No. 5 smiled. ¡°No. 1 and No. 3, you originally knew each other?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang faintly replied with a ¡®hmm.¡¯

    ¡°No wonder why you keep looking at each other¡¯s eyes during the process of ying cards.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    It was only a few times. Was it so obvious?

    The Cubs teenager stated, ¡°For the remaining three, if you want to form a team then you can find me. In the next level, you will be randomly matched with single challengers and the type of person you are matched with can¡¯t be guaranteed.¡±

    The teenager consciously served as the ¡®Newbie Vige Guide NPC.¡¯ He might have some facial nerve paralysis but he was very responsible and exined the rules clearly.

    The No. 2 girl looked at the No. 7 girl. Before she could speak, the No. 7 sister took the initiative to open her mouth. ¡°Let¡¯s team up. I don¡¯t have 10,000 gold coins but if we join our money together, we should have enough to buy a contract.¡±

    The No. 2 girl¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Okay, how much more do you need?¡±

    The two sisters joined up. They bought a contract with their money and quickly signed it.¡±

    Only No. 5 was left with no teammates. He yed so freely that neither of the two girls dared to team up with him. However, the man didn¡¯t seem to mind. He sat in the chair like he was sitting on his own sofa.

    Xiao Lou intuitively sensed that this braided man was very strong. His thinking was keen and he was bold. His skill when ying cards was very professional. Although his performance in Hearts, Diamonds and Spades weren¡¯t very good, in the Clubs room, such a person would definitely be an existence for the opponents to fear¡ªa gambler! Who would dare y so crazily? If someone had used a transfer bead in the first round then he would¡¯ve been finished after going all in.

    He perceived Xiao Lou¡¯s look and No. 5 winked.¡±Why are you looking at me? Do you still want to y cards with me?¡±

    Xiao Lou decisively shook his head. ¡°No.¡±

    No. 5 said with a smile, ¡°If there is a chance then let¡¯s drink together in the future.¡± He seemed to think of something and suddenly looked at the keeper. ¡°Right, A of Clubs, I have been in the Card World for so long and never felt hungry. Don¡¯t we need to eat here?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The moment he said this, everyone realized with surprise that they weren¡¯t hungry. It seemed there was no feeling other than being tired?

    They all looked at the keeper with doubts.

    The Clubs teenager exined, ¡°You don¡¯t feel hungry because you are still in the D-grade secret rooms. The lowest level secret rooms will protect novices and shield your physiological metabolism. Once you leave the D-grade secret rooms, you will feel hungry, tired and in pain. The five senses of a normal human will be restored.¡±

    Xiao Lou questioned, ¡°Then the gold coins rewarded by the Clubs can buy things in the Card World in the future?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Gold coins are the only currency in the Card World.¡± The keeper looked at the clock on the wall and suggested, ¡°The room is closing. You have three minutes to say goodbye to each other.¡±

    There was a brief silence in the room.

    After a few seconds, the No. 2 girl whispered, ¡°E-Everyone, I am a student of Jiangzhou Medical University. I would like to ask if in the real world, you encountered any idents beforeing here?¡±

    The No. 7 girl replied, ¡°I am also at the medical university. I was taking a bus back from school when I got into a car ident.¡±

    The No. 2 girl was startled. ¡°Is it the school bus that drives to Minzhu Street in Jiangzhou City?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s back was slightly stiff. ¡°You were on the bus at that time?¡±

    The two girls nced at each other and nodded.

    The two girls were actually medical students and perhaps they had also attended Xiao Lou¡¯s ss. If it was the real world then Xiao Lou would say hello to them gently. It was just that in today¡¯s Card World, Xiao Lou found it difficult to take care of himself, let alone his students.

    Jiangzhou City¡¯s Minzhu Street happened to be the ce where Xiao Lou¡¯s ident happened. It seemed that many people died in this car ident.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t reveal his identity and nced at Yu Hanjiang in an inquiring manner. Thetter shook his head and said, ¡°I wasn¡¯t in a car ident. I will tell youter.¡±

    No. 5 shrugged. ¡°I have never been to Jiangzhou but I did have an ident in the real world.¡±

    The No. 7 girl seemed to think of something and suddenly trembled. ¡°Then my sister also came to this world? She was sitting with me at the time! She is in poor health. How can she live in a ce like Zombie Town? Would she have been given to the zombies¡­¡± Thinking of the cruel picture, her body started trembling uncontrobly and she couldn¡¯t continue to speak.

    The No. 2 girl walked over and gently held her hand. ¡°Don¡¯t be sad. Maybe your sister is still alive. The Zombie Town doesn¡¯t have to be cleared in a violent manner and she can live if she is fast.¡±

    The No. 7 girl made a ¡®hmm¡¯ sound and bowed her head with frustration.

    The keeper dered, ¡°The room is closing in 30 seconds. Please return to your personal space.¡±

    The people turned to leave. As the No. 7 girl was walking to the door, she suddenly turned back and cried out, ¡°My sister is called Liu Qiao, she is 18 years old and just admitted to university. If you meet her in the future, I hope you can help me tell her¡ªlive well!¡±

    She was looking at Xiao Lou, apparently trusting him the most among these people.

    Xiao Lou had to say warmly, ¡°Okay, if I meet her then I¡¯ll tell her. You must also live well.¡±

    The girl nodded at Xiao Lou and returned to her personal space.

    No. 5 waved to them. ¡°Goodbye, everyone. I will continue to go to Clubs. If you don¡¯t want to bump into me then it is best not to go to the Clubs room.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other and didn¡¯t say anything.

    The room was about to close and they turned to walk into the personal space corresponding to their number. They were bound and no matter what secret room was opened, they would pull in the other party. There was no rush to talk here.

    However, the moment he entered his personal space, Xiao Lou saw a familiar tall figure.

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Why did they meet in the personal space? Was this intemunication?

    The two men simultaneously turned to look at the Clubs teenager.

    The teenager spoke with a nk expression. ¡°Due to the contractual rtionship, you are bound to go to instances together. I am toozy to split into a separate A of Clubs to take care of both of you. The questions you have to ask and what secret room to choose can be discussed together.¡±

    Xiao Lou suddenly felt that this little guy was asionally a bit cute. He waszy and didn¡¯t want to split into two A of Clubs, so he just merged the two people in a team together.

    Just right!

    Xiao Lou immediately took off his mask and Yu Hanjiang did the same.

    The two men finally saw the long-lost familiar face.

    This nce was truly as if it was a lifetime ago.

    Their faces hadn¡¯t changed or their appearance from memories. However, both pairs of eyes were full of thick fatigue.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you for a long time.¡± Yu Hanjiang walked up to Xiao Lou and whispered, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to meet you here.¡±

    ¡°I also didn¡¯t expect it.¡±

    They clearly had a lot to say but didn¡¯t know where to start. The room was silent for a moment.

    Then Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°You were in a car ident beforeing to this world?¡±

    ¡°Yes, on the seventh day after the new year, I had dinner and went to the supermarket to buy some things. I was crossing the road when I encountered a bus suddenly rushing over. It happened to be the ce that the two girls just mentioned so I think they should¡¯ve died in the same car ident¡­¡± Xiao Lou didn¡¯t want to recall that bloody scene and closed his eyes. ¡°Group Leader Yu, what about you?¡±

    ¡°There was a bombing case and some idents urred during the execution of the mission.¡± In front of those other people, it wasn¡¯t good to disclose his policeman identity but it wasn¡¯t necessary to hide it from Xiao Lou. Yu Hanjiang exined simply, ¡°It was also the seventh day, in the afternoon in the suburbs.¡±

    ¡°So you didn¡¯t get my WeChat?¡±

    ¡°WeChat? My phone is always on silent while I¡¯m on a mission.¡± Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Were you looking for me?¡±

    ¡°It was no big deal. I was just asking you when you have time for a meal together.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Yu Hanjiang remembered that he told Xiao Lou on the night of the Spring Festival that they would eat together.

    Unfortunately, this meal couldn¡¯t be fulfilled. They encountered idents on the same day and were actually reunited in the Card World.

    Xiao Lou could imagine how dangerous Yu Hanjiang¡¯s situation was at the time and didn¡¯t ask for the details of the incident. Instead, he walked in front of the card wall and changed the topic. ¡°Group Leader Yu, you must want to go back to the real world?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang followed and looked at the huge card wall in front of him. ¡°You as well?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Of course. ¡±

    He turned to Yu Hanjiang, holding out his hand and dering with firm eyes, ¡°We will clear the card rooms together and leave here!¡±

    Facing Xiao Lou¡¯s clear eyes, Yu Hanjiang nodded carefully and whispered, ¡°Okay.¡±

    The man held Xiao Lou¡¯s hand tightly.

    The eyes of the two people met in the air.

    In this strange Card World, they met a familiar person.

    The body temperature of the other person passed through the fingertips, seeming to inject a great force into their hearts.

    From now on, they wererades in arms.

    No matter how difficult the future, they would go side by side.

    [End of Volume 1]

 Chapter 19: Choice

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly thought of a question. ¡°By the way, a few days before the ident, did youe in contact with ying cards?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought of New Year¡¯s Even when his cousin pulled him to y Fight the Landlord and blurted out, ¡°On New Year¡¯s Eve, I yed a few games of cards at home.¡± Seeing the look of ¡®as expected¡¯ in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes, Xiao Lou could help being confused. ¡°What do you mean? The rules of selection for the Card World is rted to ying cards?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just guessing,¡± Yu Hanjiang replied. ¡°The day before the ident, I went to my uncle¡¯s house for some New Year¡¯s greetings and yed a few games of cards. There are card elements everywhere so maybe it really is rted to ying cards.¡±

    ¡°It is rted to cards¡­¡± Xiao Lou touched his chin and looked thoughtfully at the card wall in front of him. ¡°In the end, we yed cards, were selected by the Card World and killed in the real world? Or were we selected by the Card World after we died because we yed cards? This order is critical.¡±

    ¡°Yes, if it is the former then the Card World¡¯s ability is beyond our imagination. It can create idents at any time after selecting the yer, killing people in the real world.¡± Yu Hanjiang frowned and held his arms as he thought. ¡°If it is thetter, can we understand this as the world where souls go after death? Only those who have yed cards wille here after dying?¡±

    ¡°There are too few leads and we need to find other challengers to seek evidence.¡± Xiao Lou concluded.

    ¡°¡­¡± The Clubs teenager stood to the side and listened to them chatting. They had met again after a long separation and obviously forgot the presence of the keeper.

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°No matter the rules of the selection, this world is too real.¡±

    ¡°It is like a huge came.¡± Xiao Lou carefully considered the adjective and said, ¡°When I left the Spades room by helicopter I found that there were many copies of the Zombie Town, just like an instance in a game. The four keepers can also split into countless copies to go to different spaces and talk to the challengers, just like NPCs in a game?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not an NPC.¡± The Clubs teenager interjected.

    ¡°¡­¡± The sudden voice startled the two men and they looked back at him.

    ¡°I¡¯ve always been here, can¡¯t you see?¡± The Clubs teenager¡¯s voice was filled with some doubts.

    ¡°Cough.¡± Xiao Lou thought they had been talking too much and actually ignored this guy. He looked at the teenager and asked with a smile, ¡°Yes, how long can we rest? It was hard to get through all the D-grade secret rooms. Surely we don¡¯t have to go to the next level immediately?¡±

    ¡°A 30 minutes break.¡± A of Clubs replied. ¡°At this time, you should be familiar with each other and discuss which secret room to go to next.¡±

    ¡°The rules of the Card World¡¯s selection¡­¡± Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t finished his words when A of Clubs interrupted. ¡°Don¡¯t ask me, I won¡¯t disclose any information to you.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Xiao Lou dispelled his ideas.

    Since the two people¡¯s space had merged, the rest sofa became two and there was a table in the middle. Xiao Lou nodded and Yu Hanjiang and went to the sofa to sit down. Yu Hanjiang also followed.

    A 30 minutes break allowed them to rest and exchange information with each other.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°What cards did you get in the previous rooms?¡±

    Since they teamed up, it was necessary to know the card situation of their teammate.

    Xiao Lou took out his card pack and put it on the table and Yu Hanjiang did the same.

    The Rose Funeral plot card, the fruit knife and the rose perfume were from perfectly clearing the 2 of Hearts secret room. The Zombie Virus and Special Effects Vine were from perfectly clearing the 2 of Spades secret room. Both people had these cards.

    For the 2 of Diamonds secret room, Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t get the Folding Paper. However, he still had the Nine Pces Grid. He found that Xiao Lou didn¡¯t have it and was very surprised. ¡°Where is your Nine Pces Grid? This question should be the simplest and I remember that you also refreshed the world record of the 2 of Diamonds room. How can you not have Nine Pces Grid?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled bitterly. ¡°I ran out using it on the zombies.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    What did this person go through in Zombie Town? He actually used up all of Nine Pces Grid?

    Xiao Lou saw that his Nine Pces Grid hadn¡¯t been used and asked with surprise, ¡°This card hasn¡¯t been used? Then how did you clear Zombie Town and set a world record?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°I picked up a stick in the street. The zombies are slow and I hit them in the head to kill them.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou, whose legs were sore from running crazily, didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry after hearing Group Leader Yu¡¯s words.

    It seemed that Yu Hanjiang really used a bulldozer to push past.

    Yu Hanjiang saw the Tao Yuanming card on the table and couldn¡¯t help wondering, ¡°This card can really summon Tao Yuanming?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Xiao Lou pointed to the image of the character on the card and said, ¡°The summoned Tao Yuanming looks the same as the one drawn on the card. He can find the Peach Blossom Spring once every 24 hours. Tao Yuanming¡¯s skill is very strong and I can instantaneously move to the space, avoiding a crisis at a critical moment. The current card level is 3 and I can bring two people in. However, I have already used this card today and it can only be used after 24 hours.¡±

    ¡°Once you have a chance, bring me in to take a look.¡± Yu Hanjiang looked at the Tao Yuanming skill description with great interest. He followed up with the two cards of thepass and zombie leader. ¡°The Compass is good. You can draw weapons at any time. This zombie leader is Liu Xiaoyuan?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s him.¡± Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Did he ask you to open the door at the end?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°How did you deal with it?¡±

    ¡°I saw he was dead and I killed him,¡± Yu Hanjiang stated calmly.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It was estimated that Liu Xiaoyuan didn¡¯t have time to scream and summon the zombies before Yu Hanjiang used the stick to kill him. No wonder why Yu Hanjiang could perfectly clear the instance in 15 minutes. The manpletely used violence to clear the instance.

    Xiao Lou felt helpless¡ªGroup Leader Yu was the correct way to y the survival secret room!

    Yu Hanjiang handed his own cards to Xiao Lou. ¡°These are the S-grade cards that I drew.¡±

    Xiao Lou picked them up and took a closer look.

    [Weapon: Silver Moon]

    Rarity: S

    Description: After a perfect clearance, there is a very low probability of obtaining it from the limited card pool.

    Data: Lightweight gun, caliber 5.5mm, weight 4kg, equipped with 8x variable optical sight, effective range of 500m, fires small caliber rifle bullets, magazine capacity of 10.

    Additional skills: Precise Aim

    After using the skill, you can immediately lock onto a target within range and pull the trigger to precisely aim at the other side¡¯s head, resulting in a killing blow. The skill cooldown time is 5 minutes.

    Note: The skill of the weapon card is for those who can¡¯t use a gun. A master who can fire a gun can ignore the skill and open the scope to aim without being limited by the skill cooldown down. Once the bullets are used up, please buy them from the weapons dealer with gold coins.

    Growth level 1 and the effective range will increase by 100 metres every level. At the maximum level, it reaches 1,500 metres.

    It was a super light sniper gun, painted in dark silver, with a metallic cool light and a crescent-shaped mark that echoed the ¡®Silver Moon¡¯ name.

    Xiao Lou got the Tao Yuanming card after clearing the 2 of Hearts secret room. He thought the style of this world was strange and others also drew strange summoning cards. He didn¡¯t expect there to be such serious weapon cards.

    This weapon wasn¡¯t powerful in his hand. He hadn¡¯t touched a gun and couldn¡¯t use it at all.

    However, in Group Leader Yu¡¯s hands, it was like adding wings to a tiger.

    Yu Hanjiang was a policeman and should be proficient in all types of firearms. The presence of this gun meant he could definitely kill targets from a long distance and it would be useful in future survival rooms.

    Xiao Lou picked up the other S-grade card.

    [Equipment: Gale

    Rarity: S

    Description: After a perfect clearance, there is a higher probability of obtaining it from the limited card draw pool. This is a pair of invisible boots and the size can be adjusted at any time ording to the size of the user¡¯s feet. It can¡¯t be seen on the feet and won¡¯t be damaged.

    Additional skills: Monthly Gale

    Increases the user¡¯s movement speed by five times for five minutes after using the skill. The cooldown time is 30 minutes.

    Growth level 1, every increase in level can increase the eleration duration by one minute. The full level will increase it to 15 minutes.

    Note: If you can¡¯t beat it, the good choice is to run with the eleration shoes ??

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Group Leader Yu pulled two cards, a gun and a pair of shoes which were very practical. In particr, the pair of shoes. If Xiao Lou had these shoes then his experience in Zombie Town wouldn¡¯t be so bad.

    It seemed that he saw through Xiao Lou¡¯s thoughts because Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°This card is for you.¡±

    Xiao Lou was naturally embarrassed to take it and immediately refused. ¡°You drew this card. How can you casually give it to me?¡±

    ¡°You need it more.¡±

    The man didn¡¯t allow refusal and directly inserted the card into Xiao Lou¡¯s card pack. ¡°I usually train in a team and I emerged from police school. If I really want to run, few people can get past me.¡±

    Group Leader Yu dealt with murderers all year round. A prisoner running for his life would definitely use all the strength of his body. If Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t keep up then how could he catch the murderer? Besides, the card was already inserted into his card package. It would be too unreasonable to refuse now.

    Xiao Lou had to ept the card and said with a smile, ¡°Thank you.¡± He arranged his cards on the table in turn and asked, ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you see any cards you are interested in?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes swept over the table. He thought about it before stating, ¡°Give me the Folding Paper.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at him with amazement. ¡°Do you still y origami games?¡±

    ¡°I yed it as a child,¡± Yu Hanjiang replied. ¡°I can fold some cars and small boats so perhaps it can be usedter.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± Xiao Lou could only fold a paper ne and it couldn¡¯t carry people. Yu Hanjiang yed origami games and could fold the paper. He would make the best use of it.

    The two of them rearranged their cards while also bing familiar with each other¡¯s items.

    Just then, A of Clubs suddenly reminded them, ¡°The rest time is 5 minutes, please prepare for the next instance.¡±

    Time passed quickly.

    Fortunately, this 30 minutes break had already restored their physical strength.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other, got up at the same time and walked side by side to the card wall.

    Their personal space was merged and the card wall was also merged.

    At this point, the huge card wall had changed significantly.

    The bottom room had 2 of Hearts, 2 of Diamonds, 2 of Spades and 2 of Clubs. Their lower right corners had the green ¡®cleared¡¯ written. There was also the two people¡¯s respective clearance scores beside them. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s clearance scores in Hearts and Spades was S while Diamonds was a B. Xiao Lou¡¯s score in Hearts and Diamonds was S while Spades was A.

    Neither of them had a rating for Clubs.

    2 of Clubs was a challenge level and the record was the gold coins that the two people won. Xiao Lou had 10,000 gold coins and he used them to buy a contract. In the second game, Yu Hanjiang won No. 6¡¯s money and folded the next few games. His final amount was 17,000.

    Yu Hanjiang saw the gold coins data on the card wall, thought about it and handed 17 gold coins to Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Why are you giving this to me?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang exined, ¡°Since we signed the contract and are bound to break through together, the gold coins will also be spent together. In the future, you should manage the ounts. I don¡¯t have any idea about money and don¡¯t remember how much it costs.¡±

    ¡­Then did he usually spend money and never keep ount books?

    The man¡¯s serious eyes didn¡¯t seem like he was joking. Xiao Lou had to ept the gold coins with a smile. ¡°Okay, the gold coins will be temporarily kept by me. If you want to buy something then directly tell me.¡± He carefully ced the 17 gold coins into his pocket. The two people had so little money at present that they had to save some money.

    Looking back at the card wall, he found that the top two rows of 3 and 4 of Hearts, 3 and 4 of Diamonds, 3 and 4 of Clubs and 3 and 4 of Spades¡ªall eight cards had be the ¡®optional¡¯ bright state and the upper right corner of the cards had the single letter: C.

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°These are all C-grade secret rooms?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± The teenager replied. ¡°Clearing all D-grade secret rooms will automatically unlock C-grade secret rooms. Each suit of the C-grade level have two rooms and the difficulty is simr. You can freely choose one of them to enter.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced back at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Shall we go to the Hearts room first?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang simply nodded. ¡°No problem.¡±

    A criminal policeman and forensic doctor, what else could they choose for the first time?

    They would naturally go to the Hearts secret room to solve the mystery!

 Chapter 20: Bloody Maple Leaf 01

    After confirming the choice of the Hearts room, Xiao Lou asked the keeper, ¡°3 of Hearts and 4 of Hearts are two secret rooms. Can clearing one be used to unlock the next stage or must both be cleared but the order can be freely chosen?¡±

    A of Clubs exined, ¡°Hearts, Diamonds, Spades, Clubs, clearing one C-grade room each and you can unlock the next stage, the B-grade rooms.¡± Then he cautioned. ¡°However, I suggest you go to challenge all of them. It is because these C-grade secret rooms are rtively simple and it is easy to achieve the ¡®perfect clearance¡¯ and draw more good cards from the limited card pool.¡±

    Xiao Lou had long known this.

    His 2 of Hearts, 2 of Diamonds and 2 of Spades were all perfectly cleared. He drew the three cards Tao Yuanming, Compass and Zombie Leader. Each one was very strong. Based on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s weapon and equipment card, the cards in this world were much richer than imagined.

    The low-level secret rooms were rtively simple and perfectly clearing the instance allowed them to draw from a limited card pool. The probability of drawing good cards was very high and this was some of the Card World¡¯s privileges for novices. Later, once they arrived at the team secret rooms, they would be lucky just to pass the instance and it would be hard to pass it perfectly.

    Yu Hanjiang had the same idea as he looked at Xiao Lou and suggested, ¡°If we can pass all of them then we shouldn¡¯t skip any. We should take advantage of when the difficulty of the secret rooms is low to get more cards.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded in agreement. ¡°Go to 3 of Hearts or 4 of Hearts. Group Leader Yu, you decide.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t refuse and simply extended his hand to pull out the ¡®3 of Hearts¡¯ card.

    The keeper stated, ¡°The 3 of Hearts secret room, ¡®Bloody Maple Leaf¡¯ is being generated. The two of you, please be ready. The countdown is 10, 9, 8¡­¡±

    The teenager¡¯s voice gradually faded away in their ears and once he reached ¡®5¡¯, Xiao Lou¡¯s vision became dark before it lit up again after a few seconds.

    Xiao Lou squinted to adapt to the harsh light as quickly as possible. Then he looked around.

    Where was Yu Hanjiang?

    He was surprised to find that Group Leader Yu wasn¡¯t around him.

    ording to the code of the contract, the two of them had already signed the contract and would be pulled into the same world. Therefore, it was impossible for him toe in and not Yu Hanjiang.

    The only possibility was that the two of them were sent separately to different locations in the secret room.

    Xiao Lou soon understood.

    Different locations meant finding different clues. Since it was a secret room for two people, they should individually find some clues first and once the two people met up, they wouldbine the clues and analyze them.

    This was simr to the traditional ¡®escape room¡¯ game. He used to y real escape room games where everyone had to look for clues. However, the previous escape rooms were indoor games where the space was limited. They could see each other when looking back and could hear everyone.

    Now, the secret room world of 3 of Hearts was too big.

    Xiao Lou looked up and found himself standing at the gates of a school.

    The school gate was very grand and the right side of the wall was covered with many gold medals such as ¡®City¡¯s Key Middle School¡¯, ¡®Psychological Education Demonstration School¡¯, ¡®Advanced Youth League Organization¡¯, Advanced Collective;¡­

    At the top of the gate, written in elegant cursive¡ª

    Maple Forest High School.

    Xiao Lou looked around. The campus was extremely quiet and he couldn¡¯t see anyone.

    Instead, he could see arge maple forest on one side of the school.

    The time in this secret room world should be autumn. It was just after a light rain and the ground was still soaked by the rain, giving off a damp smell. A gust of wind blew and countless red maple leaves fell due to the wind,ying a thick red carpet on the ground. After the maple leaves were washed by the rain, the red was very fascinating as they floated in the air like blood.

    There was no way back and Xiao Lou had to walk through the school gate.

    The moment he stepped into the school gate, the familiar floating box and text prompts finally appeared.

    [Wee Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang to the 3 of Hearts secret room, Bloody Maple Leaf.]

    [1. This secret room is a plot suspense room and there is no time limit. Once the mystery is solved, you can go out. If you can¡¯t solve the mystery then you will stay in the world of the secret room forever.]

    [2. C-grade secret rooms no longer have the ¡®clues collection¡¯ prompt. The clearance score is rted to the time of the puzzle. The shorter the time, the higher the score will be.]

    [3. The time flow rate of the 3 of Hearts secret room is different from the Card World. Every day here is only 24 minutes in the Card World. Your body¡¯s functions are working normally based on the time flow rate of the 3 of Hearts room. You will have a physiological reaction such as hunger and exhaustion. There is a snack counter inside the school. The gold coins obtained in the Clubs room can be used here without worrying about the oue of ¡®starving to death.¡¯]

    [4. Today is the weekend. There is no one attending sses of the two of you can enter the campus to explore on your own.]

    [5. Note that you are an outsider. Once you are discovered by the security guards, you will be expelled from the school. Please be careful to avoid the security patrol and not to encounter the security guards of the school. If caught by the security guards, it will be a fail and you will be eliminated directly.]

    [6. This is a cursed school. It is said that the maple leaves are so red because the maple trees absorbed too much blood.]

    The text prompts ended and there was a ¡®ding¡¯ in his ears. ¡°Received the secret room limited card. Please check the card pack.¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately opened his card pack and found a new card lying inside.

    [Equipment Card: Invisibility Cloak]

    Rarity: A

    Description: A 3 of Hearts secret room limited card. After leaving the 3 of Hearts room, the card is automatically damaged.

    Effect: Put on the stealth cloak and immediately enter the invisible state for 30 minutes. You will be a transparent person during the invisible state. People in the secret room world can¡¯t see you and your partner can¡¯t see you.

    Restrictions: Can only be used once a day. Please pay attention to the timing.

    Xiao Lou put the card away and looked at the text in the floating box again, trying to extract key information.

    Previously in 2 of Hearts, he entered a house and collected clues, reasoning out the murderer at the crime scene. This was a static secret room where all the evidence was kept in ce. As long as he was careful enough, he could always find the clues.

    Meanwhile, the 3 of Hearts room was a dynamic plot secret room.

    He had to enter the school as a bystander.

    The mystery that he needed to solve hadn¡¯t appeared yet.

    It could be inferred from the tips that today being the weekend and no sses being on was to let him have this time to familiarize himself with the school environment. During this time, they must at least read the map of the school and find the location of each ss and office.

    On Monday, when school began, the case should happen.

    They needed to conduct a quick investigation in the school and figure out the murderer without being discovered by the security guards. This difficulty was more than double the static secret room where only one person collected evidence.

    However, the C-grade secret room wasn¡¯t too difficult. After all, only the ¡®security¡¯ barrier was set up.

    The rules said that if they were caught by the security guards, they would fail to clear the instance. It didn¡¯t say they would be expelled from school if discovered by the teachers and students. Moreover, the secret room issued the ¡®Invisibility Cloak¡¯ limited card. If they were in danger, wearing the Invisibility Cloak could save their lives.

    Xiao Lou understood this and immediately entered school, quickly observing the surrounding environment.

    He soon found a brief introduction to the school and a bird¡¯s eye view of the entire campus on a huge stone monument near the school gate.

    ***

    Maple Forest High School was founded five years ago.

    The architectural theme here was clearly rted to the maple trees and were all painted red like the maple leaves.

    The school¡¯s teaching equipment was perfect, the teaching staff were strong and the hardware facilities were first-ss. Not only was there a stadium, a running track, eight outdoor basketball courts, indoor gymnasiums and libraries. It was almostparable to a small university.

    As a key local high school, Maple Forest High School had more than 3,000 students and 300 teachers. Among them were 23 ¡®first-ss secondary level teachers.¡¯ This was the information revealed on the brief of the stone tablet.

    Xiao Lou himself was an associate professor at a university and was very familiar with the education system. For first-ss high school teachers, the education bureau in each district would have a limit on the number of people and the quota would only be empty when old teachers retired. Moreover, it was evaluated that the first-ss title had a working life requirement and only those with over 10 years of teaching would be eligible.

    The school had 23 first-ss teachers, making it worthy of being the city¡¯s key high school. The strange thing was that this school wasn¡¯t an old school. It was founded five years ago, indicating that most of the teachers transferred from elsewhere.

    There were six buildings in the school.

    The building facing the school gate was seven stories high and said ¡®Hangzhi (knowing/aware) Building¡¯, which was the administrative building.

    There were three long strip buildings behind the administrative building, all of which were four stories high. Each building had air corridors connected to each other and the administrative building, forming a rectangr structure. The three buildings were called the Zhiyuan (conveying/devoting distance) Building, the Siqi (thinking simultaneously) Building and the Chongwen (sublimenguage) Building. Each name had a meaning and were the teaching buildings of grade 1, 2 and 3.

    Later, there was a three-storey building called Shuxiang (literary reputation) Building and it was the school library and school data building.

    Thest building shaped like a maple leaf was marked with the word ¡®Gymnasium.¡¯

    Behind these buildings was a wide yground.

    The air after the rain was extraordinarily fresh. The quiet campus, the red rubber track, the green grass, the blue sky and the white clouds¡ªthe entire scene was like a beautifulndscape painting.

    People couldn¡¯t help recalling their student years.

    Behind the yground was a beautiful maple forest. There were many wooden seats scattered around the yground and during the leisure time, students could rest here and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the maple leaves.

    In addition to the maple trees, there was a flower bed under each school building and the environment was quite good.

    This should be a day school since there wasn¡¯t a dormitory building.

    Xiao Lou took one turn around the school and quickly figured out theyout of the entire school.

    He stood on the yground and still couldn¡¯t find traces of Yu Hanjiang.

    Where was Group Leader Yu?

    In order for the two people to meet as soon as possible, Xiao Lou simply walked to a wooden seat next to the maple forest. The campus was so big that they would miss each other if they kept walking. Group Leader Yu would definitelye to see the maple forest and it was better to wait for him here.

    Xiao Lou waited while arranging theyout of the school in his mind.

    After a while, steady footsteps were heard behind him.

    Xiao Lou turned back and met a pair of dark and deep eyes. He smiled at the other person, moved to the side and gestured to Yu Hanjiang to sit down. ¡°Where were you? Where did you go?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang sat down next to him. ¡°I went to check the internal monitoring of the school!¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    A policeman was really professional!

    ¡°The three teaching buildings have surveince on every floor and there are surveince cameras in every ss. The monitoring centre of the entire school is the security room in the Hangzhi Building. I went to check and many of the cameras are bad.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took out a nk workbook and ballpoint pen, drawing on it while exining to Xiao Lou, ¡°The camera on the west side of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors of the Chongwen Building, the camera on the east side of the Siqi Building, and in the south of the Zhiyuan Building, sses 3, 6, 2, 1 and 7 all have their monitors ck. I went to the teaching buildings to check and the cameras are really bad.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    A policeman truly wasn¡¯t the same. In such a short period of time, he actually found the surveince camera distribution of the three teaching buildings as well as all the broken cameras and monitoring dead ends!

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up as he pointed to the distribution map. ¡°The security room can see all the surveince cameras in the school. Then once school starts on Monday, we should avoid these surveince cameras, right?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, pick the monitoring nk spots and try to avoid being discovered by the security guards.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was full of admiration. If it wasn¡¯t for Group Leader Yu, he wouldn¡¯t have thought to check the monitoring of the teaching building and might¡¯ve been discovered by the security guard during the course of his actions. Of course, the security guard couldn¡¯t teleport to catch him. Even if he was found, he could find a way to get away when the security guard was rushing over. However, that was the next best policy. After all, it wasn¡¯t a good thing to be chased by security guards and the cloak also had restrictions on its use.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s anti-reconnaissance ability was first-ss. Since there was a big man by his side during this criminal investigation, Xiao Lou¡¯s confidence suddenly doubled.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°What did you find?¡±

    ¡°I walked through the school and have ayout of the entire school. I¡¯ll draw a picture for you.¡±

    He took Yu Hanjiang¡¯s book and pen and drew all the buildings quickly on the nk paper.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s memory was outstanding and he was very sensitive to graphics. His drawn floor n might not be up to professional architectural standards but it clearly showed the shape, size and distance of each building.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at him with appreciation. ¡°I entered this world on the first floor of a building and found a problem with the monitoring. I went to check the surveince and didn¡¯t have time to explore the entire school.

    The two people checked inside the teaching buildings and had an overallyout of the school. Their mutual cooperation meant they soon touched on the situation of Maple Forest High School. The monitoring map and campus n was drawn on the workbook and each of them had a copy in their pockets for personal use. This was in case they needed to be separated in the process so they didn¡¯t go to the wrong ce.

    Xiao Lou pointed to the tall building facing the gate. ¡°Did you explore the entire building?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang shook his head. ¡°I found the security office on the first floor and there was a security guard on duty. He was asleep and I came to you first. The above floors haven¡¯t been checked.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it and said, ¡°The floating box reminded us that today is the weekend and there are no sses. It is to let us explore on our own. The security guard sleeping must be to let us know theyout of the school as soon as possible. Why don¡¯t we go and see?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang simply got up, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

 Chapter 21: Bloody Maple Leaf 02

    The Hangzhi Building was the school¡¯s administrative office building.

    The easternmost part of the first floor was the security room. The two people deliberately walked past it with light footsteps and Xiao Lou looked through the window. As Yu Hanjiang said, there was a security guard on duty sleeping at the table, a big screen in front of him. It showed countless small squares which were the surveince cameras of the entire school. Some of the squares were ck and they were the monitoring blind spots where the cameras were broken, as confirmed by Yu Hanjiang.

    Inside the Hangzhi Building, only the corners of the stairs were monitored and the corridors and offices didn¡¯t have any cameras installed.

    The two people looked at each other and continued to move forward.

    Apart from the security room, the rest of the rooms were the teacher¡¯s offices.

    The first floor was the first grade teacher¡¯s office with a red maple leaf sign used as a logo on the door. The teachers of the nine courses had an office, including political history, physics, chemistry, mathematics andnguage.

    The second and third floors were the offices of the second and third grade teachers and theyout was exactly the same.

    Starting from the fourth floor, there were offices for small subjects such as sports, music, fine arts andputers.

    The fifth floor was functional organizations such as the School Logistics Office, Student Office, Finance Department, Academic Affairs Office, Awards Loan Centre and Psychological Counseling Centre.

    The sixth floor was the office for the leaders of the Youth League Committee, the school union, the vice-principal¡¯s office and the principal¡¯s office.

    The entire seventh floor was a multimedia conference centre and it was enough to amodate hundreds of people at the same time.

    Xiao Lou worked at a university and was familiar with theyout of this office building. He only looked through it once but he remembered all the rooms in his heart and marked all the offices on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s book.

    The two people carefully examined theyout of the Hangzhi Building and even went to check the toilets and the water system.

    After checking the Hangzhi Building, Yu Hanjiang took Xiao Lou to go through the three teaching buildings to explore, familiarize themselves with the ce and find escape routes.

    There were a total of 22 sses in the first year of high school and the number of students in each ss should be around 40. In the second year of high school, it started to divide people into arts and sciences. There were 6 liberal arts sses and 16 sciences sses.

    Every time they walked through a teaching building, they would mark all the sses, restrooms and corridor distribution of the building onto the book.

    The library and gymnasium weren¡¯t open on weekends and they couldn¡¯t enter for the time being. They could only wait for ater chance to explore them.

    It was already dusk by the time the two people walked around the campus.

    Standing on the air corridor of the fourth floor of the Chongwen Building, they could look down on the entire school.

    The sunset glowed like fire and the bloody maple leaves were still falling, making the atmosphere of the entire campus even stranger.

    The breeze blew in and sent the aroma from the flower beds downstairs to their noses.

    Seeing Yu Hanjiang frown in contemtion, Xiao Lou asked softly, ¡°Group Leader Yu, based on your experience, the probability of a murder at a high school campus isn¡¯t high in reality?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Now high school students are crazily busy and have to finish their homework after going home. Combined with the strict management of their family, a conflict between students will rarely progress to murder. Of course, it is possible for a psychologically distorted minor tomit crimes.¡±

    In the previous 2 of Hearts room, the surgeon Zhao Sen directly killed two people, digging out his cousin¡¯s heart, taking his cousin¡¯s body and putting his wife on a rose bed to make a specimen. The first was so bloody and it seemed to be giving the challengers a hint that the murderers in the Card World were much more perverted than they thought.

    Therefore, for the school campus of the Card World, the possibility of a psychopathic murderer was great.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and joked, ¡°I don¡¯t know the high school students of the Card World. Do they need to take the university entrance examination?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at him. ¡°The things that will happen tomorrow arepletely uncertain. Aren¡¯t you nervous at all?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t I have you, a criminal investigation expert? What is there to be nervous about?¡±

    The trust in the other person¡¯s eyes slightly surprised Yu Hanjiang.

    In fact, they weren¡¯t very familiar with each other. They had only met four or five times in total in the real world.

    Still¡­ the feeling of being trusted wasn¡¯t bad.

    Yu Hanjiang opened his mouth. ¡°As a criminal policeman, I have seen all types of murders.¡± The man paused, leaning against the railing like Xiao Lou as he looked at the distant maple forest. ¡°However, this world and the real world arepletely different. The most crucial thing is that in this world, I don¡¯t have the power to enforce thew.¡±

    Xiao Lou quickly understood Yu Hanjiang¡¯s meaning.

    In the real world, Yu Hanjiang was a policeman. He had a police officer¡¯s card and could stop witnesses to investigate and inquire, or take people who he thought were suspicious to the police station to make a statement. The public would generally cooperate with a police investigation and his identity provided great convenience.

    However, in this world, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were just passersby.

    They couldn¡¯t directly stop the students to ask for details of the murder or make the school cooperate by giving them surveince videos. They also couldn¡¯t be discovered by the security guards. They could only reason as a bystander.

    Xiao Lou was silent for a moment before speaking. ¡°You might not be able to directly interrogate suspects as a policeman but I believe in your rich experience of handling cases. If you can¡¯t break a case in a C-grade secret room, won¡¯t the other challengers be even worse?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang turned to him. ¡°Do you have such faith in me?¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t hesitate. ¡°Of course.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s originally cold face gradually eased and a bit of warmth floated in the dark eyes. He stared into Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes and whispered, ¡°You can trust me. Just like you said, this is a C-grade secret room. If a criminal policeman and forensic doctor can¡¯t solve this secret room, the Card World isn¡¯t giving people a way to live.¡±

    ¡°Yes, so there is nothing to be nervous about.¡±

    The two men smiled at each other.

    The original suffocating atmosphere suddenly became a lot easier. Xiao Lou found that Yu Hanjiang usually had a cold face and sharp eyes but when he smiled¡­ he was really handsome.

    Yu Hanjiang quickly put away his smile. ¡°It is going to be dark. Where should we sleep tonight?¡±

    Xiao Lou nced around the campus and spoke helplessly. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the teaching building and find a ce to sleep.¡±

    The conditions were limited and they could only do this for one night.

    ***

    The sky quickly darkened and the streetlights of the school turned on.

    The school¡¯s streetlights were very distinctive. The light was soft and the top was decorated with a few maple leaf shapes, making them look like nted maple trees with artificial lights.

    Xiao Lou identally discovered that several streetlights were broken near the maple forest. An area of nearly 100 metres waspletely shrouded in darkness.

    Yu Hanjiang obviously discovered this as well and Xiao Lou nced over.

    The two people didn¡¯t need to say much. They tacitly turned to go downstairs to check the situation of the broken streetlights.

    Yu Hanjiang stood at the junction between warm light and darkness and frowned. ¡°There are eight streetlights broken on the right and left sides.¡±

    Xiao Lou touched his chin thoughtfully. ¡°The maple forest should be the focus of this secret room. Does the streetlights breaking mean the murder is likely to happen at night? After all, nothing can be seen in the darkness and it is more convenient tomit crimes.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°There is this possibility. Tomorrow evening, we must focus on this area.¡±

    A single person alone in this darkness would definitely be sweating with fear. Fortunately, there was a double secret room and there was apanion. They could exchange information, discuss things with each other and their psychological state would be much better.

    In the darkness, Yu Hanjiang walked in front and his pace was always stable.

    Xiao Lou followed him around the maple forest and asked, ¡°Is there anything else to discover?¡±

    ¡°Nothing unusual. It seems that today is just to let us familiarize ourselves with the environment. Something will happen once school starts tomorrow.¡± He nced back at Xiao Lou. ¡°Go back to rest first and recharge our batteries. We will wait until tomorrow.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and followed him back to the teaching building, sitting down on the stairs in a corner of the first floor and leaning against the wall to rest.

    The secret rooms made them very tired and they soon entered dreand.

    XIao Lou slept very restlessly.

    In his dream, his mother spoke gently. ¡°You are an adult and it is up to you to make your decisions. Your parents won¡¯t interfere with you.¡± Then his female cousin spoke excitedly, ¡°I will report to Jiangzhou School next year and look for you to eat with!¡± A momentter, his white-haired grandmother grabbed his hand and asked him, ¡°Little Lou, when will you bring back a partner to see Grandmother¡­¡±

    The loving faces of his family members were unusually clear in the dream.

    Xiao Lou felt his entire body freezing up and he became so cold that he shivered.

    He had always maintained a strong and calm appearance in front of the keepers. However, he couldn¡¯t control his sadness when he thought of being dead and thought of his family.

    At the end of the dream, he and his cousin were ying Fight the Landlord, followed by a sudden voice in his ears¡ªWee to the Card World.

    Xiao Lou suddenly woke up.

    He woke up and found that he was wearing a dark grey jacket. It was Group Leader Yu¡¯s jacket and still contained the other person¡¯s body temperature. Wrapped in this strange warmth, Xiao Lou felt stunned and embarrassed. He hurriedly took it off.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at him with rare gentle eyes. ¡°Did you have a nightmare?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and took a deep breath to adjust his mood before handing the coat back to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°You wear it, I¡¯m not cold.¡± Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t ept it.

    In fact, Xiao Lou had been wearing a jacket when he came to the Card World. However, he discarded it in Zombie Town in order to make it more convenient to escape. He was born with a low body temperature and afraid of the cold. Now he was only wearing a thin sweater. In theter autumn weather, he sat in a cold corridor after sleeping all night and his teeth were trembling from the cold.

    Yu Hanjiang saw him curled up and covered him with a jacket.

    Xiao Lou wrapped himself in the jacket and whispered, ¡°Didn¡¯t you sleep?¡±

    ¡°I also had a nightmare and just woke up.¡±

    Xiao Lou found it difficult to fall asleep again after being awakened by a nightmare and smiled. ¡°I can¡¯t sleep. Is it almost dawn?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also wasn¡¯t sleepy. The two people hadmon ground and didn¡¯t chat casually.

    The east side soon became white. Gradually, a sharp ray of light split the darkness and shone on the earth. The golden-red sun slowly rose from the horizon.

    At 6:30 in the morning, the sky waspletely bright.

    The two of them exchanged looks and immediately left the school building. They found a hidden ce near the school gate and watched the gate with vignce.

    The security guard on duty in the Hangzhi Building woke up.

    The security guard yawned and walked to the school gate to open it.

    Students in twos or threes walked through the school gate with their bags and entered different teaching buildings. Some teachers carried bags and walked into the administration building while the teacher in charge of this week¡¯s duty stood at the school gate to check the student IDs. The cleaning auntie carried a bucket and mop to clean the hallway and bathrooms.

    The campus was bing livelier.

    What was going to happen? The two men werepletely uncertain.

    The first morning ss of Maple Forest High School started at 7:30.

    During the period between 7:00 and 7:30, arge number of students flocked to the school. The students were all wearing red and white sportswear and even if Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes were good, they also had face blindness.

    Thousands of students wearing the same clothes¡­ who could remember this?

    Both of them had stunned expressions.

    In the 2 of Hearts room, there was someone dead as soon as they entered and the goal was very clear. Was the 3 of Hearts room asking them to find the protagonist in a vast sea of people? It was impossible when thinking about it. Therefore, there must be some clues.

    At 7:30, the clear and pleasant ss bell broke the silence of the campus.

    There were no movements at the school gate for a while.

    7:35.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were nning to leave when at this moment, a girl rushed through the school gate in a panic. She wasn¡¯t wearing a school uniform, only jeans and a thin white sweater. Her cheeks were red and she was panting. She was clearly afraid she would bete and ran all the way.

    The male teacher on duty at the school gate frowned and stopped her. ¡°What ss are you in? Why aren¡¯t you wearing a school uniform? Your student ID card?¡±

    The girl hurriedly pulled out her student ID card from her pocket and gave it to the teacher. ¡°I-I am Ying Xiaoya from the senior ss 3. I forgot my school uniform, forgot to wear it¡­¡± She looked down nervously at her watch. ¡°Teacher, I am going to take an English word test in my morning ss. Please let me in¡­¡±

    The teacher wrote a few notes in his book. ¡°Tell your ss teacher that your ss will have 2 points deducted today. Go ahead!¡±

    The girl¡¯s face was pale as she bowed to the duty teacher and quickly ran into the third grade Chongwen Building.

    Senior ss 3, Ying Xiaoya. This was the first student to have her name revealed and she wasn¡¯t wearing a school uniform. Her characteristics were obvious.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other and nodded.

    The two people had nothing to say. They tacitly turned around, avoided the gaze of the security guard at the door and quickly followed the girl who waste.

    The key role in the 3 of Hearts room was her!

 Chapter 22: Bloody Maple Leaf 03

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang walked with light footsteps behind Ying Xiaoya, secretly entering the grade three teaching building, the Chongwen Building.

    At 7:40, sses had already begun. Reading sounds were heard from time to time in the teaching building. Ying Xiaoya trotted all the way to ss 3 on the third floor. She stopped at the door of the ssroom and took a deep breath, seeming to hesitate.

    Up close, Ying Xiaoya was actually very beautiful. She had white skin, excellent facial features and a pair of big eyes that were highly recognizable. She was thin and her hair fell to just below her ears. Her face was small and delicate and she waspletely suitable to be the heroine of a campus idol drama.

    She hesitated at the door for a moment before biting her lips and shouting, ¡°Reporting!¡±

    The door of the ssroom opened and a young female teacher with long straight hair wearing a suit skirt spoke coldly, ¡°Ying Xiaoya, do you know what time it is? I told youst week that today I wanted to do a dictation test. You actually only came to ss now?¡±

    Countless pairs of eyes were looking from the ssroom. Ying Xiaoya blushed and bowed her head. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sorry¡­¡±

    The female teacher frowned and let her go in. Ying Xiaoya ran to her seat in a panic and in the process, she knocked over a metal pen case that the boy had ced on the table. In the quiet ssroom, a ¡®bang¡¯ was heard as pens, erasers and rulers were scattered all over the floor. Ying Xiaoya rushed to help him pick them up and whispered, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, ss Monitor. I didn¡¯t mean to¡­¡±

    The boy leaned over and picked up the stationery scattered around, speaking lightly. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡±

    Ying Xiaoya finally reached her seat.

    There was a total of 40 students in the ss. Two people sat at a table and Ying Xiaoya¡¯s seat was in the fifth row near the door. Her desk mate was a fat girl with a ponytail who asked her, ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    Ying Xiaoya quickly shook her head, walked behind the table and sat down, quickly bringing out her English textbook from her bag.

    The ssroom door was closed by the female teacher while Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou stood at the back door, continuing to observe through the small window.

    A girl sitting near the back door had sharp eyes and found them. She looked at Xiao Lou and whispered, ¡°Who are those two?¡±

    ¡±They are probably part of the school¡¯s supervisory office and are checking the ssroom¡¯s discipline.¡±

    ¡±I haven¡¯t seen them before. Are they new? They look so handsome.¡±

    ¡±They are quite handsome. Hey, the teacher is looking over. Don¡¯t speak.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou nced at each other and didn¡¯t know if they shouldugh or cry.

    In the 3 of Hearts room, only being caught by the security guards would lead to being expelled from school. It didn¡¯t have a negative impact if the students and teachers found them. Yu Hanjiang whispered into Xiao Lou¡¯s ears, ¡°Profession Xiao, is it feasible for us to pretend to be teachers of this school?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied in a light voice, ¡°It should be possible. The number of teachers in this school is more than 300 and the students certainly won¡¯t recognize all of them.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and took a step back while pulling Xiao Lou.

    The two men were hiding in a monitoring nk spot on the third floor and didn¡¯t need to worry about being seen by the security guards. In addition, all the morning sses were in session and the corridor was extremely quiet. The movements inside the ssroom were clear and the location that Yu Hanjiang chose was one where they could see Ying Xiaoya through the window.

    In the ssroom, the teacher ignored Ying Xiaoya¡¯ste episode and continued to teach.

    She asked the ss representative to hand out the monthly exam test results.

    Blood drained from Ying Xiaoya¡¯s face the moment she received the paper.

    The English teacher stared at her and spoke coldly, ¡°For this monthly examination, our ss actually has a student who only tested 15 points! The paper is out of 150 points. Closing your eyes and throwing an eraser or guessing ABCD would give a higher score than this!¡±

    The ssroom was silent and Ying Xiaoya¡¯s head almost touched the table.

    The English teacher directly named her. ¡°Ying Xiaoya.¡±

    The girl stood up stiffly.

    The English teacher asked, ¡°My family might be cursed. How do you trante this sentence?¡±

    ¡°My family is¡­¡±

    She apparently forgot the word and couldn¡¯t speak.

    The English teacher frowned and turned to look at the boy sitting in the middle of the third row. ¡°Xie Xinghe, you say it.¡±

    The boy whose pencil case had been knocked over stood up, tall and cold-faced. He pushed the silver-framed sses up the bridge of his nose and looked calmly at the teacher. ¡°Maybe there is a curse on my family.¡±

    This young man was in the period where his voice was changing but his voice was clear and sounded especially good when speaking English.

    The teacher nodded with satisfaction and motioned at him to sit down. Then she nced at Ying Xiaoya. ¡°Did you hear it? Ying Xiaoya, I spoke this question justst week yet you are directly giving me empty air? What were you doing in ss?¡±

    The entire ss¡¯s eyes swept towards her and Ying Xiaoya shyly lowered her head, her body shaking slightly.

    The English teacher dered, ¡°Take this lesson¡¯s paper and go to the back row to listen!¡±

    Ying Xiaoya took the paper to the back row. Her head was lowered and her expression couldn¡¯t be seen. Her clenched fists at her side were shaking.

    Xiao Lou frowned. The English teacher criticized her in front of all the students and also sent her to the public penalty station. This would hurt the girl¡¯s self-esteem. In particr, Ying Xiaoya was now 17 or 18 years old and she was sensitive. It was estimated that this criticism was unbearable.

    Seeing Ying Xiaoya¡¯s head lower and lower, Xiao Lou had a bad feeling in his heart.

    The normal ss began and the teacher started exining the monthly test paper.

    Xiao Lou observed for a moment before whispering in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ear. ¡°Group Leader Yu, I feel something isn¡¯t quite right.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang turned back with serious eyes and whispered, ¡°What did you find?¡±

    ¡°This is a dynamic plot secret room and we need to gather clues around Xiao Lou. Last month¡¯s test, the questions on the English test paper and the English teacher asking Ying Xiaoya to trante a question that she couldn¡¯t do and then having Xie Xinghe continue¡­ I feel this question should be a clue.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and thought for a moment before something sharp shed in his eyes. ¡°You mean, ¡®my family is cursed¡¯, the keyword is ¡®curse. This is rted to thest hint we got when entering the secret room?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, this is a cursed school.¡±

    Entering the secret room, thest tip said that Maple Forest High School was a cursed school. The maple leaves were so red because they absorbed too much blood.

    At the time, Xiao Lou only felt this sentence was deliberately creating a climate of terror but now it didn¡¯t seem as simple.

    Curse? Was the campus¡¯ bloody case rted to the curse?

    Both men looked at each other, their expressions be serious before they continued to watch the ssroom.

    Nothing happened afterwards in the ss. The English teacher kept talking about the test paper until the bell rang and she left.

    The ssroom became lively. Two or three students gathered to chat. Some people borrowed Xie Xinghe¡¯s homework to copy, some people ran out to go to the bathroom and some took out bread to eat breakfast.

    Only Ying Xiaoya stood alone in the back of the ssroom, eyes filled with tears.

    Her desk mate went over and handed her a paper towel, grabbing her arm infort. ¡°Xiaoya, it is nothing. This time you didn¡¯t test well but next month¡¯s result will be better. Zhang Qing, this woman is fierce but she isn¡¯t only like this to you. Many people have been scolded by her. Don¡¯t mind it.¡±

    Zhang Qing was apparently the English teacher just now.

    Ying Xiaoya quickly wiped her tears and barely squeezed out a smile.¡±Thank you, Yi Ru.¡±

    Just then, the ss monitor Xie Xinghe came over with a cold face. ¡°Ying Xiaoya, you werete today and our ss had 2 points deducted. This week we definitely won¡¯t be rated as an advanced ss. Would you please stop dragging ss 3 back?¡±

    Ying Xiaoya bowed her head in an ashamed manner. ¡°ss Monitor, I didn¡¯t mean, I¡­¡±

    Xie Xinghe frowned. ¡°Next time, remember to use an rm clock and don¡¯t sleepte again.¡±

    Just then, a tall boy suddenly came over and blocked the front of Ying Xiaoya, staring coldly at the ss monitor. ¡°Xie Xinghe, what are you talking about here? Didn¡¯t you hear what she said? She didn¡¯t mean it!¡±

    Ying Xiaoya pulled at him with a white face. ¡°Yu Hui, don¡¯t say¡­¡±

    Yu Hui raised his eyebrows and stared into the ss monitor¡¯s eyes. ¡°I can¡¯t understand your hypocrisy! Why are you fucking acting as an official at school? Is it so great to be the ss monitor?¡±

    Xie Xinghe pushed up his sses. ¡°Am I wrong? She has beente a few times this month. Ask her yourself.¡±

    The two boys had a close confrontation and their eyes emitted a force until a scream was heard. ¡°Fuck, the ss teacher ising!¡±

    The room instantly became quiet and everyone ran back to the seats, taking out theirnguage textbooks and pretending to read it. The students who were copying homework were so frightened they quickly stuffed their books into their drawers. The four people in the back of the ssroom also returned to their seats.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    It seemed that the ss teacher was very authoritative. The group of students reacted to the ss teacher like a mouse hearing a cat.

    The ss teacher who entered was a middle-aged man with a wealthy (fat) figure. His eyes swept over the room and he smiled. ¡°Oh, you are so serious today? However, your acting is quite bad. Some students even have their textbooks upside down.¡±

    The ssrooms with upside-down textbooks immediately turned red and turned their textbooks over.

    The ss teacher gave him a nce. ¡°The result of this month¡¯s examination hase out. Our senior ss 3 has be the penultimate science ss and one of the students has won first ce in the year. This urel¡¯ is worthy of celebration.¡±

    The students, ¡°¡­¡±

    The ss teacher dered, ¡°You performed so well that in order to celebrate your excellent results, today¡¯snguage ss won¡¯t be held! Go to the yground and give me ap and let all the teachers and students see your style. Yu Hui, take the lead and run 10ps first!¡±

    The group of students were kicked out of the ssroom with pained expressions.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were surprised by the teacher¡¯s operation and couldn¡¯t get out of the way int time. They directly ran into the students who came out of the ssroom.

    Many students looked at them curiously and some of the girls whispered about their identity.

    The ss teacher hesitated and asked, ¡°You two are?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and stepped forward. ¡°hello, we are new first grade teachers. Myst name is Xiao and this is Teacher Yu. We are familiarizing ourselves with the environment of the school. Later, I¡¯ll have to ask Senior to take care of me.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    He looked back at Xiao Lou and found that the other person didn¡¯t change expression when lying. This reaction was really fast.

    Pretending to be a teacher was natural for Xiao Lou.

    The ss teacher obviously believed Xiao Lou¡¯s words and smiled, shaking Xiao Lou¡¯s hand. ¡°Mr Xiao, you look around slowly. I¡¯ll take the students to the yground first.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t until the students and ss teacher disappeared at the end of the corridor that Yu Hanjiang sighed with relief. ¡°It seems there are too many teachers in this school and the students and teachers don¡¯t know everyone. It was wise for you to impersonate a teacher.¡±

    When Xiao Lou was at university, he didn¡¯t know how many colleagues there were in his department. Thisrge school had more than 300 teachers and it was normal for teachers of different grades to not know each other. He smiled and turned back. ¡°Group Leader Yu, let¡¯s move separately. I will watch Ying Xiaoya while you search the ssroom.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded easily. ¡°Yes, I will search for clues in ss 3. You follow them and pay attention to avoid the cameras. We will meet in the air corridor on the third floor before ss is over.¡±

 Chapter 23: Scarlet Maple Leaf 04

    Xiao Lou pretended to be a new teacher and followed the students of the senior ss 3 to the yground.

    He walked around the yground in a bright manner, acting like a new teacher observing the school environment. In fact, he always watched the students of ss 3 with vignce, especially Ying Xiaoya, Xie Xinghe, Yu Hui and Yi Rui, the four students whose name had appeared.

    The bloody case hadn¡¯t urred yet and it wasn¡¯t known what role these students would y. They were likely to be killed, be murderers, eyewitnesses or important clue witnesses.

    Therefore, no traces could be let go.

    The ss 3 students ran around the yground under the supervision of the ss teacher.

    The ss monitor Xie Xinghe had a very stiff expression. Based on his performance in English ss, it could be inferred that Xie Xinghe was a top student who was very popr with the teachers. As ss monitor, he would also feel more responsible. He had an intellectual appearance and his body was thin. He wore a white shirt and a pair of sses, perfectly fitting the image of a ¡®top student.¡¯

    Yu Hui was the opposite. His handsome appearance and strong physical strength were obviously the result of long-term exercise. He wore a pair of very professional brand-name basketball shoes and should like basketball very much. He was a sporty type that was popr among high school girls.

    Ying Xiaoya was a beautiful girl with bad grades.

    Her desk mate Yi Ru was a fat girl with a very ordinary appearance.

    Xiao Lou carefully observed the interactions between the four people and soon realized that the rtionship between Ying Xiaoya and Yu Hui wasn¡¯t normal. Yu Hui always intentionally or unintentionally protected Ying Xiaoya and secretly gave Ying Xiaoya some choctes. This scene didn¡¯t escape Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes.

    Yi Ru seemed to feel something for the ss monitor. During the running process, she kept ncing at Xie Xinghe from the side.

    As for Xie Xinghe, he had a stinky expression from beginning to end. It was obvious that his performance was good so he was very upset about being punished with everyone.

    After running 10ps in a row, the ss teacher asked everyone to stop and rest. Then he said, ¡°Yu Hui, rest for 10 minutes before continuing to runps. Ying Xiaoya,e with me to the office.¡±

    He called Ying Xiaoya alone to the office and the alert Xiao Lou immediately followed.

    Xiao Lou was familiar with theyout of the school. There was an air corridor between the administrative building and the three teaching buildings. The ss teacher walked from the third floor of the third grade teaching building through the air corridor to thenguage office in the corner.

    The office didn¡¯t contain anyone and was surprisingly quiet. Therefore, the sound inside was clearly transmitted to Xiao Lou¡¯s ears.

    The ss teacher sighed. ¡°Xiaoya, for this month¡¯s exams, your score is the worst in the entire grade. Your English score is 15 points, yournguage score is 20 points, science is 10 points and mathematics¡­ you actually gave me a score of 0 points!¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    This girl¡¯s grades were too bad.

    Ying Xiaoya bowed her head, bit her lips and twisted her hands tightly together.

    The ss teacher continued. ¡°Xie Xinghe scored 150 points on the mathematics exam while all your sses add up to only 50 points. This is only a fraction of his ss score. Tell me, what happened to you during that time?¡±

    Ying Xiaoya didn¡¯t speak.

    The ss teacher knocked on the table, his voice stern. ¡°Were you busy being in love with Yu Hui?¡±

    Ying Xiaoya¡¯s face suddenly became very pale. She clenched her fingers together and eximed, ¡°No! Teacher, I¡¯m just good friends with Yu Hui. Really, believe me¡­¡±

    The ss teacher stared at her coldly. ¡°I¡¯m also a person and how can I not see it? Yu Hui gives you chocte every day and goes home with you at night. Many people in ss have seen it. They said that you and he were talking about something at the school gate in the middle of the night.¡±

    Ying Xiaoya wanted to refute this but the ss teacher directly interrupted her. ¡°No exnations. You are currently young and ignorant. It is normal to like someone. However, you are a senior and you must be clear that the most important thing is your academics.¡±

    ¡°Yu Hui¡¯s ss results aren¡¯t good. He has already told me that he wants to go to a sports school. You can study hard, go to school with him in the city and then it isn¡¯t toote to fall in love! Don¡¯t let this incident affect your future!¡±

    The ss teacher¡¯s words were reasonable and he was good at convincing students in puppy love rather than scolding them.

    He took out a report card and said, ¡°Last month, you scored a total of 350 points. You have always been in the middle ranks of the ss and you have been studying seriously. I thought that you could improve this month. I didn¡¯t expect your points to be a failure¡ªfrom 350 points to 50 points!¡± He pushed the transcript to Ying Xiaoya and looked at her helplessly. ¡°Tell me, isn¡¯t it too much for you to fall in love?¡±

    Ying Xiaoya¡¯s hands twisted together and she seemed to be feeling veryplicated. After a long time, she whispered, ¡°Teacher, it isn¡¯t what you think. My performance fell during this time is actually because¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou pricked his ears and was just about to listen to key information when the youngnguage teacher pushed open the door of the office. She saw them and was surprised for a moment before smiling, ¡°Old Zhao, you are training the students in your ss again?¡±

    Ying Xiaoya¡¯s face paled and she bowed her head, refusing to say anything more.

    This teacher came in at a really bad time. The ss teacher smiled and said, ¡°Okay, you can leave. Remember what I said. Academics is the most important thing and everything else can be left for after the university entrance examination. You are very serious and hard-working. I believe that you just have to put your mind on studying and your results will definitely catch up.¡±

    Ying Xiaoya was silent for a moment before bowing deeply to the teacher and turning away.

    The female teacher who just came through the door poured a cup of coffee and started gossiping. ¡°Old Zhao, was that Ying Xiaoya? The one who camest in the entire year?¡±

    The ss teacher had a headache and pinched his brow. ¡°This girl is probably in love and her results plummeted. She actually gave me 0 points in the mathematics test. I thought I was seeing things at first.¡±

    The female teacherughed loudly. ¡°How is it possible to get 0 points? For the multiple choice questions, can¡¯t you just guess and manage to get one right?¡±

    Teacher Zhao shook his head and sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t know how she took the exam but all the questions were wrong. s, children these days¡­¡±

    The two people started a ¡®the current students were really difficult to manage¡¯, ¡®we were simple at that time¡¯¡­

    There was no more information. Xiao Lou found that Ying Xiaoya left the office in a dejected manner and followed quietly.

    Ying Xiaoya walked through the air corridor back to ss 3 in the Chongwen Building. Xiao Lou discovered that Yu Hanjiang was waiting for him in the corridor.

    Yu Hanjiang with a strong sense of existence was standing in the middle of the corridor. However, Ying Xiaoya passed by him and didn¡¯t even act like she saw him. The girl was lost and seemed to be sleepwalking.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and looked at her back.

    Just then, the ss bell rang and the teachers and students of every ss came out of the ssroom. Some teachers returning to the office found the two strange faces of Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang and exchanged puzzled expressions.

    Xiao Lou gave them a slight smile before turning towards Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Teacher Yu, I was looking for you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang yed along. ¡°Teacher Xiao, I have something to discuss with you. Let¡¯s walk while talking.¡±

    The two men walked next to each other in the air corridor. The passersby thought they were teachers of other grades and there were no doubts.

    This was the benefit of a big school. There were too many teachers and teachers of different grades might only see each other several times a year. The two of them calmly mixed in as ¡®teachers¡¯, avoided the surveince in the teaching building and quickly walked to a corner.

    Yu Hanjiang stopped and whispered, ¡°What did you find?¡±

    Xiao Lou used a soft voice to quickly tell Group Leader Yu the information he discovered. ¡°The ss teacher called Ying Xiaoya to speak separately to her. She used to have good grades and was in the middle level. This time, she was actuallyst in her grade only for her results to suddenly plummet. It must¡¯ve been due to a major change in her life. The ss teacher concluded that she and Yu Hui are in love but I feel there is another reason.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it. ¡°I found a love letter in Ying Xiaoya¡¯s drawer. It was printed and there is no signature so I can¡¯t judge the source. In addition, there is a piece of paper in Ying Xiaoya¡¯s book. It is messy and repeats the sentence: What should I do?¡±

    The ss teacher had the entire ss 3 run around the yground so the ssroom was empty and the door wasn¡¯t locked. This was obviously an opportunity that the secret room gave to the two people¡ªintentionally giving them time to let the challengers gather clues.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ability to search for evidence was more professional than Xiao Lou. The entire ssroom was searched in just 20 minutes.

    He quickly told Xiao Lou his own discoveries. ¡°Yu Hui¡¯s bag has a box of choctes and a girl¡¯s scarf. Xie Xinghe¡¯s bag is full of reference materials but I also discovered the novel ¡®The Count of Monte Cristo.¡¯ Yi Ru¡¯s drawer contains an exquisite gift back with some folded paper cranes. The other students should have little to do with the case and there are only textbooks in their bags.¡±

    Xiao Lou touched his chin and summed it up. ¡°So both Yu Hui and Xie Xinghe might like Ying Xiaoya. Yi Ru might like one of the boys and is folding 1,000 paper cranes to give to that person?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Looking again, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that simple.¡±

    Xiao Lou fell into deep thought.

    A curse, love letter, choctes, paper cranes and the famous book ¡®Count of Monte Cristo¡¯ and Ying Xiaoya¡¯s achievements suddenly plummeting. what was the connection between these things?

    The second lesson was mathematics.

    The maths teacher asked the ss monitor to hand out the papers and spoke with a cold face. ¡°For this exam, there are two extremes in our ss. Xie Xinghe got 150 points and is the only full score in the entire year. Another ssmate got 0 points in the mathematics test and this is also the only 0 score in the entire year.¡±

    The entire ss looked at each other. They seemed to be searching for the unlucky person who scored 0 points.

    Ying Xiaoya bowed her head and held the test paper tightly in her hand.

    The teacher said, ¡°For this lesson, I will talk about the paper. Reflect on yourself and copy the wrong questions to me 10 times.¡±

    Nothing happened the entire ss. The mathematics teacher calmly talked about the paper. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang also listened to the lesson about trigonometric functions, equations, space vectors¡­ Yu Hanjiang had a headache while Xiao Lou listened with enjoyment.

    The end of the second ss happened to be the interval between sses. Xie Xinghe frowned and looked at Xie Xinghe. ¡°If you don¡¯t wear the school uniform, the ss will have points deducted. Don¡¯t leave with the others. Change and then stay in the ssroom for the duty.¡±

    Ying Xiaoya nodded gently.

    Yu Hui walked over and grabbed a boy¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Dude, change with me. I¡¯ll be on duty today.¡±

    The boy nced between him and Ying Xiaoya, made an ¡®I understand¡¯ expression and ran away with a smile.

    The students soon left, leaving only Yu Hui and Ying Xiaoya in the ssroom.

    Yu Hui whispered, ¡°What did the ss teacher call you over to say?¡±

    Ying Xiaoya replied with a white face, ¡°N-Nothing, just that I should study well and so on¡­¡±

    Yu Hui fidgeted with his hair. ¡°What happened to you this time? I remember that previously, your English was good and your average score was around 70 points. How did you suddenly get 15 points?¡±

    Ying Xiaoya was filled with iparable frustration as she cried out, ¡°I-I filled out the wrong answer sheet.¡±

    ¡°¡­Fuck.¡± Yu Hui walked over and gently rubbed her hair. ¡°Don¡¯t mind it. Teacher Zhang is experiencing menopause recently and she is scolding people every day. Sending you to the punishment station was polite. Last time she used a ruler to hit me. You just need to do better in the next exam.¡±

    Ying Xiaoya finally smiled. ¡°Yes.¡±

    The two people chatted while sweeping the floor. The sun shone through the window onto their bodies, the image warm and beautiful.

    Yu Hui suddenly thought of something. He pulled the scarf and choctes out of his bag and handed them to her. ¡°This is a gift for you. Today is your 18th birthday. Happy birthday, Xiaoya.¡±

    Ying Xiaoya burst out crying and she took the scarf with trembling hands. ¡°Thank you¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other.

    Yu Hui and Ying Xiaoya¡¯s conversation revealed a key message. Today was Ying Xiaoya¡¯s 18th birthday and this girl truly had a bad day. She was punished in English ss and scored 0 points in mathematics ss¡­

    Perhaps for her, this scarf was the only warmth of her 18th birthday.

    The ss break ended and the third ss was physics ss. The teacher continued to talk about the exam and Ying Xiaoya¡¯sprehensive results were at the bottom. She was scolded by the physics teacher and the girl¡¯s face became paler.

    In the fourth ss, a burly young male teacher suddenly walked in. ¡°Your chemistry teacher is sick today. Tomorrow afternoon¡¯s first PE ss will be switched with today¡¯s fourth quarter chemistry ss. Sportsmittee, take everyone to the basketball court to warm up!¡±

    Yu Hui stood up and took his ssmates to the court.

    The PE teacher simply organized a ss basketball game. He divided the boys into two groups to face each other. Yu Hui and Xie Xinghe were in different teams.

    Yu Hui was a sportsmittee member. He was tall and had a very high shooting percentage. Surprisingly, Xie Xinghe might be thin but he yed basketball surprisingly well. After several rounds, the scores of both sides were deadlocked.

    At 25:23, the girls screamed as Yu Hui made a handsome dunk.

    At 25:26, Xie Xinghe urately hit a three-pointer.

    Yu Hui grabbed the rebound and quickly dribbled it. He was blocked by Xie Xinghe in the vicinity of the restricted area. He raised his eyebrows and made a fake move to the left while trying to breakthrough in the opposite direction. However, Xie Xinghe seemed to have expected it and deliberately moved to the right to stop him. Yu Hui was moving too quickly and the two people mmed into each other.

    Xie Xinghe was hit by the huge force and fell to the ground, his knees bruised. Yu Hui wasn¡¯t as good. He hit his head and was bleeding.

    This solidly ignited Yu Hui¡¯s anger. He stood up and grabbed Xie Xinghe¡¯s cor, yelling as he wiped the blood on his face. ¡°Did you fucking do it deliberately?¡±

    Xie Xinghe patted off the dust on his body. ¡°I was just defending. You were the blind one who hit me.¡±

    The PE teacher had gone to answer the phone and wasn¡¯t present. Once the two of them started, the ss became a chaotic mess. The boys of the two teams mixed together while swearing at each other. The girls stood next to them, nervously trying to persuade them to stop. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were standing in the distance when they suddenly heard the system¡¯s cold voice. ¡°The security is approaching. The distance is 20 metres, 15 metres¡­¡±

    The four security guards on school patrol saw the students fighting and immediately rushed over.

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t hesitate to take Xiao Lou¡¯s arm and turned away!

    If they were found by the security guards then they would be eliminated directly from the game. The security guards were the only obstacles in the 3 of Hearts secret room and couldn¡¯t be hit head-on.

    The four security guards came from four directions and the two people had nowhere to hide. If Group Leader Yu hadn¡¯t reacted so quickly then they would¡¯ve been caught.

    Yu Hanjiang pulled Xiao Lou to hide behind a big tree.

    Group Leader Yu ran too quickly. Xiao Lou was also pulled to run and almost tripped. He took deep breaths as he nced back at the basketball court.

    The chaotic fighting scene quickly subsided. Both Yu Hui and Xie Xinghe had blood on their faces. The PE teacher rushed over and calmly punished all the students.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes swept over them and he suddenly stiffened. ¡°Where is Ying Xiaoya?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also found that Ying Xiaoya wasn¡¯t present and his expression changed. ¡°She left in the mess!¡±

    The next moment, a girl¡¯s scream was heard not far away.

    It was a sharp cry with the decibels to the extreme levels, almost prating the human eardrum. ¡°Ahhhhhh¡ª¡±

    The security guards were startled and ran over. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t hit the security guards from the front and had to quickly follow behind while finding buildings and trees to cover themselves.

    However¡­

    The moment they walked around the corner, they knew the reason for the screams.

    Just below the Hangzhi Building, on the concrete floor next to the flower bed, a girl was lying there motionless.

    The side of her face was stained with blood and her face couldn¡¯t be seen. The short ck hair was scattered in a mess. Under her head, blood slowly spread out, dyeing the white scarf around her neck.

    It was the scarf that was given to Ying Xiaoya as an 18th birthday present.

    Cold filled Xiao Lou.

    Ying Xiaoya had actually jumped in front of his and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes!

 Chapter 24: Scarlet Maple Leaf 05

    The one who screamed was Ying Xiaoya¡¯s desk mate, Yi Ru.

    Ying Xiaoya fell from the roof and happened to fall at her feet.

    By the time the security guards arrived, Yi Ru was shaking all over, her eyes filled with horror. Uncontroble tears rushed out like a faucet.

    The four security guards were stunned for a moment before the chief security guard finally reacted. ¡°You two, protect the scene and don¡¯t let otherse close. I will go to the principal. Little Liu, quickly call the police!¡±

    The security guard known as ¡®Little Liu¡¯ called the police.

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    There was even the ¡®rm¡¯ link. If this was the real world, Yu Hanjiang would directly go to the scene with a police officer¡¯s card. Unfortunately, this was now a secret room world and he couldn¡¯t show up. He even had to hide from the security guards.

    Xiao Lou heard this and was very confused. He nced at Yu Hanjiang and whispered, ¡°rm? Are there policemen in the secret room world?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied seriously, ¡°A student is dead and the normal way of handling it is to call the police. The development of the Card World is reasonable. However, it is still unclear if the policemen in the Card World will help us solve the mystery or deliberately create obstacles for us.¡±

    Xiao Lou spected, ¡°They should be helping us? After all, this is a C-grade difficulty room. If even the police are misleading us then a challenger without any reasoning ability won¡¯t be able to leave the secret room.¡±

    ¡°That makes sense.¡± Yu Hanjiang was silent for a few seconds. He gazed up at the rooftop and whispered in Xiao Lou¡¯s ears. ¡°Before the police arrive at the school, I will first check the roof of the building to see if there are any clues. Professor Xiao Lou, you stay here andter use the invisibility cloak to check Ying Xiaoya¡¯s cause of death. You are an expert in this respect.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang cautioned him, ¡°The effect of the invisibility cloak is only 30 minutes. Pay attention to the time and be careful not to be discovered by the security guards.¡±

    ¡°Understood. You be careful as well.¡±

    The two people gazed at each other and tacitly split their actions.

    Yu Hanjiang quickly entered the third grade teaching building, avoiding the cameras as he climbed up to the fourth floor and headed into the Hangzhi Building through the air corridor. Then he climbed up the stairs to the rooftop on the seventh floor.

    The location of Ying Xiaoya¡¯s fall was just below the Hangzhi Building. Since the ground was made of hard cement and there were seven floors, it was a mortal ending as long as her head hit the ground.

    Yu Hanjiang climbed to the seventh floor and found that the door to the rooftop was open.

    He remembered that when he and Xiao Lou drew theyout of the building yesterday, the door was locked. In order to prevent students and teachers from climbing to the rooftop of the building, the door to the roof was usually locked. Now the door was open and it was obvious that someone had deliberately opened it.

    Ying Xiaoya was a student and couldn¡¯t have the key to the rooftop.

    The person who opened the door was absolutely involved in this case.

    Yu Hanjiang quickly walked to the rooftop.

    It had been raining yesterday and the ground on the roof was damp. As a result, stepping on the wends would leave clear and distinct footprints. At this time, there was only one string of footprints. They were a size 37 which was Ying Xiaoya¡¯s feet size. The footprints were slightly messy like the person was hastily running forward.

    The footprints disappeared at the edge. Jumping from that location wouldnd exactly where Ying Xiaoya¡¯s body was located.

    On the surface, these footprints should belong to Ying Xiaoya and there were no traces of a second person on the scene.

    However, footprints weren¡¯t the only criteria for judging. Yu Hanjiang often went to crime scenes to investigation and footprints were easy to forge. For example, someone put on shoes that were exactly the same size as Ying Xiaoya¡¯s feet or they would directly tiptoe and step on the footprints left by Ying Xiaoya, causing the marks to ovep. In both cases, it would produce the illusion that only Ying Xiaoya¡¯s footprints were at the scene.

    A wet woof wasn¡¯t like snow and it was impossible to judge the depth of the footprints. Therefore, even if there was only one person¡¯s footprints at the scene, the possibility of a second person couldn¡¯t bepletely ruled out.

    Yu Hanjiang carefully looked at the position where Ying Xiaoya jumped off the building. There was a residual piece of clothing that was consistent with the scarf around Ying Xiaoya¡¯s neck.

    Just then, there was a knock on a door downstairs followed by the voice of the chief of security. ¡°P-Principal, a student of senior ss 3 has jumped from the building!¡±

    A vice-principal asked, ¡°Did you alert the police?¡±¡¯

    ¡°The police have been called and will arrive soon.¡±

    The hurried footsteps of the group gradually faded away.

    Yu Hanjiang quickly checked the roof and then avoided the cameras while going to the fourth floor. He returned to the Chongwen Building through the air corridor and looked down.

    The air corridor where he was located had a good view. He could see the basketball court in the rear and he could clearly see the situation downstairs.

    At this time, the students of ss3 were still standing at the basketball court. They all heard the screams but didn¡¯t know what happened. They just curiously stared in the direction of the screams.

    The PE teacher realized that something was wrong and had Yu Hui look after the students. He walked around the corner to check the situation and found there was a girl in the ce the security guards were surrounding. The face of the PE teacher became very ugly.

    Ying Xiaoya, he remembered this girl.

    A student had died during his ss. He wouldn¡¯t be able to escape the me!

    The PE teacher clenched his fists nervously and asked the security guards about the situation. Then the school leaders rushed over and ss 3¡¯s ss teacher also received news and came to the scene.

    Seeing this bloody scene, the school leaders¡¯ faces were as ck as the bottom of a pot.

    The originally smiling ss teacher¡¯s face was also gloomy. He turned to stare at the PE teacher and asked, ¡°What happened? Isn¡¯t this supposed to be chemistry ss?¡±

    The PE teacher¡¯s face was uneasy as he muttered, ¡°Teacher Qin called me this morning. She said that her father was going to the hospital for an examination and she had to take time off to apany him. Today she wouldn¡¯t go to school and the chemistry ss would be swapped with tomorrow afternoon¡¯s PE ss. I changed sses with her¡­¡±

    The vice-principal who was in charge of attendance spoke up. ¡°Teacher Qin didn¡¯t apply for leave today.¡±

    The principal frowned. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you change sses but you should take responsibility. Your PE ss actually has a student jump off the building! How are you handling the ss?¡±

    The PE teacher paled and exined in a whisper, ¡°I organized the boys in the ss to y a basketball game. I didn¡¯t expect for this to happen when I temporarily had to take a call.¡±

    The principal roared, ¡°Answering the phone during ss time and not looking after the students, this is your dereliction of duty! I won¡¯t be able to protect you from such a serious matter. Wait for your punishment.¡±

    The headmaster¡¯s roar was low but it was clearly heard by the nearby Xiao Lou.

    The PE teacher was scolded but he couldn¡¯t refute it. He dropped his head in a frustrated manner.

    Just then, the ss bell for the fourth quarter rang.

    The hungry students would usually rush out of the teaching building for food but there was a bloody case at school today. A body was lying under the office building and in this position, all students could see it if they walked out of the school building.

    Fortunately, the principal responded quickly enough and informed the teachers to have the students stay in the ssroom.

    The students in other sses felt it was strange and privately passed notes to each other. ¡°Having us write homework at noon, is the ss teacher crazy?¡± ¡°It seems that the other sses are also stuck in their ssroom. The corridor is quiet!¡± ¡°Say, didn¡¯t you hear someone scream just now?¡± ¡°I heard it, it was very loud!¡± ¡°What is the situation?¡±

    All sses were kept in the school and the students left in the ssroom were in a state of panic.

    Yu Hanjiang observed the overall situation from the air corridor on the fourth floor while Xiao Lou hid in a corner and listened to the scene.

    The eyewitness Yi Ru¡¯s face was as pale as paper and she kept shaking as the ss teacher whispered words offort to her.

    The police soon arrived.

    In order to avoid affecting the school¡¯s order, the police cars entering the school didn¡¯t ring their sirens.

    There were six people, four police officers, one forensic doctor and an assistant.

    The leading criminal police group leader was 40 years old and he seemed to be experienced. He had the police surround the scene with a cordon and walked over to find the principal, ss teacher and eyewitness to understand the deceased.

    The others started to quickly inspect the scene while the forensic doctor used tools and gloves to examine the body.

    Xiao Lou also acted.

    He put on the invisibility cloak and entered the scene with the forensic doctor.

    The effect of the invisibility cloak was ¡®turning into an invisible person.¡¯ Not only did the people in the Card World not see Xiao Lou but Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t see Xiao Lou. Still, he knew that Xiao Lou would definitely make the most professional judgement corresponding to Ying Xiaoya¡¯s death. He would listen to the police¡¯s inquiries on the scene.

    Yu Hanjiang handed the scene to Xiao Lou with confidence and turned back to ss 3¡¯s ssroom. He wanted to see if there was any new evidence.

    Yu Hanjiang arrived at Ying Xiaoya¡¯s seat and his eyes narrowed.

    [Suicide Note]

    Dear Mother and Father, teachers and ssmates, I am sorry. I have failed your expectations and I¡¯m leaving. I have no nostalgia for this world. Let my life end at the age of 18¡ªYing Xiaoya.

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    The handwriting was consistent with the handwriting in Ying Xiaoya¡¯s homework book.

    The girl¡¯s handwriting was always neat and the writing was done in a single stroke, as if it had been well thought out.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and always felt that these sentences weren¡¯t quite right.

    Just then, he heard hurried footsteps. He looked through the window of the back door and found two policemen rushing upstairs to search for evidence. Yu Hanjiang immediately entered the bathroom opposite the ssroom and waited for the police officers to walk in the ssroom. Then he calmly came out of the bathroom and returned to the air corridor.

    Downstairs, the forensic doctor and assistant were still examining the body. After a simple investigation, they told the chief of the police unit, ¡°Based on my preliminary judgment, the skull of the deceased is broken and there are multiple hemorrhages in the skull. The specific cause of death will be determined once I go back and check.¡±

    The policeman nodded and went over to Yi Ru. ¡°You are the eyewitness?¡±

    Yi Ru¡¯s mood had stabilized thanks to thefort of the ss teacher and she nodded stiffly. ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Tell me in detail. What is the rtionship between you and the deceased? What were you doing?¡±

    Yi Ru¡¯s eyes were dull and her lips kept quivering as she spoke intermittently, ¡°Little Ya, Xiaoya is my best friend. At the time, the boys were ying basketball and she didn¡¯t like watching the game. We both went back to the ssroom¡­¡±

    ¡°Today is her 18th birthday and I prepared a birthday present for her. I wanted to give it to her directly. Then after entering the ssroom, Xiaoya suddenly said that she didn¡¯t eat breakfast and was very hungry, let me buy food. I was also hungry and went down to the snack bar to buy two packs of potato chips¡­ on the way back, I-I saw her¡­ she fell from the top of the building¡­¡±

    Yi Ru spoke up to here and seemed to recall the bloody scene. She covered her face with both hands and sobbed.

    The policeman looked at the colleague next to him and whispered, ¡°Go to the snack bar and see if she bought potato chips.¡± He nced at the audience and asked, ¡°Who is the ss teacher of ss 3? Has Ying Xiaoya been acting strange?¡±

    The ss teacher came over and said, ¡°Little Ya has been distracted in sstely. Forst week¡¯s monthly exam, her score wasst in the entire year.¡±

    The policeman asked, ¡°Are all of ss 3¡¯s teachers present?¡±

    The principal replied, ¡°The chemistry teacher asked for leave today and didn¡¯te to school. The others are present.¡±

    ¡°Have you ever verbally insulted or used corporal punishment on the deceased?¡±

    The English teacher¡¯s face was stiff. ¡°I spoke a few words to her and punished her by making her stand for the ss¡­¡±

    The physics teacher was white-faced. ¡°I-I also scolded her. Her result was too bad and all the questions were wrong¡­but I promise that I didn¡¯t hit her. I also didn¡¯t say anything serious, that is¡­ she should work hard next time. This student is usually very serious and I think she was behaving our of character.¡±

    The two female teachers looked at each other with regret.

    The ss teacher continued, ¡°I called her to talk and asked about her love rtionship with Yu Hui. Surely she wasn¡¯t too ashamed andbined with her low results, she couldn¡¯t stand the blow and jumped from the building tomit suicide?¡±

    The teachers faced each other while the police officers were very calm. ¡°It is still uncertain if it is suicide.¡± He turned to look at the principal. ¡°Principal, can you spare me an office. I need to investigate ss 3¡¯s students. Please call all of them to see me. In addition, let me look at the school¡¯s surveince.¡±

    The principal immediately cooperated. ¡°Okay! Go to the mathematics office on the first floor of the Hangzhi Building. This is the closest to the monitoring centre. The PE teacher will go call the students of ss 3.¡±

    The policeman reminded him. ¡°Don¡¯t tell the students that Ying Xiaoya is dead.¡±

    The PE teacher nodded and turned to inform the students to gather in the Hangzhi Building¡¯s mathematics office.

    Xiao Lou was next to the forensic doctor checking the body and heard the conversation between the police and the teachers.

    He already had this information, even if the police didn¡¯t ask.

    On the surface, Ying Xiaoya really couldn¡¯t stand the blow and jumped off the building. Her love was found by the ss teacher and her test results were the worst in the year. She was punished in English ss and scolded by the teacher in physics ss. The fragile girl was disheartened and took advantage of the chaotic PE ss to return to the ss. She got rid of her desk mate with the excuse of being hungry and then climbed to the top of the building and jumped down, ending her young life.

    This was a veryplete chain of logic.

    However, they ignored the scarf on Ying Xiaoya¡¯s neck.

    Today was her 18th birthday and Yu Hui gave her the scarf. Xiao Lou remembered that the girl had been very happy to receive the gift. Moreover, Yu Hui told her, ¡°It is only the month test. You can do better the next time.¡± Ying Xiaoya had nodded and obviously adjusted her mentality thanks to Yu Hui¡¯sfort.

    Meanwhile, her desk mate Yi Ru prepared a birthday gift for her, proving that Xiao Lou was previously wrong. The folded paper cranes weren¡¯t for a boy but were for Ying Xiaoya. The rtionship between the two girls seemed to be good.

    There were the desk mate and Yu Hui¡¯sfort. Ying Xiaoya wouldn¡¯t suddenly jump andmit suicide.

    Just then, the forensic doctor turned Ying Xiaoya¡¯s head and Xiao Lou hurried forward to carefully observe.

    Since she fell from the top of the building and her head mmed into the concrete ground, the girl¡¯s face was fleshy and bloody. It looked terrible.

    However, her pupils had shrunk abnormally.

    A cold mechanical warning sounded in his ears. ¡°Invisibility cloak, the remaining time is 60 seconds¡­¡±

    He was surrounded by police and security guards. Once the cloak lost its effect, Xiao Lou would immediately be caught and eliminated.

    Xiao Lou quickly turned and left the scene.

    The initial autopsy at the scene ended and Ying Xiaoya¡¯s body was covered with a white cloth and carried onto a car. Two police officers climbed to the top of the building to check where Ying Xiaoya fell while the group leader and another female police officer called the students of ss 3 to the office to ask questions.

    Hiding behind a tree, Xiao Lou wanted to listen but was worried he would be caught by the security guards. As a result, a low voice suddenly entered his ears. ¡°Go to the maple forest and wait for me. I will follow up here.¡±

    It was Yu Hanjiang.

    He couldn¡¯t see the other person but the voice in his ears told Xiao Lou that Group Leader Yu had used the invisibility cloak and was going straight to the scene of the police questioning the students.

    This was an expert in criminal investigation and Xiao Lou didn¡¯t have to continue with the scene. He assuredly turned to the maple forest.

 Chapter 25: Bloody Maple Leaf 06

    The correct way to use the invisibility cloak was for the two people to stagger the time to try and get more information.

    Yu Hanjiang wore the cloak and followed behind the police officers.

    The police first went to the monitoring centre to see the surveince. Unfortunately, the surveince videos of ss 3 were bad. Ying Xiaoya¡¯s incident had happened between 11:30 ¨C 11:45. The cameras at this time only saw Ying Xiaoya walk from the Chongwen Building through the air corridor to the Hangzhi Building next door.

    Her figure shed around the corner of the Hangzhi Building and her subsequent actions weren¡¯t captured at all

    The police officer frowned. ¡°How long have the school¡¯s surveince cameras been broken?¡±

    The principal awkwardly exined, ¡°They were brokenst year. The cameras were supposed to be changed but the city didn¡¯t give us the funds¡­¡±

    The policeman¡¯s face was ugly. The surveince was useless and he had to go to the office next door to quickly investigate the ss 3 students. Yu Hui, Xie Xinghe and the other students were arranged interview times.

    The policeman asked Yu Hui, ¡°Where were you between 11:30 ¨C 11:45?¡±

    ¡°ying basketball. Our entire ss was on the basketball court.¡±

    ¡°What is your rtionship with Ying Xiaoya. Did you see where she went?¡±

    Yu Hui frowned. ¡°What happened to Xiaoya? Why wasn¡¯t she here when we were called?¡±

    ¡°You answer my question first.¡±

    Yu Hui raised his eyebrows. ¡°If you don¡¯t tell me where she is then how can I answer?¡±

    This person was obviously in his rebellious period and wasn¡¯t afraid of the police. It could be seen that he was really worried about Ying Xiaoya.

    The two police officers looked at each other before the female police officer spoke softly, ¡°She jumped off the building¡­ she is dead.¡±

    Yu Hui understood the meaning of the other person. His entire face started to twitch and he stood up, turning around to rush outside. ¡°Where is Xiaoya? I¡¯m going to see her!¡±

    The policewoman hurriedly pulled the emotional teenager. ¡°You calm down first!¡±

    Yu Hui was forced to return to his seat. He sat there for a long time before covering his face with both hands, his shoulders constantly shaking.

    The female police officer patted him on the shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t be too agitated. We also want to find out Ying Xiaoya¡¯s cause of death as soon as possible. Yu Hui, I hope you can cooperate.¡±

    The leader of the police officers got to the point. ¡°ording to the teacher, you and Ying Xiaoya are in love and you often give her choctes?¡±

    Yu Hui¡¯s senses returned. His eyes were red and he stood up like a wounded beast, growing loudly, ¡°What love? She is my cousin! Her parents are in the field and she is temporarily staying at my house! Isn¡¯t the teacher too nervous? He sees a boy and girl walking ss and thinks it is love? Fuck! I see her as a sister! I was supposed to take care of her!¡±

    The police officers were yelled at by him and Yu Hanjiang was very surprised by this answer.

    Still, thinking about it carefully, he called himself ¡®brother¡¯ when giving Ying Xiaoya his gift. It turned out to be this meaning. Everything was a misunderstanding.

    Then was the love letter sent by Xie Xinghe? Or was there another connection to this case?

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and thought about it while listening to the questioning.

    The policeman continued, ¡°Has your sister been acting unusualtely?¡±

    Yu Hui calmly thought about it and replied as he sat back in his side. ¡°She suddenly acted weirdst week. I asked her what happened and she refused to say. She was always distracted in ss and on the way home, she almost tripped several times.¡±

    The police handed him the love letter. ¡°Do you know how sent this?¡±

    Yu Hui frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t know. My sister is so beautiful that she often has love letters stuffed in his bag. If I knew who it was then I would fight them! Those flies are really annoying and also put food in his bag. I threw them all away!¡±

    Yu Hui was clearly hit hard and could go on a rampage at any time.

    The policeman spoke briefly and took out the evidence found in the ssroom. ¡°Do these choctes belong to you?¡±

    Yu Hui nodded. ¡°It¡¯s mine. We both love eating this and I often carry it with me.¡±

    Then the police handed over the suicide note. ¡°Is this Ying Xiaoya¡¯s handwriting?¡±¡¯

    Yu Hui stared with red eyes. ¡°Impossible! She isn¡¯t so fragile that she wouldmit suicide because of bad grades! This suicide note isn¡¯t written by her? Why would shemit suicide? My parents said they would go back to celebrate her birthday with her tonight¡­ no¡­¡±

    He was emotional and kept repeating ¡¯no.¡¯ The police had to let him go back temporarily.

    Yu Hui turned and walked away.

    The next person to be arranged was the ss monitor Xie Xinghe.

    After hearing about Ying Xiaoya¡¯s death, the boy¡¯s hands trembled and his face was pale.

    Then no matter what the police asked, he would coldly reply, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    The policeman took out a book and said, ¡°This is the book ¡®Count of Monte Cristo¡¯ which was found in your bag.¡±

    Xie Xinghe¡¯s back slightly stiffened and his voice was cold. ¡°Do I need to exin a famous book in my bag? I love reading. Apart from the Count of Monte Cristo, I¡¯ve also read Les Miserables, War and Peace, Wuthering Heights¡­ I have basically read all the world masterpieces.¡±

    The police couldn¡¯t guess anything about the famous book and had to let him go back first.

    Xie Xinghe and Yu Hui both had a sufficient alibi. Everyone had seen them ying on the basketball court and neither of them had a motive for killing. The others weren¡¯t familiar with Ying Xiaoya and couldn¡¯t provide useful information.

    The end time of Yu Hanjiang¡¯s invisibility cloak wasing. He decisively turned towards the maple forest to meet Xiao Lou.

    Outside the maple forest.

    Xiao Lou pretended to be a teacher as he sat on a wooden seat and carefully organized the current clues.

    He was a young man and his serious expression made him seem more handsome than usual. He attracted the curiosity of many passing students but he was calm and immovable.

    Hearing the familiar students, Xiao Lou raised his head and hurriedly asked, ¡°Yu¡­ Teacher, did you find anything?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang sat own, nced at the students not far away and lowered his voice. ¡°The police went to the ssroom of ss 3 to collect evidence and found the choctes, love letter, paper cranes and Count of Monte Carlo book that we collected before. The evidence is the same. In addition, a suicide note was found on Ying Xiaoya¡¯s desk, apologizing to her parents and teachers. She lost confidence in life and wants to end her life at the age of 18. The handwriting is in line with Ying Xiaoya¡¯s handwriting.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang paused before continuing, ¡°The roof of the building only contains Ying Xiaoya¡¯s footprints. I couldn¡¯t find any abnormalities from the ce where she jumped from the building. All the clues seem to point to suicide.¡±

    Just then, a prompt appeared at the same time on their floating boxes.

    [The inference result of the 3 of Hearts room¡ªdid Ying Xiaoyamit suicide? Yes/No. Note: A misjudgment will result in a failure of the challenge.]

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t hesitate to press ¡®No¡¯ and looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°It isn¡¯t suicide.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and ignored the suspension box. ¡°What did you find?¡±

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and organized his wording. ¡°The preliminary judgment of the forensic doctor is a skull fracture and cerebral hemorrhage caused by the fall but I discovered something wrong. When a normal person dies, the pupils will dte. However, Ying Xiaoya¡¯s pupils shrank abnormally. Narrow pupils are a special symptom that must be paid attention to in forensic toxicological identification. It only urs when carbamates or organophosphorus poisoning.

    Yu Hanjiang was shocked. ¡°Poisoning?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded with certainty. ¡°Yes, carbamates and organic phosphates aremon ingredients of pesticides and are easy to buy. These two poisons will cause the pupils to shrink and the muscle fibres to vibrate abnormally. It is likely that Ying Xiaoya was poisoned.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang really wanted to give Xiao Lou a thumbs up.

    It was said that Professor Xiao studied toxicology appraisal at the postgraduate level and was very familiar with the symptoms of poisoning. Therefore, Xiao Lou was able to capture the abnormalities of the body.

    Ying Xiaoya had been poisoned before falling and it obviously wasn¡¯t suicide.

    This was a well-nned murder.

    In fact, Yu Hanjiang sensed something the moment that Ying Xiaoya fell from the building. This wasn¡¯t suicide.

    If it was a simple suicide then it wasn¡¯t necessary for the 3 of Hearts room to let theme in and investigate. This was obviously a deliberate clue, especially the suicide note left by the deceased on the table.

    If it wasn¡¯t suicide then who was the murderer?

    Yu Hanjiang turned over the suspects in his mind before saying, ¡°During the police interrogation, there was a useful message. Yu Hui and Ying Xiaoya weren¡¯t a couple. They were cousins. Ying Xiaoya is currently staying at Yu Hui¡¯s house.¡±

    Xiao Lou suddenly realized. ¡°No wonder¡­ I remember that Yu Hui said it was a gift that Brother bought for you. I thought that Yu Hui called himself that because he was older than her. It turns out they really are brother and sister.¡±

    Xiao Lou paused before continuing. ¡°The police interrogated Yi Ru and she confessed that the paper cranes are a birthday gift for Ying Xiaoya. I just went to the snack bar to inquire and she really went to buy two packs of potato chips. There is no proof of absence.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang muttered, ¡°Then excluding the possibility of suicide, Yi Ru, Yu Hui and Xie Xinghe aren¡¯t murderers.¡±

    Their reasoning was once again in trouble.

    At present, there were too few students with known names. If these three students weren¡¯t murderers then the murderers were either students of other sses and the two people hadn¡¯t seen them yet, or new characters would continue to appear.

    The killer could also be a teacher¡­

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Are there any clues about the printed love letter and the Count of Monte Cristo.

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°Yu Hui said his sister looks good and often receives love letters. The source of the love letter is still undetermined. As for the Count of Monte Cristo, I observed that Xie Xinghe¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t right when the police mentioned it. What do you think?¡±

    Xiao Lou was thoughtful. ¡°The theme of the book is revenge. The hero of the story was framed by two vile viins and sent to prison. The protagonist suffered a lot in prison but fortunately met an old master. The other person taught him all types of knowledge, letting him know the enemy who framed himself and telling him the location of a treasure. After the death of the old master, the protagonist escaped from prison, found the treasure and became a rich man. He became known as the Count of Monte Cristo and after careful nning, he sessfully returned and got revenge.¡±

    ¡°Revenge¡­¡± Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Should Ying Xiaoya¡¯s death be for a vendetta?¡±

    ¡°The book was in Xie Xinghe¡¯s bag and perhaps he has a rtionship with the theme of ¡®revenge¡¯?¡± Xiao Lou held his temples. He felt like his head was about to explode. ¡°There is also the curse. We have no clue about this keyword.¡±

    ¡°There aren¡¯t enough clues and this case can¡¯t be solved in a day.¡± Yu Hanjiang was calm. ¡°If I guess correctly, the police wille again tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Do you mean they¡¯ll grasp the evidence of the poisoning and return to the school to investigate again?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°You are a forensic doctor and noticed the poisoning instantly. However, most challengers aren¡¯t forensic doctors and won¡¯t notice the abnormal shrinking of the pupils after death. Thus, the secret room will definitely tell the challengers in other ways that Ying Xiaoya was poisoned.¡±

    ¡°It makes sense.¡± Xiao Lou immediately understood. ¡°If this clue isn¡¯t told then the challenger¡¯s reasoning would really be in trouble. I am a forensic doctor and can determine the truth of Ying Xiaoya¡¯s death in advance. Other challengers are likely to know the truth when the policee back to school tomorrow.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at him with eyes full of praise. ¡°Thanks to you, we obtained evidence of the poisoning in advance. This is our advantage and should be used.¡±

    Xiao Lou was startled. ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you mean to search the school for the poison in advance?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang just stood up. ¡°The murderer shouldn¡¯t have time to deal with the evidence of the poisoning or the difficulty of this secret room is too high. We will wait for it to be dark. Once the students and teachers leave, we will collect clues. In addition, there would be something involving the broken street lights. We should watch it tonight.¡±

    Xiao Lou also stood up and nodded. ¡°Yes, you are an expert in searching and I will listen to your arrangements.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had solved many criminal cases. The presence of a forensic doctor meant things were twice as efficient. In addition, Xiao Lou trusted him and was willing to listen to his arrangements. This was even rarer.

    Meeting Xiao Lou¡¯s clear eyes, Yu Hanjiang suddenly thought that it was a blessing to meet Xiao Lou as a partner in this Card World.

    It didn¡¯t matter who the murderer was.

    They would definitely pick out this person at the fastest possible speed!

 Chapter 26: Bloody Maple Leaf: Mystery of the Curse

    The scene of Ying Xiaoya¡¯s fall was quickly cleaned up and the other sses resumed as normal. The hungry students emerged from the teaching building. They were full of doubts and discussed things in twos and threes.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t it a police car that just left the school? Did the policee here?¡±

    ¡°Is it to do with ss 3? I saw that they were ying on the basketball court and Yu Hui and Xie Xinghe seemed to be fighting.¡±

    ¡°I heard from ss 3 that Yu Hui and Xie Xinghe often quarrel.¡±

    ¡°This month, Xie Xinghe was first in the entire year. I really don¡¯t know what his brain is like.¡±

    ¡°Mathematics is so difficult yet he actually got a full score. In addition, he got 295 for science. He is a monster!¡±

    Maple Forest High School was a walk-in school and the school didn¡¯t have a student cafeteria.

    They went to school in the morning until 12 and then sses resumed at 14:30 in the afternoon. The rest time at noon was two and a half hours. Most of the students walked home to eat while some rushed out with their bicycle. Today, the teacher had inexplicably made them stay in the ssroom for nearly an hour and the lunch time was very urgent.

    In the blink of an eye, the students left the school and the campus became quiet.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were hiding near the school gates and listened to the opinions of the studentsing and going. Yu Hui and Xie Xinghe were obviously popr in the school and all the students knew that the rtionship between them wasn¡¯t good.

    13:30.

    Yu Hui, Xie Xinghe and Yi Ru went to the school gate sessively.

    Xie Xinghe quickly caught up with Yu Hui and said, ¡°The thing with Xiaoya, don¡¯t feel too sad¡­¡±

    Yu Hui looked back at him with eyes full of blood. ¡°Don¡¯t give me your hypocritical pretence of condolence! If you hadn¡¯t hit me while we were ying then Xiaoya wouldn¡¯t have disappeared under my eyes!¡±

    Xie Xinghe frowned and the hands by his side clenched into fists. ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t expect this to happen.¡±

    Yi Ru passed by the two men and turned a blind eye to their quarrel.

    It was like the girl had lost her soul. The expression on her face was very sluggish and her walking posture was like a robot without any thinking ability. Yu Hui grabbed her and eximed, ¡°Xiaoya left with you. What did you say to her?¡±

    He was now like a mad dog that would bite anyone he saw. Yi Ru was shocked and spoke with a pale face. ¡°She asked me to buy food, nothing else¡­ I don¡¯t know why she would jump off the building andmit suicide. Her expression was normal¡­¡±

    Yu Hui shouted, ¡°Shut up! She wouldn¡¯t kill herself. There must be a reason. Did you push her down the stairs?¡±

    Yi Ru took a horrified step back. ¡°What are you saying¡­¡±

    ¡°You secretly love Xie Xinghe but Xie Xinghe preferred Xiaoya. Were you jealous of her?¡±

    Xie Xinghe stopped Yu Hui with a calm face. ¡°Enough, stop talking nonsense. The rtionship between Yi Ru and Xiaoya is so good, how can you say such things? Take time off this afternoon to calm down your mood before returning to ss.¡±

    Yu Hui stared at him red-eyed before turning away.

    Xie Xinghe stared at Yi Ru¡¯s upset expression. ¡°You also take leave and have a good rest. I will go and talk to the ss teacher.¡±

    Yi Ru nodded. ¡°Thank you ss Monitor¡­¡±

    The three of them walked out of the school in tandem. Since it was a secret room plot and the challengers¡¯ activity area was limited to the Maple Forest High School, it was impossible to chase them. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang could only turn around and leave¡­

    During the lunch break, the campus was surprisingly quiet.

    There was an hour until the afternoon ss. Xiao Lou¡¯s stomach was growling and he suddenly remembered that he hadn¡¯t eaten sinceing to the Card World. Last night he had slept on the stairs and now he was really tired and hungry.

    Seeing Yu Hanjiang frown and fall into thought, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help reminding him, ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you want to eat something first? This case won¡¯t end today and if we don¡¯t eat, we won¡¯t have the strength to collect evidence at night.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and walked to the snack counter with Xiao Lou.

    They couldn¡¯t leave school and the gold coins earned in the Clubs room could only be used at the snack counter.

    The owner of the snack counter was a middle-aged woman. She saw two strange faces and was curious. Xiao Lou calmly smiled at Yu Hanjiang and asked, ¡°Teacher Yu, what do you want to eat?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang reached out and took a bag of instant noodles, two sausages and two marinated eggs from the shelf and ced them on the table. ¡°It is enough for me to eat these.¡±

    Xiao Lou who only took a packet of instant noodles, ¡°¡­¡±

    Group Leader Yu was close to 1.9 metres tall and he had a high physical fitness. It was normal for him to eat arge amount of food.

    The things in the snack counter were so expensive that this added up to 1,400 gold coins.

    Xiao Lou felt some pain as he pulled out two 1,000 gold coins from his pocket and asked while paying, ¡°Do you have hot water? Can you give us some?¡±

    The store owner said, ¡°Yes, please wait a minute.¡±

    She took a hot water kettle and soaked the noodles for the two people while giving Xiao Lou 600 gold coins change.

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly asked, ¡°Boss, do you have a shlight?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is 300 gold coins.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°Is it better to use the change to buy two shlights?¡±

    At present, Xiao Lou was in charge of the money. If Yu Hanjiang wanted to buy something then he would have to ask Xiao Lou first. Buying a shlight was naturally to make it more convenient to search at night. Xiao Lou handed back the 600 gold coins that the store owner had given him and smiled. ¡°Give us two shlights.¡±

    There were only 17 gold coins in his pocket and two were used for lunch. How could they live in the future?¡±

    After pouring the hot water, the two men headed to the maple forest side to sit down and talk while eating.

    Xiao Lou had a headache. ¡°The prices in the Card World is really high. 2,000 gold coins were used to buy this type of thing. It feels like 20 yuan in the real world. We only have 15 gold coins left and we need to leave some for the future.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou earnestly calcting the ounts and agreed, ¡°Yes, let¡¯s save some.¡± Then he looked at the unsealed ham and eggs in his hands and ced them in Xiao Lou¡¯s bowl. ¡°You also eat more.¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry.

    He usually ate in the school¡¯s staff cafeteria or went home to cook for himself. In the real world, he never ate foods such as fried food. Now this was a luxury for both of them. It would be miserable to eat a few more meals.

    Xiao Lou was silent for a moment before speaking emotionally, ¡°I will earn more money in the Clubs roomter.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­Yes.¡±

    The two poor people silently bowed their heads to eat the instant noodles.

    At 14:00 p.m. the two people got up and returned to the teaching building.

    The students returned to school and Maple Forest High School returned to its normal order.

    As the school bell rang, the teachers headed to their sses through the air corridor. Only ss 3 was shrouded in a sullen atmosphere. Yu Hui and Yi Ru¡¯s seats were empty while ss Monitor Xie Xinghe was still in the ssroom.

    The afternoon curriculum wasnguage, biology and mathematics but thenguage teacher obviously wasn¡¯t in the mood for ss. He stood at the podium, kneading his head in a tired manner. ¡°This ss is self-study.¡±

    Below him, the students quietly read at first. Then they found the teacher didn¡¯t care about them and several girls in the back row started to secretly pass papers among themselves.

    It was unknown what was written on the note but they looked terrified when they identally threw it to the ground and alerted the ss teacher on the podium.

    The teacher frowned and picked up the note. He nced at it and his expression changed sharply. ¡°Don¡¯t believe in this type of nonsense! What departed spirit demanding vengeance or ghosts are floating around? The people who are talking nonsense, give me 10ps around the yground!¡±

    The several girls paled with fright and bowed their heads to reduce their sense of existence.

    The ss teacher walked out of the ssroom, crumpled up the note and threw it into the trash can in the hallway.

    Yu Hanjiang quickly picked up the note, walked around the corner and looked at it with Xiao Lou.

    A few lines were scrawled on the note.

    ¡°Do you think Ying Xiaoya jumped because of the curse?¡±

    ¡°It is possible since the location of our school is a ce where many people died. It is said that some students heard strange crying when they passed the school in the middle of the night!¡±

    ¡°Last week after the exam, I came homete and saw a ghost in the maple forest. I was scared to death!¡±

    ¡°Is it a departed spirit demanding vengeance?¡±

    ¡°It is said that you will be cursed on your 18th birthday. In the year when Maple Forest High School was built, didn¡¯t a girl jump off the building on her 18th birthday? Ying Xiaoya was 18¡­¡±

    ¡°I heard that people went missing in the past few years!¡±

    ¡°Is a wronged ghost wandering our school?¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other.

    Curse, this key word had finally appeared.

 Chapter 27: Bloody Maple Leaf: Night Exploration of the Shuxiang Building

    The ss teacher looked back at everyone and the students of ss 3 were obedient. Their heads were lowered as they did homework.

    Of course, there was a ssmate who died and most of them couldn¡¯t calm down. They just had the appearance of doing homework and even the ss monitor Xie Xinghe had only written one line in the homework book.

    In the second and third quarters, all the teachers let the students self-study and the entire ssroom was so quiet that a needle could be heard when dropped.

    The school leaders wanted to block the news but the school was so big and there were always teachers and students passing by. The students of other sses gradually learned that Ying Xiaoya had jumped off the building. By the time they left school in the afternoon, the ¡®curse¡¯ had spread throughout the campus. Studentsing and going were talking about it.

    Everyone said that Ying Xiaoya was cursed by a vengeful ghost andmitted suicide on her 18th birthday.

    The rumours between the students told Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang some very critical information.

    First, the location of Maple Forest High School was once a ce where criminals were killed by gunfire. Therefore, rumours of ¡®wrongfully dead ghosts demanding lives¡¯ and the ¡®school is cursed¡¯ circted.

    Second, five years ago when the school was founded, there was a girl whomitted suicide by jumping off the building on her 18h birthday. It was very simr to the situation where Ying Xiaoya jumped off the building andmitted suicide. It was easier for people to believe in the ¡®death curse.¡¯

    Third, in recent years, some people had disappeared from school.

    The curse actually meant this and both of them were a bit surprised.

    After school in the afternoon, the students of the first and second grade left the high school. The third grade should¡¯ve stayed behind in the evening for self-study but due to the ident that urred in ss 3 today, the school leaders approved for all third grade students to study on their own tonight. They could go home early and attend sses tomorrow.

    The three teaching buildings soon became empty.

    The teachers also left while the cleaners cleared the hallways and toilets. Gradually, only the security guards were left in school as well as Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang, who were hiding in the blind spot corners.

    Xiao Lou asked lightly, ¡°The vengeful souls of the wrongfully departed and the death curse, Group Leader Yu, do you feel there is a mystery?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang folded his arms and thought about it for a moment. ¡°This secret room doesn¡¯t have a spiritual theme. It is impossible to have an evil ghost murder setting. The so-called vengeful souls and death curse are just misleading. I think that the girl who jumped from the building when the school was founded and the missing people in recent years have a direct or indirect rtionship with Ying Xiaoya¡¯s death. This is probably a serial killing.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought so as well.

    The clues in the 3 of Hearts room were very scattered but in fact, every clue was like a sugar-coated fruit on a stick snack. There was always a line stringing all the candied fruit together and it felt like the two people had found the line of reasoning.

    The school was cursed so someone jumped and other people disappeared. This was absolutely nonsense!

    The devil¡¯s curse? In fact, there was a murderer at this school who was as terrible as a devil.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath, clenched his fists and spoke coldly. ¡°Did the murderer deliberately spread the horror legend of the ¡®ghost¡¯ to cover up their crimes?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°There must be a connection between these events. The girl who jumped from the building five years ago was by no means suicidal.¡±

    The first time Xiao Lou entered the Maple Forest High School, he checked the introduction on the stone monument at the entrance.

    Maple Forest High School was built five years ago and the cost was huge. The city government supported the project and the city¡¯s education bureau sent arge number of excellent teachers to this high school.

    Such a high-profile school actually had a student jump from the building. The school would naturally try to suppress public opinion and minimize the impact of the incident. The legend of the curse was only circted among the students and the official documents would definitely have a clearer exnation.

    Xiao Lou nced at Yu Hanjiang and the other person looked back. The two people spoke at the same time. ¡°The school library?¡±

    They could only go to the school library to check the information from five years ago.

    It waspletely dark and the streetlights were on.

    They walked with light footsteps towards the Shuxiang Building.

    The Shuxiang Building was a very special existence in the school. The shape was like an open book page. The horizontal surface was wide and the vertical direction had five floors. This building hadn¡¯t been open on the weekend so Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang hadn¡¯t gone in to view it. Today it was finally open.

    The two people walked inside the Shuxiang Building. The green sign on the stairway marked the distribution map of the whole building. The first and second floors were the school¡¯sboratories and experimental courses such as chemistry, physics and biology were held here. The entire third floor was theputer centre, the entire fourth floor was the library and the fifth floor was the school¡¯s reference library.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes quickly swept over the map. He was just about to speak when a warning rang in the two men¡¯s ears at the same time. ¡°A security guard is close. 50 metres, 49 metres¡­¡±

    Not far away was the security guard¡¯s voice. ¡°There seems to be a light on the other side of the Shuxiang Building. Is someone there?¡±

    Another voice was heard. ¡°Go and see. The principal said that we should strengthen vignce for the next two days to prevent any idents.¡±

    A bad feeling entered Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart!

    They had turned on the shlight when they entered and this light had caught the attention of the security guards on patrol.

    Listening to the footsteps approaching quickly, Xiao Lou stiffened and was prepared to use his eleration shoes when his arm was pulled by Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang forced Xiao Lou into a corner and gently whispered in his ears, ¡°Shh¡­ don¡¯t talk.¡±

    This was a dead corner and the space was extremely narrow. The two people were crowded together and their bodies were close to each other. Xiao Lou¡¯s entire body was held in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s arms and he could almost hear the intense heartbeating from the chest in front of them. Their backs were upright because of tension.

    The security guard¡¯s footsteps approached as they patrolled the building with a shlight, the light almost shining on the two men¡¯s faces.

    The security guard chief on duty asked, ¡°Little Liu, have you found anything?¡±

    ¡°There is no one? Was it a mistake?¡±

    ¡°Well, the students and teachers are gone and the school shouldn¡¯t have anyone left. Let¡¯s lock the Shuxiang Building.¡±

    The security guards turned away, followed by the sound of the door locking.

    The two people locked in the Shuxiang Building, ¡°¡­¡±

    Once the security guards left, Xiao Lou sighed with relief. ¡°Fortunately, Group Leader Yu responded quickly enough.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s anti-reconnaissance ability was first-ss and he was very good at finding blind spots. Thankfully he had a habit of finding hiding ces or the two people would¡¯ve bumped into the security guards and be expelled.

    This incident was a shock.

    Yu Hanjiang let out a breath and loosened his grip on Xiao Lou. ¡°We have to be careful. You stay here first and don¡¯t move. I will go and see if there are any security cameras in the building.¡±

    Then he left in a hurry.

    The shlight wasn¡¯t turned on and it was dark but Yu Hanjiang¡¯s steps didn¡¯t hesitate at all. He seemed to be able to see in the dark but Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t. He could only stand in the same ce.

    A momentter, Yu Hanjiang returned to Xiao Lou. ¡°The building¡¯s cameras are bad and we will first go to search the chemistryboratory.¡±

    Recalling the inference that Ying Xiaoya was poisoned, Xiao Lou asked softly, ¡°Do you suspect that the poison came from the chemistryboratory?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°Today, ss 3¡¯s chemistry teacher took time off. I don¡¯t believe this is a coincidence.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed with this and immediately followed Group Leader Yu.

    There wereboratories on both sides of the corridor and the internal situation couldn¡¯t be seen from outside the building. They didn¡¯t have to worry about being seen by the guards and Yu Hanjiang could turn on the shlight without any worries.

    On the left were five chemistryboratories and the right had five biologyboratories.

    All theboratory doors were locked. Yu Hanjiang raised his shlight and shone it into a room through the window. The chemistryboratory was full of ss instruments and the tables were thoroughly cleaned. The vials in the cab were neatly ced.

    Laboratory 3 had some messy chemical forms¡­

    Yu Hanjiang hadn¡¯t reacted yet when he suddenly heard Xiao Lou cry out, ¡°Here!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang bowed his head and observed the door lock carefully. He found that the door lock had races of being pried open and wanted to say that Xiao Lou¡¯s observation skills were meticulous when he heard the other person say, ¡°The chemical form written on the ckboard contains ¡®carbon-phosphorus.¡¯ This is amon organophosphoruspound. The chemical equation for calcium phosphate is also written below. This chemistry ss should be talking about the difference between organic and inorganic substances.¡±

    The science g Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    He didn¡¯t understand.

    The two men came at it from different angles but they both pointed to the same result. There was a problem with thisboratory.

    Yu Hanjiang handed the shlight to Xiao Lou, reached out his hands and forcibly broke the door lock. The loud sound echoed in the dark corridor. The lock was indeed passive. It seemed to be locked but it could be forced open with no key.

    The two people looked at each other and quickly entered theboratory.

    Xiao Lou stood in front of the ckboard and stared at it carefully. This was truly stating the difference between organic phosphorus and inorganic phosphorus. The chemistry teacher¡¯s writing in chalk was very neat and was just like printing.

    Yu Hanjiang quickly swept the shlight over the surroundings and found a book on the back of the door. This should be the signature book of theboratory. There were spaces such as ¡®materials recovery¡¯ and ¡®instrument cleaning. There were the date and the signature of the inspector: Xie Xinghe.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes slightly lit up. ¡°Professor Xiao,e and look at this.¡±

    Xiao Lou came over and was shocked after seeing the signature. ¡°It seems that ss 3¡¯sboratory ssst week was in thisboratory. The content was about organic phosphorus and inorganic phosphorus while Xie Xinghew as responsible for the final inspection of the materials and instruments. He might¡¯ve taken the poison away from the scene. The chemistry teacher is also suspicious.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s go see the pharmacy cab.¡±

    The pharmacy cab was also locked and couldn¡¯t be opened, but the contents could clearly be seen through the ss. All the bottles had the name of the chemical agent, most of which weremonly used in high school chemistry. However, the topyer had exactly one bottle that said ¡®organophosphate¡¯ and the inside was¡­ half empty.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°It should¡¯ve been taken away.¡±

    Both Xie Xinghe and the chemistry teacher were suspects. The chemistry teacher didn¡¯te to school today and hadn¡¯t been seen all day. They only heard from the PE teacher that her father went to the hospital and she had to apany him for an examination.

    Could she control it remotely when she wasn¡¯t at school? Was she an aplice? Or was Xie Xinghe the aplice?

    The two people were thinking and the room fell into a brief silence.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s senses soon returned. ¡°We will leave here first. Tomorrow, the chemistry teacher will definitelye to work and we can focus on her then.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and followed Group Leader Yu to leave theboratory.

    The two men came to the information hall on the fifth floor.

    There were rows of bookcases and countless folders ced neatly in the bookcases. The door was locked but Yu Hanjiang had a way in. He opened a window and directly entered from the window.

    Xiao Lou saw Group Leader Yu quickly move through the window and he had to keep up.

    He was a good student in the eyes of teachers and parents since childhood. Today was the first day doing something like ¡®breaking in through the window.¡¯

    The reference library was ssified by year and the two men went to the first row to check the information of when it was established five years ago.

    Five years ago, there was the urban nning,rge-scale demolition and reconstruction of the northern district. Maple Forest High School was established and several high schools in the north district directly merged together. At the beginning of the school¡¯s establishment, there were more than 3,000 students.

    After the merge, the third grade was re-assigned. The best students were selected to form two key sses and old teachers were assigned to these sses to get the best result. Most of them had the ¡®first ss¡¯ title attached to them.

    The folders contained the list of all sses and the admissions after the university entrance examination.

    It was all recorded based on the student number and it was very convenient to check.

    Yu Hanjiang swept through the information lists while Xiao Loupared the admissions data.

    The two people soon realized that something was wrong.

    Yu Hanjiang opened his mouth. ¡°The key liberal arts ss has one less person?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°The ss list has 40 people but the admission list is 39 people. The missing name is¡­ student number 1733, Si Han?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°After the school merger, she was assigned to a key ss ording to her grades. This indicates that her results were at the top of the year. She didn¡¯t get an admission ce after the university entrance examination. This means she either failed the exam or¡­ she was the student who jumped from the building.¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°If a student jumped from a building then the education bureau must check and the school must write a report.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang turned to check the official documents of that year. The school documents were very messy and contained things likemittee activities, teacher ss selections, speech contest¡­ Yu Hanjiang swept past the folders and soon found the target.

    He pulled the folder off the shelve and flipped through it quickly. Then he saw a stack of reporting materials.

    [A detailed report on Student Si Han¡¯s fall.]

    Si Han was a girl with excellent grades. She was usually in the top 10 of her ss but in the mid-term examinationst month, she fell to the bottom of the ss. On her 18th birthday, she left a suicide note and jumped from the Hangzhi Building.

    The report contained a detailed description of Si Han from teachers and students as well as photographs of the suicide note.

    The writing was very simple: I¡¯m sorry to my parents and teachers. I want to let my life end.

    Thest page of the report was a detailed psychological analysis.

    The report pointed out that Student Si Han¡¯s psychological state was fragile. She couldn¡¯t withstand the blow of her test results. In addition, her parents weren¡¯t around and shecked care. She couldn¡¯t think of a solution and jumped from the building,mitting suicide. Finally, it was concluded that in the future, they should pay attention to the student¡¯s mental health and conduct psychological evaluations, regrly holding psychological counselling courses to let students ovee their difficulties.

    All the papers were stamped with the school¡¯s official seal.

    These words were shocking!

    Xiao Lou felt a chill run down his spine. ¡°It is almost exactly the same as Ying Xiaoya¡¯s situation.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression was somewhat ugly. ¡°This student¡¯s fall and Ying Xiaoya¡¯s fall might be the handwriting of the same murderer. The suicide note left behind is very simr.¡±

    He suddenly had some doubts. ¡°I always felt something wrong when I saw the suicide note. The writing really belongs to Ying Xiaoya but it isn¡¯t her. Perhaps someone else took her homework and copied it.¡±

    ¡°In addition, apologizing to her mother and father isn¡¯t consistent with Ying Xiaoya¡¯s family situation. She lives with Yu Hui and her parents aren¡¯t around. If she reallymitted suicide then she should be most sorry to her cousin and his family. The person who wrote the suicide note apparently didn¡¯t know the rtionship between Ying Xiaoya and Yu Hui or her family situation.¡±

    There should be Ying Xiaoya¡¯s homework left in the school. In particr, thenguage ss often required writing text and it wasn¡¯t difficult to pick some words and copy them to another piece of paper.

    Simrly, the suicide note left behind when Si Han jumped from the building might be forged.

    Two girls who left behind the legacy of ¡®suicide¡¯, what was the rtionship between them?

    The case was bing more and moreplicated.

    There were two cases of falling and the deceased were young and beautiful girls. This made Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help having a terrible guess. Did the two girls experience something perverted at school, perhaps even rape? The two of them didn¡¯t want to jump from the building but the other person was afraid of them talking and killed them?

    However, this was just his spection and had no basis. Moreover, the most suspicious chemistry teacher was female.

    Just then, the sound of thunder was heard from outside the window, startling Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang.

    The two of them left the data room, turned off their shlights and went to the end of the fifth-floor corridor, looking out through the window.

    Outside the window, there was thunder as rain poured down and mmed against the ss window. Through the misty rain and fog, the maple forest in the distance with its countless falling maple leaves seemed stained in red blood. It was even stranger under the illumination of the streetlights. The dark area where the streetlights were broken was like a monster opening its huge mouth to gradually devour the campus.

    Five years ago, a girl fell to her death. Now another girlmitted ¡®suicide¡¯. The originally simple and beautiful high school campus had be a devil field where a murderer killed girls.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s back was cold and his face was unnaturally pale.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at him and gently held Xiao Lou¡¯s hand, whispering words offort. ¡°Don¡¯t think too much. The murders in the Card World areplicated and the murderer will definitely leave clues. Our reasoning is getting closer and closer to the truth and the murderer will soon surface.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°It seems we will be sleeping here tonight.¡±

    There was a thunderstorm outside and the door of the Shuxiang Building was locked by the security guards. They could only sleep in the corridor and wait for the building to be opened tomorrow morning before sneaking out.

    Tomorrow, the chemistry teacher woulde back to work.

    The students who had leave such as Yu Hui and Yi Ru would also return to school.

    The police would return to school tomorrow to continue the investigation. Through the autopsy, the medical examiner should¡¯ve discovered the deceased¡¯s poisoning and confirmed theposition of the poison. They would find the chemistryboratory and the chemistry teacher would be the first suspect.

    The legend of the curse would surely remind the police of the fall five years ago.

    Meanwhile, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang walking ahead of the police had gained the evidence of the poison from the chemistryboratory and knew the story of the fall five years ago. The deceased was a girl named Si Han.

    The words about vengeful ghosts and the death curse, these were all cover-ups. After this heavy rain, the murderer¡¯s veil would be removed and the truth of the fall would finally be uncovered bit by bit.

 Chapter 28: Bloody Maple Leaf: New Discovery

    3 of Hearts secret room, day 2.

    Xiao Lou woke up and saw Yu Hanjiang standing by the corridor window. His deep eyes were staring into the distance and his brow was slightly furrowed like he was thinking about something.

    Xiao Lou walked over and asked, ¡°Group Leader Yu, are there any new discoveries?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang pointed to the maple forest. ¡°Last night, there was a storm and a few maple trees were blown down.

    Xiao Lou followed his gaze and looked at the distant maple forest. Arge number of maple leaves had fallen down in the rain and the ground seemed to be covered with a thickyer of maple red. At the end of the maple forest, several small saplings nted were blown to the ground by the wind. The flower beds under the teaching body were crooked and many flower pots were broken. The entire campus was messy, like a typhoon had crossed here.

    At 6:30 in the morning, the rain had stopped.

    At this time, the two people should head to the school gate since the new day would have more clues. However,st night they sneaked into the Shuxiang Building and alerted the security guards, causing the door of the Shuxiang Building to be locked.

    Xiao Lou had a very ufortable sleepst night. He rubbed his temple to soothe his headache and asked, ¡°ss is starting soon. How are we going to get out?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked calm as he pointed to the air-conditioning pipe outside the window. ¡°Climb out.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    In the Hearts secret room, Yu Hanjiang took out the attitude of the Spades survival secret room. He simply opened the window and jumped forward, grasping the air-conditioning duct with both hands and stepping on the window edge that was only 10cm wide with both feet, climbing down to the ground floor.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was in his throat.

    So high! If this person¡¯s feet stepped on air then it would be over!

    It turned out that Xiao Lou¡¯s fears were superfluous. Yu Hanjiang seemed to often do this type of thing. He climbed, jumped and seemed familiar with the building as he chose the most convenient route and fell steadily to the ground. Then he looked up at Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou looked down and didn¡¯t dare step on the window of the fifth floor to climb down¡­ he didn¡¯t want to fall to the ground.

    Yu Hanjiang made a ¡®go downstairs and wait for me¡¯ gesture and walked quickly to the door of the Shuxiang Building.

    It was unknown where Group Leader Yu found a wire from but he took a moment to open the door lock. Xiao Lou was waiting at the door and after he saw Group Leader Yu open the door, he couldn¡¯t help thinking, ¡®It is fortunate that Yu Hanjiang is a policeman. If he is a thief then probably no one can stop him?¡¯

    Yu Hanjiang seemed to see Xiao Lou¡¯s doubts and exined while restoring the door lock, ¡°When I was in the police academy, a senior taught me unlocking skills. He likes to study these types of things.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and didn¡¯t ask much as he headed to the school gate with Yu Hanjiang.

    At 7 o¡¯clock, students came to the school one after another.

    Xie Xinghe hade early today and his school uniform had a ck gauze tied outside. The ck gauze was meant tomemorate the dead and the person he wasmemorating was apparently Ying Xiaoya, who died yesterday.

    Xiao Lou saw this and felt slightly confused. Judging from Xiao Lou¡¯s confession yesterday, his rtionship with Xie Xinghe was very ordinary. Yet he wore a ck gauze today, indicating that he was very mindful of Ying Xiaoya¡¯s death.

    Before long, Yi Ru and Yu Hui also came with ck around their arms.

    The three people met at the school gates.

    Yu Hui frowned as he nced at Xie Xinghe¡¯s arm. ¡°Xie Xinghe, what are you wearing this for? My family¡¯s Xiaoya doesn¡¯t need you to pay homage to her!¡±

    Xie Xinghe had a nk expression. ¡°I know that your hostility towards me is hard to resolve but Xiaoya and I are ssmates for three years. Her death¡­ I¡¯m very sad too.¡±

    Yu Hui wanted to say something but Yi Ru interrupted. ¡°Don¡¯t quarrel, do you want the people at the school gate to stand in a circle and watch?¡±

    Yesterday, Yi Ru had an emotional copse and cried in front of the police for a long time. After a night of adjustment, she had returned to normal but there were dark circles under her eyes and she looked tired.

    Yu Hui walked forward coldly.

    The three people entered the Chongwen Building in unison and the road was silent.

    The other students should have nothing to do with the case and the contents of the discussion had no valuable information. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang still couldn¡¯t recognize the faces of thousands of students but they didn¡¯t leave the school gate.

    They were waiting for the chemistry teacher of ss 3 to appear.

    At 7:25 with five minutes left until morning ss, a tall female teacher walked through the school gate.

    She had short neat hair and wore ck pencil pants, a white shirt, a khaki long trench coat and high heels. She had an elegant posture when walking, like a professional dancer. Her slim and upright body made her seem ssy.

    The security guard greeted her. ¡°Teacher Qin, you came to work?¡±

    The female teacher smiled as she greeted the security guard before entering the Hangzhi Building.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang immediately became alert.

    Teacher Qin, the security guard specifically greeted her and this seemed to be reminding the challengers that she was the chemistry teacher who was absent yesterday.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other before quickly catching up with her.

    She went directly to the chemistry office on the third floor of the Hangzhi Building. Once she entered the office, a colleague told her, ¡°Weiwei, you were really lucky. Yesterday, you took time off so you still don¡¯t know? ss 3 had a student who jumped from the building andmitted suicide!¡±

    Qin Weiwei was stunned and immediately turned back. ¡°What? Who jumped?¡±

    Her colleague replied, ¡°The person who wasst in this person¡¯s monthly exam, it should be Ying Xiaoya.¡±

    Qin Weiwei¡¯s face was full of shock. ¡°Howe? I remembered this girl studied very seriously. Her test result this time was just an ident. I wanted to encourage her. Is there a reason tomit suicide just because of a bad test?¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang pretended to be passing teachers and could clearly see the situation in the office.

    The chemistry teacher Qin Weiwei either had a deep heart, first-ss acting or were really innocent. In the end, they couldn¡¯t conclude if she knew about Ying Xiaoya jumping off the building or not. Today, the police would definitelye to investigate here.

    ss 3¡¯s morning ss was anguage ss and the teacher asked everyone to study a text for half an hour.

    The first ss at 8:10 happened to be the chemistry ss. Qin Weiwei prepared her teaching materials and walked out of the office towards ss 2. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou emerged from the bathroom opposite the office and looked at her back. Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°You follow Qin Weiwei. I will go to the school gate and wait for the police. I¡¯lle see youter.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and quietly followed Qin Weiwei.

    During ss time, there were many teachersing and going in the air corridor. She didn¡¯t notice Xiao Lou behind her.

    Qin Weiwei walked into the ssroom with the textbook. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know if it was because she didn¡¯t experience Ying Xiaoya¡¯s fall incident yesterday or because her psychological quality was too strong but she taught this ss very seriously. Despite the students being absent-minded, she performed her job and finished this ss.

    Xiao Lou was also a teacher. From the perspective of a peer, this Teacher Qin belonged to the first-ss level. Her writing in chalk was excellent, she never talked nonsense in ss and her preparations were very good. The main and secondary points of the 45 minutes ss were clear and the key knowledge clearly exined. It could be used directly for demonstration sses.

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help touching his chin in doubt¡­ was such a teacher really a cruel murderer?¡±

    Meanwhile, Yu Hanjiang was standing behind a tree and staring in the direction of the school gate.

    The police really came!

    The four police officers who came today were the same as yesterday. Obviously, the forensic doctor had brought the body back yesterday and confirmed the cause of death with an autopsy. All the information was provided to the police and the police officers came with a lot of clues.

    They first looked for the principal and took over an office in the Hangzhi Building. Then they called ss 3¡¯s PE teacher and the security guard who was on duty yesterday.

    The door of the office was about to close when Yu Hanjiang put on the invisibility cloak and went in to listen.

    The police turned on the recorder and asked the PE teacher while recording, ¡°During the PE ss yesterday, who called you while the Ying Xiaoya incident happened?¡±

    The PE teacher quickly replied, ¡°It was Teacher Qin. Didn¡¯t she change sses with me? She called to check on her students. I asked her where she was and she said she was going to take her father to the hospital for a check.¡±

    ¡°Do you know Teacher Qin well? Did you see her yesterday?¡¯

    ¡°We are very familiar. We were assigned to this school five years ago and have been taking the same ss. That¡¯s why she changed sses with me when something happened.¡± The PE teacher paused for a moment. ¡°She took leave yesterday and I never saw her.¡±

    ¡°What type of person do you think she is?¡±

    ¡°Very cautious, very careful. She is also very beautiful. Teacher Qin is really good.¡±

    Then the police called the security guard over and asked some questions. ¡°Did you see Teacher Qin yesterday?¡±

    The security guard looked puzzled. ¡°I didn¡¯t see her. Didn¡¯t she take a leave of absence? I saw here to work this morning.¡±

    ¡°The keys to the roof of the Hangzhi Building are in your custody, right? Have you ever lent them to someone else?¡±

    ¡°No¡­¡± The security guard suddenly thought of something and straightened. ¡°However, I identally dropped the entire bunch of keys when patrolling the schoolst month. They were returned to me after Teacher Qin picked them up.¡±

    The two policemen nced at each other. ¡°Are you sure it is Teacher Qin?¡±

    ¡°Of course! After she returned them to me, I thanked her with a meal!¡±

    The case-rted people walked out the door and the two police officers began to whisper to each other.

    The group leader said, ¡°This Teacher Qin is too problematic. I brought the monitoring data back yesterday and found that she happened to be in school at the time of the incident. This proves that she is lying. She also returned the keys to the security guard and the deceased was poisoned with organic phosphorus. She bought some organic phosphorusst week.¡±

    The policewoman added, ¡°The poison was found in Yu Hui¡¯s choctes. Yu Hui is also very suspicious.¡±

    ¡°Yu Hui should have no problem. It is likely that he left them somewhere. I will call him to review itter.¡±

    At this point, a policeman pushed open the door, opening the bottle of organic phosphorus and a signature book in his hand.

    The young police officer stated, ¡°Boss, I indeed found the poison in the chemistryboratory.¡±

    The group leader nced at him. ¡°The two of you go immediately to ss 3. Once the ss is over, call the three suspects Qin Weiwei, Yu Hui and XIe Xinghe!¡±

    The time for Yu Hanjiang¡¯s invisibility cloak was ending and he had to leave the office and quickly return to ss 3.

    Xiao Lou was eavesdropping at the back of the ssroom and Yu Hanjiang walked over to whisper in his ears, ¡°The police havee and the suspects will be called after ss. You should prepare in advance and follow them to hear the interrogation. I will cover you outside.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and returned to the Hangzhi Building with Group Leader Yu.

    The two of them hid in the bathroom and Yu Hanjiang repeated what he just heard to Xiao Lou. Once the suspects were brought over, Xiao Lou immediately put on the invisibility cloak and followed the suspects into the interrogation room.

    The first person to be questioned was Yu Hui.

    Yu Hui frowned at the police officer. ¡°Officer, didn¡¯t you ask me questions yesterday? What else did you want to ask?¡±

    ¡°Your box of choctes is filled with organophosphate poison. How do you exin this?¡±

    Yu Hui was horrified. ¡°What?!¡±

    He was stunned for a long time before finally reacting, ¡°Surely you don¡¯t think that I poisoned Xiaoya? Fuck! I treat her as a sister. I must¡¯ve lost these choctes!¡±

    ¡°Since you are brother and sister, why not reveal the rtionship instead of letting people misunderstand that you are in love?¡±

    Yu Hui grabbed his hair with irritation. ¡°I am the same age as her and I¡¯m only three days older. This girl hasn¡¯t called me brother since she was a child. We are in the same ss and are embarrassed to let the students know we are brother and sister. Thus, at school we called each other by our names but didn¡¯t expect to be misunderstood!¡±

    The policeman asked, ¡°She has lived in your home from an early age? How are your feelings?¡±

    ¡°Her parents divorced when she was seven years old. They work in the field and don¡¯t care about her. They ced her in my home to care for her and both of us grew up together. The feeling is like siblings.¡±

    He paused before continuing, ¡°Therefore, Xiaoya¡¯s suicide note definitely wasn¡¯t written by her. She wouldn¡¯t be sorry to her parents whenmitting suicide. The people she would be most sorry to are my parents!¡±

    The policeman then asked, ¡°Have your choctes been exposed to other people?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I bought the box of choctes at the supermarketst week and left them in my bag for a week.¡±

    ¡°Did you give any to Ying Xiaoya to eat?¡±

    Yu Hui thought carefully, ¡°I did give her a chocte when I was running yesterday.¡±

    ¡°Why was shete yesterday?¡±

    ¡°Her mother suddenly came back to see her and bought her a mobile phone as a present for her 18th birthday. She was very happy and went to stay with her mother at night, not returning to my house. It used to be that Xiaoya woke up very early whenever we go to school today. I find it very strange that she waste!¡±

    The police let Yu Hui leave. He had no motive for killing and didn¡¯t have any contact with the poison. Therefore, the choctes might¡¯vee from his hand but his suspicion was minimal.

    The more suspicious ones were Xie Xinghe, who signed as the one who checked the poison, and the chemistry teacher who purchased the poison directly.

 Chapter 29: Bloody Maple Leaf: Suspectâ€™s Testimony

    Xie Xinghe was soon taken into the interrogation room.

    The police asked directly, ¡°Last Wednesday afternoon, your ss was in Laboratory 3. Is that correct?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Was the ss talking about organic phosphate? The chemistry teacher pulled out a bottle to demonstrate?¡±

    Xie Xinghe looked calm. ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Finally, you checked it and put it back in the cupboard?¡±

    Xie Xinghe was silent for a moment. ¡°I am the ss monitor and it is my duty to inspect theboratory instruments and materials.¡±

    ¡°Half a bottle of organic phosphate is missing Did you take it?¡±

    Xie Xinghe frowned. ¡°No, the bottle was full when I checked.¡±

    The police looked at each other and found that Xie Xinghe was calm and didn¡¯t seem like he was lying. His testimony also didn¡¯t have any loopholes. They had to let him go back first and call in the chemistry teacher.

    Qin Weiwei, who was the most suspicious at present, walked into the interrogation room with a slightly dazed expression.

    She sat down and wondered, ¡°Police officers, what do you want to know?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you ask for leave yesterday? However, we went back and checked the monitoring for the entire day. The surveince video at the school gate shows that you came back to school at 11:20 and left at 11:40.¡±

    Xiao Lou heard this and immediately raised his spirit.

    Qin Weiwei exined, ¡°I took my father to the hospital and found that his medical insurance card was forgotten at the school. I took a taxi back to get it.¡±

    ¡°In other words, you were actually at school during the time when Ying Xiaoya jumped from the building tomit suicide.¡±

    Qin Weiwei¡¯s expression changed. ¡°Surely you aren¡¯t doubting me?¡±

    The policeman looked serious. ¡°Please answer the questions and cooperate with the investigation.¡±

    Qin Weiwei took a deep breath. ¡°I really was at school at that time and I also called the PE teacher to ask about the situation of the students. He said that he was organizing students to y basketball. I didn¡¯t know that Ying Xiaoya had jumped off the building. I just took the medical insurance card and left.¡±

    ¡°Last month, the security guard lost his keys. Did you pick them up and return them to him?¡±

    Qin Weiwei nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Then you could have a key to the roof?¡±

    Qin Weiwei¡¯s expression was unsightly. ¡°What do you mean by this? What would I do with a key to the roof? After I picked up the keys, I was in a rush because I had to go to ss. I left them in my office and then gave them back to the security guard after finishing ss. Maybe someone took the keys during this time!¡±

    ¡°Did you buy this bottle of organic phosphate?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I was telling the students about organic phosphate and inorganic phosphate. I bought a bottle to let them recognize this poison, so that they don¡¯t identallye into contact with it. I also told them some first aid knowledge regarding organic phosphate poisoning. Why are you suddenly asking about this?¡±

    The policeman replied, ¡°Organic phosphate was found in the blood of the deceased. She was poisoned before she fell from the building. The bottle in the chemistryboratory is missing half and Xie Xinghe said that it was full when he checked it. You are the only one who can go into theboratory to take it away.¡±

    Qin Weiwei¡¯s face was white. ¡°I didn¡¯t take it!¡±

    The policeman dered, ¡°Ms Qin Weiwei, you are suspected of killing Ying Xiaoya. This is an arrest warrant.¡±

    Qin Weiwei made a disbelieving expression. ¡°Police officer, you got it really! I really didn¡¯t take the poison or keep a copy of the keys! I went back to school to grab my father¡¯s health insurance card. My father can testify¡­¡±

    ¡°Pleasee back to the police station for further investigation.¡±

    Before she could finish, cold handcuffs were ced around her wrists.

    The police had the arrest warrant and took Qin Weiwei as a suspect.

    Xiao Lou rushed out behind the police officers.

    Yu Hanjiang pretended to pass by and entered the bathroom. Xiao Lou also wore the invisibility cloak and entered the bathroom.

    Xiao Lou whispered in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ears, ¡°Qin Weiwei is too suspicious. She picked up the security guard¡¯s keys and happened to be at school when the incident happened, calling the PE teacher. She also bought the organic phosphate poison.¡±

    The effect of Xiao Lou¡¯s invisibility cloak wasn¡¯t over yet so Yu Hanjiang could only hear him talking but couldn¡¯t see his location.

    Even so, Yu Hanjiang was calm as he talked to the air. ¡°Then the police officers brought her back to investigate?¡±

    Just then, Xiao Lou¡¯s cloak lost its effect and he appeared by Yu Hanjiang¡¯s side.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at him. ¡°What does Professor Xiao think?¡±

    Xiao Lou frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s right.¡±

    Just then, a prompt appeared at the same time on their floating boxes.

    [3 of Hearts secret room¡¯s reasoning result: Is the murderer the chemistry teacher Qin Weiwei? Yes/No]

    [Note: If the reasoning is wrong then it is a failure and you will be sent to the Nightmare Room to ept punishment.]

    The two people nced at each other and pressed ¡®No¡¯ in unison.

    They dered simultaneously, ¡°Qin Weiwei isn¡¯t the murderer.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang gazed at Xiao Lou appreciatively. ¡°How did you analyze it?¡±

    Xiao Lou sorted out his thoughts. ¡°First, Teacher Qin has the key to the chemistryboratory. If she wanted to take away the poison then she didn¡¯t need to pry open the lock. However, when we checked thebst night, the lock showed signs of being pried open. Second, she is the chemistry teacher. If she really wanted to poison Ying Xiaoya then she has many means. There is no need to take poison from the chemistryboratory and leave suchrge clues behind.¡±

    He paused before continuing, ¡°ording to the results of the forensic test, Ying Xiaoya was poisoned and the source of the poison is Yu Hui¡¯s choctes. However, the choctes can¡¯t contain a lot of poison and this dose of organic phosphate isn¡¯t fatal, unless Ying Xiaoya was hungry and ate the entire box of choctes. This can¡¯t be the case because Yu Hui still had a lot of choctes left in his bag, indicating that Ying Xiaoya only ate one or two pieces.¡±

    By carefully reviewing Yi Ru¡¯s confession yesterday, the boys were ying basketball in PE ss while the two people returned to the teaching building. Ying Xiaoya said she was very hungry and let Yi Ru go to buy potato chips from the snack counter. Perhaps Ying Xiaoya couldn¡¯t stand the hunger and ate a piece of chocte.

    During the time when they were running innguage ss, Yu Hui had given a chocte to Ying Xiaoya and she had probably ced it in her pocket.

    Xiao Lou had noticed this scene. Yu Hui gave her a spherical chocte that had a diameter of around 3cm and golden paper on the outside. This should be the one eaten by Ying Xiaoya.

    The poison content in one piece of chocte was very low and wouldn¡¯t cause direct death. It was just that acute organic phosphate poisoning would still show symptoms such as contraction and muscle tremors. As long as she was rescued in time, she would be fine.

    After eating the chocte, she went to the rooftop and fell to her death.

    Xiao Lou finally concluded, ¡°Her real cause of death is still the skull fracture and cerebral hemorrhage caused by falling from the building. The dose of chocte poisoning wasn¡¯t fatal.¡±

    After Xiao Lou¡¯s professional analysis of the poison dosage, Yu Hanjiang was more convinced of his inference.

    He whispered, ¡°Yu Hui¡¯s choctes were tampered with. On the surface, Qin Weiwei has plenty of opportunities tomit the crime and the suspicion sits directly on her¡­ but the police ignored a key fact.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stared at Xiao Lou and asked a question. ¡°If you wanted to kill a person, would you poison them and then push them down the building?¡±

    Xiao Lou jerked.

    Yes, poisoning and falling down were both means of killing people. There was no need to use it twice!

    This was simply ¡®ruining the effect by adding something superfluous.¡¯

    If the murderer wanted to poison Ying Xiaoya, first they shouldn¡¯t use ¡®choctes¡¯ which was a food with a very small dosage. It was also ced directly in Yu Hui¡¯s choctes. What if it was eaten by Yu Hui and poisoned him instead? A better means was to directly poison Ying Xiaoya¡¯s food since that was guaranteed to poison her.

    On the other hand, if the murderer wanted to push Ying Xiaoya down the building and prepare a suicide note to create the illusion that Ying Xiaoyamitted suicide, there was no need to poison her. On the contrary, this allowed the police to be suspicious after they detected the poison in Ying Xiaoya¡¯s body.

    Xiao Lou touched his chin and thought about it. ¡°Is it because two peoplemitted crimes? However, the two contradicted each other so they left loopholes?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s gaze was deep. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang carefully collected two days of clues and the suspect¡¯s testimonies before finallying to this conclusion.

    Ying Xiaoya¡¯s case could actually be broken down

    The first part was the poisoning case.

    The other party didn¡¯t necessarily want to poison Ying Xiaoya because the means of poisoning was through Yu Hui¡¯s choctes. The poisoner knew that Yu Hui often gave choctes to Ying Xiaoya so there was a 50% probability of Yu Hui being poisoned and a 50% probability of Ying Xiaoya being poisoned., The poisoner¡¯s purpose still wasn¡¯t confirmed.

    The thing that could be confirmed was that the poisoner didn¡¯t want to kill Ying Xiaoya directly.

    No one would eat dozens of choctes in one go and the half a bottle of organic phosphate was scattered among dozens of choctes. The toxin content wasn¡¯t fatal but it was enough to attract people¡¯s attention. Perhaps the poisoner was trying to give a reminder through this method.

    Excluding Yu Hui, who loved chocte and had no motive to poison his sister, Yi Ru and Xie Xinghe were suspicious. The door lock of theboratory was pried open and it was known that Yu Hui often gave choctes to Ying Xiaoya.

    The second part was the fall incident.

    Yu Hanjiang had investigated the roof of the building yesterday and the footprints were disorderly. It was very likely that there was a second person on the scene and this person pushed Ying Xiaoya off the roof, directly leading to Ying Xiaoya¡¯s death. Moreover, this person was very clever in copying the handwriting and giving Ying Xiaoya a fake ¡®suicide note¡¯, creating the illusion that Ying Xiaoyamitted suicide.

    This person was the one who really wanted Ying Xiaoya to die!

    Unfortunately, he/she didn¡¯t know that Ying Xiaoya was poisoned before the fall.

    The police brought back the body and found that Ying Xiaoya was poisoned. In this way, the police quickly ruled out the possibility of Ying Xiaoyamitting suicide The murderer forging Ying Xiaoya¡¯s suicide note became the biggest failure.

    The forensic doctor detected the source of the poison and the police found the choctes, organic phosphate and theboratory. Everything pointed to the chemistry teacher, Qin Weiwei.

    Teacher Qin might¡¯ve been taken away for investigation but the police would soon conclude that she wasn¡¯t the murderer.

    It was because it didn¡¯t make sense. No one would be stupid enough to use a small amount of poison and then push a person off the roof, faking a suicide note.

    The case would soon be split.

    One person dosed the choctes with poison while the other person pushed Ying Xiaoya off the roof. The two people didn¡¯t know each other¡¯s actions, causing a huge loophole.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°It rained heavilyst night and the school is so messy. Today, there will definitely be arge-scale cleaning of the school and the murderer might destroy the evidence. We must catch the murderer.¡±

    Xiao Lou was also nervous. ¡°Group Leader Yu, where do you want to search?¡±

    ¡°The biggest dumpster in the school.¡±

    Maple Forest High School¡¯s teaching building and office. building had small trash cans. The garbage that the students cleaned every day was concentrated on these small trash cans. Then the cleaners would take the garbage from the dumpster behind the yground.

    This garbage bin should be cleaned every two to three days and a professional garbage disposal truck woulde to take away the contents.

    The campus was messy due to the violent stormst night. In the morning, the cleaner cleared the yground before cing all the garbage, broken branches, broken flowerpots and other trash into the bin. The garbage bin was full and a garbage truck had to be called over to clean it up.

    By the time Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou came to the garbage bin, the cleaners were just collecting the trash.

    Xiao Lou quickly stepped forward and spoke towards a cleaner. ¡°Auntie, I¡¯m sorry. I am a first grade teacher and identally dropped a very important document into the trash can yesterday. Can I look for it here?¡±

    ¡°Oh, what document? It is too dirty here. Teacher, don¡¯t touch it. We¡¯ll help you find it.¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke with a nervous expression, ¡°It is my teacher¡¯s qualification certificate. I was getting rid of waste paper yesterday and didn¡¯t see clearly. I ended up throwing it away. Please help me find it. I would be extremely grateful.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    Professor Xiao¡¯s acting was really good.

    This reason meant they could stand next to the garbage bin and observe.

    The cleaner auntie turned the garbage out and helped them look for the certificate. ¡°I will check the garbage afterwards. This is such an important document. What will you do if you can¡¯t find it?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°I was too negligent.¡±

    Just then, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Wait.¡±

    The cleaner wondered, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang walked over and picked up from a pile of waste paper and messy leaves¡­ a pair of shoes.

    It was a pair ofdies¡¯ canvas shoes that were size 37, which was consistent with Ying Xiaoya¡¯s shoes.

    The cleaner saw this and couldn¡¯t help wondering, ¡°Who lost these shoes? They look quite new!¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other.

    Important evidence was found.

    The reason why Ying Xiaoya¡¯s footprints on the roof were so messy was because the footprints belonged to two people. The other person was wearing the same shoes as her. Ying Xiaoya¡¯s scarf fragment was left on the roof and it was certain there was a conflict before she was pushed down.

    The murderer threw the inappropriate shoes into the trash because they knew the school bins would be cleaned up today.

    As long as the garbage truck took away the garbage, it was fine.

    Unfortunately for the murderer, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou found these shoes.

    It proved that their guess was correct.

    For Ying Xiaoya¡¯s case, there were two murderers acting at the same time!

 Chapter 30: Bloody Maple Leaf: The Secret of the Shoes

    The cleaner aunt soon turned over the entire garbage bin and faced Xiao Lou. ¡°Teacher, your ID isn¡¯t here?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled at her. ¡°I troubled you. I should go back to look carefully. Perhaps I didn¡¯t throw it away.¡±

    The auntie said, ¡°Then you look for it again. I will also pay attention. If I find it in the trash cans, I will send it to the school¡¯s lost and found.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Thank you, auntie.¡±

    He blinked at Yu Hanjiang and they turned away together with Yu Hanjiang still holding the shoes.

    The auntie stared at their backs with confusion, probably wondering, ¡®Why did the teacher take the shoes from the trash?¡¯

    This was ss time and there was no one on the yground.

    The two people headed to a corner of the yground, Yu Hanjiang crouching down to carefully check the evidence.

    They were verymon white canvas shoes and was the same style as those worn by Ying Xiaoya. The soles had crossed diagonal lines and stepping on the ground created special footprints. The edges of the shoes also had visible trademarks.

    Xiao Lou stared at the shoes thoughtfully. ¡°I saw many students wearing shoes of this brand at school. It should be a popr brand. These shoes are very new but they were thrown away. The murderer obviously wants to destroy the evidence. Group Leader Yu, who do you think the owner of these shoes might be?¡¯

    Yu Hanjiang carefully checked the inside and outside of the shoes before saying, ¡°If the murder happens to be size 37 then it wouldn¡¯t be surprising for them to buy such a popr pair of canvas shoes. They could keep the shoes and there would be no need to throw them in the trash. The murderer must dispose of the shoes for only one reason. Their feet aren¡¯t the same size as Ying Xiaoya¡¯s feet and it isn¡¯t appropriate to wear these shoes. Once discovered, it is easy to raise suspicion.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°In other words, the murderer bought these pair of shoes and temporarily wore them in order to fake footprints on the roof. This would make people mistakenly think that the footprints on the roof belonged to Ying Xiaoya and that shemitted suicide by jumping off the building. The murderer has long paid attention to Ying Xiaoya¡¯s shoes and nned to kill her on the rooftop. This seems to be a long-term n.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s why they had to dispose of the evidence.¡± Yu Hanjiang frowned and observed the shoes before saying, ¡°I think that a woman is more likely tomit this crime.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at him doubtfully. ¡°Why not male?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang analyzed it in detail. ¡°This is a typical crimemitted by an acquaintance. Ying Xiaoya had to go to the Hangzhi Building from ss 3 then climb to the seventh floor while avoiding the surveince cameras. This distance isn¡¯t short and wouldn¡¯t be silent if she was forcibly taken away. Once she screams or resists, someone would hear her.¡±

    Xiao Lou followed this line of thought. However, Ying Xiaoya was very quiet from beginning to end and the process of her fall is unknown. Obviously, she voluntarily followed the murderer to the roof.

    Yu Hanjiang looked back at Xiao Lou. ¡°If the murderer is a man then wearing size 37 female shoes will definitely raise Ying Xiaoya¡¯s wariness and suspicion. If the other person leans over to change shoes then Ying Xiaoya would notice something was wrong and escape or call for help. Therefore, the murderer should directly wear these shoes when finding Ying Xiaoya.¡±

    Men¡¯s feet were usually more than size 40 and wearing size 37 canvas shoes simply wasn¡¯t possible. If a man wore them as slippers then it would be very strange. It was unknown how many people he would encounter on the way. Besides, if a man wore size 37 canvas shoes to find Ying Xiaoya then she would certainly be aware that something was wrong and wouldn¡¯t stupidly go to the rooftop with the other person.

    Unless the murderer was a woman.

    The other person¡¯s feet being size 35 or 36 would easily allow them to wear size 37 shoes. She just had to insert paper towels inside and then fasten the shoces and the shoes wouldn¡¯t easily fall off. Or a person with size 38 feet could squeeze and barely put on size 37 shoes. Their feet would be very ufortable but it could be ignored in the short-term.

    If the feet was slightly smaller or slightly bigger then it would be hard to see that these shoes weren¡¯t suitable. In addition, this type of shoes are verymon. Many people in school were wearing them, including female teachers and female students. Ying Xiaoya shouldn¡¯t think too much.

    Xiao Lou bowed his head and thought about it. ¡°A femalemitting the crime¡­Yi Ru, I remember that her height is shorter than Ying Xiaoya and her feet should be the same size. If she wore the same shoes as Ying Xiaoya then it isn¡¯t easy to attract attention.¡±

    He paused before analyzing, ¡°In addition, Yi Ru¡¯s confession is very one-sided. At that time, she and Ying Xiaoya returned to the ssroom together before Ying Xiaoya died. There is no evidence that she went to the snack counter. The snack counter indeed saw her but¡­ what if they first went to the roof, she pushed Ying Xiaoya off the roof and then bought the potato chips before pretending to witness the fall?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang heard up to here and looked at the rooftop in the distance and then the location of the snack counter. He quickly came to a conclusion and shook his head. ¡°It isn¡¯t Yi Ru. There isn¡¯t enough time.¡±

    After all, Xiao Lou was only making a theoretical analysis and Yu Hanjiang was more experienced in actual crimes.

    He followed Group Leader Yu¡¯s eyes. The Hangzhi Building had seven floors and Ying Xiaoya had fallen from the top of the building. The snack counter was far from the Hangzhi Building. If Yi Ru first pushed Ying Xiaoya down the stairs, went to the snack counter to buy potato chips and then returned downstairs to pretend to see Ying Xiaoya falling, this time period was really short.

    Xiao Lou remembered yesterday¡¯s crime scene. Yi Ru had replied intermittently to the police¡¯s questions but she wasn¡¯t panting like it was after strenuous exercise. Her breathing was rtively stable.

    The school didn¡¯t have an elevator. It would be hard for Yi Ru to run up to the seventh floor, push Ying Xiaoya down, run down seven floors to pretend to buy potato chips and then pretend to pass by the Hangzhi Building. This was only possible if she had the speed of an Olympic long distance champion and could run a few kilometres without gasping.

    Xiao Lou overturned his own analysis. ¡°It seems that Yi Ru can be ruled out. The time formitting the crime really isn¡¯t enough. She bought potato chips and the boss of the snack counter can prove her alibi.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang reminded him, ¡°We should focus on the female teachers.¡±

    It would attract too much attention carrying a pair of shoes into the teaching building. Yu Hanjiang thought about it and went to the snack counter to ask for a paper bag. He put the shoes inside as well as the homework book where the school map was previously drawn, making it look like a homework bag.

    The two people returned to the teaching building.

    ss 3¡¯s chemistry teacher was taken away by the police and the students of ss 3 was panicked. Everyone was restless and wasn¡¯t paying attention to ss. However, the second quarter happened to be thenguage ss and the ss teacher personally came to maintain order, arranging an essay question. The students didn¡¯t dare to talk indiscriminately and the ssroom was surprisingly quiet.

    Yu Hui, Xie Xinghe and Yi Ru had no obvious abnormalities.

    Xie Xinghe lowered his head and looked serious as he moved his pen. It seemed like his mind was open as he wrote an entire page of text. Yu Hui was scratching his head madly and didn¡¯t seem to know what to write. Yi Ru was bitterly biting at her pen and obviously couldn¡¯t write.

    The teacher¡¯s essay title was ¡®Pursuit¡¯ and this was a real headache.

    After observing the ss for a while and discovering no movements, Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°There should be no new clues in the ssroom. It is better to check if the other teachers had any sses on at the time of the incident.¡±

    A high school teacher didn¡¯t only teach one ss. Apart from the ss teachers, most teachers would have at least two sses or the workload wasn¡¯t enough and they would have points deducted in the final evaluation. Yesterday, Ying Xiaoya¡¯s ident happened in the fourth quarter. If a teacher had another ss at the time then they could be eliminated as a suspect.

    The ss schedule posted on the ssroom doors only had the subjects such asnguage and chemistry and didn¡¯t have the teacher¡¯s name. The teacher¡¯s own ss schedule only had their own sses and the time of the ss.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought carefully. ¡°English, physics, chemistry and biology, these four subjects have female teachers and their height is between 1.6 to 1.7 metres. They can wear size 37 shoes. Apart from the chemistry teacher, we have to go to the office to see if they had any sses during the fourth quarter yesterday.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added. ¡°Thenguage office also has a female teacher that we should pay attention to.¡±

    Xiao Lou reacted quickly. ¡°You mean the female teacher who interrupted when the ss teacher was talking to Ying Xiaoya? She is also a woman and perhaps could¡¯vemitted the crime?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked serious as he whispered, ¡°This teacher came too coincidentally. At that time, Ying Xiaoya was about to tell someone the reason for the decline in her performance. This reason was very important and might¡¯ve led to her death. Unfortunately, an outside came in and interrupted as she was going to say it.¡±

    Xiao Lou remembered the scene at the time and immediately agreed. ¡°Yes, the timing of hering in was really coincidentally.¡±

    Ying Xiaoya had said, ¡°My performance dropped during this time because¡­¡± only for the female teacher to open the door and Ying Xiaoya immediately closed her mouth.

    This teacher might have something to do with Ying Xiaoya¡¯s fall and deliberately came in to interrupt.

    It was possible that this was just a character arranged to push the plot of the secret room. If she didn¡¯te in at the time, Ying Xiaoya would¡¯ve told the truth about everything that was happening.

    Even so, it wasn¡¯t wrong to check it out.

    They couldn¡¯t let go of any suspects.

 Chapter 31: Bloody Maple Leaf: Major Clues

    In the morning, there were many people in the teacher¡¯s office and this made it inconvenient for them to investigate. The two people waited patiently for an opportunity.

    It was soon noon.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang headed to the snack counter again.

    Yesterday, they ate instant noodles for two consecutive meals and Xiao Lou now had no appetite when he saw the instant noodles. Meanwhile, Yu Hanjiang naturally took a bowl of instant noodles.¡±

    The boss of the snack counter now knew them and asked curiously, ¡°Why are the two of you always eating instant noodles?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled bitterly. ¡°We are both single and live too far away from home. We don¡¯t want to go out to eat and will take care of our hunger with instant noodles.¡±

    The boss spoke kindly, ¡°You can try instant hot pot. Isn¡¯t it better than eating instant noodles every day?¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°There is something like that?¡±

    The boss took out a bowl and introduced it with a smile. ¡°Azy hot pot. The bottom is made of a chemical material that can be heated. After pouring in the water, it will automatically boil and cook the upperyer of hot pot powder, vegetables and beef.¡±

    Xiao Lou rarely ate this type of fast food and didn¡¯t know about the existence of zy hot pot.¡¯ Now that he heard the owner say this, he suddenly showed interest. ¡°How much?¡±

    ¡°Two 1,000 gold coins.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang turned to Xiao Lou with eyes filled with anticipation.

    Xiao Lou touched the 14 gold coins in his pocket and gritted his teeth. ¡°Then I¡¯ll buy two.¡±

    He really didn¡¯t want to eat a third meal of instant noodles.

    He hadn¡¯t expected it to be so expensive. They had 17 gold coins and ording to the rate of spending two or three a day, they could only stay in this secret room for five days.

    Now it was the second day and the secret of maple forest hadn¡¯t been solved. The owner of the shoes hadn¡¯t been found and they had to hurry. Otherwise, the case would drag on and they would have to solve it in a stage of hunger.

    Not to mention, they had nowhere to bathe and could only sleep in the hard corridors¡­

    The more he thought about it, the sadder he became. Still, it was better than the challenger who was thrown into the Nightmare Room.

    Xiao Lou bought a hot pot and walked out of the snack counter. He smiled at Yu Hanjiang and said, ¡°I haven¡¯t eaten this type of self-cooking hot pot before. Let¡¯s go back to the office building and pick up some hot water. It will also give us an excuse to go wandering around the office.¡±

    Based on the description, the loweryer was made of chemical materials and it was best to add cold water. Tap water that hadn¡¯t been purified could also be used. However, the upperyer was for cooking food. If the wanted to eat it then they had to add boiled hot water or pure water.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang came to the third floor with the hot pot and separated.

    At noon, the offices had the least people. Some officers were empty and there were no locks on the door.

    Yu Hanjiang went to thenguage office first and found the ss schedule of the female teacher who interrupted on that day. The female teacher surnamed Lin had sses with ss 4 and 5 of the third grade. She happened to have no ss on during the fourth quarter yesterday.

    When he went to the biology office, there happened to be a female teacher collecting homework. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes quickly swept across the desktops in the office and found the desk of ss 3¡¯s teacher.

    The teacher who stayed in the office looked at him with a puzzled expression. ¡°You are?¡±

    ¡°I am a high school teacher. Can I borrow some hot water? I am cooking hot pot.¡±

    The other person smiled. ¡°Yes, the water dispenser is over there. Grab it yourself.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said thank you, poured the water into the hot pot and turned to leave.

    Xiao Lou was in charge of the physics and English office. He also used the reason of borrowing hot water. After cooking the hot pot, he chatted with the teacher in the office before turning around.

    The two people took the cooked hot pot and found a ce to sit down and exchange information while the hot pot was cooking.

    Xiao Lou opened his mouth. ¡°The physics teacher and English teacher didn¡¯t have ss during the fourth quarter yesterday.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°The two I checked had no ss all morning.¡±

    ¡°In other words, during the fourth quarter yesterday when the incident happened, all the female teachers were idle and had sufficient time tomit the crime.¡±

    The first lesson was English and the teacher scolded Ying Xiaoya and stationed her in the back. The physics teacher also scolded Ying Xiaoya, stating that she tested poorly.

    The biology teacher didn¡¯t have a ss yesterday morning and didn¡¯t show up directly. There should be no conflict with Ying Xiaoya. For thenguage teacher of a different ss, she entered thenguage office and interrupted the conversation between the ss teacher and Ying Xiaoya. This was suspicious.

    These four people had time tomit crimes, could wear size 37 shoes and were young teachers less than 30 years old. Moreover, their teaching ability must be excellent or the school wouldn¡¯t easily let them take the third grade sses.

    Xiao Lou frowned and asked, ¡°Do these four people have a rtionship with the fall five years ago?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°If someone is linked to the fall five years ago, it is likely she is the murderer.¡±

    ¡°I was checking the sses and found that ss 3¡¯s physics teacher has the surname Si. Her name is Si Qi. Perhaps there is a blood rtionship with Si Han who fell five years ago?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°The surname isn¡¯tmon but we can¡¯t judge based on the name alone.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°Yes, we have to find other evidence.¡±

    Just then, steam emerged from the hot pot and it was estimated that the cooking time was almost finished. Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Eat first.¡±

    The two people opened the lids and took out disposable chopsticks to eat the simple hot pot.

    The spicy hot pot stimted the taste buds and Xiao Lou felt that his stomach was finally alive. He bowed his head and ate the noddles seriously. Yu Hanjiang saw this and couldn¡¯t help his eyes became gentler. He whispered, ¡°Do you hate instant noodles?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded without hesitation. ¡°When I was in university, I often took the train home and the smell of braised beef noodles in the carriage was really prevalent. I didn¡¯t want to eat it after that.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang remembered the two braised beef noodles yesterday¡­ he really wronged Professor Xiao.

    He sighed and said, ¡°Wait for the future. We¡¯ll make more money and can have a good meal. I still owe you a meal.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Yes, then I¡¯ll eat a seafood dinner.¡±

    In this strange world, they didn¡¯t know when they would be eliminated. Eating with Group Leader Yu was a type of agreement. If they could live and make more money, perhaps they would be able to eat a big meal in the next secret room?

    Still, he wouldn¡¯t expect too much. It was good that he could buy self-cooking hot pot in the Hearts secret room.

    If they were thrown into the wild for the Spades secret room and weren¡¯t given food then they might be much more miserable!

    After a full meal, the two people got up and returned to the school building.

    There were no new clues in the afternoon. The police took Teacher Qin away and obviously didn¡¯t intend to return to the school. They would conduct a more detailed interrogation of Teacher Qin at the police station. From this point of view, new clues might have to wait until tomorrow.

    After all, this was a C-grade secret room. If the clues were too dense then the challengers¡¯ brains would explode.

    On the first day, Ying Xiaoya fell from the building and the police came to investigate. Challengers needed to make a preliminary reasoning based on the police¡¯s interrogations.

    The next day, the police came to take away the chemistry teacher and told the challengers that Ying Xiaoya was poisoned and the source of the poison was Yu Hui. This amount of information wasrge and more time needed to be left for the challengers to analyze the investigation.

    Most challengers, after knowing that Ying Xiaoya was poisoned on the second day, would go to the chemistryboratory to verify that the door lock was broken into.

    Due to his profession, Xiao Lou saw that Ying Xiaoya was poisoned on the first day. The two men sneaked into the Shuxiang Building to investigate on the first night and learnt the secrets of theboratory in advance. They directly excluded the chemistry teacher from suspicion. Moreover, the two of them reasoned that the ¡®curse¡¯ was rted to the fall from the building five years ago. They searched the school archives and found that the deceased student five years ago was Si Han.

    The two men took full advantage of their jobs and their investigation had always been ahead of the police.

    Once the police arrived on the second day, Yu Hanjiang had found a key piece of evidence¡ªthe shoes.

    Through analyzing the shoes, they identified four female suspects.

    The English, biology and physics teacher of ss 3 and thenguage teacher of the next ss who happened to enter the office to interrupt the conversation.

    All four people had time tomit the crime and could wear the size 37 shoes. They taught the ss or was the teacher for the ss next door. They could find a foolproof excuse to bring Ying Xiaoya to the roof and push Ying Xiaoya off.

    They all had an opportunity to obtain Ying Xiaoya¡¯s homework and forge her handwriting.

    Locking onto the suspects was a great help in the progress of the case. The thing left was to find the connection between these four women and the deceased five years ago. There was also their connection with Xie Xinghe¡¯s book, Count of Monte Carlo.

    Yu Hanjiang proposed, ¡°Tonight, we will go to the office to check their drawers. We will definitely find something.¡±

    In the 2 of Hearts secret room, the important clue was in the study¡¯s safe. For the 3 of Hearts secret room, the suspects¡¯ drawers shouldn¡¯t contain nothing.

    Xiao Lou looked nervously at Group Leader Yu. ¡°Do you want to pry open the locks?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°I will unlock them with a wire and leave no traces.¡±

    Thinking of this morning when Yu Hanjiang directly opened the lock of the Shuxiang Building, Xiao Lou let go of his worries. ¡°Okay.¡±

    However, the teachers¡¯ offices were in the Hangzhi Building. This was the location of the security room and the school¡¯s monitoring centre. Wanting to sneak into the office under the eyes of the security guards wasn¡¯t easy.

    At least the security guards would go patrol after dark.

    Something was wrong in the Shuxiang Buildingst night and the security guard would definitely check again tonight.

    Yu Hanjiang thought of a wonderful method. Once it was dark, he quickly headed to the Shuxiang Building, dropped a shlight in a corner of the fifth floor and turned it on.

    The security guards soon found there was a light on in the Shuxiang Building and the two guards on duty immediately ran over to check. The tiger was lured away from the mountain.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang had plenty of time to sneak into the Hangzhi Building.

    The two people ran to the third floor at a very fast speed, first using the wire to open the door of thenguage office.

    The teacher who happened to interrupt Ying Xiaoya¡¯s conversation with the ss teacher was surnamed Lin and she had a photo in her desk drawer. The photo read ¡®Second Grade (ss 7). The teacher and ssmates had taken a group photo.

    Yu Hanjiang saw Ying Xiaoya and Xie Xinghe in the photo.

    Xiao Lou also discovered it and he pointed at the two people in the photo. ¡°It seems that previously, Ying Xiaoya and Xie Xinghe were ssmates. This teacher happened to be theirnguage teacher. After the second grade, they changed to the current ss teacher to learnnguage?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°This Teacher Lin¡¯s suspicion is very big. She taught Ying Xiaoyanguage and must have texts written by Ying Xiaoya. It is very simple to copy and forge a suicide note. Then when she went into the office and interrupted, Ying Xiaoya¡¯s face was very ugly, like she had seen a ghost.¡±

    Thinking carefully, this was really true. Ying Xiaoya was about to say the reason for her decline in performance but thenguage teacher came in. Ying Xiaoya¡¯s face was white and she didn¡¯t immediately speak. The ss teacher didn¡¯t ask again and let her go back first.¡±

    At that time, the ss teacher had said, ¡°This girl is in love and her performance declined.¡± The female teacher had followed with a few words agreeing and obviously didn¡¯t know Ying Xiaoya¡¯s family situation. The loophole of apologizing to her parents in the forged suicide note made sense.

    Was it really just a coincidence that she pushed open the door of the office and interrupted the ss teacher¡¯s question?

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang quickly searched Teacher Lin¡¯s desk and actually found the texts of Ying Xiaoya and Xie Xinghe in the bottom drawer.

    This discovery shocked Xiao Lou. ¡°Ying Xiaoya and Xie Xinghe are students she taught two years ago. Why would she still keep the texts of these people?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°The direction the evidence is pointing in is rather obvious. Let¡¯s keep looking.¡±

    Nothing else was found except for the photograph and texts.

    The two men searched the desk of the ss teacher beside this one.

    The ss teacher¡¯s drawer was full of transcripts, home visit materials, lesson materials andnguage workbooks for each exam. There was no doubt that the ss teacher was a really responsible teacher.

    The two people left thenguage office and continued to search the biology teacher.

    There was no obvious abnormality in the biology teacher¡¯s desk, only a drawer of nt specimens.

    The physics teacher¡¯s name was Si Qi and this was the samest name as Si Han who fell from the building five years ago. Xiao Lou wanted to focus on her desk but was disappointed to find only various question sets, physical papers and many textbooks. There was nothing else.

    The two men finally found the English office.

    The English teacher¡¯s desk had some cute sulents, a thick English dictionary and some folders. One drawer had an English test paper and the other drawer contained review materials.

    The bottom drawer was locked and Yu Hanjiang opened it with a wire. They found that the locked drawer only contained a very thick book. This book looked a bit old and the pages were yellow. It should¡¯ve been turned over many times and the cover of the book stated:

    Le Comte de Monte-Cristo.

    Author: Alexandre Dumas.

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t understand and turned to look at Xiao Lou, only to find that Xiao Lou was very pale.

    He didn¡¯t wait for Yu Hanjiang to ask as Xiao Lou spoke with trembling lips, ¡°The Count of Monte Cristo, it is the French original book!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression changed sharply. ¡°The French book? Right, she is an English teacher and foreignnguage school students are required to learn a secondnguage. her secondnguage might be French so she can directly read the original book?¡±

    The Count of Monte Cristo told a story of French in the 19th century and was written by the famous French writer, Alexandre Dumas.

    As Group Leader Yu spected, people who learned English were generally required to learn a secondnguage. French was one of the most popr choices and many English majors chose French.

    As a world-famous book, the Count of Monte Cristo had been tranted into variousnguages. The Chinese version was easy to buy and there were several different versions from the publishing house for readers to choose from.

    However, the original French book wasn¡¯t so easy to buy. People who usually liked to read famous books would read the tranted version. Who would pay a big price to buy the original book?

    It was only if you particrly liked this book that you will buy the original book to collect.

    Xiao Lou looked at the old book that had been obviously read and felt the hairs on his scalp rising.

    This teacher¡¯s drawer contained the book Count of Monte Cristo and it was the French original, indicating that she loved this story.

    The theme of this book was revenge¡­ was she the avenger?

    During the first ss, the English teacher had yelled at Ying Xiaoya in front of the ss and asked Ying Xiaoya to stand at the back. Ying Xiaoya had been shaking the entire time and endured her tears. She started to cry after ss and Yi Ru gave her tissues.

    There was the exnation that Ying Xiaoya tested badly and cried because she felt aggrieved.

    Another exnation was¡­ she was afraid of the English teacher and cried after the English teacher scolded her.

    Perhaps it wasn¡¯t a coincidence that the English teacher asked her and Xie Xinghe to trante, ¡°My family is cursed.¡±

    She was the first to say the word ¡®curse.¡¯

    The words that her desk mate said tofort Ying Xiaoya shed through Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heads at the same time. ¡°Xiaoya, it is nothing. This time you didn¡¯t test well but next month¡¯s result will be better. Zhang Qing, this woman is fierce but she isn¡¯t only like this to you. Many people have been scolded by her. Don¡¯t mind it.¡±

    Xiao Lou opened his mouth. ¡°Zhang Qing? We seemed to have overlooked a key thing¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded solemnly. ¡°Yes, the name of the English teacher was actually revealed the earliest of all the teachers.¡±

    The secret room had long told them that the English teacher wasn¡¯t a passerby.

    Her name was Zhang Qing.

 Chapter 32: Bloody Maple Leaf: Teacherâ€™s Profile

    Xiao Lou¡¯s impression of Zhang Qing was very deep. She was the first teacher to appear in the secret room¡¯s plot.

    He remembered that she was wearing a suit skirt with high heels and was dressed as a professional woman. If she wanted to change shoes to push Ying Xiaoya off the roof, a suit skirt with canvas shoes would be unseemly unless she changed first.

    The school¡¯s office building had a locker room for male and female teachers. In theory, Zhang Qing had finished the morning ss and was idle all morning. She had plenty of time to change clothes and prepare for the crime.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and whispered, ¡°The focus of our investigation should now be on the rtionship between Zhang Qing and Xie Xinghe. Why do both of them have the book Count of Monte Cristo? What does this book represent? The second thing is the rtionship between her and Si Han. Was the case of Si Han falling down five years ago rted to her?¡±

    Up to here, the investigation hadpletely eliminated the students Yiru and Yu Hui.

    There were four key figures remaining.

    The ss monitor Xie Xinghe. The book in his bag was still unexined and he might¡¯ve taken the poison from theboratory. He might¡¯ve been ying basketball when Ying Xiaoya fell but this didn¡¯t rule him out as the poisoner.

    The English teacher, Zhang Qing. The original book had been read many times, showing that she really liked this story of revenge. Moreover, the drawer that contained the book was locked, indicating she didn¡¯t want others to know she had this book.

    There was Lin Yueran, thenguage teacher of the ss next door. She once taughtnguage to Ying Xiaoya in the first year of high school and still had the texts of the two students in her drawer. It was impossible to determine if the suicide note was written by her but the possibility was high.

    The physics teacher Si Qi and the deceased five years ago had the same surname. The rtionship between the two of them needed to be verified.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Professor Xiao, where can I find the information on all the teachers in school?¡±

    Maple Forest High School had more than 20 sses in each grade and there were more than 300 teachers. The school would definitely have a ce to store the teachers¡¯ information. They had to find out the family background of these three teachers as soon as possible.

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°The Educational Administration Office. It specializes in managing the teaching tasks and teaching ns. It should have the information of all the teachers. When I was in university, I had to submit my work n to this office every semester and my home address, contact information and other information changes were also reported here.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and eyed the door, speaking decisively. ¡°Go and check.¡±

    The two men headed to the fifth floor.

    This floor contained the functional organizations of the school such as the Youth League Committee, the trade union, thework centre, the supervision department, etc. The Educational Administration Office was at the end of the corridor and Yu Hanjiang quickly walked over and unlocked it with a wire.

    They entered the office and saw a row of folders in a filing cab.

    The information on teachers of the third grade¡­

    Yu Hanjiang pulled out a folder. There were more than 100 teachers in the third grade and a thick stack of information. He gave Xiao Lou half and quickly looked through them.

    They soon found the information on the three key targets.

    The physics teacher Si Qi was 33 years old. Her parents were university professors and she was an only child. Her primary school and middle school were in this study. Then she went to a teaching university and returned here to work as a teacher after getting her master¡¯s degree. She was the first teacher toe when Maple Forest High School was founded five years ago.

    Thenguage teacher Lin Yueran was 31 years old. Her parents werepany employees and her family members included a younger brother who was currently studying at university. She was a local but her degree was an undergraduate degree. She was a free teacher and after graduation, she was assigned to her hometown and came directly to Maple Forest High School. She also came here five years ago when the school was founded.

    The English teacher Zhang Qing was 29 years old.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes slightly narrowed as he pointed to the data sheet. ¡°Look at Zhang Qing¡¯s family members.¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately came over and saw that on Teacher Zhang Qing¡¯s information sheet, the family members column had ¡®idental death¡¯ written beside her mother and father. Her resume was very glorious. She passed primary school, middle school and high school in a brilliant manner and her university entrance examination scores were excellent. She was admitted to a famous foreign university and received a full schrship.

    She studied for a master¡¯s degree abroad and returned to China after graduation. Then she obtained a teacher¡¯s qualification certificate and changed to be a teacher.

    She only came to this school three years ago.

    Yu Hanjiang swept over this resume from beginning to end and suddenly said, ¡°We fell into a mistake with our thinking.¡± He ced the resumes of the three teachers next to each other. ¡°The person who has a rtionship with the dead Si Han didn¡¯t necessarily enter the school five years ago. Revenge can be postponed.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°Yes, the protagonist of the Count of Monte Carlo returned many yearster with a disguised identity. He returned to the people who framed him and cleared the old ounts one by one.¡±

    It was never toote to get revenge.

    As long as the seeds of hatred were buried in the bottom of the heart, even if they couldn¡¯t be seen, one day they would grow into an amazing tree.

    Yu Hanjiang opened his mouth. ¡°Si Qi has the same surname as Si Han but based on her resume, her growth environment was very good. Her life was smooth from small torge. Her parents are also professors and such people generally don¡¯t have serious psychological distortions. Her suspicion is the smallest.¡±

    In order to judge whether a person could kill or not, they had to consider the family background, growth environment and education from childhood. It was hard for a child who grew up in a warm family environment to suddenly be a killer.

    Si Qi¡¯s parents were both university professors and she was an only child. The chances of her suddenly killing someone were extremely low.

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°This teacher just has the same surname and there is no other evidence pointing to her. It should be something the secret room deliberately set as interference.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Lin and Zhang are both very suspicious. In particr, Zhang Qing studied abroad and her major wasn¡¯t teaching. She could find many better jobs after returning home. Why would a highly educated person like her suddenly get a teacher¡¯s qualification certificate and run to a high school to teach English?¡±

    Xiao Lou touched his chin. ¡°Combined with the book in her drawer, I think she is most likely to be the avenger.¡±

    She received advanced education abroad, got a master¡¯s degree in economics from a famous university and returned to China with a glorious image. There were many job opportunities but she applied for a teaching certificate and applied to a high school as an English teacher. Why?

    The death of her family members was even more puzzling. What happened to her parents?

    The two people were thinking when there was a sh of light downstairs. The patrolling security guards had returned. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou immediately turned off their shlight, restored the drawers and office door locks before leaving the office in the opposite direction.

    The campus¡¯ streetlights were on and in order to avoid being discovered by the security guards, they deliberately walked in dark areas.

    They whispered as they walked.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°The clues are alling together. If Zhang Qing is rted to Si Han who fell from the building five years ago then it can all be exined. Her dearest rtive or friend fell from the building and died. Since she was studying abroad, she wasn¡¯t clear about why Si Han fell. Thus, after graduation, she returned to the school as a teacher and investigated the murderers rted to Si Han¡¯s story in order to get revenge.¡±

    Xiao Lou became keenly aware of a key fact. ¡°Then the murderer in Si Han¡¯s case¡­ was probably already killed by Zhang Qing?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stopped and thoughtfully looked at the maple forest in the distance. ¡°Do you still remember the rumours among the students? The curse was said to start five years ago with Si Han¡¯s fall. It is obvious that the murderer deliberately concealed the truth¡­ after several years, the school had some inexplicable disappearances and the students attributed this to the curse.¡±

    Xiao Lou was stunned and a chill went down his back.

    Yes, the disappearances!

    He immediately took out the note circted by the students that day, which said: People have gone missing over the past few years.

    Xiao Lou followed Yu Hanjiang¡¯s gaze to the maple forest. ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you think that the missing people are buried in the maple forest?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes were deep.¡±The reason why the maple leaves are so red is because it absorbs too much blood.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This was thest prompt that appeared in the floating box when the two people entered the 3 of Hearts secret room.

    A cold wind blow and the area of the maple forest where the streetlights hadpletely broken down was shrouded in darkness. There were a few maple leaves blown away by the wind from a dark ce to a ce where there was light. Under the streetlights, they looked like they were stained with blood.

    Xiao Lou had goosebumps!

    It was the middle of the night and this was too scary. He couldn¡¯t imagine that bodies would be buried in the students¡¯ favourite maple forest.

    However, Group Leader Yu¡¯s analysis was very reasonable.

    The prompt when entering the secret room ¡®the maple leaves absorb too much blood¡¯ wasn¡¯t to create a horror atmosphere. It was directly pointing to the ¡®maple forest¡¯ as an important clue.

    Why did Zhang Qing return to China three years ago and whye to this school? It was likely to investigate Si Han¡¯s case.

    Where did the missing people over thest three years go? They were most likely buried in the maple forest after being killed by Zhang Qing.

    If this was the case then the key incident wasn¡¯t Ying Xiaoya¡¯s fall but Si Han¡¯s fall.

    The theme of this secret room¡ªrevenge!

 Chapter 33: Bloody Maple Leaf: The Secret of Maple Forest

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang circled the maple forest and found nothing wrong.

    Nor could they dig up such arge maple forest in the middle of the night.

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°The clue of the maple forest might not appear until tomorrow. Let¡¯s go back to the library to investigate the people who went missing in recent years.¡±

    Last night, the two people had sneaked into the information centre on the fifth floor of the Shuxiang Building to investigate the fall five years ago. They found that the deceased was a high school student called Si Han who had an excellent performance.

    They would go to the library again tonight to verify the information of the people who went missing from the school over the years.

    The security had locked the Shuxiang Building but in front of Yu Hanjiang, all ordinary iron locks were ineffective. He gently opened the door lock and took Xiao Lou to the fifth floor. He closed the shutters of the window before turning on the shlight.

    There was too much information here. Fortunately, there werebels on all the folders. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang focused on checking the ¡®personnel changes¡¯ and ¡®reporting materials.¡¯ All the rted materials in the past five years were collected and looked through separately.

    it took them more than an hour to lock onto the targets through therge amount of information.

    The first missing person was a 25 year old teacher of the school¡¯s psychological counselling department. He left the school two years ago after submitting his resignation. However, his whereabouts suddenly became unknown. His family called the police and the police came to the school to investigate. The school leaders said he already left school and the surveince did show him leaving the school. ording to the report, the disappearance of this teacher had nothing to do with Maple Forest High School.

    The second person was a school security guard. He was 45 years old and left his job at night when he was working. He sneaked out of the school gate and it was unknown what happened but he never returned. The police investigation concluded that the security guard going missing was unrted to the school.

    The third person was anguage teacher surnamed Zhou who was 45 years old.

    The high school teacher disappeared six months ago and a detailed investigation wasunched. However, arge number of cameras were broken at the time and the investigation failed. It became an unsolved case.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang immediately checked the name of the teacher for the key liberal arts ss five years ago. This teacher Zhou happened to be Si Han¡¯s ss teacher.

    He must¡¯ve been linked to Si Han¡¯s death, proving that the two challengers ¡®revenge¡¯ theory was correct.

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang and took a deep breath. ¡°In the book Count of Monte Cristo, the protagonist has exactly three enemies. It isn¡¯t a coincidence that three people went missing from Maple Forest High School in recent years.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°If my guess is correct, this secret room¡¯s theme is revenge. The three missing people should¡¯ve been killed and buried under the maple trees.

    Just then, there was a sh of lightning outside the window, splitting apart the dark night sky. This was followed by thunder rumbling in their ears.

    The thunder exploded and rain poured down.

    Xiao Lou looked at the maple forest in the distance. The entire forest was flooded by heavy rain as if washing off the blood there.

    There was a heavy rainst night and it was raining again tonight. The weather in the secret room must be rted to the case. If their reasoning was correct, the answer would be revealed tomorrow.

    ***

    The 3 of Hearts secret room, the third day.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou came to the school gate and waited for the emergence of key figures.

    The three students Yu Hui, Yi Ru and Xie Xinghe looked to be back to normal. They quickly walked towards the teaching building with lowered heads.

    Lin Yueran, thenguage teacher, smiled and greeted the security guard at the door in a friendly manner.

    The English teacher wasn¡¯t wearing a suit today. She wore high heels, jeans and a thin sweater. It was a red V-neck sweater that showed the delicate ne around her neck. She looked smart and elegant.

    She had a cold expression as she walked into the office building.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang pretended to be teachers and chatted as they entered the teaching building.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°The police wille today. After they went back, they must¡¯ve investigated the chemistry teacher in detail and ruled out the chemistry teacher of the crime.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were a step earlier than the police. They knew that the three people who went missing in recent years might be rted to the case of Si Han¡¯s fall.

    The key person Si Han and her rtionship with several suspects would greatly push forward the progress of the case.

    The principal looked serious. ¡°Police officers, the fall five years ago and the recent disappearances have been investigated. You didn¡¯t find any evidence they were ¡®man-made.¡¯ Why suddenly¡­¡±

    ¡°A coincidence is a coincidence. So many cases, do you think it can be exined away by coincidence?¡±

    The principal was silent.

    The police officer spoke again, ¡°Teacher Qin told us a key message. Last Wednesday, the chemistry ss ended and she and Xie Xinghe examined theboratory together. At that time, the bottle of poison was full and nothing was taken away. She had the key and there were signs of the door lock being pried open, indicating that someone had returned to theboratory and opened the door to take it.¡±

    The principal was stunned and couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°Are you doubting Xie Xinghe? This student has achieved excellent results since the beginning of high school. For every test, he is in the top three of the grade. How can he poison his ssmate?¡±

    ¡°There is another key message. Teacher Qin said that Xie Xinghe locked up theboratory around 18:00 when school was over. Since Thursday and Friday were the monthly exam days for the third grade, she passed by the teaching building and found someone in ss 3. She went to take a look and saw Ying Xiaoya. Ying Xiaoya was writing ¡®what should I do?¡¯ in her notebook.¡±

    The principal squirmed. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps Ying Xiaoya was caught in a serious predicament. Teacher Qin thought that Ying Xiaoya was worried about the next day¡¯s exam andforted her with a few words so that she wouldn¡¯t worry too much. Teacher Qin left the teaching building and Ying Xiaoya and Xie Xinghe were both still in the ssroom. On Wednesday night, the two of them were thest to leave the school.¡±

    The policeman added, ¡°Thursday and Friday are exam days and the students¡¯ seats will be disrupted. Ying Xiaoya¡¯s examination room was in ss 7. After the test, school was off on Saturday and Sunday while the teachers corrected the exam papers online. During this period, the murderer had no chance tomit the crime. It wasn¡¯t until Monday that the murderer immediately killed Ying Xiaoya.¡±

    The principal frowned. ¡°Police officer, do you have a suspect?¡±

    The policeman replied, ¡°The person who poisoned the choctes is the person who returned to theboratory on Wednesday to grab the poison. It was another person who pushed Ying Xiaoya off the building. We used an instrument to detect the footprints on the rooftop and there was a second person. There was a fragment of a scarf left on the top of the building, indicating that there should be a conflict.¡±

    The police officer concluded. ¡°Your school might have a hidden serial killer. We need to block the entire school and conduct a full investigation on all teachers. I hope you will cooperate.¡±

    The principal had a headache and held his temple. ¡°Of course I will cooperate but I hope you can minimize the impact. The school is in a panic these days while the third grade students are preparing for their university entrance examination. Their studies can¡¯t be dyed.¡±

    The officer nodded and headed downstairs to have his fellow police officers cordon off the school.

    Yu Hanjiang left the office. Sure enough, the police in the secret room finally split the case into two and linked it with the fall five years ago. They would soon search the teachers¡¯ desk and obtain a lot of information, including the book in Zhang Qing¡¯s drawer and the texts left in Lin Yueran¡¯s drawer. These suspects would soon be interrogated by the police.

    Xie Xinghe¡¯s suspicion was very big. He was familiar with the organic phosphate and had a good grasp of the dosage. Teacher Qin talked about this in chemistry ss and Xie Xinghe was a top student. He could understand as soon as he heard it. If he left with the teacher, he could easily find a chance to return and grab some organic phosphate.

    Since the door and cab were originally locked by him, perhaps he didn¡¯t lock them properly.

    The English teacher andnguage teacher weren¡¯t relevant to the poisoning case. They didn¡¯t have enough knowledge of chemistry and the evidence found about these two people were rted to revenge and faking the suicide note. They were more like the murderer who pushed Ying Xiaoya off the building.

    The love letter of unknown origin might¡¯ve also been written by Xie Xinghe.

    Yu Hanjiang found Xiao Lou and told the other person his reasoning. ¡°I am sure that the poisoner is Xie Xinghe. He might¡¯ve done this as a warning and it didn¡¯t matter if Yu Hui or Ying Xiaoya were poisoned. If one of them was poisoned, the other would definitely apany them to the hospital. As long as they leave school, they won¡¯t be killed. In addition, the poisoning led to a police investigation and blocked the real murderer from getting away with it.¡±

    Xiao Lou was shocked. ¡°Then Xie Xinghe was actually saving Ying Xiaoya?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°The love letter should¡¯ve also been written by him. Perhaps there is a secret hidden in the love letter. We should check it again.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s memory was particrly good and he closed his eyes to recall the letter.

    Xiaoya:

    I¡¯ve liked you since I saw you three years ago.

    I think of you every day.

    My heart is full of your shadow.

    I¡¯m not willing to leave and depend on your life and death.

    May you be happy, live happily and for a long time.

    At the beginning, Xiao Lou only thought that his love letter was sappy. Now that he took a closer look¡­

    His back suddenly froze. ¡°The third word of each line is connected. Leave in three days?¡± (TL: Remember, this is based on the Chinese characters and I¡¯m not sure how to word it in English to keep the same order.)

    Yu Hanjiang read the love letter vertically. The third word of each line indeed spelt out ¡®leave in three days.¡¯ Thest line also mentioned ¡®live¡¯ and ¡®living for a long time. This word was emphasized, implying that her life was in danger.

    The date of the letter was Friday. Leave in three days meant that Ying Xiaoya shouldn¡¯t go to school on Monday.

    This should be linked to why Ying Xiaoya ate choctes with a trace amount of poison on Monday¡­

    It all made sense if the love letter was written by Xie Xinghe.

    He knew a lot of inside information and anticipated that Ying Xiaoya would be killed. Thus, he put a printed love letter in her schoolbag in advance, warning her not toe to school on Monday. However, Ying Xiaoya didn¡¯t understand it and still came on Monday. Xie Xinghe had to poison the choctes. Then he would go to the hospital with Yu Hui and Ying Xiaoya for emergency treatment and the murderer wouldn¡¯t have the chance to kill Ying Xiaoya.

    Unfortunately, this didn¡¯t work. The chemistry teacher and PE teacher suddenly changed sses, which Xie Xinghe didn¡¯t expect. Ying Xiaoya left his sight and the long-nned murderer found a chance to deceive Ying Xiaoya to go to the rooftop, pushing her off.

    Xie Xinghe wearing a ck cloth around his arm was indeed to mourn Ying Xiaoya.

    For some reason, he couldn¡¯t tell Ying Xiaoya directly that she was going to be killed. He hinted with the love letter and poisoned her with the chocte but¡­ still couldn¡¯t save this girl.

    ***

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were discussing the case when a shrill scream came from outside the window.

    The source of the scream was the school¡¯s maple forest.

    Xiao Lou heard this and didn¡¯t hesitate to use his eleration shoes to rush over.

    As a result of two consecutive nights of heavy rain, arge area of maple leaves had fallen and the school asked the cleaners to clean up. Xiao Lou heard the screams and arrived to find two cleaning aunties crouching with pale faces.

    Xiao Lou looked down.

    He saw a hand poking out from the ground of the maple forest soaked by rain.

    The white bones were shocking!

    There were many passing teachers who heard the scream and ran to see. They were frightened by the scene and someone yelled, ¡°Call the police!¡± ¡°The police seem to be at the school, I¡¯ll call them!¡±

    The police arrived quickly and Yu Hanjiang followed them calmly.

    He exchanged nces with Xiao Lou in the crowd.

    The bones of the dead had appeared in the maple forest. This news rmed all the school leaders. The police quickly surrounded the entire maple forest with a cordon. They rushed for shovels and dug at the ce where the white bones appeared.

    Piece after piece of human bone emerged, like ¡®sky flowers¡¯ sprinkled throughout the maple forest.

    As the shovels dug deeper and deeper in the maple forest, bones appeared¡­ too many.

    The faces of the school leaders were dark like they had dug out coal. The police had hard expressions while the two cleaningdies stammered as they made a statement. The maple leaves in the forest were still falling, sprinkling on the white bones dug out¡­

    This bizarre picture made Xiao Lou¡¯s hair stand up.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered in his ear. ¡°It seems that our reasoning is very close to the truth. The missing people were indeed buried in the maple forest. Professor Xiao, I will trouble you toter check the human bones with the forensic doctor to determine their cause of death.¡±

    The forensic doctor arrived quickly and Xiao Lou used the invisibility cloak.

    The scattered bones at the scene were quickly ced together, forming three figures.

    There was a clear difference in the pelvis of men and women. Xiao Lou could see that all three bodies were men. Based on skeletal development, one was a young man around 25 years old while the other two were middle-aged men around 40 years old. This was consistent with the age of the missing.

    Based on the degree of corruption and morphological changes in the bones, it could be roughly inferred that the time of death was consistent with the time they disappeared. Moreover, the three people had been subjected to violence before they died.

    The first was the young man around 25 years old. His skull had obvious depressions caused by being hit with a blunt instrument. The entire eye socket was broken while the other bones had no obvious scars. The cause of death should be cerebral hemorrhage caused by a blunt object hitting the skull.

    The second was a middle-aged man and his left sternum had obvious sharp traces. Two rib bones had the same sharp marks. It should be that the chest was stabbed three times. The heart was hit and stopped beating, causing death.

    The third middle-aged man had a pronounced fracture of the hyoid bone, suggesting that his neck had been subject to pressure. Mechanical asphyxia couldn¡¯t be ruled out as the cause of death¡ªin other words, he was likely strangled.

    The three people had different causes of death but they had one thing inmon.

    They were dismembered after death.

    The bodies were dismembered and buried in the maple forest, so the bones dug out were scattered everywhere. The forensic doctor worked hard but struggled to form a human figure.

    The leader of the police officers asked calmly, ¡°What is the result?¡±

    The forensic doctor wore a mask and whispered, ¡°The three deceased are male. The initial judgment is that the cause of death is a skull fracture due to a blunt instrument, a sharp device piercing the chest and stopping the heart and mechanical asphyxia.¡±

    The official forensic verdict was consistent with Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou quickly left the scene and told Yu Hanjiang the information he had learned.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face was calm. ¡°These three are the ones who killed Si Han.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded in agreement. ¡°It seems that the avenger has taken care of the enemies who killed Si Han.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stood on the third floor of the air corridor, deep eyes gazing at the maple forest in the distance as he sorted out his thoughts and went through the clues one by one.

    He whispered, ¡°This is Ying Xiaoya¡¯s fall incident but the main plot of this secret room is Si Han¡¯s fall. Five years ago, Si Han was killed by these three people. They pushed Si Han off the roof and falsified the suicide note, spreading the rumour of ¡®vengeful spirits¡¯ and a ¡®death curse¡¯ on campus.¡±

    ¡°They did it too well and the entire school didn¡¯t doubt that Si Han jumped from the building. The police couldn¡¯t find any clues and the school¡¯s report mentioned that Si Han was psychologically vulnerable and didn¡¯t function properly after doing badly on her exams.¡±

    ¡°This incident was quickly put to rest and the students exined it away with a curse.¡±

    ¡°However, Si Han had a rtive. That person was particrly concerned about Si Han and didn¡¯t believe she wouldmit suicide. Thus, the rtive went back to Maple Forest High School to investigate. That person was very smart and found out the truth of Si Han¡¯s story. She found the three murderers and killed them using cruel methods: breaking their skull, piercing the heart and strangling them.¡±

    ¡°Only a great deal of hatred would lead to dismembering the body after killing and burying them in the maple forest. This maple forest is facing the office building where Si Han fell and is like a blood sacrifice.¡±

    After she killed, she could¡¯ve buried the bodies anywhere. Why bury them in the school¡¯s maple forest? Wasn¡¯t it as a memorial to Si Han?

    Xiao Lou heard up to here and felt cold.

    This is a cursed school. It is said that the maple leaves are so red because the maple trees absorbs too much blood.

    Thest hint that popped up when they entered the secret room was the most critical secret.

    The secret of the maple forest was finally revealed.

    The truth was going toe out!

 Chapter 34: Bloody Maple Leaf: The Truth is Clear

    Due to therge number of human bones found in the maple forest, the police quickly blocked off Maple Forest High School and no teachers or students were allowed to go out.

    The excavated human bones were taken back by the forensic doctor to test the DNA and restore the skull. The bones were quickly identified as the three people who disappeared in recent years.

    This case attracted the attention of the criminal police and not long after, a police car drove onto the campus. The police station had sent four more people to support and a total of eight police officers started to search the school¡¯s library and the teachers¡¯ offices.

    They soon found the original French Count of Monte Cristo in Zhang Qing¡¯s drawer and the homework and photo in Lin Yueran¡¯s drawer.

    Yu Hanjiang avoided the gaze of the police officers and sneaked through the office building, throwing the shoes they found yesterday into a trash can in the corridor.

    Xiao Lou saw him do this and couldn¡¯t help wondering, ¡°Can we interfere with the progress of the police investigation?¡±

    ording to the original plot, if Yu Hanjiang hadn¡¯t gone to the garbage bin yesterday, it would¡¯ve been taken away by the garbage truck and the shoes that created the fake footprints on the rooftop would¡¯ve been disposed of. The police investigation would be missing evidence and the timing of the case dyed.

    However, Yu Hanjiang found the key physical evidence and ced it under the eyes of the police. Once the police found the shoes, it was equivalent to Yu Hanjiang rewriting the plot of this secret room.

    Yu Hanjiang spected, ¡°Since this secret room has a police presence who helps the challengers find clues, the challengers should also help the police solve the case.¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully pondered on it before nodding. ¡°It makes sense. After all, this is only a C-grade secret room. Without the help of the police, many challengers wouldn¡¯t be able to pass the instance.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°A challenger with insufficient reasoning ability might be able to pass the instance with the help of the police.¡±

    The police would catch the murderer. They just needed to follow the police and it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to pass the instance. However, the conditions to perfectly clear this secret room were still undetermined. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know if they had missed an important clue.

    Xiao Lou looked in the direction of the office and was thoughtful. ¡°The police sent reinforcements and the entire school is blocked. Doesn¡¯t this mean many students and teachers won¡¯t be able to go home at night? Will the police interrogate the suspects this afternoon.¡±

    ¡°It should be. The Si Han case urred five years ago and the current students were junior high school students at the time. The probability of them participating in the Si Han care is extremely low. The police should have key questions for the three suspects Xie Xinghe, Zhang Qing and Lin Yueran as well as the school leaders and faculty who knew the three missing people.¡±

    No wonder why the police sent four people as reinforcements. The workload this afternoon was huge and the police would be too busy.

    Xiao Lou frowned. ¡°We have run out of uses for our invisibility cloaks. How can we eavesdrop on the interrogation?¡±

    The invisibility cloak could only be used once a day.

    In the morning, Yu Hanjiang wore the cloak and went with the police to the principal¡¯s office. Xiao Lou wore the cloak to follow the forensic doctor to the maple forest to check the bones. Their cloaks couldn¡¯t be used anyone and the most critical suspects would be interrogated in the afternoon¡­ what should they do?

    Just then, a prompt appeared on the two people¡¯s floating boxes at the same time.

    [Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s score in the Hearts secret room has exceeded 800 points and you can choose a reward:

    A. Reset the cooldown time of the secret room limited card and modify the second room limited card to a ¡®no limit¡¯ state. After the instance clearance, it can be brought out of the 3 of Hearts secret room.

    B. Get 500,000 gold coins instantly.

    Xiao Lou saw these two options and felt veryplicated. ¡°I want it all.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡± He thought so as well.

    The two people urgently needed option A but option B¡¯s one million gold coins was too attractive. In particr, for the poor ghosts who had barely eaten for two consecutive days, half a million would make their days pass in a plentiful manner and would definitely help in the future Clubs rooms.

    It was just¡­ a limited card was changed to a no limits state and they could bring the invisibility cloak out of the secret room. This secret reward wasn¡¯t bad. In the long run, gold coins could be earned again while cards were actually the most valuable thing in the world.

    Xiao Lou gritted his teeth. ¡°Choose A.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked serious. ¡°Yes, clear this secret room first.¡±

    Both of them selected A at the same time.

    The two invisibility cloaks became visible and the ¡®limited room¡¯ description on the card was removed. As long as the instance was cleared, they could take the invisibility cloak out of the 3 of Hearts room and could be invisible for 30 minutes in other secret rooms.

    Together, the two cards could be used for an hour and that should be enough to hear the afternoon interrogation.

    Xiao Lou touched the gold coins in his pocket and was a bit distressed by the one million he missed out on.

    Yu Hanjiangforted him. ¡°Money can be earned again.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Yes, so we won¡¯t have lunch today.¡±

    Meanwhile, it was the time between sses. After the reinforcements searched the office building, they visited various sses.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang quietly followed them from a distance.

    As Yu Hanjiang expected, most of the students didn¡¯t know Si Han and hadn¡¯t heard her name. After all, they were part of Maple Forest High School five years ago. The students also expressed unfamiliarity with the three people who went missing in recent years.

    The police finished visiting the students and took advantage of the lunch break to conduct investigations on the school leaders, security guards and teachers. The unrted students were allowed to go home on a collective holiday and only Xie Xinghe was left behind.

    Xie Xinghe¡¯s face was somewhat unnaturally pale but his expression remained calm.

    Today the police sent reinforcements and in the afternoon, two interrogation rooms were opened simultaneously. One interrogation should be about Ying Xiaoya¡¯s case while the other interrogation was about Si Han¡¯s fall and the maple forest bones case. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang each wore an invisibility cloak and went to listen.

    The police officer asked, ¡°Xie Xinghe, inst Wednesday¡¯s chemistryboratory ss, did the teacher tell you about the dosage, harmful effects and first aid in organic phosphate poisoning?¡±

    Xie Xinghe pushed up his sses. ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°After ss, you and the chemistry teacher organized the instruments, the materials and finally you locked the door?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    The police officer finally got to the key point. ¡°After leaving theboratory, did you go back and pry open the door lock, taking half of the bottle of organic phosphate?¡±

    Xie Xinghe was silently before suddenly replying coldly, ¡°Yes. I put it in the choctes as well.¡±

    This guy just admitted it?

    Yu Hanjiang found this very unexpected. He frowned and came in front of Xie Xinghe, carefully observing Xie Xinghe¡¯s expression.

    The policeman asked, ¡°Why did you do this?¡±

    Xie Xinghe answered quietly, ¡°I wanted to do an experiment to verify that the chemistry teacher is right. That dosage would at most poison a mouse and people would be okay when eating it. I only intentionally injured someone, not attempted murder, right? You can arrest me.¡±

    The police officer stared at him with consternation. He apparently didn¡¯t expect a middle school student to be so bold!

    Xie Xinghe¡¯s face tried to maintain his calm but his clenched fists and slightly trembling fingertips betrayed him.

    Until now, he still refused to say the real reason. There was only one exnation. The person who killed Ying Xiaoya should be very important to him. He wanted to save Ying Xiaoya but he didn¡¯t want to harm the murderer. He was caught in a dilemma and his heart felt very contradictory.

    The idea of doing an experiment was a statement he had long thought of.

    No matter how many angles the police officers came at him from, Xie Xinghe insisted that he was doing an experiment out of curiosity. Then they held up the Count of Monte Cristo and the connection with the English teacher¡¯s book. His exnation was, ¡°It is probably a coincidence. Many people in the world read it.¡±

    The police officer was so angry that he almost hit the table. Finally, he could only put Xie Xinghe in handcuffs and let his colleague take this hard-working guy away.

    The next one to be questioned was Lin Yueran.

    The female teacher came in with a dazed expression. It was unknown if her acting was too good or if she was really innocent.

    The police officer asked, ¡°Teacher Lin, you once taught Ying Xiaoya and Xie Xinghe and keep a group photo of the students in your drawer. Why?¡±

    Lin Yueran replied, ¡°They are the best students I have ever thought. Is it strange to keep a photo of them?¡±

    ¡°Then why did you kept their texts?¡±

    Lin Yueran¡¯s face was bewildered. ¡°Ying Xiaoya and Xie Xinghe are the two students who wrote the best in my ss. Ying Xiaoya¡¯s words are very correct and almost like they are printed. Meanwhile, Xie Xinghe¡¯s words are elegant. I kept their texts as amemoration.¡±

    The police officer asked, ¡°It is that simple?¡±

    Lin Yueran nodded. ¡°Yes, I have collected the words of several students who participated in the essaypetition and put them up at home inmemoration. If you don¡¯t believe me, you can go to my house to search.¡±

    The two police officers looked at each other and asked, ¡°On the day of the incident, the ss teacher of ss 3 took Ying Xiaoya away to ask questions. Why did you go in and interrupt him.¡±

    ¡°I just went back to the office and didn¡¯t know they were talking.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t you who wrote out Ying Xiaoya¡¯s suicide note?¡±

    Lin Yueran¡¯s expression was a bit ugly. ¡°Police officer, I don¡¯t know what you mean. I have a copy of Ying Xiaoya¡¯s writing because I previously taught her. Writing a suicide note in her handwriting? It is ridiculous! She and I don¡¯t have a bad rtionship. ording to your logic, will I also copy Xie Xinghe¡¯s handwriting to write a suicide note?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang carefully examined her face. Her anger and nervousness didn¡¯t seem to be acting. Most wronged suspects looked like this. Moreover, her words made sense. Her drawer contained not only Ying Xiaoya¡¯s handwriting but Xie Xinghe¡¯s as well. If it was judged that she wrote Ying Xiaoya¡¯s suicide note, what was her motive for killing?

    The two students did write well and it made sense that she kept the texts asmemoration.

    Perhaps the text she left behind was taken by others?

    The police had also thought of this and asked, ¡°The texts you kept, did you give it to any other teachers to read?¡±

    Lin Yueran thought about it carefully before her eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°I remember! On Wednesday, Teacher Zhang asked to borrow Ying Xiaoya¡¯s text. She said she wanted to see the Chineseposition of this student since the student¡¯s Englishposition is so poor.¡±

    The police quickly jotted down this key point. ¡°How is your rtionship with Zhang Qing?¡±

    ¡°We went to the same middle school and I am her school sister. I often saw her in variouspetitions. Our rtionship isn¡¯t particrly good. I guess you can say we are ordinary friends? After all, we are alumni. If assigned to the same area then we must take care of each other.¡±

    ¡°What type of person is she based on your impression?¡±

    Lin Yueran spoke emotionally, ¡°She is very good and also works hard. In middle school, she was always first in the year and received all types of awards inpetitions. I honestly admire her. At that time, she was admitted to a famous foreign school and became the legend of our school.¡±

    Lin Yueran paused and her eyes suddenly widened. ¡°Surely you aren¡¯t doubting her?¡±

    The policeman didn¡¯t answer her question and frowned. ¡°Do you know Zhang Qing¡¯s family situation?¡±

    Lin Yueran shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ she has always been alone. We asionally eat and talk about school. She had never mentioned her family.¡±

    The police let Lin Yueran go back and finally brought in Zhang Qing.

    Zhang Qing¡¯s face was very calm as she walked into the interrogation room. She wore a red thin sweater with pencil pants. She had a tall and thin body and her long ck hair hung down her back. Her goose egg-shaped face was exquisite and beautiful, making her stand out in a crowd.

    The police asked her about the French version of the Count of Monte Cristo in her drawer. She only said that she liked the book and after learning French, she bought the original book. Once asked if there was anyone in her family, she said that her parents were both dead and she was an orphan. She had no rtives.

    Thissted until the police brought out the shoes they had picked up from the trash can.

    The white canvas shoes might be stained with some dirt but they looked very new. They were the same style as the shoes Ying Xiaoya wore on the day she fell.

    Zhang Qing¡¯s face suddenly paled!

    Yu Hanjiang, who was wearing the invisibility cloak and watching her performance, had an answer in his heart.

    The murderer was her.

    The shoes she threw into the garbage bin and would¡¯ve been taken away by the garbage truck had been found by Yu Hanjiang and ced in a trash can on this floor. The police had found this key physical evidence when searching.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou reasoned ahead of time, split apart the case of Ying Xiaoya and sessfully found evidence, helping the police solve the case and arrest the murderer in advance.

    Zhang Qing was brought back by the police officers to be investigated.

    Before she left, Yu Hanjiang approached her and carefully observed the ne around her neck.

    Three pieces of bones cut into the shape of a wolf¡¯s teeth were strung on a ne. If he wasn¡¯t wrong, they should be the bones of the three murderers she killed.

 Chapter 35: Bloody Maple Leaf: Revenge

    In the interrogation room next door, the police interrogated the school leaders and those who knew the three missing people.

    The first was the 25 year old male, a teacher at the school¡¯s psychological centre.

    ording to the principal¡¯s recollections, he was assigned by the Education Bureau five years ago. The Education Bureau ced great importance on the psychological counselling of the high school students and required the school to open a psychology course on a regr basis. The principal had to cooperate and also give him a psychological counselling office.

    Si Han often went to his office for a period of time. Therefore, after Si Han fell, the police had investigated him. He said that Si Han¡¯s grades had been going up and down and he was asked to consult. He also took out every record of his chats with Si Han so the police didn¡¯t doubt him.

    Based on the impression of his colleagues and the school leaders, he was a gentle, handsome and humorous teacher. He held weekly counselling sses and taught students about adjusting their mentality. The students liked and trusted him very much.

    Strangely enough, he suddenly submitted his resignation two years ago. The principal had tried to persuade him at the time but he said it was for personal reasons.

    A male teacher close to him broken the news that when this person had been drunk, he leaked the news that he fell in love with a woman and was ready to get married. The woman didn¡¯t want to work in the same area as him and wanted to keep a bit of private space from each other. Therefore, he decided to resign and apply for the psychological counselling centre of a private hospital. The ie of a hospital psychologist was much higher than a teacher.

    Shortly after resigning, he disappeared and his case was reported by his family.

    The ¡®marriage partner¡¯ he mentioned never showed up. When the police investigated, the person involved had been ¡®drinking¡¯ so these words couldn¡¯t be taken seriously. They couldn¡¯t find any evidence of his association with a woman and they ignored it.

    Now that the old story was mentioned again, Xiao Lou heard this and his spirit was shocked. Was his marriage partner Zhang Qing?

    At that time, Zhang Qing had been at the school for a year. She was young and beautiful and it was natural for a single man and woman to be attracted to each other. There was also a reason¡­ for example, Zhang Qing didn¡¯t want to go public so he kept it a secret.

    Perhaps his resignation was also Zhang Qing¡¯s suggestion.

    She didn¡¯t want to be in the same school as him and persuaded him to leave. Then she found a chance to kill him and buried his corpse in the maple forest.

    The murderer was smart, calm and cruel, quietly ying the psychology teacher between her hands.

    It was no wonder why this teacher¡¯s death was caused by the skull being hit with a blunt instrument. It was very difficult for an adult male to be killed directly. However, what if it was someone close to him? For example, the fiancee he loved. In his sleep, she suddenly picked up an axe and mmed it against this head¡­

    Xiao Lou imagined this and his back felt cold.

    The disappearance of the psychological teacher became a pending case. Now that it was linked to the investigation of Si Han¡¯s fall, the police also noticed something wrong. The moment the school leaders left, a police officer ordered, ¡°The key is to check his fiancee. She is definitely a problem!¡±

    The second missing person, the security guard had alsoe to the school five years ago and he was reportedly a rtive of a vice-principal.

    It wasmon for the school leaders to arrange their rtives as security guards for the school. Xiao Lou was no stranger to this after working at the university.

    For the security guard, everyone¡¯s evaluation was that they weren¡¯t very familiar with him. They only knew that when he was idle, he liked to walk around the campus. Since his rtive was one of the vice-principals, he was somewhat arrogant.

    Xiao Liu, who worked as a security guard with him, said that he wasn¡¯t very popr in the security team. He was too fond of pretending so everyone didn¡¯t like him.

    Shortly after his disappearance, his cousin who was the vice-principal was suspended by the Education Bureau on suspicion of gambling. The school wasn¡¯t very concerned with the security guard¡¯s disappearance because they thought he was also suspected of gambling and received retaliation by evil forces.

    The third missing person, thenguage teacher surnamed Zhou suddenly went missing six months ago. His colleagues¡¯ opinion of him was very high, stating that he was very talented. He liked poetry, hisnguage sses were good and he wrote excellent words. He also liked to collect calligraphy and paintings and would copy a variety of calligraphy. He could even copy the renowned calligraphy masters.

    Once Xiao Lou heard this, he was almost certain that the suicide note written by Si Han in the incident five years ago was done by thenguage teacher.

    These interrogations ended and Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang met at the agreed upon air corridor.

    They exchanged the information they received.

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°Now we can determine that Zhang Qing is the one who killed Ying Xiaoya and Xie Xinghe is the one who poisoned the choctes, but the rtionship between them and Ying Xiaoya¡¯s real cause of death isn¡¯t clear.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°Zhang Qing should¡¯ve used some means to hook the three murderers who killed Si Han. The psychological teacher was fascinated by her and almost married her. It is likely to be the same for the security guard and thenguage teacher. This would exin why she can easily kill three adult males when she is a woman.¡±

    Lascivious activities could lead to bitter consequences, ascivious man did reduce his wariness of a beautiful woman. Some women¡¯s beauty was like a poisonous flower. It was easy to pick but could cause bruises and even death.

    Yu Hanjiang nced over at Xiao Lou. ¡°If your reasoning is correct, the three people are very lustful. Then perhaps the truth of the Si Han incident is that the three people joined forces to¡­ rape this beautiful schoolgirl?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face slightly paled. ¡°There is this possibility.¡±

    Therefore, when Zhang Qing implemented her revenge, she caught the weakness of their lust.

    Xiao Lou frowned. ¡°However, there should be no exnation for Ying Xiaoya¡¯s case. Why would she kill Ying Xiaoya? When Si Han fell from the building five years ago, Ying Xiaoya was in middle school and should have nothing to do with this case. Moreover, Yu Hui¡¯s confession mentioned that Ying Xiaoya¡¯s parents are often away and their rtionship with this case shouldn¡¯t be big?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it before whispering, ¡°The Count of Monte Cristo, the protagonist only had three enemies. Zhang Qing killed the three people who murdered Si Han and there should be no fourth enemy.¡±

    He paused and his gaze became very deep. ¡°After sessfully killing one enemy after another, Zhang Qing¡¯s mentality has changed. She received adrenalin and a strong sense of superiority from the process of killing. Her nning was too precise and the police couldn¡¯t feel any evidence. She feels that she is very smart¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou was shocked. ¡°Then Ying Xiaoya should be innocent and was identally implicated?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Based on Xie Xinghe¡¯s desire to save Ying Xiaoya, it can be inferred that Ying Xiaoya should be innocent. Assume that Xie Xinghe knew all along. He also has the book ¡®Count of Monte Cristo¡¯ in his bag and this shows that he agreed with Zhang Qing¡¯s way of revenge. Ying Xiaoya inadvertently found out about it and Zhang Qing wanted to quiet her. Xie Xinghe tried to stop it because he felt that Zhang Qing¡¯s killing of her enemies was excusable but Ying Xiaoya¡¯s killing would be excessive. Thus, he gave a warning and wanted to save this innocent girl, wanted to stop Zhang Qing¡­ but he was a step toote.¡±

    Xiao Lou followed Yu Hanjiang¡¯s line of thought. ¡°Zhang Qing is addicted to killing people and has enough experience. She faked the suicide note, bought the same shoes and pushed Ying Xiaoya off the building. Xie Xinghe probably didn¡¯t expect her to act so fast. In Xie Xinghe¡¯s original n, he should¡¯ve sent Ying Xiaoya or Yu Hui to the hospital for emergency treatment on Monday. The police woulde to the school to investigate and during this time, he could persuade Zhang Qing to stop. As long as Zhang Qing didn¡¯t kill Ying Xiaoya, Xie Xinghe wouldn¡¯t expose her. The secret of Maple Forest would always stay a secret. Then he would create the illusion of mistakenly poisoning a student and this matter would be over.¡±

    Unfortunately, he was a step toote.

    Xie Xinghe underestimated Zhang Qing¡¯s efficiency and cruelty and also overestimated his own n.

    His poison and Zhang Qing¡¯s murder urred at the same time. As a result, a series of cases were involved and the Si Han case five years ago, the disappearance cases in recent years and Ying Xiaoya¡¯s fall were all connected together¡­

    He failed to save Ying Xiaoya and failed to protect Zhang Qing.

    Yu Hanjiang sighed. ¡°Xie Xinghe is probably a rtive of Zhang Qing and Si Han also had a blood rtionship with them. Therefore, he didn¡¯t stop Zhang Qing when she got revenge. It wasn¡¯t until Zhang Qing¡¯s psychological distortion started and the innocent Ying Xiaoya became involved that he wanted to stop her, but it was toote.¡±

    Some murders might initially kill by mistake or kill one or two people for some purpose.

    However, after the first sessful crime, the murderer would find that killing someone was actually this simple and would receive great satisfaction. They would slowly fall in love with the feeling of killing and be a brutal serial killer.

    Zhang Qing, a woman who wanted revenge for the innocent Si Han, finally turned into the person she hated most, killing an innocent girl with her own hands.

    A prompt appeared in front of the two men at the same time.

    [The inference results of the 3 of Hearts secret room. Please select:

    The person who poisoned Ying Xiaoya: Xie Xinghe? Yes/No/Uncertain.

    The person who pushed Ying Xiaoya off the building: Zhang Qing? Yes/No/Uncertain.

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang and the other person looked back at him. The two people exchanged a look.

    This time, they didn¡¯t hesitate to press the first option: Yes.

    Unexpectedly, they had just pressed it when a line of blood red words appeared in front of their eyes.

    [Congrattions to the challengers Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang for perfectly clearing the 3 of Hearts secret room. All clues have been found and the instance clearance time is 3 days, 3 hours and 24 minutes. The instance clearance score is 955 points and the world record for the 3 of Hearts secret room has been refreshed!]

    It was a bit unexpected that they had perfectly cleared the instance.

    Zhang Qing and Xie Xinghe had been taken away by the police and the clues had been found. Other people might not have found the ¡®hidden plot¡¯, such as the double kill of the 2 of Hearts secret room, which was thest hidden plot card.

    In the 3 of Hearts secret room, Si Han¡¯s real cause of death, the process of Zhang Qing¡¯s revenge, the rtionship between Zhang Qing and Xie Xinghe, and the reason why Ying Xiaoya was killed, these things were probably hidden plots and would be shown in the plot card.

    Refreshing the world record¡­ this seemed somewhat reasonable?

    After all, it was abination of a police officer and a forensic doctor. They discovered that Ying Xiaoya was poisoned one day in advance, went to the archives andboratory in advance, woke up early for two consecutive mornings, climbed stairs, went through windows, avoided security guards¡­

    After three tiring and exciting days, they had cleared the room but it was hard to calm down.

    Xiao Lou remembered the morning when he saw Ying Xiaoya for the first time. The girl had run through the school gate in a panic, wearing a sweater and jeans. Her white eyes were as innocent as a white rabbit entering the forest.

    She stood carefully in the back of the ssroom, clenching her fists and holding back her tears.

    In fact, even if Zhang Qing didn¡¯t kill her, she wouldn¡¯t have the courage to open her mouth. Unfortunately, she couldn¡¯t escape from this bad fate.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and stared at the maple forest of the school.

    The first time he came to this world, the maple forest had been a spectacr sight. Now the ground was dug up and maple trees east to west were crooked. It was a mess and there were no longer arge number of maple leaves falling.

    He and Group Leader Yu would leave here soon. Looking at this scene, he felt a strange feeling bubbling in his chest.

    A good campus had been infected with too much blood. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t change the ending of the secret room. He could only hope that the students in the real world would be able to live their most simple and beautiful high school years.

    Goodbye, Maple Forest High School.

 Chapter 36: Bloody Maple Leaf: End

    Shortly after Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang cleared the secret room, they were transferred back to their personal space.

    The clearance condition of the 3 of Hearts secret room was to find the person who poisoned Ying Xiaoya and the murderer who pushed her off the building. It didn¡¯t require the yers topletely analyze the plot, simr to the 2 of Hearts secret room. The hidden plot would be presented in the plot card.

    The personal space of the two people was still in a merged state. The moment they entered the personal space, they saw a beautiful woman wearing a long red dress, looking at them with a smile from the sofa. ¡°Long time no see.¡±

    The keeper of Hearts always had a friendly, gentle ¡®sister-like¡¯ smile on her face.

    Xiao Lou nodded at her. ¡°Hello A of Hearts, we meet again.¡±

    A of Hearts spoke with emotion. ¡°3 of Hearts is a level higher than 2 of Hearts yet the two of you perfectly cleared it and refreshed the world record. I was really surprised.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked curiously, ¡°The C-grade secret rooms have no clue collection prompts. How is our score judged in the end?¡±

    A of Hearts exined with a smile, ¡°There are two ways to clear this secret room. The first one is to follow the police. The police will help the yers find clues. As long as they use the restricted card (invisibility cloak) and pay attention to the progress of the police when interrogating the suspects, they can usually solve the case on the seventh day.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly. ¡°The police only solved the case on the seventh day. Is this because the key evidence of the shoes was disposed of?¡±

    A of Hearts nodded. ¡°After the storm the next day, the school¡¯s garbage bin is full and the cleaners are ready to get rid of it. This is actually a reminder but many yers weren¡¯t aware of it. They didn¡¯t go to the garbage bin and see the garbage bin leave the school, making them miss a key opportunity. Looking for these shoes at thendfill will naturally dy the time.

    A of Hearts paused before continuing. ¡°In most cases, the bones in the maple forest will appear on the fifth day. Your clues collection progress was so fast that the plot was triggered early and it appeared on the third day.¡±

    It seemed that the secret room plot would be dynamically adjusted based on the yer¡¯s search progress. Yu Hanjiang nodded in understanding. ¡°We found the shoes in advance and increased our clearance score?¡±

    ¡°It isn¡¯t only the shoes. The chocte, scarf, love letter, Count of Monte Cristo in Xie Xinghe¡¯s bag and the ¡®what should I do¡¯ in Ying Xiaoya¡¯s book are the first clues. Theboratory lock, the poison and the signature book are the second clues. The data room information on Si Han and the three missing people are the third clues. The fourth clues are in the office and thest clue is Zhang Qing¡¯s human bone ne.¡±

    She looked at the two people with appreciation. ¡°You found all the secret room¡¯s clues and found it before the police. Therefore, every clue increased your clearance score.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang looked at each other with realization.

    In other words, those who only wanted to live through the instance could act as a salted fish behind the police, relying on the police¡¯s help. As long as they survived seven days without starving to death, they could also catch the murderer. However, those who wanted a perfect clearance must be a step ahead of the police, searching for evidence, finding clues and making guesses,

    If it wasn¡¯t for Yu Hanjiang¡¯s unlocking skills, they might not have found the evidence in the office.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°What is the elimination rate of the 3 of Hearts secret room?¡±

    The keeper replied, ¡°60%.¡±

    She shrugged regretfully. ¡°Most of them were discovered by the security guards and thrown from the school. There are some people whose tacit understanding when using the invisibility cloak was too bad, resulting in them missing a lot of key information and making reasoning errors. Some were unreliable and overslept on the next day, so that they didn¡¯t even discover the key role of the secret room was Ying Xiaoya. They ran around like headless flies looking for the protagonist and had their scores deducted.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    The others were understandable but oversleeping in the morning¡­ it was hard to look straight at.

    Xiao Lou looked at the keeper. ¡°What are the rewards for this perfect clearance? Can you settle it now?¡±

    ¡°Of course, please check your card pack.¡±

    Xiao Lou opened the card pack and indeed, there were three new cards.

    [Equipment Card: Invisibility Cloak]

    Rarity: A

    Description: 3 of Hearts limited card. It is only after a perfect clearance that this limitation is lifted and it can be used in other secret rooms.

    Effect: Enter the invisible state when used and be invisible for 30 minutes. It can only be used once every day, ording to the secret room¡¯s time flow rate.

    [Tool Card: Universal/ Energy/ Key]

    Rarity: B

    Description: A fixed reward for clearing the 3 of Hearts secret room.

    Effect: It can open any lock in the secret room world, including door locks, drawer locks, safe locks etc. However, it can¡¯t be used in the Diamonds secret room. The key can be used 5 times and is damaged after 5 uses.

    The Universal/ Energy/ Key was the reward card for clearing the instance. Yu Hanjiang had unlocking skills and this card was of little use. It could be considered for sellingter. The invisibility cloak was from selecting option A after perfectly clearing the instance and it was sessfully taken out of the secret room.

    Although they didn¡¯t choose B and lost one million coins, Xiao Lou¡¯s mood was much better after seeing these two cards.

    The third card was indeed the plot card.

    [Plot Card: Bloody Maple Leaf]

    Rarity: S

    Description: A reward for perfectly clearing the 3 of Hearts secret room Bloody Maple Leaf.

    Note: This plot card can be opened at any time and anywhere in order to view theplete story of the 3 of Hearts secret room.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other.

    The 2 of Hearts plot card showed Zhao Sen killing two people and taking away his cousin¡¯s body. Finally, he stood at the entrance and smiled at the camera, making Xiao Lou¡¯s scalp numb. Although the murderer in that case was perverted, Xiao Lou had no contact with the deceased at all. Watching the plot was like watching a TV series¡­ there were no deep feelings.

    The 3 of Hearts secret room was different. He had seen Ying Xiaoya in person and stood outside the ssroom listening to Zhang Qing teach. These people were vivid and were like real people around him. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t bear to watch Ying Xiaoya fall into that tragic situation.

    Still, he quickly took a breath and adjusted his mindset. He wanted to find out Ying Xiaoya¡¯s true cause of death.

    Xiao Lou decisively opened the plot card. The card with the maple leaf spun in the air and quickly unfolded into arge screen on the wall. It started to y theplete story of the secret room.

    Five years ago, Maple Forest High School.

    The school had just been built and several nearby schools were merged. The scale was unprecedented and the leaders of the city personally came to participate in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

    Si Han carried a schoolbag as she walked next to a ssmate. The girl¡¯s eyes were full of excitement and curiosity. She explored the school before going to the maple forest to look at the falling leaves, a shallow smile on her face.

    Herpanion said, ¡°Si Han, our new school is so beautiful! There are your favourite maple trees!¡±

    Si Han stood between the maple trees, picking up a maple leaf. ¡°Yes, the school environment is good. I heard that the school spend hundreds of millions to repair this school. The desk and chairs in the ssroom, the instruments in theboratory and theputers in thework centre are all new.¡±

    Herpanion was very excited. ¡°It is better than the dpidated school we used to go to!¡±

    Si Han stopped and looked at this red maple forest. ¡°This ce is really beautiful. I cane here after school.¡±

    Herpanion wondered, ¡°Based on your achievements, you should have no problem testing in the top 10 of the year? I heard that after school starts, there will be a unified examination to ce the sses. You will certainly be able to enter the key ss.¡±

    Si Han replied modestly, ¡°Now three schools are merged and there are too many ssmates. My grades might not necessarily be enough to enter the key ss. Once the timees, let¡¯s do well and I hope we can be together.¡±

    For the next two days, Maple Forest High School conducted a school-wide test. Si Han entered the liberal arts key ss as fifth in the entire year. Herpanion was ranked in the top 100 and failed to enter the same ss as her. Even so, sheforted her friend. After all, they could study together and meet in the maple forest in the morning.

    This maple forest was very popr with Si Han. Every morning, she woulde to school very early to recite Chinese texts or English words. A serious girl held the book and moved lightly through the maple forest, looking like a beautiful elf.

    Not long after, she was noticed by thenguage teacher.

    Thenguage teacher and also her ss teacher had the surname Zhou and he was in his 40s. He was in good shape without the beer belly of middle-aged people. He was also very knowledgeable and well-written, making him popr among students.

    He smiled at the girl in the maple forest and asked, ¡°Si Han? Are you here again?¡±

    Si Han politely bowed. ¡°Hello, Teacher¡­¡±

    Teacher Zhou encouraged her. ¡°Continue to work hard and you will definitely pass the key points in the exam.¡±

    Si Han smiled and nodded firmly. ¡°Yes!¡±

    He was her most respected ss teacher. She listened to his words and her results were very stable.

    Si Han was bing more and more beautiful. She didn¡¯t realize that the teacher¡¯s care for her was excessive. She simply thought that as the representative of thenguage ss, the ss teacher would often talk to her.

    One time, after school on Friday, Si Han went back veryte because it was her duty day. She had just walked to the school gates when it started to rain. The girl couldn¡¯t help being drenched.

    The ss teacher driving past saw that she was wet and took the initiative to open the door to her. ¡°Si Han, didn¡¯t you bring an umbre? I will send you back since it is on the way.¡±

    Si Han was very embarrassed. How could she let the teacher send her home?

    However, the rain was bing heavier and the teacher already opened the door to let her in. The ce where the teacher lived and her residence was indeed close. She had to say thank you and carefully ce her hands on her knees as she sat in the back seat.

    She didn¡¯t expect¡­

    This decision became the beginning of her tragedy.

    The car drove further away, deviating from the original route. This made Si Han panic. ¡°Teacher, I arrived¡­ Teacher¡­¡±

    The driver in front just ignored her calls.

    The 40 year old man drove the car to the deste suburbs and locked the girl in his car, cruelly defiling her.

    Si Han was so angry she couldn¡¯t breathe. She didn¡¯t think the person she had always respected was actually a beast under human skin!

    The girl¡¯s desperate cries made Xiao Lou¡¯s expression crack and he wanted to beat this beast¡¯s head with a punch!

    After the heavy rain, Si Han returned home in the early hours of the morning and washed her body like crazy. She was still young and her personality rtively soft. She suddenly encountered such a thing and was confused. She didn¡¯t know that she should first go to the police¡­

    As a result, there was no evidence when she wanted to report it to the police.

    The man personally apologized to her the next day, saying that he was drunk and lost his senses. He had always liked her which was why he would do such a thing and he hoped she forgave him. He even knelt in front of her and made an oath, asking her not to call the police or call others.

    Si Han didn¡¯t know what to do and didn¡¯t dare tell anyone. She went back to school and was frequently distracted, causing her results to plummet.

    Just as she was at her most helpless, Zhang Qing called her from abroad and asked softly, ¡°Little Han, how are you? Are you still adapting to your new school?¡±

    Si Han¡¯s lips trembled and her eyes were full of tears. ¡°Sister¡­ you, are you busy?¡±

    ¡°I had an important exam recently which is why I haven¡¯t contacted you for several days. Are you okay?¡±

    Si Han bit her lips and hesitated for a moment. In the end, she gritted her teeth. ¡°I-I am very good¡­¡±

    First, she was too humiliated and didn¡¯t know how to say it. Second, she didn¡¯t want to affect her hard-working sister who was studying abroad. She thought it was just a nightmare and everything would be fine when she woke up from the dream.

    She didn¡¯t expect that the nightmare wasn¡¯t over¡­ it was just beginning.

    Her most trusted psychological teacher was a young and gracious person. Her performance had dropped and she was unable to concentrate. She went to him to consult and adjust her mentality. Under the guidance of this teacher, she gradually came out from her daze.

    However, she didn¡¯t know that some people didn¡¯t have a bottom line. Even if they knelt down and apologized, they would just useless words.

    If there was a first time then there would be a second time.

    In the gym¡¯s dressing room on Friday night, she was once again bullied by the ss teacher. She shouted for help and caught the attention of the school¡¯s security guard.

    She thought she was saved when the security guard came in. She didn¡¯t expect this security guard to be inhuman and he actually joined in to abuse her.

    The psychological teacher had identally fallen asleep in the office and woke up at 9 in the evening. He heard the movements in the gymnasium and saw her lying on the ground.

    She cried and begged for him to call the police.

    However, he walked away in a panic.

    He had just graduated and was assigned to this school. The security guard was the vice-principal¡¯s rtive and Teacher Zhou was an excellent predecessor who had a tough background. Did he really want to offend these two people for an irrelevant student?

    The usually polite and reasonable psychological teacher, in the key moment¡­ he became a coward who didn¡¯t want to cause trouble.

    Si Han¡¯s desperate tears as she looked at the back of her trusted psychological teacher made Xiao Lou¡¯s heart hurt.

    If he was Si Han¡¯s sister then he would also want to kill these three beasts!

    Si Han had been whispering that she wanted to report this to the police. The security guard and Teacher Zhou were afraid. After a discussion, they decided to use the gym¡¯s bathroom to wash her clean and leave no evidence. Then Teacher Zhou forged a suicide note and the security guard deleted the monitoring. Then they pushed her down from the top of the building.

    They knew it was Si Han¡¯s 18th birthday.

    The girl¡¯s body fell from the roof like this and the time of the fall was very short. In her eyes, there was only the maple forest facing the office building. Countless maple leaves fell, like a blood-stained red carpet on the ground.

 Chapter 37: Bloody Maple Leaf: Final

    Si Han and Zhang Qing were sisters but their parents divorced a few years ago. Zhang Qing took their father¡¯s surname while Si Han had their mother¡¯s surname.

    Their father remarried and their mother also remarried. The two sisters were older and lived together in a house their parents left them. Since they lived together, their feelings were excellent and they regarded each other as the closest rtives.

    Zhang Qing went abroad after high school but was worried about her soft-spoken sister. She would call for a video chat every week.

    However, she couldn¡¯t reach Si Han on her 18th birthday.

    Zhang Qing was anxious and went to her domestic aunt. The aunt Zhang Yu had her son ride a bicycle to Maple Forest High School where he found the school surrounded by police cars.

    The murderers who pushed Si Han off the building reported it to the police like nothing happened.

    They had already faked the illusion of Si Han¡¯s suicide and used each other as an alibi. In the distance, Xie Xinghe looked at his cousin who had fallen in a pool of blood. The boy¡¯s face had no expression but his fists were clenched tightly by his side, blood flowing from his palms.

    He returned and told Zhang Qing that Si Han had fallen from the building. Zhang Qingpletely copsed abroad.

    Xie Xinghe¡¯s mother went to the police station to im the body and Zhang Qing came back to attend her sister¡¯s funeral. She was dressed in ck with a cold expression and angry eyes.

    Then she returned home to sort out her sister¡¯s belongings and found a diary.

    Her sister had used a red pen to write down her experience of being humiliated.

    Zhang Qing held the diary in her arms with a nk expression, the coldness in her eyes like a poisonous snake staring at prey.

    The police determined that her sister hadmitted suicide but she didn¡¯t believe it.

    She would avenge her sister, paying back her dead sister¡¯s blood debt!

    After graduation, Zhang Qing obtained a teacher¡¯s qualification and applied to Maple Forest High School. Her sister¡¯s diary only recorded the first incident with the ss teacher as well as Si Han looking for the psychologist. Zhang Qing first went to the young psychologist to investigate and used various means to hook the other person.

    She soon found out the cause of her sister¡¯s death.

    The culprit was naturally the teacher surnamed Zhou while the security guard whomitted perjury was an aplice. The psychologist who ran away was also to me!

    They should all be buried with her sister!

    Zhang Qing used her own beauty and through a careful n, she struck the psychologist in the head with a hammer, stabbed the ss teacher¡¯s chest three times and strangled the security guard with a rope¡­

    She dismembered their bodies and buried them in her sister¡¯s favourite maple forest.

    She also deliberately kept a rib bone of each person, cutting it into the shape of a wolf¡¯s teeth and hanging it around her neck as a souvenir.

    This matter ended.

    However, the third grade English teacher was pregnant and asked for maternity leave. The school transferred sses and let her teach ss 3. Xie Xinghe happened to be in this ss. For this cousin, Zhang Qing had no special feelings. After her parents divorced, she didn¡¯t have much involvement with her aunt¡¯s family and they only saw each other several times. On the other hand, Si Han and Xie Xinghe had a much better rtionship.

    Thanks to Si Han, Zhang Qing was very good to Xie Xinghe and also gave him a few English tutoring lessons.

    There was a beautiful girl in the ss called Ying Xiaoya who secretly liked Xie Xinghe. She could see that Xie Xinghe was cold and arrogant, only studying to make it into a good university, but a girl¡¯s mind was never clear.

    On Monday, Xie Xinghe was on duty and Zhang Qing was working overtime in her office.

    After cleaning the ssroom, Xie Xinghe packed his bags and was ready to go home. He just reached the air corridor when he found Zhang Qing avoiding the cameras and going to the rooftop. He followed her.

    Zhang Qing actually had the key to the office building¡¯s roof?

    She opened the door, walked onto the rooftop and stood at the guardrail, looking into the distance with a serious expression.

    Xie Xie Xinghe walked over and asked, ¡°Sister, what are you doing here? How did you get the key to the roof?¡±

    Zhang Qing spoke lightly, ¡°Little Han jumped from her and I just came to see here.¡± She stared at the maple forest in the distance, eyes full of sorrow. ¡°If I hadn¡¯t gone abroad but stayed here for university, she wouldn¡¯t have encountered these¡­ I was too strong and didn¡¯t think. I didn¡¯t take care of here¡­¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t Sister Hanmit suicide?¡± Xie Xinghe whispered.

    ¡°Suicide? Hahaha!¡± Zhang Qing clenched her fists andughed. ¡°She was pushed off the building! I have discovered it. Those murderers are buried in the maple forest while Little Xiao is in the sky. She can watch every day as their meat rot and they are eaten by insects until only their bones are scattered¡±

    The woman¡¯s sharpughter echoed in his ears. Xie Xinghe pushed up his sses and remained silent.

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you surprised?¡± Zhang Qing looked at him with amazement.

    ¡°I guessed it was your hand.¡± Xie Xinghe whispered. ¡°The three people who disappeared in recent years are all rted to Sister Han. The psychologist was someone who often consulted her before her death while the security guard and ss teacher were on the scene that day. How can it be a coincidence?¡±

    ¡°In addition.¡± Xie Xinghe paused and took out the book Count of Monte Cristo from his bag. ¡°I saw the original version of this book in your drawer so I went to buy a tranted version. This story is about revenge. You are avenging Si Han and all three people were killed by you.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Zhang Qing sneered. ¡°They should die!¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you submit the evidence to the police? Did you have to do it yourself?¡±

    ¡°You are too naive. The evidence has been destroyed over the years and they won¡¯t admit it if it means being ruined! Besides, being arrested is too cheap for them! I had to torture them slowly, let them experience something better than death!¡± Zhang Qing¡¯s voice was cold and terrible as she touched the ne with a strange gentleness. ¡°I cut them into pieces and buried them in the forest to pay homage to my sister.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Ying Xiaoya stood at the door and covered her mouth with horror.

    She deliberately changed her duty arrangement with Yi Ru today because she wanted to do the duty with the male god. Xie Xinghe might always be cold but she would be satisfied just being with him for a while.

    Yu Hui had been angry and looked at Xie Xinghe with more dissatisfied. How could the sister he raised by caught by this pig Xie Xinghe.

    Ying Xiaoya¡¯s cousin went to the court to y while waiting for Ying Xiaoya toe downstairs.

    She had just finished duty and was nning to go downstairs when she saw Xie Xinghe walking to the rooftop with his bag. She curiously followed and heard a terrible secret!

    Zhang Qing¡¯s cruel words scared Ying Xiaoya so much she almost screamed. She immediately turned to run downstairs.

    Zhang Qing sensed the movements behind her and turned around sharply. ¡°Who is it?¡±

    Xie Xinghe guessed it should be Ying Xiaoya but said, ¡°Nothing, just the wind.¡±

    He pushed up his sses. ¡°You did this for Si Han. Your means of revenge were cruel but¡­ I can understand your mood. Sister Han died very badly in the past and the people who harmed her should be punished. Since all three of them have been killed by you, this matter has passed and we won¡¯t mention it anymore.

    Zhang Qing¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°Passed? The dead can¡¯t be resurrected. How can it be passed?¡±

    She looked at the maple forest in the distance and as a result, she saw Ying Xiaoya run to the basketball court in a panic and took Yu Hui away like she was escaping.

    Zhang Qing slightly narrowed her eyes. ¡°Just now, did Ying Xiaoya overhear us?¡±

    Xie Xinghe immediately denied it. ¡°No, today Yi Ru is on duty. She couldn¡¯t finish her homework so I let her go back first. It should be that Ying Xiaoya is apanying Yu Hui to y basketball. Their rtionship is really good. Don¡¯t the teachers know this?¡±

    Zhang Qing stared thoughtfully at the young girl¡¯s back and an unknown emotion shed in her eyes.

    Xie Xinghe had a bad feeling.

    Ying Xiaoya must¡¯ve heard it. For the next few days, she waste and frequently distracted in ss. She used to be good in English but now she actually didn¡¯t write down the words in the early morning ss. Zhang Qing¡¯s face was hard to read but she didn¡¯t say anything. After ss, she called Yi Ru over.

    Zhang Qing asked, ¡°Were you and Xie Xinghe on duty on Monday?¡±

    Yi Ru answered honestly. ¡°I changed with Xiaoya and she was with Xie Xinghe on duty. Teacher, why do you ask?¡±

    Zhang Qing sneered. ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡±

    She went to the security room that day and found an excuse to investigate the monitoring on Monday. As she was chatting with Xie Xinghe, Ying Xiaoya appeared near the rooftop and ran down with a pale face. Ying Xiaoya must¡¯ve heard it.

    Zhang Qing touched the bone ne against her chest thoughtfully.

    The next day was Wednesday. Xie Xinghe found that Zhang Qing had bought a pair of shoes that were the same style as Ying Xiaoya. She also wore casual clothes and canvas shoes to go to the ss. She rarely dressed like this so Xie Xinghe couldn¡¯t help being aware of it.

    Would Zhang Qing kill Xiaoya? Previously, she got revenge for her sister but would she really kill the innocent Xiaoya? Why did she buy these shoes?

    Other people thought it was normal for teachers to buy such canvas shoes. After all, it was a popr style and many people wore them. It was just that Xie Xinghe knew this was wrong. He understood Zhang Qing and Zhang Qing was a very delicate woman. She loved to go out in full makeup and her shoe cab was filled with all types of fashionable high heels. It was very unusual for her to wear canvas shoes and casual sportswear.

    In any case, he must be on the safe side.

    During the afternoon chemistry ss, the teacher talked about organic phosphate. Xie Xinghe locked the door, left with the teacher and then sneaked back to open the door look and took half a bottle of the organic phosphate.

    He returned home and went to the supermarket to buy arge box of choctes that Yu Hui often gave to Ying Xiaoya. He inserted organic phosphate into the contents with a syringe.

    Thursday and Friday were test days. In thest ss, he handed out the papers in advance and waited for Ying Xiaoya outside the seventh examination room.

    Ying Xiaoya finished the test and went out. Then Xie Xinghe gave her the printed love letter. Ying Xiaoya looked at it at home and suddenly turned red. The writing was very sappy. Did Xie Xinghe really like her? It was incredible!

    Xie Xinghe didn¡¯t know that Ying Xiaoya was secretly in love with him and this love letter became a pink bubble in the girl¡¯s heart. Ying Xiaoya didn¡¯t understand the obvious hint in the love letter and it only made her heart beat faster.

    Her mood was very contradictory.

    She knew a lot of secrets. Teacher Zhang was actually the ss monitor¡¯s rtive and Si Han who fell from the building five years ago was also a rtive. Teacher Zhang did horrible things to get revenge for Si Han. The terrible thing? Three bodies were buried in the maple forest! She went to the maple forest to study every day and just thinking about it caused Ying Xiaoya¡¯s hairs to stand up.

    Ying Xiaoya was troubled all night. Then on Sunday, her mother suddenly found a conscience and flew over to apany her daughter on her birthday. She took Ying Xiaoya to a hotel and gave her a mobile phone. Ying Xiaoya panicked because she didn¡¯t have a school uniform and had nightmares when sleeping with her mother. She overslept and waste again on Monday.

    Xie Xinghe saw Ying Xiaoyae to ss and knew that this girl hadn¡¯t understood his love letter. He had to use his backup n.

    He always felt that Zhang Qing¡¯s eyes were somewhat ferocious. He didn¡¯t know if Zhang Qing would act against Ying Xiaoya but just in case, as long as Ying Xiaoya ate the choctes and went to the hospital, the police woulde to investigate. Zhang Qing would have no chance to start.

    He would look for opportunities to persuade Zhang Qing, whose mind had been distorted, and this matter could be perfectly resolved.

    Unfortunately, things went wrong.

    Ying Xiaoya had just eaten a piece of chocte when Zhang Qing came to the ssroom.

    She wore casual clothes and canvas shoes, which werepletely different from the suit she was wearing for the morning ss. However, Ying Xiaoya had no doubts as she asked nervously, ¡°Teacher, are you looking for me?¡±

    Zhang Qing smiled. ¡°I scolded you in the morning ss and also made you go to the penalty station. I know that you aren¡¯t feeling well but I was too fierce. I hope that your results can catch up as soon as possible. Come with me and I will exin to you the test contents.¡±

    Ying Xiaoya couldn¡¯t refuse this reason and she had to nervously follow.

    Zhang Qing stated, ¡°There are too many people in the office. Let¡¯s find a quiet ce to talk about it.¡±

    Ying Xiaoya thought that the eavesdropping matter wasn¡¯t known to the English teacher and the other person had the serious appearance of ¡®teaching a student.¡¯ She didn¡¯t think much and followed.

    She died without any idea that she would be pushed off the building.

    She just saw Xie Xinghe go to the rooftop and curiously followed. She didn¡¯t want to hear these secrets.

    How innocent was she?

    The police station.

    Seeing Zhang Qing and the canvas shoes brought in by the police, Xie Xinghe¡¯s face turned grey.

    He confessed everything.

    The police were shocked by the truth and Zhang Qing was detained for intentional homicide, awaiting prosecution.

    Xie Xinghe asked to see her.

    Separated by the iron window, Zhang Qing sat there with no expression while Xie Xinghe had clenched fists as he asked coldly, ¡°Why did you act against Ying Xiaoya? She was innocent! I thought you weren¡¯t so crazy. I didn¡¯t expect you to even want to kill her!¡±

    Zhang Qing replied lightly, ¡°She knew too much. Once she spoke, the bodies in the maple forest would be discovered.¡±

    Xie Xinghe frowned. ¡°This isn¡¯t the reason you killed her. Xiaoya¡¯s courage is very small and it is impossible for her to talk! Sister, you aren¡¯t yourself. You have be the type of person you hate the most. What is the difference between you and those who killed Si Han in the past? How would Si Han feel if she saw all of this?¡±

    Zhang Qing suddenlyughed, her shoulders constantly shaking but her face full of tears.

    She touched the bone pieces against her chest and spoke softly, ¡°A dragon yer will eventually be a dragon. From the moment I decided to get revenge, perhaps¡­ I already wasn¡¯t myself.¡±

    Zhang Qing received the death penalty sentence.

    As for Xie Xinghe, since the dose of poison was too low and he intended to save Ying Xiaoya, his parents and the school paid bail and he was released after a few days of detention, taking part in the university entrance examination.

    The end of the plot card showed a cemetery.

    Rows of gravestones were neatly arranged on the open hills. Xie Xinghe wore a ck suit and ced a white flower on Ying Xiaoya¡¯s grave, whispering, ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    A cold wind swept through the hills and the white petals were blown all over the ce.

    The young man stood in the wind with a deep and calm expression. ¡°My score for the university entrance examination has been received and I did well. I signed up to report to the police academy. My family members are very opposed to it but it doesn¡¯t matter. I have made up my mind.¡±

    His slender fingers touched the photo of the girl on the gravestone and he spoke in a rare gentle voice. ¡°In the future, I will be a police officer. Zhang Qing shouldn¡¯t have done that to you and the people who killed Si Han are also guilty. You and Si Han were both innocent.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how many innocent people can be saved with my own power but¡­ I¡¯ll do my best.¡±

    He stood up and bowed deeply to the gravestone. ¡°May there be less killing in the world and may you never feel pain in Heaven. Rest in peace, Xiaoya.¡±

    [3 of Hearts secret room ¨C Bloody Maple Leaf is finished.]

 Chapter 38: Drawing Cards

    After seeing the plot of the 3 of Hearts room, Xiao Lou¡¯s heart couldn¡¯t calm down for a long time. As Xie Xinghe stated in the end, Si Han and Ying Xiaoya were the most innocent while Zhang Qing was very contradictory. She was pitiful, sad but also hateful. Her heart was distorted by hatred and she eventually became the most disgusting person. The death penalty was her best ending.

    However, Xiao Lou didn¡¯t expect Xie Xinghe to be a police officer. Was there a follow-up to his story?

    He remembered in 2 of Hearts when the murderer Zhao Sen left with his cousin¡¯s body. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help looking at A of Hearts and asking, ¡°I remember you said that I might encounter Zhao Sen in the future. Then in future secret rooms, are we likely to encounter Xie Xinghe who has be a policeman?¡±

    A of Hearts smiled. ¡°Zhao Sen and Xie Xinghe, these characters will be free people afterpleting the plot of their secret rooms. Of course, it is possible you will meet them but the probability is low.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Free people? What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°Most people in the Card World have their own living areas. For example, Ying Xiaoya and Zhang Qing will remain in the 3 of Hearts secret room. Those who don¡¯t die in the secret room won¡¯t be confined to a fixed room but may also appear in other secret rooms.¡±

    For the sake of understanding, A of Hearts gave an example. ¡°For example, Xie Xinghe was admitted to the police academy at the end of the 3 of Hearts room. In future secret rooms, if there is a police school environment or a police officer, you might meet him because the time flow rate in every secret room isn¡¯t the same.¡±

    Xiao Lou bowed his head and thought about it before opening his mouth. ¡°In other words, Xie Xinghe was a high school student in 3 of Hearts. In 4 or 5 of Hearts, he might be in the police academy. Then in 7 or 8 of Hearts¡­ he has graduated from the police academy?¡±

    A of Hearts smiled and nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    The time flow rate, Xiao Lou had seen this concept before. When he entered 3 of Hearts, the secret room told him that the time flow rate in 3 of Hearts was different from the card world. One day there was equivalent to 10 minutes in the Card World.

    If each secret room had an independent method of calcting time then ¡®free¡¯ people such as Xie Xinghe and Zhao Sen might indeed appear in countless secret rooms at the same time.

    The keeper reminded them, ¡°The actions of the free men are bound by the plot in their secret rooms. However, in other secret rooms, we won¡¯t control the free people. They have their own will and might help you¡­ or might kill you.¡±

    Xiao Lou still wasn¡¯t very familiar with the rules of the Card World but it was certain that a dead person could only stay in their secret room. Some free people could leave after the plot of the secret room finished and there was a certain chance they would appear in the other secret rooms.

    2 of Hearts had the murderer Zhao Sen while 3 of Hearts had the policeman Xie Xinghe. In future secret rooms, there might be more and more ¡®free people¡¯ who would influence the challengers. They would be unstable factors in the secret room, increasing or decreasing the difficulty of the clearance.

    The world of countless parallel secret rooms was reallyplicated.

    Xiao Lou pressed against his temples tiredly and requested, ¡°We have perfectly cleared the room. We can draw from the limited card pool, right?¡±

    A of Hearts pointed to the golden treasure chest in front of them. ¡°The two of you have signed a contract and the perfect clearance will only give one treasure chest. Please draw from it.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you want toe?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought of his drawn gun and shoes and then Tao Yuanming and thepass that Xiao Lou had drawn. He decisively said, ¡°You do it.¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t protest and stepped forward, reaching into the treasure chest.

    He drew out a golden S card.

    [Congrattions on obtaining the S-grade rare card ¡®Summoning Card: Detective Di Renjie¡¯!]

    [Summoning Card: Di Renjie]

    Team Limit: Di Renjie is a team restricted card and all teammates on the same contract book can only carry one Di Renjie.

    Additional Skill 1: Detective

    Effect: Use in the Hearts secret room to find a clue within a 500 metres range. Use in the Diamonds secret room to find a mechanism within 100 metres.

    Additional Skill 2: Discernment

    Effect: Use in the Hearts room to point out a lying person. Use in a Diamonds room to exclude a mechanism option.

    Note: As long as Di Renjie¡¯s skills are used in the secret room, the clearance score will be lowered and the instance clearance won¡¯t be perfect. However, sometimes it isn¡¯t a good thing to pursue perfection. First, you have to live. If your reasoning has encountered a problem or if you can¡¯t find a mechanism, it is advised that you call Di Renjie to help. Di Renjie will never lie to you.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He was speechless about his own luck.

    Group Leader Yu drew a gun and shoes. Why did he draw Tao Yuanming and Di Renjie?

    The card had a youthful version of Di Renjie drawn. He wore an official hat and looked quite handsome.

    Xiao Lou stared at the card for a moment before touching his nose. ¡°This is equivalent to a clue prompt card? If theter secret rooms are too hard to perfectly clear, we can call Di Renjie and at least live.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°This card is very useful in the Hearts and Diamonds secret room so it is good to keep it.¡±

    Di Renjie had more restrictions since he could only be used once in a Hearts and DIamonds secret room but the advantage was that he didn¡¯t need to be grown. He automatically had two skills and could save their lives in a key moment in theter stages.

    Drawing Di Renjie from a perfect clearance wasn¡¯t a loss.

    Xiao Lou seriously ced Di Renjie into his card pack and nced at A of Hearts. ¡°Can we rest?¡±

    A of Hearts smiled. ¡°The conditions of the 3 of Hearts room were very difficult. Therefore, this break is extended to 8 hours. You can sleep. Yes, I have prepared a shower for you. After all, I am a kind keeper.¡±

    Xiao Lou heard this and was finally relieved.

    It would be hard for him to keep his calm if this kept going.

    He was really tired. He hadn¡¯t rested well for three consecutive days and it felt like there was an electric drill inside his head. His headache was about to explode¡­

    Moreover, he had been unable to bathe in the 3 of Hearts room.

    At that time, he had been busy solving the case and didn¡¯t have time to think about it. Now that he thought about it, Xiao Lou felt his entire body was ufortable.

    Seeing his exhaustion, Yu Hanjiang spoke softly. ¡°You go and wash up first.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and looked at A of Hearts. ¡°Beauty¡­ can you look away?¡±

    A of Hearts raised an eyebrow. ¡°Rest assured, I don¡¯t have the hobby of peeking at men in the shower. You slowly take a rest and I¡¯ll set an rm clock. Once eight hours pass, go to the card wall to draw a card.¡±

    Then she disappeared. Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t surprised since he was used to the keepers appearing and disappearing.

    He turned and walked into the bathroom. It was spacious and was six square metres. It was a connected bathroom with the shower and wash area separated by a shower curtain. There was a hanger on the wall next to it where two sets of white dressing gowns hung. Two sets of toiletries such as towels and toothbrushes were also prepared on the sink. There were even disposable razors. A of Hearts was really quite sweet.

    Xiao Lou took off his clothes, opened the shower and washed himself all over. He brushed his teeth, shaved and put on his pyjamas.

    His body was covered with traces of heat and his wet hair hung down, making the contours of his face more gentle. His eyes were ck and as clear as the water as he smiled gently. ¡°Group Leader Yu, go and wash.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at this person and thought that Professor Xiao was really good-looking. No wonder why he was so popr in school. If it wasn¡¯t for the ident, Xiao Lou would now be standing on the podium and expressing his knowledge of forensic science.

    Xiao Lou discovered Group Leader Yu staring at him and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang retracted his gaze and replied lightly, ¡°It¡¯s nothing. You go sleep first while I take a shower.¡±

    By the time he finished, Xiao Lou had fallen asleep. He was covered with a quilt and breathing well.

    The bed prepared by A of Hearts wasn¡¯t high-grade but it wasparable to a standard double room of an ordinary hotel. There were two beds and a table in the middle. Yu Hanjiang walked lightly and lie down on the bed next to Xiao Lou¡¯s bed.

    He thought he would lose sleep but he was so tired that he went straight to sleep.

    During the days in the 3 of Hearts secret room, the two people had slept in the cold, hard corridor every night without a quilt. They often woke up in the middle of the night. Now it was a luxury to enjoy contact with a soft bed and warm quilt.

    They slept with satisfaction.

    Xiao Lou slept soundly and was finally woken up by Yu Hanjiang.

    The man¡¯s low voice rang in his ears in a rare gentle manner. ¡°Get up, it¡¯s time.¡±

    Xiao Lou opened his eyes in a confused manner and found Yu Hanjiang sitting on the bed and watching him. He rubbed his eyes, sat up and subconsciously asked. ¡±What time is it?¡±

    ¡°The clock in the room shows that it is eight in the morning.¡±

    However, there was no morning sun outside. There was still a thick white fog that didn¡¯t allow them to tell day or night.

    Xiao Lou remembered he was in the Card World, calmly got out of bed, went to the bedroom to wash his face and then headed in front of the card wall.

    He would like to sleep for another eight hours but it was better to not vite the rules.

    In the real world, oversleeping meant being scolded by your boss at most. Here, oversleeping might mean waking up in the Nightmare Room.

    Xiao Lou raised his spirits and looked at the card wall. ¡°Where next?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wanted to directly pull out 4 of Hearts and continue to solve the murder case. Then he looked back and saw that although Xiao Lou slept for eight hours, the tired look in his eyes couldn¡¯t be hidden and there were obvious dark circles under his eyes. Yu Hanjiang thought about it and his fingers moved to the side, taking out the 3 of Diamonds. ¡°Go in order to Diamonds.¡±

    Even if it was a stable university teacher like Xiao Lou and even if his expression was calm, continuously experiencing a murder case was psychologically unbearable.

    It was obvious that Xiao Lou had been very saddened by Ying Xiaoya¡¯s death.

    Therefore, Yu Hanjiang gave up on the idea of continuing 4 of Hearts and decided to slow down, choosing the Diamonds room that Xiao Lou was good at.

    Group Leader Yu¡¯s fingers were originally going to draw the 4 of Hearts and then suddenly moved to 3 of Diamonds. Xiao Lou understood that Group Leader Yu was thinking of him and his heart slightly warmed as he smiled. ¡°Then we¡¯ll go to Diamonds.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°I¡¯m not good at the mechanisms. I¡¯ll have to rely on you in the Diamonds room.¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke modestly. ¡°I have only seen most of the mechanisms in secret rooms. Let¡¯s wait and discuss it.¡±

    The two people nced at each other and stood side by side in front of the card wall.

    Soon, their vision darkened at the same time.

    [Wee Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang to the 3 of DIamonds secret room, Character Puzzle.]

    Clearance conditions: Unlock 3 mechanisms in the maze.

    Perfect clearance conditions: Unlock all hidden mechanisms in the maze.

    The instance clearance is limited to one hour and going over this time is considered to be a failure.

    The instance clearance score is linked to time. The less time it takes, the higher the score.

    The secret room¡¯s tips were very simple and this was also a consistent feature of the Diamonds room. However, Yu Hanjiang had a headache when he recalled the pile of mathematical equations and messy arrows on the wall in the 2 of Diamonds secret room¡­ he had a psychological shadow regarding this wall.

    He only hoped that he could follow Professor Xiao to win.

 Chapter 39: Character Maze (Beginning)

    The two people opened their eyes and found that it was still dark until a shlight automatically appeared in their hands.

    However, the two people weren¡¯t together. They were separated by the secret room.

    Xiao Lou turned on the shlight and looked around. He was in a narrow, straight passage with a length of approximately 50 metres. The floor was covered with bluestone and the walls on both sides were the original red brick.

    The temperature here was very low and the air was damp and cold. It was just likeing to a dark basement.

    Should he look for the mechanisms first or Group Leader Yu?

    Xiao Lou decided to choose thetter.

    After all, he wasn¡¯t sure if there were any traps in the secret room and it was better for two people to act together.

    Xiao Lou walked to the end of the passage with a shlight. He had reached around half the distance when he found a forked road. Xiao Lou stood at the fork in the road. The front had a wall at the end and there was obviously no way. He had to go down the forked road.

    He had gone halfway when another fork in the road was found.

    Just then he found a ray of light that was also from a shlight.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was happy and he called out, ¡°Group Leader Yu.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was soon heard. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m here.¡±

    The two people met at the fork in the road and Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°I looked in the passage behind me and didn¡¯t find any mechanisms. It seems to be a small maze?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at the straight passage in front and behind him thoughtfully.

    There was no doubt that this was a maze but the area wasn¡¯trge. The longest passage was around 50 metres. They would soon reach the end and there weren¡¯t many forks.

    Xiao Lou quickly took a card out of his pack: the Four-way Arrow.

    This was a reward he previously received in the 2 of Diamonds room and it was useful when dealing with maze-like maps.

    He told Yu Hanjiang, ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you also have the Four-way Arrow card? We should split up, taking this direction in front of me as north. North, south, left west, right east. Use the Four-way Arrow to mark the forks as soon as possible. I want to know the n of the maze.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    This method was very smart. In a maze, it was easy to walk and lose one¡¯s bearings. By selecting a positive north and marking it with an ¡®upward¡¯ arrow, a left arrow representing west, a right arrow east and a down arrow south, all the forks were marked with a direction and even a road fool couldn¡¯t go wrong.

    The two men split up and quickly ced arrows on the walls of the fork.

    They gathered again. Xiao Lou had probably analyzed the location of the arrows and quickly concluded. ¡°This maze isn¡¯t difficult. The floor n is the ¡®Õý¡¯ character.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it carefully. It was true!

    Xiao Lou could so quickly form a floor n of the three-dimensional maze in his maze, causing Yu Hanjiang to feel admiration. He nced at Xiao Lou, ¡°What¡¯s next? How can I help?¡±

    ¡°Group Leader Yu, you are responsible for finding the mechanisms in the west and south. I will be responsible for the east and north. Call me if you find a mechanism. Pay attention to the wall, the ground and the ceiling.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and quickly turned away.

    He had just walked to the lower left corner of the ¡®Õý¡¯ character maze when he heard Xiao Lou¡¯s voice in his ear. ¡°I found it!¡± He had just finished speaking when a message popped up on the floating box. [Mechanism number one has been cracked.]

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It was only a few seconds. Wasn¡¯t this too fast?

    Was the mechanism encountered by Xiao Lou that simple?

    This square was like a chessboard, where the first grid of the first row, the second grid of the second row, the third grid of the third row and the fourth grid of the fourth row were marked in red and filled with a wooden square. The other grids were blue and empty.

    Underneath the square was a box with many random wooden characters.

    Was this mechanism to fill in the empty grids?

    He had done these types of crossword puzzles when he was young but there were usually many hints, just like Sudoku. However, there were no hints in this 4¡Á4 board in front of him. Only four red blocks without words were filled.

    After all, Yu Hanjiang had rarely yed secret room escape games and hadn¡¯t seen this type of crossword-type puzzle before. He didn¡¯t know what the four red blocks meant and simply gave up thinking, directly calling for Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou quickly heard the sound.

    Yu Hanjiang was currently located at the end of a passage to the left side of the ¡®Õý¡¯ character.

    Xiao Lou knew the maze map by heart so he quickly came to the side of Group Leader Yu from the upper right corner. Once he saw the squares on the wall, he knew this was a character patchwork mechanism which fit with the ¡®Character Puzzle¡¯ theme of the 3 of Diamonds room.

    The four squares with red wooden blocks formed a diagonal line from the upper left to the lower right corner. The rest of the vacant squares needed to be filled with other characters. Xiao Lou poured out all the characters in the box and quickly read them.

    He closed his eyes and thought about it. Then he picked up the character blocks and filled in the square one by one.

    Justice, not, give up, awe-inspiring, attend, evil, honor, right, return, speech, work¡­

    Many random characters filled the 4¡Á4 square at an extremely fast rate. He was calm and once he filled in the square, Yu Hanjiang standing next to him finally understood. ¡°Is it four idioms?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Yes, the red of this wooden piece represents the character of the maze Õý (positive).¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the square filled out by Xiao Lou.

    ¿Ú justice, with dignity and honour

    Right¿Ú speech

    Not attend ¿Ú work

    Give up evil and return to ¿Ú

    From the upper left to the bottom right corner, these four red ¡®wordless squares¡¯ formed a diagonal line. If the four red squares were reced with the Õý, weren¡¯t they just four idioms?

    Awe-inspiring, justice, with dignity and honor. Righteous speech. Not attend to one¡¯s proper work. Give up evil and return to good.

    That¡¯s it!

    Yu Hanjiang had seen a bunch of random characters in the box and only thought of it as a crossword puzzle. He didn¡¯t have any clues about the specific space because one character had been removed from each line.

    Xiao Lou saw the characters once and not only did he immediately interpret the red wooden block, he filled in the character squares within 20 seconds. As he filled in the squares, the ¡®Õý¡¯ character filled in the wooden block and shed brightly.

    [Mechanism number two has been cracked.]

    Just then, a loud rumbling sound was heard in the ears of the two men. Xiao Lou was shocked and immediately pulled back with Yu Hanjiang. He thought there would be a boulder rolling from behind the wall.

    As a result, the two people returned to the fork and found that the wall on which the character square was ced had turned 90 degrees and a closed small chamber appeared behind the wall. It was empty and contained no traps.

    Yu Hanjiang stared at the empty room before asking, ¡°Is it the third mechanism? I just walked through the west and south and only saw the second mechanism.

    Xiao Lou often yed puzzle games. He had seen many asions where cracking thest mechanism would open the next one. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s words were reasonable. They only found the first and second mechanisms in the maze so this secret room should be the third one.

    Xiao Lou used his shlight to examine the room. He found no obvious traps on the ground and went inside.

    In the middle of the room was another checkerboard but this time the difficulty had increased. It was a 7¡Á7 square.

    As before, each line had a grid reced with a ¡®no word block.¡¯ The difference was that the red blocks formed a diagonal line from the upper right corner to the lower left corner. This was the opposite direction of the previous one.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the chessboard before asking, ¡°Seven words, is it a poem this time?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°We must first reason out the character that was removed.¡±

    The two peopleid all the characters in the box next to the wall. There was a total of 42 pieces.

    Xiao Lou first picked out a familiar verse. He saw the words ¡®willow¡¯ and ¡®dark¡¯ and his eyes immediately swept over all the characters. He really did find the characters ¡®bright¡¯, ¡®again¡¯, ¡®one¡¯ and ¡®vige.¡¯

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°The character that has been removed should be »¨ (flower).¡±

    The fifth line had the third grid filled with a red wordless wooden block. This could be seen as ¡®dense willow trees, gorgeous X, a vige.¡¯ The word removed was ¡®flower¡¯ than all other blocks must have the shared ¡®»¨¡¯ character as well.

    Xiao Lou stood in front of the wall and spoke quickly. ¡°Group Leader Yu, I¡¯ll say the verses and you help me find them. This will save time.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t sensitive to numbers, poems and idioms but he was happy to find the square pieces.

    Xiao Lou filled in the fifth line ¡®Amidst dense willow trees and gorgeous flowers, a vige appears¡¯. Then he stepped back and looked at the entire 7¡Á7 square board and the scattered wooden blocks. ¡°The first line ¡®Dreamt of falling flowerstest night¡¯.¡±

    ¡°The fourth line, ¡®when the mountain flowers are in full bloom¡¯.¡±

    ¡°The third line¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke very quickly and Yu Hanjiang found the characters fast enough.

    The two people tacitly cooperated to fill out the lines of the poems. In an instance, the 7¡Á7 square was filled in.

    ×òÒ¹ÏÐÌ¶ÃÎÂä¿Ú ¨C Dreamt of falling ¿Útest night

    Ç§Ê÷ÍòÊ÷Àæ¿Ú¿ª ¨C Bringing thousands upon thousands of pear trees into ¿Ú.

    ¶«·çÌÒÀî¿Ú¿ªÈÕ ¨C When the spring Breeze blows, peach and plum ¿Ú will bloom

    ´ýµ½É½¿ÚÀÃÂþÊ± ¨C When the mountain ¿Ú are in full bloom

    Áø°µ¿ÚÃ÷ÓÖÒ»´å -Amidst dense willow trees and gorgeous ¿Ú, a vige appears

    ´º¿ÚÇïÔÂºÎÊ±ÁË- When will the endless cycle of spring ¿Ú and autumn moons end

    ¿Ú×ÔÆ®ÁãË®×ÔÁ÷ ¨C Let the ¿Ú wither and water by itself drift

    TL: I copied the Chinese characters to show where the ¿Ú is missing, since it is hard to show in the tranted version. Each line is one line from a famous poem. If you want the full line of the poems without the missing word, check the bottom. Thanks to Zryuu for helping me with these poems)

    From the upper right corner to the lower left corner, the diagonally block nk character was reced with the word flower¡¯, forming precisely seven lines from a poem.

    Yu Hanjiang turned to Xiao Lou. ¡°Do you know so many poems?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang naturally knewmon verses such as ¡®when will the endless cycle of spring flowers and autumn moons end¡¯ but to so quickly think of the words from 42 mixed up characters and to spell out seven sentences in one minute, Xiao Lou was truly a school master.

    [Three mechanisms have been unlocked and the instance clearance conditions have been met. Do you want to leave the 3 of DIamonds secret room?]

    Xiao Lou certainly wouldn¡¯t leave.

    In order to achieve a perfect clearance, all mechanisms had to be solved. This secret room also had a secret mechanism.

    However, the two men walked around the entire maze and found no other clues or hidden secret rooms.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and asked, ¡°Where is the hidden mechanism?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it before looking down at his shlight.

    In addition to the usual ON/OFF button, there was a small blue button. He pressed the button and the light from the shlight turned blue.

    Since the shlight in his hand had been turned on when entering the secret room, this detail hadn¡¯t been noticed by Yu Hanjiang. Once the shlight turned blue, fluorescent words and a password space appeared on the wall of the secret room.

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°This is a blue light shlight. It is amonly used prop for secret room games. The clues seen with the white light and the blue light are different.¡±

    He went to the wall and Yu Hanjiang immediately followed.

    He saw on the wall:

    39=1£¬468=3£¬7898=5

    17896 = ?

    24568 = ?

    88888 = ?

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s temple throbbed. Last time, he spent too long in the 2 of Diamonds room and now he had a headache when seeing these numbers.

    What did this mean?

    39 = 1? Using addition, subtraction, multiplication or division, how did they calcte it as 1? How did 468 be 3?

    Yu Hanjiang was still pondering on the problem when Xiao Lou smiled and took a step forward. He took out four numerical blocks from the box and filled in the password space below.

    4310.

    [Congrattions to challengers Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang for perfectly clearing the 3 of Diamonds secret room, Character Puzzle, in 8 minutes and 05 seconds, refreshing the 3 of Diamonds¡¯ world record!]

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The furthest distance in the world isn¡¯t that I am in the north and you are in the south.

    It is that I am still reviewing the question while you¡¯ve already filled in the answer.

    Full lines from the poem:

    Dreamt of falling flowerstest night Bringing thousands upon thousands of pear trees into bloom. When the spring breeze blows, peach and plum blossoms will bloom When the mountain flowers are in full bloom Amidst dense willow trees and gorgeous flowers, a vige appears (TL: usually used to mean there will always be a light at the end of the tunnel) When will the endless cycle of spring flowers and autumn moons end Let the flowers wither and water by itself drift

 Chapter 40: Character Maze (End)

    From their personal space to enter the 3 of Diamonds room and then perfectly clearing the instance back to their personal room, the time was incredibly short.

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t even have time to read the question before Xiao Lou unlocked the mechanism. It was Yu Hanjiang¡¯s first time experiencing ¡®lying down to win¡¯ and he was in aplicated mood. After returning to the personal space, there was still a trace of confusion in his eyes.

    Xiao Lou saw Group Leader Yu¡¯s confused expression and suddenly felt¡­ such a cold Group Leader Yu seemed more realistic and a bit¡­ cute?

    Xiao Lou immediately drove away this absurd idea and asked with a smile, ¡°Group Leader Yu, did you find the rule for thest question?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang coughed lightly. He didn¡¯t want to admit it but he didn¡¯t want to lie. Therefore, he looked at Xiao Lou and bluntly said, ¡°I just finished reading the question and didn¡¯t have time to think.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Should he be med for moving so fast that he didn¡¯t even give Group Leader Yu time to think?

    Xiao Lou had to exin carefully, ¡°For this question, think of the number as a graphic and count the number of circles present in the number graphic. 6 and 9 have one circle, 8 has two circles, 17896 has four circles, 24568 has three circles, 88888 has ten circles so the answer is 4310.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    A kindergarten child could do this question but he didn¡¯t even see it, causing him to feel that his IQ had been insulted.

    Xiao Lou saw the man¡¯s stiff expression and smiled lightly. ¡°Don¡¯t mind it. I have done this question once before and once encountering it again, it is very simple. For people who don¡¯t normally touch numerical logic problems, it is normal to not think of the answer.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯sfort made Yu Hanjiang feel a lot better. His academic performance wasn¡¯t really good and his mathematics performance was particrly bad. He had a headache whenever he saw numbers. Still, he didn¡¯t feel he was stupid. His intelligence was in other ces.

    It was good to lie down and win.

    Yu Hanjiang thought that in future Diamonds rooms, he would simply give up thinking and follow Xiao Lou.

    For today¡¯s 2 of Diamonds secret room, if it wasn¡¯t for the time going around the maze and if all the question had been ced together, Xiao Lou might¡¯ve perfectly cleared it in around two minutes.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s performance in the Diamonds room was too strong.

    Yu Hanjiang admired his academic partner.

    Just then, a cute loli voice was heard. ¡°The two of you, please don¡¯t ignore my existence. I have been waiting for you to greet me!¡±

    Xiao Lou turned back and saw a little girl wearing a pink cake skirt sitting on the sofa, her short legs swinging in the air. He smiled and spoke in a gentle voice, ¡°Hello, A of Diamonds.¡±

    The little girl said, ¡°Xiao Lou, you have refreshed the record of the Diamonds room again. I was thinking, what type of mechanism maze will you find difficult?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied modestly, ¡°I am just good at numbers and Chinese characters. I might not necessarily be good at other types.¡±

    The little girl cocked her head to think. ¡°It is only when the Diamonds room reaches B-grade that the secret room will be aprehensivebyrinth. The C-grade rooms have a fixed theme, which as numerical and character types. It is very simple for you.¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°I happened to do many of these types of questions.¡±

    A of Diamonds smiled. ¡°You are doing very well. Please receive the reward.¡±

    The original 2 of Diamonds secret room had a treasure chest in each of the holes dug in the four walls. Once the password lock was opened, the card in the treasure chest could be directly retrieved. However, the mechanisms in the 3 of Hearts room was a character board on the wall and the two people didn¡¯t find any cards in the second room.

    The reward would be given after leaving the secret room and during the settlement stage. Xiao Lou skillfully opened the card pack and found a new card.

    [Book Card: Modern Chinese Dictionary]

    Rarity: C

    Description: Unlock the three characters checkerboard mechanism in the 3 o Diamonds room and the fixed reward can be obtained after clearing the instance.

    Effect: The Card World¡¯s dictionary isn¡¯t for you to check the pinyin and radicals of Chinese characters. You can use it to retrieve some useful information. After all, people sometimes forget things easily. With this dictionary, you can turn back to what you have forgotten.

    Keepers¡­ Page 01

    Secret rooms¡­ Page 05

    Living Creatures¡­ Page 51

    Characters¡­ Page 66

    Cards¡­ Page 100

    Teammates¡­ Page 201

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes brightened. This dictionary was a bit like a game¡¯s illustrated handbook. The second rooms and characters that the yers had experienced would appear here and all those who hadn¡¯t been encountered would have the ¡®??¡¯ mark.

    He turned to the secret rooms section and saw ¡®2 of Hearts: Rose Funeral¡¯ and ¡®3 of Hearts: Bloody Maple Leaf¡¯. The images and text were graphic and lush, presumably describing the way they cleared the instance. The secret rooms they hadn¡¯t yed were all nk pages.

    He turned to ¡®Living Creatures¡¯ and the only thing recorded were ¡®beginner zombies¡¯ and ¡®zombie boss.¡¯

    Characters were divided into ¡®fixed characters¡¯ and ¡®free people.¡¯ Ying Xiaoya and Zhang Qing had photos, their height, weight and other information recorded in a veryplete manner. Zhao Sen and Xie Xinghe were currently ¡®free people¡¯ and the information on them was also veryprehensive. There were many nk pages behind them, proving there would be more free people in the future.

    The ¡®cards¡¯ section contained a brief introduction of all the cards currently owned by Xiao Lou.

    Yu Hanjiang saw up to here and couldn¡¯t helpmenting, ¡°This is the encyclopedia of the Card World?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, we can always consult it for information. Moreover, as my team member, your information is entered into my book and I can see all the cards you are carrying.¡±

    ¡°My book also has your card information. This book might have no fighting power but it is quite practical.¡±

    There would be more and more secret rooms and it was likely they would forget some of the lessmonly used cards. Thanks to the book, they could always check the cards of their teammates. This was very convenient and made thinking of a way to clear the instance easier.

    A of Diamonds asked, ¡°Do you like this fixed reward?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    A of Diamonds spoke seriously, ¡°Don¡¯t look at is as just a C-grade card. I can responsibly tell you that it is the one with the highest retention rate in the Card World, the most frequently used C-grade card.¡±

    She took out a dedicated advertising attitude and Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Thank you, we like it.¡±

    A of Diamonds was happy. ¡°It is a perfect clearance so you have a drawing card opportunity.¡±

    This time Xiao Lou gave the opportunity to Group Leader Yu. They couldn¡¯t always let him draw cards, especially when he drew strange cards like Tao Yuanming and Di Renjie.

    Yu Hanjiang wasn¡¯t polite and reached for a card.

    He seemed to have a good rtionship with equipment since the card was another piece of equipment.

    [Equipment Card: Light Feather Coat]

    Rarity: S

    Description: After a perfect clearance and when there is a S score, there is a low probability of obtaining it from the limited card pool.

    This is a piece of clothing made of special materials. It is warm in the winter and cool in the summer. It is light on the body and can form a protectiveyers of feathers on the body, automatically making you immune to one fatal injury. Wearing it is equivalent to one more life.

    This card was very useful. The dangers in the Card World were unpredictable and this card allowed them to be immune to one injury, saving their lives at a key moment. Yu Hanjiang thought about it and handed the card to Xiao Lou. ¡°You take it.¡±

    Xiao Lou waved his hand. ¡°No, you have previously given me a pair of shoes. You keep this.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke softly, ¡°Give it to you. In a future life or death moment, if I¡¯m not around then it can protect you and let you live.¡± Yu Hanjiang was probably aware that this statement was like a crow¡¯s mouth and changed his words. ¡°Just in case, you keep it first. You will be able to use it the best.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled helplessly and temporarily put the card away. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll take it first.¡±

    A of Diamonds looked at Xiao Lou curiously and then Yu Hanjiang a momentter. ¡°Did you know each other previously?¡±

    Xiao Lou turned back. ¡°Howe you are suddenly asking?¡±

    A of Diamonds exined, ¡°I have seen many partners. After clearing an instance and returning to the personal space, they don¡¯t chat and feel like strangers. Some directlyin and quarrel with each other. The two of you have a tacit understanding and from the end of the instance clearance to the present, you haven¡¯t stopped talking to each other. You are like old friends who have known each other for a long time.¡±

    Friends?

    In fact, in the real world, they could only be regarded as ¡®acquaintances.¡¯ They might¡¯ve added each other on WeChat but they rarely contacted each other. Instead, in the Card World, they had experienced the tragedy of Maple Forest High School together, eating instant noodles, sleeping in corridors, going through windows and unlocking doors. Their rtionship suddenly became close.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang looked at each other with a bit of warmth in their eyes.

    Yes, to outsiders, they were already old friends. It was their great luck to meet such tacit friends in this world.

    Xiao Lou nced at A of Diamonds. ¡°Is there rest time for the Diamonds¡¯ secret room?¡±

    A of Diamonds wondered, ¡°Didn¡¯t you just sleep for 8 hours on Hearts side? You just woke up and cleared the instance in only a few minutes. I don¡¯t think you need to rest.¡± She spoke and waved her hand, causing a row of ying cards to float in front of them. ¡°The time is almost up. Please take the next card.¡±

    Xiao Lou turned back and asked Group Leader Yu. ¡°Go to Spades?¡±

    Just as Yu Hanjiang had a psychological shadow regarding the maths problems in the Diamonds room, Xiao Lou also had a psychological shadow regarding the zombies in the Spades room.

    In fact, they could continue to go to 4 of Diamonds but¡­ thebination of work and rest was the best choice. In case 4 of Hearts was a very brain-burning murder case, they could use 4 of Diamonds to transition and adjust.

    The order of Hearts, Diamonds, Spades and Clubs was the mostfortable.

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°Go to Spades. Once weplete the third level, we will start from 4 of Hearts.¡±

    Xiao Lou had no opinion and watched Group Leader Yu draw the 3 of Spades card.

    There was a moment of dizziness and the two people appeared in a new world at the same time.

    [Wee to the 3 of Spades secret room, Financial Crisis.]

    This secret room is a Spades and Clubs linked room. Once entering the secret room, all the previous gold coins of the challengers will be frozen but you will receive an additional 100,000 gold coins as an initial reward. Please thank Clubs for the friendship sponsorship and please go to the card bank to withdraw the money directly. Once you leave the Spades secret room, you can take out any gold coins remaining in your hands.

    Gold coins are the only currency in cirction in the 3 of Spades secret room.

    This is a small,id-back city where no one knows that a financial crisis is about to break out.

    Instance clearance conditions: At 8 o¡¯clock tomorrow morning, after the stocks plunge and the financial crisis breaks out,st seven days in the city with the gold coins in your hand and the instance will automatically be cleared at the end of seven days. The secret room doesn¡¯t have a perfect clearance and living is your only goal.

    Note: All strange characters in the city might be free people.

    They could also be challengers like you.

    ***

    Xiao Lou read the prompts in the floating box and then brightness was restored to his field of view. He turned his head and happened to look into a pair of deep eyes.

    This time, the Spades room didn¡¯t separate them and the two people entered the secret room by each other¡¯s side.

    They were standing on a long street, not far from the ¡®Card Bank¡¯s self-help machine¡¯ and there were two or three people in the queue.

    Xiao Lou had a headache. ¡°Is this secret room an economic war? We only have 200,000 initial funds and we have to calcte how to spend the money in our hands. ording to the prices of the Card¡­ using 200,000 is only buy instant noodles, can we live for seven days?¡±

    He really didn¡¯t want to eat instant noodles anymore.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and looked at the people lining up in the distance to withdraw money. He said, ¡°The most difficult thing about 3 of Spades perhaps isn¡¯t the problem of money but¡­ after the financial crisis breaks out, there might be chaos in the city.¡±

    Xiao Lou reacted quickly. ¡°Yes! This world has free people!¡±

    A of Hearts said just yesterday that the actions of free people weren¡¯t subject to the jurisdiction of the keepers.

    In the Hearts room, characters like Ying Xiaoya and Xie Xinghe seemed to be under the actions of a script and the general direction wouldn¡¯t change. However, in the world of free people, these people had their own will. If they had no money and were hungry, they would fight, beat up others or steal. The entire city would be a mess and the survival of the challengers would be greatly threatened.

    Moreover, there were other challengers as well as arge number of free people.

    It was possible that challengers would grab gold coins from each other.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath. ¡°Let¡¯s withdraw the money first and use the money to find a ce to live. Then we will go to the supermarket in the evening to sweep up goods.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°We can only stay in the cheapest ce. The prices of hotels are high and it will be even more terrible after the financial crisis.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and the two people headed to the self-help cash machine.

    This cash machine didn¡¯t need to insert a card. It directly scanned their fingerprints and their fingerprints had been entered into the card banking system by A of Clubs. Xiao Lou pressed his fingerprints to the sensor and found that his ount bnce was 108,000. The 8,000 was his previous money but the ¡®avable bnce¡¯ was only 100,000 and the money previously earned had been frozen.

    He took out 100,000 and Yu Hanjiang also took out 100,000, leaving Xiao Lou with 200,000 to manage.

    Just then, Yu Hanjiang found a boy wearing a hood and ripped jeans in the crow. He looked around 20 years old and like a university student. The boy obviously looked out of ce as he looked around. After seeing Yu Hanjiang, he immediately shifted his gaze and pretended to look at the distant scenery.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered in Xiao Lou¡¯s ears, ¡°There is a challenger wearing a hat over there.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled slightly. ¡°The one wearing a shirt behind him is also a challenger.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s angle meant he couldn¡¯t see the person behind the boy. He heard this and turned to look from Xiao Lou¡¯s position.

    He saw a tall, slender and handsome man with maroon hair tied up in a short ponytail. His shirt had two buttons undone, revealing some skin, and his hands were in his pockets. He had aid-back attitude of ¡®I¡¯m just walking¡¯ in stark contrast to the boy in front of him.

    The man had a pair of highly recognizable eyes. The narrow and long phoenix eyes, the single-lidded eyelids and the clear smile. However, once those eyes narrowed, they were like a lurking beast, revealing a trace of unfathomable danger.

    There was a strange sense of familiarity.

    Yu Hanjiang searched his memories and soon remembered. ¡°¡­The one we met in the Clubs room?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°It should be him. The No. 5 yer who opened with psychological warfare and directly went all-in.¡±

 Chapter 41: Financial Crisis 1: Exchange of Information

    From an early age, Xiao Lou had the strong ability to recognize people. When he was four years old, he could clearly distinguish his rtives, aunts, uncles and other rtives, never getting them wrong. After graduation, he became a teacher and taught sses of more than 40 people. By the time two weeks passed, he could recognize all his students. Even if he couldn¡¯t name them, Xiao Lou still knew which person had skipped sses.

    Previously, they yed cards with No. 5 in the Clubs room. At that time, everyone wore a mask and their face couldn¡¯t be seen, but the eyes and hair of of No.5 were very recognizable. Combined with the height and body shape, Xiao Lou recognized him at first nce.

    No. 5 said he would go to the Clubs room first. Since he now appeared in 3 of Spades, it seemed that he had cleared 3 of Clubs.

    Maybe they could exchange information?

    Thinking up to here, Xiao Lou whispered in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ear, ¡°He should¡¯vee here after clearing 3 of Clubs. Do you want to ask him for information on 3 of Clubs? In exchange, we can give information on 3 of Diamonds or 3 of Hearts.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang felt this method was feasible and nodded. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s try it.¡±

    The time in the secret room was morning and the two people were standing in the shade on the street corner. No. 5 didn¡¯t notice them as he lined up to withdraw money. His hands were in his pocket and he lookedzy like a cat. He didn¡¯t seem nervous at all.

    The people in front of him progressed quickly and the hooded boy had already hurried away after taking the money.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Who is the person wearing the hat? It isn¡¯t his teammate?¡±

    The challengers were standing in front and behind each other, causing Xiao Lou to think they were teammates. However, the hooded boy took the money and walked away. Hepletely ignored No. 5 and obviously didn¡¯t know this person.

    No. 5 calmly walked to the self-service cash machine and withdrew 100,000 gold coins. He put it into his pocket and turned away. As soon as he took a few steps, his shoulders sunk and the man suddenly turned back, facing a pair of dark and deep eyes.¡±

    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m No. 3.¡± The other person¡¯s voice gave a t greeting.

    ¡°Hello.¡± The handsome person next to him smiled in a friendly manner. ¡°I am No. 1, do you remember us?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± No. 1 and No. 3, why did it feel like an underground association? The man narrowed his eyes and gazed at the two men in front of him. He searched his memories before suddenly smiling, ¡°I remember. After ying cards in the Clubs room, you signed a contract directly?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°We meet again, what a coincidence.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked bluntly, ¡°You said you were going to 3 of Clubs. Did youe here after 3 of Clubs?¡±

    The man shrugged. ¡°Yes, I went to 3 of Clubs but I also went to 3 of Diamonds. However, my clearance score in Diamonds is only C.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    If there wasn¡¯t Xiao Lou then Yu Hanjiang would¡¯ve probably also received a C-grade when going to the Diamonds room. It seemed they were both learning scum.

    Then No. 5 went to 3 of Clubs and then 3 of Diamonds. The result was that they met in 3 of Spades. Since the time flow rate of each secret room was calcted independently, Xiao Lou didn¡¯t tangle over the problem of time and suggested, ¡°Are you interested in exchanging information with us?¡±

    The man raised his eyebrows and looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°What information? Do you know how to pass the financial crisis?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± He turned and spoke seriously, ¡°Still, we have been to 3 of Hearts and you have been to 3 of Clubs. You tell us the contents of 3 of Clubs and we will tell you the way to clear 3 of Hearts. An equivalent exchange, how about it?¡±

    The man thought about it before nodding. ¡°Deal.¡±

    He had no reason to refuse a mutually beneficial exchange of information.

    He turned and pointed to the high-end coffee store down the street. ¡°Let¡¯s go get a cup of coffee and sit to talk.¡±

    Xiao Lou was more realistic. ¡°We are in a world where a financial crisis is going to break out and we need to save a bit of money. Wouldn¡¯t it be better to go to the restaurant over there and eat lunch directly?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang naturally listened to Xiao Lou and repeated, ¡°Go and have lunch.¡±

    The man, ¡°¡­¡±

    One person couldn¡¯t go against two and he could only follow them to the small restaurant.

    Fortunately, this restaurant might be small in size but the environment wasn¡¯t bad. The tables, chairs and tableware were very clean.

    There were only a few home-cooked dishes on the menu. Hot and sour shredded potato, simmer-fried eggnt and other vegetarian dishes were 1,500 gold while potato roast beef, sweet and sour pork and other meat dishes were 2,500 gold coins. In addition, rice was 500 gold coins.

    This price¡­a simple way to understand it was to directly remove the ¡®gold¡¯ part and remove two zeroes, then convert to RMB. It was around 15 yuan for a vegetarian dish, 25 yuan for a meat dish and 5 yuan for a bowl of rice. This price was still affordable.

    Xiao Lou was moved.

    He ordered two dishes and a bowl of rice. He took the initiative to pay for the guests and spent 8,500 gold coins.

    In this world of cards, Xiao Lou had only one goal: live to the end and leave.

    Therefore, he would rather make more friends instead of offending an enemy.

    No. 5¡¯s identity was unknown but his performance in the 2 of Clubs room was excellent. He was definitely a master of ying cards. Xiao Lou showed him enough sincerity. Not only did Xiao Lou pay for the meal, he also took the initiative to say, ¡°Let me introduce myself first. I am Xiao Lou and I was formerly a teacher at a medical school.¡±

    Group Leader Yu¡¯s words were simple. ¡°Yu Hanjiang, policeman.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± The man hesitated before he smiled. ¡°Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang, the ones who refreshed the records for 3 of Hearts and 3 of Diamonds. I¡¯m very fortunate to meet the two of you.¡±

    The world record being refreshed was advertised inrge letters and seen by all challengers. Unknowingly, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang had be famous but they hadn¡¯t yet noticed it.

    The man reached out and shook hands with Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Shao Qingge, my profession is a stock trader. ying card games is my hobby.¡±

    Originally, he had some wariness towards these two people but the other side were great gods who could refresh the records of the secret rooms and his scores in Hearts and Diamonds were often partial to Cs. There was no need to hesitate to cooperate with the great gods.

    As long as they had a brain, anybody who encountered masters such as Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang wouldn¡¯t refuse.

    Xiao Lou heard Shao Qingge¡¯s name and his expression slightly changed, but he soon restored his calm expression and smiled. ¡°Mr Shao, let¡¯s talk about 3 of Diamonds. What type of mechanisms did you encounter?¡±

    He talked about 3 of Diamonds first because they had been to the secret room. During the process of exchanging information, they could determine if the contents of the secret rooms were consistent or not.

    Shao Qingge spoke simply, ¡°The first mechanism was a very simple two character puzzle, the second was fill in the nk to make an idiom and the third was fill in the nk to make poetry. The character missing from the idiom was ¡®person¡¯ and the answers were help people to be happy, etc¡­ The word missing from the poetry was ¡®moon¡¯ and the answers were ¡®who, pining away, on the moonlit rails would learn¡¯, ¡®don¡¯t allow an empty goblet to face the moon¡¯, etc.¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°Our idiom was the ¡®positive¡¯ character¡¯ and our poem was ¡®flower.¡¯¡±

    Shao Qingge was somewhat surprised. ¡°Then the Diamonds room is the same type of puzzle but the answer will change randomly?¡±

    Xiao Lou also spoke the numerical puzzles in 2 of Diamonds and sure enough, the numbers were different for Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge but the types were exactly the same.

    Xiao Lou concluded, ¡°The Diamonds room have the same types of questions but the contents will be randomly selected from the question bank. As long as you know the rule to answer it, the questions will be easy no matter how it changes.¡±

    For example, change thest 888 to 869 in 3 of Hearts. No matter how the number was changed, answering it would be very simple.

    It seemed that the exchange of information was still necessary.

    The two sides instantly reached a consensus.

    Xiao Lou opened his mouth. ¡°I will speak about 3 of Hearts first. 3 of Hearts is a campus murder case. On the first day of ss, the student who iste, Ying Xiaoya will die. The murderer who killed her is a teacher. The key clue is to find out about the falling case five years ago. The teacher is modelled on the protagonist of Count of Monte Cristo and killed three people, burying their bones in the maple forest. Ying Xiaoya identally heard the secret and was killed.¡±

    Xiao Lou paused before continuing, ¡°Our instance clearance method was to find clues to help the police solve the case. However, I think there might be other instance clearance methods in the dynamic secret room. You can try to stop Ying Xiaoya from dying. If you manage to prevent her death, directly dig up the maple forest to find the bones and lead the police to investigate.¡± He paused again. ¡°If you can¡¯t stop Ying Xiaoya¡¯s death, you should find these clues as soon as possible¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou told the other person all the clues in order to show sincerity.

    Shao Qingge also revealed the information of the Clubs room. The 3 of Clubs secret room is a very simple card game called ¡®Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter¡¯. The rules are set by the Keeper of Clubs and the four colours suits represent each season. y cards ording to the suit and whoever finishes their hand first is the winner of this game¡­¡±

    He told them the game¡¯s detailed rules and the skill to winning.

    Xiao Lou suddenly thought about a possibility if the card rooms were simr and the secret rooms represented by the same card were simr. As long as a challenger sessfully passed through various secret rooms, the challengers behind them could find someone to obtain intelligence and reduce the difficulty of the instance clearance. Would there be a special intelligence organization in this world, simr to the ¡®instance attack strategy group¡¯ in online games?

    If this was the case, why had no one managed to leave this world?

    There were only two exnations. First, the secret rooms in thete stages were randomly generated, making the information useless. Second, thete-stages death rate was too high and felt people could survive to clear the instance, let alone sell the strategy.

    However, at least for now, the strategy for the low-difficulty C-grade rooms was revealed by Shao Qingge. They didn¡¯t have to worry about passing 3 of Clubs and the urgent task was how to pass 3 of Spades.

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°For this financial crisis, do you have any ideas?¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°100,000 gold coins is definitely not enough. I n to make money first.¡±

    Xiao Lou was curious. ¡°How will you make money?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled mysteriously and lowered his voice. ¡°Looking around, there are no underground money houses.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This guy, surely he wasn¡¯t nning to gamble again?

 Chapter 42: Financial Crisis 2: Ways to Make Money

    They finished lunch and it was just before noon. The three people left the restaurant and looked around the city.

    The hot noon sun was hanging overhead and the streets were almost melting. Their feet touching the ground was hot and Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang wearing sweaters frequently attracted the attention of passersby. Xiao Lou felt they were going to be sun-baked and hurried with Group Leader Yu to find a clothing store in order to buy cheap and cool summer clothes.

    Shao Qingge was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and also bought a set of short-sleeved shirts.

    They changed clothes and Xiao Lou counted the bnce in his pocket. He had 185,000 gold coins left.

    After entering the secret room, A of Clubs had sponsored 100,000 gold coins per challenger, which was equivalent to 1,000 yuan. In a world with normal prices, they would have no problem surviving on this amount for a week. if they were a good saver, they would evenst half a month.

    The financial crisis wouldn¡¯t break out until tomorrow morning. The challengers had all of today to be prepared.

    The roadside small supermarkets, cigarette and alcohol stores and 24 hour convenience stores were open. Xiao Lou went in to look at all types of goods and his mind automatically converted the gold coins to yuan. One bottle of mineral water was two yuan, meaning the prices were normal.

    In any case, there was still an abundant amount of time. Xiao Lou whispered in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ears, ¡°We should follow Shao Qingge to see how he makes money.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had no opinion and together, they went with Shao Qingge to find an underground money house.

    The best way to inquire about local news was to ask a taxi driver. Most taxi drivers would warmly introduce the city when encountering foreign tourists. The street was too hot and the three people simply stopped a taxi, getting inside to experience the blowing air conditioner.

    Xiao Lou politely said, ¡°Master, we are foreigners. Please take us around the city so we can be familiar with it.¡±

    The driver smiled. ¡°Hello! Would you like me to rmend some special snacks to you?¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°No need.¡±

    They didn¡¯te here for sightseeing.

    The driver took the three people for a ride. They stared out the window intently as they became familiar with the environment.

    The world of 3 of Spades was a small city. The main roads were four cross-shaped roads: East Street, West Street, South Street and North Street. There was a central square at the intersection of these four streets, as well as a department store and ¡®Big Cross Supermarket.¡¯

    The four main roads were two-way, fourne roads and were very wide. The other streets were two-way singlenes that connected to the four main roads. The entire city was square and easy to recognize.

    The driver enthusiastically introduced the ce. ¡°The prices here are the lowest in the world, life is very leisurely, the pressure on young people is low and 80% of the mortgage can be paid off with the surplus from wages.¡±

    Shao Qingge pretended to casually ask, ¡°Are there no underground money houses, casinos or simr ces?¡±

    The driver snorted. ¡°No! We are suitable for old age care here. At most, the olddies set up a few tables of mahjong. If you want to gamble, you can go to the City of the Moon. There are many rich people there and very professionalrge-scale casinos.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other. They hadn¡¯t expected to get so much information from riding a taxi.

    City of the Moon? Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°What is the City of the Moon?¡±

    The driver turned to look at him in disbelief, as if he was a monster. ¡°The world¡¯srgest city, you don¡¯t even know this? Where did youe from?¡± His expression seemed to be saying, ¡®The three of you have never seen the world.¡¯

    The trio who were being despised, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    They really didn¡¯t know. Not only were they foreigners, they were also aliens.

    Xiao Lou replied cheekily, ¡°The conditions at home aren¡¯t very good and us three brothers usually don¡¯t go outside. This is our first time.¡±

    ¡°Oh, no wonder. The City of the Moon is a good ce. A big city with tens of millions of people is prosperous but the prices there are very expensive. It should be three or four times this ce. Still, if there is a chance, you should go and look.¡±

    A concept suddenly shed in Xiao Lou¡¯s heart: a main city.

    This world had a gamer¡¯s main city?

    He chatted with the taxi driver, inquiring about things like local prices, wages, house prices, etc. before getting off new the downtown supermarket.

    Xiao Lou opened his mouth. ¡°The City of the Mon is likely to be the challengers¡¯ main city or the ¡®central capital¡¯ of the secret rooms world. Since the driver dared to reveal the information to us, this shows that it isn¡¯t a secret.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°We temporarily can¡¯t go there. Later we will find opportunities and perhaps there will be people we know there.¡±

    Xiao Lou made a sound of agreement and nced at Shao Qingge. ¡°There are no casinos. Mr Shao, what is your n?¡±

    Shao Qingge looked up at a skyscraper not far away and narrowed his eyes. ¡°It seems I can only go back to the old business.¡±

    Xiao Lou reacted quickly. ¡°Buying stocks?¡±

    The ce where Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes were focused was a building with the words ¡®Stock Trading Centre¡¯. In addition, his upation was a trader so Xiao Lou naturally thought he would use professional means to make money.

    However, there wasn¡¯t much time until the stock market crashed. Wasn¡¯t there only half a day left?

    Shao Qingge saw Xiao Lou¡¯s doubts and exined, ¡°I have to figure out fi the stock market in this world is the same as the real world. If it is a T+1 trading system then it is toote. If it is T+0, there is still room to y. Would you like to go and see?¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other before following.

    They didn¡¯t understand stocks but this world had a stock trading market and when they entered 3 of Spades, they were given the tip that the ¡®stocks would plummet at 8 o¡¯clock tomorrow morning. Perhaps Shao Qingge¡¯s expertise woulde in handy in this economic secret room.

    The three people entered the stocks hall and saw many residents engaged in stocks trading.

    Shao Qingge directly looked for aputer and observed the rise and fall curves of several stocks on the screen. Then he went to ask the staff some questions before going to Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang.

    He spoke in a light voice, trying not to attract the attention of others. ¡°The stock market here is the T+0 trading system, simr to the US stocks in the real world. It can be bought and sold on the same day. The stocks can be shorted and there is no limit on the amount of the transaction and the number of times.¡± He turned to look at the wall clock. ¡°The closing time is five in the afternoon and there are three hours left.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Does that mean you can buy some stocks that have gained a good momentum and sell them before closing to earn money?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I have t¡¯ make ¡®fast money¡¯ now. This means finding stocks that are stable and fast-moving. By holding a lot of rising stocks and selling them quickly, I can earn some money.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it. ¡°Your initial capital is 100,000 gold coins and there are three hours left. How much can you earn?¡±

    Shao Qingge observed the stock market curve. ¡°Doubling it should be no problem.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This person¡¯s expression was very confident as he stared at the stocks curve, his entire body glowing with a type of light. Xiao Lou nced at Yu Hanjiang and whispered, ¡°Do you want to give him some money to try?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°You decide.¡±

    The financial power was in Xiao Lou¡¯s hand and Yu Hanjiang waspletely insensitive to money anyway.

    Xiao Lou smiled and handed half of the gold coins in his pocket to Shao Qingge. ¡°Then do you want to help us specte on stocks?¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡± Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°However, I am a brother who knows how to settle ounts. I don¡¯t want to owe you anything and you don¡¯t want to owe me money. For the money that I help you earn, the profit will be split 4:6. I want 40% of the hard work.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Xiao Lou readily agreed and gave him 100,000.

    As long as he could make money, giving him 40% of the profit wasn¡¯t a loss at all.

    Shao Qingge quickly registered an ount on the stock market and used a publicputer in the hall to log in. His hands and fingers flew as he tapped on the keyboard. In the blink of an eye, he bought a lot of stocks. Each share he bought wasn¡¯t much but he quickly picked out the stable stocks from the massive trading market. This guy was truly a professional and his eyes were sharp.

    The Card World¡¯s stocks could be bought and sold on the same day. The total number of transactions of a single ount was also unrestricted, which gave Shao Qingge great convenience.

    Xiao Lou looked at the various red and green curves on theputer screen and got a headache. He said, ¡°Mr Shao, you are busy and we wille back before closing. We will first go to a nearby ce to find a ce to settle down.¡±

    Shao Qingge looked back at Xiao Lou. ¡°Aren¡¯t you worried that I will run off with the money?¡±

    Xiao Lou stared back with mild eyes. ¡°I believe that Mr Shao is a smart person.¡±

    Shao Qingge and Xiao Lou stared at each other for a moment, lips slightly raised. ¡°You go ande back before 6 o¡¯clock. I will invite you to dinner.¡±

    Xiao Lou turned and left with confidence.

    As they walked out of the trading floor, Yu Hanjiang asked doubtfully, ¡°Do you trust him so much?¡± Although Yu Hanjiang also felt that this person wasn¡¯t courageous enough to take their money. After all, they had repeatedly refreshed the world record and their names announced. Anyone who was smart would know it was better to make friends and have a long-term cooperation with them instead of offending them over 100,000 gold coins.

    Xiao Lou spoke softly, ¡°Shao Qingge, have you heard of this person before?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned for a moment before concluding, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°He is Chief Shao of the Tianhuan Fund. At a young age, he personally created a veryrge fundpany and became the entrepreneurial representative of Jiang. His name often appears on the news of the financial channel.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°I am usually a bit concerned with financial management so I saw him several times on TV. that¡¯s why I dared to give him our money. I believe that with his knowledge, he won¡¯t dare covet our small amount of money. He wants to make money from trading stocks in this world and it won¡¯t harm us to ride off him.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was thoughtful. ¡°No wonder why your expression was somewhat wrong when you heard his name.¡±

    Xiao Louughed. ¡°That¡¯s why when I heard his name, I thought we could lie down in this secret room and win.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang knew how cool it was to lie down and win.

    If Shao Qingge really doubled their money, wouldn¡¯t clearing the instance be much easier?

    Just¡­ this was the Spade secret room. Was it really that simple?

    Yu Hanjiang always felt that there would be other things in addition to the financial crisis.

    Of course, it was important to find a ce to live first.

    There was a five star hotel in the city centre and this was naturally affordable.

    They looked for amodation in the surrounding area and found a small inn with a good environment. It was two storeys high and the double standard room with a kitchte and bathroom only needed 10,000 gold coins a night. It was good quality and cheap.

    Today, they ate lunch and also bought two sets of clothing. They spent nearly 20,000 and gave 100,000 to Shao Qingge. This meant that Xiao Lou still had 80,000 left.

    He went to the front desk. ¡°Boss, give us a standard room. We want to stay here for a week.¡±

    The boss was a middle-aged uncle who was slightly fat. ¡°Okay, there is only one left. I will give you a preferential price!¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Can I pay for the week all at once?¡±

    ¡°We receive the payment by day. Our city¡¯s wages are also paid by the day.¡±

    It was a daily basis and this was definitely a big pit. Once the financial crisis broke out, prices would rise across the board and gold coins would depreciate day by day. People who didn¡¯t have much savings would fall into the abyss in an instant. Maybe even food and clothing would be a problem.

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°If I pay directly for a week and give you an extra 10,000 gold coins, is it okay?¡±

    The boss looked at him incredulously. ¡°Give me an extra 10,000? Handsome guy, did you make a mistake?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied with a good temper. ¡°We are out of town visitors and it is too much trouble to find a hotel. We like the decorations of your ce and want to settle the amodation at once. Is it okay?¡±

    Giving an extra 10,00 was a good thing and naturally wasn¡¯t a problem. The boss readily agreed. ¡°No problem, the amodation fee is 80,000 a week.¡±

    Just then, a voice was heard from behind them. ¡°Boss, do you still have a room avable?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked back and saw it was actually the hooded boy who lined up at the bank today.

    The other person had changed into refreshing short-sleeved shirt and shorts and he carried a guitar behind him. He was surprised after seeing Xiao Lou and then moved his gaze away, staring seriously at the boss.

    The fat boss smiled. ¡°Yes, it is thest room and I will give you a preferential price!¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Didn¡¯t he say there was only one room left?

    This was just like a clothing store on the street. It would repeatedly y ¡®Last three days, clearance processing, price sale¡¯. The result was three dayster, it was still shouting ¡®Last three days, clearance processing.¡¯ Then one monthter, the clothing store was still standing.

    It was estimated that every time a guest arrived, the boss would say ¡®thest room.¡¯

    A free person in the Card World really didn¡¯t have credibility.

    Xiao Lou seriously had doubts. If he gave money for seven days, would this boss take back his words? Therefore, he stated, ¡°Boss, we will pay seven days first and give us a receipt. This means the seven-day amodation fee has been settled.¡±

    The boss nodded ¡°Good! I will do this for you!¡±

    The Card World¡¯s residents didn¡¯t know that the financial crisis was about to break out. In the boss¡¯ opinion, it was normal for Xiao Lou to get a receipt.

    The body next to them heard this and spoke softly, ¡°That, I will also live for seven days. Please give me a receipt as well.¡±

    The boss said, ¡°If you pay for seven days, the price will increase and you have to give me an extra 10,000 coins. Right now, the rooms are very tight. I don¡¯t know why there are so many foreign tourists today. Are you discussing it together?¡±

    Xiao Lou and Group Leader Yu nced at each other.

    There were many foreign tourists. Perhaps there were many challengers in this inn.

    This was the cheapest local hotel in the area. Xiao Lou nced at the hooded tee and the other person quickly turned away.

    Once he finished his check-in, the boy hurried up the stairs with a small suitcase in his hand. It was unknown what he bought but Xiao Lou didn¡¯t care. Since this was a temporary concentration camp for challengers, it was fine as long as a person didn¡¯tmit crimes.

    However, the boy hadn¡¯t been carrying anything at the self-service machine and in the blink of an eye, he had a guitar. Had he spent his money to buy a guitar? It looked very old and was perhaps from a second-hand market.

    Xiao Lou whispered in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ear. ¡°This guy, does he want to go to the street to y the guitar and earn money?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded solemnly. ¡°It is possible.¡±

    Xiao Lou thoughtfully touched his chin. ¡°It is a good idea.¡±

    Many north drifters loved music and relied on this type of street singing to earn living expenses. Shao Qingge was a stock trader and could make arge amount of money in a short period of time. The hooded teenager could y the guitar and sing, earning small amounts of money little by little.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other and found they didn¡¯t seem to have any special talent in making money.

    The two people had to go upstairs silently.

    In the Hearts and Diamonds room, they directly refreshed the world record. In the Spades room was a pure fighting room, Yu Hanjiang wasn¡¯t afraid. However, encountering such a secret room that needed to be resolved by money, the two people really had a headache.

 Chapter 43: Financial Crisis 3: Agreement

    The house where Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang stayed was called ¡®Shanshui Guesthouse¡¯. This was a small building with two floors. The first floor had six rooms in addition to the lobby. The second floor had eight rooms and they were ced in 207.

    Entering into the door, Xiao Loue explored around the room. It was around 40 square metres. The area might be small but it wasplete. There were a separate bathroom, toilet and a small kitchen approximately 4 square metres with a range hood and freezer. This meant they could cook their own food.

    In this remote small city, for a guesthouse during the off-peak season, 100 yuan a night was also cheap.

    Both beds were single beds and they were small but clean.

    The north side had a window that could be pushed outwards. Yu Hanjiang walked to the window and pushed open the window to look outside. Downstairs was a pedestrian street. There were many snack bars and clothing stores. It was working hours and the weather was hot so there weren¡¯t many pedestrians on the street.

    Yu Hanjiang told Xiao Lou, ¡°This ce is cheap but it is on a pedestrian street. It is likely to be robbed after the financial crisis urs. Fortunately, I have a gun. If it is a simple burry then I can cope.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°We need a list of materials. We will discuss it and then buy itter.¡±

    There was a piece of paper on the bedside table with ¡®Opinion Book¡¯ on it and a pencil.

    Xiao Lou took it and quickly wrote down some of the necessary supplies on it.

    Mineral water must be prepared in case water was cut off in the city. Milk and chocte were protein-replenishing and fast-calorie foods. Compressed biscuits could make people feel fuller. Canned fruits could be used to supplement with vitamins when supplies were scarce. Vacuum-packed eggs, meat, canned fish etc. weren¡¯t easy to expire and could be hoarded.

    Xiao Lou often bought food to cook and he knew the types and prices of foods. He quickly made a list ofprehensive and nutritious goods. Of course, he didn¡¯t like instant noodles but they were cheap and two boxes could be bought as a spare.

    Once he finished writing down the food, Yu Hanjiang added necessary items such as a lighter, candles, shlights, travel backpacks, knives, medical bandages, travel sleeping bags etc., things that they could carry with them at any time. Xiao Lou added several medicines such asmonly used antipyretics, diarrhea medicine, antibiotics etc. This would prevent them from needing to go to the hospital if they became sick in these seven days.

    The two people checked the list and pondered what else they were missing.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s travel experiencebined with Yu Hanjiang¡¯s wildness camping experience meant the list wasplete. The two people were prepared to survive seven days on a desert ind.

    These things weren¡¯t expensive to eat or use and the key was if they thought about it.

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°Once the financial crisis breaks out tomorrow, the prices will definitely rise. Therefore, the money on us right now is the most valuable. I think it is better to rece 80% of our money with goods. The rest will depend on the situation.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, it is better to have more things. If we can¡¯t finish eating them then take them to sell.¡±

    Money would be worthless and a bottle of water that cost 200 gold coins was likely to skyrocket by several times. If their material reserves were nned well, they could make a small profit during the financial crisis.

    It would soon be five in the afternoon.

    Xiao Lou put the arranged list in his pocket and walked with Yu Hanjiang to the downtown area to find Shao Qingge.

    Many people had left work and the number of vehicles and pedestrians on the street gradually increased. The two people didn¡¯t take a taxi and simply walked. It took them half an hour to reach the stock market building in the city centre.

    At 5:30, the stock market was about to close. Many people on the trading floor were eagerly looking at the stocks chart. Some people were smiling while some were full of anxiety. The hearts of the investors were following the curve of the stocks like it was a rollercoaster ride.

    Xiao Lou saw Shao Qingge in the crowd with one nce. The man was staring at theputer screen with narrowed eyes, slender fingers mming on the keyboard and making a clear sound.

    Shao Qingge saw Xiao Lou and nodded in greeting.

    Once Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang came behind him, he spoke softly, ¡°Abnormal fluctuations have begun in the stock market at 5:30. I suspect that this is the precursor to the future financial crisis. Before it closes in half an hour, I must clear the stocks in advance.¡±

    As he spoke, he quickly sold all his stocks.

    Shao Qingge logged into his personal ount and his bnce was more than 420,000!

    Xiao Lou doubted his eyes, rubbed them and looked again. He couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°This is the bnce of your ount? You doubled it?¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s 100,000 plus Xiao Lou¡¯s 100,000 meant an initial capital of 200,000. In just one afternoon, this had doubled. It could only be said that Shao Qingge was too strong and it was no wonder why he was frequently interviewed on the financial channel.

    Shao Qingge smiled and said, ¡°Today¡¯s gains are good. I moved quickly and bought a lot of stocks, making thousands of transactions in the afternoon.¡± He stood up from his seat and continued. ¡°Let¡¯s take the money and leave here as soon as possible.¡±

    The stock ounts and bank ounts were linked, meaning the transfer was quick. The trading centre had a self-service cash machine. After deducting taxes, handling fees and transfer fees, the final amount was 420,800.

    Several people lined up in front of the cash machine and it was soon Shao Qingge¡¯s turn.

    The Card World¡¯s gold coins had 1000, 5000 and 10000 values. Shao Qingge directly took out 42 10,000 gold coins.

    People around him saw him take out so much money and stared, One young man stared at the gold coins in Shao Qingge¡¯s hands with a greedy expression. Once Shao Qingge¡¯s turn was over, the young man walked over and pretended to inadvertently hit him. He apologized before hurrying to leave.

    Shao Qingge hadn¡¯t reacted yet when Yu Hanjiang caught up with the young man and kicked him!

    The other side almost fell to the ground. He wanted to turn back and swear when Yu Hanjiang pulled the man¡¯s arms behind his back and pressed his knee against the man¡¯s back. ¡°Take them out.¡±

    The young man couldn¡¯t move at all and his face was white. ¡°Who are you? What are you fucking doing?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang dered coldly. ¡°You stole my friend¡¯s money. Take it out. Don¡¯t make me tell you a third time.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge finally reacted. They actually met a thief?

    In the real world, WeChat payments had been popr for years and this type of cash-snatching thief was really rare.

    Shao Qingge walked over to the young man and leaned over, staring into his eyes and patting his face with a smile. ¡°You dare to steal my money? Your courage isn¡¯t small. We are still busy and wille back soon, so we won¡¯t worry about you.¡±

    The thief wanted to cry. He thought that Shao Qingge was an easy person and didn¡¯t expect him to have two helpers around.

    Yu Hanjiang twisted the arm he was holding with a bit of force and the young man immediately let out a pained cry, his voice quivering. ¡°Big brother, painful, painful! You have to let me go first or how can I return the money¡­?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou understood the meaning and ced his hand in the boy¡¯s pocket, pulling out four gold coins. He asked Shao Qingge, ¡°Is the amount right?¡±

    Shao Qingge counted it and nodded at Xiao Lou. ¡°Yes, he stole four gold pieces.¡±

    ¡°I-I only grabbed a few pieces and d-didn¡¯t steal any more.¡± The strength behind him was too big and the young man¡¯s wrist was almost broken. He was full of tears because of the pain. ¡°Big Brother, I stole this and will return it to you¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and asked, ¡°Why steal money?¡±

    The young man was dejected. ¡°Today I lost a lot at the stock market. I saw you earn so much and had a moment of greed¡­ I was wrong, I was wrong. I won¡¯t dare do it anymore. Let me go, I beg you¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang finally let go of the other person and told him, ¡°Go.¡±

    He usually dealt with murderers. This low-level thief, he could fight 10 of them.

    Yu Hanjiang turned towards the other two. ¡°This kid shouldn¡¯t be lying.¡±

    Xiao Lou pondered, ¡°Will there be bold challengers who know that the financial crisis will ur tomorrow and directly ambush near the cash machines, robbing the residents of this world?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°That is a method.¡±

    In order to clear the instance through any means, doing directly to rob the cash machines was also a method.

    However, Yu Hanjiang was a policeman, Xiao Lou was a university professor and Shao Qingge the boss of apany. Going to rob money¡­ this thing couldn¡¯t be done. They all had their own principles and bottom line.

    Shao Qingge looked around and whispered, ¡°There is no mobile payment in this world and no credit cards. It is all cash payment. It isn¡¯t safe to carry too much cash on us. Let¡¯s find a ce to eat dinner and we can divide the money as well.¡±

    The three people quickly left the building.

    There was a nice restaurant nearby. The three people booked a small private room and ordered some home-cooked food.

    For dinner, Shao Qingge treated his guests. Then he put the gold coins on the table and counted them. He distributed 200,000 to Xiao Lou and said, ¡°This is yours.¡±

    Xiao Lou was surprised. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t the 100,000 profit be divided 4:6. You should be giving me 160,000.¡±

    Shao Qingge spoke cheerfully. ¡°I don¡¯t like to owe people. If it wasn¡¯t for the police officer, my money would¡¯ve been stolen by the thief.¡±

    Looking at the gold coins in front of him, Xiao Lou didn¡¯t protest and epted it with a smile. ¡°Thank you, Mr Shao.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be polite. After all, I have something I want to ask the two of you to help with.¡± Shao Qingge smiled at Xiao Lou and asked, ¡°Do you have any ns to upgrade the contract?¡±

    ¡°Of course, the beginner contract can only bind two people. After upgrading to the intermediate level, it can bind five people.¡± Xiao Lou added, ¡°It is just that the C-grade rooms don¡¯t allow more than two-person teams. If I want to upgrade, I have to wait for the B-grade rooms.¡±

    Shao Qingge suggested, ¡°The money for upgrading the contract wille from me. In return, leave me a ce. How about it?¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at Yu Hanjiang. Thetter nodded and Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°No problem, we wee Mr Shao¡¯s participation.¡±

    If there was a person good at making money on the team, they wouldn¡¯t need to worry about future economic aspects. Not to mention that Shao Qingge¡¯s ability to y cards was particrly strong and this was advantageous in the Clubs room. He was willing to join the team and this was naturally better.

    Xiao Lou asked curiously. ¡°Mr Shao, why do you suddenly want to team up with us?¡±

    Shao Qingge replied, ¡°Doing business is about integrity. The more risk there is in the investment, the higher the return. You trusted me and let me help you specte in stocks. I also believe in my own vision. Joining you will allow me to make you a profit.¡±

    He regarded joining the team as an investment and the two record-breaking gods were definitely potential stocks.

    Trust was mutual. He dared to join the two men¡¯s team because Xiao Lou directly gave him 100,000 and let him freely trade. They safely left the trading centre to find a ce to live and didn¡¯t regard him as someone who would run away with the money.

    Besides, university professors and police officers were trustworthy careers in real life.

    Xiao Lou spoke gently, ¡°Since we intend to cooperate, it is better for us to make a n. The fourth level is also C-grade secret rooms. My team will go to 4 of Hearts and 4 of Diamonds. Mr Shao, go to 4 of Clubs and then 4 of Diamonds. Then we will meet in 4 of Spades and continue to exchange information. That way, you can pass Hearts quickly and we can information on Clubs.¡±

    The order of the secret rooms was staggered. The first thing to do was to exchange information on the secret room that Shao Qingge was good at, which could greatly reduce the difficulty of the instance clearance. Shao Qingge also felt this proposal was very good. He nodded and said, ¡°Okay, after finishing the fourth level, we will start the B-grade fifth level rooms. We can team up and upgrade the contract.¡±

    The trio verbally agreed on the n.

    After a simple dinner, Shao Qingge asked, ¡°Have the two of you found a ce to live? What will happen next?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°We are staying at the Shanshui Guesthouse. We n to go to the supermarket and stock up after dinner.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°Then I¡¯ll find a ce to live.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked incredulously, ¡°Mr Shao, you don¡¯t have a teammate in the 3 of Spades room?¡±

    Shao Qingge pressed a hand to his temple and spoke helplessly, ¡°Previously, I met a teammate who couldn¡¯t y cards in 3 of Clubs. He dragged my hind legs and I almost lost money. Therefore, I refused the keeper¡¯s proposal for a teammate when entering 3 of Spades and nned to act alone.¡±

    Sometimes a pig teammate easily did bad things. Shao Qingge¡¯s idea wasn¡¯t wrong. The C-grade secret rooms could have two people team up but this wasn¡¯t mandatory. If a person was confident they could clear the instance, they didn¡¯t need to form a team.

    ¡°Then you should go find a ce first ande to the supermarketter to find us.¡± Xiao Lou stated. ¡°We made a list of goods and we¡¯ll show you. Maybe it will be helpful.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll see you at the supermarket at 8 o¡¯clock.¡±

    The three people separated at the door of the restaurant and Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang turned to the nearby central square.

 Chapter 44: Financial Crisis 4: Camouflage

    The sun set and the summer heat faded awaypletely. The iing breeze made people feel refreshed.

    After dinner was the most rxing time of the day. The residents of this small city started to go outside. Young couples were holding hands while strolling through the mall, children were ying with skating shoes in the square and many old people were holding pet dogs for a walk around the park and the square.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were passing through the central square when they saw a group of people gathered there for an unknown reason.

    Soon, there was a clear voice from inside the crowd. ¡°Uncles, aunties, everyone, good evening! I am a foreigner who travelled here and spent all the money on my body. I can only sell art on the street to earn some living expenses. I will sing a few songs for everyone. If you think I sing well, please give me some pocket money. Thank you¡­¡±

    He tuned the guitar before starting to sing.

    Xiao Lou listened carefully. This teenager was actually singing the Cantonese version of Glorious Years.

    He yed the guitar while singing. He might be too young to sing with the vicissitudes of the original singer but he had his own unique style. His clear voice was vibrant and full of vitality. The high-pitched sound warmed the blood.

    Many young people around him swayed to the rhythm and the children also listened.

    The entire central square suddenly became very lively because of his existence.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other, confirming it. This was the hooded teenager they met twice today.

    At this time, he had put his hood behind him, revealing a beautiful face. He was still wearing fashionable jeans and canvas shoes and his short ck hair fluttered in the wind as he sung. His eyes were also closed in an intoxicated manner.

    The teenager who yed the guitar and sang was like a changed person. His entire body was full of a different luster.

    In the second half of Glorious Years, there was a whistling part. He actually whistled and was greeted with warm apuse by the audience.

    Once the song ended, the teenager bowed deeply to the crowd. ¡°Thank you! I hope that anyone who has spare cash in their hands can give me some pocket money. I need to live and I¡¯m really sorry to disturb everyone¡­¡±

    In front of his small speaker was a cloth bag. Many viewers went up to give him coins and some people said, ¡°One more!¡± ¡°You sing well!¡± ¡°Where did this handsome guye from? I haven¡¯t heard this song before but it is really good.¡±

    After the apuse, he yed the guitar again. This time, it was a very fresh bad, ¡®Outside the Window.¡¯

    Goodbye to the girl of my dreams, I am going to look for the future in the distance¡­

    The familiar tune and familiar lyrics made Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes slightly hot.

    As a child, he used to always listen to this song. The feeling of hearing a familiar song in a strange world was really hard to describe. If it wasn¡¯t for the limited funds in his hand, he also wanted to give this teenager some money as encouragement.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and spoke to Yu Hanjiang, ¡°He sings really well.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang came to Xiao Lou¡¯s ear and whispered, ¡°A southerner, the Cantonese pronunciation is very standard. His singing ability is strong and he is very skilled in selling art. In the real world, it is likely that he often went to the streets of big cities to sing or he sang in bars. Therefore, he isn¡¯t afraid even in this unfamiliar Card World.¡±

    Group Leader Yu¡¯s words were very urate. This teenager could control the scene and also mobilize the atmosphere of the audience. He only sang two songs but the gold coins in his front pocket must be more than 10,000. This speed of earning money was really enviable.

    Xiao Lou joked. ¡°I also wanted to learn guitar when I was a child. Unfortunately, I am tone deaf and I¡¯m always off-key when singing.

    Yu Hanjiang imagined Professor Xiao singing off-key and couldn¡¯t help the corners of his mouth rising gently.

    The teenager had just started to sing the third song but Xiao Lou didn¡¯t want to listen the entire time. He looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Group Leader Yu, we should go to the supermarket to buy the goods.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang quickly put away his smile and followed Xiao Lou into the supermarket together.

    In the evening, the supermarket had more customers and some vegetables and fruits would be sold at a discount. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang pushed two shopping carts to go to the snack area and started to grab the goods on their list.

    Two boxes of milk, two boxes of chocte, four boxes of mineral water, four boxes of instant noodles, four boxes of biscuits¡­

    These daily foods had cheap prices and Mr Shao had made them money. After paying the room rate, they still had 200,000 gold coins. This was equivalent to 2,000 yuan and this much money couldn¡¯t be used up on food.

    Canned yellow peaches, canned plums, canned oranges, canned snow pears¡­

    If the power was cut off then the refrigerators wouldn¡¯t be able to hold fresh fruit. The prices of canned fruit were slightly more expensive and they bought two cans each. This wasn¡¯t a necessity but after staple food such as instant noodles and biscuits, it would be a pleasure to eat the cool and sweet canned fruit.

    Yu Hanjiang appreciated Xiao Lou¡¯s lifestyle. This list of foods was really rich.

    There were meat snacks such as pickled chicken feet, braised chicken legs, beef jerky, canned fish etc. They also bought paper towels, lighters, candles, disposable garbage bags, disposable lunch boxes, travel backpacks, sleeping bags¡­

    Two shopping cards were quickly filled up and Yu Hanjiang pushed two more.

    The surrounding customers saw that they bought so many things and watched them with surprise. Once Xiao Lou smiled politely back at them, the people no longer looked.

    The two people bought the items on the list and found there were two girls in the same supermarket crazily sweeping up goods. They bought instant noodles, choctes and mineral water. This must be a challenger.

    The two sides looked at each other before removing their gazes, pretending to know nothing.

    It didn¡¯t take long for Shao Qingge toe to the supermarket. He found Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang and was shocked by the six shopping cards. He couldn¡¯t help touching his nose. ¡°You bought so much?¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke in a low voice, ¡°Today¡¯s money is the most valuable and buying it now is cost-effective. We spent nearly 200,000 and left 40,000 as an emergency. Later, we will go to the pharmacy to buy somemon medicine.¡±

    Shao Qingge read through Xiao Lou¡¯s list and gave a thumbs up. ¡°The masters are veryplete. If water and electricity are cut off or you are thrown on a desert ind for half a money, you will be able to survive without any problems.

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Do you want to join?¡±

    Shao Qingge raised his eyebrows. ¡°You mean¡­ share the supplies with you?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°We bought enough to eat and it can¡¯t be finished by us alone. Your money should be kept first to see what happens next. The best result is that we use these goods to clear 3 of Spades and you can bring your money out of the secret room.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang found that Professor Xiao was really very careful.

    They really couldn¡¯t finish the things they bought so why not let their temporary member use them? Shao Qingge wouldn¡¯t have to pay for the materials and the three people¡¯s money would be joined together. No matter what happened in the secret room, Shao Qingge had 200,000 gold coins and they had the power to cope.

    Shao Qingge was obviously a smart person and he replied cheerfully, ¡°This is the best. I will follow the two of you for food and drink in the next seven days.¡± He looked at their shopping cards and lowered his voice. ¡°The thing is, buying too many goods is too bad. We will be in trouble if they are all ced together and stolen. Eggs can¡¯t be ced in the same basket.¡±

    Everyone who often invested knew the principle of ¡®spreading investments¡¯ and ¡®spreading risk¡¯. Once the eggs were put together, they would bepletely ruined if the basket was broken. Buying only one type of stock meant going bankrupt if it was lost.

    Putting so man supplies together could be dangerous.

    There was Group Leader Yu so they might not have to fear robbery, but what if there was a fire?

    Yu Hanjiang also agreed with Shao Qingge¡¯s point of view and he whispered, ¡°I have an idea. The materials will be divided into three. One batch will be left in the room I share with Professor Xiao, another in Mr Shao¡¯s room. It should only be enough for us to eat for the next few days. Instead, most of the food will be transferred to a safe ce.

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Mr Shao, are you staying in the Shanshui Guesthouse?¡±

    Shao Qingge shook his head. ¡°There were no rooms left when I went there. Many challengers are staying there. I went to find a hotel nearby. It is more expensive than the Shanshui Guesthouse and costs 15,000 gold coins a night.

    Yu Hanjiang thought for a moment before saying, ¡°You go to line up and check out first. I will go buy boxes and medicine.¡±

    He left Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge to line up in the supermarket and went to a nearby cigarette store. He spent money to buy several empty cardboard boxes and tore off all the trademarks on the cardboard boxes. Then he went to the nearby pharmacy to buy the medicine on the list.

    Instant noodles, canned fruit, milk, the packaging for these items was too obvious. Carrying so many things back was almost writing ¡®rob me¡¯ above their heads.

    However, Yu Hanjiang boughtrge cardboard boxes. Once the materials were ced into these boxes, it wouldn¡¯t be too noticeable.

    8 o¡¯clock in the evening wasn¡¯t the peak supermarket time. There weren¡¯t many people in the queue. Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge lined up for a few minutes and bought the items¡­ of course, the cashier sister nced at them a few times and the nearby security guards also stared at them. If they hadn¡¯t been paying money honestly, it would be like they were robbing the supermarket.

    Yu Hanjiang called the two people to a corner where no one was present and took off the outer packaging for all the items. He ced them in therge cardboard box and then sealed them with clear stic. Afterwards, he took out a very thick ck pen and wrote on the surface of the box: There is ss inside, very fragile. Be careful.

    Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Group Leader Yu was really amazing! It seemed he was very good at disguising his identity since he often fought with criminals. This way, on the surface, the three of them were from a decoratingpany and were carrying a fewrge boxes of ss.

    The outer packaging did a good job with the packaging and Xiao Lou followed up with a question, ¡°Group Leader Yu, how to find a safe ce to store it?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang exined, ¡°There is a decorations market near here. We will rent a temporary warehouse and ce our ¡®ss¡¯ inside the warehouse.¡±

    Xiao Lou soonughed. ¡°Good idea. So many ¡®ss¡¯ items ced in the warehouse of a decorations market won¡¯t raise any suspicions.¡±

    Shao Qingge raised a thumb in admiration.

    Yu Hanjiang opened his mouth. ¡°Mr Shao, we will split up. Professor Xiao and I will go put away this batch of ss. You carry the backpack, the medicine and the two boxes of supplies back to the hotel. We wille to you in the evening.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded and told them the location of his hotel.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou directly called to find a movingpany and set off to the decorations market with more than a dozenrge boxes.

    Shao Qingge moved separately, calling for a taxi. He carried a travel backpack and brought two boxes with the words ¡®smoke¡¯ and ¡®wine¡¯ back to his hotel.

    The decorations market really had many temporary warehouses for all types of furniture. Yu Hanjiang rented a small warehouse around 4 square metres and the rental period was one week. He asked the movers for help and ced more than a dozenrge boxes into the warehouse and locked the warehouse.

    There were cans and meats in every box, meaning they weren¡¯t light and didn¡¯t raise suspicion.

    The moment the big iron door was locked, Xiao Lou gazed at the key in his hand and let go of his worries.

    No one would think that in the decoration market¡¯s warehouses, the dozens ofrge boxes filled with ¡®ss inside, handle carefully¡¯ would be supplies that would save lives in the financial crisis.

    Night fell and the residents at the central square returned to their homes. The singing teenager ced all the gold coins in his pocket, bought arge mountaineering bag, went tot he nearby 24 hour convenience store and started buying foods with great enthusiasm.

    The street lights turned on, the small city gradually became quiet and the lights of the residential buildings went out one by one.

    In the evening, Shao Qingge carried an oversized travel bag and met with Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang, handing them enough food for several days.

    Xiao Lou asked in a soft voice, ¡°How is the situation where you are living?¡±

    ¡°I found several challengers carrying milk, mineral water and instant noodles upstairs. There are more challengers in this world than I expected.¡±

    The Shanshui Guesthouse was full and the slightly more expensive hotel nearby had many challengers¡­

    The Spades room was likely to have adjusted the time flow rate and deliberately matched arge number of challengers. The more people there were, the more chaotic the world would be and the difficulty of clearing the instance would naturally rise.

    However, their supplies were abundant enough to be divided into three batches. They weren¡¯t worried at all.

    After saying goodbye to Shao Qingge and making an appointment for a meeting ce tomorrow, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang turned back to the hotel they were staying at.

    That night, everyone slept soundly. It was already bright by the time they woke up together.

    The next morning, at eight o¡¯clock.

    The moment the challengers woke up, there was a prompt on their floating box.

    [3 of Spades secret room, Financial Crisis, the first day.

    As a result of the financial turmoil, prices in your city have doubled and stocks have fallen 50% at yesterday¡¯s close.]

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    He always thought the prices would slowly rise. The result was that on the first day, it directly doubled?

 Chapter 45: Financial Crisis 4: Stock Market Turmoil

    Shao Qingge got up early in the morning and saw the news. He was suddenly rmed. He had majored in finance at university. After graduation, he set up his own fundpany to operate in the stock market. Therefore, he knew exactly what it meant by the stocks falling 50%.

    He went to the bathroom to wash his face as quickly as possible and then ate some breakfast. He took some of the food in the suitcase and put it in his travel bag, hiding the rest under the bed.

    At 8:30, Shao Qingge went to the agreed ce and met Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou.

    The two people also carried backpacks. The ck bags picked by Yu Hanjiang were very suitable for travelling. They could fit seven days of biscuits, chocte and water. In addition, carrying the bags would make local residents think they were visitors from a foreign country.

    Mobilebat, this was the strategy of Group Leader Yu. Even if their other supplies were looted, they could survive on what was in their backpacks.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke in a low voice, ¡°We have just passed the pedestrian street and there are still many people at the snack bar having breakfast. Everyone isn¡¯t very agitated. They think it is only a temporary price control.¡±

    At the nearby breakfast store, a young manined loudly, ¡°Boss, what do you mean by this? I have breakfast here every day. In the past, a bowl of soy milk and steamed buns cost 800 gold coins. Today, it is 1,600 gold coins. Are you stealing money?¡±

    The boss smiled. ¡°I also don¡¯t want to do this but the nearby stores have all increased their prices. I went to the supermarket this morning to buy ingredients such as flour, rice, vegetables¡­ they have all doubled in price. It¡¯s really evil!¡±

    The young man put down the money, took the bag and turned away.

    There were also two old women talking in whispers. ¡°I went to the vegetable market to buy vegetables in the morning. The previous pork belly was only 2,500 gold coins. Now it has risen to 5,000. Is there another outbreak of swine fever?¡±

    Another person said, ¡°Fruits have be more expensive. An apple is 2,000 gold coins! Fortunately, I bought a box of apples a few days ago or else I wouldn¡¯t even be able to afford apples.¡±

    There were many simr discussions.

    During breakfast, in the face of the sudden price increase, the residents of the cityined but many of them thought the prices would return to normal in the next two days. There were some cautious residents who went to the supermarket to sweep up goods, fearing that the prices would continue to rise tomorrow.

    Today happened to be a Saturday and mostpanies were off-duty.

    It was reasonable to say that there shouldn¡¯t be many vehicles on the road during the weekend but today was exceptionally abnormal. At 8:30 in the morning, the three men walked the entire way and found that the main roads in the city were blocked by private cars, all heading in the direction of the supermarket at the central square.

    Xiao Lou looked at the car jam. ¡°It seems the residents here are aware that something is wrong. They are anxiously going to the supermarket and the supermarket will soon be in short supply.¡±

    Shao Qingge suddenly spoke. ¡°I have to go to the stock exchange centre again.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang turned to him. ¡°Do you still want to specte in stocks.¡±

    Shao Qingge exined, ¡°When I first entered the secret room, I saw the tip that the stock market would crash at 8 in the morning but I couldn¡¯t urately pinpoint which stocks would fall. That¡¯s why yesterday, I used the fast-forward, fast-out method to make money, so that we have enough money to buy supplies.¡± His eyes swept over the crowd as he whispered, ¡°I might be wrong but the stock market probably hasn¡¯t instantly copsed. Some stocks are still very stable, for example, real estate-rted stocks.¡±

    Xiao Lou reacted quickly. ¡°On the road, I really didn¡¯t hear anyone talking about house prices.¡±

    ¡°Since this secret room is a Spades and Clubs joint room, the two keepers, A of Spades and A of Clubs must be in control. They should be using a step-by-step approach to slowly destroy the city¡¯s economic system. Intion is the first step and the housing prices copse should be the second.¡±

    Xiao Lou, who spent years saving in the real world to buy a house, felt the same way.

    If only food, vegetables and other daily necessities temporarily increased prices, even if they doubled, everyone had a certain amount of deposit in their hands. They could still afford it. Everyone in a small city had their own housing and it wasn¡¯t a big deal to eat noodles every day. The financial crisis wasn¡¯t a big problem.

    However, housing prices affected the lifeline of too many people. Even if the housing prices in this small city wasn¡¯t high, an apartment was a few hundred thousand yuan and when exchanged to gold coins, it was tens of millions of gold coins. The housing prices copsing meant their life savings instantly became worthless.

    People would panic, be angry and then be violent. The social problems caused by them would be more and more serious. Combined with the stagnation of some enterprises, if water, electricity and transportation also had problems then the whole city would be paralyzed.

    Xiao Lou felt his spine be cold. ¡°Why did 3 of Spades suddenly be an economic-rted linked secret room?¡±

    Shao Qingge frowned before spection, ¡°It is possible that the 3 of Clubs room is rtively mild and doesn¡¯t directly eliminate people like 2 of Clubs. Therefore, the third level elimination task is ced in the survival Spades room.¡±

    The four keepers knew each other. Xiao Lou remembered the opening sentence about the friendship sponsorship of A of Clubs.

    It seemed that this secret room was the consultation between A of Spades and A of Clubs to eliminate arge number of challengers.

    Yu Hanjiang was immediately alert. ¡°We will split into two. I will go to the decorations market to check that there aren¡¯t any problems with our materials.¡±

    Then Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°If you encounter a robbery attempt, remember that the materials in your backpack can be given to others. The most important thing is to protect yourself.¡± He whispered into Xiao Lou¡¯s ear, ¡°The life-saving equipment card, remember to put it on just in case.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. This is the first day and there shouldn¡¯t be many people who will make a direct robbery attempt on the street. I am acting with Mr Shao and we will look after each other. It is you who should be careful.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded, his eyes calm. ¡°Rest assured. We will meet back at the guesthouse at noon.¡±

    The three people parted ways.

    The stock market.

    Today¡¯s trading hall was full of people. Shao Qingge and Xiao Lou walked into the hall, looking up and checking the situation of today¡¯s stocks.

    The first day¡¯s crash were food, medicine, daily necessities, textiles, clothing and home appliance rted stocks. Investors who bought these stocks were emotional. Many people in the hall were gathered to discuss it. Some look depressed as they stared at the stock curve that kept falling in a daze.

    Just then, a sudden scream was heard from the window. ¡°Ah! Someone is going to jump!¡±

    A group of people immediately went over and saw that on the roof of the securities centre, two young men were holding a huge banner with the words ¡®Return my hard-earned money!!!¡¯. The row of red exmation marks was shocking.

    Someone downstairs had probably called the police and a police car soon arrived.

    The police moved quickly and within three minutes, they set up an intable pad downstairs.

    As the crowd screamed, the two young men jumped down from the roof with their banner.

    There was a loud noise as the two people fell on the air cushion. Their life wasn¡¯t harmed but the sound was heavy, like a hammer knocking on the hearts of all investors.

    The jumping off event made the atmosphere in the trading hall more depressing. Everyone¡¯s faces were full of fear and some people started to cry. Some people swore while others prayed with their hands joined together, ¡°Tomorrow it must rise again. My entire worth is in the stock market¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou watched this and his scalp became numb.

    He remembered when there was a stock market crash in the previous years. Some people on the Inte joked that the rooftops would be overwhelming as those who invested in stocks lined up to jump off the building. Those who risked investing and put all their money into the stock market would really lose confidence to live. The two people who jumped off the building today were rescued but what about tomorrow or the day after? Would more and more investors choose tomit suicide?

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t specte in stocks but he could understand the mood of these people.

    Seeing Shao Qingge watching the stocks, Xiao Lou whispered, ¡°What about the real estate stocks?¡±

    Shao Qingge replied, ¡°They are still stable. I have to find aputer as soon as possible.¡±

    Theputers in the hall were crowded with people and they couldn¡¯t find an unusedputer. The two people had to leave the stocks centre to a nearby Inte cafe to find aputer.

    Xiao Lou had the change from the supermarket buying and asked Shao Qingge, ¡°How many hours?¡±

    ¡°One hour is enough.¡±

    They found an idleputer and Shao Qingge opened the stocks market website, logging in with his personal ount. Xiao Lou sat next to him to watch. As Shao Qingge operated theputer, he whispered, ¡°Professor Xiao, have you heard of shorting stocks?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°I have never traded in stocks.¡±

    Shao Qingge exined, ¡°Look, Tianhong Real Estate, Rongguang Real Estate, Fangke Estate Group¡­ these stocks are rtively stablepared with the stocks that have already plunged, such as daily necessities, clothing, etc. However, this is only an illusion. ording to my estimates, A of Clubs will take steps to destroy the urban economic system. The first step is intion and people still have a chance to live in the beginning. After all, house prices are stable.¡±

    Xiao Lou understood. ¡°So real-estate stocks will plunge after two days? This is to let the peoplepletely copse and not see any hope?¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded solemnly. ¡°Destroying people¡¯s psychological line of defense step by step and making them fall into total despair. Then the real violence/disorder will start.¡±

    After all, this secret room required challengers to survive seven days and today was only the first day.

    Many people of this city thought that the prices would return to normal tomorrow. They didn¡¯t know¡­ this was just the beginning.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and asked, ¡°What are you going to do?¡±

    Shao Qingge hit the keyboard at a very fast pace as he borrowed arge number of real estate stocks and sold them. As he did this, he exined to Xiao Lou, ¡°Shorting stocks, in other words, if you specte that some stocks will fall, borrow them through an agent. This method of ¡®borrowing¡¯ is to obtain arge number of stocks and sell them at the current market price. Then once the stocks fall, buy them at low prices and repay the loan.¡±

    In order to facilitate Xiao Lou¡¯s understanding, he gave an example. ¡°For example, the current market price of ¡®Tianhong Real Estate¡¯ is 80 gold coins. Say I borrowed 1,000 shares through a middle party for a loan period of three days and sold them at the current price. I would get 80,000 gold coins. Once the stocks have plummeted by half the day after tomorrow, I will buy 1,000 shares at the market price of 40 gold coins and repay the 1,000 shares I borrowed. I only need to spend 40,000 gold coins and the difference in the middle is my profit.¡±

    This was simply an investment deception.

    Shorting stocks, Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t heard of this before but he quickly understood due to Shao Qingge¡¯s exnation. In other words, borrow stocks and sell the borrowed stocks at a high price. Once the stocks fell, buy them at a low price, return the borrowed stocks and the profit would be the difference.

    It was the opposite of the ¡®buy first then sell.¡¯ Shorting stocks was ¡®first borrow at a high price and then buy at a low price.¡¯

    Shao Qingge could instantly think of this, relying on the two days before the real estate stocks copsed in order to quickly make money. Xiao Lou had to admire the entrepreneur¡¯s sensitivity to the stocks market.

    He couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°A professional in economics, like you, should be able to make a lot of money in this secret room?¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°I made a fundpany and making money this way is okay.¡± He pinched his brow and spoke thoughtfully, ¡°Still, I think that A of Spades wouldn¡¯t open a secret room for us to make money. In the next few days, there will be many incidents that threaten our survival. It will rely on our ability to take the money we earned out of the secret room.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and spoke very confidently. ¡°We must be able to. After all, we have Group Leader Yu.¡±

    Shao Qingge raised his eyebrows. ¡°You trust Yu Hanjiang that much?¡±

    A bit of worship filled Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes. ¡°When I met him in reality, he was a legend in the Jiangzhou policemunity. He took two days to clear a murder and it is said that many criminals will piss their pants with fear when they hear his name.¡±

    Shao Qinggeughed. ¡°He is that good? No wonder why you directly joined his team after clearing 2 of Clubs. It seems that since the police officer is such a strong teammate, I also need a bit more confidence.¡±

    The stock market in this world had restrictions on borrowing. Once Shao Qingge used up his limit for today, he logged off and left the Inte cafe with Xiao Lou.

 Chapter 46: Financial Crisis 6: Escape Route

    The decorations market.

    Yu Hanjiang came here and heard some workersining. ¡°Today I went to buy goods and the price of wood has doubled. What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°The prices of tiles, utensils and household appliances all went up! I thought I saw a ghost!¡±

    Next to them was a middle-aged woman who was yelling at a decorationpany. ¡°Why isn¡¯t it installed? I paid you the fee yesterday and you suddenly broke the contract today? Are you saying that a contract doesn¡¯t count? There arews!¡±

    The young man next to her whispered, ¡°Boss, aren¡¯t you being too much? The contract has been signed and the advance payment paid. It is good to stay today. I am waiting for this house to finish before I get married.¡±

    The woman cried out, ¡°Yes, my son is getting married three monthster! If you say that the house won¡¯t be installed then I will sue you!¡±

    The boss of the decoratingpany was also very firm as he ced the contract on the table. ¡°The prices of all the materials have doubled. The deposit you gave me isn¡¯t enough for me to buy sand and cement! I have to push off all my customers. If you want to sue me then I will join my ancestors (go to die)!¡±

    The woman grabbed the man¡¯s cor. ¡°Are you using this as justification?¡±

    The group of people suddenly fought and the sound of banging came from the decorationpany.

    Today¡¯s decoration market was very chaotic. A few days ago, the deposit was paid but the price had doubled today. The customers wouldn¡¯t ept the new price and the boss didn¡¯t want to sell at the original price. The two sides argued endlessly and Yu Hanjiang almost became deaf.

    Fortunately, he had chosen the most hidden underground warehouse.

    At this time, only a fewpanies in the underground warehouse were unloading things. Yu Hanjiang bought the best quality locks from a nearby hardware store and reced the locks on the warehouse. Other people might not think to steal the decorations at the market warehouse but it was safer to change the locks. The anti-theft locks he bought were very strong and hard to open.

    After changing the locks, Yu Hanjiang calmly left the underground warehouse.

    He put on his invisibility cloak that gave 30 minutes of invisibility and moved around the market.

    No signs of any challengers were found.

    It was no wonder since most challengers would go to the supermarket to gain goods first. Who was free enough to go to the decorations market to buy furniture?

    After the investigation, he drew strokes on the paper to map out theyout of the entire decorations market. If someone ransacked the warehouse in the middle of the night, the escape route was also marked.

    Then he turned back and found that the situation of the decoratingpany was really bad. The ss was smashed and because the staff demanded their sry be doubled, the boss refused and the staff said they would goon strike.

    It could be seen that there would probably be a wave of strikes in all walks of life in this city.

    The sry was calcted on a daily basis. This was a giant pit that the Keeper of Spades dug for this world!

    The supermarket.

    Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge were so shocked by the spectacr sight in front of them that they couldn¡¯t speak.

    Last night, the supermarket had been orderly and now it waspletely messed up. It was crowded from front to back with people and there were long queues at the checkout. The shelves with daily necessities, mineral water, instant noodles, milk, choctes¡­ they had all been emptied!

    The entire supermarket was full of people but the shelves were empty. It was like a catastrophe.

    Shao Qingge frowned and said, ¡°There are many people who are cautious and sensitive in this world. It seems that once the price doubled this morning, everyone was rmed and ran to the supermarket to stock up.¡±

    Prices had only doubled at the moment and there was no need to be too afraid with savings in hand. They were more worried that prices would continue to soar so there was nothing wrong with hoarding goods.

    There were many people who bought rice and noodles. One olddy directly pushed a trolley full of pork meat.

    The queue at the checkout was getting longer and longer and people who reactedte in the morning were still rushing into the supermarket.

    The slower it became, the more the crowd became restless. Finally, a person carrying a box of milk didn¡¯t give money and directly ran out of the checkout railings. The security guards hurriedly started to chase him while the people behind him started to shout. ¡°Someone is running away!¡± ¡°Can you hurry up?¡± ¡°What are you doing at the checkout? There are things I have to do at home!¡±

    Several of the cashier employees were sweating.

    There was no mobile payment in this world. The things bought had to be ounted for and then the change found. The checkout sister was crying. ¡°There isn¡¯t enough change. Call the manager toe!¡±

    The manager came to maintain order but there were more and more people in the queue. One old man had a heart attack and fell to the ground. There was another riot in the crowd. Due to the insufficient change, the cashier couldn¡¯t give out change. It was unknown who took the lead but someone pushed their shopping cart and rushed out. ¡°Fuck, they want us to pay when the prices are doubled and now they want to steal our money?¡±

    There were also a few young and strong guys who fled without giving money.

    However, most people were still rtively patient on the first time. The price doubling was still within everyone¡¯s tolerance range. Although many people were impatient, they still waited for the manager to get the change.

    Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge nced at each other.

    If the first day was like this then¡­ they couldn¡¯t imagine it.

    To avoid being affected by therge crowd, the two quickly left the supermarket.

    Once Xiao Lou came back, Xiao Lou was making lunch in the kitchen.

    He cooked two packets of instant noodles in the pot, put in a few green vegetables, seasoned it with salt and vinegar and added some chopped green onions and a few poached eggs. Three bowls of ¡®sour noodle soup¡¯ was sessfully made.

    The table contained such pickled radish, canned fish and dried meat, making a simple lunch.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s cooked noodles weren¡¯t too soft or hard. The taste was just right andbined with the delicious sour soup, it was especially appetizing.

    Yu Hanjiang only ate some biscuits for breakfast and faced with the hot noodles, he quickly wolfed down a bowl. He drank from the bowl, not leaving a single bit of the soup behind. Then he looked at Xiao Lou and asked, ¡°Is there any more?¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded while eating noodles. ¡°Professor Xiao is good at this and I want another bowl.¡±

    Xiao Louughed. ¡°There is another pot and it should be enough.¡±

    For Xiao Lou, this was the simplest dish. The sour noodle soup was very stomach-friendly and easy to make. It was fragrant and delicious, at the very least, it was much better than the noodles with heavy seasoning. That¡¯s why he bought the box of instant noodles yesterday. He had ess to fire and intended to make his own version.

    After lunch, Xiao Lou opened a can of fruit, poured it into a disposable lunch box and gave the two people a stic spoon.

    Shao Qingge scooped out a spoonful of fruit and fruit juice, stuffing it into his mouth. His eyes were satisfied and gave off a ¡®follow the god to eat meat¡¯ mood. If he had stocked up on his own then he wouldn¡¯t have thought of being this fruit!

    Yu Hanjiang also felt emotional as he ate the sweet and fresh canned fruit.

    If he brought Professor Xiao with him then he could travel away from home without worrying. Xiao Lou was a really careful, gentle and intelligent man. Any woman who married him would be too happy¡­ Yu Hanjiang ate the fruit while having these thoughts.

    This lunch cost less than 40 yuan, which was equivalent to 4,000 gold coins. However, the three people were particrly satisfied after eating.

    In the afternoon, Yu Hanjiang continued to go out to investigate while Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge stayed at home with the air conditioning turned on.

    Yu Hanjiang was used to suffering.

    In the hottest time, hey in ambush in the woods for several hours in the 40 degrees sun in order to catch a murderer. His entire body was full of mosquito bites but he didn¡¯t mind. He just wiped some cool oil on himself and continued tracking. Meanwhile, at first nce, Professor Xiao was from a good family and had never suffered from childhood. Shao Qingge also didn¡¯t seem able to endure suffering.

    The outside temperature was more than 40 degrees and the three people didn¡¯t need to act together. Therefore, Yu Hanjiang moved alone and didn¡¯t let the two people follow. Xiao Lou had to stay in the room until he came back.

    In the heat of the sun, the streets were about to melt.

    This time, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s excursion was to investigate the dynamics of the entire city and see where it was easy to go wrong.

    This world¡¯s residents were all free people with great variables. There were also many challengers. Yu Hanjiang was worried that there would be serious group violence/ disorder in a few days that would affect them.

    Once they couldn¡¯t stay in the guesthouse any longer, he would have to take Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge to transfer to another ce.

    It was always right to leave himself an escape route.

    The surrounding construction sites and unfinished buildings were good ces to go.

    These ces would at least allow them to shelter from the rain. They bought sleeping bags and could sleep on the ground for the night.

    Yu Hanjiang borrowed a bicycle from the owner of the guesthouse and rode to the suburbs of the city. After riding for more than half an hour, he did find a construction site.

    It was a three storey building that didn¡¯t seem like amercial house. It was more like a mall. The property had just been capped and the windows hadn¡¯t been installed. The facade of the building hadn¡¯t been painted and was the original red brick.

    The construction site was in disarray after the prices doubled.

    Many migrant workers demanded that their wages for today be doubled while the boss used a microphone to persuade everyone. The machines on the entire site had stopped working and the construction status had stagnated.

    By the time Yu Hanjiang came, the workers were gathered together and angrily shouting about a strike. The boss tried to persuade everyone by saying he would find a way as soon as possible. The prices would certainlye down and the workers shouldn¡¯t worry¡­

    The worker¡¯s mood stabilized a bit and the site was back to the normal operation.

    Still, Yu Hanjiang knew this stability wouldn¡¯tst long. Tomorrow, prices would rise and the wage wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up with the crazily soaring prices. This site would bepletely abandoned in three days.

    There were three floors and many empty rooms. Although there were no windows, the survival room requirements shouldn¡¯t be too high.

    Yu Hanjiang would use this as an alternative base. Once they couldn¡¯t live in the guesthouse any longer, he would take Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge to immediately transfer to this ce.

    Once he finished checking the construction site, Yu Hanjiang examined the surroundings. This was uninhabited and there shouldn¡¯t be too much of a crisis to transferter. They should survive.

    Xiao Lou was anxiously waiting in the room.

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯te back until five in the afternoon.

    After seeing him, Xiao Lou was finally relieved and asked, ¡°There is nothing?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang gave him a reassuring look. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Today is only the first day and no one on the street would beat up or rob people. Only some workers were mouring for a strike. The general public is a bit anxious but they can still endure it.¡±

    Shao Qingge sighed. ¡°Currently, the supply of water and electricity is normal. Officer workers are turning on their air conditioning and there is food in the kitchen so it isn¡¯t too ufortable. Tomorrow is Sunday and the situation should worsen. On Monday, there is likely to berge-scale strikes.¡±

    Xiao Lou was worried, ¡°I don¡¯t know how long we can continue to stay here.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang patted him on the shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve found another ce to stay.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°You went out this afternoon to find a backup ce?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°There is a building being constructed in the suburbs. It has three floors and the workers are threatening a strike. After a few days, they will really go on strike and the property will be a rotten building. If the city isn¡¯t safe any longer, we will move over.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    On a hot day, Yu Hanjiang was covered in sweat and went out all afternoon to find an escape route.

    Group Leader Yu was really reliable. Xiao Lou hurriedly took out a bottle of mineral water and handed it to him. ¡°Outside is so hot. Group Leader Yu, first drink some water and then take a bath.¡± Seeing that Yu Hanjiang¡¯s short-sleeved t-shirt was soaked in sweat and tightly attached to his body, Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Once you take a bath, change your clothes. I will help you wash the clothester. It is all sweat and will be ufortable to wear.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Shao Qingge looked at them with a smile. ¡°I will go back to my hotel first. You talk.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Will youe over for dinner?¡±

    Shao Qingge replied, ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about me. I will eat my spare supplies tonight.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Okay, be careful.¡±

    Once Shao Qingge left, Yu Hanjiang took off his clothes and went to the bathroom to take a bath.

    Yu Hanjiang had just finished taking a bath when there was a knock on the door.

    Shao Qingge entered and calmly exined, ¡°I went back to the hotel and the box of supplies hidden below my bed was stolen.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    How could it be stolen so easily?

    Shao Qingge pressed a hand to his temple. ¡°Do I have a face that the thief likes?¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. ¡°It is probably because you exude the smell of a rich person from your body? Were you targeted when you checked into the hotel?¡±

    Shao Qingge felt that things weren¡¯t that simple. He lowered his voice and looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Group Leader Yu, I think the challengers staying in my hotel want to use another instance clearance method: stealing other challengers¡¯ supplies. Just now in the hotel lobby, two girls were also crying about losing their things. I suspect there is a professional thief among the challengers.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression immediately became serious. ¡°They haven¡¯t stolen things from the Shanshui Guesthouse because there are too many people here and it isn¡¯t easy to act rashly. Then they will first pick challengers from other ces to act first?¡±

    Shao Qingge felt it was quite possible. ¡°You can retreat to my room. I have been robbed already and it should be safer.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°How big is your room? Will it be crowded with three men?¡±

    ¡°I booked a standard room. There are two beds but the area is quiterge. We can take turns sleeping on the floor.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang quickly decided, ¡°Let Xiao Lou go to live with you, I will stay here.¡± Something sharp shed in his eyes. ¡°I¡¯d like to see the person who dares to grab other people¡¯s supplies to clear the instance.¡±

    Xiao Lou opened his mouth. ¡°I¡¯ll stay too.¡±

    Shao Qingge had a headache as he looked at them. ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid of danger?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Rest assured, we have a way to escape.¡±

    If he detected that something wasn¡¯t right, he could open the Peach Blossom Spring to enter and hide for half an hour. Moreover, Group Leader Yu was a policeman. It wasmon for Group Leader Yu to take care of a few thieves. Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t worried about security issues.

    The two people eventually stayed at the Shanshui Guesthouse.

    However, nothing happened that night. No thieves came to the door.

    At dawn, a prompt appeared on the floating boxes of all challengers.

    [Affected by the financial turmoil, the prices in the city have doubled from yesterday.]

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This Ü³Ü³!

    Yu Hanjiang saw the message and nearly cursed.

    The 3 of Spades room was an exponential increase?

    If the prices doubled every day, wouldn¡¯t it soar to 128 times by the seventh day?

    A 200 gold coins bottle of mineral water would be 25,600 gold coins on the seventh day. A 500 gold coins packet of instant noodles would increase to 64,000 gold coins on thest day? Foods such as canned fruit and chocte would be luxury items that couldn¡¯t be consumed.

    This world was crazy!

 Chapter 47: Financial Crisis 7: Setting Oneâ€™s Mind at Ease

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou casually ate some breakfast and went downstairs. They had just left the hotel when they heard a fierce quarrel from the pedestrian street.

    A young man pointed at the menu and shouted, ¡°Isn¡¯t this stealing money? I used to eat a bowl of rice noodles for 800 gold coins. Today you want 3,200! Boss, do you crazily want money?¡±

    The boss spoke with a bitter expression, ¡°This morning, the price of rice noodles has quadrupled. I also have no way. If I sell it at the previous price, I will lose money! Now that everything is going up, my business has nowhere else to go.¡±

    The young man next to him angrily threw the bowl onto the ground. ¡°I won¡¯t ea t it!¡±

    The boss immediately chased. ¡°Fuck! You want to run when smashing the bowl! Stop for me. You made me lose money!¡±

    The young man turned and quickly slipped away. The slightly fat boss panted as he chased behind the young man. Several customers of the rice noodle store saw the boss chasing and also slipped away. The boss returned to the store and once he discovered the empty seats, his face was as ck as the bottom of a pot. He was frustrated as he had the waiters clean up the empty bowl before he closed the door and hung the ¡®stop business¡¯ sign.

    Further forward, a middle-aged woman and a young man were arguing. The reason was because the man didn¡¯t pay attention when walking and hit her, causing her to break her basket of eggs. She demanded 10,000 gold coins inpensation and the boy refused. The woman grabbed his sleeves and refused to let him go.

    There were many people around and the crowd muttered, ¡°Aren¡¯t these prices crazy? Fortunately, I went to the supermarket yesterday and bought a lot of instant noodles¡­¡± ¡°I bought hundreds of eggs yesterday. Won¡¯t I be made if I sell it now?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t rush to sell it, what if the prices still rise tomorrow?¡± ¡°My god, still rising?¡± ¡°This makes people not want to live!¡±

    The pedestrian street was the old part of the city and there were many small stores operating.

    Due to many people fleeing the rice noodle store early in the morning, a buns store was also smashed by customers and the frightened boss had to close it. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang saw that bustling pedestrian street yesterday had suddenly be very deserted. Stores hung ¡®stop business¡¯ signs on their doors and the pedestrians were also full of panic.

    Shao Qingge was waiting for them in the lobby of his hotel. He saw the two people and immediately greeted them, asking, ¡°How was itst night? Did you encounter any thieves?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°No, the Shanshui Guesthouse was very quiet.¡±

    Shao Qingge rubbed his temple. ¡°I didn¡¯t fall asleepst night because the two girls next door were crying all night. It seems that all their materials were stolen¡­ the thief¡¯s harvest yesterday must be very rich so he doesn¡¯t n to act against the Shanshui Guesthouse for the moment?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Shanshui Guesthouse is the ce with the most number of challengers concentrated. There are more than 20 people living there. If everyone gathers together to deal with him, the thief will be in danger. This thief is very clever and probably nned the order.¡±

    Shao Qingge sighed. ¡°If I knew then I would¡¯ve ced all the materials with you.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled tofort him. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. The materials stolen are less than one-tenth of our reserve materials The warehouse has no problems.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang opened his mouth. ¡°I will go to the warehouse to check. You act together and pay attention to your safety.¡±

    Shao Qingge and Xiao Lou went to the stock market again.

    Today¡¯s real estate stocks were still very stable and some even had an upward trend. For example, Tianhong Real Estate, Rongguang Real Estate and the Fangke Real Estate Group that Shao Qingge paid attention to yesterday had all increased by about 5%.

    A 5% increase in the stock market was already a very high dividend. Many investors discovered this and argued, ¡°Is it better to sell all other stocks and buy real estate stocks? The food stocks I bought have fallen to 25%. It is really a bloody loss! If I knew this, I would¡¯ve bought real estate stocks¡­¡± ¡°Yes, the prices might be crazy but housing prices are stable.¡±

    Xiao Lou heard thesements and really didn¡¯t know what to say.

    The horrible thing wasn¡¯t feeling despair at the beginning. It was to constantly give hope and then destroy it bit by bit.

    If A of Clubs controlled the world as Shao Qingge spected, then he wanted to destroy people¡¯s psychological defenses one by one. Seeing that the real state stocks were actually rising, many people started to switch to real estate stocks. Once these real estate stocks copsed, would these people still be able to live?

    Some smart people noticed something wrong and started selling stocks immediately, but there were always people with a lucky mentality who wanted to earn back their losses. This was the same as a ¡®gambling psychology.¡¯ Once they lost 1,000, they felt like they could earn it back. Once they lost 2,000, they still felt that could win it back. They weren¡¯t willing to give up and invested more and more.

    Many investors were locked up in stocks. How easy was it to get out?

    Xiao Lou walked to the window and saw that arge number of investors had gathered on the rooftop of the building. Today¡¯s stocks had fallen 50% from where they were yesterday. These investors spontaneously organized this and made a banner asking the city¡¯s government to make a statement.

    Not far from the central square, some people were holding a demonstration. They raised banners filled with various slogans. ¡°Strongly demanding that prices are restored!¡± ¡°Please return the stable market!¡± ¡°A week¡¯s sry can¡¯t afford a carton of eggs? How do we live?¡±

    The square was full of agitation but there was no bloodshed because the police stepped out to maintain order.

    At 8:50 in the morning, a middle-aged man dressed in a suit suddenly appeared on the big screen in the central square.

    The man faced arge number of cameras and said calmly, ¡°Good morning everyone, this is a press conference. I am Liu Qingming, director of A City¡¯s Market Supervision Administration. Please don¡¯t be agitated and don¡¯t panic. There is a financial storm and this city¡¯s prices will fluctuate to some extent in the next few days. However, we are working hard to regte and restore the market as soon as possible¡­¡±

    The people temporarily quieted down and looked up at him as he spoke.

    Director Liu Qingming spoke a lot of financial knowledge that people couldn¡¯t understand before concluding it with, ¡°Please don¡¯t gather to make trouble and worsen things. It is better to go home, turn on the air conditioner and watch TV. This nightmare weekend will soon pass and I believe the prices will quickly return to normal levels.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    What was this story? Was it deceiving a three year old child?¡±

    Shao Qingge pinched his brow. ¡°Liu Qingming, this name¡­is it the Qingming Festival? Does he believe he is a ghost?¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t smile. ¡°This world might not have the Qingming Festival? However, all the challengers who hear his name will understand. This is the character that A of Spades or A of Clubs deliberately arranged in order to temporarily stabilize the situation. Maybe he will run away next week.¡±

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Sending out the director to reassure everyone in order to temporarily stabilize their mood. However, deceiving the people in this way would only cause them to temporarily stabilize before they exploded even worse.

    It wasn¡¯t just the price rise, but the officials who oversaw the market actually deceived everyone. Who could bear it?

    Due to Director Liu¡¯s nonsensical remarks and the police officer¡¯s control, the gathered people quickly dispersed. They were holding onto hope in their hearts. Perhaps as he said, the price fluctuations would onlyst a day or two before stabilizing.

    Everyone actually didn¡¯t believe this but humans were very good at selffort. Sometimes they preferred to listen to lies than to face the cruel reality.

    The supermarket in the central square was crowded with people.

    This morning, the supermarket had restocked and everyone was in a frenzy to buy. The items on the shelves were swept away and the order of the queue was far less than yesterday. It could be seen that the mood was obviously more violent than yesterday.

    Shao Qingge and Xiao Lou nced at the supermarket¡¯s situation before going to yesterday¡¯s Inte cafe.

    The Inte cafe¡¯s pries had risen to 1,600 gold coins per hour. Xiao Lou still had change so he paid for the fee for twoputers. Shao Qingge sat in front of theputer and continued to short out the real estate stocks. Meanwhile, Xiao Lou went on the Inte to check some information.

    He found that he could only find information about the world of the 3 of Spades secret room.

    This city was called ¡®City A¡¯ and should be a small space in the Card World. Many people in the forums were swearing while the media used various slogans to brainwash everyone. ¡°The financial turmoil is only temporarily, I believe we can pass it!¡± ¡°Working together to face the difficulties and guard City A!¡± ¡°The price increase is just to stimte consumption. Everyone is safe but the market will soon return to normal¡±¡­

    There were many of these types of feel-good motivational stories (often used disparagingly because the stories don¡¯t really effect change in people¡¯s lives), but the replies showed that many people believed them.

    The people on the forum were divided into optimists and pessimists. The optimists said the financial crisis would soon pass as long as they had savings and supplies in their hands. There was no need to be afraid.

    Pessimists were already trying to escape from this ce. ¡°I booked a ticket for tomorrow to go to the City of the Moon. The ticket price is very high but I believe that leaving City A is the best choice.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve lived here for many years and I don¡¯t want to leave but I can¡¯t stand it. I n to visit a rtive in the field to avoid it for a while.¡±

    They were frencers who could leave.

    What about people who had jobs, loved ones and houses here? They were rooted here so how could they leave?

    Xiao Lou tried to buy ticket to the ¡®City of the Moon¡¯ using the online ticketing system. Once his identity was verified, the ticketing system showed ¡®you aren¡¯t allowed to buy tickets.¡¯ The result was as he expected.

    He was a challenger and definitely couldn¡¯t buy tickets to escape like the free people.

    After going through the local forums and news for an hour, Xiao Lou found that the number of free people who bought tickets to escape wasn¡¯t in the minority. These people were undoubtedly smart but the premise was that traffic still operated normally.

    Once traffic was down, they couldn¡¯t run away!

    Next to him, Shao Qingge finished with the stock market for today and Xiao Lou moved over to him.

    Shao Qingge whispered, ¡°Professor Xiao, you checked the web pages. What did you find?¡±

    ¡°Based on the forum replies and the published information on all sorts ofworking sites, around 40% of people are optimistic that prices will recover. The rest are in a hurry to buy tickets to escape.¡±

    Shao Qingge touched his chin. ¡°Tomorrow is a working day and there will definitely berge-scale strikes. Once the transportation system is paralyzed, the optimistic people will turn to pessimism.¡± He thought for a moment before suddenly saying, ¡°I have to be prepared in advance and find the Inte cafe owner to buy aptop.¡±

    Xiao Lou understood. ¡°You¡¯re worried that the Inte cafe will also close tomorrow.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°I must be prepared.¡±

    After all, today too many restaurants hung up the ¡®closed¡¯ sign while this Inte cafe was cold and deserted. Only three to five people were online. If the costs doubled again tomorrow, people would have problems eating and who would run to an Inte cafe to go online?

    Shao Qingge came to the front desk of the Inte cafe and asked, ¡°Boss, do you have any oldputers that you can sell to me? There aren¡¯t many requirements, just as long as I can ess the Inte.¡±

    The boss stated the price. ¡°100,000 gold coins. There are a few machines that aren¡¯t being used and you can pick casually.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Boss, you know the current market. This Inte cafe has more than 50 seats yet only four or five people are online. Maybe no one wille tomorrow. People are having trouble eating. Who will have the spare cash to go online?¡±

    The boss¡¯ mouth twitched violently because he knew this young man was right.

    For the past two days, electricity and Inte charges had skyrocketed. His Inte cafe had to follow the rise in business. The past weekend, all his machines were used yet for this weekend, yesterday only had half the people and today¡­

    Looking at the empty Inte cafe, he also felt bad. This was his investment. He used half his life savings to open this Inte cafe!

    Xiao Lou continued to speak with a smile, ¡°You have so manyputers and they are no different from a pile of scrap iron if no one uses them. Sell us one.¡±

    The boss thought carefully before saying, ¡°Okay, then what price are you asking?¡±

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°Not gold coins. I will exchange 10 boxes of choctes for your oldptop. Chocte is currently valuable. You just need to go to the supermarket to see. These 10 boxes of choctes cost tens of thousands of gold coins and perhaps the price might rise tomorrow.¡±

    Shao Qingge thought that Professor Xiao was really witty. After the price crash, exchanging ¡®things for things¡¯ was the best way. The excess gold coins could be taken out of the secret room to other worlds.

    The boss frowned like he was unsure. Xiao Lou continued, ¡°We don¡¯t want a desktop with a high configuration. We just need aptop that can ess the Inte. I think this one is very old and you can give it to us.¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke while taking out chocte from his backpack.

    The supermarket had sold out of choctes so the boss couldn¡¯t help gulping.

    He was silent for a moment before gritting his teeth. ¡°Okay! I have used thisptop for four years to manage customer information. I will copy the information onto a USB sh drive then you can take it away.¡±

    The thing that an Inte cafe owner was leastcking wasputers, let alone a very oldptop.

    Xiao Lou happily exchanged 10 boxes of choctes for aptop¡­

    He couldn¡¯t believe this was the real world.

    Shao Qingge held theptop and spoke emotionally as he walked out of the Inte cafe. ¡°Professor Xiao, your reaction was too fast. I almost paid for this.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled slightly. ¡°Mr Shao might rarely consider the price when buying things. However, now the prices are so unstable that it is easy to trade rare items for extra items. It isn¡¯t a loss for him.¡±

    Shao Qingge was full of admiration. ¡°You are too careful. Exchanging choctes for aptop¡­ it is a bizarre experience.¡± He put theptop in his backpack and squinted. ¡°Should we change two mobile phones for instant noodles?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°We can go to the second-hand market to see.¡±

    He specified aptop because aptop could be charged. If he changed to a desktop, it was too inconvenient to carry. Secondly, once the power was cut off, theputer wouldn¡¯t be able to turn on. Then wouldn¡¯t they be finished?¡±

    Aptop had a four hours of battery life and could be used in other ces with a full charge.

    A mobile phone was also necessary. After all, Group Leader Yu always acted alone and it was really worrying. The presence of a mobile phone meant he could call Group Leader Yu. He and Shao Qingge would also buy one, making things more convenient.

    Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge came to the second-hand mobile phone market.

    This ce was very empty and only a few stores were open. After all, the market had gone crazy and most people were running to the supermarket to buy supplies. They weren¡¯t concerned about second-hand mobile phones at all.

    The bosses were also sick and had no spirit in their sighs.

    Xiao Lou exchanged milk, instant noodles and other materials for three mobile phones. ording to the old price of the goods, they bought an old mobile phone for 50 yuan. However, now the prices of materials were so crazy. Instant noodles could be eaten by a broken mobile phone couldn¡¯t be eaten.

    The boss happily gave them three mobile phones and three sim cards.

    In this world, people used mobile phones only for text messaging and phone calls. There were no videos and WeChat like the smartphones in the real world. Still, this was enough for them. The three mobile phones meant it was convenient to contact each other when the three people acted separately.

 Chapter 48: Financial Crisis 8: Mysterious Teenager

    The decorations market.

    It was home to arge number of decoratingpanies, as well as the city¡¯srgest furniture city and electronics city.

    Compared with the chaos in the supermarket, the furniture city was rtively stable. After all, the sofas, beds and cabs were sorge that they were difficult to move. There was no need to grab kitchen utensils such as pots and bowls or daily necessities such as stools and mops unless they were missing their brains.

    However, Yu Hanjiang really saw two people with problems in their brains.

    They didn¡¯t go to the supermarket to grab food and actually ran to the electronic city to grab a 50-inch LCD TV!

    It was almost a financial doomsday and eating was a problem. What was the point of grabbing a TV? What would they do in case of a power outage?

    The two young men wore a ck vest, ck shorts and had ck stocks on their heads with two holes, only revealing their eyes¡­

    Yu Hanjiang felt serious doubts. Did these two people want to rob a bank but ran to the wrong ce?

    However, these two strange guys actually picked up a TV and turned around to run.

    The female manager of the electronic city was shocked by this sudden change. She clearly didn¡¯t understand the behaviour of the two people and was stunned for a few moments before reacting. ¡°Security! Security?! Someone is stealing a TV!¡±

    The security guards at the door responded and chased the men.

    The LCD TV was very heavy and the two young men only ran a few steps before the security guards caught up. They were pressed down to the ground and the security guards stared at them in a baffled manner before calling the police.

    The police soon arrived.

    The police officer leading the team had a very ugly expression as he criticized the two people. ¡°This is the time when you should be using your strength to buy some instant noddles. Actually trying to steal a TV? Do you like watching TV so much?¡±

    The ck stockings on their heads were ripped off by the police¡­

    They were decent-looking and didn¡¯t seem like professional robbers.

    The two men crouched in a corner with their heads in their arms as they received the criticism of the police. Their ears were red and one of them spoke weakly, ¡°We were impulsive, cough¡­¡± The other person was smiling. ¡°Police officer, we deliberately tried to steal. ording to localws, how many days will we be locked up?¡±

    The police officer replied, ¡°tant robbery and endangering social security, it is more than seven days of detention.¡±

    Rather than showing expressions of frustration, the two men brightened up and seemed happy to be locked up.

    The police officer patted their heads. ¡°Then would you like to go to the police station?¡±

    The two men immediately hugged their heads and cried out, ¡±No, no, we won¡¯t dare anymore¡­¡±

    The police took out handcuffs, took them to the car and returned to the sales manager. The female manager spoke in a stunned manner, ¡°Who are these people? Run here to steal a TV and can only run for two steps before getting caught? Were they here for augh?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s cold eyes were watching this farce.

    The two men were apparently challengers and it was estimated that their materials were stolen. Feeling helpless, they decided to make an obvious stealing attempt and be locked up for the seven days.

    After being detained, there was food and a ce to stay. Couldn¡¯t they smoothly pass the instance?

    Yu Hanjiang really didn¡¯t understand the minds of these two people? Were they smart or were they stupid?

    Did they think they could safely spend seven days in the detention centre?

    In that case, all the challengers would join forces to smash a bank and sit in a cell for seven days to clear the instance. Would the Spades room be so easily cleared?

    The wave of strikes would affect all walks of life and the police definitely wouldn¡¯t be spared.

    Once the detention centre was paralyzed and there was no one to give food and water to the prisoners, these so-called smart guys would probably stare at the iron bars with two lines of tears.

    Yu Hanjiang turned and entered the decoration market.

    Yesterday, there had been many decoratingpanies and furniture stores in business who had fought with the customers. Today, they were closed. The iron doors were locked and no one could be seen on the streets.

    Obviously, most people knew that the prices had doubled and they rushed to the vegetable market, supermarkets and other ces to buy daily necessities. The bosses at the decoration market all stopped business. After all, feeding themselves and their families was the most important thing.

    In order to avoid being found, Yu Hanjiang used the invisibility cloak.

    He came to the underground warehouse using the cloak. All the cars for unloading and delivery were parked in the parking spaces because the drivers hadn¡¯t gone to work. Fortunately, the locks he changed weren¡¯t broken. It seemed the decorations market hadn¡¯t attracted the attention of thieves.

    Yu Hanjiang was going to the warehouse to get some supplies when he suddenly heard very light footsteps.

    He was now invisible and didn¡¯t have to worry about being seen. Therefore, he simply followed the footsteps.

    In the underground garage, a person wearing dirty clothes was struggling to push a tricycle. His tricycle held several ck garbage bags covered with tomato juice, egg liquid and other stains. These things had started to rot and gave off an unpleasant smell.

    He looked around and found no one present, so he quickly opened a garbage bag and pulled out milk, chocte and biscuits from the garbage bag underneath.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes immediately narrowed.

    He saw this person quickly take out five bottles of milk, arge box of choctes, six packs of instant noodles, six packs of biscuits and six bottles of mineral water. He stuffed the items into the bag at his feet, disguised the garbage truck again and pushed it to a corner of the underground warehouse.

    Then he took off his dirty clothes, took out clean clothes from his backpack, changed them and turned away.

    Yu Hanjiang saw his face.

    The teenager¡¯s handsome face contained a childlike innocence but his eyes were dark and full of anxiety. He walked forward in a hurry, ears pricked as he observed his surroundings. He was like the most alert small animal in a forest.

    In addition, to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s surprise, the teenager¡¯s physical flexibility was so good that he was almost like an acrobat.

    Yu Hanjiang hadn¡¯t seen him on the road just now because he sneaked in through a hole in the wall behind the underground warehouse. The hole was less than a metre high and he threw his backpack through before drilling in, as flexible as a fish.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned at the sight.

    It was the teenager who had yed the guitar in the central square.

    The idea of storing supplies in a tricycle and masquerading it as a ¡®garbage vehicle¡¯ was really brilliant. After all, no one wanted to go close to a smelly garbage truck left in a corner.

    There was no sound in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s vicinity. He opened the warehouse door¡¯s lock, ced some supplies in his backpack and turned back to his residence.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang had returned and were searching the Inte using theptop. They also saved each other¡¯s phone numbers. Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Where did theptop and mobile phonee from?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled, ¡°Professor Xiao traded choctes and instant noodles for them.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It was incredible.

    Yu Hanjiang thought this when he saw Xiao Lou¡¯s smile and he praised, ¡°Great.¡±

    Xiao Lou gave him one of the old mobile phones. My number and Mr Shao¡¯s number are in the address book. Group Leader Yu, if you go outter then it is convenient to contact us at any time.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded, took the phone and stuffed it into his pocket. ¡°Professor Xiao is really thoughtful.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°What did you find today?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told them about his experience with the two men who deliberately stole the TV with stockings on their heads in order to stay in the cell and clear the instance.

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°Staying in prison to clear the instance? Once the chaos starts, the prison will be terrible. After all, the people detained there are those with character problems. They will hit, steal or maybe directly kill someone¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded with a calm expression. ¡°Yes, prisoners are usually constrained and managed by the prison guards. On the surface, they are obedient. Once they are unconstrained, the consequences will be unpredictable. This might be the first ce where bloodshed will ur.¡±

    Shao Qingge touched his chin. ¡°These two people probably encountered the same thing as me. The challengers who stayed elsewhere had their supplies stolenst night. It is impossible to live so they thought of this helpless approach.¡±

    The culprit wasst night¡¯s thief who stole other challengers¡¯ supplies to clear the instance. This was really hateful!

    The two girls next to Shao Qingge¡¯s room had cried all night, apparently desperate.

    Didn¡¯t the thief know that stealing goods in this world was like killing people?

    Xiao Lou clenched his fists. ¡°These thieves are simply acting unscrupulously in order to clear the instance!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang held his shoulder and whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t be too angry. The hearts of other people are unfathomable. We can¡¯t ask all challengers to follow the human moral line in the Card World.¡±

    He changed the topic. ¡°I also encountered something interesting. The teenager who sang in the central square also stored his materials at the decorations market. His method of camouge is very clever. He directly got a tricycle and put all his food in ck garbage bags.¡±

    Xiao Lou was stunned. ¡°A garbage truck? He truly thought a lot.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°He put his materials into the garbage truck and pretended to be a garbage collector. The tricycle can ride on the road at any time and is very convenient. When entering and leaving the underground warehouse, he went the back way and changed clothes. If I hadn¡¯t been wearing the invisibility cloak then I might not have seen him.¡±

    Xiao Lou felt that Yu Hanjiang had been cautious enough to rent a warehouse to separately store materials.

    He hadn¡¯t expected this teenager to be even more amazing and directly pretend to have a garbage truck.

    Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t helpughing. ¡°This challenger is really talented. Making himself dirty and smelly while pushing a tricycle to pretend to collect garbage. He really did it.¡±

    Xiao Lou helplessly agreed.

    Stealing other people¡¯s materials, disguising as robbers to stay in the cell, pushing a tricycle to collect garbage¡­

    This was only the second day and all types of challengers had appeared. It was really amazing!

    Rtively speaking, Yu Hanjiang, Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge were the most normal thinking people in this world?

 Chapter 49: Financial Crisis 9: Thieving Gang

    In the afternoon, the Shanshui Guesthouse.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang finished their lunch and sent Shao Qingge downstairs. A girl was excitedly talking to the boss, ¡°The price at the beginning was 10,000 gold coins. It rose to 20,000 yesterday and today it is 40,000! Isn¡¯t this too much? Doubling it in one day, why don¡¯t you just steal money?¡±

    The boss exined the reason. ¡°Now everything is increasing in price, why wouldn¡¯t the cost of amodation rise? I won¡¯t be able to live.¡±

    The woman was extremely angry and about to start yelling when the boy behind her suddenly grabbed her shoulder. ¡°Ting Ting, let¡¯s move. It is too expensive to stay here since tomorrow¡¯s prices will double.¡±

    The girl¡¯s eyes were obviously flustered as she lowered her voice. ¡°Where can we move to? The Shanshui Guesthouse is the cheapest ce to live in City A. Other ces might be more expensive. Do you want me to sleep on the streets? When you first chased me, you said you wanted to give me a good life. Now don¡¯t even talk about a good life, there is no ce to live¡­¡± She was already crying.

    The man looked ugly and after a moment¡¯s silence, he changed his tune. ¡°Boss, can we pay for the amodation with instant noodles and milk?¡±

    The boss showed interest. ¡°How much do you have?¡±

    The man suggested, ¡°How about we give you a box of milk and a box of instant noodles for tonight¡¯s amodation?¡±

    The boss put up two fingers. ¡°Two boxes.¡±

    The man¡¯s mouth suddenly twitched. ¡°Don¡¯t go too far!¡±

    The boss shrugged and smiled. ¡°Before the prices rose, one box of instant noodles was 3,000 and one box of milk was 2,000. This adds up to 5,000 gold coins. My amodation fee is 10,000 a day so two boxes aren¡¯t that much? Two boxes for you to live.¡±

    The young man and woman nced at each other before gritting their teeth and agreeing.

    The woman went through the formalities in the lobby and the man returned upstairs to get the food.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered in Xiao Lou¡¯s ear. ¡°It seems these two people don¡¯t have the money to pay for the cost of housing. They didn¡¯t estimate the trend in rising prices and didn¡¯t pay the room fee in advance¡­ or perhaps you are the only one with the foresight to pay for seven days directly?¡±

    Xiao Lou used to go out with his parents during the winter vacation and was used to paying for amodation in one lump sum. This was because the prices would change greatly during the tourist season and the off-season. Some hotels had different prices for the workdays and weekends. Booking in advance meant being prepared.

    He booked seven days of amodation and spent only 80,000 gold coins.

    The challengers who didn¡¯t pay for a room in advance had the price increased to 40,000 today. Then it would rise to 80,000 tomorrow. The initial funds given to the challengers weren¡¯t even enough for the room rate.

    At this time, it was a good choice to pay for the room with materials.

    It meant that once the materials were stolen, it was over. That¡¯s why Xiao Lou particrly hated the idea of ¡®stealing other people¡¯s materials¡¯ to clear this instance. This was simply giving them no path to life.

    The trio left the hotel. Shao Qingge decided to take theptop back to his room to pay attention to the stock market. The materials he had hidden under his bed were already stolen, making his ce the safest.

    Xiao Lou went to the city to investigate while Yu Hanjiang went to the construction site.

    Perhaps it was because the afternoon weather was too hot but no one gathered in the central square to make trouble. The investors standing on the rooftop of the building with banners had also scattered. 80% of the stores on the street were closed and the entire city looked empty. Only the supermarket was still crowded with people and there were long queues.

    Xiao Lou turned around in a circle. Since the director of the Market Supervision Administration came to reassure everyone, there was norge-scale bloodshed when the prices skyrocketed the next day.

    He called Yu Hanjiang and asked softly, ¡°How is it on your side?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°At the construction site, the boss couldn¡¯t solve the problem and all the workers went home. The site has beenpletely shut down.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Do we need to sort out the materials transfer?¡±

    ¡°Wait until tomorrow to see the situation. I will find a way to get a car so we can conveniently transport the supplies.

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°Be careful. I will go back to the room to wait for you.¡±

    He hung up the phone and returned to Shanshui Guesthouse. On the way, he saw the man and woman who had negotiated with the boss to pay the rent with milk and instant noodles. They stood in the hall with gloomy expressions, each carrying a travel bag. However, both bags were t and obviously didn¡¯t contain many items.

    The woman¡¯s eyes were red from crying and her voice was obviously shaky as she pointed at the boss. ¡°Our things were stolen from our room. You are the boss so you should naturally be held responsible! What do you mean, you don¡¯t know? You are a joke!¡±

    The boss looked innocent. ¡°I think you are the ones fooling around. You couldn¡¯t afford to pay the room fee and now your things have been stolen? Who knows if it is true? I haven¡¯t seen you go out in the past two days, you have been hiding in your room the entire time. Maybe the two of you are the thieves.¡±

    The woman was furious. ¡°Who are you calling thieves? Don¡¯t use people?¡±

    The man was obviously enraged and came over to grab the boss¡¯ cor. ¡°Check the monitors to see who stole our stuff?¡±

    The boss rolled his eyes. ¡°Do you think this is a five star hotel? How can there be monitoring¡­?¡±

    The three people quarrelled in the corridor. Xiao Lou noticed something was wrong and returned to his room.

    ¡ªSomeone hade in.

    Before Xiao Lou left, he had ced a piece of hair at the crack of the door. At this time, the short ck hair had fallen in a corner.

    It was obvious that the door had been opened but the door lock didn¡¯t show any signs of being disturbed.

    Was it a master of unlocking like Group Leader Yu?

    Or¡­

    Xiao Lou suddenly thought of a card.

    After clearing the 3 of Hearts secret room, they were rewarded with the card Universal Key.

    This key could open any type of door lock in the secret room without leaving any traces. A key could be used up to five times but if two people worked together, it could be used 10 times.

    This thief could always pay attention to the movements of the challenger. After the owner of the room left, the ghost would use the Universal Key to open the door lock and steal the materials.

    Maybe the thief lived in this guesthouse and there was a pair of eyes currently staring at him.

    Realizing this, Xiao Lou¡¯s back became cold.

    He tried to maintain a calm look and pretended like he found nothing as he opened the door and entered the room.

    After locking the door, he quickly sent a message to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°The thief stole the supplies of the couple on the second floor. Group Leader Yu,e back as soon as possible. Perhaps the thief is already targeting us.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied in seconds. ¡°I¡¯ming back now. Pay attention to your safety.¡±

    At a corner of the corridor, a pair of eagle-like sharp eyes kept staring at Xiao Lou¡¯s back.

    It wasn¡¯t until Xiao Lou entered his room that the middle-aged man spoke in a hoarse voice, ¡°The challenger who lives in 207 is very cautious. There are no supplies in the room and all the food are in the carry-on travel bag.¡±

    The young man next to him wondered, ¡°Is it impossible? They have three people and it is impossible to depend on the food in the bag to live for seven days. They must have a lot of materials stored in other ces. Yes, the tallest person goes out every day. Maybe he is going to look at the supplies. Going out every day, maybe it is to look at the supplies. However, he moves too fast and with great vignce. I can¡¯t keep up with him.¡±

    The middle-aged man sneered. ¡°They have stored a lot of supplies and the things in their backpack aren¡¯t enough to eat. There will always be a chance to get their goods. It isn¡¯t toote to start.¡± He paused and looked at the young man next to him. ¡°Ignore the residents of 207. Did you investigate the other rooms?¡±

    The young manughed. ¡°Brother Xu, rest assured. Apart from 207, all the other challengers on this floor have put their things in their room.¡±

    The middle-aged man slightly smiled. ¡°We will act at night.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang soon returned.

    He entered the room and rushed in front of Xiao Lou with two or three steps, his eyes full of worry. ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and shook his head. ¡°Rest assured, I was outside when they acted and I¡¯m fine.¡± He pointed to the hair in the corner of the room and lowered his voice, whispering in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ear. ¡°Our room, the thief has entered.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the hair and slightly frowned. ¡°The door lock was normal when I opened the door.¡±

    Xiao Lou touched his chin thoughtfully. ¡°I have never thought about it before. How could the supplies in Shao Qingge¡¯s hotel be stolen? Are the employees in the hotel lobby blind? Or can these thieves fly in the sky?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang turned to him. ¡°What did you notice?¡±

    ¡°If my guess is correct, this thief probably perfectly cleared the 3 of Hearts room and have two cards in hand that are very convenient for stealing.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang recalled the rewards for 3 of Hearts and suddenly realized, ¡°The cloak and the key?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°The invisibility cloak gives 30 minutes of invisibility every time. The key can open any door lock. Once no one is in the room, they could pt on the invisibility cloak and open the door directly to take the materials. If the box is wrapped inside the cloak, the milk and instant noodles would be invisible and it is like a ghost took them away.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had used the invisibility cloak in the decoration market¡¯s warehouse today.

    The invisibility cloak was originally a card limited to 3 of Hearts. It was only after perfectly clearing the instance that this limitation would be removed and it could be taken out of the secret room. To perfectly clear the 3 of Hearts secret room, this thief wasn¡¯t simple.

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°In addition, this thief isn¡¯t doing it only for the clearance. They likely want to steal arge amount of materials to sell it at ater stage and gain a profit from the financial crisis!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression sank.

    He had also thought of this possibility.

    If it was purely to clear the instance then there was no need to steal so many supplies. How much food could they eat in seven days?

    Yet ording to Shao Qingge, the hotel where he lived had three groups of challengers who were robbed. The materials lost by the two girls next door included several boxes of milk and instant noodles.

    When Yu Hanjiang had entered the room, the couple in the corridor were still in trouble and had obviously lost quite a lot of materials.

    This proved that Xiao Lou¡¯s inference waspletely correct. The thief wasn¡¯t stealing the materials to clear the instance. They wanted to take advantage of the shortage of materials in the financial crisis to earn a lot of gold coins that could be taken out of the secret room.

    They knew that the challengers who had goods stolen wouldn¡¯t be able to survive for seven days.

    Taking someone else¡¯s life for money, this was simply eating ¡®a person¡¯s blood¡¯!

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t want any trouble. However, since this thief had hit the Shanshui Guesthouse and dared to sneak into his and Xiao Lou¡¯s room, he must take care of them!

    Yu Hanjiang seriously analyzed, ¡°The invisibility cloak¡¯s cooldown is 24:00 every day and can be used for 30 minutes. At 24:000, many people will be sleeping but some people won¡¯t be asleep. It is risky to go in and steal things. I think they will act around three in the morning.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°At three in the morning, when everyone is asleep, they will use the key to open the door and grab the supplies. Still, what if someone hid things under their bed. If their actions are too big, won¡¯t they wake people up?¡±

    ¡°Thus, there must be other tools formitting the crime in their hands.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°For example, an inhaled anesthetic? If they encounter resistance, directly knock the person unconscious?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°After entering the world of the financial crisis, they only need to find a way to buy arge amount of anesthetic on the first day. They can live by stealing things. Not only can they live well, they can also sell the materials at ater period to make a lot of money.¡±

    This was really smart.

    Unfortunately, the cleverness wasn¡¯t used in the right way and they wanted to clear the instance at the expense of other challengers.

    Xiao Lou clenched his fists. ¡°Group Leader Yu, what do you want to do?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes were deep and cold. ¡°Lead the snake out of the hole.¡±

 Chapter 50: Financial Crisis 10: Unexpected Accident

    That evening.

    Yu Hanjiang rode in a pickup truck borrowed from the construction site in the afternoon to carry a lot of supplies.

    The two men who had been paying attention to the challengers¡¯ movements immediately discovered him.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou whispered to each other while moving the supplies. ¡°There isn¡¯t enough to eat. I went to get give boxes of milk, five boxes of biscuits, a box of chocte and a box of canned fruit.¡±

    The young man saw the scene from the window and was excited. ¡°Brother Xu, he really went to get things. In addition, there is canned fruit. This is a luxury food. Tonight, we will sweep up all the goods in 207 and then transfer ces. How about it?¡¯

    The middle-aged man nodded. ¡°Okay, wait until evening.¡±

    At night, all the streets were extraordinarily quiet and the lights of all the rooms in the Shanshui Guesthouse had turned off.

    People were asleep.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were hidden in the darkness, patiently waiting for the thief toe to the door.

    At 2 o¡¯clock in the morning¡­

    At 2:30¡­

    Time passed very slowly but Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t sleep. They both sat by the bed and waited in an alert manner for the voice of the thief. The two people tacitly put their phones on mute andmunicated by sending text messages.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°They aren¡¯t here yet? This thief is too cautious.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s wait.¡±

    ¡°Group Leader Yu, did you really go to the warehouse to move so many canned fruits? When I lifted it, I found that the boxes were very heavy.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°There aren¡¯t any canned fruits in the box.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at him in a puzzled manner.

    Under the light of the streetmps, the handsome face of Yu Hanjiang could be seen. This man¡¯s eyes were particrly deep as he stared at Xiao Lou with a slight smile. ¡°They are bricks from the construction site.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    No wonder why it was so heavy to lift up!

    Group Leader Yu actually went to the construction site to move a few boxes of bricks to hook the thief. This was really amazing!

    At three in the morning, Xiao Lou was very sleepy.

    Just then, the two people suddenly heard the door open.

    Xiao Lou immediately became alert and used the invisibility cloak at the same time as Yu Hanjiang.

    The door clearly opened but the other person couldn¡¯t be seen. It was as if a gust of wind had blown the door open.

    Two thieves approached the bedside and found no one in the room.

    A young man asked, ¡°What about the people? I clearly saw them enter the room.¡±

    The other person was a middle-aged man with a slightly hoarse and cold voice. ¡°They might¡¯ve gone out through the window. It is a matter of saving lives and it is important to find supplies.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang could hear their conversation but couldn¡¯t see where they were. The two men wearing the invisibility cloak directly lifted the bed. In Xiao Lou¡¯s view, it was like the bed was lifted by invisible hands. It was a scene like a fantasy.

    Many cardboard boxes under the bed were exposed and the young man was excited. ¡°So many! Brother Xu, it is like you guessed. The three of them really stored their food elsewhere. Too good, today¡¯s harvest is really rich!¡±

    He leaned over to pick up the box, only to find that it was particrly heavy.

    The man gritted his teeth and asked, ¡°Is it a box of canned fruits?¡±

    The other person seemed to notice something was wrong and whispered, ¡°Look inside the box.¡±

    The transparent glue of the seal was torn open and the two men gathered together to see¡­

    A neat pile of bricks.

    They were brand new red bricks.

    The two people¡¯s faces turned green and they turned to run. The next moment, the door mmed shut and locked, a cold voice filling the air. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting a long time.¡±

    There was another gentle voice. ¡°We also have invisibility cloaks and perfectly cleared 3 of Hearts, so we guessed your means ofmitting the crime.¡± Xiao Lou smiled and spoke seriously, ¡°How many challengers did you steal from? Starving others to support your own way of clearing the instance, you are really too much!¡±

    The two people initially panicked for a few seconds before soon calming down.

    The middle-aged man spoke lightly, ¡°Since you are also a friend of 3 of Hearts, you should know the truth about the best use for it. The invisibility cloak and universal key card are very easy to use in this world. It is better for everyone to cooperate so the four of us clear the instance. I promise then when leaving 3 of Spades, the gold coins in hands of the two of you won¡¯t be less than 10 million.¡±

    Judging by his voice, this man should be around 40 years old and he was very calm.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°Killing other challengers to clear the instance? Do you still have humanity?¡±

    The young man cried out, ¡°What type of humanity do you want to talk about in this world? I just don¡¯t want to die. I want to lie! What do other people have to do with me? Stop talking nonsense. If you are willing to join, the four of us will make a big profit. If you don¡¯t like it, then we will have different ns. We won¡¯t touch your supplies anymore and the two of you shouldn¡¯t be nosy about us!¡±

    Xiao Lou had long suspected that in order to survive in the Card World, there would be people who used whatever means necessary. Without the shackles ofw and morality, the wickedness of human nature would exceed his imagination.

    He wasn¡¯t good at arguing with people, not to mention there was no reason to when they had different ideas.

    ¡®A gentleman uses his words and not his fist¡¯ wouldn¡¯t work in this world.

    Therefore, he intended to act directly.

    Xiao Lou made a signal to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ear. He met Yu Hanjiang and quickly came to the window, in case the two people tried to flee through the window. Then Xiao Louunched the rings that he had drawn.

    Before the two thieves had entered the room, Xiao Lou drew many rings and formed a dense ringwork. Then he raised the rings to the ceiling.

    The two thieves hadn¡¯t discovered that there was actually a huge on the ceiling.

    It was already toote the moment they noticed it.

    Xiao Lou gently raised his fingers and countless 30cm diametre metal rings suddenly descended from the sky.

    The two thieves were wearing invisibility cloaks and Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t see them, but they still existed physically. A physical collision would affect them.

    Countless rings poured down like torrential rain. However, in a corner of the room, two rings were thrown away and fell to the ground, making the clear sound of metalnding.

    ¡ªRight here!

    Xiao Lou got the precise positioning.

    Yu Hanjiang rushed past and his left foot mmed hard against something, causing a scream to be heard.

    This was followed by Yu Hanjiang reaching in the direction of the scream and sharply pull. Although he couldn¡¯t see the other person in his eyes, he could judge their position based on the ring and the scream. He urately grasped the other person¡¯s arm and forced it back.

    The man made a pig-like cry.

    Yu Hanjiang dered coldly. ¡°The invisibility cloak just lets people not see you, it doesn¡¯t mean people can¡¯t touch you.¡±

    He ced the person on the ground and Xiao Lou manipted several metal rings, forming a dense surrounding ringwork that meant the other side had nowhere to hide.

    Yu Hanjiang ordered, ¡°Take off the cloak.¡±

    The other person gritted his teeth. ¡°Fuck, you can actually do magic?¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°It isn¡¯t magic.¡±

    The young man finally seemed to react as he cried out in a startled manner, ¡°Is it a card? You have such a powerful ount?¡±

    He finally understood that he had kicked over an iron te and was in danger. The man hurriedly changed his words. ¡°Brother, spare us and let us go. We will divide half the materials with you, how about it?¡±

    He hadn¡¯t finished his words when his back suddenly felt cold.

    The icy cold ran through his heart, from his back to the front of his chest. The man looked down at his chest in disbelief.

    It was a knife. A knife pierced his heart from behind without any errors.

    Red blood flowed down the tip of the knife. The man¡¯s eyes widened as he stared at the knife and he only had time to say, ¡°Brother¡­ Xu¡­¡±

    The next moment, the bloody dagger was pulled out forcefully as the stabbed man was pushed into Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang reflexively avoided it and there was a sound from the window. The ss was broken!

    The middle-aged man agilely jumped out the broken window and disappeared into the darkness in the blink of an eye.

    As a result of being stabbed to death, the invisibility cloak¡¯s effect failed. A young man lying in a pool of blood gradually appeared in the room. His eyes were staring straight forward. Apparently even as he was dying, he couldn¡¯t believe¡­ he had been betrayed by his teammate.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the body at his feet with an extremely ugly expression.

    Xiao Lou was also shocked by this sudden change.

    After a long time, Xiao Lou trembled. ¡°In order to escape, he actually killed his teammate and threw the body as a shield. Or was he afraid that his teammate would tell where the materials were hidden and simply killed him?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s calmly swore. ¡°Fuck! He is even inferior to a beast!¡±

    He had never heard Group Leader Yu swear before. Apparently, Group Leader Yu was extremely angry this time.

    So far, there had been no more than three prisoners who escaped from his hands.

    Of course, today there was the presence of the invisibility cloak and Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t urately locate the other person. Even so, he prepared so much and didn¡¯t catch the thieves while also letting the other side kill apanion¡­

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face was green and heavy as he spoke, ¡°We have to transfer as soon as possible.¡±

    He didn¡¯t expect it to happen like this. Rather than getting rid of the thief, he exposed himself.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°We can¡¯t stay here. The animal actually killed hispanion to escape. This means he is very vicious. Perhaps he wille back for revenge.¡±

    Moreover, there was a corpse in the room. It wouldn¡¯t be good for them if someone called the police tomorrow.

    The man might not have been killed by them but he died because of them.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was a bit ufortable. He took a deep breath to adjust his mood and quickly called Shao Qingge.

    Shao Qingge was sleeping and he was woken up by the call. The man¡¯snguid voice was still a bit confused. ¡°Professor Xiao, what¡¯s wrong? It is three in the morning, why are you looking¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°There is a situation on this side and we need to transfer ces immediately. Do you want to join us?¡±

    Shao Qingge sat up on his bed. ¡°What¡¯s the situation?¡±

    Xiao Lou told him helplessly, ¡°Group Leader Yu and I wanted to lead the snake out of the hole to catch the thief. There were two thieves and in order to escape, one of them directly killed hispanion.¡±

    Shao Qinggepletely woke up. ¡°K-Killed!¡±

    Xiao Lou briefly exined the mater. Shao Qingge heard of the dead person in room 207 and decisively said, ¡°I will act with you. I don¡¯t want to be arrested by the police as a suspect. I will meet you downstairs at the hotel in 10 minutes.¡±

    The three of them carried a bag and met downstairs.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s face was very serious. ¡°The thief really killed his partner?¡±

    This person was not only ferocious but also decisive. He could kill his teammate without hesitation in the key moment.

    Yu Hanjiang wasn¡¯t afraid of retaliation but Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge rarely faced such things. He was afraid those two people would have an ident. It was easy to avoid the gun in the daytime but hard to avoid the arrow hidden in the darkness. Therefore, they had to move to a safer and more secure ce as soon as possible.

    For the construction site, he had investigated all afternoon. The workers were on strike andpletely abandoned the ce. Prices would continue rising tomorrow and work at the site wouldn¡¯t resume. It could be used as a temporary hiding ce for three people.

    Yu Hanjiang moved the truck while Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge followed.

    They nned to go to the underground warehouse to carry away the goods.

    The streetste at night were terribly quiet and the expressions of the three people were more solemn than ever.

    By the time they arrived at the warehouse, it was almost four in the morning. Yu Hanjiang opened the door and Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge came forward to help carry boxes.

    Before they could finish, they heard the sound of footsteps not far away.

    Yu Hanjiang immediately raised a finger to his mouth. ¡°Shh¡­ there is someone.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge held their breaths and hid behind the door. They looked out through the door of the warehouse and saw a dirty young man quickly walk to the corner, grabbed the tricycle filled with garbage and hurry away.

    Xiao Lou spoke softly, ¡°Is that the boy disguised as a garbage collector that Group Leader Yu previously saw?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°It¡¯s him.¡±

    Xiao Lou was puzzled. ¡°It is past three in the morning. Where is he going now?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also didn¡¯t understand what this person was thinking. ¡°Perhaps he is a night owl.¡±

    Xiao Lou stared at the young man¡¯s back and was silent for a moment before suddenly saying, ¡°Group Leader Yu, don¡¯t you feel that this guy has been watching our movements? On the day I checked in, I paid for a room for seven days and he also paid for seven days. We hid our supplies in the underground warehouse and he hid it in the underground warehouse. We moved in the middle of the night and he rode away¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought carefully. ¡°Now it is almost four in the morning. There are so many coincidences that it can¡¯t be a coincidence.¡±

    The three people nced at each other.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke decisively, ¡°Follow him and see.¡±

 Chapter 51: Financial Crisis 11: Mysterious Teenager

    Yu Hanjiang had Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge stay to guard the warehouse materials while he quickly followed the teenager.

    Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge didn¡¯t have any opinion on Group Leader Yu¡¯s decision. After all, ¡®tracking¡¯ was Group Leader Yu¡¯s expertise. If they followed then not only would they be too slow, they might attract the teenager¡¯s attention.

    The streets were very quiet in the middle of the night.

    Yu Hanjiang left the decorations market and soon found the teenager.

    Under the illumination of the streetlights, the teenager and his tricycle cast a shadow on the ground. His physical strength was very ordinary and he appeared to have some difficulty riding a tricycle full of supplies. Yu Hanjiang walked like he was flying and soon followed this teenager, keeping a distance of 50 metres.

    The teenager seemed to sense something and turned his head in an alert manner behind him.

    Yu Hanjiang immediately dodged into the shadow of the street lights.

    The teenager found no one behind him and turned back, continuing to ride the tricycle. He moved a distance and looked around and behind him like a small animal sneaking out for food in the forest.

    Yu Hanjiang followed him quietly.

    After some distance, Yu Hanjiang soon discovered that this person was actually heading in the direction of the suburbs. Yu Hanjiang was very familiar with this direction because he had been very concerned with the construction site in the suburbs since he nned to use this site as an escape route. Was the teenager also going to the construction site?

    In the northwest, there was only the construction site and no homes around.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned a bit. Perhaps it was as Xiao Lou said and this teenager had been watching them, discovering that he had been going to the construction site for the past few days.

    He was considering if he should keep following or not when the teenager riding the tricycle arrived at a street corner and saw two drunks at the fork in the road.

    The two men were holding each other¡¯s arms and yelling at each other. Their feet staggered like they would fall at any time.

    After seeing the teenager, one of the drunk men rushed over to grab his garbage truck, speaking with a smile, ¡°Friend, is there any wine? I haven¡¯t had enough to drink tonight. Would you like a few drinks?¡±

    The other drunk man grabbed the boy¡¯s arm. ¡°Come down from there and let¡¯s get drunk until dawn!¡±

    The teenager was shocked by the two drunk men emerging suddenly. His face was slightly pale but he quickly adjusted it and said, ¡°Big brothers, I don¡¯t have any wine. I am just a garbage collector, haha, you c-continue to drink¡­¡±

    However, the drunk people had no sense of reason at all and grabbed him to drink together. One man grabbed his tricycle while the other held his arm, making him unable to walk.

    A minuteter, the teenager was visibly impatient.

    His fingertips shed and a 3¡Á3 metres grid appeared on the ground and trapped the two drunk men. The teenager forced their hands off and quickly rode the tricycle.

    The card he used was ¡®Nine Pces Grid¡¯. This was a fixed reward for the 2 of Diamonds secret room and could trap anybody in the given area for nine seconds. This boy was clever to use it to escape.

    Yu Hanjiang saw that the teenager riding the tricycle suddenly disappeared from the corner of the street. He strode forward and found that the teenager was already 100 metres away.

    His speed at riding a tricycle wasn¡¯t this fast.

    Yu Hanjiang had maintained the distance at 50 metres. How could this teenager move 100 metres in just a few seconds?

    The next moment, Yu Hanjiang knew the answer.

    The teenager suddenly disappeared like a ghost and reappeared again at the end of the street.

    Teleportation.

    If it wasn¡¯t for this world having all types of strange cards, Yu Hanjiang would certainly think that he had seen a ghost.

    The streetste at night were cold and empty. The teenager and his tricycle ¡®teleported 50 metres¡¯ and after five consecutive teleports, hepletely disappeared from Yu Hanjiang¡¯s vision.

    This was simply too mysterious.

    It was unknown of the teenager discovered that Yu Hanjiang was tracking him or if he was alerted by the two drunks but the teenager directly used the card skill to teleport away before Yu Hanjiang could catch up with him.

    Yu Hanjiang gently pinched his brow. Today was really bad. He tried to catch the thieves and as a result, the other side killed his teammate and ran away.

    In the Card World, if people wanted tomit a crime than it would be much easier than the real world.

    Teleportation, invisibility and universal key, these type of cards convenient for crime would be disastrous if they fell into the hands of the mob!

    Yu Hanjiang soon returned to the warehouse.

    Xiao Lou looked at his face and guessed the result. ¡°The teenager also had a special card?¡± He believed that with Group Leader Yu¡¯s professional tracking ability, it was impossible to lose a tricycle full of supplies unless the teenager had other means of escaping.

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°He has a teleportation card and can even take his tricycle along. He moved 50 metres in a few seconds and disappeared.¡±

    Shao Qingge cried out, ¡°He can teleport along with his vehicle? This card is very strong!¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at his smiling expression and couldn¡¯t resist saying, ¡°Surely you don¡¯t want to rob it?¡±

    Shao Qingge shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m not that violent¡­ by the way, what is your fun card?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told them, ¡°Talk about itter. Let¡¯s move first.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang moved the truck loaded with supplies and headed to the site along with Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge.

    On the road, Xiao Loumented, ¡°I paid 80,000 for the room and as a result, I only spent three nights there. Based on the calctions, I lost 10,000pared to challengers who paid by the day¡­¡±

    Shao Qinggeforted him. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Once the real estate stocks copse, I can make at least two million in profit and half will be given to you. Then once you clear the following secret rooms, you can upgrade the contract as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great.¡± Xiao Lou turned to him with a smile. ¡°Mr Shao really knows how to make money. I have some savings in my bank card in the real world. If we are able to go back, can I give you the money to invest in stocks?¡±

    ¡°Of course, no problem¡­but the premise is that we can go back.¡± Shao Qingge stared at the empty and cold streets and whispered, ¡°This is only 3 of Spades but the difficulty is so high. I can only imagine the difficulty of 10 of Spades and higher.¡±

    ¡°No matter the difficulty, we have to go back. We can¡¯t stay here.¡± Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was low and smooth. In the middle of the night, it seemed to have a reassuring power. ¡°The existence of cards will help the challenger but these cards are also a breeding ground for crime. The real world has legal and moral constraints but here, many people will do whatever it takes to survive.¡±

    ¡°Yes, some people won¡¯t hesitate to kill and even worse, they don¡¯t need to bear the guilt of murder.¡± Xiao Lou looked dark before he softly added, ¡°From now on, the harder the secret room, the more likely it is that these types of people will appear.¡±

    ¡°In the world where the weak are prey to the strong, those who are hard-hearted will naturally have a higher rate of survival.¡± Yu Hanjiang looked back at the two people and spoke coldly. ¡°However, if you live by means of murder then how can you be a normal person after returning to reality?¡±

    Both Xiao Lou and Sh were deep in thought.

    Killing others in order to live, staining their hands with blood and bing murders, even if they survived, they might have nightmares every night¡­ what was the point of living like that?

    Even so, these were things they would have to face in the future. If only one person could survive between themselves and the opponent, they would have to make a choice.

    At this thought, a chill went down Xiao Lou¡¯s back. He didn¡¯t want to kill but in the case of ast resort, he couldn¡¯t sacrifice himself for others. He wasn¡¯t the Virgin Mother. He could only try to adhere to his original mindset and not turn into a bloodthirsty killer.

    ¡°We¡¯re almost there.¡± Yu Hanjiang¡¯s words interrupted Xiao Lou¡¯s thoughts.

    Xiao Lou looked up and saw the lights from the construction site not far away. At this time, it had beenpletely shut down and no one could be seen.

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°This building has three floors and hundreds of empty rooms. here are no residents around and the workers have gone on strike. They shouldn¡¯t be found here.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Should we pick the room with the best view on the third floor?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°I did an inspection and there is a room in the northeast corner of the third floor. There are windows on all four walls and we can observe the surroundings with no dead angles. Once someonees close, we can perceive it first.¡±

    ¡°Group Leader Yu worked hard.¡± Xiao Lou smiled and said, ¡°Then we will stay in that room.¡±

    The trio worked to move their supplies to the room in the northeast corner of the third floor.

    They were just carrying the boxes into the building when Yu Hanjiang suddenly stopped and lowered his voice. ¡°There is someone.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°In this building, there are four people¡¯s footsteps.¡±

    The hairs on Xiao Lou¡¯s body stood up hearing this in the middle of the night. His expression suddenly changed and there was the sense of the horror of ¡®a haunted housete at night¡¯. He turned and saw Yu Hanjiang¡¯s calm expression while the other person¡¯s low voice entered his ears, ¡°The person moved on the stairs just now. I heard footsteps different from the three of us.¡±

    Xiao Lou was worried. ¡°Is it the thief who followed us?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang shook his head. ¡°The bigger possibility is the little guy who ran off with his tricycle. I thought he was going in this direction. Perhaps he also wants to use the construction site as a temporary residence.¡±

    Xiao Lou was very puzzled. ¡°Is he copying our way of clearing the instance or did he happen to think the same as us?¡±

    The two of them had lowered their voice and used the ¡®whisper¡¯ approach. Shao Qingge heard up to here and also asked in a light voice, ¡°Do you know him?¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other before denying it. ¡°We don¡¯t know him.¡±

    Shao Qingge mused, ¡°It¡¯s strange, why should he copy our clearance strategy? There are so many challengers yet he followed us from the beginning. Do we have ¡®must clear¡¯ written on our faces in big writing?¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. ¡°For students who went to copy homework, they will look for someone with good results to copy from. If he really wants to copy our clearance strategy, he couldn¡¯t copy it if he was uncertain. Unless¡­ he knows our identity and believe we have a great possibility of clearing it.¡±

    Shao Qingge said, ¡°The two of you broke the world record for 3 of Hearts and 3 of Diamonds while Group Leader Yu broke the world record for 2 of Spades and Professor Xiao broke it for 2 of Diamonds. Your names have filled the announcements many times and once he knows you are called Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang, he would certainly feel that he had encountered great gods. By following behind the great gods, he could clear the instance.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang made an ¡®shh¡¯ gesture and signalled for the two men to ce their travel bags on the ground.

    He took out all the contents of the bag and turned the entire bag over.

    In the corner of the three travel bags, there was a fingernail-sized ck button. Yu Hanjiang gently picked up the ¡®button¡¯, carefully observed for a moment and then used his fingers to write on the ground, ¡®A bug.¡¯

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Dang! A wiretap was actually ced on their travel bags so the movements of the three people in the past few days had been heard clearly!

    Yu Hanjiang took out his phone to type, ¡°I¡¯m sure my bag hasn¡¯t been touched by anyone. Professor Xiao?¡±

    Xiao Lou typed, ¡°I am the same. The bag contained enough food for three days and apart from the guesthouse where I ced the bag on the ground, I never let this bag leave my body when I go out.¡±

    Shao Qingge wondered, ¡°How did the bug get on it?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly had a thought. ¡°On the first day in this world, we heard him sing two songs near the Central Square.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s senses quickly returned. ¡°Yes, he sang Glorious Days and Out the Window. The city¡¯s residents haven¡¯t heard these two songs but the challengers would be familiar with them. Did he determine the challengers in the crowd ording to the reaction of the audience?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes were deep. ¡°This little fellow, him singing in the square wasn¡¯t just to make money.¡±

    The teenager had seen Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang in the Shanshui Guesthouse and saw them stop to listen to his singing in the central square. The familiar song brought up Xiao Lou¡¯s memories and Xiao Lou¡¯s face would¡¯ve certainly shown it at the time. This allowed the teenager to identity his ¡®challenger¡¯ identity.

    The three people were just unaware of when the eavesdropping bug was ced.

    Xiao Lou spected, ¡°He should have a card where the effect is to ce the bug within a certain range. It can probably release several at the same time. This little guy¡¯s cards are very strong.¡±

    Teleportation and a bug. The two cards might not have any attack capability but by relying on these cards, the young man¡¯s escape and copying abilities were simply first-ss!

    The professional criminal investigator, Yu Hanjiang actually lost his tracks and was also bugged for several days.

    The three people looked at each other.

    A momentter, Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t helpughing. ¡°This guy with raised ears, he is an alert and flexible kitten.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought of this image andughed. ¡°I estimate that when Group Leader Yu and I moved the boxes with ¡®ss, handle with care¡¯ on them, he listened to the bugs on our backpacks and heard us storing the supplies separately. He followed suit but in an upgraded manner, disguising the goods as trash in the warehouse.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°He heard I was observing the construction site and also ran to look, finding that it is suitable as a hiding ce.¡±

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°We caught the thief in the middle of the night and the thief unexpectedly killed his teammate to escape. Group Leader Yu decided to move immediately. He heard this, was afraid the thief woulde back to hit the challengers and also moved immediately.¡±

    Shao Qingge stated, ¡°He is copying our clearance strategy.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°As a teacher, I can¡¯t help wanting to praise him. He is the best student I have seen at copying. Not only did he use it, he upgraded and changed our strategy.¡±

    Group Leader Yu disguised their materials as ss and he directly disguised it as a garbage bag. He also sprinkled egg whites and juice on the garbage bag, making them smelly so that people didn¡¯t want to get near them.

    Group Leader Yu found a movingpany to move their materials and he had a ready-made ride with the tricycle.

    Copying to this point, they could only say that this little guy was too clever.

    Shao Qingge asked, ¡°Group Leader Yu, what is your n? Do you want to clean him up?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it for a moment. ¡°He just overheard and imitated our clearance strategy. He knew where we put the materials but didn¡¯t think of stealing our things or harming us. There is no need to move against him for the time being. Professor Xiao, what do you think?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked Xiao Lou for his opinion.

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°If a student was cheating during an exam, I would definitely give them a warning. However, this world is too difficult to live in and copying our clearance strategy can also be considered an ability¡­¡± Xiao Lou paused before typing, ¡°Besides, I¡¯m very interested in the teleport and eavesdropping function of his two cards.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°Since you are interested, grab him and see.¡±

    The next moment, Yu Hanjiang directly picked up the button-sized bug and whispered, ¡°I just heard wrong, there are no footsteps. This ce is so remote and there definitely won¡¯t be anyone. We will continue to move our supplies and put them away.¡±

    Xiao Lou cooperated with him. ¡°Yes, Mr Shao will stay here. I¡¯ll go downstairs with Group Leader Yu to move the things.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled, ¡°No problem.¡±

    After finishing, Yu Hanjiang winked at the two men and ced the bug in the corner.

    They didn¡¯t go downstairs to move the box but instead headed west along the second floor. Then with light footsteps, they followed Yu Hanjiang to the third floor.

    Yu Hanjiang was very familiar with the interior of the building.

    On the third floor, the northeast and northwest corridors had the rooms with the most open views. However, the windows only allowed them to see the movements downstairs, not inside the building.

    They came from the second floor and climbed the stairs to the third floor. This entire process was almost silent.

    Yu Hanjiang headed into the room in the northwest corner of the third floor.

    There were many supplies in the room and a thin teenager was hiding against the window, looking downstairs through the gap in the window.

    Apparently, the teenager had heard their conversation through the bug and thought they would continue downstairs to carry supplies. He observed for a while but didn¡¯t see any figures downstairs.

    The teenager was feeling puzzled when he heard a low and cold voiceing from behind him.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke softly, ¡°There is no need to look. We¡¯re here.¡±

    The teenager¡¯s body shook violently and he instantly froze like a statue.

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°We found the bugs you ced and Group Leader Yu deliberately spoke those words to let you rx your guard.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled at the other person. ¡°Don¡¯t get too excited. We are currently on the third floor and you might break your leg jumping down.¡±

    The teenager, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge continued, ¡°If your teleportation card can move vertically then you can choose to jump from the window.¡± He then opened a ck garbage bag and took out milk with the packaging intact. ¡°Hey, this is oat milk. I like this the best.¡±

    The teenager, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This group of liars!

    What was that thing about moving downstairs? They sneaked to the west side of the third floor to catch him?

    The teenager saw the three big men who were taller than him and his lips quivered slightly. ¡°You, what do you want?¡±

    The three people, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Shouldn¡¯t they be asking him this sentence?

 Chapter 52: Financial Crisis 12: Nightmare Room

    The young man shivered with fright, looking like a rabbit that had suddenly broken into a wolf¡¯s den.

    Xiao Lou, who was regarded as a ¡®wolf¡¯, couldn¡¯t helpughing as he stepped forward. He said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to be afraid. We won¡¯t hurt you. We just want to find out your purpose. Why ce bugs on our bags?¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes narrowed as he smiled faintly. ¡°It seems that your card can¡¯t teleport vertically?¡±

    The young man looked away with panicked eyes.

    Shao Qingge added, ¡°If you can¡¯t run away then be honest.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°You have been listening to us and should know that Police Officer Yu is a criminal police officer who specializes in arresting prisoners. You don¡¯t want to be interrogated by him, right?¡±

    The two people acted together while Yu Hanjiang maintained his cold expression, sharp eyes staring at the teenager¡¯s face covered with dust. ¡°Say it. I don¡¯t want to do that.¡±

    The teenager stared ufortably before bowing his head. ¡°I-I will say it¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Did you eavesdrop on us to steal our strategy to clear the secret room?¡±

    The teenager quickly shook his head and exined, ¡°N-No, I didn¡¯t copy you. I wanted to put the materials in the warehouse and use the construction site as a hiding ce¡­ I happened to think along the same lines as you.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other, obviously not believing it.

    Shao Qingge raised an eyebrow. ¡°A coincidence? How can we believe there are so many coincidences?¡±

    The teenager whispered, ¡°It¡¯s true¡­ because this isn¡¯t the first time I havee to the 3 of Spades secret room.¡±

    This answer stunned the three people. It wasn¡¯t his first time?

    Xiao Lou immediately asked, ¡°What do you mean? You have been to the 3 of Spades secret room previously?¡±

    The teenager nodded. He seemed to be remembering some bad experiences as his lips paled and his eyes shed with pain. ¡°Last time, I didn¡¯t pass. I only lived to the fifth day before I was eliminated.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang followed up with a question. ¡°You were eliminated from the secret room but not wiped out?¡±

    The young man¡¯s face paled even more and his voice was weak. ¡°You¡­ have you heard of the Nightmare Room?¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other. The keeper had repeatedly emphasized that once they failed a secret room, they would enter the Nightmare Room to ept the punishment. The Nightmare Room¡¯s survival rate was less than 0.1% yet this little guy actually came back from a Nightmare Room?

    As if confirming Xiao Lou¡¯s words, the young man followed closely by saying, ¡°I survived the Nightmare Room and returned to 3 of Spades to re-challenge the clearance.¡±

    This amount of information was too big!

    Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t expected for the teenager to carry so many secrets.

    If he had information about the Nightmare Room then this was undoubtedly extremely important to the three people. After all, the three of them had never experienced the Nightmare Room. If they were one day eliminated, it would be very useful to know the information in advance.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou and whispered, ¡°Tie him up and carefully ask him.¡±

    Xiao Lou understood the meaning. He took out thepass and drew a few rings of different sizes. Then he gently lifted his fingers and the teenager¡¯s feet, waist and body were covered with rings, almost like his entire body was wrapped.

    The teenager trapped in the rings stared with a face full of fright. ¡°What are you going to do? D-Don¡¯t kill me¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Rest assured, this is just to prevent you from escaping. You can now exin slowly. If the information satisfies us then we will let you go.¡±

    The teenager moved his arm. He found his entire body was surrounded by the rings and he couldn¡¯t move at all. He wanted to cry as he nced at Xiao Lou, ¡°Can you let me go first? I will honestly exin it¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou chuckled. ¡°No. After all, there are too many strange cards on your body. If you run away then we can¡¯t catch up with you at all.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Talk.¡±

    The teenager stared at Yu Hanjiang and found that this man¡¯s face was cold and his eyes almost staring a hole into the teenager¡¯s face. The teenager had to quickly exin, ¡°I don¡¯t know about the other Nightmare Rooms. I only know that after being eliminated from 3 of Spades, all challengers will be thrown in a strange city without any money. The challengers have to live for 14 days.¡±

    Xiao Lou was very surprised. ¡°No money and live for 14 days?¡±

    This difficulty was much higher than the ¡®Financial Crisis¡¯ secret room. Although the prices of this secret room soared, there was no price increase on the first day. Each challenger was given 100,000 gold coins and the initial funds were enough to obtain some materials. As long as they kept the materials, it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to clear the instance.

    However, if they were penniless then eating and amodation would be a problem. Living for 14 days? How did this person survive?

    Shao Qingge asked curiously, ¡°How did you survive those 14 days?¡±

    The teenager bowed his head and whispered, ¡°The people in that world are very indifferent. They will never give money to challengers and challengers can¡¯t find a job. Fortunately, I could sing and found some children on the street who liked my singing and gave me snacks. I pretended to be a garbage collector and slept on the street every day. I want to the bakery to eat expired food and drank only boiled tap water¡­¡±

    His shoulders trembled slightly, apparently reluctant to recall the experience of the Nightmare Room. ¡°The most difficult time was when I only ate a small piece of bread over three days. I was so hungry that I couldn¡¯t walk. After a few days without food, I ate a lot of leaves¡­ I saw some challengers starve to death and in the Nightmare Room, finally, only I lived alone.¡±

    Terrible hunger would torture a human¡¯s spirit and destroy their will.

    Appetite was part of human nature. What was the experience of being hungry for several days? People in the real world would find it hard to understand. After all, living conditions were good now. Don¡¯t talk about going hungry, people were eating big pieces of fish every day.

    However, this young man had no money and had to rely on eating expired bread, singing for snacks and eating roadside leaves to live for 14 days.

    He was as tenacious as a cockroach.

    At first, Xiao Lou thought that this little guy was cautious like a small animal but now he admired this teenager¡¯s willpower. IN the forest where beasts were everywhere, the little animal that could survive wasn¡¯t simple.

    After experiencing such a terrible world, it was no wonder that the teenager would pretend to be a garbage collector here, put materials in the garbage truck and dirty his face¡­ in order to survive, he could endure this extremely hard environment.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s attitude towards him was milder. ¡°You were eliminated in the 3 of Spades room, went to the Nightmare Room and then returned to 3 of Spades after surviving the Nightmare Room?¡±

    The teenager nodded. ¡°The rules are like this.¡±

    Xiao Lou took back all the rings, walked over and patted the shoulder of the young man. ¡°It isn¡¯t easy to survive the Nightmare Room. I heard the keeper say that the survival rate of the Nightmare Room is only 0.1%.¡±

    The teenager smiled bitterly. ¡°Fortunately, I can sing and relied on singing to get snacks from children. Otherwise, I might¡¯ve starved to death.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was more concerned about another question. ¡°Since you could survive the Nightmare Room, why were you eliminated in 3 of Spades?¡±

    The teenager¡¯s expression darkened as he lowered his head. ¡°I matched with a teammate in 3 of Spades. He and I happened to be from the same university and I trusted him very much. We bought goods together and stayed in the Shanshui Guesthouse. The next night, 80% of our supplies were stolen, leaving only a box of milk and a box of instant noodles. It wasn¡¯t much but we could barely survive if we saved it.¡±

    The teenager paused for a moment. ¡°I didn¡¯t think he would only live for himself. He left me and took away the batch of supplies overnight.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Selling a teammate at a crucial moment.

    In this world, trust had be the cheapest thing.

    ¡°Fortunately, I met a kind girl who gave me some food and I could live to the fourth day. However, the challengers¡¯ materials were frequently stolen at the Shanshui Guesthouse and people started to suspect that there was a traitor among our group. There was a powerfulwyer who decided to bring all the challengers together. He found the construction site and we collectively transferred the materials to the construction site.¡±

    ¡°Gather the remaining materials together, distribute it in a unified manner and live together until the seventh day.¡±

    ¡°Then on the fifth day, the entire City A was in chaos. There was arge number of prisoners who escaped from prison. They carried weapons and searched properties in the city, burning, killing and looting. Some of the challengers didn¡¯t listen to orders and at night, they lit firewood to boil noodles. This fire led the prisoners over and finally¡­ the challengers were directly wiped out.¡±

    The three people heard this and were shocked.

    Yu Hanjiang had guessed that there would be problems in the prison but he didn¡¯t expect for the prisoners to directly escape and burn and kill everywhere. This wasn¡¯t a financial secret room and was more like the chaos of the end of the world.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Since you have experienced the 3 of Spades secret room and know the plot, you can find your own way to hide and clear the instance. What was your purpose for bugging us?¡±

    The teenager exined ¡°I not only put a bug on you, I ced it on the backpacks of all the challengers. This card can release three bugs at the same time and I listened to the conversation of the challengers to find out the identity of the traitor.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang immediately reacted. ¡°You mean, the thief we caught tonight, the one who killed his teammate to escape, was probably the traitor mixed among the challengers?¡±

    The teenager nodded. ¡°We didn¡¯t know until the end when we were eliminated that there was a traitor mixed among us. He was the one who stole the goods and his real identity isn¡¯t a challenger but a free person of this world, seeking to profit from the financial crisis.¡±

    Xiao Lou concluded, ¡°In other words, the 3 of Spades room isn¡¯t only a financial crisis. There is also a hidden boss to be dealt with? If the challengers aren¡¯t alert enough, have their materials stolen and don¡¯t realize there is a traitor inside the team, it is possible for their group to be destroyed?¡±

    ¡°Yes, this person knows a lot about challengers. He calls us foreigners.¡±

    The real difficulty of the 3 of Spades room wasn¡¯t just the financial crisis.

    Xiao Lou had found it strange at first. Before the financial crisis began, every challenger received 100,000 gold coins and this was equivalent to 1,000 yuan of capital. If this money was used at the supermarket to buy goods, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem to buy enough food for a week.

    Compared to the residents of the city who were caught off guard by the financial crisis, the challengers knew in advance that it would break out and stored materials in advance. It wouldn¡¯t be difficult to survive for seven days.

    Moreover, people like Shao Qingge who had an economics-rted profession, might be able to make money from the financial crisis.

    Would A of Spades and A of Clubs be so kind? It seemed that the two keepers had already dug countless pits for everyone.

    The challengers¡¯ materials being stolen wasn¡¯t an ident but an inevitable event.

    A of Spades arranged for a free person to pretend to be a challenger to steal everyone¡¯s materials. If the challengers didn¡¯t realize this then they would be easily eliminated.

    Only those like Yu Hanjiang, who were cautious enough to store supplies separately, would be able to survive in 3 of Spades.

    The teenager¡¯s eavesdropping device wasn¡¯t to copy the instance clearance n but because he had experienced too many things. The betrayal of his teammate, the temporary alliance of challengers and the terrible hunger in the Nightmare Room where he spent 14 days surviving on expired food and leaves.

    An average person would¡¯ve probably long copsed psychologically.

    He couldn¡¯t trust any challenger, which was why he didn¡¯t match with a teammate when entering the 3 of Spades room again. He ced a bug on the backpack of all challengers in order to find out who was stealing supplies, avoid the thief and pass the instance.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s idea was undoubtedly the correct way to clear the instance and this coincided with the teenager¡¯s idea.

    Xiao Lou looked at the dirty-faced teenager and asked, ¡°You dared to tell us these secrets. Aren¡¯t you afraid we will kill you?¡±

    The teenager smiled bitterly, ¡°You are a police officer, a university professor and a business¡¯ boss. If even you have to rely on killing to clear the instance then will there be any humanity left in this world? If I don¡¯t go the distance and am eliminated early then at least I¡¯ll have fewer sins.¡±

    Looking at the loss in his eyes, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help feeling distressed. This child was only 17 or 18 years old yet he was thrown into such a cruel world and experienced many hardships.

    It was hard to imagine how he survived during the days when he ate leaves.

    Xiao Lou sighed softly. ¡°You are right. We don¡¯t want to clear the instance but we won¡¯t kill as long as other challengers don¡¯t provoke us. After all¡­ the world might be crazy but we aren¡¯t crazy yet.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯sst sentence stunned the boy and his eyes instantly reddened.

    He obviously remembered his experience of being betrayed.

    At the time, he randomly matched a teammate in the 3 of Spades room and it happened to be a school senior. He was happy enough to go crazy and handed over his gold coins in a trusting manner. He listened to the senior¡¯s arrangements and lived in the Shanshui Guesthouse, hiding all his materials under the bed.

    Once his materials were stolen, he had spoken optimistically. ¡°I only need to eat a small amount of food. I will eat only one packet of instant noodles and milk every day. Senior, you can eat more. Once we can¡¯t afford this room, we will go out to sleep while protecting our supplies. We will barely be able to survive the seven days with this much food.¡±

    The schoolmaster promised on the surface but when the teenager woke up the next morning, he was the only one in the room.

    He thought something had happened to the school senior and anxiously looked everywhere. Later, the sister next door told him that the school senior had left the hotel early in the morning with his travel bag and the teenager finally understood that he had been left behind.

    The rest of the supplies weren¡¯t enough for two people to eat but it was more than enough for one person.

    He was disheartened andpletely desperate. Fortunately, the girl next door was very kind. She didn¡¯t have many supplies left but she willingly gave him food. The guesthouse had a calmwyer who decided to unite all challengers. Everyone moved to the construction site and replenished their energy every day with milk, bread and chocte.

    However, there was a disobedient fool who didn¡¯t want to eat bread every day. He secretly cooked food at night and cooked ham to ce in the noodles.

    The firete at night and the scent attracted the gang of prisoners.

    These people were armed and he saw one challenger after another being cut, blood flowing to the ground.

    The girl who gave him instant noodles was pierced in the chest and had a big hole. He wanted to save her but couldn¡¯t do anything. He tried to escape by teleporting but couldn¡¯t escape the encirclement of the thugs.

    He was stabbed to death.

    In the days of the Nightmare Room, he lived desperately. If it wasn¡¯t for his strong desire to survive and his talent that allowed him to get snacks from children by singing, perhaps he would¡¯ve already starved to death.

 Chapter 53: Financial Crisis 13: Decision

    Seeing that the young man was in a daze and his eyes were moist, Xiao Lou ced a hand on his shoulder and spoke softly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, this time the secret room has us. You will be able to smoothly clear the instance.¡±

    The teenager shook off his memories and looked up with a pair of clear and gentle eyes.

    Xiao Lou smiled and said, ¡°You are a weak person and can only escape when encountering danger. Why don¡¯t you join us and clear the 3 of Spades room together? There is strength in numbers and moreover, your cards will be useful to us.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­ the teleportation and eavesdropping cards?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°If you are willing to trust us, can you temporarily lend these two cards to Group Leader Yu?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang quickly understood and said, ¡°Yes. If I have the teleportation card, I can catch the traitor among the challengers and find the materials that he stole.¡±

    The teenager frowned in a somewhatplicated manner. The next moment, he heard Shao Qingge say, ¡°Borrow your card and rent it by day. It will be 50,000 gold coins a day and it will be settled once we leave the secret room. If you fear for your safety, you can also act with us.¡±

    If the three men tried to rob him then he wouldn¡¯t have the power to resist at all.

    However, instead of robbing him of his card, the trio ¡®borrowed¡¯ it and offered to give him rent.

    The teenager looked at the three people and couldn¡¯t believe it.

    He suddenly remembered Xiao Lou¡¯s words. ¡®This world might be crazy but we aren¡¯t crazy yet.¡¯

    All three of them had their own bottom lines and principles. They were still normal people and didn¡¯t lose their sense of reason and humanity. In the Card World, cards were the most important weapon for every challenger and taking someone else¡¯s card was no different from robbery.

    Therefore, they didn¡¯t steal and just borrowed.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes were very gentle.

    The teenager had been running for so long and experienced so much. This was the first time he felt his heart being surrounded by a warm feeling. He nodded hard and said, ¡°I can lend you this card and there is no need for rent as long as you are willing to let me act with you and clear the instance together.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and nodded. ¡°No problem, just follow meter.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang opened his mouth. ¡°Then tomorrow morning, I will go to the city with Mr Shao. Professor Xiao and¡­ by the way, what is your name?¡± He turned to see the boy, the sharpness in his eyes converged a lot.

    The teenager spoke earnestly. ¡°My name is Ye Qi.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Professor Xiao and Ye Qi will stay here. If the situation isn¡¯t right, Professor Xiao will take Ye Qi into the Peach Blossom Spring to hide and call me. We will immediatelye back.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°No problem, I can arrange the ring traps in advance. If someone tries to rob me then I can pin them down for some time.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°The Peach Blossom Springsts for 30 minutes. The teleportation card means I can definitelye back in 30 minutes. Once in danger, immediately give me a call.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Shao Qingge added, ¡°Tomorrow, I have to go downtown to find a ce to surf the Inte and look at the stock market. I will go with Group Leader Yu.¡±

    The three people discussed today¡¯s strategy while the teenager to the side carefully listened and couldn¡¯t interject.

    Shao Qingge suddenly turned back to him. ¡°Ye Qi.¡±

    The called teenager immediately paid attention. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°Can I bother you to wash your face and change your clothes?¡± His eyes swept over the other person¡¯s body. ¡°After all, your face is dirty and you are also covered with a strange smell. It isn¡¯t pleasant for our noses.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s ears reddened. ¡°I-I will go to wash.¡±

    He opened a bottle of mineral water and went to the next room to wash his face. Then he took clean clothes out of his backpack and changed.

    Once he came back, it was like he changed to someone else.

    The young man¡¯s facial features looked good, especially his ck eyes that were bright.

    Compared to when his face was grey and he was pretending to be a garbage collector, the washed face of Ye Qi really looked a lot more¡­

    Xiao Lou remembered the scene of him singing and couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°Are you from the Conservatory of Music?¡±

    Ye Qi nodded. ¡°Yes, I grew up loving singing and was a freshman at the Conservatory of Music. Then I unexpectedly came to this world.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Where¡¯s your guitar?¡±

    Ye Qi replied, ¡°That is also my card.¡± He took out a card and said, ¡°It is an A-grade tool card. The guitar can y music andunch a skill, letting all enemies in range fall asleep for three seconds.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    This guy had many fancy cards in his hand. No wonder why he could survive the Nightmare Room. He was a strong little fighter.

    Yu Hanjiang checked the time and said, ¡°It is already 4:30. We should quickly move the materials downstairs over.¡±

    Ye Qi added, ¡°I¡¯ll help too. The teleportation card allows me to instantly move 50 metres. I can carry the box while teleporting and this can save a lot of effort.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    This was a good idea.

    Shao Qingge stayed while the other three quickly went downstairs to move their things.

    Ye Qi used the help of the teleportation card to move the materials directly to the stairwell. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang only needed to move things to the third floor and he could move them into the room.

    Xiao Lou watched the young man teleporting with the boxes and couldn¡¯t help feeling, ¡°This guy is really flexible.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang whispered to him, ¡°Do you want to take him as a teammate?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°He could survive the Nightmare Room and his strength is actually very strong. Ye Qi¡¯s most powerful aspect isn¡¯t his fighting ability but his strong flexibility and ability to adapt to the harsh environment. I am thinking about getting him to join. After all, Mr Shao is now alone. They both don¡¯t want to match with teammates due to pig teammates. Perhaps they can go to the next secret room together?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought carefully before saying, ¡°Good idea. Shao Qingge isn¡¯t good at the Hearts secret room. If he has the help of Ye Qi¡¯s bug then they can easily clear Bloody Maple Leaf. Then they can draw some good cards.¡±

    ¡°Go back and ask them for their opinions.¡±

    In fact, there was a crucial reason why Xiao Lou was willing to get Ye Qi as a teammate.

    Ye Qi knew a lot and had even experienced the Nightmare Room that most challengers didn¡¯t dare to think about. However, Ye Qi still retained a good heart. He bugged the challengers and knew where everyone¡¯s supplies were stored but he didn¡¯t steal a single bottle of milk. He just avoided danger and used his own way to clear the instance.

    He didn¡¯t steal despite starving in the Nightmare Room.

    It wasn¡¯t easy to maintain your heart in such difficult conditions.

    He had experienced betrayal and knew how hard it was to be betrayed. That¡¯s why he didn¡¯t treat people the same way. If he was to join the team, Xiao Lou believed he wouldn¡¯t betray them.

    Back on the third floor, Xiao Lou told Ye Qi and Shao Qingge his thoughts. ¡°Why don¡¯t the two of you go to the Hearts room together?¡±

    Ye Qi nced at Shao Qingge. ¡°Professor Xiao¡¯s words are right. I have no teammate and will be randomly matched someone in the 3 of Hearts secret room. If I get a bad teammate then I will probably be eliminated.¡±

    Shao Qingge looked at him with a smile. ¡°Do you want to team up with me?¡±

    Ye Qi nodded hard. ¡°Is it possible?¡±

    Shao Qingge shrugged. ¡°If you drag me down then I won¡¯t hesitate to throw you out.¡±

    Ye Qi immediately reassured him. ¡°No, my clearance score in 2 of Hearts is S-grade. I yed some secret room escape games in the real world. It might not be much but I know the way to collect clues and there is absolutely no trouble.¡±

    Shao Qingge whose rating was C. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll reluctantly take you.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­.¡±

    Shao Qingge who was a g when it came to the Hearts room dared to say this? Wasn¡¯t Ye QI the one taking Shao Qingge?!

 Chapter 54: Financial Crisis 14: Go on Strike

    After moving the supplies, the four people fell asleep in an empty room on the third floor.

    The construction site¡¯s rooms were rough with no beds but Yu Hanjiang had prepared sleeping bags in advance. It was much better than sleeping in the corridors in the 3 of Hearts secret room.

    At seven in the morning, Xiao Lou¡¯s biological clock naturally woke up him. Then he heard a rustling sound and looked in the next room, seeing Ye Qi eating a packet of milk and cookies.

    Perhaps due to his terrible experience in the Nightmare Room but Ye Qi really cherished food. He didn¡¯t leave the slightest bit of milk behind and he also ate all the cookies, not letting cookie crumbs drop to the ground.

    The teenager sat in the corner and looked like a hungry little squirrel.

    Xiao Lou remembered this person¡¯s experience and couldn¡¯t help softening. He turned to his materials box and grabbed a box of choctes, bread, a pack of cream sandwiches, cracks and a bag of dried fruit, handing them to the boy with a smile. ¡°Eat more.¡±

    Ye Qi saw these foods and was slightly surprised. In order to save money, he had only bought the cheapest milk and cookies for breakfast. Then he ate instant noodles for lunch and dinner¡­

    He didn¡¯t expect Professor Xiao to prepare such abundant materials.

    This was actually a very expensive bag of dried fruits which contained his favourite pine nuts and dried walnuts.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°Professor Xiao, you bought such expensive things?¡±

    Xiao Lou sat down next to him and smiled. ¡°These are too expensive to buy a lot but I am worried that people can¡¯t eat biscuits and instant noodles every day. Therefore, I bought some snacks to switch.¡±

    Ye Qi asked curiously, ¡°What other snacks?¡±

    Xiao Lou listed them, ¡°For example, canned fruit, pickled chicken feet, canned fish, beef jerky, dried bean curd, plums¡­¡±

    Ye Qi was shocked.

    He was in the 3 of Spades room to survive. Was Professor Xiao here to travel?

    Xiao Lou stared at the teenager before patting him on the shoulder with a smile. ¡°Follow us and you can eat enough. You no longer have to worry about a hungry stomach.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes were hot and he suddenly had the feeling of holding a golden thigh. He immediately nodded enthusiastically. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll listen to you!¡±

    Meanwhile, Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge also came over.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes were narrowed and he stretched outzily, apparently not fully awake.

    Yu Hanjiang had washed his face and he was full of energy. He nced at Xiao Lou and said, ¡°I still don¡¯t feelfortable with you staying here. Once you finish eating breakfast, use thepass to draw more metal rings. I will help youy down a trap.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    The four people ate breakfast together. Then Xiao Lou followed Yu Hanjiang¡¯s advice and drew hundreds ofrge and small rings.

    Shao Qingge looked at the rings constantly appearing on the ground and sighed. ¡°Thispass card is really strong. You can draw weapons any time and anywhere.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°What good cards have you drawn?¡±

    Shao Qingge openly took out a card. ¡°I drew only one S-grade card, God of Wealth. It has one skill called Aura of Wealth. If used when gambling with gold coins, it can improve my luck but the use is restricted to one time a day. The second skill hasn¡¯t been unlocked.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°Is the God of Wealth aura like the transfer bead in 2 of Clubs?¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°Almost, although I haven¡¯t practiced it yet.¡±

    Xiao Louughed. ¡°Previously, I heard the taxi driver say that the City of the Moon has the most professional casinos. Holding this card can improve your hand. You can always go to the City of the Moon to obtain gold.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled and touched his chin. ¡°I think so as well. I will first umte some funds and then go to the casino to make more.¡±

    Chief Shao was good at making money and the card he drew was God of Wealth. Xiao Lou thought they would no longer be afraid of poverty.

    Ye Qi suddenly found that the team he joined¡­ didn¡¯t seem so bad?

    Momentster, Yu Hanjiang took out a piece of paper and drew the map of the entire building and the distribution of the traps. He circled the traps covering almost all the corners and passages in the building.

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°Arrange the rings ording to my map, cover them with soil and tie a line to control them to your hands. If someone hastily breaks into this building and pulls the corresponding area line then you can immediately trap the other side.¡±

    This was a techniquemonly used by hunters in the forest and now it was utilized by Yu Hanjiang. The entire building was full of traps and anyone who broke into this building would be Xiao Lou¡¯s prey.

    Xiao Lou smiled and nodded. ¡°I understand. Group Leader Yu, rest assured, Ye Qi and I will arrange itter.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge left at 8 o¡¯clock.

    Ye Qi¡¯s teleportation and eavesdropping cards were temporarily handed to Yu Hanjiang.

    [Bug]. This card was an S-grade tool card with only one skill, but it was very easy to use. It could release three bugs at the same time and ced on the body of any targets within 100 metres. The length of each eavesdropping was three hours. After three hours, the eavesdropping was recovered and needed to be recharged for 60 minutes before being released again.

    [Teleport] A rare S-grade special effects card. This card had two skills. The first skill ¡®Come and Go Like the Wind¡¯. Immediately after being used, they could teleport to any designated position within 50 metres. The second skill ¡®Where There¡¯s a Will, There¡¯s a Way¡¯. Any objects weighing less than 100kg could be teleported to the designated location within 100 metres. The increase in growth could increase the weight of the moved object and this increase went up to 200kg.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Shao Qingge. ¡°How much do you weigh?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you want to take me to do experiments? I¡¯m 70kg.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and experimented with the second skill ¡®Where There¡¯s a Will, There¡¯s a Way.¡¯ The next moment, he saw Shao Qingge appear in the designated ce 50 metres away.

    Sure enough, as long as the weight was less than 100kg, people could be teleported. After the card rose to the full level of 200kg, two adult males or three rtively thin women could be moved at the same time.

    Yu Hanjiang used the first skill to teleport over and asked Shao Qingge, ¡°How does it feel?¡±

    Shao Qingge felt it was very magical. ¡°The skill effect time is less than one second. I just felt there was a gust of wind blowing and then I appeared at the site entrance in the blink of an eye.¡±

    Yu Hanjiangmented, ¡°It truly is an S-grade card.¡±

    When necessary, they could take their teammate to escape or move a close enemy 50 metres away with Where There¡¯s a Will, There¡¯s a Way.

    Shao Qingge stated, ¡°Ye Qi, this guy, he seemed to have perfectly cleared many secret rooms if he could draw two S-grade cards.¡±

    ¡°Ye Qi looks very thin and like he isn¡¯t a threat but he is very strong and smart. Professor Xiao wants him to join the team. Go to 3 of Hearts with him and look at his performance.¡± Yu Hanjiang paused before added, ¡°No, his score in Hearts is an S while yours is only a C, you shouldn¡¯t drag his hind legs.¡±

    Shao Qingge touched his nose. ¡°¡­Group Leader Yu is too direct.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t say anything else. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    The streets of the outskirts were empty so they boldly opened the teleportation skill and quickly arrived at the city. There, they saw a terrible scene. It was the morning rush hour and the roads were blocked by cards. The car horns honking were deafening.

    Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge found a roadside coffee store to log onto the Inte.

    The prices were outrageous. A 2,000 gold coins cup of coffee had now be 16,000 gold coins. Fortunately, Shao Qingge had a lot of money. The Inte cafe wasn¡¯t open today so he paid to sit here and surf the Inte.

    Yu Hanjiang was worried about Shao Qingge¡¯s safety and sat next to him as a bodyguard.

    Shao Qingge quickly logged onto the stock market and his expression changed. ¡°The real estate market has also copsed.¡±

    Today was Monday and most of the office workers would be rushing to theirpany. They would soon discover the news.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly. ¡°It seems that the real action, the chaos will begin on the third day.¡±

    Shao Qingge quickly bought the real estate stocks at a low price and returned the previous stocks he borrowed. He carefully calcted it and told Yu Hanjiang in a light voice, ¡°I earned a profit of one million from shorting the stocks. The other stocks are continuing to fall and I can earn more but I fear that there will be power outages and disconnections today.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Okay, don¡¯t be greedy. Let¡¯s just leave it here.¡±

    Shao Qingge opened his mouth. ¡°It was suggested that we can take out the remaining money. This money will be temporarily ced in my ount and withdrawnter in a secret room. There might be no cash left in that ATM over there.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked up at the self-service ATM that had a long line in front of it. Just then, two young men rushed over and grabbed gold coins out of people¡¯s hands before running.

    The robbed auntie was rmed and screamed while chasing, ¡°Someone stole my money! Help me stop them!¡±

    However, the crowd was feeling anxious. Who would be in the mood to help out?

    Some people were worried about their cash being stolen and instantly turned away while the rest of the people were alert as they hurriedly took their money and ran.

    Once it was the fifth person¡¯s turn, the man cursed loudly ¡°There is no money in the ATM? What did the bank eat?¡±

    Several people turned around quickly. ¡°Go to the bank to withdraw!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang saw this scene and his expression sank. ¡°IT is estimated that someone will rob the bank. You¡¯re right. The money will be kept in your ount and don¡¯t withdraw it.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°Today¡¯s prices continued to normal and it is eight times more than normal. In addition, there is a traffic jam early in the morning and people¡¯s emotions are significantly more agitated than thest two days.¡±

    He followed Xiao Lou¡¯s practice of opening the local forum and found the hot posts high on the front page.

    ¡°The price of oil has risen and I can¡¯t afford to drive. I took the bus to work and was blocked in the middle of the road. I must bete today!¡±

    ¡°Last week, I went to refuel and 40,000 gold coins was enough to fill up the tank. Today, I went to the gas station and it took 160,000 gold coins to fill up. Aren¡¯t the oil prices crazy?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t talk about the price of oil. The supermarket restocked this morning and I queued up at 6 o¡¯clock. As a result, I didn¡¯t even get a carton of milk¡­¡±

    ¡°My 24-hour convenience store was smashedst night and things were stolen. There were no police officers!¡±

    The posts were all about the rising prices and the looting of things.

    Shao Qingge refreshed the page and quickly saw a post. ¡°The real estate stocks have plummeted. This means the house prices will fall by half!¡±

    The post was a screenshot of today¡¯s stock market and it could be seen that the ¡®Tianhong Real Estate¡¯ and other stocks had plummeted 50% at the same time.

    The people on the forum were in a panic. Many people who didn¡¯t understand stocks hurriedly made inquiries and some professionals exined.

    The streets were still blocked and many people werete for work. Some simply took a leave of absence from work.

    Shao Qingge and Yu Hanjiang learned a lot from looking through the forum. Then near noon, the two people headed back to the Shanshui Guesthouse because Xiao Lou had sent them a message. ¡°Ye Qi said that previously, he listened to all challengers and basically determined that the thief is mixed in on the second floor of the Shan. He is surnamed Xu and you should go to check it.¡±

    The two people came to the Shanshui Guesthouse and Yu Hanjiang went to the front desk to find the boss. ¡°I want to ask, is there a guest surnamed Xu? I¡¯m in a hurry to find him.¡±

    The boss spoke in a deadpan earnest manner, ¡°I am a principled boss. How can I casually disclose the information of the guests?¡±

    Shao Qingge directly took out two boxes of choctes and smiled at him. ¡°Boss, can you help us find the guest¡¯s information?¡±

    The ¡®principled¡¯ boss immediately replied, ¡°No problem! I¡¯ll check¡­ the surname Xu¡­ Xu Zhengyang, staying in room 201. He checked out this morning. Are you looking for him?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°He checked out and is gone?¡±

    The boss sighed. ¡°He was unable to pay the room rate. s, several guests checked out today. All you foreigners, you don¡¯t know how to handle money.¡±

    Shao Qingge rolled his eyes. He also wanted to bring in more money but unfortunately, the keeper didn¡¯t allow him to. All his previous assets were frozen when he entered the secret room.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face was cold. ¡°Xu Zhengyang, what does he look like? Do you remember?¡±

    The boss recalled it. ¡°I only know that he is around 40 years old. He is a middle-aged person and mysterious. Every day he wears a hat and it is pressed very low over his head. There is also a mask to cover his face so I didn¡¯t see it.¡¯

    Since they were unable to obtain more information, Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge had to leave the Shanshui Guesthouse.

    The snack bars on the pedestrian street were all closed and there were many olddies on the street.

    ¡°I heard my son say that house prices fell. Isn¡¯t it fake?¡±

    ¡°Strange, prices are rising like crazy. Why isn¡¯t there a rise in housing prices as well?¡±

    ¡°My daughter just bought a housest month. She took out a loan and mortgage to buy it. What should she do if the prices fall?!¡±

    ¡°When will the financial crisis pass? Didn¡¯t Director Liu say that the market would be regted as soon as possible?¡±

    Just then, an old man pointed angrily at the radio, his beard shaking. ¡°You listen, that bastard Liu Qingming ran away on the earliest train this morning!¡±

    Several olddies came together to listen.

    There was a clear female voice on the radio. ¡°This reporter found that the director of the city¡¯s Market Supervision Bureau, Liu Qingming, has already left on the express train at 6:50 this morning. He said that he is going to the City of the Moon for help but ording to witnesses at the scene, he took a few boxes of luggage with him. It is more like running away then asking for help¡­¡±

    An olddy shouted, ¡°This big liar!¡±

    Another old man was so angry that he hit his thigh and shouted at hispanion, ¡°I told you not to listen to Liu Qingming! You actually believed his nonsense! I knew I should¡¯ve gone to my foreign niece¡¯s house for a while. Now the tickets can¡¯t be bought and there is no way to leave!¡±

    Just then, someone shouted from the nearby Shanshui Guesthouse. ¡°Boss, is your air conditioner broken? The room is hot and the air conditioner isn¡¯t responding at all.¡±

    Another person went downstairs and asked, ¡°Is the water stopped? I wanted to wash my clothes but why is there no water?¡±

    The boss¡¯ expression changed and he immediately went to check.

    He soon cried out, ¡°The water and power are cut!¡±

    Then the voices of his neighbours were heard. ¡°It is cut?¡±

    ¡°Our house is also stopped!¡±

    ¡°Is there a power outage at our house? Do you still have electricity?¡±

    ¡°No!¡±

    ¡°My house has no power and the wirelesswork is also down!¡±

    In the din, the refrigerators, air conditioners, electric fans¡­ all electrical appliances stopped working at the same time.

    The sun was slowly rising.

    The hot sun baked this piece ofnd and the citizens were emotionally anxious. There was nofortable environment after the air conditioners stopped. At high temperatures, everyone¡¯s psychological defense would soon copsepletely.

    Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge nced at each other and quickly turned away.

    Saturday and Sunday were the transition periods and Monday was the day to go to work.

    All the streets were blocked and the traffic police didn¡¯te out to coordinate. Ear-piercing horns rang throughout the city.

    Prices continued to surge, house prices fell, tickets were sold out, there were water and power outages and the Inte was cut off¡­

    The real financial doomsday officially began on the third day.

 Chapter 55: Financial Crisis 15: Traitor

    Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge had two purposes for going to the city today. One was that Shao Qingge was afraid of the power failing and the Inte being cut off. He needed toplete his operation of shorting the stocks as soon as possible.

    The owner of Shanshui Guesthouse said that Xu Zhengyanghad checked out but Yu Hanjiang needed to be sure. He ced a listening device on the boss while the other two were ced on the second floor of the Shanshui Guesthouse and the hotel where Shao Qingge previously stayed.

    After leaving the room, the two men found a quiet ced and listened carefully to the movements on the eavesdropping device.

    Half an hour passed before a gentle female voice was heard from the Shanshui Guesthouse bug. ¡°Boss, we don¡¯t have any cash. Can we pay for the room rate with milk and instant noodles?¡±

    The boss smiled. ¡°Okay, I want four boxes of milk and four boxes of instant noodles.¡±

    The girl said, ¡°Can we discuss it again? We don¡¯t have much left to eat¡­ how about three boxes?¡±

    The boss said, ¡°Prices have doubled in a day. Yesterday was two boxes and today is four boxes. I¡¯m not wrong!¡±

    The girl and her partner discussed it. ¡°We don¡¯t have that many materials. Why not go out and live?¡±

    Another person spoke, ¡°Okay, I don¡¯t think it is a good idea to swap four boxes of milk and fox boxes of instant noodles for a night¡¯s amodation.¡±

    The two of them finally made a decision. ¡°Then let¡¯s check out. If the prices continue to rise then perhaps the boss would make us pay eight boxes of milk tomorrow.¡±

    The boss smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t hurry to check out. I see that you are two girls. Won¡¯t it be unsafe sleeping on the streets? Three boxes will be fine and you can pay for a few days at once.¡±

    The two girls didn¡¯t expect the boss¡¯ attitude to soften and immediately agreed. ¡°Then we will first use six boxes of milk and instant noodles to pay for two days in advance.¡±

    Not long after, there were two male challengers who came to the front desk to find the boss to negotiate about paying for the room in advance with materials. Just as before, the boss offered four boxes of milk and four boxes of instant noodles at first. The two people weren¡¯t happy and the boss gave them a preferential price.

    At the Shanshui Guesthouse, only two challengers checked out. The others stayed and used their supplies in exchange for amodation.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s hotel was very different. Several groups of challengers went to the front desk to try and exchange materials for amodation. However, the hotel didn¡¯t allow it and the receptionist spoke coldly, ¡°if you can¡¯t afford to pay for this hotel then don¡¯t continue to stay here. We also need to live!¡±

    Several challengers had to helplessly check out.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly. ¡°It isn¡¯t quite right.¡±

    Shao Qingge thought carefully. ¡°I remember Ye Qi mentioned that since their group of challengers had arge amount of materials stolen, they collectively left the guesthouse on the third day. Under the leadership of thewyer, they went to the construction site, distributed their materials together and lived together. If they weren¡¯t idiots and cooked noodles at night, leading the prisoners over, they should¡¯ve passed the instance, right?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t think so. ¡°I feel that even if no one lit a fire, it would be very hard for them to collectively clear the instance.¡±

    Shao Qingge was a bit surprised. ¡°Group Leader Yu, you mean the keeper dug more holes for us?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and carefully analyzed. ¡°First of all, the reason why they left the guesthouse was because 80% of their materials were stolen and they didn¡¯t have much left to eat. By acting together, they had milk, bread and chocte. There is also strength in numbers and there is a chance to survive together.¡±

    Shao Qingge slightly raised his eyes. ¡°However, today the challengers in the Shanshui Guesthouse didn¡¯t have their materials stolen.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Due to my actions with Professor Xiao, we forced away the traitorst night when he came to steal things. In order to escape, he also killed his temporary teammate and didn¡¯t have time to steal the materials of the other challengers in the Shanshui Guesthouse.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou¡¯s vignce was too high. After bing aware of the existence of the thief, they forced the snake out of the hole. Driving away the thief changed the original story of 3 of Spades. In the case where no materials are stolen, there are enough materials left to pay for seven days of amodation without needing to check out.

    In addition, the owner of the Shanshui Guesthouse was very good. In ordance with the price doubling, the third day¡¯s room rate should be four boxes of milk and four boxes of instant noddles. Yet he conceded to three boxes, allowing most of the challengers to stay.

    Shao Qingge responded immediately. ¡°Is there a problem with the owner of the guesthouse?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded with a calm expression. ¡°There are two possibilities. First, the owner of the guesthouse is very shrewd and knows that in the case of the financial crisis, there are few locals who wille to stay here. An empty room doesn¡¯t earn any money so he might as well let the strangers stay and earn a bit of money by selling the materials.¡±

    He paused slightly before following up, ¡°The second possibility is that he deliberately gave a discounted price to let the challengers stay.¡±

    Shao Qingge frowned. ¡°You mean that because Xu Zhengyang¡¯s theft failedst night, the challengers still kept their supplies. He deliberately let everyone stay just to facilitate Xu Zhengyang¡¯s continued theft. The boss is aplices with the thief?¡±

    The three hour duration of the bug ended. Yu Hanjiang put away the bug and spoke coldly, ¡°Otherwise, how can Xu Zhengyang freely move in and out of the Shanshui Guesthouse while clearly grasping the information of the challengers?¡±

    Thinking of the guesthouse owner who warmly greeted the guests and smiled when helping them check the information of Xu Zhengyang, Shao Qingge felt cold. ¡°Isn¡¯t the Spades secret room too pitted? Is this deliberately bringing the challengers into the wolf¡¯s den?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face was ugly. ¡°The challengersing here would subconsciously find the amodation with the cheapest price. They don¡¯t know that this is actually a ck store. The boss and free person worked together to master all the foreigner¡¯s information, steal the foreigner¡¯s supplies and rely on the financial crisis to profit!¡±

    In fact, the 3 of Spades secret room had decided from the beginning that the challengers would face serious difficulties.

    Look for expensive amodation and they couldn¡¯t afford it. Find the cheapest amodation and a trap was already dug.

    At check in, the boss would first judge the identity of a ¡®foreigner.¡¯ Then when challengers were transporting things back from the supermarket, the boss standing at the front desk would naturally see how many things they brought back.

    Xu Zhengyang only needed to live as a challenger in the Shanshui Guesthouse and use the invisibility cloak and universal key to steal the challengers¡¯ supplies at any time before returning to his room.

    Shao Qingge felt some doubts. ¡°ording to Group Leader Yu¡¯s statement, the invisibility cloak and universal key are rewards from secretly clearing the 3 of Hearts secret room. This Xu Zhengyang is a free person. How can he have so many cards?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked down for a moment and suddenly thought of a possibility. ¡°There is a way if he wants to pretend to be a challenger. Kill a challenger and rece it.¡±

    This exined why he had a challenger¡¯s cards on him.

    He closely followed the trends in the city and the moment he saw a lone ¡®foreigner¡¯, he struck. He killed the other person, took their cards and took on the identity of the deceased. Then he mixed in among the challengers to steal supplies.

    He wasn¡¯t Xu Zhengyang but the challenger he reced was called Xu Zhengyang.

    The real Xu Zhengyang had been killed by him and the teammate matched to Xu Zhengyang died under his knife.

    Shao Qingge was cold. ¡°Fortunately, I didn¡¯t match with any teammates in this secret room. In a random match, if he killed my teammate and posed as him then maybe I would also fall for this trick.¡±

    As early as when they cleared 2 of Clubs, the C-grade secret rooms suggested that they should build a good team in advance so it was unknown what type of people they would match with.

    For people like Shao Qingge and Ye Qi who didn¡¯t want to team up, the 3 of Spades room couldn¡¯t put them because they had no teammates. A teammate couldn¡¯t suddenly pop up. Meanwhile, Ye Qi and Yu Hanjiang were a team early on and acted together. They didn¡¯t give the boss a chance.

    Only those who hadn¡¯t found a regr teammate after passing the second level could match with a random person. Those whocked vignce might be killed and reced by the boss and his teammate would be apanied by a wolf without knowing it.

    Shao Qingge felt some sympathy for this group of challengers. The man called Xu Zhengyang was killed by the boss in the beginning and then his teammate was killed by the boss pretending to be Xu Zhengyang. Both of them died without knowing why.

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°Their strength wasn¡¯t bad if they could perfectly clear 3 of Hearts. However, they were too confident and too careless. They weren¡¯t cautious enough when encountering a strange ¡®teammate¡¯ and the boss took advantage of this loophole.

    Shao Qingge had a headache and held his temple. ¡°The 2 of Spades secret room had the zombie leader Liu Xiaoyuan and the 3 of Spades secret room has a boss posing as a challenger to steal things and actually has the owner of the Shanshui Guesthouse as an aplice. If it wasn¡¯t for Group Leader Yu¡¯s analysis then I would never think the owner of the Shanshui Guesthouse was so unscrupulous!¡±

    ¡°Last night, someone died in the Shanshui Guesthouse but the boss was still so calm today. There must be a problem.¡±

    The boss and free person joined forces and the Shanshui Guesthouse became a special pit for ¡®foreigners.¡¯

    The hotel on the opposite side of the street had fewer challengers so on the first night, ¡®Xu Zhengyang¡¯ picked a few ces to start. The next night, he aimed for the challengers at the Shanshui Guesthouse, where there would be two oues.

    The first one was what Ye Qi experienced. The challengers weren¡¯t alert enough and most of their materials were stolen. They were forced to collectively move to the construction site. Apart from the senior teammate who left Ye Qi and acted alone, the other challengers gathered at the site where they met something that destroyed them.

    Secondly, the challengers were sufficiently alert like Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou and tried to catch the thief. The secret room¡¯s boss used extreme methods to escape and the other challengers kept the supplies. However, the boss would use the ¡®preferential¡¯ price to stop challengers from leaving, allowing ¡®Xu Zhengyang¡¯ to continue stealing things from everyone.

    If things happened as expected, Xu Zhengyang would return to the Shanshui Guesthouse tonight. Once most of the challengers¡¯ suppliers were stolen, they would leave here and once again gather at the construction site.

    Yu Hanjiang thought of all this and felt that theyout of A of Spades and A of Clubs was really precise.

    Most of the challengers¡¯ actions were arranged by them.

    There were three categories of challengers who could smoothly survive in 3 of Spades: Those who abandoned their teammate and ruthlessly monopolized the materials, those who didn¡¯t live in a guesthouse from the beginning and lived directly on the streets and those who were vignt enough to store their materials in batches and could move ces at any time.

    The other honest challengers who lived in the guesthouse were almost doomed to be eliminated.

    Yu Hanjiang stood up. ¡°We have to go back as soon as possible. I¡¯m afraid that those who left the hotel will rush to the construction site and Professor Xiao¡¯s side will be in danger.¡±

    Shao Qingge also stood up in an alert manner. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    It was just after noon.

    Under the scorching sun, the road was about to melt and the trees on the street were hanging listlessly.

    The several main roads in the city were still tightly blocked. There was no traffic police tomand them and cars moved at a crawl. In addition, there was a number of rear-end idents and collisions caused by the traffic jam. Some drivers got off and started arguing, making the congestion situation even more chaotic.

    There was arge number of exhaust gas from the cars, which made the surrounding temperature seem to rise even more. The horns ring in the streets were deafening.

    As long as a car had fuel, the air conditioner could be turned on. However, a car would always run out of fuel and the price of fuel had risen so that most people couldn¡¯t afford it. Many people hid in their cars with the air conditioning on and were full of anxiety. Some people couldn¡¯t wait and directly abandoned their vehicles.

    On the streets, someone smashed open a roadside store and went inside to loot it.

    Someone smashed the self-service ATM machine and found there were no gold coins inside.

    The bank was robbed and forced to close.

    The supermarket in the central square no longer had people patiently lining up. There was arge influx of residents into the supermarket, hitting, smashing and looting the shelves, sweeping up every idea. The supermarket manager¡¯s face was full of horror as he tried to close the supermarket. However, it was too crowded and he couldn¡¯t shut the door. Someone identally fell and the person behind them couldn¡¯t stop. The old man lying on the ground was surprised to find himself trampled to death¡­

    The crowd fell down one by one like a ¡®domino effect¡¯. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ears constantly heard the sound of cries and screams as a very serious mass stampede urred in the supermarket!

    Shao Qingge¡¯s back was cool and he couldn¡¯t bear to look. ¡°It is terrible. I don¡¯t know how many people died¡­¡±

    Once this mass stampede urred, the number of people who died or were injured would be countless!

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression was bing uglier. He was alone and couldn¡¯t help even if he went to the scene, but he found it hard to dispel his anger when he saw so many people being trampled to death!

    Xiao Lou was right¡­ this world was crazy.

    Yu Hanjiang clenched his fists and forced himself to turn his head and stop looking at the cruel scene. He directly used the teleportation card and returned to the construction site at a very fast speed with Shao Qingge.

    At almost the same time, Xiao Lou sent him a text message. ¡°Group Leader Yu, there are many challengers who suddenly came to the construction site.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang hurriedly asked, ¡°Are you okay? Did they steal the supplies or hurt you?¡¯

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Did he have no sense of self-protection in Group Leader Yu¡¯s heart?

    Perhaps in Group Leader Yu¡¯s view, Xiao Lou was a gentle and mild university professor. He usually never fought with people and his physical strength wasn¡¯t very high. He could barely keep up with Yu Hanjiang while wearing the eleration shoes.

    Still, don¡¯t forget that this was the Card World.

    Any gentle person in this world must make themselves strong and the weak could only wait to be eliminated.

    If Xiao Lou needed to rely on the protection of others then he wouldn¡¯t be Xiao Lou.

    Yu Hanjiang saw him return an ellipsis and thought Xiao Lou had encountered trouble, making it inconvenient to speak. He immediately sped up and flew back to the site with Shao Qingge.

    However, the scene in front of them shocked both Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge at the same time.

    They saw that in the northwest corner room on the third floor, Xiao Lou looked calm and there was even a smile on his face.

    His fingers were raised and there were several silver metal rings floating in front of him. Next to him were two men trapped head to foot by dense rings. Two females had their feet trapped by rings and they could only maintain their bnce by leaning against the wall. A man and woman were directly hung up by the rings, their faces filled with horror and begging for mercy.

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Professor Xiao was awesome.

    It seemed that he had been worrying too much.

    Seeing Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge had returned, Xiao Lou smiled and walked to them. ¡°These people saw that only me and Ye Qi were in the room and there were so many materials. They directly came running in to grab the materials and were caught by me.¡±

    Ye Qi looked at Xiao Lou with an expression of worship. ¡°Professor Xiao really has foresight. After you left, he drew a lot of spare rings. I didn¡¯t see the operation just now when he already tied them up in twos. It was just like magic!¡±

    The six people tied up, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    There was only a seemingly gentle man and a delicate teenager at the construction site so they thought it would be easy to deal with them.

    The result was that they fucking walked into the ring trap and were defeated 6V2. They were all trapped and became prisoners. This was a really big shame!

 Chapter 56: Financial Crisis 16: Change

    Xiao Lou controlled these six people with the rings and called Yu Hanjiang, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi next door to discuss countermeasures.

    He looked at Yu Hanjiang and softly asked, ¡°Group Leader Yu, what is the situation in the city?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang exined, ¡°The water, electricity and Inte are cut off. Traffic ispletely paralyzed and a serious stampede urred at the supermarket.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s expression slightly changed. ¡°It seems that the situation is getting worse and worse¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge added, ¡°Yes, the banks were smashed, the ATM machines smashed and the supermarket crowded with people. It was terrible. Fortunately, I closed my ount before the Inte broke. This time, I made a profit of one million by shorting the stocks.¡±

    Ye Qi heard a million and his eyes widened. ¡°A million? So much money?¡±

    Shao Qingge looked at him calmly. ¡°This is still a small amount. Give me a few days and the profit could double.¡±

    Ye Qi was stunned. Other challengers found it hard to live in the world of the financial crisis. Yet this person with the short braid actually made a fortune from the financial crisis?

    Shao Qingge smiled at the teenager¡¯s shocked eyes. ¡°Do you feel honoured to team up with me?¡±

    Ye Qi nodded enthusiastically. ¡°Yes, please take care of me in the future!¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Shao Qingge and didn¡¯t puncture the truth of this Hearts and Diamonds g.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke seriously, ¡°There is one thing. The hotel that Chief Shao stayed in refuse to let challengers pay for the room rate with materials. Today, the rate has increased by eight times and there are many challengers who checked out to find another residence. All the challengers who previously had their materials stolen have left.¡±

    Shao Qingge added, ¡°However, most of the challengers have stayed at the Shanshui Guesthouse because the boss gave a discounted price. Group Leader Yu suspects that the boss is an aplice of the thief.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Aplice? Is the Shanshui Guesthouse a ck store?¡±

    Ye Qi was also surprised by this spection and thought carefully about his previous experience. ¡°No wonder! The second night, all of our supplies were stolen. No one could¡¯ve stolen from more than a dozen rooms without someone noticing. Perhaps the unscrupulous boss directly drugged the people in the rooms!¡±

    Xiao Lou frowned and thought for a moment. ¡°Previously, Group Leader Yu and I spected that this person stole things using the invisibility cloak and universal key. The invisibility cloak onlysts for 30 minutes and he can¡¯t move all the supplies unless the boss is his partner. Then he doesn¡¯t even need to move the supplies away from the Shanshui Guesthouse.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°The most dangerous ce is the safest ce. The stolen materials should still be at the Shanshui Guesthouse.¡±

    Ye Qi stated, ¡°The next day, we suspected there was a traitor among the challengers and we searched all the rooms together, finding no materials. Does this guesthouse have a storage room or a type of concealed basement?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°There is a great possibility there is a basement.¡±

    Shao Qingge looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°This thief was found by you and directly killed to escape. He is very vicious. Let¡¯s not worry about the guesthouse. The four of us have so many materials and Ye Qi ha the teleportation card and Xiao Lou¡¯s Peach Blossom Spring. We can move at any time and it won¡¯t be a problem to survive for the remaining seven days in the secret room.¡±

    Ye Qi and Xiao Lou also nced at Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment before stating, ¡°I still want to look.¡±

    After all, he was a police officer. Today¡¯s stampede urred and he couldn¡¯t do anything. However, the challengers at the guesthouse were innocent. There was a hiding murderer who could steal supplies at any time. He couldn¡¯t sit idly by.

    Shao Qingge told him, ¡°Group Leader Yu, you used to be a police officer and saving people is your instinct. I can understand your feelings but surviving this world is the key. You might call me selfish but I think we have no obligation to help the others. If they can¡¯t save themselves then it will be hard for them to survive in future secret rooms. Moreover, if you go to save people then perhaps you might be in danger.¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s worry was reasonable. After all, Yu Hanjiang was facing a murderous thief.

    Xiao Lou stared at the man¡¯s deep eyes.

    Yu Hanjiang took a deep breath. ¡°Professor Xiao, you decide.¡±

    Saving the challengers might put them in danger. Not going to save the challengers meant the four of them easily clearing the instance. Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge disagreed with each other, leaving the opinion to Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t use any excuses. Since they were a team, continuing to argue would only waste time.

    After thinking for a moment, Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°In the early hours of the morning, I will open the Peach Blossom Spring. Ye Qi and Shao Qingge will stay in the paradise to protect the materials while I will go with Group Leader Yu to check the Shanshui Guesthouse. If we can help then we will. If we can¡¯t help then we will withdraw.¡±

    He nced at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°We only have half an hour. If the situation isn¡¯t right, we will use the space teleportation to return to the Peach Blossom Spring. Group Leader Yu, what do you think?¡±

    Xiao Lou had carefully studied the Tao Yuanming card and found a trick.

    The Peach Blossom Spring was a separate space and only he and Tao Yuanming could find the entrance. Other people couldn¡¯t see it and it was very safe. However, it existed only for 30 minutes. Once the 30 minutes were over, the people inside the paradise would be forced back to the entrance.

    They would be sent back to the entrance, not disappear.

    In other words, if he let Tao Yuanming open the Peace Blossom Spring¡¯s entrance in the northeast corner room of the third floor, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi would bring the materials into the Peach Blossom Spring. Then after 30 minutes, the paradise would disappear and Shao Qingge, Ye Qi and the goods wouldn¡¯t disappear. They would be thrown from the paradise and returned to the northeast corner room.

    During the 30 minutes that the Peach Blossom Spring existed, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang could move back to the spring at any time.

    The Peach Blossom Spring was like a safe transit station.

    In this way, the materials, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi hiding in the Peach Blossom Spring would be very safe while he and Yu Hanjiang could also withdraw to it at any time.

    Xiao Lou exined his strategy in detail and then added, ¡°Although Shao Qingge¡¯s ount has one million gold coins but money can no longer be withdrawn from the bank and ATM machines in this world. 3 of Hearts is a campus world and there are no ATM machines. If you go into 3 of Hearts penniless then you can¡¯t even afford instant noodles from the snack counter.¡±

    He smiled and said, ¡°Then saving other challengers is actually good for us. We have a lot of supplies and they probably have some spare money to buy our supplies. This would be enough to buy food in the 3 of Hearts secret room.¡±

    His consideration was very thoughtful in all aspects.

    Shao Qingge replied, ¡°Professor Xiao¡¯s approach is perfect and I have no problem with it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou, eyes somewhatplicated.

    He thought his n to go to the Shanshui Guesthouse would be opposed by everyone. After all, in the secret room, they had to care about their own lives. Other people¡¯s life or death had nothing to do with them. People would be more and more cold-blooded.

    However, Yu Hanjiang was a police officer and most of the challengers werew-abiding ordinary people in the real world. Due to all types of idents, they came here and were forced to y the survival game. They were innocent and he found it hard to watch them all be eliminated.

    He couldn¡¯t control other secret rooms but at least in this world, why shouldn¡¯t he save them if he had the ability?

    Ye Qi didn¡¯t dare express his opinion as he stood next to the three big men.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s thoughts were correct while Group Leader Yu¡¯s thoughts were also correct. Ye Qi thought the two people would quarrel and didn¡¯t expect them to give the decision to Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou then thought of a perfect solution that everyone could ept.

    It seemed that in this time, the key moments relied on Professor Xiao¡¯s decision.

    Ye Qi quietly moved to Xiao Lou¡¯s side. He already knew who he should listen to in the future.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°I have captured these six people. Do you have any opinions on how to deal with them?¡±

    Shao Qingge raised his eyebrows. ¡°They dared to directly try and steal materials. Surely you aren¡¯t kind enough to give them food?¡±

    Xiao Louughed. ¡°Of course not, these people had malice in their hearts. Just now, the man took out a fruit knife in order to attack me and Ye Qi and steal our supplies. Feeding them will only be raising tigers.¡± There was a pause before Xiao Lou said, ¡°However, if we let them go, they might expose our hiding ce and attract arge number of people fighting over our supplies.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang simply said, ¡°Let them fend for themselves.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes were bright and he suggested, ¡°I have a way. In thest few days of the Nightmare Room, I survived by eating grass and leaves. Then should we give them grass and leaves to eat every day?¡±

    Shao Qingge spoke helplessly, ¡°Feeding them grass every day, are you raising a rabbit?¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Louughed. ¡°Xiao Qi, you are thinking about people too simply. If you give them grass, they won¡¯t feel that you are helping them. Rather, they will feel that you are deliberately insulting and torturing them. This will make them more hostile to you.¡±

    Ye Qi bowed his head. ¡°Yes, I was just speaking casually.¡±

    Xiao Lou suggesting, ¡°Trapping them is considered giving them a lesson. Let¡¯s see if they can hold on with their own perseverance.¡±

    The group agreed with Xiao Lou¡¯s opinion.

    The four people returned to the northwest corner room and the people trapped in the rings immediately started to beg for mercy.

    A young man spoke with a bitter expression, ¡°Brother, please let us go. We haven¡¯t eaten for a day and impulsively wanted to grab some food out of hunger. We have no malice!¡±

    Ye Qi thought of how he was hungry in the Nightmare Room but never tried to stolen anything. They had only been hungry for a day and weren¡¯t even thin yet they tried to bully the weak. It was as Xiao Lou stated. They really had malice in their hearts.

    A girl spoke in a tearful voice. ¡°Isn¡¯t just a few okay? Just give us a bit of food, a bit¡­¡±

    The man in the corner smiled. ¡°You have so many goods and won¡¯t be able to finish it even in a month. Can¡¯t you give us a bit? Not too much, just a few biscuits and milk to live on¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke in an impatient and cold manner, ¡°Shut up. You were caught when trying to steal things yet you continue to ask for more?¡±

    The group was affected by his sharp eyes and were suddenly too frightened to speak.

    Xiao Lou smiled and told them, ¡°If the six of you hadn¡¯t moved with a bad heart and found me first to discuss it then perhaps I would have a soft heart.¡± Then he became cold. ¡°However, you saw there were only two people here and we looked good to bully. You entered the door to steal and even took out a knife. I have no reason to give you any food.¡±

    His fingers lowered and the two people hanging from the roof immediately fell to the ground, letting out pained screams. This was followed by Xiao Lou manipting the rings to quickly tie up the six people. ¡°You should look out for yourself.¡±

    He nced at the six people and deliberately told Yu Hanjiang in a voice that the other side could hear. ¡°We should leave here. It is no longer safe.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang immediately understood. ¡°Okay, there is a forest on the outskirts of the city. We will immediately move there.¡±

    Xiao Lou winked at everyone and worked with Shao Qingge, Ye Qi and Yu Hanjiang to move the supplies out of the room.

    The four people pretended to move away from the construction site. Once the materials were concentrated at the door, Yu Hanjiang took out the teleportation card and moved everything to the northeast corner room on the third floor.

    The building only had three floors but it was very wide. The distance between the northeast and northwest corner was close to 1,000 metres and it would be difficult to hear the movements on the other end without the use of listening devices. Therefore, the six captured people mistakenly thought they moved to the forest.

    The room in the northeast corner also had a good view and they could see downstairs from the windows on the four walls.

    At this time, the sun set and it was evening. Xiao Lou took some food out of a box and set a piece of cloth on the ground, ready for dinner. Ye Qi saw the floor covered with canned fruit, canned fish, canned meat, bread, milk, fruit juice¡­

    The abundance wasparable to a pic.

    He suddenly felt that he had been weak to eat only bread, milk, biscuits and mineral water.

    Dinner passed and everyone took a rest. It wasn¡¯t until the early hours of the morning that Xiao Lou opened the Peach Blossom Spring as nned.

    The skills of the Remember Peach Blossom Spring was currently level two and he could take in two teammates with him. However, every use would increase the growth. He took in Shao Qingge and Ye Qi and it grew to level three. This allowed Yu Hanjiang to also enter.

    The four people moved the supplies into the Peach Blossom Spring. Ye Qi¡¯s face showed surprise.¡±What a beautiful paradise! It is a magical card!¡± He ran to theke and pointed. ¡°Is the person fishing Tao Yuanming? Can he catch fish to eat?¡±

    Originally, Ye Qi was afraid of everyone but after a day of getting along, he found that Professor Xiao¡¯s temper was particrly good. Therefore, Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help speaking a lot when he was with Professor Xiao.

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Tao Yuanming ignores us and only fishes. You can take him as a scenery NPC.¡±

    Shao Qingge squinted as he gazed at the mountains in the Peach Blossom Spring and sighed. ¡°The environment here is really good but it onlysts 30 minutes a day. Otherwise, Professor Xiao can develop a tourism business in the secret room.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Tourism? He hadn¡¯t thought about it at all. Shao Qingge was really good at grabbing opportunities to make money. If this was the real world, it would be 30 yuan to experience the Peach Blossom Spring for 30 minutes and to take a photo with Tao Yuanming. Surely people would be willing toe. However, this wasn¡¯t a peaceful world. Apart from this teammates, it was better not to let too many people know about the Tao Yuanming card. Shao Qingge was just kidding.

    Time couldn¡¯t be wasted. They finished moving the supplies and Xiao Lou said, ¡°Group Leader Yu, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and left the Peach Blossom Spring with Xiao Lou, using the teleportation card to quickly return to the city.

    On the streetste at night, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang teleported every 50 metres like the wind, as if they were using advanced magic.

    This made Xiao Lou feel very novel.

    Yu Hanjiang gazed at Xiao Lou, his eyes rarely gentle. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°Why are you thanking me?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was low. ¡°You supported my approach and also apanied me.¡±

    Xiao Lou understood what he meant and smiled. ¡°You and Shao Qingge both had correct thoughts. He was worried you would be in danger but I don¡¯t think it is a bad thing to save people if it is within our power.¡± Xiao Lou paused before giving an example, ¡°It¡¯s like¡­ you see a person falling into the water. If you can swim and save that fool by jumping in, why wouldn¡¯t you try to save him?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang listened to this example and couldn¡¯t help raising his lips. ¡°Yes, I currently still have the ability to help these innocent challengers. Perhapster, we won¡¯t be able to save them even if we want to.¡±

    It was quiet all around them and they could only hear each other¡¯s voices. Listening to Xiao Lou¡¯s gentle voice, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart also warmed. Meeting a teammate who could understand him and have simr ideas was really difficult.

    He was extremely happy that Xiao Lou was willing to apany him.

    ¡­¡­

    The entire city was plunged into darkness because of the power failure. The streets weren¡¯t safe and residents were hiding in their homes, afraid toe out.

    The two people moved ording to their memories and arrived at the Shanshui Guesthouse in only a few minutes.

    Surprisingly, the moment they arrived downstairs, the original darkndscape suddenly lit up with candlelight. Yu Hanjiang immediately dropped the bug on the second floor window, the 100 metres range letting him hear all the movements inside.

    The low and hoarse voice of a middle-aged man entered his ears. ¡°Are you sure there are only 12 foreigners left?¡±

    The boss spoke with aughing tone. Yes, I couldn¡¯t stop the couple you previously stole from and a few wary foreigners. For the rest, I added drugs to the room¡¯s mosquito incense. This time, they are all sleeping like dead pigs and won¡¯t wake up even if shaken.¡±

    The man asked, ¡°What about the two people in 207? Have you been back?¡±

    The boss asked, ¡°You mean Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang? Today at noon, Yu Hanjiang came back once and asked about the guess with thest name Xu. I told him you have checked out and didn¡¯te back.¡±

    The man sneered. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for the two of themst night, my n would¡¯ve beenpleted.¡±

    The boss said, ¡°The foreigners¡¯ cards are really easy to use but the drugs I added today should be sufficient. There is no need to use the invisibility cloak. Let me help you We will directly go in and steal.¡±

    The man asked, ¡°The person I killed, where did his body go?¡±

    ¡°It is hidden in the basement but the body decaying will cause a smell. It might arouse the suspicion of the foreigners tomorrow morning.¡±

    The man spoke without hesitation, ¡°Later, we will drive away the supplies and then burn the guesthouse down. Then I¡¯ll have my brothers go and find those two surnamed Xiao and surnamed Yu. These foreigners can¡¯t be allowed to stay.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This secret room¡¯s boss was so vicious!

    It seemed that he and Group Leader Yu had interfered with the other person¡¯s n to steal supplies so this person wanted to destroy the ns of the foreigners ahead of time.

    He wanted to burn down the guesthouse?

    Fortunately, Yu Hanjiang had rushed over or else the 12 innocent challengers living in the guesthouse would be burned to death in their sleep!

 Chapter 57: Financial Crisis 17: Odd Mark

    Inside the Shanshui Guesthouse, the boss and thief started their actions.

    There was the sound of rummaging in their ears and the supplies under the bed were soon find. They quickly moved the boxes while the challengers were unaware.

    Room 206, room 205¡­

    The two people moved quickly and directly moved the supplies downstairs.

    The boss had long been prepared with arge track. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang tacitly put on the invisibility cloak and waited near the big truck. They saw that in the truck¡¯s cabin, boxes of milk, mineral water, instant noodles, chocte, biscuits¡­

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was extremely shocked. These sons of a bitch, how many ¡®foreigners¡¯ had they stolen from?

    It was an entire truck full of goods and they could almost open a small supermarket.

    Just then, the voice of the guesthouse owner entered their ears. ¡°Old Liu, how much money do you think we can make this time?¡±

    The middle-aged man with the hoarse voice said, ¡°Don¡¯t be in a hurry. In two days, the citizens¡¯ reserve supply will be almost finished and the supermarkets will be out of stock. They will be unable to buy food and the traffic gridlock means they can¡¯t escape. They can only wait to die. At that time, if I open a store in the centre of the central square and sell everything at a high price, there must be citizens with spare cash and earning tens of millions of gold coins isn¡¯t a problem.¡±

    The guesthouse ownerughed. ¡°That is a good idea! I didn¡¯t expect that all the inventory stolen from the foreigners could actually be used like this. How did you know a financial crisis would ur?¡±

    The middle-aged man replied, ¡°I didn¡¯t know. However, the boss told me to ¡®follow the foreigners to earn money. It is absolutely right if we steal what they use money to buy.¡¯¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang heard up to here and couldn¡¯t help being shocked.

    The ¡®boss¡¯ he mentioned must not be the boss of the Shanshui Guesthouse but was more like his superior.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Is there a stronger boss in this secret world? Or does the Card World have an organization dedicated to dealing with us?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and whispered in Xiao Lou¡¯s ears. ¡°A secret room having more than one boss is unlikely. I think that the secret room has a special organization to deal with us ¡®foreigners¡¯ and hindering our smooth clearance. The organization must¡¯ve scattered arge number of free people across the secret rooms and the thief might be a member of the organization.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought that Group Leader Yu¡¯s inference was very reasonable. The ¡®boss¡¯ that the thief mentioned made Xiao Lou feel very uneasy. That person should know a lot of information about challengers and knew specifically about what challengers would do¡­

    Moreover, the members of the organization were ruthless and killed people without blinking. They had a strong resistance and hostility to ¡®foreigners.¡¯

    The existence of such an organization meant that clearing instances in the future would only be more and more difficult.

    Seeing the light of the candles on the first floor, the two people had apparently stolen everything from the second floor. Xiao Lou looked at the countdown for the Peach Blossom Spring and said, ¡°Group Leader Yu, there are only 10 minutes left. We have to act as soon as possible.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Catch them alive. I want to know more about this organization.¡±

    He looked around the guesthouse and whispered to Xiao Lou, ¡°They are still stealing on the first floor. I will cover you while you set up the ceiling ring traps on the first floor. Trap them with the rings and I will capture them.¡± He paused before adding, ¡°Yes, draw me a few rings as weapons.¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡± Xiao Lou took out the S-grade Compass, used the invisibility cloak and entered together with Group Leader Yu. On the ground of the first floor, he quickly drew arge number of rings and made the rings float to the roof. In addition, he drew a few rings for Yu Hanjiang.

    The metal ring was very thin and could be used as a weapon around the wrist. This metal material was very good and was difficult to tear off. It could pull back the neck and even strangle people.

    The two people were ready and listened to the bug.

    The boss and thief moved several boxes out of room 108 and the boss said with a smile, ¡°The two girls in 108 are very beautiful. It is a pity to kill them directly. Why don¡¯t we take advantage of the two of them while they are confused, hehehe¡­.¡±

    The lewdughter gave Xiao Lou the chills.

    Don¡¯t talk about stealing, he even wanted to do things to the girls. They were simply inferior to animals!

    The boss didn¡¯t have time to act when he was stopped by the middle-aged man. ¡°Don¡¯tplicate the issue. There will be plenty of womenter on. Put the supplies into the car first. I will go to the basement to get the fuel to burn up this guesthouse. No one will know what we did.¡±

    The boss sighed a bit reluctantly. ¡°Okay.¡±

    The two people were just about to separate when at this time, countless metal rings descended from the sky!

    Xiao Lou¡¯s maniption of the rings was extremely skilled andbined with the candle in the boss¡¯ hand, there was light and he could see the position of the two people clearly. He urately covered the two people with the rings.

    Yu Hanjiang wore the invisibility cloak and moved at the same time.

    He flew almost instantly behind the boss and the middle-aged man, covering the neck of the middle-aged man with the silver ring while the other hand held a fruit knife against the boss¡¯ back.

    The boss and middle-aged man were overwhelmed by the sudden change.

    The middle-aged man¡¯s face changed and he wanted to remove his cloak, only to hear a deep and cold voice in his ears. ¡°Don¡¯t move. If you dare to move then I will strangle you.¡±

    It was a familiar voice. It belonged to the guest in 207, Yu Hanjiang.

    The middle-aged man¡¯s mouth twitched violently a few times before a hint of cruelty shed in his eyes. ¡°You are back?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly. ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense and go out.¡±

    Xiao Lou continued to manipte the rings. Under his control, the thin metal tied the two people¡¯s arms and legs and they were unable to move.

    The boss was frightened and disappointed as he spoke with a pale face, ¡°T-The two of you, I have something to say!¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°There is nothing to say. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang escorted them from behind and pushed the two people out the door.

    The two people were caught by the rings and moving wasn¡¯t easy. They stumbled towards therge truck.

    Xiao Lou whispered to Yu Hanjiang, ¡°I can¡¯t take them into the Peach Blossom Spring? Shall we directly drive the truck back?¡± He paused before saying, ¡°However, there are the supplies of most of the challengers here. If the truck leaves then what will these people do?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°Leave a note at the guesthouse, telling them toe to the construction site at 8 o¡¯clock tomorrow to find us.¡±

    Xiao Lou felt this approach was feasible. He headed to the front desk of the guesthouse to grab a pen and paper and wrote quick notes, stuffing them in every room.

    By the time he returned to the truck, Yu Hanjiang had tied the hands of the two men behind them with wire. This way, it would be hard for them to break free, even with the invisibility cloak.

    In order to prevent the two men from using other special effect cards to escape, Yu Hanjiang stared at them.

    He asked Xiao Lou, ¡°Professor XIao, can you drive?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°I passed the driver¡¯s test but I can only drive a car. I can¡¯t drive thisrge truck.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll drive. You guard them.¡±

    He put the two men into the truck, handed them over to Xiao Lou to guard and got on the driver¡¯s seat, skillfully starting the truck.

    Late at night, arge truck full of supplies moved quickly through the streets towards the construction site.

    At this time, the construction site.

    Shao Qingge was lying in a bored manner under the peach tree. His hands were behind his back as he stared at the mountains of peach blossom trees. It was as if he came here to travel as a tourist.

    Ye Qi¡¯s face was tense as he whispered, ¡°Howe Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao aren¡¯t back yet?¡±

    Shao Qingge told him, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, these two people are much better than you think.¡±

    Ye Qi looked at the countdown of the Peach Blossom Spring and nervously clenched his fists. ¡°There are three minutes left before the Peach Blossom Spring disappears. Didn¡¯t Professor Xiao say he could take Group Leader Yu into the space at any time? They aren¡¯t hurt, right?¡±

    Shao Qingge had been very calm but at this time, he sensed that something wasn¡¯t right. He sat up and looked at the countdown in the upper right corner with a slight frown. ¡°They might¡¯ve encountered some trouble. There is no signal in the Peach Blossom Spring so I¡¯ll send a message once we go out a bitter.¡±

    The countdown reached 0 and the Peach Flower Spring was forcibly closed. Shao Qingge and Ye Qi were sent outside.

    The two men and arge number of supplies appeared in the empty room that was the entrance of the Peach Blossom Spring.

    The dark construction site was still quiet.

    Ye Qi pricked his ears and listened to the surrounding movements. ¡°There seems to be the sound of a car driving.¡±

    Shao Qingge directly picked up his phone and sent a message to Xiao Lou. ¡°The Peach Blossom Spring is gone. Why aren¡¯t you back yet?¡±

    Xiao Lou was currently in the and didn¡¯t see it because his phone was in his pocket.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s driving technique was first-ss and the truck was steady and fast. He arrived at the construction site in the blink of an eye.

    The lights illuminated the dark construction site and Ye Qi leapt up like a frightened rabbit, quickly moving to the window to look into the distance. ¡°What is the situation? Are the bad guysing to the door?¡±

    He took out a fruit knife and stood in an alertbat posture.

    At this time, Shao Qingge¡¯s phone finally lit up as Ye Qi sent him a text message. ¡°We are the ones who drove the truck over. You and Ye Qie down.¡±

    Shao Qingge sighed with relief and told Ye Qi, ¡°It is Group Leader Yu.¡±

    Ye Qi put away the fruit knife and followed Shao Qingge downstairs to check the situation.

    Yu Hanjiang braked with one foot and steadily stopped the truck. He got out of the driver¡¯s seat, walked to the back of the truck and opened the door to the cargo area. ¡°Professor Xiao, you cane down.¡±

    Xiao Lou took the two people down. They were tied up and their expressions were somewhat ugly.

    Due to the lights of the truck, Shao Qingge saw the appearance of the two men.

    He knew the owner of the guesthouse. The other middle-aged man he hadn¡¯t seen before. This man was around 40 years old and had a pair of dark eyes and a high nose. He wasn¡¯t very handsome but his facial features were decent.

    Ye Qi suddenly eximed, ¡°Isn¡¯t this Lawyer Qi? I saw him in thest secret room!¡±

    Xiao Lou looked back at Ye Qi. ¡°You mean, thewyer who called everyone to gather their materials together and go to the construction site?¡±

    He remembered Ye Qi¡¯s description of his experience and also admired thewyer who took the lead and let all challengers survive until the fifth day.

    He didn¡¯t expect thewyer to actually be the boss!

    Ye Qi¡¯s expression was hard. ¡°Shit, the traitor was you! Using all sorts of reasons, we were persuaded to gather at the construction site. Then you brought over the group of prisoners and killed us?!¡±

    The middle-aged man squinted slightly. ¡°Yes, I remember you. The university student who could y the guitar.¡±

    Ye Qi was extremely angry and was about to pounce on this person, only to be stopped by Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°It seems he can shuttle between the worlds of the secret rooms and in every secret room, he has a different identity. Ye Qi met him as Lawyer Qi. He must¡¯ve killed a challenger first and then reced him.¡±

    In the world that Ye Qi experienced. he killed Mr Qi and led all the challengers to the construction site as Lawyer Qi, calling the escaped prisoners over to kill the challengers.

    In this secret room, the man he killed was Xu Zhengyang. He reced the other person and lived in the Shanshui Guesthouse, stealing materials. If it wasn¡¯t for Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang stopping him, he would¡¯ve just set first to the Shanshui Guesthouse.

    Yu Hanjiang ced a fruit knife against the other person¡¯s throat and his voice dropped to the freezing point. ¡°What is your real name? Who sent you?¡±

    The middle-aged man¡¯s eyes were like a poisonous snake. He viciously swept his eyes over the four people in front of him and then spoke in a gloomy voice. ¡°Foreigners should die!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s knife immediately moved forward a few millimeters as he asked sharply, ¡°Answer honestly, who sent you? Who is the boss you mentioned?¡±

    A bright red blood mark appeared on the middle-aged man¡¯s neck. He looked at Yu Hanjiang and suddenly raised his mouth in a strange arc. It was toote by the time Yu Hanjiang sensed something wrong.

    The man¡¯s mouth was covered with dark poison due to him biting the poison capsule hidden in his teeth.

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t believe it as he stared at the body on the ground. ¡°Suicide by poison?!¡±

    It was highly toxic and this person instantly died.

    Ye Qi stared, his voice trembling slightly. ¡°W-Why is this like the death of a warrior in the movie? His n wasn¡¯t sessful and in order to not betray his boss, he actuallymitted suicide?¡±

    Shao Qingge stared at the body in front of him. ¡°It seems this boss isn¡¯t simple if he can make his men so loyal.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression was terribly cold.

    He took back the fruit knife and looked at the shaking guesthouse boss.

    The boss was affected by the sharp eyes and crazily shook his head with a white face. ¡°Don¡¯t kill me! I don¡¯t know anything!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked coldly, ¡°Aren¡¯t you his aplice? Do you think I will believe that you know nothing?¡±

    The owner quivered. ¡°I-I only know that his name is Liu Tong and he is from the City of the Moon¡­ a few days ago, he came to me and said that he will book a room in my guesthouse and there is an opportunity to make money together. I definitely couldn¡¯t refuse a chance to make money¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Then you opened a ck store and joined forces with him to steal the foreigners¡¯ items?¡±

    The boss bowed his head. ¡°I-I was also forced to cooperate. If I didn¡¯t cooperate, he said he would kill me and rece my identity as the guesthouse owner. I-In order to save my life, I had to cooperate with him!¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke lightly, ¡°To save your life? I think that you were having fun.¡±

    The boss¡¯s face was very embarrassed. He knew that his conversation with hispanion had been head by Xiao Lou and he couldn¡¯t refute it. He had to tremble and beg for mercy. ¡°L-Let me go. These materials will be given to you¡­¡±

    Ye Qi eximed angrily, ¡°What nonsense about giving it to us! These were things that you stole!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°How much do you know about the boss mentioned by Liu Tong?¡±

    The owner of the guesthouse shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. He just said his boss has money and power. If I follow the boss then I will certainly be able to live a good life. He also said that killing foreigners will give a high bounty. It is one million per head¡­¡±

    The four people nced at each other and a chill rose in the bottom of their hearts.

    How could there be a bounty? Were the challengers mice?

    Xiao Lou was silent for a moment before opening his mouth. ¡°The worlds of the secret rooms are created by the four keepers and the actions of the free people aren¡¯t under their jurisdiction. Perhaps some people feel that killing us is profitable and created this organization specifically for us, to create trouble for us.¡±

    Shao Qingge continued, ¡°This organization offers a ¡®bounty¡¯ as a reward and killing us can earn people money. Such a strict organization, the people captured would rathermit suicide than reveal information¡­ we met one in the 3 of Spades secret room and there might be many more in the future.¡±

    Xiao Lou held his throbbing temple. ¡°Unfortunately, we don¡¯t know what the organization is called, the location of the headquarters, the boss¡¯ identity and how many people will be assigned to each secret room to deal with us. This is really overwhelming!¡±

    Just then, he saw that Yu Hanjiang was crouching down and removing the clothes of the deceased to check carefully.

    The dead man¡¯s heart was marked with a strange skull-shaped tattoo that looked even more bizarre in the dim light. Even stranger, as the body stiffened, the tattoo disappeared at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s spirit was shocked. ¡°Is this the mark of the organization?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stood up. ¡°Probably. This group of free people was thoroughly brainwashed into dead people, whose only goal is to roam through the survival secret rooms, hunting the challengers in the secret rooms and obtaining a high bounty.¡±

    The group was silent for a moment before Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help spitting out, ¡°The world of the secret rooms really has pits everywhere!¡±

    He thought of his experience in thest secret room and became angry. At that time, they all trusted Lawyer Qi and came with the others to the construction site. They allocated the materials as rmended and sessfully lived until the fifth day. Even as he was killed by the prisoners, he thought that it was the cooking at night that attracted the prisoners.

    He didn¡¯t expect the Lawyer Qi that everyone trusted the most to make a trap to kill all challengers.

    ording to the one million gold coins per head, this asshole must¡¯ve made tens of millions of gold coins in thest secret room!

    Letting free people walk around the survival rooms to kill the challengers, this organization was terrible!

    Xiao Lou sighed when he saw Ye Qi¡¯s ugly face and held his shoulder. ¡°In the future, we can no longer trust others. Even if they are good to us, perhaps their real purpose is actually to kill us.

    After so many betrayals, it was difficult for challengers to fully trust their teammates.

    Xiao Lou finally understood why there were so many challengers but no team could clear the SS-grade secret rooms.

    A free person was indistinguishable from challengers and a free person who masqueraded as a challenger was likely aiming to kill the challenger.

    It was a crisis of confidence.

    This was the most terrible seed buried in the mind of all challengers in the Card World.

 Chapter 58: Financial Crisis 18: To Believe

    Yu Hanjiang locked up the owner of the Shanshui Guesthouse along with the corpse of Liu Tong on the ground floor of the construction site. The boss trembled with horror. ¡°D-Don¡¯t lock me up with the dead! Let me go! I¡¯ll give you money! I¡¯ll return all the amodation expenses from those days. No, I¡¯ll double them!¡±

    Shao Qingge heard up to here and whispered in Xiao Lou¡¯s ear. ¡°We should make another trip to the Shanshui Guesthouse. He received so much cash from us and perhaps he still has it. This is our money and it isn¡¯t too much to get it back.¡±

    He could really calcte the ounts. Xiao Lou also felt this method was feasible and told the boss, ¡°Be obedient alone and don¡¯t have any crooked ideas. We have to discuss if we will let you go or not.¡±

    The four men tied up the owner of the guesthouse and quickly counted the supplies in the van.

    At a rough estimate, the boss and free person called Liu Tong jointlymitted the crime and stole from at least 20 foreigners. After killing these foreigners and selling the supplies, they would definitely make a killing.

    The boss said the man¡¯s name was Liu Tong but it was unknown if this was a real name or pseudonym.

    Xiao Lou remembered the ¡®Dictionary¡¯ reward from the 3 of Diamonds secret room. He pulled the card out of the card package and turned to the free person section of the dictionary to take a closer look. The third page actually showed Liu Tong¡¯s information.

    [Liu Tong.

    Male, 41.

    Height 180cm, weight 75kg.

    Identity: Free person, member of the mysterious organization of the City of the Moon.

    Secret Rooms Roamed: Spades survival secret room.

    Note: The 3 of Spades secret room¡¯s mission failed and he died.

    Cause of death: Suicide by poison.

    Yu Hanjiang saw that Xiao Lou was seriously looking at the dictionary and also came to take a look. He frowned, ¡°Mysterious organization? It seems the di will only disy the information we know and no spoilers.¡±

    Xiao Lou pointed to the dictionary. ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you see the third line? He only roams the Spades survival secret rooms. I don¡¯t know if this is an example or if the members of the organization only kill challengers in the Spades secret rooms?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it before saying, ¡°It might be limited to the Spades secret room. After all, Hearts is a reasoning room and the plot if basically fixed. The Diamonds room is mechanism oriented while the Clubs room is a confrontation between challengers. The Spades room is survival and it is convenient for them to kill challengers.¡±

    If all four types of secret rooms had an organization that ughtered challengers then the challengers wouldn¡¯t be able to act. It seemed that the Spades secret room was the most dangerous while Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs were safe for the time being.

    Ye Qi also put his head together to look at the dictionary and asked curiously, ¡°What is the City of the Moon?¡±

    Shao Qingge stated, ¡°I remember that in the taxi, the driver said that the City of the Moon is the most prosperous city in the world. There arerge casinos there.¡±

    Xiao Lou rubbed his chin and spected. ¡°Maybe it is like a game¡¯s main city? It is a ce with many challengers as well as other forces and organizations. Our level is currently too low to enter.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°It is possible that clearing all the C-grade¡­ or even the B-grade rooms will unlock it.¡±

    Shao Qingge pinched his brow. ¡°I hope we can rest. Clearing one room after another with no break is very tiring.¡±

    Everybody agreed with the words. They really wanted to find a safe ce where they could sleep until they woke up naturally.

    It was already early in the morning and Yu Hanjiang suggested, ¡°You should go upstairs to sleep for a while. I will stay here to keep vigil.¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°I will apany you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang turned to look at him. ¡°Professor Xiao, you should go upstairs to sleep. It is a better environment.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Previously, I slept in the corridor in 3 of Hearts. This is a truck and we can sit inside.¡± He turned back to Shao Qingge and Ye Qi. ¡°Chief Shao and Xiao Ye should go upstairs and drop a bug in the northwest corner room to check if there are any abnormalities with the six people we caught.¡±

    Shao Qingge and Ye Qi turned to leave while Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang sat in the truck.

    Yesterday morning, they caught the thieves while this morning, they went to the Shanshui Guesthouse to save the challengers. They hadn¡¯t slept for two days and their bodies were very tired. The two people took turns sleeping for two hours. They didn¡¯t sleep well and the sky was soon bright.

    At 7:30 in the morning, the two people opened a bottle of mineral water to briefly wash their faces and brush their teeth. Then they went upstairs to wake up Shao Qingge and Ye Qi. Everyone had breakfast and started to prepare.

    A note was stuffed into the roomsst night and the challengers would soon arrive.

    In order to avoid any unnecessary armed disputes, Xiao Lou decided to find a way to make the challengers obedient.

    At this time, the Shanshui Guesthouse.

    The challengers who found the stolen supplies the moment they woke up were stunned.

    The several challengers immediately came to the corridor and questioned each other. They found that everyone¡¯s supplies had been stolen.

    Even stranger, they held a note that read: The thieves have been captured by us and the supplies have temporarily been sent to the construction site in the western suburbs. Pleasee to pick them up at 8 a.m.

    Several challengers looked ugly while a girl stated, ¡°Everything hidden under the bed was stolen and I didn¡¯t even know. Was I drugged?¡±

    The girls¡¯ faces changed as they worried about whether they had been taken advantage of.

    A young man eximed, ¡°Do you believe this note? I don¡¯t believe it. Would someone be kind enough to steal the goods and then return it to us? This is obviously a trap to deliberately lead us to the construction site!¡±

    Someone else said, ¡°Maybe it is the thief who wrote the note and is leading us there to kill us!¡±

    Someone else immediately objected, ¡°Do you have a brain? If they wanted to kill us, wouldn¡¯t it be easier to do itst night while we were dead asleep?¡±

    A girl asked timidly, ¡°Should we not go? If there is a trap waiting over there, we won¡¯t be able to keep even our lives. The goods might be stolen but today is already the fourth day. There are three days to clear the instance. Can¡¯t we survive even if we don¡¯t eat or drink?¡±

    A person next to her agreed. ¡°Yes, isn¡¯t there someone who survived seven days in the wilderness. As long as we can get through these days, it isn¡¯t a big deal to eat leaves and hunt.¡±

    A man scolded, ¡°Are you stupid? This isn¡¯t the wilderness, it is the city! I explored on the first day and there are high-rise buildings everywhere. There is no wilderness yet you want to y like it is the wilderness? Then be careful that starving locals don¡¯t ughter you for stew and eat you.¡±

    Someone yelled, ¡°Do you have to scare people? Isn¡¯t eating human flesh too much of an exaggeration?¡±

    The challengers in the corridor expressed their views and bickered endlessly. Suddenly, a middle-aged man¡¯s angry voice rang out from the back. ¡°Shut the fuck off. Arguing with each other at this time, do you want to die quickly?¡±

    The group turned back and saw an uncle with a long beard walking over.

    The man¡¯s eyes swept across the group. ¡°How did you survive the Hearts room with this IQ? Don¡¯t you know how to analyze?¡±

    Several people wanted to be angry but they were coldly interrupted by the man. ¡°If the other side just wanted to steal things, there was no need to leave a note for us to get the supplies. They would¡¯ve already run with the supplies. If the thief wanted to kill us, everyone was druggedst night. They could¡¯ve casually set a fire to destroy our bodies. Why wait until morning and specifically write a note to lead us to the construction site to kill us?¡±

    The group thought carefully and suddenly understood that the uncle¡¯s words were reasonable.

    The bearded uncle stated, ¡°It is meaningless to argue. I am going to the construction site to find out what¡¯s going on. Anyone who is unwilling can go their own way.¡±

    Two people stood behind him. ¡°We will go and see.¡±

    A young girl also followed. ¡°This uncle is reasonable. If the other side really wants to kill us, why not do itst night when everyone was asleep and why leave a note sending us to the construction site? There is no need for such trouble.¡±

    Another person agreed. ¡°I also think the contents of the note might be true. No matter what, I will go first and see.¡±

    Of course, there were people who worried it was a trap and decisively left the team. ¡°We won¡¯t go.¡±

    ¡°I-I won¡¯t go. I always think it was a trap.¡±

    Out of 12 people, four left and only eight people left to go to the construction site.

    The bearded uncle sighed. ¡°I thought that those who could reach the third level wouldn¡¯t be stupid. I didn¡®t expect there to still be many fools. Don¡¯t care about the four people. I will warn you first. Don¡¯t make a disturbance when going to the construction siteter. If I guessed correctly, there will be big people in this secret room to take us through the instance.¡±

    The remaining six looked at each other with surprise.

    The uncle frowned. ¡°Don¡¯t you know what happened with other challengers. The two people in room 207, they left every day with a travel bag to explore the situation. The day before yesterday, a couple had their supplies stolen. Then the two men disappeared and didn¡¯te back. Maybe they discovered something wasn¡¯t normal at the guesthouse. Last night, they came back and took care of the thieves.¡±

    Seeing the group¡¯s nk faces, the uncle smiled. ¡°Were the few girls frightened and hid in their rooms, not going out?¡±

    Some of the girls looked awkward and one of them wondered, ¡°Uncle, you mean there are great yers among the challengers? They took care of the thieves and are willing to help us?¡±

    The bearded uncle nodded. ¡°This is the most reasonable spection. Otherwise, how can you exin the notes in the rooms and the sudden disappearance of the boss? Would the free people in the secret room be so idle, stealing our things and leaving a note for us to y a hide and seek game? Besides, the note reveals a lot of details. You should take a closer look.¡±

    Some people immediately bowed their heads and looked carefully.

    The uncle exined, ¡°The first note has the neatest and clearest handwriting. Later, the handwriting is written more and more hastily and the pen ran out of ink. Apparently, the situation was an emergency and he couldn¡¯t write too much. He seized the time to finish quickly, which is why there is such a big difference.¡±

    A girl was pleasantly surprised. ¡°Yes, we stayed in the innermost room on the second floor. Thest words on this note really looks like the ballpoint pen had run out of ink. The words are very light in colour and can barely be recognized¡­¡±

    The uncle continued to remind them, ¡°Look at the pen on the front desk of the guesthouse.¡±

    The group looked back and saw there was an ¡®opinion book.¡¯ Several pieces of paper were torn off it and exactly matched with the notes in their hands. In addition, the ballpoint pen next to the book really had no ink.

    Obviously,st night, the people¡¯s time to write the notes was very short. They helped themselves to the pen and paper to leave everyone information, really wanting to help. If this trap was nned in advance, it would be impossible for the note to be written so unclearly.

    A few people were ashamed. The young man who first questioned it changed his opinion. ¡°Uncle, are you a master of the Hearts secret room? So many de could be found¡­¡±

    The bearded uncle smiled bitterly. ¡°I was also forced out by the Hearts room and can¡¯t help observing details everywhere I go. The clues left by the people who wrote the note were so obvious but those four challengers didn¡¯t notice. I don¡¯t know how miserably they will die in the Hearts secret room.¡±

    This made several people feel a lingering fear.

    It seemed that the secret rooms could really force out the potential of people. One by one, they were bing detectives!

    Due to the bearded uncle¡¯s careful analysis, everyone put down half of their worries. After all, it was merely a reasoned guess. Maybe someone would deliberately set a trap in this way.

    On the way, the uncle who became the leader said, ¡°Prepare your cards in advance. If something goes wrong and there is an attack then we can¡¯t fall into a passive situation.¡±

    Each of them took out their more aggressive cards and were ready to fight at any time.

    However, as soon as they walked into the construction site, they were covered by rings thatnded one by one to cover them. They almost fell into poop!

    Before they could react to what happened, they saw a handsome and smiling man suddenly appear next to the truck. His hands were gently lifted and a number of different sized silver rings floated around his fingers. This scene was like magnificent magic.

    Several challengers were startled but the uncle was steady and he immediately asked, ¡°What is this for?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I am temporarily controlling you to avoid you doing anything radical or staring an unnecessary armed conflict. I¡¯m not malicious. Listen to me first, okay?¡±

    After finding that the group didn¡¯t show any signs of acting, Xiao Lou took out his phone and sent a message. ¡°Chief Shao, bring the boss over.¡±

    Shao Qingge marched the owner of the guesthouse. Everyone knew the owner and were shocked when seeing him. ¡°Isn¡¯t this Boss Zhang?¡±

    ¡°You captured the owner of the guesthouse?¡±

    ¡°Yes, he drugged the mosquito coils and made you fall unconscious. He also stole your supplies along with someone with the surname of Liu and wanted to set fire to you before selling the supplies for money. This happened to be discovered by us.¡± Xiao Lou smiled at the boss. ¡°Am I right?¡±

    Boss Zhang had been tied up all night and his face was grey as he trembled. ¡°Yes, right¡­ please let me go. I still have money in my hands. I will give you money! The amodation fees from the past few days will be free! Let me go back!¡±

    The challengers exchanged looks.

    Xiao Lou went on to say, ¡°The Shanshui Guesthouse is an inn that kills and robs guests. We went therest night to catch the boss and thieves. Your materials were already in the truck and it wasn¡¯t convenient for us to move them. We were also afraid of them being robbed by other citizens so we drove to the construction site for the time being.¡±

    One girl was grateful. ¡°You were really the ones who saved us? Thank you, thank you so much!¡±

    The bearded uncleughed. ¡°I said earlier that if they wanted to be unfavourable to us, they would¡¯ve set a fire to kill all of usst night when we were unconscious. Who would leave a note and wait until dawn to clean us up?¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you kind people. If not for you, we wouldn¡¯t know how we had died!¡±

    ¡°I also wanted to thank Uncle to help us analyze that there were presumably masters helping. Otherwise, we wouldn¡¯t havee to the construction site!¡± A girl looked gratefully at the bearded uncle.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Xiao Lou asked with interest. ¡°This big brother guessed we were trying to help?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I saw some details from the note you left.¡± The man was forthright when retelling his analysis.

    Xiao Lou was very surprised and didn¡¯t expect there to be such a clever person among the challengers.

    It looked like the bearded uncle was the most careful one in the group.

    It was right that he and Group Leader Yu went to save people. There might be some selfish, cold-blooded and vicious people but there were also smart and kind challengers who tried to pass the instance without burning, looting or viting human nature.

    Moreover, the Card World had arge organization specifically aiming at challengers. If the challengers weren¡¯t united then it would only get harder and harder in the future.

    In Ye Qi¡¯s previous secret room, the challengers survived to the fifth day until Liu Tong led the prisoners to them.

    The prisoners should also contain members of Liu Tong¡¯s organization. Liu Tong had previously said that he would have his brothers find the foreigners with the surnames of Xiao and Yu. The ¡®brothers¡¯ mentioned by him must be the prisoners.

    On the fifth day, the challengers were likely to sh head on with the prisoners.

    They had to either run away ahead of time and hide so that the prisoners couldn¡¯t find them.

    Or sit back and wait to kill this group of prisoners.

    Thinking up to here, Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°I have a suggestion. If you trust me, follow me to act together. How about we join forces to clear the 3 of Spades secret room?¡±

 Chapter 59: Financial Crisis 19: Power of Unity

    Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t talking on his own. He had previously discussed it with Group Leader Yu, Chef Shao and Xiao Ye. If the challengers came and questioned them, he would return their materials and let them leave. However, if the challengers were smart enough and willing to trust him, they should join hands to pass the instance.

    On the fifth day, the number of prisoners exceeded 50 people. Xiao Lou¡¯s group of four would find it difficult to deal with them alone. If the challengers were willing to stay and help, it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to fight against these mobs. After all, the prisoners might have weapons in their hands but the challengers had cards.

    This was the same as ying a game instance. Bringing a new person was possible but they had to be obedient.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes swept over the crowd. ¡°If you want to stay, you can join us. If you don¡¯t want to stay, you can take away your supplies and find your own way to clear the instance. Still, I have to remind you. Don¡¯t think that you can clear the instance just because you have enough supplies to live. This instance difficulty isn¡¯t the supplies but the world¡¯s chaos after the financial crisis urs.¡±

    He paused before saying, ¡°For example, the ATM machines are smashed, the banks robbed, the supermarkets emptied and a serious stampede urred¡­ the urban areas have mobs that are burning and looting. If you act alone and encounter thugs, the challenger survival rate is very low. I hope you will consider carefully before making a decision.¡±

    The people looked at each other and then at him.

    The bearded uncle took the lead by saying decisively, ¡°I¡¯ll stay.¡±

    Immediately following him, the two girls quickly raised their hands. ¡°We¡¯ll stay.¡±

    Everyone knew that the gentle man¡¯s words were reasonable. They could easily be beaten up, robbed or killed if they acted alone. It was only when the challengers united that they could smoothly pass the instance.

    The uncle and two sisters decided to stay, causing the others to quickly make a decision. All eight people stayed.

    Xiao Lou smiled at them. ¡°Thank you for believing in me.¡± He gently moved his fingers and removed the rings from everyone. ¡°Everybody, it is too hot outside. Let¡¯s go inside to control it.¡±

    The group immediately followed him into an empty room in the construction site.

    The room contained a tall and handsome man. His face was almostparable to an idol drama but his face was very serious and his sharp eyes swept over the crowd. ¡°Everyone present, I have to first check if you have any tattoos. The men with go with me to check while the four girls will go to an empty room on the second floor, using a cloth as cover and check each other.¡±

    Everyone nced at each other.

    One of the girls had a stiff face as she asked, ¡°What does this mean? We¡¯re not allowed to have tattoos?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and exined, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The thief surnamed Liu previously pretended to be a challenger and mixed among us. One traitor is enough to destroy a team. These people have special marks on their bodies and checking it in advance is to reassure everyone. I hope you can cooperate.¡±

    The bearded uncle spoke cheerfully. ¡°It isn¡¯t a problem to check.¡±

    The ¡®undress to check¡¯ wasn¡¯t exclusive to men. The four females nced at each other and had to go upstairs. They blocked the door with a tablecloth Xiao Lou gave to them and two people guarded the door while the other two took turns checking each other¡­

    A momentter, everyone returned to the room.

    No one had a tattoo except for the girl with a stiff expression. She had a rose tattooed on her corbone.

    Xiao Lou looked at her and asked, ¡°How did you do in 2 of Hearts?¡±

    The girl replied, ¡°I passed but my score was only C-grade. I couldn¡¯t open the phone. By the way, what was the phone¡¯s password?¡±

    Xiao Lou only asked this to confirm her identity as a challenger.

    The people who couldn¡¯t unlock the phones all cursed. ¡®Fu*k.¡¯

    The bearded uncle saw that Xiao Lou was so cautious and couldn¡¯t help smiling. ¡°Now you should be assured? There is no traitor among us?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°This is the best. Everyonee with me.¡±

    The people followed him to the room in the northeast corner of the third floor, where Ye Qi hadid out tablecloths on the ground. He set out bottles of mineral water as well as milk, melon seeds, peanuts, canned beef, canned fruit, plum candy and other snacks. He had an attitude of weing the guests as he smiled warmly, ¡°Everyone, sit down and eat while chatting.¡±

    The group was stunned. Weren¡¯t these people having a too easy life?

    A girl recognized him and said, ¡°You are¡­ the one ying the guitar in the square?¡±

    Ye Qi nodded. ¡°Yes, I am also a challenger along with Brother Xiao.¡±

    Xiao Lou told them, ¡°We have many materials. There is a truck outside and a room here. Don¡¯t worry about going hungry. Since we have decided to work together, let¡¯sbine the supplies and do a centralized distribution.¡±

    He looked at Ye Qi. ¡°Xiao Ye, wait a bitter to count the number of materials. Starting from today, go to Xiao Ye to register and collect food, so that we can manage what to eat. In any case, we can¡¯t bring the supplies out of the room so if there are any remaining, we can find some citizens to sell them for gold coins.¡±

    The bearded uncle was moved slightly andmented, ¡°If the challengers in the Spades secret room had worked together to form such a disciplined organization earlier, a free people wouldn¡¯t be able to take advantage of any loopholes.¡±

    Everyone¡¯s eyes became feverish as they looked at the food.

    A young man nodded eagerly. ¡°This is a good way! We can eat and don¡¯t have to worry about being robbed. We definitely don¡¯t have to be afraid of being hungry and if there is a surplus on the seventh day, take them to exchange for some gold coins. Then we can bring the gold coins out of the Spades secret room!¡±

    Several girls nodded in approval.

    ¡°Yes, just focus on distribution!¡±

    ¡°I have bought snacks like plums, dried mango and banana slices.¡±

    ¡°I bought a box of spicy sausages that can be eaten with noodles. Everyone can eat it at will.¡±

    ¡°I have Coke, orange juice, Spirt and a box of Red Bull. If you want to drink it then find Xiao Ye.¡±

    Everyone mentioned their own materials and gathered them together for a central distribution. Later, they could eat what they wanted to eat.

    In this strange world, the group of people felt a type of collective warmth for the first time.

    Humans were head creatures. The collective power was much greater than that of individuals.

    Previously, they were frightened when acting alone. This time, a big god organized them and the organized feelings were really good!

    The bearded uncle wiped his eyes. ¡°Yes, what are you called?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°My name is Yun Xiao, everyone can call me Old Xiao.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly. ¡°Old Han.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°My surname is Qin. You can call me Qin Shao.¡± (TL: He used a different character for Shao that means Young. So it can be seen as telling them to call him Young Qin)

    Ye Qi stated, ¡°Myst name is Ye, you can just call me Brother Ye!¡±

    The bearded uncle smiled. ¡°Myst name is Hu and people call my Beard or Uncle Hu.¡±

    The other people also reported their names.

    The four girls spoke theirst names. The sister with the tattoo of a rose was surnamed Mei, the short-haired girl was surnamed Zhou, the curly haired girl was surnamed Xue and the tall girl was surnamed Gao. The young men were called Xiao Zhang, Xiao Li and Xiao Jin.

    Xiao Lou was hiding his real name in order to avoid disclosing too much information that would cause trouble.

    For example, in their future, their team would clear the secret rooms more and more. What if these people found him based on his name and asked him to take them to the end? Should he bring them or not? Or what if these people thought the four of them were strong enough to ask for help? Should they help or not?

    The contract was limited and he couldn¡¯t bring too many teammates.

    If he helped today, they would remember it. If they didn¡¯t helpter, perhaps they might be offended and be an enemy. Therefore, in order to maintain safety, it was best of their real names wasn¡¯t known.

    Everyone in the group chose a code name and Xiao Lou followed up by saying, ¡°Since we¡¯ve decided to join forces, let¡¯s first say a few rules. An undisciplined organization is a mess. The first rule is that everyone must listen to ourmands. If you don¡¯t want to listen then you can leave now.¡±

    They were themands of a great god and naturally everyone was happy. There was no opinion.

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°Second, I need to know the cards in your hands to assign tasks. Of course, you can keep some back if you don¡¯t fully trust me. However, you should take out at least one strong card.¡±

    The bearded uncle took the lead to shook a card and said, ¡°I drew only one S-grade card, ¡®Hound.¡¯ It has two skills. The first one can call a hound to bit people and is an attack skill. The second is a skill to track the target. As long as they don¡¯t leave this secret room, their hiding position can be tracked.¡±

    The curly haired girl pulled out a card. ¡°I only have an A-grade card. I can ce it anywhere and it will show any movements within 300 metres on a screen in front of me. It is simr to a monitor.¡±

    The young man, Xiao Zhang said, ¡°I have a tool card that allows me to hide in the ground and seize the prey. It can be used a maximum of 10 times.¡±

    Xiao Li said, ¡°I didn¡¯t draw too many good cards. One useful tool card is ¡®Hair dryer.¡¯ The skill is very strange. It lets out a strong wind and something with a weight less than 100 kg will be blown away 50 metres.¡±

    The others showed their cards.

    Xiao Lou found that the cards in the Card World were really beyond his imagination.

    Sister Gao took out a ¡®Mirror¡¯ tool card which could reflect all attacks within 10 seconds. Xiao Xue took out amon item for a physical education ss, ¡®Shot Put¡¯ and threw it out. It could create a 5¡Á5 metre pit at thending point and bury people.

    The group looked at the other challengers showing strange cards and their expressions were a bitplicated.

    The bearded uncle looked curiously at Xiao Lou, ¡°By the way, what are those metal rings just now?¡±

    This skill had been exposed and Xiao Lou also didn¡¯t intend to hide it. He pulled out the card and exined, ¡°It is an S-grade tool card, Compass. I can draw rings that act as a weapon and let the rings float in the air¡­¡±

    Just then, Xiao Lou unexpectedly found that the card had grown to full level.

    He had often used Compass during this time and his growth had increased rapidly.

    The second skill would be unlocked at the full level.

    The first skill ¡®Drawing Circles¡¯ had a significant increase. The speed it took for the rings to be generated was reduced to 0.5 seconds. In other words, he drew the circle and it took 0.5 seconds for the corresponding sized metal ring to be created. Previously, he had to prepare this card in advance but now it could be used simultaneously with the drawing.

    The unlocked second skill was called ¡®Circr Boundary¡¯ which drew a circr boundary with a maximum diameter of 10 metres to form a circr, transparent ward. Anyone inside the ward would be immune to any form of attack for 10 seconds.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes brightened. The second skill of Compass was very strong and created an invincible circle for 10 seconds.

    The other challengers saw the card and were full of envy.

    A girl praised, ¡°Isn¡¯t this card too strong? It can draw weapons and create 10 seconds of invincibility.¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°I drew it when I got a S-grade clearance score. I was pretty lucky.¡±

    The bearded uncle said, ¡°No wonder why you have the confidence to take everyone through the instance. Originally, you have such a strong card.¡±

    In fact, Xiao Lou¡¯s team had many strong cards. There was Group Leader Yu¡¯s sniper rifle with a maximum range of more than one kilometre, the eleration shoes, the coat that could withstand one fatal injury, Di Renjie who could help in Hearts and Diamonds, Tao Yuanming with the ready space teleport, Shao Qingge¡¯s lucky aura card, Ye Qi¡¯s listening device and his teleport card.

    Of course, Xiao Lou was unlikely to expose his team¡¯s entire equipment.

    He had an idea in his heart about how to deal with the prisoners.

    Once all the cards were gathered together, Xiao Lou smiled and said, ¡°Let¡¯s split up the work. I will go with Xiao Zhang to use the Compass and Seize Prey cards to set traps in advance. Xiao Zhou will be on the third floor, ready to use Mirror at any time to counterattack.¡±

    ¡°The Shot Put will be on the third floor with the monitor. Once people are detected, throw the lead ball into the crowd to form a pit. This can dy them for a long time. The other two girls will stay on the third floor and monitor the movements the entire time while Qin Shao will protect the supplies.¡±

    ¡°Beard, Xiao Li, Xiao Jin and Old Han¡­¡± He looked back at Yu Hanjiang while talking. ¡°We will all stay on the front lines. Once the thugs break into the construction site, we will act together to clean all of them up!¡±

    Xiao Lou let the girls stay on the third floor at a safe distance. They could monitor movements and provide long-range support. Shao Qingge would protect the materials on the third floor and could send text messages downstairs to inform them of the situation. Ye Qi, Yu Hanjiang, the bearded uncle and the young men were on the front lines to clean up the mob.

    The cards that the people held were arranged by him.

    The females heard this and couldn¡¯t help their blood being ignited.

    Everyone had a role. Everyone was given tasks and would cooperate. Uniting together, this was the correct way to clear the instance!

 Chapter 60: Financial Crisis 20: Outsmart

    After agreeing to the next n, Xiao Lou led a few men downstairs to carry the materials together. The girls helped Ye Qi with collecting the information. They worked together and quickly moved the truckload of supplies to a room on the third floor.

    There were more than 20 boxes of mineral water, 12 boxes of milk, 8 boxes of chocte, 18 boxes of instant noodles, all types of dry fruits, numerous snack bags and evenmonly used medicine were sorted into two boxes¡­

    The temporary housekeeper Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help eximing, ¡°We can directly open a supermarket with these materials!¡±

    Everyone was busy sorting out the materials. In the evening when everyone was tired, Xiao Lou gathered them to prepare dinner together.

    ording to the rules, they had to find Ye Qi to collect and register anything they wanted to eat. This would help with knowing the numbers of the remaining inventory.

    The bearded uncle came up and said, ¡°Xiao Ye, can I get two cans of meat? I love meat but I didn¡¯t dare to buy it in order to save money.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded. ¡°Of course, you can. Just register casually. We shouldn¡¯t be too wasteful and should eat what we bought!¡±

    The girl next to him was excited. ¡°Can I have some canned fruit? I haven¡¯t eaten fruit in several days¡­¡±

    Someone came over and said, ¡°Xiao Ye, give me a bottle of Coke, hehe.¡±

    Ye Qi spun nonstop like a gyroscope. He went to different rooms to find food for everyone, distributed the food, registered the supplies, prepared the food and was as enthusiastic as a volunteer working with the elderly.

    Xiao Lou looked at the scene and couldn¡¯t helpughing. ¡°Xiao Ye is really clever.¡±

    Shao Qingge squinted as he watched the busy Ye Qi. ¡°There is a centralized distribution and if we can sessfully sell the rest of the materials, we can certainly make a lot of money. What price are you going to sell it at? The market price should be 128 times higher on the seventh day.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± This person was always thinking about making money. Xiao Lou told him, ¡°128 times is too exaggerated. The price is so high that the public might not be able to afford it. How about three times?¡±

    Items couldn¡¯t be taken out of the secret rooms but money could. Therefore, it was best to convert these materials into cash. After a few days of the financial crisis, the challengers might barely have money but the local citizens might still have some savings. However, the people kept their heads down in order to avoid being robbed so they needed toe up with a surefire n.

    The fourth day was very peaceful.

    Once it was dark, Xiao Lou went to the first floor to see Boss Zhang. ¡°Boss, we have decided to go back to the Shanshui Guesthouse. Where did you keep our room fees?¡±

    The boss was hungry and had long lost his ability to resist. He spoke with a dejected face. ¡°It is hidden in the safe in the basement. The key to the basement is on me.¡± He looked up at Xiao Lou. ¡°If you get the money, can you let me go?¡±

    ¡°Not for the time being.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t be sure if this boss still had any aplices. They couldn¡¯t let him go until everyone cleared the instance.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou used the teleportation card to return to the Shanshui Guesthouse. It was empty and the corpse hidden in the basement had started to rot. A strong smell came the moment they opened the door.

    Yu Hanjiang covered his mouth and nose with a ck cloth and quickly searched the basement with a bright shing. He found a ck safe and gently knocked on it with his ears against the safe. After confirming there wasn¡¯t any mechanism in it, he brought it back to Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou put the safe in front of the boss and smiled. ¡°You opened a ce to make money but you shouldn¡¯t bully us foreigners. You received our room fees and we will take double. Do you have any opinion?¡±

    The boss nodded eagerly. ¡°No opinion¡­ all to you, I¡¯ll give it all to you!¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke lightly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you won¡¯t die if you don¡¯t eat for a day.¡±

    The boss, ¡°¡­¡± His heart was copsing.

    Xiao Lou opened the safe to count the money and gave the gold coins to everyone upstairs. ¡°This is your room fees.¡±

    Everyone was shocked. ¡°We also get our amodation fees back?¡± ¡°Oh my god, so much money. Is this real?¡± ¡°This brother is too great, he can actually get the money back¡­¡±

    Xiao Louughed. ¡°The boss opened a store to rob and kill us first. Isn¡¯t it reasonable for us to go back to the Shanshui Guesthouse and get his safe?¡±

    The group almost raised their hands and feet in agreement.

    Everyone listened more to Xiao Lou¡¯s words after getting back the amodation fee. Several females looked at Xiao Lou with worship and a few people came to him and asked in a low voice, ¡°Brother, is your team still missing people? I promise that I will be obedient if you take me¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned ufortably and interrupted, ¡°It is dark. Everyone sleep in the third floor room while we will go downstairs to stand guard.¡±

    He was looking at Xiao Lou as he spoke. The remaining challengers nced at each other.

    Downstairs, the two people continued sleeping in the van.

    Once it was quiet, Yu Hanjiang suddenly felt his ears be much cleaner.

    He nced sideways at Xiao Lou and whispered, ¡°These people might not be members of the mysterious organization but there is still a risk taking so many people to clear the instance. If they cause trouble at a critical moment then it might affect us.¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°Group Leader Yu, rest assured, I have a more secure n.¡±

    There was a light smile on his face and Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°What n?¡±

    ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you remember the reward card for 2 of Spades?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly realized. ¡°The zombie virus? You want to use this against the prisoners tomorrow night?¡±

    ¡°The cards in this Card World can be used very flexibly. The Nine Pces Grid obtained from 2 of Diamonds helped people with weak fighting ability like me to clear 2 of Spades.¡±

    Xiao Lou took out two A-grade cards from his card pack. ¡°The zombie virus can make the actions of the prisoners extremely slow. If we take the special vine in advance, we won¡¯t be affected by the virus.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Professor Xiao was too clever.

    He hadn¡¯t thought of using the 2 of Spades reward card against the 3 of Spades mob.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s initial idea was to set up the sniper rifle on the roof and kill the prisoners one by one. It was just that he had a limited number of bullets, only 10. He couldn¡¯t finish it if there were too many prisoners.

    On the other hand, Xiao Lou¡¯s method was good. Collectively infect the prisoners with the zombie virus and their actions would be slow. They would use traps and tools to kill them while controlling the spread of the virus, ensuring that the virus didn¡¯t affect innocent people. It was the best of both worlds.

    ***

    The 3 of Spades secret room, the fifth day.

    The prices had soared by a terrible 32 times and the supermarket was out of stock. All businesses, factories and units hadpletely shut down. The tickets for trains leaving the city were sold out. Militants who couldn¡¯t buy tickets destroyed the railway, not allowing trains to make it out of City A. The buses and cars were stopped as the drivers went on a collective strike.

    The entire city waspletely paralyzed.

    On the prison side, the prisoners escaped. They burned and looted, burning the pedestrian street to ashes and destroyed all stores on both sides of the street. On the street, an elderly couple had just gone out to give their son and daughter-inw some food, only to be beaten up¡­ the two old people were actually killed.

    The prisoners were holding weapons such as a variety of long knives and guns they stole from the police. People could resist and fled while screaming and crying. It was like hell on Earth!

    Yu Hanjiang saw this scene and wanted to immediately line up and shoot to kill this group of animals!

    The city wasn¡¯t safe at all and the construction site was theirst position.

    Yu Hanjiang alone couldn¡¯t save the entire city. He received Xiao Lou¡¯s concerned text message and immediately returned to the construction site to prepare.

    Around 4 o¡¯clock in the afternoon, a pair of challengers came to the door.

    They were the couple who had their materials stolen on the second day. They left the Shanshui Guesthouse and relied on the few bottles of milk in their backpack to hold on for two days. They didn¡¯t look good. They walked listlessly, had chapped lips and were pale. Their feet stumbled as they helped each other move forward. The girl was apparently injured because her arm was constantly bleeding.

    The curly haired female responsible for the monitoring on the third floor immediately reported to Ye Qi. ¡°Xiao Ye, two people are heading to the construction site from the northeast direction. They are the couple from the guesthouse.¡±

    This telescope card allowed her to monitor a very far distance and the image disyed on the screen was very clear. She could also zoom in.

    Ye Qi used his phone to report this to Xiao Lou.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou¡¯s face and spoke in a low voice, ¡°Do you want to help them?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°It is the couple who had their supplies stolen on the second day. We have so many supplies that an extra two people doesn¡¯t matter. However, we can¡¯t let them affect everyone¡¯s ns. I will go talk to them and give them some food while seeing if they have any cards and are willing to help.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang decisively followed him. ¡°I will apany you.¡±

    They stopped the couple. The other side thought they were robbers and were frightened. ¡°Don¡¯t kill us¡­ we really have nothing worthwhile¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou saw them shaking. They had apparently encountered a lot. His heart couldn¡¯t bear it and he spoke warm words, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, this construction site has food. It is a temporary camp for challengers. If you are willing to listen to our orders then you are wee to join the organization.¡±

    Organization? Both people stared in amazement.

    They came to the construction site in a half suspicious and half believing manner. Ye Qi warmly brought mineral water, milk, bread, chocte and other food for them to eat. The females who previously saw them at the guesthouse ran over and ask if they were cold while helping the bleeding girl with her warm. They gave her some anti-inmmatory and anti-fever medicine.

    The couple, who had been hungry for two days, wept in front of the crowd.

    The girl was crazy from hunger and cried as she gnawed on the bread, ¡°I thought we were dead¡­ thank you¡­ thank you¡­ I didn¡¯t expect a challengers organization¡­ it is really good¡­¡±

    The man was also red-eyed as he drank a bottle of mineral water. ¡°We will join! I can do anything and follow orders! However, my girlfriend was stabbed and I can¡¯t take her. Can you let her rest first?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°No problem. Xiao Gao, take her upstairs to sleep.¡±

    The man was relieved after his girlfriend was taken away and asked, ¡°What is your n?¡±

    Xiao Lou had him take out a card and he cooperated by taking out his most powerful card. It was ¡®Umbre¡¯ and could be opened and erged by 10 times to block all projectiles. This happened to be a defensive type card. Xiao Lou had him stay on the third floor to protect the females in charge of the monitoring.

    It got dark and everyone gathered for dinner.

    All the supplies were concentrated and dinner was very rich, consisting of fruit, meat, snacks and everything.

    The man who was hungry for a few days wolfed down the rice and his face finally regained some colour.

    Seeing that it was getting dark, Xiao Lou gathered everyone together. ¡°I need to count the number of people who have perfectly cleared 2 of Spades and received the special effects vine. Please raise your hand.¡±

    Several people raised their hands, including Shao Qingge.

    Xiao Lou roughly calcted it. ¡°The number of vines is sufficient.¡±

    His eyes swept across the room like he was standing at a podium to teach students. He was calm as he said, ¡°Those who escaped from prison are mostly death row inmates. They have no scruples and will kill and set fire in the city. Soon, they will fight the construction site. It isn¡¯t good to fight against them head on. We can only be smart.¡±

    He paused before saying, ¡°Once they enter the construction site, I will try to release the zombie virus in the crowd. You experienced 2 of Spades and should know that this virus will greatly reduce their speed but it will enhance their attack ability.¡±

    One girl remembered her bad experience with the zombies and trembled with a white face. ¡°This.. what if we get infected?¡± At first nce, she didn¡¯t get a special vine card.

    Xiao Lou told her, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we will inject a special vine and bepletely immune to the virus.¡±

    A young man patted his thigh. ¡°This is a good way! We will be vinated and won¡¯t be affected by the virus. This way, the group of prisoners will be infected and be slow-moving corpses?¡±

    People who didn¡¯t get the vine card looked at the notes of the special effects vine card and was shocked. Complete immunization!

    They finally put down their worries and agreed to Xiao Lou¡¯s proposal.

    This was indeed a ¡®smart¡¯ way to avoid a direct conflict with the mob. The people here weren¡¯t good at fighting and the odds weren¡¯t high. The zombie virus would turn the prisoners into slow-moving corpses. Thinking back to 2 of Spades, everyone was confident of winning the battle!

    Xiao Lou arranged for everyone to be given the special vine in batches and called for several people to arrange traps outside the construction site.

    After the preparations, the sun slowly set below the horizon and night came.

    Previously, once it became dark, everyone was scared, worried about their supplies being stolen and worried their rooms would be smashed¡­

    However, at this moment, all of them were united and they no longer had to be afraid.

 Chapter 61: Financial Crisis 21: Decisive Moment

    Day five,te at night.

    The team of escaped prisoners terrorized the streets for only a short time. There weren¡¯t many materials and most residents were worried about the danger outside, causing them to lock the doors and windows. The prisoners couldn¡¯t enter the residents¡¯ homes to steal.

    The leader with a scar on his face suddenly said, ¡°The construction site on the outskirts has a group of foreigners. They should have a lot of food.¡±

    Someone wondered, ¡°How do you know this?¡±

    A strange smile appeared on his face as he replied, ¡°A friend of mine told me.¡±

    He simply waved his hand. ¡°Go to the construction site and take advantage of the darkness to take care of all these foreigners!¡±

    Two young men were bowing their heads behind the group. After hearing this, a grey-faced youth whispered in hispanion¡¯s ear, ¡°They mentioned foreigners. Are they referring to challengers? What should we do? If they found out that we are challengers, would we be ughtered by these crazy people?¡±

    The other person was white-faced. ¡°Don¡¯t say it! In any case, we were caught by the police as thieves and we will continue to pretend to be thieves.¡±

    These two people were those who stole the LCD TV in order to go to prison for seven days in an attempt to clear the instance.

    The result was that they had only been a prisoner for a day when they stopped giving the prisoners food. It was said that the prison guards collectively went on a holiday. The two people stared at the iron bars with regret and thought they would starve to death in the cell. They didn¡¯t expect that on the fifth day, the prisoners actually escaped from prison?

    After a wave of twists and turns, the two of them mixed into the ranks of the prisoners and left the prison.

    Along the way, this group killed people without thinking. Both challengers were scared and wanted to find an opportunity to slip away, but they weren¡¯t able to find it.

    Scarface didn¡¯t pay attention to the two thieves. He thought these two people didn¡¯t kill anyone because they had no courage.

    He brought everyone to the construction site and stared at the three floors in the distance.

    There was a fire in the building and the familiar sound of instant noodles floated. The prisoners drooled and eximed, ¡°Boss, there really are people here!¡± ¡°They are also cooking. They must have a lot of instant noodles!¡±

    Scarface looked behind him. ¡°Who will go to explore the road?¡±

    The two grey-faced ¡®thieves¡¯ bowed their heads to hide. Scarface raised their eyebrows and said, ¡°You go!¡±

    The two people were shocked. ¡°U-Us?¡±

    Scarface pushed the two of them. ¡°Go in to see if there are any traps.¡±

    They were clearly being used as tools. The two challengers looked at each other and had to cautiously sneak into the construction site.

    At this time, the third floor of the construction site.

    The girl monitoring the telescope immediately said, ¡°Xiao Ye, a group of people has been found in the distance. Two of them are moving towards the construction site.¡± She zoomed in on the image and looked carefully, ¡°They seem to be a bit familiar?¡±

    Shao Qingge stated, ¡°I¡¯ve seen them. They are two challengers who stayed in my hotel and had their supplies stolen on the first night.¡±

    He sent the information to Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou.

    Yu Hanjiang quickly replied, ¡°They should be the two guys who stole the LCD TV and were taken by the police.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    What a coincidence.

    Group Leader Yu went to the decorations market and encountered two strange challengers who tried to rob the LCD TV and were captured by the police. Yu Hanjiang hadmented that they wanted to rely on staying in prison to clear their instance. Their thinking was really strange.

    They didn¡¯t expect these two guys to run out with the escaped prisoners.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°Do you want to save them?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and Yu Hanjiang quickly moved behind the two people, deftly twisted their arms behind their backs. Xiao Lou covered their mouths and said, ¡°Don¡¯t let out any sounds. This is the challenger base camp.¡±

    Both men were stunned and frightened after being caught in an instant.

    Yu Hanjiang quickly took them to a dark corner and spoke in the ears of the two people, ¡°This construction site is full of traps and the roof has a very lethal weapons card. The surviving challengers are gathered here and we intend to clean up this group of thugs. The two of you stay in a corner and don¡¯t move or run around, otherwise you will be caught by the traps and die miserably.¡±

    Then he took out a vine and pricked the two people in the arm.

    A cold liquid was injected into their blood vessels and the two people stared with tense bodies, thinking the other side had given them poison/drugs.

    Xiao Louughed, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. I gave you a special vine that makes you immune to the zombie virus. You don¡¯t know everyone¡¯syout so in order to avoid both of you stepping on a trap, I will tie you to a safe ce.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang quickly cooperated and tied the two men up. This was followed by Yu Hanjiang taking their clothes to pretend to be a prisoner. He whispered to Xiao Lou, ¡°I will release the virus. Prepare all the firepower for one minuteter.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at him and nodded. ¡°Be careful.¡±

    The two challengers tied together with clothes stuffed in their mouths were stunned.

    Was this really the challenger stronghold? Weren¡¯t the virus and vine rewards from the 2 of Spades room? It seemed that everyone had done a good arrangement. Did they just have to lie down to clear the instance?

    The two people were perturbed and they couldn¡¯t believe they had such good luck.

    Yu Hanjiang pretended to be a prisoner and walked out of the building.

    Scarface frowned. ¡°What is the situation? Those two rabbits haven¡¯te back after so long?¡±

    Just then, he saw a man in prisoner clothesing over. He thought the person he sent to investigate hade back and Scarface was just about to open his mouth when he realized something was wrong.

    This man was too tall!

    He was nearly 1.9 metres and was half a head taller than the two guys Scarface had just sent.

    Scarface¡¯s expression changed. ¡°Stop him!¡±

    However, thismand was a step toote.

    Yu Hanjiang used Ye Qi¡¯s teleportation card and acted as fast as lightning. The tall figure was a few dozen metres away when the next moment, he appeared in the crowd and opened a bottle full of green liquid.

    A strange smell spread in an instant.

    Scarface hurriedly covered his mouth and nose, angrily screaming, ¡°What is this? Get him!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was flexible in his actions and withdrew from the siege in an instant.

    The girl monitoring on the third floor hurriedly said, ¡°Old Han is safe and the prisoners are also withdrawing¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou gave amand. ¡°Ready¡ªfire!¡±

    A lead ball was suddenly thrown high into the air. Under normal circumstances, the record of this lead ball was only 20 metres but this was the Card World¡¯s enhanced lead ball. It was directly thrown a few hundred metres into the crow.

    -¡ªBoom!

    Once the lead ballnded and exploded, there was a loud bang and a 5¡Á5 metres pit was smashed into the ground!

    The dozens of prisoners were caught off guard and fell into the pit. They soon felt their bodies start to heat up and the actions became slow. Their hands and feet didn¡¯t seem to listen to their brains and the group of people panicked. ¡°What? I can¡¯t walk¡­¡± ¡°I have a headache and a fever¡­¡±

    The zombie virus was effective and the people who remained above the pit also felt unwell.

    Scarface¡¯s eyes shed with a hint of cruelty. ¡°There is an ambush. Cover the front with weapons!¡±

    The prisoners had grabbed a lot of weapons when escaping from the prison. Today, Yu Hanjiang went to the city to investigate and saw them shooting people with guns, killing many people. There were also have weapons such as machine guns and grenades.

    Under themand of Scarface, this group of zombies started to shoot the construction site up like crazy!

    There was the loud sound of gunfire and grenades thrown at the construction site, causing mes to explode in the dark of the night!

    The girl with the Mirror card immediately threw the mirror at the door of the construction site, rebounding the attacks and protected the males on the first floor. The boy on the third floor opened the umbre and blocked all bullets that mighte over.

    The monitoring girl cried out, ¡°There are three to the west and two to the south!¡±

    Beard decisively released his hound.

    Xiao Lou controlled the rings and countless bracelet-sized rings flew through the darkness like a ferocious storm towards the crowd!

    These people were affected by the zombie virus and they were slow to move. Xiao Lou¡¯s ring knocked down arge number of them in the blink of an eye. Scarface roared angrily and raised his machine gun in the direction of the rings, shooting them down.

    He fired and retreated. He had just retreated a few metres when pain shot up from his feet.

    It was the Seize Prey card that had been ced in advance and he was caught.

    A few people were captured while wailing came from the east and west.

    It wasn¡¯t enough.

    After they were caught by the trap, a gust of wind blew and several light people were directly blown into the pit!

    Several people in the pit were struggling to climb up. They were just about to climb out, only to be smashed back by theirpanions who fell from the sky.

    A group of people stacked together and the bottom prisoner was almost crushed into a meat pie, his mouth constantly swearing. ¡°Fu*k! Are you stupid? Why go into the pit?¡± The people who were scolded were innocent. ¡°I was blown over! This group of foreigners are demons!¡±

    Scarface¡¯s expression was extremely ugly.

    Several people who had escaped the attack sneaked away and they were chased by the bearded uncle¡¯s hounds. Their legs were bitten and they soon fell to the ground, unable to get up. The hounds were vinated and they returned to the bearded uncle, continuing to bite those who wanted to escape.

    The prisoners were caught by traps while the dozens in the pit trampled on each other. It was a mess.

    At this point, the prisoners¡¯ heads were full of question marks. ¡®Who am I? Where am I? What type of devil have I met?¡¯

    A few days ago, Scarface received the news passed on to him from Old Liu that the foreigners would eventually gather at the construction site. He should bring the prisoners over and let them destroy each other, allowing him to receive a high bounty.

    The result was that forget the bounty, they were beaten so badly?

 Chapter 62: Financial Crisis 22: The End of the Thugs

    The effect of the zombie virus card eventually turned all the thugs into zombies.

    The skin on the surface of their bodies became green and the flesh of their hands quickly rotted, revealing white bones.

    The bodies in the pit made a creaking sound as they slowly climbed up.

    Scarface¡¯s body also changed and his attack power soared. His gun had no bullets and he threw the gun aside. He roared and used a pair of ws to directly tear up the trap holding him!

    The partners around him also tore up their traps at his call and acted together with the boss.

    The man who set up the trap was frightened. ¡°The traps were made of pure metal and they can actually tear it up¡­ the attack power of these zombies have increased. What do we do?¡±

    Next to him, the man hiding behind a tree with a hairdryer was nervous but forced himself to activate the skill.

    A gust of wind blew back the zombies climbing out of the pit. They stepped on each other and screamed. However, other zombies followed Scarface out of the range of the blowdryer¡¯s attack and the blowdryer no longer affected them.

    The hound was chasing the escaped zombies. Scarface grabbed a hand and bit the hound¡¯s neck with sharp teeth.

    The bearded uncle saw the dog was caught and immediately shouted, ¡°Recall!¡±

    Fortunately, the hound was summoned by the card and could be recovered at any time. He called back the hound in a thrilling manner.

    Scarface saw that the dog in his hand was gone and roared in anger. He turned his head towards the bearded uncle and pounced on him!

    The bearded uncle was toote to avoid it and he would be torn in half by the ws. At this critical juncture, the bearded uncle felt a breeze blowing by his side and the scene suddenly changed. He hadn¡¯t reacted yet when he found himself teleported to a safe ce within the construction site.

    Yu Hanjiang had taken him away with the teleportation card.

    The bearded uncle trembled while sweating. ¡°Thank you, thank you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly. ¡°No need.¡±

    Xiao Lou was operating the rings at the site and hindering the zombie group from getting closer. Yu Hanjiang walked up to him and said, ¡°This group of thugs have thoroughly be zombies. After bing zombies, their attack power is improved and they aren¡¯t afraid of knives and guns. Even if we cut off their hands and feet, they will quickly grow new ones. They won¡¯t die unless we directly cut off their heads.¡±

    Anyone who had experienced the 2 of Spades secret room knew they had to decapitate the zombie to fully kill it.

    However, there were more than 50 zombies at the scene and decapitating them wouldn¡¯t be easy.

    In particr, closebat would be a risk since the attack power of the zombies had increased.

    In addition, the zombies just needed to scratch other people¡¯s skin to infect them with the virus. The challengers might be injected with the zombie vine and couldn¡¯t be affected but what about the rest of the city? The zombie virus spread quickly and the entire city might be like 2 of Spades!

    They had topletely take care of these zombies.

    Xiao Lou decisively ordered, ¡°Everyone, immediately withdraw to the construction site!¡±

    The bearded uncle with the hounds and the two young men who set up the traps and blowdryer all withdrew when they heard the order. Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°I¡¯ll stay to help you. If there is danger, I can take you away with the teleportation card.¡±

    Xiao Lou wanted Group Leader Yu to go back but Group Leader Yu was more agile than him. He nodded after hearing this.

    The others returned to the third floor, nervously standing in front of the surveince screen to watch the fight downstairs.

    Arge number of mutted thugs crawled out of the pit. They were drooling and stretched out white, bony ws, moving slowly forward step by step. The hearts of the challengers were all in their throats because they feared Brother Xiao and Old Han would be torn to shreds by the zombie group.

    The sister monitoring with the telescope couldn¡¯t help quivering. ¡°There are so many zombies, will they both be okay?¡±

    Shao Qinggeughed. ¡°Rest assured, they must have a way.¡±

    The ¡®Mirror¡¯ ced at the door automatically disappeared after some time and the dense group of zombies was about to pour into the construction site.

    Xiao Lou nced at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Then I¡¯ll trouble Group Leader Yu to look around me.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded, opened the teleportation card and gently hugged Xiao Lou¡¯s waist before moving.

    Xiao Lou only felt a breeze and in a moment, he appeared in front of the zombie group.

    The challengers on the third floor stared intently at the surveince screen.

    Just then, they suddenly heard a whistling.

    Xiao Lou had summoned Liu Xiaoyuan.

    The little boy only reached up to Xiao Lou¡¯s waist and his face was as white as paper, like he climbed out of the morgue. His eyes were as dark as ink and were deep. Ignoring the strange skin colour and eye colour, his baby fat face looked quite cute and he wore the clothes very neatly. It was just that his hands didn¡¯t have flesh, leaving only bones.

    The whistling sound was created by him.

    The shrill cry made the third floor challengers cover their ears.

    The girl in charge of the monitoring was filled with horror. ¡°What is this little friend?!¡±

    Someone eximed, ¡°Isn¡¯t this Liu Xiaoyuan?¡±

    The girl wondered, ¡°Who is Liu Xiaoyuan?¡±

    Some people hadn¡¯t perfectly cleared 2 of Spades and didn¡¯t know the identity of Liu Xiaoyuan. Shao Qingge gave a short exnation, ¡°He is the final boss of 2 of Spades. The first person infected with the zombie virus was the little boy called Liu Xiaoyuan.¡±

    A man was shocked. ¡°Then Brother actually summoned a boss?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Their brother was omnipotent.

    Downstairs, Xiao Lou looked calm as he summoned the zombie boss.

    He smiled and patted the child on the shoulder before saying, ¡°Go Xiaoyuan, kill these disobedient corpses.¡±

    Liu Xiaoyuan obeyed his order. He issued a whistling call to summon his younger brothers and the zombies at the construction site started a fierce struggle!

    This A-grade summoning card was something Xiao Lou had drawn after perfectly clearing 2 of Spades. It had two skills. The first skill was Liu Xiaoyuan using his ws to attack close targets. The targets would be infected with the zombie virus and be his puppet.

    At this point, the thugs were already zombies.

    Wouldn¡¯t it be better to let the zombie leader deal with these zombies?

    Xiao Lou¡¯s approach stunned the challengers.

    Yu Hanjiang was originally going to kill the zombies personally and he couldn¡¯t help being won over by the sight.

    It seemed his worries were redundant again. Xiao Lou had long thought of aprehensive strategy.

    First, release the zombie virus and let the thugs slow down after they became infected. The challengers would use various skills to control them and make sure the thugs couldn¡¯t run away.

    Once they werepletely changed, send out the zombie boss Liu Xiaoyuan to collect the heads.

    Scarface¡¯s attack force was strong after his body changed but how could hepare to Liu Xiaoyuan? This kid was the boss of 2 of Spades!

    Moreover, Liu Xiaoyuan had six younger brothers with him. The six summoned beginner zombies didn¡¯t have bad attack power.

    Let zombies fight zombies while the challengers watched safely.

    The challengers on the third floor, ¡°¡­¡±

    One man couldn¡¯t help spitting out, ¡°Using the zombie boss to clean up this group of zombies, it is really awesome!¡±

    Next to him, a girl said, ¡°He can actually summon Liu Xiaoyuan¡­ God, I was looking for serum samples in 2 of Spades and almost scared to death by Liu Xiaoyuan!¡±

    The bearded uncle couldn¡¯t help feeling emotional. ¡°Little Xiao is the boss and the thugs in front of him are being yed with. It is terrible.¡±

    Everyone agreed that the prisoners were wretched.

    However, there was no need for any sympathy.

    They burned and looted the city, doing bad things. It was said that they killed a few elderly people and bullied several young girls. Now they were turned into zombies and letting the zombie boss Liu Xiaoyuan punish them was their retribution!

    Scarface¡¯s height was almost double that of Liu Xiaoyuan but he couldn¡¯t even touch Liu Xiaoyuan¡¯s clothes with his ws.

    This child was the most agile and flexible boss.

    Liu Xiaoyuan¡¯s actions weren¡¯t affected by the virus at all. As Scarface¡¯s arm shot past him, he stepped on the other side¡¯s knee and jumped up, his ws urately grasping the other side¡¯s neck and directly twisting off Scarface¡¯s head!

    Scarface¡¯s head fell to the ground, a disbelieving expression on it.

    A cry came from the third floor. ¡°My god, Liu Xiaoyuan is too strong!¡±

    Xiao Lou had given Liu Xiaoyuan the order to ¡®kill them¡¯ so Liu Xiaoyuan dealt with this group of zombies without mercy.

    The boss appeared and the other zombies had no strength to fight back.

    Liu Xiaoyuan with his six younger brothers cut through all the zombies like they were vegetables. In the blink of an eye, most of the zombie groups were beaten and the wreckage of the zombies were everywhere.

    Five minutester, the world waspletely quiet.

    Liu Xiaoyuan found there were no targets to attack and stood in ce, looking back at Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou smiled and waved to him. ¡°Xiaoyuan,e back.¡±

    Liu Xiaoyuan obediently ran over and stood by Xiao Lou¡¯s side.

    Xiao Lou gently touched his head. ¡°Well done. Go back and rest.¡±

    Liu Xiaoyuan and the six summoned zombies in disappeared in front of everyone.

    The challengers on the third floor saw a wonderful y.

    The girls were frightened. ¡°Brother Xiao, he¡­ actually dared to touch the head of the zombie leader. I wasn¡¯t seeing things, right?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you notice? Liu Xiaoyuan listened to him very well!¡±

    ¡°This Liu Xiaoyuan should be a summoning card, right? Brother Xiao is his master and he is naturally obedient. This isn¡¯t the same Liu Xiaoyuan as the one in 2 of Spades. It is probably¡­ a replica?¡±

    ¡°It makes sense! The summoning card drawn by Brother Xiao is really awesome!¡±

    The group sighed.

    Ye Qi thought about Professor Xiao and the S-grade summoning card Tao Yuanming, who could take teammates into the Peach Blossom Spring. There were even more awesome cards and he had to hold fast to Professor Xiao¡¯s thighs.

    He just thought this when Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang returned

    The challengers immediately stepped forward and asked excitedly, ¡°Are all the zombies settled?¡± ¡°Brother Xiao is awesome!¡± ¡°It was a great idea to beat the zombies with zombies!¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled at them. ¡°This is everyone¡¯s credit. Without your help, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to destroy these thugs.¡±

    Someone eximed excitedly, ¡°Great, we finally don¡¯t have to worry!¡±

    ¡°Someone else suggested, ¡°What about the zombie bodies that still have the virus? What if a resident passes by and is infected bying into contact with the body We should do a good job and burn all the bodies!¡±

    The sister holding the Shot Put card immediately said, ¡°My shot put¡¯s cooldown is over and I can make another pit!¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at her and gently spoke, ¡°Then I¡¯ll trouble you to aim it right next to the pit.¡±

    The sister nodded with a red face. ¡°Okay, just watch me!¡±

    She picked up the shot put in her right hand and threw it, the lead ball making a long parabolic movement in the air. There was a boom as itnded on the ground a few hundred metres away.

    Arge pit formed next to the first pit, linking them together. It was enough to bury all the bodies.

    Next to her, someone pped. ¡°Your ball throwing distance can break the world record.¡±

    The girlughed. ¡°I often failed at throwing the shot put in PE ss. However, the card in this world has a target and I can throw it anywhere within 500 metres. Hahaha, if I had this strength in the real world, I could be an athlete.¡±

    The thugs were destroyed and everyone¡¯s mood was rxed as they joked around.

    Xiao Lou looked at everyone and smiled. ¡°Go downstairs to burn the dead bodies and clean up the traps at the construction site. Then we can rest.¡±

    The people naturally didn¡¯t object. They rolled up their sleeves and started to work.

    The two thieves tied up downstairs were stunned and seemed to have be statues.

    They witnessed the gently smiling man summon the boss of 2 of Spades and then used the zombie leader boss to call more than 50 zombies. It was just like watching a doomsday blockbuster!

    Ye Qi headed downstairs and saw them. He ran over to remove the cloth stuffed into their mouths and asked, ¡°Do you remember the mobile phone password of the 2 of Hearts secret room?¡±

    One of them answered, ¡°I didn¡¯t unlock it. It wasn¡¯t the woman¡¯s birthday or her husband¡¯s birthday. I tried a few times before the phone was locked.¡±

    The other replied, ¡°I tried to unlock with the fingerprint but it didn¡¯t unlock!¡±

    Ye Qi had learned and didn¡¯t forget how Professor Xiao tested the identity of the challengers. He found the two people answered correctly and smiled at them. ¡°You stole the LCD TV because you wanted to be taken away to the prison to clear the instance. Your way of thinking is really strange!¡±

    The two men were red-faced and looked up awkwardly.

    Ye Qi patted the two people on the shoulder. ¡°You have good luck. My brother took you through the instance and you could just lie down. Come on, get up and work!¡±

    He untied the rings around the two men and took them to help carry the corpses.

    The mood of the two men who cleared the instance by lying down was ratherplicated.

    Yu Hanjiang took the lead and everyone quickly moved the remains of the bodies. They were thrown into therge pit and burned to ashes. Then they found some shovels at the construction site and dug at the earth to bury these ashes.

    Everyone was busy and by the time they finished, the sky was almost bright.

    A trace of white appeared in the east of the sky, followed by the sun slowly rising, the surrounding clouds dyed with ayer of gold.

    Ye Qi saw this image and couldn¡¯t help his nose bing a bit sour.

    Last time, their challengers were killed by the thugs on the fifth night. He remembered the frightened eyes of the innocent humans who were shot or hacked to death¡­ at that time, why didn¡¯t anyone think to use the zombie virus?

    The group had no leader and Lawyer Qi was the biggest traitor.

    Their first reaction when meeting the thugs was to run away. The challengers fled, knocked each other down and were shot at by the thugs.

    This time, they were organized, disciplined and had Xiao Lou¡¯s calmmands.

    Ye Qi personally cooked the instant noodles so that the thugs thought a traitor had mixed in among them. Group Leader Yu instantly teleported to release the virus zombie, a sister monitored from the third floor, there was the shot put, mirror, hairdryer, umbre, hound¡­ all types of strange cards were assigned their roles by Xiao Lou in advance. Everyone had a tacit understanding and in the end, Xiao Lou summoned the zombie leader to take care of the zombies!

    The entire process was thrilling and none of the challengers were injured.

    Everyone survived!

    The grave where the ashes were buried was gradually filled and the traps around the site removed. Everyone¡¯s faces were covered with dust and the girls¡¯ hair were messy. Everyone nced at each other and some people couldn¡¯t helpughing while others wept.

    This was a victory for the challengers.

    The fifth day of the 3 of Spades secret room, the night they spent fighting the thugs was something they would never forget.

 Chapter 63: Financial Crisis 23: Ways to Make Money

    Everyone was tired from staying all up night. Once the clean-up was finished, they returned to the third floor.

    On the other side of the third floor, the six people controlled by Xiao Lou with the rings also heard the movements outside. However, they were tied to the corner and couldn¡¯t see what happened outside. They just heard a loud bang, the construction site lit up with mes and the sound of gunfire. It was apparent that there was a fierce battle outside.

    The six people were hungry for several days. Listening to the movements outside, their legs were soft and they were afraid that the people outside would run in to kill them all.

    A girl cried as sheined, ¡°I knew I shouldn¡¯t have listened to you. You saw that people were weak and ran to grab supplies. The result was that we were captured!¡±

    Another girl was also full of regret. ¡°This isn¡¯t the real world. Don¡¯t think that six against two can win.¡±

    ¡°Who knew that man actually had such a strong card¡­¡±

    ¡°It was someone¡¯s bad idea. If we hadn¡¯t rushed in first then perhaps we could¡¯ve got some food after talking.¡±

    The middle-aged man who first had the idea for everyone to rush in and grab things growled angrily, ¡°Shut up, save some strength! There are two days left. If we don¡¯t starve to death then we can clear the instance. Then once we meet those four people again, I will repay this ount!¡±

    The woman tied up with him sneered, ¡°Can we rely on you? Will you be able to repay this ount afterwards?¡±

    The middle-aged man was very angry and didn¡¯t speak apart from a burst of curses.

    These six people were a temporary team and had a bad heart when they saw Ye Qi and Xiao Lou, trying to rob them. The result was that Xiao Lou counterattacked. They were locked up on the third floor without any food or drink and felt a bit of Ye Qi¡¯s experience in thest few days of the Nightmare Room.

    The other challengers were brought back to the northeast corner of the third floor by Xiao Lou, where they slept in separate rooms.

    Last night¡¯s win allowed everyone to sigh with relief. Their sleep was particrly good and they all slept until noon.

    The group of people looked for Xi in an orderly manner.

    The newly joined thieves had been hungry for several days and were moved to days after finding out that they could receive so much food.

    The young man couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°I knew I shouldn¡¯t have gone to prison for stupidity. This was the first time from childhood to adulthood that I went to prison!¡±

    The bearded uncleughed. ¡°You have gained rich experience. Eating two days of prison meals in the Card World¡­ how does it taste?¡±

    The young man was dejected. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it! This world¡¯s prison food is hard to eat. They gave us green vegetables and white rice like they were feeding rabbits. We only ate until the third day when the guards ran. Both of us were confined to our cells, watching frantically behind bars¡­¡±

    The other person said, ¡°Yes, I was anxiously shedding tears behind the iron bars. I also thought I would starve to death.¡±

    Next to them, a few girls were sneering. They thought these odd men had good luck, being able to lie down to clear the instance.

    The man who joined yesterday afternoon said, ¡°You had it pretty good. At least you had vegetables to eat. My girlfriend and I couldn¡¯t afford to pay the room fees after having our supplies stolen and could only sleep on the street. My girlfriend was also stabbed by a bastard wielding a knife and I thought we were really dead¡­¡±

    The girl who arrived at the construction site was a lot better after taking medicine and resting all night. She heard up to here and couldn¡¯t help looking pale. ¡°Thank you for taking us. Otherwise, even if I didn¡¯t starve to death, I probably would¡¯ve died from the wound infection.¡±

    The sister with the shot put cheerfully raised a ss. ¡°We should take Brother Xiao, Old Han as well as Qin Shao and Xiao Ye. If it wasn¡¯t for this team of four, I really don¡¯t know how I would¡¯ve lived.¡±

    The bearded uncle also offered a bottle of pineapple beer. ¡°Let¡¯s raise our cups in respect to the four of them!¡±

    The others followed suit, raising their Coke, orange juice or mineral water as they sincerely gave thanks. ¡°Thank you. It is good to have an organization!¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart couldn¡¯t help warming. ¡°There is no need for thanks. We also want to clear the instance.¡±

    He nced at his threepanions, who raised their drinks and touched the cups of the group.

    This lunch might not be as rich as the chicken, duck or fish from a restaurant but they were very satisfied at being able to casually eat canned meat, snacks and different voured instant noodles.

    After lunch, Xiao Lou gathered everyone together and said, ¡°I surmise that the biggest difficulty of this secret room is the owner of the Shanshui Guesthouse and the mysterious organization of free people joining forces to steal our materials. Then they would attract the prisoners to destroy us.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°In the C-grade secret rooms, we have resolved two bosses. There is little chance of there being another boss.¡±

    Liu Tong¡¯s identity was revealed and hemitted suicide with poison. The prisoner¡¯s leader, Scarface had his head twisted off by Liu Xiaoyuan.

    Both bosses should be handled and the rest shouldn¡¯t be hard.

    After all, the difficulty of the secret rooms was incremental. 3 of Spades had been hard enough. If it wasn¡¯t for Xiao Lou building this organization, these challengers might¡¯ve been destroyed. The battle endedst night and today was very quiet. If everyone stayed at the construction site, it was possible to directly clear the instance.

    Xiao Lou proposed, ¡°We can pass directly if we stay here. However, these supplies are too wasteful. Why don¡¯t we find a way to sell the surplus materials, changing them to gold coins that can be taken out of here?¡±

    In the beginning, the challengers knew in advance that the financial crisis was about to break out and that money would be less valuable. Therefore, most of the challengers spent their money on supplies on the first day. It was almost enough to open a convenience store.

    Now that the secret room wasing to an end and they couldn¡¯t eat the rest of the food, selling it for money was the best way to deal with it.

    A cautious girl was worried. ¡°If we bring arge number of food out to sell, what if we are robbed? The city is currently very unsafe.¡±

    The girl next to her nodded in agreement. ¡°I heard there are some people in the city who are hitting, robbing and directly destroying stores. The possibility of being robbed is very big.¡±

    Xiao Lou also took this into ount as he looked at the crowd. ¡°Everyone, think of possible methods.¡±

    The challengers looked down.

    Just then, Ye Qi thought of a good idea. ¡°We can bring fewer materials and go to the safe neighbourhoods, selling door to door!¡±

    The group all looked at him.

    Ye Qi exined excitedly, ¡°During university, the dormitory building promoted snacks and knocked on doors to promote. Of course, there was dislike and some school sisters red at me but now it is the world of the financial crisis. If we go door to door to promote food that is cheaper than the market price, it is providing help in the hour of need!¡±

    Xiao Lou thought carefully and felt that Ye Qi¡¯s suggestion was reasonable. He nodded. ¡°This idea is good.¡±

    Professor Xiao¡¯s praise caused Ye Qi¡¯s eyes to light up and he proudly continued, ¡°We will only put a small amount of food in our backpacks to sell and this won¡¯t attract the attention of robbers. We will act in groups and every person will be ready to respond to each other.¡±

    Shao Qingge touched his chin and smiled. ¡°This method might be troublesome but it can barely be used.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang and thetter nodded. Xiao Lou smiled and said, ¡°That¡¯s it. We have 16 people here and will divide into four groups. We will go door to door to sell to the residential areas, every time not bring too many materials. Let¡¯s see how much we can sell.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at Shao Qingge and asked, ¡°What price should we set that is appropriate?¡±

    Shao Qingge thought about it. ¡°ording to the market price doubling every day, today is the sixth day and it has increased by 64 times. Man people can¡¯t afford this price and I estimate that the savings in people¡¯s hands aren¡¯t that much. We will sell it at 10 times the price.¡±

    Ye Qi took out a pen and paper, quickly calcting things. ¡°One box of instant noodles is 2,000 gold coins. 10 times that is 200,000 gold coins. We have 10 boxes left so¡­¡± He counted and his eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°If we sell the rest of the materials, it won¡¯t be a problem to make millions!¡±

    The other challengers were thrilled. ¡°My god, we can still make money in the financial crisis secret room?¡± ¡°I thought the initial 100,000 gold coins wasn¡¯t enough and would starve to death¡­¡± ¡°Following a god is great. We can also make money!¡±

    The group sighed.

    The bearded uncle asked, ¡°What¡¯s the final profit?¡±

    Everyone thought that since the four people had the most credit, it should be 2:8 or 3:7. After all, following others and earning pocket money was pretty good.

    They didn¡¯t expect Xiao Lou to say with a slight smile, ¡°Sell it by group and then the group members will split it equally.¡±

    He didn¡¯t want to be greedy for these little profits. The previous room fees had been returned doubled and in addition, he earned more than a million from Chief Shao shorting the stocks. They weren¡¯tcking money and there was no need to be stingy about splitting the small amount of money from selling milk, bread, etc.

    The group couldn¡¯t believe it.

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°We have to arrange the groups. Each group must have an escape and protection card. Out of the four people, there will be one who won¡¯t bring any materials and they will be responsible for investigating the safety of the environment and confirm the group¡¯s safety. The other three will go to the door and the money will be split between the four. What do you think?¡±

    The challengers had absolutely no opinion and they listened to Brother Xiao¡¯s arrangements.

    The 16 challengers divided into groups A, B, C and D. Xiao Lou and the teams of four carried backpacks loaded with supplies and headed together to the city.

    Yu Hanjiang led Group A and found amunity with a good environment. After investigating using the teleportation card, he found that thismunity was very quiet. The residents were hiding in their homes and there were no traces of robbersing and going. Therefore, he sent a message to the others.

    Group A went to Building 1, Group B to Building 2¡­

    The 16 people quickly infiltrated the residential buildings and began the work of ¡®door to door marketing.¡¯

    Ye Qi¡¯s Group D had the fastest progress.

    The young man looked delicate with no attack power. His mouth was particrly sweet and his smiling face full of youthful vitality as he knocked on the door and called out.

    The citizens had been frightened and hiding at home these days.

    The people saw Ye Qi through the cat¡¯s eye and their caution dropped. In addition, Ye Qi took out food and spoke with a smile ¡°Auntie, do you need food? I still have a lot of milk and bread and I want to sell it at a low price.¡±

    The citizen saw that he was selling and asked the price through the door. ¡°How much is it?¡±

    Ye seriously inserted a list of prices below the door. The other side gave the gold coins out the door slit and Ye Qi stuffed the milk and biscuits back. He couldn¡¯t me the citizens for being too alert. Those who dared to open the door in this environment were really bold¡­

    Fortunately, Ye Qi heard the neighbours opening the door to find him after he sold his first food.

    Compared to today¡¯s 64 increase in prices, the young person selling it at only 10 times the price was simply an angel!

    Ye Qi was soon surrounded by a group of aunties. ¡°Are there any instant noodles?¡± ¡°I want to buy chocte.¡± ¡°Young man, give me a carton of milk!¡±

    Ye Qi called for his team members and the materials were instantly sold out.

    The progress of Yu Hanjiang¡¯s group was also good.

    He didn¡¯t go to the door to sell because he knew his expression was too serious. If he knocked on the door, people would think he was here to rob them. Therefore, he simply gave the task of selling to the females and was responsible for detection and protection.

    The girls quickly dispelled the residents¡¯ caution with their soft voices and gentle attitude, selling out of their supplies.

    Shao Qingge and Xiao Lou¡¯s teams also went smoothly.

    Themunity environment was very good and the quality of the residents was rtively high. There were no looting incidents and they were careful enough to take money to buy food before quickly hiding at home.

    This first sale of supplies could be called a rewarding experience.

    People had confidence and started selling to the area. Thanks to the professional investigator Yu Hanjiang, the nearby scattered robbers were sent away by him and the challengers were impeded.

    By the time it was dark, they had sold half the supplies stored at the construction site.

    In the process, they met some street children who had been hungry for several days and the soft-hearted females gave them some food. They also encountered some people who coveted their bags but they were driven away by Group Leader Yu.

    Everyone was busy all day and once it was dark, they collectively returned to the construction site.

    On the seventh day, prices continued to soar.

    The challengers took the supplies to sell early in the morning. They walked to several neighbourhoods and some citizens already knew them. It had privately spread that ¡®the foreigners have food that they are selling at a very cheap price.¡¯

    Most of the citizens had savings in their hands and inventory in their home, so they didn¡¯t directly rob or beat people.

    Some old men anddies heard the rumours that foreigners were selling food and spontaneously organized their money, intending to secretly buy some cheap things.

    Ye Qi set up a temporary market in themunity and started a small stall business.

    Other challengers learnt from him and did the same thing. By mid-afternoon, the supplies were almost sold out.

    At dusk, everyone returned to the construction site to count the harvest.

    Ye Qi¡¯s group sold the most and everyone received 150,000 gold coins. For the other three groups, every person¡¯s ie was between 100,000~120,000. In addition, they received back the amodation fee from the Shanshui Guesthouse¡¯s owner. They recovered the initial 100,000 gold coins given to them when entering 3 of Spades and even earned more.

    The people looked at the gold in their hands and couldn¡¯t believe it.

    Originally, everyone was worried that they wouldn¡¯t be able to survive this secret room. The result was that they sessfully survived and even made money?

 Chapter 64: Financial Crisis 24: Conclusion

    Day seven, night.

    Xiao Lou organized thest dinner. The dinner was very rich. In the spirit of ¡®no waste¡¯, the rest of the food was eaten.

    By 24:00 tonight, everyone would be able to pass the instance.

    The 14 people sat together with mixed hearts.

    The bearded uncle drank two cans of beer and smiled. ¡°It is like a dream. We worked together to clear the instance. The Spades secret room is a game but it seemed that we all understood it incorrectly¡­¡±

    A pale girl added, ¡°Yes, when I heard about the survival room, my first thought was to find a way to live. In fact, it is easier to live if we join forces.¡±

    Next to her, a man said, ¡°If we encounter a worse environment, I think we can follow this experience. The challengers will work together to hunt, cook and keep watch at night. This will make us more powerful!¡±

    Xiao Lou saw everyone¡¯s confident expressions and couldn¡¯t bear to hit them.

    However, in order to prevent these people from blindly believing in others, Xiao Lou gave words of caution. ¡°Don¡¯t forget about Liu Tong who mixed in with the challengers to steal arge number of materials. I am certain that this world has a special organization targeting challengers. We shouldn¡¯t trust strangers and should first identify the other person before joining hands.¡±

    Everyone heard this and were frightened in their hearts. They almost forgot that there was likely to be traitors among the challengers. If they blindly believed others, perhaps they would fall into a traitor¡¯s trap and end up killed.

    Ye Qi spoke positively, ¡°I think Brother Xiao¡¯s method is really good. The challengers must¡¯ve experienced many secret rooms and this organization is most likely to be found in Spades. They might not necessarily know about the Diamonds and Hearts rooms. If we doubt the identity of the other side, we can use these experiences to test them.¡±

    Everyone, who had been enlightened, nodded. ¡°Yes, ask them about the mechanisms found in 2 of Diamonds or who died in 2 of Hearts. If they look awkward then it means they aren¡¯t challengers!¡± ¡°This is a good way. People in this secret room world might not regard the space they live in as a secret room. They treat us as foreigners and we can distinguish them by using a few testing words.¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke again, ¡°There is another suggestion. It is best to team up with people in advance and don¡¯t be on your own. Those on their own are easy to be targeted.¡±

    The bearded uncle agreed. ¡°Yes, either team up in advance and be familiar with your teammates or like me, just break through alone. If randomly matched with a teammate, perhaps the teammate will be a traitor.¡±

    Everyone was worried when thinking of the experience where their materials were stolen.

    The sky hadpletely darkened and they weren¡¯t sleepy at all as they sat around as a group.

    The 14 people sat together and were chatting when Xiao Lou asked everyone, ¡°Did youe to this world because you experienced an ident in reality?¡±

    People talked about their own experiences. There were car idents, sudden illnesses, identally cut to death, explosions, etc.

    Xiao Lou asked again, ¡°Did youe into contact with ying cards before you died?¡±

    The bearded uncle spoke first, ¡°I love to y Fight the Landlord and I y it every day on my phone.¡± ¡°I yed with a friend.¡± ¡°I learned just a while ago¡­¡± ¡°I yed Four Hearts with my brothers and sisters on New Year¡¯s Day.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other.

    The selection rules of this world were to indeed have contact with ying cards. However, it was still uncertain about the sequence of the ident and the contact with ying cards.

    A girl looked at Xiao Lou and whispered, ¡°Brother, can we really go back?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ but if we give up, we will never be able to go back.¡±

    The group fell silent at the same time.

    Don¡¯t give up. They might not know the ending but there was a ray of hope. Once they gave up, they wouldn¡¯t be able to go back.

    Just the thought of staying in this crazy world and experiencing all types of secret rooms every day caused them to copse.

    ¡­¡­

    The time was approaching 24:00 and everyone was nervous.

    Once the pointer reached 24:00, a line appeared on the suspension box above Xiao Lou¡¯s head.

    [Congrattions to Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang for smoothly clearing the 3 of Spades secret room, Financial Crisis. The instance clearance score is S. Please return to the personal space for the settlement of rewards.]

    The other people saw their own names above their heads.

    Someone jumped excitedly, ¡°I can finally leave this damned ce!¡± ¡°I also cleared the instance!¡± ¡°Great, it is cleared!¡± ¡°Everyone has cleared the instance?¡±

    The group was excited for a while before the girl suddenly choked up, ¡°Brother Xiao, Old Han, Xiao Ye and Young Qin, thank you. If it wasn¡¯t for you, I might¡¯ve been killed by the thugs.¡±

    Another young man said, ¡°Yes, thank you to the great gods for taking us through the instance!¡±

    The couple came over and bowed. ¡°Thank you for taking us in.¡±

    The two young men who went to jail also ran over. ¡°Thank you, big brothers!¡±

    Surrounded by a sea of gratitude, Xiao Lou smile and spoke friendly words.

    The bearded uncle sighed and walked over, putting a hand on Xiao Lou¡¯s shoulder and whispering, ¡°Young man, I don¡¯t know how l can live but I am very optimistic about you. I hope that in the Card World, there will be more people like you.¡±

    If only all the challengers in the secret room had their own courage and were willing to join other challengers to clear the instance, keeping their principles and not killing innocent people.

    Would the challengers of this world be much better off?

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart trembled slightly as he nodded to the uncle. ¡°Old Beard, everything went well.¡±

    The bearded uncleughed. ¡°We lived for today. I hope to see everyone again!¡±

    He was the first to leave 3 of Spades.

    The other challengers came over to say goodbye to Xiao Lou, leaving in turn.

    Someone was cheeky and asked, ¡°Brother, is your team stillcking people? If you are missing someone, you can take me¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and declined. ¡°Sorry, my contract is full.¡±

    The other side had to wave regretfully and turned away.

    Once all the other challengers were gone, Ye Qi looked at Xiao Lou and whispered, ¡°Professor Xiao, what about me? Could you add me¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and patted him on the shoulder. ¡°You already have a team booked. Aren¡¯t you going to 3 of Hearts with Shao Qingge?¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°Great!¡± He looked back at Shao Qingge and spoke seriously, ¡°Rest assured, I will be obedient in 3 of Hearts.¡±

    Shao Qingge smile slightly. ¡°Just listen to me.¡±

    In any case, he received spoilers from Xiao Lou and knew the situation. As a Hearts room g, this time he was confident of getting a perfect clearance with the little guy who scored S.

    Yu Hanjiang reminded, ¡°You must first buy a contract and bind together. Otherwise, you are alone now and might not necessarily encounter each other when randomly matching.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me.¡± Shao Qingge nced at Ye Qi. ¡°Once you return to your personal space, don¡¯t rush to draw cards and wait for my contract invitation. Once you sign the contract, I will directly pull you into 3 of Hearts.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded enthusiastically. ¡°I understand!¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°Then we will follow the original n. The two of you will go to 3 of Hearts while Group Leader Yu and I will go to 3 of Clubs. Once you reach the fourth level, you will go to Clubs and we will go to Hearts, then continue to meet in Spades. Wait until all the C-grade secret rooms are cleared and then you will tear up your contract. I will upgrade the contract and invite you. Then everyone will be able to team together.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded quickly. ¡°No problem.¡±

    Ye Qi was naturally obedient. ¡°Okay, Professor Xiao, Group Leader Yu, goodbye! I will see you in 4 of Spades!¡±

    Ye Qi and Shao Qingge also left.

    A countdown appeared in the floating box, followed by the option ¡®Leave the secret room.¡¯

    Xiao Lou looked out into the distance. Under the cold moonlight, the city with no water and electricity seemed to be shrouded in a thick haze.

    He didn¡¯t know if the city would refresh after the challengers left.

    Would it return to its original appearance? Or was it going to bepletely abandoned by the secret room and be a financial doomsday with the prices fixed at 128 times?

    They had experienced a lot in this city.

    They met the young and promising entrepreneurial boss Shao Qingge and the musical teenager who disguised himself as a garbage collector. He knew the situation of the Nightmare Room and discovered the existence of the mysterious organization hunting challengers. He heard rumours about the City of the Moon and finally fought together with so many challengers, pulling off a beautiful victory and earning some gold coins.

    There was a lot of harvest and a sessful instance clearance.

    However, Xiao Lou found it difficult to calm down his mood.

    He took one final look at the city covered by the night and took a deep breath before smiling at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Group Leader Yu. We have to continue to break through.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and pressed the ¡®leave¡¯ option.

    Darkness covered their vision.

    Once it was restored again, they were already sitting in a helicopter.

    The familiar roar of propellers came from above their heads and the transparent ss under their feet showed the darkness of the city.

    In the driver¡¯s seat of the helicopter was a man wearing a pair of sunsses, the corners of his mouth raised in a cold arc.

    It was the keeper they hadn¡¯t seen for a long time, A of Spades.

    [End of Financial Crisis]

 Chapter 65: Drawing Cards

    During the previous 2 of Spades, Zombie Town, the keeper piloted a helicopter to the rooftop to pick up people. Unexpected, they cleared 3of Spades and the keeper once again used a helicopter to pick up people. Spades had almost changed into a helicopter mount.

    Maybe this was A of Spade¡¯s unique hobby?

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang sat in the back row, ncing at each other and not speaking.

    Instead, A of Spades sitting in the front row took the initiative to open his mouth. ¡°This time, the 3 of Spades¡¯ challenger survival rate is more than 85% thanks to your help. However, you helping them clear the instance isn¡¯t necessarily a good thing.¡±

    It was dark outside the window and the city below them hadpletely disappeared from view. Xiao Lou smiled and replied, ¡°I understand what you mean. In the Card World, challengers must learn to be strong and not always rely on the help of others to clear the instance. Even so, I don¡¯t think it is a bad thing to help them survive for a few days. They might draw good cards and go even further.¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t want to interfere but he couldn¡¯t let them die if he could save them.

    Yu Hanjiang firmly agreed with Xiao Lou¡¯s opinion and said, ¡°Professor Xiao¡¯s words are correct, we should do what we are capable of. As for what they will encounter in the future and how long they can live, it all depends on them.¡±

    A of Spades¡¯ mouth gently curved. ¡°There aren¡¯t many challengers like you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang changed the topic. ¡°Why isn¡¯t there a perfect clearance in 3 of Spades? The final prompt only said that it was a smooth clearance. Is a challengers survival rate of 100% considered a perfect clearance?¡±

    A of Spades said, ¡°I¡¯ll exin it to you.¡±

    Just then, the helicopter suddenlynded on an empty tarmac and the two people returned to their personal space surrounded by white fog. A of Spades gently flicked his fingers and arge screen appeared in front of them, ying some bits and pieces.

    On the first screen, a man gathered arge number of people in the central square. Then he suddenly rushed into the crowd, opened a familiar green bottle and the zombie virus started to spread rapidly, infecting many people. The financial crisis world turned into arger version of Zombie Town!

    The challenger stood among the infected corpses and he wasughing. ¡°How simple is this secret. By turning these people into zombies and using the vine, won¡¯t I easily clear it?¡±

    On the second screen, several challengers formed a bandit group, relying on the invisibility cloak and universal key from 3 of Hearts to go and rob the bank at night when no one was around. The woman in the lead spoke precisely, ¡°No matter how the prices rise in the financial crisis, we have millions of gold coins in our hand and can lie down to clear the instance. Sure enough, a C-grade secret room is too easy¡­¡±

    The third screen showed two challengers holding heavy weapons breaking into a hotel, killing the employee at the front desk and upying the hotel. They smiled and said, ¡°In the future, this is our territory. We have enough food for seven days and isn¡¯t it easy to clear the instance?¡± ¡°Big Brother is right. We have guns and no one would daree close, hahaha.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s hair rose when he saw this while Yu Hanjiang¡¯s fists were tightly clenched.

    ¡ªIt was like this.

    No wonder why the world would specifically organize a challengers organization. It was because there were some evil people among the challengers, relying on cards drawn from the secret rooms to burn, loot and kill¡­

    In order to clear the instance, one person actually directly released the zombie virus in the central square, infecting the original residents of the city!

    In order to clear the instance, people wore invisibility cloaks and robbed the bank.

    Were they still human?

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was cold. The people who did this could naturally clear the instance. It was just that their means of clearance were to cruel. They treated the world¡¯s free people as ants to be ughtered¡­

    This was why the 3 of Spades secret room didn¡¯t have a ¡®perfect clearance.¡¯

    What was perfect?

    Everyone had different measures in his or her heart.

    Perhaps in the eyes of these people, robbing the bank, releasing the virus or upying the hotel was a perfect method of clearance. They might feel they were very witty, using the cards obtained in previous secret rooms to easily clear 3 of Spades.

    In fact, if Xiao Lou was a hard-hearted person, he could release Liu Xiaoyuan and have the zombie leader bite everyone, creating arge number of zombie puppets. Then clearing the instance would be extremely easy.

    However, he didn¡¯t do this.

    After all, he was faced with living people. They mighte from different worlds but these people also had feelings, a consciousness, rtives and friends.

    Trampling on the lives of humans in a different world in order to live¡­ these challengers were crazy.

    The ruthless, cold-blooded and unprincipled challengers were also a huge threat to other challengers.

    They would do whatever it took to clear the instance.

    There was no hesitation in clearing the natives of this world so they wouldn¡¯t show any hesitation killing the same type of people¡­

    This world of secret rooms distorted the human mind.

    Fortunately, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang still maintained their rationality, Shao Qingge had no interest in killing and Ye Qi could still maintain his heart after experiencing the Nightmare Room. Their three views were in the same general direction and were the most solid cornerstone for the four people who came together.

    A of Spades spoke lightly, ¡°The financial crisis secret room has many methods to clear it. You chose the mostborious one but your group of challengers has the highest survival rate.¡±

    On the screen, the pervert who released the zombie virus for his own interests infected arge number of citizens as well as challengers who were caught off guard. Finally, he walked out of the secret room while everyone else died. The entire city had been turned into a hell.

    The group that robbed the bank had infighting due to the money distribution. One of them secretly took away arge number of gold coins. For the next few days, they were busy looking for the person who took the money and were suspicious of each other. Finally, only three people cleared the instance.

    The men who upied the hotel had piece of mind because of the guns in their heads. Then on the fifth day, they were shot to death by prisoners with guns.

    For other challengers, some of them formed a temporary organization but not many people had the courage to take the lead and it was difficult to convince others. Most temporary organizations disbanded halfway. Others encountered a traitor like Ye Qi and were wiped out¡­

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know how to evaluate it.

    There were all types of people among the challengers.

    At first, he felt that a mysterious organization targeting challengers was too much¡­ now it seemed that some challengers relied on their cards to behave even more brutally!

    A of Spades yed some videos for the two of them before going on to say, ¡°3 of Spades doesn¡¯t have a perfect clearance but challengers who perform well can still get a chance to draw a card as long as the score is S.¡±

    He waved. ¡°Look at your fixed rewards first.¡±

    The two people opened the card pack at the same time and saw that a new card had indeed appeared in the card bag.

    [Tool Card: Materials Supply Package]

    Rarity: A

    Description: A fixed reward for clearing the 3 of Spades secret room.

    Effect: Open the materials supply package and you can immediately get mineral water x1,pressed biscuits x1, instant noodles x1, milk x1.

    Limit: Can only be used once in each secret room.

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help thinking, ¡®It can only be used once in every room. Isn¡¯t A of Spades too stingy?¡¯

    A of Spades seemed to sense his mind and spoke lightly, ¡°Don¡¯t think it is too little. In some extreme secret rooms, eating these might save your life.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Yes, thank you for the reward.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang coolly put away the card and asked, ¡°Gold coins? Wasn¡¯t it mentioned we could bring them out of the secret room?¡±

    A of Spades told him, ¡°For the 3 of Spades secret room, the two of you left with a total of 356,800 gold coins. It has been deposited into Xiao Lou¡¯s ount and can be used in the Card World with any ATM machine or bank counter. Mr Yu, do you agree?¡±

    He knew Xiao Lou was in charge of the ounts so the money went directly into Xiao Lou¡¯s ount.

    Yu Hanjiang nodded to show he had no opinion.

    A of Spades stated, ¡°Please draw a card.¡±

    His index finger raised gently and a glittering chest appeared on the table in front of the two men.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t have time to speak when Yu Hanjiang took the initiative to suggest, ¡°You draw it. Perhaps you can draw a summoning card.¡±

    In reality, Xiao Lou received 10 yuan maximum when drawing the lottery but in the Card World, the cards he drew were really strange. Since Group Leader Yu said so, Xiao Lou didn¡¯t refuse. He gently drew a card from the treasure chest.

    [Congrattions on drawing the S-grade summoning card, Bai Juyi!]

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He really thanked Group Leader Yu¡¯s prophecy.

    It was another summoning card. Since the two people¡¯s clearance score was S, this time they also drew a very powerful S-grade summoning card.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou immediately held the card and observed it carefully.

    The back was the inherent style of the Card World. It had the patterns of hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs painted on it. The front contained an old-fashioned poet in a hat.

    [Summoning Card: Bai Juyi]

    Rarity: S

    Description: After a clearance score of S, there is a very low probability of obtaining it from the limited card pool.

    Additional Skill 1: Old Charcoal Seller

    Bai Juyi once used poetry to describe the miserable life of an old charcoal man. His clothes were poor and he was worried about the charcoal being too cheap!

    If the weather is cold, how good would it be to have a warm charcoal fire?

    Use Bai Juyi¡¯s ¡®Old Charcoal Seller¡¯ skill to produce a charcoal fire in a designated location. The charcoal fire can be ignited in any harsh environment and the duration is 30 minutes. For every increase in level, the charcoal fire is extended by 6 minutes and this can go up to 60 minutes.

    Additional Skill 2: Unlocked when the card grows to level 10.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou with aplicated expression, seemingly saying, ¡®The cards you draw are really strange.¡¯

    Xiao Lou helplessly pinched his brow. He felt that something wasn¡¯t right when he first drew Tao Yuanming. Then he drew Di Renjie after 3 of Hearts and now it was Bai Juyi¡­ did he identally put his hand into the pool of historic celebrities?

    The two people looked at the skill description again.

    Thanks to the Bai Juyi card, they would no longer have to buy candles, lighters and other things to set a fire in future secret rooms.

    The Old Charcoal Seller skill could directly make a charcoal fire, ignoring any humid or cold environment.

    Bai Juyi¡¯s first skill was actually quite practical. If they were thrown into the wilderness, they could light the charcoal fire to roast some game to eat or heat themselves up in the cold environment. It was a good choice.

    In addition, the second skill wasn¡¯t unlocked. The S-grade card¡¯s growth was higher than the A-grade cards. Perhaps the second skill was even more powerful?

    Xiao Lou was pleased and ced the Bai Juyi card into his card pack.

    Yu Hanjiang turned to A of Spades. ¡°You threw us into the financial crisis for seven days and we didn¡¯t sleep well. You should give us time to rest?¡±

    A of Spades replied coldly, ¡°Half an hour.¡±

    Xiao Lou was depressed. ¡°Isn¡¯t that too little?¡±

    A of Spades coldly raised his eyebrows, ¡°I don¡¯t like bargaining. If you aren¡¯t satisfied, how about I change it to 10 minutes?¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately smiled. ¡°I¡¯m very satisfied. Thank you.¡±

    Facing this iceberg face, Xiao Lou really didn¡¯t want to talk. The Hearts sister was the friendliest and kindest.

    Xiao Lou sighed and nced at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°It is 30 minutes, let¡¯s take a break.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded, sat down on the sofa and took time to rest.

    In their personal spaces, Ye Qi and Shao Qingge were affected by Xiao Lou and also received an S-grade clearance score.

    The two of them each drew a card.

    Ye Qi received the instrument card ¡®Flute¡¯. He happened to y a flute and this S-grade instrument was much stronger than his previous Guitar. The first skill ¡®Melodious Flute¡¯ yed music and could let people in a 50 metres radius fall into a forced sleep state thatsted 30 seconds.

    It was a very amazing group control skill but the cooldown time was rtively long. It could be used once every eight hours.

    The second skill wasn¡®t unlocked and should also be very strong.

    Ye Qi excitedly held the new card and sat on the sofa. A momentter, A of Spades said, ¡°Someone sent you a contract invitation. The other person is called Shao Qingge. Do you want to ept?¡±

    The contract that Ye Qi had been waiting for finally arrived and he immediately nodded. ¡°I ept!¡±

    A of Spades took out the signed contract book and handed it to him. Ye Qi didn¡¯t even look as he signed his name in it.

    The moment he signed his name, it became dark in front of him¡­

    Shao Qingge actually pulled him directly into 3 of Hearts!

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help inwardly scolding, ¡®Can¡¯t you slow down? Don¡¯t you need to rest?¡¯

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang rested and once the time came, the two people moved to the card wall.

    They passed three and there was only 3 of Clubs left.

    Xiao Lou directly reached out for a card.

    Momentster, the space shifted and they saw the familiar A of Clubs.

    The teenager sat on a luxurious sofa and spoke lightly, ¡°Wee to 3 of Clubs.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang turned their heads. They were both wearing ck suits and silver masks. This was Clubs¡¯ favourite outfit and they automatically changed into it once entering Clubs. All challengers were collectively dressed in ck like they were going to a funeral.

    A of Spades liked flying helicopters while Clubs liked everyone in ck. Xiao Lou was toozy to care about the unique hobbies of the keepers.

    They had received some information from Shao Qingge about the 3 of Clubs secret room so Xiao Lou was very confident that he could make another big profit here!

 Chapter 66: 3 of Clubs: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter (1)

    The facial paralysis teenager opened the door and Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang entered the room in a ck suit and mask.

    They saw an almost 40 square metres spacious room. The centre contained a long table covered with velvet cloth and there were five chairs at the table. The seat in the middle had a ck Clubs mark and should be the seat of the keeper. The other four chairs were marked in turn, with the numbers 1 and 3 in red and the numbers 2 and 4 in blue.

    Shao Qingge had previously told them that the Clubs room was a 2v2 team match.

    Xiao Lou looked up and saw there were indeed two challengers in the room in addition to him and Yu Hanjiang.

    This man and woman should a couple. The two people were standing very close together and even the hairstyle was a ¡®couple¡¯ style. The girl had long, curly maroon hair while the boy had short, curly maroon hair. They were like two poodle dogs.

    The girl held her boyfriend¡¯s hand and they whispered in each other¡¯s ears. Their rtionship looked very good.

    Judging by the hairstyle, he hadn¡¯t seen them in previous secret rooms. Since they were matched in 3 of Clubs, this indicated that their progress was the same as Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang. They first cleared other secret rooms beforeing to Clubs.

    Since they didn¡¯t meet in 3 of Spades, perhaps the couple had entered another parallel space.

    The keeper spoke lightly, ¡°Wee to the 3 of Clubs secret room, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Don¡¯t worry, this Clubs room won¡¯t force the elimination of yers but you might lose gold coins.¡±

    ¡°First, grab the number te and take your seat.¡±

    He gave each person a number te.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang received 1 and 3 while the couple were 2 and 4.

    A of Clubs opened the big screen and started to exin the rules of the game. ¡°Once the game starts, you will be given the initial funds of 100,000 gold coins as chips for the red team and the blue team.¡±

    ¡°The jokers will be removed from the deck of cards. The remaining 52 cards are distributed among the four people. Every person will get 13 cards randomly. The goal of the game is to get rid of all the cards in your hand. As long as one person finishes their hand, they will be judged as the team that won.¡±

    A of Clubs looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°For example, in the first game, No. 1 finished his hand first. Then the red team with No. 1 and No. 3 will win. The blue team mustpensate the red team ording to the remaining number of cards in their hand. The price of one card is 5,000 gold coins.¡±

    The young man¡¯s fingers gently unfolded a deck of cards.

    The 52 cards were quickly lined up in four rows ording to colour and size.

    The teenager continued, ¡°In the ying cards, hearts, spades, diamonds and clubs represent spring, summer, autumn and winter respectively. That¡¯s why the name of this game is Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. The rules of the game are to start counterclockwise from No. 1. Please note that you only have three seconds to y the game. There will be a 3, 2, 1 countdown in front of you. If this time runs out and you don¡¯t y any card, it is deemed as giving up the right to y.¡±

    ¡°Once all four people release a card, the round is over. Each round must y the same suit of card. If you have the suit, you must y it. If you don¡¯t have the suit, you will be skipped. After each round, the person with the highest number card will get the right to y a card first and select the suit in the next round. The points size goes from A>K>Q>J>10>9>8>7>6>5>4>3>2.¡±

    This was the mostmon order in card games. A was thergest while the rest were arranged from K to 2.

    In a simple way, if a person yed a Hearts card in the first round, the other people must also y a Hearts. If they didn¡¯t have any cards, they ¡®couldn¡¯t afford it¡¯ and would be skipped. The person with the highest points in that round would get the right to y first in the next round and decide the suit.

    The goal of the game was to get rid of their hand. The teammates must cooperate with each other and guess what their teammate had in their hands. He could try and send his teammate more cards or if he had a hand with manyrge cards, he could use them to grab priority and quickly finish, bringing his teammate to victory.

    If a teammate only had a Spades in his hand yet Xiao Lou yed crazily, his teammate would be flustered.

    It was no wonder why Shao Qingge said he nearly lost after encountering a pig teammate. This game waspletely looking at the cooperation between the two people.

    Observe the card game and note the cards that had already been yed. Then specte on the cards of the opponents and teammate. This was the key skill in the Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter game.

    The keeper said, ¡°There is a total of four games. If you lose all the gold coins in your hands, one of your cards will be randomly selected by the opponent. In order to not lose a card, I hope you take this game seriously. There will be one minute for you to understand the rules.¡±

    The rules of the game were rtively simple so the time given to everyone was very short.

    It was a gamble involving gold coins. There might not be any elimination but the other side could extract a card. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t want his S-grade cards like Tao Yuanming or Bai Juyi to be taken by the other side! It wasn¡¯t easy to obtain a perfect clearance!

    This couple should have a tacit understanding. He and Group Leader Yu must concentrate and absolutely couldn¡¯t lose.

    A minute soon passed and A of Clubs dered, ¡°The game is starting. Please be ready.¡±

    The moment he finished, an LCD screen suddenly rose in front of everyone¡¯s seat, blocking their view. It was a practice to prevent yers from cheating using a variety of small moves.

    For example, Xiao Lou could secretly raise his little finger to indicate he had a Clubs in his hand. Yu Hanjiang could blink to show his hand was full of Hearts¡­ the two people could use bodynguage to talk and make the game considerably easier.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s exnation of 3 of Clubs didn¡¯t mention the screen. The keeper must¡¯ve temporarily added it.

    Sure enough, 3 of Clubs stated, ¡°You all came from 3 of Spades and might¡¯ve received spoilers from people who already cleared 3 of Clubs. This screen is to prevent you from discussing countermeasures in advance. Later, once the game starts, you can only see the cards yed by others on the screen. Don¡¯t try to cheat by making eye contact with your teammates.¡±

    Xiao Lou who had thought about making eye contact with Group Leader Yu, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Well, the keeper was really prescient.

    In this way, the teammate¡¯s actions and expressions couldn¡¯t be seen and they could only rely on their ¡®tacit understanding.¡¯

    A of Clubs said, ¡°The first game, we will start from No. 1 and go counterclockwise.¡±

    The slender hands of the young man shuffled quickly and issued each person 13 cards.

    Xiao Lou picked up his cards to see six Hearts cards, three Diamonds cards, three Clubs cards and one Spades.

    There just happened to be an A of Hearts in his hand. Xiao Lou directly used A of Hearts to test the waters.

    The girl went next with a 7 of Hearts, Yu Hanjiang yed the 2 of Hearts and the curly-haired man yed the K of Hearts.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes brightened. It was likely that the curly-haired man had no more Hearts!

    ording to the size of the points, A was thergest, followed by K. In this round, Xiao Lou obviously had the highest amount of points. If the curly-haired man had any other Hearts cards in his hand then he would use it. Then in the next round of Hearts, his K would be thergest. There was absolutely no need for him to use K of Hearts against Xiao Lou¡¯s A of Hearts. His use of K of Hearts at this time was equivalent to wasting a big card.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s card was the highest and he had the right to y first in the second round.

    He smiled and used a 4 of Hearts. The female followed with 6 of Hearts, Yu Hanjiang calmly yed J of Hearts and the curly-haired man indeed said, ¡°Skip.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s J was thergest and the priority to pick was in his hands.

    Xiao Lou had some worry that Group Leader Yu would y another suit but Yu Hanjiang obviously understood Xiao Lou¡¯s hint.

    First using A of Hearts and then continuing with 4 of Hearts in the second round, did Professor Xiao have many Hearts in his hand?

    Therefore, Yu Hanjiang cooperated in the third round and yed 8 of Hearts.

    The order was counterclockwise and the curly-haired man was next. He spoke in a depressed manner, ¡°I can¡¯t afford it!¡±

    It was Xiao Lou¡¯s turn. He yed a Q of Hearts. Since the A of Hearts and K of Hearts had been yed, his Q was thergest.

    The curly-haired woman¡¯s face was ugly as she yed a 9 of Hearts.

    The fourth round ended. Xiao Lou¡¯s Q of Hearts was thergest and still got the priority rights. He quickly calcted the amount of cards remaining. Four rounds had passed and ten Hearts cards had been yed. There were three left and they were all in his hand.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s mouth slightly curved as he yed a card, 3 of Hearts.

    The curly-haired girl stated, ¡°I have none.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang skipped.

    The No. 4 man¡¯s voice was clearly unpleasant. ¡°Nothing.¡±

    Xiao Lou continued to y the 5 of Hearts. The other three had no hearts in their hands and skipped. Xiao Lou once again yed a 10 of Hearts.

    The other three could only watch him perform alone!

    All 13 Hearts cards were yed. Thanks to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s help, Xiao Lou yed six cards in one breath. Out of the couple, the male had only yed one card and the girl had yed three.

    It was a big win!

    Xiao Lou looked at his hand. Of the remaining cards, his three Diamonds cards were rtively small. Out of his three Clubs cards, there was arge K of Clubs, a 10 of Clubs and a 6 of Clubs. Meanwhile, his lone Spades card was an 8 of Spades.

    ording to the probability, the curly-haired man only had one Hearts card and it was likely he had arge number of Spades. It might also have an even number of Diamonds, Clubs and Spades.

    In any case, it was right to test the waters with a big card.

    Xiao Lou thought about it and yed the K of Clubs.

    The girl yed the 5 of Clubs, Yu Hanjiang yed the 3 of Clubs and the curly-haired man yed the 4 of Clubs.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes brightened again.

    Group Leader Yu absolutely had the A of Clubs!

    This game was a 2v2 match. He yed K of Clubs. If the couple had therger A of Clubs, there was no reason they wouldn¡¯t use it to suppress him and regain the right to choose. However, the couple didn¡¯t y A of Clubs. It was clear that the A of Clubs was with Group Leader Yu.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were teammates. There was no need to use the A of Clubs to suppress Xiao Lou¡¯s K of Clubs.

    Xiao Lou smiled and yed the 6 of Clubs.

    The female yed Q of Clubs but this was followed by Yu Hanjiang directly ying A of Clubs. He didn¡¯t hesitate to suppress her card.

    The curly-haired man had to y the 8 of Clubs in a depressed manner.

    The right to choose was in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hand. He continued to y Clubs and let Xiao Lou get rid of his remaining Clubs card.

    The big numbers of the Diamonds suit were in the female¡¯s hand. Once Yu Hanjiang finished ying Clubs, he had to either y Spades or Diamonds. He first yed Diamonds and the curly-haired woman took back the rights with the A of Diamonds.

    She continued with DIamonds. Xiao Lou followed and got rid of all his Diamonds.

    Unwittingly, he only had one card left in his hand.

    The female perceived that No. 1 had one card left and was obviously nervous. She couldn¡¯t see her boyfriend¡¯s expression but she could guess that her boyfriend should have a pile of Spades in his hand. Only the Spades hadn¡¯te out¡­

    The female gritted her teeth and yed the 2 of Spades.

    The curly-haired man really threw out the A of Spades but¡­ Xiao Lou also smiled and yed hisst card, 8 of Spades.

    The keeper¡¯s cold voice rang out in the room. ¡°No. 1 has finished his hand. The red team has won the game. Blue team, please count the remaining number of cards in your hand.¡±

    The couple¡¯s face became extremely ugly.

    No. 1 had too many Hearts and the Spades didn¡¯te out. The right to y cards had juste to his hand when the other side won!

    The female had three cards left while the curly-haired male had seven cards left¡­

    The keeper stated, ¡°The blue team has 10 cards remaining. Please pay the red team 50,000 gold.¡±

    All the gold coins previously obtained from secret rooms were frozen. They only had the 100,000 gold coins that the Clubs keeper sent to every team. The result was that in the first game, the couple directly lost 50,000, which was half!

    There were too many cards remaining in their hands.

    The key was that the curly-haired man had many Spades in his hand. His girlfriend gained back the right to choose the suit with the A of Diamonds but kept ying Diamonds. She didn¡¯t y Spades and he almost died from worry¡­

    The man calmly pushed the 50,000 chips into the middle of the table.

    In the second game, they would y first and he would be sure to win it back. The man thought confidently.

 Chapter 67: 3 of Clubs: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter (2)

    In the second game, the right to y first rotated counterclockwise.

    This time, it was the No. 2 curly-haired girl¡¯s turn to y first. She had good luck and obtained A of Spades and A of Hearts.

    It was just that this female¡¯s style of y was a bit unspeakable.

    She first yed the A of Spades, followed by A of Hearts. There was nothing to say about this. Testing the waters with a big card was a good idea. An ¡®A¡¯ was the highest card and the card rights would always rest in her hands.

    If changed to Xiao Lou, he could continue to y Hearts.

    It was because just now, she yed Hearts and her teammate yed 2 of Hearts. He should have other Hearts cards in his hand. Meanwhile, Yu Hanjiang yed a Q of Hearts and obviously didn¡¯t have any more Hearts in his hand.

    However, she didn¡¯t look closely at the game or calcte the hands of others.

    She had three Spades and three Hearts in her hand, of which, the Spades had the big Q of Spades remaining. Meanwhile, the Hearts were the small numbers: 3, 4 and 5. The countdown of 3, 2, 1 appeared on the screen. The girl was somewhat nervous. She gritted her teeth and decided to y Q of Spades, thinking that if there wasn¡¯t a higher card then she would continue having the right to choose.

    It was just that Yu Hanjiang directly yed the K of Spades.

    The girl looked stunned silly!

    She had already yed A of Spades and K of Spades was now the highest card.

    Yu Hanjiang sessfully snatched back the rights and continued with a J of Spades in the next round.

    A, K, Q had appeared and his J was thergest. In the next round, Yu Hanjiang continued with 10 of Spades¡­

    He wiped out all his Spades in one breath and then yed the A of Diamonds.

    Out of the couple, one yed the 8 of Diamonds and the other the 9 of Diamonds. Xiao Lou yed the 2 of Diamonds.

    Yu Hanjiang continued with J of Diamonds. The man yed Q of Diamonds and it was Xiao Lou¡¯s turn. Xiao Lou directly yed the K of Diamonds and stably kept the right to choose in their hands.

    The next round, he continued with 10 of Diamonds and Group Leader Yu followed with a small Diamonds card.

    The two men cooperated with each other and quickly cleared Diamonds.

    After finding out that Yu Hanjiang only had one card left, Xiao Lou smiled and yed a Clubs card.

    Group Leader Yu¡¯sst card was indeed Clubs.

    In the beginning, the female yed A of Hearts and Yu Hanjiang directly yed Q of Hearts, making it obvious he had no other Hearts in his hand. Immediately after that, he got rid of all his Spades and then his Diamonds with Xiao Lou. His remaining card could only be Clubs.

    Xiao Lou tacitly helped Yu Hanjiang get rid of thest card.

    The keeper¡¯s face was expressionless as he dered, ¡°No. 3 has finished his hand. The red team has won. Blue team, please count the remaining cards.¡±

    The couple¡¯s faces became uglier. The girl hadn¡¯t yed well. Her stating hand had been good but she made the wrong choice in the second selection. This gave Yu Hanjiang the chance to recapture the priority and get rid of his Spades.

    The keeper stated, ¡°No. 3, y a card first.¡±

    In the third game, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hands weren¡¯t very good. They didn¡¯t get any aces and the couple quickly finished the A of the four suits, while the Ks were also in their hand.

    They cooperated with each other and tried to y the suit the other might have.

    Cards were yed one after another, By the time the No. 4 man finished his hand, Xiao Lou only had one card left while Yu Hanjiang had two. They lost but they only needed to pay 15,000 chips to the other side.

    The keeper said, ¡°The fourth game, No. 4 is first.¡±

    Xiao Lou had some big cards in his hand while No. 4 didn¡¯t have any big cards and they happened to be the opposite of his girlfriend¡¯s suits.

    His girlfriend had A of Diamonds and A of Clubs but he opened with Spades.

    The result was that Xiao Lou used A of Spades to regain the right to choose and he quickly got rid of all his Spades. Then he cooperated with Yu Hanjiang to finish Clubs, Hearts and then Diamonds¡­

    Finally, Group Leader Yu guessed thest card in his hand and casually yed a 3 of Diamonds, allowing Xiao Lou to get rid of hisst card.

    They won again!

    The couple wanted to cry.

    Out of four games, the couple only one game and the other team only had three games, giving them 15,000 gold coins. Unexpectedly, thebination of these two men actually won three games and took all their 100,000 chips. Not to mention, they had too many cards remaining in thest hand and they didn¡¯t have enough chips!

    The teenager with facial paralysis spoke lightly, ¡°Since the two of you have no chips left, please take out your card packs and let them select a card each aspensation.¡±

    The two people, ¡°¡­¡±

    The LCD screen in front of the four seats lowered and Xiao Lou found the couple staring at him with tearful eyes.

    Xiao Lou smiled in an embarrassed manner. He hadn¡¯t expected the couple¡¯s tacit understanding to be so poor!

    Were these two a fake couple?

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou and nodded at him, eyes gentle.

    At first, he discovered that the opponents were a couple and thought that in this game, he and Professor Xiao would at most tie with the couple, keeping their 100,000 chips. It was okay to lose tens of thousands of gold coins, as long as their cards weren¡¯t drawn.

    He didn¡¯t expect that in the process of ying the game, Professor Xiao was connected with his heart. He had a Diamonds card left and Professor Xiao happened to y Diamonds. He had a Clubs card left and was afraid of the priority being captured by the opponents when Professor Xiao directly yed a Clubs card.

    ¡®You y small cards while I use big cards to control the field.¡¯

    ¡®I have one card left in my hand and you will give me the same suit¡­¡¯

    Xiao Lou¡¯s mental calction ability was too strong. There were only three seconds of ying time but he could actually remember all the cards that had been yed, as well as calcting the opponents and teammate¡¯s cards.

    The two people held the right to select cards most of the time and used this tacit understanding to beat the couple. They walked away with the final win. Forget the 100,000 gold coins, the other side didn¡¯t have enough chips and they could actually draw from the card package.

    The curly-haired man sighed helplessly. ¡°My girlfriend rarely ys cards.¡±

    The girl awkwardly bowed her head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Three seconds is too slow and I couldn¡¯t react fast enough.¡±

    The man waved cheerfully. ¡°It¡¯s fine. In any case, we have enough cards and there are no good cards. It¡¯s fine for them to draw it.¡± The man took out his card pack and turned to ask the keeper, ¡°Is it to be drawn from both our packs?¡±

    The keeper replied, ¡°No. 1 will draw from No. 2 and No. 3 will draw from No. 3. You can rearrange your card packs.¡±

    The girl took out her card pack and the two people quickly took out all the cards from their bag and put them back.

    After finishing, they ced the card packs on the table.

    Xiao Lou thought for a moment. ¡°The third one.¡±

    The keeper took out the third card.

    [Tool Card: Charging Treasure]

    Rarity: B

    Description: There is a certain probability of obtaining it from a draw when clearing a room with a score of B.

    You are my charging treasure. With you around, my heart will be full of motivation.

    How can I go out without a charging treasure?

    All electrical type cards connected to the charging treasure can immediately reset all skills.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He had be ustomed to all sorts of strange descriptions in the Card World.

    Unfortunately, the two people didn¡¯t have any electrical cards at present. They would have to wait until they got an electrical card to use this charging treasure.

    He just had this thought when Yu Hanjiang reached out to the curly-haired man¡¯s card pack and happened to pull out an electrical card.

    [Tool Card: Hair Dryer]

    Rarity: B

    Description: There is a certain probability of obtaining it from a draw when clearing a room with a score of B.

    The hair dryer is used to blow hair but in this world, it is too windy. Don¡¯t use it to blow your hair because it blows objects with a weight up to 200kg to a position 50 metres away. Blow your hair with it and you will be bald.

    The cooldown time for use is 60 minutes.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    They had seen this card before. A male challenger in 3 of Spades held the hair dryer and blew several zombies into the pit.

    Unexpectedly, they drew cards with such a high tacit understanding. Xiao Lou drew the charging treasure while Yu Hanjiang immediately drew an electrical card.

    The couple made bitter expressions and couldn¡¯t helpining, ¡°We managed to draw thebination of the charging treasure and hair dryer yet you managed to get it. You must have eyes in the sky.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled apologetically. If they didn¡¯t want to lose both cards then the most reasonable thing was to put the two cards in the same card pack, so that only one could be drawn.

    Fortunately, B-grade tool cards were easy to obtain. The couple might be pained at losing it but it was still eptable.

    The girl quickly readjusted her expression. ¡°The loss is only two B-grade cards. It is better than being eliminated and entering the Nightmare Room.¡±

    The man nodded. ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go to the Diamonds secret room first. Perhaps we can get better cards.¡±

    The two people agreed and turned away.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other. They hadn¡¯t expected this Clubs room to be really simple.

    The person who lost only randomly lose two cards and they wouldn¡¯t be directly eliminated like 2 of Clubs.

    It was because 3 of Spades was too cruel that 3 of Clubs was kind.

    Xiao Lou smiled and asked, ¡°Do we get any rest time?¡±

    A of Clubs asked incredulously, ¡°Such a simple game that ended in minutes and you still want to rest?¡±

    The two guys, Spade and Clubs really weren¡¯t considerate to challengers at all. The one with the longest break was the Hearts secret room.

    Xiao Lou had a headache and pressed a hand to his temple. ¡°We will go to 4 of Hearts next.¡±

    The teenager nodded and drew the 4 of Hearts card. He waved to both of them. ¡°Go ahead, good luck to both of you.¡±

    4 of Hearts was also a C-grade secret room. The difficulty of the C-grade secret rooms might be low but Xiao Lou always felt that with the personality of these four keepers, the fourth level wouldn¡¯t let challengers pass easily.

    3 of Hearts was a campus serial murder. 4 of Hearts¡­ what would it be?

 Chapter 68: 4 of Hearts: Extremely Quick Train

    Xiao Lou thought that after pulling out the 4 of Hearts card, they would be directly transmitted to the secret room world. Unexpectedly, the two people actually returned to their personal space. A sexy woman in a red dress was standing at the card wall, smiling at them. ¡°The two of you, we meet again.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°A of Hearts? Don¡¯t we only see the keepers after clearing the instance?¡±

    A of Hearts exined, ¡°The situation of the fourth level is somewhat special and I need to get you ready before you enter the secret room.¡±

    She smiled and made a noise. Then Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s clothes changed immediately.

    The two men changed into a dark blue uniform at the same time. They wore a hat and the cuffs of their clothes were decorated with several white bars. Their ck polished shoes were free of dust. The uniform was a white shirt white a blue and white striped tie.

    It wasn¡¯t like a police uniform. Was it some type of professional suit?

    Xiao Lou looked over at Yu Hanjiang. This man was handsome and his facial features strong. Once he wore a uniform, he was so handsome that people couldn¡¯t move their gazes away. His figure was tall and slender and seemed inherently suitable for a uniform. There was a ck leather belt around his waist that brought the temptation of the uniform to the extreme. The visual effect of this uniform was no worse than his real world police uniform.

    Xiao Lou had never worn a uniform before and felt a bit awkward.

    Yu Hanjiang turned to look at Xiao Lou and his eyes slightly brightened. Xiao Lou was bowing his head to sort out his clothes and spoke when he sensed Yu Hanjiang¡¯s gaze. ¡°My clothes seem a bit tight.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°No¡­ it¡¯s very nice.¡±

    The waist belt framed his lean frame and he could be easily held with one arm.

    Professor Xiao might be thin but his skeleton was very even. He had a fine waist and long legs. His smilebined with the uniform gave off a charm, so that Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t move his eyes away.

    The two people looked at each other for a few seconds before looking away after feeling ufortable.

    A of Hearts stood to the side and smiled at them. ¡°It is said that a man wearing a uniform will enhance the value of his face. Do the two of you feel that the other side has be more handsome?¡±

    The two people, ¡°¡­¡±

    The keeper was kind enough to poke fun at them.

    Xiao Lou nced at her and asked, ¡°Is the environment of this secret room special? Changing our clothes, is it to y a role-ying game?¡±

    A of Hearts nodded. ¡°Yes, it is to let you experience different suspense secret rooms. For your convenience, this time an identity is arranged for you. The two of you, please be ready. The 4 of Hearts secret room is about to open¡­¡±

    The moment she finished, there was a countdown from 10 that appeared in front of them.

    The moment the countdown reached ¡®1¡¯, the two people¡¯s eyes darkened at the same time. Then they opened their eyes and found themselves in a close space, much like¡­ the upper and lower bunks of a train?

    Xiao Lou entered the secret room lying on the upper bunk. He poked out his head to look down and saw Yu Hanjiang sitting on the lower bunk and looking up.

    The two people gazed at each other and Xiao Lou immediately smiled. ¡°Group Leader Yu, this seems to be the sleepingpartment of a train?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, based on this outfit, we should be train attendants.¡±

    Xiao Lou finally understood.

    The uniforms of this world had a big difference with the attendants of the real world. The uniform was tight and gave an abstinent air. It was no wonder why the two people couldn¡¯t judge the secret room¡¯s environment.

    It seemed that the 4 of Hearts¡¯ story took ce on a train.

    The next moment, a prompt appeared on the suspension box of the two people.

    [Wee Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang to the 4 of Hearts secret room, Extremely Quick Train.]

    [From now on, the two of you will stay on the train for three days as ¡®train attendants.¡¯

    Many things will happen in these three days. Yes, someone is going to die on the carriage.

    The two of you, please find the killer at the fastest speed. Use the authority of an attendant and bring the killer to the train¡¯s security room. Wait for the train to arrive before handing them over to the police.

    Once the train arrives at the terminal in three days, it will be considered a failure if you haven¡¯t caught the killer.

    You have the right to check the passenger¡¯s tickets and ID cards but you aren¡¯t allowed to use force against the passengers, otherwise, you will be immediately driven off the train by the conductor. As an attendant, you must obey the conductor¡¯smand. You have a wireless pager hanging from your waist and the conductor will issue a notice at any time. Please pay attention to it.

    The train is entering the station. Please be prepared.]

    ¡­¡­

    There was a shrill roar in their ears, followed by a broadcast: the KP-7311 train has entered the station, stopping at tform 3.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other and came out of the sleeperpartment.

    They found out there were other rooms with upper and lower berths. Attendants dressed in the same uniform as them came out of their room and swiftly moved. Then a middle-aged man¡¯s voice was heard from the wireless pager earpiece. ¡°The two interns should also get off to check tickets. One is in charge of the 4th carriage and the other is in charge of the 6th carriage.¡±

    They had to listen to the instructions conveyed through the wireless headset.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang kept up with the other attendants and used the limited time to quickly observe theyout of the train.

    The shape of the train was a bit like the high-speed rails in reality. The head was simr to a bullet and the body line was smooth. It was painted white and marked ¡®KP-7311.¡¯

    There were a total of nine carriages on the train.

    The No. 9 carriage had been where the two men were just located. It was the carriage that was the staff residence and the security room was also there.

    Carriages 1-4 were hard-seat carriages. There were 15 rows in one carriage and there were five seats in every row. On the left, there were the three A/B/C seats and on the right, there were two D/F seats. A and F were by the windows while C and D were by the aisles. The middle aisle was around the same width as the high-speed rails, allowing a fat person to easily pass by.

    The carriages 6-8 were soft, sleeper carriages. One carriage had eight rooms and each room had two bunk beds for a total of four beds. The rooms had a door that could be closed to protect from outside disturbances. The ess outside the door was very spacious and there were many independent retractable seats. The beds were numbered in ordance with the room number. For example, the four beds in Room No. 1 were numbered 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D, where A/C were the lower beds and B/D were the upper beds.

    The middle Carriage 5 was the dining carriage. Passing by, window tables and chairs could be seen through the window. The tables were covered with blue ad white id tablecloths and were very clean and tidy.

    The train stopped at tform 3. The train attendants were making final preparations and the passengers hadn¡¯t boarded yet.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang walked the carriages they were responsible for while observing the situation of the entire train. Xiao Lou stated, ¡°We are responsible for the 4th and 6th carriages. Will the dead person be someone from these carriages?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°One is a hard-seated carriage and the other is a sleeper carriage. There is a dining carriage in the middle and the murder on the train shouldn¡¯t be so simple. Once the train starts, we will meet every hour in the dining carriage to exchange information.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    He looked towards the 9th carriage at the end and thought for a moment. ¡°Thest carriage is the train staff lounge. We also appeared in the 9th carriage when we first came here. Will it be evening when the train attendants need to go back to sleep that the murderer will get the chance tomit the crime?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°It is possible. Otherwise, we will patrol the carriages and the killer would have no chance to act.¡±

    They experienced the secret rooms and knew that some plots couldn¡¯t be avoided.

    In the 4 of Hearts room, they temporarily obtained the status of train attendant. They had to listen to the conductor¡¯s instructions and this was the plot room giving them the maximum limit. The conductor might use various reasons to remove them from the scene when the murderermitted the crime. Otherwise, they would keep watching the passengers in the carriages and there would be no chance for the murderer to kill.

    Xiao Lou looked over the train. ¡°If it is all filled with passengers then the amount of information in this secret room will be farrger than 3 of Hearts.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it. There are a total of 75 seats in the 4th carriage and 32 beds in the 5th carriage. If the case urs in these two carriages then we need to analyze the information of the passengers. There are 107¡­ it shouldn¡¯t be that hard.¡±

    It was a joke. He couldn¡¯t even remember the names of 107 people!

    In the 3 of Hearts secret room, the fact that Ying Xiaoya yed a key role was very prominent. The next day, she waste to school and didn¡¯t wear a school uniform. She almost had ¡®I am a main character¡¯ written on her face. For the 4 of Hearts secret room, the key roles should also be clear while the other passengers were passersby. Simr to Ying Xiaoya¡¯s ssmates, they shouldn¡¯t affect the case.

    Xiao Lou raised his spirits. ¡°We have to observe carefully. The key figures will definitely be different from passersby. Moreover, the train carriages might not necessarily by full.¡±

    Just then, a noise sounded simultaneously in the two men¡¯s ears.

    -The KP-7311 train from the ¡®City of the Sun¡¯ to the ¡®City of the Moon¡¯ has started to check the tickets. All passengers, please take care of your luggage and your children. Entry to the station is from the A10 ticket gate to the B10 ticket gate! Thank you!

    The familiar sound of the broadcast gave Xiao Lou the illusion of returning to the railway station.

    However, the strange name of the station made him curious. In addition to the City of the Moon, there was actually the City of the Sun. In the ying cards, the big joker represented the ¡®sun¡¯ and the little joker represented the ¡®moon.¡¯ Were these two big cities the main cities of the Card World?

    Xiao Lou mentioned his idea to Yu Hanjiang and Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°If there are really two main cities, they seem quite far apart if it takes three days by train. The structure of the world is different from ours.¡±

    ¡°Yes, the spaces of the secret rooms can be infinitely copied. We don¡¯t know what the main cities are like.¡±

    Seeing that passengers had started moving through the ticket gate into the station, Xiao Lou stated, ¡°I will go to the 4th carriage and meet Group Leader Yuter.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and watched him leave.

    The 4th and 6th carriages were separated only by the dining car and the two men could see each other.

    The passengers soon entered the station.

    Xiao Lou smiled as he checked the tickets and observed the passengers.

    The ID number on the ticket was very long and several numbers had been covered with a mosaic. The name of the passengers and the seat number was very clear. It was simr to the rail ticket in the real world. Xiao Lou checked the tickets and quickly remembered everyone¡¯s names.

    The first toe to the door of the carriage were four university students. The two men and two women walked hand in hand and wore different couples outfits. They carried a travel bag and chatted while walking, looking excited. They should be two couples travelling together and their seats were in the eighth row.

    This was immediately followed by a family of five. There were the grandparents, mother and father and a lovely little girl. Xiao Lou gave them back the tickets and the little girl spoke in a soft voice, ¡°Thank you, Uncle!¡± The family looked warm and harmonious and sat in the third row.

    There were dozens of passengers who were alone and their seats were very dispersed.

    A person travelling alone had a low probability of being murdered. After all, there was no reason to kill each other if they didn¡¯t know each other. These passengers should be included. Moreover, their names were things like Zhang Ping, Wang Hu, Zhao Long, etc. It seemed to be telling Xiao Lou: don¡¯t worry about us. We are passersby.

    This was immediately followed by the emergence of a group of five female friends. They wore the same series of dresses with slightly different colours. Once it came time to check their tickets, they stared at Xiao Lou and whispered together, ¡°So handsome!¡± ¡°Does he have a girlfriend?¡± ¡°Shut up, he can hear you.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Their whispers were a little loud and hard to not hear.

    This 4th carriage was gradually bing full.

    The 6th sleeper carriage had rtively fewer people. Several lone passengers got on carrying luggage and Yu Hanjiang checked their tickets with a nk expression. Like Xiao Lou, he tried to remember the names as much as possible.

    Just then, he saw a dozen people wearing the same red hat and walking towards the 6th carriage in a line. They stopped near the carriage and huddled in a group.

    A young girl was in the middle. She held a horn and said, ¡°All uncles and aunties are here? 1, 2, 3¡­¡± She quickly counted before continuing, ¡°Okay, all 12 people are together. We are in the sleeping carriage No. 6! Once we get onter, put away your luggage. Those with hypertension or heart disease shouldn¡¯t sleep on the upper beds. The other uncles and aunties should cooperate to change with them!¡±

    ¡°This journeysts for three days. You must pay attention to food safety. I have medicine here to treat stomach pain and diarrhea. If you aren¡¯t feeling well thene find me to get the medicine!¡±

    This female had her hair in a ponytail and wore jeans, a short-sleeved T-shirt and a pair of white sneaks. She held a g that said ¡®Clear Sky Travel Agency¡¯ in her hand.

    Xiao Lou immediately nced at Yu Hanjiang and thetter gave him a ¡®rest assured¡¯ look.

    The group of 12 people consisted of old men and olddies with white hair, a stooped back and missing teeth. They seemed to be around 70 years old. The tour guide female held the horn and shouted loudly, as if worried that people couldn¡¯t hear it.

    The appearance of this group was too high-profile.

    Still, it was before the case happened and everything couldn¡¯t be determined. Perhaps this was just a passersby tour group to make up the number.

    As time went by, more and more passengers got on the train. There was a ¡®jingle bells¡¯ sound in their ears as a reminder and the voice of the train conductor entered Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s wireless headset. ¡°The train is about to leave. All attendants, please return to the carriage as soon as possible.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were just about to go back when suddenly, a boy quickly ran down the stairs at the entrance.

    His hair was very messy and he had obviously been running crazily for a long time. The boy¡¯s face was red, he was panting and the socks on his feet were different colours. He had probably woken upter and didn¡¯t dress neatly.

    He shouted as he ran, ¡°Wait a minute, wait!¡±

    Xiao Lou was about to close the train door and the person squeezed onto the carriage as the door almost closed.

    Once the man got on the carriage, he stopped at the junction between carriages, ced his hands on his knees and gasped.

    Xiao Lou waited for him to straighten up before asking, ¡°What seat are you in?¡±

    The young man replied, ¡°The 4th carriage, 8F.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked over. The 8th row currently had four people sitting on it, the two couples. The empty seat happened to be the F seat by the window. Xiao Lou smiled at the young man and pointed. ¡°The train is about to start. Go and sit down.¡±

    The boy ran over to the eighth row.

    He looked at the female in 8D and spoke with a red face ¡°B-Beauty, can I trouble you to let me in.¡±

    The girl nced at the shy guy before turning to her boyfriend. ¡°Honey, you sit here.¡± She changed seats with her boyfriend, sitting next to 8C. Apparently, she didn¡¯t want to sit with this dirty guy. Her boyfriend swapped seats with her.

    The broadcast sounded in the carriage. ¡°Passengers, wee to the KP-7311 train. Our train is about to start. Please organize your luggage and take your seat ording to the number on the ticket. Smoking is prohibited on this train¡­¡±

    The train started and the plot was about to begin.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and nced around the 4th carriage.

    The seats were all full.

    Many of the passengers started to sleep. The ones who attracted his attention were the warm family of five, the group of two couples, the five female friends group and thest young man who waste.

    This young man should be a character involved in the plot but wasn¡¯t necessarily the killer or the one who would die. Moreover, the 6th carriage where Group Leader Yu was located clearly had the elderly tour group.

    Xiao Lou smiled and spoke to the carriage, ¡°Please cooperate with me as I check your tickets.¡±

    It was normal to check tickets on the carriage and everyone consciously took out their tickets.

    Xiao Lou wanted to check the tickets again in order to deepen his impression of the faces, seat number and names of these key passengers.

    The speed of the train was rapidly increasing.

    Outside the window was a thick white mist and the carriage was quiet. What murderer would be lurking on this train and who would be murdered? The start of this train meant the story of the 4 of Hearts secret room was about to begin.

 Chapter 69: Extremely Quick Train 2: Couple

    The 3 of Hearts secret room had the help of the police. Those who didn¡¯t know what to do could follow the police¡¯s footsteps to find clues. The score might be low but they could still clear the instance.

    4 of Hearts didn¡¯t have the help of the police. They had to rely on themselves to reason things out and find clues, making the difficulty obviously improved.

    The identity of a train attendant was of great convenience to the challengers. They could check the passengers¡¯ ticket at any time to confirm the person¡¯s name. If a case urred, they could analyze and reason things out by asking the passengers questions.

    Xiao Lou had a lot of experience in ¡®remembering names and faces¡¯ so it wasn¡¯t difficult for him to remember the names of the people.

    The hair style, height and appearance characteristics,bined with the seat number. Xiao Lou checked the tickets while memorizing several special aspects of the people he was focused on.

    For the family of five, the child was called Yu Xinxin and she was around six years old. The child used a lovely voice to call out ¡®Uncle¡¯ when she saw Xiao Lou and was polite. Her teachings obviously weren¡¯t bad. Her parents smiled and her grandparents were kind and gentle. The family was the only one with the surname ¡®Yu¡¯ in the entire carriage and it was very easy to remember. Based on Xiao Lou¡¯s subjective view, the probability of this family having a murderer was small. The family was warm and harmonious and there was no reason to kill.

    Out of the two couples, the boys were called Zhao Quan and Zhao Zheng. Perhaps they were brothers.

    Zhao Quan¡¯s girlfriend was called Yue Xiaoquan. There was a ¡®quan¡¯ in the name and the pronunciation was consistent. It wasn¡¯t easy to be confused. The girl¡¯s voice was very good and there were two shallow dimples when she smiled. She had long ck hair, beautiful facial features and clear and bright eyes. It was a type of aura that made people feel good and it was a fresh, natural beauty.

    Zhao Quan and Yue Xiaoquan wore a light blue T-shirt with cute kittens printed on them.

    Zhao Zheng¡¯s girlfriend was called Mo Jiaran and she was the one who changed seats to avoid sitting with that shy young man. Her hands were covered with beautiful nail polish and she was wearing a ne, bracelets and earrings. Her curly hair was dyed dark brown. The upper body was the same shirt as her boyfriend but she wore a short skirt that deliberately showed off her long legs. She was obviously a girl who loved to dress up.

    This couple¡¯s T-shirt was in white with a cute puppy printed on the chest.

    The T-shirts printed with a kitten and a dog as well as thebination of handsome men and beautiful women was a good match.

    The four of them had bought half-price student tickets.

    Xiao Lou noticed this and said, ¡°Please show me your student cards.¡±

    The four people cooperated to take out their student ID cards.

    Zhao Quan and Zhao Zheng were both science and engineering. They were from the University of Science and Technology and the former learnedputer science while thetter studied materials physics. The student ID cards had the date of birth written and the two people were born on the same day.

    Xiao Lou pretended to be interested. ¡°Your birthdays are on the same day, are you twins?¡±

    Zhao Quan nodded. ¡°I am the older brother and Ah Zheng is the younger brother. We are fraternal twins.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°No wonder why. You don¡¯t look exactly the same.¡±

    Both Yue Xiaoquan and Mo Jiaran were from a medical school. The former studied clinical medicine and thetter was nursing.

    Xiao Lou nced at Mo Jiaran¡¯s red nail polish with surprise. The nursing profession was to train nurses and many practical sses were needed, such as injections, changing bandages, changing medicine etc. A girl with long nails and nail polish would certainly be scolded by the teachers. She was probably on holiday and put fake nails on her nails. This further confirmed how much this girl liked being beautiful.

    The four people were simr in age and were currently in their junior year. Their rtionship was very close. After changing seats, the two females sat together and whispered in each other¡¯s ears.

    Xiao Lou learned about their situation, then smiled and returned their student cards to them.

    The four people collected their student ID cards. Xiao Lou continued to the boy sitting in 8F. ¡°Please show me your ticket.¡±

    The boy who waste was called Jing Weiguang. This surname ¡®Jing¡¯ was rtively rare and easy to remember. Since he was in a hurry to catch the train, he was dressed very messily. The young man kept his head down and arranged his crumpled clothes. Once Xiao Lou walked over to check the tickets, he hurriedly searched his pockets and found it after a long time, saying with a blush, ¡°No, I am embarrassed¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and spoke gently, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    The ID number on the ticket was covered with a mosaic but the year of birth could still be seen.

    Compared to the students nearby, this young man was born six years earlier than them. He should be around 26 years old but due to his baby face, Xiao Lou almost mistook him for a student. Now it seemed that 26 year old Jing Weiguang was a worker and this time he was in a hurry to take the train. He was probably on a business trip.

    Xiao Lou returned the ticket to him and continued to check the back row.

    The group of five females saw Xiao Lou checking the tickets with a smile and couldn¡¯t help speaking quietly.

    Xiao Lou might not be able to hear what they were saying but from time to time, the females would look at him. He probably guessed that the other side was talking about him. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t mind either. They were sitting in thest row and after checking the tickets in front of them, Xiao Lou went over and smiled. ¡°Please show me your tickets.¡±

    The females took out the tickets they had prepared.

    Liu Xiaoyan, Zhang Xiaozhu, We Xiaofei, Song Xiaoyu and Cheng Xiaoli.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    They were very neat and unified names.

    How did the parents of these five girls happen to give their daughters the ¡®xiao¡¯ character?

    Fortunately, the five girls had different hair¡¯, wore a skirt or different coloured clothing. Some were tall, fat or thin. He could remember them based on their hairstyles, figures and clothes.

    Xiao Lou joked while checking, ¡°Your names are really simr. If it was a surname, I would think you are sisters.¡±

    The girl sitting in the aisle said, ¡°We grew up together and are like sisters.¡±

    Xiao Lou pretended to casually ask, ¡°Is this a group trip?¡±

    Another girl replied, ¡°Yes, every year, we take annual leave to go out together to y.¡±

    The other three people didn¡¯t speak but they were looking at Xiao Lou with smiles, not in a malicious manner. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t want to chat with them for too long so he returned the tickets and told them, ¡°Females travelling together should pay attention to safety.¡±

    All five nodded with understanding.

    The train slowly moved forward. The LCD screen at the top of the carriage showed that the current time was 18:30.

    Just now, the start time of the train was 18:00 sharp. Xiao Lou took half an hour to check the tickets and he checked it very carefully, getting to know the passengers in the carriage. The focus was still on Jing Weiguang in 8F who waste, the Zhao Quan Yue Xiaoquan and Zhao Zheng Mo Jiaran couples in the eighth row and the group of five girls with the name ¡®X Xiao X.¡¯

    Just then, Xiao Lou heard the train broadcast in his ear. The female announcer spoke in a gentle voice, ¡°Dear passengers, it is now dinner time. We have prepared hearty fried vegetables, hot and sour potatoes, celery fried beef, braised pork ribs¡­¡±

    She named arge number of dishes and followed up with the words, ¡°You can eat in the middle of the train in the 5th carriage. In addition, we offer simple packages. The chicken rice set is 5,000 gold, and the beef set is 5,500 gold. Passengers who need to use this package, please talk to the attendants in each carriage. We will send the dinner to your seat¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou was hungry. He had eaten instant noddles in the 3 of Hearts room every day. It seemed that the food in the 4 of Hearts secret room had been greatly improved. He wondered if the train staff got to eat free food.

    The passengers inside the carriages heard the broadcast and started drooling.

    However, the food on the train was more expensive. Most passengers didn¡¯t intend to buy food in the carriage but took out pre-prepared snacks from their own bags.

    The two couples got together to discuss it and looked for Xiao Lou to register two chicken sets and two beef sets.

    The group of five females took out a bag of snacks. They often travelled and well prepared.

    Jing Weiguang sitting in 8F took out a bowl of instant noodles and spoke to Zhao Zheng sitting next to him, ¡°Can I trouble you to¡­¡±

    Zhao Zheng frowned ufortably but didn¡¯t say much as he moved sideways to let this person out.

    Once Jing Weiguang was far away, Mo Jiaran spoke coldly, ¡°Isn¡¯t this person too slovenly? His body odor is terrible. I don¡¯t know how long it has been since he had a bath. I really can¡¯t stand it!¡±

    Jing Weiguang had arrivedte and Xiao Lou had been standing at the door. They had close contact but there wasn¡¯t any obvious odor. It was just that his crumpled clothes didn¡¯t look very good. The girl probably saw him sloppily dressed and seized on the issue to dislike the other person.

    Zhao Zheng coaxed her gently, ¡°Don¡¯t be angry. The train has sleeper rooms. Later, we will go and buy it and the four of us will be in one room. We don¡¯t be disturbed¡­¡±

    Mo Jiaran looked depressed once this topic was raised. She turned to her boyfriend and spoke through gritted teeth. ¡°I have already reminded you to buy tickets half a month in advance. You said that the train tickets are easy to buy and there is no rush. What is the result? We couldn¡¯t buy tickets for the sleeper carriages and have to sit in the hard seats! Three days, 72 hours! My waist will be broken from sitting in such a hard seat. I haven¡¯t suffered anything like this since I was a child! Are you stupid? You don¡¯t even know how to buy a ticket in advance? Can¡¯t a 20 year old be more reliable?¡±

    Her loud voice attracted the eyes of many people. Xiao Lou immediately looked at them with rm.

    Zhao Zheng carefully smiled. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it was my fault. It isn¡¯t the peak tourist season. Howe the sleeper tickets are suddenly sold out¡­?¡±

    Mo Jiaran rolled her eyes. ¡°You didn¡¯t expect it? Do you only have physics forms in your head all day? Last year, I was expecting a gift on my birthday yet you forgot because you were doing an experiment! What girlfriend are you looking for? Go and live with your board!¡±

    Someone else heard this and couldn¡¯t helpughing. Zhao Zheng¡¯s face was red after being scolded.

    Next to them, Zhao Quan tried to mediate. ¡°Please don¡¯t quarrel. I will ask the attendant if I can make up the difference for a sleeper ticket.¡±

    He rose from this set and walked up to Xiao Lou, asking politely, ¡°Hello, do you have any spare sleeper tickets for this train? Can we make up the difference and change to a sleeper car?¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know but had to act as a dutiful train attendant. He smiled and replied, ¡°Wait a minute, I will ask.¡± Xiao Lou picked up the wireless pager and directly asked the conductor if there were any spare sleepers. The answer was that the train was full and he had to apologize. ¡°There is no room.¡±

    Zhao Quan frowned and thanked him before turning back.

    Mo Jiaran turned her head and looked other the window. her eyes were red and she seemed like she was about to cry. Her boyfriend¡¯s face was somewhat ugly from the scolding and he no longer continued to coax her.

    Zhao Quan helplessly had to say, ¡°There are no sleeper rooms but just put up with it. Sitting in the hard seat for 72 hours is really heard. If you can¡¯t stand it then walk around the carriage. By tomorrow, maybe someone will get off. If there is a free sleeper room then we will immediately change to it.¡±

    Mo Jiaran nodded but she and her boyfriend Zhao Zheng still didn¡¯t speak. It was as if they were in a cold war.

    The rest of the carriage had been watching the excitement as the couple quarrelled. Once the two had stopped, the inside of the carriage became extremely quiet.

    Jing Weiguang hadn¡¯t experienced the argument just now and came back with instant noodles. He walked to Zhao Zheng and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I have to trouble you again.¡±

    Zhao Zheng had been arguing with his girlfriend and was upset. He naturally wouldn¡¯t give the other person a good face. Jing Weiguang thought the other side wasn¡¯t happy about having to move and gave an embarrassed smile. Then he moved past Zhao Zheng with his instant noodles.

    Unfortunately, Jing Weiguang¡¯s shoces weren¡¯t tied and he tripped himself. The instant noodles in his hands fell and got chilli oil, soup and noodles all over Zhao Zheng¡¯s arms and chest, dyeing his white T-shirt.

    The bowl of instant noodles was fed to Zhao Zheng¡¯s dog T-shirt.

    Zhao Zheng¡¯s mood was probably like an X dog. He jumped up like he received an electric shock and swore, ¡°Fuck, are you blind?!¡±

    Jing Weiguang was full of apologies. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡±m sorry. S-Should I clean it? If not, I¡¯ll pay for this shirt¡­¡±

    Zhao Zheng¡¯s anger finally found a ce to be vented. He growled. ¡°This is a limited edition T-shirt worth hundreds of thousands!¡±

    The visitors around them were surprised to hear that the cartoon T-shirt was so expensive.

    Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t very convinced. 100,000 gold coins was almost 1000 yuan. Could a printed dog head T-shirt be so expensive? Was it really a limited edition? There were no signs and only the dog head.

    In the front row, the lively Yu Xinxin child suddenly said, ¡°Mom, I have seen that shirt. Isn¡¯t the supermarket selling it for 1,000 yuan?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The atmosphere inside the carriage was suddenly awkward and Zhao Zheng¡¯s expression was about to crack.

    The woman immediately covered the child¡¯s mouth. ¡°Okay, don¡¯t talk.¡±

    Children obviously wouldn¡¯t lie. Zhao Zheng had been scolded by his angry girlfriend in front of so many people and wanted to deliberately embarrass this young man.

    Jing Weiguang wasn¡¯t a fool. It was wrong for him to dirty the clothes with instant noodles but it was too much to pay 100 times the price.

    The situation was in a stalemate for a while.

    Finally, Zhao Quan sitting at the window stood up. ¡°Ah Zheng, he didn¡¯t do it intentionally. You went out this time with so many clothes. Come with me to change.¡±

    He looked at Jing Weiguang and continued, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my brother is in a bad mood. He didn¡¯t deliberately want to trick you.¡±

    Jing Weiguang immediately waved his hand. ¡°It is fine. I was in the wrong first. I was too careless and dirtied your brother¡¯s clothes. Well¡­ there are no burns, right? Do you want money for the clothes? I¡¯ll still pay you¡­¡±

    Zhao Zheng didn¡¯t have a good air. ¡°No!¡±

    He turned away and his brother Zhao Quan took the bag off the luggage rack and chased.

    Mo Jiaran nced coldly at the culprit Jing Weiguang. ¡°Spilling instant noodles is disgusting. Quickly clean it up or the carriage will be filled with the smell of your instant noodles.¡±

    Jing Weiguang was in a hurry. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯ll clean it up¡­¡±

    He turned to find Xiao Lou, asking, ¡°Hello, do you have a broom or mop? I soiled the ground over there and want to clean it up.¡±

    Cleaning should be the responsibility of the train attendant. Xiao Lou was in the role and immediately smiled. ¡°I will clean it up.¡±

    Jing Weiguang protested. ¡°No no no, I won¡¯t trouble you. I¡¯ll clean it up.¡±

    He grabbed the mop from Xiao Lou and turned to clean the floor.

    The smell inside the carriage wasn¡¯t that bad and this high-ss train had an air purification system. Xiao Lou took the initiative to turn on the purification system.

    Jing Weiguang went to cook a second bowl of instant noodles and the brothers came back after changing clothes.

    Zhou Zheng had taken off the couple shirt and changed into a blue T-shirt with letters on them. Mo Jiaran gave him a cold look and didn¡¯t speak.

    Jing Weiguang came back with the bowl of noodles. Zhao Zheng simply stood in the corridor and let the other person get in first. Then he put down the small table board and sat steadily. He calmly adjusted his clothes while sitting.

    Xiao Lou looked at the couple thoughtfully.

    Just now, Mo Jiaran and Zhao Zheng had argued so loudly and startled almost the entire carriage. Yet Yue Xiaoquan sitting next to them remained calm. She wore headphones, held her mobile phone and listened to music while reading novels. She waspletely immersed in her own world and had an indifferent attitude towards others.

    Zhao Quan was Zhao Zheng¡¯s brother and he couldn¡¯t stay still when seeing his brother argue with his girlfriend.

    After his younger brother and a strange passenger had a dispute and the child inadvertently humiliated his brother, he stood up to preside over the situation, taking his brother to change clothes while also apologizing to Jing Weiguang.

    It was obvious that in this group of four, the older brother¡¯s character was calm and he was more ¡®considered¡¯ when doing things. His girlfriend Yue Xiaoquan didn¡¯t care about idle things, even if the people around her were arguing. She just continued to read.

    Mo Jiaran had the typical temper of someone from a big family. Her family¡¯s situation should be very good and she wanted to rely on her boyfriend for things. She asked him to buy sleeper seats but as a result, they ended up with hard seats. Most people would be angry at having to sit in hard seats for three days. However, she lost her temper regardless of the situation and loudly scolded her boyfriend in front of the entire carriage, giving him no face. This obviously hurt Zhao Zheng¡¯s self-esteem and he was depressed.

    Zhao Zheng had to constantly bow to apologize. It was clear that in this rtionship, his girlfriend had the upper hand.

    He had been scolded by his girlfriend and lost face in front of the passengers. Then Jing Weiguang happened to spill instant noodles on his body. This would undoubtedly make him angry but¡­ he was too much. It was a cheap T-shirt and could be worn again after washing it. There was no need to hate the other person to that extent.

    There must be something wrong with the two couples.

    In particr, the couple T-shirt was dirty and Zhao Zheng was forced to change out of the couple clothes. Was this a sign that his rtionship with his girlfriend was going to break down?

 Chapter 70: Extremely Quick Train 3: First Aid

    In the 4th carriage, the staff of the dining carriage sent the packages to the seats. The group of couples arguing buried their heads in their food and the other passengers also ate. Yu Xinxin¡¯s family of five went to the dining carriage next door to order.

    The number of people in the dining carriage kept increasing. It was apparent that people from other carriages came to eat.

    There were rtively fewer people in the sleeper carriage where Yu Hanjiang was located, plus there was the tour guide who directly took care of the tour group. He quickly checked on them beforeing to the 5th dining carriage and nodding to Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes were on Group Leader Yu and he also walked over.

    The two men meat in the tea room of the dining carriage

    Yu Hanjiang briefly exined the situation of the 6th carriage. ¡°The 12 person tour group staying in rooms 1-3 departed from the City of the Sun to the City of the Moon. They will be staying in the carriage for three days. The full name of the tour guide is Qin Shiyue and everyone calls her Xiao Qin. She is a recent university graduate, 24 years old and very cheerful and talkative. She said that these elderly people are retired workers. The youngest is 60 years old while the oldest is 70 years old. They were in the same unit before retirement so their rtionship is very good and they often go on group tours.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°What about the other passengers? Are there any abnormalities?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°The No. 4 room is a family of four. The parents with two children are going to visit rtives. The No. 5 and 6 rooms are all lone guests who don¡¯t know each other. They don¡¯t talk and look down at their phones in the carriage. The remaining No. 7 and 8 rooms are a few people. After chatting, it was found that they are physics teachers from different high schools who went to an academic conference.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought carefully. ¡°It seems that there is little possibility of a homicide urring in other rooms since most of them don¡¯t know each other. We have to focus on this elderly tour group. They used to be in the same unit and perhaps there are some grievances.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°Yes, I got the full list from the tour guide and will check on these elderly people.¡± He slightly paused before asking, ¡°How is the situation over there?¡±

    Xiao Lou talked about the result of his own ticket check, the couple arguing and Jing Weiguang pouring instant noodles on people.

    Yu Hanjiang slightly frowned. ¡°Two couples and a group of five friends, it is very easy for the rtionship between such groups to go wrong. Perhaps they get along well on the surface but the hatred has long been buried in their hearts.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°I think so as well. I will focus on these people¡­ and thete Jing Weiguang. He doesn¡¯t know anyone but his appearance was too special. He might not be the deceased or the murderer but he is definitely a key figure to promote the plot.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at the gradually filling dining carriage and suddenly added, ¡°Yes, there is the dining carriage and everyone on the train cane here to eat. Is there the possibility of the murderer directly poisoning the food?¡±

    ¡°Even if there is poison, it wouldn¡¯t be now.¡±

    Just then, someone happened to pass by and Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou stepped back to open the passage.

    Once the man left, Yu Hanjiang continued, ¡°In most murders, the murderer isn¡¯t impulsive and there is a careful n. They just get on the train and shouldn¡¯t be too familiar with the restaurant. If they really want to use poison, the first thing to do is to look at the environment of the restaurant. Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow would be more assured.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought of another possibility. ¡°What if a train attendant is the onemitting the crime? They should be familiar with the train¡¯s environment and it is very convenient for them to go in and out of the dining carriage. Isn¡¯t it easy for them to directly poison the kitchen?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it and replied, ¡°We can¡¯t rule out this possibility.¡±

    For example, a teachermitted the crime in 3 of Hearts. Perhaps in 4 of Hearts, an abnormal train attendant killed the passengers?

    The two people were analyzing things when they saw the elderly tour groupe over to eat in the dining carriage.

    The spectacr group of 12 people immediately drew the attention of those around them.

    A bald old manined, ¡°Old Li, this food carriage is too expensive. Let¡¯s go back and set. Before I set off, my son bought me a packet of snacks that I haven¡¯t eaten¡­¡±

    The man called ¡®Old Li¡¯ was well-dressed. He was old but his hair was ck and he looked very energetic. He smiled and said, ¡°This is still expensive? Previously I went to eat seafood and I ate hundreds of gold coins at a time.¡± He patted the other person on the shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will treat you this meal!¡±

    The bald old man¡¯s eyes immediately brightened. ¡°Old Li is so cool!¡±

    Someone beside him wondered, ¡°Old Li, how much money does your son make in a year?¡±

    Old Li raised his eyebrows and pretended to be humble. ¡°Not much, it must be dozens of billions.¡±

    Xiao Lou was shocked. Dozens of billions, when converted ording to the ratio of 100:1 was tens of millions. This old grandfather was actually the father of a local tyrant. It was unknown what his son was doing.

    Yu Hanjiang immediately whispered in Xiao Lou¡¯s ears. ¡°Li Zhemin, 66 years old. He is the richest one among this group of elderly people. ording to the tour guide, he often invites guests to eat along the way and shows off how filial and rich his son is.¡±

    It was normal for the elderly to get together and talk about their sons and daughters. However, if one of them often showed off their children then it would cause resentment to others over time.

    In particr, if everyone was in the same unit then the ie level was simr and the children¡¯s age would be simr. As a result, Li Zhemin raised a son with over 100 million in assets. This would naturally attract envy and perhaps also lead to hatred.

    Xiao Lou closely watched the faces of the old people.

    There were a few people close to Old Li, who had envy on their faces as they praised, ¡°Your son is the most promising!¡±

    ¡°I remember that your son, Xiao Li was particrly good as a child. His grades were always first in the school and he was the science champion for his university entrance examination. Hey, unlike that scoundrel son in my family. He still can¡¯t afford to buy a house and I had to give him the down payment¡­¡±

    An olddy with grey hair sighed. ¡°At least your son is married and have children. How good is it that you can see your grandson and granddaughter every day? My daughter is 33 and her mind is full of work and promotions. I can¡¯t even get her to go on a blind date!¡±

    Someone joked, ¡°Old Li¡¯s son is also single. Do you want to introduce your daughter to him so that you be one family?¡±

    The olddy replied, ¡°You must be joking. My daughter is just an ordinarypany employee. How can she get Xiao Li? Xiao Li is so rich and also handsome. There must be a queue of girls lining up to chase him!¡±

    ¡°Haha, there are indeed many girls chasing him.¡± Li Zhemin made a sad expression. ¡°However, my son has a high vision. He must find a smart, virtuous, beautiful and capable wife. The key is that she must be filial to me. There aren¡¯t many people who meet the requirements.¡±

    ¡°Your son is in such a good condition that there aren¡¯t many girls who can match you. You have to polish his eyes and pick a proper daughter-inw.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s for sure.¡± Li Zhemin smiled.

    ¡°Right, Old Li,¡± someone changed the topic. ¡°Your son is engaged in real estate and the location is very good. I wanted to prepare a marriage house for my son. Can you give me a discount?¡±

    ¡°No problem!¡± Tell me directly what you want to buy and my son will give you the internal price!¡± Li Zhemin proudly assured.

    The three people sitting at the same table as him obviously had the best rtionship with him. During the process of chatting, they constantly praised his son. Someone asked about buying a house at a low price while others were purely ttering.

    The other two tables were less unified. Some people heard him bragging about his son¡¯s annual sry and started sneering. Some people looked indifferent and werepletely cold when he praised his son.

    In particr, once he talked about his son¡¯s wife selection criteria, an old woman whispered to a friend next to her. ¡°Why doesn¡¯t his son find a fairy? Oh, his son inherited his genes and is only 1.8 metres tall. My daughter is tall while his son only has stinky money.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other.

    It seemed this elderly tour group might have problems.

    Li Zhemin was too high-profile and didn¡¯t know the saying about ¡®not exposing money.¡¯ He boasted about his son and it was easy to attract people¡¯s disgust.

    Don¡¯t talk about his old colleagues, even the listening Xiao Lou found it distasteful. The other elderly people were worried about their children¡¯s work, not being able to afford a house and not finding a partner. Meanwhile, Li Zhemin said his son¡¯s annual sry was over 100 million and his development of real estate was excellent.

    The old man chatted regardless of the situation. His emotional intelligence was too low and his vanity was very strong.

    He was just like people who showed off their wealth every day, creating resentment.

    In fact, there were a lot of people like this. The average person loved to show off and people would just talk about them privately. Surely there wasn¡¯t enough hated to the point of killing?

    Xiao Lou whispered softly in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ear, ¡°Is there a connection between the couples in the 4th carriage and the elderly group in the 6th carriage? Or is one of them deliberately misleading us to interfere with us?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and pondered on it for a moment. ¡°In the 3 of Hearts secret room, five people were killed in the plot.¡±

    Xiao Lou was shocked. ¡°Yes, the girl who was pushed off the building five years ago, the three murderers killed by the avenger and the final innocent Ying Xiaoya. The difficulty of 4 of Hearts shouldn¡¯t be lower than 3 of Hearts. Then more than one person might die on this train?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke decisively. ¡°There are so many people in the 4th and 6th carriages. My guess is that the plot will be moreplicated than 3 of Hearts. We should pay close attention to the movements of these people and meet in the dining carriage once we find something.¡±

    3 of Hearts had the obvious ¡®Count of Monte Cristo¡¯ as a clue item. That case was rted to revenge.

    So far, 4 of Hearts didn¡¯t have any obvious clues.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were just turning to return to the carriages when a voice was heard from their headsets at the same time. ¡°Every train attendant, meal time ising. Please return to the 9th carriage as soon as possible to receive your work meal.¡±

    The two people nced at each other, a bit of uneasiness rising in their hearts.

    The instructions from the headset must be obeyed but the 9th carriage was so far away. They couldn¡¯t predict what would happen in the carriages once they left.

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°It is only the first day and it is unlikely for the killer to act yet. We should go to eat first.¡±

    It was only then that Xiao Lou turned to keep up with Group Leader Yu, quickly heading to the 9th carriage.

    The crew of the train were gathered here. Each person received a working meal and sat at a table to eat and talk. Xiao Lou pricked his ears but didn¡¯t hear any useful information. Most people were just gossiping.

    He sat down facing Yu Hanjiang and opened his meal.

    The food in 4 of Hearts was really good. There were chicken chops, a golden omelette, a small te of pickled radish, garlic oil and a bowl of tomato and egg soup.

    He hadn¡¯t eaten well for several days so Xiao Lou was really moved when he saw this package. He immediately opened it and moved his chopsticks to eat.

    The two of them quickly finished their meals and had just picked up a tissue to wipe their mouths when they heard a female voice in their ears.

    There was clear anxiety in her voice. ¡°This broadcast is looking for someone. If there is a medical worker on the train, please go to the sixth carriage. A child had an ident and urgently needs the help of a medical worker¡­ this broadcast is looking for someone. If there is a medical worker¡­¡±

    The hurried broadcast was repeated twice.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other, packed up their meal boxes and rushed to the sixth carriage.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke with a cold face while walking. ¡°The children in the carriage is only that young couple¡¯s children in Room 4. They are twins of mixed sex and are three years old this year. They just started kindergarten.¡±

    Xiao Lou was very worried. ¡°There was a sudden broadcast to find a doctor. I don¡¯t know the condition of these children.¡±

    Dinner time on the train was more chaotic. The middle aisle was filled with people walking back and forth carrying instant noodles. The two people passed sideways and soon arrived at the 6th carriage.

    Yu Hanjiang strode to the door of Room 4.

    He saw the young couple full of anxiety. The woman was holding her three year old son and the child¡¯s face was blue, his body twitching violently. Xiao Lou immediately followed and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    The woman cried. ¡°I just fed the child and the child suddenly became like this¡­¡±

    A foreign body must¡¯ve been inhaled into the trachea, causing the suffocation spasms.

    Xiao Lou was also a doctor and understood what was going on based on the child¡¯s appearance. He went forward to help but the next moment, he saw a person rush over. ¡°What¡¯s the situation? What happened to the child?¡±

    It was actually Jing Weiguang of the 4th carriage.

    Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t reacted yet when Jing Weiguang rushed through the gap between him and Yu Hanjiang into Room 4. ¡°Give me the child!¡±

    The woman¡¯s eyes were red as she looked at the young man¡¯s messy clothes and asked, ¡°You are?¡±

    ¡°I am an emergency doctor. Give me the child.¡±

    It was like the woman was grasping onto straw as she immediately handed the child over to him and hurriedly exined what happened.

    Once Jing Weiguang heard this, he held the 3 year old boy from behind and opened the child¡¯s clothes. He calmly stretched out his right hand, his right hand in a fist that was two finger lengths above the child¡¯s navel. Then he wrapped his left hand around his right hand and quickly struck hard against the back.

    The purple-faced child was hit five times in a row and suddenly coughed.

    A fingernail sized raisin was coughed out and the child¡¯s face and breathing gradually returned to normal. He had clearly been suffering and let out a cry.

    Jing Weiguang handed the child back to the woman and warned, ¡°Be careful when feeding the child, especially when the child is crying. It is easy for food to be sucked into the trachea. If this happens again, you can give first aid like I did just now.¡±

    The woman coaxed her son and looked gratefully at him. ¡°Thank you, thank you! Thank you so much!¡±

    Her husband also grabbed Jing Weiguang¡¯s hand. ¡°Thank you, Doctor! What is your name and what hospital? Once we go back, we must visit and send you a banner!¡±

    Jing Weiguang¡¯s face slightly reddened and he hurriedly waved his hand. ¡°No, there is no need. Cough, it is nothing. I¡¯ll go back first.¡±

    He turned and ran quickly, leaving Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang to face each other.

    Yu Hanjiang went over to make sure that the child wasn¡¯t in danger before turning around.

    Many passengers hade over to watch and they eximed, ¡°Such a good person!¡± ¡°This little friend is lucky that there happened to be a doctor on the train¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou whispered in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ear, ¡°He is Jing Weiguang who showed upter. I didn¡¯t expect him to actually be a doctor.¡±

    Just now, Jing Weiguang used themon emergency ¡®Heimlich Maneuver.¡¯ The technique was ¡®scissors, stones, cloth.¡¯ The scissors referred to the position of two fingers above the navel. The stone was to hold one hand into a fist in this position. Cloth was to wrap around the stone like a cloth with the other hand. Then hit quickly five times a round until the child coughed up the foreign body.

    The principle of this first air method was to increase the pressure of the abdominal cavity so that the diaphragm elevated. This increased the pressure in the chest so that the foreign matter was discharged. A child could identally inhale things into the trachea by mistake when eating. If first air wasn¡¯t timely then it could be fatal.

    Jing Weiguang ran to Room 4 to save the child and told the relevant people that he was a doctor.

    Xiao Lou was thoughtful. ¡°In the 8th row, the two females are studying medicine. Yue Xiaoquan is studying clinical medicine and Mo Jiaran nursing. So many medical professions appearing on the train isn¡¯t a coincidence.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Perhaps the killing method in this secret room is special. If there are no medical rted profession among the challengers, there is no way to solve the mystery. Therefore, there are so many doctors in the secret room. If the challengers don¡¯t understand something, they can go ask Jing Weiguang?¡±

    Jing Weiguang was a doctor acting alone and wasn¡¯t likely to be the deceased or the murderer.

    Now it seemed that the existence of Jing Weiguang was more like a NPC assisting the relevant people in judging medical knowledge.

 Chapter 71: Extremely Quick Train 4

    The two girls in the eighth row were whispering when Xiao Lou returned to the 4th carriage.

    Mo Jiaran said, ¡°The broadcast was looking for a medical worker. I don¡¯t know what happened. Do you want to go over to see?¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t go, we are just junior students. If we can¡¯t help or the child has an ident, perhaps the family will put the me on our heads.¡±

    Mo Jiaran frowned gently. She carefully considered it and felt that these words were reasonable, so she didn¡¯t insist.

    Yue Xiaoquan had aplete ¡®it doesn¡¯t matter if it has nothing to do with me¡¯ attitude.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t expect that Mo Jiaran might have a temper but she was quite caring. She heard the broadcast and wanted to help. Instead, it was Yue Xiaoquan who stayed out of the matter and put on an indifferent expression.

    Due to being scolded by his girlfriend in front of many people, Zhao Zheng was in a bad mood. He held his arms and closed his eyes.

    Jing Weiguang was back from rescuing the person and was flustered when he saw the boy with his eyes closed. He stayed in the aisle for a few seconds and found that the other side didn¡¯t show signs of waking up. He had to scratch his head and awkwardly say, ¡°Trouble you to let me¡­¡±

    The sleeping Zhao Zheng immediately opened his eyes, his eyes almost rolling to the back of his head. ¡°Why do you have so many things? Always going in and out!¡±

    He reluctantly moved sideways to let the other person in.

    Jing Weiguang smiled awkwardly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡±

    After a while, the young couple from the 6th carriage suddenly rushed to the 4th carriage to thank him.

    The woman carried arge bag of fruit while the man was holding his three year old son. The couple¡¯s appearance quickly attracted the attention of the passengers of the 4th carriage. The husband and wife stopped at the 8th row and the woman gratefully said, ¡°Doctor thank you so much for saving my son. I don¡¯t know how to say it so we brought you some fruit.¡±

    The man handed him a business card. ¡°If you need anything in the future, don¡¯t hesitate to open your mouth and ask. We will certainly help you!¡±

    They bowed deeply towards him and the woman touched the child¡¯s hair, speaking softly, ¡°Baby, thank Uncle.¡±

    The child¡¯s soft voice said, ¡°Thank you, Uncle!¡±

    Jing Weiguang was watched by everyone on the carriage and his ears turned red. He hurriedly waved his hands, ¡°There is no need to thanks. The two of you are too polite. I just helped you and it¡¯s enough that the child is fine. Please take back the fruit. I have eaten¡­¡±

    ¡°You take it. If it wasn¡¯t for you, our baby might¡¯ve¡­¡± The woman¡¯s eyes turned red and the man hurriedly agreed. ¡°Yes, we are going to a rtive¡¯s house and didn¡¯t bring any valuable gifts. We can only buy you some food to express our gratitude, so don¡¯t refuse.¡±

    Jing Weiguang had to helplessly say, ¡°Okay.¡±

    The two people thanked him for a while before taking their child away.

    In the 4th carriage, the little girl Yu Xinxin sitting in the front row pped and eximed, ¡°Uncle saved a person, so good!¡±

    The little girl took the lead in pping and a round of apuse filled the carriage. The Zhao Zheng and Mo Jiaran couple had extremely embarrassed expressions. They had just dismissed and embarrassed Jing Weiguang. They didn¡¯t think that this messy-looking man was actually a doctor who saved a life and all the people in the carriage were apuding him.

    The apuse was like a p in the face.

    Mo Jiaran had a bad expression and some regret on her face. She stood up and dered, ¡°I¡¯m going to the bathroom.¡±

    Zhao Zheng shrank back with embarrassment. Many people around him were looking at him and he had to close his eyes to sleep. Yue Xiaoquan still had her head up high. She directly put on headphones and continued to read her novel.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes swept over the LCD screen at the front of the carriage. The time had reached 19:00.

    The passengers had eaten dinner and were resting. The carriages were quiet.

    Outside the window was no longer a thick white fog, it was just dark. It was unknown where the train was going but through the window, they could feel the starry night sky. Xiao Lou stood at the window, pretending to look at the scenery outside but he was actually listening to movements in the carriage.

    At 20:00, Yu Xinxin suddenly wanted to eat ice cream. Her mother said there was no ice cream on the train and she would buy it at the station. The child was coaxed with a few words and fell asleep in her mother¡¯s arms.

    At 20:30, the group of five females suddenly started to run to the toilet one by one. Their faces were slightly white. The delicate and pretty Liu Xiaoyan sitting at 15A came back with a slightly pale and suffering face. She said, ¡°I just had diarrhea. How about you?¡±

    Zhang Xiaozhu sitting at 15B replied, ¡°My stomach hurt. Is it because the food we ate this afternoon wasn¡¯t fresh?¡±

    Next to her, Wu Xiaofei directly let out coarse words. II thought there was a problem with that bowl of noodles! Xiaoyu said it was a characteristic of the slurry water. Characteristic my ass! Those noodles were bad.¡±

    However, their faces gradually improved after they went to the toilet.

    Finally, Cheng Xiaoli came back and took out medicine to treat diarrhea from her bag. She gave one piece of each person and said, ¡°It is lucky I brought medicine for diarrhea. Hurriedly take it.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked closely. She had poured five pills from the same bottle and spread them out on her palms to take. If she was going to poison a designated target then it would be undesirable because she didn¡¯t know which person would take which pill.

    The possibility of poisoning through medicine wasn¡¯t great. This person should simply be giving everyone diarrhea medicine.

    Xiao Lou had been observing the group of girls in the 15th row. After this episode, the five girls were very tired and went to sleep after taking the medicine. No one spoke.

    At 21:00, Xiao Lou stood at the connection between carriages with some numbness in his legs.

    Just then, a sudden broadcast entered his ears. ¡°Passengers, the train will arrive at the next stop, Ice Ind. Passengers who need to get off, please prepare in advance. Carry your baggage towards the right door to get off. The train will stop for 15 minutes at Ice Ind Station. Passengers need to pay close attention to the time to avoid the doors closing.

    Xiao Lou was slightly shocked. There was actually a stop?!

    At first, the broadcast said this was the train going from the City of the Sun to the City of the Moon. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know the Card World but he thought this was an ultra-long distance line connecting the joker cities of the Card World.

    He didn¡¯t expect the train to stop in between.

    No wonder why he felt something was wrong when he checked the tickets. Everyone¡¯s tickets had City of the Sun written as the departure station but it didn¡¯t write the arrival station. The ticket only showed a ¡®full¡¯ ticket and a ¡®half¡¯ ticket. There were no specific prices.

    This was clearly a deliberate attempt to confuse the intruders.

    The duration of this speed train was three days. The murderer definitely wouldn¡¯t get off along the way or they would fail the instance. Then once he knew the station locations in advance, he and Yu Hanjiang could quickly exclude arge number of passengers.

    The broadcast ended and the 4th carriage had more than a dozen passengers stand up and grab their luggage, ready to get off.

    There was a roar and the moving train stopped firmly at Ice Ind.

    The train attendant¡¯s headset gave a prompt. ¡°All attendants, please get off the train and do a good job with the safety checks.¡±

    Xiao Lou got off and stood at the door of the 4th carriage. He nced sideways and saw Yu Hanjiang standing at the door of the 6th carriage. The two people exchanged a look and started paying attention to the passengers.

    It was too much of a pit for the train to have multiple stops.

    If the killer got on in the middle, wouldn¡¯t they have to start their reasoning again?

    Two people got off the 6th carriage and one person boarded.

    The person who boarded was around 1.75 metres and heavily covered. They wore a ck hat, a ck mask andrge sunsses that covered the face. It was hard to tell if it was a female or male.

    Yu Hanjiang immediately frowned and stopped the other person. ¡°Who are you? Take off your mask.¡±

    A low voice was heard. ¡°What is the reason for taking off the mask?¡±

    ¡°In order to ensure the safety of the passengers, it is necessary to check your identity.¡±

    The other side reluctantly took off the mask, revealing a delicate face. It was a boy but he was more neutral looking. He lowered his voice and said, ¡°I am hiding since I ran out on my agent. I am going to the City of the Moon to see my goddess¡¯ concert. Please don¡¯t say anything. Thank you!¡±

    ¡­It was a little star.

    Yu Hanjiang sighed with relief and let him get on the train. The boy put the mask back on and sneaked like a thief into the 6th carriage.

    On the side of the 4th carriage, there were 12 passengers who got off and four boarded. The four people¡¯s tickets were all far away from each other. They were individual passengers.

    Once the passengers boarded, Xiao Lou walked over to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Some people got off, decreasing our target range. After all, the range of 107 passengers is too big. In this way, we canpletely exclude anybody who isn¡¯t heading to the terminal.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, once we get on the train, we will ask again from the beginning.¡±

    During the 15 minutes break, some people got off the train to get fresh air, including the couple who had been fighting.

    Zhao Zheng followed behind Mo Jiaran and spoke with a smile of ttery. ¡°I saw someone got off the sleeper carriage. I will immediately make up the difference to buy you a ticket. Don¡¯t be angry, okay?¡±

    Mo Jiaran¡¯s expression improved. ¡°Okay.¡±

    Zhao Zheng found Xiao Lou and asked, ¡°Hello, I want to make up the difference to let my girlfriend sleep in the sleeper carriage. Is it possible?¡±

    Xiao Lou asked the conductor through the headset and the other side said, ¡°The 4th carriage has one empty bed and the difference is 5,000 gold.¡±

    He told Zhao Zheng the result and the boy¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Great, I will give you the money! Ranran, you can sleep well tonight. This time, I wrong you. I promise, next time I will buy tickets one month in advance! It is probably because too many people are going to the concert that the tickets sold out so quickly.¡±

    Mo Jiaran waved her hand. ¡°Forget it. Go out and buy the tickets directly.¡±

    The ice between the two people was released. They took one turn around the station before returning to the train. Mo Jiaran took her luggage to change to the 6th carriage and Xiao Lou told Yu Hanjiang, ¡°She changed positions. I have to trouble Group Leader Yu to pay more attention to this girl.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°I know.¡±

    Meanwhile, the group of five females also got off the carriage and breathed in fresh air whileining. ¡°The smell of instant noodles in the carriage really makes me want to vomit.¡± ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for the goddess¡¯ concert, I wouldn¡¯t go through this. I will die sitting in a hard seat for 72 hours!¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was slightly surprised. It was a concert.

    He turned and walked to the female group, asking them with a smile. ¡°Are you taking a trip together to see a concert?¡±

    The lively Wu Xiaofei smiled. ¡°Yes, we are going to the City of the Moon for a week and will see the goddess¡¯ concert. The goddess only holds a concert every three years and tickets are difficult to buy. I sent several days to grab five tickets.¡±

    The ¡®goddess¡¯ naturally wasn¡¯t on the train. She should be the Card World¡¯s most influential singer and there were clearly many people on this train rushing to see her concert. This included the small star who just boarded the 6th carriage, the two couples in the 4th carriage and the group of five female friends. So many people were going to the same concert together. Was it a coincidence or deliberately arranged?

    The 15 minute stop time would soon be over. The rm bell rang and the female group hurriedly got on the train.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang also got on the train and the two people agreed to meet in the restaurant in half an hour.

    Xiao Lou grabbed a piece of paper and pen from the staff office at the end and walked to the front row, speaking warm words. ¡°Hello everyone, I will now get your arrival information, lest you miss the station.¡±

    Everyone was very cooperative.

    Xiao Lou quickly went in a circle. Out of the 75 passengers in the 4th carriage, only 12 were staying to the terminal. This included Zhao Quan, Zhao Zheng, Yue Xiaoquan, Mo Jiaran and Jing Weiguang of the 8th row, the group of five girlfriends in thest row and two individuals going to the concert.

    Yu Xinxin¡¯s family was actually getting off the train tomorrow night. Apparently, the family wasn¡¯t directly rted to the case.

    However, the little girl Yu Xinxin didn¡¯t seem like a passerby. Previously, Jing Weiguang identally poured instant noodles on Zhao Zheng¡¯s clothes and Zhao Zheng falsely reported the price of the T-shirt as several hundred thousand gold coins. Yu Xinxin inadvertently punctured his image. This was definitely useful to the plot and was perhaps giving a hint. The child wouldn¡¯t lie.

    Yu Xinxin was likely to see what happened next or inadvertently give an important clue.

    Xiao Lou looked at the little girl sleeping in her mother¡¯s arms while thinking that he should talk to her before she got off the train tomorrow.

    He arrived at the restaurant. Group Leader Yu had also checked and he whispered, ¡°In the 6th carriage, only the elderly tour group and the third-rate star who just boarded are going to the terminal. The others are getting off tomorrow night.¡±

    Xiao Lou also told him the situation of the 4h carriage. ¡°By excluding those who are getting off mid-way, our focus will be reduced a lot.¡±

    Initially, they needed to pay attention to 107 passengers. Now most of them were excluded, leaving fewer than 25 people involved in the case.

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°In addition, I looked for the train timetable from the attendant of the carriage next door.¡±

    He unfolded a form in front of Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou carefully looked. There were only two stops before the terminal. The arrival time on the first night was at 21:30 and the next night was a 21:30. Thest stop on the fourth day at the City of the Moon was in the afternoon at 18:00.

    The first day they departed at 18:00 and the fourth day they arrived at 18:00. This journey was exactly three days, 72 hours.

    They had to pay attention to any new passengers at the two major stops. However, at present, the three groups of the elderly tour group, the couple and the five girlfriends were still the focus.

    The time was 22:00 and the broadcast was heard again. ¡°It is 22:00 in the evening. Passengers, the lights of the carriage will soon go out. Please rest as soon as possible. We wish you all a good night and pleasant dreams.¡±

    Then the lights at the top of the carriage werepletely extinguished, leaving only the two footlights leading to the junctions of the carriages.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang also received instructions from their headsets. ¡°All attendants, please return to the 9th carriage as soon as possible. Thank you.¡±

    The two people nced at each other before returning to the 9th carriage.

    Xiao Lou whispered in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ear. ¡°I don¡¯t know if the invisibility cloak can be used? In the middle of the night, do we want to go back to the carriage to take a look? Perhaps something will happen tonight.¡±

    He just finished speaking when the door of the 9th carriage was directly locked and a warning rang in their ears. ¡°The passengers are sleeping. Please don¡¯t walk around and affect the passengers¡¯ rest.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Our actions are restricted and we can¡¯t go out.¡±

    The inside of the carriage was dimly lit and even Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face couldn¡¯t be seen clearly. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was gentle in the darkness as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it will happen when it happens. Sleep well tonight. You have been tired these days.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled helplessly. ¡°It seems we can only do this.¡± He paused before asking, ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you like to slow on the top bunk or lower bunk?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care.¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°Then can I sleep in the bottom bunk? My sleeping habits aren¡¯t very good and I fell off the top bunk in university.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    Student Xiao Lou who fell from the top bunk sounded a bit miserable.

    Yu Hanjiang cared for him. ¡°Did you break anything.¡±

    Xiao Lou awkwardly touched his nose. ¡°No, but I scared my roommates awake.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang smiled softly. ¡°Okay, then you sleep in the bottom bunk.¡±

    The two people opened the door to their room. There were no lights in the room and they could only rely on groping around. Yu Hanjiang was tall and he grabbed the raids of the top bed with both hands, climbing up directly. He didn¡¯t even step on thedder next to it.

    Xiao Lou secretly praised, ¡®Group Leader Yu is good.¡¯

    The two people took off their coats and fell asleep. The carriage was very quiet and since he really was very tired, Xiao Lou soon fell asleep.

    ***

    4 of Hearts secret room, 7:00 the next day.

    The rm ringing from the headset woke everyone up at the same time.

    The train attendants lined up at the vanity in the 9th carriage to wash up. Breakfast was sent to their rooms, which consisted of eggs, milk and bread. After breakfast, it was 7:30 and the door to the 9th carriage opened.

    The two people quickly rushed back to their carriages.

    Xiao Lou nced at the 4th carriage. Everyone was still present. Some were sleeping while some had woken up early to wash their faces and go to the toilet without any abnormalities.

    However, Yu Hanjiang had just walked to the door of Room 2 in the 6th carriage when he heard a sudden exmation. ¡°Old Li, Old Li, what happened to you? Why is your body like ice¡­¡± ¡°Oh my god, he doesn¡¯t seem to be breathing!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang calmly opened the door.

    In 2A, the lower bunk, the old man who showed off his son yesterday was lying down with closed eyes.

    His face was serene and there was a smile on his face.

    It was just that the pale face and cold body temperature told the people around him¡ªhe was already dead.

    Li Zhemin died in the most beautiful dream without any struggles.

 Chapter 72: Extremely Quick Train 5 - Death of Li Zhemin

    Once they discovered that Li Zhemin was dead, the other three old men in the same room immediately started to scream.

    The shrill screams rmed the other passengers in the same carriage and the remaining eight elderly people of the tour group ran over.

    The olddy who had dinner with Li Zhemin yesterday nervously touched his body. ¡°Old Li, wake up, wake up!¡± The other two olddies next to her wondered, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong with Old Li?¡± ¡°Oh my god, he isn¡¯t waking up for so long. Surely he isn¡¯t dead?¡±

    Hearing the word ¡®dead¡¯, the elderly people were shocked and whispered to each other. Some even took a step forward and removed the quilt of the deceased to check the situation.

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°Everyone, please go outside and don¡¯t move the body!¡±

    The train attendant¡¯s face was extremely serious and his voice was as frightening as thunder. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s sharp eyes swept through the crowd and they automatically took a step back with white faces. They left Room 2 and created a path for Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang strode into Room 2 and quickly swept a nce over the scene of the crime.

    The coats and caps of the four people in the tour group were hung from the hangers of the top and bottom bunks. The three beds 2B, 2C and 2D were slightly messy because the old people just got up. However, Li Zhemin¡¯s 2A bed was extraordinarily neat.

    Yu Hanjiang removed the quilt. Li Zhemin had changed into a set of id pyjamas and the clothes were neat. He obviously hadn¡¯t fought with people nor were there any signs of struggle. He had been killed in his sleep and even at the moment of death, Li Zhemin was smiling like he was dreaming, his face extraordinarily quiet.

    Most people over 60 years old slept very lightly and it was easy for them to wake up. There were some who found it hard to sleep in the middle of the night.

    Room 2 had four elderly people and once one of them was awake, the risk of the murderer being found was very high. Apparently, the murderer knew these old people¡¯s habits very known and confirmed that everyone fell asleep before moving.

    It was reasonable to infer that it was easier for the three people staying in the same room as Li Zhemin tomit a crime. It was because they could always observe whether other and Li Zhemin was sleeping to ensure they wouldn¡¯t be found.

    Still, they couldn¡¯tpletely exclude the possibility of the elderly people in Rooms 1 and 3 frommitting the crime. After all, they were colleagues for many years. They knew each other very well and often travelled together. They would be aware of who had insomnia, who was sleeping and who was snoring.

    The tour guide Qin Shiyue was washing up. She heard the cries from inside the carriage, hurriedly washed her face with a towel, put it back in her washing bag and quickly ran back.

    She saw that the door of Room 2 was surrounded by a group of people and nervously asked a familiar olddy, ¡°Zhang Yi, what¡¯s going on?¡± The olddy pointed to Room 2 and exined, ¡°Old Li seems to be dead¡­¡±

    Qin Shiyue¡¯s expression changed and she quickly walked past. She found that the crew member of the 6th carriage was checking the situation of the deceased.

    She came to the door and the other person just looked up.

    His eyes were cold and sharp enough to pierce the bottom of people¡¯s hearts. Qin Shiyue was startled by his cold eyes and took a deep breath to adjust her mood before asking in a quivering voice, ¡°U-Uncle Li is really dead? What is going on here?¡±

    The people around her shook their heads. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    The bald old man suddenly said, ¡°Is it a heart attack? I remember that Old Li was at risk of a heart attack!¡±

    An old man next to him echoed. ¡°Yes, Old Li has high blood pressure and had a heart disease for many years. His bed was originally on the upper bunk but he was worried his disease would strike in the middle of the night and he specifically changed beds with me.¡±

    Another old man said, ¡°He took his medicine on time every day and had surgery on his heart previously. It was said he got a stent!¡±

    The three men who mentioned the heart disease were the old men who lived in Li Zhemin¡¯s room.

    Yu Hanjiang ignored their wild guesses and whispered, ¡°Little Qin, can I trouble you to go to the 4th carriage and call the attendant there toe.¡±

    Qin Shiyue nodded with a pale face and quickly headed to the 4th carriage.

    Once she arrived at the 4th carriage, she came across Xiao Lou who was heading to this side. Qin Shiyue hurriedly wondered, ¡°Hello, are you the attendant of the 4th carriage? The attendant of the 6th carriage asked you toe over!¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded politely and strode to the 6th carriage.

    The 6th carriage had so much activity in the early morning. There might be the dining carriage between them but Xiao Lou still heard the screams. The passengers of the 4th carriage also looked over curiously.

    It must be a problem with Group Leader Yu¡¯s carriage. Xiao Lou had immediately headed there only to encounter the guide.

    Xiao Lou asked as he walked, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    Qin Shiyue¡¯s face was as white as paper. ¡°Our group¡­ there was an old man who suddenly died. My god, there was such a big ident. I¡¯ll definitely be fired by the travel agency when I go back!¡±

    Xiao Lou whispered words offort. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, if it is murder then the responsibility isn¡¯t with you. The travel agency will probably reconsider so I hope you can cooperate with our investigation.¡±

    Qin Shiyue¡¯s eyes bulged with disbelief. ¡°M-Murder? Didn¡¯t Uncle Li have a heart attack?¡±

    Seeing this girl¡¯s expression, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help feeling sympathy. She was a just graduated university student who travelled with a group of elderly people. She was cautious the entire way and took due diligence, only for someone to suddenly die. This wasn¡¯t an ordinary blow for her and perhaps she would be punished when she went back.

    Xiao Lou told her, ¡°It isn¡¯t possible to draw any conclusions yet. Wait until we check before we can determine the cause of death. Little Qin, you should first sort out the information of the tour group, including the form they filled in when they signed up for the travel agency. We¡¯ll find youter.¡±

    Qin Shiyue lookedplicated. ¡°G-Good¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou soon arrived at the 6th carriage and found a group of old people looking panicked around Room 2.

    The family of four in Room 4 also heard the movements and popped out their heads. The three year old child who inhaled the raisin yesterday asked, ¡°Mum, what¡¯s wrong? Why are the grandparents there? Is there anything interesting? I want to see it too!¡±

    The woman had heard the surroundingments about a dead person and her expression changed. She immediately carried the child back. ¡°No, don¡¯t go out. Let¡¯s stay in the room and watch cartoons, okay?¡±

    In Room 5, a passenger had got off yesterday and Mo Jiaran changed over to sleep there.

    The noise outside had woken her up and her anger was very serious. She opened the door with a dark expression and loudly called out, ¡°What are you doing in the early morning that doesn¡¯t let people sleep? Can¡¯t you keep down the noise?¡±

    An olddy told her, ¡°Girl, someone died in Room 2¡­¡±

    Mo Jiaran¡¯s face suddenly paled and she tried to run to the 4th carriage like a frightened cat. Xiao Lou stopped her. ¡°No one is allowed to leave.¡±

    Mo Jiaran pointed to Room 2 in a trembling manner. ¡°My god, there is a dead person over there! I don¡¯t want to stay in the 6th carriage¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou opened the door of Room 5 and smiled. ¡°Go back in.¡±

    Mo Jiaran¡¯s face was white and she refused to cooperate.

    Xiao Lou told her, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. It will be safer in your room.¡±

    The faces of the other people became a big ugly at Xiao Lou¡¯s words and Mo Jiaran reluctantly returned to her room.

    Xiao Lou turned around and locked the door of the connecting carriages.

    Yu Hanjiang heard his voice and tacitly called out from Room 2. ¡°Carriage 6th is temporarily closed. Everyone, please return to your rooms. We need to investigate every passenger. Thank you for your cooperation.¡±

    An olddy asked, ¡°What do you need to investigate? Old Li obviously had a heart attack and died suddenly.¡±

    Someone else spat out, ¡°What can you find out? Are you nning to do an autopsy?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Yes, we will do an autopsy.¡±

    The old man was frightened.

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°Everyone, please don¡¯t panic and return to your room. The three people in Room 2, I will trouble you to wait in the corridor.¡±

    He and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other and nodded. They walked into Room 2 together, closed the door and isted the room from outside gazes.

    If there wasn¡¯t a medical-rted profession among the challengers, it would be impossible for them to judge the cause of Li Zhemin¡¯s death. At this time, they should go to the 4th carriage and invite the doctor ¡®NPC¡¯ Jing Weiguang toe over.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t need Dr Jing¡¯s help. Xiao Lou¡¯s autopsy was more professional than Dr Jing.

    Yu Hanjiang consciously stepped back and made space for Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou put on a pair of clothes, leaned over to open the dead man¡¯s clothing and examined the body.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°The tour group just said that Li Zhemin¡¯s heart wasn¡¯t good and he had heart surgery.¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately took off the deceased¡¯s pants and indeed saw traces of the surgery on the thigh. He exined, ¡°The stent cement surgery is generally used for coronary artery disease.¡±

    He pointed to the traces on the thigh. ¡°Group Leader Yu, look here, the victim¡¯s right leg has a surgical scar. The doctor inserted the stent through the femoral artery¡¯s vascr channel and into the heart¡¯s blood vessels. This type of surgery was verymon and have a high sess rate. The imnted stent propped open the narrow blood vessels and the patient¡¯s heart blood flow will return to normal.¡±

    Xiao Lou examined the deceased¡¯s face, pupils, muscles and skin, followed by the conclusion, ¡°He didn¡¯t die of a sudden heart attack. The body spots of patients who die of sudden heart disease are generally a dark purple-red. Due to therge number of organs in the body with congested tissue, rigor is too fast. There will also be significant scattered bleeding. Li Zhemin¡¯s situation doesn¡¯t match this.¡±

    He carefully observed the details of the deceased¡¯s nails, oral mucous membranes and other areas. ¡°The possibility of poisoning isn¡¯t very high.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t a heart attack or poisoning. There weren¡¯t any stab wounds or impact wounds. LI Zhemin¡¯s death was simply unknown. It was like the old man died naturally in his sleep.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly. ¡°Can you specte on the cause of death?¡±

    Xiao Lou was silent for a moment as he carefully observed the deceased¡¯s navel area and upper arms. ¡°Group Leader Yu, he has many needle marks.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was slightly stunned. ¡°Did he take drugs?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°It might be left by injecting medicine.¡± He opened the door and asked the three men standing there. ¡°Did Li Zhemin have any medical history besides heart disease? For example¡­ diabetes?¡±

    The three people nced at each other before one of them suddenly eximed. ¡°I think so! He had high blood pressure, high blood lipids and high blood sugar. Old Li previously mentioned that all three are so high that he has to eat vegetarian food or something.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Search Li Zhemin¡¯s luggage.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and took Li Zhemin¡¯s bag from the luggage rack. It contained several magazines and some medicine.

    Old Li was like a medicine seller. There were a dozen bottles of medicine in the bag. Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t know what these medicine were and poured them on the bed for Xiao Lou to see.

    Xiao Lou examined them from the side while introducing them to Group Leader Yu, ¡°This bottle is antihypertensive medicine. These two bottles are used to soften the blood vessels. This is for diastolic blood vessels and this is a gastric mucosa protection agent.¡±

    Xiao Lou exined the functions of the medicine and the surrounding elderly people were stunned.

    An old man eximed with shock, ¡°Are the current train attendants so strong? You know medicine?¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t exin and whispered to Yu Hanjiang, ¡°There is no insulin.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang closed the door and shut out the curious old people outside.

    ¡°Patients with diabetes must carry insulin with them when travelling for long periods of time and take it at a certain time every day to control their blood sugar,¡± Xiao Lou stated.

    He looked back at the medicine on the bed. ¡°Li Zhemin¡¯s bag has many messy medicines like antihypertensive drugs. He must take them every day. However, the most important insulin isn¡¯t in his bag. This is absolutely unreasonable.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t know enough about medicine and couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°Did the murderer steal it? Can insulin kill people?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Originally, insulin is life-saving medicine. This can solve many diabetic problems and can lower blood sugar. However, if the insulin injection is excessive, the body will have sugar metabolism problems. Blood sugar is consumed and falls to a very low number. The brain tissue will suffer irreversible damage, resulting in aa, fainting and unknowingly dying in their sleep.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression sank.

    In this way, Li Zhemin¡¯s death was clearly rted to an insulin overdose.

    Fortunately, Xiao Lou was professional enough to quickly determine the cause of death. The several injection marks around the navel and upper arms indicated that Li Zhemin used long-term injections of insulin to control blood sugar levels. Yet his backpack was missing insulin. Li Zhemin died peacefully in his sleep without any signs of death. He must¡¯ve been injected with arge amount of insulin, dropping his blood sugar to the limit.

    Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t help thinking that efficiency was really high with a forensic doctor. It took less than half an hour to determine the cause of death.

    He looked at Xiao Lou with admiration. ¡°Since the murderer injected Li Zhemin with a lot of insulin, it is likely that the insulin LI Zhemin carried has been used up. In order to avoid the perception that something is wrong, the best thing to do is to dispose of the insulin bottles and syringes.¡±

    The insulin dose that could be carried was limited and the murderer would have to inject it all in one breath to kill Li Zhemin. If his insulin was suddenly empty then a search of the luggage would certainly raise suspicions. Group Leader Yu¡¯s spection was reasonable. The killer must¡¯ve disposed of the crime tools.

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Shall we search the trash cans?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded.

    The two people walked to the door together and opened the bin at the end of the carriage. They quickly searched through the strange smell of food.

    The entire garbage bin was searched and no traces of the bottles and syringes were found.

    Xiao Lou whispered, ¡°Did the murderer throw them away on other carriages? However, if they happened to bump into people going to the toilet in the middle of the night, traces would be left behind.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°The murderer is so cautious and shouldn¡¯t rush to an unfamiliar carriage to throw away the garbage.¡±

    Suddenly, he found a meal box. The meal box was tightly sealed and on the surface, the person throwing it into the bin was very hygienic. The cover was tight and prevented any soup from spilling out.

    Then when Yu Hanjiang opened the box, Xiao Lou was surprised to find¡ª

    There was a syringe in the box as well as several drained insulin bottles.

    The two men nced at each other. They hadpleted the post-mortem examination and inquired about the medical history.

    The next step was to find the killer!

 Chapter 73: Extremely Quick Train 6: Suspects

    The evidence was collected and they put it in the attendant¡¯s office at the front of the carriage. Xiao Lou looked at the syringes and empty bottles on the table thoughtfully before asking, ¡°Group Leader Yu, can we directly search the passengers¡¯ backpacks? There should be some clues.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it carefully. ¡°I remember that in 3 of Hearts, the students went to the yground and I went to the ssroom to search the school bags for evidence. We should be able to do the same in this secret room. The identity of an attendant is convenient for us to search at any time.¡± He dered simply, ¡°Try it.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and turned to keep up with Yu Hanjiang.

    The two people headed to Room 1 and Yu Hanjiang calmly said, ¡°At the request of security services, we need to carry out a simple security check of your luggage. Please cooperate.¡±

    The passengers didn¡¯t object. They seemed to be used to the security actions of the train attendants.

    An old man came up and asked Xiao Lou, ¡°Did Old Li die of heart disease?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled at him. ¡°There isn¡¯t an exact conclusion yet. Uncle, please give your backpack to me.¡±

    The old man handed over the bag. ¡±I didn¡¯t bring any mmable or explosive products. The bag is full of food.¡±

    Xiao Lou opened it and it truly was a big bag full of food. The old man was a foodie.

    He asked, ¡°How many days will you be staying in the City of the Moon?¡±

    The old man replied, ¡°Three days and then we will fly back. That¡¯s why everyone doesn¡¯t have much luggage.¡±

    Xiao Lou turned to look. All the luggage was a ck bag that had been uniformly purchased by the travel agency. The backpack had name tags on them in order to not get it wrong.

    Yu Hanjiang checked his luggage under the pretense of ¡®security checks¡¯ and the other three cooperated by taking down their backpacks.

    Only the olddy in 1A was still reading a newspaper. This olddy was over 70 years old and her hair waspletely white. Her back was hunched over and her face full of wrinkles. She walked with a crutch and there were also problems with her ears. The others took care of her and called her ¡®Sister Mei.¡¯

    Seeing that she didn¡¯t respond, the olddy next to her gently shook her arm. ¡°Sister Mei, the train attendant is doing a safety check.¡±

    Sister Mei was shaken and looked up in a questioning manner. ¡°What?¡±

    The olddy yelled loudly. ¡°The attendant wants to check your luggage!¡±

    Sister Mei¡¯s face was still nk. ¡°What?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang pointed to her backpack so she could take it down. She finally understood the gesture and stood up in a trembling manner to grab her bag. The old man next to her saw her inconvenience and gave her a hand.

    Yu Hanjiang opened her backpack to see a few old clothes, some antihypertensive medicine, a few newspapers and nothing else.

    The old man exined, ¡°Sister Mei is old so she isn¡¯t as mobile and her ears aren¡¯t good. She is the most senior member of our unit and was there since the boss started it. In thepany personnel department, most of the employees were recruited into thepany by her. Her daughter had her follow us and she isn¡¯t happy since she feels she is too much trouble.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other. Since this Sister Mei was thepany¡¯s oldest senior staff, she would certainly know some hings.

    Her luggage wasn¡¯t abnormal and Yu Hanjiang intended to wait for a moment when she was alone to ask her questions. Her ears couldn¡¯t hear properly but she could write. The elderly person wearing thick reading sses should be able to see words, right?¡±

    Both backpacks had no problems. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang quickly checked the remaining two separately.

    Yu Hanjiang found some needles, cotton swabs and a row of ballpoint pens in one backpack. He wasn¡¯t sure and showed it to Xiao Lou. After carefully looking at it, Xiao Lou whispered in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ears, ¡°This is an insulin pen.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang flipped over the tag on the backpack to see the name¡ªNiu Dapeng.

    He looked at the old man on IC and asked, ¡°Uncle Niu, is this bag yours?¡±

    Niu Dapeng nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and asked, ¡°Uncle, do you have diabetes?¡±

    ¡°I have been suffering for many years and have been relying on this to control it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang then asked, ¡°Do you know that Li Zhemin has diabetes?¡±

    Niu Dapeng looked calm. ¡°I know. Previously, I saw Old Li at the same hospital.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wrote down the name Niu Dapeng.

    Nothing was found in thest backpack. The two people left Room 1 and continued to search Room 2.

    Since the deceased lived in Room 2, this room really needed to be checked.

    The old man who swapped beds with the deceased and slept in the upper bunk was the most obvious balding one in the group. White hair covered only half of his head and he was highly recognizable. This man was called Zheng Weiguo. Yu Hanjiang searched his bag and found simr needles, cotton swabs and insulin pens.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°How long have you had diabetes?¡±

    Zheng Weiguo looked embarrassed. ¡°I didn¡¯t pay attention as a young man and often ate fish and meat. Five years ago, I checked and found I had diabetes and high blood pressure. I have been using insulin and antihypertensive control.¡±

    Ina addition, Yu Hanjiang found a deck of cards in the bag of an old man called Liu Yuming. The other side exined, ¡°Old Li loves ying cards. The four of us yedst night until two in the morning before going to sleep.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°It was lights out. How did you y cards?¡±

    ¡°I always like going to the toilet in the middle of the night. My eyes aren¡¯t good and I can¡¯t see things at night. This time, my son prepared a light for me so I could use it when going to the toilet. Last night, Old Li wanted to y cards so I turned on the electric light and put it on the floor.

    The other two nodded. ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Old Li was very happy when ying cardsst night. I didn¡¯t expect¡­ s.¡±

    The group of old people actually opened the light to y cards at 2 a.m.

    Yu Hanjiang asked him, ¡°Did you go to the toilet in the middle of the night yesterday? Did you see anything?¡±

    Liu Yuming shook his head. ¡°I got up once at 3 o¡¯clock. Everyone was sleeping and all the doors were closed.¡±

    ¡°At that time, Li Zhemin didn¡¯t move?¡±

    Liu Yuming thought about it carefully. ¡°I remember that Old Li seemed to have turned over and was also gently snoring.¡±

    In other words, Li Zhemin had died after 3 a.m.

    There was no other suspicious evidence in this room. The two people came to Room 3 to check the luggage when an olddy became very angry. ¡°What right do you have to search my luggage? This is an invasion of privacy!¡±

    She looked extremely agitated.

    The olddy¡¯s name was Shu Ping. She was 60 years old but she only looked around 40. Her skin and body were very well maintained. This beautiful olddy was wearing a dress and her hair went down to her shoulders. She was the youngest and most beautiful olddy in this group.

    Yu Hanjiang calmly stated, ¡°It is a routine security inspection. Auntie, please cooperate.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and echoed Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Yes, everyone else cooperated with the inspection. If you are worried about privacy then you can follow us to the office alone. We will privately help you check.¡±

    Shu Ping was pale as she refused to let go of her bag.

    Her bizarre actions made the three people in the same room look at each other. Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°If you don¡¯t cooperate then we can only temporarily control you and wait for the guards to deal with you.¡±

    He reached out to the other person¡¯s backpack. Shu Ping was worried for a long time before handing the backpack to Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang opened it and nced inside. Apart from clothes, he once again found insulin at the bottom of the bag. It was just that¡­ wasn¡¯t the dose too much? It was almost twice as much as what Niu Dapeng and Zheng Weiguo carried in their backpacks.

    Seeing them search deeply, the olddy¡¯s face suddenly became extremely ugly.

    Xiao Lou smiled and asked, ¡°Auntie, how long have you had diabetes? Why did you bring so much medicine with you?¡±

    Shu Ping grabbed her backpack and replied in a sullen manner. ¡°I found outst year. My illness is more serious so I use more medicine than the average person.¡±

    The olddy next to her stared with amazement. ¡°Little Ping, you have diabetes? Why didn¡¯t you tell us?¡±

    Another person said, ¡°Yes, diabetes isn¡¯t shameful. A lot of old people get it. Why did you hide it from everyone?¡±

    Shu Ping¡¯s face was green and white. She quivered for a long time but couldn¡¯t answer.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged a look and turned away from the room.

    The other passengers also cooperated with the checks. However, most of them had nothing to do with the old group. Their luggage was full of good and clothes.

    Once they finished with the entire 6th carriage, the two men returned to the attendant¡¯s office at the front of the carriage.

    There was limited space at the front of the carriage. The office was only around 1.5 square metres and there were a small table and chair. The two big men standing inside made it feel slightly crowded. Their bodies were standing close together.

    Yu Hanjiang wasn¡¯t used to being close to each other. They were so close that their breathing would be in each other¡¯s faces when talking, which wasn¡¯t very polite.

    He suggested, ¡°Professor Xiao, take a seat.¡±

    Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t polite and sat down in the chair. This gave Yu Hanjiang a rtivelyrge amount of space. Xiao Lou looked up at the standing Yu Hanjiang and asked, ¡°Group Leader Yu, what do you think?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang leaned back on the table, legs ovepped and hands folded over his chest as he whispered, ¡°At present, there are four clear suspects. Niu Dapeng in Room 1. He previously attended the same hospital as the deceased. This means he must know very well about the deceased¡¯s diabetes.¡±

    ¡°There is Zheng Weiguo in Room 2. The deceased slept below him and they yed cards together until 2 a.m.st night. He can easily know if the other people in the room are asleep. He can easily kill Li Zhemin in his sleep and he is also diabetic.¡±

    ¡°Liu Yuming of Room 2 says he often wakes up at night to go to the toilet. It is also possible that this is just a cover-up and he got up at 3 a.m. to kill Li Zhemin.¡±

    ¡°Finally, there is Shu Ping in Room 3. The olddy was a bi agitated and insulin was hidden at the bottom of her backpack. The dose is twice as much as other people. She says she is seriously ill but I don¡¯t think it makes sense.¡±

    Xiao Lou touched his chin and thought about it.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°What do you think?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°Group Leader Yu, did you notice that the insulin that the elderly people take is different from what we found in the trash can?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°They brought insulin that is simr to a ballpoint pen. Did you say it was an insulin pen?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s right hand was resting casually on the table, his slender fingers slightly bent as he gently tapped the table while carefully analyzing, ¡°I have a ssmate who is a doctor in endocrinology. At present, the mostmonly used method to treat diabetes is this insulin pen. It is easy to carry and secondly, it eliminates the need to extract insulin with a syringe.¡±

    He paused before adding, ¡°The insulin pen has a thinner needle and this reduces the pain. The dosage is obvious on thebel and the core can be reced at any time. This makes the daily injection very convenient.¡±

    In order to better help Yu Hanjiang understand, Xiao Lou gave an example. ¡°It is like the difference between a ballpoint pen and a traditional pen. The ballpoint pen has no ink and can directly change the core to continue to use it. It is also convenient to carry extra pen cores. However, a traditional pen needs to draw ink and you might draw too much or too little. This is very inconvenient and is like a traditional syringe. Absorbing insulin would be more troublesome and it isn¡¯t as easy to carry. Therefore, most suggest using an insulin pen to inject it.¡±

    There was a lot of professional knowledge and Yu Hanjiang immediately understood. ¡°You mean, the traditional syringes found in the garbage can don¡¯t belong to Li Zhemin?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, Li Zhemin is so rich and the insulin pen is easy to carry and convenient to use. There is no reason for him to not know about the insulin pen and to use the old syringe to give himself injections.¡±

    Xiao Lou picked up a ballpoint pen and quickly wrote a form on the book. ¡°There is a problem. I have carefully thought about it and the amount of insulin can be estimated ording to this form. Aunt Shu Ping is very thin and weighs up to 50kg. The insulin usage rate is 20U and the dosage in her bag is enough tost her a month.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked down at the form.

    Fasting blood sugar (mmol/L) x 18-100 x 10 x weight (kg) x 0.6 ¡Â 1000 ¡Â 2¡­

    Xiao Lou managed to write such a long form due to his outstanding memory.

    Yu Hanjiang lowered her head and pondered for a moment. ¡°ording to your analysis, the needles and syringe in the bin don¡¯t belong to Li Zhemin because Li Zhemin would definitely use the more advanced ¡®insulin pen¡¯ rather than the traditional syringe. We found no insulin in Li Zhemin¡¯s bag but Shu Ping¡¯s bag has a higher than normal dose of insulin. Therefore, it is most likely that Shu Ping stole Li Zhemin¡¯s insulin?¡±

    Group Leader Yu understood Xiao Lou¡¯s meaning in seconds.

    Xiao Lou nodded with appreciation.¡±I asked Guide Qin and this travel group¡¯s journey from departure to return willst 10 days. The return trip is directly by ne and Shu Ping definitely doesn¡¯t need one month¡¯s dosage.¡±

    Bring a dose of 30 days for a 10 day journey, this was enough for two people.

    It seemed that Old Li had offended a lot of people and this Shu Ping actually stole his insulin.

    Yu Hanjiang organized his thoughts. ¡°Shu Ping looked ugly and she didn¡¯t want us to check her bag. This is because she stole Old Li¡¯s insulin and was afraid we would find out. This woman has a big problem.¡±

    Xiao Lou followed up closely. ¡°However, Old Li was injected with almost 30U from a traditional syringe. It isn¡¯t necessarily Aunt Shu Ping. If it was her, she wouldn¡¯t need to steal Old Li¡¯s insulin pen.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°It seems there still needs to be further investigated. This old group really isn¡¯t simple.¡±

    Just then, the tour guide Qin Shiyue came over with a stack of information.

    She had gone through psychological adjustment and her face was much better. She knocked on the door of the attendant¡¯s office and handed the information to Xiao Lou. ¡°My travel agency¡¯s registration requirements for this group was rtively high. The registration form must be filled out in detail. Here are the 12 entry forms and includes information on their families and past history.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Qin Shiyue was silent for a moment before clenching her fists. ¡°If it is murder then be sure to find the murderer!¡±

    ¡°Rest assured, we will find out as soon as possible.¡± Xiao Lou focused on the information and Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly. ¡°Little Qin, I want to ask you a few questions. How long have you guided the 12 people? Who has a better rtionship with Li Zhemin?¡±

    Qin Shiyue frowned and thought, ¡°I took them to y in the City of the Sun for three days. Old Li is well-known and most people like to butter him up. His son is very rich and in the City of the Sun, he invited all of us to a big seafood dinner in a fancy restaurant. He ate hundreds of thousands of gold coins in one meal. He has a sense of obligation to others and will help anyone who seeks him out.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°He didn¡¯t have any arguments with anyone?¡±

    Qin Shiyue shook his head. ¡°I guided them through on these days and they got along very well. They talked andughed with nothing usual happening. Yesterday, Old Li invited everyone to eat in the dining carriage.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°No one hates him? For example, they privately expressed disgust towards him.¡±

    ¡°This¡­¡± She scratched her head and thought, ¡°Uncle Niu obviously hates him. They never talk and don¡¯t sit at the dinner table. It is like they don¡¯t know each other. There is Shu Ping who always rolls her eyes behind his back. I saw many times that she sneers when Old Li talks about his son.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°The three in Room 2, do they have the best rtionship with Old Li?¡±

    Qin Shiyue nodded. ¡°Their seats are always together when buying tickets and since Old Li wanted to y cards, he specifically asked me to change the seats at the ticket office so they are staying in the same room.¡±

    This was in line with the findings of Room 2. The four old men did indeed y cardsst night.

    Xiao Lou suddenly looked up from the pile of information and added, ¡°Old Li sleeps very well?¡±

    Qin Shiyue was startled for a moment before nodding. ¡°It seems so. Everyone said that he is open-minded and his son is rich and filial. He has several apartments in his family and has nothing to worry about. Therefore, he sleeps soundly and won¡¯t even wake up from thunder.¡±

    After all, this tour guide¡¯s contact with the group was very short and she didn¡¯t know much information. Yu Hanjiang understood and told her, ¡°Can I trouble you to go and call Shu Ping over?¡±

    Qin Shiyue turned and went to Room 3 to call Shu Ping.

    The youngest and most beautiful olddy normally had a proud expression but her face was currently white.

    She took a deep breath and headed to the door of the attendant¡¯s office where she saw the two people sitting inside.

    There was a handsome man sitting with clear eyes and a gentle expression. He looked very kind.

    The man standing behind him had eyes as sharp as an ice arrow. Once his cold eyes swept over here, Shu Ping¡¯s legs trembled with fright. She wore very fine high heels and she almost fell. She hurriedly grabbed the doorknob next to her and steadied her body.

    Yu Hanjiang asked lightly, ¡°Tell me, why did you steal Li Zhemin¡¯s insulin?¡±

    Shu Ping, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

 Chapter 74: Extremely Quick Train 7: Interrogating the Suspects

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s question was too direct and Xiao Lou also looked up at him in a startled manner.

    The man looked serious and had cold eyes. It was like Officer Yu of the interrogation room had returned.

    Shu¡¯s face instantly drained of blood. She gently shook her clenched fists and pretended to be calm. ¡°Why are you saying that I stole Li Zhemin¡¯s insulin. You are wronging an innocent person!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang kept watching her calmly, his cold eyes saying, ¡®You continue to lie.¡¯

    Shu Ping¡¯s hair was rising but her mouth still didn¡¯t admit it. ¡°That insulin doesn¡¯t have Li Zhemin¡¯s name written on it. I bought it from the hospital! You don¡¯t talk nonsense. Why would I steal someone else¡¯s insulin?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stared at her for a few seconds. Just as she was about to look away ufortably, Yu Hanjiang opened his mouth to speak.

    His voice was emotionless, calm and low. ¡°You weigh less than 50kh and your daily insulin use is approximately 20U. This tripsts for 10 days and the insulin you brought is enough for a month. Li Zhemin is diabetic but insulin wasn¡¯t found in his bag. Is there any other way to exin it apart from it being stolen by you?¡±

    Shu Ping was shocked.

    She didn¡¯t expect the train attendant to actually know how to calcte the dose of insulin!

    Xiao Lou listened to Group Leader Yu calmly throw out the evidence and couldn¡¯t help feeling admiration. Group Leader Yu had taken step by step to defeat the other person¡¯s psychological defenses and this olddy was scared senseless.

    Yu Hanjiang was cold. ¡°Frankly, if you don¡¯t acknowledge it then we can wait for the train to arrive at the stop. We will take the insulin from your bag to test if Li Zhemin¡¯s fingerprints are on them. Then you will be detained for the crime of stealing.¡±

    Shu Ping¡¯s face turned green and then white. She was silent for a moment before forcing out, ¡°I hate Li Zhemin, this bastard! Last night, I dragged my daughter to be introduced to his son. My daughter is a university graduate and is beautiful and smart. I didn¡¯t abandon his son for being short and ugly yet he actually said my daughter has a bad personality and no education!¡±

    Shu Ping continued indignantly, ¡°Who isn¡¯t educated? I have long been annoyed at him. Just because his stinky son has some money, he acts like he¡¯s an emperor¡¯s queen¡­¡±

    She spoke up to here before looking guiltily at Yu Hanjiang, her voice slowly weakening. ¡°I just stole his insulin to give him a small lesson. I asked the doctor and a patient with type 2 diabetes won¡¯t die from missing a dose of insulin. He will be in some pain and feel ufortable for a day or two before I secretly return it.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other.

    Shu Ping saw their gazes and immediately raised her hand. ¡°I swear, I just wanted to teach him a lesson. I don¡¯t have the courage to kill! Yes, Niu Dapeng definitely wanted to kill him. You should suspect this person!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang questioned, ¡°How do you know Li Zhemin was killed?¡±

    Shu Ping eximed, ¡°If he died of a heart attack, why do you have to talk to me and check our luggage?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Say it, why do you suspect Niu Dapeng?¡±

    Shu Ping didn¡¯t hesitate to reveal everything in order to get rid of her own suspicion. ¡°In the past, Niu Dapeng had the best performance in ourpany sale¡¯s department. The boss had decided to let him by the manager. I don¡¯t know what means he used but Li Zhemin managed to hook up with the boss¡¯ daughter. The things between the two people couldn¡¯t be undone. The boss¡¯ daughter was pregnant and this rtionship could only be acknowledged.¡±

    ¡°As a result, the boss suddenly promoted Li Zhemin as general manager and Niu Dapeng was transferred to the logistics department. How much money can be earned in logistics? Niu Dapeng¡¯s sry suddenly fell by half and he must¡¯ve been dissatisfied.¡±

    ¡°Later, Niu Dapeng¡¯s wife got cancer. He borrowed a lot of money to treat his wife but as a result, his wife wasn¡¯t cured. She died early and he was left with a big debt and a son. His son fought with Li Zhemin¡¯s son in middle school and his eye was injured. It is said that one eye permanently has amblyopia zy eye). It is natural for him to hate Li Zhemin!¡±

    If all of this was true then Niu Dapeng must really hate Li Zhemin.

    Xiao Lou quickly found Niu Dapeng¡¯s registration form. The family rtionship column really did say ¡®spouse is deceased¡¯ and there was one son. His son was currently working at a security guard at a young age. This job wasn¡¯t goodpared to the high paying white-cor jobs.

    Shu Ping said, ¡°You don¡¯t know but Niu Dapeng¡¯s son was a good student and always tested first in the year. Then the child¡¯s confidence was affected after Li Zhemin¡¯s son injured his eye and his grades plummeted. He couldn¡¯t enter university and had to go to a vocational school. We all know that Niu Dapeng hates Li Zhemin.¡±

    Li Zhemin asked, ¡°Since he and Li Zhemin have such a dep feud, why are they travelling together?¡±

    Shu Ping exined, ¡°This trip was paid for by thepany to reward the retired employees. Nobody knew who was going in advance. Niu Dapeng¡¯s home conditions aren¡¯t good and he hasn¡¯t been travelling in many years. He probably wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to go out.¡±

    This woman shifted the me to Niu Dapeng but she did have a reason to suspect Niu Dapeng was the murderer. It was because the hatred between Niu Dapeng and Li Zhemin was too deep and the motive was very clear. It could be said that it was Li Zhemin who ruined Niu Dapeng¡¯s life and it wasn¡¯t surprising if he killed Li Zhemin.

    However, Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t think the case would be so simple. He noted a detail in Shu Ping¡¯s words and asked, ¡°You mean, before this trip, you didn¡¯t know who would go?¡±

    Shu Ping replied, ¡°Yes, the tour guide created the chat group the night before the department. Previously, we only received an email from thepany stating that this is a reward for the employees who made outstanding contributions over the years. Thepany would let everyone y for free.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang touched his chin to think. A momentter, he said, ¡°You go back first. Call the others of Room 3 toe over.¡±

    Shu Ping took two steps before looking back to emphasize, ¡°I really just wanted to teach Old Li a lesson and let him suffer. My daughter isn¡¯t married so I wouldn¡¯t risk going to jail by killing him!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told her, ¡°Rest assured, we will investigate clearly.¡±

    Shu Ping sighed with relief and turned away.

    She left and Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°Are there any problems if a diabetes patient stops taking insulin for a few days?¡±

    ¡°It depends on the type of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes means the body itselfcks insulin-producing cells and not taking insulin will immediately endanger their life. On the other hand, type 2 diabetes is usually caused by eating habits and lifestyle choices. Sometimes if they control it well, the doctor will rmend a period of no insulin to observe the blood sugar levels.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Then she really stole Li Zhemin¡¯s insulin to get revenge. Moreover, it was just her daughter being rejected. The motive for killing is insufficient.¡±

    ¡°Group Leader Yu, just now she said that the tour group only confirmed the participants list the night before departure when the tour guide created the group. Yet Li Zhemin¡¯s death is obviously a murder. The disposable syringes and insulin must¡¯ve been bought in advance, indicating that the murderer might¡¯ve known that Li Zhemin would participate in this tour group.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also had this thought, which was why he specifically asked for details. He frowned. ¡°The first one who would know that Li Zhemin is going on this trip is the travel agency. Little Qin must¡¯ve had the lost long in advance. Second, it is someone who has a good rtionship with Li Zhemin. They can ask Old Li if he is travelling or not and get the news in advance.¡±

    ¡°The tour guide has no motive. It must be someone with a good rtionship with Li Zhemin.¡±

    In this way, Niu Dapeng¡¯s suspicion was reduced.

    He and Li Zhemin had a deep hatred and he definitely wouldn¡¯t ask if Old Li was going on the trip. Maybe when the group was created that night, Niu Dapeng found Li Zhemin¡¯s name in the group and wasn¡¯t happy.

    It happened in the evening and departure was early the next morning. There wasn¡¯t enough time to prepare the syringes and insulin in the middle of the night.

    The two of them were discussing it when the otherdies from Room 3 came to the office for questioning.

    Yu Hanjiang asked about several things that Shu Ping had mentioned and the three people unanimously confirmed that there was indeed a grudge between Li Zhemin and Niu Dapeng. The tour group had been built the night before the departure and the three of them hadn¡¯t known that Li Zhemin would participate.

    Yu Hanjiang followed up by questioning Niu Dapeng.

    The old man appeared more haggard than his peers. It was no wonder. His wife died of illness and his son¡¯s job wasn¡¯t good. The family didn¡¯t have much money and he had lived a very hard life these years. Now that Li Zhemin died, it could be seen from his expression that¡­ the old man was in a very good mood.

    Yu Hanjiang asked bluntly, ¡°Li Zhemin stole your manager¡¯s position and his son damaged your son¡¯s eyes. Do you particrly hate him? Did you want him to die?¡±

    Niu Dapeng was surprised that the train attendants knew so much but the old man soon calmed down and spoke viciously, ¡°Yes, I cursed him every day, cursed his son and grandchild to die. Why did that animal have a better life than me? He is dead now. Hahaha, he deserves it!¡±

    He was emotional and made no secret of his hatred of Li. Zhemin.

    Yu Hanjiang interrupted him and whispered, ¡°Did you know that Li Zhemin was part of this tour group before setting off?¡±

    Niu Dapeng¡¯s face was calm. ¡°I didn¡¯t know. I feel sick every time I see his face. I didn¡¯t want to see him in this group. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that I already signed up and booked the tickets, I wouldn¡¯t havee. However, I couldn¡¯t afford to waste it!¡±

    Xiao Lou quickly took notes and Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°What were you doingst night after 2 o¡¯clock. Did you ever leave Room 1?¡±

    Niu Dapeng replied, ¡°No but I woke up in the middle of the night. I heard someone go to the toilet next door and saw a light from the door, as if Liu Yuming had taken a light to go to the toilet. He is the only one among us with a chargingmp. Then there was a strange sound from the garbage can, like there was a mouse. I was dazed and didn¡¯t pay attention.¡±

    Liu Yuming had admitted to going to the toilet at 3 o¡¯clock.

    If Liu Yuming was the murderer, he could get up at 3 o¡¯clock and confirm that Li Zhemin and his two other friends were asleep. Then he would give Li Zhemin the insulin injection, kill the other person and then go to the toilet, throwing away the crime tools in the trash bin.

    In addition, his rtionship with Li Zhemin was very good and they often yed cards together. He could naturally confirm in advance that Li Zhemin was part of this tour group and prepare the tools. Then what was the motive? Why did Liu Yuming kill Li Zhemin?

    Niu Dapeng seemed to follow their thoughts. ¡°Yes, Liu Yuming was very fond of the boss¡¯ daughter Ruirui. He had a rtionship with her and chased her for three years, sending flowers to her every day. He was very infatuated. Originally, the youngdy was moved and promised to be his girlfriend. As a result, Li Zhemin came to ourpany and something happened. The youngdy suddenly became pregnant and engaged to Li Zhemin.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Thanks to this, the boss promoted his future son-inw to be manager? He took your ce?¡±

    Niu Dapeng sneered disdainfully. ¡°He won it using a woman, not his ability. The youngdy was really cornered by a pig.¡±

    In this way, Liu Yuming also had a motive to kill. He killed his rival for the woman he loved and it was a crime of passion.

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Since they are enemies in love, how did they be friends?¡±

    Niu Dapeng replied coldly, ¡°Who knows? At the youngdy¡¯s wedding, Liu Yuming raised a wine ss to toast Li Zhemin and said that it was fine long as the other person was happy and Li Zhemin was truly good to her. His heart was really fucking big! After less than a year, a beautiful woman in thepany chased Liu Yuming and he agreed to get married. He looked very happy but it might be acting.¡±

    Xiao Lou had a headache as he listened. This group¡¯s love history was really colourful. As a single dog, he couldn¡¯t understand the idea of ¡®turning a rival into a friend¡¯ to the extent of ying cards together. Was he really big-hearted or just pretending?

    Yu Hanjiang followed up by interrogating Liu Yuming.

    Liu Yuming exined, ¡°That was a long time in my past. Ruirui and I were university ssmates and she was my first love. My feelings for her were deep but since she liked Li Zhemin and decided to get married, I can only respect her views. Do you want me to stop her engagement?¡±

    The old man sighed as he was immersed in his memories. ¡°After the loss of my first love, I was depressed fora while. Then I happened to meet my wife. She was beautiful, gentle and showed special care towards me, bringing me soup every day. I found it was better to be chased by someone than to chase after someone. I married my wife. We were happy and had a son.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Last night, you went to the toilet at 3 o¡¯clock. Did you touch the trash can?¡±

    Liu Yuming waved his hand. ¡°No!¡±

    ¡°Someone heard you go to the toilet and then there was a strange sound from the garbage can.¡±

    Liu Yuming¡¯s expression slightly changed. A momentter, he lied weakly with a red face. ¡°I-I ate yesterday and put my watch on the table. I identally rolled it up with my napkin and threw it into the garbage. I secretly searched through the garbage can in the middle of the night. This thing is quite disgraceful. Going through the bin in the middle of the night, others will think I¡¯m a pervert.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°You lost your watch. How could you be sure it was 3 o¡¯clock?¡±

    ¡°I looked a the LCD screen at the top of the carriage and it showed 3:00.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stared sharpy and Liu Yuming was visibly ufortable. Then his eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°Right! If you are suspecting murder then I think Old Zheng is most likely!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang raised his eyebrows. ¡°Oh? Why do you say that?¡±

    Liu Yuming approached mysteriously. ¡°Zheng Weiguo is fond of gambling. He sold his house, his wife divorced him and his son doesn¡¯t acknowledge him. I identally saw an IOU note in Old Li¡¯s pocket. In order to pay off his gambling debt, Zheng Weiguo borrowed 8 million gold coins from Old Li! Very few people knew about it. Maybe Zheng Weiguo couldn¡¯t afford to pay Old Li back and killed him.¡±

    A gambling debt? This was another key clue.

    Zheng Weiguo might say other things. Yu Hanjiang immediately had him go back to call Zheng Weiguo over.

    The bald old man looked somewhat dispirited. His eyes were listless as he asked doubtfully, ¡°Why are you looking for me? I have no enmity or resentment with Old Li. Surely you aren¡¯t doubting me?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly. ¡°Didn¡¯t you borrow 8 million from Li Zhemin and couldn¡¯t pay it back?¡±

    Zheng Weiguo, ¡°¡­!!¡±

    Once again, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s direct question caused fright. Zheng Weiguo was stunned. He obviously couldn¡¯t believe that the other side knew about this matter.

    Yu Hanjiang followed up with the question, ¡°There was a note stating you borrowed 8 million in Li Zhemin¡¯s pocket. However, we just searched and it was gone. You took it?¡±

    Zheng Weiguo was so appalled his eyes were going to fall out. ¡°W-What debt? I don¡¯t know about this!¡±

    ¡°Someone saw it. You can¡¯t deny it.¡±

    Zheng Weiguo, ¡°¡­¡±

    He thought this matter was a secret. As a result, he was directly punctured by Yu Hanjiang and the old man¡¯s face couldn¡¯t be described.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly, ¡°You are addicted to gambling and lost your family property. Your wife and son don¡¯t want you. In order to pay off the gambling debt, you found your good friend Li Zhemin and borrowed arge sum of money from him. You definitely can¡¯t pay back such arge sum of money, right? Then as long as Li Zhemin is dead and the loan slip torn off, you won¡¯t have to pay back the money.¡±

    Zheng Weiguo, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The old man was apparently scared out of his wits by Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang stared at him. ¡°Tell me, was Li Zhemin killed by you? You have diabetes yourself and know that an insulin overdose is life-threatening. You bought the syringe and insulin in advance. Last night when Liu Yuming went to the toilet, you took advantage of the others sleeping to quietly give Li Zhemin 300U of insulin. Then you climbed into bed and pretending to be asleep, right?¡±

    Zheng Weiguo finally reacted and shook his head like a rattle, hurriedly denying it. ¡°No, no, I didn¡¯t kill him! I stole Li Zhemin¡¯s loan slip but that was this morning. I woke up at 6:30 while the others were still asleep. I got out of bed to go to the toilet and identally encountered his body, finding it like ice.¡±

    He took a deep breath and spoke with horror. ¡°I checked for breathing and found him dead. I was frightened and wanted to call people over. Then I thought that since Old Li was dead and the other two were sleeping quietly, I could steal the loan and no one would know I borrowed money from him.¡±

    Zheng Weiguo spoke up to here and suddenly sobbed. Tears and snot dripped down and his voice was choked up. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to but this gambling thing is really addictive. At first, I only lost a hundred thousand and then it became more and more. I lied to sell my house and then gambled the money¡­ the debt increased and I couldn¡¯t pay it back. They were going to cut off my fingers¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°You looked for Old Li to borrow eight million. What reason did you give?¡±

    Zheng Weiguo bowed his head and said, ¡°I told him that my son was getting married and I had to prepare a marriage house for him. Old Li is particrly generous with money and we have known each other for many years. He had no doubts and directly lent it to me¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°When did you borrow it?¡±

    The old man reached out and wiped his tears. ¡°I borrowed it five years old when Old Li didn¡¯t know that I gambled or divorced¡­¡± At Yu Hanjiang¡¯s sharp eyes, he bowed his head and repented. ¡°I was wrong, I know I was wrong. I shouldn¡¯t go to gamble and shouldn¡¯t have deceived Old Li to borrow money. However¡­ I didn¡¯t kill him. I swear! I just secretly tore up the note and didn¡¯t kill him!¡±

    He paused before continuing, ¡°It must be Niu Dapeng. He had a feud with Old Li. Old Li stole his position and his son wounded Niu Dapeng¡¯s eyes. The one who hated Old Li the most was Niu Dapeng!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou, who was carefully taking notes, also raised his head.

    The two pairs of eyes met and showed a trace of surprise.

    The suspects turned on each other and revealed many clues about Li Zhemin.

    Shu Ping introduced her daughter to Li Zhemin and was rejected by the other side. She was told that her daughter wasn¡¯t educated and she hated him in her heart. She stole Li Zhemin¡¯s insulin to teach him a lesson.

    Niu Dapeng could¡¯ve been a manager with his abilities but he was robbed of his position due to Li Zhemin marrying the boss¡¯ daughter. Li Zhemin¡¯s son also injured Niu Dapeng¡¯s son and Niu Dapeng¡¯s hatred wasn¡¯t a secret.

    Liu Yuming had his first love stolen by Li Zhemin.

    Zheng Weiguo gambled and owed Li Zhemin eight million gold. He couldn¡¯t afford to pay it back.

    Shu Ping identified Niu Dapeng, Niu Dapeng identified Liu Yuming, Liu Yuming identified Zheng Weiguo and Zheng Weiguo identified Niu Dapeng.

    At present, Shu Ping¡¯s motive for killing wasn¡¯t sufficient. If she did kill, there was no need to steal insulin. The other three had sufficient motives. Niu Dapeng¡¯s suspicion was reduced because he didn¡¯t know Li Zhemin was joining the tour group. On the surface, Liu Yuming was good friends with Li Zhemin and it was easy to know that Old Li was participating in this trip in advance.

    Who was the killer?

    Were there any loopholes in the words?

    Yu Hanjiang read Xiao Lou¡¯s neat handwriting and frowned as he fell into thought.

 Chapter 75: Extremely Quick Train 8: Severely Doubtful Points

    Xiao Lou had been taken notes during Group Leader Yu¡¯s questioning. He took down everyone¡¯s confession word for word. Once Zheng Weiguo left, Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Group Leader Yu, who are you more inclined to believe is the murderer?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang picked up the notebook and said, ¡°At present, Zheng Weiguo and Liu Yuming¡¯s suspicions are rtivelyrge. First, they are both in Room 2 and can easily confirm if Li Zhemin is asleep or not. As long as the other three are asleep and the door is closed, the crime wouldn¡¯t be discovered by anyone. Secondly, they both have a motive. Third, there are obvious loopholes in their confession.¡±

    He put the book on the table and pointed his finger gently at one of the records. ¡°Zheng Weiguo said that he found Li Zhemin¡¯s body in the morning and stole the loan note. Who did he know Li Zhemin would take the note with him? Who would bring an IOU when travelling?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°Yes, in general, things like a loan note would be ced at home and taken out when used. No one would take it with them.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°The only exnation is that Zheng Weiguo asked Li Zhemin to bring the loan note on this trip. Perhaps he lied and said he would pay back the money, tearing up the loan note in person. In this way, Li Zhemin would naturally bring the note with him.¡±

    The function of the loan note was special. It was written down when money was borrow and torn up in person. This was a rule.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s spection was reasonable. If Zheng Weiguo took the initiative to find Li Zhemin and say he would pay back the money, Li Zhemin would bring the loan note. This way, they would tear it up in person once the money was paid.

    Xiao Lou opened his mouth. ¡°Group Leader Yu, you mean that Zheng Weiguo stealing the note isn¡¯t idental, it was premeditated?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes were deep as he gave his analysis. ¡°Zheng Weiguo knows that Old Li loves to y cards with them. That¡¯s why he made up an excuse in advance for Old Li to bring the loan note. On this trip, he could quietly steal the loan note. If Old Li doesn¡¯t have the loan note, he could drag things out by not admitting it.¡±

    Xiao Lou followed along the lines of the analysis. Perhaps before getting on the train, Zheng Weiguo confirmed the position of the loan note on Li Zhemin?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Obviously. He knew that the IOU note was in Old Li¡¯s pocket.¡±

    Xiao Lou slightly raised an eyebrow. ¡°In this way, Zheng Weiguo¡¯s suspicion is very big. He was afraid things would be exposed after stealing the IOU so he killed Li Zhemin. He thought that only he and Old Li knew about the matter of him borrowing money. As long as Old Li is dead, he wouldn¡¯t have to pay back the money and wouldn¡¯t be suspected. He didn¡¯t expect Liu Yuming in the same room to identally see the note.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang continued, ¡°In addition, Liu Yuming knew he is addicted to gambling and that his wife divorced him. His seamless n was brought to light.¡±

    The two people were silent for a moment. If the murderer really was Zheng Weiguo then his motive was very clear. In addition, he was a diabetic and knew the safe insulin dosage. He stayed in the same room and could easily confirm that the deceased was asleep and he had plenty of time tomit the crime.

    Still, was it really that simple?

    Yu Hanjiang always felt that something was wrong and said, ¡°Zheng Weiguo should¡¯ve immediately torn up the note after stealing it yet we didn¡¯t find fragments of the note. It is only human evidence and no physical evidence. If he really the murderer then we can¡¯t catch him.¡±

    There was no way to convict people based on another person¡¯s word because people could lie.

    If Zheng Weiguo really was the killer, the most correct path was to insist that he didn¡¯t know about any loan. This way, Liu Yuming¡¯s identification was false. In any case, the inside person Li Zhemin had died and there was no proof.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°We found no scraps of confetti in the trash can. Where did the note go?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it and suddenly said, ¡°Perhaps he ate it?¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had encountered such a murderer before. In order to destroy the evidence, he ate the paper and it was digested in the stomach and couldn¡¯t be found.

    If Zheng Weiguo¡¯s confession was correct, he woke up at 7 in the morning. Some elderly people would be awake at this time and Zheng Weiguo might encounter them if he threw the note into the garbage. Then the most reasonable approach was to swallow the torn piece of paper so it couldn¡¯t be found.

    Zheng Weiguo¡¯s suspicion couldn¡¯t be ruled out but it couldn¡¯t be determined.

    Xiao Lou had a headache. ¡°What about Liu Yuming? His loophole is¡­ he went through the trash can in the middle of the night?¡±

    ¡°Going in the middle of the night to rummage through the trash can to find a watch, this excuse is ridiculous. They yed cards until 2 a.m. An average person would check the time before going to sleep. He should¡¯ve found that the watch was missing. Why not go to search for it? Instead, he slept for an hour and woke up at 3 o¡¯clock to sneak over?¡±

    ¡°His statement said he was afraid people would see him searching through the trash can and this was shameful.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Who would see it? At 2 a.m., everyone would be asleep apart from some night owls. He could wait for his three roommates to fall asleep, close the door, pretend to go to the bathroom and search for his watch.¡±

    Finding the watch was lost at 2 a.m. yet searching for it at 3 a.m. How is this exnation reasonable?

    Xiao Lou found Liu Yuming¡¯s registration form from the stack of information.

    His ¡®spouse¡¯ column had the information that his wife had left thepany and worked for anotherpany. He had a son who was 25 years old, unmarried and working as a doctor.

    This way, Liu Yuming¡¯s suspicion was also very big. His son was a doctor. Even if he didn¡¯t have diabetes, he could hear about the risk of insulin injections from his son and find his son to buy the syringes and insulin.

    However, he now had a wife, a son and a happy family. Was it necessary to kill over an old thing that happened more than 20 years ago?

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it. ¡°At present, the ident is in the 6th carriage and our investigation is limited to the 6th carriage. Since it was arranged for us to manage two carriages, perhaps there will be clues in the 4th carriage.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded in agreement. ¡°Yes, I will go to the 4th carriage to ask. The child Yu Xinxin fell asleep at 10 o¡¯clockst night. Perhaps she woke up in the middle of the night and found something.¡±

    Yu Xinxin¡¯s family would get off tonight and wouldn¡¯t go the terminal. They obviously weren¡¯t rted to the case but the little girl had too big a presence in the secret room. She might have a clue.

    Thinking up to here, Xiao Lou stood up and told Yu Hanjiang, ¡°Group Leader Yu, I will first go to ask Yu Xinxin and wait to find youter.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Okay, be careful.¡±

    The two men separated ways.

    Xiao Lou went to the 4th carriage to find Yu Xinxin while Yu Hanjiang continued to interrogate the other elderly people.

    He called ¡®Sister Mei¡¯ from Room 1 who had bad ears.

    The grandmother¡¯s real name was Mei Ruohua. When she was young, she was in charge of thepany¡¯s personnel department and was responsible for hiring people. Yu Hanjiang knew about her hearing and brought a pen and paper to write down the questions. ¡°Aunt Mei, what was your rtionship with Li Zhemin?¡±

    Grandma Mei wore thick reading sses but also took out a magnifying ss to carefully look at the words. She read the opening question and said, ¡°Little Li? I personally recruited him into thepany. He wasn¡¯t well-educated but the young man was clever and learned things very quickly.¡±

    ¡°What department did he join when he first entered thepany? Who trained him?¡±

    Grandmother Mei replied, ¡°He was an intern in thepany¡¯s sales department. Niu Dapeng trained him and is regarded as half his master.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang continued to write. ¡°Did you hear about the matter where he chased the boss¡¯ daughter and stole the manager position from Niu Dapeng?¡±

    The grandmother nodded. ¡°Yes, the entirepany knows about it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang quickly wrote, ¡°Were there any idents when he chased the youngdy?¡±

    Grandmother Mei sighed and coughed. ¡°Well, this matter is a long story. I watched Ruirui grow up and she was like my younger sister. Liu Yuming chased her. They knew each other since university and Liu Yuming was handsome and talented. Liu Yuming had long tempted but she was retrained and embarrassed to have a rtionship in thepany. I encountered her to take the initiative and she was going to say yes. The result was that a weekter, she suddenly cried to me and said she was¡­ that¡¯s it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s pen stopped slightly and he frowned. ¡°Was she forced?¡±

    Grandmother Mei shook her head. ¡°It wasn¡¯t so serious. It was Little Li¡¯s birthday and many young girls were invited to his house party. He was going to cook and the girls wanted to taste his craft, so they went together. Naturally, they couldn¡¯t avoid drinking. She drank some wine and became drunk. It was unknown what happened but when she woke up¡­ ah, drinking is really bad!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang finally understood.

    He knew why the youngdy suddenly changed her mind and married Li Zhemin when she was about to go further with Liu Yuming.

    Originally, this was nned by Li Zhemin. He already intended to rely on the boss¡¯ daughter to gain a higher position. He deliberately coaxed a few young girls to his home to y. Perhaps he drugged the youngdy¡¯s wine and slept with her while the group of people were drunk.

    Grandmother Mei followed his thoughts. ¡°She fell pregnant and was very ashamed. She was embarrassed to be with Liu Yuming and Little Li apologized to her, swearing he would be good to her. She was discouraged and simply married Little Li. They had a wedding within a month. Little Liu was sad but¡­¡±

    ¡°Cough cough¡­¡± Grandmother Mei sighed and coughed. ¡°This matter, her father and I knew about it. Little Li really went too far. He said he was drunk and didn¡¯t know what he was doing. I didn¡¯t believe it! I am also a person and if a man is really drunk, they are like mud. Their brains aren¡¯t awake and how can that thing stand up?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    Grandmother Mei said this directly and as a man, Yu Hanjiang agreed with her point of view.

    A person who waspletely drunk would lose consciousness and wouldn¡¯t have an impulse in that impulse. In a semi-drunk state, men would only be emboldened through the wine. In addition, Li Zhemin probably wasn¡¯t drunk and intentionally slept with this youngdy.

    He did anything possible to climb up.

    Yu Hanjiang followed suit and wrote, ¡°How is Li Zhemin¡¯s wife now?¡±

    Grandmother Mei suddenly had red eyes. ¡°Ruirui, this girl is really unlucky. She was married for six months when her father died of lung cancer, leaving thepany to his daughter. She was pregnant and couldn¡¯t manage thepany. She had to let Li Zhemin help manage thepany. Then she had a difficult time when giving birth and had postpartum depression. She died within two years.¡±

    Then thepany entered Li Zhemin¡¯s hand?

    Yu Hanjiang picked up the information sheet. In the spouse column, Li Zhemin didn¡¯t write ¡®dead¡¯ and his spouse¡¯s name didn¡¯t have the character ¡®Rui.¡¯ He thought about it and asked, ¡°Li Zhemin married again?¡±

    Grandmother Mei eximed angrily. ¡°This Little Li, he didn¡¯t behave properly! Not long after Ruirui died, he got involved with a young and beautiful nurse and married the nurse within a year. His son was still young and didn¡¯t know his mother is actually a stepmother!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    Grandmother Mei continued, ¡°He and his second wife had a son who is currently in university.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked down. This matched the information sheet. Li Zhemin currently had two sons, one with his ex-wife and another with his current wife.

    Yu Hanjiang took down the grandmother¡¯s words in detail and asked her a question, ¡°You are thepany¡¯s oldest senior employee. Do you know who organized this trip?¡±

    Mrs Mei replied, ¡°It was organized by Li Zhemin¡¯s son.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang raised his eyebrows. ¡°Oh? There is a rtionship with his son?¡±

    Grandmother Mei exined, ¡°A few years ago, his son graduated. Li Zhemin ced thepany in his son¡¯s hands and retired early to enjoy life. His son is truly very promising. He took over thepany and business boomed. He earned a lot of money and engaged in real estate. It is said that some time ago, he made a profit of several billion from developing real estate. He took the initiative toe up with a sum of money and contacted ourpany¡¯s retired employees to organize a free trip for our well-being.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s frown deepened. He gripped the ballpoint pen and quickly wrote down thest question. ¡°His son paid to let everyone travel. How do you know this?¡±

    ¡°Thepany¡¯s personnel director is new and didn¡¯t understand the situation of the retired employees. She looked for me, the former supervisor, to consult. I asked her what to do and she said the boss told her to give benefits to the old employees. Isn¡¯t this free tour a benefit?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang lowered his head and pondered for a moment.

    Grandmother Mei probably talked too much. Combined with her agitated emotions, she covered her chest and started to cough desperately. It was a type of dry cough that caused the listening people to feel worried. She suffered from asthma and shouldn¡¯t speak too much. It wasn¡¯t good for Yu Hanjiang to question her for too long and he could only temporarily send her back.

    ***

    In the 4th carriage, Xiao Lou smiled and walked to Yu Xinxin. ¡°Xinxin, Uncle has a few questions to ask you. Is it possible?¡±

    Yu Xinxin liked this gently smiling uncle and immediately nodded. ¡°Okay!¡±

    Yu Xinxin¡¯s mother wasn¡¯t sure about giving her daughter to a stranger. She obviously looked hesitant. Xiao Lou said, ¡°You cane with me to the office. Rest assured, I just want to ask your daughter a few questions.¡±

    The woman was relieved as she held her daughter and followed Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou came to the train attendant¡¯s office in the 4th carriage. The woman holding Yu Xinxin entered with a tense face. ¡°What happened? I heard someone screaming in the 6th carriage and the door was locked.¡±

    Xiao Lou told her, ¡°Nothing, there were two elderly people who had an argument. The attendant is handling it, don¡¯t worry.¡± He smiled at Yu Xinxin and asked softly. ¡°Xinxin, did you sleep wellst night? I saw that you fell asleep at 10 o¡¯clock. Did you wake up in the middle of the night? Children must not tell lies. You can tell me the truth.¡±

    Yu Xinxin looked at her mother and saw her mother nodding. She seriously replied, ¡°I woke up at 3 o¡¯clock. I wanted to go to the toilet but my mother was sleeping. I didn¡¯t wake her up and went to the toilet by myself!¡±

    Xiao Lou praised. ¡°Xinxin is really sensible.

    Her mother also spoke in a pleased manner. ¡°This child has been sensible from an early age. She goes to the toilet and changes clothes by herself, never letting us worry.¡±

    Xiao Lou gently touched the child¡¯s head and asked softly, ¡°Then when you went to the toilet, did you see anyone walking around the 6th carriage or hear any strange sounds?¡±

    Yu Xinxin¡¯s eyes curved as she smiled. ¡°Yes, a grandmother went to the toilet and she was coughing!¡±

 Chapter 76: Extremely Quick Train 9: Lies

    Yu Xinxin¡¯s words shocked Xiao Lou¡¯s spirit. She heard an obvious cough which meant that Liu Yuming wasn¡¯t the only one who went to the toiletst night!

    Xiao Lou smiled at her and continued to ask, ¡°Xinxin, do you know the time when you heard the cough?¡±

    Yu Xinxin coughed her head and thought about it. ¡°It should be 3:10. I went to the toilet and back to my seat. Then I looked up at the time on the carriage¡¯s screen.

    Xiao Lou quickly picked up a pen and paper and wrote down the key information.

    He followed up by asking, ¡°Then did you hear or see anything else?¡±

    Yu Xinxin said, ¡°The grandmother seemed very ill and coughed for a while. Then her voice got further and further away from me and I couldn¡¯t hear her anymore. The strange thing is that after the grandmother walked far away, a dark shadow emerged from the dining carriage and headed in the direction of the 6th carriage.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°How tall is the dark shadow? Is it fat or thin? Do you remember?¡±

    Yu Xinxin carefully thought about it for a few seconds. They should be very thin, definitely not far! I couldn¡¯t see how tall.¡±

    ¡°Then?¡± Xiao Lou asked another question. ¡°Was there anyone else who went to the toilet?¡±

    ¡°Yes! After a few minutes, um¡­ at around 3:30, I saw a light from the side of the 6th carriage. The light was obvious and there was a strange sounding from the trash can.¡±

    Xiao Lou was surprised. This obvious light should be Liu Yuming going to the toilet. He was the only one who brought a charging light with him.

    In the previous questioning, Liu Yuming said he went to the toilet at 3 o¡¯clock while the little girl said 3:30. It was a time difference of half an hour. The child wouldn¡¯t lie so Liu Yuming was obviously lying!

    ¡°Uncle, there shouldn¡¯t be any rats in the carriage, right?¡± The little girl looked up seriously.

    ¡°There are no rats in the carriage. Maybe someone identally hit the trash can.¡± Xiao Lou smiled and softly asked, ¡°How long did that soundst?¡±

    ¡°It was a few seconds.¡± Yu Xinxin smiled. ¡°I also thought at that time if it was a mouse in the trash can and someone got up to catch the mouse!¡±

    Xiao Lou touched the child¡¯s head. ¡°In addition to the sound, did you see anything?¡±

    ¡°Soon after the sound of the trash can ended, the red lights of the two toilets in the 6th carriage lit up.¡±

    In the moving train, there would be a toilet reminder on the roof. If no one was in the toilet then it was a green light. Once someone entered the bathroom and locked the door, it would be red.

    There were many passengers on the train. This setting was for the convenience of the passengers to let them know if the toilet was free. If they wanted to go to the toilet and could see that both were upied, they could wait for a moment for them to finish.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t expect that this simple light prompt would be a key clue to this case!

    The little girl said there was a bright light, a strange sound from the trash can and then both toilets became upied. This showed that when Liu Yuming went to the toilet, another person entered the toilet opposite him.

    There were two people in the toilet at the time yet Liu Yuming didn¡¯t mention it.

    Xiao Lou then asked, ¡°Both bathrooms had a red light. Which side turned green first?¡±

    The little girl said, ¡°The left side of the toilet quickly turned green and the elderly man with the light went far away. The right side had a red light for a long time. Maybe someone had diarrhea!¡±

    Yu Xinxin¡¯s mother heard up to here and she couldn¡¯t help feeling tense. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the 6th carriage? Why are you asking my daughter about what happenedst night?¡±

    Xiao Lou gave her a reassuring look. ¡°It isn¡¯t a big deal. An old man lost valuable jewellery and we need to carefully investigate to find the thief.¡± He looked back at the child. ¡°Xinxin also hates thieves, right? So you should tell me everything you saw and heard, okay?¡±

    Xiao Lou coaxed the child and he was also kind and gentle. Yu Xinxin liked this train attendant uncle and in order to cooperate with the arrest of the thief, she actively worked her brain.

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t sleep after going to the toiletst night. The rest of the carriage was sleeping so I sat on my seat and looked at the stars outside.¡±

    ¡°The man with the light left and there was suddenly a meteor shower outside the window. It was beautiful! I watched the meteor shower for 10 minutes. Then in the 6th carriage, there was the sound of hurried footsteps. I didn¡¯t see it clearly but a person went near the dining carriage. They didn¡¯t go to the toilet and suddenly turned back. Immediately following, the toilet door on the right opened and the light turned green.¡±

    ¡°It was around 3:40 and there were two coughs in the carriage. Then I was sleepy and fell asleep.¡±

    Xiao Lou wrote down her answer without missing a single word.

    Yu Xinxin looked curiously at him. ¡°Uncle, did my words help?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled softly. ¡°Xinxin was great. Your words were very useful and we will definitely catch the thief.¡±

    Xinxin¡¯s eyes curved. ¡°That¡¯s good!¡±

    Later, she fell asleep and didn¡¯t know anything else. Xiao Lou had no more questions and let Yu Xinxin¡¯s mother take her away. ¡°Goodbye, Uncle!¡±

    Xiao Lou said goodbye to the little girl. He turned in the direction of the 6th carriage and had just walked past the 8th row with Zhao Zheng stopped him and whispered, ¡°Someone died in the 6th carriage?¡±

    Xiao Lou turned back and wondered, ¡°How do you know?¡±

    Zhao Zheng took out his phone and showed Xiao Lou a WeChat message from his girlfriend Mo Jiaran.

    There was a long list of WeChat records: An old man died in the 6th carriage. The train attendant locked the door of the carriage and isn¡¯t letting anyone out. He is checking the passengers¡¯ luggage one by one. Too scary!

    Zhao Zheng: What is the situation? How could a person die?

    Mo Jiaran: I don¡¯t know. Listening to the outside conversation, it seems to be a sudden heart attack or something. The elderly people of the tour group are very nervous. I don¡¯t want to stay in the 6th carriage. Can youe to pick me up?¡±

    Zhao Zhengforted her: Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll ask the attendant.

    He took back his phone and whispered to Xiao Lou, ¡°Can you let my girlfriende back to the 4th carriage. She is alone over there and I¡¯m worried.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, we¡¯re still investigating and we can¡¯t let anyone leave for the time being. Don¡¯t let her publicize it and send her a message telling her to stay in her room. It has nothing to do with her and we won¡¯t embarrass her.¡±

    Zhao Zheng frowned. ¡°Okay.¡±

    He had a headache and was afraid he wouldn¡¯t be able to persuade this youngdy. Xiao Lou was also afraid of her making a fuss and went to the 6th carriage tofort Mo Jiaran. ¡°Miss Mo, don¡¯t worry. We will soon have results for our investigation. At that time, we won¡¯t stop you if you want to go back to the 4th carriage.¡±

    Mo Jiaran looked pale as she nodded.

    Xiao Lou turned to the attendant¡¯s office of the 6th carriage. Yu Hanjiang was frowning and looking at the transcript of the interrogations.

    The two people¡¯s eyes met and Yu Hanjiang stood up. ¡°Professor Xiao, sit.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Group Leader Yu, you sit. I have Yu Xinxin¡¯s testimony here and I want to show it to you.¡±

    He closed the door of the office and leaned against the table. He picked up Yu Hanjiang¡¯s interrogation of Mrs Mei and read carefully.

    The office was quiet as both of them looked at the result of the other person¡¯s inquiry.

    This case was much moreplicated than they thought.

    A few secondster, the sitting Yu Hanjiang picked up his pen and drew a n of the carriage.

    He pointed to the picture and analyzed, ¡°The dining carriage is in the middle, the left is the 6th carriage and the right is the 4th carriage. Since the dining carriage doesn¡¯t have a toilet, it shares two toilets with the 6th carriage. Yu Xinxin¡¯s seat is at the end of the 4th carriage and this happens to be close the dining carriage. Therefore, she can clearly see the light prompt at the top of the carriage.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang followed with a drawing of the distribution of the elderly people. ¡°Rooms 1, 2 and 3 are far from the toilet. They need to cross the entire carriage in order to reach the toilets near the dining carriage.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at the testimony doubtfully. ¡°ording to Yu Xinxin¡¯s description, she had an obvious cough. This coughing should belong to Mrs Mei? You wrote that she has obvious asthma and coughed while answering questions.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°It should be here. The murderermitted the crime in the middle of the night and it is impossible to make too much noise. What if the coughing woke up the people in the other carriages and they opened the door to see the situation. Thus, there is only one exnation. Mrs Mei couldn¡¯t help coughing when she went to the toilet at 3 o¡¯clock at night.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang simply picked up the ballpoint pen and sorted out a timeline ording to Yu Xinxin¡¯s words.

    ¡°At 2:00, Li Zhemin and the three old men stopped ying cards and slept.¡±

    ¡°At 3:10, Mrs Mei got up to go to the toilet and coughed. Yu Xinxin also saw a shadow appear in the restaurant.¡±

    ¡°At 3:30, Liu Yuming held up the light to go to the toilet and there was the sound of ratsing from the trash can thatsted for a few seconds. Another person entered the toilet opposite Liu Yuming and the red light of both toilets turned on.¡±

    ¡°At around 3:40, someone wanted to go to the toilet and walked halfway there, only to hurry back. At this time, the person finally emerged from the opposite toilet and coughing filled the carriage. Then Yu Xinxin fell asleep.¡±

    The time was well organized.

    Still, so many people went to the toilet. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help holding his temple to endure his headache. The sound of coughing, the light, the trash can sound, the hurried footsteps away¡­

    It seemed that there was a surging undercurrent in the 6th carriagest night!

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the timeline in the book and fell into contemtion.

    Momentster, he started to read the clues one by one. ¡°At 3:10, the olddy went to the toilet when a figure appeared in the restaurant. There is a possibility that when the murderer was about tomit a crime, they heard the olddy coughing. In order to avoid being found by the olddy, they hid in the restaurant.¡±

    Xiao Lou felt this was very reasonable. Otherwise, what did they run to the restaurant in the middle of the night to do?

    He agreed. ¡°It makes sense. If they were simply going to the toilet then there is no need to hide in the restaurant from Mrs Mei unless there is an ulterior motive in their heart. It seems that the person hiding in the restaurant is probably the murderer.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang pointed to the third timeline. ¡°Liu Yuming is lying. He deliberately confused the time and the reason for looking for a watch was made up. Xinxin said there was a strange noise from the trash can thatsted a few seconds. He wouldn¡¯t be able to find his watch in a few seconds.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, it onlysted a few seconds so the most likely possibility is that someone hit the trash can in a panic. This perhaps might the murderer hiding in the restaurant. They wanted to go back only to meet Liu Yuming and had to hurry into the toilet.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°When Liu Yuming went to the toilet at 3:30, the opposite toilet also had its red light turn on. Your analysis is very reasonable. The person in the restaurant wanted to return to the 6th carriage and happened to encounter Liu Yuming. They could only hide in the toilet. They stayed in the toilet until 3:40.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang circled a few key points on the book. ¡°The time 3:40 is critical. There are three people at the same time. The first is the one hiding in the toilet who came out when they felt it was safe outside. Another person was going to the toilet only to turn back halfway. They probably saw someoneing out of the toilet and hurriedly turned to run. Finally, there is Mrs Mei who started coughing again at night.¡±

    Xiao Lou frowned and thought about it. ¡°Li Zhemin¡¯s time of death should be after 3:40. Then it seems this time person of 3:10-3:40 had many elderly people going to the toilet, causing the murderer to constantly encounter other people. They first went to the restaurant to hide and then the opposite toilet. Thest time they came out of the toilet, they probably ran into Mrs Mei?¡±

    Xiao Lou pointed out a key thing. The person who kept hiding was probably the murderer. Otherwise, there was no way to exin why they repeatedly evaded their acquaintances in the elderly tour group.

    Thest time, Mrs Mei woke upte and Xinxin fell asleep, not seeing what happened afterwards. Did the murderer hide or did they finally fail to escape and were found by the olddy?

    If it was thetter then Mrs Mei was definitely protecting the murderer.

    Xiao Lou reread the testimony of these people. ¡°Mrs Mei and Niu Dapeng live in a room. Since Niu Dapeng knows that Liu Yuming next door goes to the toilet with a light, it is impossible for him to not know that Mrs Mei went to the toilet. Niu Dapeng deliberately concealed it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°Liu Yuming confused the time he went and made up an excuse of going through the trash can to find a watch. He is also lying.¡±

    ¡°Zheng Weiguo said he got up early in the morning to find the loan note in the deceased¡¯s pocket. This is apparently also a lie.¡±

    Both men pinched their brows with a headache at the same time.

    Everyone was lying. If it wasn¡¯t for Yu Xinxin reorganizing the timeline, they would¡¯ve been dazzled by the group¡¯s lies.

    Yu Hanjiang was helpless. ¡°Then it is very likely that Mrs Mei is covering up the murderer. Li Zhemin¡¯s poprity is too terrible.¡±

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and rearranged his thoughts. ¡°At present, Liu Yuming and Mrs Mei can temporarily be excluded. Their presence startled the murderer and forced them into hiding. Then the murderer might be among Niu Dapeng and Zheng Weiguo. Niu Dapeng is tall and fat. Xinxin said the person was thin. Isn¡¯t it more likely to be Zheng Weiguo?¡±

    Zheng Weiguo owed a gambling debt and stole the IOU note. He had a motive and sufficient time tomit the crime.

    Why did he admit to stealing the IOU? Now that the IOU was destroyed, no evidence would be found if he didn¡¯t admit it.

    Xiao Lou always felt there was something wrong.

    Just then, Yu Hanjiang suddenly narrowed his eyes. ¡°I think that the person at 3:40 who went halfway to the toilet before going back is Zheng Weiguo.¡±

    Xiao Lou felt some surprise. ¡°Why do you say that?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou and whispered his analysis, ¡°We can calcte it. At 3:30, Liu Yuming went to the toilet with his light. At that time, Zheng Weiguo in the same room might be awake. He found that his friend went to the toilet and the other two people are asleep. Thus, he climbed out of bed and took the opportunity to take away the loan note in Li Zhemin¡¯s pocket.¡±

    ¡°Liu Yuming went to the toilet and soon came back to sleep. Zheng Weiguo listened to the people in the room. Once Liu Yuming fell asleep, he secretly got up and went to the toilet to get rid of this note.¡±

    The IOU note hadn¡¯t been found.

    This moving train was a fully enclosed vehicle and the windows couldn¡¯t be opened. Throwing it in the garbage can could be easily found by the train attendants. The train waspletely non-smoking and fire-free. Once ignited, it would directly trigger the smoke rm.

    Hiding the loan note in the bag wasn¡¯t safe. In order to destroy it, the best way was the toilet!

    If he tore up the note, threw it into the toilet and let the water wash it out, this would destroy the evidence.

    He didn¡¯t expect that when he got up, a person would suddenlye out of the toilet. Therefore, Zheng Weiguo guiltily hurried back and ording to Group Leader Yu¡¯s previous spection, directly ate the IOU note.

    Group Leader Yu¡¯s logic was reasonable. Otherwise, who would go to the toilet in the middle of the night, only to turn back halfway?

    It seemed that Zheng Weiguo was unlikely to be the murderer. He just stole the loan note and didn¡¯t kill anyone. The murderer had been hiding in the restaurant and then the toilet before leaving the toilet at 3:40.

    It wasn¡¯t Zheng Weiguo, Liu Yuming or Mrs Mei.

    Xiao Lou opened his mouth. ¡°Then it is Niu Dapeng? However¡­ Xinxin said the shadow is very thin. Niu Dapeng is tall and fat.¡±

    At this point, his eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°It seems there is a person who has been ignored by us!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded solemnly. ¡°The first aunt Shu Ping, who was excluded by us.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s mind shed over Shu Ping¡¯s testimony.

    She introduced her daughter to Li Zhemin¡¯s son and as a result, Li Zhemin scolded her daughter for not being educated. She was angry and stole Li Zhemin¡¯s insulin to teach him a lesson. At that time, the two people thought that if she was the murderer, there was no need to steal the superfluous insulin. Combined with theck of motive, they excluded her first.

    Her testimony seemed reasonable and her suspicion was decreased. There was one key point.

    Yu Hanjiang stated coldly, ¡°No one can testify to her ims.¡±

    Everyone could testify that Li Zhemin stole Niu Dapeng¡¯s manager position and had years of grievances.

    Zheng Weiguo stole the loan note and Liu Yuming had seen the loan note.

    Liu Yuming¡¯s first love was pried away by Li Zhemin and most people knew about it. Mrs Mei could also testify to it.

    However, who could prove Shu Ping¡¯s words? Only the dead Li Zhemin knew the truth!

    She said it one-sidedly that Li Zhemin called her daughter uneducated and she wanted to get revenge on the other person. She mentioned the contradiction between her and Li Zhemin but there was no third person to witness it.

    In fact, from the beginning, Shu Ping¡¯s testimony was the most imusible!

 Chapter 77: Extremely Quick Train 10: Re-Interrogation

    Shu Ping¡¯s testimony wasn¡¯t credible. The first person to be excluded by Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou was now the most suspicious person. Xiao Lou suddenly remembered something and took a closer look at Shu Ping¡¯s registration form.

    Her marital status column had the word ¡®widow¡¯ written while her children column was filled out with her daughter¡¯s name. Her emergency contact was her daughter and her daughter was called¡­ Shu Xiaomeng.

    Xiao Lou was shocked.

    The female group on the 4th carriage was also called ¡®X XiaoX.¡¯ It was verymon for girls to be called X XiaoX but this female group was very special. Xiao Lou had asked why their names were so simr and a girl had replied that they grew up together. Then would Shu Ping¡¯s daughter, Shu Xiaomeng be rted to this female group?

    The case of the 6th carriage was rted to the 4th carriage. Jing Weiguang was a doctor and could tell challengers who didn¡¯t know about the principle of killing with insulin. Yu Xinxin was a key witness for the timeline who punctured the lies of the old people. Shu Xiaomeng¡¯s name was very simr to the group of girlfriends and this couldn¡¯t be a coincidence.

    Yu Hanjiang carefully nced at the data sheet. Previously, Shu Ping had been ruled out and they didn¡¯t care about her daughter. Now her daughter was the key.

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°I will go to the 4th carriage to confirm if Shu Xiaomeng is a member of the female friends group.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, I will wait for you here.¡±

    Xiao Lou headed to the fourth carriage. Out of the female group, the girl in 15A was bowing her head to read a novel. The two people in B and C were wearing a headset together to watch a TV series. 15D and F were chatting with each other, talking about someone who broke up with her boyfriend again.

    Xiao Lou approached them and they stopped talking, two pairs of eyes staring at Xiao Lou. One of the girls, Song Xiaoyu asked boldly, ¡°Hello, did something happen in the 6th carriage? At 7 o¡¯clock in the morning, I seemed to hear someone screaming.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Nothing, an old man lost his things and is looking for it.¡± He quickly changed the topic. ¡°By the way, do you know Shu Xiaomeng?¡±

    Song Xiaoyu¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Eh? Do you know Sister Xiaomeng?¡±

    Sure enough, Shu Ping¡¯s daughter also belonged to this female group. It was unknown why she didn¡¯te at this time.

    Xiao Lou continued to smile gently. ¡°I don¡¯t know here but there happened to be an auntie called Shu Ping in the 6th carriage. She said her daughter is called Shu Xiaomeng and I found the name very simr to yours. I wanted toe and see. I didn¡¯t expect you to really know her.¡±

    The two people watching TV next to him heard this and also looked up with surprise. ¡°Aunt Shu is in the 6th carriage? What a coincidence.¡±

    Another person suggested, ¡°Shall we go and see Aunt Shu? I haven¡¯t seen her yet and I heard Xiaomeng say that her mother is very beautiful.¡±

    ¡°She is ying cards with a few people. Let¡¯s not bother her.¡± Xiao Lou casually made up a reason to stop the excited female group and continued to ask, ¡°By the way, is Xiaomeng also part of your group? Why didn¡¯t shee this time?¡±

    Liu Xiaoyan was the most stable member of the five person group and she exined, ¡°Originally, I was going to book six tickets to the concert. However, Xiaomeng had a small operation some time ago and needed to recuperate at home. I found that she looked poor and was in a bad mood, so I didn¡¯t force her.¡±

    Next to her, Zhang Xiaozhu added, ¡°If she didn¡¯t happen to be ill then she would definitely go. This concert is her favourite singer and is only held once every three years. She will have to wait three years for the next one.¡±

    The girls next to her agreed. ¡°Yes, it is a pity!¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, let¡¯s record more videos and show it to her.¡±

    Xiao Lou then asked, ¡°Does she often talk to you about her mother? Aunt Shu is really beautiful.¡±

    The big sister Liu Xiaoyan replied, ¡°Yes, she has a good rtionship with her mother. Every day, her mother would call. ording to Xiaomeng, her mother loves her very much. She eats the best food since childhood and her mother also saved money to buy a marriage house for her. We all feel envious that she has such a mother.¡±

    Xiao Lou pretended to be casual. ¡°What about her father?¡±

    Liu Xiaoyan said, ¡°He seems to be gone a long time? I¡¯ve never heard her mention him.¡±

    Next to her, Wu Xiaofei smiled. ¡°Why are you asking about Xiaomeng? Did you see a photo and be interested in her? Xiaomeng is very beautiful and there is a long line of boys chasing after her.¡±

    Xiao Lou awkwardly coughed. ¡°Does she have a boyfriend now?¡±

    The females immediately showed an ¡®I understand, you want to chase Xiaomeng¡¯ expression.

    Wu Xiaofei answered, ¡°Three months ago, she broke up with a boy she liked and cried for a long time. I think you have no chance. You might be very handsome and Xiaomeng is single but she still isn¡¯t over herst rtionship.¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. He thanked them and turned back to the 6th carriage.

    Yu Hanjiang was waiting for him in the office and Xiao Lou gave a simple recap. ¡°Shu Xiaomeng is a member of the female group and she has a good rtionship with these people. She often mentioned her mother¡¯s love for her. Some time ago, she broke up with her boyfriend and is resting from surgery. That¡¯s why she didn¡¯t go to this concert.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Therefore, Shu Ping¡¯s words are made up. It isn¡¯t true that she introduced her daughter to Li Zhemin¡¯s son.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°In addition, they said that Shu Xiaomeng is super beautiful and doesn¡¯t need to worry about finding a good boyfriend.¡± Shu Ping loved her daughter. Even if Old Li¡¯s son had money, she wouldn¡¯t push her daughter into the fire pit. After all, Old Li¡¯s reputation in the unit was too bad.

    The two people nced at each other and thought of a possibility.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°Shu Ping¡¯s daughter is her counter scale.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°If Shu Ping really killed Old Li then her motive for killing is probably rted to her absent daughter.¡±

    Shu Ping was proud of raising her daughter alone after her husband¡¯s death and her daughter was beautiful and excellent. If Shu Ping had a simple grudge against Li Zhemin, she wouldn¡¯t have waited until now. Perhaps Li Zhemin did something that hurt her daughter and she couldn¡¯t wait to pick up the butcher¡¯s knife.

    What was the intersection between Li Zhemin and her daughter?

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and thought for a moment before suddenly saying, ¡°This trip was organized by Li Zhemin¡¯s son. We have been focused on the elderly group¡¯s grievances but ignored¡­ their offspring might have grudges!¡±

    Xiao Lou was suddenly startled. ¡°Right! This has been revealed in previous statements. Niu Dapeng¡¯s son was wounded in the eye by Li Zhemin¡¯s son in high school. Perhaps Shu Ping¡¯s daughter was hurt by Li Zhemin¡¯s son? Her friends said that she recently broke up with someone. Did Shu Xiaomeng break up with Li Zhemin¡¯s son?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    Professor Xiao¡¯s conjecture was shocking but there was a certain rationality to it.

    He frowned. ¡°Mrs Mei, Niu Dapeng, Zheng Weiguo, Liu Yuming and Shu Ping, they all have ulterior motives in their heart. They bite at each other and tell lies but there are other people in the elderly group. Perhaps they will have clues. We need to re-interrogate them.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed with a nod.

    Yu Hanjiang asked the three olddies in Room 3 who stayed with Shu Ping toe over. He asked about their past as well as Shu Ping¡¯s husband and daughter.

    The first olddy said, ¡°When Little Ping was young, she was our unit¡¯s most beautiful and talented person. She also studied dance. She is currently 60 years old but she looks like she is 40. She maintains herself well and wears a dress every day. She looks very chic when travelling with her daughter.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Was she in love with anybody in your unit when she was young?¡¯

    The olddy suddenly lowered her voice and gossiped, ¡°We all thought she was with Li Zhemin. At that time, she and Li Zhemin ate together every day and their rtionship was especially close in thepany. Li Zhemin easily coaxes girls but he sent her a set of high-end cosmetics¡­ However, the youngdy came back and Li Zhemin suddenly got along with the youngdy.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were surprised. They didn¡¯t expect that Shu Ping and Li Zhemin had an emotional history!

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°What was the rtionship between Shu Ping and the youngdy?¡±

    The olddy said, ¡°Their rtionship was particrly close. She and Ruirui yed together from a young age. Shu Ping studied ounting and the reason she could directly go to thepany¡¯s financial department after graduation was due to the youngdy¡¯s rmendation. The youngdy went to graduate school so it was three yearster that she joined thepany. At that time, Shu Ping specially organized a wee party for her.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Did Li Zhemin also go to the wee party? That¡¯s how he knew she was the boss¡¯ only child?¡±

    The olddy nodded. ¡°Yes, the entirepany went to it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked again, ¡°Do you know about Li Zhemin¡¯s birthday matter?¡±

    The olddy carefully recalled fora moment. ¡°I heard some rumours. Li Zhemin invited a lot of young men and women to his house for his birthday. The youngdy also went. At that birthday party, Li Zhemin and the youngdy got together. Some people had a good rtionship with Shu Ping and were angry for her. They thought that Li Zhemin was only interested in the youngdy¡¯s money but Shu Ping said that she and Li Zhemin were just friends. Don¡¯t spread chaos by talking. Then Li Zhemin and the youngdy quickly married. Shu Ping attended and gave Ruirui expensive jewellery as a wedding gift.¡±

    Xiao Lou took notes while thinking.

    If his spection was correct, Li Zhemin likely saw that Shu Ping was beautiful and he had a secret rtionship with her for a while. As a result, he climbed onto the boss¡¯ daughter and kicked Shu Ping out. He took advantage of his birthday to have a rtionship with the youngdy.

    Shu Ping might¡¯ve felt resentment in her heart but this was the friend she grew up with and she also wanted to keep her job. In short, she swallowed it down and rified that she and Li Zhemin were just ordinary friends. She smiled as she attended the wedding of her best friend and ex-boyfriend.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Who did she marry?¡±

    The olddy said, ¡°A doctor! The doctor seemed to be abusing her. After she got married, we saw that her body was always injured. She said she was clumsy but nobody believed it. Still, it wasn¡¯t easy to ask. Shu Ping loves maintaining her face the most.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°When did her husband die?¡±

    The olddy shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. She never mentioned her husband in thepany. You can ask Old Jiang. She and Shu Ping have a good rtionship and y mahjong together every day after retirement. Perhaps she will know more clearly.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang sent her back and asked her to call Aunt Jiang in.

    This olddy did know and sighed. ¡°Her husband is really terrible. He hit her when drunk and she had been suffering. Then after three years, her husband died of stomach cancer. Someone introduced her to a blind date but she said she didn¡¯t intend to get married again.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Shu Xiaomeng, she is the daughter Shu Ping had with her husband?¡±

    The olddy shook her head. ¡°No, she never gave birth. There seems to be a problem with her body. Right after her husband died, she went to the orphanage to adopt a daughter and her daughter took her surname. Not many people know about this. Her daughter is smart, beautiful, admitted to a major university and is filial. Shu Ping is very proud.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment before continuing to ask, ¡°Does her daughter know Li Zhemin¡¯s son?¡±

    The olddy thought about it. ¡°As a child, definitely not. Li Zhemin lives in the west of the city and she lives in the east of the city. The two children wouldn¡¯t go to school together. However, I don¡¯t know about when they grew up.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°Did Aunt Shu mention that her daughter had a boyfriend?¡±

    The olddy replied, ¡°Yes, six months ago, we were ying mahjong and she told me that her daughter found a particrly excellent boyfriend. He is handsome and rich. On her birthday, her daughter¡¯s boyfriend knew about it and gave his future mother-inw a very expensive bag. She carried it every day and liked it.¡±

    ¡°Did she mention when her daughter broke up?¡±

    The olddy looked surprised. ¡°How did you know?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t answer and questioned, ¡°She really mentioned it?¡±

    The olddy nodded regretfully. ¡°Three months ago, I met her at the supermarket buying a lot of chicken, duck and fish. I asked why she was buying so many ingredients and she happily said that her daughter was bringing her boyfriend home to visit and she had to prepare. As a result, we didn¡¯t see each other after that. The other day, I asked her about the boyfriend and she said the two people weren¡¯t suitable and broke up. I also wondered how they suddenly broke up.¡±

    The olddy had a good rtionship with Aunt Shu and mentioned all the gossip she knew.

    Things here have be clearer.

    Yu Hanjiang calmly analyzed the case. ¡°This case, there are two critical people who aren¡¯t on the train.¡±

    ¡°One is Li Zhemin¡¯s son, called Li Mo. There is also Shu Ping¡¯s daughter, Shu Xiaomeng.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps the two young people didn¡¯t know there was a deep feud between their parents. They got to know each other by chance and fell in love. Based on the words of the olddy and the group of female friends, the man gave his girlfriend¡¯s mother a very expensive bag to show his sincerity. Then after they broke up, the woman went to her friends¡¯ ce to cry for a long time. It can be seen that the rtionship between them was very good.¡±

    Xiao Lou followed her words. ¡°Then three months ago, Li Mo came to visit his future mother-inw and the bubble burst in a sh?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Shu Ping found out that her daughter¡¯s boyfriend was the son of Li Zhemin, who abandoned her and hurt her friend. It was simply a bolt from the blue! She definitely wouldn¡¯t agree to her daughter and the son of a g man being together! However, it is still uncertain if the breakup was Shu Ping¡¯s idea or Li Zhemin deliberately breaking them up.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang touched his chin. ¡°Still, we can be sure that three months ago, their breakup involved a lot of the past. Maybe because of that, Li Mo finally knew that his mother was his stepmother and his mother was raped by his father.¡±

    ¡°Li Mo can make his father¡¯spany boom and also invest in real estate to make money. He is obviously a farsighted and resourceful young man. He definitely wouldn¡¯t sit back and do nothing.¡±

    Xiao Lou was silent for a few seconds. ¡°Perhaps once he went back, he quickly found out the truth of that year. He might¡¯ve found that that the death of his mother and grandfather weren¡¯t simple. Along with other events, his disgust and hatred of his father were pushed to the extreme. He was determined to get rid of Li Zhemin so¡­ he organized this trip.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded at Xiao Lou¡¯s spection. The two thought about it and this was the most reasonable guess when the current clues werebined.

    Li Zhemin might be a g but he was still Li Mo¡¯s father. He couldn¡¯tmit patricide so he borrowed a knife to kill this person. He arranged all those who had a hatred with Li Zhemin in the same group.

    If A didn¡¯t do it, B would do it. If B didn¡¯t do it, there was C and D. Perhaps the moment that Li Zhemin left him, Li Mo knew that his father¡¯s trip would be a train to hell. There was no going back.

    TL Note: This will be posted to both my wordpress and CG, so you can choose either ce to read it from.

 Chapter 78: Extremely Quick Train 11: Murderer

    The five suspects were Mrs Mei, Niu Dapeng, Zheng Weiguo, Liu Yuming and Shu Ping. Shu Ping might have the greatest suspicion right now and all evidence pointed to her, but perhaps there were other pits in this secret room.

    Before confirming it, Yu Hanjiang decided to re-examine the suspects. He called Niu Dapeng first and calmly asked, ¡°You saidst night that you heard someone going to the toilet next door and you saw a light through the crack of the door. There was also a strange noise from the garbage can, right?¡±

    Niu Dapeng nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°What time was this?¡±

    Niu Dapeng scratched the back of his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I was confused and didn¡¯t look at the time.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang then asked, ¡°hen did you hear Mrs Mei also going to the toilet?¡±

    Niu Dapeng pretended to be innocent. ¡°No.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang raised his head and coldly stared at him. ¡°Someone saw Mrs Mei and Liu Yuming going to the toilet one by one. You can hear someone in the next room get up at night and the noise of the garbage can at the end of the carriage but you can¡¯t hear the movement of someone in your room opening the door?¡±

    Niu Dapeng¡¯s face slightly changed. This was indeed inexplicable. He gritted his teeth and sullenly said, ¡°I really didn¡¯t hear it. I slept through the night and only woke up for a minute or two. Then I fell asleep again. I really don¡¯t know what happened.¡±

    He insisted that he didn¡¯t hear it but Yu Hanjiang was an experienced interrogator and knew from his expression that this person was lying.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly, ¡°You hate Li Zhemin and guessed that the person going to the toiletst night might be the murderer. You are pretending not to hear it in order to protect that person, right?¡±

    Niu Dapeng¡¯s face instantly whitened. His lips slightly trembled but he gritted his teeth and refused to speak.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°If you deliberately cover it up and don¡¯t cooperate with the investigation, the police can use the crime of obstructing the case to take you to the police station for another interrogation. You should think clearly.¡±

    Niu Dapeng was silent for a moment before his shoulders finally slumped with frustration. ¡°I-I did hear Sister Mei go to the toilet.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang raised his eyebrows. ¡°The time and how many times did she go?¡±

    ¡°It seemed to be two times. Once around 3 o¡¯clock and once around 4. I really don¡¯t know anything else.¡± He looked up at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°This thing should have nothing to do with SIster Mei. She is so old and weak. How can she kill anyone?¡±

    ¡°Since you think that she can¡¯t kill anyone, why did you hide the fact that she went to the toiletst night?¡±

    Niu Dapeng knew that he was in the wrong and muttered, ¡°I thought this wasn¡¯t very important. An old person going to the bathroom in the middle of the night is quite normal¡­¡±

    Then Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°The second time, the one before 4 o¡¯clock, how long did it take her toe back after going to the toilet?¡±

    Niu Dapeng replied, ¡°The time was rtively long, approximately half an hour? Maybe she had a bad stomach from the food?¡±

    ¡°Did you hear any other voices?¡±

    Niu Dapeng thought for a moment before saying, ¡°The second time Sister Mei went to the toilet, there seemed to be someone in the next room who went to the toilet. It shouldn¡¯t be Liu Yuming since they didn¡¯t bring a light. However, it didn¡¯t take long for the person toe back. I heard the sound of the door opening and closing in less than half a minute.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou nced at each other. It seemed the one going to the toilet next door was Zheng Weiguo. He stole the IOU note and wanted to go to the toilet to destroy it. Then he found that someone wasing out of the toilet and hurriedly returned to his room. He went out and returned, which could exin why it only took half a minute.

    Niu Dapeng spoke seriously, ¡°I really only know this and don¡¯t know anything else.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang saw his sincere eyes and believed him. He nodded and let this person go back.

    Immediately after, Yu Hanjiang questioned Liu Yuming of Room 2. Liu Yuming first smiled and put on the ¡®I am a good citizen¡¯ act. ¡°What questions do you have? Just ask.¡±

    As a result, Yu Hanjiang directly questioned, ¡°Why are you lying?¡±

    Liu Yuming¡¯s smile instantly froze before he adjusted his expression. ¡°What do you mean? I¡¯m not lying.¡±

    ¡°The time you went to the toiletst night was 3:30, not 3 o¡¯clock.¡±

    Liu Yuming calmed down. ¡°Ah¡­ is that so? I am old and my memory isn¡¯t good. I was probably mistaken. Ah, I always forget something. This time, before going out, my son told me to bring towels and a toothbrush but I forgot again. I could only buy new ones at the station¡­¡±

    Seeing that he was trying to change the topic, Yu Hanjiang directly interrupted. ¡°Your memory isn¡¯t good? Then how did you remember that you lost your watch?¡±

    Liu Yuming had an awkward expression.

    Yu Hanjiang pointed to his watch. ¡°Your watch stayed in the trash until the middle of the night yet it is quite clean and doesn¡¯t have the smell of rubbish.¡±

    Liu Yuming touched his nose and exined, ¡°I found my watchst night and cleaned it in the basin.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was light. ¡°Yet the person in the toilet next to you said you went back after washing your hands. You didn¡¯t wash your watch at all.¡±

    Liu Yuming hurriedly denied it. ¡°How is that possible? I wasn¡¯t seen at all!¡±

    The office fell silent. Yu Hanjiang calmly stared and saw Liu Yuming¡¯s face be pale and then suddenly red.

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Then when you went to the toilet, there really was someone opposite you?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Liu Yuming wanted to cry.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s interrogation made him dizzy. He had been walking along the rhythm of the other party. His thoughts were focused on the watch and as a result, he didn¡¯t pay attention to ¡®the person who went to the toilet opposite you.¡¯ The other party used these words to trap him and reveal the truth.

    Yu Hanjiang found the old man was in a daze and knocked gently on the table with a pen. ¡°A lie will lead to countless lies. It is better to tell the truth. Last night at 3:30, you went to the toilet and what did you see? Was it Shu Ping?¡±

    Liu Yuming¡¯s senses hurriedly returned and he shook his head. ¡°It isn¡¯t her. I didn¡¯t see her!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang raised his eyebrows. ¡°A person in the 4th carriage saw it and told us thatst night at 3:30, Shu Ping went to the toilet and hit a nearby garbage can.¡±

    Liu Yuming¡¯s face was red and white and he seemed to be fighting with his thoughts.

    Yu Hanjiang continued, ¡°Shu Ping and Ruirui were good friends? When you pursued Ruirui, Shu Ping also helped you a lot? Your rtionship with Shu Ping should be very good. You didn¡¯t expectter that Li Zhemin would dig at your rtionship and use wine to obtain your sweetheart. Shu Ping was abandoned by Li Zhemin and both of you let down. You can be considered to be in the same boat.¡±

    He put his pen on the table, folded his arms across his chest and calmly watched Liu Yuming. ¡°That¡¯s why even if Shu Ping is the murderer, you don¡¯t want to stand up to identify her. It is because Li Zhemin should de. She killed Li Zhemin and Ruirui will be able to rest in peace in the afterlife. You feel that way, right?¡±

    Liu Yuming¡¯s body trembled violently, face full of horror.

    It was because the other person expressed his exact thoughts. This sharp-eyed man seemed to have the ability to read minds, directly piercing into his thoughts. In these years, he had a gentle wife and filial son. His life was happy and he might¡¯ve tried to forget the original things, but the thought of the purely innocent Ruirui was like a knife.

    ¡°Li Zhemin should really die! Ruirui was killed by him!¡± Liu Yuming¡¯s eyes became red as he recalled the past. He roared like an angry beast, ¡°Li Zhemin swore to me that he would treat Ruirui well when he married her. I believed him and thought that since they are married, I should bless them!¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that Li Zhemin was actually a beast. During Ruirui¡¯s pregnancy, he cheated on her. He and a young nurse in the hospital colluded together. He sent flowers to the nurse every day and Ruirui inadvertently caught them when going to the hospital for a check. She was angry and entered premature delivery. She almost lost her life in the operating room!¡±

    ¡°She had depression after giving birth but when I saw her, she told me she wanted a divorce. Then not long after, she died of an overdose on sleeping pills! Since she had depression, the police determined that shemitted suicide.¡±

    ¡°Suicide? How can there be such a coincidence?¡± Liu Yuming cried out indignantly. ¡°Do you believe it? I don¡¯t believe it! It must be that Li Zhemin was afraid that after her divorce, thepany would end up in her hands. He forced her to take the sleeping pills!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Xiao Lou had long guessed that Ruirui¡¯s death wasn¡¯t simple yet he hadn¡¯t expected such a past. ording to Mrs Mei, Li Zhemin married the nurse only one year after her death. In fact, he had cheated on his wife during her pregnancy and was caught by her. As for whether Mrs Mei didn¡¯t know about this or deliberately concealed it, they would have to ask Mrs Mei to make sure.

    ¡°Li Zhemin should¡¯ve died long ago! If it wasn¡¯t for the child being too young, I would¡¯ve killed him when she died!¡±

    Liu Yuming clenched his fists emotionally, his fingers almost pinching into his palms. He clearly abhorred Li Zhemin. On the surface, he was good friends with Li Zhemin. He was probably concerned about the only son left behind by Ruirui. He only married several years after Ruirui died. It could be seen that this man was very affectionate and was moved by his wife¡¯s gentle pursuit.

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t hurry to ask questions. Once Liu Yuming finished, he spoke in a low voice. ¡°Were there any abnormalities with the death of Ruirui¡¯s father?¡±

    Liu Yuming took a deep breath to steady his mood. ¡°Chief Lin had bone cancer and multiple metastases. The people from ourpany visited him before he died. He was sent to the ICU for a month and finally couldn¡¯t be saved.¡±

    It seemed that while the death of her father was normal, the death of Ruirui was likely to be caused by Li Zhemin.

    At the time, Li Zhemin had cheated. If Ruirui divorced him then he wouldn¡¯t be able to control thepany. After all, Chief Lin had left thepany to his daughter. From a legal point of view, this was a ¡®gift¡¯ property that a parent left to their child. It wasn¡¯t a jointly owned property that could be divided in a divorce. Li Zhemin¡¯s cheating could also be seen as marital fault and he might not get a single penny.

    The moment he divorced, he would have nothing left. Therefore, he forced her to take an overdose of sleeping pills. Since she was depressed, he made it seem that shemitted suicide. As long as she died, he would receive her property as her spouse.

    Xiao Lou recorded this while feeling a chill in his heart. This Li Zhemin, he really lost his humanity for money!

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Did you talk to LI Mo about this matter?¡±

    Liu Yuming immediately shook his head. ¡°No, I didn¡¯t want to let Little Mo feel pain. His father killing his mother would be difficult for anyone to ept!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang expressed his understanding and continue to ask, ¡°In your opinion, what type of person is Li Mo?¡±

    ¡°Little Mo is sensible and an excellent child. He was very independent from a young age and isn¡¯t close to his parents. He left home at the age of 16 to study. Li Zhemin didn¡¯t do anything apart from giving some money. It was because Li Zhemin had a son with his second wife and loved this youngest son even more. He didn¡¯t expect the powerful eldest son to take over thepany a year after graduating and to double the market value. Once he found out that his eldest son had a talent in business, his attitude changed and he kept boasting about Li Mo.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang seized the key point. ¡°Li Mo isn¡¯t the actual power of thepany right now?¡±

    ¡°Little Mo is just the CEO. The chairman was Old Li and the equity was in Li Zhemin¡¯s hands. I think that Old Li had a guilty conscience. His son is so excellent but he caused Ruirui¡¯s death. He was afraid that his son would find out the truth. Therefore, Old Li retired in name and asked his son to help manage thepany, saying that it was training. Yet he refused to transfer over the real power. My guess is that he is waiting for his youngest son to graduate from university before handing over thepany to his youngest son.¡±

    Liu Yuming confessed to this and Yu Hanjiang let him go. Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t continue to ask Liu Yuming about who he sawst night. Sometimes the answer didn¡¯t have to be said in person. Judging by his expression, he had met Shu Ping near the toiletst night.

    Yu Hanjiang followed by questioning Zheng Weiguo. ¡°Did you wake up at 3:40 a.m?¡±

    The gambling obsessed old man¡¯s eyes were disturbed and he fidgeted. It was obvious that the two consecutive interrogations made him confused but he didn¡¯t struggle and soon confessed. ¡°Yes, I woke up once.¡±

    ¡°Was it to steal the note and destroy it in the toilet?¡±

    Zheng Weiguo stared and almost blurted out, ¡®How do you know?¡¯

    He swallowed back the words and gritted his teeth. ¡°I-I admit that I stole the loan. This crime of stealing shouldn¡¯t be too serious? I didn¡¯t say that I wouldn¡¯t pay back the money I owe Old Li. I just took it to have a look and wasn¡¯t careful¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang interrupted. ¡°You identally ate it?¡±

    Zheng Weiguo¡¯s face was extremely embarrassed. He also thought this excuse was too much.

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°The crime of stealing the IOU note is lighter than killing. You better be honest.¡±

    Zheng Weiguo immediately confessed. ¡°Okay, I will honestly exin!¡± He was afraid that his confession was toote and quickly said, ¡°Liu Yuming went to the toilet at three in the morning with his light. I saw that Old Li was sleeping like the dead and secretly took the note from his pocket. Liu Yuming came back and soon fell asleep. Approximately 10 minutester, the three of them were asleep so I went to the toilet to flush the note away. I was walking over when the door to a toilet opened. I was afraid I would be discovered and quickly turned back to my room.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou who was recording this down. Xiao Lou also raised his head and the two people exchanged a look. Their reasoning was absolutely correct. It seemed they were getting closer to the truth.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Did you see what that person was?¡±

    Zheng Weiguo swore it was true. ¡°I didn¡¯t see it but I know that person must be Shu Ping!¡±

    YU Hanjiang raised his eyebrows. ¡°Why?¡±

    Zheng Weiguo exined, ¡°Shu Ping loves to dress up. She is so beautiful even when she is old. The olddies of our group wear t shoes and she is the only one who wears high heels¡­ I saw her shadow from the light of the toilet door and she is wearing high heels!¡±

    ¡°Why can¡¯t it be a woman from another room wearing high heels?¡±

    Zheng Weiguo spoke mysteriously, ¡°It is because not long after she came out, I heard the olddy next door also go to the toilet. Sister Mei has asthma and her breathing and coughing are easy to distinguish. She walked to Room 4 where she happened to bump into Shu Ping. I heard them talking. I don¡¯t know specifically what they were talking about but the two people must know each other.¡±

    Someone who knew Mrs Mei and wore high heels was only Shu Ping.

    The interrogation put the early hours of the morning all together.

    At 3:10, Mrs Mei went to the toilet. At 3:#0, Liu Yuming went to the toilet and met Shu Ping. Shu Ping dodged into the toilet and identally touched the trash can. Liu Yuming realized the identity of the other person and deliberately confused the timeline to protect her, making up an excuse of going to the trash can to find his watch.

    At 3:40, Zheng Weiguo went to destroy the IOU and happened to find Shu Pinging out from the toilet. He immediately went back to his room. This was followed by Mrs Mei going to the toilet and meeting Shu Ping in the corridor. The two people had a brief conversation.

    The murderer must be between Mrs Mei and Shu Ping.

    Yu Hanjiang wanted to interrogate the two suspects. As a result, Zheng Weiguo had just left the office when Mrs Mei took the initiative toe in. She covered her chest and coughed while speaking calmly, ¡°You don¡¯t have to ask Little Ping. I killed Li Zhemin.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    The 70 year old woman hadpletely white hair, was hunched over and her face was full of wrinkles.

    She looked extremely old as she teetered on her feet, like she would fall down at any moment.

    Yet at this moment, her eyes were particrly clear as she spoke slowly, ¡°I recruited Li Zhemin into thepany. During his interview with several other people, his score wasn¡¯t high but I thought his mouth was sweet and he was motivated. He could be recruited to be trained. It was at my insistence that thepany finally hired him.¡±

    She patted her head with dry hands and spoke regretfully, ¡°The root of everything was me. If he hadn¡¯t entered thepany, Ruirui wouldn¡¯t be dead, Yuming and Ruirui would be a happy couple and Dapeng wouldn¡¯t have his manager¡¯s position taken away. He could¡¯ve relied on his efforts and achievements for a better left. Little Ping wouldn¡¯t have married a scum whomitted domestic violence. She was so beautiful that she could¡¯ve surely found an excellent man¡­¡±

    Mrs Mei coughed violently and after a few seconds, she spoke calmly. ¡°The root of everything was me. Li Zhemin harmed so many people and we all wanted to let him die. It is better for me to do it. In any case, I can¡¯t live for long¡­¡±

    The murderer voluntarily confessed and this turn of events caught Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang off guard. Yet the olddy looked serious and didn¡¯t seem to be lying.

    She took out a small bag wrapped in cloth from the pocket of her carry-on. It contained a photograph. The girl in the photo had a beautiful and bright expression, her eyes seeming to shine. Mrs Mei looked at the photo and spoke softly, ¡°This is Ruirui. Li Zhemin had long forgotten but¡­ today is the anniversary of Ruirui¡¯s death.¡±

 Chapter 79: Extremely Quick Train 12: The Truth Comes to Light

    Mrs Mei fell into her memories as she looked at the photo. She seemed to be remembering many good memories as a faint smile appeared on her face. Then her fingers shook violently and her eyes filled with tears, causing the girl in the photo to be fuzzy in her vision. The olddy carefully put the photo back into her pocket.

    Her throat was hoarse like it had been worn down by sand. ¡°After Ruirui died, Li Zhemin moved homes with his new wife. He never mentioned Ruirui¡¯s name in front of his son, Li Mo. After so many years, he rarely goes to Ruirui¡¯s grave. Isn¡¯t this definitely a guilty conscience? Ruirui was definitely killed by him! So I killed him on the anniversary of Ruirui¡¯s death!¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang and Yu Hanjiang happened to be looking back at him. The two people made eye contact, apparently not believing her words.

    Mrs Mei was old and wasn¡¯t in good health. How could she urately inject insulin into Li Zhemin¡¯s body?

    Moreover, Li Zhemin¡¯s murder was clearly a sophisticated n. First, the murderer needed to investigate the situation of Li Zhemin¡¯s diabetes. Secondly, they needed some medical knowledge to know how much insulin could kill a person. Furthermore, it took time to prepare the syringes and insulin.

    How could a 70 year olddy with reduced mobility do all of this?

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the olddy and spoke softly, ¡°Aunt Mei, Li Zhemin is truly unforgivable but I rmend you don¡¯t take the risk of taking the me for the murderer. The police have many high-tech detection methods. We have found the murderer¡¯s tools and there will be fingerprints on the syringe and there is also the source of the insulin. Once we check, we can always find out the truth.¡±

    Old Lady Mei¡¯s eyes were calm, a calm that seemed like she knew she was going to die and was prepared for it. She listened carefully to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s words and said with a smile, ¡°Young man, you should believe me. Even if the police check, the result will be the same. Only my fingerprints are on the syringe because only I touched the syringe.¡±

    Xiao Lou questioned, ¡°Auntie, you are so old and your grip on the syringe can¡¯t be stable. How can you urately inject the medicine into Li Zhemin¡¯s body? If you do more than a few attempts, won¡¯t even the sleeping Li Zhemin wake up?¡±

    Mrs Mei smiled. ¡°He couldn¡¯t wake up.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Mrs Mei coughed for a moment with her hands over her chest. ¡°I gave him what he fed to Ruirui.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were both shocked. Li Zhemin had taken sleeping pills before bed?

    Mrs Mei smiled. ¡°Li Zhemin has a habit of drinking a bottle of milk before going to bed. The milk in his bag was something I gave him before getting on the train. Do you understand?¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­.¡±

    Mrs Mei put away her smile and spoke coldly. ¡°Last night after 2 o¡¯clock, he drank a bottle of milk to sleep. There were sleeping pills in it and he wouldn¡¯t wake up no matter how noisy. I¡¯m really old and have bad eyes. I poked him several times when giving him the injection yet he didn¡¯t wake up.¡±

    The sleeping pills weren¡¯t visible on the surface and had to be tested to be found. Xiao Lou might be a forensic doctor but he couldn¡¯t directly judge that Li Zhemin took sleeping pills before sleeping. It was no wonder that Li Zhemin slept like the dead no matter how noisyst night was. The olddy had long been prepared.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°Where did you buy the insulin?¡±

    ¡°I asked Shu Ping to buy it. She has diabetes and can get a prescription for insulin.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked incredulously, ¡°Then why did Shu Ping buy a syringe for you when she is using an insulin pen?¡±

    Mrs Meiughed. ¡°I made inquiries at a doctor and found that if I used a syringe and injected it into the skin, an overdose would lead to a risk of death. In particr, patients with high blood pressure and heart disease must pay attention to the dosage. It is much more convenient to kill someone with a syringe instead of an insulin pen so I specifically told Shu Ping to buy me the most traditional syringe and extractable insulin.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other.

    Mrs Mei had thought about it. Her words sounded reasonable on the surface but it was actually full of holes. Mrs Mei didn¡¯t have diabetes yet she asked Shu Ping to help buy insulin. How could Shu Ping buy it for her without asking the reason? If Shu Ping bought it to help Mrs Mei, why did she hide in the restaurant when Mrs Mei went to the toilet?

    Obviously, Mrs Mei was trying to take on all the sins. She was protecting Shu Ping. Perhaps the sleeping pill wasn¡¯t done by her but Shu Ping.

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment before saying, ¡°Shu Ping wanted to kill Li Zhemin but you saw her dosing Li Zhemin¡¯s milk and secretly taking out the syringe and insulin. Thus, you decided to take the me for her¡­ right?¡±

    Mrs Mei¡¯s eyes were red and her voice quivered. ¡°No! I kill him. You can see my fingerprints on the syringe and insulin bottle and I personally injected it. It has nothing to do with Shu Ping!¡±

    She swore that her fingerprints were on the syringe. Under normal circumstances, the murderer would deliberately erase their fingerprints but she deliberately left it. Apparently, it was to make the police think she was the murderer, so as to protect the real perpetrator.

    Last night, Shu Ping hid in the dining carriage the first time Mrs Mei went to the toilet. ording to Zheng Weiguo¡¯s testimony, he heard Mrs Mei and Shu Ping speaking softly in the corridor.

    What did they say? Perhaps Mrs Mei discovered what Shu Ping was going to do and took the initiative to take the syringe from Shu Ping, personally going to kill Li Zhemin. This way, Shu Ping could stay out of it and escape thew.

    Or perhaps when Mrs Mei found Shu Ping, Shu Ping had already injected Li Zhemin. The olddy decided to be a scapegoat or Shu Ping and took the initiative to leave her fingerprints on the syringe.

    In either case, she was trying to protect Shu Ping.

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Aunt Mei, your rtionship with Shu Ping must be very good? You watched Ruirui grow up so shouldn¡¯t Aunt Shu Ping be like a sister to you?¡±

    This sentence touched the softness in her heart. Old Lady Mei¡¯s mouth twitched slightly and her eyes reddened. ¡°Little Ping was also a poor person. That year, Li Zhemin was actually secretly involved with Little Ping. Unexpectedly, the innocent Ruirui got involved in that type of event on his birthday. Her boyfriend slept with her best friend after drinking. Little Ping was furious and decisively broke up with him¡­¡±

    Mrs Mei¡¯s hands couldn¡¯t stop shaking when she talked about the past. ¡°In order to not make Ruirui sad, Little Ping didn¡¯t tell her about the previous rtionship with Li Zhemin. After Ruirui and Li Zhemin got married, Little Ping went to the hospital and found out that she was also pregnant. Of course, she refused to have this child. As a result, she suffered from massive bleeding and hurt her body during the operation. The doctor told her that she could no longer have children.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­.¡±

    They didn¡¯t expect that Shu Ping couldn¡¯t have children. Li Zhemin was really harmful!

    Mrs Mei was choked up. ¡°Sheter married a doctor and the doctor often hit her. She had a hard few years and finally, her husband died. She adopted a daughter and slowly got better. All her thoughts were on her daughter and she focused on raising her daughter. Who would expect¡­ her daughter and Li Zhemin¡¯s son would actually get together!¡±

    The thing with Li Mo and her daughter was thest straw that overwhelmed Shu Ping.

    Mrs Mei started to cough violently again. Xiao Lou reached out a hand and helped pat the olddy on the back. ¡°Auntie, you felt that Shu Ping¡¯s many years weren¡¯t easy and wanted to take the me for her?¡±

    Mrs Mei shook her head. ¡°I was really the one who injected the insulin. I am the murderer.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly. ¡°That is to say, at 3:40 you went to the toilet and found Shu Ping about to kill Li Zhemin. Then you grabbed the murder weapon from her hand and did it yourself, so that she wouldn¡¯tmit murder?¡±

    Mrs Mei seriously corrected it. ¡°Shu Ping just gave me the syringe and insulin. She didn¡¯t intend to kill Li Zhemin. Don¡¯t talk nonsense! I asked her for insulin and personally injected it into Li Zhemin¡¯s body. Liu Yuming can also testify on this matter.¡±

    If this was true, Shu Ping could only be considered as indirectly providing the crime tools. As long as she insisted that she didn¡¯t know Mrs Mei would kill people and the insulin was for personal use, she could be cleared of any guilt. Mrs Mei was determined to bear everything.

    Sure enough, the olddy smiled and said, ¡°It isn¡¯t worth them losing their lives for a scum like Li Zhemin. Letting me do it is fine. In any case, I won¡¯t live long and I want to see Ruirui earlier.¡±

    Xiao Lou endured the heartache and asked softly, ¡°You say that you can¡¯t live long¡­ were you diagnosed with a terminal illness?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had ignored this detail. He thought the olddy was referring to her old age.

    Mrs Mei looked at Xiao Lou with some surprise and nodded. ¡°Yes, I have terminal bone cancer, the same disease as Ruirui¡¯s father. I won¡¯tst more than half a year. In the beginning, I insisted on Li Zhemin joining thepany. This is probably karma.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s mood wasplicated and he didn¡¯t know what to say.

    Yu Hanjiang was also silent. He had seen many murderers but in the face of this 70 year olddy with advanced bone cancer, he couldn¡¯t continue to coldly interrogate the other person. Wasn¡¯t it really done by her hand? In terms of evidence, morality and thew, Mrs Mei was the one who directly led to Li Zhemin¡¯s death.

    She had only six months left in her life and this would be gone in a sh. Thest thing she could do was probably take the life of the scum Li Zhemin for Shu Ping.

    Xiao Lou personally escorted Mrs Mei from the office. The olddy coughed and faltered while walking but her eyes were very firm.

    Once she went to Room 3, Shu Ping came out of the room and held the olddy with red eyes.

    Mrs Mei smiled and patted Shu Ping¡¯s shoulder, whispering to her, ¡°Little Ping, you should think clearly about what to say and what not to say. Don¡¯t forget that you still have a daughter to take care of. Your daughter is so excellent that she wouldn¡¯t want her mother to be a murderer.¡±

    Shu Ping choked up and nodded. She turned to look at Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou and the exquisitely beautiful woman¡¯s face was restored to calm. She slowly stated, ¡°I am thest one to be investigated?¡±

    Xiao Lou took her to the office.

    For this interrogation, Shu Ping was strangely cooperatively. She took the initiative to confess before Yu Hanjiang could even open his mouth. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I lied to you before. I never introduced my daughter to Li Zhemin¡¯s son. His son took the initiative to chase my Xiaomeng.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked in a low voice, ¡°What happened in the early hours of the morning? Say it in detail.¡±

    Shu Ping took a deep breath and calmly replied, ¡°At 3:10, I got up to go to the toilet. I touched my ears and found that an earring was missing. I thought that I lost it in the restaurant at dinner and went to the restaurant to look for it. However, the restaurant was too dark. I looked for a long time and couldn¡¯t find it. I went back to the 6th carriage. Around 3:30, Liu Yuming went to the toilet with the light and I was in the toilet opposite him.¡±

    ¡°Due to a bad stomach, I stayed in the toilet for around 10 minutes. Then I came out and happened to meet Mrs Mei in the corridor. She asked me to give her the syringe and insulin I had bought and I gave it to her.¡±

    ¡°She returned to her room and I found the door of Room 2 open. I had wanted to teach him a lesson so I stole his insulin pens from his bag. I don¡¯t know what happened next.¡±

    Apparently, Shu Ping and Mrs Mei had already thought of an exnation in the early hours of the morning.

    The reason for getting up in the middle of the night to steal insulin was too far-fetched but if she and Mrs Mei insisted then the police couldn¡¯t arrest her. In fact, the inference of Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang was more reasonable. Shu Ping got up early in the morning tomit a crime, saw Mrs Mei and hid in the restaurant. This was followed by encountering Liu Yuming and she hid in the toilet. The third time, she finally failed to hide and collided with Mrs Mei.

    Then Mrs Mei grabbed the syringe and insulin and killed Li Zhemin himself. Shu Ping had carefully nned the crime and definitely wouldn¡¯t leave her fingerprints on the syringe. She could say that the new syringe was unopened until it was given to the olddy. On the syringe, only Mrs Mei¡¯s fingerprints could be detected.

    Mrs Mei had turned herself in. The motive was sufficient, the process was clear and there was enough evidence. There were also several time witnesses. The murderer of this case could only be Mrs Mei.

    Xiao Lou remembered her words.

    ¡ªIt isn¡¯t worth them losing their lives for a scum like Li Zhemin

    ¡ªLetting me do it is fine.

    ¡ª Your daughter is so excellent that she wouldn¡¯t want her mother to be a murderer.

    Mrs Mei was once thepany¡¯s personnel director. She recruited Li Zhemin into thepany despite his score not being high because she felt that Li Zhemin had excellent eloquence and ambition. He was a young man worthy of training.

    Unexpected, Li Zhemin only used his eloquence to do oily things. Li Zhemin¡¯s ambition was actually an ambition to climb up unscrupulously.

    Mrs Mei had been feeling guilty until this trip. She was diagnosed with advanced bone cancer and had little time left to live. Before she died, she decided to kill Li Zhemin with her own hands.

    Li Zhemin was the scum she had brought into thepany in the first ce. Finally, she was also responsible for taking him away.

 Chapter 80: Extremely Quick Train 13: The Second Death

    The 6th carriage¡¯s case had been solved.

    In order to confirm it, Yu Hanjiang called Liu Yuming and asked him if Shu Ping went into Room 2 in the early hours of the morning to steal Li Zhemin¡¯s insulin. Liu Yuming was worried for a moment but he probably knew he couldn¡¯t hide it anymore and had to nod. ¡°Yes, I saw Shu Ping opened the door and take something from Old Li¡¯s bag¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Apart from taking the things from the bag, did she touch Old Li¡¯s bed?¡±

    Liu Yuming was very certain. ¡°No, she just took the bag from the luggage rack and then put the bag back.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°What about Mrs Mei? Did she go to Room 2?¡±

    Liu Yuming was silent for a moment before bowing his head. ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Did you see what she came in to do?¡±

    Liu Yuming took a deep breath, his voice trembling slightly. ¡°It was too dark and I didn¡¯t see what she was doing. Just based on the sounds she made, she seemed to have opened Li Zhemin¡¯s quilt and clothes, looking for something on Li Zhemin¡¯s body¡­.¡±

    This testimony was enough to determine that it was Mrs Mei who killed Li Zhemin.

    Yu Hanjiang called Zheng Weiguo again. This gambler was probably at ease after swallowing the notest night and fell asleep. he didn¡¯t hear the follow-up movements. Niu Dapeng next door also said he didn¡¯t hear anything.

    Liu Yuming and Shu Ping were witnesses to Mrs Mei killing Li Zhemin. Her fingerprints on the syringe and insulin were physical evidence. Although Yu Hanjiang knew hat Shu Ping was involved, there was a confession and Shu Ping insisted that she only bought the insulin for Mrs Mei. She didn¡¯t know Mrs Mei¡¯s n and the police had no way to arrest her.

    He returned everyone to their rooms and Yu Hanjiang frowned as he fell into contemtion.

    Xiao Lou asked softly, ¡°How did we choose for this case? Do we need to catch Aunt Ping as well?¡±

    From an emotional point of view, Xiao Lou didn¡¯t want to catch Shu Ping. She had been badly hurt by Li Zhemin and not to mention, Mrs Mei had protected Shu Ping at thest moment, personally taking on all the me. However, from an objective point of view, Shu Ping was the one who nned everything.

    Yu Hanjiang replied in a low voice, ¡°We all know that Shu Ping is an aplice but there is no physical evidence. The testimony of several witnesses is also favourable to her. Yu Xinxin only saw her shadow and this could be exined as her looking for her earrings. Zheng Weiguo heard her and Mrs Mei chatting and this could be exined as Shu Ping giving her insulin to Mrs Mei. Liu Yuming proved that she went to Room 2 to steal insulin but didn¡¯t attack.¡±

    These testimonies linked together could only prove that Shu Ping stole Li Zhemin¡¯s insulin in the middle of the night. The murderer was Mrs Mei.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Group Leader Yu, does this mean we only need to catch Mrs Mei?

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°The person who directly led to Li Zhemin¡¯s death was here. The murderer we need to catch should be her.¡±

    Xiao Lou sighed with relief and smiled. ¡°I thought you would catch Aunt Ping.¡±

    ¡°There is no actual evidence that Shu Ping is a murderer. Mrs Mei is a smart person and should be the one who guided Shu Ping to steal the insulin. It is because many people have found her actions. If she doesn¡¯t have a reason then it would be hard to exin why she was up for so long in the middle of the night. Furtively stealing the insulin is the best reason to fill all the holes.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°Losing two lives for a scum like Li Zhemin, I also feel it is worthless.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°Then we will let Shu Ping go. In any case, there is insufficient evidence and we can¡¯t catch her. Mrs Mei has decided to take responsibility and resist everything so¡­ we should satisfy the olddy¡¯sst wish before she dies.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded.

    A prompt appeared on the floating boxes in front of the two men at the same time.

    [The murderer who killed Li Zhemin in the 6th carriage is: A. Old Lady Mei, B. Shu Ping, C. Niu Dapeng, D. Zheng Weiguo, E. Liu Yuming. Please select the murderer and lock the murderer in the security room of the 9th carriage. Wait for the train to arrive and hand the murderer over to the police.]

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou chose Option A together. This option proved that clearing 4 of Hearts didn¡¯t require all the people involved in the murder to be caught. It was enough to catch the person who did it.

    The two men walked out of the office and into Room 1. Mrs Mei was packing up. Seeing that Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou wereing over, the passengers consciously cleared the corridor for them.

    Yu Hanjiang requested in a low voice. ¡°Aunt Mei,e with us.¡±

    Mrs Mei looked at them. ¡°Wait two minutes for me. I have something to ount for.¡±

    She divided the food in her bag to the rest of Room 1 and handed the photo in her pocket to Shu Ping, gently shaking Shu Ping¡¯s hand. Realizing that this olddy was leaving, Shu Ping¡¯s eyes were full of tears as she refused to let go.

    Mrs Mei smiled. ¡°It¡¯s okay, your daughter will be fine and you have to live well. You are only 60 now and the most beautiful olddy I have every soon. It is enough to live to at least 80 years, you know?¡±

    Shu Ping nodded while sobbing.

    Liu Yuming turned to look out the window while holding back his tears. Other people didn¡¯t know what was going on and asked, ¡°What happened to Sister Mei? Why are the train attendants taking her away?¡±

    ¡°Sister Mei?¡±

    Mrs Mei waved her hand to the crowd and smiled. ¡°It¡¯s fine. My legs aren¡¯t good and the two attendants are kind enough to let me go to a spacious ce to rest for a while.¡±

    She turned and told Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Xiao Lou gently held her. The others wanted to stop him but were blocked by Mrs Mei. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou took her to the security room of the 9th carriage.

    Behind her, the group of elderly people watched her leave. The old back was hunched over but every step was firm and calm. It was because she knew this would all end. Shu Ping, Shu Xiaomeng and Li Mo would all start a new life. As for her, she was always going to die. There was no difference from being killed in the hospital by bone cancer and being shot at the execution site.

    To put it bluntly, it was easier to be shot. The doctor said that for bone cancer patients, chemotherapy could be very painful. She was afraid of pain.

    The sun was shining outside the window. Mrs Mei stared at it and her face finally showed a smile of relief.

    In the 6th carriage, Mrs Mei left and the atmosphere of the entire tour group was a bit depressed. The old people no longer spoke and watched in silence as Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou took Mrs Mei away, followed by them returning to take Li Zhemin¡¯s body away.

    The conductor said that the body in the carriage would affect the passengers. Since the case had been solved, the body of Li Zhemin should be moved to the 9th carriage for temporary storage. The police would take him away at the next station.

    The train conductor had contacted the police at the next station. Once the train arrived, the body, the murderer and all the suspects would be taken away by the police.

    Originally, the secret room settings meant the police woulde after the train arrived at the terminal. It was just that Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang finished the task ahead of them. Then the first case would be handed over to the police this evening.

    It was lunchtime when everything was settled. The group of elderly people started to eat but everyone seemed to have little appetite.

    Mo Jiaran could finally run back to the 4th carriage. Previously, the carriage door was locked and she couldn¡¯t get out. She had been a mess in her room and kept sending messages to her boyfriend. She ran back the moment the body was taken away and the carriage released.

    Zhao Zheng held her hand and found it terribly cold. He immediatelyforted her softly, ¡°It¡¯s fine. Don¡¯t be afraid.¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan saw her pale face and was concerned. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Mo Jiaran lowered her voice and exined, ¡°An old man in the 6th carriage died. Just now, the attendants finally removed his body. I listened to the group of elderly people and it seemed this old man had died of a heart attack¡­¡±

    Only a few case-rted people knew Li Zhemin¡¯s real cause of death. The others were still confused and said that Li Zhemin suffered from a heart attack. Therefore, the version that Mo Jiaran heard was that an old man had died of a sudden heart attack.

    Yue Xiaoquan asked, ¡°A heart attack?¡±

    Mo Jiaran had an ugly expression as she nodded. ¡°I think so. I heard that the old man had coronary heart disease and a stent surgery.¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan analyzed, ¡°It could also be a sudden rupture of the artery in the heart.¡±

    The two medical students actually analyzed the cause of death of the old man next door¡­

    Zhao Quan interrupted them. ¡°A 60 or 70 year old person having an ident while travelling isn¡¯t rare. Don¡¯t talk about this and let¡¯s have dinner first.¡±

    Mo Jiaran also didn¡¯t want to continue talking about this matter and nodded. ¡°Meeting this type of thing in the morning was my bad luck. I didn¡¯t have time to wash or eat anything for breakfast. I¡¯m starving to death¡­¡±

    Zhao Zheng held her hand infort. ¡°I wronged you. I¡¯ll treat you to a good meal at noon.¡±

    The four people set off for the restaurant, ordered several expensive dishes and ate a delicious meal. 8F¡¯s Jing Weiguang took the initiative to run to the 6th carriage and asked Xiao Lou, ¡°I heard that there was an ident in the 6th carriage. I am a doctor. Do you need any help?¡±

    The doctor NPC seemed to be idle for a long time and finally couldn¡¯t bear it anymore. He ran over to ask if his help was needed.

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°No, things have been resolved.¡±

    Jing Weiguang scratched the back of his head, expression a bit shy. ¡°You really don¡¯t need help?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought, ¡®Professor Xiao is much more professional than you. He did a direct on-site autopsy and determined the cause of death.¡¯

    He said, ¡°Thank you, there is no need.¡±

    Jing Weiguang let out an ¡®oh¡¯ sound and turned back to the 4th carriage, continuing to cook instant noodles to eat.

    Nothing happened in the afternoon. The passengers of the 6th carriage didn¡¯t leave their rooms and the corridor was empty. Yu Hanjiang was happy and went to the 4th carriage to have a leisurely lunch with Xiao Lou.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°The case of the 6th carriage has been resolved but the 4th carriage still has so many people. They shouldn¡¯t be simple plot characters. I have a bad feeling¡­ there might be more dead people.¡±

    ¡°You mean, the next one to die will probably be in the 4th carriage?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°The two couples are currentlypletely useless. The group of five girlfriends might have a connection with Shu Ping¡¯s daughter, Shu Xiaomeng and let us smoothly infer the clues about Shu Xiaomeng but I think¡­ their role isn¡¯t so little. Perhaps it isn¡¯t finished.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed with Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Next, we have to focus on the 4th carriage.¡± He tidied up the list of arrivals he previously made and said, ¡°There are only 12 people heading to the terminal in the 4th carriage. The couples group, Dr Jing Weiguang, the five girlfriends group and two individual people going to the concert.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang reminded him, ¡°Tonight, the train will stop at the station at 9:40. New characters might board.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, I will pay close attention.¡±

    Nothing happened in the afternoon and no abnormalities were found at dinner time.

    It wasn¡¯t until the clock on the train¡¯s LCD screen changed to 21:20 that the familiar sound of the broadcast was heard.

    The gentle voice spoke slowly, ¡°Passengers, the train will arrive at Cangzhou Station in 10 minutes. All passengers who need to get off, please prepare your luggage in advance and take care of the elderly and the children. Please get off at the right door. The train will stop at Cangzhou Station for 15 minutes. Please pay attention to this time while on the tform. I wish you a pleasant journey!¡±

    After the broadcasts, the passengers started to pack their bags and Yu Hanjiang also returned to the 6th carriage.

    At 21:30, the train roared as the KP-7311 train stopped at the station on time.

    The police officers who received a message from the conductor were waiting at the station in advance. They took the body of the deceased, handcuffed Old Lady Mei and brought all the members of the tour group back to investigate.

    The leading police officer came over to shake the hands of Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou. ¡°Thank you for assisting in the investigation.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou politelypleted the handover with them.

    The moment the police left, the doors opened and the passengers started to line up in an orderly manner to get off. The child Yu Xinxin came to Xiao Lou and asked curiously, ¡°Uncle, did you catch the thief in the 6th carriage?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°We caught the thief.¡±

    Yu Xinxin happily waved at him. ¡°Uncle, goodbye!¡±

    Xiao Lou gently rubbed the child¡¯s head. ¡°Goodbye.¡±

    The family of five left and arge number of casual passengers also got off the station.

    Xiao Lou found that four people were waiting to get on the train. There was a professional woman in a suit and a skirt, two university female students dressed simply and a young man with a travel bag and clear eyes.

    Xiao Lou checked the tickets and asked, ¡°Are you going to the City of the Moon to see the concert?¡±

    The professional woman replied lightly, ¡°I am going to a meeting.¡±

    The two female students shook their heads. ¡°We are going on a trip.¡±

    The teenager was surprised. ¡°Do you know about the concert? Luo Yan is my goddess!¡± It seemed he hadn¡¯t meant to say so much. He scratched the back of his head and blushed. ¡°I have always liked to listen to her songs for many years. I saved up several months of pocket money to buy this. Brother, do you like Goddess Luo Yan as well?¡±

    Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t heard of the singer and smiled. ¡°I don¡¯t listen to songs very much but there are many people on the train going to her concert.¡±

    The teenager was very excited. ¡°Is that so? It seems there are many like-minded people. My goddess is really charming.¡±

    Xiao Lou quietly checked the ticket and paid special attention to his name, Xu Junkai.

    The four people got on the train and Zhao Zheng¡¯s group also came over. ¡°Hello, I saw that the elderly tour group on the 6th carriage got off. There must be many empty beds. Can we make up the difference to go to the sleeper carriage?¡±

    Xiao Lou turned to Yu Hanjiang and asked, ¡°How many empty beds do you have?¡±

    ¡°Just now, a group of university professors attending a meeting boarded. The conductor said that many people in carriages 1 and 2 also changed their berths. At present¡­ there is only one bed empty and it is opposite to Mo Jiaran.¡±

    Zhao Zheng¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Great, we will make up the difference in price and change to that sleeper.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and epted the gold coins.

    The 15 minutes passed quickly. The two people returned to the carriage and Zhao Quan helped his girlfriend Yue Xiaoquan carry her luggage. Zhao Quan also helped Mo Jiaran carry a box and the four people walked to the 6th carriage while chatting.

    Yue Xiaoquan looked at her boyfriend. ¡°It actually doesn¡¯t matter to me if I sleep on a hard seat since I can still sleep well. Or shall we take turns? I will sleep until the middle of the night and then switch with you?¡±

    Zhao Quan looked at her gently. ¡°You are a girl. There is no need to take turns. Have a good rest.¡±

    Mo Jiaran heard up to here and nced at Zhao Zheng. ¡°Do you need to take turns?¡±

    Zhao Zheng immediately stood upright. ¡°No no no, the sleeper carriage is given to the two of you. My brother and I don¡¯t care and can sleep in the hard seats.

    Despite this, Mo Jiaran still wasn¡¯t happy. ¡°Next time, remember to buy tickets in advance and you won¡¯t need to suffer.¡±

    Zhou Zheng¡¯s face was full of ttery. ¡°Yes, I will write it down.¡±

    They escorted their girlfriends to the 6th carriage before the brothers spoke a few words and turned away.

    Mo Jiaran and Yue Xiaoquan put their luggage away. The time was still early and they couldn¡¯t sleep. They didn¡¯t talk much and just yed with their mobile phones.

    Yu Hanjiang gave them a puzzled look.

    The two girls were in the 6th sleeper carriage. Then was it one of the two men who would encounter an ident?

    In the 4th carriage, the brothers Zhao Quan and Zhao Zheng sat together. Jing Weiguang sat in two seats, 8D and 8F by himself. It was very spacious.

    Xu Junkai, the teenager who just got on the train, sat just above the group of girlfriends. Seeing that the group of five were also going to the concert, Xu Junkai immediately started to chat with them This guy¡¯s flirting technique was first-ss. They talked about the goddess¡¯ debut album to her recent album. The more they talked, the livelier they became. Soon, they were adding each other on WeChat.

    Xiao Lou pricked his ears to listen to their discussion.

    Xu Junkai and the girls talked together until the broadcast sounded at 10 o¡¯clock. ¡°Passengers, it iste at night. Our train is about to turn off the lights. Please rest as soon as possible. Goodnight¡­¡±

    A familiar prompt was heard in Xiao Lou¡¯s ears. ¡°All train crew, please return to the 9th carriage as soon as possible to rest.¡±

    If the challengers couldn¡¯t solve the case in a day, Li Zhemin¡¯s body would be left in the 9th carriage and they would need to sleep with the body for a night. Fortunately, they solved the case fast enough. The case in the 6th carriage was over yet they didn¡¯t see the clearance prompt. This meant something else would happen.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t sleep. Theyy on the upper bed and lower bed to chat.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°There is nothing unusual about Yue Xiaoquan and Mo Jiaran who changed to the sleeper carriage. They have been watching a TV series on their phone and then went to sleep at 10 o¡¯clock. The new passengers and passengers who changed from other carriages are all going to a meeting. I don¡¯t doubt them.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°I have a young man called Xu Junkai who is more high-profile. He is going to the concert and kept chatting with the female group. This little guy is very popr with girls and made the female friends keepughing. No other passengers are abnormal.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly. ¡°Unfortunately, we are restricted from moving. We can¡¯t leave the 9th carriage. Let¡¯s go to sleep first and we can talk more tomorrow.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Yes, goodnight Group Leader Yu.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was low. ¡°Goodnight.¡±

    The next morning, the two people were awakened by the familiar rm.

    After washing up and eating breakfast, they rushed to the 6th carriage. Everything was normal in this carriage. Mo Jiaran and Yue Xiaoquan were washing their faces together. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou nced at each other and headed to the 4th carriage.

    The 4th carriage looked very calm. Xiao Lou nced around and saw some people lining up to wash their faces. The group of five female friends were still sleeping and hadn¡¯t woken up yet. Xu Junkai was waiting at the door of a toilet and there were several people in line behind him.

    The two toilets at the end of the carriage had a red light, showing they were upied.

    It was early in the morning and many people went to the toilet. A queue for the toilet was normal. It was just that with the left toilet, someone constantly came out and went in. Everyone who went to the toilet was probably urinating and took no more than one minute.

    The toilet on the right¡­

    For thest 10 minutes, it had been in an upied state.

    Xu Junkai was lined up on the right side and he was a bit impatient. The teenager gently knocked on the door of the toilet. ¡°Buddy, can you hurry. I am anxious!¡±

    There was no sound from inside. Xu Junkai continued to knock on the door. ¡°Do you have a bad stomach? Hurry up, there are many people waiting outside!¡±

    Xiao Lou suddenly looked surprised and nced back at Yu Hanjiang. It was wrong. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s sharp eyes swept across the carriage. The brothers in the 8th row were missing.

    Xiao Lou immediately headed to the train attendant¡¯s office. He pulled open the drawer and his keen eyes found that the key had been moved! The key to the toilet was still in ce. When Xiao Lou leftst night, the teeth of the keys were to the left but now it was facing the right.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s back was cold. He picked up the key and turned to open the toilet. Yu Hanjiang directly cleared the road. ¡°Please go to the toilet in the 6th carriage. This toilet might be broken. Please let us look at it.¡±

    The people in the nearby queue were all chased away by him. Then Xiao Lou used the key to open the bathroom door.

    There was blood all over the bathroom! Zhao Quan was half-lying on the ground, clothes in disarray and his bodypletely cold and stiff.

    His death was extremely tragic. He was stabbed many times with a knife so that there was almost no intact skin. The key was that his little brother was directly cut off and thrown into the trash. Amon white towel covered his mouth and the man¡¯s eyes were staring like he couldn¡¯t believe the other person had actually killed him.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang let out a cold breath.

    The dead Li Zhemin¡¯s face had been serene, as if he died in the most beautiful dream. On the other hand, Zhao Quan¡¯s death was cruel. The pain he experienced was no less than the pce torture and he was castrated!

 Chapter 81: Extremely Quick Train 14 - Cause of Death

    Yu Hanjiang was a criminal police officer and it wasmon for him to see the dead who had been tortured and killed. He quickly closed the toilet door, blocking the view of the passengers. Then he whispered in Xiao Lou¡¯s ear, ¡°Zhao Quan¡¯s death is too cruel and the impact of this case can¡¯t be expanded. If the people in the carriage are in a panic then it will be detrimental to our investigation. First, you should tell the passengers that the toilet is broken and have them go to the toilet in the other carriages to stabilize their mood.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and returned to the carriage. He smiled and dered, ¡°Passengers, I¡¯m very sorry but the two toilets in our 4th carriage are broken and temporarily can¡¯t be used. The water in the toilet has also been stopped. If you need to wash your face and go to the toilet, you can go to the 3rd carriage or 6th carriage.¡±

    There wereints from everywhere.

    ¡°What is going on? How can the toilet be broken?¡±

    ¡°Eh? I just used the toilet on the right. It was fine¡­¡±

    ¡°There was water when I washed my face.¡±

    Xu Junkai¡¯s expression changed. ¡°Shit! I woke up early in the morning and lined up for ages, only for the toilet to be broken? How long will it take to be fixed?¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°It is rmended that you go to the 6th carriage. It is a sleeper carriage and there are fewer people.¡±

    Upon hearing this, the people lining up to go to the toilet immediately rushed to the 6th carriage out of fear that they would piss their pants if they were too slow.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes swept over the carriage. The female friends in the15th row were still sleeping. The strong professional woman and the two university students who boardedst night hadn¡¯t got up yet. In the 8th row, Jing Weiguang was sleeping awkwardly by the window. At 7:30 in the morning, most of the passengers weren¡¯t awake and this incident didn¡¯t attract many people¡¯s attention. Xiao Lou was relieved.

    At this time, Zhao Quan¡¯s brother, Zhao Zheng returned from the direction of the 3rd carriage. He was holding a thermal cup in his hand and frowned with a puzzled expression when he passed the toilet. ¡°Howe there is a strange smell? Who brought bad food?¡±

    It was the left side toilet that Yu Hanjiang had locked after entering. Zhao Zheng looked up and saw the red light on the door so he returned to his seat. He met Xiao Lou near his seat and asked, ¡°Attendant, there seems to be a strange smelling from the toilet. Is it not cleaned well?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and exined, ¡°The toilet is broken and there is some smell. We will deal with it as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°It is broken?¡± Zhao Zheng whispered. ¡°I was wondering why the toilet on the left didn¡¯t open.¡±

    Seeing him return to his seat in 8A and calmly took out bread and milk from his backpack to eat breakfast, Xiao Lou went to his side and whispered. ¡°Where is your brother? Why can¡¯t I see him?¡±

    Zhao Zheng shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. When I woke up in the morning, my brother was gone. He probably went to the 6th carriage to find his girlfriend.¡±

    Xiao Lou then questioned, ¡°I remember you were sitting in the aisle seatst night. Why are you now sitting by the window?¡±

    ¡°I like to sleep by the window. Once the lights went outst night, I changed with my brother. I sat on the inside and he sat outside.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and asked, ¡°Did you sleep wellst night? Did you wake up in the middle of the night?¡±

    Zhao Zheng thought the attendant was feeling concern for the pass and smiled. ¡°I fell asleep at 11 o¡¯clockst night, lying on the table. My sleep wasn¡¯t veryfortable and my neck is stiff.¡± He reached out and rubbed his neck. ¡°However, my sleep quality was okay. Haha, I slept until dawn.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°What about your brother? Did he wake up in the middle of the night?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I got up at 7 in the morning and he wasn¡¯t in his seat. I thought he went to the 6th carriage to find Yue Xiaoquan. I took advantage of theck of people to wash my face. Then I went to the 3rd carriage to grab a cup of hot water.¡±

    Xiao Lou pretended to casually ask, ¡°What are your brother¡¯s feelings for Yue Xiaoquan?¡±

    ¡°It is very good. They have known each other for two years and will travel every holiday. My brother is very good at coaxing girls, unlike me. My mouth is stupid and I can never coax my girlfriend. I am always making trouble with her.¡± He had a headache and raised a hand to his temple. Then he suddenly raised his head doubtfully. ¡°What do you want with my brother?¡±

    ¡°Nothing.¡± Xiao Lou smiled calmly. ¡°You eat first. I might find youter to get an understanding of the situation. Please cooperate at that time.¡±

    Zhao Zheng made a strange expression but just chewed on his bread once Xiao Lou left.

    Xiao Lou thought, ¡®Hurry to eat. Otherwise, once you see your brother¡¯s tragic death, you probably won¡¯t be able to eat for several days.¡¯

    The 6th carriage.

    There were rtively few people in the sleeper carriage. Yue Xiaoquan and Mo Jiaran had just washed their faces when they saw a group of people heading to the toilet. Mo Jiaran couldn¡¯t help wondering, ¡°Howe people from other carriages areing here to use the toilet?¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan spoke with an expression that showed it had nothing to do with her. ¡°It is probably because there are more people in the queue.¡±

    Xu Junkai helplessly exined, ¡°The toilet in the 4th carriage is broken and the water has also stopped. We can¡¯t help it!¡±

    Mo Jiaran frowned and headed through the dining carriage to the 4th car. She stopped at the 8th row and looked at Zhao Zheng, ¡°Have you washed your face? I heard that the water in your carriage has stopped?¡±

    Zhao Zheng smiled at the concern. ¡°I have washed. I got up early in the morning to wash and there was still water.¡± He took bread and milk from his bag and handed it to his girlfriend. ¡°Have breakfast. I bought you a sandwich.¡±

    Mo Jiaran nodded and sat beside him. She took the bread from his hand and ate unceremoniously.

    Zhao Zheng casually wondered, ¡°Is my brother with Yue Xiaoquan?¡±

    Mo Jiaran ate the bread and raised her eyebrows in a confused manner. ¡°No? I just washed my face with Xiaoquan.¡±

    ¡°He isn¡¯t in the 6th carriage?¡±

    Mo Jiaran shook her head with certainty. ¡°No.¡±

    Zhao Zheng realized that something wasn¡¯t right and turned to find the attendant, only to find that the attendant had gone to the bathroom. Mo Jiaran said, ¡°Maybe he went to other carriages to use the toilet.¡±

    Zhao Zheng thought it was reasonable and didn¡¯t worry over it.

    Xiao Lou headed to the toilet and gently knocked on the door. ¡°Group Leader Yu.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang opened the door and let him in.

    This train toilet was very spacious. It was around two square metres and in addition to the toilet, there was a small washbasin. Greenery was hung on the wall and the toilet usually had air fresheners along with some perfume. The environment was almostparable to a high-end five-star hotel¡¯s toilet.

    However, the current toilet was a mess. Zhao Quan halfy on the toilet while the floor was covered with dried blood. This narrow space was full of blood and the strange smell of the corpse.

    Yu Hanjiang pointed to Zhao Quan¡¯s chest. ¡°Professor Xiao, look. Do you think the fatal injury is this knife wound on the chest?¡±

    Xiao Lou calmly put on a mask and gloves and carefully examined Zhao Quan¡¯s body.

    Zhao Quan¡¯s death was miserable. Xiao Lou counted the knife wounds and said, ¡°The deceased has a total of 30 knife wounds. Only the knife wound over the heart is very deep and this should be the fatal injury. From a location point of view, it should¡¯ve pierced the left atrium.¡± He reached out to touch the dried wound, saying, ¡°The other wounds have only cut into the muscleyer and didn¡¯t cut the important blood vessels. Therefore, the amount of bleeding isn¡¯trge. The deceased should¡¯ve been tortured with the knife before he died and the stab to the heart was thest one.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang touched his chin and looked at the wounds on Zhao Quan¡¯s body, analyzing, ¡°In other words, the murderer first tied up him and patiently cut his body with the knife, making him suffer painful torture. Once he suffered enough abuse, he was stabbed in the heart and handled?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Xiao Lou pointed to several wounds on the abdomen and continued, ¡°These cuts are to the fasciayer and didn¡¯t piece the abdominal cavity. If he was killed with the knife first, there would be no need to continue with such light stabs. Moreover, the 29 stab wounds didn¡¯t touch any internal organs andrge blood vessels. The murderer was very patient and had a certain understanding of the anatomy of the human body. There were 29 knife wounds and then the final killing blow.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Yu Hanjiang frowned. He found that the distribution of these wounds might be messy but they were simr in depth. It was as Xiao Lou said. They were all on the surface and didn¡¯t touch the internal organs and blood vessels. These injuries were very painful but wouldn¡¯t kill people.

    Only the knife to the heart quickly and urately killed Zhao Quan.

    Xiao Lou used his right hand to turn Zhao Quan¡¯s head. ¡°Group Leader Yu, you can see that his cheeks are obviously swollen. His face also had traces of fingerprints. The other person apparently pped him.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°It seems that an acquaintancemitted the crime, which was how he could be surprised. Moreover, men usually beat people with their feet or punch them in the face. The act of pping is more like a female.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°That body part was cut off¡­ it should be killed for love?¡±

    ¡°It should be a woman who he let down or discovered he cheated and she killed him to vent her anger.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked closely at the body. ¡°Group Leader Yu, help me turn him over.¡±

    The two of them flipped over the body and found visible marks on the wrists and ankles of the body.

    ¡°The deceased¡¯s hands and feet have been tied up with a thin and flexible rope. He should¡¯ve been tied up for more than an hour based on the bruises on his body. Apparently his hands and feet were tied very tightly, affecting the blood cirction.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke thoughtfully, ¡°His hands and feet were tied and his mouth stuffed with a towel, meaning he couldn¡¯t struggle or cry out for help. The toilet is some distance from the carriage and the sound inside can¡¯t be heard by the sleeping passengers. His time of death iste at night.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°However, if the murderer is a woman, Zhao Quan is a young man over 1.8 metres tall. How can he be easily subdued by a woman in the bathroom? Even if Zhao Quan was unprepared and tied up, wouldn¡¯t he be able to escape if he struggled?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang half crouched down and looked at the unknown liquid on the ground in a thoughtful manner.

    Xiao Lou followed Group Leader Yu¡¯s gaze and found a white liquid mixed with the blood. His expression slightly changed. ¡°Is this?¡±

    They were men and knew what this was at first sight.

    Yu Hanjiang guessed, ¡°What if a woman asked him toe to the bathroom and y a bondage game?¡±

    Xiao Lou turned to look at the traces of being tied up on the body and was suddenly surprised. ¡°Group Leader Yu, you mean he was voluntarily tied up? The other side made a proposal to do it in the toilet¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face became extremely serious. ¡°Yes, some people have this particr hobby.¡±

    Xiao Lou lookedplicated as he nodded. ¡°Based on what I heard, psychologically he should be a masochist.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°Zhao Quan was voluntarily tied up, the other person taking advantage of when he was the weakest to put the towel in his mouth so he couldn¡¯t call for help. Then he was pped on the face and cut with a knife¡­ this would exin the scene.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought of the scene described by Group Leader Yu and felt all the hairs on his body rise.

    Group Leader Yu¡¯s spection was very reasonable. Otherwise, Zhao Quan was a young man who was 1.8 metres tall. How could a woman overpower him and also kill him? Even if he was stunned ahead of time, it was very difficult to drag the young man to the bathroom without attracting the attention of the people around him.

    There was only one possibility. Zhao Quan had actively walked into the bathroom.

    In the bathroom, if he struggled then two women wouldn¡¯t necessarily be able to subdue him at the same time, unless¡­ he volunteered to be tied up. He lost his opportunity and was like a prey who jumped into the trap, unable to break free.

    Xiao Lou looked at Zhao Quan¡¯s body and his brow slightly wrinkled.

    He really regretted it and couldn¡¯t live.

    This Zhao Quan looked well-dressed, polite and educated. He was also gentle and considerate to his girlfriend. It couldn¡¯t be seen that he had such tastes!

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou nced at each other, their faces ugly.

    Xiao Lou thought carefully and said, ¡°At present, we can determine that an acquaintancemitted the crime. The person who killed him should have an emotional dispute with him and the murderer has some understanding of human anatomy. His girlfriend is studying to be a doctor and Mo Jiaran is a nurse.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°The two girls who changed to the 6th carriage are very suspicious.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought carefully before recalling a certain detail. ¡°I remember that at the time, Mo Jiaran and Zhao Zheng argued because tickets to the sleeper carriage weren¡¯t bought. The entire carriage was shocked and Zhao Quan tried to persuade Mo Jiaran by calling her ¡®Ranran¡¯. Isn¡¯t this name too intimate when talking to his brother¡¯s girlfriend?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Did Zhao Quan and Mo Jiaran have a rtionship? His girlfriend Yue Xiaoquan found out that she cheated and killed him to vent her anger?¡±

    There was a brief silence in the toilet.

    On the surface, it might seem like it. However, this reasoning was too simple and was unlike the style of the Hearts room.

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°I just asked Zhao Zheng and he slept until dawnst night. He didn¡¯t wake up in the middle of the night and didn¡¯t find his brother in the morning. He thought his brother went to find his girlfriend. He looked natural and calm, not seeming guilty at all. He might not know. Of course, this could be acting.¡±

    ¡°Yes, the Hearts secret room is full of pits and we can¡¯t make subjective conclusions.¡± Yu Hanjiang said. ¡°We will first lock the body in the toilet and use air fresheners to cover the smell of blood. Then we will carefully question the passengers in the 4th and 6th carriages.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Xiao Lou nodded and turned to look at Zhao Quan¡¯s wide open eyes. His heart slightly tensed.

    What kind of deep hatred would cause the murderer to inflict such cruel abuse on him?

 Chapter 82: Extremely Quick Train 15: New Clue

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were very calm when they emerged from the bathroom. In order to avoid the smell of blood on their bodies, Xiao Lou took an air freshener from the attendant¡¯s office and sprayed it on their bodies to remove the smell.

    He opened the drawer with Yu Hanjiang and said, ¡°The toilet is locked. The dead Zhao Quan can¡¯t lock the door himself so it must¡¯ve been the murderer who locked it from the outside with the key. Last night when I left the office, the key to the bathroom had the teeth facing to the left. This morning, it was facing to the right. In addition, one of my hair clips at the office door is gone.¡±

    Xiao Lou had made some arrangements in the office because he feared something would happen in the 4th carriage.

    The murderer was very careful and put the key back in ce. However, it was dark at night and she didn¡¯t notice the hairclip in the dim lighting. Nor did she pay attention to the direction of the key¡¯s teeth pattern. Generally, people only remembered where they put the key and didn¡¯t pay special attention to whether the teeth pattern faced the left or the right.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°The murderer entered your office. Did she leave a clue?¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully examined every inch of the office. His eyes slightly lit up as he leaned over to pick up a hair. ¡°A girl¡¯s long hair.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the long hair and then nced at Xiao Lou with appreciation. ¡°It seems our basic reasoning is right. The murderer is a woman and it is also a woman with long, ck hair.¡±

    Many women lost their hair. From a physiological point of view, it was normal to lose dozens of hair a day. They would carelessly leave their hair behind when moving. In the darkness, the murderer definitely wouldn¡¯t pay attention to this.

    If it was the real world, Yu Hanjiang could take the hair to do gic identification and immediately lock onto the suspect. However, now the two people were on the train and the owner of the hair couldn¡¯t be determined. They were unable to detect fingerprints on the key and could only collect other clues, analyzing and reasoning out the real murderer.

    Xiao Lou picked up the long and thin hair. ¡°Mo Jiaran¡¯s hair is only to the shoulder and it is dark brown and curly. It isn¡¯t long and straight ck hair. If I remember correctly, Yue Xiaoquan¡¯s hair is long and straight. There are also two girls with long and straight hair in the female group.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded solemnly. ¡°We have to search for evidence as soon as possible. The victim¡¯s phone isn¡¯t on his body so it might contain a clue.¡±

    Large things couldn¡¯t be thrown into the toilet or else it would break. The mobile phone couldn¡¯t be flushed down the toilet. Therefore, Zhao Quan¡¯s phone must be on the train.

    The two of them returned to the 8th carriage. Zhao Zheng and Mo Jiaran had finished breakfast. The sleeping Jing Weiguang also woke up in a daze, his hair like a bird¡¯s nest as he went in the direction of the toilet. Xiao Lou stopped him and smiled. ¡°Dr Jing, the toilet is broken and there is no water in the washroom. If you want to go to the toilet or wash your face, you can go to the 6th carriage.¡¯¡±

    Jing Weiguang finally sobered uppletely. He rubbed his eyes and asked doubtfully, ¡°The toilet is broken? It was fine when I went to the toilet in the early hours of the morning.¡±

    Xiao Lou perceived that this person knew something and asked, ¡°Dr Jing woke up in the morning?¡±

    Jing Weiguang nodded. ¡°My stomach hurt so I got up once at 3 in the morning. I went to the toilet and the one on the right was fine. There was also someone in the left toilet so it should¡¯ve been fine as well.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang followed suit by asking, ¡°How long were you in the bathroom?¡±

    ¡°I had diarrhea so around half an hour? It was 3:30 when I got out of the toilet.¡±

    ¡°Was there anyone in the opposite bathroom at the time?¡±

    Jing Weiguang replied, ¡°Yes, I was wondering which boyfriend had a more serious stomach than me for him to note out yet.¡±

    His words mentioned a crucial time. At 3 o¡¯clock, someone locked the toilet from the inside. It was likely that the deceased and the murderer were in the toilet at that time. It was also possible Zhao Quan was already dead.

    Yu Hanjiang questioned, ¡°Did you hear a strange noiseing from the bathroom on the left?¡±

    Jing Weiguang carefully recalled it. ¡°I walked over to the toilet and the opposite toilet seemed to have a brother with a low voice groaning. I thought he had constipation and ignored it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Are you sure the other side was a man?¡±

    Jing Weiguang nodded. ¡°It was a low voice and not like a woman.¡±

    ¡°When you came out of the toilet, there was no sound fro the opposite side?¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other, a conclusion in their hearts.

    At 3 o¡¯clock, Jing Weiguang went to the toilet while Zhao Quan was in the opposite toilet, still alive. Once he heard footsteps outside, Zhao Quan began to think of ways to call for help and made some strange sounds. Since Zhao Quan¡¯s mouth was covered with a towel, the sound wasn¡¯t clear. Jing Weiguang just thought it was the sound of constipation.

    The murderer was originally slowly torturing Zhao Quan, only to find that someone came to the toilet. She was worried and used the knife to kill Zhao Quan. That¡¯s why the opposite toilet was quiet when Jing Weiguang left. Zhao Quan was already dead.

    If Jing Weiguang had been a bit more careful or Zhao Quan was able to break free of the bondage and shout for help, perhaps this murder could¡¯ve been prevented.

    Yu Hanjiang asked a key question. ¡°When you went to the toilet, did you notice any people in the carriage who were out of ce?¡±

    Jing Weiguang shook his head. ¡°No, I didn¡¯t pay attention. The 4th carriage has many empty seats and I don¡¯t know which ones have people and which were empty.¡± Most of the 4th carriage was now empty because people got off at the two stops in the middle.

    He suddenly thought of something and pointed to the side. ¡°However, I remember that there was only one brother in the 8th row. Only one person was sleeping and his head was leaning on the seat. The other person seemed to be absent.¡±

    Zhao Quan definitely wasn¡¯t there. He was suffering in the opposite toilet.

    Yu Hanjiang carefully observed Jing Weiguang¡¯s face and found that the doctor was dazed and didn¡¯t seem to be lying. Jing Weiguang smiled awkwardly at Yu Hanjiang¡¯s gaze and said, ¡®Excuse, what happened? If you need help, wait a moment. I need to go to the toilet first. It is urgent!¡±

    He turned and ran to the 6th carriage. On the way, he happened to meet Yue Xiaoquan who wasing over here. Jing Weiguang was probably in a hurry and identally bumped into Yue Xiaoquan. He apologized with a red face, ¡°Sorry¡­¡±

    The girl calmly waved her hand. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±

    She wasn¡¯t wearing a couple¡¯s outfit today. She had changed into a nice white dress and her hair was loosely tied behind her head. Meanwhile, Zhao Quan died while wearing the couple shirt.

    Yue Xiaoquan looked pure but was too cold. She seemed indifferent to people and things. She calmly walked to the 8th row and temporarily sat on the seat that was empty after Jing Weiguang left. She looked at Zhao Zheng and asked, ¡°What about your brother? I texted him toe over for breakfast but he never replied.¡±

    Zhao Zheng was puzzled. ¡°I thought ht was with you! I just called him and his phone was turned off.¡±

    Mo Jiaran suggested, ¡°Perhaps it ran out of battery?¡±

    Zhao Zheng nodded. ¡°There is a possibility. Last night before going to bed, my brother held his phone and read a novel for a long time. He probably used his phone until there was no battery left.¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan let out a faint sound. ¡°Then I will eat first.¡± She took milk and biscuits from her backpack and ate her own breakfast.

    The three people didn¡¯t look abnormal and Xiao Lou whispered in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ear. ¡°Do they really not know or is their acting too good?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang raised an eyebrow. ¡°Zhao Zheng seems to have no idea. I¡¯m not sure about the two girls.¡±

    He went forward and patted Zhao Zheng on the shoulder. ¡°Zhao Zheng, right? Pleasee with me.¡±

    Zhao Zheng was confused. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke coldly. ¡°I know where your brother is.¡±

    Zhao Zheng hurriedly stood to keep up with them. Yu Hanjiang took Zhao Zheng to the toilet and whispered to Xiao Lou, ¡°I¡¯ll search the trash cans. Take him to the toilet to see the scene of the crime but don¡¯t let him shout too loudly.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded to reassure Group Leader Yu.

    Once no one was around, Xiao Lou opened the toilet door with his key and took Zhao Zheng inside. Zhao Zheng originally had an expression of doubt because he didn¡¯t know why the train attendant took him to the toilet. As a result, Xiao Lou locked the door behind them and reached for Zhao Zheng¡¯s mouth.

    ¡°Ahhhhhh¡ª¡±

    He copsed with a scream.

    Zhao Zheng stared in disbelief at the dead man that was his brother. The brothers were fraternal twins and didn¡¯t look alike, but their wide eyes were somewhat simr. Xiao Lou covered this person¡¯s mouth while whispering, ¡°Calm down, don¡¯t shout so loudly. We opened the toilet and found your brother murdered, so we sent away the passengers using the excuse that the toilets were broken. We can¡¯t make this a big deal, understood?¡±

    Zhao Zheng¡¯s eyes were full of tears and the hot tears he couldn¡¯t control fell down onto the back of Xiao Lou¡¯s hand. He cried nonstop and didn¡¯t know what to say.

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°If you don¡¯t scream, I¡¯ll let you go.¡±

    Zhao Zheng nodded hard and Xiao Lou let him go. Zhao Zheng kneeled in front of the body, shaking wildly while crying in a hoarse voice, ¡°Brother¡­ how did this happen? Brother, you wake up¡­¡±

    He cried his heart and lungs out. His tears didn¡¯t seem to be false.

    Xiao Lou sighed and patted Zhao Zheng¡¯s shoulder. ¡°We are also sorry about your brother¡¯s death but a person can¡¯te back to life. I hope you can calm down as quickly as possible and work with us to find the murderer. This can also be considered as giving your brother an ount.¡±

    Zhao Zheng wiped his tears and choked out, ¡°I understand, I will help you find the murderer! In the end, which pervert would abuse my brother so much? So many wounds¡­¡± Zhao Zheng¡¯s eyes swept down and he suddenly choked. ¡°It¡­ was cut off?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and nced at the trash can.

    Zhao Zheng looked at the trash can and saw the cut off body part thrown in the trash. He paled and covered his mouth to suppress the urge to vomit. After seeing his brother¡¯s body part cut off, it was estimated that there was be a psychological shadow. After this incident, Xiao Lou would advise him to go to a psychologist for treatment.

    Outside, there was a knock on the door, followed by Yu Hanjiang¡¯s low voice. ¡°It is me.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at Zhao Zheng. ¡°I hope you can keep your brother¡¯s death a secret. Don¡¯t reveal that your brother is dead to Mo Jiaran and Yue Xiaoquan. We need to investigate and this matter can¡¯t blow up, do you know?¡±

    Zhao Zheng looked lost and made a sound of agreement. Then he suddenly looked up. ¡°Wait, how can Ranran be suspicious? Why can¡¯t I tell her?¡±

    ¡°She isn¡¯t a suspect. We just need to investigate the clues. If she knows that your brother is dead then she might panic and let some things slip. Do you understand?¡±

    Zhao Zheng nodded. ¡°Understood.¡±

    Only then did Xiao Lou opened the toilet door and let Zhao Zheng out. Yu Hanjiang was holding a stic bag that contained a mobile phone. He looked at Zhao Zheng and asked, ¡°Is this your brother¡¯s phone?¡±

    Zhao Zheng took a closer look. ¡°Yes, it is his phone. We have the same model since we bought it together. Where did you find it?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°The restaurant¡¯s trash can. It was inside a bowl of instant noodles.¡±

    Zhou Zheng, ¡°¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°The phone was left in a bowl of instant noodles for a long time. Is it waterproof?¡±

    Zhao Zheng told him, ¡°This phone is waterproof and you should still be able to use it. The gesture password is a U shape, 147852.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, Xiao Lou and Zhao Zheng headed to the attendant¡¯s office. The wiped the phone clean with paper towels and turned it on, only to find there was no battery. Zhao Zheng spoke hurriedly, ¡°I have a power bank and data cable. I¡¯ll get it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°In addition, bring your brother¡¯s backpack over.¡±

    Zhao Zheng nodded and turned away. He came to the 8th row and Mo Jiaran was very worried. ¡°Why did you go with the train attendants? Where is your brother?¡±

    Zhao Zheng¡¯s face changed as he stammered, ¡°I, something happened to my brother.¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan had finished her breakfast and was ying with her phone. She heard this and raised her head. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with your brother?¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t trust Zhao Zheng and came over. He heard their words and smiled at them. ¡°Miss Yue, don¡¯t worry. His brother is okay and we¡¯ll let you see himter.¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan nodded. ¡°Oh.¡±

    Then she continued looking down at her phone. Her boyfriend had been missing for so long and his brother was panicking, yet she didn¡¯t mind. Was her character too cold or did she have a bad rtionship with her boyfriend?

    Xiao Lou nced at Yue Xiaoquan with confusion. The girl¡¯s side profile was pretty and her eyes were calm. No clues were found on the surface so he had Zhao Zheng take the deceased¡¯s backpack and power line before going back to the office.

    In the attendant¡¯s office, the mobile phone was charged and smoothly turned on after the password was entered. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expressions changed at the same time.

    They saw there was a very strange background on the desktop of the mobile phone. It was a ck train where the front of the train was covered with thick ck smoke. Through the window, you could see many numb-looking people sitting in the carriage. They were expressionless and their skin pale and bloodless, like they were dead.

    The photo had a line on it:

    Train to hell.

    This picture made the three people feel cold.

    Zhao Zheng pointed to the photo. ¡°The murderer must¡¯ve reced it. Last night, I looked at my brother¡¯s phone and the desktop was a photo of him with Yue Xiaoquan. It isn¡¯t this terrible photo!¡±

    Needless to say, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou also knew that the phone had been tampered with.

    It wasn¡¯t just the desktop photo that had been reced. They opened the SMS records, the call records, the WeChat records, the Q chat records and everything was deleted. Even the friends list was deleted. The murderer was thoughtful and left no evidence on the phone. They couldn¡¯t determine who went to the toiletst night with the deceased just based on the phone.

    Xiao Lou took a closer look at the phone. There was also a reading software on it. The murderer probably felt this wasn¡¯t important and didn¡¯t delete it.

    He recalled Zhao Zheng saying that his brother had read a novel for a long timest night. Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Your brother usually likes to read novels?¡±

    Zhao Zheng nodded. ¡°He is a member of the novelwork and often reads those novels.¡±

    Xiao Lou opened the book APP and entered the personal bookshelf. The dead Zhao Quan¡¯s bookshelf contained long novels, some with millions of words. There was the XX fairy tail, XX urban legend, XX legend¡­

    Zhao Quan had two categories on his bookshelf.

    There were only a few books on the ¡®Single Female Protagonist¡¯ bookshelf but hundreds of books on the ¡®Harem¡¯ bookshelf. The one marked as a favourite was ¡®Legend of the Emperor.¡¯ His evaluation of it was: many beautiful women like clouds. Collected 30 sisters.

    Xiao Lou handed the phone to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Zhao Quan likes to read this type of harem stallion text.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t read novels and hadn¡¯t heard about the ¡®stallion culture¡¯. He heard Xiao Lou¡¯s words and looked at the phone, asking, ¡°Harem stallion text? Does this mean like the ancient emperor who received many concubines and many wives?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and leaned to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ear, lowering his voice. ¡°He read hundreds of harem stallion novels and this probably resonated with him psychologically. He thought he could collect many females like the protagonist of these novels. If this is the case, Zhao Quan¡¯s number of girlfriends probably exceeds our imagination.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang gently kneaded his temple. ¡°It seems that he slept with many girls and as a result, kicked over the iron te. He was castrated by a fierce woman.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    This humiliating method of death simply couldn¡¯t be evaluated in words.

 Chapter 83: Extremely Quick Train 16: Suspects

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were whispering in a low voice. Zhao Zheng found these two looked serious and became more uneasy. He couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°Do you have a clue about who killed my brother?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked back and said, ¡°At present, we can only determine that the murderer is a female your brother had an emotional dispute with. Do you know how many girlfriends your brother had over the years?¡±

    Zhao Zheng told them, ¡°I only know of three official girlfriends.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang requested, ¡°Say it in detail. How did theymunicate and how did they break up?¡±

    Zhao Zheng thought about it. ¡°His first girlfriend is his first love, Yu Lin. She was our high school beauty and he met her after participating in a debate during the second half of school. My brother¡¯s eloquence was very good and Yu Lin was also excellent. They got to know each other and my brother actively chased her. They were together for six months but then admitted to different universities. They broke up due to the long-distance rtionship.

    Yu Hanjiang directly asked, ¡°What step did your brother reach with his first love? Did they sleep together?¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Group Leader Yu¡¯s straight ball made people feel overwhelmed. It was obviously the same with Zhao Zheng. He seemed quite innocent and his ears were slightly red as he said, ¡°One weekend, my brother and Yu Lin went out to y together. Then he sent a message to me in the middle of the night, stating that he changed from a boy to a man. So he and Yu Lin should¡¯ve¡­ done it?¡±

    Xiao Lou quickly took out a pen and paper, writing down the key words.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°What type of personality does Yu Lin have? What major did she study? Was there any conflict before they broke up?¡±

    ¡°Yu Lin was the goddess of our high school. She was beautiful, had good grades and had a decent personality. She is ady with a great temperament. She finally went to the mathematics department at a huge university. She was so far away from my brother that they broke up. I remember they didn¡¯t have any conflicts and broke up peacefully. My brother was very sad and became drunk at the time.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang followed suit and asked, ¡°What is the situation of the second girlfriend?¡±

    Zhao Zheng replied, ¡°The second girlfriend was during the summer vacation after high school. He was talking to a sister working at the front desk of an Inte cafe. At that time, the university entrance examination was over and we had a lot of time. We went to the Inte cafe to y games over day. That girl was very open and they booked a room after three days. I don¡¯t know her name. We all called her¡­ Yanzi.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°The third official girlfriend is Yue Xiaoquan?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Yue Xiaoquan was a sophomore we met when our school held aworking dance. My brother and I met Mo Jiaran and Yue Xiaoquan at the same time. I fell in love at first sight and my brother was the same. We asked them out to dinner.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked bluntly, ¡°How far did he and Yue Xiaoquan go?¡±

    Zhao Zheng touched his nose with embarrassment. ¡°They have known each other for two years andst year, they went out on a trip alone for the holiday. My brother is so experienced and I guess that they should¡¯ve also¡­ done it.¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help frowning slightly. This Zhao Quan, it seemed he regarded sleeping with girls as a type of glory. Based on the number of stallion novels Zhao Quan had read, he wouldn¡¯t be satisfied with only conquering three girls.

    Yu Hanjiang also thought so and spoke lightly, ¡°It seems your brother¡¯s taste kept changing. First, there was his first love with an elegant temperament. Not long after they broke up, it was a hot girl from the Inte cafe. Then he found the cold Yue Xiaoquan?¡±

    Zhao Zheng¡¯s face was ugly. ¡°I don¡¯t quite understand his taste.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°I think he sees himself as the hero of a stallion novel and collected all types of females.¡±

    Zhao Zheng was surprised. ¡°What does that mean?¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°You know he has three girlfriends but he definitely had contact with more than these three people. In addition the pure girl, the sexy girl and the cold iceberg girl, there should be a lively and cute type, a kind and shy type, an intelligent and gentle type¡­ it is only by acquiring all types of females that he can be satisfied psychologically. Am I right?¡±

    Zhao Zheng¡¯s expression slightly changed and he couldn¡¯t refute it for a moment.

    Yu Hanjiang coldly asked, ¡°How long has your brother been reading these novels?¡±

    ¡°He has been reading them since high school. It must be seven or eight years now.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other. It seemed the idea of a harem had been deeply rooted in Zhao Quan¡¯s heart.

    He had his first love in high school. This was a time when he was educated and strictly controlled by his teachers and parents. His first girlfriend was also really good so it wasn¡¯t convenient for him to step on many boats. The first time, he deliberately sent a message to his brother stating he had changed from a boy to a man. After bing a man, there should be a sense of ¡®growing up.¡¯

    The feelings of high school students were rtively simple. Being admitted to different universities and breaking up was amon result.

    After the break-up and the summer vacation after the university entrance examination, Zhao Quan finally started to release himself. There was the sexy woman from the Inte cafe and they booked a room together after only three days. It could be seen that this type of close contact had no ¡®sacred feeling¡¯. The woman from the Inte cafe gave him the illusion that ¡®it is easy to coax woman¡¯ and the idea of a harem started to ferment in his heart.

    The university environment was rtively free and the number of beauties was like clouds. He aimed for the cold and indifferent Yue Xiaoquan.

    On the surface, Zhao Quan was truly very talented. He was good at speaking, measured, responsible and had a wealth of experience chasing females. He had a variety of methods to coax girls and Yue Xiaoquan was moved by him. They slept together when they went travelling during the holidays.

    However, with his personality, how could he be content with only Yue Xiaoquan? Zhao Quan certainly couldn¡¯t endure two years with only a girlfriend. In the process of his rtionship with Yue Xiaoquan, he might¡¯ve stepped on two, three or four boats. He was in contact with different types of girls.

    Xiao Lou felt more and more admiration. Wasn¡¯t this brother afraid of getting schizophrenia?

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment. ¡°You only know these three and no one else?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I only know the name of these three.¡± Then Zhao Zheng suddenly added, ¡°Oh, I saw some ambiguous Wechat messages on my brother¡¯s phone. There was a girl who called him ¡®Dear¡¯ and another called him ¡®Husband.¡¯ The photo didn¡¯t seem to be Yue Xiaoquan. However, my brother often ys games and looks for a wife in the game. I thought it was his game partner and didn¡¯t care.¡±

    Sure enough, Zhao Quan had stepped on N boats and identally capsized the boat.

    Xiao Lou helplessly asked, ¡°Do you remember the photo and name of the people he called so intimately?¡±

    Zhao Zheng thought carefully. ¡°There was a lovely kitten, a white cat head called Xiao Yu. There was also a person who took photos of herself in delicate makeup. She looked gentle and beautiful and her name was a string of letters.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked for all the information that Zhao Zheng knew. Immediately after, he and Xiao Lou rummaged through Zhao Quan¡¯s travel backpack. In a pocket with a zipper at the corner of the backpack was a fingernail-sized USB disk. It wasn¡¯t easily seen unless you were searching carefully. Yu Hanjiang picked up the USB disk and looked at Zhao Zheng. ¡°Do you have aptop?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t bring one¡­ Ranran has one. I will see if I can borrow it from her.¡±

    He turned around in a hurry. A momentter, he came back holding a pinkptop. Mo Jiaran might have a temper but she had a young girl¡¯s heart. Theptop case was pink and the keyboard attached was also pink. The desktop photo was a cute teddy bear and there were two hard drive partitions. One was a C drive system and the other hard drive contained various shojo manga, anime and idol dramas.

    It was a strange contrast and Xiao Lou seriously wondered if Zhao Quan didn¡¯t have any thoughts about his brother¡¯s girlfriend. Yu Hanjiang plugged the USB stick into the interface and there was a prompt to enter the password.

    Zhao Zheng thought about it. ¡°Try 147852, my brothermonly uses this password.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang entered this string of numbers and the USB disk was sessfully opened. Then¡­

    Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang and Zhao Zheng were stunned.

    The USB drive had seven folders, respectively named ¡®Love Concubine Lin¡¯, ¡®Love Concubine Quan¡¯, ¡®Love Concubine Yan¡¯, ¡®Beauty Song¡¯, ¡®Concubine Yi¡¯, ¡®Concubine Ru¡¯ and ¡®Beauty Mu.¡¯ It made their eyes sting!

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The feudal empire had died early yet this brother was still choosing concubines? Yu Hanjiang had a headache and held his temple as he looked at Zhao Zheng. ¡°Your brother¡¯s private life is really rich.¡±

    Therefore, he was punished with castration.

    Zhao Zheng seemed to understand their subtext and his full was full of horror. ¡°I-I didn¡¯t know! Don¡¯t look at me like that. I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m very single-minded. I¡¯ve never even talked to other girls. Don¡¯t tell Ranran¡­¡±

    One brother was popr while the other brother was henpecked. The gap was really big.

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t smile. ¡°We didn¡¯t say anything about you. Let¡¯s talk about your brother¡¯s love concubines first. It seems that he has a habit of collecting females and taking photos. Do you know any of them?¡±

    Zhao Zheng opened the folder with an unsightly face. Xiao Lou was ready for the visual impact. Fortunately, Zhao Quan still showed some restraint. The photos were all ordinary photos and didn¡¯t involve any private matters. There were no naked photos.

    Zhao Zheng pointed to a photo and said, ¡°This is his first love, Yu Lin. This is Yue Xiaoquan who you have met. This is the Inte beauty called Yanzi¡­ I don¡¯t know anyone else.¡±

    Xiao Lou roughly counted. The number of concubines and beauties collected added up to seven.

    In ancient times, three wives and four concubines enjoyed the blessing of the people. The wives lived in harmony but this was under the premise that the ancient wives knew of each other and could ept the setting of ¡®serving one husband together.¡¯ In modern society, monogamy had long existed. Females couldn¡¯t stand their boyfriend cheating so Zhao Quan didn¡¯t tell these girls about stepping on N boats.

    His IQ wasn¡¯t poor. He could distinguish every girl¡¯s preferences and remember their birthday¡­

    Using such IQ to do bad things? Why go down such a crooked path!

    Xiao Lou looked at the seven neat folders and was silent for a moment. ¡°Zhao Quan¡¯s mobile phone photos and chat records have been deleted. The murderer must not have thought that he would have back up photos on a USB disk.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and wondered, ¡°Do you feel that this Inte cafe beauty has familiar eyes?¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully looked at the photo and touched his chin. ¡°Her left eye has a red mole in the corner. I remember that someone in the female group has the same red mole.¡± He quickly confirmed it. ¡°It is Liu Xiaoyan! Her appearance and temperament have changed a lot but I can vaguely recognize her.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face was extremely serious. ¡°Sure enough, this female group is rted to Zhao Quan. We should carefully check the photos.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou opened all the photos in the seven folders with the clearest frontal view.

    The first was Yu Lin. She had a dignified temperament and long and straight ck hair. Strangely, Zhao Quan¡¯s rtionship with her was during high school but the photo wasn¡¯t of a high school student. It was shot at a university gate. Logically speaking, they had broken up and he shouldn¡¯t have this photo¡­did Zhao Quan get back together with her?

    Yu Hanjiang found her more and more familiar. Then he suddenly said, ¡°Last night, there was a new passenger on the 6th carriage. She is currently staying in Room 4 and she is called Yu Lin.¡±

    Xiao Lou was surprised and immediately took another look.

    The second photo was of Liu Xiaoyan. The big sister of the female group used to work the front desk of the Inte cafe but now she seemed to have a sessful career. Her image had undergone a big change but the mole at the corner of one eye was still distinct.

    The third Yue Xiaoquan was from medical school. She had a clean face, a cold and frosty personality and long, ck and straight hair.

    If he carefully looked at the fourth one, he could see that it was actually Song Xiaoyu from the female friends group. It was the same long and ck straight hair! The girl wore a pure white dress and seemed a bit shy facing the camera. Her face was red and her clear eyes were ignorant. She looked only 18 and seemed innocent. This would indeed arouse a man¡¯s desire for protection.

    The fifth was wearing a professional suit and seemed to be a worker. She was wearing silver sses and her smile was gentle. She looked like a 24 year old working woman. Coincidentally, Xiao Lou happened to see her board the trainst night at 21:30. He asked her if she was going to the concert and she said she was going for business. The picture of the girl called Si Yi was ced in the ¡®Concubine Yi¡¯ folder by Zhao Quan.

    The sixth and seventh girls also happened to be seen by Xiao Lou. They also boarded the trainst night at 21:30. They walked together carrying bags and wearing sportswear. They looked like university students and were called Yan Ruru and Cheng Mu. They happened to be ced in the ¡®Concubine Ru¡¯ and ¡®Beauty Mu¡¯ folders.

    The more Xiao Lou looked, the more rmed he became!

    Yu Lin, Liu Xiaoyan, Yue Xiaoquan, Song Xiaoyu, Si Yi, Yan Ruru and Cheng Mu¡­

    Xiao Lou¡¯s voice trembled slightly as he eximed with disbelief. ¡°Zhao Quan¡¯s USB disk has photos of seven girls and these seven girls are actually all on this train!¡±

    Zhao Zheng¡¯s face was also full of horror. ¡°What do you mean? All my brother¡¯s girlfriends havee?¡±

    YU Hanjiang carefully looked a the photo used as the mobile phone¡¯s desktop.

    This horror-style train photo was apparently done by a photoshop master. Everyone on the train was expressionless, like a corpse. The train to hell¡­ this was what it meant.

    Yu Hanjiang stared at the folder on theputer and dered calmly, ¡°The seven girls are all present. Your brother¡¯s concubines havee to collectively give him a funeral.¡±

    Thank you chuna for the Card Room fanart.

 Chapter 84: Extremely Quick Train 17: Seven Girls

    This casepletely refreshed Xiao Lou¡¯s three views.

    They found Zhao Quan in the toilet had been tortured and his organ cut off. His face also had a palm print, making them reason that a woman was more likely tomit the crime. The murderer and Zhao Quan must¡¯ve had an emotional dispute.

    Immediately after, they found Zhao Quan¡¯ ¡®train to hell¡¯ photo on his phone and that Zhao Quan read arge number of harem novels. It was inferred that Zhao Quan might¡¯ve had ambiguous rtionships with several girls and stepped on N boats, capsizing them. He was murdered by a girl venting her anger.

    The USB disk in Zhao Quan¡¯s backpack provided a very important clue. He collected photos of seven girls that he apparently had an affair with. More importantly, the seven girls were all on the train at this time. It couldn¡¯t be a coincidence!

    Xiao Lou carefully recalled the seven girls on the train, picked up a pen and paper and quickly drew a picture.

    The train¡¯s carriage distribution was: Front, 9th carriage, 8th carriage, 7th carriage¡­ 6th carriage, toilet, dining carriage, 4th carriage, toilet¡­ 3rd carriage¡­

    A train generally headed in two directions. After arriving at the terminal, the position of the front was changed and they can reverse their direction. The 9th carriage at the front would be the furthest from the front.

    The carriage had two doors, one at the front and one at the back. The way the seats were distributed, the first row was close to the front door and the 15th row was close to the back door.

    Due to the passengers getting on or off at the front and back door, thest 15th row faced the door.

    At the starting station, Zhao Quan and his girlfriend sat on the 8th row after first boarding. The group of female friends was sitting on the 15th row and didn¡¯t need to pass by Zhao Quan¡¯s seat. Therefore, Zhao Quan didn¡¯t know that two of his girlfriends were sitting behind him.

    Xiao Lou drew a map of the carriage seats, marking the positions of Zhao Quan and his girlfriends with circles.

    He spoke to Yu Hanjiang, ¡°Zhao Quan probably didn¡¯t know his girlfriends were gathered together before he died. Based on the seat distribution, Zhao Quan, his younger brother and his girlfriend Yue Xiaoquan sat in the 8th row while the five female friends sat in the 15th row. They are far away from each other. The times they got on the train were also staggered and they didn¡¯t meet directly.¡±

    At 21:30st night, Zhao Quan sent his girlfriend to the 6th carriage which happened to be on the left. The three girls were on the right side near the back door and he missed his chance to see them.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Last night when the train stopped at Cangzhou Station, Yu Lin was in the 6th sleeper carriage. She was the first to get on and closed the door to the room. Zhao Quan sent his girlfriend to the 6th carriage and naturally couldn¡¯t see who was in the sleeper carriage room with the door closed. Then Si Yi, Yan Ruru and Cheng Mu got on at the back door of the 4th carriage. All of them were perfectly staggered with Zhao Quan.¡±

    ¡°When Zhao Quan came back from sending his girlfriend, perhaps he didn¡¯t notice that a few girls on the carriage are very familiar. After all, they were too far away. I remember that when Cheng Mu and Yan Ruru got up, they covered their faces with their hates to sleep. It was only 9:30 but I thought they were too tired. It seemed they were afraid of being found early.¡±

    If Zhao Quan had found out in advance that all seven of his girlfriends were on the train, he would¡¯ve been shocked and alert. He wouldn¡¯t have followed one of them to the toilet to y the bondage game.

    Apparently, Zhao Quan didn¡¯t know that the seven girls hade to attend his burial before he died.

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°This is a well-nned murder and all seven people participated in it. Even if they didn¡¯t do it themselves, I¡¯m guessing that they have a WeChat group or Q group. A girl is coordinating everyone¡¯s actions in a unified way so that everyone can avoid the opportunity to get in contact with Zhao Quan and not warn Zhao Quan.¡±

    For example, at the starting station, if the group of female friends hade earlier than Zhao Quan then it was likely they would be seen by Zhao Quan. On the journey, Zhao Quan might¡¯ve faced one of the girls on the way back from the toilet.

    However, these incidents didn¡¯t happen. It couldn¡¯t be a coincidence. Someone was in charge of coordinating Zhao Quan¡¯s actions. If Zhao Quan suddenly went to the toilet, they could shout ¡®Zhao Quan ising over¡¯ in the group chat and Liu Xiaoyan and Song Xiaoyu could avoid him.

    Who would be able to urately grasp all of Zhao Quan¡¯s actions? Only his current girlfriend Yue Xiaoquan sitting next to him!

    Xiao Lou opened his mouth. ¡°It seems likely that Yue Xiaoquan is the spy. She reported Zhao Quan¡¯s movements to prevent Zhao Quan having direct contact with the other girls. That¡¯s why Zhao Quan and the girls didn¡¯t meet despite being in the same carriage.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had solved many cases but it was the first time he saw seven girlfriends join forces to kill a scum man.

    The even more terrible thing was that these seven people should be enemies yet they were united. It was unlike general cheating cases where they would tear at the other person. It must be something that Zhao Quan did to make the seven girls hate him so much.

    Xiao Lou held his temple. ¡°If Yue Xiaoquan nned this murder, many doubts can be exined.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°Zhao Quan wouldn¡¯t be stupid enough to tell his other girlfriends where to go and where to sit. It is obvious that Zhao Quan¡¯s ticket information was leaked to the other six people by Yue Xiaoquan travelling with him.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked back at Zhao Zheng. ¡°Was it Yue Xiaoquan who proposed that the four of you go to the concert together?¡±

    Zhao Zheng heard this and his expression was extremely ugly. He clenched his fist and roared, ¡°Shit! Yue Xiaoquan, that abnormal person! Did she kill my brother? I¡¯ll call her over¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang coldly interrupted him. ¡°Don¡¯t rush to conclusions. Tell us, was it Yue Xiaoquan who proposed this concert?¡±

    Zhao Zheng was silent for a moment before nodding stiffly. ¡°Yes, Yue Xiaoquan said her favourite singer is the goddess and the goddess only holds a concert once every three years. This year, it happened to be held on a holiday and she didn¡¯t want to miss it. Then Ranran also wanted to go and I told my brother. After discussion, the four of us decided to go together.¡±

    Xiao Lou then asked, ¡°I remember that you and Mo Jiaran argued because you didn¡¯t buy the sleeper carriage tickets. Were you going to buy the sleeper tickets?¡±

    Zhao Zheng also sensed something was wrong and his expression darkened. ¡°I originally nned to buy the sleeper tickets. Just as I was about to buy it, Yue Xiaoquan suddenly sent me a message. She told me not to rush to buy it. She might need to do experiments on holiday and the specific departure time wasn¡¯t determined. I had to wait for her¡­ as a result, she only told me the time had been set a week before departure. Then when I wanted to buy it, the sleeper carriage tickets were gone and I could only buy the hard seats.¡±

    He had felt it was very unjust when Mo Jiaran scolded him but he couldn¡¯t say to ¡®me Yue Xiaoquan for not deciding the time.¡¯ His brother would be angry, Yue Xiaoquan would be angry and Mo Jiaran would feel he was shirking his responsibilities. He could only admit his mistake.

    He was scolded by his girlfriend due to this matter but in fact, he couldn¡¯t be med at all.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other and the clues were linked together. It was no wonder why Zhao Zheng and Mo Jiaran had a big fight over their seats.

    The cause of Zhao Zheng not being the sleeper carriage tickets was Yue Xiaoquan!

    She said there was no certainty about the timing but this definitely didn¡¯t have to do with mere experiments. More likely, she was coordinating the time with the other six girlfriends!

    Once all six people had determined the time, she informed Zhao Zheng to buy the tickets. The result was that Zhao Zheng could only buy hard seats and it was convenient for the other girls to buy tickets for the same train.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Did you send the tickets to Yue Xiaoquan after you bought them?¡±

    Zhao Zheng nodded with a calm face. ¡°The four of us built a WeChat group to facilitatemunication when travelling. I directly sent the ticket information to the group.¡±

    IN order to prove that he wasn¡¯t lying, he took out his phone and showed Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang the chat records.

    The earliest records could be traced back to a month ago. The four people discussed going to the concert. Yue Xiaoquan had pulled everyone into the group called ¡®Goddess Concert¡¯ and this group chat was mostly about nning this trip. Yue Xiaoquan proposed, ¡°Since we are all going out to y, it is the AA system right? All costs are shared equally.¡±

    Zhao Quan replied, ¡°How can I let a girl pay? I will be in charge of the cost of this trip and the two of you can just y.¡±

    Mo Jiaran wondered, ¡°Is that okay? You are also a student. How can you have so much pocket money?¡±

    Zhao Quan spoke calmly, ¡°I worked with a few students on the development of a small software and a buyer has been found. The copyright fee is a few million so this time I will treat you.¡±

    Mo Jiaran praised, ¡°Big brother is so good. Thumbs up!¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan only sent a smiley face.

    Later, the four people discussed the departure time. Due to Zhao Quan being busy recently, Zhao Zheng took the initiative to do the chores of booking the tickets and the hotels.

    It was originally scheduled to buy the tickets on July 1st. They would set out on July 20th and y in the City of the Moon for a few days before seeing the concert. As a result, Zhao Zheng opened his private chat record with Yue Xiaoquan. ¡°On June 30th, Yue Xiaoquan came to find me in private.¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan said, ¡°Zhao Zheng, I¡¯m sorry. I might have to do experiments on the holiday and I¡¯m not sure if I can leave on the 20th. You don¡¯t have to rush to buy tickets. I will determine the time with my teacher as soon as possible.¡±

    Zhao Zheng didn¡¯t have any doubts and simply said he would wait for her news. After that, Zhao Zheng urged her twice to have her confirm it as soon as possible. It wasn¡¯t until July 17th that she said, ¡°I finish the experiment on the 24th. Can you start on the 25th?¡±

    Zhao Zheng was worried. ¡°The concert is on the 29th. If we depart on the 25th then we will arrive on the 28th. Isn¡¯t this time too tight?¡±

    ¡°There is no way. The earliest I can go is the 25th. We can rest for the night and see the concert the next day. The other ns can be postponed a few days. I have already told your brother so I have to trouble you.¡±

    Since his brother had no opinion, Zhao Zheng had to agree.

    His chat with Yue Xiaoquan about the booking proved that he didn¡¯t lie.

    Yu Hanjiang touched his chin. ¡°These seven girls are mostly university students and the summer vacation time is abundant. However, Si Yi and Liu Xiaoyan seem to be working and it isn¡¯t convenient for them to take leave. Yue Xiaoquan postponing the departure time to the 25th should be to coordinate the time so that all seven girls can catch this train.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded in approval. ¡°Her words about doing experiments must be a lie.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°Only Yue Xiaoquan can clearly grasp Zhao Quan¡¯s movements and inform the others.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°In addition, Yue Xiaoquan is studying clinical medicine. She is familiar with human anatomy and can do the 29 knife wounds while avoiding fatal injuries until the final killing blow. In addition, she changed her clothes today. Was it because her clothesst night were stained with blood?

    Based on the current clues, the real girlfriend Yue Xiaoquan was indeed the most suspicious one. But¡­

    Thinking of the girl¡¯s appearance, her indifferent expression and her look that always said ¡®outside matters have nothing to do with me,¡¯ Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t believe that she would go to the extremes of killing her boyfriend.

    Zhao Zheng shivered. ¡°I can¡¯t see it. How can Yue Xiaoquan be so perverted?¡± He turned, wanted to go and hit the other person. Then he was calmly stopped by Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Don¡¯t be too agitated. This is just our initial reasoning and there is no evidence that she is the murderer.¡±

    Zhao Zheng was angry. ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? She suggested that my brother go to the concert and knew my brother¡¯s seat number. Only she can reveal our travel ns to the other girls!¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Yes, she must be involved in this matter and responsible for coordinating the travel time, but it can¡¯t be determined that she is the one to deal the final blow.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°Don¡¯t forget, your brother died before having sex with the person. Where was Yue Xiaoquan?¡±

    Zhao Zheng¡¯s face changed slightly. ¡°Didn¡¯t she change to the 6th carriage?¡±

    Xiao Lou analyzed. ¡°Your brother had his hands and feet tied up. He seemed to be participating in bondage y with the person in the toilet. This is more like the thrill of sneaking around¡­ Yue Xiaoquan and him are a couple and she slept in the 6th carriagest night. It might not necessarily be her.¡±

    Zhao Zheng¡¯s face was red and white. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang dered coldly. ¡°Your brother stepped on N boats and offended many girls. At present, Yue Xiaoquan¡¯s suspicion is thergest but the other six people also have motive and opportunity.¡±

    Zhou Zheng, ¡°¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°We also can¡¯t rule out the possibility of a joint crime.¡±

    Zhou Zheng, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°I hope you remain calm and don¡¯t go to find any girl impulsively. Now please go to the 9th carriage to hide for a day. We will let you know the results of the investigation.¡±

    Without Zhao Zheng¡¯s agreement, Yu Hanjiang gently held Zhao Zheng¡¯s shoulder and forcefully took him to the 9th carriage.

    Zhao Zheng¡¯s face was dazed and his senses still hadn¡¯t returned. How could his brother be such scum and shocked seven women enough that they came to bury him. It was horrible. Thinking of the tragic scene in the toilet, Zhao Zheng felt cold.

    He was going to have nightmares!

    After sending away Zhao Zheng, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou returned to the office and were silent.

    All seven suspects had a motive and the case was moreplicated than the death of Li Zhemin in the 6th carriage.

    Yu Hanjiang closed his eyes to organize his thoughts. ¡°At present, we are stillcking some key clues. What happened to the rope that tied up Zhao Quan¡¯s hands and feet? The murderer¡¯s clothes are certainly stained with blood from killing Zhao Quan. Where did she hide it? Finding these two clues will definitely help our reasoning.¡±

    The biggest advantage of the train was that it was a closed space where evidence was difficult to destroy. The evidence must remain on the train.

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°First ask Yue Xiaoquan.¡±

    The two people returned to the carriage. Yue Xiaoquan and Mo Jiaran were holding a phone and watching a TV drama together. They saw the train attendants and Mo Jiaran looked up. ¡°Where did you take Zhao Zheng?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled at her. ¡°Zhao Zheng didn¡¯t sleep wellst night and isn¡¯t feeling good. I had him go to the 9th carriage to sleep for a while.¡±

    Mo Jiaran smiled. ¡°The train attendants are very sweet.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang requested calmly, ¡°Miss Yue, pleasee with us. Your boyfriend is looking for you.¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan gently raised her eyebrows and got up to follow them. The two people took her to the toilet. Xiao Lou stood outside while Yu Hanjiang took her into the crime scene and closed the toilet door.

    Yue Xiaoquan saw Zhao Quan on the ground and immediately covered her mouth, screaming, ¡°Ahhh¡ª¡±

    Her pupils were tight and her face was shocked.

    Yu Hanjiang carefully observed her expression and whispered, ¡°Isn¡¯t this your boyfriend? Do you know who killed him?¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan shook her head. ¡°I-I don¡¯t know! I changed to the 6th carriage at 9:30st night and watched TV until midnight. Then I slept until dawn. I sent him a message and he didn¡¯t reply, but I thought his battery was dead.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Can anyone prove that you didn¡¯t leave the 6th carriagest night?¡±

    ¡°Ranran was on the bed next to me. When we went to bedst night, we locked the door of Room 5 from the inside and I didn¡¯t go out all night.¡±

    She looked at the blood and white liquid on the ground and turned her head, covering her mouth to suppress the urge to vomit.

    Yu Hanjiang took her out of the crime scene and brought her to the office, letting her calm down. Once the girl no longer felt like vomiting, Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°You are studying medicine and should be able to see that Zhao Quan experienced cruel abuse before he died. Do you know who has such a big feud with him?¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know, he rarely mentions his private affairs to me.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stared into her eyes and directly asked, ¡°You are the other six girls, do you still have the WeChat group you built?¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan¡¯s expression became extremely ugly.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly. ¡°The chat records must¡¯ve been deleted. In the WeChat group, apart from you, there should be Yu Lin, Liu Xiaoyan, Song Xiaoyu, Si Yi, Yan Ruru and Cheng Mu. Am I correct?¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The frightened expression on her face proved that Yu Hanjiang had touched on their secret. They thought their n was seamless but they hadn¡¯t expected Zhao Quan to have a hobby of collecting photos of his girlfriends. He also put everyone¡¯s photos on the USB disk.

    We have been blessed with more fan art by the lovely chuna.

 Chapter 85: Extremely Quick Train 17: Consequences of Stepping on N Boats

    Yue Xiaoquan obviously didn¡¯t expect the train attendants to know the names of all seven of them. The always calm and indifferent girl stared with wide eyes, her hands sped together nervously. ¡°I-I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang simply grabbed theptop and opened the folder on Zhao Quan¡¯s USB disk for her to see. ¡°This is the USB disk we found in Zhao Quan¡¯s backpack. There are photos of the seven of you. Miss Yue, please check carefully. Isn¡¯t it consistent with the seven girls on the train?¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan nced at the folder and a bit of shock shed in her eyes. ¡°This¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang saw her reaction and whispered, ¡°It can¡¯t be a coincidence that all seven of you are on the train. Speak. You are the one who reported the movements of Zhao Quan to the other six people, isn¡¯t that right?¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan¡¯s body started to tremble violently. She bit her lips and refused to say anything.

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°Miss Yue, Zhao Quan deceived your feelings and stepped on N-boats. It is indeed wrong and I can understand your hatred of him but¡­ killing is against thew and the murderer will be sentenced to death. You are only in your twenties and shouldn¡¯t ruin your life for a scum. How sad would your parents be if they knew you killed a bad guy?¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan¡¯s shoulders trembled and she quickly shook her head. ¡°No, I didn¡¯t kill him!¡±

    Her expression revealed a hint of horror and she didn¡¯t seem to be lying.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou nced at each other before Xiao Lou asked, ¡°You didn¡¯t kill him? Did you know he was going to die?¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan shook her head wildly. ¡°No, we didn¡¯t think of killing him. I also knew thew for murderers. How can I destroy my future for a scum?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang questioned, ¡°Then what were you doing together?¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan remembered the tragic sight she saw in the toilet and couldn¡¯t control the shaking of her voice. ¡°We just wanted Zhao Quan to find out his own stupidity and p him in the face, kicking him. He is really a scum but I didn¡¯t want to kill him. How can I afford to raise my parents if I go to jail for Zhao Quan?¡±

    She repeatedly stressed that she had no ns to kill and didn¡¯t look like a liar. As a junior at a medical school Yue Xiaoquan had a promising future. There was no need to destroy herself for a scum man.

    Xiao Lou temporarily believed her defense and told her softly, ¡°Don¡¯t be sad and calm down first. If it wasn¡¯t done by your hands then we won¡¯t wrong you. I hope you can cooperate with the investigation. Murder isn¡¯t a joke and once the police intervene, perhaps you will be arrested as an aplice and brought to the police station.¡±

    Presumably, Xiao Lou¡¯s pacification yed a role and the girl gradually calmed down. Yu Hanjiang saw she was emotionally stable and asked, ¡°Since it wasn¡¯t your hand, do you know who is most likely to kill Zhao Quan? Among these girls, who has the deepest hatred with Zhao Quan?¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan was silent for a long time before calmly replying, ¡°Everyone was deceived by him. I don¡¯t know who had the most serious grudge.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang opened his mouth. ¡°Tell me in detail how you and Zhao Quan started tomunicate.¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan nodded. ¡°I got to know Zhao Quan and Zhao Zheng at a school party. Our talk was good and they left their contact details. Zhao Quan started chasing me, saying I was his first love and he fell in love with me at first sight. His way of coaxing girls was particrly gentle. At first, I thought his sweet words weren¡¯t reliable. Later, I was moved by his practical actions¡­¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan¡¯s face became uglier as she thought of the sweet past. ¡°One time, it rained heavily and I forgot to bring an umbre. He braved the rain to pick me up and send me back to my dormitory. Then he caught a cold afterwards. I believed him when he said he was serious about me and agreed to date him.¡±

    Xiao Lou wrote down the process and wondered, ¡°When did you find out he was cheating?¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan bowed her head to organize her thoughts. ¡°This winter vacation, I went on a trip with him. He took a bath and left his phone on the table and a WeChat message popped up. The other person called him ¡®Husband¡¯ and was a cute puppy head. I sensed something wasn¡¯t right and asked him bout it. He said it was a girl he knew from a game and she pestered him every day by calling him ¡®Husband.¡¯ Then he deleted the other side¡¯s contact right in front of me so I didn¡¯t mind.¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan paused before adding, ¡°Then a weekter, the dog head person suddenly added me. I epted and she said she was Zhao Quan¡¯s girlfriend and scolded me for being a shameless junior. I thought she was a little girl that Zhao Quan knew in the game and didn¡¯t pay much attention to her making trouble for no reason. I directly cklisted her.¡±

    This was also in line with Yue Xiaoquan¡¯s personality. She didn¡¯t care about being nosy and it wasn¡¯t possible for her to quarrel with people. She was direct and just cklisted this person.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°The puppy head girl, is she Song Xiaoyu?¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan looked at him with some surprise. ¡°How do you know?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang answered, ¡°Zhao Zheng had seen her photo.¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan was silent for a moment. ¡°Yes, Song Xiaoyu was the first one to add me. She didn¡¯t know the situation at the time and thought I was a junior who took the initiative to seduce Zhao Quan. She ran to the rest of her friends to cry about it and the eldest, Liu Xiaoyan was shocked.¡±

    Xiao Lou quickly responded. ¡°Then it was Liu Xiaoyan and Song Xiaoyu who first found out that Zhao Quan was wrong?¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan nodded coldly. ¡°Zhao Quan, this fool, probably didn¡¯t expect that one of his ex-girlfriends and his current girlfriend were actually friends. Sister Xiaoyan had a rtionship with him when she worked at the front desk of the Inte cafe. They went to hotels to fool around and Zhao Quan hadn¡¯t shown her a gentle and considerate appearance at the time.¡±

    ¡°Sister Xiaoyanter left the Inte cafe and used the money she saved to open a hairdresser¡¯s store. Business is doing well. She is apletely different type from Song Xiaoyu. Song Xiaoyu is particrly dependent on her boyfriend and is just like white paper. Sister Xiaoyan likes countless men and is quite straightforward. Song Xiaoyu cried about her boyfriend cheating and Sister Xiaoyan asked her to send a photo of her boyfriend. As a result, she sent a photo of Zhao Quan. Sister Xiaoyan looked at it and found that it was Zhao Quan who opened a room with her every day.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­.¡±

    They could imagine how awkward that scene was.

    Yue Xiaoquan was expressionless. ¡°Sister Xiaoyan suspected that Zhao Quan deceived this little girl and didn¡¯t let Song Xiaoyu act. She came forward to hook up with Zhao Quan. Zhao Quan met her and looked excited to reunite with an old friend. In two days, he proposed to open a room with her and relieve their old love. Song Xiaoyu was angry. She already had a heart condition so she had a heart attack and needed to go to the hospital.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan added, ¡°Sister Xiaoyan decided to investigate Zhao Quan¡¯s private life.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°What was the result of the investigation?¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan bowed her head and dered coldly, ¡°In addition to sister Xiaoyan, Zhao Quan was with six other girls at the same time.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°!!!¡±

    He thought these girls were Zhao Quan¡¯s former girlfriends. He didn¡¯t expect them to all be ¡®current girlfriends¡¯!

    Yue Xiaoquan exined, ¡°Sister Xiaoyan first found me because Zhao Quan and I are at the same school and many students know about us. Song Xiaoyu also added me as a friend. Then she found thepany where Zhao Quan was working and found Sister Si Yi.¡±

    ¡°Sister Si Yi works at the softwarepany and her working ability is very strong. Zhao Quan was an intern in her department and his performance was excellent. He also took care of her. The gentle and considerate fresh meat soon moved Sister Si Yi and they entered a rtionship.¡±

    ¡°Once Sister Si Yi knew about this matter, she decided not to arouse his suspicions. She noticed that something was wrong with Zhao Quan. Every weekend, he would go somewhere and there might be other women. Thus, the four of us worked together and found his first love¡­ Yu Lin from the mathematics department of Huada University.¡±

    ¡°Yu Lin was his high school love. After graduating, they broke up because they were going to different ces. However, Zhao Quan still couldn¡¯t let go of his first love. On her birthday, he ran all the way there to celebrate with her, stating that he wanted to restore their rtionship. Yu Lin was impressed by his sincerity and they got back together. Since then, Zhao Quan would take a car to Huada to date Yu Lin every month.¡±

    ¡°Sister Si Yi used hacking software to enter his game ount and found his wife in the game, Yan Ruru. He had yed instances with this beautiful woman in the game and Yan Ruru was known as a beauty since her photos once spread. Zhao Quan chased her and they finally got together. They go on a date every Wednesday and also built a guild together.¡±

    ¡°Cheng Mu was known through a dating software. Zhao Quan had just gone to university and had no girlfriend. He probably felt rtively empty and met a female through the dating software. From an Inte love, they progressed to a male and female friends with benefits rtionship.¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan told the other people¡¯s stories without any expression.

    She concluded, ¡°In any case, Sister Si Yi and Sister Xiaoyan are particrly strong and found all the girls. The first time we added each other as friends, we were shocked. Zhao Quan dated six other girls at the same time but still clearly remembered everyone¡¯s favourite food, colour and cosmetics brand. Every time he dates a girl, he will put on the appropriate look.¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan¡¯s mouth raised in a sneer. ¡°Interestingly, the 10th of April happened to be my birthday as well as the first anniversary of his understanding with Cheng Mu. From 7 to 9 o¡¯clock at night, he was with me for my birthday. He ordered a rose cake and said I was his only love. At 9:30, he went to Cheng Mu¡¯s home and sent her 99 roses. He said she was forever and they did it twice that night. Going to bed with two women on the same day, isn¡¯t he afraid of getting schizophrenia?¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang became more shocked the more they listened. This was an annual drama! If it was posted on the forum then amazing gossip would definitely happen. In particr, rolling in the sheets with two females on the same night was too much. Wasn¡¯t he afraid of calling out the wrong name?

    Xiao Lou helplessly asked, ¡°Were there any arguments after the seven of you got together?¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan was cold. ¡°Who would feel rivalry and fight when faced with such a thing? We were just shocked, angry and disgusted. In particr, when I think about what happened with Cheng Mu and I on that day, I felt sick and wanted to vomit!¡±

    If it was a very good man then they might be jealous and hate each other. Zhao Quan was such a scum male. How could they feel jealous? The seven girls apparently had their three views refreshed and only felt disgusted by Zhao Quan. It was as if they inadvertently ate a fly. All the love in their heart disappeared and they only felt hatred.

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Who built your group chat?¡±

    ¡°Sister Xiaoyan built it. She first pulled all of us in and had us send our chat record with Zhao Quan so we could know what a scum Zhao Quan was. Later, Sister Si Yi organized a party and we decided to join forces to retaliate against this scum.¡±

    The sharp Yu Hanjiang found the key. ¡°The result of this party was that you bought the same train ticket and would appear in front of him at the same time, giving Zhao Quan an unexpected shock?¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan nodded. ¡°The original n was that we would take him to a hotel after arriving at the terminal, tie him up and beat him up. We wouldn¡¯t openly discuss how to kill him. Everyone might¡¯ve been angry but we are all young girls. There is no need to dirty our hands and go to jail for a scum man!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it. ¡°In other words, the original n didn¡¯t have this ¡®killing part.¡¯ One of you killed him on the train in a spur of the moment thing?¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan looked veryplicated. ¡°Zhao Quan is a bastard and I am happy to see him dead but¡­ it wasn¡¯t by my hand.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other.

    These girls were normal people. Even if they were betrayed by a scum, they wouldn¡¯t go to the extreme of killing. The emotional pain could be cured. Who didn¡¯t meet a few scum when they were young? In the future, they would surely meet worthy men and lead a happy life. The most irrational thing was to ruin their own lives for this scum.

    Moreover, the risk was too high for seven strangers to got together to discuss how to kill a person. What if some of the timid females worried about killing people and breaking thew? They didn¡¯t want to go to jail and leaked the ns ahead of time. Then wouldn¡¯t it be aplete failure?

    Therefore, Yue Xiaoquan¡¯s confession was reasonable. They got together and the result of the discussion was to bring Zhao Quan to a hotel to beat him up. The seven girlfriends appearing at the same time to beat the scum to a pig¡¯s head was also a method of venting. Zhao Quan would have a psychological shadow and not dare to cheat girls in the future.

    The girls could ept such a result. If they appeared together in front of the scum man, the scum man would be frightened and look very interesting. This collective retaliation was very addictive. Therefore, before the n was carrying out, everyone would cooperate against themon enemy.

    They didn¡¯t expect that one of the girl¡¯s hatred of Zhao Quan went beyond reason. She was even willing to risk her own life to kill Zhao Quan. She took the opportunity to cut Zhao Quan 29 times in the toilet of the train, cutting off Zhao Quan¡¯s organ and stabbing him in the heart.

    Her anger, hatred and despair far outweighed the other girls who had simply been let down.

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°This girl must have a deeper hatred with Zhao Quan that other people don¡¯t know about. This allowed her to risk the death penalty to kill Zhao Quan.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and whispered in Xiao Lou¡¯s ear. ¡°Yue Xiaoquan¡¯s testimony has rtively high credibility but we also need to investigate the other six people. Since killing Zhao Quan wasn¡¯t a decision discussed by the seven people, the others shouldn¡¯t know that Zhao Quan is dead.¡±

    Originally, the girls just got together to discuss how to scare the scum. At most, they would tie him up in the hotel and hit him. Normal people definitely couldn¡¯t think of the extreme method of ¡®killing.¡¯ Who was the girl who would directly murder him?

 Chapter 86: Extremely Quick Train 19: Yu Linâ€™s Testimony

    Yue Xiaoquan left and Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang discussed their next n.

    First, the rope tying Zhao Quan up and the blood-stained clothes hadn¡¯t been found. They needed to search the train again to find these two key pieces of evidence. Secondly, there were many suspects in this case. Taking them to the toilet one by one was easy to disturb the other passengers. In addition, the scene was too bloody. Some timid girls were likely to have a psychological shadow.

    Therefore, Yu Hanjiang decided to use Zhao Quan¡¯s mobile phone to take some photos of the death scene to show to the suspects. They could clearly see the situation from the photos but there was a big difference from seeing photos and seeing the scene in person.

    The two people acted together. They went to the toilet and took photos from various angles. This was followed by a careful search of the trash cans in the 4th carriage and the dining carriage. Unfortunately, there was no harvest.

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it and took Xiao Lou to the 6th sleeper car. He searched through the trash cans and actually found a piece of clothing in it, as well as arge number of female rubber band hair ties.

    The clothes were deliberately covered with soup noodles but this was just a cover up. Xiao Lou could instantly see that there was a lot of blood on the clothes but the blood had dried. Mixed with the soup of the instant noodles, it was difficult to distinguish with the naked eye.

    This was a very sexy ck silk dress. Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang and said, ¡°Yue Xiaoquan¡¯s clothes aren¡¯t in this style. Combined with her cold personality, suddenly asking Zhao Quan to go to the toilet for bondage y would definitely arouse Zhao Quan¡¯s suspicions.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and made his way to Yue Xiaoquan¡¯s sleeper room to question her roommates.

    The little star, who was wearing a mask, had been in his room since getting on the train. He rarely went out, presumably out of fear of being recognized. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou opened the door and he happened to be alone in the room.

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°Hello, we have some questions to ask you. Is now convenient?¡±

    The star looked at him in an alert manner and nodded. ¡°Ask.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Do you have an impression of the two girls sleeping in 5A and 5C? One has long, straight ck hair and the other has brown curly hair.¡±

    The star nodded. ¡°Yes, I remember.¡±

    ¡°Did the two of them go outst night? Or did you hear any strange movements?¡±

    The star thought about it. ¡°I fell asleep at 3 o¡¯clockst night. Before I went to bed, they were sleeping very well. The girl I slept under was snoring loudly enough to kill me.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang then asked, ¡°You are also going to see Goddess Luo Yan¡¯s concert? Can you tell us something about the concert?¡±

    This was his idol so the star immediately gushed about her. ¡°Goddess Luo Yan has been a national idol for more than 10 years. I grew up listening to her songs and she only holds a concert every three years. This year¡¯s concert is thergest scale ever and tickets have to be booked one month in advance. It was extremely difficult to grab.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang seized the key point. ¡°You mean the concert tickets have to be booked a month in advance?¡±

    The star nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Do you need a real name system?¡±

    The star told them, ¡°Of course. The goddess was afraid that real fans couldn¡¯t buy tickets and they would all be stolen by scalpers. Therefore, you must register with your real name to buy tickets and each ID card is limited to one ticket.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°For example, Liu Xiaoyan and Song Xiaoyu brought three friends to go to the concert and this won¡¯t cause suspicion. Group Leader Yu, there are so many suspects. Which one should we question first?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it. ¡°Start with the first love.¡±

    The two of them went to the next room and found Yu Lin reading alone.

    The girl had long ck hair and wore a simple and refreshing blue dress with white high-heeled sandals. She looked graceful and elegant. She had a typical oval-shaped face and could y a noblewoman in an ancient costume idol drama. It was hard to imagine that such a girl would dirty her own hands for a scum or to even abuse Zhao Quan. Of course, this was just Xiao Lou¡¯s subjective judgment. Appearance could sometimes deceive people. Zhao Quan was a good example.

    Yu Hanjiang requested calmly, ¡°Miss Yu Lin, pleasee with us. Your boyfriend is looking for you.¡±

    Yu Lin was surprised when she heard this but she quickly regained herposure. ¡°Don¡¯t joke around, I don¡¯t have a boyfriend.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told here, ¡°His name is Zhao Quan. Please look at this.¡±

    Then he direct ced the phone in front of Yu Lin. The girl saw the tragic death of Zhao Quan and immediately covered her mouth. She stared with wide eyes but restrained from screaming. It was obvious that this schoolgirl was a person who could control her emotions.

    Yu Hanjiang told her, ¡°Zhao Quan was murdered. Please cooperate with the investigation.¡±

    She followed the two men in a shock. Once she arrived at the office of the 6th carriage, she recovered from her shock and wondered, ¡°Zhao Quan is dead? How did this happen?¡±

    Xiao Lou took a close look at her expression while taking notes. Her surprise didn¡¯t seem to be an act.

    Yu Hanjiang got straight to the point. ¡°For what purpose did you and the other six girls discuss going to the City of the Moon? Was it to join forces to get revenge on the scum?¡±

    Yu Lin was silent and didn¡¯t speak.

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°We already know that the seven of you are on the train. I hope that you can answer the question truthfully. You are an educated university student and should know the consequences of killing in a criminal case.¡±

    Yu Lin¡¯s face was ugly as she dered firmly, ¡°I didn¡¯t kill him.¡±

    ¡°Give us a reason to believe you. Please borate. How did you find out that Zhao Quan was cheating and how did you get together with the other girls to discuss revenge?¡±

    Yu Lin took a deep breath to adjust her mood before speaking, ¡°Zhao Quan was my first love. I put on filter on these feelings and always thought he was handsome, eloquent and talented. He is a particrly excellent person. To be honest, I was too young at that time and the number of excellent boys I saw was too small. Once at university, I found out¡­ what is Zhao Quan? There are so many boys much better than him.¡±

    In high school, the puppy love boy/girl would have a thickyer of filters regarding their sweetheart. They never met anyone better than their goddess/god but thanks to the increasing experience, they met many more good people and found they were really stupid. The person they liked wasn¡¯t that great.

    Yu Lin¡¯s change in mentality was very normal. Her maths results were so great and she went to the mathematics department of a famous school. This girl was a logical thinking ability and calm personality could quickly emerge from a break up with her first love.

    Sure enough, Yu Lin said, ¡°I went to a different university from Zhao Quan and broke up. My feelings for him were very light and my mind was devoted to studying. Three monthster, he suddenly ran to me on my birthday and asked for a reunion. At the time, I was quite surprised and felt there was no need to get back together. However, he was sincere and bought me a very expensive gift. He knelt down in front of me and said that I was his first love and a girl he would never forget. I admitted that I was moved. In any case, I didn¡¯t have a boyfriend and promised to get back together.¡±

    ¡°Every weekend, he would take time to see me. In the beginning, it was very frequent but then he changed from once a week to every two weeks and then every month, using the excuse that he was busy with his studies. Despite being gentle and considerate every time he came to see me and bringing me all types of gifts, a girl¡¯s sixth sense told me the situation wasn¡¯t quite right.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m very sensitive to numbers. During that time, he was very regr when sending me messages. He talked to me every night a 9 o¡¯clock until 10 o¡¯clock, where he took a shower and went to bed. I had an idea. Perhaps he was talking to me as well as other girls.¡±

    ¡°I started to investigate him and opened a smurf ount in the game he yed. I found that every night at 10 to 12 o¡¯clock, he was with his game wife. They are very famous lovers in the game and ording to the guild people, they show love in the guild channel every day.¡±

    At this point, Yu Lin¡¯s expression became extremely indifferent. ¡°That was why all the fantasies in my heart about my first love were disillusioned. My only thought was to break up with this scum as soon as possible. In any case, my feelings for him have long since faded. I didn¡¯t expect that before I proposed a break up, Liu Xiaoyan, Song Xiaoyu, Si Yi and Yue Xiaoquan added me on WeChat, stating they were also Zhao Quan¡¯s girlfriend.¡±

    She had just found her boyfriend cheating in the game and as a result, four girls came to find her. Yu Lin¡¯s mood at that time could be imagined. Her three views were probably refreshed.

    Yu Lin said, ¡°I told them about Yan Ruru and they found Cheng Mu through Yu Lin. Finally, we locked down that Zhao Quan was in contact with six girls and wanted to get back together with Liu Xiaoyan, adding up to seven. We were all so angry that we got together under Sister Si Yi¡¯s call and discussed how to retaliate against him.¡±

    This girl was worthy of being a school tyrant. She might be agitated by Zhao Quan¡¯s death but her logic was clear when describing the entire process.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°What did you talk about?¡±

    ¡°Take advantage of the summer concert to go to the city of the Moon together. Yue Xiaoquan will report on Zhao Quan¡¯s movements and we will buy the same train ticket. Wait until we at the hotel before collectively confronting him. We will be able to see the wonderful expression on that scum and then tie him up for punishment. Yue Xiaoquan is studying to be a doctor and she said very coldly that we can take a knife to scare the scum, cutting him a dozen times. As long as we don¡¯t cut anyrge blood vessels, he won¡¯t die.¡±

    She took a break and added, ¡°Yue Xiaoquan told her about a case where one of her school sisters encountered a scum man and cut his body dozens of times. He was in pain but still alive. The final forensic identification was a minor injury and she didn¡¯t need to bear any legal responsibility. She only needed to pay some medical expenses.¡±

    ¡°We all felt that girls who study medicine are really powerful and it was a relief to punish a bad guy like this.¡±

    ¡°At first, I didn¡¯t want to participate in this. In my opinion, a scum man is like shit on the roadside. Once you step in it, hastily back away. There is no need to study what the shit looks like. However, Yue Xiaoquan¡¯s proposal moved me. I really wanted to see how dozens of knife wounds on Zhao Quan could be considered a minor injury.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help looking at each other after hearing Yu Lin¡¯s testimony.

    This was at odds with Yue Xiaoquan¡¯s statement.

    Yue Xiaoquan only said that the result of their discussion was to take Zhao Quan to the hotel to beat him up. She concealed her suggestion to ¡®cut Zhao Quan a dozen times.¡¯ She was probably afraid that her suggestion was too close to Zhao Quan¡¯s method of death, increasing her suspicion.

    Yu Lin continued by saying she didn¡¯t know who had such a deep hatred with Zhao Quan to carry out a murder. Once the two men questioned her, Yu Lin went back. Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you feel that the possibility of the first lovemitting the crime is high?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang shook his head. ¡°No, this school tyrant is very calm and her treatment of a scum man is also very rational. A scum man is like shit on the ground that should be hastily moved away from. There is no need to desperately dirty themselves. Based on her performance, her feelings for Zhao Quan weren¡¯t deep. She is a well-bred, opinionated woman and shouldn¡¯t go to the extreme of killing.¡±

    Xiao Lou thoughtfully touched his chin. ¡°I think that Yue Xiaoquan¡¯s suspicion isn¡¯t big. She was the person who put forward the suggestion of ¡®cutting the scum man¡¯ but since she is studying medicine, she should have a good sense of proportion. If she was the killer, cutting him dozens of times is considered a minor injury and ending it like that is a loss. She should be able to end his life her own way, rather than a stab to the heart.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°It seems that someone found inspiration from Yue Xiaoquan¡¯s suggestion and was pleased at such torture. This person doesn¡¯t necessarily need to have medical knowledge. They can look up in the information. Isn¡¯t one month enough time to research human anatomy?¡±

    ¡°Yes, this isn¡¯t like professional surgery. The knife cuts are actually very simple and left to avoid the important blood vessels and organs, so as to not let Zhao Quan die too fast.¡±

    The killer being a medical student was only a subjective inference they made after seeing the scene of the crime.

    Based on Yu Lin¡¯s testimony, they found that Yue Xiaoquan had proposed to torture Zhao Quan with the ¡®knife cut¡¯ method. Zhao Quan¡¯s seven girlfriends would hold a knife and cut him. He would be greatly tortured physically and mentally but this would eventually only be considered a minor injury and the seven girls could retreat. Once Zhao Quan experienced this torture, don¡¯t talk about being a disaster to other girls. He would probably have nightmares for the second half of his life. This was really a perfect way to punish a bad man.

    Yue Xiaoquan made this suggestion and the other people present could imitate it. Therefore, ¡®learning medicine¡¯ wasn¡¯t a necessary condition. Of course, a person who studied medicine would be more urate but studying the human anatomy was possible in one month.

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°Out of the remaining five suspects, Song Xiaoyu has a thin body and a heart disease. It would be too abnormal if she suddenly proposed to y a bondage game with Zhao Quan. Zhao Quan shouldn¡¯t be stupid enough to go to the toilet with her. Moreover, this ck dress isn¡¯t Song Xiaoyu¡¯s style.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°Song Xiaoyu¡¯s height is less than 1.6 metres. This dress is very long and would be like a sack on her if she wore it.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Group Leader Yu¡¯s description was unique. Xiao Lou thought of the small and cute Song Xiaoyu wearing the long ck dress and it really didn¡¯t match. It wouldn¡¯t be convenient for her to walk in and she would probably trip.

    The remaining four girls were tall and over 168cm They were in good shape and could wear this dress.

    Yu Hanjiang opened his mouth. ¡°The next focus is on interrogating these four people. Liu Xiaoyan used to work the front desk of an Inte cafe and opened a room with Zhao Quan after knowing him for three days. She is bold and uninhibited and has the possibility of ying the bondage game with Zhao Quan. Besides, she and Song Xiaoyu are like sisters. The double blow of her being cheated and her little sister being cheated might be enough to make her pick up the weapon in anger.¡±

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°Si Yi looks like a knowledgeable and gentle working woman. She wore a suit skirt and there is a possibility of a younger man and older woman bondage y. Yue Xiaoquan also mentioned that Zhao Quan was interning in her department. As a junior student, he developed a software that sold for millions by himself. This is very difficult. Perhaps Si Yi helped him?¡±

    ¡°That is a possibility. Or he took Si Yi¡¯s research results to sell and Si Yi encountered setbacks in the workce. Si Yi was deceived and her work affected so she angrily killed him.¡±

    Xiao Lou touched his ballpoint pen against the name Cheng Mu. ¡°Zhao Quan and Cheng Mu knew each other through a dating software. It started from an Inte love to a fixed rtionship. A girl who can make an appointment with a stranger on a chat software should be open. I think her suspicion is also high.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at thest person. ¡°Yan Ruru found a husband in the game and dated him. We don¡¯t know enough about her so we will question herter to see what she has to say.¡±

    Once they finished their analysis, they held the book where they took notes and headed through the dining carriage back to the 4th carriage.

    Just then, the two people saw Jing Weiguang of the 8th row holding a cup of water whileing back from the other side of the carriage. The connection of the 3rd and 4th carriages had a hot water supply and it seemed that Dr Jing went to pick up a cup of hot water. The two people didn¡¯t think much until Jing Weiguang walked past the 13th row and suddenly stopped, ncing at the two girls sitting them were a puzzled expression.

    It was Cheng Mu and Yan Ruru¡¯s seats. Cheng Mu was looking down at her phone while Yan Ruru met his eyes and her expression changed. The next moment, Jing Weiguang became very excited. ¡°Ah? A junior student? What a coincidence! What are you doing on this train?¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­.¡±

    Yan Ruru, whose information was unknown, was actually Jing Weiguang¡¯s junior female student! Jing Weiguang was clearly identified as a doctor. If she was Jing Weiguang¡¯s junior female student, it seemed she was also a doctor?

    Yan Ruru¡¯s suspicions rose sharply. Yu Hanjiang and Xiaolou nced at each other and walked toward Yan Ruru¡¯s seat.

    Jing Weiguang saw the two people and scratched his head with a smile. ¡°Are you looking for me? How can I help you?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and said, ¡°No need¡­ we are looking for your junior female student.¡±

 Chapter 87: Extremely Quick Train 20: Each Sticks to Their Own Version

    Jing Weiguang thought the two train attendants hade to him to solve a medical problem. The result was that they said he was looking for his junior female student. He looked at Yan Ruru with a puzzled expression. ¡°Do you know each other?¡±

    Yan Ruru¡¯s face was confused. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled kindly at her. ¡°Miss Yan,e with us. There are some things to ask you.

    Yan Ruru frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t know you. What do you want?¡±

    This girl was very wary. Yu Hanjiang lowered his voice and said, ¡°The conductor asked us to check the passenger information. Please cooperate.¡±

    Yan Ruru let out an ¡®oh¡¯ and stood up to follow them. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang took her back to the train attendant¡¯s office. They turned on the phone and showed her the photos of Zhao Quan¡¯s death.

    Yan Ruru saw these bloody photos and her face became as pale as paper, but she didn¡¯t scream. Nor did she show a frightened expression like Yue Xiaoquan and Yu Lin. Instead, her body trembled, she bowed her head and vigorously clenched her fists.

    Xiao Lou thought she was going to cry and wanted tofort her. As a result, he hadn¡¯t spoken yet when Yan Ruru suddenlyughed. ¡°Haha haha! Retribution! Zhao Quan died well, he died beautifully!¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Yan Ruru¡¯s eyes were red as she spoke through gritted teeth. ¡°Such a scum should¡¯ve died a long time ago! He died so badly, he must¡¯ve been scared and miserable before he died, right? Hahahaha, he deserves it!¡±

    The girl looked at the photo of Zhao Quan¡¯s death and actually couldn¡¯t stopughing. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou faced each other. After half a minute, she stoppedughing and spoke coldly, ¡°Why are you looking for me? I didn¡¯t kill him.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Are you a doctor? You graduated from university with Jing Weiguang?¡±

    Yan Ruru¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°Yes, Brother Jing was several years ahead of me. I didn¡¯t see him in school and then I went to a hospital internship and Brother Jing was my teacher.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°So you are graduating now?¡±

    Yan Ruru replied, ¡°I¡¯m a graduate student and I won¡¯t graduate until next year.¡±

    Then it seemed she was two years older than Zhao Quan.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke. ¡°Your purpose in taking this train is the same as the other six girls, to clean up this scum?¡±

    Yan Ruru had no expression. ¡°Six girls? I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡±

    Xiao Lou told her, ¡°I have here the information for the seven of you. has saved your photos and the purpose of this group travel has been revealed. I hope Miss Yan doesn¡¯t hide it and that you will cooperate with our investigation.¡±

    Yan Ruru¡¯s face changed. ¡°What photo?¡±

    Xiao Lou opened theptop and showed her. Once she saw their photos appear on the USB disk, she couldn¡¯t help clenching her fists angrily. ¡°Zhao Quan, this madman. Calling me Imperial Concubine Ru? Oh, he really deserves it!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang demanded, ¡°Tell me more about your knowledge of Zhao Quan.¡±

    Yan Ruru was silent for a moment before bowing her head. ¡°He was my apprentice I picked up in the game. I often took him to clear instances and he always called me Master obediently. Later, for the couple activities in the game, he said he would marry me in the game for the rewards. Since the rewards were very rich, I had no objections. I didn¡¯t mind if the other person was a man or a dog.¡±

    Yan Ruru then continued, ¡°One time, in order to facilitate doing the task in the game, I opened a video with him. He probably thought I looked really good and started chasing me. He was a few years younger than me and I was initially reluctant. However, his sweet mouthbined with his handsome appearance on a daily basis meant I developed some feelings over time and decided to be with him.¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t expect that Yan Ruru and Zhao Quan were actually master and apprentice in the game. Taking the game¡¯s beautiful ¡®master¡¯ must be very satisfying for Zhao Quan?

    Yu Hanjiang then asked, ¡°How did you find out he was cheating?¡±

    Yan Ruru said, ¡°Once he and I dated, I identally saw a dating software on his phone¡¯s desktop. I checked online and found it was a dating software. I suspected he had a problem and downloaded the software. Then I added him as a friend using a smurf ount. I took the initiative to talk to him and talked to him for a week before he agreed to meet at the hotel. Then I knew that Zhao Quan was a scum man with a very chaotic private life.¡±

    Yan Ruru¡¯s face had a cold smile. ¡°I had decided to meet at the hotel to confront him and break up with him. As a result, Yu Lin, Liu Xiaoyan, Song Xiaoyu and Si Yi¡­ suddenly, a group of girls found me and said they were also Zhao Quan¡¯s girlfriend. It wasn¡¯t only the dating software, this man also stepped on N boats. My jaw almost dropped. This man was simply talented!¡±

    Yan Ruru¡¯s eyes were very contemptuous. She apparently felt that Zhao Quan, this scum man was very incredible.

    She said, ¡°He used this IQ to do something bad and to deceive women. He is a real good for nothing.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed in his heart as he asked, ¡°Do you hate Zhao Quan?¡±

    Yan Ruru shook her head. ¡°It isn¡¯t worthy of hate. I just think it is ridiculous. To be able to fool so many girls, Zhao Quan must be talented at coaxing women.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment. ¡°During the party when the seven of you gathered, was there a proposal to scare Zhao Quan with a knife, cutting him dozens of times without killing him so you don¡¯t have to take responsibility?¡±

    Yan Ruru was a bit surprised but she soon realized that someone had confessed. She nodded and said, ¡°It was proposed by Yue Xiaoquan and I thought it was very interesting and scientific. Everyone agreed to her suggestion and I offered to prepare the knife. I work in a hospital and can get a sharp scalpel. The cuts are very painful but aren¡¯t deep.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other before thetter wondered, ¡°Where is the knife you prepared?¡±

    Yan Ruru answered, ¡°In my bag.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang immediately stood up. ¡°Come with us to show us.¡±

    Yan Ruru returned to her seat and picked up her backpack from the luggage rack. She went out on this trip with only a single bag that can be easily held with one hand. She opened the zipper of the bag and took out a box at the bottom. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou opened it back in the office. It was a neat box filled with a row of scalpels, seven in total.

    Xiao Lou mused thoughtfully, ¡°It seems that Yan Ruru prepared seven knives. Her intention should be for the seven people to surround Zhao Quan and slowly cut him, letting Zhao Quan experience terrible physical and psychological torture.¡±

    ¡°Professor Xiao, do you feel that the knife wounds on the deceased¡¯s body matches the incision of a scalpel?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°The scalpel is extremely sharp and the incision will be very fine. The deceased showed traces of something on the outside and the de is much wider than a scalpel. The murder weapon should be themonly used portable fruit knife.¡±

    Yan Ruru had no need to bring a bunch of scalpels and then prepare a fruit knife. She was a doctor and would surely be able to bnce a fruit knife. In addition, her feelings with Zhao Quan didn¡¯t seem deep. She only thought that Zhao Quan was ridiculous and deserved to die. She didn¡¯t have a very strong urge to kill. It appeared that she could be excluded as a suspect.

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°Ask Cheng Mu.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and called Cheng Mu toe over. Once Yan Ruru returned to her seat, she had told Cheng Mu about Zhao Quan¡¯s death. Therefore, Cheng Mu wasn¡¯t too surprised when she came over and saw his death photos.

    She directly stated, ¡°Ruru told me that Zhao Quan is dead. That scum really deserves to die but I didn¡¯t kill him. I didn¡¯t have any feelings with him. I was just friends with benefits.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang calmly looked at her. ¡°Please tell clearly how you and Zhao Quan got together and how you got with the other six girls to retaliate against Zhao Quan.¡±

    Cheng Mu¡¯s face was white and her voice softly trembled. ¡°Zhao Quan and I knew each other through a chat software. It is known as the friends with benefits software. Every week, Zhao Quan woulde to my house to find me when he was free. The two of us just had sex and had no feelings. Later, he said he wanted a fixed rtionship with me. He was handsome and good in bed. I had nothing to lose by having him as a fixed bed partner so I agreed.¡±

    She raised her hand and swore, ¡°I actually didn¡¯t mind him cheating. I was just sleeping with him. I followed this time because I thought Yue Xiaoquan¡¯s proposal was very interesting. Seven people surrounding a scum and slowly cutting him with a knife is too exciting. I was just along for the ride.¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. Zhao Quan¡¯s appetite was really wonderful. What type of girls did he have as girlfriends? Cheng Mu might be a girl who was less serious about feelings so she was indifferent to Zhao Quan cheating. if they really were just friends with benefits, she wouldn¡¯t be disappointed with Zhao Quan and had no motive to kill him.

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t say much. ¡°You can go back. Can I trouble you to call Song Xiaoyu over?¡±

    Song Xiaoyu was like a small white rabbit who had wandered into a wolf¡¯s den. She saw Zhao Quan¡¯s death photos and started to cry. Her tears didn¡¯t stop and she couldn¡¯t answer questions properly. Xiao Lou patientlyforted her, ¡°Don¡¯t cry, it isn¡¯t worth crying over such a person.¡±

    She cried for a moment before choking out, ¡°I¡¯m not feeling sad for him, I, I am dizzy at the sight of blood.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Song Xiaoyu trembled. ¡°This photo is too scary. There is a lot of blood.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took back the phone and no longer showed it to her. He asked, ¡°Do you know which girl has the deepest hatred with Zhao Quan?¡±

    Song Xiaoyu shook her head like a drum. ¡°I don¡¯t know, I don¡¯t know them very well.¡±

    Xiao Lou had doubts. ¡°Since you don¡¯t like blood, why did you agree with Yue Xiaoquan¡¯s proposal? Won¡¯t Zhao Quan bleed if you cut him with a knife?¡±

    Song Xiaoyu was white-faced. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to participate in this. I thought that cutting him with a knife is terrible. However, Sister Xiaoyan encouraged me. It is just a knife cut and cutting him would increase my courage. I couldpletelye out of his shadow and no longer be afraid of being deceived by a scum man. I thought it was reasonable and plucked up my courage.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Do you have deep feelings for you? I heard you were in the hospital after finding out he cheated?¡±

    Song Xiaoyu was somewhat lost. ¡°He was my first love. I was really serious about the rtionship and verymitted. Once I knew he was cheating, I couldn¡¯t stand the stimulus and was hospitalized because of my heart disease.¡±

    The weak girl with clear eyes spoke very seriously, ¡°After being discharged from hospital, I heard that he cheated with many people at the same time. There was the evidence given to me by Sister Xiaoyan and the other girls. This caused me to wake up. I med myself for being blind. I didn¡¯t need to be too sad. I was serious about this rtionship but he wasn¡¯t serious. I wasn¡¯t wrong, it was him.¡±

    ¡°Emotions are important but studying is more important to me.¡± She clenched her fists tightly. ¡°I just entered the literature department of a key university. Sister Xiaoyan¡¯s words were correct. Cut this scum man with a knife and once Ipletely cut off the past, I will start a new life.¡±

    Song Xiaoyu left and Yu Hanjiang looked back at Xiao Lou. ¡°Do you think this girl¡¯s words are credible?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it. ¡°Her physical fitness is worse than an average person and her voice is also very small. She doesn¡¯t have the condition to y with Zhao Quan. Besides, the hospital records will tell if she was hospitalized. In this case, I don¡¯t think it is necessary for her to lie.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and continued to interrogate Liu Xiaoyan. Liu Xiaoyan also learned about Zhao Quan¡¯s death from Song Xiaoyu¡¯s mouth and was very calm when she came to the office.

    She willingly said, ¡°I¡¯m not well-educated. Previously, I was bolder when I worked at the Inte cafe but I¡¯ve changed. My hairdressing store has just opened and my sisters helped me a lot. Now my business is good. Why should I ruin myself for a scum man? I wished that Zhao Quan would die but I didn¡¯t do it myself.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°You used to have an uninhibited style? Did you ever y the bondage game with Zhao Quan?¡±

    A hint of embarrassment shed on Liu Xiaoyan¡¯s face. ¡°Cough, I wasn¡¯t very sensible when I was young. Indeed¡­ I was rtively open.¡±

    She paused before rifying. ¡°However, it really isn¡¯t me.¡±

    Xiao Lou took back the blood-stained ck dress. ¡°The clothes aren¡¯t yours?¡±

    Liu Xiaoyan shook his head. ¡°No, the five of us packed our luggage together before the trip. I only brought two sets of dresses, one red and one orange. My sisters can testify for me.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Your thing with Zhao Quan has been over a long time. This time, you came out because of Song Xiaoyu?¡±

    Liu Xiaoyan¡¯s face was dark. ¡°Yes, Xiaoyu is like my sister and she was cheated by Zhao Quan, that beast. I was angry when investigating and didn¡¯t expect to find out the truth. HE was too much of a scum! Fuck him!¡±

    Liu Xiaoyan let out a few coarse words before steadying her breathing. ¡°I wanted to directly castrate him and let him die without any children. Then Yue Xiaoquan suggested something more interesting. Each of us will cut him several times but it would only be judged as a minor injury. We won¡¯t go to jail because the crime is only wounding with intent. I can only say that knowledge is power. Yue Xiaoquan¡¯s method was too absolute.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Does everyone know that you and Zhao Quan yed the bondage thing?¡±

    Liu Xiaoyan touched her nose with embarrassment. ¡°They know. I said it to them in the group chat. During Zhao Quan¡¯s high school summer vacation, he knew me for three days before we opened a room. In order to amuse him, I suggested an exciting y. He was very excited and agreed.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    This sister¡¯s style was really tough.

    Judging from her testimony and attitude, she didn¡¯t seem like the murderer. Her hairdressing store had just opened and it could be considered as her career just starting. There was no need to ruin herself for a bad man. Her participation in this action was more topletely free Song Xiaoyu.

    Finally, the questioned Si Yi told them about Zhao Quan¡¯s software. She said, ¡°Zhao Quan performed very well when he was interning at thepany. He was serious, hardworking and ambitious. He ignored emotional things and was actually very smart. Manyplex programs were learned at the same time. Our boss liked him very much and hoped he woulde to thepany for an interview directly after graduating.¡±

    She pushed the sses up the bridge of her nose and continued, ¡°The little software he developed was a software for sorting information. I think he probably used his experience of stepping on N boats as inspiration. He usually used this software to record the personalities, preferences, anniversaries and birthdays of different girls so he wouldn¡¯t make mistakes.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    This guy was too talented! Sorting out the information of six girlfriends.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Was there ever a contradiction in the process of the software research and development?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Si Yi shook her head. ¡°I only guided him with some of his interface design. After he sold his software, I was invited to a romantic candlelit dinner and he gave me a limited editionmemorative gift bag. I didn¡¯t know about his cheating at that time and felt I had found true love. I thought that once he graduated and came to ourpany, we would get married.¡±

    She sneered as she pushed up her sses. ¡°I have been checking the information of weddingpanies when Liu Xiaoyan came to the door to talk about Zhao Quan. Zhao Quan really deserves to die but I didn¡¯t do it. I will be promoted to a department head next year. Why should I ruin myself for such a scum?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang let Si Yi go back for the time being.

    These girls, each of their testimonies had no loopholes. Xiao Lou finished recording and felt like his head was going to explode.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and thought for a moment. He rewrote the names of the seven people on the paper and sorted the information. ¡°Yu Lin, Yue Xiaoquan, Song Xiaoyu and Yu Lin have ck hair and they might be the one who entered your office to get the key. However, it is also possible that someone was wearing a wig.¡±

    He paused before continuing, ¡°Si Yi just had a slop of the tongue. She is in the software development area and guided Zhao Quan on the interface design. This shows she is proficient in photoshop and was probably the one who designed the ¡®train to hell¡¯ photo on Zhao Quan¡¯s phone.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s pen stayed on the name ¡®Cheng Mu¡¯. He said, ¡°Cheng Mu¡¯s answers are the most questionable. She said that she and Zhao Quan are just friends with benefits and there are no feelings. She is indifferent to Zhao Quan¡¯s cheating. However, would an indifferent person be involved in such retaliatory behaviour? Is interest a valid reason to join the party?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up.

    If her feelings with the other party weren¡¯t deep, wasn¡¯t the first reaction to break up rather than cut him together with his other girlfriends? Joining in this lively party, wasn¡¯t she afraid of being bloody? Or what if there was an ident?

    ording to normal thinking, it should definitely be avoided. Cheng Mu¡¯s reason for ¡®getting together¡¯ was far from sufficient.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the name with deep eyes. ¡°The more people act like they don¡¯t care, perhaps the deeper the care in their hearts. I wonder if Professor Xiao knows this saying? Those who lose one¡¯s love will burst into tears, drink to forget and fall ill. People who use all types of means to vent their emotions are easy toe out of it. Those who look very calm and like they don¡¯t care are more likely to have psychological risks.¡±

    Xiao Lou had also heard this. He turned to the other person. ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you mean that Cheng Mu¡¯s suspicion is thergest? She seems to care the least but in fact, she is psychologically the one hurting the most. In fact, her hatred with the deceased is the deepest?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Based on an analysis of her testimony, she is the least credible one. From past experiences, she often has friends with benefits. No woman is born to be so debauched. Perhaps she previously had her feelings hurt and started to indulge herself. She took Zhao Quan seriously and Zhao Quan¡¯s betrayal became thest straw that overwhelmed her.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°In addition, the other girls expressed that their feelings are insignificantpared to their future. Yu Lin is a student, Yan Ruru is a graduate student who will graduate soon, Yue Xiaoquan is a medical student, Liu Xiaoyan opened a new hairdressing store, Song Xiaoyu will soon go to university and Si Yi will soon be promoted to the department head. Only Cheng Mu didn¡¯t say anything about herself.¡±

    The two people nced at each other and went out in tacit agreement.

    At the same time.

    Cheng Mu returned to her seat, turned her head and looked at the trees speeding past outside the window.She ced her hand gently on her belly, a bitter smile appearing on her face. It wasn¡¯t long before the two handsome train attendants reappeared in front of her.

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Miss Cheng, pleasee with us. There are some questions that we need you to cooperate with for the investigation.¡±

    Cheng Mu¡¯s hands slightly trembled as she stood up with a nk expression.

    Yu Hanjiang told her, ¡°Please bring your backpack as well.¡±

    Cheng Mu¡¯s face was white. Then a momentter, she made a relieved smile. ¡°Yes, the time hase.¡±

    She took her backpack from the luggage rack and went to the attendant¡¯s office, letting Yu Hanjiang open her backpack. At the bottom of the bag were several scheduled outpatient checklists that read: 4 weeks pregnant.

    There was also a test sheet. Xiao Lou saw it and his pupils tightened. It was HIV positive.

 Chapter 88: Extremely Quick Train 21: Cheng Mu

    The ultrasound examination form found in the backpack was a result from two months ago while the HIV positive test date was a month ago.

    Xiao Lou carefully found that the date of these inspection documents wasn¡¯t the same. Obviously, Cheng Mu first found out that she was pregnant and then found herself infected with HIV.

    From the perspective of time, Cheng Mu couldn¡¯t have sex with people everywhere after bing pregnant. Thus, it was likely that this child was Zhao Quan¡¯s and it was also possible that Zhao Quan passed on the HIV to her.

    Realizing this, Xiao Lou felt the back of his spine be cold. He immediately handed the inspection sheet to Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang took a careful look at the inspection sheet and whispered to Cheng Mu, ¡°HIV, was it Zhao Quan who infected you?¡±

    Cheng Mu¡¯s face had no colour and she nodded stiffly.

    Xiao Lou worriedly asked, ¡°That¡­ the other six girls, did they have a check up?¡±

    Cheng Mu spoke softly, ¡°After I found out, I asked them to go to the hospital for a check up. They are all fine.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other. The seven girls actually went to the hospital to check for HIV but in the process of inquiry, they tacitly all concealed it. It was likely that the other six all knew Cheng Mu had HIV and was the most likely to kill Zhao Quan, but they didn¡¯t directly give up Cheng Mu out of sympathy or other reasons. They were asked who had the greatest feud with Zhao Quan and they all said they didn¡¯t know in a perfunctory manner.

    Yu Hanjiang had interrogated a lot of criminals but in the face of this poor woman, he couldn¡¯t ask too many questions. He had to whisper, ¡°You and Zhao Quan, it isn¡¯t simply a rtionship of opening a room together. Can you tell us the truth?¡±

    Xiao Lou gave her the office seat and handed her a cup of warm water. ¡°Miss Cheng, you sit down first and slowly say it.¡±

    Cheng Mu took a sip from a ss of water, gently clenched her fists, took a deep breath to adjust her state and spoke slowly. ¡°In fact, I have a history of marriage.¡±

    X looked at her in an unexpected manner.

    Cheng Mu was very pretty with long and curly hair. She was young and only in her early 20s. It was hard to imagine she actually had a history of marriage.

    She closed her eyes and whispered, ¡°He was a senior I knew when I was in university. Originally, I wanted to take the postgraduate entrance examination but then I found out I was pregnant. I loved him very much so I decided to give up the postgraduate entrance examination and have this child.¡±

    ¡°He was a hospital intern at the time and didn¡¯t have much ie. I understood he worked hard so I didn¡¯t have a wedding ceremony or take wedding photos. We just got a license and rented a house to live in. It was a bare marriage.¡±

    ¡°Then he waster admitted to a residency at a hospital and his ie gradually increased. He said he would raise me and our child. I stayed at home and did theundry and cooking for him. I thought life would get better but one time, he said he had the night shift at the home and couldn¡¯t go home. I was worried that his stomach wouldn¡¯t be well eating takeaway so I personally made dinner and sent it to him, only to find out he was involved with a nurse in his department.¡±

    Cheng Mu looked very cold when she mentioned her ex-husband. She had apparently been frozen to this man a long time ago. ¡°He actually cheated while I was pregnant. I knew this and copsed. I was identally hit by a car when crossing the road and the child didn¡¯t¡­ I filed for divorce and he agreed with a few remarks. The marriage dealt a serious blow to me and I became disappointed with men.¡±

    She spoke up to here and was silent. Her hands holding the ss of water slightly trembled. After a moment, she adjusted her mood and was calm and cold. ¡°I adjusted my mood and went out to find a good job and rented a ce. I downloaded a friends with benefits software and made appointments whenever I had physiological needs. It was convenient and fast. I would never get married again and wouldn¡¯t have to bear the betrayal of a bad man.¡±

    Cheng Mu added, ¡°Zhao Quan was the third man I made an appointment with. He was handsome, young and very considerate. Whether in life or¡­ in bed, he was the gentlest man I had ever met.¡±

    ¡°I did have sex with him first and had no feelings, but he was so good at talking. He sent me messages every day with warm questions. If the weather was cold, he would thoughtfully buy me gloves and scarves, personally sending them to me.¡±

    ¡°He was the type of warm man that girls liked best. He was considerate in every aspect. Sometimes I would get stomach pains during my period and he knew how to take care of me, giving me brown sugar and ginger water to drink.¡±

    ¡°Once, we were lying in bed and chatting after sex and I couldn¡¯t help talking about my bad marriage experience. He gently hugged me and said this wasn¡¯t my fault. He loved me very much and would take care of meter. It was better for us to be in a fixed rtionship. To be honest, my brain wasn¡¯t working and I was really touched by him. I agreed to have a formal rtionship with him.¡±

    Cheng Mu thought up to here and also felt regret.

    ¡°In fact, how can a normal straight man know so much about girl¡¯s cosmetics and even the red colour for our mouths? Most men can¡¯t tell what is red, rouge red, sweetened bean paste red, agate red¡­¡±

    ¡°Zhao Quan knew everything about girls, which means he studied them. Either he was a one in a million man willing to study cosmetics for his favourite girl or he was 99% a scum man with rich experience, allowing him to know a lot. In fact, judging from his behaviour of being on that friends with benefits program, he was more likely to be a g man.¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, I was blinded by his sweet words and ignored this key thing.¡±

    Cheng Mu¡¯s fingernails deeply pierced the palm of her hand before she calmed down. ¡°I used to take safety measures when making an appointment with him. I was wary of him in the beginning but he was too good at coaxing girls My ex-husband was a careless person but Zhao Quan was the exact opposite. He always made me feel warm in my heart with small details. Gradually, I let down my guard.¡±

    ¡°He said he wanted to be with me for a long time and I was shaken.¡±

    ¡°During that time, we didn¡¯t take any safety measures or contraceptives. We yed more openly, which was very exciting and addictive. In May this year, I found out I was pregnant.¡± She paused and lowered her head slightly. ¡°I was in a very good mood at the time. I had been wounded and found it hard to believe in men. It was Zhao Quan who pulled me out of the mud and made me hope again¡­¡±

    In fact, Zhao Quan didn¡¯t pull her out of the mud. Instead, she fell into a more terrifying abyss.

    Cheng Mu closed her eyes and said, ¡°After finding out the pregnancy, I took all my savings and was going to buy a house together after he graduated. I couldn¡¯t wait until the baby was born and even selected furniture for the nursery.¡±

    ¡°Zhao Quan was interning at thepany and was very busy. I wasn¡¯t in a hurry to tell him about the pregnancy and wanted to wait until the weekend to give him another surprise. Before I could¡­ his six girlfriends added me and pulled me into the group.¡±

    There was a self-deprecating smile on Cheng Mu¡¯s face but tears floated in her eyes. Her voice quivered as she eximed, ¡°I found out that Zhao Quan actually stepped on six boats! When I was pregnant, he was buying a cake for Yue Xiaoquan and celebrating her birthday from 7:00 to 9:00. Then he showed up at my house at 9:30 and went to bed with me! I was so sick that I almost vomited up my meal!¡±

    ¡°I really broke down at that time. I pulled all the curtains in the room shut and stayed in the dark room all night. I didn¡¯t know¡­ what did I do? Why do I always meet such men?¡±

    She gently held her belly and whispered, ¡°The child certainly couldn¡¯t be born. He had a rtionship with so many people and it was impossible for him to marry me. If the child was born, how could I exin the type of person the child¡¯s father was?¡±

    Here, she could no longer maintain her calm. Her tears came out uncontrobly like a faucet had opened. Xiao Lou hastily handed her a packet of tissues.

    Cheng Mu choked up and wiped away her tears, whispering, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    She grabbed the warm water and took two sips. Once her calm was restored, she continued, ¡°I went to the hospital again. This was my second lost child and I thought I wasn¡¯t qualified to be a mother in my life. However, it wasn¡¯t over yet. Before the operation, I needed to take a blood test. At that time, I suddenly thought that Zhao Quan had slept with so many people. Did he have a sexual disease? Therefore, I asked the doctor to check it for me.¡±

    The result of the inspection was predictable. Not only did she lose her baby, she also got HIV.

    Cheng Mu¡¯s mood at that moment was difficult to describe in words. It was probably¡­ the entire world had copsed.

    The first time, she was betrayed by a scum man. She divorced her partner and lost confidence in men. She decided to no longer marry in this life and to live alone. However, Zhao Quan¡¯s emergence gave her hope. She thought that Zhao Quan could save her and restore her faith.

    Her original ¡®only sex, no feelings¡¯ concept started to shake and she fell in love with Zhao Quan. She believed in Zhao Quan and was willing to be pregnant for Zhao Quan. Unexpectedly, Zhao Quan held her high and then dropped her heavily!

    This time, her body couldn¡¯t recover from the fall. Cheng Mu¡¯s heart was full of anger from the betrayal and hatred from being infected with HIV. This was enough to support her picking up the butcher¡¯s knife.

    Xiao Lou previously said that the other girls talked about their future, wanting to forget the scum man and start a new life. Only Cheng Mu didn¡¯t mention her future at all¡­

    It was because she knew that the moment she got on the train, she had no future.

    Cheng Mu held a tissue and sobbed, ¡°The moment I found out that I got HIV, Ipletely copsed¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou gently ced a hand on her shoulder and spoke softly, ¡°I can understand you.¡±

    Zhao Quan destroyed her so she decided to destroy Zhao Quan.

    Cheng Mu looked up at Xiao Lou with a bitter smile. ¡°I am infected with HIV, don¡¯t you think I am dirty?¡±

    ¡°It isn¡¯t your fault¡­ you aren¡¯t disgusting at all. It is Zhao Quan who is disgusting.¡±

    Cheng Mu was silent for a moment before saying, ¡°I was alone at home all day and had nothing to eat. I was desperate, my mind was a mess and I didn¡¯t know what to do. Later in the WeChat group, Si Yi said that we were cheated by a scum man and this was also fate. She organized everyone to eat a meal together while also summarizing the characteristics of a scum man so as to not be cheatedter.¡±

    ¡°I saw the messages in the group and suddenly remembered that I wasn¡¯t the only victim. What if the other girls were infected? I quickly sent the results of my examination to the group.¡±

    ¡°All the girls in the group were furious. They only had Zhao Quan as a boyfriend and they were definitely fine. I took safety measures before dating Zhao Quan. Then where did the HIVe from?¡±

    ¡°Zhao Quan must¡¯ve definitely slept with an unclean woman.¡± Cheng Mu frowned and said, ¡°Sister Xiaoyan spected that it was during the winter vacation of this year. Zhao Quan told all of us that he was returning to his hometown. Maybe he couldn¡¯t help sleeping with a prostitute or a girl he knew, got HIV and then passed it onto me.¡±

    ¡°I had the girls hurry to check. If Xiaoyan¡¯s calctions were correct, he hadn¡¯t passed it onto the other girls. This was because everyone was busy at school and had no time to sleep with him.¡±

    ¡°Song Xiaoyu directly started crying and went to the hospital again. Everyone went to the hospital to see her while also checking for HIV. At that time, the six girls lined up without saying a word. A few dayster, the inspection results came out and everyone got together again.¡±

    ¡°They were all fine. Perhaps I was just unlucky and didn¡¯t use any protection that time with Zhao Quan in bed¡­¡±

    Cheng Mu smiled bitterly. ¡°We all agreed with the n proposed by Yue Xiaoquan. We took protection measures, bring a mask and gloves to cut Zhao Quan dozens of times. However, I thought that if the girls really got revenge on him, after some time, he woulde out to get revenge on other girls. What should I do if he makes appointments with other women through the friends with benefits software and spread the disease everywhere?¡±

    ¡°So I said that I have a n B that can solve all the problems. They asked curiously about the n and I told them that I would tell them when Yue Xiaoquan¡¯s proposal was executed and I watched Zhao Quan¡¯s reaction¡­¡±

    ¡°I had already decided to kill Zhao Quan but I didn¡¯t tell them about my n because I didn¡¯t want to scare them.¡±

    ¡°It is only by Zhao Quan dying and having his thing cut off that he can¡¯t continue to harm girls.¡±

    Cheng Mu wiped her eyes and the expression on her face was restored to a calm state. She said, ¡°Zhao Quan pulled me down to hell. I should send him to hell and let him go to apany my innocent child.¡±

    She suddenly leaned over and took off the boot on her right foot. There was a portable fruit knife hidden in the delicately beautiful knee-length ck boots.

    She removed the scabbard and Xiao Lou saw that the sharp knife was covered with blood. Cheng Mu calmly ced the fruit knife on the table and dered, ¡°This is the knife I used to kill Zhao Quan. After killing him, I hid it in my boot.¡±

    So far, all the other clues of the crime had been found and she actively handed over the tool tomit the crime.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were both silent.

    Cheng Mu clearly exined and her testimony had no loopholes. It was just that the truth was even sadder. Cheng Mu¡¯s experience was too painful. She was a very good girl but she met two scum in a row who ruined her life. Finally, she decided to end it herself.

    The train to hell, the person who created this image was no longer important. Ultimately, it was Cheng Mu who reced the desktop photo of Zhao Quan¡¯s phone. It was because she wanted Zhao Quan to take this train to go to hell and apany their child.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang took Cheng Mu to the 9th carriage. They had to pass by the 4th carriage where the other six girls were gathered together. They all guessed that the murderer was Cheng Mu but they didn¡¯t want to personally tell the truth.

    Cutting Zhao Quan many times, castrating him and finally killing him was the n B that would ¡®solve¡¯ everything.

    Liu Xiaoyan¡¯s eyes were filled with tears and she was the first one to walk over to hug Cheng Mu. The other girls also began to walk one by one, stretching out their arms and giving her the gentlest hug between girls.

    The passengers were puzzled by this scene and turned to watch curiously. However, they didn¡¯t say anything.

    Cheng Mu smiled, waved to them and turned to follow Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang.

    Song Xiaoyu buried her face in Liu Xiaoyan¡¯s shoulders and secret shed tears. Yu Lin turned her head and clenched her fists while a trace of being unable to endure it shed on Yue Xiaoquan¡¯s face. Yan Ruru¡¯s eyes were red and Si Yi pushed up her sses, whispering, ¡°It is over. Forget that scum and start a new life.¡±

    Song Xiaoyu whispered, ¡°That¡­ what about Cheng Mu?¡±

    What about Cheng Mu? She didn¡¯t want to start over. She was so tired that she decided to end it. This train was the end of Zhao Quan¡¯s life but also the end that she chose for herself.

    [In the 4 of Hearts secret room, the person who killed Zhao Quan is:

    A. Cheng Mu, B. Yue Xiaoquan, C. Yan Ruru, D. Liu Xiaoyan, E. Si Yi, F. Yu Lin, G. Song Xiaoyu¡­]

    The familiar prompt on the suspension box appeared again. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang once again looked at the names of the seven girls and tacitly pressed the A option.

    [Congrattions to the challengers Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang for perfectly clearing the 4 of Hearts secret room. All clues have been found and the instance clearance time is 39 hours, 22 minutes and 08 seconds. The instance clearance score is S grade and the world record for the 4 of Hearts secret room has been refreshed!]

    The clearance message popping up on the floating box proved that there would be no more cases on the train.

    In the 6th carriage, Li Zhemin who harmed three families was finally killed by Mrs Mei.

    In the fourth carriage, the person who pursued the fast sense of conquering girls and stepped on N boats, Zhao Quan was killed by the despairing Cheng Mu.

    The direct connection between the two cases was Shu Ping¡¯s daughter, Shu Xiaomeng, who happened to know the group of female friends.

    In fact, on this train, there was only one core theme rted to the two cases. This was the train for the funeral of scum men. Cherish life and stay away from scum men.

 Chapter 89: Extremely Quick Train 22: Main City

    Xiaolou and Yu Hanjiang took Cheng Mu to the 9th carriage.

    Cheng Mu bowed her head and asked softly, ¡°Can you let me stay alone for a while?¡±

    Neither of them could ask her about the details of the murder so they put away her fruit knife and backpack before putting her in the security room of the 9th carriage. Zhao Zheng, who had been in the 9th carriage, heard the news and ran out of the sleeper room to see the situation. He pointed to Cheng Mu and roared, ¡°They brought you here? Did you kill my brother?¡±

    Cheng Mu replied coldly, ¡°Yes.¡±

    The furious Zhao Zheng was going to pounce but Yu Hanjiang grabbed him by the cor with one hand. Xiao Lou turned to him and said, ¡°Your brother has infected her with HIV and she also lost a baby.¡±

    Zhao Zheng was stunned. ¡°W-What?¡±

    Cheng Mu smiled at him. ¡°You might be twins but you are different from him. I heard your brother mention you. Zhao Zheng, be good to your girlfriend and don¡¯t step on N boats like your brother. If you turn over the boat, you will die without a burial ce.¡±

    Zhao Zheng stood still. He bowed his head and stopped moving. He couldn¡¯t stand to me this girl since it was his brother who made the mistake first. Xiao Lou whispered in his ear, ¡°You are different from your brother. Go back to find a psychologist and receive good guidance.¡±

    Zhao Zheng left and Xiao Lou thoughtfully gave Cheng Mu some drinks and snacks,forting her with a few warm words.

    Cheng Mu smiled at him. ¡°Thank you. In fact, you don¡¯t have tofort me. I was already psychologically prepared. For me, Zhao Quan¡¯s end is actually a type of relief.¡±

    Her heart was the same as that of Mrs Mei. Mrs Mei had a diagnosis of cancer and could only live for half a year. Therefore, she personally grabbed Shu Ping¡¯s syringe at thest moment and personally killed Li Zhemin.

    Regarding the two cases of 4 of Hearts, the dead were damned people while the murderers were sympathetic.

    Xiao Lou inwardly sighed and gently closed the door for her.

    The train journey was a total of 72 hours and they had found the true culprits in just over 30 hours. Since they solved the cases ahead of time, there were more than 30 hours left until the terminal. The two men were idle and bored in the carriage so Xiao Lou proposed, ¡°Group Leader Yu, go back to our room and rest for a while. These two days have been hard on you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had made a great contribution during the investigation of this case. Xiao Lou was only responsible for the autopsy, determining the cause of death and helping to search for evidence. However, it was Group Leader Yu who was the key link in the interrogation. Group Leader Yu was a police officer and could always ask the most critical questions, breaking the suspect¡¯s psychological line and finding the loopholes in the suspect¡¯s testimonies, thereby locking in the real murderer.

    If Xiao Lou was alone in 4 of Hearts then he would probably be dazed by the testimonies of therge number of suspects.

    The two people returned to the carriage. Xiao Lou thoughtfully poured two cups of hot water and handed a cup to Yu Hanjiang.

    Thinking of these girls¡¯ experience, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help feeling regret. He sighed and said, ¡°I really don¡¯t understand Zhao Quan¡¯s thinking. He had a high IQ and his learning ability was strong. Why use this cleverness for a bad cause? Why harm innocent girls?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°Some men¡¯s vision is too narrow. He thought it was great to cheat many girls. He doesn¡¯t know that sleeping with girls everywhere only makes him a pig who can only think with his lower body.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang drank the water and said, ¡°I have also encountered many such cases in reality. Most of the causes of the cases are cheating. If two people are together and have no feelings, peacefully breaking up is the best. However, some people have to step on a few boats, capsize them and be retaliated against. I really can¡¯t sympathize with such people.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded in approval. ¡°It can be said that Zhao Quan deserved to die. It is just a pity that those girls were ruined by him.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°Rest assured that they will be able to leave the shadows. Maybe it will make them grow and be stronger.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was slightlyforted. He bowed his head and wanted to drink water when Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou and suddenly asked, ¡°Professor Xiao, have you ever had a girlfriend?¡±

    Xiao Lou almost choked and hurriedly put the cup down as he coughed.

    He shyly touched his nose and his ears were slightly red. ¡°Cough, Group Leader Yu isn¡¯t afraid to joke around. I have been single for many years. Don¡¯t talk about a girlfriend. I haven¡¯t even held a girl¡¯s hand.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang felt some surprise. ¡°You should be very popr with girls? Howe there was no one chasing you?¡±

    Xiao Lou almost blurted out, ¡°I actually¡­¡±

    He actually liked men.

    Xiao Lou had received love letters from girls since high school. At that time, he found that he didn¡¯t feel anything for girls. There were no urges when he looked at girls. He only felt they were beautiful and cute, like beautiful scenery. He would only watch them from afar.

    He preferred tall men and had paid attention to men on the court since he was a teenager. He had long known his sexual orientation was special but he never thought about going to a gay bar for casual sex. HE was a very introverted person and had a habit of cleanliness. He couldn¡¯t get close to strangers easily, let alone take the initiative to embrace the other person, unless he really liked them.

    Unfortunately, he hadn¡¯t met any men who moved him over these past few years so he had stayed single. He had nned to stabilize his career before finding a good boyfriend and living a down-to-earth life. He didn¡¯t expect an ident to force him into the Card World. In this world, the only problem was how long he could live. Wasn¡¯t talking about feelings too luxurious?

    Xiao Lou smiled slightly and quickly corrected himself. ¡°I was busy with studying in university and then my career. I didn¡¯t have time to fall in love. In addition, I¡¯m in forensics. This profession isn¡¯t very popr. They all think that forensic doctors dissect corpses every day.¡± He gently rubbed his temples and looked at Yu Hanjiang helplessly before changing the topic. ¡°What about Group Leader Yu? Have you ever had a girlfriend?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied lightly, ¡°No.¡±

    Xiao Lou wanted to ask the reason, only for Yu Hanjiang to calmly state, ¡°The girls are scared by my stare.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The lethal force of Group Leader Yu was truly very strong.

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°I imagine there was a girl who had the courage to give you a gift. Then she was caught by you and questioned like a prisoner. Thus, she was scared away?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang touched his nose with a bit of embarrassment. ¡°Almost.¡±

    It seemed that Group Leader Yu really focused on his work. The two of them were almost 30 and had no love experience. Compared to Zhao Quan, the experienced scum, they were just too pure.

    Still, Xiao Lou didn¡¯t think this was a bad thing. He would rather be emotionally simple, persistently waiting for a person who could really love him. He couldn¡¯t imagine sleeping around casually like Zhao Quan, who was infected with a disease and harmed others.

    Since they were chatting about this topic, Xiao Lou asked curiously, ¡°Group Leader Yu, what type of girl do you like?¡±

    ¡°I never thought about it.¡± Yu Hanjiang paused before adding, ¡°My career is risky and it is easy to attract a desire for revenge from the perpetrators. I don¡¯t want to find my other half only to make them fear for me. Plus, I don¡¯t have the energy to take care of another person.¡±

    Xiao Lou could see that Group Leader Yu was a very responsible person. He was worried about the other side so he hadn¡¯t looked for a partner. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help suggesting, ¡°You don¡¯t have the energy to take care of others so you should find a gentle and considerate person to take care of you. A criminal police officer doesn¡¯t have to be single. I know some police officers who are married and very happy. There are quite a few people who support and understand your job.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang gazed at Xiao Lou with deep eyes. ¡°Do you think I can find one?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and nodded. ¡°Definitely.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s cold expression slightly eased and he even smiled as he whispered, ¡°I don¡¯t know when it is the end in the Card World. This matter of personal feelings, let¡¯s go back alive before talking about it.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded in agreement. ¡°Indeed, going back alive is the most important thing. We just got to the fourth level. Once I think of K of Hearts and K of Spades at the end, I think my brain isn¡¯t enough¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was rarely gentle. ¡°You might not be enough but together, we will be enough.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Yes, this time we have refreshed the world record of 4 of Hearts.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°We passed the instance too early. We can¡¯t get off until the terminal at 18:00 tomorrow. We have more than 30 hours to spare. Why don¡¯t we find something to do?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought carefully. ¡°Then let¡¯s do our ¡®attendant¡¯ job. I¡¯d like to go back to the 4th carriage to chat to the passengers and gain more clues about the City of the Sun and the City of the Moon.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Okay, then I will go back to the sixth carriage.¡±

    The two of them returned to their carriages and started chatting with the passengers.

    The City of the Sun and City of the Moon were the tworgest and most prosperous cities in the world, with a poption of more than 50 million. ording to the passengers, 50% of the poption of the City of the Moon and City of the Sun were indigenous people who had lived there for generations while 50% were foreigners.

    Xiao Lou remembered the mysterious organization they encountered in 3 of Spades. The ¡®foreigners¡¯ they mentioned were actually the challengers.

    For the people of this world, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were really from another ce and their habits were different. Besides, they could catch spells (that were actually cards). The passengers thought of foreigners as a mysterious group.

    The two of them continued to chat with the passengers but they said they weren¡¯t sure where the ¡®foreigners¡¯ came from and didn¡¯t give any more information.

    The 30 hours passed quickly until 18:00 the next afternoon when the train arrived at the terminal.

    The police were notified and were already waiting at the station. Cheng Mu and the six other girls were all taken away. Zhao Quan¡¯s body was covered with a white cloth and was also carried away. The police thanked the two attendants and drove off immediately.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang got off the 4th carriage and were finally able to leave 4 of Hearts.

    The terminal station was in the City of the Moon. Xiao Lou looked around and saw a huge curved moon hanging high in the sky. The entire railway station was full of lights as pedestrians came and went in a hurry. It wasn¡¯t much different from the stations in the real world. It was just that the moon was too big. It was around 10 metres long and covered almost a quarter of the sky. It was like a beautiful poster a child painted on the dark sky.

    Before he could think about it, he was sucked out of the secret room world by a great force. The two of them appeared in their personal space and met A of Hearts.

    The beauty smiled. ¡°Congrattions for once again setting a world record. Many challengers scrambled to find the killers on thest day as the train approached the station and not all the clues were found. As a result, you found them in more than 30 hours.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice wasrge. ¡°Isn¡¯t the difficulty of 4 of Hearts too big? There were two unrted cases sessively. There are also five suspects in Li Zhemin¡¯s death and seven suspects in Zhao Quan¡¯s death.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°They even protected each other! There were so many lies during the questioning that I thought our heads were going to blow up.¡±

    A of Hearts smiled. ¡°It is normal for 4 of Hearts to be difficult because after the four level, you will officially be out of the novice zone. Don¡¯t worry, the next 4o f Spades will be very, very difficult.¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°4 of Spades will be very difficult?¡± Was this not giving challengers a way to live?

    A of Hearts shrugged. ¡°There is no way. The boss gave us the rules. The fourth level¡¯s elimination rate must be controlled at more than 80%. We can¡¯t let too many bad challengers go to the main city.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°The main city? You mean, we can go to the main city after passing the fourth level?¡±

    Xiao Lou then asked, ¡°Is it the City of the Sun and the City of the Moon?¡±

    A of Hearts nodded, ¡°You will know once you look at the clearance reward.¡±

    There was a gentle swing of her right hand and a brand-new card appeared in front of both men.

    [Tool Card: Travel Ticket]

    Rarity: A

    Description: A fixed reward for clearing the 4 of Hearts secret room.

    Effect: This is the Card World¡¯s universal travel ticket. You can take the train, ne, ship and other means of transport free of charge. It is limited to the City of the Moon and the City of the Sun.

    Number of times avable: 5/5.

    A of Hearts told them, ¡°This travel ticket means you can go back and forth between several cities in the Card World. The bus between the City of the Moon and the City of the Sun also includes two small cities, Ice Ind and Cangzhou. It is free five times, whether you are travelling idly or visiting family and friends. The value of this ticket is at least one million and I¡¯m being very generous to you.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and put away the card. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°After reaching the main city, do we have to keep breaking through like this?¡±

    A of Hearts shook her head. ¡°It is a normal world. Work Monday to Friday and have a break on weekends. However, it is different for challengers. You can find a job Monday to Friday to make money or you can y freely. The weekend is the fixed time to clear instances.¡±

    The two men were slightly relieved. They were still in the closed phase, just like military training before the start of school. After passing the fourth level, they could enter the main city and have a regr life resting from Monday to Friday, breaking through on the weekends.¡±

    A of Hearts pped her hands together and smiled. ¡°There is an unexpected surprise. Since two cards have urred in 4 of Hearts, you will have two chances to draw a card after receiving a perfect clearance!¡±

 Chapter 90: Extremely Quick Train 23: Drawing Cards

    In the previous instances cleared, only one card was drawn. This time, they were able to draw two S-grade cards because there were two cases and this was really a surprise. Xiao Lou looked over at Yu Hanjiang and asked, ¡°Group Leader Yu, how about we draw one each?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    The familiar golden treasure chests appeared in front of them. Yu Hanjiang stepped forward and casually drew something from the treasure chest.

    [Congrattions on acquiring the S-grade limited weapon card Bloodthirsty Golden Shark!]

    Yu Hanjiang picked up the card and carefully activated the weapon.

    It was more than a metre long and the long gun body was painted a dark red and it was decorated with small gold patterns. The butt of the gun had a small shark icon printed and the entire gun body looked very domineering.

    Compared to the previously drawn Silver Moon, this Bloodthirsty Golden Shark was a muchrger and heavier weapon.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know much about firearms but based on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s bright eyes, he really liked this gun. Xiao Lou came over, examined it closely and asked, ¡°What type of gun is this? It looks heavy.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang easily raised the gun with one hand and exined while checking it lovingly, ¡°It is a shotgun. In the real world, special forces, military and anti-terrorist forces will be equipped with such weapons.¡±

    He nced at Xiao Lou and continued patiently exining, ¡°It is the opposite of the sniper gun that I previously drew. The sniper gun is a super long-range precise killing of a single target. The shotgun is a melee weapon with a range of less than 200 metres. It is suitable forplex and narrow terrain such as jungles, valleys, ports, etc. It is more powerful and the range is very broad¡­ Professor Xiao, have you ever heard of a tear bomb?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Of course I¡¯ve heard of it.¡±

    ¡°Tear bombs can also be shot through the shotgun. If people are gathering together to make trouble then the police will use the tear bombs to disperse the crowd when necessary.¡±

    Xiao Lou finally understood. Then this is arge-scale, lethal melee weapon?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, it can also be used to hunt in the wild.¡±

    Xiao Lou praised it. ¡°That¡¯s good. If we encounter the wilderness in future survival rooms, this weapon will have a big effect. Maybe we can shoot some prey and then use Bai Juyi¡¯s charcoal fire to eat barbecue in the wild.

    Yu Hanjiang had tough. ¡°Yes, if there is a chance then we¡¯ll try it.¡±

    The weapon card that Group Leader Yu drew was really simple and easy to use. He put away the weapon and handed the card to Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou looked down and read the description.

    [Weapon Card: Bloodthirsty Gold Shark]

    Rarity: S

    Description: After a perfect clearance and when there is an S score, there is a low probability of obtaining it from the limited card pool.

    Data: Caliber 18.4 mm, length 1 m, weight 4.4 kg, range of 200 metres.

    Description: This is a shotgun. As a melee weapon, it has arge firepower, a wide killing range and a high hit rate. This gun can use a variety of bullets such as buckshot, tear bombs, breaching rounds etc. Please find the bullets yourself.

    Note: There are no skills which means no cooldown. If you can¡¯t use firearms then it is rmended to sell this for money. Otherwise, you might use the gun to shoot your teammates.

    Xiao Lou looked at the long description and thought it was fortunate that Group Leader Yu was proficient in firearms. A general challenger wouldn¡¯t be able to use guns and it would definitely be a headache to get this type of hot weapon. It didn¡¯t have any skills so they had to aim and shoot it on its own. If a challenger didn¡¯t know how to use it then they could kill their teammates.

    Xiao Lou returned the card to the other person. ¡°Group Leader Yu, put it away. We will find ways to obtain bulletster.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and put the card into his card pack. ¡°There is one more card. Go and draw it.¡±

    Xiao Lou went to the treasure chest, gently shook his hand before drawing out a card.

    He thought, ¡®Please don¡¯t get a poet again this time¡­¡¯

    The next moment, he saw the prompt on the floating box.

    [Congrattions on drawing the S-grade limited summoning card, Liu Yong!]

    Yes, it wasn¡¯t a poet. This time he drew a person of literary talent. Xiao Lou helplessly rubbed his temple before looking carefully at the card. Liu Yong was the representative of the graceful and subdued style so the image on the card was also quite gentle. It was a typical ancient style talent.

    [Summoning Card: Liu Yong]

    Rarity: S

    Description: After a perfect clearance and when there is an S score, there is a low probability of obtaining it from the limited card pool.

    Description: Liu Yong is the representative of the graceful literary talent in the Northern Song Dynasty. He was wanton, unrestrained and free all his life. Due to his adverse official career, he liked to go in and out of romantic ces, making friends with talented pleasure girls and writing many words for them. It was said that after Liu Yong¡¯s death, arge number of prostitutes came to his grave to mourn, making an extremely spectacr scene.

    Additional Skill 1: Hold hands with tearful eyes, unable to speak a word.

    From Liu Yong¡¯s ¡®Yu Lin Ling ¨C Mournful Cicada¡¯. Describes lovers holding hands with eyes full of tears. The poignant scene is worth a thousand words.

    Effect: Summon Liu Yong and specify two targets. These two people will hold hands with each other and stand in ce with tears in their eyes. Thissts for 30 seconds and they can¡¯t move in this time. There is no limit on the specified target. You can specify a person you hate and a dog to tearfully hold hands.

    The skill¡¯s cooldown time is 24 hours.

    Additional Skill 2: Belt gradually widens with no regret, as a person bes thin and pallid.

    From Liu Yong¡¯s ¡®Butterfly Loves Flowers ¨C Leaning against the banister of a tall tower, the wind blows gently.¡¯

    Effect: Summon Liu Yong and specify a target. The other person will enter the sad state of missing their lover, instantly losing 15 kg for 10 minutes. Due to the poor state and bing thinner, they are unable to attack others during this time.

    The skill¡¯s cooldown time is 24 hours.

    Xiao Lou read the long description and his expression became a bit strange. Yu Hanjiang came over and took a closer look¡­ he didn¡¯t want toment on Xiao Lou¡¯s luck.

    Xiao Lou ignored the strange skill description and smiled. ¡°Liu Yong, this card directly unlocked two skills. I don¡¯t need to improve the level and it should be considered a very strong control card.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, the first skill can control two people, making them look at each other tearfully. The second skill¡­ makes someone lost 15 kg and also stops the other side¡¯s attack power. Overall, it is quite strong.¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry, especially in regards to the ¡®tearful look¡¯. Could he really make people look tearfully at a dog? This was too much and the person being controlled would probably go crazy. The second skill instantly caused 15 kg to be lost? He was already thin. If he lost 15 kg then wouldn¡¯t he just be bones?

    Xiao Lou was mulling over it as he put Liu Yong into the card pack along with Tao Yuanming, Di Renjie and Bai Juyi.

    Up to now, he had drawn four ancient character summoning cards. Tao Yuanming was a group teleport, Di Renjie could help find clues in the Hearts and Diamonds rooms, Bai Juyi¡¯s only unlocked skill at the moment was igniting the charcoal fire while Liu Yong¡¯s control was very easy to use.

    The two people organized their newly drawn cards and Yu Hanjiang followed up with a question. ¡°The plot card? A perfect clearance should give it.¡±

    A of Hearts smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t be in a hurry. The plot card is definitely indispensable. Which one do you want to see first?¡±

    She waved her hand and two cards appeared in front of them.

    [Plot Card: Li Mo] [Plot Card: Cheng Mu]

    Xiao Lou was startled. Previously, the plot cards sent to them had the same name as the secret room. For example, 3 of Hearts was Plot Card: Bloody Maple Leaf. However, 4 of Hearts had two cases so they became character plot cards.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Is this telling the story from a different perspective?¡±

    A of Hearts replied, ¡°Yes, in the case of Li Zhemin¡¯s murder, Li Mo didn¡¯t appear. The reason for all of this and his n are considered to be hidden plots. You can only unlock it after a perfect clearance. In addition, Li Mo is a very important free person. He is the owner of thergest real estatepany in this Card World. You might encounter him in the main city in the future.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Then Li Zhemin¡¯s death is a previous story?¡±

    ¡°Yes, the train your rode was actually a memory train. In reality, Li Mo already has two children and Liu Xiaoyan¡¯s group of friends are already married.¡±

    Xiao Lou opened his mouth. ¡°We will look at Li Mo first.¡±

    In fact, he was very interested in Li Zhemin¡¯s son who was hiding behind the scenes.

 Chapter 91: Plot Card: Li Mo

    10 years ago, Li Mo was still in high school.

    He took first ce in the exam and carried his bag to go home. He thought that he could get praise from his father. As a result, he entered the door and found Li Zhemin coaxing his youngest son in a low voice. His mother, Xia Yue was angrily scolding him. ¡°Fighting with someone and hitting them in the eye! Tell us, not only do we have to pay the medical expenses but we have to apologize to them. You really disgraced us!¡±

    Li Fei, who was still in junior high school, cried out, ¡°He scolded me first and I hit him with a stone. How could I know that it would hit him in the eye?¡±

    Li Zhemin smiled. ¡°Okay, children fighting is nothing. Isn¡¯t it just medical expenses? We can afford it. That Niu Dapeng, he always looked down on me when Ipeted with him for the position of manager and now he is just making a big deal out of a molehill. I¡¯ll give him some money so he can take his son to check his eyes. Don¡¯t scold Xiao Fei, Xiao Fei didn¡¯t mean it.¡±

    Li Fei looked up tearfully and saw his older brother staring at him coldly. He shrank back and said, ¡°B-Big Brother is back.¡±

    Only then did the couple notice Li Mo.

    Li Zhemin spoke lightly, ¡°You¡¯re back? Aren¡¯t you staying on campus?¡±

    Li Mo replied quietly, ¡°The school¡¯s monthly examination is over and today is a day off. I sent you a message.¡±

    Li Zhemin touched his nose and smiled. ¡°Oh, I was too busy and forgot. Let¡¯s have dinner together in the evening. Li Fei, go and y with Father.¡±

    He didn¡¯t ask his eldest son about the result of the exam. Li Mo saw him take away Li Fei and his original joy was gone. He wondered calmly, ¡°Mother, what are we eating tonight?¡±

    Xia Yue¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°Xiao Fei loves to eat hotpot so tonight is hotpot.¡±

    He wanted to say that he didn¡¯t like spicy food but the woman had already turned to go to the kitchen and he couldn¡¯t bear to say it. Li Mo headed upstairs, opened his diary and wrote, ¡°I am also their son but I always feel like, for them, I¡¯m a redundant existence. Since childhood, my father only cares about Li Fei. My mother never held me. Why?¡±

    That night, the four people ate hotpot at home. Li Fei tookrge bites while telling Li Zhemin interesting anecdotes about his ss. During the entire process, Li Mo didn¡¯t say a word. He rinsed away the chilli with water while Li Zhemin and Xia Yue turned a blind eye to his actions, only giving dishes to Li Fei.

    The neglected teenager¡¯s eyes were full of disappointment and loneliness.

    ¡­¡­

    Li Mo got excellent results in his university entrance examination and entered arge university studying business administration.

    That day, he left and Li Zhemin didn¡¯t send him away. Li Zhemin only gave him a card and a message. ¡°There is 200,000 on the card. This should be enough for four years of university expenses. If it isn¡¯t enough then find me again.¡±

    Li Mo clung to the card and went to the university alone to check-in.

    During his four years in university, Li Mo never went home. Every holiday, he went to work and didn¡¯t spend the 200,000 yuan his father gave him. Instead, he made money on his own from a young age. To his dismay, his parents never asked why he didn¡¯te back or ask if he was liking university life. It was as if for them, it didn¡¯t matter if Li Mo came home or not.

    In their circle of friends, his parents took his little brother travelling with them every holiday. The photos taken of the family of three looked happy.

    Li Mo gradually got used to this and stopped contacting his parents.

    Four years passed quickly. In Li Mo¡¯s fourth year, he listened to the school¡¯s arrangements and went to apany for an internship. Then he met Shu Xiaomeng, who happened to be interning at the samepany.

    Compared to the reticent Li Mo, she was a lively and lovely girl. She smiled all day and was always happy and energetic, no matter how busy.

    One time, thepany organized a party and Li Mo sat alone in a corner eating. Shu Xiaomeng ran over to him and said, ¡°You are called Li Mo? I heard that you are in the management department of Huada. So good!¡±

    Li Mo was very handsome and often had girlsing to him. He frowned and just wanted to leave when the girl handed him a ss of juice with a smile. ¡°I just squeezed the juice and it is very fresh. Have a drink!¡±

    She was carrying a te to deliver juice to everyone. Before Li Mo could react, she put the cup full of juice into his hand. Li Mo watched her back and his face was stiff.

    He frowned and tasted it¡­ very sweet, it was the taste of peaches.

    From that day on, he noticed Shu Xiaomeng. The girl was sunny and cheerful and seemed to be pampered by her family when growing up. She was always kind to people and good at baking. She often made delicious desserts and brought them to thepany. Li Mo was always given several pieces by her. He wanted to refuse every time but he was flustered by the girl¡¯s warm smile and could only ept them with a stiff expression.

    During that time, Shu Xiaomeng fed him a lot of sweets and his always thin body actually gained some weight. He gradually developed favourable feelings for Shu Xiaomeng.

    On the day when they finished the internship, the department heads took the initiative to host a party to say farewell to everyone. Li Mo didn¡¯t like to eat spicy food but he couldn¡¯t eat nothing with so many people gathered. He had to eat so food. Then when he went home in the evening, he had acute appendicitis. Li Mo was sweating with pain. He called his father but Li Zhemin didn¡¯t answer, so he had to call an ambnce for help.

    By the time the ambnce came, he was pale from the pain and shock. He was quickly taken to the hospital and in the emergency room, he saw a familiar figure. Shu Xiaomeng¡¯s strained voice entered his ears. ¡°Isn¡¯t this Li Mo? What¡¯s wrong¡­¡±

    The doctor said, ¡°He has acute appendicitis. Are you his family? His condition is dangerous and a ruptured appendix might cause an abdominal infection. We need to perform emergency surgery. Can I trouble you to sign the informed consent form?¡±

    Shu Xiaomeng shook her head in a hurry, ¡°No, I¡¯m not his family. I¡¯m just a colleague.¡±

    Li Mo¡¯s forehead was covered with sweat as he lowered his voice and said, ¡°I can sign for my own surgery. I have no family. Whether I live or die, I can only be responsible for myself.¡±

    He endured the severe pain from his abdomen and took the informed consent form from his doctor, quickly signing his name on it. His pale appearance made Shu Xiaomeng feel distressed and she hurried to follow him.

    Liu Xiaoyan called out behind her. ¡°Xiaomeng, you are going the wrong way! Xiaoyu is in the cardiology inpatient department. Why are you running to the emergency department?¡±

    Shu Xiaomeng told her, ¡°Sister Yan, you go and see Xiaoyu first. I willeter! A friend of mine is having surgery.¡±

    She ran outside the emergency room and sat anxiously in the hallway, hoping that Li Mo would be fine. After an hour or so, Li Mo was pushed out. He was pale but looked much better.

    Shu Xiaomeng immediately went forward. ¡°Li Mo, how are you? Are you in pain?¡±

    LiMo was stunned and looked at her with amazement. The girl¡¯s clear eyes were full of worry. At this moment, she felt some heartache. He was on the operating table and his parents turned a blind eye to him. Meanwhile, this girl who barely knew him had been waiting for him outside the operating room.

    Li Mo turned his head stiffly. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±

    Shu Xiaomeng asked the doctor, ¡°How is his condition?¡±

    The doctor said, ¡°Fortunately, the rescue was timely. He needs to stay in the hospital for observation for two days and he will have to temporarily eat liquid food.¡±

    Shu Xiaomeng nodded and followed his hospital bed to the emergency room.

    After the doctor left, Li Mo whispered, ¡°Why are you at the hospital?¡±

    Shu Xiaomeng said, ¡°I have a good sister with congenital heart disease. Recently, she hasn¡¯t been veryfortable and went to the hospital for a check. I came to see her and happened to see you. By the way, do you want to inform your family¡­¡±

    Li Mo interrupted her. ¡°No need.¡±

    Shu Xiaomeng let out an ¡®oh¡¯ sound and didn¡¯t speak again.

    Li Mo told her, ¡°Go see your sister. I¡¯m fine.¡±

    Shu Xiaomeng hesitated for a moment before standing up. ¡°Then have a good rest. I¡¯lle see you tomorrow.¡±

    Li Mo thought she was just being polite. As a result, the next morning she actually came and even cooked porridge. ¡°The doctor said that you have to eat liquid food so I made some light porridge for you.¡±

    Li Mo took it with aplicated expression and drank the porridge. The sweet and soft rice porridge warmed his stomach as well as his heart. For the first time, he found that it was so good to be cared for.

    ¡­¡­

    On the day of his discharge, Shu Xiaomeng came over. Li Mo got down from his hospital bed and whispered as he stared into her eyes, ¡°You are so diligent in going to the hospital and give me porridge every day. Other people think that you¡¯re my girlfriend.¡±

    Shu Xiaomeng¡¯s face reddened and she hastily exined, ¡°I came to see Xiaoyu and also brought you food. Don¡¯t misunderstand¡­¡±

    Li Mo smiled as he saw her blushing expression. ¡°I want to misunderstand.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    He told her, ¡°Be my girlfriend.¡±

    Facing his deep eyes, Shu Xiaomeng hurriedly bowed her head. In fact, she liked him but Li Mo was too cold and she didn¡¯t dare say it. She could only silently take care of him. She didn¡¯t expect him to be the one who spoke first. Shu Xiaomeng blushed and didn¡¯t answer. The next moment, he gently held his hand.

    Shu Xiaomeng blushed but didn¡¯t pull away. She was led away by him.

    Li Mo was an outwardly cold but inwardly hot person. He was very considerate. After three months together, their rtionship was stable and they lived together at Li Mo¡¯s request. LI Mo was a gentleman and rented a house with two bedrooms and one living room, enduring the urge to touch her. On the other hand, Shu Xiaomeng didn¡¯t hold back. On her birthday, she acted and deepened her rtionship with Li Mo.

    Since then, the two people became even sweeter. Li Mo was very cold to outsiders and had a e near me and die¡¯ expression. However, after returning home, he would hold Shu Xiaomen in her arms and spoil her¡ªbecause this girl was his angel.

    After cohabiting for a year, Shu Xiaomeng found out that she was pregnant. Li Mo decided to marry her and went to visit her mother. He didn¡¯t expect Shu Ping to know his name and for her face to suddenly whiten. ¡°Your father is Li Zhemin?¡±

    Li Mo nodded. ¡°Yes.

    Shu Ping pointed at him like he was a ghost. ¡°You are the new president of the Li Company? Why are you lying to my daughter?!!¡±

    She was very agitated and her hands were shaking. Shu Xiaomeng was a bit confused and hurriedly stood up, pulling at her. ¡°Mom, he didn¡¯t lie to me. We are free to love¡­¡±

    Shu Ping eximed angrily, ¡°Shut up! You don¡¯t know what a scum his father is! How good can a son educated by Li Zhemin be? He is deceiving you. Don¡¯t be fooled by his appearance!¡±

    Li Mo frowned and stood up. ¡°Auntie, I don¡¯t know the grievances between you and my father but I am sincere to Xiaomeng. I came to visit you because I hope to get your¡­¡±

    Shu Ping was stimted enough to lose her mind and repeated, ¡°I don¡¯t agree, you immediately get lost!¡±

    Li Mo sensed something was wrong and whispered, ¡°Auntie, you calm down first. I will visit again another day.¡±

    Once he returned to thepany, hemanded people to check the past grievances between Shu Ping and Li Zhemin. He personally visited Mrs Mei, Niu Dapeng and Liu Yuming, all retirees of thepany. The truth he discovered made his hair stand up. His father was actually such a scum! His biological mother died of an overdose of sleeping pills shortly after giving birth to him.

    Li Mo¡¯s face was gloomy as he sat in his office alone for a long time. Then he found thepany¡¯swyer and the other side soon confessed honestly. ¡°Chief Li, this can¡¯t be med on me! Your mother knew your father cheated and wanted a divorce. The agreement had been written but shemitted suicide not long after. Since the agreement was only the first draft and she hadn¡¯t signed it yet, there was nothing I could do.¡±

    Li Mo was cold. ¡°Do you believe shemitted suicide? Why didn¡¯t you tell the police about this?¡±

    Thewyer was speechless and Li Mo stared sharply at him. ¡°My father gave you money to be quiet, right?¡±

    Thewyer bowed her head and spoke with a bitter expression, ¡°I-I knew your mother¡¯s death was suspicious. She had decided to divorce and couldn¡¯t suddenlymit suicide. However, she was dead, dead. I couldn¡¯t take her lead and offend your father¡­¡±

    Offending Li Zhemin who was about to be thepany¡¯s master for a dead person was indeed something only a fool would do. It was human nature forwyers to take advantage of the situation. LI Zhemin didn¡¯t me him and was silent for a moment before whispering, ¡°Did Li Zhemin ask you to make a will? For example, give all his shares to his youngest son Li Fei?¡±

    Thewyer was stunned. ¡°H-How do you know about this?¡±

    Li Mo sneered. ¡°I finally understand why he hates me so much. It is because I was born through abnormal means when he raped my mother. My presence reminds him of how he killed his wife to seize power. He probably has nightmares when he sees me.¡±

    Li Mo turned to look at the bright lights zing outside and spoke softly, ¡°Is this will notarized yet?¡±

    Thewyer trembled. ¡°Not yet. Li Fei isn¡¯t 18 yet and your father means to¡­ you are more powerful and will first help raise thepany. Then once Li Fei graduates from university, he will have Li Fei study in thepany.¡±

    Li Mo smiled. ¡°Then he will give his shares to my idiot brother and have me work for him, right?¡±

    Thewyer bowed his head awkwardly.

    ¡°Since the will hasn¡¯t been notarized, it doesn¡¯t exist. If something happens in the future, please shut up like you did in the past. I¡¯ll pay you more.¡±

    Thewyer said, ¡°However, even if there is no will, ording to the inheritancew, his spouse and children have the right to inherit. Your stepmother is the first heir and can receive half the property. The remaining half will be split equally between you and your brother¡­¡±

    Li Mo asked dismissively, ¡°What if thepany bes an empty shell before the court¡¯s decision. Then there won¡¯t be much property for them to inherit.¡±

    Thewyer, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The assets were gradually transferred out of Li Zhemin¡¯s clothingpany while Li Mo¡¯s real estatepany was getting bigger and bigger. Li Zhemin, who retired and was unting his son¡¯s wealth, knew nothing about it.

    Shu Ping knew that her daughter was pregnant and her attitude started to gradually change.

    Shu Xiaomeng told her every day that Li Mo wasn¡¯t a scum and was especially good to her. They had been together for more than a year and she believed Li Zhemin would be a good husband and a good father. After their marriage, they would have no dealings with Li Zhemin.

    Shu Ping cried and begged to her daughter before reluctantly epting their rtionship.

    However, it was unknown where but Li Zhemin heard that Shu Xiaomeng and Li Mo were in love. He actually went to find Shu Xiaomeng privately, pointing at her face and cursing her. ¡°Did you seduce my son for money? A girl from a single family like you with no education, how are you worthy to be my daughter-inw? How much money do you want to agree to leave Li Mo?¡±

    Shu Xiaomeng struggled to endure her anger. ¡°Uncle, Li Mo and I are free to love. I don¡¯t care if he has money or no money.¡±

    She raised her beg to leave. Li Zhemin got up to stop her and as a result, Shu Xiaomeng was tripped by him and fell hard down the stairs. All the blood caused Li Zhemin to be frightened. He thought the girl was scamming him and threw a sum of money at her before turning to escape.

    Shu Xiaomengy pale on the ground. Once Li Mo came, he saw such a picture. His pupils shrunk. The girl suffering and helpless on the ground was his love. He couldn¡¯t tolerate anyone hurting her. Li Mo rushed over to pick her up, sending her to the hospital only to discover the child was gone. Shu Xiaomeng was crying and couldn¡¯t breathe while Li Mo stayed sullen beside the bed, fists clenched tightly.

    He suddenly had a crazy idea. Back at thepany, Li Mo found the personnel director and spoke with a nk expression. ¡°My father is idle and bored after retiring. He should go out on a trip to get some fresh air. You should contact Mrs Mei and ask her to make a list of retirees.¡±

    He sorted out the list, contacted the tour group and arranged the train.

    Li Mo sent an email to everyone who had a grudge against Li Zhemin. He also asked the guide Qin Shiyue to send a list of drugstores where insulin could be bought to the WeChat group, telling the group to make sure to bring insulin. If they didn¡¯t have it, rush to buy it.

    In order to ensure that Li Zhemin would never return, Li Mo privately used Li Zhemin¡¯s name to send a message to Zheng Weiguo. ¡°Old Zheng, shouldn¡¯t you repay the money you owe me? There are five years of borrowing plus interest, the repayment amount should be 10 million yuan. I¡¯ll give you onest chance. After this trip, if you don¡¯t pay it back then I¡¯ll go to court and sue you.¡±

    Zheng Weiguo¡¯s face was white with fear and he quickly called Li Zhemin. ¡°Old Li, I will definitely pay back that money! Bring the loan note with you and when I get the money, I¡¯ll give it to you face to face.¡±

    Li Zhemin had some doubts but the other person paying back the money wasn¡¯t a bad thing. Therefore, he took the loan note with him.

    On the day of the departure, Li Mo didn¡¯te.

    He sent a text message to his father. ¡°Have a nice trip.¡±

    Train 7311.

    At 3:40 in the morning, Shu Ping decided to do it only to be dissuaded by Mrs Mei.

    The olddy¡¯s voice was hoarse. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t only think about yourself. Think about your daughter. Xiaomeng still needs your care. Once you kill Li Zhemin, Xiaomeng and Li Mo will never be able to¡­¡±

    She grabbed the syringe from Shu Ping¡¯s hand, opened it, sucked the insulin into the needle tube and pushed open the door of Room 2. Shu Ping hurriedly stopped her. ¡°Sister Mei¡­¡±

    Mrs Mei pushed her away and spoke firmly, ¡°I have been diagnosed with bone cancer and don¡¯t have long to live. I am the one who started all of this so let me end it personally.¡±

    Li Zhemin slept soundly. However, Zheng Weiguo and Liu Yuming actually weren¡¯t asleep. Both men¡¯s ears pricked nervously as they listened to the movements of the lower bunk. In the darkness, there was the sound of someone opening Li Zhemin¡¯s clothes. Then old hands slightly trembled as they injected the insulin into his body. The door closed and there was a slight cough in their ears.

    Zheng Weiguo waited a long time before rolling out of bed. He wanted to strangle Li Zhemin with a rope only to find that Li Zhemin was dead. He immediately got back into bed and decided to pretend that he didn¡¯t know anything.

    Momentster, Liu Yuming also got out of bed and found that Li Zhemin¡¯s body had be cold. There was a smile on his face as he crawled back to bed to sleep.

    Mrs Mei turned herself in and other evidence pointed to her so Li Zhemin¡¯s case was soon closed.

    Li Mo was very calm when the police informed him that his father had been murdered. He went to the police station to im the body and brought Li Zhemin¡¯s body home. Li Fei was so frightened by the sight that he started crying and Xia Yue¡¯s face was pale. ¡°How could this be¡­¡±

    Li Mo told her, ¡°I will trouble Auntie to bury him. You don¡¯t need to tell me the location of his grave. I won¡¯t go to sweep his grave.¡±

    Xia Yue stared. ¡°W-What did you call me?¡±

    Li Mo stared at her with cold eyes. ¡°Auntie, when my mother was pregnant, wasn¡¯t it because you hooked up with him and my mother saw it that she became angry and prematurely gave birth? Later, she nned to divorce him so he killed her and inherited her property. Perhaps this was also your idea?¡±

    Xia Yue¡¯s face instantly whitened.

    Li Mo smiled. ¡°No wonder why you didn¡¯t even hold me for so many years. All your care was given to Li Fei while I was left to the babysitter. I always suspected that I wasn¡¯t really yours.¡±

    Li Fei was dazed. ¡°Brother, what are you talking about?¡±

    Li Mo stared at her coldly. ¡°Tomorrow, thew firm will liquidate his property. No matter what, you are his legal wife and son so the two of you must be present.¡±

    The next day, thepany¡¯swyer entered the office with a thick pile of documents to clear up the finances.

    Li Zhemin¡¯spany had long been an empty shell. The split-up assets weren¡¯t enough for the two of them to even buy a car. Xia Yue couldn¡¯t believe it and double-checked the ounts. Meanwhile, Li Mo was expressionless.

    Xia Yue eximed, ¡°How can your father¡¯spany be worthless? Is this what you fucking did?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Li Mo shrugged. ¡°Unfortunately, you have no proof.¡±

    Xia Yue was stunned and heard him say, ¡°Just like I know it in my heart that the two of you killed my mother but there was no evidence.¡±

    He picked up a pen and quickly signed the property inheritance consent form. ¡°I am very busy and can¡¯t apany you.¡±

    Xia Yue stopped him as he got up to leave. ¡°Li Mo, I want to sue you. You must¡¯ve transferred the assets!¡±

    Li Mo spoke coldly. ¡°Feel free at any time.¡±

    He turned and simply left. That woman and her idiotic son trying to bring him down? Dream on. His methods were very clean and there was no evidence left in the ounts. An investigation would just find that thepany had poor management and normal losses. Li Zhemin¡¯s clothingpany would soon go bankrupt while his life was only beginning.

    Li Mo remembered the day when he nearly died of appendicitis. He was pushed out of the operating room and saw the girl with eyes full of worry. In this world, he had no rtives and no one to care about. All except for Shu Xiaomeng.

    Li Mo strode to the hospital. In the hospital bed, Shu Xiaomeng was pale and staring out the window.

    The police investigation of Shu Ping ended because Mrs Mei voluntarily confessed. Shu Ping was cleared of suspicion and returned to the hospital to take care of her daughter.

    Li Mo pushed open the door, held a bunch of roses and knelt in front of Shu Xiaomeng. He gently held the girl¡¯s pale hand, eyes calm and sincere. ¡°Xiaomeng, marry me.¡±

    Shu Xiaomeng covered her mouth and looked at her mother, sobbing.

    Li Mo also looked at Shu Xiaomeng and whispered, ¡°The things my father owes you can¡¯t be repaid. Let the past endpletely. I promise you, I will cherish Xiaomeng for my entire life. I will fullypensate Xiaomeng for the resentment of the previous generation. I will try my best to make her happy. Please be assured and give her to me.¡±

    Shu Ping¡¯s eyes were wet and she twisted her head to hold back her tears. ¡°Xiaomeng¡¯s thing¡­ she is her own master.¡±

    Li Mo nced at Shu Xiaomeng, her voice extremely gentle. ¡°This child will be added to the bnce. We will have as many children as you want in the future. Will you marry me? Xiaomeng, let me take care of you.¡±

    Shu Xiaomeng choked up as she took the flowers from his hand. ¡°Yes.¡±

    The two hugged each other tightly. Shu Ping saw this scene and thought that if Ruirui was still alive, she would like Xiaomeng as a daughter-inw? She and Ruirui were once like sisters. If it wasn¡¯t for Li Zhemin, they wouldn¡¯t have be this way.

    Now Li Zhemin was dead and the two generations of grievances had finallypletely ended.

    Shu Ping also wasn¡¯t in the mood to interfere with the children¡¯s affairs. She thought that she should listen to Sister Mei¡¯s words and travel around to rx. She would live to be 80 years old and have a full life. In this way, she wouldn¡¯t waste the freedom that Sister Mei had given her.

    Outside the window, the sun was just right. Shu Ping stood by the window and a long-lost smile finally appeared on her face.

 Chapter 92: Plot Card: Cheng Mu

    After watching Li Mo¡¯s plot card, the two of them followed up by opening Cheng Mu¡¯s plot card. The contents of this plot card started from when she knew she had HIV.

    On the big screen, Cheng Mu pulled shut all the curtains of her room as she held the results of the hospital inspection, hands sped tightly around her knees. She curled up in a corner, looking so lonely and helpless that it really made people feel distressed. She stayed alone for a long time before sending a message in the group, asking the other girls to go to the hospital to check.

    The seven girls gathered at the hospital and lined up to draw blood. Everyone was silent and there was a bit of panic in their eyes. They all knew what AIDs meant. They were so young and if they got the disease, this was equivalent to their lives being destroyed.

    Song Xiaoyu turned her head to hold back tears when her blood was drawn. Liu Xiaoyan gently held her shoulder andforted her silently. The doctor told them, ¡°Come back in three days for the results.¡±

    The seven of them left the hospital together. Si Yi said, ¡°In three days, no matter the oue, we will regroup. I will set the time and ce. Don¡¯t worry and say everything then.¡±

    For those three days, apart from Cheng Mu who already knew the result, the other people were restless and several girls didn¡¯t sleep well.

    On the day that the results came out, several people were relieved to see the ¡®HIV-negative¡¯ on their test result sheet. Then they all looked at Cheng Mu because they knew that Cheng Mu was the more unfortunate one¡­

    She had been infected.

    Song Xiaoyu tearfully spoke to Cheng Mu, ¡°Sister Mu, you¡­¡±

    Cheng Mu pretended to be calm as she smiled. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I am probably just more unlucky than you.¡±

    The six people had somewhatplex expressions. Cheng Mu changed the topic. ¡°Then let¡¯s talk about how to deal with Zhao Quan, this scum man.¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan suggested to cut him a dozen times. This would be identified as a minor injury and they wouldn¡¯t be punished.

    Song Xiaoyu was pale. ¡°However, Zhao Quan has been infected with HIV. What if we cut him and his blood sshes, infecting us?¡±

    Yue Xiaoquan spoke calmly, ¡°The transmission of HIV is through blood as sex. As long as there are no wounds on our bodies then we won¡¯t be infected. Moreover, I have considered this aspect. I will have everyone taken protective measures. We will wear istion suits and gloves. Didn¡¯t Ruru say that she can get a scalpel? The incision of a scalpel is very fine and blood won¡¯t ssh everywhere. It won¡¯t be a problem if we wear gloves.¡±

    Song Xiaoyu still had some concerns but Yan Ruru told her, ¡°If you are afraid, let me and Xiaoquan do it. We are both studying medicine and can master the bnce. Of course, there are certain risks in doing so. If there are other methods then everyone can suggest them.

    Liu Xiaoyan had a sullen expression. ¡°That bastard, I really want to castrate him!¡±

    Song Xiaoyu was pale. ¡°W-Won¡¯t we be guilty of intentionally wounding him if we castrate him. Sister Yan, going to jail for a scum man isn¡¯t worth it.¡±

    Cheng Mu suddenly smiled. ¡°I have a good idea that canpletely take care of Zhao Quan.¡±

    Everyone looked at her in a puzzled manner and Yue Xiaoquan asked, ¡°Sister Mu, what is your good idea?¡±

    Cheng Mu told them, ¡°First, prepare things ording to your suggestion. For my n B, wait until we arrive at the terminal and then I¡¯ll tell you.¡±

    The people wondered about it but didn¡¯t ask anything more. They went back to buy the tickets.

    Cheng Mu was busy once she got up. She first called herndlord and spoke politely, ¡°Auntie, I have a work transfer and won¡¯t renew my lease next month. I will remove everything before the rent expires.¡± Then she submitted a report to her boss that she was going to resign next month. ¡°Boss, I have something at home. I am sorry and will make sure to hand things over well before I resign.¡±

    She transferred all her bank savings to her parents. Then she went to buy a sharp fruit knife, a sexy ckce dress and a wig with long ck hair. She got it all ready and then went online to buy a human anatomy chart. What ce to cut with a knife so someone wouldn¡¯t die too soon, the position of the heart¡­

    She was very capable of learning and prepared for a month. Before she left, she deliberately drew a picture and marked the positions with a knife.

    July 26th, 21:#0 p.m.

    At 21:30, the train roared as the KP-7311 train stopped at the station on time.

    Yue Xiaoquan sent a message in the group. ¡°I will transfer him away. Let me take him to the 6th carriage.¡±

    The message was received and Cheng Mu, Si Yi and Yan Ruru quickly got on from the back door of the carriage.

    Once she got on the train, Cheng Mu used her hat to cover her face and pretended to sleep until the lights of thepartment went out. The passengers gradually fell asleep and then she took out her phone to send a message to Zhao Quan, who was under the name Husband: Dear, I am going to the City of the Moon on a busy trip. I took train No. 7311. Are you also on this train? I seemed to have seen you. I am in the 13th row of the fourth carriage.

    Zhao Quan wasn¡¯t used to going to bed early and always read novels until around 1 a.m. Cheng Mu was very clear about this hobby of his.

    At this time, Zhao Quan was reading when the message suddenly popped up on the screen. He was so scared he almost threw his phone away. Zhao Quan turned back to look and Cheng Mu just happened to turn on the light of her phone and was smiling at him.

    In the dark carriage, the girl¡¯s face was illuminated by her mobile phone and she looked unusually pale, like a ghost. Especially¡­ when she smiled.

    Smiling while the light of the mobile phone was shining on her face was too scary! Zhao Quan¡¯s heart trembled with fright at this scene and he was extremely shocked. His first reaction was to wonder if his stepping on many boats had been discovered by Cheng Mu. Then he quickly stabilized his mind. Fortunately, Yue Xiaoquan had changed to the 6th carriage and only his sleeping brother was beside him.

    Zhao Quan quickly calmed down and typed on his mobile phone: What a coincidence? My brother and I are also going to the City of the Moon.¡±

    Cheng Mu: That¡¯s really good. We probably have a fate. ^_^

    Zhao Quan saw the smiley expression and found that the other side didn¡¯t doubt him. Her heart was a bit relieved and there was a smile on his face as he replied: Mumu, are you alone?

    Cheng Mu: Yes, the boss sent me on a business trip. I¡¯m alone and can¡¯t sleep. I¡¯m so bored.

    Zhao Quan: Don¡¯t be afraid, there is me. I can chat with you.

    Cheng Mu sneered but she pretended to be very happy when typing: A mobile phone chat isn¡¯t very interesting. Honey, why don¡¯t we do something more fun?

    Zhao Quan was interested: What will be fun?

    Cheng Mu: I have been to the toilet of the train. It is very clean and the space is big enough. The people in this carriage is very sleeping. Don¡¯t you feel that in the quiet night, going to the bathroom and doing it will be very exciting? Such an experience will definitely be unforgettable. I miss you. Can we try it in the toilet?¡±

    Zhao Quan knew that Cheng Mu was always quite free and was intrigued by her proposal.

    The fast moving train, the quiet carriage, the sleeping passengers, the two people in the toilet clinging together, the thrilling train y¡­ Zhao Quan almost got a nosebleed.

    Yue Xiaoquan had already changed to the 6th carriage. Moreover, Yue Xiaoquan had always been frosty unlike Cheng Mu. She wouldn¡¯t know if he went to the toilet.

    The affair and the fresh environment, Zhao Quan¡¯s impulses overcame his sense of reason and he quickly agreed: Mumu, you are really creative. Let¡¯s do the train y!

    Cheng Mu sent a shy expression: It is only one in the morning and there might be passengers who wake up to go to the toilet. It isn¡¯t good to be disturbed. Shall we wait until it is 2:30 when everyone is asleep?

    Zhao Quan sent a row of kissing expressions: Waiting until then is right. I¡¯ll see youter.

    Next, Zhao Quan continued to look down at his novel but he couldn¡¯t read it at all. He couldn¡¯t help thinking that Cheng Mu was really great. The experienced woman had more vour than those pure and simple girls¡­

    He waited until 2:30 when Cheng Mu sent him a message: Come.

    Zhao Quan immediately got up and couldn¡¯t wait to follow.

    All the lights in the carriage were out so he didn¡¯t know that he passed by Si Yi in the 12th row, Yan Ruru in the 13th row and Song Xiaoyu and Liu Xiaoyan in the 15th row. His full attention was on the slim figure in a long dress.

    He followed Cheng Mu to the toilet on the left.

    There was a light on in the toilet and he was able to see what Cheng Mu was wearing. It was a sexy ckce dress that outlined her perfect figure. Zhao Quan reached for her and said, ¡°Mumu, it has been a few days since I¡¯ve seen you and you¡¯ve really be more beautiful. You look better with long hair.¡±

    Cheng Mu smiled and pushed him away. ¡°Let¡¯s y something a bit exciting.¡±

    She took a few leather bands from her boots and raised an eyebrow at Zhao Quan. ¡°Do you want to y with bondage?¡±

    Zhao Quan¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°You still have this?¡±

    ¡°Do you want to try it?¡±

    Zhao Quan excitedly nodded and Cheng Mu moved behind him with cold eyes. She carefully tied up Zhao Quan¡¯s hands and feet with an unsolvable knot.

    Then she moved back in front of Zhao Quan and had a bright smile on her face.

    ¡­¡­

    Zhao Quan¡¯s eyes narrowed with intoxication. As a result, Cheng Mu suddenly took out a towel from her boots and covered Zhao Quan¡¯s mouth. He thought this was also part of Cheng Mu¡¯s stimting y and smiled at Cheng Mu.

    The next moment, Cheng Mu¡¯s eyes became extremely cold. She reached out and pped Zhao Quan¡¯s face hard! The clear sound echoed in the bathroom and Zhao Quan was stunned, his eyes slightly changing. Being pped was an insult for men. Was this a part of the bondage y? He liked excitement but he wasn¡¯t a masochist either.

    He wanted to ask what was going on but Cheng Mu repeatedly pped him.

    p, p, p!

    There was the clear pping sound apanied by the burning pain of his cheeks. Zhao Quan looked at Cheng Mu in a shocked manner and angrily shouted, ¡°What are you doing Cheng Mu?¡± However, his mouth was blocked and there was no sound. He could only make a few groaning noises.

    Cheng Mu shook her wrist and spoke coldly, ¡°These ps are for Yu Lin. When you restored your rtionship with her, you said you couldn¡¯t forget her. She was your first and one woman. You liar!¡±

    Zhao Quan¡¯s face filled with horror when he heard Cheng Mu mention the name ¡®Yu Lin¡¯.

    Cheng Mu raised her hand and pped the other side of his face two times. ¡°This is for Liu Xiaoyan. You were with her for the summer vacation of yourst year of high school. You said that you woulde back after graduation. She believed in you and waited for you for a year. As a result, you saw her again some time ago and wanted to still be with her, You are too shameless!¡±

    Zhao Quan couldn¡¯t believe that she even knew Liu Xiaoyan¡¯s name.

    Cheng Mu changed her hand and hit his face hard. ¡°This is for Yan Ruru. You lied to her in the game and said she was your first love. How can you say this? Did you forget Yu Lin?¡±

    Her hand was getting bigger and bigger and Zhao Quan¡¯s cheeks quickly became swollen. ¡°This is for Song Xiaoyu! She isn¡¯t well and you said you would take care of her for a lifetime, making her more infatuated with you. She also wanted to enter the same school as you. Then once she found out that you cheated, she was so mad that she got a heart attack and almost died!¡±

    ¡°This is for Sister Si Yi. She patiently guided you and helped you design a software. You used the money gained from selling the software to take Yue Xiaoquan to a concert. Do you have any conscience?¡±

    ¡°In addition, Yue Xiaoquan, that cold girl was deceived by your sweet words. She is now disgusted whenever hearing your name!¡±

    Cheng Mu pped him more than a dozen times and Zhao Quan¡¯s face was almost turned into a pig¡¯s head. Still, he couldn¡¯t be angry. His eyes were full of horror as he didn¡¯t understand how Cheng Mu knew everyone¡¯s names.

    Cheng Mu opened the WeChat group and showed it to him, sneering. ¡°You don¡¯t know that your multiple boats have capsized early on. The seven of us built a WeChat group and made an appointment to meet you.¡±

    She pulled up the picture that Si Yi had photoshopped and zoomed in on the train to hell, showing it to Zhao Quan. She smiled and stated, ¡°The seven of us are now on the train to collective send you off. Are you surprised?¡±

    This wasn¡¯t a surprise, it was simply terrible!

    Zhao Quan¡¯s face instantly became extremely ugly. He noticed that the girls had gathered together to clean him up and his eyes were even more frightened. He struggled and started to beg for mercy but his mouth was blocked and no sound came out.

    Cheng Mu stared at Zhao Quan coldly. ¡°Yes, there is me.¡¯¡¯

    She raised her hand to p him but once the palm of her hand was a few centimeters away from Zhao Quan¡¯s face, it stopped and Cheng Mu suddenly smiled. ¡°You gave me AIDs and also made me lose a child. How can I be satisfied with a p to the face?¡±

    Zhao Quan¡¯s face was full of disbelief.

    Cheng Mu¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°I don¡¯t know when you messed around and got the disease but keeping someone like you will only be a scourge. It is better for me to handle you directly.¡±

    She took a fruit knife out of her boots and waved it in front of Zhao Quan. The sharp knife shed with a cold metallic glow under the toilet lights.

    Zhao Quan stared in horror and started to shake his head in a wild manner. ¡°I¡­ I was wrong¡­ spare me¡­ um¡­¡±

    His face was full of pleading. If he could move then he would be kneeling down in front of Cheng Mu.

    Nevertheless, Cheng Mu didn¡¯t pay attention to his begging. She picked up this fruit knife and first gently cut Zhao Quan¡¯s vicle. She watched the blood gradually seep out before following up with a cut to the lower chest¡­

    One knife cut, another knife cut. Every time her knife moved, she would name a girl who was disappointed by him.

    Zhao Quan¡¯s entire body was shaking from pain. He wanted to break free but found it wasn¡¯t possible at all. The rope used by Cheng Mu looked very thin but it was very strong. Zhao Quan struggled desperately but Cheng Mu just stared at him nkly like he was a dead dog.

    It was unknown how many times he was cut but the pained Zhao Quan was covered in sweat. He felt like every part of his body was a cracked mouth with blood constantly flowing out. The nerve endings in his skin clearly passed on the pain. Once it reached his brain, he was going to faint.

    Just then, Cheng Mu looked at his bottom half and a bad smile appeared on her face. ¡°Sleeping with so many girls while also feeling proud. Is this what you inserted?¡±

    Zhao Quan stiffened as he realized what she was going to do. He suddenly roared and snarled, frantically shaking his head. ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ no, no¡­ you can¡¯t do this.¡±

    He was stiff and desperately tried to move back. However, his hands and feet were tied and he couldn¡¯t hide on the toilet.

    Cheng Mu smiled and her knife moved down. If Zhao Quan¡¯s mouth wasn¡¯t covered then he would definitely be screaming like a pig. For men, castration wasn¡¯t just physical torture but also a spiritual shame.

    Zhao Quan¡¯s desire was cut off and his eyeballs almost popped out of his eyelids.

    Cheng Mu patted his face. ¡°Don¡¯t think that girls are easily cheated. It is easy to cheat them because they still like you. Once this type of love is gone, they will be very clever and unsympathetic.¡±

    She picked up the fruit knife and waved it gently in front of Zhao Quan.

    Zhao Quan¡¯s eyes were full of tears from the pain. He had always pretended to be a gentleman in front of women but at this moment, his spirit hadpletely copsed. He knew he was castrated and almost went mad, hitting his head against the wall of the bathroom before Cheng Mu dragged him back.

    Just then, there was the sound of footsteps from outside. The dazed Jing Weiguang had woken up to go to the toilet. Zhao Quan heard the footsteps and started roaring frantically, wanting to attract the attention of the passenger in the corridor. However, his mouth was tightly blocked. Jing Weiguang heard a sound from the toilet but thought it was just constipation.

    A momentter, the toilet waspletely quiet when Jing Weiguang came out. Cheng Mu had stabbed Zhou Quan in the heart with the knife. Zhao Quan stared at her even after death, seemingly unable to believe the woman who loved him to her bones would actually kill him.

    The footsteps outside the door moved far away and the carriage was quiet again.

    Cheng Mu nkly came out from the bathroom. She had washed her hands over and over in the sink, washing away the blood of the scum that covered her hands. Then she went to the train attendant¡¯s office, stole the keys and locked the toilet door from the outside.

    She got rid of her clothes and ropes, deleted all the chat records from Zhao Quan¡¯s mobile phone, reced the photo Si Yi sent into the group as Zhao Quan¡¯s desktop image and then threw the phone into the trash.

    Once she got back to her seat, she stared at the starry sky outside the train¡¯s window. It waste at night and everyone in the 4th carriage was asleep. Only she had her eyes open until dawn.

    She killed Zhao Quan but she wasn¡¯t happy at all. It was because she knew that Zhao Quan¡¯s life might¡¯ve ended on this train but she also had no future.

    Once the train arrived at the station, Cheng Mu was taken away by the police. She confessed everything at the police station and the other six girls were released by the police. The six of them stood at the door of the police station, pale and unable to speak.

    Not long after, Song Xiaoyu suddenly said, ¡°I-I received an email from Cheng Mu.¡±

    Yu Lin added, ¡°I got it too.¡±

    Si Yi also took out her phone and saw the mail prompt. ¡°She should¡¯ve sent a letter to each of us.¡±

    Everyone quickly opened their email, bowing their heads to read carefully. The email was very simple.

    ¡°The n B I mentioned is to personally end Zhao Quan¡¯s dog life. If someone like him knows that he has contracted AIDs, he might retaliate by having sex with girls everywhere, spreading the disease.

    I have been infected and I don¡¯t want any other girls to fall into the abyss like me.

    You have been deceived and disappointed by Zhao Quan but it is just one experience in your life. It isn¡¯t everything.

    You weren¡¯t wrong. The wrong one was him. You just didn¡¯t polish your eyes and identally stepped on a piece of shit. I believe that you will soone out of this haze and usher in a brighter future.

    Every girl deserves to be treated kindly.

    Please forget Zhao Quan, this scum man. There will be someone better waiting for you.

    Cheng Mu¡¯s swansong.¡±

    [4 of Hearts: Extremely Quick Train End]

 Chapter 93: 4 of Diamonds: Balanced World

    Xiao Lou¡¯s mood wasplicated after watching Li Mo and Cheng Mu¡¯s plot card. He didn¡¯t know what to say as he held his breath and put the two plot cards back in the card pack. Yu Hanjiang also didn¡¯t speak and the personal space suddenly became very quiet.

    Momentster, A of Hearts broke the silence. ¡°ording to the old rules, you can rest after clearing the Hearts secret room. The rest time given to you is still eight hours. You can now bathe and sleep. At 8 o¡¯clock in the morning, the rm clock will wake you up on time. Then go to the card wall to draw the next card. I won¡¯t apany you. Goodbye.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded at her. ¡°Okay, goodbye.¡±

    A of Hearts disappeared and Xiao Lou nced at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Group Leader Yu, rest for a while.¡±

    They might¡¯ve slept on the train these days but they had been thinking about the case and didn¡¯t sleep well. The kindest keeper, A of Hearts had given them a simple bathroom and two single beds. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou took a bath andy down on the beds.

    Xiao Lou remembered the plot cards and couldn¡¯t sleep. Yu Hanjiang also couldn¡¯t sleep so the two of them simply chatted.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°The Hearts and Spades rooms are like two separate worlds.¡±

    Xiao Lou soon understood what he meant. ¡°Group Leader Yu means that the Hearts room has strict rules. The murderer might break thews but they will be arrested and sentence. However, in the Spades secret room, the challengers can freely massacre the free people to clear the instance?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and whispered. ¡°Of the four keepers, Hearts is the most principled. Maple Forest High School¡¯s murderer, Zhang Qing was finally sentenced to death and on the train, the two killers were arrested. Inparison, 3 of Spades had a free person kill challengers while challengers massacred the indigenous people. One challenger even directly released the zombie virus in the square.¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully pondered on it for a moment. ¡°Perhaps A of Hearts is in charge of an orderly world where people will abide by morality, regtions and live a normal life. Meanwhile, A of Spades is in charge of apocalyptic worlds like Zombie Town and Financial Crisis. In that environment, people will naturally defy the shackles of morality,w and social rules in order to survive, exposing the dark side of human nature.¡±

    The murders in the Hearts room might be bloody but the final result always gave people hope and warmth. The Spades world was very dark and people could do anything to survive. Killing here wouldn¡¯t be punished. The rules of the two types of secret rooms werepletely different.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°It seems that the City of the Sun and the City of the Moon might also be an orderly world. The tour group and female group are from the City of the Sun while the City of the Moon is holding a concert. The two main cities of the free people should be a normal life.¡±

    Xiao Lou spected, ¡°If the challengers go to the main cities and find that the world is beautiful, they will gradually be integrated into the world and not want to go back? For example, they can¡¯t afford a house in reality but here they can buy a big vi after making money in the Clubs room. In reality, they can¡¯t find a partner but here they are married and have children. Will their will to return gradually dissipate and they will lose motivation to leave the Card World?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded, his expression also a bit ugly. ¡°Then after the challengers go to the main city, they don¡¯t continue to break through. They are used to life here and don¡¯t want to take risks.¡±

    Once the challenger¡¯s will was lost, their belief in ¡®going back¡¯ would be less intense. Clearing the SS-grade secret rooms was no longer important to them. The keepers stated that if they wanted to go back, they had to clear the SS-grade difficulty room. They didn¡¯t say that all challengers had to go to the top-grade secret rooms.

    Xiao Lou had a headache. ¡°If this is the case, I can understand why no one cleared it to the end out of more than 80 million challengers.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment before firmly stating, ¡°Rest assured, we must go back. Regardless if this world is good or bad, it is as unreal as a dream. If we are assimted here for a long time, perhaps we will gradually lose our humanity.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Also, there is no need to be too pessimistic. The main city will definitely have a lot of people like us who are determined to go back. Those who can clear the fourth level aren¡¯t weak and we might be able to find some more powerful partners.¡±

    ¡°I hope so,¡± Yu Hanjiang¡¯s low voice rang out. ¡°Rest first and then we will go to Diamonds.¡±

    The outside of the personal spacepletely turned to night. Sleepiness came and Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang soon fell asleep. It was a night without dreams.

    The rm clock woke them up at 8 o¡¯clock on time. The two people quickly washed up and walked to the card wall. They pulled out the next card, 4 of Diamonds. There was the familiar vertigo and they opened their eyes in a strange space.

    It was a closed chamber with an area of around four square metes. The floors were covered with a white patterned marble and there was a stone table directly in front of them. The table contained a bnce and next to it was a delicate wooden box.

    The next moment, a prompt appeared on the suspension boxes of the two people.

    [Wee Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang to the 3 of DIamonds secret room, Bnced World.

    Please unlock the mechanisms of the secret room, find the exit and escape within 30 minutes. It will be a failure if the time limit is exceeded.

    The chamber doesn¡¯t contain any hidden mechanisms and there is only one exit for the secret room. I wish the two of you good luck.]

    Once the prompt appeared, a clock showed up above their heads. The time was currently pointing to 8 o¡¯clock in the morning and the second hand started to tick. There was a red mark at 8:30, meaning they would fail if they didn¡¯t leave the secret room by 8:30.

    The mechanisms secret room was the room that Yu Hanjiang was worst at. He looked at the clock and followed Xiao Lou. ¡°Is the mechanism in this room the bnce on the table?¡±

    Xiao Lou moved first and opened the delicate wooden box. He saw some fingernail-sized silver metal weights. They werebelled 1g, 2g, 3g, 4g, 5g, 6g, 7g and 8g.

    Xiao Lou measured them with his hand and the weight was different. He smiled and said, ¡°Bnced World, the mechanisms are controlled by gravity. The moment the required weight was put on, the door to the room should open.¡±

    He looked down at the number on the weights. ¡°From 1g to 8g, there are a total of eight weights. If we put 2 and 3 while putting 1 and 4 on the other side, it will add up to 5g¡­ but I don¡¯t think it will be that simple. It is more likely that we have to use all eight weights and make the weights on both sides of the bnce exactly equal. This is the correct situation.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang might by a physical person but he still knew how to use a bnce.

    The bnce in physics was simr to the most primitive scale. Once the bnce was in apletely horizontal position, it proved that the weight on both sides was equal. All the weights would add up to the weight of the object.

    As Professor Xiao said, the secret room had eight weights and all eight had to be used. Otherwise, it was too easy to put 2+3 on one side and 1+4 on the other side. cing eight weights that ranged from 1g to 8g, how to make itpletely bnced?

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mind quickly calcted it but before he could finish, Xiao Lou stepped forward and seriously put the 2g, 4g, 5g and 7g weights on the left and the 1g, 3g, 6g and 8g weights on the right.

    The sum of the weights on the left side of the bnce was 18g and the sum of the weights on the right side was 18 grams.

    1+8, 2+7, 3+6 and 4+5 added up to 9g. Four on one side meant it had to add up to 18g. Or he could put 1, 2, 3,5, 7 on one side and 4, 6, 8 on the other side and it would be 18g. There were many solutions to this question. As long as the bnce of the weight on both sides was the same, this gravity mechanism could easily be unlocked.

    The first mechanism was so simple and it was probably to allow the challengers to understand the principle of ¡®bnce.¡¯ There was a slight wobble before the bnce was perfectly bnced. The pointer aimed at the middle red part of the scale and the stone wall in front of the table opened up enough to let them pass side by side.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s lit up. ¡°It isplete.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Once again, Professor Xiao had given the answer while he was still examining the question. Yu Hanjiang decided to give up on thinking. In any case, he had alreadyid down to win once in a Diamonds room. Today, continuing to lie down to win was good.

    After leaving the first chamber, a stone wall was raised in front of the two men and a straight channel appeared on the left and right sides respectively.

    Xiao Lou first went to the left and saw a four square metres secret room. There was a bnce on the table but this time, the chips in the box weren¡¯t weights marked with grams but cubes with Chinese characters.

    They were 5cm ¡Á 5cm ¡Á 5cm cubes with 12 Chinese characters written on them.

    Xiang, sha, tian, fei, man,ng, zhe, ting, yuan, gu, tao and fang.

    Yu Hanjiang felt that these characters were familiar and should be able to form a poem. Xiao Lou quickly thought about it and said, ¡°The 12 charactersbined just happen to form four words.¡±

    He took the characters from the wooden box, rearranged them and sorted out the four words.

    Xiang fei yuan, zheng gu tian,ng tao sha and man ting fang.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at them and wondered, ¡°What is the rtionship between these characters and weight? These character cubes are the same size and their weight should be around the same?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought carefully, picking up theplicated ¡®zhe (ðÑ) character and the simple ¡®tian (Ìì)¡¯ character. He weighted them respectively and said, ¡°The gap is very small but theplicated character is definitely heavier than the simple character. The weight should be rted to the number of strokes.¡±

    He verified it by picking up ¡®he (ºÍ) and ¡®tian (Ìì)¡¯ topare. The former was significantly heavier than thetter. Xiao Lou confirmed his idea and pointed to the table. ¡°Group Leader Yu, can I trouble you to count the strokes of these six characters while I will count the remaining six.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and quickly wrote on the palm of his hand. As he wrote, he said, ¡°Zhe (ðÑ) has 16 strokes, ¡®gu (ð³)¡¯ has 10 strokes, ¡®tian (Ìì) has 4 strokes, ng (ÀË)¡¯ has 10 strokes, ¡®tao (ÌÔ)¡¯ has 11 strokes and ¡®sha (É³)¡¯ has 7.¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°Zhe gu tian adds up to 30 strokes,ng tao sha is 28 strokes, xiang fei yuan is 27 strokes, man ting fang is 29 strokes. 30 and 27 together, 28 and 29 together, the left and right sides happen to be 57. Let¡¯s try it.¡±

    The two people quickly put the 30 strokes ¡®zhe gu tian¡¯ and the 27 strokes ¡®xiang fei yuan¡¯ on the left side of the bnce and the 28 strokes ng tao sha¡¯ and the 29 strokes ¡®man ting fang¡¯ on the right side.

    Sure enough, there was a moment of swinging before the pointer of the bnce pointed to the middle, proving that the two people had analyzed it correctly.

    Yu Hanjiang gave Xiao Lou a thumbs up in his heart.

    This question wasn¡¯t too difficult. First, put the disordered characters into words and then analyze the strokes of the words, allowing them to find a bnce point. The strokes of the four words should add up to 30, 29, 28 and 27. Thebination of 30 and 27 and 29 and 28 made itpletely equal on both sides.

    The mechanisms of the 4 of Diamonds room were about bnce. Since the theme of the challenge was ¡®bnced world¡¯, they could unlock the mechanism as long as they found this bnce.

    ¡­¡­

    The mechanism of the room on the left side was unlocked but the wall in front of them didn¡¯t change. There was just a rumbling sound like the wall had rotated somewhere.

    Xiaolou and Yu Hanjiang quickly turned back.

    They went half-way and saw a stone door appearing on the wall that had just been blocked. However, the door was still closed. Xiao Lou talked while walking, ¡°The door should open once we release the mechanism on the right side.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and quickly followed him.

    The two men quickly walked to the end of the right corridor. It was a small room of four square metres and it also had a table with a bnce and box on the table. Rather than numbers or characters, the box contained several strange graphic figures.

    Xiao Lou picked up these geometric figures and examined them carefully. ¡°A square, diamond, triangle¡­ there are only two edge lengths, 5cm and 10cm. Assuming that the 5cm segment weighs 5g and the 10 cm segment weights 10g, we just need to line up the segments on the scale to make up the same number.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also felt this was particrly simple. He quickly cooperated with Professor Xiao to convert several graphic segments.

    The rectangle was 10cm long and 5cm wide. The weight could be converted to 10+5+10+5 = 30g.

    The diamond and square had four sides 5cm long and the weight was converted to 20g.

    The two equteral triangles had three sides 5cm long and the weight was 15g.

    Xiao Lou put the rectangle and square on the left side of the bnce and the diamond and two equteral triangles on the right side. The weights on the left and right sides were 50g and the pointed of the bnce pointed precisely at the middle

    There was the sound of the wall opening and Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°It was sessful.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang continued to follow behind Xiao Lou¡­ it was reallyfortable to lie down and win.

    The two turned back to the corridor. The door in the corridor had really opened. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other and entered the door. The moment they walked in, the stone door behind them suddenly closed. The two men were trapped in a closed chamber.

    Xiao Lou quickly looked around. This room was spacious and was around 20 square metres. The ground and surrounding walls were the same white patterned marble brick. Unlike other rooms which had the table and bnce, this room was empty and there were no tools or mechanisms.

    The moment the two men entered the room, two huge circr stones around 2 metres in diameter suddenly rose from the ground. One stone was red and the other blue, with scales simr to the bnce on them.

    Xiao Lou went to the stones to carefully observe. Yu Hanjiang followed and said, ¡°It seems that if we want to leave this room, we can only rely on these two big stones. The scale on them should also be about weight?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°This room is called Bnced World. The previous three mechanisms were encountered were all about bnce. First, there were the numbers. Second, there were the Chinese characters and third, there were the geometric figures. The four one¡­ there is nothing. Are we meant to stand on it?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°Try it.¡±

    He walked over to stand on the blue stone. The pointer at his feet immediately spun and eventually stopped at 75kg. Xiao Lou also moved to stand on the red stone and the pointer at his feet was fixed to 65kg.

    The four walls didn¡¯t respond and the room was so quiet that a needle dropping would be audible. The two people nced at each other.

    Xiao Lou spoke helplessly. ¡°We aren¡¯t the same weight and the door won¡¯t open.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked over and asked, ¡°Professor Xiao, are you only 65kg? This is a bit thin for a height of 1.8 metres. You should eat moreter.¡±

    Xiao Louughed. ¡°I don¡¯t get fat when I eat, it is probably a physical problem.¡± Yu Hanjiang was very strong. He was 1.8 metres tall and 75kg. He wasn¡¯t fat or thin, he was muscr.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the scale under his feet and frowned. ¡°I am heavier than you and there is nothing else in the room. Or¡­ should I take off my clothes for you to wear?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°The weight of your clothes won¡¯t reach 10kg. It shouldn¡¯t be this way. If a man and a woman enter this chamber, the weight gap will be even greater. There would be no way to bnce this electronic scale just based on weight and clothing.¡±

    In the empty room, there were no tools apart from the challengers. How to bnce the scales? Xiao Lou touched his chin and fell into thought.

 Chapter 94: 4 of Diamonds: Balanced World 2

    Xiao Lou came down from the stone. He tried to stand on the ground while both hands pressed on the heavy stone. However, he found that the scale didn¡¯t respond. In other words, it wasn¡¯t advisable for the two of them to press the electronic scale at the same time to make the weight equal.

    The two stones seemed to have intelligent sensing. They had to stand on itpletely because the scale would work. Standing on one leg, stepping hard or pressing with both hands only had the pointer stay on ¡®0.¡¯

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou¡¯s movements and spected, ¡°Is it because some part of our body is still connected to the ground and isn¡¯t floating on the stones, so the stones don¡¯t recognize us?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Floating¡­ I¡¯ll try it with the rings!¡±

    He quickly drew several metal rings with the Compass and ced them on the stones of both sides. However, the scale above the two stones still showed ¡®0¡¯.

    Xiao Lou was startled. ¡°It isn¡¯t right?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took out the weapon card he just obtained, Bloodthirsty Golden Shark from his pack. The weight in the description was 4.5 kg. Xiao Lou saw this gun and put away the floating rings, letting Group Leader Yu put on the card. Yu Hanjiang put the gun on the electronic scale and¡­ the scale was still 0.

    They looked down at the electronic scale in silence. Xiao Lou thought for a moment before saying, ¡°I¡¯ll try the character summoning cards.¡±

    He summoned Bai Juyi and Di Renjie on the left and right sides and the scale was still 0. Xiao Lou was dumbfounded. ¡°It seems that the electronic scale will only register the weight of us challengers. People called from the card and the object from a card itself isn¡¯t recognized.¡±

    He touched his chin and thought carefully. What if a man and woman entered this room? All cards couldn¡¯t be used and it didn¡¯t react to pressing with the hands and feet. How could they bnce the two electronic scales?

    Xiao Lou observed the distance between the two electronic scales and his eyes suddenly brightened. ¡°Group Leader Yu, we stand up together¡­. no, we should lie down. Put your head on one scale and your feet on the other scale!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang heard this and suddenly realized.

    The diametre between the two electronic scales was around two metres. The middle distance was around 1.4 metres. Two people lying on both scales at the same time would allow the scales to sense their weight. The weight should be the sum of both people and then averaged. ording to the principle of bnce, when an object was ced against two scales, the weight of the two scales was bnced.

    Xiao Lou firsty with his upper body on the blue electronic scale and his lower body on the red electronic scale. His waist had no support but due to the distance between the two scales, he didn¡¯t have to worry about falling down. It was equivalent to his entire body crossing the two scales.

    Meanwhile, Yu Hanjiangy on the red scale with his feet against the blue scale. The two meny t on the rocks and the two electronic scales finally changed.

    Yu Hanjiang weighed 75kg and Xiao Lou weighed 65kg. Theyy on the scale and their total weight was 140kg. Since the weight of the two people was shared by two electronic scales, the scales were fixed at 70kg!

    There was a loud rumbling sound in his ears and Xiao Lou turned to look. Another door had opened in the stone wall in front of them. The two men came down from the stocks and walked side by side.

    On the wall of the stone wall, there was a giant chessboard with two boxes filled with ck and white pieces below them.

    There were already some scattered ck and white pieces of the board, leaving a lot of spaces in the middle. They apparently had to put the other pieces on the board in order to release the mechanism.

    Yu Hanjiang saw the ck and white chessboard and his first reaction was, ¡°Go? Is it to finish the game?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head and carefully observed the existing pieces on the chessboard. ¡°This should be a yin and yang map.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was stunned and looked at it again. The existing ck and white lines were connected and the perimeter was exactly a circle. The ck firmed a semicircle on the left side and the white formed a semicircle on the right side. The centre of the semicircle contained exactly one different coloured piece, like an ¡®eye.¡¯

    Xiao Lou walked to the chessboard. He filled the ¡®yin¡¯ area with ck pieces and the ¡®yang¡¯ area with white pieces.

    The yin and yang map gave off a soft light and started to rotate quickly. Momentster, there was a loud bang and the wall in front of them opened again.

    They walked in and found that a room with two huge stones around two metres in diameter. The corner contained arge number of little boy and little girl wooden models. The model girl was wearing a full-length skirt while the boy was wearing a blue long shirt. They were a bit like an ancient golden couple. Since the model¡¯s height was around one metre, it was impossible to put it on the table.

    Xiao Lou touched his chin to think for a moment. ¡°Just now, the chessboard was a yin and yang bnced mechanism. The principle of this room should also be yin and yang bnce. The left side is full of the boy models and the right side is the girls. It is yin and yang.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang immediately did it, moving a dozen wooden models to the rocks. The yin and yang were bnced and the two huge stones started to descend rapidly. They fell back to the ground and revealed an opening in the room.

    Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t expected there to be so many mechanisms in 4 of Diamonds! The two people nced at each other and quickly stepped through the stone door into the next secret room.

    This time, there was a huge array on the wall. There were five small circles connected to arge circle and some messy connections in the middle. The circle in the upper left corner lit up with a red me after the two entered the house and the word ¡®fire¡¯ appeared.

    Next to the wall were four round items of different colours. They had the following words written on them: wood, gold, water and earth.

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°A five-line bnce?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and went to the wall. ¡°The principle of bncing the five elements is that the neighbouring attributes should empower each other while the subduing attributes are separated. Then fire should be ahead of wood since wood lights fires. Fire is behind earth. Fire opposes water so fill out the remaining gold.¡±

    As he spoke, he ced the four items in the vacancy. Wood, fire, earth, gold, water went clockwise to form a huge ring that had a perfect convergence. The entire array started to flow regrly and the five colours lit up at the same time. The bnced five elements mechanism was easily solved by Xiao Lou.

    This time, there wasn¡¯t the sound of the wall opened. The two people simultaneously saw prompts pop up.

    [Congrattions Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang for perfectly clearing the 4 of Diamonds secret room, Bnced World in 15 minutes and 48 seconds.]

    The two people were transferred out of the secret room and back to their personal space.

    A of Diamonds was wearing a cute cake dress and sitting on the sofa waiting for them. The little girl saw the two of them and smiled sweetly. ¡°You are still very rxed when clearing the Diamonds room!¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Bnced World, it is very simple once you know the principle.¡±

    The numerical bnce, the strokes bnce, the segment length bnce, the challengers¡¯ weight bnce, the yin and yang bnce, the boy and girl pattern and the final five elements pattern. There were a total of seven small mechanisms and all of them had the theme of ¡®bnce.¡¯

    The main difficulty of the secret room was the double electronic scales. If they couldn¡¯t think of two people lying together to spread the weight then they were likely to be stuck there for a long time. They also needed to find that the pattern of the ck and white pieces was actually a yin and yang map.

    A of Diamonds nodded and spoke seriously. ¡°The pass rate of this is more than 70%. In fact, it is a benefit given to you. After all, most challengers of 4 of Diamonds have a psychological shadow from 4 of Hearts or suffered a mental breakdown from 4 of Spades. If 4 of Diamonds is too difficult then you can continue breaking through.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°The Diamonds room still won¡¯t give time to rest?¡±

    The little girl smiled. ¡°Entering this low-level Diamonds room is a type of rest in itself.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was puzzled. ¡°We cracked the mechanisms fast enough. Why didn¡¯t we refresh the world record?¡±

    He was very confident in Professor Xiao¡¯s problem-solving speed. Apart from the body scale where they were stuck for a while, the other mechanisms were solved very smoothly. Xiao Lou almost immediately thought of the answer after examining the question. Was there anyone faster than them?

    A of Diamonds smiled. ¡°You are really greedy. Previously, the two of you refreshed many world records for the Hearts and Diamonds rooms. You can¡¯t break the record every time, right?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought of the possibility. ¡°The 4 of Diamonds record holders, are they two people with exactly the same weight?¡±

    A of Diamonds nodded. ¡°Yes, the current world record is 10 minutes and 15 seconds, which is more than 5 minutes faster than you. Both challengers are 62kg. They are twins and both very smart. This is the bnce of humanity.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Identical twins with the same weight and height, it was really impossible topare.

    The two people directly standing on the electronic scales could unlock the mechanism, unlike him and Group Leader Yu who were there for a long time. They even put Bai Juyi and Di Renjie on the scale as a test¡­

    Xiao Lou smiled helplessly. ¡°Breaking the record doesn¡¯t matter. A perfect clearance can still draw cards, right?¡±

    A of Diamonds flicked her finger. ¡°Yes, please receive your reward.¡±

    A new card appeared in front of Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang.

    [Tool Card: Bnce]

    Rarity: A

    Description: A fixed reward for clearing the 4 of Diamonds secret room, Bnced World

    Restriction: A team limited card. The team that signed the same contract can only carry one Bnce.

    Effect: Throw out the bnce and form two 5m diameter silver metal discs in the designated area for 5 minutes. All targets on the disc can¡¯t leave for the time being but others can enter. The discs will only disy the weight and once the weight of the two discs is equal, the disc will disappear and the target is free again.

    Once the bnce is retracted, it can only be used after an hour.

    Xiao Lou looked at this card and his heart was happy. ¡°It is a very strong group control card.¡±

    It might be a team limited card and each team could only carry one, but the control effect was very useful.

    For example, there were a few people standing together. Throw the Bnce card at them and they would be on the same disc. Since the weight of the other disc wasn¡¯t equal to them, they would be trapped in the bnce and couldn¡¯t move for five minutes.

    Moreover, the card¡¯s skill cooldown time was very shortpared to the 24 hour summoning card. It could be used once an hour and when being chased, the other side being trapped for 5 minutes was enough to escape. Of course, since it was a fixed reward for clearing the instance, every team would have a Bnce and they would also want to prevent being trapped by the enemy.

    Xiao Lou happily put away the card. ¡°Where is the draw?¡±

    The little girl took out the glittering treasure chest and floated them in front of the two men. ¡°This room is very simple so there is only one draw opportunity. You can discuss who will draw it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°You do it.¡±

    Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t polite and stepped forward, reaching into the treasure chest.

    [Congrattions on drawing the S-grade summoning card, Qin Guan!]

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Did he identally break through to a nest of historical figures? This hand always drew character cards! Yesterday, he had just drawn Liu Yong and today Qin Guan came to him. This Song Dynasty writer and poet had a very famous poem ¡®Immortal on Magpie Bridge¡¯, of which many lines were popr.

    [Summoning Card: Qin Guan]

    Rarity: S

    Description: After a perfect clearance and when there is an S score, there is a low probability of obtaining it from the limited card pool.

    Note: Qin Guan has fewer poems and was regarded as a graceful poet of the Song Dynasty. He studied under Su Shi and was respected for his graceful and subdued style of writing.

    Additional Skills 1: Tender like water, good times like a dream.

    From the Qin Guan poem ¡®Immortal on Magpie Bridge¡¯. It describes the story of the weaver girl and the cowherd, talking about the lovers¡¯ sad and happy separation.

    Usage Effect: Summon Qin Guan and activate the skill. Let Qin Guan gently look at the other person and use water-like tenderness to let the designated target enter a beautiful dream thatsts3 minutes. The skill cooldown time is one hour.

    Additional Skill 2: If the love between the twosts long, what does it matter if they are separated day and night?

    Qin Guan tells the story that if two hearts are the same, why stay together every day? Even if they are thousands of miles apart, they can look at the clouds and stars in the sky and miss the other person, feeling the other person¡¯s presence.

    Usage Effect: Specify a target and let the other person enter the ¡®hearts are connected state¡¯ No matter how far apart the two people, they can fell what the other person is thinking. After using this skill, they can cross the secret rooms and the main city to make voice calls at any time. As long as they love each other, time and space aren¡¯t a problem.

    This connected statests 7 hours and can be opened once a day.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    He felt really powerless about this card. He looked at Yu Hanjiang and thetter was calm. ¡°The second skill is very useful. Two people are bound and can talk at any time. It is much more convenient than a mobile phone call. The key is that it can also cross secret rooms and the main cities. This is something a mobile phone can¡¯t do.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Yes, ignoring the constant love and missing each other part of the description, this skill is really good to use.¡±

    He put away the card with Liu Yong.

    Liu Yong and Qin Guan, two Song Dynasty people had found him. He had a hunch that next time it might be Su Shi¡¯s turn¡­ he had so many graceful and restrained style poets, what about a bold and unrestrained one? Xiao Lou rubbed his temple and felt that his hand had been saved.

    A of Diamonds smiled at him. ¡°You drew a bunch of character cards and character cards are very rare. If you don¡¯t want them then you can sell them for a good price.e¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°Don¡¯t sell them, I will keep them for my own use.¡±

    A of Diamonds shrugged regretfully. ¡°Well, there is no rest in the Diamonds room. Please prepare for the next clearance.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang walked to the card wall and didn¡¯t hesitate to pull out 4 of Spades.

    Xiao Lou thought about Chief Shao and Ye Qi. If they smoothly cleared 4 of Clubs and 4 of Diamonds, they should being to 4 of Spades. He hoped to meet with them in 4 of Spades to discuss the next n.

 Chapter 95: Liuxi Village

    Yu Hanjiang touched the 4 of Spades ying card and there was a familiar dark vortex. The two men were sucked into the 4 of Spades world and Xiao Lou endured the vertigo caused by space conversion.

    This ce was surrounded by mountains and vegetation. Both sides of the road contained lush greenery and it was like a quiet paradise.

    There was a small mountain vige not far away. It was dusk and the golden sunset seemed to ce a small veil over the entire vige. A clear stream was flowing around the vige and blue smoke rose in the distance. The strong aroma of food filled the air. Someone unknown was cooking pork with green peppers. The spicy scent of green peppers and the scent of pork mixed together and drifted from afar, arousing Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s appetite.

    It had clearly been morning when they cleared 4 of Diamonds just now but in the world of A of Spades, it was dusk.

    The time flow rate of the secret room was controlled by the keeper. It was the same when they went to 3 of Spadesst time. It suddenly changed from dusk to morning. They were used to the confusion of different times in secret worlds so they weren¡¯t affected by the time difference.

    What world did A of Spades throw them in this time? It looked like a little vige in the wild mountains? The two men were wondering about this when the floating boxes about their heads filled with the familiar text cues.

    [Wee Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang to the 4 of Spades secret room, Liuxi Vige!]

    It is home to the clearest stream in the world and the entire vige is surrounded by three streams, so it is named Liuxi Vige (Flowing Creek Vige).

    This is a small isted vige. It is said that due to gic reasons, the babies of the vige are born blind. Their world is dark and they can¡¯t see any light. They think it is normal for all humans to be in darkness like them.

    The sun setting or summer, spring, autumn and winter have no difference in their eyes.

    In the dark world, they have their own standards to judge time. Every day when the rooster crows, they will get up in a group and turn the hourss in the middle of the vige upside down. Once the sand in the hourss runs out, they know it is dark and everyone will go to bed on time.

    The vigers¡¯ lives are simple, regr and idle.

    It wasn¡¯t until one day, there was a gic mutation in the vige and a child could see the light.

    The child found out that this world was actually so colourful.

    However, Liuxi Vige is too remote. There are no roads or railways. Only helicopters can fly into the mountains. Even if the child could see, there is no way to go to the outside world.

    They had to stay in the vige and live like a blind person with their friends and family.

    You don¡¯t know who this person is hiding in the crowd but once they find you, they will immediately unite with the other vigers to drive you out. Liuxi Vige is extremely reclusive and doesn¡¯t allow outsiders to disturb the quiet of the vige.

    Outside the vige is a continuous wildness. There are wild animals, poisonous snakes and birds of prey, making hard for people who leave the vige to survive.

    Asking challengers to live in Liuxi Vige for seven days and try not to be kicked out of the vige.

    During this survival period, it is forbidden to kill vigers. Challengers who kill vigers are directly judged to have failed.

    Every challenger will receive the negative effect of ¡®blinding¡¯ randomly for three hours every day. Try to act with your partner so you don¡¯t fall into theke and drown when you can¡¯t see.

    It is said that Liuxi Vige is home to seven precious stones. After seven days, any team that has found a stone is judged to have cleared the instance. The team that can¡¯t find one will be expelled from the vige.

    Friendly tip: The hearing and smell of the blind are usually extremely sensitive.

    Good luck.]

    Xiao Lou had been looking at Yu Hanjiang and just wanted to speak when the prompt appeared. He immediately looked around and found no one. He leaned close to Yu Hanjiang and whispered, ¡°This vige is full of blind people but there is a gic variation in one of them and they can see. If we are discovered, we will be expelled from the vige. Is that what it means?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and concluded, ¡°For seven days, we have to avoid the vigers and find a gem. Finding one will allow us to clear the instance.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked up at the mountain vige not far away. ¡°I think that it won¡¯t be as simple as hiding from the vigers and looking for the gems. It is likely that there will be other things within seven days.¡±

    In the 3 of Spades Financial Crisis, all challengers were issued 100,000 coins. As long as the challengers could obtain enough supplies to not starve to death, they could smoothly clear the instance. This looked very simple.

    Who would¡¯ve thought that the challengers were living in a ce that robbed and killed its guests? The owner and free man worked together and nearly killed the challengers.

    This time, 4 of Spades was definitely more difficult than 3 of Spades.

    First, they didn¡¯t know if the person with the gic mutation was male or female, old or young. This person mixed in with the vigers and had grown up with blind rtives and friends. Their ability to camouge was absolutely first ss.

    Since they didn¡¯t know the identity, the challengers needed to avoid all vigers, increasing the difficulty. Once found, they would be evicted from the vige.

    Outside the vige contained countless beasts and poisonous snakes. The result of being driven out was to be food in the belly of the beast. Even more so, challengers would randomly be blind every three hours What if an ident urred at this time? In addition, what if a challenger found a gem? If challengers couldn¡¯t find anything after a few days, would they steal gems from other people?

    In thest few days, infighting was likely to take ce as challengers tried to clear the instance. They couldn¡¯t rule out the possibility of some challengers being able to clear the instance so they would ruthlessly drag others down with them, resulting in the challenger group¡¯s destruction.

    Challengers could unite in Financial Crisis but this secret room had too many restrictions. The more people there were, the greater the movements and the easier it was to be found. Therefore, it wasn¡¯t advisable to join hands for the moment. Once a pig teammate exposed their whereabouts, it was likely to cause the challengers to die.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°Advance to the vige to see.¡±

    They walked side by side. They hadn¡¯t taken a few steps when they saw a clear dividing line. Next to the boundary was a stone monument with the words ¡®Liuxi Vige¡¯ engraved on them. This was obviously the vige boundary.

    It was dusk and the vigers were busy. Women picked vegetables from gardens in groups of two or three to prepare dinner. The men went to the fountain to carry water while children were ying in the open space. Others were walking their dogs through the vige.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang hid behind trees far away. The blind vigers looked like ordinary people and their eyes were clearer than most people, as if they had been washed by a stream.

    There was a gic reason behind not being able to see. It was just a pity they had such beautiful eyes. Since they were blind from an early age, they developed a strong sense of hearing and smell and there was also their familiarity with the vige¡¯s roads, houses and other vigers. Young people didn¡¯t walk slowly or even need a walking stick. Only some old people with grey hair walked with sticks and slowly explored the road.

    Many old people had huge and strong dogs that were nearly a metre tall¡­

    Xiao Lou met the eyes of a dog and hurriedly ducked to hide behind a tree. He saw a big dog and was scared his voice would be heard, so he crouched down and used a branch on the ground to quickly write, ¡°This dog looks fierce. Group Leader Yu, is it familiar to you?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang quickly wrote, ¡°It is a Tibetan mastiff. They were one of the most ferocious dogs and their territorial awareness is very strong. In the territory of strangers, they will show a strong hostility. They have a good attack, supple body and sharp teeth capable of biting off a human neck. It is forbidden to raise such fierce beasts in the city so Professor Xiao has probably never seen them before.¡±

    Xiao Lou was frightened. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen them but I¡¯ve heard of them before. How can there be such ferocious dogs in this vige?¡±

    ¡°They might be fierce but they have the characteristic of being very loyal to their master. Tibetan mastiffs have a strong sense of protection and protect their territory, food and belongings. If Liuxi Vige is their territory then us outsiders will be enemies.¡±

    Xiao Lou secretly looked out from behind the tree at the majestic figure of the Tibetan mastiff in the distance. If he was knocked down by the Tibetan mastiff then he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to resist. Xiao Lou suddenly had a splitting headache. ¡°It seems that we have to avoid the vigers as well as the big dogs.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Once it gets dark and the vigers are asleep, let¡¯s do it again.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. This was the only way.

    Not far away, a woman holding a basket of vegetables and a man carrying water almost ran into each other. Then they seemed to sense the same thing when they got close to each other. The woman stopped and asked with a smile, ¡°Brother Qin, are you going to fetch water?¡±

    The man replied, ¡°Yes, we ran out of water at home. Your family¡¯s Niuniu is feeling better?¡±

    The woman sighed helplessly. ¡°She was caught in the rain a few days ago and has a low fever. I¡¯m nning to take her to Grandma Sun after dinner. She has been in poor health since she was a child.¡±

    The man said, ¡°You can¡¯t be careless. Hurry and bring her to Grandma Sun as fast as possible for a prescription.¡±

    ¡°I know. I will go home first. Say hello to your wife for me.¡±

    The two people parted on the road and went home.

    The dialogue between the man and woman made Xiao Lou feel it was very magical. He quickly wrote on the ground, ¡°Their eyes can¡¯t see but they can distinguish each other when passing by. It is so powerful.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also grabbed a branch to write. ¡°They were blind since birth and are ustomed to the darkness of the world. Their keen hearing allows them to distinguish everyone¡¯s footsteps and their keen sense of smell lets them smell everyone. They are very familiar with the vige¡¯s roads, buildings and even small animals. It is too hard for us if we don¡¯t want to be found by them.¡±

    At first, Xiao Lou thought it would be fine to hide from the bosses who couldn¡¯t see.

    Now it seemed likely that all the vigers would discover their existence and the huge Tibetan mastiffs were a threat to everyone.

    Xiao Lou pointed to the tall, wooden hourss in the middle of an open space. ¡°That big hourss is used by the vigers to tell time? Once the sand runs out, it is time for them to go to bed. Then we¡¯ll go to the vige to check.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°We have to find out which homes have a Tibetan mastiff and avoid these fierce dogs.¡±

    The two of them hid behind the tree and waited patiently for it to be dark. Just then, two men surreptitiously stuck out their heads from a tree in the west. They cleverly hid from the vigers as they walked slowly into the vige.

    The two of them had very soft footsteps and walked like thieves. As a result, they were only a few steps away when a ck Tibetan mastiff suddenly turned back and growled in their direction. ¡°Bark bark!

    A huge dog over a metre high was staring at them. The two men¡¯s expressions changed and they turned to run. The hunched-over old woman turned to look in their direction and spoke in a cold voice, ¡°I seem to smell strangers¡­ Little ck, go chase.¡±

    She released the rope and the Tibetan mastiff started to chase the two challengers.

    The other old people around them heard the movement and frowned. ¡°Has a strangere to the vige?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Little ck found them,¡± The olddy said.

    The ck Tibetan mastiff was very well behaved by its master¡¯s side and looked docile, like a well-behaved child. From time to time, it rubbed against its master¡¯s hand. However, once chasing a stranger, it was almost as fast as a beast!

    The huge ck shadow moved like the wind and caught up to the two men. Seeing the ferocious ck dog get closer and closer, the two boys were in a panic. They weren¡¯t familiar with the vige and ended up in a dead end alley. Then they were thrown to the ground by the Tibetan mastiff!

    ¡°Ah¡ªAhhh¡ª¡±

    There was the squeal of dying pigs from the alley.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face was white and he couldn¡¯t bear to look away. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes had be extraordinarily deep.

    The Tibetan mastiff soon came out with clothing fragments and bloody flesh. The hunched-over olddy came over to smell it and spoke coldly, ¡°Indeed, strangers have broken into the vige. She looked to the side. ¡°Lin San, can I trouble you to tell the vige chief to have people carefully guard against outsiders. They think they can easily bully us because we are blind and it is unknown what bad things they will do!¡±

    The young man called Lin San immediately said, ¡°Okay Aunt Qin, I¡¯ll go to the vige chief¡¯s house.¡±

    The olddy led the dog out of the alley. The Tibetan mastiff barked a few times, attracting the attention of the young people nearby. They asked incredulously, ¡°Aunt Qin, what happened?¡±

    The olddy spoke coldly, ¡°Someone sneaked into the vige. Break their legs and throw them out.¡±

    She turned away with this sentence, hunched over as she held the big dog.

    The group of young people picked up sticks for a beating. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang could clearly hear the sound of broken bones and the two challengers¡¯ panicked screams¡­

    Momentster, the two beaten and bitten men were thrown straight out of the vige. Silence was restored in the vige. Not far away behind a tree, two girls¡¯ faces were white with horror, their entire bodies shaking. Xiao Lou made the ¡®shh¡¯ gesture and they immediately covered their mouths.

    Yu Hanjiang wrote on the ground. ¡°These two guys were too impatient and looked down on the blind. They alerted the vige and our next actions will be more difficult.¡±

    Xiao Lou had a headache. ¡°They couldn¡¯t wait for night and the vigers to sleep before entering the vige? They were too anxious.¡±

    They didn¡¯t know the Tibetan mastiff and were bold enough to act when the olddy was walking the dog through the vige. This was simply running to death.

    How many challengers hade to Liuxi Vige this time? Apart from the two silly people who rushed into the vige to be found, the other challengers were very quiet and everyone was silently hiding.

    It wasn¡¯t until thest grain of sand fell in the hourss and Old Lady Qin took the dog back home that the other vigers returned home.

    It was dark and the vige had be extraordinarily quiet. The cold moonlight spilled down, leaving a soft shadow over the small mountain vige. The light of the moonlight might be dim but it was better thanplete darkness.

    Gradually, there were sounds from the surroundings. It was clear that the challengers wereing out.

    In the moonlight, Xiao Lou saw a skinny girl. She was only around 1.5 metres and barely reached Xiao Lou¡¯s chest. Her hair was tied in a ponytail and her actions very neat as she jumped from one tree to another tree. After several sessive jumps, she jumped over the wall and climbed onto the roof of a viger¡¯s home.

    Xiao Lou only felt a dark shadow in the moonlight and instantly lost track of her.

    Immediately after, Xiao Lou saw a man slipped over the ground like a reptile, his crawling posture much like a gecko. He also specifically picked shadows of the trees to crawl under and disappeared.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered in Xiao Lou¡¯s ear, ¡°To be able to reach 4 of Spades, most challengers aren¡¯t simple.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. The two people at the opening were too strange and it was estimated that challengers of several levels were mixed up in this room. The secret room had warned that the vigers were blind but their hearing and smell were extremely sharp, yet they dared to rush into the vige.

    More challengers with IQ were alerted to a key message.

    Once the hourss¡¯s sand finished, the vigers would sleep. The safest time to act was when the vigers were asleep.

    Xiao Lou wanted to talk when Yu Hanjiang suddenly pointed to the front and whispered, ¡°Look over there.¡±

    In the front left, there was a hooded teenager and an adult man over 1.85 metres tall. They moved from one tree to another. If Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes weren¡¯t good then he would almost think he was hallucinating. Under the moonlight, the two men quickly crossed 50 metres and soon disappeared from Xiao Lou¡¯s view.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°It¡¯s Ye Qi and Shao Qingge.¡±

 Chapter 96: Liuxi Village 02

    Yu Hanjiang had returned Ye Qi¡¯s teleport card before leaving 3 of Spades. At this time, watching Ye Qi and Shao Qingge enter the vige, Xiao Lou felt very familiar and quickly asked, ¡°Should we follow?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Professor Shao should use the eleration shoes.¡±

    Previous, Yu Hanjiang had drawn the S-grade equipment card Gale. The skill attached increased movement speed by five times. Ye Qi and Shao Qingge could teleport but there was a drawback to the Teleport Card. They could only teleport in a straight line and couldn¡¯t prate past obstacles. The roads in the vige were curved and it wasn¡¯t difficult to catch up with them.

    Xiao Lou opened the skill of the eleration shoes and moved like the wind was at his feet. He moved in the direction that Ye Qi and Shao Qingge disappeared and quickly caught up. Yu Hanjiang followed closely, keeping a certain distance.

    Group Leader Yu could actually keep up despite not having the eleration. Xiao Lou felt ashamed. It seemed that his physical strength and speed were too different from Group Leader Yu. His speed was elerated by five times yet Group Leader Yu could still catch up. In the future, he would have to do more physical training.

    The roads in the vige weren¡¯tplicated. The two of them followed and Ye Qi and Shao Qingge soon appeared in their field of view. Ye Qi and Shao Qingge had obviously entered a dead end and were about to turn back when they encountered Xiao Lou.

    Under the moonlight, they couldn¡¯t see each other¡¯s faces, only a vague outline. Ye Qi found his way blocked by two men and instinctively wanted to leave. Yu Hanjiang grabbed his clothes and spoke in a low voice, ¡°Why are you running? It¡¯s us.¡±

    The voice was low and cold but he seemed to have heard it somewhere before? Ye Qi hadn¡¯t reflected over the identity of the other man when he heard a gentle voice in his ears. ¡°Little Ye, you forgot us so quickly?¡±

    It was Professor Xiao¡¯s voice! Ye Qi¡¯s eyes lit up excitedly. ¡°It is you!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang made a ¡®quiet¡¯ gesture and pointed to arge tree in the distance. Ye Qi understood and quickly followed. The four people came to a distant tree. Shao Qingge smiled and said, ¡°I thought we wouldn¡¯t encounter you this time. We wasted too much time in 3 of Hearts and 4 of Diamonds.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°3 of Hearts? Didn¡¯t we tell you about it before?¡±

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Group Leader Yu was still so direct.

    Ye Qi stared at Shao Qingge. ¡°You already knew the plot? No wonder why you were looking for a Ying Xiaoya around Maple Forest High School! I was wondering who Ying Xiaoya was. It turned out you were given the plot by Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao!¡±

    The revealed Shao Qingge showed no embarrassment. His peach blossom eyes narrowed and he smiled. ¡°It is a pity there was no Ying Xiaoya in the world we entered. The deceased was a girl called Zhou Yu and the murderer wasn¡¯t called Zhang Qing.¡±

    Ye Qi continued, ¡°The deceased in Maple Forest High School wasn¡¯t Ying Xiaoya but the plot should be simr to Shao Qingge¡¯s spection. It was a story of revenge and Shao Qingge found the book Count of Monte Cristo.¡±

    At that time, Ye Qi had truly felt admiration. Shao Qingge had actually locked onto the murderer through the book. He didn¡¯t expect that Shao Qingge knew the plot in advance from Professor Xiao¡­

    Xiao Lou heard up to here and was thoughtful. ¡°You mean, the names of the main character of the Hearts room and the killer changed?¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°It is simr to how the mechanisms in the Diamonds room are simr but the questions are different. I feel that the Hearts secret room has a question bank. After different challengers enter, the plot will be randomly selected. The general direction is simr but there will be differences in the small details. Therefore, we can¡¯t just rely on other people¡¯s spoilers to clear the instance perfectly. We have to use our brain to find clues.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Did you also encounter trouble in 4 of Diamonds?¡±

    Ye Qi looked embarrassed. ¡°We thought for a long time at the body weight scale. We finally decided to lie down but it took more than 25 minutes.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine as long as you cleared the instance.¡± Xiao Lou smiled and patted the young man¡¯s shoulder. ¡°The time flow rate in the second room is regted by the keeper. You went to 3 of Hearts, 4 of Clubs and then 4 of Diamonds. We went to 3 of Clubs, 4 of Hearts and 4 of Diamonds. We both experienced three secret rooms and the times were really matched together.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes were full of joy as he looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°Yes! I suddenly have a lot more confidence with your presence.¡±

    Shao Qingge said, ¡°You can¡¯t be careless. I¡¯ve found that many challengers have gone into the vige and the number of people matched this time should be no less than Financial Crisis. The most critical thing is the prompt when entering Liuxi Vige.¡±

    ¡°You mean how there are seven gems in the vige and you must find one to clear the instance?¡± Xiao Lou asked.

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°The clearance is calcted ording to the team. Ye Qi and I signed a contract and we¡¯re counted as one team. The two of you are another team. This means that we must find two gems if all four of us want to clear the instance.¡±

    Ye Qi also reacted by nervously saying, ¡°I just saw someone acting alone with no teammate around. He would only have to find one gem to clear the instance. There are seven teams in total but those with more than one team would definitely add up to more than seven. This means the final clearance item will be in short supply?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly and lowered his voice. ¡°This is obviously a problem created for 4 of Spades. In theter stages, in order to clear the instance, there will be a directpetition between challengers. Those who don¡¯t receive gems will try to steal the gems of others. Unlike the Financial Crisis, we can¡¯t work together to clear the instance. Challengers are bound to be eliminated in this secret room. We can¡¯t blindly trust other challengers.¡±

    Perhaps the other side would say to work together on the surface but they would steal a gem at thest moment. People¡¯s minds were unpredictable and had to be guarded against.

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°In this secret room, we can only look after ourselves. The four of us will have to find two gems to clear the instance and we don¡¯t have the energy to help other challengers. If someone steals our stones then everything wille to naught.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°We will advance into the vige, check the terrain of the vige and draw a map.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Act together?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang shook his head. ¡°Act separately. Ye Qi and Shao Qingge have the teleportation card. You check the west and north of the vige. Professor Xiao and I will check the south and east directions.¡±

    Neither of them had an opinion on this. Xiao Lou reminded them, ¡°By the way, there is an olddy surnamed Qin who raised a huge Tibetan mastiff. That dog is very fierce. If you meet it then you must hide.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s face turned white. ¡°Tibetan mastiff? Is that the ck dog that seriously injured the two challengers?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it has a very sensitive sense of smell and can smell a stranger.¡± Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°If you encounter it, you can use the 4 of Diamonds reward card, Bnce to first trap it for five seconds. Then hastily escape using teleportation.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡± Ye Qi nodded vigorously. ¡°We have the Teleport card and it can¡¯t catch up.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang warned them, ¡°Be careful. We will meet here an hourter.¡±

    The four people headed into the vige. Ye Qi and Shao Qingge headed to the west and Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang to the east.

    Under the moonlight, there were constant dark shadows shaking in the quiet vige. Very light footsteps could be heard.

    Xiao Lou roughly counted. He and Group Leader Yu moved and encountered nearly 10 people. There were also those Ye Qi and Shao Qingge would meet in the west so this secret room must have more than 20 challengers.

    Most of the challengers who came to 4 of Spades weren¡¯t weak. They would certainly have many reward cards in their hands from clearing the instance e.g. flying through the sky, crawling along the ground, hooking ropes to buildings, etc. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t thinking of martial arts movies. A secret treasure appeared in a mountain vige and various experts moved in the dead of night to steal it.

    Since the beginning of the secret room, two idiots acted rashly and were immediately eliminated. Everyone kept this in mind and tried to move lightly in order not to disturb the sleeping vigers or rm other challengers.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang met a male and female team. They looked at each other and left quickly. They had no intention of disturbing the other side and were busy discovering the terrain of the vige.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang moved through the vige and didn¡¯t care about others. They examined the vige, roads, trees and buildings¡­

    Just then, Xiao Lou suddenly saw a hugentern rising n the distant sky. This was simr to the ancient ¡®skynterns¡¯, roundnterns floating in the air that emitted a warm light. There was a ribbon hanging from it with the words written: All challengers, please gather.

    The two people nced at each other. Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°This person wants to do something?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°Let¡¯s ignore them and keep figuring out the terrain of the vige.¡±

    The vigers in Liuxi Vige were all blind except for the person with a gic mutation. This meant they couldn¡¯t see thentern in the sky. Today was only the first day of the secret room and the hidden boss who could see wouldn¡¯t be attracted by thentern. He wouldn¡¯t go out to expose his identity directly. Therefore, this person could release the signal light at night to lead other challengers to meet them. It was probably to discuss countermeasures.

    Still, Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t intend to go. The challengers were a mixture of fish and dragons. It wasn¡¯t necessarily a good thing to act together.

    For the time being, the two people ignored the lights in the sky and continued to investigate.

    Suddenly, Xiao Lou heard the familiar barking of a dog. It broke the quiet of the night and the sound wasing from an alley not far away. A challenger had surprised the Tibetan mastiff!

    Xiao Lou saw two females running for their lives out of the alley. He immediately stopped the two of them. ¡°What is the situation?¡±

    A girl spoke with a white face. ¡°That dog¡¯s sense of hearing and smell are too keen. We didn¡¯t enter the house at all and just happened to pass by the door when it started barking!¡±

    The other girl was rtively calm. ¡°I¡¯m afraid the vigers are going to wake up like this.¡±

    Xiao Lou also had this concern. If the barks of the Tibetan mastiff woke the vigers, it would be bad. There were many challengers in the vige. This movement wasn¡¯t small and the vigers had keen ears. It was likely that the challengers would be found by the vigers, all of them would be driven out and would have to spend the night with the beasts outside the vige.

    Xiao Lou nced at Yu Hanjiang and whispered, ¡°Group Leader Yu, I want to try and control this Tibetan mastiff so it stops barking.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang realized what he was going to do and nodded. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll cover you.¡±

    The two girls were surprised to find that instead of fleeing, these people turned and walked toward the house where the Tibetan mastiff was located.

    Xiao Lou walked through the door and saw the Tibetan mastiff. Under the moonlight, the almost one metre tall Tibetan mastiff cast a huge ck shadow on the ground. It was tied to a stone pir and angrily wing at the ground as it growled fiercely. It was obviously very angry at the stranger¡¯s invasion of its territory.

    Xiao Lou decisively summoned Qin Guan.

    Additional Skills 1: Tender like water, good times like a dream.

    Qin Guan gently looked at the Tibetan mastiff. The ferocious dog looked stupid for a moment before it entered a beautiful dream. In the dream, it saw a beautiful female dog with a golden body. He chased after the other dog in a drooling manner and the beautiful dog licked his head.

    Tibetan mastiff, ¡°¡­¡±

    The Tibetan mastiff was intoxicated by the ¡®good dream¡¯ and didn¡¯t continue to growl. Ity in a docile member on the ground.

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t expect Qin Guan¡¯s single target control skill to be so powerful. The fierce dog suddenly became so docile and Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. He spoke to Yu Hanjiang, ¡°It is done but this skill can control the dog for three minutes at most. We should finish investigating this alley as soon as possible.¡±

    Three minutes was enough for Yu Hanjiang, who was good at scouting.

    Yu Hanjiang quickly checked this road. There were a total of three homes in this alley with two forks at the end. He turned and returned to the entrance of the alley where the two girls were still waiting for them. ¡°That dog?¡±

    Xiao Lou told them, ¡°It is sleeping. However, it might wake up soon. You should leave this area and not startle it.¡±

    The two girls nodded and turned away nervously.

    On the first night, all the vigers were sleeping soundly apart from the Tibetan mastiff.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang quickly figured out the terrain of the vige and returned to therge tree to meet Shao Qingge and Ye Qi. Yu Hanjiang took arge lotus leaf and drew a map of the south-east vige on it. Shao Qingge and Ye Qi filled in the north-west of the vige. The four people looked down carefully.

    Theyout of this vige was a square. The east, south, west and north each had an entrance. The two main roads formed a ¡®well¡¯ shaped trafficwork in the vige. On the main road, there were several small branches. These were basically ane with only one family and were dead ends.

    There were more than 120 families in the entire vige, all of them living in the most traditional brick houses. The shape of the building was exactly the same and there were no numbered doors, meaning it was easy for strangers to get lost when they entered the vige.

    Everyone had a vegetable garden that grew manymon vegetables. Many people had dogs but most of the dogs were asleep at the time. Only the most ferocious Tibetan mastiff in the east of the vige at Old Lady Qin¡¯s home had been asleep.

    Yu Hanjiang marked the location of the Tibetan mastiffs on the map.

    Ye Qi said, ¡°We saw a small mountain to the west of the vige. Spring water flows down the mountain and forms the streams that surround the vige. The viger¡¯s drinking water should be from the spring in the mountains.¡±

    Shao Qingge added, ¡°There is arge pond in the northwest. I don¡¯t know if you can fish there.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang continued, ¡°We went to the east and south. There is arge farnd area where the vigers nted crops.¡±

    The east and south were farnd, the west had the spring and the north had therge pond. Outside wereyers of mountains while this vige was like a piece of natural jade that identally fell into the mountains.

    Yu Hanjiang looked down at the n of the entire vige and was silent for a moment. ¡°The gem might be hidden in the vigers¡¯ home. Old Lady Qin who keeps the Tibetan mastiff requires special attention. In the next few days, we¡¯ll have to check every part of the mountain, pond and farnd.¡±

    ¡°Do you want to find a ce to live first?¡± Xiao Lou asked. ¡°Little Ye, do you go up the mountain in the west?¡±

    ¡°It was so dark that we didn¡¯t dare go up. We only saw the spring water flowing down the mountain and into the spring.¡± Ye Qi paused, his eyes very disturbed. ¡°Will there be beasts or snakes on this mountain?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°No.¡±

    Ye Qi asked incredulously, ¡°Didn¡¯t the secret room prompt say there were beasts in the mountains?¡±

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°Those are mountains outside the vige. The mountain is within the boundary of Liuxi Vige. If you think about it, many vigers came from the mountain in the west in the evening. Since blind people dare to go up the mountain to fetch water, it proves that the mountain should be safe.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded in agreement. ¡°Yes, if there are beasts in this mountain then the vigers can¡¯t up the mountain every day to get water.¡±

    Ye Qi suddenly realized and scratched his head. ¡°Yes! I didn¡¯t think¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled at him. ¡°Let¡¯s go. We can go to the mountain tonight to find a ce to sleep.¡±

    The four people moved together and came to the mountain in the west.

    The mountain was very small and had many tree species nted on it. There was a road that was very t and had obviously been stepped on by the vigers for a long time. The four people walked up the road and it wasn¡¯t long until they saw a clear spring. The sound of flowing spring water entered their ears and was especially clear in the middle of the night.

    To the surprise of the four people, there was a mountain temple directly opposite the spring. Under the moonlight, the cold temple in this wild countryside was a bit strange.

    Xiao Lou walked up to the temple and looked at the closed door.

    There were some charms written on the door. He couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°Isn¡¯t this temple a bit weird? What do these charms mean?¡±

    He couldn¡¯t tell exactly what was wrong. It was just that standing in front of the temple, there was a chilly wind blowing and something eerie went down his back.

    Xiao Lou looked carefully and suddenly said, ¡°Don¡¯t you feel that the pattern of these charms are a bit like¡­ eyes?¡±

    All three heard this and turned to look.

    The papers rustling in the wind had a yellow background with many strange lines drawn in red. Ignoring the messy lines, there was a pattern in the middle with an elliptical shape and a drop of blood in the middle. Wasn¡¯t this the shape of an eye?

    Eyes? The entire vige was blind. Did their blindness have anything to do with the drawing of the eyes?

    Yu Hanjiang never believed in ghosts. He frowned and spoke decisively, ¡°Go and see.¡±

 Chapter 97: Liuxi Village 03

    Yu Hanjiang was a typical action person. Once he finished speaking, he took a step forward and directly pushed open the broken door of the temple.

    There was a squeak as the broken wooden doors were pushed open. It was especially loud in the middle of the night.

    A gust of wind swept through the temple as the door was pushed over, causing dust to rise everywhere. The yellow paper painted with strange symbols was blown to the ground and the strange atmosphere made Ye Qi¡¯s body tremble.

    Recalling the various temples in horror movies, Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help trembling. ¡°There should be no ghosts here?¡±

    Shao Qingge looked back at Ye Qi with a smile. ¡°Little Ye, do you feel like 4 of Spades would suddenly be a secret room with a different theme? Are the vigers all ghosts? Will there be ghosts in this temple?¡±

    Ye Qi shrank back, his scalp numb. ¡°I heard that ghosts have no shadows. The vigers walk around with shadows and there shouldn¡¯t be ghosts. Still¡­ I¡¯m not sure there will be no ghosts in this temple. Perhaps there is a curse on the vigers, making the entire vige be born blind?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke calmly. ¡°Don¡¯t think about scaring yourself. These charms are man-made.¡±

    Ye Qi stuttered, ¡°G-Group Leader Yu, are you sure?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang picked up a charm from the ground and touched the red lines on it. ¡°The blood on the charm hasn¡¯t dried out so it should¡¯ve been painted just now.¡± He handed the charm to Xiao Lou. ¡°Professor Xiao, you should be able to judge if it is human blood or not?¡±

    Xiao Lou took over and sniffed. ¡°It is different from human blood. There is a strange smell so it should be pig blood or duck blood.

    In the middle of the night, a cold wind blew on the wild mountains and the atmosphere was very creepy. The charms in the broken temple flew everywhere. The fact that Xiao Lou could analyze the bloodstains so calmly really shocked Ye Qi.

    Ye Qi took a deep breath to calm down and looked at the charm together. ¡°The blood of animals was used to draw eyes and attached to the temple. Is this supposed to mean that the vigers being blind is a curse?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°On the surface, yes.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took two steps forward before suddenly stopping and frowning at a tree. The tree was shaking in the wind, making a creaking sound. Several branches were broken and fell to the ground.

    Xiao Lou saw him frown and stepped forward, asking softly, ¡°Group Leader Yu, what have you found?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°Someone hase.¡±

    His sharp eyes were on the broken temple in front of them and his voice was calm and cold. ¡°The person hiding in the temple,e out.¡±

    There were no reactions from the house.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°This friend, we have no malice. We only intend to stay in the temple tonight. We won¡¯t disturb you so why don¡¯t youe out to meet us? Or do you want us to break in?¡±

    A momentter, the sound of footsteps rang out in the ears of the crowd. It was a girl less than 1.4 metres tall, wearing a red hood and red cloak. Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help whispering to Xiao Lou, ¡°Are there children in the Card World?¡±

    Xiao Lou also felt it was strange. This little girl¡¯s height only went up to his waist and she looked like a schoolgirl. Her head was down and her entire face was buried in the huge red hood. Her clear child¡¯s voice said, ¡°Big brothers, since you want to sleep here, I¡¯ll find another ce. However, this temple is strange. You should be careful.¡±

    She spoke this sentence and turned away. Xiao Lou looked at the girl¡¯s back and always felt that something was wrong.

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly turned back. ¡°The skyntern, did you release it?¡±

    The little girl¡¯s steps slightly paused.

    Xiao Lou was also stunned. He turned back to Yu Hanjiang and saw thetter giving him a definite expression.

    At that time, Xiao Lou needed to deal with the Tibetan mastiff and temporarily ignored the skyntern. By the time he controlled the mastiff, the skyntern had disappeared. Yu Hanjiang often investigated cases and was particrly sensitive to the location of clues. This might be abyrinth like Liuxi Vige but he still remembered the location of the skyntern instantly. It was to the west.

    On the mountain to the west, the four people hade all this way and hadn¡¯t met any other challengers. They only saw the little girl in the temple. That¡¯s why Yu Hanjiang asked.

    The girl didn¡¯t look back, a trace of innocence in her voice. ¡°Skyntern? I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°The trees in this temple show signs of the branches breaking from top to bottom. The direction of the wind is from east to west so these branches are more likely to be broken by someone.¡±

    ¡°Before entering the vige, we saw a woman running between the trees? She should¡¯ve drawn a card that allows her to move with the help of trees. The temple door was closed and showed no signs of being opened. Obviously, you jumped through the branches of the tree and identally broke the branches.¡±

    ¡°It is hard to pass a secret room and you can¡¯t pass it alone as a child. Therefore, your present form definitely isn¡¯t your own. Besides the flight card, you also have a card that allows you to change form.¡±

    ¡°The transformation card has a cooldown time. Are you in a hurry to leave? Am I right?¡±

    The little girl was silent.

    Xiao Lou, Ye Qi and Shao Qingge faced each other. Group Leader Yu really deserved to be a policeman. The other side waspletely unable to refute his words.

    He was able to find so many clues at the scene and make a logical reasoning based on broken branches, determining that the little girl¡¯s appearance wasn¡¯t her original form. She was actually the female who possessed the ¡®light footwork¡¯ skill. The other side didn¡¯t admit or deny it, which was an obvious confirmation of Group Leader Yu¡¯s words.

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Rest assured, we have no malice. If you tell us the clues you found, we will give you a map of Liuxi Vige in exchange, how about it?¡± He paused and added, ¡°You just ced the skyntern on the mountain. Surely you didn¡¯t have time to go to the vige to check it? This map should help you.¡±

    Presumably, Xiao Lou¡¯s attitude was too gentle and the girl finally took off her hood.

    She took off her hood and her face and physique instantly changed. She became a pretty girl with a hint of indifference on her face. Her ponytail swung over her shoulders and she wore casual clothing and white sneakers.

    Her height was around 1.5 or 1.6 metres. She was a whole head shorter than Xiao Lou but her eyes were calm as she looked up at Xiao Lou and spoke in a cold voice, ¡°You first give me the map and I will give you the information you want to know.¡±

    ¡°We only drew one map. Do you have a pen or paper or something? I¡¯ll make a copy for you.¡±

    The girl handed over a white handkerchief. ¡°This handkerchief is very special and you can write directly on it using your hand. You can also erge it at any time. The ribbon on the skyntern was changed with it.¡±

    It seemed this was a special function of the transformation card. Xiao Lou touched his index finger to the handkerchief and quickly drew the map of Liuxi Vige. He smiled and handed it to her. ¡°Can you tell us now? Why did you turn on thentern to lead the challengers?¡±

    The girl carefully checked the map on the handkerchief before saying, ¡°I found human bones in the temple.¡±

    Xiao Lou was surprised. ¡°You mean the bones of the dead? How many?¡±

    The girl was expressionless. ¡°I identally dug out a lot.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s spirit was fiercely hit. ¡°My god! How could there be a dead person¡¯s bones? Were they killed and buried like Maple Forest High School? Is this the Spades secret room or the Hearts secret room?!¡±

    The girl nced at him and continued calmly. ¡°I wanted to bring challengers over because of this. I don¡¯t know what it means to have human bones in the temple, but my guess is that in order to perfectly clear 4 of Spades, it isn¡¯t only avoiding vigers and finding gems. We might have to solve the riddle of the vigers¡¯ blindness and the bones of the dead people in the temple.¡±

    ¡°Why are you digging in the temple?¡± Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°Is it to look for a gem?¡±

    The girl nodded. ¡°I went west after entering the vige and went up the stream. I found the spring water and this deserted temple. This temple is strange and I wanted to see if I could find a gem. There is only one room in the temple dedicated to the mountain gods and there was some earth behind it that wasn¡¯t quite right. I dug it and found a big hole filled with dead bones.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°So you led the challengers over in the hope of solving the puzzle?¡±

    The girl spoke quietly. ¡°I only want to clear the instance and survive this secret room. If you want to pursue a perfect clearance, you can try to solve the puzzle.¡± She waved. ¡°I¡¯m going. You can help yourselves.¡±

    She jumped and flew to the treetops in the distance.

    After several sessive jumps using the trees, the girl soon disappeared into the night.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°This girl is very strong. She is like a master in a martial arts novel.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked in the direction she disappeared in and spoke appreciatively. ¡°A person who can reach 4 of Spades isn¡¯t simple. She should have many good cards in her hand, such as the transformation card just now. It is really easy to get rid of wariness after bing a little girl around 10 years old.¡±

    Shao Qingge touched his chin. ¡°Perhaps in Financial Crisis, she relied on this disguise to escape the murderer¡¯s pursuit.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly said, ¡°Ye Qi, the question just now was very critical.¡±

    Ye Qi was surprised. ¡°I¡­ what question did I ask?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang repeated, ¡°Is this the Hearts room or the Spades room?¡±

    Xiao Lou understood. ¡°This should be a joint secret room.¡±

    Ye Qi stared. ¡°You mean that Liuxi Vige is actually a Spades and Hearts linked secret room?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Shao Qingge agreed. ¡°It makes sense. Financial Crisis was a linked Spades and Clubs room. The survival involved the gold coins of the Clubs room. Liuxi Vige has a link between Hearts and Spades and is a survival puzzle. It appears that the fourth level will eliminate arge number of challengers.¡±

    Xiao Lou remembered A of Hearts¡¯ words. ¡°The elimination rate is more than 80%.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang remembered the hints when entering the secret room and frowned. ¡°Not being able to kill vigers¡­ 3 of Spades didn¡¯t have such a restriction and challengers could freely kill people. I thought it was strange that 4 of Spades suddenly wouldn¡¯t let the vigers be killed. It seems Hearts added this ban.¡±

    In 4 of Hearts, the suspect had to be turned over by the challengers. 4 of Spades was a mystery and survival linked room. The challengers not only had to hide from vigers and looked for gems, but we also have to resolve the mystery of the bones and charms in order to get a perfect clearance.

    It seemed that the elimination rate was quite high since the fourth level was right before entering the main city.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke simply, ¡°Go to the back of the room to see. It would be best if we can perfectly clear 4 of Spades but don¡¯t force it.¡±

    Together, the four of them bypassed the dpidated building and came to the back.

    As the girl said, there was a part of the ground that wasn¡¯t normal. The grass grew in an extremely lush manner and theparison with the surroundings was obvious. She was probably looking for gems and dug a pit here. As a result, a huge pit was dug.

    Arge number of human bones were piled up in the pit. They gave off a cold lustre in the moonlight and made people¡¯s hairs rise.

    Ye Qi and Shao Qingge had ugly expressions and turned their heads stiffly.

    Xiao Lou stepped forward and knelt down, using the branches to stir up the bones in the pit and observing them carefully. Momentster, Xiao Lou concluded, ¡°The degree of decay on the bones is simr. The time of death should be more than 30 years ago. It is likely that something happened and they were collectively buried here.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang roughly counted the number of pelvises. ¡°There are more than 40 people.¡±

    Shao Qingge felt his temple twitching. ¡°So many people died, is this a butcher¡¯s vige?¡± As a Hearts room scum, he had a headache when he saw murder, corpses etc. There were so many bones and he suffered from intense phobia. He had to hold his breath to prevent himself from running away.

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it. ¡°The charms on the temple, the buried bones and everyone being collectively blind¡­ the vige¡¯s forefathers must¡¯ve offended someone and were cursed or artificially punished.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°Since this is a secret room where Hearts and Spades are linked, it is more likely to be man-made.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°The murderer might still be in the vige.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Finding the murderer will solve the reason why the vigers are blind.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other.

    Shao Qingge and Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    They wanted to ask, ¡®Who am I? Where am I? What should I do?¡¯

    Shao Qingge decided to give up thinking and looked at the moon.

    Ye Qi actively joined the discussion. ¡°The strangest thing about this secret room is that we can¡¯t talk to any suspects, let alone interrogate them. We have to hide from vigers all the time. How can we figure out what happened 30 years old?¡±

    ¡°Investigating will be difficult but this doesn¡¯t mean there are no clues. The murderer will show their feet.¡± Yu Hanjiang stood up and turned to the dpidated building. ¡°Just now, the girl released antern. There might be other challengersing to the temple. We should first look inside the temple for clues.¡±

    The crowd agreed to the team¡¯s opinion and walked into the temple together.

    The deserted ancient temple hadn¡¯t been visited for a long time. The two arms of the statue in the temple had fallen off into pieces. The statue had been painted in a colourful manner. Due to the old age, it had lost colour and the wooden statue was mossing corners andyers. It looked broken.

    Yu Hanjiang carefully observed fora moment. ¡°This should be a mountain god. Many people serve the mountain god and pray for the mountain god¡¯s protection to let theing year¡¯s wind and rain be smooth. The statue of the mountain god is destroyed. It seems that the other side has a deep hatred with the vigers.¡±

    Just then, the sound of footsteps was heard outside. The four people were alert and moved outside, only to see several challengers walk into the temple.

    The middle-aged man asked, ¡°Was it just you who sent the light?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head and smiled. ¡°We also saw the skyntern and followed the direction.¡±

    The man looked suspiciously at Xiao Lou. ¡°What did you find?¡±

    Xiao Lou pointed to the back of the building.

    The several people walked over together to check and there was soon a panicked scream in his ears. ¡°Ah¡ªthere are many dead bones!¡±

    It was a girl¡¯s cry and her mouth was immediately covered. ¡°Lower your voice!¡±

    The middle-aged man¡¯s voice trembled slightly. ¡°What is this situation? Who led us to this broken temple to see the bones of the dead?¡±

    The woman next to him spoke nervously, ¡°Let¡¯s find a ce to spend the night first. This vige had many oddities and we shouldn¡¯t worry about it!¡±

    The man took a deep breath. ¡°Yes, in any case, the Spades room has seven days to find the gems. Finding the gems is the most important.¡±

    Several people turned back to Xiao Lou with guarded faces. ¡°Did you find a gem?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°We also just came and saw the human bone pit at the back. We didn¡¯t want to continue to investigate.¡±

    The other side obviously didn¡¯t believe his words but it wasn¡¯t good to act directly. They had to leave with ugly faces.

    Next, there were sessive challengers arriving. After checking the vige, they ran to the mountain. They found the bones in the temple and turned away. Obviously, most people didn¡¯t want more trouble and just wanted to clear the instance.

    However, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang had no intention of leaving and were still seriously investigating.

    Ye Qi asked weakly, ¡°Are you sure we should sleep in the temple tonight?¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke optimistically. ¡°This building might be a bit broken but we can shelter from the wind and rain. It is very good.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    A pile of dead bones behind the building! This was good? Professor Xiao was too calm.

    However, Group Leader Yu looked at Xiao Lou with approval. Ye Qi saw Shao Qingge staring at the moon and had to gulp. ¡°Okay¡­ let¡¯s go¡­ sleep here.¡±

    With these teammates, Ye Qi felt that he would slowly be abnormal. Perhaps in the future, he could sleep very sweetly on a pillow of skulls.

 Chapter 98: Liuxi Village 04

    The temple hadn¡¯t been cleaned for a long time. The corner of the building was covered with cobwebs, the ground was full of dust and the smashed fragments of the mountain god statue were scattered everywhere. They definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep directly in this environment.

    Since they decided to use this broken temple as a temporary base, they had to clean up the rubbish. Yu Hanjiang looked around, headed to the back of the building to pull up a bunch of long weeds and made two brooms. The four of them cleaned up the room. After cleaning the building, Xiao Lou found some hay on the ground and made arge bed. Everyone sleeping on the hay was better than their backs directly touching the cold ground.

    At this point, the floating boxes above the four people showed: [Liuxi Vige, current time 3:00.]

    The surroundings were quiet since the other challengers had left the temple. The four people sat on the hay and Xiao Lou asked thoughtfully, ¡°After entering Liuxi Vige, w haven¡¯t eaten yet? Should we have ate meal?¡±

    It was dusk when they were thrown into the vige. The vigers had been walking around and the challengers had been hiding and watching the vige carefully. Therefore, they all forgot about their meals. Now that Xiao Lou raised this point, everyone felt hungry.

    Ye Qi touched his hungry stomach. ¡°We have no food and this is an isted vige. Even if we have a million gold coins, we can¡¯t take it out to use. Ah, it is a pity that there is no ce to spend money!¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled at him. ¡°Didn¡¯t 3 of Spades give a supplies package as a reward?¡±

    Ye Qi remembered the card and immediately took out the Supplies Package card. He opened it and sure enough, it said ¡®avable: mineral water x1,pressed biscuits x1, instant noodles x1. It was just that this card had a limit. It could only be used once in every secret room.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help spitting out, ¡°A of Spades is too stingy. He gave us so little to eat and it can only be used once in every secret room. If we use it today, we won¡¯t be able to use it for the next six days.¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°This is an emergency supplies package. It is to rescue us when we can¡¯t find food. For example, in ater Spades room we might be thrown into a desert or snowy environment where it is hard to find food. At that time, this supplies package can save lives.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded. Yes, this world isn¡¯t hard to find foodpared to the desert or snow. At least we don¡¯t have to worry about drinking water. We are next to a mountain spring.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°The supplies card can be kept first. We can use a bamboo tube to drink the spring water. As for eating¡­¡± He turned to look at the moon outside the window and stood up. ¡°I will find a way.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked in a confused manner, ¡°Group Leader Yu, you want to go into the mountains to hunt?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t there a pond in the north of the vige? I will go see if there are any fish. There might also be fish in the streams.¡± Yu Hanjiang paused before continuing, ¡°The cards that are drawn can be useful. I remember that Ye Qi has the guitar card that can cause drowsiness within a certain range. This should also work with animals, right?¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°Yes, unfortunately, my guitar card doesn¡¯t have high strength. It can only make targets fall asleep for three seconds.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°Three seconds is enough.¡±

    Shao Qingge chuckled and touched his chin. ¡°No wonder why the local residents will always say that us ¡®foreigners¡¯ are demons. ying the guitar and letting the fish fall asleep. It sounds incredible¡­ I also want to see.¡±

    The four men went down the mountain together to the edge of the pond.

    The pond was around one kilometre away from the vige. At three in the morning, the vigers were all asleep and Ye Qi could y the guitar without worrying about attracting the attention of vigers. Xiao Lou prepared dozens of rings in advance, chaining them together to make a temporary fishing.

    Yu Hanjiang held a sharp branch in his hand and stared intently at the clear water.

    Under the moonlight, the pond did have some fish swimming quickly. Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou after seeing them and Xiao Lou directly threw the rings into the pond, trapping several fish. Ye Qi followed by taking out his guitar and gently ying it.

    The fish were scurrying around after being trapped. They heard the music and fell asleep, sinking collectively.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hand was quick. He picked up the branch and plunged into the pond, precisely piecing two fish.

    Ye Qi gave a thumbs up. ¡°This fish is really fat!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°Continue.¡±

    The three people tacitly cooperated and caught more than a dozen fat fish in the blink of an eye.

    Shao Qingge stood watching and couldn¡¯t help thinking that even if they were thrown into the wilderness, they shouldn¡¯t be hungry? They could wipe out all the fish in the pond if they kept fishing this way.

    A total of 16 were caught. Yu Hanjiang saw this as good enough and had everyone return to the temple. The four people came home fully loaded.

    Back at the temple, Ye Qi looked at the fat fish Professor Xiao lifted up with his rings and scratched his head. ¡°These fish are raw. How do we eat them?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and summoned Bai Juyi. The Old Charcoal Seller skill could generate a charcoal fire anytime, anywhere.

    Ye Qi stared at the charcoal fire in front of him. ¡°No wonder why Group Leader Yu said to catch fish. We can directly roast them!¡±

    Xiao Louughed. ¡°Little Ye, if you follow us then you don¡¯t have to worry about going hungry. Tomorrow, I will go with Group Leader Yu to the mountain to catch some pheasants and hares to bake them for everyone to eat.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Were they here to clear the instance or go to the mountains for a holiday? Thanks to the big god, he could eat barbecue anytime and anywhere. Ye Qi used to eat leaves in Nightmare Room and now he was so moved that saliva quickly flowed down.

    The charcoal fire made by Bai Juyi onlysted 30 minutes but there were many dry branches around that could be used as firewood. Once the charcoal fire ran out, the branches could be ignited and the fire kept burning the whole time.

    Yu Hanjiang removed the internal organs from the fresh fish. He was obviously well-versed in several skills to survive in the wild. He found some bamboo tubes, stuffed the fish on them and grilled them on the fire so that the skin wasn¡¯t baked.

    After a while, the smell of grilled fish filled the air, mixed with the fragrance of bamboo leaves. Yu Hanjiang took the bamboo tube and handed it to everyone. ¡°It is cooked, eat.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes were bright as he ate the fresh grilled fish with satisfaction. He suddenly felt that this temple had be extremely friendly.

    The four people had enough to eat and drink and then roasted a few more fish as a food reserve. Then they slept around the charcoal fire.

    Other challengers sleeping on the mountain were shivering due to the cold wind of the night. The four of them were in the ruined temple, soft hay underneath them, a warm charcoal fire next to them and they ate bamboo roasted fish at night. This made them really sleepy.

    At 8 o¡¯clock the next morning, the four people woke up at the same time.

    The floating boxes showed a hint. [The first day of Liuxi Vige, 8:00 a.m., number of remaining gems in the vige: 5.]

    This news stunned all of them and their sleepiness dissipated in an instant.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t believe the truth. ¡°Two gems have been found? Did these people sleep at allst night?¡±

    Xiao Lou frowned slightly. ¡°There are only seven gems and more than 20 challengers. In the absence of any idents, this secret room will allow 14 people to clear it at most. The sooner a gem is found, the more peace of mind a person will have.¡±

    Shao Qingge helplessly pinched his brow. ¡°However, isn¡¯t searching the vigest night too dangerous? In particr, there is Mrs Qin¡¯s Tibetan mastiff. Once startled, it is likely to wake up the whole vige.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it. ¡°It isn¡¯t necessarily in the vige. Perhaps there are gems outside the vige. For example, this broken temple.¡±

    Ye Qi wondered, ¡°We carefully cleaned the templest night and searched all corners. There were no gems.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was very certain. ¡°The gem in the temple should¡¯ve been taken away.¡±

    Ye Qi reacted quickly. ¡°Group Leader Yu, you mean the girl yesterday actually found a gem in the temple? That¡¯s why she was in a hurry to leave when we came in. She was afraid we would rob her?!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°It seems to be the case.¡±

    In retrospect, this girl was actually very clever. She used human bones to divert the topic and everyone¡¯s attention was drawn to the human bones in the backyard. They ignored the fact that since the temple contained an important clue, there was a great chance there would also be a gem for clearing the instance.

    In order to find a gem, the challengers would dig up the abnormalnd. Along with the gem, there would also find arge pit where the dead were buried.

    She should¡¯ve found the gem first and then the human bones. She ced antern to lead the challengers to the hole and diverted everyone¡¯s line of sight using the human bones. Next, she only had to hide and not be caught by other challengers. Then she could smoothly pass the instance.

    She had a card that allowed her to fly between trees and it was hard for anyone to catch her. Moreover, the effect of her transformation card wasn¡¯t night. She had disguised as a little girl in redst night. If she could pretend to be a viger then she could 100% pass the instance.

    Ye Qi felt angry and regretful. ¡°We were deceived by her. If I knew then I wouldn¡¯t have let her go easilyst night.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at him. ¡°Do you want to grab her gem?¡±

    Ye Qi immediately shook his head. ¡°No, how can four big men bully a little girl and also steal her things? I just want to see what the gem looks like to make it easier to find.¡±

    Shao Qingge examined Ye Qi from head to toe with a smile. ¡°Four big men? Including you?¡±

    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t it include me?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°You aren¡¯t a big man. In all aspects, you can only be a little boy.¡±

    Ye Qi realized that this person wasughing at hisck of maturity and decided to ignore Shao Qingge. He turned to Xiao Lou and asked, ¡°Professor Xiao, were are we going to find the gems? Where do you think has a greater possibility of containing the gems?¡±

    Xiao Lou dered, ¡°Mrs Qin¡¯s home should have one.¡±

    In a single-yer RPG game, the NPC house with high difficulty would certainly contain an item. Mrs Qin had thergest and most ferocious Tibetan mastiff. Her home either had a gem or important clues.

    Ye Qi had a headache. ¡°The Tibetan mastiff¡¯s sense of smell is too keen. If we don¡¯t deal with it then we won¡¯t be able to go in to search.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang went to the window and nced at the clear blue sky outside. ¡°Today is sunny and the vigers will definitelye out. Once the olddy walks her dog, we will sneak in. The invisibility cloak of 3 of Hearts can be used and this 30 minutes of stealth time is enough for us to search her house.¡±

    Ye Qi made a guess. ¡°She went out yesterday evening to walk the dog. Today, will she also wait until the evening to walk the dog?¡±

    Shao Qingge suddenly interjected. ¡°Dog owners generally walk their dogs at a fixed time. After dinner is the best time.¡±

    Ye Qi looked over at him. ¡°Did you have a dog?¡±

    Shao Qingge replied, ¡°I had a Samoyed.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°The type of dog that ispletely snow white and beautiful?¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°Yes, do you know a Samoyed?¡±

    ¡°I like dogs a lot. I have a little poodle.¡±

    The two people started talking about dog breeds, from a Samoyed to a Husky. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t interject and went to find Group Leader Yu.

    The vigers of Liuxi Vige seemed used to fetching water at night. The mountain was very quiet in the morning. Yu Hanjiang looked at the mountain and said, ¡°In the daytime, it is easy to be discovered by vigers if we walk around. We can only act again in the evening.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded in agreement. ¡°Wait for the olddy to take the Tibetan mastiff out and we will put on the invisibility cloak to search her house.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°By the way, Ye Qi should go to the vige chief¡¯s house, Niuniu¡¯s house and the doctor¡¯s house to ce a bug.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at him. ¡°You mean, these ces will have clues?¡±

    ¡°Do you remember when we entered the vige yesterday? A man and a woman mentioned that Niuniu has a cold and she was going to find a grandma to prescribe some medicine. After Mrs Qin found a stranger, she told a young man to inform the vige chief. Those who were mentioned should be helpful in solving the mystery.¡±

    If it was s simple Spades room then they just needed to avoid the vigers. Since it was a Hearts and Spades linked secret room, people who were named or identified needed to be paid attention to. Based on previous experience with 3 of Hearts and 4 of Hearts, Xiao Lou knew that a person specifically named in the plot definitely wouldn¡¯t be useless.

    The sick Niuniu, the vige doctor and the vige chief, these people might help them solve the mystery of the ughter 30 years ago.

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°It seems Ye Qi¡¯s eavesdropping card will be very helpful this time.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suggested, ¡°If there is nothing to do, why don¡¯t we go to the mountain to find some game. It will improve our food supply.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and kept up with him.

    Last night, most challengers had slept on the mountain. Along the way, they saw some people sneaking to the spring to grab water, some people making a slingshot to catch birds and some people climbing trees to find eggs. They each used their own methods to find food and tacitly didn¡¯t interfere with each other.

    The fish caughtst night was enough tost them three days but it would be really tiring to eat fish all the time. In any case, they couldn¡¯t enter the vige during the day. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou entered deep into the forest on the mountain, ready to hunt a few pheasants and hares.

    Yu Hanjiang might have a gun but it was currently daytime. If he used the gun then it was likely he would lead the vigers to the mountains. Therefore, Yu Hanjiang decided to use the rings to hunt. Xiao Lou used the Compass card to cooperate with Group Leader Yu.

    The two of them hid behind the tree and waited patiently. A momentter, a gray hare ran to the grass for food. Yu Hanjiang stared at it tightly. The moment it stopped, he suddenly manipted the ring and urately caught it! The caught hare panicked and couldn¡¯t move. Yu Hanjiang walked over and picked it up.

    Just then, Xiao Lou¡¯s vision suddenly turned ck. The feeling of dizziness was like suddenly getting up after lying down for a long time. Xiao Lou reached out to support himself on the tree but his eyes were dark and his right hand only touched air. He stumbled and was about to fall.

    The next moment, his body suddenly fell into a person¡¯s arms as Yu Hanjiang¡¯s low and smooth voice entered his ears. ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°I am affected by blindness and can¡¯t see anything.¡±

    Normal people would inevitably feel fear after bing blind. Just now, Xiao Lou almost stumbled but fortunately, Yu Hanjiang was quick and caught him.

    Xiao Lou calmed down and found that his entire body was in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s arms. He could clearly feel the strong muscles and smooth heartbeat of Group Leader Yu¡¯s chest. He liked men and he was being hugged so gently by Yu Hanjiang. Xiao Lou¡¯s breathing suddenly stagnated and he quickly stood still, his heart pounding.

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t notice his abnormality. He stretched out his five fingers and found that Xiao Lou¡¯s clear eyes were unresponsive. Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°You suddenly became blind with no warning?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, I was dizzy and then I suddenly couldn¡¯t see.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it. ¡°It seems there is nothing wrong with the prompt received after entering Liuxi Vige. Each challenger will be blind for three hours at a random time during the day. You can¡¯t see anything for three hours so we will go back first.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and asked, ¡°What about the hare just now?¡±

    ¡°I caught it. Go back and I¡¯ll bake it for you to eat.¡±

    As he spoke, he stretched out his right arm and let Xiao Lou¡¯s hand rest on his arm. His voice was low and gentle as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll take you with me.¡±

    Xiao Lou was suddenly blind, the world in front of him was dark and this was a mountain. He was inevitably nervous that he would fall down.

    However, Yu Hanjiang was very intimate and helped him walk slowly, also reminding him, ¡°Be careful here. It is downhill and there is a step.¡±

    Xiao Lou made a sound of agreement and his fingers on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s right arm slightly tightened. Strong muscles could be felt from this arm. Originally, blindness was a very frightening thing but after holding Yu Hanjiang¡¯s arm, Xiao Lou¡¯s mood gradually calmed down.

    Xiao Lou knew that even if he was blind, there was nothing to worry about as long as Yu Hanjiang was present.

    Yu Hanjiang took the initiative to help remove the branches in front of him, lest he be scratched by the branches, When he had to take steps, Yu Hanjiang would remind him in advance to prepare his feet. When encountering a slippery ground, Yu Hanjiang would hold his shoulders and support him.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s vision was dark and he could only hold onto Group Leader Yu¡¯s arm.

    As he grew up, he found that he liked men and would deliberately keep a distance from the same sex. This was the first time he had been so close to a man. Xiao Lou found that he didn¡¯t reject Group Leader Yu¡¯s closeness. Rather, he really liked Group Leader Yu¡¯s reassuring and calm breath.

    Once again, I want to thank Chuna for the amazing fanart!

 Chapter 99: Liuxi Village 05

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou. Although he was in a state of blindness, Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes were still clear and bright. It was just that there was a slight daze on the usually calm and smiling face. His world had suddenly turned dark. No wonder why he was at a loss.

    Xiao Lou sensed that Group Leader Yu had stopped and couldn¡¯t help asking nervously.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°It¡¯s fine, be careful of your feet.¡±

    During the walk, Xiao Lou suddenly thought of something. He handed his card pack to Group Leader Yu. ¡°For the next three hours, I can¡¯t see anything and can¡¯t control the cards. Group Leader Yu, I¡¯ll give you all my cards. You can use them if you need them.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took the cards and couldn¡¯t help his voice gentling. ¡°Rest assured, leave these three hours to me.¡±

    The two people left the forest and the mountain road in front of them was very narrow. They couldn¡¯t pass it together. Yu Hanjiang took the initiative to go ahead before turning around to pull Xiao Lou¡¯s arm. ¡°The road here is slippery. Be careful.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and followed Yu Hanjiang¡¯s every step like a child learning to walk. Yu Hanjiang was very slow and patient, slowly taking him down the mountain.

    They had just walked halfway when a couple also came to the mountain. It was the couple who left aftering to the templest night. The middle-aged man saw them and asked in a strange manner, ¡°The two of you, in fact, there was actually a stone at the temple. Did you pick it up?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke coldly. ¡°No.¡±

    The man eximed, ¡°Are we stupid? No one dared to search the vigers¡¯ homesst night and two gems were found outside the vige. The broken temple is strange and there must be a gem there.¡±

    The woman keenly found that Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes were out of focus and he looked dazed while walking. Her eyes lit up and she whispered in her boyfriend¡¯s ear. ¡°The man behind is blind.¡±

    The man looked closely and found that the other side really couldn¡¯t see. He lowered his voice and spoke in her ear, ¡°Act.¡±

    The two people apparently thought that Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang had picked up the gem in the temple. Xiao Lou was blind and this was a great opportunity. As long as one of them was captured, they could force the gem to be handed over. Such a fast method of clearing the instance was much better than risking their safety to find the gems.

    The two people looked at each other and the man suddenly through the Bnce card. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were trapped on the scale at the same time. Then the woman threw out a long, white silk. The silk was like a white snake as it swept towards the two men and precisely wrapped around Xiao Lou¡¯s neck!

    The woman held the other end of the white slug andughed with narrowed eyes. ¡°My white silk can even break reinforced cement.¡± She turned and ordered coldly. ¡°Bring out the gem or my hand will pull hard and your friend¡¯s neck will be broken.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression suddenly sank and his voice was sharp. ¡°Let go of him!¡±

    The woman smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t want to kill people. I just want to clear the instance. There are five gems left. You can go and find another one while giving the previous one to us. Isn¡¯t this helpful?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes were dark, his neck was tangled up by a soft white silk and his lips gradually became pale.

    He was trapped but his expression was still calm. He smiled to the woman in the distance and said, ¡°You want to grab the gem from our hands while I¡¯m blind and push others into a position of danger. There is no need to find so many excuses.¡±

    The woman was startled. She knew she was wrong but was unable to admit it. ¡°The clearance rules didn¡¯t say that we couldn¡¯t rob others in this secret room. The Spades secret room is a world of predators. This is just your misfortune.¡±

    Xiao Louughed. ¡°The people who are unlucky isn¡¯t necessarily us.¡±

    The middle-aged man spoke impatiently. ¡°Don¡¯t speak nonsense and hand over the gem!¡±

    Xiao Lou gently grabbed Yu Hanjiang¡¯s arm to give a hint for action. Yu Hanjiang understood the meaning and instantly took out Xiao Lou¡¯s card pack. Fortunately, the two people had been together since the start of 3 of Hearts. Yu Hanjiang was clear about the cards in Xiao Lou¡¯s pack, the specific skills and their location.

    Liu Yong¡¯s skill: Hold hands with tearful eyes, unable to speak a word. Both people could be controlled at the same time. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were trapped by the bnce and couldn¡¯t move but their cards weren¡¯t restricted.

    Yu Hanjiang quickly summoned Liu Yong and appointed the pair. The two of them were affected by the card and couldn¡¯t help holding each other¡¯s hands while looking at each other tearfully.

    The woman was appalled because she found that she couldn¡¯t control her movements or her tears. The man¡¯s face changed suddenly. He clearly wasn¡¯t willing to do so but his body was driven by a mysterious force. He reached out and tightly held the other person, tears falling from his eyes like an unscrewed tap that simply wouldn¡¯t stop.

    The man and woman held hands and looked at each other with tears in their eyes. She couldn¡¯t control her white silk and it soon loosened from Xiao Lou¡¯s neck. Arge amount of oxygen poured into his mouth and nose, so that Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help coughing violently.

    Yu Hanjiang immediately ced an arm around Xiao Lou¡¯s shoulders and stroked his back, face full of worry. ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s fine, just ack of oxygen¡­ um¡­¡±

    After coughing for a moment, Xiao Lou¡¯s pale face turned red again and he turned to look in the direction of the two people. He couldn¡¯t see anything but he knew that Group Leader Yu had definitely found a way to control them.

    Yu Hanjiang raised an eyebrow to the two weeping people and spoke coldly, ¡°If you don¡¯t act against me then I won¡¯t act against you. If you touch me, don¡¯t me me for being rude.¡±

    The moment he finished speaking, he aimed at the woman with Liu Yong¡¯s second skill.

    Belt gradually widens with no regret¡ªthe woman instantly lost 15 kg and couldn¡¯t attack for 15 minutes. She was already very thin and losing 15 kg resulted in a handful of skin and bones. Her entire face was dry like firewood, her hands looked like a zombie and her legs became two chopsticks. Her skin was severely dehydrated and wrinkled. She aged 30 years in an instant.

    The man saw her be as thin as a bone and his face was pale with fright. ¡°What did you do to her?¡±

    The woman saw her bony hand and was terrified. ¡°Ah¡­ how did this happen!¡±

    At this time, the scale trapping Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou was lifted. Yu Hanjiang moved like a ghost and came behind the woman, a sharp knife against her throat. He asked coldly, ¡°You dared to use the white silk to bully him?¡±

    The sound as so cold it was like it came from the depths of hell. The sharp knife reached the fragile neck and in inch forward could cut her artery. The woman screamed with horror, ¡°I was wrong! Ah, spare my life! I beg you not to kill me¡­ I apologize to your friend!¡±

    The young woman was covered with snot and tears and looked extremely embarrassed. Her partner also changed his expression, ¡°E-Excuse me, we didn¡¯t hurt your friend. D-Don¡¯t kill her.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t intend to kill her The knife in his hand moved forward. The woman felt the knife cut her skin and immediately screamed, ¡°Ah¡­¡­¡±

    However, the knife suddenly stopped and didn¡¯t continue to cut. Yu Hanjiang had stopped in time and left a clear and distinctive bloody mark on her neck. ¡°Remember this lesson. Don¡¯t think that others are easy to bully just because they are blind. Taking advantage of those who are vulnerable isn¡¯t a good habit.¡±

    He put away the knife and confiscated the woman¡¯s white silk card. ¡°You used this card to bully him and I will take away this card.¡± He used Bnce to trap the two people in ce and turned to leave with Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t see and didn¡¯t dare to move. It wasn¡¯t until Yu Hanjiang¡¯s familiar breath was close and the man¡¯s long and powerful hand gently held his arm that Xiao Lou was relieved. ¡°You resolved it?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, I confiscated the card that tied you up.¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help smiling. Group Leader Yu really refused to take any losses. However, these people only had themselves to me for using the white silk card to strangle him.

    Yu Hanjiang looked up at the winding mountain road and whispered, ¡°Professor Xiao, why don¡¯t I carry you down the mountain? The road here is narrow and slipper. It isn¡¯t convenient for you to walk.¡±

    The blind Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t good at moving forward. He didn¡¯t argue and nodded. ¡°Then I will trouble you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang leaned over and gently carried Xiao Lou behind him. The feeling made Xiao Lou feel slightly awkward. As a child, only his father had carried him like this. Once he grew up, he couldn¡¯t be so close to the same sex.

    Lying on the man¡¯s back and being carried by the other side, Xiao Lou¡¯s breath was slightly smothered and his heart beat faster. His vision was dark so his hearing and touch were more acute than usual. He could clearly hear Yu Hanjiang¡¯s breathing and clearly feel the strong muscles of the other person¡¯s body. The sound of the heart ¡®thumping¡¯ echoed in his ear. Xiao Lou¡¯s ears were slightly hot and he turned his head to one side out of fear that he would identally rub against Group Leader Yu¡¯s neck.

    Yu Hanjiang carried Xiao Lou and walked lightly. For Yu Hanjiang, Professor Xiao was too light. He wasn¡¯t even as heavy as the sack Yu Hanjiang carried when he was training at the police academy.

    Yu Hanjiang easily carried Xiao Lou and along the way, there were many challengers looking curiously at them. Yu Hanjiang ignored the eyes and brought Xiao Lou back to the temple. Shao Qingge saw them and couldn¡¯t help wondering, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Ye Qi ran over and worriedly asked, ¡°Is Professor Xiao injured?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang carried Xiao Lou back to the room and gently ced him on the ground. ¡°He is blind.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°It is the three hours blindness that was mentioned in the prompts when entering the secret room.¡±

    Ye Qi waved his finger in front of Xiao Lou and found this person¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t respond. ¡°Is it a sudden blindness?¡±

    Xiao Lou felt helpless. ¡°Yes, there is no warning.¡±

    Shao Qingge stroked his chin. ¡°This is difficult. Won¡¯t it be trouble if we suddenly be blind while acting?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also had this concern and suggested, ¡°If we have experienced three hours of blindness before acting in the evening then it is a good thing. This negative effect is only once a day and blind people won¡¯t¡¯ be hit again. However, if someone didn¡¯t be blind during the day then it is best not to take part in the action in the evening, lest something goes wrong in the middle.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°Then we will stay in the temple today. If someone is blind then it is convenient to take care of them.¡±

    Neither Ye Qi or Shao Qingge had any objections. Yu Hanjiang took out the card he just confiscated and said, ¡°An A-grade tool card, White Silk. It can freely stretch and extend up to 50 metres, instantly tying around the designated target.¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°It is a good card.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s face was curious.¡±You got a new card?¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke helplessly, ¡°Someone saw that I was blind and caught me, threatening Group Leader Yu to hand over the gem¡­¡±

    Ye Qi remembered that while he was guarding the materials at the construction site with Xiao Lou in 3 of Spades, six people saw they were weak and tried to grab their food, only for Ye Qi to counter-control them. It seemed that today, challengers also touched the wrong person.

    It was just that this was only the first day. To already start robbing people, they were too anxious.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help scolding them, ¡°Some people want to steal and take shortcuts. What is this foul thing? Don¡¯t mention the fact that we don¡¯t have gems. Even if we have gems, we found them with our own ability. Why should we give it to them!¡±

    Shao Qingge said, ¡°Humans are bullies.¡± He looked at Xiao Lou and smiled. ¡°Unfortunately, they bullied the wrong people. Even if Professor Xiao can¡¯t see, his heart is like a mirror and he has many good cards.¡±

    Xiao Louughed. ¡°Don¡¯tugh at me. I can¡¯t see and can¡¯t operate the cards. It was thanks to Group Leader Yu.¡± He turned to look at Yu Hanjiang, who lightly said, ¡°Yes.¡±

    Ye Qi asked, ¡°Professor Xiao, aren¡¯t you blind? How do you know if Group Leader Yu is on the left or the right?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s ears turned red. He could feel Group Leader Yu¡¯s breathing and naturally knew where he was. However, it wasn¡¯t good to say this directly. Xiao Lou quickly changed the topic. ¡°By the way, I caught a hare with Group Leader Yu. Today, we can have roasted hare for lunch.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°You really caught a hare! Yesterday¡¯s grilled fish is left plus there is a roasted hare. We can have a full meal!¡± He actively took the rabbit. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it!¡±

    Shao Qingge looked at Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang with a smile before turning to leave with Ye Qi. Only Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were left in the broken temple. Yu Hanjiang saw that Xiao Lou was slightly pale and wondered, ¡°Do you want to drink water?¡±

    Xiao Lou had just been strangled and felt thirsty. He heard this and nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang got up and found a clean bamboo tube to pick up some water from the mountain spring before handing it to Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou bowed his head to drink a mouthful. The spring water in the mountains had the fragrance of bamboo leaves and the water was clear and sweet. He couldn¡¯t help taking the bamboo tube from Yu Hanjiang to drink more. His lips were soon wet with spring water and the sweet spring water entered his throat. Xiao Lou¡¯s expression eased a lot and he couldn¡¯t help giving a rxed smile.

    The temple was very quiet. He sat them quietly drinking water and the side of his face seemed particrly soft in the sunlight. Yu Hanjiang stared at him and forgot to remove his line of sight. It wasn¡¯t until Xiao Lou drank all the water and handed the bamboo tube back that Yu Hanjiang¡¯s senses suddenly returned.

    Ignoring the strangeness in his heart, Yu Hanjiang calmly took back the bamboo tube. A gentleness that he didn¡¯t even notice was in his low voice, ¡°Do you still want to drink?¡±

    ¡°No, thank you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Are you hungry? I¡¯ll get you something to eat.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered. ¡°Is Ye Qi roasting a hare?¡±

    YU Hanjiang said, ¡°I can¡¯t let him roast it, he will definitely burn it. I¡¯ll go personally.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Group Leader Yu¡¯s roasted fish was really delicious. I can¡¯t see or help you, so I¡¯ll have to trouble you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang blurted out, ¡°No trouble. Rest here and wait for me for a while.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang went out the door and saw Ye Qi busy pulling off hare fur. The hare¡¯s fur wasn¡¯t pulled out cleanly. Shao Qingge wasn¡¯t good at handling ingredients and stood by the side watching with folded arms.

    Yu Hanjiang drove Ye Qi away. ¡°Give it to me.¡±

    Ye Qi awkwardly handed the hare to him. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m not very good at this.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°I¡¯ll get it. Go in and wait for food.¡±

    Ye Qi turned to find Xiao Lou. He had just walked into the room when he tripped on the ground and let out a loud noise. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t see what was going on and immediately asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    Shao Qingge came after hearing the sound and hoked, ¡°Ye Qi, do you have to give Professor Xiao such arge kneeling bow?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also walked inside in a confused manner. He saw Ye Qi lying in front of Xiao Lou and asked, ¡°Little Ye, what is this?¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s face was also ugly. ¡°I-I¡¯m also blind and identally tripped!¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. He reached out and fumbled for Ye Qi lying in front of me. ¡°That is good. You can be mypanion.¡±

    Ye Qi crawled up. His hands were in the air for a while before he grasped Xiao Lou¡¯s arm and grabbed it like it was a life-saving straw. ¡°The feeling of blindness is too ufortable. It is hard to imagine the lives of the people of this vige, who were blind from an early age.¡±

    Shao Qingge and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other.

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly said, ¡°I have an idea.¡±

    Xiao Lou realized this person might¡¯ve got a clue and instantly replied, ¡°Group Leader Yu, you say it.¡±

    ¡°The secret room letting us experience three hours of blindness every day should be telling us that the life of the blind isn¡¯t easy.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°Yes, I became blind and my walking was unstable. It is hard to believe that the children who were born blind learned to walk with their blind parents. They must¡¯ve fallen countless times in the process.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang folded his arms thoughtfully. ¡°Everyone in this vige is blind. Is it because their ancestors offended a blind person that they encountered such revenge?¡± He spoke slowly. ¡°Since they bullied the blind, the mountain temple they worshipped was destroyed and their descendants fell into darkness forever?¡±

    There were many types of disabilities. The vigers were deaf, mute or limping. They were collectively blind. The challengers entering the secret room would also experience three hours of blindness a day.

    Xiao Lou had only been blind for half an hour and he felt a bit sick.

    What great hatred was there to get revenge on an entire vige, blinding future generations and plunging them into darkness all their lives?

 Chapter 100: Liuxi Village 06

    Yu Hanjiang soon roasted the hare. In addition, he ced the fish roastedst night on the charcoal fire so it would be hot.

    Ye Qi was blind and could only apany Xiao Lou, chatting with Professor Xiao.

    Xiao Lou knew that Shao Qingge wasn¡¯t good at the Hearts room and told in detail the two murders in 4 of Hearts, the cause and effect and the suspects¡¯ testimonies to Ye Qi. Ye Qi heard this and was stunned. ¡°Aren¡¯t these two men too much of a scum? I say, they really deserve to die!¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°The names of the characters in the Hearts room will change.It is likely that this case also has several versions, such as Version A and Version B. Once you and Chief Shao go to 4 of Hearts, you should remember to carefully analyze the evidence of the suspects and not be confused by them.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded carefully. ¡°I understand. The information you gave me will reduce the difficulty of solving the case by a lot.¡± He scratched his head and suddenly thought that the two sides should exchange information, so he said, ¡°Yes, 4 of Clubs is very simple and doesn¡¯t eliminate people. Perhaps it is because the elimination rate of 4 of Hearts and 4 of Spades is too high, so that Diamonds and Clubs are easily passed.

    Xiao Lou was curious. ¡°This time, is the Clubs room ying cards?¡±

    Ye Qi said, ¡°4 of Clubs is called Cards Flying Chess. You directly draw a card and jump to the grid. There will either be rewards or punishments. Generally, the rewards are gold coins or an S-grade card being directly upgraded to full level. The punishment involves confiscating a card from your card pack at random. It is based on pure luck.¡±

    This meant that in the second battle, 2 of Clubs tested yer¡¯s psychological quality and forced challengers to be eliminated. On the third level, 3 of Spades was used to improve the elimination rate and on the fourth level, 4 of Hearts and 4 of Spades were very difficult and eliminated more than 80% of challengers. The rest could enter the main city.

    It was getting harder and harder.

    Xiao Lou thought about it. ¡°The Card World has two main cities, the City of the Sun and the City of the Moon. It should be the joker cards in charge of them respectively. After leaving 4 of Spades, we will separate again. You and Chief Shao should choose the City of the Moon after clearing the fourth level, so that we can meet again in the City of the Moon.¡±

    Ye Qi wondered, ¡°Why not choose the City of the Sun? Doesn¡¯t it sound a bit brighter?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°It is because the City of the Moon has thergest and most professional casino. Don¡¯t you know Chief Shao¡¯s money-making ability?¡±

    Ye Qi suddenly realized. ¡°Oh, Chief Shao can always go to the casinos in the City of the Moon for gold! Then let¡¯s choose the City of the Moon together!¡±

    Just then, a low voice interrupted them. ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    Xiao Lou smelt cooked meat andughed. ¡°I am chatting with Little Ye about 4 of Hearts and 4 of Clubs. Group Leader Yu, did you roast the hare?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang tore off a meaty hare leg and handed it to Xiao Lou, sitting next to him. ¡°Yes, eat it.¡±

    Xiao Lou took a bite. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s roasted meat was really fragrant and tender. Xiao Lou had never eaten game barbecue before and he took a bit mouthful, eating while praising, ¡°It is delicious. This is the best barbecue I have eaten.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang smiled at his satisfied expression and took out the hot fish. He was worried that it would be dirty so he found a bamboo leaf to ce the fish on and gently pressed it into Xiao Lou¡¯s hand, whispering, ¡°You can¡¯t eat the hare alone. Have some fish as well.¡±

    This was the first time Xiao Lou received the ¡®being fed¡¯ treatment. Yu Hanjiang cared for him so intimately, holding the hare leg in one hand and the fish wrapped in bamboo leaf in the other. Xiao Lou was embarrassed and quickly said, ¡°Cough, Ye Qi, you eat as well.¡±

    Ye Qi had been waiting. He found that Group Leader Yu was taking care of Professor Xiao and it wasn¡¯t yet his turn. He couldn¡¯t see so he could only wait quietly to be fed.

    Only then did Yu Hanjiang realize that he had ignored Ye Qi and he hurriedly tore off some hare meat to hand it to Ye Qi. ¡°Eat it.¡±

    Ye Qi gratefully took the food with his hand. ¡°Thank you, Group Leader Yu!¡±

    At this time, Shao Qingge came back with water. ¡°There are many challengers near the spring. They came to pick up water during lunch time. Since we are having barbecue at the temple, the smell will spread and people mighte here.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly, ¡°We have four people and the other challengers are groups of twos. They won¡¯t rush in to find trouble.¡±

    The Spades room was randomly matched. They met in 3 of Spades, negotiated in advance to form a team and just happened to be matched in 4 of Spades. At present, the other challengers were in teams of two and theirbat effectiveness was naturally inferior.

    It was as Yu Hanjiang said. A team of four was the strongestbination in this secret room and general challengers wouldn¡¯t dare to face them. It was just because Xiao Lou happened to be blind that the couple on the mountain road wanted to take advantage of them.

    Yu Hanjiang suggested, ¡°We will eat lunch peacefully. In the afternoon, we will go out again once Professor Xiao and Ye Qi¡¯s eyes are better to check the other challengers.¡±

    Shao Qingge let go of his worries and sat down on the dry grass to share the hare and grilled fish. The sweet spring water and fragrant barbecue, Ye Qi ate with relish. Following bigshots to break through really wasn¡¯t the same.

    The four people were eating when two girls walked in cautiously and politely knocked on the door. Yu Hanjiang frowned and his sharp eyes swept over the door. ¡°What?¡±

    These two people were at Grandma Qin¡¯s housest night and identally startled the Tibetan mastiff.

    The girl in front had clean, short hair and her voice was calm. ¡°We saw that you have grilled fish. We picked a lot of wild fish and mushrooms in the mountains. Do you want to exchange them for a fish?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang moved to Xiao Lou¡¯s ear and whispered. ¡°Do you want to eat wild fruit?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought that having three meals a day that was all meat wouldn¡¯t be good for indigestion. A diet with meat and vegetables was good so he smiled and nodded. ¡°Change it.¡±

    Since Xiao Lou wanted to eat, Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t mind making an exchange for some fruit. He took two grilled fish from beside him. The girl¡¯s eyes brightened and she immediately pushed a basket of wild fruit and mushrooms to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked incredulously, ¡°Where did this baskete from?¡±

    The girl answered, ¡°We made it ourselves with bamboo.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang found that these girls were very clever and said, ¡°Give this basket to us. I have a way to fish. If you still want to eat fish thene find us tomorrow.¡±

    The two girls didn¡¯t expect him to speak so well. They soon reacted and spoke excitedly. ¡°That¡¯s great! We know a ce to pick wild berries in the forest. In addition, green apples, apricots and pears are also ripe this season. In the afternoon, we will pick more for you. By the way, if you want the bamboo baskets then we can make another two. There are many bamboos in the mountain. It isn¡¯t difficult to make it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Thank you, then please make two more.¡±

    The girls walked away cheerfully with the grilled fish.

    They left and Ye Qi couldn¡¯t helpmenting. ¡°The more normal challengers will exchange materials and information. It mutually benefits everyone and hot good is this? Meanwhile, other people go straight to steal.¡± Clearly, he had upset about the people taking advantage of Xiao Lou¡¯s blindness.

    Xiao Lou spoke helplessly. ¡°There are different types of people and we can¡¯t control their ideas.¡±

    To the side, Yu Hanjiang washed the fruit clean with water and handed thergest apple to Xiao Lou, whispering, ¡°Taste it and see.¡±

    Xiao Lou took a bite. The wild fruit was sour and sweet. It was just picked and the taste was excellent. The fruit¡¯s vitamin content was certainly very rich. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help smiling. ¡°It is very good to eat. We should eat more wild fruit to help with digestion.¡±

    Since his eyes couldn¡¯t see, Xiao Lou gnawed on the apple very slowly. Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t help thinking of a well-behaved small animal eating fruit. Then he looked back at Ye Qi and it was on the other end of the extremes. Ye Qi couldn¡¯t see but he devoured the food like a hungry rat. He ate an apple in an instant and then his hand reached out to continue eating.

    Yu Hanjiang thought that Xiao Lou¡¯s eating appearance was more pleasing. Ye Qi¡¯s mouth was covered in oil from the fish while Professor Xiao didn¡¯t have a dirty mouth.

    He had been holding a hare leg and his white slender fingers looked dirty. Once he finished eating, Yu Hanjiang picked up the bamboo barrel full of water and asked, ¡°Do you want to wash your hands?¡±

    Having greasy fingers was very ufortable. Xiao Lou had been worried about how to wash his hands and didn¡¯t expect Group Leader Yu to be so careful. Xiao Lou immediately got up and said, ¡°I will go and wash it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°Come here.¡±

    He took Xiao Lou to the door and had Xiao Lou crouch down. Then he tilted the bamboo barrel 45 degrees and gently washed Xiao Lou¡¯s hand.

    Xiao Lou sensed the slightly cool water being poured on his fingertips and consciously moved his fingers under the water to wash them clean. The greasy feeling waspletely washed away and it felt really smooth. Xiao Lou looked back at Yu Hanjiang and smiled. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang saw his smile and couldn¡¯t help whispering, ¡°Why so polite? You are blind and I should take care of you.¡±

    Ye Qi also ran out to wash his hands.

    In order for Yu Hanjiang to show that he was simply looking after his blind teammates, he asked, ¡°Do you need help?¡±

    Ye Qi smiled and said, ¡°No, I can wash them myself.¡±

    Ye Qi stayed outside to wash his hands while Yu Hanjiang helped Xiao Lou back into the room. Shao Qingge saw the scene from behind and there was a meaningful smile on his face.

    After lunch, Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge quickly cleaned the room and left their uneaten items in the temple to be eaten in the evening. Xiao Lou and Ye Qi¡¯s eyes hadn¡¯t recovered yet so Yu Hanjiang suggested, ¡°You take a nap and you should be recovered by the time you wake up.¡±

    The two men couldn¡¯t see anyway, so they slept in the temple.

    Yu Hanjiang went to the door and wanted to check the movements of the other challengers. Then he thought about how Xiao Lou and Ye Qi were blind. If someone came to find trouble, Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t deal with them alone. Therefore, Yu Hanjiang stayed.

    Shao Qingge stretched out. ¡°I also want to lose my vision as soon as possible. After three hours, I can feel at ease. Otherwise, there will be a constant fear.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spected, ¡°The random blindness seems to be by teams? I am in a team with Professor Xiao so I¡¯m normal while he is blind and you¡¯re normal when Ye Qi is blind. The secret room shouldn¡¯t allow two people to go blind at the same time or they will be too easily destroyed.¡±

    Shao Qingge thought about it and nodded in agreement. ¡°It makes sense. It seems that it will be our turn once the blindness ends.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Ye Qi had a nap. Once Xiao Lou woke up, his eyes were haze. He rubbed his eyes hard and his vision was finally restored. Before, his vision was only dark. Now he could see this colourful world and Xiao Lou¡¯s mood wasplicated. He stood up and went to the door. ¡°I can see.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang walked to his side and asked with concern, ¡°Are there any side-effects with your eyes?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°I can see as clearly as before.¡±

    Ye Qi woke up and his vision was also restored. He was so excited that he almost ran circles around the broken temple. ¡°It feels so good to see! I was dying during these three hours when I was blind. I couldn¡¯t find anything and was afraid of falling when walking. Ah, I suddenly sympathize with the vigers of Liuxi Vige. They aren¡¯t able to see since they are young. Isn¡¯t this too tragic?¡±

    Xiao Lou suddenly said, ¡°I thought carefully. There should be a message misleading us when we entered the secret room.¡±

    Ye Qi wondered, ¡°Professor Xiao, did you find what is wrong?¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke seriously. ¡°If there is a gic cause for the blindness then the most easily inherited disease I know is called ¡®retinitis pigmentosa.¡¯ However, those with this disease aren¡¯t born blind. It begins with night blindness, they can¡¯t see at night. Then once they get older, their field of view gradually shrinks and this finally leads to blindness.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang listened to Xiao Lou and quickly caught the key point. ¡°You mean, the entire vige being blind isn¡¯t due to a gic inheritance? The ¡®gic inheritance¡¯ mentioned when entering the secret room is actually misleading?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, in terms of medical gics, a dominant gic inheritance has a 50% probability of being acquired while a recessive gic inheritance is 25%. There are also XY linked inheritances and this causes a significant difference in the prevalence between men and women. A 100% congenital blindness inheritance for men and women doesn¡¯t exist. The secret room definitely misled us.¡±

    Ye Qi looked ignorant while Shao Qingge rubbed his temple to show that he didn¡¯t understand. Only Yu Hanjiang quickly understood Xiao Lou¡¯s meaning and said, ¡°The vigers¡¯ blindness is more likely to be human-induced? Was some type of medicine used?¡±

    Ye Qi scratched his head in a confused manner. ¡°However, if blindness was suddenly caused then wouldn¡¯t it be strange for those who first got it? Why didn¡¯t anyone investigate?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked back and said, ¡°What if it is a pregnant woman or baby?¡±

    The three people suddenly narrowed their eyes. For pregnant women, if the baby was born blind that it would indeed seem like a gic disease when it fact, it was a drug-induced disability. For a baby, even if they could see things in the beginning and became blinded by a drug, children under three years old wouldn¡¯t remember anything. They would grow up blind and not investigate¡­

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face was gloomy and terrible. ¡°Doing this to pregnant women and babies, this is too cruel!¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s voice trembled. ¡°T-This murderer seems to have been lurking in the vige for a long time, blinding generation after generation of vigers with drugs?¡±

    Shao Qingge asked curiously, ¡°Is there a medicine that can cause blindness in the baby¡¯s eyes?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°There are many. As long as it affects the optic nerve, retina or corner, long-term use can blind both eyes.

    The four people were silent at the same time. As the girl saidst night, simply clearing 4 of Spades was simply. Just avoid the vigers and find a gem.

    Yu Hanjiang stared at the sky and whispered. ¡°In the evening, the four of us will take action together. Professor Xiao and I will go to Grandma Qin¡¯s home to investigate. Ye Qi and Shao Qingge will use the Teleport Card to bug the homes of the three important people. Professor Xiao will open the Peach Blossom Spring in advance. If any of us are in danger then return there.¡±

    Ye Qi was worried. ¡°If we split up then how do we make contact with each other?¡±

    Xiao Lou took out the Qin Guan card. ¡°This Qin Guan allows us to set up a ¡®heart connection¡¯ so we can keep in touch at any time.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s expression was strange. ¡°Qin Guan? If two people love each other, it doesn¡¯t matter if they are separated?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled helplessly. ¡°I don¡¯t know what is going on with my hands but I keep drawing these strange character cards. Ignoring the skill description, these cards are very useful. Qin Guan¡¯s heart connection is sharp enough to make contact across the secret room.¡±

    The four people discussed countermeasures and then went outside.

    The challengers were afraid to enter the vige during the day and most hid on the mountain to find food, not interfering with each other. After all, this was only the first day and there was no need to be too radical as to fight directly. As for the two gems, apart from the one taken away from the temple by the girlst night, the remaining one was unknown.

    In the afternoon, Shao Qingge became blind and he calmly returned to the temple to sleep. It was just before dusk when Shao Qingge regained his vision.

    Out of the four people, only Yu Hanjiang hadn¡¯t be blind. Yu Hanjiang was worried there would be an incident while acting and directly told Xiao Lou, ¡°Once I lose my vision, directly send me back to the Peach Blossom Spring so I don¡¯t affect you.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded seriously. ¡°Rest assured, we will be wearing invisibility cloaks and won¡¯t be found. I will leave the location of the Peach Blossom Spring in the temple. If there are any idents then I will directly transfer you there.¡±

    At dusk, the people in the vige started to be busy. Many men went to the mountain to obtain water. This seemed to be a habit of the vigers and the challengers were worried they would be found and climbed to the top of the mountain. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s group also cleaned the fish smell from the temple in advance and tightly closed the temple door.

    18:30 p.m.

    Ye Qi and Shao Qingge had the Teleport Card and were responsible for investigating the vige. They sent a message to Xiao Lou through the heart channel, ¡°Grandma Qin has led the dog out.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang and thetter simply nodded. ¡°Go.¡±

    The two people out on the invisibility cloak and quickly descended the mountain, quietly sneaking toward Grandma Qin¡¯s home. Just then, they noticed a strange air current surging next to them and Yu Hanjiang whispered in an alert manner, ¡°Who?¡±

    A young man¡¯s cold voice entered their ears. ¡°We are also using the invisibility cloak to find gems. Everyone has their own ability. We can¡¯t fight here since you should know the consequences of alerting the vigers.¡±

    It seemed that this was a clever challenger. Once the vigers were alerted, it was likely that all challengers in the vige would be collectively destroyed.

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°We will each search on our own and don¡¯t make too many movements.¡±

    ¡°You too.¡±

    All four of them were wearing cloaks and couldn¡¯t see each other. However, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou had been walking side by side and could feel the other person¡¯s familiar breath. Xiao Lou just wanted to act when he heard Yu Hanjiang say in his ear. ¡°Go to the kitchen. Something isn¡¯t quite right.¡±

 Chapter 101: Liuxi Village 07

    Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t noticed any problems in the kitchen until Yu Hanjiang whispered in his ear and exined, ¡°Look, the chimney on the kitchen roof shows no sign of smoke.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked up and found that the chimney on the roof was very clean. Most people lit a fire in their kitchen every day and the chimney should definitely be ck. However, the chimney of Grandma Qin¡¯s house was just like it was newly built. There were no signs of ckening. Grandma Qin obviously never cooked in the kitchen so there must be some secret in the kitchen.

    Xiao Lou perceived that Yu Hanjiang went forward and immediately followed.

    The two people entered the kitchen wearing the invisibility cloak. The stove was clean and the cutting board and knives were new. The corner of the kitchen had bundles of firewood neatly arranged, but the underside of the stove contained no soot. It looked like it hadn¡¯t been used for a long time.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes quickly swept over the kitchen. Apart from the piles of wood, the other ces were empty and there was nothing suspicious. Instead, there was a jar around 50cm high ced on a corner of the stove top with red paper on the jar. The words ¡®rice wine¡¯ were written on it using a ck brush. It looked like old rice wine stored in the kitchen by the olddy.

    This was the mostmon rice wine but Xiao Lou suddenly felt that something was wrong. He sniffed it and whispered, ¡°Group Leader Yu, the smell is a bit strange. It isn¡¯t like wine.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang quickly walked past and unsealed the jar.

    A strong and strange smell came from it, causing their stomachs to surge. Yu Hanjiang hurriedly covered his mouth and nose and frowned as he looked into the jar. He saw several white human bones floating in the muddy water.

    After all, Xiao Lou had seen many human specimens in theboratory and he didn¡¯t feel any difort when he saw this. He lowered his voice and spoke calmly, ¡°This is the smell of formalin. Old Lady Qin is making human bone specimens in the jar.¡±

    Formalin wasmonly used in medical schools to store corpses, ensuring that they didn¡¯t rot. Various pathological specimens in theboratory were also soaked in formalin. No wonder why Xiao Lou felt this smell was a bit familiar.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression was ugly. ¡°This olddy, not only is she raising a fierce Tibetan mastiff, she is also storing human bones in the kitchen. She must have a problem. We will search her house as soon as possible.¡±

    The gems were found in the kitchen but the wine jar with human bones soaked for many years was a very important clue. The two left the kitchen and went into the east room. There were two bedrooms in Grandma Qin¡¯s house, one of which was strangely arranged. It had white curtains, a white bed and white cloth hung from the roof¡­ their eyes were almost all white.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°This isn¡¯t like a bedroom. It is more like a mourning hall.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded in agreement as his eyes quickly swept over the room. He didn¡¯t find any mourning objects or remains and was a bit puzzled. ¡°Grandma Qiny out the room like this, shouldn¡¯t she be honouring a rtive? Is it her husband?¡±

    At her age, a mourning hall arrangement was probably tomemorate a dead husband but there were no search things in the room. In order to find other clues about the deceased, the two of them quickly searched and found an exquisite wooden box under the table. Xiao Lou opened it and saw a groove in it that looked like a gem, but the box was empty.

    Just then, the voice of the strange man was heard from the hall. ¡°We have taken the gem. The two of you should go elsewhere as soon as possible to search.¡±

    The voice went away quickly. The other two challengers who entered Grandma Qin¡¯s house had searched the mourning hall first and found the gem. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were one step slower but they weren¡¯t without any gains.

    The two of them continued to search the olddy¡¯s master bedroom.

    This was different from the ¡®mourning hall¡¯ style of the second bedroom. The master bedroom was arranged normally and the sheets and quilts were the blue that elderly people preferred. They found ab and mirror on the table.

    Wait a minute¡­ a mirror? Why did a blind person need a mirror? Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expressions changed at the same time.

    Just then, they saw an old face suddenly appear in the mirror. It was Grandma Qin!

    The olddy hade back like a ghost. Her footsteps were extremely light and Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang had beenpletely unaware of her presence.

    She held the fierce Tibetan mastiff as her eyes stared into the mirror like a vicious snake. Although Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were invisible, they suddenly saw the old face in the mirror and were taken aback. Fortunately, they were used to the various corpses of the Hearts room and their psychological endurance was first-ss. They didn¡¯t let out any sounds.

    Grandma Qin spoke coldly into the air. ¡°Someone came into my house to steal things.¡±

    The Tibetan mastiff barked at the air.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang stood in a corner and remained silent. They saw the olddy holding a cane and walking slowly to the bed. She reached out to wipe the mirror with her sleeves and her voice was hoarse. ¡°Don¡¯t think that I am a blind olddy. My heart is very clear. I¡¯ve known for a long time that people who bully the blind will receive retribution sooner orter, haha¡­¡±

    Herughter was like a viin in the depths of hell.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang held their breaths and didn¡¯t dare to make any sound to rm the olddy. Both of them stayed still in tacit agreement, wanting to see the olddy¡¯s next move. They saw her pull out a purse from her pocket with trembling hands. She smelt it like she was remembering something before calling out, ¡°Little ck.¡±

    The Tibetan mastiff heard its master¡¯s call and immediately came to her. The olddy leaned down to touch its forehead and sneered. ¡°This vige is isted from the world. They can¡¯t go far.¡± She ced the purse to the Tibetan mastiff¡¯s nose and let it smell the purse. ¡°The thing they stole has this special scent on it. Follow the smell and get it back.¡±

    The Tibetan mastiff smelt it and then waved its tail before a dark shadow rushed out quickly. Xiao Lou perceived things weren¡¯t good and opened the Peach Blossom Spring skill, taking Yu Hanjiang into the spring.

    The two men took off their cloaks and could clearly see each other. Xiao Lou found that Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face was ugly and his face must be the same. This secret room had actually left a bit pit for challengers clearing the instance. The gem must be found but there was a special scent on the gems.

    The dog¡¯s nose was very good and the vige had many dog owners. Once Grandma Qin called for the entire vige to search, they couldn¡¯t escape being found even if they hid on the small spring mountain.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect for the gems to have a special smell on them.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face was serious. ¡°A of Spades has set too much of a pit. Liuxi Vige has a total of seven gems. In order to clear the instance, everyone will be eagerly searching for them. Obtaining the gem is equivalent to putting a special scent on the body, allowing the vigers to easily hunt them.¡± He thought of the danger in the vige and hurriedly said, ¡°Little Ye, Chief Shao, how is your situation over there?¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s voice entered his ears. ¡°Rest assured, we have ced the three bugs in the vige chief¡¯s home, Niuniu¡¯s home and Grandma Sun¡¯s home ording to the map Group Leader Yu drew.¡±

    There was the Teleport card and it was really convenient for Ye Qi and Shao Qingge to move. The bug could be ced in a 100 metre range and they only needed to hide behind a tree to ce the bug in the vigers¡¯ homes.

    The next moment, Ye Qi suddenly swore. ¡°Fuck! There are many dogs running around the vige and they are smelling with their noses like they are looking for something!¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s expression changed. ¡°Come back soon, it is dangerous in the vige!¡±

    Ye Qi and Shao Qingge also didn¡¯t want to stay. They were wearing the invisibility cloak and had the Teleport card. they soon returned to the temple on the mountain.

    Xiao Lou pulled them into the Peach Blossom Spring. The peach blossom spring was a separate space. Even if they chatted loudly inside, the people outside couldn¡¯t hear.

    Xiao Lou exined the clues found in Grandma Qin¡¯s home and Ye Qi¡¯s face was slightly white. ¡°This old woman is too abnormal. She is actually soaking bones in the jar! Is she the culprit of the vige massacre?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°It isn¡¯t certain yet but her home has a mourning hall set up and a jar of dead bones in her kitchen. For now, she is indeed truly suspicious.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°There is a problem. None of the olddy¡¯s rtives are present. She is living alone and there are no traces of a fire in her kitchen. Obviously, she doesn¡¯t cook on her own. Then how can she take care of this?¡±

    Ye Qi thought carefully. ¡°Yes, when Chief Shao and I were searching the vige, I found that Mrs Qin stopped by the vige chief¡¯s house while walking the dog. She stayed at the vige chief¡¯s house for 10 minutes and tied the Tibetan mastiff at the door. Perhaps she went to eat?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Did you see the vige chief?¡±

    Ye Qi shook his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t see him but based on his voice, he should be a young man.¡±

    Yesterday, Grandma Qin had sent a person to inform the vige chief. Yu Hanjiang had made a note of the direction the person took and in the evening, he explored that position and found that the house had tworge willow trees by the door, making it very obvious. Grandma Qin, who lived alone, seemed to have a good rtionship with the vige chief. It was possible for her to go to his house for a meal.

    Xiao Lou followed up by asking, ¡°Is there anything unusual about the vige doctor, Grandma Sun¡¯s house?¡±

    Ye Qi answered, ¡°I just put a bug when Grandma Sun was cooking in the kitchen. There was nothing unusual.¡±

    He turned on the bug and there happened to be a conversationing from it.

    A young woman was speaking in a worried voice, ¡°Grandma Sun, my Niuniu was in the rain a few days ago. She had been having a low fever. Then today it became a high fever and she is speaking nonsense. Do you think she has a serious illness?¡±

    An old voice said, ¡°Put Niuniu on the bed and let me check.¡±

    There was a burst of sound before the old woman¡¯s voice said, ¡°Niuniu, the wind and heat hit her lungs, causing her to be out of harmony. This will cause a fever, chills and a sore throat. I will prescribe medicine for you. Go back and boil the medicine for Niuniu and have her drink it with her three meals a day. At night, give her an extra bed quilt and don¡¯t let the cold wind blow on her to aggravate the illness.

    The woman was grateful. ¡°Thank you, Grandmother.¡±

    Grandma Sun asked with concern, ¡°Your second brother¡¯s wife, will she give birth soon?¡±

    The womanughed. ¡°Yes, listening to my second brother, her birth date will be in the next few days.¡±

    Grandma Sun nodded. ¡°Yes, then I need to prepare in advance.¡±

    ¡°Then I have to trouble you to deliver my sister-inw¡¯s child. It is really hard on you to be the only doctor in our vige.¡±

    Grandma Sun smiled. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯m old and my hands and feet aren¡¯t good. My little apprentice is about to finish her apprenticeship. In the future, if the vige is sick then you can go look for her.¡±

    The moment she said this, a young girl¡¯s voice was heard clearly. ¡°Grandma, Sister-inw Yun¡¯s medicine is done.¡± She walked very lightly as she passed the medicine to the woman and smiled. ¡°Thank you Xiao Qing. Then I won¡¯t disturb you.¡±

    The girl said, ¡°Sister-inw Yun, take care.¡±

    The woman left with the child and there was a sudden sound in the room, followed by the sound of broken jars. Grandma Sun spoke helplessly, ¡°Little Qing, your actions are too careless. This is the fifth medicine jar you have knocked over.¡±

    Little Qing smiled with embarrassment. ¡°Sorry, Grandma. ¡°I can¡¯t see and there are so many bottles and jars of medicine. I can¡¯t always remember the location¡­¡±

    ¡°You have to remember it quickly. Once I die, the vige will rely on youter. There are more than a hundred households here. If they get a headache or fever and there isn¡¯t a doctor then won¡¯t they die?¡±

    The girl spoke earnestly. ¡°I know, I¡¯ll learn well.¡±

    Grandma Sun started to teach the young girl to judge various pulses and identify the smell of some medicine. The girl studied carefully. Xiao Lou listened for a while and didn¡¯t hear anything wrong. He looked at Yu Hanjiang and said, ¡°This grandmother sounds very loving, unlike a murderer who could ughter dozens of people and bury their bodies in the backyard of the ruined temple. The girl called Little Qing should be 17 or 18 years old based on her voice. She wasn¡¯t born when the vige was ughtered.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang ordered, ¡°Listen to the vige chief¡¯s side.¡±

    The eavesdropping channel was switched to the vige chief¡¯s house. Grandma Sun came to the door with a cane and the young vige chief whispered, ¡°Aunt Qin, are you saying your family¡¯s things have always been stolen?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang keenly noticed the word ¡®also¡¯ and pricked his ears.

    Sure enough, Grandma Qin said, ¡°Little Liu, someone sneaked into your housest night and you werepletely unaware?¡±

    The vige chief said, ¡°I slept like the door and woke up in the morning to find the contents of the boss missing. My family¡¯s Du Hui also didn¡¯t call out. I don¡¯t know if he was knocked unconscious by something. Even when someone came in the morning, they had to call out several times to let me know they were there.

    Grandma Qin¡¯ voice was hoarse. ¡°These things are very important and must be recovered as soon as possible.¡±

    The vige chief spoke in a puzzled manner. ¡°You have always told us to protect these seven stones, saying it is a rule passed down from generation to generation. Aunt Qin, can you tell me what these stones are? What effect do they have?¡±

    Grandma Qin spoke a few times before saying slowly, ¡°You should¡¯ve heard that our vige was cursed a long time ago. The mountain temple was destroyed and our ancestors became blind. These gems were given by an expert and once ced in seven positions in the vige, they can create a formation that can crack the curse, allowing us to restore light after seven generations¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s group of four nced at each other.

    Did Grandma Qin really believe this type of curse or was she deliberately lying to the vige chief? If it was the former, she might be a foolish oldd. If it was theter¡­ her suspicion was too great.

    Just then, Grandma Qin¡¯s voice suddenly shouted, ¡°Who is outside? Sneaking around,e out!¡±

    There was the sound of jingling bells and footsteps hurrying to escape.

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°Some challengers must¡¯ve discovered something wrong and went to the vige chief¡¯s house to eavesdrop. The challengers who can reach 4 of Spades have some skill. We have Ye Qi¡¯s eavesdropping card and they will definitely have different eavesdropping methods.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded, looking serious. ¡°Based on the information currently known, the seven gems are ced in the vige in ordance with a formation. The oldter said that in order to break the curse of blindness, the gems were scattered to protect the vigers. This will undoubtedly give us an important clue for finding the gems.¡±

    He found the map of Liuxi Vige that he had drawn yesterday and quickly marked a few points. ¡°The first gem, if right, was in the backyard of the temple. It was taken away by the girl who first found the human bone pit yesterday.¡±

    He pointed to the vige chief¡¯s home. ¡°The second gem was takenst night. There was a bold and clever challenger who lurked in the vige chief¡¯s home and used a special means to control the big yellow dog in front of the chief¡¯s house, stealing the gem.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang continued ¡°The third one is from the olddy¡¯s house. We were wearing invisibility cloaks and two challengers were also wearing invisibility cloaks. They found the gem one step ahead of us.¡±

    The four of them looked at the map together.

    The three locations marked with the ruined temple on the west mountain, the vige chief¡¯s home and Grandma Qin¡¯s home. These three points seemed to form a triangle. Xiao Lou felt that something was wrong. He turned around and looked at it from a different angle, this time using the west mountain as the starting point. Then he reached out, trying to connect the three gems with lines.

    He found that he had written the character for ¡®person ÈË¡¯ , with the west mountain at the apex of the ¡®ÈË¡¯ character.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°Looking down at it from above, the division of the gems should be a simple structure map of the human body. The one on the west mountain is the human head while the vige chief and Grandman Qin¡¯s homes are the symmetrical hands. If we want to draw a human figure, there is still the neck, abdomen and two legs. All these vertices add up to exactly seven.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°The neck i.e. the point that extends upward from the two hands and downward from the head. The junction of these three lines¡ª¡± he pointed precisely to a position on the map. ¡°It is the pond.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°The lower abdomen is a house in the easternmost part of the vige. The two feet are the farnd in the southeast direction?¡± After drawing these positions on the map, he took a closer look and it turned out to be a human figure illustration.

    Ye Qi and Shao Qingge looked stunned. The two great Hearts gods actually solved the secret of the gems¡¯ locations so quickly! Sure enough, it was necessary to eavesdrop on the conversations of NPCs to find key information in this Spades room. Otherwise, who knew where the gems would be in such arge vige?

    The location of the seven gems was actually a huge human body structure with the head as the west mountain, the feet as the farnd and the body as the entire Liuxi Vige.

    Shao Qingge spoke happily. ¡°Then shall we find two gems casually to at least guarantee clearing the instance?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°Simply clearing the instance only requires finding the gems. Now three gems have been taken by other challengers and there aren¡¯t many left. We have to hurry to find two to clear the instance.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suggested, ¡°The vigers have started arge-scale search. The smell of the gems will lead the vigers to the west mountain. It is no longer safe here. We might as well go in the opposite direction and search the farnd to the east.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°I think so as well.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang simply put away the map. ¡°Go.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled as he followed behind the two people, thinking, ¡®The feeling of lying down to win is really good!¡¯

    I¡¯ve updated my BL reading list with a few new novels if you¡¯re interested.

    Reading List Link

 Chapter 102: Liuxi Village 08

    There were only three gems currently found and many possibilities for the distribution of the gems.

    Ye Qi didn¡¯t quite understand why Xiao Lou could infer that the seven gemstones would form a human figure. He couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°Professor Xiao, I think the position of these three gems are also like triangles, pentagrams, etc. How did you infer that it is a human form?¡±

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°Just looking at the graphics, there are indeed many possibilities for the distribution of the three gems. The reason why I spected that the gems form a human figure is that in addition to their position, they follow the human bones in Grandma Qin¡¯s wine jar.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang recalled the wine jar. ¡°If I remember correctly, there were exactly seven human bones in her wine jar?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Furthermore, these seven human bones were the temporal bone of the hard, the vertebrae of the cervical spine, the phnges of the hands, the pubic symphysis of the pelvis and the toe bones of each feet. This represents the seven points of the human body. Grandma Qin said that the distribution of the gems makes a formation then we must certainly pay attention to her human bones. By connecting this, the position of the seven gems is probably also the seven points of the human body.¡±

    Ye Qi suddenly realized. ¡°The olddy soaked seven human bones in a wine jar and ced seven stones throughout the vige in a human shape. This feels like a curse or a seal?¡±

    Xiao Lou touched his chin and thought about it. ¡°It really is like a seal in a xianxia game but there is no way to judge Grandma Qin¡¯s specific reason for doing this. We have too few clues.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Grandma Qin must be rted to the case of the ughtered vigers. We must first go to find the gems. It is only the first day and we have a lot of time to solve the puzzle. We can slowly analyze it.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and followed Yu Hanjiang.

    The four people came out of the ruined temple and were about to go down the mountain when they heard barking.

    Xiao Lou felt surprised in his heart. He didn¡¯t expect these dogs to have such a sensitive sense of smell. It was almostparable to the police dogs who tracked prisoners. In just 10 minutes, they followed the smell of the gem to search the mountain. The western mountain was the base of the challengers and the second room required challengers to not kill the vigers. They would fail the secret room if they killed vigers by mistake. The vigers led the dogs to search the mountain and the vigers had to hide.

    They were about to encounter arge search force and Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other.

    Ye Qi hadn¡¯t reacted yet when he suddenly saw Xiao Lou throw out the Bnce. Two silver-white metal discs with a diameter of five metres were quickly created on the ground, trapping all the dogs and vigers inside.

    The characteristic of Bnce was that as long as the total weight on the left and right sides of the scale weren¡¯t equal, the trapped target couldn¡¯t leave the area of the disc. There were so many vigers and dogs so there must be different weights on both sides. Two huge scales with a diametre of five metres set them in ce.

    These dogs saw Xiao Lou¡¯s group of four and wanted to leap to bite. Then they found they couldn¡¯t move and could only bark wildly in the direction of the four people. The sound of more than a dozen dogs barking broke the tranquility of the west mountain. In fact, Xiao Lou did this to alert fellow challengers to hide quickly.

    The bncested for five minutes and this was enough for Xiao Lou¡¯s group to flee. The vigers couldn¡¯t see and didn¡¯t know what was going on. They heard their dogs barking and the next moment, a light wind blowing next to their body.

    Since the road was blocked by the vigers, the four people couldn¡¯t directly pass the dogs. Fortunately, Ye Qi¡¯s Teleport card could blink through the gap. He aimed at the gap between the scales and took Xiao Lou. Then he returned and took Shao Qingge and Yu Hanjiang respectively.

    Little Ye was really flexible when running for his life at a critical time.

    Passing through the middle of the group of dogs, Ye Qi gasped with fear, his face white. ¡°That Tibetan mastiff was only 10 centimeters away from me. If I wasn¡¯t fast enough then it might¡¯ve bitten my leg!¡±

    Xiao Lou patted him on the shoulder infort. ¡°It was hard. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    The four of them quickly went down the mountain. At the foot of the mountain, Xiao Lou heard a noise from the forest behind him. He looked up and saw a white figure gently jumping from one tree to another. The girl was as light as a swallow and seemed like a girl who learned the best footwork skill.

    Her flight card was really powerful. Xiao Lou looked up at her and the girl nodded at him before flying toward the east of the vige.

    The vigers went up the mountain with so many dogs to search. The challengers who heard the dog barking was likely to go down the mountain to escape. Next, there would be arge number of challengers appearing in the vige. They had to find the gem as soon as possible, otherwise, they could only rely on grabbing people¡¯s things. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t want to steal other people¡¯s things.

    Yu Hanjiang also knew that the situation was urgent. He handed the map to Ye Qi and said, ¡°Little Ye, you have the Teleport card. Take Chief Shao to the farnd in the southeast as soon as possible to find the gems. I¡¯ll go to the other farnd with Professor Xiao.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded and activated the Teleport card with Shao Qingge, disappearing in front of him. Xiao Lou wanted to activate the eleration shoes but his running speed was too slow. His result in the 100 metres spring had always been on the verge of passing. His foundation was poor and he wouldn¡¯t be particrly fast with added speed.

    Thinking up to here, Xiao Lou said, ¡°We also have to hurry. Group Leader Yu, you should wear the eleration shoes and go first.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang shook his head. ¡°I haven¡¯t received the blindness effect and it is easy to go wrong. We can¡¯t act separately. How about I put on the eleration shoes and carry you?¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t worry too much. He simply handed the Gale card to Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang put on the eleration shoes and started the eleration skill with Xiao Lou on his back. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t react as Yu Hanjiang shot forward like an arrow.

    Xiao Lou was dizzy and immediately reached for Yu Hanjiang¡¯s shoulder, lest he fall. This intimate action caused the man¡¯s back to slightly stiffen but his feet didn¡¯t pause at all.

    The breeze blew through his ears as the surrounding scenery quickly passed. Perhaps they moved too fast after wearing the eleration shoes, causing the heartbeats of the two people to be a bit disordered. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s steady breathing was also a bit short.

    He carried Xiao Lou through the vige in just five minutes. Aftering to the farnd, Yu Hanjiang put Xiao Lou on the ground.

    Xiao Lou realized that he had been holding Group Leader Yu and his ears became slightly hot. He quickly released his hands and changed the topic once he stood on the ground. ¡°The gem should be in this area. Find it quickly so that other challengers won¡¯te here and take it first.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Okay, separate to search.¡±

    It was currently the autumn harvest season and the farnd of golden wheat moved in the wind. The air exuded a clear fragrance.

    The two people entered the wheat field. This wheat field was dozens of acres and seemed to never end. Where exactly were the gems buried? They wouldn¡¯t be easy to find. If it was in the middle of the wheat field, did they have to level all of the wheat field and dig at the ground?

    The project was too big. What clues were there?

    Xiao Lou frowned at therge wheat field. Then he found that there were exactly seven scarecrows in the wheat field. The scarecrows were ced in the fields in order to drive out birds from stealing food. Look up and nothing could be seen, every scarecrow was the same size. However, looking down from the sky¡­

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°These seven scarecrows are also lined up in a human shape. The westernmost one is the head and the easternmost two are the feet. The gem should be in the left foot position.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang heard this and immediately ran over, lifting up the scarecrow. There was no abnormality on the ground. He touched the scarecrow and found that the stomach area was empty. He put his hand into the scarecrow¡¯s stomach and pulled out a delicate wooden box. They opened the box and inside was a dark green gem.

    Yu Hanjiang took the gem back to Xiao Lou¡¯s side. ¡°I found it.¡±

    Xiao Lou was very happy and immediately spoke to Ye Qi through the heart channel. ¡°Little Ye, have you found the gem? Are there seven scarecrows in the field?¡±

    Ye Qi replied, ¡°We haven¡¯t found them, this farnd is so big¡­ is there a gem under the scarecrow?¡±

    Xiao Lou gave a tip. ¡°Look from west to east, the scarecrows are arranged like a human. Look in the stomach of the scarecrow in the right foot position.¡±

    Soon, Ye Qi¡¯s excited voice entered his ears. ¡°I found it! The gem is really in the scarecrow¡¯s stomach!¡±

    Xiao Lou ordered, ¡°Bring the stone to meet up.¡±

    The farnd had t terrain and Ye Qi and Shao Qingge could teleport directly. Within a minute, they entered Xiao Lou¡¯s vision. Ye Qi was holding a wooden box, eyes full of excitement. He came to Ye Qi¡¯s side and opened the wooden box. ¡°Professor Xiao, I found a gem. It is transparent.¡±

    Xiao Lou received the gem handed over by Ye Qi and made aparison to what he had found.

    Both were spherical gems and very round. There was a bright line in the middle of the previous stone. The one that he and Yu Hanjiang found was dark green while the one that Ye Qi and Chief Shao found was almost transparent white. Under the light, the gem exuded a soft lustre, especially the line in the middle. It was very bright and beautiful.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know much about jewellery and asked, ¡°Do you know it?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Ye Qi both shook their heads to show that they didn¡¯t know.

    Shao Qingge smiled and picked up the two gems, looking at them in the sun ¡°This is the chrysoberyl stone. The one in Professor Xiao¡¯s hand is the Hetian jade cat¡¯s eye chrysoberyl. The one that Little Ye found is the moonstone cat¡¯s eye. From a colour point of view, this gem should be natural. The shape of the stone is round and the cat¡¯s eye line in the middle is so clear. Both gems are expensive.¡±

    Ye Qi looked at him with admiration. ¡°Chief Shao, did you do a lot of research on gems?¡±

    Shao Qingge replied. ¡°It is needed for business. I have studied gold and jewellery.¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully examined the two gems. He found that there was a small hole in the middle of the two gems and wondered, ¡°The hole in these gems, what does it mean?¡±

    He was looking down and thinking about it when a girl¡¯s calm and cool voice was heard behind them.¡±Seven gems, it should be a string bracelet.¡±

    The four people suddenly turned back to see the girl sitting in a tree not far away. At their gaze, she jumped and steadily fell in front of Xiao Lou with open hands. Her palm also contained a gem. It was a golden cat¡¯s eye stone. The colour was crystal clear and shone in the evening sun.

    Shao Qingge narrowed his eyes. ¡°You have the golden cat¡¯s eye. It is the most precious variety and the one with the highest simrity to a cat¡¯s eye.¡±

    The girl put her hands away. ¡°You should¡¯ve guessed that this one was found in the bone pit at the temple.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°You just said that the seven gems will form a bracelet. What is the basis?¡±

    The girl pointed to the small hole in the middle of the gem. ¡°This hole should be used for threading. The seven jewels are stringed together with a threat, which is very simr to a bracelet worn by girls. I¡¯ve bought this type of cat¡¯s eye bracelet before but I bought artificial ones. It was for tens of yuan and not as precious.¡±

    Shao Qingge thought about it and nodded with approval. ¡°Itis indeed like a cat¡¯s eye bracelet that girls wear. If it is seven different varieties of pure and natural cat¡¯s eye gems strung into a bracelet¡­ the price would be very expensive.¡±

    Ye Qi spoke curiously. ¡°Then the owner of this bracelet should be very rich?¡±

    Shao Qingge spoke. ¡°Three of them have been found, including the transparent moonstone cat¡¯s eye, dark green cat¡¯s eye and golden cat¡¯s eyes. There are also themon cat¡¯s eye stones such as the red crystal cat¡¯s eye, tourmaline cat¡¯s eye, quartz cat¡¯s eye, and alexandrite cat¡¯s eye¡­ the seven chrysoberyl colours are likely to be different. The different types of cat¡¯s eye gems are gathered to make a bracelet. The owner not only has money but has done a lot of research on the cat¡¯s eye stone.¡±

    The girl looked at him in an unexpected manner. ¡°Do you know jewellery very well?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°I understand a little bit.¡±

    The three people, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge was always sticking up his tail and now he said that he only ¡®slightly understood.¡¯

    Xiao Lou smiled as he looked at the girl in front of him. ¡°You have been hiding all the time but now you suddenly found us. Do you want to cooperate with us for a perfect clearance?¡±

    The girl nodded. ¡°You have found two gems and the four of you can clear the instance. I have also found one and there is nopetition between us. Thus, I want to find you to cooperate and try to perfectly clear the instance.¡±

    The girl was very clever. If the four people hadn¡¯t found the gem and she rushed to work with them, it was likely that her own gem would be robbed. Now, the four of them had found two gems and could clear the instance. She didn¡¯t need to be too defensive of them.

    Grabbing extra gems wouldn¡¯t add points and there was no need to start fighting each other. Cooperating to find the most perfect way to clear the instance was the most intelligent approach. The girl had a flight card and could fly with the help of the trees. This could help them find clues. In addition, the girl had obviously seen the strength of the four of them and believed they could help her.

    The two sides hit it off.

    Xiao Lou smiled and said, ¡°Since you want to cooperate, can you tell me your name? You can¡¯t always be called the flying hero.¡±

    The girl seemed to have no humour cells and her face was still. ¡°Hello, my name is Liu Qiao.¡±

    Ye Qi was excited. ¡°Hello, my name is Ye Qi!¡±

    Yu Qingge thoughtfully touched the chin. ¡°Liu Qiao, where have I heard this name before?¡±

    Something shed through Xiao Lou¡¯s mind.

    As early as the 2 of Clubs secret room, there was a card game with seven people. Shao Qingge started off with a psychological war and there were two girls as well. Out of the two girls, one was very thin and the other had a high ponytail. Xiao Lou finally helped them to win.

    After the game, the group discussed the reasons why they came into this world and found that everyone was in an ident.

    The bus the two girls were travelling on was the bus that caused the car ident that hit Xiao Lou.

    One of the girls had said, ¡°My sister probably also came to this world. She isn¡¯t in good health and I don¡¯t know how long she will live. If you have a chance to see her in the future, can you tell her to live well¡­ her name is Liu Qiao.¡±

    The memories poured into his mind. Xiao Lou reflected on where he heard this name and immediately asked, ¡°Liu Qiao? Do you have a sister who was in a car ident with you?¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s face changed slightly. ¡°How do you know that?¡±

    Shao Qingge also remembered this matter. ¡°We met her in 2 of Clubs. She was taking the school bus with you and got into an ident. Then she was pulled into the Card World.¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s fingers clenched and her eyes were full of worry. ¡°My sister, she¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°She wasn¡¯t eliminated from 2 of Clubs. She joined teams with another girl and we never saw her again after that secret room.¡±

    Although they hadn¡¯t seen her, Xiao Lou felt that her sister might not reach 4 of Spades. Both girls looked physically weak and were likely to be wiped out by the prisoners group in the Financial Crisis. Moreover, 3 of Hearts was very brain-burning and 4 of Hearts even more. 4 of Spades was an abnormal linked secret room with an elimination rate of more than 80%. Her sister had a very low possibility of leaving the novice area and smoothly entering the main city.

    Liu Qiao was silent for a moment and whispered, ¡°My sister is called Liu Ying and we were indeed in a car ident. After 2 of Clubs, I originally bought a contract to form a team with her. As a result, the keeper told me she was bound to someone else.¡±

    This was consistent with what Xiao Lou said.

    After 2 of Hearts, Liu Ying and the other girl she yed cards with bound together. As a result, she missed her sister¡¯s invitation.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Your sister said you weren¡¯t well. How did you reach 4 of Spades alone?¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s face was slightly white. This road obviously hadn¡¯t been easy. ¡°After perfectly clearing 2 of Hearts, I drew a card that allowed me to move through the air and this allowed me to smoothly avoid the zombies in 2 of Spades. The teammates I matched with in 3 of Hearts and 4 of Hearts were strong. I could be considered lucky to hold on until now.¡±

    Ye Qi was curious. ¡°It is easy to be pitted when randomly matched with teammates. How did you survive 3 of Spades?¡±

    Liu Qiao looked ugly. ¡°I was randomly matched with a teammate in 3 of Spades and found there was something wrong with my teammate¡¯s identity. I quickly got away from her and hid in the trees using the flying card. I used the milk and bread in my backpack and then ate the leaves to survive for seven days.¡±

    Ye Qi felt empathy and his face was full of hate. ¡°You were also pitted by your randomly matched teammate? I was the same. My teammate was a real life university senior. Once our food was stolen he took our food and disappeared!¡±

    The others, ¡°¡­¡±

    These two miserable people, it wasn¡¯t easy to survive by eating leaves.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s words were warm. ¡°Your sister had a message for you, telling you to live well. Since we met so coincidentally, we will work together this time. Once we clear the fourth level, you will go to the main city with us. Then you can inquire about your sister¡¯s whereabouts, okay?¡±

    She couldn¡¯t find her sister here. Once she went to the main city, if her sister sessfully lived through the fourth level then they might meet there. These people¡¯s description of her sister didn¡¯t seem to be lies and they were very strong. Together, they might be able to get a perfect S-grade clearance.

    Liu Qiao took a deep breath and nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    She turned around and said, ¡°I hid in a treest night and found some clues in the vige. You shoulde with me.¡±

 Chapter 103: Liuxi Village 09

    Liu Qiao took the four people to the three willow trees in the distance. This ce was hidden and nearly a kilometre from the entrance to the east of the vige. By hiding behind the trees, they wouldn¡¯t be found by challengers suddenly escaping the vige.

    Liu Qiao was thin, her height was 1.65 metres and she looked less than 50 kg. She was wearing a wide tracksuit and it seemed like her entire body would be blown away by the wind. However, her expression was calm and her eyes showed no fear or tension. They were clear eyes that seemed to see through everything.

    Xiao Lou appreciated the cleverness and cautiousness of this girl and asked, ¡°You asked us toe over. Is it to tell us a clue?¡±

    Liu Qiao sorted out her thoughts and exined, ¡°I first entered the vige yesterday at dusk. I used the flight card to directly enter the vige.¡± She took a card out of her pack and spread it out on her palms. ¡°This is the flight card that I drew.¡±

    The S-grade tool card [Bird]. The additional skill: Light as a Swallow.

    After using the skill, immediately enter the ¡®Light as a Swallow¡¯ state and be free from the influence of gravity. Their body will float in the air up to 50 metres and can move through the air. Each floating timested for three seconds and the skill would refresh immediately afternding. Please use it flexibly and don¡¯t fall to your death. For every growth in level, the floating time will increase by 1 second, with 10 seconds being the maximum.

    Xiao Lou looked at the card description and said, ¡°Every floatsts three seconds. Does that mean that in the absence of trees or other leverage points, you can fly through the air andnd after three seconds? So you have to find a leverage point that you can borrow, jump to another ce in three seconds, refresh the skill cooldown and continue flying?¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded. ¡°Yes, this card can¡¯t fly long distances. I must find anding point after three seconds or I will fall directly. At full level, I can float for 10 seconds and this is better.¡±

    Her body wasn¡¯t very good. It was thanks to this card that she sessfully passed 2 of Spades¡¯ Zombie Town and 3 of Spades¡¯ Financial Crisis. In 4 of Spades, she could also fly with the help of trees to avoid the vigers.

    Liu Qiao put away the card and said, ¡°Yesterday evening, there were two challengers who rushed to act and disturbed Grandma Qin¡¯s Tibetan mastiff. The attention of all the viges was on them so I took the opportunity to fly through the trees of the vige. I wanted to look at the situation. Grandma Sun¡¯s house was in that vicinity and Inded on a tree by her house. She suddenly turned and looked at me.¡±

    Liu Qiao looked serious. ¡°I suspect that the grandmother could see me.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Are you sure she could see you? Maybe she has keen hearing and heard the sound of you falling into the tree, causing her to look in your direction?¡±

    Liu Qiao shook her head. ¡°It isn¡¯t the same. Grandma Sun looked directly at me, which scared me. She could see so urately, unlike the reaction of blind people. At that time, there was a pregnant woman who asked her for medicine and she didn¡¯t care about me. I was worried about being found and immediately left with the help of other trees. In the middle of the night, I went back to her house. This time, I hid on the roof.¡±

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°You¡¯re a girl. You were so brave to run back to the vige in the middle of the night!¡±

    Liu Qiao said, ¡°I returned to the vige after separating from you at the temple. Most of the vigers were asleep and the vige wasn¡¯t really dangerous. In addition, I have the flight card, invisibility cloak and map you gave me. In case of trouble, I could quickly run away. Thus, I had the courage to go back and check if Grandma Sun could really see.¡±

    Xiao Lou questioned, ¡°What did you find?¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s face slightly changed. ¡°It was 3:30 in the morning and she was still in the kitchen making medicine. I clearly saw several medicine pots on the ground. Then I distinctly saw her throw some bones into the pot.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s suspicion that Grandma Sun could see was just spection. Then she returned to the vige at night and found Grandma Sun using human bones to make medicine. This was absolutely conclusive evidence.

    Grandma Qin soaked bones in the rice wine jar in the kitchen. Grandma Sun actually used human bones to make medicine! The two olddies behaved in a strange manner. In order to solve the case of the ughtered viges, the investigation obviously had to start with them.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and asked. ¡°Did you go inside Grandma Sun¡¯s house?¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded. ¡°I used the invisibility cloak and there were 30 minutes of invisibility time. Once she finished making the medicine, I went into the kitchen to take a look. She had arge rice jar in the kitchen filled with the bones of the dead¡­¡±

    Liu Qiao was white-faced when she recalled the scene she saw at that time. In the rice jar, the bones were densely stacked together and it was shocking. Liu Qiao felt a chill go down her spine. She hurriedly closed the lid of the rice jar and turned to leave, heading back to the west mountain.

    She was only one person and didn¡¯t dare continue checking. In any case, she got the clearance gem. The vige was full of strange things and she just wanted to make sure that her gem wouldn¡¯t be robbed. She would leave Liuxi Vige after seven days and just had to mind her own business. She didn¡¯t change her mind until she met Xiao Lou again.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang looked at each other. ¡°Group Leader Yu, this Grandma Sun and Grandma Qin are very suspicious.¡±

    Liu Qiao was startled and looked back at Xiao Lou. ¡°Yourst name is Xiao and his is Yu. Are you Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang who set the world records in 3 of Hearts and 4 of Hearts?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Yes, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Xiao Lou. If I remember correctly, your sister mentioned that you are a student of the medical university? I am a professor in the forensics department of the medical university.¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s heart was excited but she was always introverted so she didn¡¯t appear too excited. She nodded seriously. ¡°Hello Professor Xiao, I am a freshman majoring in traditional Chinese medicine. I didn¡¯t get the chance to attend your ss but I often listened to my seniors talk about you.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded at her. ¡°This is Yu Hanjiang. Group Leader Yu is the leader of a criminal police team in Jiangzhou. Ye Qi is a student at the conservatory of music. Chief Shao is the boss of a fundpany he created. We have decided to upgrade the contract book and form a team after going to the main city.¡±

    Liu Qiao, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    She seemed to have mistakenly bumped into a group of great gods?

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°Cooperate with us and you won¡¯t suffer.¡±

    Liu Qiao immediately nodded. ¡°Thank you for taking me.¡±

    Her nervous mood eased instantly. During this time, she had been acting alone and had a hard time walking in this strange world. Now she met these powerful people, including Professor Xiao, who had the best rating at the school. She immediately felt like she had a backer.

    Liu Qiao pulled out her card pack and said, ¡°My transformation card has a strong effect and might be useful. Professor Xiao, have a look.¡±

    Xiao Lou took the card and had a closer look.

    The S-grade special effect card [Twin]. The skill was called ¡®Copy¡¯. Immediately after use, can copy a person you have seen within 30 minutes, forming his/her twin. The duration is 8 minutes and the cooldown time is 8 hours. You can copy the other person¡¯s appearance and voice but not their abilities and cards. During the copy period, if the other party is dead then the copy effect will be automatically cancelled.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°You can copy anyone you see in 30 minutes. Can you turn into one of us now?¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded and used the card¡¯s skill. Then there were two Ye Qi in front of them. Ye Qi stared. He saw someone who looked exactly like himself and eximed, ¡°It is like looking in the mirror!¡±

    The other ¡®Ye Qi¡¯ learned to speak like him. ¡°It is just like looking in the mirror! It¡¯s too simr!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, don¡¯t learn to speak like me!¡±

    The other Ye Qi said, ¡°Hahaha, don¡¯t learn to speak like me!¡±

    The other three helpless people looking at the two Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Liu Qiao, change back and don¡¯t y around.¡±

    Liu Qiao obediently changed back and said, ¡°The card effect is like this. I can change into any person I saw within 30 minutes, whether they are challengers or free people. I can also be Grandma Sun, Grandma Qin or the three vigers.¡±

    The special effect card ¡®Twin¡¯ was too amazing. There might be only one skill and the duration was eight minutes. Transforming in a key moment could not only avoid a crisis but also turn into a designated NPC to investigate.

    Xiao Lou asked curiously, ¡°What about the Little Red Riding Hood you changed intost night?¡±

    Liu Qiao summoned the little red hat and said, ¡°This is a fairy tale summoning card. I can summon Little Red Riding Hood and be immune to any attack in range. I was afraid that you would attack me at that time so I summoning Little Red Riding Hood and became the image of a child to eliminate your vignce.¡±

    The cards she drew were also very strange but they were useful.

    The Twin card could be anyone, including challengers, free people and summoned characters. In other words, she could even transform into Bai Juyi or Liu Yong summoned by Xiao Lou. This was regarded as a very powerful means of confusion.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Liu Qiao¡¯s transformation card means our next strategy will be more flexible. In addition to continuing to eavesdrop, we can be people familiar to Grandma Sun or Grandma Qin to talk to them.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked back at him. ¡°Group Leader Yu, Grandma Sun is the only doctor in the vige. We have spected that the murderer is likely to start with pregnant women and babies. The medicine will lead to blindness in babies. Her age and upation are very consistent with these conditions.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded in agreement. ¡°The vige massacre case urred decades ago. If all the vige adults were killed and the children poisoned by Grandma Sun, these children would grow up to marry and have children. Their descendants would once again be blind and she can deceive everyone that it is a ¡®curse.¡¯¡±

    The group felt a chill down their spine at Group Leader Yu¡¯s reasoning.

    Grandma Sun was the only vige doctor and gave birth to pregnant women. She was responsible for looking after children. It would be too easy for her to blind an entire vige. The other people were blind and didn¡¯t understand medicine. They didn¡¯t know the medicine she prescribed and was grateful for her help¡­

    What was this perverted psychology that made her retaliate against the entire vige using such extreme means? Even newborn babies weren¡¯t let go?

    Xiao Lou gently clenched his fists. ¡°What about Grandma Qin? She must also know the truth, right?¡±

    ¡°It is possible the two of them are working together. At this moment, we don¡¯t have enough clues.¡± Yu Hanjiang looked up at the sky in the west. The sun was about to set. The sunset was dying the sky blood red. The timing bar above his head pointed to 19:00 p.m. in the evening. There was a rush of footsteps in the distance. Yu Hanjiang lowered his voice, ¡°Everyone, hide first and wait until it is dark.¡±

    The five people immediately hid behind a tree.

    Momentster, two people came running toward the farnd. One young man was crawling on the ground like a gecko. Strangely, his body colour changed ording to the surrounding environment and he quickly integrated with the environment. Once he crawled through the farnd, he became the colour of wheat. If he hadn¡¯t been moving then it would be hard to distinguish with the naked eye.

    The other person, a woman who looked in her mid-30s with delicate makeup. As she moved, she held her hands up high and jumped like a zombie. It was just that every time she jumped, she could jump more than five metres without stopping.

    They stopped near the edge of the wheat field and the man whispered, ¡°If we go further, we¡¯ll have to leave the boundary of Liuxi Vige. There are beasts everywhere outside. It will be very dangerous.¡±

    The woman smiled and said, ¡°What are you afraid of? You can camouge at any time with your chameleon card and be one with the environment. My arms and legs can stretch 10 metres to help climb trees, finding the tallest tree to hide in.¡± She paused and looked at herpanion. ¡°It is safer for us to hide outside the vige than inside. Don¡¯t forget that all challengers in this secret room are very strong. Our abilities are in hiding and we can¡¯t necessarily beat them in frontalbat.¡±

    The man thought about it. ¡°Yes, there are six days left. We can clear the instance even if we hide in the wild, so as to not be plotted against by other challengers in the next few days. Compared to unpredictable challengers, the beasts are easier to deal with.¡±

    The woman said, ¡°Let¡¯s go. The vigers with the mad dogs are looking everywhere for challengers. We must withdraw before they find us.¡±

    The two of them didn¡¯t notice the three willow trees in the distance. They thought the challengers were all on the west mountain and no one was in the field. Thus, they didn¡¯t lower their volume when talking. Xiao Lou and the others could clearly hear their conversation.

    The two of them moved as fast as lightning and quickly disappeared outside the vige. Apparently, they chose a more adventurous approach. They would go directly into the wild for six days to clear the instance.

    Xiao Lou actually agreed with the woman¡¯s words. Rather than beasts, the challengers with unknown strength were more terrible. In the next few days, challengers who hadn¡¯t found any gems would definitely try to steal them and the oue was really unpredictable.

    What if someone drew a gun like Yu Hanjiang and directly shot to kill?

    In contrast, the beasts might be dangerous but these two people¡¯s escape ability was really strong. Perhaps they really could clear the instance.

    Once the two left, Liu Qiao said, ¡°In fact, I first came to the farnd because I also intended to hide in the wild.¡± If she hadn¡¯t met Xiao Lou and changed her mind, she would¡¯ve left the vige with her gem.

    Xiao Lou opened his mouth. ¡°The woman just reminded me that we now have three gems in our hands. Perhaps we will be the target of challengers who haven¡¯t found gems. They might unite to steal the gems. Next, we have to keep a low profile and can¡¯t reveal to anyone that we have the gem.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°Pretend not to find it.¡±

    The five people hid behind the tree until it was dark. Not long after, Yu Hanjiang also got the blindness effect. It was just fortunate that they didn¡¯t need to act at this time. He sat under a tree with eyes closed and Xiao Lou kindly gave him some water to drink.

    Next, there were challengers forced out of the vige by the vigers. Some were like the previous team and took shelter outside the vige. Others ran into the farnd and used straw to pretend to be scarecrows. Some people climbed up trees like monkeys.

    There were many challengers. The vigers had the dogs search and the entire vige was full of the sound of barking. Today¡¯s vigers didn¡¯t go to bed untilte at night and the vige gradually quieted down.

    At 24:00 a.m., there were several lines that appeared on everyone¡¯s floating boxes.

    [Liuxi Vige, the next day. 24:00 a.m.

    Number of challengers remaining in the vige: 18.

    Number of stones remaining in the vige: 1.]

    Xiao Lou¡¯s group of five had changed expressions. They didn¡¯t expect that six out of seven gems had been found in just one day! Moreover, there were 18 challengers remaining, indicating hat several unfortunate ones had been eliminated.

    There was only one gem remaining and the number of challengers was much greater than the number of gems. Those who failed to find one would be more nervous and the infighting between challengers was the most unpredictable risk in the future.

    It would be hard for them to pretend they hadn¡¯t found gems and they had to go into the vige to investigate.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the dark vige and whispered to Liu Qiao. ¡°Give me your transformation card.¡±

    Liu Qiao took out her transformation card and handed it to him, asking, ¡°Who are you going to be?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied lightly, ¡°I will be the vige chief and go to talk to Grandma Sun.¡±

    Once again, thank Chuna for her fanart of Xiao Lou hiding behind Yu Hanjiang while blind.

 Chapter 104: Liuxi Village 10

    Yu Hanjiang decided to use Liu Qiao¡¯s transformation card to pretend to be the vige chief.

    After three hours of monitoring the vige chief¡¯s home in the afternoon, he had probably mastered the vige chief¡¯s personality. The vige chief was around 30 years old and was surnamed Liu. Mrs Qin called him Little Liu and he didn¡¯t know the source of the seven gems in the vige. He only found out that the distribution of the gems was in a ¡®formation¡¯ when Grandma Qin told him today. Thus, it was very reasonable if he went to Grandma Sun for consultation when feeling puzzled.

    The Twin Card had a restriction. They had to see the person they wanted to copy within 30 minutes. Thus, Yu Hanjiang had to go to the vige chief¡¯s house first to see what he looked like.

    Liu Qiao reminded him, ¡°The Twin card willpletely copy a person¡¯s appearance and voice. This includes the eyes. Once Group Leader Yu bes the vige chief, you will probably be blind like him.¡±

    Xiao Lou was also worried about this and nced at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°The vige chief has been blind from a young age. He grew up in Liuxi Vige and is very familiar with the vige. There is no need to worry about falling down when blind. Group Leader Yu, if you be blind and hit something in Grandma Sun¡¯s house, she will surely be suspicious.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it. ¡°Once I pretend to be the vige chief, Professor Xiao will be my eyes.¡±

    Xiao Lou was startled. ¡°You mean, put on the invisibility cloak and help you from beside you?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, walk with me so I don¡¯t make a mistake.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°No problem.¡±

    At 24:00, all the card skills were refreshed.

    The five people acted separately. Liu Qiao took the lead with the flying card since she could clearly observe movements in the vige from the air. In the event of danger, she could raise the rm in advance. At this time, the Four-way Arrow obtained in 2 of Diamonds was very useful. Liu Qiao found the safest and fastest way and directly marked it for everyone with an arrow.

    Ye Qi and Shao Qingge followed using the teleportation card. The three people first came to the vige chief¡¯s home. The bug that Ye Qi had ced here earlier confirmed that there was no sounding from the vige chief¡¯s house. The vige chief and his dog were asleep. Ye Qi spoke to Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou through the heart channel. ¡°The vige chief¡¯s home is confirmed safe.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang put on an invisibility cloak and entered the vige chief¡¯s house. He first looked at the vige chief¡¯ appearance so he could copy it with the Twin Card.

    The time of the invisibility cloak was 30 minute so Yu Hanjiang took the opportunity to search the vige chief¡¯s house. At this time, the vige chief was sleeping. His home only had one bedroom and he didn¡¯t have a wife or children, so he was living alone.

    Yu Hanjiang found a map hanging on the wall of the vige chief¡¯s house. It was theyout of Liuxi Vige and had the four directions of north, south, east and west marked. There was some text next to each house and many raised small dots that looked like Braille. Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t read Braille but he spected that these marks made it more convenient for the vige chief to remember the location of each house.

    In addition to the west side bedroom, there was arge cab against the wall in the east room. Yu Hanjiang stepped lightly into the room and opened the cab door to see. The cab had several thick folders marked with the year. Was this the historical material left behind by the vige ancestors?

    The room was too dark and Yu Hanjiang simply grabbed all the folders.

    Once he came outside, he saw a garden nted with small white flowers that bloomed in the moonlight. This flower was verymon in the vige. His eyes swept over the yard and he found some residues in a corner of the garden. Yu Hanjiang squatted down and looked carefully. It seemed to be the residue of traditional Chinese medicine. He picked up several pieces and took them to the door.

    The four people were waiting for him outside. Yu Hanjiang handed the folders to Xiao Lou and also showed him the residue. ¡°Professor Xiao, I found a lot of this residue in a corner of the garden.¡±

    Xiao Lou came with him to smell it. ¡°This should be boiled Chinese medicine.¡±

    Liu Qiao jumped down from a tree and looked at the thick folders. ¡°Is this information on the vige?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°The vige chief¡¯s house did have a clue. These materials are written in Chinese characters. He is blind and can¡¯t see, so it should be passed down by his ancestors. The vige chiefs of every generation put them in the house for collection.

    Xiao Lou opened the first folder. It was indeed a record of the history of Liuxi Vige.

    Liuxi Vige had four surnames: Qin, Liu, Sun and Lin. Many years ago, their ancestors found this fertilend in the mountains, reimed thend and settled here. At first, Liuxi Vige only had a dozen people. After generations of reproduction, the poption of Liuxi Vige gradually increased and finally stabilize at more than 100 households.

    The previous folders recorded the poption of each household, like a household register.

    Thest folder should be the most recent one and it was more detailed. Some events in the vige were recorded e.g. a new baby boy was born to this family, a wedding banquet was held in this family, the old man of this family died of illness etc. These trivial events were recorded with a pen. The handwriting was consistent and printed clearly.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Based on the time, it should be left by the previous generation¡¯s vige chief, which is the current vige head¡¯s grandfather?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at the record book and raised his eyebrows slightly. ¡°The ughter incident happened 30 years ago and this data record is also from more than 30 years ago. We should focus on thest year. Something must¡¯ve happened in the vige.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang turned to thest folder. This was a first-person self-narrative.

    ¡°This weather this year was favourable and every household got a good harvest. On New Year¡¯s Day, a few young people came to the vige. We rarely see visitors and at the beginning, we were very alert to these people. However, they had a good attitude. They taught the vigers many things and gave the children new toys.

    I decided to cooperate with them regarding their investigation of the areas surrounding the vige. It is said that there are rich jade resources surrounding the vige and jade mining can make a lot of money. We don¡¯t know jade but the bracelet that girl is wearing is very beautiful. She says it is natural chrysoberyl. If our vige can mind and process the jade, we can also make this beautiful bracelet.

    My daughter likes her bracelet very much. If we can cooperate with them in the jade mining and make a lot of money, perhapster our vige can build a road so we can go outside and see.¡±

    The record came to an abrupt end here.

    Liu Qiao frowned as she looked at this row of neat writing. ¡°The seven chrysoberyl gems are indeed a bracelet but where did the girl wearing the bracelet go? There is no record afterwards. What happened to the vige?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°That girl may be dead.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded in agreement. ¡°It is only with her death that the bracelet would be distributed across the vige in a human form, protected by the vigers for generations. This type of sacrifice should be done by her rtives, right?¡±

    Strangers wouldn¡¯t keep the dead¡¯s belongings. The girl who appeared in the vige chief¡¯s record with the bracelet must be a key figure in this whole affair.

    Shao Qingge touched his chin. ¡°The people who came to the vige are obviously experts. They inadvertently discovered that Liuxi Vige is rich in jade resources. On the surface, many jade raw stones look no different from ordinary stone on the surface, Then once they are opened, there will be pure natural jade that is invaluable after being processed.¡±

    Ye Qi was excited. ¡°I have heard about that! Some people spent thousands to buy the raw stones and once they finally open it, they find pre jade worth hundreds of thousands of yuan and be rich overnight!¡±

    ¡°There are indeed examples of this. If Liuxi Vige is really rich in jade resources then the vigers be rich overnight isn¡¯t a dream.¡± Shao Qingge looked at Group Leader Yu and asked, ¡°What would be the cause of the girl¡¯s death?¡±

    ¡°The reason for murder is love, money or lust. The possibility of a love killing is very small. She is a rich youngdy from outside who shouldn¡¯t have emotional entanglements with the vigers. She is wearing a bracelet of seven chrysoberyl gems. Obviously, she is very rich. The vigers might¡¯ve killed her for money. Or she might be beautiful so some vigers are interested in her and have bad thoughts.¡±

    Xiao Lou touched his chin thoughtfully before suddenly saying, ¡°That girl, would she be blind?¡±

    Everyone heard this and their backs became a bit cold. If the girl happened to be blind and the vigers bullied and killed her because she was blind, her rtives might know this ande to the vige to retaliate. They even ughtered the vige in an extreme way and spread the girl¡¯s bracelet throughout the vige, the vigers¡¯ descendants guarding it as a treasure. Then the consequences made sense.

    Grandma Qin once said that bullying the blind would have consequences. Was that girl really blind? They were only specting and had no way to be sure.

    Yu Hanjiang simple said, ¡°Since Grandma Qin and Grandma Sun are definitely insiders, we will investigate Grandma Sun. Grandma Qin has already talked to the vige chief.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and followed Yu Hanjiang.

    Liu Qiao continued to go first. She flew to Grandma Sun¡¯s house and looked for a big tree to hide in. Grandma Sun had been in the kitchenst night and the strange smell of Chinese medicine floated in the air. They thought of the human bones boiling in the medicine and felt cold.

    Liu Qiao made a gesture to Ye Qi, who threw the bug on the wall of Grandma Sun¡¯s house. Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°I will be the vige chief. Professor Xiao, put on your invisibility cloak next to me so I won¡¯t fall down.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Rest assured. Once something goes wrong, I will immediately take you back to the Peach Blossom Spring.¡±

    Liu Qiao reminded. ¡°The transformation of the Twin card can currentlyst 10 minutes. Professor Xiao, be careful.¡±

    Originally, the transformation card could onlyst 8 minutes. Then Liu Qiao used it yesterday morning and afternoon and the S-grade card¡¯s growth had improved. It could nowst 10 minutes.

    Time was very precious. Yu Hanjiang no longer talked and took out the Twin card to make himself into the vige chief. He looked exactly like the vige chief and there were no obvious differences with the naked eye.

    Xiao Lou put on his cloak and gently held Group Leader Yu¡¯s arm. To outsiders, the vige chief woulde to the door alone but in fact, Xiao Lou was helping Yu Hanjiang.

    Xiao Lou spoke lightly. ¡°Group Leader Yu, let¡¯s go.¡±

    The ¡®vige chief¡¯ didn¡¯t move and just frowned.

    All four people wondered, ¡°Group Leader Yu?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°I can see.¡±

    The group of four, ¡°¡­¡­.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang gently rubbed his eyes. ¡°The vige chief isn¡¯t blind, he can see.¡±

    The unexpected discovery was so surprising that they couldn¡¯t speak.

    The Twin card was a ¡®perfect¡¯ copy and this had previously been verified. The characteristics of voice, vision and height, including any disabilities, were also copied. If the vige chief was blind then Yu Hanjiang who copied the vige chief would be blind. Now Yu Hanjiang could see as the vige chief. This problem could only be exined with one reason. The vige chief himself could see.

    The five people fell silent at the same time. A momentter, Xiao Lou said, ¡°The person who can see is actually the vige chief?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang made a quick decision. ¡°Time is limited and I will still go and find Grandma Sun as soon as possible. Professor Xiao, follow me and go back to the Peach Blossom Spring if something goes wrong.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and continued to follow Yu Hanjiang invisibly. Together, the two of them entered the grandmother¡¯s house.

    Yu Hanjiang imitated a blind person¡¯s walking and the imitation was quite simr. Grandma Sun was making medicine in the kitchen. She heard footsteps and looked up at the vige chief who came in step by step. She smiled and said, ¡°Vige Chief Liu, it is sote. What can I do for you?¡±

    ¡°Grandma Sun, I can¡¯t sleep and have some things I want to ask you.¡±

    Grandma Sun reached out her hands and groped around the room. Yu Hanjiang followed and the two people eventually found stools to sit on.

    Outside, Ye Qi¡¯s group pricked up their ears and eavesdropped.

    Grandma Sun wondered, ¡°What¡¯s the problem that you have toe find me in the middle of the night?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang calmly asked, ¡°Today, Aunt Qin told me that the seven gems the vigers are guarding create a formation array in the vige. She said that as long as we guard the gems well, after seven generations, we can lift the seal and change the fate of the cursed. Brightness can be restored to future generations. Grandma, you and Aunt Qin are both elders of the vige. Have you heard about this too?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve heard so.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly. ¡°I don¡¯t believe this statement.¡±

    Grandma Sun smiled. ¡°Why don¡¯t you believe it? Aunt Qin wouldn¡¯t lie.¡±

    ¡°If the entire vige is really caused, why can you see and why can I see?¡±

    Grandma Sun, ¡°¡­¡±

    The three people eavesdropping outside, ¡°¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou was used to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s straight ball but Grandma Sun obviously wasn¡¯t used to it. She was asked this question and her expression twisted. She lowered her voice and said, ¡°Vige chief, what are you talking about? I can see?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly stretched out two fingers to dig at her eyes and she instinctively flinched back.

    Yu Hanjiang retracted his hand. ¡°Are you still going to pretend you can¡¯t see?¡±

    Grandma Sun¡¯s face was extremely ugly. Yu Hanjiang stared into her eyes in a cold manner. ¡°The entire vige¡¯s prescriptions are set by you. I usually eat everything you give me. Are you surprised that I¡¯m not blind?¡¯

    Grandma Sun¡¯s lips shook as she snapped out, ¡°How could you hide it from me for so long? I watched you grow up and personally gave you those medicine!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly. ¡°Have you ever thought that I was born allergic to some medicine? I didn¡¯tpletely eat the medicine you prescribed and threw them up in the garden. That¡¯s why I escaped being poisoned by you.¡±

    Grandma Sun¡¯s face became extremely ugly, her body slightly trembling as she stared at Yu Hanjiang in a speechless manner.

    Yu Hanjiang stared sharply at the olddy in front of him. ¡°Grandma Sun, why are you doing this? How did the people in our vige offend you that you have to turn all of our children blind?!¡±

    Grandma Sun suddenlyughed and her sharp, shrillughter was like a ghost in the middle of the night.

    Sheughed for a long time before saying with a cold voice, ¡°Retribution, your vige deserves retribution. Hahahaha!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang immediately captured the key words. ¡°Your vige? You aren¡¯t from Liuxi Vige?¡±

    Grandma Sun sensed she said something wrong and her face became particrly gloomy. She stared at Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face and said, ¡°Vige Chief Liu, how did you suddenly be so strange today? You never said so much to me before.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was calm. ¡®It is because my family¡¯s gem was stolen. I have been very confused about the use of these gems. Is it really to break the seal as you said? I have been the vige chief for so many years and want to know the truth.¡±

    Grandma Sun stared at him like a poisonous snake. ¡°You aren¡¯t Vige Chief Liu at all.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart jumped but he was calm on the surface. ¡°Grandma, how can you not know me?¡±

    Grandma Sun was cold. ¡°Vige Chief Liu will bring his dog every time. It is his only rtive and apanied him for nearly 10 years. You came to me in the middle of the night without the dog. Tell me who you are!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang hadn¡¯t expected the vige chief¡¯s habit to expose him.

    Grandma Sun picked up a bell and shook it vigorously. She was apparently trying to wake up the vigers to have everyone seize Yu Hanjiang impersonating the vige chief. Then Ye Qi suddenly cried out, ¡°Trouble! Pull out. The real vige chief is here!¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­.¡±

    During the time when Grandma Sun was turned around, Xiao Lou directly brought Yu Hanjiang back to the Peach Blossom Spring.

    The next moment, the vige chief led a dog and slowly walked in the door. ¡°Grandma Sun, you are the vige¡¯s most senior predecessor. I have somethings to ask you. What are the seven gems for? Aunt Qin said it is to break the curse but I don¡¯t think that¡¯s right.¡±

    Grandma Sun looked ugly. ¡°Isn¡¯t it toote now for you to bring the dog?¡±

    The vige chief wondered, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Grandma Sun shook the bell and the shrill sound of the bell broke the silence of the night. The people around them awakened and Grandma Sun lied, ¡°This person is posing as the vige chief. Catch him!¡±

    The vigers acted immediately, causing the vige chief¡¯s face to change as he was tied up. ¡°Are you crazy? I¡¯m the vige chief. Let me go!¡±

    Grandma Sun¡¯s eyes were vicious. ¡°He is a stranger. His eyes can see so don¡¯t be deceived by him. Carry him out of the vige and feed him to the wolves.¡±

    The vigers listened to Grandma Sun and carried the vige chief straight out.

    Xiao Lou and the others heard the movements through the bug and looked at each other. Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Grandma Sun should be aware that this is the real vige chief. She is looking for an excuse to remove him because he can see and has started to doubt her.¡±

    Xiao Lou suddenly had a thought. ¡°There is more than one person who can see in Liuxi Vige.¡±

    Ye Qi also agreed. ¡°Yes, Grandma Sun can see and the vige chief can see. However, the vige chief doesn¡¯t seem like a bad person.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang pretended to be the vige chief to question Grandma Sun. In fact, he didn¡¯t need to pretend. Tonight, he would¡¯vee to find Grandma Sun for questioning. However, they made trouble like this and caused Grandma Sun to decide to get rid of the vige chief.

    The pit he dug himself must be buried by himself.

    Xiao Lou spoke helplessly. ¡°Let¡¯s go save the innocent vige chief.¡±

    He had an intuition that after Grandma Sun called the vigers to drive the vige chief away, the vige chief might be a friend who could help them uncover the secrets of that year.

 Chapter 105: Liuxi Village 11

    In the east of Liuxi Vige, the innocent vige chief was carried out of Liuxi Vige by the vigers.

    It seemed Grandma Sun¡¯s prestige in this vige was far greater than that of the vige chief. In addition, she used the excuse that ¡®the vige chief can see and must be a disguised foreigner.¡¯ The blind vigers couldn¡¯t tell if the vige chief was true or not so they would naturally listen to Grandma Sun.

    The young people left the vige chief outside the vige and were ready to turn away when the vige chief got up from the ground and roared, ¡°You believe in that old witch but you don¡¯t believe me?¡± He suddenly grabbed a young man¡¯s cor. ¡°Old Wu, we grew up together. Can¡¯t you tell it is me?¡±

    The young man was startled and muttered, ¡°Your voice is very simr to my Brother Si but Grandma Sun has no reason to deceive us¡­ and if you really can¡¯t see, how did you grab me out of the crowd?¡±

    Old Wu had indeed been inside the crowd and the vige chief had caught him at once. The people around him immediately agreed.

    ¡°Yes, how can you see where Little Wu is?¡±

    ¡°He can see. It definitely isn¡¯t Brother Si!¡±

    ¡°Grandma Sun is right! He must be a foreigner posing as the vige chief to steal our treasures!¡±

    ¡°Maybe the gem in the Qin house was stolen by him!¡±

    Listening to the growing doubts around him, the vige chief let go of his hand and said, ¡°That old witch, she definitely is up to no good. She is anxious to drive me out of the vige because I have been doubting here¡­¡±

    Then a girl¡¯s clear voice was suddenly heard. ¡°You go, our vige doesn¡¯t wee foreigners.¡±

    The one who spoke was Grandma Sun¡¯s apprentice, Little Qing. The vige chief raised his eyes to her. Her eyes seemed to have no focus as they watched him.

    He snorted and smiled bitterly. ¡°Little Qing, you also don¡¯t believe Uncle Si?¡±

    Liu Qing spoke seriously. ¡°My Uncle Si can¡¯t see from an early age. We all know this.¡±

    The vige chief, ¡°¡­¡±

    The dozens of rtives and friends in front of him were all on guard. Obviously, they had lost too many things in session these two days and this caused panic. Grandma Sun took advantage of it to nder the vige chief. The vige chief could see this but he couldn¡¯t exin it clearly.

    Once the vigers left, he reluctantly turned to the fields, intending to sleep in the field tonight and find a way to exin it to them tomorrow. He had just taken a few steps when a tall man grabbed his shoulder while another person smiled in front of him. ¡°Hello, Vige Chief. We have something to ask you. Can youe with us?¡±

    The vige chief¡¯s face changed. ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said nothing. He twisted the vige chief¡¯s hands behind his back, covered this person¡¯s mouth and dragged him away. The vige chief stared and started to struggle wildly. ¡°Um¡­ let me go¡­ um¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Group Leader Yu was too fierce and rough, he directly captured the person. It was estimated that the vige chief must be thinking of them as bastard kidnappers.

    Xiao Lou felt helpless and spoke to the other person as gently as possible. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we don¡¯t have any malice. We are just looking for you because we want to know something.¡±

    In order to avoid being found by the vigers and unnecessary trouble starting, Yu Hanjiang simply pulled the vige chief in the peach blossom spring.

    The vige chief had been struggling the whole time until he entered the new world of the peach blossom spring. His eyes suddenly widened. He had never such a beautiful ce after so many years in the vige!

    Seeing how dazed he looked, Yu Hanjiang let him go and spoke lightly. ¡°This is our foreigner¡¯s world. You can understand it as magic or an illusion. You won¡¯t be found here and can freely talk to us.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and handed a bamboo tube filled with clear water. ¡°Have some water. We had to grab you just now because it would¡¯ve been hard if the vigers returned.¡±

    The vige chief looked ugly. ¡°In the end, what do you want to do?

    ¡°Our aim is to find out why the vigers of Liuxi Vige are blind, just like you.¡± Xiao Lou saw the vige chief¡¯s strange expression and continued. ¡°Of course, you don¡¯t believe that we are trying to help the vige. You can think of it as we received a request from someone to investigate the matter and will receive a rich reward if we can discover it.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s mood wasplicated as he looked at Xiao Lou. He thought that Professor Xiao was really good at fooling people based on the vige chief¡¯s stunned expression.

    Yu Hanjiang also nced at Xiao Lou and found that Xiao Lou looked serious. Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t pierce his bubble and agreed. ¡°Yes, we came to Liuxi Vige because we heard that there are precious jade resources here. The boss had us investigate the case of the vigers¡¯ blindness. If you are willing to cooperate with us, perhaps we can uncover the secrets of Liuxi Vige together and restore light to your descendants.¡±

    Xiao Lou followed closely. ¡°In your vige, you are the only one who can see. Yourpanions can¡¯t see anything. You are still young and can marry and have children. Do you want your children to be blind in the future?¡±

    The vige chief¡¯s face was white. It was clear that Xiao Lou¡¯s words had poked at his sore point. He turned, sat on a stone under the peach tree and whispered, ¡°It is because of this that I haven¡¯t dared married. Ah Yue has been waiting for me for five years but I dare not marry her. I¡¯m afraid that our children, like other people¡¯s children, will be blind¡­¡±

    He took a deep breath and looked up at Xiao Lou. ¡°I have always suspected that the blindness of the vigers¡¯ isn¡¯t due to a curse but I couldn¡¯t find the reason. Can you really help me find it?¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nodded as one. ¡°Of course, but you need to cooperate.¡±

    The vige chief was driven out because he couldn¡¯t exin why he could see, not to mention the vigers¡¯ trust in Grandma Sun was far more than the young vige chief. He was alone and helpless. He might not be able to trust these outsiders but he was forced to make the gamble.

    He thought about it carefully before finally gritting his teeth and nodding. ¡°If you can really help the children restore their vision then you can take away all of our vige¡¯s jade resources. In any case, we can¡¯t see and it is useless for us to keep these broken stones!¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°You have thought well.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang directly asked, ¡°What is your name? How did you be the vige chief at such a young age?¡±

    The vige chief smiled bitterly. ¡°My name is Liu Si (Si=4) because I am the fourth generation of the Liu family. It is said that my grandfather was the vige chief and my father was also the vige chief. Once I grew up, the let me be the vige chief.¡±

    Xiao Lou was surprised. ¡°The vige chief had such a family history?¡±

    Liu Si said, ¡°The vige chief is just a name. Our vige holds a festival once a year. Apart from that, we usually act on our own. My role is to organize the Autumn Harvest festival every year. Once we have collected the wheat, we do a ritual in the east of the vige to mourn the dead. This is usually presided over by Grandma Sun.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Mourn the dead? Did she ever say who you were honouring?¡±

    ¡°It is said that we are honouring our ancestors.¡±

    This Grandma Sun was obviously lying because the ancestors of the vigers should be buried at the ruined temple on the west mountain. The bone pit had dozens of people buried. Xiao Lou¡¯s group hadn¡¯t dug deeply and perhaps there were more bones below. If it was really paying respects to their ancestors then they should be going to the temple on the western mountain, not the wheat field in the east.

    There were two cat¡¯s eye stones in the wheat field and perhaps the vigers weren¡¯t paying tribute to their ancestors but the girl with the bracelet.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°The other vigers are blind. Why can you see?¡±

    Liu Si exined, ¡°I could see from an early age. When I was a child, I wasn¡¯t very sensible. They told me that the world was ck and my eyes should only be one colour. I couldn¡¯t understand it because I could see many different things¡­¡±

    At this point, Liu Si¡¯s eyes shed with anger. ¡°Since I was different from my peers, I was very scared when I was a child. I thought everyone was normal and only I was sick. Thus, I tried to imitate other people¡¯s movements as much as possible. Whenever I saw mypanions fall, I learned to fall. Whenever they identally hit a tree, I also hit the tree¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou listened to his experiences and couldn¡¯t help feeling some distress. A little child didn¡¯t know anything. He was surrounded by blind people and instinctively thought he was sick. This meant he helplessly learned to fall and act like the other blind people.

    Liu Si took a deep breath to calm down. ¡°Maybe I learned too much. After that, Grandma Sun gave me less and less medicine and my eyes became better and better. I could see every road and every person. I found I was doing everything faster than others and then I discovered that I wasn¡¯t the sick one. The entire vige was sick and only I was normal.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°In fact, you actually didn¡¯t take the medicine Grandma Sun gave you?¡±

    Liu Si nodded with a calm face. ¡°As a child, I would go home and vomit after taking the medicine. I didn¡¯t dare say it to any adults and secretly hid it. Over the years, Grandma Sun gave me medicine and I took very little. Most of them were thrown away.¡±

    That¡¯s why he escaped.

    Xiao Lou frowned. ¡°Grandma Sun was in charge of giving prescriptions to all the children in your vige since birth? You¡¯re been taking medicine from a very young age?¡±

    ¡°She is the only doctor in the vige and we usually look for her when we have a headache or fever. We look for her first and all trust her very much. After a baby was born, we will first take the baby to Grandma Sun to see if there are any problems.¡±

    The more Xiao Lou listened, the angrier he became. How cruel was it to act against innocent babies?

    Liu Si continued, ¡°I suspected a few years ago that Grandma Sun had a problem. She is always making medicine in the middle of the night and people living nearby say they can smell medicine from her house. People in the vige trust her a lot of and often go to see her. I didn¡¯t know why my eyes could see or understand any drugs. I didn¡¯t dare disturb her so even if I said that she had a problem, no one would believe me¡­¡±

    He couldn¡¯t help lowering his head with frustration. He couldn¡¯t say anything while everyone around him trusted Grandma Sun, making him feel desperate.

    Xiao Lou patted the vige chief¡¯s shoulder. This vige chief had a bitter life. As a child, he suspected that he was sick. He grew up and understood that his eyes were normal but was unable to identify Grandma Sun as suspicious. He was in a dilemma and didn¡¯t dare marry the girl he liked. Even more unfortunately, Yu Hanjiang pretended to find Grandma Sun and directly drove out the poor and clumsy vige chief.

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry, we¡¯ll help you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke directly, ¡°Grandma Sun must have a problem. We have the evidence. Every night, she makes medicine and it is medicine made from the bones of the dead.¡±

    The vige chief was stunned for a moment. Then he reacted by throwing up.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Could Group Leader Yu not be so direct? Xiao Lou looked up into Yu Hanjiang¡¯s honest and serious eyes. Yu Hanjiang was indeed stating the facts and had forgotten that the vige chief also drank Grandma Sun¡¯s medicine.

    Vige Chief Liu vomited for a while until he was throwing up the acidic water of his stomach. His face was white as paper as he looked at Yu Hanjiang with disbelief. ¡°Everyone in the vige has been drinking the medicine made by Grandma Sun. Do you mean to say that she used the bones of the dead to make the medicine?¡±

    Xiao Lou helplessly rubbed his temples and tried to soften things, but Yu Hanjiang spoke directly. ¡°Yes, we saw her adding dead people¡¯s bones to the medicine pot when boiling it. There was also a rice jar of bones in her kitchen which might¡¯ve been used for a long time.¡±

    The vige chief started retching again. Xiao Lou thought that Group Leader Yu might¡¯ve left a psychological shadow on the vige chief, so that he would never dare drink medicine again in his life.

    Yu Hanjiang followed closely. ¡°Yes, Grandma Qin¡¯s jar of rice wine in the kitchen also has seven bones soaking in it.¡±

    Vige Chief Liu, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang raised his eyebrows. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have drunk it, right?¡±

    Vige Chief Liu looked helpless as he endured the urge to vomit. He spoke with much difficulty. ¡°A-Aunt Qin¡¯s rice wine is what we drink every year during the Autumn Harvest Festival. Everyone drinks¡­a bowl.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The poor vigers. They took the medicine containing the bones of the dead and the rice wine they drank also contained the bones of the dead. This Grandma Qin and Grandma Sun were really perverted. They made everyone blind and then even made them suffer like this.

    It could be inferred from Liu Si¡¯s words that the Autumn Harvest Festival was the most annual event of Liuxi Vige. On this day, they gathered together to collect the crops before paying attention to their ¡®ancestors¡¯ in the east farnd. There they would drink rice wine from Grandma Qin. It could be seen from Grandma Qin intentionally soaking the bones of the dead for everyone to drink that her hatred for the vige hadn¡¯t been resolved.

    She was torturing the people of this vige in order to gain psychologicalfort. Her phrase about how bullying the blind would have consequences was meaningful.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Grandma Sun and Grandma Qin aren¡¯t people of Liuxi Vige, right?¡±

    Liu Si shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know, they were in the vige when I was born. Why do you say that?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t directly say that ¡®she let it slip when I pretended to be you.¡¯ He found a better reason. ¡°If she is also a person in this vige and born blind, where did she learn her medical skills from? Grandma Qin¡¯s home has a mirror. If the vigers were cursed to be blind then why does she keep the mirror?¡±

    Liu Si was startled and finally reacted to what was wrong.

    Everyone had been indoctrinated from an early age with the idea of seeing Grandma Sun when they weren¡¯t feeling well. In the hearts of the vigers, it was natural to go see Grandma Sun since she was a doctor. In addition, these children were educated by Grandma Sun and their ideas instilled by her, so they naturally epted it.

    No one ever thought about how Grandma Sun became a doctor. If she was also a viger and cursed blind from an early age, who taught her medicine?

    Liu Si was pale as he fell into contemtion.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered. ¡°I have a guess. Grandma Sun and Grandma Qin should be rtives of the girl with the bracelet. That girl came to Liuxi Vige and something happened, causing her to be killed by your ancestors. Therefore, these two people killed all the vigers for revenge, buried their bodies in the mountain temple, leaving only the young children. Then they continued with their revenge.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at the vige chief. ¡°That girl might¡¯ve been blind and bullied by your ancestors. Thus, their means of revenge is to let the children and grandchildren, future generations all be blind. You will take medicine made of your ancestors¡¯ bones every day and drink wine made from your ancestors¡¯ bones at the Autumn Harvest Festival¡­ it is likely that you are paying your respects to that girl on this day.¡±

    The vige chief was full of horror and clearly couldn¡¯t believe such a terrible thing.

    Ye Qi, Shao Qingge and Liu Qiao faced each other.

    ¡®Take the medicine made from the bones of your ancestors and drink the wine made from the bones of your ancestors.¡¯

    The ancestors couldn¡¯t rest in peace and future generations would live forever in the darkness.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help cursing. ¡°This means of revenge is too fucking abnormal!¡±

 Chapter 106: Liuxi Village 12

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou¡¯s spection was based on connecting all the current known clues together. Grandma Sun and Grandma Qin were likely to be jointlymitting the crime. What was their rtionship with the girl wearing the bracelet, what happened in Liuxi Vige and how was the girl persecuted? It was only by finding out these things that the secrets of Liuxi Vige would be unlocked.

    The 30 minutes in the Peach Blossom Spring soon passed and the group was sent out.

    Liu Si saw the mountains of the Peach Blossom Spring change to the familiar farnd and was stunned for a moment. Then he whispered softly, ¡°You really know magic¡­¡±

    He seemed to think of something and his eyes suddenly lit up as he nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°You are so powerful. Can you help me find a way? If Aunt Qin and Grandma Sun are staying in the vige for revenge, how can I expose their true faces?¡±

    He scratched the back of his head in a somewhat distressed manner. Then he said, ¡°The vigers won¡¯t believe anything I say. Besides, they can¡¯t see. If Grandma Sun insists that the vige chief is a fake, the vigers will definitely believe her and not believe me.¡±

    The vige chief had been expelled from the vige. The blind people left in the vige had been brought up by Grandma Sun and Grandma Qin since they were young. They had great trust and respect in the two people. It was difficult for the vigers to be convinced by the vige chief¡¯s one-sided words alone. They had to seize the evidence.

    Yu Hanjiang thought of something. ¡°If I remember correctly, Niuniu¡¯s mother mentioned that her sister-inw is going to give birth soon?¡±

    The vige chief turned to him. ¡°How do you know that?¡±

    Of course, they overheard it using the bug. During the time with Niuniu¡¯s mother took her child to see Grandma Sun, she talked about her second brother and his wife. She asked her grandmother to deliver her sister-inw¡¯s child. Grandma Sun also said that she had to prepare early.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Are you familiar with the person who is about to have a child?¡±

    The vige chief hurriedly nodded. ¡°I know her. Niuniu¡¯s mother¡¯s sister-inw is my cousin, Liu Hui. She married Lin Er next door and became pregnant earlier this year. She wasn¡¯t in good health and had been drinking fetal medicine from Grandma Sun¡­¡±

    Thinking that there might be the bones of the dead in the medicine, the vige chief was white and his lips slightly quivering. ¡°Do you mean that Grandma Sun is likely to act against Hui Hui¡¯s newborn child?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke seriously. ¡°She killed your vigers and has been taking revenge for so long. She naturally wouldn¡¯t let go of newborns.¡±

    The poor woman. The hardships of pregnancy couldn¡¯t be imagined and Liu Hui went to Grandma Sun to look for medicine. Who would¡¯ve imagined that this olddy would do something to the medicine, causing her child to be born with blindness!

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°On the day of Liu Hui¡¯s birth, Grandma Sun will surely deliver the baby. If the baby is born without ident then it will be blind. If the medicine she gave to the pregnant woman failed and the baby isn¡¯t blind, she will surely try to blind the baby again.¡±

    Liu Si nodded. ¡°It should be that something happened with my mother during pregnancy and I wasn¡¯t born blind. Therefore, when I was a child, Grandma Sun gave me a lot of medicine, saying I wasn¡¯t in good health and needed to recuperate.¡±

    Xiao Lou spected, ¡°There must be ingredients in the medicine that can lead to blindness, as well as the bones of the dead. If the evidence can be found in the medicine she prescribes to the children then the vigers will believe your words!¡±

    Liu Si excitedly clenched his fists and eximed, ¡°Yes! There is the Autumn Harvest Festival in three days. At that time, Grandma Qin will take out her brewed rice wine for everyone to drink. If we can find the bones of the dead in rice wine, she can no longer lie and deceive everyone!¡±

    4 of Spadessted seven days and the Autumn Harvest Festival happened to be on the fifth day. It must be an important plot node of the Spades secret room. Many things would definitely happen on this day.

    If it went well, they could seize the evidence that Grandma Sun blinded babies when she delivered the evidence. They could also seize the evidence that Grandma Sun made wines with the bones of the dead when she delivered rice wine to everyone. This would publicize the true faces of the two olddies to the vigers.

    Liu Qiao suddenly asked incredulously, ¡°Vige Chief, the vigers in your vige have very strange names. The males seem to have casual names like Lin San (3), Liu Si (4) and Liu Wu (5). Meanwhile, the girls have nice names such as your cousin Liu Hui and Liu Qing who studies medicine with Grandma Sun.

    Once everyone heard this, they were startled. Then Xiao Lou reacted violently, ¡°Who gave you your name?¡±

    Liu Si said, ¡°We are all delivered by Grandma Sun and she also gave our names¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other and they already had an answer in their hearts.

    Grandma Sun hated men far more than women. It could be seen from her indifference when naming them. She chose names for them casually like picking up a stray cat from the roadside. She was obviously more attentive when naming the games like Hui Hui and Little Qing.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned, folded his arms over his chest and spected, ¡°That year, the richdy who died in Liuxi Vige might be Grandma Sun¡¯s daughter? Is that why she prefers girls?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°I think it is possible. She also taught Little Qing medicine. Perhaps Little Qing is a type of sustenance for her.¡±

    Ye Qi suddenly hit his forehead and spoke excitedly, ¡°I remember that when we were eavesdropping, Little Qin seemed to knock over a lot of Grandma Sun¡¯s medicine. Perhaps she can see too?¡±

    Xiao Lou also remembered this matter and immediately turned back to the vige chief to ask. ¡° Little Qin seemed to call you Uncle Si. Is she your niece?¡±

    Liu Si nodded. ¡°She is my second cousin¡¯s child. My brother got married at the age of 18 and Little Qing was born the next year. Little Qing is the smartest girl in our vige. Grandma Sun liked her very much and my brother was in favour of letting her learn medicine when she was 14 years old.¡±

    In the remote mountain vige, it wasmon for young men and women to marry early. Little Qing¡¯s parents should be 35 years old and Little Qin was 14 this year. Grandma Sun seemed to have raised her deliberately, teaching her to distinguish a variety of traditional Chinese medicine and checking the pulse to determine the condition. During the eavesdropping, the two of them had a harmonious rtionship. Grandma Sun had patiently taught her a pulse analysis for three hours.

    Little Qing identally knocked over the medicine jars and Grandma Sun suspected her of being clumsy. Little Qing had joked at the time, ¡®I can¡¯t see and identally knocked it over.¡¯

    Xiao Lou thought it was more and more wrong. ¡°Ye Qi¡¯s words are reasonable. Shouldn¡¯t she be able to see? She identally saw the dead bones in Grandma Sun¡¯s medicine and knocked over the medicine jars?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Vige chief, do you know if your niece can see?¡±

    Liu Si scratched his head. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be? Little Qing was like me. As a child, she often fell and she took a long time to learn how to walk. Then once she grew up, she learned everything faster than her peers. She even learned medicine from Grandma Sun.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Like you?¡±

    Liu Si was shocked. ¡°Was she also pretending?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang simply said, ¡°We can verify it tomorrow if she is really blind or not.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°You can continue to use the Twin card.¡±

    The vige chief was bewildered. ¡°What card?¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t exin. ¡°In any case, we have a way to verify if she is blind.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suggested, ¡°Act tomorrow. We will go to bed first.¡±

    It was currently two in the morning. They had sneaked into the vige to find Grandma Sun and many idents urred, including saving the vige chief. They were all tired and slept in the farnd next to the tree.

    Outside the vige, there was the asional sound of wolves¡¯ howling.¡¯ The vige chief didn¡¯t dare go out of the vige alone and slept under the tree along with these ¡®foreigners.¡¯

    The next morning, the group got up to wash and found that the vige was very quiet. Usually, the roosters would call out every morning at 7 o¡¯clock. The vigers would hear the sound of the roosters and get up. However, this morning the entire vige was strangely quiet.

    The early morning sun was shining in the vige. Yet by the time the clock pointed at 8 o¡¯clock, there wasn¡¯t the sound of roosters.

    Xiao Lou sensed something was wrong. ¡°Howe the vige¡¯s roosters aren¡¯t calling?¡±

    Liu Qiao came over and exined, ¡°All the roosters have been taken away by two challengers.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Ye Qi looked at her with confusion. ¡°Liu Qiao, how do you know this?¡±

    Liu Qiao spoke calmly. ¡°I woke up at 4:30 in the morning and couldn¡¯t see. I flew around the vige and found two men sneaking around. They stunned Grandma Qin¡¯s Tibetan mastiff, grabbed her rooster and then sneaked around to catch all the roosters raised by others.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes were about to pop out. ¡°Taking all the roosters in the vige, is it for eating?¡±

    If they were really hungry then there were many wild vegetables and fruits on the west mountain. There was also the fish in the pond. There was no need to venture to the vige to catch roosters. Moreover, they couldn¡¯t eat so many roosters.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. ¡°I think that they caught the roosters to prevent the vigers from waking up on time. After all, we entered Liuxi Vige and received the hint that the vigers were blind and couldn¡¯t feel the sunrise and sunset. They rely on the roosters and hourss to determine this.¡±

    The vige chief agreed. ¡°Yes, we get up every morning when the roosters sing and sleep when the sand in the hourss runs out. Once we can no longer hear the sound of the sand, we will sleep.¡±

    Shao Qingge felt helpless. ¡°These two are really talented at stealing!¡±

    Since the roosters didn¡¯t call out this morning, the vigers didn¡¯t wake up. Most of them were still sleeping at 8 o¡¯clock. It was like oversleeping when the rm clock didn¡¯t ring.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°The two people changed the time the vigers wake up. It should be to have more time to find the gems?¡±

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help spitting out, ¡°Then shouldn¡¯t they have caught all the dogs in the vige to reduce the difficulty?¡±

    Liu Qiao stated, ¡°Someone did think of it.¡±

    ¡°You mean, the dogs were also caught?¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded. ¡°Last night, the vige was very lively. The two men took all the roosters while a man and woman confused the vigers¡¯ dogs. Apart from the Tibetan mastiff that they couldn¡¯t handle, they captured all the other dogs and tied them up.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Talented!

    At the beginning of the Financial Crisis secret room, two young men stole a LCD TV to go to prison and clear the instance. This time, the challengers also had many strange ideas. They caught the roosters and stole the dogs. These people would do anything to clear the instance.

    It was the next day and there was only one stone left. Everyone obviously couldn¡¯t sit still.

    The morning sun was very good and it was somewhat strange for the vige to be so quiet. Liu Qiao stood on top of a 50 metres high tree and could see many challengers shuttling back and forth from the vige, looking nervous as they searched for gems.

    There were a few challengers who also came to the farnd on the east side of the vige. They saw Xiao Lou¡¯s group and two girls boldly came forward to ask, ¡°Excuse me, have you found the gems?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and shook his head. ¡°No.¡±

    The girl looked at him incredulously. ¡°The five of you haven¡¯t found the gem. Aren¡¯t you worried? There is only one left?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°Of course, we are in a hurry. We are trying to think of a n.¡±

    The girls had to turn away and continue searching the field.

    The vige chief saw the scene and wondered, ¡°Are these gems important to you?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°Yes, the boss told us to find the vige¡¯s gems or we will be punished.¡±

    The vige chief couldn¡¯t help sighing. ¡°Your boss sounds so strict.¡±

    Xiao Lou felt helpless. ¡°Yes.¡±

    A of Spades was definitely strict, throwing challengers into this remote and strange vige. The next day, those who were unable to find gems would be more and more anxious. In a few days, thepetition between challengers would be more intense.

    It was best to resolve the two uncertainties of Grandma Sun and Grandma Qin before this. Otherwise, if the challengers realize they have gems and join forces to rob them, it would be difficult to cope.

    In order to pretend that they had no gems, Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang and Liu Qiao went to the vige to search.

    It wasn¡¯t convenient to take the vige chief with them. Shao Qingge and Ye Qi waited at the willows outside the vige while chatting with him.

    The vige chief helped them mark several important locations on the map of Liuxi Vige. Yu Hanjiang and Liu Qiao soon found the soon to give birth to Liu Hui. Liu Qiao flew into the trees to check and said, ¡°Her house is part of a row of houses. The bedroom is in the est, the west is the dining room and there was a small kitchen nearby. Lin Hui and her husband are sleeping.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Go to Little Qing¡¯s home.¡±

    At Little Qing¡¯s home, her parents were still sleeping. The 14 year old girl was awake at this time and moving around the yard, apparently wondering why there were no roosters calling. She came to the chicken shed, opened the door to see and her expression slightly changed.

    Just then, Liu Qiao deliberately flew to the tree in front of her. Little Qing heard the sound and turned back, just looking at Liu Qiao. She looked at Liu Qiao and the other side was watching her. Little Qing turned her head in an expressionless manner and continued to look after her dog, ignoring Liu Qiao¡¯s existence.

    Liu Qiao flew back from the tree and walked over to Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang. ¡°I can change into her.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had returned the Twin Card to her after using itst night. The eight hours cooldown time had ended and she just saw Little Qing. The conditions of the transformation had been met and then Little Qing appeared in front of them.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°How is it?¡±

    Liu Qiao spoke softly, ¡°She can see.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other before continuing to look for Grandma Sun.

    Grandma Sun also woke up and was making medicine. The three people dropped a bug at Grandma Sun¡¯s house. Then they heard footsteps behind him and the three people immediately left with their invisibility cloak.

    At 9 in the morning, the vigers finally woke up and found that their roosters and dogs were gone. They went to look for the vige chief and found that he had also disappeared. The people had to go and find Grandma Sun.

    The surroundings suddenly became a mess.

    ¡°Grandma, the roosters didn¡¯t call this morning and my wife and I overslept!¡±

    ¡°Me too. I woke up and looked at the chicken shed. My roosters and hens are gone. Were they stolen to be eaten?¡±

    ¡°Grandma, the hourss in the middle of the vige seems to be broken. We can¡¯t hear the sound of sand.¡±

    ¡°My dog is gone too!¡±

    ¡°Yes, I just went to the vige chief and as a result, the vige chief is gone!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be noisy!¡± Grandma Sun interrupted everyone in a cold manner. ¡°I have said that the vige chief has a problem. He must¡¯ve joined with the outsiders to steal our things. Everyone, remember this. If youter hear the vige chief¡¯s voice, don¡¯t believe him no matter what he says!¡±

    The group of people were very puzzled. ¡°How could the vige chief do this?¡± Liu Si isn¡¯t such a person. We grew up together and he is very good. He often helped our family grab water¡­¡± ¡°Yes, how can he join forces with outsiders against us?¡±

    At this time, Grandma Qin came over and spoke in a hoarse voice. ¡°Yesterday, I felt Liu Si was wrong. I told him that the seven gems in our vige are valuable treasures and could be exchanged for a lot of money. I also told him that the seven gems were distributed in a formation. I think he must¡¯ve be greedy and cooperate with outsiders to sell the gems for money.¡±

    The vigers believed the words of the two people and suddenly scolded. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect Liu Si to actually be this type of person!¡± ¡°So disappointing!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe we called him vige chief!¡±

    In the crowd, only Little Qing was expressionless as she stared nkly into the distance.

    These voices came from Ye Qi¡¯s bug and Liu Si heard them. His face was white and he clenched his fists, nails piercing his palms and his body shaking. ¡°They¡­ they are speaking nonsense! Aunt Qin didn¡¯t tell that these gems are worth anything. She only said that the gems could crack the curse. The one in my own home was stolen. How could I join with outsiders?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang and spoke in a low voice. ¡°It seems that even if Group Leader Yu didn¡¯t pretend to be the vige chiefst night, the vige chief would¡¯vee looking for Grandma Sun. Grandma Sun would¡¯ve driven him out of the vige because he became suspicious.¡±

    The vige chief being expelled should be a fixed plot of 4 of Spades. However, they messed it up and this matter happened ahead of time.

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°Grandma Qin and Grandma Sun will throw all the dirty water on the vige chief.

    Liu Qiao was also wearing an invisibility cloak and the three people quickly left the scene. She said to Xiao Lou, ¡°Professor Xiao, Grandma Qin should also be able to see.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°I know. I found that Grandma Qin and Grandma Sun nced at each other several times when sshing dirty water on the vige chief.¡±

    Blind people couldn¡¯t see so urately. Grandma Sun and Grandma Qin were obviously aplices and could see. They colluded to sully the vige chief.

    They didn¡¯t expect that more than one person could see in Liuxi Vige. Little Qing said nothing. It was unknown what she was thinking. Perhaps she was wondering if she should help Uncle Si or continue to follow the grandmother?

    The information at the beginning of the secret room was very misleading. So far, they had found four people who could see. If they challengers were careless and thought that the vigers were gically blind, they might¡¯ve been knocked out by A of Spades.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou nced at each other. ¡°Wait for the Autumn Harvest. Something will definitely happen on that day.¡±

 Chapter 107: Liuxi Village 13

    The invisibility cloak had a time limit. Xiao Lou¡¯s group of three left while Ye Qi continued to monitor the movements of Grandma Sun. After running away, Xiao Lou whispered, ¡°Early this morning, the prompt said there was only one gem left. Group Leader Yu, which one do you think it is?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it and said, ¡°The one in the ruined temple, the vige chief¡¯s home, Grandma Qin¡¯s home and the two in the wheat field outside the vige have been found by us. The gem in the vige¡¯s easternmost house is likely to have been found by challengers searching the vige. So perhaps the one left is in the pond?¡±

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Do you want to go and see?¡±

    Liu Qiao told them, ¡°The two of you go to the pond. I want to go up the mountain to see. Last night, people stole the roosters and dogs and headed in the direction of the west mountain. I think these animals should still be on the west mountain.¡±

    Xiao Lou felt some worry. ¡°You are acting alone. What will you do if you encounter some danger?¡±

    Liu Qiao stated, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I have the flight card and can run.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Then be careful. We will soone to the west mountain to meet you.¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded and turned away.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou and whispered, ¡°What do you think of this girl?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked in the direction of the disappearing Liu Qiao and said, ¡°She is very smart, otherwise she wouldn¡¯t be able to reach 4 of Spades alone. Our contract still has a spot. If she wants to join us then I¡¯d like to bring her with me.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°I am worried that the next stage of the secret rooms will have a certain number of people. The intermediate contract has five people and the advanced contract is 8~15 people. If the number isn¡¯t enough, we might be matched randomly. It is better to find the right team members in advance then be matched to pig teammates. Do you want to add Liu Qiao? Wait until we go to the main city and understand the rules of the next stage.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes. She might not team up with her since she is looking for her sister.¡±

    The two of them chatted as they turned in the direction of the pond. Along the way, they met a number of challengers entering the vige to search. The vige had 18 challengers but only one gem remaining. It was naturally a race against the clock. The challengers were in a hurry and no one paid attention to Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou. They were busy searching the vigers¡¯ houses.

    Just then, a girl at the edge of the pond wondered, ¡°I didn¡¯t catch a fish. How did I catch a box?¡±

    The girl was obviously a bit slow. She was fishing in the pond and caught a wooden box, but she didn¡¯t think it was a gem. Herpanion reacted first and immediately ran over. ¡°Shh¡­ keep it down and see what¡¯s in the box.¡±

    Still, she was a step behind. A man suddenly rolled down from the tree, set them in ce with Bnce and snatched the wooden box from the girl¡¯s hand.

    The woman was angry and turned red. ¡°This is what I caught. Give it back to me!¡±

    Herpanion gritted her teeth. ¡°Directly robbing a girl¡¯s things, do you have no shame?¡±

    The man sneered. ¡°The rules didn¡¯t say that we can¡¯t steal. You can only me yourself for being too weak if you are robbed.¡±

    He excitedly opened the box and as a result, the box was empty.

    The man squinted. ¡°Empty?¡± Soon, he found that his legs couldn¡¯t move. Suddenly, the man turned around and saw a masked person, gender unknown, holding a crystal red chrysoberyl in his hand. They spoke coldly, ¡°I¡¯ll repeat your original words. I stole this and you can only me yourself for your weakness.¡±

    The man spoke these words and quickly disappeared. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were near the pond and happened to see this scene of ¡®the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.¡¯

    Xiao Lou lowered his voice and said, ¡°If I didn¡¯t see wrong, the person in the mask directly took the gem out of the box just now, right? He didn¡¯t get close to the box. Perhaps he has a card to grab things from a distance?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°These challengers are very strong. No matter what the others are doing, we will go up the mountain first.¡±

    Thest gem had been fished out by the girls. So far, the seven gems in Liuxi Vige had been found. Apart from the male and femalebination who ran out of the vige to escape, the other gems should still be in Liuxi Vige.

    They were currently 18 challengers and 6 gems in the vige, which was in short supply. In the next few days, the fighting would increase more and more. There would be vicious fighting and bloodshed. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t dare expose that he had a gem and quickly left the area with Yu Hanjiang.

    Ye Qi, who was in charge of listening, suddenly spoke through the heart channel. ¡°Professor Xiao, Grandma Sun and the vigers are discussing going to the west mountain to find their roosters and dogs. Grandma Sun and Grandma Qin are taking them to the west mountain!¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°Group Leader Yu and I are going to the west mountain. Little Ye, you and Shao Qingge should always take care of the vige chief. If someone tries to rob you then use Teleport to escape. We wille back as soon as possible to support you!¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s clear voice entered his ears. ¡°Don¡¯t worry!¡±

    Once Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang came to the western mountain, Liu Qiao was surrounded by people.

    It was the man and woman who tied up Xiao Lou with the white silk that day. These two people were blocking Liu Qiao¡¯s way. It was unknown what card skills they used but Liu Qiao had fallen down from the tree. Her face was stained grey and her hair full of leaves, but she looked very calm. ¡°I told you that I don¡¯t have a gem on me.¡±

    The woman chuckled. ¡°Do you think we¡¯ll believe that? Aftering out of the temple that day, we saw you flying from a tree. The first gem must¡¯ve been found by you!¡±

    The man spoke cynically. ¡°Little girl, hand it over quickly and we¡¯ll spare your life.¡±

    Liu Qiao spoke coldly, ¡°I really don¡¯t have it. If you don¡¯t believe me then you cane to search me.¡±

    The woman looked suspiciously at Liu Qiao and approached, trying to search her body. Xiao Lou was rushing forward to help when Yu Hanjiang suddenly grabbed him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    The next moment, a cute Little Red Riding Hood appeared at Liu Qiao¡¯s location. There was a little girl less than 1.4 metres tall, wearing a red cloak and head covered with arge hood. She had a white and tender face as well as a warm smile that melted the heart.

    The woman who was going to search Liu Qiao¡¯s body found that the other side had be a little girl and was slightly stunned. Then she heard a little girl with a childish voice ask seriously, ¡°Are you my grandmother?¡±

    The woman¡¯s face changed. ¡°What is this nonsense?¡±

    Little Red Riding Hood heard this answer and her cute face changed in an instant. Her features twisted at a breakneck speed and she turned into a grey wolf. Her mouth opened and she bit the woman¡¯s arm with sharp teeth!

    The woman made a pig-like cry. ¡°Ahhhh¡­¡±

    In the distance, around 10 metres from her original position, Liu Qiao stared cold-eyed at this scene. She saw Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang and nodded at them, but she didn¡¯te over. Instead, she turned away quickly.

    Xiao Lou sighed with relief. No wonder why Liu Qiao dared to act alone. The card she mentioned, Little Red Riding Hood was very strong.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou ignored the couple and quickly followed Liu Qiao. Liu Qiao stopped under on a tree in the distance to wait for them. The moment she saw them, she flew down the tree and spoke calmly, ¡°I was just caught by the couple. The woman had a strange card that neutralized my skills and caused me to fall down from the tree.¡±

    She held out her hand to wipe the mud from her face and picked the leaves from her hair. ¡°I didn¡¯t acknowledge you because then they could easily guess that the gems are in our hands.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and said, ¡°You did the right thing.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang directly asked, ¡°What is Little Red Riding Hood?¡±

    ¡°Upgrading it unlocked the second skill, Little Red Riding Hood and Grandma Wolf. You can rece the controlled person with Little Red Riding Hood and be the target of the wolf attack.¡±

    No wonder why the Little Red Riding Hood suddenly appeared when Liu Qiao was controlled by the Bnce. Liu Qiao had moved away. Xiao Lou eximed, ¡°This card is very interesting.¡±

    ¡°I found the roosters and dogs of the vigers.¡± Liu Qiao pointed at the ruined temple. ¡°They are near the human bones pit.¡±

    Just then, there was the sound of arge number of footsteps not far away. Apparently, arge number of vigers had arrived. Liu Qiao, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang immediately headed to the temple¡¯s backyard and used arge tree to climb onto the roof to hide.

    The roof was oblique and it wasn¡¯t easy to be seen from the ground. As a result, the three people climbed onto the roof and found four people lying down.

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The roof was a bit crowded. The seven peopley on the roof and no one wanted to speak first. The scene was extremely embarrassing.

    Momentster, Yu Hanjiang spoke in a low voice. ¡°Don¡¯t make a sound and hide well. The usage of the invisibility cloak has been used up and we can¡¯t be found by the vigers.¡±

    The other four people lookedplicated and a familiar man¡¯s voice was heard. ¡°Is it you? The one in Grandma Qin¡¯s house?¡±

    At that time, the four people had searched Grandma Qin¡¯s house while wearing invisibility cloaks and didn¡¯t see each other¡¯s appearance. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou first searched the kitchen and someone took the opportunity to take the gem in the bedroom.

    Yu Hanjiang remembered the voice and asked, ¡°You got the gem and want to aim for a perfect clearance?¡±

    The man replied, ¡°We¡¯re just trying it. You found the gems as well?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t answer and it was a default agreement.

    It seemed that the seven people lying on the roof at present had received gems and could clear the instance. It was no wonder why these four people stole the vigers¡¯ roosters and dogsst night. It was to intentionally lead people to the ruined temple and let the murderer show their feet. It was a good idea.

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Since everyone¡¯s goal is the same, it is good to hide and not be found by the vigers.¡±

    There was the sound of messy footsteps. It was clear the vigers hade nearby.

    This road was the road they usually took to get water. They were very familiar with it and once they reached the entrance of the temple, the people heard the roosters¡¯ calling and barking from the temple. Liu San, the leader of the group, looked happy and said, ¡°We¡¯ve found it! Our roosters and dogs are locked up here!¡±

    Next to him, the woman said, ¡°I heard the sound of my family¡¯s Spot. It must be tied here.¡±

    Someone said, ¡°Do you want to go in and see?¡±

    The group of people were talking when Grandma Sun walked forward using a cane. She looked up, saw the half-torn charms on the ruined temple door and sneered. ¡°Don¡¯t go in. If someone buried a trap inside then won¡¯t we die since you can¡¯t see?¡±

    The vigers were worried. ¡°However, my family¡¯s Spot¡­¡± ¡°Yes, my rooster is inside. How can I ignore it?¡± ¡°Grandma, we have so many people. I don¡¯t believe that the foreigners can catch us all!¡± ¡°Yes, everyone should go together!¡±

    Everyone was going to push open the door and Aunt Qin suddenly stepped forward to stop them. She spoke in a hoarse voice, ¡°You should all wait here. I¡¯ll take Little ck inside to see.¡±

    She was holding the fierce Tibetan mastiff. The dog was full of momentum and barked a few times. This caused the area to fall silent, even the temple dogs beings quiet.

    Grandma Sun looked at the door in front of her and murmured, ¡°Old Sun, you go with me¡­¡±

    Grandma Sun nodded and entered the temple with her.

    The challengers hiding on the roof immediately retracted their heads in tacit silence.

    The door of the ruined temple opened and a gust of wind blew through, rolling up the charms everywhere. The eyes painted on the charms seemed like blood and tears. The two olddies walked side by side into the dpidated temple. They came to the vicinity of the human bones pit and found the vigers¡¯ chickens and dogs tied to the surrounding trees.

    Grandma Qin looked at the bones pit and her cane gently tapped against the ground as she sighed. ¡°Retribution! In a few days, it will be the death day of my Xueren. So many things are happening in the vige. Is my Xueren showing her spirit to stop me from continuing to do evil?¡±

    Grandma Sun was expressionless. ¡°If Xueren is still here, she would definitely want to dig out the eyes of these beasts.¡±

    Grandma Qin smiled. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that your Yueqing was innocently involved. Speaking of which, you¡¯ve been in our vige for 35 years, right?¡±

    Grandma Sun looked at the human bones pit in front of her and smiled. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve almost forgotten what my family looks like.¡±

    Grandma Qin said, ¡°I remember that your Yueqing was very beautiful. The girl from the big city was tall, thin and had white skin. Her clothes were beautiful and there was the bracelet around her wrist. The girls in the vige were envious of that bracelet¡­¡±

    Grandma Sun added, ¡°Your Xueren looked bright. She might be blind but she was smart and lovely. If she had gone back to school in the city with Yueqing, perhaps¡­¡±

    She spoke up to here and suddenly stopped. Both people were silent.

    A cold wind blew the charms on the ground and the eavesdropping Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t help looking at each other. Their reasoning was close to the truth but it wasn¡¯tplete. They didn¡¯t expect the vigers of Liuxi Vige in that year to kill more than one person.

    Based on the dialogue, Grandma Qin and Grandma Sun¡¯s daughters were murdered in cold blood.

    Sun Yueqing, Grandma Sun¡¯s daughter, was the girl who came from the big city wearing a beautiful chrysoberyl bracelet. Her eyes should be normal and out of a love for chrysoberyl, she came to Liuxi Vige to find the jade materials.

    Meanwhile, Grandma Qin¡¯s daughter, Qin Xueren was the blind person. Just now, Grandma Qin mentioned that ¡®your family¡¯s Yueqing was innocently involved.¡¯ Perhaps Xueren first encountered something and Sun Yueqing tried to help. The result was that the two people were killed together.

    The two girls, what happened that caused them to be killed together?

    Xiao Lou thought of a possibility and his back became cold.

    If it was what he thought, the foolish vigers first raped and then killed Sun Yueqing and Qin Xueren. These two were their mothers and hated Liuxi Vige. They went crazy and wanted to torture the babies in their hands. They wanted to eat the flesh of the enemy and drink the blood of the enemy!

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face was serious and he apparently thought of it. The source of the hatred, the truth was rming.

    Next to the human bones pit, the two olddies stood in silence. 35 years had passed and their hair waspletely white and their backs slightly bent. Their bodies holding the cane were old and their eyes were cloudy, but it was filled with hate. Staring at these white bones, the hatred didn¡¯t diminish at all.

    Grandma Qin coldly dered, ¡°They should all die.¡±

    Grandma Suns stated, ¡°Death ends all troubles.¡±

    Grandma Qin turned her head and asked, ¡°What do you want to do?¡±

    Grandma Sun smiled. ¡°After so many years, I am tired. Isn¡¯t it a few days away? I¡¯d like to rest.¡±

 Chapter 108: Liuxi Village 14

    Grandma Qin and Grandma Sun soon left the temple.

    The untied the ropes holding the dogs and opened the fence trapping the roosters. Then arge group of roosters and dogs following them out of the temple, the sounds they made livelier than a market.

    All the dogs recognized their owners. Once they were released, they ran to their owners and rubbed their heads against their owners¡¯ thighs. The vigers of Liuxi Vige felt the dogs¡¯ heads excitedly, as if they had found a rtive they had been separated from after many years. For these blind people, dogs were the best partners. Not only did the dogs help them watch the house, the also apanied the vigers and acted as ¡®guide dogs.¡¯

    A young woman touched her dog while asking, ¡°Aunt Qin, Aunt Sun, are you okay?¡±

    The people next to her also asked about the situation in the temple. ¡°The foreigners shouldn¡¯t have made things difficult for you?¡± ¡°What did they take our dogs to do?¡± ¡°Why are they keeping all the dogs here?¡± ¡°I thought they were going to kill the roosters for stew and the dogs for barbecue. Why are all these dogs okay?¡±

    The crowd didn¡¯t understand the challengers¡¯ thinking and subconsciously thought the other side was stealing roosters and dogs just to eat.

    Grandma Qin spoke coldly, ¡°They stole them so we can¡¯t hear the roosters in the morning so we can¡¯t get up on time. They tied all the dogs on the west mountain so that they wouldn¡¯t be discovered when stealing. The thing these outsiders really want are the precious gems in the vige. These gems are valuable and can be sold for a lot of money!¡±

    Grandma Sun added, ¡°Yes, no one is here. They have probably left with the gem.

    A young man suddenly eximed, ¡°Ah, our gem was hidden under the bed. I got up this morning without checking it. Will it also be stolen? Will my wife be okay?¡±

    Grandma Sun turned to him. ¡°Go and check. Your wife will give birth in the next few days and her baby¡¯s vital energy can¡¯t be disced.¡±

    The man immediately took the dog and turned to go down the mountain. The man called Lin Er was the one who talked to Niu Niu¡¯s mother on the day they came to the vige. His wife was Lin Hui, the cousin of the vige chief who would give birth in a few days. The vige chief had revealed this information to Xiao Lou¡¯s group.

    The only person about to have a child in the vige was Lin Hui and it was easy to tell. The moment Lin Er descended, the others followed Aunt Qin and also went down the mountain. The group of blind people was followed by roosters and this scene was extremely spectacr.

    The challengers hiding on the roof of the ruined temple were relieved.

    The young man lying next to Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Do you really have the gems?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang quickly showed the green cat¡¯s eye stone before retracting it.

    The other side had just put down his worries. ¡°Then we don¡¯t have to worry about being robbed. Since we all have one, why not talk about cooperation?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes swept over the four people and asked, ¡°Do you know each other?¡±

    The man nodded. ¡°Yes, we know each other in reality.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and reminded them, ¡°It isn¡¯t convenient to talk while lying on the roof. How about we go down first?¡±

    Everyone looked at each other carefully. Seven people lying side by side in strange postures, neck twisted 90 degrees to look at each other was really ufortable. The man seemed to have a jump card. He heard this and jumped off the roof with hispanion. Liu Qiao flew down with the help of trees. Yu Hanjiang grabbed the trunk with one hand and he used his long legs to descend to the ground.

    Xiao Lou looked at the ground with a bit of embarrassment. He had just been pulled up by Group Leader Yu and the roof was three metres high. Jumping straight down will definitely hurt his feet. He was hesitating when Yu Hanjiang raised his head and held out a hand to Xiao Lou.¡±Jump, I¡¯ll catch you.¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t worry over it and jumped straight down. Yu Hanjiang reached out and caught him steadily. However, gravity meant that Xiao Lou¡¯s body was directly in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s arms. He was surrounded by the familiar man¡¯s breath and this made X¡¯s heart inexplicably stop. He hurriedly stepped back and pretended tofortably say, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked gently towards Xiao Lou before looking at the four people.

    They were three men and one woman. The one who spoke to Yu Hanjiang was around 25 years old who looked good. Another was a middle-aged man around 40 years old had a beard on his chin. Apparently, he hadn¡¯t shaved it in a long time. He never spoke and looked rtively calm. Thebination of a man and woman should be a couple or partners. They were dressed young and fashionably.

    The curly haired woman smiled. ¡°The four of us are actually from the same designpany. We were on a New Year¡¯s group outing when there was an ident. Then we happened to meet in 4 of Spades.¡±

    The young man introduced them. ¡°This is our design director, Old Qi. Xiao Wu and Xiao Li are newly married and myst name is Zhou.¡±

    Xiao Lou also smiled and introduced them. ¡°This is Old Han, I am Yunxiao and this university student is surnamed Qiao. We also have teammates outside the vige.¡±

    He used a pseudonym again to avoid trouble urring if his real name was known. After introducing each other, Xiao Lou asked, ¡°How many clues do you have at present?¡±

    The curly haired woman surnamed Li said, ¡°Our gem was found in Lin Er¡¯s house in the easternmost part of the vige. His wife has a big stomach and is about to give birth. During the time when he apanied his wife for a walk, we searched his house and found a gem under the bed.¡±

    The young man said, ¡°Our gem was found in Grandma Qin¡¯s house. At that time, we happened to bump into you. You didn¡¯t find it at Grandma Qini¡¯s house so where did you find your gem?¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°We found two in the farnd to the east. One is green and one is a nearly transparent white.¡±

    The woman exined, ¡°This is a cat¡¯s eye stone and we suspect it is for a bracelet. Each gem is a different colour. We found a blue and brown one and you have a dark green and transparent one. There should be red, gold and white as well.¡±

    The gold one was in Liu Qiao¡¯s hand but Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t going to reveal the truth about Liu Qiao¡¯s single-person action.

    As for the red one, it was found in the pond and snatched by the masked person. The white one should¡¯ve been taken out of the vige by the chameleon man and zombie-jumping woman.

    Mr Zhou picked up a branch and crouched down to draw a picture on the ground. ¡°The first should be the temple. Then three appeared in Grandma Qin¡¯s home, the vige chief¡¯s home and Lin Er¡¯s home whose wife is going to have a baby. Two were found in the farnd outside the vige. Don¡¯t you think these six are a bit strange when connected? Where is thest one?¡±

    Xiao Lou picked up a branch and drew the intersection between the three lines. ¡°It is in the pond.¡± The distribution of the seven gems formed a human person.

    This was something they had long spected about. The four strangers weren¡¯t clean but suddenly realized after seeing the graphic. ¡°The head is the west mountain and the feet is the farnd. The rest of the body is the vige?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, what else did you find?¡±

    The curly haired woman said, ¡°Lin Er¡¯s wife is called Hui Hui and her due date is in three days. She isn¡¯t well and has been taking medicine. We checked the dregs of the medicine she poured into the yard and found human bones and many unknown Chinese herbal medicines. We spected that this medicine should lead to a malformation of the baby¡¯s eyes.¡±

    The four people¡¯s approach was different from Xiao Lou but they also spected there was a problem with Grandma Sun and Grandma Qin. They stole the roosters and the dogs to lead the vigers here to the ruined temple. The conversation between Grandma Qin and Grandma Sun in front of the human bones pit revealed a lot of key information. It could be said that the people who stole the animals made great contributions.

    Xiao Lou touched his chin thoughtfully. ¡°Based on the dialogue between Qin and Sun just now, Grandma Sun might n to ughter the vige on the day of the Autumn Harvest.¡±

    The curly haired woman stared. ¡°ughter the vigers?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang understood Xiao Lou¡¯s meaning. ¡°Just now, Grandma Sun said she was tired and would rest after her daughter¡¯s death anniversary. Do you understand what she means by rest?¡±

    The curly haired woman choked up for a moment. Then Old Qi, who hadn¡¯t spoken from the beginning, suddenly opened her mouth. ¡°Grandma Sun¡¯s hatred of this vige hasn¡¯t diminished. For her daughter, she will definitely ughter the vige again and let the vigers be buried with her daughter.¡±

    The three people¡¯s expressions changed and the curly haired woman couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°Old Qi, are you serious? There are a hundreds of houses and should have a poption of approximately 300 in the vige. Even if they can¡¯t see, won¡¯t it be difficult for Grandma Sun to kill all the vigers?¡±

    Old Qi replied, ¡°Don¡¯t forget who she is. She is the vige doctor and can let all the vigers drink the medicine she made. She can use ¡®poison¡¯ to kill the vigers.¡±

    The woman understood this and her face became uglier.

    Xiao Wu asked, ¡°Letting the entire vige die together, will Grandma Sun poison the spring water?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°Poisoning the spring won¡¯t guarantee that all vigers will die at the same time. Many people pick up two buckets of water in advance for storage. These two buckets of water can be drunk for a long time. I think it is more likely that she teamed up with Grandma Qin to poison the rice wine that will be drunk at the Autumn Harvest.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°On the Autumn Harvest day, everyone will drink to worship their ancestors. This is the tradition of Liuxi Vige. As long as they drink the poisoned wine, everyone will immediately be poisoned and buried with her daughter.¡±

    The group fell silent at the same time.

    In fact, they could understand Grandma Sun¡¯s mentality. If this was reced by anyone, their daughter¡¯s tragic death meant they would hate the enemy and hack them into meat sauce. If her daughter was really killed by the people of the vige, as a mother who lost her beloved daughter, it was reasonable to kill the vige for revenge.

    However, hatred distorted her mind. She not long ughtered the vigers but also retaliated against the descendants of the vigers.

    The descendants hadn¡¯t participated in the events of 35 years ago such as Lin Er, Liu Hui, etc. The babies bornter didn¡¯t know anything at all. They were poisoned blind by the grandmothers since they were born. How innocent were they? Why should they bear the revenge for more than 30 years? They didn¡¯t just have to grow up in darkness, they had to drink their parents or grandparents¡¯ bones as well?

    In ancient times, some people made mistakes and the ¡®entire n¡¯ of those involved would be wiped out. This cruel system had long been abolished in modern times. Some people made mistakes and the more than 100 families in the vige were buried with them, even their descendants retaliated against¡­ this was a bit too much.

    In Grandma Sun really wanted to ughter the vigers, the challengers would face two choices.

    The first option was to sit back and ignore it. 4 of Spades didn¡¯t require ¡®rescuing the vige.¡¯ It was to find the gem and live in this world for seven days. As long as Liuxi Vige was destroyed again, the challengers could stay in the vige for seven days and live in their homes, avoiding the wind and the rain. It was equivalent to lying down and winning for the challengers who found gems.

    The second option was for the challengers who knew the truth to interfere with Grandma Sun and Grandma Qin¡¯s n. The more than 300 vigers would be rescued and their descendants would no longer suffer from blindness.

    However, this voice was very difficult. First of all, the vigers wouldn¡¯t believe in these ¡®outsiders¡¯ over Grandma Sun and Grandma Qin. Once they drank the poisonous wine at the Autumn Harvest Festival, they would be killed.

    Xiao Lou looked back at the four people. ¡°I personally think that if we want a perfect clearance, we have to save the vigers.¡±

    The four men looked at each other in agreement.

    ording to the timeline, the Autumn Harvest Festival and Liu Hui¡¯s due date was on the fifth day. This was three dayster.

    The challengers must¡¯ve found all the gems by the fifth day. Those who didn¡¯t find the gems and wanted to steal the gems would be eliminated after fierce internal fighting. The rest of the challengers would protect the gems well. As long as they sat there and ignored everything, they could directly clear the instance after the vigers were destroyed.

    This was the easier way to clear the instance and was basically the same as the description when entering 4 of Spades. Hide from the vigers, find the gems and then hide from other challengers. Protect their gems from being robbed.

    Those wanting a perfect clearance would have to save the vigers and the difficulty was much higher. However, thinking of the innocent children, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t sit idly by. He looked at Yu Hanjiang and said, ¡°We have to find a way to stop Grandma Sun¡¯s actions.¡±

    Old Qi touched the beard on his chin. ¡°The Autumn Harvest Festival is the fifth day, right? On the evening of the fourth day, we can sneak into the vige and steal all the medicine from Grandma Sun.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    The four of them were simply a ¡®stealing gang.¡¯ They stole the roosters and dogsst night and now they wanted to steal the medicine.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t object to this idea. ¡°We can try it. On the fifth day at 24:00, all the card skills will refresh and everyone will act together. You go to Grandma Sun¡¯s house to steal her medicine while we go to Grandma Qin¡¯s house to change her rice wine.¡±

    The curly haired woman was worried. ¡°Can it be that smooth?¡±

    Her crow¡¯s mouth made Xiao Lou¡¯s heart jump. Could it really be that smooth? His heart was worried.

    The seven people separated with Old Qi reminding, ¡°There are challengers in the vige who didn¡¯t get the gems. They will certainly try to rob you so you should be careful.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°You too.¡±

    The four of them went up the mountain while Yu Hanjiang and Liu Qiao returned to the farnd to the east of the vige.

    Two girls were chatting with Ye Qi under the tree, their soft voices entering Xiao Lou¡¯s ear. ¡°We found a gem. Have you found one? Do you want to work together to try and get a perfect clearance?¡±

    It was the girls who had been robbed after catching the wooden box in the pond. They were apparently lying. Ye Qi was just about to speak when Shao Qingge stopped him, eyes narrowed in a faint smile. ¡°We didn¡¯t find a gem. We were worried about what to do and didn¡¯t expect the two of you toe here. Leave the gem behind.¡±

    He winked at Ye Qi and Ye Qi understood immediately. He used the teleport card to appear behind the girl and trapped them with the Bnce. Then he took out his guitar and started to y. The two girls immediately became sleepy.

    They were shocked and eximed, ¡°We don¡¯t have gem. Don¡¯t do it!¡±

    Ye Qi put away his guitar and Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°I know. You were trying to see if we have a gem and then find a way to rob us, right? Unfortunately, we don¡¯t have one. The two of you should look elsewhere as soon as possible.¡±

    The two girls ran away in a sloppy manner. After they left, Xiao Lou¡¯s group of three came to the tree.

    Ye Qi excitedly wondered, ¡°Professor Xiao, what did you find?¡±

    Xiao Lou briefly retold the conversation they heard at the temple and then the next n.

    Ye Qi eximed, ¡±Definitely save them! The perfect clearance condition should be to save the vigers. Liuxi Vige is like an instance in a game. The first task is to avoid the vigers and look for the gems. In the process of finding the gems, the yers will discover the secrets of the vige and trigger the hidden task to save the vigers.¡±

    Liu Qiao looked at him. ¡°Do you often y single-yer games?¡±

    Ye Qiughed. ¡°Yes, but I y xianxia type RPG games. ording to the game¡¯s rules, ce seven gems and open the vige¡¯s mechanism to summon the dragon.¡±

    This secret room might not have a ¡®summoning the dragon¡¯ setting but Ye Qi¡¯s understanding was almost the same. It was really like the plot of a game. yers came to the vige, found the secret and rescued the vigers.

    Moreover, Xiao Lou remembered the vige chief¡¯s words. ¡°As long as you are willing to help me, you can take away all of the vige¡¯s jade resources.¡±

    Perhaps these jade resources were the reward for perfectly clearing the instance?

    Thinking up to here, Xiao Lou said, ¡°Since everyone agreed, we will n the next action.¡± He looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Group Leader Yu, you are more professional in this regard. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°At present, the four people in the west mountain are holding two gems and the five of us are holding three gems. A couple with one gem escaped the vige and thest gem was robbed by the masked person, who is very strong. Those who got the gems aren¡¯t easy to provoke. Other challengers who want to rob the gem will likely form a team.¡±

    It might be harsh but there was no way. The Spades room was destined to eliminate people. Those who didn¡¯t find a gem could only me themselves for being too slow while those who were robbed could only me themselves for being too weak.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Just now, the two girls wanted to steal from us. After the secret room refreshes at 24:00 tonight, the system will give the prompt that there are 0 gems remaining in the vige.¡±

    Ye Qi was obviously nervous. ¡°This means that people are likely to team up tomorrow to steal the gems. We have to guard against being robbed of the gems. After all, we have three!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took a deep breath. ¡°I don¡¯t want to sh with other challengers. If they rush at us, we will have to fight and might kill them, so¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou understood what he meant. ¡°Shall we go out of the vige?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°It might be dangerous outside the vige but it isn¡¯t a dead end. We have five people and arge number of guards. I believe that facing a group of beasts without intelligence is easier than dealing with other challengers.¡±

    Everyone agreed with Group Leader Yu.

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Then we will leave the vige for two days. On the fifth day when the Autumn Harvest Festival starts, we will return to Liuxi Vige. Liuxi Vige is bound to be very chaotic in the next two days. Let¡¯s not wade in this muddy water and go out to avoid it.¡±

    The five people were ready to turn away.

    The neglected vige chief didn¡¯t understand what they were saying about the game, instance and saving the vigers. He just heard that everyone was going to leave the vige and immediately interrupted with a frightened cry. ¡°There are many wild animals outside the vige. You won¡¯t be able to live!¡±

    Xiao Lou looked back at him with gentle eyes. ¡°People are more terriblepared to wild animals.¡±

    Ye Qi smiled. ¡°Vige Chief, do you want to follow us?¡±

    The vige chief¡¯s expression wasplicated. He subconsciously shook his head but remembered that he had been expelled from the vige. Finally, he nodded his head. The six people moved side by side.

    On the west mountain, Old Qi was holding a telescope and suddenly said, ¡°They are leaving the vige?¡±

    Next to him, Xiao Wu couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°Staying in the vige means being targeted by challengers who haven¡¯t got a gem. In fact, it isn¡¯t safe. What if a broken challenger drags us down into the water?¡±

    Old Qi nodded solemnly. ¡°Should we also go out of the vige for two days?¡±

    The four people nced at each other and quickly went down the mountain. A person in a mask suddenly came out from behind the tree. He held a red gem in his hand as he followed quietly.

    24:00 a.m.

    A prompt appeared on everyone¡¯s floating boxes at the same time.

    [Liuxi Vige, day 3, 24:00]

    [Number of stones remaining in the vige: 0.]

    [Number of challengers remaining in the vige: 8]

    Xiao Lou saw these prompts and couldn¡¯t help sighing. ¡°This morning, there were 18 challengers in the vige and now there are only 8. It seems that Old Qi¡¯s group also left the vige. The remaining eight people in the vige will fight each other but in fact¡­ the gems have all been taken out of the vige.¡±

    The howls of the wolves range in their ears and there was the sound of venomous snakes crawling on the ground. The wilderness was dangerous but their survival rate was higher if they went into the wild with the gem.

 Chapter 109: Liuxi Village 15

    Xiao Lou¡¯s group of five left the boundaries of Liuxi Vige. There was a double forked road in front of them. The left side headed to a dark mountain while the right side had a dense forest. From time to time, wolves would howl from the mountains. Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Which way should we go?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and looked at the dark mountain. ¡°Go to the forest.¡± He started walking while whispering, ¡°Everyone should prepare their control cards. Once a beast gets close, first set them in ce with the Bnce.¡±

    Bnce was a team restricted card and each team could only bring one. However, the five of them hadn¡¯t signed a contract. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were one team, Ye Qi and Shao Qingge were another time and Liu Qiao was alone. They could use three bnce cards, each onesting 5 minutes. They could run away no matter how many beasts there were.

    Moreover, Ye Qi¡¯s guitar could be used for a wide-area control. The teleport card, flying card and eleration shoes could help teammates escape quickly. If necessary, Xiao Lou could use Tao Yuanming to transmit the group to another space. If this wasn¡¯t possible, Yu Hanjiang had two guns. It wasn¡¯t difficult to shoot and kill several beasts with Group Leader Yu¡¯s shooting skills.

    It was their abilities that allowed them to dare venture into the forest outside the vige.

    The five people moved forward together. Liu Qiao helped explore the path with the help of trees. Ye Qi and Shao Qingge walked in front, Xiao Lou was in the middle and Yu Hanjiang in the rear.

    After walking into the forest, Liu Qiao suddenly stopped and said, ¡°There are thick and tall trees ahead with many strange vines. My view is blocked by the trees and I can¡¯t see clearly. Do you want to go deeper or stop here?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly shouted, ¡°Be careful of the tree!¡±

    Xiao Lou looked back alertly only to see a dark green body, almost the same colour as the leaves. The poisonous snake suddenlyunched from the branch and bit at Liu Qiao¡¯s leg with a wide-open mouth! Fortunately, Liu Qiao reacted fast enough when she heard Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice and immediately flew down from the tree.

    The poisonous snake hit empty air. It opened its mouth and spat a red liquid at the group. Its tongue was thin and long, dark eyes staring at the crowd as its mouth issued a hissing sound. It seemed to be extremely dissatisfied with the people disturbing its sleep.

    Yu Hanjiang eximed, ¡°Quickly move back!¡±

    The faces of the people changed and they immediately followed Yu Hanjiang in taking a few steps back.

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Are the snakes poisonous?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°This is a green mamba snake that is used to living on trees. Its venom contains neurotoxins and if bitten, the fatality rate is very high.¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s face was slightly white. If it wasn¡¯t for Group Leader Yu¡¯s warning, she would¡¯ve been bitten by the poisonous snake. In this vige with no medicine, being bitten by the snake would lead to a fatal result.

    She looked at the snake with lingering fear. Just then, everyone heard arge number of hissing sounds. The vige chief looked back and suddenly hid behind Yu Hanjiang in a scared manner. ¡°Ahh¡­ there are a lot of snakes!¡±

    Everyone saw countless green snakes suddenly appear on the trees around them. The snakes seemed to have been called by the snake king. They all spat out liquid as they slowly crawled on the trees, their bodies twined around the branches, surrounding the group in an instant.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°It is likely that we¡¯ve entered the habitat of the poisonous snakes. Quickly withdraw!¡±

    Xiao Lou was frightened. He had only seen snakes in the zoo and this was his first time seeing so many poisonous snakes in the wild. Yu Hanjiang grabbed Xiao Lou with one hand and pulled the vige chief with the other, turning on the eleration shoes and running.

    Liu Qiao couldn¡¯t go up the tree. Ye Qi took out his teleportation card and happily found that the skill had been upgraded. Previously, he could only bring one person with the card and now he could bring two. Ye Qi said, ¡°Liu Qiao, Chief Shao, I¡¯ll take you. Come to me!¡±

    The two people quickly stood on the left and right sides of Ye Qi. ye Qi activated the skill and followed Yu Hanjiang.

    The people ran for several minutes through the dark forest. Yu Hanjiang only stopped when they left the area of tall trees. Xiao Lou took a deep breath and stood breathlessly next to the vige chief.

    It was terrible. If they didn¡¯t have excellent means of escaping then breaking into the snake¡¯s habitat would only be a dead end.

    Ye Qi stopped nearby with Shao Qingge and Liu Qiao and gasped. ¡°I-I was scared to death! I have never seen so many snakes in my life!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke calmly. ¡°The wild is much more dangerous than I thought.¡±

    The vige chief finally managed to breathe. He patted his chest and gasped for air. ¡°I have long said that the wild is dangerous. You didn¡¯t believe it!¡±

    Shao Qingge was always smiling but his expression was currently very serious. He didn¡¯t speak, proving that he was a bit afraid.

    Liu Qiao looked at Yu Hanjiang and whispered, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°There is no need for thanks. You were talking and I heard a sound behind you. Then I found the snake coiled on the tree, pretending to be a leaf.¡±

    Liu Qiao frowned. ¡°It isn¡¯t safe among the trees. It seems that we can no longer go in the forest.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it and suggested, ¡°Shall we go into the mountains?¡±

    The wolves¡¯ howls hade from the mountain so they had gone into the forest. However, the forest was full of poisonous snakes and perhaps other beasts.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke decisively. ¡°Then we will go to the mountains. The wolves are afraid of fire. We will find an open space and each person will hold a torch.¡±

    The group turned and headed into the mountains.

    Just after entering the mountain, I heard the rustling sound of something crawling on the ground. Then a woman¡¯s legs became two metres high and she jumped seven or eight metres at a time. Xiao Lou eximed, ¡°It is the two who left with the gem!¡±

    The woman apparently saw them too. She jumped over and said, ¡°Why are you here?¡±

    The crawling man only stopped. His body blended into the ground as he revealed only his head and asked, ¡°You were driven out of the vige?¡± It was a strange image, as if only his head was on the ground.

    The vige chief was white with fear. ¡°H-He has no body, only a head!¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at him and smiled. ¡°Vige chief, don¡¯t be afraid. This is just a camouge.¡±

    The man wondered, ¡°Vige chief? You are with the vige chief?¡±

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°We received the gem but there are many people in the vige who didn¡¯t get one. We were worried about being robbed and temporarily left the vige. As for the vige chief¡­ he was plotted against and driven out by Grandma Sun. He can provide us with a lot of information.¡±

    The pair nced at each other. ¡°Do you really have the gems?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, who was in charge of keeping the gems, took out the green gem and showed it to them.

    The two people sighed with relief. The woman gritted her teeth andined, ¡°We have been hiding in the mountain for a day. There are many wild wolves and tigers in the mountain. If it wasn¡¯t for my long legs, I would¡¯ve be food in the stomach of these beasts!¡±

    The man¡¯s face was white. ¡°We found the two challengers who were thrown out of the vige on the first day. They had been eaten clean by the beasts and only their bones are left¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang and thetter whispered, ¡°Go into the mountains.¡±

    The woman stared. ¡°Are you crazy? We couldn¡¯t stay in the mountains and hid around it. We advise you not to go inside. Just hide around here!¡±

    Xiao Lou understood Group Leader Yu¡¯s meaning and helped exin. ¡°The wolves are afraid of fire and we can ignite one.¡±

    The woman was stunned. ¡°Did you draw something like the Lighter card?¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t directly say that he had drawn Bai Juyi. He just smiled. ¡°In any case, we have a way to light the fire. If you want, you can go with us. It is more convenient to drive away the beasts if there are more people.¡±

    The man and woman looked at him and the man on the ground nodded.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°Big brother, can you change your body back to talk? I can¡¯t adapt to seeing only a head.¡±

    The man said, ¡°Okay.¡±

    He changed back. Even his head was gone and only a mass of soil could be seen moving on the ground.

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    The ground and zombie-like jumping woman followed. Her legs were two metres high, like two pirs. This skill card didn¡¯t lose to Liu Qiao flight card.

    The group of people entered the mountain and saw a big tree.

    The wolves¡¯ howls became clearer and there was the roar of many beasts. The timid vige chief was shaking and holding his head. He wasn¡¯t able to walk if it wasn¡¯t for Ye Qi pulling him.

    Xiao Lou turned and waked together with Yu Hanjiang. He quickly summoned Bai Juyi to light the fire. Before the man and woman could react, they saw a cluster of mes appear out of nowhere. The woman was surprised and said, ¡°Your card is very interesting. It is very easy to use in the wild.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang found a wooden stick. He lit the torch and handed it to Liu Qiao. ¡°Little Liu, look at the tree to see if there are any snakes. Hold the torch and be careful.¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded and flew to the tree with the torch. She stepped on the branches and scanned it carefully. ¡°There is nothing in this tree, only a nest of eggs at the top of the tree.¡± She took down the eggs and continued, ¡°If someone is hungry then we can eat it as a snack.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°This tree can shelter us from the rain. Let¡¯s use it as a base.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°Yes, this tree is thick enough that we can sleep by the tree at night.¡±

    Ye Qi, Shao Qingge and Shao Qingge immediately started to act. They gathered dry wood and ced it aside for use. Each of them also lit a torch to avoid being approached by beasts or snakes.

    The frightened vige chief couldn¡¯t understand the words of these people. Then once he saw the fire, his face rxed slightly. He took the torch from Ye Qi and sat by the tree in silence. Ye Qi was worried that the vige chief would cry out with fright. He yed the flute and let the vige chief sleep directly.

    Everyone sat around the charcoal fire and didn¡¯t sleep.

    They were intended to cook the eggs to eat when there was the sudden sound of footsteps.

    Yu Hanjiang was alert and pricked his ears. ¡°There are four people.¡±

    Xiao Lou was startled and lowered his voice. ¡°Is it Old Qi¡¯s group of four?¡±

    Liu Qiao immediately went up the tree and used the help of the height to look. ¡°Yes, it is them.¡±

    A momentter, the four people followed the light of the fire and came to the open space. They saw everyone around the fire and were quite surprised. ¡°Old Han, you are quitefortable!¡± ¡°Lighting a fire to scare away wild animals is good.¡±

    Old Han was Yu Hanjiang¡¯s pseudonym. These four people were the staff of the designpany.

    Xiao Lou smiled and greeted them. ¡°Come and sit.¡±

    The four people came and were wary of the unknown man and woman. Xiao Lou told them, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. These people have found a gem and can clear the instance. There is nopetition between us.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suggested softly, ¡°In order to eliminate any wariness, everyone should take out the gems to confirm it.¡±

    The group nced around at each other and no one dared to take it out.

    Yu Hanjiang took the lead to show his own gem and Shao Qingge and Liu Qiao followed.

    Old Qi followed closely and Xiao Wu of the young couple also took a box from his pocket. The woman who jumped like a zombie saw everyone take it out and also opened her hands in confirmation.

    ¡°A golden-green cat¡¯s eye, moonstone cat¡¯s eye, Hetian jade cat¡¯s eye, quartz cat¡¯s eye, alexandrite cat¡¯s eye, tourmaline cat¡¯s eye¡­¡± Shao Qingge spoke the varieties of chrysoberyl in turn.

    ¡°Do you know jade very well?¡± The curly haired woman asked curiously.

    ¡°There are people in my family who do business.¡± Shao Qingge smiled and touched his chin. ¡°These gems all have a very good colour and the cat¡¯s eye in the middle is slim and bright. Every gem is valuable and a bracelet consisting of seven of them is worth hundreds of thousands at the veryst. I am talking about the price in yuan. Converted to gold, it should be tens of millions.¡±

    Everyone¡¯s eyes lit up when they heard this and they couldn¡¯t wait to take the gem out of the secret room for money.

    Ye Qi asked curiously, ¡°There are six here so there is one left?¡±

    Shao Qingge replied, ¡°Thest one should be a red chrysoberyl¡­¡±

    He just finished talking when the cat¡¯s eye in everyone¡¯s hands suddenly disappeared.

    Everyone looked at their empty palms and collectively couldn¡¯t reach to what was going on. Then they saw Yu Hanjiang shoot out like a sharp arrow, a fruit knife directly touching the throat of a person not far away. ¡°Return the stones to everyone.¡±

    The person wearing a silver mask spoke calmly. ¡°Don¡¯t be excited. One gem alone can clear the instance. I¡¯m not foolish enough to steal your gems and offend all of you.¡±

    Through his mask, he nced at the group sitting around the fire and spread out his palms. The man¡¯s right hand contained the six gems just confirmed while his left hand showed the red cat¡¯s eye stone he got. He looked at Xiao Lou and smiled. ¡°Thest one is here with me.

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°I saw you at the edge of the pond. Your ¡®air-grabbing¡¯ skill is really good.¡±

    The man smiled. ¡°Well, I borrowed everyone¡¯s gems and will immediately return it to you.¡±

    The group was relieved to realize that he had no malice.

    The man said, ¡°Who has a thread? Or something like a wire?¡±

    Everyone said no. Then Liu Qiao questioned, ¡°You want to string the seven gems into a bracelet?¡±

    The man nodded but unfortunately, no one had a wire. Xiao Lou looked at the curly haired woman and smiled. ¡°Can I trouble you to pull out a hair so we can try stringing them together?¡±

    The woman immediately pulled out a long hair and gave it to the masked man. The masked man strung the hair through the holes in the seven gems.

    Ye Qi whispered, ¡°Is it true that collecting seven gems can summon a dragon?¡±

    The moment the seven gems were strung together, a prompt appeared on all the floating boxes at the scene.

    [In the 4 of Spades secret room, Liuxi Vige, the challengers have connected seven gems and triggered the hidden reward. After clearing the instance, an extra chrysoberyl stone will be awarded. If the instance is perfectly cleared and the evaluation is S-grade, each team will be awarded a chrysoberyl bracelet and the plot card of Liuxi Vige.]

    ording to Shao Qingge, one bracelet was worth hundreds of thousands of yuan. Wouldn¡¯t they make a fortune if they sold it in a main city?

    The faces of the group were filled with surprise. They didn¡¯t expect that the most correct way to clear the instance was for all the challengers hiding out of the vige with the gem to restore the bracelet of Sun Yueqing who died 35 years ago.

    Xiao Lou looked at the masked man. ¡°You have known this for a long time?¡±

    The other person came and sat down next to him. ¡°I have yed a lot of games and wanted to see what happened when I collected all the items.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This was really a method in the game!

    The masked man returned the gems and said, ¡°I heard your n of action and want to join.¡±

    Old Qi¡¯s team and Xiao Lou¡¯s team had reached a tacit understanding. The man and woman team had been hiding outside the vige from the beginning and didn¡¯t know the situation. They looked at each other in a puzzled manner and asked, ¡°What n?¡±

    Xiao Lou patiently exined. ¡°On the fifth day, Liuxi Vige will hold its annual Autumn Harvest Festival. Grandma Sun and Grandma Qin want to join forces to ughter the vigers. We have decided to save the vigers and perhaps we can get an S-grade evaluation.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled at them. ¡°The two of you escaped from the vige in advance but this is actually a mistake. Now that you met Old Han and Brother Xiao, you can lie down and win.¡±

    The couple looked at each other and their eyes were full of excitement.

    They hadn¡¯t even thought of a perfect clearance. They just came out here and could lie down to win? This was great luck!

    ¡®It is reallyfortable to lie down and win¡¯ though Shao Qingge, who had been lying down the whole time.

    If this team and Xiao Lou and Group Leader Yu¡¯s team could enter the main city, they would probably be the wealthiest challengers.

    In 3 of Spades, Financial Crisis, Shao Qingge manipted the stock market to make millions. In 4 of Spades, Liuxi Vige, they collected seven chrysoberyls and triggered the hidden reward. They could gain a lot of money from selling the bracelet. After going to the main city, wouldn¡¯t they be super rich and could directly buy a big house?

    The good life seemed to be beckoning to them from ahead.

 Chapter 110: Liuxi Village 16

    At 1 o¡¯clock, just as people were falling asleep, countless pairs of green eyes appeared and stared at them without blinking. Xiao Lou¡¯s back stiffened and he asked softly, ¡°Are they wolves?¡±

    Ye Qi immediately jumped up and swore as he held the guitar, his entire body in a state of readiness.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t move. There¡¯s a fire here and they won¡¯t daree closer.¡±

    The wolves might be afraid of fire but what if the fire went out? Once so many wolves pounced, they might be torn to pieces, just like the two challengers who were driven out of the vige on the first day. The meat was eaten, leaving only white bones.

    The group was white-faced when thinking of the bones of the two challengers they had met on the road. Just then, it started to rain. Xiao Lou hurriedly eximed, ¡°Protect the charcoal fire!¡±

    However, the storm poured down and there was no time to protect it. All the charcoal and torches were extinguished by the rain in an instant. Once the wolves saw that the fire went out, the wolves slowly came forward and surrounded them.

    Yu Hanjiang shouted, ¡°Get back! Get back to the tree!¡±

    The tree was very thick and contained lush leaves. Liu Qiao immediately flew to the tree and the long-legged woman climbed up it cleanly. Then the two of them helped pull up the other challengers.

    Yu Hanjiang escorted Xiao Lou back to the tree and whispered, ¡°Let¡¯s cooperate and kill these wolves.¡±

    The reaction of the group, especially the couple who first fled to the mountain, was to flee. They didn¡¯t expect this person to actually fight the wolves head-on?

    Old Qi took the lead in nodding. ¡°Isn¡¯t there the Bnce from 4 of Diamonds? The bnce can control the target for five minutes. We can use it separately and control the wolves to death.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang quickly assigned tasks. ¡°Old Qi, youe first.¡±

    Old Qi reacted quickly. He saw the wolf herd surrounding the tree and immediately threw out the Bnce. Arge number of wolves was set in ce under the tree and Yu Hanjiang shouted, ¡°Little Ye!¡±

    It meant for Ye Qi to y the guitar and make all the wolves fall asleep. Yu Hanjiang rushed out like an arrow. He held a fruit knife and quickly killed the wolves! For a while, blood kept sshing!

    Yu Hanjiang moved between the sleeping wolves, his eyebrows revealed a trace of ruthlessness, like he was cutting vegetables. He killed eight wolves in a row while they were sleeping. It was quick, ruthless and urate!

    The people against the tree looked at the scene with horror. The physically fit man single-handedly killed the wolves and his face showed no traces of fear!

    Ye Qi¡¯s sleeping effect soon ended. The wolves woke up and found that theirpanions around them were dead or seriously wounded. The rest of the wolves were enraged and howled at Yu Hanjiang. They wanted to rush over and bite him to pieces!

    Two of them happened to be in the gap between the scales and wasn¡¯t fixed in ce. After waking up, the two wolves rushed at Yu Hanjiang. Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was about to stop beating and he subconsciously said, ¡°Be careful!¡±

    He threw out the Bnce without hesitation and urately fixed the two wolves in ce. They were only one metre away from Yu Hanjiang. Their green eyes stared coldly at Yu Hanjiang. They opened their mouths to reveal sharp teeth and if Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t reacted quickly enough, Yu Hanjiang might¡¯ve been bitten by the two wolves.

    Yu Hanjiang turned to look at Xiao Lou and gave him a reassuring look. ¡°What are you waiting for? Use your attack and control cards quickly!¡±

    The dazed people finally came to their senses and used their own cards to help Yu Hanjiang. A few bold young men also climbed down from the tree and joined the fight. The wolves might be ferocious but the enemies were challengers who could use all types of cards.

    In the blink of an eye, more than half the wolves were killed or injured. There was a mess under the ground and wolves¡¯ corpses scattered everywhere. Under the rain, the blood of the wolves stained the grass red and it was startling.

    The long-legged woman sat in the tree and stared nkly at the bodies on the ground. ¡°Actually¡­ killed the wolves?¡±

    She and her boyfriend had escaped to the mountains and hid from the wolves all day. As a result, this man killed the wolves in one breath. She watched Yu Hanjiang standing in the rain with blood covering his bod and she suddenly trembled. The man¡¯s eyes were cold and full of hostility but there was a type of firmness in his eyes that said ¡®a god kills a god, Buddha kills Buddha.¡¯ She had no doubt that if anyone dared to do anything to him and his friends, he would definitely take care of them.

    Fortunately, they formed a temporary alliance with this man and weren¡¯t hostile to him. The woman patted her chest and let out a breath.

    Under the tree, the masked man looked at Yu admiringly. ¡°Big brother, your skills are good. Have you practiced?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang lightly hummed.

    Old QI jumped out from the tree and asked, ¡°What about the bodies of these wolves?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes swept over the crowd and finally stopped on Xiao Lou¡¯s face.

    The fierce man looked at Xiao Lou and his eyes couldn¡¯t help bing gentle. He whispered, ¡°Are you interested in eating wolf meat? These wolves can be used as food for the next two days.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The chameleon man, who had climbed the tree out of fright, suddenly exposed his head from where he blended in with the tree and spat out, ¡°Fuck! I was afraid the wolves would eat me and now you want to eat the wolves?¡±

    The group stared at Yu Hanjiang withplicated eyes. A master¡¯s thinking truly wasn¡¯t the same.

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°In reality, we aren¡¯t allowed to eat wolves because they are endangered protected animals. Hunting wolves is illegal. We don¡¯t need to think about this in the secret room. The wolves on the mountain can definitely be eaten. These wolves came to us themselves. We won¡¯t have to go hunting in the next two days.¡±

    As he spoke, he lifted the body of a wolf and came to the bottom of the tree.

    Xiao Lou jumped down from the tree and spoke with worry. ¡°Are you okay? You have a lot of blood on you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang shook his head. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. It is all wolf¡¯s blood.¡±

    Xiao Lou let go of his worries and looked at the wolf on the ground. ¡°Do you really intend to eat roast wolf meat for the next two days?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Do you want to try it?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, I haven¡¯t eaten wolf meat yet.¡±

    The people at the scene, ¡°¡­¡±

    Who the hell had eaten wolf meat? It was exciting to follow these two people.

    The challengers who had nearly peed their pants just now climbed down the tree. Ye Qi spoke excitedly, ¡°Roast wolf meat, so cool! I never dreamt that one day when I met a wolf, it would be me eating the wolf, not the wolf eating me, hahaha.¡±

    Everyone was amused by him and their nervous looks were swept away.

    The couple who could only escape after encountering the wolves looked at each other. At this moment, they finally understood what it meant to ¡®lie down and win.¡¯ It was so easy to follow the gods, the wolves were all killed¡­

    For the next two days, Xiao Lou obviously sensed that the eyes of the challengers were full of admiration for Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang single-handedly killed the wolves and proved his fighting ability. No one dared to provoke him and followed him to eat roast wolf meat. The taste might be strange but they couldn¡¯t be too demanding in the wild. Yu Hanjiang was afraid that Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t get used to it. During the day, he went to the mountains to hunt a few pheasants and hares. He could also eat wild fruits when thirsty.

    On the fourth day, there were only five challengers left in Liuxi Vige. Apparently, people had been eliminated by the infighting.

    In contrast, the 12 challengers outside the vige got along well.

    After the group of wolves was destroyed, no wild animals would disturb them again. It was like everyone was going on a field trip. They slept by the tree at night and hunted wild game and picked wild fruits during the day. It was a simple andfortable life.

    In a sh, the fifth day arrived and a prompt appeared on everyone¡¯s floating boxes.

    [Liuxi Vige, day 5, 24:00]

    [Number of stones remaining in the vige: 0.]

    [Number of challengers remaining in the vige: 3]

    There were only three people left in the original eight. It could be seen how fierce the challengers¡¯ struggle in the vige was after the past two days. Some of them might¡¯ve started to suspect each other and fight frantically. Xiao Lou was right. Compared to the wild beasts, the irrational challengers under tension were more terrible.

    At 24:00, all the card skills were refreshed.

    Yu Hanjiang called everyone together to arrange the tasks. He took out the map of Liuxi Vige and quickly drew three lines of action. ¡°Old Qi, the four of you will form a team and go to Grandma Sun¡¯s house in the southeast. The four of us will form two teams and go to Grandma Qin¡¯s house in the northeast.¡±

    He swept over the group and looked at the chameleon. ¡°You have the ability to change colour. It won¡¯t be easy to find you if you are against the wall. Go with our Little Liu and form an investigation team. We will take action after confirming the safety of the vige.¡±

    He followed by looking at the long-legged woman. ¡°You can stand high and look far. Jump quickly and stand in the middle of the vige to observe the whole situation. If there is any incidents, jump to report immediately. Masked man, please go to Liu Hui¡¯s house. Her due date is approaching.I¡¯m afraid that something might happen to her. Please keep an eye on her house.¡±

    The long-legged woman heard him arrange the division ofbour and admired it. ¡°Big brother, what do you do in the real world? Your sense ofmand is very good.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang calmly replied, ¡°A police officer.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    No wonder why he could arrange such a professional operation. Action team one, action team two, investigation team and liaison person. It was all in the same way that the police arrested criminals. The woman couldn¡¯t help giving a thumbs up. ¡°Officer Han, thanks to you, it really seems like we will lie down and win!¡±

    Someone ran over and said, ¡°Officer Han, I¡¯m so d to know you! Let¡¯s be friends when weter go to the main city!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°It is a win-win cooperation. I hope you don¡¯t drop the ball in tonight¡¯s operation.¡±

    The group nodded.

    Xiao Lou saw Group Leader Yu being surrounded by everyone and couldn¡¯t help smiling. His heart was inexplicably a bit proud. Group Leader Yu was strong but he had been contracted by them. No one could take him away.

    Liuxi Vige, 24:10.

    The flying Liu Qiao and chameleon man took the lead in investigating the vige. They took 10 minutes to circle Liuxi Vige and reported the result quickly. The vige was quiet and everything was as usual. The remaining three challengers were seriously injured and hiding on the west mountain.

    At 24:20, Yu Hanjiang waved. ¡°Action!¡±

    Old Qi and his three colleagues quickly moved to Grandma Sun¡¯s house while Yu Hanjiang¡¯s group of four went to Grandma Qin¡¯s house. The masked man went to Liu Hui¡¯s door and the long-legged woman was in charge of information exchange in the middle of the vige. Liu Qiao and the chameleon man continued to investigate the vige.

    Grandma Qin¡¯s home.

    The human bones in the rice wine jar were still there, the white bones exuded a strange lustre in the moonlight.

    Yu Hanjiang lifted the rice wine jar and poured out all the human bones and liquid. Then he put the wolf bones into them, changed it with water and sprinkled some dust so that the water became as turbid as before.

    On the surface, there were still bones soaking in the jar. As long as Grandma Qin didn¡¯t take the bones out and look carefully, she wouldn¡¯t find that the human bones had been removed.

    The four of them quickly changed the rice wine. Just before they were about to leave, they saw the long-legged woman quickly jump to the door. ¡°It¡¯s bad! Liu Hui suddenly got a stomach pains in the middle of the night. It is likely that she will have the baby!¡±

    Grandma Sun¡¯s home.

    The olddy usually didn¡¯t sleep in the middle of the night. She still made medicine at 2 or 3 in the morning. However, she went to bed early this evening and her yard was very quiet. Old QI¡¯s group of four sneaked into the kitchen and were about to pour out all the medicine in her medicine jars. As a result, Liu Qiao flew from the tree. ¡°Liu Hui is going to have a baby! Little Qing ising here. Hurry up!¡±

    The four people¡¯s expressions changed and they quickly moved away from the medicine. Before they could withdraw, they heard Little Qing banging on Grandma Sun¡¯s door and cried out, ¡°Grandma, Aunt Hui suddenly has stomach pain. She might be having a baby. Please go and take a look!¡±

    Grandma Sun woke up. She put on clothes while saying, ¡°Little Qing, go to the kitchen to bring my toolbox.¡±

    The four people still in the kitchen suddenly changed their expressions. The curly haired woman said, ¡°Do you want to knock her unconscious and run?¡±

    Old Qi frowned. ¡°Don¡¯t disturb the grass in the snake. She can see.¡±

    The four people quickly hid behind the wood in a corner of the kitchen. Little Qing entered the kitchen and picked up a wooden medicine box from the stove. She had just taken two steps when she suddenly stopped and looked coldly in the direction of the firewood.

    The hearts of the four people were about to pop out. However, the girl did nothing and turned away.

    Old Qi sighed with relief. Once Little Qing and Grandma Sun left, the four of them came out of the house.

    At the same time, Xiao Lou¡¯s group of four were about to control the Tibetan mastiff when Lin Er knocked crazily on the door. ¡°Aunt Qin, Aunt Qin! My wife is having her baby!¡±

    The sleeping Tibetan mastiff immediately awakened and barked in the direction of the kitchen!

    Grandma Qin headed in the direction of the kitchen and Yu Hanjiang ordered decisively, ¡°Evacuate.¡±

    Xiao Lou had long opened the Peach Blossom Spring in the east of the vige. He heard Group Leader Yu¡¯s instructions and the four people quickly returned to the Peach Blossom Spring. Grandma Qin went to the kitchen and didn¡¯t see anyone. She was confused and checked the rice wine, but found no abnormalities. Then she turned around and followed Lin Er.

    In the Peach Blossom Spring, Yu Hanjiang praised, ¡°Fortunately, Professor Xiao was careful. He came up with the idea of recing human bones with the bones of wild wolves. The rice wine is the same on the surface and can¡¯t be easily seen at night.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°We stopped Grandma Qin for the moment but on Liu Hui¡¯s side, the two olddies might do something to the newly born child. We need to go and see as soon as possible.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang ordered, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    The four people left the Peach Blossom Spring and headed to Liu Hui¡¯s home.

    The challengers met in the middle of the vige. Old Qi and the others also rushed over. Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°Liu Hui isn¡¯t in good health. It is likely that the birth of the child won¡¯t go well. Those who have the invisibility cloak avable should raise your hands.¡±

    People in the group raised their hands and he roughly counted. ¡°10 people. We will use the cloak in batches to watch Hui Hui¡¯s home. The chameleon man, how long can you change colour?¡±

    The man raised his hand and said, ¡°If I only change colour, I canst two hours. However, I can¡¯t move.¡±

    ¡°Then first stick to the wall and listen to the sounds from the yard. Once the child is born, immediately notify us. If it nears the end of the two hours, immediately withdrew and recements will be sent in.¡± He looked at Liu Qiao and the long-legged woman. ¡°The two of you go back and forth. We can¡¯t go to Liu Hui¡¯s house together at the moment because it is easy for our ns to be disturbed by vigers.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang already had a high prestige among the challenges andbined with the fact that he was a policeman, everyone was obedient.

    Liu Qiao, the long-legged woman and the chameleon man moved first. Yu Hanjiang told Ye Qi, ¡°Throw the bug there.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded and moved. He stopped at around 100 metres and threw the bug into Liu Hui¡¯s home.

    Liu Qiao suddenly gave birth in the middle of the night and this startled many people. In addition to Grandma Sun, Little Qing and Grandma Qin, the neighbours all came to see the situation. The home was full of people. Liu Qiao and the long-legged girl hid on the big tree outside the house while the chameleon man stuck to the wall to observe.

    Inside the house, Liu Hui¡¯s pained cries poured out continuously. She wasn¡¯t in good health and thebour wasn¡¯t smooth. The several women waiting in the yard spoke anxiously, ¡°Is Hui Hui having a hardbour?¡± ¡°Little Qing¡¯s mother died in childbirth. Poor Little Qing has lost her mother since childhood and she was raised with Grandma Sun¡¯s mother.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t have a crow¡¯s mouth. Hui Hui will be fine. She has a weak body and she had been training for a long time.¡±

    Listening to the argument on the bug, Yu Hanjiang suddenly frowned and whispered in Xiao Lou¡¯s ear. ¡°We have ignored a key point. Little Qing¡¯s name is very simr to Yueqing, the daughter of Grandma Sun. She didn¡¯t have a mother since childhood and was brought up by Grandmother Sun. The grandmother knows Little Qing. Is it in memory of her daughter?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°In addition, Grandma Sun passed on his medical skills. Perhaps this Little Qing has been with Grandma Sun for so many years that Grandma Sun took Little Qing as her daughter? Thus, she has no heart to poison this girl?¡±

    Vige Chief Liu Si wasn¡¯t blind and had disguised it well from a young age. He didn¡¯t have much contact with Grandma Sun so he was ignored.

    However, Little Qing was with Grandma Sun every day. Grandma Sun was so shrewd. How could she not notice that Little Qing wasn¡¯t blind? In particr, her action of knocking over the medicine jars was too obvious. Grandma Sun couldn¡¯t be unaware.

    There was only one exnation. Grandma Sun had long known that Little Qing wasn¡¯t blind. If Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s inference was correct, she might really take Little Qing as her daughter after raising her for so many years. Thus, she couldn¡¯t bear to blind this girl. This showed that Grandma Sun wasn¡¯t inhuman.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Is she really going to ughter the vigers tomorrow?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. Grandma Sun ughtering the vigers was only their spection. After all, she only said that she would rest on the day of her death anniversary. How she would do it wasn¡¯tpletely certain at present.

    Just then, Liu Qiao suddenly flew over. ¡°The chameleon¡¯s time is up!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Old Qi and signalled them to go.

    The challengers took turns on shift and waited for Liu Hui to give birth. It wasn¡¯t until 4 a.m. when the challengers had changed three rounds and the bug had failed that Liu Qiao flew over. ¡°The baby was born!¡±

    The cries broke the silence of the night. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang looked at each other and immediately entered Liu Hui¡¯s home wearing invisibility cloaks.

    Liu Hui was pale and had fainted. Lin Er was anxiously waiting at the door when Grandma Sun came out with the child. The child¡¯s crying was very weak and thin. Grandma Sun handed the child to Lin Er. It is a girl. The mother and daughter are safe.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked inside with the invisibility cloak.

    The baby gradually stopped crying in her father¡¯s arms. Lin Er excitedly extended his hand and gently grasped his daughter¡¯s little hand. Once the baby¡¯s palm felt the touch, she grasped Lin Er¡¯s finger. It was very lovely.

    Grandma Sun took out a candle and approached. The baby¡¯s pupils received light and immediately shrank.

    Xiao Lou was startled. The reflexes of the child¡¯s pupils were normal. She could see.

 Chapter 111: Liuxi Village 17

    As soon as a baby was born, there would be some conditioned reflexes such as the grasping reflex and the pupiry light reflex. If the palm of the baby¡¯s hand was touched, the child would instinctively grasp it. If light was shone on the pupils, the child¡¯s pupils would immediately shrink.

    This was an instinctive response of human brain development. In the hospital, doctors could use this method to check the nerve development of newborns. The pupiry reflex existed, indicating the development of the optic nerve and oculomotor nerve was normal.

    Grandma Sun deliberately brought a candle when she handed the child to Lin Er. She obviously wanted to check the child¡¯s eyesight.

    Medicine for pregnant women that led to fetal vision malformation was Grandma Sun¡¯s usual method, but every pregnant woman¡¯s physique was different. Some people weren¡¯t sensitive to certain medicine and teratogenesis wasn¡¯t 100% reliable. Obviously, Liu Hui belonged to the type that wasn¡¯t sensitive to medicine. The medicine given by Grandma Sun didn¡¯t affect her baby.

    Grandma Sun¡¯s expression was somewhatplicated when she found the baby¡¯s vision was normal. She took the child from Lin Er¡¯s hands and asked, ¡°Do you want me to name the child?¡±

    Lin Er scratched his head and smiled. ¡°Grandma, please help us.¡±

    Grandma Sun looked at the baby girl in her arms. The little girl had stopped crying and was extraordinarily well-behaved. She stretched out two white arms everywhere, mouth babbling. After a long time, Grandma Sun whispered, ¡°Call her Lin Yue. Yue means joy. With this daughter, you and Hui Hui should be very happy.

    Lin Er nodded excitedly. ¡°A good name! Thank you Grandma! I¡¯ll go and see Hui Hui.¡±

    He picked up his daughter and ran to the delivery room to see his wife. It took Hui Hui four hours to deliver her baby and she was already exhausted. LIn Er went to her and grabbed her hand tightly. ¡°Hui Hui, it was hard on you.¡±

    Liu Hui looked shy as she shook her head. ¡°It isn¡¯t hard¡­ where¡¯s the baby.¡±

    He gently put their daughter in Liu Hui¡¯s arms. ¡°It is a girl.¡±

    Liu Hui held her daughter and fingers carefully touched the child¡¯s face, he smooth skin feeling soft. Liu Hui couldn¡¯t help smiling. She gently grasped her daughter¡¯s hand and spoke softly, ¡°I don¡¯t know what our daughter looks like.¡±

    Liu Huiughed. ¡°Our daughter must be very cute!¡±

    Little Qing stood beside him and watched this warm scene with a nk expression.

    Grandma Qin got up and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go back first. The two of you should rest early.¡±

    Liu Hui nodded, ¡°Okay, thank you, Aunt Qin.¡±

    Grandma Qin turned around on her cane and went to the door. She found Litle Qing standing still and whispered, ¡°Little Qing, you still haven¡¯t gone?¡±

    Liu Qing made a sound and followed.

    Outside the door, Grandma Sun spoke lightly. ¡°Everyone, go back. Hui Hui is tired and let the two of them rest.¡±

    The neighbours soon dispersed and Liu Qing returned home.

    Only Grandma Sun and Grandma Qin were left outside the house.

    The two olddies looked at each other before walking side by side. They stopped at a fork in the road and Grandma Qin said, ¡°This child can see?¡±

    Grandma Sun replied, ¡°I checked her pupils and they responded.¡±

    Grandma Qin spoke coldly, ¡°What are you going to do with her?¡±

    Grandma Sun smiled. ¡°Use the old rules. Once she is older, give her medicine and she will be blind after taking it for a period of time.

    Grandma Qin turned to her. ¡°I remember Liu Si was the same. His eyes could see when he was born and you also gave him medicine. Why is he not blind in the end?¡±

    Grandma Sun frowned unhappily. ¡°The vige chief is a special case. He was so good at pretending that he deceived even me.¡±

    Grandma Qin stared into her eyes. ¡°It isn¡¯t because Liu Si was too good as a child and followed you every day that you couldn¡¯t bear to blind him?¡±

    Grandma Sun¡¯s expression sank. ¡°How is that possible? His grandfather and several uncles were all involved in the matter of that year. I won¡¯t let go of the Liu family!¡±

    The vige was so quiet in the middle of the night that her voice echoed in the empty streets. A gust of wind blew through the hair of the two olddies as a strange ferocity appeared on their faces.

    Grandma Sun said, ¡°Go back and sleep. Tomorrow is the Autumn Harvest and everything will be over.¡±

    The two people parted at the fork in the road and went home to rest. The challengers hiding in the surrounding area quickly appeared. Led by Yu Hanjiang, they quickly left the vige and came to the trees near the farnd.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°Old Qi, what is the situation on your side?¡±

    Old Qi replied, ¡°It is smooth. We stole all of the medicine from Grandma Sun.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Old Qin¡¯s rice wine was swapped out by us. If they really want to poison the vigers tomorrow, it will fail. However, just in case, someone will watch Grandma Sun and Grandma Qin tomorrow, so that they don¡¯t restore the medicine before the festival.¡±

    Liu Qiao raised her hand. ¡°I¡¯ll try to keep an eye on Grandma Qin.¡±

    The chameleon man also raised his hand. ¡°I can help stare at Grandma Sun. I can stick to the outside of her house and she can¡¯t see me.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°The two of you will continue to investigate. Let¡¯s first rest until dawn. We will soon know what the two olddies are going to do.¡±

    It was already 4:30 in the morning and the group sat under the trees for a while. It was soon dawn and the vige gradually became lively because today was the Autumn Harvest Festival.

    Yu Hanjiang called the vige chief and asked, ¡°Vige Chief Liu, what is the procedure for your Autumn Harvest Festival in previous years?¡±

    The vige chief spoke seriously, ¡°In the morning, we first gather together to collect crops and the mature wheat are tied up in the farnd. In the evening, every household will bring out a dish and put it on a table in the farnd. Grandma Sun will recite some words we don¡¯t understand and we will kowtow in the direction of the west mountain to pray for good weather next year¡­¡±

    The west mountain was the head of the human-shaped gem array as well as where the ancestors of Liuxi Vige were buried. It wasn¡¯t so much to worship their ancestors as it was to kneel down to the two innocent girls who died tragically in the vige.

    Today¡¯s weather was very good. Yu Hanjiang let people hide behind trees so they weren¡¯t found by the vigers.

    Liu Qiao and the chameleon stayed in the vige to investigate the vigers¡¯ movements.

    At around 9 o¡¯clock in the morning, arge number of vigers came to the vige and held a sickle to harvest wheat. They might be blind but after so many years of exercise, their actions weren¡¯t clumsy. On the contrary, they gathered wheat with agile hands and feet.

    In the farnd outside the vige, the golden wheat fluttering in the air was gradually cut off. Throughout the day, the vigers cut the wheat, tied them up in a bundle, moved to the farnd and forced arge circle.

    It wasn¡¯t until dark that the Autumn Harvest Festival officially started.

    Grandma Sun and Grandma Qin came to the scene. The females brought out home-cooked dishes and several young men brought over several jars of rice wine. Grandma Win held a torch in one hand and the Tibetan mastiff in the other hand. She stood at the front and clearly had prestige.

    The two people in charge of the investigation came back. Liu Qiao flew to the tree and seriously reported to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Grandma Qin didn¡¯t use the rice wine with human bones. Instead, she asked the vigers to find normal jars of rice wine.¡±

    Xiao Lou was slightly stunned. ¡°Where is her jar of human rice wine?¡±

    Liu Qiao replied, ¡°It is still in her kitchen and she didn¡¯t move it.¡±

    The chameleon man rose from the ground like a ball of mud. ¡°Grandma Sun also didn¡¯t bring any medicine. She just came here after changing her clothes. We stole her medicinest night and she didn¡¯t seem to have discovered it. She didn¡¯t go into the kitchen all day. By the way, Grandma Sun went to see Hui Hui and her newborn baby before leaving. She asked Hui Hui¡¯s husband and her apprentice Little Qing to take care of the mother and daughter.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou looked at each other and Xiao Lou frowned. ¡°Were we mistaken? Are they not intending to use poison or perhaps they never thought about killing the vigers to be buried with their daughters?¡±

    The group looked at each other.

    Last night, the group of people were excited as they stole the medicine and switched out the rice wine¡­ as a result, Grandma Qin and Grandma Sun didn¡¯t use the medicine and rice wine today.

    Yu Hanjiang raised his hand. ¡°Everyone hide and wait to see any changes.¡±

    The trees were nearly a kilometer away from the farnd and 99% of the vigers were blind. They hid behind the trees and didn¡¯t attract any attention.

    Grandma Sun walked to the middle of the farnd and spoke in a loud voice¡¯ On this day of harvest we should thank our ancestors for finding such a beautifulnd for us. The Autumn Harvest Festival has officially begun. Everyone, kneel!¡±

    Grandma Sun gave the order and the entire Liuxi Vige fell to the ground to kneel to the west.

    This scene of worship was very grand and solemn. The vigers knelt in a neat manner and Xiao Lou¡¯s heart upset.

    They had no idea what they were kneeling for. They simply thought it was paying respects to their ancestors¡­

    Hiding behind the tree, the vige chief clenched his fists and his lips trembled. ¡°Since I can remember, we have always bowed in the direction of the west mountain every year on this day. No one doubted that there was anything wrong with this ceremony.¡±

    Xiao Lou sighed and held the vige chief¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Grandma Sun and Grandma Qin will soon reveal their faces.¡±

    After the kowtow ceremony, Aunt Qin smiled. ¡°ording to the rules, everyone will eat a full meal and drink a bowl of win. Theing year will definitely be a big harvest! Lin Wu, Sun Xiaoliu, send the wind and everyone, enjoy!¡±

    The crowd cheered and consciously gathered around. They picked up a bowl and started to eat from the table.

    The two young men took the initiative to distribute the wine and food to the vigers. The wine jars weren¡¯t the ones in Grandma Qin¡¯s kitchen. They were bulky and there wasn¡¯t the ¡®rice wine¡¯ sign on them.

    Yu Hanjiang looked back at Liu Qiao. ¡°Liu Qiao, are you sure these wine jars were moved from the vigers¡¯ homes?¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded. ¡°Okay, I have been staring from the trees near Grandma Qin¡¯s home. In the afternoon, a few vigers listened to Grandma Qin¡¯s instructions and moved these wine jars to her home. They have never left my sight.¡±

    Xiao Lou always felt uneasy. ¡°Perhaps the jars aren¡¯t poisoned?¡±

    Just then, Grandma Qin suddenly smiled. ¡°Before drinking, first listen to me tell a story.¡±

    The vigers sitting in the wheat fields pricked up their ears curiously and listened to her tell the story.

    Grandma Qin spoke faintly. ¡°35 years ago, there was a richdy who came to this vige with an investigation group. Since the vige has precise jade resources, she negotiated with the vige chief of that time, i.e. Liu Si¡¯s grandfather, over the price. She wanted to mine the jade on the west mountain, processing into very beautiful jewellery.

    ¡°There was a girl in the vige who was blind from childhood and bullied by her peers. She was introverted but very smart. One day, she went out to pick vegetables and met the richdy. The two girls quickly became friends.

    ¡°One night¡­¡± Grandma Qin suddenly stopped, her vicious eyes sweeping over the crowd. ¡°The blind girl went to the west mountain to find her good friend. As a result, they were killed by several young people. They were first raped and then killed! The vige chief and vigers all knew the medicines but they covered it up¡­¡±

    ¡°The blind girl was my daughter. The rich girl was Grandma Sun¡¯s daughter!¡±

    The vigers didn¡¯t feel right when they heard this.

    Grandma Qin suddenly kicked a few wine jars over, throwing them over the distant wheat, her voice as cold as ice. ¡°During the Autumn Harvest Festival, you were actually bowing down to our daughters¡¯ grave in the west mountain, not your ancestors! Today is my daughter¡¯s death day. Us old women can¡¯t live for long so let¡¯s go down and be with them!¡±

    Hearing thest sentence, the vigers¡¯ faces changed. Some of them were alert and ready to run. Some asked nkly, ¡°What is Aunt Qin talking about?¡± ¡°Is Aunt Qin crazy?¡±

    Grandma Qin suddenly threw the torch in her hand.

    The fields were full of today¡¯s newly collected wheat and the bundles were piled up in one ce.

    Grandma Qin set this fire and it spread rapidly due to the wine and wind. The raging fire soon surrounded all the vigers. The blind people couldn¡¯t see and ran in a panic, stepping on each other. Some people had their clothes burned and cried out with pain.

    The originally happy Autumn Harvest Festival had turned into the scene of a fire.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s expression changed. ¡°Not good!¡±

    They had found Grandma Qin¡¯s human bones wine and Grandma Sun¡¯s human bones medicine. They subconsciously thought that the two olddies would poison the vigers using the wine or medicine.

    They didn¡¯t expect Grandma Qin¡¯s method to be simpler. She directly set a fire to burn the farnd and burn the vigers!

    Grandma Sun drove out the vige chief in advance and didn¡¯t let Little Qing participate. She also didn¡¯t let Hui Hui, who just gave birth, toe. Perhaps she wasn¡¯t aiming at these people and wanted to save their lives. Since the vige chief, Little Qing and Hui Hui¡¯s newborn daughter could see, not killing them was Grandma Sun¡¯sst conscience.

    For the others living in darkness, it was better to go to a darker ce and apany her daughter.

    Grandma Sun¡¯s ¡®rest¡¯ was actually setting a fire on the day of the Autumn Harvest Festival to kill the blind vigers!

    Seeing that the fire was bing fiercer, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression sank. ¡°Quickly save people!¡±

    However, the moment he finished speaking, Xiao Lou suddenly opened his mouth. ¡°Wait, I can¡¯t see.¡±

    Shao Qingge muttered, ¡°I can¡¯t see either¡­¡±

    Next was Liu Qiao¡¯s voice. ¡°Me too.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes quickly swept over the group. Seven out of the twelve challengers were blind. It was one in each team while Liu Qiao was blind and the masked man could see. The fighting force was reduced by two-thirds in an instant.

    There were only five people whose eyes were fine.

    The five people faced each other and Old Qi looked sullen. ¡°There are hundreds of vigers and only five of us can see. How can we save them?¡±

    There was a blindness effect in each secret room. Everyone would be blind for three hours a day. In the previous days, most of the blind people would take a nap when not doing anything important. For example, if they became blind at noon, they would simply take a nap. In the early morning, blind people didn¡¯t need to take part in the action. The best was to be blind at night when they could sleep unaware.

    They didn¡¯t expect that at this critical moment, more than half the challengers would suddenly be blind.

    Everyone was a bit panicked. They couldn¡¯t see but they could feel the burning fire and the temperature of the surrounding air rising. It was almost impossible to breathe in the hot air and smoke.

    At this point, a prompt appeared on everyone¡¯s floating boxes.

    [Save the vigers 0/110]

    The always calm Old Qi couldn¡¯t help cursing. ¡°Fuck! Are we immortals? How can five people save more than 100?¡±

    If they ignored the vigers and turned to escape, they could clear the instance in an ordinary manner?

    Or should they risk everything and rush into the fire to save people?

    Looking at the panicked vigers in the fire and listening to the children¡¯s cries in their ears, Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t ignore it.

    They were living beings and people who hadn¡¯t participated in the incident of that year. They had been living in a world of darkness since birth, struggling to live. Today, they finally knew the meaning of their own lives. They finally knew today that the meaning of their lives was to be buried with Grandma Qin and Sun¡¯s two daughters!

    How innocent were they?

    Yu Hanjiang shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t retreat! You can¡¯t see then just don¡¯t move. What are you afraid of? Did you draw so many cards for nothing?!¡±

    The panicked challenger team suddenly calmed down. They couldn¡¯t see but hadn¡¯t these vigers been blind for more than 30 years? If they flinched back because they couldn¡¯t see, wouldn¡¯t it be more difficult in future secret rooms? If they met danger and retreated until they couldn¡¯t retreat anymore, wouldn¡¯t they just be eliminated?

    Yu Hanjiang woke up the dreamers with his words and realized how foolish it was to think about escaping.

    Seeing that everyone had calmed down, Yu Hanjiang continued, ¡°Since we are cooperating, I hope for us to unite and don¡¯t flinch back at thest moment! It isn¡¯t just for the vigers but also for yourself. Don¡¯t forget that perfectly clearing the instance can drew a card and there will be more rewards.¡±

    Xiao Lou took the lead ining out. He was blind but he still urately captured the breathing and location of Yu Hanjiang. He stood by Yu Hanjiang and smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, there are no dangerous buildings there. There aren¡¯t any beams or anything that will fall and hurt us. The burning objects are only the crops in the farnd. We just need to make sure of the position of the ring of fire and open the gap to save people.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked appreciatively at Xiao Lou. ¡°Yes.

    His eyes swept over the crowd and he spoke calmly. ¡°Now, the blind people should give the useful cards to the five people who can see. If you don¡¯t feel reassured then give it to your teammate or directly to me!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s low and calm voice was the best weapon to stabilize their hearts.

    The people immediately followed hismand and handed over their useful cards.

 Chapter 112: Liuxi Village 18

    The 12 challengers had many cards that could save people. Ye Qi¡¯s teleportation card was the best one to use. Group Leader Yu heard this and immediately handed the teleportation card to Shao Qingge. ¡°My teleport card can teleport 50 metres at a time and two people can be taken after the upgrade.¡± Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°I understand.¡±

    The long-legged woman gave her jump card to herpanion who wasn¡¯t blind. ¡°You know how to use this card. Your legs can grow quickly and you can also jump like a zombie. The distance of each jump is 8 metres and it is very convenient to save people.¡±

    The curly haired woman handed a card to Old Qi. ¡°This is my discement card that allows you to speed up. Old Qi, take it.¡±

    Everyone rapidly distributed their rescued cards. The key was how to open a gap in the ring of fire.

    The vigers had cut the wheat and tied them up in bundles before cing them on the farnd in circles. Everyone holding the Autumn Harvest Festival was in the middle fo the ring. Grandma Qin had thrown the torch on the wheat and the dried wheat was mmable. Along with the wind, a fire circle was quickly formed and surrounded the vigers. In addition, there was arge number of uncut crops. Once the fire circle was formed, an area ofnd wouldpletely be a fire field.

    Grandma Sun and Grandma Sun stood motionless in front of the fire. Grandma Qin looked at the panicked vigers and the smile on her face became crazier. Sheughed in a hoarse voice. ¡°Hahahaha, finally it is over! My poor Xueren, Mother will be with you soon!¡±

    Grandma Sun¡¯s face was illuminated by the fire and she stared at the scene with expressionless, cold eyes.

    Yu Hanjiang heard Grandma Qin¡¯s crazyughter and frowned more tightly. He stood outside the fire circle to observe the fire. Then he spoke in a low voice, ¡°The fire is spreading toward Liuxi Vige. We need to rescue the people as soon as possible or the entire vige might be burned down.¡±

    He turned to the group and spoke decisively, ¡°Those with a teleport card or jump card can act the fastest. Go to the vigers¡¯ homes and bring some buckets of water to fight the fire.¡±

    The three people heard the instructions and added immediately. Shao Qingge took Ye Qi¡¯s teleportation card. Initially, the card could take 100kg of weight at one time. Now it could take 150 kg after upgrading. He moved all the water tanks near the vigers¡¯ houses at the fastest speed.

    The man who could jump like a zombie picked up several buckets of water, jumped 8 metres and quickly came back.

    Old Qi also carried a few buckets of water and slid along the ground. His discement card was simr to roller skates, allowing him to elerate, turn and jump flexibly.

    The three people carried the water while Yu Hanjiang kept a close eye on the fire. At this point, Xiao Lou suddenly thought of an idea and whispered in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ear, ¡°The two cards we previously got in 3 of Clubs might be useful.¡±

    He took out the ¡®power bank¡¯ and ¡®hair dryer¡¯ from the card pack. These cards were taken from the couple when ying the card game in 3 of Clubs. They hadn¡¯t been used yet. The hair dryer could blow things of a certain weight into the distance. The power bank could charge electrical cards and immediately reset all the skills of the cards.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°You mean, use the hair dryer to move thebustibles away and open a gap in the ring of fire?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and handed the card to Group Leader Yu. ¡°Try it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang decisively took the two cards, stepped forward and aimed the hairdryer at the burning wheat pile. He turned on the hair dryer¡¯s skills and saw the burning wheat piles suddenly being blow 50 metres away. The ring of fire opened enough for two people to pass through side by side. Yu Hanjiang reset the skill of the hair dryer with the power bank. Anotherrge wheat pile near the gap was blown away.

    There was a gap around three metres in the fire circle. Thebustible objects were cleaned up and the fire gradually weakened. Shao Qingge carrying the water back saw this scene and went up to it, sshing water on the gap!

    Old Qi and the young man also came back. They cooperated with Shao Qingge to put out the fire. In the blink of an eye, the fire in the three metres wide gap waspletely put out, forming a buffer zone. Yu Hanjiang immediately ordered, ¡°Everyone, wet your clothes and cover your mouths and nose to save people!¡±

    Everyone did. The blind challengers also cooperated by taking off their scarves, sleeves, etc, wetting them and handing them to everyone. The most terrible thing in addition to the fire was the smoke. Smoke inhtion was likely to lead to aa. In order to save so many people, the protection must be done well.¡±

    The five people were ready and Yu Hanjiang looked over at Xiao Lou. ¡°The rescued vigers will be left to you.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and said, ¡°Rest assured, I¡¯ll call for the vige chief.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang gently squeezed Xiao Lou¡¯s shoulder, turned and quickly walked towards the fire. He wore the eleration shoes and spoke to Shao Qingge, ¡°You have the teleportation card and will leave the fat and strong people to you. I¡¯ll save the children. Everyone else will save one. Go!¡±

    The five people rushed into the fire. The fire made the temperature in the fire circle rise. Some vigers clothes were lit up and they shouted from the pain. The children¡¯s cries were also deafening. The fire made it seem like hell on earth!

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes sank. He wore the eleration shoes and his speed could increase by five times. He quickly rushed to the two children in front. One hand held a child each as he flew out of the fire like a gust of wind.

    The two children¡¯s clothes were burned and they were crying. They suddenly perceived that their bodies were light and they were being held by someone one. The two children were scared silly. Yu Hanjiang ran so fast that he appeared beside Xiao Lou in the blind of an eye. ¡°I¡¯ll give them to you.¡±

    Seeing this, the vige chief immediately used water to extinguish the mes on their clothes. Xiao Lou held the two children¡¯s hands and spoke warmly to appease them. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we are here to save people. The vige chief is also here.¡±

    Liu Si said, ¡°Xiao QI, Xiao Rui, be obedient ande to Uncle Si.¡±

    Hearing the familiar voice, the two children wiped their tears by the vige chief¡¯s side.

    The girl choked out, ¡°My mother is still in there¡­¡±

    The boy also cried out, ¡°Save my mother! Please!¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke softly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we have people saving them and your mother will be out soon.¡±

    As he spoke, Old Qi skated while dragging a woman out of the fire. The woman was initially struggling, crying and shouting, ¡°Let me go! My children¡­¡±

    Liu Si stepped forward and shouted, ¡°Sister San, your children are here!¡±

    The woman choked up and didn¡¯t resist anymore. She was taken under the tree by Old Qi and the two children immediately rushed over to hold her. ¡°Mummy!¡±

    The children¡¯s voices made the woman burst into tears. She hugged the two children, her body shaking violently. ¡°This is my third sister-inw. My brother left early and she brought up the two children by herself. It wasn¡¯t easy for her.¡±

    Hearing this, Xiao Lou was upset. He could imagine the life of a blind woman with two blind children. Fortunately, all her children were fine.

    Next, Shao Qingge brought two strong adult men to the tree with the teleportation card. These two people didn¡¯t know what happened. They just felt a gust of wind and then their body moved dozens of metres. There was no more smoke and fire around them and a lot of oxygen poured into their mouth and nose. They couldn¡¯t help holding their chest and coughing desperately.

    Just then, Xiao Lou¡¯s gentle voice entered their ears. ¡°Two big brothers, pleasee here to rest. We are here to save people.¡±

    The two people looked dazed. They reacted to the stranger and a man immediately became alert. ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°We are outsiders.¡±

    Liu Si added, ¡°They are all good people and are here to save everyone.¡±

    The two of them heard the vige chief¡¯s voice and were full of surprise. ¡°Aren¡¯t you Brother Si?¡± ¡°Senior, weren¡¯t you kicked out? Grandma Sun said you joined with the vigers to steal our things¡­¡±

    Liu Si shouted and interrupted him, ¡°Do you have a brain? Do you still believe Grandma Sun¡¯s words? She wants to burn you!¡±

    The two men fell silent at the same time. Just then, Liu Qing rushed over. She had been left by Grandma Sun to take care of Hui Hui¡¯s newborn child. Then she heard a burst of screams and crying from outside the vige. She went out to look and saw a lot of smoke rising from the southeast of the vige.

    Liu Qing immediately left the vige. The farnd was burning and she saw Xiao Lou¡¯s group standing under the tree. She hurried over and asked about the situation. ¡°Uncle Si, what¡¯s going on?¡±

    Liu Si gritted his teeth. ¡°Grandma Sun and Grandma Qin set a fire during the Autumn Harvest Festival. They said they would burn everyone to apany their dead children!¡±

    Liu Qing¡¯s face changed sharply. She had long sensed that Grandma Sun wasn¡¯t quite right but she didn¡¯t know what. Now looking at the fire in front of her, she finally knew the reason for Grandma Sun¡¯s recent anomaly.

    Liu Qing spoke nervously. ¡°What to do? Everyone can¡¯t see and the fire is bing more and more intense!¡±

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°Little Qing, can I trouble you to do me a favour.¡±

    Liu Qing looked at him cautiously. ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Liu Si told her, ¡°Trust them. They are here to save people. These three adults and two children have just been rescued by them.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and nodded. ¡°Yes, we want to save people but the vigers won¡¯t trust us. If they struggle in the fire and run away then it will only waste rescue time and it is also easy for them to burn themselves. Little Qing, please tell them to trust us and stay where they are. Cooperate with us and we will bring them out of the fire as soon as possible.¡±

    Liu Qing spoke to the child with a grey face next to her and the little girl choked up, ¡°Sister Qing, it is this uncle who saved me.¡±

    Liu Qing nodded, went to the edge of the fire and shouted, ¡°Uncle and Aunties, I am Little Qing! We are trying to save everyone. Please don¡¯t run away and stay still. Someone will bring you out of the fire!¡±

    She repeated it twice and the vigers running around like headless flies were quiet. They didn¡¯t trust anyone else but Little Qing was still credible.

    Grandma Qin and Grandma Sun saw five strangers rushing in to save people and then heard Little Qing¡¯s voice. Their faces changed dramatically. Then Grandma Qin called out, ¡°Who dares to make trouble?!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t speak and directly threw the white silk at her.

    The white silk stretched out and precisely tied people. Grandma Qin and Grandma Sun just happened to be standing together. Yu Hanjiang threw the white silk and instantly tied up the two people back-to-back. Then he looked at Shao Qingge. ¡°Take them out.¡±

    Shao Qingge instantly moved the two people under the tree using the teleportation card.

    Grandma Sun looked at Little Qing and her eyes were vicious. ¡°You dared to destroy our ns! I knew I shouldn¡¯t have spared you!¡±

    Little Qing¡¯s face was white. ¡°Grandma, I grew up with you and treated you as a rtive. The vigers also believed in you and have no hatred with you. Why do you want to burn all the people of Liuxi Vige?¡±

    Grandma Sun suddenlyughed. ¡°Hahaha, no hatred¡­ no hatred!¡±

    Her white hair was messy and tears flowed from her wrinkled eyes. The old grandmother seemedpletely deted at this moment. She fell to the ground and looked at the scene in front of her.

    Grandma Qin was struggling next to her and was controlled by the vige chief. Her Tibetan mastiff rushed out of the fire to find his owner and barked at everyone. Then he was controlled to sleep by Ye Qi¡¯s guitar.

    The fire circle.

    Under themand of Yu Hanjiang, the rescue work was carried out in an orderly manner. Once the vigers started to cooperate and no longer ran around, the rescue was more convenient.

    Yu Hanjiang wore the eleration shoes and picked up all the children. Shao Qingge could save two people with his teleportation. Old Qi, the masked man and the man with the jump card could sav one at a time. If they encountered someone lighter then they could directly carry the person.

    In the floating boxes above the group, the number of people rescued kept changing.

    [Number of vigers rescued 25/119¡­]

    [Number of vigers rescued 45/119¡­]

    [Number of vigers rescued 88/119¡­]

    In only a few minutes, the five challengers used a variety of cards to help more than 80 vigers!

    Xiao Lou thought of Group Leader Yu¡¯s previous words and said, ¡°The people who are out of danger,e and help put out the fire! The wind is blowing in the direction of the vige. If the fire isn¡¯t put out then it will probably burn Liuxi Vige!¡±

    Liu Si looked at the wind direction and immediately said, ¡°Everybody, quickly help lift the water!¡±

    The other blind challengers gathered under Xiao Lou¡¯s organization and the rescued vigers joined the fight. Everyone quickly lifted water from the vige and helped put out the fire in the outer circle. The poured water created an istion zone outside the vige.

    Large areas of the ground became wet and the spread of the fire was hampered. There were also fewer and fewer vigers within the fire. 10 minutester, the red text in the floating boxes finally turned green.

    [Number of vigers rescued 119/119!]

    [All the vigers have been rescued and the team involved in the rescue work will receive an additional card draw.]

    The messages weren¡¯t visible to the challengers who were blind but the five people with good eyes saw them.

    Once the farnd fire was put out, the ground was full of charred marks and there were fragments of the vigers¡¯ clothing on the ground. If it wasn¡¯t for them being rescued in time, hundreds of vigers would be burned to ashes in the fire!

    How much pain would people burned alive be in? The people thought about it.

    Yu Hanjiang came over and said, ¡°The fire has been extinguished and the vigers are only slightly injured.¡±

    Liu Si excitedly held Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hand. ¡°Thank you, thank you very much!¡±

    Under the big tree, the vigers gathered their heads together and cried. The challengers frequently went in and out of the fire. Their faces were ashy grey but they all had smiles on their faces. They really managed to save everyone!

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes swept over everyone and found Xiao Lou pacifying the children in the group. He walked up to Xiao Lou. ¡°The fire is out.¡±

    Xiao Lou sensed the familiar person near him and immediately whispered, ¡°Are you okay? Did you get hurt?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°It¡¯s fine. The challengers and vigers aren¡¯t injured and we rescued all 119 vigers.¡±

    Xiao Lou gave a thumbs up. ¡°That¡¯s great!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang slightly curved his lips. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Old Qi had a corner of his clothes burned as he walked to Yu Hanjiang and said, ¡°Officer Han, thank you for this time. To tell the truth, when I saw the fire, my first reaction was to run for my life regardless of the vigers.¡±

    The young man next to him awkwardly scratched the back of his head and said, ¡°Me too. I thought that we are only five people and definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to save nearly 120 vigers. I didn¡¯t expect that we really would rescue them. Hehe, Officer Han is really good¡­¡±

    ¡°It is because everyone cooperated well.¡±

    After all, these challengers weren¡¯t professional firefighters and humans have an instinctive fear of fire. It was normal to want to escape. In the real world, they might not havepleted the task of rescuing the vigers. However, they had a lot of cards and one person was equivalent to more than 10 ordinary people. In particr, Shao Qingge could teleport back and forth to save many people.

    Of course, his face was ck and grey and he didn¡¯t smile carelessly as usual. He walked to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s side and said, ¡°It is really exciting. I never dreamed that one day, I would rush into the fire to save people.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°You worked hard. We just need to stay in the vige for two days and it can be a perfect clearance.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°All the participating teams will have one more opportunity to draw cards.¡±

    The challengers around him heard it and were filled with joy.

    The vige chief took the initiative toe over and say, ¡°Old Han, the vigers are very grateful for everyone¡¯s help and want to invite you to live in the vige for two days.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and looked at the two olddies next to him. Grandma Sun and Grandma Qin¡¯s eyes were dull. They apparently hadn¡¯t expected this to happen.

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°What are you going to do with these two old people?¡±

    The vigers suddenly fell silent. They were all brought up by Grandma Sun and Aunt Qin. However, their eyes were ruined by these people. The pain of being blind was due to them! The vigers lookedplicated and couldn¡¯t figure out how to deal with it for a moment.

    The vige chief walked up to Grandma Sun and spoke softly, ¡°Grandma, tell us the truth. What happened that year? Why did you and Aunt Qin stay in the vige and retaliate against innocent children?¡±

    Grandma Sun closed her eyes. ¡°The truth, I don¡¯t want to mention it anymore.¡±

    Grandma Qinughed strangely and whispered, ¡°This end is good. My family¡¯s Xueren was so kind and shouldn¡¯t want me to take so many innocent people. I will go down and apany her¡­¡±

    The two olddies looked at each other and suddenly fell to the ground together.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and approached. He discovered that ck liquid was flowing from their mouths actually took poison in advance. They had apparently made up their mind to end things today.

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t see and wondered, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°The two olddies took poison.¡±

    Xiao Lou was stunned and didn¡¯t speak.

    A gust of wind blew, rolling up the scorched dust of the farnd. The air was filled with the smell of burned crops while Grandma Sun and Grandma Qiny on the ground with closed eyes, looking serene.

    The vigers were silent for a long time. Then Vige Chief Liu Si sighed and crouched down to gently wipe the dust from the faces of the two olddies. ¡°The remains of Grandma Sun and Aunt Qin will be buried in the farnd nearby.¡±

 Chapter 113: Liuxi Village 19

    The challengers who could see, together with Liu Si and Liu Qing, dug a big hole under a tree near the farnd. They buried Grandma Sun and Grandma Qin in this pit. There was no monument because no one knew their names.

    The big fire caused the vigers to be like frightened birds, especially the children. They might¡¯ve been saved but they were still frightened. Some children couldn¡¯t stop crying. Some hapless vigers had burned skin and the pain was unbearable. They sat on the ground and cried. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes swept over this tragic scene and he whispered, ¡°Vige chief, let them go back to have a rest first.¡±

    Liu Si needed and called his niece Little Qing over. ¡°Little Qing, there are the wounded. Please carry them to my ce first. You are the only doctor in the vige so please take care of their wounds.¡±

    Little Qing¡¯s face was full of tears as she let out a sound of agreement. She had grown up without a mother and raised by Grandma Sun. No matter how sinful Grandma Sun¡¯s actions, she had been good to Little Qing and patiently taught her a lot about medicine. She always regarded Grandma Sun as a close rtive in her heart.

    Little Qing went to the grave of Grandman Sun, knelt down and kowtowed three times before wiping her tears and turning to help. The uninjured vigers returned home. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s group helped bring the wounded to the vige chief¡¯s residence. Little Qing helped them clean their wounds, applied medicine and bandaged them.

    The crowd was busy for several hours. They finished dealing with the wounded and the vision of the previously blind challengers was restored.

    As the day wore on, under the shadow of the moonlight, Liuxi Vige was quiet again.

    The 12 challengers gathered at the vige chief¡¯s house and Liu Si walked to them. ¡°I¡¯m sorry everyone, I was just too busy to pay attention to you. You haven¡¯t eaten yet? Stay at my ce tonight and I¡¯ll cook for you.¡±

    They were talking when a viger knocked on the door. It was the third sister-inw. She brought a wooden lunch box and put the food on the stone table in the yard with a smile. ¡°Thank you for saving me and my two children. I don¡¯t have much money at home so I made some food for everyone¡­¡±

    Next, other vigers brought over food. There were fried potatoes, stuffed eggnts, baked sweet potatoes, pickled radishes as well as apples, pears and apricots nted in their yard¡­

    The table at the vige chief¡¯s house was full and people had to ce the food on the ground. The challengers saw this scene and nced at each other. They had never been treated like this before.

    Entering the secret room, the prompt told them to avoid the vigers. They didn¡¯t expect to be so familiar with the vige, find out the secrets of the vige and y a perfect clearance, so that the vigers would regard them as benefactors. In a short period of five days, they moved from hiding like thieves to bing VIPs. They couldn¡¯t be ustomed to it.

    The third sister-inw said, ¡°I still have an empty room in my house. You can stay at my house for a few days.¡±

    The man next to her also said, ¡°My family has a spare bed. You can go to my home to sleep!¡± ¡°Go to my house, I have many fruit trees!¡± ¡°Go to mine, my daughter-inw is good at cooking!¡± ¡°My house has rice wine!¡±

    The vigers rushed to invite everyone to their homes.

    Yu Hanjiang was the first to regain his senses and said, ¡°Thank you, we have so many people that we can¡¯t disturb you.¡±

    His reason for saying this was because of the prompt that stated there were still three challengers left in Liuxi Vige this morning. The eight people who stayed in the vige and didn¡¯t get gems killed each other until only three were left.

    These three people didn¡¯t participate in today¡¯s rescue and there were no gems on them. It was impossible for them to clear the instance. If they decided to steal other people¡¯s gems or kill in the vige again, everyone¡¯s efforts would be in vain.

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t want to fall short near the end, let alone allow any idents.

    His eyes swept over the group. The other challengers were looking at Yu Hanjiang. He said they couldn¡¯t stay in the vigers¡¯ house so everyone immediately refused. ¡°Old Han is right. We have so many people and can¡¯t bother you.¡± ¡°We are thankful but can live outside!¡±

    The 12 people being together was the safest. If they separated then the three challengers might have a chance to steal the gems. Sleeping against the tree and following the police officer meant they could lie down and win. They would be a fool to leave the team at this time.

    The vigers brought enough food for them to eat for two days. The 12 people together didn¡¯t have to fear the remaining three individuals would make trouble. Just stay with the team and the clearance reward of 4 of Spades was almost waving to everyone.

    Since they persisted in not leaving, the vige chief had to smooth things over. ¡°Since you don¡¯t want to separate, so be in. Stay in my house. My house isrge and you can set up a pavilion in the yard. You can sleep on straw mats and I¡¯ll have the neighbours bring some bedding.

    The neighbours went to get bedding and the vige chief went to Xiao Lou¡¯s side. ¡°I have something to ask you.¡±

    Xiao Lou was the best person to get along with in this group. He always smiled so the vige chief was closest to him and trusted him the most.

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, just say it.¡±

    The vige chief said, ¡°Come with me.¡±

    He brought Xiao Lou back to his house. Yu Hanjiang was worried about an ident and followed.

    The three people came to the bedroom. The vige chief picked up his pillow, opened the case and pulled out a yellow diary. ¡°This is what my grandfather left me. I can¡¯t read it so please help me find out what¡¯s written on it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had sneaked into the vige chief¡¯s homete at night to search. He had found the information left by the previous vige chiefs in the cab. However, Liu Si had been sleeping in the bedroom and Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t search his pillow. He didn¡¯t expect something to be hidden inside.

    This was a missing clue.

    Xiao Lou took the diary and opened it. It did record the truth of the year.

    He nced through the diary and his expression became difficult to look at. He nced back at Yu Hanjiang and suggested. ¡°Let¡¯s gather the vigers and let them listen to the truth, as well as finding out the consequences.¡±

    The vigers of Liuxi Vige soon arrived. It was too crowded here so the vige chief called everyone to gather under the tree in the middle of the vige.

    Xiao Lou picked up the diary and exined, ¡°This is the diary written by Liu Si¡¯s grandfather, the old vige chief. He wrote in the diary 35 years ago and recorded something that I think you should listen to.¡±

    He opened the diary and read it. His clear and gentle voice soon caught everyone¡¯s attention.

    ¡°Today, a young girl came to our vige along with two men and two women. Herst name is Sun and she is a richdy said to be from the City of the Sun. The girl from the big city is different Her skin is white and she looks particrly good. The vigers stare at her. She was very generous and smiled at everyone. Miss Sun came to me and said she found jade resources on the west mountain. After mining and processing them, she can sell them for a lot of money. She wants to cooperate with our Liuxi Vige to process the gemstones. I don¡¯t believe it. There are only wild fruits on the west mountain. How can there be gems?¡±

    ¡°In the morning, Miss Sun brought a very ordinary stone to me and cut it open for me to see. There was indeed a bright crystal inside. I believed her words and we talked about cooperating. Liuxi Vige should receive a lot of ie and then she will ask someone to help us build a road. The vigers can go outside and everyone¡¯s lives would definitely be better.¡±

    ¡°This evening, I saw Miss Sun and Xueren sitting under a tree and chatting. In fact, Xueren was very clever from a young age but she was always bullied by children of the same age because she was blind. I didn¡¯t expect Miss Sun to be good friends with her. The two of them talk a lot. I haven¡¯t seen Xueren smile so happily for a long time.¡±

    ¡°Qin Xue is missing. Miss Sun is also missing. The two men and two women she brought to her vige said they can¡¯t find their youngdy. All the people in the vige will suffer. They have informed Miss Sun¡¯s mother and the police. I am worried. The vige is so big and I¡¯ve looked all over the mountain and the forest. Where can these two girls go?¡±

    ¡°Lin Xiaoming, Sun Yong, Liu Hong, these bastards actually did something that was worse than beasts! They dragged Qin Xue to the pond and bullied her. Miss Sun happened to go to meet Qin Xue and shouted for help when she saw Qin Xue. They were afraid that things woulde out so they covered Miss Sun¡¯s mouth and beat her unconscious. Beasts! I am going made because of them!¡±

    ¡°What should I do? Three elders came to me to plead for them, asking me to keep it a secret. If I say it, their sons will be finished. These kids are people I grew up with and I can¡¯t bear to see them go to jail. However, Xueren and Miss Sun are also pitiful. They were raped and killed by these brutes and their bodies left outside the vige¡­¡±

    ¡°Today, I lied. I told the police that I saw Qin Xue and Miss Sun go outside the vige to look for raw jade stones. The police found their bones outside the vige. They have been eaten by wild beasts and only the bones are left. God, what a sin!¡±

    ¡°Qin Yixuan took back her daughter Qin Xue¡¯s bones. Her face has no expression and she stared at me for a long time. I¡¯m so upset that I feel like she probably knows something¡­¡±

    ¡°Qin Yixuan does know about it. Someone definitely leaked the truth. Will she tell Grandma Sun the truth?¡±

    ¡°Qin Yixuan is crazy. She soaked her daughter¡¯s bones in the wine jar and isn¡¯t willing to bury her daughter!¡±

    The diary came to an abrupt end here. The old vige chief¡¯s handwriting was messy. Obviously, he had been going through a great deal of suffering at the time.

    Under the tree, the vigers who listened to the vige chief¡¯s diary waspletely silent.

    The three people mentioned in the diary were known to them They were their fathers and grandfathers. The Qin Yixuan talked about by the vige chief was the current Grandma Qin. Her husband died early, leaving only one daughter. It was said that her daughter was born blind. Obviously, Grandma Qin knew the truth and told Grandma Sun. The two people retaliated against Liuxi Vige for 35 years.

    Xiao Lou closed the diary and gently closed his eyes. He spoke as calmly as possible, ¡°The truth of this matter is that your fathers once did a beastly thing. They first raped the two girls and then threw them into the wild so that the beasts would eat their bodies.¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t continue. He took a deep breath, calmed down his mood and then continued. ¡°Their mothers, Grandma Sun and Grandma Qin, poisoned all the vigers who participated n the event, destroyed the mountain temple and buried the vigers¡¯ bodies. Then they blinded the children who didn¡¯t remember and weaved a lie about the vige being cursed.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°The bones of Grandma Qin¡¯s daughter were soaked in the rice wine jars. The bracelet of Grandma Sun¡¯s daughter was divided into seven parts and formed a ¡®human figure¡¯ array in the vige, so you would protect it for generations.¡±

    Xiao Lou went on to say, ¡°Making you blind must¡¯ve been Grandma¡¯s Qin idea. Her daughter was blind and bullied by your parents. Thus, she would let their children and grandchildren taste what it is like to be blind.¡±

    There was silence in the vige. Even the children who came to hear the story were white with fright. The challengers around him heard the truth and also looked ugly. It was fair to say that the source of this misfortune was these three animals.

    They bullied Qin Xue who was blind and dragged her to the pond to rape her. Miss Sun was passing by and wanted to save her friend. As a result, she was implicated in the matter. The three of them had a guilty conscience. After finishing their work, they killed the two girls and threw them into the wild. The two girls were eaten by wild animals.

    Everyone was so angry that their chests were tight when they thought about what happened to the two girls. It wasn¡¯t enough for those three animals to die 10,000 times!

    Grandma Qin and Grandma Sun were filled with anger and grief after knowing the truth. Everyone could understand this. If their daughter had suffered such a thing, they would want to eat the flesh of the enemy and drink the blood of the enemy!

    However, they were distorted by hatred and their revenge gradually deviated from the trajectory.

    They not only killed the original murderers and ughtered Liuxi Vige, they let the hatred continue to the next generation and the generation after that. The three beasts deserved to be hacked to pieces but how innocent were the other vigers and descendants?

    This terrible revenge was really shocking.

    The vigers headed to the west mountain in aplicated mood. They burned the human bones pit at the ruined temple and the charms painted with eyes. These people were their true ancestors.

    The grievances of Liuxi Vige would endpletely with this fire, this one torch.

    For the next two days, the challengers did nothing.

    Every day, the challengers who became blind rested at the vige chief¡¯s house. Those who weren¡¯t affected hung out in the vige. In terms of eating, the vigers gave them three meals a day and it was very rich. The 12 people were like a tourist group in Liuxi Vige and they experienced a delicious life.

    The three challengers who didn¡¯t get the gems tried a sneak attack in the middle of the night on the sixth day, but they were driven away by Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang who were standing guard. The three people cried bitterly. Xiao Lou sympathized with them but couldn¡¯t do anything.

    Thepetition in the Spades secret room was cruel. They could only me their slow thinking and not acting fast enough for failing to grab the gems.

    Liuxi Vige, day 7.

    They had dinner and said goodbye to the vige chief. The vige chief took the initiative to bring everyone to the west mountain and said, ¡°These stones should be what Miss Sun found. We don¡¯t understand these things. Since you are here for the stones, take them with you.¡±

    The vige chief looked dark and whispered, ¡°Our ancestors are sorry for Miss Sun and we aren¡¯t qualified to keep what she likes. Once you take it outside, process it ording to her wishes. Perhaps there will be beautiful gems, which should be her wish.¡±

    The group was shocked. The vige chief hade to deliver a luxury gift bag?

    Everyone looked at Yu Hanjiang, asking for his opinion. The vige chief took the initiative to hand over a gift and Yu Hanjiang naturally wouldn¡¯t be polite. He said, ¡°I don¡¯t understand much about raw stones. You can take whatever you like.¡±

    Shao Qingge came forward and smiled. ¡°For jade stones, bigger ones aren¡¯t necessarily better. If you can¡¯t pick then leave it to me.¡±

    The other challengers choserge pieces of stone. Shao Qingge crouched down and finally chose a few small pieces for Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang, Ye Qi and Liu Qiao. They quickly divided the seemingly ordinary stone among themselves. They didn¡¯t understand it but they might be able to sell it for a good price in the main city.

    The vige chief spoke sincerely. ¡°You have something to do and I won¡¯t keep you. Come back to Liuxi Vige when you have time.¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his hand. ¡°I hope you can have a good life.¡±

    [Liuxi Vige, the 7th day. 24:00 a.m.]

    The clearance prompt appeared on everyone¡¯s floating boxes.

    [Congrattions to Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang for perfectly clearing the 4 of Spades secret room, Liuxi Vige. The instance clearance evaluation is S-grade!

    Please go to the top of the mountain and leave by helicopter!]

    The 12 challengers were full of joy. The masked man walked to Yu Hanjiang and smiled. ¡°Old Han, thank you for this time. If your team is short of people, do you mind letting me join?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°Sorry, for the time being, there is no intention of adding people.¡±

    The couple wanted to ask but they saw that Yu Hanjiang looked serious and didn¡¯t try it. The chameleon man came up to them and said, ¡°It is nice to meet you. If we meet again in future secret rooms, I hope I can cooperate with you.¡±

    Old Qi came up to them and said, ¡°The four of us are going to choose the City of the Sun as the main city. What are your future ns?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°We will go to the City of the Moon.¡±

    The curly haired woman joked, ¡°Surely the two main cities shouldn¡¯t have a hostile rtionship? If so, we should choose the City of the Moon. There would be no good fruit to eat if we are hostile with you.¡±

    Old Qi thought about it and nodded. ¡°It makes sense. Then we will also choose the City of the Moon.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Was Group Leader Yu so terrible? A few words changed the decision of the four people.

    The group left one after another. Liu Qiao came over and Xiao Lou asked here, ¡°Are you going to 4 of Clubs next?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Do you know if 4 of Clubs will force the elimination of people?¡±

    Ye Qi smiled. ¡°Rest assured, Spades and Hearts are too difficult in the fourth level. 4 of Clubs is a direct pass. Based on your luck, you can even upgrade your card skills to full level.¡±

    Liu Qiao heard this and sighed with relief. She nodded at the four people. ¡°Professor Xiao, take care. I¡¯ll see you in the main city.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled at her. ¡°Goodbye.¡±

    Thest four people walked side by side toward the summit. There were two helicopters left at the top and two identical A of Spades were waiting for them. Ye Qi stated, ¡°Driving a helicopter to pick people up, A of Spades is really handsome.¡±

    A of Spades was clearly far away but still heard his words. ¡°The traffic of Liuxi Vige isn¡¯t convenient so I flew a helicopter to pick you up. Unless you want to climb out?¡±

    Ye Qi hurriedly smiled and waved his hands. ¡°No, no, I mean that you are the most handsome one out of the four keepers. Your style is naturally the best way to appear. Using a helicopter as a mount, it is awesome!¡±

    The two A of Spades looked at him at the same time before ignoring him.

    Shao Qingge rubbed his temple and nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°We are going to 4 of Hearts next. I hope it won¡¯t take too long. We will see you in the main city.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and told him, ¡°Don¡¯t rush to act when you get to the main city. Wait until we all meet up before discussing things.¡±

    The two people nodded and turned to the helicopter. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang boarded another helicopter.

    The familiar roar of propellers came from overhead. Xiao Lou took a final look at the quiet vige.

    Under the shadow of the soft moon, Liuxi Vige was like a warm jade on the mountain. The north pond had ripples in the clear water from the breeze, making it look like countless silver diamonds were sprinkled on the water.

    Near the pond, there had been a brutal murder and two young girls lost their lives that night. Today, the enmity hade to an end and the water in the pond was clear. Fresh and fat fish were growing in the pond and this was the most important food for the vigers. Late at night in Liuxi Vige, there was the sudden cry of a baby. It was Hui Hui¡¯s daughter who was just born.

    Xiao Lou remembered the girl, who was thin, small and very white. Her eyes could see. Starting with this girl, light would be restored to the descendants of Liuxi Vige. Hui Hui¡¯s daughter was born on the day when the two girls died. The cycle had ended and Liuxi Vige would be a brand new Liuxi Vige.

    This generation of vigers had a simple life due to the impact of long-term blindness and their hearts were also very kind. They knew that their ancestors had wronged Miss Sun so they gave the jade that Miss Sun liked to the outsiders. Their eyes might be blind but they weren¡¯t blind.

    Xiao Lou believed that the descendants of Liuxi Vige would live a better life under the leadership of the vige chief and Little Qing. They would be able to build a real paradise here.

    [Liuxi Vige End]

 Chapter 114: Drawing Cards Reward

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were sent back to their personal space by helicopter.

    A of Spades was still wearing sunsses and the sharp lines of his jaw made his entire face look extremely cold. Ye Qi was right. Spades was the most ruthless of the four keepers and was perhaps the reason why thepetition in the secret rooms was so cruel. A smile never appeared on his face.

    However, Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t afraid of him. As long as he didn¡¯t offend the keepers, they would dutifully answer some questions. Xiao Lou looked at A of Spades. ¡°The clearance rate of Liuxi Vige should be very low, right?¡±

    A of Spades spoke lightly, ¡°Less than 20%. Most of the challengers will start fighting and kill each other in order to grab the gems. In your group, there are 12 people who have passed the instance and you perfectly cleared it. This is the best instance clearance record in the history of Liuxi Vige.¡±

    To prove it, A of Spades opened a screen and showed some of the other challengers in Liuxi Vige.

    Some challengers weren¡¯t cautious enough and ran around the vige on the first day. They were driven out of the vige by the vigers and killed by either the poisonous snakes in the forest or the wolves on the mountain.

    Some challengers split into several groups and engaged in fierce infighting. Some vicious people directly killed other challengers. Some people cooperated on the surface and stole gems while other teams were blind.

    The most terrible thing was thest batch of challengers shown. One challenger was certain he would fail the instance because he didn¡¯t find a gem. He simply dragged everyone else into the water. On the seventh night, he burned the entire Liuxi Vige with fire!

    Compared to these many challengers, Xiao Lou¡¯s instance clearance was quite smooth. This time, the key to a perfect ending was Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s policeman identity and his simple and decisive style of action convinced the other challengers. He quickly raised his prestige with the challengers and during the fire rescue, he calmlymanded the other challengers to get in and out of the fire quickly. Hepleted the difficult task of five people saving 119 people. Thispletely changed the vigers¡¯ attitude to everyone, finally allowing them to get the jade raw stone from the vige chief.

    Thinking of this, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help showing some admiration as he looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°It is thanks to Group Leader Yu.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was very happy after seeing the admiration in Professor Xiao¡¯s eyes but he remained calm on the surface. ¡°It was a normal y.¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help smiling and changed the topic. ¡°This time it could be considered a rich experience, letting us known what it is like to be blind for three hours a day. The feeling of blindness is very ufortable.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang though of the scene where the blind Professor Xiao walked in a daze and his expression became gentler. ¡°This experience was unforgettable but we passed it.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded, checked his pockets and found it was empty. He asked in a startled manner, ¡°The vige chief gave us some raw jade stones when we left Liuxi Vige. Why did I lose the things in my pocket? Does it mean things can¡¯t be taken out of Liuxi Vige?¡±

    A of Spades exined, ¡°The vige chief gave you something and it is naturally yours. However, materials can¡¯t be carried across secret rooms. I converted them into cards and put them in your card pack.¡±

    The two people opened the card pack and did find a few new cards.

    [Item Card: Jade Raw Stone]

    [Rarity: S

    Description: Natural jade raw stones produced in Liuxi Vige. There is a probability of obtaining it when getting the vigers¡¯ full liking. If it is a gift from the vige chief, it can be taken out of Liuxi Vige for free.

    Once the card is used, the stone obtained in Liuxi Vige will appear. The jade raw stone can open a variety of precious jade or gemstones. The one that is obtained depends on your luck. There might be the best priceless jade and opal or there might only be inferior broken jade the size of a fingernail.

    Gambling on stones is a stimting y.

    There is a limited number of stones on the west mountain of Liuxi Vige and one person can gain a maximum of two pieces.]

    At that time, everyone picked stones together and most pickedrge stones. However, Shao Qingge saidrge stones weren¡¯t necessarily better. He crouched down and helped Xiao Lou¡¯s group pick two small ones. Therefore, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s card packs had two pieces of jade stones respectively and the patterns on the cards were exactly the same as Chief Shao.

    In the Card World, taking things across secret rooms required being converted to cards. A of Spades helped them bring it out by directly doing the conversion.

    Shao Qingge said that someone at home was in the jade business and he knew jade. The ones he picked out shouldn¡¯t be inferior jade. Xiao Lou believed in his vision and knew these raw stones would definitely be sold for a good price at a professional jade factory. They just had to follow Chief Shao and there would be no need to worry about money.

    Xiao Lou put away the two jade stone cards and smiled at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°We are four people and have a total of eight stones. We should be able to sell them for a lot of money?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Of course. After all, Chief Shao picked it.¡±

    Xiao Lou continued to look at the other cards. The extra cards in the pack were a bonus for clearing the secret room.

    [Item Card: Chrysoberyl Bracelet]

    [Rarity: S

    Description: In 4 of Spades Liuxi Vige, gathering seven gems and connecting them together in a bracelet will give a hidden reward. This is Miss Sun¡¯s favourite bracelet. It is made of seven different chrysoberyl and is priceless.

    Immediately after using the card, restore the chrysoberyl bracelet.

    The bracelet doesn¡¯t have any skills and just looks good. You can choose to use it, give it to people or to sell it.]

    It was another S-grade reward card. The acquisition of this card could be called a coincidence. Once all the challengers who got the stones left the vige, Xiao Lou happened to meet the chameleon couple. They were joined by Old Qi¡¯s group of four and the masked man. They gathered the seven gems together and triggered the hidden reward.

    This type of situation could only be encountered through serendipity. Shao Qingge said that the bracelet could be sold for hundreds of thousands of yuan. Converted to gold coins in the Card World, it was worth tens of millions. The point was that they each got one.

    Xiao Lou spoke happily. ¡°It is good to have money.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°Wait until we go to the main city and then sell all the bracelets.¡±

    They were big men who couldn¡¯t wear this type of colourful bracelet. Selling it was the best choice.

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°I suddenly feel that the four of us should be the richest challengers to enter the main city.¡±

    It was the right decision to win over Chief Shao.

    Xiao Lou rummaged through the card pack and saw another new card.

    [Tool Card: Human Bone Medicine Jar]

    [Rarity: A

    Description: Grandma Sun¡¯s human bone medicine jar. It is a fixed reward from clearing the 4 of Spades secret room.

    Restriction: A team limited card. The team that signed the same contract can only carry one Human Bone Medicine Jar.

    Usage: Throw the human bone medicine jar to the designated location and it will a toxic fog that fills an area of 500 square meters. Everyone in range will be poisoned and be blind for seven minutes. After leaving the range, the blindness will be automatically released.

    Number of times avable: 7/7.]

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other. The strength of this card wasn¡¯t bad. The control range was up to 500 square metres and would cause collective blindness for seven minutes.

    If there was a group battle and the human bone medicine jar was used, it would give the other team an extreme headache. The only drawback was that it was team limited and the number of times it could be used was limited. A team could only bring one ad it could be used seven times at most.

    This was a reward that would definitely be obtained from 4 of Spades and every team in the main city should have one. Of course, Grandma Sun¡¯s medicine couldn¡¯t be abused and it was normal to have some restrictions.

    Xiao Lou carefully put away the card. Next was the special reward of the 4 of Spades secret room, ¡®Liuxi Vige Plot Card.¡¯ The plot card was generally a reward of the Hearts secret room. Since Liuxi Vige was a Spades and Hearts linked secret room, there was also a plot card.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang opened the plot card.

    The big screen showed the tragedy of Liuxi Vige in its entirety.

    Qin Xue was blind and bullied by her peers from an early age. When she walked in the vige, people would always secretly throw stones at her. She had no friends in the vige and developed an introverted character. Miss Sun was easy-going, lively and cheerful. She was surprised to find that Qin Xue could make her own bamboo baskets despite not being able to see. She had a strong interest in this blind woman.

    The two people gradually became friends. Qin Xue led Miss Sun to find jade in the west mountain. Miss Sun told Qin Xue about the wonderful world outside and promised to take her to study in a big city.

    Qin Xue might be blind but she was beautiful and had a pair of dexterous hands. Many young men in the vige admired her body but looked down on her for her blindness. She was 25 years old and no one came to propose marriage.

    That night, Qin Xue went to find Miss Sun. She passed by the pond. Three animals drank some win and started to humiliate her. Miss Sun was also implicated while trying to save her¡­

    Xiao Lou watched the drama rey the tragic incident of the two girls and tightly clenched his fists!

    The bodies of the two girls were eaten by beasts, leaving only bones. The police couldn¡¯t tell what had happened. The young Grandma Sun was going to take her daughter¡¯s bones away. The night before she left, Sister Qin found her and told her the truth.

    ¡°It was the three beasts who killed our daughters. Their families and the vige chief are lying and sheltering them. There is no good thing in this vige!¡± Grandma Qin¡¯s icy voice was heard from the big screen.

    After learning of her daughter¡¯s experience, Grandma Sun copsed and cried. She was a doctor who studied traditional Chinese medicine. Like Sister Qin, her husband died early and she raised her eldest daughter alone. For them, her daughter was her treasured blood and flesh. How could she let her daughter die in vain?

    The two women were overwhelmed with hatred. They met in the middle of the night and finally decided to poison the vigers.

    Grandma Sun prepared the medicine. On the day of the funeral, Grandma Qin added the medicine to everyone¡¯s rice wine. The vige chief was filled with guilt and asked the entire vige to enter the funeral of Miss Sun and Qin Xue. After drinking the poisonous wine, the vigers rolled around the ground in pain. In a moment, bodies were everywhere.

    The funeral was held near the temple on the west mountain. After killing the vigers, the two people buried everyone in a pit.

    Grandma Sun wanted to leave but Grandma Qin stopped her. She said the vige had some children who didn¡¯te to the funeral. It was better to let future generations of Liuxi Vige taste what it was like to be blind.

    The two of them started a revenge n thatsted more than three decades.

    ¡­¡­

    The plot card added the details of Grandma Qin and Sun poisoning the vigers as well as the children left in the vige. The basic direction was consistent with the vige chief¡¯s diary. Xiao Lou¡¯s mood wasplicated after watching the plot. He sighed and put away the plot card.

    A of Spades spoke lightly. ¡°Since you have collected five plot cards, you will get new achievements and there will be an additional achievement reward.¡±

    Xiao Lou was startled. ¡°Achievement reward?¡±

    The next moment, the two people saw the same prompt.

    [Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang have collected the five plot cards of Rose Funeral, Bloody Maple Leaf, Li Mo, Cheng Mu and Liuxi Vige. They have won the achievement of ¡®Perfect Evidence Collection King¡¯ and unlocked the achievement reward.

    Options that can be selected: A. 5 million gold coins, B. 100 universal bullets. C. Two cards will have their skills directly upgraded to full level.

    Xiao Lou wanted to ask, ¡®Can we pick all of them?¡¯

    However, this question would be nonsense. He looked at Yu Hanjiang and suggested, ¡°Group Leader Yu, choose B. Aren¡¯t you short of bullets for your weapons?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it and nodded. ¡°Good. There is Chief Shao and we won¡¯t be short of money. The card skills can be slowly increased. Meanwhile, the universal bullets can change ording to the weapon and my two weapons can be used.¡±

    The two of them happily chose B.

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Is this achievement easy to get?¡¯

    A of Spades replied, ¡°Before entering the main city, less than 1% of the challengers can unlock this achievement by collecting all of the plot cards.¡±

    There was only one condition for getting the plot card: a perfect clearance.

    They started with the Rose Funeral of 2 of Hearts and cleared every Hearts room perfectly, finding all the clues and getting the plot card. 4 of Spades also happened to be perfectly cleared. It could be said that thebination of a criminal policeman and forensic professor was indeed strong and their luck wasn¡¯t bad.

    After a thrilling few days in Liuxi Vige, the rewards for clearing the instance made them happy. Xiao Louughed. ¡°If I remember correctly, there should be a card draw for the perfect clearance. We gathered the seven gems and triggered an extra draw chance, right?¡±

    A of Spades nodded. ¡°There were two treasure chests. Who will go?¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Group Leader Yu, this time you should go. Perhaps you can draw a close-range weapon.¡±

    He suddenly remembered that during Liuxi Vige, Yu Hanjiang had used the fruit knife obtained from 2 of Hearts for every closebat fight. The fruit knife had a limit on its usage and it would be a waste for Group Leader Yu to use it. Yu Hanjiang had always drawn a weapon card. Previously, he drew a sniper rifle and a shotgun. It would be perfect if he could draw a closebat weapon.

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Don¡¯t you want to draw one? Perhaps you can get a summoning card again.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and shook his head. ¡°I have drawn a card twice in a row. One was Liu Yong and one was Qin Guan. The fighting ability of the summoning card isn¡¯t strong enough. It is focused on field control and we have enough control cards. Group Leader Yu, you go and draw it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t refuse. He stepped forward and put his hands into the two treasure chests and pulled out two cards at a time.

    [Congrattions on getting the A-grade tool card ¡®Silencer¡¯.]

    [Congrattions on drawing the S-grade weapon card, Star de!]

    He opened the two cards and looked at the card description with Xiao Lou.

    [Tool Card: Silencer]

    [Rarity: A

    Description: There is a probability of acquiring it when giving the opportunity to draw a card as a gift.

    Usage: The silencer can be installed on any gun-type weapon so that the sound of gunfire is automatically blocked. The target can be silently shot. The effect of the silencests for one hour and once the effect is over, it will enter a cooldown. It can be used again after 8 hours.

    The silencer can be removed and reced at any time. In other words, during this one hour duration, the silencer can be swapped to any weapon such as the sniper rifle, shotgun, handgun etc.

    Think about it, how ferocious would it be to clean up the crowd with a silent submachine gun?

    It might be an A-grade card but the degree of usage isparable to an S-grade card!

    P.S. In order to maintain world peace, this card is disabled in the main city.]

    What was maintaining world peace? Xiao Lou ignored the line and praised, ¡°This card is really timely and matches the guns you have previously drawn. Later in the wild, you can quietly kill beasts.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°It is really good to use.¡±

    In Liuxi Vige, he had been worried that the sound of gunfire disturbed the viges and his weapon cards were useless. In the future, he wouldn¡¯t need to worry about the wound of guns if he had the silencer. Their survival ability in the wild will be improved. An hour of silence was enough for Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang opened another card.

    [Weapon: Star de]

    [Rarity: S

    Description: After a perfect clearance, there is a very low probability of obtaining it from the limited card pool.

    Data: A 12cm long and 3cm wide dagger. It is made of special metal and can cut iron like mud. It is extremely sharp.

    Note: A limited weapons card. There is only one is this world and the dagger will shine brightly when pulling out the dagger, hence the name ¡®Star de.¡¯

    Special Effect: The moment the dagger is pulled out, the target within a distance of three metres will fall into a visual dizziness state for one second.

    This card can be used in any main city and secret room world. There is no usage limit.]

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    He was really like a god prophesizing. Just now, he said it would be good if Group Leader Yu drew a closebat weapon and Yu Hanjiang really did draw it. Xiao Lou smiled at the card in his hand and said, ¡°Group Leader Yu, take it out and try it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang activated the card and a dagger appeared in his hands. This knife was fitted with an exquisite dark blue scabbard and decorated with silver embellishments like broken diamonds. It looked like a vast starry sky.

    Yu Hanjiang pulled out the dagger.

    The moment the de emerged from the sheath, a cold light shed with a bit of starlight. Xiao Lou suddenly became dizzy. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. ¡°Is this the visual dizziness effect?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°This dagger design is too gorgeous but the actual effect should be good. The right way to use it is for assassination. If I want to get up close to kill the target, one second of dizziness is enough.¡±

    Just now, if Yu Hanjiang took advantage of Xiao Lou¡¯s dizziness to stab him in the heart, Xiao Lou would definitely die. The effect of this S-grade weapon card was terrible. If it fell into the hands of a professional killer then they could definitely get up close from behind and sh a person¡¯s neck with the knife.

    Once Yu Hanjiang put the dagger away, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help eximing, ¡°The harvest from Liuxi Vige is really rich.¡±

    It was the most cards they had ever won since starting to break through.

    The chrysoberyl bracelet and the jade raw stones could be exchanged for arge sum of money. The human bones medicine jar could blind people in a 500 square metres area and was suitable forrge-scale group warfare. They received 100 bullets from the achievement and Yu Hanjiang also drew the excellent ¡®Silencer¡¯ and ¡®Star de¡¯ limited weapon. Their team¡¯sbat capability was further enhanced.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at A of Spades and asked, ¡°Are you giving us any rest time?¡±

    A of Spades spoke coldly. ¡°Take a break for one hour before going to the next 4 of Clubs.¡±

    The two people looked at each other. In thest two days of Liuxi Vige, they had slept well and currently weren¡¯t very tired. In addition, 4 of Clubs wasn¡¯t too difficult so it wouldn¡¯t matter if they went to it straight away.

    Yu Hanjiang asked Xiao Lou, ¡°Why don¡¯t we go to 4 of Clubs now?¡±

    One hour of rest was nothing. Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, if we clear it early then we can go to the main city earlier.¡±

    The two people agreed and Yu Hanjiang pulled out the 4 of Clubs card. The scene in front of them changed quickly and they once again saw the fair-skinned teenager with facial paralysis.

    The teenager spoke lightly. ¡°Wee to 4 of Clubs, Card Flying Chess. Please prepare for the game.¡±

 Chapter 115: 4 of Clubs: Card Flying Chess (Beginning)

    The special hobby of the Clubs teenager still hadn¡¯t changed. After entering the Clubs room, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang automatically changed clothes. Both of them were wearing a ck suit, a tie and a silver mask.

    Xiao Lou had heard about the rules of 4 of Clubs from Ye Qi. This was a pure lottery. If they had good luck then they could get many gold coins and card rewards. if they had bad luck then they might lose the resources previously obtained.

    This level had grids of different colours. Each of the grids corresponded to one secret room and there was a question and answer session. It was a bit like a petition¡¯ game.

    The constion was that regardless of whether they won or lost, this room wouldn¡¯t force the elimination of challengers. Bad luck just meant losing some cards and gold coins. Thus, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were very rxed.

    The Clubs boy asked, ¡°Have you ever yed the game called Flying Chess?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang usually didn¡¯t y many games. He turned his head to look inquiringly at Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou had never yed it but he had heard of Flying Chess. ¡°Isn¡¯t it the game where everyone has to throw a die? We will move forward ording to the number of points thrown.¡±

    The Clubs teenager nodded. ¡°Almost, but there are some rule changes in the rules of Card Flying Chess. You have to roll a die and step forward ording to the number but the board of Card Flying Chess is ording to the suit of our ying cards.¡±

    The Clubs teenager paused before continuing, ¡°The other two challengers are alsoing in. I¡¯m toozy to tell you separately. Come with me and exin the rules of the game.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other and followed the teenager onto the ying field.

    Unlike the poker table of 2 of Clubs and 3 of Clubs, the game field was extremely open and as big as two football fields.

    Arge number of small grids were painted on the ground. The length and width were around a metre and the grids were connected together, forming arge diamond-shaped area. From the starting point, the grids were arranged in the order of Hearts, Spades, Diamonds and Clubs. The grids at each corner were marked with the K of Hearts, K of Diamonds, K of Clubs and K of Diamonds.

    The four K cards formed a path that led directly to the centre of the field. The centre of the venue contained a big joker and small joker, with gold and silver chests on top.

    There were four people involved in the game. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were a team. The other team was abination of a man and a woman. Xiao Lou looked at them.

    The girl had her hair in a ponytail and wore a suit. Since her face was covered with a silver mask, her appearance couldn¡¯t be seen but her eyes were bright and familiar. In addition, her height reached Xiao Lou¡¯s chest. This was simr to Liu Qiao, who they had met in 4 of Spades not long ago.

    Her partner was a tall man who also looked familiar. It was the masked man they encountered in Liuxi Vige.

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Is it Little Liu?¡±

    Liu Qiao heard the familiar gentle voice and wanted to call out ¡®Professor Xiao.¡¯ Then she thought about how Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang used a pseudonym in front of outsiders and hurriedly changed her words. ¡°Mr Xiao, Old Han, is that you?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and nodded as he looked at the masked man, ¡°Didn¡¯t we just see each other in Liuxi Vige?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± The masked man gently smiled. ¡°It seems that our secret rooms progress is consistent. Little Liu and I were single teams in 4 of Spades but 4 of Clubs requires a team of two. Thus, we were matched together.¡±

    ¡°I just recognized him,¡± Liu Qiao said. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to meet you in 4 of Clubs. It is really a coincidence.¡±

    In the former Clubs secret rooms, teams of challengers faced each other and the losing party was likely to be eliminated. However, today¡¯s Card Flying Chess game depended on luck and there was no directpetition between challengers. Therefore, the four people didn¡¯t need to be too nervous. Liu Qiao and Xiao Lou might be on different teams but there was no need to worry about being eliminated.

    A of Clubs wondered, ¡°The four of you know each other?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and exined, ¡°We just met in 4 of Spades.¡±

    The Clubs teenager nodded. ¡°Okay, look at the specific rules of the game. I will give you a demonstration.¡±

    The boy picked up the die and threw it. The number that appeared was a one and he took one step forward from the star,nding on a Hearts grid.

    A box popped up. ¡°What¡¯s the name of the killer in 2 of Hearts, Rose Funeral? The countdown is three seconds.¡±

    Xiao Lou was surprised. Ye Qi previously said there would be a question and answer and the topic would be random. The killer of 2 of Hearts, he remembered it. The surgeon Zhao Sen who killed his wife and cousin and ced his wife¡¯s body on a rose bed.

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°Zhao Sen.¡±

    The Clubs boy spoke lightly. ¡°The answer is correct. You can unlock the reward of this grid.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°What if I can¡¯t answer?¡±

    ¡°It is a punishment. The punishment pattern of every grid is different.¡±

    Then Xiao Lou asked, ¡°What about the reward? Is it also different?¡±

    The Clubs keeper nodded. ¡°The rewards are provided by us four keepers. Hearts, Diamonds and Spades will randomly give cards or upgrade items while Clubs will give gold coins.¡±

    The teenager pointed to the two chests in the middle of the venue. ¡°Do you see the two chests?¡±

    The four people nodded.

    ¡°That is the reward we offer. Anyone whonds on one of the four K cards can go to the middle for a draw. The diamond field had four corners with K of Hearts, K of Diamonds, K of Spades and K of Clubs respectively. Step on the red Ks and you can draw from the gold chest. Step on the ck Ks and you can draw from the silver chest. All the cards in the chest are S-grade.¡±

    His eyes swept over the entire field. ¡°Once the game starts, the four of you will stand at the nk starting grid. Throw the die until two peoplend on the K cards and draw from the gold and silver treasure chests. Then the game will end.¡±

    He turned and sat down on the sofa in the middle of the field. ¡°The game has begun. The countdown is 10 seconds. Please draw a number card first and the game will be carried out ording to the number.¡±

    The teenager gently waved and four serial numbers floated in front of them. Everyone looked at each other and reached out their hands. Xiao Lou pulled number one, Yu Hanjiang number two, Liu Qiao number three and the masked man number four.

    The teenager stated, ¡°The four of you, please go to the starting grid and stand there.¡±

    The four of them entered the game venue and stood at the starting point. Since Xiao Lou was first, he threw the die first.

    The teenager ordered. ¡°The die is shared. The first yer, please start.¡±

    The moment he finished speaking, a disc appeared in front of Xiao Lou and there was a die that was twice as big as the usual size. Xiao Lou picked up the die and threw it into the disc. It was a three.

    He started to move forward. A few stepster, he was on the Diamonds grid. A transparent LCD screen appeared in front of him with a question on it. It happened to be the sudoku math problem that Xiao Lou was good at.

    4/3/X

    9/X/1

    X/X/6

    Q: What should be filled in at X? Please answer in 10 seconds.

    8527. Xiao Lou gave the answer at almost the moment he read the question.

    A prompt appeared on the screen. ¡°You have answered correctly. The reward card [Tool Card: Scissors] has been acquired!¡±

    Xiao Lou picked up the card and looked at it closely. This was a B-grade tool card. The role was to cut all things that could be cut. For example, the ring he drew with the Compass and the previously confiscated white silk could be cut with the scissors to make them ineffective.

    It was a very good card. Unfortunately, there was a restriction that it could only be used nine times. This was in line with the strength of a B-grade card. Xiao Lou was in a happy mood. He smiled and put away the reward tool card into his card pack.

    The second yer Yu Hanjiang followed by rolling the die. He rolled a five and walked forward,nding on Hearts.

    Xiao Lou thought that the Hearts grid would ask about the killer and Group Leader Yu would definitely have no problems. As a result, the question was, ¡°In the Extremely Quick Train case, name all of the group of female friends. The time limit is 5 seconds.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    The ¡®X XiaoX¡¯ friends group had really difficult names to remember. Xiao Lou had just remembered Liu Xiaoyan and Song Xiaoyu when he heard Yu Hanjiang answer with great speed, ¡°Liu Xiaoyan, Zhang Xiaozhu, Wu Xiaofei, Song Xiaoyu, Cheng Xiaoli.¡±

    Five seconds was extremely short for a challenger. It was saying one name in almost one second! Yu Hanjiang¡¯s answering speed was very fast and the three people at the scene gave him a thumbs up.

    A prompt appeared on the screen. ¡°Congrattions, the answer is correct! The reward is an opportunity to upgrade a card to the full level. Please select the card in the card pack that needs to be upgraded.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang chose the weapon card Silver Moon. The sniper rifle¡¯s initial range was 800 metres and he hadn¡¯t used it once. Now he got an opportunity to upgrade it and it rose to the full level, increasing the range to 1,500 metres.

    The reward of the Hearts grid was very useful. Yu Hanjiang stopped in ce and looked back at Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou also looked at him. The two people thought that the start was very smooth and they hoped it would continue like this!

    The third one was Liu Qiao. She threw a four and took a few steps forward onto the Clubs grid. A prompt appeared on the screen. ¡°Go to the reward slot and receive 100,000 gold coins.¡±

    Liu Qiao was happy. The Clubs reward was really simple. There was no need to do anything and she could directly get 100,000 gold coins.

    The fourth masked man threw a one. He stepped forward onto a red Hearts and the prompt appeared on the screen. ¡°What are the names of the teaching buildings of Maple Forest High School? The time limit is 10 seconds.¡±

    The masked man spoke with a bitter face, ¡°The Zhiyuan Building, the Shuxiang Building¡­¡±

    He really didn¡¯t remember the other buildings!

    The Clubs teenager spoke lightly. ¡°The time is up and the answer is iplete. Please ept the punishment. For this grid, the punishment is to leave behind one card in your card pack.¡±

    The masked man was helpless. He had to pull out the least important card from his pack to give it to the Clubs teenager.

    The teenager stated, ¡°yer 1, please continue.¡±

    Xiao Lou was currently on Diamonds. In front of him was Clubs and then Hearts, Spades, Diamonds, Clubs. He wanted to try and throw a four so he could continue to a Diamonds grid.

    He hoped that Diamonds was the subject since he was the best at this.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and picked up the die in the disc, gently throwing it while inwardly praying, ¡®A four tond on Diamonds or a one to go to Clubs. I can¡¯t throw a three to go to Spades. I don¡¯t know what Spades will be like but it definitely isn¡¯t simple.¡¯

    The die rolled in the disc and eventually stopped on a three.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    It was thest number he wanted!

    Xiao Lou helplessly stepped forward into Spades.

    He was worried about what game he would face when he saw a red warning prompt on the big screen. ¡°Warning! The Tibetan mastiff is a fierce dog with a strong sense of territory. If you enter the Tibetan mastiff¡¯s territory by mistake, please run for your life at the fastest speed and don¡¯t be caught. Note: After running a clockwisep, the Tibetan mastiff will disappear. If knocked down halfway, the challenger will fail and receive punishment. Countdown 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!¡±

    Xiao Lou was shocked by the sudden appearance of a Tibetan mastiff. His heart slowed a beat and he immediately turned to run!

    Fortunately, before leaving 4 of Spades, Yu Hanjiang had given the eleration shoes to Xiao Lou. He increased his speed by five times and barely ran faster than the Tibetan mastiff. The fierce dog was only one metre behind him and opened its mouth wide, sharp teeth almost biting his leg!

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face turned white as he ran with all his strength.

    These short minutes felt as long as a few hours. From small to big, Xiao Lou had never experienced something so thrilling. The huge size of the Tibetan mastiff gave him great psychological pressure so that he was almost unable to breathe.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was about to pop out of his chest and his mind was nk. He had only one thought, ¡®Run!¡¯

    If he ran slowly then he would be caught by this ferocious dog. If he was bitten¡­

    He didn¡¯t dare think. He ran a wholep with the eleration shoes and the Tibetan mastiff disappeared into the Spades grid. Throughout the process, Yu Hanjiang had been staring at Xiao Lou out of fear that the Tibetan mastiff would really knock Xiao Lou down. Xiao Lou finally ran to the end and stopped with trembling legs. He almost couldn¡¯t stand as he ced both hands on his knees and gasped. Yu Hanjiang asked with worry, ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    Xiao Lou waved his hand. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine.¡±

    The prompt appeared on the screen in front of him. ¡°The challenge is sessful. You have received the reward [Weapon Card: Night Devil Saber]!¡±

    Xiao Lou picked up the reward card and saw a military knife that was around 20cm long. It was an A-grade card with no special skill effects but the de was extremely sharp. Xiao Lou thought it would be something that Group Leader Yu would like.

    Helping Group Leader Yu win a card, this effort wasn¡¯t in vain. His speed had really soared to the extreme as human potential was forced out in a critical moment. However, he would definitely have a psychological shadow when he saw the Tibetan mastiff in the future.

    The Clubs teenager stated, ¡°The game will continue.¡±

    The number 2 Yu Hanjiang followed by rolling the die.

    He was on the Hearts grid and it would continue in the order of Spades, Diamonds, Clubs and Hearts. Yu Hanjiang dropped it and rolled a two. He took two steps in a nk manner and stepped into Diamonds. Yu Hanjiang looked at theplex mathematical equation on the board and gave up thinking.

    The Clubs boy spoke lightly, ¡°The challenge has failed. Please ept the punishment.¡±

    Then there was a loud booming sound and the grid at Yu Hanjiang¡¯s feet copsed. His entire body fell into a big pit, followed by water pouring over his head.

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The soaking wet Group Leader Yu returned to the ground, his face as dark as a pot. What was this broken thing? Xiao Lou stepped into the physical Spades that he was the worst at while Yu Hanjiang stepped into the most annoying Diamonds. Could they change spots?

 Chapter 116: 4 of Clubs: Card Flying Chess (Middle)

    Yu Hanjiang was soaked by the water. He was wearing a suit and his hair was wet. His originally resolute facial lines weren¡¯t so sharp due to his wet hair, giving him an air of sexiness.

    Xiao Lou looked at the wet Group Leader Yu and couldn¡¯t help asking the keeper, ¡°A of Clubs, since we are teammates, can we change positions with each other if wend on a grid we aren¡¯t good at?¡±

    For example, just now, Xiao Lounded on Spades and had to run a race with the Tibetan mastiff. This was simple for Group Leader Yu. Simrly, Yu Hanjiangnded on Diamonds grid and these questions could be easily resolved by Xiao Lou. If they can change, they could take advantage of their respective strengths and gain more rewards.

    The Clubs youth replied lightly. ¡°The grids can¡¯t be exchanged. The ones yound on must be solved on your own.¡±

    ¡°¡­Fine.¡±

    His hope was dashed.

    The Clubs teenager then turned to look at the wet Yu Hanjiang. ¡°However, you can ept the punishment for your teammate.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°You mean, if a teammate fails in a grid challenge, the other person can take his ce to receive the punishment?¡±

    The Clubs teenager nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other. Yu Hanjiang thought that if he encountered the punishment of being drenched with waterter, he could rece Xiao Lou. There was no difference between Yu Hanjiang being drenched once or twice but Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t be so embarrassed.

    Once Yu Hanjiang epted the punishment of water, it was Liu Qiao¡¯s turn.

    Liu Qiao was lucky in the first round. She directlynded on the Clubs grid and earned 100,000 gold coins. In the second round Liu Qiao threw a four and once againnded on Clubs. However, this time a red warning prompt appeared on the screen. ¡°You have mistakenly entered the Clubs penalty grid by mistake. Please leave 200,000 gold coins!¡±

    Liu Qiao, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    She just earned 100,000 gold coins and could barely feel the heat. Now she had to give away 100,000. Liu Qiao¡¯s face wasn¡¯t good. She didn¡¯t have much money and the chrysoberyl bracelet and jade raw stone she got from Liuxi Vige hadn¡¯t been sold yet. This time, Liu Qiao lost almost all her assets and became penniless.

    The fourth masked man three a six and entered the Diamonds grid. The question he drew was also a mathematical one. The masked man failed to get the answer within 10 seconds and like Yu Hanjiang, he suddenly fell into a pit. A bucket of cold water was poured on top of his head!

    The man was drenched and became like a drowned chicken. Once he returned to the ground, he looked embarrassed and couldn¡¯t help eximing, ¡°Why do these questions have the feeling of studying for three years in high school, doing a final review and doing the university entrance examination?¡±

    Xiao Lou was amused by his words and had a thought. Passing the fourth level allowed them to enter the main city. This secret room had a question and answer session and it was really like an entrance examination.

    If they didn¡¯t take it seriously, they wouldn¡¯t be able to answer the question and would be punished. The masked man obviously wasn¡¯t very serious. It was just like the question of the Hearts grid. Xiao Lou remembered the names of all the teaching buildings of Maple Forest High School but the masked man couldn¡¯t answer it.

    Another round of the game passed and it was Xiao Lou¡¯s turn again. Xiao Lou carefully observed the distribution of the diamond field. Each of the four sides had 13 grids and was arranged in the circr order of Hearts, Spades, Diamonds and Clubs. At present, he was standing on a Spades grid. This was followed by Diamonds, Clubs, Hearts, Spades, Diamonds, Clubs and Hearts.

    He was seven steps away from the K of Hearts in the corner. The die had a maximum of six points. This meant that he couldn¡¯t jump directly to K of Hearts. If he wanted tond on K of Hearts, he had to throw the die at least twice and the points had to add up to seven.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath, picked up the die and gently dropped it on the disc. A four. This meant he would enter Spades again! Xiao Lou¡¯s face was somewhat ugly. He wasn¡¯t good at the physical confrontation grid. He had been chased by the Tibetan mastiff just now and his legs were a bit weak. If he had to run again, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to run to the end.

    However, this time the prompt on the screen was very strange. ¡°In one minute, do push-ups. You will be qualified if it is over 35 push-ups. Less than 35 means a punishment.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Your sister!

    The masked man couldn¡¯t helpughing. ¡°This is a physical exam?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at the 60 seconds that started counting down on the screen and helplessly had to do the push-ups.

    For a push-up event, he had hovered on the edge of passing since middle school. Today¡¯s psychological pressure was rtively big plus he had just run for his life. His physical consumption was serious and he was wearing a suit and leather shoes. His movements were restricted when doing push-ups and by the end of the countdown, Xiao Lou had only done 34. He just needed one more!

    Xiao Lou stood up and looked worriedly at the big screen. A red exmation point appeared on the screen. ¡°The challenge has failed. Please ept the punishment!¡±

    Before he had time to ask about the punishment, he listened to Yu Hanjiang say, ¡°I¡¯ll take it for him.¡±

    The Clubs teenager stared coldly at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°The punishment of the Spades grid is crueller. Are you certain you want to rece him?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t hesitate to go to Xiao Lou in the grid, looking gently at Xiao Lou. ¡°You have just run a whole circle and must be very tired. Rest for a while and I will take the punishment for you.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was warm but it wasn¡¯t good to let Group Leader Yu take his ce. ¡°I can do it¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang shook his head while holding Xiao Lou¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t be stubborn. Your physical energy consumption is too serious and you must retain physical strength. Perhaps next time, you will once againnd on Spades.¡±

    The man¡¯s eyes were resolute and deep. Xiao Lou stared at it and nodded to himself.

    Spades¡¯ punishment appeared on the screen. ¡°Please find the 8 of Spades ying card from the box full of spiders in front of you.¡±

    A transparent box appeared in front of them. The box full of hairy spiders crawling around made people look afraid. There were several ying cards at the bottom of the box. A challenger needed to reach in and grab the cards from the spiders.

    Xiao Lou saw this and couldn¡¯t help paling. His most hated animal was a spider. If it wasn¡¯t for Group Leader Yu recing him¡­

    He couldn¡¯t even think about reaching into the mass of spiders.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes were calm. The moment the penalty began, he stuffed his hand into the box. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s body wasn¡¯t trembling or stiff at all as he reached for the cards surrounded by spiders. He looked calm like he was looking for the cards through sand. He used his long fingers to gently move a nearby spider to the side and took out a card at an extremely fast speed.

    It was 4 of Spades and didn¡¯t meet the requirements. Yu Hanjiang once again picked up a card and this time it was 5 of Spades. He was calm as he put his hand in the box full of spiders for a third time. This time, he finally pulled out the 8 of Spades ying card.

    Yu Hanjiang handed this card to Xiao Lou andpleted the penalty for Xiao Lou. The back of his hand showed signs of several spider bite and the few blood beads were bright red and dazzling. Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes were calm and his heart moved as he whispered, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s lips curved. ¡°Why so polite?¡±

    The masked man saw this scene and couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°Liu Qiao, you might be a girl but I won¡¯t ept punishment for you. We aren¡¯t too familiar. If you jump to this grid then you have to rely on your luck.¡± He was also afraid of spiders!

    Liu Qiao looked back at him. ¡°I don¡¯t need you to rece me and I won¡¯t rece you.¡±

    Compared to Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mutual care, the two temporarily matched teammates showed no signs of ¡®epting punishment for their teammates.¡¯ It was more like they were ying alone.

    Next was Yu Hanjiang¡¯s turn. This time, he got a good hand and threw a two, walking from Diamonds to Hearts. The question popped up on the screen. ¡°How many choctes were there at Maple Forest High School?¡±

    Even Xiao Lou, who was good at Hearts, had a headache when seeing this question. Who would pay attention to this detail? At that time, they searched the ssroom and he only noticed there was a box of choctes in Yu Hui¡¯s schoolbag. He hadn¡¯t counted the exact number.

    He thought Yu Hanjiang wouldn¡¯t be able to answer it. Unexpectedly, Group Leader Yu didn¡¯t hesitate to say, ¡°14.¡±

    As a police officer, he couldn¡¯t let go of any details at the scene of the crime. Yu Hui¡¯s choctes were in a square box with rows of four. There were a total of four rows, two of which had been given to Xiaoya. Thus, there were 14 in the box.

    The text on the screen turned to the correct green. ¡°The challenge has seeded. Random reward: You can copy a card in the card pack. Select the card you want to copy.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took out his card pack to take a loot. Out of the cards he and Xiao Lou currently held, some were team limited. Cards like Di Renjie, Human Bone Medicine Jar and Bnce were useless to copy since one team could only bring one card.

    It was naturally more cost-effective to copy S-grade cards that were unlimited. The firearms type card couldn¡¯t be used by Xiao Lou and Ye Qi. It wasn¡¯t meaningful to copy them.

    Yu Hanjiang asked the keeper, ¡°Can I copy a card from my teammate¡¯s pack?¡±

    The keeper nodded. ¡°Of course.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang walked to Xiao Lou¡¯s side and asked, ¡°Do you have any cards you want to copy?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought carefully before pulling out Qin Guan. ¡°Do you want to copy this one? Qin Guan¡¯s heart connection skill is very good to use. We don¡¯t have to speak and our minds will bemunicated to each other. In the future, our team will have more people. If there is more than one Qin Guan then we can establish a few channels ofmunication when acting separately.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    He took the card from Xiao Lou and copied it. In this way, they had two S-grade Qin Guan cards. In the future, the team could establish a heart channel and keep in touch at any time. This could also cross main cities and secret rooms. This reward was really great.

    In 4 of Clubs, Card Flying Chess might have big punishments butpared to the rewards¡­ these punishments were nothing.

    Liu Qiao stepped into a Diamonds grid. She did the math question very quickly and was sessful. She obtained a reward card and it was the same one as Xiao Lou, the [Tool Card: Scissors.]

    The fourth masked man was more unlucky today. He stepped on Clubs and directly had 200,000 gold coins deducted. In the fourth round of the game, the die returned to Xiao Lou¡¯s hands. He stood on Spades. In front of him were Diamonds and Clubs and the third grid was K of Hearts. As long as he threw a three, he could directly step on K of Hearts and clear it.

    Xiao Lou turned the die in his hand and gently threw it. The speed of the die¡¯s rotation gradually slowed. Xiao Lou was tense as it looked like it would stop on a three. As a result, the wayward die suddenly turned over andnded on a five.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    He took five steps, crossing K of Hearts and entering the Diamonds grid on the other side. He didn¡¯t stop on K of Hearts but it was the Diamonds grid that he was good at. This made Xiao Lou slightly relieved.

    This time, the Diamonds grid showed a five elements mechanism array. Arge disc appeared on the screen with five small discs going clockwise. The disc was marked with metal, wood, water, fire and earth. He had to adjust the order so that the five-line array was in the correct ¡®mutual generation¡¯ sequence.

    Xiao Lou extended his hand and quickly adjusted the order to wood, fire, earth, gold and water. This way, wood fed fire, fire created earth, earth bore metal, metal collected water and water nourished wood.

    The mechanism time limit was 10 seconds and Xiao Lou sessfully resolved it. The screen showed the prompt. ¡°The answer is correct. Received the random reward [Tool Card: Night Pearl].¡±

    It was an A-grade tool card. In the dark night, especially in the wildness, the Night Pearl could be used for illumination. The Night Pearl could illuminate the area around it, 180 degrees in front and in a 10 metres wide arc. There was no cooldown time and no usage time limit.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was happy. This card was a functional tool card. It had nobat power but the lighting was very important. In particr, it wasn¡¯t convenient to hold a torch for lighting in the wildness environment or harsh weather conditions. Night Pearl could y a great role.

    Xiao Lou looked back at Group Leader Yu since it was his turn. Yu Hanjiang was currently standing on a Hearts grid and he just needed to take four steps tond on the K of Hearts in the corner. He hoped that Group Leader Yu could roll a four.

    However, Yu Hanjiang threw a three and could only walk into the Clubs grid. It was one step away from K of Hearts! Yu Hanjiang also felt helpless as he looked at the nearby K of Hearts. He went forward three steps and stopped on the Clubs grid. A prompt appeared on the screen. ¡°You have entered the Clubs grid and can get 100,000 gold coins.¡±

    The Clubs grid seemed to be random. Some were rewards and some were punishments. The reward was 100,000 gold coins while Liu Qiao stepped in the punishment and lost 200,000 gold coins. It was a game of luck.

    It was Liu Qiao¡¯s turn and she looked forward. K of Hearts was in the corner. She was six steps away from it. If she could roll a six then she could directlynd on K of Hearts. Liu Qiao silently prayed in her heart. Then she picked up the die and gently threw it into the disc.

    The die turned quickly a few times before finally settling in front of the earnest eyes of the other three. Then itnded on a six!

    Liu Qiao was happy as she looked at the nearby Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou was also happy for her. ¡°Little Liu, you can directly clear the instance.¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded. ¡°Yes, it is a good day.¡±

    She stepped on Clubs in the first round and gained 100,000 gold coins. In the second round, it was still a Clubs grid but she lost 200,000 and became penniless. In the third round, she stepped onto Diamonds and gained a tool card. Then in the fourth round, she stepped onto the K card in the corner.

    Challengers who stepped on the K card could go directly to the middle of the field, drawing from the treasure chest and clearing the instance. K of Hearts was the gold treasure chest. Liu Qiao quickly walked to the box and put her hand inside to casually draw the card.

    [Congrattions to Liu Qiao for getting the S-grade summoning card Poison Queen!]

    Liu Qiao took a closer looked at the card and Xiao Lou also looked curiously. He saw a queen in ck with a beautiful bronze mirror in her hand.

    ¡°Is it the poisonous queen from the fairy tale?¡± Xiao Lou wondered.

    ¡°Yes, from Snow White.¡±

    [Summoning Card: Poison Queen]

    Rarity: S

    Description: There is a certain probability of obtaining it from the limited card pool of the reward secret room.

    Additional Skill 1: Magic Mirror, Who is the Most Beautiful?

    The Poison Queen asks the mirror in her hand, ¡°Who is the most beautiful woman in the world?¡± The mirror will answer, ¡°Snow White.¡± In her anger, the Poison Queen will throw the mirror out in a designated 10 x 10 metres range. Then it will shine on every enemy in range. The enemy will see themselves in the mirror and find they are too ugly. In shame, they will collectively stop attacking. If they attack, the attacks will be bounced back by the mirror.

    Simply put, it is a magical environment and cast ¡®silence¡¯ and ¡®anti-injury.¡¯

    Additional Skill 2: Poisonous Apple

    The Poison Queen takes out an apple that is highly poisonous and feeds the poisonous apple to the designated target. The target will immediately enter a dying state. If the target can¡¯t get the help of an antidote card within 10 minutes, the target will die.]

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help praising, ¡°This card is very strong.¡±

    Liu Qiao seemed to have a close rtionship with fairytale cards. She previously drew Little Red Riding Hood and today she drew the Poison Queen from Snow White. The Poison Queen¡¯s first skill was an anti-attack card and the second skill could kill the enemy if used well.

    This was a very strong S-grade attack card. Liu Qiao was obviously very happy as she put away this S-grad card.

    The Clubs teenager spoke lightly. ¡°The third yer Liu Qiao, you cleared it first and can choose to leave 4 of Clubs or wait for your teammate to end the game.¡±

    Liu Qiao wasn¡¯t in a hurry to leave. She stood by to see the results of Professor Xiao and Group Leader Yu. She lost money in this secret room but fortunately, she could see the chrysoberyl bracelet and jade raw stone for money. However, she was a girl who didn¡¯t understand the price of the jade raw stone. It was easy for her to be cheated if she sold it by herself. It was more reliable to give it to Chief Shao.

    Chief Shao and Professor Xiao had already formed a team and would definitely meet in the City of the Moon. The wisest thing was to wait for their game to end and go to the City of the Moon together.

    Xiao Lou found Liu Qiao standing by and guessed her idea. He smiled at her and said, ¡°Little Liu, wait for us to clear the instance and we will go to the City of the Moon together.¡±

    Liu Qiao immediately nodded. ¡°Okay!¡±

 Chapter 117: 4 of Clubs: Card Flying Chess (End)

    There were one gold and one silver treasure box in 4 of Clubs. Liu Qiao had taken the reward from the golden treasure chest. If the other three wanted to end the game, they could only draw it from the silver treasure box. In other words, the three of them mustnd on either K of Spades or K of Clubs.

    The masked man¡¯s luck was still bad. He stepped into an ordinary Clubs grid and directly had 200,000 gold coins deducted. Since he didn¡¯t have enough gold coins on his body, he could only ept the Clubs punishment. The method of punishment was that he couldn¡¯t pick up the countless round gold coins that fell from the ceiling and hit him.

    The man was beaten by the rain of gold coins and smiled bitterly after the punishment ended. ¡°This punishment, is it called crushing me to death with money?¡±

    He was able to find some joy in this suffering.

    The Clubs teenager spoke lightly. ¡°You have really bad luck today.¡±

    The masked man looked at Liu Qiao. ¡°Our team¡¯s luck has probably been used up by Liu Qiao.¡±

    Liu Qiao looked innocent. ¡°You are unlucky. Don¡¯t me it on me.¡±

    The masked man sighed. ¡°Well¡­ I hope I¡¯m not too unlucky next time.¡±

    The fifth round of the game began. Xiao Lou continued to move forward. This was still a long distance from K of Spades so he just casually threw it. It was a two and he walked into the Hearts grid. The question was still a review of the secret room. ¡°In the Rose Funeral secret roo, what is Zou Xiaomei¡¯s birthday? Countdown 5, 4, 3¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully examined the memories in his mind. In order to unlock the mobile phone, he had once inputted the deceased¡¯s birthday as the password. This prompted an error and he had to finally unlock using the face. Xiao Lou quickly remembered the number and the countdown ended. ¡±July 17th.¡±

    [The answer is correct. Random reward: a card in the card pack can rise to full level.]

    This reward was too practical for Xiao Lou. The previous summoning cards he drew, Bai Juyi and Yuanming only had one skill at present. The second skill would only be unlocked at level 10.

    Tao Yuanming¡¯s Peach Blossom Spring had been used many times. It was level 9 and it would soon be level 10. He had only used Bai Juyi¡¯s Old Charcoal Seller twice and had only grown once. The upgrade was extremely slow. It was a bonus that he could go straight to the full level.

    Xiao Lou took the Bai Juyi card out of his pack and it truly rose to full level. To Xiao Lou¡¯s surprise, the card¡¯s full level wasn¡¯t level 10 but level 30.

    [Summoning Card: Bai Juyi]

    Rarity: S

    Description: After a clearance score of S, there is a very low probability of obtaining it from the limited card pool.

    Additional Skill 1: Old Charcoal Seller

    Bai Juyi once used poetry to describe the miserable life of an old charcoal man. His clothes were poor and he was worried about the charcoal being too cheap!

    Use Bai Juyi¡¯s Old Charcoal Seller skill and a charcoal fire can be produced in the designated location. The charcoal fire willst for 90 minutes and it is limited to one use a day.

    Additional Skill 2: Song of the Pipa yer (Unlocked when the card grows to level 10)

    Chattering and pattering, as pearls,rge and small, on a jade te fell. Like you, I am a forlorn soul. Now that we have met, does it matter that we never knew each other ¨C From Bai Juyi¡¯s Song of a Pipa yer

    Use the ¡®Pipa¡¯ skill to y a clear and melodious Pipa melody. With Bai Juyi in the centre, all enemies within a 30 metres radius range will put down their weapons and listen to the sound of the pipa ying lie pearls falling on a jade te. The pipa sound willst for 15 seconds. During this period, all targets in range will be confused and are likely to hurt teammates by mistaken when attacking.

    The skill¡¯s cooldown time is 4 hours.

    Additional Skill 3: Song of Evesting Regret (unlocked when the card grows to level 30).

    Two birds flying in the sky side by side, two branches on earth inseparably intertwined, the sky and earth will not be eternal but the regret of our passing willst forever and never end.

    Bai Juyi¡¯s Song of Evesting Regret describes the sad love story between Emperor Ming of Tang and his concubine Yang Guifei. Once the skill Song of Evesting Regret is used, Bai Juyi will be the centre and all targets in a 30 metres radius will be infected by the sad love story. Their hearts are filled with sadness. All attacks will be stopped for 15 seconds. The skill cooldown time is 4 hours.]

    Bai Juyi¡¯s initial skill was only Old Charcoal Seller. This created a charcoal fire and had no offensive power. The first time Xiao Lou drew Bai Juyi, he felt that one skill didn¡¯t meet the strength of an S-grade card.

    He didn¡¯t expect that the full level Bai Juyi was a card with three skills! The second skill unlocked at level 10 and the final skill unlocked at level 30 were very strong,rge-scale control skills.

    The Pipa skill created 15 seconds of confusion while Song of Evesting Regret created 15 seconds of group silence. It was a radius of 30 metres with Bai Juyi in the centre. This was equivalent to a diameter of 60 metres and was the most powerful group control skill Xiao Lou had seen at present.

    Yu Hanjiang stood nearby and saw Bai Juyi¡¯s full level. His eyes shed with surprise as he asked, ¡°This card actually has three skills?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°In the beginning, the card description only said the second skill would be unlocked at level 10. Unexpectedly, a third skill appeared after the second skill. A full level S-grade card is really strong.¡± Tao Yuanming¡¯s description was simr to Bai Juyi and it was likely that Tao Yuanming also had three skills. However, now the growth was only level 10 and there are no subsequent skill description.

    Xiao Lou thought that if heter walked to the Hearts grid, the reward to increase the card skill to full level would be great. However, it backfired and he didn¡¯t enter Hearts. For two rounds in a row, hended on the Clubs grid. The first time, he had 100,000 gold coins deducted and the second time he gained 100,000 gold coins. It was equivalent to nothing.

    For the next two rounds, Yu Hanjiangnded on Diamonds. However, this time it happened to be a Chinese characters arrangement and poetry arrangement. The first question happened to be be Bai Juyi¡¯s ¡®spring river, blossoming morning and autumn moonlit night.¡¯ Yu Hanjiang sessfully spelled it out in five seconds and won the Tool Card: Night Pearl.

    In the next round, Yu Hanjiang entered Diamonds and drew ¡®I look for what I miss; I know not what it is. I feel so sad, so drear, So lonely, without cheer.¡¯ Yu Hanjiang remembered this and spelled it out in five seconds. The result was that he got another Night Pearl!

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help wondering, ¡°Why are there so many Night Pearls?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang slightly frowned as he held the two Night Pearls. ¡°Is this card¡¯s drop rate deliberately raised?¡±

    The Clubs teenager nodded. ¡°The Diamonds keeper has her own considerations for providing you with these rewards. At this stage, almost everyone can get a Night Peal and the extra ones can be sold in the main city. This shows that a future Diamonds room is likely to have a dark maze and requires each of you to explore different paths, each one holding your own Night Pearl. Understand?¡±

    Xiao Lou finally understood.

    In fact, the masked man¡¯s summary was right. This time, Card Flying Chess was designed as a ¡®reward and punishment level¡¯ and was very simr to a school examination. Challengers could get many rewards in this level, such as upgrading cards, getting necessary tool card or earning some gold coins. This would help them deal with more difficult levels after entering the main city. It was like ying a low-level dungeon in a game, gaining pieces of equipment and then challenging high-level dungeons.

    The Diamonds little girl increased the drop rate of Night Peak, showing that theter Diamonds room would have dark scenes or a dark maze. There might be all types of dangerous events, such as the sudden emergence of wild beasts from around a corner. The previous 2~4 of Diamonds were light and easy but it definitely wouldn¡¯t be good at clearing the instance after 5 of Diamonds.

    If they made good use of this ¡®entrance examination¡¯, they could get many words. The longer they walked around the board, the more rewards there might be. However, the number of punishments might also increase.

    This corner contained K of Spades. At this time, Xiao Lou was six steps away from K of Spades, Yu Hanjiang was seven steps away and the masked man was only one step away. However, whether they could step on K of Spades and directly clear the instance depended on the number thrown.

    Xiao Lou threw first. It was a three and hended on Diamonds! He thought this Diamonds¡¯s grid would be poetry again like Group Leader Yu. Xiao Lou could close his eyes and easily seed. Unexpectedly, this time a maze appeared on the big screen and there was a prompt. ¡°Please find the correct maze exit in eight seconds.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at the curved maze in front of him and was stunned for a moment. However, he soon calmed down and searched the maze for a way out. This was a »Ø shaped maze and there were often dead ends. Eight seconds was too short. By the end of the countdown, Xiao Lou still hadn¡¯t found a way out. A red exmation mark appeared on the screen. ¡°The challenge has failed. Please ept the punishment!¡±

    Failing the Diamonds grid was something Xiao Lou had never expected. After all, he was best at mechanisms but he wasn¡¯t very good at mazes, especiallyplex ones. Finding a way out in eight seconds? His eyes were going to be dizzy.

    Xiao Lou smiled bitterly. ¡°What is the punishment this time?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang came forward from behind him. ¡°I¡¯ll take it for him.¡±

    The Clubs teenager with facial paralysis turned to look at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Do you want to rece him again?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied lightly, ¡°In any case, I am already wet. There is no difference between being wet once or twice.¡±

    He gently pushed Xiao Lou to the side and stood in Xiao Lou¡¯s location. Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t had time to react when he heard a loud noise and Yu Hanjiang once again fell into the pit and arge bucket of water poured on him.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    After being drenched once again, Yu Hanjiang returned to the ground and calmly wiped the water from his face. He nced at Xiao Lou and stated, ¡°Inter Diamonds grids, I will rece you if you are punished.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at him with worry. ¡°Won¡¯t you catch a cold?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was calm. ¡°It¡¯s fine, I¡¯m in good health. I once spent all night in the rain without catching a cold.¡±

    He looked at Xiao Lou. Professor Xiao was educated and shouldn¡¯t have suffered such a crime before. What¡¯s more, it was hard to imagine what it would be like for a man who had always been gentle and graceful to be covered with water. In any case, Yu Hanjiang was already soaked and it made no difference to continue to be soaked.

    Xiao Lou saw that this person was determined to rece himself and didn¡¯t know what his heart was feeling.

    He had been independent from an early age and even his parents hadn¡¯t protected him so much. Now that Group Leader Yu had received the punishment twice for him, his heart was really upset. ¡°It¡¯s fine, my physical strength has recovered and I can do theter ones.¡¯

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s lips slightly curved. ¡°So you want a cold water shower and to be drenched like me?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°This ismon sharing joys and sorrow.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s stared nkly and his heartbeat stalled. Share joys and sorrow? A good teammate deserved it.

    He didn¡¯t know why but he was reluctant to let Xiao Lou experience these strange punishments. Water and putting hands in a box of spiders¡­ this wasn¡¯t something that Xiao Lou should do.

    The two people were looking at each other when the Clubs teenager interrupted. ¡°Please don¡¯t ignore the presence of the keeper and continue to y.¡±

    If he remembered correctly, the two men had ignored him many times?

    Yu Hanjiang coughed lightly and continued throwing the dice. He was seven grids away from K of Spades. This time, he threw a five and stepped on Clubs, triggering a reward. ¡°Gained 200,000 gold coins!¡±

    They didn¡¯tck gold coins and this reward was useless for both of them.

    It was the masked man¡¯s turn to cast the die. He was only one step away from K of Spades. As long as he threw a one, he could directly draw from the silver chest and then end the game. Unfortunately, the masked man¡¯s luck was really bad today. He threw a two!

    The masked man didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry as he crossed K of Spades andnded on Diamonds. He felt that he must not have washed his hands today. This time, the Diamonds grid was still a maze. He didn¡¯t answer and was drenched with water.

    The masked man cried out, ¡°Is the punishment also set by the keeper? Why does the little girl like to drench people with water?¡±

    ¡°She likes to raise flowers and often waters them,¡± the Clubs teenager exined. ¡°She says it is the gentlest way to punish them.¡±

    Xiao Lou could see clearly that the punishment of Hearts was to leave cards behind, Diamonds was the water, Spades was all types of thrilling experiences and Clubs was to leave gold coins behind.

    He was three steps away from K of Spades. Xiao Lou quietly prayed that he would throw a three as he took the die and threw it. The result was that he threw a one and could only take one step forward.

    ¡°The reward is 200,000 gold coins!¡±

    Xiao Lou thought that this reward was of no use. He didn¡¯t know that Liu Qiao was full of envy at the sight. For Liu Qiao, who didn¡¯t have any money on her body, 200,000 gold coins was a huge sum. If she knew that Professor Xiao wanted to reject the 200,000 then she would probably cough up blood.

    It was Yu Hanjiang¡¯s turn and all eyes were on him. He was two steps away from K of Spades. Yu Hanjiang calmly threw the die.

    Xiao Lou stared at the die while praying, ¡®A two, a two¡­¡¯

    He didn¡¯t know if his prayer had yed a role but after the die rotated a few times, it actuallynded on a two! Yu Hanjiang also didn¡¯t expect to have such good luck. He bypassed Xiao Lou and stopped on K of Spades.

    He looked back at Xiao Lou and the other person smiled. ¡°Go and draw it.¡±

    In the end, there was only a silver chest left and the game would be over, although the masked man was unwilling. Liu Qiao had all the good luck of their team and he could only watch another team take away the chest.

    Yu Hanjiang reached into the silver chest.

    [Congrattions on getting the S-grade Equipment Card: Amulet].

    [Equipment Card: Amulet]

    Rarity: S

    Description: There is a probability of acquiring it from a reward draw.

    Usage: Sign your name on the Amulet to make it your own. Give it to someone else and you can take on their damage for the next 10 hours. If a teammate encounters deadly attacks, teleport teammates to your side instantly.

    Restrictions: The Amulet can only be used once and it is equivalent to giving a teammate a second life.]

    The equipment card was simr to the S-grade Light Feather Clothes that was drawn previously. However, this Amulet was given to a teammate after signing it and was equivalent to a gold medal for teammates to avoid death. The Light Feather Clothes was worn on the person¡¯s body and was simr to an extra life.

    Yu Hanjiang put the card in his card pack and looked at the Clubs teenager. ¡°The chest has been drawn from and the game should be over?¡±

    The facial paralysis teenager stood up from the sofa and said, ¡°Congrattions on clearing 4 of Clubs, Card Flying Chess. Since you have passed the fourth level secret rooms, the main cities of the Card World will be open to you. Please selected one of the City of the Moon or City of the Sun to enter.¡±

 Chapter 118: City of the Moon

    The Clubs teenager waved gently and a 10 metres long LCD screen appeared in the middle of the venue. The introduction of the two main cities started to y on the screen. If 4 of Clubs was the entrance examination then the video was like a ¡®university enrollment promotional film.¡¯

    Located by the sea, the City of the Sun was an ind surrounded by the sea. In the sunlight, the city seemed to be covered with a soft golden veil. There was a white, sandy beach, crystal clear blue water and no signs of pollution.

    Not a single bit of trash could be seen on the beach. In the video, there were many people walking barefoot on the beach in swimsuits. A few people were reading while sunbathing on a lounge. There were people ying all types of interesting games in the sea, such as the parachute, surfing, yacht, etc.

    Everyone had a sunny smile on their faces. If they weren¡¯t in the Card World, Xiao Lou might mistake this beautiful coastal city as a holiday paradise. The more Yu Hanjiang looked, the stranger he felt. The warm and beautiful images on the screen were the opposite of the cruelty and harshness of the secret rooms. It was like¡­ two unrted worlds.

    Xiao Lou also felt this way and couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°The challengers in the City of the Sun, do they need to continue breaking through?¡±

    ¡°Indigenous people don¡¯t need to break through. They have their own lives. However, the challengers have to break through regrly. Of course, if you want to integrate into the world then you can find a job and even get married and have children.¡±

    He looked back at the screen. This time, the video was ying a beautiful coastline. The City of the Sun had a road called Sunshine Avenue. It was a wide asphalt road with palm trees on both sides. The umbre-shaped leaves fell down, forming arge shade on the ground.

    Green trees, a clear sea, blue sky and white clouds. A screenshot could be made directly as a 5A scenic spot desktop background.

    The Clubs teenager added. ¡°The City of the Sun is a coastal city and has the Card World¡¯s most beautiful sea view. It has the best food and the cheapest seafood. Sunshine Avenue is a good ce for citizens to walk. The prices in the city are moderate and sea view rooms are also quite cheap. As long as you have 50 million gold coins, you can buy a well-decorated sea view vi.¡±

    At the exchange rate of 100:1, 50 million gold coins were equivalent to 500,000 yuan. 500,000 yuan could buy a sea-view vige in the real world? This was a dream!

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other. They weren¡¯t happy because the prices in the city were cheap. Rather, they were more worried. Their spection was correct. After entering the main city, many challengers might gradually integrate into the world, discover the beauty of the world and then have their determination to go back shaken.

    Just think, people couldn¡¯t afford a rough 50 square metres house in the real world. They they earned some gold coins through the secret rooms in the Card World and could directly buy a furnished sea view vi. Would they still want to go back and live in their shabby rental house? The lure of materialism might be tacky but it was something that many people couldn¡¯t resist.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and asked, ¡°What is the situation of the City of the Moon?¡±

    The Clubs boy flocked his fingers and the screen immediately changed to another publicity film. If the City of the Sun was the most beautiful coastal city then the City of the Moon was the most beautiful garden city. The entire city was located in the depths of the forest and there were tall trees everywhere. There was an illusion of entering a rainforest.

    The trees on both sides of the street could grow directly to the balcony of the residents¡¯ home and a green canopy could be seen when opening the window. The exotic flowers and nts grew in a lush manner.

    The city¡¯s architectural style was the opposite of the City of sea view vis of the City of the Sun. There were more primitive wooden houses here and each of them had different shapes and styles. Some wooden houses were built directly on the big tree and they could climb up steps made of the tree trunks. Three-storey wooden vis were scattered in every corner of the City of the Moon. The entire city was like a paradise for leisure.

    Compared to the noise and excitement of the City of the Sun, the City of the Moon was particrly quiet. Under the shadow of the dim moonlight, the City of the Moon located in the depths of the forest was a bit mysterious. People living here had close contact with nature and since the coverage of the greenery reached at least 70%, the air here was absolutely fresh.

    The Clubs teenager said, ¡°The prices of the City of the Moon is almost the same as the City of the Sun. You can buy wooden houses and vis at the same price. It is very expensive to eat seafood here but there are many mountain delicacies and wild game. There are more than a dozen varieties of mushrooms alone and all types of barbecue are quite cheap.¡±

    The teenager with facial paralysis dutifully introduced the two cities to everyone.

    Xiao Lou was keenly aware of a detail in the publicity film. ¡°In the City of the Moon¡¯s publicity film, the entire city is dark and illuminated by the moonlight. Is this a coincidence or is there no day time in the City of the Moon?¡±

    Liu Qiao didn¡¯t realize this. She heard Professor Xiao ask the question and suddenly reacted. The City of the Sun¡¯s video had indeed been a sunny day while the City of the moon was surrounded by night.

    The Clubs teenager replied, ¡°Both cities have 24 hours in a day. The City of the Sun has 18 hours of day and 6 hours of night. The City of the Moon has 18 hours of night and 6 hours of day. The working hours of both sides are from 9-12 in the morning and 1-4 in the afternoon.¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s eyes widened with surprise. ¡°Work is only six hours a day?¡±

    ¡°Yes, people spend most of their time resting and ying. Don¡¯t you work six hours day?¡±

    The four people fell silent at the same time.

    Don¡¯t mention six hours a day in the real world. Eight hours was the most basic and overtime was the norm in many IT industries. They often worked to 22 o¡¯clock in the evening and would fall asleep straight away aftering home.

    Getting off work at 4 p.m.? It was really unimaginable. 500,000 yuan to buy a well-furnished vige, working six hours a day, spending most of the time with entertainment¡­ Such a life was like a dream.

    Liu Qiao suddenly said, ¡°These two cities, why do they feel simr to ideal cities in a fairy tale?¡±

    The Clubs teenager looked at her and nodded. ¡°The City of the Sun and the City of the Moon are indeed ideal cities for human life.¡±

    The room was silent again.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang psychologically suffered a huge impact. They always thought that the Card World was cruel and full of crises. However, the Card World¡¯s main cities had built an ¡®ideal city¡¯ hard to reach by human society.

    Here they could buy vis at a very low price, could eat a variety of delicacies, could enjoy the best living environment, the fresh air of the City of the Moon or the bright sunshine and beautiful beach of the City of the Sun¡­

    Who would want to go back after staying in a ce like this for a long time? Xiao Lou clenched his fists and understood the biggest pit of this Card World. The pits that the jokers had buried for the challengers was quiet. The two main cities were like a gentle quagmire. After people fell into the trap, they couldn¡¯t get out.

    Using the best material items to corrode the hearts of the people and let them lose their motivation to go back. Instead, they would settle in the Card World.

    Once the challengers were integrated into the world, they would gradually forget that that had a much worse life previously. They would forget their real life friends and families, making new friends and family here. They would start a new life.

    Nearly 80 million challengers had passed the first floor levels but no one had cleared the Card World. It was incredible! Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang and thetter nodded at him. They obviously both had the same thought.

    Yu Hanjiang simply said, ¡°We will go to the City of the Moon.¡±

    The Clubs teenager wondered, ¡°yers 3 and 4? Please choose.¡±

    Liu Qiao naturally also choose the City of the Moon but the masked man smile. ¡°I like to eat seafood. I choose the City of the Sun.¡±

    The Clubs teenager opened two doors at the venue. One was gold and represented the City of the Sun and the silver door represented the City of the Moon. He made a gesture of invitation. ¡°The four of you, please remember to check the card pack after entering the door.¡±

    Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang and Liu Qiao walked through the silver door.

    They thought they would be directly sent to the City of the moon but the three people walked into arge airport. Xiao Lou was stunned. He immediately checked the card pack based on the A of Clubs¡¯ hint and found there was an extra card. It was an Air Ticket and the starting point was 4 of Clubs and ending point was the City of the Moon.

    This was the ticket the Clubs teenager had given them. The three people looked around and found that people wereing and going from the airport. There were many dazed challengers like them. Yu Hanjiang nced across the airport and saw the check-in ce. The three of them walked together.

    The airport staff quickly helped themplete the formalities and the three people boarded the ne together. There were nearly 100 people on this flight. Some people looked calm. Once the ne started, they closed their eyes to start thinking. Some looked around and secretly watched the passengers around them. Some looked nk and stared out the window.

    The seats of Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang and Liu Qiao happened to be together. Liu Qiao was by the window, Yu Hanjiang in the middle and Xiao Lou by the aisle. He found himself sitting next to two boys in their 20s, dressed like a university student. Xiao Lou leaned over asked them softly. ¡°Are you from 4 of Clubs?¡±

    The boy was stupefied and his face was soon full of joy, like meeting a ¡®fellow student¡¯ abroad. He spoke excitedly, ¡°Yes! You too?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°It seems that those who travel from 4 of Clubs to the City of the Moon will take the ne.¡±

    The boy scratched his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know if someone will receive us after going to the City of the Moon? My mind is empty now, just like when I¡¯m going to study abroad alone¡­¡±

    After all, they were going to apletely strange city. Everyone¡¯s hearts were uneasy. The publicity film might present a peaceful picture but who knew what life really would be like in the city? In particr, some challengers who lost gold coins in 4 of Clubs were worried that they would have no ce to live.

    The beautiful flight attendant gave some notes to everyone and the ne took off. It waste at night outside the window and they could see the stars. The passengers on the ne looked different. Most of them were ill at ease and some whispered to theirpanions to discuss the next n.

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly said, ¡°I am worried that since Ye Qi and Shao Qingge are going from Hearts, they might not go by ne.¡±

    Xiao Lou was stunned. Then he recalled how 4 of Hearts was a train and nodded. ¡°Group Leader Yu¡¯swords are reasonable. Shao Qingge and Ye Qi are going to the City of the Moon from 4 of Hearts. I think they will probably go by bullet train.¡±

    Liu Qiao opened her mouth. ¡°Then we willnd at the airport of the City of the Moon but they will get off at the railway station. Even if we go to the City of the Moon at the same time, we won¡¯t meet them?¡±

    Xiao Lou felt helpless. ¡°We probably won¡¯t meet but it doesn¡¯t matter. As long as everyone is in the City of the Moon, we will eventually find Ye Qi and Shao Qingge.¡± He looked at Yu Hanjiang and asked, ¡°Group Leader Yu, how much money do you have left?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang calcted it. ¡°I won and lost in 4 of Clubs and finally won 200,000.¡±

    ¡°I also made 200,000 in 4 of Clubs. Combined with the money we made in the previous Financial Crisis, we have around 800,000 at our disposal.¡± Xiao Lou touched his chin and thought about it. ¡°Shao Qingge¡¯s ount should have millions. After finding him, we can find a way to sell the chrysoberyl bracelet and jade raw stone. Then we won¡¯t have to worry about money.¡±

    The penniless Liu Qiao, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou found that Liu Qiao¡¯s face wasn¡¯t right and smiled at her. ¡°Little Liu, did you lose your money in 4 of Clubs?¡±

    Liu Qiao had a white face. ¡°I didn¡¯t have much money. I stepped on the Clubs punishment and lost all of it.¡±

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°You might as well follow us. Once we meet with Chief Shao, you can sell the bracelet and think about moneyter.¡± He paused and added, ¡°In addition, we can help you find your sister¡¯s whereabouts once we get to the main city.¡±

    Liu Qiao was grateful and nodded earnestly. ¡°Thank you, Professor Xiao.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°No problem.¡±

    He took care of Liu Qiao because firstly, he promised Liu Qiao¡¯s sister that he would help her live well if they met one day. Secondly, he was a teacher and Liu Qiao was a student of his school. He couldn¡¯t watch Liu Qiao end up on the streets.

    He didn¡¯t have the ability to help too many people but taking care of one student was more than enough.

    The trio discussed their next ns and at this moment, there was a broadcast on the ne. ¡°Passengers, our ne is about tond. Please fasten your seatbelts¡­¡±

    After a slight jolt, the ne slowlynded on the ground.

    The crowd was guided by the flight attendants and disembarked into an orderly manner, entering the airport.

    It was still night outside. The moment the trio walked out of the airport, they saw a full moon hanging in the night sky. It was the most beautiful moon they had ever seen. The huge moon seemed to be within reach and soft moonlight covered the city. The lights were bright in the distance and the residents of the city clearly hadn¡¯t slept yet. Their night life might just be beginning.

    The clock at the airport showed that it was 8 o¡¯clock at night.

    A breeze blew, bringing the scene of light grass and wood. The suitable temperature and fresh air made all three people feel extremelyfortable.

    Looking back from the outside, they found that the airport was built into the shape of a big tree. The central axis was the trunk and the three floors above were like extended branches. The entire building was surrounded by green vines and the air corridor was full of flowers. These flowers were growing very vigorously. Some light blue flowers fell to the ground from the third floor, forming arge ¡®flower waterfall.¡¯

    Liu Qiao couldn¡¯t help marvelling. ¡°In the real world, this would definitely be a tourist attraction.¡±

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°It is beautiful enough to hold a wedding here.¡±

    In particr, the flora waterfall of the airport was better than any real-life floral-themed tourist attractions. There was argevender flower bed in the distance. The purple flowers were open in the moonlight and emitted a faint fragrance.

    A girl next to it spoke excitedly, ¡°Oh my god! Such argevender field is so beautiful!¡¯

    It was beautiful here and the design of the airport alone was amazing.

    The most shocking it was, the more uneasy Xiao Lou became. He could see that many challengers liked these flowers and nts very much. If it was the real world, they might use their mobile phones to take photos of themselves, sending it to their friends. Their surprise was clearly revealed, even if this was the Card World.

    If they were asked ¡®Do you want to settle down in the city?¡¯ at this time, they might hesitate.

    Then what about after a while? The hesitation at the bottom of their hearts was likely to disappear.

    Xiao Lou gently kneaded his temple. ¡°What a beautiful city.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke coldly. ¡°We can¡¯t be fooled by the jokers¡¯ means. Come, let¡¯s find a ce to live.¡±

    However, as soon as the trio took a few steps, they noticed a banner outside the airport. One of the banners read: Penniless ¡®foreigners¡¯,e to us and we will provide a temporary shelter!

    ¡®Foreigners¡¯ were marked in red and quoted. This was what the local residents called the challengers and they didn¡¯t need to use quotes. It should be a challengers¡¯ organization.

    Next to it was a banner saying: New recruitment for Luoying Pavilion. Girls cane for a consultation.

    Xiao Lou saw this and whispered in Liu Qiao¡¯s ear. ¡°Little Liu, go over there and ask what is happening.¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded and went to the Luoying Pavilion recruitment point. There were two women there with exquisite makeup. They were chatting and smiling and their state of mind looked really good.

    Liu Qiao chatted with them for a while before returning to Xiao Lou¡¯s side and whispering, ¡°It is a challengers association that only epts women. Girls with no team can register with them and they will help arrange a team.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang took a look. There were plenty of challenger organizations in the main city.

    They were wondering about it when a soft female voice entered their ears. ¡°This is a broadcast to find someone., a broadcast to find someone. Foreign visitor, Mr Yu Hanjiang, Mr Yu Hanjiang, please go to the airport information desk. There is a friend waiting for you.¡±

    This broadcast stunned all three people.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Someone is looking for me?¡±

    Xiao Lou suddenly realized something. ¡°Group Leader Yu, it might be a friend from real life.¡±

    Liu Qiao also responded, ¡°Yes, Professor Xiao and Office Yu broke the record for 3 of Hearts and 4 of Hearts. I saw this so perhaps the challengers of the main city also saw it.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded in agreement. ¡°If it is someone who knows Group Leader Yu in real life then they will surely know that you also came to the Card World after seeing the news. They can estimate the time that you will enter the main city and watch for flightsing from 4 of Clubs or the training from 4 of hearts. It is convenient and quick to find people through the broadcast.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang felt it made sense and turned around. ¡°Go and see.¡±

 Chapter 119: Challengers Association

    Xiao Lou thought that the airport broadcast was definitely a real world friend looking for Yu Hanjiang.

    However, the trio had just entered the airport when they heard the announcer¡¯s soft voicee from the radio again. ¡°This is a broadcast looking for someone. Foreign vistor Mr Xiao Lou, Mr Xiao Lou, pleasee to the airport information desk. A friend is waiting for you.¡±

    The three people stopped at the same time and looked at each other.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Do you have friends looking for you?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°No, none of my real world friends have died unexpectedly in recent years. If something happened to them after me, they wouldn¡¯t have passed the fourth level so quickly.¡±

    Liu Qiao suddenly thought of a possibility. ¡°Is it because the two of you set a new secret room record, making the challenger organizations look for you? I saw the news in the floating box at the time and you are probably the most famous challengers among the new arrivals.¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s words made sense. No matter the situation, since the other person in the airport was looking for them, the two people couldn¡¯t ignore it. They would go and see the identity. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other, turned and continued towards the information desk.

    The three people walked over to the information desk and saw a woman wearing sunsses quietly waiting to the side. The woman was 1.75 metres and had a thin body. She had a typical oval face, white skin and sexy, curly hair. After seeing the three people, she took the initiative to say, ¡°Excuse me, are you Mr Yu and Mr Xiao?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. Then the woman took off her sunsses and took the initiative to reach out. ¡°Hello, my name is Xue Mingyue.¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t remember this person and nced at Yu Hanjiang in a puzzled manner. Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t reach for her hand and spoke directly, ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t know you.¡±

    Xue Mingyue smiled. ¡°It is enough that I know you.¡± She nced around at the passengers and suggested, ¡°We should go somewhere else and speak.¡±

    The trio followed her to a secluded corner of the airport. Xue Mingyue looked around alertly and said, ¡°There were many local people at the information desk just now and it wasn¡¯t convenient to talk.¡± She lowered her voice. ¡°I am also a challenger. The president sent me to pick you up. The two of you who have set new records in the Hearts secret rooms are the strongest challengers in this group of new people.¡±

    After perceiving that the other side had no malice, Xiao Lou smiled with relief and asked, ¡°President? What president?¡±

    Xue Mingyue answered, ¡°The president of the challengers association, ¡®Distant Guild.¡¯ It is one of thergest associations in the City of the Moon and has only one principle¡ªto go back using every means. We know that our home isn¡¯t here.¡±

    The aim of this association happened to coincide with Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou¡¯s goal.

    Both of them nced at each other and continued to listen.

    Xue Mingyue found that the two people were watching seriously and went on to say, ¡°We will select some strong challengers from each group of new people and invite them to join the guild. An elite team will be set up within the guild to cope with the World Weekly and subsequent difficult levels. The two of you have done well and refreshed many world records. Thus, our president ¡®Old Gui¡¯ has been paying attention to you for a long time.¡±

    She spoke a long paragraph. Yu Hanjiang captured the key information and frowned. ¡°World Weekly? What do you mean?¡±

    Xue Mingyue exined, ¡°The airport is full of people. Can I ask you two¡­¡± She found that the two people had been followed by an indifferent looking female and awkwardly changed her words. ¡°Pleasee back to the association¡¯s headquarters with me. Our president would like to talk to you personally.¡±

    Xiao Lou was worried about a scam but the main city looked peaceful and force shouldn¡¯t be openly used. If there was danger then Yu Hanjiang had his guns. Even so, he nced at Yu Hanjiang and said, ¡°Group Leader Yu, please wait for me for a few minutes. I want to go to the bathroom.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was very cooperative. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll wait for you here.¡±

    Before leaving, Xiao Lou secretly opened Qin Guan¡¯s heart channel with Yu Hanjiang. The heart channel was established and his thoughts were conveyed to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mind.

    After a few seconds, Xiao Lou¡¯s voice rang in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mind. ¡°Group Leader Yu, we have been in a closed off level and didn¡¯t expect our names to appear so many times in the challengers¡¯ floating box. Now almost all challengers in the Card World know our existence and this can be a good and bad thing.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang understood what he meant. ¡°I understand. Xue Mingyue¡¯s origin is unknown. She says she is from a challengers association but her credibility is still uncertain. We can gain information from her but we have to be ready to retreat at any time.¡±

    ¡°I think so as well. First, I¡¯ll open Tao Yuanming¡¯s Peach Blossom Spring in a ce where no one is present. In 30 minutes, if the situation isn¡¯t right then we will immediately transfer back to the airport.¡±

    Professor Xiao¡¯s caution was truly appreciated. Yu Hanjiang immediately agreed. ¡°Yes, it is just as you say.¡±

    Xue Mingyue found that since Xiao Lou went to the toilet, the handsome man in front of him had fallen silent. His eyes were fixed on the ground, slender fingers touching his chin like he was thinking of something. As for the girl, she had been silent from beginning to end and had a very low sense of existence.

    Xue Mingyue didn¡¯t disturb them. She didn¡¯t know that Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were currently speaking to each other.

    Xiao Lou soon came back. His hands were still wet and had apparently just been washed. It was naturally necessary toplete a full act. Then Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Xue Mingyue took the three people with the parking lot. She drove a red car and the license te should be that of the Card World. Liu Qiao consciously sat in the passenger¡¯s seat and left the back seats to Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang. They got on one after another.

    The back row was extremely spacious. Xiao Lou asked, ¡°This car is very good. How much is it in the Card World?¡±

    Xue Mingyue¡¯s lip curved. ¡°Change to yuan, it is around 120,000.¡± She saw Xiao Lou¡¯s surprised expression through the rearview mirror and shrugged. ¡°This world¡¯s prices are really low. It is very easy to buy a car and a house so many challengers who stay here for a long time are attracted by the ultra-low price and don¡¯t want to go back.¡±

    Xiao Lou had expected it but his heart was still ufortable when he heard her say so.

    The vehicle started and Xue Mingyue drove from the airport at high speed. There were roads in every direction and several sky highways, making traffic jams almost nonexistent. The scenery here was very beautiful. Street lights were hung from the trees and the tall trees beside the road formed a natural shade. The fallen vines looked likerge green waterfalls from afar.

    Cards drove on the road like they were driving through the jungle.

    Xiao Lou looked out the window at the beautiful scenery and endless starry sky as he chatted with Xue Mingyue.

    Thanks to Xue Mingyue, he knew that the proportion of locals and challengers in the City of the Moon was around 6:4. There were around 40 million challengers and 60 million locals in the city, with a total poption of more than 100 million. This was muchrger than the Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou areas on Earth.

    Xue Mingyue told them, ¡°The only difference between the locals and challengers is that the locals go to work from Monday to Friday and get off work on Saturday and Sunday. Meanwhile, challengers have a fixed time to break through on Saturdays and Sundays.¡±

    Xiao Lou made a guess. ¡°The breakthrough every week is what you call World Weekly?¡±

    Xue Mingyue nodded. ¡°The World Weekly forces all challengers to enter. There is a mysterious force that sucks us directly into arge secret room. Many locals always wonder why us outsiders disappear over time¡­in fact, they don¡¯t disappear but die in the secret rooms.¡±

    Her eyes stared straight ahead and a trace of loss shed through them. ¡°Thus, you can live a normal life in this world but it is precarious¡­ no one knows what will happen next week and who wille back alive.¡±

    Liu Qiao looked at her from the passenger¡¯s seat and spoke her first sentence. ¡°The World Weekly¡¯s secret room is random?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it might be Hearts, Diamonds, Spades or Clubs.¡±

    Xiao Lou frowned. ¡°I remember that there are tens of millions of challengers who enter the secret room. So many people are sucked into the same secret room? What would the plot be like if tens of millions of people are involved in the Hearts secret room?¡±

    Xue Mingyue smiled and exined, ¡°The tens of millions of people would be scattered to different instances of the same secret room. Every secret room can amodate up to 100 people. If it is a Hearts secret room then there will probably only be a dozen people.¡± She took a look at Xiao Lou in the rearview mirror. ¡°In fact, it is very simr to a game world. We are game yers and forced to perform weekend tasks. The locals are NPCs who don¡¯t need to do tasks.¡±

    The car fell silent. Xiao Lou looked out the window and thought about it. Unexpectedly, the challengers had the random World Weekly in addition to the fixed secret rooms clearance.

    The World Weekly mission would pull tens of millions of challengers into secret rooms. There might beplex homicides, oversized mazes, extremely harsh conditions or the Clubs secret room that would eliminate one of the two camps.

    The challengers experienced a thrilling life-and-death game every week. Maybe someone who was talking to you yesterday would nevere back after the weekend.

    Thus, even if the material conditions of this world were good, the challengers had no sense of ¡®security.¡¯ No one knew if they could live through the World Weekly. Even if they came back one week, could they make it the next week?

    There was only one way for a truly secure life. Clear the SS secret rooms and return to the real world.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and looked at Yu Hanjiang sitting beside him. Yu Hanjiang was also looking back and the two people used their heart channel to continue speaking.

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°The World Weekly routine should be to randomly create a secret room every week. This is different from the fixed secret rooms of the 52 ying cards. Moreover, all challengers have to go to this weekly mission. It definitely won¡¯t be too simple.¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°World Weekly is on the weekends. Then the other secret rooms can only be cleared on Monday-Friday?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°For us, challenging the secret rooms is like going to work.¡±

    The two people did the spiritual exchange and soon heard Xue Mingyue¡¯s voice. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡±

    She parked the car in front of a beautifully designed building.

    It was a three-storey vi built of pure solid wood. At this time, the vi was lit up with warm yellow lights.

    There was a small river in front of them and a wooden pathway that reached the front of the vi. Flowers were nted in front of the door and it was surrounded by tall trees. There was also a swimming pool the same size as a basketball court. It could be seen that the owner here enjoyed life very much.

    Xue Mingyue took everyone to the door and gently knocked. ¡°President, the people you are looking for hase.¡±

    A low voice came from inside the house. ¡°Bring them in.¡±

    The trio walked into the vi.

    A man approximately 40 years old was sitting on the sofa. He had an upright posture and wore a grey Chinese tunic suit. He gave off a very cultured first impression. The vi was entirely decorated in the Chinese style. There was a full range of solid wood furniture and looked very imposing.

    There was a delicate tea set on the coffee table and he was making tea in the teapot. The man looked up at the three people. He had an imposing manner around him and spoke lightly, ¡°The three of you, please sit. I made tea and we can drink while chatting.¡±

    The three people had to walk over and sit down.

    The man introduced himself. ¡°I am called Gui Yuanzhang. I am a calligrapher in reality.¡±

    Xiao Lou took a cup and was surprised. ¡°Mr Gui? I¡¯ve heard of you.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang looked at him. ¡°Is that so?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°My father loved calligraphy and collected some of your works.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhangughed. ¡°It¡¯s an honour.¡±

    He handed them the delicate purple teacups and said, ¡°Xiao Xue should¡¯ve told you that I¡¯ve been paying attention to the two of you because you broke the world records of the Hearts rooms. I went to the Intelligence Bureau and found that Group Leader Yu is a real police officer and Professor Xiao is a forensic doctor. The two strong people joined hands and the Hearts secret room should be very easy, right?¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were surprised. They hadn¡¯t expected him to find this out.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Is there an intelligence agency that allowed you to find out our real identity?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang smiled. ¡°Yes, the Intelligence Bureau is also a challenger organization. They have collected a lot of information on challengers and locals. They can answer whatever you want to ask as long as you can afford the price.¡±

    Liu Qiao heard up to here and couldn¡¯t help gently clenching his fists. There was an organization like the Intelligence Bureau. Could she go to the Intelligence Bureau and ask about the whereabouts of her sister?

    Gui Yuanzhang nced at her. ¡°Little girl, you seem to have something on your mind?¡±

    Liu Qiao didn¡¯t say anything about her sister. Perhaps it was a woman¡¯s sixth sense but this man always gave her a strange feeling. She didn¡¯t dare to show her weakness in front of a stranger. What if the other person knew she had a sister and took her sister to threaten her?

    Thinking up to here, Liu Qiao calmly replied, ¡°Nothing, I just think this Intelligence Bureau is somewhat magical.¡± She quickly changed the topic. ¡°Mr Gui, Miss Xue said that the ultimate goal of your association is to return to reality, right?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Liu Qiao asked, ¡°How many people are there in your association?¡±

    ¡°The Distant Guild one of thergest associations in the Card World, with over 10,000 members.¡±

    Liu Qiao wondered, ¡°Then why did the keeper tell me that until now, no one has sessfully cleared this world?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang suddenly fell silent.

    Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t expected Liu Qiao to be so sharp. Just now, he was afraid that she would say something about her sister when she became excited. If her weakness was exposed to strangers then it could cause trouble. Fortunately, Liu Qiao was careful enough to not say too much to strangers. She knew the existence of the Intelligence Bureau and could find her sister on her own. This was the most sensible approach.

    Her question was crucial and all three people waited for Mr Gui¡¯s answer.

    Momentster, Gui Yuanzhang told them, ¡°It is because theter secret rooms are too difficult. We organized an elite team of 10 people. Among them are reasoning writers, sports athletes, dance teachers, Mathemathics Olympiad champion, singers, painters¡­ it was a gathering of the best talents from various fields. As a result, they only went to one S-grade secret room, J of Hearts, andpletely disappeared.¡±

    He picked up the purple teacup and drank the tea. He sighed and whispered, ¡°Even the Intelligence Bureau can¡¯t find their whereabouts. They should¡¯ve all died in J of Hearts.¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help feeling taken aback.

    A reasoning writer¡¯s analytical ability should be no worse than him and Group Leader Yu. The Olympiad champion¡¯s calction ability might be more powerful than him and athletes were physically strong. A dance teacher had a flexible body and talents such as singing and painting could create a magical effect when encountering a barrier. Such a strong team couldn¡¯t even clear the instance?

    ¡°Since then, many people have been afraid to challenge the J and above secret rooms. At present, the average progress in this world is the seventh level and the highest is stopped at the 10th level.¡±

    A bit of bleakness shed in his eyes. ¡°My group insists on going back but we were greatly damaged after losing such an elite team. It is difficult to duplicate.¡± He looked up at the two men. ¡°Your presence gives me some confidence.¡±

    Xue Mingyue smiled next to him. ¡°Since Group Leader Yu entered the Card World, you refreshed the record of 2 of Hearts, Rose Funeral. The president has been watching you since there. We have many experts in the guild. If you want to go back then you can consider joining us.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang said, ¡°Theter secret rooms will be more and more difficult. It is only by gathering arge number of experts that there is hope of clearing this world.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were a bit moved but they didn¡¯t make a hasty decision.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s spoke in a low voice. ¡°Mr Gui, thank you for the invitation. We can¡¯t give you an answer immediately. We have several friends we separated from when entering the main city. Once theye, we will discuss it with them and then tell you our decision.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang was startled. ¡°Isn¡¯t it just you two? I remember the world record only has your names.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and exined. ¡°They are friends we know from the Spades secret room. We are like-minded and discussed forming a team in advance. We can¡¯t act in bad faith.¡±

    Yuanzhang asked, ¡°I can help you find them. What are the names of your friends?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°We won¡¯t trouble you. We have a good meeting ce and the time is approaching. We should go back first and meet with our friends.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang suggested enthusiastically, ¡°Why not stay at my ce tonight?¡±

    Xiao Lou stood up. ¡°We won¡¯t trouble you. After thinking clearly, we will personallye to visit.¡±

    The other side smiled and no longer suggested it. He let Xue Mingyue send them back.

    XIao Lou said they were meeting with friends at the city central square. Xue Mingyue returned the trio to the central square. Xiao Lou pulled Yu Hanjiang and Liu Qiao to a corner with no one present and directly used Tao Yuanming¡¯s to return to the Peach Blossom Spring at the airport.

    Looking at the familiar Peach Blossom Spring, Xiao Lou was finally relieved.

    -A heart¡¯s defenses were indispensable.

    Joining this challenger organization might cause trouble for them.

    It was better to wait until they found Shao Qingge and Ye Qi to talk about it. It was currently Monday in this world and there were four days until the World Weekly. They needed to investigate and collect enough information before making a decision.

 Chapter 120: Convergence

    After the trio returned to the Peach Blossom Spring, they sat under the tree to rest and discuss countermeasures.

    It could be seen from Xue Mingyue¡¯s words that there were tens of millions of locals and challengers in the City of the Moon. The city wasrger than the Earth-era capital and it wasn¡¯t easy to find two people in such a big city.

    Xue Mingyue¡¯s approach gave Xiao Lou inspiration. ¡°What if we move to the station and use the search broadcast?¡±

    Liu Qiao agreed with a nod. ¡°We can try it.¡±

    They left the Peach Blossom Spring and took a taxi to the train station.

    Unlike the tree-shaped airport, the shape of the train station was more like a flower in full bloom. The green and leafy part of the first floor was the arrival level, while the flower was the second floor departure hall. The green leaves with the light blue flowers made the entire station look very recognizable. There were more pedestrians here than at the airport and it was hard to tell the challengers from the locals.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s group took the esctor to the arrival level. They were just going to the information desk when suddenly, a middle-aged man came to the three of them and asked, ¡°The three of you, can I help you find a hotel?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked cautiously at him. ¡°No thanks.¡±

    The man came to them and whispered, ¡°I also offer a consulting service for challengers.¡±

    Xiao Lou heard this and couldn¡¯t help wondering how the man could see they were challengers. Was the word ¡®challenger¡¯ written on their faces? Seeing his doubts, the middle-aged man smiled and said, ¡°You must be new to the City of the Moon but you didn¡¯t bring any luggage. Am I wrong?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked around and found that the passengersing and going did carry their luggage. Some were dragging suitcases, some were carrying travel bags and some white-cor workers were carrying briefcases. The three of them had empty hands and didn¡¯t look like passengers of the train.

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°We are going to pick up people.¡±

    The middle-aged man said, ¡°Then you should go to the side of the arrival channel, not this way.¡±

    His bluff was punctured and Xiao Lou had to smile helplessly, ¡°Okay, why are you looking for us?¡±

    The middle-aged man said, ¡°The challengers whoe here are as empty-handed you. They have nothing by cards.¡± The man waved the moment he saw Yu Hanjiang¡¯s cold and sharp eyes. ¡°I have no malice. I am looking for novices at the train station to provide consulting services. This is also a way to support myself since life is hard in the Card World!¡±

    He had an ¡®I have elderly parents and children, it isn¡¯t easy to support my family¡¯ sincere expression. ¡°If you have any questions then you can ask me for advice. For example, which hotel environment is good and cheap, where are the delicious and affordable food, which agency should you use to rent a house etc. In addition, if you need a one day tour of the City of the Moon then I can contact a travel agency for you.¡±

    He looked at Xiao Lou with a big smile. ¡°I don¡¯t charge much. You only had to pay after receiving a satisfactory answer. If you aren¡¯t satisfied then you can get a refund. You will only be charged 5,000 gold coins for a question and this is equivalent to 50 yuan. By the way, you can call me Old Mo, this is my business card.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    This brother was quite talented. He actually thought of this way to make money.

    However, challengers who just came to the City of the Moon really didn¡¯t know anything. They were like headless flies and were easily cheated. If they stayed in a ce that robbed or killed guests like Financial Crisis, don¡¯t mention the possibility of their money being stolen. Their lives might be lost.

    50 yuan wasn¡¯t expensive to consult with an insider. He just didn¡¯t know if this old man was reliable. Xiao Lou looked down at the business card.

    Mo Xuemin, 40 years old, designer of Xinxin Decoration Company, Tel: 0099-86590876.

    Yu Hanjiang simply took out 10,000 gold coins out of his pocket and asked, ¡°There are two questions. If you can really answer them then the 10,000 gold coins will be given to you. First, how can I get in contact with the Intelligence Bureau?¡±

    Old Mo wondered, ¡°You are very well informed. You just came here and already know about the Intelligence Bureau?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Do you know how to contact them?¡±

    The man smiled and touched his nose. ¡°The Intelligence Bureau is very mysterious. Their boss has never been seen and we only know that his surname is Tang. We call him Mr Tang. The headquarters of the Intelligence Bureau is unknown but there are four branches in the City of the Moon and in the City of the Sun.¡±

    He came over and lowered his voice. ¡°The four branches have the big sign ¡®Tang Welfare Lottery¡¯. They are located in the city centres and sell lottery tickets on the surface. However, people in the Card World don¡¯t understand the lottery at all. These lottery stores only operate on Wednesday. You can go to any branch to buy a ticket on Wednesday.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had questioned many prisoners and this man didn¡¯t seem to be a liar, from his expression to his eyes. He dared to look into Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes when answering questions and had a sincere attitude. Yu Hanjiang believed his answer for the moment and gave 10,000 gold coins.

    Immediately, he followed by asking, ¡°Do you know the challenger associations? Give us a brief introduction?¡±

    The middle-aged man took the gold coins and replied seriously. ¡°Thergest challenger association among the challengers is called the Eternal Kingdom and their headquarters is in the City of the Sun. Their purpose is to live happily in the Card World. They only want to cope with the World Weekly and don¡¯t want to continue breaking through. Among them, there are people who marry and have children with local residents. Almost all of them have a happy life with car and houses.¡±

    ¡°The secondrgest association is the Distant Guild. Their ultimate goal is to return to reality. Their president is called Old Gui and he is a calligrapher. He requires members to keep a distance from the residents of the Card World, in order to adhere to their original intention and not be assimted here.¡±

    ¡°The thirdrgest association is called Luoying Pavilion and it only epts female challengers. The president is a very powerful woman and it is said that she killed everyone who provoked her.¡± Once he said this, he suddenly paused. ¡°I¡¯m trying to save more money for the next Clubs secret room. s, it is more tiring to do the World Weekly and continue clearing secret rooms.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked inquisitively, ¡°Why do you have to go back?¡±

    A trace of loss shed in Old Mo¡¯s eyes. He bowed his head and smiled bitterly. ¡°My daughter had just been admitted to middle school when I had my ident. She is in her teens without a mother and now she has no father. Will she have to get through her university entrance examination and marry alone in the future?¡±

    The three people fell silent at the same time.

    This man was really sincere. He sold information to get ie and his approach was simr to the Intelligence Bureau. It was just that he worked along and could only find some new people in the city to sell daily life-rted information.

    Liu Qiao asked, ¡°Uncle, have you thought of joining the Distant Guild?¡±

    Old Mo smiled bitterly. ¡°No, the Distant Guild¡¯s recruitment requirements are very strict. You must have more than two S-grade cards to be eligible to join. Until now, I¡¯ve mostly received an A evaluation when clearing secret rooms. I have a bunch of A-grade cards in my hand but no S.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought it was no wonder the Distant Guild had directly invited him and Yu Hanjiang to join. They had refreshed the world records of 3 of Hearts and 4 of Hearts. They must¡¯ve passed with an S-grade evaluation and would definitely have more than 2 S-grade cards.

    Yu Hanjiang seized the key part in Old Mo¡¯s words. ¡°You mean that in the four secret rooms of Hearts, Diamonds, Spades and Clubs, you¡¯ve received an A evaluation?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it was just unfortunate that I couldn¡¯t get an S evaluation.¡±

    Xiao Lou reacted to these words. This Old Mo was actually quite strong. He was like some students who had no particrly good or particrly bad subjects. However, if he got good grades in all subjects then his total score would be better than students who were only good in some subjects. What did this mean? The man in front of them had a flexible mind and was knowledgeable.

    Xiao Lou was very interested in him and smiled. ¡°Mr Mo, can I ask you what you did in the real world? Of course, this is about your privacy so it doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t answer.¡±

    Old Moughed. ¡°When I was young, I did sales. Once I earned enough money, I opened my own home decoratingpany. In this world, I work part-time at the Xinxin Decorating Company. If youter buy a house and want a designer then you can find me. I will give a 20% discount!¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes brightened. The eloquence of a salesperson wasn¡¯t bad. No wonder why Group Leader Yu was moved by his few words and asked for information. A decoratingpany involved a lot of space design and this Old Mo should have a strong sense of space. It wasn¡¯t a coincidence that his secret room evaluation was A. His 40 years of living left traces of the years on this face and also gave him rich experience.

    Moreover, he remembered his daughter and his faith to go back wouldn¡¯t be shaken.

    Yu Hanjiang happily handed him the gold coins and said, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Mo Xuemin smiled and waved. ¡°You¡¯re wee. I wish the three of you good luck. You cane to me if you have any questions.¡±

    He turned to leave, stopping a couple on the esctor to sell his ¡®information business.¡¯

    Xiao Lou saw him work so hard and felt sad for a moment.

    Liu Qiao sighed. ¡°I can understand his feeling of wanting to go back. My father also loves me and my sister very much. I can see that Old Mo misses his daughter. As a father, he can¡¯t be reassured about her being left alone.¡±

    In this world, he cheekily blocked new people and sold information to make money. Her ie every day must be very rich and his brain was flexible from doing sales. Xiao Lou sincerely admired him. It wasn¡¯t easy to hold onto this first heart.

    Yu Hanjiang saw Xiao Lou putting the business card away and asked, ¡°You are keeping his business card. Do you want to contact himter?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°We can add a lot of people after the contract book is upgraded. I will keep it first and look at the situation. I think that Old Mo is very good and he has an A-grade evaluation in all secret rooms so his strength isn¡¯t bad. We can consider it.¡±

    Liu Qiao also felt that Old Mo was particrly kind and sincere, much like her father. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t have two S-grade cards on his body so the Distant Guild wouldn¡¯t ept him. He could only use this method to find a way to earn money.

    If Professor Xiao and Group Leader Yu were willing to ept Old Mo then she was very much in favour.

    Yu Hanjiang rarely went against Xiao Lou¡¯s decisions. He nodded and said, ¡°Yes, I remember the senior contract book can have up to 15 people. We will first find Chief Shao and Ye Qi before asking Old Mo about the World Weekly and secret rooms. Then if conditions permit, we can add more reliable people to improve our team¡¯s ability.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Okay, go and find Ye Qi and Shao Qingge.¡±

    The three people walked to the information desk and Xiao Lou politely spoke to the beauty at the information desk. ¡°Hello, can you help us make a broadcast? We were separated from two friends from abroad and can¡¯t find them.¡±

    The beauty said, ¡°Okay. Sir, please write what you need to broadcast on this form.¡±

    A momentter, the gentle voice of the female announcer was heard. ¡°Foreign guests, Mr Shao Qingge and Mr Ye Qi, your friends are waiting for you at the information desk. Please go to the information desk after hearing this broadcast. Thank you.¡±

    This broadcast was repeated twice in a row. Xiao Lou thanked her and patiently waited. However, an hour passed and there were still no signs of Shao Qingge and Ye Qi. Seeing that it was gettingte, Xiao Lou broadcast it again at 22 o¡¯clock. The two people didn¡¯te and he helplessly looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°I think we probably missed them.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang slightly frowned. They went to a corner with no one present and he lowered his voice. ¡°The keepers will regr the time. In 4 of Hearts, we need to stay on the train for three days but three days in 4 of Hearts might be only 30 minutes in the main city. There are two possibilities. Either Shao Qingge and Ye Qi have already arrived or they are still in 4 of Hearts.¡±

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Why don¡¯t we settle down first before searching?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang touched his chin and thought, ¡°However, what if theye to the station once we leave? In such a big city, finding two people is like looking for a needle in a haystack.¡±

    Liu Qiao thought about it. ¡°The Intelligence Bureau will definitely charge an expensive fee to find people and it also only opens on Wednesday. Today is Monday. Did you have a promised ce to meet? For example, the central square or thergest coffee store in the city.¡±

    Xiao Lou gently rubbed his forehead and smiled helplessly. ¡°I was indeed too negligent. I thought everyone would be transferred to the same ce in the City of the Moon.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly said, ¡°If we really got separated, perhaps we try searching a ce where Shao Qingge would be.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Yes, the underground casino!¡±

    The City of the Moon had the most professional underground casino. Shao Qingge had said as early as 3 of Spades that he would go there to take a look if he had a chance. Thus, if Shao Qingge and Ye Qi couldn¡¯t find them, he might go to the underground casino mentioned previously to wait for them.

    Thinking up to here, Xiao Lou immediately eximed, ¡°Let¡¯s go now!¡±

    The trio took the taxi to the city¡¯srgest underground casino.

    They thought the casino would be a smoky and morous ce. Unexpectedly, the management here was very formal. The guests going in and out of the casino were well dressed. The reception staff were very handsome and smiled as they opened the door for the group.

    The three people entered the casino. The casino had a total of three floors. The first floor was the lobby while and the second and third floors were the private rooms. The hall contained countless card tables. The dealers were wearing white gloves and issuing cards to everyone. None of the yers sitting at the card tables made loud noises and their voices were very low. Shao Qingge was sure to like this orderly gaming.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes quickly swept across the room and then he suddenly turned towards a corner. They saw a handsome man sitting at the card table in the corner. He had chestnut hair tied in a small ponytail and peach blossom eyes. He was smiling and collecting gold coins from the table. ¡°Sorry, I won this game again!¡±

    Next to him sat a teenager, looking to the left and right in an uneasy manner. It was Shao Qingge and Ye Qi! Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes brightened and he walked over, stopping around 10 metres away from the table.

    Shao Qingge found them and immediately stood up. ¡°Everybody, I have to go. We will have the opportunity to y togetherter.¡±

    He took the pile of coins and came up to them. ¡°The two of you finally came. I was waiting.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°When did youe?¡±

    Shao Qinggehad a headache. ¡°We arrived at 8 o¡¯clock in the morning. We waited at the station all morning and became so hungry that I took Ye Qi to eat. In the afternoon, I heard that some people came by ne so we went to the airport to find you¡­ After dinner, I suddenly remembered there was a casino and decided toe here to wait for you.¡±

    Ye Qi came over and muttered in a low voice, ¡°Shao Qingge is too strong. He just yed ten games and won hundreds of thousands of gold coins.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and gave a thumbs up. ¡°As expected of Chief Shao.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the time. ¡°It is almost 11 o¡¯clock. ¡°Let¡¯s find a hotel to stay in and speak.¡±

 Chapter 121: Contract

    After leaving the underground casino, Xiao Lou found a public phone booth nearby, pulled the business card out of his pocket and called Mo Xuemin. ¡°Old Mo, I am the challenge who just asked about the Intelligence Bureau at the railway station. We want to find a hotel to settle in temporarily. Do you have any affordable hotel rmendations?¡± He added, ¡°Can we transfer the consulting fee to you?¡±

    Mo Xuemin¡¯s warm voice entered his ears. ¡°You can! How many days are you going to stay?¡±

    ¡°First, stay for a week. Then we want to find ways to rent a house.¡±

    Mo Xuemin thought about it and replied, ¡°Then you can take a taxi to the Clear Pool District. It is a suburb of the City of the Moon. The hotels are very cheap and I rmend the New World Restore. The environment is good and the price of a luxury twin room is 15,000 gold coins for one night. I live there so don¡¯t worry. The security there is very strict and it is very safe!¡±

    15,000 gold coins were less than 150 yuan. This was really cheap enough.

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Thank you, Old Mo.¡±

    Mo Xuemin told him, ¡°If you have any problems when you arrive then find me. I¡¯m going back.¡±

    ¡°Okay. What room do you live in? I¡¯ll give you the consultation fee then.¡±

    ¡°I live in 507. I¡¯ll see youter!¡±

    After hanging up the phone, Shao Qingge wondered, ¡°Professor Xiao, why did you consult this person?¡±

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°We met a senior at the railway station who sells information to make money. He is very sincere so I asked him first so that we don¡¯t stay in an unscrupulous ce again.¡±

    Ye Qi was alert. ¡°You encountered him at the train station? Would he be a liar?¡± He used to take a train and every time he got off, some uncles would pull him over and ask, ¡°Stay here?¡± He was afraid and always felt cheated.

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°We just have to ask a few locals to know if he is a liar or not.¡± He nced at the nearby fruits store and went to buy some fruit. As he paid for the fruit, he casually asked the clerk, ¡°Beauty, do you know how to get to the Clear Pool district?¡±

    The clerk packed the fruit and smiled. ¡°Are you foreigners? The Clear Pool district is to the east of the City of the Moon. You are currently in the west of the city. If you take a taxi then you should get there in an hour.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Are there many foreigners staying there?¡±

    The store clerk said, ¡°Yes, the eastern suburbs have the cheapest prices in the entire city.¡±

    Xiao Lou thanked her and came out with the fruit.

    Shao Qingge suggested, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have eaten yet? Do you want to eat something before finding the hotel?¡±

    Xiao Lou was indeed a bit hungry. They found a fast food restaurant on the road and every person ordered a meal. During the process of eating, they asked the employees about the Clear Pool district. They all said it was a suburb with many foreigners. Obviously, there was no problem with the information given by Old Mo.

    Since a taxi could take a maximum of four people, the five of them had to take two taxis to the Clear Pool district. Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge took one while Ye Qi and Liu Qiao followed in another.

    The taxi driver was talkative. Once he heard that everyone was going to the Clear Pool district, he chatted with Xiao Lou about the district. He also rmended Clear Pool¡¯s pedestrian street, saying that there were several cheap barbecue stores there. He also talked about several tourist attractions and shopping centres that foreigners must go to.

    Xiao Lou suddenly had the illusion of encountering an enthusiastic driver when travelling to a strange city. ¡°Thank you, Master. Please take us to the New World Resort.¡±

    The taxi stopped near the hotel. Seeing that Ye Qi and Liu Qiao hadn¡¯t got off yet, Shao Qingge whispered in Xiao Lou¡¯s ears. ¡°Professor Xiao, do you want to take in this Liu Qiao?¡±

    ¡°Yes, she lost all her gold coins in 4 of Clubs and we¡¯ll take her for a while.¡± Xiao Lou turned to Chief Shao. ¡°If she wants to join our team, are you willing to ept her?¡±

    Shao Qingge shrugged. ¡°I have no problem adding her as long as she doesn¡¯t drag us down.¡±

    ¡°She shouldn¡¯t drag us down. Liu Qiao is smart and cautious. She also has three S-grade cards in her hand. The Twin card that can copy anyone, Little Red Riding Hood and the Poison Queen she drew in 4 of Clubs. She is quite strong.¡±

    Shao Qingge spoke with some surprise. ¡°Is that so? She draws fairy tale cards?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps she has a rtionship with the fairy tale card. Meanwhile, I draw historical figures and Group Leader Yu draws weapons.¡±

    Shao Qingge touched his nose. ¡°I seem to be the worst in the team? Ye Qi has a few instrument control cards while I haven¡¯t drawn any useful cards.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang interjected. ¡°It is enough for you to make money.¡±

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Okay, he was in charge of making money and lying down to win.

    At this time, the taxi with Ye Qi and Liu Qiao arrived. The two people got off the car and walked to Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou smiled at them. ¡°We will go in together to check in.¡±

    The New World Hotel was 20 storeys high. There were tworge trees in front of the hotel connected by a canopy, each one forming a beautiful natural shade. After entering the lobby through a long corridor, Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up.

    The lobby that was six metres high looked extremely spacious and magnificent. There were many green vines falling from the ceiling and small white and blue flowers hanging from the vines. The white hall was like a romantic wedding scene.

    The lights in the room were covered with leaves and soft light sprinkled through the gap between the leaves, adding warmth to the room. There were no sofas in the lobby. They were all wooden chairs and there was the natural aroma of grass. This was much fresher than the inferior perfumes of many hotels.

    The hotel¡¯s clock pointed to 23 o¡¯clock.

    Xiao Lou took everyone to the front desk. ¡°Are there any rooms avable? Please book three double rooms for us.¡±

    The receptionist was a young girl with delicate makeup. She smiled slightly and said, ¡°Sir, there are rooms avable. Please show me your identity card.¡±

    Identity card? A hint of doubt shed in his eyes. Then immediately afterwards, he reacted by looking into his card pack. Sure enough, he had a new card in the pack after entering the City of the Moon.

    [Identity Card]

    Name: Xiao Lou

    Height: 180cm

    Weight: 65kg

    ID card number: 89657741

    There was no birthday on the ID card but the height and weight were written. This was probably the characteristics of the Card World? Xiao Lou handed the card over and the female smiled. ¡°How many people do you have? How many days do you want to stay?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°Five people for seven days.¡±

    ¡°All guests must give me their ID cards for verification. It is a rule.¡±

    Hearing this, the others followed Xiao Lou¡¯s example, found the identity cards in their bags and handed it to her.

    The girl took the five identity cards and operated theputer. Then she gave them three room cards. ¡°Three double rooms for seven days. The room number is 311, 312 and 313. The total price is 315,000 gold coins. How would you like to pay?¡±

    Shao Qingge asked, ¡°Do we have to pay in cash?¡±

    The employee replied, ¡°Sir, you can also swipe your identity card directly.¡±

    Shao Qingge didn¡¯t have much cash and he sighed with relief when he heard this. ¡°Then swipe my identity card. I should have money on the card.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± The receptionist entered the amount on the POS machine and a mechanical tone was heard. ¡°Please verify the fingerprint.¡± Shao Qingge put his index finger on it and the mechanical voice continued, ¡°The verification has passed. 315,000 gold coins have been deducted.¡±

    Sure enough, all the money he had previously made in the other secret rooms were automatically tied to his identity card.

    The receptionist handed them the three room cards and identity cards with a smile. ¡°Done. The rooms have free mineral water and your rooms are on the third floor. Please ept your identity cards and room cards.¡±

    The five people took back their cards and headed to the third floor.

    The third floor was a circr corridor and each corridor had 10 rooms. The middle of the hotel was a hollow structure with tree branches hanging from the roof. There were beautiful small lights hanging from the branches and the scene was fantastic.

    It was hard to imagine such a beautiful ce was so cheap.

    Liu Qiao spoke softly, ¡°Chief Shao, I¡¯ll pay you back for the room fee when I have money.¡± Since they were willing to take her penniless self, Liu Qiao was very grateful. She naturally didn¡¯t want to take advantage of them.

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°You don¡¯t have to pay me back. Just consider it as me treating you. We have more money and once we sell the bracelets, this money will be nothing.¡± He had always been generous with money and was embarrassed to ask for the amodation fee from Liu Qiao alone.

    Xiao Lou asked Liu Qiao, ¡°Which room will you stay in?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at the three rooms side by side. ¡°A girl should stay in the middle 312. It is safer.¡±

    Just then, there was the sound of footsteps in the corridor and a couple came over hand in hand.

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly suggested, ¡°Everyone, go to 311. There are some things to discuss with you.¡±

    Xiao Lou took out the door card, quickly opened the door and entered the room.

    The room was quiterge and spotless. Two neat wooden beds were covered with white bedding and there were wooden floorboards.

    Next to the floor-to-ceiling windows were two rattan chairs. There was also a light-coloured wooden coffee table that was like a tree. All buildings in the City of the Moon had this style.

    There was an LCD TV, desktopputer on the table and broadband Inte connection.

    In the real world, this was a homestay that would receive a very good evaluation.

    All five people were satisfied with the hotel environment and found a ce to sit down.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°Chief Shao, Little Ye, have you heard of World Weekly?¡±

    Ye Qi and Shao Qingge exchanged nk looks. ¡°What is World Weekly?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang exined, ¡°We were picked up by a challengers organization when we got off the ne. We met their president and the other side revealed that not only do challengers have to clear instances, they also have to participate in the World Weekly every weekend.¡±

    Ye Qi soon responded. ¡°Is it the same as a weekly task in the game? Is this mandatory reporting?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded solemnly. ¡°It is said that all challengers will be forced into the weekly secret room. The secret room is random and might be Hearts, Spades, Diamonds or Clubs. The World Weekly¡¯s task isn¡¯t directly rted to the 54 cards on the Card World and is a separate secret rooms. Many challengers are said to have not returned after disappearing on the weekend.¡±

    Shao Qingge frowned slightly when he heard this. ¡°Arge number of challenger will participate in the World Weekly. If it is a Spades secret room then it will be very vicious. The killing among challengers will be terrible.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°That¡¯s why I want to discuss with you how to deal with it. If we don¡¯t collect clues as soon as possible and attract fierce teammates, it is likely that we won¡¯t be able to pass the World Weekly, let alone theter secret rooms.¡±

    Shao Qingge looked at Xiao Lou with a puzzled manner. ¡°What is the situation of the challengers association? A guild was looking for you to invite you to join them?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°Yes, it is the Distant Guild. Their management saw the world announcement about Group Leader Yu and I refreshing the record of the Hearts secret room. They sent someone to the airport to invite us to join the guild. However, at that time, we haven¡¯t found you and Ye Qi yet. Secondly, we don¡¯t know enough about this guild so we didn¡¯t dare to agree.¡±

    ¡°Yes, once we join a big guild, we¡¯ll be bound to their interests.¡± Ye Qi agreed. ¡°Their enemies will be our enemies. It is like big guilds in a game. Their rtionship is quiteplex!¡±

    Shao Qingge frowned. ¡°I personally prefer to be free. A big guild will have huge power but there will be many rules, regtions and internal intrigue. Does this guild have any hostile forces? Let¡¯s find out before we join. Once we join, we will offend them if we quit.¡±

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°Yes, we aren¡¯t in a hurry to make a decision. Wait until the end of this weekend¡¯s World Weekly.¡±

    Ye Qi was curious. ¡°Apart from the Distant Guild, are there other challenger organizations?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°There is arge guild called the Eternal Kingdom. They only want to pass the World Weekly and not challenge the following secret rooms. They want to settle in the Card World. The other is the Luoying Pavilion, which only epts female yers. At present, we only know that their boss is very powerful. I don¡¯t know about others. There should be some smaller and powerful teams.¡±

    Ye Qi spoke up, ¡°I can understand if I treat this world as a game. The Distant Guild, Eternal Kingdom and Luoying Pavilion arerge yer guilds while the other small groups are groups of friends and rtives.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°You can understand it like that.¡±

    Ye Qi said, ¡°My personal opinion is that we should set up a small team on our own. It is easier to manage and a smaller number is more unified. A big guild is tooplicated. Whenever I y a game, I¡¯ve been trapped by the guild many times¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°The president of the Distant Guild, Gui Yuanzhang is a well-known calligrapher. I heard he is very good and shouldn¡¯t be deliberately pitting us. However, Little Ye¡¯s concerns are very reasonable. A guild is veryplicated. If there are any conflicts between us and the members or forces hostile to the guild then it will be difficult to deal with.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°It is better to be free. We can make our own decisions. However, I¡¯d like to confirm your thoughts again.¡± His eyes swept over Liu Qiao, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi. ¡°Professor Xiao and I have agreed to go back a long time ago. How about the three of you? Do you want to stay in the City of the Moon and live here or do you want to go back to the real world?¡±

    Liu Qiao said, ¡°I have to go back.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at her. ¡°Why?¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s eyes were very firm. ¡°My sister also came here. If both of us were killed in that car ident, what would our parents do? Our parents are ordinary workers and worked hard in order to let us go to university. I can¡¯t leave them alone.¡± Liu Qiao took a deep breath and said, ¡°I want to go back and if I find my sister, I want to take her back together.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and looked at Ye Qi.

    Ye Qi scratched the back of his head and spoke with some embarrassment. ¡°I also want to go back. In fact, in the real world, I participated in a singingpetition and reached the finales. My dream is to be a singer who can hold countries all over the country. I might be far away from that step but I have learned vocal music and various musical instruments since I was a child. My parents spent a lot of money to learn musical instruments so I just can¡¯t give up.¡±

    Liu Qiao suddenly asked, ¡°Are you the Ye Qi who took part in ¡®Chinese Singer¡¯ and made it to the final round? I remember that Ye Qi was also proficient in the piano, guitar, flute and other instruments. No wonder why I always feel you are familiar.¡±

    Ye Qi was proud about being recognized and excitedly turned to see her. ¡°You have watched this program?¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded. ¡°I watched several episodes during the holidays. You sang well and scored in the top three. If you continued then you might¡¯ve been able to win a prize. I remember that after that game, your Weibo fans rose to the hundreds of thousands? You are quite popr.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s face was red and he spoke seriously. ¡°I was actually very confident about winning the prize but there was a car ident on the way to the studio.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang never watched variety shoes, Xiao Lou rarely watched it and Shao Qingge was busy making money. All three of them didn¡¯t expect that Ye Qi was actually a small celebrity with hundreds of thousands of fans.

    ¡°You made it into the final round of a singingpetition?¡± Shao Qingge looked Ye Qi up and down with a smile. ¡°It seems you have the potential to be a star. You can make it to the finals with your singing, indicating that your singing is good. Your appearance¡­ is also good-looking.¡±

    Ye Qi had bright eyes after being praised and scratched his head with embarrassment. ¡°Hehe, that¡¯s why I must go back. If I can be a singer in the future, perhaps I can really open a concert.¡±

    Shao Qingge told him, ¡°Give me a ticket and I¡¯ll go to your show.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded hard. ¡°Definitely!¡±

    Xiao Lou found that Shao Qingge had been chatting with Ye Qi and couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°Chief Shao? Do you insist on going back?¡±

    He didn¡¯t know if it was his illusion but after hearing this question, something sharp shed in Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes. ¡°Of course, I don¡¯t want to die for a dubious reason.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°What? You had an ident¡­ didn¡¯t you have an ident?¡±

    Shao Qingge replied coldly, ¡°I was hit by a car. It was at an intersection and I was waiting for a red light. Suddenly, a big truck turned left at the crossroad and ran into me. I couldn¡¯t escape and was killed. The day before the ident, I had a conflict with two partners. I decided to dismiss them and take back their power. In a few days, I would¡¯ve held a shareholders meeting to discuss this matter¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge turned to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Group Leader Yu, you are a policeman. Do you think this is a coincidence?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°If the brakes of the big truck failed then the car should hit the embankment when turning left instead of hitting you. The driver would¡¯ve needed to make one more turn of the steering wheel to hit you and this sounds more like intentional killing.¡± He paused and said, ¡°Of course, this is theoretical spection and can¡¯t be used as evidence. It needs confirmation through an on-site investigation.¡±

    Shao Qingge stated coldly, ¡°I think it is murder.¡±

    His words silenced the room for a moment.

    He had always been smiling but expectedly, he had experienced a crisis in the real world. He was very rich but sometimes people did crazy things for money and rights. His spection wasn¡¯t groundless. Perhaps the mentality of the two people has changed. Once Chief Shao decided to kick them out, they killed Shao Qingge.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if it is an ident or murder. I have to go back and find out. I can¡¯t let those two bastards embezzle from thepany I worked so hard to create.¡± His eyes narrowed. ¡°In fact, I lied to you in 2 of Clubs. The location of my ident was the eastern suburb of Jiangzhou. Group Leader Yu is a police officer of Jiangzhou City. Are you willing to help me when we go back?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t hesitate. ¡°Of course, this is within the scope of my responsibility. If we go back then I¡¯ll help you with your investigation.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°You rest assured, I must also go back.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou and met Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes.

    Xiao Lou had a tacit understanding of his thoughts. He smiled and pulled out the contract book. ¡°Since everyone has the same goal and mutual understanding and trust is sufficient, I have a suggestion. I will upgrade my contract first and you all sign with me. This way, even if we are temporarily separated, we will be transmitted to the same world every time we enter a secret room.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, the World Weekly often produces many identical instances. If we don¡¯t sign a contract then perhaps we will be split up in this weekend¡¯s World Weekly.¡±

    Shao Qingge and Ye Qi had long had a good rtionship with Xiao Lou¡¯s team and had no opinions.

    Only Liu Qiao¡­

    Xiao Lou looked at Liu Qiao and told her, ¡°Little Liu, it is better for you to sign it temporarily. You are now alone and it is likely you will be transferred to a random secret room separate from us. It would be very troublesome if you want to clear arge weekly instance alone. As for your sister, we can slowly find her. Then after finding her, if you want to leave the team then you can cancel the contract with us at any time.¡±

    After careful consideration, Liu Qiao nodded.

    She had known these people less than a week but she worked with them in Liuxi Vige and believed her vision wasn¡¯t wrong. Professor Xiao, Group Leader Yu, Chief Shao and Ye Qi were all very principled people. Rather than acting alone, it was better to follow these people and the possibility of clearing the instance would be greater.

    Xiao Lou took out the contract book. 40,000 gold coins were needed to upgrade it to an intermediate contract and 170,000 gold coins were needed for a senior contract. At first, he felt this was very expensive when he saw it in 2 of Clubs but now there were millions in Chief Shao¡¯s ount. This money was nothing at all.

    Xiao Lou opened his mouth. ¡°I remember that the senior contract is 8-15 people. We don¡¯t have enough people and will first upgrade to intermediate.¡±

    He opened the contract and pressed the upgrade button.

    There was a soft light and the contract book shone silver. [Congrattions to Xiao Lou for obtaining the intermediate contract book!]

    He opened the page and the terms hadn¡¯t changed. There were just additional signature pages. The limit had also changed from two to five.

    Xiao Lou picked up the book¡¯s feather pen and handed it to Shao Qingge. ¡°Sign it.¡±

    Shao Qingge and Ye Qi quickly released their contract and signed with Xiao Lou.

    Liu Qiao simply signed her name on thest spot. She had a strange hunch. The people in this contract book might have the potential to do wonders and be the first team to step out of the Card World.

 Chapter 122: World Weekly

    The five people signed a contract and it was already 10:30. Xiao Lou wanted to know more information so he used the hotel telephone to dial Mo Xuemin¡¯s number. The call quickly connected. Old Mo looked at the number on the caller ID and wondered, ¡°Hello? Who is this?¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°Old Mo, it¡¯s me. Is it convenient toe find you? I¡¯ll give you the consultation fee.¡±

    Mo Xuemin heard the familiar voice and immediately said, ¡°It is convenient! I live in 507. You cane here!¡±

    Xiao Lou took his teammates to knock on the door of 507.

    The door soon opened. Old Mo had bathed and changed into pyjamas. He saw their faces and looked surprised. ¡°Hey, I thought your words about giving me a consulting fee was a joke. Yet you really came personally to give it?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°You rely on selling information to do business and there are rules. We can¡¯t always find you to gain information without giving a consulting fee.¡±

    Old Mo smiled and waved his hand. ¡°Forget it, I¡¯m embarrassed to receive such a small amount of money.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be embarrassed. We have many things we want to consult you on. Can we go in and speak?¡±

    Old Mo opened the door. ¡°Pleasee in.¡±

    He invited them toe in and sit down. Xiao Lou looked around and found that Old Mo was living in a big double room. Xiao Lou¡¯s group had many people so booking a double room was more cost-effective. Meanwhile, Old Mo was actually living alone. He didn¡¯t have any teammates? Thinking of this, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°Old Mo, do you live alone? Where are your teammates?¡±

    Mo Xuemin was pouring water for the group. He heard this and his back slightly stiffened before he sighed. ¡°My teammates all died in the previous secret room.¡±

    He poured the water into disposable cups and handed them to Xiao Lou¡¯s group, the smile on his face very bitter. ¡°There were 15 people on my contract book but in thest World Weekly, we met hunters and were wiped out. I was the only one who escaped.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly. ¡°Hunters?¡±

    Mo Xuemin sat down on the rattan chair. ¡°Have you met free people aiming to kill challengers in 3 of Spades?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°You mean the one who joined with the boss of the illegal inn to destroy the challengers?¡±

    Mo Xuemin nodded. ¡°They are called hunters and can receive a big bounty after killing challengers. The organization, called the Hunter¡¯s Alliance, was said to be established by the locals. They believe that the existence of foreigners seriously threaten their living environment and they want to expel all of us.¡±

    Xie Qi¡¯s face was shocked. ¡°Will there be hunters in the World Weekly secret rooms?¡±

    Mo Xuemin rubbed his temple. ¡°That¡¯s why every week is a life-and-death challenger. I remember inst week¡¯s World Weekly, nearly three million people were eliminated.¡±

    He settled down and looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°Are you looking for me to consult about the World Weekly?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and nodded. ¡°Yes, we just passed the fourth level and don¡¯t know a lot about the World Weekly. We wanted to ask about the experience of a senior.¡±

    Mo Xuemin told them, ¡°You are new so I suggest you team up and upgrade your contract book. It is better to rise to the advanced book to form a team of 8-15 people. The more people there are, the greater the probability of clearing the instance. It is because the World Weekly instances will randomly send arge number of challengers to one room. There will be internal fighting among the challenger teams. The big guilds and big teams are likely to attack small guilds and small teams.¡±

    He was afraid they didn¡¯t understand and gave an example. ¡°For example, you only have five people while another team has 15 people. 15 against 5, the odds are great. If the team leader has a bad heart, he will kill the five of you and take your cards as his own. This will enhance the fighting power of his team. After all, in the Card World, cards are weapons.¡±

    Xiao Lou and his team members looked at each other, a chill going down their spines.

    No wonder why the World Weekly secret rooms were so difficult. Apart from the existence of hunters, the most terrible thing was actually infighting among challengers. They currently only had five people. In the eyes of other teams, they were weak and could be ughtered by others. As long as they were killed, their cards could be obtained. Usually, people could live in harmony if there were no conflicts of interests. However, in a life and death moment, who would have the leisure to take care of other people¡¯s lives?

    Eliminating the weak and increasing their strength was the most instinctive human response.

    Xiao Lou frowned. ¡°Is there a ce to recruit teammates?¡±

    Mo Xuemin replied, ¡°There is a professional challengers forum set up by the Intelligence Bureau online. You can go there and recruit some great teammates, but there are risks with recruiting. It will be a headache if someone betrays the team or drags everyone down.¡±

    He once again mentioned the Intelligence Bureau. Xiao Lou wondered how the Intelligence Bureau could be so powerful. It not only collects information from challengers, providing services such as ¡®looking for people¡¯ and ¡®consulting¡¯, it also helped everyone establish an internal exchange forum?

    Yu Hanjiang asked with interest, ¡°The internal forum has a review registration system?¡±

    ¡°Yes, the bureau¡¯s forum needs to confirm the identity of every challenger. Before registering, you need to fill in your information from reality and can only enter after receiving approval. That¡¯s why there are many challengers looking for people on the forum or issuing a team recruitment post.¡±

    This registered forum was a critical reason for why the Intelligence Bureau could collect such arge amount of information. Members filled in real-world information when signing up, allowing them to facilitatemunication and discovering the situation of challengers.

    The thing that made Xiao Lou curious was the significance of the existence of the Intelligence Bureau. Was it purely to make money by selling information? Or was the boss of the Intelligence Bureau ying a big game?

    There was a moment of silence in the room as everyone thought about it. A momentter, Xiao Lou opened his mouth. ¡°Old Mo, can you tell us about the situation ofst week¡¯s World Weekly?¡±

    Mo Xuemin exined, ¡°Last week was a Diamonds room and the instance was called ¡®Rotation Maze.¡¯ After a certain period of time, the maze will rotate 90 degrees. Many challengers became dizzy inside and were lost for several hours. Some people failed to get out of the maze within the specified time and were eliminated. Others identally stepped on a mechanism and were shot dead by random arrows. Some people were killed when they met hunters. There were more than 100 people in my maze and only 20 people cleared the instance.¡±

    Xiao Lou was shocked. ¡°The Diamonds room will also have hunters?¡±

    Mo Xuemin smiled bitterly. ¡°On the Card Wall, the hunters will only appear in the Spades secret rooms but the World Weekly is different. Anything can happen in the World Weekly. The hunters will randomly appear in some secret rooms. You can only call it bad luck if you encounter them.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Last week¡¯s elimination rate was so high. Is it because hunters were encountered?¡±

    Mo Xuemin nodded. ¡°The maze was full of traps and the hunters in the maze ughtered us. We couldn¡¯t escape¡­¡±

    His old face couldn¡¯t help turning white when thinking about that terrible experience.

    Yu Hanjiang changed the topic. ¡°Before the start of the World Weekly, is there a way to find out the week¡¯s task?¡±

    Mo Xuemin shook his head. ¡°No one can predict it. I once met a senior who had stayed in the Card World for half a year. He told me that every week is random and the suits aren¡¯t regr. It is possible thatst week is Spades and this week will continue to be Spades. In any case, the probability is 25% and it is all up to luck.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other, seeing a trace of worry in each other¡¯s eyes.

    In summary, the characteristics of the World Weekly as that it was difficult. There was uncertainty about the type of secret room and a probability of encountering hunters. Based on the description just now, it could be seen thatst week¡¯s Diamonds room had a high elimination due to the random presence of hunters. In addition, there were too many mechanisms in the maze. Old Mo could be considered lucky to survive.

    Liu Qiao liked Old Mo very much because he was simr to her father and gave her feelings of sincerity.

    She couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°Uncle Mo, your contracted teammates aren¡¯t here. How do you n to survive this week¡¯s World Weekly?¡±

    Mo Xuemin sighed. ¡°I wanted to go to the forum to recruit some teammates. In addition, I saw many new people at the train station today. After a week, the new recruits will definitely know the rules of the World Weekly and want to recruit yers. It isn¡¯t hard to find a new time. The key is to find a stronger team.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at Yu Hanjiang.

    The two people had set up the heart channel so Yu Hanjiang knew Xiao Lou¡¯s thoughts first.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s voice rang in his mind. ¡°Group Leader Yu, ording to Old Mo¡¯s statement, our team of five will likely be fat meat in the eyes of other people who enter the World Weekly. Too few people will be stared at by arge team and it isn¡¯t convenient to act.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°In the eyes of others, we are fivembs to be ughtered. They will give priority to eliminating our small group. The best way is to find a few more reliable people, upgrade to the senior contract and expand the team.¡±

    Xiao Lou questioned, ¡°Group Leader Yu, you have been a police officer for many years. In your experience, is this Old Mo reliable?¡±

    ¡°His words are clear and his expression and eyes showed no signs of lies. I believe his words. He should want to go back for his daughter and his teammates diedst night, so he is using this time to make money and umte funds. However, we haven¡¯t had much contact with him. It will be a big risk to bring him directly into the team.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought, ¡°I have a way. We can go to the Intelligence Bureau to check him. If the bureau¡¯s results are the same then we can add him in the day. In any case, we have to go to the Intelligence Bureau to help Liu Qiao find her sister.¡±

    ¡°Yes but even adding Old Mo isn¡¯t enough for a senior contract. A senior team needs at least eight people.¡±

    Xiao Lou was silent for a few seconds before suddenly speaking, ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you remember the couple we encountered in Liuxi Vige?¡±

    ¡°You mean, the man with the chameleon card and the woman who jumped like a zombie?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°The two of them don¡¯t have a team and perhaps also came to the City of the Moon. After knowing about the World Weekly, they will definitely look for a team. We have worked together with them in Liuxi Vige and they are strong, their cards easy to use. I could see at the time that they wanted to form a team with us and will listen to theirmands. Isn¡¯t it better to try and find them?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang readily agreed. ¡°Yes, the people we have cooperated with are always more reliable than strangers. The two of them sincerely cooperated in Liuxi Vige. If we can find them and add Old Mo, we will have eight people and this is enough to open a senior contract.¡±

    ¡°Eight people are better than five people. Old Mo also knows a lot of information. He is a senior and can help us. For that couple, I could see that they worship you. We took them to lie down and win in Liuxi Vige. They must believe in our strength and are willing to listen to yourmands.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang found that Xiao Lou¡¯s thoughts were truly meticulous and all aspects were taken care of. He had no opinion and stated, ¡°Let¡¯s go it. We will go to the Intelligence Bureau on Wednesday.¡±

    The others, ¡°???¡±

    They found that Professor Xiao and Group Leader Yu hadn¡¯t spoken for nearly a minute and were just silently looking at each other.

    Some people knew they were using Qin Guan¡¯s heart channel tomunicate in their spiritual world but there were people who didn¡¯t know. For example, Old Mo. He looked at Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang with some confusion, thinking to himself, ¡®These two handsome guys have been watching each other for nearly a minute,pletely ignoring the others around them. What is the situation?¡¯

    How long were they going to stare at each other? Should he speak or remain silent?

 Chapter 123: Official Team

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were still mentallymunicating. Shao Qingge saw that Mo Xuemin¡¯s face was full of confusion and couldn¡¯t help touching his nose with a smile. ¡°Old Mo, don¡¯t care about them. I want to ask you something first.¡±

    The dazed Mo Xuemin recovered and quickly said, ¡°Okay, you can ask.¡±

    ¡°Does the City of the Moon have a jade processing nt or a raw stone acquisition station?¡±

    Mo Xuemin nodded. ¡°I know there is apany in the northern suburbs that specializes in the acquisition of jade raw stones. Do you want to buy or sell?¡±

    Based on his expression, he didn¡¯t know anything about the jade of Liuxi Vige. It was clear that Old Mo didn¡¯t perfectly clear 4 of Spades or get the hidden reward.

    Shao Qinggeughed. ¡°I want to gamble with stones. I¡¯ll go and check it another day, thank you.¡±

    Xiao Lou heard this and finally ended his conversation with Yu Hanjiang. He looked back and Mo Xuemin and said, ¡°Old Mo, thank you so much for today. You rmended a good ce for us and told us a lot about the World Weekly. How do you want to receive the consulting fee? Cash or transfer?¡±

    Mo Xuemin smiled and waved his hand. ¡°No, it can be considered destiny that I made friends with you. If you have any questions then you can continue to call me.¡± He paused and a trace of sadness shed in his eyes. ¡°In this world, it is unknown how long I can live. If it wasn¡¯t for my daughter, I might¡¯ve given up.¡±

    Liu Qiao suddenly said, ¡°Uncle Mo, you can¡¯t give up. Your daughter must be waiting for you to go back.¡± Mo Xuemin raised his head and looked into the girl¡¯s clear and bright eyes. She looked at him seriously and said, ¡°It is just like how my father is waiting for me to go back.¡±

    Mo Xuemin was stunned and his heart suddenly quivered. He looked away with embarrassment and spoke in a trembling voice, ¡°You¡¯re right. My daughter is a few years younger than you and she only has one rtive. How can I give up? I must go back!¡±

    Xiao Lou reached out and gently patted Old Mo¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t lose heart. ording to your opinion, tens of millions of people participate in the World Weekly and only a few million are eliminated. An elimination rate of nearly 10% isn¡¯t particrly high. As long as you find a good team, you will surely pass the instance this week.¡±

    Old Mo smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll borrow your words. Please take care of yourself!¡±

    The group returned to Room 311. Xiao Lou told the other three people the result of his spiritual discussion with Group Leader Yu. ¡°We want to upgrade the contract book and add Old Mo as well as the couple from Liuxi Vige. What do you think?¡±

    Liu Qiao stated, ¡°I don¡¯t think Old Mo is a liar. The expression he made when he mentioned his daughter, not even a movie emperor can act like that.¡±

    Ye Qi said, ¡°Old Mo is a bit like a guide after going to a strange world. He knows a lot and there is no harm in adding him to the team. In addition, Professor Xiao said he got an A rating in all secret rooms. This shows he is a jack of all trades!¡¯

    Xiao Lou smiled and said, ¡°The most critical point is his profession.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°He is a designer of a decoratingpany. He opened his own decoratingpany in the real world and found a part-time job at a decoratingpany in the Card World. Designers are very sensitive to space and our team doesn¡¯t have anyone particrly good at mazes.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°Yes, think about it. Last week¡¯s World Weekly was the Rotation Maze where the maze would rotate 90 degrees after a certain period of time. Old Mo was unlucky to meet hunters. He had to run for his life while looking for the exit of the maze. The difficulty was raised by several times and 80% of the people were eliminated. His team was almostpletely destroyed so how did he survive?¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°It shows he is very good at mazes. He probably used theplex paths of the rotating maze to avoid being killed and found the exit in a limited amount of time.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Our team needs such a person but our current understanding of him is based on what he told us. It is too one-sided. Thus, after discussing it with Group Leader Yu, I have decided to go to the Intelligence Bureau on Wednesday. We will help Little Liu find her sister while at the same time, I will spend some money to check Old Mo¡¯s details. If he is okay then we can try to invite him to join the team. Is this okay?¡±

    Shao Qingge made an ¡®I¡¯m responsible for lying down to win¡¯ expression and said, ¡°I don¡¯t care.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Okay, tomorrow we will meet downstairs at 8:30. It isn¡¯t early so we should all go to bed.¡±

    At 11 in the evening, the five people went back to sleep.

    At 8:30 the next morning, everyone gathered downstairs on time and took two taxis to the northern suburbs.

    Shao Qingge took everyone to the factory that Old Mo mentioned. The owner of the factory was a bearded middle-aged man. He heard that Shao Qingge wanted to sell raw stones and was very disdainful. ¡°Just now, someone came to me to sell a raw stone but there was only a worthless piece of jade in it when I opened it. How about your raw stone? I¡¯m not a garbage dump that collects bad things!¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°Does the boss want to bet on it?¡±

    The boss raised his eyebrows. ¡°How do you want to bet?¡±

    Shao Qingge turned to look at the workshop where they processed raw stones. ¡°If an excellent jade is obtained from my raw stone, you will pay us 70% of the market price. The 30% can be your processing fee. If an excellent jade isn¡¯t obtained, I¡¯ll pay you one million gold coins per raw stone.¡±

    The boss looked at Shao Qingge like he was stupid. ¡°Won¡¯t you lose money if you lose the bet? Aren¡¯t you crazy to make this type of gamble?¡±

    Shao Qingge pointed at his head and smiled. ¡°I¡¯m very sober.¡±

    The boss thought that if a good jade was obtained, there would be a 30:70 share. This was much higher than the usual share but it wasn¡¯t difficult to ept. If there was nothing, the other side would pay. This gambling method was a sure way to make money!

    The boss nodded. ¡°Okay, follow me and let me see your goods.¡±

    The five people followed him and came to the workroom.

    Shao Qingge pulled a raw stone out of his card bag and materialized it. The boss frowned carefully. The appearance of this raw stone was t and small. It didn¡¯t look like it could hold the best jade stone. However, the other side was smiling and looked very confident. This made the boss call over his most skills master to open the stone.

    He didn¡¯t expect that when his piece of raw stone was opened¡ªit was a great jade!

    The green jade was crystal clear in the light and the boss¡¯ eyes were bright. He excitedly extended a hand to touch the small piece of jade. Then he saw that his exposed emotions were too obvious and the boss coughed lightly. ¡°This is just a general emerald. I will give you 100,000 gold coins.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled as he took back the stone and looked at it in the light. ¡°This jade is rtively small and can be used to make jade pendants. Generally, you need to look at the type of jade, the colour and the quality. My jade has a fine texture, uniform colour and clear transparency. It is the most transparent type and the colour is absolutely the best. It can be processed and carved into a good-looking shape. Can¡¯t it be bought for a few million?¡±

    The boss became more rmed the more he heard. He thought that these people didn¡¯t understand the market and wanted to fool them by giving them a low price. Unexpectedly, he met an expert. His face looked a bit embarrassed.

    Shao Qingge added, ¡°I don¡¯t want much. Four million and you can get my raw stones. If not, I¡¯ll go somewhere else.¡±

    The boss¡¯ face changed and he hurriedly stopped the other person. ¡°It is good to have a discussion. Do you have any other raw stones? Look again!¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°It depends on the boss¡¯ sincerity.¡±

    The boss realized that he might¡¯ve bumped into a special betting stone god. He immediately had people bring tea and water, respectfully inviting the group to the separate office next door. Shao Qingge followed and had Xiao Lou¡¯s group take out their raw stones.

    They contained several pieces of jade and some chrysoberyl stones. The boss was stunned. ¡°Where did you get so many excellent raw stones?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled.¡±You can rest assured that the source is absolutely legal. Boss, do you want to take it?¡±

    The boss nodded like he was pounding garlic. ¡°Receive! All of it!¡±

    There were many poor quality jade on the market and the price fluctuated greatly. A few thousand gold coins could be used to buy a cheap bracelet but these types of top quality jade were usually bought by collectors. The ie could be increased by dozens of times.

    The boss almost wanted to massage Shao Qingge¡¯s shoulders. This was simply a god of wealth!

    Shao Qingge wasn¡¯t greedy because they needed to make money as soon as possible. In fact, they could make more money by processing and selling the finished products, rather than the raw materials. However, the World Weekly would arrive soon. It was better to sell the raw materials directly so the boss could process and sell them himself, saving time and effort. In addition, they had the priceless chrysoberyl bracelet.

    The 3:7 price was too high. The boss¡¯ face was about to be a bitter gourd as he said, ¡°This gentleman, I have no eyes and didn¡¯t expect you to bring so many excellent products. Can we discuss it again? How about a split of 5:5. You can see that I have to extract the raw materials, process it and carve it. These are all technical process and the masters do it by hand. They also need to eat!¡±

    He thought that Shao Qingge would refuse. He didn¡¯t expect Shao Qingge to simply say, ¡°Okay Boss, if you take all the raw materials then you can get a discount. How about all the raw materials for 30 million?¡±

    The boss calcted the amount and his eyes brightened. He immediately found the finance department and had them transfer 30 million gold coins. He personally escorted Shao Qingge¡¯s group out with a smile. ¡°Great gods, if you have this type of excellent raw stones in the future then pleasee to me!¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled and waved. ¡±Okay.¡±

    Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t spoken from beginning to end. He didn¡¯t want to mix in with things he didn¡¯t understand. In any case, Chief Shao was an expert and the boss couldn¡¯t pit them. This batch of raw materials was sold for 30 million gold coins, nearly 300,000 yuan. This was a huge sum of money.

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°We will go to the bank and divide it between our ounts first. Each ount will get 6 million gold, so that if anything happens in theter secret rooms, we won¡¯t be poor.¡±

    As he spoke, he suddenly saw two familiar peopleing out of the factory. Coincidentally, it was the couple they met in Liuxi Vige.

    The two people were dejected. Apparently, they hadn¡¯t sold their raw stones at a good price.

    Xiao Lou had wanted to go to the Intelligence Bureau to find their whereabouts. He hadn¡¯t expected to meet these two people here. The man saw Xiao Lou and was shocked. Then he wan over in an overjoyed manner. ¡°Brother Xiao, are you here to sell the raw stones as well?¡±

    They had all perfectly cleared the instance and got a reward from the vige chief. However, the raw stones were selected by themselves. Shao Qingge¡¯s picks were excellent while their picks were ordinary.

    The woman smiled and asked, ¡°How much did you sell it for? We only sold it for half a million.¡±

    Half a million was equivalent to 5,000 yuan. The stones they picked were big but the colour was too bad.

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°We are pretty much the same.¡±

    They didn¡¯t say that they sold it for 30 million, lest they hit the two men.

    Xiao Lou told them, ¡°The fact that we could meet in the City of the Moon is fate. Let¡¯s have lunch together. I also have some things to discuss with the two of you.¡±

    The couple agreed and immediately followed.

    After a conversation, they found that the two people had also gone to 4 of Clubs after leaving Liuxi Vige. They had lost a lot of gold coins in 4 of Clubs but won many cards. They also copied two S-grade cards: Chameleon and Long Jump. They hade to the City of the Moon and ran to the northern suburbs. They found that a jade factory was in the northern suburbs. The couple spent a night lurking here to check that the factory was okay. Once it opened for work, they came to sell the raw stones and happened to meet Xiao Lou¡¯s party.

    The man said, ¡°Brother Xiao is right. Meeting in such a big city must be fate! Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Long Sen, after the forest. This is my wife¡­ no, it should be considered fiancee Qu Wanyue. We are both 25 years old this year.¡±

    Qu Wanyue smiled helplessly. ¡°We were really unlucky and there was a car ident on our wedding day. The wedding car crashed and our wedding is still unfinished.¡±

    The group looked at them and thought that this was really bad luck.

    All the guests were invited to attend a wedding banquet. As a result, the happy event turned into a funeral. Both of their parents would be sad¡­

    Xiao Lou saw their sombre expressions and changed the topic. ¡°Yes, we are currently missing teammates to upgrade the contract. Do you want to join our team?¡± He looked at the two men with a smile. ¡°I have worked with you in Liuxi Vige and we knew each other. I would like to invite you to join us in this week¡¯s World Weekly.¡±

    Long Sen was excited. ¡°We¡¯re willing! We wanted to form a team with you at that time but the masked man asked Old Han and Old Han said there were no spots in the team. Thus, we didn¡¯t have the nerve to ask¡­¡±

    Qu Wanyue was cheerful. ¡°Yes, if Old Han leads then we will definitely listen to hismands. Your strength is clear. It was sofortable to lie down and win in 4 of Spades.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°If you join the team, perhaps you can continue to lie down and win.¡±

    Long Senughed. ¡°We will be embarrassed to always lie down and win. I have copied the Chameleon card in 4 of Clubs. You can leave the investigation work to me if there are no high-rise buildings and it is a desert terrain where the little girl can¡¯t fly.¡± He looked at Liu Qiao, who nodded, ¡°Yes, I can only jump if there arending points.¡±

    Qu Wanyue stated, ¡°The Chameleon card now has no restrictions. We can use it on any terrain including underwater, the desert or the snow. We can bepletely integrated with the environment in two seconds. Later, I will be responsible for investigation along with Xiao Long.¡±

    Long Sen nodded. ¡°Yes, we can¡¯t fight but our escape speed is first-ss!¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°I believe you since I have seen it in Liuxi Vige.¡±

    The couple¡¯s personalities were forthright. Xiao Lou gave the upgraded contract book to them. They signed it extremely quickly. Apparently, they were afraid that Xiao Lou would change his mind.

    After all, they had followed these people and managed to lie down to win once. Now they could always lie down to win.

 Chapter 124: Intelligence Bureau

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue couldn¡¯t wait to turn to the fourth page to sign their names.

    After signing, the two people turned the pages to see which of their teammates were great gods. The third page had ¡®Liu Qiao¡¯ signed. The second page was Shao Qingge and Ye Qi. The first page was Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang.

    Long Sen asked, ¡°Where is Old Han?¡±

    Qu Wanyue also looked at Xiao Lou with confusion. ¡°Brother, you aren¡¯t called this?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and exined, ¡°That¡¯s our pseudonyms. Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Xiao Lou and I¡¯m a forensics professor at a medical university¡¯s Department of Forensics.¡±

    Qu Wanyue looked at Long Sen. ¡°Why does this name sound familiar?¡±

    Momentster, Long Sen hit his thighs. ¡°I know! Previously, the floating boxes announced that Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang refreshed the world records of 3 of Hearts and 4 of Hearts. Are they the two of you?!¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    Long Sen gave a thumbs up. ¡°No wonder why you were so strong in Liuxi Vige, gaining a perfect clearance. Wanyue and I are too lucky to meet such great gods!¡± Both of them were very excited. They felt like they had bought a drink by the roadside open to open the bottle cap and find they had won first ce.

    Qu Wanyue cheerfully handed the contract back to Xiao Lou. ¡°Professor Xiao, thank you for not abandoning us and being willing to take us. In the future, we will absolutely follow yourmands and not dy anyone¡±!

    Long Sen nodded firmly. ¡°Yes, if there is a need for us, Old Han¡­ no, Officer Yu just needs to say it!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°You¡¯re wee. Everyone should cooperate to clear the instance and our purpose is the same. We¡¯ll talk about it after this week¡¯s World Weekly.¡±

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue obviously didn¡¯t know about the World Weekly and their faces were full of doubts.

    Xiao Lou patiently exined to them and Long Sen suddenly realized. ¡°Then the elimination rate of the World Weekly is around 10% or so? Isn¡¯t this lower than 4 of Hearts and 4 of Spades? I remember that the elimination rate of 4 of Spades was over 80%.¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°Theoretically, the average elimination rate of the World Weekly isn¡¯t high. As long as you find a good time, the possibility of clearing the instance is quiterge. The key is that there are two many uncertainties in the World Weekly. If you have an unlucky encounter with hunters then the difficulty will multiply. It is likely that all the yers in the secret room will be killed.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed as he looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°Strength and luck are very important.¡±

    If they were lucky, it was possible to enter an ordinary secret room. If they were unlucky like Old Mo, they would have to rely on their own ability to survive when killing yers. The luck factor was the most uncertain. Thus, they had to prepare fully to improve the team¡¯s fighting power.

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue had previously cooperated with everyone. After 4 of Clubs, they copied the Chameleon and Long Jump cards. ording to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s idea, they were husband and wife and had a tacit agreement. They could be arranged as the most flexible mobile team for investigation and support.

    Everyone ate lunch in a private room and went to the bank together. Shao Qingge nned to transfer the 30 million gold they just received into everyone¡¯s ount. Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°My money can be kept by Professor Xiao. I¡¯m not good at managing money.¡±

    Ye Qi stated, ¡°Chief Shao, please keep my money. I¡¯m not very good at ount management.¡±

    Shao Qingge thought about it and simply divided the money into two. ¡°In this way, I will keep half the money and Professor Xiao will keep the other half. In the future, everyone will act together. If we need to spend money, I will pay for it along with Professor Xiao. You can tell us what you need to buy.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    If all the money was left with one person, they might be poor if there was an ident. Dividing it into two was more secure.

    After leaving the bank, the group went to a nearby shopping mall and bought a smartphone for each person.

    In the world of the Financial Crisis, they had bought mobile phones that could only send text messages and make phone calls. Inte ess wasn¡¯t possible. However, the technology level of the main city was close to the real world. The smartphones could use WeChat , video calls and the Inte.

    The seven people bought sim cards and ced everyone¡¯s number into the address book in turn. Xiao Lou built a WeChat group and pulled everyone in. Anything that happened could be announced in the WeChat group. Of course, these devices couldn¡¯t be brought into the secret rooms and could only be used in the main city.

    Passing by theputer area, Xiao Lou suddenly asked, ¡°Do we need to buy aputer?¡±

    Shao Qingge replied, ¡°I need to have aputer. In the main city, I have to keep an eye on economic trends and earn some money.¡±

    Ye Qi was eager. ¡°If there is enough money, I also want to buy aptop. I used to write lyrics and music on aputer. Recently, I¡¯ve had some inspiration and want to write songs down.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°Both of us buying one is enough. We can use it together to check the information.¡±

    Liu Qiao stated, ¡°Then I want one too.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at Long Sen and Qu Wanyue. They had just joined the team but they had no money. They were really embarrassed to ask forputers. Unexpectedly, Xiao Lou smiled and said, ¡°You two, do you want to buy one each or share it with each other?¡±

    Long Sen waved his hand in a ttered manner. ¡°No, I used to useputers to y games. In this way, there definitely won¡¯t be enough leisurely time to y games¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°Having aputer to check things on the Inte is more convenient. Shall we buy two?¡±

    The two people nced at each other and their eyes reddened. Qu Wanyue said, ¡°Thank you, Professor Xiao. The mobile phone andputer money will be returned to youter¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°No, it wille from the team funds. We aren¡¯tcking money.¡±

    The penniless couple and Liu Qiao, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Suddenly, there the feeling of being kept by a local tyrant team.

    Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge bought fiveptops in one go. It felt good to have money.

    Everyone bought things and on the way back, they saw the Intelligence Bureau branch that Old Mo said was disguised as a lottery store. They saw that the city centre really had a small store that was closed on Tuesday. The ¡®closed¡¯ sign hung on the door.

    After returning to the New World Hotel, Xiao Lou opened a room to let Long Sen and Qu Wanyue stay there. The people had been busy all day and went back to their room to rest. In the WeChat group, they agreed on a time to meet the next day.

    The next morning, their biological clock allowed them to wake on time. Xiao Lou wrote a sentence in the WeChat group. ¡°Everyone, gather downstairs to eat breakfast.¡±

    Downstairs, the group had arrived. They walked out of the hotel and had breakfast nearby. They took two cars to the lottery store in the city centre.

    They were already several people in line at the store door. Xiao Lou was worried that too many people would attract attention and only took Yu Hanjiang and Liu Qiao inside to inquire. The others waited in a nearby coffee store for the results.

    At 8:30, the lottery store opened on time.

    The people in the line went in one by one. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t see what they were doing. He only knew that when they came out, some people looked happy while others looked depressed. Soon, it was Xiao Lou¡¯s turn.

    The three people entered the ce together. An electric sliding door in front of them opened. After passing two doors, they entered an office. There were twoputers behind the front desk and behind aputer was a young woman. She wore a pair of silver sses and ced her short hair behind her ears. She looked cold and once she saw Xiao Lou, she dismissively asked in a nk voice, ¡°Are you here to buy lottery tickets?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°We want to check two people. How much will you charge?¡±

    The woman simply handed a form to Xiao Lou. ¡°Fill in the information, the more detailed the better. We will base the price on the difficulty of the inquiry.¡±

    Xiao Lou handed the form to Liu Qiao, who leaned over to fill in the information of the person they were inquiring about. Her sister Liu Ying was 23 years old, a graduate student of a medical university, 168cm tall, 55kg and her hair was normally in a high ponytail. She was wearing a white sweater, blue jeans and red woollen coat when she came into the Card World.

    Liu Qiao wrote as much detail as possible. The woman took a look at the form and started to tap on the keyboard. Her tapping sound on the keyboard was especially clear in the quiet room. Liu Qiao couldn¡¯t see what this person was entering and had to clench her firsts, anxiously waiting.

    After half a minute, the woman raised her head. ¡°There is no such person.¡±

    Liu Qiao asked nervously. ¡°What do you mean? How can you not find her? My sister clearly came to the Card World¡­¡±

    The woman replied quietly, ¡°We can only find information on challengers who entered the main city. The person you want to check might not have passed the first four levels and didn¡¯t smoothly enter the main city.¡±

    Liu Qiao was slightly stunned. ¡°What if she went to the City of the Sun?¡±

    The woman, ¡°The informationwork of the Intelligence Bureau is connected to each other. My colleague in the City of the moon just gave me feedback. They also couldn¡¯t find this person. This girl named Liu Ying hasn¡¯t appeared in the main cities.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Perhaps you don¡¯t have her data.

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, how can you make sure that all the challengers¡¯ data are added?¡±

    The woman smiled softly, pushing her sses up the bridge of her nose as she looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°Xiao Lou, ID number 89657741.¡± Then she looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Yu Hanjiang, ID number 89657701. Please don¡¯t question the uracy of the Intelligence Bureau¡¯s information.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were stunned and couldn¡¯t help ncing at each other. The woman not only urately reported their names but also their ID numbers. It seemed the Intelligence Bureau¡¯s database was veryplete. They had only entered the main city for three days and the Intelligence Bureau already had their information. Liu Qiao¡¯s face became ugly. ¡°You really can¡¯t find Liu Ying?¡±

    The woman replied, ¡°All challengers who enter the main cities will automatically receive an identity card with an ID number. Unfortunately, there isn¡¯t a woman called Liu Ying in the information base. I think it is likely that she was eliminated in the first four levels.¡±

    Liu Qiao clenched her fists and his body started to tremble slightly. Her eyes were slightly red and filled with tears, but she couldn¡¯t cry.

    Xiao Lou had actually expected this result for a long time. He had met Liu Qiao¡¯s sister in 2 of Clubs. At the end, she formed a team with a thin girl. Such abination had a very low probability of survival. 3 &4 of Hearts and 3 & 4 of Spades were all very difficult. If they didn¡¯t meet a powerful god to lie down to win, this was the most likely result. He didn¡¯t expect that the hurried nce in 3 of Clubs had actually be a farewell.

    The girl with a soft voice and hair in a long ponytail had long disappeared from the Card World.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was sore. He gently held Liu Qiao¡¯s shoulder and didn¡¯t know what to say. Liu Qiao had always been very calm but once she heard that there was no such person, she was unable to control her emotions. Tears kept rolling from her eyes. She took a deep breath and said, ¡°Maybe my sister lost time in other secret rooms. She mighte to the main city in a few days. Can I check again next week?¡±

    This statement was just for selffort. The death of a rtive was too difficult to ept. Liu Qiao needed psychological adjustment and Xiao Lou had to say, ¡°Yes, we wille back next week to check. Perhaps your sister is justte.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stepped forward and filled out another form with Mo Xuemin¡¯s information.

    The efficiency of the Intelligence Bureau was very high. They soon printed a stack of information and handed it to Yu Hanjiang¡ªMo Xuemin, 40 years old, 180cm tall, 70kg, a designer of the Xinxin Decorating Company who came to the Card World three months ago.

    The data sheet even contained all the information of his teammates. His former teammates had died in thest World Weekly.

    Xiao Lou was more and more rmed. The Intelligence Bureau¡¯s data checking was too terrible and they could pull a radish out of the mud. They could actually find all the information of a person in the Card World¡¯s main cities.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the woman behind his desk. ¡°How much do we need to pay?¡±

    The woman gave him a number. Liu Ying was rtively simple. Since her information wasn¡¯t found, the charge was only 100,000 gold coins. Mo Xuemin¡¯s had several pages of information and the charge was increased by 10 times.

    Xiao Lou happily paid. The three people left the Intelligence Bureau and returned to the coffee store.

    Seeing Liu Qiao¡¯s pale face, they knew that the results of the inquiry weren¡¯t optimistic. Ye Qi hurriedly tried tofort her awkwardly. ¡°Little Qiao, don¡¯t be sad. The information from the Intelligence Bureau isn¡¯t necessarily urate. Your sister must be okay and we will try to find her again.¡±

    Liu Qiao quickly adjusted her expression. ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t matter. We still have to prepare to survive the World Weekly.¡±

    Shao Qingge changed the topic. ¡°Did you carefully check Old Mo?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang sat down and put the stack of Old Mo¡¯s information on the table for everyone to see with a frown. ¡°The Intelligence Bureau can actually check a person¡¯s resume so clearly. There should be powerful hackers among their members.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at him. ¡°Group Leader Yu means that they broke into the Card World¡¯s official database and stole information?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°The Poption Administration Bureau should have all of our ID cards. The Police Archives Centre should also have the records of missing people. Foreigners who go missing almost definitely died in the World Weekly or other secret rooms. Through theparison of portraits and ID cards, the Intelligence Bureau can quickly lock onto a person. Just now, there was something wrong with that woman¡¯s sses.¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully recalled that the woman had been wearing silver-rimmed sses. He squinted and wondered, ¡°Is there a camera installed in her sses? Or a device that scans our facial data?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°Yes, she took our facial features andpared them to the database. It allowed her to lock onto our identity and discover our ID numbers.¡±

    Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t help feeling admiration. ¡°This Intelligence Bureau is very strong to have gathered so many hackers.¡±

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°I remember the president of the Distant Guild mentioned that the boss of the Intelligence Bureau has the surname Tang and is mysterious. This President Tang must be an expert. We can try to contact him in the future. If he can really invade the official database of the Card World¡¯s main city then he was too powerful. Maybe he knows many secrets about the world.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded in agreement. ¡°I think so as well but today is Wednesday. We only have two days to prepare for this week¡¯s World Weekly. Let¡¯s talk to Old Mo first and confirm the team.¡±

    Shao Qingge stated, ¡°Including Old Mo, we have eight people. This is barely enough for the minimum of the senior contract.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang simply said, ¡°Eight people is enough. As long as we are united and listen tomands, an elite team of fewer people will be more flexible than the big guilds.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Everyone go back. We will have a good discussion about what to do for this week¡¯s World Weekly.¡±

    TL: I¡¯ll be going to a work conference for a week and will be busy for the next few days clearing up some work and packing. There will be no releases until the 5th February.

 Chapter 125: World Weekly

    In the evening, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang went to knock on the door of Room 507. Mo Xuemin opened the door and smiled when he saw them. ¡°It¡¯s you again!¡± he was impressed by the two men who had stared at each other for a minute in front of him.

    Yu Hanjiang directly asked, ¡°Old Mo, have you found a team?¡±

    Mo Xuemin sighed. ¡°No, there are rtively few new people in recent days and the forum recruitment posts aren¡¯t very reliable. I think it really isn¡¯t possible and will spend this World Weekly alone.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at him. ¡°Consider joining our team. We are just missing a person.¡±

    Mo Xuemin looked suspiciously at the two men and touched his nose. ¡°Join you? To be honest, you are all new and didn¡¯t know about the World Weekly at all. I have to clear the instance and go back¡­ it isn¡¯t very good to join a team of new people.¡± He spoke vaguely but his actual meaning was that he couldn¡¯t rely on a group of new people.

    However, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s words let Old Mo change his mind.

    He stated quietly, ¡°My name is Yu Hanjiang and this is Xiao Lou. Our team set the world record for 3 and 4 of Hearst. In 4 of Spades, we got a perfect clearance with an S-grade evaluation.¡±

    Mo Xuemin stared like he saw a great beast. Sometimes, people didn¡¯t need to talk nonsense. Grades were the best proof.

    Xiao Lou nced at the always straightforward Group Leader Yu and added with a smile, ¡°Group Leader Yu is a criminal police officer and I am an associate professor of a forensics department. This is the key to our ability to break the world record of the Hearts rooms. We are both very good at the suspense-type secret rooms. Our team might be new but everyone is very strong. Old Mo, you have a better understanding of the World Weekly. Are you willing toe with us and be a guide?¡±

    Mo Xuemin was worried for a moment. A new team was very prone to problems, such as infighting during a life or death crisis, causing the team to fall apart. Most new teams temporarily formed couldn¡¯t stand the test and would disband.

    However, the two men in front of him were masters who broke the world record!

    A criminal police officer and a forensics professor could be called an acebination in the Hearts secret room. A perfect clearance in Liuxi Vige showed that the new team they led wasn¡¯t weak. This team would be stronger and stronger if they united and experienced going through several secret rooms together.

    If he joined now, it was equivalent to buying a potential stock during the rising period. The risks were high but the benefits were greater. Rather than going to the forum to find unreliable teams that were recruiting, try and break the world record.

    Thinking up to here, Mo Xuemin immediately nodded. ¡°Ye. In any case, I don¡¯t have a team and can go with you! How many people are there in the team now?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked around at the open corridor. ¡°This isn¡¯t the right ce to talk. Old Mo, let¡¯s go downstairs.¡±

    ***

    Mo Xuemin followed the two people to Room 311. Ye Qi gently knocked on the door. It was ¡®three long and two short¡¯ knocks. Ye Qi soon opened the door and Mo Xuemin saw there were five people in the room.

    Xiao Lou smiled and introduced him. ¡°This is Mo Xuemin. Old Mo is the oldest senior in the team. Let¡¯s greet everyone.¡±

    The man with maroon hair in a short ponytail was the most handsome one apart from Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang. His eyes narrowed as he held out his hand with a smile. ¡°Old Mo, I¡¯m Shao Qingge. I run a fundpany in the real world. I am responsible for the finances of the team.¡±

    Mo Xuemin immediately shook his hand. ¡°Hello Chief Shao!¡±

    Beside him was a young man with very white skin. He was 170cm tall and didn¡¯t seempletely grown yet. However, there was a touch of aura in his eyes and his smile was very cute. He spoke enthusiastically, ¡°Uncle Mo, my name is Ye Qi. I¡¯m 20 years old and a study of a music university. You can call me Little Yeter.¡±

    Immediately after him was a thin girl with an indifferent expression. She extended a pale hand and said, ¡°Hello Uncle Mo, my name is Liu Qiao. I¡¯m 18 years old and a first year study in the Traditional Chinese medicine department of a medical university.¡±

    The woman next to him had very curly hair that went down to her shoulders. ¡°My name is Qu Wanyue, Long Sen¡¯s fiancee. My profession is a dance teacher.¡±

    Mo Xuemin greeted everyone in turn.

    The team¡¯s professional configuration was enough to make him feel shocked. A criminal police officer, a forensics profession, a fundpany owner, a musical teenager, a Chinese medicine girl, a dance teacher and a racewalking coach. Along with him, who was a space designer, it covered most types of secret rooms.

    In the Hearts secret room, there was a police officer and forensics professor. They didn¡¯t need to be afraid of not finding the murderer. There was a great possibility that so many people could work together to clear the instance. There was also Professor Xiao and Chief Shao in the Clubs secret room. In the physical confrontation Spades secret room, there was police officer Yu Hanjiang and Long Sen, a physically fit racewalking coach¡­

    He was enlightened and looked a bit surprised. Wasn¡¯t this a bit too strong? Xiao Lou took out the contract book. ¡°Old Mo, our contract book rose to the advanced level but it requires at least eight people to be activated. Please sign here.¡±

    Mo Xuemin didn¡¯t hesitate to take the feather pen and signed his name.

    Looking at the pages filled with various handwriting, Mo Xuemin¡¯s heart beat violently. He didn¡¯t expect that after his previous team was destroyed, he would be able to find an elite team so soon! Old Mo held back his excitement and looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°Professor Xiao, I don¡¯t know if you have heard about an elite team in the Card World who reached J of Hearts?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°I heard the president of the Distant Guild say that they once organized an elite team to clear the SS rooms. As a result, the group was destroyed in J of Hearts and never came back.¡±

    Mo Xuemin nodded solemnly. ¡°The configuration of that team was very simr to yours. There was a reasoning writer, a doctor, a physical school coach, dance teacher, singer etc. The team brought talents from all walks of life together¡­ unfortunately, they didn¡¯tst. Many people say that theter secret rooms are too difficult. Such a team can¡¯t pass then other teams definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to pass them. What does Professor Xiao think about this?¡±

    Xiao Louughed. ¡°For the reason behind their demise, I personally think there were internal problems. Mr Gui said there were 15 people in the team. So many people aren¡¯t easy to manage. As long as there are cracks in the team, it is enough to destroy a levee a thousand miles away.¡±

    Facing Xiao Lou¡¯s calm eyes, Mo Xuemin couldn¡¯t help nodding and firmly clenched his fists. ¡°I think so as well! I think that if it is really at the difficulty that humans can¡¯t pass, the gatekeeper at the beginning shouldn¡¯t tell us that we can leave after clearing the SS level rooms. They should just say ¡®Wee to the Card World and start your new life.¡¯ Why give us the hope to leave?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°There is no secret room that can¡¯t be cleared. It is just that the challengers have insufficient strength. For the elite team, everyone might be very strong individually but thebination isn¡¯t necessarily strong.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at Group Leader Yu in agreement. ¡°Yes. Sometimes it is the 1+1 is greater than 2 effect while sometimes is it less than 2. The team will only drag each other down.¡±

    He smiled and looked around, making eye contact with everyone for one second. ¡°We now have eight people. I hope that together, we will be greater than eight and not less than eight. Since we have decided to form a team, from now on I will establish the team rules.¡±

    He took out the contract book and turned to the first page. In addition to the original 1-6 rules of the contract, number seven onwards was vacant and could be supplemented by the owner of the contract.

    Xiao Lou picked up the feather pen and added three things to the seventh spot:

    <em>Going home is amon wish.</em>

    <em>All members of the contract must pledge to follow orders, to unite, support each other and to trust each other. In the future, we will walk through countless roads of thorns. No matter what, we shouldn¡¯t forget the significance of a ¡®teammate.¡¯</em>

    <em>Those who betray the team will be immediately kicked out of the contract book once discovered and responsibility would be pursued to the end.</em>

    Xiao Lou showed it to everyone in turn and asked, ¡°Do you have any opinions on the additional rules?¡±

    The people said that had no opinion. A team needed the minimum of unity. If they didn¡¯t trust each other then wouldn¡¯t they have to prevent teammates from stabbing them in the back in a life and death crisis? It was best to set strict rules from the start.

    Mo Xuemin didn¡¯t expect the mild-looking Professor Xiao to be so rational and calm in this critical moment. It was only when the contract had such a captain that the members who signed the contract book could really trust the team.

    Xiao Lou put away the contract book and smiled at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Group Leader Yu is a police officer and often carries out dangerous tasks. He is very good atmanding and leading the team. In the Spades and Hearts room, everyone will listen to Group Leader Yu¡¯smand.¡±

    The others nodded immediately.

    Yu Hanjiang went on to say, ¡°Professor Xiao specializes in mechanism puzzles. In the Diamonds secret room, don¡¯t touch anything and listen to Professor Xiao¡¯s arrangements. In addition, Old Mo is a designer and is sensitive to space. If we encounter arge maze then the task of finding a way out will be left to Old Mo.¡±

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°In the Clubs room, everyone needs to cooperate. Remember to believe in your teammates. Now, please pull out your card packs. We need to calcte everyone¡¯sbat capabilities.¡±

    The group looked at each other and Shao Qingge took the lead to pull out his card pack. In any case, he didn¡¯t have many good cards. There was the strange ATM cash machine that was good to use. He could summon an ATM machine anytime in the secret room world to withdraw money anytime and anywhere.

    Ye Qi had two instrument cards, the guitar and flute. Both were control cards through music. The teleport card could take two teammates and teleport 50 metres at a time. The eavesdropping card allowed him to throw out three bugs at a time.

    Liu Qiao¡¯s Twin card copied others, her flying card allowed her to float in the air and Little Red Riding Hood and Poison Queen controlled and attacked.

    The Long Sen and Qu Wanyue husband and wife had two chameleon and long jump cards. The former allowed them to fuse with the environment and disguise themselves. Thetter allowed them to jump eight metres at a time and the terrain and duration were unlimited. They were good survival cards and weren¡¯tcking to Ye Qi¡¯s teleportation card.

    Old Mo¡¯s cards made everyone very surprised. He took out four special A-grade cards in a row.

    [Rotate Time and Space]: Can make any space within 100 metres turn 180 degrees instantaneously.

    [Colour Elements]: Can dye any designated space with 500 metres into seven colours: red, orange, yellow, green, blue or purple.

    [Model Room]: Draw a model room on a design drawing and generate a sample room 100 timesrger in a designated area, so that the enemy can enter your sample room to enjoy your work.

    [Solid Wood Flooring]: A solid wood floor with a length of 100 metres and a width of 5 metres can beid on any terrain and it is very strong. For example, build a wooden bridge on the river or walk in the air between two tall buildings.

    Old Mo smiled with embarrassment. ¡°I haven¡¯t received an S-grade score and only drew A-grade cards. However, their usage is very good. I relied on the Rotate Time and Space card to escape the hunter¡¯s pursuit inst week¡¯s World Weekly.¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°They are very good to use.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took out aptop and quickly wrote down everyone¡¯s cards.

    In addition to these cards, there were the fixed reward cards such as Materials Supply Package, Universal Travel Ticket, Nine Pces Grid, Four-way Arrow, Night Pearl etc.

    There were some team-limited cards such as arge-scale Human Bone Medicine Jar. A team could only bring one and the excess could be sold.

    Finally, Xiao Lou showed his character cards and Yu Hanjiang his weapon cards, making everyone¡¯s eyes widen.

    Mo Xuemin looked at Yu Hanjiang with excitement. ¡°Group Leader Yu actually drew a limited weapon! If you sell these weapons then you can definitely sell them at sky-high prices. In particr, this sniper gun is priceless in the market. Many challengers in the forum are looking to purchase it¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°I won¡¯t sell it. It is for my own use.¡±

    Old Mo nodded. ¡°Yes, as a police officer you can certainly use a gun. This gun is much stronger than sword-type weapons.

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°So far, Group Leader Yu¡¯s weapons haven¡¯t been used.¡±

    Mo Xuemin was stunned. He thought that this person was so strong without weapons. If he used weapons in the future, wouldn¡¯t Group Leader Yu be like a god killing gods, Buddha killing Buddha?

    Yu Hanjiang showed the results to Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou felt there were no problems and put theptop on the table. ¡°Everyone should look at it to be familiar with our team¡¯s existing cards.¡±

    Everyone put their heads together to look carefully while Yu Hanjiang spoke softly, ¡°We have two days to prepare. After entering the secret rooms, call each other by pseudonyms and don¡¯t leak too much information. Call me Old Han.¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°I can be Xiao Ge or Xiao Xiao. Just call me Yunxiao.¡±

    Shao Qingge stated, ¡°Call me Teacher Shao.¡±

    Ye Qi was called ¡®Little Ye¡¯, Mo Xuemin was called ¡®Old Mo¡¯, Liu Qiao was called ¡®Little Liu¡¯ Long Sen was called ¡®Mutou (slow-witted/wood) and Qu Wanyue was called ¡®Yue Yue.¡¯ Everyone became familiar with each other¡¯s pseudonyms and talked until veryte. They were full of energy when they went to bed.

    It was getting closer and closer to the World Weekly.

    On Friday, the beauty from the Distant Guild found the New World Hotel and knocked on Xiao Lou¡¯s door. ¡°Professor Xiao, Officer Yu, have you thought about it? The World Weekly is about to begin. Why don¡¯t you join our Distant Guild? The president will take the two of you personally through the World Weekly.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and declined. ¡°Sorry, we don¡¯t want to join any association for the time being. We¡¯ll talk about it after the World Weekly is over.¡±

    The beauty shrugged. ¡°Well, there are no grudges. I wish you all the best.¡±

    ***

    Saturday, 00:00 a.m.

    All the challengers felt dizzy and were forced to enter a dark space.

    A prompt also appeared on their floating boxes.

    [Wee to the World Weekly secret room: Endless Sea]

    [Your secret room number is Room 0783. The number of challengers in the secret room is 500.]

    [World Weekly¡¯s Mission Requirements: Survive seven days at sea.]

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes narrowed. He was surrounded by darkness and nothing could be seen, but Xiao Lou soon calmed down. ording to the rules of the contract, he and his teammates muste to the same room. There was no need to worry. They would meet soon.

 Chapter 126: World Weekly: Endless Seas 01

    After the 10 second countdown, Xiao Lou finally had his vision restored. The time in the secret room waste at night and he was at a dock.

    Not far away was a luxury cruise ship with bright lights. There was arge number of challengers lining up at the dock and the crowd was bustling. Obviously, everyone¡¯s teams had been split up. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know the people in line in front and behind him.

    Xiao Lou searched the crowd for his teammates. Soon, he met a pair of deep eyes. Yu Hanjiang had just looked back. Since the two people opened Qin Guan¡¯s heart channel before entering the secret room, Xiao Lou immediately spoke in Group Leader Yu¡¯s mind. ¡°Find your ce on board first and then meet on the deck.¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll see Group Leader Yuter.¡±

    The crew of the cruise ship were checking the equipment. A momentter, the boarding channel opened and two crew members in formal clothing checked the tickets at the entrance. ¡°Please show your identity card and ticket. We need to check your information!¡±

    Xiao Lou opened his card pack and found that a ferry ticket had appeared in it.

    [Royal Caribbean Luxury Cruise Ship Ticket]

    Passenger Name: Xiao Lou

    Sailing time: July 15th, 24:00]

    Sailing Route: City of the Moon Dock ¨C City of the Sun Dock]

    Seat: 3rd floor ¨C No. 309]

    Xiao Lou took this card out of his card pack as well as his identity card.

    The people started to slowly move forward. It was probably because they lost their teammates but most of the challengers were silent. The entire dock was very quiet. The girl standing in front of Xiao Lou was looking back and forth from time to time to find her teammates. The man behind Xiao Lou had probably participated in the World Weekly more than once. He looked very calm.

    Endless Sea required surviving for seven days. This was usually a Spades secret room. Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t good at pure survival rooms but there was Yu Hanjiang. He wasn¡¯t worried about clearing the instance.

    After following the crowd for 10 minutes, Xiao Lou saw the red carpet boarding channel. A security guard crew member wearing white gloves smiled at him. ¡°Sir, please show your ticket and ID card.¡±

    Xiao Lou politely handed him the two cards. The man carefully checked it and made a ¡®please¡¯ gesture. ¡°Your cabin is on the third floor. Pleasee over here and turn left up the stairs.¡±

    Xiao Lou used the ferry ticket to find the location. Cabin 309 on the 3rd floor was just around the corner. He pushed open the door and went in, only to encounter a familiar pair of eyes. Yu Hanjiang was staying with him!

    Yu Hanjiang saw Xiao Lou push open the door toe in and a trace of gentleness appeared in his eyes. ¡°It seems this trip has double cabins and we are staying in one.¡±

    Xiao Lou sighed with relief and smiled. ¡°Great!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at his smiling face and couldn¡¯t help whispering, ¡°You are very happy?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s ears were hot. He was in a really good mood the moment he pushed open the door and saw Yu Hanjiang. He always felt that it was very safe staying around this man. Due to the obvious emotions he showed, Xiao Lou coughed awkwardly and spoke in a perfunctory manner. ¡°It is better to live with teammates than strangers. Isn¡¯t Group Leader Yu happy that we are arranged together?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mouth curved gently. ¡°First rest. Wait until we get on the ship and then find other people.¡±

    Xiao Lou sat down opposite him and looked around.

    The conditions of a luxury cruise ship were very good. It was equivalent to a five-star hotel at sea.

    The double room Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were assigned to was a balcony room. The cabin had two beds side by side and the white and blue room was clean and tidy. The room had a French window. Pushing open the window revealed a small balcony with two wicker chairs and a small wooden table. Passengers could sit here to drink coffee. The sea breeze was blowing toward them as they saw the sea and enjoyed the leisurely time at sea.

    Xiao Lou pushed open the floor to ceiling window and stood on the balcony to look out. In the middle of the night, distant lights shone on the sparkling sea while above him was the bright starry sky. He could see a huge moon and the sound of waves ¡®crashing¡¯ reached his ears. If this wasn¡¯t a secret room then it would be a very rxed andfortable journey on the luxury cruise ship.

    Yu Hanjiang also went out onto the balcony. The sea breeze was somewhat cold at night. Seeing that Professor Xiao¡¯s hair was blown, Yu Hanjiang spoke with worry. ¡°Go back in. Be careful of catching a cold.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded, went back to his room to sit down and closed the window. Yu Hanjiang handed Xiao Lou a map. ¡°I just found it in the drawer of the bedside table. It has the distribution of the entire cruise ship.¡±

    Xiao Lou epted the map and took a closer look.

    The luxury cruise ship was seven storeys high. The first floor was the cheapest inner cabin with now windows, the second floor was a sea view room with windows but they couldn¡¯t be opened while the third and fourth floors had sliding type windows with a separate balcony. The fifth floor was luxury suites.

    The sixth floor was a dining centre with four restaurants with different themes: barbecue: hotpot, Chinese and Western. There was also a free cafeteria. The seventh floor was the entertainment centre with various cruise entertainment such as sea parachuting, a music themed bar, a sea view cafe, a 4D cinema, a theatre, a cocktail venue party, a shopping mall etc.

    In addition to marking the location of each entertainment venue, this map also showed the time of some performances.

    For example, the theatre¡¯s ys would be performed at 9 a.m. and 14:00 p.m. The band performance in the music bar would start at 22:00 p.m. and end at 3:00 a.m. Every day, free movies would be yed at 10:00 a.m., 15:00 p.m. and 20:00 p.m.

    The map contained a hint: For passengers who want to participate in recreational activities for free, please go to the booking centre on the third floor of the cruise ship and make an appointment in advance with your ticket and ID card. The captain¡¯s restaurant, the sea parachute, the sea voyage and coffee store are all fee-based services. Please consult on the price.¡±

    After seeing this, Xiao Lou touched his chin and said, ¡°Such arge cruise ship, isn¡¯t 500 challengers too few?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Usually, a luxury cruise ship carries more than 1,500 passengers. I observed that the number of rooms on this cruise ship can amodate at least 1,000 tourists. The challengers were pulled in and everyone¡¯s rooms should be the same on the basis of fairness.¡±

    Xiao Lou frowned at the cruise ships¡¯ map. ¡°In other words, the 500 challengers live in the third and fourth floor balcony rooms? The cabins on the first floor, the sea view rooms on the second floor and the suites on the fifth floor should have a high number of free people staying in them?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°There is a possibility. There were more than 500 people who just lined up.¡±

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath. ¡°So many free people are arranged to travel with us. Once something happens, the situation will be more chaotic. Moreover, we can¡¯t be sure if there are any hunters among the free people¡­¡±

    Just then, a broadcast rang out in the cabins. ¡°Dear passengers, the Royal Caribbean 0783 cruise ship will soon set off. Please return to the cabin as soon as possible. The time is now 00:00 a.m. I wish you a happy journey!¡±

    There was a long siren and the cruise ship gradually sailed out of the dock. All challengers had a hint appear on their floating boxes at the same time.

    [Wee to the World Weekly secret room: Endless Sea, first day 00:00.]

    [Number of challengers remaining in the secret room: 500]

    All the challengers had boarded. Ahead of them was the endless sea and no one knew what would happen next. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other and got up to go out. The two people found that the cabins next door also had many people leaving. They headed directly to the top deck of the cruise ship and saw Old Mo and Long Sen instantly.

    Old Mo was truly an experienced senior. In this situation, he knew that he should first go to the deck. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang quickly walked to the two people and whispered, ¡°Where are you staying?¡±

    Old Mo replied, ¡°I¡¯m staying with Little Long in Room 407 on the fourth floor.¡±

    Long Sen told them, ¡°Just now when I was in line, I saw Yue Yue and Little Liu walking together. The two girls might¡¯ve been arranged in the same room. I told them to meet at the deck and they wille soon.¡±

    They were people around them taking photos with their phones and some beautiful girls talking selfies. Those with a phone were clearly the indigenous people of the Card World. After challengers entered the secret rooms, their possessions would be removed. They couldn¡¯t bring their phones into this world to keep in contact with each other.

    After a moment, Liu Qiao and Qu Wanyue came. Qu Wanyue told them, ¡°We are staying in Room 377 on the third floor. I found that many challengers are walking to the deck. It should be that all the teams were scattered.¡±

    Soon, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi also arrived.

    Ye Qi spoke excitedly, ¡°We are in room 479 on the 4th floor.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and thought about it. The eight people were staying in 309 and 377 on the third floor and 407 and 479 on the fourth floor. They were far away from each other. The secret room world deliberately broke up the team members, increasing the difficulty ofmunication.

    Fortunately, Xiao Lou had the Qin Guan card and they could always establishmunication channels.

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it and spoke in a low voice, ¡°309 and 407 are upstairs and downstairs. 377 and 479 are also upstairs and downstairs. Our four rooms are like a ¡®trapezoid¡¯. The rooms on the same floor are far away from each other while the distance between the upper and lower floors are very close. Therefore,munication channels should be established between teams on the same floor. If something happens then we can directly climb the stairs to find people.¡±

    Xiao Lou gave a Qin Guan card to Shao Qingge living on the fourth floor. ¡°Mr Shao, please establish a contact channel with Old Mo.¡±

    Downstairs, Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao established a channel.

    There were some challenger teams who gradually gathered in one ce. Yu Hanjiang was worried about the inconvenience of talking and simply took everyone back to Room 309. The eight people in one room were really crowded. They had to have three people sitting on a bed while Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou stood on the balcony to talk.

    Yu Hanjiang took out the map of the cruise ship and had everyone examine it carefully. He pointed to the map. ¡°The cruise ship will be at sea for seven days and there might be many dangers such as severe food and water shortages or encountering pirates. The most serious thing is the cruise ship hitting a reef or iceberg, leading to it sinking.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Isn¡¯t this the same as Titanic? I remember watching the movie where a cruise ship hit an iceberg, causing a shipwreck and killing many people!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told them, ¡°This is the worst oue and we need to be prepared in advance.¡±

    He pointed to the tail of the cruise ship. ¡°This should be the location of the escape boat. Long and Yue, the two of you should use the chameleon card while most tourists are on the deck to go there and confirm the specific location and quantity of the escape boat.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang continued, ¡°The negative floor should be the materials storage area. After confirming the position of the escape boat, you can check the warehouses on these floors to see if there are enough fresh water and food resources on board.¡±

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue immediately nodded. ¡°Understood!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Ye Qi. ¡°Little Qi, you put on the invisibility cloak and go to the cockpit, the cabin where the crew rests and the service centre on the third floor. Please a bug at these locations. Liu Qiao, go with him and cover him.¡±

    The two of them nodded. ¡°Okay!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told them, ¡°Go and pay attention to safety.¡±

    Late at night, Yu Hanjiang arranged for the four person investigation team to take the lead.

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue relied on the advantages of the chameleon card to blend in with the carpet of the cabin. They quickly crawled to the stern and the minus one and two floors of the ship. They confirmed the information that Yu Hanjiang wanted. Ye Qi put on the invisibility cloak and moved quickly with the teleportation card with Liu Qiao. The two people quickly ced the bugs.

    Yu Hanjiang looked up and asked, ¡°How is the situation?¡±

    Ye Qi told them, ¡°Everything is fine in the captain¡¯s cabin. The captain is confirming the route. I took a look. The seven days is almost all at sea. There are no nearby docks to stop the ship.¡±

    ¡°The ship has more than 300 crew members. Many people on the ship are lining up to book tomorrow¡¯s theatre and free 4D movie.¡±

    Long Sen reported, ¡°The stern of the ship has 15 electric escape boats with fuel tanks. Each one can amodate around 20 people.¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully calcted. ¡°The number of escape boats can take 500 challengers but this ship doesn¡¯t only have challengers. Once something happens to the ship, everyone will be fighting for their lives and there definitely wouldn¡¯t be enough escape boats.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°Professor Xiao, let me borrow the feather pen.¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately took out the contract book and handed him the feather pen. Yu Hanjiang quickly marked everyone¡¯s rooms on the map and sketched out a path. ¡°I will now confirm the location of the escape boat and the best movement route. In case of an ident, everyone will immediately evacuate along this route.¡±

    He drew an arrow, stating, ¡°Liu Qiao is the fastest and the closest one to the stern. Once Professor Xiao tells you to evacuate, you should immediately fly to the stern and grab an escape boat first.¡±

    He used the pen to point to a position. ¡°Long and Yue will use the long jump card to jump straight to the stern from the bend here. Meet with Liu Qiao as soon as possible. Ye Qi will use the teleport card to meet Old Mo and take Shao Qingge and Old Mo to the stern of the boat. I will go downstairs with Professor Xiao. Everyone should remember their course of action and meet at the stern as soon as possible.¡±

    He drew the best path ording to each person¡¯s different cards. If the cruise ship encountered an ident and they needed to abandon the cruise ship to escape, the eight people could use their own abilities toe to the stern from different locations.

    Looking at Yu Hanjiang¡¯s calm expression and listening to his decisive voice, Old Mo couldn¡¯t help feeling that a strongmand would make people more confident. He believed that no matter what happened next, their team wouldn¡¯t be destroyed as badly asst week.

 Chapter 127: Endless Seas 02

    Yu Hanjiang and his teammates discussed a n of action until one in the morning.

    The cruise ship had just pulled out of the dock. This was the first day of the secret room. ording tomon sense, the first day was for everyone to be familiar with the environment. There shouldn¡¯t be any major events to deal with tonight.

    Yu Hanjiang had everyone go back to rest their spirits so they could cope with any unexpected situations after dawn.

    They agreed to meet at 8:30 the next morning in the restaurant on the sixth floor.

    At 8 o¡¯clock the next morning, Xiao Lou woke up on time.

    He found Group Leader Yu standing on the balcony and also pushed open the window to walk over.

    After a night of sailing, the cruise ship had sailed into the vast sea. A soft sea breeze blew across their cheeks. The humid atmosphere of the sea made the sea breeze feel refreshing and Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help narrowing his eyes with enjoyment.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hands were on the guardrail of the balcony as he looked calmly into the distance. He perceived Xiao Louing to his side and whispered, ¡°This is the first time I¡¯m taking a cruise ship. I didn¡¯t expect the scenery of the sea to be so good. Once I return to reality, I should find a chance to take a cruise again.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled at him. ¡°Me too. Shall we go together then? We can choose some special routes to travel around the world to various countries.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked back at him. ¡°Okay, it¡¯s a deal.¡±

    The two people stood next to each other and enjoyed the sea view for a while. Once it was almost time for the meeting, Xiao Lou headed to the bathroom to quickly wash his face and brush his teeth. Then he came to the dining area of the sixth floor with Yu Hanjiang.

    There was apletely free cafeteria with food and 80% of the seats were against the floor to ceiling windows. They could sit by the window and eat free food while looking at the sea.

    At 8:30 breakfast time, the cafeteria was crowded with people.

    Many people looked like challenger teams. There were more than a dozen people sitting at one table and they would deliberately lower their voices were talking. There were also some locals travelling in groups. The elderly people, young couples and children looked happy together. It was a pity that when a family travelled together, they would encounter a ship that was destined to be full of adventures. They were very unfortunate.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang came to the door and saw Shao Qingge and Ye Qi waiting there. Shao Qingge saw the two people and stepped forward. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the restaurant and not eat here.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Won¡¯t it be very expensive?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°You should think more. I always feel that there is no free meal in the world. In any case, we aren¡¯t short of money and don¡¯t need to queue with so many people here. I think that the Chinese restaurant next door has a good environment. Go and eat there.¡±

    Xiao Lou felt this made sense so he nodded at Shao Qingge¡¯s suggestion.

    He opened amunication channel with Liu Qiao and passed on a message. ¡°Little Liu, take Qu Wanyue to the 6th floor Chinese restaurant to eat.¡±

    Shao Qingge also passed on the news to Old Mo. Thus, not long after, the team met in the Chinese restaurant of the 6th floor. The theme restaurant of the cruise ship was very expensive. For breakfast, a small te of dumplings cost 5,000 gold coins. It was like stealing money.

    Ye Qi held the menu and his eyes were huge. ¡°Too expensive¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge was calmly ordering, ¡°Eight soup dumplings and eight deep-fried breadsticks. What do you want to drink? I¡¯d like a bowl of pumpkin porridge.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°I want red bean porridge, thank you.¡±

    The two people in charge of the ounts started ordering and the rest of the group weren¡¯t polite. They asked for their favourite porridge. They spent 100,000 gold coins on the breakfast, which was nearly 1,000 yuan. Old Mo couldn¡¯t help whispering, ¡°So much money. If we were buying our own supplies then it is enough tost for a month.¡±

    Shao Qingge waved his hand. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we can earn more money after spending it. Moreover, we don¡¯t know how long we can live and should enjoy it. Perhaps this meal will be thest¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou interrupted him. ¡°Don¡¯t have a crow¡¯s mouth.¡±

    Shao Qingge immediately zipped up his mouth and bowed his head to eat.

    Perhaps it was because the price of the food in this Chinese restaurant was too high. There weren¡¯t many guests and their room was very quiet. No one disturbed them and it was convenient for them to discuss things.

    Once they ate and drank enough, Yu Hanjiang looked at Ye Qi. ¡°Did you get anything from the bugsst night?¡±

    Ye Qi exined, ¡°In the captain¡¯s room, the captain was talking to the vice-captain about the typhoon. They talked about it for half an hour. Listening to them, it seems that the typhoon has caused heavy casualties in coastal cities, leading to hundreds of people being killed. However, the path of the typhoon doesn¡¯t seem to be in conflict with our route. They aren¡¯t worried at all.¡±

    Ye Qi then said, ¡°The crew wereining that due to the typhoon weather, the cruise ship¡¯s recent business has been very bad. Only 70% of the ship¡¯s tickets were sold. Recently, the sries of the crew on the ship have been reduced and the quarterly bonus has been cancelled. Everyone says that they will be unable to afford a wife or to raise children¡­¡±

    Ye Qi listened to the crew¡¯sintsst night at 1 a.m. and his head almost burst open.

    Xiao Lou smiled and patted him on the shoulder. ¡°Little Ye, was there anything unusual about the service desk?¡±

    ¡°Someone asked if they could upgrade and move to a luxury suite on the fifth floor. Everyone else was booking a daytime event. A gentle-voiced woman booked the captain¡¯s restaurant, stating that she would like to taste the dishes made by the captain himself. Many of the other people were making an appointment for this afternoon¡¯s drama performance.¡±

    He scratched the back of his head and looked at Shao Qingge. ¡°The drama that is to be performed in the afternoon, what is it called?¡±

    Shao Qingge squinted and thought about it. ¡°It is the ssic drama Thunderstorm.¡±

    Ye Qi hit his forehead. ¡°Right! Thunderstorm. I remember learning this text in high school.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°The captain and vice-captain were talking about a typhoon. The crew mentioned that the typhoon caused business to be worse and they lost money. The drama being performed this afternoon is Thunderstorm. Do you think this is a coincidence?¡±

    Typhoon, thunderstorm¡­ it couldn¡¯t be a coincidence that all three bugs mentioned these keywords.

    Shao Qingge stated, ¡°In the style of the Spades secret room, these conversations are more likely to be a clue for us. This cruise ship will encounter typhoons and thunderstorms during the voyage.¡±

    The group heard this and their expressions became hard.

    Old Mo carefully analyzed. ¡°Typhoons can be big or small. A big cruise ship like this can smoothly resist small typhoons. However, if it is one with strong winds then the cruise ship might be blown over. There was a cruise ship in the real world that capsized due to strong winds and thunderstorms. The ship had more than 400 passengers and only a dozen survived¡­¡±

    Everyone had heard of this shipwreck. Now that Old Mo mentioned it, they were all frightened.

    If they really encountered a typhoon at sea that resulted in a capsized ship, everyone waiting on board such arge cruise ship could only wait to drown. They had to abandon the ship as soon as possible to escape but if the intable escape boats were too light and too slow, they were likely to be swept into the vortex of the typhoon and sink to the bottom of the sea. It would be better to grab a faster electric escape boat.

    Yu Hanjiang quickly calmed down. ¡°If the cruise ship copses, we will act ording to the original n. Liu Qiao will immediately fly to the stern to grab an electric escape boat. We will abandon the ship and escape.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°If we abandon the ship then we are likely to drift at sea for several days. We also need to prepare supplies in advance.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang ordered, ¡°Go to the supermarket on the 7th floor to buy mineral water and biscuits in advance. Put them in a good carry bag and try to keep things as simple as possible. I will put Old Mo in charge of this.¡±

    Mo Xuemin nodded. ¡°Rest assured, I have a number in mind regarding how many things eight people need.¡±

    Everyone finished breakfast and collectively came to the 7th floor. Old Mo took Liu Qiao and Qu Wanyue to go shopping while the others stood on the deck, watching the scenery and passengers.

    Today¡¯s weather was very good. There were clear skies so the deck and y centre on the 7th floor were crowded with people.

    Some people spent money to experience the sea parachute, glider and aerial observation events. From time to time, there were the excited screams of children around them. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t want to participate in these exciting games so he stood there quietly and watched.

    Just then, a small child cried out. ¡°Mom, my stomach is hurting.¡± The woman took the child to the bathroom.

    Immediately after, another girl said, ¡°I¡¯m going to the bathroom.¡±

    Gradually, more and more people ran to the bathroom and lined up at the door,ining, ¡°Did we get a bad stomach from the food?¡± ¡°Howe so many people have bad stomachs? Is the food on board not clean?¡±

    Xiao Lou was stunned. The free restaurant.

    For today¡¯s breakfast, many people went to the free restaurant to eat. Shao Qingge took them to a luxury location where they spent 1,000 yuan on dumplings and fried breadsticks. At present, their stomachs were normal. However, the passengers who ate in the free restaurant seemed affected by the ¡®unclean¡¯ food and everyone had diarrhea.

    Theints grew louder and louder. A hot-tempered man grabbed the cor of a crew member and directly said, ¡°Tell your captain toe! There must be a problem with the food on board or how can we all have diarrhea?¡±

    ¡°Did you make moldy and rotten things for us to eat? We¡¯re going toin! Refund our tickets!¡±

    ¡°The ocean cruise service is getting worse and worse! How can we spend these seven days if we can¡¯t eat clean food?¡±

    The travellers gathered together and almost tore at the crew.

    Seeing that things weren¡¯t going to end, the pale crew member called the captain and said that many passengers had a bad stomach and there were long lines at the toilets. The captain was aware of the seriousness of the problem and hurried over.

    The captain was 50 years old with white hair and a good temper. He held a loudspeaker and exined to everyone, ¡°Please don¡¯t be agitated! We are immediately investigating if there is a food problem. If any expired, moldy or rotten food is found on board, we will deal with it immediately andpensate you ordingly!¡±

    ¡°Please trust our ocean cruisepany. We will give you a satisfactory answer! Anyone with a serious illness can go and find Dr Zhang on the first floor. The medicine for diarrhea will be provided for free!¡±

    The assurance of the old captain gradually calmed down the mood of the passengers.

    Old Mo, Liu Qiao and Qu Wanyue came back at this time with food.

    He put the food in three bags and were carrying them on his back. Old Mo walked to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s side and whispered, ¡°A problem with the food is one of the usual tactics for the Spades room. There is likely to be something wrong with the ship¡¯s food supply. From now on, we will try not to go to the restaurants for dinner and will eat the vacuum packaged food from the shopping mall.¡±

    Xiao Lou felt helpless. ¡°It feels like we are back in 3 of Spades. It seems we will have to reserve more food.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I bought high-caloriepressed biscuits and fruit juice concentrates with lots of vitamins. In addition, there is mineral water.¡± Old Mo smiled. ¡°If we eat a bag of biscuits then we won¡¯t be hungry all day. The three bags are enough for us tost seven days.¡±

    Xiao Lou gave him a thumbs up. ¡°Old Mo has experience. Compression biscuits are much more convenient than instant noodles.¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes squinted. ¡°The free cafeteria truly had a problem. Thankfully, I took everyone to eat very expensive food in the morning or our stomachs would also be hurting.¡±

    He had just finished speaking when Ye Qi¡¯s expression suddenly changed. ¡°Fuck, my stomach is hurting! Is this a trick?¡±

    Long Sen followed. ¡°No¡­ my stomach is also hurting!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face was heavy. He didn¡¯t speak and directly turned to find the toilet.

    Xiao Lou smiled bitterly at Shao Qingge. This person originally wanted to boast but as a result, he couldn¡¯t boast.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s face instantly became as ck as the bottom of a pot. ¡°I spent so much money and as a result, the food of the Chinese restaurant also has a problem? Our stomach only reacted 10 minutes after the free cafeteria? A of Spades is too much!¡±

    Old Moughed. ¡°You spent money to buy a lesson. I will first go line up¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge felt a pain from his stomach and had to go to the bathroom with a dark face. He would never spend any more money.

    Eating a free breakfast would cause stomach pains and eating a 100,000 gold coins breakfast also caused stomach pains. What was this world? This 100,000 gold coins was simply paying an IQ tax to the Keeper of Spades!

 Chapter 128: Endless Seas 03

    Shao Qingge¡¯s idea was that so many people went to the free restaurant to eat. If there were food problems, everyone would collectively vomit and have diarrhea. He chose an expensive and elegant Chinese restaurant for breakfast. Who would¡¯ve thought that the Keeper of Spades didn¡¯t y ording tomon sense. He spent money and still got diarrhea! For Shao Qingge, this was the first time he ¡®paid for his sins¡¯ and he inwardly scolded A of Spades a hundred times.

    There were long queues for the public restrooms and everyone was forced to go back to their cabin to solve the problem.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou headed to the infirmary together and asked for medicine for diarrhea. Old Mo went back to the shopping centre on the 7th floor to buy somemon medicine for fever, headaches, etc. He also bought bandages, iodine for disinfection etc.

    By the time the group gathered again in 311, the supplies were fully prepared. Xiao Lou asked Mo Xuemin, ¡°Old Mo, have you participated in the Spades weekly room? Have you encountered food problems?¡±

    Mo Xuemin replied, ¡°Inst month¡¯s World Weekly, A of Spades took everyone to a desert ind. We found many wild vegetables and fruit. As a result, people died of poisoning after eating them. There is always a high probability of food problems in the Spades secret rooms. I didn¡¯t expect that this time, Shao Qingge was affected despite avoiding the free restaurant and taking us to eat expensive dumplings!¡±

    Shao Qingge had a headache. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. My wisdom was in the wrong direction.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and nced at Shao Qingge. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. You spend money and can always make more money then you spent.¡±

    Shao Qingge wasforted by Professor Xiao and his mood improved a bit.

    Ye Qi suddenly said, ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t know what happened to the person who booked a meal at the captain¡¯s restaurant yesterday? It is said that they are delicacies made by the captain himself and costs hundreds of thousands per meal. It would be a real injustice if they get diarrhea!¡±

    Hearing this, Xiao Lou suddenly sensed that something was wrong. ¡°There is a food problem no matter what restaurant you eat in. This isn¡¯t a food problem but a problem with the fresh water stored on the ship. My guess is that the water source onboard has been polluted. Judging from your symptoms, it is very simr to the acute gastrointestinal bacterial infection caused by Salmone or Staphylocus exceeding the standard.¡±

    There was a doctor in the team and everyone was naturally convinced of Xiao Lou¡¯s judgment.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s analysis was very reasonable. In the morning, they ate steamed buns and porridge. They also drank the free water. At the free restaurant, people would eat cake and milk or noodles. The cruise ship would definitely check the food before going to sea. It is impossible for all the vegetables, meat, rice, noodles and egg to be rotten. There is only one possibility for why everyone has diarrhea. There is something wrong with the water.

    As long as the drinking water was contaminated, every tourist on the ship would be affected. The more terrible thing was that more people were used to drinking hot water to warm their stomachs and relieve the difort in their gastrointestinal tract when they had diarrhea. They didn¡¯t know that the water was the real culprit!

    If a challenger with a bad stomach couldn¡¯t figure this out and kept drinking water or used the water on board to take medicine, the symptoms wouldn¡¯t be reduced. Instead, they would be more and more serious.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°The ship provides free hot water. Every floor contains a water tank in the corner. I just saw many people holding cups to go and get hot water. People with acute diarrhea will continue to drink water containing bacteria. Professor Xiao, will they die if their symptoms get worse?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded seriously. ¡°Continuous diarrhea can cause a disorder of electrolytes in the body, an imbnce of sodium and potassium ion in the blood, damage to myocardial cells and this will lead to eventual shock and even death.¡±

    Ye Qi looked at the cup of hot water he just grabbed like he was poisoned. He immediately poured the water in the cup into the bathroom and patted his chest with fear. ¡°I almost drank it! From childhood, our parents have instilled in us the concept that when we have a cold, diarrhea or are ufortable, we should drink hot water¡­¡±

    The subconscious habit at this time was likely to take everyone¡¯s life.

    Old Mo quickly took out a sealed mineral water bottle from his backpack. ¡°The mineral water should have no problems?¡±

    Xiao Lou took the bottle and carefully checked it. ¡°The seal is normal and the mineral water trademark is the same as what we have bought in the previous Financial Crisis room and the materials supply package. It should be okay.¡±

    Everyone was relieved and Yu Hanjiang opened the bottle of mineral water. ¡°Use the mineral to take medicine and control the illness as soon as possible.¡±

    The group took the disposable cups bought at the supermarket and poured in the mineral water, taking the medicine in turn. They ran to the toilet several times this morning and didn¡¯t have any appetite. Xiao Lou advised everyone not to eat for the time being. If their gastrointestinal function hadn¡¯t recovered then they would continue to have diarrhea after eating.

    After an hour of rest, everyone¡¯s symptoms had eased a lot.

    Yu Hanjiang went to the seventh floor to see the situation and everyone followed him to the shopping centre. Sure enough, many challengers realized that something was wrong with the water and bought mineral water directly by the box in the supermarket. More than half of the mineral water had been removed from the shelves of the supermarket and many challengers were entering the supermarket to buy materials.

    This made Xiao Lou think of the original Financial Crisis where everyone emptied the market.

    Just then, a scream was heard from the crowd. ¡°Ah! A dead person!¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately strode forward and squeezed into the crowd. He saw a young girl lying on the ground. Her face was as white as paper, her lips were purple-blue and she had no breath. Another girl was holding her and repeatedly calling her name. ¡°Xiao You, wake up!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also walked over to see the situation.

    The girl was crying while saying, ¡°Xiao You had diarrhea and her stomach was ufortable. She didn¡¯t eat anything today and only drank a few cups of hot water¡­¡± She seemed to detect something was wrong and was slightly stunned. ¡°Is the water poisonous?¡±

    Many people heard this and their expressions were difficult to see.

    A grumpy woman screamed. ¡°It must be poisonous water! No wonder why my husband¡¯s diarrhea didn¡¯t stop. He has been drinking hot water!¡±

    ¡°Where is the Captain?¡±

    ¡±He checked for so long and haven¡¯t found any results!¡±

    ¡°We want a refund for our tickets!¡±

    The group of people ran to the deck on the top floor, demanding that the captain was found. Several more people suddenly fell down on the way, dead. In the blink of an eye, several passengers died and the entire cruise ship was in a state of panic.

    Some calmed down and grabbed mineral water from the supermarket. Some leaned against the fence and looked at the bodies of the people in a daze. Some radicals rushed to the captain¡¯s room, angrily denouncing the cruisepany and asking for a statement from the captain.

    The old captain ran to the deck while sweating. ¡°Please don¡¯t get excited! We are investigating¡­¡±

    The tourists didn¡¯t listen to his exnation and roared, ¡°What investigation? It has been so long and you haven¡¯t found the reason?¡±

    ¡±There must be a water problem. I only drank a ss of water in the morning and I also have a stomach problem!¡±

    ¡±The entire ship has food poisoning and people have died.¡±

    ¡±Don¡¯t you have to be responsible for the death of so many people?¡±

    A man suddenly rushed over, grabbed the captain¡¯s cor as he growled out, ¡°My wife! My wife is dead, dead! She died of food poisoning just because she got on your damn cruise ship!¡±

    The people around here heard this and moved forward, surrounding the captain. Someone suggested, ¡°We should immediately call the police!¡±

    ¡°The cruise ship has gone out to sea and there is no signal. We can¡¯t get in contact with people on the shore!¡±

    A girl¡¯s voice wailed, ¡°What to do?¡±

    ¡±Will we die on this ship?¡±

    The situation became more and more chaotic. The captain was pushed around and his face was pale. He had been a captain for many years and had never encountered such a situation. The entire ship had food poisoning¡­ he thought that before the cruise ship left the dock, the fresh water reserves and food reserves had been inspected by the ship¡¯s chief logistics officer. It was confirmed that there was no problem. How could this happen?

    The captain¡¯s spirit was violently startled. ¡°Go and call Director Qi for me!¡±

    The subordinate immediately went to the lower deck of the ship to find the director. As a result, he couldn¡¯t be found anywhere on the ship. The subordinate came back frustrated. ¡°Director Qi is gone!¡±

    The old captain had a bad feeling in his heart and clenched his fists. ¡°Broadcast it through the entire ship! Find him for me!¡±

    Just then, a low voice was heard. ¡°Don¡¯t look. He just left in an escape boat.¡±

    It was Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou. Just now, they stood at the stern and saw a person checking the escape boats. They thought it was a crew member in charge of safety. As a result, the man suddenly untied the rope of an escape boat and drove it away! The electric escape boat was so fast that in the blink of an eye, the man disappeared into the vast sea.

    Yu Hanjiang soon judged that this person was the one who poisoned the entire boat full of tourists!

    Shao Qingge asked curiously, ¡°Is he a hunter? Does he want to let all the passengers of the cruise ship die on the vast sea by polluting the water source?¡±

    Old Mo shook his head. ¡°No, the hunters receive bonuses ording to the number of challengers killed. If they kill powerful challengers such as the presidents of some guilds, they will get a bonus of 100 million. He ran straight away despite not knowing how many people will die on the ship. This isn¡¯t the style of a hunter.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°If he wants to kill people directly, he shouldn¡¯t put bacteria in the water. He should directly poison the water to make people die after drinking. This is faster.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes suddenly brightened. ¡°I know, he was the logistics director who wasining about low wages and not being able to afford a family when I eavesdroppedst night. He also mentioned that he didn¡¯t want to continue working on the cruise ship. Perhaps he has a deep grudge against the captain and the cruise shippany so he retaliated in this way?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and thought that Ye Qi¡¯s statement was reasonable.

    Listening to the noise on the deck, Yu Hanjiang immediately decided. ¡°We have to stop the passengers from making trouble. If the captain is forced to flee then the entire cruise ship will be helpless at sea and it will be more difficult to pass the instance!¡±

    The group agreed with Group Leader Yu¡¯s proposal and immediately went to the top deck. On the deck, the captain heard Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice and was shocked. ¡°What did you say? Director Qi ran away?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°Yes, we just saw him run away in the escape boat.¡±

    The people realized that the culprit had escaped. They vented all their hatred on the remaining crew and some people even mored to fight the captain¡­

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s sharp eyes swept over the entire scene and he shouted, ¡°Quiet! Can making trouble solve this problem?!¡±

    His voice seemed to have a type of magic that made everyone quiet down. Yu Hanjiang continued coldly, ¡°If you beat up the captain then who will be responsible for the ship?¡±

    Everyone heard this and awkwardly stepped back.

    The captain grabbed at the straw and immediately agreed. ¡°Yes! Don¡¯t get too agitated! We will safely send you to the City of the Sun! If the fresh water stored on the ship is polluted, there is actually another way. We have a very advanced desalination system. The equipment on the ship can handle several tons of seawater a day. You don¡¯t have to worry about having no water to drink!¡±

    The passengers¡¯ faces were filled with doubts and the man asked, ¡°Is the equipment that you mentioned reliable?¡±

    The captain nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The drinking water of many residents in coastal cities is also provided by this desalination system. The equipment uses reverse osmosis technology and the pore diametre of the osmosis membrane is very small. It can effectively remove dissolved salts, colloids, microorganisms, organics, etc. in the water. The water quality after filtration is simr to that of mineral water!¡±

    Xiao Lou had heard of this reverse osmosis technology. It wasn¡¯t surprising that a remote cruise ship was equipped with a desalination system. After all, if there was an ident at sea and the water couldn¡¯t be drunk, the most convenient and fastest way to desalinate the seawater into drinking water was by using reverse osmosis technology.

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°Everyone, temporarily drink mineral water while the captain deals with the water source.¡±

    The expressions of the group eased a lot. Some of the rtives and friends of those who had died still looked ugly. ¡°So my wife died in vain?¡±

    ¡±Yes, my brother fell down just now because of food poisoning¡­ Captain, are you going to give us a statement?¡±

    The old captain looked sad. ¡°I¡¯m sorry everyone, I didn¡¯t expect this to happy. Our ship¡¯s logistics director didn¡¯t do his best and there is something wrong with the drinking water. Rest assured, we will give correspondingpensation for the death of rtives! I have contacted the dock. The police will send a rescue boat to pick up their bodies and send them back to the City of the Moon¡­¡±

    The mood of the crowd was temporarily pacified and they returned to the cabin to rest. It was just a small episode during the cruise. The captain soon called for the police rescue ships toe and take the bodies and their rtives. A team of challengers followed. There was a total of 10 people.

    Xiao Lou made such a judgment because the group had a mixture of middle-aged people and students. There were six men and four women. They didn¡¯t seem like rtives. There was the dead girl who was called ¡®Xiao You¡¯ at the start and the nine people carried his body to the rescue ship. The girl who had a good rtionship with her was crying the whole time. The others looked ugly but they weren¡¯t crying. If they were rtives then they wouldn¡¯t be so cold.

    Ye Qi watched the rescue ship go away and asked curiously, ¡°The challengers on the ship were taken to the City of the Moon by the police. The rescue boat is fast. Perhaps they can reach the City of the Moon before dark? Will they directly pass the instance?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°No, they have been eliminated.¡±

    Ye Qi wondered, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Xiao Lou sighed and said, ¡°We were reminded when entering the World Weekly secret room that the goal this time is to survive at sea for seven days. They left early and can¡¯tplete the seven days at sea. The moment the left the cruise ship on the rescue boat, it is equivalent to giving up this week¡¯s regr task.¡±

    Old Momented, ¡°Actually making such a low-level mistake¡­ before entering the secret room, you must be clear about the task objectives. They don¡¯t have a clear memory of the four levels they passed through. It is a pity that the team was careless at this time.¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°It is probably that the sudden death of a teammate made everyone a mess.¡±

    A team must have someone who can stabilize hearts in any situation. If this was Xiao Lou¡¯s team, even if someone suddenly died, Yu Hanjiang wouldn¡¯t make the foolish decision to leave with the police.

    The 10 person team was eliminated. However, the things that would happen to the challengers who remained on board was unknown. When exactly would the thunderstorme? Xiao Lou looked at the endless sky with worry.

 Chapter 129: Endless Seas 04

    Once the captain urgently activated the desalination system and reced all the hot water equipment, the drinking water on the cruise ship finally returned to normal. In the afternoon, the situation of the tourist¡¯s collective diarrhea was also controlled.

    The captain soon told everyone that the escaped logistics chief had been arrested by the police at the dock.

    After interrogation, Qi Zhao confessed everything. His wife wanted to divorce him because of his low sry and no money in recent months. He also lost all his property by specting in stocks. His life wasn¡¯t good so he got revenge. He deliberately polluted the water storage equipment on the cruise ship, wanting to harm the entire ship for being demoted. He didn¡¯t expect for several tourists to die of severe diarrhea.

    The police responded that the logistics officer would be sentenced for ¡®manughter.¡¯

    The ocean cruise shippany publicly apologized for the water contamination incident and offered two options.

    The first option was that they would send the ¡®Full Star¡¯ cruise ship at the fastest speed to reach the location of the Royal Caribbean. Those who didn¡¯t want to continue travelling could take the Full Star cruise ship to return and get a full refund at the dock. They would also be directly upgraded to a VIP member and next time, they could buy tickets from the cruisepany with a 20% discount.

    The second option was to continue the trip. In order to express their apology and sincerity, the Royal Caribbean would have free food in all restaurants and free entertainment for the next six days. Guests who were willing to continue their journey would be upgraded to a VIP member and enjoy a 20% discount.

    In addition, thepany expressed heavy condolences for the tourists who suffered from severe diarrhea and died. They would providepensation to the families in ordance with the contract.

    The captain asked the announcer to tell everyone about thepany¡¯s decision via radio. The angry travellers were satisfied with thepany¡¯s attitude and their mood was much more stable when they heard about the deal.

    The eight people of Xiao Lou¡¯s team were crammed into a room on the third floor. After hearing the broadcast, Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t help praising. ¡°The cruise shippany¡¯s public rtions is doing a good job. Upgrading to VIP members ispensation on the surface but it is also ensuring fixedpensation. Everyone has the right to buy tickets at a discount and they will definitely choose the ships from thispany in the future.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°In general, will more tourists return or more choose to travel?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°I think 80% will stay and continue to travel. All entertainment is free, which is too tempting. Moreover, most people took a cruise ship out to sea to y. Since the entertainment is free, they will definitely stay.¡±

    Ye Qi was curious. ¡°Will there be any challengers who take advantage of this opportunity and return from the cruise ship?¡±

    Xiao Lou took out his pen and paper and quickly drew two routes. ¡°The Caribbean we are on now set out in the early hours ofst night and we have sailed for 15 hours. Full Sky is bound to be faster when picking people up. Even if the round-trip time is calcted as the full 30 hours, the challenger¡¯s survival time at sea will only add up to 45 hours. This is too far away from the survival goal of seven days. Leaving at this time is equivalent to giving up the task.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly spoke. ¡°What if the ¡®Full Star¡¯ can return to the dock on time?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang in a puzzled manner. ¡°Can¡¯t return? What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°There is an extreme method. Hijack the Full Star and let it drift at sea for seven days.¡±

    People heard this and their eyes lit up. ye Qi patted his head. ¡°Group Leader Yu has a point! If the challengers are brave enough to hijack the Full Star and float on the sea for seven days, it will be regarded aspleting the task, right?¡±

    Old Mo gave a thumbs up. ¡°The mission is to survive at sea for seven days. There is no restriction on the ship we can take. Hijacking another ship and surviving at sea also matches the requirements.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you want to hijack this ship?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment. ¡°I want to ask everyone¡¯s opinion. Hijacking the Full Star is also a way to pass the instance but thinking too cleverly might be wrong. Remember the lesson Chief Shao got this morning¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge rubbed his forehead. ¡°Yes, I spent money and still got diarrhea. Maybe we think that hijacking the Full Star will allow us to clear the instance. As a result, A of Spades directly sent the police to treat us as pirates and we are brought back the next day!¡±

    Ye Qi nodded. ¡°It¡¯s possible! A of Spades is so perverted. ying smart in front of him might be more dangerous.¡±

    Xiao Lou pointed out the key thing. ¡°In addition, we don¡¯t know how to sail and don¡¯t understand sea maps. If we identally drive the ship into an iceberg, reef or other areas, what will we do if we crash? Don¡¯t attempt this type of risky method.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang saw that everyone wasn¡¯t very supportive and spoke softly, ¡°This approach is only feasible in theory. It is really troublesome in practice. We¡¯ll stay on the Caribbean and watch what happens.¡±

    In response to thepany¡¯s arrangement, the Caribbean stayed in ce and waited for the pick-up ship.

    At 23 p.m., the Full Star finally arrived at the Caribbean.

    This ship was smaller than the Caribbean. The cabins only took up three floors and the two ships anchored together seemed like an adult and a child. After closing in, the crew put down a wide nt and there was a broadcast at the same time. ¡°Dear passengers, the Full Star ship thepany has sent to bring you back as arrived. Any passengers who don¡¯t want to continue the journey, please take your luggage. Take good care of the elderly and children ande to the third floor as soon as possible to register for the Full Star ship.¡±

    There was the chaotic sound of footsteps from the cabins. Xiao Lou¡¯s team also climbed p to the top floor to see the situation.

    Sure enough, it was like Shao Qingge expected. Around 20% of tourists decided to go back. Most of them were families with old people and children. Maybe they were weak after getting diarrhea today and decided to give up the trip for safety reasons.

    The tourists lined up in an orderly manner to board the ship. Just then, a few very special tourists appeared in the crowd, attracting Xiao Lou¡¯s attention.

    It was a team of 10 girls wearing sunsses that covered most of their faces. It was normal to wear sunsses when ying at sea. After all, the sun was too dazzling at sea. The strange thing was their clothes. Most girls would wear bright beach skirts or beautiful swimsuits when going to the seaside to y so their photos would look good. These girls were dressed too soberly.

    They were ck pants, a simple t-shirt and t sneakers. It was easy for them to move. The girls were all wearing sportswear. Xiao Lou spected hat they were likely to be challengers. He looked in the direction of the girls and whispered in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ear. ¡°These 10 girls should be a team of challengers going to the Full Star.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked into Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes and frowned. ¡°These girls have unified actions and are well-trained. They don¡¯t look like a temporary beginner team. They shouldn¡¯t be so stupid as to leave the cruise ship and give up the World Weekly task. Most likely, they will hijack the Full Star and clear the instance using the method I said. You see, each of them are carrying a bag that must be full of food and water.¡±

    Old Mo happened to be next to Group Leader Yu. He saw this and immediately said, ¡°It is the people from Luoying Pavilion The guild will often send elite teams of 10 to the World Weekly. The girls never wear skirts and will wear unified sportswear during their tasks. Ordinary guilds don¡¯t dare provoke Luoying Pavilion at all. The boss will pursue anyone who dares to kill her guild members in the World Weekly to the end.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°Old Mo, do you know a lot about the female president of Luoying Pavilion?¡±

    Old Mo called Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang to the corner and spoke in a low voice, ¡°Her name is unknown. Her code name is ¡®Spider Goddess¡¯ and she has a limited artifact, Blood Spider. It is a sharp dagger that cuts iron like mud. Every time she kills a person, there will be a blood-red pattern on the handle. ording to rumours, her handle has formed a dense spider web and it is unknown how many people she skilled. She is simply a devil.¡±

    Kill a person and obtain one more line on the dagger. This dagger was really evil. However, the president was obviously a very capable woman if she could manage the guild well and have them unite to do the World Weekly in teams of 10 people.

    Xiao Lou looked on from the deck. Nearly 100tourists from the Caribbean transferred to the Full Star. The crew on both sides were taking care of the transfer data.

    Just then, another team of 15 suddenly appeared at the connection of the two ships. They were a team of men and women and looked like a group of university students. The boy leading them smiled. ¡°Sorry, we¡¯rete. We¡¯re also going back.¡±

    The crew in charge of the handover said, ¡°Please register your information here and get on board as soon as possible. We will sail in 10 minutes!¡±

    Simrly, the 15 people were carrying bags, all of which were bought at the stores in the shopping centre. The bags were full with materials. This was clearly a challenger team. The 15 people lined up. No more people boarded the ship and the connecting nk was soon put away.

    There was a long siren sound and Full Star turned around. It was dark and the little cruise ship was painted a dark blue like the night sky. The lights on board seemed like shining stars. Within 10 minutes, the Full Star had disappeared from view.

    Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang and everyone returned to the third floor. The moment they entered the room, the announcer¡¯s soft voice was heard. ¡°Dear tourists, I¡¯m d that you trust ourpany to continue this trip.¡±

    ¡°There are six days left on this trip. From tomorrow, all fruits, drinks and food on board are free. You are wee to taste them. Activities such as the sea glider, parachuting and aerial observation deck will also be free of charge. Please go to the service centre to make an appointment in advance. In addition, the cinema, music bar and theatre will also be free and the number of times shown will increase.¡±

    ¡°Starting from 9 o¡¯clock every morning, the 4D cinema on the seventh floor will cycle movies such as Titanic, Extreme Escape, Water Monster, Deepwater Horizon. You can pick your favourite movies to watch.¡±

    ¡°Every day at 10:00, 15:00 and 20:00, the theatre will stage a live drama. Our professional actors will present the ssic drama Thunderstorm. The most advanced lighting, sound and projection technology will bring you the ultimate audio-visual feast.¡±

    ¡°Once again, we offer our most sincere apologies for the food poisoning on the first day. I hope you can have a pleasant and unforgettable six days. It is 24:00 in the morning. The cruise ship will enter energy-saving mode. The light in the corridor will turn off by 60%. Please go back to your room as soon as possible. I wish you all a good dream and see you tomorrow!¡±

    After listening to the broadcast, Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help spitting out, ¡°These movies really aren¡¯t lucky. The Titanic hit an iceberg, a deep sea catastrophe, escaping from extreme danger¡­ it wouldn¡¯t be surprising if something goes wrong on the ship!¡±

    Shao Qingge didn¡¯t want toment on A of Spades and pressed a hand against his temple. ¡°This is clearly telling us that there will be many surprises and we should be ready.¡±

    The moment he finished speaking, the floating boxes in front of them had new messages.

    [Endless Sea, the next day, 00:00.]

    [Number of challengers remaining on the Royal Caribbean: 450]

    Yu Hanjiang immediately frowned. ¡°The total number of challengers started at 500. There are 450 left. So 50 people disembarked?¡±

    Xiao Lou quickly calcted it. ¡°The group that died and left on the police boat was 10 people. The Luoying Pavilion group has 10 people and the group that followed them on board was 15. There are 15 more? Isn¡¯t it impossible for us to not see them leaving the ship?¡±

    Old Mo thought about it carefully. ¡°It might be an elite team of a great guild!¡±

    Xiao Lou was very confused. ¡°Compared to normal tourists, the characteristics of challengers is obvious. We aren¡¯t allowed to bring items into the secret room and the bags must be temporarily bought at a shopping centre. There will be no old people and children in the team. Generally, eight or more people will act together. We can¡¯t be unaware of 15 people acting at the same time¡­¡±

    At this point, Xiao Lou suddenly wondered, ¡°Were those 15 people wearing invisibility cloaks?¡±

    Just now, in the process of transferring people from the Caribbean to Full Star, the nk bridge connecting the ship was put away five minutes after thest passenger boarded.

    For five minutes, there was no one on the nk. However, there were signs of slight shaking on the nk bridge. At the time, Yu Hanjiang had thought the shaking was caused by the unsteadiness of the ship. Now it seemed that someone actually crossed it invisibly. They were invisible with the invisibility cloak but their weight still caused the nk bridge to bend.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke firmly. ¡°The 15 people should be wearing the invisibility cloak to take advantage of thest five minutes to sneak on the Full Star. 15 people can¡¯t all collect invisibility cloaks unless they are from a strong guild.¡±

    Xiao Lou touched his chin thoughtfully. ¡°The 10 girls of Luoying Pavilion took the lead to go on the Full Star, followed closely by a team of 15 young people. Finally, there are the 15 people under the invisibility cloak. So many elite teams have boarded the ship. Are they so sure that the possibility of clearing the instance on Full Star is much higher than the Caribbean?¡±

    Old Mo replied, ¡°Having fewer people isn¡¯t necessarily safer during the World Weekly. However, the probability of clearing the instance will be higher when going with a big guild. It is because these elites are all armed with good cards and have a strong fighting capacity. Once these people board Full Star, they will quickly control the entire cruise ship, locking up the captain and sailing the ship themselves.¡±

    Xiao Loumented, ¡°It seems that the Full Star is full of masters.¡±

    Old Moughed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we have many top yers in our team. In addition, there might be strong teams among the 450 challengers on the Caribbean. When ites to danger, it isn¡¯t certain which side can pass the instance.¡±

    At this time, the captain¡¯s room of the Full Star ship.

    The captain was murmuring, ¡°It is unfortunate. I was supposed to apany my wife tonight for her birthday. As a result, this type of thing happened to the Caribbean and we were temporarily transferred to pick up people¡­¡±

    Just then, his neck became cold.

    Two girls had entered the cabin like ghosts. They ced sharp daggers against the throat of the captain and vice-captain. Behind him was a cold voice. ¡°Don¡¯t turn back. Raise your hand and turn off the pager, or I¡¯ll kill you.¡±

    The captain was shocked and immediately raised his hand, voice trembling with horror. ¡°D-Don¡¯t kill me!¡±

    The girl brought his hands back, tied them with a rope and ced a towel in his mouth. The tied-up captain and vice-captain were ced in a corner. The two girls went to the control station and looked at the navigation map. After some operation, the Full Star once again turned.

    At this point, the sleeping passengers were unaware.

    Two invisible people suddenly appeared behind the girl and smiled. ¡°The actions of Luoying Pavilion are neat. We are still one step too slow. This time, we happened to be matched in the World Weekly? How about cooperating to win?¡±

    The girl looked at him and spoke coldly. ¡°If there is no ident, there will be a typhoon or rainstorm tomorrow. Let Sister Lin control the cruise ship. You better not make trouble or the ship will overturn and you will go down to feed the fish together!¡±

    The man immediately waved his hand. ¡°Yes, we won¡¯t mess around.¡±

    At the same time, the Royal Caribbean.

    Their teammates went back to their rooms to rest while Xiao Lou stood on the balcony. Late at night, the distant sea was like a ck hole that would swallow up the entire cruise ship. Yu Hanjiang walked up to him and whispered, ¡°Are you still sleeping?¡±

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°The weather is still very good, the sea is calm and windless. I¡¯m guessing when the storm wille.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was interested. ¡°Oh? What is the result of your guess?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked back at him and smiled. ¡°Maybe it has something to do with the drama. I think that when the drama Thunderstorm is ying in the theatre at 10:00,15:00 or 20:00, it would be more appropriate if it is thundering outside. This also matches A of Spades¡¯ abnormal character, right?¡±

    He was still in the mood to joke around.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s lips slightly raised and he touched Xiao Lou¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. What wille wille. We will be able to get out of the sea smoothly.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. The presence of Group Leader Yu meant he would never need to worry about clearing the instance. Sometimes, trusting a person didn¡¯t need to much reason.

 Chapter 130: Endless Seas 05

    The next morning, Xiao Lou¡¯s biological clock woke him up at 7:30. He opened the floor to ceiling window and see the endless sea in the distance. The blue water was clear and the sky above was cloudless. The fine sunny weather meant the tourists were in a good mood. From time to time, there wasughter from tourists outside the cabin. Yesterday¡¯s incident seemed to have been forgotten.

    Yu Hanjiang put milk and biscuits on the table. ¡°Professor Xiao,e eat breakfast.¡±

    Xiao Lou finished washing up, sat down on the bed and opened a packet of milk. He drank it and asked, ¡°The water pollution problem should¡¯ve been solved?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, just in case, let¡¯s not eat the food on board for a while. The vacuum-packed cookies are safer.¡±

    The two simply had breakfast and went to the entertainment centre on the seventh floor together.

    After a night of rest, the tourist¡¯s diarrhea symptoms werepletely controlled. After breakfast, their faces were rejuvenated and they smiled.

    At 8 o¡¯clock in the morning, there was a long line for several ssic entertainment activities. In particr, the thrilling sea parachute previously charged 80,000 gold coins and now it was free. They naturally wouldn¡¯t miss this golden opportunity.

    The staff arranged the experience in sequence. Next to it, the airwalk, sea glide, banana boats and other activities had arge number of tourists gathered. The entertainment centre on the seventh floor was filled withughter.

    On the highest deck, many people held their phones and posed for photos against the railing. Others were recording videos with professional camera equipment. There was no doubt that these people were locals since challengers couldn¡¯t bring the equipment into the secret room.

    Xiao Lou roughly counted. There were around 100 locals on board. They didn¡¯t know what was going to happen in the future so they were having a good time on the cruise ship. In contrast, the challengers didn¡¯t have the leisure to experience the sea entertainment. Most of them were in the cabins while others were on the deck to watch the situation.

    The ship had 450 challengers, a mixed bag. Since the cruise ship was now in a safe period and there were no emergencies, there was a tacit understanding between challengers to avoid unnecessary fighting. Everyone was waiting patiently.

    The morning passed quickly. The sea was calm with no waves and the sky was blue. The weather was so good that a casual photo taken could be aputer desktop.

    Shao Qingge came to find Xiao Lou on the deck. ¡°I have observed that no one has diarrhea on the entire ship. The problem of food poisoning should¡¯ve been solved. Shall we go have hotpot at noon? It¡¯s free anyway.¡±

    Ye Qi heard the word ¡®hotpot¡¯ and couldn¡¯t help gulping. He stared at Xiao Lou. ¡°Can we go?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°It¡¯s best not to. There is a saying that ¡®pain is forgotten after the scarring.¡¯ Don¡¯t forget how we got hit yesterday. The Keeper of Spades never ys ording tomon sense. In case of another food poisoning and subsequent idents, what if we need to run for our lives while finding the toilet at the same time?¡±

    Ye Qi awkwardly scratched his head. Eight people running for their lives but couldn¡¯t find the bathroom. Finally, they could only do it in their pants. This picture was too beautiful to imagine. Let¡¯s listen to Professor Xiao and cautiously eat biscuits!

    Shao Qingge spoke helplessly. ¡°Yes, we can¡¯t rx our vignce. We¡¯ll have a good meal when we return to the main city. Does Little Ye like hotpot? Then we¡¯ll find a regr hotpot restaurant and have a good time.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded excitedly. ¡°Yes, going to the main city to eat is more reassuring!¡±

    Mo Xuemin, Long Sen, Qu Wanyue and Liu Qiao also came to the deck. Old Mo looked at the distant calm sea and frowned. ¡°How is it that nothing happened? This frequency isn¡¯t quite right¡­ in ordance with the progress of most secret rooms, seven day long survival rooms usually leave one day for everyone to be familiar with the environment. The next day, there is a series of idents. How is it that things are too calm today?¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°It¡¯s like a parab. The first day is the period of adaptation, the second to sixth days are the peak period of intensive idents and thest day was calm.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Today is the second day. The cruise ship must encounter an ident. Let¡¯s wait patiently. If nothing happens in the morning then something will happen in the afternoon.¡±

    A couple had just returned from watching Titanic in the movie theatre. They went to the stern and took the ssic posture. The girl opened her arms to wee the sea breeze while the boy held her from behind. Their friends took their photo¡­

    Several tourists came out after watching the movie and their faces were full of colour as they sighed. ¡°The 4D theatre is really amazing!¡±

    ¡°The scene is so lifelike that I thought there was thunder and lightning outside. As a result, the weather outside isn¡¯t so good!¡±

    ¡±Let¡¯s have lunch first and see it again in the afternoon!¡±

    ¡±I remember that there is another one at 3 in the afternoon. We should line up ahead of time and get good seats.¡±

    Xiao Lou listened to the surroundingments and raised his eyes to the endless sea. All the dangers were hidden under the calm sea but he didn¡¯t know when they woulde. The group went back to their room on the third floor for lunch.

    Milk, mineral water, chocte,pressed biscuits, juice¡­

    Old Mo said, ¡°As long as there are no idents, this is enough for us to eat for seven days. I buy food with more calories, even if they aren¡¯t delicious.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°It is okay to eat like this in the secret room. After returning, Chief Shao will invite everyone to eat hot pot.¡±

    People said that living was the most important and they didn¡¯t care about eating.

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°Split it into three backpacks. If we encounter a dangerous situation where we need to escape, Long Sen, Little Qu and Little Ye will each carry one bag. You all have convenient movement cards and carrying a bag won¡¯t affect your speed.¡±

    The trio nodded, each one carrying a bag on their back.

    After lunch and confirming the escape n again, it happened to be three in the afternoon. ording to the arrangement, the ssic y Thunderstorm will start at 3 p.m.

    Xiao Lou was alert. ¡°The y is about to start. Everyone, be ready.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang ordered, ¡°Little Liu, Little Qu, Long Sen and Old Mo will go to the stern. The four of us will wait here. After receiving news through the heart channel, we will meet at the stern on the first floor.¡±

    Eight people getting together to act wasn¡¯t very convenient. Yu Hanjiang divided them into two teams to be on standby. Xiao Lou pushed open the window and looked into the distance. The sea was very calm but there was no sign of a typhoon.

    At this time, the theatre on the seventh floor.

    The host called out, ¡°Wee to the 4D Grand Theatre. Please enjoy the ssic drama, Thunderstorm!¡±

    There was apuse and the curtain slowly opened. The leading actors came to the big stage in turn and started the wonderful performance.

    Inside the theatre, the 4D lighting and sound effects created an extremely realistic environment. The plot was moving forward¡­

    The actor Zhou Ping was the eldest son of the Zhao mansion. He had money and was from a wealthy mining family. He had an abnormal rtionship with his stepmother but he felt in love with the gentle and kind maid, Si Feng. Due to the bad situation of Si Feng¡¯s family, his father didn¡¯t agree with them. On a stormy night, the actor decided to run away from home. Si Feng also ran away from home and the two people met in the living room.

    Si Feng¡¯s mother was called Lu Shiping and she was actually the biological mother of Zhou Ping. She had been abandoned by Zhou Puyuan and remarried, giving birth to a daughter. After finding out that her eldest son and youngest daughter actually loved each other and that her daughter was pregnant, Lu Shiping was so upset by the reality of the brother and sister love that she decided to hide the truth and let them go.

    However, Zhao Puyuan, the culprit who abandoned Shiping, also came to the living room. He recognized Lu Shiping and excitedly asked his son to kneel down to recognize his mother. ¡°She is your mother. 30 years ago, she didn¡¯t die!¡±

    Thunderbolts rang out in the theatre, followed by heavy rain around the stage.

    On the stage, the man who yed the hero Zhou Ping was full of horror. He couldn¡¯t believe it as he stared at the woman, frantically shaking his head. ¡°No, not her¡­ Dad, tell me she isn¡¯t my mother!¡±

    Zhou Puyuan was angry. ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense! She might be from a bad family but she is truly your biological mother!¡±

    The pained Zhou Ping cried out, ¡°Dad!¡± The next moment, Si Feng realized the man she loved was her own brother. She shook her head crazily and ran out the door screaming. This was the most exciting climax of the drama. The family contradictions, the secrets of their lives, allpletely broke out on the night of the thunderstorm.

    There was the deafening sound of thunder and the heroine Si Feng rushed out of the room in shame and anger. Then she died from electrocution. The hero Zhou Ping opened a drawer and grabbed a gun. A gunshot rang out through the theatre. He had shot himself and fell straight down to the ground. On the big stage, there was a heartbreaking cry.

    The heavy rain and lightningpletely drove up the mood of the audience. The warm apuse could almost topple the roof.

    One man spoke excitedly. ¡°This is the most wonderful y I¡¯ve ever seen. It is worthy of being a 4D drama. I will give the environment a full score. The sound of thunder is very realistic. It is too strong!¡±

    Someone was immersed in the drama and scolded angrily, ¡°Si Feng is so pitiful. She is the most innocent. The culprit is that bastard surnamed Zhou. If he hadn¡¯t abandoned Shiping then it wouldn¡¯t have resulted in such a tragedy.

    A girl suddenly spoke. ¡°Why do I feel like the theatre is shaking?¡±

    Thepanion next to her said, ¡°The theatre is shaking? It feels like an earthquake?¡±

    Just then, the curtain of the theatre fell and the y ended.

    The audience was ready to leave the scene when a loud banging sound entered their ears.

    There was the continuous sound of thunder and the seats on the theatre started to shake from the left to right. The whole theatre suddenly tilted down at a strange angle and a girl screamed as she fell out. ¡°Ah, an earthquake!¡±

    Someone shouted in a rough voice.¡±What earthquake?! We¡¯re on a ship!¡±

    Someone screamed. ¡°The boat is going to capsize. Run away¡ª¡±

    Several hundred people were gathered in the theatre. The crowd rushed out and some people fell. Before they could get up, they were trampled on by the people behind them. The screams of pain made the group panic even more.

    The first person to rush out of the theatre directly came face to face with huge waves.

    It had obviously been 3 o¡¯clock when the drama started in the afternoon. Yet at this moment, the entire sky was covered with dark clouds. There were four hurricanes on the sea and the rumbling thunder was about to break their eardrums. The shes of thunder almost split several cracks in the sky!

    The Royal Caribbean cruise ship tilted 45 degrees and the visitors simply couldn¡¯t stand still. There were strong winds and torrential winds. The tourists were screaming and running around. The deck on the seventh floor was a mess!

    At this time, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s group gathered at the stern the moment the heavy rain started. The originally calm sea was shaking like there was an underground earthquake. In the distance, a huge wave nearly 50 metres high was moving toward the Caribbean.

    The big waves were getting closer and closer to the ship. Once the ship capsized¡­ the consequences were unimaginable!

    At the stern, there were already some challengers who couldn¡¯t wait to jump onto the escape boat using various cards. One person untied the rope and drove the escape boat to escape. Others were afraid of being drenched in torrential rain. There were constant challengersing to grab the escape boats!

    Since the challengers weren¡¯t at the grand theatre, their actions were obviously faster than those of the tourists on board. In an instant, several escape boats wereunched.

    Liu Qiao just wanted to act when Yu Hanjiang stopped her. ¡°Wait.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s brow furrowed as he watched the distant waves, his expression extremely serious. ¡°Such a big wave is likely to directly overturn the escape boats. If we take the escape boat to leave right now then it is likely to be more dangerous!¡±

    Surrounded by challengers scrambling for the escape boats. Yu Hanjiang saw the teams who hurriedly ran on the escape boats suddenly disappear from view. The speed of the escape boat wasn¡¯t too fast yet it disappeared suddenly. It was likely that there was a sea vortex in the distance. The small escape boat encountering a big vortex was just like a mosquito encountering a spider web. It couldn¡¯t escape at all. It was directly drawn to the bottom of the sea by the vortex.

    As the waves drew closer, Xiao Lou clenched his fists. ¡°Will the cruise ship be knocked over?¡±

    At this point, the cruise ship was swinging violently. It would be hard to save the huge cruise ship once it capsized.

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it and ordered calmly, ¡°Grab an escape boat first. Once the boat capsizes, everyone has a way off. However, don¡¯t go too far. There might be a whirlpool in the distance. Wait for me near the cruise ship first. I¡¯ll go to the captain¡¯s cabin.¡±

    Ye Qi was nervous. ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you want me to lend the teleportation card to you?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°No, you take good care of Professor Xiao. I¡¯ll put on the elerator shoes for easy action.¡±

    He looked at Xiao Lou with deep eyes and pressed a hand to Xiao Lou¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Wait until Ie back.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded firmly. ¡°You be careful.¡±

    Xiao Lou watched Yu Hanjiang departing and was worried. Still, he knew that he would distract Group Leader Yu if he followed this time. Group Leader Yu going to the cabin was obviously to make the captain stabilize the ship to prevent it from capsizing.

    They wouldn¡¯t leave on the escape boat yet. They believed in the professional captain. Perhaps there was a chance at life! Once the captain was unable to hold the cruise ship and the hurricanes really blew the cruise ship over, Group Leader Yu could use the eleration shoes to run back to the escape boat and meet everyone.

    At the stern, arge number of tourists and challengerspeted for the escape boat and the situation was a mess! The storm grew bigger and bigger and the entire sky was dark. The thunder in the sky and the screams from the cruise ship gathered together. The originally happy and peaceful cruise ship was like human purgatory at this moment.

    In the constant screams, Liu Qiao opened the Light as a Swallow card and jumped directly on an escape boat. The husband and wife Long Sen and Qu Wanyue jumped up urately. Ye Qi teleported Ye Qi, Shao Qingge and Old Mo to the position of the escape boat.

    The seven people were sitting on the escape boat and Old Mo was in charge of the boat.

    In the distance, there was a huge whirlpool. The escape boat rushed too fast and was caught in the whirlpool. There was a sharp scream from it. Once Old Mo saw this, his face turned white. He immediately turned the escape boat to avoid the centre of the vortex.

    Xiao Lou clenched his fists. The storm hit him and his entire body was soaked. Nevertheless, he couldn¡¯t care about himself. He could only hope that Group Leader Yu could return safely and hope that the cruise ship didn¡¯tpletely sink!

 Chapter 131: Endless Seas 06

    The Caribbean cruise ship, the captain¡¯s control cabin.

    Yu Hanjiang wore an invisibility cloak and shed inside the moment the hatch was blown open by the wind.

    The captain and vice-captain were anxiously checking the equipment on the ship. The harsh ringing of the rm kept filling their ears. The young vice-captain¡¯s voice trembled as he said, ¡°Captain, there is no signal and no contact with the shore!¡±

    The captain calmly ordered, ¡°Continue to call the rescue centre. We need urgent support!¡±

    A red warning icon appeared on the LCD monitor screen in front. The hull was heavily tilted and a mechanical voice gave crazy prompts. ¡°The navigation system has failed! Themunication system has failed! Warning the centre of gravity for the cruise ship is too low! The inclination angle is more than 40 degrees. There is a risk of capsizing. Please correct it as soon as possible!¡±

    The old captain¡¯s face was bloody.

    Outside the window, a nearly 50 metres high wave was getting closer to the cruise ship. If the ship couldn¡¯t be stabilized quickly, this huge wave would make things even worse. The originally faltering cruise ship would bepletely overturned by the wave.

    The vice-captain cried out, ¡°It is hopeless for this ship! Captain, let¡¯s run!¡±

    The captain gritted his teeth and stared at the waves in the distance, fists clenched tightly.

    The vice-captain grabbed him by the cor and roared, ¡°Think of your wife and children. They don¡¯t want to see your corpse. The ship¡¯s equipment has failed and we happened to encounter a typhoon. The ship can no longer be saved. Abandon the ship and run for your life! Do you hear me?¡±

    The captain¡¯s mind returned and he ordered, ¡°Organize the evacuation of the tourists immediately!¡±

    The grey-haired captain had the cruise ship start to whistle. The short and continuous whistling sound represented that the cruise ship had encountered danger. He picked up the microphone beside him and spoke at a very fast speed. ¡°Dear visitors, our cruise ship equipment had failed and we have encountered extremely bad typhoon weather. Please put on your lifejacket as soon as possible and head in the direction indicated by the arrows on the ship to find the escape boat and evacuate¡­¡±

    The captain¡¯s broadcast made the confused crowd burst out screaming.

    The crowd ran like crazy towards the stern. Many people lost their shoes, hats and sunsses in the rush. Yu Hanjiang wore the invisibility cloak and simply went to the third floor where there were fewer people. He grabbed the railing and used it to climb toward the stern.

    Just then, a hurricane struck, apanied by a huge wave.

    The 50 metres high wave that looked like a building copsing hit the ship!

    All the visitors on the deck fell down at this wave. Some people were washed past the railing and into the sea. Some one held onto the railing tightly with one hand, his body blown by the wind as they cried out, ¡°Help me¡­.¡±

    However, the tourists were so overwhelmed that no one had any extra hands to help him. The man hanging onto the railing was soon struck by another wave and fell into the sea, flipping tice before he disappeared from view.

    The cruise ship continued to tilt. The gpole on the deck was blown down by the wind and the g of the Royal Caribbean, which represented the identity of the ship, was blown out to sea. The angle between the ship and the sea was less than 30 degrees and people couldn¡¯t stand on the ship at all. Screams and heartbreaking cries were heard.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s pupils¡¯ shrank. This wasn¡¯t good! Theplete capsize of the cruise ship was a predestined result. His body moved faster than his brain and he didn¡¯t hesitate to jump into the sea.

    At almost the same time that he jumped, the seven storey cruise ship fell into the sea with a loud boom! Many passengers who couldn¡¯t escape on time were crushed into the sea by the cruise ship and their cries of despair came to an end.

    The fallen cruise ship was gradually submerged into the sea. Some passengers were injured and the originally clear water was stained with blood. The challenger teams that grabbed the escape boats were rushing to escape the huge waves. It was just that some people obviously didn¡¯t know how to sail. Some escape boats were out of control on the sea, like headless flies. They were raised and overturned by the huge waves.

    The challenger teams were thrown into the sea like dumplings. They hurriedly swam to save their teammates and there were constant curses scolding A of Spades. A middle-aged man even roared directly at the sky. ¡°Fuck Spades! I¡¯ll dig up the graves of your ancestors up to 18 generations!¡±

    The challengers around him, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This brother had obviously lost his mind. Did A of Spades have an ancestral grave?

    Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t in the mood to pay attention to them. Old Mo was concentrating on steering the boat, controlling it with first-ss technique. Under his control, the escape boat shot out to the sea like a sharp arrow, making several ingenious turns to avoid huge waves!

    He parked the escape boat in the distance and Xiao Lou spoke nervously. ¡°Old Mo, Group Leader Yu is still on the ship!¡±

    ¡°I know but the wind and waves over there are too big. It will be dangerous to go back. We should wait for him in a safe ce.¡±

    The always calm Xiao Lou looked at the distant tragedy and couldn¡¯t help trembling slightly. He rationally knew that Old Mo¡¯s actions were right but Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t control his worry.

    Shao Qingge saw that he wasn¡¯t in the right mood and reached for Xiao Lou¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Professor Xiao, don¡¯t worry. It is impossible to drown in the sea with Group Leader Yu¡¯s skill. I believe he wille back safely.¡±

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and nodded stiffly.

    In the distance, the cruise ship had beenpletely turned over. The blood on the sea continued to spread. The screams and cries were endless. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t dare blink as he stared in the direction of the cruise ship, searching for familiar figures everywhere.

    There was the roar of thunder overhead and several thunderbolts split the dark clouds. Xiao Lou¡¯s entire body was drenched and his heart seemed to be filled with a cold wind. His eyes were blurred by the mist but he still stared into the distance, afraid of missing Yu Hanjiang.

    It was probably that ¡®care caused chaos.¡¯ He knew that Yu Hanjiang wouldn¡¯t be so stupid to drown in the sea but he couldn¡¯t find any traces of Yu Hanjiang. Xiao Lou was too nervous as he clenched his fists, his breathing difficult.

    These short minutes seemed to have be as long as a century.

    Liu Qiao sent out a flyingntern simr to the one she released in Liuxi Vige. It could be used to determine their location and she wanted to let Group Leader Yu quickly find their boat in the chaos.

    It was unknown how long after when Xiao Lou suddenly heard a familiar voice in his ear. ¡°I¡¯m back.¡±

    Xiao Lou turned back sharply.

    He saw Yu Hanjiang quickly climbing onto the escape boat. The man¡¯s ck hair was wet over his shoulder and his clothes were soaked by seawater. The looked a bit embarrassing but his expression was calm, his dark eyes full of confidence.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was ecstatic and he didn¡¯t know what to say for a moment.

    Shao Qingge joked. ¡°Group Leader Yu, state that you¡¯re safe. Then Professor Xiao can stop worrying.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou¡¯s bright eyes.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s ears were hot but he was very serious as he gazed at Yu Hanjiang, eyes filled with obvious joy. ¡°Youe back! Why were you gone for so long? Are you okay?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart was warm. ¡°I¡¯m fine. I went to the control cabin to take a look. The reason for the sudden tilting of the ship is that the equipment was malfunctioning. Originally, this type of giant cruise ship should be able to withstand the typhoon. As a result, there was a problem with the equipment. The captain couldn¡¯t hold on and made a radio broadcast to let everyone escape. I saw many warning lights on the console and capsizing was a certain result.¡±

    He went back to confirm that the cruise ship couldn¡¯t continue to be used. If it could endure the typhoon then there was no need to rush to the escape boat. After all, the cruise ship was more stable and safer. However, the ship¡¯s capsize was an inevitable result so they could only choose the second option.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help spitting out, ¡°Then it is to let us sit on the escape boat and drift at sea?¡±

    Old Mo smiled bitterly. ¡°You should get used to this. Spades often does things that aren¡¯t good for people.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked with concern, ¡°Group Leader Yu, how did you find us across such a distance?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°My swimming technique is good and my lung capacity isrge. I can hold on underwater for up to two minutes. Before the ship¡¯s sinking, I jumped into the sea an swam along until I saw thentern released by Little Liu. You didn¡¯t see me because I was wearing the invisibility cloak.¡±

    Xiao Lou finally let go of his worries after seeing that the other person wasfortable and had no injuries.

    After yesterday¡¯s diarrhea incident, 20% of people took the Full Star to leave. Thus, the escape boats on the Caribbean were sufficient. As long as people didn¡¯t panic in the typhoon and grabbed an escape boat, they could avoid the centre of the huge wind and waves. Don¡¯t blindly drive the escape boat into the whirlpools and the probability of surviving this storm wasn¡¯t low.

    Xiao Lou looked around. The challengers were prepared and most of the escape boats had survived.

    It was a pity that the tourists didn¡¯t know this. They just came to the cruise ship to y but suffered such misfortune.

    Nearly 60% of the tourists died in the shipwreck. Many of them were ying in the entertainment centre or watching a drama in the theatre. Once the disaster happened, they had no time to escape and were washed out to sea. Only a few quick-witted tourists got on the escape boat.

    Heavy rain poured down and Yu Hanjiang looked out the back of the escape boat. The sudden whirlpools had taken away many lives. They were on the right side of the capsized ship and could only continue to move forward.

    The surrounding sea was full of broken railing, wooden nks, girl¡¯s silk scarves, life jackets, stic bags of food and shoes and bags lost during the escape. There were only the bodies of drowned people floating on the sea.

    The typhoon passed through and left a mess everywhere.

    Many people saw such a terrible disaster for the first time and couldn¡¯t bear to look away.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°You aren¡¯t hurt?¡±

    They shook their heads.

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°The typhoon turned the cruise ship over and forced us to drift at sea on the escape boat. There are five days left to go until we clear the instance. Does the escape boat have enough fuel?¡±

    The group heard this and their hearts suddenly sunk.

    Old Mo hastily looked at the pointer on the dashboard. ¡°The tank is full.¡±

    People sighed with relief. They were too afraid of being pitted by A of Spades. It wasn¡¯t easy to grab an escape boat. What if they ran out of fuel out of a few kilometers? Wouldn¡¯t this make people desperate? Fortunately, A of Spades wasn¡¯t too much. The fuel tank of the escape boat was full.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the distant sky that was gradually be brighter and said, ¡°There is a whirlpool behind us and we temporarily can¡¯t pass. We can only go forward. Let¡¯s straighten up and get ready to go.¡±

    Xiao Lou also calmed down at this time and sat back. ¡°First, take inventory of our supplies.

    Ye Qi, Long Sen and Qu Wanyue were responsible for the materials. The three people checked their backpacks and said, ¡°Everything to eat is here!¡±

    ¡°The medicine is alsoplete!¡±

    ¡±I have the mineral water.¡±

    Xiao Lou opened his mouth. ¡°Old Mo, it is hard on you but you have to set sail.¡±

    Mo Xuemin smiled. ¡°Rest assured, I specifically learned how to drive an escape boat. Give it to me!¡±

    Old Mo drove the escape boat quickly toward the east.

    Many challengers also made the decision to continue east after observing the environment. Dozens of escape boats gradually moved across the sea.

    Behind them, the Caribbean cruise ship hadpletely disappeared, leaving only a few pieces of wood debris floating on the sea. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t what happened to the crew on board and didn¡¯t know how many lives this sudden disaster had taken. There was no time to think about saving others. His teammates were safe, which was the only thing he should be grateful for.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou sat side by side in the second row.

    The escape boat had been travelling for a while. Seeing Professor Xiao¡¯s pale face, Yu Hanjiang reached out and held Xiao Lou¡¯s hand, whispering, ¡°Just now, I left alone. Were you worried?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang still couldn¡¯t forget the moment Xiao Lou saw him and his eyes brightened.

    Professor Xiao actually cared so much about his safety. Yu Hanjiang was a bit surprised and felt warm due to Xiao Lou¡¯s bright eyes. For a while, Yu Hanjiang thought that Xiao Lou only looked at him like an ordinary teammate, simr to Chief Shao and Ye Qi. However, at that moment, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t deceive people.

    He suddenly found that Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t the same toward him. The feelings of the two people were different than other teammates. The trust and tacit understanding between them was also higher.

    Thinking of Xiao Lou¡¯s concern, Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t help promising, ¡°Rest assured, I won¡¯t let myself fall into danger. We promised to go back together.¡±

    He had just been soaked by the heavy rain and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hand was wet.

    The wet hand was holding his hand lightly and Xiao Lou¡¯s heart beat faster like a drum. He didn¡¯t dare gaze into Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes as he spoke quietly. ¡°It¡¯s okay, I wasn¡¯t particrly worried. I believed that Group Leader Yu cane back safely.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s lips gently raised as he clenched the other person¡¯s hand. ¡°We will try to act together in the future. I won¡¯t leave alone again and worry you.¡±

    Xiao Lou knew that Group Leader Yu holding his hand was simply to express trust in each other but he was unable to control his heartbeat. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s fingers were slender and strong. It felt very secure. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t dare to struggle or hold back. He could only freeze in ce.

    Instead, Yu Hanjiang seemed to realize that his actions were too close and he took the initiative to release his hand.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s ears were slightly hot. He kept his head down and didn¡¯t speak.

    Sitting behind them, Shao Qingge looked at the scene with a smile and touched his chin thoughtfully.

    In the front row, Old Mo suddenly pointed to the distant sky and said, ¡°The rain is about to stop. You see, the dark clouds are scattering.¡±

    The group looked up. There was a gap in the middle of the dark clouds covering the sky.

    The sun split the sky like a sword, spilling onto the sea. The clear blue sky slowly spread like a ribbon in everyone¡¯s field of view. The cloudspletely dispersed and brilliant sunlight shone down, casting ayer of warmth on everyone.

    The group was relieved.

    Long Sen eximed, ¡°There is no danger! Fortunately, Old Mo can sail a boat.¡±

    Mo Xuemin spoke helplessly. ¡°I have been in the secret room world for half a year and have be an expert. Not only can I steer a boat, but I can also fly an airne. I paid money to learn and can parachute.¡±

    Long Senughed. ¡°Then you are really a jack of all trades!¡±

    Mo Xuemin sighed. ¡°There is no way. In case of an air crash in the future, won¡¯t we need to parachute? There is no harm in preparing ahead. Never underestimate the degree of A of Spades¡¯ perversion.¡±

    Qu Wanyue also smiled. ¡°It was dangerous but haven¡¯t we safely passed the typhoon? Everyone has worked hard.¡±

    Ye Qi took bottles of mineral water from his backpack. ¡°Come, drink some water to steady your nerves!¡±

    The eyes of the group were much easier.

    Still, they knew that this was only the second day.

    After the typhoon passed, there might be other disasters waiting for everyone.

    The endless sea still had no end in sight and their journey on the sea had just begun.

 Chapter 132: Endless Seas 07

    Old Mo steered the escape boat forward, leaving the typhoon far behind. The dark clouds above their heads gradually disappeared. The sky became as clear as the water. In the afternoon, the bright sunlight shone on the sea. The wet people finally felt warm.

    Ye Qi felt ufortable in his wet clothes. He put his hands over his eyes and looked up at the sun. ¡°The sun is so good. Shall we take off our clothes and soak in the sunlight? It is too hard to wear them.¡±

    Shao Qingge told him, ¡°A girl is sitting behind you. Is it good to take off your clothes?¡±

    Ye Qi looked back and reddened when he met Liu Qiao¡¯s eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I forgot that Xiao Liu is a girl.¡±

    Liu Qiao looked back at him in an expressionless manner. ¡°I don¡¯t look like a girl?¡±

    Ye Qi hurriedly exined, ¡°No, no, I didn¡¯t mean that.¡±

    Qu Wanyue smiled and smoothed things over. ¡°Little Ye, you can take off your coat and bask in the sun. We won¡¯t mind.¡±

    Ye Qi was embarrassed to take it off. He was thin without any abs and his figure wasn¡¯t particrly good. He was afraid of beingughed at by these sisters. Other people didn¡¯t think twice about taking off their clothes and drying in the sun. The sun on the sea was very strong and it would dry quickly.

    Ye Qi quickly shifted the topic and asked Qu Wanyue, ¡°Teacher Qu, what type of dance do you teach?¡±

    Music and dancing were inseparable. Many songs needed a dance so Ye Qi had a certain understanding of dancing. Qu Wanyue replied, ¡°I teach Latin dance at the Jiangzhou City Art Training Centre.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded. ¡°Oh, Latin dance includes the samba, rumba, paso doble and jive, right?¡±

    Qu Wanyue smiled. ¡°Yes, can you dance?¡±

    ¡°No, but I know some basic dance moves. Oh, I can dance the waltz.¡±

    Xiao Lou was also a teacher but he was in the system and subject to more constraints. Qu Wanyue was out of the system and signed with a training centre. She had more freedom. Xiao Lou looked back with interest and asked, ¡°Does a dance teacher had more sses on the weekend?¡±

    Qu Wanyue replied, ¡°Yes, Professor Xiao. The weekend is the peak time and the training courses are from morning to evening. Normally I have a public ss at 8 o¡¯clock every night.¡±

    Old Mo excitedly turned back. ¡°My daughter also learned Latin dancing. I think that people who learn dance really show an extraordinary temperament!¡±

    Qu Wanyue smiled. ¡°Old Mo, a lot of parents have the same idea as you. That¡¯s why they send their children to learn dancing.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed in his heart. Teacher Qu had an excellent temperament. She had a good body, a swan neck and upright posture. She looked very good when wearing sportswear and she had beautiful, long, curly hair. In order to facilitate movements, she normally had her hair tied up. She was gentle andpetent and her temperament was perfectly integrated with her body.

    Long Sen wasn¡¯t particrly handsome. His looks were rose than Group Leader Yu and Chief Shao but he had a strong, athletic body and developed muscles. His hair was cut short and he looked very energetic. His smile was simple and sincere and the two people were very suitable when sitting together.

    Old Mo¡¯s body was slightly fat but there was no obvious beer belly. His face was a bit round and he was like an amiable uncle. He had made up his mind to return for his daughter and not only learned to steer an escape boat as well as an airne and parachute. He was a jack of all trades. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help admiring his perseverance.

    These three new teammates were just added but Xiao Lou believed his decision wasn¡¯t wrong. There weren¡¯t many team members but each one had their own characteristics and could y a role in the increasingly difficult levels they would faceter.

    Xiao Lou thought up to here and asked, ¡°Old Mo, what level is your card wall fixed at?¡±

    Mo Xuemin smiled bitterly. ¡°I¡¯m stuck in the eight level. It has been half a year since I came to the Card World. Apart from the Distant Guild¡¯s elite team who went to J of Hearts, most of the challengers¡¯ progress has been stopped at 8 of Hearts or 8 of Spades, which as A-grade secret rooms.¡±

    Ye Qi asked curiously, ¡°The eighth level is an A-grade secret room. Then 5, 6, 7 are B-grade secret rooms?¡±

    ¡°Yes, the 5, 6, 7 B-grade rooms aren¡¯t particrly difficult. Once you reach the eighth level, the difficulty upgrades in a straight line. My team went to 8 of Diamonds and was almost tortured to the point of copse. Thus, we temporarily didn¡¯t go to 8 of Hearts or 8 of Spades.¡±

    Xiao Lou had long guessed that the difficulty of the Diamonds room would increaseter. If they encountered arge maze with many punishment type mechanisms, it would be difficult to find the right path. He suddenly thought of a key point and said, ¡°So, the B-grade secret rooms have beenpletely passed by Old Mo. We have to clear the fifth, sixth and seventh levelter. Old Mo, can you give us spoilers ahead of time?¡±

    Mo Xueminughed. ¡°Of course. In fact, the Intelligence Bureau will also provide a strategy for the low-level secret rooms. One strategy is one million gold coins We don¡¯t need to spend money since I know several aspects of the plots in these secret rooms.¡±

    Ye Qi scratched his head in a confused manner. ¡°It seems that the Hearts room has different versions. I remember that when I went to Maple Forest High School with Chief Shao, the name of the dead was different from what Professor Xiao told me.¡±

    Mo Xuemin exined, ¡°ording to the analysis of the challenger forum experts, the B-grade and below secret rooms have two versions. It is like the volume A or volume B in an English exam. One will be randomly selected after entering. Professor Xiao and his staff drew Volume A. If you have any contact with Professor Xiao then the keeper will send you Volume B and change some details.¡±

    Ye Qi suddenly realized. ¡°Then if Old Mo drew Volume A in the fifth, sixth and seventh levels, we will probably get Volume B when we go in. The plot has changed but the overall difficulty is simr?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Based on your strength, the B-grade secret rooms surely won¡¯t be a problem to clear. The key is the A-grade secret rooms starting from the eighth level, the S-grade secret rooms of J, Q and K and thest SS-grade secret room. The difficulty is beyond imagination.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked back at Yu Hanjiang and suggested, ¡°Group Leader Yu, after this World Weekly, why don¡¯t we clear level five, six and seven first?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, there is Old Mo to prove a strategy. Clearing the B-grade secret rooms shouldn¡¯t be difficult. We will clear the instances as soon as possible and draw more cards for theter secret rooms.¡±

    Everyone sat on the escape boat floating on the vast sea, idle and bored as they discussed their next n. Old Mo carefully told them about the general situation of the fifth, sixth and seventh levels.

    The difficulty of the B-grade rooms was slightly moreplicated than the C-grade rooms. However, since the B-grade rooms could use the senior contract and the number of teammates increased, the difficulty would be reduced.

    The fifth, sixth and seventh levels were more like a ¡®mid-transition¡¯, allowing neers to enter the main city, form a team and develop a tacit understanding with their teammates, drawing more cards to improve the team¡¯s fighting power.

    The eighth level was the start of the game¡¯srge, mainstream instances.

    There was the senior, Old Mo on the team. Xiao Lou was confident about the next challenge. ¡°I remember the drawing of cards in the secret rooms are decided by team, not number. I have an idea. The eight of us can split into two groups to clear the B-grade secret rooms as soon as possible.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°The people in the contract book will be forcibly pulled into the secret room. If we open two secret rooms at the same time, we can let everyone enter separately. Then we can choose the secret room we are good at to challenge. For example, I¡¯m good at Hearts and Spades while Professor Xiao is good at Hearts and Diamonds. Old Mo is good at Diamonds and Shao Qingge is good at Clubs. We can form different teams for different secret rooms.¡±

    Mo Xuemin immediately nodded. ¡°This method is good. For a contracted team, if half the team passes the secret room then it will be considered as clearing the instance on the card wall. This can enhance our efficiency! There is no need to talk too much about the fixed rewards. Those cards are verymon and can be bought with money. The draw for a perfect instance is calcted by team. For example, two cards are drawn from 5 of Hearts. It doesn¡¯t matter if four people or 15 people pass. Only two good cards can be drawn. The rewards won¡¯t be any less if we challenge it in two groups.¡±

    Shao Qingge wondered, ¡°So if it is a team of 15 people, we can divide into four teams to y Hearts, Spades, Diamonds and Clubs at the same time?¡±

    Mo Xuemin replied, ¡°Some people do that but it is only possible for strong teams.¡±

    Xiao Lou was happy. ¡°Then next week, we will divide into two teams andplete the B-grade secret rooms as soon as possible.¡±

    The group nodded in approval. They chatted for a long time about the secret rooms. This chat allowed them to know each other more, closing the invisible distance between teammates. It was unknown how long after but Ye Qi¡¯s stomach suddenly made a growling sound. His face reddened as he suggested, ¡°I¡¯m a bit hungry. Do you want to eat?¡±

    Old Mo looked at the time on the floating box. He saw 18:30 and couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°Have we been floating on the sea for three and a half hours? So fast!¡±

    Perhaps they were too excited when talking. They ignored the time and in the blink of an eye, it was evening. Yu Hanjiang took the bag from Ye Qi¡¯s hand. ¡°Let¡¯s eat the biscuits, mineral water and choctes first.¡± He pulled out a stic bag and added, ¡°The trash will go in here.¡±

    The group took the biscuits and ate them. Then Ye Qi excitedly said, ¡°Look behind you!¡±

    They looked back at the same time. In the distance, the sun was setting. The rose-coloured clouds in the sky constantly changed shape and a gold column of light shone through the clouds onto the sea. The entire sea was sprinkled with ayer of gold, like countless gold fragments. The spectacr ocean sunset shocked their hearts.

    Ye Qi sighed. ¡°So beautiful. This is the most beautiful sunset I¡¯ve ever seen!¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and said, ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that this is a secret room, the scenery on this trip would be excellent.¡±

    Everyone looked back at the sunset and ate dinner in silence. The sun soon disappeared below the sea. Xiao Lou looked at the sky and suggested. ¡°Let¡¯s stop the boat and stop moving forward. It is getting dark. Everyone, take out the Night Pearl for light.¡±

    In the distance, there were many escape boats that lit up the surroundings using the Night Pearl.

    Someone from the front left asked, ¡°Friends, it is dark. You don¡¯t intend to continue?¡±

    A girl¡¯s voice came from the front right. ¡°It is easy to lose direction in the darkness or we can encounter a whirlpool, iceberg or reef. We won¡¯t live if we capsize. I suggest that you turn off the power of the escape boat and float while waiting until tomorrow!¡±

    There was a chorus of agreement. The challengers who escaped from the cruise ship all moved in the same direction and around the same speed. Thus, they all gathered in one ce when it was dark.

    Old Mo lowered his voice. ¡°There has been no infighting among challengers so far but we have to be on guard. In the evening, some people might take advantage of the sleeping time to kill people and steal cards.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was grim-faced. ¡°We have to take turns to stand guard in pairs.¡± His eyes swept over the group and he quickly arranged it. ¡°Old Mo, you have worked hard today sailing the boat. Sleep with Liu Qiao at 1 a.m. Shao Qingge and Ye Qi will stay up from 1-3 a.m. Professor Xiao and I will stand guard from 3-5 a.m. I will wake up Long Sen and Teacher Qu at 5 a.m and you will keep watch until 7 a.m.¡±

    The most likely time for an ident to happen was 3-5 in the morning. Yu Hanjiang took the initiative to choose the time when the pressure was the highest. It wasn¡¯t the first time he and Xiao Lou had kept watch and there were naturally no opinions.

    After eating, the group alertly drove the escape boat to the outskirts. There were too many escape boats nearby. Old Mo maintained a safe distance of more than 100 metres from the other escape boats.

    At 9 o¡¯clock in the evening, the whole area waspletely engulfed in darkness. The glow of the Night Pearls from the escape boat interacted with the twinkling stars in the sky, like countless stars had fallen into the sea.

    The night wind blew and Xiao Lou sneezed.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at him and whispered, ¡°Are you cold?¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t have time to speak when Ye Qi and Shao Qingge also started to sneeze. This started a sneezing ry. Liu Qiao, Long Sen and Qu Wanyue also sneezed one by one.

    Qu Wanyue rubbed her nose and helplessly said, ¡°We stayed in the rain for half an hour today and our clothes were wet. It wasn¡¯t easy to dry them in the afternoon. If we experience a night of cold wind, I feel that everyone will have a cold tomorrow.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Do you want to make a fire to keep warm?¡±

    Old Mo said, ¡°It isn¡¯t good to ignite a fire on the escape boat. What if the fuel tank is burned?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it and suddenly smiled. ¡°I have a way.¡±

    He took out the Compass card and started drawing a circle. Large and small metal rings quickly piled together to form a circr te the size of a ¡®washbasin.¡¯ Xiao Lou cut the ring with the Scissors card and made a wire to fix the basin in ce.

    Then he summoned Bai Juyi to light a fire and put the charcoal fire in the basin. ¡°This won¡¯t burn the boat.¡±

    Ye Qi was stunned. ¡°There is this type of operation?¡±

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°Bai Juyi¡¯s charcoal fire can onlyst for 90 minutes. We need fuel.¡± He looked at Mo Xuemin. ¡°Old Mo, I remember you have a card called Solid Wood Flooring right?¡±

    Mo Xuemin didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. ¡°Yes, the flooring can be ced on water or between two buildings as a bridge¡­ Professor Xiao, do you want me to split the wood nks apart for fuel?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and nodded. ¡°Solid wood can be used as fuel. In addition, you can use it again when the card is recalled. This is equivalent to an infinite loop that can be used anytime and anywhere.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The card was being taken advantage of by Professor Xiao. The Compass rings were used to make a basin, Bai Juyi to make a fire and Solid Wood Flooring as fuel¡­ it was a ridiculous result!

    Immediately after, Yu Hanjiang also started a strange operation. He used a sharp military knife to cut Old Mo¡¯s wooden nks in half, then into many smaller pieces of wood. He piled them up in the middle of the boat and spoke lightly, ¡°Those on guard, pay attention to adding firewood in the basin on time.¡±

    Xiao Lou also made a concave basin with the Compass, leaving a gap. Then he turned it upside down on top of the fire basin and said will a smile, ¡°This will ensure it isn¡¯t blown out by the wind.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The witty Professor Xiao actually used a variety of cards to make a stove. Everyone felt worship.

    The temporary ¡®fire furnace¡¯ made by Xiao Lou was very useful. There was a charcoal fire and the frozen and shivering people immediately felt warm. Compared to the shivering challengers on the other escape boats, the eight people around the fire furnace was reallyfortable.

    There was Professor Xiao, the small expert. No matter the environment, they didn¡¯t have to be afraid of the cold anymore!

 Chapter 133: Endless Seas 08

    At night, Xiao Lou was sleeping in his seat. He was confused when he sensed his body being pushed and a familiar voice entered his ears. ¡°Professor Xiao, it is 3 o¡¯clock. Time to change shifts.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had been sitting in the driver¡¯s seat. Xiao Lou rubbed his eyes and woke himself up. He went to Group Leader Yu¡¯s side and sat down. Then he looked back and asked, ¡°Chief Shao, nothing happened?¡±

    Shao Qingge replied, ¡°There are no anomalies for the moment. It will be hard for the two of you.¡±

    Ye Qi sleepily handed the teleportation card to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Group Leader Yu, I¡¯ll give this to you. It might be useful.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, go to sleep.¡±

    Shao Qingge and Ye Qi went to the back row to sleep. Ye Qi ced two pieces of wood into the furnace and sat in the front row. Yu Hanjiang whispered in his ear, ¡°Has the skill of the Qin Guan card refreshed? You should change the binding object to me.¡±

    Previously, in order to facilitate the exchange of information on the cruise ship, Xiao Lou had connected to Liu Qiao and Shao Qingge to Old Mo. All card skills had refreshed at midnight and Liu Qiao was asleep. Xiao Lou took out the Qin Guan card and bound it to Yu Hanjiang again. In this way, they didn¡¯t need to talk to each other and didn¡¯t need to worry about the impact of their voices on their sleeping teammates.

    The surroundings were very quiet and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice soon rang in Xiao Lou¡¯s mind. ¡°Old Mo said that most of the teams in the Card World are stuck at the eighth level. I don¡¯t think this is right. Can¡¯t the elite teams of the major guilds pass 8 of Hearts?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°Old Mo¡¯s previous team didn¡¯t dare to go to 8 of Hearts and we don¡¯t know the exact situation. Once we return to the main city and pass through the B-grade secret rooms, we can try to find the Intelligence Bureau for some information.¡± Speaking of the Intelligence Bureau, Xiao Lou was very interested in the boss called Tang. He couldn¡¯t help joking, ¡°Say, the boss of the Intelligence Bureau is so mysterious. Can we directly spend money to check their boss?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang seriously replied, ¡°I¡¯m afraid not. The Intelligence Bureau must have rules to protect their internal members because their members know too much. It would be too dangerous.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Group Leader Yu, what are you so serious about? I¡¯m just kidding.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked back and happened to meet Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes.

    The Night Pearl illuminated the clear eyes with a shallow smile, as bright as a star¡­ no, more than stars. Yu Hanjiang felt that this pair of eyes were the best eyes he had ever seen since childhood, especially whenughing. It melted people¡¯s hearts.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face was slightly hot¡ªbecause he sensed the thoughts in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mind. Group Leader Yu was boasting in his head that Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes looked good. Xiao Lou hurriedly moved his gaze away, heartbeat somewhat stalling.

    Yu Hanjiang also reacted. He forgot that their heart channel was still linked. He quickly changed the topic. ¡°It is more than 3 o¡¯clock. If people want to take action, shouldn¡¯t this be the time?¡±

    Xiao Lou controlled his heartbeat and spoke calmly. ¡°It is very quiet around here. Most of the people on the escape boats are keeping guard at night. Those people might be waiting for the right opportunity.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°We will be vignt.¡±

    The sea was calm with no waves. They chatted over their spiritual link. After an hour, nothing happened around them and Xiao Lou was puzzled. Perhaps all the challengers in the World Weekly were more dutiful this time and wouldn¡¯t use extreme means to snatch cards from other challengers? If so, at least there would be no intrigue.

    Just then, a breeze blew through. Many escape boats were shaking and the bright Night Pearls were also shaking from side to side. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t mind it. He thought the cause was the wind. As a result, Yu Hanjiang suddenly held his shoulder, looked to the right and spoke in Xiao Lou¡¯s mind. ¡°There is movement over there.¡±

    Xiao Lou followed Group Leader Yu¡¯s gaze. It was an escape boat in the southeast direction with a Night Pearl. The moment Xiao Lou looked, the Night Pearl shook violently and disappeared.

    If their observation wasn¡¯t detailed enough, one out of dozens of Night Pearls disappearing wouldn¡¯t have attracted attention. Xiao Lou immediately tensed and he spoke in his mind. ¡°That escape boat had an incident?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t see clearly in the darkness but the Night Pearl shook so badly. It doesn¡¯t seem to be due to the wind¡­¡± Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°I didn¡¯t hear the sound of any heavy objects falling into the sea or a struggle. If something happened, how can there be no sound?¡±

    ¡°If there wasn¡¯t a fight, perhaps we are thinking too much?¡± Xiao Lou also felt incredulous. If something really happened to an entire ship, how could there be no sound?

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ears pricked up and he stared intently at the southeast. Then nothing happened. Both of them thought they were too suspicious but after 10 minutes, a Night Pearl on a southeast escape boat also shook violently before going out quietly, like an invisible hand had suddenly taken it away.

    It was a dark and moonless night, a good time for killing.

    ¡°No!¡± Yu Hanjiang was alert. ¡°Those two ships might be in trouble!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Xiao Lou didn¡¯t hear any sound. He nervously clenched his fists and looked back at his sleeping teammates. ¡°Do you want to take them up?¡±

    ¡°Not for the moment.¡± Yu Hanjiang stared intently into the distance. The dark night was like a huge mouth, opening to collectively swallow up everyone.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and spoke decisively. ¡°Professor Xiao, do you remember Compass¡¯ second skill? The 10 metres diameter range is invisible. Draw a circr boundary to protect our escape boat. I¡¯ll put on an invisibility cloak to take a look.¡±

    ¡°Will there be any problems if you go alone?¡± Xiao Lou looked at him with concern.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m invisible and they can¡¯t see me. There is also the heart channel so I can alwaysmunicate. I can use Ye Qi¡¯s teleportation card to fly over the sea and see who is a troublemaker.¡± Yu Hanjiang spoke calmly.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll stay here.¡± Xiao Lou quickly took out Compass and drew a circle. The metal ring instantly erged to a diameter of 10 metres, forming an invisible circle around the boat. The upgraded second skill of Compass was equivalent to a safety circle, making a circr area free from any attack and control cards.

    Yu Hanjiang put on the invisibility cloak and used Ye Qi¡¯s card that allowed him to teleport 50 metres to instantlye to the incident area. He used his memory to find the direction where the Night Pearl disappeared.

    There was indeed something wrong with the first escape boat. The people on the escape boat were dead. Everyone¡¯s throats were cut! Yu Hanjiang¡¯s pupils shrank and he immediately moved to the other escape boat.

    The ship¡¯s challengers were also killed. The man sitting in the driver¡¯s seat stared in disbelief, like he had seen a terrible monster. Yu Hanjiang thought of the word ¡®monster¡¯ and Xiao Lou immediately asked after receiving the spiritual signal. ¡°Group Leader Yu, is it a sea monster attack?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°It isn¡¯t a sea monster. It is man-made. All of them had slit throats. Two boats of challengers have already been killed. Professor Xiao, be careful¡­¡±

    Just then, Xiao Lou¡¯s voice was heard in his head. ¡°I feel someone underwater.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t hesitate and immediately returned. It took three seconds to return to Xiao Lou¡¯s side. He saw abnormal fluctuations under the sea. This group of challengers actually had the idea to hit their escape boat!

    At that time, Old Mo had deliberately parked on the periphery to avoid risk.

    It wasn¡¯t surprising that these people picked the outside boats. There were so many boats in the inner circle that it was easy for other challengers to notice something was wrong. The perimeter was far away and there were fewer people. It was convenient for them tomit crimes. Even if one or two escape boats disappeared, it would be difficult for others to notice in the darkness.

    If it wasn¡¯t for Xiao Lou¡¯s early use of the Compass, because their boat would¡¯ve also been killed. Xiao Lou unexpectedly found that he couldn¡¯t hear any sound and called out to Yu Hanjiang, ¡°Group Leader Yu, there is no sound around here. I can¡¯t even hear the sound of my own breathing. It is strangely very quiet. Can you hear me talking?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it. ¡°I understand. It should be a sound shielding card that affects the environment. We aremunicating spiritually and aren¡¯t making a sound, so I can hear you.¡± He whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be around you.¡±

    Hearing these words, Xiao Lou¡¯s mood rxed a lot. ¡°No wonder why no sound was made when the two ships of challengers were killed. It seemed they have a card to eliminate sound within a certain range, which is why their assassination is so quiet.¡±

    This was simply an assassination. Two ships and 16 people died in the silence of the night sea. There were countless challengers standing guard but everyone was unaware of them.

    If it wasn¡¯t for Yu Hanjiang¡¯s sharp eyes that found the shaking Night Pearls wasn¡¯t normal, maybe he and Xiao Lou would¡¯ve also ignored the two escape boats in the distance. Blood had already dyed the sea red but due to the darkness, it couldn¡¯t be distinguished from the colour of the sea at all.

    Yu Hanjiang looked extremely serious. This should be a very professional assassination team. He took a deep breath and called out in his mind, ¡°Wake up Old Mo!¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and immediately woke up Old Mo.

    At this point, the sound of the environment around the ship waspletely shielded. Old Mo opened his mouth and found that although his mouth was moving, there was no sound. He stared at Xiao Lou in shock and pointed to his mouth. He thought he had be mute.

    Xiao Lou quickly wrote on the palm of his hand. ¡°It is an environmental sound shielding and there is an assassination team underwater.¡±

    Old Mo followed by writing on Xiao Lou¡¯s hand, ¡°Hunters?¡±

    Xiao Lou saw this word and hurriedly sent the message to Yu Hanjiang through the heart channel.

    Yu Hanjiang thought carefully and confirmed it. ¡°They should be hunters. Two ships of ordinary challengers have already died. Ordinary challengers shouldn¡¯t kill aimlessly if they want to kill and rob cards. The cards taken by people on these two ships might not necessarily be useful.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°Those who want to snatch cards must confirm that the other side¡¯s cards are good enough before going to rob. Otherwise, killing a bunch of people and getting bad cards can easily lead to trouble. If they are hunters then it is a good exnation. They don¡¯t need to pick targets when killing. Killing just one person will give them a bounty of one million!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°They also have cards in their hands. It seems they are learning and bing smarter. They know how the spells of ¡®foreigners¡¯ work. I think this ¡®environmental sound shield¡¯ card must¡¯ve been picked up from a challenger they previously killed.¡±

    Xiao Lou still couldn¡¯t hear any noise. He had started to count from the moment the sound disappeared. Now it had been 10 seconds. It had an impact on the environment for such a long time that it should be a special S-grade effect card.

    Since the ¡®environmental sound elimination¡¯ belonged to a change in the environment¡¯s volume, not a means of attack or a control skill. That¡¯s why Xiao Lou¡¯s safety circle couldn¡¯t resist the effect of this environment change.

    It was quiet to the extreme and no sound could be heard. Xiao Lou and Mo Xuemin faced each other. Just then, Yu Hanjiang suddenly said, ¡°Bring in Old Mo using the Qin Guan card. I want to seize these killers.¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately connected Old Mo with another Qin Guan card. He was connected with Yu Hanjiang and with Old Mo. This was equivalent to amunication transit station.

    Xiao Lou nervously asked, ¡°Where are those people? Group Leader Yu, can you see them?¡±

    ¡°They wanted to act against our boat but due to the safety circle protection, they found it isn¡¯t easy to kill. Thus, they are changing targets to the left rear boat.¡±

    It was a dark night and visibility was very low but Yu Hanjiang¡¯s vision was generally good. He had caught many criminals in the middle of the night. Members of the police force said that Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes were as sharp as an eagle and the people he was looking at couldn¡¯t run away.

    The hunters were very good in water. They perceived that Xiao Lou¡¯s boat wasn¡¯t easy to handle and immediately changed targets. However, as long as they moved in the water, there would be ripples on the sea surface.

    Yu Hanjiang was staring closely at the dark sea. A circle of ripples was moving quickly toward the left rear. It was an escape boat with 10 people. The two people standing watch were sleepy. Yu Hanjiang spoke to Xiao Lou in his mind. ¡°Countdown to three seconds. Then have Old Mo paint the sea with colour.¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately told Mo Xuemin and suggested. ¡°Use green. The human eye has a higher ability to distinguish green light at night.¡±

    Old Mo nervously held the Colour Elements card. He counted down from three seconds and immediately used the card. He saw that the hull of the left rear escape boat, together with 500 square metres around it, turn a fluorescent green! Thanks to the Night Pearl, the fluorescent green was even more obvious! Soon, all challengers found the anomaly.

    The drowsy person found his teammate was green and was shocked. ¡°Fuck, you¡¯re green!¡±

    The other man¡¯s face sank. ¡°Fuck, what are you talking about¡­ w-why are you green?¡± The two men said this but found they were suddenly mute. Their next words didn¡¯t make any sound.

    The next moment, a vast silver ring fell down, followed by arge scale with a diameter of five mtetres. The scales fell into the water! The two men stared at the scene with astonishment and disbelief.

    The surrounding sea area in a 500 square metres range hadpletely turned a fluorescent green! In the distance, the unaffected challengers woke up their teammates. The group of people turned to look this way and said, ¡°The water there seems to be green¡­¡±

    ¡±The ship is also green!¡±

    ¡°It must be a card effect!¡±

    Some girls found that the distant sea had turned green and immediately picked up a night telescope to observe carefully. However, the saw the scene where two challenger ships were brutally killed. The girls screamed, ¡°Ah, dead! Two ships over there are dead!¡±

    The scream woke up all the challengers around them and everyone stood up nervously to see the situation. In the distance, the sea water was dyed a fluorescent green. Three men moved toward the escape boat like they had light footwork skills. One man controlled the rings smashing into the sea while the other man controlled the bnce. The sea dyed a fluorescent green left the hunters lurking in the sea with no choice.

    Yu Hanjiang used the bnce to control them and threw out the white silk with his right hand. The long white silk automatically tied up the hunters.

    There was a series of exmations. ¡°Ah, who are these people?¡±

    ¡±What¡¯s going on? Someone died?¡±

    ¡°Based on that sister just now, two boats were killed!¡±

    ¡°Are we unlucky enough to meet hunters?¡±

    In the midst of the panic and people looking at the green area, Yu Hanjiang used the white silk to drag the underwater hunters out of the sea. They were three young and strong men. In order to prevent these three people from taking poison tomit suicide, Yu Hanjiang immediately moved and stuffed a piece of rag into their mouths.

    The three people who were about to bite the poison in their teeth, ¡°¡­¡±

    At this point, all three of them were dyed green and looked even more obvious. It was time for the environmental sound shielding card to run out. The challengers recovered their voice. ¡°My god, they must be hunters!¡±

    ¡±They specifically lurked underwater to kill and gain the bounty!¡±

    ¡±Are there really two ships where everyone was wiped out?¡±

    ¡±I saw it. Two ships and 16 people are dead!¡±

    ¡±My god, I was just dreaming yet these people were killed quietly. It¡¯s terrible!¡±

    The challengers dyed green didn¡¯t care about his image and excitedly said, ¡°Thank you big brother!¡±

    ¡±You saved us. If it wasn¡¯t for the three of you suddenly emerging, we would¡¯ve fallen asleep just now and not know how we died¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly. ¡°No need for thanks.¡±

    Then he dragged the three men back to their boat. Shao Qingge and Ye Qi had long been awakened by the movement around them. They saw Group Leader Yuing with three tied up captives and were full of surprise.

    Xiao Lou gave everyone a simple exnation while Yu Hanjiang quickly searched the men to find three cards.

    The S-grade special effects card, Quiet World. It could shield any sound within 10 square metres and iste this selected area from other areas, making itpletely quiet. What would it feel like to be unable to hear the sound of breathing? It was like being abandoned by the entire world.

    The quietsted for five minutes and the cooldown time was 15 minutes.

    There was the A-grade special effects card, Water Ghost. All teammates within 10 metres would have underwater movement speed increase by 200% and they could breathe underwater for 30 minutes.

    Finally, the A-grade special effects card, Frozen like a Statue. This left all targets in the specified 10 metre range in a frozen state, unable to do anything for 10 seconds. This had a 15 minutes cooldown.

    Xiao Lou was frightened. ¡°It seems they have been lurking underwater with the help of Water Ghost. First, they get close to the escape boat and block the sound, followed by Frozen like a Statue. Then they use a knife to cut the challenger¡¯s throat. They can quietly kill an entire ship of people when the other side can¡¯t resist or call for help!¡±

    It was frightening just thinking about it. If it wasn¡¯t for the Compass skill putting a safety circle and blocking the control of Frozen like a Statue, the next goal of these hunters would be Xiao Lou¡¯s escape boat. Once they couldn¡¯t move, Xiao Lou wouldn¡¯t be able to call for help at all and the sleeping teammates would be killed with a knife.

    Shao Qingge felt a chill down his spine. ¡°Fortunately, the two of you were alert enough or we wouldn¡¯t have known how we died.¡±

    Mo Xuemin¡¯s face was ugly. ¡°It is really bad luck. I actually encountered hunters for two consecutive weeks.¡± He sucked in a frightened breath and looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Last week, only 20 people survived because of the hunters. If it wasn¡¯t for you, it is estimated that more than 200 of these 400 challengers would die quietly tonight.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned at the three men who were tied up. The three men had rags in their mouth and were staring angrily at Yu Hanjiang, wanting to swallow him alive. They followed the instructions of the boss to assassinate foreigners and never lost. They didn¡¯t expect that today, they actually kicked the iron te!

 Chapter 134: Endless Seas 09

    Xiao Lou picked up the cards Group Leader Yu discovered and carefully observed them.

    The S-grade card ¡®Quiet World¡¯ only had one skill. It was the first time he had seen a card that had an impact on the environment. Every 15 minutes, it couldpletely mute a designated area of 10 square metres. In frontalbat, this silence wasn¡¯t very useful. However, it was the strongest trump card when used for assassination.

    The cards ¡®Water Ghost¡¯ and ¡®Frozen like a Statue¡¯ had very short cooldown times. The former was a tailor-made card for surviving at sea while thetter¡¯s group control skill was very aggressive. The reason they were both A-grade cards rather than S-grade was because they had a limit on the number of users. After 10 uses, the cards would bepletely damaged.

    Each of the three people were holding a Frozen like a Statue card. This meant that if Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t stop these three people in time, they could lurk underwater and quietly kill 30 ships. This was more than 300 challengers!

    Xiao Lou had chills at the thought. What was the deep hatred between the Hunter¡¯s League and the challengers? Why ruthlessly kill them like this?

    What¡¯s more, the boss of this organization seemed to know the many secrets of the challengers. These three cards were almost customized for this week. Otherwise, how could they happen to bring the Water Ghost card with them to a secret room that was survival at sea? With all this preparation, did the Hunter¡¯s League know in advance where the World Weekly rooms would take ce?

    Xiao Lou was deep in thought. Since he and Group Leader Yu were connected, this thoughts were passed onto Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Professor Xiao, the Hunter¡¯s League has many secrets. You are thinking correctly. They probably know this week¡¯s secret room and prepared cards in advance. I have to interrogate the three in detail to see if I can pry information from them.¡±

    These hunters couldn¡¯t take poison tomit suicide and were viciously staring at Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang carefully searched the three people. He found a sharp military knife in the boots of the three people. The knife matched the wounds of those who died on the two escape boats.

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°This should be the murder weapon. The three knives aren¡¯t cards. They brought them in from the City of the Moon.¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t bring anything into the secret room. It seems that they are indeed hunters.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang pulled apart the clothes and indeed saw the familiar tattoos in different locations. They wereplex patterns and shaped like a primitive tribe¡¯s totem. Ye Qi curiously looked over using the Night Pearl. ¡°It is the same as the Financial Crisis!¡±

    Shao Qingge touched his chin. ¡°It seems that all members of this organization have tattoos, like a symbol of loyalty?¡±

    Old Mo nodded. ¡°Yes, it is the symbol of the Hunter¡¯s League.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stepped forward. He leaned toward one of them and raised this person¡¯s chin. ¡°If you fail in the mission, you willmit suicide. This is also a rule of the Hunter¡¯s League, right? Is your boss worth your life? You killed so many foreigners and should get enough rewards, right? Don¡¯t you think it is a pity to die before you can spend it?¡±

    His sharp eyes swept over the faces of the three men in turn and he whispered, ¡°If you are willing to give information on the Hunter¡¯s League, I can let you go and assure your safety. Don¡¯t you want to think about yourself and your family? Surely the three of you aren¡¯t orphans with no rtives?¡±

    Two of them looked grim and stared at Yu Hanjiang like a poisonous snake, almost boring a hole in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face. The young man on the left heard this and seemed to remember something. There was a hint of pain and contradiction in his eyes.

    Yu Hanjiang had interrogated tens of thousands of suspects and could judge from their facial expressions whose mouth would be difficult to pry open, whose psychological quality wasn¡¯t tough enough and who would easily exin. He looked at the young man on the very left. He was a young man in his early 20s whose youthfulness hadn¡¯t faded. He should¡¯ve just joined the Hunter¡¯s League. More crucially, once he heard the word ¡®family¡¯, conflicted emotions shed across the young man¡¯s face. Apparently he had someone worth remembering, unlike the other two.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou.¡±Control them and first deal with the toxins in their mouths.¡±

    Xiao Lou understood his meaning and used the scissors card to cut the white silk into three segments. He tightly tied the hands of the three people behind their backs. Yu Hanjiang pulled out the cloth from the middle man¡¯s mouth and pinched his jaw so hard that the man couldn¡¯t bite his teeth together. He followed by directing the Night Pearl into the man¡¯s mouth and asked Xiao Lou, ¡°Can you tell which tooth has the poison?¡±

    Xiao Lou might not be an oral doctor but the tooth with poison hidden wasn¡¯t difficult to find. He carefully observed the person¡¯s mouth and found that an upper left tooth had a slightly different colour from the surroundings. Moreover, the fit between this tooth and the gums wasn¡¯t close. Obviously, it was a passive operation. Xiao Lou concluded, ¡°The upper left first premr.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Can you take it out?¡±

    Their teammates, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Group Leader Yu¡¯s thinking was too amazing. Was this the rhythm of pulling out teeth?

    They thought Xiao Lou would refuse. As a result, Professor Xiao seriously thought about it and took out Compass. He drew a few small circles and put them together to make a disc. Then he cut a ring to make wire and fixed the metal wires to the disc.

    After that, he cut a big circle and held the thin wires in his hand. He looked at Yu Hanjiang and said, ¡°I¡¯ll take out his tooth. Help me shine the Night Peal to the top left of his mouth. I have to grab the teeth and I can¡¯t let the toxins flow isn¡¯t his mouth.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll help you.¡±

    His right hand continued to squeeze the man¡¯s jaw while his left hand raised the Night Pearl to help Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou picked up the disc and put it in the man¡¯s mouth. His right gently covered the root of the tooth with the thin metal thread.

    The hunter, who had his mouth forcibly opened, slightly changed expressions. Who was this? Howe they were going to pull out his teeth on the spot? To his shock, Xiao Lou really urately caught the poison tooth. He pulled it gently and the fragile tooth really ¡®popped¡¯ out. Xiao Lou quickly and urately caught it.

    Xiao Lou took the temporary utensil out and smiled at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Take it.¡±

    Their teammates, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    They really wanted to get on their knees! Professor Xiao could do really extreme things with this S-grade Compass. First, he made a temporary furnace with it. Now he made a small disc to receive the poisonous tooth. He also used the thin wires as tools to do a tooth extraction on the spot?

    Professor Xiao¡¯s flexible thinking meant that perhapster, he could use the metal rings to make iron pots, wash basins, chopsticks, flying saucers and other tools! Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help giving a thumbs up. ¡°I estimate that the person who designed this Compass card didn¡¯t think this card could be used so much. Hahaha!¡±

    Shao Qingge stated, ¡°It is Professor Xiao¡¯s on-site tooth extraction.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°The tooth was originally pulled out so it was easy.¡±

    Liu Qiao looked at Xiao Lou with admiration.No wonder why so many people rushed to choose Professor Xiao¡¯s ss at university. She had never seen Xiao Lou before and couldn¡¯t understand. Now she finally understood¡­

    Yu Hanjiang was ustomed to Xiao Lou¡¯s wit and calmly took the small disc, looking at the tooth. ¡°There is a sealed transparent capsule in the tooth that should be highly toxic. If the teeth breaks it then the poison will flow into the mouth.

    Xiao Lou looked carefully at the nail-sized capsule. ¡°It is likely to be potassium cyanide. This highly toxic substance will kill immediately. Even a trace of potassium cyanide touching a skin wound would lead to immediate death in humans. Group Leader Yu, be careful.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. He took a stic bag to wrap up the capsule and handed it to Old Mo. Old Mo looked at the poisoned tooth in his hand with disbelief. Others who heard the word ¡®hunter¡¯ would be pale with fright. After all, this group of thugs were like ghosts and killed without blinking. Challengers were likely to lose their lives after encountering them. As a result, these two big men¡­ actually pulled out the teeth of a hunter on the spot?

    Mo Xuemin¡¯s mood was chaotic as he looked at Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou. Not long after, Yu Hanjiang handed over another tooth. ¡°Old Mo, be careful not to break the capsule.¡±

    It was only at this time that Mo Xuemin¡¯s spirit returned. He found that Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou had cooperated to quickly pull out the second person¡¯s teeth. The expressions on the faces of the three hunters could be called wonderful!

    Yu Hanjiang turned to thest one. It was the young man who just looked conflicted. Yu Hanjiang looked at him and continued to pinch the jaw. The young man¡¯s tears were about to fall out. Xiao Lou¡¯s actions were swift and neat. He took advantage of Group Leader Yu opening the mouth to pull out the tooth within 10 seconds.

    Old Mo put the bag of three poisonous teeth in front of Xiao Lou and smiled. ¡°Is there anything else?¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°The other teeth are normal.¡±

    The three hunters¡¯ faces looked like the dead.

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°There is no tooth and it won¡¯t be easy for you tomit suicide. Believe me, biting your tongue won¡¯t kill you like described in novels. It won¡¯t do anything apart from giving you pain but I will let you try it.¡±

    The three people, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    They had to survive now and couldn¡¯t die? They had never been so miserable!

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes met and they dered, ¡°A separate interrogation.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and handed one of them to Yu Hanjiang.

    The sea conditions were limited. There was no separate interrogation room. Yu Hanjiang simply moved the man to the distant escape boat. This was the escape boat of the first challenger team to be killed. The eight people on the escape boat had died and blood flowed all over the floor of the boat.

    Yu Hanjiang stared into the man¡¯s eyes and coldly questioned. ¡°Who is the boss of the Hunter¡¯s League?¡±

    The man¡¯s face was as pale as paper but he gritted his teeth and remained silent.

    Yu Hanjiang grabbed his cor and asked. ¡°How do you know there will be arge number of foreigners boarding this ship? Water Ghost, Quiet World, Frozen like a Statue, where did these cardse from? Who gave them to you?¡±

    The man was still expressionless and refused to speak. Yu Hanjiang slightly frowned. He kicked the other person and the man crumpled on the boat. This was followed by Yu Hanjiang grabbing his hair and directly forcing his head into the sea.

    There was the strong smell of blood in the sea and the blood had stained all the nearby waters red. Without the help of the Water Ghost card, the man couldn¡¯t breath once pushed into the sea. The man¡¯s face was red and seawater poured into his mouth and nose. The pain of suffocation was about to make his chest explode.

    Yu Hanjiang pressed the man underwater for half a minute. Seeing the man start to struggle violently, Yu Hanjiang dragged him back. ¡°You don¡¯t want to speak. Then go ahead.¡±

    The middle-aged man¡¯s expression was slightly broken and he looked at Yu Hanjiang with disbelief. He had killed so many people but he had never met such a simple, ferocious foreigner¡­

    The next moment, his head was pressed into the water again. The man¡¯s hands were tied behind his back as he struggled. The strong sense of suffocation made him frown painfully. Yu Hanjiang pressed him into the sea again and again under the condition of ensuring he wouldn¡¯t drown. The man was suffering from a mental breakdown!

    However, he still refused to say a word and there was a ¡®dead pigs aren¡¯t afraid of boiling water¡¯ expression on his face. Looking at his appearance, Yu Hanjiang frowned and moved back in a sh, taking another person.

    The second man was also tight-lipped. He didn¡¯t say a word but he was even tougher than the first person. The two people were absolutely loyal to the organization. Obviously, they had been thoroughly brainwashed. Yu Hanjiang hadn¡¯t expected to get anything out of their mouths. He deliberately tortured these two people for the third person to see.

    Under Group Leader Yu¡¯s direction, Xiao Lou was keeping a close eye on the youngest man on board. The young man¡¯s fingers trembled as he watched hispanions being repeatedly dunked in the water.

    Yu Hanjiang came to the boat, stopped in front of him and lightly spoke, ¡°It¡¯s your time.¡±

    This low voice was like a death sentence. The young man quivered, took a deep breath and forcibly maintained hisposure. Yu Hanjiang took him to another ship. The young man knelt in the middle of the boat, surrounded by dead people, and looked increasingly ugly.

    Yu Hanjiang crouched down to look at him and whispered, ¡°Your two aplices couldn¡¯t stand the torture and already confessed.¡±

    The man shook his head in disbelief. ¡°No! They wouldn¡¯t betray the boss!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°If you die then you will feel nothing. You will never see your rtives and friends again. I¡¯ve got the information I want so it doesn¡¯t matter if you keep your life or not. Go and be buried with the people on the ship.¡±

    Then Yu Hanjiang lifted him by the cor and pressed him into the sea!

    This unexpected change made the young man stare in error. The blood-stained sea water instantly entered his nose and mouth, flowing all the way from the nasal cavity to the trachea. His breath was blocked and his heart started to beat violently. The feeling of suffocation spread rapidly to his chest. He only felt that his entire chest was about to burst.

    The sea was dark and nothing could be seen. The fear of iing death aroused the most instinctive desire for survival in human bones! The young man started struggling. The more he struggled, the more seawater that poured into his nose and the more intense the sense of suffocation.

    Desperation filled his mind. Just as he thought he was going to die, the pressure on his chest loosened. His cor was lifted up by Yu Hanjiang and fresh air came. The young man coughed violently in the escape boat.

    ¡°Cough¡­ cough cough¡­¡±

    He coughed for half a minute, coughing up a lot of the seawater that poured into his nose. This type of difort¡­ he really didn¡¯t want to experience it anymore.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at him coldly, as if looking at a dead man. ¡°If you can add some valuable information then I¡¯ll let you go. Have you thought it over?¡± Then he reached out to grab the man¡¯s cor and pretended to press him into the sea.

    The young man hurriedly opened his mouth. ¡°I¡¯ll say it, I¡¯ll say it all!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang released him, lips slightly raised. The young man was on the verge of copse. He thought this was a group to face mobs and the task would be very easy¡­ As a result, he was unlucky enough to meet the demon king!

 Chapter 135: Endless Seas 10

    Yu Hanjiang crouched down and stared into the young man¡¯s eyes as he asked in a low voice, ¡°What is the name of your boss?¡±

    The young man replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang gently held his cor as if he was going to press the young man into the sea. ¡°Think about how to answer.¡±

    The young man was afraid of being drowned and his head shook like a drum. He cried out, ¡°I really don¡¯t know! Our boss has never shown up! Only a few trusted executives at the top know who he is! Big Brother, I¡¯m not lying! I really don¡¯t know!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang believed the answer and took back his hand. ¡°How do you judge that the foreigners have activities?¡±

    The young man shrank his head like a dragonfly and honestly replied, ¡°The organization has professional hackers who can get the booking information of majorpanies. There were more than 500 foreigners on the Royal Caribbean going out to sea on the weekend. So a cruise hunting mission was released. I thought there were a lot of rewards for this mission and took it¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly. The Hunter¡¯s League also had hackers so it seemed they had the identity information of challengers. Once the World Weekly started, arge number of challengers entered a certain world at the same time and they could detect this, making arrangements in advance ording to the booking information.

    Yu Hanjiang then asked, ¡°Water Ghost, Quiet World etc., where did you get these cards?¡±

    ¡°The organization assigned them. Since the task is at sea, holding these cards will make it more convenient to act.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang questioned, ¡°How many people are there in your organization? How do you usually connect with each other?¡±

    The young man hesitated a moment before gritting his teeth and saying, ¡°We are all linked to the Intr. Every Friday, the Intr will release some task information. Hunters who want to get rewards will take the initiative to ept the task. After epting the task, the organization will arrange someone to book tickets and issue some easy to use cards for the task. Weplete the task and then receive the reward ording to the number of people killed¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke coldly. ¡°Why kill foreigners?¡±

    The young man looked pale. ¡°The boss told us that the existence of foreigners will affect the world we live in. If we don¡¯t kill them, perhaps one day our world will copse¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang interrupted him. ¡°Be careful¡ª¡±

    The keen senses developed from fighting on the front line all year round made Yu Hanjiang suddenly sense that he was being stared at by a poisonous snake. He didn¡¯t hesitate to throw himself down on the boat and rolled with the young man. The next moment, a bullet flew by his scalp and into the corpse next to him!

    The young man suddenly became white and he trembled. ¡°It is the leader!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wanted to ask about the leader when another bullet was fired, urately hitting the young man¡¯s brain. Blood suddenly burst from the young man¡¯s forehead. His eyes widened and he fell straight down on the boat. The other side¡¯s shooting was extremely precise. It should be a sniper with a range of more than one kilometer.

    Yu Hanjiang calmly looked at the young man¡¯s face. He had died very simply. He moved to the other escape boat. The two hunters who refused to reveal information were equally dead.

    ¡®Leader¡¯, there was still a leader among the hunters. He was too careless!

    There was the heart channel to transmit information. Xiao Lou noticed the changes on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s side and became so nervous his heart was in his throat. He immediately called to Yu Hanjiang, ¡°Group Leader Yu! Are you okay?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied in his mind, ¡°I¡¯m fine but the hunters were all destroyed.¡±

    He thought there were only three hunters in this operation. After catching them, he removed their poisonous tooth and pressed them for information. Unexpectedly, there was another hunter lurking in the darkness who killed hispanions at the critical moment.

    Yu Hanjiang clenched his fists, took a deep breath and jumped into the sea. He told Xiao Lou, ¡°Protect everyone and don¡¯t let the escape boat leave the safety circle. There is a hunter nearby and it is the leader!¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face immediately changed and he spoke to his teammates, ¡°Everyone, be on full alert.¡±

    Ye Qi held his guitar as he nervously stared at the water. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°There is a fish who has slipped the and the three hunters have been killed. Group Leader Yu has gone after the killer.¡± Xiao Lou took a deep breath to keep calm and looked at Long Sen. ¡°You and Teacher Qu go over and take a look. The chameleon card means you canpletely integrate with the sea water. You can be the sea water and float on the sea while the other side can¡¯t see if. If Group Leader Yu is in trouble then you can support him.¡±

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue nced at each other and immediately nodded. They used the chameleon card and disappeared into the sea in the blink of an eye.

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°The others are on standby. Bring out your useful cards in advance and don¡¯t leave the safety circle. We can¡¯t be attacked for the time being but we can¡¯t rx!¡±

    The group immediately cooperated and entered an alert state. Group Leader Yu wanted to pursue the hunter so Xiao Lou must let him have no worries.

    At this time, Yu Hanjiang used the Water Ghost card in the water. Combined with the teleportation card that moved him 50 metres, he could teleport in the sea and move through the sea like a sharp arrow, flying in one direction like a bullet.

    There was an escape boat that suddenly left at this time with only one person on board. Yu Hanjiang closely stared at the back and chased after it! He could teleport 50 metres. No matter how powerful the engine of the escape boat, Yu Hanjiang was as fast as an arrow and caught up with it in 10 seconds.

    Yu Hanjiang decisively took out the card he gained from 4 of Clubs, Night Demon Knife.

    He seized the bottom of the escape boat with his left hand and his right hand jerked up. The knife cut a hole straight through the escape boat like cutting mud!

    Arge amount of sea water poured into the escape boat and the action of the escape boat was blocked. Yu Hanjiang followed up with another knife strike and created a huge crack in the middle of the escape boat!

    The escape boat was sliced in half and was about to sink. The person in the driver¡¯s seat immediately abandoned the boat and jumped into the sea. Yu Hanjiang had the protection of the Water Ghost card. It was like walking on the ground underwater as he aimed in the direction the man jumped and swam quickly.

    However, this man also had the Water Ghost card and his swimming speed was very fast. The two people chased each other in the sea. In the end, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s teleportation card gave him the advantage. He teleported 50 metres and soon appeared in front of the man.

    Just now, the situation was critical and there was no time to use other cards. In addition, he didn¡¯t have a clear view of the sea so it was difficult to locate the movements.

    Once he caught up to the other side, he took the control type card, Nine Pces Grid from his card pack and threw it toward the man. The control time of Nine Pces Grid was only nine seconds but it was enough for Yu Hanjiang.

    He reached out and grabbed this person by the waist.

    The other person should be a male. He was tall with extremely flexible limbs. His upper body was like a loach as he passed under Yu Hanjiang¡¯s armpits and chopped at the back of Yu Hanjiang¡¯s neck!

    Yu Hanjiang turned to avoid it and kicked the man¡¯s abdomen! It was as if the man had a premonition. He suddenly leaned back, almost lying on his back, to avoid Yu Hanjiang¡¯s kick.

    His underwater action was blocked and Yu Hanjiang could only use 30% of his level of fighting. Once he saw the other person leaning back, he immediately reached out and held the man¡¯s ankle tightly trying to drag the other person to forcibly control him. However, the man¡¯s movements were extremely flexible. His legs folded together and twisted violently, making a reverse rotation to break away from Yu Hanjiang¡¯s control in an instant. He swam forward as fast as a fish!

    After a few simple exchanges, Yu Hanjiang knew that his opponent must¡¯ve practiced professional fighting skills and the level was first-ss!

    Yu Hanjiang wanted a living mouth more so he didn¡¯t use a knife, gun or other weapons. Moreover, it was difficult to shoot a moving target underwater. Now it waste at night and his vision was seriously affected. He could only see a shadow of the other side with the help of moonlight.

    Yu Hanjiang naturally refused to let this person go and continued using the teleportation card to chase!

    He was very confused. The control effect of Nine Pces Grid was to set the other side in ce for nine seconds but the man wasn¡¯t affected. Yu Hanjiang had ced it in the right position so there was only one possibility. The other side had a higher ranked escape card that could remove the influence of the control.

    Yu Hanjiang once again caught up to the man. The man suddenly jumped up. His long legs stretched out straight and his feet gently touched the water. It was as if he had wings as he steadily fell on the sea! It was clearly water but he stood on it like it was firm ground.

    Yu Hanjiang emerged from underwater and found that he was able to stand directly on the sea. What was this situation? Yu Hanjiang had doubts in his mind. The next moment, he heard a lowugh. ¡°Do you think this type of garbage card can trap me?¡±

    The man¡¯s voice had a special hoarseness. His low-pitchedugh was like the bass of a cello. Yu Hanjiang suddenly felt that the sound was very familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before. Yu Hanjiang stared coldly at the other person. ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Under the moonlight, the man stood on the sea. Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t see his face clearly and could only vaguely see the outline. This was a tall person who was nearly 1.9 metres. This made him look very tall and slender. He stood upright on the sea and had a natural and unrestrained temperament.

    The man¡¯s lips gently raised and he joked, ¡°You know that I¡¯m a hunter yet chased after me. Your courage is really big. Aren¡¯t you afraid of being killed by me?¡±

    His hoarse voice echoed in the open sea. Thest sentence was deliberately lowered and was a bit cold. Yu Hanjiang was surprised to find that he had followed the other person into a strange sea.

    There was no one around. The sea was calm and windless. The sky was starry and the sky and sea were linked together, forming a closed scene simr to a cage. It was like there were only the two of them between the sky and the sea.

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly turned back. He couldn¡¯t see the escape boat where Xiao Lou was located. ording to the 50 metres movement distance of the teleportation card, he had followed the man for two kilometres. He could see still the light of the challengers¡¯ Night Peals behind him but at this moment, it was all gone.

    Logically speaking, in the open sea, your voice would be weakened. Yet just now, he clearly heard the man¡¯s voice echoing in the space, producing a distinct echo. It wasn¡¯t like talking at sea but more an enclosed space. Moreover, the two men were able to stand directly on the water without falling. There was strangeness everywhere.

    Yu Hanjiang tentatively called to Xiao Lou in his heart, ¡°Xiao Lou, can you hear me?¡±

    He was in a hurry and no longer politely used ¡®Professor Xiao.¡¯ Instead, he directly called out Xiao Lou¡¯s name. Xiao Lou received the signal and hurriedly replied, ¡°Yes. Where are you? Are you okay?¡±

    Hearing Xiao Lou¡¯s gentle voice, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart instantly calmed down. Xiao Lou and his teammates were still nearby in this area of the sea but they were visible to him. He took a deep breath and looked coldly at the other side. ¡°Are you the one who did this? Is it a card simr to a Quiet World? That card can block the sounds of an area. Your card pulled me into an independent sea space?¡±

    The man smiled. ¡°Yes, you¡¯re smart.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°What is the purpose of you bringing me here?¡¯

    The man asked, ¡°What do you think?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a found seconds and found that the other side didn¡¯t interrupt, so he calmly spected. ¡°Just now, the timing of your actions was very strange. The hunter had already given most of the information. If you were really worried about him disclosing too much, you could¡¯ve directly killed him when I asked the first question rather than waiting until the end.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had questioned three people in a row. The first two kept their mouths shut but the third young man had the worst psychological quality. He was most likely to talk. If this hunter really wanted to silence them, he should¡¯ve acted before the young man said anything. Yet he didn¡¯t do it until the young man answered most of the questions.

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t believe that this person waste or couldn¡¯t find hispanions. After all, Old Mo had dyed the sea a fluorescent green and it was too obvious. He should¡¯ve known that hispanions were captured. The greater possibility was that this person had done it intentionally.

    Yu Hanjiang stared at him intently. ¡°Who are you? Why did you kill that man after I asked a lot of questions?¡±

    The man smiled gently. ¡°All those years of learning as a policeman weren¡¯t in vain. Your reaction just now was sharp. If you hadn¡¯t rolled in time, that shot might¡¯ve pierced your shoulder.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly paused. Yes, that shot wasn¡¯t intended to kill him. He had been bending over to ask questions and after falling down, the bullet passed by his head. If he hadn¡¯t hidden at that time, the trajectory of the bullet meant it would¡¯ve hit his shoulder. This wasn¡¯t a fatal shot.

    Who was this person? Why was there a strange sense of familiarity?

    The other side seemed to guess his mind and took the initiative to raise the Night Pearl. The surrounding fan-shaped area was immediately illuminated with a soft, white light and Yu Hanjiang finally saw the man¡¯s face.

    The face was very handsome. The contour of the jaw was strong and sharp and a pair of sword eyebrows sloped to the side. There was an air of heroism and the bridge of the nose was high, like it was installed after being carefully carved. The slightly thick lips showed the sexiness of a mature man. It was a very popr look with girls, especially when he put on a military uniform. Unfortunately, such a handsome face had a 5cm or so scar on the left side of the forehead that destroyed the facial perfection. This scar didn¡¯t disfigure him but added a bit of wild charm.

    The man¡¯s eyes were smiling yfully as he looked at Yu Hanjiang. After meeting the pair of dark eyes, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s body shook violently. He clenched his fists, always cool eyes shing with a trace of suppressed excitement and disbelief. ¡°Brother Jiu?¡±

    The captain of the navy¡¯smando team, Lu Jiuchuan. Three years ago on a secret mission, he died gloriously. When his body was found, his forehead was scratched, leaving a 5cm long scar. That year, Lu Jiuchuan was 29 years old and Yu Hanjiang was 25 years old.

    Yu Hanjiang remembered the day he went to the cemetery. The wind was strong and there was heavy rain. Dark clouds covered the sky of Jiangzhou. There was no one in Lu Jiuchuan¡¯smando unit holding an umbre. The group of soldiers stood in the heavy rain and solemnly saluted his tombstone. Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s father also stood in line to salute his son. His eyes were tearful but he couldn¡¯t cry.

    The Lu family had been in the military for generations. Lu Qing, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s uncle, was a major general in the military. Lu Yan, his mother, was the generalmander of the military band. Lu Jiuchuan and Yu Hanjiang grew up together and they were like brothers.

    At the police academy in the past, Lu Jiuchuan was on vacation from the military and smiled as he patted his brother¡¯s shoulder. ¡°We are a military police family. I am at sea while you are on the ground. There will be less opportunities for us to meet. Go to the police academy and study hard. Don¡¯t disgrace your father.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied lightly, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t disgrace Uncle.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuanughed and said, ¡±My father¡¯s face is so serious and scary that I purposely went to the navy to avoid him. He can¡¯t control me. You are the one in your father¡¯s hands.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang grimaced. ¡°In the future, I will find a way to transfer to the Jiangzhou branch so I¡¯m not working under him.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan made a fist and Yu Hanjiang bumped it. ¡°We are difficult brothers.¡±

    Their fathers were both serious and strict. When young, their fathers didn¡¯t beat them but during the three meals a deal, they would be ¡®lectured¡¯ by their fathers onmon topics. This was thest time they met. In order to celebrate his brother¡¯s entrance to the police academy, Lu Jiuchuan invited Yu Hanjiang to eat barbecue. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s meat cooking technique was taught by him.

    They hadn¡¯t seen each other for many years but it was a farewell at the cemetery. The heartache he felt looking at the young portrait on the tombstone was unforgettable for Yu Hanjiang.

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s body was cremated and his ashes buried in the cemetery. He was certain that Lu Jiuchuan had died. He never dreamed that he would meet the brother he grew up with in this Card World in such a way!

 Chapter 136: Endless Seas 11

    When loved ones met again, they should excitedly hug each other and greet each other. However, Yu Hanjiang quickly remembered why he came after the other person. Lu Jiuchuan was a hunter?!

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and asked, ¡°When did youe to this world?¡±¡¯

    ¡°Three years ago.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stared intently into his eyes. ¡°Did you really join the hunter organization?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled and reached out slender fingers to undo the button of his shirt. As a soldier, he had always been tall with a strong body.The perfect body texture of the inverted triangle was clear and as the honey chest was gradually revealed, a totem over the heart was revealed!

    The strange tattoo was like the devil in the moonlight.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s pupils shrank. This pattern was the symbol of the Hunter¡¯s League members.

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled softly and lowered his voice. ¡°Yes, in order to live, I became a hunter.¡±

    Hearing this, Yu Hanjiang suddenly clenched his fists. He couldn¡¯t believe it as he stared at his respected brother. ¡°Are you crazy? Do you know what hunters do? They are all inhuman, cold-blooded thugs! How can you turn yourself into a killing machine in order to live?!¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan slowly buttoned up his shirt and spoke lightly. ¡°The rules of this world are different from those of the real world. I was a hero once in reality. Since God gave me a second life, I have the right to choose to live for myself.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s sharp eyes stared straight at him. ¡°In order to live, you ughtered others?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuanughed. ¡°What do I have to do with the death of others?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    The person in front of him was both familiar and strange.

    He came to the Card World three years ago. Maybe this abnormal world had gradually dissipated his humanity, destroying his will and his faith. Today¡¯s Lu Jiuchuan was no longer the ¡®Brother Jiu¡¯ that Yu Hanjiang knew. He was no longer upright and the soldier of iron who saluted his superiors and decisively said ¡®absolutely obey orders!¡¯

    Yu Hanjiang closed his eyes and whispered, ¡°Do you really think so?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan nodded, ¡°I led you over here to tell you that if you want to live in this world for a long time, you have to join the Hunter¡¯s Alliance. All those who want to return to reality through the secret rooms have failed and died.¡±

    Here, his voice revealed a trace of bitter coldness. ¡°Clearing the secret room and returning to the real world is a dream that the keepers made up for you. It doesn¡¯t work at all. Don¡¯t you know that you¡¯re dead already?¡±

    Three years ago, Yu Hanjiang had watched his body being cremated. In reality, Lu Jiuchuan was indeed dead. Were his words true? Challengers still couldn¡¯t go back despite clearing all the secret rooms on the card wall?

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s belief at this moment suffered an unprecedented impact! The facts in front of him showed that Lu Jiuchuan was already a box of ashes in reality. He was buried under the tombstone of the cemetery. How could the keeper say to ¡®go back¡¯? Could Lu Jiuchuan turn the ashes into a person again after passing the SS-grade secret room?

    He had always believed in the words of the keepers but what if the keepers were deceiving them? Perhaps all of them hadpletely died in reality and had been reborn in this world. They would need to struggle in this world forever¡­

    Yu Hanjiang quickly calmed down. He stared at Lu Jiuchuan and said, ¡°Even if your words are true and we can¡¯t return to reality through the secret room, what is the point of living as a killer?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan was cold. ¡°Everyone has the right to choose how to live.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s fists clenched and he couldn¡¯t wait to punch this familiar face! He didn¡¯t believe that his brother, who he had respected from an early age, who experienced strict training in the army and showed an excellent performance, who became the leader of amando team at an early age, would be a brutal killing machine just for ¡®living.¡¯

    How terrible was this Card World that a person like Lu Jiuchuan could lose his humanity? He didn¡¯t dare think about it. He would¡¯ve rather not seen this man, would¡¯ve rather thought of Lu Jiuchuan as a hero in his heart.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s emotional ups and downs were soon passed to Xiao Lou through the heart channel. In his mind, Xiao Lou¡¯s gentle voice was heard. ¡°Group Leader Yu, don¡¯t be sad and calm down.¡±

    The things Yu Hanjiang saw, thought and heard were passed onto Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou knew that Yu Hanjiang had met his brother, who had joined the hunter organization and became a murderer.

    For Yu Hanjiang, a police officer who was full of hatred for evil, his closest brother had be the most disgusting murderer in the world. Such a blow couldn¡¯t be borne by ordinary people. Xiao Lou would also be in a state of copse if that happened to him.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mind was constantly thinking of his memories.

    As a child, Lu Jiuchuan taught him to y with electric airnes, took him to climb trees and to catch fish in the water. They were caught by their families and beaten at the same time¡­ As teenagers, they sweated on the pitch, learned shooting skills in the shooting hall, camped in the field in tents¡­

    Once Lu Jiuchuan was admitted to the military academy, Yu Hanjiangwent to see him off in person. He saw his brother in uniform smiling at him and giving him a standard military salute. Then when Yu Hanjiang was admitted to the police school, Lu Jiuchuan took a vacation to invite him for dinner, eyes full of trust and encouragement.

    These memories broke his heart. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s nose was sour and he didn¡¯t know what attitude he should use to face his brother.

    Xiao Lou sensed his mood was very unstable and immediately spoke. ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you trust your brother?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°I certainly trusted him before¡­¡±

    ¡°You trusted him before. Then now?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was silent.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s voice was calm and gentle. ¡°Three years can really change a person but I think that human nature won¡¯t change so much. For example, perverted murderers won¡¯t suddenly be phnthropists and an upright soldier with a good nature wouldn¡¯t simply go on a killing spree to survive. You are influenced by subjective emotions andbined with your agitation, you are likely to make a wrong judgment. First, calm down and think about it. Are there any other possibilities?¡±

    These words were like cold water pouring down, instantly sobering Yu Hanjiang up.

    Soldiers received the most vigorous training. In the real world, Lu Jiuchuan would rather die than betray his faith, even at the end of his life. The rest of this world did differ from reality but could human nature change so much? There must be a reason for this.

    Yu Hanjiangpletely calmed down and his mind became clear and sober. He had been shocked by the sudden sight of Lu Jiuchuan and became confused. Fortunately, Xiao Lou woke him up in time. Yu Hanjiang looked at the man in front of him. ¡°What difficulties have you experienced¡­ Brother Jiu?¡±

    This familiar name made Lu Jiuchuan slightly hesitate. He raised an eyebrow and wondered, ¡°Just now, you looked like you were going to beat me to the ground. How did your attitude suddenly change? What difficulties could I go through?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke decisively, ¡°I believe in you. We¡¯ve known each other for more than 20 years. You aren¡¯t greedy or frightened of death at all. If you joined the Hunter¡¯s Alliance, there must be some difficulties or another purpose.¡±

    The two men stood opposite each other and were silent for a long time. Lu Jiuchuan lowered his voice and asked, ¡°You saw the hunter¡¯s mark on my body yet you still dare to believe in me?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was calm. ¡°A mark doesn¡¯t mean anything. I can draw it on my chest right now. However, a person¡¯s nature won¡¯t change so thoroughly. As long as you are Lu Jiuchuan, I will believe in you.¡±

    He suddenly stared into Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes. ¡°You will never be so cowardly to degenerate into a devil.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan suddenlyughed. He had inherited the good-looking genes of the Lu family. He was very charming when heughed and from a young age, many girls had secretly given him love letters. At this moment, he had a smile on his face but his eyes were full ofplex emotions, like surging waves.

    A momentter, Lu Jiuchuan put away his smile and looked at the brother in front of him. ¡°You are too naive. In this world, no one can be easily trusted.¡±

    ¡°I know, but you are my brother.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan heard this sentence and his pupils shrank. His hands gently shook by his side.

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t ignore his actions and whispered, ¡°The world has changed but your soul hasn¡¯t changed. If my judgment is wrong and you really became a killing machine then the next time we meet, I will personally take care of you. However, for now, I¡¯d rather believe in you one more time.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled. ¡°Boy, with your skills, you can¡¯t kill me even if you want to. You are currently too weak!¡±

    The scene around them suddenly changed. Yu Hanjiang found that Lu Jiuchuan had inexplicably disappeared from in front of him. In this enclosed space of sky and sea, only he remained. The entire space was suddenly broken. Yu Hanjiang standing on the sea suddenly fell into the sea. His surroundings had returned to normal. He looked back and saw the light of the Night Pearls on the challengers¡¯ escape boat.

    Lu Jiuchuan was gone and Yu Hanjiang found that there was one more card in his hand.

    [Special Effect Card: Absolute Field]

    Rarity: S

    Description: A special effect card that changes the environment. This is the only card and the source is unknown.

    The card owner is bound and their identity isn¡¯t visible.

    Usage effect: You can create an absolute field of 500 square metres, dragging up to 10 designated targets into the space. The environment and events of the space are set by the card owner at will. You can walk on water, fly through the air or walk upside down. You can even shoot movies here.

    In absolute terms, any impossibility will be possible.

    Restrictions: Can only be opened once every 24 hours and exists for one hour after opening.

    It is only when the card owner leaves or dies that the person in the absolute domain can leave.

    The card owner can give the card to anyone, so that the other person can obtain ess to the field. The field isn¡¯t affected by environment and can be essed across secret rooms and main cities.

    Yu Hanjiang held this card and frowned. The effect of this card and Xiao Lou¡¯s Peach Blossom Spring were simr. They both opened up an independent space. The difference was that the Absolute Field environment could be set by the owner as pleased and it was bound to the owner.

    The words ¡®unknown source¡¯ in the card description made Yu Hanjiang feel very puzzled. This card was left to him by Lu Jiuchuan and it had just pulled him into a special space. Yu Hanjiang put away the card with aplicated expression and spoke to Xiao Lou. ¡°My brother, he left with no exnation.¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°Group Leader Yu,e back first. I¡¯ll have Long Sen and Teacher Qu pick you up.¡±

    Sure enough, there was a sound from the surrounding water. Yu Hanjiang turned back and saw two heads popping up nearby. They were the Long Sen and Qu Wanyue couple who used the chameleon card to blend in with the sea water. They looked like two heads floating on the sea. Yu Hanjiang was used to this. After all, in Liuxi Vige, Long Sen often turned to the colour of earth and crawled on the ground.

    Long Sen asked nervously, ¡°Group Leader Yu, are you okay? We¡¯ve been looking for you for a long time and couldn¡¯t find you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at them. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±

    He followed them back to the escape boat where his teammates were waiting for him. They saw hime back safely and sighed with relief.

    Shao Qingge asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on? Did you catch the hunter?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang shook his head with a calm expression. ¡°No, he ran away.¡±

    Xiao Lou and he were connected and Xiao Lou was clear about everything that just happened, but Yu Hanjiang temporarily didn¡¯t want to tell his other teammates that his brother had be a hunter. He didn¡¯t want to arouse suspicion.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou and spoke in his mind, ¡°Thank you, if it wasn¡¯t for your timely reminder then my mind would be a mess and I would really think he became a hunter.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°No, since your brother didn¡¯t kill you, he obviously hasn¡¯t lost his nature. I prefer to think that he mixed into the hunter organization for another purpose. Don¡¯t make a hasty decision first and slowly find out.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang really appreciated Xiao Lou¡¯s calmly. If Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t been a bystander at this time, he might¡¯ve fought with Lu Jiuchuan. Yu Hanjiang looked gently at Xiao Lou. ¡°My brother left me a strange card called Absolute Field, which can create an independent space. However, the card skill is now on cooldown and I can¡¯t enter.¡±

    Xiao Lou was connected to him spiritually and naturally saw the description of this card.

    The Absolute Field could draw up to 10 people inside. This card was very strong. It could be used for a team escape, imitating the use of Peach Blossom Spring by collectively transferring them inside for refuge. If a specific target needed to be killed, the target could be dragged into this field to fight alone. It was a card for both attack and defense. What¡¯s more, it could cross secret rooms and invite people toe inside and talk.

    Every time the skill refreshed, the owner could set up the desired environment. It could be the sea, a snowfield, the desert or a city. It could be switched at any time and was more flexible than the Peach Blossom Spring.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°This card is equivalent to an independent space transfer station. No matter what secret room you are in, you can open this card and enter the world set by your brother. Does he want to send you messages using this method?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly realized. ¡°Yes, clues can be passed on in this field or else he wouldn¡¯t have left this card to me.¡±

    Xiao Lou warned. ¡°Don¡¯t tell other people first. Your brother joined the Hunter¡¯s League and others might be worried if they know about it. In particr, Old Mo¡¯s whole team was destroyed by hunters and he finds them repulsive.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°I understand. Only you know about this matter.¡±

    The team found that Group Leader Yu was silent after returning to the escape boat and was making eye contact with Professor Xiao. Apparently, they took other people as air and were conversing mentally. The people had be ustomed to this and sat back in their seats.

    Just then, an escape boat came over. It was the team that had been previously rescued by Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou. The man in the driver¡¯s seatughed. ¡°Thank you. If you hadn¡¯t caught those killers, perhaps my team would¡¯ve been wiped out tonight.¡±

    A girl handed over a card. ¡°We also have nothing good. This card is for you, as thanks!¡±

    Old Mo took a look and his expression becameplicated. He handed the card to Xiao Lou.

    [Tool Card: Temporary Toilet]

    Rarity: A

    Restrictions: Is limited to one card per team.

    Description: How can a living person die from holding back urine? However, what to do if there is no toilet? We are all adults and it isn¡¯t good to pee your pants. This card can be used to build a temporary toilet in any environment to solve the urgent problem. There is automatic flushing and it is convenient and fast.

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t smile. ¡°This card¡­is necessary.¡±

    Ye Qi came over to take a look and eximed, ¡°Very practical¡±

    The girlughed. ¡°It is limited to one a team and our two has two of these cards. We can¡¯t use them so we¡¯ll give you one.¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke sincerely, ¡°Thank you. This card is more useful than many S-rated cards.¡±

    The man in the driver¡¯s seat looked at Old Mo with aplicated expression. ¡°Brother, I want to discuss something. Next time you dye people a different colour, can you not dye them green?¡±

    Someone else said, ¡°Brother, you don¡¯t know but he wore a green hat because of his girlfriend. He has a psychological shadow!¡±

    Old Mo smiled. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Then next time, I¡¯ll dye you red?¡±

    Immediately after, someone came over in an escape boat and asked, ¡°What about the three hunters?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke calmly, ¡°All threemitted suicide.¡±

    The group sighed. ¡°Death is good. At least we don¡¯t have to worry about being ughtered in this secret room.¡±

    ¡±Thank you! If you hadn¡¯t found it in time, tonight we would¡¯ve all suffered!¡±

    Looking at the rxed expressions on these people¡¯s faces, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou also sighed with relief.

    In the east, the sun gradually rose and they could see the surrounding situation. Two escape boats were destroyed and blood stained the sea red. The bodies of the three hunters were missing and had probably drifted away.

    So many things happened at night and they narrowly passed through it. The challenger teams ate breakfast and continued to face the sunrise as they slowly headed east.

    Once again, thank you to Chuna for the lovely fanart of Xiao Lou!

 Chapter 137: Endless Seas 12

    Endless Sea, day three.

    The challengers floated on the vast waters and there were no idents all morning. However, today¡¯s sun was too harsh. From 10 in the morning onward, the sun was like a huge fireball on the sea and the sea temperature was rising. Everyone was going to peel under the strong ultraviolet light.

    Usually, everyone could do a good job with sun protection measures. They would wear sun hats and sunsses or ce sunscreen carefully on their cheeks, neck and arms. However, there was no such thing in the world of secret rooms. After one morning under the hot sun, everyone was collectively ckened.

    By noon, Xiao Lou¡¯s cheeks and neck were red from the sun. A clear dividing line appeared on his neck. His sun was originally white so it was very obvious after bing sunburned. His entire face was like a ripe apple.

    Shao Qingge was also very ufortable and couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°Old Mo, will the data of the World Weekly secret rooms be cleared?¡±

    In the previous secret rooms, the challengers¡¯ injuries automatically recovered after leaving. The sunburn would also automatically change back. However, this was the first time they were experiencing the World Weekly. Hearing this, everyone looked at Old Mo.

    Old Mo smiled bitterly. ¡°If injured in the World Weekly, it will be brought back to the main city. The data isn¡¯t erased.¡±

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help spitting out, ¡°The sun is so strong and we will continue to drift at sea for four days. Once we return to the main city, won¡¯t it be like we went to Africa to dig coal?¡±

    Long Sen had a big heart and was very optimistic. ¡°Bronze skin is also good. We look healthy!¡±

    Qu Wanyue looked at everyone with eyes full of worry. ¡°Those who love sunbathing by the sea will still take sun protection measures. It isn¡¯t just a matter of bing dark. I¡¯m more worried that everyone will get sunburned.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, now everyone¡¯s skin is just red and dark. If the sun keeps shining, the skin will severelyck water and be tight. It will even burn and tingle. If this continues, molting and blistering will ur. Please be careful. Don¡¯t use your nails to scratch if you be itchy. There are a lot of bacteria in the nails. If you scratch it at this time, it is likely to cause an infection.¡±

    Ye Qi felt his neck was itchy and just wanted to reach out to scratch it. He heard this and immediately retracted his fingers.

    Yu Hanjiang wasn¡¯t afraid of the sun. He often did missions in the hot sun and his skin wasn¡¯t white. It didn¡¯t matter how dark he became. However, the ultraviolet rays at sea were too strong. Seeing Xiao Lou¡¯s red face, Yu Hanjiang was somewhat distressed.

    Professor Xiao didn¡¯t have rough skin like him. The professor usually stayed in the office and definitely hadn¡¯t suffered from such a thing. Now that his entire body was exposed to the sun, wouldn¡¯t it be very ufortable? Yu Hanjiang looked anxiously at Xiao Lou and suggested, ¡°Do you want to make a sunshade to hang on the boat? It isn¡¯t just the problem of sunburn. I¡¯m afraid that everyone will get sunstroke.¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully thought about it before pulling out the White Silk and Scissors cards.

    He cut the white silk into several pieces, followed by drawing several rings and cutting them into iron wires. He sewed the cloth strips together with the metal wires. Once all the cloth strips were connected, the length and width could cover the entire escape boat.

    He also made some wires and bent them into arcs, passing them through the front, middle and back of the cloth curtain. Then he fixed the metal wires to both sides of the escape boat, so that the huge cloth curtain could ¡®cover¡¯ the entire escape boat.

    He made a simple sunshade just like that. The sun shade effect of the white sunshade wasn¡¯t very good and it covered the boat like a funeral¡­

    However, the secret room conditions were limited and they could only fit together like this. Xiao Lou looked at Ye Qi¡¯s big travel bag. ¡°Put the food inside Long Sen¡¯s bag and give that bag for me to use.¡±

    For these two days, they had been eating the food in Ye Qi¡¯s bag. At this time, the bag was mostly empty. Ye Qi heard this and put the remaining mineral water and biscuits into Long Sen¡¯s backpack.

    Xiao Lou took the bag and used the scissors to flexibly cut it apart. His slender fingers moved and in the blink of an eye, there were eight pieces of cloth. Then he measured the size, used the Compass and drew a circle, bending it. He actually made eight simple sunhats for everyone!

    Xiao Lou smiled and gave his hat to everyone. ¡°So you won¡¯t get sunburned.¡±

    His teammates, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Too amazing! Ye Qi put the hat on his head and sighed. ¡°Professor Xiao, what can¡¯t you do? If we go to the wilderness in the future, can you make a wok?¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes narrowed and he joked, ¡°Professor Xiao is a must have for travelling. Any girl will probably be very happy to marry you¡­ isn¡¯t that right, Group Leader Yu?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stared at him coldly. ¡°What do you want me to say? Are you still in the mood tough?¡±

    Shao Qingge shrugged. ¡°It is too boring if I don¡¯t joke around. Don¡¯t we have to stay at sea for four days?¡¯

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t answer and frowned unhappily.

    It wasn¡¯t the first time Shao Qingge joked around. It was unknown why but when Shao Qingge joked about Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang inexplicably felt a bit angry. After finding that Xiao Lou didn¡¯t mind, Yu Hanjiang no longer paid attention to Shao Qingge and turned to look into the distance.

    The more than 40 escape boats were drifting aimlessly at sea. Soon, they found that Xiao Lou¡¯s boat had made a sunshade for themselves and the eight people were wearing hats made of cloth. Next to them, someone eximed, ¡°Oh my god, the people on that ship are too talented. They made sunhats!¡±

    Someone excitedly said, ¡°My bag is empty. Quickly take out the scissors. Hurry, I¡¯m going to be tanned!¡±

    Thus, everyone followed suit. Some people took out umbre cards and raised them to block the sun. Others made sunshades out of clothes while someone put boards on top of the escape boat to block the sun. What¡¯s more, the food stic bags were sewn together to make colourful umbres.

    One female picked up a loudspeaker and shouted, ¡°I have the Tool Card: Needle Thread. I can help you sew an umbre. If you need it thene to my boat. It costs 10,000 for one. Bring your stic bags and make a stic umbre!¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    There was no shortage of intelligent people in this world. This sister actually started a business of ¡®sewing umbres¡¯ on the spot.

    It was noon and the sun was hanging overhead. Most of the challengers left their escape boats in this area for lunch. The girl with the needle and thread were very popr. People immediately took stic bags and rags to find the girl so she could help make the sunshade and hats. In a sh, the girl made thousands of gold coins.

    Immediately after, another girl shouted, ¡°Does anyone need to use the toilet? We have a temporary toilet with a flushing device here. The toilet can be used for 50,000 gold coins!¡±

    50,000 gold coins were equivalent to 500 yuan.

    ¡°This is the most expensive toilet I¡¯ve ever heard of! Is the toilet made from gold?¡±

    The girl was the one who gave them the Temporary Toilet card this morning. She had two of the cards in her hand and started a business at this time. The surrounding challengers cursed, ¡°Fuck, a toilet is so expensive. Isn¡¯t this stealing money?¡±

    ¡±There is no way. I can¡¯t hold it in my pants. The conditions at sea are limited. The toilet is better than nothing¡­¡±

    ¡±I can¡¯t hold it. I¡¯ll go!¡±

    Gradually, some of the challengers started to go to the toilet with strange expressions. There was a long line at the girl¡¯s temporary toilet and she was very happy to collect money.

    Xiao Lou helplessly said, ¡°There are so many talents.¡±

    It was sad thinking about it. Everyone was forced toe to this in this wonderful world.

    The main city had beautiful amodation, delicious food and low prices. Challengers could easily own a house, car or even buy a vi with some gold coins. They just couldn¡¯t bring anything into the secret room, only cards. It was really embarrassing when encountering a situation of ¡®no ce to urinate.¡¯

    They were drifting at sea for seven days and the human body had physiological needs. If this girl didn¡¯t have the toilet card, they might be even more embarrassed. Thus, it was right that she receive money for allowing the use of the toilet, even if it was expensive.

    It seemed that if they had to pass the secret rooms in the future, they would have to collect cards for daily necessities. The lifestyle cards in the hands of Xiao Lou¡¯s team were too few.

    Compared to collective diarrhea on the first day and the heavy storm on the second day, the third day seemed a bit calm. It was presumably to give the challengers a bit of cushion. There were no idents on this day.

    The only thing ufortable was the direct sunlight at sea. Even if everyone was inspired by Xiao Lou¡¯s actions and made a variety of shade, the sunlight was too strong. Everyone¡¯s skin became red, swollen and tingling. Some girls with sensitive skin started to peel and blister wildly. The entire challenger teams were lying in the sun and from time to time, people would curse. Xiao Lou¡¯s team was better. No one lost any skin.

    In the evening, everyone stopped the boat again and settled down for dinner. Today¡¯s sunset was very beautiful but everyone was sunburned and wasn¡¯t in the mood to appreciate it. They ally on the ship and closed their eyes.

    Yu Hanjiang watched the sky and sunset and thought of many things. Lu Jiuchuan disappearedst night and never showed up again. It was unknown where he had gone. Seeing Lu Jiuchuan in this world, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s long-standing belief received a very strong shock. It was because he was clear that Lu Jiuchuan was cremated in reality. How could Lu Jiuchuan go back in such circumstances?

    Go back and turn into a cloud of ashes? How much credibility did the keeper¡¯s words have and should they keep holding onto the hope of going back? Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart was shaken for the first time.

    Xiao Lou sensed his thoughts and whispered in his mind, ¡°Group Leader Yu, have you heard of rebirth?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Group Leader Yu obviously didn¡¯t read online texts.

    Xiao Lou exined with a smile. ¡°Popr online novels have many things about rebirth. The protagonist unexpectedly died and was reborn in the past, changing history. Although these novels are all fantasies, the world we are in can¡¯t be exined scientifically. Maybe there is the miracle of ¡®rebirth.¡¯ Even if your brother became ashes in reality, this doesn¡¯t mean there is no hope of survival. If we can go back to the past, won¡¯t he survive?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes lit up. His fingers clenched into a fist as he looked back at Xiao Lou with disbelief. ¡°You mean, the keeper sending us back is like letting us be reborn in the past?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°In reality, we should all be dead. The keeper can¡¯t let us return as corpses. Thus, my guess is that the keepers will control the flow of time, letting us go back in time to change history.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Professor Xiao was truly worthy of his high IQ. He saw through the core rules of the secret room world.

    Time. The time flow rate in each secret room wasn¡¯t the same. Sometimes, after spending three days in the Hearts room and 30 minutes in the Clubs room, they could still meet in the Spades secret room. Obviously, the keepers had the ability to regte time.

    Moreover, the existence of the free people proved that the keepers could send everyone back to the past. For example, Xie Xinghe from 3 of Hearts, Maple Forest High School was now a policeman but they had gone back to Xie Xinghe¡¯s childhood. Li Mo of 4 of Hearts was now thergest real estate businessman but they returned to the train years ago, experiencing the plot of Li Zhemin nning to kill Li Zhemin, his scum father.

    Going back in time was easy for the keeper.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s spection was reasonable. Only a return to the past could avoid idents.

    Lu Jiuchuan had died. Yu Hanjiang saw his body being cremated and this was an unalterable fact. However, what about three years ago? At that time, Lu Jiuchuan was still a brilliant soldier, the Navy¡¯smando leader, Major Lu!

    If time went back to three years ago, wouldn¡¯t Lu Jiuchuan be born again? He would know in advance that an ident would ur in the mission and could naturally find a way to avoid the danger.

    Yu Hanjiang became even more excited. Xiao Lou¡¯s words thoroughly solved the mystery in his heart! The words of the keeper could be believed. All the dead would have a chance to be born again after clearing the world!

    Reborn to the past before the ident happened.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ecstasy in his heart was simply impossible to describe. He held Xiao Lou¡¯s hand and his deep eyes regained the light of faith. ¡°Professor Xiao, you are right. We can go back to the past and change history, so that the dead people can be reborn and my brother might also survive!¡±

    Since meeting his brother, he had been very confused. He hadn¡¯t known how people who had be ashes could return. Now Professor Xiao had exined and the fogs cleared up, his heart suddenly became bright. If they could really go back in time and everyone could live in reality¡­

    He must be transferred to the Jiangzhou Police Department earlier so he could get to know Xiao Lou earlier.

    Thank you to jyzen for the lovely fanart of the four keepers!

 Chapter 138: Endless Seas 13

    On the third day, the challengers experienced no idents except for being sunburned by the sun. After dark, everyone stopped their boats.

    Since there were silent huntersst night, the challengers further raised their vignce. Many people chose to sleep in the afternoon and simply didn¡¯t sleep at night. Xiao Lou¡¯s team still kept watch in shifts ording tost night¡¯s arrangement.

    Yu Hanjiang was very clear in his heart that the hunters had been eliminated and wouldn¡¯t reappear. The next thing was to defend against infighting between challengers. However, they were a strong team, as was seenst night, and no one dared to move against them.

    At midnight, everyone¡¯s floating boxes had a prompt appear at the same time.

    [Endless Sea, day four, 00:00]

    [Number of challengers remaining at sea: 434.]

    This number made Xiao Lou frowned. ¡°The number isn¡¯t right. A group of 10 people misjudged and followed the police back, being eliminated. Then a total of 40 people, one group of 10 and two groups of 15, went to Full Star. At that time, the secret room told us that the number of people remaining on the Caribbean was 450.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also remembered this matter. ¡°Yes, before the arrival of the typhoon, there were 450 remaining on the Caribbean. Full Star had 40 people and the number of challengers surviving in the secret room should be 490 people.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded while thinking. ¡°After the typhoon, two escape boats were involved in the whirlpool and 20 people were killed. Last night, two teams were struck by hunters and 16 people were killed. Along the way, we didn¡¯t see the bodies of other challengers so the number of survivors should be 490-20-16=454. How can it be 434 people? Where did the other 20 peoplee from?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°It is likely that something happened to Full Star.¡±

    The other teammates were a bit confused when they heard the conversation, especially Shao Qingge who hadn¡¯t paid attention to the details. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were worthy of being big gods in the Hearts room. They were just as careful in investigating in the survival room.

    The elite team of girls from Luoying Pavilion collectively transferred to the Full Star cruise ship. ording to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s spection, they should¡¯ve hijacked the cruise ship and drifted at sea for seven days to clear the instance.

    He stated, ¡°I remember that the ship had three elite teams. One team of 15 people that was a mixture of young men and women. There was only one team of 15 who were invisible. There were a total of 40 challengers. Either a typhoon or something else happened to kill half the people, such as infighting between teams. 20 of them died.¡±

    Xiao Lou spected, ¡°I think they had an ident. ording to Old Mo, the Luoying Pavilion association is very famous and general guilds and teams are afraid to provoke them. There is the Luoying Pavilion team so the other teams won¡¯t act randomly. It isn¡¯t good to face an elite team. The smartest way is for the three teams to join forces to clear the instance. Out of 40 people, half actually died. This death rate is higher than our side and it probably wasn¡¯t a simple typhoon.¡±

    The typhoon would at most blow the Full Star over. These three teams weren¡¯t so weak that they couldn¡¯t cope with a typhoon. Even if they fell into the sea, as long as they weren¡¯t sucked into a whirlpool, they could swim and save their teammates in time. What was the ident that left the 40 strong elite teams dead and wounded by more than half?

    Xiao Lou suddenly eximed, ¡°Full Star headed in the opposite direction of us. Perhaps they encountered a sea monster!¡±

    Ye Qi was surprised and his face became frightened. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be a big shark or something? What if it directly eats a person?¡±

    Old Mo nodded seriously. ¡°It is possible. The attack of beasts is amon difficulty in the Spades room.¡±

    Ye Qi immediately shrank back. ¡°So we must be careful. Professor Xiao, can the safety circle resist sharks?¡±

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°Yes, any attack can be blocked.¡±

    He spoke as he took out Compass and drew a circle around the escape boat. At midnight, all the card skills were refreshed. Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou and whispered in his ear, ¡°The heart channel is broken. Reconnect it because I have something to say to you.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and used Qin Guan¡¯s skill to set up a channel ofmunication again with Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was soon heard in his mind, ¡°The skill of the card my brother left to me, Absolute Field has also refreshed. I want to go in and see but if I suddenly disappear, our teammates will suspect it. Help me establish a cover.¡±

    Xiao Lou readily agreed. ¡°No problem.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang opened his mouth and told their teammates, ¡°I will use the Water Ghost card to investigate and see if there are any sea monsters nearby.¡±

    Long Sen actively raised his hand. ¡°I and Wanyue will also go. Our chameleon card can integrate with the sea. Even if there are sea monsters, they won¡¯t be able to find us.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Okay, be careful.¡±

    The trio used cards to enter the sea and investigate the nearby area.

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue dived into the sea with the help of cards. They found that the deep sea had arge number of colorful fish as well as a variety of beautiful coral and seaweed. This spectacr underwater world was many times more shocking than what was seen on television. Countless small fish shuttled back and forth at the bottom of the sea. The mysterious and magnificent deep sea was unforgettable.

    The two people swam around the bottom of the sea and didn¡¯t find sharks and other dangerous species. Thergest fish was more than half a metre long. Returning to the escape boat, Long Sen couldn¡¯t help eximing, ¡°The fish at the bottom of the sea are really beautiful!¡±

    Qu Wanyue smiled and said, ¡°You can rest assured. We have checked a few kilometers of the sea and didn¡¯t find any dangerous fish.¡±

    These words were a relief to everyone.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°The chameleon card is so useful. Due to the environment fusion, you don¡¯t need to breathe in the sea, right?¡±

    ¡°We just turn into seawater.¡± Long Senughed. ¡°Do you want to try it? You can go into the sea when it is safe tomorrow.¡±

    Ye Qi shook his head. ¡°There is no need to see the scenery here when we should be focused on safety. If something happens, it will be more useful for you to have this card.¡±

    Qu Wanyue¡¯s eyes looked around and she wondered, ¡°Group Leader Yu? He hasn¡¯te back yet?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about him. He is going to check the situation of the challengers.¡±

    In fact, Yu Hanjiang had swam in a circle and came back together with Long Sen and Qu Wanyue. However, he was wearing the invisibility cloak. Despite sitting next to Xiao Lou, no one could see him.

    Yu Hanjiang opened the Absolute Field card and entered the space left by Lu Jiuchuan. This time, the space was still a vast sea. The moment he entered, he stood on the sea like he did yesterday. Yu Hanjiang tried to take a few steps and walked on the sea like it was t ground. This was obviously a scene effect set by Lu Jiuchuan.

    The moon hung high in the sky, the stars shone and the sea sparkled. This closed off sea was like a dream. In front of him stood a man with his back to Yu Hanjiang. He was standing with both hands sped together, looking up at the stars like he was thinking about something.

    He perceived that Yu Hanjiang had entered and turned around with a smile. The handsome face had a shallow smile, flying sword eyebrows and deep eyes, revealing a trace of the confidence and assertiveness that Yu Hanjiang was familiar with. It was as if they had returned to the real world and Lu Jiuchuan was still the brother who patted him on the shoulder and encouraged him.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mood wasplicated as he whispered, ¡°Brother Jiu.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan said, ¡°I think you woulde in at midnight. Why are you 10 minuteste?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang exined, ¡°My teammate found that the number of challengers isn¡¯t right and spected that something might¡¯ve happened to Full Star. They suspect there might be a sea monster attack so a few of us went to investigate the sea to confirm our safety.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan raised his eyebrows. ¡°Is that so? Your teammate is really careful.¡±

    Thinking of Xiao Lou¡¯s witty caution, a hint of gentleness and appreciation appeared in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes. ¡°He is really very clever. If he didn¡¯t remind me, I really almost thought that you joined the hunter organization.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan gave a faint smile. ¡°Yesterday, your attitude toward me suddenly changed before because of him?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, we have a card that connects us spiritually. The words I say and what I¡¯m thinking can be felt by him. He was the one who calmed me down and who thought that Brother Jiu¡¯s nature can¡¯t change so thoroughly. There must be a reason.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan was very interested in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s teammate. ¡°You have a cold personality and from childhood to adulthood, you rarely be close to others. You are actually willing to share your spiritual world with him¡­ do you trust him that much?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t hesitate to say, ¡°Yes, he is a forensics scientist and I worked with him several times in the real world. We¡¯ve been teammates since meeting in 2 of Clubs and have been walking together in this world ever since. He is my most trusted friend in this world.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan found that every time his brother mentioned this person, the always serious and cold face would involuntarily have a bit of gentleness¡­ the most trusted friend? Lu Jiuchuan joked, ¡°He really is just a friend?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded decisively. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan stated, ¡°Let hime in, I want to see him.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°See him? Why?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuanughed. ¡°I have to judge if the people around you are reliable before deciding on the next step.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang conveyed this sentence to Xiao Lou through the spiritual channel. ¡°My brother said he wants to see you.¡±

    Xiao Lou might be confused but he also wanted to meet Yu Hanjiang¡¯s brother. He spected that Lu Jiuchuan had joined the hunters to go undercover and had many questions to ask Lu Jiuchuan.

    Xiao Lou promised and asked, ¡°Okay. Then how am I going to enter your brother¡¯s Absolute Field?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at his brother and asked, ¡°How can hee in?¡±

    ¡°Tell me where he is and I¡¯ll pull him in.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°He is on the escape boat, sitting next to me. Our escape boat has a white awning and is easy to find.¡± after that, Yu Hanjiang told Xiao Lou in his heart, ¡°My brother ising to you now. Make up an excuse for everyone to put on your invisibility cloak, so that you don¡¯t disappear and make everyone worry.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s voice was soon heard in his mind. ¡°Yes.¡± Then he spoke to his teammates. ¡°I can¡¯t swim. Group Leader Yu told me to put on the invisibility cloak and try out the Water Ghost card. If I suddenly disappearter then don¡¯t worry.¡±

    His teammates didn¡¯t doubt him.

    Momentster, Lu Jiuchuan urately found Xiao Lou and Xiao Lou was also pulled in. Xiao Lou appeared in a strange sea. There was a bright moon and stars and he found himself standing on the sea. Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t surprised. He nced around and walked calmly to Yu Hanjiang.

    Not far away from them stood a tall man. He was as tall as Group Leader Yu and was nearly 1.9 metres. The two of them had a simr appearance but Yu Hanjiang was stern, solemn and calm. Meanwhile, Lu Jiuchuan looked vigorous and his smile was unrestrained. In particr, the scar on his face made him show a trace of wildness when he smiled.

    Yu Hanjiang introduced them, ¡°This is Xiao Lou, an associate professor of forensics at Jiangzhou Medical University. This is my uncle¡¯s son, my cousin who grew up with me and the leader of the Navy¡¯smando unit, Major Lu Jiuchuan.¡±

    Xiao Lou greeted him politely with a smile. ¡°Major Lu, hello.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes narrowed as he looked up and down. The young man looked clear-headed. His smile was gentle and elegant. In this unfamiliar environment, he was still calm and his psychological quality was obviously very strong.

    He stood next to Yu Hanjiang and came up to this person¡¯s nose. His figure was much thinner than Yu Hanjiang and his height was also 10 cm shorter, but the atmosphere around him didn¡¯t appear weak at all.

    Yu Hanjiang was too cold. His sharp eyes and strong pressure meant that if other people stood beside him, their momentum would bepletely suppressed. However, Xiao Lou¡¯s gentleness seemed toplement Yu Hanjiang. The picture when they stood together was very harmonious. Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t suppressed by Yu Hanjiang¡¯s atmosphere and actually neutralized Yu Hanjiang¡¯s sharpness.

    It was wonderful. His younger brother and Xiao Lou stood together and gave off a strange matching feeling.

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled gently. ¡°No need for courtesy. Hanjiang calls me Brother Jiu and you can also call me that.¡±

 Chapter 139: Endless Seas 14

    Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t familiar with Lu Jiuchuan. This was the first time they met and called him Brother Jiu seemed to close. Still, since the other party was informal, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t continue calling him Major Lu. He looked inquiringly at Yu Hanjiang and once the other person nodded, he called out, ¡°Brother Jiu, you must have something to tell me if you pulled me in. What is it?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan was very direct. ¡°Yes, my brother trusts you very much and I wanted to see what type of person you really are. Are you truly worthy of his trust?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded with understanding and smiled. ¡°This world is too dangerous. If you encounter the betrayal of a teammate in theter rooms, it will be more difficult to deal with than the room itself. This has to be investigated.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan looked at his smile and immediately found the main focus of his words, raising an eyebrow. ¡°Investigate? Do you think the words I spoke yesterday were on purpose to test him?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°Your identity must be kept a secret and every action is very dangerous. You might be killed at any time. If you can¡¯t absolutely trust him then there are many things you won¡¯t dare to tell him, isn¡¯t that right?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang hadn¡¯t understood what the two people were saying until this point. The ¡®him¡¯ they were talking about was referring to himself.

    Last night, Lu Jiuchuan deliberately said that he was a hunter and had the right to choose how to live. What did other people¡¯s lives have to do with him? This was to stimte Yu Hanjiang and was a test about whether he was worth his brother¡¯s absolute trust.

    Yu Hanjiang reacted. ¡°Brother, did you go the Hunter¡¯s League as an undercover?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan nced at his brother and smiled. ¡°You aren¡¯t as clever as Professor Xiao. He had already guessed it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t deny it. Professor Xiao was the team¡¯s think-tank and was smarter than him. Yu Hanjiang wasn¡¯t a match. It was no wonder why Xiao Lou calmed him down yesterday. Xiao Lou had long thought of this possibility.

    Going undercover wasn¡¯t an easy task, especially when working in an organization like the hunter¡¯s one. It was simply walking on a wire between cliffs. It was possible to fall and break his body at any time. In the circumstances where Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t bepletely trusted, Lu Jiuchuan didn¡¯t dare to reveal his identity. Yesterday¡¯s first contact with Yu Hanjiang was indeed a means to test his brother¡¯s attitude.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart tightly slightly and he clenched his fists as he whispered, ¡°Why go undercover? With your ability, you couldn¡¯t clear the card wall after being here for three years?¡±

    A bit of bleakness shed in Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes. ¡°We went to J of Clubs and our entire team was almost destroyed.¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately responded. ¡°The strongest elite team that the old gentleman of the Distant Guild mentioned, it included Brother Jiu?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan nodded. ¡°At that time, we selected elites from all walks of life and formed a team of 15 people. I was the captain and every team member was very good. We went to the World Weekly secret rooms for a whole month and specifically practiced our cooperation. I trained the entire team rigorously and cruelly in ordance with the navymandos¡¯ standards. This allowed everyone to form conditioned reflexes against idents.¡±

    ¡°The training worked well and I was confident I could take them through.¡±

    ¡°After reaching the S-grade rooms, we preferred the Clubs room because the Clubs room is basically rted to gold coins. The situation is generally ying cards or lotteries and our team had a professional poker yer who betted in Las Vegas. The rich second generation was proficient in various types of card games. However, none of us expected for the S-grade Clubs room to no longer be a simple lottery or card game. It was actually a cruelpetition!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°What did you encounter in J of Clubs?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s face became extremely gloomy and he spoke through gritted teeth, ¡°Hunters.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were stunned.

    Initially, hunters only appeared in the Spades secret room. They hadn¡¯t expected that in the S-grade Clubs secret room, hunters would also appear!

    Lu Jiuchuan closed his eyes like he was thinking about the tragedy of that time. His voice was low and hoarse. ¡°15 people and 150 hunters! The name of J of Clubs was Cat and Mouse Game. The hunters were the cats and we were the mice. We needed to avoid the tracking of enemies that numbered us by 10 times and survive their ughter.¡±

    He was silent for a long time before whispering, ¡°Out of the team of 15 people, 11 died and only four survived.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­.¡±

    The tragedy at that time could be imagined. 150 against 15, this was simply a massacre!

    Xiao Lou thought of the Clubs teenager¡¯s facial paralysis and couldn¡¯t help shuddering. As early as 2 of Clubs, the teenager with facial paralysis said that the Clubs rooms were dangerous but 3 of Clubs and 4 of Clubs were very mild. This made the challengers gradually think that the Clubs rooms were card games and lotteries. Who would¡¯ve guessed that it would be a direct confrontation with hunters?

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s face was sombre. ¡°The difficulty of the S-grade secret rooms was beyond our imagination. The four of us actually died in J of Clubs. We were eliminated and entered the Nightmare Room. Each of us who died was thrown into separate Nightmare Rooms and yed a 1 against 20 hunting game. In the end, the four of us killed the hunters and survived. All of us were seriously injured. The other people¡¯sbat force wasn¡¯t as good and they never returned after being thrown into the Nightmare Room.¡±

    He took a deep breath and added, ¡°At that time, we knew that if we didn¡¯t find out more about the Hunter¡¯s League, we would never be able to clear the S-grade rooms. Q and K of Clubs would be even more difficult. It was useless to find more teammates so we decided to change our strategy, lurking and waiting for an opportunity. I used the help of a teammate topletely erase my identity. I changed my face and joined the Hunter¡¯s League.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan spoke up to here and pulled a card out of his card pack. The S-grade special effects card, Fake Face. It was transparent and could be worn over the face at any time,pletely changing the face of the user. Lu Jiuchuan changed from the card effect. He was no longer the handsome and tall soldier but an ordinary, bearded middle-aged man.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou looked at the person in front of thempletely change and couldn¡¯t help feeling pained. He used Fake Face to disguise himself every day during his time at the Hunter¡¯s League. It was conceivable that during his time undercover, every step was as thin as ice and every day was extremely difficult.

    This time in Endless Sea, he only revealed his true face because he saw Yu Hanjiang. Xiao Lou finally understood why he killed the other hunters. If he didn¡¯t, the three people might¡¯ve perceived something was wrong and reported it to the higher ups.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°It looks like you didn¡¯t meet me by chance?¡±

    ¡°Yes, the organization got the information of your World Weekly. I knew in advance you would be on the Caribbean cruise ship and bought tickets to the cruise ship in advance. This meant the World Weekly also pulled me into this room.¡±

    Xiao Lou was puzzled. ¡°Brother Jiu, you might¡¯ve changed your appearance with a cad but your identity information is difficult to change. Doesn¡¯t the Hunter¡¯s League have professional hackers? How did you hide from their identity verification?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan took off ¡®Fake Face¡¯ with a slight smile and dered proudly, ¡°We have a more powerful hacker.¡±

    Xiao Lou quickly reacted. ¡°The Intelligence Bureau?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan nodded. ¡°The director of the Intelligence Bureau, Tang Ci is myrade. He helped me forge a new identity in the database. My name is Qi Fang of the Hunter¡¯s League. Both parents are dead and I grew up in an orphanage. I¡¯m 35 years old.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    It seemed that the rumours that Old Gui told Xiao Lou about the 15 member elite team being killed in J of Hearts was just a rumour. They didn¡¯t go to J of Hearts but went to J of Clubs. They also weren¡¯tpletely destroyed. Four people survived.

    Xiao Lou spected, ¡°The four survivors, including Brother Jiu, are the chief of the Intelligence Bureau and the chairman of the Distant Guild. The remaining one must be the spider goddess of Luoying Pavilion, am I right?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan looked at Xiao Lou with admiration. ¡°How did you guess?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°It is because I think that since the four of you decided to disperse and wait for new opportunities, you would definitely find ways to discover stronger teammates. Brother Jiu went undercover in the Hunter¡¯s League and the Intelligence Bureau has the identity information of all challengers. The Distant Guild sent someone to pick us up when we just got off the ne and the Luoying Pavilion specifically recruited female yers. In this way, you can identify the most suitable teammates among the batch of challengers.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan nodded. ¡°Your analysis is very good.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked seriously, ¡°Brother Jiu, you risked yourself to meet Group Leader Yu. Why do you think the time hase?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuanughed. ¡°It is due to that world announcement.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang reacted. ¡°Is it the announcement about how Xiao Lou and I refreshed the world records of the Hearts rooms?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan nodded. ¡°I have long known you hade to this room. The Intelligence Bureau sent a message to Old Gui as soon as you entered the City of the Moon and asked him to contact you. He thinks that you are really strong and that we can start the next step of the n.¡±

    ¡°Out of our 15 people at the time, the Hearts room was the weakest point. A reasoning writer can¡¯t be better than a criminal police officer with rich experience in handling cases. I believe that if you are there, we won¡¯t need to worry about the S-grade red rooms in the future. In addition, I have been undercover in the Hunter¡¯s League for a year and have already figured out the general situation of this organization. Thus, we want to start n B.¡±

    He looked at Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang and firmly dered, ¡°Reorganize the team and break through again!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang clenched his fists. His brother¡¯s words allowed him to know the scary aspects of the S-grade secret rooms but it also caused his heart to be filled with strength.

    After experiencing the despair of 11 out of 15 people dying, these four people didn¡¯t give up. They remained dormant and tried to find new opportunities using various methods. This type of tenacity was really admirable. This was indeed his trusted brother since childhood.

    Yu Hanjiang stared into Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes and spoke earnestly, ¡°Brother Jiu, how should we cooperate?¡±

    ¡°You are still too weak right now. Clear the B and A-grade secret rooms as soon as possible and get more cards. The four of us are stuck at the J of Clubs secret room so we can only team up in J of Clubs.¡±

    He looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Once you leave this secret room, go to the Intelligence Bureau to find Tang Ci. He will give you some help.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded forcefully. ¡°Yes, we will speed up to reach J of Clubs as soon as possible.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan went on to say, ¡°There is another trick. The World Weekly opens every Saturday at 0 o¡¯clock. If you enter the more difficult Hearts or Spades room on Friday night, you will be in another secret room when the World Weekly opens and won¡¯t be pulled in.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°In other words, if we enter a secret room on Friday night, we won¡¯t have to participate in the World Weekly?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan nodded. ¡°This was only known after we entered J of Clubs. In order to improve efficiency, you can go to the simple secret rooms on Monday to Thursday and do the difficult rooms on Friday night. In half a month, you will be able to finish all the B-grade and A-grade rooms on the card wall. After your progress has passed the 10th level, I will join you again and everyone will go to the World Weekly to raise our tacit understanding.¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°I understand. We will try to control the time to avoid the World Weekly.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan looked at the sky and whispered, ¡°This mission has failed and the Hunter¡¯s League should already know it. I have to give them aplete exnation as soon as possible. Keep this Absolute Field card. If you want to see me thene in at midnight. You can rest assured that the space in the Absolute Field is made by me and everything I say here can¡¯t be overheard.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at him with worry. ¡°Will you be punished for failing the mission? In addition, you are a challenger in essence. How will youplete the World Weekly?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Hunters failing missions is verymon. After all, there are many powerful people among the challengers. As for how I willplete the World Weekly, you don¡¯t have to worry. I have my own way.¡± He walked over and patted Yu Hanjiang on the shoulder. ¡°Hanjiang, take care.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang firmly grabbed his shoulder. ¡°Brother Jiu, you also have to take care.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan looked at Xiao Lou and joked. ¡°Professor Xiao, please take care of my brother in the future.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s ears became hot. ¡°Group Leader Yu is very strong. He has been taking care of us.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan looked at the two men and turned around with a wave. ¡°I¡¯m leaving first. Good luck to you.¡±

    The sea and sky of this closed space copsed the moment he left.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang returned to the escape boat. Both of them were wearing invisibility cloaks. They couldn¡¯t see each other but they could feel the other person. The emotions in their hearts were so agitated that it was difficult to calm down for a while.

    It was hard to imagine how terrible the end rooms would be. Lu Jiuchuan trained the 15 member team ording to army standards and almost all the team was wiped out¡­

    Still, they could never back down. Lu Jiuchuan hadn¡¯t given up and Old Gui still insisted on returning. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang also shouldn¡¯t give up. They would do whatever it took to leave this strange world!

    After this World Weekly, they would quickly clear the B-grade and A-grade secret rooms and go to J of Clubs to meet Brother Jiu. There were 12 S-grade secret rooms and the more difficult SS-grade secret rooms. This time, they must be fully prepared and never repeat the same mistakes!

 Chapter 140: Endless Seas 15

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou had disappeared for a long time. Ye Qi was sitting right behind them. He looked at their empty spots and couldn¡¯t help worrying. ¡°Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao haven¡¯te back?¡±

    Just then, Xiao Lou¡¯s gentle voice was heard. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We went around the area to look at other escape boats and check their safety.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang followed after him. ¡°I¡¯ll keep watch so you can all go to sleep.¡±

    The moment he spoke, Yu Hanjiang took off the invisibility cloak and appeared in the seat. Xiao Lou also took off the cloak. The two of them had already boarded the boat and sat in the second row but no one had seen them.

    Ye Qi finally put down his worries. ¡°If there¡¯s nothing then it is fine.¡±

    Shao Qingge wondered, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t I be keeping watch with Ye Qi now?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯m not sleepy at all and I¡¯ll call you if I am.¡± Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°You also rest.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not sleepy. I¡¯ll apany you.¡±

    The others saw them insist so they agreed to the teammates and went to sleep.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang sat side by side on the boat, silent for a long time. Then Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice rang only in Xiao Lou¡¯s mind. ¡°Brother Jiu¡¯s team was so strong yet they almost died in J of Clubs. If our team goes to J of Clubs now and faces 10 times the hunters, it is likely we won¡¯t survive.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s words were warm. ¡°Brother Jiu¡¯s team weren¡¯t strong from the beginning. Among out teammates, Xiao Qi experienced the Nightmare Room and almost starved to death, yet he persisted. I believe he won¡¯t give up easily in the future. Liu Qiao reached 4 of Spades alone. She might look weak but her psychological quality is very strong. The Long Que husband and wife have experienced so much and they are bound to have a tacit understanding. The advantages of Chief Shao and Old Mo are obvious. As long as we stick to it, or team will be stronger and stronger in the future.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°Yes, in order to go to J of Clubs, we have to go through the fifth to the tenth level. That is 24 secret rooms and we can get a lot of good cards. The key is that we must stick to the desire to go back and not shake in the middle. We have to carefully watch our teammates. Once someone can¡¯t endure it anymore, they have to be eliminated ahead of time rather than be a drag for the entire team.¡±

    It was impossible to bring them to pass through the S-grade secret rooms.

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s group of four coulde out of J of Clubs¡¯ Nightmare Room so their strength was beyond doubt. Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t want to drag his brother¡¯s hind legs with weak teammates. It would naturally be best if these eight people could walk all the way to the end. However, if someone shook halfway then Yu Hanjiang would kick them out of the team without hesitation. At this point, he must be cruel and decisive.

    Xiao Lou also agreed with Yu Hanjiang¡¯s thoughts and sighed. ¡°After leaving this World Weekly, we will carefully exin to them Brother Jiu¡¯s words. I think they have the right to know the truth.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°For the sake of my brother Lu Jiuchuan, don¡¯t tell them about my brother¡¯s matter for the time being. He is special and still undercover in the Hunter¡¯s League. I don¡¯t want to bring trouble to him.¡±

    ¡°OF course. It isn¡¯t toote to exin Brother Jiu¡¯s identity once we reach J of Clubs.¡±

    In order to keep the secret room from feeling too depressed, Xiao Lou took the initiative to change the topic. ¡°Is your rtionship with Brother Jiu so good? He cares about you and after knowing you were here, he took great risks to enter the same World Weekly room as you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment before replying, ¡°My mother was a soldier and my father a police officer. They have been long separated and have no time to take care of me. As a child, I was raised in my grandfather¡¯s house and grew up with Brother Jiu. We were just like brothers.¡±

    ¡°No wonder. Brother Jiu joined the army and you joined the police force. Is that due to the influence of your father?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, I was simple as a child. I felt that my father and my uncle were particrly handsome in a uniform and a gun. I was hesitating between bing a soldier or a policeman and I finally chose a policeman because when I was 1, my father cracked a major criminal case and caught a serial murderer who had escaped for many years. I saw the family members of the deceased crying in court and the shock was difficult to imagine.¡±

    Xiao Lou imagined this scene and smiled. ¡°I understand. You must¡¯ve been very proud of your father.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang touched his nose. ¡°In fact, I don¡¯t have a good rtionship with him. I only see him a few times a year. He is too serious and will criticize me every time we met. He was admitted to the Standing Committee the year I was admitted to the police academy. Thus, he was more careful and cautious and had very strict and demanding requirements for me. I wanted to transfer to Jiangzhou and he dyed the transfer order for two years.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had never mentioned these private matters with anyone. Xiao Lou was the first person he sat down with to talk about his past and his family. Yu Hanjiang looked into Xiao Lou¡¯s clear eyes and was slightly warm. ¡°I grew up with no friends. You are the first.¡±

    Xiao Lou heard this sentence and inexplicably felt happy. He joked, ¡°Then I¡¯m really honoured.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mouth gently raised. ¡°Brother Jiu previously always made fun of me. He said I was like a piece of hard stone frozen in the refrigerator for half a month. The words ¡®no entry for strangers¡¯ were written on my face. I would definitely be single until I was 60 years old.¡±

    Xiao Lou ridiculed, ¡°Brother Jiu has a really poisonous tongue. How can he say that?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°He is the opposite of me. He was very rebellious since he was young, smoking and drinking. My uncle couldn¡¯t take care of him. After he went to the army, he changed his mind and developed the bad habit of being cynical.¡±

    After perceiving that Xiao Lou had been listening carefully, Yu Hanjiang asked with interest, ¡°What about you? Do you have any brothers or sisters in your family?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°I¡¯m an only child but I have a cousin. She is a senior in high school and ready to test into a medical school. Another cousin is in university and will graduate in another year. I grew up with them and we have a close rtionship.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°You must be their favourite, the big brother they really worship?¡±

    Xiao Lou helplessly touched his forehead. ¡°Those two people are very naughty. If it wasn¡¯t for my sister pulling me to y Fight the Landlord on New Year¡¯s day, I might not havee to this world.¡±

    It hadn¡¯t been long since the Spring Festival but Xiao Lou felt like it was a century. The impression of these beloved rtives in his mind had gradually be blurred. The memories from reality made both of them silent.

    This was the first time they had mentioned their family members in front of each other. The distance between them had been shortened invisibly and they had a deeper understanding of each other.

    Xiao Lou thought that his friendship with Group Leader Yu probably changed from ¡®ordinary friends¡¯ to ¡®talkative friends¡¯?

    Yu Hanjiang also felt it was very novel. He never chatted about this with others. At this time, it waste at night and they could hear each other¡¯s breathing. After talking about his family and his past with Xiao Lou, it was like an emotion suppressed in the bottom of his heart was suddenly released.

    Having a friend to talk to really felt different.

    He looked at Xiao Lou who was looking back at him. The two men looked at the person opposite them before embarrassedly moving their gazes away at the same time.

    Perhaps the sea at night was too quiet but Yu Hanjiang felt his thumping heartbeat that seemed to speed up more than usual. He turned his head and no longer watched Xiao Lou, who was looking into the distance.

    The escape boats parked here were lit up with the Night Pearl. Many people didn¡¯t speak because they were worried about idents. However, the night was particrly calm. The sky brightened and nothing had happened.

    The challengers woke up, washed up and had breakfast. Today was cloudy with no direct sunlight so they didn¡¯t have to worry about their skin peeling.

    At 9 o¡¯clock in the morning, the challengers reorganized and someone suggested, ¡°If we continue, it is unknown what we will encounter. The task is to survive at sea for seven days. Why don¡¯t we stop where we are?¡±

    This suggestion was immediately endorsed by everyone.

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes brightened and he spoke excitedly, ¡°Stopping in ce is really a good method. We checked the nearby seast night and there were no dangerous fish. We don¡¯t have to move. As long as we stay at sea for seven days, we will clear the instance, right?¡±

    Old Mo was experienced in the World Weekly and his face was full of worry. He frowned and stated, ¡°If it is so simple¡ª¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke cautiously, ¡°We can¡¯t rx even if we checked itst night. We might not be looking for trouble but it cane to us. If you can pass the instance without moving for seven days, this World Weekly is too simple.¡±

    Ye Qi scratched the back of his head andughed slightly. ¡°Professor Xiao¡¯s words are reasonable!¡±

    Liu Qiao suggested, ¡°Last night¡¯s safety doesn¡¯t mean it will now be safe. Do you want to check again?¡±

    Qu Wanyue took out the chameleon card. ¡°Brother Long, let¡¯s go to the water again to check¡­

    Before she had finished, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s low voice interrupted her. ¡°Don¡¯t go into the water. Look behind you.¡±

    They found that Yu Hanjiang¡¯s sharp eyes were staring straight behind them. Everyone was slightly stunned while turning their heads.

    Not far away, a group ofrge sharks slowly surrounded the challenger teams. The leader was huge. The moment they looked back, the leader stuck its head out of the water, opening its mouth toward the people and exposing sharp fangs.

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou saw that the mouth wasrge enough to swallow two adults and immediately straightened nervously. ¡°Sharks!¡±

    Ye Qi was pale and he cursed, ¡°We really shouldn¡¯t underestimate that damn pervert A of Spade! Where the fuck did so many sharkse from? Are there more underwater?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke calmly. ¡°A great white shark, also knew as the human-eating shark, is the fiercest predatory shark in the sea. They weight more than 3,000 kilograms and have extremely sharp teeth that can instantly break a human¡¯s neck. They are at the top of the food chain.¡±

    Listening to Group Leader Yu calmly say this, everyone felt their backs be cold.

    Xiao Lou finally understood why 20 out of the 40 challengers on the Full Star had died. They were likely attacked by sharks!

    At this time, the furthest escape boat was suddenly bitten by the great white shark. Before the challengers on the boat had recovered, two people were directly swallowed by the great white sharks! There was a pig-like scream on the sea. ¡°Ahhhh! Sharks! There are sharks!¡±

    ¡±Oh my god, there are so many sharks!¡±

    The girl who saw her teammates being eaten panicked and tried to steer the boat to run. However, a big shark turned her boat upside down and the girl fell into the sea and was bitten by a sharp. It was also across the middle at her waist! The boat¡¯s people were quickly split up among the sharks who smelled them.

    Looking at the bloody scene, Xiao Lou¡¯s scalp was numb and he tightly clenched his fists. ¡°We are surrounded by sharks!¡±

    Ye Qi was pale as he scolded A of Spades. Now he asked, ¡°What to do? Professor Xiao, can your safety circle hold?¡±

    Xiao Louughed bitterly. ¡°The safety circle has a time limit and that time ising¡­¡±

    Everyone¡¯s hearts were cold when they heard this.

    In the distance, another boat was attacked by the shark poption. A man¡¯s leg was bitten off by a shark and he screamed with fear. A woman¡¯s arm was bitten and her cries of copse almost pierced their eardrums.

    ¡°Ahhhh¡ªHelp! Sharks. Sharks!¡±

    The challengers were in a state of extreme panic and it was unknown who yelled. ¡°We¡¯re surrounded by sharks! Run!¡±

    A few escape boats stepped on the elerator and quickly tried to escape!

    However, there were sharks ahead. They ran forward and had only run less than a hundred metres when one escape bit was hit by arge number of sharks. The boat quickly sunk due to the ferocious impact and the people in the water once again turned into shark food!

    It was unknown when this group of sharks had started lurking but they hadpletely surrounded all the challenger teams! The most ferocious fish in the sea, it was unknown how long they had been hungry but the hundreds of challengers made mouthwatering food. Stimted by blood, the sharks swam in an even more brutal manner. A group of sharks wildly attacked different escape boats!

    The sound of crashing filled their eardrums. The challengers were bitten and blood quickly reddened the water¡­ this scene was hell on earth! In front of the ocean killer, humans suddenly became extremely weak.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes narrowed. He clenched his fists and shouted loudly. ¡°Don¡¯t panic, keep calm! Where are all your cards? Take them out and get these sharks under control!¡±

    Once humans saw sharks, they instinctively felt fear. In the midst of the extreme fear, most people lost their calm and reflexively wanted to scream and run away. They seemed to have forgotten that they weren¡¯t ordinary humans but challengers with arge number of cards.

    There were a few sharks swimming towards their escape boat with Xiao Lou¡¯s safety ring. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hands were fast and he dropped the Bnce to trap the sharks!

    The Bnce card was very easy to use in the event of a group attack. Two huge scales with a diameter of five metres were thrown into the sea. As long as sharks entered the range of the scales and the weight on both sides wasn¡¯t equal, they had no way of moving for five minutes.

    Seeing Yu Hanjiang¡¯s actions, Xiao Lou immediately drew two circles and urately wrapped them around the neck of the two big sharks! Yu Hanjiang decisively used the Water Ghost card to enter the water. He swam below the sharks and thrust the Night Devil Saber up¡ª

    The knife could cut through iron like it was mud and pierced the belly of two big sharks! The two big sharks started struggling frantically. The blood that stted covered Yu Hanjiang¡¯s entire body. His teammates were scared when they saw this scene. Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes widened and his voice was shaking. ¡°Group Leader Yu, be careful¡ª¡±

    This was a shark! A shark that could open its mouth to eat several adults!

    Yu Hanjiang looked calm. Since the big shark couldn¡¯t bring the bnce in time, his hand went up and the de descended, directly splitting the shark in two from the middle. A big shark more than 3,000 kilograms was actually¡­

    ughtered?

    The surrounding challengers watched as the man held a de and killed two sharks. They were horrified like he was a devil from hell! Yu Hanjiang was covered in blood and his face full of anger as he yelled at the stunned challengers, ¡°What are you panicking about? Sharks don¡¯t have IQs and don¡¯t you have brains? Use the Bnce!¡±

    In a boat not far away, the frightened girl seemed to be awakened by this roar. Seeing two big sharks swimming under her escape boat, she immediately threw out the Bnce. The two big sharps were unequal in weight and were trapped by the Bnce, unable to move. Her teammate saw this scene and quickly pulled out a sword, pointing it firmly at the shark¡¯s head.

    Yu Hanjiang followed by prompting, ¡°Use Bnce and Nine Pces Grid to fix all the sharks in ce! Then quickly sail to the southeast!¡±

    Amidst the chaotic screaming, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was calm, clear and decisive. His leadership, which was used tomanding teams, wasn¡¯tparable to that of an average person. The bewildered challengers seemed affected by his voice.

    Bnce and Nine Pces Grid were cards given in low-level Diamonds rooms. In particr, the Nine Pces Grid which had a control time of 9 seconds. Meanwhile, Bnce could control the opponent for 5 minutes. Even the fierce sharks were helpless in front of it!

    The people¡¯s senses returned and they threw their cards. Apart from Bnce and Nine Pces Grid, some teams used ranged sleepiness, ranged dizziness and other control cards to control the nearby sharks!

    Old Mo might¡¯ve seen many sharks in the southeast direction but he obeyed Yu Hanjiang¡¯s instructions without hesitation. He was the first to drive forward in a fast manner to the southeast. Their boat was covered with a white sunshade and others followed suit.

    Nearly 40 escape boats collectively shifted to the southeast under Yu Hanjiang¡¯smand.

    Of course, there were some people who didn¡¯t want to listen to Yu Hanjiang¡¯smand. Once the sharks were fixed in ce, they rushed out and ran away to the east!

    After a while, most of the challengers¡¯ escape boats came to the south-east sea and surrounded Xiao Lou¡¯s escape boat. Five minutes was long enough for the escape boat to drive a long distance, leaving the sharks behind.

    A girl who was almost eaten just now looked at Yu Hanjiang and asked, ¡°What are you going to do?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang coldly looked at the distance sharks. ¡°Sharks like the smell of blood. This group of sharks are already mad from hungry. If we don¡¯t take care of them, they will always be behind us. We must kill them here.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Kill the sharks? Was this man sick? The challengers who heard this was full of disbelief, looking at him like he was a madman.

    Xiao Lou reflected on Group Leader Yu¡¯s n and spoke loudly, ¡°Don¡¯t panic. All the sharks are in that area of the sea and the human bone medicine obtained in 4 of Spades can make any sharks within 500 metres collectively blind. Friends with control cards can help trap the sharps in ce. Friends with invisibility cloaks can put them on and don¡¯t have to worry about being found. They can take weapons into the sea to kill the sharks.

    Yu Hanjiang had just killed two sharks. As it turned out, the sharks at the top of the food chain weren¡¯t so scary as long as they had cards in hand.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s sharp eyes swept over the crowd. ¡°Is there anyone willing to act with me?¡±

    The people around him bowed their heads, the horror on their faces difficult to conceal. This n might be theoretically feasible but they were sharks! Sharks were five or six metres long and could instantly bite a person¡¯s waist in half. Thinking of the bloody scene just now, who would dare to go into the water to fight the sharks?

    Most people¡¯s idea was to run away! Leave these sharks alone!

    People who thought this way seemed to have ignored a fact. This was a survival room and it would be difficult to reach the end of they just thought of escaping. Sometimes, challengers would have to face the danger. It was because one day, they would face a situation where they couldn¡¯t escape. What would happen then?

    If you meet a god, kill a god. If you meet Buddha, kill Buddha. This was the correct way to survive the secret room! Daring to fight with powerful beasts in order to enhance everyone¡¯s survival ability in actualbat.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at his teammates around him. ¡°What about you?¡±

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue nced at each other. There was some panic in their eyes but they quickly calmed down. Long Sen said, ¡°We can integrate with the water and the sharks can¡¯t see us. We will help Group Leader Yu with poisoning and control.¡±

    Ye Qi immediately pulled out his music cards. ¡°My Guitar can cause ranged sleepiness while Flute is a single-target sleepiness.¡± He looked at the sea for a moment and scratched his head. ¡°However, I can¡¯t swim!¡±

    Old Mo added, ¡°I can drive the boat and Group Leader Yu will take the Night Pearl as a guide. When necessary, my dyeing card, model room and space rotation can help. I also have several Nine Pces Grid in my hand, which were all bought cheaply. They can be distributed to you to control the sharks.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°My Compass can trap the sharks and Bai Juyi also has several group control skills. I can also help.¡±

    Liu Qiao stated, ¡°I can directly poison a shark with the poisonous apple. I can fly on the sea to help everyone with location and in addition¡­ I might be able to use the Twin card to be a shark? I don¡¯t know if I can copy a shark but I¡¯ll try itter.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    They thought of Liu Qiao turning into a shark and didn¡¯t know if they shouldugh or cry.

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°My best S-grade card is the ATM machine and I can¡¯t kill a shark with money. Old Mo, give me Nine Pces Grid. I will help with control while you concentrate on the boat.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang listened to everyone¡¯s opinions and his heart was slightly warm. All his teammates were reliable. The challengers on other escape boats were frightened by his n and no one dared to join this shark hunting operation.

    However, his teammates didn¡¯t question his decision. Hearing Yu Hanjiang¡¯s n, everyone¡¯s first opinion wasn¡¯t to run away but to cooperate with Yu Hanjiang. It was because everyone saw him nearly slice two sharks apart and they all believed in his strength.

    Trust was the cornerstone of a team.

    Yu Hanjiang nodded to his teammates and simply order, ¡°Old Mo, set off. Be ready to act!¡±

 Chapter 141: Endless Seas 16

    Hearing Group Leader Yu¡¯smand, Old Mo quickly steadied the hull. Under the watchful eyes of the panicked challengers, the escape boat shot through the sea like a sharp arrow and plunged into the group of sharks!

    The five minutes of the Bnce hadn¡¯t passed yet. Yu Hanjiang aimed at this opportunity to dive under two sharks with the Water Ghost card. He sharply waved the de in his hand and pierced the belly of two sharks again!

    Arge amount of blood gushed out, instantly dyeing the sea red. Two sharks struggled for a moment before soon dying.

    Yu Hanjiang gave a tip to Xiao Lou through the heart channel. ¡°I will use the Night Pearl to guide the way. Let Old Mo follow the Night Pearl. The control time of Bnce is ending soon. Keep your vignce!¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately said to everyone, ¡°Old Mo, pay attention to the location of the Night Pearl. Long Sen, Teacher Qu, go down and help Group Leader Yu!¡±

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue used the Chameleon card and entered the water. Their two bodies quickly became one with the sea and only a pair of eyes remained. They looked through the bloody sea to find Group Leader Yu¡¯s Night Pearl. They had the Nine Pces Grid that could set the sharks in ce for nine seconds while the long jump card allowed them to jump eight metres at a time.

    The sea water surged and the two people soon came to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s side. Old Mo also drove the boat to be in his rear.

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°I have used the human bone medicine in the group of sharks., All sharks within 500 metres are blind but sharks don¡¯t hunt using sight. They are very sensitive to bloody odours. The bloody smell means they will chase me even if they are blind. Have everyone pay close attention to my position. The moment a shark approaches, immediately take control of them.¡±

    Xiao Lou retold Group Leader Yu¡¯s words and the people listening were really scared!

    Group Leader Yu had long known that pure blindness wouldn¡¯t have a substantial impact on the sharks. He actually wanted to use his bloody smell as bait to attract the sharks and kill them one by one!

    Facing such giant sharks, he could still be so calm and decisive. Everyone truly felt admiration for Group Leader Yu.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was in his throat as he shouted to the water, ¡°You must be careful not to be bitten by the sharks!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°Rest assured, I have the Nine Pces Grid in my hand and I can use the Water Ghost¡¯s eleration to escape if I can¡¯t handle it.

    Ye Qi cried out, ¡°Group Leader Yu, I will give you the teleport card. This card is faster!¡±

    At this time, Yu Hanjiang was only a dozen metres away from the boat. Ye Qi threw the teleportation card to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s position and he quickly caught it.

    Xiao Lou shouted, ¡°Xiao Qi, pay attention behind him!¡±

    Ye Qi looked back. A few sharks had escaped the Bnce and were chasing Yu Hanjiang. Seeing the sharp teeth of the sharks, Ye Qi felt that his body was almost frozen. His instinctive fear made his teeth tremble and his entire body was stiff and unable to move!

    Then Xiao Lou¡¯s voice came from behind him. ¡°Control them!¡±

    Ye Qi woke up and immediately took out Guitar. He yed a few notes just by touching the strings. In his panic, the melody that appeared was very harsh. Fortunately, the Guitar card didn¡¯t require him to y well. As long as the notes appeared, it could control any targets in a wide range.

    Several sharks were affected by the drowsiness effect of the rhythm and immediately fell asleep.

    Yu Hanjiang instantly moved over and his de fell.

    A huge shark was shed by the sharp saber and Yu Hanjiang killed three more like they were vegetables!

    Old Mo saw the scene while steering the boat from behind and could barely breathe.

    He thought that if this was reced with his previous team, the first reaction of everyone who met the sharks would definitely be to run away. As for how many could run away, he wasn¡¯t sure. None of his teammates would¡¯ve dared to face scary animals like sharks!

    This was probably why his team was eliminated by hunters while Yu Hanjiang killed hunters.

    The courage of this man in the face of danger simply made his previous teammates look like mud! Mo Xuemin took a deep breath, stabilized the steering wheel and asked in a trembling voice, ¡°The control of Bnce is over and the group of sharks is about to catch up. What should we do next?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang calmly said, ¡°Take the sharks as the centre and maintain a 500 metres radius around them. You are in charge while I¡¯ll handle the sharks.¡± He saw the eyes of Long Sen and Qu Wanyue in the water and told them, ¡°The two of you will be on my left and right sides. Keep a distance of 10 metres from me and keep an eye on my side. If a shark attacks from the side then immediately set them in ce!¡±

    Then he turned around and quickly swam in the sea.

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue nced at each other and instantly separated. The two of them went to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s left and right and swam with him while watching his sides.

    The Night Pearl in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hand was like a g, guiding everyone¡¯s direction.

    Old Mo immediately turned the bow to keep up with Yu Hanjiang. Long Sen and Qu Wanyue chased him underwater, protecting Yu Hanjiang¡¯s sides. Ye Qi and Shao Qingge focused on the stern while Liu Qiao checked for any possible traps. Xiao Lou looked at the overall situation and assisted Yu Hanjiang with hismand.

    The sharks might be blink but they had a sensitive sense of smell. They soon felt the breath of their prey and chased after Yu Hanjiang.

    There were two slightly cleverer sharks who dived into the deep sea, moving from the left and right toward Yu Hanjiang.

    Qu Wanyue was merged with the seawater. A shark passed by her and was less than 10 centimetres away from her. She was frightened and got a chill. If she hadn¡¯t learned dancing since she was young and was flexible, she wouldn¡¯t have managed to twist away the moment the shark came. She was almost treated as seawater and sucked into the shark¡¯s bloody mouth!

    Seeing that the shark was about to reach Yu Hanjiang, she immediately threw out Nine Pces Grid and set it in ce for nine seconds.

    Qu Wanyue shouted, ¡°This side!¡±

    At almost the same time, Long Sen¡¯s voice came from the right side. ¡°There is also one set by me over here!¡±

    This was followed by Ye Qi shouting, ¡°There are two behind the boat!¡±

    Nine seconds and four sharks!

    Xiao Lou clenched his fists with worry, fearing that Group Leader Yu couldn¡¯t resolve so many sharks in nine seconds. Just then, Liu Qiao summoned the Poison Queen. A queen in ck holding a bronze mirror in one hand and a poisonous apple in the other hand appeared.

    The shark had just opened its mouth. Liu Qiao decisively manipted the Poison Queen and directly fed the poisonous apple to it!

    The shark ate the poisoned apple and instantly fell unconscious, its body sinking quickly. As long as it wasn¡¯t rescued with an antidote, it would diepletely within 10 minutes. This was the first time Xiao Lou had seen the power of the Poison Queen card. Liu Qiao¡¯s card was really terrible one-on-one¡­

    Shao Qingge cried out, ¡°I will control the one at the stern, Group Leader Yu, deal with the ones on the side first!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang used the teleport card and shed the shark at Qu Wanyue¡¯s side. He followed up by teleporting to the left and killing the shark controlled by Long Sen. He had the help of the Water Ghost card and didn¡¯t need to breathe underwater, not to mention that the saber in his hand cut iron like it was mud. The sharks at the top of the food chain encountered the flexible and violent Yu Hanjiang and could only be abused!

    In the blink of an eye, three sharks were killed. The remaining one¡¯s control time was up but Shao Qingge used Nine Pces Grid to once again set it in ce.

    Yu Hanjiang instantly moved to the stern and used the one knife solution!

    The group looked at the bodies of the sharks floating on the sea and were so shocked by this bloody scene that they couldn¡¯t speak!

    If it wasn¡¯t for Yu Hanjiang, they would be afraid to go into the water and fight with sharks.

    Now they were cooperating with each other to kill huge, ferocious fish. It seemed to be bing easier and easier¡­

    Nine Pces Grid could be used nine times. Ye Qi¡¯s Flute had reached level four after the Clubs room. The control time was only three seconds but the cooldown time was 30 seconds. It could be used frequently to make one target fall asleep.

    Liu Qiao, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi joined forces to control therge number of sharks chasing at the stern. Old Mo focused on sailing and Xiao Lou used thepass to stop the sharks from chasing. Long Sen and Qu Wanyue coped with side attacks.

    Yu Hanjiang swam back and forth in the water. Every time his teammate controlled one, he killed one!

    His saber was stained with the blood of sharks. Fortunately, this saber was extremely sharp and could instantly pierce the shark¡¯s belly and cut off the teeth.

    Yu Hanjiang looked cold and grim. In just a few minutes, he cooperated with his teammates to kill more than 30 sharks in a row. Frequently teleporting and shing underwater wasn¡¯t as easy as it was on the ground. Such a high-intensity battle would make anyone tired enough to lie down. Yu Hanjiang was trembling but his physical strength was still abundant and his dark eyes were full of confidence and determination.

    Once he found that there were too many fish in the distance, Xiao Lou immediately sent a message through the heart channel. ¡°Group Leader Yu, take a break first. Don¡¯t cut them with your de. Bring in a few more sharks and I can deal with them.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t have any doubts about Xiao Lou¡¯s decision and simply nodded, ¡°Good.¡±

    He used the teleportation card in the direction of the sharks. In the blink of an eye, he brought around a dozen sharks over. Long Sen and Qu Wanyue looked at all the sharks with fright and hurriedly threw the Nine Pces Grid toward them.

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes were about to fall out. ¡°Ahhh, so many! My Flute is on cooldown!¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s voice also revealed a hint of tension. ¡°I have run out of the Nine Pces Grid card.¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s face was also ugly. ¡°I also used it up. What is GRoup Leader Yu doing that is so exciting?¡±

    Xiao Lou loudly called out, ¡°People in the water, immediately get away from the sharks. I will deal with this group!¡±

    Long Sen didn¡¯t know what Professor Xiao was going to do but they listened to hismand. The couple immediately dived while Yu Hanjiang also moved away from the sharks.

    Just then, everyone found that a man in ancient clothes suddenly appeared on the boat. He wore a white robe and grinned as he touched the beard on his chin. Then everyone heard the clear and pleasing pipa sound¡ª

    Xiao Lou had summoned Bai Juyi!

    Previously, Bai Juyi could only ignite a fire. Then after 4 of Clubs, he reached full level and unlocked two skills.

    One of them was a pipa sound thatsted 15 seconds and threw the target into chaos. The target could hurt teammates by mistake.

    The moment the sound was heard, the dozens of sharks started to crazily bite each other!

    Sharks were very ferocious creatures. At this time, they were blind andpletely fallen into chaos due to the pipa sound. Only their attack instinct was left, regardless of whether those in the surroundings were their own kind.

    A dozen sharks bit each other frantically. Therge ones killed the small ones and directly swallowed them out of hunger. There were also big sharks that bumped into each other and attacked. The sharp teeth bit at theirpanions¡¯ bodies and in an instant, a dozen sharks killed each other or were wounded andpletely lost their fighting power!

    The people on board looked at the scene and directly started sweating.

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes popped out. ¡°This is too terrible. Eating corpses of the same kind¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s palms had ayer of cold sweat. He knew that the chaotic group control of the pipa would make the sharks attack each other, but he didn¡¯t expect them to be so chaotic, killing each other and eating the bodies!

    What ferocious creatures¡­

    In his mind, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice rang out, ¡°Well done.¡±

    Xiao Lou was nervous. ¡°Group Leader Yu, quickly withdraw. The bloody smell here is too strong.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang immediately left and Old Mo drove the boat to follow him.

    The users of the Nine Pces Grid had run out and Ye Qi¡¯s Flute was on cooldown. There were still a dozen sharks left unresolved. Yu Hanjiang calmly passed on a message to Xiao Lou. ¡°I¡¯ll bring them over. Have Old Mo flip the surface of the sea.¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately told Mo, ¡°Old Mo, Group Leader Yu is going to lead the sharks over. Once theye over, surround them with the model room and then flip the sea surface. Now, only your cards can be used.¡±

    Mo Xuemin nodded seriously. ¡°Understood!¡±

    Xiao Lou ordered, ¡°Long Sen, Teacher Qu, protect Group Leader Yu. Immediately board the boat after Old Mo sets the sharks in ce!¡±

    The two people held up the Night Pearl at the same time to indicate that they knew.

    Three Night Pearks quickly swam toward the sharks. Yu Hanjiang was in the lead while Long Sen and Qu Wanyue nked him. The sharks smelled blood and turned fiercely toward Yu Hanjiang. However, Yu Hanjiang moved 50 metres at a time and his speed was too high. The sharks chased after him when Yu Hanjiang suddenly jumped on the oat. Long Sen and Qu Wanyue also jumped onto the boat using the help of the long jump card.

    Old Mo got the position of the sharks and threw a card¡ªModel Room!

    A huge cage descended onto the sea. It was a nearly 100 square metres cage that caught all the sharks.

    This cage was the model room that Old Mo just drew. It was an empty cage and could trap the sharks after being magnified 100 times. Immediately after, Mo Xuemin used the A-grade special effects card Rotate Time and Space.

    He designated the sea to flip 180 degrees. All the trapped sharks were suddenly floating directly in the sky!

    The challengers in the distance stared at the scene.

    These people actually chopped the sharks to death one by one and also made the sharks flip into the sky? This team of eight were simply immortals!

    Seeing the sharks floating in the air, Yu Hanjiang spoke toward Liu Qiao, ¡°Let me borrow your Light as a Swallow card.¡±

    Liu Qiao immediately handed him the card.

    Yu Hanjiang grabbed the card and soared up, using the shark¡¯s backs asnding points.

    The slender man flew into the sky like he had wings. He used the saber in his hand and shed it down toward a shark¡¯s head.

    The sharks were flipped into the air. There was no water and they couldn¡¯t breathe properly. They were struggling frantically in Old Mo¡¯s model room when Yu Hanjiang jumped onto their backs. He jumped every three seconds and killed one every three seconds!

    A dozen sharks were cut to death in the air by his hands!

    The distant challengers¡¯ jaws dropped down as they watched the sharks¡¯ bodies falling into the sea like dumplings.

    Originally, the survival room could be yed like this?

    Compared to the man who was covered in blood and decisively killed the shark, everyone who only knew how to escape was too weak!

    Many male challengers bowed their heads in shame while the girls were pale as they looked at the carcasses of the sharks floating on the sea.

    The sharks were wiped out¡­

    Eight people killing dozens of sharks was unbelievable!

    The whole area was filled with the corpses of sharks. The sea was a bloody red and the strong smell of blood filled their noses. In front of countless pairs of eyes, Yu Hanjiang put away his saber and calmly returned to the ship.

    Xiao Lou immediately moved forward with worry. ¡°You aren¡¯t injured?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m fine. The blood is from the sharks.¡±

    Ye Qi raised his thumps. ¡°So amazing! There are none left! Group Leader Yu, you¡¯re really an ocean killer!¡±

    Shao Qingge joked, ¡°This group of sharks was really unlucky to meet us. They had their bellies cut by Group Leader Yu, were poisoned by Xiao Liu¡¯s apple, were killed by Professor Xiao¡¯s inflicted chaos, were hypnotized by Xiao Ye¡¯s flute and were also flipped into the sky by Old Mo. Their deaths were very rich.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Chief Shao¡¯s overall mentality was very good. At this time, he were still in the mood to joke around.

    Old Mo murmured, ¡°I never dreamed that one day I could kill sharks. So awesome¡­¡±

    Qu Wanyue was trembling with shock. ¡°Just now, the shark¡¯s teeth was only 10 centimetres away from me. Oh my god, I can¡¯t believe I threw a card at it¡­¡±

    Long Senforted her by her side. ¡°It¡¯s fine, we¡¯ll get used to it¡­¡±

    During the time when they were chased by wolves in the mountains of Liuxi Vige, they could only jump like zombies to escape and climb trees to survive. Now they dared to follow Yu Hanjiang to kill sharks. This was probably a change after joining the team, right?

    The two of them nced at each other, moods ratherplicated.

    Yu Hanjiang killed arge number of sharks and blood sttered everywhere. At this time, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s entire body was covered with blood while everyone¡¯s faces and clothes were also bloody. They all looked extremely frightening.

    Everyone looked at each other and couldn¡¯t helpughing.

    Ye Qi eximed, ¡°We¡¯re too strong, killing dozens of sharks!¡±

    Long Sen spoke optimistically, ¡°If we can return to reality, I can brag about this for a lifetime. I saw dozens of sharks in the sea and we killed then¡­ although no one would believe me, haha.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°There is no danger and its good that everyone isn¡¯t injured!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang sat calmly by Xiao Lou¡¯s side. His eyes swept over the group with appreciation, ¡°This time the cooperation was good. Everyone worked hard. Go and leave this area as soon as possible.¡±

    Old Mo responded by driving the boat east, leaving the shark¡¯s body far behind.

    This was the first time eight people cooperated. Yu Hanjiang was very satisfied with everyone¡¯s performance.

    As Xiao Lou said, everyone might currently be too weak.

    However, as long as they worked together and dared to fight, their team might be more and more powerful!

 Chapter 142: Endless Seas 17

    Xiao Lou¡¯s ship had a white sunshade and at this time, the white cloth was stained with blood. Everybody on the boat had blood on them and it could be seen how intense the battle just now was.

    The nearby challengers watched this scene with shock. Seeing them head east through the sea full of sharp corpses, people came back to their senses and followed. They realized that they had met big gods in the World Weekly and maybe they could easily pass the instance.

    On the escape boat, Ye Qi saw the challengers behind him and couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°These people, we just asked them for help and none of them dared to act. They waited for us to act and now have the cheek to follow behind us!¡±

    Old Mo said, ¡°Based on their action, it is likely that they are new people participating in the World Weekly for the first time.¡±

    He looked back and exined. ¡°The World Weekly will match masters and novices together in a secret room. This means some of the best yers can bring the weak people to lie down win win. In this secret room, we have found the elite team of Luoying Pavilion and two other elite teams. The others who were matched are probably new people who just formed a team like us.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Out of the hundreds of challengers, there are none with courage?¡±

    He heard Old Mo¡¯s exnation and reacted. Those people who saw the sharks were panicked, crying and screaming. They were unlike experienced old yers who had gone through many things. Maybe it was their first time seeing such fierce animals. They didn¡¯t know how to deal with the sharks and most of them were scared silly. They didn¡¯t dare to fight with sharks in the water.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly, ¡°We are also novices. If they don¡¯t adjust their mentality as soon as possible and recognize our challengers¡¯ identity to ovee the psychological fear toward beasts, they won¡¯t go far in the future.¡±

    Old Mo smiled. ¡°Yes, today are sharks. In the future, there might be tigers, lions, wild bears and poisonous snakes are likely to be present in the secret rooms. Some fantasy secret rooms might have demons or vampires. They won¡¯t be able to afford to keep escaping.¡±

    All the people heard this and were silent.

    Just now, everyone¡¯s first reaction was also to escape. He heard Old Mo¡¯s words and couldn¡¯t help feeling ashamed. Had it not been for Yu Hanjiang standing up to boost morale and convince people to believe that humans could defeat sharks, they wouldn¡¯t have created the miracle of killing dozens of sharks with eight people.

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°No matter how fierce the sharks, they are creatures with no IQ. If they can¡¯t even go against sharks, what will they do in the future where they meet hunters with IQ and equipment. Can they only wait for death?¡±

    It was because his brother told him about the horrors of J of Clubs that Yu Hanjiang wanted to allow his team to practice their courage. Xiao Lou knew his thoughts and used warm words tofort everyone. ¡°This is just the beginning. In the future, each of us will get more cards and we will be stronger. Perhaps after some time, the sharks will be nothing in our eyes.¡±

    Liu Qiao suddenly interjected, ¡°Can I try changing to a shark?¡±

    She was sitting in thest row. Once they heard this, everyone turned back to look at her.

    The 18 year old girl¡¯s face was calm and she asked in the same tone she would use to say ¡®Can I eat rice?¡¯ She exined, ¡°I want to try and see if the Twin card can copy animals. Can I be a shark now that I have just seen it?¡± She sincerely looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Group Leader Yu, don¡¯t use your knife to cut me.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Fortunately, Liu Qiao had told him in advance or once he saw a sharp appear, Yu Hanjiang would¡¯ve probably shed at it. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. He found that her thoughts were clear and reminded her, ¡°If you end up changing, poke your head out of the sea and shake your tail to show it is you.¡±

    Liu Qiao made a sound of agreement and disappeared. Immediately after, a huge shark appeared in everyone¡¯s eyes The shark was as long as six metres and raised its head from the sea, exposing sharp teeth. It saw Xiao Lou and shook its tail.

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Ye Qi whispered, ¡°Liu Qiao, I don¡¯t dare to look you in the eye. Please change back!¡±

    Qu Wanyue rubbed her temple. ¡°Is this really Xiao Liu?¡±

    Long Senughed. ¡°All the people on our team are talented!¡±

    Mo Xuemin alsoughed, ¡°I can¡¯t help feeling that Xiao Liu¡¯s shark is a bit cute.¡±

    Just then, they saw the shark in the water suddenly jump up a few times in the air like it had learned the light footwork. Xiao Lou hurriedly stopped her. ¡°Xiao Liu, stop ying. Other challengers will be scared to death by you.¡±

    Not far away, the challengers were collectively stunned. ¡°A shark is flying?!¡±

    Liu Qiao heard Professor Xiao¡¯s words and immediately changed back. She returned to the boat and said, ¡°I just wanted to see if I could use the Light as a Swallow card while transformed.¡±

    Ye Qi looked at her strangely. ¡°So did you use it?¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded. ¡°Yes, I can use my cards after the transformation. If we encounter beasts in the future, I can be one of them and mix in as an undercover.¡±

    Mo Xuemin praised. ¡°You have many thoughts.¡±

    Ye Qi didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. ¡°You don¡¯t want to mix in with the sharks. Didn¡¯t you see? The sharks went crazy and ate each other!¡±

    Xiao Lou found that this girl¡¯s courage was really big. No wonder why she could reach 4 of Spades alone. Don¡¯t look at her thin body and paleplexion. She might look weak but her heart was stronger than some grown men.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Liu Qiao and said, ¡°Everyone has worked hard and we should eat something to supplement our physical strength.¡±

    Qu Wanyue hurriedly picked up the backpack. She pulled biscuits, chocte and mineral water out of the bag and handed it to Yu Hanjiang. Everyone took some food to fill their bellies.

    Just then, an escape boat came up to them. The middle-aged man on board spoke nervously, ¡°We just saw a shark jumping up from the sea. Are you okay?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied lightly, ¡°It¡¯s fine, I¡¯ve killed it.¡±

    Liu Qiao shrank back her neck and didn¡¯t say anything.

    A young man on the other boat raised his thumb to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Dude, you¡¯re awesome. You killed all the sharks. Can we know your names?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°Call me Old Han.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°My name is Yun Xiao, everyone calls me Brother Xiao.¡±

    The boy excitedly ced a hand over his fist and bowed. ¡°Thank you Old Han, Brother Xiao!¡±

    A girl next to him handed over two cards. ¡°These cards should be useful to everyone but we only have one copy. We can¡¯t give it to you directly but you can use it¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou took it to take a look.

    [Tool Card: Laundry Liquid]

    Rarity: B

    Description: Randomly drawn from a secret room.

    Effect: In the world of secret rooms, it ismon to be covered with mud and blood but it definitely isn¡¯tfortable to wear bloody clothes. This is designed for challengers who love cleanliness. The dirt on clothes can be removed immediately after use and you will feel refreshed.

    Restrictions: 500ml capacity, 5ml per use to wash clothes, don¡¯t waste it.

    [Tool Card: Dryer]

    Rarity: B

    Description: Randomly drawn from a secret room.

    Effect: If you have wet hair or wet clothes, there is a dryer that can instantly refresh you. Note that this dryer has limited power. Don¡¯t use it to dry rivers and streams. It isn¡¯t so powerful.

    Restrictions: 1 month warranty. After the warranty period, if something goes wrong then there are no refunds or recement.

    Xiao Lou wasughing and crying as he handed the cards to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°They are really useful.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang raised his eyebrows to look at the girl. ¡°Did you draw these cards in the 4 of Clubs raffle room?¡±

    This girl was the one who sewed umbres as a business. Once she heard this, she smiled awkwardly. ¡°Yes, our team always draws life cards. In 4 of Clubs, we drew a bunch of sewing,undry, dryer, electric fan cards¡­¡±

    The man next to her scratched his head with embarrassment. ¡°We wanted to help out. Unfortunately, our fighting capacity is really limited.¡±

    These people were smart and could make money from life cards, especially the girl who sewed umbres to make millions. They might have limitedbat power right now but their thinking was flexible. In the future, the team would naturally be stronger if they drew attack cards.

    The Laundry Liquid card given by the girl was very magical. Once Xiao Lou activated the card, arge bottle ofundry liquid appeared in his hand. The usage was also written: Please apply theundry liquid to the parts that need cleaning.

    After unscrewing the cap and gently pressing it, around 5ml of blue liquid appeared in the palm of his hand. Xiao Lou touched it to his body and¡­

    This blood-stained clothes actually became clean! Xiao Lou was very happy and he passed theundry liquid to Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang imitated his actions to wash his clothes. It was passed to everyone and all their clothes became clean.

    The Dryer card was the size of aptop after activating. It didn¡¯t need to be plugged in and hot air blew the moment the switch was turned on. Their wet clothes dried in five minutes. There was no need to mention howfortable it was to be wearing clean and dry clothes.

    Ye Qi sighed. ¡°These are high-tech home appliances!¡±

    Xiao Lou returned the two cards to the girl and smiled, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    The girl¡¯s face was slightly red. ¡°No, we should be thanking you. I¡¯m really sorry, I only have one copy of these cards or I would give them to you.¡±

    ¡°There is no need to give it. The fact that you are willing to lend it is great.¡±

    The boy looked at Yu Hanjiang and said, ¡°Brother, you are really amazing. You chopped up the sharks like they were vegetables. Weren¡¯t you afraid at all?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied calmly, ¡°Sharks have no IQ. It isn¡¯t difficult to control them with cards and then kill them.¡±

    Everyone gazed admiringly at Yu Hanjiang before leaving on their escape boat.

    Immediately after, another boat¡¯s challengers came to deliver food. They had bought a lot of vacuum-sealed snacks in the supermarket such as potato chips, plums and dried mangos. They sent over several packets and Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t polite in epting them.

    This wasn¡¯t the first time they had brought other challengers to win and it had be a habit to receive such preferential treatment. It was gettingte and the group stopped on the sea. It wasn¡¯t until early morning that everyone received a prompt.

    [Endless Sea, Day 5, 00:00 a.m.]

    [Number of challengers remaining at sea: 381.]

    After encountering the sharks in the afternoon, two ships were destroyed. There were also a few teams who didn¡¯t listen to Yu Hanjiang¡¯smand and ran away in another direction. Obviously, they were also eaten by sharks. The challengers sharply decreased from 434 to 381. 52 people were killed by sharks.

    Once everyone saw the prompt, their mood was ratherplicated.

    It if wasn¡¯t for ¡®Old Han¡¯ and his team standing up at the critical moment, there might¡¯ve been more challengers eaten.

    The challengers who didn¡¯t take part in the shark hunt in the afternoon couldn¡¯t help reflecting. This time, there was a great god who took them to win but what would happen in the future? If they couldn¡¯t gather courage and ovee psychological barriers to fight these fierce creatures, would they have to keep on relying on others to win?

    At the same time, the absolute field.

    Lu Jiuchuan stood on the sea with a smile on his face, a woman standing 10 metres away from him. This woman was tall and dressed in ck, a silver mask on her face and ponytail tied up high behind her back. She seemed neat and capable. She had a pair of knee-high leather boots on her feet and a blood-red dagger hung from the boots, shing coldly in the moonlight.

    Lu Jiuchuan wondered, ¡°How about it? Did you see the strength of the team?¡±

    The woman¡¯s voice was calm. ¡°If they can¡¯t even cope with a clumsy group of sharks then they simply aren¡¯t qualified to go to S-grade secret rooms.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan said, ¡°Your demands for people are really high.¡±

    The woman spoke coldly, ¡°Yu Hanjiang is your brother, not mine. If you want me to ept his team, they have toe up with real strength. I don¡¯t want a repeat of J of Clubs and to be once again destroyed in there.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan replied, ¡°I understand, I don¡¯t want that either.¡±

    The two people wearing masks stared at each other. Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes were smiling but the woman¡¯s eyes were as cold as ice. As she turned around and left, Lu Jiuchuan suddenly spoke. ¡°Huaying, trust me one more time.¡±

    Chu Huaying stopped and didn¡¯t look back. ¡°Trust that you can take us through the instances?¡±

    ¡°I know my brother. I believe that this time, he will take us through the instances.¡±

    Chu Huaying raised her eyebrows. ¡°You mean, this time you want your brother to lead the team?¡± She turned and stared coldly at Lu Jiuchuan. ¡°You, the captain of a special operations unit, couldn¡¯t handle it. Can he do it?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuanughed. ¡°Speaking of actualbat experience, my brother is actually more experienced than me. You don¡¯t know it but he was thrown to the border by this father to act as an anti-drug police officer for two years. He fought with the most vicious drug dealers and walked on the tip of a knife every day. He has many scars on his body from that period of time. Then he led his team every day to catch murderers. He is far better than me when ites to these things.¡±

    Chu Huaying was silent.

    Lu Jiuchuan continued, ¡°How many sharks did he kill today? You also see it, don¡¯t you?¡±

    This man¡¯s gaze was very firm. After a long time, Chu Huaying just nodded. ¡°There is still time. Before he reaches the S-grade secret rooms, I will observe him again to make sure that he has the ability. Then we will take about forming a team again.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled. ¡°Well, he won¡¯t let you down.¡±

    Chu Huaying waved her hand and turned away.

    At this moment, there was an abnormal fluctuation in the absolute field. Yu Hanjiang had entered after the card skill refreshed out of worry for his brother. He thought that Lu Jiuchuan wouldn¡¯t be here and hadn¡¯t expected to see his brother as soon as he entered.

    He hesitated. ¡±Brother Jiu, you¡¯re still here.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan said, ¡°My true identity is a challenge. In order toplete this World Weekly, I also have to stay at sea for seven days. I naturally can¡¯t leave this sea area.¡± He looked at his brother with appreciation. ¡°You killed dozens of sharks today. You did a good job.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was slightly stunned. ¡°You know about it?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled. ¡°In fact, I have been watching you from nearby. Your team is immature but can keep up with yourmands. This is actually very rare. After all, this is your first time cooperating and the tacit understanding between you needs to be increased.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°It¡¯s natural. They are ordinary people and haven¡¯t experienced bloody scenes. However, today they didn¡¯t flinch. They were brave enough to kill the sharks with me. I believe they will be stronger and stronger.¡±

    He paused before asking, ¡°Will the Hunter¡¯s League make it hard for you?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan exined, ¡°I found a master and acted a y. Rest assured, this mission failure will be reasonable. The league side won¡¯t doubt my ability. They¡¯ll only feel it was my bad luck to encounter the Spider Goddess.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was surprised. ¡°Spider Goddess? Is that the boss of Luoying Pavilion?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan nodded. ¡°She is called Chu Huaying and she is the most powerful among my previous teammates. I have a contract with her in advance and pulled her into this room to help. The heads of the three hunters have been cut off by her and a special spider mark left on their bodies. Once the Hunter¡¯s League discovers the bodies, they will judge that this was done by the Spider Goddess rather than me.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang heard this and couldn¡¯t help admiring Brother Jiu. Not only did he team up with Chu Huaying to clear the World Weekly, he also covered up his identity, giving a perfect reason for the failure of his task. In other words, Chu Huaying appeared in front of the hunters. Once he saw the situation wasn¡¯t good, he ran away and the Hunter¡¯s League wouldn¡¯t doubt him.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Will you stay in the World Weekly secret room for seven days before returning to continue undercover in the Hunter¡¯s League?¡±

    ¡°Yes, there are some things I need to continue to investigate.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°I understand. Be careful.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled. ¡°This time, nothing else should happen in this secret room.¡±

    YU Hanjiang raised his eyebrows. ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan told him, ¡°I spent three years in the Card World. The elimination rate of the World Weekly is generally around 10% and will reach 80% if hunters are encountered. However, this time you promptly disposed of the hunters and 380 out of 500 people are left. Diarrhea, the sinking ship and sea monsters, you have passed through three crises and it should be the end. After all, this is the World Weekly and it won¡¯t reach the S-grade difficulty of the secret rooms.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang heard this and was slightly relieved. ¡°There are still two days left.¡±

    ¡°During these two days at sea, think about the next n.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Okay, Brother Jiu. Goodbye.¡±

    He didn¡¯t feel much nostalgia and simply left the absolute field. He believed in his brother, just as his brother believed in him.

    Back on the boat, Xiao Lou saw this person looked rxed and asked in his mind, ¡°Brother Jiu is okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I shouldn¡¯t look down on him. Since he dared to meet us in the secret room, he must¡¯ve left a good way for himself. He pulled in a strong teammate and Spider Goddess Chu Huaying came in to help with the aftermath.¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°I think so as well. Brother Jiu has a lot of experienced and won¡¯t let himself fall into danger. By the way, did you see the legendary Spider Goddess?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang shook his head. ¡°No, she had left by the time I entered the absolute field.¡±

    Xiao Lou was very curious about this person. ¡°I want to know her. She should be strong.¡±

    ¡°There will always be a chance.¡±

    For the next two days, as Lu Jiuchuan guessed, there were no idents.

    The challengers drifted at sea for two days. Then on the early hours of the seventh day, a prompt appeared on everyone¡¯s floating boxes.

    [Endless Sea, day seven, 00:00]

    [Congrattions to the 384 challengers for passing the instance, the World Weekly. All of you will receive the World Weekly¡¯s secret room. Please check your card pack.]

    Everyone opened their card pack to take a look.

    [Item Card: Sunscreen]

    Rarity: C

    Description: A fixed reward of the World Weekly secret room, Endless Seas.

    Effect: Avoid being sunburned by a strong ultraviolet light.

    [Equipment Card: Wetsuit]

    Rarity: B

    Description: A fixed reward of the World Weekly secret room, Endless Seas.

    Effect: You can dive into the deep sea by putting on a special wetsuit. The wetsuites with an oxygen tank and the diving state can be maintained for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, you must rise to the surface or you will suffocate and die.

    Durability: 10/10. Durability will be decreased by one with every use. Once it reaches zero, the diving suit is damaged.

    Both cards were very practical. After experiencing the sun at sea, everyone was very satisfied with the Sunscreen reward. Meanwhile, the wetsuit couldn¡¯t bepared to Water Ghost but everyone had received one. They could dive into the deep sea when necessary.

    They had spent a thrilling time during the seven days in this secret room. Back at the dock, the people nced at each other and there was a happy feeling in their heart.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and smiled. ¡°We have returned to the main city. How about we first go to eat hot pot?¡±

    Shao Qingge added, ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll treat you!¡±

    The group cheerfully went to find a good hot pot store. The secret room had been cruel and dangerous and their spirits had been tight. In these seven days, they encountered diarrhea, a sinking ship and heavy rain. They fought with hunters and killed many sharks.

    Everyone was really tired and needed to rx.

    Eight people took two taxis and set off for the food city introduced by Old Mo.

    Xie Qi was excited. ¡°I want to eatmb. I can clear three tes alone!¡±

    Long Sen added, ¡°I like beef but also duck blood, pig skin, golden needle mushrooms¡­¡±

    He spoke a bunch of dishes and everyone became hungry.

    Yu Hanjiang sat in the back and frown. Just then, Xiao Lou¡¯s voice was heard in his mind. ¡°Group Leader Yu, you had a hard time. Don¡¯t think too much. First, have a good sleep and sleep. Tomorrow, we can find Old Gui.¡±

    This gentle and considerate voice made Yu Hanjiang feel slightly warm. He finally put down the heavy burden in his heart and said, ¡°Yes, we also need to rest. We will do as you say.¡±

 Chapter 143: Residence

    Old Mo had lived in the City of the Moon for more than half a year and was familiar with the whole city. the restaurant he took everyone to was really good. This hot pot restaurant was located on the top floor of the building and had private rooms with wall to ceiling windows that had a night view of the whole city.

    The hot pot restaurant had a self-service form. In order to take care of the teammates who didn¡¯t eat spicy food, everyone chose a mandarin duck pot. (Hot pot with a divider so you can have spicy soup on one side and mild soup on the other)

    The food here was fresh and cheap. Ye Qi was stunned when he saw that a te of freshmb cost 500 gold coins. He took 20 tes ofmb while others grabbed vegetables. Meat dishes were 5~8 yuan while vegetable dishes were only 2 yuan. This was so cheap that everyone was moved.

    After a week of eating biscuits at sea, everyone was salivating when they smelled the hot pot. Once the dishes were cooked, they unceremoniously ate. Ye Qi eximed as he ate, ¡°We can finally live a normal life. This hot pot is so delicious!¡±

    Long Sen also said, ¡°The things in the main city are super cheap. Unfortunately, we can¡¯t bring them into the secret rooms or we can buy some vacuum-sealed meat and vegetables and we can eat hot pot at sea.¡±

    Qu Wanyueughed. ¡°Cooking hot pot at sea? Aren¡¯t your ideas too extravagant?¡±

    Xiao Lou heard this and said, ¡°In fact, Long Sen¡¯s idea might be realized. We can¡¯t bring things into the secret room but we can¡¯t bring cards. After this week, I found that we have too few life cards in our hands. Things likeundry detergent and a dryer aren¡¯t cards for fighting but they can be very useful in survival secret rooms.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, we need to collect more life cards in the future.¡±

    Old Mo exined, ¡°The City of the Moon has a card trading market. We can go another day. This trading market sells cards from low-level secret rooms. There are no S-grade cards and even A-grade cards are rare. The Nine Pces Grid cards that I had were bought at this market.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked curiously. ¡°Don¡¯t the local residents find it strange that challengers are trading cards with each other? In addition, the Hunter¡¯s League knows about the use of cards. What if they discover the market and buy cards? Won¡¯t it be unfavourable to challengers?¡±

    Old Mo answered, ¡°The trading market is managed by the Eternal State Guild and belongs to the underground ck market. It is only open from 3-4 in the afternoon from Monday to Friday. It is the working time of the locals here and no one will go there to buy cards.¡± Old Mo paused before adding, ¡°Moreover, the ck market doesn¡¯t allow the sale ofbat cards, only material cards. It won¡¯t matter much if hunters obtain them. Thebat cards in their hands definitely weren¡¯t bought but were obtained after killing.¡±

    The group heard this and a chill couldn¡¯t help going down their spines.

    The more people the hunters killed, the more cards they obtained. Old Mo saidst week that in the Rotating Maze World Weekly, only 20 people survived. This meant that the cards on the 80 challengers killed were all taken away by the Hunter¡¯s League. The strength of this organization was beyond everyone¡¯s imagination.

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°Tomorrow afternoon, we will go the market to see if we can buy useful cards.¡±

    The group ate and chatted. They soon finished the dozens of dishes.

    After eating and drinking, Chief Shao went to pay the bill. The meal of eight people actually only cost 20,000 gold coins. Shao Qingge felt regret when he remembered that they spent 100,000 gold coins on the cruise ship for breakfast only to collectively get stomach problems. It was really cool to spend money in the main city. Don¡¯t talk about buying good things in the Spades room.

    They wet out and the eight people stood by the side of the road for a taxi. At this time, it was evening peak hour and they had to wait for a long time for a taxi.

    Xiao Lou watched the traffic on the street and spoke helplessly, ¡°Eight people taking two taxis is really troublesome. I remember that the house prices in this world are very cheap. Chief Shao, we should have enough money to buy a car, right?¡±

    Shao Qingge replied, ¡°Of course there is enough. It just depends on what car you want to buy.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°Professor Xiao is still far-sighted. However, can anyone drive such a big car?¡±

    Old Mo took the initiative to say, ¡°I can drive it. I could the A-grade driver¡¯s license in the real world and can drive big trucks and buses.¡±

    Ye Qi gave a thumbs up. ¡°Uncle Mo, you are really a jack of all trades. Can you drive any means of transport?¡±

    Old Moughed. ¡°I can¡¯t drive a tank.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It hadn¡¯t gone far enough to drive a tank.

    Xiao Lou smiled at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Then it is decided. We will buy a car tomorrow morning and it will be more convenient to travel around the main city in the future. There is also our amodation. It is very troublesome to stay in a hotel so why not rent a house?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded in agreement. ¡°It definitely isn¡¯t possible toplete all the secret rooms in one or two days. We must be prepared for a long-term struggle. It will be a headache to find a ce every time wee out of the secret room.¡± He looked at Mo Xuemin. ¡°Old Mo, you know the main city best. Can you rent a suitable house as soon as possible?¡±

    Mo Xuemin patted his chest. ¡°No problem. I know many intermediaries. My previous team rented a five storey single-family house in the western suburbs. There are many rooms and can amodate 15 people. I just returned the housest week so I¡¯ll try contacting thendlord.¡±

    He ran to the public telephone booth and pressed the number stored in his memory. He called thendlord and the response was that there were no new tenants right now. They could continue to renew the lease.

    Mo Xuemin returned with joy in his eyes. ¡°The house is still avable. If everyone agrees, we can move over tonight! The olddy is very nice. She lives nearby and can give us the keys.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Then we will go to the hotel to check out before moving into the new house.¡±

    A taxi came over. Xiao Lou beckoned and had Old Mo, Liu Qiao and the Long Qu couple get in first to return to the hotel. After waiting 10 minutes, another taxi came and the remaining four people returned to the hotel. Everyone met in the lobby.

    In order to avoid finding a taxi again, the group had the drivers wait at the hotel door and they would pay ording to the time.

    After Xiao Lou came to the City of the Moon, he paid for a room for one week and the check out happened to be today. The girl at the front desk of the hotel kindly suggested, ¡°Our set check-out time is before 12 noon the next day. It is already veryte and you can stay for another night. It isn¡¯t toote to check out tomorrow morning.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and said, ¡°No, we found a ce to live.¡±

    The front desk employee nodded and quicklypleted the check-out process for them. Everyone went back to their rooms and simply packed their luggage. It was just their phones,ptops and some extra clothes. Then they headed to the new house.

    The taxi soon stopped at an upscale neighbourhood.

    The house Old Mo¡¯s previous team rented was one personally chosen by him. The environment of this vi was excellent. The entiremunity was full of flowers and the five storey house surrounded by flowers was like a castle hidden in a forest in a fairy tale. Xiao Lou liked this house instantly.

    Thendlord olddy was very enthusiastic. She came over to give the keys and signed the contract on the spot. The monthly rent was 300,000 gold coins, equivalent to 3,000 yuan, and the deposit was 300,000. They would rent for a month first and renew the lease three days in advance.

    They entered the house and found it was a dream ce.

    The solid wood-style decorations added a simple and refreshing look throughout the home. The first floor had a bright and spacious living room with flew to ceiling windows and a balcony that was as long as eight metres. This was attached to arge garden filled with flowers.

    The dining room wasrge and had a long table that could fit more than a dozen people. There was a sliding door to the kitchen where four or five adults could stand and cook at the same time.

    Go out the floor and ceiling windows of the dining room and there was a swimming pool. The water was crystal clear and the pool was surrounded by tall, broad-leaved trees. There was a row of lounge chairs around the pool.

    The second to fourth floors were all bedrooms while the fifth floor was a wide terrace where they could have a few drinks and a barbecue with friends.

    There were some exquisite paintings hanging on the walls of the house as well as many little decorations.

    Mo Xuemin looked at the familiar atmosphere andplex emotions shed on his face and lowered her voice, ¡°When we rented this house, we made ns to live here for a few months. We bought a lot of furniture but we didn¡¯t expect¡­¡±

    He just didn¡¯t expect that his teammates would all be wiped but after encountering hunters in the World Weekly secret room.

    Mo Xuemin¡¯s fingers couldn¡¯t help trembling slightly. Xiao Lou walked over and gently pressed a hand to his shoulder. ¡°Old Mo, don¡¯t think about the past. It isn¡¯t your fault that your former teammates were killed. The house is beautifully decorated and let¡¯s stay here.¡±

    Ye Qi quickly changed the topic. ¡°Hurry and allocate bedrooms!¡±

    Mo Xuemin cleared his low mood and took everyone around the bedrooms. ¡°This vi has five rooms on the second to fourth floors for a total of 15 bedrooms. Thendlord intentionally remodelled the rooms to rent it to us foreigners. The bedrooms are close to each other and there are two public toilets and bathrooms. You can choose what you want.¡±

    Ye Qi scratched his head. ¡°It looks pretty much the same and I can sleep anywhere.¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded. ¡°I also don¡¯t care.¡±

    Qu Wanyue smiled and suggested, ¡°Professor Xiao, you can just arrange it.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it. ¡°Then Teacher Qu, Xiao Liu, Long Sen and Old Mo will stay on the third floor. The other four will stay on the second floor. If we gain new teammates in the future, they can stay on the fourth floor. The rooms are sufficient and you can adjust it any time you want to change.¡±

    No one had an opinion. Then Qu Wanyue opened her mouth, ¡°One more thing, I want to go to the mall to buy a few changes of clothing tomorrow. My clothes have been the same since entering the Card World and I¡¯ve been wearing them for almost a month¡­¡±

    Liu Qiao added, ¡°We should also buy some seasonal clothes to wear.

    Old Mo said, ¡°Everyone should¡¯ve found it? Before entering the secret room, the gatekeeper will empty all our supplies and we can¡¯t even sneak in a lighter. We can only bring our card pack in. However, the clothes won¡¯t be removed. So we can prepare a few more sets. When entering the secret room, wear summer clothes inside and a sweater and coat on top. If the room is summer then take off the coatpletely. If it is winter, you won¡¯t freeze to death from wearing short sleeves.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Layer byyer, prepare clothes for several seasons to cope with different environments¡­ everyone felt very helpless.

    Xiao Lou smiled and nodded. ¡°That is a good method. We will rest first. Then tomorrow morning, we will go to the mall to buy clothes and daily necessities. In the afternoon, we will go to the trading market to look at the cards. In the evening, we will see Old Gui. We must hurry to continue clearing the instances.¡±

    After entering the main city, apart from the World Weekly, there was nothing mandatory from Monday to Friday. Challengers could rest and rx. Xiao Lou¡¯s n was to first contact Old Gui and the Intelligence Bureau to work out a n. Then they would open the secret room before midnight Friday to avoid going to the World Weekly as Brother Jiu suggested.

    At 11:30 p.m. everyone lined up to wash and get ready for bed.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang came to the rooms on the second floor.

    This vi was Old Mo¡¯s design. Everywhere expressed the warmth of ¡®home¡¯, from the hanging pictures in the corridors, the flower stands on the balcony, the decorations in the bedroom, the soft sofa and the clean bedding¡­

    Everyone finally had a ce to stay in this world. However, this wasn¡¯t their home. They were just passersby and would go back one day.

    Yu Hanjiang walked into his bedroom, opened the floor to ceiling window and looked at the trees outside while thinking. As a result, Xiao Lou¡¯s voice was suddenly heard in his head. ¡°Group Leader Yu, you are still thinking a lot. Aren¡¯t you going to sleep?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang slightly froze for a second. ¡°You¡­ are you pushing me to sleep?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s voice was soft. ¡°This week, we floated at sea for seven days and you killed so many sharks. You are physically exhausted and should have a good rest. Don¡¯t think too much and wait until tomorrow. You should rest first.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll listen to you. I¡¯m going to sleep. You should also have an early rest.¡±

    Since bing a police officer, his schedule was very chaotic. It wasmon for him to go to work in the middle of the night and for day and night to be mixed up. No one cared about when he slept. Then just now, he heard Xiao Lou¡¯s soft voice persuading him to sleep early and a stream of warmth burst into his heart. The feeling was like a cold winter moon was about to lose consciousness when someone ced a heater in his hand.

    All the blood in his body and every pore warmed up. It was really different to have someone care¡­

    Yu Hanjiang obediently took a bath and slept. He tried to contact Xiao Lou using the heart channel and found that there was no response, like Xiao Lou had fallen asleep. It seemed that Xiao Lou was really tired because he had fallen asleep in seconds.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s lips slightly curved and he happily closed his eyes. Since entering the Card World, this was the night he got the best sleep.

 Chapter 144: Calligraphy Master Gui Yuanzhang

    Yu Hanjiang slept until it was daytime. Once it was morning, he felt refreshed and went to the bathroom to wash his face. Then he happened to encounter Xiao Louing out from the next room.

    Xiao Lou had just woken up and was bleary-eyed. He rubbed his eyes as he walked, looking confused and his hair a bit messy. Compared to the usual elegant and gentle Professor Xiao, such a Xiao Lou had more of an atmosphere of loss. This made Yu Hanjiang feel extraordinarily kind.

    He couldn¡¯t help smiling as he asked, ¡°You woke up?¡±

    Hearing the man¡¯s low voice, Xiao Lou finallypletely woke up. He saw Yu Hanjiang and smiled, ¡°Group Leader Yu, why are you up so early?¡±

    Facing such a smile early in the morning, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mood instantly became happy. It was as if his heart was wrapped in a cloud of soft feathers. His eyes couldn¡¯t help bing gentle. He wiped his hands clean and walked to Xiao Lou, asking in a voice filled with concern. ¡°Did you sleep wellst night?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Maybe seven days at sea is too tiring. I slept very hardst night and didn¡¯t wake up until dawn.¡±

    Seeing his rosy cheeks and how he was full of energy, Yu Hanjiang put down his worries. ¡°We will continuously break through in the future and everyone¡¯s energy won¡¯t keep up. This time, take advantage of the opportunity to rest for a few days and prepare for the future.¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°I think so too.¡±

    Next door, Ye Qi suddenly opened the door and saw the two people talking in the bathroom. He hurriedly said, ¡°Professor Xiao, are you going to use the bathroom? Then I¡¯ll go to the fourth floor. I¡¯m in a hurry!¡±

    Before Xiao Lou could answer, he ran away and his movement speed was so fast that it was like he used the teleportation card. Xiao Lou helplessly looked at Ye Qi¡¯s back, quickly washed his face and came downstairs.

    At 8:39, the teammates on the third floor also got up and gathered downstairs. Yu Hanjiang told them, ¡°Get ready to go and eat breakfast. I checked online and there is a breakfast store nearby.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes moved around. ¡°It seems that a person is missing!¡±

    Everyone nced at each other and soon found that Shao Qingge hadn¡¯te down. Xiao Lou went up to the second floor and knocked on the door. ¡°Chief Shao? You haven¡¯t woken up yet?¡±

    There was no sound from the room and Xiao Lou had to push the door in. He saw Shao Qingge lying in bed like a cat, spreading out limbs and snoring. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t bear to wake him up but today¡¯s schedule was hectic. Without Chief Shao, their main financial manager, they wouldn¡¯t be able to implement the n of buying cards and clothes.

    Xiao Lou had toe forward and call him. ¡°Chief Shao, get up.¡±

    Shao Qingge hummed and turned over, continuing to sleep on his back.

    Xiao Lou felt helpless. ¡°Chief Shao, don¡¯t you want to get up and eat breakfast?¡±

    Shao Qingge turned over his body and continued to sleep. Yu Hanjiang frowned and said, ¡°Your gentle calling will never wake him up. Why don¡¯t I get a ss of ice water and pour it onto the quilt?¡±

    The moment he spoke, Shao Qingge sat upright from the bed.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. ¡°In fact, you woke up a long time ago and just wanted to stay in bed, right?¡±

    Shao Qingge squinted, voice filled with a trace of dissatisfaction. ¡°Today we don¡¯t have to break through the instances. Can¡¯t I stay in bed?¡±

    Since his hair was usually up in a ponytail, this outlined his entire face and made Shao Qingge look extremely handsome. At this time, his hair was messed up by sleeping. His scattered hair made him look a bitzy like he was a cat spreading out his belly to bask in the sun.

    Xiao Lou had to resist the urge to rub his hair and smiled. ¡°Okay, tomorrow you can sleep. There are too many things to do today so I have to wrong you. Please wash your face and go to eat with us.¡±

    ***

    It was a high-end vi area and in the early morning, there weren¡¯t many pedestrians on the road. Xiao Lou took everyone to the gate of themunity and found a breakfast store to have a simple meal. Then they followed Old Mo to buy a vehicle in the suburbs.

    There were many 4S stores here and Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know the brands. He hadn¡¯t got his driving license in the real world and didn¡¯t know much about cars. He stared nkly at Old Mo. ¡°Which brand should we buy?¡±

    Old Mo scratched his head. ¡°I don¡¯t understand this world¡¯s car brand. In any case, the performance of the car should be simr and it depends on the appropriate price.¡±

    Shao Qingge looked at the car exhibition hall with wide eyes and proposed, ¡°Buy a small tour bus and let Old Mo drive it when the team acts together. In addition, we can buy another car so it can be more flexible when moving in teams.

    Xiao Lou looked back at him. ¡°Do we have enough money for two cars?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. It doesn¡¯t matter if we spend it all. Don¡¯t forget that we have the chrysoberyl bracelets. We can see if there are any jewellery actions to sell them. We can make a fortune.¡±

    Hearing this, Xiao Loupletely put down his worries In any case, there were always many ways to make money even if they spent all the money.

    He bargained with the boss to buy a small tour bus for 16 people. Then immediately afterward, they went to the store next door and bought a five seater.

    The world¡¯s 4S sore reserves and they could get the car directly in two hours after paying money and doing the on-site procedures. There was a parking lot at the vi and the two vehicles meant it would be very convenient to travel in the future.

    Old Mo drove the white bus while Shao Qingge drove the ck car back to the vi. Then they headed together to the city¡¯srgest shopping mall.

    They parked their vehicles in the underground garage and went to the mall, each person buying several sets of summer clothes and winter clothes. They put the big and small bags in the trunk and drove home.

    After arriving at home, the group went to organize their wardrobes. Meanwhile, Xiao Lou took out his phone and called Xue Mingyue.

    Previously, Gui Yuanzhang had invited them to join the Distant Guild. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t immediately agree. They said they ¡®needed to consider¡¯ and left Xue Mingyue¡¯s contact information.

    Once the call was connected, Xue Mingyue heard Xiao Lou¡¯s voice and smiled. ¡°Professor Xiao, have you considered it clearly? Our president has been waiting for a reply from the two of you.¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°I want to meet Old Gui. Do you know if he has time to meet today?¡±

    Xue Mingyue said, ¡°Wait a minute, I¡¯ll ask him¡­¡±

    A momentter, Xue Mingyue¡¯s voice came through the receiver. ¡°Mr Gui said that he has time at noon today and is waiting in the vi for your visit.¡± She paused before asking, ¡°Where are you? Do you need someone to pick you up?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and said, ¡°No thank you, we¡¯ll drive there.¡±

    The original n was to go to the market in the afternoon and to meet Old Gui in the evening. However, noon was the only time Old Gui was avable. Xiao Lou adjusted the schedule and went to the Distant Guild with Old Gui.

    At 12 noon, Old Mo drove the bus and brought everyone to the headquarters of the Distant Guild.

    This was a single vi located between the mountains and forests. In order to arrive here, they had to go through a long mountain road, heavily guarded along the way. If it wasn¡¯t for Xue Mingyue giving them the location, it would be hard for outsiders to find it. It was said that the house was bought by the boss of the Distant Guild himself and that it was very hidden.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou had been to the old vi once before and soon found it. The vi in the mountain was extraordinarily quiet. The midday sun was obscured by trees and the light that shone through the gaps was extremely soft.

    Last time, they hadete at night and didn¡¯t pay attention to the surrounding scenery. This time, they got a closer look. Xiao Lou found that the back of the vi had arge bamboo forest. The green bamboo forest surrounded by streams made people mistakenly think that they hade to a high seclusion area in a martial arts novel.

    Xue Mingyue was waiting for them at the door. She saw Xiao Lou and greeted him before bringing everyone into the house.

    The old gentleman with grey hair was making tea. The fragrance of tea spread throughout the room. Once he heard the footsteps, he looked up slowly with gentle eyes. ¡°The guests are here. Please sit down and have a cup of tea first. Then we¡¯ll have lunch togetherter.¡±

    Seeing Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang sitting by the side of Old Gui, the others also quickly found a seat.

    This was the first time they met the president of the legendary Distant Guild and couldn¡¯t believe it. Old Gui was 60 years old, right? How did he live in this cruel Card World?

    Gui Yuanzhang might be old but he wasn¡¯t hunched over or look old. Sitting there, he was as upright as the bamboo nted at the vi. The skin of his hand had lost moisture and the wrinkles were obvious. However, his fingers were very stable when he lifted the teapot and not the slightest tremor could be seen.

    He handed the teacups to the group and spoke while pouring tea.¡±This is the new tea this year, green bamboo leaf. The people of this world don¡¯t like to drink tea and I used a lot of effort to have people buy it.¡±

    Xiao Lou knew more about this old man than any of his teammates.

    Gui Yuanzhang was a famous master of calligraphy in reality. He was the vice president of the National Painting and Calligraphy Association. He could write well and copy the handwriting of many ancient celebrities. Xiao Lou¡¯s father was a calligrapher and had some friendship with Old Gui. He also had a collection of Old Gui¡¯s calligraphy.

    It was said that Old Gui was proficient in tea ceremony and his students gave him tea every time he visited. The rumours were true. Old Gui was very particr with his tea making. Xiao Lou politely took a sip from the cup. The fragrance was particrly refreshing. He seldom drank tea normally but the tea made by Mr Gui was really special.

    Gui Yuanzhang poured tea for everyone before asking, ¡°Did the first World Weekly go smoothly?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°Overall it was smooth.¡±

    Then Gui Yuanzhang nced at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°I heard you killed 56 sharks?¡±

    Everyone was surprised he knew about it. Then Xiao Lou soon asked, ¡°Did the Intelligence Bureau tell you?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang smiled. ¡°Yes, you are neers yet brave. My eyes weren¡¯t wrong.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang directly spoke. ¡°Senior, what do you want to tell us?¡±

    Since his brother had hime to Old Gui, there must be something to exin. Sure enough, Gui Yuanzhang didn¡¯t beat around the bush. He simply said, ¡°You need to clear the B-grade secret rooms as soon as possible. I have prepared some cards here to help you.¡±

    He nced at Xue Mingyue and the long-haired beauty immediately brought out a card pack.

    She handed the card pack to Yu Hanjiang and smiled. ¡°These are material cards prepared by our guild.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang nodded. ¡°There is no life-threatening danger in the low grade Hearts room. You can clear the instance if you solve the mystery in time. There are no hunters in the low grade Diamonds room. You just need to find a way out of the maze and break the mechanism. Clubs is just a lottery. The most dangerous one is Spades.¡±

    Old Mo had met hunters in the Diamonds room because it was a World Weekly. However, there would be no hunters in the fixed secret rooms below J of Diamonds.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Senior, can I ask what level the elite team of the Distant Guild reached?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang replied, ¡°The elite teams of the Distant Guild, Fallen Court and Luoying Pavilion have reached the S-grade secret rooms. There are no more than 50 people. However, we had to stop and didn¡¯t dare continue moving on because the difficulty of the S-grade rooms will increase one level from the A-grade rooms. I had told you before that there was a very powerful team who was wiped out in the S-grade secret room.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan had apparently made a good call with the old man. Old Gui deliberately concealed about the team. In fact, the team led by Lu Jiuchuan wasn¡¯t destroyed and Old Gui was one of the surviving members.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t pierce his words and picked up the card pack to take a look. The card pack sent was quite rich.

    Eight of the B-grade ¡®Wash Bag¡¯ was given directly. It could be opened for a towel, toothbrush, cup, shampoo and shower gel.

    There were the B-grade Laundry Liquid and Dryer that the girl had lent them in the previous World Weekly.

    There was the B-grade Double Tent that was a waterproof tent useful in the wilderness. It held up to two people and came with pillows and nkets. Four copies of this card were given.

    The B-grade card Travel Backpack could amodate arge number of materials and there were also four copies. In addition, there were some Needles, Iron Pot, Chopsticks and other daily necessities.

    The group was stunned. Old Gui was like an NPC who gave rewards. He gave so many supplies at once! Xiao Lou originally intended to go to the card market to buy some material cards. He hadn¡¯t expected Old Gui to prepare all of them.

    He looked at Old Gui in a grateful manner. ¡°Senior, thank you. These cards are very practical.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang smiled. ¡°You¡¯re wee. Most of these material cardse from the rewards for the World Weekly and the draw in the Clubs room. They will be more useful in the Spades survival room. In addition to Spades and Hearts, theter Diamonds and Clubs room will be harder. Material cards in those two rooms are fine. If you want to enhance your strength, you need to gain more control andbat cards.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were very clear about this. The S-grade Clubs room was no longer ying cards or drawing cards. It was direct PK against hunters. In the case when there was 10 times the number of people, wouldn¡¯t it be impossible to smash an iron pot with chopsticks? These pots, pans and shampoo would make the conditions of the survival rooms better.

    The key to survival depended onbat cards. For example, the four weapon cards that Yu Hanjiang drew were very strong, such as the Night Devil Saber, Bloodthirsty Golden Shark, Silver Moon and Star de. However, It wasn¡¯t enough of Yu Hanjiang was the only output in the team!

    Just then, Gui Yuanzhang suddenly took out a pen and smiled. ¡°Are you confused about how I managed to live in the Card World when I¡¯m an old man?¡±

    In front of everyone¡¯s curious eyes, he stood up and gently waved the brush in his hand.

    They saw the air in front of them form dramatic fluctuations, like there was a gust of wind. Everyone¡¯s teacups were blown into the air by this air flow! Then his strokes slowed down and he drew a beautiful arc. The teacups quickly lined up in a circle. Finally, his brush moved down and all the teacups returned to their original positions in an instant!

    Throughout the process, not a single bit of liquid in the cup had poured out!

    The jaws of Ye Qi, Liu Qiao and the others almost fell off while Xiao Lou¡¯s face was full of shock. It was like watching a martial arts blockbuster on the spot. The white-haired Old Gui was like a martial artist who held a brush and killed enemies with it.

    Old Gui took back the brush and spoke calmly. ¡°I can survive by relying on this brush in my hand.¡±

    The group was full of admiration.

    Old Gui actually had a very strong card in his hand. He could use the brush to make the target float in the air as well as control the trajectory of the target in the air! In contrast, Xiao Lou¡¯s floating Compass was simply child-like.

    Old Gui¡¯s eyes slowly swept across the group. ¡°In the Card World, the real essence is the cards. As long as you have good cards and use them flexibly, you will have a frighteningbat power no matter how old, weak or sick.¡±

    He paused and lowered his voice before speaking earnestly. ¡°This is why I called you here today. I wanted to tell you to never underestimate your strength. This is a magical world. Believe in yourself and you can create miracles.¡±

 Chapter 145: Card Trading Market

    At 12:30, Xue Mingyue brought up the prepared lunch and ced it on the table. Once everyone sat around and had a meal together, they said goodbye to the old gentleman. Before leaving, Gui Yuanzhang called Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang privately to his study and asked, ¡°Have you seen him?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang naturally knew who Old Gui was referring to and nodded. ¡°I met him in the World Weekly.¡±

    Old Gui said, ¡°Then I won¡¯t say too much. He should¡¯ve told you the next arrangement. You can go to the Intelligence Bureau and ask Mr Tang to give you some strategies for the next secret rooms to speed up the progress of clearing the instance.

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we are going to the Intelligence Bureau on Wednesday.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang smiled as he looked affectionately at the two young people. ¡°Then I¡¯ll wait for you at the 11th level.¡±

    After leaving the old vi, everyone silently sat in the vehicle.

    It was obvious that Old Gui¡¯s words had shocked them. Even a 60 year old person hadn¡¯t given up. What reason did they have to shrink back? They might not have practiced martial arts or fighting skills in reality but this world relied on cards.

    At that time, Professor Xiao had used the Compass card to make all types of tools while Bai Juyi¡¯s Song of the Pipa yer made the group of sharks kill each other. Being able to use the cards flexibly was the fundamental key to surviving in this world.

    The car was halfway there when it stopped at a red light at an intersection. Old Mo looked back and asked, ¡°The card trading market is in front. Do you still want to go?¡±

    Xiao Lou answered, ¡°Go and see. Maybe we can find something useful.¡±

    Old Mo started driving again at the green light. He parked at the nearby parking lot and told Shao Qingge, ¡°Chief Shao, transferring money isn¡¯t allowed at the card trading market. It is a one-time transaction in cash. If we want to buy cards, we¡¯ll have to go to the nearby bank to get some gold coins¡­¡±

    The moment he finished speaking, the ATM machine suddenly appeared in front of the car.

    Shao Qingge put his identity card into the card slot and took out hundreds of 10,000 gold coins. Heughed, ¡°This should be enough?¡±

    Mo Xuemin spoke helplessly. ¡°I forgot you have this card that allows you to withdraw money anytime and anywhere!¡±

    Shao Qingge replied, ¡°This is the only S-grade card I have at the moment and it is easier to take out money.¡±

    Xiao Lou joked, ¡°This card is more in line with your rich temperament.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded cheekily and gave everyone some gold coins. ¡°The rich person is giving everyone money. Buy sure to buy the cards you want when exploring the market.¡±

    Ye Qi joked, ¡°Thank you, gold father!¡±

    Shao Qingge turned back and smiled at him. ¡°No need for thanks. Since you called me father, shall I give you more points?¡±

    Ye Qi didn¡¯t have a thick skin. His ears reddened and he didn¡¯t dare speak again.

    Old Mo parked the vehicle and took everyone to the underground floor. It was a bit like a night market in the real world. There were no fixed storefronts and many challengers had set up small stalls. People moved between them and bought cards.

    Xiao Lou went to the stall marked with ¡®electrical monopoly¡¯ and found many good things. Electric stove, electric heating, electric kettle, electric water purifier, refrigerator, electric pressure cooker, juicer¡­

    This was simply a home appliances supermarket!

    Xiao Lou remembered how he once got the ¡®charging treasure¡¯ card that immediately reset the cooldown of electrical cards. He went over and smiled, ¡°Boss, how much are you selling these electrical cards for?¡±

    The boss spoke to him warmly. ¡°It is 50,000 for one and you get a 20% discount if you buy the full package!¡±

    Xiao Lou bought all the electrical cards. Liu Qiao bought several tool cards such as the ¡®Sunshade Umbre¡¯. Qu Wanyue bought several fans and Long Sen bought a basketball. Everyone strolled around the market and found a wide variety of cards. There were all for daily necessities and there were nobat cards. Once almost all the money had been spent, the group turned and met again at the market gate.

    Old Moughed. ¡°The appliances areplete. We can probably open a hotel in the wilderness.¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°Thanks to these materials, we can be better off in the future survival rooms.¡±

    These were all cards obtained from the World Weekly and Clubs rooms. No one would be foolish enough to bring out and sell the really powerfulbat cards. These cards were the base cards for everyone¡¯s lives and it would be hard to survive if they were sold.

    They had found many useful cards at the trading market and everyone went home. By the time the car returned to the neighbourhood, it was five in the afternoon. Xiao Lou took everyone to a nearby supermarket to buy goods.

    There were restrictions on the number of users for material cards. They had to save this and only use them after entering the secret rooms. During their time in the main city, they had to go to the supermarket to buy things like toothbrushes, facial cleansers and towels.

    Ye Qi suggested, ¡°Buy some shampoo and shower gel. The bathroom ran out when I was taking a shower yesterday.¡±

    Liu Qiao added, ¡°The soap and hand sanitizer are running out.¡±

    As they were speaking, Xiao Lou sent a photo to their WeChat group. ¡°I have made a list and we will buy ording to the list.¡±

    They opened the WeChat group and saw arge number of household items such as pots and pans, toiletries, pyjamas, slippers, cups, mouthwash cups, paper towels, garbage bags¡­

    Ye Qi stared. ¡°Isn¡¯t this too much? It is like moving to a new house!¡±

    Qu Wanyue couldn¡¯t helpmenting, ¡°Professor Xiao is really careful. I hadn¡¯t thought of some things.¡±

    Xiao Lou pushed a shopping cart and smiled while grabbing things. ¡°I just moved to a new house before the new year and this is ording to the list I made at that time. If you see anything else you want to add then put it in your shopping cart.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang saw Xiao Lou carefully selecting items from the shelf and couldn¡¯t help feeling appreciation. Unlike Professor Xiao, he knew nothing about these details of life. At most, he could cook noodles at home.

    They pushed four shopping cards around. In addition to household goods, they bought a lot of food, milk, yogurt, bread, eggs as well as vegetables and meat. This was almost like emptying the supermarket and the cashier was scared.

    The four shopping carts were full and they carried the stic bags home.

    Everyone bought new toiletries and different coloured cups and towels in order to not cause confusion. The two girls were responsible for organizing the kitchen and putting food in the refrigerator. The cooking oil, salt, sauces and vinegar were all purchased. The tes and chopsticks were arranged and put aside. Then the chopping board, kitchen knives, rice, noodles and other supplies soon filled the drawers and cabs of the empty kitchen.

    Yu Hanjiang walked over and asked Xiao Lou, ¡°Are you going to cook and eat at home? Isn¡¯t it easier to eat outside?¡±

    Old Mo also said, ¡°My previous team didn¡¯t want to cook since it was cheap to eat outside.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes gently looked over the group. ¡°Since we have signed a contract to form a team, we are a family in this world. In addition to clearing the instances, I hope that we can understand each other more. I will cook tonight and we will eat at home. There were be no employees to disturb us and we don¡¯t have to worry about being overheard. We can talk freely.¡±

    Once the group heard this, their mood became a bitplicated.

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes were slightly red. He remembered struggling to eat leaves in the Nightmare Room. Now he had a temporary home and was no longer afraid to fight alone.

    Liu Qiao, Long, Qu Wanyue and Old Mo also hadplicated expressions. Obviously, they were all thinking of the previous difficulties. Everyone had been feeling anxious but now they had found a temporary home.

    Xiao Lou was the owner of the contract. He was like a careful and responsible parent bringing everyone together in the new team.

    Compared to the coldmands, he let them put down their guard and really regard their teammates as ¡®family.¡¯ No matter how difficult the situation in the future, they could fight together. Simrly, this type of life details will influence everyone¡¯s inner feelings in a subtle manner, so as to enhance the cohesion of the team.

    Yu Hanjiang thought that this was the biggest difference between Brother Jiu and Xiao Lou. As a soldier, Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s method of leading the team was to treat them as soldiers and strictly train them, so that everyone must obey instructions. Meanwhile, Xiao Lou gently allowed everyone in the team to have a sense of belonging. Under this premise, who would betray the team and abandon their teammates?

    Seeing how everyone was moved, Xiao Lou smiled and asked, ¡°Do you want to eat dumplings tonight?¡±

    Ye Qi Was excited. ¡°Yes, I live in the north and we eat dumplings every New Year¡¯s Day!¡±

    Shao Qingge asked, ¡°What type of festival is it today?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it. ¡°Let¡¯s officially make it the anniversary of when our team was established. Last time, we were busy preparing for the World Weekly and signed the contract in a rtively hasty manner. We didn¡¯t have time to celebrate.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°Since it is an anniversary, we must have wine. No wonder why you bought two bottles of red wine at the supermarket. Professor Xiao is really thoughtful and ns everything.¡±

    Xiao Lou grinned. ¡°We have been tired for so long and will take a rest these days. We will rx tonight and have a good celebration dinner. I will stir-fry a few dishes and make dumplings as the main dish. People who like to drink can also let go.¡±

    Qu Wanyue took the initiative to roll up his sleeves. ¡°I will help wash the dishes.¡±

    Long Sen actively followed her. ¡°I can roll the skin. At home, I often rolled the skin to make dumplings!¡±

    Liu Qiao also volunteered. ¡°I can make dumplings.¡±

    Ye Qi raised his hand. ¡°I will help Professor Xiao cut the vegetables!¡±

    The kitchen soon became busy. The vi¡¯srge kitchen could easily amodate five or six adults. Once the venttion machine started, Xiao Lou acted as the chef and seriously stir-fried vegetables in an apron. Long Sen, Qu Wanyue, Liu Qiao and Ye Qi helped to the side.

    Yu Hanjiang leaned against the dining table and watched the busy backs. Xiao Lou, who was cooking with an apron, seemed particrly handsome and Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t look away for a while.

    A few simple home-cooked dishes were quickly brought to the table and their scents filled the dining room.

    Long Sen started to roll the dumpling skin while the other four made the dumplings. The dumplings were ced in a neat row on the board and people couldn¡¯t help recalling the lively New Year¡¯s Eve dinner.

    After the dumplings were cooked, Xiao Lou ced two tes in the middle of the table. ¡°Let¡¯s eat.¡±

    The hungry group hurriedly sat down at the table. They were about to drool as they saw the exquisite home-cooked dishes.

    Yu Hanjiang took the initiative to raise his ss. ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s have a drink to celebrate the establishment of your team.¡±

    Shao Qinggeughed. ¡°So formal. Then shouldn¡¯t we name our team?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou nced at each other. ¡°The name of the team will be ¡®Sharp Arrow Commandos¡¯. We hope that when you act, you will be as quick and decisive as an arrow, breaking through all obstacles in an unstoppable manner to return to our real homes!¡±

    The Sharp Arrow Commandos was the name of Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s team and was the same name as his unit in reality. The implication was that the entire time could act as sharp as an arrow. Once they reached J of Clubs, their team would join Brother Jiu. Then the reformed team would be the strongest and most united team in history.

    Yu Hanjiang took the lead in raising his cup and the seven people also stood to raise their cups. The sound of the cups clinking against each other echoed in the warm light of the vi. Looking at the table filled with side dishes and steamed dumplings, everyone¡¯s eyes were slightly sore. It was the first time they felt the warmth of a team sinceing to this world.

    Everyone drank the ss of red wine before picking up their chopsticks and quickly eating.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s voice was heard in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mind. ¡°Group Leader Yu, you don¡¯t have any objections to me doing this?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s lips curved. ¡°Of course not, you¡¯re doing well.¡±

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°I just hope that we aren¡¯t just teammates breaking through. I want us to be friends and family who really care about each other and understand each other. In this way, we won¡¯t have to worry about someone dropping the chain when our trust is tested inter stages.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Trust was always the cornerstone of a team. Twist themselves into a rope and show mutual trust. A team temporarily put together only for clearing the instance was able to be wiped out, even if they were individually strong. Xiao Lou¡¯s gentle approachpared with the serious, apatheticmands and would make people more convinced.

    Looking at this warm and harmonious scene, Old Mo couldn¡¯t help whispering, ¡°I hope that when we return to the real world, we can still sit together like this to eat.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Definitely. Once we go out, I will invite you to eat a big meal.¡±

    The group noted down his promise. ¡°Yes, then we will go and find Professor Xiao!¡±

    The future might be certain and the dangers they would face might be beyond their imagination but at this moment, all their hearts were full of faith. They might be able to go to the end under the leadership of Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang!

 Chapter 146: Tang Ci

    That night, the eight people gathered in the vi ate and talked like it was a holiday. They didn¡¯t go to sleep until 11 o¡¯clock.

    Xiao Lou gave everyone the day off. They rested all of Tuesday and couldzily sleep.

    The group slept until noon before getting up. They were bored in the afternoon and watching TV at home. Liu Qiao had just changed to a news channel when she heard a news sh. ¡°This weekend, the Caribbean and Full Star cruise ships were hit by a typhoon and sank into the open sea. The wreckages of the cruise ships have been salvaged. ording to statistics, 386 people died in the shipwreck¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately looked up when he heard this. The footage showed rescue teams salvaging the wreckage of a cruise ship at sea. It was the Caribbean cruise ship they had been on where 386 people were killed, including locals, challengers and hunters.

    There were tens of millions of challengers in this world. There couldn¡¯t be so few people who died in the World Weekly secret room. Xiao Lou looked at Mo Xuemin in a puzzled manner. ¡°Old Mo, there should be many cruise ships who went to the sea at the same time. Why is it only reporting on these two?

    Mo Xuemin exined, ¡°Other cruise ships have no locals and are all challengers. They have been pulled into another space and no one knows if they are dead or alive. Our cruise ship is reported on because there were local people.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°You mean, the other World Weekly instances all contain challengers and they were transported to a different space?¡±

    Mo Xuemin nodded. ¡°Yes, every time, 99% of challenges will be transported to a local space and no one knows they have died. The local residents have long been used to the sudden disappearance of foreigners. The probability of encountering aplex instance where hunters and challengers are mixed in is around 1%. If we encounter a hunter then we can be considered unlucky.¡±

    Since he had encountered hunters two weeks in a row, Mo Xuemin felt that his luck was really bad. He had to wash himself from head to toe. There was a 1% probability yet Brother Jiu bought tickets in advance to enter. Was it so coincidental?

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other and thought of a possibility. The hacking master of the Intelligence Bureau.

    On the afternoon of the same day, Xiao Lou checked the responses on the forum. External forums expressed their condolences over the shipwreck. The challengers¡¯ forum was full of posts. Some people said their ship¡¯s elimination rate was as high as 50% with half the challengers eaten by sharks. Others said that in order to snatch the escape boat when the ship was overturned, the challengers experienced internal fighting and suffered heavy causalities.

    There were some World Weekly rooms that encountered the control of a big guild and all of them survived. Taken all together, the average elimination rate of the World Weekly was between 10%~20%. Only Xiao Lou¡¯s instance involving the Caribbean met a team of hunters.

    The next day was Wednesday and the Intelligence Bureau would open.

    In the afternoon, Xiaolou and Yu Hanjiang drove together to the Intelligence Bureau. Liu Qiao came over and asked Xiao Lou, ¡°Professor Xiao, can I go with you?¡±

    Xiao Lou knew she wanted to continue to check on the whereabouts of her sister so he took her with them. Qu Wanyue was worried that Liu Qiao couldn¡¯t bear the blow and also followed.

    Yu Hanjiang drove the ck car, Xiao Lou sat in the passenger¡¯s seat while the two girls sat in the back. By the time they arrived at the Intelligence Bureau, there was a long line at the door. They waited for half an hour before it was finally their turn.

    The lottery store still had the same woman asst time, looking indifferent with her silver-rimmed sses. She nced at the four of them and asked, ¡°What are you going to check this time?¡±

    Liu Qiao stepped forward. ¡°Please continue to help me find our Liu Ying¡¯s whereabouts, thank you.¡±

    The woman¡¯s slender fingers quickly tapped on the keyboard. After a moment, she passed the result of the search query to Liu Qiao. Last time they checked, the result was that there was no such person. Unexpectedly, there was news today! Liu Qiao was very happy and immediately took a look.

    The girl in the photo was beautiful. She had an oval face and hair tied back in a high ponytail. This was indeed her sister Liu Ying. Xiao Lou also remembered this girl from 2 of Clubs. She might¡¯ve been wearing a mask but the height, hairstyle and eyes were right.

    However, the result of the inquiry under the photo made Xiao Lou scared.

    Liu Qiao and her teammate, Zhong Tong came to the main cityst Thursday, which was why they hadn¡¯t found her whereabouts on Wednesday. She was one dayter than Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao. During the time when Liu Qiao checked herst week, she was still struggling through the fourth level.

    It wasn¡¯t easy for the two girls to get out of the fourth level but they made a fatal mistake.

    They didn¡¯t collect enough information and were contemptuous of the World Weekly. They didn¡¯t look for a strong team and instead entered the Endless Sea on their own. Their whereabouts after that were unknown¡­

    It was Wednesday, three days after the World Weekly. It was clear what it meant by their location being unounted for.

    The woman sitting in front of theputer pushed up her sses and said, ¡°Sorry, your sister wasn¡¯t well prepared when participating in this week¡¯s World Weekly. No news of her has been found in the main city, proving that she died in the World Weekly.¡±

    Liu Qiao clung to the paper. She thought of the sharks at sea and couldn¡¯t help her hands shaking. She followed Group Leader Yu to kill dozens of sharks, turned into a shark to try her light footwork card and under the leadership of Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou, she easily cleared the instance. At the same time, her sister might¡¯ve been torn to pieces by a shark in another area!

    The two girls entering the World Weekly secret room, the chances of survival were too low¡­

    Her sister had passed through the first four levels with much difficulty but was eliminated in the World Weekly. Liu Qiao had difficulty epting this face. The photo on the data sheet gradually blurred in her vision and before she knew it, tears had poured out.

    Qu Wanyue gently hugged Liu Qiao and spoke softly, ¡°Xiao Qiao, cry if you¡¯re sad. Don¡¯t bear it.¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s body was shaking as she clenched the questionnaire with her sister¡¯s photo and sobbed. ¡°My parents were busy with work. My sister was four years older than me and since childhood, she took care of me, cooking for me and telling stories to make me sleep. Is she really dead?¡±

    Xiao Lou was silent for a moment before suddenly saying, ¡°She just disappeared in this world. She isn¡¯t necessarily dead.¡±

    Liu Qiao looked up at Professor Xiao. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°If my guess is correct, after clearing all the secret rooms in this world, the method the keepers will use to let us return to reality is to go back to the past and change history. It is because this is the only way we can survive. Since you were in a car ident with your sister, you will go back to before the ident and can save your sister in reality.¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s eyes lit up and she quickly wiped away her tears, asking seriously, ¡°Is it true? Can I go back in time and avoid that car ident?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°The probability is high.¡±

    The woman sitting in front of theputer heard it and smiled. ¡°Your reasoning has no basis in fact.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked back at her. ¡°However, you can¡¯t say that my inference is wrong. It is only once we clear the SS-grade secret room that we will know how to return to reality.¡±

    The woman shrugged. ¡°Yes, after all, no one has cleared the world.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stepped forward. ¡°Continue to help us find a few people.¡±

    The woman nodded. ¡°Please say it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took the questionnaire and quickly wrote down a name: Lu Jiuchuan.

    After entering the information, the woman concluded, ¡°This person can¡¯t be found.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wasn¡¯t surprised by this result. The Intelligence Bureau¡¯s master hadpletely erased his brother¡¯s information so that no one could find the whereabouts of Brother Jiu.

    He followed suit by saying several names. ¡°Gui Yuanzhang, Chu Huaying.¡±

    The woman quickly checked and smiled. ¡°No one.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang raised his eyebrows and nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°They all can¡¯t be found.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°It seems that the director of the Intelligence Bureau is very strong. Old Gui and the Spider Goddess, the information of these teammates were deleted by him. This is also a way to protect them.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the woman. ¡°I want to see the director of your Intelligence Bureau.¡±

    The woman kept smiling. ¡°Our director isn¡¯t easy to see. Even I haven¡¯t seen him.¡±

    She nced at her mobile phone and sent a message before saying, ¡°However, the director has specifically ordered that I should take you to a ce if youe to the door.¡± She nced over at Liu Qiao and Qu Wanyue. ¡°I can only take the two of you.¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke to Qu Wanyue in a low voice. ¡°Teacher Qu, you and Xiao Liu take the taxi back first. We will go and see Director Tang.¡±

    Qu Wanyue nodded. ¡°Rest assured, I will take Xiao Liu home safely.

    He saw the two people get into a taxi before returning to the lottery store.

    The woman with sses closed the lottery store door, hung a ¡®closed¡¯ sign and turned to walk toward the wall. The wall was like a security door in a science fiction movie. After scanning her pupils, it suddenly opened to reveal a long narrow corridor where the end couldn¡¯t be seen.

    The two of them nced at each other and followed.

    After passing through the corridor and taking the elevator to the underground parking lot, the woman had Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang get into the car and drove out of the parking lot. The scene outside the window passed quickly and after around 30 minutes, she parked the car at the door of an abandoned factory. ¡°Boss asked me to bring you here. The two of you should wait here.¡±

    Xiao Lou took a closer look. The factory had three floors and looked very empty. It should be a rotten building.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou nced at each other, wondering why Director Tang took them to such a deste ce.

    At this moment, a strange sound was heard from the ground and the ground started to shake. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang hadn¡¯t reacted yet when the ground at their feet suddenly copsed. They were heading down!

    The feeling of weightlessness made Xiao Lou nervously grasp Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hand. ¡°An earthquake?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang held his hand and whisperedforting words, ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous. It isn¡¯t an earthquake or a card effect. Perhaps¡­ there is an underground city hidden here and the ce where we stood is like the elevator to the dungeon.

    The man¡¯s slender and powerful fingers gently held his. Xiao Lou perceived this and his ears suddenly turned red. Nothing could be seen in the darkness and the feeling of his hand being held was especially clear. Xiao Lou heard the sound of his heart beating violently.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s lips were slightly raised. He could detect Professor Xiao¡¯s tension. Xiao Lou¡¯s fingers were smooth and delicate, unlike his fingers that were full of calluses. He held Professor Xiao¡¯s hand and it felt unexpectedly good. He didn¡¯t want to let go.

    One person didn¡¯t struggle and the other was unwilling to let go. The two people held hands like this until there was a loud ¡®boom¡¯ in their ears. The elevator stopped and bright lights appeared around them. Xiao Lou acted like he received an electric shock and pulled away.

    His ears were a bit red and Xiao Lou took a deep breath to stabilize his heartbeat¡­

    He had been in a hurry to grab Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hand. This was really embarrassing. What would Group Leader Yu think of him?

    Yu Hanjiang seemed calm like nothing had happened.

    An empty corridor appeared in front of them. After ncing at each other, the two of them took a few steps forward and a mechanical voice was heard in their ears. ¡°Pupil scan¡­ authentication was sessful. Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang, wee to the Intelligence Bureau.¡±

    A metal door slowly opened in front of them. Xiao Lou looked at the scene in front of him and was so shocked he couldn¡¯t speak.

    They saw an underground factory the size of two football fields with countless mechanical equipment running regrly. There were sophisticated instruments, conveyor belts and production tools. However, there weren¡¯t any factory workers. It was an intelligent assembly line full of robots!

    A man was sitting at the operator¡¯s desk and turned around when he heard footsteps. The man looked very young. He was dressed in white and was clean and spotless.

    He had a beautiful face and delicate facial features, but he was morbidly pale and his body seemed a bit thin. He had the image of a ¡®sick beauty.¡¯ In addition, he was in a wheelchair with a thin nket covering his legs. Was he unable to walk?

    There was arge ckboard in front of them with countless drawings full of forms. The dense data on theputer on the desk gave people a headache. This person¡¯s wheelchair didn¡¯t need to be turned by hand. It seemed to be equipped with special devices and could move by itself.

    He moved the wheelchair in front of the two people and said, ¡°Hello, I¡¯m the director of the Intelligence Bureau, Tang Ci.¡±

    His voice was as cold as the winter spring water. His eyes were extremely calm and his seemingly weak facial features showed a bit of coldness.

    Before seeing him, Xiao Lou had imagined many things but had never expected the director to be a beautiful man with disabled legs. Xiao Lou smiled and greeted the other person. ¡°Hello, Mr Tang.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also spoke in a low voice, ¡°Brother Jiu had use to see you.¡±

    ¡°I know, he told me.¡± Seemingly aware of the two men¡¯s doubts about the wheelchair, Tang Ci exined lightly, ¡°My leg injury was after escaping from J of Clubs¡¯ secret room. If you are injured in the S-grade secret rooms, the data won¡¯t be cleared and it will be taken out of the secret room with you. The wheelchair is something I developed myself and it uses buttons to control the direction and speed of movement.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes slightly widened. In the previous secret rooms, they had automatically recovered from their injuries, which was equivalent to letting yers automatically recover full HP. However, injuries in the S-grade secret rooms will be brought out. In theter stages, they would attack the S-grade rooms and if the injuries umted, it would be more difficult to break through.

    Yu Hanjiang asked incredulously, ¡°Is this an underground factory?¡±

    Tang Ci replied, ¡°It is my research base. I am a software engineer in reality and I¡¯m responsible for the development of smart robots.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked back and saw a cute one meter high robot putting materials on the conveyor belt.

    As expected, the master of learning was too arrogant. Not only did he intrude into the official database of the Card World to let the Intelligence Bureau gain the data of challengers, he also created an underground factory for himself in the Card World?

    Looking back at his wheelchair, Xiao Lou really felt admiration.

    He was physically disabled but he didn¡¯t feel sad and depressed. Instead, he made himself an automatic wheelchair. With such a tough personality, it was no wonder that he could be one of the four survivors of Brother Jiu¡¯s team!

 Chapter 147

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were going to ask Tang Ci about the attack strategy for the subsequent secret rooms when a mechanical sound was heard in their ears. ¡°Alert! Alert! Someone has broken into the underground base!¡±

    A big screen appeared in front of Tang Ci and there was a familiar face on the screen.

    There was a free-spirited smile on the man¡¯s handsome face and his eyes were on the surveince camera as he made a ¡®let me in¡¯ gesture. Tang Ci frowned slightly as he pressed a green button with his finger and a metal door opened immediately.

    A momentter, a tall young man in casual clothing walked in.

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Brother Jiu?¡±

    The visitor was Lu Jiuchuan. Neither Yu Hanjiang nor Xiao Lou had expected him to appear here.

    Tang Ci asked, ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan and walked over to stand in front of the wheelchair. He leaned over and looked at Tang Ci, joking, ¡°I came to see you.¡±

    Tang Ci ignored his joke and calmly wondered, ¡°You are undercover in the Hunter¡¯s League yet dared to risk running around. Aren¡¯t you afraid of being followed?¡±

    ¡°The mission failed and the league gave me a week off. No one will care about me for the time being. You can rest assured that I changed my path several timesing here. No one doubts my identity and no one has followed me.¡±

    Tang Ci looked up at him. ¡°What have you done? The league gave you a holiday?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan casually opened his shirt, revealing that on his left side chest, there was a deep scar. This scar looked like a spider.

    Tang Ci¡¯s pupils shrank. ¡°You let Sister Ying stab you?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled as he buttoned up his clothes. ¡°Yes, otherwise how can I live? The Spider Goddess is the number one reward target in the Hunter¡¯s League. I can¡¯t say she let me go, right? I encountered her and was almost killed by her. I pretended to be dead to save myself and returned to the organization to report information on the Spider Goddess. Thus, the organization trusts me and gives me credit.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang saw the other person¡¯s calm expression and his heart slightly ached.

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help feeling distressed. An undercover job wasn¡¯t something that ordinary people could do. How many things had Brother Jiu suffered in the past two years? It could hardly be imagined. Now such a dep wound pierced the chest. How painful would the stab be? Yet Lu Jiuchuan didn¡¯t even frown. Obviously, injuries had be a habit for him.

    Xiao Lou was worried. ¡°Brother Jiu, your wound needs to be treated as soon as possible or it will be infected. In addition, it is too close to your heart. If the person didn¡¯t have good control of their hands then your heart would¡¯ve been pierced.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuanughed. ¡°Huaying has killed countless people and there is still some judgment left. Besides, my heart is born a few centimeters away from others, don¡¯t worry.¡± He looked at Tang Ci and continued, ¡°Come, give Brother a treat.¡±

    Tang Ci had a grave expression. ¡°Don¡¯t take such a risk next time and be careful not to lose your life.¡±

    He turned in the wheelchair and pressed a few buttons on the console. They saw a cute robot pushing a medical cart to Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s side. It touched Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s wound with a mechanical arm and the wound recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye. The scars gradually ttened, leaving only a shallow mark in the shape of a spider. The wound had recovered in just a few seconds with no stitching or bandaging.

    Xiao Lou saw this magical scene and couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°This is¡­ a card?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan replied, ¡°Yes, it is one of Director Tang¡¯s robot cards.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was interested. ¡°Mr Tang, did you build this smart factory underground because you are studying robots?¡±

    Before Tang Ci could speak, Lu Jiuchuan actively exined, ¡°He was a senior engineer specializing in the development of smart robots in the real world. The first S-grade card drawn aftering to the Card World is this healing robot. He broke the robot into pieces from head to toe, studied the program and then wrote the code himself, making other machines.¡±

    At this point, Lu Jiuchuan nced at Tang Ci and smiled. ¡°Come, give them a look at the little thing you can do.¡±

    Tang Ci pressed a button on the wheelchair and they saw a huge mechanical ant suddenly appear. The ant carried a heavy box ording to instructions. The ant was five metres long and each leg moved in an extremely flexible manner, moving materials as fast as lightning!

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    This was called a ¡®little¡¯ thing? It was tens of thousands of times bigger than real ants! It was the first time he had seen an antparable to a bus¡­

    In addition, arge number of drones flew through the air, all with offensive weapons and capable of a direct drone strike.

    After the drones were arge number of centipedes. Each leg of these centipedes was a sharp de capable of cutting iron like it was mud! If these centipedes were thrown into battle then the lethality was definitelyparable to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s S-grade gun!

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help sighing. Mr Tang was simply a mechanical summoner!

    Yu Hanjiang was also surprised. ¡°Can these machines be brought into the world of the secret rooms?¡±

    Tang Ci nodded, pressed a button on his wheelchair and all the machinery in the open space disappeared into thin air. He quietly said, ¡°I drew the S-grade card called Data Master that allows me to convert data into cards. However, there are restrictions. I can only convert four cards. I have made the Mechanical Ants, UAV, Mechanical Centipede and Smart Wheelchair. The ants can be used as a vehicle to escape or help carry supplies, the UAV is for aerial attacks, the centipedes are for ground attacks and the wheelchair is naturally a tool for me.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at his brother in a puzzled manner. ¡°Mr Tang has such strong cards. How could you lost to 150 hunters in J of Clubs?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan looked dark as he exined in a low voice, ¡°This is after we failed the instance. Tang Ci only then cracked the code of the robots and it took him six months to develop it in the underground factory. If these weapons had already existed, he wouldn¡¯t have¡­¡±

    Tang Ci softly interrupted the other side, ¡°There is no need to mention the past. At least with these things, next time we won¡¯t be so passive.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s face also showed a smile as he looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Yes, we let you see our strength so you will have more confidence in the secret rooms in the future. You should¡¯ve seen the brush of Old Gui, right?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, he can use it to control the movement of objects floating in the air. It is very strong.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan told them, ¡°That is just one of his brushes. He has several brushes with different functions. Tang Ci¡¯s cards are all rted to machinery. As for Huaying, she doesn¡¯t want to show up for the time being but she is the strongest assassin in our team. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard about the legend of the Spider Goddess. Since the four of us can survive J of Clubs, naturally none of us are weak.¡±

    Xiao Lou understood what Lu Jiuchuan meant. ¡°Brother Jiu, rest assured that we will improve our strength as soon as possible.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan looked at him with appreciation. ¡°It isn¡¯t that I doubt you. It is just that at your current level, it would be really impossible to clear the S-grade rooms. Next, you should finish the B-grade rooms as soon as possible and draw some more cards. As for the B-grade rooms attack strategy¡­¡± He nced at Tang Ci and Tang Ci took out a USB disk from a box beside the wheelchair. ¡°It is already ready.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan took the USB disk and handed it to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°This is why I had youe to find him. Tang Ci¡¯s collection of attack strategies is absolutely the mostprehensive. In the B-grade rooms, you can directly follow his tactics and you can easily reach the perfect ending.¡±

    Xiao Lou had previously heard Old Mo say that the Intelligence Bureau would sell an attack strategy for one million gold coins. Now Tang Ci gave them theplete strategy for free. It was obviously for Lu Jiuchuan and because he wanted to help them through the B-grade secret rooms as soon as possible.

    Yu Hanjiang tanked him and put the USB disk into his pocket.

    Tang Ci reminded them, ¡°The USB dis I have you is only from the fifth to the seventh levels for a total of 12 B-grade attack strategies. You need to challenge the A-grade secret rooms by yourself. If I give you a strategy then it will just hurt you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang raised an eyebrow. ¡°Is it because the plot of the secret rooms will change?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Ci replied. ¡°There are many versions of the A-grade secret rooms, such as the murderer in the Hearts room. Seeing the strategy might affect your judgment and you will die after entering theter secret rooms. Since the two of you can set a world record, I think the A-grade secret rooms shouldn¡¯t be too difficult for you.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan added, ¡°As for Spades, the strongest teams of Luoying Pavilion, the Distant Guild and the Intelligence Bureau have all experienced different environments and survival goals in the A-grade rooms. We can¡¯t provide detailed strategies. The maze in Diamonds will change every time and you will only go to a dead end if you follow the strategy. There are many confrontational games in Clubs and you will have to solve them yourself.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded carefully. ¡°I understand. We will find our own way in the A-grade secret rooms.¡±

    Tang Ci nced at Lu Jiuchuan and then Yu Hanjiang. ¡°I hope you can reach the 11th level in a month and then the four of us can meet. We can¡¯t clear secret rooms and every week we will be pulled into the World Weekly. It is bing more and more dangerous.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuanughed. ¡°Do you mean me?¡±

    Tang Ci was silent for a moment before frowning. ¡°You can¡¯t always pull Sister Ying in to let her stab you.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan didn¡¯t care. ¡°What are you afraid of? Your healing robot is very good at dealing with injuries.¡±

    Tang Ci didn¡¯t speak and just stared at the other person calmly, as if staring a hole into his face.

    Lu Jiuchuan helplessly raised his hands in surrender. ¡°Okay, I know.¡± He put away his smile and his eyes suddenly became serious. ¡°Rx, I won¡¯t let myself have an ident. I will wait for my brother to meet me at the 11th level. I promised that I would take you out of this world and I will never break my promises.¡±

    He nced at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Do you know how to do it? Don¡¯t disgrace me.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan walked over and patted his brother on the shoulder. ¡°You can rest for two days and thoroughly study the strategies given to you by Tang Ci. Then go to the B-grade secret rooms on Friday. I want you to use your strength and the strategy to directly crush the B-grade rooms. Once you reach the A-grade rooms, try to be careful. If you can¡¯t get through the difficulties then find me. The Absolute Field card can be linked across rooms. Of course, I hope you won¡¯t have to find foreign aid in the A-grade secret rooms.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang answered, ¡°Rest assured Brother, we have thought about how to pass them.¡±

    Xiao Lou also promised. ¡°Brother Jiu, don¡¯t worry. After this week, we aren¡¯t afraid of the Spades secret room. As for the Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs rooms, we have good teammates and it shouldn¡¯t stump us.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled. ¡°Then we will meet again.¡±

    After leaving the underground factory, Xiao Lou¡¯s mood was quiteplex. Compared to Lu Jiuchuan, Tang Ci, Old Gui and Chu Huaying who had cleared the A-grade rooms, their team was really too weak.

    Tang Ci¡¯s mechanical ants, mechanical centipedes and drones were all useful.

    Old Gui¡¯s brushes could float things into the air to y with them!

    Apart from the limited weapon Blood Spider, Chu Huaying¡¯s other cards weren¡¯t yet known. Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s hand was also unclear but as the captain, Brother Jiu was definitely the strongest one in the team.

    These four people were so amazing, how could Xiao Lou¡¯s team drag Brother Jiu¡¯s legs?

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other and became resolute.

    Xiao Lou believed that clearing the fifth, sixth and seventh levels wouldn¡¯t be difficult. They should clear the B-grade secret rooms as soon as possible. It should also be a perfect clearance so they could draw some good cards. The A-grade secret rooms were the problem they would have to face.

    Thanks to jyzen for these doodles of the team.

 Chapter 148: Group Plan

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang returned to the vi. Qu Wanyue and Liu Qiao had already arrived home and had prepared dinner. Liu Qiao¡¯s expression had calmed down a lot. She obviously believed Xiao Lou¡¯s spection and thought that as long as she cleared the secret rooms and went back to the past, she could save her sister in reality.

    In fact, Xiao Lou¡¯s spection had no factual basis. It was entirely based on theory. No one knew what would happen after a challenger cleared all the secret rooms.It was just better to have a beautiful hope than a gloomy future.

    After dinner, Xiao Lou called everyone to the living room, grabbed aptop and opened Tang Ci¡¯s USB disk.

    There were four folders in the USB disk, marked with Hearts, Spades, Clubs and Diamonds. After opening, they were divided into the fifth, sixth and seventh levels. There was a total of 12 B-grade secret rooms and the strategy was veryplete.

    Among them, Hearts had a detailed plot description and it was divided into two versions. This was the same as what Old Mo had said before. There were two different plot directions in the low level secret rooms, just like the AB tests in an exam. After entering, one would be chosen randomly.

    In addition, Diamonds listed the mechanism types as well as aplete maze map. It was a 3D version from a god¡¯s perspective. It meant they could quickly find the right path out of the maze. The Spades strategy had some survival goals and survival techniques. The fifth, sixth and seventh Clubs rooms were allmon ying card games.

    After reading the strategy, Old Mo couldn¡¯t help feeling, ¡°This is really a strategy guide collected by the Intelligence Bureau. It isn¡¯t unreasonable to sell it for one million gold coins. I¡¯m sure we can get a S-grade evaluation with this.¡±

    Brother Jiu once mentioned that secret rooms couldn¡¯t be re-entered. Xiao Lou looked at Mo Xuemin and wondered, ¡°Old Mo, you have already cleared these levels. Can you go in?¡±

    Mo Xueminughed. ¡°Yes, the B-grade secret rooms can be repeated but I have already cleared it. After going in, I can¡¯t get the rewards. After the A-grade, the senior secret rooms can¡¯t be repeated.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it. ¡°Since you can enter, the eight of us will divide into two small teams. We will clear the B-grade rooms as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°If we split up, won¡¯t the rewards decrease?¡± Ye Qi wondered. ¡°For example, if eight people go to 5 of Hearts, we can acquire eight cards. If four people go, we can only acquire four cards.¡±

    ¡°The fixed reward cards are material cards and aren¡¯t work too much. We can go to the card market to buy them if we need them.¡± Xiao Lou opened the document in the USB to the ¡®reward list¡¯ and pointed to the cards in them.¡±Every secret room has fixed rewards or a perfect clearance. For example, there are two treasure chests in 5 of Hearts. It doesn¡¯t matter if four or eight people pass it. The number of treasure chests won¡¯t change.¡±

    ¡°Oh! Professor Xiao, you mean that we should focus on the cards drawn from the treasure chest and just take the fixed rewards at will, right?¡± Ye Qi suddenly realized. ¡°Looking at this list, the fixed rewards of the B-grade secret rooms are all B-grade cards.¡±

    ¡°Yes, all the B-grade cards are for material cards and they should be prepared for theter difficulty secret rooms.¡± Old Mo paused before continuing, ¡°Some of the rewards are the same as those in the World Weekly. Most of the cards can be bought in the trading market so it doesn¡¯t matter if we get a few less B-grade cards.¡±

    ¡°We can improve our efficiency by splitting into two teams.¡± Xiao Lou concluded with a smile. ¡°Everyone can choose the secret room they¡¯re good at. I¡¯ll go with Group Leader Yu to Hearts first. Who wants to go to Hearts as well?¡±

    ¡°Me!¡± Ye Qi raised his hand. After all, he also got a S-grade rating in 3 of Hearts.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go to Clubs.¡± As a Hearts scum, Shao Qingge wouldn¡¯t drag their feet. He preferred to go to the Clubs secret room.

    ¡°What about the others?¡± Xiao Lou nced at everyone.

    Qu Wanyue smiled. ¡°I¡¯m not particrly good at any room. Professor Xiao, you can arrange it.¡±

    Liu Qiao also said, ¡°You arrange it.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Xiao Lou touched his chin to think and made a decision. ¡°I, Group Leader Yu, Ye Qi and Liu Qiao will consecutively clear the three Hearts room. Chief Shao, Old Mo and the Long Qu couple will go to the Clubs room to clear the three consecutive rooms. After finishing this, we¡¯ll go to Spades while Old Mo will take everyone to Diamonds. Old Mo is good at mazes and with him in the team, you should easily pass it.¡±

    The secret rooms of the same level could be chosen at random. Everyone saw there were no arrangements for Hearts and Clubs.

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°We will separate for the secret rooms at 23:55 p.m. on Friday. Everyone should have a good rest and regain your spirit. The two teams should clear six rooms and in order to avoid any ident, the two teams should be connected with Qin Guan¡¯s heart channel at any time to maintainmunication.¡±

    At this time, Qin Guan¡¯smunication channel was particrly important because it wasn¡¯t limited to secret rooms and couldmunicate across worlds.

    Xiao Lou looked at Mo Xuemin. ¡°Old Mo, you have experience clearing it and lead the second team. I will give you a Qin Guan card and you and I will be connected.¡±

    Mo Xuemin nodded. ¡°No problem.¡±

    Thus, things were decided. On Thursday and Friday, the people in the vi rested and everyone was full of energy.

    Friday night at 23:55, there were five minutes left until this week¡¯s World Weekly started.

    Xiao Lou took Yu Hanjiang, Liu Qiao and Ye Qi to the card wall while Old Mo¡¯s team also stood in front of it. The two people were connected with the heart channel and at almost the same time, they drew out 4 of Hearts and 5 of Clubs.

    Since the team opened two secret rooms at the same time, those standing behind Xiao Lou were pulled into 5 of Hearts while those standing with Old Mo were pulled into 5 of Clubs. The eight people split into two groups to break through the barrier respectively.

    5 of Hearts was the suicide case of a female protagonist with multiple angles and many misleading clues. At first, the challengers thought the murderer was one of her boyfriends. Finally, after some reasoning, they all had alibis and the group found the female protagonist¡¯sst note,ing to the conclusion of a suicide.

    Even if they didn¡¯t have the strategy for this secret room, it was hard for Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou to fall down. It would¡¯ve taken them three days with the help of the strategy toplete the secret room. Yet they only needed one day to find the answer and get a perfect clearance!

    For the two treasure chests, Xiao Lou arranged the drawing order.

    He found that the cards everyone drew in the secret rooms seemed to be rted to their real interests and upations. For example, Ye Qi was a singer and always drew instrument cards. Group Leader Yu was a policeman and always drew guns. Liu Qiao probably had a connection with fairy tales so she drew two fairy tale cards.

    For the two treasure chests in 5 of Hearts, Xiao Lou had Ye Qi and Liu Qiao draw it.

    The team was currentlycking control cards. Last time, they were still using the lowest level Nine Pces Grid against the sharps. Ye Qi¡¯s S-grade control cards, Guitar and Flute were better to use. There was no limit on the number of uses and the cards wouldn¡¯t be damaged. The disadvantage was that the cooldown time was long and the skills were difficult to connect. As the main control of the team, Ye Qi had to draw a few more instruments.

    Xiao Lou smiled and looked at the two of them, ¡°Xiao Ye, you go to the draw first.¡±

    Ye Qi excitedly rubbed his hands as he walked to the treasure chest and drew something.

    [Erhu]

    Rarity: S

    Description: There is a probability of obtaining is from a draw after an S-grade clearance.

    Additional Skill 1: Two Springs Reflecting the Moon

    Two Springs Reflecting the Moon is a famous erhu song and depicts the rough life of the creator. The tune is bleak and makes the listener cry. y the famous erhu song for 30 seconds(two minutes when the growth level is full) so that all targets (including friendly targets) within 500 square metres will be affected by the sad tune, making all card skills fail. Cooldown: 1 hour.

    Additional Skill 2: Horse Racing

    A famous erhu tune with a sense of rhythm. The impassioned melody is like a horse galloping on the grasnd. y the melody of Horse Racing with the erhu for one minute (three minutes at full level). During the performance, all teammates bound by the contract will automatically gain a movement speed bonus of 200%. Cooldown: 5 hours.

    Ye Qi saw this card and his eyes brightened. ¡°An instrument card with two skills!¡±

    His previous Guitar and Flute cards were all single skill cards. At full level, the Guitar¡¯s group control and the Flute¡¯s single target control had a cooldown of five minutes and 30 seconds respectively.

    The Erhu card had a long cooldown but both therge-area group control and the buff skills were very useful.

    Xiao Lou came over to take a closer look and praised it. ¡°The full level Two Springs Reflecting the Moon is arge-scale group silence thatsts for two minutes. All card skills will fail and this control card is very strong.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°This card can be used with my weapon cards. My weapon cards don¡¯t require any skills. I just have to directly aim and shoot the target. I also don¡¯t need any skills in closebat with the saber.¡±

    He had killed so many sharks with his de without using any skills. Ye Qi¡¯s Two Springs Reflecting the Moon created arge-scale silence and Yu Hanjiang could take advantage of this opponent to strike with his weapon cards.

    Liu Qiao also praised it.¡±The Horse Racing skill is very useful when ites to eleration, chasing or running away.¡±

    Ye Qi took back the card and tried it. He found that after activating the skills, he could y the melodies of Two Springs Reflecting the Moon and Horse Racing. This made him even more excited. ¡°I haven¡¯t learned anything about the erhu. Thus, ying it automatically is much better than the guitar or the flute!¡±

    Xiao Louughed. ¡°Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Your Guitar and Flute cards have a short cooldown and can be used frequently. For Erhu, the cooldown is five hours and you need to wait until the critical moment to use it.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded. ¡°Yes, I understand!¡±

    The cooldown of a single skill card was very short and can be released multiple times in fierce battles. For example, Flute can frequently make one target lethargic. The Erhu card needed to be released on time to gain victory at a critical moment.

    Xiao Lou nced at Liu Qiao and stated, ¡°Little Liu, you draw from the second treasure chest.¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded solemnly and put her hand into the chest.

    [Thumbelina]

    Rarity: S

    Description: There is a probability of obtaining it from a draw after an S-grade clearance.

    Additional Skill 1: Flower Blossoming

    After the flower blossoms, a cute little Thumbelina was born. Use the skill to instantly turn yourself into a thumb-sized girl.

    Since Thumbelina is too small, it is difficult for ordinary people to see her. Therefore, she is immune to all attacks during the transformation and only needs to eat dew, grass and petals. The transformation statests up to 12 hours and can be released at any time. Cooldown: 24 hours.

    Additional Skill 2: Thumb Magic

    Thumbelina wants you to be as big as her in order to be friends.

    Specify a target to make the other person the size of a thumb. The transformed target shares the characteristics of Thumbelina. They are immune to attacks and won¡¯t feel hungry. Itsts up to one hour and can be released at any time. Cooldown: 12 hours.

    Liu Qiao made a face. ¡°Another fairy tale card.¡±

    Ye Qiughed. ¡°Liu Qiao, you really have a rtionship with fairy tales. Do you usually read fairy tale books every day?¡±

    Liu Qiao exined, ¡°As a child, my sister would tell me fairy tales every day before I go to bed. Grimm¡¯s fairy tales, Andersen¡¯s fairy tales and various domestic fairy tales were all told¡­¡± A glimmer of loss shed in her eyes when she mentioned her sister but she quickly calmed down. ¡°Maybe is it for this reason that I always draw fairy tale cards.¡±

    Little Red Riding Hood, the Poisonous Queen and Thumbelina, Liu Qiao¡¯s three fairy tale cards were very strong. The Thumbelina card drawn today was equivalent to invincibility during the transformation and the invincible attribute could be shared with a teammate.

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Look at the effect of the card.¡±

    Liu Qiao looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°Professor Xiao, do you want to try the transformation?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded with a smile. The next moment, Liu Qiao used the second skill and Xiao Lou¡¯s body suddenly shrunk, bing as big as a thumb. He raised his head and looked up at his teammates who were as tall as mountains, his heart a bit panicked.

    As a result, Yu Hanjiang suddenly reached out and gently ¡®took¡¯ Xiao Lou, cing the thumb-sized person on his palm. The thumb-sized Xiao Lou was so cute. Yu Hanjiang held the other person in front of him and felt his entire heart softening.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. ¡°Group Leader Yu, you¡¯re like a mountain in my eyes.¡±

    Ye Qi joked, ¡°If Group Leader Yu sneezes right now, won¡¯t Professor Xiao be blown over?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced back at Ye Qi. Ye Qi immediately retracted his neck and pretended he hadn¡¯t said anything.

    Xiao Lou walked back and forth on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s palm while speaking, ¡°This transformation skill is very interesting. For example, if a teammate can¡¯t move or is injured, Liu Qiao can turn them into the size of a thumb and have a teammate take them away.¡±

    He paused before adding, ¡°For example, I couldn¡¯t see in Liuxi Vige and Group Leader Yu could only lead me away. With this card, I can directly be the size of a thumb. Wouldn¡¯t it be easier for Group Leader Yu to put me in his pocket?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang imagined a small Xiao Lou in his pocket and couldn¡¯t help smiling.

    The small Xiao Lou was still walking around on his palm and carefully analyzing the card use. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s palm was a bit itchy and it felt like his heart was scratched by a cat. He really wanted to reach out and poke little Xiao Lou¡¯s head¡­

    Liu Qiao came over and looked at Professor Xiao reduced to the size of a thumb. She also thought it was very magical. ¡°Fortunately, transformed people are immune to attack. They are so small that there might be the tragedy of being trampled on to death by their teammate.¡±

    Ye Qi was serious. ¡°Liu Qiao, you must tell us before transforming. Otherwise, you might be so small that we can¡¯t see you and you might be seriously injured if we step on you.¡±

    Xiao Louughed. ¡°Okay, turn me back.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang carefully ced Xiao Lou on the ground. Once Liu Qiao ended the card effect, Xiao Lou changed back and stood by Yu Hanjiang again. He just suddenly became small and hadn¡¯t adapted yet. Xiao Lou nced at Liu Qiao and said, ¡°This card is very powerful. When necessary, we can change the enemy to the size of a thumb and easily capture them.¡±

    Ye Qiughed. ¡°That¡¯s right! Enemies who are more powerful will be the size of a thumb and can be taken away in our pockets!¡±

    The Erhu and Thumbelina cards from 5 of Hearts made Xiao Lou even more certain about his guess. Everyone drew cards that had something to do with them in the real world. Later, he could target someone to draw cards based on the team¡¯s card situation.

    Next was 6 of Hearts and Xiao Lou still asked Ye Qi and Liu Qiao to draw.

    Ye Qi got the instrument card, Guzheng. The two skills, ¡®Alpine Running Water¡¯ and ¡®Autumn Moon Over Han Pce¡¯ were wide-area group control skills. The former took the moral meaning of ¡®Alpine running water seeks intimate friends¡¯ to increase the attack power of the entire team. The second one was a wide-range sleeping skill. If an opponent met Ye Qi, he could y the erhu, guzheng, flute or guitar to annoy the opponent to death.

    Liu Qiao drew the fairy tale card, ¡®Daughter of the Sea.¡¯ It had only one skill that allowed all teammates to be mermaids. They didn¡¯t need to breathe in the sea and this couldst up to two hours. It was much better than the B-grade card, Diving Suit that was often rewarded in the World Weekly. After bing a mermaid, everyone would also get a speed and agility bonus in the water, their body bing more flexibly. In the future, everyone would truly be ¡®like a fish.¡¯

    Ye Qi and Liu Qiao received two powerful cards and were very happy.

    They easily passed through 5 of Hearts and 6 of hearts. 7 of Hearts couldn¡¯t beat them. The efficiency of clearing the three instances was very fast. For thest two treasure chests, Ye Qi took the initiative to say, ¡°Professor Xiao, Group Leader Yu, you have always let us draw the cards and the two of us are embarrassed.¡±

    Liu Qiao agreed. ¡°Yes, Professor Xiao should draw it this time.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Okay, then I¡¯ll draw a card with Group Leader Yu.¡±

    He had a hunch that he was going to draw a character card again¡­ maybe it was rted to all the history books he always read as a student?

 Chapter 149: Drawing Cards

    7 of Hearts gave two treasure chests. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang each walked up to one and ced their hand into the treasure chest at the same time, also taking it out at the same time. Xiao Lou knew the card he drew would be strange so he went to see Yu Hanjiang¡¯s card first.

    [Equipment Card: Glock 17]

    Rarity: S

    Description: A limited weapon. There is a chance of obtaining it from the draw with a perfect clearance and S-grade evaluation.

    Weapon data: 9 mm calibre, 357 m/s, 620 g weight, a gun body length of 186 mm, equipped with 9 mm diameter handgun bullets, magazine capacity of 17.

    This is the gun that policemen of many countries use. It is easy to carry and has high shooting uracy for those who know how to use it.

    Note: The handgun doesn¡¯t have any skills. In the end, whether it shoots through the opponent¡¯s head or identally shoots into your teammate¡¯s back depends on the user¡¯s own technique. This type of weapon isn¡¯t rmended for rookies.

    Once Xiao Lou saw this small, ck handgun, he smiled and said, ¡°Group Leader Yu, you really got this weapon again! You should be mostfortable with this gun, right? In reality, it is a police officer¡¯s gun?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang put away the card and nodded. ¡°Yes, I am really most skilled with a handgun.

    Ye Qi wasn¡¯t interested in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s various types of guns. He was very curious about Professor Xiao¡¯s card. He came over and asked excitedly, ¡°Professor Xiao, what type of card did you draw? Is it a poet again?¡±

    Liu Qiao heard this and also walked over to see.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s mood wasplicated as he revealed the card. He saw a thin woman drawn on the card. She was a in, long gown and her hair was up in a simple bun. A in hairpin was inserted from the side and her curved willow eyebrows made her facial features more beautiful and moving.

    It was actually the talented woman Li Qingzhao of the Song Dynasty!

    [Summoning Card: Li Qingzhao]

    Rarity: S

    Description: A limited character card. There is a chance of obtaining it from the draw with a perfect clearance and S-grade evaluation.

    Li Qingzhao is the most famous female poets in history. She is one of the representatives of the graceful poets and is known as the most ¡®talented woman in ancient times¡¯.

    Additional Skill 1: Searching, Seeking, Coldness and Destion, Dreariness and Misery

    Li Qingzhao¡¯s famous work ¡®A Long Mncholy Tune¡¯ that depicts a sad scene. The skill will cause a 100 metre area around Li Qingzhao to be affected by her grief. The targets¡¯ movement speed, attack speed and card skill release speeds are collectively reduced to 10%. It is like a movie ying in slow motion. During this period, all eleration cards are invalidated and the speed won¡¯t be restored until Li Qingzhao finishes reading the words.

    Cooldown: 5 hours.

    Additional Skill 2: Who Sent the Brocade from Beyond the Clouds? (Unlocked at level 10)

    Use skills to pass brocades to designated targets using a flying pigeon. Your feelings of affection can be expressed across secret rooms and main cities. In addition to carrying letters, the flying pigeons can carry up to 100 kg (including cards). It doesn¡¯t matter if you¡¯re not with your loved one. You can send a flying pigeon to them.

    Additional Skill 3: Stray Into the Depths of the Lotus Flowers (Unlocked at level 30)

    Li Qingzhao indulged in the beautiful scenery but unexpectedly went the wrong way and rowed her boat into the depths of the lotus flowers. Use the skill in Hearts/Spades/Clubs to return yourself and your designated teammates to the position you were three minutes ago to avoid getting lost. In the Diamonds maze, you can specify a coordinate position. Once you use the skill, you and your designated teammates will immediately return to this coordinate point. The coordinate point can be changed every 30 minutes up to three times.

    Xiao Lou took a closer look at the description of her skills.

    This was a very strong function card. The first skill was a group control. During the time while Li Qingzhao was reading poetry, everyone¡¯s speed would slow to 10%. This could be used as an evasive response to the enemy¡¯s fierce firepower.

    The flying pigeon could pass messages as well as materials urately. In theter secret rooms, sometimes teammates would act separately instead of being all together. At this time, it would be very useful to use Who Sent the Brocade from Beyond the Clouds? to send news and clues.

    Not much needed to be said about the third skill. It was maze magic.

    Yie Qi looked at the long card description and his brain was a bit dull. He couldn¡¯t help feeling, ¡°Professor Xiao, you really stabbed the ho¡¯s nest of poetry. The graceful poets areing to you one by one!¡±

    Xiao Lou helplessly smiled as he put away the Li Qingzhao card. ¡°It is probably because I was bored in high school and specifically memorized these poems. I recited the most poems from the graceful school and the bold school of poetry¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°No wonder why in the previous Diamonds room, you just had to finish reading the question on poetry and you could immediately give the answer.¡±

    Liu Qiao had a serious expression. ¡°You¡¯ve already obtained Liu Yong, Qin Guan and Li Qingzhao. They are three poets from the graceful school. Then will a poet from the bold school of poetrye to you next?¡±

    Ye Qiughed. ¡°If you say this then Professor Xiao¡¯s next card might be Su Shi!¡±

    Xiao Lou also had this not so subtle feeling.

    He had drawn three graceful poets. Will it be the turn of the bold poets next?

    The four of them left the Hearts room and immediately entered 5 of Spades. They continued to clear the three Spades rooms. 5 of Spade and 6 of Spades were pure survival secret rooms. There was no perfect clearance and no reward chests given.

    Thanks to the help of the attack strategy guide, the four of them survived the two secret rooms and managed toe out. 7 of Spades gave two treasure chests and this time Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang still went up to draw cards. Yu Hanjiang drew the limited weapon Mad Believers, which was the fiercest submachine gun!

    So far, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s weapons arsenal was reallyprehensive.

    There was the ultra-long-range sniper gun that could shoot a single target from a kilometer away Silver Moon. The melee and wilderness hunting flexible shotgun, Bloodthirsty Golden Shark. The portable, sneak attack and assassination handgun, Glock 17 and the group assault submachine gun Mad Believers.

    As a firearms enthusiast, Yu Hanjiang had studied many types of guns in the real world and realized a dream in the Card World. He now had four guns, the sharp Night Devil Saber and the lightweight dagger Star de with the ability to stun when attacking from behind. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s fighting ability would definitely make the enemy scared!

    Yu Hanjiang was in a good mood as he ced his new card into the card pack.

    Xiao Lou reached out to draw a card and Ye Qi, Liu Qiao and Yu Hanjiang looked at the same time to see¡ª

    [Congrattions on receiving the S-grade card ¡®Summoning Card: Su Shi.]

    Xiao Lou had a headache. ¡°You¡¯re right. I received too many graceful poets so this bold one was sent!¡±

    The other three people nced at each other. It seemed that these historical figures were very fond of Professor Xiao.

    [Summoning Card: Su Shi]

    Rarity: S

    Description: A limited character card. There is a chance of obtaining it from the draw with a perfect clearance and S-grade evaluation.

    Additional Skill 1: When Did the Bright Moon First Appear? Raise a Cup of Wine and Ask the Blue Sky¡­ Yet One Hopes for Longevity, a Thousand Miles Apart, Seeing the Moon Together.

    From Su Shi¡¯s famous Water Melody.

    After using the skill, Su Shi can immediately turn the sky into a full moon night. No matter what the current environment is, everyone in the scene will be attracted by the full moon in the sky. Even if you are a thousand miles apart, you must enjoy this beautiful moonlight. After the moon appears, the moon watching willst one minute. Within this minute, no one is allowed to do anything.

    After Su Shi changes the scene to a ¡®full moon night¡¯, unless there are other cards that change the scene, the full moon night willst eight hours before it bes daylight (Limited skill: can only be used once in a secret room).

    Additional Skill 2: Great River Flows East, Waves Flushing Down, Thousands of Years¡¯ Worth of Historical Figures!

    From Su Shi¡¯s famous Reminiscence of Red Cliffs

    After using the skill, Su Shi seems to return to the red cliffs, looking down at the rolling Yangtze River and thinking about all types of heroes in history, a small unspeakable feeling of pride rising in his chest. Su Shi¡¯s pride affects the teammates and enhances everyone¡¯sbat power. Within 100 metres, all character cards will have their skill cooldown reset (Su Shi¡¯s own skills won¡¯t be reset).

    Additional Skill 3: Dongpo Pork

    After Su Shi was banished to Huangzhou, he reimednd called Dongpo and his favourite food became known as Dongpo Pork. This has been passed down to this day and is fragrant, delicious and not greasy.

    After using this skill, Su Shi will take out a bowl of Dongpo Pork and give it to you. You can eat it yourself or use it to attract any prey in range. Dongpo Pork can attract all types of birds and beasts (including bird and beast summoning cards). They will actively follow the fragrance and approach.

    Su Shi is so busy that he can only take out one bowl of Dongpo Pork a day.

    As the representative of the bold poets, the strength of Su Shi¡¯s card was really worthy of his position in the literary world.

    The skill ¡®When did the Bright Moon First Appear?¡¯ could change the scene. If he summoned Su Shi on a sunny day, it would change the entire scene directly to a full moon night. Although this scene conversion wasn¡¯t lethal or as clear as Old Mo¡¯s dyeing card, the scene conversion when necessary would make it easier to formte tactics. Assassination during a moonlit night or escape would be easier.

    For example, at sea they could use Su Shi¡¯s full moon night scene change and then Liu Qiao¡¯s mermaid transformation card. Xiao Lou¡¯s entire group would dive into the sea in the form of mermaids and the enemies wouldn¡¯t be able to find them.

    The second skill was even better. It reset the skills of all character cards!

    Cards had skill cooldown times. Although the character cards such as Tao Yuanming, Liu Yong, Li Qingzhao, Qin Guan and Bai Juyi had strong skills, they also had many restrictions. IN particr, Tao Yuanming¡¯s Peach Blossom Spring skill could only be used once in 24 hours. However, when inspired by Su Shi¡¯s ¡®Thousands of Years¡¯ Worth of Historical Figures¡¯, the card skills of all characters would be reset.

    Remember Peach Blossom Spring could be used twice a day and the various control skills of other character cards could be refreshed immediately.

    Su Shi could be called the leader of the character cards group. If he drew Su Shi and then another character card in theter period, Thousands of Years¡¯ Worth of Historical Figures would reset all of the group¡¯s skills and Xiao Lou¡¯s fighting power would double instantly!

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the smiling Su Shi on the card and praised, ¡°This card is good.¡±

    Liu Qiao also said, ¡°The moment Su Shi came out, all the skills of the historical figures will reset. This is really strong.¡±

    However, Ye Qi was focused on something else. ¡°I actually want to taste the Dongpo Pork made by Su Shi himself!¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He was actually focused on the third skill about food? Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry as he used Su Shi¡¯s third skill. He saw a chic ancient poet appear in front of him with a bowl of Dongpo Pork. The colour of the meat was so clear that people couldn¡¯t help coveting it.

    Ye Qi gulped. ¡°Can¡­ can I eat it?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled as he took out the chopsticks card from the card pack and handed it to Ye Qi. ¡°Try it.¡±

    Ye Qi excitedly took it from Su Shi. After taking the bowl, he picked up the chopsticks and took a bite. Then his eyes widened and he nodded like a squirrel. ¡°It¡¯s delicious! It is 100 times more delicious than the Dongpo Meat I used to eat at Zhejiang Restaurant!¡±

    Xiao Lou was curious and also took a pair of chopsticks to taste it. He smiled and said, ¡°Really delicious.¡±

    Liu Qiao and Yu Hanjiang who also joined in, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The four people quickly dived into the bowl of Dongpo Pork and ate it clean. Ye Qi was moved.¡±This is something I can brag about all my life. I have eaten Dongpo Pork made by Su Shi himself.

    Liu Qiao said, ¡°If you go back to the real world and say this, won¡¯t people think you¡¯re crazy?¡±

    Ye Qi smiled and scratched his head. ¡°Yes, this world is amazing.¡±

    They not only tasted the Dongpo Pork tasted by everyone but they got Li Qingzhao¡¯s flying pigeons. They also went to Tao Yuanming¡¯s Peach Blossom Spring and met Liu Yong, Qin Guan and Di Renjie. They could even use Bai Juyi¡¯s fire to get warm¡­

    They really didn¡¯t dare believe it.

    Xiao Lou smiled and put away the Su Shi card. ¡°Okay, we¡¯ve cleared the six Hearts and Spades room. I don¡¯t know how much time has passed in the main city but we should go back to see our teammates.¡±

    He used the heart channel to look for Old Mo and ask about the progress. Mo Xuemin¡¯s voice filled his mind. ¡°Professor Xiao, we have finished the three Clubs room and finished 5 of Diamonds and 6 of Diamonds. We are currently looking for the path in 7 of Diamonds and will go to the exit immediately.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll see you at home!¡±

 Chapter 150

    Chapter 150 ¨C Card Arrangements

    Once Xiao Lou¡¯s group of four returned to the vi, Old Mo¡¯s group still hadn¡¯t returned.

    The time in the main city was Wednesday afternoon and the World Weekly had passed. Xiao Lou opened hisptop to log onto the challengers forum. This week was a Clubs secret room and all challengers were pulled into a huge casino to y cards.

    The challengers didn¡¯t need teamwork but fought individually. Every table had 10 people and every game gave points. ording to the st elimination system¡¯, the lowest ranked table after 10 consecutive rounds would be eliminated. So the elimination rate was controlled at 10%.

    This week didn¡¯t sound difficult but since they couldn¡¯t work in teams, some people who didn¡¯t y cards would take time to understand the rules of the game. In case of bad luck, they might be eliminated. Xiao Lou thought it was fortunate that they avoided this week¡¯s World Weekly. Otherwise, it wasn¡¯t certain if the eight of them could collectively survive the Clubs room.

    Seeing that it was still early, Ye Qi took Ye Qi and Liu Qiao to the kitchen to cook while Yu Hanjiang typed on theptop to organize everyone¡¯s cards.

    At 6:30 p.m., Mo Xuemin¡¯s group of four returned.

    The four of them looked rxed and apparently hadn¡¯t encountered many difficulties in the Diamonds and Clubs rooms. Shao Qingge rubbed his temple. ¡°I was dizzy in the maze but fortunately there was Old Mo to find the way. Otherwise, I definitely wouldn¡¯t havee out.¡±

    Qu Wanyue smiled. ¡°You cleared Hearts and Spades so smoothly? You came back early.¡±

    Ye Qi was excited. ¡°It was very smooth! We also drew six good cards!¡±

    Xiao Lou told them, ¡°Everyone eat first. Once we finish the meal, we will organize the cards and also try out the functions of the new cards.

    The group smelled the food and sat down at the table.

    Xiao Lou had made a few simple dishes followed by summoning Su Shi.

    The time between the second rooms and the main city world was different. They had drawn 7 of Spades on Tuesday and it was currently Wednesday in the main city. Su Shi¡¯s skill was based on the day so at this time, all skills were reset. He could make another bowl of Dongpo Pork.

    Old Mo saw the smiling man in ancient clothes and asked curiously, ¡°Who is this?¡±

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°Su Shi, his third skill is to create a bowl of Dongpo Pork. You should taste it.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    A bowl of steaming Dongpo Pork really appeared on the table. The colour was clear but the small bowl was only enough for each person to eat one piece. Everyone picked up chopsticks and ced the meat in their mouths.

    Old Mo¡¯s eyes immediately lit up. ¡°it¡¯s delicious!¡±

    Long Sen was also excited. ¡°This is the best meat I¡¯ve ever eaten!¡±

    Even Shao Qingge, who was used to eating expensive food, squinted with pleasure. ¡°This is more delicious than Dongpo Port at a five-star hotel. Is this really made by Su Shi himself?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, he can only make one bowl a day.¡±

    Everyone looked at Xiao Lou with aplicated expression. The cards drawn by Professor Xiao were bing stranger and stranger. Bai Juyi could light a charcoal fire while Su Shi made Dongpo Pork. If he drew Li Bai then wouldn¡¯t they be drinking alcohol?

    After the meal, Xiao Lou called everyone to the pool. He summoned Li Qingzhao and Su Shi and introduced their skills and usage in detail. Then he asked, ¡°Old Mo, how many cards did you draw?¡±

    Mo Xuemin replied, ¡°The three rooms of 5, 6 and 7 of Clubs gave material cards. We drew a total of six treasure chests from 5, 6 and 7 of Diamonds and since it was an S-grade clearance, all S-grade cards were drawn.¡±

    Old Mo had already cleared these rooms and there was no reward for re-entry. This trip was equivalent to volunteer work and Old Mo had been envious when he watched his teammates draw S-grade cards. Xiao Lou knew his thoughts and smiled. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. We will get S-grade scores in the future and you will be given the priority to draw cards.¡±

    Mo Xuemin touched his nose and smiled. ¡°Cough, it doesn¡¯t matter. Everyone is in the same team and whoever draws a good card is the same.¡¯ He looked at the husband and wife, Long Sen and Qu Wanyue. ¡°The two of you, take out your cards for everyone to see.¡±

    Since Mo Xuemin couldn¡¯t draw any cards, the other three people had drawn two cards each from the six treasure chests from the Diamonds room.

    Long Sen worked as a sports teacher in the real world and all the cards he drew were about sports.

    [Tool Card: Super Badminton]

    Rarity: S

    Additional Skill 1: Straight Hanging Ball

    Effect: Use the super badminton racket to hit a straight shot to any position within 500 metres. If you hit the target¡¯s body then the target will be stunned for 5 seconds. This skill has no cooldown time but depends on your ability to hit the person with the shuttlecock.

    Additional Skill 2: Assault Smash

    Effect: Smash the shuttlecock down from a high ce. If it hits the target¡¯s vital parts such as the temple or heart, the target will enter a state of near-death shock. If they aren¡¯t rescued within 10 metres, the target will die.

    This skill has no cooldown time but it is very difficult to hit the vital parts. It is rmended to practice more.

    Note: One bucket contains 50 shuttlecocks. The shuttlecocks can be picked up and used again but they might be damaged after ying. if it is damaged then it can¡¯t be used. The number of shuttlecocks is fixed and the card will be invalidated if all 50 are used up. It will only be refreshed when entering the next secret room.

    Xiao Lou saw this card and asked with interest, ¡°Can you y badminton?¡±

    Long Sen smiled and scratched his head. ¡°I can y and the technique is okay. There are 50 shuttlecocks so no matter how I y, there are always a few that can hit people, right?¡±

    Ye Qi suggested, ¡°My flute can lock onto the target but it has a cooldown time. Brother Long¡¯s card can¡¯t lock onto the target but the advantage is the absence of a cooldown time. If you can aim quickly, you can quickly hit a dozen shuttlecocks and keep the other side stunned!¡±

    Liu Qiao said, ¡°The second skill is simr to my Poison Queen¡¯s skill. However, the operation is very difficult.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Long Sen and spoke objectively, ¡°There is no skill cooldown and 50 shuttlecocks are given to you to y casually. The operation difficulty will naturally increase. It seems that you need to practice ying badminton more in the future.¡±

    Long Sen nodded. ¡°Yes¡­ I also have to practice football.¡±

    He took out the second card and handed it to Xiao Lou.

    [Tool Card: Super Football]

    Rarity: S

    Additional Skill 1: Shooting

    Effect: Kick the football with one kick up to 500 metres. The football will fall from the sky and smash a pit in the ground. Targets within 10 metres of the pit will be shocked by your stinky feet and won¡¯t want tounch an attack for 10 seconds. The cooldown time is 30 minutes.

    Additional Skill 2: Dribbling the Ball

    Effect: yers with the football at their feet can act like the wind. During the ¡®dribbling the ball¡¯ period, you can make yourself immune to any form of control or injury. Your eleration will also increase 200%. If the football is intercepted, the buff states will be transferred to the person who intercepted the football. This buff statests 10 minutes and the cooldown time is 45 minutes.

    Ye Qi saw Long Sen¡¯s two new cards and thought of the previous Long Jump. He couldn¡¯t help sighing emotionally, ¡°Brother Long, you are worthy of being from a sports school. You are almighty in sports!¡±

    Long Sen smiled bitterly. ¡°However, I don¡¯t y football very well. My guess is that I¡¯ll only take a few steps before having the ball intercepted.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it carefully. ¡°In fact, this card has another usage, which is a ry. We can do a team ry and pass the football so that everyone gets short time eleration and injury immunity.

    During the Dribbling the Ball mode, the buffs gained would shift if the ball was intercepted. However, what if it was taken by a teammate? Wouldn¡¯t they be able to enjoy the buffs?

    Long Sen¡¯s eyes lit up and he nodded excitedly. ¡°Yes, I can take the ball for half a minute and then kick it to Professor Xiao. If we change in turn, everyone can get the injury immunity and speed increase buffs!¡±

    Ye Qi eximed, ¡°In the future, we can y football during a team battle?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°Whoever has the ball can¡¯t be harmed. I can guess that the opponent will probably be annoyed to death by us.¡±

    Ye Qi suggested, ¡°I can y the Erhu to apany them?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This scene was so beautiful that it felt like their team was about to be a edic group.¡¯

    Liu Qiao looked curiously at Qu Wanyue. ¡°What card did Teacher Qu draw? Is it all rted to dance?¡±

    Qu Wanyue took out her two cards.

    One S-grade card was Swan Lake, which summoned arge number of ballerinas within a specific 500 metre range to perform the ssic ballet ¡®Swan Lake¡¯ for 10 minutes. No one could bypass the stage and it was a very overbearing istion technique. When escaping, they could ce Swan Lake behind them and the chasing opponent would be forced to stop in ce and wait for the ballet to finish.

    The other card was ¡®Latin Dance King.¡¯ After activating the card, the user¡¯s body was supple and flexible. It could bend to the extreme.

    Liu Qiao was stunned. ¡°Bend to the extremes? To what extent can you bend?¡±

    Qu Wanyue used the dance king card and bend down, easily holding onto her toes with both hands. She could also split her legs, which was a basic skill for a dance teacher. However, after using the Latin Dance King card, her entire body was soft and boneless. Her fingers and arms could bend into an ¡®S¡¯ shape and her head could turn 180 degrees.

    Suddenly her face turned behind her, Xiao Lou was also startled.

    Qu Wanyue said, ¡°This card can change the softness of my body. After using it, I can drill through a hole the size of a te. It is much like the bone-shrinking skills in martial arts novels?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and praised her. ¡°Yes, with the chameleon card, there is almost no ce you can¡¯t get into.¡±

    After looking at the cards that the couple drew, it was finally Shao Qingge¡¯s turn.

    Ye Qi joked, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have drawn a bank?¡±

    Shao Qingge raised an eyebrow. ¡°This time, the cards are easier to use than the ATM machine but they are very expensive.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s group of four didn¡¯t understand. How could a card use money? Then Shao Qingge took two cards out and handed them to Xiao Lou.

    [S-grade Special Effects Card: Stock Curve]

    Description: The vtile stock market affects the mood of shareholders and will naturally affect everyone¡¯s fighting power.

    Effect: It costs one million gold coins to draw a stock market curve. When the stock rises, the range of all card skills of allies will increase by 50% and the hit rate will increase by 50%. When the stock falls, all enemy card skills will have the range reduced by 50% and the hit rate reduced by 50%. The stock curve exists for 10 minutes and fluctuations can be manipted at will. The cooldown time is four hours.

    Xiao Lou was stunned. The card drawn by Chief Shao was a team auxiliary card. ording to the rise and fall of the stock curve, the range and hit rate of allies could increase or the range and hit rate of enemies could decrease. There might be only one skill but it could affect the whole group and the effect was actually very strong.

    Especially for Yu Hanjiang¡¯s weapons. Normally, he could only snipe targets within 1500 metres. If Chief Shao¡¯s stocks rose and the range was increased by 50%, Group Leader Yu¡¯s gun could snipe targets within 2200 metres.

    In addition, Ye Qi¡¯s musical instrument cards, Xiao Lou¡¯s character field control cards, Long Sen¡¯s badminton and football cards and even Old Mo¡¯s Model Room, they would all get an increased range and hit bonus.

    The second card drawn by Shao Qingge was a bit unspeakable¡­

    [S-grade Special Effects Card: Rich and Willful]

    Description: Do you think rich people aren¡¯t happy? No, in fact, rich people are many times happier than you think?

    Effect: Be rich and willful, buy whatever you want.

    After using the special effect card, five million gold coins will be deducted from your ount to let you copy any card you have seen within 24 hours.

    Note: Can only be copied in the secret room world and the skill can¡¯t be used in the main city. Can copy cards up to three times in a secret room. It is a so-called ¡®three things¡¯ but the rich can¡¯t be too much. If the ount bnce is insufficient then the skill release will fail.

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Chief Shao¡¯s card could be called a ¡®loser card¡¯. It cost five million to be used once! It was just that the effect was really worth the cost.

    Copy any cards seen within 24 hours. It wasn¡¯t only teammates. Opponents could also be copied!

    Three cards could be copied in one secret room. If they chose a strong S-grade card to copy then thebat effectiveness of the entire team would be greatly improved. Although Chief Shao¡¯s two cards cost money, they were very powerful auxiliary cards.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°In the past few days, we¡¯ve spent a lot of money and bought a car. Is our money reserve enough?¡±

    Shao Qingge rubbed his temple because he had a headache. ¡°It isn¡¯t enough. The Rich and Willfull card requires arge amount of financial support since one use costs five million. This could be 15 million in a secret room. I think it is time to see our chrysoberyl bracelets.¡±

    Old Mo interjected, ¡°You can leave this matter to me. I know a jewellery auction and can find an agent to help us.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had been making records on theptop. After collecting all the new cards, he made an information form and sent it to their WeChat group. ¡°This is our team¡¯s current cards. Take a closer look and we will test them outter.¡±

    Momentster, the group led by Group Leader Yu came to the pool. Qu Wanyue was very interested in Liu Qiao¡¯s new card. ¡°Daughter of the Sea collectively changes us to mermaids. Will we grow tails?¡±

    Liu Qiao used the card to actually grow a beautiful mermaid tail, making everyone marvel.

    Xiao Lou also summoned all his character cards and tried Su Shi¡¯s second skill. He found that Su Shi¡¯s skill only affected historical figures. Liu Qiao¡¯s Little Red Riding Hood, Thumbelina, Poison Queen etc. were fictional characters of fairy tales and weren¡¯t real people. Their skills wouldn¡¯t be refreshed.

    Ye Qi yed the erhu and guzheng, trying out the control range and time of the new instruments.

    Long Sen yed badminton and football while Qu Wanyue danced ballet¡­

    Everyone was excitedly testing out their new cards. Only Yu Hanjiang stood to the side, watching everyone y with a serious expression.

    Xiao Lou walked up to him and smiled. ¡°Group Leader Yu, why don¡¯t you try it?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took out the newly drawn handgun and saw a shuttlecock falling toward the pool. His eyes narrowed as he aimed and pulled the trigger. There was a loud sound and a bullet directly shot through the shuttlecock!

    Long Sen, who was ying badminton, couldn¡¯t help sweating. ¡°Group Leader Yu is too amazing. His marksmanship is really urate!¡±

    Other people¡¯s cards were messy while Yu Hanjiang¡¯s cards were simple and brutal. No matter how strong a card, it was like a child ying house in front of his gun.

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help admiring it. ¡°Group Leader Yu¡¯s shooting ability is really strong.¡±

    The praised Yu Hanjiang nodded earnestly. ¡°I have touched a gun since I was 10 years old and don¡¯t have to practice it. Moreover, I can¡¯t use the silencer in the main city so it is easy to be noticed if I start shooting.¡±

    The group gave a thumbs up when they heard it.

    Xiao Lou believed that Group Leader Yu didn¡¯t need to practice. In a critical life or death moment, if Yu Hanjiang was forced to shoot then he would definitely kill the target.

    That night, the group in the vige used all their cards and rested.

    The next two days, Old Mo went to the auction to sell their chrysoberyl bracelets. Each bracelet was sold for a good price and their wallet was stuffed. Shao Qingge¡¯s personal ount held more than 80 million gold coins while Xiao Lou also had 80 million.

    After all the preparation, everyone took a half-day of rest before opening the A-grade room at 23:55 on Friday night.

    ording to the words from Brother Jiu and Tang Ci, the A-grade secret rooms had random plots and there was no strategy. They could only rely on themselves.

    Facing the four categories, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other before tacitly pulling ¡®8 of Hearts¡¯ from the card wall. In the mystery room, they weren¡¯t worried about the lives of their teammates and were confident about solving the A-grade secret room on their own.

    A prompt appeared in front of everyone at the same time.

    [The A-grade secret room is about to open.]

    [The plot is being generated. Countdown 10, 9, 8, 7, 6¡­]

    [The role assignment ispleted.]

    [Wee to the world of 8 of Hearts: Beacon in Troubled Times.]

 Chapter 151: Beacon in Troubled Times 01

    The previous 4 of Hearts, Extremely Quick Train also required dressing up. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang had changed into the uniform of a train conductor and spent three days on the train. Therefore, Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t surprised when he saw the prompt about ¡®role allocation.¡¯ He thought that 8 of hearts might also be a special environment where challengers needed to y a role to solve the case.

    There was darkness in front of them and the wait was noticeably longer. It took around half a minute for Xiao Lou to regain his vision.

    Xiao Lou sat up and rubbed his eyes before quickly looking around. It wasn¡¯t the modern environment he was familiar with. He was in an antique bedroom with a carved wooden bed, light-coloured windows and wooden tables and chairs.

    His teammates weren¡¯t around but this was nothing. It wasn¡¯t the first time the secret room had teammates. The question was what was his condition and the floor-length dress? There were alsoplicated ribbons and patterns on the clothes, making it a headache to look at.

    Xiao Lou got out of bed. he hadn¡¯t even taken two steps when he tripped on his clothes. He soon figured out that he hade to ancient times. It seemed that the story of 8 Of Hearts took ce in another era.

    Xiao Lou had never worn a period costume and he wasn¡¯t used to it. He pulled up the skirt that was dragging to the ground and stood still, reading the prompts on the floating box in the upper right corner.

    [Wee Xiao Lou to 8 of Hearts: Beacon in Troubled Times.]

    There are four countries in the world. Your country is the Daqi Dynasty and the current city is the capital of the Qi State.]

    You are assigned a special status in this room. Please y your role well. If a person in the secret room perceives that you are an outsider then you will fail this instance.]

    [it is forbidden to kill the original people of this world. In addition, all attack type, control type and modern high-tech cards are disabled. Specific ally cards can be used. Please check your card pack.]

    Xiao Lou opened his card pack to look. The high-tech cards such as the hairdryer and rice cooker had be ¡®unusable¡¯ grey cards. Meanwhile, for his control and attack cards, some skills had been disabled.

    Apparently, this secret room was for challengers to figure out the mystery, not to cheat with their cards. Xiao Lou swiped over the floating box with his finger and two more rows of text popped up.

    [Identity Introduction: Xiao Lou. Your father is a well-known coroner and your mother a well-known doctor. Since childhood, you have studied with your parents and have a good knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine and autopsies. Your younger brother joined the army and went on an expedition with General Xi three years ago and his whereabouts are unknown. There are no other loved ones in your family.]

    [When you were 16 years old, you rescued a talented man in Jiangzhou who was going to Beijing to take the exam. This personter became the top scorer in the pce examination and became a popr man. He was grateful for your help and married you. The husband and wife respect each other and love each other very much.]

    [10 days ago, the prefectural magistrate of Jiangzhou died of illness. Your husband has been entrusted by His Majesty and will go to Jiangzhou to take office.]

    The story will take ce in your hometown of Jiangzhou. Please be prepared.]

    Xiao Lou felt it was more and more wrong? Wife? Marry? The crazy A of Hearts had him y a woman?

    No wonder why he felt things weren¡¯t right when he opened his eyes. There were a dressing table and a bronze mirror in the room. The clothes on his body were like a woman¡¯s long dress and his hair was very long.

    Xiao Lou hurriedly picked up the mirror.

    Sure enough, he had changed into a dress. The ¡®woman¡¯ in the mirror had long ck hair pulled up in a simple bun with a simple and elegant hairpin inserted in it. He had a fair skin, a beautiful face and soft eyebrows. He looked ¡®knowledgeable.¡¯

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t bear it and hit his head against the mirror.

    This secret room was really too strange. The role-ying even changed his gender. He couldn¡¯t help wondering if Group Leader Yu was also wearing female clothing. What identity would be assigned to his other teammates?

    Since they opened the secret room at 23:55, all the card skills were refreshed and the heart channel with Group Leader Yu was also broken. He didn¡¯t know where Yu Hanjiang was at this time.

    At the same time, the pce.

    Yu Hanjiang was wearing an official uniform and seriously reading the secret room¡¯s prompts.

    [Identity Introduction: The Yu family has been officials for generations and your grandfather once upied the position of prime minister. Then he resigned and retired to Jiangzhou.]

    [You have read poetry since you were young. When you were 18 years old, you were heading to Beijing to do the pce examination when you were bitten by a poisonous snake in the wilderness. Your life was at risk but a gentle woman passed by and personally helped deal with your wound, saving your life. You fell in love with her.]

    [Three years after bing the top scorer of the pce examination, thete emperor originally wanted to betroth you to the Ninth Princess. You refused on the grounds that you already have a marriage contract, offending the Ninth Princess. In order to use the excuse of an ¡®early marriage contract¡¯, you immediately went back to Jiangzhou to propose to the benefactor who saved your life. You have been very loving after marriage.]

    [The seventh year of the sr calendar happens to coincide with the death of the prefectural magistrate of Jiangzhou. You have been appointed as the new prefectural magistrate of Jiangzhou.]

    [You are about to go to the pce to bid farewell to the emperor before going to Jiangzhou with your wife tomorrow to serve.]

    Yu Hanjiang read the description and his eyebrows slightly wrinkled. What was this mess?

    Not only did he be a prefectural magistrate of the Qi State, the keeper inexplicably arranged a wife for him? Tomorrow he would go to Jiangzhou to take up his post. It was obvious that the plot of this secret room would be in Jiangzhou.

    Yu Hanjiang had a headache at the thought. It was better to find an excuse to leave his wife at the capital and go to take office alone, lest a ¡®wife¡¯ hinder the handling of the case.

    The magnificent pce was in sight and the environment was extremely realistic, as if travelling to ancient times.

    A sharp eunuch¡¯s voice entered his ears. ¡°Go up to court!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took a deep breath and looked up at the high steps. His genius was bright and there were many officials waiting around him. He patted his official uniform and followed the other officials. Although he wasn¡¯t a professional actor, the keeper had asked them to abide by the rules of the world and y the role well. Thus, he couldn¡¯t mess around and could only follow the plot.

    Inside the pce, the emperor sat on the throne. He was very young with clear eyes and a gentle smile.

    Based on the identity introduction, the words te emperor¡¯ showed the current emperor should be a new one sitting on the throne for less than four years. After seeing the emperor, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mind was automatically injected with the identity information of the emperor. Yu Hanjiang had known the emperor for a long time. He had been the prince¡¯spanion in childhood. Later, his grandfather resigned and returned to his hometown of Jiangzhou.

    The internal partypetition of the Daqi Dynasty was serious. The new emperor had to cultivate his own power after rising to the throne. The emperor trusted Yu Hanjiang very much. Jiangzhou was one of thergest and most prosperous territories apart from the capital. Now the emperor transferred a young official like Yu Hanjiang to Jiangzhou to serve as the prefectural magistrate. The intention to cultivate him was very obvious and this move was opposed by many of the traditional faction.

    Of course, the emperor seemed gentle but his eloquence was excellent. After a war of words with the ministers, the emperor defended against all opinions and secured Yu Hanjiang¡¯s position as the prefectural magistrate of Jiangzhou.

    The memory indoctrination allowed Yu Hanjiang to know where he should stand. He stood to the side, surrounded by many people who looked at him withplicated eyes. It was inevitable that people would be jealous since he was bing the prefectural magistrate of Jiangzhou at such a young age.

    The hundreds of officials knelt together. ¡°Long live the emperor!¡±

    The emperor raised his hand with a smile, ¡°My beloved ministers, as you were.¡±

    After everyone stood up, the emperor specifically pointed out Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Beloved Minister Yu, you are about to go to Jiangzhou. Are you ready?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took a step forward. ¡°Your Majesty, I am ready to leave tomorrow.¡±

    The emperor smiled. ¡°Beloved Minister Yu, you are young and promising. You must do you due diligence in Jiangzhou and live up to the expectations of the court.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang responded stiffly.

    The emperor discussed things with the officials for a long time. It wasn¡¯t until the call of ¡®withdraw¡¯ was heard that Yu Hanjiang was slightly relieved and followed the other officials in turning away.

    As a result, he had just walked out of the hall when a eunuch came over and whispered to him, ¡°Yu daren, His Majesty has requested you go to the royal study.¡± (Daren = title of respect for superiors)

    Yu Hanjiang had no idea what was about to happen. Since a key figure like the emperor asked to meet him, maybe the emperor wanted to give him a task or provide a clue. Yu Hanjiang immediately followed the eunuch to the royal study.

    The emperor sent away his attendants and whispered, ¡°Beloved Minister, the Eighth Imperial Uncle¡¯s mansion is in Jiangzhou. Remember to go visit him at the Zhenjiang prince¡¯s mansion. I have a secret letter here. Please hand it to my imperial uncle.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±

    The emperor continued, ¡°The situation in Jiangzhou isplicated. You must go with great care at this time. If you encounter any difficulties then spur your horse at full speed to hand over the secret missive. In addition, there are many forces from enemy countries over there. I have arranged a group of dead soldiers to protect you. This is a token. Remember to mobilize them when necessary.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang respectfully took the token and secret letter from the emperor. It actually reached the point of arranging a group to protect him. It seemed that Jiangzhou was full of deep waters.

    Yu Hanjiang carefully kept the emperor¡¯s instructions in mind and put the token in his pocket.

    Aftering out of the pce, a tall guard immediately came up to him and said, ¡°Daren.¡±

    The secret room had the setting that if he saw anyone, he would automatically gain memories of them. Therefore, Yu Hanjiang soon remembered. This was an orphan adopted by his grandfather and had been around him since childhood to protect him. This person¡¯s name was Yun Cang and he had great martial art skills. They might be master and servant but they were more like brothers.

    Yu Hanjiang nodded at him and walked in the direction of his home in his memories while whispering, ¡°Yun Cang, go find two fast horses. We will set off to Jiangzhou tonight. Regarding the madam, you will find another ce to settle her well.¡¯

    Yun Cang¡¯s face was full of surprise. ¡°Daren, you mean you won¡¯t go with the madam this time?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°I temporarily won¡¯t take her¡­ wait until I settle over there first.¡±

    Yun Cang suddenly realized. ¡°I understand. Daren loves the madam so much that you are afraid of her fatigue.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed on the surface but inwardly, he was afraid that he would reveal something in front of thisdy. After all, he wasn¡¯t a movie emperor. He couldn¡¯t y a husband and wife with a stranger. Moreover, if he met his teammates in Jiangzhou and they saw ady beside him, what would Professor Xiao think? He didn¡¯t want to take a woman to see Xiao Lou.

    At the same time, Xiao Lou was sitting in front of a mirror and studying his clothes with a headache. He had never been exposed to female clothing, let alone aplicated outfit like this.

    Someone suddenly knocked on the door. ¡°Madam, it is time to wash.¡±

    Xiao Lou opened the door and saw a girl dressed as a maiding in with a washbasin, ready to wash his face. Xiao Lou was ufortable and immediately said, ¡°You go out. I can do it myself.¡±

    After the maid left, Xiao Lou picked up a towel and simply washed his face. Then he pushed open the window to see¡ª

    Based on the sun outside the window, it should be eight in the morning. People got up very early in ancient times and the ¡®husband¡¯ who had been forced on him should return soon.

    Xiao Lou rubbed his temple as he thought about countermeasures.

    His husband was going to take up office in Jiangzhou and he had to follow. Things would definitely happen in Jiangzhou. Xiao Lou was unfamiliar with this era and couldn¡¯t run away by himself. Going to Jiangzhou with his husband was his only option. However, he couldn¡¯t really act as a couple with a stranger, not to mention that he was now a woman! If his husband wanted a close rtionship with him, should he punch that person or obey?

    Thinking of this, Xiao Lou felt his hairs stand up.

    Just then, footsteps came from outside and the maid called out loudly. ¡°Daren is back!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang quickly received a memory. This was a 16 year old girl called Pinger. She was his wife¡¯s personal maid and an orphan rescued from a famine a few years old. Yu Hanjiang asked in a low voice, ¡°Is the madam up?¡±

    Pinger smiled. ¡°She is up and washing up.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang quickly stepped forward and pushed open the door. No matter what messy wife the keeper arranged for him, he had to find a good excuse for his wife to stay in the capital while he went to Jiangzhou alone to see his teammates.

    However, the moment the door opened, Yu Hanjiang met a pair of familiar eyes. These eyes were as clear as water and there seemed to be a mysterious power that attracted his attention. The other side¡¯s features were gentler with the long hair and jewellery but they were clearerpared to weak women. The gentle and elegant Xiao Lou in a period costume stunned Yu Hanjiang.

    After seeing his his ¡®wife¡¯, he received a memory, including the main event of the marriage between them. However, all the plot settings weren¡¯t important. Yu Hanjiang only knew hat this was Xiao Lou.

    The wife the keeper arranged for him was actually Xiao Lou! Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart beat violently.

    Meanwhile, Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t help widening when he saw the tall and handsome Yu Hanjiang dressed in official clothes. The husband the keeper arranged for him was actually Group Leader Yu?

    His heart beat quickly, but at the same time, he was relieved. Since the other side was Group Leader Yu, the two of them going to Jiangzhou was really good. The things he had worried about wouldn¡¯t happen.

    One person stood at the door and the other person inside the room.

    After a long period of staring, Yu Hanjiang tentatively called out, ¡°Xiao Lou. Madam?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face heated up a bit. He was familiar with this voice and it was indeed Yu Hanjiang. He just couldn¡¯t adapt to being called ¡®Madam.¡¯ He coughed lightly and whispered, ¡°Daren, I have something to tell you privately.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the maid and guards beside him. ¡°You go back first.¡±

    The people made expressions that said ¡®I understand¡¯ and quickly retreated.

    Yu Hanjiang entered the room and closed the door and windows.

    He looked carefully at Xiao Lou and wondered, ¡°How are you in female clothes?¡±

    Xiao Lou was depressed speaking of this topic. ¡°I was wearing a dress the moment I woke up. Then I heard that a husband was arranged for me and I really had a headache. It is good¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart paused for a moment as he asked in a low voice, ¡°What¡¯s good?¡±

    Xiao Lou almost said, ¡®It¡¯s you.¡¯

    It was just that the ambiguity of these words was too great. He immediately changed topics. ¡°Fortunately, I will go with you to Jiangzhou and we can discuss countermeasures on the road. My status in this world isn¡¯t only your wife. I am also the heir to a famous doctor and my father is a coroner i.e. an ancient forensics doctor responsible for autopsy.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang watched him while thinking, ¡°A forensics doctor? Did the keeper arrange roles ording to our identity?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°No wonder why Director Tang said there is no way to have a strategy for the A-grade secret rooms. It seems that the A-grade secret rooms are based on the number of challengers and their upations. Each team will enter a different secret room.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also felt this made sense. He looked at Xiao Lou and said, ¡°We are ying a husband and wife in this secret room. Perhaps it was arranged this way in order to facilitate us acting together.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang unhappiness at inexplicably getting a wife disappeared the moment he saw Xiao Lou. Instead, he thought that this was a good arrangement.

    Xiao Lou pulled at his long sleeves and looked quite distressed. ¡°We are setting off tomorrow right? I want to change my clothes. They are too awkward to wear and walk in.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked soft. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll apany you to buy two sets of easy to wear clothes.¡±

    The two of them went out and Guard Yun Cang ran over. ¡°Daren, I have prepared fast horses as you said. Tonight¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang interrupted him. ¡°Prepare a horse-drawn carriage for the madam to sit in. Tomorrow we will set off together.¡±

    The guard, ¡°???¡±

    What about the madam? He changed his mind so soon?

    TL: I both hate and love this arc. I love it because of the setting but it is ancient times

    I¡¯m personally not used to Chinese titles/honorifics so I try to trante them as much as possible, unless I can¡¯t think of a suitable word in English. This is why there might be a mix but I¡¯ll try to minimize this as much as possible.

 Chapter 152: Beacon in Troubled Times 02

    Looking at the guard¡¯s nk expression, Yu Hanjiang had to pretend that nothing happened. He previously hadn¡¯t wanted to bring his wife because he was afraid that bringing a strange woman would affect the case. Now since his wife was Xiao Lou, why wouldn¡¯t he bring Xiao Lou? Of course, he would take his wife with him since he was inseparable from his wife.

    The guard couldn¡¯t understand Daren¡¯s thoughts and turned around to find a carriage.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou walked side by side to the door.

    He was a clean official so he didn¡¯t live in arge ce and there weren¡¯t many servants. In addition to Yun Cang and Pinger, there was the cook Li Sai, the housekeeper Yao Ba and two guards.

    Thinking about Xiao Lou going to buy clothes, Yu Hanjiang whispered in his ear, ¡°We have to find the housekeeper to ask for money. Themon currency in an ancient world should be silver.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°As far as I know, your official¡¯s sry isn¡¯t high and our family doesn¡¯t seem to have much money?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang touched his nose. ¡°I can still afford clothes.¡±

    They walked around a corner and met Housekeeper Yao. The middle-aged man in his 40s arrived in front of Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou and spoke respectfully, ¡°Daren, tomorrow you will leave for Jiangzhou and your things are ready. Would you like to take a look?¡±

    ¡°No, I am assured of your handling of the matter.¡± He nced at Xiao Lou before continuing, ¡°I¡¯m going to take my wife to buy some clothes.¡±

    Housekeeper Yao immediately handed him a money bag. ¡°Daren, take this money for the road.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took the money bag and left with Xiao Lou.

    The housekeeper looked at the backs of the two people and thought that their rtionship was really good!

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou walked beside each other on the street. In addition to buying clothes, they wanted to see the environment of this world.

    Xiao Lou was interested in history during middle-school. In China¡¯s 5,000 year history, there was no Daqi Dynasty. Obviously, this was a fictional dynasty and many rules were made by the keeper.

    As the capital of Daqi, the streets were filled with pedestrians. Pedestriansing and going looked very energetic and should be rich in life.

    The ancient streets weren¡¯t as wide as modern streets and it seemed a bit crowded while walking. A passing trader carrying two baskets of good identally hit Xiao Lou and hurriedly apologized. ¡°Madam, I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t pay attention just now. Are you all right?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled with a good temper. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at him and naturally reached out to hold his hand. ¡°We are ying a loving husband and wife and can¡¯t be too far away from each other or we will be suspected if we meet acquaintances.¡±

    This reason couldn¡¯t be refuted. Xiao Lou¡¯s ears were red but he didn¡¯t struggle.

    In retrospect, this was the second time holding hands. Previously, the ground below them had lowered at the Intelligence Bureau and Xiao Lou had hurriedly grabbed Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hand to maintain bnce. Now Yu Hanjiang took the initiative to grab his hand¡­

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was a mess as he followed Yu Hanjiang.

    The handsome and tall official held his gentle and good-looking wife as they went shopping. The appearance of the two people was too outstanding and they soon attracted the attention of many people.

    Xiao Lou found ancient street merchandise, many of which he had never seen before.

    Women wereing and going while wearing jewellery on their heads. Xiao Lou thought of hisplicated bun and then Yu Hanjiang¡¯s head and couldn¡¯t help having a headache. ¡°Can I change to men¡¯s clothing? Aren¡¯t there many women who go out dressed as men in ancient times?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s okay. Try it?¡±

    The moment he spoke, a warning popped up on the floating boxes. [Xiao Lou¡¯s identity in this world is the prefectural magistrate¡¯s wife. During the roley, don¡¯t change sex at will.]

    Xiao Lou was helpless. ¡°Then go and pick a fewfortable women¡¯s clothing.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°I wronged you.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°It¡¯s fine. It is just clothes.¡±

    There were many stores selling clothes on the street. They could choose fabric and have clothes tailor-made but they were leaving tomorrow and it was toote. They had to buy a finished product. Xiao Lou entered a store and smiled as he asked, ¡°Do you have ready-to-wear clothes?¡±

    The shopkeeper saw him and immediately smiled. ¡°Madam Yu, there are clothes that fit your size on this side.¡±

    It seemed that he used toe here to buy clothes since the storekeeper knew him. Xiao Lou followed the storekeeper. He was currently wearing light pink clothes and he really couldn¡¯t wear such a girly colour.

    The ready-made clothes were neatly arranged on hangers and the long,yered skirts still gave him a headache. The bright red and purple colours made his eyes really hot. It was estimated that he would scare his teammates if he went to Jiangzhou in a bright, red dress.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Is there a lighter colour?¡±

    The storekeeper opened a door and took him into another room. ¡°Madam Yu, here are the light colours.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also followed to help Xiao Lou. He fancied a moon-white gown with a light blue cloud pattern embroidered on it. The entire set was simple and elegant, but the cloud pattern didn¡¯t make it look too simple. There also wasn¡¯t aplicated pleated skirt. He thought Xiao Lou should like it and said, ¡°This suit, give it to my wife to try.¡±

    The storekeeper immediately took it down and brought Xiao Lou to the fitting room.

    Xiao Lou took off herplicated light pink dress and put on the new clothes. These clothes only had twoyers and weren¡¯t tooplicated to wear. It was elegant in colour and could be worn by both men and women. He sighed with relief, arranged his clothes and came out to look in the mirror. In ancient times, there was no full-length mirror, only a copper mirror. He couldn¡¯t see clearly and could only think that the size was quite suitable.

    However, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes were bright. Wasn¡¯t this too good-looking?

    Professor Xiao gave people an elegant feeling when wearing men¡¯s clothes. Once he changed into a dress and matching simple bun, he gave off a gentle air, especially when he smiled. The gentle and elegant temperament simply made people unable to look away.

    Yu Hanjiang stared intently at Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou was embarrassed and couldn¡¯t help whispering, ¡°Is it strange?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s lips curved up slightly. ¡°It isn¡¯t strange, it looks really good.¡±

    The storekeeper also smiled. ¡°Madam is really beautiful. This set is suitable for you! This is our new arrival and there is only one left. You should buy it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang simply took out the money pouch. ¡°Just buy this. Is there anything else simr? Pick another set for her to wear.¡±

    The storekeeper turned and attentively pulled out a light blue set to give to Xiao Lou.

    After leaving the clothing store, Xiao Lou was wearing his new clothes and sighed with relief. ¡°This is much better than the previous one. At least I won¡¯t stumble when I walk. In addition, the pink colour just now, I really¡­ don¡¯t have the face to wear it.¡±

    Looking at Xiao Lou¡¯s smile, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart beat like a drum. He never thought Xiao Lou would look so beautiful in female clothing. he never thought that Xiao Lou, who looked so good, was now his wife.,

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hard heart had long softened when hearing the word ¡®madam.¡¯ He held Xiao Lou¡¯s hand and was simply reluctant to let go. He liked this roley. If the future Hearts rooms had this mode of y then he would happily clear 100 rooms.

    He was just thinking this when he suddenly saw a luxurious carriage in the street. Yu Hanjiang immediately took Xiao Lou into his arms to protect Xiao Lou and as a result, the carriage happened to stop in front of him. A pair of slender hands opened the curtain and the owner raised her eyebrows to look at him. ¡°Isn¡¯t this Yu daren?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang saw this person and memories immediately came to mind.

    It was the crafty and unruly Ninth Princess. Thete emperor had intended to betroth the Ninth Princess to him and he used an excuse to push it off. The Ninth Princess was so small-minded that she hated him from then on and was always looking for his faults.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly and said, ¡°Princess.¡±

    The Ninth Princess looked at Xiao Lou with a hostile expression andughed mockingly. ¡°This is Madam Yu? Sure enough, her appearance is outstanding. No wonder why Yu daren is so fascinated by you. He won¡¯t let you go even though you¡¯ve been married into the Yu family for four years and don¡¯t have any children.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    What was this mess? Married for four years without children? it should be the plot setting. Otherwise, how could they bring a baby along to Jiangzhou to solve the case?

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry but he had to continue acting on the surface. He smiled politely at the Ninth Princess and was about to speak when Yu Hanjiang coldly interrupted. ¡°The family affairs of me and my wife, you don¡¯t have to worry about them.¡±

    The Ninth Princess stared. ¡°You!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang pulled Xiao Lou to leave. ¡°I have some important things to do and won¡¯t be able to apany you.¡±

    Watching Yu Hanjiang lead his wife away, the Ninth Princess was very angry. Once the maid brought food back, she immediately ordered the maid, ¡°Go back and prepare. We are also going to Jiangzhou!¡±

    Once they got home, the two of them went into their room and closed the door.

    Xiao Lou joked, ¡°That Ninth Princess, is she interested in you?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned unpleasantly. ¡°ording to the plot, during the year when I came first in the pce examination, the emperor wanted to betroth her to me. However, I liked you and found an excuse to push it off.¡±

    The moment these words were spoken, both men choked up.

    In the plot setting, Yu Hanjiang liked Xiao Lou so Yu Hanjiang said it naturally. However, after speaking, he suddenly felt guilty.

    ¡®Like¡¯, it was the first time he uttered this word and also the first time he had to carefully consider his feelings for Xiao Lou. Perhaps he didn¡¯t only feel friendship toward Xiao Lou. How could friends hold hands? He didn¡¯t feel ufortable when holding Xiao Lou¡¯s hand and was instead reluctant to let go¡­

    Facing Xiao Lou¡¯s clear eyes, Yu Hanjiang immediately looked away and cough softly. ¡°The plot setting of this secret room is very strange. The Ninth Princess¡­ you don¡¯t need to worry about her. I don¡¯t know her at all and she is just a plot character the keeper inserted.¡±

    Xiao Lou was thoughtful. ¡°She might promote the development of the plot and will perhaps follow us to Jiangzhou. By the way, are there any clues about the Jiangzhou side?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°The emperor told me that after going to Jiangzhou, I should go to the prince¡¯s mansion to meet the Eighth Imperial Uncle in Zhenjiang and give him a secret letter. In addition, the emperor said the situation in Jiangzhou wasplicated and sent a group of secret soldiers to protect us. I can use a token to mobilize them.¡±

    Xiao Lou remembered the prompts when entering the secret room. Many of the skills of their attack cards were disabled. The emperor¡¯s protection obviously showed there were many crises in Jiangzhou. Not only would they have to solve the case, they might face life-threatening danger.

    It was truly an A-grade secret room. The difficulty was directly raised a level.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Have you looked at your card pack? Are all your weapon cards banned?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°yes, once I saw the prompts, I checked my card pack. The invisibility cloak, Night Pearl and other functional items can still be used but my guns, the saber and dagger have all be unavable.¡±

    Xiao Lou frowned. ¡°The attack cards of the others should also be banned. Once we are in danger, you can only use the men the emperor arranged and the guard Yun Cang. I have a hunch that there might be people in Jiangzhou who don¡¯t want you to be the prefectural magistrate.

    The situation in Jiangzhou was still a mystery. They could only wait and go to Jiangzhou tomorrow since everything had to do with that side.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath. ¡°Today, we will rest. The first day of the Hearts room is generally to let us be familiar with the environment. We should carefully consider the setting of the world.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang naturally agreed and took Xiao Lou to the study.

    His study had a wall of bookshelves with many books. Fortunately, the characters in the books were traditional characters that could be read. In addition, a map hung on the wall.

    There were four countries in the world: Qi, Chu, Zhao and Yan. The west of Daqi was bordered by Zhao and Jiangzhou was near this border. Qi and Zhao had allied with each other by adopting a ¡®harmonious¡¯ strategy.

    Daqi¡¯s northwest side was adjacent to the Yan State and the border war between Qi and Yan still continued. The emperor specially sent General Xi to resist the invasion of the Yan State and Xiao Lou¡¯s brother was also on the front lines, his fate unknown.

    As for the Chu State, it was located in the rtively remote south. it was very low-key and had good rtions with the other three countries.

    The situation of the four nations was veryplicated, with the Qi Country in the centre of the map and bordering the other three countries.

    The two of them read a lot of books to understand the setting of this world until the maid called them to eat at lunchtime. Yu Hanjiang took the map on the wall and ced it in his pocket. In the afternoon, he packed the luggage and arranged the servants. Time passed quickly and it became night.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were ying husband and wife and naturally slept together in the main bedroom. However, the bedroom only had one bed. In addition, an ancient bed wasn¡¯t like a modern double bed. It was slightly narrow.

    Yu Hanjiang wanted to sleep on the ground and was about to have a maid get a quilt for him but this would certainly raise suspicion. He thought about it and dispelled this idea, asking Xiao Lou, ¡°Do you mind sleeping together?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart jumped and his ears became hot, but his face pretended to be fine. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Since we are acting as husband and wife, we should follow the rules and not reveal ourselves.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Then rest. Tomorrow we have to get up early to start the journey.¡±

    Xiao Louy in bed. Yu Hanjiang also pretended not to mind lifting the quilt andying by Xiao Lou¡¯s side. Both took off their coats and slept side by side in a white top and pants. There was only one quilt and it was really embarrassing to be in the same quilt¡­

    Xiao Lou¡¯s hands were right by his side and his legs were straight. He felt like he was sleeping like a corpse.

    Yu Hanjiang also saw his eyes, nose and¡­

    He had never been so close to a person since he was a child, let alone in the same bed.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s breathing was all around him and the other person was only wearing a thinyer of pyjamas. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart seemed like it was scratched by a cat¡¯s paw. He could gradually fell his stalling heartbeat.

    The room was dark and he looked sideways at Xiao Lou. Under the dim moonlight, this person¡¯s eyshes were long and thick. The pale pink lips looked particrly soft, making people wonder¡­

    Xiao Lou sensed the gaze from the side and opened his eyes. ¡±Group Leader Yu, what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was low and hoarse. ¡°Don¡¯t call me Group Leader Yu like you are ustomed to. If you are heard then we will be revealed.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it and hesitantly changed his words. ¡°Then¡­ Husband?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang smiled. ¡°ording to our identities, it should be called like this.¡±

    The tip of Xiao Lou¡¯s ears were slightly red. ¡°If so¡­ shall I call you Hanjiang in private? Couples calling each other by the name should be nothing.¡± It was shameful to call him ¡®Husband¡¯ in private. He couldn¡¯t y such a role.

    There was a ripple in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart. This was the first time Xiao Lou called his name: Hanjiang.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s warm, soft voice calling out this word gave him a type of enjoyment.

    Yu Hanjiang readily agreed. ¡°In front of people, call me Husband. Privately, call me Hanjiang and I will call you Xiaolou.¡± (The Xiao that means little/¡¯small, not Xiao Lou¡¯s surname)

    Xiao Lou nodded.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was soft. ¡°Sleep, it is just acting out the plot. Don¡¯t think too much.¡±

    Xiao Lou hummed and closed his eyes. Unfortunately, no one could sleep. Covered by the same quilt and sleeping beside the person who made their hearts beat faster, who could sleep? The slightest movement of their body meant it was possible to touch each other. Thus, both of themy stiffly and didn¡¯t dare to move.

    Both were thinking, ¡®What time is it? Sharing a bed is too hard!¡¯

 Chapter 153: Beacon in Troubled Times 03

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t sleep until the early hours of the morning and only got two or three hours of sleep.

    The next morning, their biological clock caused the two people to wake up on time. Xiao Lou found that both of them slept straight with their hands on their chests, in the standard ¡®corpse¡¯ position. They could directly be covered with white cloth to be buried.

    Yu Hanjiang opened the quilt and got out of bed, speaking like nothing happened. ¡°Get up and wash.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. The girl outside the room knocked toe in. She carried a basin of water to the stool and handed him a clean towel. Xiao Lou briefly washed before grabbing the bronze mirror on the table and looked at it.

    Although he had slept straight on the bedst night and didn¡¯t dare to move, he still had to take down the bun while sleeping and his hair was a mess after sleeping all night long. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hair was also a mess. Xiao Lou was wondering if he should ask the maid to helpb it when Pingrenughed. ¡°Madam, are you still going tob Daren¡¯s hair yourself today?¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    This sentence made a scene automatically rise in their minds. Every day, Yu Hanjiang would get up early, waking before dawn. Xiao Lou would wake up with him at the same time, personallybing his hair and helping him organize his clothes. After Yu Hanjiang left, Xiao Lou would take a nap before getting up at breakfast time. Usually, Yu daren would¡¯ve returned by this time.

    Since being married, it was a habit tob his husband¡¯s hair every day. The habit naturally couldn¡¯t be changed. Xiao Lou could only say, ¡°Yes, I willb Daren¡¯s hair.¡±

    Pinger smiled. ¡°Then I will go to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Wait for me to call you.¡±

    Once she left, Yu Hanjiang consciously sat at the table and asked, ¡°Will youb it?¡±

    Xiao Louughed. ¡°I have the memory in my mind and will try it.¡±

    He stood behind Yu Hanjiang and released the bun. In ancient times, men had very long hair. Xiao Loubed Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hair before carefully braiding it ording to the scene in his memory.

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t move. He looked at Xiao Lou¡¯s serious expression in the copper mirror and couldn¡¯t help smiling. If Xiao Lou was willing tob his hair every day then he would rather have long hair and need tob it for an hour a day.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s actions were very gentle and the woodenb gently slipped across his scalp like feathers running across the apex of his heart. Although Yu Hanjiang was sitting upright with a still body, his heartbeat couldn¡¯t fool anyone.

    For men in ancient times, their happiest moment was having a lover like this?

    Xiao Lou¡¯s fingers were white and slender as they gently helped Yu Hanjiang organize his hair. Yu Hanjiang really wanted to y back this scene a hundred times in slow motion.

    The room was very quiet and Xiao Lou was actually forcing himself to beposed.

    It was unknown how long it took but Xiao Lou finally got Group Leader Yu¡¯s hair ording to his memory. Then he brought the official uniform to Yu Hanjiang. With his hair rising high, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s distinctive facial features werepletely revealed. Such a hairstyle made him look handsome and capable. His tall and upright figure would definitely fascinate countless people if he took part in an idol costume drama.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart thumped and he didn¡¯t dare to look into this person¡¯s deep eyes. He immediately looked away and tried to maintain his calm as he spoke softly. ¡°The people in ancient times have too long hair. It is really troublesome tob the hair.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes were particrly gentle as he watched Xiao Lou and whispered, ¡°You sit down. I¡¯ll also helpb your hair.¡±

    Xiao Lou hurriedly shook his head. ¡°No, I can do it myself¡­¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t figure out this long hair by yourself.¡± Yu Hanjiang simply pressed Xiao Lou down on the stool, picked up theb and helped him organize his long hair.

    Xiao Lou was in women¡¯s clothing and his long hair went to his waist. The ck hair slipping over Yu Hanjiang¡¯s fingers were as soft as fine silk. Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t want to let this long hair go andbed it neatly. Then he tied it up based on his memory.

    The women of the Daqi Dynasty could braid or have loose hair before marriage but they had to wear it up after marrying. There were many types of buns but Yu Hanjiang knew the one Xiao Lou usually wore because they were a loving couple in this world and oftenbed each other¡¯s hair.

    Yu Hanjiang skillfully tied up the long hair and personally inserted the elegant, wooden hairpin into Xiao Lou¡¯s bun.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s ears were burning hot and the tip of his ears glowed a thin red. This particrly contrasted with his fair skin. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart swayed when he saw the red ears and identally dropped theb in his hand, making a loud sound as itnded on the ground.

    The clear sound made both their senses return.

    Xiao Lou hurriedly got up. ¡°Um, thank you¡­¡±

    Just then, the housekeeper Yao Ba came in from the backyard and said, ¡°Daren, the carriage is ready.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang naturally took Xiao Lou¡¯s hand and said, ¡°We will set off after breakfast.¡±

    Xiao Lou whose hand was held again, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Wasn¡¯t Group Leader Yu bing more and more skilled with this action?

    After breakfast, they came to the door and saw Yun Cang waiting with two horses. The horses looked edge and there was a fine carriage parked not far away. Yu Hanjiang ordered Yun Cang to prepare for his wife. Pinger would be next to her and Yao Ba the driver.

    They were only taking Yun Cang, Yao Ba and Pinger to Jiangzhou this time. The other servants had been released by the housekeeper and they could go to Jiangzhou to find them again if desired.

    Yu Hanjiang took Xiao Lou to the side of the carriage and whispered, ¡°Madam, get in the carriage.¡±

    He held his arm to help Xiao Lou onto the carriage and had Pinger follow to take care of her.

    Xiao Lou sat firmly in the spacious carriage and opened the curtains to look. Yu Hanjiang was riding the horse in front of him. Regardless of whether Yu Hanjiang rode in real life or not, the setting was automatically set when he came here.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s appearance when riding was quite handsome and brilliant¡­

    Yu Hanjiang on the horse turned back to look at Xiao Lou. He met Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes and slightly smiled as he waved his hand. ¡°Go!¡±

    In ancient times, traffic was inconvenient and it took a day to get from the capital to Jiangzhou.

    Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t slept wellst night and the shaking of the carriage was hypnotic. Yu Hanjiang wasn¡¯t around and his heart wasn¡¯t so chaotic. He fell asleep and there were many messy fragments in his dream, all of which were memory fragments of this world.

    Four years ago, Yu Hanjiang had rushed to Beijing to take the exam and was bitten by a poisonous snake in the woods. Xiao Lou happened to pass by and saved him. After a few days together, Yu Hanjiang went to the capital and became the highest scorer.

    After a month, Yu Hanjiang came back to Jiangzhou to find him and proposed seriously, ¡°Marry me. I will love you and protect you for all your life.¡±

    Xiao Lou was moved by his promise and agreed.

    The Yu family had been officials for generations and Yu Hanjiang was the new champion. The matchmakers almost broke through the threshold and as a result, he married a civilian woman from a poor family. He was naturally criticized. However, Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t mind. There wasvish treatment for the official wedding. The wedding was extremely grand to give Xiao Lou face.

    On the wedding night, Yu Hanjiang led Xiao Lou into the wedding room. The two people drank a ss of wine and Yu Hanjiang stared into Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes, his voice low and hoarse. ¡°From today on, you are my wife. In this life, I only want to work with you and grow old with you. Can you do this?¡±

    Xiao Lou blushed and nodded earnestly. ¡°En¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang smiled and gently took off Xiao Lou¡¯s red wedding dress. Then he pressed Xiao Lou back on the wedding bed covered in red silk. It was a night of being tangled up together.

    Xiao Lou suddenly woke up from his dream, his face as red as a cooked shrimp.

    Pinger looked at his face and couldn¡¯t help wonder, ¡°Madam, why is your face so red?¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    He really wanted to beat up A of Hearts a hundred times! The role-ying game just needed to set the identities. Was there a need for some many details? Not only did he need to wear women¡¯s clothing and pretend to be husband and wife with Yu Hanjiang, he even received the memories of their wedding night!

    He was a virgin in his 20s who had never been in a rtionship. Now he was inexplicably married to someone and had memories of the wedding room?! These were just false memories and didn¡¯t really happen. It was like having a dream and he shouldn¡¯t mind it too much. However, if Yu Hanjiang also had this memory¡­ how could he look Group Leader Yu in the eye after leaving this secret room?

    Xiao Lou suddenly had a headache. A of hearts was once his favourite but now he found that she also had a big pit!

    He covered his head to calm himself down. Just then, the carriage suddenly stopped and the sound of Yu Hanjiang conversing with someone was heard. He heard Yu Hanjiang¡¯s low voice ask, ¡°Who are these people?¡±

    The one in charge of driving the carriage, Yao Ba replied, ¡°Daren, I see that they carrying a lot of cloth. They should be a caravan from Qingzhou.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang ordered, ¡°Go and take a look.¡±

    He and Yun Cang rode together. They had just taken a few steps when they saw a man leaning on the side of the carriage, leisurely drinking water while basking in the sun.

    The man was wearing a deep purple silk robe with gold threads embroidered on them, delicate ck boots on his feet and a folding fan in his hand. The pair of peach blossom eyes were full of charms. Wasn¡¯t this Shao Qingge?

    Yu Hanjiang nced at his ¡®I am an upstart¡¯ clothing and raised his eyebrows. ¡°This is?¡±

    Shao Qingge also recognized Yu Hanjiang but they didn¡¯t know each other in the secret room so he could only enter the role. ¡°I am Shao Qingge from the Shao family of the lower Qingcheng. Can I ask who you are?¡±

    ¡°Yu Hanjiang, the new prefectural magistrate of Jiangzhou.¡±

    Shao Qingge reached out and smiled. ¡°Yu daren, it is fortunate. I am also going to Jiangzhou. I wonder if I can go with you and be apanion?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    Xiao Lou heard Yu Hanjiang riding his horse away and talking to the other party. He opened the curtain and got out of the carriage because he was curious. He took a few steps forward and asked softly, ¡°Husband, what is it?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Seeing that the woman in front of him was Professor Xiao, Shao Qingge almost spat out a mouthful of water.

    Although he was wearing female clothing, Shao Qingge recognized Xiao Lou instantly. Xiao Lou wore a long white gown and his temperament was gentle and beautiful. What did he call Yu Hanjiang? If Shao Qingge heard right, it seemed like¡­ Husband??¡±

    Facing Shao Qingge¡¯s shocked eyes, Xiao Lou¡¯s ears turned red. He didn¡¯t know how to exin and wanted to immediately retract back into the carriage, pretending that these people didn¡¯t exist.

    Shao Qingge firmly pressed a hand against his temple and asked, ¡°Daren, this is?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought of the ancient vocabry and replied calmly, ¡°This is my neiren.¡± (Humble way of saying my wife)

    Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was very engaged and devoted to this y as he looked back at Xiao Lou. ¡°Madam, this is the young master of the Shao Family in Qingcheng. He is going to Jiangzhou to do business and is taking the same way as us.¡±

    Xiao Lou was so embarrassed that he couldn¡¯t wait to dig a hole and bury himself.

    Neiren, madam, how could Group Leader Yu say these words so smoothly?

    However, a group of servants was around him and Xiao Lou had to smile. ¡°Shao gongzi.¡± (Son of an official/noble)

    Shao Qingge almost spat out water again. He hurriedly gave it to his servant as he looked carefully at Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang. Finally, he epted the setting with a smile. ¡°The two of you are really talented and beautiful. You are a perfect match!¡±

    Xiao Lou was embarrassed and had to pretend not to hear.

    Yu Hanjiang epted the praise and held Xiao Lou¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Shao gongzi, let me speak to you.¡±

    Shao Qingge followed Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou into the depths of the woods.

    Once no one was around, Shao Qinggeughed loudly. Heughed so much that he might¡¯ve got an internal injury. Xiao Lou¡¯s cheeks were hot and he spoke helplessly, ¡°Stopughing. Do you think I want to wear female clothing?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly, ¡°It is the keeper who arranged Xiao Lou as my wife and we have to act as a husband and wife.¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes teased them. ¡°You don¡¯t want to? I think the two of you are very immersed.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang quickly changed the topic and asked seriously, ¡°You are a personing from Qingcheng to Jiangzhou. Do you have any clues?¡±

    Shao Qingge became serious. ¡°My Shao family is thergest silk supplier in the Qi Dynasty. My father asked me to transport this batch of silk to Jiangzhou and to visit the Eighth Imperial Uncle in Zhenjiang. The Eighth Imperial Uncle is the uncle of the emperor and it will be his 50th birthday in a few days. My father asked me to prepare a generous gift so we can establish a good rtionship with the Eighth Imperial Uncle. This way, the market in Jiangzhou can open for the Shao family.¡±

    Xiao Lou joked, ¡°You did assign yourself the identity of a rich man.¡±

    Shao Qingge winked at him. ¡°I would rather let the keeper arrange ady for me, hahahaha.¡±

    ¡°¡­Are you done?¡± Xiao Lou wondered.

    Shao Qingge continued tough. ¡°This secret room seems to have no time limit. The two of you should cherish the time you need to y a husband and wife.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at him coldly, ¡°After going to Jiangzhou, we will investigate separately. Once we find our other teammates, we need to gather up and organize the clues so as to not reveal any suspicion.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°Of course. After I arrive in Jiangzhou, I will settle at the inn. You can alwayse to me.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and said, ¡°Then let¡¯s go. We should arrive in Jiangzhou as soon as possible.¡±

    Back in the carriage, Shao Qingge keptughing.

    His small manservant next to him asked doubtfully, ¡°Master, why are you so happy today?¡±

    Shao Qingge told him, ¡°I think that there will be a very good y to see this time in Jiangzhou.¡±

    He really couldn¡¯t wait to see the reaction of his teammates to Xiao Lou wearing female clothing and calling Yu Hanjiang ¡®Husband¡¯. It was estimated that the jaws of Ye Qi, Old Mo and the others would drop. Hahaha!

 Chapter 154: Beacon in Troubled Times 04

    Thank you to anonymous for the donation for CR. Expect a small mass release

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou returned to the carriage. Shao Qingge also had his servants continue to make the journey. The group stayed at a waystation that night before arriving in Jiangzhou the next morning.

    Jiangzhou was located on the border of Daqi and Zhao State. Due to the harmonious rtionship between Qi and Zhao in recent years, there was a constant flow of businessmen and the streets were bustling. It might not be as busy as the capital but it was very lively and peaceful. There were bright smiles on the faces of the people.

    On the surface, this was a treasure-richnd but Yu Hanjiang knew that the situation in Jiangzhou wasplicated, just like a calm sea. The undercurrent was surging and if he was slightly careless then as the prefectural magistrate, he might leave his head here.

    Shao Qingge decided to settle down in the inn and Yu Hanjiang whispered to him, ¡°You be careful at the inn. In addition, it is best to rece your gorgeous clothes and not expose your wealth. There is no harm in being low-key.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± Shao Qingge came to the carriage and joked, ¡°I¡¯m going. Madam, take care.¡±

    He deliberately entuated the word ¡®Madam.¡¯

    ¡°¡­¡± Xiao Lou wanted to ignore him.

    Shao Qingge stayed at thergest inn in Jiangzhou while Yu Hanjiang took Xiao Lou to Jiangzhou¡¯s prefectural magistrate office.

    The office had already received notice from the court and was waiting for the new prefectural magistrate to take office.

    Yu Hanjiang walked into the office and took out the court¡¯s appointment documents, handing them over to the responsible official. The official smiled. ¡°Yu daren, you¡¯ve just arrived here. If you are unfamiliar with anything, you can ask the master. He has lived in Jiangzhou for decades and he helped the previous prefectural magistrate. He knows the situation in Jiangzhou very well. If Daren wants to see him then I can ask him toe over.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Okay, please have the old mastere over. I will wait for him in the study.¡±

    The residence of the prefectural magistrate was behind the office and it was arge courtyard. There were guest rooms and study rooms on the east side of the courtyard. The bedroom for the daren and his family members were on the north side. The living quarters for the people of lower status were on the west side and the kitchens were on the south side. The entire courtyard was very delicatelyid out with fake rocks, trees and tree-lined paths. It was almostparable to a small park.

    Xiao Lou liked it here. Once he got home, he put his luggage in the bedroom.

    Yu Hanjiang was waiting for the old master in the study. This ¡®master¡¯ should be the person who could provide key clues. Yu Hanjiang specifically invited the master to meet at home, which was convenient for speaking in private.

    Once Xiao Lou organized his luggage, he asked Pingren, Yun Cang and Yao Ba to buy some daily necessities before walking around the yard. He saw a well-educated schr walking to the study. This should be the master and Xiao Lou followed curiously.

    Yu Hanjiang opened the door of the study. After seeing him, the master entered the room and immediately saluted. ¡°Daren!¡±

    Facing these eyes, Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°It was you¡­Master Mo?¡± Looking around, he lowered his voice. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the servants have already been settled and there is no one else in this yard.¡±

    Mo Xueminughed. ¡°I heard that the new prefectural magistrate was surnamed Yu and I guessed it was Group Leader Yu.¡± He found Yu Hanjiang was alone and wondered, ¡°Professor Xiao? He isn¡¯t with you?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang handed him a cup of tea. ¡°Old Mo, sit down and talk first.¡±

    Mo Xuemin sat down and picked up the cup, taking a mouthful of tea.

    Just then, a gentle voice was heard from behind them. ¡°Husband, has the mastere?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    Mo Xuemin turned back, saw Xiao Lou dressed in women¡¯s clothing and calling Yu Hanjiang ¡®Husband¡¯ and directly sprayed out his tea.

    His eyes were about to fall off as he stared at Xiao Lou in disbelief. ¡°This is¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang calmly introduced them. ¡°This is my wife, Xiao Lou.¡±

    Xiao Lou stared into Old Mo¡¯s round eyes and smiled. ¡°Hello, Master.¡±

    Mo Xuemin, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou already understood after seeing Chief Shaoughing yesterday. Rather than letting his teammates make random guesses, it was better to take the initiative to admit that he and Yu Hanjiang were ying a ¡®couple¡¯. If the two of them acted indifferently then their teammates wouldn¡¯t think too much.

    In any case, the role ying was A of Hearts¡¯ arrangement and he couldn¡¯t do anything!

    Seeing Xiao Lou smiling calmly, Old Mo quickly wiped his mouth and grinned. ¡°This¡­ cough cough, Professor Xiao¡¯s clothing¡­ cough cough cough, it looks very good.¡± He really didn¡¯t know what to say.

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°The keeper arranged this so it is convenient for me to work with Group Leader Yu. We are both from the capital and I have the identity of a coroner who can do autopsies.¡±

    Mo Xuemin wondered, ¡°Coroner¡­ that¡¯s ancient forensics right? It is quite in line with Professor Xiao¡¯s profession! By the way, I was assigned the identity of a master and received a bunch of files.¡±

    Xiao Lou walked over to sit beside Yu Hanjiang and asked Old Mo, ¡°Have you found the location of the others?¡±

    Mo Xuemin still wasn¡¯t ustomed to seeing Xiao Lou¡¯s clothing. He quickly looked away at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°I searched for two days in Jiangzhou and only saw Long Sen at the prince¡¯s manor. I haven¡¯t found Xiao Qu, Xiao Ye, Liu Qiao or Chief Shao.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°Shao Qingge is a rich businessman from Qing City. We met him yesterday and he also came with us to Jiangzhou. He is currently staying at Fu¡¯an Inn.

    Old Mo sighed. ¡°It seems he is still rich even in ancient times!¡±

    Xiao Lou asked curiously, ¡°What are those files?¡±

    Mo Xuemin replied, ¡°It is the record of cases in Jiangzhou in recent years. I carefully scanned through them yesterday. Most of them are short cases among parents. However, since three years ago, three young women have disappeared. The whereabouts of these women are unknown and it has be a pending case. I don¡¯t know if this has anything to do with the case.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and said, ¡°What about the prince¡¯s manor. How much do you know?¡±

    Mo Xuemin cleared his throat. ¡°The Eighth Prince living in the Zhenjiang prince¡¯s mansion is the eighth uncle of the current emperor. This idle prince ignores the affairs of the court and is very fond of beauty. He married fourdies, all of whom were as beautiful as a flower. He has a son and four daughters. At present, all four daughters live in the prince¡¯s manor and aren¡¯t married.¡±

    He paused before continuing, ¡°The prince will hold a 45th birthday banquet in a few days. Everyone in Jiangzhou knows about this matter. In addition, Long Sen is serving as a guard in the prince¡¯s mansion. My guess is that the case is likely to happen at the prince¡¯s mansion.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°You guessed it right. The emperor had me go to meet the Eighth Prince while Chief Shao also received a task to participate in the Eighth Prince¡¯s banquet. There will certainly be an ident at his birthday banquet and we have to find out the situation of the prince¡¯s mansion ahead of time.¡±

    Four wives, a son and four daughters, such aplex family rtionship was likely to cause a family drama. The ancient household fights were also quiteplicated.

    Yu Hanjiang requested, ¡°Tell me what you know of the fourdies and the four daughters.¡±

    Obviously, Old Mo was arranged as the ¡®information guide¡¯ for the team and he could provide a lot of clues about Jiangzhou.

    Mo Xuemin was very experienced. After changing to ancient clothes, he quickly adapted to his new identity. He spent two days in Jiangzhou and found out the general situation of the prince¡¯s mansion. ¡°Young Master Qi Fenghua and the eldest daughter Qi Yiyao were both born from Mrs Yun. Qi Fenghua is currently in the army, following General Zheng Xi to fight Yan State in the northwest. He hasn¡¯t returned home for three years.¡±

    ¡°The eldest daughter is betrothed to Lin Shaobo, the young master of the richest Lin family. However, it is rumoured that the young master of the Lin family often goes in and out of brothels and has a close rtionship with famous prostitutes. The marriage of the two people is set for next month. The Lin family attaches great importance to this marriage and have sent several boxes of gold alone.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took out a pen and paper and quickly drew the rtionship chart.

    Mo Xuemin continued, ¡°The second youngdy is called Qi Yian and she is the daughter of the genuine princess, the first wife. She was named ¡®Princess Sukan¡¯ by the emperor. The princess has passed away and Qi Yian is engaged to the second prince of the Zhao state. The Qi State and Zhao State have adopted a peaceful rtions policy for many years and the emperor personally appointed Princess Sukan to marry a neighbouring state. Everyone in Jiangzhou knows this and the wedding will be held at the end of the year.¡±

    Xiao Lou touched his chin. ¡°Have you seen this princess?¡±

    ¡°No, but listening to the rumours of the people, Princess Sukan is beautiful and dignified. She has read poems since childhood and is proficient in the four arts (zither, calligraphy, go and painting). She is a talented woman. As a child, she grew up with the emperor and has the best rtionship with him. Thus, she is the most favoured by the pce.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Are there any rumours about her mother, the princess and legitimate wife?¡±

    Mo Xuemin shook his head. ¡°Everyone says that the princess was in poor health. After three years of marriage with the prince, she hadn¡¯t had any child. Thus, the king married Mrs Yun. Once Mrs Yun gave birth to the eldest son Qi Fenghua and the eldest daughter Qi Yiyao, the princess finally became pregnant. Unfortunately, she was too weak. She gave birth to her first daughter, Qi Yian and soon died of illness.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou nced at each other. Indeed, on the surface it sounded like the princess died from poor health. However, this Mrs Yun gave birth to two children and was still a concubine. Perhaps she wasn¡¯t reconciled to this fact and killed the real princess.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°What is the situation with the other two wives?¡±

    Mo Xuemin replied, ¡°The prince loves beauty. After the death of the genuine princess, no one controlled him. He married two concubines in session, Mrs Qing and Mrs Han. Mrs Qing gave birth to the third daughter, Qi Yiru. This girl is obstinate and headstrong. She likes wearing men¡¯s clothing and has learned a lot of martial arts. She often rides a horse in the street and bumps into many people. At present, Mrs Han is the most favoured. The fourth youngdy, Qi Yiwei was born from her. The fourthdy is the most low-key. She always covers her face with a veil when she goes out and no one has ever seen her face. It is said that she is studying medicine at a medicinal hut outside the city.¡±

    There were too many names and the rtionships wereplex. Xiao Lou had a headache just listening.

    In order to organize his memories, Yu Hanjiang quickly drew a rtionship diagram of the prince¡¯s mansion.

    The eldest son Qi Fenghua was fighting against the Yan State on the northwest front. The eldest daughter Qi Yiyao was engaged to the young master of the Lin family. The sibling¡¯s mother was the oldest concubine, Mrs Yun.

    The second youngdy was Qi Yian, Princess Sukan. She had a marriage contract with the second prince of the neighbouring state. Her mother was the princess and legitimate wife and had died.

    Qi Yiru was a waywarddy who was good at martial arts. Her mother was Mrs Qing.

    Qi Yiwei was low-key who loved being masked and knew medicine. Her mother was the prince¡¯s favoured concubine, Mrs Han.

    Xiao Lou looked at the rtionship diagram organized by Group Leader Yu and thoughtfully touched his chin. ¡°So it seems the three wives are now at an equal footing and the position of first imperial concubine is still empty?¡±

    Mo Xuemin answered, ¡°Yes, the prince is currently in good health and should be able to live for decades. In ancient times, people married early and the prince is now only in his 40s. These three wives certainly can¡¯t avoid being jealous.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned at Xiao Lou. ¡°Is this case a family fight?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°It is possible. The four girls are around the same age. In ordance with the inhouse fight routine, the four sisters are born from different mothers. The original princess has died and there must be some intrigue between the three wives. The rtionship between the four sisters can¡¯t be too harmonious.¡±

    ¡°When is the prince¡¯s birthday banquet?¡± Yu Hanjiang looked up and asked Old Mo.

    ¡°It is the 15th of this month, which is three dayster,¡± Mo Xuemin replied.

    ¡°Tomorrow, we will go to the prince¡¯s mansion in person. I will visit the prince in ordance with the emperor¡¯s instructions. However, I will also quietly meet with Long Sen. He is at the mansion as a guard and should have other clues.¡± Yu Hanjiang simply said.

    ¡°What about today?¡± Xiao Lou looked at him. ¡°Do you want to change into casual clothes and explore the environment of Jiangzhou?¡±

    ¡°Yes, we can also look for our other teammates.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang changed out of his official clothes, dressed in casual clothing and took his wife and the master to go shopping in Jiangzhou.

    Everyone¡¯s identity in the secret room was rted to reality. Old Mo was also a team guide in reality. Yu Hanjiang spected that Liu Qiao was likely to be a medicine processing child or a pharmacist. He went to the nearby medicine store and medical centre but no traces of her were found.

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Xiao Liu might be in a foreign ce, just like Chief Shao.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°For example, the apprentice of a famous doctor who might still be on the way of Jiangzhou. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t be so quiet for two days.¡±

    Mo Xuemin heard this and suddenly hesitated. ¡°If everyone¡¯s identity is rted to reality then Teacher Qu is a dance teacher. She shouldn¡¯t be a dancer in the Fragrant Sky House?

    Xiao Lou looked at Old Mo in a puzzled manner. ¡°The Fragrant Sky House¡­ is it a brothel?¡±

    Mo Xuemin coughed. ¡°It isn¡¯t a brothel. It is thergest singing and dancing house in Jiangzhou. There are many talented women and it is said that the dancers and singers here are selling art, not themselves. The sons of rich families oftene here to have fun.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°We should go to see. Perhaps we can find Qu Wanyue.¡±

    Before seeing them, Mo Xuemin hadn¡¯t known that everyone¡¯s identity corresponded to reality. He only saw Long Sen guarding the pce and hadn¡¯t wanted to go to a ce like the Fragrant Sky House.

    It was only when he heard Yu Hanjiang¡¯s words that he realized. He told them, ¡°The Fragrant Sky House is only open after dark. We will go after dinner.¡±

    At most, most of Jiangzhou¡¯s urban areas were plunged into darkness while a street to the east of the city was lit up.

    This street was full ofnterns in various shapes and there was a constant stream of guests. The lively nightlife of the ancients had just begun.

    At the end of the street was a three-storey building with the sign ¡®Fragrant Sky House¡¯. This was the liveliest ce on the whole street. The doors were open and countless guests rushed into the Fragrant Sky House.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s group of three also followed the crowd.

    The three people entered the room and sat down when Xiao Lou found a familiar figure sitting next to him. The person had a pair of peach blossom eyes and was holding a folding fan, posing as a ¡®yboy.¡¯

    Yu Hanjiang also saw him and whispered, ¡°Chief Shao has really good interests. You actually came here?¡±

    Shao Qingge sat up cheekily and smiled. ¡°My servant told me that there will be a famous dance performance tonight at the Fragrant Sky House. My identity is a yboy who often goes in and out of brothels. Of course, I muste see such excitement.¡±

    Xiao Lou could only admire him for being so grandiose about his ¡®lechery.¡¯

    Shao Qingge and Old Mo nodded and greeted each other. This was followed by Shao Qingge joking, ¡°Yu daren, your family has a good wife yet you actually took your wife to visit a brothel to drink with female entertainers. Is this appropriate?¡±

    Old Mo almost squirted out a mouthful of tea.

    Xiao Lou looked at Shao Qingge and wanted to ignore him.

    Just then, a middle-aged woman dressed in a dazzling red came forward and spoke with a smile, ¡°Wee everyone to the Fragrant Sky House. Next, our first card, Miss Ye will y a song for everyone!¡±

    There was warm apuse as a thin woman wearing a goose-yellow dress and holding a pipa slowly appeared on stage. Her eyes were clear and dynamic, her long hair scattered behind her like ink and the light shining on her lined a beautiful face.

    Shao Qingge was originally drinking tea but the moment he met those eyes, he sprayed the tea directly on the table.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Mo Xuemin looked embarrassed. ¡°T-This first girl looks like Ye Qi!¡±

    Shao Qingge was choking on the tea and coughing desperately. Even so, he covered his face with the fan and wasughing non-stop. ¡°Haha, cough cough¡­ Miss Ye, the Fragrant Sky House¡¯s first card, hahaha¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou felt helpless while Yu Hanjiang was serious.

    On the stage, Ye Qi nced at them, his expression lifeless.

 Chapter 155: Beacon in Troubled Times 05

    When Ye Qi came to this world, the keeper had told him, ¡°Your role is to y the first performer at the Fragrant Sky House in Jiangzhou. You are a female singer who doesn¡¯t sell yourself. You are good at the guzheng, pipa, flute and other musical instruments. Your singing is beautiful and there are countless rich young masters throwing money at you. Please y the role well and wait for the case to happen.¡±

    Ye Qi saw the female clothing and almost threw the pipe in his arms.

    Was A of Hearts sick? He might be a student at a music conservatory because he liked to sing but there were also men who sang in ancient times. Why let him dress up as a woman and go to the brothel to y a singer who doesn¡¯t sell herself?

    If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that failing to break through would lead to elimination, Ye Qi would want to give up on the task.

    In thest two days in Jiangzhou, he had been under the control of Fragrant Sky House¡¯s boss, ¡®Aunt Qing¡¯ and he couldn¡¯t take a step out of the Fragrant Sky House. Aunt Qing told him that there would be a performance tonight and he would be required to y a few songs and sing to thank the guests.

    Ye Qi could only grit his teeth and stay in his room to practice music.

    Fortunately, he already had a musical foundation. Combined with the physical memories the keeper forcefully gave him when entering the secret room, he managed to practice the flute, the guzheng, the pipa and other folk music and the songs were ready to be sung.

    He didn¡¯t see his teammates for two days and thought the case would happen in the Fragrant Sky House.

    Tonight was the performance but as a result, he saw Group Leader Yu, Old Mo and Shao Qingge sitting under the stage. There was also a woman next to Group Leader Yu but the light was too dim to see her appearance. Ye Qi looked down the stage and right into Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes. Shao Qingge sprayed out the tea in his mouth andYe Qi¡¯s ears were red with embarrassment. He wanted to break the pipa on the spot.

    Just then, Aunt Qing spoke in his ear. ¡°Xiao Ye, we can start.¡±

    Ye Qi had to brace himself to y the pipa.

    The clear and pleasing pipa rhythm was like a pearl falling from a jade te. The entire Fragrant Sky House quieted down instantly. Not to mention, Ye Qi had real skills. The tune yed was long and gently, quickly immersing the guests¡¯ emotions into it.

    The original tune was very soft and everyone who heard it was intoxicated. Suddenly, the genre shifted sharply. It was like thousands of troops crossing the border and there was smoke and fire everywhere. The intense melody made people nervous but Ye Qi still remained calm, his long fingers quickly plucking the strings so that the strings of the pipa seemed like they would break.

    The second half of the song was very tense. It wasn¡¯t until the end that the pipa¡¯s sound snapped and the melody got its breath back, as if taking the audience through a thrilling battle.

    The Fragrant Sky House was silent for a moment, followed by deafening apuse. ¡°Good!¡±

    ¡°This is only the first performance but the pipa was absolutely amazing!¡±

    ¡°I heard that Miss Ye also sings well.¡±

    Aunt Qing arranged people holding tes to walk among the guests. There were many rich young masters who took outrge pieces of silver and threw it in. It almost couldn¡¯t fit in the te. It could be seen that Ye Qi¡¯s performance would definitely make the owner of Fragrant Sky House earn a lot.

    After the pipa was the guzheng and then he sang a few songs. The apuse constantly continued in the Fragrant Sky House.

    After the performance, Ye Qi got up and bowed to the audience.

    Just then, a clear voice was heard from the crowd. ¡°You yed well! It is indeed the first performer of Fragrant Sky House. It is worth seeing.¡± The master who came out was a rich man in dark red clothes and long hair tied up with a ribbon of the same colour. His appearance was quite handsome but unfortunately, he was full of wine. Ye Qi could smell the wine all the way from where he was standing.

    Someone whispered, ¡°Isn¡¯t this Master Lin?¡±

    ¡°The Lin Shaobo who is betrothed to the eldest daughter of the prince¡¯s mansion?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang listened to the surrounding discussion and nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°It is the fiance of the eldest daughter.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked thoughtfully in Mr Lin¡¯s direction. ¡°It seems that he is indeed like the rumours. His second nature is to be dissolute.¡±

    Old Mo lowered his voice, ¡°People say that Master Lin¡¯s marriage to the eldest daughter of the prince¡¯s mansion was ordered by his parents. He doesn¡¯t like this type of old-fashioned youngdy at all and spends his entire day expressing dissatisfaction with the marriage. He said that he is raising several lovers outside.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°No matter how much he dislikes it, his fiancee is the eldest daughter of the prince after all. Is he not going to give face to the youngdy or even the prince? It is too unreasonable.¡±

    Old Mo replied, ¡°He might be the eldest son of the Lin family but he is amoner. His mother was a concubine and passed away a long time ago. The marriage was arranged by his father and before his engagement, he hadn¡¯t met the prince¡¯s eldest daughter at all. Perhaps he wasn¡¯t very happy so he used this method to vent?¡±

    Shao Qingge was filled with great interest. ¡°I also heard some gossip about the Lin family. My family had a business cooperation with the Lin family. The Lin family is the richest salt merchant in the Daqi Dynasty. The young master Lin Shaobo doesn¡¯t have any real power and is said to be superfluous. The second and third young masters are better than him. The second young master holds an official post in the capital while the third young master is the sessor of the Lin family¡¯s industry.¡±

    Xiao Lo spected, ¡°So he and the eldest daughter can actually be considered a good match? Both of the eldest but they aren¡¯t born of the legal wife and they actually have no status at home.¡±

    Mo Xuemin said, ¡°The problem is that Young Master Lin didn¡¯t restrain his extravagant and drunken style after his engagement and it seems the prince¡¯s side doesn¡¯t care about him either.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart also had some doubts. It was reasonable to say that the daughter of a prince, even if she was the daughter of a concubine, was a royal family member with high status. A group of rich businessmen and officials should be rushing to ask for money. In addition, the prince shouldn¡¯t be short of money. How could he like such a son-inw? As the future father-inw, how could he bepletely indifferent to this extravagance and bad reputation?

    Either the prince didn¡¯t care about his eldest daughter or the Lin family had reached some type of agreement with the prince¡¯s mansion.

    Xiao Lou was frowning when he heard a lot of noise.

    It turned out that Lin Shaobo directly took out an ingot of silver from his money bag and put it in Ye Qi¡¯s hand with a smile. ¡°Miss Ye is beautiful and talented. It is a pit for you to stay in the Fragrant Sky House. It would be better for me to ransom your body tonight. How about you follow me and be my concubine. I will never treat you badly. How about it?¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Fuck, do you believe that I won¡¯t smash you to death with my pipe? Ye Qi resisted the urge to sweat and quickly took a step back. ¡°Gongzi must be joking. We sell art here, not ourselves.¡±

    Lin Shaobo took two ingots out and handed it to the boss with a smile. ¡°Aunt Qin, I rarelye to your Fragrant Sky House and didn¡¯t know your girl is so special. I want to get Miss Ye. I don¡¯t know if Aunt Qing will give me face?¡±

    The boss took the money and said, ¡°The role of my Fragrant Sky House is to sell our skills, not ourselves. However, you can be Miss Ye¡¯s noble guest and let her y some songs for you alone.¡±

    ¡°Then please.¡± Lin Shaobo was about to step forward to pull Ye Qi¡¯s hand. Just then, a fan blocked his way. Lin Shaobo raised his head doubtfully and met a pair of beautiful peach blossom eyes.

    The man was tall and handsome, with a slight smile on his face. Once this man looked at Lin Shaobo, his eyes narrowed slightly and there was a startling sharpness in his eyes.

    Lin Shaobo asked, ¡°This man is?¡±

    Shao Qinggeughed. ¡°Miss Ye is my friend. Let me have the opportunity to be alone with her tonight.¡±

    As he spoke, he took out a gold ingot directly from his pocket. One gold ingot was equivalent to 10 ingots of silver. It was clear who had more money.

    The boss¡¯ eyes were bright and she immediately smiled at Shao Qingge. ¡°Gongzi, what are you called?¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s voice was low. ¡°Myst name is Shao. I have something to say to Miss Ye so please arrange it for me.¡±

    Aunt Qi took Shao Qingge and Ye Qi upstairs and there was a lot of gossip around them. They didn¡¯t expect to see such excitement tonight whening to the Fragrant Sky House. They could actually see two rich young masterspeting in a dog blood situation. In addition, Young Master Lin lost. It is a good show!

    Lin Shaobo was surrounded by onlookers and his expression wasn¡¯t very good. Thus, he simply pretended to be drunk and turned away.

    Ye Qi followed Shao Qingge to the second floor box with aplicated expression. The boss left with the words, ¡°Treat Shao gongzi well.¡±

    Ye Qi closed the door and gave a long sigh of relief. He stood on the stool, threw the pipa aside and drank a cup of tea. His voice was dry and he needed to moisten his throat before speaking.

    Shao Qingge joked, ¡°Miss Ye, aren¡¯t you going to pour me a cup of tea?¡±

    Ye Qi almost sprayed out his tea. ¡°Are you still in the mood to joke? I have to y the role of a performer and spent two days in this broken ce, unable to go out. I¡¯m going crazy!¡±

    At this time, Aunt Qing suddenly passed by the door. Ye Qi stood up like he was electrocuted and took the teapot, pouring tea for Shao Qingge with a smile. His voice was extremely gentle. ¡°Mr Shao, please drink tea. I¡¯m a woman from an ordinary family so please forgive me if I¡¯m not satisfactory.¡±

    Shao Qingge didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. This little guy could also act!

    Once the boss left, Ye Qi put away his smile and sat down helplessly, his voice quiet. ¡°I just saw Group Leader Yu and Old Mo under the stage, What is the situation?¡±

    Shao Qingge wondered, ¡°There was Professor Xiao as well. Didn¡¯t you see him?¡±

    Ye Qi reflexively replied, ¡°No, only three of you.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°The beauty sitting beside Group Leader Yu was Professor Xiao. He is just like you. Based on the setting of the world, he is also a woman.¡±

    Ye Qi finally couldn¡¯t bear it and spat out his mouthful of tea. He almost sprayed it all over Shao Qingge¡¯s face. Shao Qingge was witty and dodged fast. Ye Qi coughed a few times before speaking in a disbelieving tone. ¡°Professor Xiao is dressed up as a woman?¡± He couldn¡¯t imagine it.

    Shao Qingge added, ¡°In addition, he is Yu Hanjiang¡¯s wife.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    That was even more unthinkable, okay?

    Shao Qingge smiled at him. ¡°Do you feel better now?¡±

    Ye Qi thought it over and was indignant. ¡°Aren¡¯t I more miserable? He is ying as Group Leader Yu¡¯s wife and at least Group Leader Yu will protect him. I was directly stuffed into a brothel! I was so confused that I really wanted to quit!¡±

    Looking at the angry expression that said this young man could cut the keeper 100 times, Shao Qingge really couldn¡¯t helpughing.

    Ye Qi¡¯s expression was too vivid and he was dressed as a woman, wearing a goose yellow dress and her face was lovely. When he was angry and wanted to beat up people, he looked like a fierce kitten.

    Shao Qingge endured his smile and whispered words offort, ¡°Okay, it is just a role y. I have to wrong you for a few days. Group Leader Yu thinks that since you are arranged in the Fragrant Sky House, the case might have something to do with this ce. Please feel at ease and investigate the clues. We will secretly protect you.¡±

    Ye Qi heard this and calmed down. ¡°Yes, I understand.¡±

    Shao Qingge added, ¡°I am a rich business master from Qing City and I came here to drink with female entertainers. Meeting you alone won¡¯t cause people to feel doubts, which is why the others had mee alone to find you. I¡¯ll give enough money to the boss to monopolize you and wille to you every night.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s face suddenly reddened. ¡°This¡­ why does it feel strange?¡±

    Shao Qingge seriously told him, ¡°It isn¡¯t strange since the setting is like this. ording to the rules of the Fragrant Sky House, whoever gives the most money can chat to the performer alone. If I don¡¯t protect you, won¡¯t you have to y and sing to strange men?¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s hair rose when he heard this and he immediately said, ¡°Yes, I¡¯d rather chat to you!¡± He took a sip of the tea before asking curiously, ¡°What are the identities of everyone else?¡±

    ¡°Group Leader Yu is the new prefectural magistrate of Jiangzhou and Xiao Lou is his wife. Old Mo is an old expert and Long Sen is a guard at the prince¡¯s mansion. We haven¡¯t found Teacher Qu and Liu Qiao Group Leader Yu asked me to see if Teacher Qu is also in the Fragrant Sky House since she is good at dancing.¡±

    Ye Qi immediately shook his head. ¡°She isn¡¯t here. I found myself a singer and thought there was a possibility that Teacher Qu would be a dancer. I went to the dancing area to find her but didn¡¯t see her. After questioning the boss, there is no one with the surname of Qu in the Fragrant Sky House.

    Shao Qingge frowned. ¡°It seems that we have to keep looking for her. Yu Hanjiang has the identity of a prefectural magistrate and it isn¡¯t suitable for him to meet you directly. I will be responsible for the transmission of information. We have spected that this case has something to do with the prince¡¯s mansion.¡±

    Ye Qi suddenly eximed, ¡°The prince¡¯s mansion? On the 15th day, the prince¡¯s birthday, we rehearsed a program to perform at the prince¡¯s mansion.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°This is right. We are all going to the prince¡¯s mansion on that day for different reasons. The 15th should be a key date and you should prepare in advance.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded seriously. ¡°I understand.¡±

    Shao Qingge continued, ¡°In addition, you should pay attention to safety on this side. Can the teleportation card be used?¡¯

    Yes, all my instrument control cards have been banned and the eavesdropping card can¡¯t be used. Only the teleportation card can be used right now. I can pretend to know a light footwork skill and it is no problem to escape if there is an ident.¡±

    Shao Qingge was relieved. He thought for a moment before saying, ¡°The Rich and Willful card I drew can copy cards. All attack and control cards are banned in this work. If your teleportation card can be used as a footwork skill then it is very convenient. I will copy one and give it to Group Leader Yu to arrange.¡±

    Ye Qi felt some pain. ¡°Copying a card consumes 5 million gold coins¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge helplessly rubbed his forehead. ¡°There is no way. The cards I drew are like this.¡±

    Ye Qi was depressed. ¡°Didn¡¯t you just give the boss an ingot of gold to meet me?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, this time I carried several boxes of gold to Jiangzhou.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The gold master was the gold master everywhere he went.

 Chapter 156: Beacon in Troubled Times 06

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou returned home together. After closing the door and remembering Ye Qi¡¯s wonderful expression, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help chuckling. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect Ye Qi to also be dressed as a woman or a woman who sells art, not her body¡­ You asked Chief Shao to go to him alone. Is it okay?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied seriously, ¡°Shao Qingge might like to joke around but he is still reliable when ites to major events. I let him tell Ye Qi about his situation so that Ye Qi can rest assured.¡±

    The maid Pinger came over and asked if they wanted to have supper. Xiao Lou said, ¡°No, Pinger, you go to rest.¡±

    Pinger went into the room and helped them make the bed before turning around and leaving.

    It was already dark. Yu Hanjiang looked at the bed and said, ¡°Sleep, tomorrow we will go and see the Eighth Prince.¡±

    There was only one bed in this bedroom. Xiao Lou remembered the wedding night in his dream and was really embarrassed to share the same bed with Group Leader Yu. However, Group Leader Yu looked calm as he frankly asked, ¡°Are you still sleeping there tonight?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s scalp was numb as he let out a ¡®hmm¡¯ sound.

    They briefly washed up, took off their coats, white the white sleeping clothes andy side by side in bed.

    The quilt, sheet and pillows were all bought by Pinger in the afternoon along with their housekeeper. The two people covered themselves in the same quilt and once againy in the posture of ¡®a corpse.¡¯ They didn¡¯t dare move their hands and feet.

    Xiao Lou slept on the inside and Yu Hanjiang slept on the outside. It wasn¡¯t long until the two people fell asleep.

    There was another fragment of the plot in the dream.

    Four years ago, the champion Yu Hanjiang returned to Jiangzhou. He remembered Xiao Lou and found the valley outside Jiangzhou ording to his memories in order to propose marriage to Xiao Lou. He saw a small medicine boy drying herbs and asked, ¡°Does Xiao Lou live here?¡±

    The medicine boy looked up with an indifferent expression. ¡°He went to the mountains to take medicine.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang turned to look at the mountains and saw Xiao Lou carrying medicine on his back.

    He apanied Xiao Lou to collect the medicine and on the way back, the two of them stopped at a stream to wash. Yu Hanjiang saw Xiao Lou¡¯s wet hair and gulped before whispering, ¡°Miss Xiao, I have been thinking of you forever. This time, I came to propose marriage to you, hoping that you will marry me.¡±

    Xiao Lou almost fell into theke. He immediately stabilized his body and smiled awkwardly. ¡°Yu gongzi really knows how to joke around.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang gently grabbed Xiao Lou¡¯s hands and stared into his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not joking. I really want to marry you and grow old with you.¡±

    Xiao Lou shook off the hand and put away the smile as he spoke seriously. ¡°Yu gongzi, when I saved you, I dressed up as a woman to disguise my identity. In fact, I am a man and we can¡¯t get married.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang choked and looked at Xiao Lou with disbelief. ¡°What? Are you a man?¡±

    Xiao Lou loosened his hair, took off his coat and slowly exined, ¡°My father was a coroner. In the past, he assisted the Ministry of Criminal Affairs in solving numerous cases, including the serial killing in the capital that was a sensation 10 years ago. However, while he arrested the murderer, only one aplice was caught and the primary person escaped for many years. This man is very good at using poison. My father was poisoned by him five years ago. In order to avoid revenge falling on the descendants of the Xiao family, my mother always asked me to dress as a woman and I followed my mother to live in seclusion in Jiangzhou. Saving you was just a matter of raising my hands. You don¡¯t need to be too concerned about it.¡±

    Looking at the other person¡¯s serious expression, Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t speak for a long time.

    Xiao Lou smi8led. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, can I be friends with Yu gongzi?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang lookedplicated as he turned away in a lost manner.

    Xiao Lou originally thought this person would give up. As a result, within a few days, Yu Hanjiang came again. This time, he carried arge box full of engagement gifts and stared at Xiao Lou seriously. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you are a man. The style of Daqi is open and many good men are homosexual. There are even male concubines in the emperor¡¯s harem. I still can¡¯t forget you and I want to marry you.¡±

    Xiao Lou sprayed a mouthful of tea all over the ground.

    Of course, he refused but Yu Hanjiang was very stubborn and came to find Xiao Lou every day.

    On one asion, Xiao Lou sprained his foot when collecting medicine. Yu Hanjiang carried Xiao Lou on his back in the rain and caught a cold. Another time, Xiao Lou tried a new prescription and was affected by the toxin for three days and three nights. Yu Hanjiang stayed by his bedside to take care of him the entire time.

    Gradually, Xiao Lou was moved by the man¡¯s persistence.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s mother was seriously ill at this time. Seeing Yu Hanjiang so infatuated, she took her son¡¯s hand and told him, ¡°This Yu gongzi has deep affection for you and is worthy of being entrusted with you. I can¡¯t live long and those murderers will find you one day. It will be more difficult for you to cope with them if you are alone. Marry Yu gongzi as a woman and be his wife. I believe he will take care of you.¡±

    Before his mother died, she held Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hands tightly together. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t lose him¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang knelt in front of the hospital bed and promised, ¡°Mother, rest assured. I swear I will do everything in my power to protect his life.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s mother smiled. ¡°Okay, I can rest assured with your promise.¡± She stared at her son. ¡°I don¡¯t need you to show my filial piety. Just scatter my ashes into the river. The two of you choose a date for the marriage. I will be watching in the sky with your father and will be happy for you.¡±

    Before leaving, all the secret notes belonging to Xiao Lou¡¯s father while he was working were passed to Xiao Lou. In addition, the toxicology she studied herself was passed on to her apprentice, Liu Qiao, who was at the medicine house outside Jiangzhou.

    Those seeking revenge only knew that Coroner Yu. They didn¡¯t expect Xiao Lou to take on a woman¡¯s identity and marry the new pce champion, Yu Hanjiang.

    On the wedding night, the two people drank a ss of wine. Then Yu Hanjiang took off his red wedding clothes and the phoenix crown on his head.

    Blue silk was scattered and the light of red candles swayed.

    Xiao Lou stood in the candlelight with a flush on his cheeks, making Yu Hanjiang unable to look away.

    Xiao Lou was embarrassed and wanted to hide but Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes were deep as he gently hugged Xiao Lou and whispered, ¡°So what if you¡¯re a man? You are you. From today on, you are my wife.¡±

    Xiao Lou wanted to talk but his lips were directly kissed by Yu Hanjiang.

    ¡­¡­

    There was the sound ¡®boom boom boom¡¯ outside. It was the watchman beating the gong to signify the third of the five night watch periods. (TL: 23:00 ¨C 1:00)

    Yu Hanjiang sat up in a cold sweat.

    he turned his head to see that Xiao Lou was still asleep. In the moonlight, this person¡¯s face looked like jade without ws. The rosy lips exuded a fatal temptation that made the knot in his throat roll twice. Deep in his heart, a strong desire to kiss Xiao Lou rose.

    Yu Hanjiang hurriedly got out of bed. He went outside the house to stand in the cold wind and calm his reaction.

    This dream was actually iplete and the memory of the wedding night was also blurred. The clearest thing was Xiao Lou hugging his shoulders and staring at him with eyes like water. Those eyes were so clear that they could almost see into his heart.

    This dream connected the time they met to when they fell in love and married. The entire process becameplete.

    Since Xiao Lou¡¯s father was a coroner, he solved arge number of unsolved cases and offended too many people. Xiao Lou followed his mother to take refuge in Jiangzhou and concealed her identity by pretending to be a woman. Then he was identally rescued by Yu Hanjiang and Yu Hanjiang fell in love with him at first sight. He didn¡¯t care if Xiao Lou was a man or woman. Under the agreement of Xiao Lou¡¯s mother, Xiao Lou dressed as a woman to marry Yu Hanjiang and became Madam Yu. No one came to make trouble for him.

    The two people had been close for four years and had no children because Xiao Lou was essentially a man. The secret room didn¡¯t allow Xiao Lou to change back to men¡¯s clothes because once Xiao Lou did so, he would raise suspicion in his enemies and it might even lead to murder.

    After rifying the setting, Yu Hanjiang became more upset.

    He hadn¡¯t been in love before and he didn¡¯t even have a friend who he could talk to. He always thought he wanted to be close to Xiao Lou as a friend but recent abnormal reactions left him very confused. He never thought that he and Xiao Lou could still do such intimate things. Under the premise that Xiao Lou was a man, he actually took possession of Xiao Lou on their wedding night¡­

    The fuzzy fragments in the dream made Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart beat like a drum. No, he couldn¡¯t think about it anymore!

    He took a deep breath and went to the well, grabbing a bucket of water and directly sshing it on his face.

    The autumn well water was bitter and cold. Yu Hanjiang was frozen and this allowed him to calm downpletely. The moonlight from the sky was sparse, the yard was quiet to the extrema and there was only the asional sound from cicadas.

    The night in ancient times wasn¡¯t as bright and lively as modern times. In this quiet and peaceful ce, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heartbeat seemed particrly clear.

    <em>Thump, thump thump¡­.</em>

    He did that type of thing to Xiao Lou. Even if it was a dream, it couldn¡¯t be ignored. Yu Hanjiang clenched his fists and frowned. Did he like being on top of Xiao Lou?

    Before he knew it, he moved his heart around the gentle Professor Xiao. He liked to hold Xiao Lou¡¯s hand and couldn¡¯t help caring about Xiao Lou. His eyes were always on Xiao Lou¡¯s body.

    In this secret room, he wasn¡¯t disgusted at all by ying a husband and wife. Rather, he happily called Xiao Lou ¡®madam.¡¯ Imagine if he was asked to y a couple with Shao Qingge, Ye Qi, Long Sen, Old Mo or other teammates like Qu Wanyue and Liu Qiao. He would be very awkward and want to stay three metres away from the other person. Yet it was particrly smooth when he called Xiao Lou.

    Once he dreamed of the candle-lit night in the marriage room, his heartbeat elerated rather than feeling nausea. It didn¡¯t make sense at all if this was just a friend. All of this could only be exined by ¡®like.¡¯

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart suddenly opened. He finally figured out the reason for his recent changes.

    Brother Jiu once said he was too indifferent. The expression of ¡®don¡¯t get close if you want to live¡¯ meant he had the personality of someone who would be single until 60 years old. Yet when facing Xiao Lou, his hard heart seemed to be immersed in a warm current and the coldest ce deep in his heart was bathed in warm sunlight.

    Yu Hanjiang opened the Absolute Field card and ended the space of Brother Jiu.

    The space this time was no longer the sea but the lotus pond under the moonlight. Lu Jiuchuan was sitting beside the lotus pond, drinking and admiring the moon. After seeing Yu Hanjiang, he smiled slightly and asked, ¡°Suddenly entering the Absolute Field to find me, are you in trouble in a secret room? With your strength, you shouldn¡¯t have difficulty in an A-grade Hearts room, right?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang walked over to sit in front of him and whispered, ¡°Brother Jiu, in the secret room, did you also experience role-ying? For example, a gender change between male and female?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuanughed. ¡°Our team entered a pce script. I yed the general, Old Gui yed the emperor and we worked together to deal with the power of the crown prince and imperial consort to seize the throne. The A-grade secret room is a script that is randomly generated ording to the identity of each person. This is why Tang Ci said he couldn¡¯t provide you with an attack guide.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It seemed that Brother Jiu originally cleared 8 of Hearts in a dangerous manner.

    Lu Jiuchuan asked, ¡°What about you? What role were you assigned to?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment before replying, ¡°I am the prefectural magistrate of Jiangzhou. In addition, a wife was arranged for me.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled yfully. ¡°That¡¯s good. You have been single for so many years and this time, you picked up a wife in a secret room.¡±

    ¡°The wife is Xiao Lou.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan sprayed out his wine. ¡°What?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was a bit embarrassed and coughed lightly. Then he exined while touching his nose, ¡°My wife is Xiao Lou, a man pretending to be a woman. I¡¯ve discovered that I seem to¡­ like him.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan looked at his brother like this person was an idiot. ¡°You only just found out?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled. ¡°As early as when you took him into the Absolute Field, I found that something was wrong. You are like a hard stone frozen in the refrigerator for several years yet looking at Xiao Lou, your eyes were so gentle that I got goosebumps. Since when have you started looking at others with this expression? I have never seen you look at anyone in your family like that since childhood. Xiao Lou is the first one.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    It turned out that Brother Jiu was already aware. No wonder why he told Xiao Lou to call him Brother Jiu at that time.

    Lu Jiuchuan lightly patted his brother¡¯s shoulder. ¡°In the secret room world, no one knows how long they can live. You are actually really lucky to meet someone you like here. Don¡¯t think about it too much and cherish the moment.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang listened to Brother Jiu¡¯s words and the confusion in his heart was finally swept away.

    Like was like. What was the point of being tangled up by it? It was just like in the plot when he found out that Xiao Lou was a man and still decided to marry Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou was Xiao Lou. He liked this person, regardless of whether the other person was male or female. Xiao Lou in female clothing was a beauty and Xiao Lou in male clothing was also extraordinary. No matter how the clothes changed, the soul hadn¡¯t changed.

    Thinking up to here, Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t help smiling. ¡°I know what to do. I¡¯ll go back to him.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan waved his hand. ¡°Go, I¡¯m heading back to the Hunter¡¯s League in two days. It will be inconvenient to meet you for the time being so don¡¯te to the Absolute Field for a few days.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°I understand. Brother Jiu, take care.¡±

 Chapter 157: Beacon in Troubled Times 07

    When Yu Hanjiang returned, he saw Xiao Lou anxiously pacing back and forth in the yard.

    Xiao Lou had woken up in the middle of the night to find that Yu Hanjiang wasn¡¯t around and had gone out to look. As a result, Group Leader Yu was gone. He was so anxious that he couldn¡¯t speak well. His face was pale and his eyes were full of tension.

    Yu Hanjiang immediately walked over, took off his cloak and draped it around Xiao Lou¡¯s shoulder, whispering, ¡°Why did you get up? It is currently autumn in Jiangzhou and it is cold at you. You should wear more clothes when going out.¡±

    Xiao Lou was relieved to see the other person and his face rxed a lot. He smiled and exined, ¡°I was awakened by a nightmare in the middle of the night and came out to find you. As a result, I couldn¡¯t find you anywhere and I thought something had happened to you¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang gently hugged Xiao Lou¡¯s shoulder and helped him fasten the cloak while speaking softly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m okay. I was also awakened by a dream and went to talk to Brother Jiu.¡±

    The advantage of the Absolute Field card was that there were no limits in secret rooms. As long as Yu Hanjiang entered, Lu Jiuchuan could sense him and the brothers could meet at any time across secret rooms.

    Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan grew up together and had deep feelings. If Yu Hanjiang got into trouble as a child, he was embarrassed to tell his elders but he was willing to tell his older brother. Lu Jiuchuan would joke with him and give him some suggestions. Therefore, after realizing that he liked Xiao Lou, the first thing he thought about was to consult Brother Jiu and see if this person had any suggestions.

    ¡ªCherish the present.

    Lu Jiuchuan had experienced annihtion in J of Clubs and struggled toe out of the nightmare room. His words left an impression on Yu Hanjiang. No one could guarantee what would happen next, no one could predict the future. What ha could do was ¡®cherish the person in front of him. As long as he lived and cherished every day with Xiao Lou, there was no need to think too much.

    Thinking of this, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s gaze toward Xiao Lou became gentler. ¡°Are you cold?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m fine. By the way, what did Brother Jiu say?¡±

    ¡°He said that their secret room was a court script involving the prince¡¯s usurping and the plot was veryplicated. However, there is no reference value. We aren¡¯t in the same world at all.¡±

    ¡°It seems we can only rely on ourselves.¡±

    Seeing Yu Hanjiang¡¯s calm expression and remembering the dream just now, the plot of the wedding room once again appeared in Xiao Lou¡¯s mind. Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was beating like a drum but he pretended to be calm. ¡°I want to tell you something but I can¡¯t let other people hear it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded.

    The next moment, Xiao Lou summoned Qin Guan and they connected with the heart channel.

    Qin Guan wore ancient clothing and him appearing in the ancient world didn¡¯t show any disharmony. The ¡®Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings¡¯ allowed them to spiritually connect and they could pass on their thoughts without moving their mouths. It was simr to the voice transmission in martial arts novels and could still be used in this world.

    The two people sat under a tree and pretended to admire the moon while their spiritual worlds connected again.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s voice appeared in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mind. ¡°I just dreamed a lot about the past and the entire setting became clear. I¡¯m actually a man disguised as a woman in this world.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at him softly. ¡°I also dreamed about this and it can exin a lot of doubts about this setting. For example, we have been married for four years and have no children. Moreover, the keeper wouldn¡¯t let you change back to men¡¯s clothing to cover up your true identity. Your father was in the Ministry of Criminal Affairs and offended too many people who would be suspicious if you changed back to men¡¯s clothing.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded in agreement. ¡°I also dreamed of Liu Qiao. She is the apprentice of my mother and is now the owner of a medicine house outside Jiangzhou. Old Mo only looked at the medical centres in the city while Liu Qiao is outside the city. The fourth youngdy of the prince¡¯s mansion often goes to study medicine outside the city. Liu Qiao should have clues about the fourth youngdy.¡±

    Xiao Lou paused before adding, ¡°In addition, I dreamed about the serial murder my father cracked at the Ministry of Criminal Affairs 10 years ago. There were eight people killed in a month in the capital. The result of the initial autopsy was a hanging suicide and the Ministry of Criminal Affairs also closed the cases as suicide. Later, my father detected a colourless and odorless powder from the diet of everyone who died and found it was highly toxic. This was characterized as murder. With the help of my father, the evidence left behind by the murderer was found. The Ministry of Criminal Affairs arrested the criminals but unfortunately, the principal person behind it had escaped by the time the was closed.¡±

    This was a memory unique to Xiao Lou and naturally Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t dream about it. Now he heard Xiao Lou¡¯s story and couldn¡¯t help frowning slightly. ¡°Your memories are so detailed. Is this case in Jiangzhou also rted to the murders in the capital that year?¡±

    ¡°I think so. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t be necessary for these memories to be yed back so clearly.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it. ¡°There are no dreams of other memories?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s ears suddenly turned red and he lowered her head. ¡°There are some, cough, past memories of you.¡± He quickly changed the topic. ¡°Regarding my father, I only dreamed about the sensational capital murders but nothing else.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered in a low voice, ¡°Then you didn¡¯t dream about that candlelit night in the wedding room the night we got married?¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    When would Group Leader Yu¡¯s habit of throwing a straight ball change? How could he directly ask this type of question?! Xiao Lou was red-faced and tried to find excuses. ¡°The wedding room¡­ it is just a fake memory that didn¡¯t really happen.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked seriously, ¡°I treated you like that in the dream, do you feel sick?¡±

    Another straight ball was struck and Xiao Lou looked away awkwardly. ¡°No. My dreams are very vague and I couldn¡¯t see what happened. Cough, just regard it as a dream and don¡¯t think about it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang touched his nose and was too embarrassed to continue discussing the topic. Both people¡¯s hearts were beating like a drum as they remained silent, not knowing what to say.

    At this moment, a dark shadow suddenly shed over from the roof in the distance and the gentleness on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face was swept away. He suddenly stood up and frowned at the roof, his eyes as sharp as a sword as he shouted, ¡°Who is it?!¡±

    The dark shadow flew from the roof toward Yu Hanjiang like the wind. The sharp sword in his hand was detected instantly, the sharp point shing with a dazzling light as it directly aimed at Yu Hanjiang!

    Yu Hanjiang pushed Xiao Lou behind him and quickly took a few steps back.

    Fortunately, he had practiced fighting techniques in real life and had rich experience in actualbat. His response to the attacks was extremely fast. His body seemed to have conditioned reflexes as he grabbed a branch to fight with the other person!

    The assassin was strong in martial arts and the sword in his hand was extremely sharp. The branch was cut into several pieces by him. However, Yu Hanjiang dodged in an extremely flexible manner and didn¡¯t fall.

    In the blink of an eye, the two had already exchanged dozens of rounds. Xiao Lou watched the scene while sweating. On several asions, the sharp sword tip swiped past Yu Hanjiang¡¯s neck, only a few centimeters away from the blood vessels. Yu Hanjiang escaped in a thrilling manner. All of Xiao Lou¡¯s attack and control cards were disabled and he couldn¡¯t help feeling anxious.

    The assassin found that Yu Hanjiang was tough and couldn¡¯t be taken advantage of after a long time. He made a n and pretended to stab toward Yu Hanjiang, but he suddenly turned the sword in the middle of the strike and aimed for Xiao Lou¡¯s neck!

    Xiao Lou also didn¡¯t expect the assassin to suddenly change targets and attack him.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s pupils shrank and he didn¡¯t hesitate to move Xiao Lou into his arms. His body turned sharply and he blocked the opponent¡¯s offensive with his back. The sharp sword sliced through Yu Hanjiang¡¯s shirt, leaving a bloody wound on his back!

    Xiao Lou heard the sound of a sword cutting through cloth and hurriedly asked, ¡°Have you been hurt?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang endured the severe pain and stood still as he whispered, ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­¡±

    The assassin sneered. ¡°Yu daren and his wife really have a deep affection for each other. Unfortunately, my Broken Soul poison means you can¡¯t live another day.¡±

    He left these words and jumped onto the roof.

    Just as he was about to escape, a few people flew in from the outside. THe group of masked men in ck quickly pulled out their swords and surrounded the assassin. The assassin was beaten up and soon caught.

    A man in ck grabbed the assassin and flew down from the roof, kneeling in front of Yu Hanjiang. ¡°We werete and let Yu daren be frightened!¡±

    The faces of the group were covered with a ck veil and Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°You are?¡±

    The man in the lead lowered his fists and held his fists. ¡°Daren, I am Long Sen, a shadow guard His Majesty has assigned to protect you in Jiangzhou.¡±

    The man took off his veil to reveal a familiar face. It was Long Sen. He also held a toke with a feather pattern in his hand. Yu Hanjiang was relieved as he took the token and checked it, pretending not to know the other person.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at the captured assassin and coldly asked, ¡°Who sent you?¡±

    The assassin sneered. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter who sent me. The important thing is that your death ising. You can only me yourself. You shouldn¡¯t havee to Jiangzhou!¡±

    The moment he finished speaking, he suddenly bit down on the poison capsule hidden in his tooth. Yu Hanjiang undid his clothes to look but didn¡¯t find the mark. He wasn¡¯t a hunter.

    This should be a plot character of the Hearts room who was meant to assassinate the newly appointed Jiangzhou prefectural magistrate. Yu Hanjiang took a deep breath and looked at the people in ck around him. ¡°You return first. Shadow Guard Long,e with me.¡±

    He took Xiao Lou and Long Sen into the house and closed the door behind him.

    Long Sen saw no one outside and sorry, ¡°I¡±m sorry Yu daren. We should¡¯vee a bit earlier but we encountered assassins on the road. These assassins were like ghosts and were very strong in martial arts, so it was difficult to deal with them.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Aren¡¯t you working as a guard in the prince¡¯s mansion?¡±

    ¡°I also have an identity as the leader of Jiangzhou¡¯s shadow guards. I was assigned to the prince¡¯s mansion to monitor the prince¡¯s movements. Two days ago, I received a secret letter sent by His Majesty that Yu daren is about toe to Jiangzhou with your wife to take office and it is likely someone will try to assassinate you. His Majesty asked me to mobilize the shadow guards to do my best to protect you and your wife.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°His Majesty also mentioned this matter to me.¡±

    Long Sen was a guard of the prince¡¯s mansion but in fact, the emperor had sent him to monitor the prince. Since he was the leader, it was much easier to deal with danger and at least the group of people brought by Long Sen could help.

    Long Sen looked at the person in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s arms and saw a woman with long hair covered in a blue cloak. He previously couldn¡¯t see her face because it was dark but now that he looked carefully, Long Sen was stunned for a moment. ¡°This is¡­ the madam?¡±

    At the familiar face, Long Sen slipped and nearly fell. Wasn¡¯t this Professor Xiao?

    Xiao Lou also noticed that Group Leader Yu¡¯s posture was too close and immediately broke away from Group Leader Yu¡¯s arms, looking at the other person anxiously. ¡°Are you okay? Let me examine your back.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°It¡¯s fine. It is just skin and flesh.¡±

    Xiao Lou ignored his exnation and simply pressed him to sit down on a stool. Then Xiao Lou examined his back. He saw that the white clothes on the man¡¯s back had been dyed red with blood! Xiao Lou¡¯s fingers trembled slightly as he removed the clothes¡­

    A 40 cm long wound nted across Yu Hanjiang¡¯s back. The wound was open and blood was constantly flowing. Obviously, this assassin¡¯s sword was too sharp. It cut through theyer of muscles and almost cut to the ribs! It was such a deep wound yet this person actually said nothing?!

    Xiao Lou was so distressed that he gritted his teeth and wanted to chop that assassin to pieces!

    Long Sen saw Xiao Lou¡¯s ugly expression and was startled. He spoke in an ashamed manner, ¡°It is my fault for noting earlier¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou clenched his fists firmly and whispered, ¡°I don¡¯t me you, this is the plot we have to go through. The assassin¡¯s sword is poisonous.¡± He saw that Yu Hanjiang¡¯s wound was gradually turning ck and took a deep breath to calm himself. Then he took a clean white cloth, found a few bottles of medicinal powder from his medicine cab and sprinkled them on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s wound, temporarily stopping the blood flow.

    It was such a deep wound and there was no anesthetic in ancient times. How much pain would Group Leader Yu be in? Yet Yu Hanjiang sat here without moving.

    Xiao Lou admired the man¡¯s perseverance and felt particrly distressed. He moved as lightly as possible, gentle spreading the powder around the wound and then wiping the surrounding blood with a sterile white cloth.

    Yu Hanjiang looked calm as he clenched his fists to endure the sharp pain. He had been injured many times, sometimes more serious than now. Since this was a plot point of the secret room, either Xiao Lou was injured or he was injured. He would rather it be himself.

    He blocked that sword for Xiao Lou with no hesitation and it was a subconscious reaction. How could he be willing to let his favourite person get hurt?

    The wound on his back was very scary but Group Leader Yu seemed calm. Xiao Lou¡¯s hands trembled slightly but he soonposed himself and helped Yu Hanjiang treat the wound, bandaging it with a white cloth.

    Long Sen was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot beside them and couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°The sword is poisonous and the wound is ckening. There are still two days until the prince¡¯s birthday feast. The assassin seemed to say that Group Leader Yu can¡¯t live for another day. Do we have to find a way to detoxify it?¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke calmly. ¡°Find Liu Qiao.¡±

    Long Sen wondered, ¡°Liu Qiao?¡±

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°I just got a clue. Liu Qiao is at a medicine house outside Jiangzhou. My mother had a copy of a toxicology book that she passed to Liu Qiao before my mother died. Liu Qiao should be very good at detoxification.¡±

    Xiao Lou moved to the front and looked at Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang was affected by the toxin. His mind wasn¡¯t clear and his forehead was covered in sweat.

    The assassin had attacked them at night in order to make them absent from the prince¡¯s birthday banquet. the situation in Jiangzhou wasplicated and obviously, some people didn¡¯t want Yu Hanjiang to be the prefectural magistrate of Jiangzhou, let alone have Yu Hanjiang involved in the uing case.

    Xiao Lou gently held Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hand and spoke softly, ¡°I have medicine for pain relief here. I¡¯ll give you some and you have to hold on. Long Sen and I will take you to the medicine house immediately.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang held Xiao Lou¡¯s hand and replied in a low voice, ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll listen to my wife¡¯s arrangements.¡±

    Xiao Lou was very calm and was the first to think that this was the plot forcing them to go out of the city to find Liu Qiao. Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou and told him, ¡°Be careful, there might be a group of people lying in ambush at the medicine house to deal with you.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked serious. ¡°I know.¡±

    Even if he knew that the risk of a crisis outside the city was high, he had to go. ording to the plot setting, only Liu Qiao could detoxify this wound. Moreover, Yu Hanjiang was poisoned and in extreme pain. How could he let Group Leader Yu continue to suffer? If it wasn¡¯t for Yu Hanjiang, he would be the one injured just now.

    ¡®Thank you for saving my life. I will remember your kindness to me.¡¯

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath, nced at Long Sen and calmly ordered, ¡°Go and prepare two fast horses to leave the city tonight!¡±

 Chapter 158: Beacon in Troubled Times 08

    Long Sen had juste with the shadow guards on horseback. Hearing Xiao Lou¡¯s words, he hurriedly turned and grabbed two fast horses.

    Xiao Lou fed Yu Hanjiang some painkillers. The painkillers could only relieve minor pain while the wound on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s back was deep to the bone, as wound as long as 40 cm crossing almost his entire back. Xiao Lou knew this medicine wouldn¡¯t help and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s continuous sweating showed he was enduring extremely intense pain.

    Xiao Lou picked up a white cloth to help him dry the sweat on his forehead and softly asked, ¡°Is it painful? Can you stand it?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took a deep breath and whispered, ¡°I¡¯m fine. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    His wound was poisonous and it was difficult for him to even stand still. Xiao Lou hurriedly reached out to hold out.

    Group Leader Yu was currently seriously injured. If they were attacked, wouldn¡¯t they be helpless due to a number of their cards being banned?

    Thinking of this, Xiao Lou suddenly had an idea.

    In the ancient world, many electrical appliances and modern cards were banned but there were still a few cards that could be used. For example, Li Qingzhao¡¯s second skill ¡®Who Sent the Brocade from Beyond the Clouds¡¯ was a flying pigeon that could deliver books, letters or items to a designated teammate.

    The ancient world also used pigeons to pass messages and this card could be used in ancient times without any sense of conflict. It was probably due to this reason that it wasn¡¯t banned.

    Xiao Lou immediately summoned Li Qingzhao, picked up a paper on the table and wrote on it, ¡°Old Han was attacked. I want to summon everyone to meet at the medicine house in the northern valley outside of Jiangzhou. From Yunxiao.¡±

    In addition, he tied a Qin Guan card to the pigeon. He let the pigeon out of the window and designated the target, Shao Qingge.

    Li Qingzhao¡¯s flying pigeon had a feature. As long as the target was locked, the pigeon could send the letter no matter the location of the target and it wouldn¡¯t be intercepted halfway. There would be a prompt for ¡®information delivery¡¯ and even a sleeping person would be woken up.

    He sent a message to Chief Shao because Chief Shao could go to the Fragrant Sky House to find Ye Qi and he also knew Old Mo¡¯s residence. By asking Shao Qingge to call these two people over, they could be some help if there was danger.

    The group of shadow guards could also be brought by Long Sen to be used when necessary but they were all masked and Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t assured. If there were any spies then it would be troublesome. Their teammates were more reliable. In addition, it was necessary for the teammates to meet and analyze clues in detail before the case actually happened.

    After arranging all of this, Xiao Lou helped Yu Hanjiang out to the yard.

    Long Sen had readied the fast horses and the two of them helped Yu Hanjiang onto one. In order to prevent him from falling, Xiao Lou got up on the horse behind Yu Hanjiang, arms gently around this person¡¯s waist as he grabbed onto the reins.

    This was the first time Xiao Lou was riding a horse but the physical memories of this world made him quickly adapt to horseback. He pulled the reins and gave a soft cry. ¡°Go!¡±

    The ck horse heard the order and immediately started running. On thete night streets, the horseshoes made a clear ¡®cking¡¯ sound on the stone road. Xiao Lou and Long Sen rode the horses and rushed out of Jiangzhou as quickly as possible.

    Yu Hanjiang was confused and could only notice the refreshing smell of Xiao Lou¡¯s body. He leaned against Xiao Lou and closed his eyes. He believed that Xiao Lou would be able to help him escape. He had never trusted a person so much.

    The severe pain and high fever made Yu Hanjiang¡¯s consciousness be more and more blurred. It wasn¡¯t long before he passed out. Xiao Lou noticed that Yu Hanjiang was unconscious and his expression changed. He immediately elerated the speed of the horse.

    The two horses galloped like the wind and left Jiangzhou in an instant, advancing down a winding road outside the city toward a valley. Xiao Lou found the medicine house based on his memories.

    It was around 5 in the morning and the entire medicine house was very quiet. The thatched house was dark and it was obviously their owner was sleeping. Xiao Lou helped Yu Hanjiang down from the horse and had Long Sen knock on the door.

    Long Sen was so anxious that he almost smashed the wooden door. ¡°Xiao Liu, Xiao Liu, are you in? Open the door!¡±

    The man¡¯s anxious voice echoed in the valley and the birds on the trees flew up in shock. The house was soon lit up with candlelight and a momentter, a young girl in a dark green robe opened the door, her expression indifferent. It was indeed Liu Qiao. After seeing Long Sen, her eyes widened. ¡°Brother Long, what¡¯s going on?¡±

    Immediately after, Xiao Lou in female clothing helped Yu Hanjiange over.

    Liu Qiao wasn¡¯t surprised by Xiao Lou wearing female clothing. In the plot setting, she was the medicine processing child adopted by Xiao Lou¡¯s mother. She knew the entire process of Yu Hanjiang pursuing Xiao Lou and even participated in their wedding.

    The dreams of thest two days told her everything about the past. Seeing Xiao Lou in female clothing, she was the only teammate without a wide mouth. Instead, she calmly said, ¡°Come in quickly.¡±

    Everyone helped Yu Hanjiang enter the house. Liu Qiao closed the door and asked softly, ¡°Yu daren is injured?¡±

    Xiao Lou helped Yu Hanjiang to the bed and leaned against the bedside, watching Liu Qiao calmly. ¡°He wasn¡¯t only injured but also poisoned. Someone was sent to assassinate the prefectural magistrate and coated the sword with poison. The assassin said it was the Broken Soul Do you know this poison?¡±

    ¡°Broken Soul?¡± Liu Qiao immediately walked over. ¡°Let me see the wound.¡±

    Xiao Lou had Yu Hanjiang lie on the bed and lifted his clothes. He unwrapped the white cloth and saw that the 40cm wound on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s back had started to fester and pus. Large areas of the surrounding skin had be blue and ck.

    Xiao Lou had seen many terrible wounds as a forensic doctor but this wound was on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s body. His heart couldn¡¯t bear the stinging pain and he clenched his fists to try and keep himself calm.

    Long Sen cursed. ¡°Fuck! This poison is too terrible! Xiao Liu, can you take care of it?¡±

    Liu Qiao took out a medicine book. ¡°The book left to me by my master did mention Broken Soul. I can match the antidote.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Do you have all the medicinal materials here? I can buy them if you are missing anything.¡±

    ¡°Rest assured, there are all types of rare herbs here to make the medicine. Wait a minute, I¡¯ll go and make it.¡±

    She turned to the pharmacy next door, grabbed a scale and picked the ingredients for the medicine as the book documented.

    She was able to distinguish all these herbs, showing that Liu Qiao hadn¡¯t been idle in thest two days. After epting the status of medicine child, she immediately studied the book her master left to her and wrote down the name and location of medicinal herbs.

    Xiao Lou finally sighed with relief, thinking it was fortunately that Xiao Liu hadn¡¯t dropped the chain at the critical moment. This girl was a student of Chinese medicine in reality and she was clever and calm when things went wrong. Adding her to the team after 4 of Spades was the right decision.

    Liu Qiao quickly prepared the medicine ording to the prescription and brewed it for a while over a gentle heat. She drained the medicine residue, cooled the soup and brought it over in arge bowl, exining, ¡°This is an externally applied medicine that needs to be evenly spread on the wound. As for the internal medicine, I will make it now.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Okay, give it to me.¡±

    He took the medicine bowl from Liu Qiao, grabbed a clean brushed and dipped it in before carefully applying it to the wound on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s back. This was the basic skill of medical students but Xiao Lou found his hands were shaking uncontrobly. The wound was too terrible. The flesh was open and the ribs could almost be seen.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath, steadied his fingers and slowly helped Yu Hanjiang apply the medicine.

    Long Sen could only stand by and watch. He found that Professor Xiao had sweat on his forehead and his expression was extremely serious.

    The person who was always gentle and smiling was unusually pale at this time and his expression was ugly like he wanted to kill someone.

    Long Sen didn¡¯t dare to disturb him and went to see Liu Qiao.

    Momentster, Liu Qiao refined the medicine for internal use. Xiao Lou carefully applied medicine to the entire wound and broke up the pills that Liu Qiao brought, assisting Yu Hanjiang in taking them.

    Yu Hanjiang still didn¡¯t respond and Xiao Lou was worried. ¡°When will he woke up?¡±

    Liu Qiao replied, ¡°He should be okay after an hour.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and gazed at Yu Hanjiang with eyes full of heartache. ¡°I will stay here to guard him.¡±

    Long Sen and Liu Qiao nced at each other and didn¡¯t dare speak.

    Just then, there was the sound of a sharp arrow breaking the air and an arrow was shot through the window, hitting a pir inside the house. Xiao Lou¡¯s expression changed. ¡°They should be the assassins targeting us.¡±

    After the first sharp arrow, countless arrows were fired like a rainstorm, surrounding the entire medicine house!

    The rain of arrows was fired into the room and Liu Qiao quickly pulled a screen in front of everyone. ¡°Be careful!¡±

    There were a few sounds as the poisonous arrows were all fired into the screen.

    Xiao Lou nervously clenched his fists. Yu Hanjiang was lying in bed and the most powerful member of their team was now unconscious. If they couldn¡¯t survive this assassination then how could they face the harder Spades rooms in the future? If their force was limited then they could only win with wisdom.

    Xiao Lou quickly calmed down and tried tomunicate with Shao Qingge through Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. ¡°Chief Shao, can you hear me?¡±

    A familiar voice rang in his head. ¡°Yes, I received the flying pigeon and I called Xiao Ye and Old Mo to head in the direction of the medicine house. What happened?¡±

    Xiao Lou briefly exined. ¡°Group Leader Yu was poisoned and we found Liu Qiao to help detoxify his wound. As a result, a group of assassins came to find us.¡±

    Shao Qingge was aware of the severity of the situation and spoke immediately, ¡°Xiao Ye¡¯s teleportation card is still avable and the three of us are travelling very quickly. We have reached the valley you mentioned. I can see many people in ck shooting arrows at a thatched house. Are you in that house?!¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled bitterly. ¡°Yes, we are surrounded.¡±

    Shao Qingge was silent for a moment. ¡°What to do? Old Mo and Ye Qi¡¯s control cards are all banned.¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully thought about it. Currently, the discement type cards could be used, including Long Sen¡¯s long jump, Ye Qi¡¯s teleportation and Liu Qiao¡¯s light footwork card. The invisibility cloak and chameleon cards could also be used but these would only change the visual effect, not make them disappear out of thin air. There was a dense rain of arrows outside so they might still be shot into a hedgehog when going out in stealth.

    His eyes swept over the arrows in the ground and his eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°Use poison.¡±

    Liu Qiao responded. ¡°Yes, I have a lot of highly toxic powders here. As long as I can get out, I can handle them.¡±

    ¡°We should act inside and outside.¡± Xiao Lou ordered Shao Qingge in a shrewd manner, ¡°Let Xiao Ye and Old Mo carry a wooden nk ande over using the teleportation card, attracting the attention of those people. On our side, we will let Liu Qiao go out in the arrow rain and poison those people.¡±

    Shao Qingge gave Xiao Lou¡¯s instructions to Old Mo and Mo Xuemin eximed emotionally, ¡°My wooden n is 5 metres long and two metres wide. The three of us can carry the board while moving and use it as a shield! Professor Xiao is so wonderful.¡±

    Ye Qi wondered, ¡°Chief Shao, do you want to copy the teleportation card? The three of us should use it separately or the operation won¡¯t be easy.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°Old Mo will use the teleportation card to meet Liu Qiao and we¡¯ll both cover them.¡±

    He also passed this information to Xiao Lou and received Xiao Lou¡¯s confirmation. ¡°Count to three seconds and then take action!¡±

    The people counted to three seconds in their hearts.

    The people in ck were probably afraid of traps inside the thatched house and didn¡¯t enter. They only crazily fired arrows from outside. The arrows shot from all directions turned the thatched house into a hedgehog. A man in ck even started a fire, trying to burn the thatched house to ashes.

    The four people inside the house were forced to turn the bed over to hide under the bed.

    Just then, Ye Qi and Shao Qingge suddenly lifted a wall-sized board and teleported through the crowd. The people in ck firing arrows were stunned. In their view, the nt was moving in the air as fast as lightning, as if they were carried by invisible ghosts.

    The scar-faced person in the lead frowned. ¡°Fire!¡±

    Ye Qi quickly lifted the board to the door to block the arrow rain. Old Mo¡¯ss solid wood flooring was very wide but the other side actually set fire to the tip of the arrow. Seeing that the board was about to be burned, Ye Qi was frightened and hurriedly called to those in the house, ¡°I¡¯ll cover you soe out quickly!¡±

    The next moment, Ye Qi felt a gust of wind and the faint scent of medicine.

    It was the effect of the invisibility cloak. Liu Qiao was wearing the invisibility cloak and used her light footwork card to pass over the treetops and circle behind these people.

    She jumped flexibly between trees and spread out her hands quickly. A green toxic fog spread all around her and in the blink of an eye, the group of people lost their weapons and fell unconscious from the poison!

    Liu Qiao counted and there were 20 people. She flew back to the house and told Xiao Lou, ¡°They are all unconscious and don¡¯t seem like they came to you to seek revenge. I remember Master said that the enemy your father made before his death was a poison expert?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°It might be aimed at Group Leader Yu. There are a group of people who want to assassinate him.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s face was white with fright and he couldn¡¯t help spitting out, ¡°Fuck, is this a Hearts room or a Spades secret room? Don¡¯t we have to solve a case? First, I have to act as a member of the brothel and then a group of killers was sent to assassinate us??¡±

    Liu Qiao and Long Sen turned to look at him. ¡°This is?¡±

    Ye Qi stared at them. ¡°It¡¯s me!¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°It is Miss Ye of the Fragrant Sky House.¡±

    Liu Qiao, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Long Sen, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He was dressed in a goose yellow dress and was verydy-like. The lighting was so dark that the two people almost didn¡¯t recognize him.

    They might both be wearing female clothing but Professor Xiao was in a white robe and was gentle and elegant. It was somewhat okay to ept. Meanwhile, Ye Qi was the singer in a brothel and his style was sexy. Everyone looked at him sympathetically and Ye Qi eximed angrily, ¡°What are you looking at? What if I am wearing female clothing? I don¡¯t want to do this!¡±

    Liu Qiao seemed indifferent. ¡°Oh.¡±

    Long Sen smiled and turned his head. ¡°Well, the house is going to be burned. We should quickly get Professor Xiao and Group Leader Yu out.¡±

    The thatched hut had caught on fire and the zing mes lit up the dark night, filling the house with smoke.

    Xiao Lou covered his mouth and nose and helped Yu Hanjiange out with the assistance of his teammates. Then the thatched hut copsed behind him. Seeing that no one was injured, Xiao Lou was relieved and said, ¡°The house is burned. Let¡¯s go to the cave over there and talk about the next n.¡±

 Chapter 159: Beacon in Troubled Times 09

    The seven people met in the cave and Xiao Lou put the unconscious Yu Hanjiang beside him, carefully covering him with a coat. Then Xiao Lou turned to his teammates and said carefully. ¡°Take out the clues you know. Old Mo, speak first.¡±

    Mo Xuemin said, ¡°The cause of the death of the former prefectural magistrate of Jiangzhou was illness. I have checked the records and found no obvious suspicious points. In addition, in recent years, several young women have disappeared for no reason in Jiangzhou and this has be a pending case. Also, the rtionship between the three wives and four youngdies of the prince¡¯s mansion isplicated. Group Leader Yu drew a figure diagram and I made a copy of it. You can take a look.¡±

    He gave the rtionship diagram to everyone and they all felt big when they looked at the lines. Group Leader Yu was worthy of being a professional. This character diagram was quickly drawn as a spider web.

    Shao Qingge touched his chin. ¡°I know something about the Lin family. The two richest families in the Qi State are the Lin family of salt merchants and the Shao family of silk merchants. In fact, the mother of the eldest son is a servant girl. He was born of a bad family and has been rejected by his father since he was a child. The second son is an official in the capital and the third son is the heir. The third son is from the legal wife and her family is more influential.¡±

    Long Sen told them, ¡°I have been at the prince¡¯s mansion for two days and found that the rtionship between the youngdies is very delicate. The second youngdy might be the legitimate daughter but she is isted by her other three sisters and they don¡¯t speak to her. The rtionship between the third and fourth youngdies is very good. The eldest daughter fasts all day and recites Buddhist chants. She has a clean mind and few desires. She has also set up a Buddhist temple at home.¡±

    Ye Qi was in the Fragrant Sky House and hadn¡¯t got any useful clues, so heined, ¡°I have been forced to practice the guqin for the past two days by the boss!¡±

    Then it was Liu Qiao¡¯s turn. ¡°I know the fourth youngdy. She oftenes outside the city to find me and learn medicine. Whenever she goes out, she likes to cover her face. I have only seen a pair of eyes and never her true face.¡±

    Xiao Lou told them about his father¡¯s murder in the capital. The group frowned and fell into contemtion.

    These clues were very messy and were like scattered sugar-coated Chinese hawthorn on a stick but there was no bamboo stick to string them together. They couldn¡¯t judge what would happen in Jiangzhou. Moreover, some clues might be interference items.

    It was just necessary to summarize the clues carefully. Xiao Lou wrote down the words of his teammates and nced at Liu Qiao. ¡°I can¡¯t tell anything about this group of assassins. If they fail, they will directlymit suicide. They are more loyal than the Hunter¡¯s League.¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded. ¡°I checked just now and they don¡¯t have the totem mark of the Hunter¡¯s League. They shouldn¡¯t be hunters and are instead plot characters of 8 of Hearts who were sent to assassinate the prefectural magistrate of Jiangzhou.¡±

    Shao Qingge raised his eyebrows. ¡°A group of assassins risking their lives to kill Yu daren. Do they have a vendetta with Yu daren?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°As far as I know, Yu daren apanied the emperor as a child. When he was 10 years old, he followed his grandfather back to Jiangzhou and studied at home. Then when he was 20 years old, he came to Beijing and became the number one schr. His life was smooth. There might be many people in the imperial court who envy him but he didn¡¯t offend anyone and has no enemies who would want to kill him.¡±

    Old Mo spected, ¡°It seems these people tried to assassinate him not because he is Yu Hanjiang but because of his ¡®prefectural magistrate¡¯ identity?¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°Yu daren is a clean official and if there are some rats in Jiangzhou who are doing bad things behind the emperor¡¯s back then they naturally won¡¯t want him to take office and kick them out.¡±

    Ye Qi suddenly interjected. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be something the prince did? He is afraid of Daren finding out so he attempted to kill early?¡±

    Long Sen replied, ¡°His Majesty has me secretly monitoring the movements of the Eighth Prince. I also think he is suspicious.¡±

    Just then, everyone heard a cough from behind them. Xiao Lou turned around and found that Yu Hanjiang had woken up. The serious expression on his face instantly became tender and he walked over to support Yu Hanjiang, asking softly, ¡°You¡¯re awake. Are you feeling better?¡±

    The team members, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Seeing Xiao Lou gently take care of Yu Hanjiang, they all felt that Professor Xiao was really into the act. They were exactly like a real couple.

    Yu Hanjiang sat up and spoke in a hoarse voice, ¡°I¡¯m much better. At the very least, I won¡¯t faint.¡±

    He nced at the group and was surprised. ¡°Why is everyone here?¡±

    Xiao Lou whispered, ¡°I was worried that there would be a sneak attack during the process of detoxifying you so I called them with the flying pigeon. I still don¡¯t feel assured about the guards arranged for you by the emperor.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded with appreciation. ¡°It is always right to be cautious.¡±

    He gritted his teeth and stood up, walking to everyone. Then he found the rtionship diagram of the prince¡¯s mansion and asked, ¡°Are you analyzing the clues?¡±

    Ye Qi spoke positively, ¡°Yes, Professor Xiao gathered everyone to summarize the clues. There are no clues at present.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told them, ¡°It is normal. Don¡¯t forget, Qu Wanyue hasn¡¯t appeared yet.¡±

    Long Sen had always wanted to ask about Qu Wanyue¡¯s location but the situation just now was critical and Group Leader Yu almost died. It would be out of ce to ask this question. Later, they were surrounded and he was busy running for his life. At this time, Yu Hanjiang took the initiative to mention it and he was immediately worried. ¡°Why isn¡¯t Wanyue here? Has anyone seen her?¡±

    Xiao Lou spected, ¡°We didn¡¯t see her at all. My guess is that she isn¡¯t in Jiangzhou but she¡¯ll be there for the birthday banquet.¡±

    Liu Qiao analyzed, ¡°Since Teacher Qu is part of our team, she is almost certainly assigned to an important role. She is alone so she shouldn¡¯t be attacked. Perhaps she has another task.¡±

    Long Sen nodded. ¡°Hopefully she¡¯ll be okay.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at him andforted him. ¡°Rest assured, Teacher Qu¡¯s chameleon cards and long jump cards can be used like you. If she encounters trouble then escaping shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡±

    Long Sen heard Professor Xiao¡¯s words and felt more settled.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and coughed a few times before saying, ¡°It¡¯s gettingter and you should all go back so as to not arouse suspicious after dawn.¡± He nced at Long Sen and Ye Qi. ¡°Long Sen, return to the prince¡¯s mansion and pay attention to their movements. Ye Qi, you should get some clues at the Fragrant Sky House. Pay attention to the children of rich families and don¡¯t pay too much attention to your identity as the first performer.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Everyone had forgotten this matter until Group Leader Yu solemnly said ¡®the first performer of a brothel¡¯. Then everyone turned their heads and suppressed a smile. Ye Qi¡¯s ears were red. ¡°I know.¡±

    Old Mo wasn¡¯t very assured. ¡°If we are all gone, what will you do if there are repeated attacks?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°I will hide with Xiao Lou in the cave for a day. This ce is very hidden and no one will find it.¡±

    The group looked around and had to agree with Group Leader Yu¡¯s arrangement.

    The sky was about to be bright. It would be really difficult to exin if Ye Qi disappeared out of thin air so Shao Qingge took him and Old Mo back first. Long Sen returned to the prince¡¯s mansion while Liu Qiao went to clean up the charred medicine house, leaving Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou in the cave.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face improved a lot and Xiao Lou undid his clothes to see the wound on his back.

    The wound had started to scab. It still looked swollen but the surrounding ckness had faded away. The toxin was obviously cleared and the remaining flesh wounds had started to heal.

    Xiao Lou helped him re-bandage the wound while asking softly, ¡°Does it hurt?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked calm. ¡°There is no pain.¡±

    He had been shot in the chest with bullets and climbed mountains while in severe pain. Now Xiao Lou was personally taking care of him and bandaging his wounds. His heart was warm with Xiao Lou beside him.

    As Xiao Lou dealt with the wound, Liu Qiao returned and gave Yu Hanjiang another pill.

    Originally, Yu Hanjiang nned to go to the prince¡¯s mansion today to bring the secret letter the emperor gave him to the Eighth Prince but he was suddenly attackedtest night and his injuries weren¡¯t good. This n could only be put on hold. He pulled out the secret letter and wanted to open it. As a result, the secret room reminded him: [This is a sacred letter and it is a crime to open it without permission.]

    Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao nced at each other.

    Yu Hanjiang had to put away the secret letter. ¡°I can¡¯t open it. It seems it can only be handed over to the prince.¡±

    A day passed quickly. Liu Qiao was a proficient toxicologist and under Xiao Lou¡¯s care, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s body waspletely cleared of all toxins and his spirit improved a lot.

    In the early hours of the morning, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou returned to the prefectural magistrate¡¯s office to change their clothes.

    Today was the birthday of the Eighth Prince. Every year on his birthday, many people came to wish him a good birthday. Even if he wasn¡¯t old, the number of officials and wealthy businessmen who wanted to climb up using a rtionship with him was endless. After all, the person the emperor respected most today was the Eighth Prince.

    Shao Qingge carried arge box of gifts to the pce.

    Yu Hanjiang changed into clean and tidy official clothes and headed to the prince¡¯s mansion with Xiao Lou and Master Mo.

    Ye Qi was one of the top acts of the Fragrant Sky House and would be performing at the prince¡¯s mansion.

    Liu Qiao was invited by the fourth youngdy to visit the prince¡¯s mansion.

    Long Sen changed into a guard¡¯s uniform and was stationed at the door. He watched his teammates enter the pce one by one but Wanyue didn¡¯t appear. Long Sen was anxious then the next moment, he saw two men approaching the prince¡¯s mansion.

    Walking in front was a bright looking young man less than 20 year old. His skin maintenance was really good and he kept blowing bubbles and breaking them. This teenager had red lips and white teeth. At first nce, he was like a girl dressing up as a man.

    Behind him was a young man in his 20s, with a fair-skinned face and long hair tied up in a ponytail. There was a folding fan in his hand and he looked handsome and elegant.

    Wasn¡¯t this Qu Wanyue who had been with him for four years and who he got a certificate with at the Civil Affairs Bureau?

    Long Sen, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Honey, how did you be a man?

    Qu Wanyue also recognized him. She raised her eyebrows and gave him a ¡®don¡¯t speak¡¯ look.

    Long Sen¡¯s desire to survive burst out and he immediately pretended not to know her. As a guard of the prince¡¯s mansion, he should stop strangers but before he could, the guard next to him stepped forward. ¡°Who are you? How dare you enter the prince¡¯s mansion without permission?¡±

    The teenagerughed. ¡°This young master has an invitation card!¡±

    He took an invitation out of his pocket and it was indeed an invitation to the prince¡¯s birthday banquet. The guard at the gate immediately stepped aside.

    Long Sen watched ¡®Qu gongzi¡¯ pass by in front of him and his mind was full of question marks. He wanted to know what the situation was. As a result, a paper ball suddenly appeared in his hand from Qu Wanyue.

    Long Sen waited until there was no one around before secretly turning around and opening it. He saw the paper had the words ¡®Ninth Princess¡¯ on them. Originally, Qu Wanyue was apanying the wayward Ninth Princess and only arrived in Jiangzhou today.

 Chapter 160: Beacon in Troubled Times 10

    Qu Wanyue was at the princess¡¯ mansion when she came into this world. Her identity was a dancer. Her parents died and she survived by dancing. A few years old, the Ninth Princess was passing by in the capital when Qu Wanyue was being bullied. Taking pity on her, the princess bought her as a maid.

    That day, the princess suddenly wanted to go out and Qu Wanyue apanied her. The result was that when they were buying clothes, the princess happened to meet Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou. The princess was mocked by Yu Hanjiang and came back.

    Qu Wanyue happened to be buying cookies for the princess at that time and wasn¡¯t with her. When she came back, she saw the Ninth Princess¡¯s angry face as the princess eximed, ¡°I want to go to Jiangzhou!¡±

    Qu Wanyue didn¡¯t know why but as the princess¡¯ maid, she could only follow the princess.

    On the way, she heard the Ninth Princess scold Yu daren for being blind and ignorant and realized that Group Leader Yu was also going to Jiangzhou.

    It seemed the location of the incident was in Jiangzhou and Qu Wanyue followed the princess to Jiangzhou at ease. It wasn¡¯t until she saw Long Sen at the gate of the prince¡¯s mansion that she confirmed her spection.

    Yu Hanjiang, Xiao Lou and Mo Xuemin entered the pce and had someone inform the Eighth Prince that Jiangzhou¡¯s prefectural magistrate was visiting.

    The steward in charge of the prince¡¯s mansion heard that he was the new prefectural magistrate and immediately respectfully brought the three people to a side hall, settling them down and pouring them tea before turning around to report to the prince.

    Momentster, a middle-aged man strode into the hall.

    For the first time, the trio met the legendary Eighth Prince. They saw a middle-aged man in his 40s, tall and sturdy and wearing a brocade jade robe. He looked handsome.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s group of three immediately bowed. ¡°I greet the prince.¡±

    The prince smiled. ¡°There is no need to be polite.¡± He gazed at Yu Hanjiang with admiration in his eyes. ¡°Is this Yu daren? His Majesty often mentions you in letters and I¡¯ve heard some stories about you. A 19 year old pce examination champion has been promoted to the prefectural magistrate of Jiangzhou within a few years. Yu daren is really young and promising!¡±

    ¡°You are praising me too much.¡± Yu Hanjiang brought Xiao Lou and Mo Xuemin forward and introduced them. ¡°This is Xiao Lou, my wife. This is Mr Mo, a master schr. I brought them here to congratte you on your birthday.¡±

    As he spoke, he handed over the prepared presents to the prince. It was a famous calligraphy painting from the capital. As an honest official, it wasn¡¯t good for him to buy things that were too expensive. He heard the prince liked calligraphy and painting so he brought a calligraphy painting from his family¡¯s collection.

    The prince had his entourage ept the present and smiled. ¡°Yu daren is very kind. You had a hard journey here and I should¡¯ve set up a banquet to entertain you. Unfortunately, the prince¡¯s mansion is busy these days and it is hard for me to get away. In a few days, pleasee back again.¡±

    The Eighth Prince didn¡¯t have the arrogance of royalty and was very kind to Yu Hanjiang. His smile also looked kind.

    This smile reminded Yu Hanjiang of the emperor sitting in the dragon chair in the capital and also smiling, his mood unknown. Sure enough, all those who survived the royal struggle were human.

    Yu Hanjiang lowered his voice and spoke about the important matter, ¡°His Majesty has a few words he asked this small official to pass on to you.¡±

    The Eighth Prince understood the meaning. ¡°Yu daren, please follow me to my office. As for the madam and master¡­¡± He turned to look at the maid next to him. ¡°Caiyue, take the madam and master to the garden and entertain the two noble guests.¡±

    Caiyue responded positively and led Xiao Lou and Mo Xuemin away.

    Yu Hanjiang followed the prince to the study and pulled out a sealed letter, respectfully handing it over. ¡°This secret letter was passed on to you from His Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Oh? A secret letter?¡± The Eighth Prince received the letter from Yu Hanjiang. After opening it, he frowned slightly. It was unknown what was mentioned in the secret letter but his face became a bit serious.

    His eyes quickly swept over the letter before he put it away and smiled. ¡°Yu daren, it was hard for you. I haven¡¯t returned to the capital for four years and I think it is time for me to return.¡±

    Next, he politely asked about the emperor¡¯s situation and expressed his love as the emperor¡¯s uncle. It was unknown if he really cared about the emperor or was just putting on a show for Yu Hanjiang. Regarding the court¡¯s government affairs or some important decisions, he said nothing. It was said he was an idle prince who didn¡¯t care about political affairs and it seemed the rumours were true.

    At the same time, Xiao Lou and Mo Xuemin were following the maid to enjoy the flowers in the pce.

    This area of the Zhenjiang prince¡¯s mansion was amazinglyrge. The entire royal mansion had a quiet environment, with pavilions, greenery and flower beds. The arrangement of the flower beds was extremely borate and some feng shuiyouts were hidden in, making it obvious that it was specifically designed.

    Mo Xuemin had learned design and he couldn¡¯t help whispering to Xiao Lou, ¡°The nning and design of this yard is very reasonable. It should¡¯ve been costly to build and is almostparable to our People¡¯s Park.

    Xiao Lou also felt that everywhere in the yard was scenery to let people rx.

    There was a huge lotus pond in the middle of the courtyard. It was currently early autumn and the pond was full of lotuses. If they walked on the cobblestone path beside the pond, they could smell the fragrance of lotuses. There were stone benches and tables beside the lotus pond and the wind blew in a refreshing manner. Xiao Lou and Mo Xuemin simply sat down to appreciate the flowers while the maid brought them a few tes of washed fruit.

    Just then, a thin woman wearing a white veil passed by the lotus pond, followed by Liu Qiao in a ponytail. Liu Qiao was carrying a medicine basket in her hand.

    Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao nced at each other and spoke to each other in their hearts. It seemed the person next to Liu Qiao was the fourth youngdy, Qi Yiwei.

    Since it was the prince¡¯s mansion, she was dressed in an elegant white dress with only simple silver embellishments. There were no ornate beads in her hair, only a wooden pin inserted.

    The white cloth covered most of her face, revealing only her eyes and eyebrows.

    She nced in Xiao Lou¡¯s direction, her eyes clear and dynamic with curved willow leaf eyebrows. She had a clear temperament and was a small beauty. He wondered why she kept covering her face with a veil.

    Liu Qiao quickly followed the fourth youngdy. Since Liu Qiao was by the fourthdy¡¯s side, there was no need to worry about missing clues. Xiao Lou was very confident in Liu Qiao.

    The prince¡¯s mansion was so big that they had to figure out the terrain first. Xiao Lou had a n and suddenly said,¡± I want to go to the toilet. Caiyue, can you show me the way?¡±

    ¡°Okay. Madam, this way.,¡± The girl immediately took Xiao Lou to the backyard.

    The toilet of the prince¡¯s mansion was built in a very hidden ce. The maid couldn¡¯t follow Xiao Lou so after pointing to the ce, she waited outside. Xiao Lou used the stealth cloak once he was around the corner and put on the eleration shoes. He used this time to quickly tour around the prince¡¯s mansion.

    The Zhenjiang prince¡¯s mansion was too big. He had a limited amount of time and could only figure out the backyard.

    The backyard had one courtyard in the east, west, south and north directions and their names were all literary. They were the residences of the wives and the youngdies. There was a small Buddhist temple in the most secluded corner. Xiao Lou saw a dignified girl knocking a wooden fish while chanting in the Buddhist temple. This was obviously the eldest daughter, Qi Yiyao,

    Long Sen once mentioned that the youngdy loved reading Buddhist scriptures. She usually went to the Buddhist temple to read and study Buddhist scriptures. Xiao Lou found that the girl had her eyes closed and the expression on her face was extremely calm. It was as if the world had nothing to do with her.

    She had a marriage agreement with the young master of the Lin family. The Lin¡¯s eldest son was arrogant and mixed in with female entertainers every day. Was she so secluded that she didn¡¯t hear about it or did she just not care about her fiance?

    Xiao Lou was feeling very puzzled. The eldest daughter was only 20 years old. At a young ago, she actually hid in a Buddhist temple every day to read Buddhist scriptures. It was very strange.

    Just then, a beautiful woman suddenly came over. ¡°Ah Yao, today is your father¡¯s birthday. Why are you still reading scriptures here? Go back and change your clothes.¡±

    Qi Yiyao lightly knocked the wooden fish and said, ¡°Father¡¯s birthday has many guests every day. It is lively enough and it doesn¡¯t matter if I participate or not.¡±

    The woman¡¯s face changed after hearing. ¡°What are these words? You are the eldest daughter of the prince. How can you not go to your father¡¯s birthday? Your three younger sisters will attend the banquet tonight and Master Lin will also be there. Listen to your mother and change your clothes. Don¡¯t let yourself bepared to your sisters.¡±

    She then grabbed the other person by the wrist and forcibly dragged her away. Qi Yiyao followed her mother with no expression. Not far away, the fourthdy and Liu Qiao were passing the Buddha hall together and also witnessed this scene.

    Liu Qiao wondered, ¡°The eldest youngdy doesn¡¯t like the excitement?¡±

    The fourth youngdy¡¯s soft voice was heard. ¡°Yes, my sister isn¡¯t well. She was born with a serious illness and almost died. At that time, my father went out of Jiangzhou to seek an amulet and asked the senior teacher to raise her until she was 10 years old, when she was taken back home. She has grown up in a temple since she was a child so when she came back to the pce, she asked Father to build a Buddhist temple. Whenever she is read, she will go to the Buddhist temple to copy scriptures. She doesn¡¯t talk to us very much.¡±

    Liu Qiao was curious. ¡°Then how did she make a marriage contract with Eldest Son Lin?¡±

    The fourthdy could only shake her head. ¡°It is the lives of our parents and us children can only obey.¡±

    Liu Qiao tried her best to gain information. Xiao Lou was worried his disappearance would be found and quickly left the Buddhist temple.

    The maid was waiting a long time but didn¡¯t see Madam Yue out. She couldn¡¯t help worrying. ¡°Madam, why were you gone so long?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Perhaps it ate something bad this morning. My stomach isn¡¯t veryfortable.¡±

    He followed the maid back to the lotus pond. Old Mo had juste back from investigating the front yard and the two of them exchanged a look.

    The clues avable before the case actually urred were limited. Xiao Lou had only seen the fourth youngdy, the eldest youngdy. The second youngdy and the third youngdy, who loved martial arts, hadn¡¯t been seen at all.

    Old Mo whispered, ¡°I see that the Lin family hase, including the Lin family¡¯s master.¡±

    At this time, Yu Hanjiang and the prince came out of the study and Xiao Lou and Mo Xuemin greeted them.

    The prince was very busy today and had many guests to greet. He took the initiative to say, ¡°I have something to do,¡± and had his entourage take them to the hall to settle down first. The trio said their goodbyes and sat in the side hall, waiting for the dinner to begin.

    Soon, Shao Qingge came in and delivered several boxes of gifts. The Shao family was one of the richest families in Daqi and naturally had the best gifts among all the guests.

    Today, Shao Qingge was dressed in a gorgeous silk robe and looked very noble. After he entered the side hall, he saw Yu Hanjiang, Xiao Lou and Old Mo and immediately came over to put on a performance. ¡°Yu daren, what a coincidence that we meet again.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had to cooperate with him. ¡°Shao gongzi, it is indeed a coincidence.¡±

    Shao Qingge sat down next to Yu Hanjiang and covered his face with his fan. He pretended to be reminiscing but he actually whispered, ¡°I just saw someone at the gate.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Who?¡±

    ¡°Qu Wanyue.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was startled before feeling relieved. In their team, Qu Wanyue hadn¡¯t appeared for a long time but now she hade to the Zhenjiang prince¡¯s mansion. All the members had gathered together and the case should start soon.

    Yu Hanjiang lowered his voice and asked, ¡°What is her identity?¡±

    Shao Qingge gloated, ¡°A woman dressed as a man and turned into a handsome gongzi. Long Sen saw his wife wearing men¡¯s clothing and his chin almost fell off. His mouth was so big that he could swallow a duck egg.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    When would Chief Shao¡¯s problem of gloating be changed?

    Yu Hanjiang seriously asked, ¡°Is she disguised in men¡¯s clothing or has she be a man?¡±

    ¡°She should be faking. She is still a woman in this world but it is more convenient to act as a man. She also came with another woman dressed as a man who is thin and with soft skin. I don¡¯t know who it is.¡±

    They were talking when they saw Qu Wanyue dressed as a man and walking beside a handsome ¡®boy.¡¯ The two men found vacant seats to sit down on and drank tea.

    Qu Wanyue¡¯s eyes fell on Yu Hanjiang and she gently nodded. Xiao Lou also found Qu Wanyue and then the person sitting next to her. This person looked familiar, as if Xiao Lou had seen her before¡­ Xiao Lou thought carefully. Wasn¡¯t this the princess he and Yu Hanjiang saw while shopping in the capital?

    Xiao Lou gently smiled and whispered in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ear, ¡°It is the Ninth Princess, did shee because of you?¡±

    It was rumoured that Yu Hanjiang initially rejected the emperor¡¯s marriage setup and the Ninth Princess hated this. However, he and Xiao Lou had been married for four years and she was a princess. There must be many young men who wanted her. She still hadn¡¯t let go of it in the present?

    Had the princesse all the way to Jiangzhou just to find fault? If this was the case, the princess wasn¡¯t just headstrong but had a problem with her mind. Xiao Lou felt that things wouldn¡¯t be so simple.

    Yu Hanjiang worried about what Xiao Lou was thinking and immediately exined, ¡°I¡¯m really not familiar with her. I have never exchanged more than five sentences with her. Don¡¯t think about it. She is probably here because of the plot.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°I naturally believe in you. I also don¡¯t think the princess came to Jiangzhou simply to find fault with us. A good show will soon appear. Let¡¯s wait and see.¡±

 Chapter 161: Beacon in Troubled Times 11

    The Eighth Prince¡¯s birthday banquet officially began in the evening.

    Everyone was invited to the backyard where many round tables were set up in the open space next to the pond. The tables were filled with rich food and the guests took their seats in turn. The prince was sitting in the main spot with his three wives.

    It was rumoured that the prince loved beauty and each of the threedies had their own characteristics. Madam Yun was dignified, Madam Qing was bright and charming while Madam Han was delicate and gentle. The prince was surrounded by these beautiful women and looked very happy.

    The style of Daqi¡¯s people was open so there was no rule that women shouldn¡¯t be allowed to show their faces. Yet all four daughters couldn¡¯t be seen. Perhaps they were preparing a congrattory gift for the prince?

    Shao Qingge and the distinguished guests of the Lin family sat at the same table.

    The Lin family¡¯s eldest son Lin Shaobo sat next to him. Today, this Lin Shaobo didn¡¯t drink alcohol. Compared with the drunk noble he saw the day before yesterday in the Fragrant Sky House, the serious Lin Shaobo was a talent. He was engaged to marry the prince¡¯s eldest daughter and they would be married next month. As the future son-inw of the prince, he would certainly attend his father-inw¡¯s birthday banquet. The congrattory gift sent by the representative of the Lin family was also quite impressive and consisted of several boxes.

    Lin Shaobo nced at Shao Qingge before calmly bowing his head, pretending not to know the other person. Shao Qingge also gave him face and didn¡¯t mention the matter of the Fragrant Sky House.

    There was a big drinking party and tonight¡¯s mansion was really lively.

    After three rounds of wine, the performance started. The girls of the Fragrant Sky House were invited up and after a soft dance, the boss smiled. ¡°The next show is a brand new sword dance that our Fragrant Sky House specifically trained in to wish the prince a long life!¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s sharp eyes discovered that Ye Qi had also appeared.

    Tonight¡¯s Miss Ye had changed her clothes. She was wearing a red dress with gold wire embroidery and there were also many beads in her hair that burned brightly by candlelight.

    The moment the famous first performer of the Fragrant Sky House came out, Shao Qingge almost spat out his rice. It was right to dress festively for a birthday party but there was no need to celebrate like this, right? Ye Qi just needed to wear a veil on his head and he could get married directly.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were also forced tough. Poor Ye Qi, this ck history of dressing up as a woman was likely to be remembered by everyone.

    This was the first time Qu Wanyue had seen Ye Qi dressed like this and she was almost caught. She hurriedly covered her face with her sleeves and pretended to drink tea calmly. However, the Ninth Princess next to her spoke with interest, ¡°This girl is very beautiful. What is the Fragrant Sky House?¡±

    Qu Wanyue forced herself to stay calm as she exined in a low voice. ¡°It is thergest song and dance hall in Jiangzhou. All the women sell art and not their bodies. They rely on talent to eat.¡±

    The Ninth Princess was thoughtful. ¡°Are they going to perform a sword dance? I know that you can do it but I don¡¯t know if these people can do a sword dance. How can anyone dance as well as you?¡±

    Qu Wanyue smiled. ¡°Princess, you are ttering me. I only know a bit.¡±

    The two of them were talking while Ye Qi¡¯s side had already started ying music.

    He was in charge of apaniment with the pipa today and were two beautiful women next to him to create the harmony. The three of them were sitting in the gazebo. As the melodious music yed, five women in red dressed held long swords and danced in the open space.

    Seeing them pull out their swords at the same time, the guards of the pce immediately protected the prince.

    The Eighth Prince smiled and waved his head. ¡°Everyone, get back. It is just a sword dance.¡±

    The guards stepped back and nervously stared at the sword dancing women out of fear that the sword tip would identally stab in this direction.

    All five women wore red veils and their posture was neat and clean. Every time the sword swung out, it was retracted like a snake going back into its hole. Moreover, they moved to the rhythm of the music in a neat manner. It was obvious they had trained for a long time.

    The rhythm that Ye Qi yed was melodious and gentle before gradually bing rapid and exciting, as if a thousand waves were stirred. The dance of the five women was getting better and their movements became faster and faster. The five swords danced into a beautiful sword flower, dazzling the guests.

    The Eighth Prince took the lead in pping and the guests followed suit.

    During the warm apuse, the formation instantly spread out. Four women suddenly flew up and gathered from the east, south, west and north directions back to the centre of the venue, their four sword tips urately meeting in one ce.

    The remaining woman leaped, her toes like a dragonfly as she stepped on the intersection of the four swords. Her body was suspended and she stood on one foot, posing in an elegant ¡®white crane spreading its wings¡¯ action.

    ¡°Great!¡± The apuse grew louder and more enthusiastic. The sword dance of the five people really opened the eyes of the guests.

    However, Xiao Lou nervously clenched his fists as a hint of uneasiness appeared in his heart. The five swords reminded him of the assassins in the early hours of yesterday. It was also this type of long sword with no obvious characteristics. The tip of the sword was highly poisonous and cut through Yu Hanjiang¡¯s back. Xiao Lou thought of the wound and had a lingering fear.

    It was normal to perform dances at a birthday banquet but a sword dance¡­ Xiao Lou always felt it was unlucky.

    Suddenly, he met a pair of eyes. The eyes of the woman making the crane movement suddenly became extremely cold. She stepped on it hard and used the sticity of the four swords to throw her body forward like a sharp arrow, flying toward the prince!

    The tip of the sharp sword stabbed directly at the prince¡¯s chest!

    Madam Yun was shocked. ¡°There are assassins. Come protect the prince!¡±

    She shouted so much and hid better than anyone as she immediately ducked behind a guard. The other twodies were also frightened.

    The prince looked calm. Just as the woman¡¯s sharp sword almost pierced his chest, he suddenly mmed his wine ss onto the table, grabbed a silver bowl to block the sharp sword and swung his right hand¡ª

    The strength of his arm caused the woman¡¯s long sword to fly out!

    There were bursts of exmations among the guests.

    The woman let go of her weapon and immediately pulled the sharp stick from the bun on her head, stabbing it at the prince¡¯s throat. The two people were fighting in one ce. The woman was fierce but the prince dealt with it in an easy manner. The prince was also so strong in martial arts.

    Several guards hurried over to surround the woman. The woman saw that the assassination was a failure and made a cold look before leaping forward like a flying goose onto the roof, disappearing into the night.

    The prince ordered coldly, ¡°Chase!¡±

    Several guards immediately flew up to the eaves to pursue the assassin. The banquet had be chaotic and Ye Qi ying the pipa was flustered. He never thought that the Fragrant Sky House actually had an assassin and that she would dare an assassination attempt on the prince in public!

    The prince¡¯s face was very ugly and he immediately had the boss of the Fragrant Sky Housee out to speak.

    Aunt Qing¡¯s legs were soft from fear and she knelt in front of the prince. ¡°Please spare my life! I don¡¯t know about that woman¡¯s matter. The woman just now, I really don¡¯ t know her. Really¡­ the girls in the Fragrant Sky House don¡¯t know martial arts!¡±

    The other four women performing the sword dance also dropped their swords and knelt side by side, trembling. Ye Qi and the two people ying in the distance also had to kneel in the gazebo.

    Ye Qi was about to die. Who could have worse luck than him? In this world, he was inexplicably thrown into the Fragrant Sky House. As a result, there was an assassin in the team and they were collectively involved. In ancient times, the crime of assassinating the prince resulted in beheading!

    An assassin was mixed in with the singing and dancing team of the Fragrant Sky House and there was an indistinct rtionship with the Fragrant Sky House. If an unreasonable prince was encountered and he killed all of them, wouldn¡¯t Ye Qi be very wronged?

    Otherwise, did he want to see if there was an opportunity and then flee directly with the teleportation card? Ye Qi was feelingplicated when the next moment, he heard the prince calmly say, ¡°Somebody in Jiangzhou actually dared to assassinate the prince in public. Yu daren, you have to find this person and give me an ount.¡±

    This case was actually handed over to Yu Hanjiang? Ye Qi was surprised and then happy. It was good to hand it over to Yu daren. At least Ye Qi wouldn¡¯t have to suffer from the pain of being beheaded.

    Yu Hanjiang immediately stepped forward. ¡°Yes, I will do my best!¡± His eyes swept over the scene in a cold manner, ¡°Come, imprison all the girls of the Fragrant Sky House for interrogation!¡±

    A group of guards came up and took away the people of the Fragrant Sky House.

    Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t expected that things would develop like this.

    He always thought the internal rtions of the prince¡¯s mansion were soplicated that the wife or daughters would have an ident. He didn¡¯t expect the prince¡¯s birthday banquet to be a public assassination and for the prince to transfer the responsibility to the prefectural magistrate. Was this the 8 of Hearts case? Tracking the assassins?

    Xiao Lou¡¯s intuition told him that it wasn¡¯t so simple. He carefully recalled what he knew about the assassin but he only remembered that it was a female wearing red clothes. She was around 1.7 metres and her eyes were cold. Her facial features were difficult to distinguish due to the veil. How to find her in the vast sea of people?

    He was just thinking this when there was a scream in the distance. ¡°Ah¡ª not good!¡±

    It was a maid¡¯s cry.

    Yu Hanjiang immediately looked over there while the prince also frowned and quietly asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    A maid ran over in a panic. She kept stumbling and was apparently frightened as her voice shook. ¡°Prince¡­ t-the eldest youngdy¡­¡±

    Madam Yun¡¯s expression changed when she heard it involved her daughter. ¡°What happened to the eldest youngdy?¡±

    The maid knelt down and cried. ¡°The eldest youngdy is in the tree in the backyard¡­she hung herself!¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The eldest daughter? The girl he saw in the afternoon knocking a wooden fish in the Buddhist temple and reading scriptures? Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t expected her to die!

    A woman had tried to assassinate the prince just now and everyone¡¯s attention was on the prince. The banquet was chaotic and in the end, it wasn¡¯t the prince who was injured but the eldest youngdy.

    Hanging? How could she hang herself in the prince¡¯s mansion?

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes swept over the entire area. Master Lin, who had a marriage contract with her, wasn¡¯t at the scene as well as the second, third and fourth youngdies.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other and spoke with their eyes. ¡°It is murder.¡±

 Chapter 162: Beacon in Troubled Times 12

    Today¡¯s birthday banquet was really exciting. Someone tried to publicly assassinate the prince andter, a maid rushed to report that the eldest daughter of the prince¡¯s mansion had hung herself. This st of news made the guests look at each other.

    They whispered to each other, ¡°The eldest youngdy? Is she the one who has a marriage contract with the Lin family?¡±

    ¡±She seems to be the daughter of Madam Yun who doesn¡¯t go out very often. I¡¯ve never seen her!¡±

    ¡°I heard that the eldest youngdy has an indifferent personality and doesn¡¯t care about worldly matters. How can she suddenlymit suicide?¡±

    ¡°Is it because Young Master Lin went to the Fragrant Sky House to grab Miss Ye and it was passed onto the eldest youngdy, making her so humiliated that shemitted suicide?¡±

    ¡±It¡¯s possible. How could she suffer such humiliation when her fiance went to a brothel and wanted to support a girl of the Fragrant Sky House. She didn¡¯t think andmitted suicide. It is really a shame¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou heard thesements in the crowd and slightly frowned.

    He had strolled around the backyard in the afternoon and quickly saw her. The impression he got of Qi Yiyao was a woman indifferent to fame and wealth, knocking on a wooden fish and reading Buddhist scriptures. She seemed indifferent to everything outside.

    Would she hang herself because of her fiance¡¯s scandal with a woman from a brothel? It was impossible. There must be other reasons.

    Xiao Lou looked at the prince. The prince¡¯s face was currently as dark as a pot. First, they were disturbed by the assassin and this was followed by the news of his daughter hanging herself. This birthday banquet was ruined and he was naturally very humiliated. He stared at the maid and angrily yelled, ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    The maid was pale and frightened, her lips quivering. ¡°T-This servant saw it with my own eyes. The eldest youngdy was hanging from a tree in the backyard¡­¡±

    The prince realized that something had really happened to his daughter. He took a deep breath to remain as calm as possible. Then he looked at his guests and spoke lightly. ¡°Everyone, I have some family matters to deal with so I¡¯ll have to end the dinner here today. Please forgive me.¡±

    Everyone bowed and said goodbye before running away as fast as a rabbit. Although everyone was very curious about why the eldest youngdymitted suicide, it wasn¡¯t easy to see the joke of the imperial family. If the prince became angry then it wasn¡¯t enough to cut off 10 heads.

    Shao Qingge was the son of a rich family and naturally had no reason to stay in the pce to continue to watch. He gave Yu Hanjiang a look that said he would withdraw first and turned to leave. Xiao Lou spoke in a soft voice as Shao Qingge passed by, ¡°Go to the prefectural magistrate¡¯s prison to visit Ye Qi. In addition, ask if Ye Qi has found anything in the Fragrant Sky House in the past two days.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled and said, ¡°Rest assured, ¡° Xiao Ye has never been in prison before so I¡¯ll send him some food.¡±

    Xiao Lou felt helpless listening to Shao Qingge¡¯s tone. He had to ignore this person for the time being and continue to pay attention to the scene.

    The guests were gone quickly. However, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s group of three as well as the Ninth Princess and Qu Wanyue stayed.

    Yu Hanjiang stepped forward and whispered to the prince, ¡°Your Highness, since there has been a death in Jiangzhou, I have the responsibility to investigate as the prefectural magistrate. The cause of death of the eldest youngdy might not be simple. Can you allow me to go to the scene and take a look?¡¯

    The Eighth Prince considered it for a moment before nodding. ¡°Thank you for the trouble.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, Xiao Lou and Mo Xuemin followed the prince to the backyard. The Ninth Princess and Qu Wanyue also followed.

    The prince turned to see these two people and asked coldly, ¡°Idle people still haven¡¯t gone?¡±

    The NInth Princess hurriedly exined, ¡°Royal brother, it is me! What¡¯s wrong with Ah Yao, I¡¯m going to see too!¡±

    The prince recognized the Ninth Princess dressed as a man and frowned slightly. ¡°Princess, you should be in the capital. Why are you running around dressed like this?¡±

    The Ninth Princess¡¯s face was bitter. ¡°I will talk about thister but I was forced to slip out. How could Ah Yaomit suicide? I even wrote to her a short time ago. I have to go and take a look!¡±

    The prince had no choice but to take her with him.

    The maid led the way and everyone hurriedly followed her to the backyard.

    There were four small courtyards in the backyard of the prince¡¯s mansion. Theyout of the entire courtyard was a square, connected by a ¡®»Ø¡¯ corridor that was lined with green trees. There was an artificial pond and rockery in the middle of the courtyard.

    The backyard of the prince¡¯s mansion was veryrge and it waste at night. The courtyard was densely packed with trees so even if someone hid somewhere, it would be difficult to notice. The ce where the eldest youngdy hung was a tree behind the rockery.

    This tree was the tallest and thickest one in the entire yard. It was filled with lush foliage and cast arge green shade on the ground. It was a good ce to cool down in summer so there were stone benches and stone tables ced under the trees. During leisure time, the family members of the prince¡¯s mansion could sit here to drink tea and chat.

    At this time, a woman in white was hanging from the tree, her limbs softly dangling and her body shaking with the wind.

    The sight caused everyone¡¯s expressions to change.

    Madam Yun immediately broke down and rushed over, holding her daughter¡¯s leg and shouting, ¡°Ah Yao, Ah Yao, why did you think? What couldn¡¯t you say to your mother? Why be so short-sighted? If you go then what will I do¡­¡±

    Her heartbreaking cry made the prince¡¯s face even uglier.

    Although the prince didn¡¯t have deep feelings for his eldest daughter, she was his own flesh and blood after her. As a father, the prince was also distressed as he watched her hanging from the tree in white clothes. He stepped forward and gently held Madam Yun lightly by the shoulder, whispering, ¡°Don¡¯t cry. Why did you say that Ah Yao was short-sighted?¡±

    Madam Yun wiped away her tears while saying, ¡°I told her to change clothes this afternoon because Master Lin woulde tonight. I told her to dress up a bit and to not see her fiance in white clothes, it is unlucky¡­ she didn¡¯t say anything at the time!¡±

    The prince frowned. ¡°Did you tell her about Lin Shaobo¡¯s scandal in the brothel?¡±

    Madam Yun stammered for a moment before finally nodding tearfully. ¡°I identally let it slow.¡± Her face instantly became pale. ¡°Surely Ah Yao wasn¡¯t so out of it that she took the short-term view?¡±

    The prince¡¯s face was terrible.

    It was unknown if Madam Qing and Madam Han next to him were really sad or not. They took out handkerchiefs to wipe their tears and sighed, ¡°How could Ah Yao think to do this¡­¡± They cried whileforting Madam Yun. ¡°Sister, don¡¯t be too sad.¡±

    ¡°Restrain your grief and ept fate. Your body will be hurt if you aren¡¯t careful.¡±

    The three wives cried together while the Ninth Princess stood nkly, muttering incredulously, ¡°How could Ah Yaomit suicide? She sent a message to me some time ago saying that the wedding date was set for next month.¡±

    The prince sighed and ordered, ¡°Go and bring down her body for burial.¡±

    Two maids immediately stepped forward and brought the youngdy hanging from the tree down,ying her t on the ground.

    Xiao Lou quickly nced at the marks on the body and blinked at Yu Hanjiang.

    The maids were about to cover the corpse¡¯s face with a white cloth when Yu Hanjiang stopped them. ¡°Wait.¡±

    The prince looked back at him. ¡°Yu daren?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke softly, ¡°My wife has followed a man who has learned autopsy techniques. Can she take a closer look at the youngdy¡¯s body? I suspect that the youngdy might not havemitted suicide.¡±

    The prince squirmed and frowned at Xiao Lou. ¡°The madam really knows how to do autopsies?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied politely, ¡°I did follow someone to study for a few years.¡±

    The prince nodded and asked him to look.

    Xiao Lou stepped forward and was about to observe the body when Madam Yun suddenly rushed to hug her daughter tightly, crying out, ¡°Don¡¯t touch her! My Ah Yao died so miserably. She hasn¡¯t lived a few good days before her death and I can¡¯t let her be insulted like this by you!¡±

    The sudden death of her daughter had obviously stimted thedy and at this time, she lost some of her mind.

    Xiao Lou told her, ¡°Madam, please calm down. The youngdy might not havemitted suicide. Don¡¯t you want to find the true cause of your daughter¡¯s death?¡±

    Madam Yun froze and pointed at the sharp red mark on her daughter¡¯s neck. ¡°Didn¡¯t my daughter hang herself? She hung herself from the tree. The red marks on her neck are so obvious. Why do you want to perform an autopsy?¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke softly, ¡°It is true that suicide will leave a mark on the neck but if she was murdered and then hung from the tree, it would also leave traces on her neck.¡±

    Madam Yun was stunned. It was because this person was right. What if her daughter was killed and hung from a tree? She immediately let go and stared pleadingly at Xiao Lou. ¡°Madam Yu right? Help look at my daughter!¡±

    The Ninth Princess and Qu Wanyue watched as Xiao Lou walked calmly and leaned over to check the situation of the body. The Ninth Princess couldn¡¯t help whispering, ¡°Can Madam Yu actually do an autopsy? No wonder why Madam Yu was unwilling to marry me. It turned out that he is the type who likes women who can do autopsies.¡±

    Qu Wanyue, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Ninth Princess¡¯s idea was too clear and Qu Wanyue didn¡¯t know how to answer, so she pretended not to hear.

    Under the crowd¡¯s gazes, Xiao Lou carefully examined the pupils, skin and nails of the corpse. Then he turned the corpse¡¯s head to examine the red marks on the neck.

    They didn¡¯t know how to do autopsies and didn¡¯t know what Xiao Lou was looking for when he turned the body. Just as the prince was getting impatient, Xiao Lou suddenly stood up, gazed at Yu Hanjiang and whispered, ¡°It isn¡¯t suicide.¡±

    Looking at his firm eyes, Yu Hanjiang naturally believed Xiao Lou¡¯s conclusion. However, the others didn¡¯t believe it. After all, this Dadam Yu suddenly said she can do autopsies. In ancient times, how many women could do autopsies?

    The prince¡¯s face was hard to read. ¡°Madam, you can¡¯t just talk freely. What evidence do you have?¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully exined, ¡°Strangling a person to death and strangling them after death will leave different marks on the body.¡±

    He pointed to the marks on the deceased¡¯s neck. ¡°If the youngdymitted suicide then she should still be alive when she hung herself. The blood inside her body was still circting so the marks should have the deepest traces at the bottom while it bes lighter in colour once it spreads out to the side until it finally disappears. This is the typical mark left by a person who hung themselves.¡±

    ¡°However, the mark on the youngdy¡¯s neck is a horizontal ring. Except for the darker colour of thepressed part of the throat, the depth of the other parts is very uniform. This doesn¡¯t have the phenomenon of bing shallower before disappearing. The reason for this is that the blood is no longer flowing around her neck and her skin is necrotic. The traces left by the hanging will be the same depth.¡±

    Xiao Lou paused and looked at the crowd. ¡°The youngdy was already dead when she was hung from the tree. This is murder.¡±

    Hearing Xiao Lou¡¯s words, the people present took a breath.

    The Ninth Princess couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°Deciding it is murder just from the traces? This is too much of a joke!¡±

    Xiao Lou calmly looked at her. ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, you can use animals for experiments. There will be a clear difference in the marks left if a live being or a corpse is being hung.¡±

    The Ninth Princess wanted to retort but Yu Hanjiang interjected, ¡°I believe in my wife¡¯s judgment.¡±

    The Ninth Princess, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stepped forward. ¡°The youngdy did die from murder. The evidence at the scene also shows she was killed. Your Highness, please take a closer look at the youngdy¡¯s shoes.¡±

    He leaned over to pick up a branch and scraped a few leaves from the bottom of the deceased¡¯s corpse. ¡°Your Highness, can the youngdy do light footwork?¡±

    The prince immediately shook his head. ¡°She doesn¡¯t know martial arts.¡±

    ¡°I see. The tree in front of me is so high. If she doesn¡¯t step on the stone table to hang herself, did she fly up to tie her neck with the white silk? If she wanted to hang herself, she could only step on the stone table but there are no footprints left on the stone table.¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately agreed. ¡°In other words, someone killed her first. Then they picked her up and hung her from the tree, so the table doesn¡¯t have her footprints.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced coldly at the crowd. ¡°This murderer is very clever but unfortunately, he has forgotten to leave the footprints of the dead on the stone table. In addition, the murderer didn¡¯t know that the traces left on the living and the dead are different.¡±

    The husband and wife sang together and everyone nced at each other.

    This was obviously a scene of ¡®hanging tomit suicide.¡¯ As a result, Yu daren and his wife looked at it and determined it was a murder?

    Qu Wanyue listened to them and wanted to give a thumbs up. It might be ancient times and the environment had changed but this couldn¡¯t stop the two great gods of the secret rooms. Yu Hanjiang surveyed the scene and Xiao Lou observed the corpse. The policeman and forensic doctor worked together to solve the case and it was easy to infer that it was murder. It was impossible for this group of people to refute it.

    The prince might be inwardly shocked but it made sense when he listened carefully to them. It seemed that the eldest youngdy was murdered. If it was suicide then he could dere that his family was unfortunate. His daughter had decided to hang herself from a tree. However, if it was murder then it was a serious problem!

    Someone in the prince¡¯s mansion had killed the youngdy with no one realizing it!

    The prince¡¯s face sank and he immediately lowered his voice. ¡°Since you have inferred this is a murder, I will hand this case to Yu daren to handle. Please catch the real murderer as soon as possible!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Please rest assured that I will do my best.¡±

    The prince added, ¡°In addition, don¡¯t say anything about this matter for the time being.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°I know.¡±

    The prince¡¯s sharp eyes swept over everyone present. ¡°Starting from today, block the prince¡¯s mansion. No one is allowed to go out! In addition, manage your mouth. If someone dares to leak this outside, don¡¯t me me for not showing you affection!¡±

    The group of maids immediately knelt on the ground and replied in unison, ¡°Yes, Your Highness!¡±

    Just then, a clear female voice was heard from a distance. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why is it so lively over there?¡±

    A maid whispered, ¡°Third Young Lady, slow down¡­¡±

    A girl in a red dress and her hair done in two braids came from around the corner and walked quickly over. She had a pair of sword eyebrows and her eyes were clear and bright. Her face had a strong spirit and a long sword hung from her waist. She looked very heroic.

    It was the third youngdy: Qi Yiru.

    They heard that the third youngdy usually loved dancing with swords. She was born with a boyish personality and often ran on horses, hurting a lot of people on the street and acting arrogantly. The ordinary people¡¯s impression of her wasn¡¯t very good.

    Looking at her, she indeed had a more open personality. Her eyes were full of arrogance. However, she saw her father in the crowd and immediately converged this arrogance, obediently saluting. ¡°Father¡­¡±

    The prince now had a headache and was toozy to care about his daughter¡¯s ugly appearance. He told her, ¡°Your big sister had an ident. Go and call your second and fourth sister over here.¡±

    Qi Yiru looked nk. ¡°What happened to my big sister?¡±

    It wasn¡¯t until she saw the corpse on the ground that she screamed. ¡°Ah! How can this be?¡±

    The prince was angry. ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you to call people over?¡±

    Qi Yiru immediately turned and ran.

    During the time when the prince and Yu Hanjiang were talking, Xiao Lou had inferred the time of death from the livor mortis and the stiffness of the body. His result shocked everyone at the scene. ¡°The time of death should be between 5-7 p.m¡­ in other words, an hour ago.¡±

    At around 6 o¡¯clock, it was just getting dark and the dinner at the prince¡¯s mansion hadn¡¯t yet begun.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke softly, ¡°It seems the eldest youngdy died before the dinner began. At that time, everyone had the chance tomit the crime. Even the wives who apanied His Highness during the dinner aren¡¯t above suspicion.

    Hearing this, the three wives stiffened in an instant.

    Madam Qing was as hot-tempered as her daughter and spoke angrily, ¡°Who do you mean by this? How can I harm a younger generation? I have no feud with the first youngdy. Why would I harm her?¡±

    Madam Han was tender and weak and she spoke with grievance on her face, ¡°Your Highness, I have been boiling medicine in the yard at that time. My body has always been weak. How can I have the strength to pick the youngdy up and hang her from a tree. Yu daren, is there any evidence for your words?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke calmly, ¡°You don¡¯t need to be in such a rush. I said you aren¡¯t above suspicion but I didn¡¯t say you are the murderer.¡± He nced at the prince. ¡°Your Highness, I need to ask your wives some questions. I don¡¯t know if you will permit it?¡±

    The prince nodded with a calm expression. ¡°This case will be handed over to you for investigation. From today on, everyone will cooperate with your question. Since this has happened in the prince¡¯s mansion, every rock must be overturned to discover the truth!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the guard next to the prince. ¡°Can I borrow this guard? I might need his help.¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡± The prince replied easily. He nced at Long Sen and ordered, ¡°From today on, you will apany Yu daren. If he needs anything then arrange it.¡±

    Long Sen replied, ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡±

    If the prince didn¡¯t cooperate, the prefectural magistrate wouldn¡¯t dare rush into the prince¡¯s mansion. Thanks to the prince¡¯s support, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s investigation would go much more smoothly.

 Chapter 163: Beacon in Troubled Times 13

    In order to facilitate the investigation of the case, the prince deliberately set aside a hall to let Yu Hanjiang interrogate suspects.

    Xiao Lou, Mo Xuemin and Long Sen apanied Yu Hanjiang to the hall and the four people first sorted out the current known clues.

    Xiao Lou took the pen and ink and drew a map of the backyard on the paper while Long Sen added a map of the front yard. The map of the entire prince¡¯s pce was presented in front of them.

    The front yard of the pce had a magnificent hall for receiving guests, the prince¡¯s study and a separate courtyard for the prince, as well as a residence for the male guards and misceneous servants. The backyard was full of the female dependents.

    There were four small courtyards in the backyard, among which was thergest Xiushui Pavilion. This was the residence of the real princess but she had passed away. Now her daughter, Qi Yian, the second youngdy lived there as well as the servant girls who served her.

    Changqui Park was the residence of Madam Yun and Miss Qi Yiyao. Qi Yiyao also had a brother called Qi Fenghua, who was fighting the Yan state on the front lines and hadn¡¯t returned home for three years. To the side of Changqiu Park was the small Buddhist temple for Qi Yiyao.

    Yinfeng Pavilion was where Madam Qing and the third youngdy lived. There were fewer flowers and more open space in this courtyard because the third youngdy loved to practice martial arts. She danced in the yard every day with a knife and spear. The flowers she grew were easily killed so Madam Qing just grew trees instead of flowers.

    Hongmei Park (Red Plum Park) was where Madam Han and Miss Qi Yiwei lived. It was said that Madam Han loved plum blossoms and the prince spent a huge sum of money to transnt red plums into her yard. The scenery was extremely spectacr. Madam Han had the gentleness of a Jiangnan woman and was currently the prince¡¯s most favoured wife.

    The four courtyards were connected by a ¡®»Ø¡¯ shaped corridor. The position where the youngdy was hung was the tree just behind the rockery. It belonged to a dead corner in the field of view and this corner couldn¡¯t be seen from the gates of the four courtyards.

    There were no outsiders in the hall and Yu Hanjiang simply asked Xiao Lou, ¡°Can the exact cause of death be judged?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°Based on the livor mortis and the condition of the skin and nails, I feel it is poison. She didn¡¯t have any pinpricks on her body and there were no traces of a struggle before she died. It might be that someone poisoned her food, poisoning her before the dinner began. Then once dinner started and everyone went to the pond to watch the show, they secretly hung her from the tree.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°The three wives, the three youngdies and the prince himself have time tomit the crime. Of course, if the prince wants to kill his daughter then there are many ways to do so. He could ce a crime on her. He didn¡¯t need to hang her from the tree.¡±

    Long Sen added, ¡°We can rule out the prince. This afternoon, many people came to him to give him valuable gifts. He has been too busy in the front yard and never went to the backyard. He spent most of his time in the study. I can testify to that.¡±

    Mo Xuemin analyzed, ¡°Madam Yun should also have no motive to kill her biological daughter? Her daughter is going to marry into the Lin family and the Lin family is one of the richest families in Daqi. I heard that the Lin family gave her several boxes of gold and she was so happy when epting it. She has already epted the gifts. Now that her daughter died, it will be hard to exin it to the Lin family.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang agreed with this spection.

    The Eighth Prince and Madam Yun could be excluded. The remaining people included the hot-headed Madam Qing and her daughter, the third youngdy who liked martial arts. There was also the gentle and weak Madam Han and the fourth youngdy. Then there was the second youngdy and Lin Shaobo, who was present today and had a marriage contract with the deceased.

    However, the motive for the crime still needed to be investigated carefully. Thinking up to here, Yu Hanjiang told Long Sen, ¡°Go and call Madam Yun first. I want to ask her about her daughter¡¯s situation.¡±

    Madam Yun had been crying while holding her daughter¡¯s body. Her eyes were swollen as she had beenforted by the maids and the prince. By this time, she had adjusted her mentality. She also wanted to catch the murderer and give her daughter an exnation as soon as possible. Thus, she was very cooperative with Yu Hanjiang¡¯s questioning.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°I heard that Miss Yiyao was in poor health as a child and she was fostered outside.¡±

    Madam Yun replied, ¡°My daughter was weak since she was a child. She was seriously ill at the age of three and almost died. I was worried she wouldn¡¯t live long and took her and the prince to ask for a sign outside the city. A fortune-teller told me that her fate was against me and she couldn¡¯t be kept around me when young. Thus, I ced her in the care of a great teacher at the temple and took her back when she was 10 years old.¡±

    Xiao Lou quickly took notes by the side. His writing speed with the brush wasn¡¯t so fast but he picked the key points to remember and could keep up.

    Yu Hanjiang saw that Xiao Lou¡¯s paper was full of the write words and put down his worries as he asked, ¡°When was the Buddhist temple built? I also want to ask you to borate about her marriage to Young Master Lin and what was the exact situation.¡±

    Madam YYun sighed and said. ¡°Ah Yao built a small Buddhist temple at home the year she came back. She has been fasted and praying for us. She is actually very filial. The marriage was the prince¡¯s idea. Last year, the Lin family came to propose to have their eldest son marry our eldest daughter. It could be regarded as an appropriate match.¡±

    Xiao Lou heard this and asked doubtfully, ¡°Young Master Lin spends a lot of time in the brothel, drinking with female entertainers. Haven¡¯t you heard about these things?¡±

    Madam Yun was calm. ¡°How many men aren¡¯t careless? Hasn¡¯t the prince married severaldies as well? Lin Shaobo is well-known in Jiangzhou and he is also very handsome. He is just a bit more romantic. What rich young master isn¡¯t romantic. It would be better for a wife to take care of him after marriage. The Lin family promised that Lin Shaobo would only marry Ah Yao and would never take a concubine. Ah Yao wouldn¡¯t suffer from marrying him.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other.

    An ancient person¡¯s concept wasn¡¯t the same as modern times. In this era, a man having multiple wives and concubines was normal. Thus, Madam Yun considered Lin Shaobo a good son-inw candidate. He was handsome, rich, talented and promised to only marry her daughter. In addition, he sent a sincere dowry to the prince¡¯s mansion.

    It wasn¡¯t surprising that the prince and Madam Yun agreed.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°The eldest youngdy and Young Master Lin, have they met before?¡±

    ¡°They have met once. I asked Ah Yao how she felt about Young Master Lin and she said that generally, she doesn¡¯t hate or like him. My daughter is like this and she doesn¡¯t mind anything.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang questioned, ¡°Did she behave abnormally when you asked her to go back this afternoon?¡±

    Madam Yun thought carefully about it. ¡°No, her face had no expression. I asked her to change into beautiful clothes that I had specifically prepared for her. She told me to wait and she would change into itter. I didn¡¯t manage her anymore and went to the kitchen to see the dinner menu.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°You didn¡¯t see her after that?¡±

    Madam Yun nodded. ¡°I was checking the menu with Li Wei in the kitchen. I was in charge of arranging this meal and couldn¡¯t let anything go wrong. This Li Wei can testify for me.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked Madam Yun to go back first. Once she left, he looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°I remember that Lin Shaobo wasn¡¯t at the banquet when the eldest youngdy died?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I observed that he wasn¡¯t there,¡± Xiao Lou answered.

    Mo Xuemin and Long Sen nced at each other. ording to reason, a son-inw shouldn¡¯t leave his future father-inw¡¯s birthday banquet yet people weren¡¯t aware of when Lin Shaobo left.

    The four people were thinking when there was a knock on the door and Liu Qiao¡¯s voice was heard. ¡°Yu daren.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang immediately had Long Sen open the door.

    Liu Qiao walked into the house. Once she saw no one around, she spoke in a low voice. ¡°I have a clue to report. Before the dinner began, the fourth youngdy said she had stomach pains and excused herself to go to the toilet, disappearing for a long time. I suspected her and went to the toilet. I found no one in the toilet. Instead, I saw a rich young man talking with the fourth youngdy in a stone cave behind the rockery. They were acting ambiguously and I suspect these two people should have a private, emotional rtionship.

 Chapter 164: Beacon in Troubled Times 14

    Liu Qiao¡¯s testimony immediately made Yu Hanjiang alert. He asked Long Sen to guard the door so that people wouldn¡¯t approach and took Liu Qiao to the side, lowering his voice and asking, ¡°The fourth youngdy is often covered with a white gauze and it is easy to disguise as her. Are you sure that the person you saw is her?¡±

    ¡°Yes. There is a very small red mole on the right eyebrow bone of the fourth youngdy. I was wearing an invisibility cloak and looked closely. That person was Miss Qi Yiwei. She was dressed and sounded exactly the same as the fourth youngdy.¡± Liu Qiao spoke firmly.

    ¡°Did you see the man who had a private meeting with the fourth youngdy?¡±

    ¡°I saw him clearly. He must be a rich young man because he was very particr about his clothing. He also gave the fourth youngdy a round jade pendant. I don¡¯t understand jade but the jade pendant was crystal clear and should be quite valuable.¡± Liu Qiao carefully recalled the details. ¡°In ancient times, giving a jade pendant should mean love?¡±

    Old Mo said, ¡°ording to the customs of Jiangzhou, it is true that men give jade pendants to women they have an affection for.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced over at Xiao Lou, who had just looked up from the table. The two people thought of a possibility at the same time.

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Was the rich young man wearing a dark blue robe with ck boots embroidered with silver thread, hair tied up with a blue hairband? He has very white skin and wears an emerald ring on his hands?

    Liu Qiao froze before answering, ¡°That¡¯s right, all the details are correct.¡±

    Old Mo turned back and eximed, ¡°Isn¡¯t that the Lin family¡¯s young master, Lin Shaobo?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang folded his arms and thought about it. ¡°I remember that during the assassination attempt of the prince, Lin Shaobo wasn¡¯t at the scene at all.¡± He turned to Xiao Lou. ¡°How long did Young Master Lin leave for?¡±

    During dinner, Yu Hanjiang watched the movements of the guests on the left while Xiao Lou was responsible for observing the right.

    Lin Shaobo was sitting on the right at the same table as Shao Qingge. Xiao Lou was very careful so he noticed when Lin Shaobo got up and left.

    He heard Group Leader Yu¡¯s question and exined in detail, ¡°When Ye Qi came out, Lin Shaobo used the excuse to leave and go to the toilet. Ye Qi yed the instrument and the five women performed the sword dance. The performance time was around 10 minutes. The assassin suddenly attacked the prince and the prince fought with the assassin. The assassin failed to escape and fled. Then the maid came to report¡­ this time added up should be around 20 minutes.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spected, ¡°In other words, Lin Shaobo disappeared for 20 minutes. This is a long time and it is long enough for him to go to the backyard to hanging the eldest youngdy and fake a suicide.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Liu Qiao and asked, ¡°What time did you see the fourth youngdy and Lin Shabo dating?¡±

    There were no watches in ancient times and Liu Qiao couldn¡¯t clearly determine the time. She had to specte based on the position of the sun in the sky. ¡°It should be around five in the afternoon. The sun hadn¡¯t set yet and a scent wasing from the kitchen where they were preparing dinner.¡±

    Xiao Lou touched his chin and analyzed it. ¡°The time of death of the eldest youngdy was six o¡¯clock. Young Master Lin appeared in the backyard at five o¡¯clock and left the party at eight o¡¯clock. Doesn¡¯t it match with the death time of the eldest youngdy?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°There is a possibility that the eldest youngdy was murdered because she witnessed the love between her fiance and her younger sister. Then Young Master Lin and the fourth youngdy colluded to poison her meal in advance. The eldest youngdy was poisoned at six o¡¯clock when she ate her snacks. At around eight o¡¯clock, Young Master Lin excused himself from the party and went to the backyard to hang her from the tree, creating the illusion that she hung herself.¡±

    Lin Shaobo had time tomit the crime and also a motive.

    If his meeting with the fourth youngdy was discovered by the first youngdy, he really had a motive to kill. Moreover, the crime scene was disguised as a suicide. The prince would think that his daughter had been short-shorted. Meanwhile, the prince¡¯s house had already received the dowry from the Lin family and would have to return it. At this time, Lin Shaobo could find a way to ask the prince to betroth the fourth youngdy to him.

    In ancient times, if a womanmitted suicide then it wasn¡¯t unusual for her sister to take her ce in marriage. Thus, it was the best of both worlds.

    Everyone listened to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s analysis and felt that Lin Shaobo and the fourth youngdy were likely to join forces to kill the eldest youngdy. However, the Hearts room often had reversals and it couldn¡¯t be finalized based on pure reasoning. Yu Hanjiang wouldn¡¯t easily draw conclusions until he found precise evidence. This was just one possibility and there might be other possibilities.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Liu Qiao. ¡°You are very close to the fourth youngdy these days. What type of person is she?¡±

    ¡°Miss Qi Yiwei¡¯s personality is a bit like her mother, Madam Han. They are gentle, considerate, speak softly and love to smile. I have never seen her angry.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it for a while. ¡°She knows medicine so she should be able to dispense medicine to poison people, right?¡±

    Liu Qiao suddenly remembered something. ¡°Yes, she asked me toe to the prince¡¯s mansion today because she was ufortable recently. She asked me to bring some herbs to her. Among them are several types that ording to Master¡¯s medical book, can be deadly poisonous if the right dosage is exceeded.¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°Perhaps she secretly added these medicines to the first youngdy¡¯s food or tea?¡±

    At present, all the evidence pointed to the fourth youngdy and Young Master Lin.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke very simply, ¡°Liu Qiao, first go to the prefectural magistrate¡¯s prison to meet Chief Shao. I will ask someone to find the fourth youngdy.¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded and slipped out through the back door, soon disappearing into the night.

    Long Sen went out to take a look. In the nearby hall, the three youngdies had been called toe here and wait for Yu Hanjiang¡¯s questioning. Yu Hanjiang questioned the remaining two wives first in order.

    Madam Qing had been cleaning up the yard this afternoon and several of her maids could testify for her.

    Madam Qing told them bluntly, ¡°My daughter identally cut a tree when practicing martial arts yesterday, making the yard a mess and scattering mud and leaves everywhere. I have been watching the maids clean up in my Wind Pavilion all afternoon. It wasn¡¯t until the prince sent someone to tell me that dinner was starting that I changed my clothes to attend the banquet.¡±

    Throughout the banquet, she had stayed by the prince¡¯s side and never left. The messenger also confirmed Madam Qing¡¯s words, saying that when he went to the Wind Pavilion to convey the message, a group of people were indeed cleaning the yard.

    Yu Hanjiang called the most beloved Madam Han toe over. Madam Han spoke quietly, ¡°I have been resting in Hongmei Park in the afternoon. I have been feeling weak recently and slept all afternoon. I only woke up to wash and then changed clothes to attend the prince¡¯s birthday banquet.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Can anyone prove that you slept in the room all afternoon?¡±

    Madam Han frowned and thought about it. ¡°I slept in the inner room. I often woke up to drink water so my two maids, Xiao Xue and Xiao Shuang, were waiting in the outer room. They can prove that I never went out all afternoon.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang called the two maids over to question them.

    Xiao Xue said that the madam had been feeling unwell recently. She would go to bed every afternoon and today was no exception. She took a break after lunch and woke up three times. It wasn¡¯t until dinner when someone sent a message that she got dressed.

    Xiao Shuang¡¯s testimony was consistent with herpanion. She also added that the madam had no appetite recently. She would only eat a small bowl of porridge for her meals. She was pale when she woke up today and her forehead was covered in sweat. Seeing that she was ill, the two maids deliberately applied a lot of rouge and carefully painted her brows to enhance her look.

    Bothdies had alibis.

    Madam Qing¡¯s testimony was more credible because the tree in her yard had indeed been chopped down by the third youngdy. The cleaning of the yard could be heard by other maids passing by and the messenger saw the madam in the yard givingmands.

    For Madam Han, only the maids could testify.

    At first nce, Xiao Xue and Xiao Shuang were the personal servants she brought into the mansion after she got married. In ancient times, these servants were very loyal to their master and some were even willing to die for their master.

    Madam Han¡¯s testimony wasn¡¯t 100% certain but she couldn¡¯t lie about her body. Xiao Lou studied medicine and he could always tell if people were sick or pretending to be sick. Madam Han was very sick. Even if herplexion improved due to the makeup, she still seemed to have no spirit. Xiao Lou had carefully observed her nails and the half-moon shape at the root of her fingernails had almost faded. The maids said that she only had one bowl of porridge for her meals recently. This was apparently due to a weak stomach and prolonged malnutrition.

    She might have a gastrointestinal tract disease, causing her appetite to be severely reduced. Based on her current condition, it was impossible for her to carry the eldest youngdy to a tree and hang her¡­ seeing her fragile appearance, it was hard to imagine she could even hang thin silk from a tree.

    Xiao Lou told Yu Hanjiang his conclusion. ¡°Madam Han isn¡¯t pretending to be ill. Her health is really bad.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang touched his chin. ¡°It seems the focus is still on the youngdies.¡±

    Just then, there was a knock on the door and Long Sen whispered, ¡°It¡¯s the Ninth Princess.¡±

    YU Hanjiang raised his eyebrows. ¡°What is she doing here?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Let here in. I remember she said she received a letter from the eldest youngdy. Perhaps she will have a clue.¡±

    Seeing Xiao Lou¡¯s unconcerned appearance, Yu Hanjiang let go of his worries and motioned for Long Sen to open the door. The Ninth Princess wore men¡¯s clothing and entered the room with Qu Wanyue. Then she dered bluntly, ¡°I know who the murderer is!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was quite surprised. ¡°Oh? Why do you say that?¡±

    The Ninth Princess¡¯ face was full of indignation. ¡°Qi Yiwei must¡¯ve done it! Ah Yao wrote a letter to me previously and mentioned something in the letter. You take a look at it yourself!¡±

    She took out a letter and handed it to Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang took the letter and stood beside Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou moved closer in order to read it. Every character was written squarely as if the letter was printed. They saw that the letter said:

    ¡°Ninth Princess:

    I hope you are safe and sound.

    My marriage with Young Master Lin is scheduled to take ce on the 15th of next month. As the marriage nears, I am afraid.

    There are rumours that Young Master Lin spends all day in brothels and makes friends with many female entertainers in Jiangzhou. My mother said that a man having three wives and four concubines are verymon. The Lin family promised that he wouldn¡¯t take any concubines after marriage and especially favours me. As long as he changes the former thing after marriage, I don¡¯t mind his indulgence for a while. Moreover, I can only obey my parents and the matchmaker when ites to marriage.

    However, a few days ago, I went outside the city to acquire incense and inadvertently came across Young Master Lin and my younger sister. She gave a hand-embroidered blue handkerchief to Young Master Lin and he was staring at her tenderly. He told her that she is his love in this life and the person he wants to marry is Yiwei, not Yiyao.

    In recent days, my heart has been suffering and I didn¡¯t know what to do.

    I want to tell my mother about this but my mother and Mrs Han have always been at odds. Once things be serious then I¡¯m afraid they won¡¯t be able toe to a conclusion.

    Ninth Princess, you and I have known each other since childhood and you are also the emperor¡¯s favourite sister. If it is you then things might have a turning point.

    Young Master Lin and I have only met twice and there are no emotions between us at all. Since he is infatuated with my Fourth Sister, I want to fulfill their wishes. However, there are rumours that I have a marriage contract with Young Master Lin and it isn¡¯t easy for Fourth Sister to directly marry him.

    For the best of both worlds, I have decided to be a monk.

    As long as I be a monk, the marriage between the Lin family and the prince¡¯s mansion doesn¡¯t need to be terminated. Fourth Sister can rece me and has justification for marrying into the Lin family.

    I grew up in an ancient temple in Qingyou since I was young. I no longer have nostalgia for all types of things in this world. It would be better for me to spend the rest of my life with Buddha.

    Father won¡¯t agree with me bing a monk so I hope that you can persuade him and help me realize this wish.

    From Yiyao.¡±

 Chapter 165: Beacon in Troubled Times 15

    After reading the letter, Xiao Lou had mixed feelings.

    His first impression was indeed right. The eldest youngdy was indeed indifferent to the world. She had seen through the world and decided to be a monk, so she was indifferent to Young Master Lin¡¯s affairs in the brothels and her father¡¯s birthday banquet.

    This afternoon, she was in the Buddhist temple knocking on wooden fish and reading scriptures. Presumably in her opinion, apanying Buddha for the rest of her life was her best destination. It was a pity that she didn¡¯t get what she wanted. She intended to fulfill the wishes of others but the others didn¡¯t necessarily have a kind heart.

    Yu Hanjiang read the letter and frowned. ¡°Ninth Princess, what is the rtionship between you and Miss Yiyao?¡±

    The Ninth Princess replied, ¡°I¡¯m her aunt from a generational point of view but I¡¯m only four years older than her. She has been ill since she was young and became sick again after being taken home at the age of 10. My royal brother sent her to the captain to get treatment for a period of time. In that year, she lived with me so she was more familiar with me. However, this was the first time she wrote to me.¡±

    The princess paused before adding, ¡°I hurried to Jiangzhou this time because of this.¡± Then she couldn¡¯t help moving her gaze away.

    Yu Hanjiang had interrogated countless prisoners and naturally saw that her expression was abnormal. This princess not only acted badly but she was also bad at disguising herself as a man. It was obvious she was a family and she couldn¡¯tpare to Qu Wanyue in men¡¯s clothing at all.

    Yu Hanjiang then asked, ¡°You came to the prince¡¯s mansion. Did you meet the eldest youngdy?¡±

    The Ninth Princess shook her head. ¡°No, I went directly to the side hall and waited for dinner to begin. I didn¡¯t expect that Yiyao would be murdered.¡± She frowned. ¡°It must be the fourth youngdy! She and Lin Shaobo¡¯s private rtionship was revealed so maybe she wanted to kill Ah Yao to destroy her mouth!¡±

    Seeing the princess be emotional, Yu Hanjiang immediately interrupted her. ¡°There is no direct evidence that shows the fourth youngdy is the murderer. Please return first. I will definitely investigate this case.¡±

    The Ninth Princess spoke earnestly. ¡°You must catch the murderer. You must not let Ah Yao die in vain!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°Rest assured.¡±

    The Ninth Princess was turning to leave when Yu Hanjiang suddenly said, ¡°The maid next to the princess, please stay. I have some things to ask you.¡±

    The Ninth Princess was puzzled. ¡°Why do you want to question her? Didn¡¯t I give you the letter? Can I still lie?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang just told her lightly, ¡°Questioning the maids and guards is a necessary step to investigate this case. I must ask you to cooperate.¡±

    The Ninth Princess nodded before whispering in Qu Wanyue¡¯s ear, ¡°You must not say it.¡±

    Qu Wanyue smiled. ¡°Princess, rest assured, I won¡¯t say it.¡±

    The Ninth Princess left confidently.

    Long Sen closed the door, looked at his wife in men¡¯s clothing with aplicated expression and whispered, ¡°You look so handsome in men¡¯s clothing.¡±

    Qu Wanyue smiled at him and hoked, ¡°Then I should dress as a man for our wedding. How about I wear a suit as well?¡±

    Long Sen touched his nose. ¡°No need¡­.¡±

    Qu Wanyue walked in front of Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou and told them, ¡°Group Leader Yu, the Ninth Princess is lying.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°I can see. The reason she came to Jiangzhou this time isn¡¯t just about the eldest youngdy¡¯s matter?¡±

    Qu Wanyue told them, ¡°She hurriedly fled the capital because the emperor wants to betroth her.¡±

    Xiao Lou was interested. ¡°Oh? What exactly is the situation?¡±

    Qu Wanyue exined in detail. ¡°The Ninth Princess is the daughter of thete emperor. Thete emperor got a daughter when he was old and was extremely fond of her, allowed her to develop this arrogant and overbearing personality. Group Leader Yu, you should know this since thete emperor wanted to betroth her to you. Later, thete emperor died and the new emperor ascended the throne. Now His Majesty has a headache regarding his young aunt and wants to marry her out early. This time, he found a general for us. The Ninth Princess heard the news in advance. Before His Majesty could speak to her, she took me and ran.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°So she fled to Jiangzhou to escape the marriage?¡±

    Qu Wanyue nodded. ¡°This way, she can also deal with the eldest youngdy¡¯s matter.¡±

    Xiao Lou pondered on it for a moment. ¡°Teacher Qu, did you get any clues from the princess¡¯ pce?¡±

    ¡°The princess tells me the pce gossip every day. It is said that thete emperor¡¯s favourite imperial consort was poisoned by an imperial concubine. Later, Imperial Concubine Ming killed her. The women in the harem fought and fought. Once thete emperor died, there was an imperial edict to bury them together with him and the battle was finally over. The Ninth Princess said that in her next life, she didn¡¯t want to be born into the royal family. She is more willing to be a free folk woman who can choose her own husband.¡±

    Xiao Lou listened to Qu Wanyue¡¯s words and his opinion of the Ninth Princess slightly improved. She didn¡¯t have any feelings for Yu Hanjiang at all. However, Yu Hanjiang declined when the first emperor suggested marriage and she couldn¡¯t let it go because of her pride.

    The letter brought by the Ninth Princess and Qu Wanyue pointed directly at the fourth youngdy and Lin Shaobo. Yu Hanjiang carefully analyzed it before calling the next people of the prince¡¯s mansion over to ask questions.

    The maids, the servants and the chefs, none of them were left out. Yu Hanjiang asked in detail and XIao Lou recording to the side was also very detailed. Yu daren tacitly cooperated with his wife to investigate the cause, causing the people in the pce to have wide eyes. After going out, they would talk.

    ¡°I have never seen a woman handle a case with her husband!¡±

    ¡°This Mrs Yu isn¡¯t easy. She can even do autopsies!¡±

    ¡°She isn¡¯t afraid of corpses at all. She is a strange woman. No wonder why Yu daren spoils her so much.¡±

    Long Sen heard the people¡¯s gossip and didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. Professor Xiao was a forensic doctor. What was a corpse to him? He wouldn¡¯t even be afraid to set up a morgue.

    Inside the room, Xiao Lou organized the transcripts for Yu Hanjiang to analyze. Two points were mentioned:

    First, there was disharmony between Madam Qing, Madam Han and Madam Yun. Due to the vacancy in the position of imperial concubine, the three people fought openly and maneuvered covertly.

    Madam Yun was the oldest one in the prince¡¯s mansion and she had given birth to Qi Fenghua, the eldest young master and Qi Yiyao, the eldest youngdy. She was the most likely candidate to be a princess. Madam Qing and Madam Han had always been dissatisfied. Madam Qing was quick to talk and had many conflicts with Mrs Yun in the backyard. Mrs Han also contended for the favour of the prince but she had been sick recently.

    Secondly, the eldest youngdy was taciturn and usually stayed in the Buddhist temple. She had no conflicts with anyone at the prince¡¯s mansion.

    It seemed that both Madam Qing and Madam Han had alibis. They might have a deep grudge with Madam Yu but they had no contradictions with the eldest youngdy. If it was for the position of princess then they should¡¯ve killed Madam Yun instead of the eldest youngdy. These two wives could be ruled out so far.

    The second, third and fourth youngdies hadn¡¯t been questioned.

    Yu Hanjiang first invited the second youngdy over. Qi Yian, the daughter of a princess and the one the emperor personally appointed as Princess Sukan.

    Out of the four girls, only she was worthy of the name ¡®unmarried daughter of a noble house.¡¯ The first time Xiao Lou saw her, he thought the girl had bright eyes, white teeth, a dignified appearance, a graceful bearing and a full aura. Marrying someone like her to the Zhou State could really support the situation.

    Qi Yian was very polite to Yu Hanjiang. She said, ¡°My marriage with the second prince of the Zhao State is set for the end of the year. Today is the birthday of my father. In order to show sincerity, the Zhou state sent an ambassador to my father. An official from the Ministry of Rites exined to me some of the customs I needed to pay attention to on the day of the wedding. I followed them to the inn that hosted them to study and returned home at the time of Xushi (between 7-9 pm).¡±

    She paused before adding, ¡°Once I returned home, I wrote a letter. Before I finished writing the letter, I heard a scream outside and my third sister came to tell me that something had happened to my older sister.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Long Sen. ¡°Did a messenger from the Zhao statee today?¡±

    Long Sen nodded. ¡°Yes, they gave a congrattory gift to the prince in the afternoon but it wasn¡¯t convenient for them to attend the banquet. The second youngdy did follow them and went to the inn dedicated to receiving guests from the Zhao State.¡±

    The second youngdy was personally selected by the emperor to marry the Zhao state. The customs of Zhao were different from the Qi state and if she wanted to marry a Zhao person, she needed to pay attention to many details. She said that she didn¡¯t return to the prince¡¯s mansion until around xushi time. If she was the murderer then this time would be toote. Moreover, she and the eldest youngdy had no grudges and she was going to marry the second prince of the Zhao state, bing the principle wife. There was no motive for her tomit the crime.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Do you usually have contact with the eldest youngdy?¡±

    Qi Yian smiled. ¡°My sister often stays in the Buddhist temple to copy scriptures and I also don¡¯t like to go out. I usually practice the guqin at Xiushui Pavilion so I barely see her a few times a month.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang then asked, ¡°What is the rtionship between the eldest youngdy and her sister, do you know?¡±

    Qi Yian shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t have much contact with my third and fourth sisters. My third sister is good at martial arts and carries a sword every day. She likes to run out of the prince¡¯s mansion to y and she isn¡¯t close to me. My fourth sister always covers her face with a white veil. Every time she sees me, she will only call me ¡®Princess¡¯ and is very polite to me.¡± She paused and said lightly, ¡° I don¡¯t know the rtionship between the three of them, nor am I interested in knowing.¡±

    She was someone who was going to be sent to the Zhao state. In the future, she might not have an opportunity to return home. In addition, she and her sisters were born to different mothers so these sisters were nothing for her.

    As the legitimate daughter, she just needed to manager herself. The smartest way was to not get involved in the feuds between the wives of the prince¡¯s mansion. The second youngdy didn¡¯t say anything but the third youngdy gave Yu Hanjiang a clue.

    Qi Yiru said, ¡°When I went to the toilet in the evening, I saw my fourth sister hurriedly passing by the rockery and heading in the direction of Hongmei Park. I asked her what was wrong and she kept avoiding my eyes. She said she wasn¡¯t feeling well and wanted to go back to take medicine.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Do you have a good rtionship with the fourth youngdy?¡±

    Qi Yiru nodded. ¡°Yes, my eldest sister hides in the Buddhist temple every day knocking on wooden fish while my second sister sits in Xiushui Pavilion and ys the guqin. I don¡¯t talk to them and usually like to practice martial arts. My fourth sister knows medicine so I¡¯ll go see her and she will help bandage my wounds.¡±

    She added with augh. ¡°The killer can¡¯t be my fourth sister! She is usually soft and weak, How can she have the courage to kill someone? I think she might¡¯ve seen the murderer which is why she fled from the rockery!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang called the key suspect, Qi Yiwei over. Her face was still covered with a white veil. She was timid and didn¡¯t dare to look at them.

    Yu Hanjiang directly questioned her. ¡°The fourth youngdy, did your eldest sister know about the private rtionship between you and Young Master Lin?¡±

    Qi Yiwei, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at Group Leader Yu rather helplessly. This straight ball habit hadn¡¯t changed. The fourth youngdy hadn¡¯t expected the other person to ask such a question and she was frightened, her entire body shaking.

    There was ayer of sweat on her forehead and her fingers were clenched tightly by her side. She eximed ¡°I-I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about. Please don¡¯t defile a woman¡¯s innocence.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang simply handed her the letter from the Ninth Princess. ¡°The fourth youngdy, please look at this.¡±

    Qi Yiwei stared with eyes. After seeing the passing about ¡®I want to fulfill their wish and will be a monk¡¯, her eyes immediately reddened.

    She covered her face and cried while speaking intermittently, ¡°Sister¡­ she wanted to help us¡­ I¡¯m sorry for her¡­ wuu¡­ I¡¯m sorry for my sister¡­¡±

    Seeing that she couldn¡¯t stop crying, Xiao Lou asked her, ¡°Why do you cover your face with a white veil?¡±

    Qi Yiwei was silent for a long time before gently removing the veil.

    The right side of her face was very beautiful and refined, with fair and smooth skin. She was definitely a big beauty. However, there was a thumb-shaped birthmark on the left cheek that ruined her appearance. It was like a crystal clear piece of jade had a crack, making people feel regret.

    Qi Yiwei trembled as she put the veil back on. ¡°I was born like this and I didn¡¯t want to be talked about, so I covered my face with a white veil. In fact, Young Master Lin and I haven¡¯t been intimate. We have known each other before he was betrothed to my sister¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou wrote down this key note and said, ¡°You and Young Master Lin have long had a mutualmitment?

    Qi Yiwei nodded. ¡°A year ago, on the mountain outside Ji City, Young Master Lin identally broke his leg. I was passing by and saved me. He saw my face and didn¡¯t mind it. He said he wanted to marry me¡­ he treated me with sincerity and I was very fond of him. We¡­ often used excuses to go outside the city and meet in private.¡±

    ¡°A few monthster, the Lin family carried a bridal dowry to talk about a match. I was happy in my heart because I thought he was going to propose to me. As I result, I learned that his marriage was actually to my older sister!¡±

    Having said this, Qi Yiwei¡¯s nails couldn¡¯t help piercing her palm deeply. Her shock and grievance at the time were beyond words.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke coldly. ¡°After the marriage contract, you didn¡¯t dare oppose your parents so you continued meeting privately. Today you secretly met in the backyard. Did you happen to encounter the eldest youngdy?¡±

    Qi Yiwei¡¯s body trembled slightly and she didn¡¯t reply, apparently confirming Yu Hanjiang¡¯s words. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s sharp eyes swept over the piece of jade hanging from her waist. ¡°That jade, was it given by Young Master Lin?¡±

    Qi Yiwei hadn¡¯t expected him to mention even this matter and she froze, her face instantly bing extremely pale.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly. ¡°Say it, how did you and Young Master Lin conspire to kill the eldest youngdy?¡±

    Qi Yiwei¡¯s eyes widened and she hurriedly shook his head. ¡°It wasn¡¯t me¡­ I didn¡¯t kill my oldest sister! After seeing her, I hurried away. I really don¡¯t know what happened to her!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°You fled in a hurry, what about Young Master Lin?¡±

    ¡°Young Master Lin?¡± Qi Yiwei suddenly froze. She had definitely fled back to Hongmei Park at the time. On the way, she bumped into her third sister and excused herself, saying she was going to take medicine. She didn¡¯t know where Young Master Lin had gone.

    Yu Hanjiang asked Long Sen, ¡°Has Young Master Lin been found?¡±

    Long Sen shook his head. ¡°I asked all the guards and there are no traces of Young Master Lin in the courtyard of the prince¡¯s mansion. No guests saw him go out the front door, but at the back door, some of the tiles on the wall are broken. He probably climbed the wall of the back door and slipped out.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°Immediately arrest Lin Shaobo!¡±

 Chapter 166: Beacon in Troubled Times 16

    Jiangzhou¡¯s prison.

    The girls and boss of the Fragrant Sky House were collectively ced in jail. These girls usually sang and danced. They got up every day and put on exquisite makeup and beautiful dresses and were ttered by the children of rich families. When had they experienced something like this?

    The moment they saw the cold, damp environment of the dungeon, everyone started toin.

    ¡°How can people sleep in such a dirty ce?¡±

    ¡±There isn¡¯t even a bed.¡±

    ¡°The assassin had nothing to do with us. Tell Yu daren and quickly let us go!¡±

    The bailiff responsible for their imprisonment became impatient and shouted angrily, ¡°Shut up! If the assassines from your Fragrant Sky House and the prince bes angry then all of you will be beheaded! Wanting to be picky in a dungeon? A dungeon isn¡¯t a ce for you to sing and dance. Be obedient or I will go in!¡±

    The man was burly and had a loud voice. The girls became pale with fright and they closed their mouths, not daring to say anything else.

    Ye Qi remained silent in the crowd.

    A total of 12 people from the Fragrant Sky House were arrested. Four of them were locked in one cell for a total of three cells.

    The conditions in the dungeon were really poor. There was no bed, the floor was covered in messy hay and the sound of rats could be heard in the corner. A fat rat passed by, causing a few girls to panic and scream. Some of them took off their shoes to hit the rat and the cell was chaotic.

    Ye Qi sat in a corner and thought seriously about what happened.

    He had received an S-grade evaluation for 2 of Hearts, 3 of Hearts and 4 of Hearts. In the fifth, sixth and seventh levels, he followed Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao to solve the case and gained a lot of reasoning knowledge. He was sure that the case in this secret room wouldn¡¯t be as simple as the assassination of the prince.

    At that time, the assassin ran away and the prince locked up all the people of the Fragrant Sky House out of anger. What happened after that? Who would be the first one to die? He was thinking then when he suddenly saw a bailiffing over and asking, ¡°Who is Miss Ye?¡±

    Ye Qi stood up. ¡°I am.¡±

    ¡°There is a son of Shao who came to see you.¡± The bailiff smiled.

    The surrounding girls heard this and cast looks of envy and hatred at Ye Qi. Everyone knew that Young Master Shao recently spent a lot of money raising Miss Ye. They didn¡¯t expect Young Master Shao to be so kind and righteous that he was even willing toe see her when she was in prison!

    Ye Qi heard these words with a bright eye and immediately followed the bailiff.

    Outside the door, Shao Qingge stood while holding a folding fan and posing like a noble son, a smile still on his face. He saw Ye Qie out and took out a piece of silver from his pocket, handing it to the bailiff. ¡°You worked hard.¡±

    The bailiff happily epted the money and said, ¡°The two of you talk slowly! You can talk casually until the darenes back. I will guard the door.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge did a really good job of spending money to buy the bailiff.

    Shao Qingge smiled and ced a food box on the table. ¡°You haven¡¯t eaten yet? Have some snacks first.¡±

    Ye Qi hadn¡¯t eaten dinner in order to prepare for the performance. He originally nned to eat after returning to the Fragrant Sky House. The result was that rather than eating, he was caught and imprisoned in jail. His stomach had been growling with hunger so seeing the food container, he immediately opened the lid, grabbed the snacks and gorged on them.

    He had experienced the hardships of eating leaves in the Nightmare Room so he cherished food. When eating pastries, he wouldn¡¯t leave the smallest scraps. He held the many small snacks in his hands and ate them cleanly, his actions like a hungry little squirrel.

    He had been sitting on the hay in the cell and there were some pieces in his hair.

    Looking at his hungry appearance, Shao Qingge¡¯s heart inexplicably softened and he couldn¡¯t help reaching out and pulling out the weeds on this person¡¯s head. ¡°Is this your first time going to jail? Are the conditions very bad?¡±

    Ye Qi looked up in a depressed manner. ¡°Are you still in the mood to joke? Do you want to try pretending to be a woman every day, wearing a dress, and then arrested and imprisoned?¡±

    ¡°You sound aggrieved? Why don¡¯t I have Yu daren let you out?¡±

    Ye Qi quickly calmed down. ¡°Definitely not. We can¡¯t let it go until the case is clear. It doesn¡¯t matter. In any case, the plot arranged for me to be in the Fragrant Sky House so it must need me to collect clues from the Fragrant Sky House.¡±

    He ate until he was full. Then he wiped his hands and looked at Shao Qingge. ¡°After we were taken, did another ident happen at the prince¡¯s mansion?¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°The eldest youngdy is dead. She hung herself.¡±

    Ye Qi immediately eximed, ¡°It definitely isn¡¯t suicide!¡±

    Shao Qingge told him, ¡°Xiao and Yu are still there investigating the clues. They specifically had mee to see you. In fact, everyone is very concerned about you.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s heart slightly warmed. ¡°I¡¯m fine, it is just sitting in jail for a few days. I don¡¯t know much about the Fragrant Sky House. I¡¯ve thought carefully and the assassin should¡¯ve long been embedded in the sword dance team.¡±

    Shao Qingge asked with interest, ¡°How do you know she didn¡¯t kill one of them and is an impostor?¡±

    ¡°Impossible.¡± Ye Qi shook his head. ¡°I have been practicing with them these days and this set of sword dance moves is veryplicated. A temporary recement won¡¯t be able to perform it somepletely. You watched the dance at the prince¡¯s mansion. The five people were very synchronized, every movement was uniform and the rhythm was very urate. This isn¡¯t possible if it is a temporary recement.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s true.¡± Shao Qingge carefully recalled the dance just before. The five people did cooperate in a tacit manner. The movements were very proficient and the effect of the dance was amazing. They had obviously been practicing together for a long time.

    ¡°They always covered their faces when rehearsing. In order to distinguish each one, I purposely remembered their eyes and eyebrows. They are the five people who performed today. Therefore, the assassin should¡¯ve nned this a long time and mixed in with the Fragrant Sky House in order to assassinate the prince at his birthday banquet.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± This person looked quite cute when carefully analyzing and Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t help smiling. ¡°Are there any other clues?¡±

    ¡°I checked the remaining four girls just now. The assassin who ran away was called Xue Yan. ording to Aunt Qing, she has been in the Fragrant Sky House for a year. It seems that she has been nning to assassinate the prince for a long time. Is it the same group of people who want to assassination Group Leader Yu?¡±

    ¡°Okay, write it down. I¡¯ll pass it onto Group Leader Yu.¡± Shao Qingge wrote down all the clues provided by Ye Qi.

    Taking too long would raise suspicions so Shao Qingge let Ye Qi go back first to rest.

    The bailiff took Ye Qi to a cell where he was alone. This cell was much cleaner than the cells the other people lived in and it was covered with brand new bedding. Ye Qi stared with wide eyes. ¡°Where did the bedding¡­¡±

    The bailiff smiled. ¡°This is what Young Master Shao asked us to prepare for you. Young Master Shao is worried that you will suffer in jail and specifically asked to send you new bedding.¡±

    Ye Qi entered the cell with a warm heart.

    This person¡¯s mouth might be broken but his heart was still very good.

    The evils of money worked just as well in ancient times.

    Ye Qi inwardly sighed. Money was good. He went to prison but wasn¡¯t the same as others!

    At the same time, the prince¡¯s mansion.

    After questioning all the people in the prince¡¯s mansion, Xiao Loupiled the transcripts and followed Yu Hanjiang to collect clues from the deceased¡¯s residence.

    They found many copied scriptures in the eldest youngdy¡¯s room and some waste paper in the basket. They were scraps from when she wrote to the Ninth Princess. It was obvious that when she was writing the letter, she felt very contradictory and didn¡¯t think about the content of the letter. Instead, she changed her words as she wrote.

    The handwriting on the scrap paper was the same as the handwriting of the letter given to Yu Hanjiang by the Ninth Princess. The content of one page of a scrap paper was simr to the final letter but there were a few words that had been mistakenly written. The eldest youngdy should¡¯ve rewritten it again for aplete version.

    The evidence proved that the letter the Ninth Princess gave to Yu Hanjiang was indeed written by the eldest youngdy.

    In addition, there was a brand new dress in the room that was neatly ced to one side. This should be the new clothing that Mrs Yun had prepared for her daughter at the time in order to attend the prince¡¯s banquet. However, the eldest youngdy didn¡¯t change into it and was still wearing the in, white clothing.

    Unfortunately, the most important evidence wasn¡¯t found.

    Where was the poison that the eldest youngdy had consumed before she died?

    Was it a snack, a meal or her tea?

    In ancient times, food couldn¡¯t be tested in aboratory. Generally, silver needles were used for poison testing. Xiao Lou picked up the snacks on the table and tested for poison using the silver needles. He found there were no toxins in the several servings of pastry or in the tea.

    He asked the personal attendant who served the eldest youngdy and she said that the eldest youngdy went out at shenshi (3-5pm) and didn¡¯t let anyone follow. The eldest youngdy never came back afterward and she hadn¡¯t eaten in the room before going out.

    The shenshi time, this was around 16 o¡¯clock.

    The time of the eldest youngdy¡¯s death was around 18 o¡¯clock. No one knew what she had seen or encountered after going on.

    Yu Hanjiang also took Xiao Lou, Mo Xuemin and Long Sen to search Miss Qi Yiwei¡¯s residence.

    Unexpectedly, the herbs that Liu Qiao said she brought were still here and the paper bag containing the herbs hadn¡¯t even been unsealed. It seemed that the fourth youngdy hadn¡¯t used these herbs to make poison?

    Nothing particrly important was found at the residences of the second and third youngdies.

    By the time the search of the prince¡¯s mansion was finished, it was almost early in the morning. The entire prince¡¯s mansion was blocked and thedies gathered in the hall with different expressions. Yu Hanjiang searched everything and asked what he wanted to ask. It wasn¡¯t easy to continue disturbing them so he said goodbye to the prince.

    The prince personally escorted them to the door, telling them to solve the case as soon as possible. Yu Hanjiang promised that he would try his best.

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue stayed at the prince¡¯s mansion while Yu Hanjiang, Xiao Lou and Mo Xuemin returned to the prefectural magistrate¡¯s residence.

    Shao Qingge and Liu Qiao were waiting for them there. Once they saw that the trio had returned, Shao Qingge immediately stepped forward and asked, ¡°How about it? Did you get any clues about the murderer?¡± As a Hearts room g, he was used to lying down in the Hearts room and winning. Based on his understanding of Xiao and Yu, the two of them came back sote because they turned the prince¡¯s mansion upside down.

    However, the thing that surprised Shao Qingge was that Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face wasn¡¯t confident and was filled with a hint of confusion. Yu Hanjiang frowned and replied, ¡°There are many clues and it is very messy. At present, we can¡¯t lock onto the murderer.¡±

    The listening Mo Xuemin couldn¡¯t help interjecting, ¡°Isn¡¯t the murderer Lin Shaobo who ran away?¡±

    Liu Qiao was also curious. ¡°Didn¡¯t Lin Shaobo and the fourth youngdy conspire to do it?¡±

    Based on the analysis at the prince¡¯s mansion just now, wasn¡¯t Lin Shaobo the most suspicious?

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°It isn¡¯t that simple. The fourth youngdy¡¯s medicine isn¡¯t missing and we can¡¯t find the poison anywhere. Thus, we can¡¯t easily draw conclusions.¡±

    He looked at his teammates before taking them to the cell to see Ye Qi.

    Ye Qi was in a cell alone. The little boy was sleeping under a quilt, a white ear exposed as his entire body was curled up in a ball like a small, alert animal.

    Xiao Lou saw the quilt covering him and couldn¡¯t help wondering, ¡°Where did the quilte from?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°I had someone prepare it. I can¡¯t let Miss Ye sleep on messy hay.¡±

    Xiao Lou saw Ye Qi shrink into a ball and couldn¡¯t help expressing distress. ¡°This time, we really wronged him. The ground of the cell is wet and cold and it is currently autumn. It must be very ufortable to sleep on the ground like this.¡±

    Ye Qi was passively lying down and woke up to see everyone. He immediately ran over and asked, ¡°You came back. How is the case?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°The case isplicated. The two cases should be rted but we haven¡¯t found a contact point yet. Shao Qingge told us that you know what the assassin called Xue Yan looks like. Can you draw her?¡±

    Ye Qi carefully thought about it. ¡°I haven¡¯t studied art and I can¡¯t draw her. However, I specifically remember her eyes and eyebrows. If I see her again then I can definitely recognize her.¡±

    The other side was wearing a veil and her face, eyebrows and eyes were difficult to distinguish. It seemed that only Ye Qi could recognize the person.

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°It iste so you rest first. If there are any clues then I will have Shao QIngge notify you. Before the case is solved, I can¡¯t let anyone in the Fragrant Sky House so I will have to wrong you. Stay in the dungeon first and we will investigate the case as soon as possible.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded and smiled brightly. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I can sleep anywhere.¡±

    Shao Qingge thought of Xiao Lou saying the ground was wet and cold and he told Ye Qi, ¡°The quilt is very big. You cany on half of it and cover yourself with the other half so that the ground won¡¯t be cold. I will have them bring in a brazier for youter so you don¡¯t get cold.¡±

    Ye Qi joked, ¡°Thank you, gold master father.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°Your wee, this is what a financial baker should do.¡±

    Shao Qingge was really able to handle matters. He secretly gave the bailiff in charge of the prisoners silver coins and a brazier was soon brought to Ye Qi¡¯s room. Compared to the other cells where the girls were starving and frozen, Ye Qi enjoyed the treatment of a VIP cell.

 Chapter 167: Beacon in Troubled Times 17

    By the time they came out of the cell, the guard outside had already hit the gong and it was more than two o¡¯clock in the morning. Yu Hanjiang let everyone go back to rest and he and Xiao Lou also returned to their rooms.

    They finally came home after a tiring day. The maid Pinger had been waiting for them and brought over two pots of hot water. The two men washed and before going to sleep, Xiao Lou grabbed the topical ointment Liu Qiao had prepared. Then he had Yu Hanjiang take off his coat to apply the medicine to the wound on his back.

    Although the toxin in the wound had beenpletely eliminated, grisly and terrible scars traversed the man¡¯s sturdy spine. Xiao Lou saw it and once again felt distressed.

    He used his fingertips to gently rub medicine on the scars and softly asked, ¡°Does it still hurt?¡±

    The hot wound was coated with a cold ointment, making it extremelyfortable. Moreover, Xiao Lou¡¯s fingers were slender and soft. He caressed Yu Hanjiang¡¯s back with the medicine and Yu Hanjiang felt extremely rxed. Even if the wounds were painful, his heart was very warm.

    He whispered, ¡°No pain. It is hard on you, Madam.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face was slightly red. ¡°There are no outsiders here. You don¡¯t need to call me that.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him seriously, ¡°It will be hard to exin if it is heard by Pinger.¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t weigh on these details. He helped change the bandage on the wound and the two of them fell asleep together.

    The day before, Yu Hanjiang had realized he liked Xiao Lou so he wasn¡¯t veryfortable sleeping in the same bed with Xiao Lou. He still kept the ¡®statue¡¯ position and didn¡¯t dare to move, fearing he might identally touch Xiao Lou.

    XIao Lou saw him lying on his back to sleep and immediately said, ¡°Your back is hurt. Don¡¯t lie t while sleeping. Putting pressure on the wound isn¡¯t good for healing.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was obedient and turned sideways, facing Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou detected the other person¡¯s gaze on his face. It was quiet at night and this person was watching him from such a close distance. Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was beating quickly and he had to talk about the case to divert his attention. ¡°You just said that the murderer isn¡¯t certain. Do you think that Lin Shaobo isn¡¯t the murderer?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang exined, ¡°If it was him then this case would be too simple. Liu Qiao witnessed the date between the fourth youngdy and Lin Shaobo. The letter from the eldest youngdy to the Ninth Princess also mentioned the personal affair of the two people. In addition, the fourth youngdy personally confirmed that the two of them encountered her oldest sister. Lin Shaobo had the movie to kill and the time tomit the crimes. The clues are very clear but when you think about it carefully, there are many things that aren¡¯t right.¡±

    Xiao Lou listened carefully. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang whispered his analysis, ¡°First of all, where did Lin Shaobo get the poison from? We searched the room of the fourth youngdy and none of the medicine that Liu Qiao said would lead to poisoning had been touched. This proves that the poison wasn¡¯t provided by the fourth youngdy. If the fourth youngdy and Lin Shaobo had joined forces tomit the crime, it must be premeditated and the poison was nned in advance. However, if that was the case, they wouldn¡¯t have met today to arouse suspicion.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded in agreement. ¡°I also think that the source of the poison isn¡¯t from the fourth youngdy or Young Master Lin. So the two people who seem to have the most suspicion actually don¡¯t have the tool tomit the crime. We also haven¡¯t found the source of the poison. The maid said that the eldest youngdy never ate in the house so I suspect she was poisoned face to face in the yard.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang continued, ¡°Yes, you examined the body and there were no signs of a struggle when she died. Obviously, she didn¡¯t resist when she ate the poisonous food. This means the person should be someone familiar with the eldest youngdy or else she wouldn¡¯t eat what they gave them.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang paused before adding, ¡°In addition, we encountered assassins aftering to Jiangzhou and there was an assassin at the prince¡¯s birthday banquet. I think the assassin organization isn¡¯t interference but has a direct rtionship with the case.¡±

    Thinking about it, the map from the study showed there were four countries in the world: the Qi, Chu, Yan and Zhao states. If it was just a simple household murder, wouldn¡¯t it be enough if there was only the Qi state?

    Such aplex background definitely wasn¡¯t just for decoration.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°Perhaps the eldest youngdy¡¯s death has nothing to do with love. Maybe she identally witnessed something in the pce that shouldn¡¯t be known and was killed?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°It is likely.¡±

    He suddenly wondered, ¡°Do you remember a detail mentioned by Qu Wanyue? The Ninth Princess is the youngest child of thete emperor. When the Ninth Princess saw the Eight Princest night, she called him brother?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought carefully and immediately responded. ¡°Yes, the emperor calls him uncle and the Ninth Princess calls him royal brother. This means that the emperor is the nephew of the Ninth Princess and the Ninth Princess is the youngest child of thete emperor. So in fact, the rtionship between the emperor and thete emperor isn¡¯t father and son, but a grandson?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang used this point to specte that things weren¡¯t simple.

    In the world of the secret rooms, many times clear clues were likely to be interference and some details that were easily overlooked might actually be the real clues. The harem battle that the Ninth Princess told Qu Wanyue about, the question of the Ninth Princess¡¯ seniority and the rtionship between the Eighth Prince, thete emperor and the current emperor might be indicative of something.

    The throne was generally passed onto the son yet thete emperor passed it to his grandson instead of the Eighth Prince.

    Yu Hanjiang had seen the emperor. The man on the dragon chair was very young and was around 20 years old. The Eighth Prince was over 40 years old. Even if the Eighth Prince ignored politics and wasn¡¯t emperor material, shouldn¡¯t thete emperor have other sons?

    The princess was ranked ninth, indicating that there were seven royal sons before the Eighth Prince.

    Thinking of these things, Xiao Lou suddenly said, ¡°Historically, there was a coup in the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang¡¯s fourth son, Zhu Di overthrew his nephew Zhu Yunwen. Zhu Yuanzhang initially set up his eldest son Zhu Baio as crown prince. Unfortunately, the crown prince died early so he asked his grandson Zhu Yunwen to inherit the throne. His son Zhu Di wasn¡¯t satisfied and after Zhu Yunwen came to power, he initiated a rebellion. He became the emperor himself and was known as the Yongle Emperor.¡±

    Hearing Xiao Lou¡¯s words, something shed in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart.

    The Ming Dynasty¡¯s rebellion was very famous in history. Zhu Yuanzhang skipped his son and established his grandson as the heir. Zhu Di usurped the throne and finally took the power of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yunwen¡¯s whereabouts were unknown and it became a pending case in history.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Zhu Yuanzhang also skipped the other princes at that time and directly established his grandson as heir, which is somewhat simr to the current situation of the Qi state. The current emperor is so young and the Eighth Prince¡¯s heart is extremely deep. What if he wants to initiate a rebellion and unite with the Zhao state? He was conspiring with the Zhao state¡¯s emissary when he encountered his oldest daughter and directly killed her to shut her mouth?¡±

    If this spection was true then it was possible to connect many clues.

    The Zhao state¡¯s envoys happened toe here today. The second youngdy said that the prince of Zhao wanted to give a gift to his future father-inw and sent someone to exchange details of the wedding. Long Sen said that the envoys of the Zhao state had entered the pce but left without attending the dinner.

    If the messenger of the Zhao state entered the pce in the afternoon and was conspiring with the prince when they were caught by the eldest youngdy out for a walk, it was possible that the prince killed his daughter.

    Moreover, the Eighth Prince¡¯s attitude was a bit strange today. He took the initiative to ask Yu Hanjiang to investigate and was very cooperative.

    Perhaps the assassins who attempted to assassinate Yu Hanjiang were sent by him while the assassin at his birthday banquet was just acting. When the assassin suddenly flew at him, the prince wasn¡¯t flustered at all and behaved too calmly¡­ as if he had been expecting it.

    His nephew had be the emperor. As the uncle, could he really be reconciled with it?

    Yu Hanjiang remembered that during his conversation with the prince, the prince only cared about the emperor¡¯s life and didn¡¯t ask anything about the court. It seemed that he was an idle prince who didn¡¯t like political affairs¡­ but what if this was keeping a low profile?

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou nced at each other and felt that the possibility of the Eight Prince¡¯s rebellion was much higher than it being about Lin Shaobo and Qi Yiwei¡¯s personal affair.

    The next day, Yu Hanjiang woke up and went directly to the bailiff. He had given an orderst night that the suspect Lin Shaobo should be arrested. However, after one night, there was still no news about Lin Shaobo.

    He went to the Lin family to investigate. Father Lin said that yesterday, he should¡¯ve gone to the prince¡¯s birthday banquet in person. As a result, he was unable to leave due to something in the family and he sent Lin Shaobo as a representative.

    Father Lin wondered, ¡°My son hasn¡¯t returned home all night. I sent someone to the prince¡¯s mansion to find him and they said he had left a long time ago. Now you areing to ask me about his whereabouts. I don¡¯t know where he went. What happened?¡±

    Just then, Mrs Lin hurried over and whispered in his ear, ¡°I went out today and heard the neighbours say thatst night, the eldest youngdy of the prince¡¯s mansion hanged herself!¡±

    Father Lin¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°What?¡±

    Qi Yiyao¡¯s suicide was known by all the guests present at that time. The news had spread fast and it was only a matter of time before the Lin family knew it. However, the rumours outside were all about her short-sightedness. At present, only Yu Hanjiang¡¯s group and the people in the prince¡¯s mansion knew about her murder. The prince had ordered it to be kept quiet and no one dared to talk about it.

    Father Lin realized that the eldest youngdy might¡¯ve been stimted by her son to hang herself and struck the table angrily. ¡°Where is Shaobo? Go and find him immediately! That beast might¡¯ve sneaked away to the brothel again. Find him for me. Search through all the brothels in Jiangzhou City and find him!¡±

    Mrs Lin started back with trepidation. The Lin family made amotion early in the morning.

    Yu Hanjiang left the Lin mansion and his brow grew tighter.

    He had also wondered if Lin Shaobo was hiding in a brothel so the government officials of the prefectural magistrate focused on searching the brothels all night. Besides the Fragrant Sky House, the Hundred Flowers House, the Sophisticated Pavilion and the Intoxicated Immortal House were also searched¡­

    All the brothels in Jiangzhou were overturned by the officials and there were still no traces of Lin Shaobo.

    He was a rich son and couldn¡¯t use light footwork. Even if he escaped from the backyard of the prince¡¯s mansion by going over the wall, it was impossible to disappear without a trace.

    The foreboding in his heart grew stronger. Yu Hanjiang called Xiao Lou and they came to the door of the prince¡¯s mansion.

    The guard Long Sen saw them and let them go in.

    The other guards didn¡¯t feel surprised when they saw Yu daren taking his wife to investigate the case. Anyway, everyone had seen the situation where Yu daren and his wife worked together to handle the castst night. A wife who could do an autopsy wasn¡¯t easy.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou walked into the prince¡¯s mansion and the Eighth Prince immediately greeted them.

    So many things had happened at the banquet yesterday. The prince, who always looked elegant, now seemed a bit haggard. He asked in a hoarse voice. ¡°Yu daren, what clues have you found about Yiyao¡¯s murder?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly, ¡°The most suspicious thing about the death of the eldest youngdy is her fiance Lin Shaobo. However, we have almost overturned all of Jiangzhou and not a single trace of Lin Shaobo¡¯s shadow has been seen. This is why I have a bold guess. Lin Shaobo is still in the pce.¡±

    The prince¡¯s face showed disbelief. ¡°The prince¡¯s mansion? I had the guards search the mansion all ofst night and we couldn¡¯t see Young Master Lin.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought carefully about the map of the prince¡¯s mansion. The front yard couldn¡¯t hide people but the backyard contained a rockery, trees and ake. It was hard to find a hiding person at night, especially near the lotus pond by the rockery which was almost the size of a football field.

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly ordered, ¡°Go to the pond!¡±

    The prince froze for a moment before quickly following Yu Hanjiang.

    The moment they arrived at the pond, a scream came from not far away. ¡°Ah¡ª¡±

    Yu Hanjiang moved quickly and saw two pale-faced maids, pointing at an object floating not far away in the pond. ¡°A-A person is floating in the pond!¡±

    ¡°Yes, it looks like a corpse!¡±

    The prince¡¯s face changed. ¡°Fetch it!¡±

    Several guards came forward to salvage the body. A momentter, they hurriedly fished up the body and put it on the shore.

    The body was already swollen from being in the pond all night. The facial features were twisted and the skin was dehydrated and wrinkled. The people around them were disgusted and wanted to vomit.

    Xiao Lou looked calm as he squatted down beside the corpse to take a closer look. The body was of an adult man, wearing dark blue clothes. His messy hair was tied with a blue hairband and there was an emerald ring on his finger.

    Yu Hanjiang took a deep breath and dered softly, ¡°It is Lin Shaobo.¡±

 Chapter 168

    After hearing Yu Hanjiang say that the deceased as Lin Shaobo, the corner of the prince¡¯s mouth lowered slightly and his brow furrowed. Young Master Lin might most be the most favoured son in the Lin family but he had actually died in the prince¡¯s mansion. How should he exin this to the Lin family?

    The prince looked at the guard next to him with a sullen expression and murmured in a scolding manner, ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you to carefully search the mansionst night. You didn¡¯t search here?!¡±

    In the dark night, the pond was full of lotus flowers and it was really difficult to notice a corpse floating under the cover of the lotus leaves. The guard was wronged and exined in a low voice, ¡°We searched around the pond but didn¡¯t go into the pond. It was too dark to see the body floating in the pond¡­ no, I hadn¡¯t expected Young Master Lin to fall into the water!¡±

    Just then, a gentle voice entered everyone¡¯s ears. ¡°Young Master Lin didn¡¯t fall into the water.¡±

    This voice seemed toe from Madam Yu? The group was stunned and turned back. The body was swollen and so disgusting yet Madam Yu didn¡¯t mind at all. They saw ¡®her¡¯ squatting quietly beside the body, pointing to it. ¡°Young Master Lin was also murdered but the cause of death wasn¡¯t drowning.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang heard this and also walked over to squat beside Xiao Lou, carefully observing the traces on the body.

    Xiao Lou pointed to the piece of clothing tightly held in the corpse¡¯s hand and the bruises on the neck. ¡°You see, although the marks on his neck are swollen, fingerprints can easily be distinguished. The murderer should¡¯ve suddenly attacked him from behind and seized his neck with force. He struggled and tore at the sleeve of the murderer. The piece of cloth held tightly in his hand might belong to the murderer.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang pulled the cloth out of the body¡¯s hand and looked closely with a frown. Then he handed it to Long Sen and asked, ¡°Where does this clothe from? Can you confirm it?¡±

    Long Sen took it and carefullypared it to his clothes. ¡°This should be from a guard¡¯s uniform. The guards of the prince¡¯s mansion wear this type of navy blue clothes.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°Do you think Lin Shaobo was strangled and then thrown into the pond?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes. If he fell into the water then he would struggle. Then his fingernails should have water nts, sediment and other things from the pond. He will also have a lot of foam and sediment in his mouth and nose.¡±

    Xiao Lou turned the body over and said, ¡°There are no foam and sediment in his mouth and nose.¡± Then he raised the clothes on the body and pointed to the muscles of the body. ¡°In addition, since the water temperature is lower than the body temperature of a human, the muscles of the body are subject to convulsions after falling into the water. The rigidity of the body will be more obvious and the livor mortis is generally a pale pink or dark-red. This corpse doesn¡¯t meet the characteristics of drowning.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s tone was certain. ¡°He didn¡¯t struggle after falling into the water, which means he was dead the moment he hit the water. Looking at the degree of decay of the body and considering that Young Master Lin left during the dinner party, he should¡¯ve been killed at around 8 p.mst night after leaving the banquet. This ister than the death of the eldest youngdy.¡±

    Everyone stared at Xiao Lou in a dumbfounded manner. Unexpected, Madam Yu didn¡¯t change her face when looking at the corpse and she made so many points. If Mrs Yu¡¯s words were true then Young Master Lin was also murdered in the prince¡¯s mansion. Two people died in one day? This showed there was a terrible murderer lurking in the prince¡¯s mansion!

    Thinking of this, the people¡¯s faces became ugly.

    Yu Hanjiang reached out a hand and supported Xiao Lou to stand up. Then he went to the prince and said, ¡°You should¡¯ve heard what my wife just said. Judging from the results of the examination, Lin Shaobo was thrown into the pond after being strangled. Two people have died in the backyard of the prince¡¯s mansion one after another. What is your opinion on this?¡±

    The king slightly frowned. ¡°Yu daren, what does this mean?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang gazed at the prince and spoke frankly, ¡°Someone in the prince¡¯s mansion murdered the eldest youngdy and Young Master Lin in session. The murderer naturally wouldn¡¯t kill the two of them for no reason. Why did the murderer kill them?¡± He lowered his voice and expressed his meaning. ¡°Was it because the eldest youngdy and Young Master Lin identally saw something they shouldn¡¯t have seen and were killed?¡±

    The prince thought about it and nodded. ¡°Your words are reasonable.¡± He looked back at Long Sen. ¡°Guard Long, immediately call everyone to the front yard. I would like to ask what the people in the prince¡¯s mansion were doing since yesterday afternoon!¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other. The prince was still so calm. He was either really innocent or his acting was too superb. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s words just now were a test but the prince was actually indifferent.

    The people of the prince¡¯s mansion gathered and Yu Hanjiang once again interrogated them one by one. Most of the guards were busy in the front yard from yesterday afternoon to dinner time. The people of the kitchen could testify for each other while the maids were setting up the banquet. There were only a handful of people who stayed in the backyard yesterday.

    Yu Hanjiang called those who didn¡¯t have alibis to the side hall to cross-examine them.

    A maid cocked her head and thought carefully before suddenly saying, ¡°Oh yes, yesterday I was returning to the backyard with Caiyue to grab something. As I was passing by the lotus pond, I heard a sound in the distance that was like something fell into the water. We hurried over and saw there was nothing in the pond, but we saw Guard Qin hurriedly passing by.¡±

    Caiyue also confirmed this, saying she had seen Qin Rui in the backyard yesterday afternoon. The time period happened to be the youshi time. (7-9 p.m)

    The guards couldn¡¯t freely enter or leave the backyard of the prince¡¯s mansion at will. It was because the guards were all male while the backyard contained the female family members. Men and women were different and in order to avoid suspicion, the guards usually wouldn¡¯t go the backyard to cause trouble for themselves. Otherwise, breaking into the backyard was a felony.

    Yu Hanjiang asked the prince, ¡°Yesterday, did you send a guard called Qin Rui to the backyard?¡±

    The Eighth Prince immediately denied it. ¡°No, yesterday the protection of the pce was the responsibility of Guard Long. You can ask him.¡±

    Long Sen also shook his head after hearing it. ¡°This subordinate didn¡¯t let Qin Rui go to the backyard. Yesterday afternoon, there were too many guestsing to the prince¡¯s mansion and we patrolled the front yard in order to prevent the guests from entering the backyard and affecting thedies. The door of the backyard was always guarded.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang called the two guards responsible for protecting the door and they both said, ¡°I have never seen Guard Qin.¡±

    Since the guards didn¡¯t see him, how did Qin Rui get into the backyard?

    Long Sen opened his mouth, ¡°If I remember correctly, Qin Rui knows light footwork and his strength in martial arts is very high. It wouldn¡¯t be difficult for him to directly go over the wall without passing through the main entrance.¡±

    Hearing this sentence, the prince¡¯s face suddenly sank. Yu Hanjiang also frowned. A guard secretly going over the wall to enter the backyard wasn¡¯t simple. The backyard was full of women. Was one of the prince¡¯s wives or daughters having an affair with this Qin Rui?

    Among the three wives, Madam Yun was checking the dinner menu with the chef and many people could testify for her. Her alibi was the most convincing. Mrs Qing was supervising the cleaning of her yard and there were several maids and servants who could testify for it.

    It was only Madam Han who was suspicious. She said she had been sleeping in her room since yesterday afternoon and only her two personal attendants could prove it.

    The two attendants, Xiao Xue and Xiao Shuang were brought with her from her mother¡¯s family. They were with her since she was young and were loyal to her. If she asked them to lie then they would say it. Therefore, her alibi wasn¡¯t convincing.

    Madam Han was sick and had no strength to kill the eldest youngdy¡ªbut what if she was having an affair with a guard? A guard had high strength and it was simple for him.

    Madam Han was also the mother of the fourth youngdy and he had heard that Mrs Han knew medicine. If she had an affair with the guard and was discovered then she had the motive to kill people. It made sense for her to secretly poison the eldest youngdy and let the guard handle Young Master Lin who witnessed all of it.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou nced at each other before Yu Hanjiang ordered softly, ¡°Call Qin Rui here.¡±

    Qin Rui soon entered the interrogation room. The guard was tall and handsome. He was indeed a talent.

    He seemed to be 20 years old and had a saber hanging from his waist. He was one of the most handsome guards in the entire mansion. He had also changed into very clean, new clothes. It was unknown if his old clothes had been torn or not.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked directly, ¡°Guard Qin, why did you go to the backyard yesterday afternoon?¡±

    Qin Rui¡¯splexion changed slightly and he whispered, ¡°This subordinate heard a noise from the backyard and saw a figure passing over the wall. I feared it was an assassin who would endanger the safety of thedies and went to investigate.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stared coldly into his eyes. ¡°If you found the assassin then why not report it to the king?¡±

    Qin Rui exined, ¡°The situation was urgent at the time and the person had already entered the backyard. This subordinate didn¡¯t have time to report.¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say this when you were questionedst night?¡±

    Qin Rui¡¯s hands clenched into fists. ¡°This subordinate was worried about causing a misunderstanding and didn¡¯t tell you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Why did you change into new clothes? Where are your old clothes?¡±

    Qin Rui looked embarrassed. ¡°Yesterday, it was cut by a branch while I was tracking the assassin. This subordinate took it back to my room, ready to sew it and then wear it again.¡±

    This testimony waspletely imusible.

    The prince raged. ¡°How dare you break into the backyard?!¡±

    Qin Rui immediately knelt on the ground, hands forming fists as he whispered, ¡°Prince, I really did see someone go over the wall and enter the backyard of the prince¡¯s mansion. I only entered to investigate!¡±

    ¡°What about the assassin you were chasing?¡±

    Qin Rui was silent for a moment before bowing his head. ¡°¡­The person ran away.¡±

    The prince mmed hard against the table. ¡°You¡¯re full of nonsense!¡±

    His cold eyes swept over Long Sen and he ordered, ¡°Go and call Madam Han.¡±

    Long Sen went next door to summon Madam Han.

    A momentter, Madam Han came into the side hall >She was pale from her illness and when walking, she almost fell from a weak wind. The prince stared at her and asked directly, ¡°Yesterday afternoon, did you see Guard Qin?¡±

    Blood drained from Madam Han¡¯s face and she trembled. ¡°Why are you asking me this? I have never seen Guard Qin!¡±

    ¡°As far as I know, you and Guard Qin are both Linzhou people. There are reports that when you weren¡¯t well, Guard Qin helped you by bringing medicine. Is this true?¡±

    Mrs Han shook. ¡°I was the one who asked Guard Qin to bring medicine¡­¡±

    The king hit the table again, almost smashing it. ¡°Fuck! There are so many girls in the prince¡¯s mansion. If you want medicine do you need Guard Qin to help you? The two of you dare to cheat on me?¡±

    Mrs Hann shivered with fright and kneeled down in front of the prince. She looked up at the prince with tears in her eyes, still trembling, ¡°Please check it! Qin Rui is the son of my older sister. His parents died young and he has been brought up by me. A few years ago, he came to the prince¡¯s mansion as a guard. In order to avoid him being removed from his position, I didn¡¯t dare tell you the truth¡­¡±

    As she spoke up to here, her eyes rolled and she fainted on the ground. The weak Madam Han probably couldn¡¯t stand the stimtion and fainted on the spot.

    Qin Rui turned his head nervously, wanting to help her before taking back his hand. Despite his anger, the prince still felt distressed about thisdy and immediately ordered, ¡°Go to the clinic and call for Dr Lin!¡±

    He quickly stepped forward, picked up the copsed Madam Han and ced her on the bed in the next room. A momentter, a grey-haired doctor carrying a medicine box entered the pce. He sat by Madam Han and checked her pulse.

    Everyone was nervously waiting for the result. The doctor touched his beard for a while before saying, ¡°Congrattions to the prince. The madam has the pulse of joy.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The king was slightly stunned and soon expressed his surprise. ¡°Really?¡±

    The doctor replied, ¡°The madam does have the pulse of joy but her pulse is weak. Has she lost her appetite in recent days?¡±

    The maid Xiaoshuang hurried forward. ¡°Yes, the madam can only eat a bowl of porridge for every meal.¡±

    The doctor thought about it. ¡°The madam has always been weak. Falling pregnant at this time is really dangerous. I will prescribe fetal medicine for the madam. She currentlycks nutrition and needs to be well-adjusted. If there is fetal irritability then her safety can¡¯t be guaranteed.¡±

    The prince looked distressed and regretful as he immediately said, ¡°Please do so.¡±

    The doctor turned to write the prescription and the prince stayed at the bedside to guard his wife. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou nced at each other with a flustered expression. It seemed that their reasoning had beenpletely overturned.

    Madam Qin and Guard Han actually had an aunt and nephew rtionship. Madam Han looked bad and couldn¡¯t eat was actually due to her pregnancy¡­ Xiao Lou never thought things would develop this way.

    Just then, the third youngdy in a red dress and hair in two neat ponytails hurried over.

    The moment she entered through the door, she knelt down in front of the prince and eximed, ¡°Father, yesterday I was the one meeting Guard Qin in the backyard. Guard Qin and I are in love and we¡¯ve already had a flesh rtionship. I want to ask Father to give us permission!¡± Then she bumped her head hard against the ground.

    The prince, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The prince, who had just sighed with relief, almost had a heart attack from anger.

 Chapter 169: Beacon in Troubled Times 19

    The rtionships in the prince¡¯s mansion was really a mess.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou stood next to them and had a headache. Madam Han was Guard Qin¡¯s aunt. Guard Qin¡¯s ¡®private rtionship¡¯ was actually with the third youngdy.

    In fact, thinking carefully, the third youngdy did indeed go to the backyard yesterday afternoon. She said that she saw her fourth sister hurrying to Hongmei Park and asked her about it. Yu Hanjiang treated the third youngdy as a witness but ignored one fact. What was the third youngdy doing in the backyard?

    The prince heard his daughter¡¯s own admission that she had a ¡®flesh rtionship¡¯ with Qin Rui and was so angry that he felt a pain in his head. He pointed to Qin Rui. ¡°Qin Rui, how dare you have a private rtionship with the third youngdy behind my back! Come, drag him 100 blows!¡±

    The third youngdy immediately rushed over. ¡°Father, he has been teaching me martial arts every day since two years ago. All of my martial arts have been taught by Brother Qin. I liked him first. IF you want to fight then just hit me!¡±

    This girl had a strong temperament and was very brave. She stopped in front of Qin Rui and refused to let anyone do anything.¡±

    Qin Rui heard this and finally moved slightly as he watched the third youngdy. ¡°Your friendship is remembered by this subordinate but please don¡¯t ruin your innocence because of me.¡±

    Qin Yiru blushed for a moment. ¡°Father, I really do like Brother Qin!¡±

    Madam Han had just woken up. She heard this and stared at the prince. ¡°Rui-er has no parents since childhood and I brought him up. I can be considered half his mother. The third youngdy has such a deep affection for Rui-er. I¡¯m begging you, can you allow their rtionship? Rui-er is good at martial arts and will surely protect her¡­¡±

    Qin Rui gazed at the third youngdy with aplicated expression before finally saying with red ears, ¡°It is all up to my aunt to decide.¡±

    The prince frowned and looked closely at his daughter.

    His third daughter had always been arrogant and brash. She was like a wild horse that was hard to tame and it wasn¡¯t easy to change the way she thought. If he disagreed, she might cry, fight or hang herself and then the prince¡¯s mansion would be too ugly¡­

    Qin Rui¡¯s family background wasn¡¯t bad. Madam Han was from a famous family and he was currently serving as a guard in the prince¡¯s mansion. His status wasn¡¯t worthy of the third youngdy but he was highly capable in martial arts. As long as he treated the third youngdy sincerely, it wouldn¡¯t be difficult for the prince to find him or job or even make him a leader in the imperial army. Thinking of this, the prince simply nodded. ¡°ording to my wife¡¯s words, I will agree to your marriage.¡±

    The third youngdy looked excited. If no outsiders were present then she would probably jump up and run outside.

    The prince continued, ¡°Your older sister has just passed away and you are still young. Your marriage can wait two years. Go back and discuss it with your mother.¡±

    The third youngdy nodded obediently. ¡°Yes, Father.¡±

    The girl hade over in a hurry. She heard that her sweetheart had been sent for questioning and she hurried to make a false testimony for him. Unfortunately, Qin Rui was an upright person and broke it down. However, Mrs Han was Qin Rui¡¯s aunt and she was willing to fulfill their wishes. This waspletely unexpected.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang seemed to have indirectly be matchmakers?

    The third youngdy looked at Yu Hanjiang and blushed. ¡°Daren, I lied just now. I was wandering around the backyard yesterday and saw Guard Qin hurrying to the Buddhist temple like he was chasing someone! He was so powerful that I couldn¡¯t catch up. Just now, I was worried you would misunderstand him so I talked nonsense.

    This testimony was consistent with Qin Rui¡¯s testimony.

    Yu Hanjiang thought carefully. Qin Rui looked upright and serious and shouldn¡¯t have lied. So it seemed that yesterday, he did indeed see a person entering the prince¡¯s mansion over the wall and chased them. This should be a key to the case.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Qin Rui and spoke softly, ¡°Guard Qin, please tell me about yesterday¡¯s situation in detail.¡±

    Qin Rui nodded. ¡°Yesterday, I was patrolling the prince¡¯s mansion when I saw a figure flying into the backyard from a corner. The person¡¯s light footwork was a ghost and I was afraid that they were an assassin, so I chased them. Unfortunately, this subordinate wasn¡¯t good and after a while, the person disappeared. Thest ce I saw them was near the Buddhist temple.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Disappeared into thin air?¡±

    Qin Rui replied, ¡°It was like they disappeared into thin air. This subordinate chased them to the Buddhist temple and saw the fourth youngdy passing by. I asked her if she had seen the assassin and the fourth youngdy shook her head, saying she had never seen a stranger.¡±

    Qi Yiru blurted out, ¡°No, that isn¡¯t right!¡±

    Qin Rui looked back at her. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°I saw you rushing in the direction of the Buddhist temple and couldn¡¯t catch up with you. I called out to you but you ignored me. Therefore, I turned to stroll to the rockery and found the fourth youngdy hurrying over from there. How can she be there and at the Buddhist temple at the same time?¡±

    Qin Rui insisted, ¡°This subordinate really did see the fourth youngdy at the Buddha temple.¡±

    They looked at each other.

    ording to the timeline, the third youngdy first saw Qin Rui going to the Buddhist temple and then saw the fourth youngdy near the rockery. Qin Rui saw the fourth youngdy at the same time in the Buddhist temple. How could there be two of them?

    Yu Hanjiang immediately noticed the problem. ¡°The fourth youngdy that Guard Qin saw was likely someone posing as her.¡±

    The confessions of the third and fourth youngdies met. They did meet near the rockery yesterday afternoon. Therefore, the fourth youngdy that Qin Rui saw at the Buddhist temple definitely wasn¡¯t the real person.

    The fourth youngdy liked to cover her face with white gauze and the guards rarely came to the backyard. Therefore, the specific appearance of the fourth youngdy wasn¡¯t very clear. If they saw a woman with white gauze then they would subconsciously think this was the fourth youngdy.

    In fact, the person Qin Rui saw was the real murderer!

    She knew light footwork and was strong in martial arts. She was identally seen by Qin Rui when crossing the wall into the backyard. Qin Rui was very alert and immediately chased her. She couldn¡¯t get rid of Qin Rui¡¯s pursuit so she led Qin Rui to the Buddhist hall and then covered her face with white gauze, pretending to be the fourth youngdy.

    In order to confirm this spection, Yu Hanjiang called the fourth youngdy over.

    Qin Rui carefully examined her and paled. ¡°The person I saw was different.¡±

    Qin Rui felt regretful after realizing he had been deceived. ¡°No wonder. This subordinate searched all over the Buddhist temple and couldn¡¯t find any traces of the assassin. It turned out the assassin was dressed as the fourth youngdy and walked away right in front of me!¡±

    At this point, Qin Rui felt guilty and sped his fist in his other hand as he spoke to the prince, ¡°This subordinate was ipetent and let go of the assassin. Please punish me!¡±

    The prince frowned and waved his hand. ¡°Forget it, the fourth youngdy seldom goes to the front yard. You have never seen her so it is normal to admit the wrong person. Then it seems that the masked woman was likely the one who tried to assassinate me at the dinner yesterday?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also thought this was likely.

    The fourth youngdy¡¯s expression today was very depressing because she had heard the news of Young Master Lin¡¯s death. After all, she had sincerely loved this man and Young Master Lin suddenly died like this. She was sad but it wasn¡¯t easy to cry in front of her parents. Thus, she trembled and cried out with red eyes, ¡°Yu daren, please be sure to catch the murderer who killed Young Master Lin. Don¡¯t let him die in vain!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°You can rest assured that I will do my best.¡±

    Mrs Han was weak and her forehead was covered with sweat. The prince hugged her and said, ¡°I will take my wife back first to rest. Yiwei,e and apany your mother as much as possible. Yu daren, I¡¯d like you to continue investigating this case.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and spoke politely and sincerely, ¡°Goodbye, Your Highness.¡±

    The prince withdrew with Mrs Han and the fourth youngdy while the third youngdy also pulled Qin Rui to run.

    Young Master Lin¡¯s body was sent to the Lin family. Due to the status of the royal family, the Lin family didn¡¯t dare make a fuss. They would certainly put pressure on Yu Hanjiang to solve the case as soon as possible.

    Yu Hanjiang was under a lot of pressure.

    Their group quickly returned to the prefectural magistrate¡¯s office where Shao Qingge and Liu Qiao were waiting for them. They worked together to sort out today¡¯s clues.

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°I think that Qin Rui¡¯s testimony can be believed. Since he and the third youngdy are a pair, the probability of the two of them being murderers is very low. The third youngdy¡¯s hot temper means even if the rtionship was found, she could kneel down in front of the prince for permission. There is no need to kill at all.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, those two people don¡¯t seem to have nned it in advance.¡±

    Old Mo¡¯s head was about to burst and he couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°This prince¡¯s mansion is reallyplicated. If Guard Qin¡¯s testimony is true then the masked woman he saw yesterday is probably the one who killed the eldest youngdy!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang shook his head. ¡°No.¡±

    Old Mo and Long Sen were both at a loss. ¡°It isn¡¯t her?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang exined, ¡°If this woman is the assassin who tried to kill the prince then she wouldn¡¯t be the murderer of the eldest youngdy and Lin Shaobo. It was because the eldest youngdy¡¯s death was disguised as a suicide. She was first poisoned and then hung from a tree. Young Master Lin was strangled from behind and then thrown into the pond. If it was the assassin, why not kill them with the sword?¡±

    Thinking of the assassin who stabbed Yu Hanjiang with a sword, the two people suddenly realized. ¡°Yes, if it was the assassin then why hang the eldest youngdy from a tree?¡±

    ¡°Stabbing them with a sword is more the style of the assassin!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°This investigation of this case has to be split. At present, the masked woman that Qin Rui saw is likely to be the one who tried to assassinate the prince. If we follow this line then we can find the assassin organization. The real murderer of the eldest youngdy and Young Master Lin is still uncertain.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Can the prince¡¯s suspicion be ruled out?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang shook his head. ¡°He still can¡¯t be ruled out. I still think the cause behind the deaths of the eldest youngdy and Young Master Lin is because they saw something they shouldn¡¯t have known and were killed by an acquaintance.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou, who nodded and took out the map of the four kingdoms that he obtained from the capital.

    Xiao Lou unfolded the map on the table. Yu Hanjiang pointed to the map and said, ¡°Da Qi and the Yan state in the northwest have been fighting all year round. Da Qi doesn¡¯t interfere with Chu and is friendly to Zhao. The second youngdy and the second prince of the Zhao state are to be married. If the prince uses the power of the Zhao state to rebel, the sess rate will be very high. The sudden arrival of the Zhao envoy group in Jiangzhou shouldn¡¯t be that simple.¡±

    Mo Xuemin agreed. ¡°The timing of the Zhao envoys is indeed a bit coincidental.¡±

    Long Sen said, ¡°However, I¡¯m sure that the emissaries of the Zhao state who entered the prince¡¯s mansion that day were in the front young. The prince invited the two of them to the study to talk and they shouldn¡¯t have run into the eldest youngdy in the backyard.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked him, ¡°Were all the emissaries men?¡±

    Long Sen nodded. ¡°Both of them were men. They wore the clothing of the Zhao state and are very recognizable.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°The Zhao envoy group might still have a woman among them. Some things don¡¯t require closemunication with the prince. Don¡¯t forget, there is still a person in the pce.¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately responded, ¡°The second youngdy, Princess Sukan?¡±

    Mo Xuemin carefully considered it and agreed. ¡°This second youngdy isn¡¯t an ordinary woman. When the murder urred, the third youngdy was panicked and the fourth youngdy was pale. Only the second youngdy was calm and self-contained. When answering questions, she was clear, conversational and had good manners. It is all the style of an elegant woman.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°the key is that she has a close rtionship with the Zhao state. If the prince really wants to use the Zhao state¡¯s power to rebel then she can help her father. My guess is that perhaps the agreement that the prince and the Zhao state reached¡­ If I remember correctly, the princess¡¯ marriage object is the second prince of Zhao? The second prince isn¡¯t the crown prince, correct?¡±

    Mo Xuemin replied, ¡°Yes, the Zhao state¡¯s crown prince is the oldest prince.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang touched his chin, ¡°If the Eighth Prince helps the second prince of Zhao to be the emperor of Zhao, then his daughter will be the empress of Zhao. Then Zhao will help him usurp the throne and make him the emperor of Qi. Is it such a mutual benefit agreement?¡±

    Everyone heard this and felt cold.

    Unexpectedly, the murder in the prince¡¯s mansion involved so many clues and even involved the power struggle of two countries. It was no wonder why the name of 8 if Hearts was ¡®Beacon in Troubled Times¡¯. This plot really deserved to be called troubled times.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s reasoning seemed to be getting closer to the truth but there was still a mystery that couldn¡¯t be solved. Were the assassins sent to kill him the same as the one sent to kill the prince? Who was behind the scenes?

 Chapter 170: Beacon in Troubled Times 20

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s conjecture was only a theoretical spection and the actual evidence was only a piece of cloth that Lin Shaobo had held onto tightly. The colour and material were the same as the guard¡¯s uniform and it was the most critical physical evidence in this case.

    Yu Hanjiang thought up to here and nced at Long Sen. ¡°How many sets of clothing do the guards in the prince¡¯s mansion have?¡±

    Long Sen replied, ¡°Everyone has two sets of the same colour and style for changing and washing.¡±

    ¡°You are the leader of the guards. Once you go back, call all the guards and carefully check their clothing. Check the one they are wearing and their other set of clothing. See if anyone is missing a piece or if there are traces of repair.¡±

    Long Sen immediately nodded. ¡°Understood, I¡¯ll check it.¡±

    No matter who was the mastermind behind the scene, the one most likely to kill Lin Shaobo was a royal guard. Otherwise, Lin Shaobo wouldn¡¯t tear off the murderer¡¯s sleeve during the struggle. Looking for the murderer based on the physical evidence was currently the safest way.

    In order to find out if the Eight Prince was involved in a rebellion, Yu Hanjiang decided to go back to the Yu family¡¯s home in Jiangzhou to question his grandfather. ording to the setting, his grandfather was the prime minister andter resigned to return to his hometown. Yu Hanjiang also grew up in Jiangzhou with his grandfather.

    When Yu Hanjiang was a child, he served as the crown prince¡¯spanion for a period of time. In this world, his age was simr to that of the crown prince. In other words, he and the emperor were in their early 20s while his grandfather¡¯s age was over 70, just like thete emperor. His grandfather might know some secrets.

    At noon that day, Yu Hanjiang took Xiao Lou back to the Yu family¡¯s home.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s father didn¡¯t be an official. He wrote poems and painted all day, bing an idle literary schr living in Jiangzhou. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s father had tried to stop him when he headed to Beijing to take the exam. Unfortunately, Yu Hanjiang was stubborn and came back after getting first ce.

    The Yu family lived on the outskirts of Jiangzhou. The entire courtyard was quiet and simple and it looked like a schr¡¯s home.

    Entering the house, Yu Hanjiang inexplicably felt a sense of familiarity. After all, he grew up here ording to the plot setting.

    The guard at the door saw him and was surprised. He eximed excitedly, ¡°The young master and young madam are back? I have to report it!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and held Xiao Lou¡¯s shoulder, gently leading him into the courtyard. The two people moved along the gstone path to the lounge. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s parents had received the news and rushed over. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou greeted the elders together.

    The two of them might not be Yu Hanjiang¡¯s real parents and were characters in the plot but this could still be considered as being brought back to ¡®see the parents.¡¯ Xiao Lou felt awkward and had to apany Yu Hanjiang with daring action. He called out, ¡°Father, Mother.¡±

    Father Yu asked, ¡°Hanjiang, when did youe to Jiangzhou to take office? Why didn¡¯t youe home?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang exined, ¡°There were many business matters to handle when I first arrived in Jiangzhou. I have been very busy these days. I only found some time to go home today. Father, Mother, how has your health been recently?¡±

    Mother Yu smiled. ¡°Your father and I are doing very well but we haven¡¯t seen each other for three years. Aren¡¯t you a lot thinner?¡± She looked at Xiao Lou, face full of love. ¡°Xiao Lou, you followed Hanjiang to the capital. Didn¡¯t you suffer a lot?¡±

    ¡°Mother, you shouldn¡¯t say this. My husband is busy in the capital and I should apany him.¡±

    He felt nauseous himself at this line but he still had to act hard.

    Yu Hanjiang quickly changed the topic. ¡°Where is Grandpa? Why isn¡¯t he home?¡±

    Father Yu replied, ¡°Your grandfather goes fishing in the mountains every day. He hasn¡¯te back yet.¡±

    Mother Yu nced at Xiao Lou and said, ¡°Just stay here to eat. I¡¯ll ask the kitchen to prepare some delicious food for you.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang chatted with their parents for a while. It wasn¡¯t until lunchtime that his grandfather came back with a fishing rod and fishing basket. There were some freshly caught fish in the basket. The old man¡¯s eyes narrowed with joy when he saw his grandson and granddaughter returning and he immediately gave the fish to the chef to cook soup.

    Xiao Lou stayed in the room to talk to Mother Yu while Yu Hanjiang found a chance to talk to his grandfather alone in the study. He briefly told his grandfather about what happened in the prince¡¯s mansion.

    Don¡¯t look at Grandfather Yu¡¯s old age. His mental state was very good. Once he heard that there was a death in the prince¡¯s mansion, the old man frowned slightly and touched his long beard. ¡°This isn¡¯t easy. You have to investigate carefully and also protect yourself. If there is something you shouldn¡¯t know, pretend not to know so you don¡¯t cause trouble for yourself.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang heard his grandfather¡¯s meaning and whispered, ¡°Grandfather, you¡¯ve been thete emperor¡¯s prime minister for over 10 years. Why did thete emperor pass the throne to his grandson instead of the prince?¡±

    Grandpa Yu sighed. ¡°Ah¡­ this is a long story. It was also thete emperor¡¯sst resort.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang sat next to him and listened carefully. ¡°Ast resort? What is the reason?¡±

    Grandpa Yu started the story. ¡°The heirs of thete emperor were weak and many of the princes died soon after they were both. Only five princes survived, the first prince, the third prince, the fifth prince, the sixth prince and the eighth prince. The first prince was the eldest and born of the empress. Thete emperor loved the eldest prince most and made him the crown prince when he was still an infant.¡±

    A hint of sorrow filled the old man¡¯s face as he thought about what happened in those years. ¡°The crown prince was talented, kind-hearted, humble and studious. The ministers also thought he would be the best sessor. However, when he was 20 years old, he went out to hunt, was injured by a poisonous arrow and was killed on the spot. After investigating, it was discovered that the third prince had sent someone to do it. His Majesty was so angry that he gave the third prince a cup of poison.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was stunned. ¡°It turned out that the third prince was being the assassination of the crown prince? His Majesty killed him in a fit of rage.¡±

    ¡°Yes, this is a secret of the royal family and it isn¡¯t easy for rumours to spread. After the early death of the eldest prince, the position of crown prince was temporarily empty. His Majesty wanted to investigate the other princes and make a decision but it didn¡¯t take long for the empress to also die of illness. Ater investigation found that it was done by Imperial Concubine Shu. Imperial Concubine Shu poisoned and killed the queen and then Imperial Concubine Ming poisoned her. It was found that the forces behind the fifth and sixth prince were involved since the concubines were their mothers.¡±

    ¡°The concubines of the harem used poisonous means topete for favour and this made the emperor lose heart. Thus, he secretly made a decree that once he died, all his concubines would be buried with him.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang listened to the story and felt a thrill. He thought carefully before saying, ¡°The third prince was giving poisoned wine by thete emperor. The fifth and sixth prince joined with their mothers, the concubines to seize power but the eight prince¡­ in other words, the eighth prince didn¡¯t participate in the fight for the crown prince¡¯s position. Why didn¡¯t thete emperor consider making him the crown prince?¡±

    Grandpa Yu smiled. ¡°The eight prince is the one who can see the most thoroughly. Among thete prince¡¯s several sons, he was well-educated and talented. He was the best candidate to be crown prince. Thete emperor consulted us ministers and everyone suggested the eight prince. However, just as thete emperor was about to establish the eight prince as the crown prince, the eight prince took the initiative to make apromise. He suggested that thete emperor establish the rule that the throne could only be passed onto the first son of the empress. If there is a legitimate son to pass it onto, it must go to the eldest son and can¡¯t be out of order, so as to avoid a struggle among future generations for the throne.¡±

    Historically, it wasn¡¯t umon for there to be a bloody battle over the crown prince¡¯s position. At that time, the eighth prince and his mother had no power. If thete emperor had made him the crown prince, he would¡¯ve be the next scapegoat and be suppressed by the fifth and sixth princes. Was he really powerless at the time or was he a tiger pretending to be a pig, waiting for the best time?

    His grandfather¡¯s next statement gave Yu Hanjiang the answer. ¡°In the year when thete emperor died, the crown prince seeded the throne. At that time, the crown prince was only 18 years old. The fifth and sixth princes fought him and the eighth prince helped the crown prince. His Majesty might¡¯ve been young but he was far-sighted. He had long expected that his two uncles wouldn¡¯t stay still and made arrangements in advance when thete emperor was seriously ill. It was a pity for the two princes. They despised their young nephew too much and were shot dead by arrows in the pce. His Majesty used the excuse of ¡®illness¡¯ and buried them.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    This year¡¯s matter, Yu Hanjiang had just passed the examination and didn¡¯t know about it. He only realized after listening to his grandfather.

    Many of the struggles in the imperial pce were secrets that couldn¡¯t be circted. Although Grandpa Yu was old and hiding in Jiangzhou, there were several high-ranking ministers of the court who were the old man¡¯s proud pupils. He had his own source of information.

    Yu Hanjiang heard this and couldn¡¯t help wondering. If the eighth prince really wanted to rebel then wouldn¡¯t it be easier when the emperor had just ascended the throne and his status was still unstable? Why help the emperor calm the rebellion of the two other princes?

    Now the crown prince had been in power for four years and most of the ministers were convinced by the emperor. The emperor had gradually cultivated his own people so the eighth prince had missed the best opportunity to rebel. Was it true that the eighth prince was an idle prince who only loved beauty and had no intention of being involved in politics?

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and fell into contemtion.

    Grandpa Yumented, ¡°In the royal family, many concubines, princes and princesses died in vain. The Eighth Prince and Ninth Princess are the few rtives of the emperor left.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly remembered the emperor¡¯s secret letter to the Eighth Prince¡­

    Was his guess wrong?

    Just then, his mother called them to go and eat. Yu Hanjiang helped his elderly grandfather and went together. The family ate a meal around the dining table. Yu Hanjiang chatted with his parents for a while before taking Xiao Lou to leave.

    After leaving the Yu home, Xiao Lou smiled and asked, ¡°How about it? Did you get anything out of this trip?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°Our reasoning might be wrong again.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re saying that the eighth prince isn¡¯t trying to rebel?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Based on my grandfather¡¯s description, the eighth prince isn¡¯t like that type of person. It is said that when thete emperor died and the crown prince took the throne, the fifth and sixth princes joined forces. It was His Majesty and the eighth prince who settled the rebellion. The two princes were shot and killed in the pce. If the eighth prince wanted to rebel then there is no need to wait until the emperor¡¯s wings are full.¡±

    Xiao Lou heard this and felt some surprise. ¡°Then the eighth prince is actually very loyal to today¡¯s emperor?¡±

    ¡°Since His Majesty is a far-sighted person, if he is afraid of the eighth prince then he wouldn¡¯t be silly enough to let Princess Sukan marry the Zhao state¡¯s prince, leaving such a big hidden danger behind him.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought carefully. ¡°Allowing the eighth prince and the Zhao state to form an alliance, does this mean His Majesty actually trusts the eighth prince?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it. ¡°His Majesty also gave the eighth prince a secret letter. I don¡¯t know what was written there. Perhaps our reasoning is off. The eighth prince isn¡¯t rebelling but is working with His Majesty¡­ to suppress the possible rebellious forces in Jiangzhou?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°This makes sense. The prince changes from a viin to someone righteous. There is someone who wants to rebel but it isn¡¯t the eighth prince. He is on the same boat as the emperor?¡±

    The process of reasoning was like pulling off a cocoon. One way of thinking was wrong and it was immediately reced with another one.

    There were too many clues involved in the murder case at the prince¡¯s mansion. At first, it was believed to be a fight between the family. The private affair of the fourth youngdy and Lin Shaobo was discovered. Later, it was suspected that the eighth prince was rebelling¡­

    Now it turned out that it was all wrong.

    Lin Shaobo wasn¡¯t the murderer, Guard Qin wasn¡¯t the murderer and the Eighth Prince probably wasn¡¯t the murderer.

    So in the end, who sneaked into the pce on the prince¡¯s birthday to kill two people?

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°I don¡¯t know the progress on Long Sen¡¯s side. Let¡¯s go to the prince¡¯s mansion to see.¡±

 Chapter 171: Beacon in Troubled Times 21

    The prince¡¯s mansion.

    The moment Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou entered through the door, Long Sen hurried up to them and whispered, ¡°The third youngdy and Qin Rui are gone. It is said that Mrs Qin disagreed with the marriage and even forced her to death. The third youngdy has a strong personality and packed her luggagest night, directly eloping with Guard Qin.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    She actually eloped with the guard, this guard¡¯s courage was really big. There was no way to disagree and Mrs Qing must be furious. However, Yu Hanjiang felt that things weren¡¯t so simple. He whispered, ¡°The third youngdy and Guard Qin both know martial arts?¡±

    Long Sen nodded. ¡°Qin Rui has the highest martial arts ability among the guards. I have never seen the third youngdy¡¯s martial arts but I heard she is extremely powerful. She can directly cut a tree with her sword.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it. ¡°Don¡¯t you feel that the prince suddenly promising the third youngdy yesterday was somewhat hasty?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought carefully and also felt it wasn¡¯t quite right.

    The third youngdy was the prince¡¯s daughter while Qin Rui was a guard of the prince¡¯s house and Mrs Han¡¯s nephew. They were very different in identity and weren¡¯t of the same generation. Mrs Han inexplicably made the decision for her nephew but why did the prince agree? Why did he feel it was a good idea to marry his daughter to a guard after a few words?

    Today, the third youngdy and Guard Qin ran away in the name of ¡®eloping.¡¯ Was it really an elopement or had the prince deliberately released them from the prince¡¯s mansion to perform a special task?

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°The prince isn¡¯t simple. Now the entire prince¡¯s mansion is blocked due to the murders and no one can go out. There is such trouble and is it logically for the third youngdy and Qin Rui to just leave the prince¡¯s marriage. Everyone thinks that the third youngdy has a strong personality and is dissatisfied with her mother¡¯s opposition of the marriage. She simply dragged the guard with her and eloped. It wouldn¡¯t be suspicious if the two of them are missing.¡±

    Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t expected something deeper. He simply thought that the third youngdy and Qin Rui had really eloped. Yet after careful deliberation, yesterday the prince and Mrs Han had agreed to their marriage. Even if Mrs Qing objected the third youngdy didn¡¯t have to elope. The prince had the final say.

    Xiao Lou felt more and more that Group Leader Yu¡¯s spection made sense. ¡°So he got Qin Rui, who is the best martial artist, and the third youngdy out of the house. Perhaps he also wants to investigate the situation of the assassin organization?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, otherwise the third youngdy wouldn¡¯t elope at this time.¡±

    He settled down and looked at Long Sen. ¡°What is the result of the search of the guards?¡±

    Long Sen looked dejected. ¡°I checked all the clothing of the guards and not a single one was damaged.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other. Where did the piece of cloth in Lin Shaobo¡¯s hande from?

    Yu Hanjiang folded his arms over his chest and pondered on it. Then he suddenly suggested, ¡°Perhaps¡­ someone pretended to be a guard of the prince¡¯s mansion and sneaked in. Then he was spotted by Lin Shaobo and killed to keep his mouth shut?¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°It seems this is the only exnation. Otherwise, Lin Shaobo wouldn¡¯t have an extra piece of fabric in his hand.¡±

    On the prince¡¯s birthday, the prince¡¯s mansion was really lively. The assassin of the Fragrant Sky House, the woman who pretended to be the fourth youngdy and the person who pretended to be a guard¡­

    Nothing was found with the guards and Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou had to go back home. Liu Qiao and Shao Qingge were waiting for them at the prefectural magistrate¡¯s office. Xiao Lou recounted today¡¯s clues to them and Shao Qingge pressed hard against his temple. ¡°So all the previous reasonings must be overturned?¡±

    Liu Qiao also had a headache. ¡°An A-grade secret room is reallyplex!¡±

    There were only a few suspects on Maple Forest High School and the speed train. They could always lock onto the real murderer through investigation. However, this troubled world was too wide and it wasn¡¯t easy to string all the clues together.

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°From the moment I entered this secret room, I thought it would be very difficult. It is because this secret room has no time limit.¡±

    Recalling the prompt in the floating box, Old Mo suddenly hit his thigh. ¡°If there is no time limit and we can¡¯t solve the case, perhaps in a few months, the murderer will start the rebellion and take the dragon chair. His Majesty is overthrown and since Yu daren is a close confidant of the emperor, we will be wiped out¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge added, ¡°Indeed, I think that if this treason case isn¡¯t detected in time, Daqi will bepletely engulfed in war. It isn¡¯t just us who will die but arge number of innocent people.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke helplessly, ¡°Now the suspicion of the eighth prince has be smaller. In addition, the person who killed Lin Shaobo isn¡¯t a guard of the prince¡¯s mansion but an outsider who pretended to be a guard and sneaked in. The focus has returned to this assassin organization.¡±

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Do you want to go question the girls from the Fragrant Sky House?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang went with Xiao Lou and Mo Xuemin to the dungeon. The girls of the Fragrant Sky House had been hungry for a day. Each of them was despondent and had no energy. Yu Hanjiang gave them and meal and questioned them one by one, focusing on the boss Aunt Qing.

    However, Aunt Qing just spoke nkly. ¡°I don¡¯t know anything. The dancing girl who attacked the princest night was called Xue Yan. She came to the Fragrant Sky House a year ago. She said that her parents have died since she was a child and she has been living through begging. She looks good and dances well. I saw she was pitiful and took her in. Who would¡¯ve thought that she would¡¯ve tried to assassinate the prince? This person is really wrong!¡±

    The other girls said the same. They all said that Xue Yan was silent and had few friends in the Fragrant Sky House. Everyone¡¯s understanding of her was only as an ¡®orphan whose parents have died¡¯. As for her martial arts ability and attempt to assassinate the prince in the middle of the performance, everyone said they didn¡¯t know.

    Yu Hanjiang got no clues from the questioning and had to continue locking up the girls from the Fragrant Sky House.

    In the evening, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou returned to their room to rest. Xiao Lou changed the medicine on the wound while speaking emotionally, ¡°Have we been in this room for five days? If it was changed to another secret room then the case could¡¯ve been solved a long time ago.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If the rebellion case was so easy to break then the person who nned the rebellion wouldn¡¯t be cautious.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it and smiled. ¡°It is really dangerous to be royalty. Being a normal person is much morefortable.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded in agreement. If he and Xiao Lou were really people of this world then he wouldn¡¯t be an official. He would rather be a casual couple with Xiao Lou and live a free life. However, now there was no way. They needed to find the one who wanted to rebel as soon as possible.

    The next morning, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou got up on time.

    Shao Qingge said he would invite Yu daren to have breakfast and spent money buying the steamed bun snacks from the most famous building in Jiangzhou. He smiled as he sent it to the door and said, ¡°I don¡¯t have enough brains to analyze the case so I can only give you some material support.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang sat down to eat the steamed buns. The steamed buns in this store were indeed delicious. Xiao Lou joked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you enjoying this? Have you run out of the boxes of gold that your father gave you?¡±

    Shao Qingge waved his fan. ¡°I can¡¯t take it out so it is a pity not to spend it.¡±

    As they were chatting, a bailiff suddenly hurried over. ¡°Daren, it isn¡¯t good! Someone came to Jiangzhou¡¯s prison and rescued all the girls from the Fragrant Sky House!¡±

    The three people froze when the heard this.

    Shao Qingge was waving his fan with a smile Once he heard the bailiff¡¯s report that something had happened in the dungeon, his mind shed to someone dressed as a woman, bending his head to eat the snacks like a little squirrel.

    The fan in Shao Qingge¡¯s hand snapped and his expression changed. ¡°Ye Qi is also in the dungeon.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked in a deep voice, ¡°Where is Miss Ye?¡±

    ¡°M-MIss Ye is also gone!¡±

    Xiao Lou cried out, ¡°Go and see!¡±

    The group of people hurried to the dungeon. Shao Qingge strode toward the depths of the dungeon, only to find no one in Ye Qi¡¯s cell. His heart thumped and a chill shot down his back. Damn. Why would someone suddenly break into the prison?

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou also looked at each other in a confused manner. It had been okay yesterday when they questioned the girls. There had been 12 people captured from the Fragrant Sky House and now the dungeon was empty. There was no one left.

    Next to them, the bailiffs responsible for the night watch yesterday had fallen to the ground. Xiao Lou immediately went over and tested their breathing with his hand.

    Yu Hanjianga asked, ¡°How is it?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°They are breathing. The back of the neck has bruises so they should just be unconscious.¡±

    The bailiffs weren¡¯t killed. Yu Hanjiang sighed with relief. Then he looked at the man who informed him and asked in a low voice, ¡°When was it discovered?¡±

    ¡°This morning when I came to change shifts. My subordinates found that the two people on dutyst night were unconscious and all three cells were empty. The girls from the Fragrant Sky House were gone and I immediately went to report it to you!¡±

    It seemed that the robbers had movedst night.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s expression was ugly. ¡°Where is Miss Ye?¡±

    The bailiff had received benefits from Shao Qingge so when he heard this, his face turned a bit white. ¡°I really don¡¯t know.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang carefully examined the scene. The locks on the cells weren¡¯t pried open but directly cut by a sword. It seemed the ones who took out the prisoners had sharp weapons in their hands but didn¡¯t kill the bailiffs, only stunning them from behind. This showed they weren¡¯tpletely vicious people.

    The prisoners currently being detained in Jiangzhou¡¯s prison wasn¡¯t just the girls from the Fragrant Sky House but also people who havemitted other crimes. Yu Hanjiang walked over and saw that these people were also unconscious due to medicine.

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°It seems that the person who came to the prisonst night had a clear target. Don¡¯t hurt people and only save the girls of the Fragrant Sky House.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°This isn¡¯t the style of an assassin.¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s face was ugly and he lowered his voice. ¡°Will Ye Qi be in danger?¡±

    Just then, a gust of wind blew by his ears. There seemed to be a burst of air moving, followed closely by Shao Qingge¡¯s sleeve being pulled and someone writing on his hand. Soft fingers quickly wrote a word on his hand. ¡°Ye.¡±

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This ghostly guy actually put on an invisibility cloak and followed behind everyone while they were all worried about it.

    The expression on Shao Qingge¡¯s face eased instantly. The person writing on his palm invisibly was like a kitten scratching at his paw. Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t help grinning and grabbed the invisible finger.

    Although Ye Qi was invisible, his body was only transparent and he hadn¡¯t turned into air. He could still be felt if he was touched. Once Chief Shao grabbed his finger, Ye Qi struggled to free himself and found he couldn¡¯t. Therefore, he simply walked out of the dungeon together with Shao, Yu and Xiao.

    Shao Qingge whispered in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ear, ¡°Ye Qi is following like a ghost behind us. There might be something he wants to say.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Who was a ghost behind them? Couldn¡¯t the description be a bit better?

    Yu Hanjiang understood his meaning. He woke up the stunned people and announced that the girls from the Fragrant Sky House were wanted all over the city. Then he took Shao Qingge and Xiao Lou back to the prefectural magistrate¡¯s office. He went into his study and closed the door behind him.

    Shao Qingge chuckled. ¡°Xiao Ye,e out.¡±

    Ye Qi took off his invisibility cloak and revealed himself in front of the three people. Seeing him with messy hair and dirty clothes, Shao Qingge softened and he asked, ¡°What happenedst night? Were you hurt?¡±

    Ye Qi shook his head and spoke excitedly, ¡°Oh my god, I was really scared to deathst night. It was like a Hollywood blockbuster. Two people in ck flew in from outside. One of them had arge hand and chopped at the backs of the two night watchmen, easily making them faint. The other sprinkled white powder and the other prisoners were all stunned!¡±

    Xiao Lou saw him dancing around while describing the scenest night and couldn¡¯t helpughing. He poured a cup of tea and handed it to Ye Qi. ¡°Speak slowly and drink first.¡±

    Ye Qi took the tea to moisten his throat. Then he continued, ¡°I noticed something was wrong and retracted into my quilt, pretending to sleep. The two of them went to where the girls of the Fragrant Sky House and cut apart the lock. Then the man said, ¡®Aunt Qing, the master asked us to save you.¡¯ Aunt Qing didn¡¯t seem surprised at all and followed them both.¡±

    ¡°Then a woman asked,¡¯ How many people are locked up from the Fragrant Sky House? Is the number correct?¡¯ The aunt said, ¡®Miss Ye isn¡¯t one of us. Don¡¯t worry about her.¡¯ Then they hurried away.¡± Ye Qi scratched his head. ¡°It was fortunate that I was kept in a cell alone and that I was pretending to sleep, causing them to ignore me. If I had been awake then I might¡¯ve been killed.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly. ¡°There was a man and a woman who came to save the people?¡±

    Ye Qi nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked sharply, ¡°Is the woman Xue Yan?¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Ah, I was about to say that! Although the woman was dressed in ck and covered her face, I recognized her eyes and eyebrows. It was the assassin Xue Yan who attempted to kill the prince on that day. Xiao¡­ Madam Yu, how did you guess?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°It seems that the assassin organization has finally surfaced. The girls of the Fragrant Sky House aren¡¯t innocent. Apart from Xue Yan¡¯s martial arts and attack on the prince, the other girls might be responsible for collecting information. The masked man in ckst night was probably also the one who sneaked into the prince¡¯s mansion as a security guard, intending tomit an assassination, only to be caught by Young Master Lin and was forced to kill Young Master Link. Aunt Qing is the boss of the Fragrant Sky House and she arranged the show. It would be very easy for her to bring people into the pce.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face was calm. ¡°It seems that the entire Fragrant Sky House is an intelligence and assassin organization.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It was too scary! It was a blessing that he survived in the Fragrant Sky House.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was low. ¡°There is a deviation in our previous reasoning. The emperor sent a secret letter to the eight prince and it might be that he wants to work with the prince to investigate the rebels. Now that Fragrant Sky House organization has shown its true face and the ¡®master¡¯ behind them might be the key to the case.¡±

 Chapter 172: Beacon in Troubled Times 22

    The two bailiffs who were on dutyst night had no idea what happened before they were knocked unconscious. Fortunately, Ye Qi didn¡¯t drop the chain. He saw the woman who came to the prison and was certain that she was the assassin who attacked the lord. If they followed the line of the Fragrant Sky House, they would surely uncover the secret of this assassin organization.

    Yu Hanjiang took the opportunity to say decisively, ¡°Go to the Fragrant Sky House and see if we can find any evidence.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t convenient for Shao Qingge and Ye Qi to go to the Fragrant Sky House during the day. Yu Hanjiang asked the two of them to stay in the prefectural magistrate¡¯s office to wait for news. He took Xiao Lou and Old Mo to the Fragrant Sky House to search for evidence.

    The famous flower street in Jiangzhou was full of people at night but it was very quiet during the day. There was no one on the street. Yu Hanjiang walked to the door of the Fragrant Sky House at the end of the street and knocked on it hard.

    The watchman at the door yawned and questionedzily, ¡°Who is it? Knocking on the door of the brothel in broad daylight, are you sick¡­¡±

    Mo Xuemin spoke seriously, ¡°This is the prefectural magistrate, Yu daren.¡±

    The watchman¡¯s spirit awakened and he made a ttered smile. ¡°Yu daren! Cough, you are here. What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked softly, ¡°Has Aunt Qinge back?¡±

    The watchman shook his head. ¡°Aunt Qing hasn¡¯t returned for two days!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stepped into the Fragrant Sky House.

    ording to the description from Ye Qi, apart from the maids and misceneous servants, there were 15 girls officially listed as part of the Fragrant Sky House. Most of them were singers and dancers and their residences were on the second and third floors. 12 people had participated in the birthday banquet at the prince¡¯s mansion. It included the first group of four people dancing, the second group of five people performing the sword dance and three girls responsible for ying the apaniment.

    After Xue Yan¡¯s failed assassination attempt, the remaining girls and the boss, Aunt Qing, were taken to the dungeon. Now they were all rescued except for Ye Qi.

    In other words, there were 11 women involved in the case and only Ye Qi didn¡¯t know about it.

    There were three girls in the Fragrant Sky House who didn¡¯t attend the birthday banquet at the prince¡¯s mansion. It was 8 in the morning and they were still sleeping. Yu Hanjiang asked people to wake up these girls while taking Mo Xuemin and Xiao Lou to check the rooms of the remaining girls.

    The people in the Fragrant Sky House were disturbed and wanted to stop them, but were frightened back by Yu Hanjiang¡¯s sharp eyes.

    Mo Xuemin shouted, ¡°The prefectural magistrate is investigating a case. Any idle people, quickly back down!¡±

    The servants didn¡¯t dare go against an official and had to hide in fright, discussing what happened in private. What happened to Aunt Qing that led the prefectural magistrate himself to search the Fragrant Sky House?

    Yu Hanjiang thoroughly searched the rooms of all the girls who took part in the prince¡¯s birthday banquet, focusing on Aunt Qing¡¯s room first.

    He found a locked wooden box in Aunt Qing¡¯s house and pried it open. It was full of jewellery and looked like her private safe. Among the piles of jewellery, a long chain caught Yu Hanjiang¡¯s attention. It seemed this chain wasn¡¯t a ne but it wasn¡¯t suitable to be hung from the waist. What was it used for?

    He didn¡¯t understand the jewellery worn by women but he felt there was something wrong with this chain. He handed it to Xiao Lou beside him and spoke in a low voice, ¡°Madam, this thing is a bit strange. The style seems a bit different from those worn by the women of Daqi.¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t understand jewellery. He only wore a in wooden hairpin on his head and didn¡¯t know much about these jewellery. He took a closer look and stated, ¡°This is very special in shape and design. I haven¡¯t seen it on the streets of the capital. It really doesn¡¯t look like jewellery from Daqi.¡±

    Mo Xuemin came over to take a closer look and muttered, ¡°I seem to have seen it somewhere¡­ Ah, I have a book in my study called ¡®Sights and Aspirations¡¯. It contains records of women¡¯s jewellery!¡±

    Xiao Lou heard his words and was immediately interested. ¡°Do you remember the contents of the book?¡±

    Mo Xuemin took a step forward and took a look at the jewellery in Xiao Lou¡¯s hand. ¡°Sights and Aspirations records some customs and habits of the four countries. At first, I thought it had little to do with the case and it only introduced their clothing so I put it aside after ncing through it. I have an impression that the jewellery worn by the women of the four countries have different styles. This type of jewellery made of coloured stones and silk thread shouldn¡¯t bemonly used by women in the Qi Dynasty. I just don¡¯t remember which country it is from.¡±

    This couldn¡¯t be med on Old Mo. He spent two days looking over the files of Jiangzhou over the years and it wasn¡¯t easy to note down the key cases. He couldn¡¯t memorize all the books on the shelves.

    Seeing Old Mo¡¯s face fill with guilt, Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Is the book still there? Let¡¯s go back and check again.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also said, ¡°Bring these jewellery back andpare them carefully to the book.¡±

    Old Mo nodded and carefully put the jewellery box away.

    Yu Hanjiang went to the other women¡¯s rooms to search and found some simr jewellery. He handed them all to Old Mo.

    He looked down from the end of the third floor corridor. There were some pigeons kept in the most concealed position in the backyard and they should be used to deliver pigeons. However, there were no signs of letters at all in the rooms of all the women, including Aunt Qing. It seemed that the boss of the Fragrant Sky House was very careful. She read the letters and burned them to leave no traces behind.

    By the time Yu Hanjiang returned to the hall, the three sleeping girls had woken up.

    The three girls didn¡¯t know the whereabouts of Aunt Qing. They all said they wanted to participate in the prince¡¯s birthday banquet but Aunt Qing thought their dancing skills weren¡¯t good enough and wouldn¡¯t let them go. Ye Qi was called because he was famous as the Fragrant Sky House¡¯s first card.

    Thus, only Ye Qi was in the dark about the assassination attempt on the prince.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and asked, ¡°When was the Fragrant Sky House established?¡±

    A girl called Qiu Shuang said, ¡°The Fragrant Sky House has been in Jiangzhou for 10 years. I heard that a gold master spent a lot of money to build it. Aunt Qing became the boss of the Fragrant Sky House and recruited many talented girls.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked again, ¡°Do you know the origin of Aunt Qing? Where is she from?¡±

    Qiu Shuang thought about it. ¡°It is said that she is a Jiangzhou person. Her parents have died since childhood and she suffered a lot. She only returned to Jiangzhou 10 years ago.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°How does Aunt Qing usually treat you?¡±

    Qiu Shuang said, ¡°She is very kind to the girls. We can get 60% of the rewards from the patrons and if the guests get drunk and bully the girls then Aunt Qing will help them out. She is the best boss on this street.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment before asking, ¡°When did youe to the Fragrant Sky House?¡±

    Qiu Shuang looked at the two women next to them. ¡°The three of us and Miss Ye all came here a year ago.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°What about the others?¡±

    ¡°The other dozen girls only came in thest two years.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang questioned, ¡°Did you know the girls who used to be in the Fragrant Sky House?¡±

    Qin Shuang replied, ¡°When we came, there were several girls in the Fragrant Sky House who had made enough money to leave on their own. Some found people willing to marry them. They paid enough ransom and went to be a concubine.¡±

    Next to her, a girl called Qiu Yue added, ¡°Oh, I heard that thest prefectural magistrate took a fancy to our top girl, Yang Liu, and made her a concubine.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Mo Xuemin and Mo Xuemin looked embarrassed. He didn¡¯t know about this matter at all. No wonder why he always scored an A in the Hearts room. It seemed that he wasn¡¯t careful enough and didn¡¯t investigate the family affairs of the former prefectural magistrate. He hadn¡¯t expected the former prefectural magistrate to marry a girl from the Fragrant Sky House as a concubine!

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t me Old Mo. After all, when Old Mo came to this world, his predecessor had already died and Yu Hanjiang was immediately transferred to Jiangzhou as the prefectural magistrate. The cast hadn¡¯t happened yet.

    He nced back at Qiu Shuang and asked, ¡°Are there any detailed records of the names and whereabouts of the girls who have left the Fragrant Sky House, those who havee here recently and those who have married?¡±

    Qiu Shuang told him, ¡°We don¡¯t know but there should be records?¡±

    Qiu Yue added, ¡°In the time since we¡¯vee to the Fragrant Sky House, the personnel hasn¡¯t changed. It has always been us 15 people.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at the three people and finally said, ¡°You really didn¡¯t see Aunt Qingst night?¡±

    The trio replied in unison, ¡°No!¡±

    Qiu Shuang added, ¡°Since going to the prince¡¯s mansion to perform, Aunt Qing has never returned. We were all worried but didn¡¯t dare go to the prince¡¯s mansion to find her¡­ Daren, what happened to Aunt Qing?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t say that Aunt Qing was the leader of an intelligence and assassin organization and had to reply in a perfunctory manner, ¡°She is involved in a case and is temporarily detained by the government for investigation. If you see any of the girlsing back to the Fragrant Sky House then immediately report it, do you understand?¡±

    All three nodded.

    After leaving the Fragrant Sky House, Yu Hanjiang returned to the prefectural magistrate¡¯s office and then went directly to Master Mo¡¯s residence with Xiao Lou.

    Mo Xuemin quickly found the Sights and Aspirations book that introduced the clothing of the four countries on the bookshelf.

    Liu Qiao had been paying attention to the progress of the case and came to the prefectural magistrate¡¯s office to inquire about the news. She also gave some poisonous medicinal powder to Xiao Lou for backup. If there was a danger then this poisonous powder could be used to attack.

    Shao Qingge and Ye Qi heard the movement and everyone gathered in Mo Xuemin¡¯s study. They found that he had a wall bookshelf with too many books on it.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t helpmenting, ¡°How can you remember so many books?¡±

    Mo Xuemin had a headache. ¡°Most of it is a collection of ssics and there is no need to read it. Some of it was my case interrogation notes during my time as a master here. I focused on these cases and didn¡¯t look carefully at Sights and Aspirations, which recorded clothing and folklore. I just flipped through it and didn¡¯t expect this book to be a key clue!¡±

    Fortunately, he nced at the customs of the four countries and had an impression of the clothing. Otherwise, if he missed this clue then it would be too difficult to check the source of the jewellery.

    Yu Hanjiang handed the book to Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou sat at the desk and carefully read it. He quickly found the relevant section and turned to page 10 in the book. He found some images of jewellery on it andpared it to those found in the Fragrant Sky House. Then he looked up at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°This is the women¡¯s headband of the Yan state.¡±

    The surrounding teammates sucked in a breath.

    After checking, it was actually the Yan state? Aunt Qin and the others were people of Yan?

    Yu Hanjiang realized the seriousness of the problem and immediately came to Xiao Lou¡¯s side, leaning over to take a closer look.

    The images in the book were ck and white while the jewellery was coloured but the shape, design and structure were exactly the same.

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°ording to the records in the book, the Yan state is located in the northwest. Many women have learned martial arts for hunting since they were young. They are a nomadic people and like to use pure natural stones for jewellery. When a girl is born, her mother will make a ¡®hairband¡¯ for her, using coloured silk thread wrapped around a beautiful stone. This is simr to the ¡®amulet¡¯ given by a mother and can keep her daughter safe.¡±

    Aunt Qing¡¯s special jewellery really did have many stones connected by silk thread.

    Although Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t understand women¡¯s jewellery, his keen observation skills made him aware of something wrong when he first saw it. The other jewellery were made of jade, gold or silver. Only this one used a lot of coloured stones tied with silk thread.

    This clue might¡¯ve been missed by careless people. Now just from the women¡¯s jewellery, the shocking truth had been discovered. Aunt Qing was someone from Yan and the Fragrant Sky House girls were all likely to be Yan people!

    Mo Xuemin wondered, ¡°A hairband with many stones. Is there any meaning to it?¡±

    Xiao Lou spected, ¡°Aunt Qing¡¯s hairband has the most stones while the others have around 18~20. Since their mother gave them the first stone when they were born, perhaps one more will be added every year in the future to have the meaning of blessing? Of course, there is no record about the number of stones in the book so I¡¯m just guessing.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°Madam¡¯s spection is very reasonable.¡±

    His use of ¡®madam¡¯ was very smooth and Mo Xuemin paid no mind to it. He just thought Group Leader Yu was seriously ying the role. Mo Xuemin opened his mouth, ¡°It seems that this hairband has great significance to the women of Yan so they will keep it with them.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°My guess is that Aunt Qing and the others acted in hastest night and didn¡¯t have time to return to the Fragrant Sky House. Or they were heading back to the Fragrant Sky House when something happened on the way, causing them to temporarily change the n and leave these jewellery behind.¡± He looked at Yu Hanjiang and spoke warmly. ¡°Fortunately, Group Leader Yu was alert enough not to miss this clue.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was happy at being praised and there was a slight smile in his eyes.

    Shao Qingge waved his fan and spoke thoughtfully, ¡°I heard from my father that Yan is located to the northwest and the weather is harsh. The people there never wear silk and they make clothes from animal fur. Our Shao family has never been able to open a market in the Yan state.¡±

    Ye Qi actively analyzed, ¡°Aunt Qing is actually from the Yan state. Aren¡¯t Yan and our Daqi fighting? If the girls of the Fragrant Sky House are all sent by the Yan state then it makes sense that they would assassinate Yu daren and the prince!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang pinched his brow. ¡°It seems our previous spection is wrong again. The assassin group and the murderer of the eldest youngdy and Young Master Lin aren¡¯t the same.¡±

    They always wanted to connect the assassin group with the murder case, thinking that the assassin was sent by someone who wanted to rebel. After encountering the eldest youngdy, they killed her.

    Now it seemed that the assassins were spies sent by an enemy country early on. In ancient times, it wasmon for two countries to send spies to each other.

    Xiao Lou spoke helplessly, ¡°This time, the two cases happen to be mixed together but they actually aren¡¯t rted. We have to split them. The assassin case is one plotline and the murder of the eldest youngdy is another line.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded in agreement. He opened the book and looked at the map of the four nations. ¡°The world is set up to have four countries: Qi, Chu, Yan and Zhao. The Chu state doesn¡¯t have any rtions with any country nor does it have any hostility. It keeps to itself and should have little to do with this case.¡±

    His slender fingers touched the page and travelled across the spheres of influences of Yan, Qi and Zhao. ¡°Among these three countries, the border between Yan and Qi has constant fighting. The general that Daqi sent to the front lines should be a powerful person and has resisted the Yan state¡¯s invasion many times. Meanwhile, Daqi and the Zhao state have always had friendly rtions.¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke thoughtfully, ¡°So 10 years ago, Yan sent Aunt Qing to Jiangzhou because Jiangzhou is the birder between Qi and Zhao. Aunt Qing set up an intelligence organization here so she can observe the movements of Qi and Zhao at any time?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°This time, if the marriage is sessful and Qi and Zhao join hands to deal with the Yan state then the end of the Yan state can be imagined. Therefore, they used the intelligence organizations set up at the junction of Qi and Zhao to assassinate Jiangzhou¡¯s prefectural magistrate. It is also reasonable to assassinate the Eighth Prince. This means the death of the former Jiangzhou prefectural magistrate definitely isn¡¯t simple.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°The former prefectural magistrate married the top girl of the Fragrant Sky House¡­ did you hear about this?¡±

    Mo Xuemin shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t have this in my memory. However, it is normal for the prefectural magistrate to have a concubine and it is normal not to tell me. After all, it isn¡¯t suitable for the prefectural magistrate to marry a girl from the Fragrant Sky House. He might¡¯ve secretly taken this Yang Liu home?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°I remember you said that the former prefectural magistrate died of illness, right?¡±

    Mo Xuemin nodded. ¡°It was recorded that he was old and his body wasn¡¯t good. He died at home.¡±

    Xiao Lou spected, ¡°His body has always been bad. This might be a chronic disease or it might be chronic poisoning. If the Fragrant Sky House girl he married was also a member of the intelligence organization and became a concubine, it should be very convenient for her to poison his food every day.¡±

    Mo Xuemin shuddered. ¡°It makes sense! By the way, I have overlooked a detail. The former prefectural magistrate might be dead but what about his family? His wife and children don¡¯t seem to be in JIangzhou.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face was solemn. ¡°His family members might¡¯ve been poisoned.¡±

    Ye Qi suddenly spoke seriously, ¡°I have a guess. That girl called Yang Liu married the elderly Jiangzhou prefectural magistrate and became a concubine. She must¡¯ve gone to the prefectural magistrate¡¯s side to inquire about news, court documents etc. She might¡¯ve looked secretly and as a result, the prefectural magistrate found she was wrong. Then she simply killed the prefectural magistrate¡¯s entire family to shut their mouths?¡±

    Shao Qingge followed his thoughts with a smile. ¡°However, Yu daren is famous for having a deep rtionship with his wife and his character is also upright. The n for a girl of the Fragrant Sky House to be around Yu daren will definitely be difficult to realize. Therefore, there was an assassination attempt on the night when Yu daren came to Jiangzhou to take office, wanting to kill him?¡±

    Old Mo wondered, ¡°Is their assassination attempt on the prince in order to destroy the marriage n between Qi and Zhao?¡±

    Ye Qi immediately nodded. ¡°Yes! The death of the prefectural magistrate is enough for the court to have a headache for a while. If the prince dies then the marriage of his rtives will have to be postponed and Qi and Zhao can¡¯t form an alliance. Perhaps these assassins will also pour the dirty water on the envoy from Zhao, so that Qi and Zhao will turn on each other? The more chaotic Qi is, the more favourable it is for them!¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other.

    Under their influence, their teammates had started to reason things out carefully and put on the look of a detective.

    Today, the truth of Aunt Qing¡¯s identity became clear. The reasoning of Ye Qi, Old Mo and the others was also logical. The assassins were from Yan and the assassination attempts on Yu Hanjiang and the prince weren¡¯t rted to the rebellion. It was to stop the marriage to Zhao.

    if they failed then they would certainly have a n for the next step.

    Thinking of this, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression changed and he stood up. ¡°The second youngdy is in danger!¡±

 Chapter 173: Beacon in Troubled Times 23

    The assassin organization attempted to assassinate the prince in public at his birthday party but the n failed.

    Unexpectedly, the Eighth Prince hid a deep secret and he was actually good in martial arts. He could fight against the assassin for a long time without falling down. It wasn¡¯t good for them to continue dealing with the prince. However, what if they directly killed the second youngdy? It could still destroy the marriage n!

    The second youngdy had never learned martial arts and it was much easier to kill her.

    After realizing this, Xiao Lou immediately summoned Li Qingzhao and used the flying pigeon to send a message to Long Sen who was still at the prince¡¯s mansion. He should pay close attention to the second youngdy¡¯s movements and protect her.

    Liu Qiao, Chief Shao and Ye Qi stayed at the prefectural magistrate¡¯s office while Yu Hanjiang took Xiao Lou and Mo Xuemin to the prince¡¯s mansion on fast horses.

    The moment they arrived at the door of the prince¡¯s mansion, they saw Long Sen¡¯s anxious expression. He lowered his voice and told them, ¡°By the time I received the flying pigeon¡¯s message, the second youngdy had already left the ce with the Ninth Princess and Wanyue.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face changed. ¡°How long has it been since she left?¡±

    ¡°Around half an hour.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Do you know where they went?¡±

    Long Sen replied, ¡°Wanyue wrote me a note before leaving. The Ninth Princess went to buy clothes and let the second youngdy apany her. The prince¡¯s mansion has the door blocked to prevent anyone from going out but this can¡¯t stop the Ninth Princess. They sneaked out the back door!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    Sure enough, the reason the Ninth Princess came to Jiangzhou wasn¡¯t just to provide a clue. It was also to cause a disruption at key moments. At present, only Qu Wanyue was following them. If they encountered assassins then Teacher Qu might not be able to cope.

    Yu Hanjiang immediately made a decision. ¡°Chase them!¡±

    The four people quickly headed to Jiangzhou City on fast horses. However, there were too many people here. How could they find the Ninth Princess and second youngdy? The four people quickly searched the entire street selling clothes but didn¡¯t find the whereabouts of the Ninth Princess.

    Long Sen couldn¡¯t help spitting out, ¡°The Ninth Princess is really troublesome. The prince was almost killed by assassins yet she is still restless. She had to take the second youngdy out of the house to buy clothes at this time!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang heard this and suddenly said, ¡°it isn¡¯t right.¡±

    He nced over the vast sea of people in the market and soon turned his horse. ¡°Go out of the city!¡±

    The other three were puzzled but everyone was used to listening to Group Leader Yu¡¯s orders. They immediately turned and followed him.

    On the way, Long Sen asked nervously, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we continue to search the market?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told them, ¡°Purchasing clothes is just misleading. The Ninth Princess is indeed capricious but don¡¯t forget who the second youngdy is.¡±

    Long Sen and Mo Xuemin were puzzled.

    Xiao Lou immediately understood Yu Hanjiang¡¯s meaning and said, ¡°The second youngdy is calm andposed. Even if the Ninth Princess didn¡¯t have any brains and wanted to go out at this time, how could the second youngdy follow? She can¡¯t inexplicably do this dangerous thing. In addition, the Ninth Princess should be unfamiliar with the prince¡¯s mansion. The second youngdy might be the one who thought of going out the back door.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou with admiration. Every time he had a thought, Xiao Lou could understand it immediately. This type of ¡®Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings¡¯ felt really good. He couldn¡¯t help smiling as he spoke to Xiao Lou, ¡°Madam is correct. This matter isn¡¯t in the nature of the Ninth Princess. Rather, it was the second youngdy who deliberately led the Ninth Princess out of the prince¡¯s mansion. Under the innocent premise that she is shopping with the princess, the enemy will rx their vignce.¡±

    Old Mo finally reacted. ¡°You mean, the second youngdy risked going out of the city to entice the assassins to appear?¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°Based on the second youngdy¡¯s intelligence, it isn¡¯t reasonable for her to leave the prince¡¯s mansion after two murders and a public assassination attempt if she wasn¡¯t trying to attract the snakes out of the hole.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°In addition, the third youngdy and Qin Rui, who have the highest martial arts ability, left the prince¡¯s mansion yesterday. At that time, we spected that the two people were deliberately released from the prince¡¯s mansion by the prince.¡±

    Hearing this, Long Sen finally understood.

    First, the prince let the third youngdy and Qin Rui out of the city to arrange the ambush. Then the second youngdy pretended to be pulled out of the pce by the Ninth Princess and went out of the city to y. Once the assassins acted, the ambush set up in advance would act and pull the shut.

    Long Sen sighed. ¡°It is worthy of being the Eighth Prince!¡±

    At the same time, he had to admire the shrewdness of Yu and Xiao. In his view, the third youngdy and Qin Rui ran away from home while the second youngdy was dragged out of the house by the wayward princess¡­

    He hadn¡¯t expected there to be so many calctions!

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou thought about it, proving they were worthy of being the ones who refreshed the world record in the Hearts room. Their thinking was more flexible than others.

    Thinking up to here, Long Sen immediately increased the pace of his horse and rushed out of the city like a thunderbolt.

    Outside the city.

    The Ninth Princess was tired from walking and rested under a tree. The second youngdy smiled and chatted with her.

    Qu Wanyue was anxious. She hadn¡¯t expected that after the two girls finished buying clothes, the second youngdy said she wanted to leave the city and go to the temple to light an incense stick for her mother. Her mother¡¯s death day wasing soon and the Ninth Princess couldn¡¯t refuse. In addition, the princess also wanted to go around the green hills outside Jiangzhou, so the two of them left Jiangzhou City.

    The second youngdy took them down a path but they were actually going further and further?

    Looking at the deserted surroundings and then the dense forest in front of them¡­

    Qu Wanyue felt that something wasn¡¯t right but she had no way to report to her teammates. She could only leave marks along the way. The Four-way Arrow she got in 2 of Diamonds was very useful. She secretly left arrows on the trees and believed that her teammates would understand as soon as they saw it.

    Just then, there was a sharp sound around them. Qu Wanyue was shocked and immediately protected the two girls. ¡°Be careful!¡±

    A group of women dressed in white and wearing hats stabbed at the Ninth Princess and the second youngdy with long swords!

    The Ninth Princess screamed in horror, ¡°Ah, there are assassins, assassins!!¡±

    The second youngdy looked calm and quickly pulled the Ninth Princess to run into the forest.

    Most of Qu Wanyue¡¯s cards were banned. The Chameleon card was avable and it would be very easy for her to escape. The problem was that once she escaped and the second youngdy and Ninth Princess were killed, they definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to get a perfect clearance in this secret room!

    She was thinking about what to do when a man holding a long sword flew over from a distance. The sword in his hand waved several times and blocked the swords of the assassins as he whispered, ¡°Go to my rear!¡±

    It was Long Sen. Long Sen¡¯s setting in this world was a royal guard and he knew martial arts. After so many cards were disabled, Long Sen became one of the most powerful among them.

    Seeing him standing in front of her, Qu Wanyue finally sighed with relief. She knew her boyfriend. His limbs might be developed but his mind was simple. Long Sen definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to think this far. At most, he would think they were shopping for clothes and would chase them to the city centre.

    The fact that Long Sen was here meant that Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao must know about this. Sure enough, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou quickly came over using the teleportation card.

    Xiao Lou had insufficient fighting power but he had the poisonous powders that Liu Qiao gave him. Yu Hanjiang gently held his waist and brought him over using the teleportation. He sprayed the powder and the effect of the poison was immediate. The group of assassins were poisoned. Fog covered their vision and they coughed after covering their mouth and nose.

    The second youngdy hadn¡¯t expected these people to suddenlye to the rescue. She gazed at them with aplicated expression and continued pulling the princess into the forest.

    The poison was spread over arge area. Some of the assassins who covered their noses and mouths weren¡¯t affected by the poisonous mist. They immediately used light footwork to fly over and chase behind the princess and the second youngdy!

    The swords were about to stab their backs when suddenly, the two assassins stepped into the air and fell directly into a trap in the forest. The others were also trapped by a that fell from the sky!

    A man and a woman apanied by arge number of shadow guards came out of the forest and surrounded the assassins. It was Qin Rui and the third youngdy. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other, thinking: Sure enough.

    The third youngdy and Qin Rui left the prince¡¯s mansion ahead of time to set up the trap to catch the assassins alive. The second youngdy took the risk of pretending to apany the princess to leave the house. Then they came out of the city to lead the snakes out of the hole.

    Perhaps the prince and the emperor had long suspected that Jiangzhou had an intelligence organization from an enemy country, which was why the prince was so calm during the assassination attempt at his birthday banquet.

    If Yu Hanjiang¡¯s reasoning wasn¡¯t quick enough, if they missed some clues and didn¡¯t realize the assassins were from the Yan state or if they didn¡¯t realize the second youngdy was in danger, they would¡¯ve missed this big show today!

    The emperor and the Eighth Prince were also secretly investigating the assassin. If Yu Hanjiang¡¯s team didn¡¯t guess the origin of the assassins, the prince would¡¯ve caught the assassins alive and provided them with more clues. However, the score would definitely be low. It was just as how some people at Maple Forest High School waited for the police to solve the case.

    The biggest test of this secret room was to be meticulous in their thinking, to quickly analyze and confirm the correct reasoning and to not miss out on subtle clues and key events.

    It was only by keeping up with the rhythm of the prince and detecting the identity of the assassins ahead of the prince that they could get an S-grade perfect clearance!

 Chapter 174: Beacon in Troubled Times 24

    The several assassins were arrested. Qin Rui and the third youngdy hadn¡¯t expected Yu Hanjiang and his team toe to the forest and nced at each other. In any case, Yu Hanjiang was the prefectural magistrate of Jiangzhou and it was hard to pretend not to see him. Qin Rui had to step forward and grip his fist in one hand toward Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Yu daren, why did youe here?¡±

    ¡°Naturally, I was tracking the assassins and happened toe here.¡± Yu Hanjiang saw that he was dressed in ck like the surrounded shadow guards and became clear about something. ¡°Are you also a shadow guard?¡±

    Qin Rui nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Since the shadow guards were usually dressed in ck and masked, they didn¡¯t know each other. It was understandable that Long Sen didn¡¯t recognize him.

    In this way, everything that happened in Jiangzhou was clear to the emperor in the capital. Perhaps His Majesty suspected there was an assassin and intelligence organization in Jiangzhou for a long time. Thus, he asked the prince to put on a good show and lead all the assassins out.

    Yu Hanjiang and Long Sen exchanged a look and Long Sen immediately flew over to take off the assassins¡¯ hats. Sure enough, it was the girls from the Fragrant Sky House. Aunt Qing wasn¡¯t present. The ones who came today were those who were rescued from the prisonst night.

    The assassins thought that the second youngdy was too careless to take precautions. She left Jiangzhou City and ran to the forest where people were rarely seen¡­ they hadn¡¯t expected it to be a trap.

    After realizing the n, the girls were about to bite the poison in their teeth andmit suicide. Long Sen, Mo Xuemin and Xiao Lou were quickly to use their hands and held the mandibles of the girls.

    Xiao Lou nced at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°I will pull out the tooth with poison. Then you can take them back for interrogation.¡±

    Xiao Lou had long been familiar with teeth extraction. The previous hunters liked tomit suicide after their mission failed. Xiao Lou always had experience. The girls in the Fragrant Sky House had eyes wide in disbelief. They saw Madam Yu look calm as she put silk thread into their mouths and neatly pulled out the poisonous teeth, without a breath of martial arts at all. All the poisonous teeth in the girls¡¯ mouths were dealt with by Madam Yu.

    The girls, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    All of them had dead faces.

    The third youngdy and second youngdy stared at each other.

    The frightened Ninth Princess was also relieved at this time. She looked at Qu Wanyue beside her with fright. ¡°Madam Yu doesn¡¯t only do autopsies but also pulls out teeth? What is her origin?¡±

    Qu Wanyue thought that Professor Xiao could do even more. He could also use thepass to make a brazier. Unfortunately, thepass couldn¡¯t be used in this world and Professor Xiao could only exert 30% of his strength.

    Facing the curious eyes of the Ninth Princess, Qu Wanyue had to say in a perfunctory manner, ¡°This subordinate doesn¡¯t know. You¡¯ll have to ask Yu daren.¡±

    The Ninth Princess had aplicated expression. It wasn¡¯t good for her to cheekily ask Yu Hanjiang, ¡®What is your wife doing?¡¯

    ¡°Madam, you worked hard.¡± Yu Hanjiang walked to Xiao Lou¡¯s side and gently hugged his shoulder, acting as a loving couple in front of the crowd. Then he looked at the assassin who had fallen to the ground and ordered, ¡°Bring them back to the prefectural magistrate¡¯s office for interrogation.¡±

    The third youngdy suddenly cried out, ¡°Wait!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked back. ¡°Third youngdy, do you have any questions?¡±

    The third youngdy frowned. ¡°The assassins were caught by us. I want to take them back to the prince¡¯s mansion. How can it be possible for Yu daren to take them away?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang gazed calmly at her and spoke lightly, ¡°Did the third youngdy forget that the prince has given me full power to investigate and deal with this?¡±

    The third youngdy, ¡°But¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang interrupted her. ¡°As the prefectural magistrate of Jiangzhou, the assassins were seized in Jiangzhou and should be interrogated by the government. The prince didn¡¯t ask about political matters so you don¡¯t have to bother the prince about this matter. I will try to find a report as soon as possible and report it to the prince.¡±

    The third youngdy still wanted to speak but Yu Hanjiang waved his hand. ¡°Take them away!¡±

    Long Sen immediately tied up the assassins and prepared to take them back to the Jiangzhou bailiffs.

    The third youngdy was stunned. She found that she couldn¡¯t speak to Yu Hanjiang at all.

    He was about to start fighting when the second youngdy reached out to stop her irritable third sister. She smiled and said, ¡°Since my father has handed the case to Daren to deal with, it isn¡¯t easy for the family to continue to intervene. Then Yu daren will have to work hard.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told her, ¡°The princess is kind.¡±

    He nodded to the princess, turned and took the assassins back to Jiangzhou.

    There were a total of six assassins caught this time. Yu Hanjiang locked them in the woodshed, sent Long Sen to personally guard them and then called Ye Qi to recognize the people. Ye Qi quickly said the names of the girls. They all took on names such as Hong Mei (Red Plum), Xiang Ning (Fragrant Attention), Zi Tian (Red Sandlewood), etc. Ye Qi didn¡¯t know what their real names were.

    Xue Yan and Aunt Qing weren¡¯t present and might have other tasks.

    Yu Hanjiang called these assassins one by one to question them. ¡°Are you from the Yan state?¡±

    The girl was pale but refused to nod.

    Yu Hanjiang continued coldly. ¡°Where did Aunt Qing and Xue Yan go? Who is the ¡®master¡¯ you talked about? Who is giving orders behind the scene?¡±

    However, there were no responses, just like stones sinking into the sea. Since these girls were willing to leave their hometown to do intelligence collection and assassination work, they must¡¯ve been prepared to die a long time ago.

    Yu Hanjiang tried for an hour but couldn¡¯t pry their mouths open. Every girl¡¯s eyes were extremely stubborn, as if saying, ¡®Don¡¯t bother, I won¡¯t exin anything.¡¯

    Judging by their attitude of ¡®regarding death asing home¡¯, these girls have been professionally trained and brainwashed. They were Yan people and it was their honor to sacrifice for Yan. Once they had this idea, Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t obtain any information at all.

    Yu Hanjiang had a headache as he left the interrogation room. Xiao Lou looked at his expression and knew the interrogation hadn¡¯t gone well. ¡°Are they unwilling to exin?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Yu Hanjiang pinched his brow. ¡°They didn¡¯t say a word. The leader behind the assassin organization isn¡¯t Aunt Qing. Aunt Qing is only responsible for Jiangzhou¡¯s affairs. The identity of Aunt Qing¡¯ boss is the key to the investigation.¡±

    Mo Xuemin¡¯s face was full of anxiety. ¡°They didn¡¯t speak. Then do we have to wait for new clues toe out or should we try to torture them to extort a confession?¡±

    Ye Qi wondered, ¡°Is torturing them to extract a confession okay?¡±

    In ancient times, the torture of prisoners wasmon. In dungeons, there were various tools such as bamboo boards with finger marks, iron blocks with body imprints and iron cables¡­

    Ye Qi thought of these blood-stained torture tools and shuddered. ¡°The girls are only 20 years old. They might not be able to bear the torture but they might not necessarily give us clues.¡±

    The use of torture was a method but Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t want to take this step.

    They might be in ancient times but they still had the mindset of modern people. He didn¡¯t want to torture these young girls with all type of cruel torture instruments.

    Seeing Yu Hanjiang¡¯s frown, Xiao Lou suddenly said, ¡°I have a way. Perhaps it might be useful.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang immediately looked back at Xiao Lou. ¡°Madam, please tell me.¡±

    ¡°Do you remember Liu Qiao¡¯s Twin card? She can copy any person or animal she saw within half an hour. Her card is equivalent to the transfiguration skill in ancient times and it should still work. She can copy the appearance of an assassin, mix in with the assassin and discuss their ¡®master¡¯ with them.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This approach was really good. They could send Xiao Lou to the assassin organization as an undercover.

    Thinking of this, Yu Hanjiang immediately had Old Mo call Liu Qiao over.

    Liu Qiao arrived and told everyone that her Win card really could be used. Thus, Yu Hanjiang quickly made arrangements to have Old Mo bring the youngest girl and shut up in the study. Liu Qiao went to take a look and immediately copied the girl¡¯s appearance and voice. Then Yu Hanjiang pretended to finish the interrogation and had Old Mo tie her hands behind her back and escort her back to the woodshed.

    Liu Qiao entered the woodshed and walked quietly to a corner. An older woman cared for her. ¡°Xiang Ning, are you okay?¡±

    The girl Liu Qiao copied was called Xiang Ning. She nodded and replied, ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±

    Another woman asked, ¡°Yu daren didn¡¯t torture you?¡±

    Liu Qiao shook her head. ¡°No, he just asked me about our master. I said nothing.¡±

    The group was relieved.

    The room fell into a strange silence. Everyone was uneasy wand worried that Yu daren would use all types of cruel punishments and torture on them. They thought of the bloody tools in the dungeon and the girls were white, their bodies slightly trembling.

    The afternoon passed quickly but no one came to question them again.

    After nightfall, everyone¡¯s uneasiness reached the peak. Liu Qiao observed their expression and asked, ¡°What is Yu daren intending? He isn¡¯t letting usmit suicide or torture us. He is just locking us up. Does he want to starve us for a few days and then torture us when we¡¯re about to mentally break?¡±

    Another person said, ¡°It is better to do it directly. Is a slow torture interesting?¡±

    Liu Qiao pretended to be very worried. ¡°I heard that Madam Yu¡¯so origin is mysterious. She can do autopsies and also use poison. What if she paralyzes us with a type of drug that makes us fall into a trance and then interrogate us? What will we do if we unknowingly confess?¡±

    This possibility made everyone¡¯s expression change.

    An old woman dered coldly, ¡°No matter what means they use, everyone must shut their mouths and not reveal any information on the organization! Don¡¯t forget the oath you made in front of the master. Whoever dares to betray the master will surely die without your body being left behind and it will also affect your family members at home!¡±

    Hearing this, everyone was silent.

    A young girl sobbed. ¡°Sister Hong Mei, of course we won¡¯t betray the master. I am ready to die. I hope my parents and younger brother can have a good life in Yan¡­¡±

    Liu Qiao asked, ¡°Sister Hong Mei, have you seen the master¡¯s real face?¡±

    Hong Mei shook her head. ¡°No, the master¡¯s whereabouts are unknown. We only listen to Aunt Qing¡¯s orders and don¡¯t need to know anything else.¡±

    Liu Qiao in the corner slightly frowned. It seemed the group of assassins only knew a limited amount of information and the identity of the master was hidden. In addition to vowing to serve their master, the girls¡¯ rtives were also in the hands of the ¡®master.¡¯ Once they betrayed their master, their rtives far away in the Yan state might be implicated. It was the reason why they were reluctant to say a word.

    There must be no evidence from this interrogation. The clues Liu Qiao could obtain were very limited.

    Early the next morning, Liu Qiao¡¯s transformation was over but she purposely wore clothes simr to the girl. She kept her head down and no one around her realized that her face had changed.

    She was the first one to be questioned by Yu Hanjiang and Liu Qiao told him what she had heard.

    Xiao Lou listened and carefully analyzed it. ¡°Since the leader of the intelligence organization can control the families of these girls, he should have great power in the Yan state. He is either a high-ranking official or a noble.¡±

    Mo Xuemin was confused. ¡°However, we have absolutely no way to understand the situation on the Yan stat side. I have examined all the books on my bookshelf. There are no records of the Yan state¡¯s royal family and their court. I only know that the emperor of Yan is around 45 years old and is very tough.¡±

    Ye Qi scratched his head suspiciously. ¡°This shouldn¡¯t be? The secret room involved the Qi, Zhao and Yan states. We have found the assassins are from Yan and we can¡¯t get clues from the assassins¡¯ mouth. Then shouldn¡¯t something else give us clues?¡±

    Xiao Lou touched his chin and thought about it. After a moment of silence, he suddenly said, ¡°My younger brother definitely isn¡¯t dead.¡±

    Everyone¡¯s eyes were nk. ¡°Brother?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at him in an unexpected manner. ¡°Do you have a younger brother? Why am Ipletely unaware of this?¡±

    Xiao Lou coughed. ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t know him either. It is a plot setting that I have a younger brother. The first time I entered 8 of Hearts, I received the background of my identity. My father was a coroner, my mother was a doctor and my brother was said to be in the army and fighting on the front lines. His whereabouts are unknown.

    He paused before continuing, ¡°Thinking carefully, the word ¡®unknown¡¯ is very meaningful. If my younger brother wasn¡¯t someone important to the case, why should it say that his whereabouts are unknown? I could be set as the only child or he could¡¯ve died on the front lines.¡±

    Ye Qi was excited. ¡°Yes, since your brother is on the front lines of the war between QI and Yan, it is okay to say he died in the war. The fact that his whereabouts are unknown proves he isn¡¯t dead at all.¡±

    Liu Qiao stated, ¡°ording to the routine of ordinary TV dramas, people with their whereabouts unknown will usually appear at critical moments.

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Besides my younger brother, don¡¯t forget there is someone else on the front lines.¡±

    Mo Xuemin¡¯s senses returned. ¡°You mean, the prince¡¯s eldest son¡­ Qi Fenghua?¡±

    He previously suspected there would be an ident in the royal family and investigated the interpersonal rtionships. Mrs Yun married the prince and gave birth to a son and a daughter. Qi Fenghua followed General Zheng Xi to fight against Yan on the front lines and hadn¡¯t been home for three years. Qi Yiyao, the eldest daughter, was now killed. If Qi Fenghua was just a passerby, why have such a setting? Why not just say that the prince had four daughters?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s brother was the same. If his whereabouts were unknown then he definitely wasn¡¯t dead. These two people were on the front lines of fighting between Yan and Daqi and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s team had just encountered a bottleneck while investigating the Yan assassins.

    Xiao Lou nced at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°I remember that after entering the secret room, we didn¡¯t receive all the memories. It was only when we saw a person that we remembered the past rted to them, right?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also experienced this and nodded. ¡°Yes, when I went to the pce to see the emperor, I thought of my childhood of being hispanion. When I saw the Ninth Princess, I thought of thete emperor suggesting marriage to her. When I went home to see my parents and grandfather, I thought of my childhood experience in Jiangzhou. Many memories are triggered by seeing the corresponding person.¡±

    Xiao Lou told them, ¡°I don¡¯t have detailed memories of my younger brother but as long as I see him, I will be able to recognize him immediately. I just don¡¯t know what type of identity he will appear in.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought carefully and spected, ¡°Is it the masked man who came to the prison the night before? The man in the assassin group?¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Why do you say that?¡±

    ¡°Your brother is on the front lines. If he died on the battlefield and his body couldn¡¯t be found then his whereabouts will naturally be ¡®unknown¡¯. Obviously, your brother didn¡¯t end up like this. So his whereabouts are unknown. Where else can he go on the front line? Since the Yan state can send spies to us, why can¡¯t we send spies to the Yan state?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°If he is going to be a spy then he naturally can¡¯t say anything. He must forget a new identity. Isn¡¯t his original identity ¡®missing¡¯? He is a person on the front lines so what reason would he have to return to Jiangzhou? The best chance for him to return to Jiangzhou is to join the assassin ground and participate in the n to assassinate Jiangzhou¡¯s prefectural magistrate and the prince.¡±

    The two of them stared at each other and tacitly nodded in agreement with the other person.

    His teammates, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    So many possibilities could be spected from a simple ¡®whereabouts unknown¡¯. Everyone could only worship the brain holes of the two big gods!

    Ye Qi was confused for a moment before finally understanding the analysis of Yu and Xiao. He scratched his head and said, ¡°In other words, Madam¡¯s brother went missing from the front lines because he probably sneaked into Yan as an undercover. Recently, he returned to Jiangzhou and brought some clues about the Yan state?¡±

    Think about it carefully. What was the identity of the younger brother who had been missing for so many years on the frontlines, only to suddenly appear in Jiangzhou? The possibility spected about by Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou was indeed the most reasonable arrangement.

    Yu Hanjiang suggested, ¡°Madam, why don¡¯t we lead the snake out of the hole?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded in agreement. ¡°Okay, tonight we will go outside Jiangzhou City to lure my brother out. If he has really gone to Yan as a spy and took this opportunity to return to Jiangzhou, he will surely find a way to contact me.¡±

 Chapter 175: Beacon in Troubled Times 25

    At noon, the prince sent someone over to ask Yu Hanjiang about the result of the interrogation. Yu Hanjiang only replied, ¡°The assassins are from the Yan state. I will continue to investigate who is acting behind the curtains.¡±

    If they hadn¡¯t arrived in time to intercept the assassins, the assassins would¡¯ve surely been taken back to the prince¡¯s mansion by QIn Rui and the third youngdy. They would¡¯ve been personally interrogated by the prince.

    ording to the news heard by Liu Qiao, the assassins were loyal to the ¡®master¡¯ and their families controlled. They couldn¡¯t betray the organization. Moreover, they hadn¡¯t seen what the ¡®master¡¯ looked like. They all listened to Aunt Qing¡¯s orders.

    Aunt Qing, who had more information, wasn¡¯t caught this time so the prince couldn¡¯t judge anything.

    The news from the Yan state¡¯s side still had to be provided by people who had been to Yan.

    Most likely, this man was Xiao Lou¡¯s brother, who had been missing for years.

    In Xiao Lou¡¯s memories, he came to Jiangzhou with his mother when he was 12 years old. It was because his father was murdered by someone when he was 12 years old and his mother took him to escape, making him pretend to be a woman. The mother and son settled outside Jiangzhou as a migrant doctor.

    His younger brother should¡¯ve lived in Jiangzhou for a while. After all, his brother was young and couldn¡¯t have gone to the front lines before he was 10 years old? However, Xiao Lou had no memories of his brother. This might be due to the fact that his brother hadn¡¯t appeared yet, so the memory clues weren¡¯t triggered.

    The medicine hut outside the city had been burned by a fire and Liu Qiao couldn¡¯t stay there these days. In any case, Shao Qingge had plenty of money and he set up Liu Qiao in an inn in the city to facilitate contact.

    Late at night, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang waited by the big tree near the medicine hut outside Jiangzhou City. The other teammates were hiding nearby, ready to respond if there was an ident.

    Liu Qiao directly climbed up the tree with her light footwork card while Long Sen became the colour of the trunk, blending in with the big tree. Ye Qi, Shao Qingge, Old Mo and the others all hid in the vicinity with their invisibility cloaks.

    So don¡¯t look at the fact that there were only Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang next to the tree. In fact, all their teammates were here!

    It was a beautiful night. The moon was high in the sky and the stars were shining brightly. It was very quiet around them and even the breathing of their teammates couldn¡¯t be heard. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang stood next to each other and the atmosphere was a bit awkward.

    Yu Hanjiang took the initiative to open his mouth. ¡°Are you thinking of your brother again?¡±

    Xiao Lou acted in coordination. ¡°Yes, he never contacted me after he went to the front line. He disappeared for many years and I don¡¯t know if he is dead or alive. My mother¡¯s death day ising soon and I still can¡¯t find my brother¡¯s whereabouts. I really can¡¯t exin it to her grave.

    Yu Hanjiang gently held Xiao Lou¡¯s shoulders and whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much. I have entrusted some friends on the front line to ask. Once they find out where your brother is, they will immediately send us a flying pigeon letter. Since his body hasn¡¯t been found for so many years, maybe he is still alive.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded gently. ¡°I hope so.¡±

    The teammates around them, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The Oscars owed them a pair of acting awards!

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help thinking that the more Group Leader Yu called Professor Xiao ¡®madam¡¯, the easier it became. They acted as husband and wife without any sense of disobedience! Professor Xiao was also very devoted to dressing up as a woman. Unlike Ye Qi, who had a headache when ying Miss Ye. It seemed that he could only be a singer in the future. The acting circle waspletely out of the question because his acting skills aren¡¯t qualified at all.

    Just then, the sound of a sharp object cutting through empty space could be heard.

    Everyone in the area immediately tensed their nerves.

    They saw a dart shoot straight at the tree in front of Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other before Yu Hanjiang turned to look in a certain direction. Not far away, a masked man in ck was as light as a bird as he jumped from the treetops and watched them. Then he turned to run away.

    His light footwork was very good. He jumped up and down from the trees and disappeared in an instant. Seeing that he was heading to the southeast, Yu Hanjiang immediately used the teleportation card while holding Xiao Lou to quickly chase!

    The other teammates also acted on their own.

    Liu Qiao flew directly between the trees and Long Sen closely followed with the Long Jump card. Ye Qi had a copy of the teleportation card due to Shao Qingge spending money and Ye Qi brought Shao Qingge and Old Mo along with him. He teleported 50 metres at a time and tried not to be found by the other party.

    The group of people chased after the man in ck.

    There was a cave ahead of them. The man in ck shed into the cave and Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang immediately followed.

    Unexpectedly, the moment they entered the cave, the man in ck pulled out a sword and stabbed at Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang immediately protected Xiao Lou behind him and turned, avoiding the sword with no danger at all.

    The man¡¯s next move was aimed at Yu Hanjiang¡¯s throat. Yu Hanjiang dodged quickly and they exchanged a dozen blows in the blink of an eye. Xiao Lou stood there and observed. Although the man¡¯s sword was sharp, Xiao Lou had a feeling. This man didn¡¯t want to take Yu Hanjiang¡¯s life. It seemed he was just testing¡­

    In the darkness, Xiao Lou met a pair of dark and deep eyes.

    In a sh, countless memories poured into his mind¡­

    The little boy following behind him as a child and asking for sugar. After growing up, the boy was always pestering him. There was the young boy who wanted to learn to do autopsies with him. Then when the young man was 18, he heard the front line was in an urgent situation and decided to join the army despite their mother¡¯s dissuasion¡­

    This might only be a younger brother arranged for him in the secret world but the real memories made Xiao Lou emotional.

    Xiao Lou thought of his cousin in reality and his heart slightly softened. ¡°Xiao Yu, stop!¡±

    The young man¡¯s back slightly stiffened and he really did stop his actions. He gave a cold snort and took back his sword.

    Yu Hanjiang also reacted and whispered, ¡°Are you my wife¡¯s brother, Xiao Yu?¡±

    Xiao Yu sneered. ¡°Wife? Brother, you really do things that surprise me. Don¡¯t talk about dressing as a woman, now you are marrying a man? So Yu daren, should I call you sister-inw or brother-inw?¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The younger brother¡¯s thinking was somewhat strange. It wasn¡¯t right to call Yu Hanjiang by sister-inw or brother-inw. After all, Xiao Lou was a man so the title after marriage was indeed not very certain. Xiao Lou coughed awkwardly and exined, ¡°Hanjiang and i are in love and our marriage has been approved by Mother. He is very kind to me and you shouldn¡¯t be biased against him.¡±

    Xiao Yu stared at Yu Hanjiang in an obviously hostile manner. ¡°Is that so?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang promised. ¡°Yes, my heart toward your brother is genuine and he is like heaven and earth. I¡¯ve only loved him in my life.¡±

    Xiao Lou heard this and his ears turned slightly red, even though he knew Yu Hanjiang was acting.

    Their teammates outside the cave, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Group Leader Yu, if you don¡¯t go to be an actor then the entertainment industry really lost a movie emperor.

    Only Shao Qingge smiled and had another thought. This probably wasn¡¯t acting but the truth!

    Xiao Yu didn¡¯t continue to focus on this matter. He took off his mask. The handsome person who was revealed did look a bit like Xiao Lou. It wasn¡¯t nonsense that A of Hearts created this setting.

    Yu Hanjiang naturally couldn¡¯t hate the brother who looked so much like Xiao Yu and his eyes became gentle. ¡°Xiao Yu, why did you suddenly return to Jiangzhou?¡±

    Xiao Yu whispered, ¡°Brother, I have something to tell you alone.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°It is the same if you say it in front of Hanjiang. There are no secrets between us. Besides, he has already guessed your intentions.¡¯

    Xiao Yu raised an eyebrow. ¡°Oh? Is that so?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°Your disappearance from the front lines should be because the general specifically arranged a new identity for you to mix into the Yan state and do some internal spying.¡±

    Xiao Yu stared at Yu Hanjiang with some surprise. He apparently hadn¡¯t expected Yu Hanjiang to guess this.

    Yu Hanjiang continued, ¡°This time, you should¡¯ve received your master¡¯s order for the assassination of the Jiangzhou prefectural magistrate and the Eighth Prince. You took the opportunity toe to Jiangzhou. One reason is to find the whereabouts of your brother and mother. The other is to find a way to pass on a message to the Eighth Prince about the Yan state¡¯s side¡­ am I correct?¡±

    Xiao Yu¡¯s expression gradually became moreplicated.

    Yu Hanjiang guessed correctly.

    Unexpected, the ¡®husband¡¯ his brother found was so powerful and could actually analyze so many truths. After careful observation, he found his brother¡¯s gaze toward this man was full of trust and his sense of repulsion toward Yu Hanjiang was slightly eased.

    His brother¡¯s cleverness meant he naturally wouldn¡¯t marry a man casually. Since his brother chose Yu Hanjiang, this Yu Hanjiang should be very outstanding. Xiao Yu let go of his prejudices and nodded. ¡°Yes, there will be a big operation on the Yan state¡¯s side. The general asked me to go back to Jiangzhou to tell the Eighth Prince the news. The Yan state didn¡¯t only send assassins to Jiangzhou. They also sent them to the imperial pce in the capital!¡±

 Chapter 176: Beacon in Troubled Times 26

    Xiao Yu¡¯s words immediately made Yu Hanjiang tense and his expression became very serious. ¡°You mean, the assassins of Yan have also gone to the capital to assassinate the emperor? Is this information reliable?¡±

    Xiao Yu nodded with a calm face. ¡°It should be reliable. Before I left, they had sent several assassins to the capital. It is said that the several beautiful women will be arranged to enter the pce in the capital.¡±

    ¡°Beautiful women?¡± Xiao Lou was slightly surprised and he nced at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Has the emperor wanted to draft women into the haremtely?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°As far as I know, during the time when he was still a prince, thete emperor arranged for him to marry the general¡¯s daughter as the princess. He also married two concubines. He hasn¡¯t taken a concubine since bing emperor and there are only three women in the harem.¡±

    In ancient times, the emperor was often surrounded by 3,000 beauties yet this emperor only had one empress and two concubines. The imperial harem looked really thin. The emperor was still young so even if he didn¡¯t want to choose a concubine, the minister of the Ministry of Rites would urge him to increase his harem.

    ording to Xiao Yu, there were also Yan state people in the capital who have been lurking for many years like Aunt Qing., They would take advantage of this opportunity to send the assassins into the pce as concubines.

    The assassins they sent must be very beautiful and might stand out in the selection, allowing them to be selected by the emperor into the hrem. If the emperor favoured the new concubines and slept with them, the probability of an assassination was indeed very high.

    Even if the emperor was far-sighted, how could he expect that a harem concubine would kill him?

    Xiao Lou gently kneaded his forehead as he felt pained. ¡°The Yan assassins really aren¡¯t afraid of the world bing disorderly!¡±

    The Qi state had a mysterious rebel force. If the emperor was assassinated, those who wanted to rebel wouldn¡¯t sit back and the entire QI state would certainly experience more turbulence. Moreover, there were people in Daqi¡¯s capital who helped the assassins of Yan, indicating that the intelligence organization of Yan had been deeply entrenched in Qi. Some of the Qi state officials might¡¯ve been bought.

    Yu Hanjiang looked back at Xiao Yu and lowered his voice, ¡°Xiao Yu, do you know the leader of the assassin organization in Yan?¡±

    Xiao Yu replied, ¡°It is the crown prince of Yan.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou nced at each other and they were clear about it in their hearts.

    No wonder why this person could control the families of all the girls in the Fragrant Sky House. He was originally the crown prince of the Yan state. The intelligence and assassination organization created by the crown prince hadin dormant in the Qi state for many years.

    Yu Hanjiang then asked, ¡°Do you have any clues about the person who is arranging for the assassins to enter the pce?¡±

    Xiao Yu shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know this but that person should be a powerful minister who can freely modify the identity background of the beautiful women and insert the assassins into the pce to perform the task.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang touched his chin and spected, ¡°Perhaps it is a person from the Ministry of Rites, Other officials usually can¡¯t intervene in the emperor¡¯s concubine election. All this is arranged by the Ministry of Rites. If the Ministry of Rites has a traitor then it would be very easy to manipte the information of the beautiful women.¡±

    Xiao Yu thought it was reasonable. Then he fell silent and didn¡¯t speak.

    Yu Hanjiang wasn¡¯t clear about the day when the emperor would officially select a concubine but it should be in the near future. In any case, it was important to ensure the safety of the emperor first. Yu Hanjiang thought this and immediately said softly, ¡°We need to let the emperor know about this as soon as possible so he can prepare in advance.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Should we tell the prince first?¡±

    ¡°In order to avoid any unnecessary incidents, I will write a secret letter directly for the emperor.¡±

    Before leaving the pce, the emperor had told him that if he encountered any difficulties to spur the secret horse at full speed and hand over the secret missive. The ordinary missives given by ministers to the emperor had to be sent up one by one but the secret missives some officials were authorized to use could be sent directly to the emperor. The emperor was obviously hinting that Yu Hanjiang could directly send him a letter in case of an emergency.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke decisively, ¡°I¡¯ll go back tonight and write a secretter. It will be sent quickly to the capital. The emperor should receive it by tomorrow night at thetest. The selection shouldn¡¯t have started yet and it isn¡¯t toote to send thetter. As long as His Majesty is prepared, the assassins shouldn¡¯t easily seed even if they are mixed in with the selection team.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°His Majesty¡¯s safety is important and we should inform him first about this matter, letting him take precautions. The internal agents on the capital¡¯s side can be investigated slowly. The officials of the Ministry of Rites are very suspicious and His Majesty should also be able to think of this.¡±

    The two of them looked at each other and nodded to confirm the next n.

    Xiao Yu saw their ¡®tacit look at each other¡¯ and his heart twisted. He couldn¡¯t help coughing and saying coolly, ¡°Brother, I remember how much you hated officials previously. Howe you suddenly became concerned about the imperial court after following Yu daren?¡±

    Xiao Lou exined. ¡°Since I am married to Hanjiang, couples should share the same heart.¡±

    Xiao Yu snorted coldly and raised his eyebrows at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°The situation of an official isplex. Perhaps he will die one day and you will suffer with him. It is too dangerous for you to stay with him. Brother, why don¡¯t youe with me¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang immediately interrupted him. ¡°Nonsense. Your brother is in danger with me but is he safe with you? Don¡¯t forget, you are still lurking in the Yan state and have the identity of an assassin. You can¡¯t protect yourself so how can you protect Xiao Lou?¡±

    Wanting to take Xiao Lou away from him? Younger brother, do you dare to dream?

    Xiao Yu was speechless after being blocked and couldn¡¯t help frowning.

    Seeing that his younger brother was upset and going to argue with Yu Hanjiang, Xiao Yu smiled slightly and quickly changed the subject. ¡°Xiao Yu, you have been missing for many years. What happened? Who arranged for you to go to Yan as a spy?¡±

    Xiao Yu recalled what happened and spoke carefully, ¡°The year when I arrived at the front lines, my martial arts strength was high and I was outstanding in the army, attracting the general¡¯s attention. After inspecting me, he thought my face was very suitable for special tasks and he assigned this to me. I faked the identity of a Yan person. My parents were killed by Daqi soldiers and I was seriously injured. Later, I really hated the Qi state.¡±

    ¡°The general had me y a bitter trick. He covered me with injuries and had me lie in a pile of dead on the front lines of the war. The Yan state found me ¡®dying¡¯ when checking the war damage and saved me, bringing me back. My ¡®tragic experience¡¯ soon gained their sympathy.¡±

    ¡°Later, I made a few great efforts in the Yan army. Combined with my martial arts, I attracted the attention of the crown prince¡¯s eyes inserted at the front line and he rmended me to the prince.¡±

    ¡°The prince appreciated me a lot and recruited me to join the intelligence organization. I was responsible for gathering information and assassination missions.¡±

    ¡°This time, I have a special mission apart from supervising the action of Aunt Qin. If Aunt Qing fails then I will be responsible for cleaning up the mess. I will take the prince and prefectural magistrate¡¯s heads myself.¡± Xiao Yu spoke up to her and nced coldly at Yu Hanjiang. His eyes seemed to be saying, ¡®My martial arts can kill you!¡¯

    Yu Hanjiang calmly looked back. ¡°So should I thank you for your grace in not killing me?¡±

    Xiao Yu snorted. ¡°I would¡¯ve stabbed you a few times if I wasn¡¯t afraid of hurting my brother. You must¡¯ve used some unscrupulous means to force me brother! Otherwise, why would my brother pretend to be a woman and marry you?¡±

    This younger brother was particrly stubborn and resentful. He always felt that Xiao Lou would suffer because of Yu Hanjiang so his attitude toward Yu Hanjiang was full of hostility. Yu Hanjiang thought about how this person was Xiao Lou¡¯s brother and was toozy to care about him.

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯tugh or cry. ¡°What are you talking about? My marriage to Hanjiang was voluntary. He didn¡¯t use any means to force me. Besides, do you think I¡¯m the type of person who can be forced into marriage?¡±

    Xiao Yu muttered, ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be¡­¡±

    ¡°So isn¡¯t it fine? Your brother married a man and it is normal to find it difficult to ept. However, Hanjiang is very good to me. You should let go of your prejudices and also treat him as a brother.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t do it.¡± Xiao Yu frowned.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t want to embarrass this person. His mind was filled with memories of getting along with his brother in his world. As a child, Xiao Yu liked to be his brother¡¯s assistant. Their father was busy dealing with various cases and their mother was always treating people. Xiao Yu was almostpletely brought up by Xiao Lou and became dependent on Xiao Lou. It was natural to be unhappy when Xiao Lou married a man.

    Thinking of this, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help being soft-hearted and he asked, ¡°Have you suffered during all those years in Yan?¡±

    Xiao Yu received his brother¡¯s care and immediately turned his head to suppress the tears in his ears. He calmly replied, ¡°Compared to the brothers who died on the front lines, this bitterness is nothing. A man should always do something. I was born in Qi and will die as a Qi person. I will do anything for the sake of Qi.¡±

    The hot-blooded young man was very upright. Xiao Lou stepped forward and gently patted him on the shoulder. ¡°You are doing very well. Mother and Father in heaven must be proud of you.¡±

    Xiao Yu was praised and his expression quickly improved, his ears turning slightly red. ¡°I didn¡®t do anything¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou praised him. ¡°You went back to the Qi state in time and risked your life to inform His Majesty about the assassination. This is a big event for all of Qi. His Majesty is a good king and nothing should happen to him.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang followed Xiao Lou¡¯s example, ¡°Your brother is right. It really wasn¡¯t easy to be in the Yan state for all those years. Once things are over, I will definitely tell His Majesty and discuss merits and rewards.¡±

    Xiao Yu felt like he was floating after being praised by two men and his hostility to Yu Hanjiang weakened a lot. He nced at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Cough, I still know many things. I wanted to report to the Eighth Prince but as a result, there have been murders in the prince¡¯s mansion. There are guards all around it and I haven¡¯t been able to get close at all. I¡¯m asking Yu daren to pass it onto the prince.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll listen to you.¡±

    Xiao Yu cleared his throat. ¡°In fact, the interior of Yan is also chaotic. I have infiltrated Yan for four years. After investigating, it was found that the Yan state is divided into two parts. The crown prince with the queen and the third prince with Concubine Qin. The emperor of Yan is over 6o years old and his body isn¡¯t very well. It is possible for him to die at any time. The two princes are in their prime and the power behind them is rtively bnced. The moment the old emperor of Yan dies, the third prince definitely won¡¯t wait for the crown prince to ascend the throne. A civil war will definitely break out in Yan!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced over at Xiao Lou and met his clear eyes. The clues provided by Xiao Yu were very crucial!

    On the Yan side, the crown prince controlled the assassination and intelligence organization. As long as the crown prince was handled, the organization would naturally fall apart. If the third prince was willing to have a good rtionship with Qi, it might be possible to persuade His Majesty to assist the third prince in seizing power to kill the crown prince¡¯s faction, helping the third prince ascend to the throne on the premise that he didn¡¯t invade Daqi¡¯s border.

    In this way, not only would the assassin organization be resolved but the rtionship between QI and Yan could be eased. The suffering caused to the people by sessive years of war could be avoided.

    Yu Hanjiang watched Xiao Lou and spoke in their heart channel. ¡°In other words, there isn¡¯t only the prince¡¯s mansion investigation and the assassins. Perhaps in order toplete the instance clearance, we have to assist the emperor of Daqi to calm the current chaos?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up and he nodded in agreement. ¡°Yes, it isn¡¯t just finding out the origin of the assassins and the identity of the murderer. We also have to calm down the troubled times or it will be difficult for A of Hearts to give us an S-grade evaluation.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang continued, ¡°The news of Yan¡¯s internal struggle brought by Xiao Yu is definitely useful. I think it can be attempted. I will also mention this matter in my secret letter tonight to see if the emperor will help the third prince seize power and form an alliance with the third prince.¡±

    Xiao Yu saw the two people were staring at each other silently and instantly became sullen. ¡°Brother, you¡¯re always staring at him. How is he that good-looking?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s ears were red and he turned to look at his brother. ¡°Xiao Yu, we have a very risky task for you. I don¡¯t know if you are willing to ept it?¡±

    Xiao Yu asked, ¡°What task?¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at Yu Hanjiang, saw him nod and then spoke. ¡°T crown prince has personally formed an intelligence and assassination organization to target Qi and also sent people to assassinate the prefectural magistrate, the prince and even the emperor. Since the crown prince is so hostile to Qi, he will definitely go to war with Qi, right?¡±

    Xiao Yu nodded and spoke coldly, ¡°Yes, the crown prince of Yan is cruel and ambitious. In the past, his favourite concubine got up in the middle of the night to see him meet a minister and was stabbed to death by his sword. He showed no mercy¡­ Later, I stayed beside him for a few years. In his study, a map of the four kingdoms is often hung. In my opinion, he not only wants to annex Qi but also wants to unify the four kingdoms and be the master of this world.¡±

    ¡°Therefore, we must not let him be Yan¡¯s next ruler.¡±

    Xiao Yu heard this and finally reacted. ¡°You mean, help with the internal chaos of Yan and help the third prince kill the crown prince/¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°We¡¯re currently not sure about the attitude of the third prince toward Qi. That¡¯s why I want to ask you to go on this trip. You are most familiar with Yan. Can you find a way to contact the third prince and test if he is willing to have an alliance with Qi. If Qi helps him ascend the throne, is he willing to enter an alliance with QI and sign an armistice?

    There were many examples where two countries signed an armistice. Xiao Lou observed that during the time when there was no war at the border between Daqi and Yan, the people lived rich lives. There was an endless flow of businessmen and all of Jiangzhou was very prosperous.

    It could be imagined how the people of the border lived when there was war between QI and Yan.

    War only kept the ordinary people from living. If a truce was achieved then it would undoubtedly be a good thing for the ordinary people of this world.

    If they could influence the pattern of the four kingdoms and make Daqi and Yan harmonious, there would be no war in the world. Perhaps this was the real perfect method to clear the troubles in this world.

    Xiao Yu heard this and nodded in agreement. ¡°Brother, your words make sense. I will return to Yan.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was concerned. ¡°How will you exin about your task? The assassination of the prefectural magistrate and governor all failed. Will the crown prince let you go?¡±

    Xiao Yu smiled. ¡°I have a way. Tomorrow, I will let Aunt Qing and the others to the outskirts of Jiangzhou. Yu daren should catch all the other assassins, including me, and pretend to kill me on the spot. I will secretly return to Yan using another identity.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll arrange it for you.¡±

    Xiao Yu muttered, ¡°Brother, I should go back¡­¡± He held out a fist toward Xiao Yu, eyes full of reluctance. ¡°Take care of yourself.¡±

    Xiao Lou bumped his fist. ¡°You too. Be careful.¡±

    Xiao Yu rushed out of the cave and disappeared into the night. The teammates hiding in the area showed themselves and entered the cave. Xiao Yu repeated the clues brought by his brother to everyone and Old Mo couldn¡¯t help sighing. ¡°It seems that in this secret room, we not only need to solve the case but also help His Majesty calm the rebellion. This is indeed an A level. difficulty. You can¡¯t miss a single clue.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told them seriously, ¡°I will go back and write a secret letter to the emperor. Long Sen, ensure that this secret letter is sent to the emperor. Quickly spur a horse on at full speed and send this letter to the capital.¡±

    Long Sen nodded firmly. ¡°Yes!¡±

    Back at the prefectural magistrate¡¯s office, Yu Hanjiang thought carefully as he wrote a letter to the emperor.

    The letter told of two things. One was that an assassin was mixed in with the girls for this selection period. They wanted to assassinate the emperor and he should take precautions. Either postpone the selection or secretly investigate, pulling out the traitor in the capital. Secondly, there was the matter of the crown prince of Yan and the third prince who wanted to seize the throne. The Qi state might be able to help the third prince to the throne.

    He wrote two pages, sealed the letter and gave it to Long Sen.

    The origin of the assassins had be clear. Next was the murder case.

    Everything was back to square one.

    Who was the killer behind the eldest youngdy and Young Master Lin¡¯s deaths?

 Chapter 177: Beacon in Troubled Times 27

    The next day, Xiao Yu led out the other assassins to Jiangzhou City ording to the agreement.

    Yu Hanjiang ced an ambush in advance and captured the assassins. In the arrest operation, Xiao Yu was ¡®inadvertently¡¯ injured. A sharp sword cut his chest and he died on the spot.

    In fact, Xiao Yu wore gold silk armour under his clothes and ordinary weapons couldn¡¯t pierce it at all. Therge amount of blood covering his chest was from a blood bag made in advance. This younger brother could mix into the Yan state for four years and truly had the acting skills of a movie emperor. After all, he had spent time in a pile of corpses and his pretense was top-ss. There was not only blood on his chest but also in his mouth.

    It was so realistic that it was hard on him.

    Xiao Lou personally came up to check his brother¡¯s breath before shaking his head at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Dead.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Bring all those alive back to the prefectural magistrate¡¯s office for interrogation and take away the body of the dead!¡±

    The group of bailiffs and subordinates escorted the prisoners back to the prefectural magistrate¡¯s office as well as Xiao Yu¡¯s ¡®corpse.¡¯ Xiao Yu pretended to be dead until the night was quiet.

    Xiao Lou secretly took him to the study and asked him some questions, ¡°On the night of the prince¡¯s birthday, was it Xue Yang who went to the backyard of the prince¡¯s mansion?¡±

    Xiao Yu replied, ¡°It is her. She explored the environment of the pce so she should escape at any time.¡±

    In other words, the assassin that Qin Rui saw go over the wall was indeed Xue Yan. Then after she came to the Buddhist temple, she masked herself with white gauze and pretended to be the fourth youngdy to fool Qin Rui.

    Then who owned the piece of guard¡¯s clothing found in Lin Shaobo¡¯s hand? Xiao Yu said he didn¡¯t know. It seemed he had little involvement with the murder case.

    Yu Hanjiang opened the back door of the prefectural magistrate¡¯s house for him and helped clear the obstacles in advance to let him go to the Yan state as soon as possible.

    Seeing his brother disappear into the night, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help worrying. ¡°Will there be danger when he meets the third prince?¡±

    Yu Hanjiangforted him. ¡°Rest assured. He stayed for four years in Yan and his martial arts ability is high. He will have ways to protect himself. The crown prince is ambitious and cold-hearted. Once the crown prince ascends the throne, he will surely be a tyrant. It should be right for us to assist the third prince to ascend the throne.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded, his brow furrowed. ¡°The mystery of the assassins has been fully revealed. It was formed by the ambitious crown prince of the Yan state. However, there are still no clues about the murder of the eldest youngdy.¡±

    The two of them started to reanalyze the case.

    Xiao Lou carefully sorted out the timeline of the case.

    At 6 o¡¯clock in the afternoon of the prince¡¯s birthday, the assassin Xue Yan entered the backyard of the prince¡¯s mansion. She crossed the wall and was discovered by the passing guard Qin Rui. Qin Rui hurriedly chased her and met the third youngdy and two maids (witnesses) on the way. Qin Rui finally chased her to the Buddhist Temple. Xue Yan was masked and posing as the fourth youngdy and managed to leave.

    At the same time, the eldest youngdy saw the private backyard meeting between the fourth youngdy and Lin Shaobo. The third youngdy also met the fourth youngdy at the rockery.

    The prince¡¯s birthday banquet started and at around 7:30 p.m., Xue Yan stabbed at the prince and escaped after failing. She had checked the terrain of the pce and it was to escape. The guards of the pce failed to catch her. At the same time, Lin Shaobo disappeared using the excuse of ¡®using the toilet.¡¯

    At 8 o¡¯clock, a maid rushed over to report that she saw the eldest youngdy hanging from a tree in the yard. After Xiao Lou analyzed the body, the time of death of the eldest youngdy was around 6 o¡¯clock. The hanging was just disguised as a suicide and she was actually poisoned.

    There were many things happening at 6 o¡¯clock and the clues were very concentrated.

    ording to the timeline, the eldest youngdy saw the fourth youngdy and Lin Shaobo dating in the backyard. The fourth youngdy had a guilty conscience and hurriedly escaped. She ran into the third youngdy and pretended she was unwell, returning to Hongmei Park. At the same time, the third youngdy saw Qin Rui chasing someone to the Buddhist Temple and Qin Rui saw the assassin posing as the fourth youngdy. After that, Lin Shaobo might¡¯ve gone to the eldest youngdy for an exnation or he might¡¯ve gone back to the front yard in a panic. The eldest youngdy witnessed something she shouldn¡¯t have and was killed.

    It was certain that the eldest youngdy¡¯s death was around 6 o¡¯clock.

    Lin Shaobo¡¯s body was soaked in water for one night and Xiao Lou could only determine that his death time was between 19-20 o¡¯clock. It was because Lin Shaobo was sitting in the front yard with Shao Qingge at 7 o¡¯clock to watch the performance. He was killed after leaving the party.

    The two of them died one after another and both without any witnesses.

    Xue Yan was avoiding the pursuit of Qin Rui and it definitely wasn¡¯t her who killed the eldest youngdy. The fourth youngdy hurriedly fled back to Hongmei Park and couldn¡¯t be the murderer. The third youngdy witnessed the fourth youngdy and Qin Rui and didn¡¯t have any motive.

    Judging from the piece of guard¡¯s clothing in Lin Shaobo¡¯s hand, the person who killed the eldest youngdy and Lin Shaobo should be someone else. This person was moving around the backyard of the prince¡¯s mansion between 6 o¡¯clock and 8 o¡¯clock, disguising himself as a guard or wearing the same material as the guard.

    Who could lurk in the prince¡¯s mansion for so long without being discovered?

    Xiao Lou frowned as he thought carefully about it. ¡°First of all, this person must be someone that the eldest youngdy knew. It is because she was poisoned and showed no signs of a struggle before her death. This person can make the eldest youngdy eat poisoned food. If a strange guard appeared in the backyard, the eldest youngdy would definitely be surprised and even call out to attract attention.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°She didn¡¯t struggle or call out so she should be familiar with this person. In addition, this person is very familiar with theyout of the prince¡¯s mansion and even knows the clothes of the guards. He appeared in the backyard of the prince¡¯s mansion in the guard¡¯s uniform but he didn¡¯t encounter any of the wives or the maids. This indicates that he specifically picked blind spots to act in. He is familiar with the backyard of the prince¡¯s mansion as he is with his home.¡±

    Home?

    Yu Hanjiang spoke up to here and suddenly had a sh. He nced at Xiao Lou who also had bright eyes.

    The two of them uttered a name at the same time. ¡°Qi Fenghua?!¡±

    They actually thought of it together!

    Xiao Lou felt his eyes suddenly be bright as he carefully analyzed, ¡°He knows the eldest youngdy, is familiar with theyout of the backyard of the prince¡¯s mansion and even the clothing of the guards. He can pretend to be a guard and sneak into the backyard. The only one who meets so many conditions is the eldest young master of the prince¡¯s mansion who was ignored by us, Qi Fenghua!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°If the murderer is him, Qi Yiyao definitely wouldn¡¯t be prepared to see her brother. Perhaps Qi Yiyao asked him doubtfully, ¡®Why did youe back suddenly?¡¯ or ¡®Why are you in this clothing?¡¯ QI Fenghua would use the excuse of surprising their father and then take his sister to a secluded ce using an excuse to feed his sister poison.¡±

    Xiao Lou followed the other person¡¯s analysis. ¡°After poisoning the eldest youngdy, he first hid the body. He took advantage of the party and no one being in the backyard to hang his sister from the tree, disguising it as a suicide. At 7:30, Lin Shaobo left the dinner party and went back to give an exnation to the eldest youngdy. Perhaps he witnessed the scene where Qi Fenghua was hanging his sister on the tree and was killed by Qi Fenghua.¡±

    Xiao Lou opened his transcripts and was confused. ¡°However, there is a small testimony that isn¡¯t right. I remember the two maids saying they passed by the pond in the afternoon and heard the sound of something falling into the water. Then they immediately saw Qin Rui chasing someone. At that time, it should be 6 o¡¯clock and Master Lin wasn¡¯t dead because he attended the dinner party and left after 7 o¡¯clock. How can there be the sound of something falling into the water?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Perhaps the sound of something falling into the pond wasn¡¯t the body of Master Lin. During the daytime, there is bound to be a lot of movement if a body falls into the water. Perhaps it was Qi Fenghua who identally knocked over something like a stone into the pond, making a sound. The eldest youngdy heard it and came over, encountering her brother who shouldn¡¯t be in the prince¡¯s mansion and leading to the fatal disaster.¡±

    Xiao Lou realized. ¡°It all makes sense!¡±

    Qi Fenghua was on the front lines and hadn¡¯t returned to the prince¡¯s mansion. Then he suddenly appeared at the mansion on the day of the prince¡¯s birthday. This definitely wasn¡¯t right.

    His younger sister saw him appearing at the wrong time and in the wrong ce. Once she let the prince know about it, the prince would definitely investigate and find out that Qi Fenghua was probably involved in the rebellion.

    It was unclear exactly what he did when he returned to the prince¡¯s mansion but his return should never be known.

    Therefore, Qi Fenghua ruthlessly killed his sister to shut her mouth.

    Then Lin Shaobo suddenly left during the dinner, probably wanting to exin to the eldest youngdy. As a result, he witnessed the scene where Qi Fenghua was hanging the eldest youngdy from a tree. Lin Shaobo was shocked and turned to run, but Qi Fenghua was strong and powerful. He immediately flew from behind to grab Lin Shaobo¡¯s neck. Young Master Lin struggled frantically, tearing off a piece of cloth from Qi Fenghua¡¯s sleeve and Lin Shaobo ended up being thrown into the pond.

    It was already dark at this time and everyone was attracted by the discovery of the youngdy hanging. No one noticed that under the cold moonlight, there was the floating body of a strangled man in the pond not far away.

 Chapter 178: Beacon in Troubled Times 28

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s reasoning put together all the testimonies from when they questioned the wives, youngdies, maids and guards. The timeline and the murderer¡¯s motive and logic also matched. Xiao Lou subjectively believed that their reasoning was close to the truth but no matter how the two of them spected, it was only theoretical. They had no actual evidence!

    They couldn¡¯t rely solely on spection to convict a person. Evidence was the key.

    In this case, no witnesses existed at all. No one saw when the eldest youngdy died in the backyard. It was dark when Lin Shaobo was strangled and no one saw who strangled him.

    The physical evidence was even harder to find. The drug that killed the eldest youngdy was swallowed and digested. In ancient times, there were no professional instruments to test drugs from the blood of the deceased or to extract fingerprints from the white cloth¡­

    So even if they spected that the murderer was likely to be the mysterious young master of the prince¡¯s mansion, Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t convince the prince or the emperor. He couldn¡¯t just say that it was his guess.

    Strong evidence must be found.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned for a moment. ¡°We first need evidence of time. Qi Fenghua is supposed to be on the front lines of the war between Qi and Yan, only to suddenly appear in Jiangzhou. This is naturally unreasonable. Xiao Yu is heading to Yan. It is better to send him a flying pigeon letter and have him confirm if Qi Fenghua is in the barracks. As long as he confirms that Qi Fenghua has left the barracks then the timing will make sense.¡±

    Xiao Lou turned to look thoughtfully at the map of the four nations hanging on the wall. ¡°How long does it take to reach Jiangzhou from the front lines?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang roughly measured the distance using his thumb and index finger. ¡°It took us a day and a night to get from the capital to Jiangzhou. The journey from Jiangzhou to the frontlines is five times the distance as it is to the front lines. Even on a fast horse, it should take five days and five nights.¡±

    In order to facilitate the resolution of this case, the four countries set in this world were rtively small and the time spent on the road wasn¡¯t too much. Otherwise, if it was the vast territory of the Tang Dynasty then it would take several months on the road to reach the border from the capital.

    It had been less than five days since the eldest youngdy¡¯s death. Xiao Lou looked back at Yu Hanjiang and stated, ¡°The journey takes five days and five nights. It is toote even if Qi Fenghua immediately returned to the front lines after killing. So he is probably still in Jiangzhou?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also thought the same way. He frowned and spected, ¡°Qi Fenghua took the risk to return to Jiangzhou. There must be something he needs to handle and he wouldn¡¯t leave so quickly. He disguised as a guard and entered the pce. We must find out what he wanted to do to understand his true motive.¡±

    Xiao Yu nodded. ¡°I will write a letter to my brother Xiao Yu should have clues about QI Fenghua.¡±

    The three pigeons raised in the Fragrant Sky House could also send messages to Xiao Yu. During his stay in Jiangzhou, Xiao Yu had contacted Aunt Qing through the pigeons there. However, Xiao Lou had the faster Li Qingzhao.

    Li Qingzhao¡¯s second skill, Who Sent the Brocade from Beyond the Clouds? could lock onto the target and it couldn¡¯t be intercepted. The speed was also several times faster than a generalmunication pigeon. Xiao Lou carefully exined their reasoning in the letter and asked his brother to mix into the barracks while passing by the front lines to check Qi Fenghua¡¯s situation. Then send a letter back using this pigeon after finding it.

    Meanwhile, Yu Hanjiang spent the night interrogating the assassins.

    Aunt Qing was the boss of the Fragrant Sky House and the leader of the intelligence organization in Jiangzhou. She naturally knew a lot of information. However, the middle-aged woman had a strong personality and tenacious spirit. It was basically impossible to pry her mouth open and have her tell the truth.

    Yu Hanjiang had to use psychological tactics. He carefully observed her expression and directly asked, ¡°Do you know the crown prince of Yan?¡±

    Something shed in Aunt Qing¡¯s eyes and she immediately denied it. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at her coldly. ¡°Then do you know the eldest son of the prince¡¯s mansion, Qi Fenghua?¡±

    Aunt Qing replied nkly, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°It was the crown prince of Yan¡¯s idea to send Xue Yan to kill the prince? Did he want to mess up Jiangzhou and use the death of the prince to destroy the marriage between Yan and Qi?¡±

    Aunt Qing answered with an ¡®I don¡¯t know¡¯ to all questions.

    There was no harvest after half an hour. Yu Hanjiang had to put her back and let Xue Yane.

    Xue Yan also gritted her teeth and said nothing. However, Qin Rui and Xiao Yu were witnesses who ced her as the assassin who went to assassinate the prince. Her confessing or not didn¡¯t affect Yu Hanjiang¡¯s judgment of the case.

    After questioning the newly captured assassins, Yu Hanjiang whispered to Xiao Lou, ¡°Aunt Qing is indeed under the crown prince of Yan. Her eyes flicked when I mentioned him, her body stiffened and there was ayer of cold sweat on her forehead. They are typical signs of when a criminal is told the key of the matter.¡± Yu Hanjiang touched his chin thoughtfully. ¡±However, she looked confused when Qi Fenghua¡¯s name was mentioned. She really doesn¡¯t know him.¡±

    Xiao Lou naturally wouldn¡¯t question Yu Hanjiang¡¯s judgment and he carefully analyzed, ¡°If Aunt Qing doesn¡¯t know Qi Fenghua, does it mean Qi Fenghua and the crown prince of Yan might not be together? His purpose of returning to Jiangzhou has nothing to do with the assassins. Then what did he suddenly return to Jiangzhou to do?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps he is rted to the rebellious force in Qi that we have been investigating?¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed with a nod. ¡°There is only this exnation.¡±

    If this was the case, it was normal for Qi Fenghua to kill his blood sister. After all, in ancient times, many emperors stepped on a mountain of corpses to climb to the throne. What was wrong with killing several rtives in the process as long as they could seed? There were often brothers who would cruel to each other and fathers and sons who killed each other. What¡¯s more, his sister was someone who recited Buddhist scripture every day and couldn¡¯t help him in any way.

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help feeling cold when he thought about the scene of Qi Yiyao being poisoned by her brother.

    He took a deep breath to calm down before speaking, ¡°Qi Fenghua has been on the front lines for so many years and there is no reason for him to suddenly rebel. There must be an opportunity. He can¡¯t do such big things with his own strength. There must be some rebel forces behind him. We have to find someone who understands the front line to check his experience in detail.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought carefully. ¡°I¡¯m afraid we can only ask your brother about this matter. He is the only one returning to the front line.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and immediately sent the flying pigeon to his brother.

    It was almost 1 in the morning and Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t slept. Their teammates were also too embarrassed to sleep.

    During this time, Shao Qingge had settled Ye Qi and Liu Qiao in the nearby inns. After Yu Hanjiang interrogated the assassins, Shao Qingge took them and slipped in the back door of the prefectural magistrate¡¯s house. They were concerned about the progress of the case.

    Xiao Lou told everyone about their inferences. The killer was likely to be the eldest son of the prince.

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°I thought something was missed. It turned out to be the young master of the prince¡¯s mansion!¡±

    Shao Qingge rubbed his temple. ¡°I really don¡¯t fit the Hearts secret rooms. I don¡¯t even remember the name of the young master.¡±

    ¡°He is called Qi Fenghua.¡± Old Mo remembered the name very clearly and frowned. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect it to be him¡­ the previous introduction said he was on the front lines. I thought he was a general focused on fighting at the front lines and had little to do with this case.¡±

    Liu Qiao concluded, ¡°It seems the young master with the lowest sense of existence has actually been in Jiangzhou. On the day of the prince¡¯s birthday, he hid in the backyard for over two hours. Some of us were wandering around the backyard. If we met him, perhaps we would¡¯ve been directly killed by him?¡±

    Hearing this, everyone got chills.

    The boss had been around but they didn¡¯t even think of him or find him.

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°At present, our reasoning has fallen into a bottleneck. What exactly does Qi Fenghua want to do by suddenly returning to Jiangzhou? He doesn¡¯t seem to have anything to do with the assassins of Yan. Aunt Qing doesn¡¯t know him and my brother didn¡¯t mention that he had anything to do with the assassination of the prefectural magistrate and the prince. Qi Fenghua killing his sister must be an ident.¡±

    Ye Qi scratched his head and carefully thought about it.

    Shao Qinggeughed from next to him. ¡°Miss Ye, you are now ady, Don¡¯t scratch your hair into a chicken nest.¡±

    Ye Qi blushed. He immediately retracted his hands and straightened his long hair.

    Suddenly, Ye Qi¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Yes, I remember that the envoys from Zhao who came to Jiangzhou have never yed a role. Perhaps they have a rtionship with the young master?¡±

    Everyone froze the moment these words came out.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou nced at each other and their hearts actually opened up.

    Ye Qi was quite clever and was worthy of being the clever ghost who got an S-grade evaluation in the early Hearts room. Xiao Lou inwardly praised him and gazed at him admiringly, ¡°Xiao Ye is right. The Zhao envoys should have some role too.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Since the assassins of Yan don¡¯t know the young master, perhaps the young master has nothing to do with Yan. Instead, he has a rtionship with Zhao. Perhaps our initial reasoning was right but the target was wrong.¡±

    What was the right idea but wrong target? Shao Qingge didn¡¯t understand much and decided to give up thinking. He sat next to them, shaking the fan and listened to everyone¡¯s analysis. He continued to smile as he took the posture of lying down and winning.

    Old Mo thought carefully about their initial reasoning, ¡°Do you mean when you first thought the prince and Zhao joined forces to jointly usurp the throne?¡±

    Liu Qiao also remembered this matter. ¡°At that time, Yu daren spected that the second youngdy and second prince of Zhao already have a marriage contract. if the prince and second prince of Zhao form an alliance, the second prince will help the prince usurp the throne while the prince will help the second prince take the throne. The two sides will have a mutually beneficial rtionship.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou originally thought like this.

    The timing of the Zhao state¡¯s envoys was a bit suspicious and they did enter the pce on the prince¡¯s birthday. If the prince and envoys were conspiring then they might¡¯ve been overhead by the eldest youngdy.

    Then after careful observation and reasoning, it was found that the prince wasn¡¯t a traitor. He was on the side of the emperor. During thete emperor¡¯s reign, the prince personally suggested to pass on the throne to thete emperor¡¯s grandson and he helped quell the rebellion.

    Yu Hanjiang concluded, ¡°Now it seems that the prince is innocent. On the contrary, it is the young master of the prince¡¯s mansion who is possibly colluding with Zhao. So our inference at the beginning was correct but we had the wrong target. The one who wanted to collude with Zhao to rebel wasn¡¯t the Eighth Prince but the eldest son of the Eighth Prince, Qi Fenghua.¡±

    Their teammates feltplicated after hearing this.

    The A-grade secret room was really confusing. The rtionships between the characters in the prince¡¯s mansion alone was huge and it involved the two foreign forces of Yan and Zhao. It was a mess.

    The Yan assassins sent a beautiful woman to assassinate the emperor and Qi Fenghua wanted to join with Zhao to usurp the throne. If Yu Hanjiang and his party couldn¡¯t solve the case in time, the emperor on the dragon chair might be killed!

    Regardless of whether the emperor died from an assassin of an enemy country or a traitor, as long as the emperor died, Daqi would be in chaos. Their team would naturally be defeated and eliminated. It was really thrilling to think about.

    Fortunately, the mystery of the assassin line had been sessfully solved. The crown prince of Yan in charge of the assassin organization wanted to confuse Qi by assassinating the prefectural magistrate, prince and even the emperor. Apart from Xiao Yu, all the assassins were arrested. Yu Hanjiang also sent a letter to warn the emperor so this line was considered to be temporarily ended.

    In the other line, it was likely that the young master colluded with Zhao to rebel.

    There were two lines of analysis and the entire case had finally be clear!

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°We still need evidence. Has the Zhou state¡¯s envoys left yet?¡±

    Mo Xuemin immediately replied, ¡°No, I saw them today when I passed by. They are all living at the Jiangzhou ry station and a reception has been arranged for them by the prince¡¯s mansion.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Liu Qiao and Ye Qi. ¡°Xiao Liu, Xiao Ye, you both have fast discement cards and are responsible for watching this envoy group. If there are any changes then report it immediately.¡±

    Liu Qiao and Ye Qi nodded at the same time. ¡°Understood.¡±

 Chapter 179: Beacon in Troubled Times 29

    At this time, Xiao Yu was quickly spurring his horse to move to the front line. He had already left Jiangzhou City when he saw a carrier pigeon behind him. Xiao Yu stood on the horse¡¯s back and fly up lightly to grab the pigeon. He tied the horse to a tree and read the letter in the moonlight.

    The writing on the letter was upright and it was written by his brother. His brother told him to do things. First, when he passed by the front lines, go to the military camp to find out if Qi Fenghua was present in the camp. Second, his brother asked him about QI Fenghua¡¯s situation on the front lines in recent years.

    Xiao Yu frowned slightly. He simply bit his finger and quickly wrote on the back of the letter.

    ¡°Qi Fenghua has been an ordinary lieutenant general in the army for many years. He is of noble blood and has high self-esteem. He refuses to ept the general and shes a few times with the general. However, since the general is themander of the front lines, Qi Fenghua can only listen to his orders. He oftenined about it. The two of them are at odds with each other so the general didn¡¯t allow him to lead soldiers to fight. Qi Fenghua is only responsible for the transportation of food. I haven¡¯t seen him since I went to Yan. I will check carefully to see if he is in the barracks or not.¡±

    Xiao Yu had the pigeon go back after finishing the letter.

    Xiao Lou received it and handed it to Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang raised his eyebrows. ¡°In this way, Qi Fenghua has been very dispirited in the army. He refuses to ept the general and is suppressed by the general. The emperor won¡¯t promote him and he has probably been angry for a long time. Now someone promised to let him be the emperor if he cooperates with the Zhao state¡¯s rebellion and he will naturally agree.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t know if Ye Qi has any clues¡­¡±

    Just then, Ye Qi¡¯s voice was heard in Xiao Lou¡¯s mind. ¡°The Zhao envoys are taking action. A group of people suddenly rode horses out of the city. Should Liu Qiao and I follow?¡±

    In order tomunicate in a timely manner, Xiao Lou and Ye Qi were tied together using Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. Once Xiao Lou heard this, he immediately ordered, ¡°Keep up and pay attention to your safety. Don¡¯t be discovered by them and use the invisibility card when necessary.¡±

    ¡°Yes, we will follow. I¡¯ll report when there is information!¡±

    ording to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s instructors, Ye Qi and Liu Qiao stationed themselves near the ry post. As a result, they had only watched it for less than half an hour when the door of the ry post opened and a group headed outside the city.

    It was three in the morning.

    The night was as cold as water. The moon hung high in the sky and the surroundings were so quiet that only the tter of horse hooves was heard.

    Ye Qi and Liu Qiao nced at each other and quickly used their card skills to chase behind this group of people while reporting directions to Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang quickly responded and rode out of the city.

    The Zhao envoy group acted like the wind.

    However, Liu Qiao¡¯s Light as a Swallow meant she could fly using the help of trees. There were trees everywhere outside Jiangzhou and she moved between the trees like a master of ancient light footwork skills.

    Ye Qi¡¯s teleportation card could teleport 50 metres at a time. Once Liu Qiao found a goodnding point, he could teleport directly to the tree.

    One flew through the tree and the other followed under the trees, keeping a distance of approximately 50 metres from the Zhao envoys.

    There was wind at night. Liu Qiao was thin and light, She also wore ck clothes and she didn¡¯t catch the Zhao envoys¡¯ attention as she jumped between trees. Ye Qi also found a ck outfit to put on and covered his face with ck cloth.

    They soon followed the envoy group out of the city.

    Ye Qi and Liu Qiao didn¡¯t dare to act rashly and could only report to Xiao Lou while carefully tracking.

    30 minutester, the Zhao envoys came to the mountain outside the city.

    There was a temple on the mountain outside Jiangzhou city. The ancient temple was located in the mountains and it was very quiet at night. The envoys stopped near the ancient temple. Ye Qi and Liu Qiao went up together and put on the invisibility cloak to avoid being found.

    There was a spring near the ancient temple. By the spring water, two tall men stood opposite each other.

    One of the men was in white. He was handsome and a piece of green transparent jade hung from his waist. He held a folding fan in his hand and he was smiling. He wore white clothes in the moonlight and looked like an immortal.

    Standing opposite him was a young man in ck with sharp eyes.

    Ye Qi suddenly spoke in his mind, ¡°The man in ck looks like a younger version of the prince. Is he Qi Fenghua?¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were on the way. They heard this and immediately told Ye Qi, ¡°Don¡¯t move and listen to what they¡¯re saying. Take care to hide with the invisibility cloak and don¡¯t alert them.¡±

    Ye Qi pricked his ears and continued to eavesdrop.

    He saw Qi Fenghua frown and asked, ¡°Second prince, when are you going to act?¡±

    The second princeughed. ¡°Brother Qi, don¡¯t worry. Poisoning the crown prince at the wedding banquet is very risky and I need to n carefully. In order to ensure sess, I must ensure the crown prince dies without knowing. Then find a ¡®killer¡¯ without raising my father¡¯s suspicion so I can be crown prince.¡±

    Qi Fenghua nodded. ¡°There are still a few months before you marry Princess Sukan. I hope you will be ready soon.¡¯

    The second prince¡¯s eyes narrowed and he spoke coldly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t let him sit in the crown prince¡¯s position for too long.¡±

    Qi Fenghua was silent for a moment before pulling out a delicate bottle. ¡°This is the highly toxic poison I mentioned in my letter. It is a powder that I know was personally developed by a poison master. It is colourless and tasteless when mixed with food. Just put a spoonful onto food or into wine and the other person won¡¯t be able to detect it. This is enough to poison dozens of people you want to deal with.¡±

    The second prince took it with a smile. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Qi Fenghua told him, ¡°After things are done, don¡¯t forget our agreement.¡±

    The second prince nodded. ¡°Of course. Brother Qi helped me ascend to the throne and I will definitely help youplete your long-cherished wish. Later, we will be sharing these rivers and mountains. The Zhao state and Qi state alliance. Isn¡¯t it good?¡±

    Qi Fenghua clenched his fist in his palm. ¡°I can¡¯t stay in Jiangzhou for long. Until we meet again.¡±

    Seeing that Qi Fenghua was about to flee down the mountain, Ye Qi immediately called out to Xiao Lou. ¡°Qi Fenghua is going down the mountain. Liu Qiao and I might not be able to catch him!¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Hanjiang and I have reached the foot of the mountain, Qi Fenghua won¡¯t be able to escape. The two of you continue to watch the second prince.¡±

    Ye Qi was relieved and continued the monitoring.

    After Qi Fenghua left, the second prince blew the bamboo flute around his wrist. The group of envoys ran forward and knelt down. ¡°We greet your Highness!¡±

    The second prince raised his hand and motioned for them to get up.

    A man said, ¡°Your Highness has summoned this subordinate. What is yourmand?¡±

    The second prince waved his fan and smiled. ¡°I secretly sneaked into Daqi this time., Apart from getting medicine to someone, I wanted to see the appearance of the princess my father has betrothed me to. Since my goals have been achieved, we should go back as soon as possible to avoid any doubts.¡±

    The envoy asked, ¡°But is it proper to leave suddenly like this?¡±

    The second prince spoke lightly, ¡°Just leave a letter saying that you are busy with Zhao¡¯s internal affairs and to forgive you for leaving without saying goodbye. Thank him for the hospitality these days and say that the second prince willter pay a visit in person.¡±

    He waved his hand and turned to his hose. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    The envoys followed him down the mountain on the other side.

    At this time, the bottom of the mountain.

    Yu Hanjiang brought the group of shadow guards and surrounded the mountain.

    The token given to him by the emperor finally came in handy. The shadow guards saw the token and treated him like the emperor. They didn¡¯t hesitate to follow Yu Hanjiang¡¯s instructions. There were dozens of shadow guards strong in martial arts and Qi Fenghua would never be able to escape.

    Qi Fenghua came down the mountain and sensed that something was wrong.

    He raised his ears in an alert manner and observed the surroundings.

    The surroundings were terribly quiet. The trees formed a group of dark shadows in the moonlight and the ck shadows on the ground spread their ws like ghosts dancing.

    Something hung from a white cloth on a tree not far away. It looked like a woman in white was hanging there, fluttering in the wind.

    This image reminded him of his sister hanging from the tree in the prince¡¯s mansion¡­

    Qi Fenghua was clever and his body instantly stiffened. He didn¡¯t believe in ghosts so once he saw the white shadow hanging from the tree, he immediately pulled out his sword and flew over, cutting the white silk with his silk. Then he yelled, ¡°Who is pretending to be a ghost?¡±

    The white silk disappeared and the ¡®white woman¡¯ fell to the ground, revealing her true face. It was a doll made of white cloth.

    Qi Fenghua was shocked and realized he had been fooled. The next moment, a giant fell from the sky and almostpletely covered him.

    Fortunately, Qi Fenghua reacted fast enough and immediately flew toward a tree. However, numerous ck shadows sprung up around him. The light of their swords was like white snow and instantly covered him. He might be strong in martial arts but he was still forced tond.

    Another huge was carried by several people in ck with excellent light footwork skills. They surrounded him in groups!

    There were more and more detaileds. The formation of this group of people meant Qi Fenghua had nowhere to escape. He struggled for a moment before finally being captured by the eight people in ck!

    There was a sudden sh of light and Qi Fenghua squinted. He saw a group of men in ck holding torches in their hands. Others were holding bows and sharp arrows were aimed at him. A man and a woman walked out from the crowd. The man was tall and handsome while the woman wore a blue cloak and had an extraordinary temperament under the moonlight.

    ¡°Young Master QI, how fortunate.¡± Yu Hanjiang lowered his voice and spoke slowly. ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to be on the front lines? How did you appear in Jiangzhou?¡±

    Qi Fenghua pretended to be calm. ¡°Who are you? What are you talking about? My name is Qi Zhao and I¡¯m a hunter on the mountain. Then as I was descending the mountain, I was inexplicably caught by you! Let me go! You have the wrong person.¡±

    ¡°Is it?¡± Yu Hanjiang spoke coldly. ¡°Mr Qi¡¯s appearance is extremely simr to the prince. I am the prefectural magistrate and have been ordered to investigate a murder case. This means I have a lot of contact with the prince and shouldn¡¯t have made a mistake. Besides, didn¡¯t Young Master Qi just meet with the second prince of Zhao? The second prince is of royal birth. How can he meet a hunter?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Qi Fenghua¡¯s face was as grey as death.

    ¡°Just now, I made a white doll with my husband and hung it from the tree to y. I didn¡¯t expect Master Qi¡¯s reaction to be so fierce. The moment you saw it, you flew over and cut off the white silk with your sword. I wonder why?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Qi Fenghua¡¯s gaze was eager to tear apart the but the trapping him was made of special materials and he couldn¡¯t break it, no matter how hard he tried.

    Yu Hanjiang stared at him coldly. ¡°The eldest youngdy of the prince¡¯s mansion, Qi Yiyao. Your sister was killed by you?¡±

    Qi Fenghua gritted his teeth and refused to answer.

    Yu Hanjiang gently raised his eyebrows and met the eyes of a shadow guard. ¡°Search his body.¡±

    Two guards came forward and quickly searched his pockets. Sure enough, the poison was found. It was the poison he just handed over to the second prince and perhaps it was the tool used to kill his sister Qi Yiyao!

    Xiao Lou took the medicine bottle, covered his hand with a piece of cloth and poured out a bit of the powder to observe it carefully. This powder looked a lot like transparent rock sugar powder and was definitely colourless and tasteless. It would be difficult to notice when mixed into food.

    Many clear memories filled his mind.

    In the past, his father found this poison when investigating the serial poisoning case. Later, his father died of the same poison. His mother knew the other person was a poison master and took Xiao Yu and Xiao Lou to escape from the capital. She even made her two sons look like little girls to avoid the murderer tracking them.

    Xiao Lou recalled his childhood experience and clenched his fists tightly. The poison had actually reappeared. If he followed Qi Fenghua then perhaps he could find the murderer who poisoned his father!

    Seeing Xiao Lou¡¯s expression, Yu Hanjiang immediately understood the reason for Xiao Lou¡¯s ugly face. Yu Hanjiang gently held Xiao Lou¡¯s shoulder and whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t be anxious. Now he has been captured and we can always find some clues. If we follow this poisonous powder then it might be possible to uncover the secrets of the rebellious force in the capital.¡±

    He nced at Qi Fenghua coldly and waved to the shadow guard behind him. ¡°Take him away!¡±

    Qi Fenghua was taken to the prefectural magistrate¡¯s ce and looked extremely ugly.

    He had no idea that when he came to meet the second princete at night, he would be caught by the waiting prefectural magistrate!

 Chapter 180: Beacon in Troubled Times 30

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou returned to Jiangzhou with Qi Fenghua while Ye Qi and Liu Qiao continued to track the second prince.

    Jiangzhou happened to be at the border of Qi and Zhao. The second prince and the envoys rode fast horseste at night and quickly reached the border of the two countries. Ye Qi immediately reported what he saw and heard to Xiao Lou. ¡°The second prince has returned to Zhao and a group of people was there to meet him. Should Liu Qiao and I continue to follow?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it. ¡°Youe back first. The duration of the cloak ising to an end. It will be a bad thing if the two of you are caught by the Zhao people.¡±

    Ye Qi and Liu Qiao returned obediently.

    Meanwhile, Yu Hanjiang interrogated Qi Fenghua. The young master was proud and calm after his capture.

    Yu Hanjiang asked coldly, ¡°Young Master, on the 15th of this month, on the day of the prince¡¯s birthday banquet, what did you want to do when you returned to the prince¡¯s mansion disguised as a guard?¡±

    Qi Fenghua replied coldly, ¡°You have the wrong person. I¡¯m not a young master. I¡¯m a hunter from the mountain.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang raised his eyebrows and stared with sharp eyes. ¡°You were in the backyard of the prince¡¯s mansion and happened to meet Miss Qi Yiyao. She recognized you and asked why you came back. Then you actually ruthlessly poisoned your sister and hid her body. Once no one was in the backyard at night, you hung her on a tree with white cloth, disguising her death as a suicide, right?¡±

    Qi Fenghua calmly refused to answer.

    Yu Hanjiang continued, ¡°Lin Shaobo returned to the backyard of the prince¡¯s mansion, wanting to find the eldest youngdy to give her an exnation. As a result, he saw the scene where you hung her on a tree. Lin Shaobo hurriedly fled and you immediately flew behind him, strangling him. He tore a piece of fabric off your sleeve while you were struggling and you pushed his body into the pond before leaving the prince¡¯s mansion, right?¡±

    Qi Fenghua¡¯s face was even uglier and he couldn¡¯t help sneering, ¡°Yu daren can really make up a story. I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about. Everything you said is just a guess. Is there any evidence?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied indifferently, ¡°The of heaven isrge and wide but it lets nothing through. Young master, do you really think that your every action was wless and you left no clues behind?¡±

    Qi Fenghua¡¯s mouth twitched a bit and he seemed to be thinking about whether he left physical evidence or not.

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t continue the interrogation and Qi Fenghua was secretly detained in the backyard of the prefectural magistrate¡¯s office. He returned to the study where Xiao Lou was anxiously waiting. The moment he saw Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression, he knew the result of the interrogation wasn¡¯t ideal. He stepped forward and asked, ¡°Did Qi Fenghua refuse to speak?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang answered softly, ¡°He refused to say anything but his involvement in the rebellion is now well established. Ye Qi and Liu Qiao saw him make contact with the second prince of Zhao and agreed with the second prince to share the benefits. There are witnesses and material evidence. We find this medicine bottle on him. Perhaps by following the clue of the medicine bottle, we can dig out a deeper secret.¡±

    Deeper secret?

    Xiao Lou immediately responded. ¡°You mean the serial murder crime my father investigated?¡±

    ¡°Did theymit suicide or were they killed?¡± Yu Hanjiang suddenly asked.

    ¡°This¡­¡± Xiao Lou was stunned slightly. He wasn¡¯t sure but after thinking about it, he felt this matter wasn¡¯t simple. ¡°Did the two aplices know some secrets and were killed?¡±

    ¡°It is likely.¡± Yu Hanjiang stated. ¡°The prison of the Ministry of Justice is closely guarded and it is very difficult for prisoners tomit suicide in prison. The guards will also search the body before entering the prison. The possibility of them possessing poison is almost zero. In fact, the Ministry of Justice might have a spy who killed the two of them on the night they were caught.¡±

    ¡°It makes sense. Why did my father let the main culprit escape when arresting the criminals? Perhaps it was because someone in the Ministry of Justice reported the news!¡± Xiao Lou felt that his heart had suddenly opened it. The case that his father was involved in wasn¡¯t simple. The main culprit escaped and the two aplices immediatelymitted suicide. Eventually, it became a suspended case and his father was also poisoned!

    ¡°What is the connection between those dead people in the capital?¡± Yu Hanjiang pressed his thumb against his chin as he thought about it. A momentter, he wondered, ¡°What year did your father investigate this case?¡±

    ¡°It seemed to be 13 years ago.¡± Xiao Lou took a moment to recall it. ¡°I fled with my mother 13 years ago.¡±

    ¡°13 years ago?¡± Yu Hanjiang carefully searched his memories for what happened that year. As a child, he had served as apanion for the current emperor for a while. He thought about it and it was exactly 13 years ago!

    At that time, thete emperor had just established his grandson as the crown prince and the little prince was only 10 years old. Not long ago, the queen and concubines suddenly died in the pce. All these things happened in the same year. Was it a coincidence?

    Perhaps Xiao Lou¡¯s father¡¯s poisoning case inadvertently involved pce secrets so he was killed?

    Thinking of this, Yu Hanjiang immediately became alert and stared at Xiao Lou. ¡°Do you remember how your father died?¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully remembered what happened. ¡°That day, my mother took me out of the house. Once we arrived home, I saw my father had fallen on the floor of the study. My mother immediately checked his body and found that my father was poisoned to death. She guessed the murderer hade back and retaliated. She packed up the same day and took me and my brother to escape from the capital.¡±

    It might only be a false memory given to him by the keeper but these past events were too clear in his mind. Xiao Lou thought of the scene of his father¡¯s death and still felt sad.

    ¡°Were there any traces of things being searched at the scene?¡± Yu Hanjiang questioned.

    ¡°It seems to be.¡± Xiao Lou frowned. ¡°The desk was a mess and the books in the bookcase were thrown to the ground. It looked like someone had entered the house to steal things.¡±

    ¡°Then the person should be looking for clues gathered by your father and destroying the evidence.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I think so as well. The case my father was involved in was very strange. The two aplicesmitted suicide and the main culprit escaped. The families of the deceased strangely no longer pursued an investigation. The Ministry of Justice also gave up on the investigation and ended the case directly.¡± Xiao Lou looked up at Yu Hanjiang and asked softly, ¡°Did you think of anything?¡±

    ¡°I have a guess that this is probably rted to the deaths of the crown prince and empress.¡± Yu Hanjiang answered in a deep voice.

    ¡°The crown prince and the empress.¡± Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes were slightly wide. At that time, he was only 10 years old and didn¡¯t know much about the pce court. He just learned medicine and autopsy from his mother and father every day.

    ¡°8 of Hearts is actually three cases.¡± It was only now that Yu Hanjiang finally straightened out the structure of Beacon in Troubled Times.

    There was the Jiangzhou assassin case, the prince¡¯s mansion murder case and the serial murder case in the capital in the past that might involve an internal court battle. Once Qi Fenghua was captured and the colourless and odourless medicinal powder found, the mysterious veil that covered the past 13 years was finally unveiled.

    ¡°13 years ago, many things happened in the capital.¡± Yu Hanjiang took out a book and wrote things down while speaking. ¡°In spring, the crown prince went hunting and was killed by the poisoned arrow of a masked man. Thete emperor was furious and ordered the Ministry of Justice to investigate. After investigation, the Ministry of Justice found that the third prince was responsible for it. Thete emperor simply gave the third prince a cup of poisonous wine.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Xiao Lou saw Yu Hanjiang carefully drawing the timeline on the notebook and stood beside him to watch.

    ¡°After the crown prince¡¯s misfortune, thete emperor started to choose another sessor among the princes. The fifth prince¡¯s mother is Concubine Shu and the sixth prince¡¯s mother is Concubine Ming. There were fighting and scheming in the harem. The crown prince¡¯s birth mother, the empress died of illness. Thete emperor carefully investigated and found that the empress was probably poisoned by Concubine Shu. Concubine Shu also died of illness and investigation found that she was poisoned by Concubine Ming. This was also mentioned in the gossip that the Ninth Princess told Qu Wanyue. The death of the empress and concubine happened in the summer.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I remember this.¡± Xiao Lou remembered that Qu Wanyue had mentioned the gossip involving the harem and analyzed it. ¡°Concubine Shu and Concubine Ming were all involved in the harem struggle. Thete emperor was very disappointed with the fifth prince and sixth prince so he could only set the eighth prince as the crown prince. Unexpectedly, the eighth prince took the initiative to set up the crown prince¡¯s son, the emperor¡¯s grandson as the crown prince?¡±

    ¡°Yes, thete emperor determined the crown prince and it happened in autumn. That autumn, I went to the pce to be the crown prince¡¯s readingpanion and I also heard some rumours about the death of the empress and the concubines. Thete emperor had investigated the harem but there was no evidence, so it could only be finalized as an illness.¡±

    ¡°I clearly remember that the case my father was involved in happened in winter.¡± Xiao Lou frowned thoughtfully.

    The city was a mess that entire year.

    In the spring, at the royal hunting ground outside the capital, the crown prince was shot dead by a poisonous arrow while hunting.

    In the summer, the empress and concubine were poisoned one after another. Eventually, because no evidence was found, it was said they passed away due to ¡®illness.¡¯

    In the autumn, the eighth prince wrote to thete emperor, hoping thete emperor would set a rule where the throne was passed on from the eldest son to his grandson. Thete emperor listened to the suggestion of his youngest son and officially established his grandson as the new crown prince. Yu Hanjiang, who was a child, was called to the pce to be apanion for the crown prince.

    In winter, a case of serial murder suddenly urred in the capital. Xiao Lou¡¯s father was involved in it only to be killed by the murderer. The serial poisoning case was eventually closed by the Ministry of Justice and became a pending case.

    There was a sh as Xiao Lou looked at the timeline clearly drawn by Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Based on the chronological sequence, the serial poisoning case happened at the end. It is almost like someone was cleaning up the aftermath, killing a group of people to shut their mouths. Killing everyone who knows a secret?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°In addition, all the cases involve amon factor¡ªpoison.¡±

    The prince was killed with a poisonous arrow, the empress was poisoned, the concubine was poisoned, the serial murders also involved poison and Xiao Lou¡¯s father was also poisoned. All these seemingly unrted cases actually had a core¡ªthe same crime tool. They were all killed by poison!

    It was likely that all those who died were killed by the same poison, which was the poison that Qi Fenghua gave to the second prince of Zhao. It looked like rock sugar powder and was colourless and odourless when added to food. People would be poisoned to death without knowing it.

    The more Xiao Lou thought about it, the more wrong it felt. ¡°There are many doubtful points when carefully analyzing it. The crown prince died and the murderer was found to be the third prince. The empress died and the most suspected one was Concubine Shu. This suspicion is too broad. How could so many people get a rare poison at the same time? The harem is so strict yet the third prince and the concubines all managed to get the poison. This is impossible!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Madam is right. In the harem, it is impossible for so many murderers to kill with the same crime tool. This highly toxic drug should be banned and it can¡¯t be easily brought into the pce. The third prince and concubines couldn¡¯t have all used the same poison. Then it is likely¡­ they were framed!¡±

    Xiao Lou heard this and his back became cold. ¡°You mean to say, the real murderer has been lurking in the back the entire time?¡±

    If this was the case then the murderer¡¯s heart was really deep and terrible!

    Yu Hanjiang carefully analyzed it. ¡°Assuming that our spection is correct, the real murderer first sent someone to shoot the crown prince with the poisonous arrow and nted the evidence on the third prince, causing thete emperor to kill the third prince by mistake. Then they secretly poisoned the empress and nted the evidence on Concubine Shu, making thete emperor extremely disappointed in her son, the fifth prince. Then they poisoned Concubine Shu and nted the evidence on Concubine Ming, so that thete emperor didn¡¯t like her son, the sixth prince. In all, thete emperor had five living sons. The crown prince and the third prince died. The fifth and sixth princes are out of favour with thete emperor. Who would be the most advantageous?¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    There was only the eighth prince.

    Apart from the perverted murderers, most murderers had motives formitting a crime. ording to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s analysis, the real murderer borrowed a knife to kill their enemies, getting rid of the crown prince, the third prince, the empress and Concubine Shu and Concubine Ming in one breath. The forces of thete emperor¡¯s sons were all pulled down and only the eighth prince wasn¡¯t affected.

    Who could it be?

    It could be seen that the eighth prince didn¡¯t love power. After his older brothers died or fell out of favour, thete emperor wanted to pass on the crown prince position to him. Yet he actually twisted things and made thete emperor set his grandson as the crown prince, which was equivalent to giving up the throne.

    If he hadn¡¯t given up then he would¡¯ve naturally been the crown prince.

    Who would plot all of this for him?

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other and spoke in unison. ¡°The mother of the Eighth Prince?¡±

 Chapter 181: Beacon in Troubled Times 31

    Thete emperor¡¯s harem had many concubines. The empress was thete emperor¡¯s wife and the woman he loved the most.

    Both Concubine Shu and Concubine Ming were from powerful families. Concubine Shu was the daughter of a general while Concubine Ming had a group of ministers behind her. Rtively speaking, the mother of the eighth prince had a terrible low presence in the harem and was almost like an invisible person.

    The two of them didn¡¯t even know her name or title.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was low. ¡°The eighth prince¡¯s mother¡­ I remember my grandfather mentioning that his mother wasn¡¯t involved in the harem battle and seemed to be a woman who stood aloof from worldly affairs.

    Stood aloof from worldly affairs?

    In the ever changing harem, could she really ¡®stand aloof from worldly affairs¡¯?

    Xiao Lou frowned. ¡°If our reasoning is correct, the mother of the eighth prince shouldn¡¯t be a woman who stands aloof from worldly affairs. Rather, she is a deep-hearted, strategically superior woman. She used one stone to kill four people. The crown prince and third prince died one after another and the fifth prince and sixth prince fell out of favour. Only the eighth prince could rise to the throne. This scheme is really cruel and poisonous!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it. ¡°Tomorrow morning, we will go and see the Ninth Princess. She should know what type of person the eighth prince¡¯s mother is!¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Okay, we need to hurry up.¡±

    Early the next morning, Long Sen returned to Jiangzhou and secretly came to the backyard of the prefectural magistrate¡¯s house.

    Long Sen looked very tired. There were thick dark circles under his eyelids. He had rushed nonstop without a break for two days and two nights.

    Xiao Lou saw that he was about to be paralyzed and poured him a ss of water, speaking warmly, ¡°It was hard on you.¡±

    Long Sen drank the water and wiped his mouth before speaking. ¡°I changed between three fast horses ion the way, not daring to rest, and I finally arrived in time. It was really dangerous because there were two days until the emperor¡¯s selection! If we hadn¡¯t delivered the letter in time then the emperor might¡¯ve been assassinated!¡±

    Xiao Lou was amazed. ¡°It seems that if our reasoning speed is too slow and we didn¡¯t find out about the origin of the Yan assassins in time, the emperor in the capital might¡¯ve already died.¡±

    It was a false rm.

    Fortunately, Xiao Lou remembered his younger brother was on the front lines in time and led his brother out to investigate. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have known the emperor would be assassinated and would¡¯ve kept on investigating the prince¡¯s mansion case. In the event of the emperor¡¯s death, the entire secret room would¡¯ve failed!

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou with appreciation. ¡°Fortunately, it wasn¡¯t toote.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°What was the reaction of the emperor after reading the secret letter?¡±

    Long Sen was the shadow guard arranged by the emperor and could contact the shadow guards in the capital for a direct meeting. This was the reason why Yu Hanjiang asked Long Sen to deliver the letter personally.

    The emperor might be young but he was very strategic. Before gaining the throne, he secretly trained arge number of shadow guards.

    Long Sen exined, ¡°His Majesty had me go by a secret path. I was blindfolded and brought to a strange ce. Once I saw His Majesty, I gave him the secret letter. He read it and frowned. He hadn¡¯t expected the assassins to be so arrogant that they would daree to the pce to assassinate him!¡±

    Long Sen imitated the emperor¡¯s manner of speaking. ¡°Go back and tell Yu daren that I will handle the matter of the selection carefully. The selection is two dayster and everything will proceed as usual. I will pull out the assassins in the capital as well as all the traitors in the court!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°He wants to risk himself to lead the snake out of the hole?¡±

    ¡°His Majesty really means this. The selection has been nned for a long time and there are many age-appropriate women already in the capital. It won¡¯t be easy to exin if he rashly cancels it and it might cause civil spection. His Majesty said that he will make advancements in advance to observe all the girls who are beautiful and find the assassins mixed in among them. He said that you shouldn¡¯t worry.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Since His Majesty has made the arrangements, I believe he won¡¯t be afraid of a few assassins. The plotline of the Yan assassins should be finished perfectly.¡±

    The emperor would be responsible for the matter of catching the assassins. Yu Hanjiang had to clear up the plotline of the poisoning case.

    At present, the poisonous case plotline still had some secrets to be uncovered.

    Yu Hanjiang thought up to here and brought Xiao Lou and Old Mo to the prince¡¯s mansion.

    Yu Hanjiang personally reported the results of the assassin organization to the eighth prince. He said that this was a force from the Yan state and it was established by the crown prince of the Yan state. He also said that the Yan state was preparing to send assassins to the emperor and he had sent a letter to inform the emperor.

    The prince suddenly realized. ¡°It turned out to be people from Yan and they dared to act against His Majesty!¡± The prince struck the table and almost flipped it over.

    Yu Hanjiang calmly asked, ¡°The assassins have all been captured. How do you want to deal with this group of assassins?¡±

    The prince thought about it carefully. ¡°Assassination of His Majesty is a capital crime. You don¡¯t need to be merciful and can directly execute them. In addition, since the Fragrant Sky House is the stronghold of the intelligence organization, it can¡¯t be left alone.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°There are four girls left in the Fragrant Sky House. I carefully checked and these four are really innocent. They have no idea about the actions of Aunt Qing and the others. It isn¡¯t good to kill innocent people. How about letting these four go their own way?¡±

    The prince frowned. ¡°Are you sure these four are okay?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°I have found the list of organization members from Aunt Qing and these four aren¡¯t on it. Moreover, I¡¯ve personally investigated and questioned them. They are indeed unaware.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t allow all the Fragrant Sky House girls to be put to death. After all, Ye Qi was also in the Fragrant Sky House.

    The prince told him, ¡°Okay, you are the prefectural magistrate of Jiangzhou and it is up to you how to deal with these four people.¡± The prince touched his chin. ¡°By the way, the two murders in my residence were rted to these assassins?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang naturally couldn¡¯t say ¡®it is likely your daughter was killed by your son¡¯ so he casually made up an excuse. ¡°The assassins haven¡¯t admitted to killing the eldest youngdy. The case of the eldest youngdy and Young Master Lin is still under investigation and some clues have been found. If you allow me a few more days then I will catch the murderer as soon as possible.¡±

    The prince nodded. ¡°Then I will leave it to you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang requested, ¡°There are still some details I want to ask the Ninth Princess. Is the Ninth Princess still here?¡±

    The prince couldn¡¯t help smiling. ¡°Of course. My sister has always been wayward but she was almost killed by the assassin on that day. She is so frightened that she doesn¡¯t dare go out and has been staying in the prince¡¯s mansion.¡±

    He waved to a maid. ¡°Go to the backyard to call the Ninth Princess. Yu daren has something to ask her.¡±

    Momentster, the Ninth Princess along with Qu Wanyue came to the front yard.

    The two of them had changed back into female clothing.

    Qu Wanyue in female clothing was simply a gentle and beautiful ancient Jiangnan woman and Long Sen¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t help brightening at the sight.

    Yu Hanjiang first used some pce gossip to confirm the old things that the Ninth Princess had told Qu Wanyue about. ¡°In the past, I served as thepanion of the crown prince in the royal pce for a period of time. ¡°I heard some rumours¡­ Imperial Concubine Shu poisoned the empress and Imperial Concubine Ming poisoned Imperial Concubine Shu. Ninth Princess, you grew up in the harem. Is this true?¡±

    The Ninth Princess answered, ¡°It is all rumours and there is no real evidence. My father, theter emperor, didn¡¯t send Imperial Concubine Ming to the cold pce. Instead, he made a decree that all the concubines in the harem will be buried with him.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°What about the eighth prince¡¯s mother? Do you know her?¡±

    The Ninth Princess thought about it for a moment. ¡°The eighth prince¡¯s mother is Imperial Concubine Xian. It is said that Imperial Concubine Xian was a folk girl rescued by my father when he went to Jiangzhou. She had no rtives and was one of the most beautiful ones among the concubines in the harem. Her temperament is pure and beautiful. After my father brought her into the harem, she chose the most secluded Qingxin Park to live in and stood aloof from worldly affairs. She had no contact with other concubines. She spent every day making tea and studying Buddhism.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang questioned, ¡°How did thete emperor treat Imperial Concubine Xian?¡±

    ¡°My father really loved her. Her personality was particrly quiet and gentle. My father often went to her to drink tea, saying that he can calm down and refresh the mind when drinking her tea. As a child, I often went to y with Imperial Concubine Xian. There were so many concubines in the harem but my favourite was Imperial Concubine Xian. She was really gentle and always had the fragrance of tea. By the way, she also had some medical skills. When I was a child, she would give me some herbal teas to recuperate whenever she saw I was sick.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other.

    Imperial Concubine Xian, the birth mother of the eighth prince and the woman brought back to the pce by the emperor.

    The woman looked gentle and virtuous on the surface and stood aloof from the world. She lived in the most secluded ce, making tea and reading Buddhist scripture. Perhaps she was actually the most terrifying boss in the harm.

    She loved to make tea. Perhaps she put poison in the tea leaves and quietly poisoned the empress and Concubine Shu before nting it on others!

    Yu Hanjiang followed up with another question. ¡°Thete emperor left a decree for all concubines to be buried with him. What about Imperial Concubine Xian? Is she dead?¡±

    Unexpectedly, the Ninth Princess shook her head. ¡°She is still alive!¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Their hairs were about to stand up!

    Xiao Lou heard this and it felt like his neck was targeted by a poisonous snake. The hidden boss was still alive?

    Yu Hanjiang immediately asked, ¡°How can this be? Didn¡¯t thete emperor order that all concubines be buried with him? Concubine Xian didn¡¯t follow thete emperor¡¯s will?¡±

    The Ninth Princess sighed softly. ¡°More than 10 years ago, my father made the current emperor the crown prince and my Eighth Brother was granted the title of Zhenjiang King. My father built the magnificent Zhenjiang prince¡¯s mansion for him in JIangzhou. My Eighth Brother loves to be an idle prince so he took his wives back to Jiangzhou to settle down. He spent his days ying in the mountains and rivers and was at ease. Once Imperial Concubine Xian knew this, she told my father that she wanted to go to Qingshan Temple to pray for him¡­¡±

    Qingshan Temple, it was the temple outside Jiangzhou!

    The Ninth Princess¡¯s face was full of admiration. ¡°Imperial Concubine Xian truly rejected the world for a monastic life and was at peace with herself. My father saw that she fasts and chants Buddhist scriptures all day and simply let her go. Thus, the virtuous Imperial Concubine Xian fled to Qingshan Temple and became a nun of Qingshan Temple. My father, thete emperor decreed that all concubines in the harem would be buried with him but Concubine Xian is no longer in the harem so there was no need for her to die.¡±

    Last night, Ye Qi and Liu Qiao followed the Zhao state¡¯s envoys to Qingshan Temple and found Qi Fenghua and the second prince of Zhao secretly talking.

    Jiangzhou was so big and there were many ces in the forest suitable for talking. Why choose Qingshan Temple?

    This was the reason!

    Imperial Concubine Xian was still at Qingshan Temple!

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou with bright eyes.

    The case was finally clear.

    This concubine who seized the opportunity to take refuge in a religious life was probably furious with her son. She nned for so long and wiped out all the enemies, only to be pitted by her biological son. Who would¡¯ve thought that the eighth prince had no intention of gaining power. Just as thete emperor was about to pass on the throne to him, he took the initiative to push it away?!

    From the perspective of the eighth prince, ying in the mountains and rivers with a beautiful woman in his arms was the greatest joy in life.

    It was too much trouble to sit in the dragon chair and he would rather be an idle prince.

    Imperial Concubine Xian¡¯s n failed so she had to kill a group of people in the capital to shut their mouths. It was likely that this was the reason for the serial poisoning case in the capital. After all, Concubine Xian couldn¡¯t do so many things alone. She should¡¯ve secretly trained a group of men, even some officials from the court such as those from the Ministry of Justice.

    Since the n failed, these people certainly couldn¡¯t stay so she poisoned a group of people, involving Xiao Lou¡¯s father. Perhaps his father had found out about the empress and prince before he died.

    The aftermath was well handled and Imperial Concubine Xian used a pretense to seek refuge in a religious life.

    Thete emperor was already old and the empress and crown prince had an ident. The old man¡¯s heart must be very tired and she was always gentle and virtuous. He must¡¯ve been worried that she would be murdered if she stayed in the harem. Therefore, thete emperor agreed to let her out of the harem so she could enjoy her old age in a temple.

    Thete emperor probably never thought that the gentlest and most aloof concubine was actually the real murderer behind the scenes.

    She hid too deeply!

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help admiring her scheming. If a woman could be an emperor in this world then this concubine might¡¯ve be the emperor. The entire harem of thete emperor was yed by her. In the end, all the harem women were killed but she survived.

    However, her son wasted everything she set up.

    Therefore, she looked at her grandson. She started to help Qi Fenghua to rebel?

 Chapter 182: Beacon in Troubled Times 32

    After learning that Imperial Concubine Xian lived in Qingshan Temple outside Jiangzhou, Yu Hanjiang immediately summoned the shadow guards to surround Qingshan Temple.

    At noon, the zing sun hung in the air and the sunlight was particrly dazzling.

    Qingshan Temple had a quiet environment. It was surrounded by green bamboo with a clear stream flowing. The sound of the stream filled the ears and there was also the regr sound of wooden fish being knocked together in the temple. It was a ce that really seemed to stand aloof from worldly affairs.

    Who would¡¯ve imagined that murderous woman with a deep heart would live here?

    Yu Hanjiang waved his hand and all the shadow guards flew into the temple.

    In the front of the temple was a woman wearing a in blue gown and a nun¡¯s headpiece on her head. She was kneeling in front of the Buddhist temple, holding scripture in one hand and knocking a wooden fish in the other.

    The sound of footsteps and the rustling wind behind her didn¡¯t seem to affect her.

    She was still attentively reading the scriptures until a cold voice came from behind her. ¡°Concubine Xian, when you were chanting sutras to the Buddha statue, did you ever think about whether the souls of those poisoned by you can really rest in peace?¡±

    The woman opened her eyes. These eyes were as clear as water, as if they truly rejected worldly affairs. She might not have any powder applied to her face and she was only wearing a rough blue dress but it was still difficult to hide her pure and refined temperament. No wonder why thete emperor was fascinated by her at the beginning, regardless of her life experience, and directly brought her back to the pce to be a concubine.

    The woman kneeling in front of the Buddha statue spoke without turning her head. ¡°Amitabha, I¡¯ve taken refuge in religious life a long time ago. I¡¯m asking you to please speak cautiously and to not disturb the peace of Buddha with ordinary affairs.

    Yu Hanjiang sneered. ¡°Is this true? Imperial Concubine Xian has already be a nun. The witnesses and physical evidence from 13 years ago are no longer avable and it naturally can¡¯t be investigated. Unfortunately, you fell short 13 years ago and still fell short now.¡±

    He waved his hand and ordered, ¡°Bring Qi Fenghua.¡±

    The shadow guards immediately brought Qi Fenghua over, Long Sen personally escorting him. Qi Fenghua¡¯s face was as dark as the bottom of the pot while the expression of the calm Imperial Concubine Xian finally changed. She slowly stood up and turned to Qi Fenghua with disbelief.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Imperial Concubine Xian, don¡¯t you know your own grandson?¡±

    Imperial Concubine Xian and Qi Fenghua were rtively silent.

    Yu Hanjiang continued. ¡°You wanted to form an alliance with the Zhao state to help your grandchild ascend to the throne. If I guessed correctly, your true identity is probably someone from the Zhao state. You are also a doctor who can extract materials from nts to make this colourless and odourless poison, am I right?¡±

    The concubine was silent for a long time before she suddenly burst outughing. ¡°Hahaha, a loss, a good loss!¡±

    Herughter was sharp and shrill. Where was the previous gentle and kind look?

    A gust of wind blew her hat off. She had been growing her hair and her long hair became messed up by the wind, making her entire face look a bit strange and even her facial features were slightly distorted.

    After a long time, she stoppedughing and red at Qi Fenghua with sharp eyes. ¡°Ipetent with sess and abundant with failure!¡±

    Qi Fenghua bowed his head with chagrin.

    Concubine Xian spoke coldly, ¡°I guessed that this would be messed up by you the moment you secretly went back to the prince¡¯s mansion to grab that bottle of poison. This brainless thing, you¡¯re not even half as good as your father. He might not be ambitious but he is at least smart enough. You? You¡¯re an idiot!¡±

    Qi Fenghua¡¯s face was white and his entire body trembled. He didn¡¯t dare say a word.

    The concubineughed. ¡°I was a noble of Zhao and exiled to Qi. Then I was forcibly taken back to the pce by the dog emperor. I became his concubine and couldn¡¯t take one step away from the pce. I nned this for so many years. My son should¡¯ve been on the throne and I should¡¯ve been the empress dowager of Daqi! It is a pity that every time¡­ it went wrong! How can I be convinced?¡±

    Her eyes were bloodshot and she looked crazy. Obviously, Qi Fenghua¡¯s arrest had hit her greatly.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou looked at each other and immediately ordered someone to control her. The shadow guards soon brought her under control. Imperial Concubine Xian didn¡¯t struggle. She was pale and clearly felt dead in her heart.

    Now all the cases in 8 of Hearts had finally been solved. The assassin plot line wasn¡¯t difficult. As long as they did it quickly and led out Xiao Lou¡¯s brother then it would be easy to solve the case. The poisoning case was veryplex and involved two cases.

    13 years ago, the crown prince was killed with a poisonous arrow and the empress and concubines poisoned to death. In fact, it was actually by the mother of the eighth prince, who was originally from Zhao.

    She did her best in everything and only missed her son. She believed that all men pursued power, especially princes. Who didn¡¯t want to sit on the supreme dragon chair? She nned everything for her son and wouldn¡¯t her son feel thankful? After gaining the throne, he would be more filial to her and respect her as the empress dowager.

    However, her son hit her in the face, giving up his right of inheritance and pushing the throne to the little prince. She had no control over a son who sought pleasure and didn¡¯t want to be the emperor.

    After she came to Jiangzhou, she decided to train her eldest grandson Qi Fenghua, wanting her grandson to unite with Zhao to usurp the throne.

    Unfortunately, it was still a loss in the end. Qi Fenghua left a bottle of medicine in the prince¡¯s mansion and wanted to take it out. As a result, he ran into his younger sister Qi Yiyao and Lin Shaobo, the oldest son of the Lin family. He killed the two of them in session and caused many things.

    This was why he had two bottles of medicine. One was for the second prince and one he had taken out of the prince¡¯s mansion for his own use. Qi Fenghua wasn¡¯t smart or cautious enough while the eighth prince had no intention of bing emperor.

    The greatest tragedy of Imperial Concubine Fei was that she paid too much attention to power, thinking all day about how to kill the crown prince and empress. She was a woman with a strong desire for control. She didn¡¯t know her son at all and never asked for his inner thoughts.

    The eighth prince was a person with his own personality, not a puppet she could manipte at will. Qi Fenghua wascking and had an abundance of failures.

    She was a powerful strategist but a failed mother.

    A melodious bell rang through Qingshan Temple as the virtuous Concubine Xian looked nkly at the temple. Her hair was disordered and her eyes were red. Twice in a row, she fell short of sess and she seemed to age several years in a sh.

 Chapter 183: Beacon in Troubled Times 33

    Yu Hanjiang brought back both Concubine Xian and Qi Fenghua.

    The concubine was suspected of murdering the crown prince, empress and two concubines 13 years ago. Perhaps she was also rted to the serial poisoning murders in the capital. There were too many cases she was involved in. In addition, QI Fenghua joined with the second prince of Zhao to rebel. In ancient times, the crime of rebellion was to behead the entire family!

    Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t decide on his own how to deal with the two people. He had to send a letter to the emperor to seek the emperor¡¯s opinion.

    In order to avoid having a group rescue the two people, Yu Hanjiang specifically empties a back room and secretly imprisoned Imperial Concubine Xian and Qi Fenghua. He personally guarded them while he asked Long Sen to go to the capital to meet the emperor.

    However, before Long Sen had set off, Old Mo came to find Yu Hanjiang with a gloomy expression. ¡°Concubine Xianmitted suicide.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s pupils shrank. ¡°What? I just checked and her teeth didn¡¯t hide any poison. I also had Liu Qiao personally watch her. How did she kill herself?

    Mo Xuemin held his head like he had a headache. ¡°She took advantage of the time Liu Qiao went out to get food to smash her bracelet. I didn¡¯t expect her bracelet to have apartment inside that contained a highly toxic substance¡­ s, it¡¯s really unpredictable.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other and immediately followed Old Mo to the scene.

    The concubine was lying on the bed with her eyes closed, hands lightly ced on her abdomen and face calm. It was as if she was only sleeping.

    She should¡¯ve been dejected in her heart. From the moment she was caught by Yu Hanjiang, she nned tomit suicide so she died peacefully.

    There was a letter on the table that she had written.

    Yu Hanjiang immediately picked up this suicide note and read it carefully.

    In the letter, the concubine confessed everything.

    Her real name was Zhao Qingyan and she was the daughter of a noble of the Zhao state. Her father raised her as a boy and let her read books from an early age. Her mother was heir to a famous doctor and taught her medical skills, wanting to train her to be the empress of Zhao.

    The power of their family was huge and they had a close rtionship with the Zhao family. The Zhao emperor was also interested in her and wanted to make her the empress.

    At the age of 18, she was young and yful. She secretly ran to the neighbouring country of Daqi, wanting to see the legendary scenery of Jiangzhou. Then she identally got separated from her guards and maids on the road and was taken into captivity by bandits. The bandits wanted to make her into the camp¡¯s madam and she managed to escape on the knight she was supposed to do the ritual kneeling to heaven and earth. At that time, thete emperor hade to Jiangzhou for a private visit. He saw her when she was running away from the mountain and covered in bruises. He was fascinated by her beauty and rescued her.

    She woke up in Daqi.

    The emperor had people heal her wounds and took the opportunity to possess her. She didn¡¯t know martial arts and was alone in a foreign country. She naturally didn¡¯t dare to fight rashly against the emperor. Although she was reluctant in her heart, she could only like that both her parents had died and she had no rtives. She was brought into the harem by thete emperor and became one of his concubines.

    By the time she entered the pce, the emperor had four sons. The oldest was five years old and the youngest was just born.

    The emperor¡¯s favourite was the empress and the eldest son of the empress was naturally established as the crown prince. She could see that the other concubines were actually not convinced but didn¡¯t dare do anything. In the harem, the group of women had their own thoughts. In order to protect herself, she had to find the most secluded ce, pretending to be aloof from the world, praying to Buddha and making tea every day.

    The emperor didn¡¯t love her but when he was upset, he liked to sit with her and drink tea. Compared to a husband and wife, she was more like a friend he drank tea with and chatted with.

    One year after entering the harem, an envoy of Zhao came to visit. She heard from the envoy that the daughter of the Zhao family went missing and the family couldn¡¯t find her. They thought she had died in the hands of a bandit so the emperor of Zhao married her younger sister!

    She had been secretly drinking a medicinal soup after entering the harem to avoid giving the emperor a child. She was still holding onto hope that she could return to Zhao one day but the news brought by the envoy made herpletely desperate. Her younger sister was the crown princess and would be the empress of Zhao one day. Her younger sister had never found her pleasing to the eye. What if she returned to the Zhao state?

    The noblewoman called Zhao Qingyanpletely died on this day, leaving on the woman of the emperor of Qi.

    She couldn¡¯t go back to Zhao at all and needed to make a n for herself.

    Thus, she stopped using the medicinal soup and tried to seduce the emperor. She was soon pregnant and gave birth to the eighth prince. The emperor was very happy. After the child was born, she was officially named Imperial Concubine Xian and she was on equal status with Imperial Concubine Shu and Ming.

    However, there was the empress above her. Every time she saw the empress, she had to kneel.

    On the Zhao state¡¯s side, the crown prince soon ascended to the throne and her sister changed from the crown princess to the empress respected by thousands of people¡ªthe position that should¡¯ve been hers!

    How could she remain a concubine here?

    Thus, she started to n carefully.

    As the crown prince grew older, the forces in the harem started to move. Over the years, she had gradually raised some of her own confidants in Qi. The eunuch and maids in the harem were all her confidants. There was a royal doctor who listened to her, some martial artists and members of the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Rites were controlled by her through various means.

    The opportunity finally arrived.

    She learned from spies in the pce that the third prince and crown prince had a dispute a few days ago and next month was the time for spring hunting. The crown prince liked hunting the most and often went to the royal hunting grounds at this time of year.

    She immediately handed her self-made poison to a eunuch to take out of the pce. Then it was handed to a guard she trained in advance, so that the other person would dress up as the guard of the third prince.

    Once the culprit was captured, he refused to confess at first. Finally, under severe torture, he said he was sent by the third prince. The dispute between the third prince and crown prince was discovered and poison found in the third prince¡¯s home.

    The moment the poison was discovered, it was said that the third prince was so scared he almost pissed his pants.

    The witnesses and material evidence wasplete. The emperor was full of anger and immediately gave the third prince a ss of poisonous wine.

    On the day the third prince died, Imperial Concubine Xian was in her residence, writing down the names of the crown prince and third prince. Then as she made tea, she burned the names of the two men to ashes.

    One arrow killed two birds. The sess of this strategy gave her confidence.

    After killing the crown prince and third prince, she aimed at the women in the harem.

    She bought out ady in Imperial Concubine Shu¡¯s pce. Once Imperial Concubine Shu went to deliver food to the empress, she secretly sprinkled ayer of the colourless and odourless poison onto the empress¡¯ favourite fruit.

    The empress ate the grapes and died on the spot.

    The emperor found Imperial Concubine Shu and she pleaded that she wasn¡¯t guilty. She kneeled on the ground and mmed her head into it until she was bleeding. She said that she was innocent. No matter how courageous, she would never dare to poison the empress.

    The pce girl had already been released from the pce by Imperial Concubine Xian in private. She deliberately kept Imperial Concubine Shu in order to drag Imperial Concubine Ming into the water.

    Since there was no proof, the emperor doubted Imperial Concubine Shu but couldn¡¯t convict her. Still, he gradually became suspicious of Imperial Concubine Shu and the fifth prince.

    The same strategy was particrly easy to use. It didn¡¯t take long for Imperial Concubine Shu to be poisoned by her and all signs and evidence pointed to Imperial Concubine Ming.

    The emperor was furious and wanted to directly have Imperial Concubine Ming take her own life with white silk. However, Imperial Concubine Xian pretended to be kind and persuaded the emperor. ¡°The crown prince and third prince have already suffered misfortune due to their brother. After all, the fifth prince and sixth prince are your blood. For Your majesty¡¯s sake, will you spare them? Otherwise, what will the fifth prince and sixth prince do when this matter is spread? The fifth prince¡¯s mother poisoned the empress while the sixth prince¡¯s mother poisoned Imperial Concubine Shu. Once they know the truth, they might act cruelly against each other. Your Majesty, do you want to see brothers turn against each other?¡±

    The emperor thought about it and felt she was justified. He dered to the outside world that the empress and Imperial Concubine Shu died from illness.

    Then the emperor hugged her emotionally. ¡°Imperial Concubine Xian, in the harem, you understand the best. If all the concubines were as gentle and kind as you, there wouldn¡¯t be so many messes in the harem!¡±

    Imperial Concubine Xian smiled coldly in her heart but on the surface, she pretended to be pure as she made tea for the emperor. ¡°This concubine has no rtives and no reason to act. Your Majesty took me in and I am thankful I can serve your Majesty. I don¡¯t dare think about¡­¡±

    The emperor was moved to tears. ¡°The position of empress is vacant. I have long felt that you are gentle and virtuous, a model for all concubines in the harem. It is better to make you the empress and the eighth prince the crown prince. After that, you will rule the harem.¡±

    Imperial Concubine Xian was worried that the emperor was trying to test her and immediately kneeled in front of the emperor in a panic. ¡°This concubine is too afraid! Your Majesty and the empress were deeply in love and it has been less than three months since the empress died. It is really inappropriate to stand up at this time. This concubine has no virtue and is ipetent. I¡¯m willing to pray for the empress but I don¡¯t dare take the empress position¡­¡±

    She thought that people might be skeptical if she was too eager to be the empress. It would be better to wait for two years. Her son would be the crown prince and once the empress¡¯ mourning period ended, she would logically take the empress¡¯ seat. Then she would find a way to kill the old emperor and let her son directly ascend to the throne.

    What was good about being the empress? The concubines in the harem and the ministers in the court would all stare at her. Perhaps the ministers would analyze and reason things out and discover she was the one behind it all. Then the emperor would be unhappy and abolish her as empress.

    After all, this was the safest position.

    No emperor would get rid of his mother.

    The crown prince and third prince were dead. The fifth prince and sixth prince were dragged down by their mothers and disappointed the emperor. Only her handsome and talented son was worthy of being the crown prince.

    She had nned for so many years and would naturally be able to wait more years. As long as the eighth prince smoothly became the crown prince, she would take care of the emperor and promote herself to emperor dowager.

    She never imagined that the eighth prince had no intention of participating in political affairs and preempted the emperor.

    Imperial Concubine Xian had hated him so much at the time. She wanted to kill the newly established crown prince so that the eighth prince could no longer push off the position. However, as she was about to start, the old emperor finally had a clear mind.

    Due to all the things that happened in the capital that year, the emperor was worried that someone would also act against the newly-established crown prince. He thought of letting Yu Hanjiang, the grandson of Yu Yuxiang, go to the pce to be the little prince¡¯spanion. They studied together, ate together and lived together while dozens of shadow guards secretly protected the little prince.

    At the same time, in order to avoid the eighth prince from changing his mind and starting a dispute, the emperor established the eighth prince as the Zhenjiang King and transferred the eighth prince to Jiangzhou. Her unpromising son was actually happy. He ran to Jiangzhou with his wife and concubines to enjoy the mountains and rivers!

    Imperial Concubine Xian almost died of anger.

    It wasn¡¯t until this moment that she realized she had overlooked a key thing in her many years of nning.

    She ignored her son¡¯s thoughts!

    As a mother, she neglected her son. The eighth prince left her side when he was 10 years old and only returned to visit her during the holidays. Every time the other and son met, there was nothing to talk about. She had thought that what prince wouldn¡¯t love being emperor?

    However, her son didn¡¯t like being the emperor.

    The mother and son were different and her n failed.

    A failure to act meant she would be caught. All the maidens and eunuchs who were released from the pce¡­ all the people who knew about it were killed by her, including Xiao Lou¡¯s father who found some clues. They were all neatly disposed of.

    She used an excuse to go back to Jiangzhou because Jiangzhou was located at the border of Qi and Zhao. She wasn¡¯t reconciled and wanted to contact Zhao for another n. At present, the eldest son of the Zhao emperor was the crown prince. The other princes and their concubines naturally wouldn¡¯t be satisfied.

    She hid in the temple, waiting for the right opportunity.

    It wasn¡¯t until she heard that Zhao and Qi were going to be joined by a marriage. Princess Sukan and Zhao¡¯s second prince had a marriage contract.

    She took advantage of this and contacted the second prince, promising to join forces to seize the throne.

    She asked Qi Fenghua to bring the colourless and odourless poison to the front lines. He would first gain somebat achievements and then find a way to poison the general before ming it on the lieutenant general. The emperor would remember his friendship with the eighth prince and how the eighth prince helped calm the rebellion. After the death of the general, Qi Fenghua had military achievements and would naturally take over the post of general. As long as Qi Fenghua held the military power in his hands, he could join forces with Zhao to rebel.

    It was a pity that Qi Fenghua was spoiled by Madan Yun and was careless when doing things. At that time, he was too young. On the day he went to the military camp, Madam Yun was personally packing his thoughts. He was worried that the poison would be found by his mother and hid in a drawer in his room, locked away.

    In the evening, the prince hosted a banquet for him. He was excited and drank some wine, causing him to be drunk and wait upte the next day. He was rushed off by the army people and actually forgot this bottle at home.

    Once he got to the front lines, he remembered this matter and regretted it. He wanted to go back and get it, but he had no chance. Thinking of Imperial Concubine Xian¡¯s words, he decided to spend a few years in the army and gain somebat achievements before retrieving it¡­

    Unfortunately, he was spoiled and didn¡¯t know how to hide his arrogance in the army. Forget three years of sess. Rather, he added chaos to the front lines.

    It just happened that the Zhao envoy¡¯s were attending the prince¡¯s banquet to wish him a happy life. Qi Fenghua sneaked back to Jiangzhou, wanting to bring the poison back to the front lines to poison the general. Then he would directlyunch a mutiny to grab the general¡¯s position, killing all the way to the capital and capturing the emperor. Wasn¡¯t it treason? Wouldn¡¯t it be more straightforward to hit the capital directly?

    Qi Fenghua¡¯s brain was ridiculously simple and his abilities weren¡¯t enough when he returned to the prince¡¯s mansion. In a panic, he killed his sister and Lin Shaobo. Then he returned to Qingshan Temple and knelt in front of Imperial Concubine Xian to exin all of this.

    This was when Imperial Concubine Xian knew that her grandson was a failure!

    She ordered Qi Fenghua to immediately return to the front lines and to be careful not to be caught by the investigating office. She would make another n. However, Qi Fenghua was suddenly whimsical and asked to meet the second prince of Zhao in the middle of the night. He wanted to confirm if the other party really wanted to join forces with him, only to be caught by Yu Hanjiang.

    She nned carefully twice but in the end, it was all useless.

    At the end of the letter, the concubine left these final words:

    ¡°I¡¯ve been calcting all my life.¡±

    ¡°However, I forgot that the hardest thing in the world to predict is actually the hearts of people.¡±

 Chapter 184: Beacon in Troubled Times 34

    After reading Imperial Concubine Xian¡¯s long story, the cause and effect of the whole case was finally clearly presented in front of them.

    Mo Xuemin spected, ¡°In recent years, several women have disappeared in Jiangzhou. Have they also been killed by her? Perhaps they saw her when she made secret contact with the Zhao people at Qingshan Temple?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°It¡¯s possible. The serial poisoning case in the capital was Imperial Consort Xian cleaning things up. She kills freely and doesn¡¯t care about how many more she kills.¡±

    Ye Qimented, ¡°The concubine was truly powerful. Unfortunately, her teammates were extremely poor!¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Ye¡¯s remark pointed out the key thing. Qi Fenghua was too slow to handle things and he didn¡¯t know what to do. His brain was also very simple. He couldn¡¯t evenpare to half of the eighth prince.

    The eighth prince was very talented but he didn¡¯t want to be emperor.

    Not all princes wanted to be emperors. How good was it to be a leisurely lord to travel around the mountain and rivers to y? He could marry a few concubines without weighing the family power of the concubines and he didn¡¯t have to sit in the dragon chair every day listening to the ministers talk¡­ in fact, the eighth prince was the most transparent person.

    Xiao Lou spoke softly, ¡°Imperial Concubine Xian was already in her 60s. It seemed she was really discouraged and didn¡¯t want to raise another puppet so she simply killed herself.¡± He looked back at the woman lying in bed with a calm face and couldn¡¯t help stating, ¡°She poisoned so many people. In the end, she poisoned herself with her own hands.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°This is also a death. At least there is a full body left behind and she isn¡¯t beheaded.¡±

    The room fell silent and there was a burst of sighs in everyone¡¯s hearts.

    It didn¡¯t matter if Qi Fenghua didn¡¯t confess. Imperial Concubine Fei¡¯s suicide note said everything. She went freely and easily but what should the royal family do?

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°We must write to the emperor to decide how to settle this case. Long Sen, take the suicide note left by the imperial concubine and the secret letter I wrote. Bring them to the capital immediately. On one hand, you can discover what happened with the selection and you can also ask His Majesty how to deal with Qi Fenghua and the prince¡¯s mansion.¡±

    Xiao Lou handed the Li Qingzhao card to him. ¡°It is too troublesome to go on the road. Send news to us immediately with the flying pigeon.¡±

    Long Sen nodded and set off that night.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiangy next to each other in the bedroom, both of them in aplicated mood. Xiao Lou stated, ¡°This case is the most difficult one we have encountered at present. The clues were too scattered and there was no physical evidence¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°The logic of the case is actually very clear but there are too many details and every detail must be grasped. Every person mentioned must be carefully investigated. The key to finally solving the case was actually the court gossip that the Ninth Princess told Qu Wanyue.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled helplessly. ¡°Yes, if Teacher Qu went missing or didn¡¯t pay attention to the gossip about the empress and concubines then we might be confused and wouldn¡¯t think about what happened 13 years ago.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°If Liu Qiao didn¡¯t take out the poison in time, we might¡¯ve been wiped out as a group when the assassins besieged us outside Jiangzhou City. If Ye Qi wasn¡¯t alert enough and was awake when Xue Yan went to the prison that night, he might¡¯ve been killed.¡±

    ¡°There was also Old Mo who noticed the Yan women¡¯s jewellery patterns from the book on his bookshelf. If he didn¡¯t notice, we might¡¯ve spent several days checking for the origins of the assassins and wouldn¡¯t have thought about Yan.¡±

    On closer inspection, the process of solving the cast was truly thrilling.

    In fact, everyone had their own role in this secret room. They had to make good use of their identity to provide as many clues as possible to the captain.

    This was the first time the team of eight had worked together to solve the case. Of course, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were the main ones responsible for the reasoning and analysis, but the others couldn¡¯t drop the ball. If any one of them dropped the ball, it would be difficult to get the right reasoning.

    The first A-grade secret room was so difficult. Yu Hanjiang felt he would have a headache if there was more role-yingter. In this secret room, the only thing that made him happy was the identities assigned to him and Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou was his wife.

    At this time, Xiao Lou wasying beside him and the two of them were covered with the same bed quilt. They might be purely chatting but he felt happy. He even didn¡¯t want to leave the secret room.

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°Once Long Sen gives the evidence, the emperor should make a judgment. Then this secret room can be considered as cleared?¡±

    ¡°There is still a problem that hasn¡¯t been solved. Your brother went to Yan to try and contact the third prince of the Yan state. If he can help settle the war between Yan and Qi, we can probably pass this secret room perfectly and get an S-grade evaluation.

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, it seems that we will have to stay in this secret room for at least half a month.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought this was also good. He could stay in bed with his wife for half a month.

    The next day, there was nothing to do so the bored Shao Qingge started arbitrarily spending a lot of money. He invited Yu daren to thergest restaurant in Jiangzhou and the other teammates followed. They experienced a feast in ancient times.

    The case was closed and now they were just waiting for it to end.

    Shao Qingge once againy down to win and couldn¡¯t help smiling. ¡°I can¡¯t take this gold outside. I will give you a few pieces of gold each and you can buy what you want to buy. Why not take this time to experience ancient customs?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Chief Shao really liked to y in the Hearts room as a tourist!

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang weren¡¯t in the mood to hang out. The two of them spent time waiting for Long Sen¡¯s news. Fortunately, that night, Long Sen sent a letter to the two people to report on the situation in the capital.

    The selection had been perfectly resolved. The emperor was really fierce and caught the spy mixed in among the beautiful women. He also pulled out the ones embedded in the Ministry of Rites and put them all in prison awaiting punishment.

    As for the second secret letter that Yu Hanjiang sent as well as the imperial concubine¡¯s letter, the emperor had read them carefully.

    The crime of rebellion wasn¡¯t a trivial matter. ording to Da Qi¡¯sws, if Qi Fenghua was suspected of conspiracy then the entire prince¡¯s mansion should be buried with him. However, the emperor was kind and generous and knew this action wasn¡¯t good. After all, when thete emperor was deciding the crown prince, the eighth prince took the initiative to suggest thete emperor set up his grandson. Then in the year after thete emperor died, the fifth and sixth princes rebelled and the eighth prince helped calm it down.

    It could be said that there would be no throne without the eighth prince.

    So the emperor gave Yu Hanjiang a secret order¡ª

    Therefore, the emperor gave an order to Yu Hanjiang to secretly execute the imperial concubine and Qi Fenghua. Then he would have the general on the front line forge an obituary to be sent to the prince¡¯s mansion, stating that Qi Fenghua made a glorious sacrifice on the battlefield.

    As for the murders at the prince¡¯s mansion, state that the assassins did it.

    The emperor not only spared all of the prince¡¯s mansion, he also took the opportunity to reward the eighth prince. He dered that the title ¡®Zhenjiang King¡¯ would be hereditary and officially made the third and fourth youngdies princesses.

    He heard that the third youngdy and Qin Rui were in love but as a guard, Qin Rui didn¡¯t deserve the third youngdy¡¯s status. Thus, the emperor decided to transfer the strong Qin Rui to the capital to serve as themander of an imperial army, promoting him to nobility. This would allow him to marry the third youngdy in a beautiful manner.

    The fourth youngdy¡¯s sweetheart was wrongly killed and the fourth youngdy had low self-esteem due to the birthday on her face. The emperor decided to make her a princess and find her a good marriage. As for the fetus in Mrs Han¡¯s womb, if it was a daughter then she would be born a princess. If it was a son, he would be born a prince.

    In addition, Yu daren was sessful in solving the case but since it was a matter that ¡®can¡¯t be said¡¯, the emperor had Yu Hanjiang continue serving as the prefectural magistrate of Jiangzhou. He would spend several years in Jiangzhou while he was still young. In the future, Yu Hanjiang would be either the left arm or right arm of the emperor. The emperor would find an opportunity to return Yu Hanjiang to the capital and then he would be promoted.

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help sighing when he saw Long Sen¡¯s letter. ¡°The emperor is truly ambitious and considered all aspects very thoroughly. In this way, people won¡¯t gossip about the eighth prince and he will be very loyal.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°All the princes of thete emperor have died and there is only the eighth prince left. If the emperor uses the crime of rebellion to wipe out the eighth prince¡¯s family, he will be a cold-blooded tyrant in the hearts of the people. In addition, the incident 13 years ago involved too many areas. If the truth about the imperial concubine bing the murderer behind the scenes was made public, people will say that His Majesty is a weak emperor who had a murderer beside him. After so many years of his eyes being blinded, he didn¡¯t even check Imperial Concubine Xian. This wouldn¡¯t be good for the emperor¡¯s reputation¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°So this case being kept a secret is the best result.¡±

    True or false, false or true. It was the case with history. The things historians recorded weren¡¯t necessarily the truth. What the emperor wanted his people to know was the so-called ¡®truth.¡¯

    Five dayster.

    The obituary from the front line, together with Qi Fenghua¡¯s body, was sent to the prince¡¯s mansion.

    The emperor took advantage of ¡®Qi Fenghua sacrificing his life for the country¡¯ to strongly reward the prince¡¯s mansion.

    Both the third youngdy and fourth youngdy became princesses and it was arranged for the fourth youngdy to marry General Lin¡¯s only son.

    The fourth youngdy who always had low self-esteem finally took off her veil on the day she was crowned. The birthmark on her face actually looked pretty good with some makeup. The third youngdy and Qin Rui were naturally very happy. Originally, Mrs Qing objected to the marriage but the emperor had personally arranged it and also gave Qin Rui a noble title. Later, Qin Rui became amander of an imperial army in the capital. She couldn¡¯t say anything against it anymore. She knelt down and shouted ¡®long live¡¯ the loudest.

    His eldest daughter and now his eldest son had died. The eighth prince¡¯s heartache was unbearable.

    The next day, bad news came again. The imperial concubine at Qingshan Temple had died and her body was cremated. The eighth prince had no affection for her but he still went to the temple to light some incense for her.

    Two dayster, Xiao Yu also returned to Jiangzhou and brought good news. In Yan, the crown prince and third prince fought openly and secretly against each other. The crown prince was extremely hostile to Qi. After learning that his intelligence organization had been destroyed, he suggested to the old emperor that an all-out war should be started. Meanwhile, the third prince had a friendly attitude to the Qi state. He thought it wasn¡¯t wise for Yan and Qi to lose strength every year from a prolonged war. He was willing to ally with Qi. As long as Daqi helped him to the throne, he promised to mend things with Qi and sign a truce.

    The emperor was naturally very happy to know this. He had the front-line General Lin cooperate with the third prince and the third prince directly killed the crown prince. Once the old emperor died and the third prince was enthroned, Qi and Yan signed an alliance and the years of war finally came to an end.

    Once the plot progressed up to here, a prompt appeared at the same time in the eight people¡¯s floating boxes.

    [Congrattions to Xiao Lou¡¯s contract team for perfectly clearing 9 of Hearts, Beacon in Troubled Times. The clearance took 17 days, 12 hours and 10 minutes. The clearance evaluation is S-grade. Now everyone has two choices:

    First, stay in this world. The time flow rate in this world means one year is equivalent to one hour in the main city.

    Second, return to the City of the Moon immediately.]

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°What do you choose?¡±

    Xiao Lou was silent for a moment. ¡°Go back? After all, we have to clear the instance as soon as possible to reach J of Clubs and meet up with Brother Jiu.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    In fact, he wanted to choose the first one.

    If they weren¡¯t in a rush to clear the secret rooms and there weren¡¯t so many people eager to return to reality¡­

    He really wanted to be in this world and be a lifelong husband and wife with XIao Lou.

 Chapter 185: Instance Clearance

    They returned to their personal space and saw A of Hearts smiling in a friendly manner.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t helpining when he saw A of Hearts. ¡°Sister, can¡¯t you be more reliable? You actually had me y the female top draw of a brothel. Thank you for thinking about it!¡±

    A of Hearts smiled. ¡°Your age and specialty means you are most suitable for this role. Otherwise? Do you want me to let Old Mo y it?¡±

    Mo Xuemin¡¯s mouth twitched. ¡°Give me a break.¡±

    Ye Qi was depressed and didn¡¯t want to care about this smiling keeper.

    A of Hearts nced at Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang. ¡°What about the two of you? Are you satisfied with the identities I arranged?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Should they say they were satisfied or dissatisfied?

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face was stiff and he decided not to answer this question. Xiao Lou¡¯s ears had turned slightly red. Obviously, he remembered the days when he shared the bed with Yu Hanjiang. Although they only chattered under the quilt every night, Yu Hanjiang was right beside him. They were under the same quilt and the strong hormonal breath of this man spread all around it. It made Xiao Lou¡¯s heart beat faster just thinking about it.

    A of Hearts smiled when she saw that they didn¡¯t answer. ¡°Congrattions on your perfect clearance. Let¡¯s look at your rewards, the plot card.¡±

    The plot card for Beacon in Troubled Times appeared in front of them. They originally thought the plot card would reproduce the story of the imperial concubine poisoning the empress, just like the previous plot card. They didn¡¯t expect that they were actually the protagonists!

    The timeline of the plot card was exactly the year after they left the secret room. The emperor gave a big reward to the prince¡¯s mansion. Then due to Xiao Yu¡¯s outstanding performance undercover, he became a deputy general in the army under General Lin¡¯s rmendation and was transferred back to Jiangzhou. He would be responsible for the border security of Zhao and Qi.

    In this way, he could often see his brother and stare at Yu Hanjiang, lest Yu Hanjiang bully his brother.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou loved each other. In order to avoid being criticized for having no children, the two of them adopted a son and a daughter in Jiangzhou, both of whom had lost their parents during the war. Looking at the scene of two cute children calling Yu Hanjiang ¡®Father¡¯ and Xiao Lou ¡®Mother¡¯¡­

    Xiao Lou¡¯s ears were red.

    What, did the Hearts sister get something wrong with the plot card this time?

    Ye Qi was stunned as he watched Yu daren and Mrs Yu show ¡®affection¡¯ with their ¡®son and daughter¡¯ on the screen. His expression wasplicated as he wondered, ¡°What is this plot card? Why are we ying it in?¡±

    A of HEarts smiled. ¡°You have affected the world of Beacon in Troubled Times and you naturally can¡¯t disappear into thin air. This plot card is your experience in that world. Don¡¯t worry and just watch the story.¡±

    Five yearster, Yu Hanjiang returned to the capital and was promoted all the way up to be His Majesty¡¯s left arm.

    Xiao Lou took Liu Qiao with him and Liu Qiao opened a medical clinic in the capital to treat the sick.

    After Qu Wanyue returned to the capital with the Ninth Princess, the Ninth Princess heard that she was in love with Long Sen, a guard of the prince¡¯s mansion, and decided to let her marry Long Sen.

    Mo Xuemin had been following Yu Hanjiang and Yu Hanjiang also took him back to the capital.

    As for Shao Qingge and Ye Qi¡­

    Due to the copse of the Fragrant Sky House, Girl Ye used the help of Master Shao and bought the building in Jiangzhou. He opened a restaurant and became the small boss. Shao Qingge invested in the building and they made money. They happily counted their money every day.

    Ye Qiughed. ¡°I¡¯m very satisfied with the ending arranged for me!¡±

    Shao Qingge narrowed his eyes. ¡°What about me? I didn¡¯t marry a wife or have children?¡±

    A of Hearts told him, ¡°You are a passerby who isn¡¯t important in this secret room. Therefore, your follow-up plot isn¡¯t included.¡±

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Did those whoy down to win have no human rights? Why did Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou end up as winners of life with children while he only invested in a restaurant?

    Everyone in the plot card was dressed in ancient clothes and had their own endings.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s mood wasplicated. It was as if he really experienced a husband and wife life with Yu Hanjiang.

    Not only were they a loving husband and wife, they also adopted two children. Yu Hanjiangter became the prime minister, who was below one person and above 10,000 people. However, he was clean and honest all his life. He consistently stayed with Xiao Lou and never took a concubine. Xiao Lou also assisted his husband, helping Yu Hanjiang analyze and give opinions on court difficulties¡­

    The two of them lived until they were 70 years old before they died one after another and were buried together.

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This plot card made everyone feelplicated. It was as if they had split bodies in another world?

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou and found that the other person avoided his eyes, ears red.

    His heart was moved and he couldn¡¯t help whispering in Xiao Lou¡¯s ear, ¡°This ending is perfect. What do you think?¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­Okay.¡±

    The ending of Beacon in Troubled Times was that the emperor became a bright ruler of his generation, Yu Hanjiang was a prime minister praised by the people and Shao Qingge became the richest man in Daqi. Meanwhile, Long Sen, Qu Wanyue, Mo Xuemin, Liu Qiao and Ye Qi all had their own ce.

    They weren¡¯t passersby in this world but participated in the plot of the world. They changed the pattern of the four countries and assisted the emperor in calming down the troubled time, so that themon people lived a peaceful and content life. This was the ¡®perfect¡¯ clearance.

    Even if it was all portrayed in the plot card.

    Still, the ending of Beacon in Troubled Times was indeed perfect.

    He just wondered if Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ¡®perfect¡¯ was meant literally or if he was referring to their life as husband and wife. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t be sure and he didn¡¯t dare to ask.

    After all, Yu Hanjiang behaved very honestly in the world of the secret room. The two of them might¡¯ve shared the same bed every day but they didn¡¯t have any intimate actions. The so-called ¡®wedding room¡¯ was just something in their memories and didn¡¯t really happen. They didn¡¯t hug or kiss in bed. At most, Yu Hanjiang had gently grabbed his shoulder and called him ¡®Madam.¡¯

    Xiao Lou was flustered and quickly put the plot card into the card package.

    He wouldn¡¯t open this plot card again.

    Looking at himself and Yu Hanjiang in ancient times, seeing the interpretation of a husband and wife in Daqi, he really felt¡­

    Too beautiful.

    Such love was so beautiful that he couldn¡¯t believe in it.

    Looking at the modern clothing¡ªjeans, white shirts or dresses¡ªon his teammates, it was like a dream through time and space and they finally woke up.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart felt lost.

    Previously, he only wanted to return to the main city after clearing the instance. Yet after clearing it¡­ he didn¡¯t want to give it up.

    Yu Hanjiang was also reminiscing on the plot just now. Living together with Xiao Lou was exactly what he hoped for when he left the world of Beacon in Troubled Times. Unexpectedly, in that world, he and Xiao Lou really acted as a husband and wife for a lifetime.

    Neither of them spoke and their teammates nced at each other.

    Why were Professor Xiao and Group Leader Yu in a daze?

    Couldn¡¯t they see the glittering chests right in front of them?

    Thank you Apple Addict for the fanart

 Chapter 186.1: Lucky Draw Part 1

    The team perfectly cleared 8 of Hearts and received an S-grade score. The rewards naturally wouldn¡¯t becking.

    Xiao Lou returned to his senses and found his teammates looking at him doubtfully from behind. He realized he had been distracted by the plot card and his eyes were a bit red as he coughed. ¡°What are the rewards for this room?¡±

    Ye Qi had been waiting for this sentence and he actively looked at A of Hearts. ¡°Sister Hearts, we spent almost half a month in this room and it is an A-grade secret room, which is much more difficult than the B and C grade rooms. Shouldn¡¯t the rewards be a bit more?¡±

    A of Hearts smiled. ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll give you the fixed rewards first.¡±

    She flicked her fingers and 10 new cards appeared in front of the group. So many cards were neatly arranged together and Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help his eyes brightening. The result was that after he took a look¡ª

    There were actually eight cards that were the clothing they wore in the ancient secret room!

    For example, there was Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ¡®prime minister¡¯s official uniform¡¯, Xiao Lou¡¯s ¡®moon white long dress¡¯, Long Sen¡¯s ¡®ck night clothing¡¯, Shao Qingge¡¯s ¡®silk clothing¡¯ and even Ye Qi¡¯s ¡®custom-made Fragrant Sky House costume.¡¯

    Seeing this card, Ye Qi almost coughed up blood. ¡°What the hell is the Fragrant Sky House custom clothing? I don¡¯t want to recall the experience of wearing these red clothes as a woman. You actually turned these clothes into cards to reward us? The clothes don¡¯t have muchbat power!¡±

    A of Hearts exined, ¡°These are thememorative cards of 8 of Hearts. In the future, if you arecking clothing then you can change into these clothes at any time. The advantage is that they can be turned into cards and are convenient to carry. You can bring them to any secret room and can cosy at any time.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Qu Wanyue curiously took the card and tried it. She found that after activating the card, she automatically changed into the clothing. It was the set of men¡¯s clothing she wore in Beacon in Troubled Times and she looked heroic.

    Qu Wanyue smiled with satisfaction. ¡°You can change clothes in an instant so it is very convenient. It is also tailor-made and the size is right. This type of costume can¡¯t be bought in the City of the Moon. We might need to wear it in the future.¡±

    Compared to ordinary clothes that they had to wear on their bodies, the clothing cards obtained from the Hearts room could be changed into instantly as long as they were activated. This was equivalent to storing a set of clothing that everyone could change into at any time and any ce.

    The card was easy to carry and only upied one card slot. Since it was sent by the keeper, everyone naturally had to ept it. Perhaps they would be short of clothing in the future.

    Everyone put away their clothing card. There were 10 cards suspended in the air. Apart from the eight clothing cards, there were two other cards. Ye Qi wondered, ¡°Are these two clothing as well? Professor Xiao, take a look.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded, reached for a card and turned it over.

    [Tool Card: Special Poison Pill]

    Rarity: A

    Description: The key story item in the world Beacon in Troubled Times. It can be obtained after a perfect clearance.

    A team limited card. The team that signed the same contract can only carry one.

    A pill developed by Imperial Concubine Xian that looks like rock candy. It is actually highly toxic. Once mixed into tea, vegetables, fruits or meals, it will melt immediately, leaving no traces. It is colourless and odourless. Every use of one capsule is enough to poison an adult man weighing 80 kg.

    Capacity: 8 capsules. The card is invalid after they are all used up.

    As a goodw-abiding citizen, this card is disabled in the main cities.

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Imperial Concubine Xian didn¡¯te out but she gave a poison pill to everyone.

    Xiao Lou handed the card to Yu Hanjiang, who frowned slightly after taking it. ¡°Giving us the tool of Imperial Concubine Xian means we can also poison people unknowingly, killing them.¡±

    So far, they hadn¡¯t killed anyone. They caught the murderer in the Hearts room and relied on everyone¡¯s strength to clear the Spades room. Meanwhile, they never encountered any dangers in the DIamonds and Clubs room. ording to Brother Jiu, J Of Clubs was a direct confrontation with hunters that was 10 times their number. If they didn¡¯t kill then they would naturally be killed by hunters.

    These cards naturally had to be used in a critical life or death moment.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t want his teammates to panic for the time being and calmly gave the card to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°This card is dangerous. Anyone can use it. If someone steals it, we might end up being poisoned instead. So.. it will be kept by Group Leader Yu for the moment.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and ced the card in his card pack.

    Xiao Lou opened thest fixed reward card.

    [Tool Card: White Veil]

    Rarity: A

    Description: A veilmonly used by the fourth youngdy of the prince¡¯s mansion in Beacon in Troubled Times. It can be obtained through a perfect clearance.

    Effect: The fourth youngdy loved to cover her face since childhood. After using the veil, people can¡¯t see your face clearly and it is easy to mistake your identity.

    Covering your face with the fourth youngdy¡¯s veil can make other people misjudge your features and fail to recognize who you are. The white veil has no cooldown restrictions and can be worn on the face at all times.

    This card made people unrecognizable. It was equivalent to an item to cover up their identities when investigating a case in the following rooms. However, it had no attack or protection capabilities so it must be used with caution.

    So far, the fixed rewards were over. There were eight tailor-made costume cards, two A-grade tool cards and the plot cards that had shown to everyone. The strength of the fixed reward cards in most secret rooms wasn¡¯t very high. The key was the draw for the perfect clearance. Everyone was looking forward to the next draw.

    Xiao Lou looked at the three treasure chests on the ground. ¡°There are three chances to draw a card?¡±

    A of Hearts replied, ¡°Yes, the previous B-grade secret rooms rewarded you with two draws. At the A level, one treasure chest is added and you can send anyone to draw from it.¡± She paused andughed. ¡°You have an S-grade clearance and you are likely to draw S-grade cards.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at everyone and asked, ¡°Who wants to draw a card?¡±

    Old Mo was very excited. He had cleared so many secret rooms but never got an S-grade evaluation. He used to get an A rating every time and most of his cards were A-grade cards. However, the biggest credit in this secret room went to Professor Xiao and Group Leader Yu so he was embarrassed to speak up.

    Nevertheless, Xiao Lou seemed to see through Old Mo¡¯s thoughts. His eyes fixed on Old Mo and he smiled warmly. ¡°Old Mo,e.¡±

    Mo Xuemin was ttered and immediately protested, ¡°Cough, how can this be. I didn¡¯t do anything¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t be modest. You found the clue to the assassins¡¯ identity from a book. Locking onto the assassin plot line is naturally a great achievement. In addition, you are the only one among us who doesn¡¯t have an S-grade card. Everyone else has one.¡±

    Long Sen nodded. ¡°Yes, I and Wanyue have many S-grade cards. Last time, you took us to lie down and win in the secret rooms and I got the ser and badminton cards.¡±

    Qu Wanyue agreed. ¡°Old Mo, go quickly.¡±

    Liu Qiao also said, ¡°Old Mo, go and draw it. You currently have all A-grade cards and we need to strengthen yourbat power.¡±

    The team must have a clear backbone to rely on but they also couldn¡¯t have any obvious shorings. The strength of Old Mo¡¯s previous team was average and they only got an A-grade score every time. Old Mo didn¡¯t have an S-grade card yet. Now that the opportunity was here, Xiao Lou naturally wanted Old Mo to enhance his strength.

    The teammates all agree to Old Mo drawing the card. In any case, everyone was a whole. It was good for everyone to be strong to clear the secret rooms.

    Under the encouragement of his teammates, Mo Xuemin rubbed his hands excitedly and walked to the golden treasure chest. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and prayed. Then he reached into the treasure chest.

    [Congrattions to Mo Xuemin for getting the S-grade Tool Card: Marble Brick!]

    [Tool Card: Marble Brick]

    Rarity: S

    Description: There is a chance of obtaining it from the limited prize pool after getting a perfect clearance and S-grade evaluation.

    Effect: Marble is a good material for home decoration such as the wall, floors and benches. Make use of a designer¡¯s imagination and use it well. Maybe it can achieve unexpected results.

    You can quickly build a wall of marble to make the enemy have nowhere to go during a pursuit or you spread a floor of marble to assist your teammates when encountering water. As long as the marbles are connected to each other, they will immediately be a solid whole.

    Restrictions: This card has a total of 100 marble tiles, each with an area of 80cm x 80 cm. After use, this card will be grey and will be unavable until it is refreshed the next time you enter a secret room.

    Please don¡¯t waste it.

    Mo Xuemin thought about it. Wasn¡¯t this card simr to Professor Xiao¡¯s Compass? How could the marble tiles be moved?

    They could be walls to block the enemy¡¯s path or to block bullets when under siege. It could also be used to build a bridge when crossing water. As a building material, the usage of marble was flexible and variable. Giving him 100 tiles that were refreshed every time he entered a secret room, this was worthy of an S-grade tool card!

    The tool cards he previously drew rted to decorating were all A-grade cards. The effect was limited and the cooldown was rtively long. The strength of the S-grade tool cards was obviously improved by more than one level.

    Mo Xuemin was excited and held this card like it was a treasure.

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°Old Mo, draw another one.¡±

    Mo Xuemin immediately waved his hand. ¡°This is very embarrassing. You should draw it.¡±

    Everyone told him, ¡°We have several S-grade cards. You only have one!¡±

    Mo Xuemin, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He really followed an awesome team!

    Every clearance was an S-grade evaluation and everyone had two or three S-grade cards. Even the soy sauce Shao Qingge had four S-grade cards. For example, there was Rich and Willful. Although this card required spending 5 million, he could directly copy any card and it was worthy of being an S-grade strength.

    At present, Old Mo was indeed the poorest in the team. This time, the Hearts room gave three treasure chests and Xiao Lou asked him to draw two. There was no way to refuse this special care. Old Mo excitedly ced his hand in the second treasure chest.

    [Congrattions to Mo Xuemin for getting the S-grade Tool Card: Perspective Converter!]

    [Tool Card: Perspective Converter]

    Rarity: S

    Description: As a designer, when seeing 2D drawings, you must think of the 3D space. By seeing the 3D space, you can naturally measure and draw proportional drawings immediately. In a strange ce, how good would it be to look down at the entire area from the perspective of a god and draw a 2D t map of the area?

    The Perspective Converter can immediately lock onto a 500 square metres range and switch to a god¡¯s perspective, observing all the scenes, people and roads in the locked area to gain a moreprehensive and clear understanding of this area. Then draw a 2D floor n.

    Limit: Can be used once every 10 hours.

    This card was rather strange and Ye Qi scratched his head. ¡°It feels like switching between a 2D and 3D game?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°This is a godly card in a maze.¡±

    Mo Xuemin was excited. ¡°Yes, if I encounter a fork in the maze then I can lock onto a 500 square metres area and switch to the god¡¯s perspective to see the route. Then I can immediately rule out several wrong dead ends!¡±

    It wasn¡¯t just a maze in the Diamonds room. In some Spades and Hearts secret rooms, the card could be used to see the road.

    Of course, this card wasn¡¯t omnipotent. It could only look at an area of 500 square metres instead of the entire field. It must be used at key moments and key locations. Secondly, the cooldown time of 10 hours was too long. It could only be used once or twice at most in a limited time maze.

    Still, it was better than nothing. Old Mo having this card would greatly help them through the maze level. Old Mo smiled and ced the two cards in his card pack.

    There was one treasure chest left and Xiao Lou asked everyone, ¡°Who will do thest draw?¡±

    Ye Qi had many instruments in his hands, such as the erhu, guzheng, guitar and pipa. He felt too sorry to draw a card. Shao Qingge¡¯s cards were ¡®too bad¡¯. They cost money to use a skill so he didn¡¯t want to draw it at all. Liu Qiao had several fairy tale cards while the Long Qu couple had many sports and dance cards.

    The group shook their heads.

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang and thetter simply stated, ¡°You go.¡±

    The other teammates also smiled.

    ¡°Yes, Professor Xiao should do it!¡± Ye Qi excitedly eximed. ¡°Professor Xiao¡¯s luck means he draws a summoning card every time. Perhaps this time it is another character card!¡±

    His teammates said so. Xiao Lou had to step forward and ce his hand in the chest.

    [Congrattions on drawing the S-grade summoning card, Xiao Yu!]

    Xiao Lou, ¡°???¡±

    He was stunned and couldn¡¯t react when he saw the message.

    He opened the card and saw a familiar face in the front of the card. It was indeed Xiao Yu, his little brother in the 8 of Hearts secret room.

    [Summoning Card: Xiao Yu]

    Rarity: S

    Description: From the custom secret room Beacon in Troubled Times that Xiao Lou¡¯s team cleared. There is only one in the Card World and it is an out of print card.

    Additional Skills 1: Seal the Throat with a Single Sword

    Tips: Activate the card and summon Xiao Yu. Let Xiao Yu immediately attack the designated target and cut the opponent¡¯s throat with a sword. Xiao Yu¡¯s swordsmanship is excellent andunching an attack when the opponent is unprepared will generally achieve a one-hit kill. Of course, if he can suddenly attack from behind or secretly assassinate the target then the uracy would be much higher.

    This skill is extremely effective so it can only be used once every 24 hours.

    Additional Skill 2: Protect the Older Brother

    Effect: Xiao Yu liked to follow his older brother Xiao Lou since childhood. Whenever Xiao Lou encounters a crisis, Xiao Yu will take the initiative to help his brother fight. Since the world has changed, Xiao Yu can only disy four sessful abilities. He will use his sword to defend his most respected rtive. Xiao Yu said, ¡°I¡¯ll fight anyone who hurts my brother.¡±

    This skill is an automatically triggered one. As long as Xiao Lou encounters danger and is attacked, Xiao Yu wille out to protect his older brother.

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

 Chapter 187.2: Lucky Draw Part 2

    Xiao Lou¡¯s ¡®brother¡¯ actually appeared in front of everyone again as a card.

    As early as 2 of Spades Zombie Tower, Xiao Lou had drawn the zombie leader Liu Xiaoyuan who had been imprisoned in the hospital. At that time, Xiao Lou knew that characters in the world of secret rooms could also change into cards.

    He just hadn¡¯t expected the little brother temporarily arranged for him in 8 of Hearts would actually be a card!

    Although the memories of this brother were fictitious, he saw the familiar face of the young person on the card and couldn¡¯t help thinking of his brother¡¯s dependence, trust, help and protection in that world¡­

    The memories of the two of them growing up together meant Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help summoning Xiao Yu from the card.

    Everyone looked at this proud younger brother who was simr in appearance to Xiao Lou. A copy of the real person stood quietly beside Xiao Lou, not speaking.

    Ye Qi, Shao Qingge and the others looked at this summoning card and found it very novel. They all quickly came over. Yu Hanjiang thought of this person¡¯s hostility toward him and frowned. ¡°Does he have any self-awareness?¡±

    A of Hearts smiled. ¡°Is a card conscious, do you think?¡±

    Tao Yuanming, Liu Yong, Li Qingzhao, Su Shi¡­ these characters all obviously didn¡¯t have a consciousness. They nevermunicated with Xiao Lou and only used skills after they were summoned. Then what about characters from the Card World like Liu Xiaoyuan and Xiao Yu? Did they have a consciousness?

    Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t sure. He walked in front of Xiao Yu and tentatively patted the other person¡¯s shoulder, asking softly, ¡°Ah Yu? Can you hear me?¡±

    Xiao Yu turned to look at him. ¡°Brother, your clothes are too strange.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes were slightly wide. ¡°Do you recognize me?¡±

    Xiao Yu¡¯s expression was confused. ¡°You are my brother. I will certainly recognize you, even if you change your clothes.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang walked over and asked, ¡°Do you know me?¡±

    Xiao Yu frowned and swept his eyes over Yu Hanjiang like he was seeing a stranger.

    Ye Qi asked curiously, ¡°He only knows his brother and no one else?¡±

    A of Hearts nodded. ¡°This type of card is called a ¡®fetter card¡¯ in the secret world. It has a special rtionship with a challenger and only listens to the orders of a specific person. For example, Xiao Yu will only listen to Xiao Lou¡¯s instructions. If this card is given to someone else, there is no way to activate it.¡±

    Previously, cards drawn in the secret room could be used casually. For example, Li Qingzhao and Qin Guan would be handed over to Xiao Lou¡¯s teammates when necessary. However, this time Xiao Yu was different. A fetter card must be used by the designated challenger. Xiao Yu only recognized his brother and only his brother could activate him.

    If Qu Wanyue went to draw a card just now, perhaps the Ninth Princess would¡¯ve been drawn.

    The functionality of these Card World characters was very strong. Liu Qiao took out her Poison Queen andpared it carefully. ¡°Xiao Yu¡¯s attack to the throat can kill someone in one blow. This is much better than my Poison Queen¡¯s poisonous apple.¡±

    Ye Qi also added, ¡°Yes, there is a 10 minutes dy after the poisonous apple is eaten and the other person can be saved with an antidote. However, a person whose throat is cut by Xiao Yu¡¯s sword can¡¯t be saved. The output is really strong.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at the tall young man in front of him and put the card away with a smile.

    This was just a card and it wasn¡¯t really Xiao Yu. The real Xiao Yu became a famous general in 8 of Hearts and died at the age of 70. The Xiao Yu summoned now was just a card form, simr to Liu Xiaoyuan drawn from Zombie Town.

    Yu Hanjiang saw Xiao Lou put away his cards and whispered, ¡°This is like your own personal bodyguard?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, the card strength is indeed worthy of being S-grade. Unfortunately, the restriction is too big and only I can activate it.¡±

    Shao Qingge gave a smile that wasn¡¯t a smile. ¡°You have acquired a little brother who is determined to follow you.¡±

    Xiao Lou was very happy when thinking about this little brother he could see at any time in the future. Yu Hanjiang also didn¡¯t mind. There was a little brother to protect Xiao Lou. If Xiao Lou was in danger then there would be one more protection.

    The harvest from the draw this time was very rich. Xiao Yu¡¯s bodyguard card meant Xiao Lou didn¡¯t have as much to fear from the Spades room. Meanwhile, Old Mo drew the marble as well as the Perspective Converter that could be used in a maze. Their strengths were worthy of S-grade cards.

    After a rest, the group returned to the vi.

    They had opened 8 of Hearts together on Friday and now they returned to the City of the Moonte at night.

    Old Mo looked at the clock on the wall. ¡°It is 12:30 on Monday¡­ It seems the time flow rate is very fast. Decades passed in the plot and it has only been dozens of hours in the City of the Moon?¡±

    Ye Qi was excited. ¡°I remember that the instance clearance reminded me that the time flow rate is one year in 8 of Hearts is only one hour in the main city.¡±

    It was precisely because of this that Yu Hanjiang wanted to ask Xiao Lou if they should spend more time in the ancient world. It was because even after a few years there, it would only be a few hours in the main city.

    Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t understood Yu Hanjiang¡¯s meaning and wanted toe back as soon as possible.

    Yu Hanjiang also didn¡¯t say ¡®I want to be husband and wife with you a few more days¡¯ and directly followed Xiao Lou back.

    Since it was early in the morning, it wasn¡¯t good to continue to break through. The time flow rate was different, making it even more of a headache than the time difference. Everyone couldn¡¯t adjust for a while to the conversion from ancient world to modern world. He suggested, ¡°Shall we go to bed first and think about things tomorrow?¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°Yes, everyone should restore their energy. Have a good rest and we¡¯ll talk again.¡±

    The group went back to their rooms to wash up and sleep.

    After washing, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang walked together to the door of their bedrooms.

    Their teammates were so tired that they fell asleep instantly. The vige was so quiet that Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang could hear each other¡¯s heartbeats and breaths.

    Their bedrooms were just opposite each other. The two people had slept together every night at the prefectural magistrate¡¯s house and now they needed to sleep separately. They weren¡¯t used to it for a while. Both of them felt sad as they stopped in front of the doors.

    Xiao Lou spoke lightly. ¡°Group Leader Yu, good night and have a good sleep.¡±

    He thought Group Leader Yu would also say good night, pretending that nothing happened as they each went back to their rooms to sleep.

    He hadn¡¯t expected Yu Hanjiang to suddenly turn back and look at Xiao Lou. ¡°Why did you start calling me Group Leader Yu again? Didn¡¯t you always call me Hanjiang in private?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face became slightly hot. He remembered the world where they called each other ¡®Madam¡¯ and ¡®Hanjiang¡¯ and couldn¡¯t control his heartbeat.

    Yu Hanjiang stepped forward and looked down at Xiao Lou seriously. ¡°In the secret world Beacon in Troubled Times, we yed a couple and slept in the same bed for so long. Did you ever feel conflicted or¡­ disgusted?¡±

    His eyes were ck but bright. His usually sharp eyes were extremely gentle and Xiao Lou¡¯s image could be seen in them. His voice was also very low, gliding across the eardrums in the quiet night and showing the unique sex appeal of a mature man.

    Xiao Lou raised his head to meet the deep gaze, his breathing almost stopped.

    He clenched his fists nervously, took a deep breath and whispered. ¡°You¡­ why do you think so?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°I can feel that you are very stiff when you go to bed every night. DO you hate men being close to you? There are some people who really hate sleeping with the same sex, as if their territory has been vited.¡±

    Xiao Lou hurriedly exined, ¡°I¡¯m just not used to it. I have been sleeping alone since I was young and I¡¯m not used to being close to people.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it. ¡°¡­It wasn¡¯t annoying?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s ears and face were red as he let out a hum of agreement.

    Why was Yu Hanjiang asking? How could he hate it? The stiffness was just because of tension¡­

    Yu Hanjiang thought carefully and then asked a very serious question, ¡°What do you think about two men being husband and wife? The customs of Daqi are open. There are officials who have male wives and there seem to be men in the emperor¡¯s harem.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    What did it mean to discuss this matter seriously? Pure curiosity? Exploring the philosophy of life?

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t dare tell Group Leader Yu that he liked men because he was worried that Yu Hanjiang would find him strange. After a moment of silence, he had to whisper, ¡°For emotional matters, as long as they don¡¯t hurt others, I think it is good for men and men, women and women or men and women to be happy together. There is no need for prejudice. I don¡¯t discriminate against homosexuality.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded thoughtfully. ¡°What about yourself?¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Myself?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered seriously, ¡°If someone really likes you and wants to seriously pursue you, are you willing to ept it even if the other person is a man?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart surged. He didn¡¯t know what Yu Hanjiang¡¯s sentence meant. Was it pure curiosity or¡­

    Facing the man¡¯s gentle eyes, Xiao Lou felt his entire body bing hot, especially his cheeks which were almost cooked.

    He was silent for a moment before smiling easily, ¡°It depends on the other person. If they are a nasty person who chases me all the time, it will only make me troubled. If it is someone I like¡­ it doesn¡¯t matter if they are a man I can chase him actively.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°I understand. Goodnight and go back to rest.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°???¡±

    What do you understand? Why don¡¯t I understand?¡±

    The soon-to-be-cooked Xiao Lou watched nkly as Yu Hanjiang¡¯s back disappeared through the door.

    Yu Hanjiang entered his room while thinking, ¡®Professor Xiao doesn¡¯t hate homosexuality. That¡¯s great.¡¯

    Professor Xiao said it would be very annoying for a hateful person to chase him every day. However, if he liked them then a man was okay. Therefore, he still had a chance. From today on, he would seriously pursue Professor Xiao and strive to make Professor Xiao like him. Yu Hanjiang was refreshed after making up his mind and had a good night¡¯s sleep.

    Meanwhile, Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was still thumping as he entered his room. It was because he found that he seemed to like Group Leader Yu¡­

    After spending half a month in the ancient world, he missed the days when he slept on the same bed as Yu Hanjiang and the quilt was full of Yu Hanjiang¡¯s smell. The clear scent of the man made him fascinated and moved him. He could only control himself desperately and slept like a statue every night.

    Xiao Lou rolled around on the bed and couldn¡¯t sleep at all. He only managed to fall asleep at 3 o¡¯clock in the morning. In his dream, the marriage room of 8 of Hearts reappeared¡­

    Last time he dreamed about the marriage night in 8 of Hearts, it was the keeper who instilled the memory in him. Then this time? There was no keeper and he wasn¡¯t in a secret room. He was in his own bedroom in the main city. He actually took the initiative to have this type of dream and even made up a lot of plots.

    He dreamed that night about Yu Hanjiang¡¯s low, sexy voice whispering ¡®Madam¡¯ over and over again.

    Xiao Lou who woke up in the morning, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He really couldn¡¯t face the serious Yu Hanjiang!

 Chapter 188: Ambiguous Relationship

    Xiao Lou got up early and went to the bathroom to wash his face. Yu Hanjiang had just finished washing and the two people happened to collide in the corridor.

    Xiao Lou thought of the ambiguous images fromst night¡¯s dream and didn¡¯t dare look into Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes. He whispered ¡°Good morning,¡± and immediately lowered his head, rushing into the bathroom with red ears.

    Yu Hanjiang wanted to greet him but Xiao Lou disappeared instantly? Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment before realizing that Xiao Lou might be in a hurry. It wasn¡¯t good for him to wait at the door of the bathroom so he simply went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

    Old Mo was exercising on the balcony downstairs. He saw Group Leader Yu and greeted with a smile, ¡°Group Leader Yu, you got up so early?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied lightly, ¡°Yes, I had a nightmare and woke up.¡±

    Old Mo was curious. ¡°The clearance of 8 of Hearts was smooth. How can you have a nightmare?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    Strictly speaking, it wasn¡¯t a nightmare. It was actually a hazy dream. He dreamt about himself and Xiao Lou in their marriage room. He called Xiao Lou to call him ¡®Fujun¡¯ but Xiao Lou blushed and refused. Finally, he softly called out ¡®Hanjiang.¡¯ (TL: Fujun is the respectful name a wife in ancient times used to call her husband)

    Yu Hanjiang had woken up and felt some shame.

    The story of Beacon in Troubled Times was over but he still couldn¡¯t forget that world.

    He had slept in the same bed as Xiao Lou for more than 10 days. He couldn¡¯t sleep well every night because he could feel Xiao Lou¡¯s breath and then his heart would beat too fast to control. He wanted to reach out to hug the ¡®Madam¡¯ beside him but he was worried that Xiao Lou would hate it. Therefore, he could only restrain himself desperately.

    The secret room had beenplex and the case filled with twists and turns, but these weren¡¯t the most difficult things.

    Every day, he slept under the same quilt as Xiao Lou but had to restrain himself from getting close. This was an S-level difficulty.

    Yu Hanjiang recalled these scenes and his eyes becameplicated. Old Mo carefully observed his expression and scratched his head in a confused and worried manner. ¡°Was the nightmare¡­ that terrible? Group Leader Yu, you don¡¯t look very well!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was awakened from his thoughts and quickly regained hisposure. ¡°It¡¯s fine, it was just a dream.¡±

    He turned to the kitchen and whispered, ¡°I¡¯m going to prepare breakfast.¡±

    Old Mo couldn¡¯t help following. He thought that in the past, breakfast was usually prepared by Professor Xiao. What happened to Group Leader Yu today that he would actually cook?

    Previously, they bought a lot of food from the supermarket and the eggs and milk were stored in the refrigerator. This time, they had gone to 8 of Hearts for decades but in fact, the time in the main city was only three days. The food hadn¡¯t expired and was all readily avable.

    Yu Hanjiang took out some eggs from the refrigerator. He turned on the fire, poured oil and put on an apron, ready to make omelettes for everyone.

    Old Mo rolled up his sleeves as he entered the kitchen, wanting to help with hot milk and toast. At this time, Xiao Lou came down. He had washed his face and looked refreshed. He wore loose home clothes with slippers and his hair was neatlybed.

    Seeing that Yu Hanjiang was cooking in the kitchen with an apron, Xiao Lou froze for a moment before rushing over. ¡°I¡¯ll do it. I¡¯ve always been responsible for the cooking. Group Leader Yu, just wait and eat.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at him and spoke softly, ¡°You rest today and I¡¯ll make breakfast. I can¡¯t always make you do it.¡±

    The man¡¯s deep eyes caused Xiao Lou¡¯s heart to jump slightly. He pretended to be calm as he spoke, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Cooking is also a type of rest. It rxes the brain and exercises the muscles and bones. Have you heated up the oil? I¡¯ll do the toast.¡±

    Seeing Xiao Lou roll out the sleeves and walk to the toaster, Yu Hanjiang was forced to helplessly say, ¡°Then we¡¯ll do it together.¡±

    Mo Xuemin stood there and couldn¡¯t interject. It was strange. Once both Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were in the kitchen, Mo Xuemin always felt that he was redundant. He immediately stated, ¡°Cough, then I¡¯ll trouble both of you to make breakfast. I¡¯ll go for a run outside!¡± Then he immediately slipped away.

    Once Old Mo left, there were only the two of them left in the kitchen and the atmosphere suddenly became ambiguous.

    The oil in the pan was hot and Yu Hanjiang wore the apron. He treated the eggs as seriously as interrogating criminals. He stared at the pan out of fear they would be burnt.

    The man¡¯s always sharp outline became much softer due to this image. Xiao Lou stood by and watched Yu Hanjiang¡¯s handsome side profile. Suddenly, there was the illusion of a ¡®husband and wife making breakfast together.¡¯

    Xiao Lou immediately stopped thinking about this and turned to make toast.

    The smell of cooked eggs soon came from the pan. Yu Hanjiang took out the first omelette and handed it to Xiao Lou. ¡°I¡¯m making this for the first time. Taste it.¡±

    Xiao Lou found that the shape of the egg was a bit strange and was almost about to be a hexagon. It was obvious that Group Leader Yu wasn¡¯t good at this but it was a decent attempt for a first time. He took it and tasted it, only for his mouth to be slightly stiff. He asked softly, ¡°Did you put salt in?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang made an innocent face. ¡°Do I need to put salt in when cooking eggs?¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. ¡°If there is no salt then it tastes too light. It is better to put in a little bit.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded seriously. ¡°Okay, I will make the second one now. Madam, you should guide me.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The moment the words were spoken, both men were stunned. Xiao Lou¡¯s ears turned red in an instant. Wait, what was with the ¡®Madam¡¯? He was called ¡®Madam¡¯ in the main city. Was this a slip of the tongue?

    Yu Hanjiang also realized he called out the wrong name and was embarrassed. Then his expression became serious and his blush couldn¡¯t be seen. Yu Hanjiang coughed softly and exined, ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m used to calling you this in the secret room and forgot to change it. Are you angry?¡±

    Xiao Lou pretended to be indifferent as he stepped toward the other person. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I didn¡¯t hear clearly what you just said.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    He didn¡¯t hear? That was good.

    Yu Hanjiang solemnly changed his expression. ¡°I want you to teach me how to make an omelette.¡± He paused before adding, ¡°I usually get up early because I can¡¯t sleep in. I will be responsible for breakfast in the future. You can sleep for an extra half an hour.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was thumping from being called ¡®Madam.¡¯

    He didn¡¯t hear Yu Hanjiang¡¯s exnation but he grasped the key point. Teach this person how to make an omelette.

    Seeing Yu Hanjiang pouring oil into the pan again, Xiao Lou came over and reminded him, ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be too much oil and the temperature of the oil shouldn¡¯t be too high. Um, it¡¯s almost done. Turn down the fire when cooking the eggs. Don¡¯t cook them on a high heat. It is easy to burn them.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang listened carefully while learning.

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°Okay, now you can put in salt¡­ put a little less in the oil and stir it well, so that the cooked egg will taste better. If you sprinkle the salt directly on the egg, it is easy to be salty and light.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang did so while whispering, ¡°Is this right?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes. Pour the eggs in¡­ don¡¯t stir it or the shape will be strange.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly realized. ¡°No wonder why the shape of the omelette just now was so ugly. I turned it over several times.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Turning it over made it a hexagonal omelette. Group Leader Yu was very powerful. Under Xiao Lou¡¯s guidance, the process of making the omelette was smooth.

    The kitchen was full of scents and Xiao Lou¡¯s voice was particrly gentle in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ears. Liking someone was probably like this? As long as Xiao Lou was by his side, he was very happy doing even the simplest thing.

    Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t help thinking that if he could be with Xiao Lou in the future, he would prepare breakfast for Xiao Lou every morning when he woke up. His cooking ability was still poor but he would get better and better. He could download recipes to learn how to make Xiao Lou¡¯s favourite foods.

    He remembered Xiao Lou¡¯s love of barbecue. This was the only cooking skill he could do well. Once he had the opportunity, he could ask Xiao Lou to eat barbecue. At that time, he would cook a variety of delicious skewers for Xiao Lou.

    Yu Hanjiang cooked the egg while thinking and the second omelette was soon done.

    Chef Xiao personally directed it and this omelette had a round shape and golden colour that increased Yu Hanjiang¡¯s appetite. He took out the knife and fork that was used to eat Western food, cut the omelette in half from the middle and looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°Try it.¡±

    Xiao Lou joked. ¡°Are you letting me be ab rat to test your cooking?¡±

    ¡°This is the only one I can know your taste. Whether you like salty or light food, next time I will grasp it.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    It was like this omelette was made for him¡­

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart beat like a drum. He instantly avoided Yu Hanjiang¡¯s gaze by lowering his head and putting half of the fried egg into his mouth. He tasted it carefully beforementing, ¡°It¡¯s delicious.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang put the remaining half into his mouth and praised it. ¡°It¡¯s really delicious.¡±

    The two people looked at each other before looking away shyly.

    They cooperated to make an omelette and finally ate it equally. The two people couldn¡¯t help their heartbeats elerating from this simple daily life. This type of ¡®couple living at home¡¯ feeling was particrly warm and an ambiguous atmosphere filled the kitchen.

    Yu Hanjiang really wanted to take Xiao Lou into his arms and gently kiss Xiao Lou.

    The real feeling must be many times better than the dream.

    Yet every time he looked into Xiao Lou¡¯s clear eyes, he felt guilty about his thoughts.

    Xiao Lou was very calm and seemed to only regard Yu Hanjiang as arade-in-arms. If he acted at this time, would Xiao Lou be angry? If their rtionship became stiff, it wouldn¡¯t only affect personal emotional matters but it would cause problems with the other teammates.

    Yu Hanjiang had always been decisive in his work. If this was the real world, he would directly confess, even if he was rejected by Xiao Lou. It didn¡¯t matter. He would continue to pursue Xiao Lou in good faith until the other side was impressed.

    However, this was the Card World. He couldn¡¯t confess rashly before he was sure that Xiao Lou had a good opinion of him. If he failed, it wasn¡¯t just a problem of his personal love affair. It might also mess up the entire team.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mind was spinning as he wondered about how to pursue Xiao Lou.

    He didn¡¯t know that Xiao Lou was also feeling veryplicated at this time.

    Group Leader Yu was very good to him but Yu Hanjiang was too honest and was apletely ¡®straight man¡¯. Xiao Lou was naturally embarrassed to confess. How awkward would it be if Group Leader Yu told him seriously, ¡°Sorry, I only treat you as a friend.¡±

    He could only first hide his feelings in his heart. Later, he would take the opportunity to see if Group Leader Yu could ept a boyfriend.

    The two men cooked breakfast while thinking about many things.

    They were both calm people and wouldn¡¯t confess directly out of impulse. The emotional history of two people who had never been in love was very simple. They were like snails hiding in a shell, secretly peeking their head and tentacles out of the shell to test each other but not daring to cross the line.

    Shao Qingge came down the stairs and saw Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang cooking in the kitchen.

    When Yu Hanjiang turned around, Xiao Lou would secretly look at Yu Hanjiang¡¯s back. When Xiao Lou turned around, Yu Hanjiang would secretly look at Xiao Lou¡¯s back. The eyes of the two people were full of liking, appreciation and admiration that couldn¡¯t be concealed.

    Yet once face to face, the two people immediately became serious and calm.

    ¡°Group Leader Yu, where do you think it will be better for us to go to the next round?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t call me Group Leader Yu. We aren¡¯t in a subordinate rtionship. In private, you can continue calling me by my name.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m used to calling you that.¡± Xiao Lou¡¯s face was slightly red as he changed his words, ¡°Hanjiang, we used to go to Diamonds after the Hearts room. What about this time? Do you want to go to Diamonds?¡±

    ¡°Yes, go in order.¡± Yu Hanjiang was stunned after being called ¡®Hanjiang¡¯ but he maintained his calm on the surface. There was just a hint of gentleness from his brow and eyes. ¡°The S-grade card that Old Mo drew can change the angle of view. There is no need to worry too much if we are in a maze.¡±

    Shao Qingge quickly smiled.

    He thought that the two people cooking together early in the morning was to progress their rtionship.

    The result was that they were making breakfast while pretending to chat calmly about a n?

    The two people were so strong when it came to the Hearts room mysteries. Why did they be a D-rated g when it came to their own feelings?

 Chapter 189: New Plan

    At 9 o¡¯clock in the morning, all of their teammates were downstairs. Seeing the neatly arranged bread, milk and omelettes on the dining table, Ye Qi was moved. ¡°Thank you Professor Xiao. Professor Xiao worked hard to make breakfast for everyone!¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°Thank Group Leader Yu today. He made the omelettes for everyone.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°??¡±

    They couldn¡¯t imagine the always indifferent man cooking eggs in the kitchen while wearing an apron. The teammates couldn¡¯t believe it and turned to look at Yu Hanjiang¡­

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression was calm. ¡°Professor Xiao gave me good guidance.¡±

    The group nced at each other. So it was Professor Xiao who instructed Officer Yu to make these eight omelettes? Did the two people get up so early in the morning for Professor Xiao to personally teach cooking to Group Leader Yu?

    Shao Qingge knew everything but he just smiled and said nothing. Once everyone tasted it, they all praised Yu Hanjiang¡¯s omelettes. ¡°It¡¯s delicious!¡±

    ¡±Unexpectedly, Group Leader Yu is quite talented at cooking.¡±

    ¡±Is this another skill awakened by Professor Xiao?¡±

    ¡±Whoever marries Group Leader Yu in the future will be blessed.¡±

    Then Shao Qingge suddenly said, ¡°Doesn¡¯t Group Leader Yu already have a wife?¡±

    Everyone stared at him with disbelief.

    Shao Qingge nced at Xiao Lou with a smile. ¡°Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao were husband and wife for a lifetime. They loved each other, grew up together and adopted children. Am I right?¡±

    The group finally reacted. This person was talking about the story of 8 of Hearts.

    Xiao Lou coughed and said, ¡°Chief Shao, don¡¯t make such a joke. That was all a setting of the secret room.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also added, ¡°Don¡¯t mention the past.¡±

    Ye Qi wasn¡¯t aware of the deep meaning in Shao Qingge¡¯s words and instantly raised a hand in agreement. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. If someone mentions my role as a girl then I¡¯m finished with them! It¡¯s all over. Let¡¯s forget this ck history.

    Shao Qingge nced at Ye Qi. ¡®For you, it is a ck history. For Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou, perhaps it is a beautiful thing that they didn¡¯t want to forget¡­¡¯

    However, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were still in the ambiguous period of mutual love and testing. Shao Qingge didn¡¯t want to cause more trouble so he bowed his head and drank the milk.

    Mo Xuemin wondered, ¡°What¡¯s our next n? Do you want to continue to the next room or take a two day break?¡±

    In Beacon in Troubled Times, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou looked for the correct reasoning and their reasoning was overturned several times. They also had to interrogate the assassins and suspects. It was estimated that they hadn¡¯t slept well for several nights. Long Sen hadn¡¯t slept well because he had to rush to the capital. The others basically followed the thoughts of the two big Hearts leaders and won without much trouble. They weren¡¯t tired and it didn¡¯t matter if they continued to break through.

    The keyy with the opinions of Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang.

    Xiao Lou was about to speak when a message popped up on his phone. ¡°Have you returned from 8 of Hearts? If you have time, can the two of youe to the Intelligence Bureau. I have something for you¡ªTang Ci.¡±

    Once Xiao Lou opened it and read it, the message suddenly disappeared. It hade from an unfamiliar number and Tang Ci had obviously used an automatic clearing procedure to avoid leaving any traces behind.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s phone also rang. He looked down at the phone, apparently receiving the message.

    The two of them looked at each other before Yu Hanjiang spoke. ¡°I have something to do with Professor Xiao at noon. We need to go out. Everyone, rest in the vi first. The arrangements for the next level will be discussed after wee back.¡±

    Their teammates had no opinions.

    At noon, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang finished eating and drove to find Tang Ci.

    The abandoned site the person of the Intelligence Bureau took them tost time was extremely remote and the route was tortuous, making it hard to find. Fortunately, Tang Ci sent navigation to the two people¡¯s phones. They parked at the nearby parking lot and walked to the construction site. They arrived at the location where the mechanism was triggered and the ground at their feet copsed. They once again descended.

    Xiao Lou remembered thest time they came to Tang Ci¡¯s underground factory together. Due to his body suddenly falling, Xiao Lou had grabbed Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hand nervously and Yu Hanjiang had held his hand back. That was the first time they held hands.

    The feeling of his heart beating when Yu Hanjiang held his hand was still fresh in his memories. In fact, as early as that time, had he liked Group Leader Yu? He just hadn¡¯t thought about it carefully and assumed his heart beating faster was from tension¡­

    The familiar environment reminded Xiao Lou of his first experience with holding hands.

    Yu Hanjiang also remembered that time.

    During the rapid fall, the strong sense of weightlessness could make people feel nervous. In addition, Mr Tang¡¯s elevator had no lights and the surroundings were dark. It felt like they had suddenly fallen into the darkness of a heart.

    This time, Yu Hanjiang took the initiative to hold Xiao Lou¡¯s hand and said gently, ¡°Be careful, don¡¯t step on empty air.¡±

    Xiao Lou made a hum and held the other hand in an embarrassed manner. He didn¡¯t break free and was led quietly. It was unknown how long the elevator fell but it eventually slowed and stopped.

    The two people saw the familiar corridor again. The dazzling incandescentmps illuminated the corridor. Once the two of them verified their identities in front of the metal door, the passageway opened to them.

    Yu Hanjiang held Xiao Lou¡¯s hand and went into the underground factory.

    The thing that surprised Yu Hanjiang was that his brother Lu Jiuchuan was also there. He was lying on a bed and Tang Ci seemed to be helping him. After hearing their footsteps, Lu Jiuchuan turned around and found his brother and Xiao Lou standing side by side, holding hands.

    Lu Jiuchuan gently raised his lips and smiled. ¡°Xiao Xiao is here?¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately withdrew his hand like he received an electric shock and his ears were slightly warm. He had just forgotten to let go. As a result, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s brother saw them holding hands¡­ Brother Jiu shouldn¡¯t think too much?

    Yu Hanjiang looked calm as he asked softly, ¡°Brother, why are you here?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan exined, ¡°Xiao Tang asked me toe. He recently studied the data and made some discoveries.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered with interest, ¡°What did Mr Tang find?¡±

    Tang Ci opened arge screen in front of him that contained dense code none of the other three could understand.

    Xiao Lou made a guess. ¡°What type of program is this?¡±

    Tang Ci sat in a wheelchair, his pale fingers pressing a few keys in a row. The screen started to y a plot from a god¡¯s perspective while many small chibi versions yed several roles in the plot. ¡°This is the code of an RPG game. I analyzed the samples of the A-grade Hearts room and found that the plot of the Hearts room can be dynamically adjusted at any time ording to different choices made by each challenger. The plot will also change, just like it has been yed before. It is like an RPG game with multiple endings.¡±

    His words startled Xiao Lou. ¡°Yes, the plot we experienced this time kept changing. Every choice we made had an impact on the follow-up plot. It really is like an RPG game with multiple endings.¡±

    Tang Ci nodded. ¡°Professor Xiao, you¡¯ve heard of RPG games with multiple endings?¡±

    ¡°I yed a lot of games in university including stand-alone games, online games and escape room games.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at him in an unexpected manner. ¡°I thought you were studying every day in university. You were actually ying games?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan sat up in bed and joked, ¡°You don¡¯t understand. He is smart and learning and the knowledge that other people need a week to read can be learned by Xiao Xiao in one day. He is bored and has no girlfriend to spend the rest of the time with. Doesn¡¯t that mean the only thing he can do is y games?¡±

    Xiao Lou coughed. ¡°Brother Jiu is right. I didn¡¯t spend too much time studying. The rest of the time was spent on games.¡± This was why he became hooked on escape rooms, allowing him to get an S-rated score in the Hearts room after entering the Card World.

    Tang Ci stated, ¡°The Hearts room is equivalent to a multiyer online RPG with multiple endings. It is simr to the previous popr single-yer story games. If you don¡¯t pay attention, you might trigger a death g and the ending is the group being destroyed.

    Yu Hanjiang also understood this. The experience of 8 of Hearts was indeed thrilling. They might¡¯ve been destroyed by a single misstep.

    Tang Ci added, ¡°For this type of multiyer RPG, you can¡¯t make any mistakes when aiming for a perfect ending. You should¡¯ve also felt this in 8 of Hearts?¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other and nodded.

    Lu Jiuchuan touched his chin. ¡°That¡¯s why once we reached the S-grade secret rooms, we first selected Clubs which we thought was very simple. The result was that we were wiped out in J of Clubs. If we chose Hearts first, we might¡¯ve been wiped out in J of Hearts? After all, there were a few people in our team who didn¡¯t understand reasoning at all and the clues assigned to them were likely to be missed by them.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang heard this and finally understood Tang Ci¡¯s meaning. ¡°Mr Tang, are you saying we need to develop the logic analysis ability of every team member from now on, trying not to miss any clues when we reach the S-grade secret rooms so as to not take the wrong branch and trigger the death ending?¡±

    Tang Ci nodded. ¡°Yes. There is also one more point. I¡¯ve found that the scoring rules for the Hearts room are also different. If you solve the main plot line, you might get a perfect clearance but if you want to draw from an S-grade treasure chest, you need toplete more side plot lines and sole all the side plot lines to achieve a final score of S.¡±

    Xiao Lou understood. ¡°I understand. It is like this time, we solved three plot lines in order to get a perfect clearance.¡±

    Tang Ci took out a card from his card pack and handed it to Xiao Lou. ¡°Brother Jiu told me to give this to you. It should be helpful when clearing theter secret rooms.¡±

    Xiao Lou took a look. It was an S-grade tool card Aerial Camera¡¯. It was very simr to the mechanical spiders and drones made by Mr Tang. Its shape was simr to that of a small dragonfly. There was a monitoring screen in the middle and the head was the camera.

    Tang Ci exined, ¡°The aerial camera can fly in the sky for continuous shooting. In static shooting mode, it can take up to 10 photos a day. In dynamic monitoring mode, it can monitor for five minutes at a time. Use it in a Diamonds room to shoot the maze from a high altitude and find the path. Or in the Hearts and Spades room, it can be used as a monitor, remotely controlled from a specified attitude. After the card is recovered, the video materials will be brought to you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang heard this and felt that the card was very strong. The aerial camera was actually very useful for solving cases. It could take photos of the crime scene at different angles, which was conducive to subsequent analysis and reasoning. However, high-tech products such as the aerial camera might be banned in ancient secret rooms.

    Yu Hanjiang had this thought and couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°Are there many ancient environments in theter A-grade secret rooms?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan replied, ¡°Not necessarily. The 8 of Hearts that we experienced was an ancient conspiracy but 9 of Hearts and 10 of Hearts were both moderns. However, the elite teams of other guilds have experienced interster worlds or the Republic of China world. The secret rooms are randomly generated ording to the team and there is no reference for a strategy guide.¡±

    Tang Ci added, ¡°Still, from the perspective of big data, the probability of ancient times is rtively small. There will be many opportunities to use the aerial camera.¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully put away the card. ¡°Thank you, Mr Tang and Brother Jiu. I will ept this card.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled cheerfully. ¡°We are family. Why so polite?¡±

    Xiao Lou was stunned. Family? Perhaps Brother Jiu was already seeing them as teammates.

    Only Yu Hanjiang understood Brother Jiu¡¯s meaning. Brother Jiu knew that Yu Hanjiang liked Xiao Lou and had already acknowledged Xiao Lou.

    After leaving Tang Ci¡¯s underground factor, Yu Hanjiang drove Xiao Lou back to the vi.

    The two of them were silent for a moment before Xiao Lou opened his mouth. ¡°Mr Tang and Brother Jiu don¡¯t have to take the initiative to break through the secret rooms but every week that we arete, they will experience another World Weekly, right? Brother Jiu appeared in the factory today. I don¡¯t think it is that simple. He seems to be injured again and went to Mr Tang for treatment¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°I saw it but didn¡¯t say anything in case I embarrassed him.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s current identity was still an undercover of the Hunter¡¯s League. Every time he entered the World Weekly, he had to pull his teammates in to helpplete the World Weekly mission while he had to find a perfect excuse to exin to the Hunter¡¯s League why their mission failed.

    Last time, he passed after being stabbed by Chu Huaying. Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t know how he acted this time but it certainly wasn¡¯t easy.

    In fact, Brother Jiu was fighting for his life every week in the World Weekly.

    Thinking of this, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression immediately became serious. ¡°Let¡¯s speed up the progress and join them as soon as possible.¡±

    Xiao Lou and he had been bound by the contract and would be together no matter where they went. As long as the person he liked was always around and he could see Xiao Lou every day, he was already satisfied. There was no need to hurry and confirm the rtionship.

    The most critical thing was to leave this world as soon as possible.

    Xiao Lou thought so as well. He was the owner of the contract book and needed to take into ount the emotions of his teammates. Old Mo, Long Sen, Qu Wanyue, Ye Qi, Shao Qingge and Liu Qiao all had reasons to go back. Not to mention Brother Jiu who was walking on the tip of a knife every day and Mr Tang, who was physically disabled yet seriously studying the data of this world¡¯s secret rooms¡­

    It would be too bad if they dyed the time any longer.

    Thus, after returning to the vi, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang gathered their teammates and decided to continue breaking through in the afternoon.

    The two people looked at each other and immediately drew the next card.

    8 of Diamonds.

 Chapter 190: Shangyuan Lantern Festival 01

    The time in the City of the Moon was 14:00 on Tuesday.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang directly drew 8 of Diamonds to open the next level and their teammates were very supportive of this decision. In any case, the Diamonds level was usually a mechanism maze and the time spent wasn¡¯t as long as Hearts or Spades. It usually took less than an hour toplete.

    In the previous Diamonds room, Xiao Lou cleared it in a few minutes to break the record. Yu Hanjiang was very confident in Xiao Lou¡¯s ability to crack the mechanisms. Moreover, this time there was Old Mo who had a sense of space and cards suitable for a maze. They shouldn¡¯t fail the A-grade maze.

    There was Professor Xiao and Old Mo. Everyone was ready to lie down and win.

    Once the card was drawn, a familiar red vortex appeared in the middle of the 8 of DIamonds card. Then everyone¡¯s floating boxes started to count down.

    10 secondster, darkness appeared in front of them.

    At the same time, the group was transferred to a familiar yet strange world.

    The reason it was familiar was because it was the world of 8 of Hearts that they had just left. The streets, buildings and outfits of the people were very simr to the world of Beacon in Troubled Times. It was the style of the Qi state.

    They actually came back to ancient times?!

    It was strange because the street was full ofnterns, countlessrge rednterns that shone and dazzled them.

    They were wondering about the situation when several lines appeared on the floating boxes in front of them.

    [Wee to 8 of Diamonds: Shangyuan Lantern Festival.]

    [The first month of the lunar year, it is the first month of the lunar calendar. People from ancient times also call this night ¡®Heaven.¡¯ Therefore, on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar year, there is the Lantern Festival also known as the Shangyuan Festival.]

    [Today is the Shangyuan Festival on the 15th of the first lunar month. Since ancient times, there has been a custom of ¡®watchingnterns¡¯ on the night of the Shangyuan Festival. The 5 kilometers long street in the capital of the Qi state is full ofnterns. Young men and women like to go to the Lantern Festival on this day. Perhaps, if you look back, you can see your favourite person on the other side of thentern.]

    [The 8 of Hearts secret room is a ¡®Lantern Festival Labyrinth.¡¯ Please look for the hiddenntern mechanisms and hang the obtainedntern props on thentern tree beside the stone bridge. The morenterns you get, the higher the clearance score.]

    [The Lantern Festival will continue until the zishi time (24:00 in the morning) and you can explore until the end of the festival.]

    Everyone was dumbfounded after reading the prompts.

    The ancient Shangyuan Lantern Festival? This was the modern Lantern Festival!

    Ye Qi looked down at his Fragrant Sky House¡¯s outfit and wanted to take it off on the spot. He pulled at theplicated skirt and couldn¡¯t help eximing, ¡°I thought this outfit would never be worn again yet I have to wear it in the very next room!¡±

    Shao Qingge looked at Ye Qi wearing female clothing and waved his fan with a smile. ¡°You look pretty in this outfit. You are worthy of being the top draw of the Fragrant Sky House.¡±

    Ye Qi knew this person was joking and rolled his eyes, ignoring it.

    He looked around and discovered his teammates weren¡¯t present. Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help wondering, ¡°What about the others. In addition¡­ thisntern market, why do I feel like something is weird, as if something is wrong?¡±

    Shao Qingge stated, ¡°It isn¡¯t like a normalntern festival. There are many forks and it should be a maze.¡±

    Ye Qi was stunned for a moment before reacting quickly, ¡°Yes, mostntern festivals are filled withnterns for tourists to appreciate but from my perspective¡­ I have seen five streets. The streets criss-cross and are all covered withnterns. There are so many pedestrians that it is easy to get lost.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°It isn¡¯t surprising that the Diamonds secret room would be turned into a maze. The key is the location of the mechanism.¡±

    Ye Qi frowned as he looked around and found no mechanisms. He looked back at the prompt and couldn¡¯t help wondering. Looking for thentern mechanisms? There were thousands ofnterns that were simr in shape. What were the characteristics of the mechanisms? Wasn¡¯t the hint too vague?¡±

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t understand it and asked, ¡°Whatnterns do you think are the mechanisms?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled and waved his fan. ¡°Guessing this puzzle isn¡¯t for me. If I was the only one clearing the world, I would buy all thenterns on this street and take them apart one by one.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He hurried forward. However, he was wearing female clothing and identally stepped on the hem of his dress, almost falling into dog poo.

    Shao Qingge supported him with a small smile and whispered, ¡°Slow down, you are Girl Ye now. Don¡¯t be in a hurry.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s ears were red. ¡°Female clothes are so annoying. Once I go back, I will burn this card!¡±

    The people passing by couldn¡¯t help whispering, ¡°That girl is so beautiful. Her eyes are bright.¡±

    ¡°That man is also very handsome.¡±

    ¡°They must¡¯vee to thentern festival together.¡±

    Ye Qi didn¡¯t hear. He was still in a rush to sort out his dress.

    Shao Qingge had a slight smile on his face as he covered Ye Qi¡¯s red face with his fan and helped him walk through thentern market.

    ***

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were also dressed in the outfits from 8 of Hearts.

    Yu Hanjiang froze for a moment after seeing Xiao Lou in the long dress beside him and he wondered, ¡°Why is it the ancient world again?¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately responded, ¡°Are 8 of Hearts and 8 of Diamonds linked?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the long street ahead and nodded, ¡°The architectural style and outfits of the pedestrians are indeed very simr to the Daqi that we have experienced. We were transported to antern festival in Daqi?¡±

    ¡°It seems that A of Diamonds took the background setting directly from Hearts and made antern maze out of it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked up thoughtfully at thenterns nearby. ¡°Let¡¯s find antern mechanism. Do you want to find it among thesenterns hanging on both sides of the street?¡±

    All the rednterns hanging on this street were made of traditional gauze. The warm candlelight shone through the red gauze to make the street bright. The peopleing and going all had a festive red light over their faces. Some children rode on their fathers¡¯ backs with delicatenterns in their hands while some young men gaventerns to their beloved girls.

    The ancientntern festival was very lively but Yu Hanjiang observed for a long time and couldn¡¯t find any mechanisms.

    Thesenterns looked exactly the same and there were hundreds of them on the street. How could they find the mechanisms?

    He was in a fog of confusion when Xiao Lou suddenly opened his mouth. ¡°The theme of this secret room is probably thentern riddle.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang turned to him. ¡°Lantern riddle?¡±

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°In ancient times, the Shangyuan Lantern Festival often held some ¡®guess thentern riddle¡¯ activities. Some vendors will hang thenterns they made and the riddles would take the forms of patterns, poems, words etc. Tourists can guess the riddle. If they guess the riddle correctly, they can win thentern. The boss will hand out thentern and it is a good sign.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly realized. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of this tradition.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at the surroundings closely. ¡°This is a maze ofnterns. The roads are criss-crossing and are veryplicated. The one we are standing on is the main road. Thenterns on this road are all round gauzenterns with the same shape and no patterns on them. These rednterns are just decorations. The redntern mechanisms should be in the other forked roads. Most likely, they are pcenterns made of paper.

    He nced back at Yu Hanjiang and spoke seriously, ¡°The rectangr pcenterns made of paper can be drawn and written on, making it convenient for writing riddles. LEt¡¯s meet our teammates first and then find thentern riddles.

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang always had a headache when encountering the Diamonds secret room.

    Looking at the dense rednterns and the bustling crowd, he hadn¡¯t known where to start.

    Now he listened to Xiao Lou¡¯s exnation and immediately understood.

    He recalled his experience with Xiao Lou in 3 of Diamonds and 4 of Diamonds. He was still examining the question while Professor Xiao had already given the answer. In any case, in the Diamonds maze, it was always right to follow Xiao Lou.

    Facing Xiao Lou¡¯s clear eyes, Yu Hanjiang replied immediately, ¡°Okay, everything is up to you.¡±

    ¡°Then we will go to thentern tree first. My guess is that Ye Qi and the others will go to thentern tree to meet with us.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and walked along with Xiao Lou.

    On the way, court officials recognized them and greeted them with a smile. ¡°Hello Yu daren, are you going to thentern festival with your wife?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied calmly, ¡°Yes, I¡¯m apanying my wife.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled cooperatively and nodded politely at the other party. This person¡¯s question confirmed their spection. 8 of Diamonds and 8 of Hearts were linked. They shared the same background and setting.

    In fact, the effect of putting thentern festival in the real world was the same. Obviously, the keeper of Diamonds waszy and directly took the Hearts sister¡¯s setting to make the maze.

    This ce was so crowded that Xiao Lou was almost knocked down by a child. Yu Hanjiang immediately hugged Xiao Lou by the waist and supported him gently while whispering, ¡°Don¡¯t go too far away.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart jumped. He pretended to be calm as he was protected by Yu Hanjiang and walked forward.

    Thisntern market was too big¡­

    As they moved forward along the main road, Xiao Lou saw at least eight roads that forked out. Each forked road was also covered withnterns. The crowdsing and going would seriously affect their judgment about direction. In thentern maze that was filled with people, it was really easy to get lost.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang walked straight forward, looking for the location of thentern tree.

    Thentern tree wasn¡¯t difficult to find. Once the main road came to an end, they passed a stone bridge and saw an ancient tree that was 10 meters high in the distance. It was covered with red wishes andnterns.

    There weren¡¯t many people around the big tree. Xiao Lou quickly nced at the crowd and saw Ye Qi in a red dress and Shao Qingge dressed as a rich, noble son.

    Momentster, Long Sen, Qu Wanyue, Old Mo and Liu Qiao also arrived here.

    Everyone had climbed all the way to 8 of Diamonds and knew to look at the prompts when entering the secret room carefully. The prompt pointed out the ntern tree¡¯ as a key ce so they would naturallye here to meet their teammates.

    None of the teammates wandered around and the gathering speed was very fast.

    The eight people arrived and Xiao Lou immediately called everyone to the side.

    He found a ce with no one and whispered, ¡°Check your card pack to see which cards work.¡±

    Everyone checked. Liu Qiao took the lead to say, ¡°My Light as a Swallow can be used. The invisibility cloak and Twin card have failed. My fairy tale cards such as Poison Queen and Little Red Riding Hood can¡¯t be used.¡±

    Long Sen added, ¡°Ser and badminton can¡¯t be used. Chameleon is useless. I can only use Long Jump!¡±

    Old Mo couldn¡¯t smile. ¡°I can only use the Perspective Converter card.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at Yu Hanjiang, who said, ¡°All the modern, high-tech cards have been banned.¡±

    It seemed this ban also included Mr Tang¡¯s S-grade tool card that he just gave them, Aerial Camera.

    Ye Qi stated, ¡°My teleportation card can still be used but it is only the first skill. In other words, I can only teleport myself. I can¡¯t teleport 200 kg or other people.¡±

    Xiao Lou checked Li Qingzhao¡¯s skills. ¡°Previously, the flying pigeon could carry objects but this time it is banned. Stray Into the Depths of the Lotus Flowers is also banned.¡±

    Ye Qi was surprised. ¡°Isn¡¯t Stray Into the Depths of the Lotus Flowers a maze skill? You can return to a specific location marked in the mark. Why is it banned in the Diamonds maze?¡±

    Everyone was confused about the rule of banning cards in this Diamonds room. Wasn¡¯t A of Diamonds very willful? What did she want to ban? Some cards that could be used in the Hearts ancient world were somehow unusable here?

    Xiao Lou thought carefully for a moment and quickly found the rules. He analyzed, ¡°This maze, strictly speaking, isn¡¯t a pure mechanism maze but antern riddle maze. The thing we need to do within a limited time is to solve as many riddles as possible and hang thentern props obtained on this tree. It is a mini-game of collecting maze props.¡±

    Hearing Xiao Lou¡¯s words, everyone couldn¡¯t help looking at the big tree not far away.

    There was antern hanging on the tree and the hint was quite obvious. Later, the collectednterns would be hung up. As Xiao Lou concluded, this was indeed a maze props collection game.

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°If Ye Qi can move 200 kilograms with the teleportation, we can solve dozens of riddles, put thenterns together and let Ye Qi move them all. This is probably why all the skills to move things are banned.¡±

    Ye Qi suddenly realized. ¡°Is this why Li Qingzhao¡¯s location marking skill is banned? If it can be used, we can directly mark this tree as the target point and easily teleport here after solving a riddle!¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Tao Yuanming¡¯s Remember Peach Blossom Spring is also banned for the same reason. It is forbidden for us to mark a point directly and use group teleport under the tree to hang up antern. However, discement skills aren¡¯t forbidden. Can you think of anything?¡±

    Liu Qiao thought carefully. Her Light as a Swallow could be used. She could use the light footwork to leap between buildings. There was also Long Sen¡¯s Long Jump and Ye Qi¡¯s Teleport¡­ her eyes lit up. ¡°Is it to let us move quickly in a ry?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at her with appreciation. ¡°Yes, from the perspective of the keeper who banned the cards, this secret room requires up to divide thebor. Those who are good at solving puzzles should look forntern riddles in thentern market. Solve it as soon as possible, pass it to your teammate. If you have a discement card, move through the crowd at the fastest speed, take thentern out of thentern market and hang it on this tree. This means there are three links in this secret room. Understanding the riddle, the ry race and hanging thentern.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang heard this and finally understood the difficulty of the room.

    Thentern market would close at zishi time. Would 50nterns get an S-grade score or was it 100nterns? No one knew the scoring rules and they could only solve as many riddles as possible.

    The current time was around 21 o¡¯clock and there were three hours until thentern festival closed.

    If they wanted to bring thenterns out of the bustling crowd, discement skills were necessary. Time was limited so Yu Hanjiang simply said, ¡°Xiao Lou, you arrange it and we will act as soon as possible.¡±

    Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t polite. He nced at his teammates and quickly divided them into groups. ¡°Old Mo and Xiao Liu. Old Mo is more familiar with the maze route and will use Light as a Swallow to pass thenterns. Liu Qiao is responsible for solving the riddles.¡±

    The two of them nodded and Liu Qiao handed the card to Old Mo immediately.

    Xiao Lou followed up with, ¡°Long Sen and Teacher Qu are in a team. Teacher Qu will look for thentern riddles while Long Sen is responsible for taking away thenterns.¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t want to dismantle this couple tea. Qu Wanyue was smart and Long Sen could run fast. The two people had noments on this arrangement.

    Xiao Lou looked at Shao Qingge and Ye Qi. ¡°The two of you are in a team. Ye Qi will solve the riddles while I have to trouble Chief Shao to run the errands.¡±

    Shao Qinggeughed. ¡°No problem.¡±

    Thest two people were naturally in a team and their teammates seemed ustomed to them being in the same group.

    Yu Hanjiang consciously said, ¡°I¡¯ll run the errands.¡±

    Xiao Lou took the eleration shoes out of his card pack and handed it over. ¡°This card is for you.¡±

    Once the teams were divided, Xiao Lou went on to say, ¡°Now everyone will enter thentern market. Split up and first figure out the road distribution of thentern market. Remember to mark the roads you have travelled with a Four-way Arrow. Old Mo, if you encounter aplicated road then use Perspective Converter to look at it. After 15 minutes, we will go back to the big tree and meet.¡±

    Everyone nodded and entered thentern market quickly.

    Seeing Xiao Lou calmly directing and arranging the actions, Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t help thinking that with such a clever partner beside him, he didn¡¯t have to worry about the Diamond mazes in the future. He could continue to lie down and win.

    TL: This room has many riddles and many of them the author doesn¡¯t exin, probably because she considers it obvious. However, as a person who doesn¡¯t speak Chinese and also needing to trante it into English, it can be hard to properly convey some of them. I have done my best but I won¡¯t me you if you feel confused with some riddles.

 Chapter 191: Shangyuan Lantern Festival 02

    Thisntern market was terrible.

    The eight people acted separately and used various discement cards to move and explore through the crowds. After returning to the tree, Xiao Lou drew a miniature map on the ground based on everyone¡¯s description of the roads and the arrow marks left behind.

    As he drew, he analyzed it for his teammates. ¡°The entirentern market is like the ¡®Éê¡¯ character. The longest main road is in the middle and both sides of the road contain round red gauzemps. The end of this road is connected to the stone bridge. After crossing the stone bridge, there is our target destination, thentern tree.¡±

    He drew an asterisk at the location of thentern tree. ¡°Then there is the middle part. After removing the main road without themp riddles, the rest is a ¡®ÈÕ¡¯. There are three horizontal streets and two vertical streets. In order to facilitate the ry, we will divide the work¡­¡±

    ¡°Group Leader Yu and I will be responsible for the two vertical streets. For the three horizontal streets, Old Mo and Liu Qiao are in charge of the furthest one. Chief Shao and Ye Qi are in charge of the middle one while Long Sen and Teacher Qu are in charge of the nearest one. Everyone should remember their position clearly and don¡¯t mess around.¡±

    His arrangement was indeed very thoughtful. The Light as a Swallow card could leap lightly through the air and was the fastest moving, so he arranged for Liu Qiao and Old Mo to go to the furthest ce. The speed of the teleportation card was also very fast so Shao Qingge and Ye Qi were arranged in the middle. For the Long Jump card, they could only jump 8 meters at a time and it wasn¡¯t convenient to jump in the bustling crowd. Once the two people got out of the crowd, they could use the skills near the stone bridge.

    Thinking about it carefully, they really admired Professor Xiao¡¯s arrangement.

    The seeminglyplicatedntern market was arranged by him like this and it became a simple two way road. Unless they werepletely direction challenged, they just had to walk in a straight line and couldn¡¯t go wrong. The parts that were the most difficult and easy to get lost in were left to Professor Xiao!

    After dividing the work, the group entered thentern market again.

    In the Diamonds room, attack and control cards were all forbidden. The peopleing and going blocked their way and sometimes identally hit them. Yu Hanjiang had to continue to hug Xiao Lou¡¯s waist and protect him. This intimate movement made Xiao Lou blush but all around him were rednterns. The red light shone and his blush was less obvious.

    After walking through the main road onto the vertical road to the side, there were significantly fewer people.

    Xiao Lou soon saw a pcentern hanging on a shelf. It had a ssic shape with six sides and six corners. It was made of paper with beautiful patterns drawn on each side. There were red silk threads hanging from the six corners of the pcentern and it looked very delicate.

    Under the illumination of the warm candlelight, these patterns came to light. No matter the shape or exquisiteness of thentern, the difference was quite obviouspared to the same red gauzemps on the main road.

    Xiao Lou took a step forward and asked, ¡°Is this antern riddle?¡±

    The store boss smiled and said, ¡°Yes, as long as you can guess the answer, thisntern will be given to you.¡±

    Sure enough. It was the ancient Shangyuan Lantern Festival and there were many activities like ¡®guess thentern riddle and receive thentern.¡¯ Lanterns were cheap to make and were hand-made. They were also given for a good luck sign. It was unlike the modernntern festivals where electronic lights were sold everywhere and there was a variety of music. Xiao Lou actually liked this quaint Shangyuan Lantern Festival a lot more.

    Xiao Lou reached out and picked up thentern on the shelf, carefully observing the pattern on it.

    Thentern in his hand had a schr with a folded fan in his hand drawn on the first side. The second side had a rooster, the third side had a few gold ingots and then it was another rooster.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and thought about it. What was the rtionship between a schr and a rooster? Was there any connection between the rooster and the gold ingot? As a result, he hadn¡¯t understood it yet when Xiao Lou smiled and replied, ¡°A great number ofpetent people?¡±

    The boss nodded. ¡°Yes, yes. Madam can guess so quickly. Thentern will be given to you!¡±

    Xiao Lou thanked the boss, took thentern and handed it to Yu Hanjiang beside him. Yu Hanjiang took thentern and carefully pondered the drawings. Finally, he figured it out.

    The two of them continued to move forward and saw another pcentern hanging on the shelf with some patterns on it.

    The first side had a simple brush. The second side was a pair of colourful butterfly wings. The third side was a young man and woman holding hands and looking at each other affectionately. Both characters were drawn in a life-like manner. The fourth side had a group of geese flying through the sky.

    Xiao Lou guessed. ¡°A pair of birds flying together?¡± (Idiom that means two hearts beating as one)

    The boss was a young girl. Once Xiao Lou guessed the riddle, she immediately handed over thentern. ¡°Madam guessed correctly.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang only realized at this time. This graphic riddle actually used the ¡®stream of consciousness thinking. A brush was a homophone for ¡®pair¡¯, the butterfly wings were ¡®wings¡¯, the couple holding hands were ¡®together¡¯ and the group of birds was ¡®flying¡¯. Together, it was the idiom ¡®A pair of birds flying together¡¯.

    Those who hadn¡¯t yed riddle games would only be confused when seeing the messy patterns. However, for Xiao Lou, these riddles weren¡¯t difficult.

    After guessing these two, Xiao Lou turned back and said, ¡°Hanjiang, you go and hang thenterns first. I will continue to look for the riddles. If you take too much then it won¡¯t be easy to go. Hang these two up first.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. He put on the eleration shoes and sped toward the tree outside thentern market.

    Once he came near the big tree, he found there were still only a few wishes and a colourfulntern hanging on the tree. It was the same as the beginning and his teammates hadn¡¯t returned yet. It seemed that Xiao Lou¡¯s speed was the fastest.

    Yu Hanjiang hung twonterns on the tree. At the same time, a prompt appeared on everyone¡¯s floating boxes. [Number ofntern riddles that have been collected: 2.]

    Ye Qi was currently holding antern and thinking about the answer. The riddle he got was a word puzzle. A line of words was written on the roundntern: Draw a circle of time, write a square of time, a short winter, a long summer¡¯. Ye Qi hadn¡¯t thought of the answer yet when he saw the prompt. Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help wondering, ¡°Who is so fast that twonterns are already hung?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled slightly. ¡°Who else can it be? It is only our witty Madam Yu.¡±

    Ye Qi remembered that ¡®Madam Yu¡¯ was Xiao Lou and immediately nodded. ¡°It must be him! We are still looking at the question while he has already thought of the answer. He is indeed the top student!¡±

    Qu Wanyue had also just found the firstntern riddle. She was facing a poetry riddle. It was a delicate redntern with a line of poetry written in ck script: The mountains and water are heavy but willow trees make the shade, the flowers give the light. (TL: The willow trees make the shade, the flowers give the light is an idiom that means light at the end of the tunnel)

    She had just made a guess when she saw the prompt in the floating box and couldn¡¯t help smiling. ¡°It must be Professor Xiao.

    Long Sen scratched his head. ¡°He is really good at this type of riddle. I think the seven of us helping him find thenterns and letting him guess the riddle alone might be more efficient!¡±

    Qu Wanyue agreed. ¡°I also think so.¡±

    The two of them looked at each other and continued to ponder on the riddle.

    Liu Qiao also found a word puzzle that was seemingly simple but it wasn¡¯t easy to guess. The riddle was: A flock of wild goose chasing the boat.

    She was thinking carefully when she saw the prompt on the floating box. Liu Qiao expressed her admiration. ¡°We have only found one while they have guessed two and hung thentern. It seems that we have to speed up or by the time we finish one street, Professor Xiao would¡¯ve already finished searching two streets.¡±

    Mo Xuemin looked mncholy. ¡°I think this is a great possibility!¡±

    Liu Qiao, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    So what was the wild goose chasing the boat? Should she ask Professor Xiao for help?

    Yu Hanjiang quickly returned to thentern market and saw Xiao Lou holding twonterns in his hand.

    Xiao Lou saw Yu Hanjiang and smiled. ¡°Hanjiang, I guessed two more. I have to trouble you to send it again.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Could you guess a bit slower?!

 Chapter 192: Shangyuan Lantern Festival 03

    Facing Xiao Lou¡¯s smiling eyes, Yu Hanjiang had to step forward and take thenterns from his hand, continuing to turn toward the stone bridge.

    Yu Hanjiang acted like the wind. Although there were many tourists in thentern market, he was able to cope with this crowded scene. He held thenterns up high and ran through thentern market while shouting, ¡°Excuse me.¡±

    On the road, many pedestrians recognized him and couldn¡¯t help talking about him.

    ¡°What is Yu daren doing?¡±

    ¡±It seems he is helping his wife hangnterns?¡±

    ¡±I just saw him hanging twonterns on the tree. Perhaps his wife wants to pray!¡±

    ¡±Yu daren and his wife truly have a good rtionship!¡±

    Everyone sighed emotionally. Yu Hanjiang was the prime minister yet this job of ¡®running errands¡¯ wasn¡¯t left to the servants. He was actually helping his wife hangnterns. This was really a model husband and wife of Daqi and people were envious.

    At the same time, Ye Qi also made progress.

    The riddle he got wasn¡¯t difficult. Drawing the circle of time, writing the square of time, a short winter and a long summer, it was the word ¡®day¡¯.

    Ye Qi quickly thought of the answer but he couldn¡¯t give the answer directly after reading the question like Xiao Lou. He thought about it for 10 seconds before guessing this riddle.

    The secondntern puzzle was also a word riddle. The riddle was ¡®water on the left, mountain on the right.¡¯ Ye Qi thought about it for only three seconds before eximing excitedly, ¡°It is the character ¡¯Shan¡¯!

    The boss smiled. ¡°This girl guessed correctly. I¡¯ll give thentern to you.¡±

    Shao Qingge waved his hand and smiled. ¡°Girl Ye is quite smart.¡±

    Ye Qi ignored his teasing and handed the twonterns to Shao Qingge. ¡°Run quickly. Hurry up!¡±

    Shao Qingge might love to joke around but he wouldn¡¯t drop the ball in major events. He immediately put the fan away and took thentern with both hands. He had the help of the teleportation card and wasn¡¯t tired at all. In the blink of an eye, Shao Qingge brought twonterns to the tree.

    The people all saw him move quickly and eximed, ¡°This young man has a good light footwork skill!¡±

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge pretended to have a light footwork skill and teleported all the way to the tree near the stone bridge, only to see Yu Hanjiang.

    Shao Qingge thought that Yu Hanjiang had just finished hanging thenterns. Unexpectedly, Yu Hanjiang extended his long arms to hang up twonterns. Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t help crying out with surprise, ¡°You¡¯re on your second round?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded calmly. ¡°Yes, Xiao Lou guessed four correctly.¡±

    Shao Qingge felt helpless. ¡°He is ridiculously hard. It seems that Yu daren will have to work hard today.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang muttered, ¡°¡­It isn¡¯t hard.¡±

    He was happy to run errands for Xiao Lou.

    The eleration shoes had reached the full level and couldst for 30 minutes. During this time, Xiao Lou would guess while Yu Hanjiang would run back and forth to hangnterns for him. Once the skill of the eleration shoes ended, it wasn¡¯t toote to find the teammates to help.

    Yu Hanjiang made up his mind and didn¡¯t talk much with Shao Qingge. He stated, ¡°I¡¯m going back. It isn¡¯t good to make him wait for a long time.¡±

    Shao Qinggeughed. ¡°Go.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang rushed back to thentern market. Shao Qingge looked at the riddles on the tree. The ones that Group Leader Yu hung up were all graphic riddles. He carefully observed a few and found that¡­ he couldn¡¯t guess any of them!

    It was fortunate that he teamed up with Xiao Lou¡¯s team or Shao Qingge would definitely die miserably in the Diamonds secret rooms.

    By the time Yu Hanjiang returned to the west street, Xiao Lou was standing in the crowd and holding twonterns.

    Yu Hanjiang had already guessed this result.

    Xiao Lou was a bit embarrassed when he saw Yu Hanjiang running quickly and asked softly, ¡°Are you tired from running back and forth like this?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked calm. ¡°I¡¯m not tired. I have the eleration shoes.¡±

    Xiao Lou put thenterns in his hand. ¡°You worked hard.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°It¡¯s fine. You continue to guess while I¡¯ll hang thenterns.¡±

    The people saw that Yu Hanjiang was running withnterns again and voluntarily gave way. They wondered how manynterns Yu daren would help his wife hang. In addition, this Madam Yu was too powerful at guessing riddles. Did she n to win all thenterns on this road?

    At this time, a corner of thentern market.

    Liu Qiao thought for half a minute and realized that the mystery of a ¡®group of wild goose chasing boats¡¯ was actually a pictograph that meant the character ¡®Ñ² (patrol)¡¯. The shape of this character looked like a group of swallows chasing a boat.

    Liu Qiao looked at the boss. ¡°Is it patrol?¡±

    The boss smiled and handed her thentern. ¡°You guessed it right.¡±

    Old Mo couldn¡¯t helpmenting, ¡°If I was the one guessing, I would break my head and still couldn¡¯t think of this word.¡±

    Liu Qiao told him, ¡°If Professor Xiao came to guess, he might¡¯ve guessed it after reading the question. Let¡¯s go to the next one.¡±

    The street where she was located was full of simr word puzzles.

    The second puzzle stumped Liu Qiao again. This time, the puzzle was ¡®second youngdy. Old Mo and Liu Qiao looked at each other. Old Mo scratched his head. ¡°What would second youngdy be?¡±

    Liu Qiao thought about it. ¡°The second youngdy of the prince¡¯s mansion seemed to be called Qi Yian? Princess Sukan? Is it the word ¡®An¡¯?¡±

    Old Mo shook his head. ¡°This is the capital, not Jiangzhou. Thentern riddle should have nothing to do with the second youngdy.¡±

    After a moment of thinking, Mo Xuemin made a decision. ¡°Xiao Liu, you wait here for me. I¡¯ll go and ask for help.¡±

    It was the Diamonds room and there was no rule that he couldn¡¯t ask for help from his teammates. Instead of being stuck here for a long time, it was faster to go directly to Xiao Lou!

    The road where the two of them was located was on the northernmost side. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were guessing the riddle from far to near. Mo Xuemin walked around the corner and met Xiao Lou waiting in the crowd.

    At this time, Yu Hanjiang wasn¡¯t around and Xiao Lou was holding twonterns in his hand. Just then, a prompt appeared in the floating boxes above their heads. [Number ofntern riddles that have been collected: 8.]

    Old Mo quickly walked to Xiao Lou and quipped. ¡°The speed of your guessing is much faster than Yu daren¡¯s running. He is running quickly enough to break his legs but he is still toote to help you hang thenterns!¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°The riddles on this street are guessing idioms and characters through graphics. It is too simple. I can¡¯t grab so manynterns so I can only wait for him toe over and get it.¡±

    Old Mo suggested, ¡°It is like this. Xiao Liu is guessing slowly so I¡¯ll also help you hang thenterns.¡±

    Xiao Lou was surprised. ¡°Will this affect your progress?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. You have guessed four while Xiao Liu is still guessing her second one!¡±

    Xiao Lou coughed and exined, ¡°Cough, this is actually the sixth one.¡±

    Mo Xuemin, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou handed thenterns in his hand to Old Mo. ¡°I have to trouble you.¡±

    ¡°It is no trouble. By the way, Xiao Liu is stuck on a question. The riddle is ¡®second youngdy.¡¯ What should be guessed?¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t have to think about it. ¡°Beauty. Second youngdy simply means the second daughter.¡±

    Mo Xuemin, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The two of them struggled for a long time and could onlye up with the name of the second youngdy of the prince¡¯s mansion. Yet it was originally like this!

    Second youngdy = second daughter = beauty! (¶þÐ¡½ã=´ÎÅ®=×Ë. TL: My guess is that it isbining the two characters of second daughter ´ÎÅ® together to get ×Ë. Looking closely, it is like they are stacked on top of each other)

    Professor Xiao¡¯s brain turned really quickly. He got an answer immediately after listening to the question. Mo Xuemin admired it as he took thentern in Xiao Lou¡¯s hand. ¡°I¡¯ll hang these twonterns, help Liu Qiao hang hers and thene back to help you!¡±

    In this case, Mo¡¯s route was an upside down ¡®U¡¯. However, Old Mo had a strong sense of direction and wouldn¡¯t get lost. He first went to the northernmost street to find Liu Qiao and told her the answer. Liu Qiao sessfully won the ¡®second youngdy¡¯ntern. Old Mo helped hang Xiao Lou¡¯snterns and then helped hang Liu Qiao¡¯snterns.

    At this point, Yu Hanjiang was on his fourth round.

    Xiao Lou guessed the riddles too quickly. Even if Yu Hanjiang ran constantly, he couldn¡¯t keep up with Xiao Lou¡¯s puzzle solving speed. After all, Xiao Lou had to look for the riddles and then solve them. He could solve two of them in around 30 seconds. Even if Yu Hanjiang was wearing the eleration shoes, he couldn¡¯t run back and forth in the crowd in 30 seconds.

    In order to save time, Yu Hanjiang suggested. ¡°I will call a few more people and let Shao Qingge, Long Sen and Old Mo also hangnterns for them. Some of them are too slow. At present, there are the eight graphic riddles you¡¯ve guessed hanging on thentern tree and only twonterns that the others have got.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    It seemed that Xiao Ye, Xiao Liu and Teacher Qu weren¡¯t very good at this type of riddle game. Xiao Lou thought for a while and replied, ¡°Okay, if you meet them, tell them toe and find me when they have spare time to help me send thenterns.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded, took thenterns from Xiao Lou¡¯s hand and turned around to hurry out of thentern market.

    Qu Wanyue didn¡¯t understand what to guess at first.

    The mountain and water was heavy, the willow trees make the shade, the flowers give the light.

    She remembered that this poem was written by Lu You and guessed Lu You at first, but the answer was wrong. After carefully thinking about it, Qu Wanyue¡¯s eyes suddenly widened. ¡°Is it an idiom? Come back from death¡¯s door, unexpected rescue from danger?¡±

    In the absence of a road, suddenly there was hope. Wasn¡¯t this the meaning of desperately living?

    The boss smiled. ¡°This man guessed correctly. Thentern will be given to you!¡±

    Qu Wanyue was wearing men¡¯s clothing and the boss mistakenly thought she was a handsome young man. Long Sen feltplicated as he took thentern from Qu Wanyue¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Guess the next one.¡±

    The two of them walked to the next riddle.

    The street was full of poetry riddles. Qu Wanyue had experience after the first one and could guess the next one. This time, the riddle was ¡®Why did we meet but there was no need to get to know each other?¡¯ and Qu Wanyue smiled. ¡°Familiarity at first sight!¡±

    The boss gave her antern. Long Sen held the twonterns and quickly ran to hang it on the tree.

    At this time, there were already 16nterns hanging on thentern tree. 8 of them were pcenterns with various images drawn on them that were obtained by Xiao Lou. Four were word riddles guessed by Ye Qi. Two were poetry and idiom rted that were obtained by Qu Wanyue and two were pictographs that were guessed by Liu Qiao.

    The four people hanging thenterns happened to meet.

    Everyone looked at thenterns on the tree and were speechless.

    Yu Hanjiang dered lightly, ¡°You are too slow.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    What are you proud of? Isn¡¯t it great to have an excellent wife?

    ¡­It was really great.

    This couldn¡¯t be epted! In just a few minutes, eightnterns were already obtained?

    Shao Qingge smiled and touched his nose. ¡°Ye Qi is fast. He guessed four of them correctly. If it was me, I wouldn¡¯t be able to guess any of them. There is also Madam Yu, who is very powerful. Hasn¡¯t it been less than five minutes? Getting rid of the time it takes to find the riddles, he can get eightnterns. Doesn¡¯t this mean that he guessed the answer immediately after reading the question?¡±

    Old Mo eximed, ¡°Yes! His brain turns too quickly. There was a question about the second youngdy. Xiao Liu and I struggled over it for a long time. As a result, the moment I told him the question, he answered it straight away.¡±

    Long Sen simply stated, ¡°Compared with Professor Xiao, I seem to have no brains!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    He could understand everyone¡¯s questions. Xiao Lou said the answer every time after reading the question. His brain turned faster than the CPU of a supeputer. Obviously, Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t just smart. He liked this type of puzzle game.

    What else could be said after being crushed by a top student?

    If normal people guessed the riddle, Ye Qi taking 10 seconds to answer was already quite powerful.

    Yet Xiao Lou answered in seconds! Others hadn¡¯t finished reading the question while he already guessed the answer. It was as if he bought a question bank plug-in!

    Looking at theplicated emotions on his teammates¡¯ faces, Yu Hanjiang felt very proud. This was the great feeling of lying down to win. He wanted to help his teammates experience it as well so Yu Hanjiang simply ordered, ¡°All of you should also go to help Xiao Lou deliver thenterns.¡±

    Shao Qingge wondered, ¡°What about thenterns of the others?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it and arranged it. ¡°In this way, everyone will send their partner¡¯snterns once then Xiao Lou¡¯snterns once alternately. The time should almost be the same. Xiao Lou¡¯s guessing speed is actually faster than we think. He can¡¯t hold thenterns so every time he guesses two correctly, he has to wait for me to get back and get it. This actually wastes a lot of time. If we help him deliver it together then the efficiency will be faster.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang raised his eyebrows and looked at everyone. ¡°What? Don¡¯t you believe in Xiao Lou¡¯s strength?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°Of course not. Then I will help Xiao Ye send it once and then go and find the madam. After that, I will continue to sendnterns for Xiao Ye. In this case, it is estimated that Xiao Ye would have solved the riddles smoothly.¡±

    Old Moughed. ¡°The four of us acting as couriers should be able to keep up with Professor Xiao¡¯s speed!¡±

    Long Sen cried out, ¡°Let¡¯s do it!¡±

 Chapter 193: Shangyuan Lantern Festival 04

    Xiao Lou was holding twonterns in his hands and waiting for Yu Hanjiang to pick them up. He didn¡¯t expect four people to be waiting this time.

    Yu Hanjiang, Shao Qingge, Mo Xuemin and Long Sen, the four ¡®courier brothers¡¯ were waiting in line to ¡®take the goods.¡¯

    Xiao Lou was distressed. Yu Hanjiang was sweaty from running so he gave thenterns to the most rxed Long Sen. ¡°I have to trouble you.¡±

    Long Sen joked, ¡°No problem, I¡¯ll send it right away. Please give me a five star praise!¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Did he really think of himself as a courier?

    After Long Sen left, Xiao Lou headed to the next stall and picked up a riddlentern he had discovered a long time ago. He had been idle and bored so he wandered down the road to find all the riddle stalls on the road.

    This type was still a graphical riddle. There was a green leaf on the first side and beautiful eyes on the back. Thisntern was a gift and Xiao Lou stated, ¡°One leaf blinds the eyes.¡±

    This question was very simple and everyone standing next to him also understood.

    There was another pcentern hanging next to it. There were four sides. Three chopsticks were on the first side, a sun on the second side, four chopsticks on the third side and a moon on thest side.

    His teammates were wondering about the connection between chopsticks and a sun and moon¡­

    As a result, they heard Xiao Lou say, ¡°Three in the morning but four in the evening.¡± (Idiom that means: to change something that is already settled upon/indecisive)

    The team members, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Yes! The chopsticks only represented numbers while the sun and the moon represented the day and night respectively.

    Seeing Xiao Lou smile and take thentern from the boss¡¯ hand, Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t help his mouth twitching. Old Mo was right. Only the four couriers acting together could keep up with Xiao Lou¡¯s speed.

    The owner of the next stall smiled and asked, ¡°Yu daren, apanying your wife to thentern festival today, is it to win all thenterns on the entire road?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°My wife likes to guess thentern riddles. No matter how much she likes to win, she can win it.¡±

    This boast stunned the stall owners. She could win however much she wanted to win? Was his wife so amazing? The stall owners didn¡¯t believe it and had Madam Yu guess their riddles.

    Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t polite to them. He strolled from stall to stall. Whoever had a riddle, he would take it down and guess it.

    The riddle he got next was a bit more difficult.

    The pcentern had a total of six sides with the words¡¯ ¡®crazy¡¯, ¡®epileptic¡¯, itchy¡¯, ¡®content¡¯, ¡®pain¡¯ and ¡®correct¡¯ written on them. Xiao Lou cocked his head to think carefully. Apart from ¡®content¡¯ and ¡®correct¡¯ all of them were illnesses. He smiled and said, ¡°Safe and sound.¡± (Come out unscathed from idents or illnesses).

    The stall owner praised him. ¡°Madam, you are so powerful. Why not guess one more?¡±

    Thisntern riddle also contained images. It was a pcentern with eight faces. From left to right, each face had two butterflies, three leaves, four bugs, five sheep, six cows, seven women, eight birds and nine little rabbits.

    Xiao Lou carefully rotated thenterns and guessed, ¡°Short of food and clothing?¡±

    The store owner couldn¡¯t help eximing, ¡°Madam is truly strong!¡±

    Shao Qingge always heard Xiao Lou answer before he could read it. This was the number from two to nine. There was no ¡®one¡¯ and ¡®ten¡¯ which was the homophone for ck of food and clothing.¡¯ Xiao Lou was really 666666. He wanted to make antern with six sides for Xiao Lou and write a ¡®6¡¯ on each side!

    Shao Qingge and Mo Xuemin nced at each other. They each took twonterns from Xiao Lou and quickly went to hang it on thentern tree.

    On the way back, they met Yu Hanjiang carryingnterns. Obviously, Xiao Lou had guessed two more correctly while they had gone to hang thenterns. This was simply the speed of a bulldozer! Would the entirentern market be cleared out?!

    Xiao Lou told everyone with actions what it meant by ¡®crushing problem solving¡¯.

    Thentern riddles on this street were all graphics and Xiao Lou swept through all the riddle stalls. He had four teammates to help him hang thenterns. In the blink of an eye, all the riddlenterns on the street were on by him. Meanwhile, the tourists came and watched. Madam Yu was guessingntern riddles. Not only did Yu daren hangnterns for his wife, he called Master Mo, a shadow guard and a rich son to help him.

    Tourists who nned to guess thentern riddles saw Xiao Lou and consciously avoided him. It was as if they ran away after seeing a boss.

    After guessing the riddles on the west street, Xiao Lou moved to the east street.

    Thentern riddles on this street were mostly word puzzles and the answer must be written with a brush. Xiao Lou was the best at guessing word puzzles. Once he saw the riddle ¡®Grass grows in the field after the rain¡¯, he immediately wrote ¡®Bud (ÀÙ).¡¯

    ¡°There are mountains on all sides, all mountains are connected¡± ¡ª¡¯field (Ìï).¡¯

    ¡°There is no first day on the first month¡¯¡ª¡¯agree (¿Ï)¡¯.

    ¡°This word is extraordinary. There are only four strokes, no horizontal lines, no straight lines and no hooks. The emperor wants to get up when he sees it and the saint wants to bow when he sees it.¡± The team members were thinking, ¡®What is the word that makes the emperor want to get up?¡¯

    Then Xiao Lou¡¯s pen wrote, ¡°Father (¸¸).¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Let¡¯s give up thinking and just be a courier! How tired was their brain? Just give it to Professor Xiao.

    The four teammates acting as couriers followed Xiao Lou and lined up to help Xiao Lou hang thenterns.

    Xiao Lou not only guessed the puzzle quickly but he also wrote using the brush in a very correct and timeless manner. The stall owners willingly handed thentern to him and didn¡¯t forget to praise him. ¡°Madam is powerful!¡±

    The onlookersmented, ¡°No wonder why Yu daren is obsessed with his wife and hasn¡¯t taken a concubine after so many years. It turns out that the madam can not only do autopsies and solve cases but she also knows poetry and song!¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want a concubine either.¡±

    ¡±Yu daren is really blessed!¡±

    ¡±Madam Yu is also blessed. Didn¡¯t you see Yu daren put down his airs and run to hang thenterns himself?!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang could hear the voices of the people around him.

    He thought to himself that it was indeed a blessing to be with Xiao Lou. He wouldn¡¯t let anyone take Xiao Lou away.

    As Xiao Lou was sweeping through thentern market, Ye Qi, Liu Qiao and Qu Wanyue were also working hard.

    In fact, Ye Qi was also very clever. He had guessed the riddles of half the street. Once he found the riddle and read the question, it took him around 10 seconds to think before he gave the answer. This was also considered smart among normal people. He was excellent butpared to Xiao Lou, the ¡®big devil,¡¯ he was still a lot worse.

    Qu Wanyue¡¯s street was full of riddles corresponding to idioms such as ¡®when will the moon return to me?¡¯ and the answer was ¡®With one¡¯s heart set on speeding home¡¯. The riddle ¡®the peach blossomke is thousands of feet deep but falls short of the love that Wang Lun sent me.¡¯ The answer was ¡®iparable¡¯. Qu Wanyue was a dance teacher but she was very interested in poems. After making one guess, she guessed them all quickly.

    However, guessing idioms was harder than guessing words. All after, the idioms she learnt were limited. She had the richest vocabry during the year she took the university entrance examination. After that, many idioms were slowly forgotten. She had to think about each question before giving an answer and her speed was slightly slower than Ye Qi.

    Liu Qiao¡¯s speed was simr to Ye Qi except that most of her street had pictogram riddles simr to ¡®a group of wild goose chases a boat¡¯. It was actually very difficult for her to transform an image into Chinese characters in her mind.

    Time gradually passed.

    As Liu Qiao initially spected, they hadn¡¯t finished one street by the time Xiao Lou finished guessing the riddles of two streets.

    The Shangyuan Lantern Festival had a total of five streets filled with riddles and it would be closed at 24:00. The three people felt that time was getting tighter and they simply went to Xiao Lou for help.

    Ye Qi hurried over to find Xiao Lou and said, ¡°The remaining time is running out. I encountered some puzzles that I could guess. I ced them all on the table first so Xiao¡­¡± Ye Qi was aware of people around them and changed his words. ¡°Madam Yu,e and guess them!¡±

    Liu Qiao also said, ¡°I also have a few riddles I couldn¡¯t solve. Madam,e and see.¡±

    Qu Wanyue smiled. ¡°Why don¡¯t we look for the riddles and Madam Yu will solve them. The time remaining is only one stick of incense left.¡±

    The three of them had done their best and each of them got 20-30nterns, leaving the difficult questions to Xiao Lou. If Xiao Lou was fast enough, he might be able to guess the riddles of the entirentern market. This approach was indeed very wise.

    The trust of his teammates warmed Xiao Lou¡¯s heart. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll try my best. Let¡¯s hurry.¡¯

    Ye Qi took Xiao Lou to his street first. ¡°I didn¡¯t guess this one. The riddle ¡®s red on one side, green on the other, one side is fond of wind and the other side is fond of rain¡¯. What is the answer?¡±

    This question wasn¡¯t simple. Xiao Lou gave a rare frown but quickly answered. ¡°Autumn.¡±

    Ye Qi thought about it carefully. The character ¡®autumn (Çï)¡¯ was split into two halves. The ¡®he/wood (ºÌ) was green and the ¡®huo/fire (»ð) was red. The ¡®he¡¯ liked rain and the ¡®huo¡¯ liked wind. This was the answer! He couldn¡¯t help giving Xiao Lou a thumbs up and quickly raised a pen to write the word ¡®Autumn.¡¯ Although his character was crooked and not as beautiful as Xiao Lou¡¯s writing, the answer was correct and the boss handed him thentern.

    Ye Qi continued to pull Xiao Lou to help. ¡°Where is the wife?¡±

    Xiao Lou froze. ¡°What?¡±

    Ye Qi said, ¡°I¡¯m not asking about you. The riddle of thisntern is the sentence ¡®Where is the wife?¡¯¡±

    Xiao Lou reacted. He stretched out the finger of his writing hand and wrote on the palm of his left hand, ¡°Two.¡±

    Ye Qi wrote along and finally understood. Where did the wife go, meaning that in the word ¡®person ·ò¡¯, the ¡®fu (ÈË) was missing. This left behind the character ¶þ, which was the word ¡®two.¡¯

    Ye Qi thought he was very smart yet why hadn¡¯t he thought of this?

    The teammates around them had a collective headache. These riddles were weird. Some looked at shapes, some guessed poetry and some had logical reasoning. However, only Xiao Lou could think of an answer so quickly.

    After helping Ye Qi guess the riddles of his street, everyone came to Liu Qiao¡¯s street.

    Liu Qiao also gave the more difficult ones to Xiao Lou. ¡°This guess isn¡¯t well-intentioned.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it and wrote, ¡°Funeral.¡±

    Liu Qiao continued to ask, ¡°Gold, wood, water and fire?¡±

    Shao Qingge interjected, ¡°Earth?¡±

    Liu Qiao replied, ¡°I guessed earth but it wasn¡¯t correct.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°It iscking earth so the word should be ¡®¿² (pit/threshold).¡±

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He would stick to being a courier.

    Xiao Lou also helped Qu Wanyue solve a few difficult riddles and their teammates quickly hung thesenterns on thentern tree near the stone bridge.

    Now the tree near the stone bridge was densely covered withnterns, adding up to the hundreds. The 10 meter highntern tree was decorated with variousnterns and looked spectacr. The surroundings were warmly illuminated like it was day time.

    The moon was hanging high in the sky and the trees were full ofnterns. Everyone was shocked by this grand scene.

    The time came for thentern market to end.

    Just as everyone thought the clearance prompt would appear on their floating boxes, fireworks were suddenly lit.

    Countless bright fireworks rose into the air and the cheers of the tourists filled their ears as many people gathered around.

    Although the ancient fireworks didn¡¯t have as many patterns as modern ones, the red fireworks illuminated the night sky and shone on the faces of the crowd. Under the tree hung withnterns, countless people folded their hands together while watching the fireworks and made a wish.

    This warm scene was unforgettable to Yu Hanjiang.

    It turned out that the Keeper of Diamonds asked them to hang thenterns on the trees for the fireworks.

    Saying goodbye to the old and weing the new. The fireworks in the sky and thentern tree were a type of spiritual sustenance for the people of ancient times. They gathered around thentern tree to make wishes for the new year, whether it was for good weather, national security, their parents to live longer or the health of their wife and children. The expression on everyone¡¯s faces was very pious.

    The lights and fireworks shone on the faces of the people. All of them were happy. The children jumped up and down excitedly, the young couples snuggled up together to watch the fireworks while the elderly had kind smiles on their faces.

    This peaceful, prosperous world was what they gained after clearing 8 of Hearts.

    Yu Hanjiang turned his head and happened to meet Xiao Lou¡¯s clear eyes.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s skin was already white and under the fireworks, his face seemed to be dyed with a red light. He looked so good that people couldn¡¯t look away.

    Yu Hanjiang walked over and gently hugged his shoulders, speaking softly, ¡°It turns out that Daqi¡¯s Shangyuan Lantern Festival has the tradition of making a wish. Do you have a wish? We are here so we might as well do what they do. Do you want to make a wish under thisntern tree?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Okay.¡±

    He raised his head to look at thentern tree full ofnterns and silently made a wish.

    He wished that everyone could leave the Card World smoothly and that after returning to reality, he could still be with Yu Hanjiang. If possible, he would apply to the criminal police team of Jiangzhou City as a forensic doctor so he would always be with Office Yu in the future.

    There was the sound of fireworks blooming and the thumping of his heart. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t dare look at the person beside him so he kept watching the night sky. These fireworks were so beautiful and it was the most interesting Shangyuan Lantern Festival he had ever attended.

    He didn¡¯t know that the man beside him was gazing at his side profile tenderly.

    Yu Hanjiang also made a wish.

    ¡®If I can return to reality, I just want to be a couple with you. It is a couple for a lifetime.¡¯

 Chapter 194: Rewards

    The fireworks at the Shangyuan Lantern Festivalsted for a long time. It wasn¡¯t until early in the morning that thentern market closed and the surrounding people gradually dispersed.

    A familiar prompt appeared in their floating boxes. [Congrattions to Xiao Lou¡¯s contracted team for perfectly clearing the Shangyuan Lantern Festival. A total of 300 riddles were collected and the clearance score is S. The secret room is about to close. Please leave as soon as possible. Counting down 5, 4, 3¡­]

    Xiao Lou took one final look at the ancientntern market and pressed the option of ¡®Leave.¡¯

    The scene in front of them switched and everyone returned to their personal space. Ye Qi eximed excitedly, ¡°We actually guessed 300 riddles! I counted and I seemed to have guessed 50?¡±

    Liu Qiao added, ¡°I guessed 45.¡±

    Qu Wanyue also reported her count. ¡°I am also 45.¡±

    Shao Qingge sighed. ¡°It seems that Professor Xiao guessed 160 correctly? It is more than the sum of the three.¡±

    Ye Qi remembered the mathematics test in high school. He scored 45 points on his own test while the top student scored 145 points¡­ this score was better than the top student!

    Everyone turned to look at Xiao Lou. The watched Xiao Lou was a bit embarrassed and exined, ¡°I usually like to y puzzle solving games and know the techniques for such games. I have seen many questions before so I guessed a bit faster.¡±

    Ye Qiughed. ¡°Professor Xiao, don¡¯t be so humble. This can¡¯t be called a bit faster. Isn¡¯t it to kill in a second?¡±

    Liu Qiao added, ¡°We can¡¯tpare a top student with ordinary people. The fact that we guessed over 40 riddles is already enough.¡±

    Qu Wanyue nodded. ¡°I agree.¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t want to be tangled up in this. He looked back at the sofa where the cute loli A of Diamonds with two ponytails sat. She was supporting her chin with both hands and looking at them with a smile.

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°A of Diamonds, did we get a perfect clearance because we collected all the puzzles at thentern market?¡±

    The loli nodded. ¡°Five streets and a total of 300 riddles, you are really quite powerful. There are no leaks and your S-grade evaluation is justified. Now you can im your rewards.¡±

    Everyone was very happy hearing this, especially the four ¡®courier¡¯rades. They had run errands the entire time and didn¡¯t have to waste too many brain cells. Some people felt it was sofortable to lie down and win. If they could do errands in theter rooms, it would be cool to follow Xiao Lou and win.

    Two glittering golden chests appeared in the middle of the venue. A of Diamonds told them, ¡°The prizes drawn for this level are two. The fixed reward is antern card for each person. You can find it in your own card pack.¡±

    The group opened the card packs and found that everyone had a new card.

    [Item Card: Pce Lantern]

    Rarity: A

    Description: A fixed reward for clearing the 8 of Diamonds secret room, Shangyuan Lantern Festival.

    Use effect: The use ofnterns is naturally for lighting. Antern can illuminate a 100 square metre area. If at night, the light of thentern can exert a deterrent effect on beasts within a radius of 100 square metres, preventing them froming closer.

    Restrictions: After the candle in thentern burns out, thentern will go out and the card can¡¯t be used. The candle will refresh when entering the next secret room.

    Seeing this card, Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help but wonder. ¡°I remember that in 4 of Clubs, I stepped on a grid and gained many Night Pearls. They are also used for lightning, right?¡± To confirm, he took out the Night Pearl card. ¡°Night Pearl has no cooldown time and can always be lit, but the range is rtively small. It is a fan-shaped range 10 metres in front?¡±

    A of Diamonds nodded. ¡°Yes, the Night Pearl is suitable for narrow mazes, corridors etc. It lights up 10 metres in front of you in a fan shape. Thisntern is suitable for a wider field and lights up 100 square metres. You can also scare away beasts. These two cards should be used ording to the situation.¡±

    Mo Xuemin thought about it. ¡°So there will be many secret rooms with night scenes in the future?¡±

    A of Diamonds smiled. ¡°You can think of it that way. In any case, I have given you so many lighting cards and it won¡¯t be wasted.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang carefully put away the newly obtainednterns.

    In fact, it wasn¡¯t easy to get a perfect clearance in the Shangyuan Lantern Festival secret room. After all, there were five streets in thentern market that were hiding 300 riddles. If they missed a few or encountered questions that couldn¡¯t be solved, not all the riddles would¡¯ve been obtained.

    The key to getting an S-grade score for a perfect clearance was Xiao Lou being too powerful. He was especially good at this type of puzzle game.

    Ye Qi, Liu Qiao and Qu Wanyue also helped a lot. All of them guessed 40-50. Meanwhile, the four ¡®couriers¡¯ ran errands very actively. It could be said that under the leadership of Xiao Lou, everyone yed a role in getting the S-grade evaluation.

    Looking at the two treasure chests on the ground, Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Who wants to draw the cards?¡±¡¯

    His teammates spoke unanimously. ¡°Professor Xiao, you draw it!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou and spoke softly, ¡°You draw it. You have the greatest credit in this secret room.¡±

    Since everyone was watching him in unison, Xiao Lou was forced to put his hand into the first treasure chest.

    [Congrattions to Xiao Lou on drawing the S-grade tool card, Festival Tree!

    Xiao Lou was surprised by this card. He looked at it closely and found that this card¡¯s skills were quite interesting.

    [Tool Card: Lantern Tree]

    Rarity: S

    Description: There is a 50% chance of obtaining it from the 8 of Diamonds limited card pool after perfectly clearing 8 of Diamonds and getting a clearance score of S.

    Additional Skill 1: Thousand Lights

    Once the skill is used, antern tree will be ced in the designated location. Hundreds of beautifulnterns will instantly appear on the tree. The gorgeous lights will illuminate the surroundings, making the scene within 1 kilometres as bright as daylight. Within 1 kilometres, all hostile targets will be attracted by thentern tree and quickly gather around thentern tree within 30 seconds.

    The cooldown time for this skill is 24 hours in the secret room.

    Additional Skills 2: Lantern Festival Wish

    It is said that on the day of the Shangyuan Lantern Festival, if a wish is made to thentern tree near the stone bridge then this wish cane true. After cing thentern tree, the summoner can make a wish under the tree. The options for the wish are: increase the attack power of the entire group by 50%, increase the defense power of the entire group by 50%, increase movement speed by 100% or the stealth of the entire group willst 30 seconds. Choose one of the four wishes and thentern tree will immediately fulfill your wish.

    The skill¡¯s cooldown time is 24 hours.

    Note: Lantern Tree can be used in the Diamonds, Spades and Clubs secret rooms. It is prohibited in the main city and the Hearts secret rooms.

    Xiao Lou summoned thentern tree. His teammates looked at the tree full ofnterns and couldn¡¯t help being shocked. This was a perfect copy of the tree in the Shangyuan Lantern Festival secret room. Variousnterns covered the branches and it was spectacr.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help praising it. ¡°This tree is really beautiful. Looking at the description, the first skill is equivalent to a group taunt with a range of 1 kilometres. Isn¡¯t this ridiculous?¡±

    Xiao Ye often yed online games and it was very easy for him to understand the skills.

    Shao Qingge didn¡¯t understand and looked at him doubtfully, ¡°What does a group taunt mean?¡±

    Ye Qi exined. ¡°It means that after thisntern tree is put down, all monsters within a radius of 1 kilometre will be forcefully pulled to the tree, just like a tank in the game taunting monsters. For example, if you ce this tree in the wilderness, the wolves, snakes and hunters will alle to it!¡±

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This tree was really powerful.

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°This Lantern Tree is a very strong auxiliary card. The two skills are rted to each other. Not only can we pull monsters on arge scale, we can also pull them over and increase the attack power of the team to wipe out the monsters.¡±

    Liu Qiao cocked her head to think for a moment. ¡°Or we can ce the Lantern Tree in the distance, pull all monsters in a one kilometre rang over and then use Tao Yuanming¡¯s group transport skill to run away unscathed.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded excitedly. ¡°Yes, this is really worthy of being an S-grade card. It is easy to use!¡±

    Everyone was happy that Xiao Lou had drawn such a strong card. Lantern Tree was a versatile auxiliary card. Whether it was to provoke an attack, drawing the tiger from the mountain to run or controlling the field along with Ye Qi¡¯s musical group control cards, it was very flexible to use. In addition, the second skill could enhance the strength of the entire team or make them invisible, which was equivalent to an additional invisibility cloak for each person.

    The survivability of the team was greatly improved with this card.

    Xiao Lou carefully put away the card and asked, ¡°Who will draw the next card?¡±

    Everyone cheered. ¡°Come on!¡±

    ¡°¡­You want me to draw both treasure chests?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at him and spoke softly. ¡°Go on, don¡¯t be polite.¡±

    Xiao Lou had to smile and continue to step forward to reach into the second treasure chest.

    [Congrattions to Xiao Lou for drawing the S-grade summoning card, Xin Qiji!]

    Xiao Lou was stunned by the card. He really had a destiny with summoning cards. Previously, he draw Li Qingzhao and Su Shi. Now in 8 of Diamonds¡­ Xin Qiji came to him?

    [Summoning Card: Xin Qiji]

    Rarity: S

    Description: There is a probability of obtaining it from the 8 of Diamonds limited card pool after perfectly clearing 8 of Diamonds and getting a clearance score of S.

    Xin Qiji was a famous poet of the Southern Song Dynasty. His works were full of heroism, patriotism, grief and indignation. asionally, there were delicate and soft works. Countless masterpieces were handed down.

    Additional Skill 1: Breaking Through

    Raising antern when drunk, dreaming of blowing the horn to connect to the camp, the horse was extremely fast and the arrow from the bow was as quick as lightning!

    Xin Qiji described the magnificent scene of a frontier battlefield with his words.

    After using the ¡®Breaking Through¡¯ skill, Xin Qiji can summon ten archers riding on warhorses and holding long bows. They will make ten consecutive shots to enemies within 500 metres. The bowstring rings out like thunder when the archers pull their bows. Xin Qiji¡¯s break through attack can not only cause a lot of damage to the target but it can also destroy the opponent¡¯s defense such as body armour, cloaks, protective covers, etc. They will be damaged immediately after being short by a sharp arrow.

    The cooldown of summoning the archers is 8 hours.

    Additional Skill 2: Blue Jade Case

    Looking for him in a crowd of thousands, looking back suddenly but the man was in the waning light.

    Xin Qiji tried his best to describe the bright and colourful Lantern Festival with his words. He looked for a long time through the crowd and suddenly turned around, only to find that the person he was looking for was standing alone in the shadow of the lights.

    After using the skill, you can immediately lock onto the position of a teammate. Look back and find them in the crowd.

    Xiao Lou summoned Xin Qiji to show his teammates.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help feeling something. ¡°Professor Xiao, aren¡¯t you really a professor of the history department? Su Shi, Li Qingzhao, Liu Yong, Qin Guan, Xin Qiji¡­ so many ancient celebrities. If they are all summoned then you can open a history museum!¡±

    Xiao Lou had a headache and pressed a hand to his temple. He med himself for studying poetry and riddles every day in high school. He hadn¡¯t expected it to be useful here in the Card World.

    The Xin Qiji card drawn this time was a very strong group attack skill.

    The first skill ¡®Breaking Through¡¯ could not only summon archers to shoot arrows in a wide range, but it also broke the opposite side¡¯s defenses. This included things like umbre shields, body armour and protective garments such as the one worn by Xin Qiji. The defensive card Light Feather Clothes could resist fatal damage. If it encountered Xin Qiji and was short with an arrow, this card would have to be discarded.

    Xin Qiji should be the strongest group attack card at present.

    It also had a wonderful synergy with Su Shi. It was because Su Shi¡¯s Thousands of Years¡¯ Worth of Historical Figures could reset the character card¡¯s skills. If Su Shi and Xin Qiji yed together, Xin Qiji could use Breaking Through twice in a row. This was 20 arrows in a row. If it was a team battle then a lot of arrows could be poured toward the opposite side.

    Yu Hanjiang was very happy for Xiao Lou when he saw this card.

    In fact, he had always been worried about Xiao Lou¡¯s ability to protect himself. Xiao Lou¡¯s physical strength was weak and all his fights relied on cards. The cards previously drawn by Xiao Lou, such as Liu Yong, Qin Guan and Li Qingzhao were all weird control and teleportation cards. Xiao Yu, the younger brother from 8 of Hearts, could be used as a bodyguard for Xiao Lou and Xin Qiji, drawn in 8 of Diamonds, was capable of group attacks. This meant that Yu Hanjiang wouldn¡¯t have to worry too much about Xiao Lou.

    Of course, Yu Hanjiang would try to avoid letting Xiao Lou be alone. He would follow Xiao Lou for personal protection. However, what if they were separated at the beginning of the secret room?

    Then Xin Qiji¡¯s second skill was very useful.

    They could search through a crowd of thousands and look back suddenly to instantly lock onto the position of a teammate.

    In this way, no matter the circumstances, Xiao Lou could immediately join with Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang thought up to here and said, ¡°You have drawn this card and it should be the strongest attack card in your deck.¡±

    Xiao Lou was also very happy to draw Xin Qiji, who was capable of a group attack. He put Xin Qiji and Su Shi together and said with a smile, ¡°The Diamonds secret room is still easy. We can clear it in a few hours and the rewards are so rich.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡®Don¡¯t think that the Diamonds room is easy. It is just that your brain turns too quickly!¡¯

    If it was changed to a team of Shao Qingge and Yu Hanjiang, they would probably cry seeing the 300 riddles. Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge nced at each other before looking away with disgust. Yu Hanjiang said lightly, ¡°Let¡¯s return to the main city.¡±

    It happened to be night in the City of the Moon when everyone returned.

    It was a hard day and they couldn¡¯t always break through. Everyone got together for dinner. Then Xiao Lou suggested that they rest for the night, recuperate and prepare for the next level the next morning.

    The next level was the Spades secret room and the survival room was physically exhausting!

 Chapter 195: Doomsday Escape 01

    After a good night¡¯s rest, everyone was full of spirit. They woke up the next morning, ate and drank and came to the balcony on the first floor to prepare for the next level.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at his teammates and gave a reminder. ¡°We are going to enter 8 of Spades. The Spades secret room is a survival one and it will be more dangerous. If we are separated when we enter the secret room, remember not to act in an unauthorized manner. Sort out your cards and find a way to meet your other teammates.¡±

    Everyone nodded in understanding.

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°We don¡¯t know the environment of this secret room. If it is ancient times, try to find ces such as tea houses or restaurants to meet. If it is a modern city, find thergest square in the city.¡±

    Ye Qi recalled 3 of Spades, Financial Crisis, and immediately said, ¡°If it isn¡¯t very dangerous on the first day, I can y the guitar in the square and pretend to be a busker. I will wait for everyone toe to me, which is also convenient for everyone to gather.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°Take Ye Qi as the central point and find a way after gathering.¡±

    It was certain that they would be dispersed in the Spades secret room. Every time they entered the Spades room, they wouldn¡¯t be together on the first day. Still, it was like Ye Qi said. The first day was usually for everyone to get familiar with the environment and there was nothing too difficult to deal with. How to gather together was the key. It wasn¡¯t easy to find someone in a crowd. If Ye Qi yed the guitar then it would be easier for his teammates to find him.

    They finished the discussion and Yu Hanjiang drew 8 of Spades from the Card Wall.

    A familiar ck vortex appeared in the middle of the card and everyone was dizzy. Once he woke up again, Xiao Lou found himself in a familiar environment¡ªthe hospital.

    This should be the outpatient hall of the hospital. People wereing and going. There were many patients waiting in line to register and many doctors and nurses wearing white coats and rushing around in the corridors. In university, Xiao Lou had gone to such a hospital for an internship and there was an affiliated hospital of the medical university connected to his school. He was very familiar with theyout of this outpatient hall.

    He was on the fourth floor and could see the scene in the hall downstairs. The left side of the hall had the sign ¡®outpatient¡¯ written while the right had ¡®emergency¡¯. Further forward, there was a registration office and medicine collection office.

    Xiao Lou stood next to the esctor on the fourth floor and observed the patients downstairs while a few lines of background introduction quickly filled the floating box above him.

    [Wee Xiao Lou to the world of 8 of Spades.]

    [For the morning of the first day in the secret room, please act ording to the instructions. Your identity in this world is a surgeon. Today is Monday and you are going to work in the outpatient department. The time is 8:50 in the morning. Please arrive at your doctor¡¯s office 307 on the third floor of the outpatient building before 8:00.]

    [In the world of 8 of Spades, all card skills are avable and it isn¡¯t forbidden to kill the residents of this world.]

    [You must survive in this world for 14 days to clear the instance. Good luck.]

    Seeing this, Xiao Lou¡¯s back became cold. In the past, the survival time of the Spades secret room was seven days. Now it had reached the A-grade difficulty and the survival time was directly doubled.

    The most critical things were the ¡®unlimited card skills¡¯ and ¡®no restriction on the killing of the residents¡¯. All cards could be used, including Yu Hanjiang¡¯s guns and the attack cards drawn by teammates. This meant there would be bloodshed in 8 of Spades. The people here might attack them and there might be other challengers or hunters in the A-grade secret room.

    What would happen? There was no hint from the secret room.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and looked at the time in the floating box. It was 7:52. He had eight minutes to get to work.

    He was on the fourth floor and his office was on the third floor. Xiao Lou immediately took the esctor downstairs and found office 307. The door of the office read ¡®General Surgery Clinic¡¯. He pushed open the door and¡ª

    A cute girl with her hair in a ponytail greeted him with a smile. ¡°Professor Xiao, I am the new intern doctor Xu Rongrong. The director asked me to follow you in the outpatient clinic this week.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Did 8 of Spades also have plot characters? He might have doubts but he still nodded politely. ¡°Hello, sit down first.¡±

    Xiao Lou saw a white coat hanging behind the door. He took off his coat, put on the white coat, sat at his desk and turned on theputer.

    On the first day, he had to follow the prompts. He would be working in the clinic in the morning and temporarily couldn¡¯t meet his teammates. He could only go to the nearby square to find his teammates at noon. The thing that made him a bit relieved was that this was the familiar modern city environment. The desktopputer was still a windows system and it was convenient to operate.

    Xiao Lou opened the outpatient software, entered the work number on his white coat and logged in.

    The current season should be winter. It could be seen from the sweaters and down jackets that the patients were wearing that the temperature outside was very low. Winter was a season for a high incidence of asthma and bronchitis in the elderly. In addition, Monday was the peak period for the outpatient service in the hospital. There were long lines in the hall and there should be many patients today.

    Xiao Lou might¡¯ve been well prepared but he was still startled after opening the outpatient software. A dense list of patients filled the entire screen. Wasn¡¯t this too much? Could he finish it all in one morning?

    Just then, Xu Rongrong behind him coughed. She coughed up some phlegm, wrapped it in a tissue and threw it in the trash. Then she spoke in an embarrassed manner. ¡°I have a cold.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Has a cold been spreadingtely?¡±

    Xu Rongrong wiped her nose while replying. ¡°Yes, the weather has been cold recently. Many doctors and nurses have fallen ill.¡±

    A bad feeling suddenly filled Xiao Lou¡¯s heart. He quickly found a mask in the drawer and wore it. He tried to remain calm as he called the first patient in the outpatient software.

    The one who came in was a 38 year old woman who just had a cholecystectomy and wasing in to review the incision. She also brought her daughter with her, who was around 8 years old and looked very cute.

    Xiao Lou asked the woman to lie down on the nearby treatment bed, put on gloves and lifted her clothes to take a look. The wound on her abdomen was festering and had pus. There was an abnormal ckness around it, a clear sign that she was infected.

    After measuring the body temperature, Xiao Lou found that the woman¡¯s body temperature was nearly 39 degrees. rm bells rang in his heart and he hurriedly asked Xu Rongrong to take the patient to the emergency department. First, the patient would receive an infusion to cool down and then she would stay in the hospital for observation.

    The woman said, ¡°Doctor, can you check my daughter as well? She is also injured.¡±

    Xiao Lou had the little girl lie down on the hospital bed and asked, ¡°Where is the wound?¡±

    The little girl replied seriously, ¡°I was bitten on the leg.¡±

    Xiao Lou questioned, ¡°Is it an animal bite?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps it was my dog. I was bitten in the early morning and my mother bandaged me.¡±

    Xiao Lou unwrapped it and took a look. The girl¡¯s calf was a bloody mess after being bittern. He immediately grabbed iodine and a sponge to disinfect and bandage the wound. Then he told the little girl ¡°If you were bitten by a dog, you should get the vine as soon as possible so you don¡¯t get rabies.¡±

    The little girl lowered her eyes, bowed her head and followed her mother.

    The next few patients were also post-operation. Some wounds healed well and some just came to remove the thread and change the dressing.

    Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t a surgeon but these simple wound stitching removals and changing dressings werepulsory courses for medical students. He could handle it.

    He was patiently examining the patients while his brain turned quickly. The fact that he didn¡¯t know what would happen in this world was the most disturbing. In the cast of the Hearts room, there might be the victim, murderer or suspects among these patients. However. it was now the Spades room and he was ced in a hospital. Was the hospital going to have arge-scale virus outbreak?

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help thinking about the zombies that he saw in 2 of Spades, Zombie Town.

    Due to the remoteness of the town and the sparse poption, the zombie virus had limited its spread to within the town and the scope of the impact wasn¡¯trge. If the virus broke out in a big city, the consequences couldn¡¯t be imagined¡­

    He was worried that a patient would suddenly reach out to attack him so he carefully kept his distance from the patients. At the same time, he prepared his card part. If the situation wasn¡¯t right then he could escape at any time.

    Seeing that the lunch break was approaching, Xiao Lou was about to breathe a sigh of relief. At this time, a man pushed open the door. Xiao Lou looked up and met a pair of dark, deep eyes.

    In an instant, all his worries disappeared and he couldn¡¯t help smiling. If it wasn¡¯t for the presence of the intern doctor around them, Xiao Lou would¡¯ve whispered the other person¡¯s name¡ªYu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s identity in this world was a policeman. He was currently wearing a handsome police uniform and entered with a colleague and a young boy who looked to be a student. He saw Xiao Lou wearing a white coat and his eyes brightened slightly. Still, he quickly maintained his calm and pretended not to know the other person. ¡°Doctor, please help see to this student¡¯s wound.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded while asking softly, ¡°What happened?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang exined. ¡°There was a fight at school. Someone bit him on the arm and a piece of flesh was torn off.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Was the one who bit him a dog? The teeth were so powerful?

    He had the patient lie on the bed and disinfected and bandaged the bloody arm. The student shed tears of pain while crying out to Yu Hanjiang, ¡°Police officer, I was bitten by Zhou Yu of ss 8. This is an intentional injury! Catch that stinky boy!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly. ¡°Rx, he can¡¯t run away.¡±

    Xiao Lou quickly processed the patient and it happened to be time for his break. Yu Hanjiang had his colleague take the student to record his statement while he and Xiao Lou walked out of the office side to side. They were pretending to consult about the student¡¯s condition but they were actually exchanging information.

    At noon, there were significantly fewer people in the hospital.

    Yu Hanjiang nced sideways at Xiao Lou. He remembered that in the real world, he first saw Xiao Lou at the forensic identification centre with this look. The white coat was clean and spotless while he gave off a gentle air, his smile making people feel that he was very kind. Xiao Lou¡¯s legs were long and straight. Once he put on the white coat, he looked like the hero of an idol medical drama.

    At this time, his own police uniform and Xiao Lou¡¯s white coat made Yu Hanjiang gain the illusion that they had returned to reality.

    Aftering to the end of the corridor, Yu Hanjiang took a deep breath and calmed his mind. He gently looked at Xiao Lou and asked, ¡°Do you have any hints on your side?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°No, but I feel that there should be a virus outbreak in this world. Today, there are many patients at the hospital and several infected people on my side. Their wounds are seriously festered. I haven¡¯t seen this type of wound before. In addition, the student you sent here actually had a piece of flesh bitten off. I think it isn¡¯t simple.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Is it a doomsday virus? Will those who are infected attack indiscriminately?¡±

    They were chatting when a suddenmotion urred in the emergency room. They saw a middle-aged woman yanking the IV needle out of her arm and the bottle mmed into the ground. Her hair was messy and her eyes red as she bit at people like a mad dog!

    There were harsh screams all around her. One child¡¯s ear was actually bitten off by her! The child¡¯s parents were stunned and immediately acted to stop the woman. Soon, there was a hospital security guard controlling her but the security guard was also bitten by her and some passing nurses were affected.

    Her daughter followed her, holding her hand in an expressionless manner.

    Xiao Lou felt suffocated. Wasn¡¯t this the first patient he received? The woman whose wound was infected after her operation?

    At that time, her daughter was also injured and she said that she was ¡®bitten by a dog.¡¯ Xiao Lou had asked her to get a vine in time. Now it seemed that the little girl wasn¡¯t bitten by the dog at home. The wound on her leg was caused by her mother!

    As if sensing Xiao Lou¡¯s gaze, the little girl suddenly raised her head.

    These eyes were bloodshot. She stared at Xiao Lou and opened her mouth. Xiao Lou clearly saw a strange smile appear on her face as she took the ear of the child that her mother had just bitten off. She crammed it into her mouth and chewed slowly, face full of satisfaction like she was eating the most delicious candy.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The two people stared at each other and eximed, ¡°Run!¡±

 Chapter 196: Doomsday Escape 02

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were on the fourth floor and could see the entire hall. At this time, the outpatient hall had be chaotic. The child with the bitten ear was crying while many nurses, security guards and patients were bitten by the crazy woman.

    The crowd surrounded the mother and daughter and an agitated middle-aged woman yelled, ¡°What¡¯s the matter what you? Are you a bitch? Are you a mad dog?¡±

    There was also a man whoined. ¡°Fuck, my hand almost had a piece of flesh bitten off by her. What are her teeth made of? It is worse than a mad dog!¡±

    The security captain opened with a calm face, ¡°Everyone, don¡¯t stand here and watch. Spread out!¡±

    The nurses went to appease the crowd while the head nurse of the emergency department shouted, ¡°Anyone who was bitten, pleasee to the treatment room for disinfection and bandaging immediately. Please cooperate!¡±

    The hall might be a mess but the situation quickly stabilized under the actions of the security guards and head nurse. Several young and strong men escorted the other and daughter to the security room while all the bitten people were taken to the treatment room to have their wounds treated.

    Such chaos sometimes urred in the emergency department of the hospital. People who got drunk woulde to the hospital in the middle of the night to see a doctor or bickering couples woulde to the hospital and made a mess. These doctors and nurses were experienced. In the fact of a biting patient, they didn¡¯t panic but first controlled the situation.

    The onlookers soon dispersed but Xiao Lou saw this scene and couldn¡¯t help feeling a bit of uneasiness.

    Those who were bitten must¡¯ve been infected.

    He remembered the Zombie Town he had experienced in 2 of Spades. The virus carrier Liu Xiaoyuan attacked wildly and those attacked by him quickly became infected with the zombie virus. The virus spread overnight and the town soon became a human purgatory.

    Xiao Lou remembered it very well. First of all, Liu Xiaoyuan was put in the morgue after dying and it was very different from the woman who suddenly went crazy. Secondly, the zombies of 2 of Spades had no consciousness and were slow to move. Xiao Lou used Remember Peach Blossom Spring to trick the zombies and could get an A-grade score.

    The woman who just became sick was flexible and bit a dozen people in the outpatient hall in a few minutes. She wasn¡¯t as clumsy as the zombies of 2 of Spades. Moreover, her daughter didn¡¯t seem unconscious. She was smiling happily while eating a child¡¯s ear.

    Xiao Lou got the creeps when he thought of the little girl¡¯s strange smile. What was going on? Were there conscious, rational zombies? Or was it not a zombie virus this time?

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t have time to think as he quickly followed Yu Hanjiang to the esctor.

    The two of them wanted to go downstairs and leave the hospital. As a result, the intern Xu Rongrong ran over in a hurry, panting as she said, ¡°Professor Xiao, the director just called to have you go to a hospital meeting.¡±

    Xiao Lou was surprised. ¡°Meeting?¡±

    Xu Rongrong exined, ¡°It is an emergency meeting. The hospital leaders are all attending. You were told to go to the conference centre immediately.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang, who frowned slightly and whispered, ¡°Do you want to go?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought carefully. ¡°It might be an emergency meeting about this virus. I want to hear it. In addition, when I entered the secret room, I was told to follow instructions on the first day. If I don¡¯t go, I might miss out on important clues and we might not be able to clear this instance perfectly.¡±

    The hospital at this time was actually quite dangerous. There were already infected people and many more people would be infected in the future. If Xiao Lou went to the meeting, he might encounter an infected person on the way and be attacked.

    Nevertheless, Xiao Lou¡¯s thoughts were also correct. The emergency meeting must be rted to the virus and some important clues can be obtained.

    Naturally, Yu Hanjiang supported Xiao Lou¡¯s decision. He nodded and without speaking, he pulled Xiao Lou into the next office.

    Xu Rongrong looked at the handsome man in police uniform in a surprised manner and wondered, ¡°Police Officer?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told her coldly, ¡°I am investigating a case and have something to ask him.¡±

    After entering the doctor¡¯s office, Yu Hanjiang immediately locked the door and looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°This secret room has no restrictions on the cards. First use Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. If you are in trouble then I can feel it at any time.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded, summoned Qin Guan and used the skill to open the heart channel.

    The moment Yu Hanjiang entered the secret room, he received a report from a student that he was being attacked by a ssmate and had to go. By the time he and his colleague hade to the scene, the student who did the biting had fled while the bitten student had fallen to the ground with his arm covered and missing a piece of flesh.

    Yu Hanjiang first brought the student to the hospital with his colleague. The moment he entered the outpatient hall of the hospital, he had taken a look at the n of the hospital. This was his professional habit. Every time he went to a strange ce, he would first look for the road signs and map to gain an understanding of the ce.

    There were two buildings behind the outpatient hall of the hospital. The administrative building on the right was eight stories high while the inspection building on the left was ten stories high.

    Yu Hanjiang pushed open the office window and pointed to the eight storey building on the front right. ¡°If I remember correctly, the top floor of the administrative building is the conference centre of the hospital. You are going there for the meetingter. Do you see the window?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°Once in the meeting, try to get as close to that window as possible. I will climb to the top of the inspection building to the left and set up a sniper rifle. The moment a mutated infected person attacks you, I will immediately cover your retreat.¡±

    Xiao Lou raised his head to observe the hospital¡¯s architectural terrain. The inspection building had a total of eight floors while the administrative building had eight floors. If Yu Hanjiang climbed up to the top of the 10 storey building and set up a sniper rifle, his view from high to low was wide. His shooting range would cover all the windows of the eighth floor. As long as Xiao Lou stayed by the window, any infected person who tried to attack him would be shot down by Yu Hanjiang instantly.

    Xiao Lou felt relieved with Group Leader Yu to protect him.

    Yu Hanjiang added. ¡°If the situation is more dangerous than you think, jump out the window and I will immediately pull you to the top of the inspection building with the white silk. The distance of the two buildings is around 20 metres. The length of the white silk is enough to bring you over.¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help being shocked when he heard this. The administrative building had eight floors. If he jumped out from a window on the eighth floor, Yu Hanjiang would be pulling him with the white silk from another building. If Yu Hanjiang slipped, wouldn¡¯t he fall and be turned into a meat pie?

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Otherwise, should I use Remember Peach Blossom Spring for direct teleportation?¡±

    ¡°The Peach Blossom Spring onlysts for 30 minutes. Your meeting might not necessarily finish in 30 minutes.¡±

    The two people were connected by the hearts and Yu Hanjiang noticed Xiao Lou¡¯s worry. He pressed a hand to Xiao Lou¡¯s shoulder and spoke softly, ¡°Trust me, the white silk is long enough to directly pull you over.¡±¡¯

    Xiao Lou saw his deep eyes and no longer felt doubts. He simply nodded. ¡°Okay, if there is an incident in the conference room and I can¡¯t cope then I will directly jump out of the window.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go. Be vignt.¡±

    The two men came out of the office. Xu Rongrong had been waiting at the door and after seeing Xiao Lou, she said, ¡°Professor Xiao, hurry open. The director called again and said that the meeting time is now 12:30. It is currently 12:20.¡±

    Xiao Lou told her, ¡°I know, I¡¯ll head there straight away.¡±

    He and Xu Rongrong headed down the stairs together while Yu Hanjiang followed Xiao Lou. Xu Rongrong was curious about it until the policeman followed them until a fork in the road, where he separated from them and headed to the inspection building. Xiao Lou exined with a smile, ¡°The police officer is investigating a case.¡±

    Xu Rongrong said, ¡°Oh¡± without asking much. She continued to follow Xiao Lou to the administrative building.

    The two of them got into the elevator and went upstairs. In the elevator, Xu Rongrong covered her mouth while coughing gently. Xiao Lou looked back at her and asked with concern, ¡°How long have you had a cold? Have you taken medicine?¡±

    Xu Rongrong smiled. ¡°It¡¯s been a week. I usually have good health and never take medicine for a cold. In any case, the natural course of a cold is one week. It will pass and regrly taking medicine will just destroy the body¡¯s immunity.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it. This intern called Xu Rongrong, she definitely wasn¡¯t an insignificant passerby if she was arranged beside him. Perhaps she had some clues. Did her cold have anything to do with this infection?

    Just then, there was the dinging of the elevator. It had reached the top floor.

    Xiao Lou got out of the elevator and Xu Rongrong smiled at him. ¡°Professor Xiao, it is a meeting for leaders so I won¡¯t go in.¡±

    She made a goodbye gesture to Xiao Lou, who politely said goodbye to her and headed into the room.

    In the office, the hospital leaders and the directors of the departments had arrived.

    Xiao Lou nced at the window that Yu Hanjiang had mentioned. There were a few vacant spots over there. He walked over, stood by the window and looked up. He couldn¡¯t see traces of anyone at the top of the building opposite but the heart channel told him that Yu Hanjiang was there and had set up his sniper¡¯s rifle.

    In his mind, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s low voice rang out. ¡°Just sit here. Rest assured, I can see everyone in the conference room. Once someone attacks you, I will deal with the trouble immediately.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and turned to sit by the window.

    The clock pointed to 12:30 and the grey-haired dean opened his mouth. ¡°Okay, the professors and department heads have arrived. Let¡¯s start the meeting.¡±

    He took out a notebook full of notes and spoke with a heavy expression. ¡°I anxiously called you over because I have bad news to tell you. There is an unknown influenza virus that is infecting the residents of our city. There was a severe patient with the flu in the respiratory department of the Second Hospital yesterday who suddenly ran out in the middle of the night and bit people. The patients, doctors on duty and nurses of the respiratory department were all affected by her bite. All those in the respiratory department died this morning. She is the only one alive.¡±

    ¡°At present, the Second Hospital has been forcibly quarantined. I have just received a notice from the Department of Health that all medical staff should take preventative measures. Our hospital must urgently set up an expert group to study the structure of this virus and develop an anti-virus vine as soon as possible.¡±

    After listening to the dean¡¯s words, all the doctors sucked in a breath.

    An old professor couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°Did the doctors and patients in the respiratory department of the Second Hospital all die overnight? The course of this disease progressed too quickly! What is the cause of death? Is there a conclusion?¡±

    ¡°An autopsy was conducted by a medical examiner and the cause of death was a brain hemorrhage,¡± the dean replied.

    A male doctor next to him said, ¡°I have been in the infectious diseases department for many years and I have never heard of a virus with such a rapid infection rate and high mortality rate. Death from a cerebral hemorrhage? Influenza viruses affect the respiratory tract. Even if they mutate, can they cause a cerebral hemorrhage?¡±

    The doctors discussed it. ¡°Is the transmission method through blood? Are they infected after being bitten?¡±

    The dean frowned. ¡°Based on the surveince video, the doctors and nurses of the respiratory department were all bitten but it can¡¯t be ruled out that it was spread by droplets. After all, they are on the first floor of the respiratory department and it is easy to be infected through air.¡±

    The director of the emergency department said, ¡°Oh, I heard from a colleague in the emergency department that a woman suddenly went crazy while getting an infusion. She bit a dozen patients and medical staff before being controlled by the security guard. Is she an infected person like the dean mentioned?¡±

    The dean¡¯s expression sharply changed. ¡°What? Why didn¡¯t you report such an important matter to me earlier?¡±

    The director of the emergency department touched his nose with embarrassment. ¡°It happened 10 minutes ago and I just knew about it¡­¡±

    After hearing this news, everyone¡¯s face became ugly.

    The dean reacted quickly and snapped out orders. ¡°Immediately call the emergency department and have all the medical staff and patients who weren¡¯t discharged after being bitten isted in the infectious diseases department!¡±

    The director of the infectious diseases department frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t think it is necessarily a viral infection. We need to find a living infected person and check carefully to determine the case. Maybe it is bacterial, fungal or a parasite? Different infection types have different treatment ns. We need to know the pathogen clearly before we can consider the next step.¡±

    Xiao Lou sat there and listened carefully. The director of the infectious diseases department was right. In fact, it was still unclear if the infectious pathogen was viral, bacterial, fungal or a parasite. There were four categories of infections and each type of treatment was different.

    The spread of influenza viruses was through the air and it spread very rapidly. It was just that this time, the infected people had characteristics. They attacked the same kind, it was transmitted through blood and the cause of death was a cerebral hemorrhage. It didn¡¯t sound like a mutated flu virus at all.

    Perhaps it was just a coincidence that the infected person had the flu? After all, winter time was indeed prone torge-scale influenza infections.

    Just then, a doctor hurriedly knocked on the door. ¡°Dean Lin, a CT scan of the head of the surviving patient in the Second Hospital was taken and the information has been passed on.¡±

    The dean¡¯s expression was overjoyed as he asked everyone to close the curtains. Then he opened the meeting room¡¯s slide and logged into the database to view the video information.

    Yu Hanjiang saw the curtains closing and instantly asked Xiao Lou, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    Xiao Lou exined in his mind, ¡°We are looking at the CT scan of an infected person¡¯s head and need the curtains to be drawn. Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°Be careful and tell me the moment something happens.¡±

    The projection screen on the wall was lowered and the CT scan of the head of the infected person clearly appeared. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help gasping when he saw the image and the doctors around him were also dumbfounded.

    They saw countless white spots on the CT film of the infected person¡¯s head. The entire brain tissue was upied by a strange creature. Not a single bit of normal brain tissue could be seen in the patient¡¯s head!

    The director of the infectious diseases department almost shot up from his seat. He took a deep breath and dered seriously, ¡°It should be a parasite.¡±

    The dean¡¯s face was extremely ugly. ¡°The brain has been eaten up yet this person is still alive?¡±

    The doctors around him also felt incredulous.

    Xiao Lou clenched his fists. He was pulled to this meeting but he wasn¡¯t an expert in this area. He didn¡¯t need to speak. It was just that listening to everyone¡¯s discussion, he gained a lot of important clues. It was indeed the right decision toe to the meeting. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have known that therge-scale infection wasn¡¯t a virus but an unknown parasite.

    This parasite lived in the human brain and would quickly eat up normal brain tissue.

    It didn¡¯t affect the human¡¯s actions because it upied the control centre of the brain. It became the master of the body, controlling the human nerves like limb actions, expressions andnguage¡­

    The infected person looked normal on the surface. There wasn¡¯t much difference with other people but the core brain had long been reced.

    Although zombies were disgusting, they were slow to move and had no IQ. Xiao Lou had many attack and control cards in his hands and it would be easy to work together to beat the clumsy zombies. However, this time the infected person not only acted agilely but had a clever parasite in their heads!

    This was the scariest thing.

    After watching the film, the curtains were all opened and light was restored to the meeting room. The warm noon sunlight poured into the room but looking at this strange CT image, everyone only felt a hint of coldness.

    After a moment¡¯s silence, the director of the infectious diseases department said, ¡°This news can¡¯t be published or it will cause a panic among the people. The infected people must be isted immediately. We need to take a sample of the parasite from the patient¡¯s brain to see what type of creature it is and if it can be killed with medicine.¡±

    Someone spoke in a deep voice. ¡°The problem is that the parasite will eat human brain cells. From a medical point of view, those infected are already in a state of brain death. They are dead people but look alive because the bug is in control of their bodies. Even if we kill the parasite, we wouldn¡¯t be able to save the patient.¡±

    The group fell silent again.

    Indeed, the brain was gone. Could those things that moved and talked still be called ¡®human¡¯?

    The dean ordered decisively, ¡°The infected people can¡¯t be saved but we can find ways to prevent it so that fewer people are infected! An expert group will be urgently established. I will personally lead the team and iste the infected people in the emergency department. At the same time, I will inform all employees of the hospital to wear istion clothes and gloves starting from tomorrow. They have to take protective measures to prevent their skin from touching the wounds of patients!¡±

    Every time a virus, bacteria, parasite or other infections were encountered, the hospital was the first hardest-hit area. The frontline medical staff were actually in quite a dangerous situation. These doctors might only be plot characters of 8 of Spades but Xiao Lou admired that they didn¡¯t flinch. Manyrge-scale gues and viruses had raged in the history of humanity and many paid a blood price for the development of vines.

    The dean was very courageous to set up a team of experts and let the hospital act immediately.

    The emergency meetingsted half an hour before everything was arranged properly.

    Just then, there was a knock on the door of the meeting room. The person near the door opened it and revealed Xu Rongrong standing at the door with a smile. ¡°Dear hospital leaders, you didn¡¯t eat at this big lunch meeting? I called takeout for everyone.¡± She was followed by several security guards who were carrying boxes of takeout.¡±

    The people in the meeting room were surprised. Why did a young doctor suddenlye to the room to deliver meals?

    The director of the surgery department smiled, ¡°This is Dr Xu, who is a neer. She is kind enough to order food for everyone. Haha, is everyone hungry? It is better to eat first before finishing the work.¡±

    Xu Rongrong walked in with a smile, letting the security guards ce the takeaway on the table.

    The director of the emergency department licked his lips and smiled. ¡°Thank you, I¡¯m really hungry.¡±

    Just as everyone thought he was going to grab a box of takeaway to eat it, he suddenly grabbed the hand of the male doctor next to him and bit down on it!

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

 Chapter 197: Doomsday Escape 03

    The sudden change stunned the surrounding doctors.

    The male doctor who was bitten jumped from his seat in shock. ¡°Why are you biting me?¡±

    The emergency department head smiled and licked the blood from his lips with relish, his dark eyes gradually turned scarlet.

    The director of the infectious diseases department was the first to respond. ¡°He is infected. Quickly control him!¡±

    Several people hurriedly stepped forward to try and subdue him. However, the infected person acted quickly and flipped the chair over with a kick. He crawled flexibly like a bug under the table. Several people not only failed to control him but were also bitten by him!

    The meeting room was chaotic and the old dead shouted, ¡°Quickly, security guards! You have to catch him!¡±

    The moment he yelled, a group of security guards rushed over.

    The dean sighed with relief. He thought the security guard would control the infected person but unexpectedly, once the security guards rushed into the meeting room, they quickly grabbed the other doctors and started biting like mad dogs.

    Harsh screams rang throughout the room. ¡°Ah, my finger was bitten off!¡±

    ¡±My god, are these security guards also infected?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s expression changed. The director of the emergency department, Xu Rongrong who sent the mother and daughter to the emergency department as well as the security guards who dealt with the emergency at that time were all bitten by the mother and daughter and infected with the parasites.

    The old dean¡¯s expression changed and he quickly fled the meeting room. Several doctors also followed him out. The leaders of this hospital were worthy of their experience. They ran faster than rabbits when escaping.

    Xiao Lou was sitting by the window and it was inconvenient to run. The security guards looked at him in unison. Everyone had a smile on their faces and they licked their lips like they saw the most delicious food.

    Xiao Lou thought of the unknown parasites in their brains and couldn¡¯t help the hair on his body rising. He immediately retreated to the window. Xu Rongrong was closest to him and reached out to grab his arm. Just as her hand was about to touch Xiao Lou, a bullet suddenly broke through the window¡ª

    There was a loud bang as a hole appeared in the window and a bullet precisely hit Xu Rongrong¡¯s forehead!

    Headshot!

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s marksmanship was extremely urate. Xiao Lou stared at the woman who fell at his feet and couldn¡¯t help sweating. The security guards and infected doctor surrounded him and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice rang in his mind. ¡°Hurry, jump out the window!¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t hesitate. He turned around, pushed open the window and jumped out.

    This was the eighth floor! Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t done such a thrilling thing even when he was a child. As he jumped out the window, he couldn¡¯t help closing his eyes. It was too high and he didn¡¯t dare look down.

    The next second, his body felt empty as white silk wrapped around his waist. The next second, a strong force passed through the white silk as Yu Hanjiang pulled with force. Suddenly¡ª

    Xiao Lou was pulled directly by YU Hanjiang to the top of the opposite inspection building! Due to inertia, Xiao Lou¡¯s body fluttered forward uncontrobly. Yu Hanjiang immediately stretched out his arms and steadily caught him.

    Xiao Lou fell into this man¡¯s arms. Yu Hanjiang gently hugged him and asked in a low voice, ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    Xiao Lou felt that his heart was about to jump out of his chest. He was pulled directly from the air by Yu Hanjiang and pulled over 20 metres in the air. This was just like acrobatics and it was too exciting!

    He looked up and met Yu Hanjiang¡¯s concerned eyes. Then after discovering he was still in this man¡¯s arms, Xiao Lou¡¯s cheeks slightly reddened. He instantly stood up and took a step back, pretending to be calm. ¡°I¡¯m fine. They didn¡¯t touch me.¡±

    From the window of the opposite building, the group of security guards and doctors stared at Xiao Lou intently. The scarlet eyes were like hunters staring at their prey. Unfortunately, they couldn¡¯t leap through the air and touch Xiao Lou.

    Yu Hanjiang saw the eyes in the distance and frowned. ¡°We should quickly withdraw.¡±

    The two people no longer hesitated. They went downstairs and left the hospital.

    The infection situation in the outpatient building was much more serious. People didn¡¯t know there was a dangerous parasite at the time. So after the mother and daughter bit the doctors and nurses in the emergency department, people didn¡¯t pay attention to it. The bitten people changed and continued to bite others¡­

    The entire building was filled with harsh screams and some immune-weakened people died right on the spot. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t bear to see anymore and followed Yu Hanjiang to quickly flee from the hospital. On the street, the pedestrians looked normal. For the moment, the outbreak didn¡¯t seem to have spread to the streets.

    Xiao Lou recalled what happened just now and was really worried.

    Fortunately, he was careful enough. He wore twoyers of gloves when dealing with the wounds of the mother and daughter and didn¡¯t touch the parasite. Otherwise, the slightest bit of carelessness might¡¯ve caused him to be infected as well!

    This unknown parasite should enter the body through the bloodstream and quickly capture the human brain. Perhaps those who died after being infected was because their brain environment wasn¡¯t suitable for the survival of the parasite. Therefore, they died directly from a cerebral hemorrhage. Those who survived had their bodies taken away by the parasite. The parasite wanted to reproduce and would naturally control the body of the infected human to attack other humans.

    A person with a parasite could speak normally. Was it a type of bug creature with IQ?

    Yu Hanjiang saw Xiao Lou¡¯s pale face and gently held his shoulder, whisperingforting words, ¡°It¡¯s fine. Let¡¯s go to the square to meet Ye Qi and gather. At the meeting just now, did the doctorse to any conclusions?¡±

    Xiao Lou took deep breaths and calmed down. Then he exined to Yu Hanjiang through the heart channel, ¡°It is an unidentified parasitic infection that is much more powerful than the zombie virus. Those who are infected with the zombie virus are slow and have no consciousness. They are a group of clumsy, walking dead. Meanwhile, this parasite will eat the human brain to control the human body and make the human body more flexible. I just saw an infected person crawling on the ground like a bug.¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help clenching his fists when he recalled that scene. ¡°An infected person is equivalent to being brain dead while the body is controlled by the parasite. These parasites have an ID and can direct humans to speak and act. In the eyes of the parasite, us humans are the freshest and most delicious food.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He had expected a higher level zombie. He didn¡¯t expect that the brain of an infected person would be parasitized by an unknown organism.

    On the surface, an infected person looked normal. They could walk, talk and smile. However, their brain was already upied by a parasite that could attack humans at any time, allowing the parasites to multiply quickly.

    If the outbreak wasn¡¯t contained then the entire city might be a nest of the parasites.

    It was really worthy of being an A-grade survival room!

 Chapter 198: Doomsday Escape 04: Gathering Method

    The hospital where Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were located was the People¡¯s Hospital in the city centre. It was surrounded by financial buildings, shopping zas, pedestrian streets, restaurants and countlesspanies. Currently, it was lunch time. The delivery drivers were on the street to deliver meals, the food areas were full of people and the fragrance of various foods floated in the air.

    On the surface, this city looked bustling. The people rushing down the street hadn¡¯t noticed the huge crisis lurking in this peace. Xiao Lou walked to the intersection, looked at the pedestrians on the street and turned back to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°What is the situation with the student you brought today? Are there many people infected at the school?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°This morning, I received a police assignment to go to the Seventh High School. The injured male student was attacked by a senior, Zhou Yu of ss 8. He suddenly attacked in the bathroom, biting off arge piece of flesh from that boy¡¯s arms and also scratching several other boys. The school conducted a simple investigation. ording to the head teacher, Zhou Yu was introverted and gentle. He never fought anyone. He just asked for leave in the morning to go home.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang paused before continuing in a calm face. ¡°He has obviously been parasitized. Unexpectedly, the IQ of the parasite is so high. It actually knew how to lie to a teacher and asked for leave to escape. There were more than a dozen students scratched by him. It was all skin trauma so they were left at school to be bandaged by the school doctor. If those people are also infected then I¡¯m afraid that by this time, the entire Seventh High School has fallen.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The parasites that could survive were extremely capable of reproduction and were extremely intelligent. Perhaps they would make an excuse to leave their teachers and students in the ssroom¡­ who could imagine that the students they got along with were actually puppets of bugs?

    This morning, the Seventh High School might¡¯ve been infected by arge number of parasites.

    At first, the infected people only showed ordinary flu symptoms. They might not even know they were parasitized. Then the students would go home from school at noon, infect their parents and their parents would carry the parasites to major areas¡­

    Xiao Lou became more shocked the more he thought about it. There were so many infected people on the first day and he didn¡¯t have time to adapt to the environment. He hurriedly stated, ¡°We have to find our teammates quickly. They don¡¯t know what is going on and it will be bad if they¡¯re infected.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Go!¡±

    The two men strode out of the food street and shopping buildings and soon reached the square in the city centre.

    There was arge sculpture in the middle of the square with many seats in the outer circle. Some old people were sitting on the seats to rx in the sun while some children were standing in front of the sculpture and excitedly taking photos.

    It looked like an ordinary city square and there weren¡¯t many people gathered.

    Xiao Lou saw Ye Qi standing in the middle of the square with one nce.

    Ye Qi was wearing a hood and ripped jeans, looking very fashionable. He held a guitar in his hand and was advertising loudly, ¡°Uncles, aunts, handsome men and beautiful women, I will sing a song for everyone. I think I sing well so if you would like to give me some pocket money. Life is hard and I¡¯m in pressing need. Thank you everyone¡­¡±

    It was a familiar routine but Ye Qi felt really ufortable.

    After seeing him jumping up and down in a lively manner, his voice clear and loud, Xiao Lou finally let go of his worries and immediately went to Ye Qi.

    Ye Qi saw Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou and his eyes lit up.

    His Guitar card could cause ¡®sleep¡¯ for three seconds in a wide range when using the skill but it was no different from a normal guitar when not using a skill. He could y it at will. Ye Qi wanted to y the guitar and sing but Xiao Lou shook his head to stop Ye Qi. Yu Hanjiang immediately followed and spoke softly, ¡°You are the one who ran away from home, right? Your parents are looking for you. Come with me.¡±

    Ye Qi was dumbfounded. ¡°??¡±

    How did he be a runaway?

    Although he didn¡¯t know what happened, he still packed up his guitar and followed Yu Hanjiang to leave.

    The people who were just gathering to hear the song were dazed. This young boy obediently followed the police? it seemed that he had run away from home during his rebellious period and was caught by the police.

    Ye Qi followed the serious-looking Officer Yu and asked incredulously, ¡°What is the situation?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang exined, ¡°There is danger and you can¡¯t stay in a crowd.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded with understanding. ¡°Group Leader Yu, you¡¯re wearing a police uniform and Professor Xiao is wearing a white coat. It seems that you are assigned to the status of a police officer and doctor. Is this secret room linked to the Hearts room again? Does it want us to solve a case?¡±

    ¡°It isn¡¯t a case. It is just arranging identities for us so we can gain some clues.¡± Yu Hanjiang looked at Ye Qi with a frown. ¡°Where was your refresh point? Was anything strange or wrong around you?¡±

    ¡°I am in a music school and there was a ss in the morning. The floating box told me to follow instructions so I had to follow my ssmates to ss.¡± Ye Qi took off his hood and stared at the distracted Xiao Lou. ¡°ss finished and it was noon. I inquired about the location of the square and came over immediately. What¡¯s the matter? Why do you look so nervous?¡±

    Xiao Lou questioned, ¡°Did anything unusual happen during your ss?¡±

    Ye Qi thought about it carefully. ¡°Many students around me had a cold and someone was coughing. The teacher said that the temperature has dropped in recent days and reminded everyone to keep warm. I wore thermal underwear and a cardigan when entering the secret room this time so I didn¡¯t feel cold.¡±

    Previously, in order to prepare for the survival secret room, everyone went to the shopping mall to prepare several sets of clothing, with aplete set of winter and summer clothing. ording to Old Mo¡¯s suggestion, before entering the survival room, everyone wore severalyers. If the environment was summer then they could take off their clothing. If it was winter then they didn¡¯t have to take it off. Xiao Lou also wore thermal underwear and a cardigan inside. There was even a white coat outside so he wasn¡¯t too cold.

    He whispered to Ye Qi to exin, ¡°The flu is likely to be a precursor to the mutation. It seems that many people in your music school have been infected. This time, we are encountering something much more terrible than the zombie virus. It is an unknown parasite that affects humans. It will live in the human brain, control the human body and attack other humans to reproduce. Arge number of infected people have appeared in the hospital and Seventh High School.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Bugs?¡±

    He shivered and got goosebumps all over his body as he made a disgusted expression. ¡°Bugs are disgusting!¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°The more terrifying thing is that the infected person will disguise themselves so they look no different from a normal person. We didn¡¯t dare let you continue to sing because once you sing, you will be surrounded by a crowd. Perhaps an infected person will suddenly infect you. Now we can¡¯t go to a crowded ce. We have to find another way to meet our teammates.¡±

    Ye Qi suddenly realized. ¡°I see!¡±

    The crowd in the square was too big. Once an outbreak urred, people would bite each other. If they were caught or bitten during the escape, the consequences would be unimaginable.

    Ye Qi thought of the students constantly coughing at his music school and couldn¡¯t help feeling numb. ¡°During ss, the students sitting in front of me and behind me were coughing. If a cold is a sign of a parasitic infection, will I be infected?¡±

    Xiao Louforted him. ¡°The currently known method of transmission is through the blood. You should be fine as long as you weren¡¯t scratched.¡±

    Ye Qi sighed with relief and spoke with a pale face, ¡°Thank god it isn¡¯t airborne!¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s gaze swept over the surrounding buildings and he soon found a good ce. ¡°Do you see that clothing store over there? It is a three storey building that looks like a book page.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Ye Qi followed his gaze and saw that there was a clothing store in the southeast corner of the square. There were floor to ceiling windows on both walls, shaped like an unfolded page. There were crystal chandeliers hanging inside and the decorations were very luxurious. The clothing worn by the models in the store was made of fur and were obviously expensive at first nce.

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°This store is luxuriously decorated and the clothes should be very expensive. There won¡¯t be too many customers in the clothing store at noon. If there are only two or three employees then we can cope with them even if they are infected. We can use this as a temporary base to meet our teammates.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded in agreement. ¡°A high-end clothing store does have less traffic at noon. However, others won¡¯t know we are hiding in the clothing store. How do we notify everyone?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°I have a way, Liu Qiao¡¯s skyntern is in my hands.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was slightly stunned. He remembered this card. In Liuxi Vige, Liu Qiao ced a skyntern on the mountain, hung a piece of cloth on it and wrote for the challengers toe there. He couldn¡¯t help wondering, ¡°Liu Qiao gave this card to you?¡±

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°Before entering the Spades secret room, I was worried that Ye Qi¡¯s method of singing wouldn¡¯t work if everyone was separated and gathering would be more troublesome. Therefore, I asked Liu Qiao to give me her skyntern. As long as I ce thentern above the clothing store, everyone will notice it the moment they arrive at the square.

    The skyntern was an A-rated card and the usage was very simple. ce the skyntern in the sky and use it as a signal. The skyntern came with a white cloth that was simr to the promotional banner hanging under the balloon when a mall opened. They could write on it at will with their fingers.

    Xiao Lou took out the white cloth and wrote the words Sharp Arrow on it. This was the team name. After seeing Liu Qiao¡¯s skyntern and then the arrow mark, they would naturally know this was the team¡¯s meeting ce.

    Ye Qi gave a thumbs up and praised it. ¡°This method of gathering is much more reliable than the street singing I came up with!¡±

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°Let¡¯s go to the clothing store first.¡±

    The three of them soon arrived at the clothing store. They looked through the windows and saw that it really was deserted at noon. There were only two beautiful shopping guides at the cash register and not a single customer could be seen.

    Xiao Lou walked behind the clothing store, activated the skyntern and ced it into the sky.

    People in the square soon found that a bigntern simr to a hot air balloon was floating in the air. A white cloth with the words ¡®Sharp Arrow¡¯ was hanging from it. The public thought it was a promotion for a store opening and few people paid attention to it.

    After finishing the arrangements, Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang and Ye Qi entered the clothing store together.

    It was a bit embarrassing¡­

    There were only female clothing sold in the store.

    Female coats, furs and high-end down jackets were all scarily expensive.

    Three big men walked into a female clothing store. The store assistants froze at the same time. Then a shopping guide with a ponytail quickly reacted and stepped forward with a smile. ¡°Are the three of you choosing clothes for your girlfriends?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang calmly answered, ¡°I¡¯m buying it for my mother.¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately cooperated with the performance. ¡°Mom¡¯s birthday is in a few days. We are going to buy her a birthday present. You must be busy. We will take a look around first.¡±

    The shopping guide nodded. ¡°Okay, this side is the new style for this season. Slowly take a look and tell me what size you need.¡±

    The three of them were relieved once the shopping guide left.

    The shopping guides in the store looked normal and shouldn¡¯t be infected. Even so, the three of them didn¡¯t dare lower their guard. They pretended to pick clothes for their mother and strolled slowly in the store. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes kept watching the movements of these store assistants.

    Just then, a man and woman suddenly came in.

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue!

    The two of them had apparently seen the sign to gather and from the windows, they saw Xiao Lou¡¯s group of three. Then they directly entered.

    The shopping guide came forward and Long Sen opened his mouth. ¡°Well, your birthday ising. Would you like a dress?¡±

    Qu Wanyue cooperated. ¡°Yes, I will pick one.¡±

    She pretended to look through the clothes while moving closer to Xiao Lou. She ¡®happened¡¯ to fancy the same one that Xiao Lou was looking at and spoke, ¡°Sir, can I take a look?¡± Xiao Lou handed her the clothes. ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    After passing over the clothes, Xiao Lou whispered, ¡°First wait for everyone.¡±

    Qu Wanyue nodded in understanding.

    She chose this dress, walked over to Long Sen and conveyed Xiao Lou¡¯s words.

    The two of them stood in front of the windows and continued to slowly select clothes. Meanwhile, Xiao Lou¡¯s trio walked to the other side so their teammates could see them.

    Before long, Mo Xuemin and Liu Qiao also came in.

    Seeing that her teammates were present, Liu Qiao also pretended to buy clothes and casually strolled around the store, inadvertently arriving in front of Xiao Lou. She spoke softly, ¡°Uncle Mo and I met in the square. We saw the skyntern and came here. Is this the ce to gather?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes. Are you okay?¡±

    Liu Qiao replied, ¡°I¡¯m fine. I came to the square after ss this morning. Uncle Mo said he was arranged at a nearby decoratingpany. He also came to the square after serving a client.¡±

    Her eyes swept over the store and she found that Ye Qi, Group Leader Yu and the Long Qu couple were all present.

    Everyone had been in the clothing store for a long time. The store assistants realized they were just going around and didn¡¯t intend to buy anything. Their attitude naturally cooled down and they ignored the customers, sitting at the cashier desk to chat.

    The store assistants ignoring them was exactly what Xiao Lou wanted.

    He winked at his teammates and had them all gather in a corner near the fitting room. He lowered his voice and quickly introduced the current situation to them. His teammates didn¡¯t look very good after hearing it.

    Qu Wanyue frowned. ¡°I had a few children at the dance centre who were coughing. So they¡¯re also infected?¡±

    Long Sen added, ¡°I was at a sports school and many people took leave from sprint training this morning. They said they had a serious cold.¡±

    Liu Qiao and Mo Xuemin also said there were people with a cold at their medical school and decoratingpany. Liu Qiao also stated, ¡°In my ss, some of my ssmates were injured. They said they were bitten and were preparing to go to the hospital to be vinated against rabies.¡±

    It seemed that the outbreak had started to spread from all corners of the city. Many people were infected and the source was still unknown. However, ording to this multi-point spread, it was likely that the epidemic would spread faster than everyone thought!

    Xiao Lou stood in a corner and looked at the square through the floor to ceiling windows. There was nothing unusual in the square outside but he gradually became uneasy. ¡°Where is Chief Shao? Why hasn¡¯t he arrived yet?¡±

    It was already 1 o¡¯clock in the afternoon. Even if Shao Qingge went for lunch and came slowly, shouldn¡¯t he have arrived? His teammates nced at each other and said they hadn¡¯t seen Shao Qingge.

    Xiao Lou was worried. ¡°Is he in trouble?¡±

 Chapter 199: Doomsday Escape 05: Full Meeting

    Shao Qingge was their ¡®gold master father¡¯ who had the strong ability to make money. Thanks to him, everyone lived in a vi and ate well. They never had to worry about having no money to spend. However, when it came tobat ability, Shao Qingge was the weakest one on the team.

    Liu Qiao, Long Sen and Qu Wanyue could run away if they couldn¡¯t fight. Old Mo had a lot of space flipping cards, Model Room and the Marble card. If he was really attacked then he could find a way to hide. Yu Hanjiang, Xiao Lou and Ye Qi had a lot ofbat and control cards.

    Yet for Shao Qingge, all the cards he drew were the ATM machine, Stock Curve, Rich and Willfull¡­ if he was in trouble, did he have to summon an ATM machine, withdraw money on the spot and smash people with it?

    The more they thought about it, the more disturbed they became. Xiao Lou wondered in a worried manner, ¡°Does he have any escape cards if he encounters an attack?¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s face was white. ¡°The low level cards were used against the sharks in the World Weekly. Currently, he only has cards such as the ATM Machine, Stock Curve and Rich and Willfull. He has no attack power at all!¡±

    Rich and Willfull might be able to copy other people¡¯s cards but the key was that he needed a card to copy! If he was alone then what could he copy?

    Ye Qi became more and more worried and clenched his fists tightly. ¡°What are we going to do? This city is so big. How can we find him?¡±

    Just as everyone was panicking, Yu Hanjiang suddenly spoke calmly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Shao Qingge has a way to escape. In 8 of Hearts, many cards were banned and Shao Qingge spent 5 million to copy Ye Qi¡¯s teleportation card.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It seemed to be the case?

    Xiao Lou thought about it. ¡°Yes, Chief Shao spent 5 million to copy the teleportation card and we used the two teleportation cards as support. The copied cards can be taken out of the secret room so it should be in his hands.¡±

    Ye Qi heard this and was finally relieved. It was really chaotic. It was obviously his card that had been copied and in the past, heined that it cost too much. He was so anxious that he actually forgot about this.

    Ye Qi scratched his head. ¡°It¡¯s okay if he has the teleportation card. No matter how flexibly these parasites can move, they can¡¯t teleport 50 metres. There should definitely be no problem with Chief Shao escaping. However, why isn¡¯t he here yet? Surely thatzy person hasn¡¯t overslept?!¡±

    Xiao Lou was also very puzzled. Shao Qingge might normally like to sleepzily but he never dropped the ball at critical moments. It was impossible for him to oversleep. This was toote and he must be in trouble.

    The group waited anxiously.

    The city was so big and finding someone was like searching for a needle in a haystack. Yu Hanjiang thought about it and suggested, ¡°The five of you wait in the clothing store. Xiao Lou and I will go out to look. Perhaps he didn¡¯t see the skyntern in the air and is still looking for us in the square.¡±

    Ye Qi volunteered. ¡°I¡¯ll go too! I have the teleportation card and can take you away if there is trouble.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and took Ye Qi and Xiao Lou outside. The remaining four people stayed in the clothing store.

    Nothing happened in the square and the streets were very calm.

    The moment the trio went outside, they heard the deafening sound of car horns. A closer look showed there was a car ident in the city centre. Six cars had rear-ended each other and several pedestrians were killed. The road was blocked and the traffic police were busy dealing with it.

    The frontmost car had the window open. The driver was tilted forward, his eyes red with blood.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s expression changed. ¡°This should be an infected person. His brain tissue couldn¡¯t feed the parasite and he died suddenly while driving, hitting pedestrians. As a result, the cars behind him rear-ended each other.¡±

    Ye Qi got goosebumps again. ¡°These parasites are quite picky. If some human brains aren¡¯t suitable for their survival then they will be directly killed. If they are suitable, will the brains be used as a hotbed?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s expression was sullen. ¡°Selective parasitism. I don¡¯t know yet who will die after infection and who will mutate.¡±

    He looked down the street. There was a long line of cars outside the car. He was about to wonder if Shao Qingge was in a certain car when he saw a tall man running toward him breathlessly. It was Shao Qingge!

    The three of them greeted him immediately.

    Shao Qingge was wearing an iron-grey suit, a id striped tie, ck leather shoes and his chestnut hair was tied in a small ponytail behind him. This was the outfit of an overbearing president andbined with his handsome appearance, he was the standard configuration of a protagonist.

    It was just that at this time, he looked a bit flustered. His hair was slightly messy and there was ayer of sweat on his forehead. He was obviously tired from running too quickly.

    Ye Qi asked worriedly, ¡°Shao Qingge, why are you sote? Everybody thought you had an ident!¡±

    Shao Qingge took a deep breath and exined. ¡°I had an investment meeting this morning. It only ended at 12 and I immediately took a taxi to the square. However, the road was blocked for more than 30 minutes. The car wouldn¡¯t move at all so I had to get off and run by myself.

    Xiao Lou asked him, ¡°No wonder why you arrived sote. You weren¡¯t attacked?¡±

    Just then, Shao Qingge touched his nose and coughed twice. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other and instantly became alert.

    Ye Qi stared at Shao Qingge with shock. ¡°Are you infected?¡±

    Shao Qingge just smiled. ¡°My nose is itchy.¡±

    The three people, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Looking at the three people standing there like he was an enemy, Shao Qingge wondered, ¡°I just coughed twice, what is with your expressions? Why are you looking at me like I¡¯m a monster? What is the situation?¡±

    Xiao Lou told Shao Qingge about the infection and parasites.

    Shao Qingge quickly put away his smile and his face hardened. ¡°No wonder¡­ the driver of the taxi I just took was coughing. It seemed that he had also be infected. Fortunately, I got off halfway and ran over. If I continued to sit in the car, would he suddenly turn around and bite me?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded solemnly. ¡°It is possible.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Shao Qingge rubbed his temple helplessly. ¡°This time, the secret room is much harder than Zombie Town. As a Spade g who only got a rating of C in Zombie Town, Shao Qingge had a headache after hearing Xiao Lou¡¯s description. Not to mention, he had to survive 14 days this time.

    ¡°Since everyone is here, we will gather together to discuss the countermeasures as soon as possible.¡± Yu Hanjiang made a gesture to Old Mo in the clothing store and Old Mo, Liu Qiao and the Long Qu couple came out to join them.

    They all looked at Shao Qingge with concern and Liu Qiao asked, ¡°Chief Shao, are you okay?¡±

    Shao Qingge said he waste due to a traffic jam and everyone let go of their worries.

    The square was full of people and it wasn¡¯t safe. After careful consideration, Old Mo suggested, ¡°It is better to go to my decoratingpany. It is very close to the square and I can lock the door.¡±

    They all had no opinion. Old Mo was the owner of the decoratingpany. They were taking the overpass to his store and had just reached the middle when they suddenly heard deafening screams, ¡°Ahhhhhhh¡ª¡±

    Several drivers in the traffic jam queue suddenly got out of their cards, grabbed the pedestrians around them and bit wildly! The pedestrians were fleeing in horror. The drivers chased them all the way to the central square. The elderly basking in the sun, the young couples and the children taking photos in front of the sculpture were all bitten!

    Hundreds of cars were blocked on the streets due to the rear-end collisions. The drivers in the back saw this horrible scene. Some people raised their windows and locked the doors. Some simply abandoned their cars and ran away.

    The situation was chaotic and the traffic police couldn¡¯t control it at all.

    Xiao Lou saw with his own eyes that in a bus below the overpass, a passenger started to mutate. She was very thin but extremely agile. She shuttled back and forth on the bus and in the blink of an eye, all the passengers on the bus were bitten!

    The closed vehicle was like hell. The cries of these people were cut off by the windows but through the windows, Xiao Lou could clearly see the terrified and desperate expressions of the bitten people¡­

    The bus driver sensed that something was wrong and immediately opened the door. The bitten people quickly escaped from the bus. Some covered their necks, some covered their arms and some had ears bitten off. Some ran to the hospital while crying.

    Once the bus doors opened, it only released more parasites and infected more people.

    However, it didn¡¯t matter. Even if the passengers of this bus didn¡¯te out, the drivers who got out of their cars and bit the passengers had spread the parasites to the central square and the pedestrians were infected.

    At this rate of transmission, the entire city would fall within a day.

    The eight people stood on the overpass and saw their scene, their moods extremelyplicated. 2 of Spades, Zombie Town was a world after the infection. Those zombies hadpletely lost consciousness. However, this was still a normal world. Suddenly, a group of people sitting biting like crazy days, eating the flesh of their own kind. This scene was really shocking.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice sank. ¡°Go quickly!¡±

    Everyone instantly followed him. Old Mo took everyone to the decoratingpany and locked the door. Everyone was worried and stood in the room without knowing what to say.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke calmly, ¡°Since we havee to a parasitic world, we have to find a way to survive. First, how much materials should we prepare for a 14 day survival period?¡±

    Xiao Lou suggested. ¡°We can prepare double what we did in Endless Seas. We drifted at sea and prepared for seven days, but we didn¡¯t finish everything.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°This time, we have to pack lightly and we can¡¯t bring too many supplies. We aren¡¯t facing slow zombies and sharks with no IQ. They are parasites with an IQ. They will disguise themselves, can attack at any time and are very flexible.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°This time, we might be running for our lives the entire time. We can¡¯t take too many things.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang ordered decisively, ¡°While the city still has a bit of order, go to the supermarket immediately and buy enough to fill a bag for each person. The easiest method to replenish energy and maintain shelf life is half a month¡¯s worth of milk, biscuits, chocte and water. Don¡¯t pack too heavy a bag. It is best if you can walk and carry it easily.¡±

    The group nodded.

    Old Mo asked. ¡°What about the money? Currently, the situation in the supermarket isn¡¯t clear but it isn¡¯t good for us to directly steal.¡±

    Upon hearing this, Shao Qingge took out a card. In front of everyone¡¯s eyes, an ATM machine appeared.

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°This S-rated card finally came in handy. Let¡¯s withdraw money.¡±

    The team members, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    There was Chief Shao and there was no need to worry about money! In 8 of Hearts, Shao Qingge carried several boxes of gold to Jiangzhou!

    Shao Qingge quickly took out a few million and gave some to everyone. In any case, if they didn¡¯t use it all then he would call the ATM machine and deposit it before clearing the instance. This way, they could take it back to the main city. It was very convenient.

    After getting the money, Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°Let¡¯s go. We have to act together. We have to buy the materials as soon as possible before the supermarket is upied by parasites. Otherwise, we will be in trouble.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang ordered them and everyone went to the nearby supermarket.

    At this time, inside the supermarket.

    Several young girls at the cash register were coughing. The chubby, middle-aged male manager told them, ¡°These days, the flu is spreading everywhere. If you have a severe cold then go back and rest. See a doctor first. You can change shifts with colleagues who don¡¯t have a cold.¡±

    A girl with her hair in a ponytail smiled. ¡°Thank you, manager.¡±

    She looked good with beautiful eyes and delicate makeup. She was wearing red overalls and worked at the supermarket¡¯s cash register. The beauty walked to the manager¡¯s side, stood on tiptoe and tried to kiss his face.

    The manager was surprised and smiled. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so polite¡­¡±

    As a result, just as her lips touched the man¡¯s cheek, the girl¡¯s eyes turned scarlet. Her sharp teeth aimed at the manager¡¯s face and she took a hard bite, directly taking off a piece of flesh!

    ¡°Ahhhh¡ª¡±

    There was a horrifying, pig-like scream in the supermarket.

    The cashiers around them saw the scene but instead of panicking, they just smiled. Their smiles were neat and tidy, like countless samples copied from the same model.

 Chapter 200.1: Doomsday Escape 06: Supermarket Fright

    Before going to the supermarket, Yu Hanjiang told his teammates a few things.

    He looked extremely seriously as he spoke. ¡°Based on the information obtained from Xiao Lou¡¯s meeting, there is currently no cure for this infection. Once infected, these parasites will quickly eat up the human brain, letting the human body be their puppet. We need to survive in this secret room for 14 days. When acting, you must pay attention to protect yourself and don¡¯t let yourself be infected! Otherwise, not only will you die but you might also bury the entire team with you!¡±

    The group nodded solemnly to show their understanding.

    The acting of the bugs was the most terrible thing. If a teammate was infected, they would pretend to be a normal person by everyone¡¯s side. Then at night, while everyone was sleeping, they would secretly bite everyone¡­ then everyone would collectively change to a bug.

    It was disgusting to think about.

    Yu Hanjiang paused and nced at his pale teammates. ¡°In addition, on the surface, the parasitized people look normal. They might pretend to be normal humans and approach us. This situation is unpredictable. So in this secret room, the eight of us are one team and can¡¯t cooperate with any other challengers or save anyone¡ªremember, we only care about ourselves.¡±

    It was a bit heartbreaking to see someone die without saving them but it was already difficult to take care of themselves in this situation. It was impossible to judge if the person they saved was infected or not. Therefore, it wasn¡¯t wrong for Yu Hanjiang to set the rules in advance. Their team of eight could only believe in themselves and be responsible for themselves.

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°Everyone, listen to Group Leader Yu and don¡¯t care about others. In these 14 days, no one should leave the team without permission unless Group Leader Yu orders it. Even if you have the internal urge to go to the bathroom, you must resolve the problem with the card.¡±

    Previously, a sister had given them the temporary toilet card in Endless Seas. These material cards were kept by Xiao Lou. It was dangerous to leave the team so in these 14 days, it was best to eat and live together. No one could separate.

    Their teammates were aware of the grim situation and looked at each other.

    Ye Qi replied, ¡°Understood. The eight of us will form a group and try not to contact strangers!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Then let¡¯s go to the supermarket to buy materials. If there are strangers who try to get close to you then immediately move away. Be careful not to be suddenly attacked.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang ordered and the eight people acted collectively.

    It was 1:30 and no one had eaten, but they didn¡¯t feel hungry at all. Perhaps it was because the first day in this world was too exciting. Everyone was nervous and forgot about eating.

    Mo Xuemin¡¯s decoratingpany was located diagonally opposite the centre square and there was arge supermarket 500 metres away.

    At this time, the streets were blocked by vehicles and the traffic on the entire street was paralyzed.

    The sidewalks were full of horrified screams and blood on the ground. Obviously, those who were infected had attacked humans in a frenzy and there were countless people who were scratched or bitten. These people scattered and brought the parasites to other areas.

    The city centre waspletely messed up. It was only a matter of time before the entire city was infected.

    Xiao Lou whispered, ¡°We should avoid the blood on the ground. The parasite is spread through blood. People who are bitten might have living pathogens in their blood. Try not to touch the blood.¡±

    Ye Qi had almost stepped in a puddle of blood. His face paled and he instantly jumped to avoid it.

    Just then, a scream came from the sidewalk opposite the square. They saw an infected person chasing two young girls to bite them. The two girls were running quickly. One of them was wearing high heels and could only run a few metres before the infected person threw herself up and bit the girl¡¯s ear. The girl sat on the ground, covering the bloody wound and crying.

    ¡°Help¡ª¡±

    However, no one around her took care of her. Even her friend running with her didn¡¯t help. She saw the scene and her expression changed. Then she instantly turned and ran away quickly!

    This bloody scene sent a chill down Xiao Lou¡¯s spine.

    Curiously, after the infected person bit the girl¡¯s ear, she didn¡¯t continue to attack. Instead, she left the injured woman behind and looked for her next target.

    Xiao Lou walked forward while speaking to Yu Hanjiang through the heart channel, ¡°It seems the infected person just needs to spread the parasite. As long as they pass it on, they won¡¯t continue to attack. It is just like some creature invading the earth and quickly attacking to upy thend. Will the bitten people be their kind?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also saw the scene across the street and frowned. ¡°I¡¯m curious. How do they judge who is their own kind and who hasn¡¯t been infected yet? On the surface, it is difficult to distinguish between infected and non-infected people.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it. ¡°They should have their ownnguage, signal or smell.¡±

    It could only be exined in this way. These things were actually quite smart. They could instantly determine who was their own kind and who needed to be attacked. It seemed that after they upied the human brain, they would send signals to theirpanions to avoid an idental injury.

    Low level zombies might attack each other. After all, they had no IQ. However, forget their high level parasites harming each other. They could actually sense each other and might even cooperate when acting. This was¡­ terrible.

    Once the entire city was infected, wouldn¡¯t the eight of them enter a bug nest?

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face was white. ¡°This secret room requires us to survive for 14 days and there is no restriction to stay in the urban area to survive. Can we escape?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang answered, ¡°Looking at their actions, it isn¡¯t possible. We can only follow 3 of Spades¡¯ clearance method. Escape to the suburbs, find a remote ce, upy a building as a base and arrange traps to eliminate these bugs.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded.

    They just arrived in front of the supermarket. The two of them stoppedmunicating with each other and walked in with their teammates.

    The city was in chaos and there was a traffic jam on the road. Currently, it was afternoon and the supermarket was very deserted. There were only a few young people buying food. They seemed to have no idea what was happening outside and were patiently picking vegetables and fruit. One couple was talking andughing as they bought tomatoes.

    Yu Hanjiang nced around and found no obvious abnormalities, so he took everyone into the supermarket.

    The temperature of the supermarket was very low. The entrance of this area happened to be selling fresh vegetables and the open freezer was air-conditioned. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help his teeth chattering even though he was wearing thermal clothes.

    Shao Qingge sneezed and rubbed his nose. ¡°Why is it so cold?¡±

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°Maybe the heating is broken. Let¡¯s speed up and do out shopping.

    After entering the supermarket, it was the frozen area and the fresh food area. In the vegetables and fruit area, some aunts were responsible for weighing the products to help customers calcte the prices. There were also a few men wearing white hats in the cooked food area who were making roast duck. The cupboard was filled with freshly cooked trotters and chicken legs. The smell filled the air and everyone¡¯s appetite was aroused by the fragrance. They all remembered that they didn¡¯t eat lunch.

    However, the supermarket wasn¡¯t a ce to eat. Yu Hanjiang told them, ¡°Buy things to eat. We shouldn¡¯t touch these cooked foods.¡±

    It was unsure if the only method of transmission was blood transmission. What if it was spread through the food as well?

    In Endless Seas, Shao Qingge had spent money to buy a lesson. Things in the Spades room shouldn¡¯t be eaten casually. Only vacuum-packed sealed foods such as instant noodles and biscuits were the safest.

    Ye Qi gulped and moved his eyes away from the roast duck as he quickly followed Yu Hanjiang.

    The eight people soon left the cooked food area and entered the depths of the supermarket.

    They didn¡¯t find that behind them, the aunts responsible for weighing fruits and vegetables, the chefs cooking food and the women selling fresh meat products collectively turned their heads to look at the group¡¯s back, a weird smile on their faces.

    This supermarket was veryrge and was like a maze. They walked around several corners before eventually seeing the daily necessities and snacks area.

    Arge amount of milk was stacked in the aisle with the sign ¡®today¡¯s promotion¡¯. Xiao Lou lifted a box of milk to look at the production date and shelf life. The shelf life of this milk was three months and they could save a bit of money, so he directly ced two boxes in the shopping cart.

    Ye Qi grabbed four boxes ofpressed biscuits and four boxes of instant noodles. Meanwhile, Liu Qiao ced dozens of boxes of choctes into the shopping cart.

    Old Mo and Long Sen went to grab the mineral water while Qu Wanyue was responsible for counting the supplies. Yu Hanjiang went to find the schoolbags.

    Since they needed to pack lightly this time, they naturally couldn¡¯t bring things like canned fruits and snacks. They just brought enough supplies. Everyone pushed the shopping cart and quickly scanned the goods. Yu Hanjiang also grabbed eight school bags quickly.

    This supermarket didn¡¯t have a lot of schoolbags for sale. The colours were different and there were some student bags printed with cartoons. Nevertheless, now wasn¡¯t the time to pursue details so he just ced them in the shopping cart.

    Qu Wanyue counted the supplies. ¡°There¡¯s almost enough.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Go.¡±

    Things like toothbrushes, towels and other toiletries had been prepared using the ¡®washing bag¡¯ material card and these cards could be brought into the secret room. Therefore, only food andmonly used medicine were needed in the survival room.

    The eight people walked around a corner and saw a group of girls quickly sweeping up goods. They had several ck school bags of the same style in their shopping cart. No wonder why the area that sold schoolbags was empty. They bought it first.

    In addition, they also had a lot of mineral water, milk and biscuits in their shopping carts.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other. A challenger team?¡±

    Ye Qi found these girls as well and whispered, ¡°Why do I feel like they¡¯re familiar? Have I seen them somewhere before?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought carefully and soon remembered. ¡°Previously in the World Weekly Endless Seas, there was the team of 10 girls who left the Caribbean. All of them were wearing convenient sportswear and t shoes and their hair was tied up. Based on the clothing, this should be them?¡±

    Old Mo confirmed it. ¡°Yes, it is the people from Luoying Pavilion.¡±

    At that time, the female team had adopted the clearance method of capturing another ship. Judging by the final number of people who cleared the instance, they should¡¯ve survived. Their actions when encountering sharks wasn¡¯t clear because Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t there.

    These girls were obviously an elite group of Luoying Pavilion.

    Listening to Brother Jiu, the president of Luoying Pavilion was Chu Huaying, code-named Spider Goddess. She was one of his surviving teammates from J of Clubs.

    Xiao Lou had never seen Chu Huaying but a woman who could survive the nightmare room of J of Clubs was definitely a very powerful character. Due to Brother Jiu, Xiao Lou also had a good impression of the Luoying Pavilion.

    This group of well-dressed girls were unified in action and were well-trained. Unexpectedly, they also came to 8 of Spades.

    Ye Qi said, ¡°The presence of Luoying Pavilion shows that this survival secret room isn¡¯t just the eight of us. Perhaps there are other guild challenger teams?¡±

    Xiao Lou recalled how they often encountered other challengers in the Spades secret room and nodded. ¡°It is possible since the Spades secret room often matches multiple teams together. However, this time isn¡¯t like finding the gem in Liuxi Vige. There isn¡¯t apetitive rtionship between challengers and we need to face the parasite problem together. It is just that the bugs can disguise themselves and it is difficult for challengers to achieve absolute trust and cooperation. It is a blessing to go our own way and not drag each other down.¡±

    Professor Xiao¡¯s analysis made sense and his teammates had no n to join forces with these girls.

 Chapter 200.2

    The girls of Luoying Pavilion clearly saw them. One of the tall girls who was over 175 cm came over and took the initiative to nod at Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Foreigners?¡±

    The term ¡®foreigners¡¯ had be amonly agreed substitute to refer to challengers.

    Yu Hanjiang answered with one word. ¡°Yes.¡±

    The two people maintained a safe distance of more than two metres. Obviously, Yu Hanjiang was worried that she was an infected person while she was cautious of Yu Hanjiang¡¯s team. It was safer to talk from a distance.

    The girl said, ¡°I came to exchange some information. Let me first say that this world is a world of a parasite infection. The parasite will enter the brain of the infected person and control the body of the infected person. At present, I don¡¯t know what the pathogen is. The known transmission route is through blood and parasitism. The spread of the bugs is very fast. It is like the human world is being invaded by Zerg.¡±

    This girl spoke in an organized and calm manner. Xiao Lou looked at her with appreciation and replied, ¡°We know the same information as you. For the transmission route, blood has been confirmed and air can be eliminated. Can it be transmitted through good? There is currently no case proof so it can¡¯t be taken lightly.¡±

    The girl nodded. ¡°Since it is like a Zerg invasion, I suspect there will be a mother bug in this world. Or perhaps a leader bug. Were there any special bosses among the characters you encountered?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it for a moment. ¡°There are no characters like the boss yet. I just heard that the respiratory department of the Second Hospital is dead. There were many people there and perhaps there was a survivor whoter infected the plot characters they met.¡±

    The girl¡¯s expression was slightly regretful. ¡°We also thought the same thing. The Second Hospital seemed to have the first case of infection among all the hospitals but we can¡¯t rule out someone being infected earlier but not going to the hospital. It seems that the boss isn¡¯t very easy to find.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, after all, we have to survive 14 days. It won¡¯t be so simple.¡±

    Both teams were several metres apart. The girl spoke after a moment, ¡°I wish for your good luck.¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°I also wish for your good luck.¡±

    The two sides didn¡¯t intend to join forces. After all, the setting of ¡®bugs will disguise¡¯ themselves was a bit scary. No one knew if underneath the skin, this body had been upied by bugs or not. How could they trust a stranger?

    The female team turned away and left the shopping area. They were ready to go to the cash register.

    Just then, a young man wearing supermarket overalls smiled and stopped Xiao Lou¡¯s team. ¡°We have a discount at this supermarket. You just need to apply for a membership card. Then when you buy a box of milk, you can get another one for free. Do you want to take a look?¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t have time to speak when Yu Hanjiang interjected coldly, ¡°No need.¡±

    The young man smiled. ¡°Chocte is also buy one get one free. Sir, you just need a membership card.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression was obviously impatient and he lowered his voice. ¡°No need.¡±

    He turned to leave but the young man reached to stop him. Yu Hanjiang quickly moved sideways to avoid him and frowned unhappily. ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    The boy exined softly, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m an intern at the supermarket and the manager arranged a task for me. If I can¡¯tplete the task then my bonus will be deducted. Sir, please do me a favour and fill out the information to get a membership card. It is very simple.¡±

    This boy was very handsome and had a sunny smile.

    If this was the real world then Xiao Lou would definitely help out. They just needed to give their mobile phone number to register with the supermarket. It was convenient to apply for a membership card and there would be various discounts every New Year¡¯s Day¡­

    However, now he looked at the smile of this boy and felt that something wasn¡¯t right.

    The temperature of the supermarket was getting lower and Xiao Lou was covered in goosebumps. Meanwhile, this boy was only wearing thin work clothes and a shirt, but he still had a smile on his face. Wasn¡¯t he afraid of the cold at all?

    The moment Xiao Lou noticed what was wrong, the boy turned back and reached out toward Xiao Lou¡¯s cheek!

    Xiao Lou was standing right beside Yu Hanjiang.

    The boy had been talking to Yu Hanjiang and his eyes were also on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face. He didn¡¯t look at Xiao Lou at all. Their teammates thought he was just an ordinary supermarket shopping guide. They didn¡¯t expect him to attack Xiao Lou!

    Seeing that the boy¡¯s hand was about to touch Xiao Lou¡¯s face, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s pupils shrank and his feet kicked the boy¡¯s abdomen, simply kicking him to the ground. This person actually dared to attack Xiao Lou. He knew to ¡®threaten the east while striking the west¡¯ and engaged in a sudden attack?

    This bug did have a good idea.

    It was just that Yu Hanjiang had been vignt from the moment he appeared.

    Yu Hanjiang had gone through hundreds of battles and engaged in a battle of wits with countless criminals. How could the bug injure Xiao Lou under his eyes? The moment he noticed the boy raising his hand to attack Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang had kicked him.

    This boy was nearly 1.8 metres tall and wasn¡¯t too light. He was kicked by Yu Hanjiang and flew back several metres. It could be seen how strong Yu Hanjiang¡¯s kick was! There was a loud bang as the young man¡¯s body hit the shelf in the middle of the supermarket. Countless Coke bottles crashed down and buried him instantly.

    Their teammates saw this scene and were frightened.

    Group Leader Yu¡¯s movements were lightning fast. The bug probably hadn¡¯t expected that his n to ¡®threaten the east while striking the west¡¯ had already been seen through by Yu Hanjiang. A person who worked as a policeman had a strong sense of crisis and Yu Hanjiang had seen every move.

    The boy was buried under the beverage bottles and was motionless. Yu Hanjiang picked up a mop ced nearby in the supermarket to use as a weapon. He stepped forward to see if this person was dead or alive. As a result, the beverage bottles were pushed away and countless bottles rolled all over the ground. The young man who had just been buried climbed out of the pile of bottles at a very fast speed.

    He stared at Yu Hanjiang with scarlet eyes but realized this group of people wasn¡¯t easy to deal with. Therefore, he flexibly moved on the ground to move away.

    The boy crawled like a snake on the ground. The team saw the handsome guy crawling on the ground and was stunned. By the time they reacted, he had already disappeared around the corner.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face was ugly. ¡°This supermarket is also infected. Go!¡±

    At this time, the cash register.

    There were eight cash registers open with eight young girls standing in front of the team from Luoying Pavilion.

    Since everyone had bought many things and there was no one in the supermarket at noon, they separated. Two people pushed one shopping cart to one cash register.

    The girls at the cash register quickly scanned the barcode and the price of everything appeared on theputer.

    The challengers of Luoying Pavilion started to pay with gold coins.

    The captain who was 175cm tall just stretched out her hand to give the gold coins to the cash register girl when as a result, the cashier grabbed her hand and pointed her nails directly at the back of her hands.

    The tall girl was from an elite team of Luoying Pavilion and responded extremely quickly. She retracted her right hand in a lightning fast manner to avoid the attack. Her face changed and she ordered sharply, ¡°They are all infected. Escape!¡±

    The professionally trained team¡¯s executive ability was first-ss. Upon hearing their captain¡¯s words, the girls swiftly jumped over the fence beyond the cash register. They simply abandoned their shopping carts and ran faster than rabbits.

    Xiao Lou was justing to the cash register when he saw this scene.

    He stood in the distance and nced over the eight cash registers. All eight young female cashiers had the exact same expressions on their faces, as if they were carved from a mold!

    There was no heating in the supermarket in winter. They were wearing short skirts yet they had bright smiles on their faces. It was too strange!

    The girls of Luoying Pavilion ran away really quickly. They jumped over the fence and ran away in the blink of an eye. The attack of the eight cashiers was unsessful but the girls weren¡¯t pursued. Instead, the cashiers turned their heads together and looked at Xiao Lou with a smile.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    All the hairs on his body stood up as he whispered, ¡°They¡¯re all infected¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face was serious. ¡°Withdraw to the supermarket first!¡±

    The channel at the cash register was very narrow and could only amodate one person passing at a time. It was over if they were scratched while going over the barrier. This group of bugs pretended to be cashiers and wanted to scratch the back of the customers¡¯ hands while paying. Now that the n wasn¡¯t sessful, they definitely wouldn¡¯t be gentle. If they attacked with all their might at the cash register, the risk was even greater.

    Yu Hanjiang wanted to return to the supermarket to discuss a strategy with his team.

    His sharp eyes nced behind him.

    Sure enough, it was unknown when but the supermarket staff who were making roast duck, weighing fruits and cutting fresh meat and the customers pretending to pick vegetables and fruits had quietlye behind them.

    These people didn¡¯t make any footsteps because they crawled on the ground.

    At this time, dozens of people crawled on the ground like bugs and stared up at them with red eyes.

    In front, eight beautiful cash register girls were smiling at them.

    The hair on Ye Qi¡¯s body stood up. ¡°Fuck! This supermarket is actually a nest of bugs!¡±

 Chapter 201: Doomsday Escape 07

    The city had entered winter. The hospital where Xiao Lou had entered in the morning and Old Mo¡¯s decoratingpany had heating. Forget the cold, he even felt it was hot wearing a sweater.

    It stood to reason that since the city provided uniform heating, a ce withrge crowds like the supermarket should also have heating. However, when entering the supermarket, it was colder than standing on the street and people¡¯s teeth trembled.

    Xiao Lou initially thought that the heating of the supermarket was broken and didn¡¯t care too much about the temperature. Now that he heard Ye Qi say that this ce was a bugir, he suddenly reacted. Perhaps it wasn¡¯t a coincidence but intentional!

    Seeing the infected people with bloodshot eyes on the ground, Xiao Lou immediately took a step toward Yu Hanjiang and whispered, ¡°The entire supermarket is full of infected people. The bugs probably like the cold environment so they turned off the heating.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°It really is too cold here.¡±¡¯

    Ye Qi shivered and his face was pale and nervous. ¡°What should we do? Should we push the shopping cart and rush out?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for three seconds before turning to everyone and dering, ¡°Destroy this group of bugs.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Yes, this was indeed more like Group Leader Yu¡¯s style.

    In the beginning, when floating on the sea and encountering sharks, other challengers were fleeing in a panic. Meanwhile, Yu Hanjiang fought against the sharks in a bloody battle. He used the Night Devil Saber to directly chop up dozens of sharks.

    Letting him run for his life? Sorry, Yu Hanjiang preferred a hard, direct struggle.

    Having said this, Yu Hanjiang took a card from his bag¡ªMad Believers.

    This was the S-grade weapon drawn by Yu Hanjiang when he was clearing the 5th, 6th and 7th levels. It was a dark submachine gun with extremely fierce melee firepower that could sweep across arge area.

    Everyone knew that Group Leader Yu had drawn many S-grade weapon cards and had all types of firearms, but they had never seen him use them. Perhaps the difficulty of the previous secret rooms wasn¡¯t enough to force Yu Hanjiang to use firearms. Now in the face of the bugs with a high IQ and since the secret room didn¡¯t limit the use of cards, Yu Hanjiang finally took out his S-grade weapon.

    This was the first time his teammates had seen him take out a gun card. He was a police officer who could definitely use a gun. With such a powerful weapon, surely it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to eliminate dozens of infected people?

    Xiao Lou was slightly relieved.

    In fact, he thought the same way. This supermarket had be a bug nest and he roughly estimated that there were around 50 people. However, this secret room was a parasitic secret room. In three days, more than 80% of the indigenous people of this city would be infected. They might be able to escape today but could they escape for 14 days? If they ran away every time they encountered an infected person, what if they were surrounded by thousands of infected people in the future?

    They might have cards but they would still be forced to go to Heaven.

    Therefore, it was better to take advantage of the small number of infected people in the supermarket to have a real battle. This way, they could find out the characteristics and weaknesses of the bugs and prepare for the worst situation in the future.

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang in agreement. ¡°Okay, we will all listen to Group Leader Yu¡¯smand.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded at Xiao Lou. The two of them were connected through the heart channel and naturally understood each other¡¯s ideas. Actualbat to understand the enemy and umte experience. Once again, their ideas coincided.

    Ye Qi wondered, ¡°My instrument cards can control groups. Will these bugs be affected by the control skills?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Listen to my instructionster. Doesn¡¯t Long Sen have the badminton card? Can you try it first to see if you can stun these bugs? This way, we can also see the flexibility of the bugs. If it works then Ye Qi will release his group control and I will take the opportunity to clear the field.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s group control skills had a longer cooldown time and had to be used at critical moments. Long Sen¡¯s Badminton card had dozens of shuttlecocks and could be used continuously.

    Hearing the instructions from Group Leader Yu, the team took out their cards and held them while staring at the surroundings alertly, preparing for battle.

    The infected people crawling on the ground stared at them for a few seconds before attacking without warning. At the same time, Yu Hanjiang saw them start to act and immediately called out, ¡°Everyone be alert!¡±

    The seven people quickly moved back to back and stood in a circle. Xiao Lou was protected in the middle of the circle because everyone wanted to give him enough time and space to draw a circle with Compass, releasing an invincible barrier.

    Everyone stared in front of them and watched out for an attack.

    However, this group of infected people were not only smart, they also cooperated with each other. The group saw dozens of infected people acting in a unified manner. They quickly crawled on the ground and surrounded Yu Hanjiang¡¯s group of eight. Immediately afterward, all of them bowed their backs like fierce beasts, kicked their legs and rushed toward the team!

    Just then, Xiao Lou¡¯s invincible circle was finished. The infected people hit the invincible boundary of the ring like they hit a transparent enchantment. They were all bounced back.

    Xiao Lou had drawn an invincible circle that was 10 square metres. This was thergest range of Compass that could be unfolded. Everyone stood back to back in the circle while the infected people were isted outside the circle.

    The infected people couldn¡¯t move forward. They were separated by the invisible barrier and they stared at Xiao Lou¡¯s group with red eyes, like beasts seeing prey but unable to eat. They crawled around the ring fiercely, trying their best to attack while drooling.

    This wave of attacks might be temporarily blocked but the distance to the infected people was so close that everyone felt numb.

    Yu Hanjiang ordered, ¡°Thepass¡¯ invincible time is limited and it won¡¯tst too long. Long Sen, action!¡±

    Long Sen heard the order and instantly activated the Badminton card.

    He held a badminton racket in his hand while the other hand held a badminton cylinder. Long Sen quickly took out a shuttlecock, aimed it at the back of an infected person and hit it.

    As long as the shuttlecock hit the target, it would make the target stunned for a few seconds.

    It was just that the infected person¡¯s reaction was very sensitive. As if he had eyes in the back of his head, he actually used a jump to escape!

    Long Sen couldn¡¯t believe it and hit four more in a row. As a result, all the infected people evaded flexibly. Those who were attacked also turned back to stare at Long Sen.

    Long Sen, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    As a sports school student, his skills weren¡¯t as good as professional yers but he was excellent when ying with ordinary people. Just now, he clearly aimed at the back of the infected people. As a result, all five were actually avoided?

    There was ayer of sweat on Long Sen¡¯s forehead. ¡°Do these bugs have eyes behind them?¡±

    Xiao Lou analyzed it. ¡°They upy the human brain but their vision shouldn¡¯t be with human eyes. Judging from the previous reactions, they live in the human head and likely have a 360 degree field of view without any blind spots.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    In other words, these infected people could see at any angle. They could stand behind the infected person and attack and the bugs would still see it!

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Ye Qi, try a single control card.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded and took out the flute.

    Among his musical instruments, the guitar, erhu and guzheng all had group control skills but the cooldown time was long. It took dozens of minutes or even hours for it to be avable again. The flute only controlled one person so the cooldown after reaching the full level was only a few seconds.

    Ye Qi took aim at the closest person dressed as a chef. He picked up the flute and ced it to his lips.

    A melodious melody rang out. The man froze for a moment before instantly falling asleep.

    Ye Qi lowered the flute excitedly. ¡°It is a sess! The sound waves of the flute are invisible and they can¡¯t avoid it!¡±

    Long Sen couldn¡¯t help praising it. ¡°This is easier to use than Badminton. Badminton needs to hit them to control them!¡±

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°You should cooperate with Ye Qi to control them. Ye Qi¡¯s flute can only control them for three seconds. If your Badminton hits the target controlled by Ye Qi, the five seconds of stun time will be added. If the skill connection is good, you can control a single target for eight seconds.¡±

    Long Sen felt like he was enlightened with perfect wisdom. ¡°Professor Xiao is right!¡±

    Perhaps this was the most correct way to use Badminton. If he used it in a direct manner and the opponent dodged, a shuttlecock would be wasted. If his teammate controlled the opponent first and he used Badminton to add to the control, this was equivalent to hitting a stationary target. Then wouldn¡¯t it be impossible to miss with Long Sen¡¯s technique?

    Ye Qi also found that he had a good skill connection with Long Sen. It was almost seamless control. It was just that there were too many infected people and they would be in a hurry if they controlled it one by one. Long Sen¡¯s shuttlecocks also weren¡¯t enough. It was better to use group control.

    Thinking of this, Ye Qi opened his mouth. ¡°All my group control cards are avable. When should I use them?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was calm. ¡°There¡¯s no hurry. Thepass means we are invincible for a while. We will use this opportunity to take a closer look at the bugs¡¯ characteristics, understanding their attack methods and weaknesses.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The Luoying Pavilion girls ran away while Yu Hanjiang stayed in the supermarket and didn¡¯t run. In fact, he wanted to use this group of bugs to do experiments?

    Group Leader Yu¡¯s thinking was really simple and rough? What were sharks? Why be afraid of bugs? God killing a god and Buddha killing Buddha. This was the correct way to clear the Spades secret room!

 Chapter 202: Doomsday Escape 08

    Ye Qi soon understood the truth. ¡°Do you want to experiment with the effects of various attack cards on infected people?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, if we figure out the card effects when we won¡¯t be in a hurry when we encounter an infected person in the future.¡±

    Liu Qiao wondered earnestly, ¡°Can I try to copy an infected person?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This girl was too brave. Previously, she copied a shark at sea and now she wanted to copy a bug?

    Xiao Lou immediately stopped her. ¡°It is too dangerous. Don¡¯t try it. Don¡¯t forget that your Twin cardpletely copies the target. If you copy an infected person, your brain will be invaded by the Zerg and you will lose consciousness and attack us.¡±

    Ye Qi was in a hurry. ¡°Yes Liu Qiao, don¡¯t scare people. I don¡¯t want to think of a bunch of bugs when I see youter!¡±

    Liu Qiao had to put away this thought. ¡°Professor Xiao is right. Rest assured, I will tell you before copying a person or an animal. I won¡¯t mess around.¡±

    Her teammates let out a sigh of relief.

    Xiao Lou nced at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°The parasitic bugs are in the head. Will their weakness also be the head?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had the same thought. He took out the Glock 17 card from his card pack and quickly activated it. This was a delicate hand gun with 17 bullets. Yu Hanjiang aimed at the infected person continuously controlled by Ye Qi and Long Sen and calmly pulled the trigger.

    There was a bang and the infected person¡¯s head was instantly blown off! The infected person hit by the headshot quickly fell to the ground.

    Xiao Lou had seen Yu Hanjiang¡¯s shooting ability. Last time, he had been so far away in the hospital when Yu Hanjiang had sniped Xu Rongrong from the opposite building. Now his posture when holding the gun was so handsome that his teammates couldn¡¯t help wanting to apud him.

    However, before everyone had time to admire Group Leader Yu¡¯s marksmanship, they suddenly saw many spider-like bugs crawling out of the broken head of the infected person who had fallen to the ground and ¡®died.¡¯ Another person took the initiative toe out and ce their hand on the deadpanion¡¯s head. Then the bugs entered the body of the other infected person at a very fast speed!

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    This strange scene made the expressions of the team members change. Even the always calm Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help paling.

    Ye Qi was crying out crazily. ¡°I want to go back to the main city. Ahh, this world is terrible!¡±

    Liu Qiao stated, ¡°Fortunately, I didn¡¯t copy an infected person to study. The thought of my brain being filled with these spider-like things is too disgusting!¡±

    Fortunately, they did an experiment and didn¡¯t attack these two infected people indiscriminately. Now it seemed that infected people were the most difficult to deal with. Not only did they have a high IQ and flexible movements, they were also difficult to killpletely!

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath with his pale face. The mood of his teammates obviously wasn¡¯t very good after seeing this disgusting scene. If there was someone with an intense phobia on their team then they might¡¯ve fainted by now. He had to stabilize his mind or everyone¡¯s emotions would soon copse.

    Xiao Lou clenched his fists and spoke as calmly as possible. ¡°The bugs can¡¯t be killed in this way. Attacking the infected person¡¯s head just kills their temporary body. The bugs themselves aren¡¯t killed by the bullet.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded calmly. ¡°The bullet¡¯s attack surface is limited. There are so many bugs and they really can¡¯t be killed.¡±

    Xiao Lou endured his nausea and continued to analyze it. ¡°From the results just now, once an infected person is killed, another infected person wille to be their partner. The bugs in the dead body will quicklybine with the infected person nearby. It feels like a 1+1 upgrade?¡±

    Ye Qi pointed into the distance, his voice quivering slightly. ¡°It has indeed been upgraded! You see, the infected person who received symbiosis has be faster!¡±

    Everyone followed Ye Qi¡¯s gaze.

    This was a middle-aged woman in work clothes. She had been helping customers weight fruits when they passed through the vegetables area and had smiled at everyone. At this time, she was symbiotic with herpanion and the number of bug parasites inside her instantly doubled. This caused herbat effectiveness to improve significantly.

    Her eyes werepletely stained with blood as she stared at Xiao Lou¡¯s group in the circle. Her body flexibly crawled around the circle and she attacked the enchantment with her ws. She seemed to be looking for the breakthrough point in this enchantment.

    The infected people crawled quickly but it was around the same speed as most humans escaping. However, this upgraded infected person was almost as fast as an Olympic track and field sprinting champion. In a few seconds, she had crawled around everyone in a full circle and it was almost impossible to follow with the naked eye. She was like a flying shadow!

    Everyone¡¯s faces became uglier. Even Yu Hanjiang was silent.

    Xiao Lou spoke helplessly. ¡°If we continue to attack the infected people then the bugs inside them will find someone else for symbiosis. Then we would¡¯ve unknowingly raised a boss bug with fast speed and strong attack power.

    The captain of the Luoying Pavilion team was correct in that the bugs usually had a boss such as a mother bug.

    It was just that everyone thought the female bug was a plot character already in the world, just like Liu Xiaoyuan in 2 of Spades or Old Lady Qin in 4 of Spades. It wasmon to have hidden bosses in the Spades secret room.

    No one thought¡­

    This time, the boss of the secret room might be raised by the challengers.

    It was unknown how many challenger teams there were in 8 of Spades. Xiao Lou¡¯s team was very calm and Yu Hanjiang took advantage of Compass¡¯ invincibility time to test out the unknown bugs instead of rashly attacking.

    The conclusion drawn was chilling! If other challengers didn¡¯t test things out and directly smashed the heads of the infected people like they were zombies, the bugs in the killed infected people would co-exist in the bodies of other infected people.

    The more infected people that were killed, the stronger the upgrade would be!

    The supermarket had 50 infected people and they only killed one yet the speed of the upgraded infected person had increased so much. If 10 were killed, all the bugs in the 10 infected people woulde together to form an upgraded version. Wouldn¡¯t they be as fast as lightning and impossible to control with Ye Qi¡¯s musical instruments or hit by Yu Hanjiang¡¯s bullets?

    If hundreds of tens of thousands of infected people in the city were killed¡­ the boss monster raised would be unimaginable!

    The silencested a few seconds before Yu Hanjiang spoke calmly, ¡°Everyone, you don¡¯t have to be too discouraged. The bugs in the body of a killed infected person willbine with other infected people. Knowing this feature early is good for us.¡±

    The group nodded nkly.

    It was really good to know the characteristics of the bugs early. At least they wouldn¡¯t do such things in the future. Yu Hanjiang had been calm enough to use the handgun instead of the machine gun to kill one and test the water. If he had swept over them with the machine gun then he would¡¯ve raised a boss with great difficulty!

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°The method of smashing the head is impossible but the bugs can¡¯t have no weakness. If they can¡¯t be killed then we can¡¯t pass 8 of Spades. There must be a way to eliminate them.¡± He nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°Let Liu Xiaoyuan try to infect these bugs with the zombie virus.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and summoned the zombie leader Liu Xiaoyuan. Liu Xiaoyuan listened to Xiao Lou¡¯s instructions. He quickly summoned four zombies and went outside the circle to fight the infected people.

    The team looked at the scene and their expressions were a bitplicated.

    Ye Qi whispered, ¡°The battle between the zombies and the bugs, I think the zombies will lose¡­¡±

    He couldn¡¯t be med for having a crows¡¯ mouth. After all, the zombies came from 2 of Spades and this was 8 of Spades. It wouldn¡¯t have an A-grade difficulty if the bugs could easily be destroyed by Liu Xiaoyuan.

    Sure enough, Liu Xiaoyuan¡¯s group of zombies couldn¡¯t even touch the clothes of the infected people. The zombies were too clumsy. Compared to the flexible and intelligent bugs, the zombies were too slow. Forget attacking the bugs. In a few seconds, they were bitten by the bugs and parasitized instead!

    However, the brains of the zombies didn¡¯t seem to be suitable for the bugs¡¯ survival. Once the four zombies summoned by Liu Xiaoyuan were bitten, they instantly fell to the ground and died like the humans who weren¡¯t suitable for the bugs in the Second Hospital.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face changed and he immediately recalled Liu Xiaoyuan. ¡°This method won¡¯t work! The bugs can parasitize the zombies. If they parasitize Liu Xiaoyuan and turn Liu Xiaoyuan into a bug then it will be miserable. We can¡¯t deal with the upgraded version of the zombie boss!¡±

    Liu Xiaoyuan¡¯s attack power was obviously stronger than the junior zombies he summoned but he was facing so many bugs. Before infecting the other side with the zombie virus, he might end up parasitized himself. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t dare take this risk.

    If Liu Xiaoyuan was parasitized and turned back to attack them¡­ a zombie + bug was simply killing themselves!

    Seeing this scene, Yu Hanjiang frowned even more. He spoke in a deep voice, ¡°It seems that the Spades secret room has strict ssifications. The bugs are much higher than the zombies so they can parasitize the zombies and destroy the zombies, but the zombies won¡¯t affect the bugs in turn. Liu Xiaoyuan is okay against normal humans but it is too risky for him to deal with the bugs.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. if Liu Xiaoyuan could deal with the bugs then his zombie boss would directly infect the bugs. Then wouldn¡¯t 8 of Spades be an erged version of Zombie Town?

    Everyone had experience fighting zombies. They had cleared 2 of Spades on their own and weren¡¯t afraid of zombies at all.

    Xiao Lou concluded. ¡°The unknown bugs encountered in this secret room should be simr to the alien Zerg of sci-fi worlds. They have extremely high intelligence and survivability. They have IQ, flexibility and can learn human speech to disguise their identity. Moreover, the infected person will seek symbiosis immediately after being killed so that the bugs can upgrade. We have to find a way to eliminate the bugspletely if we want to clear the secret room.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s face was so wrinkled that he looked like a bun. ¡°It is impossible to kill the infected people and the virus isn¡¯t effective against them. At present, only our control skills work. Once there are more bugs, our control skills won¡¯t be enough!¡±

    Controlling the bugs and running away together was indeed an effective strategy. However, everyone didn¡¯t want to run at this time. This was a rare opportunity to find out the details of the bugs.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s statement was quite correct. They had to find a way to eliminate the bugspletely. There were dozens of infected people in the supermarket. Thanks to the protection of Xiao Lou¡¯s Compass, Ye Qi and Long Sen could control the infected people in the supermarket one after another. Or Xiao Lou could simply use Bai Juyi to confuse them. at the very least, the eight people¡¯s lives weren¡¯t in danger.

    They had to hurry and study the bugs! As everyone was silent and thinking carefully¡­

    Cold air blew from the air conditioning. Xiao Lou suddenly became frozen and sneezed several times.

    Everyone looked back at him and Ye Qi was pale. ¡°Professor Xiao, did you catch a cold? It is easy for people with a cold to be parasitized. Or is this a sign of the parasite? Don¡¯t scare me¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou rubbed his nose. ¡°It is just too cold. I am sneezing to reflect my body¡¯s condition.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told Ye Qi, ¡°Don¡¯t think too much. I¡¯ve always been with Xiao Lou from the moment the hospital discovered the infected people. In addition, during the meeting, the other infected people came to attack Xiao Lou. This indicates that the infected people didn¡¯t recognize Xiao Lou as their kind and he isn¡¯t infected.¡±

    Xiao Lou joked. ¡°Yes, if I was infected then I would have bitten you at the square.¡±

    Ye Qi was immediately relieved. ¡°You frightened me. I think we should buy some medicine for colds after leaving the supermarket. If we get a cold then we should take medicine to cure it so we¡¯re not mistaken for a parasite.¡±

    Medicine? Ye Qi¡¯s eyes lit up when he said these words. ¡°Yes, medicine! Aren¡¯t they bugs? Will a few bottles of insecticides work? Aren¡¯t insecticides for bugs?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    From the moment Ye Qi pretended to be a garbage collector in 3 of Spades, Xiao Lou felt that this little guy¡¯s brain circuits were very novel. He even thought about using insecticides to eliminate the alien bugs!

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°You can try it. There are pesticides in the supermarket.¡±

    Ye Qi was excited. ¡°I remember that there are some in the daily necessities area. I will use teleportation to try and get a few bottles.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stopped him. ¡°Once you leave this circle, you will immediately be surrounded by infected people.¡±

    He nced at Liu Qiao. ¡°Give me your light footwork card.¡±

    Liu Qiao instantly handed him Light as a Swallow. She saw him leap forward andnd lightly on a shelf within the circle. Then he took out the White Silk card and threw a white cloth that wrapped around the bottle of insecticide on the far shelf. Then he pulled it back in front of him and grabbed the bottle.

    Ye Qi eximed, ¡°¡­Awesome!¡±

    He forgot that Group Leader Yu had this card. It was safer to grab the insecticide from a distance than getting it himself.

    Yu Hanjiang handed the insecticide to Ye Qi. ¡°Try it.¡±

    The method was proposed by Ye Qi so it was natural for Ye Qi to try it himself. The insecticides sold in the supermarket were usually the spray ones for household use. Ye Qi held the insecticide excitedly and started spraying an infected person all over their body.

    The infected person, ¡°???¡±

    The infected person sprayed in the face looked at Ye Qi in a puzzled manner before baring his teeth at Ye Qi.

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    His teammates, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    They knew that Ye Qi¡¯s idea wasn¡¯t very reliable.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. ¡°Xiao Ye, have you ever bought insecticides before?¡±

    ¡°¡­I haven¡¯t bought it.¡±

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°The insecticides sold in supermarkets are generally used for killing mosquitoes and flies. In addition, there are many different types of insecticides such as those that kill cockroaches or mice. The recipes are different. The bugs in 8 of Spades aren¡¯t themon bugs on Earth but the strange ¡®parasite¡¯ type. In the case of parasites, experts take a long time to develop specific medicine. If an insecticide was useful for parasites then patients with paragonimiasis or hydatidosis should just take an insecticide directly. There is no need to be so troublesome.¡±

    Ye Qi heard this and flushed. He dropped his head and said, ¡°Oh, the insecticides are aimed at mosquitoes, flies and cockroaches¡­ I didn¡¯t expect this, cough. I thought the insecticides could be used against the bugs¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    Everyone smiled. This wasn¡¯t the first time this little guy had made weird suggestions. Everyone was used to it.

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°It¡¯s fine. It is just brainstorming and trying all types of methods. The truth always needs to be explored slowly.¡±

    Just then, Xiao Lou had another idea.

    The heating in other ces was good. It was only broken in the supermarket and the supermarket was upied by infected people. This obviously wasn¡¯t a coincidence. These bugs should¡¯ve switched off the heating because they liked cold environments. They liked the cold¡­ then were they afraid of heat?

    Xiao Lou stared at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Try to use fire.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang sensed Xiao Lou¡¯s idea and his eyes lit up. ¡°Yes, they like the cold and are naturally afraid of heat. If we burn the infected people with fire then the bugs will also be burned directly. They will die and won¡¯t have time for symbiosis.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Ah, Professor Xiao was so reliable!

 Chapter 203: Doomsday Escape 09

    On the surface, the infected people in the supermarket looked exactly like normal humans.

    Everyone hadn¡¯t thought of burning the infected people at first but after various tests, they found the infected people couldn¡¯t be killed with sharp weapons, firearms or the zombie virus. Burning them with fire was indeed the best way at present.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes swept all around him as he spoke to Yu Hanjiang, ¡°For the fire source, I can use Bai Juyi¡¯s Charcoal Seller skill to generate a charcoal fire. There are also many lights in the supermarket. However, how to ignite these infected people as a whole?¡±

    They could throw a torch to ignite the clothes of the infected people but humans weren¡¯t mmable. The infected people only needed to extinguish the mes on their clothes. A small fire couldn¡¯t cause any harm to them. There had to be something that supported thebustion, allowing the fire to spread rapidly so it couldn¡¯t be easily extinguished. It was best to instantly trap the infected person¡¯s entire body in mes so it would be hard for the bugs to crawl out of the fire.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s first thought was using alcohol. The most convenientbustion aid in the supermarket was alcohol. As long as the alcohol concentration was high enough, it could be ignited by sshing it on people and naturally, it could make the fire spread quickly.

    However, he remembered that the ce where wine was sold was at the end of the supermarket, far away from them. It would take going around a few corners to get the wine. This section of the road would be very dangerous. Perhaps Ye Qi and Long Sen could use the teleportation card to get the alcohol but the infected person who just upgraded was very fast. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help feeling worried if Ye Qi and Long Sen left the Compass¡¯ safety circle.

    After Compass reached full level, the invincible circle drawn by the second skillsted up to 10 minutes.

    Xiao Lou could see the countdown to the disappearance of the circr border. At this time, the border only had two minutes left. They had to find a way as soon as possible. Otherwise, once the transparent border drawn by thepass disappeared, this group of infected people would crazilyunch an attack.

    What should he do?

    Xiao Lou frowned. He and Yu Hanjiang were connected through Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings and they could sense each other¡¯s thoughts. Just as Xiao Lou was thinking about whether to let Ye Qi use the teleportation card to get the alcohol on a shelf, Yu Hanjiang suddenly suggested, ¡°Use the insecticides.¡±

    Xiao Lou turned to look at him and Yu Hanjiang quickly exined, ¡°The spray-type insecticides sold in supermarkets are mmable and explosive because the spraying is done by the propent in the liquid tank. The mainponent of the propent is propane or butane. These substances have an extremely low ignition point and are prone to explode.¡±

    His teammates understood after hearing this.

    This was the reason why there were sensors in the toilets of trains and airnes. If someone used a spray then it would be reported to the police. All types of sprays contained propane and butane, which were dangerous and extremely explosive goods. Xiao Lou heard about one incident where a woman sprayed her face with sunscreen in the toilet of a high speed train. This triggered the rm and forced the train to stop. The woman was taken to the Public Security Bureau for detention and education.

    Yu Hanjiang was a police officer and must¡¯ve seen many explosion-rted cases. No wonder why he could think of using the insecticides to set a fire.

    Xiao Lou suggested using fire to attack and Yu Hanjiang proposed using the insecticides to supportbustion. The two of them worked together to find the best n to defeat the enemy. Ye Qi was excited. ¡°So my bottle of insecticide isn¡¯t useless! It can help burn them!¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, directly spray the insecticides on these infected people and then throw the fire. The infected people will instantly detonate.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou and asked, ¡°How much time is left for thepass¡¯ circle?¡±

    ¡°Two minutes.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Time is tight. We must make a quick decision!¡± His eyes passed over his teammates and he arranged it decisively. ¡°There are too many infected people and we need to eliminate them in batches. Old Mo, you use the Model Room to lock up the left group of infected people and control them first. For the right group, Ye Qi will cooperate with Long Sen to control them one by one!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s consideration was very thoughtful. If the infected people were sprayed with insecticides, exploded and the entire supermarket was ignited, their team would instantly fall into the crisis of fire. Once thepass circle failed, they would be affected by the fire and would need to escape from the mes they created. The best way was to control the fire as much as possible and exterminate the infected people before escaping with supplies.

    The team members heard the arrangement and quickly started to act.

    Yu Hanjiang once again flew up and used the white silk to grab several bottles of insecticides. He gave a bottle each to Liu Qiao, Qu Wanyue and Shao Qingge, leaving these three people responsible for spraying the insecticides.

    Mo Xuemin¡¯s Model Room could reach up to 100 square meters but there were many shelves in the supermarket. Once Model Room was released, there must be no obstacles and it had to be released into an open space. He nced around and saw a free ce near the cash registered. He visually inspected the length and width of the open space before changing the size of the model room, turning it into a narrow and long shape.

    However, there were only one or two infected people in the open space at this time. Mo Xuemin eximed, ¡°We must lead them in!¡±

    The eight cash register girls all had strange smiles on their faces as they approached Yu Hanjiang step by step.

    Xiao Lou saw this scene and felt like his heart was going to stop beating.

    Yu Hanjiang was surrounded by 20 infected people alone. This was extremely dangerous!

    Just then, Yu Hanjiang shouted loudly, ¡°Old Mo, now!¡±

    Mo Xuemin was frightened as he activated the card and quickly lowered the model room with Yu Hanjiang as the centre.

    Just before the model roomnded, Yu Hanjiang flew lightly andnded on the cash register of the supermarket. His actions were as fast as lightning. If he was just the slightest bit slower then he himself would be locked in the model room with the infected people¡­ Old Mo¡¯s palms were sweating and he had to admire Group Leader Yu¡¯s reaction ability!

    It would be over if Group Leader Yu was locked in with the infected people. Fortunately, Yu Hanjiang moved fast enough. Yu Hanjiang nced at the infected people trapped in the model room and instantly flew back to thepass¡¯ circle.

    The model room that Old Mo made this type wasn¡¯t abyrinth but a fully transparent ss room. It was convenient for everyone to observe the situation of the infected people. Therefore, everyone could clearly see that the infected people locked inside were frantically using their bodies to hit the ss wall.

    Ye Qi asked with a white face, ¡°Uncle Mo, is your ss strong? Will it be broken?¡±

    Mo Xuemin replied, ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be. The materials of the model room are the best. This time, I used doubleyered soundproof ss¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang questioned, ¡°Is the ss bulletproof?¡±

    Mo Xuemin froze for a moment. ¡°It isn¡¯t that advanced.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and looked at the other infected people who hadn¡¯t been trapped. These infected people were far away from Yu Hanjiang and hadn¡¯t responded in time when he flew out of the circle just now. Thus, they didn¡¯t chase him.

    Now the group of infected people with scarlet eyes realized their own kind was trapped.

    They became even more irritated as they crawled around thepass¡¯ circle. Their mouths opened from time to time as they tried to break the circle with their own hands. However, Xiao Lou¡¯s Compass was an S-grade tool card. The circle-shaped enchantment wasn¡¯t affected by any attack during the invincible time and their actions were in vain.

    Yu Hanjiang ordered, ¡°Ye Qi, Long Sen, get ready to act!¡±

    Ye Qi understood his meaning and took out Erhu.

    There was a sad erhu sound. This was arge-scale group control skill that set all the infected people in ce!

    However, the erhu¡¯s group control time was limited. Ye Qi picked up the flute and controlled them one by one while Long Sen also controlled them with Badminton. Liu Qiao, Shao Qingge and Qu Wanyue picked up three bottles of insecticides and walked out of the circle. They aimed at the infected people and sprayed!

    Yu Hanjiang reminded them, ¡°Be careful not to get the insecticide on yourself. Come back immediately after spraying!¡±

    The three people acted quickly. Qu Wanyue had long legs thanks to Long Jump and she sprayed down from the sky! Shao Qingge flew behind the infected people with the teleportation card and sprayed from the back. Liu Qiao was responsible for the sides. The three people cooperated and in 10 seconds, they had sprayed all the infected people with the insecticides.

    After spraying, the three of them returned to the enchantment. The next moment, Xiao Lou summoned Bai Juyi in the enchantment and a charcoal fire was generated.

    Yu Hanjiang took out scissors and cut the white cloth into dozens of pieces. Each of them were rolled into a ball and lit. Then the lit cloth was quickly thrown out.

    There was a loud bang and the insecticide-sprayed infected people had their bodies instantly swept up in afire!

    One fireball after another was thrown out and the infected people continuously controlled by Ye Qi and Long Sen were burned into fireballs in the blink of an eye! Their entire bodies were surrounded by mes and the parasitic bugs in their bodies had no ce to hide. The infected people no longer spoke human words but emitted terrifying squeaks of horror.

    Xiao Lou listened to the screams of the bugs and the hairs on his back stood up.

    The number of bugs was difficult to judge but based on the sharp screams, there were definitely many bug parasites in this group of infected people. If they hadn¡¯te up with the fire attack method and these bugs merged and upgraded, the consequences couldn¡¯t be imagined!

    Within half a minute, the infected people were burned to death.

    The ground was full of charred bodies and there was a strong smell in the air. Not a single trace of the bugs could be seen.

    It seemed that after the bugs were burned by fire, they directly burned to ashes without leaving any bodies behind!

    The scene of ¡®burning living people¡¯ was terrible but everyone was relieved when they saw the ck and grey surroundings.

    Meanwhile, the infected people locked up in Mo Xuemin¡¯s Model Room saw the scene of theirpanions being burned to death. Their scarlet eyes became bigger than a bronze bell and their faces showed a look of fear. They were afraid of fire but they were locked up and couldn¡¯t escape.

    It was unknown who gave the order but the situation in the room suddenly changed.

    They saw the supermarket cashier girl who had the most beautiful appearance and best figure start to attack the same kind. More precisely, the other infected people were willingly attacked by her. They spontaneously gathered around her and extended their hands to be scratched by her, using the flow of blood to let the parasites in their bodies crawl up to her.

    The over a dozen people gathered together and the bugs in their bodies all came out from the wounds on the back of their hands. The bugs used the blood as a medium to quickly climb to the beautiful woman in the middle. This scene made Xiao Lou¡¯s team dumbfounded.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help cursing. ¡°Fuck, this is too disgusting. What are they doing?¡±

    It was like the gathering of Zerg in a science fiction movie. Xiao Lou¡¯s stomach filled with nausea but he tried to keep calm. ¡°Perhaps they are aware of the danger and are starting to upgrade spontaneously.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Would they consciously upgrade? What type of situation would happen after 20 bugs spontaneously upgraded? Would the upgraded boss easily break the ss of Old Mo¡¯s Model Room and furiously attack them to get revenge?

    There were only 10 seconds left for thepass¡¯ circle and Xiao Lou clenched his fists nervously. ¡°The invincible effect only has 10 seconds remaining.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang called out, ¡°They must be interrupted!¡±

    However, Old Mo¡¯s Model Room was sealed. The infected people couldn¡¯t get out and they couldn¡¯t get in.

    Just then, Yu Hanjiang made a crazy decision. He stared at the group of spontaneously fusing infected people with anger in his deep eyes. Then he directly took out the S-grade weapon card, Bloodthirsty Golden Shark!

    Xiao Lou knew this gun. The gun¡¯s body had blood-red stripes on it. It was ck and red and looked very cool. This was a shotgun. The attack power was extremely fierce and bullets could be dispersed instantly to cause extensive damage.

    Yu Hanjiang ordered sharply, ¡°Everyone, back!¡±

    In front of his teammates¡¯ shocked eyes, Yu Hanjiang left thepass circle with the bottle of insecticide.

    Xiao Lou spoke nervously, ¡°Hanjiang¡­¡±¡¯

    Yu Hanjiang sent him a reassuring look and walked toward the ss room without looking back.

    In the ss room, several infected people have already merged. Due to the bugs leaving their body, the shells of these infected people were like skin sacs with the blood drained. They fell to the ground softly.

    After the fusion, the woman¡¯s eyes were blood-red and her attack power and flexibility were significantly improved. She was about to smash the Model Room¡ª

    Just then, Yu Hanjiang suddenly raised his gun. He pulled the trigger with a nk face. There was a bang and the bullet of Bloodthirsty Golden Shark punched a huge hole through the ss room!

    Shards of ss scattered all over the ground. Then Yu Hanjiang raised the bottle of insecticide and threw it vigorously. They saw the bottle of insecticide urately fall into the ss room through the hole. Immediately afterwards, Yu Hanjiang aimed at the insecticide bottle and fired another shot.

    Boom! Boom!

    The bursting sound almost broke their eardrums!

    Everyone watched this scene in a dumbfounded manner. They saw the insecticide bottle being precisely destroyed by Yu Hanjiang¡¯s bullet. The bullet of the shotgun exploded the insecticide and the room was swallowed up by a zing fire in three seconds!

    Before the bugs had time toplete the fusion, the fire spread quickly and swept over the human bodies!

    The humans were dressed in clothes and the mes burned their clothes, igniting their bodies in the blink of an eye. After the insecticide exploded, the liquid that was sshed out contained a lot of mmable and explosive chemicals. This contributed to the fire and the mes flourished. The entire Model Room couldn¡¯t withstand the high temperature of the explosion and ss crashed to the ground.

    Some of the infected people who weren¡¯t burned wanted to find water to put out the fire but they were controlled by Ye Qi and Long Sen. They could only stare with wide eyes and make screams of terror.

    The squeaking sounds were endless as the infected people in the fire fell to the ground and frantically rolled. This tragic scene that was like purgatory made Xiao Lou pale.

    After half a minute¡­ the world was finally quiet. The ground was covered with ck corpses and the bugs were burned to ashes. Everyone had watched 50 infected people burn alive and ayer of sweat covered their backs.

    Yu Hanjiang calmly walked back to his teammates as the invincible time for thepass ended.

    His teammates didn¡¯t know what to say.

    At the moment when the bugs were spontaneously merging and upgrading into a boss that would be difficult to deal with, everyone had been at a loss. Unexpectedly, Yu Hanjiang suppressed this group of bugs using the most violent way.

    He actually shot a hole in Old Mo¡¯s Model Room and threw the insecticide into the hole before exploding it! It had to be said that his movements were really handsome. No wonder why he asked Old Mo if the ss of the Model Room was bulletproof. It turned out he had such a n already.

    Xiao Lou stared at Yu Hanjiang with admiration and quickly asked him, ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s concern made his heart slightly warm. The angry gaze couldn¡¯t help softening as he patted Xiao Lou¡¯s shoulder and whispered, ¡°They¡¯re all dead. Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    Xiao Lou was relieved. ¡°It is thanks to you.¡±

 Chapter 204: Doomsday Escape 10

    If there was no Yu Hanjiang today then what would everyone have done? In fact, everyone had been at a loss. When the head of the infected person was hit and it was found that the bugs could actually merge and upgrade, it was estimated that everyone was in a hurry and just wanted to escape as soon as possible.

    However, Yu Hanjiang used his rich practical experience and calmmands to forcibly suppress the group of bugs, allowing his teammates to divide their work and cooperate. Thus, they managed to wipe out the 50 infected people in the supermarket!

    Everyone deeply admired Group Leader Yu from the bottom of their hearts.

    After the battle, everyone¡¯s tense nerves eased slightly but it was difficult to guarantee there weren¡¯t other bugs in the supermarket who wanted to engage in sneak attacks. Yu Hanjiang nced at his teammates and said, ¡°Grab the supplies and leave here quickly.¡±

    It was inconvenient to push the shopping carts and Xiao Lou instantly made a decision. ¡°Take the scissors to open up the boxes and pack the items in the backpacks. Everyone will carry the bags.¡±

    Ye Qi, Liu Qiao and Qu Wanyue grabbed the Scissors card and opened the boxes of the milk, chocte, biscuits and other goods. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang unzipped the eight schoolbags and ced them on the ground while Long Sen, Old Mo and Shao Qingge were responsible for sorting and packing.

    Everyone worked together quickly fill up every bag.

    Yu Hanjiang decisively ordered, ¡°If you can¡¯t fit it then throw it away. We can¡¯t bring too many things and let it affect our actions.¡±

    After the bags were filled, Yu Hanjiang picked a few light ones and handed them to Liu Qiao, Qu Wanyue, Ye Qi and Xiao Lou. The other four heavier bags containing milk, mineral water etc were carried by the four strong men.

    Each person carried a ck and Yu Hanjiang led the team. ¡°Go quickly.

    The eight people lined up and Yu Hanjiang kicked down the barrier at the cash register. Then he quickly headed for the exit of the supermarket with his teammates.

    At this time, the entrance of the supermarket.

    A small team of ten came in with shopping carts. The leader in front was a middle-aged man with a beard. He frowned slightly and wondered, ¡°Why is the supermarket so cold? It doesn¡¯t seem right.¡±

    A curly-haired woman beside him said, ¡°It is really wrong. There are no staff responsible for weighing in the fruits and vegetables and no one in the cooked food and raw meats area. The supermarket is clearly open. Why isn¡¯t there even one employee?¡±

    The group looked at each other.

    The empty supermarket was so cold that everyone shivered.

    The bearded man spoke in a low voice. ¡°Everyone, be alert and grab the supplies at the fastest speed. We will quickly leave!¡±

    The group followed their captain into the supermarket and didn¡¯t see anyone along the way. There was a type of burnt smell in the air. Everyone quickly walked to the daily necessities area and as they headed to the cashier, everyone stopped suddenly.

    It was because they saw a very tragic scene!

    They saw a mess on the ground. There were countless pieces of ss scattered, a few insecticide bottles thrown to the ground and some of the supermarket shelves had pieces of clothing from the employees. There were also charred corpses everywhere. There had obviously been a fierce battle.

    The bearded man spected, ¡°It should be a challenger team that encountered the bugs and destroyed them.¡±

    It was impossible for the bugs to set fire to burn humans. Their parasitic method was through scratching, biting and blood transmission to turn the other person into their ¡®own kind.¡¯

    This scene was full of charred corpses. It was obvious that these supermarket employees were burned to death by a strong team of challengers.

    The curly-haired woman mused, ¡°Why use fire? Do they have cards that attack with fire?¡±

    The bearded man¡¯s face was calm. ¡°I think it is more likely that these challengers have discovered the weakness of the bugs and exterminated them. Look at this scene. You can¡¯t even find the traces of a bug¡¯s body. They are obviously dead.¡±

    The curly-haired woman added, ¡°They should be a powerful group from a guild. 50 infected people were killed by them and the fire didn¡¯t spread through the supermarket or even destroy the supermarket. They controlled the battle into this small area. The person in charge is calm, strategic and ruthless.¡±

    The bearded man wondered, ¡°Will it be people from the Distant Association?¡±

    The woman frowned. ¡°It is possible.¡±

    Next to them, a small teenager asked, ¡°Sister Hui, don¡¯t you have a fire attack card? If we encounter a bug then try burning it directly with fire.¡±

    The woman nodded. ¡°I can try it. Everyone, let¡¯s leave now.¡±

    The 10 people left the supermarket and headed to the elevator entrance.

    Just then, they found that two teams were facing each other. The atmosphere was fierce and the group immediately stopped. They hid in a corner and watched alertly.

    The two sides confronting each other were a team of 10 girls and a total of eight people who were a mix of men and women.

    It was the female team from Luoying Pavilion and Xiao Lou¡¯s team.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s team of eight had left the supermarket and found that the people from Luoying Pavilion hadn¡¯t left. They were standing at the exit of the supermarket and frowning because the exit door had been locked. They could only enter but not exit!

    The bugs were clever enough to open the entrance to pretend that the supermarket was operating normally but they blocked the iron door of the exit.

    The door of the supermarket was a very thick anti-theft door. It was impossible to break with brute force.

    As long as someone entered the supermarket, they wouldn¡¯t be able to leave.

    This way, there would be more and more people in their nest. The surviving humans in the city would definitelye to the supermarket to buy supplies if they wanted to live. The bugs just had to wait in the supermarket and their food would take the initiative to send themselves to the door.

    No wonder why the bug s didn¡¯t chase after the team from Luoying Pavilion. It was because they knew this group of girls couldn¡¯t run away. They just had to clean up Xiao Lou¡¯s team first and it would be a breeze to go and handle these girls.

    Unfortunately, they didn¡¯t expect to encounter Yu Hanjiang who directly used fire to burn them!

    The squeaking death cries of the bugs were probably full of resentment and unwillingness?

    After leaving the supermarket, the females of the Luoying Pavilion team found they couldn¡¯t get out but they didn¡¯t dare go back. They stayed here to find a method. Then after 10 minutes, Xiao Lou¡¯s team arrived unharmed. The girls of the Luoying Pavilion team were all surprised.

    There were so many infected people in the supermarket. How did the eight of theme out so smoothly?

    The Luoying Pavilion girls immediately tensed in an alert manner. After all, the bugs could disguise themselves. If these eight people had been infected and wanted to take advantage of the challenger¡¯ disguise to talk to them then it was really unpredictable!

    Thus, the two sides formed this strange confrontational situation. There was a five metre istion zone between the two teams and no one had any ns to step forward.

    Xiao Lou saw that the exit was locked and said, ¡°This group of bugs was very clever. They actually blocked the exit. It seems we can only return the same way.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Go back and exit from the entrance of the supermarket.

    Everyone turned to go back. At this moment, a girl from Luoying Pavilion suddenly opened her mouth. ¡°Wait, what¡¯s the situation in the supermarket?¡±

    Xiao Lou informed them, ¡°The infected people have been killed. If you want to go out then you can return the same way.¡±

    The girls looked at each other with clear disbelief.

    Xiao Lou told them, ¡°If you don¡¯t believe it then you can ask them.¡±

    He looked back in the direction of the other team¡¯s hiding ce. ¡°Come out.¡±

    The bearded man walked out with his teammates and smiled. ¡°It seems that some masters have burned all the bugs in the supermarket.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    The people of Luoying Pavilion saw another team alsoing out of the supermarket without any challengers and believed Xiao Lou. The captain said, ¡°Go, follow them. Leave the supermarket first before speaking.¡±

    Xiao Lou headed back the same way and was followed by two teams of challengers. A total of 28 people from three teams returned to the supermarket and the Luoying Pavilion team saw the scorched bodies all over the ce.

    The tall captain spoke with a pale face. ¡°You¡¯re really good. I didn¡¯t expect you to burn the infected people with fire.¡±

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°If you directly destroy the head of an infected person then the bugs in their body will merge with the same kind nearby. After the fusion, they will upgrade and their strength is enhanced. Only fire canpletely eliminate the bugs. This information is very useful. If you encounter infected people in the future, you should try to attack and exterminate them. Otherwise, hard to handle bosses will be raised.¡±

    The other two teams heard this and their faces became ugly.

    They could actually merge and upgrade? Were the bugs too refined?

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t hesitate to share the key information with the other two teams. Although it wasn¡¯t easy for challengers in this secret room to cooperate but they weren¡¯t in apetitive rtionship. Xiao Lou hoped that more challengers could survive.

    In addition, there were no benefits to killing infected people indiscriminately. Everyone would suffer if a boss was raised.

    The bearded uncle opened his mouth. ¡°Thank you. We just came in from outside. At present, the traffic in the city centre has been paralyzed. The epidemic is spreading fast. There are almost no normal humans on the street. Everyone should be careful after going out.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s group had been in the supermarket for 30 minutes. They hadn¡¯t expected that in such a short time, the situation outside had be so severe.

    Xiao Lou nced at Yu Hanjiang and their eyes met.

    The two peoplemunicated through the heart channel. Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°Go back to Old Mo¡¯spany first.¡±

    At present, Mo Xuemin¡¯spany was the only safe ce. There were no strangers and the key was in Old Mo¡¯s hand. They could use it as a base to n a strategy for the next few days.

 Chapter 205: Doomsday Escape 11

    The crowd made their way to the entrance of the supermarket.

    The supermarket entrance was empty. The local people in this city were affected by the attack of the infected people and traffic was paralyzed. Naturally, no one dared to go out to the supermarket at this time. The challenger teams might¡¯ve been divided into other urban areas so there were only the three teams in the supermarket right now.

    The bearded uncle took the initiative to speak. ¡°The epidemic in the city center is spreading very quickly. It isn¡¯t safe to stay here. Once all the humans in the vicinity are infected, we are likely to be surrounded by thousands of bugs!¡±

    The female captain of the Luoying Pavilion team nodded. ¡°Today, there are only 50 infected people in the supermarket and they can be eliminated by fire. If the city centre is full of infected people, we might be able to burn some but we won¡¯t be able to run away.¡±

    The bearded uncle asked, ¡°What are your ns next?¡±

    The female captain replied, ¡°We n to go to the suburbs. The number of infected people there should be less. As long as there are enough supplies, it will be easier to survive in a remote ce.

    The bearded uncle agreed. ¡°We also want to hide in the suburbs. Do you want to act together?¡±

    The female captain spoke decisively. ¡°No, we have to go back to the supermarket to get supplies. Goodbye.¡±

    The girls from Luoying Pavilion heard their captain¡¯s instructions and turned to return to the supermarket. The bearded uncle watched their backs and touched his nose in a slightly embarrassed manner. Then he turned to look at Xiao Lou and proactively said, ¡°Hello, we are a team from the Eternal Kingdom. I don¡¯t know if you want to cooperate to clear the instance?¡±

    The Eternal Kingdom?

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other in a puzzled manner.

    They remembered Old Mo previously saying that there were threerge challenger organizations in this world. One was the Distant Association managed by Gui Yuanzhang. The challengers who joined this association all aimed to return to reality.

    The second was the pure female organization ¡®Luoying Pavilion.¡¯ The boss of this organization was Chu Huaying.

    The thirdrgest guild was the Eternal Kingdom. It was said that challengers of this guild didn¡¯t have the urge to return to reality. They were more willing to stay in the Card World where they could buy cars and vis and could even marry and have children. They only did the World Weekly tasks and weren¡¯t very interested in challenging the secret rooms on the card wall.

    Why did theye to a secret room with an A-grade difficulty like 8 of Spades? It wasn¡¯t easy to ask this question directly. At present, Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know anything about the Eternal Kingdom guild. There was no relevant information from Brother Jiu so it was better not to rush to contact them.

    Xiao Lou smiled politely at the friendly bearded uncle and replied, ¡°Thank you for your kindness but we don¡¯t know each other after all. If one of us is infected then it is likely to affect the other team. Rather than suspecting each other, I think it is more convenient to act on our own.¡±

    The bearded uncle thought carefully and nodded with understanding. ¡°Okay, since we¡¯re not familiar with each other, let¡¯s go our own way. We will be leaving first. Take care.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Take care.¡±

    Once they left, Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Why don¡¯t we go back to the supermarket to get some insecticides and lighters before going to Old Mo¡¯s ce?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°Yes, it will be easier to deal with infected people if we take some more.¡±

    They might have Bai Juyi¡¯s Old Charcoal Seller skill but the cooldown time was up to 24 hours. It could only be used once a day but the infected people wouldn¡¯t only be used once a day. The charcoal fire also wasn¡¯t easy to take away. For example, today the charcoal fire was left in the supermarket. If they met an infected person outsideter, it wouldn¡¯t be easy to deal with them.

    In any case, this supermarket was now empty. Everyone went back to see what supplies needed to be added. They followed Yu Hanjiang back to the supermarket, took arge box of lighters from the shelves and each took a bottle of insecticide.

    They were about to leave when they bumped into the female team from Luoying Pavilion.

    The thing that surprised Xiao Lou was that as this time, a girl from Luoying Pavilion was actually surrounded by nine other people. The girl¡¯s eyes were read and she was attacking her teammates frantically. Her teammates couldn¡¯t bear to fight her so the 9v1 situation was very passive.

    Ye Qi¡¯s expression changed and he whispered, ¡°She was infected¡­¡±

    Sure enough, there was the cry of a girl from the group. ¡°Lin Ran, wake up!¡±

    Another girl asked, ¡°Was she scratched by the cashier at the cash register? We didn¡¯t find it at all!¡±

    Someone agreed. ¡°It must¡¯ve been before. She was at the cash register in front of me and seemed to have handed gold coins to the cashier.¡±

    The tall captain spoke calmly. ¡°She is no longer the Lin Ran we know. Her mind has been parasitized by the bugs and she will attack us. There is no self-awareness¡­¡± Then the captain¡¯s face suddenly turned white. ¡°Don¡¯t hesitate and control her quickly!¡±

    A short-haired girl next to the captain immediately threw a card. It was a spell-like card. Once stuck to Lin Ran¡¯s body, Lin Ran seemed immobilized and she was unable to move.

    Her eyes were red but the expression on her face was very innocent as she smiled. ¡°Sister Xue Lin, are you really going to kill me?¡±

    The strange smile was exactly the same as the smiles on the faces of the cashier girls in the supermarket. Xue Lin¡¯s face was extremely ugly and the surrounding teammates nced at each other. Kill. They couldn¡¯t bear it but there would be endless troubles if they didn¡¯t kill her!

    Xue Lin was silent for a moment before saying, ¡°We have been through many things with you for a long time and I really don¡¯t want to do it. However, you have been infected. We are likely to be wiped out if we don¡¯t deal with you.¡± Her voice was choked up with sobs. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Lin Ran. I didn¡¯t protect you. Leave early so you won¡¯t suffer anymore¡­¡±

    Her face was full of guilt. The moment she finished speaking, she sprayed the girl with insecticide and threw the lighter.

    ¡°Ahhhh¡ª!¡±

    The sharp screams reverberated through the supermarket and caused their eardrums to ache.

    Xiao Lou was sweating when he saw this scene. The way the Luoying Pavilion team handled it might be less humane but it was very sensible and decisive. At present, it was really difficult to bring an infected teammate around. Now they watched their partner being burned to ashes and a few girls couldn¡¯t stand it. Some of them secretly wiped their tears and the atmosphere was very depressed.

    Captain Xue Ling¡¯s face was full of anger. ¡°These disgusting bugs, I really want to burn them all to death!¡±

    Then after realizing that Xiao Lou¡¯s group was behind them, Xue Lin took a deep breath and sorted out her emotions without looking back. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    The team of 10 now had only 9 people. Everyone¡¯s expressions were ugly as they left. Xiao Lou could sympathize with their feelings. If someone in his team was infected¡­ he couldn¡¯t imagine how to deal with it. Just then, Shao Qingge held his nose and sneezed.

    His teammates looked back in unison. Ye Qi turned pale and asked in a trembling voice, ¡°Chief Shao, you seem to have coughed several times. A cold is a sign of a parasite infection. Are you okay?¡±

    Shao Qingge exined, ¡°People who have parasites do show signs of a cold but this doesn¡¯t mean that people who have a cold must be infected. I encountered a traffic jam and ran in the cold wind all the way to the square. It is normal to get a cold.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang had seen Shao Qingge running over in a sweaty manner and Xiao Lou was willing to believe Shao Qingge¡¯s exnation. Moreover, if Shao Qingge was infected then there were countless opportunities in the supermarket to act. During the time when everyone was focused on dealing with the bugs, they would definitely be unprepared if Shao Qingge suddenly attacked from behind.

    However, Shao Qingge didn¡¯t do this. He always listened to instructions and helped spray insecticides on the supermarket employees. In addition, as early as when they were in Old Mo¡¯s decoratingpany, Shao Qingge had taken out the ATM machine to withdraw money for everyone¡­ Could a bug know that he had the S-grade card like the ATM Machine?

    Thinking of this, Xiao Lou spoke softly, ¡°Don¡¯t be suspicious of everyone. The actual battle just now proved that the bugs are afraid of fire. During the time when the bugs were burning, Chief Shao was still spraying insecticides. He shouldn¡¯t be parasitized by the bugs.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added calmly, ¡°Yes, Chief Shao also used the ATM machine to withdraw money. If the bugs are so smart that they can use our cards as well as disguise as us, there will be no way to pass this secret room.¡±

    Everyone felt it was reasonable and their expressions eased a lot.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s trust made Shao Qingge sigh with relief but he wasn¡¯t too happy about Ye Qi¡¯s suspicion. He looked at Ye Qi and asked with a smile, ¡°If I was really infected, would Xiao Ye burn me to death like the people of Luoying Pavilion?¡±

    He might be smiling but his eyes were extremely sharp and almost stared a hole into Ye Qi¡¯s face.

    Ye Qi was stunned and replied without hesitation, ¡°How is that possible? Even if you are infected, I won¡¯t burn you to death!¡±

    Shao Qingge raised his eyebrows. ¡°Oh? Why?¡±

    Ye replied earnestly, ¡°We have been teammates since 3 of Spades. If you really have an ident, I will definitely find a way to save you. Although the parasites can¡¯t be cured at present, perhaps a treatment method can be developed? How can I kill you directly? It isn¡¯t just you. I won¡¯t want to kill any of my teammates if they are in trouble¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes narrowed as he stared at the teenager in front of him. This teenager was so optimistic that he wanted to save his teammate infected with the parasite? Nevertheless, such remarks warmed Shao Qingge¡¯s heart. If his long-time partner really gave up on him in such a critical moment then it would be really chilling.

    The scene where a member of Luoying Pavilion was burned just now made everyone feel cold. They thought about how they might encounter such an oue one day and might eventually end up losing trust in their teammates.

    Shao Qingge smiled and rubbed Ye Qi¡¯s head, warmth filling his voice. ¡°You want to save me? If I am infected then I will definitely bite you first to infect you.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes became wide. ¡°Don¡¯t make such a joke!¡±

    Shao Qingge stopped joking and became serious. ¡°Rx, I¡¯m fine. I really just have a cold.¡±

    The conversation between Ye Qi and Shao Qingge made their teammates feelplicated. At this juncture of life and death, no one could guarantee that they wouldn¡¯t be infected. At this time, the attitude of their teammates was critical. If their teammates killed them without hesitation, they would be cold-hearted. Everyone hoped that they wouldn¡¯t be abandoned by their teammates during their most difficult time¡­

    The girl who was burned to death just now might¡¯ve been parasitized by the bugs but what if there was a bit of consciousness left in her body?

    How sad would she be?

    Yu Hanjiang spoke calmly. ¡°Xiao Ye¡¯s words are correct. Everyone has walked this path and are considered to be partners who live and die together. I won¡¯t give up on any teammate. So if you are caught or bitten by an infected person, don¡¯t hide it. Report it to me while you still have awareness. I will find a way to help you through your difficulties!¡±

    Group Leader Yu¡¯s words eased everyone¡¯s worries.

    Abandoning teammates? This wasn¡¯t Yu Hanjiang¡¯s style.

    Everyone was a partner who had signed Xiao Lou¡¯s contract. They all had reasons to return to the real world and they had been working hard for amon goal. They didn¡¯t want to give up on anyone.

    After an infected person scratched or bit the skin of a human, it took some time for the bugs to upy the human body. So while they still had a sense of reason, they should tell their teammates the truth and perhaps they could be saved. The most feared thing after being infected was being killed by their teammates. That¡¯s why they refused to speak up while their sense of reason was swallowed and they became the puppet of the bugs¡­

    Yu Hanjiang spoke in a low voice. ¡°Don¡¯t forget, the data of the A-grade secret rooms will be reset. As long as you leave the secret room, your status will be cleared immediately even if you are injured. So if someone is infected, you must tell me immediately. We will take precautions in advance to take you through the instance and back to the main city.¡±

    Judging from the clues given by his older brother, injuries from the S-grade secret rooms weren¡¯t cleared. Tang Ci¡¯s legs were injured in J of Clubs and the injury was brought back to the main city. However, the A-grade secret rooms hadn¡¯t reached that level of difficulty. Even if a teammate was infected in this secret room, as long as they were controlled, protected and cleared the instance, the status of their teammate would be reset to normal.

    Group Leader Yu¡¯s words made everyone¡¯s eyes shine.

    if something went wrong, tell their teammates so their teammates could clear the instance. This perfectly solved the problem of being infected in the 8 of Spades secret room!

    Ye Qi was excited. ¡°Group Leader Yu is right. Even if one of us is infected, as long as the other seven doesn¡¯t give up on them and take them through the instance, they will be normal after returning to the main city!¡±

    Liu Qiao, Qu Wanyue and the others nodded.

    The team from Luoying Pavilion must¡¯ve been upset by the sudden attack and forgot this key point. This could also be med on the infected Lin Ran. She was afraid that her teammates would abandon her and refused to say that she was scratched for so long. Then she suddenly mutated and attacked her teammates, shocking them. If she had told her teammates earlier, her teammates could calm down and think carefully. Then the tragedy wouldn¡¯t have happened.

    Group Leader Yu had considered it moreprehensively. This man seemed cold but there was a touch of tenderness in his heart.

    His words eased the atmosphere of the team a lot. They had just seen the girls from Luoying Pavilion decisively burn their teammate. To be honest, everyone had felt a bit cold and feared they would one day be burned by Yu Hanjiang.

    Now everyone heard Yu Hanjiang¡¯s words and felt relieved. There was the team even if something happened to them. This undoubtedly gave everyone a sense of confidence and they were even more willing to follow Group Leader Yu¡¯s orders.

    In this cruel Card World, how rare was it to have such a team?

    Xiao Lou once said that since everyone formed a team and wanted to face the challenge of life and death together, they should regard each other as a family that could be trusted. What was the use of only saying nice words? In a critical moment, if they could continue without leaving or giving up then this was a real family.

 Chapter 206: Doomsday Escape 12

    It was unknown where the Luoying Pavilion team went after leaving the supermarket. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t want to me the captain. She had been attacked by her teammate without any psychological preparation and her method was indeed very decisive. If she dragged things out then the entire team was likely to be buried. Would she feel guiltyter if she understood that she could take her team member through the instance?

    Xiao Lou put away his thoughts. He looked around and found there were no infected people nearby. Therefore, he suggested in a confident manner, ¡°I remember that there was a pharmacy on the road. We should go to the pharmacy to buy somemonly used medicine. Chief Shao¡¯s cold should be cured as soon as possible.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    There was a pharmacy near the supermarket. Due to the traffic paralysis in the city centre and the outbreak in the central square, the nearby people had either died or ran. The streets were a mess and all the stores on the street were closed.

    The door of this pharmacy was locked and no one was inside. This was good news for Xiao Lou. The fact that no one was inside the pharmacy meant there was no danger of being attacked by the bugs. In today¡¯s situation, they couldn¡¯t care about paying for things. The door of the pharmacy was locked and it could only be smashed open.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was low. ¡°Everyone, get back.¡±

    They quickly took a few steps back. Yu Hanjiang took out his weapon and fired a sharp shot at the ss door. There was a bang and the ss door was smashed by him. The broken ss scattered everywhere.

    Yu Hanjiang shed to avoid it. Once the ss fell to the ground, he kicked open the smashed door and was the first to enter the pharmacy.

    His teammates followed him in. Xiao Lou knew most of themon medicines and quickly grabbed some medicine for colds, fevers, headaches and diarrhea from the shelves. He also grabbed some disinfectant cotton swabs, iodine and medical gauze. The bugs liked blood so if someone was wounded, it had to be treated as soon as possible. It was necessary to wrap the wound with gauze.

    Xiao Lou also took a few bottles of medical alcohol. ¡°The concentration of alcohol in this is rtively high. The packaging is like mineral water and it is easy to carry. It can be used to ssh on the infected people to help burn them.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang helped him grab a few more bottles. ¡°The backpack is full. Grab a medicine box to hold the medicine separately.¡±

    Xiao Lou grabbed a stic medicine box from the pharmacy and ced the medicine and medical alcohol into it. Then he nodded at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang waved his hand. ¡°Withdraw.¡±

    They exited the pharmacy and headed to the corner where Old Mo¡¯s decoratingpany was located. They had just walked to the door of the decoratingpany when an infected person jumped down from the wall, almost knocking Xiao Lou down!

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes were fast and he kicked the other person while grabbing Xiao Lou. He ordered, ¡°Go in quickly!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°I have observed that the infected person crawling outside should be alone. There are no signs of arge number of infected people nearby. It is likely that the infected people are busy chasing the local people in the urban areas.¡±

    On the first day, those who stayed at home and didn¡¯t go out or those who ran quickly weren¡¯t infected. The challengers wouldn¡¯t be surrounded by an army of infected people yet.

    Xiao Lou stood by the window and observed carefully. He found that there were indeed only one or two infected people nearby. This relieved him. ¡°It is temporarily safe. We should eat something first.¡±

    It was 2:30 and everyone remembered that they had nothing to eat today.

    Ye Qi¡¯s stomach was growling from hunger. Old Mo grabbed an electric kettle and boiled some water from the mineral water bottles. He said, ¡°The conditions here are limited. Everyone will have to eat instant noodles for lunch.¡±

    In the survival room, everyone could eat instant noodles. They were very satisfied.

    The instant noodles they grabbed this time were all in packets which made it convenient to be stuffed into the school bags. Xiao Lou also bought several stic lunch boxes. Once the hot water was boiled, everyone ate the noodles in the lunch boxes. The different scents of the instant noodles floated in the air and the aroma of food made everyone a bit calmer.

    The bugs weren¡¯t discussed during the meal. They all tacitly didn¡¯t mention the infected people and quickly ate their lunch. After a simple lunch, Liu Qiao and Qu Wanyue took the initiative to wash the dishes. This stic lunch box could be used repeatedly. If conditions permitted, they could continue to eat hot food.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Old Mo, do you have aputer here?¡±

    Mo Xuemin nodded. ¡°There is one in thepany¡¯s design department. The designer¡¯sputer can be used.¡±

    Old Mo¡¯s decoratingpany in 8 of Spades wasn¡¯trge. It was just a 200 square metres store on the roadside that was divided into small offices such as the design department, the finance department and the engineering department. In the morning, there was a client. Then at lunch, everyone in thepany went out. Old Mo had locked the door and went to the square to find his teammates. Now thepany was empty and had be a temporary base for his team.

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°Go and check some information online.¡±

    A secret room with a modern background was more convenient to obtain information than ancient times. For example, during the Financial Crisis secret room, Chief Shao used theputer to control the stock market. The bugs couldn¡¯t destroy the circuits andworks of the city in a day and theputer could still ess the Inte at the moment.

    The team came to the design department. Old Mo turned on theputer and Yu Hanjiang quickly searched for information on the Inte.

    Officials were trying to suppress public opinion and hadn¡¯t announced the truth of the ¡®parasitic infection¡¯ but after experiencing the noon traffic jam and the horror scene of people being bitten and attacked, the entire city was in a state of panic.

    Many residents were writing posts to discuss it. ¡°Don¡¯t go out these days. The streets are full of biting madmen?¡±

    ¡±Is it the rabies virus?¡±

    ¡±A medical student said this isn¡¯t rabies. It should be an unknown microbial infection!¡±

    ¡°These infected people are terrible. I saw one bite my ssmate¡¯s ear.¡±

    ¡±Our school is closed. More than half of the students mutated. I¡¯m afraid and don¡¯t dare leave my house¡­¡±

    The panic of the people quickly spread online.

    The sky above the city was clear and blue but everyone¡¯s hearts were filled with dark clouds.

    Yu Hanjiang knew that these people could stay at home for three or four days at most. Soon, the water and electricity in the city would be cut off. Since the bugs knew how to turn off the heating, they would naturally know to destroy the water and electricity systems, forcing the residents out of their homes.

    Power outages could be ignored. The main thing was the water being cut off without notice. How many residents had the habit of storing water at home? Without water to drink, they would soon be unable to sit still¡­

    Yu Hanjiang made an estimate. ¡°In three days at most, arge-scale human against bugs confrontation will erupt in the city and the number of infected people will multiply. We have to find a way to leave here as soon as possible.¡±

    His teammates stood behind him and listened to him arrange things.

    Yu Hanjiang entered the word ¡®map¡¯ in the search engine and a map of the entire city appeared in front of everyone.

    The city was divided into five administrative districts, namely the central district, the west district, the north district, the south district and the east district. The name of each district was consistent with their geographical orientation and it was well distinguished.

    Yu Hanjiang zoomed in on the map and carefully observed the building distribution from above.

    His teammates looked at the dense map and only felt confused. However, Yu Hanjiang was a policeman. He often had to analyze the possible escape routes of criminals when catching them so he was very professional when it came to looking at maps.

    The moment he saw the distribution of buildings in the city, he judged the city n and made a decision. He pointed to the east of the map. ¡°We will go to the east of the city.¡±

    Everyone was puzzled.

    In order to facilitate the understanding of his teammates, Yu Hanjiang exined in a low voice. ¡°From a nning perspective, the centre district and west district are the financial and trade centres of the city. There are manyrgemercial squares and these two areas are the most prosperous areas in the city. The poption density is the highest.¡±

    The man¡¯s long fingers gently slid to the northern area of the map. ¡°The north district is home to the university city. All the universities in the city are concentrated here. Once an outbreak urs, it will also be difficult to control.¡±

    ¡°The south district is an ecologically livable area with the city¡¯srgest wend park. The environment here is beautiful, the air is fresh and it is suitable for people to live in. This means that arge number of residential areas, high-rise buildings and newly developed real estate will be concentrated here. The bugs can climb on the buildings and it will be death if we go to the south.¡±

    He nced at thest area. ¡°The east district is the logistics distribution centre. Usually, the city¡¯s logistics center will have arge number of factories to store vegetables, goods, fruits, building materials and other items. The logistics point of expresspanies are also here. The low-rise buildings are more beneficial to us. Moreover, the logistics distribution centre is usually rtively remote and deste. It is the best choice to avoid a swarm of bugs.¡±

    Everyone heard this and understood. Ye Qi stared at Yu Hanjiang with admiration. ¡°Group Leader Yu is so powerful. You can see so much information just by looking at the map¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge joked, ¡°After all, Group Leader Yu often fights against cunning murderers and has to guess where they are hiding. He will naturally be more professional than us when looking at a map.¡±

    Xiao Lou was also full of admiration for this man.

    After entering the Spades room, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s skills could be used to the fullest. His flexibility and calmness when dealing with criminals for many years made his teammates more confident about his decisions.

    There was such a reliable captain. Everyone was more confident that they could clear 8 of Spades!

 Chapter 207.1: Doomsday Escape 13

    It was already dark by the time everyone finished checking the information and preparing the supplies. Xiao Lou looked out the window. The street lights were on so the bugs clearly hadn¡¯t had time to destroy the city¡¯s electrical system. He asked Yu Hanjiang, ¡°Are we going to the east of the city tonight or shall we wait until dawn?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it before replying, ¡°Let¡¯s explore the habits of the bugs first. We don¡¯t know if they will rest or be more active after dark.¡±

    After all, this type of bug was very new to everyone. It was unknown if they would be more aggressive at night. What if the bugs were more excited? Walking through the night was simply looking for death. It was only by knowing the enemy that they could better clear the instance.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes swept over the group. ¡°The people who can move fast will follow me to explore the way.¡±

    Liu Qiao, Ye Qi, Long Sen and Qu Wanyue raised their hands. Then Shao Qingge said, ¡°I copied the teleportation card and can also go.¡±

    Xiao Lou had the eleration shoes from Yu Hanjiang but his running speed was too slow. He might not be able to escape from the bugs even at five times the eleration. Yu Hanjiang thought about it and decided it was better to copy one more discement card so he could take Xiao Lou with him.

    He looked at Shao Qingge and ordered, ¡°Chief Shao, copy the light footwork card for me.¡±

    Shao Qingge helplessly rubbed his temple. ¡°My Rich and Willfull skill costs 5 million gold coins and it can only copy a card twice in a secret room. It also can¡¯t copy the same card.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him calmly, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. You can go back to the main city to make money. It is more important to clear 8 of Spades first.¡±

    Since the captain said so, Shao Qingge wasfortable spending money. He copied Liu Qiao¡¯s Light as a Swallow.

    Once everyone¡¯s cards were ready, Yu Hanjiang said simply, ¡°This time, the path exploration is based on investigating the bugs¡¯ habits. Everyone has their invisibility cloak and discement cards. Try not to disturb the bugs or have a conflict with them. We are investigating, not fighting.¡±

    He gestured to everyone, walked to the door of the decoratingpany and opened the iron door. The eight people shed outside quickly and Old Mo locked the iron door behind them.

    Outside the door, the street lights lit up the whole city. The streets were empty and most of the small stores were closed. The shopping malls were open but not a single person could be seen. In one day, the originally lively and bustling city had almost turned into an empty city.

    From time to time, there was the sound of rats gnawing at the garbage bag. Yu Hanjiang watched the surroundings alertly. Not far away, a fat mouse saw then and immediately fled behind a trash can.

    There were also stray cats and dogs looking for food in the bins. They were used to peopleing and going and weren¡¯t afraid of humans. A stray dog even barked twice when it saw Yu Hanjiang. However, there were no signs of attacking them.

    Yu Hanjiang lowered his voice. ¡°It seems that the bugs only infect humans. They have no effect on these animals.¡±

    The eight people walked forward quickly.

    Those who had been basking in the sunlight in the square and taking photos at noon were infected while others died on the side of the road. The corpses had bleeding eyes and the blood spots on the ground were infected. Some people became infected and chased other normal humans.

    Now the square was empty. A cold wind blew through and everyone shivered.

    Yu Hanjiang opened his mouth. ¡°They should be systematically invading the entire city and chasing the locals. There are no prey in the square so they have shifted their targets. ces with a concentrated flow of people like the residential areas, shopping zas,mercial centres, food cities, etc will definitely have arge number of mutated bugs. Everyone should be careful when moving.¡±

    Ye Qi quickly took out his flute and looked above his head.

    The moment he looked up, a bug suddenly swooped down from the sky. It turned out to have been lying on the street light at the edge of the square. The light at night was too dim and he was wearing pure ck clothing so he almost melted into the night. The scarlet eyes exuded a cold light as he stared straight at Ye Qi.

    Ye Qi cursed in his heart and immediately blew the flute. The bug was fixed in ce by the sound of the flute. Then Yu Hanjiang took out his glock 17 handgun from his card pack, equipped it with a silencer and sted the other party¡¯s head!

    Xiao Lou nervously clenched his fists. ¡°Won¡¯t it merge and upgrade?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stared coldly at the man in the suit lying on the ground. ¡°The premise of fusion is that a partner is nearby to fuse with. There is just one bug within 100 metres. I want to see if they can be killed this way.¡±

    The man who fell to the ground should¡¯ve been apany executive before being infected. He was in a suit, leather shoes and had a briefcase in his hand. After being shot, he bled all over the ground. Sure enough, like the person killed with a headshot in the supermarket, countless ck spider-shaped things crawled out of the blood.

    However, there were no other parasites around for them to fuse and upgrade with. They couldn¡¯t directly infect Xiao Lou¡¯s group so the bugs quickly copsed like they were drained of strength. There were a few squeaks and then no more movement.

    Ye Qi had been very disgusted when he saw these things at first. Now he was used to it after seeing more. He stared at the group of bugs and wondered, ¡°They aren¡¯t moving. Are they dead?¡±

    Xiao Lou was thoughtful. ¡°It seems that a single bug is easy to kill. As long as the bugs are driven out of the human body, they won¡¯t survive. In the future, we can find a way to separate the bugs and kill them one by one.

    Of course, this approach was only useful in small-scale encounters. Once they encountered more than 20 bugs acting collectively, it would be difficult to separate and kill them one by one. Yu Hanjiang analyzed, ¡°This type of bug should be a group species. The more there are, the stronger they be. We don¡¯t need to be afraid of one or two alone.¡±

    The others nodded in agreement.

    Today, due to therge number of bugs in the supermarket, the upgrading and integration of the bugs caused trouble for everyone. However, it wasn¡¯t that terrible if there were only one or two. They couldn¡¯t merge and upgrade so it was only a dead end.

    Group creatures. This judgment made everyone¡¯s hair stand up.

    The square was empty and it seemed to confirm Yu Hanjiang¡¯s spection that the bugs were hiding in the buildings and staying in groups. The sporadic lone ones on the street might¡¯ve been lost and couldn¡¯t keep up with the big troops. This also meant that once they met the bugs, it would be in a terrible number!

    Xiao Lou questioned, ¡°The night seems to have no effect on them?¡¯

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°Most bugs like toe and go at night. My guess is that the night won¡¯t affect their actions. It will only make their eyesight and hearing more sensitive. If Xiao Ye hadn¡¯t been on guard then he might¡¯ve been knocked down.¡±

    Ye Qi stared at the ck things in the ground with lingering fear. ¡°It must¡¯ve been staring at us and waiting for us to approach before suddenly attacking. Fortunately, I reacted quickly!¡±

    Humans were used to moving during the day and resting at night. Meanwhile, small animals like cockroaches, mice and these unknown bugs preferred the dark night. Night time was more dangerous for challengers.

    It was unreasonable to cross half the city to reach the east district in one night. It was best to act during the day. Even so, Yu Hanjiang still wanted to seize the opportunity to avoid the gathering ce of the bugs and to avoid the bug army when everyone acted tomorrow.

    He thought up to here and ordered his teammates, ¡°Everyone, put on your invisibility cloak. We have 30 minutes to investigate the nearby shopping malls, food cities and other ces to see where the bugs are most active.¡±

    Ye Qi suggested, ¡°The bugs can¡¯t see us when the cloaks are worn, right? The cloaks onlyst 30 minutes and it might take too long to check all these ces. Should we split up?¡±

    Xiao Lou was worried. ¡°If we act separately, it is easy to be infected if you are weak and encounter danger.¡±

    Ye Qi spoke seriously. ¡°I have the invisibility cloak and teleportation card. The bugs can¡¯t see me or catch me. It should be okay. If I meet arge number of bugs then I will immediately run away.¡±

    Liu Qiao followed him. ¡°I am the same. I can put on the invisibility cloak and jump on top of the building. They can¡¯t be faster than me when I¡¯m flying in the sky.¡±

    Long Sen added, ¡°Wanyue and I don¡¯t have a problem with protecting ourselves. Before the bugs find us, we can use the cloak along with Long Jump and run 8 metres at a time. The bugs won¡¯t be able to keep up.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and didn¡¯t speak.

    Ye Qi scratched his head, his clear eyes full of seriousness. ¡°Our strength might not be as good as Group Leader Yu¡¯s strength but¡­ we can¡¯t always rely on Group Leader Yu to protect us. We also want to help a bit.¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded solemnly. ¡°Yes, this is only an A-grade secret room. We have to pass through the S-grade secret rooms. If we don¡¯t dare to investigate alone in A-grade secret rooms then will we always hide behind Group Leader Yu in S-grade secret rooms?¡±

    Long Sen agreed. ¡°Yes, the invisibility onlysts for 30 minutes. It is too wasteful if all eight of us investigate one ce. Group Leader Yu, rest assured. We can protect ourselves with the help of the cloak!¡±

    The others looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

    Yu Hanjiang thought carefully. They were right. He couldn¡¯t always protect them. Everyone had to learn to protect themselves. If they had no way to protect themselves in 8 of Spades, what would happen in the more difficult J of Spades or K of Spades?

    It was time to train the team members¡¯ ability and courage.

    The invisibility cloak hid the body as well as the smell. They became transparent air for 30 minutes and the bugs wouldn¡¯t be able to detect them. Add in the various discement cards and it would be really a waste if they couldn¡¯t escape!

    Yu Hanjiang watched his teammates.

    Since his teammates were so courageous, Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t want to hurt everyone¡¯s self-confidence. He simply said, ¡°Okay, I will arrange the groups now. Liu Qiao, Long Sen and Qu Wanyue, the three of you have cards that can fly and jump. You are responsible for therge high-rise residential area on the east side of the square. Check the movements of the bugs from the air. The three of you should act together and mutually care for each other. Don¡¯t be too far apart.¡±

    The trio nodded. ¡°Understood!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang continued. ¡°Chief Shao, Ye Qi and Old Mo, go and check the financial centre and office buildings. These buildings have arge number ofpanies and banking institutions. I need rough data of the office workers¡¯ survival rate and infection rate.¡±

    Ye Qi replied, ¡°No problem!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°We will go to the shopping mall and food city.¡±

    Xiao Lou naturally had noment and nodded.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°Be careful. If you encounter danger then use your discement cards to retreat immediately. Find out the situation of the bugs within 25 minutes ande back here to meet. Don¡¯t fight and if there is trouble that can¡¯t be solved, throw the Night Pearl orntern up directly to give a signal to your teammates!¡±

    Everyone nodded. ¡°We understand.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang waved his hand. ¡°Action!¡±

 Chapter 207.2

    The eight people split into three teams. They put on their invisibility cloaks and entered the night in three different directions. The bugs couldn¡¯t perceive their existence even if the bugs had no blind spots and a sharp sense of smell.

    Unfortunately, the invisibility cloak could only be used once a day and it onlysted for 30 minutes. It was being used to check the enemy¡¯s situation tonight. Tomorrow, it was necessary to n and use it carefully. It could save lives at critical moments.

    Once everyone left, Yu Hanjiang gently hugged Xiao Lou¡¯s waist and told him calmly, ¡°I will take you.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s ears became hot. ¡°Can you carry someone and still fly using the light footwork card? I don¡¯t remember Liu Qiao¡¯s card having this skill¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°The cards can¡¯t but I can.¡±

    He used a bit of strength and carried Xiao Lou up. Xiao Lou was really too light. Carrying Xiao Lou was easier than running at the police academy with a sack. Xiao Lou only felt the arm around his waist tightening and then he was easily brought into this man¡¯s strong arms. This was followed by the use of the light footwork card and they soared into the sky.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    There was the sound of the wind in their ears. They couldn¡¯t see each other due to the invisibility cloaks but Xiao Lou could clearly feel the strength of Yu Hanjiang¡¯s arms as he was hugged by Yu Hanjiang. Xiao Lou¡¯s heart thumped as they flew lightly.

    In order to avoid falling, he had to extend his hand and gently grasp Yu Hanjiang¡¯s arm.

    Underneath them was the dark crisis-ridden city while Yu Hanjiang flew above the city with the help of buildings. The main point of Light as a Swallow was to find anding point within three seconds. If it wasn¡¯t found, the user would fall. After full level, it was enough to find anding point within eight seconds. Liu Qiao¡¯s card was already at full level when Chief Shao copied it so the flying distance was very long.

    Eight seconds of flying could cover almost all buildings on both sides of the street. Add in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s long legs and it was very easy to find anding point. He jumped like a swallow and flew lightly between buildings.

    Xiao Lou suddenly had the illusion of making a big blockbuster with Group Leader Yu. After a moment of flight, Yu Hanjiang was chosen to be in the shopping mall. The two of them flew for a while before Yu Hanjiang chose a shopping mall.

    The five storey shopping mall should have arge number of humans gathered. If more than 80% of people were infected then it would¡¯ve be a bug nest and no one could run away. Yu Hanjiang just wanted to confirm if the shopping mall was a gathering ce for the bugs. If so, they would avoid this area when evacuating to the east district tomorrow.

    They fell in front of the shopping centre and Yu Hanjiang let go of Xiao Lou¡¯s waist. He spoke through their heart channel, ¡°Go in and see.¡±

    The two people entered the shopping mall together. To their surprise, the first floor was empty.

    The entire mall was brightly lit up but not a single figure could be seen. The shops selling clothes and drinks had their doors open but the shop employees were missing. The esctors of the mall were still running as usual but there was no one on it. At first nce, they seemed to have entered a ghost town. Just like the supermarket, the temperature of the mall was so low that it was clear the heating had been turned off.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice rang in Xiao Lou¡¯s mind. ¡°Come with me upstairs to see.¡±

    The two of them went upstairs together on the esctor. The 2nd floor, 3rd floor, 4th floor¡­

    It was all empty. Not a single person could be seen.

    Xiao Lou wondered doubtfully in his mind, ¡°There should¡¯ve been many people at noon in such arge shopping centre. As long as they attack, the bugs should spread quickly. Why can¡¯t we see a single infected person? Where did they go?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°It isn¡¯t right here. Be careful.¡±

    The two men stepped onto the esctor for the fifth floor.

    Looking around, they still didn¡¯t see any infected people. At this moment, Xiao Lou¡¯s forehead was cold. It felt like when rain fell on his forehead. Xiao Lou raised his head in a confused manner but the scene in front of him caused him to stiffen and all the hairs on his body to stand upright.

    He saw that the ceiling of the fifth floor was densely covered with people!

    Some of them were wearing the clothes of the mall staff while some were customers who came to the mall. The elderly, young people and children¡­ countless people all climbed onto the ceiling and were motionless!

    They were closed to each other, their hands and feet gripping the ceiling. The scarlet eyes protruded slightly like insect eyes and turned around greedily.

    The scene of arge number of infected people crawling on the ceiling made Xiao Lou frightened. If this group suddenly fell from the ceiling then he and Yu Hanjiang would instantly be overwhelmed by the bugs.

    Fortunately, the two of them were wearing invisibility cloaks. The consequences would¡¯ve been unimaginable if they hadn¡¯t been invisible. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression sank when he saw this scene and he instantly hugged Xiao Lou while whispering in his mind, ¡°Go!¡±

    Xiao Lou turned to keep up with Yu Hanjiang.

    His heart had almost popped out of his chest. Such a scene was more terrible than any science fiction movie he had ever seen. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t have any intensive phobias or this scene would¡¯ve frightened him to death.

    The two people quickly evacuated the mall. Yu Hanjiang flew lightly with Xiao Lou and they came to the food city.

    Unlike the shopping mall where the bugs were on the ceiling, all the bugs in the food city were crawling on the ground. The entire street was full of people moving slowly. Their scarlet eyes were moving around. They seemed to be checking if any fish had fallen into their. The originally lively food street had directly be the territory of the bugs!

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know what to say. He told Yu Hanjiang in his mind, ¡°It seems that no one on this street was spared. We can¡¯t go here when we evacuate tomorrow.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Go back as soon as possible. Don¡¯t rm them.¡±

    The number of bugs was too scary. This dense group was more terrifying than the train station during the Spring Festival. Most importantly, they were all crawling on the ground or on the ceiling. This scene was simply the nemesis of those with intensive phobias and it made his scalp numb!

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou returned to the square. The end time of the invisibility cloak hadn¡¯t arrived yet so they didn¡¯t take it off. They just ced antern in the middle to call for everyone.

    Shao Qingge, Ye Qi and Old Mo also came back. Ye Qi whispered, ¡°Group Leader Yu?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s low voice was heard. ¡°I am here. How was it?¡±

    Ye Qi came near thentern and reported, ¡°We went to the financial building. There are arge number of enterprises andpanies in this office building and countless white-cor employees have been infected. They are crowding into the lobby on the first floor!¡±

    Old Mo added, ¡°Their bodies are almost glued together. It is disgusting to see them.¡±

    Humans preferred some independent space. Crowded ces, especially being crowded in front and behind, made a person irritable. However, the bugs were different. They liked to be close to theirpanions and liked to crowd into the same space inrge numbers. Perhaps this made them feel more secure.

    Xiao Lou analyzed it. ¡°Probably it is more convenient to upgrade if they are crowded together.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s lips trembled slightly. ¡°It is terrible. There should be thousands of infected people in the lobby. All the bugs in the building came together like they were having a meeting of bugs. It would¡¯ve definitely been a dead end if we weren¡¯t wearing the invisibility cloaks!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°How about Liu Qiao?¡±

    Ye Qi replied, ¡°It seems they haven¡¯t returned yet.¡±

    Everyone was wearing invisibility cloaks and couldn¡¯t see each other. They could only distinguish by sound.

    Yu Hanjiang was worried that Liu Qiao¡¯s group had an ident. Then within a minute, Qu Wanyue¡¯s slightly trembling voice was heard. ¡°Are you there?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°How was your side?¡±

    Qu Wanyue sighed with relief. ¡°We wanted to jump up and check the situation of several residential buildings. We didn¡¯t expect¡­ the infected people in the entiremunity were concentrated at the square of themunity.¡±

    Liu Qiao added, ¡°Moreover, the music of the square was still ying the square dance. It must be that they didn¡¯t have time to turn it off in the evening. Themunity we went to should have more than 1,000 residents. It is estimated that the number of infected people is over 2,000.¡±

    Long Sen scolded, ¡°This group of bugs is too perverted! Listening to the music of the square dance while lying motionless on the square of themunity. It is like a meeting! If it wasn¡¯t for the bugs staying still, I suspected they would¡¯ve pped and listened to the leader¡¯s speech the next moment.

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Long Sen¡¯s joke wasn¡¯t funny. Everyone just got goosebumps. The bugs were group animals and liked to stay together inrge groups. It seemed that not many residents of this central square had survived. The shopping malls, financial buildings, food streets and other ces with high traffic had been infected.

    In the residential area, the residents who didn¡¯t go out today might live a few days if they shut their doors and windows. However, they could see from the window the thousands of people lying together downstairs. It was highly likely they would be frightened.

    Xiao Lou spoke calmly. ¡°Long Sen is right. In the bugs¡¯ poption, there might really be a leader gathering them together.¡±

    The group watched Xiao Lou. He took a deep breath before whispering, ¡°They are gathered together in groups. Perhaps the leader is giving instructions for their next actions. For example, when an ant colony is about to move, the queen ant will give the ants some instructions.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°Yes! The scene I saw in the financial building was like a meeting for bugs!¡±

    It seemed there would be arge-scale action by the bugs tonight?

    Yu Hanjiang had this thought and suddenly ordered, ¡°It is dangerous! Everyone, withdraw!¡±

    The moment he finished speaking, he hugged Xiao Lou¡¯s waist and flew with Xiao Lou to the opposite street using the light footwork card. The others also used their discement cards to escape.

    The next moment¡­ they saw countless bugs suddenly pour out of the nest!

    A huge amount of infected people emerged from the shopping malls, food streets, financial buildings and other buildings like a tide. They were on all fours and using both hands and feet to crawl like crazy to the nearby residential areas.

    It turned out that the bugs wanted topletely upy this area. At present, some residents had escaped the and none of the bugs wanted to let them go. So the bugs decided to suppress them with an army and surround the entire residential area.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face was extremely ugly. ¡°Go back and pack our things. We will leave here immediately!¡±

    Unexpectedly, the bugs would collectively attack the residential area at night. As they were fully attacking, the team had to evacuate as soon as possible. Otherwise, by tomorrow morning, the city centre would be the world of bugs and it would be difficult for them.

    Thinking of the serious consequences, the group used their discement cards to quickly return to Old Mo¡¯spany. Old Mo opened the door and everyone went in to grab their bags, the insecticides, the lights, medicine boxes and other supplies. Then they ran to Yu Hanjiang.

    Everyone¡¯s goal was the eastern part of the city. They could only hope that the logistics distribution centre didn¡¯t have too many infected people. Everyone silently prayed in their hearts.

 Chapter 208: Doomsday Escape 14

    The eight people used the remaining five minutes of the invisibility cloak to quickly evacuate with their supplies.

    The invisible cloak was an A-grade card and it was quite easy to use. They just needed to cover the bags with the cloak and the bags would also be invisible. Therefore, even though the eight of them acted collectively, they didn¡¯t attract the attention of the bugs.

    However, eight people moving invisibly might end up splitting so Yu Hanjiang thought of a method. He would bring Xiao Lou in the lead using the light footwork while Xiao Lou used thentern above him as a guide.

    Thenterns obtained in 8 of Spades could not only illuminate the way but it also prevented tigers, wolves and other wild animals froming closer. Of course, the bugs weren¡¯t beasts but they were afraid of fire. The ancientnterns were lit with candles which was a fire. The lone bugs left behind on the streets wouldn¡¯t want to get closer if they found a burningmp flying in the sky.

    Antern floating and moving in the air felt like a ghost movie. However, all the team members knew it was Xiao Lou¡¯s location and they just followed thentern.

    Xiao Lou was carried in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s arms and they jumped lightly the entire way without encountering any obstacles.

    The city had entered winter and the temperature dropped sharply tonight. As everyone was walking, it started snowing. Under the illumination of the street lights, the snowkes fell like white goose feathers. The low temperature made it difficult for the snowkes to melt and a white nket quickly formed on the ground.

    After leaving the city centre, traffic congestion eased slightly and some vehicles appeared on the road. However,pared to the usual traffic, the number of vehicles on the streets tonight were sharply reduced and the speed had also skyrocketed. Private cars were driven like they were sports cars. Obviously, citizens learned from the Inte that there were many crazy people in the central area and they were madly escaping.

    There were only five minutes of stealth time so Yu Hanjiang¡¯s group of eight used various discement cards to hurry up.

    During the time when Yu Hanjiang checked the information in the afternoon, he took a pen and paper from Old Mo¡¯s office to draw a rough map of the city. He looked at it while moving. He led the way and everyone wouldn¡¯t get lost in the strange city.

    By the end of the invisibility time, everyone arrived by the edge of a bridge.

    This was a bridge spanning over one kilometre and it connected the city centre and the east district. It was one of the icondmarks of the city and was spectacrly built. There were constantly changing colours on the bridge. There were also sidewalks and a one metre wide rubber trace built along both sides of the river. Usually, this was a good ce for citizens to run and exercise.

    However, at this moment, no figures were visible on the bridge or the riverside. There were only asionally a few private cars driving quickly across the bridge.

    There wasn¡¯t the effect of the invisibility cloak and Ye Qi felt the cold wind and snow. He rubbed his hands, arranged his hat and down jacket and also put on gloves and a mask. Only a pair of dark and clear eyes were shown as he looked at Yu Hanjiang and asked, ¡°I remember this bridge on the map. After passing this bridge, we should be in the east district, right?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and stared at the other side of the bridge. He responded in a low voice, ¡°In theory, the number of bugs in the east district should be rtively small but we can¡¯t be careless. The 30 minutes of invisibility time have passed and the bugs can see us. From now on, we must all be careful.¡±

    He turned to look at his teammates and quickly arranged them. ¡°The discement cards have a time limit. We will now start to act in formation. I will be at the front with Xiao Lou. Chief Shao and Old Mo are behind us and are responsible for the left and right wings to ensure we aren¡¯t attacked from the sides.

    ¡°Ye Qi, Liu Qiao, the two of you watch the air in case of bugs pouncing from buildings.

    ¡°Long Sen, Teacher Qu, the two of you are responsible for the rear. Pay attention behind you and don¡¯t be tracked by any bugs.¡±

    Group Leader Yu¡¯s words were organized and everyone quickly adjusted the formation in ordance with his instructions.

    Eight people stood in four rows and two columns to open the way while protecting the rear, sides and above. The entire team had to be protected without any dead corners. Otherwise, if a bug got through and attacked then it would be trouble!

    Yu Hanjiang urged again, ¡°Hold the important cards in your hands. We shouldn¡¯t fight with the bugs head on. If we encounter arge group of bugs in the east of the city, we will immediately use the group control skills and run to find a base first.¡±

    Everyone nodded to show their understanding and quickly sorted out their card packs. They held all the avable attack, control and discement cards in their hands so they could be activated at any time.

    Yu Hanjiang simply waved his hand. ¡°Start!¡±

    The light footwork skill would experience a cooldown afternding while Long Sen and Qu Wanyue¡¯s Long Jump also had a time limit. Ye Qi¡¯s teleportation card lost durability and this would be refreshed after a day. For the next journey, they couldn¡¯t move with the help of the discement cards. In order to avoid any teammates falling behind, Yu Hanjiang decided to walk together.

    It was 10 o¡¯clock in the evening and the eight people lined up to move quickly through the snowy night. The snow on the road was high enough to cover their ankles and it seemed to bury the entire city.

    After this heavy snowfall, the reproduction speed of the bugs would further increase. After all, they liked the cold, heavy snowfall and drop in temperature. Such a cold city of ice and snow was particrly suitable for their survival. In addition, the lives of humans would be more difficult once water, electricity and heating was cut off.

    They passed the one kilometre bridge quickly and soon came to the boundary of the east district.

    There were still many high-rise buildings in the area near the bridge. The further they went east, the more they could feel that the buildings were getting lower. It was just that they were walkingte at night on a snowy day in winter. They might have prepared well in advance but the thick cardigan and down jackets didn¡¯t stop them from being frozen and numb.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help eximing, ¡°This is really a survival secret room. The bugs are already difficult to deal with and it is actually snowing!¡±

    Most of the discement cards had a time limit and it was obviously impossible to use it the entire time to move around the city. If a challenger team wanted to take advantage of tonight to find a new base, they had to brave the snow on foot.

    Walking in snow for a kilometre or two wasn¡¯t difficult but once it was eight or ten kilometres, everyone¡¯s legs and feet would be frozen and numb.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s physical strength was good. Walking a few kilometres during the police academy was a daily task so this wasn¡¯t tiring at all. However, the rest of the team hadn¡¯t received professional training. He turned to the side and saw that Xiao Lou¡¯s face was red with cold. The snowkes on his eyshes were about to freeze. Yu Hanjiang frowned and gently helped Xiao Lou pat the snow off his shoulder. ¡°We can¡¯t walk the entire way. We should see what type of transportation we can find while walking.¡±

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°If someone in the city centre was infected and mutated on the way to the east district, perhaps they abandoned their car and left.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, we will take the main road and perhaps we can find a car.¡±

    The area of the east district was huge. Without the help of the discement card, they might not find a suitable base even walking all night. Instead, they would be eight snowmen. It could really save them a lot of trouble if they found a car.

    He was just thinking this when Long Sen called out behind him, ¡°Look over there!¡±

    The group immediately looked back and followed his gaze.

    There was a bus stop opposite the bridge. At this time, a busmon in urban areas drove from the direction of the city centre. On a snowy night, the streets were deserted. Now a bus suddenly appeared and there were a few people sitting on it. This scene made everyone feel a bit weird.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke in a deep voice. ¡°The people on the bus aren¡¯t quite right.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at the bus. Through the window, he could see that the lights were on and the people sitting down were looking at their phones. They looked like normal people. He asked doubtfully, ¡°Are they infected?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°It is very likely. The bus came from the direction of the city centre and we also came from there. We didn¡¯t meet anyone along the way. Due to the heavy snow and the outbreak of an unknown infectious disease in the urban area, the citizens wouldn¡¯t dare go on the streets.¡±

    Liu Qiao touched her chin and mused. ¡°I always feel that this bus is very familiar?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang gazed at the license te number. ¡°We were passing by the overpass when the infection broke out today. We saw a passenger inside a bus under the overpass being bitten. The bus was No. 301.¡±

    Everyone looked carefully at the number of the bus. It was No. 301!

    The team members really admired Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ability to remember details.

    The bus that was clearly in the city centre and had the passengers bitten suddenly appeared in the east of the city. This gave everyone a chill.

    Ye Qi looked shocked. ¡°Look, those in the bus are ying with their phones. Can the bugs y with mobile phones?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Could the bugs y with mobile phones? If so, were these bugs advanced? Everyone nced at each other.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s sharp eyes swept across the passengers in the bus. ¡°There are 20 of them. Run or fight?¡±

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath. As a result, a cold wind mixed with snowkes blew at him and he sneezed several times in a row. Yu Hanjiang looked at him with worry. ¡°Do you have a cold?¡±¡¯

    Xiao Lou rubbed his nose. ¡°Yes, it is a bit of a cold. Then we will steal this bus with the bugs right?¡±

    The teammates walking in the snow saw the snow falling above them and nodded in agreement. It was too much for these bugs to drive around in a bus.

    Yu Hanjiang simply made a decision. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do it!¡±

    Stealing a bus from the bugs¡­ it sounded crazy. However, they won eight against 50 in the supermarket. Now there were only 20 bugs on the bus. It should be possible?

    Ye Qi was excited. ¡°All my control skills are avable.¡±

    Long Sen and Old Mo also reported on the situation of their cards. Yu Hanjiang quickly arranged things. ¡°This group of bugs is likely to consist of high level bugs. They can actually y mobile games and pretend to be normal people. After boarding, Ye Qi will use a group control and Long Sen¡¯s Badminton card will connect with the control. Liu Qiao, Teacher Qu, Chief Shao and Xiao Lou are responsible for getting the bugs off the bus. Old Mo will drive and I will be at the rear burning them.¡±

    Burning them in the bus meant burning the bus along with them. Thus, they had to get the bugs off the bus and then wipe them out.

    Xiao Lou gazed at Yu Hanjiang with worry. ¡°You will be at the back alone?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang gently pressed a hand against Xiao Lou¡¯s shoulder and whispered, ¡°Rx, I won¡¯t let myself have an ident.¡±

    Since he was so confident, Xiao Lou believed in his decision. The eight people quickly ran to the bus stop to stop the bus. They thought it was necessary to use control skills to stop it. As a result, the bus actually stopped and the middle-aged driver smiled politely at them. ¡°Please insert your coins. It is 200 gold coins for the whole journey.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Buddy, your performance is simply worthy of being the movie emperor of the bugs!

 Chapter 209: Doomsday Escape 15

    If it wasn¡¯t for Yu Hanjiang clearly remembering the number of the 301 bus, everyone might¡¯ve questioned their judgment and thought this was really just a night bus. After all, no one believed that a bug could drive a bus.

    Maybe they had learned to imitate human actions after evolution? This group of bugs had a really powerful imitation ability. They should be the vanguard team sent to the east of the city.

    Ye Qi, Xiao Lou and the others got on the bus and their eyes quickly swept through the vehicle. Everyone was looking down at their phones. However, a young man¡¯s phone screen wasn¡¯t bright. It had probably run out of battery. Although he was pretending to be a human, he pressed the volume button for a long time but couldn¡¯t turn on the phone. After bing aware of Xiao Lou¡¯s gaze, the man put his phone back into his pocket calmly and looked sideways out the window.

    The bus was very cold. There was no heating. Obviously, the bugs still liked the cold. These bugs pretended to be normal humans and drove around the city on a snowy night. After leading humans onto the bus, what would happen to the humans? They were surrounded by 20 bugs and could only be infected.

    In the front row, Old Mo stayed in the spot to get on the bus so that his teammates could control the driver and grab the bus at any time. Ye Qi, Liu Qiao, Qu Wanyue, Long Sen and Shao Qingge all entered the carriage of the bus.

    The driver nced at Yu Hanjiang, who was left outside the bus as if wondering why this person wasn¡¯ting up. Yu Hanjiang used his acting skills and waved toward Xiao Lou. ¡°Goodbye, I won¡¯t send you any further.¡±

    Xiao Lou waved his hand. ¡°Okay, I¡¯lle back.¡± Then he looked at the driver. ¡°He won¡¯t get on the bus. You can close the door.¡±

    To everyone¡¯s surprise, the driver closed the front door but opened the back door. Two women got off the bus and walked towards Yu Hanjiang. The driver smiled and started the bus.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart tensed up and he immediately said to Yu Hanjiang in his mind, ¡°Be careful, they must be patrolling the city to find any fish that escaped the. They will never let any normal humans go. Two of them are looking for you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s calm voice filled his mind. ¡°Rx, I can handle it. Once the bus turns the corner, act immediately!¡±

    In front of the street was a corner and the driver slowly turned around it. The speed of the bus was so slow. The bug in the driver¡¯s body should¡¯ve just learned driving skills. As he turned, he almost hit a street light. Xiao Lou looked at Ye Qi and Ye Qi immediately pulled out his Erhu card.

    Two Springs Reflecting the Moon. The deste music yed and the bugs in the bus instantly fell into a lethargic state.

    Old Mo¡¯s eyes were fast. Two Springs Reflecting the Moon only had a group control time of three seconds. He was standing at the front of the bus at this time. The moment the erhu yed, he rushed directly to the driver¡¯s seat, pushed open the door of the driver¡¯s seat and kicked the bug driver down. He grabbed control of the bus and mmed the door shut!

    The driver woke up and realized that the bus had been stolen. He immediately crawled on the ground to give chase. The next moment, a bullet broke through the air.

    <em>Bang!</em>

    Yu Hanjiang used the glock 17 handgun and his marksmanship was incredibly urate. The driver had only crawled one metre when he was hit with a headshot! The bugs in his body crawled out to find a partner but they couldn¡¯t receive a signal at all. It was because the two women just now were dead.

    After they followed Yu Hanjiang, they thought they wouldunch a surprise attack. Unexpectedly, Yu Hanjiang turned back around and fired two shots, shooting the two people directly to the ground. Then he burned the bugs to ashes before they could react!

    At this time, the bus. Old Mo stopped the bus and opened the back door.

    The carriage was a mess. After the bugs woke up, they rushed fiercely to bite Ye Qi. As a result, Ye Qi¡¯s flute blew and they couldn¡¯t control their dizziness. Liu Qiao and Qu Wanyue took this opportunity to throw them out.

    Xiao Lou threw the Bnce to control the bugs in the second half of the carriage. They were stuck there for five minutes. In the middle of the carriage, Ye Qi and Long Sen coordinated the control. Liu Qiao, Qu Wanyue and Chief Shao took turns kicking them down one by one.

    The bugs who rolled down the back door encountered Yu Hanjiang¡¯s headshot. Come down and get killed instantly. The teammates cleaned the bus quickly but Yu Hanjiang¡¯s marksmanship was faster. Immediately after the kill, he started the fire to prevent the bugs from having the opportunity to merge and upgrade. In the blink of an eye, more than half the bugs were dealt with.

    Yu Hanjiang stood under a street light and fired precisely with the gun in his hand. Every time the bugs rolled off the car, it was a headshot. This made Xiao Lou feel admiration. Just then, Long Sen yelled, ¡°Professor Xiao, be careful!¡±

    It turned out that Ye Qi and Long Sen¡¯s control skills were interrupted. After all, Long Sen¡¯s Badminton required hitting the target and Ye Qi¡¯s flute also had a cooldown time. Long Sen wanted to use Badminton to hit the little girl sitting in the middle. As a result, she was extremely flexible. She jumped violently over the shuttlecock and climbed directly to the roof of the bus!

    A bug¡¯s climbing ability was very strong. In the blink of an eye, she climbed above Xiao Lou and was extending her ws to attack Xiao Lou¡¯s head. Long Sen screamed loudly and the others were pale as they all looked back at Xiao Lou.

    Just then, a man in an ancient costume appeared in the bus. He wore a ck robe and had a handsome face. He swung the long sword in his hand and¡ª A white sword light shed and the little girl¡¯s head was cut off by him!

    The team members, ¡°?????¡±

    Xiao Lou was stunned. ¡°Xiao Yu?¡±

    Xiao Yu¡¯s trigger mechanism was unclear. Xiao Lou had encountered danger previously but Xiao Yu never came out. Now he suddenly came out to protect his older brother. Was the crisis deadly enough?

    Everyone recognized Xiao Yu and understood what was going on. Xiao Yu obviously didn¡¯t know the identity of a bug and directly cut off the head. The little girl¡¯s head rolled to the foot of an adult man and the parasitic bugs immediately started to merge with each other.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face was white. ¡°Oops, they¡¯re upgrading¡­¡±

    Ye Qi cried out nervously, ¡°My flute still has a five seconds cooldown!¡±

    It was hard for Long Sen¡¯s Badminton to hit an upgraded bug. Xiao Lou made a decision instantly and summoned Liu Yong without hesitation to use a skill. The upgraded bug had just climbed to the roof to attack the group. As a result, it was forced to return due to Xiao Lou¡¯s control skill. The targets designated by Xiao Lou were the upgrade bug and another bug nearby.

    The bug who had climbed to the roof stopped suddenly, turned around and grabbed the bug sitting near him. The two bugs held hands tightly and tears fell from the scarlet eyes.

    The two bugs, ¡°?????¡±

    Why was their body out of control? Why were they weeping while holding theirpanion¡¯s ws? The team saw this scene and didn¡¯t know if they shouldugh or cry. Professor Xiao¡¯s wonderful card control was effective against the bugs.

    Fortunately, Xiao Lou¡¯s response was fast enough and the sudden crisis was smoothly resolved by him. The two bugs holding hands and crying were pushed off the bus by Liu Qiao and Qu Wanyue. They were still holding hands as they rolled and there was no way to separate. They stared at each other, their eyes almost bleeding.

    Yu Hanjiang fired two shots and sent them directly to Heaven.

    Ye Qi¡¯s flute cooldown time finished and the bug group controlled by Bnce were also controlled by Long Sen. Liu Qiao, Qu Wanyue and Shao Qingge endured their nausea and pushed them out the window at Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang happened to be holding Xiao Lou¡¯s medicine box. He fired with one hand while the other hand sshed alcohol to ignite all the bugs. Thanks to everyone¡¯s cooperation, Yu Hanjiang burned the elite bugs within 10 minutes!

    There were charred corpses everywhere on the road. In order to prevent the fire from spreading to the bus, Yu Hanjiang shouted, ¡°Old Mo, drive!¡±

    Mo Xuemin started the bus and stepped on the elerator with his right foot. Yu Hanjiang ran forward and jumped up to grasp the door. Old Mo immediately closed the back door. The bus rushed out of the fire like an arrow released from the bowstring!

    There were only eight of them left in the bus as well as Xiao Yu, who was next to Xiao Lou. Everyone was frightened as they recalled the process of grabbing the bus from the bugs just now. Ye Qi sighed. ¡°Fortunately, Xiao Yu came out or Professor Xiao was almost scratched by the flexible bug!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang heard this and immediately looked at Xiao Lou with worry. ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not injured.¡±

    Shao Qingge spoke thoughtfully, ¡°I remember that Xiao Yu¡¯s card skill is a passive room. It said that in extremely dangerous situations, he will consciouslye out to protect his brother. Have you found that when Group Leader Yu is beside Professor Xiao, even if Professor Xiao is in danger, Xiao Yu neveres out? However, when Group Leader Yu is away, hees out.¡±

    Everyone thought about it carefully. Previously, there were bugs whounched a sudden attack at Xiao Lou in the supermarket but Xiao Yu hadn¡¯t responded. It was the same situation on the bus so why had Xiao Yue out?¡±

    Ye Qi was puzzled. ¡°Why is it like this? Is the probability of the card random?¡±

    Shao Qingge made a smile that wasn¡¯t a smile. ¡°It isn¡¯t random probability. It is rted to Professor Xiao¡¯s state of mind. If Professor Xiao feels he is in danger and unable to cope then Xiao Yu wille out to protect his older brother. If Professor Xiao isn¡¯t very nervous then he won¡¯te out.¡±

    Ye Qi suddenly realized. ¡°It makes sense! Professor Xiao was attacked previously but his heart actually wasn¡¯t nervous due to Group Leader Yu. Therefore, Xiao Yu judged his brother wasn¡¯t in extreme danger and didn¡¯te out. Just now, Group Leader Yu wasn¡¯t around and there was no one to protect Professor Xiao. Professor Xiao should¡¯ve been very nervous when the bug attacked and he secreted strong hormones. Then Xiao Yu came out, right?¡±

    Liu Qiao added, ¡°¡­Adrenaline.¡±

    Ye Qi eximed, ¡°Yes, yes! That¡¯s what I mean.

    Xiao Lou listened to their careful analysis and couldn¡¯t help his cheeks bing hot.

    Really¡­ what a big truth!

    Xiao Lou was at ease when Yu Hanjiang was around. No matter how big the danger, he wouldn¡¯t be nervous. Perhaps he subconsciously thought that Yu Hanjiang could handle all crises? Therefore, Xiao Yu¡¯s passive skill to protect his brother wasn¡¯t needed.

    However, just now, Yu Hanjiang wasn¡¯t around. As Ye Qi said, when the bug on the roof suddenly fell down, Xiao Lou¡¯s adrenaline soared and his heart was about to stop. Xiao Yu judged that his brother was in extreme danger and came out with a sword to cut off the head of the bug.

    This led to the upgrade of the bug but Xiao Yu couldn¡¯t be med. He didn¡¯t know what a bug was. Fortunately, his appearance gave Xiao Lou some buffer time and he sessfully used Liu Yong¡¯s control skill to lift the crisis.

    The team members straightened out what happened in the scene just now and showed expressions of sudden enlightenment.

    It turned out that Xiao Yu¡¯s appearance was rted to Xiao Lou¡¯s own consciousness. Once Xiao Lou felt the danger was difficult to cope with, his brother woulde out to protect him. If Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t afraid then his brother wouldn¡¯te out.

    Xiao Lou realized that he had a strong sense of dependence on Yu Hanjiang. The two of them were connected with the heart channel and Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t think much. Thus, he quickly changed the subject. ¡°Cough, we just stole the bus so we don¡¯t have to walk in the snow.¡±

    Old Mo spoke from where he was driving the bus. ¡°The fuel tank for the bus is fuel. We can still move for hundreds of kilometers and take advantage of the snow. How about we drive a bit further and find a remote ce to settle down?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Just do it. I¡¯ll give you the map.¡±

    He stepped forward and handed the map to Old Mo. Then he turned around and looked at everyone. ¡°Sit and avoid the blood on the ground.¡±

    The other bugs were burned outside the bus but some blood flowed from the bug cut by Xiao Yu. Xiao Lou cut a piece of white silk to cover the blood. The team members were tired from the long day and they looked for seats while avoiding the blood.

    There were many seats on the bus. Apart from the couple Long Sen and Qu Wanyue sitting next to each other, everyone else sat in their own row. Xiao Lou sat at the back and Yu Hanjiang walked past all the empty seats to sit with Xiao Lou.

    Shao Qingge looked back at Xiao Lou with a smile.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face was slightly red and his heart was a bit nervous. He couldn¡¯t help gripping his fingers.

    At this moment, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice entered his mind. ¡°Was it dangerous just now? Xiao Yu was actually forced out.¡±

    Xiao Lou pretended to be calm. ¡°It¡¯s okay. It was just an ident and I will be more carefulter.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang held Xiao Lou¡¯s hand gently and patted the back infort. He whispered, ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t think enough. Fortunately, you are fine.¡±

    Outside the window, heavy snow flew and the cold wind blew.¡¯

    Old Mo had turned on the heating in the bus and the temperature slowly rose. Blood gradually returned to everyone¡¯s frozen faces. In the back row of the bus, Yu Hanjiang kept holding Xiao Lou¡¯s hand where their teammates couldn¡¯t see.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s cheeks were hot and he couldn¡¯t help thinking, ¡®Is it right for two big men to hold hands like this?¡¯

    He forgot about Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings and his thought was passed onto Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°Do you hate it?¡±

    Xiao Lou froze. ¡°What?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at him with gentle eyes. ¡°Do you hate me holding your hand like this?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s breathing was blocked and he instantly lowered his head. ¡°¡­No.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang heard Xiao Lou say he didn¡¯t hate it and simply pulled the other person¡¯s hand, interlocking their fingers together.

    The slender fingers prated the gaps in the fingers one by one and he held on tightly.

    In the wind and snow, the 301 bus carrying eight people drove.

    The temperature outside was terribly low but Xiao Lou felt extremely hot, like his body was going to burn. The intimate gesture of interlocking fingers was too ambiguous for someone with zero love experience.

    Xiao Lou heard the sound of his heart beating violently. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heartbeat was also very fast and his palm was slightly sweating.

    The two people¡¯s minds were a mess so Xiao Lou simply cut off Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings so they wouldn¡¯t affect each other.

    Shao Qingge sat in the front row and saw this scene from the reflection in the mirror. He chuckled and touched his nose. He thought that these two guys were obviously in their first love. They were so inexperienced and clumsy. They didn¡¯t know the other person liked them and were still testing each other carefully.

    Such pure feelings really made him envious.

 Chapter 210: Doomsday Escape 16

    Old Mo drove the bus in the wind and the snow. They went all the way east ording to the map. It was nearly midnight when they finally reached the easternmost part of the city.

    It was full of low-rise factories and warehouses. Many of the street lights were broken and the light was dim. The geographical location was remote and there were almost no shopping malls or residential areas. It looked particrly deste at night.

    Yu Hanjiang had been looking out the window. He found a low factor building on therge open space in front and whispered, ¡°Old Mo, stop.¡±

    Old Mo found a ce to slowly stop the bus. He looked through the driver¡¯s window outside and asked, ¡°Group Leader Yu, are you nning to use this space as the base?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang let go of Xiao Lou¡¯s hand, nced at Xiao Lou and got up. ¡°You stay on the bus. I will go down and see.¡±

    He got off the back door, took out antern for light and flew to the top of the factory with the copied light footwork card to look around. The ground was covered with snow. There were no footprints in the whiteness, no footprints left by any living creatures.

    Even if the bugs crawled quickly, they would definitely leave traces on the ground. There were no traces which proved that it should be safe. Yu Hanjiang returned to the bus and exined softly, ¡°We have reached the most remote area of the city. This factory building should be a logisticspany or the warehouse of a farmer¡¯s market. There are no footprints nearby. It is obvious that no one has been here since it started snowing tonight.¡±

    The team gathered by the window to look out. The factory area was veryrge. It was a t building and this t building was more convenient for them to stay in and escape. After all, they would suffer due to the bugs¡¯ climbing ability. It was easy to be attacked from the air if there were high-rise buildings.

    Yu Hanjiang simply made a decision. ¡°We will stay here. It iste. We will settle down to rest and talk tomorrow.¡±

    No one had any objections to Group Leader Yu¡¯s decision and immediately got off the bus with their school bags.

    Old Mo locked the door and everyone lined up to follow Yu Hanjiang to the factory door.

    The door was locked and it was from the inside.

    Yu Hanjiang lowered his voice. ¡°There are people inside. Everyone, be careful.¡±

    He waved his hand to signal for his teammates to retreat. He followed up by having Xiao Lou cut a slender ring into a wire. He inserted the wire into the door slot and moved it a few times before the door actually opened.

    The team members stared at Group Leader Yu with disbelief. They hadn¡¯t expected him to actually use a wire to unlock a door!

    Yu Hanjiang made a ¡®shh¡¯ gesture and opened the door. He carried thentern in front to illuminate the way for everyone. Everyone consciously arranged themselves in rows of two. They paid attention to the air, the sides and behind them.

    In the empty factory building, everyone¡¯s footsteps were heard. The door was locked from the inside so there must be someone in here. This made everyone unable to rx their vignce.

    The eight people were keenly observing their surroundings as they walked deeper into the factory. They walked for a long time but didn¡¯t even find a ghost in the factory. How was the door locked? Everyone was puzzled. As a result, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes narrowed and he suddenly kicked over a box next to him. He red sharply at the back of the box and called out, ¡°Who is it? Come out!¡±

    His low voice echoed in the warehouse. Behind the box, a figure shook with fear. Under the light of thentern, the dark shadow seemed to be trembling. Ye Qi instantly pulled out his flute, prepared to y the flute if the man attacked everyone.

    To their surprise, the man didn¡¯t intend to attack. He came out from behind the box with his hands raised in the air in a ¡®surrender¡¯ gesture. He shook as he cried out, ¡°D-Don¡¯t kill me! I¡¯m just the security guard on duty!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned at him.

    This person was around 45 years old and was wearing a very old green army cotton jacket. His beard hadn¡¯t been shaved for a few days and he looked a bit decadent. He raised his arms and moved slowly toward the crows. ¡°This warehouse contains fresh vegetables and fruits shipped from other ces. There are no valuables. Take them if you want them. Just don¡¯t kill me. I didn¡¯t see anything!¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It seemed that the security guard was treating them as robbers.

    This security guard might not look suspicious on the surface but after all, the bugs could disguise themselves and a wary heart was indispensable. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes swept over the area and he found a hemp rope tied to a box. He tightly tied up the man¡¯s hands and feet and whispered, ¡°We won¡¯t kill you but please answer some questions.¡±

    The man nodded constantly. ¡°I will say it! You ask.¡±

    ¡°Are you usually alone in this warehouse? How many people wille up to pick up the goods? Whichpany does it belong to?¡±

    The man shivered in fear because of Yu Hanjiang and hurriedly replied, ¡°This is the warehouse of the Hua¡¯an Logistics Company. It stores fresh fruit and vegetables. Every morning at 6 o¡¯clock, someone will arrive to get the goods from the warehouse and sell them to major supermarkets and farmer¡¯s markets in the city. At night, someone will deliver goods from other ces and store them here.¡±

    It was no wonder why the temperature of the warehouse was low. They seemed to be afraid of the vegetables and fruits rotting so there was no heating.

    The man continued. ¡°I-I am a security guard here and I am only responsible for guarding the warehouse. I open the door on time every morning and lock the door at night. My sry is very low. You can take anything you want. Just don¡¯t kill me¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou and the other person nodded. He obviously felt that this person¡¯s words were credible.

    Xiao Lou went to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s side and spoke warmly to the security guard. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, we aren¡¯t thieves. There was just too much snow and we wanted to find a ce to avoid it. Do you know what happened in the city centre today?¡±

    The man was confused. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the city centre? I¡¯ve been sleeping in the duty room since this afternoon¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°Someone in the city centre went crazy and is biting people everywhere. Is there no such biting madman on the east side of the city?¡±

    The man shook his head. ¡°No, there were several trucks that came to the warehouse this morning to pick up goods. Everyone was still talking andughing. They were talking about the recent price increase for fruit. If they have no money in the future then they might not be able to eat apples¡­ right, normally there will be a few vehicles delivering goods to the warehouse at 8 p.m. but they haven¡¯t been here tonight. I was surprised.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spected. ¡°It seems that the outbreak hasn¡¯t affected the east district yet?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°It might be because there are too few people here. The infected people on the first day are all in the city centre. The delivery drivers are either stuck on the road or infected.¡±

    The security guard stared nkly at everyone. ¡°What infection?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t intend to exin this matter to the security guard in detail. Besides, the guard might not understand even if he exined it. Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°You continue to sleep. We are going to stay here for a few days.¡±

    ¡°Stay?¡± The security guard¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Take things and go away! Someone wille tomorrow to pick up the goods and you will be found. They will definitely call the police and none of you will be able to run away. Then you will be sentenced for robbery!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was calm. ¡°I am the police.¡±

    The security guard, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    On closer examination, the man in front of him was indeed wearing a police uniform.

    The security guard was suddenly speechless.

    Yu Hanjiang took the tied up security guard to the duty room.

    In fact, the security guard had been sleeping in the duty room after locking the door. As a result, the door was opened and a group of people walked in withnterns. He thought he had encountered robbers and immediately ran behind a box to hide.

    However, Yu Hanjiang was experienced. Even if this man hid behind a box without moving, Yu Hanjiang could still find him. After all, humans needed to breathe. The breathing sound he tried to control was obvious to Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang put the security guard in the duty room and warned him, ¡°If you want to live, don¡¯t ask too much and just be obedient.¡±

    The duty room was very narrow and had only one bed. The security guard nodded and sat on the bed in a state of shock.

    Yu Hanjiang closed the door and returned to his teammates.

    ¡°Is he really not infected?¡± Ye Qi asked in a whisper. ¡°Perhaps he is a very powerful bug?¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be. The door is locked from the inside. If the bug wanted to attract people then it wouldn¡¯t lock the door from the inside. Moreover, his eyes didn¡¯t turn red and he didn¡¯t want to attack us. His first reaction when seeing us was to raise his hands and surrender. We are regarded as a group that is breaking in to steal. I think his words are quite credible.¡±

    Ye Qi thought about it and nodded. ¡°Yes, if he is infected then he should go outside and find more humans to bite instead of locking himself in the warehouse alone. It seems that he is just azy security guard sleeping. He doesn¡¯t know anything about what¡¯s happening outside.¡±

    Liu Qiao stated, ¡°Lazily staying in the warehouse indirectly saved his life. He might not have survived if he went out.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang patrolled the warehouse. No traces of other people were found. He was relieved and turned to lock the warehouse door.

    There were many boxes in the warehouse that were all sealed. They had names like ¡®mango¡¯ and ¡®Fuji apples¡¯. Ye Qi took out a knife and poked it into a box. There were many fresh mangoes. He was very excited and eximed, ¡°It is an unexpected harvest. There are so many fruits and we don¡¯t have to eat biscuits every day.¡±

    Shao Qingge picked up a mango to check it. ¡°There seems to be no problem. Can we eat it?¡±

    Xiao Lou warned them, ¡°Don¡¯t eat them. What if food is also a source of infection? We can¡¯t eat things indiscriminately. Don¡¯t forget Endless Seas¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge reluctantly put back the mango. ¡°Yes, I spent a lot of money to buy a lesson. Don¡¯t eat it first. In the morning, we will check it carefully.¡±

    Xiao Lou checked the door. It was almost midnight.

    Once the clock reached 24:00, the floating box in front of everyone refreshed.

    [8 of Spades Doomsday Escape, the next day, 00:00 in the morning]

    [Number of challengers remaining: 344]

    Xiao Lou was surprised. ¡°There are so many challengers in this secret room? It is almost the same as thest World Weekly.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°After all, there are also a lot of bugs.¡±

    A senior contract could amodate up to 15 people. There were more than 300 challenges so if it was 8-10 people like Xiao Lou¡¯s team, the total number might exceed 30 teams.

    Today, they only met two teams in the city centre. The team from Luoying Pavilion and the one from the Eternal Kingdom. What about the other challengers? Everyone thought about this question and Old Mo suggested, ¡°Perhaps the ce where we appeared is different and they appeared in another urban area?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°The outbreak in the central area seems to be the most dangerous. If a challenger team appeared in the east or north of the city on the first day, it wouldn¡¯t be so dangerous. They will be able to find a base but they won¡¯t have as much information as us. Each one has its own pros and cons.¡¯

    Dangerous areas had a lot of information. Appearing in the suburbs meant there was no need to avoid arge number of bugs but these teams might not know the characteristics of the bug or even know that this was a parasitic infection.

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°It seems there are other teams in the east district apart from us.¡±

    The team was silent before Yu Hanjiang told them, ¡°Everyone is tired from the day. Rest and we will talk tomorrow.¡±

    The warehouse had no heating due to the fruits and vegetables. It was a snowy day during winter. Could they lie down directly on the floor?

    Xiao Lou checked his card pack and suggested, ¡°The two person tent card I got earlier can be used. The tentes with a nket and pillows and it is much better than sleeping on the ground. Let¡¯s clean up and two people will share a tent.¡±

    Liu Qiao asked, ¡°Sister Wanyue, can we sleep in one?¡±

    They were the only two girls on the team and Qu Wanyue naturally had to take care of Liu Qiao. Long Sen found Old Mo to be hispanion.

    Ye Qi smiled and walked to Xiao Lou. ¡°Professor Xiao, we¡­¡±

    He hadn¡¯t finished when Yu Hanjiang interrupted, ¡°Ye Qi, you and Chief Shao will sleep in a tent.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled at him. ¡°Why? Are you unhappy?¡±

    Ye Qi scratched his head. ¡°It isn¡¯t that I¡¯m unhappy¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge rubbed his head. ¡°Then don¡¯t talk nonsense. Go and make the bed.¡±

    Ye Qi turned to organize the tent. ¡°Yes, you are the biggest gold master. Who told me to eat and drink your things!¡±

    The two people went into the tent while bickering. Xiao Lou handed his tent card to Yu Hanjiang and Yu Hanjiang cleaned the area to set up the tent.

    The fruits in this warehouse had been transported away inrge quantities this morning. There was no replenishment at night so the interior of the warehouse was quite empty. There was more than enough room to amodate four tents.

    The tent card was very convenient to use and four tents were soon set up. Everyone was very tired. They simply got into the tent and went to sleep.

    Yu Hanjiang used the Night Pearl card to illuminate the tent. Xiao Lou entered the tent. The double tent originally had two nkets and two pillows. However, once he entered, he found that Yu Hanjiang had spread one nket on the ground as a mattress and the other was used as a cover.

    Yu Hanjiang exined, ¡°In winter, the ground is too icy. It will be better toy down ayer.¡±

    This was true but¡­ didn¡¯t it mean the two people would have to share a nket?

    Yu Hanjiang saw Xiao Lou standing still and told him, ¡°It has been a tiring day. Go to sleep.¡±

    Xiao Lou had to take off his shoes and coat. He wore a shirt and a sweater andy down.

    Yu Hanjiangy down next to him in a natural manner and put away the night pearl.

    It was dark around them and Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was thumping.

    The two of them had been husband and wife for half a month in Beacon in Troubled Times. They shared the same bed every night but at that time, the two people didn¡¯t dare rx. Theyy down every day and slept like two statues.

    Xiao Lou continued to pose as a statue. His hands were on his abdomen and hey motionless in the tent.

    He thought Yu Hanjiang would do the same. Unexpectedly, Yu Hanjiang reached out and gently held his hand.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang interlocked his fingers with XIao Lou and nced at Xiao Lou. His voice was low and gentle. ¡°The temperature outside should be 10 degrees below zero. Be careful not to catch a cold. If it is cold, lean on me.¡±

    Xiao Lou was red as he nodded. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m not very cold.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang smiled slightly and gripped XIao Lou¡¯s hand. ¡°Then go to sleep.¡±

    Holding hands to sleep. It felt like they would soon be a real couple. Xiao Lou¡¯s heartbeat elerated but he was tired from the day. He soon felt drowsy and fell asleep. Since he was a child, he had been most afraid of the cold. If there was no heating in winter then he had to turn on an electric nket. The bed had to be warm before he could sleep well.

    It was snowing outside. The floor of the warehouse might be covered with a nket but it was difficult to reduce the cold temperature of the cement floor. In the middle of the night, Xiao Lou shivered with cold. He automatically looked for a heat source and unknowingly leaned against Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang noticed that Xiao Lou had slowly moved to his side, his body curled up because of the cold. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart softened and he took the initiative to reach out and gently hug Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou felt the heat of this man. He was surrounded by warmth and felt extremelyfortable. He simplyy quietly in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s arms. He even took the initiative to hug Yu Hanjiang¡¯s waist,pletely regarding Yu Hanjiang as a ¡®heated pillow.¡¯ His head was also leaning on this man¡¯s chest.

    Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t help smiling.

    Xiao Lou looked for heat and automatically moved to his arms. This was very cute to Yu Hanjiang. Unexpectedly, Professor Xiao¡¯s body was soft to hold and it felt so good. He didn¡¯t want to let go.

    Yu Hanjiang adjusted the posture of his arms so Xiao Lou could sleep morefortably in them.

    He should thank this snowy day for letting him discover a secret. It turned out that Xiao Lou was afraid of the cold.

    It didn¡¯t matter if Xiao Lou was afraid of the cold. His embrace was open to Xiao Lou at any time.

 Chapter 211: Doomsday Escape 17

    In the Beacon in Troubled Times secret room, it had been autumn and it wasn¡¯t cold when the two people slept in the same bedroom. This was why Xiao Lou could control himself to sleep like a statue.

    Now it was winter. Under the heavy snow, Xiao Lou followed the instinctive reaction to find a heat source in his sleep. He hugged the big heater that was Yu Hanjiang tightly so that when he woke up the next morning, he found himself in this man¡¯s arms. He looked up and met a deep gaze.

    Xiao Lou realized he had been sleeping in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s arms all night and blushed as he hurriedly sat up, rubbing his temple. ¡°Sorry, I¡­ maybe it was too coldst night¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was hoarse but very gentle. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. It is reallyfortable to hold each other when the weather is cold. You can continue to hold me to sleep in the future.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Did he have to speak so bluntly? Xiao Lou was too embarrassed to look into Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes. He simply blushed and went outside.

    The team members had already woken up. He and Yu Hanjiang had slept thetest. It was probably because he slept in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s arms and was warm and at ease. Xiao Lou had actually overslept today. He usually got up at 7 o¡¯clock but it was 8 o¡¯clock today.

    Xiao Lou met Shao Qingge¡¯s smiling face and his ears turned red. He ignored this person and turned to find Ye Qi. He walked to the door of the warehouse to see Ye Qi piling up a snowman early in the morning. Ye Qi drew eyes and a nose on the snowman¡¯s face while eximing excitedly, ¡°I have never seen such arge amount of snow. It is so thick that it is almost to my knees.¡±

    It had snowed all ofst night and the snow outside was high enough to reach their knees. The buildings in the distance were covered with heavy snow and the surroundings were silent. The entire world was wrapped in silver. It had turned into a city of ice and snow overnight.

    By this time, the snow had stopped but there was no sunshine. Such thick snow might not melt for a few days. The snow would affect the challengers¡¯ actions. The bugs liked the cold and were good at climbing. The challengers¡¯ chances of victory would be greatly reduced if they fought with the bugs in the snow.

    Ye Qi had a good time making the snowman. Then he turned his head and said, ¡°Professor Xiao, I have investigated early in the morning. There are no signs of anyone within a kilometer of this area. I feel that the bugs troop hasn¡¯t attacked the east of the city yet.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had alsoe over. He frowned slightly as he saw the world wrapped in silver and said, ¡°The ce we found is the most remote warehouse in the entire city. If the bug armyes here then it proves the entire city has almost fallen.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°The first step in their n should be to upy the central area and then spread out. Last night, the bugs on the bus were probably the vanguard sent to the east of the city to investigate. We killed them so¡­¡±

    Ye Qi scratched his head. ¡°Did we inadvertently do a good thing? The 20 bugs were burned to death and it dyed the infection rate in the east of the city?¡±

    Thinking about it carefully, this was indeed a great possibility. The bus of bugs was the vanguard unit. Their camouge and imitation abilities were on the level of a movie emperor. Unexpectedly, they met this team and Yu Hanjiang remembered the number of the bus and made preparations in advance. He burned the 20 senior bugs to death.

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°In any case, we should be vignt. Even if our spection is correct, we only have two or three days to rest. After the city centre falls, the bugs will soone to the east of the city.¡±

    Last night, all the bugs hade out of their nests to attack the residential area. This scene still made everyone feel terrified.

    If the bug army came to the eastern part of the city then they might face the crisis of fighting 10,000 bugs! At that time, they would be overwhelmed by the huge number of infected people and would have nowhere to move. An escape method had to be thought of in advance.

    A cold wind blew past and threw snow on everyone¡¯s face. They all trembled from the cold wind.

    Yu Hanjiang told them, ¡°Go back to the warehouse to wash up and have breakfast. Then we will think about the next strategy.¡±

    Ye Qi had piled up his snowman under a tree ten metres away from the warehouse. Xiao Lou thought he was just bored but when he saw Ye Qi cing a bug in the snowman after it was finished. ¡°This snowman can be our scout. I can activate the bug at any time. Once something appears nearby, we can hear it even in the depths of the warehouse.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at him with unexpected surprise. ¡°You have some ideas. You hid the bug in the snowman but aren¡¯t you afraid that someone will doubt the snowman?¡±

    Ye Qi smiled. ¡°The snowman I made is too ugly. The average person will think that it was a child who blindly piled it up.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked back at the snowman¡­

    It was really ugly. At least Xiao Ye was self-aware.

    Back at the breakfast, Liu Qiao and Qu Wanyue had already brought out breakfast. The eight people happily ate bread and drank milk. After a night¡¯s rest, everyone had recovered and they were full of energy.

    This was the survival secret room. There might be no crisis for the time being but it wasn¡¯t good to sleep in the warehouse. Yu Hanjiang wanted to n ahead so that they could escape if their temporary base was surrounded by the bugs.

    Thinking of this, he went to the duty room to find the security guard and handed him something to eat. The security guard epted the milk and bread. Then he said, ¡°Can you let me go home? You see, this warehouse has been upied by you. I swear I won¡¯t call the police! It is useless for me to stay here!¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Where is your home?¡±

    ¡°My home is in the south of the city. It is quite far from here.¡±

    Xiao Lou told him helplessly, ¡°Then you can¡¯t go back. The snow on the road is very thick and there is no one to clear it. Vehicles can¡¯t pass through. Can you walk back in the snow?¡±

    The security guard froze. ¡°Cars can¡¯t pass through?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, there are no cars on the street.¡±

    The security guard had an ugly expression. Yu Hanjiang asked him, ¡°Is there a gas station nearby?¡±

    The security guard was silent for a moment before whispering, ¡°There is one that is two kilometres away.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang brought over the map and asked him to mark it on the map. The security guard obediently made the mark for them.

    Old Mo went out to check the bus. After a night of heavy snow, the entire bus was covered with snow. The wheels were buried and he couldn¡¯t drive it at all. He looked at Yu Hanjiang and said, ¡°This bus will be useless if the snow doesn¡¯t melt.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had already expected this result. ¡°It depends on the situation. If the sunes out in the next few days and the snow melts enough to clear the road, we will drive to escape. If it doesn¡¯t then we will use our discement cards.¡±

    Old Mo nodded before wondering, ¡°Group Leader Yu, why are you looking for a gas station? The fuel tank of this bus was full. Last night, we only drove 30 kilometres and there is still 80% left in the fuel tank. There should be enough fuel.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied softly, ¡°I want to go to the gas station to get more gasoline and set up an ambush. Once arge number of bugses to our base, I will directly light up the gasoline to burn them.¡±

    Mo Xuemin was stunned. ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The insecticides didn¡¯t have a strong lethality. Meanwhile, once the gasoline barrels were buried and ignited, there would be a huge explosion. It didn¡¯t matter how many bugs there were. They would all be blown to ashes.

    This was indeed a good way to deal with the bugs.

    After breakfast, Yu Hanjiang left Old Mo, Long Sen, Qu Wanyue and Liu Qiao behind. He took Ye Qi, Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge to move the gasoline. Ye Qi and Shao Qingge each had a teleportation card that could be used to move objects up to 200 kilometres. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were in charge of leading the way while Shao Qingge and Ye Qi followed. The four people moved quickly and in the blink of an eye, they arrived at the gas station marked on the map.

    The gas station was empty. Obviously, no one had gone to work today.

    Yu Hanjiang found some empty barrels in the convenience store next to the gas station. He filled it with gasoline and handed it to Ye Qi and Shao Qingge. The four people carried it back and forth several times and moved arge amount of gasoline back to the warehouse.

    Yu Hanjiang returned to the warehouse and set up traps with everyone.

    They ced all the gasoline barrels around the warehouse and set up the first barrier of the base. In the future, if arge number of bugs came then they could directly burn the gasoline and draw a barrier made of raging fire so that the subsequent bugs didn¡¯t dare approach.

    Following this, Yu Hanjiang found a shovel and dug at the ground behind the warehouse.

    Ye Qi stared with shock. ¡°Group Leader Yu, are you going to dig a tunnel to escape?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang exined, ¡°The bugs should upy the central area within three days and spread toward the four urban areas in the east, south, west and north. Before theye, it is best to arrange an escape route in advance to prevent being helplessly surrounded by the bugs.

    Ye Qi gave a thumbs up. ¡°This method of digging a tunnel is too awesome!¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Do you want to dig an underground passage alone?¡±

    ¡°I will try to find a drainage pipe in this city. Usually, every city will have an underground pipe system. As long as this underground passage can be opened, we can evacuate at any time through the underground tunnel.¡±

    Ye Qi was worried. ¡°Will there be bugs underground?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°It isn¡¯t clear but it is always possible. We will check in advance.¡±

    The team members had no opinions. They rolled up their sleeves and helped Yu Hanjiang dig at the ground.

    The security guard looked at them with disbelief. ¡°?????¡±

    This group of people suddenly broke into the warehouse in the middle of the night and didn¡¯t steal anything. Instead, they buried gasoline around the warehouse and then dug a hole in the back of the warehouse? What were they doing here? Were they a city construction team?

 Chapter 212: Doomsday Escape 18

    Yu Hanjiang and his teammates dug at the ground behind the warehouse. After digging all morning, they finally dug a hole that connected with the city¡¯s underground pipeline system. The underground pipelines were intricate andplicated so Yu Hanjiang was going to investigate them himself.

    Xiao Lou looked at the dark tunnel in front of him and was worried. ¡°The ground is damp and cold. It is an environment that the bugs love. Will there be bugs inside? If there are bugs, won¡¯t they rush from all sides to surround us? It will be harder for us to escape if we are surrounded by the bugs in a narrow passage.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s words made sense. The underground passes were crisscrossed and it would be really hard if they were surrounded by the bugs. Yu Hanjiang nodded at him. ¡°Your worry is right. That¡¯s why I want to make some arrangements in advance before the bugse to the east district.¡±

    Old Mo was curious. ¡°Group Leader Yu, how do you n to arrange it?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took out a pen and paper and drew a few lines on it. ¡°We dug a hole in the ground that can be used to escape the warehouse. Then find a manhole within five kilometers as an exit. After finding the shortest path, block all the surrounding forked paths.¡±

    He drew an X over multiple lines, leaving only one path from beginning to end.

    Xiao Lou understood immediately and his eyes lit up. ¡°The roads are blocked so even if there are bugs, they can¡¯t surround us.¡± He looked over at Old Mo. ¡°Old Mo, your S-grade card can be used here.¡±

    Old Mo responded, ¡°Yes, marble! I can use it to block the road.¡±

    He took out Marble Brick, thest S-grade card he had drawn from his card pack.

    The advantage of this card was that he could arbitrarilybine and change the shape of the marble. The marble would be built directly into a wall. The wall made of marble was indestructible and even the bugs wouldn¡¯t be able to pass through.

    Old Mo just had to use the marble to seal off all the forks in the underground passage. Then only one passageway would be left from the warehouse entrance to the exit found by Group Leader Yu. This way, there wouldn¡¯t be any bugs interfering with them.

    The entrance near the warehouse would be closely guarded so that no bugs were allowed inside. In this way, their underground evacuation route was equivalent to a closed secret passage that wasn¡¯t affected by the surroundings.

    Ye Qi and the others heard this and sighed. ¡°Once Group Leader Yu takes the lead, we are the most unreasonable underground construction team. Other construction teams open roads while we are responsible for blocking roads.¡±

    Long Sen smiled. ¡°Block all the forks in the road and the bugs can¡¯te. We will be able to evacuate at the fastest speed. This is a good idea!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Everyone should move as quickly as possible.¡±

    Under Yu Hanjiang¡¯s leadership, the team entered the tunnel.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou walked in front. Xiao Lou held the night pearl and his teammates followed.

    The city¡¯s drainage pipeline system was very well built. After going down from the location dug by Yu Hanjiang and walking through a few bends, they met a crossroad. Ye Qi saw the long and narrow passages leading in all directions and grabbed his temple in pain. ¡°I can¡¯t distinguish between east, west, north or south. It is like an undergroundbyrinth!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang firmly pointed to two directions. ¡°This side is the west and this side is the north.¡±

    Ye Qi gave a thumbs up in admiration. ¡°Group Leader Yu, you can still tell the direction despite going in several circles?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang showed the drawing in his hand to everyone. ¡°I¡¯ve been remembering the way.¡±

    Long Sen joked, ¡°A construction team naturally must have a construction route map. Xiao Ye, you are too unprofessional.¡±

    Ye Qi was convinced. ¡°Group Leader Yu is too professional, okay!¡±

    Xiao Lou took a look at Group Leader Yu¡¯s ¡®construction route map.¡¯ Group Leader Yu¡¯s sense of direction was indeed very strong. Xiao Lou had made a few circles underground and couldn¡¯t distinguish southeast from the northwest. Meanwhile, Yu Hanjiang had always been marking the direction on the map so that everyone wouldn¡¯t get lost.

    At the fork in the road, Yu Hanjiang took out the card Four-way Arrow and left an arrow as a mark.

    The sound of water flowing was heard from time to time in the narrow underground passage. There were sounds from drains and sewers and leaking pipes in certain ces. The smell was naturally not very good.

    Yu Hanjiang pointed to a direction in the fork. ¡°Go here and see.¡±

    Everyone followed without hesitation. They walked through several forked roads in a row. Then Yu Hanjiang looked at the drawing and estimated that the distance was enough. He picked a manhole cover and said, ¡°Wait a minute. I will go up to check.¡±

    He flew up with the light footwork card and lifted the manhole cover. The first exit he found led to arge road. There were many low-rise buildings beside the road and a three storey building with the words ¡®Home Expo¡¯ written on them. Obviously, this ce was a furniture and buildings material market.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned, lowered the manhole cover and returned underground.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°No?¡±

    ¡°It isn¡¯t the best choice. Look again.¡±

    Everyone started walking again. This time, Yu Hanjiang found an exit close to a primary school and didn¡¯t hesitate to give it up. The third time Yu Hanjiang lifted the manhole cover, he finally stopped.

    Yu Hanjiang threw the manhole cover aside, jumped up and looked around. Then he told his teammates underground. ¡°It¡¯s okay here.¡± He dropped the white silk down the entrance. ¡°Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao,e up to look.¡±

    Xiao Lou grabbed the white silk and Yu Hanjiang pulled him up with a slight effort.

    Liu Qiao had a light footwork card herself and directly flew up next to Xiao Lou.

    They looked closely and saw dozens of acres of wastnd surrounded by a blue fence. The blue fence had the words ¡®18th construction unit of Bingzhou City¡¯ on it.

    This type ofnd was often found in urban development zones. Developers boughtnd and fenced it off. It wasn¡¯t suitable for construction in winter so construction wouldn¡¯t start until summer where it became warmer.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes swept over the ce. ¡°We are still in the east district. This neighbourhood is very deste and thisnd should bend that the government has just sold. It hasn¡¯t started official development yet. The foundation hasn¡¯t even beenid. There are no residences for the construction team.¡±

    Liu Qiaomented, ¡°It is indeed really empty.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked around and found there were no buildings on thisnd. The view was clear. He nced at Yu Hanjiang and said, ¡°This ce is deserted and the bugs shouldn¡¯t run here. Shall we use it as the exit point?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°It is here. This is the most suitable ce out of the other exits nearby.¡±

    The other team members listening underground to the conversation of the three people were relieved.

    Ye Qi asked, ¡°Group Leader Yu, what is the situation outside? There are no bugs?¡±

    ¡°Rx, the bugs haven¡¯t had time to run here.¡± Yu Hanjiang walked to the hole and looked down at his teammates. ¡°Come up and see. We need to make some arrangements at the exit.¡±

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue¡¯s legs became longer and they directly jumped up. Ye Qi¡¯s teleportation card was only able to move him horizontally, not vertically. Yu Hanjiang quickly pulled him up and everyone stood on the white open space. They all felt that this ce was like a vast snowfield. There were no blind spots and no ces for bugs to hide. There were also few buildings nearby. It was indeed a good ce to escape to.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou and lowered his voice. ¡°What is the furthest monitoring range of the drone that Mr Tang gave you?¡±

    Xiao Lou took out the card. ¡°It can monitor and take photos for 5 kilometres in a straight line.¡±

    Ye Qi heard the conversation and scratched his head doubtfully. ¡°Who is Mr Tang?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked back and smiled. ¡°For this matter, wait until we go back and I will exin it to you in detail.¡±

    Their teammates didn¡¯t know about Brother Jiu and Director Tang yet. It was time for everyone to know.

    Yu Hanjiang nodded at Xiao Lou. ¡°Arrange the drone to monitor the surroundings to ensure we can evacuate from this exit at any time.¡±

    Otherwise, if everyone hurriedly climbed out of the manhole only to find arge number of bugs around¡­

    Wouldn¡¯t they be sheep throwing themselves into the tiger¡¯s mouth?

    Group Leader Yu was really thoughtful about these things. Xiao Lou immediately activated the Drone card and ced the delicate drone on a gpole in the distance. He adjusted the angle and activated the ¡®monitoring¡¯ mode. He checked until the drone¡¯s camera could clearly see the surroundings. Then Xiao Lou fixed the drone in ce.

    This S-grade tool card had two modes, ¡®shooting mode¡¯ that could be remotely controlled at any time to take 15 photos continuously or intermittently and ¡®surveince mode¡¯. This was simr to a real-time surveince camera and could continuously monitor for 30 minutes. Every night at 24:00, the skills would be refreshed.

    The purpose of using the skill just now was to adjust the field of view and angle. Once the evacuation was needed, Xiao Lou would remotely start the monitoring function. For 30 minutes, he would be able to see all the movements of the wastnd through the screen of the Drone card. This would ensure that the end point when evacuating was safe.

    As Xiao Lou set up the drone, his other teammates scouted around using their discement card.

    Everyone walked around the blue fence and found few buildings nearby. Ye Qi actively reported the results. ¡°There are no buildings for several kilometres around us. This piece ofnd is obviously in a remote suburb that the government hasn¡¯t developed yet. The bugs shouldn¡¯t be idle ande here. I think it is safe!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang let go of his worries and waited for Xiao Lou to set up the drone. Then he took his teammates back underground and covered the manhole.

    Yu Hanjiang had walked while drawing a map so they didn¡¯t have to worry about getting lost when returning. Every time they reached a fork in the road, Yu Hanjiang asked Old Mo to block the other paths with the marble, leaving only one road to the warehouse.

    The number of marble bricks avable to Old Mo was limited but the underground passage was very narrow. He erected the walls vertically and only needed five or six at a time to make a wall. He just needed to change the marble ording to the passage and it was more than enough to block several roads.

    Soon, all the roads along the way were blocked and Yu Hanjiang took everyone to the entrance.

    The entrance of the underground passage was behind the warehouse and the exit was located in the middle of the wastnd. The distance from the entrance to the exit was around 3 kilometres. The entire road might be a zigzag but all the forks had been blocked. They didn¡¯t need to worry about being surrounded by bugs from the side. They could quickly evacuate with the discement cards. Yu Hanjiang tried it and found it only took around eight minutes to reach the end.

    Even if some bugs followed them down the tunnel, the bugs were restricted in movement in the narrow passage. The team couldpletely block the road behind them with fire while escaping and iste the chasing soldiers.

    After setting up such an evacuation route, everyone was more confident in clearing the instance. Of course, everyone didn¡¯t want to give up on the warehouse base unless it was ast resort. This back road was just in case.

    They returned to the warehouse and Yu Hanjiang used a fruit box and cardboard to block the hole dug behind the warehouse.

    It was evening by the time they finished all of this.

    Everyone had followed Yu Hanjiang as a construction team and worked all day long. They were all hungry so Xiao Lou suggested that everyone rest and eat.

    The warehouse was spacious and safe. There were many boxes that could be used as fuel for a fire.

    Xiao Lou used the Old Charcoal Seller skill to set a fire. This way, they could boil water and keep warm.

    The security guard saw the ¡®construction team¡¯ return and couldn¡¯t help whispering, ¡°You¡­ are you a secret construction team. Going so far as to secretly dig a tunnel, is it to bury explosives in the ground?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This security guard¡¯s imagination was quite rich. It seemed he really wasn¡¯t parasitized by the bugs.

    He had snacks in his duty room and had already eaten. Seeing everyone cooking noodles, the security guard spoke enthusiastically, ¡°There are fresh vegetables in the warehouse. You can grab some to eat. I will pretend not to see you as long as you spare my life.¡±

    Xiao Lou told him helplessly, ¡°We really didn¡¯te here to steal.¡±

    The security smiled and didn¡¯t speak.

    Yu Hanjiang took the security guard back to the duty room and told him, ¡°It will be really hard for you to live if we let you go now. To tell you the truth, there are many lunatics biting people everywhere. Once bitten, you will also go crazy. Think of this as an infectious disease with no cure.¡±

    The security guard¡¯s face changed. ¡°Infectious disease? My wife and children are at home. No wonder why I can¡¯t reach them on the phone. I want to go back and see. What if something happened to them?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°There are no cars outside. How far can you walk in the snow?¡±

    ¡°Please let me go back. I have to go home to see if my wife and children are okay¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou happened to be following them. He heard this and spoke softly, ¡°Let him go. Life or death is his own choice.¡±

    Concern for loved ones could sometimes ovee reason. He knew that it was dangerous outside but the security guard just wanted to go home to see his wife and children. If they didn¡¯t let this person go back, he would probably regret it even if he survived.

    They had no obligation to save the locals, let alone when it was the other person¡¯s own request.

    Yu Hanjiang cut the ropes binding the security guard. ¡°Go. The infected person¡¯s eyes will turn red. Be careful to avoid them.¡±

    The security guard nodded and walked away quickly.

    Ye Qi was worried. ¡°Won¡¯t he lead people over if we let him go?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied lightly, ¡°This city is about to fall. No one will care that we upied a warehouse. In addition, he is going home to find his wife and child¡­ if he is lucky, he can go back. If he is unlucky, he might be infected halfway.¡±

    Everyone was silent.

    Ye Qi remembered the security guard¡¯s words about how there were many vegetables in this warehouse. He opened a few boxes. Tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, string beans, spinach¡­ all types of vegetables could be seen that made Ye Qi drool.

    Previously, they spent money to buy a lesson in the Spades secret room. Shao Qingge had bought breakfast for everyone that caused them to have diarrhea. These ingredients might look very fresh but no one dared to eat them.

    Ye Qi was still a bit tempted and suggested, ¡°Perhaps we can check them carefully? Clean them and then roast them? Since the bugs are afraid of fire, won¡¯t they be burned to death even if there are bugs in the vegetables?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This was really the perseverance of a foodie.

    Yu Hanjiang decided. ¡°Put on gloves and cut them to examine them carefully.¡±

    Everyone took action and removed a few boxes of vegetables to check inside them. The potatoes and tomatoes were cut to make sure there were no bug eggs. Xiao Lou let out a sigh of relief and opened his mouth. ¡°We were too cautious. The bug parasites mainly rely on blood and they die without blood. These foods should be fine.¡±

    Everyone let go of their worries and Xiao Lou made a wire ring with thepass. Then the team roasted skewered food such as potatoes, melons and other cut vegetables. Xiao Lou took out a packet of salt from his bag. ¡°Put some salt on them or they will be tasteless.¡±

    Ye Qi was moved. ¡°Professor Xiao, aren¡¯t you too careful? You even bought salt?¡¯

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°I took a bag from the supermarket because I thought it might be useful.¡¯

    The team sighed. They had Group Leader Yu when fighting and escaping and Xiao Lou for a home life!

    Every time they went through Spades, it was sometimes thrilling but also sometimes like a vacation in the wilderness. In Liuxi Vige, Group Leader Yu roasted rabbit meat for everyone. This time, they roasted vegetables together.

 Chapter 213: Doomsday Escape 19

    They spend all day digging at the ground and finding a way out. This sumptuous ¡®roasted vegetables meal¡¯ also relieved fatigue. After the meal, there were all types of fresh fruits to eat such as grapefruit, grapes, apples¡­ it was a warehouse of fruits that could be bought in winter.

    This time, they identally upied a warehouse. They were really lucky.

    After eating, Ye Qi remembered that ¡®Mr Tang¡¯ that Group Leader Yu had mentioned and couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°Professor Xiao, what is the situation of Mr Tang that you said you would exin in detail aftering back? How could he give you an S-grade card?¡±

    After thest instance clearance, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou had gone to meet Brother Jiu and Tang Ci. Their teammates only knew that they went out and didn¡¯t know where they had gone.

    Xiao Lou nced at Yu Hanjiang and once the other person agreed, he exined, ¡°Do you remember Chairman Gui Yuanzhang of the Distant Association?¡±

    Ye Qi nodded. ¡°Yes, Old Gui¡¯s brush card is very strong!¡±

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°Mr Tang¡¯s full name is Tang Ci and he is the director of the Intelligence Bureau and one of Old Gui¡¯s teammates. They once formed a very strong team to clear this world and chose J of Clubs as the first secret room in the S-grade difficulty level. The result was that they were almost wiped out in J of Clubs.¡±

    Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t help raising his eyebrows when he heard this. ¡°Isn¡¯t Clubs about ying cards? How could they be wiped out?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang answered in a deep voice, ¡°The S-grade Clubs room isn¡¯t a card or game world. It is a real person confrontation. The challengers will face 10 times the number of hunters. They thought that Clubs was the easiest and chose Clubs first. As a result, their team died in the Clubs room. Only four survived to the end.¡±

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°This includes Old Gui and Tang Ci. In addition, there is Chu Huaying who is the leader of Luoying Pavilion and codenamed Spider Goddess. Thest one is a mysterious character. He is currently undercover in the Hunter¡¯s League and it is inconvenient to say his identity.¡±

    They wouldn¡¯t say anything about Brother Jiu for the time being. Before forming a team, the fewer people who knew that Brother Jiu was undercover, the safer it would be for him. Xiao Lou trusted his teammates but it would be bad if his teammates were controlled by others and leaked the secret.

    The team members nced at each other after hearing Xiao Lou¡¯s words.

    8 of Spades was already very difficult. How horrible was J of Clubs that it could actually wipe out Old Gui¡¯s team? Everyone didn¡¯t dare imagine it.

    Yu Hanjiang stared at his teammates. ¡°The S-grade rooms are really difficult but there is no need to worry. Old Gui and the others are interested in teaming up with us. There will be strong teammates joining us and the hopes of clearing the instance will be greater.¡±

    Ye Qi was excited. ¡°It turned out to be like this! No wonder why Old Gui invited us and gave us a lot of cards. Mr Tang also gave Professor Xiao such a strong S-grade surveince card. They want to help improve our current fighting strength?¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°The drone is just one of them. Mr Tang has many mechanical S-grade cards. We didn¡¯t tell you about this before because we were afraid you would have a fear of the S-grade secret rooms. Now it is time to tell everyone.¡± He paused and looked gently at his teammates. ¡°Theter rooms will be more difficult but the more rooms we pass, the stronger we will be. In addition, there will be strong teammates joining us in the S-grade secret rooms. Everyone shouldn¡¯t worry too much.¡±

    Ye Qi was very optimistic. ¡°I also feel that eight people ying the survival room is very tense. It would be better if more teammates join the S-grade secret rooms.¡±

    Shao Qingge joked, ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll be morefortable lying down to win.¡±

    Ye Qi nced at him. ¡°Gold father, can your Rich and Willfull copy Old Gui¡¯s brush card for me? I am particrly curious about that brush that can make things move in the air. It feels more useful than the control of my musical instruments.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°Since you are calling me gold father, I will make more money and give you a copy.¡±

    Ye Qi was very excited. ¡°Great! We can copy two cards in every secret room as long as we have money. There will be more powerful cards¡­ now I¡¯ve found that the most powerful one is actually Chief Shao¡¯s Rich and Willfull card! ¡±

    Long Sen and the others nodded. ¡°After all, there is money.¡±

    Everyone talked andughed. It soon reached 24:00.

    A prompt appeared on everyone¡¯s floating boxes at the same time.

    [8 of Spades Doomsday Escape, the third day, 00:00 in the morning]

    [Number of challengers remaining: 298]

    Everyone was stunned when they saw this prompt.

    There was a trace of worry in Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes. ¡°I remember that there were 344 people yesterday. Did so many die?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly. ¡°The more than 30 teams of challengers should¡¯ve been scattered to different areas when entering the secret room. The east district we¡¯ve chosen is probably thest ce to be invaded by the bugs so we didn¡¯t encounter danger all day. It isn¡¯t necessarily the case for other people.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°It seems very important to find the right location. At that time, Group Leader Yu read the map and analyzed that the east district is the logistics distribution centre with many low buildings. The poption density here is low and it was the right choice toe here. Some teams might¡¯ve fled to the north, south or west of the city and were wiped out by the bugs.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°There might also be one or two infected people inside the challenger teams who killed their teammates.¡±

    They thought of the Luoying Pavilion team who burned their teammate in the supermarket and couldn¡¯t help being worried.

    The death toll was as high as 46 people on the second day. It should be that 4-5 teams were destroyed. These people might¡¯ve been infected by bad luck while evacuating the middle of the city. One person¡¯s infection would destroy the entire team. Another possibility was that they chose the wrong evacuation route and were surrounded by the bug army.

    By following Group Leader Yu to the east of the city, everyone sessfully lived through the day. This wasn¡¯t luck. It was due to the most powerful person in the team analyzing the situation of the city and making the most urate choice.

    Yu Hanjiang told them, ¡°Take a break first. We don¡¯t know the speed of the infection and the east can¡¯t be stable for long. Be prepared to fight at any time.¡±

    It waste and everyone entered their tents to sleep.

    Nothing happened overnight.

    The next day, the team had a rare day off.

    Nothing happened the entire day and the team was a bit confused. The bugs really hadn¡¯te to the east of the city yet?

    At 24:00, the prompt appeared on the floating boxes again.

    [8 of Spades Doomsday Escape, the fourth day, 00:00 in the morning]

    [Number of challengers remaining: 208]

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°More than 90 people died today!¡±

    The number of deaths on this day had doubledpared to yesterday. It might be that arge-scale battle broke out in a certain area. Around 10 teams of challengers had been infected or died directly. This situation wasn¡¯t very optimistic.

    Yu Hanjiang opened his mouth. ¡°Perhaps the bugs went to the north, south or west of the city where the challengers were hiding. The escape n didn¡¯t turn out well and they were surrounded by the bug army and wiped out.¡±

    After all, there was a limit to a small number of people fighting against arge number. 8 people fighting 50 was possible. It also might be possible to win against 500. However, fighting 5,000 or even 50,000 bugs? If they didn¡¯t have a good n in advance then they would be overwhelmed by the tide of bugs in an instant!

    The doubled number of deaths made everyone nervous.

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Don¡¯t sleep tonight and keep watch in groups. Be vignt at all times. The bug army mighte to the east of the city soon.¡±

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help remembering the sight of countless bugs pouring from their nest and he shook. ¡°I still can¡¯t sleep.¡±

    Just then, the sound of footsteps was heard outside.

    After dark, Ye Qi had activated his bug in the snowman in front of the warehouse. The beginner level bug could listen for 30 minutes at a distance of 50 metres. Now it was full level and they could listen for eight hours continuously and the distance was increased to 500 metres.

    Ye Qi raised his ears in an alert manner and made a ¡®shh¡¯ motion. ¡°Someone hase.¡±

    Since the sun hadn¡¯t been seen in these two days, the snow on the road hadn¡¯t melted. The ugly snowman Ye Qi piled under the tree hadn¡¯t melted and the bug hidden inside it clearly transmitted the surrounding sound.

    Yu Hanjiang took the eavesdropper from Ye Qi and listened carefully. ¡°10 people are walking on the snow. Their footsteps are very regr unlike the crawling bugs. They should be nearby residents or challengers. Most likely, they are challengers.¡±

    After all, the city residents were now in a panic and were hiding at home. A group of 10 people wouldn¡¯t run around in the middle of the night.

    Everyone looked at each other.

    Xiao Lou whispered, ¡°I will open the Peach Blossom Spring. We will hide first to see what they want to do.¡±

 Chapter 214: Doomsday Escape 20

    Tao Yuanming¡¯s Remember Peach Blossom Spring skill needed 10 seconds to be cast. During this period, it couldn¡¯t be interrupted. Xiao Lou exited the back of the warehouse, summoned Tao Yuanming and ced the Peach Blossom Spring behind the evacuation entrance. if the situation wasn¡¯t right, he could send everyone in groups, disappear instantly and retreat through the underground as soon as possible.

    Due to the upgrade of the card skills, the time that the Peach Blossom Springsted changed from the original 30 minutes to 3 hours. This was much more practical.

    After cing the Peach Blossom Spring, Xiao Lou returned to the warehouse. Yu Hanjiang and the other team members had cleaned up the traces of roasted vegetables and instant noodles that they had for dinner. He nced at Xiao Lou and whispered, ¡°Open the Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings channel.¡±

    At 24:00, all card skills would be refreshed. Qin Guan¡¯s heart channel also needed to be reopened. Xiao Lou summoned Qin Guan to connect with Yu Hanjiang. The other Qin Guan card was handed over to Ye Qi and Ye Qi could choose one person to connect to.¡±

    Ye Qi looked around at his teammates and thought carefully before speaking to Shao Qingge. ¡°Chief Shao, can I connect with you? We both have the teleportation card so if wemunicate spiritually, the two of us can each bring a teammate when moving.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°Of course you can.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took out the invisibility cloak and whispered, ¡°Everyone, hide and see what they want to do.¡±

    The group put on their invisibility cloaks at once and hide behind a few boxes. The moment they hid, they heard the door of the warehouse being opened. Several people walked in holding the night pearl.

    Yu Hanjiang narrowed his eyes and took a closer look. This was a team of eight challengers. They wore uniform ck down jackets and carried school bags behind them. There were five men and three women, all around the age of 20. They seemed to be a team of university students.

    The girl walking in front was tall and her hair was tied in a ponytail. She looked around calmly and spoke softly, ¡°This seems to be a warehouse and it is deste nearby. There should be norge groups of bugs. Is it better to stay here overnight?¡±

    The boy in sses standing beside her suggested, ¡°Sister Gao, we should still check it well.¡±

    Sister Gao nodded. ¡°Separate into two teams and carefully search from left to right. Don¡¯t let go of any corners.¡±

    The group moved quickly andunched aplete search of the warehouse.

    After the search, Sister Gao said, ¡°There is no one here. It should be safe.¡±

    A skinny boy pushed up his sses and abruptly spoke. ¡°Dear friends, are you hiding under the invisibility cloak?¡±

    The group was shocked to hear this.

    Sister Gao looked back at him. ¡°What do you mean? Someone is here?¡±

    The boy nodded. ¡°I tried using the Dog Nose card. This warehouse has the smell of roasted vegetables and various instant noodles. The most intense time was five hours ago, which should be dinner. The smell of the instant noodles is very strong and should include braised pork ribs, tomato beef brisket noodles, pickled vegetable noodles, stewed chicken noodles with mushroom¡­ at a rough guess, there were seven or eight people cooking noodles at the same time, resulting in the mixed smell. My guess is that we¡¯ve entered the base of another challenger team.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    There was a card like Dog Nose? The smell of dinner had dispersed a long time ago. He hadn¡¯t expected it to be detected by this sses man. This person could even distinguish between the different instant noodles?

    The name of this card was really appropriate.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help thinking, ¡°This dog nose is too effective!¡±

    Shao Qingge heard Ye Qi¡¯s thoughts through the heart channel and couldn¡¯t help chuckling. ¡°This type of function card is interesting and will be very useful in the Hearts secret room. We can smell the crime scene. Do you want me to spend 5 million to copy one for you?¡±

    Ye Qi immediately shook his head. ¡°Don¡¯t be so bad! This card isn¡¯t worth 5 million to copy.¡±

    The two of them stopped talking and continued to listen carefully.

    Sister Gap reflected on the meaning of the sses man and immediately looked around. ¡°Dear friends, we aren¡¯t malicious and won¡¯t do anything! We didn¡¯t know there was anyone here!¡±

    The sses man also spoke loudly. ¡°We are a team from the Distant Association and our only focus is clearing the secret room. It is too snowy and cold outside. We just wanted to find a ce to shelter from the wind and the cold for the night and happened to find this warehouse.¡±

    Sister Gao added, ¡°Yes, if we¡¯re not wee then we can find another ce. However, I still hope that we can stay and cooperate. After all, more people means a stronger power. If there is arge-scale attack by the bugs, it will be hard for one team to deal with. Why don¡¯t youe out and meet us so we can exchange information?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t speak and his other teammates naturally wouldn¡¯t interject.

    This girl¡¯s words did have some credibility. The jacket they were wearing did have the logo of the Distant Association.

    Yu Hanjiang asked Xiao Lou inwardly, ¡°They are all university students. What do you think?¡±

    Xiao Lou had seen a university student team in the previous World Weekly. Those young people were flexible, quick to respond and their physical strength andbat effectiveness wasn¡¯t bad. A few of them were lovers of games and knew various routines.

    This team should be very strong and have many good cards in their hands. Otherwise, it would be impossible for them to reach 8 of Spades.

    Moreover, the Distant Association took ¡®return to reality¡¯ as their ultimate goal. Under the management of Old Gui, the entire association was said to be very united. They were more credible than some passersby teams.

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°First take a look to make sure there are no infected people among them. Then we can consider whether to let them stay or not. It is okay to exchange some information with each other.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s principle wasn¡¯t to be an indiscriminate good person to always save others. He wasn¡¯t a Virgin Mary.

    However, a ¡®strong alliance¡¯ was actually good for everyone. They already had experience of joining with other challengers to clear the instance in 3 of Spades and 4 of Spades.

    Yu Hanjiang calmly spoke. ¡°Then I will question them first.¡±

    The team of university students were observing the area. Just then, a low and cold voice entered their ears. ¡°Exchange clues to show your sincerity. Which urban area did youe from? What is the situation there?¡±

    The challengers knew the existence of the invisibility cloak so they weren¡¯t too surprised by the weird scene of ¡®only hearing the voice but not seeing the person.¡¯

    The girl with her hair in a ponytail heard this and exined seriously, ¡°We fled from the university town in the north district. We had refreshed in the north district when entering the secret room. Since all of us are students, we are familiar with the environment of the university campus. We quickly figured out the setting of the secret room and found a ce to hide after gaining some supplies.¡±

    The sses boy continued. ¡°Sister Gao took us to the school¡¯sboratory building. At that time, it was Monday and there were only one or two sses being held. First, we hid on the roof of theboratory building. Once the students mutated and ran out of the building to bite people, we went inside and cleaned up the remaining infected people in the building. We locked the door and hid inside for three days.¡±

    He paused, his face slightly pale. ¡°As a result, on the fourth day, more than 80% of the university students were infected and theboratory building suffered from the siege of infected people!¡±

    The group¡¯s faces were ugly as they thought of that time and one girl couldn¡¯t help squirming.

    Sister Gao¡¯s face was gloomy. ¡°We cleaned up the entireboratory building and locked the door. It is reasonable to say that the bugs shouldn¡¯t have known about our existence. However, they actually climbed up from the outside wall to surround us. The entire outside of theboratory building was full of bugs, their climbs clinging to the wall and blood-red eyes staring at us through the window! There were countless bugs. They probably numbered in the thousands!¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    They listened to the description and couldn¡¯t help getting a chill down their spine.

    Theboratory building was surrounded by countless bugs. It was terrible just thinking about it.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°How did you escape?¡±

    Sister Gao exined, ¡°During the days when we upied theboratory building, everyone made arrangements in advance. Brother Lin changed all the circuits in the building so that one short circuit can easily create a fire. Younger Sister Xue used the various chemical agents in theboratories to make some mmable and explosive things. We left an escape exit on the rooftop of the building in advance. Once we were surrounded by the bugs, we ran to the top of the building and flew to another building using a flying card. Then we exploded the entireboratory building¡­¡±

    The danger at that time could be imagined but the students were very smart. Obviously, there were some high level chemistry and physics students in the team who learned to apply the principles. They used the short circuited wires and mmability and explosiveness of these chemicals to make the entire building a fire site that the bugs feared the most.¡±

    The bugs lying on the wall probably didn¡¯t expect the entire building to explode suddenly. The number of bugs killed at that time was difficult to estimate but the entire escape process was indeed thrilling.

    Sister Gao paused before continuing, ¡°We fled all day and finally came to the east of the city. We found that there are fewer bugs here and managed to get rid of the pursuit of the bugs. Have you been hiding in the east district from the beginning?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang answered lightly, ¡°Yes, the east of the city has the smallest poption and it is safer than other areas.¡±

    An admiring look appeared on her face. ¡°You were so thoughtful. We were almost overwhelmed by the bug army in the university town. The infection is spreading all across the north of the city. My guess is that the east of the city will be thest safe area.¡±

    Xiao Lou told her, ¡°It won¡¯t be safe very soon. You should be careful.¡±

    The girl nodded. ¡°The bugs are afraid of fire and can bepletely eliminated after being burned.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told her, ¡°We also know this.¡±

    The sses man suggested, ¡°You are all obviously very strong if you can live to the fourth day. Isn¡¯t it better to join forces to deal with the bugs?¡±

    Sister Gao agreed. ¡°Yes, it is better to have more people. The number of bugs is beyond our imagination and it will be difficult for one team to cope. Do you want to join forces?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke to Xiao Lou in his mind, ¡°What do you think?¡±

    Xiao Lou had carefully observed the performance of these eight people and it didn¡¯t seem like anyone was infected.

    He judged their escape process. They directly upied theboratory building on the first day and only encountered the bug army on the fourth day. If someone was infected on the first day then they would¡¯ve mutated a long time ago. On the fourth day, they fled using the rooftop and a flying card. The entire building was blown up the moment they escaped and the bugs were toote to attack them. The chances of being infected were low.

    Xiao Lou thought up to here and said, ¡°The team from the Distant Association is very strong. It might be easier to clear the instance if we join forces.¡±

    It was snowing outside and there was a bone-chilling wind. Xiao Lou considered the Distant Association to be more reliable. These people had fled from the north of the city to the east for the entire time. They were obviously very tired. It was nothing to lend them a ce to sleep overnight.

    Yu Hanjiang sensed Xiao Lou¡¯s thoughts and nodded at the group of university students. ¡°You can stay in the warehouse tonight. I will draw a line and divide the warehouse into two so there is no interference with each other. If we encounter the bugs when we can deal with them together. If there are no bugs tonight, you can look for another base after dawn.¡±

    The girl was excited. ¡°Thank you. We will rest for tonight first.¡±

    They immediately started setting up tents in the warehouse.

    The warehouse was veryrge. Yu Hanjiang separated the warehouse in the middle with a fruit box. The university students would sleep near the front door and they would sleep near the back door. They would be able to evacuate if something went wrong.

    The time for the invisibility cloak to end was approaching. Yu Hanjiang simply asked his teammates to take off the cloaks and set up the tents to rest.

    A momentter, Sister Gao brought over a box of fruits and asked, ¡°Hello, I want to ask if the fruits in the warehouse can be eaten?¡±

    Ye Qi replied, ¡°Yes, vegetables and fruits can be eaten casually. This warehouse has been abandoned and no one cares about the goods left behind.¡±

    Sister Gao¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Great! We¡¯ve been eating biscuits for four days in a row.¡± She excitedly took the box of apples back to share with her teammates. Yu Hanjiang could clearly hear the sound of apples being chewed.

    It was no wonder. The first day of this secret room didn¡¯t give everyone time to prepare. In the morning, the team was scattered and the outbreak started at noon. The situation was very tense and there shouldn¡¯t be many supplies at the school supermarket. They had been eating biscuits for four days and were really excited to see the fruits.

    The eight people rummaged through the boxes in the middle of the night and pulled out the grapes, pears, dragon fruit, etc. They ate the fruits in a crazy manner like they were starving.

    Ye Qi protruded his head and asked curiously, ¡°Are all of you university students from the same school?¡±

    Sister Gao answered, ¡°We aren¡¯t all from the same school. Some went to a university of science and technology and some went to the music school¡­¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes lit up at the mention of the music school. ¡°Is it the Jiangzhou Conservatory of Music?¡±

    Sister Gao looked at him with some surprise. ¡°How do you know?¡±

    ¡°I am also from this school.¡±

    Sister Gao smiled. ¡°What a coincidence. Our captain is also from the conservatory of music. He is your alumni and you might know him. By the way, he went outside to look for a ce to stay. I have notified him and he wille in a few minutes.¡±

    Xiao Lou inquired, ¡°Isn¡¯t your team eight people?¡±

    Sister Gao exined, ¡°We are 12 people. There are four others who are using discement cards to investigate the area.¡±

    They didn¡¯t talk much after that but Ye Qi really wanted to know this alumnus.

    A short timeter, a man and three women entered the warehouse. The man was tall and wore a ck coat, scarf and hat on his head. His deep eyes and flying sword eyebrows made his facial features very handsome. It was a popr appearance with girls in school.

    Ye Qi always felt that this person¡¯s face was familiar? The man didn¡¯t see him and turned around to meet his teammates.

    Sister Gao softly exined, ¡°Captain, this warehouse has been upied. They are willing to let us stay here for one night and we will have to find another base once it is dawn.¡±

    The man nodded and looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Ye Qi heard this low voice and his back slightly stiffened. He pointed to the man and asked. ¡°You¡­ are you Senior Cheng Ziyang?¡±

    The man was also somewhat surprised. He gazed at Ye Qi with a shocked expression. ¡°Ye Qi?¡±

    The teammates on both sides faced each other and Sister Gao smiled. ¡°You actually know each other. What a coincidence. You both go to the same music school.¡±

    It should be a pleasure for alumni to meet.

    However, why was this atmosphere so strange? Ye Qi¡¯s face was pale like he had seen hell.

    Cheng Ziyang smiled and took the initiative to walk in front of Ye Qi, extending a hand. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to see you here.¡±

    Seeing his teammates looking at the two of them, Ye Qi took a deep breath to control his emotions and spoke with a cold face. ¡°You didn¡¯t think I could live for so long? It is probably because my vitality is like a cockroach that can¡¯t die. I let you down, Senior.¡±

    Cheng Ziyang frowned slightly. ¡°Are you misunderstanding something?¡±

    Ye Qi waved his head. ¡°There is nothing to say. Go to sleep and hurry to leave here tomorrow morning. You aren¡¯t wee.¡±

    He turned around and left. Behind him, Cheng Ziyang shrugged and smiled. ¡°I have some misunderstandings with this junior brother. It¡¯s okay. Everyone rest first and I will exin it to him tomorrow.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other.

    Xiao Ye was very enthusiastic about everyone but his rejection of this senior was written on his face. What was the situation?

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Shao Qingge. ¡°Go and see.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded and entered the tent. Ye Qi was sitting alone in the tent, his head lowered.

    Shao Qingge walked in and rubbed the teenager¡¯s hair as he joked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Do you have a grudge with this senior? Did he steal your girlfriend? Or is he an ex-boyfriend?¡±

    Ye Qi raised his head and stared with wide eyes. ¡°What boyfriend or girlfriend? He is the one who secretly took my supplies and left me to pass alone in 3 of Spades, Financial Crisis!¡±

    Shao Qingge was originally smiling but now something sharp shed in his eyes.

    He lowered his voice. ¡°You might, he is the senior who sent you to the Nightmare Room?¡±

 Chapter 215: Doomsday Escape 21

    At the beginning, Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge had met Ye Qi in 3 of Spades. Xiao Ye had disguised himself as a garbage collector. He smeared ck ash on his face and pushed a garbage bike to sneak away in the middle of the night.

    At first, Xiao Lou¡¯s group thought he was eavesdropping on everyone¡¯s clearance ideas. Later, they learned that Ye Qi had known the development of the plot for a long time. The reason he was so cautious was because he experienced 3 of Spades once, failed and was eliminated. Finally, he managed to escape from 3 of Spades¡¯ nightmare room.

    ording to Ye Qi¡¯s description, the first time he came to Financial Crisis, he was randomly matched to a school senior. Since the other person was his senior, he was happy to be a team and acted with full confidence in the other person.

    As a result, most of their supplies were stolen on the first day and they only had one school bag filled with milk and biscuits left. It wasn¡¯t enough for two people to eat. Ye Qi thought that he would eat less and let his senior eat more. He could resist hunger.

    Then he woke up to find that his senior had taken his supplies and left him alone.

    He was penniless and at a loss. A kind-hearted girl took him in. Everyone went to the construction site at night but they were wiped out by the prisoners who escaped. As a result, Ye Qi was thrown into the Nightmare Room and survived by eating leaves for a few days.

    As for the senior, Ye Qi never saw him again. Ye Qi hadn¡¯t expected to meet this person here!

    Ye Qi was depressed. ¡°Yes, Cheng Ziyang was the most handsome student at our school. He won an award in a singingpetition and a recordpany signed with him. At that time, I was randomly matched with him in 3 of Spades. I heard he was the famous Cheng Ziyang and was quite happy. I thought I would always team up with him in theter rooms. Unexpectedly, he left me alone in the critical moment and ran away.¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s expression was incredulous. ¡°Most handsome student? Your school¡¯s most handsome student is at this level?¡¯

    ¡°Yes¡­ isn¡¯t he handsome?¡±

    Shao Qingge told him earnestly, ¡°That ugly person isn¡¯t half as good-looking as you.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s cheeks were red from being praised. ¡°Cough, this isn¡¯t necessary. I have self-knowledge. I can get a maximum of six points for my appearance.¡±

    Shao Qingge heard Ye Qi¡¯s indignant scolding and couldn¡¯t help chuckling. Heforted Ye Qi, ¡°Since you know his true face, don¡¯t care about him. You can¡¯t feel anger toward this type of person.¡±

    ¡°Yes, he might be unreliable but his teammates are innocent. It isn¡¯t good to drive them away directly. Otherwise, just tell Professor Xiao and Group Leader Yu to not join forces with Cheng Ziyang. He left me in 3 of Spades and stole the supplies alone to clear the instance. In a critical moment, perhaps he will stab us in the back. This type of person is very selfish!¡±

    Shao Qingge gently patted the back of Ye Qi¡¯s hand. ¡°Rx. This person betrayed you. How can we join forces with him?¡±

    A momentter, Shao Qingge left the tent and whispered the situation to Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang thought Ye Qi had grievances with this senior due to a school matter. Unexpectedly, this senior was actually the traitor who stole the supplies and threw Ye Qi away in the Spades secret room.

    A person who would abandon his teammates to clear the instance, regardless of the life and death of his teammates?

    Yu Hanjiang wouldn¡¯t put such a person in his eyes, let along join forces with them. He stared at Shao Qingge and Shao Qingge immediately walked to the other person¡¯s tent with a smile. ¡°Cheng Ziyang is it? Please find another ce to stay. You aren¡¯t wee here.¡±

    Cheng Ziyang was named and his expression changed. He walked out of the tent and smiled. ¡°Big brother, it isn¡¯t very good to go back and forth?¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°It is better than stealing your teammate¡¯s supplies and leaving your teammate alone. You can do it the first time and there will be a second time¡­ I hate traitors the most. Do you want me to make it clearer?¡±

    The man in front of him was handsome and had a smile on his face, but his eyes were sharp. Cheng Ziyang felt guilty due to this person¡¯s gaze and immediately looked away. The yers around them heard this and couldn¡¯t help ncing at each other. They obviously didn¡¯t know their captain¡¯s past.

    Sister Gao smiled awkwardly. ¡°Did you misunderstand something? Our captain is very good and has always taken care of everyone.¡±

    The man with sses added, ¡°Yes, if there is a misunderstanding then please exin it clearly?¡±

    Cheng Ziyang¡¯s mouth twitched slightly before he pasted on a smile again. ¡°Ye Qi must¡¯ve misunderstood. At that time in 3 of Spades, there was a thief outside at night and I chased after him. Since the school bag was on my back, Ye Qi thought I had stolen the supplies. In fact, I went back to the bed and breakfast to find him but I couldn¡¯t. I had been worried about him.¡±

    Xiao Lou frowned. Would this reason deceive a three year old? Chasing after a thiefte a night while carrying the supplies, but not waking up his teammate?

    He always had a good temper and was polite to people, but this man¡¯s hypocritical face made him sick. Xiao Lou interrupted. ¡°We believe in Xiao Ye¡¯s judgment. You can save the exnation for your own teammates. Our paths are different. Don¡¯t make a conspiracy. Please leave as soon as possible. I don¡¯t want to have to chase you out.¡±

    Cheng Ziyang had a guilty conscience and could only helplessly shrug. ¡°In this case, go somewhere else. This isn¡¯t the only ce nearby where we can stay.¡± He waved his hand and his teammates immediately put away their tents and turned to leave.

    Ye Qi heard the movements and stuck his head out of the tent. ¡°This¡­ is it bad to drive them away? Will they be offended?¡±

    Shao Qingge told him, ¡°Why does it matter if we offend such people? We don¡¯t have to be friends with them.¡±

    Ye Qi thought carefully and found this was correct. In any case, every time he saw Cheng Ziyang, he would think about his experience of eating leaves in the Nightmare Room. Cheng Ziyang would also feel guilty when seeing him. The two teams would definitely fail to cooperate so it was best to act on their own.

    He thought that Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao would care about the Distant Association and leave this group of people. His personal grievances weren¡¯t a match for the team or even the guild. He didn¡¯t expect them to neatly drive away this group of people!

    Group Leader Yu, Chief Shao and Xiao Lou were extremely protective. Betray their teammate? Then get lost.

    Ye Qi¡¯s heart was warm and he looked at the three people in a moved manner. ¡°Thank you. It is all because of me. Otherwise, the two teams can cooperate to fight against the bugs. The strength of the Distant Association should be high¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou came over with a smile and patted Ye Qi¡¯s shoulder. ¡°What silly words are you saying? This person almost killed you. If you weren¡¯t tenacious enough then you would¡¯ve died in the Nightmare Room. We can¡¯t directly hit him because we are worried about the other members of the Distant Association. The two teams have no advantage when fighting head-on. We can only drive them away. It is better not to see this person again in the future.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded hard. ¡°Yes, it is clean if we don¡¯t see him.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told them, ¡°Okay, rest first. Xiao Ye, don¡¯t think too much.¡±

    Back in the tent, Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help being emotional. ¡°The Card World is unscrupulous when ites to clearing the instance. There are too many people who will sell their teammates or directly ughter the locals. Fortunately, our Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao are very reliable¡­¡±

    Shao Qinggeughed. ¡°Aren¡¯t I also reliable?¡±

    Ye Qi nodded. ¡°Of course, the gold father is the strongest backer. If it wasn¡¯t for you, we would have to taste a bitter wind. How could we afford to live in a vi in the main city?¡±

    Shao Qingge extended a hand and gently rubbed Ye Qi¡¯s head. ¡°Your mouth is so sweet. You will definitely be mixed into the entertainment circle in the future.¡±

    After a moment, he whispered, ¡°That Cheng Ziyang left you alone and you were eliminated and entered the Nightmare Room. However, now you have us. No matter what happens in the future, I won¡¯t leave you. Rest assured.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s heart was warm and he nodded hard. ¡°Me too. I said it when everyone suspected you were infected. Even if you are infected, I will do everything to take you through the clearance.¡±

    Shao Qingge felt helpless. ¡°Don¡¯t say that. You are setting up a g behind me.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He didn¡¯t mean it¡­

 Chapter 216: Doomsday Escape 22

    That night, Ye Qi had nightmares and didn¡¯t sleep well. He dreamed of his first trip to 3 of Spades.

    The joy he first felt at knowing Cheng Ziyang was his senior and then the helplessness and anger when his senior took away their supplies and abandoned him. After following the group of people to the construction site, he barely managed to feed himself with everyone¡¯s help. Later, the prisoners escaped and he was shot to death¡­

    He had experienced two realistic deaths.

    The first one was the car ident in the real world and the second time was in 3 of Spades Financial Crisis. He had been shot in the head. At that moment, he could even see arge amount of blood flowing down his forehead and blinding him, turning the world in front of him a bloody red.

    Later, he was penniless in the Nightmare Room. He sang on the streets for the first few days and then ate leaves and weeds every day to survive. He lived worse than a beggar. This crazy sense of hunger seemed to be engraved in his nerves and bone marrow. Therefore, even after leaving the Nightmare Room, he cherished it every time he saw food.

    The secret room had left a serious psychological shadow on him. He felt hungry every night and had to eat before going to bed or he would wake up hungry in the middle of the night. The days of looking for fresh leaves or even digging through the trash for food were too hard. He never wanted to go through it again in his life.

    The repeated nightmares caused a cold sweat to appear on Ye Qi¡¯s forehead. At the end of the dream, Ye Qi saw Cheng Ziyang smiling and saying to him, ¡°I am also from the Conservatory of Music. What a coincidence. I am a junior this year and I¡¯m your senior.¡±

    Ye Qi walked over enthusiastically and held out his hand. ¡°Hello Senior. I always hear your name. I often hear my ssmates talk about you in school¡­¡±

    As a result, the moment he held this person¡¯s right hand, Cheng Ziyang suddenly brought out a knife with his left hand and stabbed Ye Qi in the chest. Ye Qi lowered his head and saw the bright de stuck in his chest and the dazzling blood on it.

    Ye Qi sat up in shock.

    Obviously, Cheng Ziyang¡¯s appearance had reminded him of not-so-good memories. Cheng Ziyang stabbing him at the end of the dream hadn¡¯t actually happened but Ye Qi¡¯s heart was still thumping. The dream was too real and he always felt it was a bad omen.

    He heard that some dreams were contrary to reality while some were ominous¡­

    Ye Qi was staring at the tent in a daze when a low voice entered his ears. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Shao Qingge was awakened by him. Ye Qi turned back to meet Shao Qingge¡¯s sleepy eyes and told him, ¡°I just woke up from a nightmare.¡±

    ¡°Were you dreaming about 3 of Spades?¡± Shao Qingge knew this because he had the heart channel to let him feel Ye Qi¡¯s uneasiness. He sat up, gently pressed a hand against Ye Qi¡¯s shoulder and spoke softly, ¡°Don¡¯t think too much. It¡¯s all over. The people in our team can be trusted and no one will abandon their teammates.¡±

    ¡°Of course I believe in everyone.¡± Ye Qi scratched his head and barely squeezed out a small smile. ¡°It¡¯s just a dream. It doesn¡¯t matter.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­ it is only three in the morning. Sleep a bit longer.¡± Shao Qingge¡¯s voice waszy. Perhaps it was because he woke up in the middle of the night and hadn¡¯t got enough sleep. Ye Qi told him, ¡°You go to sleep. I can sleep so I might as well swap shifts to keep watch.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll go do night watch duty as well.¡± Shao Qingge started to put on a coat.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you like to sleepte? You can sleep a bit longer¡­¡± Ye Qi hadn¡¯t finished when Shao Qingge interrupted him. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Everyone has been taking turns to stand guard these days. I can¡¯t always let Professor Xiao stay upte. It is time for us to change shifts.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it makes sense!¡±

    The two of them got dressed and walked out of the tent to where Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were keeping warm.

    They were sitting on fruit cartons around the small stove used by the security guard. They added some wood to the stove to keep themselves warm and should be talking through the heart channel. It was because they couldn¡¯t hear Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang making any sound. They could just be seen making eye contact.

    Xiao Lou saw that Ye Qi and Shao Qingge were awake and couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°What are you doing up? The two of you don¡¯t need to keep watch tonight.¡±

    Ye Qi told him, ¡°In any case, I¡¯ve woken up in the middle of the night. Professor Xiao, why don¡¯t you go back to rest and leave the night watch to us? I can release another eavesdropper and monitor any movements.¡±

    Shao Qingge was connected to his mind and soon detected Ye Qi¡¯s thoughts. He smiled and said, ¡°The other quilt should beid down to make a mattress. Then one quilt is used to cover them. This way, the ground won¡¯t be too cold.¡±

    The voice that suddenly rang out in his mind made Ye Qi stunned. He still wasn¡¯t used to connecting to people using Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings.

    Shao Qingge continued, ¡°Speaking might wake the others up. It is a good thing to have the spiritual channel. Shall we try tomunicate in our heads?¡±

    Ye Qi nodded and sat down in the ce where Xiao Lou had just been sitting. He added some fuel to the stove.

    He nced at Xiao Lou¡¯s tent and wondered in his mind, ¡°Can two big men sleep under the same quilt and not be squeezed in? In fact, half of the quilt can be spread underneath and the other half can be used to cover yourself. This way, it is warm and you won¡¯t be stealing each other¡¯s quilts.¡±

    The young man¡¯s eyes were simple and clear and it seemed he was really going to seriously suggest this to Xiao Lou¡­

    Shao Qingge helplessly touched his forehead. ¡°The two of them are voluntary so you don¡¯t have to worry. At that time, they were a couple for half a month in Beacon in Troubled Times. They shared the same bed during that time and are probably used to it.¡±

    Ye Qi was stunned and his eyes widened once he finally reacted. ¡°You mean¡­ they? Are that?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled and asked, ¡°Haven¡¯t you ever heard of two men being together?¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s face was slightly red as he replied with embarrassment, ¡°I¡¯ve heard about it a lot. My school has some small, transparent people who are willing to be taken care of by a bigshot in order to be famous in the singing world. There is a young boy with a gold master behind him. The gold master is said to be over 20 years older than him and is raising him as a little lover.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°So do you need a gold master? Not one that raises you as a lover. The type that only gives you money.¡±

    Ye Qi froze. ¡°What does that mean?¡±

    Shao Qingge put away his joking tone and spoke seriously. ¡°I am the boss of a fundpany in reality. I started from scratch but actually, I am a rich second generation with a rtively widework. Otherwise, my business wouldn¡¯t have gone so smoothly.¡±

    Ye Qi looked contemptuous. ¡°Can a rich second generation start something from scratch?¡±

    ¡°I really didn¡¯t ask my parents for money. The start-up funds were from a loan I got. Later, after several rounds of financing, thepany grew bigger and became avable to be listed. I originally nned to go public at the end of the year¡­ why am I telling you this? You don¡¯t understand.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t understand. However, it sounds great that it is going public!¡±

    Shao Qingge narrowed his eyes slightly before smiling. ¡°Then I¡¯ll say something you can understand. Star Factory Recording Company, do you know it?¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°I know! This is the most famous recordpany in the circle. My idols and goddesses are all here! The singers are all powerful, there are many excellent songwriters and the most powerful producer, Teacher Zhou!¡±

    Shao Qingge told him, ¡°Their boss grew up with me since childhood. We are iron-d buddies.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge saw that Ye Qi¡¯s mouth was open wide enough to swallow a duck egg and smiled. ¡°Who is your goddess or male god? Xue Ninglu, the queen of songs? Singer Zhou Heng? I know them well. They have entrusted a lot of their personal money to mypany to manage. I made a lot of money for themst year and they¡¯ve all learned to invest with me.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled and stretched out his arms. ¡°Your gold father is here. Come and hug his thighs.

    Ye Qi was so excited that he couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°I-Is this true?¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes were deep. ¡°What is the benefit of lying to you? One day, we are going to return to reality. At that time, I will help you realize your dreams. I will introduce you to Star Factory as a singer, find you the best team of music producers and tailor-make songs for you. I will let you be the king of music. So don¡¯t think about the bad things in the past and think about the bright future.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s heart was warm and he nodded vigorously. ¡°Yes, I know. Thank you.¡±

    A momentter, he stared at Shao Qingge and spoke seriously in his mind. ¡°Mr Shao, I believe that you can create shortcuts but I still want to get good results in thepetition on my own, whether it is being the champion, runner-up or something else. I have the confidence to say this. Otherwise, if I go through the back door to be a singer and I don¡¯t do well enough, I will shame you¡­¡±

    Against the background of the fire, the boy¡¯s cheeks were slightly red. His eyes were full of seriousness and Shao Qingge remembered the way he held a guitar and sang in the square. That was the first time Shao Qingge had seen Ye Qi. The boy was so serious and hard-working when ying the guitar and singing. He was full of vitality as he asked the audience around him to give him money.

    Now he was talking about his future dreams. He was serious but his eyes were bright. Shao Qingge¡¯s heart was moved and he couldn¡¯t help reaching out to rub the young man¡¯s hair. He whispered, ¡°Okay, I respect your decision. After you win the prize, I will help you.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded excitedly. ¡°That¡¯s great. Thank you, gold father!¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled silently. Since Ye Qi wanted to be a singer so much, Shao Qingge didn¡¯t mind helping him gain the opportunity. After all, he was a person Shao Qingge shared life and death difficulties with and he knew enough about Ye Qi¡¯s character.

    The two of them chatted with each other. Time passed and it became dawn in the blink of an eye.

    Ye Qi woke everyone up.

    On this day, everyone was alert and entered a battle prepared state. They didn¡¯t rx at all times but nothing happened during the day.

    Xiao Lou had some doubts. ¡°Did the bugs in the north and south of the cities have some ident that dyed theming to the east?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°It is possible. If the challengers in those two urban areas are prepared in advance and resist stubbornly. Some people might directly use gasoline like us. It isn¡¯t easy for arge number of bugs to encounter fire.¡±

    Old Mo analyzed it. ¡°The team from Luoying Pavilion shouldn¡¯t havee to the east of the city? We haven¡¯t seen them these days. Perhaps they ran into the bugs in another area. That team¡­ based on the decisiveness of the captain, there shouldn¡¯t be too much of a loss if they ran into the bugs.¡±

    The female captain was indeed ruthless enough to burn her teammate to death when infected. This approach was a bit cold-blooded but the strong and straightforward style of doing things wouldn¡¯t put the team in danger in critical moments.

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°Regardless of the situation in other districts, we should continue to stay vignt.¡±

    In the evening, everyone continued to keep watch in turns. At 24:00, the floating boxes gave an announcement.

    [8 of Spades Doomsday Escape, the fifth day, 00:00 in the morning]

    [Number of challengers remaining: 198]

    Ye Qi opened his mouth. ¡°I remember that it was 208 peoplest night and it became 198 today. It seems that only two teams were destroyed.

    The death toll on this day had decreased a lotpared to therge numbers a few days ago.

    Yu Hanjiang told them, ¡°It is likely the challenger teams have umted some experience in actualbat. Those who were eliminated the past few days were either not prepared enough or they ran into the bug army without understanding the bugs. Those that can survive until now are all very strong teams.¡±

    Everyone agreed with Group Leader Yu¡¯s analysis. The more time that passed, the stronger the people that remained. The Spades room had always been about survival of the fittest. It was just unknown where those teams were hiding. At present, only the 12 member team of the Distant Association led by Cheng Ziyang hade to the east district near them.

    Since Ye Qi and Chief Shao had been keeping watch until dawn yesterday, Long Sen, Qu Wanyue, Liu Qiao and Old Mo took the initiative to volunteer tonight. Liu Qiao and Qu Wanyue would keep watch for the first half of the night and Old Mo and Long Sen would keep watch in the second half of the night.

    The two girls Liu Qiao and Qu Wanyue stayed away until 3 o¡¯clock but nothing happened. It was still calm outside.

    Liu Qiao handed the Bug card to Old Mo and said, ¡°This is Ye Qi¡¯s Bug card. You can use it to hear the movements outside clearly. Three bugs can be used in turn and one bug can listen for three hours.¡±

    Old Mo took it seriously and ced the unused bug in the snowman under the tree away from the warehouse.

    The sound of this high-tech bug was extremely clear. Even the sound of snow could be heard. Old Mo and Long Sen listened carefully to the movements outside while warming themselves with the fire.

    It was five o¡¯clock in the morning and dawn hadn¡¯t arrived yet.

    Snow had fallen all night and Ye Qi¡¯s ugly snowman was covered in a thickyer of new snow. The eyes, nose and even arms couldn¡¯t be distinguished. It looked like a big snowball but this didn¡¯t affect the effectiveness of the bug. Just then, a creaking noise came from the bug. It was as if something had stepped on the snow!

    Old Mos¡¯ face changed. ¡°There is something out there!¡±

    Long Sen stood up alertly and turned to wake everyone up.

    5 o¡¯clock in the morning was the time when humans were most likely to be sleeping deeply but everyone¡¯s vignce was very high. After being awakened, they woke themselves up and gathered in the warehouse.

    Old Mo told them, ¡°Listening to the sound, there shouldn¡¯t be many of them. It¡¯s like human footsteps.

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°Don¡¯t forget the bugs look like humans and can disguise themselves.¡±

    He just finished speaking when the group of people walked to the warehouse. They knocked gently on the door and a female voice was heard. ¡°Is there anyone inside? Can wee in to hide from the snow? It is too cold outside.¡±

    Everyone tacitly kept silent. Yu Hanjiang blinked. The team immediately scattered and put on their invisibility cloaks to hide. During the day, Yu Hanjiang had nned the locations where everyone would hide with their invisibility cloaks so they wouldn¡¯t be crowded together and identally hurt their teammates.

    Just then, the door was forcefully kicked open by several men.

    Outside was dark but the light of the night pearl in the building allowed them to see clearly. There were five people, four men and one woman. All of them were tall and didn¡¯t wear down jackets, only sweaters. The only female was also taller than 178cm and was taller than Ye Qi.

    Yu Hanjiang slightly squinted and spoke in his mind to Xiao Lou, ¡°They are bugs.¡±

    Xiao Lou also agreed with Group Leader Yu¡¯s inference. These people looked exactly like humans and their walking posture and voices were no different from ordinary people.

    However, everyone immediately judged that they were bugs. It was still snowing outside and Xiao Lou and the others were cold in their down jackets. They had to use the stove to keep warm. Yet this group of people actually weren¡¯t wearing down jackets and were only wearing a thin coat and sweater in the snow at night?

    The disguise might allow them to put on an appearance but it couldn¡¯t hide their instincts. They weren¡¯t afraid of the cold, they were afraid of heat. This was the nature of the bugs. Putting on a down jacket was probably hot enough to affect their movements.

 Chapter 217: Doomsday Escape 23

    Everyone in the team was currently in stealth but the bugs were not.

    Seeing that there was no one in the empty warehouse, the woman in the lead said, ¡°There is no one here. Let¡¯s go search elsewhere. Tonight, we will search all the warehouses, factories and buildings below three floors in the east district and mark them.¡±

    The few people beside her. ¡°Yes, boss!¡±

    They had just turned around to walk out when a wall appeared at the door.

    The marble bricks could instantly change shape ording to the terrain. They could be ced horizontally to pave the road or ced vertically to block the road. Old Mo directly blocked the retreat of the bugs when they turned to leave.

    The group of bugs should be the ¡®vanguard investigation team¡¯. They were quick to act and had better physical fitness. Many of them had merged and upgraded. Naturally, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s team couldn¡¯t let them go or they would bring the big army here.

    Yu Hanjiang coldly ordered, ¡°Hit them!¡±

    The blocked bugs noticed there were people here and their faces changed. Their eyes instantly became a scarlet colour.

    They couldn¡¯t see the people of Xiao Lou¡¯s team but everyone could see them clearly.

    There was a squeaking sound from the female bug¡¯s mouth. The team didn¡¯t understand the bugnguage but the other four bugs immediately dispersed when they heard it. The four male bugs over 180cm tall moved vigorously, crawling quickly through the warehouse and shing in front of everyone like four whirlwind shadows.

    Ye Qi took out his erhu and yed the song Two Springs Reflecting the Moon.

    This group control hit at least three of them. The other two were too far away to be affected by the sound wave. Yu Hanjiang immediately dropped a bottle of medical alcohol and threw a lit cloth at one of the bugs. The bug was swept up by the mes and let out a squeak of pain.

    The surrounding partners didn¡¯t dare to approach when they saw the mes. The two controlled ones were about to wake up so Ye Qi and Long Sen connected their control. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were in charge of the fire attack. One more to the left and one to the right and two more bugs were killed in the blink of an eye!

    This included the female leader.

    Seeing the death of the leader, the remaining two male bugs started to flee frantically. Ye Qi quickly used his flute to control one and Yu Hanjiang burned him. The other one was chased by Long Sen¡¯s Badminton card. Although the probability of Long Sen hitting a moving target was very low, he actually had good luck this time and hit it.

    The bug probably knew that he couldn¡¯t escape so he was climbing the wall to try and escape from the roof. Long Sen stared at the wall he was climbing and hit him in the back. The bug was stunned and unable to move. Qu Wanyue hurriedly threw the alcohol and fired at him!

    The mes were lit instantly and they got goosebumps at the screams of several bugs.

    Momentster, the five bugs had turned into charred corpses on the ground. Using alcohol to ssh the body and ignite it could avoid spreading the fire to other locations in the warehouse. The fruit cartons nearby that were affected by the fire were quickly extinguished by Old Mo and Liu Qiao.

    Long Sen calmly looked at the corpses on the ground. ¡°This group of bugs were energetic and had good physical fitness. I have been in a sports school for a long time so I can tell that these people have undergone professional training. Their running, jump, arm strength and leg strength are top-notch.

    Xiao Lou mused, ¡°In other words, the bugs will screen people? They will find those with strong physical fitness for integration?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also felt this possibility was extremely high. He told them softly, ¡°After all, the bugs will only use human bodies as puppets. If they parasitize weak people then their own mobility will be affected.¡±

    Ye Qi agreed. ¡°It makes sense! for example, children who are three or three years old or old people around 70-80 can¡¯t climb as fast as males who are over 1.8 metres tall. They can even screen humans for upgrading. They really don¡¯t take us as people!¡±

    Shao Qingge helplessly shook his head. ¡°In the eyes of the bugs, humans are just the shells for them to parasitize. The higher the quality, the stronger they will be.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    In the eyes of the bugs, humans were just the lowest creatures? This made everyone feel angry.

    Xiao Lou analyzed it. ¡°The group of five just now should¡¯ve been the bugs pioneering vanguard team. They grouped together to explore the road and find people, infecting the weak ones. If they encounter something that isn¡¯t easy to deal with, they will bring arge army to clean them up.

    After all, there were hundreds of thousands of bugs in the city. If they didn¡¯t act in batches on their own then things would be messy.

    There should be a seniormander among the bugs in charge of the infection work of every district. Ye Qimented, ¡°They are indeed high intelligence creatures. It was their bad luck that the vanguard didn¡¯t know about the invisibility cloak. They were attacked by us and destroyed.¡±

    The sessful eradication of the pioneering group made them let out a sigh of relief.

    However, no one could let their guard down. The rear of the vanguard was likely to be an army of thousands.

    Everyone did a good job and defense until there were 30 seconds left for the invisibility cloak.

    Just as the time of the cloaks was up and everyone could see their teammates, Ye Qi¡¯s face became extremely pale. ¡°There is a strange sound! Listen!¡±

    There was a sound from the bug. It was the sound of countless footsteps on the snow mixed in with some weird sliding sounds. There was also a woman broadcasting with a big horn. ¡°The bug army ising. Run!¡±

    This voice was familiar. It was Sister Gao from the Distant Association team. Yu Hanjiang took a closer look and saw that in the distance, Sister Gao¡¯s team of 12 was using discement cards to crazily escape!

    The team¡¯s discement cards were very distinctive. Three of them could slide quickly on the snow with something simr to a ¡®scooter.¡¯ Their speed wasparable to a car overtaking on the highway. It was just unknown if they would fall down by mistake.

    Two people were pole vaulting this way! This card was somewhat simr to Long Sen and Qu Wanyue¡¯s Long Jump card but Long Qu jumped with two legs. These people used their long poles as support on the ground to jump over many obstacles. It was easy to use and rtivelybor-saving.

    Ye Qi quickly saw Cheng Ziyang in the crowd. Cheng Ziyang was using a pair of roller skates that had the same speed as the scooter next to him and he wasn¡¯t affected by the terrain outside.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. He had buried a circle of gasoline outside. If he ignited it at this time then he would burn the people of the Distant Association. Cheng Ziyang might¡¯ve betrayed Ye Qi but his 11 teammates were innocent university students. They couldn¡¯t be blown up.

    Yu Hanjiang shouted at them, ¡°Cross the boundary of that tree in 10 seconds!¡±

    There was a safe distance between the big tree and the warehouse. This was the distance that Yu Hanjiang had calcted that they wouldn¡¯t be affected by the explosion.

    The outer ring of the big tree contained the petrol barrels they had arranged.

    Since it had been snowing these days, the enclosed gasoline barrels were buried under the snow and couldn¡¯t be seen. However, the amount of gasoline was sorge that once ignited, the heat and mes generated by the explosion would instantly overturn the snow and burn countless bugs!

    10 seconds, 9 seconds¡­

    Sister Gao and the others didn¡¯t know Xiao Lou¡¯syout. They only heard that they should run across the boundary of the tree within 10 seconds. Everyone immediately sped up and as they approached, Xiao Lou finally saw them clearly.

    Not far behind then, arge army of bugs was chasing frantically. Countless humanoid bugs were crawling and jumping on the snowy ground. The ck figures were like a wave rushing towards them!

    The faces of his teammates paled.

    Long Sen couldn¡¯t help cursing. ¡°Fuck! There are thousands of them!¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s face was terrible. ¡°There are thousands of students in my university. The whole school gathers in the auditorium and there wouldn¡¯t be so many people. No, there wouldn¡¯t be so many bugs.¡±

    This joke was a bit cold. Qu Wanyue smiled reluctantly, already speechless. The group stared nervously into the distance while Yu Hanjiang took out Mad Believers. This was thergest and most powerful of Yu Hanjiang¡¯s firearms, a machine gun!

    The countdown was 3 seconds, 2 seconds, 1 second¡­

    The people of the Distant Association ran quickly and finally crossed the barrier of the big tree. Yu Hanjiang cried out in his mind, ¡°Xiao Lou, open the barrier. I am setting fire to it!¡±

    Xiao Lou had long been ready. The Compass had been drawn and once he heard Group Leader Yu¡¯s voice, he quickly raised the barrier around the big tree. Yu Hanjiang held the machine gun in both hands and jumped up with the light footwork card. The man¡¯s sharp eyes were focused on the surging bugs. He aimed at the snow under the big tree and pulled the trigger, shooting wildly!

    <em>Bang bang bang bang!</em>

    For a time, only the sound of gunfire was heard!

    The people of the Distant Association knelt down in fright, thinking this man would hit them. Unexpectedly, Yu Hanjiang shot down from the air and none of the bullets hit them. Instead, it was all shot behind them.

    The first gasoline barrel was shot through by a bullet. Due to the influence of the snow, Yu Hanjiang swept an entire row fiercely. Sparks flew as bullets hit the gasoline barrels arranged in a circle. As long as one was ignited, it would cause a series of chain reactions.

    The intense gunfire was like looking at a gunfight in a movie!

    In a few seconds, Yu Hanjiang had fired hundreds of bullets from Mad Believers and then there was a loud ¡®boom¡¯ in everyone¡¯s ears.

    The heat wave generated by the gasoline explosion directly overturned the group of bugs chasing nearby! Their bodies were blown to pieces and it was toote to merge. The bug army followed. The first batch were blown to ashes and the next batch followed.

    Then after that, the raging mes ignited all the bugs who rushed in. There was a horrible squeaking sound from the bug army and everyone got a chill when they heard it. If they had let this group of bugs go then the situation could be imagined!

    Meanwhile, the people of the Distant Association was dumbfounded. They were only a few metres away from the location of the explosion and the gasoline had exploded just behind their asses.

    They could even clearly feel the heat wave in the air and they thought their asses were going to be ignited. Unexpectedly, they weren¡¯t injured or affected by the explosion and fire. It was due to Xiao Lou using the Compass¡¯ circle and helping them resist the injuries.

    Xiao Lou shouted at them, ¡°Run!¡±

    Sister Gao and the others reacted and immediately ran to them with the help of various discement cards. The man with sses was in shock and he grabbed the sses that almost fell down. ¡°A-Awesome, you actually buried explosives?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke calmly. ¡°It is gasoline.¡±

    The group of university students felt admiration.

    The scene that followed made them feel even more admiration. Xiao Lou took out a hair dryer and Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°Go!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang held the machine gun in one hand and gently hugged Xiao Lou¡¯s waist with the other. He flew with Xiao Lou in the air.

    Xiao Lou looked in the right direction and activated the skill of the hair dryer. The wind helped the fire! The monstrous fire was blown by the hair dryer and immediately spread in the direction of the rushing bugs. Then he used the power bank card to refresh the skills of the hair dryer. One wave wasn¡¯t enough so they would cause another wave.

    The screams of the bugs was like hell. The number of people they killed and burned could no longer be counter.

    The fire was bing hotter and stronger. It spread in the wind directly from Xiao Lou¡¯s hairdryer and too many of the bugs were burned. They might be numerous but they couldn¡¯t cross this barrier made of mes!

    High in the sky, Xiao Lou used the blow dryer to help the mes and Yu Hanjiang flew around with him. The light footwork card could float for 8 seconds before finding anding point. The two people cooperated and they soon surrounded the entire warehouse with a fire circle.

    The ring of fire that encircled them 360 degrees without any dead endspletely blocked the footsteps of the bug army.

    Everyone was terrified when they recalled the scene of Yu Hanjiang flying in the air just now and shooting at the gasoline barrels.

    The two men had cooperated too well. If Xiao Lou¡¯s Compass was one second slower than the heat and fire from the explosion might¡¯ve affected them. If Xiao Lou¡¯s hair dryer was used incorrectly then the mes might backfire.

    The reason why the two of them were able to cooperate so well was because they knew what the other was thinking through the heart channel.

    After stabilizing the situation, Yu Hanjiang hugged Xiao Lou and gentlynded on the snow. ¡°It can be blocked for a while. Everyone, spread out and stare at the ring of fire. If a bug gets through the ring of fire by stepping on the bodies of theirpanies then immediately control the solution. However, my guess is that they won¡¯t dare to do this. They are most afraid of fire.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°Keep your control skills just in case. Control those who climb over and let them burn to death.¡±

    The defense of the wall of fire was arguably unassable. Could the low level bugs break through theyer of fire formed by this barrier?

 Chapter 218: Doomsday Escape 24

    Outside the fire circle, the screams of the bugs continued endlessly. Thanks to the wind, the mes kept bing stronger but no one dared to ck off. They waited nearly 10 minutes but none of the bugs dared to cross the wall of fire.

    It was difficult for any animal to vite its nature. The bugs were most afraid of fire. They could climb but they couldn¡¯t fly. This five metre high wall of fire made it difficult for them to break through.

    The girl surnamed Gao was standing next to Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou had a good impression of this girl. He saw her staring at the ring of fire with a serious face and asked her, ¡°What is your situation? Why were you suddenly pursued by the bug army?¡±

    Gao Xiaoyi exined, ¡°In the beginning, five bugs broke into the factory building where we were temporarily staying. They were probably the vanguard and they were solved by us. The moment we were sighing with relief, we heard the movements of the bug army¡­ the five bugs made a sharp cry before we died. We can¡¯t understand the bugnguage but I think it is likely they were calling for theirpanions.¡±

    The sses man next to her added, ¡°We escaped collectively with the Golden Cicada Shell card but this card can only move the entire team one kilometre. The bugs soon caught up with us.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought carefully. There had been a piercing cry when they killed the five vanguard bugs. Could they have also notified those in the rear?

    He looked over at Yu Hanjiang, who also happened to be looking back at him. The two of themmunicated using the heart channel. ¡°If it is really as she said then the bugs sent a signal before death. There should be another batch of bugsing to destroy us.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°Look at the situation and be ready to evacuate.¡±

    Just then, the two of them heard Ye Qi ask a question. ¡°After you were surrounded by the bugs, there should be many directions to escape in. Whye to us? Why run in the direction of the warehouse? Did your captain say so?¡±

    His eyes were fixed on Cheng Ziyang.

    Cheng Ziyang smiled slightly. ¡°Yes. since the bugs are attacking the east of the city, you will definitely be in danger. I wanted to notify you to evacuate as soon as much. Gao Xiaoyi also shouted with her horn while running the entire way to reach any challengers so they can quickly withdraw.¡±

    Everyone had seen Gao Xiaoyi¡¯s horn. The Horn card in her hand should be a card that could amplify sound. Everyone could hear her voice very clearly from a long distance. It was simr to the broadcasts at subway stations and airports.

    It could be seen from Gao Xiaoyi using the horn that she really wanted to report it to let everyone evacuate. Ye Qi believed in this girl but he didn¡¯t believe in Cheng Ziyang. After all, Cheng Ziyang had betrayed him.

    The plot of being stabbed in the chest by Cheng Ziyang in the dream yed back again in his mind and Ye Qi was uneasy. Could it be that this senior surnamed Cheng found it too hard to deal with the bug army so he deliberately attracted the bugs to pit them? Would he be so kind to notify others to evacuate?

    However, Cheng Ziyang¡¯s reasons on the surface couldn¡¯t be refuted and Ye Qi didn¡¯t say much. At present, there was the enemy around them and it wasn¡¯t suitable for infighting. Ye Qi temporarily put this anxiety behind him.

    Snow was still falling from the sky and the raging fire instantly melted the snowkes. The circle of fire formed a natural barrier that blocked the path of the bugs. Suddenly, Liu Qiao flew over and whispered, ¡°There are arge number of bugs in the rear!¡±

    At this time, the four people of Xiao, Yu, Shao and Ye and the members of the Distant Association were standing in front of the building to defend against the bugs. Mo, Long, Qu and Liu had been sent by Xiao Lou to the rear of the warehouse to prevent the bugs from sneaking in behind them and to guard the escape route behind the warehouse.

    The gasoline ring might be surrounding the warehouse so that the bugs had no gap to enter but it was always necessary to prevent sneak attacks from the rear.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face changed slightly when he heard Liu Qiao¡¯s voice. ¡°What is the situation?¡±

    Liu Qiao whispered, ¡°Old Mo threw a bug on a tree in the distance and heard arge number of bugs crawling to this side.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other. It really was the case.

    The five pioneers killed by the Distant Guild led a group of bugs to surround them. The pioneers who came to the warehouse and were destroyed by Xiao Lou¡¯s group also sent a signal before dying. It seemed that there was a bug army behind every pioneer team. Since Cheng Ziyang brought his team to the warehouse, they would be forced to face the siege of two bug armies!

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Cheng Ziyang. ¡°There are also arge number of bugsing from the rear. Take out your cards to prepare and don¡¯t let the bugs enter the circle of fire!¡±

    Gao Xiaoyi and the others nodded and held their cards with pale faces.

    The situation in front was still optimistic. The bugs were constantly being burned to death by fire. There was oil on the human body and the low level bugs liked to live in groups. So many people were crowded together and burning one would burn a lot!

    Of course, the bugs also spontaneously merged and upgraded after seeing the fire. The upgraded version would be faster and crawl like the wind to avoid the damage of the mes, but they still couldn¡¯t directly break through the fire circle.

    Xiao Lou stared at Yu Hanjiang and spoke in his mind. ¡°The flying pigeon.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    He nced at Shao Qingge and whispered in Shao Qingge¡¯s ear. ¡°Xiao Lou will summon Li Qingzhao. Please make a copy. We will set a fire so that the bugs in the rear can¡¯t get through.¡±

    Shao Qingge understood the meaning. The moment Xiao Lou summoned Li Qingzhao, he immediately used Rich and Willfull to copy the card.

    Who Sent the Brocade from Beyond the Clouds? Li Qingzhao¡¯s flying pigeon letter skill was originally to pass messages to each other but there was also a description in the skill. All flying pigeons could carry items up to 100kg in weight and deliver it to a designated location, simr to a flying pigeon express.

    Last time, Yu Hanjiang and the others went to the gas station to grab gasoline. In addition to burying arge amount of gasoline around them, they kept a few barriers in the bus for emergencies. It was Yu Hanjiang¡¯s idea to control the weight of these gasoline barrels to within 100kg but it was Xiao Lou¡¯s idea to use Li Qingzhao¡¯s flying pigeon to transfer the gasoline barrels to the bugs.

    Now it was time for it to be used. As Shao Qingge copied the card, Ye Qi cleverly ran to the bus and brought two barrels of gasoline over with his teleportation card.

    Seeing the gasoline barrels, Gao Xiaoyi couldn¡¯t help worrying. ¡°If we pour the gasoline now, what if the fire hits us? This is gasoline. It will explore!¡±

    Xiao Lou told her, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. This type of thing won¡¯t happen.¡±

    The next moment, she saw two pigeons appear in front of her. They looked no different from ordinary homing pigeons. They were quite cute but they actually easily lifted the gasoline barrels?!

    The people from the Distant Association had wide eyes.

    The boy wearing sses almost lost his sses. He couldn¡¯t help praising, ¡°This card for moving things is really good¡­ but why pigeons?¡±

    Someone next to him spected. ¡°It is probably the principle of the flying pigeon letter?¡±

    Xiao Lou drilled a hole in the gasoline barrel. In order to avoid the fire wall from directly killing the pigeon, he controlled a pigeon to fly several metres above the fire wall. The pigeon flew forward quickly and the gasoline it was carrying sshed downwards, causing the mes that were already burning to spread rapidly.

    Behind the warehouse, the bug army quickly arrived. Xiao Lou used the same method to have the other pigeon copied by Shao Qingge fly toward the army with a leaking barrel. Within seconds, deafening screams were heard!

    Old Mo shouted, ¡°Arge number of them were killed! They won¡¯t be able to get through it for the time being!¡±

    Gao Xiaoyi gave a thumbs up in admiration. ¡°Too good, this method is too good.¡± She looked at the short-haired girl standing next to her. ¡°Xue Qing, your chemicals can also be used this way.¡±

    The short-haired girl took out a card and activated it. Bottle after bottle of transparent liquid appeared in her hands.

    Ye Qi asked curiously, ¡°Can the things in your bottle keep being produced? What is it?¡±

    The girl called Xue Qing smiled shyly. ¡°This is ethanol which is aponent of the alcohol wemonly used. It might be because I am a chemistry student. All my cards are chemical reagent cards such as sulfuric acid, nitric acid, potassium permanganate, sodium chloride etc¡­¡±

    A row of ethanol bottles was quickly ced at her feet. Xiao Lou thought to himself that the Distant Association had this girl from the chemistry department and the difficulty of 8 of Spades would be reduced. After all, she could produce alcohol in an unlimited manner to deal with the bugs.

    Xue frowned. ¡°It is hard to throw these alcohol bottles at the bugs. It will be blocked by the fire wall.¡±

    Xiao Lou told her, ¡°It¡¯s okay. We can keep them forter use.¡±

    The fire wall was five metres high. It was really hard to throw the alcohol unless it was from the air.

    Just then, Long Sen ran over. ¡°I have a way. My Badminton card has upgraded. Previously, I could only y badminton but now I have a second skill that can hit other things far away. I can hit them up to 100 metres away!¡±

    He picked up a bottle of alcohol from the ground and looked at Xue Qing. ¡°I¡¯ll try it.¡±

    Xue Qing nodded immediately. ¡°Yes, feel free to take it.¡±

    The enemy was present and they were forced to join forces to deal with two batches of bugs. The screams from the outside bugs made their scalps numb and there was no need to hide from each other at this time. Good cards had to be used.

    Long Sen picked up a bottle of alcohol and hit it hard with his badminton racket.

    He chose anding ce 100 metres away and the alcohol made a perfect parab in the air. Yu Hanjiang flew up to take a look and nodded at Long Sen. ¡°Yes, it spilled on the bugs in the distance. Continue.¡±

    Long Sen was very excited. This high altitude badminton racket skill was very good to use.

    He hit the bottles of alcohol made by Xue Qing one after another.

    Thanks to the help of various fuels, the fire showed no signs of going on. The bugs outside were burned to death one after another. Later, they probably couldn¡¯t stand the mes and their screams were much quieter. Liu Qiao flew into the sky to take a look and eximed with joy, ¡°They seem to have decided to retreat! The bugs who haven¡¯t been burned are escaping in different directions!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also flew up to take a look.

    There were charred bodies everywhere. This scene was like purgatory on earth and it was miserable to see. The fire had spread for hundreds of metres and arge number of bugs were burned to death. The unburned bugs in the distance were fleeing quickly in the other direction.

    Behind the warehouse, the deaths and injuries of the second group of bugs weren¡¯t as heavy as the first group. After all, they had seen the fire from a distance and weren¡¯t stupid enough to hit the fire. This was unlike the first group who were caught off guard by the explosion of the gasoline barrels.

    Most of the second batch of bugs had stopped. If it wasn¡¯t for Xiao Lou suddenly pouring gasoline on them using the flying pigeons, they might not be as miserable. Nearly half of them were killed and the other half quickly retreated from the mes.

    The cries had be weaker and weaker. Soon, calm was restored to the surroundings.

    The time for the invincibility of Xiao Lou¡¯s Compass circle was over. The burning smell mixed with the smoke caused everyone to cover their mouths and noses. It was unknown how much time passed but there were no movements from outside and everyone finally sighed with relief.

    The snow was still falling. Fire lit up the sky, making the snowkes gain ayer of golden red as they fell.

    Gao Xiaoyi sighed with relief. ¡°It seems that¡­ the bugs are gone?¡±

    Cheng Ziyang gave a thumbs up and smiled at Xiao Lou. ¡°Everyone is really amazing. There were so many bugs but they could be driven away by you.¡±

    Xiao Lou replied lightly, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    He didn¡¯t want to talk to this Cheng Ziyang. Seeing this person reminded him of when he first met Ye Qi in 3 of Spades. Ye Qi was dressed up as a garbage collector and hiding in the middle of the night to eat biscuits. Although Cheng Ziyang hadn¡¯t killed Ye Qi directly, his actions led to Ye Qi¡¯s death. Everyone naturally didn¡¯t like him. It was just that they couldn¡¯t drive people away when surrounded by bugs. It would be even more difficult if they started fighting at this time.

    Cheng Ziyang found that Xiao Lou¡¯s attitude toward him was very different from that of Gao Xiaoyi, Xue Qing and the others. He stopped talking to Xiao Lou and turned back to chat with his teammates.

    Ye Qi threw the bug into the distance and listened for a long time. Then he said, ¡°There are no movements. Did they really withdraw?¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°They are really afraid of fire and can¡¯t break through the circle of fire.¡±

    Just as everyone was rxing, Ye Qi suddenly opened his mouth. ¡°There seems to be something wrong?¡± He walked to Xiao Lou and gave the other end of the bug to Xiao Lou.

    Ye Qi could throw out three bugs at the same time. One was hidden in the snowman, Old Mo had ced one to guard the rear and Ye Qi used the remaining one in the direction the bugs had retreated. Xiao Lou took it and listened carefully.

    The sound was strange. It wasn¡¯t like the squeaky footsteps of stepping on snow. It was like a small animal doing something at night. The sound was so weak that it was really hard to notice if they didn¡¯t listen carefully.

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t judge what it was and handed the bug to Yu Hanjiang to let him see. Yu Hanjiang heard it and immediately frowned. ¡°It sounds like a mouse making a hole in the wall. They are drilling into the ground.¡±

    The faces of the group changed dramatically.

    Ye Qi reacted with a white face. ¡°They can¡¯t fly but they can drill into the ground?!¡±

 Chapter 219: Doomsday Escape 25

    There were many different species of bugs. Some had wings and could fly in the sky while some could prate underground. The bugs encountered in this world couldn¡¯t fly so they couldn¡¯t directlye through the fire wall¡­ but they could drill holes below the ground to bypass this circle of fire.

    Everyone felt numb when they thought of this.

    Yu Hanjiang snapped loudly, ¡°Everyone, be prepared. Pay attention to the ground!¡±

    At almost the moment he finished speaking, the ground behind them started to surge like ripples in the sea. In the blink of an eye, dozens of sturdy ¡®humans¡¯ emerged from the ground!

    Although digging at the ground made them grey-faced and some had injuries, they didn¡¯t care at all.

    Yu Hanjiang and the others were surrounded by dozens of bugs. Looking at their scarlet eyes, agile reactions and rapid speed, Yu Hanjiang lowered his voice. ¡°Be careful. They are upgraded and there are more than once.¡±

    If the fusion of two bugs can change them from level one to level two, the fusion of two level two bugs could change them to level three.

    The mes were so fierce just now. Although arge number of bugs were burned, some only had their bodies burned and not their heads. These injured bugs would definitely spontaneously merge. It was unknown what level the dozens of bugs who suddenly appeared in the warehouse had reached but based on their n of digging a hole to cross the circle of fire and strike in the rear, their IQ definitely wasn¡¯t inferior to humans.

    Everyone¡¯s faces were a bit ugly as they were surrounded by the advanced bugs. Before everyone had time to move, two bugs rushed toward Gao Xiaoyi.

    The actions were as fast as lightning and the human eye couldn¡¯t catch it. The parasitized human nails became extremely sharp and harder than a crab¡¯s ws. It was obviously because of evolution.

    Gao Xiaoyi responded quickly. She directly used Pole Vault to jump up toward the roof of the warehouse.

    The two bugs naturally wouldn¡¯t let her go. The two of them immediately climbed up to the roof. Gao Xiaoyi threw out a card skill and released a python to surround them. The giant python¡¯s body was as thick as a tree trunk and the two bugs were entangled and unable to move. In the blink of an eye, they were¡­ eaten by the giant python? It was unknown if the python would be infected or not. Then the next moment, Gao Xiaoyi put away her python card and jumped back to her teammates.

    It seemed this giant python could swallow all living creatures without being infected.

    At the same time, Xue Qing was also attacked. She picked up alcohol and sshed it on the bug. Unfortunately, the bug reacted quickly and avoided the alcohol she threw. The girl turned pale and hid behind the man in sses standing next to her. He raised his hand and an electric current quickly swept through the bug¡¯s body. The bug stiffened and was unable to move due to the electric current. The man in sses followed up by pouring alcohol and lighting it.

    The university students in this team were really strong. There were all types of physics, chemistry and beast cards. The boy wearing sses should be from the department of physics and his cards were rted to ¡®electricity¡¯. Sure enough, the next moment he activated a light card.

    A dazzling white light suddenly lit up the night sky. The bugs were nearly blinded and received the dizziness group control.

    The university students of the Distant Association fought with the bugs while Xiao Lou¡¯s side also didn¡¯t have it easy. These advanced bugs had fast actions and were like flying shadows when they ran. It was difficult to hit them with single target control skills. Ye Qi used his erhu to control a wave but he only controlled three or four. They were quickly resolved by Yu Hanjiang.

    Long Sen¡¯s Badminton card couldn¡¯t control any at all while Ye Qi¡¯s group control had a longer cooldown time.

    Compared to the bugs who could run quickly and attack from every angle, their speed was obviously slower. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t hesitate to summon Bai Juyi to use the pipa skill to make the targets chaotic.

    The pipa¡¯s control range was rtivelyrge but this group of bugs had learned and flew back the moment they saw a strange person appear. Xiao Lou¡¯s big move only controlled five. The chaotic bugs started to kill each other and Yu Hanjiang used this opportunity to pour another bottle of alcohol to collectively burn them to death.

    The even more frightening thing was¡­

    There were more than 40 bugs. They had only killed half when more bugs kepting out from underground! Obviously, they were followed by a number of advanced bugs and the underground passage had beenpletely opened up by them. They killed one and two more climbed out of the ground¡­

    It was the most difficult whack-a-mole game.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression sank. ¡°Try to hold these bugs and evacuate the warehouse as soon as possible. Don¡¯t bother with them!¡±

    The university students of the Distant Association were very strong and had all types of card control skills. They seemed to have stabilized the situation but everyone¡¯s physical strength was limited and their card skills had cooldown times. If it kept being consumed while more and more bugs climbed out of the ground, everyone would really fall into the crisis of being overwhelmed by the bugs!

    Yu Hanjiang ordered, ¡°Fight side by side while withdrawing!¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke to Shao Qingge. ¡°Chief Shao, I will slow them down first.¡±

    He used Li Qingzhao¡¯s skill ¡®Slow Sound.¡¯ This skill could slow down everyone in range, just like a movie started ying in slow motion. It slowed them down 90%. Even if the bugs were agile, Li Qingzhao¡¯s group control had a range of 100 metres and they all became clumsy.

    Of course, this skill might be strong but it was also a double-edged sword. The bugs slowed down while the actions of Xiao Lou¡¯s group would also slow down.

    He heard Li Qingzhao stand there and say, ¡°Searching, seeking, coldness and destion, dreariness and misery¡­¡±

    The team of university students was stunned.

    Gao Xiaoyi couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°What is this card¡­ Li Qingzhao?¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t have time to exin to her. ¡°Quickly withdraw!¡±

    Gao Xiaoyi moved forward and found that her legs were like lead. She couldn¡¯t move and she couldn¡¯t help panicking. ¡°We are also affected!¡±

    Cheng Ziyang¡¯s expression changed as he looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°You controlled us and let us move in slow motion so you can evacuate yourselves? Is it good to betray us like this?¡±

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°Do you think everyone is like you? All targets in range will slow down, including ourselves! This card must be used with a discement card!¡±

    He was toozy to talk to Cheng Ziyang. He used his discement card to teleport Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang to the rear of the warehouse.

    The teleportation card allowed instant horizontal movement up to 50 metres. What was instant? It was a game-like skill that couldn¡¯t be interrupted. Li Qingzhao¡¯s slow down didn¡¯t affect this instant skill. Therefore, Xiao Lou only used Li Qingzhao to slow down the bugs while they would use teleportation to escape.

    Shao Qingge and Ye Qi used the teleportation card to quickly take away their teammates.

    Seeing Ye Qi and Shao Qingge take everyone to the back of the warehouse, a bit of cruelty shed in Cheng Ziyang¡¯s eyes. He nced at Xue Qing. ¡°They want to leave us and run. Use your skill to remove control!¡±

    Xue Qing felt that Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t this type of person but everyone was really affected by the deceleration. She couldn¡¯t even move her feet. She no longer hesitated and took out a bottle of potassium permanganate. Since potassium permanganate was a strong oxidant, the first skill ¡®Disinfection¡¯ could clear all negative states while the second skill ¡®Sterilization¡¯ could help people treat wounds.

    She helped clear the negative state from her teammates. The group teleportation skill of Golden Cicada Shell was still on cooldown so Cheng Ziyang solemnly ordered, ¡°Catch up with them!¡±

    They didn¡¯t know the truth but more bugs were crawling out of the ground. The 12 of them couldn¡¯t handle it so they had to listen to their team leader and run to the back of the warehouse. They had just reached the middle when they saw Ye Qi and Shao Qinggeing back.

    Ye Qi frowned. ¡°We wanted to pick you up yet you run over yourself?¡±

    After all, running quickly wasn¡¯t as fast as teleporting 50 metres. Ye Qi and Shao Qingge used the teleportation card to pick up their teammates and it actually only took a few seconds. Li Qingzhao¡¯s words weren¡¯t finished yet.

    The university students heard this and their expressions were a bit embarrassed. It was because their captain thought too badly of others. After all, they fought side by side to kill so many bugs. How could the other team control them to escape by themselves? Wasn¡¯t this the same as killing them indirectly?

    Xue Qing exined in an embarrassed manner. ¡°Everyone couldn¡¯t move so I used a skill to remove the control.¡±

    Shao Qingge slightly narrowed his eyes but didn¡¯t say anything.

    The teleportation card could carry a weight of 200 kilograms. Several of the girls in this group were very thin so three people could be taken at a time. In less than 5 seconds, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi had taken them all to the dug hole.

    The reason why Xiao Lou brought this team along was because they were strong. If arge number of bugs were met, they could eliminate the bugs together. Besides, controlling other people and running away alone was too unscrupulous. He couldn¡¯t do it.

    After lifting the cardboard covering the hole, Yu Hanjiang was the first to jump down. ¡°Quickly! Don¡¯t let the bugs follow!¡±

    Shao Qingge said, ¡°I will stay back. My card can still use the Slow Sound skill.¡±

    Ye Qi wasn¡¯t reassured and also stayed.

    Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang and the rest of the team jumped down one by one with the students from the Distant Association. Finally, only Cheng Ziyang, Xue Qing, Ye Qi and Shao Qingge were left outside.

    Just then, arge number of bugs rushed over like a tidal wave!

    Li Qingzhao¡¯s words finished and the bugs recovered their ability to act. Shao Qingge summoned another Li Qingzhao without hesitation and continued to slow them down. The originally aggressive bugs were affected by the slow motion and couldn¡¯t take a single step. They stretched out their ws as they moved forward slowly. It was a rather funny sight.

    Ye Qi just wanted tough when two bugs pounced from the roof of the warehouse!

    These two bugs were smarter. They were spared from Li Qingzhao¡¯s control because they climbed to the roof. Then they had been quietly waiting for an opportunity. There were two separate attacks. One attacked Cheng Ziyang and the other attacked Ye Qi.

    Seeing that they were going to aim at Cheng Ziyang, Xue Qing¡¯s eyes widened. She was about to shout ¡®Be careful¡¯ when unexpectedly, Cheng Ziyang didn¡¯t hesitate to pull Xue Qing to block his body. Xue Qing screamed as her entire face was scratched by the bug¡¯s sharp nails!

    The situation was critical and Cheng Ziyang probably had no cards in his hands. He didn¡¯t think as he pulled his teammates to block the knife. At the same time, Shao Qingge pulled Ye Qi into his arms to protect Ye Qi. There was a muffled hum in Ye Qi¡¯s ear. After that, he saw blood flowing down Shao Qingge¡¯s forehead.

    Behind them was the bug army and the raging fire was in front of them. The teleportation card could only be used horizontally and Shao Qingge had no other life-saving cards in his hand. The bug had attacked Ye Qi from behind and Ye Qi obviously didn¡¯t see it. All Shao Qingge could do was protect Ye Qi with his body.

    It was his subconscious reaction as if his brain had thought about it at all. Seeing the blood on Shao Qingge¡¯s forehead, Ye Qi trembled violently. He grabbed Shao Qingge¡¯s arm hard and spoke in a shaking voice. ¡°How are you? Chief Shao¡­ don¡¯t scare me¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled lightly when he heard the young man almost crying. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±

    He spoke in the heart channel. ¡°I¡¯m infected. Let¡¯s go straight away.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes were hot. He didn¡¯t care about the infected Xue Qing and directly pulled Shao Qingge to jump down into the cave.

    They had just gone down when a card pack was dropped. This was followed by Xue Qing¡¯s crying voice. ¡°Thank you for being willing to take me away but I am infected. I don¡¯t want to be a bug and be controlled without dignity. I don¡¯t want to kill my teammates! Please give this to them for me!¡±

    The girl seemed weak but her character was extremely strong. She was pulled by Cheng Ziyang to block the knife and was obviously very surprised and frustrated. Ye Qi was surprised to find that she actually used the scooter and rushed into the circle of fire to kill herself!

    Shao Qingge still had his consciousness at this time, After entering the tunnel, he spoke quietly. ¡°Professor Xiao, let me borrow your hair dryer.¡±

    A girl¡¯s scream was heard from outside and the specific situation wasn¡¯t clear.

    Inside the tunnel, Gao Xiaoyi was worried. ¡°That seemed to be Xue Qing¡¯s cry. What happened?¡±

    Shao Qingge didn¡¯t exin. He saw that Cheng Ziyang would jump down and suddenly activated the blow dryer. A violent wind passed by and Cheng Ziyang was blown away dozens of metres! Shao Qingge blew the wind toward the ring of fire and Cheng Ziyang directly fell into the mes.

    Cheng Ziyang¡¯s scream echoed in his ears. He was thrown into such a big fire. Obviously, he would be burned to ashes like Xue Qing and not even his bones would be left.

    He had hurt Ye Qi once and Shao Qingge always remembered it. Now Cheng Ziyang pulled his teammate to block the knife. Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t tolerate it and it was better to use this opportunity to solve this problem.

    Ye Qi was trembling. Currently, only he knew Chief Shao was infected and he knew Shao Qingge¡¯s thoughts. Shao Qingge had always been unhappy with Cheng Ziyang. Now Cheng Ziyang was going to be buried with Xue Qing. It was his best ending. There was always a day when one would receive payback for what they did.

    Their captain was thrown into the fire and the people of the Distant Association looked ugly. Some people wanted toe forward but Yu Hanjiang stopped them with his calm expression. ¡°Go first and speak as we walk. Old Mo, seal the back.¡±

    No matter the reason, Yu Hanjiang believed in Shao Qingge.

    Old Mo immediately blocked the back road with marble and the people in Xiao Lou¡¯s team walked forward. The people of the Distant Association nced at each other and could only go forward. After all, the back road was blocked and they couldn¡¯t go up. If they stayed here, they would be buried in the sea of bugs.

    Along the way, the atmosphere was terrible and the tunnel was silent.

    Shao Qingge felt soft when he saw that Ye Qi was about to cry. He rubbed the boy¡¯s head and spoke in his mind, ¡°I remember you said you wouldn¡¯t abandon me. You would take me with you through this level. This is the ultimate lying down to win.¡±

    His joke wasn¡¯t funny. Ye Qi¡¯s eyes were red and he held back his tears as he said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡±

    At that time, if he hadn¡¯t been distracted paying attention to Cheng Ziyang¡¯s side then he would¡¯ve noticed being attacked from behind. He could¡¯ve controlled the bug with a musical instrument. However, he was distracted and this caused Shao Qingge to block the bug¡¯s attack with his body.

    It was his fault that Shao Qingge was infected. It was because he didn¡¯t take care of Chief Shao. Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help wanting to p himself.

    Shao Qingge sighed lightly when he felt Ye Qi¡¯s strong guilt and regret. ¡°Don¡¯t me yourself. Tell Professor Xiao and let him find a way. I believe in your abilities. I have won so many times in the Hearts room by lying down. This time, I will have to depend on you once again.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded and went to Xiao Lou¡¯s side. Xiao Lou had long noticed that Ye Qi¡¯s mood wasn¡¯t right and he asked softly, ¡°What happened?¡±

    Ye Qi whispered into Xiao Lou¡¯s ear. ¡°Chief Shao¡­ has been infected.¡±

 Chapter 220: Doomsday Escape 26

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face turned pale upon hearing Ye Qi¡¯s words.

    He could feel that Shao Qingge hated Cheng Ziyang. Everyone knew that Shao Qingge didn¡¯t have a good impression of Cheng Ziyang after he betrayed Ye Qi. However, with Shao Qingge¡¯s character, he wouldn¡¯t directly kill a person.

    Yet just now, Shao Qingge used the hair dryer to throw Cheng Ziyang into the raging mes!

    Cheng Ziyang would¡¯ve definitely burned to ashes in the mes. Shao Qingge must¡¯ve had a problem with Cheng Ziyang to act in this way. Combined with Xue Qing¡¯s scream¡­ it turned out that the four of them were attacked by the bugs when they were still above ground. Chief Shao was even infected!

    At this time, the university students of the Distant Association were still following. They might do something to Shao Qingge if they knew he was infected. They absolutely couldn¡¯t learn about it.

    Xiao Lou immediately calmed down his emotions and told Yu Hanjiang the bad news through the heart channel. Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly and walked to Ye Qi, asking in a low voice. ¡°What¡¯s the situation?¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s nose was tingly and he bowed his head to hold back his tears. ¡°Just now, two bugs sneaked onto the roof and escaped Li Qingzhao¡¯s control. They suddenly attacked from the rear. I didn¡¯t notice and Chief Shao was scratched by the bugs to protect me¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Cheng Ziyang was also infected so Chief Shao blew him into the fire?¡±

    Ye Qi shook his head. ¡°No, when Cheng Ziyang was attacked, he pulled Xue Qing in front of him and this caused Xue Qing to be infected.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged looks. Based on Ye Qi¡¯s description, they could imagine the situation at the time. They were attacked by the bugs and Cheng Ziyang chose to use his teammate to block the knife while Shao Qingge chose to take the risk to protect his teammate.

    These were twopletely different approaches. A person¡¯s subconscious response in a crisis was enough to show their character. They didn¡¯t believe that Shao Qingge was wrong. Don¡¯t look at how he was usuallyzy. He slept all day in the main city,y down to win in the Hearts secret room and always teased them¡­

    However, Xiao Lou really admired his courage in a critical moment!

    Seeing Ye Qi¡¯s pale face, Xiao Lou gently held his shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t me yourself too much. Protecting you is his own choice. You can¡¯t be med. If you are infected then everyone would still be sad.¡±

    Ye Qi lowered his head and said nothing.

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°Moreover, being infected isn¡¯t hopeless. Didn¡¯t Group Leader Yu analyze it before? The data will be reset after an A-grade secret room and the challengers¡¯ injuries in the secret room will be automatically cleared. As long as we protect Chief Shao and don¡¯t let him die, he will be able to recover after returning to the main city. He will be the former safe and sound Chief Shao.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded slightly. ¡°Um¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Do you still feel his signal now? You are connected with Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings right?¡±

    Ye Qi tentatively asked Shao Qingge in his mind, ¡°Chief Shao, can you hear me?¡±

    Shao Qinggeughed in his mind. ¡°I can hear you. I haven¡¯t mutated yet and there are no special sensations in my body. Perhaps the bug is still adapting to my body?¡±

    Ye Qi told Xiao Lou the result.

    Xiao Lou sighed with relief. After being infected, it would take a while topletely mutate. It was the same for the patients who were previously seen in the hospital. They were normal at first but after mutating, they would uncontrobly attack humans. Of course, those who were out of control would be the lower level bugs. The smarter ones would pretend to be human for a sneak attack.

    Qin Guan¡¯s ¡®Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings¡¯ connected the inner worlds of two people, allowing two people tomunicate through their spirits. Therefore, Chief Shao wasn¡¯t a bug pretending right now. He still had his own consciousness.

    It was unknown when he would mutate. Xiao Lou thought about it for a moment before telling Ye Qi softly, ¡°You and Chief Shao have a spiritual channel and should keepmunicating at all times. If thismunication channel is broken, it means his consciousness is being controlled by the bug. At this time, immediately control him with the flute. Our underground tunnel will only take five minutes. There are still bugs outside and we can be caught by them. We will talk about it after leaving the secret tunnel.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also agreed with Xiao Lou¡¯s opinion. ¡°The bugs can burrow into the ground. We blocked the back and side roads but we will be surrounded if they dig above us. So we will leave the secret tunnel first before thinking about how to solve Chief Shao¡¯s problem. He shouldn¡¯t lose consciousness in five minutes.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded vigorously.

    The three of them spoke in a low voice as they walked. Shao Qingge was able to sense the conversation between Ye Qi, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang and he also added, ¡°The overall situation is the most important thing. Let me go out of the secret passage first. I should be able to hold on for a few minutes.¡±

    Just then, Gao Xiaoyi from the Distant Association walked over with a pale face. ¡°This gentleman, what happened just now? Why did you throw our captain into the fire with a hair dryer?¡±

    The boy with sses also spoke. ¡°The fire was so big and Cheng Ziyang will definitely be burned to ashes if thrown in. What hatred do you have with him? Why do you want to hurt him so much? In addition, what about Xue Qing? She was screaming just now. Why didn¡¯t shee down?¡±

    It was normal for these people to have a problem. After all, they saw Shao Qingge blowing Cheng Ziyang into the fire. They must be angry and puzzled in their hearts.

    Ye Qi¡¯s face was pale and he was about to exin when he heard a voice beside him. ¡°This story is moreplicated. We will talk as we walk.¡±

    After all, the bug army was behind them. Now wasn¡¯t the time to stop and argue.

    Gao Xiaoyi also nodded. She motioned to her teammates to follow and they talked as they walked.

    Shao Qingge told them, ¡°It started as early as 3 of Spades. Our Ye Qi was breaking through alone and it was the same for your captain Cheng Ziyang. The two of them happened to be matched up and became temporary teammates. As a result, after most of their supplies were stolen, your Captain Cheng actually left Xiao Ye and ran away.¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly and his gaze became extremely sharp. ¡°Due to his betrayal, Ye Qi was eliminated in 3 of Spades. He entered the Nightmare Room, eating leaves to survive for 14 days. You can imagine for yourself what difficulties he went through toe back from the Nightmare Room.¡±

    The team of university students heard this and exchanged looks.

    Everyone had experienced 3 of Spades. In retrospect, the Financial Crisis room wasn¡¯t very difficult but it also wasn¡¯t simple. It would be very troublesome once their materials were stolen, let alone having a teammate who ran off with the supplies. This approach was simply cutting off a person¡¯s food source, harming a person and eliminating them!

    Gao Xiaoyi and the others obviously couldn¡¯t believe it. How could their usually sunny and handsome captain be such a person? Was it true that people truly didn¡¯t know the hearts of others?

    Gao Xiaoyi frowned slightly. ¡°This is your subjective statement and we can¡¯t fully believe it¡­ Besides, even if what you said is true, we are sorry for Xiao Ye but you can use other methods to make himpensate. Did you have to kill him?¡±

    Shao Qingge wondered, ¡°What if he killed someone too?¡±

    Gao Xiaoyi slightly hesitated. She thought of Xue Qing¡¯s scream and a chill filled her heart. ¡°Do you mean¡­ Xue Qing?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled coldly. ¡°Selling out teammates, there will only be zero times or countless times. Do you understand what I mean?¡±

    Everyone naturally understood. A person who could sell out their teammate once would naturally do it a second and third time. It was because their survival instincts would make them only think about themselves. What was their teammatepared to life?

    Meanwhile, those who didn¡¯t sell out their teammates would bear the burden with their teammate even in the face of life or death. They would live and die together.

    It was like how domestic violence urred zero times or countless times. A man who didn¡¯t know domestic violence would never beat his wife. Meanwhile, a person whomitted domestic violence would do it a second time, even if he kneeled down and admitted his mistake the first time.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s meaning was obvious. Cheng Ziyang previously sold out Ye Qi in 3 of Spades and just now he sold out Xue Qing, killing Xue Qing¡­ the blood debt should be paid with his life! Ye Qi saw Chief Shao clearly exin the reason to everyone and felt even more ufortable. He didn¡¯t know how long Chief Shao could maintain this state.

    Ye Qi took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. Then he stepped forward and exined softly, ¡°The four of us were attacked by the bugs just now. After your captain Cheng Ziyang noticed he was going to be attacked, he immediately pulled Xue Qing in front of him and this caused Xue Qing to be infected. Xue Qing said she didn¡¯t want to be a puppet of the bugs, nor did she want to hurt you after being infected. Therefore, she rushed into the fire on her scooter and killed herself.¡±

    Ye Qi really admired this girl¡¯s courage and the other teammates were shocked after hearing it.

    The people of the Distant Association heard this and their faces were ugly. The boy pushed his sses up his nose and mused in a low voice, ¡°No wonder why we heard Xue Qing¡¯s scream. Cheng Ziyang, how could he do this¡­¡±

    A girl who had a close rtionship with Xue Qing was full of anger. She clenched her fists as she muttered, ¡°Cheng Ziyang doesn¡¯t have too many self-defense cards. It must be that at a critical moment, he only thought about his own life and ended up hurting Xue Qing! If he didn¡¯t do that, if he had told me, I might¡¯ve had time to go up and rescue them. But Xue Qing¡­¡± The girl¡¯s voice choked up at the end.

    Ye Qi handed a card pack to Gao Xiaoyi. ¡°This is Xue Qing¡¯s card pack. She asked me to pass it onto you.¡±

    The girl took the card pack with trembling fingers.

    At this moment, Gao Xiaoyi¡¯s expression suddenly changed. ¡°Cheng Ziyang, he¡­¡±

    The group looked at her. Gao Xiaoyi was silent for three seconds before stating in a low voice, ¡°He is dead.¡±

    The boy next to her was surprised and asked, ¡°The contract was handed over?¡±

    Gao Xiaoyi nodded. ¡°Yes, we signed Cheng Ziyang¡¯s contract. ording to the rules of the contract, if the team leader dies in the secret room then it will be passed on to the second person who signed the contract. I have known him the longest and was the second person to sign the contract. Now I have be the captain. I just saw the notice about the transfer on my floating box.¡±

    She took out her senior contract book and showed her teammates. It was true that Cheng Ziyang and Xue Qing¡¯s names had disappeared from it. The death of their two teammates was obviously a heavy blow to their team and they were silent.

    Xiao Lou sighed andforted them. ¡°The most insecure thing is to have a person like Cheng Ziyang by your side. If you go to the S-grade secret rooms, what if he sells you out for his own survival? It isn¡¯t a pity that he died. It is just a pity that the innocent Xue Qing was implicated.¡±

    Gao Xiaoyi quickly calmed down and looked back at her teammates. ¡°We don¡¯t have time to be sad. Xue Qing¡¯s cards will be kept by me for the time being. Since I have be the captain, I am responsible for leading everyone through this secret room. Cheer up and go quickly! There are still many bugs waiting outside. Do you want to go out and feed the bugs together?¡±

    Her team regained some of their spirit after hearing her words and walked forward.

    Gao Xiaoyi walked beside Ye Qi and said, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡±

    Gao Xiaoyi was silent for a moment. ¡°Cheng Ziyang¡¯s betrayal of you¡­ I was just his teammate and I¡¯m not qualified to apologize for him. However, if you managed to leave the Nightmare Room then it shows your ability is very strong. You will definitely have good luck in the future.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    What good luck? He was the one who caused Chief Shao to be infected by the bug.

    Ye Qi reluctantly smiled at her and continued to move forward whilemunicating with Shao Qingge in his mind. Suddenly, Shao Qingge told him, ¡°I will also give you my card pack for safekeeping. There aren¡¯t many useful cards but it can give me more peace of mind.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded. ¡°Okay, I will help¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s cards really weren¡¯t useful. ATM Machine, Stock Curve, Rich and Willfull etc. all had no attack power or control skills. It was best to use Rich and Willfull to copy a card but it cost 5 million gold coins. Shao Qingge himself hadn¡¯t drawn any attack cards. It was why he used his body to protect Ye Qi instead of a card in the critical moment.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°I will give you all my chances to draw a card in the future. I will never draw it again.¡±

    Shao Qingge chucked. ¡°Don¡¯t do that. What if I get Bank or Funds etc. It is too shy.¡±

    ¡°You are still in the mood to joke¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge patted Ye Qi¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous. I am just parasitized, not dead. I will be fine as long as we clear this secret room.¡±

    Ye Qi had to give a dull reply.

    The two men chatted as they talked. Five minutes passed quickly and everyone soon reached the exit of the passage.

    Due to repeated surveys of this underground path and blocking off the surrounding fork roads with the marble walls, everyone had a smooth journey. Xiao Lou had already activated the function of the drone and monitored the movements at the exit. Currently, the exit was extremely calm. Not even the sound of small animals could be heard.

    Xiao Lou nodded at Yu Hanjiang to indicate it was safe outside. Yu Hanjiang immediately flew up, his arms mming upwards as he lifted the snow-covered manhole cover. ¡°Everyonee up!¡±

    Everyone had flying and jumping cards and went up quickly. Then Ye Qi and Chief Shao were pulled up by Yu Hanjiang using the white silk. Yu Hanjiang covered the manhole and looked around.

    It waste at night and the surroundings were pitch ck. All the buildings in the distance had no lights and the streetsmps were turned off. They could only observe the surroundings using the light of thentern in Xiao Lou¡¯s hand.

    Yu Hanjiang remembered that the street lights were still on thest time he came to explore this road. He frowned and warned them, ¡°The bugs have probably destroyed the city¡¯s electrical system. In the future, there will be no street lights and it will be even more difficult when moving.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°They are very agile at night and their night vision ability should be strong.¡±

    He nced at Gao Xiaoyi¡¯s group and told them, ¡°We can only help you up to here.¡±

    Gao Xiaoyi was taken aback but soon understood what he meant.

    The underground passage was dug by his party and the gasoline barrels were also prepared by them. Gao Xiaoyi¡¯s group only eliminated some of the bugs that emerged from the ground. It could be said that they took advantage of this team to escape smoothly.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t have the obligation to take them during the evacuation but he still did so. In addition, there was Cheng Ziyang¡¯s betrayal and Gao Xiaoyi wasn¡¯t shameless enough to keep following Xiao Lou. She nodded. ¡°Okay, we will leave immediately. However¡­¡±

    She took out Xue Qing¡¯s card pack and handed the Ethanol card to Xiao Lou. ¡°This card will be given to you as thanks. Thank you for taking everyone with you when evacuating and thank you for helping to avenge Xue Qing. I think that Xue Qing will be very happy to give this card to you.¡±

    Xiao Lou took it and saw that it was the S-grade pharmaceutical card Ethanol. It could continuously produce ethanol for 30 minutes every time and a maximum of 100 bottles could be produced. The concentration of the ethanol was higher than that of alcohol sold on the market and it was more likely to cause fires.

    In the secret room containing bugs that feared fire, this card that could continuously produce ethanol was definitely a super useful card. She was actually giving it to them?

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°You are giving us this card. What about you?¡±

    The boy wearing sses replied, ¡°I can use a circuit to create a fire and block an area, so the Ethanol card doesn¡¯t have a great impact on us. Since Sister Gao is giving it to you, please ept it. Thank you for taking us out of there alive.¡±

    He was a high-achieving student in the Department of Physics. The cards he drew were rted to electricity, optics and maic fields. Among them was a circuit card that could instantly release wires to form a close circuit. This allowed him to control the currents in the air and short-circuiting the wires could cause a fire. People who were paralyzed by his electricity couldn¡¯t run away from the fire so it was actually better than pouring alcohol.

    Gao Xiaoyi added, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we still have some cards in our hands. We will hide from the bugs. We were too careless tonight. We shouldn¡¯t have killed the vanguard so early. We didn¡¯t expect the vanguard team to actually be a death squad reporting to the rear army.¡±

    Xiao Lou also hadn¡¯t expected it. If the vanguard hadn¡¯t been dealt with so quickly, perhaps the bug army wouldn¡¯t have been so quick toe to the door.

    He looked at Gao Xiaoyi with appreciation. ¡°Good luck to you.¡±

    Gao Xiaoyi also thanked Xiao Lou and took her team away.

    She obviously gave the Ethanol card to Xiao Lou because she didn¡¯t want to owe Xiao Lou¡¯s team a favour. After all, the captain Cheng Ziyang had harmed Xiao Ye yet everyone was still willing to take their team while escaping. This was really rare. If Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t taken them along, they would¡¯ve been submerged in the ocean of bugs.

    Xiao Lou watched Gao Xiaoyi¡¯s back and thought thatpared to Cheng Ziyang, this female captain was more courageous. Now that they didn¡¯t have Cheng Ziyang to stab them in the back at any time, a strong team like the Distant Association team should find it easier to pass the instance. Xiao Lou really didn¡¯t dare keep them by his side. After all, Chief Shao was infected and he didn¡¯t know the people of the Distant Association. He couldn¡¯t take the risk.

    It wasn¡¯t until the group went far away that Xiao Lou turned to everyone. ¡°There is some bad news.¡±

    Liu Qiao, Old Mo and the others immediately paid attention.

    Xiao Lou spoke in a low voice. ¡°Chief Shao was infected.¡±

    The expressions of the group changed as they stared at Shao Qingge.

    Shao Qingge told them, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. I don¡¯t want to bite you now.¡±

    No one was afraid. They were all worried and there was no disgust in their eyes. This made Shao Qingge¡¯s heart warm. At this moment, he was absolutely sure that he wouldn¡¯t be abandoned by his teammates even if he was infected.

    Xiao Lou told them, ¡°Chief Shao hasn¡¯t lost consciousness but we have to prepare for it in advance. We must prevent Chief Shao from attacking us after he bes a bug. At the same time, we must protect Chief Shao from being called away by other bugs or merging with them.¡±

    Shao Qingge heard this and couldn¡¯t help joking, ¡°You can take me as a test product to study the bugs. You can take a closer look at the process of the mutation and there might be new discoveries. This will be helpful when dealing with the bugs in the future.¡±

    Everyone was a bit ufortable hearing his rxed tone.

    No one wanted to be infected but Shao Qingge¡¯s personality was truly optimistic. He wasn¡¯t panicked or afraid at all¡­

    Xiao Lou stared at Shao Qingge and spoke seriously, ¡°Chief Shao, rest assured, we will try our best to take you through this instance.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°Yes, I believe in everyone¡¯s strength. You don¡¯t have to feel sorry for me.¡±

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°The problem is that we can¡¯t tie Chief Shao up all the time and we don¡¯t know when he will mutate. So¡­ I¡¯ve thought of an idea. I don¡¯t know if Chief Shao is willing to cooperate?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°I will listen to Professor Xiao. What is your good idea?¡±

    Xiao Lou coughed and touched his nose. ¡°Make you smaller.¡±

 Chapter 221: Doomsday Escape 27

    Shao Qingge¡¯s expression was confused. He obviously didn¡¯t understand Xiao Lou¡¯s meaning.

    Instead, Liu Qiao was the first one to react. She took out the fairy tale card Thumbelina from her card pack and asked Xiao Lou, ¡°Professor Xiao, are you referring to this card? It can change the designated target to the size of a thumb?¡±

    She remembered experimenting with Xiao Lou when she first drew it. The thumb-sized Xiao Lou stood on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s palm and was so cute¡­

    Xiao Lou questioned, ¡°How is the effect of this card at full level?¡±

    Liu Qiao put away her memories and replied seriously, ¡°At full level, the transformation canst 8 hours and it can only be used once a day.¡±

    Xiao Lou calcted it carefully and nodded. ¡°8 hours should be enough. We have to transform Chief Shao to the size of a thumb when we have to sleep at night or when it isn¡¯t convenient to take care of Chief Shao. On one hand, we can control his bug so that we aren¡¯t attacked. In addition, if other bugse then we can hide the smaller version of Chief Shao and they won¡¯t be able to find him.¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s brain made up the image of himself bing smaller and he couldn¡¯t help smiling. ¡°Interesting. So you can put me in your pocket after I shrink, right?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°Yes, we did an experiment when Liu Qiao drew this card. For a thumb-sized person, Group Leader Yu can hold me in one hand. If we encounter the bugs and need to escape, we will make you smaller and put you in our pocket. This will make it easier to take care of you.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°Good idea. I can sleep in your pockets.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    They were all worried half to death while he was still in the mood to joke?! The next moment, Ye Qi¡¯s expression changed and he nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°He didn¡¯t answer my question¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou reacted instantly. He blinked at Ye Qi and turned to Liu Qiao. ¡°Prepare the Thumbelina card!¡±

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t feel Shao Qingge¡¯s signal in his mind. No matter how much he called out, he could no longer get a response from Shao Qingge. It was like a stone sinking into the sea. Shao Qingge was unconscious. This thought made Ye Qi¡¯s heart hurt like it had been cut by a knife.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s consciousness was gone. The Shao Qingge who joked with him with a smile and gently teased him when he was sad had fallen into a deep sleep and his body was already controlled by the bug.

    In front of them, Shao Qingge was still smiling and looked no different from usual. If it wasn¡¯t for Ye Qi¡¯s spiritual channel not detecting Shao Qingge¡¯s thoughts, everyone might not have noticed it. They would think that Chief Shao was still smiling and chatting with everyone when in fact, Chief Shao in front of them was already controlled by the bug.

    Ye Qi endured his sadness and yed his flute at Shao Qingge. The rhythm entered his ears and the smile on Shao Qingge¡¯s face stiffened. He was apparently controlled by the flute¡¯s sleepiness.

    Liu Qiao immediately used the Thumbelina card¡¯s skill. Everyone saw the tall man in front of Ye Qi suddenly disappear. They looked down at the snowy ground using the light of Xiao Lou¡¯sntern. They could see a thumb-sized Shao Qingge who looked quite cute.

    Ye Qi hurriedly eximed, ¡°Stay away from him. Don¡¯t step on him!¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    They were really unustomed to the chibi version of Chief Shao. Ye Qi crouched down, carefully picked up Chief Shao from the ground, ced Chief Shao on his palm and examined him.

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°He might have be smaller but he can still infect you if he bites you. How should we bring him along? ce him in our pockets?¡±

    Ye Qi thought about it before taking a bottle out of his bag.

    It was a small bottle of mineral water. He unscrewed the cap and poured out the water inside. Then he carefully ced Chief Shao in the empty bottle, created a few small holes to ensure air cirction and closed the lid again.

    The team looked at the scene and their expressions were a bitplicated. The chibi version of Chief Shao was ced in a bottle by Ye Qi¡­

    Ye Qi was sad and choked up as he spoke to the little person in the bottle. ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t want to lock you up. I just want to take you with me in a convenient manner. Don¡¯t worry, I promise that I won¡¯t leave you behind even if I die.¡±

    Xiao Lou patted him on the shoulder and didn¡¯t speak.

    Ye Qi stared intently at the transparent bottle. The smaller version of Chief Shao stood inside the bottle. The bug controlling him seemed a bit confused. He twisted his head to observe the surroundings and crawled back and forth in the bottle for a long time. He found that he couldn¡¯t get out and under everyone¡¯s gazes, hey down t in the bottle and fell asleep.

    Ye Qi was dumbfounded. ¡°He seems to be sleeping?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Did the bug parasite bezy after it parasitized Chief Shao¡¯s body?

 Chapter 222: Doomsday Escape 28

    Xiao Lou heard Ye Qi¡¯s words and went over to take a closer look into the bottle. He saw that Shao Qingge, who was the size of a thumb, was lying on the bottom of the bottle with closed eyes. He really seemed to be asleep as hey there without moving.

    He felt doubts and asked Yu Hanjiang through the heart channel. ¡°The bugs parasitize humans. They should swallow the human consciousness, be aggressive and continue to spread and multiply. I have never seen a mutated bug just go to sleep.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    He had also never seen a bug that slept after mutating!

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and stared at the bottle for a while. He found that Shao Qingge didn¡¯t wake up and couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°Didn¡¯t Chief Shao say to use him as a sample to observe? Perhaps the infection of the bugs isn¡¯t so simple.¡±

    Shao Qingge might¡¯ve jokingly said to use him as a ¡®test product¡¯ but in fact, after he was infected and became a bug. everyone could indeed observe some of the traits of parasitism from him.

    Xiao Lou touched his chin and thought about it.

    Long Sen scratched his head. ¡°He really fell asleep? As expected from Chief Shao. It seems that after the bug entered his body, it assimted his consciousness? He wants to sleep because the bug can¡¯t get up?¡±

    Old Mo put forward another view. ¡°After all, he has been reduced in size and the bug in his body might¡¯ve also shrunk. For example, it was originally a big crab and the pinchers could pinch a human finger. Now that it has been shrunk by several hundred times, it has be a little mosquito. What type of offensive power does it have? It can¡¯t even exit the mineral bottle so it can only sleep, cough¡­¡±

    Old Mo smiled at everyone while wondering if anyone agreed with his words.

    Xiao Lou nodded approvingly after hearing it. ¡°Indeed, Chief Shao is smaller and the bug in his body will also be affected. It has been reduced by hundreds of times and naturally has no offensive power. It can only sleep and rest. Perhaps this is the reason.¡±

    The group looked at each other. They always felt that everyone leaning toward the bottle and staring at Chief Shao sleeping in the bottle was a bit strange.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke softly. ¡°This matter can be discussedter. The reduction in size canst for 8 hours so let¡¯s think about the next n.¡± He looked around. This fenced wastnd had hundreds of square metres. It should bend that a real estate developer bought for the construction of residential ormercial areas.

    Thend hadn¡¯t been developed yet and no one was around.

    If the bugs tried to chase them, all the forked roads were blocked and the back roads blocked. They wouldn¡¯t be able to pass and it wouldn¡¯t be easy to find the escape route of Yu Hanjiang¡¯s group. Even if they slowly dug at the ground and did a grid search, the exit that Yu Hanjiang found was five kilometers away. It would take time for the bugs to cover all five kilometres ofnd.

    Yu Hanjiang thought up to here and said, ¡°We are safe for now. There are no buildings within five kilometres for the bugs to hide in and the underground passage has been sealed with marble. The bugs will have to search for a long time in the ground to find up. We should stay here first. Set up tents and rest for the night. Tomorrow, we will see if the situation needs to be changed.¡±

    They agreed with Group Leader Yu¡¯s opinion and set up tents.

    The ground was covered with snow. The quality of the tent card was very good. There was ayer of istion stic at the bottom. This meant they wouldn¡¯t be soaked by snow but it wasn¡¯t much different from sleeping on the snow. Perhaps they would get a cold.

    Xiao Lou thought of a method. He summoned Bai Juyi and used Old Charcoal Seller to generate a charcoal fire. Then he used Compass to make several small heaters, one for each tent, to keep everyone warm. The charcoal fire didn¡¯tst long and fuel had to be added to it. This was where Old Mo¡¯s wood nk card came in handy.

    Old Mo smiled. ¡°It turned out that the biggest effect of my Solid Wood Flooring card is to turn it into firewood!¡±

    Good or bad, it was an A-grade card. Every time it was split by Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao to add to the fire, it was really the most undignified card.

    Everyone tried to adjust the atmosphere so that Ye Qi wasn¡¯t too sad. Even so, Ye Qi¡¯s face was always pale and he held the mineral water bottle cautiously out of fear of throwing Chief Shao.

    Xiao Lou knew this person was ufortable. After making the stoves, he walked over andforted Ye Qi. ¡°Xiao Ye, don¡¯t worry too much. Chief Shao will be fine. He will be in this transformed state for 8 hours so take care of him. If you have time, try tomunicate with him spiritually. The Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings canst for 24 hours before it is refreshed in the early morning.

    Ye Qi nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    It was 4 o¡¯clock in the morning. He and Shao Qingge had connected at midnight so there were still 20 hours for the connection to be maintained. Once it reached midnight the next day, this channel would end.

    If Chief Shao was unconscious at the time then there was no way to continue using the skill.

    After returning to the tent, Ye Qi ced the bottle next to the pillow so it was like Chief Shao was sleeping next to him. He turned to the side, gazed at Chief Shao in the transparent bottle and asked, ¡°Chief Shao, can you hear me?¡±

    Ye Qi continued to repeat the question despite not getting a response. ¡°Can you hear me?¡±

    The little Shao Qingge in the bottle always seemed to be sleeping soundly. His eyes were closed and he was motionless. The little guy who was as big as a thumb made Ye Qi feel sad for a while. He whispered, ¡°Sleep well, I¡¯ll watch over you from your side.¡±

    The little person in the bottle turned over and continued to sleep. Ye Qi fell silent. He was afraid that Shao Qingge would be cold at night so Ye Qi ced the bottle in his arms. This way, the bottle would be heated and Shao Qingge wouldn¡¯t be so cold.

    In the tent next door, Xiao Lou took out the senior contract book. He hadn¡¯t dared to take it out in front of his teammates because he was afraid of the worst.

    Yu Hanjiang knew his thoughts. He stared into Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes and whispered encouragement. ¡°Turn it and see if he is still present.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded, took a deep breath and turned directly to the third page. At that time, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi had signed their names on the third page.

    Now Ye Qi¡¯s name was next to¡­ ¡®Shao Qingge¡¯ written inrge characters.

    Xiao Lou was instantly relieved and his face finally showed a smile. ¡°He is still there. He isn¡¯t dead!¡±

    Judging from the experience of the team from the Distant Association, a dead teammate would disappear from the contract book. Xue Qing and Cheng Ziyang had burned to ashes in the mes so the secret room judged they were dead. The captain died and the contract book was transferred to Gao Xiao. The names Cheng Ziyang and Xue Qing had disappeared.

    However, Shao Qingge¡¯s name was still here. It proved that Shao Qingge wasn¡¯t dead.

    Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t dared to check in front of his teammates. After all, it was only Yu Hanjiang¡¯s spection that an infected teammate would be fine after passing the instance. If they were infected, would they be judged dead? How could they continue to lead their teammates through the game if the names of the infected teammates weren¡¯t on the contract book?

    In fact, the two of them had this worry but neither of them mentioned it. They were afraid that if Chief Shao¡¯s name wasn¡¯t present, Ye Qi would copse and the others would be hit hard.

    Fortunately, this worst case scenario hadn¡¯t happened. Chief Shao was still okay even if he was infected.

    Looking at Xiao Lou¡¯s rxed smile, Yu Hanjiang also couldn¡¯t help smiling before he said seriously, ¡°Maybe our guess is wrong and Chief Shao¡¯s words are the key. He asked us to treat him as a test subject. Through him, we can observe the bugs and truly understand the principle of their parasitism.¡±

    Xiao Lou spected. ¡°In other words, the bugs invaded the human brain but didn¡¯t actually cause human brain death. After all, in our medical knowledge, brain death can determine clinical death and a death notice issued. Chief Shao¡¯s name wouldn¡¯t be on the contract book if this was the case. People in aa aren¡¯t brain dead. Their brain cell activity is low and it is more like they are sleeping.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stroked his chin thoughtfully. ¡°You mean, the bugs didn¡¯t eat the human brain cells. Instead, they put the human consciousness into a deep sleep so as to control the human body?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°It feels like the consciousness of the bug and the consciousness of the human arepeting for the body. Those with a weak resistance are controlled by the bugs and those with a strong resistance might end up with the bugs directly causing a cerebral hemorrhage or the bugs being assimted like Chief Shao?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    So the bug assimted into a sloth after entering Chief Shao¡¯s body?

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mouth twitched and he really didn¡¯t know how to evaluate it.

    However, Xiao Lou¡¯s inferences did have some truth. After all, so many of the first batch of people infected with the bugs in the Second Hospital died. Currently, they didn¡¯t know how to exin it. It made sense if it was because the human consciousness resisted too strongly.

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°I initially determined that the human brain cells were eaten by the bugs due to the CT film in the hospital. On the film, there were many white spots in the head of the infected person. Since the spots covered almost all the brain tissue, I subconsciously thought the brain cells were eaten. Now it seems that the bodies of the bugs are sensitive to CT rays. They parasitized the human brain so when a CT scan is taken, they cover the normal brain cells and the image will just show white spots.¡±

    In theory, a person shouldn¡¯t survive with so many bugs in their brains. However, the setting of 8 of Spades was originally very strange. The unknown bugs were simr to the zergs in science fiction worlds. At the very least, they could prove using Shao Qingge that the parasitized humans didn¡¯t die directly. Shao Qingge¡¯s consciousness was still present. He was just temporarily asleep.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were relieved by this thought.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered softly, ¡°You have been tired from dealing with the bugs for so long. Go to sleep first and we will talk at dawn.¡±

    Xiao Lou was indeed very tired. The experience tonight was really thrilling. So many bugs were burned to ashes by the gasoline explosion. Then arge number evolved and dug their way out of the ground¡­

    If it wasn¡¯t for everyone¡¯s caution and being prepared in advance, they might have be the food of these bugs.

    Xiao Lou gently sighed. ¡°Ye Qi¡¯s eavesdropper has been given to me. I will put it outside on the fence just in case.¡± Before he could act, Yu Hanjiang took the initiative to say, ¡°It is too cold outside. Let me do it. Go and rest.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang quickly turned and left. He jumped a few times with the light footwork card and set up the bug on the edge of thend. By the time he returned to the tent, Xiao Lou had already taken off his jacket and sweater and was lying in bed.

    The temporary stove was ced at his feet.

    Yu Hanjiang opened the quilt andy down. He looked at Xiao Lou and found that Xiao Lou was already asleep. He had fallen asleep in seconds. It seemed that he really was tired. Yu Hanjiang smiled, extended his arms and gently held Xiao Lou in his arms.

    It was better to take the initiative to hold Xiao Lou instead of Xiao Lou finding him in the middle of the night because of the cold. He held Xiao Lou to sleep and there was also heat. It wouldn¡¯t be so cold even if they were lying on the snow.

 Chapter 223: Doomsday Escape 29

    Everyone was exhausted from fighting the bugs early in the morning and they all slept until noon.

    It had been snowing for several days in a row. Today was a rare day where the weather cleared up. Against the backdrop of the snow, the sunlight became even more dazzling. The moment Ye Qi came out, he was stunned by the sun above his head. He hurriedly closed his eyes and held the bottle in his arms.

    Little Shao in the bottle was still asleep. This bug seemed to like sleep more than Chief Shao himself? Ye Qi couldn¡¯t understand the bug¡¯s thinking and had to take Chief Shao to the fire.

    Old Mo¡¯s Solid Wood Flooring card was really easy to use. Xiao Lou cleaned the snow and set up a fire here to boil hot water. It wasfortable to have a cup of hot water in cold weather, not to mention that they could use the hot water for instant noodles.

    The group gathered around the fire for lunch. Ye Qi suddenly had a question. ¡°By the way, what do the bugs eat?¡±

    He took the water bottle out of his arms and pointed to Little Shao lying inside it. ¡°There are eight days to go before the room is cleared. We can¡¯t give him nothing to eat for eight days, right? What if he starves to death?¡±

    The group looked at each other.

    Xiao Lou pressed a hand to his temple. ¡°Xiao Ye¡¯s concern is reasonable. We almost ignored the problem of feeding Chief Shao. However, what do the bugs like to eat? Leaves? Grass? Or¡­ human blood?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had a serious expression on his face. ¡°Judging from this world¡¯s settings, they are most likely to eat human blood. After all, the bugs will have scarlet eyes after mutation. They stare at humans like humans are food and bite people everywhere. The parasites are also passed on through the blood.¡±

    Ye Qi thought it was very reasonable and spoke seriously, ¡°In addition, the bugs like to bite people.¡±

    Just then, the little person in the bottle turned over. Ye Qi immediately stared at him. Shao Qingge touched the wall of the mineral water bottle when he turned over. He seemed to be awakened and slowly got up.

    He climbed up the wall of the bottle to the mouth of the bottle. Then he held the bottle cap with both hands and seemed to want to open it. Unfortunately, his strength was too weak and he couldn¡¯t push open the lid. Two attempts were unsessfully before he slid down the bottle wall.

    Ye Qi watched the small figure fight against the water bottle and his heart felt like it was cut with a knife.

    He should be angry about being trapped in the bottle, right? However, there was no other way. Ye Qi didn¡¯t dare to let him out.

    Xiao Lou carefully watched from the side. He saw Shao Qingge sitting at the bottom of the bottle after sliding back down and whispered softly, ¡°The bug¡¯s climbing ability is indeed very strong. He can climb up such a smooth bottle.¡±

    Ye Qi focused on another point. ¡°Is he hungry? He is desperately pushing at the bottle cap. Is he looking for food?¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t determine if this was the case or not. After all, he didn¡¯t know the eating habits of the bugs.

    Ye Qi suddenly activated the Scissors card and pierced his finger with a sharp scissors. Everyone was shocked, ¡°Xiao Ye, what are you doing?¡±

    The next moment, they knew the answer.

    They saw Ye Qi drip the blood from his finger into the small hole in the bottle cap. A drop of bright red blood dripped down from the cap. Chief Shao, who was sitting at the bottom, saw it and his eyes brightened. He immediately got up and consumed the blood that Ye Qi fed him.

    He licked his lips as if finding Xiao Ye¡¯s blood delicious.

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Ye Qiughed. ¡°He really does like blood. This is good. If he is hungryter then I will feed him a bit.¡±

    Xiao Lou knew that Ye Qi felt guilty about Shao Qingge being infected in order to protect him. Everyone naturally wouldn¡¯tpete over the task to cut their finger and feed Chief Shao since it would make Ye Qi feel better.

    Xiao Lou walked over, patted Ye Qi on the shoulder and showed the contract book to everyone with a smile. ¡°Chief Shao¡¯s name is still on here and it proves that our guess is correct. He isn¡¯t dead. As long as we pass the instance smoothly, we can take him back to the main city.¡±

    Ye Qi saw the words ¡®Shao Qingge¡¯ on the contract and was so excited that ayer of mist appeared in his eyes. ¡°Great. Chief Shao is still there!¡±

    It was good news and the others also showed their joy.

    One day passed quickly and the eight hours of Shao Qingge¡¯s transformation was about to end. Ye Qi looked at the sleeping person in the bottle with some embarrassment. He might attack us after he turns back. My instrument cards can¡¯t control him for long. What should we do?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang for advice and Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°Give him to me.¡±

    Liu Qiao prompted them. ¡°The Thumbelina card¡¯s transformation effect has five minutes left. We need to be ready.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded and stared nervously at the countdown. Once there were 10 seconds left on the countdown, he opened the cap of the mineral water bottle, gently poured out Chief Shao and quickly stepped back. He was too small when thumb-sized and everyone couldn¡¯t see where he was.

    The next moment, the transformation effect was over. A man with a height of more than 1.85 metres suddenly appeared in front of everyone. Ye Qi immediately controlled him with a musical instrument.

    The man slightly narrowed his eyes and smiled at Ye Qi. ¡°Xiao Ye, what are you doing?¡±

    Ye Qi was shocked and he quivered. ¡°Y-You know me?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly and immediately flew to Shao Qingge. At a very fast speed, he bound Shao Qingge¡¯s hands and legs with white silk.

    Yu Hanjiang specialized in arresting criminals and his skills in binding people were naturally very professional. He tied knots so that Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t break free no matter how great his strength. In this way, he couldn¡¯t attack his teammates even if he had the attack power of a bug.

    Ye Qi¡¯s control ended in three seconds and Yu Hanjiang used three seconds to tie up this person.

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°Group Leader Yu¡¯s skills are still so neat. I have returned to normal now. Do you need to be so guarded against me? The bug in my mind wanted to invade my consciousness but I have assimted them.¡±

    His tone and smiling expression were exactly the same as the usual Shao Qingge.

    Qu Wanyue couldn¡¯t help feeling doubts and she whispered to Long Sen, ¡°Are his words credible?¡±

    Long Sen got goose bumps and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ the acting skills of the advanced bugs are better. If it is a bug talking right now then he is the Oscar winner among the bugs.¡±

    Xiao Lou whispered in Ye Qi¡¯s ears. ¡°The Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded and asked in the channel. ¡°Chief Shao, is it you talking?¡±

    However, there was no response.

    Ye Qi reluctantly continued to ask, ¡°Are your words true?¡±

    The question was like a stone sinking into the sea. His mind was empty and for some reason, Ye Qi¡¯s heart was also empty. His nose was tingly as he reported to Xiao Lou, ¡°He isn¡¯t Chief Shao. There is no response.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    This acting was too much. The bug actually said Xiao Lou¡¯s reasoning that the bug and human wouldpete for control of the body. The bug¡¯s words were half true and half false. The team would¡¯ve been fooled if they didn¡¯t have the Qin Guan card.

    Yu Hanjiang replied lightly, ¡°Of course we believe you. However, no one knows if the bug will regain control of your body or not. For everyone¡¯s safety, I have to temporarily wrong Chief Shao.¡±

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Not fooled? His eyes narrowed as he stared at Ye Qi. ¡°Xiao Ye, even you don¡¯t believe me?¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Ye Qi shouted angrily. ¡°Don¡¯t control his body and say such things. You aren¡¯t him at all!¡±

    After perceiving that he had been exposed, Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes suddenly turned scarlet! He stared at Ye Qi, almost boring a hole into Ye Qi¡¯s face.

    Ye Qi was scared by the blood-red eyes and stepped back. Shao Qingge started to struggle hard but he couldn¡¯t get rid of the knots that Yu Hanjiang had tied him up with. After a while, he gave up and his eyes swept over everyone. ¡°In any case, you can¡¯t kill Shao Qingge. I¡¯ll slowly wait for an opportunity. I¡¯ll take advantage of the silence of the night to bite everyone and it will be delicious.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It was really annoying when the bug controlled Shao Qingge¡¯s body so say these words. Still, it was indeed true that everyone was reluctant to hurt Chief Shao.

    Therefore, Yu Hanjiang made a wise decision. He rolled the remaining white silk into a ball and decisively stuffed it in Shao Qingge¡¯s mouth. ¡°Be quiet. Don¡¯t think that you can bite people even if you have a mouth.

    Shao Qingge whose mouth was gagged, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The team didn¡¯t know whether they shouldugh or cry. Group Leader Yu still had such means!

    Ye Qi¡¯s face was ugly. Perhaps it was because the bug controlled Shao Qingge¡¯s body to speak that made him feel extremely disgusted. Chief Shao was the only one in the world. How could his body be controlled by a bug? Ye Qi really wanted to drive the bug away from Chief Shao.

    However, it was impossible to drive them away as long as the bug didn¡¯t actively leave the body of the infected person.

    Once there were other bugs nearby, they might merge with Shao Qingge to upgrade. In this way, Shao Qingge¡¯s consciousness might not be retained. All they could do now was to protect Chief Shao and control him. They couldn¡¯t let the bugs take advantage of the opportunity.

    Nothing happened during the day. Once it was midnight, all of them received the same message.

    [8 of Spades Doomsday Escape, the sixth day, 00:00 in the morning]

    [Number of challengers remaining: 178]

    Ye Qi stated, ¡°Another 20 people died, indicating that the bug army has failed to ughter the challengers and many teams survived.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded, ¡°After all, those who can reach 8 of Spades aren¡¯t too weak. It is like the university student team of the Distant Association. They had many good cards in their hands. If their leader wasn¡¯t someone like Cheng Ziyang then the team would be even stronger.¡±

    Old Mo added, ¡°I have a hunch that the Luoying Pavilion team and the Eternal Kingdom team that we met in the supermarket are still alive. The elite teams of these two big guilds are very strong. I just don¡¯t know why the Eternal Kingdom suddenly came to 8 of Spades? They always adhere to the principle of ¡®we will be safe no matter whates¡¯. They can stay in the Card World and never take risks.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought of the bearded uncle in the supermarket and was also puzzled. ¡°I don¡¯t know where they have gone but with their strength, it shouldn¡¯t be too difficult for them to survive up to now.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked around. ¡°The bugs haven¡¯t found us. Since it is safe here, we can stay one more day to check the situation. This ce is very empty. We have time to escape even if we are surrounded by the bugs.¡±

    The team was curious. ¡°It is so empty. If we are surrounded by bugs, how can we run?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled slightly. ¡°LI Qingzhao¡¯s Stray Into the Depths of the Lotus Flowers. We can set a mark in the secret room and the group will teleport to the marked point. Don¡¯t forget that we still have this trump card.¡±

    The team¡¯s eyes lit up. Li Qingzhao¡¯s Stray Into the Depths of the Lotus Flowers was a godly skill in mazes. If they hit a dead end in the maze, they could teleport directly back to the beginning of the maze. In other words, a marker could be set and the group would be teleported to the marked point.

    Xiao Lou told them, ¡°Once we are surrounded by the bugs, we just need one person to fly out and set the mark. Then we can teleport as a group. It is more flexible than Tao Yuanming¡¯s Remember Peach Blossom Spring.¡±

    Remember Peach Blossom Spring needed the peach blossom spring to be set in advance. They couldn¡¯t predict the time and location that the bugs woulde from so the ce and time to open the peach blossom spring was uncertain.

    Stray Into the Depths of the Lotus Flowers was different. The valid period of the mark was only five minutes. Once surrounded by the bugs, they just needed one person to escape to ce the mark. As long as everyone could hold on for five minutes, they could instantly teleport to the position of the mark that was ced five minutes ago.

    Resisting the bugs for five minutes? Everyone was still very confident about this. Professor Xiao and Group Leader Yu were so thoughtful. No wonder why they had set up the tents on the snow.

    At night, the team fell asleep.

    Yu Hanjiang untied the white silk around Shao Qingge and Liu Qiao shrank him to the size of a thumb again. Ye Qi took the bottle containing the shrunken Chief Shao back to the tent and fed him some blood.

    After shrinking, the appetite would be smaller. A few drops of blood seemed to be enough for Shao Qingge. Ye Qi whispered in his mind while feeding Shao Qingge. ¡°Group Leader Yu tied you up all day and your wrists are red. It must be very painful, right?¡±

    At midnight, the Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings channel was interrupted. Although Ye Qi knew that the other person wouldn¡¯t respond, Ye Qi still tried tomunicate with him.

    Ye Qi continued to make jokes in his mind. ¡°You said you wanted to introduce me to a recordpany after returning to reality. How can I do so without you, my gold father? So you have to be well.¡±

    There was silence in his mind.

    Ye Qi rambled on for a long time. He talked about how he liked to go to school as a child, giving up the university entrance examination to go to the art examination, entering the Conservatory of Music with much difficulty, participating in singingpetitions¡­

    He received no response but he continued to talk to himself in his head. It was unknown how long he did this when a low, gentle voice was suddenly heard in his mind. ¡°Xiao Ye.¡±

    Ye Qi was stunned and almost thought he was in an illusion. The next moment, he heard the voice again. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. It¡¯s me.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes became hot. This wasn¡¯t an illusion. It was really Chief Shao¡¯s voice! The Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings channel was connected again. Shao Qingge¡¯s consciousness was still present!

    Shao Qingge told him, ¡°Just treat it as me having a bad Inte connection. I will disconnect from time to time and can¡¯t guarantee when I can talk to you. The bug¡¯s consciousness is too strong and it is hard to control my body. Tell Professor Xiao that the parasitism of the bugs isn¡¯t so simple. If a human¡¯s willpower is strong enough, they can assimte the bugs. If humans who assimte the bugs want to lead the bugs to destroy humans, it will be really terrible. This type of human is equivalent to retaining a human¡¯s intelligence and consciousness while also having the bugs¡¯ strength.¡±

    Ye Qi was shocked. In other words, after a human had assimted the bugs, they could choose to continue to be human or lead the bugs to destroy humans?

    Retaining human intelligence and possessing the powerful abilities of a bug. If a sinister person assimted the bugs, they would be the boss of the bugs. For example, those with antisocial tendencies. If they assimted the bugs, wouldn¡¯t it be easy for them to kill people?

    Ye Qi was frightened.

    The next moment, he heard Shao Qingge say, ¡°There is one more thing.¡±

    Ye Qi was instantly serious. ¡°Yes, say it. I¡¯m listening!¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s voice became extremely gentle. ¡°Don¡¯t always try to talk to me in your mind, only to be disappointed again and again. I will feel distressed. Once I regain consciousness, I will take the initiative to look for you.¡±

    Ye Qi stared at the little Chief Shao in the bottle.

    After being reduced in size, Chief Shao¡¯s facial features were almost indistinguishable. However, Ye Qi seemed to feel that Chief Shao¡¯s gaze was turned towards him very gently. Ye Qi¡¯s heart became hot and he released Chief Shao from the bottle. He held Chief Shao in his hand and touched Chief Shao¡¯s head. ¡°I know!¡±

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    After bing smaller, Ye Qi¡¯s face was like looking at a wall¡­

    Still, this allowed him to see Ye Qi more clearly. He could see Ye Qi¡¯s long eyshes and those clear eyes.

    Shao Qingge smiled slightly. ¡°Return me to the bottle just in case I suddenly lose control of my body and bite you.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded. He turned around to find a pillow, cut two pieces of cloth with scissors and handed Chief Shao the smaller version of a pillow and quilt that he had made. ¡°Go to sleep under the quilt if you are cold in the bottle!¡±

    Shao Qingge saw the pillow and quilt made by Ye Qi and didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry.

    In fact, he wasn¡¯t cold at all. It was because Ye Qi would carry the bottle in his arms when sleeping, carefully guarding him. Ye Qi¡¯s body temperature passed through the bottle so that the sleeping Shao Qingge seemed to receive natural heating.

    During the most difficult time when he was infected, this teenager protected him like a treasure. Shao Qingge thought that once he returned to reality in the future, he would definitely protect this young man so that no one would hurt him.

 Chapter 224: Doomsday Escape 30

    The emergence of Shao Qingge¡¯s consciousness finally made Ye Qi feel relieved. Shao Qingge was disconnected from time to time and Ye only had a chance to talk to this person for a few minutes before his mind became quiet again. Shao Qingge didn¡¯t respond at all after that. Even so¡­

    At least Ye Qi knew that Shao Qingge¡¯s consciousness was still here. As long as Shao Qingge was here, Ye Qi didn¡¯t have to worry too much. They would take Shao Qingge through this secret room. For once, Ye Qi slept well and had no dreams all night.

    He didn¡¯t know that Chief Shao, who was ced in the bottle, woke up abruptly in the middle of the might and crawled around the bottle anxiously. The bugs liked the cold and were afraid of the heat.

    However, Ye Qi was worried that Chief Shao would catch a cold. Therefore, he ced the bottle in bed and hugged it to sleep. There was a stove in the tent and the closed mineral water bottle became like a natural greenhouse. The bug was going crazy due to the heat.

    At first, it crawled around. Then it was unknown what happened but it suddenly quieted down and fell asleep in the bottle. Shao Qingge tentatively asked, ¡°Xiao Ye?¡±

    Ye Qi was asleep and had no idea about what was happening in the bottle. Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°Xiao Ye is really smart. Continue to hug the hot bottle and make it die of heat.¡±

    Shao Qingge wasn¡¯t acting smart. He just cared about Chief Shao and feared he would catch a cold. Instead, he ended up helping Shao Qingge suppress the bug.

    The next morning when Ye Qi woke up, he picked up the bottle and took a look. The bottle was warm from being covered by the quilt. Chief Shao was covered with the quilt that Ye Qi had temporarily made yesterday and he was curled up on the fingernail-sized pillow and sleeping soundly.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help smiling. Chief Shao was quite cute when he was smaller. Once Ye Qi returned to reality, he would make a chibi pendant version of Chief Shao and hang it from his phone.

    He didn¡¯t disturb Shao Qingge. He went out of the tent and asked Liu Qiao, ¡°How much longer is left for Thumbelina¡¯s transformation?¡±

    ¡°One hour.¡±

    Then he would let Chief Shao sleep for another hour. Ye Qi walked over to eat with everyone.

    Nothing happenedst night. Yu Hanjiang went around early in the morning and found no traces of the bug. Everyone was a bit puzzled and Old Mo asked while drinking water, ¡°If the bugs dug up the ground to look for us then they should¡¯ve found us by now. Why hasn¡¯t there been any activity for thest two days? Did they get lost?¡±

    Xiao Lou also felt it was strange. His brow furrowed as he thought about it. He analyzed, ¡°Is it because they met a difficult challenge team and arge number of bugs were wiped out?¡±

    The two groups of bugs who chased everyone that night had suffered from the gasoline explosion, the use of the hair dryer, the pigeon delivering more gasoline and the badminton hitting over the alcohol bottles. The rest of the bugs either fled for their lives or merged to attack the challengers. As a result, Li Qingzhao¡¯s group control slowed them down.

    The past two days had been very calm. The bug army might not have caught up.

    Yu Hanjiang concluded. ¡°It could be as Xiao Lou said. The remaining bugs were wiped out by other challengers. Another reason is that they learned to be smart after suffering a big loss. They are staying still for the moment to organize the next offensive.¡±

    Everyone felt this made sense.¡±

    Old Mo smiled. ¡°Then we will continue to wait here!¡±

    There was the physical energy wasted on long-distance travelling. In addition, everyone didn¡¯t know where it was safer. They would be miserable if they ran around and ran into a bug nest. At least this ce had been visited by them in advance. The surrounding area was uninhabited and it had a wide field of view. It wasn¡¯t easy to attack them here. If they really were surrounded by the bugs, it wouldn¡¯t be toote to use Li Qingzhao¡¯s card skills.

    Yu Hanjiang made a simple decision. ¡°We will stay here. In the present, it is important to protect Chief Shao.¡±

    Ye Qi heard this and excitedly informed them, ¡°Chief Shao connected with me through the Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings channelst night and he chatted with me for a while!¡±

    His teammates looked at him, all their eyes showing a hint of joy.

    Long Sen wondered, ¡°Really? His consciousness is still there?¡±

    Ye Qi nodded hard. ¡°I can¡¯t be deceived because of the heart channel. He asked me to tell everyone that the bugs¡¯ parasitism isn¡¯t so simple. Humans can assimte the bugs if their willpower is strong enough. Moreover, the humans who have assimted the bugs will not only retain a human consciousness, they will also have the bugs¡¯ abilities.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other. They always thought that after Shao Qingge was parasitized, he was equivalent to being in a ¡®vegetative¡¯ state. His consciousness had fallen into a deep sleep. They didn¡¯t expect that Chief Shao¡¯s consciousness could actually awaken after being parasitized by the bugs.

    Xiao Lou looked at Ye Qi and inquired, ¡°After he woke upst night, was there anything wrong with his behaviour?¡±

    Ye Qi thought about it carefully. ¡°Nothing. He didn¡¯t look to be in pain and was joking with me. Chief Shao was exactly the same. He wanted me to tell you to be careful. If a human who assimtes the bugs and has the abilities of the bugs wants to do bad things, it is really terrifying.¡±

    At present, the bugs¡¯ IQ wasn¡¯t high and their ability to disguise as a human was very limited. However, once a powerful human assimted the bug, what if they wanted to join the bugs and be an enemy of humans?

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and was silent for a moment. Then he spoke to Xiao Lou. ¡°A challenger who is infected by the bugs. If they can assimte with the bugs, won¡¯t they be able to use their cards and the bugs¡¯ abilities?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°ording to Chief Shao, this should be the case.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang touched his chin and thought about it.

    Xiao Lou saw the man¡¯s serious expression and was in a rush. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you want to take the risk with your body? Don¡¯t take this risk. Chief Shao is already infected. If you are also infected, it will be troublesome¡­¡±

    It was rare to see Professor Xiao in such a hurry. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart warmed and he lightly pressed a hand to Xiao Lou¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t take risks. If I can¡¯t control the infection, I will infect all of you. Then the group will likely be destroyed.¡±

    Ye Qi also nodded urgently. ¡°Yes, it is already difficult for us to take care of Chief Shao. We don¡¯t know how long assimtion will take. Don¡¯t try it. Group Leader Yu¡­ if you attack us after you are infected, we can¡¯t beat you!¡±

    Qu Wanyueughed. ¡°We really can¡¯t beat Group Leader Yu.¡±

    Liu Qiao added solemnly, ¡°Group Leader Yu¡¯s physical fitness is the best among us and your fighting ability is the strongest. After transforming into a bug, your attack power will increase and we will probably all be knocked down by him.¡±

    Long Sen agreed. ¡°Yes, if Group Leader Yu bes a bug then he will have the same speed as wearing two pairs of eleration shoes!¡±

    Old Mo seriously echoed the others. ¡°That¡¯s right. Chief Shao loves to sleepte. The bugs parasitized his body and becamezy. Group Leader Yu is different. His fighting force is so strong. Once he is infected, it is just like a tiger. In order to upgrade quickly, he will eat all of us.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Were his teammatesplimenting him? It sounded strange¡­

    Xiao Lou stared at Yu Hanjiang and spoke seriously. ¡°Everyone isn¡¯t joking around. You can¡¯t have an ident. After all, we have been following you in the Spades secret room. You are our captain.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang could feel Xiao Lou¡¯s worry through the heart channel and couldn¡¯t help smiling. ¡°Don¡¯t be so nervous. I didn¡¯t want to try infecting myself. We already have Chief Shao as a sample. I meant that we can observe Chief Shao to see if hepletely assimtes the bug and gains the abilities of the bug.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Yes! He temporarily suppressed the bugst night to talk to me. Maybe it is really possible for him to assimte the bug. In this way, his human self isbined with the bug and hisbat power is increased significantly. Moreover, the bugs will think he is the same kind and won¡¯t attack him.

    Everyone thought about it carefully and felt that it would be good if Chief Shao could assimte the bug. Liu Qiao told them, ¡°The card¡¯s transformation is almost ending.¡±

    Ye Qi returned to the tent, took out the mineral water bottle and let Little Shao out of the bottle.

    The moment Shao Qingge turned back to his original body, Ye Qi immediately controlled him with an instrument. Then Yu Hanjiang once again tied him up with the white silk and stuffed the cloth into the mouth to prevent the bug from talking with Shao Qingge¡¯s body.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes narrowed and he stared at the group of people in front of him.

    His eyes were scarlet and his expression looked a bit hideous. Ye Qi didn¡¯t dare to look at such a Chief Shao so he stepped back and hid. The bug might be controlling Shao Qingge but this body still belonged to Shao Qingge after all. His wrists and ankles had deep red marks from being tied and Ye Qi inevitably felt distressed. Even so, for the overall consideration of the team, he had to let Group Leader Yu tie up Chief Shao.

    The day passed quickly. It was still very calm. There were three days of calm so this strange calm made everyone feel a bit uneasy. Were the bugspletely wiped out? That was impossible. An A-grade secret room wouldn¡¯t be so simple.

    Therefore, it was likely that the bugs were conspiring or something even worse was happening. For example, a powerful human with bug abilities had been added to the bugs. They had human wisdom and the bugs¡¯ abilities. This would lead the bugs to attack in a smarter manner.

    At present, everyone had no better way. They could only stay in this wastnd and wait.

    [8 of Spades Doomsday Escape, the tenth day, 00:00 in the morning]

    [Number of challengers remaining: 150]

    Ye Qi remembered the numbers every day. He saw this and couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°In these three days, only a bit more than 20 people have died.¡±

    Based on Chief Shao¡¯s situation, it could be inferred that challengers weren¡¯t removed from the contract book after being infected. In other words, those who were infected weren¡¯t judged to be dead. Only those like Xue Qing and Cheng Ziyang, who were burned by the fire and had only ashes remaining, would be erased from the contract book and subtracted from the number of people living.

    The remaining number of people was 150, which included Shao Qingge who was still on the contract book. Then would other teams still have infected people? Had they assimted the bug and continued to lurk around their teammates?

    Ye Qi thought up to here and shuddered. ¡°I always feel it isn¡¯t right that the bugs haven¡¯te to us for three consecutive days. Now the bugs have started arge-scale attack on the east district. How can it take three days to kill only over 20 people?¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s words made everyone feel a bit nervous. The strange calm made it seem that a storm wasing.

    Yu Hanjiang ordered solemnly, ¡°Everyone, stay on guard. Take turns to keep watch during the night and keep supplies close to your body. We must be ready to evacuate at any time.¡±

    Ye Qi suggested, ¡°I will keep watch tonight. In any case, I¡¯m not sleepy. Chief Shao doesn¡¯t need to be transformed to a smaller size. He can keep being tied up and I¡¯ll watch him. If there is an attack tomorrow when the transformation skill is cooling down, it won¡¯t be convenient to take him away. The bugs are easy to spot and Liu Qiao can turn him smaller once they are spotted.

    The transformation skillsted only eight hours. If it was used tonight, it would be difficult to manage Shao Qingge when escaping. Ye Qi¡¯s idea of staying awake was correct. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang agreed after discussing it in the heart channel.

    Xiao Lou warned before leaving, ¡°Don¡¯t believe what he says unless you can connect with the heart channel.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡± Ye Qi nodded cautiously.

 Chapter 225: Doomsday Escape 31

    His teammates were all asleep. Ye Qi was wrapped in a thick down jacket as he sat by the fire.

    Shao Qingge was sitting next to him with hands and feet tied, his mouth blocked by a cloth ball. It was unknown what he wanted to say. Ye Qi tried to connect with the heart channel but unfortunately, there was no connection. Therefore, Ye Qi ignored him.

    However, Shao Qingge was frowning and sweat was constantly dripping from his forehead. Ye Qi couldn¡¯t bear it so he took the cloth ball away from Shao Qingge¡¯s mouth. ¡°What do you want to say?¡±

    Shao Qingge eximed angrily, ¡°You know I¡¯m a bug yet you¡¯re bringing me to the fire?¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Sorry, he forgot. Ye Qi touched his nose in a hesitant manner. He moved the fire to one side and asked curiously, ¡°Why aren¡¯t you pretending to be Chief Shao? You admitted so easily that you are a bug.¡±

    Shao Qingge was stunned. After a while, he replied, ¡°I was dizzy from the fire and didn¡¯t care about disguising myself.¡±

    The two looked at each other and were embarrassed for a while.

    The IQ of the bug inside Shao Qingge shouldn¡¯t be particrly high. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t be suppressed by Shao Qinggest night. Ye Qi saw the face that was distorted in an ugly expression. In any case, he was bored. He would chat with the bug and perhaps he could get some information.

    Ye Qi wondered, ¡°Are you an alien?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a secret. I can¡¯t tell you.¡±

    Ye Qi made a sound and then asked, ¡°Do you want to destroy humans? Is this why you upied the city?¡±

    ¡°It isn¡¯t about destroying humans but integrating with them. A human¡¯s physical fitness is too poor. With our help, your physical fitness is doubled and you can live longer.¡±

    Ye Qi was curious. ¡°Then how long do you live for?¡±

    Shao Qingge replied, ¡°It isn¡¯t a problem for low level bugs to live until 150 years old. The high level ones can live to 200 years old.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Sure enough, it was a science-fiction set up. These bugs wanted to integrate with humans, upy human bodies and improve themselves? Of course, they might be reverse integrated by humans to improve physical fitness.

    Shao Qingge told him, ¡°Species fusion is an evolutionary process in itself.¡±

    Seeing that Ye Qi stopped talking, he smiled and suggested, ¡°Would you like to try it? After merging with me, you can get excellent climbing ability. For example, your human elevator can¡¯t be used without electricity. Meanwhile, if you be a bug, you can climb up a 100 storey building in one minute.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge continued to seriously persuade him. ¡°After being infected, your running speed and jumping height can be greatly improved.¡±

    Ye Qi listened to him earnestly talking about the benefits of fusion for a long time and smiled. ¡°You are a hardworking bug. Your boss should give you a promotion award.¡±

    ¡°My boss?¡±

    Ye Qi started to express the cliches. ¡°For example, the bug queen? Her Majesty or something like that?¡±

    Shao Qingge shook his head. ¡°No, the leaders of every batch are created after the integration and upgrading of the bug groups.¡±

    Ye Qi was slightly startled. ¡°So the leader of the bugs hadn¡¯t emerged? The bugs hadn¡¯t moved for the past few days. Was it because they were upgrading to gain a leader? This news was very important. He had to tell Professor Xiao as soon as possible.

    Ye Qi and Shao Qingge chatted for a while. Shao Qingge yawned and wondered, ¡°Why am I sleepy again¡­?¡¯

    Hearing this, Ye Qi¡¯s heart thumped. Weren¡¯t all bugs more capable of moving at night? This bug was actually sleepy? Could it be that Shao Qingge¡¯s consciousness was at work to slowly suppress the bugs¡¯ consciousness?

    He hadn¡¯t figured it out when he saw this person¡¯s head lowering. Shao Qingge had actually fallen asleep.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t let him sleep in the snow. He had to help Shao Qingge up, give him a pillow and let him sleep next to the tent. Ye Qi threw three eavesdroppers to different positions and listened carefully to the surrounding movements.

    Time passed minute by minute.

    At four in the morning, Yu Hanjiang woke up and asked about the situation. Ye Qi relieved the bug¡¯s words to Group Leader Yu. Yu Hanjiang also felt it was possible and told Ye Qi, ¡°In case the bugs suddenly attack after gaining a new leader, I¡¯ll keep watch with you.¡±

    Xiao Lou woke up not long after. He walked over and sat beside Group Leader Yu. He and Yu Hanjiang were connected to each other so he knew what Ye Qi had said. So many bugs had been burned to death previously. Since there had been no action for several days, it was likely an even fiercer counterattack would beunched next.

    Just then, footsteps were heard in the distance. Ye Qi¡¯s three eavesdroppers heard the sound of footsteps on the snow at the same time. Xiao Lou immediately turned on the drone¡¯s monitoring and the palm-sized card screen showed a dynamic picture.

    Dozens of humans wereing in the direction of the wastnd, many of them with familiar faces. Xiao Lou saw Gao Xiao¡¯s team as well as the challengers from the Eternal Kingdom and Luoying Pavilion.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help staring. ¡°All the challengers? How did they get together?¡±

    Xiao Lou was very puzzled. The bugs could disguise as humans so it was difficult for strange challengers topletely trust each other and work together, unless they experienced the predicament of being surrounded by the bugs before joining forces.

    In the supermarket, the Luoying Pavilion team had directly refused the invitation of the bearded uncle from the Eternal Kingdom to work together and clear the instance. Therefore, thetter reason was more likely. In the past three days, Xiao Lou¡¯s group hadn¡¯t been attacked by the bugs. Perhaps they went to other ces to attack the challengers. These nearby teams had joined forces to defend against the enemy.

    The group of challengers stopped nearby and a familiar middle-aged man¡¯s voice rang in Xiao Lou¡¯s ears. ¡°Everyone, ¡°I am the captain of the third team of the Eternal Kingdom, Hu Qiang. These are challengers from other teams. We are calling for the formation of the challengers alliance to fight the bugs together.¡±

    Xiao Lou stood up alertly.

    Hu Qiang continued. ¡°I have a fire detection card in my hand and found there is a fire source here. Thus, I guessed that there are challengers gathered here. I hope you can join hands with us. Now the situation has reached the most difficult time. A new bug queen has been born and their strength has increased sharply. On the way here, we were almost wiped out by a group of bugs.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face sunk. ¡°Bug queen?¡±

    Hu Qiang kept speaking, ¡°This is a powerful alien bug and their strength has increased sharply. It is like a group of scattered soldiers gaining amander. They are almost everywhere and forcing out the challengers hiding in every corner. In the beginning, we also wanted to pass this level alone and not team up with anyone. However, it seems like that won¡¯t work anymore.¡±

    Xiao Lou was suspicious of the bearded uncle¡¯s words.

    His team had Shao Qingge, an infected person. Who could guarantee that there were no infected people among the nearly 50 challengers outside? Besides, Chief Shao was infected and it couldn¡¯t be kept a secret. What would other people think about Shao Qingge as an infected person? Would they secretly burn him to death?¡¯

    Yu Hanjiang decisively refused. ¡°No thank you. We will clear it on our own.¡±

    Hu Qiang¡¯s tone was serious. ¡°This brother, you are too confident.¡±

    Yu Hanjiangs¡¯ voice was t. ¡°Your intentions are good. Go and find other challengers to join forces. We will only take care of our team.¡±

    Hu Qiang was silent for a moment and then Gao Xiao spoke from next to him. ¡°Their group really is strong. Since they aren¡¯t willing to join forces, forget it. Let¡¯s find a ce to hide as soon as possible. The bug army wille again soon.¡±

    She shouted to Xiao Lou. ¡°You have to be careful. This time, the bugs are much stronger. The ring of fire won¡¯t necessarily stop them!¡±

    Xiao Lou answered. ¡°Thank you for warning me.¡±

    The group of people gradually went away. Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang and frowned. ¡°Why do I feel that this isn¡¯t quite right? What do so many people want to do when gathered together?¡±

    Ye Qi scratched his head and made a guess. ¡°Could it be that someone was infected so they deliberately incited everyone to gather together in order to eliminate them?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang touched his chin. ¡°No matter their situation, we can no longer join forces with any challenger team. We must take into ount Chief Shao¡¯s safety. Ask everyone to get up and be prepared. Xiao Lou, if necessary, use thepass¡¯ five minutes of invincibility. I will find a ce outside to set Li Qingzhao¡¯s skill mark and teleport everyone over.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Xiao Lou took out the Compass card and drew a circle in advance. It could be released directly when the bugs attacked. Ye Qi turned around to wake everyone up. Yu Hanjiang asked for the teleportation card that was copied by Chief Shao and was in Ye Qi¡¯s hand. Then he picked up the city map and carefully observed it to find a ce to put the marker.

    None of the three noticed that Shao Qingge, who was sleeping next to them, suddenly opened his eyes. Once the other teammates were woken up, they carried backpacks and prepared to evacuate at any time.

    Just then, there was a squeaking noise from Ye Qi¡¯s eavesdroppers. The sound became louder and louder. Ye Qi turned and looked into the distance. He saw a huge group of humanoid beastsing from all sides. All the fences around the wastnd were torn apart and they rushed like fierce tigers toward Xiao Lou and the others!

    The agility of these bugs had increased and their actions were like the wind. In almost the blink of an eye, they had rushed across a few acres ofnd! Xiao Lou immediately activated the invincible circle!

    The bugs hit the invisible barrier and were blocked. It was difficult for them to break through. Yu Hanjiang flew up lightly. After a few consecutive jumps, he instantly disappeared into the distance. Xiao Lou saw him flying into a sea of bugs and his heart was in his throat. He trembled as he spoke in the heart channel, ¡°You be careful¡­.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s low and calm voice was heard. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I brought the light footwork and the teleportation card. If I use the cards at the same time, I can teleport 50 metres in the air. These bugs can¡¯t hurt me for the time being. Stabilize the situation and once I find the marked location, I will bring you over.¡±

    Xiao Lou was slightly relieved to hear this.

    The teleportation card in Chief Shao¡¯s card pack was taken away by Group Leader Yu. He used thebination of the light footwork and teleportation toplete the ¡®air teleportation¡¯ operation. The bugs might be agile but they couldn¡¯t fly. If Yu Hanjiang moved 50 metres in an instant through the air, they really couldn¡¯t catch up.

    Just as Xiao Lou was going to stabilize the situation, Shao Qingge suddenly broke free from where he was tied to the tent!

    Ye Qi knew that Professor Xiao¡¯s circle of invincibility couldst for 10 minutes and wasn¡¯t worried about the first wave of attacks. His eyes had never left Chief Shao. Therefore, once Chief Shao moved, he immediately reacted by shouting, ¡°Be careful! Chief Shao has broken free!¡±

    It obviously wasn¡¯t a coincidence that he broke free of the white silk the moment Group Leader Yu left.

    Everyone got a chill at the same time and they took out all sorts of cards to control him. However, Shao Qingge knew that Ye Qi would use the flute to control him. The moment he broke free, he was like a flying shadow as he came behind Ye Qi and snatched the flute from Ye Qi¡¯s hand.

    Seeing that the flute was taken away, Ye Qi¡¯s heart was cold. He thought that Chief Shao would bite down on his neck in the next moment! He was ready to be infected. However, Shao Qingge didn¡¯t bite him. Instead, he put the flute back in Ye Qi¡¯s hands, stared deeply at Ye Qi and rushed out of Xiao¡¯s invincibility circle.

    At this time, several bugs had crawled outside the circle. Shao Qingge¡¯s sharp nails shed at the body of one of the bugs. Everyone saw the bug withering like a nt that had its nutrients absorbed. Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes were red and he immediately attacked the next bug. Another bug was merged with him.

    Ye Qi trembled and he cried out, ¡°I know what you are doing. It is too dangerous! Come back quickly!¡±

    He had connected to Shao Qingge, even if it was only for a short moment. Shao Qingge had spoken only one sentence in his mind. ¡°I feel sorry to lie down and win every time. This time, I will protect you.¡±

    This sentence urred the moment he handed over the flute to Ye Qi.

    Tears formed in Ye Qi¡¯s eyes as he saw Shao Qingge personally fighting the bugs outside alone, saw the blood stains on Shao Qingge¡¯s body and the countless bugs entering his body through the blood.

    What if Chief Shao¡¯s consciousness was swallowed during the bugs fusion process? Was he crazy?!

    Shao Qingge¡¯sughing voice was heard. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. I havepletely assimted the bugs and they won¡¯t attack me actively. There are still five minutes until the retreat. I want to kill some mobs and level up.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The tears that almost fell were forced back by the joke.

    ¡®Shao Qingge, can¡¯t you speak a bit more seriously at such a dangerous time?!¡¯

 Chapter 226: Doomsday Escape 32

    Shao Qingge actually ran out alone to fight these bugs? Xiao Lou was panicked and hurriedly asked Ye Qi, ¡°Xiao Ye, what¡¯s going on? Why did Chief Shao suddenly run out?¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s face was white and he clenched his fists as he stared at Shao Qingge. He spoke in a trembling voice, ¡°He¡­ Chief Shao said that he assimted the bug and wants to take advantage of this time to fight the mobs and upgrade¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou was taken aback and turned to watch Shao Qingge. He saw the tall man moving like the wind through the group of bugs. His hands seemed to have changed. His fingernails were extremely sharp and he scratched the arms of several infected people in the blink of an eye.

    Countless bugs crawled into his body along the blood from the wound. Xiao Lou felt numb just seeing the scene!

    However, Shao Qingge seemed to feel no fear at all. There was a faint smile on his face and his actions were as fast as lightning. One after another, the bugs were scratched and merged with him. All his teammates were stunned by the scene and nced at each other.

    Long Sen¡¯s eyeballs were about to fall out and he couldn¡¯t help letting out a coarse swear word. ¡°Fuck, what is Chief Shao doing? He is taking the initiative to merge with the bugs? Isn¡¯t he afraid of being integrated instead?¡±

    Qu Wanyue made a guess. ¡°Perhaps his ability was stronger after assimting the bugs. Look carefully, none of these bugs are daring to attack him actively. It is as if they are all shocked by Chief Shao.¡±

    Liu Qiao touched her chin thoughtfully. ¡°Perhaps it is because Chief Shao has experienced assimtion so his level is higher than these ordinary bugs?¡±

    Old Mo eximed. ¡°It is possible! You see, these bugs seem to be afraid of him and don¡¯t dare get close to him!¡±

    Shao Qingge fought even more fiercely and in the blink of an eye, he had merged with six or seven bugs. His body was covered with blood and this blood seemed to attract the surrounding bugs to him to merge with him. Xiao Lou saw this scene and couldn¡¯t believe the man fighting in front of him in a bloody manner was Shao Qingge who always said with a smile, ¡°I want to lie down and win.¡±

    At this time, was it Shao Qingge himself or was he controlled by the bugs? This attack power was too fierce!

    Xiao Lou nervously asked, ¡°Ye Qi, can you feel Shao Qingge¡¯s consciousness?¡±

    Ye Qi tentatively asked in his mind. ¡°Chief Shao?¡±

    Soon, a deep voice was heard in his mind with augh. ¡°I am here. These bugs are afraid of me. Perhaps it is because I have assimted with the bug and have a higher level than them.¡± This was consistent with the analysis of Liu Qiao, Teacher Qu and the others.

    Ye Qi heard this voice and immediately felt relieved. ¡°You should be more careful. What happens if you lose consciousness because you merged with the bugs? Everyone is worried about you!¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. The bugs who enter my body are obedient and merged with my consciousness. I have found that the bugs have a strict hierarchy. The higher the level of the bugs, the more of a deterrent effect they will have. The low level bugs won¡¯t take the initiative to hurt or attack me. They will only submit to me.¡±

    Ye Qi wondered curiously, ¡°So what do you feel now?¡±

    Shao Qinggeughed. ¡°It feels like a delicious meal.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Delicious? These bugs looked disgusting! Their teammates were worried half to death while he was still in the mood to joke around?

    However, this time of Shao Qingge felt familiar to Ye Qi. Currently, Shao Qingge¡¯sbat effectiveness was exploding and he wasn¡¯t afraid to be alone in arge number of bugs. However, in essence, he was still the shameless and joking Chief Shao.

    Looking at this man covered with blood, Ye Qi¡¯s eyes became hot. He resisted his runny nose and told Xiao Lou, ¡°His consciousness is still present. He said that these bugs surrender to him and can¡¯t affect him. It might be because he assimted the bugs that he directly evolved into a high level bug.¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully observed Shao Qingge. Apart from his fast speed and strong climbing abilities, the smile on his face was exactly the same as the previous Shao Qingge.

    It seemed that after Shao Qingge was infected, he wasn¡¯t controlled by the bugs and became a puppet of the bugs. It was actually a blessing in disguise because he assimted the bugs in reverse and gained an extremely strong mutated ability?

    Just then, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was heard in his mind. ¡°Xiao Lou, I have found a safe point and am ready to transmit.¡±

    Xiao Lou gave Yu Hanjiang the ¡®received¡¯ signal and called out to Shao Qingge, ¡°Chief Shao, we¡¯re going!¡±

    Shao Qingge looked at the bug army reluctantly before returning to thepass circle like the wind. People just felt like there was a flower in front of them and then the man was already standing by Ye Qi¡¯s side.

    This speed was simr to the teleportation card but Shao Qingge¡¯s teleportation card was being used by Yu Hanjiang and his card pack was in Ye Qi¡¯s hand. Obviously, he hadn¡¯t used any cards. It was just that the evolved bug ability had greatly improved his physical fitness!

    Since Shao Qingge was a teammate with his name on the contract book, he could easily pass through Xiao Lou¡¯spass barrier. However, the bug army behind him was blocked by this transparent barrier. The thing that shocked Xiao Lou and the others was that the group of bugs didn¡¯t try to attack Shao Qingge. They just crawled outside the circle and looked at Shao Qingge like¡­ they were trying to make him stay?

    The next moment, Yu Hanjiang used Li Qingzhao¡¯s Stray Into the Depths of the Lotus Flowers skill. The team members could return to the point that was marked five minutes ago.

    It had been six minutes since Yu Hanjiang left. Yu Hanjiang used the light footwork and teleportation cards at the same time and teleported through the air. He found a safe ce and after setting the mark, he pulled the team members over. This skill of Li Qingzhao could only be used once a day but the effect was very strong.

    The bugs found that the people in this ce suddenly disappeared without a trace.

    Xiao Lou and the others just felt their vision flickering and then they collectively arrived on the top floor of a building. Yu Hanjiang actually found the roof of a six storey building as the marking ce. Everyone had suddenlye to the top of the building and were a bit confused for a moment.

    Seeing his teammates, Yu Hanjiang took a step forward and calmly exined, ¡°There was a fierce battle here not long ago. There were burnt corpses everywhere. The challengers who set the fire had already run away and the bugs were chasing us. It should be safe toe back here.¡±

    The bugs went to chase another group of challengers. Xiao Lou¡¯s group could upy the roof of this building as a temporary base since the bugs wouldn¡¯t return.

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°The ce that Group Leader Yu found is good. We will rest here first.¡±

    In any case, Li Qingzhao¡¯s skill could be used again tomorrow. As long as the bugs didn¡¯te again in one day, the old technique could be repeated. Compass made them invisible for 10 minutes while Yu Hanjiang found the next safe point and pulled the group to teleport. This type of ¡®guerri warfare¡¯ was currently the best way to deal with the bugs.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes swept over the group and found Shao Qingge. He saw that the white silk tying Shao Qingge was broken and frowned slightly. He stared sharply at Shao Qingge. The two pairs of eyes met before Yu Hanjiang raised his hand and suddenly threw out the white cloth. The white cloth emerged like a snake and aimed at Shao Qingge!

    The white cloth was about to control Shao Qingge when Shao Qingge kicked his legs vigorously and jumped more than 10 metres away. He avoided the white silk in a thrilling manner! This type of movement was like the most ferocious beast in a forest.

    Yu Hanjiang was taken aback and wanted to tie him up with the silk again but Xiao Lou hurriedly called out, ¡°Don¡¯t fight. Chief Shao has already assimted with the bugs!¡±

    Ye Qi also proved it. ¡°Yes. don¡¯t fight. He isn¡¯t a bug anymore. His consciousness belongs to Chief Shao.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned, put away the white silk card and stared at Shao Qingge. Just now, Yu Hanjiang had been concentrating on avoiding the bug army and looking for a safe ce. He didn¡¯t have time tomunicate with Xiao Lou and didn¡¯t know about Shao Qingge¡¯s mutation.

    Shao Qingge smiled and told him, ¡°In fact, when the group of challengers came at four in the morning, I had already assimted the bugs and was pretending to be asleep. Thanks to Group Leader Yu, I didn¡¯t dare act rashly. I was afraid to fight him and couldn¡¯t exin clearly. Then once Group Leader Yu left, I broke free and grabbed Xiao Ye¡¯s flute. It was very difficult to trap me. Then I told Xiao Ye that I assimted with the bugs to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s abilities might¡¯ve improved after assimting the bugs but Yu Hanjiang¡¯sbat effectiveness was also very strong. Shao Qingge didn¡¯t want to fight Group Leader Yu who had a gun in his hand. Therefore, he only broke free of the white silk when Yu Hanjiang left to find the marking point.

    Yu Hanjiang raised an eyebrow. ¡°You assimted with the bug? What is going on?¡±

    Shao Qingge walked over and exined with a smile. ¡°This is thanks to Xiao Ye¡¯s help. The bugs are the most active at night but Xiao Ye was afraid I would be cold. At night, he ced the mineral water bottle in the bed and covered it with heat. The bug was so hot that it was about to copse. I could slowly suppress its consciousness. Then in the early morning, Xiao Ye brought the bug to the fire. The bug fainted and I took the opportunity to conquer it.¡±

    Ye Qi heard this and his ears turned red. ¡°Uh¡­ I forgot that the bugs are afraid of heat. The temperature is too low on winter nights and I was worried Chief Shao would get a cold, so I brought him to the fire.¡±

    He held the water bottle to sleep at night and brought the bug to the fire during the night watch. He hadn¡¯t expected to knock the bug out from heat and Shao Qingge was given an opportunity.

    Shao Qingge gently patted Ye Qi on the shoulder. ¡°It is thanks to Xiao Ye¡¯s help that the consciousness of the bug became weaker and they werepletely swallowed up by me. So don¡¯t worry. I can now fully control my body.¡±

    Xiao Lou was curious. ¡°You just integrated with the bugs. Are there any effects on your body?¡±

    Shao Qingge replied, ¡°Of course, there is an effect.¡±

    Everyone watched him nervously and Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°It is a positive effect. It is like absorbing a lot of nutrients. I am full of physical strength and energy. You see¡­.¡±

    He rolled up his sleeves as he spoke. Previously, Shao Qingge had fought with the bugs and his body was covered with blood. He obviously suffered a lot of injuries.

    Everyone took a closer look and found that there were bloodstains covering his arms. There was almost nopletely intact skin on his entire arm. They were all traces left behind by the bugs¡¯ sharp nails and it looked shocking.

    Ye Qi saw these injuries and his eyes became hot. He wished for these injuries to be transferred to his own body. Shao Qingge felt Ye Qi¡¯s thoughts and his heart softened. He told everyone, ¡°There might be many wounds but I don¡¯t feel any pain at all.¡±

    Xiao Lou was a bit surprised. ¡°Are the pain nerves paralyzed?¡±

    Shao Qingge shook his head. ¡°No, it¡¯s more like the bugs¡¯ self-repairing ability. The bugs who were in my body told me that they have a long lifespan and strong survivability. They can regenerate if their limbs are cut off. I think this ability might be at work. The injuries don¡¯t hurt like there is hard armour inside my body. These wounds are only on the surface.

    He gently scratched his left arm with a nail of his right hand. A long bloody scratch was drawn on the skin. The man¡¯s arm muscles were clear. Currently, this arm was dripping with blood but Shao Qingge¡¯s expression was calm.

    A deep wound could be cut directly on his skin with only his nails, indicating that his fingernails were as sharp as the bugs.

    His body was bleeding but his face didn¡¯t change, showing he really didn¡¯t feel pain. These wounds didn¡¯t affect the bugs, just like scratches on the surface of a car wouldn¡¯t affect the performance of the car.

    Shao Qingge told them, ¡°The bugs have a very strong repair ability. These wounds will heal automatically unless they are burned to death. If a limb is cut off, they will immediately grow new ones.

    He took out a knife and pointed it at his fingers, wanting to cut it off. Ye Qi immediately stopped him nervously. ¡°Don¡¯t mess around. We believe you!¡±

    The team members, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    So after being parasitized, Chief Shao didn¡¯t be the puppet of the bugs. Instead, he conquered the bugs in his body, integrated the abilities of the bug and became a ¡®human and bug¡¯ big boss? Cut off one leg and they would soon grow a new leg? The faces of the team members were very excited as they looked at Shao Qingge like they were seeing a boss.

    Shao Qingge smiled at them. ¡°I used to always lie down to win. In this secret room, I can finally y a role.¡±

    ¡®Lying down to win¡¯ might be a joke but it was true that Shao Qingge wanted to contribute to the team. In their team, Yu Hanjiang was currently the strongest inbat and Xiao Lou was the strongest think tank. Everyone had their own role¡­ Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t just count money for everyone, could he?

    In some secret rooms, money couldn¡¯t be used at all. For example, in 8 of Spades. Even if he moved a bank over, he wouldn¡¯t be able to use money to kill the bugs.

    He thought that if this powerful ability could be brought out of the secret room or a corresponding card drawn, he might not be a salted fish only responsible for ¡®lying down¡¯. At least in critical moments, he would have the ability to protect Ye Qi and other people instead of letting his teammates protect him.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s idea was clearly heard through the heart channel.

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes were hot and he whispered in his mind, ¡°Chief Shao, don¡¯t think like this. No one thinks you are fishing in troubled waters. The Hearts and Spades secret rooms aren¡¯t your strong points. I have also lied down to win many times in the team. Everyone is good at different things. Chief Shao, you are actually excellent. We wouldn¡¯t be able to get to today without you.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°I know but I want to get better.¡±

    In the cruel Card World, it was only by bing stronger that you could protect the people you wanted to protect, right?

 Chapter 227: Doomsday Escape 33

    Throughout the day, everyoneunched a guerri war against the bugs.

    The existence of Shao Qingge, an evolutionary bug, provided great convenience to the team. There was no need to use Ye Qi¡¯s eavesdroppers anymore because Shao Qingge would know their course of action before the bug army could get close.

    Xiao Lou and the others couldn¡¯t understand these ¡®squeaky¡¯ calls but Shao Qingge could understand them. After assimting with the bugs, he didn¡¯t just gain their power. He also merged with the memories of the bugs in his body.

    Shao Qingge told them many stories about the bugs.

    This race came from an unknown star field. The way they multiplied was through parasitism. They reproduced in human bodies and continued to spread, infecting more humans.

    Every batch of bugs would merge with each other to produce a leader, whether it was a queen or a king. Once the leader was born in the bug empire, they would act ording to the leader¡¯s instructions,pletely upying a and multiplying.

    The bugs didn¡¯t only had a long life span and strong jumping and climbing abilities. They also had a self-repairing ability that modern medicine couldn¡¯t exin.

    Shao Qingge spoke emotionally. ¡°The regeneration and repair capabilities of this race are even more terrifying than earthworms. If the body of an earthworm is cut in half then both halves can survive. For the bugs¡­ if you chop their bodies into dozens of pieces, they can regenerate quickly and grow new ones. The only way topletely kill them is to burn them or steam them with steam above 100 degrees.

    Old Mo joked, ¡°If we knew, we would¡¯ve taken you to the steam sauna after you were infected. Maybe the bugs in your body would¡¯ve been steamed unconscious!¡±

    Long Senughed. ¡°Our Xiao Ye is really smart. He directly took the bug to the fire to be roasted!¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    In front of the fire, Ye Qi¡¯s face turned red. He hadn¡¯t expected this thing to actually help out Chief Shao.

    Xiao Lou inquired, ¡°Chief Shao, you absorbed several bugs right? What is your level now?¡±

    Shao Qingge carefully calcted it. ¡°The parasite in my body itself was a level 2 bug. After being assimted by me, I was promoted to level 3. Those who besieged us at the time were all level 2 bugs. I merged with eight¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou directly gave the answer. ¡°Two level 2 bugs merged into one level 3. Two level 3 fusing is one level 4. Then you should be considered a level 5 bug right now. Do you know the highest level?¡±

    Shao Qingge removed his smile and lowered his voice. ¡°The level 10 bug queen has been born.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang heard this and frowned slightly. ¡°What did she say?¡±

    Shao Qingge closed his eyes and listened carefully. ¡°She is telling the bugs to gather. She didn¡¯t clearly state the specifics as for why.¡±

    He stood up and stared into the distance. The entire city had been plunged into a deep darkness at this time due to the destruction of the circuit system.

    It had started to snow again tonight and the heavy snow almostpletely buried the city. Shao Qingge pointed into the distance and opened his mouth. ¡°Do you remember the bridge at the junction of the central city and the east district? The bug queen is ordering everyone to gather on this bridge.¡±

    The group looked at each other.

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Then Chief Shao has be an undercover agent in the bugs.¡±

    Shao Qingge rubbed his nose and smiled. ¡°She is sending a mass signal so that all the bugs can sense it. I think she might be nning something. Should we avoid it or should we go over and take a look?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang turned back to seek Xiao Lou¡¯s opinion and Xiao Lou told him, ¡°I don¡¯t think things are that simple.¡±

    Shao Qingge also nodded. ¡°It is the 10th day of the secret room and this level can be cleared in four days. The more conservative approach is that we continue the guerri warfare method to avoid the bug army. My presence means we can gain insight into the bugs¡¯ n in advance. In addition, there is Li Qingzhao¡¯s group teleport and the Compass¡¯ invincibility. Avoiding them is easy.¡±

    Xiao Lou frowned slightly and there was a sudden uneasiness in his heart.

    The bug queen had summoned all the bugs to gather at the bridge. Wasn¡¯t she afraid of traitors or undercover agents among the bugs? After all, a bug parasitized the human body and wouldn¡¯t kill humans immediately. Rather, it would put the human consciousness into a deep sleep and manipte the human body to multiply and expand. This process involved certain risks.

    What if human willpower was strong enough to assimte the bug and gain the bug¡¯s ability? Those humans could hear the bug signals.

    She broadcasted a mass signal like this and those who gained the bug¡¯s ability would know the n. Then couldn¡¯t they smoothly avoid it? Was the bug queen so innocent that she didn¡¯t expect this? Or did she deliberately set off a smoke bomb?

    Xiao Lou mentioned his confusion through the heart channel to Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°If the queen was so mindless then she wouldn¡¯t have evolved into a level 10 queen.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°So the signal to gather is probably a smokescreen and her real purpose isn¡¯t here.¡±

    As the two people weremunicating, Shao Qingge rolled up his sleeves and pointed at his smooth arms with a smile. ¡°Look, the wounds from this morning have all healed.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It wasn¡¯t just healing the hideous wounds. After the repair, the skin on his arm was smooth and delicate like it was new.

    It was exactly four in the morning when everyone teleported away. Now it was seven in the evening. This was 15 hours and all the wounds were as good as new. The repair ability of a level 5 bug was scary enough. So how strong was the repair ability of a level 10 bug queen? If her arm was cut off, would she just grow a new one in seconds?

    Everyone couldn¡¯t help getting chills at the thought.

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°She summoned the bugs to gather at the bridge. This should be to confuse us. She might know that some assimted humans among the bugs won¡¯t listen to hermand.¡±

    Ye Qi was nervous. ¡°Chief Shao can feel her. Then¡­ can she also sense Chief Shao?¡±

    This question stunned everyone. That¡¯s right. Shao Qingge could feel the signal of the bugs so the level 10 bug could certainly feel them. In this way, couldn¡¯t she clearly and urately locate the ¡®disobedient¡¯ bug?

    Shao Qingge finally reacted. ¡°I understand why she called the bugs to gather at the bridge. Most of the low level bugs and high level bugs willing to listen to the queen¡¯s instructions will gather. However, those who are assimted by challengers or other humans definitely wouldn¡¯t be stupid enough to run to the bug¡¯sir to die. In this way, she will be able to distinguish those who are unwilling to follow her instructions.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°Then she will use the bug queen¡¯s powerful perception ability to urately locate where these disobedient bugs are hiding and lead the elite troops to eliminate them one by one?!¡±

    The team members heard this and their faces turned white. The queen hadn¡¯t called the bug army to gather tounch an all-out attack. It was to quickly find the location of the disobedient bugs.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s existence as an ¡®undercover¡¯ meant he could perceive the bugs¡¯ n but in the same way, he was a fixed-time explosive bomb. He might attract the most powerful bug boss at any time.

    Shao Qingge thought up to here and suggested, ¡°Why don¡¯t you keep hiding here while I go to the bridge to see the situation?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang immediately objected. ¡°No! You said it earlier. The queen is using the group signal to summon the army. There will be thousands of bugs on the bridge. If you go alone and encounter a bug that has a higher level than you, won¡¯t you be assimted by them?¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°Yes, it is too dangerous for you to act alone. The bugs are highly hierarchical and you are now ssified as level 5. If you encounter a level 7 or 8 bug that attacks and fuses with you, it is highly likely your consciousness will be swallowed. Once your consciousness is swallowed, you will be directly eliminated and erased from our contract. How can you escape the Nightmare Room alone?¡±

    Ye Qi had experience with the Nightmare Room and paled nervously. He stared at Shao Qingge and spoke in a nervous voice. ¡°Don¡¯t go to the Nightmare Room! The difficulty of the Nightmare Room is more than twice that of a normal room. 8 of Spades is already very difficult. I can¡¯t imagine a double difficulty¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge frowned. ¡°However, if I stay with you then the queen can perceive my position at any time. This is too dangerous for you.

    Xiao Lou looked at Shao Qingge earnestly. ¡°No matter what, we won¡¯t let you take the risk alone.¡±

    Their teammates nodded.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s heart warmed and he smiled. ¡°Yes, since you won¡¯t let me go listen to the queen, let¡¯s go to a bug nest. I still have another method that requires everyone¡¯s cooperation.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°You say it.¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°The queen has just sent a signal and many bugs haven¡¯t had time to rush to the location. What if we think of ways to block some of the bugs heading to the bridge? Let me kill a few and level up. Perhaps I can get to level 9 or 10?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Ye Qi eximed helplessly, ¡°You are addicted to leveling!¡±

    Chief Shao might have the ability to repair his body but Ye Qi still couldn¡¯t bear to see this man¡¯s bloody struggle.

    Shao Qingge looked at Ye Qi. ¡°This method might be risky but it is worth a try. Otherwise, if the queen really does search for the disobedient bugs to be eliminated one by one, it isn¡¯t certain if we can defeat her elite army. I will strengthen myself in advance. If I increase my strength then there will be more chances of winning, right?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang simply stood up and decided. ¡°Just do it!¡±

 Chapter 228: Doomsday Escape 34

    Yu Hanjiang had a map of the entire city in his hands.

    Their current location happened to be a dpidated residentialmunity, full of six storey buildings without elevators. The residents of the entiremunity had been infected and joined the bug army. Themunity was so quiet that no noise could be heard.

    Previously, a group of powerful challengers had used it as a temporary base. After being discovered by the bugs, they detonated the natural gas pipeline in themunity, killing the group of bugs before escaping.

    The bugs had suffered heavy casualties. There were still arge number of corpses of the infected on the ground of themunity. The surviving bugs merged and evolved, chasing after the challengers. Therefore, there wasn¡¯t a single figure in the small area.

    Yu Hanjiang spread open the map and pointed at everyone¡¯s location. ¡°This Sunshine Community is one kilometer away from the main urban traffic road. If the bugs gather at the bridge then they will definitely take this main road. I will find a way to attract the bugs to thismunity where the trap is arranged in advance.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this a bit risky?¡± Xiao Lou looked at the map and carefully analyzed. ¡°Since the bug queen summoned all the bugs to gather at the bridge, these bugs are rushing to the bridge. There might be high level bugs among them. We can¡¯t judge the level of the bugs from their appearance. What if bugs with a higher level than Chief Shao are attracted? Or what if there are too many bugs and we are surrounded?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ Professor Xiao¡¯s worries are justified.¡± Shao Qingge stroked his chin thoughtfully. ¡°I am now level 5 and I can deal with bugs below level 5 with ease. They will take the initiative to surrender to me and I can fuse with them without any effort. However, if I meet a level 6-8 bug then I¡¯m really now sure. Fortunately, I¡¯m not just an evolved bug. I¡¯m also a challenger and can use cards.¡± He nced at everyone and smiled. ¡°Besides, I have teammates to help me with their cards.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Chief Shao now has dual abilities in his body.¡± Yu Hanjiang walked over, gently held Xiao Lou¡¯s shoulders and whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We can think of aplete n to protect Chief Shao.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Since everyone had decided, Xiao Lou didn¡¯t have anyments. He looked at Shao Qingge and said, ¡°If we want to upgrade as soon as possible, we have to figure out an upgrade strategy in advance. Killing too many low level bugs will lead to a slow upgrade speed.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Ye Qi was an otaku who often yed online games in his free time. He had the most to say about this point. He took a branch and crouched on the ground while writing. ¡°ording to the rules of integration and promotion, Chief Shao is now level 5. If he eats level 2 and 3 bugs, the upgrade speed will be very slow. It is just like a game where high level yers will gain little experience killing low level monsters.¡±

    ¡°I agreed with Xiao Ye. If Chief Shao wants to upgrade quickly then it is best to find a bug with a simr level.¡± Xiao Lou paused for a moment. ¡°A bug of the same level is risky. Perhaps Chief Shao will be integrated instead. Therefore, the most stable way is to find level 4 bugs.¡±

    ¡°Yes, two level 4 bugs are equal to one level 5. If Chief Shao eats two level 4 bugs, it is equivalent to eating one level 5 and he can directly upgrade to level 6.¡± Ye Qi wrote carefully on the ground. ¡°After upgrading to level 6, he can eat two level 5 bugs to rise to level 7 and so on!¡±

    ¡°However, how do we urately find the level 4 and 5 bugs to merge with Chief Shao?¡± Liu Qiao questioned.

    Yu Hanjiang replied lightly, ¡°If you can¡¯t find them, we can take the initiative to make them.¡±

    ¡°Yes, we can take the initiative to raise some high level bugs for Chief Shao to merge with.¡± Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°It is like raising a Gu. Find some low level bugs and let them merge while controlling them. Once they have merged to level four then Chief Shao will start.¡±

    ¡°At the supermarket and in the warehouse, there was a fire. The low level bugs sensed danger and started to merge and upgrade.¡± Ye Qi was excited. ¡°Once Group Leader Yu leads a group over, we will set a fire and they will merge with each other due to panic. In this way, they will quickly merge into high level bugs and Chief Shao can upgrade as soon as possible!¡±

    ¡°The fastest method is indeed to raise the bugs using their characteristic of fusing with each other. We will raise senior ones for Chief Shao to take care of.¡± Yu Hanjiang calmly concluded.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Everyone nced at each other.

    The first time they saw these bugs, they couldn¡¯t help feeling disgusted and scared. Now they were being treated like mobs and the team was taking the initiative to attract mobs to raise Chief Shao?

    They had been in the Spades secret room for a long time and everyone¡¯s psychological capacity had continued to improve. Perhaps they would look at ease when seeing strange creatures in the future.

    Yu Hanjiang took a branch and crouched down to quickly draw a route. ¡°In a moment, I will use the light footwork and teleportation cards to wait for the bugs at the main road and lead the bugs to this area.¡±

    He drew a circle on the ground. ¡°Old Mo will make a maze model room downstairs. There are small secret rooms in the maze and each secret room can hold eight people. After entering the maze, the bugs will be scattered everywhere. They will fuse together due to the crisis.¡±

    The moment eight low level bugs fused together, a level 4 bug will eventually be formed to Chief Shao to absorb.

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°Using this method, the number of bugs needs to be strictly controlled. Once exceeded, the fused bug will be higher than the desired level.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Therefore, everyone needs to help. Allow 16 low level bugs into the model room. After that, control skills will be used on the redundant bugs to control them and stop too many bugs from going in. Xiao Lou will monitor using a drone and count the number of bugs. Once the desired number is reached, he will ask Old Mo to block the model room with a marble wall. Long Sen is responsible for using alcohol to set a fire and Ye Qi and Teacher Qu will control the surrounding bugs.

    The group listened to Group Leader Yu¡¯s arrangement and nodded.

    In this way, it could be ensured that only 16 bugs would be put into the closed model room. The bugs would be scattered in the maze-like room. After the central location caught on fire, the bugs will fuse and upgrade, leaving two level 4 bugs.

    After a wave, Shao Qingge could rise directly to level 6. There was no need to fear the advanced bugs as long as Shao Qingge¡¯s level became higher.

    In order to make the n more secure, Yu Hanjiang asked everyone to wait for midnight when all their card skills will be refreshed before taking action.

    Old Mo took out the card in advance and started to draw a new model room.

    His Model Room might only be an A-grade card with only one model room and a magnification of 100 times but it was quite easy to use in actualbat. After activating the card, there would be a blueprint with a grid in front of him. Old Mo used the pen that came with the card to draw many lines on the blueprint and drew a maze n in an instant.

    After entering through the door of the model room, the maze would be divided into two forked roads. The forked roads were narrow passages that only allowed one person to pass through, so the bugs had to scatter. The bugs wouldn¡¯t be able to find an exit and at this time, there would be a fire in the maze. The bugs were afraid of fire and would spontaneously merge. They could four two level four bugs at the fastest speed. Then Shao Qingge would merge with them and upgrading would be easy.

    Old Mo finished drawing the model room and pointed to the floor n to exin it to Shao Qingge in detail. ¡°Chief Shao, I left a back door in the model room. You can go through the back door and go left, left, right and right. Then you will quickly arrive in the centre to find the upgraded bugs. The ceiling of the model room is tempered ss. In order to avoid the upgraded bugs using their ability to smash the ss and climb out directly, you need to move fast.¡±

    Shao Qingge took a careful look at the floor n. ¡°I understand.¡±

    Old Mo¡¯s maze design wasplicated and the bugs wouldn¡¯t be able to easily get out. Shao Qingge might not be good at mazes but if the floor n was shown to him in advance, remembering the route wasn¡¯t difficult for him.

    They arranged everything and the group waited patiently. It waste and everyone saw the prompt appear on their floating boxes at the same time.

    [8 of Spades Doomsday Escape, the 11th day, 00:00 in the morning]

    [Number of challengers remaining: 120]

    It was 150 yesterday. The death toll throughout the day was 30 people. Was there perhaps an encounter?

    Xiao Lou remembered the over 50 people who formed a temporary alliancest night. This group of people was powerful and the dead shouldn¡¯t be among them. It was likely that some challengers were scattered in other areas. They encountered the bug army and were wiped out.

    A simple infection wasn¡¯t directly judged as death, just like Chief Shao who assimted the bugs. Since 30 people had been erased from the secret room, they obviously weren¡¯t just infected. They must¡¯ve burned to death or lost consciousness after merging with the bugs.

    The remaining 120 challengers had tost three days to clear it. At this time, the smartest approach was to hide in a remote corner for three days, fight a guerri warfare and don¡¯t actively provoke the bugs.

    Of course, this could only be done on the premise that no one in the team was infected. Once someone was infected and wasn¡¯t burned to death by their teammates, the bug queen could feel the existence of this bug at any time and there was nowhere to hide.

    At midnight, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou reconnected with Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings and Ye Qi and Shao Qingge did the same.

    All the team members¡¯ card skills were refreshed and Old Mo¡¯s model room waspleted.

    Yu Hanjiang ordered solemnly, ¡°Prepare for action.¡±

    The moment he spoke, he flew forward using the light footwork and teleportation cards. They only saw a ck shadow jumping in the night sky several consecutive times before disappearing without a trace. He went to attract the aggro alone and everyone was worried.

    Ye Qi nervously clenched his fists. ¡°Group Leader Yu is flying in the sky and the bugs can¡¯t catch up with him. How can he lead the bugs over?¡± He paused for a moment before something shed through his mind. ¡°Use blood?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, if there is a wound on his body, the bugs will know he isn¡¯t an infected person and will rush to infect him. Group Leader Yu intends to cut his hand to attract the bugs¡¯ attention and lead them back to themunity as quickly as possible.¡±

    Xiao Lou had learned of Yu Hanjiang¡¯s n through the heart channel.

    At every critical moment, Yu Hanjiang was obliged to assume the responsibility of the captain. He didn¡¯t dare let his teammates follow him because this approach was too dangerous. After all, he had to go to the bugs and use blood to attract their attention. It would be troublesome once infected by the bugs. Therefore, those who acted had to be alert enough and move fast enough.

    The light footwork and teleportation cards were limited and it was really difficult to find another person who could manipte the two cards flexibly toe and go freely among arge number of bugs. It wasn¡¯t that Yu Hanjiang wanted to be a lonely hero. It was just that for some tasks, it was more convenient to act alone.

    Seeing the direction in which the man disappeared, Xiao Lou was nervous. However, he put on a calm appearance on the surface. The team still needed his care and he couldn¡¯t mess up. Yu Hanjiang was on the front line and he had to stabilize the rear!

    One second, two seconds¡­

    Xiao Lou was quietly counting the time in his heart while waiting for Yu Hanjiang to return.

    Yu Hanjiang flew all the way and in the blink of an eye, he arrived on the road. He ced the Night Pearl on a streetmp.

    The light of the Night Pearl allowed him to see countless human footprints in the thick snow. From a quantitative point of view, it was clear that the bug army had rushed to the bridge after receiving the signal from the queen.

    Yu Hanjiang lurked behind a tree and waited for the right moment.

    Just then, there was a rustling sound in his ears and the squeaking of feet on the snow. Yu Hanjiang frowned and his sharp eyes fixed on the road. Not far away, arge group of bugs was crawling like the tide toward the bridge.

    Their bodies were close to each other as they crawled quickly in the wind. The scene of this group huddling together was even more terrifying than the subway station in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou during rush hour on Monday. In addition, everyone was crawling on the ground and the scene looked eerie.

    Yu Hanjiang held his breath and roughly counted. The number in this group easily exceeded 1,000. Based on the crawling ability, they should be upgraded bugs. It was too dangerous to lure so many and he had to wait.

    After a while, anotherrge group of bugs crawled over. There were more than before. It was almostparable to the opening ceremony of a university.

    Xiao Lou waited a few minutes but Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t return. He couldn¡¯t help asking nervously, ¡°How is it? Are you in trouble?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s deep and steady voice was heard in his mind. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. There are too many bugs here. We can¡¯t control an army of thousands. I¡¯ll wait and see. Maybe there will be some small and easy to control teams.¡±

    Xiao Lou sighed with relief. ¡°It is good that there is no danger. If it doesn¡¯t work thene back and we will think of a method.¡±

    He paused before adding, ¡°Chief Shao is right. The queen¡¯s signal seems to be an ultimatum. It is for all bugs to rush to the east bridge before 1:00 and to not bete.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Understood. I will look at the situation and then decide.¡±

    Just then, a bug team of around 100 people appeared in the distance. They wore blue and white school uniforms and should be a group of people infected at a nearby school. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes narrowed and he flew up lightly. After several consecutive jumps, hended firmly among the bugs.

    The bugs were taken aback. Then they perceived the blood on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s body and their eyes immediately turned scarlet. They pounced toward Yu Hanjiang with their teeth and nails. The moment they pounced, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s response was extremely sharp and he flew up with the light footwork card.

    The bugs pounced on empty air and saw the man flying 50 metres away in a sh. The bugs naturally refused to let him go and hurriedly turned to chase.

    They didn¡¯t know that in the darkness, Yu Hanjiang was slightly smiling. He had been waiting for such a number of bugs. Chief Shao finally had plenty of nutrients to absorb.

 Chapter 229: Doomsday Escape 35

    The bug team approached and Shao Qingge also sensed their existence. Yu Hanjiang flew quickly to the top of the building. Xiao Lou met his gaze and sighed with relief. Then he ordered, ¡°Get ready!¡±

    Hundreds of bugs were rushing over approximately 100 metres behind Yu Hanjiang. Seeing that they were about to reach downstairs, Old Mo hurriedly put down the Model Room. The bugs rushing forward unknowingly entering the maze drawn by Old Mo.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s drone was monitoring above the maze. He stared at the monitoring screen on the card and quickly counted the number of bugs. The moment 16 bugs entered, Xiao Lou ordered, ¡°Close the road!¡±

    Old Mo immediately put down a marble wall and sealed the front entrance of the Model Room. The bugs who entered the Model Room started to go around in the maze while Ye Qi controlled therge number of bugs outside with Two Springs Reflecting the Moon.

    Long Sen had long prepared the badminton rackets, alcohol and fireballs. Old Mo left a hole in the roof of the Model Room and ced many mmable wood in the centre of the room. Long Sen aimed for that hole and hit in all the alcohol and fireballs from a distance. The wood was instantly ignited and the Model Room burst into mes.

    The fire was right in the middle of the maze. The bugs couldn¡¯t avoid the mes no matter how they walked. Due to their fear, they started to frantically hit at the walls of the Model Room. They even climbed to the roof and tried to lift theyer of tempered ss. However, it was useless. Old Mo¡¯s Model Room was of very good quality and the low level bugs couldn¡¯t destroy the walls and ss at all.

    After a moment of being unable to escape, they started to spontaneously merge. They quickly attacked each other and fused into people with better physical fitness. Within 10 seconds, 16 bugs had merged into two level 4 bugs.

    The moment when two level four bugs wanted to merge with each other, Shao Qingge suddenly appeared in the middle of the maze. The man smiled and held out his hands. His fingernails were extremely sharp as his left and right hands stretched out like eagle ws, instantly grabbing the arms of the two bugs!

    Thebat effectiveness of the two upgraded bugs had been improved but Shao Qingge¡¯s consciousness was too domineering and powerful. Before they could resist, they were suddenly absorbed by Shao Qingge! Countless bugs followed the blood and flowed into Shao Qingge¡¯s body.

    Shao Qingge looked satisfied and after absorbing the two bugs, he evacuated from the Model Room ording to the drawing Old Mo had given him.

    Ye Qi watched this scene through Xiao Lou¡¯s monitoring screen and couldn¡¯t help blurting out, ¡°Chief Shao is so cool. He killed them in seconds!¡±

    Xiao Lou sighed with relief. ¡°He has upgraded. The n is smooth.¡±

    The 16 low level bugs ced in the Model Room were absorbed by Shao Qingge and his level was improved. The reason why Yu Hanjiang nned it this way was to make Shao Qingge¡¯s leveling more secure.

    At this point, Shao Qingge was a level 6 bug.

    The bug army outside had been controlled by Ye Qi¡¯s musical instruments and Qu Wanyue¡¯s Swan Lake for more than half a minute.

    Teacher Qu¡¯s Swan Lake had never been used before and the actualbat effect was very good. cing the ballet at a certain spot and forcibly stopping the battle was considered a magic istion technique. The ballet performance isted the bugs and they couldn¡¯t pass it. If they couldn¡¯t pass it then they couldn¡¯t climb up the wall to threaten the safety of Xiao Lou¡¯s group.

    The moment Chief Shao was upgraded, Long Sen cooperated with Xiao Lou¡¯s flying pigeon to pour a lot of alcohol and fireballs onto therge group. A hundred bugs were frightened by the fire and started to fuse again. This was the best training material for Shao Qingge.

    Shao Qingge came out of the Model Room and moved faster than before! Everyone saw a tall man rushing into the group like a gust of wind. His sharp nails attacked from side to side. The low level bugs were shocked by his strength. Some even surrendered to him and spontaneously ran over to merge with him.

    It seemed to be the nature of the bugs to give in to the strong and let the strong upgrade.

    Shao Qingge became even braver. He jumped quickly among the bugs and gave priority to conquering the high level ones. The level level ones were kept aside to be raised into a high level one and then collected. There were wounds all over the man¡¯s body and his eyes were scarlet like blood!

    The dazed Ye Qi got the illusion that ¡®this guy is really like the viin boss.¡¯ Then Shao Qingge¡¯s still joking voice rang through his mind. ¡°I¡¯m not the viin. I¡¯m more like a decent boss? Don¡¯t you think I¡¯m handsome?¡±

    Ye Qi didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. ¡°You are still in the mood to joke. It seems that your consciousness hasn¡¯t been affected at all?¡±

    Shao Qingge replied, ¡°Yes, the new bug brothers are all listening to me.¡±

    Ye Qi sighed with relief. ¡°I saw your eyes turned blood red just now and was shocked. I thought you really were a bug boss!¡±

    Shao Qingge told him, ¡°After the fusion, my eyes will change as my ability is improved.¡±

    Ye Qi praised him. ¡°Yes, the red-eyed Chief Shao is cool. Keep upgrading. We will cover you!¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s mouth rose in a smile. He could feel a burst of abundant energy pouring into his body. At this time, his mind was clear. The new bugs sumbed to his will and he could easily control his body. There seemed to be springs under his feet when jumping and he could jump dozens of metres at a time. When climbing, his sharp nails could even prate Old Mo¡¯s marble wall.

    His eyes might be a rtively scary red but his vision was actually clear. He could see the roof in the distance and Ye Qi¡¯s hair that was being blown by the wind. The night didn¡¯t affect the bugs. Even if there was no light, he could clearly see the buildings in the distance.

    Upgrade, upgrade continuously. In the strict hierarchical bug kingdom, only the strong could conquer the weak!

    The bugs in the circle of fire had been fusing. Shao Qingge took the opportunity to find a high level bug to absorb. He was covered in blood but he was always smiling. He used his sharp nails as weapons and the group of bugs soony on the ground.

    On the roof, Xiao Lou and the others saw this scene and were extremely shocked. Shao Qingge¡¯sbat power seemed to be increasing?! As Shao Qingge¡¯s level got higher and higher, the other bugs couldn¡¯t resist. In the blink of an eye, hundreds of bugs were absorbed by Shao Qingge, leaving only corpses around him.

    Shao Qingge leapt¡ª

    He jumped straight from the ground to the top of the six storey building!

    The team members, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    So this was personally cultivating a ¡®human and bug unified¡¯ boss?

    Ye Qi was stunned. ¡°You can actually jump so high? Your ability is too exaggerated¡­¡±

    ¡°It is more than that.¡± Shao Qingge smiled and rolled up his sleeves, offering his arms to them. ¡°Look.¡±

    The arms had just been bloody but at this time, the blood disappearedpletely. It seemed to be automatically absorbed by the surrounding skin. The wounds on the arms werepletely healed in a short amount of time.

    Xiao Loumented, ¡°The regeneration and repair ability of the advanced bugs are really terrifying. Moreover, your jumping ability seems more powerful than Xiao Liu¡¯s light footwork card. After all, the light footwork card requires you to find a ce tond in eight seconds. You seem to have no restrictions and can jump casually?¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°Yes, I figured it out. It takes five minutes for a wound to healpletely. When jumping, it isn¡¯t a problem to jump tens of metres at a time. I can keep up with Group Leader Yu when he uses the teleportation and light footwork card.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°What level are you now?¡±

    Shao Qingge thought about it. ¡°I should be level 9. At level 9, I can¡¯t upgrade further. Any more fusion is useless.¡±

    Ye Qi asked curiously. ¡°Why? Can¡¯t you go up to level 10?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled helplessly. ¡°This seems to be the rules of the bugs. There can be only one level 10 bug at a time. The queen was born ahead of me and I can¡¯t grab her position directly. There is only one way if I want to rise to level 10.¡±

    Everyone looked at him. ¡°What is the method?¡±

    Shao Qingge dered, ¡°Kill the current bug queen.¡±

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t helpining, ¡°Is this the setting of ¡®one mountain can¡¯t tolerate two tigers?¡¯ It seems the bugs can¡¯t have two rulers at the same time. Otherwise, if both leaders send signals, the soldiers won¡¯t know who to listen to.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°Yes, I have a bold guess. If we can kill the bug queen and make me the ruler, perhaps we can get a S-grade perfect clearance.¡±

    Xiao Lou pondered on it for a moment. ¡°It makes sense. After the challenger is infected, their teammates can¡¯t abandon this person and have to protect them. This challenger needs to have a strong will and assimte the bug, bing the leader of the bug to lead everyone through the level. It makes sense that there would be an S-grade evaluation.¡±

    The group nodded in agreement.

    For other teams, the teammates who were infected might not be protected. They might be directly burned to death like the girl from Luoying Pavilion. The key was that they trusted each other and didn¡¯t abandon each other, allowing Chief Shao to gain the opportunity to possess the bug ability.

    Shao Qingge asked with a smile, ¡°What is everyone¡¯s opinion?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang made a decision. ¡°Kill the queen and get the S-grade clearance evaluation. The treasure chests for this instance will be drawn by Chief Shao.¡±

 Chapter 230.1: Doomsday Escape 36

    On the 12th day of the secret room, the bugs gathered at the east bridge in ordance with the queen¡¯s instructions.

    The assembled bug army didn¡¯t take any action. Sure enough, it was as Xiao Lou and the others had guessed. The more important purpose for the queen summoning the bugs was to find the ¡®bug traitors¡¯ who didn¡¯t obey instructions and eliminate them one by one.

    For her, more than 99% of the city had been infected and it was thest step beforepletely upying the city.

    Since the bugs could have only one leader at the same time the bugs couldn¡¯t continue to upgrade after level 9 due to her existence. They would be her strongest subordinates once they obeyed her. If they didn¡¯t obey her, these high level bugs would be the greatest threat to her.

    The current strength of the bug queen was something that could no longer be defeated by ordinary humans. The thing she feared most were the high level bugs who wanted to rece her. Therefore, she gathered the bugs willing to take orders from her to prepare for the final cleansing of the city.

    Shao Qingge was now a level 9 bug and one of the queen¡¯s greatest threats.

    After a day¡¯s rest, he hadpletely tamed the new bug in his body and his abilities were restored to their full state. Shao Qingge tried to scratch his arm with his nails and within a minute, they healed visibly to the naked eye.

    Ye Qi reached out to gently touch the healed arm and sighed. ¡°It looks human but I always feel like there is hard armour under thisyer of skin.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled and squeezed the muscles of his arms. ¡°Yes, that is the armour of the bug race. Now ordinary trauma like knives or gunshots will find it difficult to pierce my skin. Besides, the bug¡¯s healing ability is very strong. Even if the sharpest knife cuts off their hands and feet, in theory, new ones will grow in a few minutes.

    Ye Qi gave a thumbs up. ¡°This ability is too strong!¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°Chief Shao can be said to have an ¡®immortal¡¯ body unless he is burned.¡±

    Ye Qi asked curiously, ¡°Are you afraid of fire?¡±

    Shao Qingge shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not afraid. I¡¯m essentially a human now and my willpower has suppressed the willpower of the bugs, assimting them. Bugs are naturally afraid of fire but I¡¯m not. Of course, I can burn to death with fire.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°In this way, we can try to use fire to deal with the bug queen. As long as she isn¡¯t formed from a human assimting a bug, Shao Qinnge will have one advantage over her. He isn¡¯t afraid of fire.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly and touched his chin. ¡°Will the bug queen be a challenger?¡±

    Shao Qingge shook his head. ¡°It is unlikely. If a challenger really assimted and upgraded to a queen then she can issue other orders to let the bugs disperse or stop attacking, so that her challenger team can easily pass the instance. However, her firstmand was to have the bug army gather at the bridge and she has been sending signals to search for the bugs around there. I¡¯m sure that the queen is still a bug.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other. They remembered that when meeting the challenger teams from Luoying Pavilion and the Eternal Kingdom in the supermarket, the captain of Luoying Pavilion mentioned that the bugs might produce a leader such as a ¡®queen.¡¯ It was amon setting in science fiction movies.

    Who was it?

    Xiao Lou thought carefully about the people he met initially. Was it the crazy woman in the hospital? The little girl? The intern next to him or a female respiratory patient who first developed the disease in the Second Hospital? Every one of them was possible or it might¡¯ve been someone they hadn¡¯t seen.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and nced at Shao Qingge. ¡°Chief Shao, you have just acquired the bugs¡¯ powerful abilities. You might not be very proficient in using them. Practice and master these abilities as soon as possible.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. He jumped directly from this floor to the top of the building in front of them. The jumping distance was close to the 50 metres of the teleportation card. After the evolution, Shao Qingge¡¯s climbing, jumping and attacking abilities had been fully improved. His fighting power wasn¡¯t inferior to Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge had an advantage when dealing with the bugs. After all, the low level bugs wouldn¡¯t actively attack him.

    Shao Qingge repeatedly tried to jump and climb to practice her newly acquired abilities. Everyone watched him walking on the wall and couldn¡¯t help feeling, ¡°Chief Shao is no longer the fighting scum who lies down to win. It is so sudden that I¡¯m not used to it!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s low voice was heard. ¡°One more fighting ability in the team is a good thing. We used to need to protect Chief Shao but now he doesn¡¯t need our protection. He can protect his teammates, which is a great improvement for the entire team.¡±

    Everyone nodded and they were happy for Chief Shao. They just wondered if this ability could be taken out of the secret room. Once the body data was cleared when leaving the secret room, Chief Shao will definitely return to a normal person unless he draws a relevant card. Judging from the fact that Xiao Lou drew the zombie leader Liu Xiaoyuan from 2 of Spades, perhaps Chief Shao could really draw the bug card this time.

    It was almost lunchtime. Shao Qingge practiced his abilities and returned to the roof to have a meal with everyone.

    Ye Qi wondered seriously, ¡°Do you want to eat instant noodles or human blood?¡±

    Shao Qingge grinned and rubbed the young man¡¯s head. ¡°Of course I will eat noodles. I am essentially human.¡±

    He paused and then lowered his voice to whisper in Ye Qi¡¯s ear, ¡°After assimting with the bug, I remember you feeling me blood¡­ does your hand hurt?¡±

    He gently pulled at Ye Qi¡¯s hand and looked at the cut finger.

    Ye Qi had put a band-aid on his finger. After all, Ye Qi¡¯s skin didn¡¯t have the ability to heal automatically. After a few days, the wound was still there. Shao Qingge¡¯s heart tightened and he spoke softly, ¡°Don¡¯t do such a stupid thingter.¡±

    Ye Qiughed. ¡°I was afraid that you would starve to death after turning into a bug. It¡¯s fine. It is just a small injury.¡±

    Shao Qingge didn¡¯t say anything else and personally gave him a new band-aid.

    The team members gathered to finish lunch. Yu Hanjiang stared into the distance before turning seriously to Shao Qingge. ¡°The bug army should¡¯ve been gathered and we must n for our next actions as soon as possible. The queen can perceive Chief Shao¡¯s position and will definitely bring some high-powered subordinates to destroy Chief Shao. If she brings some level 9 bugs to kill you, what is your chance of winning?¡±

    Shao Qingge frowned and thought about it. ¡°I¡¯m still not sure how many high level bugs there are around the queen but we also have great advantages. First, I not only have the bug abilities but also the cards. As teammates, we can work together to control these bugs. Second, I¡¯m not afraid of fire while the bugs are. Perhaps we can use this aspect to make some arrangements in advance.¡±

    He paused before continuing. ¡°I¡¯m most worried about the queen. The level 9 bugs are already so powerful. I don¡¯t know about the level 10 bug queen. How strong are her abilities? Will she be invulnerable and heal immediately after being injured?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had also considered this possibility. The ability of the level 10 queen was definitely stronger than Shao Qingge but the specific strengths were still unclear. Once she brought her elite troops to kill Shao Qingge, it was likely that everyone would be destroyed if they didn¡¯t make arrangements in advance.

    The enemy¡¯sbat ability couldn¡¯t be estimated. This was the biggest headache.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s thoughts were conveyed to Xiao Lou¡¯s mind through the heart channel. XIao Lou took out a pen and paper and wrote while analyzing it. ¡°Bugs will only merge when they are in danger. Two bugs of the same level will be promoted to the next level. To fuse a level 9 bug, you need 256 level 1 bugs.¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully recalled his experiences in this secret room.

    On the first day, the challengers were busy gathering their teammates and umting supplies. The bugs had just invaded the city and were madly biting the surrounding humans. The bugs had no organization or disciple and their locations were scattered. There would be norge-scale upgrade situation.

    For example, their encounter in the supermarket. They killed 50 bugs. Even if the bugs merged with each other due to danger, only level 3 or 4 bugs were merged.

    That night when they fled from the city centre to the east of the city, they saw all the bugs in the central area suddenly gather. The dense swarm of bugs flooded into the residential areas to attack the uninfected humans in the city¡­

    Thinking of this, Xiao Lou suddenly said, ¡°By the way, on the first night, the collective actions of so many bugs must¡¯ve been done by a high level bug. Chief Shao, can you order around the low level bugs?¡±

    Shao Qingge replied, ¡°A few in a small area are fine. Only the level 10 leader can order arge army.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°In other words, the bug queen actually came into being on the first day? At that time, we emerged from Old Mo¡¯s studio to explore the way and we saw arge number of bugs flooding into the residential areas, shopping zas, food courts, office buildings etc. Was it an order given by the queen?¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s expression became serious. ¡°It seems so. Only the queen can mobilize thousands of bugs.¡±

    Xiao Lou felt a chill shoot down his spine. ¡°This queen should be very scheming. She has been lurking the entire time and used the bugs to infect the residents of the city centre. Then she had the vanguard troops look for the fish that slipped out of the. Step by step, her n was very meticulous. Now the residents of the city are also conquered and she is aiming at the high level bugs who don¡¯t obey her orders.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°Gao Xiaoyi¡¯s team was besieged by the bugs in the north university town. At that time, they relied on physical and chemical knowledge to blow up an experimental building. The bugs would¡¯ve definitely merged in panic when they encountered an explosion and a level 9 bug should¡¯ve been generated. We used gasoline to burn the bugs outside the warehouse and the bugs who weren¡¯t burnt can also generate a level 9 one.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°ording to the characteristics of the bugs, arge group of bugs only merge spontaneously when they are in danger. The residents of this city were infected too much at the beginning because they didn¡¯t know the truth. They are easily overwhelmed when facing thousands of bugs. Therefore, the biggest crisis of the bugs should be made by us challengers.¡±

 Chapter 230.2

    Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°Yes, the challengers have cards and people who can reach this level in the survival room are all experienced. They can quickly find the weakness of the bugs and learn to use fire to destroy them.¡±

    Shao Qingge understood Xiao Lou¡¯s meaning. ¡°Professor Xiao, are you saying that the number of high level bugs should be rted to the number of crises created by the challengers? It is only when we create these crises that the bugs will merge?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°These days, most of the challengers are fleeing and won¡¯t take the initiative to trouble the bugs. However, if the bugse to the door then they will all take measures in advance. They will use explosives, gasoline, alcohol and all types of inmmable and explosive products to deal with the bugs. This will induce their fusion.¡±

    Ye Qi heard this and couldn¡¯t help interjecting. ¡°I remember that there should be around 30 challenger teams in this secret room?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, but in the first two or three days, the challengers suffered heavy casualties. Many people didn¡¯t realize the bugs¡¯ weakness of fire. Several teams were wiped out by the bugs. Only the challengers who survived have the skills to destroy the bugs. This also catalyzed the integration and upgrading of the bugs. ording to my inference, apart from the bug queen, the number of level 9 bugs after 10 days if guerri warfare should be around 100.¡±

    His reasoning was based on the characteristics of the bug family.

    Bugs like to live in groups but they didn¡¯t randomly merge with each other. After all, every bug had its own consciousness, thoughts and memories. Even if it was weak, it was an independent individual and didn¡¯t want to be swallowed by their own kind.

    It was only when it was extremely dangerous and the bugs couldn¡¯t protect themselves that they would quickly merge and upgrade with their surroundingpanions. This was probably their survival instinct.

    The city residents were infected too quickly and wouldn¡¯t have created a crisis that panicked the bugs. Therefore, the number of times the bugs fused was simr to the number of troubles caused by the challengers. There could be only one level 10 queen and there shouldn¡¯t be many level 9 bugs. For example, 80% of the bugs at the warehouse that day burned to death from the gasoline. Out of the remaining bugs, two or three at most would be level 9 bugs.

    These days, the challenger teams had created big crises but the number of times the bugs fused shouldn¡¯t be too much. The 100 he spected was an overestimation. Maybe some challengers wouldn¡¯t fight but would just hide when encountering the bugs.

    Shao Qingge heard Xiao Lou¡¯s conclusion and frowned. ¡°ording to Professor Xiao, if we consider there to be 100 high level bugs then we have no absolute certainty of winning. I can¡¯t directly suppress those who are equal to me with willpower. I need everyone¡¯s cooperation and arrangements in advance.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it carefully. ¡°I have a way.¡± He looked at Xiao Lou with a question in his eyes. ¡°It is just that this way requires us to work with Gao Xiaoyi¡¯s team.¡±

    Xiao Lou reacted quickly. ¡°You want to use their physics and chemistry cards to set up a trap and then activate the traps to blow them up after the bug queenes?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°We have the advantage when dealing with the high level bugs. It is as Chief Shao said just now. First, we aren¡¯t afraid of fire. Second, we have cards. It is only when these two advantages are fully utilized that we will have a chance of winning this tough battle.¡±

    He added, ¡°In the beginning, we didn¡¯t dare cooperate with other challengers because we were afraid the infected people in their team would suddenly attack us. However, Chief Shao is a level 9 bug. Even if there are infected people among the other teams, Chief Shao can perceive the existence of the bugs. This concern can bepletely eliminated. Therefore, we can try to cooperate.¡±

    Ye Qi was worried. ¡°Will they be willing to cooperate? After all, there are only three days left until the instance is cleared. If they hide and avoid the bugs then they will pass this instance more safely. Facing the bug queen with us is very dangerous.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°We will talk to them as soon as possible.¡±

    Xiao Lou fully supported Yu Hanjiang¡¯s decision and nodded. ¡°Okay, we will talk to them.¡±

    The night the temporary challenger alliance came to them, Yu Hanjiang had remembered the direction they left in. It was further east and he guessed Gao Xiaoyi might¡¯ve brought these people back to the warehouse.

    There had been a big battle near the warehouse and the raging fire produced by gasoline burned countless bugs. Since bugs were naturally afraid of fire, they wouldn¡¯t want to go back to that ce.

    At that time, Yu Hanjiang had controlled the mes in the outer circle and the warehouse wasn¡¯t affected by the gasoline explosion. There were many fruits and vegetables inside. It was indeed the best choice if the challenger alliance wanted to find a temporary base.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Shao Qingge. ¡°I will hand this ce to Chief Shao. Professor Xiao and I will talk to them.¡±

    In the past, he was still worried about handing their teammates to Chief Shao for protection. Now dealing with ordinary bugs would be easy for Shao Qingge unless the bug queen personally came here. In addition, Xiao Lou had handed the card Tao Yuanming to Shao Qingge. If he encountered a problem that couldn¡¯t be solved, he could open the Peach Blossom Spring, teleport inside as a group and hide there for three hours.

    Shao Qingge told them earnestly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡±m here. Go quickly and pay attention to safety.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang hugged Xiao Lou¡¯s waist with a single arm and took Xiao Lou away with the light footwork and teleportation cards. The two men moved continuously through the air and soon arrived near the warehouse. The fire had burned all the surrounding trees and the ground was littered with bug limbs. It looked miserable.

    Xiao Lou threw Ye Qi¡¯s eavesdroppers into the distance and then whispered, ¡°There are people inside the warehouse.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and flew to the door of the warehouse with Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou knocked gently on the door and cried out, ¡°Is Gao Xiaoyi inside? We have something to discuss with you.¡±

    Inside the warehouse, Gao Xiaoyi¡¯s eyes widened with surprise when she heard Xiao Lou¡¯s voice. The girl stood up, asked her teammates to be on guard and replied from a distance, ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Can you step outside to talk?¡±

    Gao Xiaoyi came to the door and maintained a safe distance from Xiao Lou. ¡°You say it.¡±

    Xiao Lou lowered his voice. ¡°We want to gain a perfect clearance and need your help. I don¡¯t know if you have any interest?¡±

    Gao Xiaoyi was slightly surprised. ¡°A perfect clearance?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°ording to the setting of the secret room, eliminating the bug queen will lead to a perfect clearance.¡±

    Gao Xiaoyi¡¯s face instantly turned as white as paper. ¡°Don¡¯t joke around. Do you know how powerful the bug queen is? We formed a temporary alliance because we met her!¡±

    Gao Xiaoyi¡¯s voice rose so her teammates heard her words.

    The sses wearing man from the physics department walked over. ¡°We saw a flying shadow while escaping. The bug queen seems to have the ability to fly. She actually flew from one tall building to another. In addition, there are many high level bugs around her. If we didn¡¯t have the group teleport card, we would¡¯ve been wiped out.¡±

    Gao Xiaoyi added, ¡°Yes, the bug queen¡¯s ability is very terrifying yet you want to destroy her? You must know that she isn¡¯t alone when fighting. There are dozens of high level bugs and thousands of bug soldiers under her. How can we destroy her with our strength?¡±

    Xiao Lou softly persuaded her. ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate your abilities. No matter how powerful she is, she is still a bug in nature. Her fear of fire won¡¯t change. Moreover, she is only physically strong. Her climbing and jumping abilities have increased to the limit but we have cards in our hand. We can control her.¡±

    The boy pushed up his sses. ¡°Your words made sense but it is too risky to do so. We can hide and pass the instance after three days. Is it necessary to take this risk?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang hit the nail on the head. ¡°Don¡¯t you want a perfect clearance? It is only 8 of Spades but you don¡¯t dare to challenge the bug queen who has obvious weaknesses. Do you want to keep hiding when you get to J of Spades or K of Spades?¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°That¡¯s right. The risk when obtaining a perfect clearance is high but the benefits are great. After you get an S-grade score, you can draw a powerful S-grade card. This is also helpful for future secret rooms.¡±

    Seeing that the boy¡¯s attitude was slightly shaken, Xiao Lou continued, ¡°We only need your help in arranging the traps. You can entrust us with the dangerous task of fighting the bugs. There is the queen and many high level bugs. It is really difficult for us to destroy them with just the eight of us? Cooperating to clear the instance is good for everyone, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang continued, ¡°Besides, your captain Cheng Ziyang is dead. Based on his strength, it is impossible for him to return from the 8 of Spades Nightmare Room. Your team also needs to increase itsbat effectiveness and draw more good cards. Think about it.¡±

    The two people were like ¡®husbands singing and following each other¡¯. They had a tacit understanding.

    Gao Xiaoyi nced at her teammates.

    She was about to open her mouth when she heard the female captain of the Luoying Pavilion suddenly say, ¡°I¡¯m willing to help.¡±

    The neat girl walked up to Xiao Lou with a cold expression. ¡°Those of us in Luoying Pavilion will pursue a perfect clearance in every secret room but it is too difficult to pass this level perfectly. Since you are willing to work together, I can provide card assistance.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded at her. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Xiao Lou remembered the scene when the female captain burned her teammate to death. This captain was iron-blooded and really quick and decisive. Xiao Lou gained a bit more confidence with such an ally.

    At present, there was nopetitive rtionship between the challengers and there was no need to be afraid of the infected people stabbing them in the back. As long as everyone was willing to join forces, the number of cards increased and it would naturally be safer to kill the queen. It was a mutual benefit and win-win cooperation.

    Seeing the people from Luoying Pavilion taking the initiative to join, Gao Xiaoyi also gritted her teeth. ¡°Okay, we will also try it.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s gaze swept over the others.

    The bearded uncle from the Eternal Kingdom smiled. ¡°We won¡¯t join. We are only pursuing an ordinary clearance. It isn¡¯t necessary to take risks for a perfect clearance. Good luck to everyone.¡±

    This guild had always beenid-back and only did the World Weekly. Xiao Lou had previously wondered why they suddenly came to such a difficult room like 8 of Spades. However, he couldn¡¯t guess their purpose from the bearded uncle¡¯s smiling attitude.

    Xiao Lou nodded and no longer tried to persuade them. The two teams who were willing to join were brought back to the temporary base by Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang.

    The Distant Association had 10 people, Luoying Pavilion had 11 people and Xiao Lou¡¯s group had 8 people. Their three teams added up to less than 30 people.

    However, they were going to face the level 10 bug queen, around a hundred level 9 bugs and countless bug soldiers! This battle was extremely risky but in order to perfectly pass the level, draw stronger cards and go to more difficult secret rooms, everyone could only grit their teeth.

    Xiao Lou told them, ¡°If we can¡¯t beat them, we will think of a retreat route to make sure that we aren¡¯t destroyed.¡±

    The female captain of Luoying Pavilion simply nodded. ¡°Okay, say it. How to arrange it?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and took out a piece of paper. ¡°We want to turn thismunity into a maze of fire.¡±

 Chapter 231: Doomsday Escape 37

    The bugs were afraid of fire. This was something that all challengers knew. Therefore, when Xiao Lou said to arrange a ¡®fire maze¡¯, the people of Luoying Pavilion and the Distant Association were only surprised for a moment before epting it.

    Gao Xiaoyi finally understood the reason why Xiao Lou came to her to cooperate. At that time, they had blown up an experimental building in the university town and had experience in this area. Her junior Lin Yuhang in their team was from the physics department and was one of the top students. She looked at the boy wearing sses next to her. ¡°Junior Brother Lin, can the circuit field fire that you set up when we blew up theboratory building be reproduced here?¡¯

    Lin Yuhang shook his head. ¡°There was no power outage at the time but now the bugs have destroyed the electrical system of the entire city. I can¡¯t use the wires to ignite the fire. My circuit card can ce a closed circuit with a maximum size of 100 square metres. It can handle seven or eight bugs but it isn¡¯t very useful once there are too many.¡±

    The captain of Luoying Pavilion frowned slightly and asked Xiao Lou, ¡°What do you want to do in the fire maze? Bury explosives in the ground?¡±

    Xiao Lou brought Mo Xuemin over and introduced him. ¡°Old Mo is a professional interior designer and will design the maze. You just need to cooperate with him toplete someyouts.

    Mo Xueminughed. ¡°The maximum area of my Model Room is also 100 square metres. Therefore, we can¡¯t arrange the maze solely using the cards. We will manually create it. I will make the drawing first so take a look.¡±

    He took out a blueprint and quickly drew some lines on it with a pen.

    The dense and criss-crossing lines made everyone have a headache. This was obviously abyrinth with extremelyplicated pathways. Unlike otherbyrinths that had one correct pathway, thisbyrinth¡­ actually had no exit?

    Gao Xiaoyi quickly discovered this and couldn¡¯t help wondering, ¡°Can you get out of the maze? Why can¡¯t I find it?¡± She tried to follow the paths with her fingers but there were indeed no exists, they were all dead ends. The twists and turns almost stunned people.

    Old Mo looked at her with surprise. ¡°You know quite a bit about mazes. You discovered the secret so soon?¡±

    Gao Xiaoyi told him, ¡°I usually like to y maze-type games.¡±

    Ol Mo nodded. ¡°Yes, my maze really has no exit. The design is just to trap the low level bugs inside and burn them.¡±

    Gao Xiaoyi suddenly realized. ¡°I understand. There must be some bug soldiers under the queen. You made a maze with no exit to trap the soldiers?¡±

    ¡°Yes! The powerful bugs can¡¯t be trapped in the maze but it will be useful to take care of the soldiers.¡±

    The sses wearing Lin Yuhang asked curiously, ¡°Uncle, you just drew a n of this maze. How will you make it 3D?¡±

    Old Moughed. ¡°We are a professional construction scene! We will be directly making it at the scene!¡±

    The moment he spoke, they saw that Ye Qi had brought a lot of brings from an unknown ce. Since the teleportation card could move 200 kilograms at a time, he moved the bricks back and forth as fast as lightning.

    Gao Xiaoyi and the others stared at the ¡®brick-moving boy¡¯ with disbelief.

    Shao Qingge saw Xiao Ye rushing to move bricks and couldn¡¯t help chuckling. ¡°Our construction team built a secret tunnel underground. It isn¡¯t difficult to build a maze on the ground.¡±

    Ye Qi shouted from the side, ¡°Come and help! All those with carry cards shoulde and construct it ording to Old Mo¡¯s drawing. Hurry up!¡±

    Gao Xiaoyi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    They really were a professional construction team! Under Old Mo¡¯s leadership, everyone moved quickly in themunity.

    In addition to Ye Qi¡¯s teleportation card, Gao Xiaoyi¡¯s team and the Luoying Pavilion had cards suitable for ¡®carrying materials.¡¯ They used the cards and everyone¡¯s construction speed was extremely fast. Within an hour, arge maze was built inside themunity.

    The walls of the maze were made of bricks and this couldn¡¯t stop the high level bugs. In particr, the level 9 bugs weren¡¯t as easy to deal with as the low level bugs. Chief Shao¡¯s sharp nails could prate marble walls, let alone the red bricks temporarily moved from the construction site.

    The main role of this maze wasn¡¯t to trap the high level bugs but to quickly disperse and eliminate the low level bugs, relieving the pressure in theter stage. Otherwise, everyone wouldn¡¯t have a chance to deal with the high level bugs. They would be besieged by the low level soldiers and the chances of winning would be very low.

    Everyone stood on top of a building and looked down at the huge maze in themunity. Gao Xiaoyi couldn¡¯t help sighing. ¡°It looks soplicated from a high ce and it is hard to get out once inside. We just need to bury some ignition materials in the maze and it will be like stepping into hell for the bugs.¡±

    Xiao Lou told her, ¡°We need your help to bury the ignition materials.¡±

    Lin Yuhang of the physics department had bright eyes as he volunteered. ¡°I will do this. My circuit card can only cover 100 square metres but there are still wires in thismunity. I can take some of the wires in the residential buildings and use them.¡±

    Several of the teammates around him went to help.

    The entire city had been powered off but Lin Yuhang¡¯s cards produced electricity and the Ethanol card left by theirte teammate could produce unlimited alcohol. Therefore, Lin Yuhang and Gao Xiaoyi¡¯s team quickly buried arge number of wires in the maze. They covered all areas of the maze and were coated with mmable alcohol.

    Standing on top of the building, Yu Hanjiang saw the traps beingpleted and nodded with satisfaction. ¡°This maze can deal with most of the bug soldiers. As for the high level bugs, they can jump directly to the top of the building and other countermeasures are needed.¡±

    He nced at Shao Qingge and lowered his voice to ask, ¡°After a level 9 bug encounters danger, they won¡¯t merge with the same level bugs, right?¡±

    Shao Qingge spoke confidently. ¡°Yes, only one leader is allowed to exist in the bugs at the same time. A level 9 bug merging with the same level will still be level 9. They can¡¯t upgrade to level 10 and their ability won¡¯t improve. Therefore, a level 9 bug is the only high level bug that doesn¡¯t merge. If they encounter danger then they could only find a way to resolve it on their own¡­ unless they directly kill the queen.¡±

    Level 8 bugs could merge together and upgrade when encountering danger but level 9 bugs were blocked by the queen in front and couldn¡¯t upgrade even if they merged with each other. Therefore, their abilities might be strong but they were only as strong as Shao Qingge. They couldn¡¯t continue to improve unless they killed the queen and reced her.

    Yu Hanjiang thought for a moment. ¡°I have a way. Chief Shao, put on the invisibility cloak and mix in with the bugs. Look for the high level bugs and give me their positioning. I will kill them and you will burn them to quickly resolve the high level bugs and relieve the pressure. Then we will find the queen and kill her.¡±

    Shao Qingge thought this method was feasible and agreed.

    He was facing the same level 9 bugs and would be invisible. In addition, he wasn¡¯t afraid of fire. With the help of various cards from his teammates, his ability was much stronger than bugs of the same level. In order to get close to the queen and have a chance of winning, they had to first kill her senior subordinates.

    It was getting dark and night time was the peak of the bugs¡¯ activities. The crowd gathered on top of a building and were a bit nervous.

    Gao Xiaoyi asked softly, ¡°We are just waiting for the rabbit? Are you sure the queen wille here?¡±

    They didn¡¯t know that Shao Qingge had been infected and turned into a bug mini-boss, so they were very confused. What if the queen didn¡¯te?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke indifferently. ¡°Everyone, stay calm. Wait and see.¡±

    The captain of Luoying Pavilion was very calm. ¡°The queen should be cleaning up the entire city. Going to find her is just equivalent to activating the traps in the bugir. We can only wait for her toe to us and step into the traps we have arranged.¡±

    Gao Xiaoyi nodded in agreement. ¡°Yes¡­ however, the bug who upgraded to a queen should have a high IQ. She might not be fooled. At the veryst, she won¡¯t enter the maze personally. There will be a scouting group to help her find a way.¡±

    Previously, the bugs had sent a vanguard to explore the way. After finding someone, they would summon theirpanions.

    The queen naturally wouldn¡¯t be stupid enough to run into the maze by herself. There were so many teams to find the trail for her. It was enough to send over a few teams. Yu Hanjiang ordered, ¡°If there is an initial group then solve them quickly. They will send out a distress signal to lead the queen over.¡±

    Everyone nodded to express their understanding.

    Just then, Xiao Lou made a ¡®shh¡¯ gesture and spoke in a soft voice. ¡°They¡¯reing.¡±

    He had set the drone at the main road of themunity. As long as someone passed by, he would see it through the monitoring. Yu Hanjiang leaned over to take a look and as expected, five people were walking quickly to themunity.

    A team of five was the mostmon scouting group for the bugs.

    The disguise ability was very strong. Their walking posture and expressions were exactly the same as a normal human.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Gao Xiaoyi. ¡°Get ready to do it. They will be handed over to you.¡±

    Gao Xiaoyi nodded firmly. ¡°Yes!¡±

    The five bugs entered themunity and suddenly saw a huge abacus falling from the sky and smashing them. After causing them to faint, Lin Yuhang locked onto them with a closed circuit and the wires were short-circuited to ignite a fire.

    The raging fire swept over the bodies of the five bugs!

    Gao Xiaoyi¡¯s team had quite a lot of experience in dealing with these bug teams. Abacus was a card drawn by a girl in the maths department. It could stun people on arge scale. Circuit Diagram was Lin Yuhang of the physics department¡¯s signature card. He could release a circuit any time and anywhere to paralyze the enemies in range. Or he could short-circuit the wires and cause a fire.

    The five bugs found themselves on fire and panicked, uttering harsh squeaking noises. They were quickly burned by the mes but issued a distress signal before they died.

    Shao Qingge could understand the bugnguage. He looked at Yu Hanjiang and whispered, ¡°They are saying that there are survivors and asked the queen toe clean them up.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked serious. ¡°Everyone, be on guard!¡±

    Everyone stared nervously at the gate of themunity. Not long after, arge army of bugs came to themunity. Countless bugs were crawling on the ground and their eyes were a scarlet red. This scene was enough to make everyone numb!

    Fortunately, the IQ of these low level bugs was average. They poured into the maze and quickly became dizzy and unable to find the way out.

    Yu Hanjiang waved his hand. ¡°Block the road and ignite them!¡±

    Old Mo immediately sealed the entrance with marble and the people of Luoying Pavilion released their group control skills without hesitation. Then Long Sen and Gao Xiaoyi¡¯s team threw arge number of fireballs into the maze.

    The group tacitly cooperated and the wires buried in advance were instantly detonated.

    The explosions spread all the way through the maze and the maze became a scene of fire in an instant.

    The bugs started burning.

    Under danger, therge group of bugs panicked. There were fires everywhere in the maze and they were forced to merge.

    However, Yu Hanjiang had long anticipated this. He asked Old Mo to make arge fire maze with only an entrance but no exit. The moment the bug army entered, the entrance was blocked. Even if the bugs merged and upgraded, they could only be burned alive by the mes.

    Gao Xiaoyi saw this scene and couldn¡¯t help paling. ¡±This fire maze is simply the cemetery of the bugs!¡±

    Lin Yuhang clenched his fists. ¡°It was worthwhile working all afternoon to solve so many bug soldiers at once.¡±

    Xiao Lou warned them, ¡°Don¡¯t rx. They are just the low level bugs sent by the queen to test us. Her elite troops are still behind.¡±

    The moment he finished speaking, there was a sharp scream from the air. Then arge group of ck shadows leaped to the top of the opposite building like a gust of wind.

    Shao Qingge dered, ¡°They¡¯reing.¡±

    He could feel the aura of the high level bugs. The bugs with aparable strength to him were putting pressure on him. Yu Hanjiang had ced a Night Peal card on the roof of each building and it could be illuminated once activated.

    They saw an elite force of nearly 100 people standing on the roof opposite.

    It was unknown where they jumped from but their agility was shocking.

    The more frightening thing was that they were all young men and women with strong builds. Each of them had scarlet eyes and sharp nails. They were separated by a distance of more than 50 metres but they stared at Yu Hanjiang coldly, as if looking at a group of corpses.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and his voice was solemn. ¡°Get back and defend!¡±

    The moment he issued the order, Xiao Lou opened the invincibility circle of Compass!

    The next moment, there were over two dozen high level bugs that flew at Yu Hanjiang like lightning. The sharp ws aiming at Yu Hanjiang were blocked by the invincibility circle in a thrilling manner!

    Gao Xiaoyi trembled with fright. ¡°¡­These high level bugs can fly?¡±

    Xiao Lou exined. ¡°It is their jumping ability. They can easily jump 50 metres away.¡±

    People¡¯s expressions became ugly when they heard it.

    Xiao Lou was calm. ¡°The invincibility circle can protect everyone for 10 minutes. Don¡¯t panic. They can¡¯t attack us for 10 minutes.¡±

    Shao Qingge whispered in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ear, ¡°I want to act, Group Leader Yu.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll cooperate with you.¡±

    Ye Qi was connected by the heart channel and naturally knew the n. He sped his fists together nervously and spoke in his mind, ¡°You have to be careful. You are eliminating bugs of the same level¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry and watch me.¡±

    The next moment, everyone felt something move in front of them. Shao Qingge suddenly disappeared. He used the invisibility cloak and jumped to the opposite building.

    Gao Xiaoyi and the others soon discovered that the man who always liked to smile was missing from the team. Only Xiao Lou and the others knew that at this time, Shao Qingge had appeared behind the bugs.

 Chapter 232.1: Doomsday Escape 38

    The bug¡¯s field of view was 360 degrees without dead ends but they couldn¡¯t see the invisible Shao Qingge. At this time, their attention was on Yu Hanjiang, Xiao Lou and the others. Since Xiao Lou¡¯s Compass circle couldn¡¯t be broken for 10 minutes, the over 20 bugs attacking couldn¡¯t hurt these humans. Then 30 more high level bugs joined the battle.

    They surrounded Xiao Lou¡¯s invincible barrier and tried to destroy it with sharp nails, but they didn¡¯t seed. The situation was at a stalemate. Just then, mes were suddenly ignited from behind.

    Shao Qingge had lurked behind the group of bugs. He poured the bottles of alcohol on a few of them, ignited them with the lighters and quickly retreated! The speed of his sneak attack was extremely fast and he was wearing an invisibility cloak. The high level bugs couldn¡¯t see him. They were caught off guard by the burning and squeaked angrily!

    No matter how strong the regenerative ability of the bugs, they couldn¡¯t regenerate after being burned. This was why the bugs were afraid of fire instead of swords. In the blink of an eye, there were five high level bugs who were burned alive by Shao Qingge. The group of bugs noticed that something was wrong and started to look for the culprit who attacked them.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s invisibility time was 30 minutes. After killing five bugs, he hid in the corner and waited for an opportunity.

    Ye Qi was nervous. ¡°You won¡¯t be discovered by them?¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯sughing voice was heard in his mind. ¡°No, they can¡¯t see me with the invisibility cloak.¡±

    This invisibility cloak helped Shao Qingge a lot. He wore the cloak and moved through the bugs. The bugs were wary and had no blind spots in their 360 field of view. The sess rate of taking out a lighter to ignite them wasn¡¯t high and it was easy to expose himself.

    Shao Qingge no longer took risks. He did only one thing. He used the ethanol card Xue Qing left them to continuously make alcohol under the cloak. Thanks to the cloak covering it, the bugs couldn¡¯t see what he was doing. Shao Qingge waited until enough alcohol was made before showing his whereabouts.

    The smiling man acted like the wind. Before the other bugs could react, he sshed them with alcohol! Shao Qingge didn¡¯t attack. He just poured alcohol on the bugs.

    His current ability was simr to the surrounding bugs but he still had the card bonus. Xiao Lou had given him the eleration shoes. What was the concept of increasing his movement speed by five times the original? It meant that the other bugs would never be able to catch up with him. At this time, even Ye Qi¡¯s teleportation card might not be able to catch up with him!

    The bugs smelled the strong smell of alcohol on their bodies and realized it wasn¡¯t good. One of the high ranking bugs immediately said, ¡°Quickly retreat!¡±

    Before she could finish, Yu Hanjiang raised his gun in the distance. There was a bang as a bullet flew through the air. The sparks caused by the bullet instantly ignited the clothes of the bug who had just spoken!

    There was the continuous sound of gunfire. Shao Qingge had already flown to the roof of another building while Yu Hanjiang kept firing behind him. Since Shao Qingge had poured alcohol on these bugs, a huge me spread!

    Low level bugs could save their lives through fusion. The fatal shoring of a level 9 bug was that they couldn¡¯t upgrade themselves when in danger! In addition, they were now coated with mmable ethanol and couldn¡¯t protect themselves.

    Half of the dozens of bugs on the opposite building were swept up by the mes in an instant. The harsh screams made everyone¡¯s eardrums hurt.

    Shao Qingge lifted the invisible state. The bugs realized he was behind them and hurriedly turned to chase them!

    Shao Qingge himself had gained the jumping and climbing abilities of the bugs. Thanks to the eleration shoes that Xiao Lou gave him, he was like a master of martial arts novels. He flew between different buildings like he was walking. The other bugs couldn¡¯t even catch up with him!

    At this time, Yu Hanjiang squinted as he set up the sniper rifle.

    In order to facilitate Group Leader Yu finding a sniper target, Shao Qingge had taken thentern card. The light of thentern illuminated the area around him and Yu Hanjiang could quickly find the bugs chasing him.

    The mouths of Gao Xiaoyi and the others wererge enough to stuff an egg into. Wasn¡¯t this man too daring? Actually walking among a group of bugs?

    He jumped quickly in front and dozens of bugs chased wildly from behind. If it was made into a movie then it would definitely be a Hollywood blockbuster. The most shocking thing was that he led the bugs to run around in a circle while Yu Hanjiang shot them from behind one by one.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s sniper skills were absolutely professional. He could instantly snipe their heads even if the bugs were moving fast. Shao Qingge had poured mmable ethanol onto the bugs. As long as Yu Hanjiang hit the opponent, the sparks of the bullet could instantly ignite the bugs!

    In the blink of an eye, dozens of bugs were killed by Shao Qingge and Yu Hanjiang. The bugs who were on fire squeaked and rolled around on the ground while fewer bugs chased Shao Qingge. At first, they rank aggressively to kill him. Then after being caught off guard by the wave of attacks of Shao Qingge and Yu Hanjiang, they sensed the crisis and immediately retreated.

    Downstairs, those who were locked in the maze were burned to death. It was quiet for a moment before a steady stream of love level bugs entered. It was more than the wave just now.

    Xiao Lou warned. ¡°The queen is here. Everyone be careful downstairs!¡±

    The influx of bugs should be level 4 or 5. They had excellent climbing ability and stacked on top of each other like a human pyramid. They formed a human bodydder, allowing the bugs behind them to jump directly over the fire maze and climb toward the top of the building.

    Seeing the entire building surrounded by level 4 and 5 bugs, Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help paling. ¡°How long is left for the invincibility circle?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°Five minutes.¡±

    Once five minutes passed, they would be submerged by the sea of bugs! They might¡¯ve done the excellent mazeyout in advance but the number of low level bugs was too much. The fire in the maze had killed thousands of them but it was just a drop in the bucketpared to the subsequent influx of soldiers.

    The number of bug soldiers led by the queen couldn¡¯t be estimated.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and spoke to Yu Hanjiang in his mind. ¡°There is no way to fight. There are too many low level bugs to kill all of them. If we continue to set fires, it will catalyze their fusion and generate more high level bugs that are difficult to deal with.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s calm voice was heard. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, almost all the level 9 bugs have been killed by Chief Shao and I. We will find the queen as soon as possible. As long as the queen is taken, these low level bugs will be obedient.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°We¡¯ll take the risk. If it doesn¡¯t work then we¡¯ll teleport and retreat.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and calmly told the surrounding people, ¡°Everyone, be prepared. Before the invincibility circle ends, I will do the countdown for you. The people in your teams should prepare their escape skills. The moment you hear me say withdraw, don¡¯t fight and retreat immediately!¡±

    Gao Xiaoyi¡¯s team and the Luoying Pavilion team nodded to express their understanding. A perfect clearance was just theoretical so everyone tried their best. Once it was unsessful, there was no need to take it for granted.

    The number of bugs led by the queen was really too many. Shao Qingge and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s strategy of ¡®capture the king to catch the thieves¡¯ was right. They should kill the queen directly but what if they failed? Everyone would use the team teleport skills to escape and at least ensure the clearance.

    Xiao Lou nervously clenched his fists. ¡°Those with control skills, control all the bugs climbing up!¡±

    He gave an order and everyone present took out various control cards. As long as there was a bug climbing up the building, they were all taken down and thrown into the fire. There might be too many bugs to burn them all like this but at the very least, there was no need to be worried about being surrounded by bugs once the invincibility circle ran out. It would be troublesome if they couldn¡¯t escape.

    All members of Gao Xiaoyi¡¯s team and the Luoying Pavilion team contributed their various control skills one after another. There might be many bugs but they couldn¡¯t get close. The situation was a stalemate for a while.

    Everyone was concentrating on dealing with the low level bugs climbing up while Shao Qingge looked for the queen in the crowd.

    Just then, a gentle voice was heard in everyone¡¯s ears. ¡°Are you really going to be my enemy? Why not consider joining the bugs? You will immediately gain powerful abilities and a long life.¡±

 Chapter 232.2

    This sound pierced through the night sky and seemed to contain a bewitching power, making everyone stunned. Xiao Lou looked around and saw a dozen women suddenly appear on the opposite building.

    There were tall adult women, 17 or 18 year old girls in school uniforms and the little girl from the hospital. Xiao Lou remembered her eyes. At this time, her eyes were staring at him and her lips moved as she spoke.

    Perhaps it was due to the parasite but her voice was extremely gentle. It wasn¡¯t like a child¡¯s voice but was like a knowledgeable, gentle big sister. She spoke softly. ¡°You can¡¯t escape. Joining the bugs is your best choice.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked loudly, ¡°You are the queen of the bugs?¡±

    The little girl smiled. ¡°Yes, I remember you Professor Xiao. You applied medicine on my wounds. After I became a bug, the wounds on my body were healed. Don¡¯t you want such a powerful ability?¡±

    Xiao Lou was puzzled and felt that something wasn¡¯t right. No one attacked the little girl at the time. How did she upgrade?

    Yu Hanjiang aimed at her with the sniper rifle. The little girl was extremely alert. At almost the same time that Yu Hanjiang aimed at her, she jumped directly behind Yu Hanjiang. No one saw her movements clearly and were shocked by the red-eyed little girl who suddenly appeared behind them

    The invincibility circle meant she couldn¡¯t attack Yu Hanjiang. However, she jumped and teleported quickly so Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t shoot her with the gun. Besides, there was no alcohol on her body. She couldn¡¯t be killed just by being shot.

    Shao Qingge flew back into the circle and stared at the little girl alertly. The little girl smiled at him. ¡°The level 9 bug is you isn¡¯t it, Chief Shao?¡±

    This remark startled the other challengers. Gao Xiaoyi stepped back quickly. She stayed five metres away from Shao Qingge and asked in a trembling voice, ¡°You¡­ you are a bug?¡±

    The captain of Luoying Pavilion also changed her expression. ¡°There is an infected person in your team?!¡±

    Shao Qingge raised his eyebrow. ¡°I have assimted the bug and I¡¯m still human. I will exin the specific situation to you afterwards.¡±

    Xiao Lou quickly stabilized everyone. ¡°Calm down, don¡¯t be instigated by the bug. Our goal now is a perfect clearance.¡±

    Shao Qingge lowered his voice and whispered in Xiao Lou¡¯s ear. ¡°I don¡¯t think this situation is right. Is this little girl really the bug queen? She took the initiative to expose her ability. Isn¡¯t she afraid that we will target her?¡±

    Xiao Lou was silent for a moment as he nced carefully through the crowd on the opposite side. These women should be level 9 bugs since they moved so quickly. At this time, everyone looked serious.

    Unexpectedly, Xiao Lou saw a familiar face in the crowd. This was the first person he saw when he entered the secret room. Xu Rongrong, the female doctor who interned with him.

    Xiao Lou smiled and he spoke to Yu Hanjiang in his mind. ¡°So it was her.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang understood and looked at Shao Qingge. ¡°Prepare to act. We will kill the queen directly.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. The two people flew out of the invincibility circle at the same time.

    In front of the surprised challengers, Yu Hanjiang used the light footwork and teleportation cards together while Shao Qingge relied on the power of the upgraded bug to fly out simultaneously like lightning. Suddenly, they aimed at Xu Rongrong at a high speed!

    Xu Rongrong¡¯s face was expressionless at this time. She noticed the two of them were close and flew up like a spring!

    The queen¡¯s strength was really extraordinary. This time, she jumped directly to a high altitude and her flexible figure could hardly be seen. However, Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge weren¡¯t weak. The two of them chased after her.

    Yu Hanjiang flying by himself wasn¡¯t as fast as the queen but he had cards.

    Seeing that there were still a dozen metres away from the height of the queen, Yu Hanjiang threw out the white silk. The white silk protruded like a snake and curled around Xu Rongrong¡¯s body. Then Shao Qingge simply crawled along the white silk!

    The queen¡¯s sharp nails quickly cut off the white silk and a cold voice rang in the air. ¡°How did you know it was me?¡±

    Xiao Lou calmly exined. ¡°The queen isn¡¯t stupid enough to expose herself directly. The little girl previously was just speaking for you under your instructions. That¡¯s it. At the hospital, we used the gun to blow away your head. Thinking about it carefully, you were the first to be killed¡­ no, you were the first bug to merge and upgrade with the same kind around you. Thus, you upgraded faster and found it the easiest to be the queen.¡±

    At the first meeting, the hospital had a meeting and Xu Rongrong led the infected security guards to attack the conference room. Xiao Lou jumped out the window to escape and Yu Hanjiang shot Xu Rongrong¡¯s head.

    At that time, the two of them only wanted to escape and didn¡¯t notice that Xu Rongrong hadn¡¯t died after the headshot. Now it seemed that after being shot in the head, she immediately merged with herpanions around her. It was as Xiao Lou said. She was the first infected person to be killed but she didn¡¯t die at the time. Thus, she could merge with herpanions and upgrade.

    She ate the bugs in the hospital and was promoted to queen on the first day.

    The revealed Xu Rongrong screamed and the bugs around her followed her instructions to attack Shao Qingge and Yu Hanjiang.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was in his throat. He decisively released Bai Juyi¡¯s chaos group control. Bai Juyi¡¯s control range was 100 metres and the vertical distance between him and the bug queen was within this range. Those who obeyed the queen¡¯s orders to attack Chief Shao and Yu Hanjiang were also within range.

    The group became chaotic and their formation suddenly became a mess. The bug queen was also affected. The duration of this control time was only three seconds. However, three seconds was enough for Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge.

    Yu Hanjiang took out the Night Devil Saber. This was the first closebat weapon he drew and he once killed dozens of sharks with it. This knife had no skills and only one characteristic: cutting iron like it was mud.

    The bugs¡¯ body might have hard armour but this couldn¡¯t stop the saber from hurting them. No matter how strong the bug¡¯s healing ability, it was impossible to grow a new limb immediately after being cut off.

    Yu Hanjiang took advantage of the three seconds of control to fly up. The man raised his arm and the de in his right hand moved like lightning, cutting off the queen¡¯s head in an instant!

    Shao Qingge followed and ced his scratched finger in the queen¡¯s neck. They saw countless bugs crawling into Shao Qingge¡¯s body along with the blood. Shao Qingge absorbed the bugs while ying Ye Qi¡¯s Flute.

    The melodious flute sound was heard and the bugs were controlled again. The bugs entering Shao Qingge¡¯s body were also controlled by the drowsiness of the rhythm and were temporarily unable to affect him.

    Shao Qingge quickly suppressed and conquered them with strong willpower!

    Everyone saw Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes be redder as his long, chestnut hair flew freely in the night sky. The blood that sshed from the queen¡¯s head covered the blood on his body. The bloody man floated in the air with closed eyes. Then he opened them.

    The whole world suddenly became quiet.

    All the bugs around them stopped moving. Ye Qi was so scared that his eyes were going to fall out. He spoke in a trembling voice in his mind, ¡°You are crazy. You actually went to fuse with the queen! Are you still there? Shao Qingge?!¡±

    The sound of the teenager panicking could be heard.

    Shao Qingge smiled and a gentle voice flowed into Ye Qi¡¯s mind. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡±m here.¡±

    Ye Qi finally sighed with relief, his heart still trembling slightly. It was too dangerous just now. Shao Qingge was too bold. If the queen¡¯s consciousness broke free of the control in those few seconds then Shao Qingge might¡¯ve been swallowed!

    Shao Qingge and Yu Hanjiang steadily fell back on the roof.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s red eyes swept over the dense swarm of bugs downstairs and he smiled. ¡°All of you, go back to rest. I don¡¯t need you here. From no one, no bug will be allowed to take one step inside the east district without my orders.¡±

    The surrounding bugs were stunned for a moment. Then they retreated collectively. The scene was like a low tide at sea. The bugs ran out of themunity in a rush, afraid the leader would punish them for running too slowly.

    The high level bugs also fell back to the top of the other building and bowed to Shao Qingge. Then they quickly jumped into the distance and disappeared without a trace.

    The queen was wiped out and the new bug ruler was born. Now there were no bugs who didn¡¯t dare follow Shao Qingge¡¯s orders.

 Chapter 233: Doomsday Escape 39

    Seeing the bugs downstairs dispersing like a low tide, Gao Xiaoyi and the others couldn¡¯t believe it. What was going on? How could the bugs suddenly listen to this man? People looked suspiciously at Shao Qingge. Their faces were guarded like they had seen a big boss.

    Xiao Lou saw their expressions andforted them. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. My teammate was previously infected by the bugs but he suppressed the bug with his own will and gained control of his body. In fact, we all fell into a misunderstanding at the beginning. The humans infected by the bugs don¡¯t die immediately, they might even assimte with the bugs.¡±

    The captain of the Luoying Pavilion team heard this and her face changed sharply. ¡°What did you say? Being infected doesn¡¯t mean death?¡±

    She clearly remembered the supermarket and the teammate who had been burned to death by them after being infected.

    Xiao Lou looked at her regretfully. ¡°Yes, my teammate¡¯s name didn¡¯t disappear from the contract book after being infected. This allowed us to know that being infected isn¡¯t the same as dying. As long as the human consciousness is strong enough, it can defeat the bugs and regain consciousness.¡±

    The girls of Luoying Pavilion looked at each other.

    A short-haired girl had a pale face and let out choked sobs. ¡°So Ranran wasn¡¯t dead at the time. We burned her to death with our own hands¡­¡± She clenched her fists tightly and her body was trembling.

    Captain Xue Lin took a deep breath. ¡°me me for this matter. I was too arbitrary.¡±

    The girl next to her patted her on the shoulder. ¡°Sister Lin, it isn¡¯t your fault. The situation was critical at the time and the bug was obviously using Ranran¡¯s body to attack us frantically. We couldn¡¯t do anything with her¡­¡±

    The group of girls lowered their heads and there was a trace of grief in their expressions.

    Gao Xiaoyi hadn¡¯t witnessed the scene of their teammate being burned to death but she could roughly guess from their conversation. She told them gently, ¡°Our team also had a girl who rushed into a sea of fire because she was infected¡­ these bugs are too hateful.¡±

    Xue Lin¡¯s face was white. ¡°The bugs are hateful but we weren¡¯t careful enough. If I had looked at the contract and found that Lin Ran¡¯s name hadn¡¯t been erased, I would¡¯ve known she was still alive and wouldn¡¯t have killed her.¡±

    It was a pity. Both their teams had lost teammates in this secret room but they couldn¡¯t change the result. This would probably be an eternal regret in their hearts.

    Gao Xiaoyi calmed down and looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°The gentleman on your team has assimted the bugs and killed the queen just now. These bugs listened to him. Has he upgraded to the leader of the bugs?¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s low voice entered their ears. ¡°Yes, I am the bug king now.¡±

    No one had noticed when he came behind them. Shao Qingge had been promoted to a level 10 bug and his jumping ability had improved again. He moved like the wind and was as light as a feather whennding. He hardly made any sound. If he suddenly attacked he would¡¯ve killed them all already.

    This terrifying ability made Gao Xiaoyi pale. ¡°You¡­ what do you want to do?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled at them and didn¡¯t say anything. They were so nervous that they pulled out their cards to prepare for battle. Then he told them, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. I won¡¯t do anything to you. I¡¯ll take everyone to pass the instance.¡±

    Xiao Lou came over. ¡°There are still two and a half days left. You can rest assured that the other bugs don¡¯t dare act rashly since there is a leader. As long as we don¡¯t take the initiative to look for them, we can pass this secret room.¡±

    Shao Qingge told them, ¡°Yes, I sent the signal that they can freely move around the west of the city. The east side of the city will be safe.¡±

    The other teams¡¯ challengers were relieved after hearing the exnation.

    Gao Xiaoyi spoke solemnly, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    The captain of Luoying Pavilion walked over. ¡°Thank you this time. If we can pass the instance smoothly then I will invite you to dinner back in the main city. By the way, can you tell me your names?¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t tell her and instead smiled apologetically. ¡°I have received your good intentions but we will be busy clearing the following secret rooms. We will have no time for dinner after returning to the main city. Let¡¯s talk about itter if we have a chance.¡±

    Xue Lin heard the meaning of his words and stopped asking further. Everyone met and there was no need to have too many entanglements. It wasn¡¯t certain if they would meet after leaving the secret room.

    Gao Xiaoyi¡¯s team and the Luoying Pavilion team said goodbye to each other and turned to leave. The eight people in Xiao Lou¡¯s team remained on top of the building and waited for the instance clearance. They were protected by Chief Shao and didn¡¯t need to worry about the bugsing back to make trouble. Finally, they could sleep at ease.

    Shao Qingge possessed the bug¡¯s abilities and was very energetic over the next few days. He flew around themunity every day. At first, his teammates were shocked to see him flying around. Later, they got used to it. They would be calm even if he suddenly appeared behind them.

    After leaving the secret room, the data would be cleared and the abilities gained in the secret room would naturally be removed. Everyone felt very sorry. What if Chief Shao¡¯s ability could be brought out?

    In the early morning of the 14th day, a prompt appeared in the floating box in everyone¡¯s vision.

    [8 of Spades Doomsday Escape, the 14th day, 00:00 in the morning]

    [Number of challengers remaining: 120]

    [Congrattions to Xiao Lou¡¯s team for perfectly clearing 8 of Spades. The instance clearance score is S and you will leave the secret room in five minutes¡­]

    Looking at the countdown in the floating box, Shao Qinggemented, ¡°I have only been the bug king for three days and the ability is about to disappear. It¡¯s unbearable. Can I buy it out for 5 million gold coins?¡±

    Ye Qi smiled. ¡°Maybe you can draw a rted card. Didn¡¯t Professor Xiao draw the zombie leader Liu Xiaoyuan in 2 of Spades? Group Leader Yu, do you think that a bug queen can be drawn this time from the treasure chest?¡±

    Shao Qingge looked disgusted. ¡°I don¡¯t want to draw the bug queen. Xu Rongrong isn¡¯t as cute as Liu Xiaoyuan. I just want the bug¡¯s abilities.¡±

    Xiao Lou joked, ¡°All you can do is wash your hands and hope to draw a few good cards.¡±

    Shao Qingge really took out a bottle of water to wash his hands.

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It seemed that Chief Shao was serious this time!

    Yu Hanjiang simply ordered, ¡°Let¡¯s go back.¡±

    At the same time, everyone pressed the ¡®leave the secret room¡¯ option in the floating box. There was the familiar sound of the helicopter propeller. The cool Ace of Spades had piloted the helicopter to pick them up again.

    Everyone lined up and got in. The helicopter took off and the pitch-ck city outside the window was soon left behind. Everyone returned to their familiar personal spaces. On the Card Wall, it could be seen that 8 of Spades in the lower right corner had the green ¡®cleared¡¯ word on it and it was rated S.

    A of Spades wore sunsses and spoke lightly, ¡°You performed well. You are the first group to get a S-grade clearance score.¡±

    Ye Qi wondered, ¡°Didn¡¯t any other team think of killing the queen?¡±

    ¡°They thought about it but it isn¡¯t that easy to kill the queen.¡± The eyes behind the sunsses swept over Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge before continuing in an emotionless robotic voice. ¡°This time, 30 teams were matched up in 8 of Spades. After a teammate is infected, most teams will choose to give them up. The crueler ones will directly kill their teammates so as to avoid danger. There are very few people like you who will take the risk to bring the infected with them.¡±

    Apart from Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou not wanting to give up on any teammates, the reason they dared to bring the infected Chief Shao with them was because they had the confidence to bring their teammate through the secret room.

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°Everyone didn¡¯t give up on me. In the end, I paid them back by killing the queen.¡±

    A of Spades nodded appreciatively. ¡°In this secret room, there have been no more than 10 challengers who could assimte the bugs after being infected. In addition, only Shao Qingge directly killed the queen. Therefore, I have an out-of-print limited card as a reward for you.¡±

    A of Spades gently raised his right hand and a card flew directly in front of Shao Qingge. Shao Qingge took the card and turned it over to take a closer look.

    [Special Effects Card: Bug King]

    Rarity: S

    Description: The out-of-print reward card that can only be obtained after killing the queen of bugs in 8 of Spades and bing the leader of the bugs.

    Restrictions: Can only be used in the Spades and Clubs secret rooms. It can only be used once in each secret room.

    Effect: After use, immediately transform into a level 10 bug king, gaining all the abilities of the highest level bug. The transformationsts for 24 hours. At the end, the card will be unusable and will be refreshed in the next second room.

    During the transformation, the jumping, climbing and regenerative abilities are the same as the bug king. Hard armour will appear under the skin, making you invulnerable. The weakness is still the fear of fire. Except for the risk of being burned to death, you will have a powerful ¡®immortal body¡¯ during the transformation period.

    Additional Skill 1: Summoning

    The bug king will send out a summoning signal and summon four high level bugs to assist inbat.

    Additional Skill 2: Repair

    The bug king will release parasitic bugs from the body, allowing the bugs to repair the wound of the specified target. The repair time is one minute. During the repair, the target will be anesthetized by the neurotoxin released by the bugs and feel no pain.

    Every time a wound is repaired, 10% of the bugs in the bug king¡¯s body is lost. Therefore, the abilities of the bug king will be reduced by 10%.

    If you want to repair a teammate¡¯s severed limb, it will take one hour and 50% of the bugs will be lost. Your own ability will be halved. Please use it cautiously.

    Ye Qi saw the description of this card and couldn¡¯t help being excited. ¡°In this way, Chief Shao can be the bug king at any time in the future? Although it can only be used once in a secret room, the transformation time is up to 24 hours. If he encounters danger then Chief Shao can directly be the bug king and won¡¯t be killed. He can also help us repair wounds! This is a good card for both fighting and healing!¡±

    Old Moughed. ¡°Yes, with this card, Chief Shao no longer has to lie down to win.¡±

    Qu Wanyue, Liu Qiao and the others were also very happy for Chief Shao. However, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other. They both had noticed one description on the card at the same time.

    Repair severed limbs!

    The director of the Intelligence Bureau, Tang Ci, was eliminated in J of Clubs and suffered hardships after entering the Nightmare Room. Unfortunately, his legs were disabled and the S-grade secret rooms didn¡¯t clear the body¡¯s data. His injuries were brought back to the main city.

    He has been sitting in a wheelchair since returning to the main city. Although he relied on his powerful abilities to make mechanical cards and healing robots, his legs couldn¡¯t be cured. In the future, everyone would form a team to go to the high level secret rooms. Tang Ci¡¯s legs were inconvenient when moving and everyone would be distracted taking care of him. If he could stand up then his abilities would definitely be stronger.

    Xiao Lou spoke to Yu Hanjiang, ¡°Can Chief Shao¡¯s card be used to cure Mr Tang¡¯s legs?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°The bugs have the ability to regenerate. The regeneration of a severed limb can be applied to teammates. ording to the card¡¯s description, Shao Qingge has to turn into the bug king and then he can repair the severed limb as long as he releases half the parasites in his body. We just need to cure Tang Ci in an S-grade secret room and he can return to the main city in a healthy state.¡±

    Injuries in S-grade secret rooms would be brought out. Simrly, if the body was healed with a treatment card in the S-grade secret rooms then it would be brought back into the main city instead of being cleared.

    Xiao Lou was happier the more he thought about it. ¡°This trip to the secret room was really worth it. Not only has Chief Shao¡¯s ability been greatly strengthened but Mr Tang¡¯s legs can also be healed. After returning, we have to tell the good news to Brother Jiu!¡±

    The skills of the bug king would be reset after every secret room. For example, Chief Shao cured Tang Ci in J of Spades. Then after going to J of Clubs, his bug king¡¯s abilities would be restored to their full state and Tang Ci¡¯s legs would also be healed.

    The bug king card was equivalent to giving the entire team a guarantee of life! In the future, as long as they weren¡¯t burned to death, it didn¡¯t matter if someonecked arms, legs or suffered from serious injuries¡ªthere was always Chief Shao and the hope of healing.

    Shao Qingge didn¡¯t know Tang Ci but was very satisfied with this bonus card. He carefully put it away and smiled at A of Spades. ¡°Thank you, Mr Spades. Does anyone else have any rewards? We cleared 8 of Spades right? Everyone should have a share of the reward for their cooperation.¡±

    A of Spades replied lightly, ¡°The others also have rewards. Please check your card pack.¡±

    Everyone hurriedly looked in their own card pack and found an additional A-grade card.

    [Tool Card: Transform into a Bug]

    Rarity: A

    Description: Limited reward for clearing the Doomsday Escape secret room.

    Effect: Instantly be a high level bug for two hours.

    The bugs might look a bit disgusting but it can be beneficial to transform into one at critical moments, such as when escaping. Climb quickly, run fast, jump high and scale a 100 storey building without an elevator.

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    They didn¡¯t want to be bugs. However, Shao Qingge had be the king of the bugs. If it was really a matter of life and death then it wasn¡¯t impossible to temporarily change into a bug to run away.

    Ye Qi epted the card. ¡°Isn¡¯t it okay to transform for 2 hours? It is worthy of being an A-grade card, it can save us a lot of discement skills. We can directly be a high level bug and we can jump and climb by ourselves.¡±

    Everyone felt that the prize given was better than thentern card from the Diamonds secret room. Of course, everyone was only in the Diamonds room for a short time and cleared it easily. They had worked so hard for so long in the Spades secret room. It was normal to have better rewards.

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Is there a draw?¡±

    A of Spades told them, ¡°Since Shao Qingge was given a limited reward, there is only one chest this time. Who will draw?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang simply said, ¡°Chief Shao will go. We have already said so.¡±

    Shao Qingge had washed his hands and had been waiting to draw a card. Hearing this, he was no longer polite. He stepped forward and reached into the treasure chest.

    [Tool Card: Thousand Gold Coin Throw]

    Rarity: S

    Description: After a perfect clearance and when there is an S score, there is a low probability of obtaining it from the limited card pool.

    Effect: The strength of this card is rted to the amount of money you take out.

    Throwing a 1000 gold coin at a target isn¡¯t painful or itchy.

    Throwing a 10,000 gold coin at a target can stun a single target for 1 second.

    Throwing a 100,000 gold coin at a target can stun a single target for 3 seconds.

    If you throw 1 million gold coins in one go, all hostile targets in the area will be blinded by the gold coins and will be stunned for 5 seconds. The group will also slow down by 50%.

    His teammates, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He washed his hands yet still drew this type of card.

    Shao Qingge held the card with a smile. ¡°Compared with the Rich and Willful that requires 5 million gold coins to copy, this Thousand Gold Coin Throw seems a bit cheaper? Converting to yuan, a single control skill is 100 to 1000 yuan and the group control is 10,000 yuan?¡±

    This sounded very painful.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t helpining. ¡°Chief Shao, you shouldn¡¯t use this skill unless everyone¡¯s cards are useless. I will feel distressed if I see you using the skill.¡±

    This skill was throwing out money! Of course, the benefit of this card was self-evident. There were no limits.

    Shao Qingge smiled and put away the card. ¡°This card can be used with my ATM Machine. I can withdraw money and use gold coins to smash people. I must earn more gold coins.¡±

    A of Spades inquired, ¡°Do you want to go to 8 of Clubs or go back to the main city first?¡±

    Shao Qingge nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°Professor Xiao, what do you think?¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang conferred in their minds and then Xiao Lou replied, ¡°Go back to the main city to rest for a day.¡±

    After all, everyone had stayed in 8 of Spades for 14 days. They fought against the bugs using wits and bravery and looked for bases everywhere. There were many battles and they were very tired. At present, they didn¡¯t know what form 8 of Clubs would take. They would rest for a day before going again.

    Everyone agreed with Xiao Lou¡¯s decision to return to the main city.

    <em>Proofreader: FictionalReality</em>

 Chapter 234: Doomsday Escape 40

    Back in the main city, it was evening. Xiao Lou took his teammates to the kitchen, had a good dinner and let everyone go to sleep to rest.

    They could finally sleep peacefully in their own beds. There was no need to sleep in a tent on the snow anymore. The moment their bodies came into contact with the soft bed, everyone slept very sweetly.

    Ye Qi had a nightmare. The secret room might¡¯ve passed but it was difficult to calm his mood. He remembered how Chief Shao didn¡¯t hesitate to rush over to hug him when he was about to be scratched by the bug in order to protect him. In his dream, Chief Shao became the size of a thumb. He held the little Shao Qingge in his hand and his heart ached.

    Then, Shao Qingge turned into the bug king, covered in blood and with red eyes¡­

    Ye Qi woke up abruptly. He rubbed his eyes and went towards the bathroom. There he happened to meet Shao Qingge who had just finished washing. The man who had just woken up wore messy pyjamas with an air of cat-likeziness. His hair was scattered. Compared to his usual neat ponytail, he looked a bit moreid-back, rxed and sexy.

    Seeing Ye Qi walking in a daze, Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t help rubbing the young man¡¯s messy hair with a chuckle. ¡°How did you sleep? Your hair is like a bird¡¯s nest.¡±

    Ye Qi looked at himself in the ss. His hair really did look like a bird¡¯s nest. He blushed and hurriedly picked up theb to tidy his hair. Shao Qingge squinted as he watched. The longer he looked, the cuter he found this little guy.

    Ye Qi didn¡¯t know Chief Shao¡¯s thoughts. Instead, he asked curiously, ¡°The body data is cleared after leaving an A-grade secret room ¨C you are the same as before so there are no bugs in your body, right? Your eyes aren¡¯t red anymore.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m back to normal. However, I have the bug king card in hand. I can change into it in the secret room whenever I want.¡±

    Ye Qi sighed with relief. ¡°It¡¯s fine if there are no after-effects.¡±

    At this moment, Xiao Lou came over and spoke to Shao Qingge, ¡°Chief Shao, go with us to a ce after lunch. Someone would like to see you.¡±

    Shao Qingge didn¡¯t ask too many questions and simply agreed.

    Ye Qi asked, ¡°Who is so mysterious?¡±

    Xiao Lou saw Ye Qi¡¯s curious eyes and patted him on the shoulder. ¡°It is Mr Tang who previously gave me the drone card. It isn¡¯t convenient for him to meet everyone for the time being. I am taking Chief Shao because his bug king card is a great help to Mr Tang. Don¡¯t worry. I will go with Group Leader Yu ande back soon.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded. ¡°Okay, be careful on the road. Contact us at any time if there is something.¡±

    After lunch, Yu Hanjiang drove Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge to Tang Ci¡¯s underground factory.

    Prior to going to meet with Tang Ci, Yu Hanjiang hadmunicated with Brother Jiu through the Absolute Domain card. Before going to bedst night, Yu Hanjiang activated the card and entered the domain to meet with his brother. Lu Jiuchuan had asked Yu Hanjiang why he was looking for him. Yu Hanjiang exined the cause and effect and told his brother that Shao Qingge¡¯s reward card had the ability to restore severed limbs.

    The always calm Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes widened and he asked in a trembling voice, ¡°Restore¡­ limbs?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, ording to the description of the card, Mr Tang¡¯s legs should be curable.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s hands trembled with excitement. He clenched his fists and spoke in a deep voice, ¡°Great¡­ Xiao Tang will be very happy. I will arrange for you to find him tomorrow.¡±

    On the way, Yu Hanjiang exined to Shao Qingge that Lu Jiuchuan had gone to the Hunter¡¯s League to do undercover work. He also told Shao Qingge that Tang Ci¡¯s legs became disabled in the S-grade secret room and it required the use of the card to help him help. Tang Ci would be everyone¡¯s strong teammate in the future. Being able to stand up and walk was naturally more convenient than a wheelchair.

    Shao Qingge heard this and his eyes narrowed slightly. ¡°Brother Jiu is Group Leader Yu¡¯s cousin? Since you trust him then I am willing to trust him. My bug king card can be refreshed by changing secret rooms. Once the timees, I can cure Mr Tang in J of Spades or J of Clubs.¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°Brother Jiu doesn¡¯t have it easy. He is now lurking in the Hunter¡¯s League as an undercover agent. Once discovered, he is likely to be killed. His identity is too dangerous and we don¡¯t dare tell too many people. It isn¡¯t toote to tell everyone after meeting him in J of Clubs.

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°I understand. I won¡¯t say anything when we get back.¡±

    The three of them came to the underground factory where Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci had long been waiting.

    Perhaps it was due to the long-term disability and being stuck in a wheelchair but Tang Ci was sickly pale. His features were handsome and he looked like a fragile beauty. However, his eyes were so calm and sharp that people didn¡¯t dare to take him lightly.

    He nced at Shao Qingge. ¡°You are Chief Shao?¡±

    Shao Qingge greeted them politely, ¡°Hello Mr Tang, Brother Jiu.¡±

    The man standing next to Tang Ci stood tall and upright. He wore a military uniform and looked extremely handsome. He was simr to Yu Hanjiang by 30% butpared to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s seriousness, he had a more open smile. This was obviously the Brother Jiu that Group Leader Yu mentioned.

    Lu Jiuchuanughed yfully, ¡°I heard that Chief Shao became the bug king in thest secret room?¡±

    Shao Qingge touched his nose and spoke modestly. ¡°It was just a fluke that I wasn¡¯t swallowed by the bug. Thanks to Group Leader Yu¡¯s help, I was able to kill the queen.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuanmended him. ¡°Your experience is rich enough.¡±

    He looked at Tang Ci. ¡°Xiao Tang, we experienced an avnche in 8 of Spades, right? It seems that every secret room a team enters is truly random.¡±

    Tang Ci nodded. ¡°Yes, this has been verified. There are too many A-grade secret rooms to make a strategy guide. Every team will encounter something different and many A-grade secret rooms are different and a one-off. I have never heard of a bug secret room before.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told Lu Jiuchuan, ¡°Brother, let Mr Tang take a look at Chief Shao¡¯s card.¡±

    Shao Qingge cooperated and handed the card to Tang Ci.

    Tang Ci took a look at it and waves surged in his calm eyes. His fingers trembled slightly and he couldn¡¯t speak for a long time. The next moment, Lu Jiuchuan took the card from his hand and examined it. Then Lu Jiuchuan eximed excitedly, ¡°Yes, this can repair severed limbs. Your legs can be healed.¡±

    Tang Ci didn¡¯t speak. He just bit his lip in worry.

    Lu Jiuchuan turned back to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s group of three. ¡°Xiao Tang¡¯s legs were injured in the J of Clubs secret room. It has been more than half a year. He has been in a wheelchair the whole time and it is very inconvenient to move¡­¡±

    There was no problem operating the wheelchair. The smart wheelchair could automatically adjust the direction and path. However, it was very difficult every time he had to go to the bathroom or to bed. Tang Ci was a very proud person and since his legs had be disabled, he had lost weight.

    His self-esteem meant he was unwilling to talk about his disability. Now Xiao Lou had given him the hope of recovery.

    Tang Ci took a deep breath and lifted the nket covering his legs. As the nket had been covering his lower body, Xiao Lou and the others hadn¡¯t known the condition of Tang Ci¡¯s legs. At this time, the three of them nced down and were shocked. They saw that his legs had been cut off by a sharp weapon at the knees! The lower legs and feet were gone and only a cold metal prosthesis was attached.

    Tang Ci lowered his head in embarrassment. His eyshes trembled violently and he clenched his fists as he slowly said, ¡°My legs were cut off by the hunters. I was besieged by them in the Nightmare Room. After cutting off my legs, I crawled out with great difficulty.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s group of three, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It was hard to imagine how painful it would be for a person to have their legs cut off. In addition, how much perseverance was needed to endure such pain and crawl arduously out of the Nightmare Room?

    Xiao Lou was in awe of the thin, pale man in front of him. This person had crawled out of the Nightmare room after having his legs cut off and had proceeded to set up an Intelligence Bureau to collect information about the challengers. He had to admire the strength of this man.

    Lu Jiuchuan morosefully covered Tang Ci up with a nket again and spoke in a low voice, ¡°Since Xiao Tang¡¯s legs were cut off in the Nightmare Room, I thought of various methods with Old Gui and Huaying. We consulted many medical experts for ways to cure him¡­ unexpectedly, you went to the 8 of Spades secret room and met bugs with a regenerative ability as well as drew a rted card. It is such a fortunate coincidence!¡±

    He was shaking with excitement. ¡°Xiao Tang finally no longer needs to use a wheelchair!¡±

    There was ayer of water forming in Tang Ci¡¯s eyes. He had already been discouraged and given up. He hadn¡¯t expected things to turn around like this.

    Xiao Lou felt distressed for him and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry Mr Tang. Chief Shao¡¯s card doesn¡¯t only repair several limbs. The neurotoxin released by the bug is also simr to an anesthetic so there will be no pain during the process of .¡±

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°It is a pity that this card can only be used in the Spades and Clubs secret rooms. It can¡¯t be used in the main city. We will have to wait to meet in the S-grade secret rooms. Mr Tang will have to wait a while until we reach J of Clubs.¡±

    Tang Ci nodded lightly. ¡°I had lost all hope. In the past six months, I had almost gotten used to it¡­ it doesn¡¯t matter how long I wait.¡± He looked at the three of them and spoke softly, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled in reply. ¡°No, everyone is a teammate after all. We should help each other.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°Yes, Mr Tang gave us the drone card and it helped us a lot this time.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan came over and patted Yu Hanjiang on the shoulder. ¡°Good! I won¡¯t thank you! After we pass the instance together, I will invite you to eat barbecue once back in reality!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang simply nodded. ¡°Brother, don¡¯t worry. We will definitely clear the A-grade secret rooms as soon as possible!¡±

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 235: 8 Of Clubs: Points Race 01

    After Yu Hanjiang¡¯s group left, Lu Jiuchuan gently ced his hand on Tang Ci¡¯s shoulder and spoke in a hoarse voice, ¡°You have worked hard during this period. Your legs can be healed, I really¡­¡±

    Tang Ci softly interrupted him, ¡°Brother Jiu, there is no need to say anything else.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan sighed. The man in front of him might be pale and thin on the surface but he was stronger than anyone else.

    No one knew what Tang Ci had experienced in the Nightmare Room. When they met again, the man¡¯s legs had already been cut off. Lu Jiuchuan had been heartbroken and Old Gui and Chu Huaying also felt sorry for him. However, facing his former teammates, Tang Ci only said calmly, ¡°At least I am still alive.¡±

    Yes, at least he was alive. He might be disabled but he was better offpared to their teammates who hadpletely disappeared in J of Clubs.

    Tang Ci had previously been in charge of the team¡¯s data statistics. Aftering out of the Nightmare Room, Lu Jiuchuan thought it would be difficult to clear the S grade secret rooms with their power alone. They had to look for more powerful teammates. Therefore, Tang Ci established the Intelligence Bureau through his superb hacking skills. He hacked the database of the main cities of the Card World and retrieved all the information of ¡®outsiders.¡¯

    On the one hand, they could count the number of challengers and find their information. More importantly, they could find strong teammates.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou had both broken the records of the Hearts secret rooms. Tang Ci had noticed them. Lu Jiuchuan saw the name ¡®Yu Hanjiang¡¯ and suspected that this person was his cousin who was a police officer. Thus, Tang Ci had been paying attention to their movements. This was the reason why Old Gui sent someone to the airport to pick them up after they arrived at the main city.

    It could be said that Tang Ci was the biggest contributor behind Lu Jiuchuan sessfully meeting Yu Hanjiang in the World Weekly secret room.

    He hacked into the ticket purchase system of the cruisepany in advance, found the schedule of the ship that Yu Hanjiang and the others were on and helped Lu Jiuchuan book tickets. This was the equivalent to using hacker technology to modify Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s ticket purchase information and forcibly letting Lu Jiuchuan and Yu Hanjiang take the same cruise ship out to sea, so that they entered the same World Weekly secret room.

    Lu Jiuchuan examined the expression of the person beside him carefully. Tang Ci¡¯s face was calm. He didn¡¯t act too excited after knowing that his legs could be cured. On the contrary, Lu Jiuchuan was more excited than he was. Lu Jiuchuan knew that this proud man didn¡¯t need too muchfort so he changed the subject. ¡°Don¡¯t you think my brother is good? This time, 8 of Spades is also a perfect clearance.¡±

    Tang Ci nodded, a trace of appreciation in his eyes. ¡°The strength of their team is indeed good. I just looked at the statistics of 8 of Spades and the death toll exceeds 50%. The elite teams sent by the Distant Association and the Luoying Pavilion Association have casualties but all of Yu Hanjiang¡¯s team members survived and Shao Qingge even gained the bug king¡¯s ability.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan said, ¡°My brother is determined and loyal. That is why he insisted on not giving up his teammates after Shao Qingge was infected which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.¡± He nced at the nket covering Tang Ci¡¯s legs and thought about how Tang Ci could finally walk as normally as before. The Tang Ci who could stand up wasn¡¯t inferior to him in strength. This was great news for the entire team.

    Tang Ci calmly looked at the data records of the Clubs secret room. ¡°The A-grade Clubs secret room has a high probability of being a gold coins challenge. It definitely won¡¯t be difficult for them.¡±

    The Clubs secret room wouldn¡¯t be difficult until it was the S-grade level and became a life-and-death confrontation game. The three A-grade Clubs room they had been to were card games for winning gold coins and there was no risk to one¡¯s life.

    Lu Jiuchuanughed. ¡°Wait for their good news.¡±

    Xiao Lou returned to the vi and then chose the 8 of Clubs card from the card wall.

    The group was collectively sent to the familiar preparation room and once again saw the young A of Clubs with facial paralysis.

    The teenager was still wearing a ck suit and ck bowtie. He appeared to be only 15 or 16 years old but he pretended to be an adult. The ck suitbined with the serious facial paralysis made him look a bit unusual¡­

    However, no one dared to offend the keeper so they didn¡¯t care about his strange hobby.

    It was customary to change into suits after entering the Clubs secret room. Everyone wore the clothes that A of Clubs gave to everyone. The men wore suits and ties while the girls wore suit skirts paired with high heels. They were all dressed in ck like they were going to a funeral.

    A of Clubs¡¯ emotionless voice sounded in the enclosed space. ¡°Wee to 8 of Clubs, Points Race.¡±

    He flicked his fingers and the rules of the game appeared on the screen in front of the group.

    There were two decks of cards present for a total of 108 cards. This included the four jokers. They were all contained in the game¡¯s pile of cards.

    Two sides wouldpete in a 2v2 confrontation. They would draw cards in a counterclockwise order and get 27 cards each. The game would start once all the cards were drawn.

    After the game started, the yer who drew a 3 of Hearts would gain priority to y a card. Then it would rotate in a counterclockwise order. The one sitting opposite was a teammate and the adjacent ones were opponents.

    In every round of the game, the card yed by the next yer must berger than the previous yer or they couldn¡¯t y. The yer with thergest card in this round got the right to start the next round. Once a yer had yed a card, the other three could choose to give up. Then this yer would continue to y the cards in the next round.

    The game continued until two yers on a team finished ying and then the game was over.

    There were many types of hands in the game.

    Single: Any single card.

    Pair: Two cards with the same number.

    Straight: Five or more connected cards such as 34567, 910JQK. However, a 2 couldn¡¯t appear in a straight.

    Connected pairs: Two or more pairs of connected cards such as 5566. However, a 2 couldn¡¯t appear in the connected pairs.

    Triple: Three cards with the same number such as 777.

    Triple straight: Two or more consecutive triples such as 555666 or 777888999. A 2 couldn¡¯t appear in the triple straight.

    Three cards of the same number with one single card and three cards of the same number with a pair of cards were all based on the original card type with one or two casual cards.

    Fifty K: A single card consisting of 5, 10 and K can be joined, regardless of suit. For example, 5 of Spades, 10 of Clubs and K of Diamonds could bebined to produce a 50 K.

    Pure 50 K: Three cards consisting of 5, 10 and K of the same suit such as a 5 of Hearts, 10 of Hearts and K of Hearts. A Pure Fifty K was greater than a mixed Fifty K.

    Bomb: Thergest card type: Four cards of the same number such as 6666 or a king bombposed of two jokers.

    Comparing the same card hand, the number of points in descending order was 2>A>K>Q>J>10>9>8>7>6>5>4>3>. A simr card hand would directlypare the points. In addition, Fifty K, Pure Fifty K and a bomb wererger than any other card hand, with the bomb being thergest.

    The Fifty K of mixed colour was smaller than the Fifty K of the same suit. If two yers yed a Pure Fifty K at the same time it was pure spades> hearts> clubs> diamonds.

    ¡­¡­

    Everyone looked at the rules and those who didn¡¯t y cards had a headache.

    Compared with the 10.5 previously yed, the rules of the game this time were quiteplicated and it was hard to understand for those who hadn¡¯t yed it before. However, people who were used to card games could understand it in one nce. ¡°Isn¡¯t this themon Fifty K in poker? Two teams group points. 5 is five points, 10 and K are both 10 points. After the cards are yed, the points are cleared and whoever has more points will win?¡±

    Qu Wanyue added, ¡°Yes, teammates have to cooperate with each other in each round of cards. For example, you have a pair of 10s and the next person has a pair of Qs that is higher than you. Then your teammate can throw out the bomb to put your pair of 10s on the scoreboard and get 20 points.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang hadn¡¯t yed this type of game before. He looked at the cards on the screen with a frown.

    Xiao Lou exined to him, ¡°Actually, the rules of the game are simr to Fight the Landlord. The next card must berger than the previous one or else you ¡®can¡¯t raise it¡¯. If you get a bomb that is two jokers then this card is the biggest. You can aim for the 10, K and other score cards of the opposing team to hold them down and take the initiative back to your own hands.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded in understanding. ¡°Every round will give points. After the four yers have finished the cards in one round, whoever has the biggest card will get the 5, 10 and K points of the current round, right?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. If there are no score cards for the current round then it will continue to the next round until one side has yed all their cards and the game is over.¡±

    A line of scoring rules appeared on the big screen.

    The 5/10/K yed on the table were called table points. In addition to these points, there were bonus points at the end.

    For example, the red and blue team could fight. If the red team finished their hands in first and second ce respectively, they would get 100 bonus points. If one person was first and the other was third then they would get 50 bonus points. If the red team was first and fourth while the blue team was second and third, this was equivalent to a tie between the two sides and no extra points would be awarded.

    The Clubs teenager spoke lightly. ¡°The countdown is five minutes. If you don¡¯t understand anything then ask as soon as possible.¡±

    The card hands and size were on the screen and it wasn¡¯t difficult to understand.

    Apart from 5, 10, K and the bomb that could blow up the other cards, the remaining cards were internallypared. For example, if someone yed a triple then you also had to y a triple. If someone else yed a straight then you had to y a straight bigger than them.

    The two decks whenbined had 108 cards in total. Four people drew cards and the probability of getting four of the same number bomb card or the two jokers bomb card was too low. However, 5, 10 and K would be easier to draw. This was the key point in the game and must be used strategically.

    Everyone looked at each other and obviously didn¡¯t have many doubts about the rules of the game.

    Shao Qingge wondered, ¡°What is the use of the points obtained in the game? Can they be exchanged for rewards?¡±

    The Clubs teenager nodded expressionlessly. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Shao Qingge raised his eyebrow and asked with interested, ¡°Is the purpose of this Clubs secret room to gain gold coins?¡±

    The Clubs teenager replied, ¡°One point can be exchanged for a gold coin with a value of 10,000.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The eight people¡¯s eyes lit up in an instant. They looked at the Clubs teenager like a starving person seeing fragrant braised pork.

    The Clubs teenager, ¡°???¡±

    After getting a chill down his spine from being stared at by eight people, the Clubs teenager immediately said, ¡°The game is starting. Please enter the room.¡±

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 236: Points Race 02

    A door opened in front of A of Clubs and everyone walked in. In the center of the room was arge card table covered with a green velvet tablecloth. There were two scoreboards on the table to record the scoring and four seats were ced around the table.

    A few seconds after everyone walked into the room, two doors on the side walls opened. Two more teams with around 10 people each walked in. Although everyone wore silver masks so their expressions couldn¡¯t be seen clearly, Xiao Lou recognized many familiar people. They were Gao Xiaoyi¡¯s team and the bearded uncle¡¯s team from the Eternal Kingdom!

    Obviously, after leaving 8 of Spades they had also drawn 8 of Clubs. Everyone had the same progress and were therefore matched together. Gao Xiaoyi also felt that Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes were familiar and couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°Did we meet in 8 of Spades?¡±

    The bearded uncle smiled. ¡°What a coincidence. It seems all those from 8 of Spades came here.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, this secret room is a points race. Whoever gets more points will get more gold coins.¡±

    Fortunately, this Clubs secret room didn¡¯t require killing others. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t want to fight against the other challenger teams. It wasn¡¯t easy for everyone to get here and it was best to win together. This time there was nothing life-threatening in the secret room and there was no need to take away their opponents¡¯ cards. The gold coins challenge secret room was just a matter of winning more or less. Therefore, there was no psychological pressure.

    Before entering the S-grade secret room, the young Clubs keeper gave everyone gold coins as welfare. How much they could win depended on the challengers¡¯ abilities.

    The Clubs teenager stood in the middle wearing white gloves. ¡°Each team will send two yers first. It is a three game, two wins elimination system with a total of three rounds.¡± He handed out three cards of different colours to the captains of the three teams. ¡°The red team, the yellow team and the blue team will face off in pairs. The loser is eliminated and can¡¯t y again. You have three minutes to discuss the arrangement of yers.¡±

    Xiao Lou had received the red card.

    The knockout system meant that if the two yers sent in the first round lost, these two yers wouldn¡¯t be able to y in the following matches. If they lost in all three rounds, at least six yers would be required to participate. The more people in the team who could y cards, the more points there were that could be earned.

    Xiao Lou gathered his teammates and asked softly, ¡°The Fifty K game, who here can y?¡±

    Ye Qi raised his hand excitedly. ¡°I can!¡±

    Qu Wanyue continued, ¡°My hometown also ys this type of points game, especially in the new year. I yed Fifty K with my family before entering the Card World.

    Long Sen scratched his head and smiled. ¡°Wanyue taught me. I can y.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Chief Shao and Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°I know all card games that can be named.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    He was worthy of being the person who scared other yers out of calling by going All-in in 2 of Clubs. It seemed that Chief Shao was very professional when it came to ying cards and gambling.

    Both Liu Qiao and Old Mo said that they couldn¡¯t y. They might understand the rules but there was a big difference between those who already knew how to y and those who didn¡¯t. One had to have experience to know how to control the order of cards yed, how to protect teammates and how to count cards.

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang and suggested in a low voice, ¡°Then let Teacher Qu and Long Sen go first. Chief Shao and Xiao Ye will wait and see. If Teacher Qu and Long Sen lose then we will let Chief Shao and Xiao Ye go to fight. It shouldn¡¯t be necessary for a third group of yers to y.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was happy and simply nodded with crossed arms. ¡°Just do it.¡±

    Xiao Lou announced the decision and his teammates expressed no objection. They looked towards the card table in the middle of the room and the chairs around it. Xiao Lou led his teammates to the back row to watch the game.

    The red team sent the Long Sen and Qu Wanyue couple. On the blue team¡¯s side, Gao Xiaoyi and Lin Yuhang were ying. On the yellow team¡¯s side, it was the bearded uncle and a tall woman with long hair.

    The Clubs teenager announced, ¡°The red team will fight the blue team. The winner will fight the yellow team. The first round will start. Please prepare.¡±

    Gao Xiaoyi and Lin Yuhang walked over and sat down facing each other. Qu Wanyue and Long Sen also went to sit down. The first round began and the cards were dealt.

    In order to make it easier for the other teammates to watch the game, a big screen floating in the middle of the area showed the situation of the table in real time in bird¡¯s-eye view. Of course, the yer¡¯s hands were hidden and invisible so as to avoid any attempts atmunication between teammates. Furthermore, the presence of the mask made it difficult for teammates tomunicate through facial expressions. As for eye contact, both sides could use it so it was rtively fair.

    Ye Qi whispered to Xiao Lou, ¡°The cards are disabled. I can¡¯t use Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°That¡¯s only natural, otherwise you could pass on your cards.¡±

    Ye Qi was excited. ¡°Teacher Qu and Long Sen have the tacit cooperation of a couple. They should be able to kill the blue and yellow teams in session!¡±

    Xiao Lou rubbed his temples. ¡°Don¡¯t say such things before the game starts or it will be easy to be hit in the face.¡±

    Ye Qi immediately mimed a zipper motion over his mouth

    There were three rounds in a game. If Long Sen and Qu Wanyue could y to the end then no other yers were actually required to y from their team. However, Long Sen¡¯s luck today was very bad.

    In the first game, Gao Xiaoyi drew 3 of Hearts and gained priority. The moment she started, she directly threw a straight of 9, 10, J, Q, K!

    In order to beat this straight, a 10JQKA straight was required but neither Qu Wanyue or Long Sen had such a good hand. The two of them couldn¡¯t raise it and the other side got the 10 and K points.

    Gao Xiaoyi followed by throwing out the 556677 connected pairs. Qu Wanyue was after her and yed 778899. As a result, Lin Yuhang who was after Qu Wanyue suddenly threw a bomb.

    Long Sen, ¡°¡­I can¡¯t raise it.¡±

    In this round, the Gao Xiaoyi pair scored another 10 points.

    Gao Xiaoyi¡¯s hand of cards together was pretty good. A triple and a single, connected pairs and a straight. After ying most of her hand, all she had left were small pairs and single cards. Qu Wanyue had many pairs and gained back the right to y. She won 10 points.

    She had just yed a triple and one card when Lin Yuhang yed the 5, 10, K bomb and gained 25 points.

    Long Sen had a bitter face. ¡°I can¡¯t raise it.¡±

    He must not have washed his hands together. He had a hand of messy little pairs such as 33, 66 and 88.

    In the first game, Gao Xiaoyi finished her hand first and won first ce. Qu Wanyue was second, Lin Yuhang was third and Long Sen still had over a dozen cards in his hand.

    Gao Xiaoyi got 150 table points and 50 bonus points. Since one point could be exchanged for 10,000 gold coins, they won 2 million gold coins in this game alone. Long Sen and Qu Wanyue received 500,000, which wasn¡¯t muchpared to the opposing side.

    Ye Qi looked at Shao Qingge and whispered, ¡°Your card Thousand Gold Coin Throw costs 10,000 gold coins for one use. Teacher Qu can only use your skill five times.¡±

    Shao Qingge helplessly rubbed his temples. ¡°I will try my best to save some money. I will never use this card until the critical moment, okay?¡±

    Ye Qiughed. ¡°I mean, Chief Shao¡¯s card is still very useful. We will earn more moneyter. In the future, my flute will be on cooldown but you can still use the gold coins to hit people. Your skill might be very expensive but there is no cooldown!¡±

    The skill that spent money didn¡¯t have a cooldown time. This was the advantage of the S-grade card Thousand Gold Coin Throw. Of course, this card wasn¡¯t invincible. After all, the gold coins might not hit anyone. Once Ye Qi and Long Sen¡¯s control card skills were on cooldown, Shao Qingge could use gold coins to control the field at any time. 100,000 for each use might be painful but it was nothingpared to everyone¡¯s safety.

    In the first game, the blue team won.

    Long Sen rubbed his hands awkwardly. ¡°My hand was too stinky. I only got single cards and small pairs.¡±

    Qu Wanyue smiled andforted him. ¡°ying cards really depends on luck. It doesn¡¯t matter. Your hands won¡¯t always be smelly.¡±

    Xiao Lou heard this and had a bad feeling in his heart. Sure enough, Long Sen was cursed by Teacher Qu and his luck was terrible. His frustrated voice kepting from the card table. ¡°I can¡¯t raise it.¡±

    ¡±No.¡±

    ¡±Pass¡­¡±

    Qu Wanyue regretted it. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have talked too much.¡±

    Long Sen not only had a poor hand but often missed key scoring cards such as 5, 10 and K. Fortunately, Qu Wanyue¡¯s card luck was good today. She relied on the 5, 10 and K of Spades in the second game to st the opposite side¡¯s JJQQKK connected pairs and won 45 points in one round.

    After three rounds, the Long Qu couple won 125 points in total which could be exchanged for 125 gold coins with a face value of 10,000. Due to their 2:1 loss to the blue team, the two of them were eliminated.

    Gao Xiaoyi and Lin Yinhang won as the blue team and continued to face the yellow team yers.

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue were somewhat embarrassed as they walked back to their teammates. Their tacit understanding when ying cards was actually good and they also cooperated with each other. However, there was really no way to win with their bad hands. Long Sen was speechless about his hands. There were no big pairs. All of them were 3 of Spades, 4 of diamonds, 6 of Clubs, 7 of Spades etc. A straight couldn¡¯t even be connected. It was very sad.

    Long Sen scratched his head helplessly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, me me.¡±

    Xiao Lou patted him on the shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t mind it. The card game really depends on luck and you tried your best. It isn¡¯t bad that you could win 1.25 million gold coins. It is almost 12,500 yuan. do you think that you can win over 10,000 yuan by ying three games of cards in reality?¡±

    The depressed Long and Qu wereforted after hearing Professor Xiao¡¯s words.

    The 1.25 million gold coins might not be enough for Chief Shao to release his skills several times but it was enough for everyone¡¯s living expenses after returning to the main city! They didn¡¯t have to worry about eating and drinking. The main city had low prices and they could eat meat and fish every day for a month. It wasn¡¯t a waste of effort.

    Qu Wanyue sat back in the chair and looked at Shao Qingge. ¡°Chief Shao, Xiao Ye, we will rely on you next.¡±

    Qu Wanyue said that Long Sen wouldn¡¯t keep having bad luck and as a result, Long Sen kept repeating ¡®I can¡¯t raise it¡¯ consecutively. Shao Qingge started to poison himself with a smile. ¡°I might be able to y cards but it can¡¯t be helped if I¡¯m not lucky.¡±

    Ye Qi tacitly continued. ¡°I am alwaysst every time I y cards. I might not even touch a Kter.¡±

    Shao Qingge continued. ¡°I might not even touch a 5.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded seriously. ¡°We might not even get one point.¡±

    Their teammates, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The two of them were really too much. Wasn¡¯t this too poisonous?

    Shao Qingge and Ye Qi looked at each other andughed at the same time.

    They had been poisoned to this point and they could only hope that when they yed that their cards weren¡¯t too bad, even if they weren¡¯t lucky. At the very least, drawing a straight or big pair or something and not being as miserable as Long Sen who only drew small cards.

    At this point, the first round of the game had ended.

    Gao Xiaoyi and Lin Yuhang of the blue team must¡¯ve washed their hands together. They were very lucky. Not only did they win against the Long Qu red couple, they also won against the yellow team¡¯s bearded unclebination. After all of this, they made a lot of money and the eyes of the two people were full of smiles.

    Then in the next second, the Clubs teenager informed them indifferently. ¡°In the second round, the table points will remain unchanged but for every round of settlement, the reward points need to be deducted from the opponent¡¯s points. If the points aren¡¯t enough, it will be deducted from your bank card bnce.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Sure enough, A of Clubs wouldn¡¯t simply send benefits!

    In other words, let¡¯s talk about a certain round. If the red team finished first and second and got 100 bonus points, the 100 points would be deducted from the opponent¡¯s existing points.

    Gao Xiaoyi and Lin Yuhang had earned hundreds of points but these points hadn¡¯t been converted into gold coins and weren¡¯t entirely theirs. What if they had points deducted? Simrly, Teacher Qu and Long Sen only won 125 points in three games. If the Shao Yebination continued to lose, these points would be deducted and they might even lose their bank card deposit?

    Shao Qingge nced at Ye Qi. ¡°Let¡¯s go, it¡¯s our turn.¡±

    Ye Qi spoke seriously. ¡°I will try my best to escort you to finish your cardster. If my hand is good then you will escort me. Don¡¯t just look at the table points but pay more attention to the bonus points. After all, the bonus points are 100 and 50. This is quiterge.¡±

    The 5, 10 and K of the two decks added up to 200 points. However, if they didn¡¯t have too many of these cards in their hands and couldn¡¯t get table points, they could give priority to finishing their cards and gain 100 or 50 points depending on their ranking.

    Ye Qi had clearly seen through the rules of this game. The 5, 10 and K cards should take priority but the number of cards in the hand was also important. It was just like in Fight the Landlord when he assisted his teammates in gaining the priority and clearing the cards. Aiming for the bonus points was also a strategy.

    Shao Qingge smiled slightly and patted Ye Qi¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Come on.¡±

    The two of them went to the table and sat down. They looked at each other through the mask and gave each other encouragement with their eyes.

    This was his first time fighting side by side with Chief Shao. It might only be a card game but Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help feeling excited. He hoped to have better luck with his cards and help Chief Shao win more money for his skills!

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 237: Points Race 03

    The second round of the game began and the order also rotated. The red team and yellow team faced each other first.

    The bearded uncle and long-haired woman of the yellow team had lost to thebination of Gao Xiaoyi and Lin Yuhang and were eliminated. This time, the yellow team sent two girls. One had short ck hair and the other had a long ponytail. Like everyone else, both of them were wearing masks so their faces couldn¡¯t be seen. Ye Qi couldn¡¯t recognize them by the eyes alone because there wasn¡¯t muchmunication with the bearded uncle¡¯s team in thest secret room.

    The short-haired girl sat at the No. 1 position on the card table, followed by Ye Qi at No. 2, the ponytail girl at No. 3 and Shao Qingge at No. 4.

    The four people sat at the card table in turn. The Clubs teenager extended his hands which still wore white gloves and started to shuffle the cards.

    Long Sen¡¯s luck in the previous round was so bad that he was eliminated in the first round. Before the start of this round, Ye Qi and Shao Qingge had cooperated with each other to poison themselves. It was unknown if their luck had improved.

    Ye Qi looked at the keeper anxiously.

    The Clubs teenager wore white gloves and his shuffling was very professional. There was a rushing sound and the ying cards in his fingers quickly ovepped into a ball of light and shadow.

    Soon, he shuffled the ying cards and dealt the cards from the No.1 position while calmly saying, ¡°The yer who gets 3 of Hearts, please make it clear immediately. After the game starts, you will be given priority and the 3 of Hearts must be yed in the first round.¡±

    Since two decks meant there would be two 3 of Hearts, the person who drew it first was the lucky one to y the cards first.

    As the cards were dealt, the girl with the ponytail sitting on Ye Qi¡¯s right side showed the 3 of Hearts. She would y the cards first in this round. The order of the cards wasn¡¯t too important and Ye Qi and Shao Qingge didn¡¯t care too much. The quality of the hand was the most important.

    The Clubs teenager dealt the cards very quickly and the two decks were dealt out in the blink of an eye.

    For those who didn¡¯t know how to y, it would take them a few seconds to sort out the 27 cards and arrange them in the bestbination. However, Shao Qingge had sorted out his cards the moment the keeper finished dealing. He smiled slightly and stacked his cards on the table instead of fanning them out and holding them in his hands like the others.

    Xiao Lou spoke in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ear. ¡°Chief Shao stacked his cards on the table. Does this mean hepletely memorized his hand and doesn¡¯t need to look at it?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°He often ys card games and his rted abilities should be very strong.¡±

    Shao Qingge had indeed memorized all his cards. 27 cards weren¡¯t very difficult for him. He had been under too much pressure when he first started his business. In his spare time, he often drank while handling cards and sometimes mixed four decks of cards to y. His ability to remember cards was the same as the masters who often yed mahjong and could figure out their opponents¡¯ tiles.

    At this time, his 27 cards had been ced in the optimalbination. It was two single cards, four pairs, two straights of five, one triple and one bomb. His luck was good.

    The Clubs teenager said, ¡°The game will start.¡±

    The first yer to get 3 of Hearts began.

    The ponytail girl happened to be sitting before Shao Qingge. ording to the counterclockwise rotation rule, after she yed the cards, it would be Shao Qingge¡¯s turn, followed by the short-haired girl and finally Ye Qi.

    Since the 3 of Hearts had to be yed in the first round and the ponytailed girl happened to have a pair of 3s in her hand, she dropped ¡®a pair of 3s¡¯ on the table.

    Shao Qingge yed ¡®two 4s¡¯ and the short-haired girl yed ¡®two 9s.¡¯

    It was Ye Qi¡¯s turn and he calmly said, ¡°No.¡±

    Shao Qingge nced at him in an unexpected manner. It was impossible to have no pairs out of 27 cards. Ye Qi either had a pair that was smaller than 9 and couldn¡¯t y it or he had a better hand and didn¡¯t want to y the ¡®pairs¡¯ type.

    The No. 3 girl didn¡¯t want to eat the cards of her teammates. She saw her teammate had a big pair and said, ¡°No.¡±

    Shao Qingge narrowed his eyes and simply threw a pair of cards on the table, ¡®Ks.¡¯

    The two girls fell into a dilemma.

    The K was a score card. Shao Qingge yed two Ks which was 20 table points. If they wanted something bigger than this pair of Ks, they had to either y a pair of As or 2s or directly throw a bomb. They didn¡¯t have a pair of As or 2s in their hands. The short-haired girl sitting next to Shao Qingge gritted her teeth and said, ¡°Bomb!¡±

    She threw our four 8s, making it a bomb.

    Ye Qi said, ¡°No.¡±

    The girl was overjoyed when Ye Qi skipped it. She was confident that she would win the 20 points. Then Shao Qingge suddenly threw out four neat As with a smile. ¡°Four As.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge actually drew four As. Wasn¡¯t this too lucky? The only thing bigger was four 2s or a joker. The two girls obviously didn¡¯t have a joker and were forced to pass.

    Shao Qingge scored 20 points and it was his lead to y the cards. He drew four cards from the ying cards he had stacked on the table. ¡°Three with one.¡±

    It was JJJ and a 10. If someone wanted a bigger hand than him, they had to y a bigger ¡®three with one¡¯ card type or directly throw a bomb. However, the two girls skipped one after another and didn¡¯t suppress Shao Qingge¡¯s cards. After all, it was only 10 points this time. Even if they had bombs in their hands, there was no need to use such a killer move for these 10 points.

    The two girls didn¡¯t y cards and Ye Qi naturally didn¡¯t suppress Shao Qingge. Shao Qingge continued to get the right to y. ¡°Straight.¡±

    He yed a straight consisting of 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. Among the straights, this was the smallest. The next girl immediately threw out 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 and Ye Qi followed with 9, 10, J, Q and K!

    Ye Qi¡¯s straight was the biggest. Unfortunately, the girl after Ye Qi suddenly threw out a pair of small jokers. ¡°Bomb!¡±

    There were 5s, 10s, and Ks in this round for a total of 35 table points. The two girls harvested 35 points and joy shed in their eyes. The ponytailed girl who yed the joker bomb started to y cards.

    She yed ¡®two 4s¡¯, Shao Qingge yed ¡®two 6s¡¯ and Ye Qi continued with no cards. The short-haired girl yed ¡®two 7s¡¯, Shao Qingge was ¡®two 9s¡¯, the short-haired girl was ¡®two Js¡¯ and Shao Qingge was ¡®two 2s.¡¯

    Pairs was a verymon type of hand and the probability of a pair appearing among 27 cards was very high. Both sides yed a round and in the end, Shao Qingge¡¯s pair of 2s won.

    At this point, Shao Qingge only had six cards left in his hands. The two girls were surprised to find that¡­ unknowingly, this man had almost finished ying all his cards? He only had six cards still in his hand. Would it be okay? Both of them stared nervously at the cards in Shao Qingge¡¯s hand.

    Shao Qingge smiled slightly and unexpectedly threw a big straight: 8, 9, 10, J, Q.

    The two girls, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    In the previous rounds of fierce fighting, they had used all up their bombs. At this time, Shao Qingge hit a straight and no one could suppress him. The even more desperate thing was that he only had one card left in his hand.

    Shao Qingge nced at Ye Qi and ced thest card on the table. It was a 3 of Spades.

    3 of Spades was a single card. In this type of game, it wasn¡¯t easy to deal with a single card because the goal of the game was to y all the cards. One straight was five cards at a time while a single card was easy to be beaten by the opponent.

    Shao Qingge had two single cards in this round. The 10 was used with the three in one and he only had the smallest 3 left.

    Since Ye Qi had never yed cards when the two sides fought each other, he couldn¡¯t have a pair in the 27 cards. Shao Qingge guessed that Xiao Ye should have big cards that weren¡¯t easy to split and some single cards. He left a single cardst to try and help Ye Qi get the priority to y his cards.

    Sure enough, after Shao Qingge yed 3 of Spades, the next yer decisively yed the biggest 2 card to regain the priority! She didn¡¯t expect Ye Qi to throw the big joker decisively! Shao Qingge chuckled. Xiao Ye really did have the biggest single card in his hand.

    Facts proved that his guess was correct. Ye Qi had been holding the single joker card and waiting to regain his right to y. The joker was the biggest single card. If they wanted to be bigger than it, they needed to y a bomb.

    However, Shao Qingge and the two opponents had been fighting and all the bombs had been used. The two girls were forced to let go of this joker!

    Then Ye Qi threw out a shocking 556677!

    No wonder Ye Qi couldn¡¯t y any cards when the two sides were fighting against each other with pairs. It turned out that he had a connected pair in his hand and didn¡¯t want to break it up. The points of these three pairs were very small. Once they were split, they were just small cards and wouldn¡¯t y any role. However, once they were connected, no one could be bigger than him.

    The two girls said helplessly, ¡°I can¡¯t raise it.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes brightened with excitement and he immediately yed his next hand. ¡°333444!¡±

    The two girls, ¡°¡­I can¡¯t raise it!¡±

    Ye Qi continued, ¡°888999 with the two single cards of 10, J.¡±

    The two girls, ¡°I can¡¯t raise it!¡±

    Ye Qi yed hisst card with a smile. ¡°3 of Clubs.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Ye¡¯s hands were all strangebinations!

    It was thanks to Shao Qingge guessing that there was an unbreakable pair in Ye Qi¡¯s hand and deliberately ying the single card to send the right to y to Ye Qi¡¯s hand. Otherwise, if the opponent kept ying straights and pairs, Ye Qi would find his 556677 very hard to get rid of. He couldn¡¯t split it open but he couldn¡¯t y it. This would directly suffocate him out of frustration.

    He only had one joker to keep him in the game. The two girls always thought that Ye Qi¡¯s cards weren¡¯t good and that¡¯s why he didn¡¯t y.

    Unexpectedly, Ye Qi¡¯s trump cards were just waiting for an opportunity. Shao Qingge and Ye Qi cooperated tacitly and Shao Qingge first removed all the bombs from their hands. Then once it was Ye Qi¡¯s turn, Ye Qi unloaded almost all his cards in one go!

    The Clubs teenager spoke lightly. ¡°In the first game, the red team wins. The table points will be cleared.¡±

    The two girls still had many cards in their hands, including some points cards. At present, based on the table points, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi had scored 60 points and the two girls scored 45 points.

    Since Shao Qingge and Ye Qi finished in first and second ce, they also got 100 bonus points!

    In other words, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi had won 160 points in one go. The two girls lost and got third and fourth ces. They would have 100 points deducted from them. The 45 points they won weren¡¯t enough.

    The expressions of the two girls became hard to look at.

    Ye Qi was very excited about the 160 points and wanted to thank Chief Shao. If Shao Qingge hadn¡¯t figured out that he had a single high card in his hand and left the 3 to the end, the right to y wouldn¡¯t have gone to Ye Qi.

    It would¡¯ve been over if Chief Shao left a pair forst. None of his small pairs could be taken apart.

    Shao Qingge saw Ye Qi¡¯s bright eyes and nodded at him. He seemed to be saying, ¡®You¡¯re wee.¡¯

    Ye Qi rubbed his hands excitedly and prepared for the next game.

    Shao Qingge always yed cards and could count cards. He also knew how to use psychological warfare to force his opponents to y their big bomb. Ye Qi¡¯s confidence suddenly increased. He felt that the gold coins in the Clubs teenager¡¯s pockets were waving at him.

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 238: Points Race 04

    Theirpetitors¡¯ victory in the first round made the two girls of the yellow team alert. They knew they had met a master. In the second game, the two of them became more cautious. They didn¡¯t dare to easily y the bomb cards. They had to save them for suppressing Shao Qingge at the critical moment.

    In this round, everyone¡¯s hands weren¡¯t that good. There weren¡¯t as many straights as thest round, they were all small pairs, triples and singles. The four yers yed back and forth slowly.

    However, somehow, Shao Qingge ended up with just two cards left. At this time, the right to y was in Ye Qi¡¯s hands.

    The one after Ye Qi was the girl with the ponytail. He had already determined that there were no pairs left in her hand as he remembered that she didn¡¯t y in thest round with pairs. Chief Shao had two cards remaining in his hand. Would he have kept a pair to the end?

    Ye Qi nced at Shao Qingge and yed two cards. ¡°Pair of 4s.¡±

    The next girl really didn¡¯t have a pair and she said, ¡°Skip.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled slightly and threw down two cards. ¡°Pair of 6s.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Ye escorted Chief Shao to finish his hand and Chief Shao won first ce again!

    The two girls simply wanted to cry. The opponents were too unpredictable, they couldn¡¯t defend against it. The tacit understanding between the two men ying cards was really invincible.

    Shao Qingge finished in first ce and Ye Qi finished third. The two won 145 table points and got 50 bonus points for a total of 195 points.

    The Clubs teenager spoke lightly. ¡°In the second game, the red team won. ording to the rules of the three game, two wins system, the red team has won two consecutive victories and the yellow team is eliminated. Blue team yers, please prepare.¡±

    The blue team¡¯s Gao Xiaoyi and Lin Yuhang looked at each other.

    The blue team was the biggest winner in thest round with over 300 points. Gao Xiaoyi and Lin Yuhang were very good card yers. They often yed card games in their university dormitory and cooperated well with each other. However, the performance of Shao Qingge and Ye Qi just now made them wary.

    Gao Xiaoyi whispered in her junior¡¯s ears. ¡°Did you notice? Mr Bug King is very good at counting cards.¡± They didn¡¯t know Shao Qingge¡¯s name. In 8 of Spades, Shao Qingge had changed to the bug king so Gao Xiaoyi just called him Mr Bug King.

    Lin Yuhang pushed up his sses. ¡°He should be a master of card games. He can analyze the hands of his opponents and teammates based on the table. We have to be carefulter. A point is a point. We still have over 300 points in our hands and this isn¡¯t any worse than them.¡±

    Gao Xiaoyi also nodded. ¡°Okay, jiayou.¡±

    Talking or any other form of signalling were not allowed at the table. After the two of them sat down, they waited silently for the cards to be dealt.

    The second round of the game began. It was red vs blue.

    In this round, Ye Qi got dealt the cards first. In the third card dealt, he got the 3 of Hearts and the keeper soon finished distributing all 108 cards from the two decks.

    Ye Qi yed the card first. Since the game stipted that the first yer must y 3 of Hearts, Ye Qi who didn¡¯t have abination could only y the single 3 of Hearts.

    Gao Xiaoyi and Lin Yuhang were obviously calmer than the two girls from thest game. They didn¡¯t rush to suppress cards. Gao Xiaoyi was next and she yed a 4. Shao Qingge yed a 6, Lin Yuhang a 7¡­

    Everyone took this opportunity to get rid of some cards that couldn¡¯t bebined in their hands. The single cards were yed until a 2 and subsequently, Shao Qingge yed a little joker to finish it.

    Gao Xiaoyi said, ¡°No.¡±

    Ye Qi and Lin Yuhang also said one after another, ¡°No.¡±

    None of the three wanted to suppress this small joker, so there was only one possibility. The two big jokers were in the hands of the same person.

    Shao Qingge didn¡¯t have a big joker in his hand. If Ye Qi had a big joker, he wouldn¡¯t suppress Shao Qingge¡¯s card. However, if a single big joker was in the hands of either Gao Xiaoyi or Lin Yuhang, they would definitely suppress Shao Qingge¡¯s card to get the right to y.

    The right to y cards was very important in this game. Sometimes, they could get the chance to y dozens of cards in one go. If they didn¡¯t get the right to y, it didn¡¯t matter if they had a bunch of good cards in their hands. The opponent might not y thisbination and it would feel suffocating to death.

    Since no one suppressed the little joker, it meant the two big jokers were in the hands of the same person. Whose hands were they in? Shao Qingge quickly calcted it in his mind while clearing his hand of small pairs.

    The card game continued. Half the cards in everyone¡¯s hands had been yed when at this moment, Gao Xiaoyi threw out the invincible 888, 999, 101010!

    Basically, no one could get this type of connected triple. The probability of getting it out of 108 cards was incredibly low.

    Shao Qingge looked at Ye Qi and the young boy said bitterly, ¡°I can¡¯t raise it.¡±

    It seemed that Xiao Ye didn¡¯t have the double big jokers in his hand or he wouldn¡¯t let go of such a big hand. Gao Xiaoyi¡¯sbination contained three 10s, which was 30 points. Gao Xiaoyi and Lin Yuhang must be holding the biggest bomb in their hands.

    The situation wasn¡¯t very optimistic and Shao Qingge simply threw out, ¡°3333.¡±

    This bomb was bigger than other card types. The moment Shao Qingge yed it, the onlookers sighed with relief. Were Gao Xiaoyi¡¯s three 10s going to be delivered to Chief Shao¡¯s pocket?

    Lin Yuhang calmly threw out the pair of jokers, but Shao Qingge had anticipated this move. Shao Qingge smiled slightly. He had done this to force out the opponent¡¯s bomb to ensure that the next cards wouldn¡¯t be eaten by the opponent.

    Lin Yuhang used the bomb to help his teammate score 30 points and the situation looked very good. However, his hand hadn¡¯t reached the point where it could be yed all at once. When there were only four cards left in his hand, Lin Yuhang yed a single card.

    Shao Qingge said, ¡°Little joker.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    In fact, Chief Shao also had a bomb: two little jokers. However, he didn¡¯t y this and instead separated the two.

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes lit up. Obviously, Chief Shao had too many single cards in his hand. If he yed the two little jokers as a bomb, it would be wasted if his opponent had the bigger bomb. By separating it, he could gain the right to y twice.

    If there were too many single cards then breaking up the jokers was actually a good strategy. In particr, it was effective now that Lin Yuhang¡¯s two jokers had been yed out and Chief Shao¡¯s little joker was the biggest card.

    The situation immediately changed. Shao Qingge not only dismantled the two jokers but he also yed a pair of 2s as two single cards. At this point, Gao Xiaoyi was holding a straight in her hand and she was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

    She originally thought that after ying the three consecutive triples, she could y this straight and there was also a small pair in her hands that could be emptied at any time. Unexpectedly, Chief Shao blew up her triples and her teammate was forced to use their bomb. However, Lin Yuhang didn¡¯t have a straight in his hand and he yed a single card. Then Shao Qingge snatched the right to y.

    Shao Qingge started to y single cards frantically and the straight in her hand almost suffocated her to death. She saw Shao Qingge and Ye Qi y single cards one after the other. You y a 7, I y an 8, you y a 9, I y a J¡­

    Lin Yuhang and Gao Xiaoyi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The table was given to them to perform. The two others had good hands but couldn¡¯t y. Finally, Shao Qingge threw out a ¡®2¡¯ and ended it with a ¡®pair of 5s.¡¯ Ye Qi smiled and threw out a ¡®pair of 8s.¡¯

    At the end of the game, Shao Qingge ranked first, Ye Qi was second and they got another 100 bonus points.

    Gao Xiaoyi spread out her hand and wanted to cry¡­

    She was suffocated alive with a big straight!

    The two demons Shao Qingge and Ye Qi had several pairs in their hands but they split them into single cards to y. In the final stage, the single cards were yed by them. She couldn¡¯t break down the straight in her hand and could only watch the two of them finish ying.

    Xiao Lou watched the battle and spoke emotionally, ¡°Chief Shao is really good at counting cards. The key to this game was splitting up the two small jokers and the pair of 2s.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, he guessed that he and Ye Qi have arge number of single cards. ying the two jokers and pair of 2s as four single cards is more advantageous to them.¡±

    Results proved that Shao Qingge¡¯s decision was correct. The two of them squeezed Gao Xiaoyi¡¯s straight to death by ying single cards one by one. Don¡¯t even mention how depressed Gao Xiaoyi was feeling. It felt like having martial arts but nowhere to use it.

    Soon, the second game began. Uncharacteristically, this time Shao Qingge yed fiercely at the start. He drew the 3 of Hearts and directly threw a straight of 3456789. It was a seven card straight and it was hard to beat him with a bigger straight. It could only be a bomb.

    However, the game had just started and Shao Qingge¡¯s straight only had 5 points. This wasn¡¯t cost-effective. They would hold steady and look again. Gao Xiaoyi and Lin Yuhang both thought so.

    No one yed any cards and Shao Qingge continued with 667788.

    Gao Xiaoyi counted Shao Qingge¡¯s cards. He had already yed 13 out of 27 cards and there were 14 cards left in his hand. Surely he couldn¡¯t y all of them at once? This 667788 also had no points so there was no need to blow it up.

    Gao Xiaoyi and Lin Yuhang still didn¡¯t act. This was almost all the good cards in Shao Qingge¡¯s hand. He finally yed a 4 of Diamonds.

    Gao Xiaoyi sighed with relief. Everyone started to y single cards and the game eased for a while.

    Gao Xiaoyi and Lin Yuhang regained the right to y cards and they yed many straights. Ye Qi¡¯s luck in this game wasn¡¯t very good. There were no straights, only pairs or triples in his hand. No one had pairs and triples so he could only watch them y.

    It entered the stage of ¡®three people ying cards, Xiao Ye watching the show.¡±

    Every time it was his turn, Ye Qi would say, ¡°I can¡¯t raise it.¡±

    In the blink of an eye, everyone except for Ye Qi had yed almost all their cards. Lin Yuhang had four cards left. At this time, he had the right to y. In Gao Xiaoyi¡¯s hands, she had a pair of 5s, an 8 of Diamonds and a 2 of Spades.

    The 2 was thergest single card other than a joker so she didn¡¯t have to worry about it. As for the pairs, no one had yed any this round. She guessed that Ye Qi should have many pairs in his hand. Otherwise, Ye Qi wouldn¡¯t keep shouting ¡®I can¡¯t raise it¡¯ despite holding a dozen cards.

    Gao Xiaoyi decisively yed the 8 of Diamonds. Her junior brother had four cards in his hand and she wanted to give her junior a single card to finish his cards. Then she could use the highest 2 to grab the right to y and throw thest pair, winning.

    Lin Yuhang happened to have a 9 of Diamonds and 5, 10 and K bomb.

    In the Fifty K game, the small bomb formed by the three bonus cards was only less powerful than the double jokers bomb and the four of a kind bomb. It could blow up every other card.

    Therefore, Lin Yuhang was happy when Gao Xiaoyi yed a single card. No matter what the next yer yed, he just needed to blow up his opponent¡¯s card and y the final 9 of Diamonds. Then he would be first.

    He patiently waited for Shao Qingge to y the card. Shao Qingge yed a 2 of hearts. It was Ye Qi¡¯s turn and he helplessly said, ¡°No.¡±

    It was Lin Yuhang¡¯s turn. The boy threw the 5, 10 and K decisively and with a hint of excitement in his voice called, ¡°Fifty K, bomb!¡±

    He was certain that Ye Qi had no bomb in his hand. The young boy hadn¡¯t yed any cards for a long time and was passively watching the show.

    At thest moment, Lin Yuhang¡¯s bomb was thrown out and it was an invincible existence. The yers watching the game thought so. Lin Yuhang had one card left in his hand and no one could control his bombing. He would surely win this round.

    As a result, Shao Qingge suddenly smiled and said, ¡°Perfect Fifty K.¡±

    The man¡¯s slender fingers gently opened the 5, 10 and K of hearts on the table.

    Lin Yuhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Lin Yuhang¡¯s 5, 10 and K were of different suits while Shao Qingge had the same suit. Shao Qingge¡¯s hand was bigger.

    It was 50 points!

    Shao Qingge actually reserved a 5, 10 and K of the same suit for the endgame. This man was really good at nning. The thing that made Lin Yuhang even more desperate was that Shao Qingge had only two cards left after ying the Perfect Fifty K.

    The next moment, Shao Qingge yed a pair of Js. Ye Qi¡¯s eyes lit up and he immediately threw a pair of Qs.

    Gao Xiaoyi, ¡°¡­I can¡¯t raise it.¡±

    Lin Yuhang only had the single card left and he naturally couldn¡¯t y a pair.

    Ye Qi smiled and yed, ¡°Pair of 8s.¡±

    Gao Xiaoi, ¡°¡­¡­¡± She had a pair of 5s in her hands, sorry!

    Ye Qi, ¡°Pair of 10s.¡±

    Gao Xiaoyi and Lin Yuhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The two of them could only watch as Ye Qi started to perform alone.

    Since everyone had been ying straights and otherbinations in the game, Ye Qi could only hold onto his pairs and watch the three of them y. Shao Qingge calcted the approximate hands of the three people ording to the cards on the table and helped Ye Qi at thest minute.

    Xiao Ye was very powerful. His pair of 4s might¡¯ve been eaten by Gao Xiaoyi¡¯s pair of 5s but Lin Yuhang only had a pitiful 9 left. Ye Qi kept ying pairs and triples to bully Lin Yuhang. Lin Yuhang wanted to cry but he could only pinch his 9 and watch

    Shao Qingge was first and Ye Qi was third. The two of them got 50 bonus points.

    Shao Qingge and Ye Qi continued to master the rhythm for the next games.

    The strong yers from the blue and yellow teams had already been sent out. Thest pairs were young people who had just learned to y Fifty K. Forget counting cards, sometimes even theirbination of cards would be calcted incorrectly. Shao Qingge and Ye Qi cooperated to win four games in a row.

    The Clubs teenager spoke lightly. ¡°The game is over and the red team has a winning streak. The final points are 1,480 points. If the points deducted from the blue and yellow teams aren¡¯t enough, it will be deducted from the bank card bnce.¡±

    The blue and yellow teams were almost crying. Unexpectedly, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi took the entire game, winning four rounds and eight small games in a row, killing all their opponents!

    Ye Qi ran over excitedly. ¡°It¡¯s great! Hahaha, we won over 10 million. This is enough for you to use your skills many times!¡±

    The key to winning the four rounds was Shao Qingge.

    HIs card counting ability was really powerful. He could calcte the approximate card type of his opponent based on the cards already on the table and leave key cards behind to interrupt the opponent¡¯s rhythm. Even if other people could y, they weren¡¯t professional poker yers. In the process of ying cards, it was difficult to remember which of the 109 cards had been yed and which were still in someone¡¯s hand.

    Shao Qingge could remember every card very clearly.

    For example, in thest game against Gao Xiaoyi and Lin Yuhang. The number of 5, 10 and K cards on the table weren¡¯t enough and Ye Qi had once yed the K card, so he naturally wasn¡¯t holding the 5, 10 and K as a bomb. It was obviously Lin Yuhang who was holding it. Then he could infer from the suit that his bomb was bigger than Lin Yuhang¡¯s one.

    Shao Qingge deliberately left his 5, 10 and K to the end, making Lin Yuhang dumbfounded.

    Seeing Ye Qi¡¯s excitement, Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t help reaching out to rub the young man¡¯s hair. ¡°We work together well.¡±

    Ye Qiughed. ¡°It was Chief Shao who led me well!¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled slightly. He had to say that ying cards with Xiao Ye waspletely different from previously ying cards with his friends. Every time a card he yed gave Ye Qi the right to y, Ye Qi¡¯s eyes would brighten. The more excited he looked, the cuter he became.

    Winning eight games in a row with the little guy was more important than the money he won.

    The Clubs teenager said, ¡°Please redeem the reward.¡±

    The red team became the biggest winner. Their teammates watched as arge box of gold coins was handed to them by the keeper. The gold coins make everyone¡¯s eyes light up. Chief Shao¡¯s ability to make money was really awesome!

    TL: Thank you Sartorial Avarice for your fanart contribution for CR in the CG Summer Competition. In addition, I¡¯vepiled all the fanart for CR so far in one page for ease of finding and it will be linked to the table of contents.

    Fanart Page

 Chapter 239: Entertainment Starlight 01

    The tacit cooperation between Ye Qi and Shao Qingge, a card ying master, meant that 8 of Clubs was easily passed.

    Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang and the others could just sit around and watch the game. Everyone experienced the feeling of being taken by Chief Shao to lie down and win. They watched therge box of gold coins being deposited into the bank card by the keeper and the members of the other two teams were very envious. This secret room might not be life-threatening but it was painful to lose a lot of money from their bank card!

    After leaving the secret room and returning to the main city, Ye Qi asked excitedly, ¡°Chief Shao, how much money do you have in the card?¡±

    The team¡¯s ounts were managed separately by Shao Qingge and Xiao Lou. When the team was formed, Shao Qingge was worried that it wasn¡¯t safe to ce all their money with one person so he divided it in half. It was just that at the time, everyone only had tens of millions of gold coins. Xiao Lou was responsible for the daily expenses such as eating, clothing, housing and transportation. The bulk of the money earned from selling the chrysoberyl bracelets was stored in Chief Shao¡¯s ount. After all, he had the ATM Machine card and could withdraw money at any time.

    Everyone was very curious after hearing Ye Qi¡¯s question.

    Xiao Lou also looked at Shao Qingge and joked, ¡°Chief Shao,e and show your little vault.¡±

    Shao Qingge immediately called out the ATM. This was one of the few cards that could be used anytime and anywhere in the main city. Shao Qingge inserted his ID card into the ATM card slot and did the fingerprint verification. Soon, a card appeared on the ATM screen with a string of numbers.

    Ye Qi stared wide-eyed at the number. ¡°How many zeroes is this?!¡±

    The series of zeroes caused his head to spin. He had never seen so much money.

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°At the moment, I have 180 million gold coins.¡±

    The group stared in disbelief. Since when was there so much money?

    Xiao Lou quickly reacted. ¡°Did you invest the previous earnings?¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°Yes, every time I go back to the main city, I will pay attention to the stock market when I¡¯m bored. I buy some stocks with better growth or potential. Then the next time Ie out of the secret room, I will check the situation and sell it if needed. I made some money in the meantime.¡±

    Ye Qi gave a thumbs up. ¡°You are worthy of being our gold master daddy!¡±

    Every time they came out of the secret room, they would usually go back to their room to sleep after a big meal. Meanwhile, Shao Qingge was using his free time to trade stocks and make money. This man was truly very business-minded. No wonder he could start an investmentpany from scratch.

    Xiao Lou calcted it carefully. ¡°Chief Shao¡¯s S-grade Rich and Willful costs 5 million gold coins to copy a card. In the beginning, we all thought this card was particrly bad. However,pared to Chief Shao¡¯s hundreds of millions¡­ it doesn¡¯t seem to be a big deal?¡±

    Ye Qi nodded. ¡°Yes! Chief Shao is indeed rich and willful. In the future secret rooms, Chief Shao can casually copy cards and no one will say anything.¡±

    Everyone agreed. It seemed that in the hands of Shao Qingge, Rich and Willful was the strongest S-grade card.

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°A deposit of 100 million gold coins sounds terrible but the conversion rate of gold coins to yuan is 100:1. In yuan, it is actually only one million.

    Ye Qi was helpless. ¡°What is ¡®only¡¯ one million? In reality, my monthly living expenses are only 2,000 yuan.¡±

    Liu Qiao added, ¡°In reality, one million can buy arge house in third-tier cities.

    Old Momented, ¡°In the Card World, it can buy four or five luxury vis.¡±

    Qu Wanyue carefully calcted it. ¡°It is almost 10 years of my sry.¡±

    Ye Qi finally concluded, ¡°It is really sad to talk to the rich.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou and thought about it. ¡°Shall we go in order to 9 of Hearts?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Sure. What does everyone else think?¡±

    Their teammates had no objections.

    Shao Qingge joked, ¡°The Hearts secret room. It is up to Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao to take us to lie down and win.¡±

    Xiao Lou patiently reminded everyone, ¡°Everyone has experienced the A-grade Hearts secret room in Beacon in Troubled Timesst time. You must remember all the clues obtained and no details can be ignored.¡±

    The key to the final puzzle in Beacon in Troubled Times was actually mentioned in the daily gossip between Qu Wanyue and the Ninth Princess regarding the secrets of the harem. If Qu Wanyue had ignored this then their investigation would¡¯ve hit a dead end. It could be seen that everyone would receive a clue that would more or less help the case.

    Ye Qi remembered the half a month spent as a girl and his expression distorted. ¡°Will it be role ying again this time? Don¡¯t make me go and y a girl in ancient times!¡±

    Xiao Lou patted Xiao Ye on the shoulder tofort him. ¡°A of Hearts shouldn¡¯t repeat the same thing. It shouldn¡¯t be ancient this time.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes swept over everyone. ¡°Remember what Xiao Lou said. After entering the secret room, remember everyone you meet and don¡¯t ignore the details. We have to gather the clues together. This time, the secret room definitely won¡¯t be any simpler than Beacon in Troubled Times.¡±

    The group nodded carefully at his serious gaze.

    Yu Hanjiang told them, ¡°Get ready. I will draw the card.¡±

    He drew the 9 of Hearts card directly from the card wall. The scenery in front of everyone changed and they came to a strange but familiar world.

    It was strange because everyone was in a different environment. It was familiar because the background of this secret room was a modern city. There were countless high-rise buildings and the streets were full of traffic. It should be working hours on a weekday and the people on the streets were in a hurry.

    Xiao Lou wore a white coat and stood in front of French windows. After two seconds, he reacted to his assigned identity in this secret room.

    Behind him was a dissection room with an empty dissection table. There was also aboratory next door with many analytical instruments that he was familiar with. It included various toxic substance identification and gic identification instruments. To the left was an electric ss door with the words ¡®Forensic Appraisal Centre¡¯ written on it.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and quickly turned back to his office. This time, he was directly assigned the identity of a forensics doctor in the secret room. It was a real performance and there were many instruments that could be used this time. It was unlike before when he could only observe on-site and make an analysis.

    Fingerprints, genes, blood, hair¡­ there were all types of professional identification that would be of great help to solve the case.

    The previous cases didn¡¯t require these professional identification equipments and they could sessfully solve the case by relying on on-site traces and clues. This time, Xiao Lou¡¯s status as a forensics doctor was directly restored. Obviously, the difficulty of the case had increased and there may be many misleading clues.

    ***

    At the same time, Yu Hanjiang appeared at the police station wearing a police officer¡¯s uniform.

    Although the police uniform he wore was somewhat different from the one in reality and he didn¡¯t know any of the colleagues around him, Yu Hanjiang was performing in his true colours and he quickly calmed down. He returned to his office and called a young policeman over.

    It was just like Beacon in Troubled Times. Once he met someone he knew, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s memories of that person would appear in his mind.

    Xiao Wu had juste to the criminal police department. He had an outgoing personality and worked steadily. After being called to the office, Xiao Wu scratched his head. ¡°Group Leader Yu, what can I do for you?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly. ¡°Simply repeat the recent case. I want to see how much you have learned.¡±

    It turned out to be examining the results of his learning. Xiao Wu stood upright and quickly described the recent criminal case.

    ording to Xiao Wu, there hadn¡¯t been a criminal case in Binzhou City for a long time. The most recent case was a vicious murder 10 days ago. It was said that a psychopathic adult male with antisocial personality disorder rushed into a bar in the middle of the night and killed three people with a knife. The police arrested him on the spot.

    Yu Hanjiang listened to Xiao Wu and found the records of the case from the cupboard.

    Yu Hanjiang took a closer look and found that this was indeed a vicious homicide. The murderer was arrested and pleaded guilty. The murder weapon was found and the evidence chain provided by the witnesses at the scene was veryplete. It seemed the case 10 days ago had little to do with the plot of the secret room. It was unlike Beacon in Troubled Times where Old Mo found clues in the files.

    Yu Hanjiang put down the case log and nodded at Xiao Wu. ¡°Good memory. The details are correct. Go back to work. I will call you again if there is anything.¡±

    Just then, a female police officer knocked on the door. She entered and spoke nervously, ¡°Group Leader Yu, I just received a report. The residents of the Yuehu Vi area said that someone in the vi next door seems to be dead. Their cat entered the vi this morning and was covered in blood when it came out!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and immediately stood up. He calmly ordered, ¡°Notify the forensics doctor of the criminal police team and send the police immediately.¡±

    Xiao Wu hurriedly turned to call someone. Momentster, Xiao Wu came over with a man in a white coat.

    Yu Hanjiang raised his eyes and met a pair of warm eyes. In a daze, he seemed to have returned to Jiangzhou City. Xiao Lou had been just like this. He wore a white coat over his slender body and gave off an elegant temperament.

    The eyes of the two people met in the air.

    Xiao Lou was stunned. Then he soon smiled and said, ¡°Hello, Group Leader Yu.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang saw this smile and his heart softened. He pretended to be calm on the surface as he greeted the other person. ¡°Professor Xiao, let¡¯s go. There is a case.¡±

    Both of them were acting their true colours. It seemed that this time, they really were working together as a criminal police officer and a forensics doctor to solve the case.

    ***

    At the same time, Starlight Economics Company.

    Ye Qi sat in the hairdressers as he looked at himself in the mirror with a dazed expression.

    Behind him stood a capable woman with a serious face in a suit skirt. The woman said, ¡°I invited Teacher Tony to do some test styles for your hair and makeup. You are the special guest of this concert and you must amaze the audience, you know?¡±

    Seeing the stunned Ye Qi, his agent Yun Lan frowned and asked, ¡°How about this hairstyle?¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s mind returned. He looked at the red hair in shamate style in the mirror and couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°I don¡¯t like this style. Sister Yun, can we do it¡­ so it isn¡¯t so hot-blooded?¡±

    Yun Lan raised her eyebrow. ¡°Isn¡¯t this pretty? Your skin is white and your hair dyed red makes your skin whiter.¡±

    Ye Qi seriously looked at himself in the mirror and inwardlyined. What type of aesthetic was this? Forget the dyed red colour. His hair was put up with hairspray and almost looked like the cockb of a rooster. Once the time came for him to hold the microphone, there wouldn¡¯t be a sense of vition if he imitated a rooster.

    Thest time Ye Qi was dressed in women¡¯s clothing in the secret room was his ck history. He didn¡¯t want to appear in front of his teammates with this shamate style.

    He smiled at his agent. ¡°Sister Yun, can I trouble Teacher Tony to change the style? Many male celebrities will perm and dye their hair so I should be more natural and return to the basics. Maybe I can attract another wave of fans?¡¯

    The agent¡¯s heart softened when she saw the teenager¡¯s bright eyes and pleasing smile and she waved her hand. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s take a look.¡±

    There were Tonys everywhere in the entertainment industry. This name was almost ruined by stylists. Ye Qi smiled at Teacher Tony and exined in detail the type of hairstyle he liked. The other person nodded and said he would change it for Ye Qi.

    Ye Qi was slightly relieved. He sat in the chair and let the stylist y with his hair.

    His identity in this secret room should be a singer. The agent mentioned the ¡®concert¡¯ but Ye Qi didn¡¯t know the details. It might¡¯ve always been his dream to hold a concert but this was the Hearts secret room after all. Maybe someone would die at this concert! Professor Xiao had asked everyone to pay attention to the details. Ye Qi didn¡¯t want to drop the ball so he quickly sorted out the memories in his mind.

    After meeting his agent Yun Lan, information about the concert was automatically installed in his mind. He was a signed singer of Starlight Entertainment. He had debuted for a year and was currently a small, invisible star in the music industry. He had only released one single.

    Three dayster, the concert in Binzhou¡¯srgest stadium would be held by the female idol group ¡®Five-505¡¯ of Starlight Entertainment. The women¡¯s group had a total of five people and the dormitory number was 505, so the name of the group was simple and rough. It was simply Five-505.

    Every girl had good looks and good singing skills. They all made their debut through a talent show, were signed by thepany and finally debuted as an idol group.

    Five-505 was currently bing popr and every member had millions of fans on Weibo. Yun Lan was the agent of this female group. In order to increase Ye Qi¡¯s exposure, he was included in the concert as a specially invited guest.

    It was verymon in the entertainment industry for the samepany¡¯s seniors to bring neers to a concert. Ye Qi had no doubts about this arrangement. He was currently focusing on the situation of the five members of the female group.

    In fact, there wasn¡¯t much information about these five people in his mind. They might be in the samepany but he was rtively unknown, so he didn¡¯t see them often, nor was he familiar with them.

    Ye Qi spoke seriously, ¡°By the way, Sister Yun. I am going to be a guest at the concert. Can you give me a copy of the information detailing my senior sisters? I don¡¯t want to make any mistakes if there is an interactive session.¡±

    Yun Lan was pleased. ¡°I¡¯ve sorted it out a while ago. Go back and take a serious look at it.¡±

    She handed a stack of printed materials to Ye Qi.

    Ye Qi thought that this should be an important clue so he collected it carefully. He nned to read it seriously after finishing his hair.

    He had a hunch that something would happen at the concert. It was very likely that this girl group wasn¡¯t as harmonious as it seemed. Maybe there were grievances among the five people? Perhaps someone would be killed at the concert.

    At present, he couldn¡¯t get in touch with his other teammates at all. He could only carefully grasp the clues on his side. Ye Qi was immersed in his thoughts and didn¡¯t notice what was being done to his hair.

    Thissted until Teacher Tonyughed and said, ¡°Okay.¡±

    Ye Qi who looked at himself in the mirror, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    What exactly was this stylist thinking? Why did he like the cockb head so much? Previously, it was a red cockb. Now it was dyed back but his hair was still in this shamate style. Was he going to the concert to perform Angry Crown?

    Ye Qi helplessly decided to give up on the struggle. He would go back and wash his hair.

    There were three days to go before the concert. Ye Qi wondered nervously about Professor Xiao and the others. There should be a murder in three days. Surely he would meet Professor Xiao and Group Leader Yu then?

    What about Chief Shao? Based on his capacity as chief of apany, would he be the main sponsor of the concert?

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 240: Starlight Entertainment 02

    At the same time, Starlight Entertainment¡¯s boss¡¯ room.

    Shao Qingge sat in the boss¡¯ chair and pressed a hand against his temples. Though he soon epted this identity.

    He walked to the French windows to take a look outside. The city was very strange. It was obvious that all of the group members had been transported to a city with a modern background. The northern metropolis seemed to have snowed a few days ago. There were still some traces of snow on the streets. Pedestrians on the streets came and went in a hurry. Most of them were wearing down jackets and were wrapped up tightly. The temperature outside should be very cold.

    There wereputers, mobile phones and other equipment on the table. He turned on aputer and found some documents inside. The various schedules and project nning books were messy and he couldn¡¯t find any clues for the time being. Thepany had too many contracted artists.

    He unlocked his phone and found the address book full of the numbers of agents and celebrities. He nced through quickly and found a familiar name. Ye Qi? Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes narrowed with interest and he tried making a call.

    Ye Qi, who was having his hair tortured by the stylist, suddenly heard a ringtone. His phone was in the hands of his agent Yun Lan. She picked it up and spoke respectfully. ¡°Chief Shao.¡±

    Shao Qingge asked in a low voice, ¡°Is Ye Qi there?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m taking him to determine the makeup and hair style for the concert.¡±

    ¡°Give him the phone.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes lit up after hearing ¡®Chief Shao.¡¯ His ears pricked and a man¡¯s low voice was heard from his phone. It was the Shao Qingge he was familiar with. Yun Lan handed him the phone. Ye Qi concealed his excitement and spoke respectfully. ¡°Hello Chief Shao.¡¯

    Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t help chuckling when he heard the respectful voice. ¡°What¡¯s the situation on your side? Is it okay?¡±

    Ye Qi replied, ¡°I am doing styling with Sister Yun to prepare for the concert in three days.¡±

    Shao Qingge heard the key clue in his words. ¡°Concert?¡±

    Ye Qi spoke seriously, ¡°I will be a special guest in three days and participate in the concert of the Five-505 female group.¡±

    ¡°Oh, how are you preparing?¡±

    Ye Qi spoke cooperatively, ¡°Sister Yun has already arranged everything.¡±

    Shao Qingge spoke to Ye Qi while searching for the information of the Five-505 female group on hisputer. As theputer of the boss, the information here was veryplete. Thisbination needed to be focused on so Shao Qingge transferred the information to his desktop for reference.

    The five young girls were all pretty. There was detailed information such as their debut experience, family background, etc. Shao Qingge took out a USB sh drive and copied over all the materials. He nned to hand it over to Yu Hanjiangter.

    As he copied the information, he asked Ye Qi in a low voice, ¡°Did you see any other teammates?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    Shao Qingge told him, ¡°I have your number in my address book so feel free to contact me at any time. I¡¯m hanging up first.¡±

    ¡°Okay, Chief Shao. You are busy.¡±

    The call ended and Teacher Tony asked with a smile, ¡°Chief Shao seems to be paying special attention to Xiao Ye? He rarely calls celebrities yet he actually went to find you. It seems that you will be very popr soon!¡±

    Ye Qi touched his nose. ¡°It is just a routine check. I¡¯m not very familiar with him.¡±

    Yun Lan spoke seriously, ¡°At this concert, all neers in thepany want to be a familiar face. I helped you get this opportunity so you must grasp it. Go back and practice singing. Make sure to leave a good impression on the audience.¡±

    Ye Qi replied, ¡°I know Sister Yun.¡±

    Meanwhile, he wondered about the location of his other teammates. At present, he could only contact Shao Qingge. What identity would Liu Qiao have?

    At the same time, the movie and television studio.

    Old Mo looked at the design drawings in front of him with a dazed expression until someone urged him, ¡°This indoor scene must be set up as soon as possible. It will be used after three days. The first few scenes are all shot here. It will be hard on you, Old Mo.¡±

    Mo Xuemin¡¯s senses returned. ¡°Okay, I will do my best!¡±

    He looked around and found that he was in a movie and television shooting base. He was surrounded by many people with costumes and props, photographers checking the shooting location and lighting engineers busy with the lighting.

    In the chaos, Mo Xuemin noticed a fair-skinned and handsome boy instantly. He was holding a script in his hand and sitting in a corner reciting lines alone. The script had the words ¡®Twin Flowers¡¯ written on it.

    Mo Xuemin understood. This should be the set of a movie or television series and they were making the final preparations before starting it.

    The crew was mixed. In addition to the actors and agents, there were the directors, screenwriters, lighting engineers, photographers, sound effects engineers, all types of assistants and the service people. The entire crew had hundreds of people and not all their names could be remembered.

    Mo Xuemin went around and soon met a familiar gaze. He quickly walked over. ¡°Teacher Qu?¡±

    Qu Wanyue smiled. ¡°Old Mo, what a coincidence!¡±

    There were many peopleing and going and no one paid attention to them. Old Mo winked and called Qu Wanyue to a corner where no one could hear. Then he asked in a low voice, ¡°What is the situation on your side?¡±

    Qu Wanyue exined, ¡°I am a dance stand-in. The heroine of this drama has many dance scenes. I just talked to her agent. The agent said the actress is injured and might require a stand-in for the more difficult moves.¡±

    Mo Xuemin told her, ¡°I am a scene designer and helping to build the indoor shooting scene. By the way, have you seen anyone else?¡±

    ¡°Long Sen is also in the crew. I just saw him work with the props team. I haven¡¯t seen anyone else.¡±

    Old Mo touched his chin. ¡°Since Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao haven¡¯t shown up, let¡¯s collect clues first. Normally, someone will die when they show up.¡±

    Qu Wanyue didn¡¯t know if she shouldugh or cry. ¡°You are treating them as Detective Conan. Wherever they go, someone will be murdered.¡±

    Old Mo, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Come to think of it, this was indeed the case?

    Liu Qiao organized the script and put it on the table.

    A handsome young man was lyingzily on the sofa, feet crossed together and yawning sleepily.

    Next to him, the agent was lecturing. ¡°This time, we will go there two days in advance to get to know the crew. Director Zhang is very strict. No matter how popr you are, if you don¡¯t perform well in the filming then he will curse you directly. You should put away your own bad temper and avoid offending Director Zhang.¡±

    The man frowned impatiently. ¡°I know. Can you stop and let me sleep well first?¡±

    The agent was silent for a moment before waving to Liu Qiao. ¡°Let¡¯s go Xiao Liu. You will go pack the bags with me. We will join the crew tomorrow.¡±

    Liu Qiao followed the agent. As she walked to the door, she looked back at the male star on the sofa.

    She was currently the assistant to Cheng Yu, a well-known popr young star in the entertainment industry. Cheng Yu had epted an idol drama called Twin Flowers which would be started in three days. She would go to the crew to report with the agent and male star tomorrow.

    Liu Qiao had nced at the script just now. This drama was about the love and hatred between a pair of twin sisters. The heroine was set as a ballerina. The protagonist yed by Cheng Yu was a rich second generation. The plot was very good and dog-blooded.

    It was amon urban idol drama about the rich. As she read the script, Liu Qiao asked the agent the name of the lead actress.

    The heroine and twin sister were yed by one person and there was a high probability that there would be a look-alike stand-in to help. The actor was the popr actress Qiao Xuening from Starlight Entertainment. Liu Qiao deliberately noted down the names of the male and female lead. She would get to know the other unimportant roles after arriving at the crew.

    She intuitively felt that something would happen to the crew. Liu Qiao couldn¡¯t contact her teammates so she could only follow the agent.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang sat in the police car and soon drove to the Yuehu Vi area.

    On the way, Xiao Lou took out his mobile phone and sent a message to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Perhaps it is due to the modern urban background but all my ancient character summoning cards are disabled. Qin Guan can¡¯t be summoned and Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings isn¡¯t avable.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°Fortunately, everyone in this world has a mobile phone.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and continued to send messages to chat with Group Leader Yu. ¡°The deceased found at the vi is likely just a character. I don¡¯t know where the others are scattered. What are their identities? There should be a follow-up story.¡±

    ¡°No hurry. There is no time limit in the secret room so let¡¯s follow the plot first.¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°Okay.¡±

    The security guards at the entrance of the vi area stopped their car. Yu Hanjiang showed them his police officer card. ¡°Police here to investigate a case.¡± The faces of the security guards changed and they let Yu Hanjiang and his party go to the door of the olddy who reported the crime.

    The car stopped and Yu Hanjiang quickly got off, Xiao Lou following closely behind.

    The other police officers cordoned off the scene.

    Yu Hanjiang went to the person who made the report and asked a few simple questions. It was an olddy who reported the crime. She said, ¡°I found my cat missing this morning. I went to look for him and saw him crawling out of the window of the vi next door with blood on his body. The door of this vi is locked and no one has been here for many days. I couldn¡¯t get in. The cat jumped in from the window on the roof!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. He neatly climbed up, entered the vi and opened the door from the inside.

    The police officers, forensics doctor and assistants entered.

    This was a three-storey single family vi. The decorations were very luxurious. As soon as a person entered the door, they felt a st of air-conditioning. Xiao Lou sneezed from the cold. It felt like walking into an ice cer. There was no obvious smell of rotting corpses in the house. Yu Hanjiang led Xiao Lou to the master bedroom on the third floor. The bedroom door was open and the quilts were neatly stacked. He pushed open the bathroom door.

    A woman was seen lying in the bathtub wearing a bathrobe. There were bloodstains from knife cuts all over her body. A lot of ice cubes covered her body which was why there wasn¡¯t the obvious smell of a rotting corpse.

    It was winter and all the heating in the house had been turned off, so the ice didn¡¯t melt. The bathroom door was open and the cat had entered through the window.

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help staring at the corpse with knife marks all over her body. How much hatred had this woman incurred to be killed so cruelly?

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 241: Starlight Entertainment 03

    Yu Hanjiang had seen many crime scenes but this one was really strange. The bathtub was full of ice cubes and the woman in a dressing gowny in the middle of them. Her face was horrified and her eyes were wide, her eyeballs protruding out. She was obviously extremely shocked before she died.

    This time, the secret room had a modern urban background and Yu Hanjiang was a police officer. He brought a lot of tools whening to investigate the case. He put on gloves and whispered in Xiao Lou¡¯s ear. ¡°You examine the body first. I will collect the evidence on the spot.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded, put on gloves and started working.

    Yu Hanjiang walked out of the bathroom and quickly scanned the scene. There was a two meters wide double bed where the sheets wereid out with no creases. However, the owner was wearing a bathrobe. Perhaps she had changed into the bathrobe after entering the bathroom and was killed before she had time to go to bed. Of course, this didn¡¯t rule out the possibility that the murderer deliberatelyid out the sheets neatly.

    Yu Hanjiang walked over to open the sheets but found no suspicious traces. The hairs on the pillow were picked up using tweezers and ced in a sterile bag to be taken back for inspection.

    There was a dressing table that had a width of around 1.5 metres by the bed. It was piled with skin care products and there were dozens of lipsticks alone. There was a fashion magazine on the table and a model in a dress posed on the cover. Yu Hanjiang took a closer look and found that the model was the deceased. The fact that she was on the cover of a magazine showed that the deceased was a model or a celebrity.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly and took dustings of the fingerprints inside the house with a portable device.

    The urban background was very convenient. He could use various professional instruments to assist in the investigation. However, to his disappointment, in the entire bedroom, only the dressing table had many fingerprints. ording to his spection, they were probably the deceased¡¯s fingerprints.

    A few pieces of cotton makeup pads were found in the trash can next to the dressing table with traces of lipstick and foundation. The deceased should¡¯ve sat here to remove makeup before taking a bath.

    Yu Hanjiang immediately took the luminol reagent from a colleague and sprayed it on the ground in a circle. He used the characteristics of blood and the luminol reagent to look for blood stains. There was no blood fluorescence reaction on the bedroom floor. The blood stains were only seen in the bathroom and most of it around the bathtub. Obviously, the first crime scene was the bathroom.

    The killer was very professional and might¡¯ve been wearing gloves. They left no fingerprints and cleaned up the scene after the crime.

    Yu Hanjiang went to the window. The windows were locked from the inside and the curtains were drawn. There were very few residents around this vi and thick ckout curtains in the bedroom. Even if someone passed by just outside the vi at the time of the incident, they wouldn¡¯t see what had happened in the bathroom. It would be difficult to find a witness.

    Yu Hanjiang quicklypleted the investigation of the first scene and went outside to make a circle around the vi.

    He wanted to find out if there were any residual hair or fingerprints. As a result, he found many fingerprints in the living room. Yu Hanjiang collected them and prepared to take them back forparative analysis.

    In addition, the two assistants he brought searched the living room and kitchen and reported some useful clues to him. ¡°Group Leader Yu, seven or eight empty wine bottles were found in the trash can in the kitchen.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took a look and nodded. ¡°Bring it back for testing.¡±

    He also saw traces of red wine on the couch. It must¡¯ve been identally spilled while drinking.

    The living room was very clean. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s sharp gaze swept over it. A policewoman was taking photos of the scene. He took the camera from the policewoman and took photos of several suspicious areas.

    After searching the whole vi, Yu Hanjiang returned to the scene on the third floor.

    Xiao Lou was leaning over the corpse to examine it. There were many special forensic instruments in his box. Seeing Group Leader Yue in, Xiao Lou lowered his voice. ¡°The fatal wound of the deceased is the knife in the heart. The wound here was very deep. The murderer should hate her very much and cruelly tortured her before death. Since the deceased was frozen in ice, it is difficult for me to urately determine the time of death.¡±

    Using a post-mortem examination required testing the liver temperature, algor mortis. This was added to the stiffness of the corpse¡¯s muscles, rigor mortis, and the appearance of liver mortis, discoloration due to gravity affecting the pooling of blood, to determine the time of death.

    However, now the deceased was frozen in ice cubes in winter and the temperature of the house was also very low. The liver temperature was greatly affected. It was useless to measure liver temperature. In addition, the stiffness of the muscles couldn¡¯t be urately inferred because of the ice.

    Yu Hanjiang understood and nodded. ¡°The killer should¡¯ve deliberately tried to confuse the time of her death.¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°Based on the appearance of the corpse, my preliminary spection is that the time of death is more than three days ago. I have to take the body back for a detailed autopsy.¡±

    Xiao Lou took out a transparent sterile bag from his carry case. ¡°In addition, I found this.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took a look and saw that the sterile bag had an unknown substance in it. Xiao Lou exined, ¡°There was a small amount of skin debris in her fingernails. It is possible that she scratched the murderer in the process of struggling. Taking it back for gic testing might help solve the case.¡±

    Xiao Lou examined the body very carefully and didn¡¯t let go of the smallest clue.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned at the body in the bathtub. ¡°Don¡¯t you think that this scene isn¡¯t quite right?¡±

    Xiao Lou naturally also found this and spoke tacitly. ¡°It really isn¡¯t right. There might be many cuts on her body but the scene isn¡¯t bloody at all. It should¡¯ve been cleaned up. There are traces of a cat¡¯s ws on her body. This should¡¯ve been left by the cat next door when he jumped in and identally touched the ice cubes around her. Then he fled in a panic.¡±

    Having said that, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help wondering about something. ¡°Where did so many ice cubese from?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang answered, ¡°I checked the refrigerator. This vi shouldn¡¯t be where the deceased usually lives. There are only some beer and carbonated drinks in the refrigerator. There is no food and no ice cubes in the freezer. Obviously, these ice cubes were deliberately brought by the murderer.

    Xiao Lou mused, ¡°It seems the murderer has been nning this for a long time and specifically brought ice to kill her?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it for a moment and whispered in his ear, ¡°I want to confirm the identity of the deceased and what happened in recent days. Later, you will take the evidence back to the appraisal centre for testing. I will visit some of the surrounding residents to see if there are witnesses.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    The two people nced at each other and went downstairs in tacit silence.

    The bathroom was located in the master bedroom on the third floor of the vi. The small bathroom window wasn¡¯t locked. If the cat hadn¡¯t suddenly crawled in through the window, the dead woman in the vi might not be noticed for another month.

    The murderer froze her body with ice cubes, deliberately turned off the heating in the house to confuse the woman¡¯s death time and didn¡¯t want her dead body to be discovered by the neighbours¡­

    The murderer was extremely calm. Unfortunately for them, they didn¡¯t find that the bathroom window was just closed, not locked. It would¡¯ve never urred to them that a domestic cat would destroy their n.

    Yu Hanjiang came to the door of the vi and Xiao Wu, the intern police officer, was chatting with the olddy who reported the case. Yu Hanjiang came over and asked, ¡°Auntie, do you know who lives in this vi?¡±

    The olddy shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. My son, daughter-inw and I have lived here for a year. I have never seen anyoneing back next door and the curtains of the house are always drawn. I thought that no one was living in the vi¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Did you hear anything unusual around three or four days ago?¡±

    The olddy thought about it carefully and suddenly said, ¡°By the way,st Tuesday, a car passed by downstairs and stopped next door. At that time, I was going to the bathroom in the middle of the night. It was around two or three in the morning. I heard a noise downstairs and opened the curtains to take a look. There were two private cars.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Do you have an impression of the license te number?¡±

    The olddy smiled apologetically. ¡°Ah, I am old and have a bad memory. The cars drove very quickly in the middle of the night. I only saw ck private cars driving into the yard next door one after another. I didn¡¯t see it clearly.¡±

    The front of the vi was a yard with a garage.

    The olddy¡¯s vi was side by side with the next door vi. In addition, the vi area had a separate garden. There were many trees between the two vis. She really couldn¡¯t see the situation of the next door yard from the window.

    The olddy provided limited clues. Yu Hanjiang nodded at her and called for Xiao Wu to find the security of themunity.

    Just now, Yu Hanjiang had shown his police officer ID when the car drove into the vi area and several security guards had followed him nervously. Now they heard that someone was dead in themunity, the expressions of the security guards were a bit ugly.

    Yu Hanjiang requested, ¡°Take me to the monitoring room.¡±

    The security guard captain immediately cooperated.

    Yu Hanjiang called for Xiao Wu toe to the monitoring room with him.

    The security of the luxury vi area was naturally done very well. Outsiders generally couldn¡¯t enter unless they were guests of the residents of the vi. At that time, the security guards who remained in the monitoring room saw a handsome man in a police uniform enter and were worried. ¡°Officer, what happened?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang calmly ordered, ¡°Give me all the surveince for a week in the vicinity of Vi No. 191 in Area C. In addition, list the records of vehicles entering and exiting themunityst Tuesday night after midnight.¡±

    The security guards immediately rushed to theputer to retrieve the monitoring videos. Yu Hanjiang stood beside them with his arms crossed, expression serious. The security guards didn¡¯t dare talk indiscriminately. They called out respectfully, ¡°Police officer, this is all of the monitoring.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang walked over and carefully watched the screen. He found that the area of road in front of the vi happened to be a ck screen and frowned. ¡°Is the camera here broken?¡±

    The security guards looked embarrassed. ¡°This¡­¡±

    The vi area was toorge. If one or two cameras were broken in some ces then they didn¡¯t investigate it too clearly.

    Seeing that they couldn¡¯t say anything, Yu Hanjiang ignored the surveince. ¡°I just saw a license te recognizer installed at the gate of yourmunity. There should be records of vehicles entering and exiting, right?¡±

    The security captain immediately nodded. ¡°There is.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°If it isn¡¯t a vehicle belonging to residents of themunity, do they need to register their information to enter themunity?¡±

    The security captain replied, ¡°Yes, foreign vehicles aren¡¯t allowed to enter ourmunity but if it is a visitor of one of the residents, they can register the reason for entering at the security room at the entrance and park temporarily.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang went to theputer to see the information of the vehicles that entered and exited.

    After all, thismunity was a high-end vi area with a low poption density. There were no more than 100 households. After midnightst Tuesday, there weren¡¯t many vehicles entering and leaving themunity. Moreover, the clue provided by the olddy was very clear. Yu Hanjiang soon found two ck private cards entering themunity one after another.

    To his surprise, both vehicles were approved by the electronic identifier and drove directly into themunity without registering the visit. He quickly took down the license te numbers: A-6K502 and A-6K501. They were actually serial numbers.

    Yu Hanjiang reacted by asking, ¡°These two cars belong to an owner in themunity?¡±

    The security captain exined, ¡°When they move in, the owners will register the license te number at the property centre of themunity. There are many rich people in ourmunity and it ismon for a family to have three or four cars. If it is a foreign vehicle then it will be stopped if it can¡¯t be identified. Both these vehicles drove directly into themunity so they should be cars registered in ourmunity.¡±

    Since the vehicles weren¡¯t stopped, the drivers couldn¡¯t be seen on the surveince.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Call the property and check the two license tes and the resident information for Vi 191 in Area C.¡±

    The security guard immediately took out his phone to inquire with the property management centre. After a moment, he replied, ¡°The resident, as well as the owner of these two cars, is registered as Lin Yiyan.¡±

    At this time, a security guard spoke up. ¡°This name sounds a bit familiar?¡±

    A young guard next to him had bright eyes. ¡°It seems to be a star¡­ I remember, isn¡¯t this Lin Yiyan someone who just won an award? My girlfriend is her fan!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly. She was actually a celebrity? The cause of this woman¡¯s death didn¡¯t seem simple.

    After watching the surveince, Yu Hanjiang took the security guards to visit several residents near No. 191 in Area C to see if the residents had seen anything. Unfortunately, after a round of investigation, they didn¡¯t get any useful clues. Several houses weren¡¯t upied and the rare residents that they did meet said they didn¡¯t know the residents of No. 191 and had never seen them.

    Celebrities had to guard against paparazzi so their residences were generally secretive. They would also be fully armed and try to be invisible when entering and exiting themunity. This brought great difficulties when investigating.

    There was no way to get more clues from this small area and Yu Hanjiang had to call his subordinates. ¡°Stop the team.¡±

    The police car yed the sirens and left.

    Yu Hanjiang sat in the car and used his mobile phone to check the relevant information of Lin Yiyan on the Inte.

    Lin Yiyan, a star contracted by Starlight Entertainment, had been famous for many years. She had over 100 million Weibo fans. She was 30 years old this year so she was still quite young. Her appearance was the dignified type and she had exquisite and wide-ranging acting skills. She won numerous domestic and foreign movie and television awards and was regarded as a popr actress in the entertainment industry.

    Herst Weibo was posted a week ago, it read: The new drama World of Mortals has sessfully finished shooting. This time, it took over a month to shoot. Thank you to Director Zhang and the crew for their help and care. Everyone has worked hard.

    There were hundreds of thousands of messages below, all of which were fans saying things like ¡®Goddess is so beautiful¡¯ and ¡®Goddess, jiayou¡¯, etc.

    Yu Hanjiang searched her Weibo for some keywords.

    The World of Mortals she finished filming was an ancient costume drama and she yed the heroine, the princess of a country that had been conquered. During the process, she had some emotional rtions with the male lead, second male lead and third male lead. Obviously, this Weibo was managed by her agent. All the behind-the scenes news were photos captured of her during filming. The photos were very beautiful.

    Based on her Weibo, there was nothing wrong. Herst post only said her new drama had beenpleted. No one would¡¯ve thought that she would suddenly die at home.

    Yu Hanjiang touched his chin and thought for a moment. Then he told Xiao Wu, ¡°After returning, immediately contact Lin Yiyan¡¯spany to investigate her social rtions. There might be many people involved in this case.¡±

    The interests behind a celebrity were very entangled andplicated. Investors, directors, other stars in the circle, fans, agents, assistants, etc. Who had she offended, who did she have a deep hatred with and who had the most motivation to kill her?

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 242: Starlight Entertainment 04

    Back at the police station, Yu Hanjiang quickly found the location of Starlight Entertainment¡¯s headquarters and thepany¡¯s legal owner.

    ¡­It was Shao Qingge?! This was good. Now he didn¡¯t have to look everywhere for Chief Shao. He would go meet with Chief Shao first.

    Yu Hanjiang immediately acted and drove the police car straight to Starlight Entertainment. The security at the door wanted to stop him but Yu Hanjiang coldly took out his police officer ID. ¡°Police officer, please cooperate with the investigation.¡±

    The security guards naturally didn¡¯t dare to stop the police and let him in, notifying the front desk immediately. The girl at the front desk hurriedly called Chief Shao¡¯s assistant. After a while, a tall woman took the elevator downstairs and respectfully brought Yu Hanjiang to the chief¡¯s office on the top floor.

    Shao Qingge smiled when he saw Yu Hanjiang and told the assistant, ¡°Get this police officer a cup of coffee.¡±

    He made a ¡®please sit down¡¯ gesture to Yu Hanjiang and Yu Hanjiang sat on the sofa opposite him. The assistant brought in a cup of coffee and smartly retreated.

    Yu Hanjiang raised his eyebrow. ¡°Are you the boss of Starlight Entertainment?¡±

    Shao Qingge joked, ¡°The identity assigned to me is more in line with my temperament.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took a sip of the coffee and spoke lightly, ¡°I came to find you so you should have a guess about what has happened?¡±

    Shao Qingge put away the jokes and replied in a low tone, ¡°There was a death on the first day of the secret room? Are you here to investigate the case?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°I received a report within 30 minutes of entering the secret room. Xiao Lou and I went to the scene just now. The deceased was tortured and killed in a private vi. Her name was Lin Yiyan, a star of yourpany. Do you have any impressions?¡±

    Shao Qingge was taken aback for a moment. In fact, ever since he ended his call with Ye Qi, he had been looking through the data of the celebrities on hisputer. There were dozens of stars signed with Starlight Entertainment. Currently, the most popr were the Five-505 female group, the popr young star Cheng Yu and the female star Lin Yiyan.

    The moment Yu Hanjiang came in, Shao Qingge had just opened Lin Yiyan¡¯s folder. His heart was a bit shaken when he heard Yu Hanjiang say this person was dead and he quickly turned theputer screen to show him. ¡°I have her information here but I haven¡¯t had time to read it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked while reading the information, ¡°Do you have any news about our other teammates?¡±

    Shao Qingge told him, ¡°Ye Qi is a contracted singer of mypany. He will participate in the 505 female group¡¯s concert in Binzhou in three days. I had my secretary check Liu Qiao, Teacher Qu, Old Mo and Long Sen. I found that Liu Qiao is the assistant of ourpany¡¯s contracted star, Cheng Yu. Cheng Yu is going to the movie and television studio tomorrow. He picked up a television series called Twin Flowers and it will start three dayster. Liu Qiao should be following him.¡±

    ¡°Movie studio?¡± Yu Hanjiang heard this and couldn¡¯t help frowning. ¡°It seems that Teacher Qu and the others might be on the crew¡¯s side.¡±

    ¡°Are all of us scattered?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spected. ¡°Xiao Ye will go to the concert while Liu Qiao is following Cheng Yu to the television studio. Xiao Lou and I have found a dead person. This secret room is simr to Beacon in Troubled Times and there should be three plot lines.¡±

    In Beacon in Troubled Times, there was the rebellion, the death of the youngdy of the prince¡¯s mansion and the assassins from the Yan state. The three plot lines went hand in hand and finally ovepped with each other. After the mystery was solved, all the clues could be linked together.

    9 of Hearts was also an A-grade secret room and it wasn¡¯t surprising for there to be three plot lines ovepping.

    Shao Qingge said, ¡°It seems that something will happen on Ye Qi¡¯s side and in the crew where Liu Qiao is located.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Thus, we have to quickly sort out the rtionship between the first deceased Lin Yiyan and the other stars to see if we can find some clues. Give me the information on the 505 female group and the popr young star Cheng Yu.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll give you a copy of the information. I¡¯ll also call Xiao Ye right away and ask Lin Yiyan¡¯s agent toe over.¡±

    He first called Ye Qi and used an excuse for Ye Qi to go back to thepany. The moment Ye Qi finished his haircut and heard Chief Shao¡¯s words, he asked his agent to send him back to the headquarters of Starlight Entertainment.

    Ye Qi knew that something must¡¯ve happened when he pushed open the door and saw Yu Hanjiang. He trotted in with a smile. ¡°Hello Chief Shao, hello Officer Yu.¡±

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    This upside-down hair style looked like the protagonist of a hot-blooded male anime had entered the fighting state.

    Shao Qingge held back a smile and touched his nose. ¡°Your hairstyle is quite unique.¡±

    Ye Qi blushed and exined softly, ¡°It is the shamate style. Teacher Tony gave it to me but I¡¯m not satisfied.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang coughed slightly, ignored Ye Qi¡¯s cockb hair style and told Ye Qi about the deceased. Ye Qi stared at him. ¡°It is the current popr movie queen who died? This is too explosive!¡±

    Shao Qingge said, ¡°I will control public opinion first and won¡¯t announce it temporarily.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded approvingly. ¡°Xiao Ye, something might happen at the concert in three days. Perhaps the deceased Lin Yiyan has a grudge with the 505 girl group. You have to keep your eyes open at the concert and not miss any clues.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded seriously. ¡°I understand.¡±

    Shao Qingge added, ¡°I¡¯m not at ease if Ye Qi goes to the concert alone. I will also find an excuse to attend the concert in three days.¡± He paused before continuing, ¡°Xiao Ye, you can go back first. As for Liu Qiao in the crew, I will find a way to inform her so that she will meet with the others and keep a close eye on the crew¡¯s situation.¡±

    The owner of an entertainmentpany had the phone number of all his stars and agents.

    The assistant¡¯s number wasn¡¯t avable but Shao Qingge could directly contact Cheng Yu¡¯s agent to ask for it. The agent was a bit confused about what the boss wanted with the assistant but she cooperatively gave Liu Qiao¡¯s number to Shao Qingge.

    Shao Qingge called. ¡°Xiao Liu, it¡¯s me.¡±

    Liu Qiao heard the other person¡¯s voice. ¡°Chief Shao?!¡±

    Shao Qingge handed the phone to Yu Hanjiang and Yu Hanjiang spoke in a low voice. ¡°Xiao Liu, the first deceased person has already appeared. There might be an ident in your crew. Keep an eye on the actor Cheng Yu and our other teammates. Don¡¯t worry, Professor Xiao and I are investigating the first case and will find a way to join you as soon as possible.¡±

    Liu Qiao was taken aback. ¡°The first case? Someone has died?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Starlight Entertainment¡¯s female star Lin Yiyan was murdered. Cheng Yu and Lin Yiyan are in the samepany. Does he know this female star? What is their rtionship? You can try to ask him about Lin Yiyan but don¡¯t tell anyone about her death.¡±

    Liu Qiao replied, ¡°I understand.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang hung up the phone and copied the information from Chief Shao¡¯sputer. Then he told Shao Qingge to call Lin Yiyan¡¯s agent. Shao Qingge¡¯s identity meant it was convenient to find someone. If the boss made a phone call then the agent had to run back immediately no matter how busy.

    30 minutester, Lin Yiyan¡¯s agent hurriedly pushed open the door of the chief¡¯¡¯s room.

    The agent was a 30 year old man called Qi Ming. He was thepany¡¯s ace agent who had brought out many popr idol stars. After hearing about Lin Yiyan¡¯s death, his face became nk and he shook with disbelief. ¡°How could it be? You said that she is dead? She just sent me a WeChat messagest night!¡±

    The man took out his phone and showed how the person called ¡®Xiao Yan¡¯ had sent him a message that said: Brother Ming, I am really tired from shooting Red Dust. I would like to take a few more days off and go on vacation abroad with my family. You should stop looking for me in the next few days. Is it okay to give me some independent space? I will start working immediately when Ie back.¡±

    Qi Ming had replied: No problem. You¡¯ve worked so hard for a whole year. You should take a few days off and have a good rest. I will help you reject thetest jobs. Have fun.

    The conversationst night was a simple few words. Scrolling up, all the exchanges were just about jobs.

    ording to Xiao Lou¡¯s spection, Lin Yiyan¡¯s death time should be more than three days. How could she have sent a WeChat message to her agentst night?

    Yu Hanjiang dered coldly, ¡°This was sent to you by the murderer.¡±

    Qi Ming shuddered when he heard this. ¡°You mean that Xiao Yan¡¯s phone is with the murderer?¡±

    The murderer sending a message to the agent was naturally to create the illusion that Lin Yiyan was still alive.

    The ice and low temperature of the scene would slow the rotting of the body and make it stink less. Naturally, Lin Yiyan¡¯s death wouldn¡¯t be known. Perhaps a few dayster, the agent would look for Lin Yiyan and the murderer would continue to use Lin Yiyan¡¯s phone to chat with the agent, pretending that Lin Yiyan was still alive¡­

    Just then, Yu Hanjiang suddenly received a message from Xiao Lou on his phone that said: The results of the autopsy havee out. Lin Yiyan¡¯s time of death is after 3 a.m. on Tuesday. Before she died, she drank a lot of alcohol. The bottle was covered with her fingerprints. In addition, there is the skin and hair remaining under her nails. We have checked the gene bank and it belongs to her agent Qi Ming.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang put away his phone and his sharp eyes stared at the man in front of him. ¡°Where were youst Tuesday in the early morning?¡±

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 243: Starlight Entertainment 05

    Qi Ming was stunned when he heard Yu Hanjiang¡¯s question. Then he quickly replied, ¡°Last Tuesday, the editor-in-chief of LE Fashion Magazine invited us to dinner and said she would offer an interview with the magazine next year. Yiyan went home early after the meal and I continued talking with Editor Li.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Can anyone prove the time that Lin Yiyan left?¡±

    Qi Ming thought carefully about it. ¡°We had a meal with Editor Li. It was around 8:30 when Yiyan suddenly received a message saying there was an urgent matter at home. She left first. I talked to Editor Li until just after 10 o¡¯clock. Then Editor Li drove me home. She can testify for me.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Shao Qingge and Chief Shao immediately searched the magazine editor¡¯s name in his phone address book.

    LE was the fashion magazine with thergest cirction in China. Stars in the entertainment circle who could be on the cover of the magazine must have some fame or it would be impossible to cooperate with LE. Shao Qingge had the contact information of the editor-in-chief and gave Yu Hanjiang the telephone number.

    Yu Hanjiang used Shao Qingge¡¯s mobile phone to confirm it on the spot. The other person said they had indeed eaten with Lin Yiyan and Qi Mingst Tuesday. Yu Hanjiang told her, ¡°Ms Li, there is a case that requires your assistance. Can you please take the time to go to the police station and make a transcript?¡±

    The female editor-in-chief was stunned. ¡°A case? I¡¯m busy right now, can I go in the afternoon?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Yu Hanjiang hung up and looked at Qi Ming. ¡°Mr Qi, pleasee with me too.¡±

    ¡°Yes, officer.¡± Qi Ming nced at Chief Shao anxiously. ¡°Yiyan, how should I tell the public about her?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention a word until the police have finished their investigation lest the fermentation of public opinion has a negative impact on thepany, understood?¡± Shao Qingge spoke solemnly.

    Qi Ming nodded immediately. ¡°Understood.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told Shao Qingge, ¡°Chief Shao, I will return to the police force first. I will contact you if there is something else.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°Okay, Group Leader Yu go carefully.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took the agent Qi Ming back to the police station to do a detailed transcript.

    Qi Ming was very cooperative during the interrogation and answered whatever Yu Hanjiang asked. As Lin Yiyan¡¯s agent, he knew a lot. Yu Hanjiang asked him about Lin Yiyan¡¯s properties and personal rtionships in detail.

    Apart from the perverted murders who killed people indiscriminately, most murders involved finding the motive for the murder which was usually love, hatred or wealth. Yu Hanjiang first asked about Lin Yiyan¡¯s economic situation. Qi Ming answered, ¡°Yiyan has three properties under her name. In addition to the private vi in the Yuehu Vi area, there are two city houses, two cars and some savings.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Are there any siblings in her family?¡±

    ¡°She is an only child.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s next question was, ¡°Did she borrow money from anyone or does she gamble and owe debts? Has she been involved in any investments in recent years?¡±

    Qi Ming shook his head. ¡°She is a very practical and hardworking person. She doesn¡¯t know how to invest or manage money. Most of the money she earns is kept by her parents. As far as I know, she has no financial disputes with anyone. She has a good temper, never acts arrogant because she is famous and is well known in the circle. She has never made any enemies.¡±

    ¡°What about her rtionship history?¡±

    Qi Ming touched his nose awkwardly. ¡°I¡¯m not sure about this. She said it was her private matter and refused to tell me.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked him to borate on his whereaboutsst Tuesday. Qi Ming directly took out his schedule book.

    At 10 in the morning on Tuesday, he arranged for Lin Yiyan to have an interview with a media reporter. It was an exclusive interview about the finished costume drama World of Mortals. At noon, she had a meal with the director and producer of the crew to celebrate the shooting being finished. They also agreed on the publicity time. In the afternoon, Lin Yiyan went back to sleep and in the evening, she met the editor of the magazine for dinner.

    Dinner was originally arranged to be at 6:30. Qi Ming drove to pick up Lin Yiyan at 5:30 but after picking her up, there was a traffic jam. They didn¡¯t arrive at the restaurant until 7:30. The three people talked about the cooperation and Lin Yiyan seemed very happy during the dinner. Then her mobile phone rang at 8:30 with a WeChat alert.

    Yu Hanjiang grasped the key point. ¡°Do you know who sent the WeChat message?¡±

    Qi Ming shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Her expression didn¡¯t look right after she read the WeChat message. Then she said that there was an emergency and she had to leave first. She let me continue to talk with the editor-in-chief about the cooperation. She borrowed my car keys and drove my car away. I told her to be careful not to be followed by the paparazzi.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. Based on Qi Ming¡¯s testimony, the WeChat message Lin Yiyan received on Tuesday should be the key. However, her phone¡¯s whereabouts were unknown at this time and it was impossible to verify who sent her the message.

    As for the credibility of Qi Ming¡¯s words, he didn¡¯t seem to be lying based on his facial expressions. Even so, those in the entertainment industry were all top-notch at acting. Yu Hanjiang still needed the testimony of a second person to confirm.

    The magazine¡¯s editor-in-chief arrived at the police station at 2:30.

    The editor-in-chief wore a camel-coloured casual woolen coat, ck knee-length boots and a beige woolen sweater. She had short, ear-length hair and delicate makeup. She looked very capable.

    Yu Hanjiang inquired in detail about the process and opportunity for her cooperation with Lin Yiyan.

    Editor Li said, ¡°Miss Lin has been very popr after making two movies this year. I wanted to ask her to shoot the magazine cover and her agent also wanted to cooperate with us. We hit it off and made an appointment to take print promotional photos. We met only three months ago.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°How is your rtionship? What type of person does she look like to you?¡±

    Editor Li replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know her well but I feel she is a very friendly person. She doesn¡¯t act arrogant and is polite to everyone. She had a good temper when working with the photographer. She took photos all day without shouting that she was tired. The people of our magazine really liked her.¡±

    ¡°On Tuesday, you asked her for a meal. Talk about the meal in detail.¡±

    Editor Li sorted out her thoughts. ¡°Her agent called and said there was a traffic jam on the road. They didn¡¯t arrive until 7:30. I arrived early and waited for them in the restaurant¡¯s private room. During the meal, she seemed to be in a good mood and we had a good chat. Oh yes, her phone rang around 8:30 like someone had sent her a WeChat message. After reading it, she said that something happened at home and she needed to leave. I talked to her agent about the details of the cooperation and it ended around 10:30. Since Miss Lin drove his car away, I sent Mr Qi home.¡±

    ¡°Where does Mr Qi live? What time did you drop him off?¡±

    The editor-in-chief replied, ¡°He lives in Jiayuan, Dongfu, not far from my home. He should¡¯ve arrived home around 11:00.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang finished with the editor-in-chief and took the transcript to the forensic centre to find Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou had already done the autopsy for the deceased and checked her internal organs, blood and other conditions. He saw Yu Hanjianging and walked forward quickly to take Yu Hanjiang to his office. ¡°How is your progress? Is there a suspect?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°On Tuesday night, Lin Yiyan, her agent and the magazine editor-in-chief had dinner together. The editor-in-chief can prove that Lin Yiyan left for home at 8:30 and the agent arrived home at 11 o¡¯clock.¡±

    He opened a map of the city and pointed to twomunities. ¡°The agent lives in Jiayuan, Dongfu which is 30 kilometers away from the Yuehu Vi area where Lin Yiyan died. After returning home, it isn¡¯t toote if he changes cars and drives to Yuehu Vi. His skin and hair are under the deceased¡¯s nails so the agent¡¯s suspicion can¡¯t be ruled out for the time being.¡±

    He looked at Xiao Lou¡¯s records book and asked, ¡°What are the autopsy results?¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°The fatal injury was the heart wound. No other organs were injured and there were no traces of toxins in the body. From the analysis of the wounds on the body surface, the crime tool should be a sharp, long knife with a de width of 5cm and a length of 20cm.¡±

    Xiao Lou professionally opened theputer and used the software to rebuild the knife model. The length and width of the reconstructed knife fit perfectly with the wound on the body.

    Yu Hanjiang touched his chin and spoke thoughtfully. ¡±I have searched the interior of the vi and sent people to search the trash cans andwn of themunity. So far, no murder weapon has been found. It must¡¯ve been taken away by the murderer.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, this type of knife is rare at the supermarket. Perhaps it was bought online.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang questioned, ¡°What about theposition of the ice?¡±

    ¡°It is ordinary condensed water. There is nothing special.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at the ice cubes in the photos of the scene. Most of the ice were cubes which should be made from the square container in the freezer. In winter, the murderer ced Lin Yiyan¡¯s body in the bathtub with ice cubes. In addition to dying the time when the body was discovered, it seemed to have the meaning of ¡®preservation¡¯?

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°ording to the testimony of the agent, Lin Yiyan had no property disputes and no siblings in the family. She is usually kind and rarely offends people. People who have contact with her say that she has a good temper. It is unlikely her death is a rtionship issue. Still, I will start to investigate the case from this aspect.¡±

    He took out his phone and sent a text message to Xiao Lou. ¡°This is Ye Qi and Shao Qingge¡¯s phone numbers. Save it.¡±

    Xiao Lou felt surprised as he saved the numbers. ¡°You found them so soon? What identities do they have?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°Xiao Ye is a singer and Chief Shao is the owner of an entertainmentpany. I saw them when I went topany headquarters just now. You can set up a WeChat group and bring everyone in. This will be more convenient tomunicate in the future.¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help smiling. ¡°The urban background is convenient. We can build a WeChat group for discussion.¡± He pulled Ye Qi, Shao Qingge and Yu Hanjiang into the WeChat group and the group name was ¡®9 of Hearts Detective Group.¡¯

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou was quite humorous and the name of the detective group was very appropriate.

    Ye Qi saw this group name and excitedly came out. ¡°It¡¯s Professor Xiao! What is the result?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°The agent is currently the only suspect. Group Leader Yu is still investigating. Xiao Ye, don¡¯t worry. [touch head].¡±

    Shao Qingge sent a thumbs up. ¡°The two of you are working hard. Contact us any time if you need help.¡±

    Ye Qi said, ¡°I searched up a lot of Lin Yiyan¡¯s information on the Inte and they all said that she has a super good temper. Many celebrities are her fans. They queued up to send her blessings and called her a goddess on her birthday. I can¡¯t imagine who would have such a big feud with her.¡±

    Shao Qingge said, ¡°The entertainment industry is very deep. Someone who is gentle, cute or cold might just be the character set up by thepany. There are many dirty transactions in private. You can¡¯t just look at the surface. This Lin Yiyan shouldn¡¯t be as simple as she seems.¡±

    Ye Qi sent a smiling emoji and said, ¡°Group Leader Yu, I¡¯m cheering for you. I¡¯ll follow the female group first.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied with just an ¡®en.¡¯

    Ye Qiined inwardly that Group Leader Yu¡¯s cold personality wasn¡¯t just on the surface. It went to the core.

    Yu Hanjiang handed the USB in his pocket to Xiao Lou. ¡°The information on the stars that I copied from Chief Shao is too much and I don¡¯t have time to read all of it. Please sort it out for me. I will go to the traffic police first. Find the key clues and we will analyze it when Ie back.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry and go. I will look at the information provided by Chief Shao carefully.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and quickly turned away. He drove the police car straight to the Binzhou City Traffic Police Department. The captain of the traffic police team was a middle-aged man. He obviously knew Yu Hanjiang. He saw Yu Hanjiang and greeted him with a smile. ¡°Group Leader Yu, you came here. Is there another case?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang simply said, ¡°Please check the cars registered under Lin Yiyan in the system. In addition, help me adjust the road surveince video to Binjiang Road between 7:30 and 11:30 on Tuesday night.¡±

    The traffic police team was very cooperative and soon retrieved the cars registered under Lin Yiyan¡¯s name.

    The captain pointed to theputer screen. ¡°Lin Yiyan has two cars under her name. One is a sedan with the license te Bin A-6K502 and the other is a sports car with the license te Bin A-1029A.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took a closer look at the license te number and the motor vehicle license with a frown. As he expected, the two cars didn¡¯t match each other.

    It wasn¡¯t surprising that a star had a few cars but who would buy two identical cars with connected license te numbers? He came to the traffic police department to check the cars because of the doubts in his heart. He always felt that the two cars didn¡¯t both belong to Lin Yiyan.

    Bin A-6K502 was one of the two cars that appeared at Yuehu Vi in the early hours of Tuesday morning. It was registered under Lin Yiyan¡¯s name.

    Bin A-1029A was a red luxury sports car. If he remembered correctly, 1029 happened to be Lin Yiyan¡¯s birthday. The license te was her birthday and it was likely that she either got it on her own or it was a birthday present from someone.

    However, the two ck cars appeared in front of the vi in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Yu Hanjiang remembered very well that the license tes were 6K502 and 6K501. They were serial numbers. The serial numbers 502, 501, connected they would be¡­ 521. Did it mean ¡®I love you?¡¯ If so, the meaning of the license te number was very cryptic.

    Yu Hanjiang perceived this and immediately said, ¡°Help me find the owner of Bin A-6K501.¡±

    The traffic police captain quickly found the name of the person on the system and was shocked. ¡°Cheng Yu? Isn¡¯t this the male star? He actually has serial te numbers with Lin Yiyan. How can there be such a coincidence?!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    When registering a vehicle, hundreds of license te numbers would appear randomly for the owner to choose. The probability of the cars of two stars selecting the random numbers 501 and 502 was extremely low. Obviously, these serial numbers were specifically selected by them and the meaning was cryptic, showing their intention.

    The house at Yuehu Vi area belonged to Lin Yiyan and she registered the license tes of the two cars on the property.

    Yu Hanjiang had this in mind and called the property management of the Yuehu Vi area to ask, ¡°Hello, I am the captain of the Binzhou City Criminal Police Force. When registering license tes at yourmunity¡¯s property, will the owner¡¯s vehicle license be verified?¡±

    The property manager said, ¡°This isn¡¯t required because many owners of ourmunity will buy several cars. There are many parking spaces in the vi area. The car can enter and leave at will as long as the owner has registered the car. For example, the owner and his wife have a car. In addition, his parents also have cars. When hees to the property centre to register, all the license tes can be registered under his household name.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Lin Yiyan¡¯s Area C 191 vi only has the two cars 6k501 and 6K502 cars registered, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang continued. ¡°How long do you keep the surveince at the gate of themunity? Can you find the records of the two cars 6K501 and 6K502 entering and leaving themunity previously?¡±

    ¡°The monitoring is generally retained for a week. We will try to check and will inform you when there is news.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thanked him and hung up the phone.

    Registered license tes could enter and exit themunity at will. Obviously, Lin Yiyan hoped that Cheng Yu¡¯s car could enter and exit the vi area where she lived at will. This was why she registered the two license te numbers at the property centre. Since they were serial numbers, the property manager would think the two cars belonged to her. This high-endmunity wouldn¡¯t expose people¡¯s privacy and she didn¡¯t have to worry about this matter being known to paparazzi.

    The traffic police quickly pulled up the surveince for Binjiang Roadst Tuesday.

    Agent Qi Ming¡¯s car appeared near Binjiang Road around 7:30. The camera at the intersection caught two people in their seats. It was Lin Yiyan and her agent Qi Ming. The car parked at a high-end restaurant and they entered the restaurant. At around 8:30, Lin Yiyan hurried out alone and left in the car of her agent.

    Yu Hanjiang ordered, ¡°Track these two cars.¡±

    The traffic police opened the surveince along the road to track the car.

    Numerous small windows appeared on the big screen. Yu Hanjiang had rich experience with handling cases and his sharp eyesight followed all the way ording to the time point. Finally, the car drove into an underground garage in the city centre. Yu Hanjiang patiently stared at the exit of the garage. A few hourster, around 1:30 in the morning, a ck car with the license te 6K502 drove out of the garage.

    Lin Yiyan drove her agent¡¯s car to a residential area and changed cars when leaving. This was amon routine used by celebrities to get rid of paparazzi. Yu Hanjiang had the traffic police continue to track the 6K502 car.

    Lin Yiyan¡¯s 6K502 car drove onto the highway and appeared at the intersection of the mountain road leading to the Yuehu Vi area at around two in the morning. At the same time, another ck 6K501 sedan was found at the intersection. The two cars merged at the intersection and shed their lights at each other. Then they drove one after the other to the vi area.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke calmly. ¡°Track back the 6K501 and find its route.¡±

    The people of the traffic police team helped obtain traffic monitoring for all sections of the road. They were dazzled by therge number of small windows on the big screen. After several hours of continuous tracing, Yu Hanjiang finally found the source of the car.

    6K501 was driven from a downtown entertainment venue. A nearby intersection camera caught the driver¡¯s seat. The man in the driver¡¯s seat was wearing sunsses and a mask. His face couldn¡¯t be seen at all. Yu Hanjiang magnified the image several times and found that this person was wearing a distinctive ring on the hand holding the steering wheel.

    Yu Hanjiang sent the photo to the WeChat group. ¡°Xiao Lou,pare this photo to Cheng Yu¡¯s information.¡±

    Xiao Lou soon gave an answer. ¡°Looking at his clothes, hairstyle and the ring on his hand, this person should be Cheng Yu.¡±

    The traffic road monitoring of Binzhou City wasplete enough. Through the two license te numbers, Yu Hanjiang found irond evidence. They couldn¡¯t run from the long arm of thew.

    It was Cheng Yu, the celebrity eight years younger than her who entered the vi with Lin Yiyan in the early hours of the morning!

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 244: Starlight Entertainment 06

    TL Note: Hi guys, it will soon be the sixth anniversary of when I started tranting on December 7th. To celebrate, I have decided to hold a fanart and fanfictionpetition for all the novels I have tranted on CG (includingpleted ones) where you can gain the chance to win some cash prizes ranging from $25 ¨C 125 USD. Check out the event details below and I hope many of you join in!

    Event Details Page

    It was already dark when Yu Hanjiang returned to the police. He sent his colleagues home and nned to stay upte to work overtime by himself. The entire corridor was empty and dark. Only a warm light was shining in his office. It seemed that someone had forgotten to turn it off. Yu Hanjiang pushed open the door suspiciously.

    It was Xiao Lou waiting for him in the office.

    Xiao Lou obviously hadn¡¯t finished work. He was still wearing the white coat as he sat quietly at the desk, hisptop open as he carefully checked the information. After hearing the door being pushed open, Xiao Lou raised his head and met Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes. A smile immediately appeared as he stood up. ¡°Group Leader Yu, you¡¯re back? You definitely haven¡¯t eaten yet. I ordered takeout for you. Let¡¯s eat first.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The feeling of having someone waiting for him toe back was very subtle. Yu Hanjiang felt warm and it seemed that even the lights in the room had warmed up. He looked over at Xiao Lou and smiled at him. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes curved in a smile. ¡°Why so polite? Come eat. I don¡¯t know if it suits your taste or not.¡±

    ¡®As long as you buy it, everything is to my taste.¡¯

    Yu Hanjiang thought like this as he sat down beside Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou opened the box and revealed braised chicken leg, three home-cooked side dishes and egg drop soup. It was very rich.

    Obviously, Xiao Lou had been distressed that Yu Hanjiang had been busy all day and wanted to give Group Leader Yu some nutritious food.

    In the past when encountering difficult cases, Yu Hanjiang often worked overtime and forgot to eat. He didn¡¯t expect Xiao Lou to be so careful that he stayed in the office and waited. Xiao Lou even ordered takeout for him.

    This takeout was really delicious.

    Yu Hanjiang ate arge meal and soon cleared the te. Xiao Lou knew this person was so busy today that he didn¡¯t even eat lunch. Therefore, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help worrying. ¡°This secret room has no time limit. You don¡¯t have to work so hard and should eat your meals on time.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was soft. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll listen to you.¡±

    It felt good to be cared for. The exhaustion of the entire day disappeared the moment he saw Xiao Lou. Yu Hanjiang walked over to Xiao Lou in a good mood. He ced one hand on the desktop and leaned over to look at Xiao Lou¡¯sptop screen. ¡°How is the data organization?¡±

    Xiao Lou opened a document. ¡°I¡¯ve been reading the information all afternoon. Lin Yiyan entered the entertainment industry with the character setting of a ¡®gentledy.¡¯ She reads many books and is talented. She can also y the piano. She has a good temper and gets along with people in the circle on the surface. She had her birthday on October 29thst month and there were at least 50 well-known celebrities in the circle who sent her blessings. Her poprity seems very good.¡±

    As he checked the information, Xiao Lou also searched for information on the Inte and took screenshots of Weibo posts. On October 29th, Lin Yiyan¡¯s birthday caused her to go on the hot search. This showed how popr she was.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and thought for a moment. ¡°At present, Lin Yiyan gives the impression that she is a bit unreal. She is beautiful, has good acting skills, a good temperament and good poprity. Her shorings can hardly be picked out.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded in agreement. I also think that Lin Yiyan among fans and people in the circle is like a character set by thepany. It isn¡¯t the real her. By the way, I also checked her debut history and found some problems.¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully listed Lin Yiyan¡¯s experiences over the years written in the document.

    10 years ago, the 20 year old Lin Yiyan was a sophomore student at the movie academy. She went to participate in an audition and was favoured by the director. She starred in a youth idol drama ¡®Young Hearts¡¯ which had very little investment. The male and female protagonists were both neers and the drama followed the small and fresh style. Unexpectedly, it was scored extremely high after being broadcasted on the Inte and Lin Yiyan became an instant hit.

    She became famous at the age of 20 and her star journey after that was a one-way trip.

    After Young Hearts became hot, she didn¡¯t continue to take more youth idol dramas. She took a costume martial arts drama with unpopr themes and a low-cost production. However, she was so popr that she zed through the highlypetitive summer season and won the top ratings. Netizensmented that she was a rare neer with both appearance and acting skills.

    Over the years, Lin Yiyan shot TV dramas and each one had guaranteed ratings. It had to be said that Lin Yiyan was very good at choosing scripts.

    She entered the movie market at the age of 27. The box office and word of mouth of several movies she starred in were good and she won some awards. The age of 30 should be the most beautiful year for her. She starred in the superrge IP costume drama World of Mortals not to mention that the movie she participated in broke a box office record. She also won the ¡®Best Actress¡¯ trophy at the most valuable movie festival in the circle.

    Yu Hanjiang carefully watched the debut experience that Xiao Lou summed up and analyzed it. ¡°She has progressed too smoothly over the years. She is either a lucky person or someone is behind her helping her. Based on her family background, her parents are just ordinarypany employees. There is no one in the entertainment industry among her rtives and friends¡­ who was the investor in her first drama?¡±

    If she had met a financial backer in that drama and hugged the thighs of a local tyrant in the entertainment industry, the financial backer would then rmend various resources to her. It could exin when she progressed so smoothly.

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°It is written Chief Shao in the credits.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang opened the WeChat group and directly sent a message to Shao Qingge. ¡°@Shao Qingge the youth campus online drama Young Hearts was invested in and filmed by Starlight Entertainment 10 years ago. Do you still have the crew information? You were an investor. Do you have any impression of what happened in the past?¡±

    Shao Qingge quickly replied, ¡°I found that thepany invested several million in this drama. Neers were invited to y and it was a project to test the water. The actor auditions were decided by the director. Qi Ming was thepany¡¯s representative and followed up on this matter. Ourpany shot the drama to select talented seedlings to cultivate. Lin Yiyan signed a contract with thepany because of this drama.¡±

    Chief Shao naturally couldn¡¯t be Lin Yiyan¡¯s financial backer. Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°In other words, Lin Yiyan has been following Qi Ming since her debut. Was it Qi Ming who discovered her?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Qi Ming is thepany¡¯s ace agent and has looked after several celebrities before. The people he likes will definitely have no problems. Lin Yiyan has been following him since signing the contract and it has been 10 years.¡±

    Xiao Lou brought up the promotional trailer of the drama and watched it with Yu Hanjiang.

    The 20 year old Lin Yiyan was indeed pure but the entertainment industry had nevercked beauties. There were many young and beautiful girlspeting for the same role. Why did the agent Qi Ming and the director of this drama choose Lin Yiyan?

    Was Lin Yiyan just particrly good or was there a hidden deal?

    It wasn¡¯t new for certain stars in the entertainment industry to have sex with the director in order to grab a role. Lin Yiyan looked innocent and gentle on the surface. As for whether she used other means to grab the role, they would have to continue investigating the people involved.

    Xiao Lou turned back and asked, ¡°Were there any clues from the traffic police side?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang repeated the information he found and Xiao Lou frowned. ¡°It was Cheng Yu who entered the vi that night? This means that Cheng Yu and Lin Yiyan should be having an affair. However, there was Lin Yiyan¡¯s body in the bathroom and no traces of semen were found in the body, nor were there any condoms. Did they do it in the bathroom? Are they so clean?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke seriously. ¡°They drove two cars in so perhaps it was car y. The two car license te numbers are 501 and 502. If they did it in the car then it is normal that no traces were found in the house.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Group Leader Yu, you seemed to really understand this?

    Xiao Lou was too embarrassed to continue this topic and said, ¡°I just checked Cheng Yu¡¯s information. His identity is a bit special.¡± As he spoke, he opened a document for Yu Hanjiang. ¡°His father is Cheng Jianqiang, the owner of thergest real estatepany in Binzhou City. Cheng Yu is the only child of the Cheng family. If he can¡¯t make it in the entertainment industry then he can go back and inherit the family business.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang came to take a look.

    In the contract that Cheng Yu signed, only the names of his parents were written in the family members column and their upation was listed as pany employees¡¯. However, Xiao Lou searched it up and found that this couple happened to match the names of the husband and wife of thergest real estatepany in Binzhou.

    Then Shao Qingge confirmed it. Cheng Yu was indeed a rich second generation and was acting in the entertainment industry purely because he was interested. He had a bad temper and often left when something didn¡¯t agree with him. He was very willful.

    Yu Hanjiang analyzed it. ¡°Cheng Yu is a rich second generation and has no obvious motives for killing. There are many assets in the family waiting for him to inherit. It isn¡¯t worth it for him to torture and kill a female celebrity.¡±

    Xiao Lou also agreed with Yu Hanjiang. A rich second generation worth billions of yuan was so deeply in love with a female star eight years older than him in the entertainment industry that he would kill her? The rich second generations weren¡¯t so brainless.

    Yu Hanjiang added. ¡°One more thing. Lin Yiyan had already put on pyjamas and took off her makeup when she died.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Many celebrities will show a big difference before and after removing makeup. If Lin Yiyan likes Cheng Yu then she will definitely show him her more beautiful side. My spection is that Lin Yiyan and Cheng Yu had a rtionship in the car that night. After Cheng Yu drove away, Lin Yiyan removed her makeup, took a bath and prepared to go to bed. Only then did the murderer act.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Judging from the timeline and on-site evidence, this is indeed the case.¡±

    Xiao Lou paused as he remembered something. ¡°Both cars weren¡¯t at the scene. Cheng Yu drove away in 501 so what about the other car? Where is Lin Yiyan¡¯s car?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang rubbed his temple. ¡°I checked the whereabouts of the two cars with the traffic police. Judging from the surveince records, Cheng Yu¡¯s car no. 501 left Yuehu Vi at 3 a.m. Car no. 502 left at 4 a.m. It is an hour apart. Except for Lin Yiyan and Cheng Yu, there must be a third person. After killing Lin Yiyan, the murderer drove her car and took her mobile phone. In this way, themunity¡¯s security would think Lin Yiyan already left.¡±

    Lin Yiyan¡¯s body was frozen in the bathtub and it would be hard to find it for a long time. Lin Yiyan¡¯s car was taken out and the murderer also took Lin Yiyan¡¯s mobile phone and sent WeChat messages to her agent and friends. Everyone would think that Lin Yiyan was still alive.

    The murderer could always pretend to be Lin Yiyan and send messages. Finally, she would announce that she quit acting and would fade out of the entertainment circle.

    There were only a few people who knew Lin Yiyan¡¯s secret residence. The false image created by the murderer would be hard to find suspicious. A living person would be able to disappear without a trace.

    During this period, the murderer would be free to take care of the body. The murderer had clearly nned this for a long time.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes suddenly brightened. ¡°The murderer knows Lin Yiyan¡¯s whereabouts very well. They could act immediately when Lin Yiyan returned to the Yuehu Vi area. Perhaps¡­ the murderer also lives in thismunity?¡±

    The Yuehu Vi area was located on the outskirts of the city. The scenery was excellent and there were no other residential areas around it. It was very secluded and could only be reached by driving through a mountain road. This obviously wasn¡¯t a sudden case but a nned murder that had been prepared for a long time.

    It would be a very tight timeframe if the murderer headed for the vi area after learning that Lin Yiyan and Cheng Yu had returned there. However, what if the killer lived in the vi area? Then it would be much easier to act!

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou appreciatively. ¡°I think so as well. Let¡¯s rest. Tomorrow, I will go to the property management and get a list of owners in the Yuehu Vi area. I will also stop by the movie and television studio to ask Cheng Yu about the situation that night.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. It was time for them to join the crew and meet their other teammates.

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 245: Starlight Entertainment 07

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou sorted out the information at the police station until midnight.

    This time, the keeper of the secret room had not only arranged identities for everyone but also arranged vehicles and amodation. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiangs¡¯s work units were together and the residence information was also instilled in their minds by the keeper. Xiao Lou¡¯s ce happened to be in Dongfu Jiayuan, which was the samemunity as the agent Qi Ming. After working overtime, Yu Hanjiang drove Xiao Lou home.

    It was the early hours of the morning and there were few vehicles on the road. They went all the way unimpeded. After arriving at the gate of Xiao Lou¡¯s residence, Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou and said in a low voice, ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard today. Go back and rest earlier. Let¡¯s talk about things tomorrow.¡±

    Xiao Lou responded, ¡°You too. Go to bed early.¡±

    He opened the door and got out of the car. Yu Hanjiang rolled down the window and said, ¡°I will pick you up tomorrow at 7:30. It is on the way and we¡¯ll go to work together.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Okay, good night.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang watched Xiao Lou leave before driving his car to the intersection in front. Then he turned and headed in another direction.

    On the way? This wasn¡¯t the case at all. The ce where he lived was more than 20 kilometres away from Xiao Lou. He just wanted to send Xiao Lou home.

    Due to the detour from sending Xiao Lou home, it was already one in the morning when Yu Hanjiang arrived at his ce. He turned on the light and his eyes swept quickly across the room. This was a bachelor apartment with an area of around 60 square metres. There was one bedroom, one living room, one kitchen and one bathroom. It was enough for him to live by himself but it felt deserted. His heart was inexplicably empty.

    Yu Hanjiang took off his coat and couldn¡¯t help missing the time when he and Xiao Lou yed the role of husband and wife and shared a bed in 8 of Hearts. In this secret room, they were just a police officer and forensics doctor. They were colleagues and lived in different ces.

    Yu Hanjiang pressed a hand to his temple, put away his confused thoughts andy in bed to rest after taking a shower.

    He was too busy today and ran to several ces in a row. He questioned many people involved in the case and worked overtime until midnight to sort out the information. At this time, he was already exhausted. His body was overloaded and he fell asleep almost instantly when his head touched the pillow.

    The next day, Yu Hanjiang got up on time since he had set an rm clock. He drove to pick up Xiao Lou at 7:30 and Xiao Lou was already waiting for him at the gates of themunity while carrying a stic bag. Yu Hanjiang parked the car on the side of the road and Xiao Lou got in and handed him the bag.

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°What is this?¡±

    He opened it and found a cup of hot soy milk, an egg and two buns.

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou exined with a smile, ¡°I guessed that you didn¡¯t have breakfast so I bought it for you. Let¡¯s eat first. It will only take two minutes.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang hummed in agreement. It was a winter morning but drinking the warm milk prepared by Xiao Lou, his mind was filled with warmth. He quickly drank the milk and then started the car. ¡°Did you sleep wellst night?¡±

    ¡°Last night, I went back and fell asleep until dawn.¡± Xiao Lou paused before continuing. ¡°This morning, I found something interesting.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Yu Hanjiang nced over. ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°I saw the agent Qi Ming hurrying away when I went downstairs.¡± Xiao Lou said. ¡°There were also a dozen olddies doing the square dance in themunity. I told them that the man was my friend and asked if they knew him. An aunt told me that Qi Ming often walks his dog alone in themunity at night. He looks talented but seems to be single. Everyone wanted to introduce a girlfriend to him but he smiled and said that he has a girlfriend. However, they never saw him bring a girl back.¡±

    ¡°Another old man told me that Doudou seemed to have died of illness a few days ago.¡± Xiao Lou thoughtfully stroked his chin. ¡°Doudou is the name of the dog he raised and it suddenly died of illness. Would this have anything to do with Lin Yiyan¡¯s death?¡±

    The aunts in themunity were keen on gossip and loved to introduce people to young men and women. Qi Ming was a well-known agent in the entertainment industry but he rarely showed up in public. It was normal for the neighbours in themunity to not recognize him.

    It wasn¡¯t a coincidence that Xiao Lou was arranged to live in the samemunity as Qi Ming so he took advantage of the time this morning to inquire about the agent¡¯s situation. He didn¡¯t expect to get clues about the death of Qi Ming¡¯s pet a few days ago.

    At the intersection, Yu Hanjiang stopped the car and looked over at Xiao Lou. ¡°Qi Ming really is unmarried. My guess is that his girlfriend is probably from the entertainment industry so it wasn¡¯t convenient to bring her back to his residence.¡±

    Last night, the two of thempiled all the information rted to the agent, the popr star Cheng Yu and the female editor-in-chief of the magazine. This included their family background, marriage status and property status.

    Qi Ming was now 38 years old and still unmarried. This made Yu Hanjiang feel suspicious.

    The information that Xiao Lou obtained from the neighbours in themunity caused Yu Hanjiang to frown slightly. ¡°Qi Ming didn¡¯t mention a single word regarding the dog¡¯s situation in the transcript yesterday. Of course, the dog died at home so it doesn¡¯t need to be stated in the transcript. However, what if the dog was given to him by a relevant person? Or it has a special meaning¡­ this isn¡¯t simple.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought carefully. ¡°His girlfriend is the key.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, it looks like I¡¯m going to have to invite him over today.¡±

    The light turned green and Yu Hanjiang no longer chatted. He elerated and drove to the police station. At 7:50, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou returned to their offices to work. The moment Yu Hanjiang took off his coat and put on a police uniform in the locker room, he saw Xiao Wu rushing over nervously. ¡°Group Leader Yu, Lin Yiyan¡¯s parents are here.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and turned to go out.

    After Lin Yiyan¡¯s body was found yesterday, the police immediately notified her family and the two elderly people arrived by ne in the middle of the night. Yu Hanjiang greeted them and took them to the forensics centre to im the remains.

    Xiao Lou had changed into a white coat. He and Yu Hanjiang looked at each other before bringing Lin Yiyan¡¯s parents to the morgue. In the cold morgue, a drawer was slowly opened by Xiao Lou. Seeing the pale face of the corpse lying inside, Lin Yiyan¡¯s mother knelt to the ground and burst into tears. Her father was also wiping his tears.

    Xiao Lou really couldn¡¯t bear it when he saw the two haggard old people.

    Yu Hanjiang stood by silently. After a long time, the olddy grabbed Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hand. She was trembling all over as she cried. ¡°Police officer, who killed my daughter? You must find the murderer! Give my daughter justice!¡±

    Father Lin gritted his teeth. ¡°This beast! In the end, who on earth did my daughter offend to be subjected to this?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told them softly, ¡°Please rest assured that we will find Miss Lin¡¯s killer. However, we need your assistance with the investigation.¡±

    The two wept and closed the drawer. Then they went with Yu Hanjiang to the interrogation room to make a transcript.

    Father Lin and Mother Lin spoke highly of their daughter. They said that Lin Yiyan had good grades ever since she was a child. Every time she took an exam, she was at the top of her ss. She could¡¯ve been admitted to a key university but she was very interested in acting. She took the art test and went to an acting school¡­

    Lin Yiyan was very stubborn about this matter and her parents had to give in. Before she left, they told her, ¡°We aren¡¯t rich and don¡¯t know any bosses. You are a girl and must learn to protect yourself in aplicated ce like the entertainment industry.¡±

    Lin Yiyan promised that she would be clean and love herself. She would study hard and find a way using her acting skills.

    In the years since her debut, she would call her parents every time a new drama wasunched. After earning money, she would buy clothes and jewellery for her parents. Most of her savings were left to her parents for safekeeping. She also bought her parents a house in a prime location in the city. She could be called very filial.

    Yu Hanjiang asked in a low voice, ¡°Do you know about Miss Lin¡¯s emotional experiences?¡±

    The two elders were surprised. Mother Lin forced back her tears and said, ¡°My daughter has never been in love. She said she would put her career first and wait until she was 35 years old to consider love and marriage. We all know that she has been trending in recent years and didn¡¯t dare to urge her. It is normal for female celebrities to get marriedte. We respected her decision.¡±

    After listening to Mother Lin¡¯s answer, Yu Hanjiang knew that he didn¡¯t have to continue asking.

    Lin Yiyan¡¯s rtionship history should be very confusing but she always maintained the personality of a ¡®good girl¡¯ in front of her parents. Therefore, she never talked to her parents about personal matters including her affair with the rich second generation Cheng Yu.

    Yu Hanjiang changed the topic. ¡°Does Miss Lin have the habit of keeping a diary?¡±

    Mother Lin nodded. ¡°Yes, she kept a diary in high school. There was just one and we brought it this time in case it could be useful¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told them, ¡°Can I trouble you to temporarily hand over this diary to the police as evidence? I will return it after the case is resolved.¡±

    Mother Lin cooperatively handed over the diary.

    Yu Hanjiang inquired, ¡°Did Lin Yiyan offend anyone during her school years?¡±

    Father Lin replied in a deep voice, ¡°My daughter was very popr in school. She was also the president of the student union for a year during university. She was happy every time she went home for the holidays. I¡¯ve never heard of her offending anyone.¡±

    Mother Lin was choked up. ¡°My daughter has always been well behaved. Who would be so cruel as to actually kill my daughter? Officer, you must definitely find them!¡±

    Yu Hanjiangforted the couple while taking notes. Once he finished asking all the questions, he sent the two elders away.

    Back at the office, his phone lit up. It was a WeChat message from Xiao Lou. ¡°How was it? Did you get any clues from them?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°There was a diary from Lin Yiyan¡¯s high school days. In terms of interpersonal rtionships, the two of them don¡¯t know anything. Lin Yiyan was very filial to her parents financially but didn¡¯t tell them anything about private matters.¡±

    After all, the entertainment industry was too messy and maybe she hadplicated rtionships with many people. In the hearts of her parents, she had always been that excellent and well behaved daughter. It was natural that she didn¡¯t want to tell her parents about this.

    Yu Hanjiang sat at his desk and opened the diary.

    Lin Yiyan¡¯s handwriting was neat and clear. The format of the diary was also very uniform. It had X year, X month, X day, the weather, her mood and what happened¡­ she had been used to recording her secrets this way since she was young.

    Yu Hanjiang quickly looked through it and found a clue.

    In her second year of high school, Lin Yiyan became obsessed with a famous actor Xie Yuan. Her diary was full of: ¡®Brother is so handsome¡¯, ¡®my husband is the most handsome person in the world¡¯, ¡®I really want to go to my brother¡¯s concert¡¯, ¡®my brother is so handsome in his new drama. I¡¯m crying¡¯¡­

    For a long time, the diary was full of the name of her idol male god. It was precisely due to this that she changed her mind and went to apply for Xie Yuan¡¯s alma mater. She became a student of the acting department of the Movie Academy.

    The diary stopped abruptly on the day the art exam ended. Thest page read, ¡°Great, I was admitted to the Movie Academy. I will be able to study at the same school as my male god in the future! I must go to the ces where he has been. In the future, maybe I can cooperate with the male god to act in a TV series together? For my male god!¡±

    This was obviously an idol obsessed girl.

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Gentle and well behaved? The style of the diary waspletely ipatible with the character of Lin Yiyan in the eyes of her fans. All the actors in the entertainment industry were good at acting. In fact, it was difficult for Yu Hanjiang to judge so far. What type of person was the real Lin Yiyan?

    6th Anniversary Event Page

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 246: Starlight Entertainment 08

    Xie Yuan, the name repeatedly mentioned in the diary made Yu Hanjiang puzzled. He quickly searched for the male actor¡¯s information. During the time when Lin Yiyan was still in high school, Xie Yuan was a popr star in the entertainment industry. Now Xie Yuan was a middle-aged man in his 30s and his wife was a singer queen. They had one son and one daughter. On the surface, the family looked happy.

    Yu Hanjiang quickly found Xie Yuan¡¯s contact information from Chief Shao¡¯s information folder and called to inquire.

    Xie Yuan received a call from the police and was very puzzled. ¡°Lin Yiyan? Of course I know her. She is an artist from the samepany. She previously toasted me atpany events and said I was her idol when she was young. She was very polite.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Did you have any private contact with her?¡±

    Xie Yuan denied it. ¡°I haven¡¯t contacted her much. I just gave her my contact information politely. I have been very quiet for a long time because I am focusing on raising my two children at home. Officer, why are you suddenly asking me this? Did something happen to Lin Yiyan?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment. ¡°It is rted to a criminal case. If necessary, we will contact you. I hope you can assist in the investigation.¡±

    The other person was stunned and only replied after a while. ¡°Okay, although I really don¡¯t know much about Miss Lin.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang hung up and looked at the diary thoughtfully again.

    Xie Yuan seemed to be innocent. Lin Yiyan was 10 years younger than him. She had been crazy in love with the male god when she was a girl so she stepped into the entertainment circle. By the time she debuted, her male god was already married and had children, so she decided to give up. For Lin Yiyan, Xie Yuan was just a dream when she was young.

    Yu Hanjiang carefully checked and found that the two people didn¡¯t meet in the circle, nor did they coborate on any variety shows, movies or dramas. As for whether there was any personal contact, Lin Yiyan was dead and there was no evidence to prove it. The credibility of Xie Yuan¡¯s words had yet to be investigated.

    Yu Hanjiang put away the yellowing diary and thought of something. ¡°She used to write in a diary. Did she continue to keep a diary after entering the entertainment circle?¡±

    She was too embarrassed to tell her family many things and didn¡¯t dare tell her friends. Writing in a diary was also a way to vent.

    Lin Yiyan in high school wrote every diary entry very seriously. The format was uniform and the handwriting was neat. The habit she had cultivated over the years might not have changed. Then where would her diary be kept?

    Yu Hanjiang took a deep breath, picked up the hat on the table and put it on. He walked out of the office and called a few people. ¡°Follow me right away and search all of Lin Yiyan¡¯s residences!¡±

    Yesterday, Yu Hanjiang discovered Lin Yiyan¡¯s body and sent someone to seal off Lin Yiyan¡¯s residence. The moment the search was received, he would enter the apartment. ording to the agent¡¯s description, Lin Yiyan had three houses. Apart from the Yuehu Vi area and the house for her parents, she often lived in a high-end apartment in the city. On the day of the incident, Lin Yiyan had changed cars in this apartment¡¯s underground garage and left.

    Yu Hanjiang took several young policemen to search Lin Yiyan¡¯s apartment. The house was very messy with many magazines and snacks on the table and clothes scattered everywhere. It wasn¡¯t the same as the neat and clean Yuehu vi. Yu Hanjiang quickly scanned the room and found Lin Yiyan¡¯sptop in the corner.

    She should¡¯ve pulled the curtains and sat barefoot on the carpet ying with theputer. She left in a hurry and ced theputer on the carpet. At this time, theptop was turned off. Many changes of clothes and cosmetics were found in the apartment but no diary.

    High school students liked to write diary entries with a pen. Perhaps she used aputer to write itter? Thinking of this, Yu Hanjiang took theptop back and handed it to the professional personnel to crack.

    After checking theptop carefully, Yu Hanjiang found that herputer was full of scripts, contracts, promotional photos¡­

    There were no traces of a diary. It was some photos that caught his attention. Lin Yiyan had created a special folder called ¡®Photos¡¯ on herputer. He opened it and most of them were promotional photos of her new drama as well as daily street shots and airport snapshots. There were no big problems.

    However, there was a hidden folder among them. He disyed the hidden folder and found that it was encrypted.

    Yu Hanjiang found someone to crack the password and the contents of the folder were finally presented in front of Yu Hanjiang. They were all photos of Lin Yiyan and her agent Qi Ming. In addition, there were some videos that were quite intimate.

    Yu Hanjiang thought about what Xiao Lou mentioned this morning and couldn¡¯t help frowning. He sent a message to Xiao Lou. ¡°Xiao Lou,e here. I have some new discoveries.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s office was next to the police station. He quickly came over to find Yu Hanjiang. Then he saw the photos and had an expression that said ¡®Sure enough¡¯. He told Yu Hanjiang, ¡°It seems that the girlfriend of Qi Ming never seen by the neighbours is Lin Yiyan.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Lin Yiyan made her debut 10 years ago. Qi Ming was responsible for the web drama Young Hearts right?¡±

    ¡°We were discussing it yesterday. There were so many beautiful women who participated in the auditions. Why did Qi Ming choose Lin Yiyan who has no background? Now it seems that the two of them were already lovers at the time.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang opened a photo of the 20 year old Lin Yiyan and the 28 year old Qi Ming.

    At that time, Qi Ming was already a well-known agent of Starlight Entertainment and he had looked after many celebrities. Thepany¡¯s boss had asked Qi Ming to take charge of this project in order to discover some movie school students and find a few good seedlings to cultivate.

    In the photo, Qi Ming was wearing a suit and looked mature and stable. His appearance might not be as good as the male stars in the entertainment circle but it was pretty good after all, he had been in the circle for several years. He gave off the unique charm of a mature man.

    Lin Yiyan looked young and innocent. She leaned into Qi Ming¡¯s arms with a pure and sweet smile.

    Xiao Lou looked at this photo. ¡°Qi Ming has been Lin Yiyan¡¯s agent for 10 years. Judging from the photo, the underground rtionship between them has alsosted 10 years, right?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°It is because of this closer rtionship that Qi Ming rmended so many good resources to her. We have seen Lin Yiyan¡¯s parents today. They are ordinary working ss people. It is Qi Ming who helped Lin Yiyan be popr when she was an ordinary person with no background.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°I checked the information and had thought it was strange that Lin Yiyan didn¡¯t have any bad TV dramas. Every one she acted in became popr. Her vision for choosing scripts was too strong. Now it seems that this was all Qi Ming¡¯s contributions. After all, Qi Ming is the ace agent of Starlight Entertainment and has many resources in hand. He picks the best ones for Lin Yiyan and it is hard for Lin Yiyan to not be popr.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang gently raised his eyebrow. He looked at the photos while tapping his finger against the desk as he analyzed it. ¡°The agent who paid silently behind her found out the woman he had been with for 10 years kicked him away after bing popr. She got together with a hot new star. He has many motives to kill Lin Yiyan.¡±

    ¡°In addition, the dog he raised died of illness a few days ago. This is very strange and too coincidental.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spected, ¡°Maybe it was a dog he bought with Lin Yiyan or the gift that Lin Yiyan gave him. After he knew that Lin Yiyan cheated on him, the pet was killed out of anger.¡±

    They looked at each other. These were reasonable assumptions based on current evidence.

    10 years ago, Lin Yiyan and Qi Ming had a close rtionship. The ordinary girl with no background relied on her agent to be her cheat. The journey went smoothly and she became very popr. Qi Ming used all his resources to support her and was obviously very attentive to her. From the photo, the two people were smiling together quite sweetly.

    However, one would always get bored eating the same dish for a long time, especially in aplicated environment like the entertainment industry where there were too many handsome men and beautiful women. There were also too many temptations for money. For the 20 year old Lin Yiyan, Qi Ming was the most powerful agent who could make her popr. However, what about after she became popr? She saw more of the circle and maybe she thought the agent was no longer important?

    In addition, Qi Ming was already old and his appearance was much worse than the male stars in the entertainment industry. Inparison, Cheng Yu was young, handsome and a rich second generation. Lin Yiyan didn¡¯t feel much for her agent Qi Ming and had an affair with the young star. After being discovered by her agent, did he kill her out of anger?

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and thought about it. The logic chain he reasoned out with Xiao Lou was clear andplete. Lin Yiyan¡¯s fingernails also contained Qi Ming¡¯s skin and hair. This showed that she had some physical contact with Qi Ming on the day of the crime.

    Qi Ming and the editor-in-chief went home at 11:30 that night. Lin Yiyan and Cheng Yu¡¯s two cars appeared at the Yuehu vi one after another at 2:00 in the morning. Cheng Yu¡¯s car 501 left at 3:00 a.m. and Lin Yiyan¡¯s car 502 left at 4:00 a.m.

    Between 2:00 and 3:00, Lin Yiyan and Cheng Yu should be having an affair in the vi. No matter the identity of the murderer, they wouldn¡¯t kill Lin Yiyan in front of Cheng Yu. Therefore, the murderer should¡¯ve killed her after Cheng Yu left. This was between 3:00 and 4:00 when they took her car away.

    Yesterday, the two of them had inferred that the murderer was lurking in the Yuehu Vi area in advance. Otherwise, it would be toote to drive over after learning that Lin Yiyan had returned to the vi.

    Qi Ming didn¡¯t have any alibi after 11:30 that night. The editor-in-chief could only prove that she sent him home by 11:30 p.m. No one knew what he did after he got home. He had plenty of time to rush to the vi in advance. He definitely wouldn¡¯t have driven over since his car was taken by Lin Yiyan during the meal. He could¡¯ve taken a taxi but the police didn¡¯t find any evidence of that.

    Yu Hanjiang told Xiao Lou, ¡°I want to go to the vi area again. I want to check the monitoring ofst night in detail. In addition, I will find the property manager to get the list of all the owners in the vi area. Do you want toe with me?¡±

    Xiao Lou was certainly willing to follow Group Leader Yu. His autopsy wasplete and he had nothing to do. The two of them went together to the Yuehu Vi area. Yu Hanjiang had called them in advance so the property management had prepared all the owners¡¯ names and registered vehicles.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou carefully inspected it but found that Qi Ming didn¡¯t have any real estate in thismunity or a house registered under his parents. It seemed that Qi Ming didn¡¯t live here. Still, he might¡¯ve learned that Lin Yiyan wanted toe here after she received the message.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the surveince, focusing on the surveince throughout the day on Tuesday.

    An entire day¡¯s video was too long so Yu Hanjiang asked the security guard to y it at five times the speed. Xiao Lou was dazzled by the fast shing footage but Yu Hanjiang watched it very professionally. He stared at the screen for a long time before suddenly shouting, ¡°Stop.¡±

    The security guard pressed the pause button. Yu Hanjiang walked over, took the mouse and rewound the video to five minutes ago. The normal speed yback started and a person quickly appeared in the video.

    At 12:30, a man with a height of around 1.75 metres appeared at the gate of themunity wearing a ck down jacket. He wore the down jacket, a hat, a mask and a scarf. He showed only his eyes so from his appearance, it was impossible to tell his identity.

    However, Yu Hanjiang confidently dered, ¡°It is Qi Ming.¡±

    6th Anniversary Event Page

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 247: Starlight Entertainment 09

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ability to recognize people was better than Xiao Lou¡¯s. This person¡¯s eyes had only briefly shed by during the surveince yet he caught it. The man who wrapped himself up and appeared at the vi was the agent Qi Ming.

    After Qi Ming appeared home at 11:30, he changed his clothes and took a taxi to the Yuehu Vi area. He didn¡¯t mention any of this during the transcript. He lied to Yu Hanjiang. This person¡¯s acting skills were too superb. If there wasn¡¯t sufficient evidence, Yu Hanjiang would¡¯ve almost believed him. At present, all doubts pointed to the agent Qi Ming.

    The two of them copied the information from the Yuehu Vi property management and went back. Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Do you want to call Qi Ming?¡±

    ¡°Yes as long as he hasn¡¯t run yet.¡±

    The moment he said this, Xiao Wu came over breathlessly. ¡°Group Leader Yu, you are really like a god. You had us watch Qi Ming and a colleague said that after Qi Ming came out of Starlight Entertainment, he took a taxi to the airport. It is as if he is going somewhere¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Call the airport immediately and stop him for me!¡±

    Qi Ming was intercepted at the airport and wore an ugly look when he was brought to the police station.

    He squeezed his fists hard and the veins on the back of his hand bulged. ¡°Group Leader Yu, I have a very important contract to sign with someone today. If you stop me like this then it will seriously dy my work. How do I exin it to thepany?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied indifferently, ¡°Mr Qi, don¡¯t worry. I have already talked to Chief Shao. Chief Shao said that thepany owner should cooperate with the police investigation and this is the first priority. Work can be temporarily set aside.¡±

    Qi Ming was stunned. After a moment, his face eased slightly. He perceived that his attitude wasn¡¯t good and immediately changed his words. ¡°Sorry, I was too impatient. I¡¯ve been discussing this project for too long and it was finally settled. So what do you need from me, Group Leader Yu?¡±

    ¡°Mr Qi, after having dinner with Editor List Tuesday, you said she took you home. We have verified this and you didn¡¯t lie. Editor Li sent you home to the Dongfu Jiayuanmunity at 11:30 in the evening.¡±

    Qi Ming smiled. ¡°Of course. I don¡¯t have to lie.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s manner changed sharply. ¡°Where were you after 11:30?¡±

    Qi Ming was still smiling. ¡°Didn¡¯t I say it yesterday? It was toote after I got home and I was very tired. I took a shower and went to bed.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly. ¡°I will ask again. Where were you after 11:30 and can anyone prove it?¡±

    Qi Ming¡¯s smile was slightly stiff. ¡°What does that mean? Do I need proof that I slept at home?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang simply retrieved a photo. It was a shot of the man in ck at the entrance of the Yuehu Vimunity.

    Qi Ming, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Do you want to say that this person wearing the down jacket, hat and mask isn¡¯t you?¡±

    The next moment, Yu Hanjiang zoomed in on the photo. It was a close up of Qi Ming¡¯s eyes.

    Qi Ming, ¡°¡­¡­..¡±

    The man had his head down as he walked into themunity. Since he was fully covered, he aroused the suspicion of the security guard. The security guard called to him and he looked up, taking out themunity ess card. Then the security let him go.

    At this moment, the surveince captured his face. The ck mask covered his face and it couldn¡¯t be seen clearly. However, the eyes couldn¡¯t fool people at all. Qi Ming saw his eyes on the screen and his stiff, pretend smile gradually cracked.

    He had never seen Yu Hanjiang interrogate a suspect. This person directly showed him the photo taken by the surveince system and then erged his eyes. What the hell was this? He couldn¡¯t refute it at all!

    Yu Hanjiang demanded, ¡°Exin it.¡±

    He turned off the screen showing the photo, folded his arms across his chest and watched Qi Ming coldly. ¡°Why did you take a taxi at 12:30 in the morning and show up at Yuehu Vi?¡±

    Qi Ming forcibly maintained hisposure. ¡°I-I suddenly remembered that there was a problem with the schedule discussed with the editor-in-chief so I went to Yiyan to check it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°How did you know that Lin Yiyan would return to Yueha Vi instead of her city apartment?¡±

    Qi Ming was taken aback and found that he had stepped into anguage trap. Yesterday when he made his transcript, he said he had no contact with Lin Yiyan after the dinner. Wasn¡¯t this a p in the face? Confusion shed on his face and his lips trembled slightly. He didn¡¯t know how to answer. Then Yu Hanjiang continued. ¡°You have been in love with Lin Yiyan for 10 years. Did you know she was having an affair with Cheng Yu?¡±

    Qi Ming, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This sentence was like a thunderbolt that instantly made his heart burst. Few people knew about his hidden rtionship with Lin Yiyan. How did this police officer know?

    Qi Ming¡¯s facade was finallypletely torn apart. He lowered his head and his eyes turned red as he exined in a hoarse voice, ¡°I¡­ I knew. I actually went to her that day to persuade her to turn back. Her rtionship with Cheng Yu wasn¡¯t serious at all. How rich is Cheng Yu¡¯s family? Being with her was just for fun. Our rtionship hassted for so many years. As long as she turned back and quit the entertainment circle, I would marry her immediately.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang watched the man in front of him with some surprise. He hadn¡¯t expected this agent to be so infatuated. Seeing that Qi Ming was close to tears, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s attitude eased slightly. ¡°Exin in detail about your dog. How did it die?¡±

    Qi Ming stared at him in surprise. ¡°You know about this as well?!¡±

    This police officer was too magical. How could his background be checked in less than a day?

    Xiao Lou smiled from where he was sitting to the side and didn¡¯t talk.

    Qi Ming was shocked. He wanted to muddle through but he saw Yu Hanjiang¡¯s deep eyes and could only put away his thoughts. He rubbed his face to calm himself down and replied in a low voice, ¡°Doudou was the dog I bought with Yiyan the year I confirmed the rtionship with her. Yiyan really likes dogs but she didn¡¯t know how to raise a dog. Thus, she kept him with me. However, this year Doudou was 12 years old.¡±

    ¡°12 years old should be considered old for a dog?¡±

    Qi Ming was regretful. ¡°Yes, the life span for this breed of dog is only 12 or 13 years old. My Doudou was already very old. He had been sick since June of this year. Last week, he got a cold. I took him to be treated but¡­ he wasn¡¯t cured.¡±

    A trace of pain shed across Qi Ming¡¯s face as he spoke of the pet that had apanied him for 10 years. ¡°The dog I raised left and I buried him in the cemetery. At that time, I had a bad feeling. I always felt that the rtionship between Yiyan and I woulde to an end¡­¡±

    Qi Ming took a deep breath and tried to keep calm. ¡°I knew about her being with Cheng Yu a long time ago. I thought she just wanted freshness. She should know that I am serious about her or I wouldn¡¯t have given her all the best resources. During the meal, she received a WeChat message and went back early. I guessed it was Cheng Yu so I went to Yuehu Vi in the early morning to have a good talk with her.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly. ¡°Just talk?¡±

    Qi Ming raised his hand. ¡°I promise, I really only wanted to talk to her. I hoped she could change her mind and marry me.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°What did you see at the vi?¡±

    Qi Ming¡¯s expression became uglier. After a long silence, he replied, ¡°Yiyan wasn¡¯t in the vi. I waited for her downstairs for a long time. She drove back at around three in the morning. Cheng Yu¡¯s car was also behind her. I saw the two of them in the car¡­¡±

    Qi Ming¡¯s fists clenched when he recalled the scene and sweat dripped down his forehead. He took a deep breath and continued, ¡°Seeing her ying so crazily, I knew she couldn¡¯t turn back anymore. Therefore, I just left. I didn¡¯t want to struggle with her anymore. I nned to go back and break up with her. I would terminate the contract and let her find another agent.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stared strictly at Qi Ming. ¡°Is that all?¡±

    Qi Ming nodded. ¡°Yes, I left around 4 o¡¯clock.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked sharply, ¡°You saw her ying in the car with Cheng Yu at 3 o¡¯clock and left at 4 o¡¯clock? You stood by and watched the whole thing? Did you enter the vi after watching it?¡±

    Qi Ming was angry. ¡°I didn¡¯t watch the whole thing! I was furious at the time! How could I still watch?! My mind couldn¡¯t calm down so I went to a corner of themunity and smoked a whole packet of cigarettes!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou exchanged looks.

    Qi Ming had told many lies when he first made a transcript. Was this testimony credible?

    6th Anniversary Event Page

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 248: Starlight Entertainment 10

    Yu Hanjiang was still uncertain about the credibility of Qi Ming¡¯s words. He said that he smoked in the vi area for an hour in the middle of the night. This waspletely unreasonable.

    Yu Hanjiang raised his eyebrow slightly. ¡°You mean, from three to four in the morning, during a winter night, you smoked downstairs in the vi area for an hour? After smoking a whole pack of cigarettes, did you calm down and leave?¡±

    Qi Ming also seemed to think that his story wasn¡¯t credible and his expression was slightly embarrassed.

    Yu Hanjiang raised his head and stared sharply at the other person. ¡°Mr Qi, I have every reason to suspect that you are rted to the murder of Miss Lin Yiyan. I can apply for your criminal detention right now. If you keep lying, your testimony will be judged as an untrustworthy testimony which won¡¯t do you any good in the court in the future. If you want to clear your suspicion, you had better tell the truth.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang directly opened an inspection record from hisputer and transferred it to the screen, letting Qi Ming see the data on it.

    Qi Ming stared at theparative data and Xiao Lou exined it. ¡°Mr Qi might not understand. This is our assessment of the remaining skin and hair under Miss Lin¡¯s nails. The identification results prove that the DNA is consistent with you. In addition, there were several wine bottles in the trash can of Miss Lin¡¯s kitchen. Mr Qi¡¯s fingerprints were found on them.¡±

    Qi Ming, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    His face was pale and his lips trembled slightly.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou tacitly cooperated to y the roles of good cop and bad cop. Qi Ming¡¯s psychological defense was clearly on the verge of copse. Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou with admiration and continued to stare sternly at Qi Ming. ¡°Mr Qi, we have enough evidence to arrest you.¡±

    Qi Ming was so frightened that he immediately argued, ¡°I didn¡¯t kill her! I really didn¡¯t!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang folded his arms and leaned back in the chair. He watched the other person and demanded in a deep voice, ¡°After three in the morning, you clearly entered the vi. Be honest about what happened after that!¡±

    Qi Ming clenched his fists and sweat dripped down his forehead. He shivered and answered. ¡°After Cheng Yu left, I did enter the vi. At the time, I was very angry. I helped Lin Yiyan from when she was an unknown student to her current poprity. I gave all my best resources to her to make her popr yet she actually betrayed me!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang interjected lightly. ¡°So you hit her?¡±

    Qi Ming reached out, grabbed his hair and buried his face in her hands. He said in a hoarse voice, ¡°I didn¡¯t hit her but we tore at each other during the argument. She scratched my arm. She said that the reason why she was with Cheng Yu was because I had been reluctant to give her a promise. I was too cowardly. If I had proposed to her any time in the past 10 years, she would have agreed¡­¡±

    ¡°Listening to her say this, I really didn¡¯t feel good. I didn¡¯t take responsibility as a man. I never mentioned marriage in my 10 years with her. Once I finally mentioned it, she was no longer in love with me. So I couldn¡¯t me herpletely.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang calmly looked at the shaking man in front of him. ¡°And then?¡±

    Qi Ming was silent for a long time before raising his head. His eyes were bloodshot and he gazed at Yu Hanjiang sincerely. ¡°Officer Yu, everything I¡¯m saying this time is true. I calmed down and decided to break up with her peacefully. Lin Yiyan pulled out a few bottles of wine from her refrigerator and we drank some wine together. It was a farewell. I left the vi at around 3:30 in the morning. I smoked outside for a while and used my mobile phone to call a taxi to pick me up. The driver called and told me he arrived at 3:40. I took the car and left.¡±

    He opened the app on his phone and went to the record fromst Tuesday, showing it to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°I have a record here. You can check it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took the phone and looked at it. In the early hours ofst Tuesday, Qi Ming used the mobile app to call two taxis. The first one departed from Dongfu Jiayuan at 11:50 p.m. and arrived at Yuehu Vi at 12:30. As he said, he departed from Yuehu Vi at 3:40 a.m. and arrived at his residence in Dongfu Jiayuan at 4:20 a.m.

    The app showed theplete itinerary. It seemed that Qi Ming wasn¡¯t lying about the ride.

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Mr Qi, since you and Miss Lin decided to break up, didn¡¯t you notice that something was wrong when she sent you the WeChat message saying she was going to take a break?¡±

    Lin Yiyan was dead at the time and it was the murderer who used her mobile phone to send messages to the agent. Perhaps the murderer didn¡¯t know about Qi Ming and Lin Yiyan¡¯s breakup. When they sent the WeChat message, they said that she was too tired recently and needed a break. This didn¡¯t fit the rtionship of the two people at the time.

    Qi Ming was surprised and exined, ¡°My economic contract with Yiyan expires at the end of the year. We discussed it and decided to terminate the contract peacefully before it expires. This way, we can disperse and minimize the impact on each other¡¯s reputation. She still called me Brother Ming so I didn¡¯t think much when she sent me a WeChat asking for leave. I thought she was just tired and wanted to rest.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang quickly wrote down the answer and looked up. ¡°Think about what happened against Tuesday. Are there any omissions?¡±

    Qi Ming shook his head. ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°You left Lin Yiyan¡¯s house at 3:30. Did you meet anyone on the road?¡±

    Qi Ming firmly replied, ¡°It waste at night and the entire vi area was quiet. There wasn¡¯t a single figure on the road.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and had Qi Ming stay in the police station for 24 hours. As an important suspect, he couldn¡¯t leave for the time being. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou went to check his words.

    In the car, Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Group Leader Yu, you didn¡¯t think that Qi Ming was the murderer from the beginning?¡±

    Yuehu said, ¡°He has a motive formitting the crime and he appeared at the crime scene. If he is the murderer then the logic chain we reasoned out is veryplete. However, there are two keys missing.¡±

    Xiao Lou guessed it. ¡°The ice and when he left?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou and nodded appreciatively. ¡°Yes, he didn¡¯t carry arge amount of ice cubes when he appeared at the gate of the vi. This is difficult to exin. In addition, Lin Yiyan¡¯s car left themunity at 4 in the morning. Qi Ming said he took a taxi and left at 3:40. We did see a taxi at the entrance of themunity at 3:40 on the surveince video. This proves that Lin Yiyan¡¯s car wasn¡¯t driven by Qi Ming.¡±

    Xiao Lou thoughtfully touched his chin. ¡°Combining all the evidence so far, it could be urately locked down. Lin Yiyan was killed between 3:40 and 4:00 in the morning. It was within these 20 minutes?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°This is more proof that the murderer didn¡¯t kill impulsively. It was premeditated and carefully nned. This is why the timing was fast, ruthless and urate. The scene of the crime was also cleaned up quite well.¡±

    The murderer should¡¯ve been waiting a long time ago and only entered the vi after Cheng Yu and Qi Ming left.

    That night, Lin Yiyan¡¯s vi was lively with constant visitors.

    However, Cheng Yu didn¡¯t enter the vi. He drove away after doing it with Lin Yiyan in the car. The two people obviously weren¡¯t seriously about dating. They just wanted to seek excitement in the middle of the night. Qi Ming entered the vi and had a dispute with Lin Yiyan. He left fingerprints on the wine bottle and skin fragments under Lin Yiyan¡¯s fingernails. Then he took a taxi and left at 3:40.

    After Qi Ming, the third person to enter the vi was the real killer. This personpleted the operation of killing Lin Yiyan, froze the body and disappeared from the scene in the 20 minute gap between 3:40 and 4:00. They drove out of the vi disguised as Lin Yiyan. The n was neat and thorough.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°The key now is that the cause of death for their dog in Qi Ming¡¯s testimony needs to be verified. We also need to visit the taxi driver who drove him. The next person is Cheng Yu. He isn¡¯t very suspicious but we need to find out about what he discussed with Lin Yiyan that night and what he did.¡±

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°After checking Qi Ming¡¯s side, shall we go to the crew to find Cheng Yu?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang hummed in assent and started the car. He went with Xiao Lou to the pet hospital opposite Dongfu Jiayuan.

    The two veterinary doctors at the pet hospital were quite young. Yu Hanjiang showed his police officer¡¯s card and the two of them immediately cooperated to check the pet cases in recent months. Yu Hanjiang asked them to check the medical records of a dog called Doudou whose owner was Qi Ming.

    The female doctor quickly found the information. ¡°I have a deep impression of Doudou. He was white all over and looked very cute. It is just that he was 12 years old this year, very old for a dog. He often fell ill and has been to this hospital several times.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°When was thest time the patient came?¡±

    The female doctor replied, ¡°On November 11th, there was a severe infection that caused heart failure. We had no choice but to persuade the owner to give up treatment. At that time, Doudou was dying and Mr Qi walked away holding it, looking very sad.¡±

    The veterinary nurse next to her added, ¡°We haven¡¯t seen Doudou since.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Every time Doudoues to see the doctor, it was always Mr Qi bringing him along?¡±

    The female doctor said, ¡°Yes, he loved the dog very much.¡±

    Judging from the investigation results of the pet hospital and the opinions of the neighbours in themunity, Qi Ming clearly loved Lin Yiyan and also cherished the pet the two of them bought together. He usually took Doudou for walks in themunity. On November 11th two weeks ago, Doudou became seriously ill. He came to the hospital but the doctor said there was nothing that could be done. Doudou was ill and probably passed away on that day.

    Qi Ming buried him and Doudou¡¯s death stimted Qi Ming. He was afraid that their rtionship wasing to an end so he prepared to have a talk with Lin Yiyan to restore their rtionship. Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t work out.

    He didn¡¯t have the courage to get married when Lin Yiyan liked him and when he wanted to get married, Lin Yiyan no longer loved him.

    Lovested for many years and went through long-distance running, but in the end it fell apart. There were countless examples of this in reality. Judging from Qi Ming¡¯s performance and testimony, it was unlikely that he had impulsively killed Lin Yiyan out of anger. In addition, his suspicion was lowered since he left before 4 o¡¯clock. Of course, he couldn¡¯t bepletely ruled out.

    On the way back, Xiao Lou sighed softly. ¡°I always think that Lin Yiyan is veryplicated. She ispletely different every time in front of her fans, her parents, Qi Ming and Cheng Yu.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke casually. ¡°Don¡¯t forget there is her idol Xie Yuan. In front of her idol, Lin Yiyan is still a little fan.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled bitterly. ¡°Isn¡¯t she tired of acting in front of different people every day?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked Xiao Lou, ¡°Have you ever heard of ¡®Histrionic Personality Disorder?¡¯¡±

    Xiao Lou was surprised before suddenly realizing. ¡°Histrionic Personality Disorder is a type of mental illness. This type of person craves attention and approval so they set up a ¡®setting¡¯ for themselves and switch freely between different people. Unlike schizophrenia or Dissociative Identity Disorder, people with Histrionic Personality Disorder know what they are doing but they are good at disguising it. Their actions and expressions are designed and they will satisfy their psychological sense of aplishment by bewildering other people.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Lin Yiyan seems to have a bit of the Histrionic Personality Disorder. She pretends to be a good girl in front of her parents, a goddess in front of her fans, a little girl in front of her idol and an infatuated girl in front of her agent. She probably pretends to be a confidant sister when she is with Cheng Yu.¡±

    Xiao Lou helplessly rubbed his temples. ¡°She acted too much and is used to acting in her life?¡±

    ¡°Thus, on the surface, she hasn¡¯t seemed to offend anyone. However, perhaps someone has seen through her disguise a long time ago and watched her perform indifferently. The scope of our investigation is currently too limited. I think we should start from when she was in school and review the process of her debut from beginning to end.¡±

    6th Anniversary Event Page

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 249: Starlight Entertainment 11

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou returned to the police station and summarized the current situation, the important clues and rearranged the timeline.

    On October 29th, it was Lin Yiyan¡¯s 30th birthday and arge number of stars in the entertainment circle sent her blessings. Yu Hanjiang noted down the name of these stars in a small book.

    On November 7th, Lin Yiyan¡¯s World of Mortals costume drama was sessfullypleted. In the next few days, Lin Yiyan epted many media interviews and participated in a variety show recording on November 10th.

    On November 11th, the dog that Lin Yiyan and Qi Ming bought together 10 years ago died of illness.

    On November 13th, Binzhou City ushered in the first heavy snow since the start of winter and the temperature of the entire city dropped sharply.

    On November 16th at noon, Lin Yiyan and the director and producer of World of Mortals had a meal together. She went to bed in the afternoon and went to the restaurant to meet with the editor-in-chief at 7:30 in the evening. She left after receiving a WeChat message at 8:30 and returned to her apartment.

    On November 17th, at 1:30 a.m. on the day of the incident, Lin Yiyan changed clothes and cars and drove the No. 502 ck car to the Yuehu Vi. She met with Cheng Yu at 2:00 a.m. and they entered the vi area one after another. At this time, Qi Ming was already waiting in the vi area and saw the affair between Lin Yiyan and Cheng Yu.

    At 3:00 a.m., Cheng Yu drove away. Qi Ming entered the vi and had an argument with Lin Yiyan. He took a taxi to leave at 3:40. At 4:00, Lin Yiyan¡¯s car was driven away from the vi area.

    At present, the period between 3:40 and 4:00 waspletely nk without any physical evidence. This would be the focus of the next investigation.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou headed to the Binzhou Movie and Television Studio in the afternoon.

    The movie and television studio was located in the suburbs and there were several crews filming here. Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t want public opinion to spread for the time being so he wore casual clothes as he drove a private car to the crew of Twin Flowers.

    Tomorrow was the opening ceremony and the entire crew was extremely busy. The arrival of two strange faces attracted too much attention. Yu Hanjiang saw Old Mo in the crowd instantly. Mo Xuemin was gesturing with a few colleagues to set up the scene. The moment he saw Yu Hanjiang, Old Mo¡¯s eyes lit up and he immediately handed over his work to his colleagues to run over.

    Yu Hanjiang greeted him. ¡°How is the crew side?¡±

    Old Mo lowered his voice. ¡°Once Xiao Liu came over, she told us that Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao were investigating a case and that everyone should stay calm. I have been familiarizing myself with the crew these days along with Long Sen, Teacher Qu and Xiao Liu. No idents have happened yet.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Where is Cheng Yu?¡±

    Old Mo pointed to a studio in the distance. ¡°Shooting will start tomorrow so makeup photos are being taken today.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked curiously, ¡°Are all the leading actors here?¡±

    Old Mo nodded. ¡°They are all in the crew.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou looked at each other and walked together toward the studio.

    There were several security guards in the studio to maintain order. It was difficult for strangers to approach but Liu Qiao saw Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou and ran over with excuses to lead everyone to a secluded corner. She spoke softly, ¡°Group Leader Yu, you¡¯re here! How is the first case?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang answered calmly, ¡°We locked onto two suspects and ruled them out.¡±

    Liu Qiao and Old Mo, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It might sound useless but solving a case was such a process. First, a few suspects had to be identified, carefully investigated and eliminated. Then the remaining person could be identified as the real culprit. Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao were fast and eliminated both suspects. Obviously, many clues had been found.

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Has there been anything wrong with Cheng Yu these past two days?¡±

    Liu Qiao said, ¡°He has a bad temper and has fought with his agent every day. I heard him arguing with his agent at least five times in the past two days. My older sister is patient enough with him like she is raising a son.¡±

    She paused before adding, ¡°Cheng Yu has a bad temper but I don¡¯t think he is bad-hearted. He is just a bit willful. He will argue with the agent and then the next second, he will take the initiative to peel oranges for her. He is like a child who hasn¡¯t grown up.¡±

    Xiao Lou could imagine it. ¡°He is a rich second generation who was spoiled by his family. It is normal to be more capricious. Have you asked him about Lin Yiyan?¡±

    Previously, Yu Hanjiang told Liu Qiao that she could try to bring Lin Yiyan up and Liu Qiao definitely hadn¡¯t forgotten this.

    She replied softly, ¡°Yesterday, I used myptop to y a TV series starring Lin Yiyan in front of Cheng Yu. He saw it and smiled. Then he asked me if I liked Lin Yiyan. I said yes and that I¡¯m her fan. I have liked her for 10 years. Cheng Yu generously said that he knew Lin Yiyan and could ask for an autograph for me next time.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly. ¡°Did he really say that? Was there anything wrong with his expression at the time?¡±

    Liu Qiao shook her head. ¡°His expression was normal. I was afraid he would doubt me and didn¡¯t dare ask anything else. Group Leader Yu, you suddenly came to the crew to investigate. Does Cheng Yu have something to do with this case?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°He and Lin Yiyan are hidden lovers.¡±

    Old Mo and Liu Qiao heard this and were surprised. Liu Qiao wondered, ¡°Isn¡¯t Liu Qiao eight years older than him?¡±

    Old Mo touched his nose. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that he is like a child who hasn¡¯t grown up? He probably likes this gentle, older sister type.¡±

    Liu Qiao was silent for a few seconds. ¡°He isn¡¯t the killer? He was ruled out as a suspect?¡±

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°On the day of the incident, the surveince at the gate of themunity caught Cheng Yu entering the vi where Lin Yiyan lived. However, the time of him leaving and the time of Lin Yiyan¡¯s death don¡¯t match so we don¡¯t think he is the murderer. Still, we will do a routine questioning to see if we can get any clues from him.¡±

    Liu Qiao said, ¡°I understand. Do you want to go straight in to investigate?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told her, ¡°We want to try not to let outsiders know since the murderer is still hidden in the dark. If we move too obviously, we will help the murderer destroy the evidence. Does Cheng Yu have any private time today?¡±

    Liu Qiao thought about it. ¡°After taking the makeup photos, he will be finished and he is staying at a nearby hotel.¡± Liu Qiao used WeChat to send the hotel address to Yu Hanjiang. Then Yu Hanjiang went to find Qu Wanyue and Long Sen, both of whom said there was nothing unusual in the crew.

    Yu Hanjiang asked them, ¡°Teacher Qu, what do you think of the heroine of this drama?¡±

    Qu Wanyue answered him. ¡°Qiao Xuening looks good on the surface. I talked to her about the details of the dance scene and I feel that she is a serious person. In order to shoot this scene, she went to dance sses for one month. She is a cheerful person.¡±

    Long Sen added, ¡°The props group has no dangerous props. This is an urban idol drama and doesn¡¯t involve any fighting scenes. I have checked them and there are no problems.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked his teammates to add WeChat with Xiao Lou. Then everyone was pulled into the WeChat group by Xiao Lou.

    Old Mo eximed, ¡°WeChat is really convenient!¡±

    Long Senined, ¡°It is much more convenient than when I rode a horse for a day and a night to send a letter to the emperor.

    Ye Qi came out excitedly. ¡°Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao, are you in the crew? How is the progress?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied casually, ¡°At present, the suspects went from two to zero.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­Is this progress or a regression?¡±

    Xiao Lou sent a smiling emoji. ¡°It seems that the suspects aren¡¯t the murderer. We will continue to expand the investigation side. You should all keep your eyes open and inquire with the people around you about Lin Yiyan¡¯s gossip.¡±

    The team members said they would actively ask.

    In the afternoon, the lead actors¡¯ makeup photos were finally taken. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou went to the hotel where the actors were staying to question Cheng Yu.

    They knocked on the door. Cheng Yu¡¯s agent saw two strange faces and wanted to drive them away. As a result, Yu Hanjiang took out his police officer¡¯s card. ¡°I am police captain Yu Hanjiang of the Binzhou City Criminal Police Department. There is a criminal case that needs to be investigated. I hope for Mr Cheng Yu to cooperate.¡±

    The agent saw there was no one in the corridor and nervously pulled Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou into the room. She locked the door behind her and was worried. ¡°What happened? The police? A criminal case?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told her, ¡°We need to question Mr Cheng.¡±

    Cheng Yu had just finished taking a shower and was on the sofa watching TV. He immediately sat upright when he heard this and asked with a puzzled face, ¡°A police officer? Why investigate me? I am a good,w-abiding citizen!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took out his notebook and pen and started writing as he spoke. ¡°November 17th, from 2 to 3 in the morning, did Mr Cheng go to Yuehu Vi?¡±

    Cheng Yu¡¯s face changed suddenly. ¡°I¡­ my¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang continued, ¡°What did you talk about with Lin Yiyan and what did you do in Yuehu Vi? Please tell the truth.¡±

    Cheng Yu¡¯s mouth twitched violently. ¡°Can I not answer questions about my privacy?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°You have an obligation to answer when ites to the dead.¡±

    Cheng Yu¡¯s mouth instantly grew so big that an egg could be stuffed in it. ¡°D¡­dead?¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Mr Cheng, you didn¡¯t know? Miss Lin Yiyan died in her vi at Yuehu.¡±

    Cheng Yu, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡±Mr Cheng, can you show me your conversation with Lin Yiyan on your phone? As a suspect who has been to the scene of the crime, we have reason to arrest you. However, Mr Cheng is a public figure after all. It isn¡¯t good for your image if we take you away in handcuffs. Please cooperate as much as possible.¡±

    The agent realized the seriousness of the situation and immediately spoke. ¡°Xiao Cheng, quickly exin what happened! You didn¡¯t kill anyone, did you? This isn¡¯t a joke!¡±

    Cheng Yu¡¯s body shook and he hurriedly retorted, ¡°Of course I didn¡¯t kill anyone. I¡¯m not crazy. Why the hell would I kill someone? I-I-I¡­i and Lin Yiyan are just for fun. Really¡­ I left and she was fine at the time. I promise!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang interrupted him. ¡°Mobile phone.¡±

    Cheng Yu was pale as he took out his mobile phone and handed it to Yu Hanjiang in a trembling manner. ¡°H-Here.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took the mobile phone, opened WeChat and nced at the chat records between the two people.

    At 8:30 p.m. on November 15th, Cheng Yu sent a WeChat message to Lin Yiyan: Sister Yan, I miss you. Isn¡¯t your drama finished? I have to join a crew in a few days and will be busy. It might be another few months before I can see you. Are you free tonight? See you in the old ce?

    Lin Yiyan replied with an ¡®OK¡¯ gesture.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou nced at each other. It seemed that Lin Yiyan received Cheng Yu¡¯s message during the meal and used the excuse of something happening at home to leave in advance. The following WeChat record was also veryplete.

    Lin Yiyan: I¡¯m back in my apartment. Is it convenient for you toe over?

    Cheng Yu: Damn, the old man suddenly caught me and I have to go to meet a few uncles. I might bete. How about early in the morning? I will drive directly to your ce and it won¡¯t be easy to be photographed by the paparazzi.

    Lin Yiyan: Okay, I¡¯ll wait for you.

    A whileter, Cheng Yu told her that he had departed and Lin Yiyan replied with, ¡®I¡¯ll see youter.¡¯ The timeline waspletely strung together.

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°What about after the meeting? What did you say and do?¡±

    Cheng Yu trembled. ¡°I-I just said I missed her. Cough, we in the car¡­ Well, after we finished, I wanted to stay at her house but Lin Yiyan said that she rarely goes to the vi area. If we park two cars there and the residents see it, they will feel suspicious. She had me leave first and told me toe back tomorrow night. I was also worried about being photographed by paparazzi so I left first.¡±

    He repeatedly promised, ¡°Lin Yiyan was fine when I left! In addition, she sent me a message the next day.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°I saw it.¡±

    Thest message was sent by Lin Yiyan to Cheng Yu on the evening of November 17th: Xiao Cheng, after going to the crew, take care of yourself. I want to travel with my family and rx. Don¡¯t look for me these days.

    Cheng Yu exined, ¡°She told me toe back in the early hours of the morning but then she suddenly said she was going to travel. I thought she was just tired recently and didn¡¯t mind that she wanted to go out for a rest. I haven¡¯t contacted her because I have been very busy these days preparing for the new drama!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang returned the phone to Cheng Yu.

    Cheng Yu wasn¡¯t suspicious. He had no motive for the crime and the timing didn¡¯t fit. However, Yu Hanjiang confirmed one thing from Cheng Yu¡¯s mobile phone. After the murderer took Lin Yiyan¡¯s mobile phone, they sent WeChat messages to many people to make everyone think that Lin Yiyan was still alive. Perhaps it could be checked from the people who received the WeChat messages.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°As far as you know, does Lin Yiyan have any good friends in the entertainment industry?¡±

    Cheng Yu nodded immediately. ¡°Yes. Qiao Xuening who is the heroine of this drama is her best friend!¡±

    One week down and approximately five weeks left until the final submission date on the 15th of November. Hope you¡¯re working on your submissions!

    6th Anniversary Event Page

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 250: Starlight Entertainment 12

    Yu Hanjiang decided to expand the scope of the search andpiled the information on Lin Yiyan¡¯s ssmates in high school and university.

    She had decided to go to the movie academy in her second year of high school. ording to her parents, she rarely saw her high school ssmates after being admitted to the movie academy. She still had contact with her good friends but these two people currently weren¡¯t in Binzhou City. They only met with Lin Yiyan during the Spring Festival every year.

    The two high school ssmates didn¡¯t have any motive for killing and they weren¡¯t in Binzhou, so they obviously weren¡¯t rted to this case.

    The university students were moreplex.

    Lin Yiyan was a student of the acting department of the Movie Academy. Several of her ssmates had be famous in the entertainment industry and became popr traffic stars. Everyone was in a group to maintain warmth. At least on the surface, the rtionship between ssmates was very harmonious and they often organized gatherings.

    These popr students all publicly wished Lin Yiyan a happy birthday on Weibo on October 29th. The names of these people were recorded in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s book, including Qiao Xuening.

    Unlike Lin Yiyan, who went smoothly all the way since her debut, Qiao Xuening¡¯s past few years in the entertainment industry were full of ups and downs. She had been through thorns and bloodshed to reach her stable position today.

    At the beginning, she acted in various supporting roles in online dramas such as the maidservant, dancer, viin¡­ She acted as these supporting roles for three years. No one knew the name ¡®Qiao Xuening¡¯ and the bitterness could be imagined.

    Her career could turn around thanks to Lin Yiyan.

    This was eight years ago. At the time, Lin Yiyan was already well-known. She relied on the help of her agent Qi Ming to act in four different types of TV series in session. The ratings and reviews were good and she had more than one million Weibo fans.

    Starlight Entertainment invested in arge-scale production of an ancient costume pce fighting drama. Lin Yiyan took the role of the heroine and auditions for the other concubines were needed. She introduced this resource to her university ssmate Qiao Xuening and asked Qiao Xuening to y the fourth female lead in the drama.

    The fourth female lead didn¡¯t have many scenes and the ending was quite sad. Fortunately, the character was distinctive. In addition, Qiao Xuening had yed supporting roles for several years and her acting skills had improved. She interpreted this tragic character in a magical way, especially the scene where shemitted suicide at the end. This caused many audience members to cry and created several hot searches.

    It was precisely due to this drama that Qiao Xuening became known to the audience and directors in the circle. The directors discovered that this young girl actually had good acting skills?

    As a result, Qiao Xuening went from being an invisible actor that no one knew about to being a representative of the ¡®new generation of acting school¡¯ in the eyes of the directors. There were naturally more appointments and the good scripts continued to arrive. Directors selected her to y the heroine and her poprity rose steadily.

    Unfortunately, her luck was really bad.

    Two years passed when a scandal about her suddenly broke out on the Inte. Qiao Xuening once had a rtionship after graduating from high school. Her partner was a cool-looking Inte cafe boy and she chased this boy. They yed games in the Inte cafe all night and took many intimate photos and videos, including many indecent photos of Qiao Xuening without clothes.

    It was her boyfriend who released the videos and photos. It was said that Qiao Xuening dumped him less than a year after going to university. Her ex-boyfriend released these things after Qiao Xuening got popr for revenge.

    Seeing her naked photos circting everywhere on the Inte, Qiao Xuening¡¯s emotions copsed. At the press conference, she said she was young and met someone unsavory. She liked a scumbag and took many indecent photos with the scumbag. This was the thing she regretted most in her life. She not only publicly condemned the scumbag for exposing private photos and videos but she took the scumbag to court and publicly apologized to her fans.

    The indecent photos that circted everywhere on the Inte had a great influence on Qiao Xuening¡¯s reputation. However, her handling of the crisis was good and the fans were sympathetic to her plight¡­

    After a full two years of silence, Qiao Xuening regained the courage to return.

    She filmed several TV series and her acting got better and better. In particr, her crying scenes almost became the benchmark of the entertainment circle. She could easily drive the emotions of the audience. After winning several awards, Qiao Xuening was gradually whitewashed.

    In fact, the incident back then couldn¡¯t be called her fault. It was everyone¡¯s freedom to shoot intimate videos in private. The man who exposed the videos was the culprit. After she was whitewashed, she became more low-key and treated the staff and others around her very politely. She was notoriously dedicated when filming. It was said that she would repeatedly memorize the script before filming and she rarely forgot her lines.

    In the filming of Twin Flowers, her agent suggested she used a stand-in for the difficult dance moves but Teacher Qu said that Qiao Xuening was very dedicated. In order to y the heroine, she went to dance sses for a month.

    On the surface, this actress was tough, hard-working and inspiring.

    Xiao Lou hadpiled the information on Starlight Entertainment¡¯s celebrities and alsopiled Qiao Xuening¡¯s information. It was because he knew that Qiao Xuening was the heroine of Twin Flowers and the information might be useful.

    Xiao Lou had the foresight to organize the information so Yu Hanjiang¡¯s knowledge of Qiao Xuening was very clear. Yu Hanjiang heard Cheng Yu mention Qiao Xuening and quickly recalled these materials. He and Xiao Lou exchanged looks and decided to question Qiao Xuening in person.

    It was 8 o¡¯clock in the evening. Twin Flowers might be a dog-blood idol drama but it had two popr stars, Qiao Xuening and Cheng Yu. The investors gave a lot of money and the director was also generous. The entire floor of the five-star hotel was directly booked and several famous actors lived there during filming.

    Qiao Xuening¡¯s room was 7311. Yu Hanjiang took Xiao Lou and knocked on Qiao Xuening¡¯s door. A young girl opened the door. She should be an assistant. She was surprised when she saw the two people and wondered, ¡°Did you knock on the wrong door?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang showed his police officer¡¯s card. ¡°Police.¡±

    The assistant immediately turned back to the room to find the agent. Qiao Xuening¡¯s agent was a middle-aged woman who was around 40 years old. She looked mature and stable at first nce. She politely nodded to Yu Hanjiang and said, ¡°Hello, officer. I don¡¯t know what case you are investigating but are you sure you don¡¯t have the wrong person?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Is Miss Qiao Xuening in the room?¡±

    The agent was stunned. ¡°This¡­¡±

    ¡°We came to her to investigate some things. I hope she can cooperate.¡±

    The agent was forced to invite the two people inside. It would be big trouble if she hindered the police from investigating a case.

    The two of them entered the room and happened to see Qiao Xuening barefoot and in loose clothing, making the horse posture on the carpet. Qu Wanyue was actually there as well. After seeing Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou, Qu Wanyue pretended not to know them. She took up, walked to the agent¡¯s side and asked, ¡°Sister Xu, what¡¯s going on?¡±

    Sister Xu frowned. ¡°Teacher Qu, I have to trouble you today to go back first. There are some things to deal with. I will find you tomorrow.¡±

    Qu Wanyue took a look at Xiao Lou, nodded and left.

    The agent also sent the assistant away and only four people were left in the room. Qiao Xuening stood up in a questioning manner, put on more clothes and slippers and came to Yu Hanjiang. She asked politely, ¡°These two are?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took out his police officer ID. ¡°Hello Miss Qiao. I am Yu Hanjiang, the captain of the Binzhou Criminal Police team. I am here to investigate a criminal case. Do you know Lin Yiyan? How is your rtionship with her?¡±

    Qiao Xuening was slightly startled. ¡°Xiao Yan? Of course I know her. We were ssmates and shared a dormitory for four years in university. We have a good rtionship. The entertainment industry isplicated and it is much easier when there are a few ssmates who can look after each other.¡±

    She looked at the agent. ¡°Sister Xu, pour the two police officers a ss of water.¡±

    Sister Xu politely poured three sses of water and handed them to Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou. Yu Hanjiang put the ss on the table without intending to drink. Qiao Xuening took a few sips. It was obvious that she was sweaty and thirsty from dancing.

    Qiao Xuening stretched out a hand to the balcony and said, ¡°We can sit down and talk here.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang walked over and sat down on the sofa. Xiao Lou also sat with him while taking out his notebook and pen. Qiao Xuening sat across from them and drank a few sips of water to moisturize her throat. ¡°Officer Yu, you suddenly asked about Xiao Yan. What happened?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked instead, ¡°On November 16-17th, where were you in these two days and what did you do?¡±

    ¡°The 16th? I seem to be recording a variety show.¡± She looked up at the agent. ¡°Sister Xu, please check for me. I was very busy during the week and I don¡¯t remember the dates clearly.¡±

    The agent opened her phone and checked the records carefully. ¡°Yes, Xuening recorded ¡®Close Your Eyes When it is Dark¡¯ in the suburbs. The program team invited her as a guest. I have the announcement schedule here.¡±

    She handed her phone to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°At 12 noon on the 16th, I sent her there. I arrived in the mountains and picked her up at noon on the 17th. This show was recorded in the mountains in order to create an appropriate atmosphere.¡±

    Xiao Lou was surprised and asked, ¡°Close Your Eyes When it is Dark? Is this where everyone gets an identity such as a police officer, killer or civilian and then you y a murder game. The killer must kill all the civilians to win, the police must find the killers and guide the citizens to vote for the right person and exile the killers¡­ are the rules like this?¡±

    Qiao Xuening nodded with a smile. ¡°Do you also y?¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°I used to y in school.¡±

    Qiao Xuening exined, ¡°The first season of the show only started this year. In order to attract the audience, the show invited many famous guests. Our recording this time is a game mode with 12 yers. There were four killers, four police officers and four civilians. Everyone lives in a tent¡­ the director said that when it is dark, the killers wille out and tag people. The person who is tagged is equivalent to being dead.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°What identity card did you draw?¡±

    ¡°I drew a police officer in the first round but unfortunately, I didn¡¯t know how to y. I was voted out by the vigers. The effect wasn¡¯t very good. We recorded it for one night and yed a total of five rounds. In the end, the director would select the most interesting round to edit and show.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang confirmed it again. ¡°So on the 16th to 17th, you were in the mountains recording a variety show?¡±

    Qiao Xuening nodded. ¡°Yes, to make the show more realistic, everyone had to live in a tent when recording the show. Fortunately, Sister Xu prepared a rechargeable heater for me in advance or I would¡¯ve caught a cold.¡±

    She paused and looked at Yu Hanjiang suspiciously. ¡°Officer Yu, what happened? Why do you keep asking me about these days? There were no surprises during the recording of the show and everyone got along well.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°Miss Lin Yiyan died in her Yuehu vi in the early morning of the 17th.¡±

    Qiao Xuening¡¯s face was shocked and the cup in her hand fell to the ground. Her eyes widened with disbelief. ¡°What? Xiao Yan, she¡­ she is dead?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, the time of death is between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. on the 17th.¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully observed Qiao Xuening¡¯s face. After hearing Group Leader Yu¡¯s words, the expression on her face was always shocked. After a while, she came back to her senses. Her lips trembled slightly and she whispered in a low voice, ¡°How can that be? She sent me a WeChat message this morning¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Can I take a look at your phone?¡±

    Qiao Xuening quickly handed her phone to Yu Hanjiang and opened the chat record with Lin Yiyan. ¡°Look, she sent me a message this morning. She knew my new drama would start soon and couldn¡¯te to visit. She told me to take care of myself in the crew.¡±

    The WeChat message was actually sent at 9 o¡¯clock this morning.

    After receiving the message, Qiao Xuening replied: Thank you Xiao Yan. We will get together again when I finish!

    Lin Yiyan replied: No problem. I will make your favourite coca c chicken wings at the time.

    Qiao Xuening replied with some greedy face emojis: I¡¯m hungry.

    Lin Yiyan: Let¡¯s stop talking. I¡¯m going to take my family out on a trip and might be slow to reply to messages these days. Just leave me a message if something happens.

    Qiao Xuening: Okay, have fun.

    The conversation ended here.

    Yu Hanjiang flipped through it. There were just daily greetings between Qiao Xuening and Lin Yiyan as well as photos of the two girls sharing cosmetics and bags with each other. Nothing was wrong. He returned the phone to Qiao Xuening and asked, ¡°You and Lin Yiyan have known each other for many years. As far as you know, did she have any grudges with someone in university or after she debuted?¡±

    Qiao Xuening was silent for a moment. Her eyes shed and her words stopped.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke softly. ¡°Miss Qiao, I hope you can tell us all you know about Lin Yiyan.¡±

    Qiao Xuening took a deep breath and her eyshes trembled slightly. ¡°Xiao Yan treated me very well. During the time when I was at my lowest, I could only take on supporting roles. My monthly ie was barely enough to eat and I couldn¡¯t even pay the rent. At that time, Xiao Yan was already very popr. During one ssmate gathering, I found her and asked her if she could help introduce some resources to me. Xiao Yan agreed. I thought she was joking but she did it. She introduced me to the supporting role in arge-scale costume drama andter introduced directors and screenwriters that she knew to me¡­¡±

    At this point, the girl¡¯s eyes reddened and tears appeared in her eyes. ¡°Back then, my first boyfriend broke the scandal. Netizens circted the photos and scolded me everywhere. At that time. Xiao Yan spoke form me. I will always remember this love and I think she is a very kind person. How could anyone kill her?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou looked at each other.

    It seemed that Lin Yiyan¡¯s personality disorder made her y the role of ¡®benefactor¡¯ to this friend to gain a sense of aplishment. She graciously helped her best friend and even now, Qiao Xuening praised her.

    Xiao Lou interjected softly, ¡°Did she tell you if she had grudges with anyone?¡±

    Qiao Xuening wiped her eyes and looked away, trying her best to keep calm. ¡°She hasn¡¯t mentioned it. The usual content of our conversations is about cosmetics, clothes, perfumes, etc. Both of us are busy and don¡¯t have much time to meet. I wanted to go celebrate her 30th birthday in person this year but I was shootingmercials on those days. I told her to wait until the end of the year to meet again. I didn¡¯t expect that she would actually be dead!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°How much do you know about her emotional history?¡±

    There was a hint of embarrassment on Qiao Xuening¡¯s face. A momentter, she said, ¡°I know she is with her agent.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked again, ¡°No other boyfriend?¡±

    Qiao Xuening shook her head. ¡°She didn¡¯t mention it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang reconfirmed Qiao Xuening¡¯s testimony again and found he couldn¡¯t get any more clues here. He had to withdraw with Xiao Lou first. Before leaving, Yu Hanjiang gave Qiao Xuening a business card. ¡°Miss Qiao, if you remember anything else about Lin Yiyan then you can always contact me.¡±

    Qiao Xuening took the card with red eyes. ¡°Yes, Group Leader Yu go carefully. I hope you can solve this case as soon as possible. A good person like Xiao Yan can¡¯t die in vain. The murderer must be brought to justice!¡±

    6th Anniversary Event Page

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 251: Starlight Entertainment 13

    After leaving Qiao Xuening¡¯s residence, Yu Hanjiang immediately called the program team of Close Your Eyes When it is Dark to confirm it.

    The director said that the show was indeed shot in the mountains. In order to create an atmosphere of horror, he chose to shoot at night. However, the security measures of the program were sufficient and security guards were ced all around them. During the shooting process, they also issued uniform down jackets and hand warmers. The invited stars had a good time.

    The entire recording processsted one day and one night, during which no one asked for leave. Yu Hanjiang looked at the list of stars who recorded the show. Among them, only Qiao Xuening knew Lin Yiyan. None of the other stars had interacted with Lin Yiyan.

    ording to the director¡¯s description, Qiao Xuening¡¯s performance wasn¡¯t unusual in this recording. She drew two policemen, two civilians and one killer. It was just that she wasn¡¯t very good at ying this game. She lost all four rounds. It was only once when she was the civilian that she was taken by the police to lie down and win.

    After the recording, her agent came to pick her up and bought small gifts for the entire crew.

    The director¡¯s evaluation of Qiao Xuening was quite high. Yu Hanjiang confirmed that Qiao Xuening¡¯s testimony was correct. Only then did he return to the crew with Xiao Lou and joined Old Mo, Qu Wanyue, Long Sen and the others. He exined the current situation to his teammates.

    In this way, Cheng Yu, Qi Ming and Qiao Xuening all had alibis. Was the killer someone else?

    Xiao Lou leaned against the wall and thought for a moment. He asked Yu Hanjiang, ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you think that Qiao Xuening¡¯s words are credible? She has a good rtionship with LIn Yiyan and I always feel that she is hiding something.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°She recorded the program in the mountains that night. Many people can testify for her. She should have nothing to do with Lin Yiyan¡¯s murder. However, she thought of something before stopping, especially when I asked her who has a grudge with Lin Yiyan. She dodged my gaze and answered too hastily. She seems guilty. She should know something but she can¡¯t say it.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at Qu Wanyue. ¡°Teacher Qu, you have been in contact with her these days. Have you noticed anything?¡±

    Qu Wanyue said, ¡°Qiao Xuening is indeed not easy. It is said that she had a rtionship andter broke up because it was long-distance. After her ex-boyfriend knew she was a star, he actually released her scandalous photos on the Inte to get revenge. Although she won thewsuit and the photos were deleted, this incident was a big blow to her. After she came back, she was more cautious and polite with everyone. A big star is talking to me but she is even more polite than my students.¡±

    Qu Wanyue thought carefully and described it. ¡°She gives me the feeling that she is walking on thin ice and is being cautious with her words and deeds. So she might know something but she doesn¡¯t dare say it because she doesn¡¯t want to offend others.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded in understanding. ¡°She might be afraid so she doesn¡¯t dare talk nonsense.¡±

    Long Sen scratched his head and asked in a dazed manner, ¡°So it seems that the three people we are currently in contact with¡ªthe agent, the little new star and the best friend are unlikely to be murderers?¡±

    Old Moughed. ¡°Based on the description of Group Leader Yu, Cheng Yu left the vi at 3 o¡¯clock in the morning. The agent left at 3:40 and the best friend was recording a show in the mountains. The car of the deceased left at 4 o¡¯clock and the person driving the car is likely to be the murderer. These three aren¡¯t in line with the time.¡±

    Liu Qiao thoughtfully touched her chin. ¡°Could it be a two-person crime? For example, one person killed Lin Yiyan while the other arranged the ice cubes at the scene and drove Lin Yiyan¡¯s car away?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at her warmly. ¡°We have also considered this which is why the agent is still in custody. His suspicion can¡¯t bepletely ruled out. After all, he entered the vi and had a dispute with Lin Yiyan. If he killed Lin Yiyan and another person handled the corpse and drove away the car then it would also make sense. However, Qi Ming is unlikely to join forces with others tomit the crime. His feelings for Lin Yiyan don¡¯t seem to be a pretense. We think it is more likely that the person who killed Lin Yiyan entered the vi after Qi Ming.¡±

    Liu Qiao coughed lightly. ¡°I¡¯m just guessing¡­ the person who entered the vi after 3:40 should be familiar with Liu Qiao? Otherwise, it would be impossible for Lin Yiyan to open the door for a stranger in the middle of the night.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told her, ¡°Of course. That is why we will check her friends in the circle one by one.¡±

    Just then, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mobile phone suddenly received an anonymous text message.

    The text message was sent from an unfamiliar number and was a long message: Lin Yiyan and Zhou Yuanyuan have a grudge. Last year, the ancient costume super IP World of Mortals wasunched and the producer originally decided that the protagonist would be Zhou Yuanyuan. Suddenly, he changed to Lin Yiyan for unknown reasons. Zhou Yuanyuan¡¯s team was ready to sign the contract but Lin Yiyan cut them off. It is said that Zhou Yuanyuan was so angry that she had a car ident on the way to the airport and her face was disfigured. This piece of gossip was raised by an old ssmate during a private gathering and the authenticity isn¡¯t guaranteed.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang quickly read the information on his phone and handed it to Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou took a closer look. ¡°This anonymous message should be from Qiao Xuening?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°It is obviously her. She didn¡¯t want to tell us in front of the agent because she was afraid it would be nonsense. Therefore, after we left, she cautiously sent an anonymous report.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang with admiration. ¡°Did Group Leader Yu realize that Qiao Xuening didn¡¯t dare to speak in front of her agent? Is that why you left her your business card? If we left directly then we wouldn¡¯t have known this clue.¡±

    ¡°I did see that she was hiding something.¡±

    Fortunately, Yu Hanjiang left his card behind. Qiao Xuening was afraid of taking responsibility and could only report the suspect through an anonymous text message. Lin Yiyan snatched the role of heroine through not never clean means. This caused Zhou Yuanyuan to get into a car ident¡­

    The key was the disfigurement. There was no need to talk about the importance of appearance for a female star. This was a deep hatred! Zhou Yuanyuan had ample reasons to act against Lin Yiyan.

    She had been disfigured and her future was bleak. Maybe she was frustrated and just wanted to kill Lin Yiyan to drag her down as well. At first nce, this murder was carefully nned. The murderer and Lin Yiyan had a deep grievance. Lin Yiyan took Zhou Yuanyuan¡¯s role and caused Zhou Yuanyuan to be disfigured in a car ident. This happenedst year. One year was enough time to prepare.

    After investigating three key witnesses, the suspect with the most motivation in this case finally appeared.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Everyone, go to sleep first. Tomorrow, I will visit this Zhou Yuanyuan with Professor Xiao and see what she says.¡±

    The team members went back to their rooms and Yu Hanjiang drove home with Xiao Lou.

    On the way back, Xiao Lou carefully analyzed the clues obtained in the past two days. ¡°At present, Cheng Yu and Qiao Xuening have no motive for killing. The agent Qi Ming has a motive but the timing reduces his suspicion. Zhou Yuanyuan¡¯s motive for killing is the strongest but she isn¡¯t necessarily the murderer. I always feel that Lin Yiyan should¡¯ve offended more than just her?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°Take it slowly. Our current physical evidence isn¡¯t enough. The source of the ice and the whereabouts of the murder weapon haven¡¯t been found. Tomorrow, we will check Lin Yiyan¡¯s university ssmates and friends in the circle. Perhaps there will be new clues.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and didn¡¯t say anything.

    Investigating the case was to strip off the cocoon and put together countless fragmented clues. Could the murderer be Zhou Yuanyuan who was ruined in the car ident because Lin Yiyan stole her role?

    6th Anniversary Event Page

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 252: Starlight Entertainment 14

    Yu Hanjiang went to the police force that night to work overtime investigating all of Zhou Yuanyuan¡¯s information, including her contact information and the housing information registered under her and her family. Xiao Lou was idle and had nothing to do so he simply returned to the police department with Yu Hanjiang.

    The results of the investigation surprised the two.

    Zhou Yuanyuan had just bought a house in the Yuehu Vi area but it was registered under her father, Zhou Jianqiang. This house was located in Area C. Judging from the housing distribution map provided by themunity, her house was very close to Lin Yiyan¡¯s vi. It was only separated by a road.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°If she has a telescope then Zhou Yuanyuan can clearly grasp Lin Yiyan¡¯s movements at home. This confirms our inference that the murderer has already made a detailed n to kill her. Lin Yiyan is a famous celebrity. She is usually very busy and the time she returns to the vi isn¡¯t fixed at all. It will be difficult to grasp the timing of the murder if the distance is far. Only people living in the vi area can monitor Lin Yiyan¡¯s movements at any time and look for opportunities when she returns.

    Zhou Yuanyuan had a private feud and the motive for the murder was sufficient. She also ¡®coincidentally¡¯ bought a house in the Yuehu Vi area. It was very close to Lin Yiyan¡¯s ce and was convenient for surveince. She had enough opportunities and time tomit the crime.

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°This Zhou Yuanyuan is very suspicious. If the murderer is her then she can take the ice cubes to Lin Yiyan¡¯s residence. After all, she lives very close to Lin Yiyan. However, since the two of them have a private enmity, will Lin Yiyan open the door to her in the middle of the night?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it. ¡°If she knocks on the door under the pretext of negotiation and pretending to reconcile with Lin Yiyan, perhaps Lin Yiyan would open the door? After all, she probably would¡¯ve never expected that Zhou Yuanyuan would actually kill someone.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded in agreement. ¡°It makes sense. It is your enemy who knows you best. It wouldn¡¯t be surprising if Zhou Yuanyuan knows Lin Yiyan¡¯s living habits. If she killed Lin Yiyan and took Lin Yiyan¡¯s car¡­ where would that car be now?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡±I asked the traffic police team to check the route and whereabouts of the 6K502 car when I went to them yesterday. There is no result yet. Let¡¯s go check for ourselves tomorrow.¡±

    They worked overtime again until the early hours of the morning. Then Yu Hanjiang drove Xiao Lou home and the two of them went back to rest. The next morning, Yu Hanjiang drove Xiao Lou to the traffic police department.

    Captain Zhang of the traffic police team was familiar with Yu Hanjiang. After seeing him, he gave a hurried greeting. ¡°Group Leader Yu, have youe to investigate so early?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked in a low voice, ¡°Old Zhang, has the whereabouts of Lin Yiyan¡¯s car been found?¡±

    Captain Zhang shook his head with a wry smile. ¡°We tracked this car, 6K502 for a long time. On Tuesday at 4:00 a.m., the car drove out of Yuehu Vi and drove around the city in a full circle. It finally disappeared at a fork in the road and the follow-up couldn¡¯t be found. That block is the most remote suburb in our city. The road was recently being repaired and there was no time to install cameras.¡±

    The murderer went around the city and finally went to a remote area with no cameras. This was obviously to hinder the investigation.

    Captain Zhang called up the prepared surveince and pointed to the 6K502 license te on the screen. ¡°Based on the surveince at the fork in the road, this car should¡¯ve driven out of Binzhou City and headed for Yuezhou in the next area. I have contacted the traffic police in Yuezhou City. They checked all of yesterday and just replied to me that they couldn¡¯t find information about this car on the surveince.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t help frowning when he heard this. ¡°In other words, the car disappeared in the empty surveince area?¡±

    Captain Zhang touched his nose awkwardly. ¡°Yes, the murderer has a strong sense of anti-surveince. Our monitoring covers most of the traffic but there are indeed many areas that haven¡¯t had time to install a camera.¡±

    Lin Yiyan¡¯s car was the key to this case. The person who drove it away was likely to be the murderer. If the car could be found smoothly then it would be a great help in solving the case. It was a pity that the whereabouts of this car was still unknown. It had magically disappeared from the surveince?

    Yu Hanjiang took out his phone to look at the map. ¡°How many roads are there from Binzhou to Yuezhou City?¡±

    Captain Zhang replied, ¡°Two. One is a newly built intercity expressway that can reach Yuezhou in an hour. The other one is a mountain road which takes three and a half hours to pass over Nanlin Mountain. Nanlin Mountain isn¡¯t high but it has steep terrain. There are 14 sharp bends on the mountain road so it is called the ¡®14 turns road¡¯. Most people rarely take this road but racers who like thrills will race on this road¡­¡±

    At this point, the captain realized something and blurted out, ¡°Did the murderer take this mountain road in the middle of the night?¡±

    An unpleasant premonition rose in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart. He asked in a deep voice, ¡°The mountain road has no cameras installed?¡±

    Captain Zhang spoke helplessly. ¡°The road was built over 10 years ago. The road conditions aren¡¯t good and the entire mountain road has no cameras. Manyrge trucks like to take that road since no one will care if they are overloaded.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°ording to you, there are 14 sharp bends on this mountain road. This means it is prone to car idents, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, there are several U-shaped sharp bends on the mountain road and no street lights. Few people dare to take this road at night. Lin Yiyan¡¯s car hasn¡¯t been found. Could it be¡­ it fell off the cliff?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied softly, ¡°It¡¯s possible. Immediately go look under the cliffs.¡±

    At Yu Hanjiang¡¯s request, the traffic police team and criminal police team set off together to the mountain road.

    The experienced Captain Zhang quickly found something wrong at a bend. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou got out of the car with him to check. A sharp bend guardrail happened to have a cracked gap. It was enough for a car to rush out of the curve and fall down the mountain.

    Vehicles on the mountain road came and went. After a while, the tire tracks were very blurred. It was impossible to identify the traces but there was obvious ck paint on the gap of the guardrail.

    Yu Hanjiang crouched down and took a closer look. ¡°The ck paint is probably Lin Yiyan¡¯s car. Go and take a look down the mountain!¡±

    Several young traffic policemen quickly descended the mountain. After a while, a report was heard over Captain Zhang¡¯s wireless transmitter. ¡°Captain, a car was found at the foot of the mountain. The fuel tank has exploded and the entire car is burned until only the shell is left. The license te number is Bin A-6K502!¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Sure enough, it was Lin Yiyan¡¯s car. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou nced at each other with helplessness in their eyes.

    By the time the two of them descended the mountain, several traffic policemen had surrounded the scene and were taking photos for evidence. The vehicle had rolled down the mountain and the fuel tank exploded, causing a fire. The entire vehicle was burned and there naturally wasn¡¯t much evidence left inside. Fingerprints, skin, hair, etc. couldn¡¯t be collected at all.

    If it wasn¡¯t for Yu Hanjiang deliberately checking, no one would¡¯ve known that a car crashed in such a wild and inessible ce. It was useless to find the car. There were still no clues about who drove this car here.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the burned car and touched his chin. ¡°The murderer drove the car to a bend in the mountain road and pushed it down to destroy the evidence. How did they get back? It is impossible to walk on such a remote mountain road. Someone must¡¯vee to meet them or they deliberately ced another car on the mountain road ahead of time, changed cars and drove back.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at the traffic police captain and asked politely, ¡°Captain Zhang, do you know if there are any cameras on the other side of the mountain road?¡±

    Captain Zhang replied, ¡°Over the mountain is the territory of Yuezhou City. It is a two kilometres long highway and there should be a camera. I can get my colleagues there to check the vehicle information forst Tuesday.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°The car doesn¡¯t necessarily have to go to Yuezhou.¡±

    Captain Zhang was taken aback for a moment and then he heard Xiao Lou calmly saying, ¡°It can turn around halfway and return to Binzhou.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou with appreciation before telling the traffic police team, ¡°Captain Zhang, the investigation in Binzhou must continue. It is indeed possible for the car to turn around and return to Binzhou. If you want to return to the urban area after going back from the mountain road, you must pass through that fork. Find information on all the vehicles who passed through that fork after 4 a.m. on the 17th. I¡¯m sorry to trouble you.¡±

    Captain Zhang smiled. ¡°It is what I should do. I¡¯ll go back and check for you.¡±

    After collecting the evidence at the scene, everyone returned to the city together.

    Yu Hanjiang invited Xiao Lou to eat a light meal before taking the police team to find Zhou Yuanyuan.

    Zhou Yuanyuan had been recuperating in the hospital after the car identst year. Yu Hanjiang called the hospital and they said that Zhou Yuanyuan had been discharged half a month ago. No one answered when her number was called so Yu Hanjiang simply took everyone to the Yuehu Vi area.

    Yu Hanjiang found Zhou Yuanyuan¡¯s house ording to the address, asked his colleagues to wait outside and went forward to ring the doorbell. The one who opened the door was an old man around 60 years old. He had grey hair, wrinkles and looked very haggard. He peered at Yu Hanjiang suspiciously, ¡°Can I ask who you are?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang showed his police officer¡¯s ID. ¡°Hello, Uncle. We are police officers looking for Zhou Yuanyuan to investigate a case.¡±

    The old man¡¯s face changed. ¡°You¡¯ve got the wrong ce. Zhou Yuanyuan doesn¡¯t live here.¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke warmly. ¡°You are Zhou Yuanyuan¡¯s father, Mr Zhou Jianqiang right?¡±

    The debunked old man¡¯s mouth twitched. He didn¡¯t have time to refute it when he heard Yu Hanjiang¡¯s calm voice. ¡°Uncle, we are conducting a routine investigation. I hope we can meet Miss Zhou. After all, she is a public figure. Hindering the police investigation won¡¯t be good for your daughter¡­¡±

    Then a voice came from inside the house. ¡°Old Zhou, who is it?¡±

    The old man was silent for a moment. He seemed to feel that blocking the police from entering wasn¡¯t good for his daughter¡¯s reputation so he opened the door to let Yu Hanjiang and the others into the house. He told the olddy in the house, ¡°They are two policemen. They said they came to investigate a case.¡±

    The olddy was stunned. She immediately turned around to pour a few sses of water and smiled. ¡°Officers, please sit down. What is the case? Our family¡¯s Yuanyuan was injured and just left the hospital. We don¡¯t know what is going on outside. What happened?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Is Miss Zhou here?¡±

    The moment he spoke, a slender woman walked down the stairs. She was wearing simple, homely clothes with a pair of slippers on her feet. Her hair was only a few centimetres long. It had obviously been cut off for the operation.

    There were several visible scars on her face which were traces left over after the skin grafting operation. She was still recovering but it was hard to conceal the exquisiteness of her facial features, especially her eyebrows. Her slightly raised sword-like eyebrows were full of momentum.

    Zhou Yuanyuan walked into the living room and sat down on the sofa. She lit a cigarette and asked lightly, ¡°Police officers, why are you looking for me?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang questioned her bluntly. ¡°Last week on the 16th and 17th, where were you?¡±

    ¡°Resting at home.¡± A sneer appeared on her face. ¡°My face is so ghostly. Where else can I go?¡±

    ¡°Can anyone testify for you?¡±

    Her parents wanted toe forward but Zhou Yuanyuan replied calmly, ¡°I was alone at home. No one can testify for me.¡±

    Zhou Jianqiang was stunned. ¡°Yuanyuan,st week I¡­¡±

    Zhou Yuanyuan interrupted him. ¡°Dad, you and mom only came to Binzhou to take care of me the day before yesterday. The police can check your ticket information. There is no need for you to lie for me.¡± She nced at Yu Hanjiang and raised her eyebrow slightly. ¡°I was indeed at home alonest week. My agent and assistants were driven away by me. I wanted to be alone for a while.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou looked at each other with surprise. Most suspects would find a way to create an alibi for themselves to remove suspicion. They didn¡¯t expect Zhou Yuanyuan to be so straightforward that she would directly admit that no one could testify for her.

    This Zhou Yuanyuan behaved so uprightly. Did she really have nothing to do with the murder?

    6th Anniversary Event Page

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 253: Starlight Entertainment 15

    Yu Hanjiang carefully observed Zhou Yuanyuan¡¯s expression. The woman had a cold look and she was smoking while talking. If the scars on her face hadn¡¯t ruined her delicate appearance, she should be a very temperamental, special female star.

    Judging from the information found, Zhou Yuanyuan¡¯s poprity had beenparable to that of Lin Yiyan. She was also nominated for ¡®Best Actress¡¯ at a movie festival but Lin Yiyan won the grand prize at the time. Zhou Yuanyuan regrettably lost and she politely reposted the official Weibo to express her congrattions. At the time, the rtionship between the two of them didn¡¯t seem so frigid.

    The turning point wasst year.

    Yu Hanjiang used the clue that Qiao Xuening provided and asked Shao Qingge to check with the producer. The facts showed that Qiao Xuening was right. The heroine of the big IP drama World of Mortals was indeed set to be Zhou Yuanyuan at the beginning. The director liked her very much and the pay and schedule had been agreed upon. Zhou Yuanyuan¡¯s studio had even drawn up a contract and Zhou Yuanyuan had signed it. She was just waiting for the other party to sign and seal it.

    However, the contract hadn¡¯t been sent out when the producer suddenly broke it, saying that he had found another heroine.

    The people of Zhou Yuanyuan¡¯s studio had been busy for more than a month but in the end, their efforts were worthless. Naturally, they were very angry. ording to the producer, the reason was that Zhou Yuanyuan¡¯s image didn¡¯t match the heroine¡¯s image. However, the director had liked her and this proved she could handle the heroine role. There must be something going on behind the scenes.

    Shao Qingge used his ownwork to check and finally came to a conclusion. Lin Yiyan was able to get the role because she participated in a wine party with the investor under the arrangement of her agent. The people drank but no one knew what happened at the wine party. After that, the investor insisted that the director change the heroine and the director could only obey due to the funds involved.

    Lin Yiyan¡¯s appearance and acting skills were all good. The drama wouldn¡¯t copse if she reced Zhou Yuanyuan as the heroine. As a result, Lin Yiyan happily signed a contract with the crew and Zhou Yuanyuan¡¯s one month of preparations were useless.

    After learning the truth, Zhou Yuanyuan was so angry that she almost vomited blood. Then she was seriously injured in a rear-end collision on the way to the airport. Lacerations were left on her face and she needed skin grafts to repair it.

    Not many people knew this secret. To the outside world, Zhou Yuanyuan¡¯s agent just said it was an ident.

    Lin Yiyan relied on having the backing of Starlight Entertainment behind her to use unscrupulous means. Zhou Yuanyuan¡¯s agent obviously didn¡¯t want to openly confront Starlight Entertainment so she could only swallow down these grievances.

    Now it seemed that Zhou Yuanyuan was recovering well but the scars on her face were difficult to conceal. Her path as a celebrity was most likely ruined.

    Yu Hanjiang got straight to the point. ¡°Miss Zhou, how is your rtionship with Lin Yiyan? Have you seen her recently?¡±

    Zhou Yuanyuan was surprised. She probably hadn¡¯t expected them to ask about Lin Yiyan. She frowned slightly, put the cigarette butt in her hand out on the ashtray and replied in a hoarse voice. ¡°I¡¯m not in the samepany as her. I¡¯m not familiar with her in private.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°She took away the role that originally belonged to you and caused you to have a car ident. Don¡¯t you hate her?¡±

    Zhou Yuanyuan¡¯s expression changed and she clenched her fists. ¡°How do you know about this?¡±

    ¡°We naturally have a way to find out. Last year, you were originally scheduled to y the heroine in World of Mortals. However, before you signed the contract, Lin Yiyan intercepted the role.¡±

    Zhou Yuanyuan took a deep breath and calmed her emotions. She replied coldly, ¡°Lin Yiyan looks like a gentledy but she is very dirty in private. She has climbed into the bed of countless people. Wasn¡¯t my role robbed because she seduced the investor¡¯s son and slept with someone in exchange?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Do you have any evidence for your words?¡±

    Zhou Yuanyuan directly issued an eviction order and turned to leave.

    Yu Hanjiang stood up from the sofa. ¡°Lin Yiyan was killed.¡±

    Zhou Yuanyuan¡¯s back stiffened. She turned her head and stared with wide eyes. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Her death time is between 3:30 and 4:00 a.m. on the 17th. The location is the vi opposite your home. Miss Zhou, you have a personal grievance with her. If you can¡¯t provide an alibi then we have reason to detain you as a suspect for a detailed investigation.¡± Yu Hanjiang stared at Zhou Yuanyuan sharply. ¡°Miss Zhou, please think again about where you were in the early hours of the 17th.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Zhou Yuanyuan¡¯s face was blue and white. She was shaking all over as she supported herself on the sofa. Then she startedughing wildly. ¡°Haha, dead, that bitch is dead? Haha, retribution, retribution!¡±

    Father Zhou immediately stepped forward and spoke sternly, ¡°Yuanyuan, what nonsense are you saying! Stop talking!¡±

    Mother Zhou had tears in her eyes as she walked over and gently grabbed her daughter¡¯s hand. She spoke in a choked up manner. ¡°My Yuanyuan has been hospitalized for one year and she has been mentally stimted. However, she would never kill someone. Police officer, you must check properly!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Miss Zhou, we are going to search your home now. This is a search warrant.¡±

    He took out a printed search warrant and let the three people look at it. Then he went upstairs with Xiao Lou.

    Mother Zhou wanted to stop them but Father Zhou said calmly, ¡°Let them search! Our Yuanyuan can¡¯t kill someone! They will clear things up themselves!¡±

    However, the moment the two men arrived upstairs, they saw a telescope at the window next to the corner of the stairs. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou exchanged nces and walked to the telescope, looking through the lens¡­

    This was a very professional astronomical telescope. It was just that a slight adjustment of the angle and lens allowed them to clearly see into Lin Yiyan¡¯s house.

    Yu Hanjiang turned to the kitchen and found a sharp, long knife with a width of around 5cm and a length of around 30cm in the drawer. The shape of the knife was the same as the murder weapon drawn by Xiao Lou after he did the autopsy on the corpse and reconstructed it based on the wounds.

    Yu Hanjiang searched Zhou Yuanyuan¡¯s bedroom next.

    The moment they entered the bedroom, both of them were shocked. They saw that the wall of the bedroom was covered with Lin Yiyan¡¯s promotional photos. Each photo was crossed out with a red pen and the face on the photo was very red. The strokes were extremely hideous. These posters had bright smiles but the red strokes on their faces were so unsightly that it gave people the chills.

    In addition, some disposable gloves were found inside the house.

    Yu Hanjiang took photos of all the evidence found at the scene and called his colleagues on standby at the gate of themunity. Several police officers entered the house and took the evidence back. Yu Hanjiang handcuffed Zhou Yuanyuan and said indifferently, ¡°Miss Zhou, we are officially arresting you. Please go back with us to the police station for investigation.¡±

    Zhou Yuanyuan sneered. ¡°I didn¡¯t kill anyone.¡±

    Seeing the photos in the bedroom, Mother Zhou¡¯s legs weakened and she slumped on the sofa. The photos were all crossed out and Zhou Yuanyuan¡¯s hatred for Lin Yiyan was clearlymunicated to everyone.

    Father Zhou trembled. ¡°Yuanyuan can¡¯t kill anyone. She can¡¯t kill, even if it is Miss Lin¡­¡±

    Mother Zhou couldn¡¯t believe it and rushed over to grab Yu Hanjiang¡¯s arm. ¡°Officer, my daughter must be innocent! You can¡¯t take her away. She wouldn¡¯t kill anyone! How could she kill?¡±

    Her parents were agitated but Zhou Yuanyuan looked calm. She dered coldly, ¡°I really hate Lin Yiyan and wanted this slut to die!¡± Then she spoke seriously. ¡°However, I didn¡¯t kill her. It is useless for you to take me back. Can you still convict me without evidence?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied lightly, ¡°Let¡¯s go. If you are really innocent then we naturally won¡¯t wrong you. If you are guilty then we won¡¯t let any murderer go.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang arrested Zhou Yuanyuan ording to regtions. He could see that this woman¡¯s mental state was very wrong and she might do something crazy. Zhou Yuanyuan also didn¡¯t have an alibi. She said she was home but no one could prove it.

    The telescope found at home, the sharp knife consistent with the murder weapon and Lin Yiyan¡¯s posters with red crosses over them in the bedroom¡­ She also had plenty of motivation and time tomit the crime. Add in the evidence and her suspicion was too great to not be arrested.

    Yu Hanjiang took her to the interrogation room. Zhou Yuanyuan still had a cold face as she repeated, ¡°I didn¡¯t kill her.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°How do you exin the telescope?¡±

    Zhou Yuanyuan shrugged. ¡°I have loved astronomy since I was a child. I bought a telescope to watch the stars when I was bored. Can¡¯t I do that?¡±

    ¡°What about this knife?¡±

    ¡°It is for cutting watermelons.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took out the disposable gloves he found in the bedroom and the posters of Lin Yiyan¡¯s face that were drawn on.

    Zhou Yuanyuan exined, ¡°I need to often apply medicine to my postoperative wounds and the gloves are used when applying medicine. These posters¡­ I just hate Lin Yiyan and want to destroy her posters. Is this a crime?¡±

    She had excuses for every piece of evidence but every excuse wasn¡¯t very credible.

    After interrogating Zhou Yuanyuan for an hour, Yu Hanjiang stopped questioning her and returned to the office. She kept repeating things like ¡®I slept at home on the 17th¡¯, ¡®I didn¡¯t know Lin Yiyan was dead¡¯ and ¡®I didn¡¯t do it.¡¯ The interrogation was at a deadlock and Yu Hanjiang simply told her to calm down for a while.

    They returned to the office and Xiao Lou rubbed his aching temples. ¡°Zhou Yuanyuan¡¯s words sound ridiculous. Is she really using a telescope to look at the stars? However, it is strange. Why do I feel that¡­ it is not a lie? Isn¡¯t it a coincidence to find so much physical evidence in her house? It doesn¡¯t match the murderer¡¯s meticulous style.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke softly. ¡°She isn¡¯t the murderer.¡±

    Xiao Lou was surprised. ¡°Group Leader Yu, how did you judge this?¡±

    ¡°First, the murderer thought carefully and nned well. They wouldn¡¯t be so stupid as to leave the murder weapon and so much evidence at home for the police toe find it. Secondly, Zhou Yuanyuan¡¯s hatred of Lin Yiyan is justified. Did you find something when she destroyed Lin Yiyan¡¯s posters?¡±

    Xiao Lou reacted quickly. ¡°It was the face that was crossed out?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, in every poster, Lin Yiyan¡¯s face was crossed out with a red pen because Zhou Yuanyuan was disfigured by Lin Yiyan. She has made no secret of her hatred for Lin Yiyan and she has some mental problems after staying in the hospital for so long. She stuck the posters of Lin Yiyan in her bedroom and disfigured them to vent her negative emotions. If she really wanted to kill Lin Yiyan, what would she do first?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°She would destroy Lin Yiyan¡¯s face!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes filled with appreciation. ¡°If the murderer is Zhou Yuanyuan, from a criminal psychology perspective, she should retaliate against Lin Yiyan by destroying Lin Yiyan¡¯s face, then putting Lin Yiyan in the car and pushing her down the mountain. She wouldn¡¯t freeze the corpse in the bathtub with ice cubes.¡±

    The man paused, slender fingers tapping the table as he spoke thoughtfully, ¡°The ice cubes should have a special meaning in this case. We found Lin Yiyan¡¯s car today. If the murderer wanted to destroy evidence then the best thing to do is to put Lin Yiyan in the car, take her to the mountain road and push the car down the mountain. The car will explode and Lin Yiyan¡¯s body will burn to ashes. Even if the police find it, they will think that Lin Yiyan just had a car ident.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded in agreement. ¡°That¡¯s right! The murderer had a better way of dealing with the body. Why freeze the corpse in the bathtub? This should be to satisfy a special psychological craving?¡±

    What exactly did the ice represent? The two men were puzzled.

    Just then, a message popped up in the WeChat group. it was from Ye Qi: @All members, the concert will begin soon. I saw the members of the 505 girl group backstage. They are happily getting their makeup done and nothing seems unusual.

    Old Moined in the group: The start-up ceremony was held normally in the afternoon. Actors are truly amazing. Yesterday, Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao came to the crew to investigate the case. Cheng Yu and Qiao Xuening discovered that their lover/best friend is dead. As a result, these two people are smiling brilliantly at today¡¯s ceremony like they aren¡¯t affected at all!

    Liu Qiao added: Yes, these people really have first-ss acting. If it was me then I definitely wouldn¡¯t be able tough.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other.

    Acting skills¡­ These stars in the entertainment industry all had excellent acting. Who was acting and whose words were true?

    6th Anniversary Event Page

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 254: Starlight Entertainment 16

    Upon seeing the messages in the group, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou immediately turned on theirputers and searched the Inte for the start-up ceremony of the TV drama Twin Flowers. In order to gain poprity, the producer specifically invited media reporters to broadcast the opening ceremony live.

    This drama was adapted from a best-selling romance novel and it had many fans of the original work. In addition, the leading actors were Qiao Xuening and Cheng Yu, two high-profile stars attracting a lot of traffic. The number of online viewers for the opening ceremony soon exceeded a million. The topic #Twin Flowers Opening Ceremony# also went on the hot search due to fans and the purchased water army.

    It was as Old Mo said. Cheng Yu and Qiao Xuening didn¡¯t appear unusual at the opening ceremony. They smiled brightly when facing the media.

    Qiao Xuening said, ¡°I like the original novel of Twin Flowers very much. I am honoured to be the heroine of this adaptation. I will try my best to interpret this role.¡±

    The reporter asked, ¡°Miss Qiao, I heard that when you were previously shooting a movie, you identally fell off a horse and injured your leg? How is your injury now? I think that your fans are very concerned about your physical condition.¡±

    Qiao Xuening replied honestly, ¡°I did identally fall off a horse during a running scene and fractured my left calf. However, it wasn¡¯t serious. After treatment and rehabilitation for a period of time, it has now fully recovered. Please don¡¯t worry.¡±

    The live broadcast was filled with fans writing things like ¡®distressed for the goddess¡¯ and ¡®filming a drama when her leg injury just recovered, Sister Qiao is really dedicated!¡¯

    Xiao Lou heard this and couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°Do we need to verify her injury?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s have Shao Qingge check.¡± Then he @Shao Qingge in the group.

    Shao Qingge quickly replied with the result: I checked and Qiao Xuening¡¯s injury is real. Three months ago, she treated her leg injury at a rehabilitation hospital. Due to this incident, the heroine of Twin Flowers was almost changed but Qiao Xuening said she was fine.

    Xiao Lou thoughtfully said, ¡°She ran to the crew soon after she was discharged from hospital. If her leg was injured then will it be okay to film a dance scene?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°It might be that the private photos leaked back then hit her too hard. She doesn¡¯t dare to rest for long. The dance scene depends on how it is filmed. The director doesn¡¯t have to shoot her legs. He can shoot her upper body and then the legs don¡¯t require too much movement.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°Yes, it can be shot like this. This Qiao Xuening seemed like a very dedicated actress.¡±

    On the screen, the reporter asked, ¡°We all know that the heroine of Twin Flowers is a ballerina. Miss Qiao doesn¡¯t have a professional dance foundation. Do you have the confidence to control the dance-rted scenes?¡±

    Qiao Xuening smiled and replied earnestly, ¡°I might not be a professional dancer but I have learned dance for a few years when I was a child. I have some basics. I signed up to learn balletst month and my agent also invited the famous teacher Qu Wanyue to guide my dance movements. I will definitely study with Teacher Qu to ensure the standard of my movements.¡±

    Qu Wanyue stood under the stage and typed in the WeChat group when she heard this: She does have a basic dance foundation. Her movements are very standard and her leg injury doesn¡¯t seem to be a major problem.

    Yu Hanjiang: Teacher Qu, you continue to observe Qiao Xuening and tell us if something is wrong.

    Qu Wanyue made an OK sign.

    The reporters turned their questions to Cheng Yu. ¡°Cheng Yu, I heard that you are a cheerful and lively person. This is the first time you are acting as the protagonist of an idol drama with a cold personality. What did you think when you epted this role?¡±

    Cheng Yu smiled brightly. ¡°I wanted to challenge myself and try different types of roles.¡±

    The reporter asked, ¡°You and Qiao Xuening will act as lovers in this drama. I don¡¯t know what your personal rtionship is like. There is an age difference between you. Will this affect filming?¡±

    The two of them looked at each other before Cheng Yu replied with a smile, ¡°Sister Xuening is an actor I respect very much. It was through this drama that I became familiar with her.¡±

    Qiao Xuening nodded. ¡°Yes, we only met when we joined the crew yesterday. In the original novel of Twin Flowers, the female protagonist is a few years older than the male protagonist. I think the image of the two of us should be in harmony with this, right?¡±

    Cheng Yu nodded. ¡°I also feel that it is quite agreeable!¡±

    The two of them smiled at each other. Then Cheng Yu looked at the reporter. ¡°Sister Xuening works very hard. I hope she can give me more guidance during the filming process. I also want to learn a lot from her.¡±

    Qiao Xuening followed up, ¡°You are too polite. I don¡¯t dare be a guide. Let¡¯s work hard together. I hope this cooperation can go smoothly.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou watched the entire live broadcast and admired the two actors.

    Yesterday, they were investigated by the police due to Lin Yiyan¡¯s death. Today, they talked andughed like nothing happened. Of course, they couldn¡¯t shed tears for Lin Yiyan¡¯s death at a start-up ceremony. They were public figures after all.

    Did the two of them really not care about Lin Yiyan¡¯s death or were they controlling their emotions and pretending to be rxed? No one knew what they were thinking inside.

    Xiao Lou looked at theputer screen and frowned in confusion. ¡°Do they really not know each other in private? Why do I feel a tacit understanding between them when they answered the reporters¡¯ questions?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°The two of them looked at each other three times while answering the reporters¡¯ questions.¡±

    Xiao Lou was surprised. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Two stars who have never worked together came on stage to cooperate with each other. There are often embarrassing moments when one person is looking at the other person while that person is looking at the audience. However, every time Cheng Yu looked at Qiao Xuening, Qiao Xuening would also look at Cheng Yu. They have a high degree of understanding. The first time they met was when they joined the crew yesterday? I don¡¯t believe it.¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully recalled the details of the interview just now and his eyes lit up. ¡°They did look at each other and smiled several times. Is it possible that the two of them had an affair?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang held his aching head. ¡°If the two of them really had an affair, Cheng Yu is a rich second generation worth billions and he wouldn¡¯t kill one woman for another¡­ unless his brain is flooded with stupidity. Meanwhile, Qiao Xuening has an alibi. The entire variety show cast and crew can testify for her.¡±

    Xiao Lou was helpless. ¡°This is really difficult to exin. Let¡¯s look again. The murderer will always leave a trace.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang hummed in agreement and stood up. ¡°Let¡¯s check Qiao Xuening¡¯s injury first and see if there are any clues at the hospital.

    Xiao Lou immediately got up and followed Group Leader Yu to the rehabilitation hospital mentioned by Shao Qingge.

    The opening ceremony ended smoothly. The entire crew became busy and the director started filming the first scene. Today, almost all the solo scenes belonged to Cheng Yu. His sets were designed and built by Old Mo himself.

    Cheng Yu was ying a cold male god with a sessful career. He was the founder of apany.

    He changed into a suit and soon entered the role. Old Mo and Liu Qiao were watching him act from the side. He obviously wasn¡¯t in the right state today and missed his lines many times. The director called several cuts and frowned as he guided Cheng Yu.

    Cheng Yu listened with an embarrassed expression. After filming one scene five times, his agent immediately said, ¡°It is hard on everyone. Xiao Cheng has just arrived and he might not be used to it¡­¡±

    Director Zhang spoke coldly. ¡°Get used to it as soon as possible. I don¡¯t want to waste time on such simple scenes!¡±

    The agent hurried away with Cheng Yu.

    As Cheng Yu¡¯s side was busy shooting this single scene, Qiao Xuening took the time to confirm the dance actions with Qu Wanyue. She put on a white dance suit with fiery red patterns. This suit was specifically designed for her by the costume designer. Being reborn from the ashes was an important scene. She would put on this suit and dance a solo dance to conquer the judges and the audience.

    Qu Wanyue¡¯s eyes lit up when she saw this outfit and she praised it. ¡°The clothes are well designed.¡±

    Qiao Xuening smiled, walked to Qu Wanyue and spoke politely, ¡°Teacher Qu, let¡¯s check the actions in this scene.¡±

    The agent next to her was worried. ¡°Xuening, is your leg really okay?¡¯

    Qiao Xuening gave her a reassuring look. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I know my limits in my heart.¡±

    Qu Wanyue heard her say so and deliberately added two somewhat difficult actions to observe her legs. Qiao Xuening¡¯s leg movements showed no signs of stiffness.

    Qu Wanyue had graduated from a professional dance academy. She would definitely be able to see it if Qiao Xuening¡¯s injury hadn¡¯t fully recovered. However, Qiao Xuening¡¯s performance when dancing was no different from ordinary people. She rotated and stepped in an elegant and flexible manner.

    After Qu Wanyue taught the movements, she expressed her doubts in the group: Qiao Xuening¡¯s leg haspletely recovered. She wasn¡¯t affected at all while dancing. I could see that she wasn¡¯t gritting her teeth. It really doesn¡¯t hurt.

    Yu Hanjiang said: Xiao Lou and I are checking her hospital records.

    Xiao Lou followed by sending an image of an X-ray to the group: Based on the X-ray provided by the hospital, Qiao Xuening had a fracture of the left tibial teau and no fragmented bones were found around it. Fractures around the tibial teau will heal faster than fractures of the tibial shaft. Adults can heal in around three months.

    Ye Qi came out and asked in a puzzled manner: What is the tibial teau?

    Xiao Lou kindly drew a circle around it: Here, the traces of the fracture aren¡¯t very obvious. Her injury wasn¡¯t serious.

    The team members all professed that it was more convenient to understand with a doctor!

    Xiao Lou added: Qiao Xuening has been in hospital for 100 days. In theory, her fracture has indeed reached a level ofplete healing and there will be no problems when walking. However, it is a bit suspicious that she can move freely when dancing.

    Yu Hanjiang: Yes, after an athlete is injured, it will take some time for them to adjust and return to the field. Some people will even feel fear. Her leg has just healed. How can she dance normally?

    Long Sen immediately agreed: I once strained a ligament while running. After I recovered, I stood on the track and couldn¡¯t help sweating and shaking. This Qiao Xuening moved freely when dancing and her face was normal. Is her psychological quality really so good?

    Everyone was puzzled but they couldn¡¯t give a reason.

    Xiao Lou made a guess: It might be that she recovers faster than an average person or it might be that her psychological quality is really strong. In short, this Qiao Xuening isn¡¯t as simple as she seems. Teacher Qu, pay close attention to her movements.

    Qu Wanyue replied: Okay, don¡¯t worry.

    Yu Hanjiang asked in the group: Xiao Ye, you still have time to look at WeChat. How is the concert over there?

    Ye Qi answered: It starts at 8 o¡¯clock in the evening. It is only seven right now and the venue is full. The fans bought a lot of posters. It is spectacr. I took a photo for you to see!

    He sent a sneak peek of the venue.

    The stadium that wasrge enough to hold tens of thousands of people was full. Fans bought posters of the members of the girl group, various light sticks and support balloons. The scene was extremely lively.

    Ye Qi saw this scene from a crack in the backstage door with envy on his face. His dream was to hold a concert like this. He wondered if there would be a chance to realize it? As a temporary guest, performing on stage today could be considered an indirect realization, right?

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help getting excited by the thought. In any case, he had to sing well when he took to the stageter. Just then, a staff member beside him whispered, ¡°Chief Shao is here.¡±

    Ye Qi immediately sat upright. Teacher Tony had already styled his hair.

    Under Ye Qi¡¯s strong request, Teacher Tony finally gave up on the idea of putting his hair up with hairspray. He gave Ye Qi a simple and refreshing hairstyle, making him look like a lively and handsome young man.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Ye Qi. He praised, ¡°Yes, very handsome.¡±

    Ye Qi nced at him in the mirror and pretended to be shocked. ¡°Chief Shao, why are you here?¡±

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Didn¡¯t he say he woulde to the concert? This guy was quite immersed in acting.

    Shao Qingge suppressed his smile. ¡°Oh, I just want to see how well the concert is being prepared. Thepany has invested a lot of money this time. I hope that the concert for the 505 female group will be sessful.¡±

    Agent Yun Lan hurriedly greeted him and spoke respectfully. ¡°Chief Shao, don¡¯t worry. We have hired the most professional nning team for the concert and we will definitely give the audience the ultimate audiovisual enjoyment.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°Then I will go to the VIP seats and wait to see it. You should be ready as soon as possible.¡±

    Once he left, Ye Qi tried out the feel of his guitar and wondered, ¡°Sister Yun, when will I go on stage?¡±

    Yun Lan told him, ¡°You practice the guitar here first. I¡¯m going next door to see how they are preparing. Don¡¯t run around, understood? I will call you in advance when it is time for you to y.¡±

    Ye Qi joked, ¡°Okay Sister Yun, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll be here waiting for your call.¡±

    Yun Lan patted him on the shoulder and turned away.

    There was no one else in the dressing room and Ye Qi was a bit nervous. After all, this was his first time participating in such a grand concert. The idle and bored Ye Qi took out his phone and sent a message in the group: Chief Shao is in the audience. I¡¯m on standby backstage.

    Yu Hanjiang questioned him: Have you been in contact with the 505 girl group these days? Have you found anything?

    Ye Qi: I asked my agent. Lin Yiyan might be a star of ourpany but she developed in the movie industry and doesn¡¯t have much intersection with the 505 girl group who is in the music industry.

    He paused and then said: Today I was cheeky and went to exchange a few words with the captain of the 505 girl group, Zhao Yuxin. I pretended to be a fan of Lin Yiyan. As a result, Zhao Yuxin said she has never met Senior Lin Yiyan. Some of the girls in the group have never even seen her. The music and movie industries aren¡¯t a single circle.

    Xiao Lou: Xiao Ye, there might be clues linking this girl group and Lin Yiyan. Don¡¯t worry and look around backstage. If there are any suspicious people then tell us immediately. In addition, pay attention to safety.

    Ye Qi sent an OK sign, put down the guitar and secretly left the dressing room.

    6th Anniversary Event Page

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 255: Starlight Entertainment 17

    Ye Qi looked for clues backstage while Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou also set off for the concert venue. On the way, Yu Hanjiang drove a private car while Xiao Lou quickly went through the information hepiled on the 505 girl group again.

    The Five-505 girl group was established three years ago. All members were from the ¡®Sing If You Want to Sing¡¯ audition show held by Binzhou TV.

    The current five members were:

    Zhao Yuxin, the lead singer and captain. She was the winner of the audition show, the strongest singer, had the most fans and was the most popr. She was the favourite of thepany and the agent had signed her to a super popr variety show as a permanent guest. Zhao Yuxin had an excellent family background. Her father was a pianist and her mother was a dancer. She had been nurtured by her parents since she was a child. She could sing, dance and was versatile. Her clear voice was also very recognizable. She was the strongest in the group.

    Ye Lan had the temperament of a literary goddess. She graduated from a major university with a master¡¯s degree in economics. She was a rare highly educated beauty in the entertainment industry. She had long ck hair that reached her waist and her gentle and friendly voice captured the hearts of many fans of both sexes.

    Qin Huanhuan was a cute girl who was less than 1.6 metres tall. She liked to tie her hair up in two ponytails and she had a round baby face. She took the ¡®cute girl¡¯ route and her voice was quite sweet. She could freely switch between a childish voice and an adult voice.

    Li Shengnan. Her name was a homonym of Shengnan (surpassing men) because her parents hoped she would be better than boys. She did indeed grow up to be a tomboy. ording to the information, she had neat, short hair and didn¡¯t like to wear dresses. She liked wearing jeans and was a manly girl. She took the neutral style and was mainly responsible for the bass area and rapping.

    Finally, there was Liu Xi who had a clear and ethereal voice. Her hair was in a simple ponytail and she was a clean and refreshing girl. She had a cool personality and was taciturn. Her ethereal voice was very recognizable and she was mainly responsible for the upper vocals.

    Apart from Zhao Yuxin¡¯s family who were involved in the entertainment industry, the parents of the other four were ordinary working-ss citizens, including civil servants, bank employees,pany ountant etc. Among them, Ye Lan¡¯s parents were both university professors.

    The five girls had different images and personalities. Thebination was indeed very attractive.

    As the hottest girl group at present, Starlight Entertainment spared no expense for their first concert. The investment in the initial promotion alone exceeded many big production movies. The venueyout was checked by a dedicated designer. The current best professional team was invited for the lighting and sound effects of the stadium.

    Tickets were sold out as soon as they were released, proving the poprity of this girl group.

    Xiao Lou posted the information of the five people to the group and asked Liu Qiao and Old Mo to examine further: Group Leader Yu and I are going to the concert venue now. I always feel that something might happen at the concert. You should take a closer look at this information.

    Liu Qiao saw it andmented: It ispletely understandable that these five people can be so popr. A literary goddess, a cold noble sister, a versatile female captain, a cool tomboy and a cute girl. There is at least one type that people will like.

    Qu Wanyue said: I prefer the youngest Qin Huanhuan. This little girl is really cute. She has a round face and dimples when she smiles. It makes people feel happy just looking at it.

    Long Sen: Looking at the information, she is only 20 years old now?

    Xiao Lou: Ye Lan has a master¡¯s degree and is 26 years old. The others are between 20-24 years old and are very young.

    Thebination of personality types in an idol group was very important. Some groups had too many simr people and fans couldn¡¯t tell who was who. However, the 505 girl group had a good grasp on the right ¡®degree.¡¯ Girls of different styles stood together and were always most eye-catching. In addition, these girls had made it through the eliminations of the audition show and could sing well. After three years of hard work, their singing skills had improved even further.

    They had good looks and singing skills. It was difficult for such a girl group to not be popr.

    Since the crew of the drama was filming night scenes after dinner, Qu Wanyue and Liu Qiao continued to watch the lead actors in ordance with Yu Hanjiang¡¯s arrangements. Meanwhile, Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi would focus on tonight¡¯s concert.

    It wasn¡¯t difficult to get VIP tickets thanks to Shao Qingge. Shao Qingge had arranged things in advance so Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou went directly from the backstage passage to the VIP seats to find him. The concert wasn¡¯t aired live so they had toe to the scene. If an ident urred then Yu Hanjiang could investigate immediately.

    Shao Qingge nodded at the two of them. ¡°It¡¯s about to start.¡±

    The two men sat down next to him and watched the big stage.

    At 8 o¡¯clock in the evening, the concert officially began. In the dazzling lights, there was an exciting prelude. Five girls stood on the lift and slowly appeared in front of the audience.

    Their appearance was eye-catching. Their clothes were of the same colour but had different designs. It was a dark blue with white spotted patterns,plementing the starry sky background of the big stage.

    The five people stood on a high tform with a starry sky background. It was as if they were traveling together through the universe. The opening song was ¡®Stars¡¯ which coincided with the background of the concert.

    Ye Qi spoke in the group: This concert is so high-end. The background arrangement must cost a lot of money? It is really beautiful!

    Shao Qingge: I checked the budget. There was an investment of tens of millions.

    Ye Qi sent an envious expression and changed the subject: I wandered around backstage and didn¡¯t find anyone suspicious. Everyone was watching the concert seriously and the staff were gathered to drink water. The lighting engineer, sound effect engineer, live music person etc. are all at their posts. There are no other people walking around.

    Yu Hanjiang told him: Continue to observe. It is best if nothing happens.

    The opening song finished and the five girls walked to the big stage and bowed to the audience together.

    There were deafening cheers.

    The captain Zhao Yuxin picked up the microphone and spoke some official words. ¡°Thank you very much foring to today¡¯s concert. I am very happy to be here with you! The 505 girl group has debuted for three years and your support is the happiest thing for us! Thank you everyone and we love you!¡±

    Zhao Yuxin spoke clearly despite such a big venue. Her voice didn¡¯t tremble at all, her breathing was steady and her generous smile made people feel good. After she finished, the other four members also expressed their gratitude to the fans in turn. Immediately afterwards, they started to sing the second song.

    Xiao Lou leaned toward Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ear. ¡°They sing very well. I can hear the sound of their breaths at intervals. It shouldn¡¯t be fake singing.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°This group is really strong.¡±

    At the first mention of an idol group, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang thought it was a teamposed of several vases. Many young idol groups needed to revise their voices and once they really sang live, they were out of tune, forgot words or sang with broken tones. It was like a car crash at the scene. The really powerful singers needed years of stage training.

    However, today¡¯s girl group gave Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang a pleasant surprise.

    The voices of the five girls were highly recognizable. There was a clear treble, husky bass, sweet midrange, etc. Each person had their own characteristics when singing alone and the harmony of the five was also beautiful. In addition, there were some simple dance moves and the mood of the fans was quickly mobilized.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang unknowingly listened to the concert for half an hour. Song after song passed but nothing happened. Just as the two of them were feeling puzzled, the five girls left. The host walked onto the stage and said with a smile, ¡°Today, we have invited two guests to help out. First, there is our singing queen, Goddess Liang Ting!¡±

    Fans seemed excited by this surprise arrangement and screamed.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Liang Ting? Why do I feel that name is a bit familiar?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at a document on his phone. ¡°She is Xie Yuan¡¯s wife.¡±

    Xiao Lou suddenly realized. ¡°Xie Yuan, the idol of the deceased Lin Yiyan? He married Liang Ting, the queen of singing. Their marriage is a good story in the entertainment industry. They have a son and a daughter and the family of four looked very happy.¡±

    Previously, Yu Hanjiang saw Xie Yuan¡¯s name in Lin Yiyan¡¯s diary. Lin Yiyan was crazy in love with the actor Xie Yuan in high school so she set foot into the entertainment industry. After reading the diary, Yu Hanjiang called Xie Yuan and the other person said he wasn¡¯t familiar with Lin Yiyan.

    Xie Yuan had been resting for many years and there was no motive to kill Lin Yiyan. His suspicion was very low and Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t have time to investigate carefully. Unexpectedly, Xie Yuan¡¯s wife, the singing queen, became a special guest at the 505 girl group concert.

    In this way, the clues on both sides connected. Yu Hanjiang immediately sat up straight and stared fixedly at the stage.

    6th Anniversary Event Page

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 256: Starlight Entertainment 18

    Liang Ting and Xie Yuan weren¡¯t contracted artists of Starlight Entertainment and Shao Qingge didn¡¯t have their information. However, since Yu Hanjiang had found the name ¡®Xie Yuan¡¯ in Lin Yiyan¡¯s diary, he certainly couldn¡¯t ignore this person. He and Xiao Lou had already searched for information about the couple on the Inte.

    Judging from the information avable on the Inte, Xie Yuan had made his debut 17 years ago and many of his movies were regarded as ssics. It could be said that he was an irreceable male god for a certain generation. During his hottest years when he was in his 20s, Lin Yiyan happened to be in high school and the two people naturally had no chance to meet. By the time Lin Yiyan debuted, Xie Yuan was already married and had children. The two of them had never coborated in any TV dramas or variety shows.

    Xie Yuan¡¯s wife Liang Ting was a legend in the music scene. Many singers today grew up listening to Liang Ting¡¯s songs. Liang Ting had debuted at the age of 18 and she became popr all over the country with the single ¡®Dear You¡¯. She was three years older than Xie Yuan. Xie Yuan once said in an interview that the songs of Goddess Liang Ting were his favourite in high school.

    One of them was a superstar in the movie world and the other was the queen of the music world. Both were big celebrities who stood at the top in their respective fields. Once, the producer of a movie Xie Yuan was filming happened to invite Liang Ting to sing the theme song. After Xie Yuan learned about it, he went to visit and it was said the two of them fell in love at first sight in the recording studio. They got married less than half a yearter.

    At the time of their marriage, Liang Ting was 35 years old and Xie Yuan was 32 years old. The once-in-a-century wedding invited over 70% of the most popr stars in the entertainment circle. The scale was so grand that no one had surpassed it in years. This showed the influence of these two people in the entertainment circle.

    After they got married, they became a model couple. They were on variety shows as husband and wife and were very sweet when getting along. Xie Yuan doted on Liang Ting and it was said that he even cooked for the goddess at home.

    Three years of marriage passed and the two of them had a son. Three yearster, there was a young daughter. Now their daughter had just turned three years old and was about to go to kindergarten. The couple had been married for almost 10 years.

    The 42 year old Xie Yuan announced that he would stop filming and stay home to concentrate on raising his two children. Liang Ting also shifted her focus to her family. It was harder to ask her to sing a song than it was to reach the sky.

    On the surface, the two of them were really a god and goddess pair. Being able to stay married for 10 years in theplex entertainment circle and feel the same love make many of the younger generation feel envious. However, Liang Ting had been hiding for so long. Why did she suddenly participate in the concert of the 505 girl group?

    Xiao Lou was puzzled so as the intro was being yed, he softly asked Shao Qingge, ¡°How could Liang Ting give the 505 girl group so much face? Is the rtionship between them so good?¡±

    Shao Qingge replied, ¡°She isn¡¯t an artist in ourpany so I don¡¯t know the specifics. I¡¯ll ask the agent.

    Shao Qingge sent a message to the agent Yun Lan: How did you invite Liang Ting to be the mysterious guest of this concert?

    Yun Lan quickly replied: Chief Shao, it is like this. Three years ago, during the finals of the audition show, Liang Ting mentored the five members of the group privately. These five can be considered as her students. Now they are holding a concert and several of them strongly requested for Teacher Liang toe and sing. They all grew up listening to Liang Ting¡¯s songs and are loyal fans of Liang Ting. I went to ask Teacher Liang to satisfy one of their wishes.

    Shao Qingge wondered: Liang Ting was willing?

    Yun Lan: I invited her several times and also offered a sky-high appearance fee. She disagreed at first, saying she was going to travel with her husband and children. Later, her younger daughter fell ill and the travel n was canceled. She reluctantly agreed but she didn¡¯t care about the appearance fee. She doesn¡¯t need any money for the appearance fee. She is singing for the sake of friendship and treating it as a cheer for her students.

    Shao Qingge said, ¡°That¡¯s it.¡±

    He showed the conversation to Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou. Yu Hanjiang mused, ¡°Liang Ting previously mentored this girl group and she came to help out as a teacher. It is usible.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°They have a teacher-student rtionship. It isn¡¯t a problem that she came to cheer for them.¡±

    Just as the song¡¯s prelude was over, Liang Ting raised the microphone and started to sing.

    She wore a ck sequin dress and the fishtail design outlined her slim figure. She might be 44 years old but she carefully maintained her skin so it was no different from a 30 year old. Combined with the smoky makeup that matched her styling, she looked like a queen.

    Liang Ting deserved to be the queen of the singing world. Her singing could reach the realm of ¡®open one¡¯s mouth to make you kneel¡¯. The moment she opened her mouth, her ethereal voice reverberated in the venue after being amplified by the microphone. The entire venue fell silent and everyone was attracted by her singing.

    The song she sang was the famous ¡®Dear You¡¯ from many years ago. The song expressed a girl¡¯s longing for the person she liked. The tune was gentle and melodious. Combined with her unique voice, itpletely aroused the emotions of the audience. Some people even shed tears as they listened.

    The songs sung by the girl group just now were youthful, passionate and lively. The moment the song queen came out, the entire concert changed styles. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help sighing. The girl group was good at singing but it was different when Liang Ting came out. He was ayman but even he felt that Liang Ting¡¯s control of the song had reached the pinnacle.

    Ye Qi sent a row of appreciative thumbs up in the WeChat group: Great! The handling of the high notes is absolutely perfect and her breathing is particrly stable. She deserves to be a senior in the music industry for nearly 20 years!

    Yu Hanjiang asked: Is there a situation backstage?

    Ye Qi: Nothing unusual. We are all gathered in the corner here and listening to Teacher Liang sing. Many of the staff members are Teacher Liang¡¯s fans. She sings really nicely.

    Ye Qi was a student of music and his angle when listening to a song was naturally different from everyone else¡¯s. Xiao Lou and the others only thought that Liang Ting sang well. Meanwhile, Ye Qi analyzed Liang Ting¡¯s control of every tone and breath from a more professional perspective and he admired this senior even more in his heart.

    Liang Ting¡¯s song ended and the venue was almost overturned from all the cheering.

    The fans who came to the concert today might be fans of the 505 girl group but they still respected Queen Liang Ting of the music scene. There was prolonged apuse as Liang Ting stood in the middle of the big stage, smiling and bowing to the audience. ¡°Thank you!¡±

    Excited cheers were heard from the audience again in response. Liang Ting took a breath, calmed down her breathing and spoke earnestly. ¡°Today, I am honoured to participate in the first concert for the 505 girl group. The five of them are very hardworking and excellent singers. I am very happy to see them realize their dream of holding their own concert and gaining the support of so many people¡­¡±

    This was truly sentimental and her voice sounded sincere. The fans in the audience were happy she praised their idols so much and pped.

    Shao Qingge didn¡¯t want to listen to these official words so he leaned toward Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Liang Ting should¡¯ve prepared only one song. The next guest is our Xiao Ye. I am looking forward to seeing Xiao Ye sing on the big stage.¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°It is Xiao Ye¡¯s dream to hold a concert. He should be very happy to be a guest at this concert?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°Of course. He has probably been too excited over the past two days to sleep well.¡±

    Just then, Liang Ting finished her speech and was ready to withdraw. The host stepped onto the stage and spoke loudly. ¡°Let¡¯s thank Teacher Liang Ting again with warm apuse!¡±

    Liang Ting smiled and waved goodbye to the audience. Then she turned and left the stage amidst the screams of the audience. Her status meant that just singing one song was giving the girl group face. The fans at the scene were very happy. This special guest was indeed an unexpected surprise.

    Backstage, Ye Qi stood waiting for Liang Ting toe down. Many people flocked to Teacher Liang to ask for a signature. Ye Qi mixed in with the group and also asked for one with a red face. ¡°Teacher Liang, you sing really well!¡±

    Liang Ting looked at him and smiled. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Ye Qi got the autograph and stuffed it into his pocket. Perhaps it was due to her music but he had a good impression of this song queen.

    The host spoke loudly. ¡°Next, let¡¯s invite our second guest¡ªthe neer Ye Qi! As the younger brother of the 505 girl group, he won the Best Singles Award only one year after his debut. Ye Qi is a very promising new singer. Please ask him to sing songs for us!

    The surrounding audience started talking. ¡°Who is Ye Qi?¡±

    ¡°Is this Ye Qi very popr?¡±

    ¡°He is a neer who has been hottely. I¡¯ve seen him in the top 10 on the music charts.¡±

    ¡°They have the samepany and the same agent. It is normal to invite him to the concert¡­¡±

    Under the illumination of the stage lights that followed him, Ye Qi quickly stepped onto the big stage.

    The audience was covered in darkness and he could see the shing light sticks constantly shaking like a vast sea of stars. Ye Qi stood in the middle of the stage and his mind was dizzy for a while. He knew this was just a roley for the secret room plot but he still couldn¡¯t restrain his excitement.

    A concert, he was standing on the big stage of a concert! This was his biggest dream. He was very satisfied, even if it was realized in a secret room world.

    Ye Qi took a deep breath to calm himself down and nodded at the teacher in charge of the audio below the stage. The familiar prelude was heard. Ye Qi sat on a high chair in the middle of the stage, held his guitar and started to sing.

    He sang an old song, White Birch Forest.

    The song¡¯s lyrics were narrative and was very suitable for quiet listening. The smooth melody of the guitar spread from his fingertips to the entire venue. The bright voice of the teenager glided over the eardrums of everyone like a clear spring.

    ¡°The quiet vige is covered with white snow and pigeons are flying under the gloomy sky. Two names are carved on the white birch trees. They swear to love each other and spend their entire lives¡­¡±

    This song was a tragic love story.

    The couple who once vowed to love each other for a lifetime engraved their names on the birch tree. However, war wasing. The man resolutely joined the army. A few yearster, the girl heard the bad news that her beloved was killed in battle. She could only wait outside the white birch forest day after day.

    The simple melody and low-pitched singing was like an old friend speaking an ancient legend in their ears.

    This type of lyrical song was actually very difficult to control, especially for someone of Ye Qi¡¯s age who had no emotional experience.

    However, Ye Qi sang very well. He was engaged when singing like he had actuallye to the white birch forest. He hummed softly with his eyes closed and the song sung in his voice had a special charm. At the beginning, the audience thought this younger brother just came to grab the heat of his olderpany sisters. After listening to him sing for a while, the audience was intoxicated by his singing.

    The venue was quiet for a few seconds after the song ended. Then it was followed by deafening apuse and screams! Some girls listened so deeply that tears were already in their eyes. Most of the fans stared and talked excitedly. ¡°So handsome!¡±

    ¡±This little brother has a very clean voice.¡±

    ¡±His outfit is very fresh and it is much better than the colourful hair of all these new stars. Jeans, sweater, short ck hair and singing while holding a guitar, he is simply a schrly god!¡±

    ¡±I want to be a fan of this little brother! What¡¯s his name?¡±

    ¡±Ye Qi!¡±

    Shao Qingge listened to thements of the audience behind him and leaned back in his seat with slightly narrowed eyes.

    He thought that Ye Qi would be so nervous that he would forget his words on the stage. Unexpectedly, Ye Qi was really gifted in singing. The way he sat on the stage and sang quietly was really hard to look away from.

    Warm lights, simple styling, smooth guitar apaniment and a clean sound. This was the purest form of music.

    At this moment, Ye Qi became the focus of the entire venue and countless spectators gave him apuse.

    Shao Qingge sat under the stage and watched the serious and handsome young man on the stage. He couldn¡¯t help thinking, ¡®Xiao Ye, one day in the future, I will give you a solo concert that truly belongs to you.¡¯

    6th Anniversary Event Page

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 257: Starlight Entertainment 19

    Before Ye Qi went on stage, he had been very nervous and was afraid that he might sing badly. He didn¡¯t expect the final effect to be so good. Listening to the warm apuse and cheers from the audience, Ye Qi restrained his excitement. He jumped down from the high chair, held the guitar in one hand and bowed deeply to the audience. ¡°Thank you, thank you!¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at the young man¡¯s flushed face and smiled. ¡°Xiao Ye looks very excited. No matter the result of this secret room, the trip shouldn¡¯t be in vain right?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, he indirectly achieved his dream.¡±

    Ye Qi had prepared two songs. One was the sad guitar version of White Birch Forest and the other was the rtively passionate ¡®I Believe¡¯. Ye Qi obviously became more engaged with the singing. During the second song, he put down his guitar, sang and danced and waved to the audience. The entire stage seemed to be his territory.

    Shao Qingge chuckled. ¡°He really is having a good time.¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke helplessly. ¡°It would be fine if nothing happens at this concert. We can leave Xiao Ye with a good memory.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°A of Hearts wouldn¡¯t be so kind as to let Ye Qie to this secret room to hold a concert.¡±

    It was as he said. It was impossible for a keeper to kindly let Ye Qie to the secret room for a concert. The purpose of arranging this concert was to let everyone find clues. It might even be that someone would die. It was possible that the people at the concert today were rted to Lin Yiyan¡¯s murder, such as Xie Yuan and his wife. They hadn¡¯t had time to investigate Liang Ting¡¯s line previously.

    Ye Qi¡¯s two songs soon finished. Today, he had obviously experienced a singer¡¯s addiction. He excitedly bowed to the audience and thanked them. Then he said seriously, ¡°It is an honour to participate in the concert of my senior sisters. I hope that everyone will support the 505 girl group. I also wish for my senior sisters¡¯ concert tour to be aplete sess!¡±

    The fans in the audience pped and some people went online to search for information on Ye Qi.

    Ye Qi bowed again to thank them and returned to the backstage area.

    After the concert started, in order to ensure the safety of the stars, there was a special securitypany personnel in the backstage area responsible for clearing the venue. Apart from the staff with work permits, the stars, agents and assistants, other people weren¡¯t allowed to enter.

    The security was very strict. In addition to worrying about the ck fans threatening the singers¡¯ safety, it also prevented the paparazzi froming backstage to take photos.

    Ye Qi stepped off the stage and his agent immediately patted his arm with a big smile. ¡°You sang well. I think the audience¡¯s response was very good. After the two songs are sung, the amount of followers on your Weibo has increased by tens of thousands.¡±

    She took her phone and showed Ye Qi the tens of thousands of new Weibo followers. Ye Qi didn¡¯t care about the number of fans. After all, they would disappear after leaving the secret room. He was just happy to sing on stage as a singer today. He looked at Yun Lan and said, ¡°Sister Yun, thank you for giving me this opportunity.¡±

    Yun Lan handed him a bottle of water. ¡°Drink some water.¡±

    Ye Qi had sung two songs in a row and his mouth was indeed a bit dry. He took the mineral water she handed him and drank half a bottle before heading to the lounge with her. On the way, the two of them happened to meet the 505 girl group who had changed their looks. Ye Qi carefully observed their faces and found that the five girls were talking andughing. There was nothing unusual.

    Yun Lan left Ye Qi and turned to tell them, ¡°The second stage has a chorus followed by everyone¡¯s solo performance. Once this song is over, Yuxin will stay on the stage and sing a solo. The others will immediately go backstage to change clothes, understood?¡±

    The five people nodded together. ¡°We know, Sister Yun.¡±

    Yun Lan reached out a hand. ¡°Sing well, jiayou.¡±

    The five people ced their hands together and cheered. Then they headed for the stage.

    Their clothes, makeup and hair were all changed. The stylist wasn¡¯t bad this time. The styles designed for each girl were in line with their personality. Ye Qi watched their backs disappear and scratched his head with confusion. He thought, ¡®It isn¡¯t the girl group that will have an ident? They look normal.¡¯

    Yun Lan nced back at him. ¡°Okay, Xiao Ye. Your task for today has beenpleted. Go back and rest.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded and headed to his lounge. In the long corridor, they saw a woman with curly hair turn the corner. Yun Lan introduced her. ¡°This is Teacher Liang¡¯s agent, Sister Chen. This is ourpany¡¯s neer, Ye Qi.¡±

    Sister Chen smiled. ¡°Ye Qi, your singing just now was excellent. I listened to both songs and you have great potential!¡±

    Ye Qi was happy about being praised and politely said, ¡°Thank you Sister Chen.¡±

    Yun Lan asked, ¡°Where is Teacher Liang?¡±

    Sister Chen exined, ¡°She has a headache again and is resting in the lounge.¡±

    The two people didn¡¯t speak anymore. Ye Qi said goodbye and headed to the lounge while asking the agent, ¡°Teacher Liang has a headache problem?¡±

    The agent replied, ¡°I hear it is a migraine. She isn¡¯t in good health after giving birth.¡±

    Ye Qi made an ¡®oh¡¯ and took out his phone after sitting on the sofa. Yu Hanjiang sent a message in the group: Xiao Ye, is there anything unusual?¡±

    Ye Qi quickly replied: The five members of the girl group have just changed their looks and are preparing for the second round of performances. It should be fine based on their expressions.

    Yu Hanjiang: Where is Liang Ting?

    Ye Qi: I just saw her agent. She said that Teacher Liang has a headache and is resting next door.

    Just after sending the message, he suddenly heard a scream from next door. ¡°Ah!¡±

    Just then, the five members of the girl group came on stage and there were deafening screams and apuse.

    The scream from next door ovepped with the screams from the fans at the concert, almost making Ye Qi think it was a hallucination. Even so, he immediately got up from the sofa and walked next door to check the situation.

    He came to the door of the lounge next door. There was something wrong! The agent was standing at the door with wide eyes. Her mouth was covered and her face was full of horror. Ye Qi walked beside her, followed her gaze and couldn¡¯t help freezing in ce.

    He saw Liang Ting wearing the ck fishtail dress, her body bent in the shape of a shrimp. She was lying on her side and blood flowed down the corner of her mouth. She was reaching out to the door like she was calling for help. The woman¡¯s body was stiff and she was not breathing.

    Ye Qi perceived something had happened and immediately sent a message to Xiao Lou: Liang Ting had an ident!

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou nced at each other and asked Shao Qingge to take them backstage quickly.

    The concert officially started at 8 o¡¯clock and the security guards cleared the backstage, blocking the exit and entrance to prevent paparazzi and ck fans from getting in. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou weren¡¯t familiar and didn¡¯t have work badges. The security guards stopped them and refused to let them pass. Yu Hanjiang simply took out his police officer ID. ¡°Police.¡±

    The security guards were stunned and Shao Qingge raised his eyebrow. ¡°Aren¡¯t you letting us go?¡±

    The several security guards immediately opened the door and let the three of them pass. Yu Hanjiang, Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge strode through the backstage area.

    The stadium often heldrge-scale events and sometimes held cultural evenings. The rest area backstage wasrge enough to amodate thousands of people. At this time, the entire passage was closed and only a few rooms were used for this concert.

    Yu Hanjiang walked while observing theyout of the backstage area.

    The backstage had a ¡®»Ø¡¯ shapedyout. The corridor connecting to the big stage was empty and there were no traces of surveince cameras. It should be out of fear of leaking the privacy of the artists.

    Thergest room on the left was the staff lounge. Then after passing the corner, there was the dressing room of the 505 girl group, diagonally opposite it was the small dressing room around 10 square metres in size that was reserved for Ye Qi. Teacher Liang Ting was here as a special guest and she had a separaterge dressing room. This was the scene of the crime.

    Ye Qi saw Group Leader Yu and the others and ran over nervously. ¡°Teacher Liang had an ident¡­¡± He felt really sad. Liang Ting had sung really well and Ye Qi respected this senior in the music industry. He had just talked to her and asked for her signature. Then in the blink of an eye, she became a dead person?

    Xiao Lou saw Ye Qi¡¯s look and patted him on the shoulder infort.

    The agent was standing in a dumbfounded manner at the door. She was apparently shocked by the scene in front of her. Then she heard footsteps behind her and finally recovered, taking out her phone in a trembling manner. ¡°Report, call the police!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke softly, ¡°No need, I am the police.¡±

    He took out his police officer¡¯s card and showed it to the agent. Xiao Lou also took out his forensic doctor card. The agent looked at them suspiciously. ¡°This¡­ Did anyone call the police? Why did you arrive so soon¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told them, ¡°We happened to be nearby.¡±

    He nced at Xiao Lou and the two of them entered the scene together. They put on gloves and started working.

    Xiao Louid the corpse t on the ground and started a simple autopsy. He quickly concluded, ¡°The death time is within 10 minutes and there are no other injuries on the body. The cause of death should be poisoning. The specific toxin must be determined. We need to bring her body back for testing.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and frowned at the scene. He raised his head to look at the ceiling. For the privacy of the actors, there were no surveince cameras installed in the dressing room. This was fatal and provided great convenience to the murderer.

    Yu Hanjiang quickly searched the room for clues. There was a makeup table with lipstick, foundation, eyeliner etc. next to arge handbag. Yu Hanjiang asked the agent. ¡°Do these belong to a makeup artist or did Liang Ting bring them?¡±

    The agent replied with a pale face. ¡°She is used to bringing her own cosmetics when she goes out.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. He put all the cosmetics into the makeup bag so it could be brought backter to be tested.

    There was a ck thermos cup on the dressing table. There was no water in it but there was a small trace of lipstick on the cup. Liang Ting should¡¯ve drunk it. In addition, there was an opened bottle of mineral water that Yu Hanjiang also collected.

    There were no leftover snacks in the room and no food packaging in the trash can. There were only two ways for the murderer to poison her. The poison was in the cosmetics or the drinking water.

    Judging from the circumstances of the incident, it was more likely that the water was poisonous. It was because if the murderer poisoned her lipstick, she might¡¯ve died on the big stage in the middle of the performance. The poison in the water would guarantee her death backstage. She would only drink water backstage.

    Liang Ting took to the stage to sing at 9:00 and returned backstage at 9:05.

    Immediately afterwards, Ye Qi came to the stage and sang two consecutive songs. Within 10 minutes of Ye Qi singing, Liang Ting was poisoned and died. It would be toote if the murderer wanted to kill her in 10 minutes. The backstage area was so messy that they were likely to be seen by someone. This was too risky. Therefore, the murderer must¡¯ve nned it. They poisoned her water in advance and waited for her to drink the poison.

    The things on the makeup table might be messy but the bottle and jars were all upright on the table. The dress on the deceased was neat and her hair and makeup weren¡¯t messy. This proved that she didn¡¯t have any physical conflicts with anyone before her death.

    Yu Hanjiang took a few steps from the sofa to the position of the deceased, trying to reproduce the process of the crime.

    After Liang Ting drank the poisonous water, she took three steps before falling to the ground. She wanted to call for help but the screams in the venue were deafening. Ye Qi¡¯s singing had attracted the attention of most of the backstage staff and no one heard her call out.

    Yu Hanjiang touched his chin and thought for a moment. Then he said sharply. ¡°The murderer must still be at the scene! Block the area immediately. None of the people backstage are allowed to leave!¡±

    Approximately one month left to go until the final submission date of November 15th! I¡¯m loving all the entries so far. They¡¯re sooo great and I can¡¯t wait for you to see some of them. However, still only two entries for the fanfiction entry. Don¡¯t want the prize to go to waste so be sure to work on your entries!!

    6th Anniversary Event Page

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 258: Starlight Entertainment 20

    Yu Hanjiang made a phone call to his colleagues in the criminal police team. His colleagues rushed to the scene andpletely locked down the backstage area. Tonight¡¯s concert had tens of thousands of spectators so it was better to avoid the news of Liang Ting¡¯s death spreading out, causing panic and a serious stampede. Therefore, Yu Hanjiang decided to conduct a secret investigation in the backstage area while letting the concert continue.

    Yun Lan came to the scene with Ye Qi. After seeing Liang Ting¡¯s body, her face was extremely ugly. After all, Liang Ting was a guest she had invited personally who died at the concert. How would she exin it to Liang Ting¡¯s family and fans?

    Yu Hanjiang walked up to her and asked, ¡°Miss Yun, what were you doing backstage while Ye Qi went on stage to sing? Did you see any suspicious characters?¡±

    Yun Lan¡¯s senses returned. She clenched her fists and her lips kept trembling. ¡°I¡­ when Teacher Liang was singing on stage, I was in the dressing room next door to decide the makeup and hair for the five members of the girl group. Teacher Liang¡¯s song finished after they had changed clothes. I went to pick up Teacher Liang. At the time, there were many people around her asking for an autograph¡­¡±

    Ye Qi nodded to prove this. ¡°Yes, Teacher Liang returned to the backstage and there were indeed many staff members. I went up to her to ask for an autograph. She signed it for everyone and I wanted to get a copy. Then I went on stage to sing.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang inquired, ¡°Teacher Liang went directly back to her lounge and didn¡¯t go anywhere else?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. After Ye Qi came on stage, I have been standing at the corner on the east side¡­¡± Yun Lan pointed in a trembling manner to the corner at the end of the corridor where the big stage could be seen through the gap. ¡°I wanted to hear Ye Qi sing his two songs. It is the first time he performed on such a big stage and I was afraid he would fail. Where did Teacher Liang go? I¡¯m afraid you will have to ask Sister Chen.¡±

    She looked back at Sister Chen. Sister Chen was Liang Ting¡¯s agent and she immediately spoke. ¡°I took Teacher Liang to the lounge and asked her if she wanted to change her clothes. She said that she had a headache and didn¡¯t want to change. She wanted to be alone for a while and let me down my own work. I felt sick so I went to the bathroom. I came back and saw her¡­ fallen on the ground.¡±

    At this point, the agent¡¯s face became uglier. Her eyes were red and she was about to cry. Her voice was clearly choked up. ¡°Teacher Liang has been fine all day. Why suddenly¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang interrupted her. ¡°On the way to the bathroom and back, did you see anyone in the corridor?¡±

    Sister Chen replied, ¡°On the way there, I saw Zhao Yuxin, Ye Lan and Liu Xi in the bathroom and greeted them. Then when I came back, I saw Ye Qi and his agent.¡±

    Yun Lan added, ¡°Yes, just now, Ye Qi returned backstage after the performance and we met Sister Chen in the corridor.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Ye Qi and thetter immediately nodded to confirm it.

    Yu Hanjiang raised his wrist to look at his watch and frowned slightly. ¡°You went to the bathroom when Liang Ting returned backstage and only came out after Ye Qi stepped down. In other words, you stayed in the bathroom for 15 minutes?¡±

    Sister Chen was embarrassed. ¡°I¡¯ve recently had some constipation.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡±

    If it was constipation then it was normal to stay in the bathroom for over 10 minutes, provided that she wasn¡¯t lying. The agent looked nervous and her body was trembling the entire time. He just didn¡¯t know if she was scared or guilty. Her testimony had yet to be checked. After all, she only met people on the way to and from the bathroom. She never came out of the bathroom in the 15 minutes in between and no one could prove it for her.

    Yu Hanjiang took a notebook out of his pocket and quickly wrote down the doubts in her testimony.

    Next, Yu Hanjiang went to question the backstage staff and the assistants of the celebrities.

    The backstage area was a ¡®»Ø¡¯ structure. Since the staff¡¯s lounge and Liang Ting¡¯s makeup room were far apart, they had to take another path to go to the bathroom. Therefore, it was difficult for them to know what happened to Liang Ting. This also led to no witnesses when Liang Ting¡¯s ident happened.

    There were more than two dozen backstage staff as well as a dozen security guards.

    Yu Hanjiang checked them one by one and questioned them. No one knew what happened in Liang Ting¡¯s dressing room and no one saw any suspicious people appearing in the corridor. The staff members could confirm each other¡¯s alibis.

    During the time when the 505 female group were singing on stage, most of the staff were gossiping in the lounge and watching the performance from the corner. Then when Ye Qi came on stage, Ye Qi sang so well that a group of people crowded in the corner to listen to the song. They had never been to the corridor where Teacher Liang¡¯s dressing room was located.

    One of the female assistants of the 505 girl group said, ¡°The ce where we listened to the song is far away from Teacher Liang¡¯s dressing room and it is separated by several walls. Besides, the screams of the fans at the concert are too noisy. We really don¡¯t know what happened to Teacher Liang!¡±

    Everyone was nervous when questioned and they started discussing it.

    ¡±What happened to Teacher Liang?¡±

    ¡±She was fine when she stepped down and signed for us¡­¡±

    ¡±Why is the police asking about Teacher Liang¡¯s situation.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t tell them about Liang Ting¡¯s death. He just reminded everyone that if they remembered seeing anyone enter Teacher Liang¡¯s dressing room today, they had to tell him.

    An enthusiastic security guard told him, ¡°Teacher Liang is such a big name that we didn¡¯t dare bother her. The only people who can enter her dressing room should be her makeup artist, stylist, assistant and agent!¡±

    A girl next to him added, ¡°There are also the 505 female group members, Ye Qi and their agent. The stars are all in the west corridor to make it easy to chat with each other. We can¡¯t go there.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang certainly knew this. Liang Ting¡¯s status was high and the ordinary staff members of the concert didn¡¯t dare rush to disturb her. The number of people who could enter her dressing room was limited and the most suspicious ones were among those people.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Sister Chen. ¡°Where are Teacher Liang¡¯s makeup artist and stylist?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t see them either.¡± Sister Chen turned her head in confusion. ¡°Does anyone know where Xiao Su and Ah Kim are?¡±

    ¡°The two of them said that they were too hungry and wanted to order takeout. It is estimated that they are eating takeout in the lounge over there.¡± Teacher Tony, the one who did Ye Qi¡¯s hair, replied with a smile.

    Yu Hanjiang walked around the corner and came to the lounge in the north. This was the ce for makeup artists and stylists to rest. He opened the door and saw a man and a woman sitting on the sofa and eating the two lunchboxes in front of them.

    Seeing Yu Hanjiang walking in with Xiao Lou, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi, the yellow-haired stylist¡¯s chicken leg fell to the ground. He hurriedly reached out to pick it up and asked with a puzzled look on his face, ¡°What¡¯s going on? So many people?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang showed his police officer¡¯s ID card to the two of them and asked in a low voice, ¡°I am a policeman and I hope you will cooperate in the investigation of a case. Where were you during the period when Liang Ting was on stage?¡±

    The two of them nced at each other. Yu Hanjiang frowned at the two. ¡°Do you want me to repeat the question?¡±

    The female makeup artist, Xiao Su shivered under his cold gaze and immediately replied. ¡°Officer! Both of us were too busy to eat today! When Teacher Liang came down from the stage, the takeout we ordered was delivered. I asked Teacher Liang if she wanted to change her appearance after the performance. She said no and let us go eat first. Therefore, we came to this lounge to eat.¡±

    The blond stylist Ah Kim immediately nodded. ¡°Yes, we have been eating and chatting here. What¡¯s the matter? Why did the policee to the concert suddenly?¡± He looked at Tony, who was also a stylist. Tony walked over with a pale face and whispered, ¡°Something seems to have happened to Teacher Liang. I just heard a scream¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked the makeup artist, ¡°The cosmetics used on Liang Ting today are her own?¡±

    The makeup artist nodded. ¡°Yes, she has a habit of cleanliness. She is used to bringing her own cosmetics and she doesn¡¯t use my things.¡±

    ¡°Are you her main makeup artist and stylist?¡±

    Sister Chen spoke from the side. ¡°Xiao Su often puts makeup on for Teacher Liang while Ah Kim is temporary. It is his teacher who usually does the styling for Teacher Liang. This time, his teacher went abroad for something and asked him toe work. After trying the styling, Teacher Liang felt very satisfied and let him.¡±

    Ah Kim shyly tucked his hair behind one ear. ¡°I have done styling for many celebrities before but this is the first time I¡¯ve coborated with Teacher Liang. Teacher Liang is super easy to talk to.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    There were some stylists in the entertainment industry who had that type of ¡®effeminate¡¯ air. When they talked, they almost always ced their index finger and thumb together while extending the rest of their fingers. Today, these two Tony and Ah Kim were pretty good at it.

    Yu Hanjiang was ustomed to seeing all types of people and continued to question them calmly. ¡°Was Liang Ting¡¯s mood wrong during the styling process?¡±

    The makeup artist replied, ¡°No, she was joking with us and looked like she was in a good mood.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked again, ¡°Did she receive any messages from others or calls?¡±

    The makeup artist nced at Sister Chen. ¡°It wasn¡¯t convenient for her to bring her mobile phone when changing clothes. It seems that Sister Chen kept her mobile phone?¡±

    Sister Chen hurriedly took out the phone, entered the password to unlock it and handed it to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Xie Yuan called when the concert started at 8 o¡¯clock tonight. At that time, Teacher Liang was changing clothes and it wasn¡¯t convenient to answer. I picked up the call. Xie Yuan asked me to tell Teacher Liang to go home directly after the concert. He cooked supper and is waiting for Teacher Liang to eat with their children.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°How is Xie Yuan¡¯s rtionship with Liang Ting?¡±

    Sister Chen replied, ¡°They are a model couple. They have been married for 10 years and are still very affectionate.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes swept over everyone present and finally fell on the agent Yun Lan. ¡°Once the 505 girl group returns backstage, let them continue to sing. If you tell them about Teacher Liang, it is too easy to cause mass panic among the audience of the concert.¡±

    Yun Lan nodded with a pale face. ¡°I understand¡­ the concert will proceed as usual.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°I will continue to investigate here. Once the concert is over, let the five girlse to me to give their statements.¡± He nced at the security guard captain next to me. ¡°The entire backstage area has been surrounded by my colleagues and no one is allowed to leave. If someone asks why, tell them that there is a criminal case that needs to be investigated. I hope everyone will cooperate.¡±

    The security guard captain nodded. ¡°Yes, Group Leader Yu. We will cooperate.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took Xiao Lou, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi to an empty lounge.

    Ye Qi asked nervously. ¡°Group Leader Yu, is there a conclusion?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took out a pen and paper. Then he drew a n of the entire backstage area while marking the direction.

    ¡ª¡ª¨CA¨CNorth¨CD¨C

    West B ¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C E East.

    ¡ª¡ª¨CC¨CSouth¨CF¨C

    The distribution of the backstage area was roughly shown. Among them, there were three rooms in the west corridor. Room A in the northwest corner was arge suite and it was the dressing room and lounge of the 505 girl group. Room B was around five metres along the corridor and it was a VIP room. Teacher Liang¡¯s dressing room and lounge were here. Room C in the southwest corner was Ye Qi¡¯s lounge.

    All the stars¡¯ rooms were in the corridor on the west side.

    There was a bathroom in the north and south and a tea room nearby. Just now, the makeup artist and stylist were eating takeout in the tea room in the north.

    In the east corridor, D and E were the restrooms for the staff and security guards.

    The F area in the southeast corner was the passageway from backstage to the concert stage. It was where they could watch the situation on the big stage. During Liang Ting and Ye Qi¡¯s performance, many staff members crowded here to watch.

    Yu Hanjiang pointed to the distribution of the lounges. ¡°Liang Ting¡¯s VIP room is in position B and the staff¡¯s lounge is in position E. There is no connection between the corridors on the east and west side and there are two corners in between. It is really hard to hear the movements on the other side. In addition, it isn¡¯t convenient for the staff to directly enter and exit Liang Ting¡¯s dressing room. So it is unlikely that these staff membersmitted the crime.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stopped his pen on the west corridor. ¡°The murderer should be here in this area. Excluding Xiao Ye, those who had easy ess to Liang Ting¡¯s dressing room include the five members of the 505 girl group, the agents Yun Lan and Sister Chen and Liang Ting¡¯s makeup artist and stylist. Since Yun Lan has an alibi, the current suspects are the rest. It is the five members of the female group as well as Liang Ting¡¯s makeup artist and stylist.

    Ye Qi was surprised. ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you mean to say that the murderer is among these seven people?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Pay attention to a few details. The makeup artist said that Teacher Liang has a habit of cleanliness and is used to bringing her own cosmetics. Therefore, it is difficult to put poison in the cosmetics. The more likely scenario is that the water is poisoned. We found a thermos and an unopened mineral water bottle at the scene. The water has been drunk. Right now it is winter. If Liang Ting is thirsty, what would she choose between warm water and cold water?¡±

    Xiao Lou took out the sealed stic bag with the thermos and said, ¡°She will drink warm water. The poison should be in Liang Ting¡¯s thermos.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, we can take it back for testing to confirm that the murderer poisoned it after arriving today.¡±

    Shao Qingge wondered, ¡°Why not poison her ahead of time?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang answered, ¡°If poisoned in advance, it will be hard to control when Liang Ting drinks the water. What if she drinks it on the road and dies in the car? There will be very few suspects in contact with Liang Ting and it would be easy to locate the murderer. Therefore, the murderer chose the chaotic concert scene that can create a better alibi for them.¡±

    He put down his pen and spoke simply. ¡°Wait for the female group to finish singing and then we will question them.¡±

    6th Anniversary Event Page

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 259: Starlight Entertainment 21

    The concert ended on time at 10 o¡¯clock in the evening.

    Since the agent Yun Lan didn¡¯t tell the girls about Liang Ting¡¯s death, the five girls weren¡¯t affected in the second half of the performance. They sang very happily on the big stage and everyone¡¯s solo performances were also done perfectly. Their first concert was aplete sess.

    The fans left in an orderly manner while the five members of the girl group returned to the lounge. The captain, Zhao Yuxin, smiled brightly. ¡°In order to celebrate the sess of our first concert, how about I invite everyone for a mealter?¡±

    This suggestion soon got the approval of the other four. However, greeting them, the agent Yun Lan¡¯s face was as dark as the bottom of the pot. She told them solemnly, ¡°Youe with me.¡±

    The five members saw that her face wasn¡¯t so good. Qin Huanhuan joked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with Sister Yun? Today¡¯s concert was quite smooth. Why is your face so ugly?¡±

    Li Shengnan added, ¡°Did your boyfriend make you angry again? If he dares to bully my Sister Yun then I will beat him up!¡± Then she clenched her fists and showed everyone the muscles on her small arms.

    The other three also expressed concern for their agent.

    Yun Lan took a deep breath, pulled the five people aside and spoke in a low voice. ¡°Teacher Liang had an ident. The police are waiting for you backstage. In order to prevent this news from affecting the tens of thousands of people at the concert, the police didn¡¯t let me tell you so that the concert could end smoothly¡­¡±

    The five people heard this and quickly put away their smiles.

    Captain Zhao Yuxin asked, ¡°What happened? Even the police are here. Is it serious?¡±

    Yun Lan was silent for a few seconds before replying with a trembling voice, ¡°Teacher Liang died in her dressing room.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡± All five of them gasped. The youngest, Qin Huanhuan, immediately had red eyes. Her fingers shook and she grabbed the arm of Li Shengnan next to her. ¡°S-Sister Nan, Teacher Liang is dead? Did I hear it correctly?¡±

    Li Shengnan¡¯s face didn¡¯t look very good as she barely maintained her calm. ¡°Sister Yun, you must be joking, right? Haha, Sister Yun is so humorous.¡±

    Yun Lan asked her, ¡°Do you think I would joke about this type of thing?¡±

    The five people were choked up at the same time.

    Yun Lan warned them, ¡°You should be mentally prepared. The police are waiting to question you.¡±

    She asked the five girls to line up to find Yu Hanjiang next door.

    In order to observe the performance of the five girls, Ye Qi had hid in the dressing room and saw the entire process. Judging from the expressions of the five girls, the most shocked one was Li Shengnan. After hearing the news, her mouth was so wide that a duck egg could be stuffed inside. Qin Huanhuan was scared and cried. Her legs were a bit wobbly as she walked. Perhaps she hadn¡¯t experienced this type of stimting thing before and she couldn¡¯t bear it for a while.

    As for the other three, Ye Lan¡¯s eyes widened with surprise, and Zhao Yuxin was pale as she stared at her agent with disbelief. Liu Xi remained calm on the surface but her hands were clenched and she was breathing deeply.

    There was nothing obviously suspicious from the performance of the five people. Ye Qi secretly came out of the dressing room and headed to the interrogation room.

    The five people entered the room in turn to be interrogated by Yu Hanjiang.

    Qin Huanhuan was already crying uncontrobly. She spoke while wiping her tears. ¡°Teacher Liang was my idol. I have been listening to her songs since elementary school¡­ I was really happy to be able to invite her to this concert¡­. how could she suddenly die? I really don¡¯t know. What is going on?¡±

    The round-faced girl cried and ruined her makeup. Either she was really good at acting or she really was sad about her idol¡¯s death.

    Yu Hanjiang asked her about the situation backstage and Qin Huanhuan replied, ¡°I went to the dressing room after I got off the stage. My eyes are sensitive and my eyeliner was smeared. It took a long time for the makeup artist to touch up my makeup. By the way, Sister Nan was also there. She has a sweaty physique and sweats easily when dancing. The powder on her face also needed to be fixed. We stayed in the dressing room to have our makeup fixed.¡±

    As for Liang Ting¡¯s movements, Qin Huanhuan said she didn¡¯t hear anything.

    Her testimony was exactly the same as that of Li Shengnan. The two of them had their makeup touched up the entire time they were off the big stage.

    Li Shengnan told him, ¡°Zhao Yuxin, Ye Lan and Liu Xi went to the bathroom together but neither Huanhuan or I went.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked the makeup artist of the girl group for proof.

    He could rule out the suspicion of Qin Huanhuan and Li Shengnan for the time being. The two girls didn¡¯t leave the sight of the makeup artist because their makeup was too easily ruined. Today, Qin Huanhuan was moring to get an autograph from Liang Ting but the makeup artist took her back to touch up her makeup. She never had the chance for private contact with Liang Ting.

    Li Shengnan also sweated a lot and easily ruined her powder. They were either on the way to the big stage or to makeup. He needed to focus his inquiries on the remaining three people.

    Zhao Yuxin said, ¡°I did go to the bathroom with Ye Lan and Liu Xi. I ran into Teacher Liang¡¯s manager, Sister Chen in the bathroom and greeted her.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°The three of you went there together. Did you go back together?¡±

    Zhao Yuxin¡¯s face changed slightly and she wanted to stop talking.

    Yu Hanjiang sensed something wrong and immediately questioned it. ¡°What happened in the middle?¡±

    Zhao Yuxin looked embarrassed and was hesitant to speak. Yu Hanjiang solemnly told her, ¡°Miss Zhao, you are a public figure. If you don¡¯t want to go to the police station with me to be detained for a few days, please tell the truth.¡±

    Zhao Yuxin¡¯s eyes shed with a bit of panic and she hurriedly spoke. ¡°Actually, the three of us went to the bathroom together but we didn¡¯t go back together¡­ I was just in there for a short time and soon headed back. Ye Lan and Liu Xi didn¡¯te back for a long time.¡±

    ¡°How long?¡±

    Zhao Yuxin frowned and thought for a moment. ¡°Around 10 minutes? By the time they came back, Ye Qi¡¯s second song was about to be over.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°When you came back, was there any noise in Teacher Liang Ting¡¯s room next door?¡±

    Zhao Yuxin shook her head. ¡°No, I didn¡¯t go to her room because the agent said Teacher Liang had a headache and wanted to rest. I didn¡¯t dare to bother her.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang let the captain go out and called the other two in turn.

    Ye Lan was the member with the best temperament in the entire group. She had long hair and was very well-raised at first nce. She sat in a dignified manner and her voice was rtively calm. ¡°I don¡¯t know Teacher Liang privately. Teacher Liang doesn¡¯t like my voice very much. She was a mentor to us during thepetition. She felt that my voice was too soft and there was limited room for development. She liked Liu Xi¡¯s voice the most because Liu Xi¡¯s voice was the most simr to hers.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang inquired, ¡°Tell me about what you did backstage today. Did you ever leave the group?¡±

    Ye Lan thought about it. ¡°Most of the time, I was doing my makeup and changing clothes with them. It is only during the intermission¡­ that is, after 9 o¡¯clock. I went to the bathroom with Zhao Yuxin and Liu Xi.¡±

    ¡°The three of you went together but you didn¡¯te back together?¡±

    Ye Lan frowned. ¡°Zhao Yuxin returned early. I came back with Liu Xi.¡±

    ¡°ording to Zhao Yuxin, you stayed in the bathroom for around 10 minutes. What was the situation?¡±

    Ye Lan¡¯s face changed. She gently bit her lip and refused to say.

    Yu Hanjiang stared at her. ¡°What happened?¡±

    A momentter, Ye Lan gritted her teeth. ¡°I-I forgot to bring toilet paper and Liu Xi didn¡¯t bring any either. There was no more toilet paper left in the bathroom. I called out to Liu Xi next door and asked her to help bring me some toilet paper.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Forgetting to bring toilet paper to the bathroom was really a tragedy in life.

    Ye Lan also felt very embarrassed and her ears were red as she continued speaking. ¡°I don¡¯t know where Liu Xi went to find the paper but she didn¡¯te back for a long time. I waited in the bathroom until my legs were numb.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°During this process, did anyone elsee into the bathroom?¡±

    Ye Lan thought about it carefully. ¡°It seems that someone dide in. It might be a makeup artist or staff member. I heard footsteps but they didn¡¯t belong to Liu Xi. It is because our second set of styling was high-heeled shoes. This person was wearing t shoes and her steps were very light. I didn¡¯t dare to call out because I was too embarrassed. I don¡¯t know who it was.¡±

    They could imagine the embarrassing scene of her sitting on the toilet waiting for toilet paper. The fact that someone came in from outside was very critical.

    Yu Hanjiang highlighted it in the transcript and asked, ¡°How long did you wait for Liu Xi?¡±

    ¡°Around seven minutes? I could hear Ye Qi singing in the bathroom. I listened to him sing the entire White Birch Forest and the first half of the second song.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked her to go back. Finally, he interrogated Liu Xi.

    Liu Xi¡¯s personality was very cold and her clear voice was indeed simr to Liang Ting¡¯s tone. She exined that Ye Lan asked her for help with the toilet paper. ¡°It is too embarrassing that Ye Lan forgot to bring toilet paper to the bathroom. People wouldugh at her when they hear it. I didn¡¯t want to go back to the lounge to ask people for tissue so I went to the tea room. There were no tissues in the tea room in the north so I went to the south. Therefore, it took a long time.¡±

    The backstage corridor was very long. If she went to the north to find tissues before going to the south anding back, it was normal to take a few minutes¡ªat least, if she wasn¡¯t lying.

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Did you meet anyone in the corridor on the way?¡±

    Liu Xi replied with a cold voice. ¡°No, when I returned to the bathroom, only Ye Lan was waiting for me.¡±

    So far, all the suspects had been interrogated. Yu Hanjiang organized the testimonies and told Shao Qingge, ¡°Let the staff of the concert go back. I believe this case will be concluded soon.¡±

    Ye Qi was curious. ¡°Group Leader Yu, you¡¯re so confident? Is this case simpler than Lin Yiyan¡¯s murder?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°Yes, after all, the murderer who killed Liang Ting was at the scene. In Lin Yiyan¡¯s case, we haven¡¯t locked down the murderer.¡± Then he nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°Can you do a poison identification and analysis immediately after you go back? It will be hard on you.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t be polite. I¡¯ll work overtime with you tonight.¡±

    Shao Qingge looked between the two of them and smiled. ¡°Since you have to work overtime, I will go back and sleep.¡±

    Ye Qi told him helplessly, ¡°Chief Shao, don¡¯t just lie down and win in the Hearts secret room, okay? We should help Group Leader Yu as well¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge interrupted him. ¡°What can you do as a star to help the police? Besides, Group Leader Yu is confident to solve this case so we should just wait for the result. Trust his professionalism.¡±

    Ye Qi was stunned. ¡°I don¡¯t seem to be able to help with anything¡­ so I shall go back first?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°You should go. The scene has been searched and the evidence has been collected. I will handle it on the police side. It is enough for Xiao Lou to help me.¡±

    Shao Qingge dragged Ye Qi away. He also told Yun Lan, the five members of the 505 girl group, the makeup artists, stylists and assistants present today that they should have their phones always turned on and they should be ready whenever they were needed.

    On the way back, Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang and asked, ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you really have the confidence to solve the case quickly?¡±

    ¡°The suspects have been locked down. We just need to use the exclusion method. Combine their confessions with the on-site evidence. The murderer will always leave a trace. I have already identified the person most likely to be the murderer. Once we go back, I¡¯ll investigate her details.¡±

    Xiao Lou finally let go of his worries when he heard this. Since the murderer was among the people interrogated today, Xiao Lou believed that Group Leader Yu¡¯s sharp eyes would surely be able to pick the murderer out of the crowd!

    6th Anniversary Event Page

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 260: Starlight Entertainment 22

    At 10:30 in the evening, the scene was processed and Liang Ting¡¯s body was temporarily taken back to the forensics centre by a corpse van.

    Yu Hanjiang used Liang Ting¡¯s phone to call her husband Xie Yuan and inform him of Liang Ting¡¯s death. He asked Xie Yuan toe to the forensics identification centre to im the body.

    Xie Yuan thought it was a scam call at first and refused to believe it. Yu Hanjiang handed the phone to Sister Chen and had her tell him. Sister Chen was choked up. ¡°Mr Xie, it is true. Teacher Liang really had an ident. Come over,e directly to the police station!¡±

    Xie Yuan was stunned and hurriedly said, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go there now!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou followed the body back to the police station and Sister Chen was also brought back for a detailed investigation.

    Xiao Lou would bring the evidence from the scene to the forensics centre for identification while Yu Hanjiang would take Xiao Wu to question Sister Chen in the interrogation room. The content of the interrogation included Liang Ting¡¯s experiences in her career, her emotional status over the years and her rtionship with entertainment stars.

    Sister Chen was probably sad and her eyes were red when she answered. ¡°In fact, I don¡¯t know her experiences in her early years. I only signed with Teacher Liang as her agent four years ago. When I was her agent¡­ people in the circle have a high evaluation of her and I¡¯ve never heard of anyone she has a grudge with. She and Xie Yuan have a very good rtionship. The couple travels together every day and their rtionship makes the people in the circle very envious.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked Sister Chen to describe today¡¯s itinerary in detail.

    Sister Chen said she went to pick up Liang Ting at home at 6:30 in the evening. At that time, Liang Ting was carrying arge bag with a thermos inside. This thermos was given by Xie Yuan and it was Liang Ting¡¯s usual habit to use it to drink water when going out.

    On the way, Liang Ting took out a cup and drank a few sips of water from the thermos. At the concert, she put on makeup and lipstick. Drinking water easily affected her makeup so she never drank the water in the thermos until after she took to the stage.

    Yu Hanjiang immediately asked, ¡°You said earlier that you spent over 10 minutes in the bathroom due to constipation and you found Liang Ting¡¯s body when you returned to the lounge. What did you hear during your time in the bathroom? Include footsteps and remember it carefully.¡±

    Sister Chen lowered her head and took a moment to recall it. ¡°I went there and saw three girls from the 505 girl group in the bathroom together. I greeted them. Then I was in the toilet for less than half a minute when the girl in the cubicle next to me left the bathroom. It sounded like Zhao Yuxin.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Then after that?¡±

    Sister Chen thought for a while. ¡°Then another girl went out after half a minute and the bathroom became quiet. A long time passed before someone came in again. She knocked on the opposite cubicle door and talked to the person softly. I didn¡¯t hear the details.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang raised his head to look at her. ¡°Think carefully about the other person¡¯s footsteps. Was it the sound of high heels on the ground?¡±

    ¡°Yes, those who came in and out wore high heels.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wrote down this key point in his notebook. ¡°Did anyone elsee in during this period?¡±

    Sister Chen shook his head. ¡°No, I didn¡¯t hear it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the shoes she was wearing. It was a pair of t sneakers that were easy for walking.

    30 minutester, Yu Hanjiang finished the questioning of Sister Chen and asked his colleagues to go home first. Shortly thereafter Xiao Lou happened toe to Yu Hanjiang with the identification results.

    The entire hall was silent. Everyone else had left and only Yu Hanjiang¡¯s office door showed a warm light.

    Xiao Lou walked over and found that the office door was open. Yu Hanjiang was sitting at his desk and staring at theputer screen with his arms crossed thoughtfully. Under the warm light, the dark blue police uniform made the man¡¯s profile more handsome. There was a hint of abstinence in his demeanor.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression was serious and it was unknown what he was thinking but he was slightly frowning. He heard the sound of footsteps and raised his head to meet Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes. His gaze immediately became gentle and he stood up to pour a ss of water for Xiao Lou. He whispered, ¡°Have the identification resultse out?¡±

    ¡°Have all your colleagues already left?¡± Xiao Lou leaned against his desk and asked carefully.

    ¡°They won¡¯t be able to help much even if they stay. The colleagues in the secret room might give me wrong information and interfere with my judgment. I simply gave them a holiday and checked it myself.¡± Yu Hanjiang handed the warm water to Xiao Lou and said, ¡°Drink some water.¡±

    Xiao Lou took the cup of water and handed the identification results to Yu Hanjiang. He drank the water to moisturize his throat and said, ¡°The water in the thermos cup was indeed poisoned. The ingredient was potassium cyanide. Judging from the remaining poison in the water, the amount of potassium cyanide ced in the thermos should be over 40 grams.

    Yu Hanjiang picked up the information and closely examined it.

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°Usually, the lethal dose of potassium cyanide is 0.3 grams per kilogram of body weight. Liang Ting¡¯s weight is less than 50 kilograms. 15 grams of potassium cyanide is enough to kill her. However, the murderer¡¯s dose was 40 grams and this exceeds the standard. It is obviously done this way to make Liang Ting unconscious within a few seconds of taking the highly toxic substance. She died quickly before she could be sent to the hospital for rescue.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°An excessive dose can kill Liang Ting instantly and avoid future troubles. The murderer seems to have a good understanding of potassium cyanide and was determined not to let Liang Ting have a chance to survive.¡± He turned to the next page. ¡°What about the mineral water?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°The mineral water isn¡¯t abnormal. No poison has been found in all the lipsticks, foundations and other cosmetics.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had a ¡®sure enough¡¯ expression. ¡°Were fingerprints found on the thermos?¡±

    Xiao Lou sighed helplessly. ¡°The murderer was very cautious and should¡¯ve worn gloves when touching it. Only Liang Ting¡¯s fingerprints were found on the body and lid of the thermos. In addition, I carefully checked the body of the deceased and there were no injuries. This is a typical poisoning case. If the potassium cyanide dose is toorge then it could cause her to fall unconscious within a few seconds. Liang Ting didn¡¯t even have time to struggle and call for help before she died.¡±

    The identification results were what Yu Hanjiang expected. The murderer¡¯s crime was clearly premeditated.

    He opened the record of Sister Chen¡¯s interrogation and pointed it out to Xiao Lou. ¡°Liang Ting¡¯s thermos was brought from home but she drank it on the way to the concert and nothing happened. This means the murderer isn¡¯t her husband Xie Yuan. There was no poison in her thermos at the beginning. Our spection ispletely correct. The murderer poisoned her backstage at the concert.¡±

    He saw Xiao Lou listening carefully and continued speaking, ¡°Liang Ting stayed in the dressing room before taking the stage. Many people can confirm this. At that time, there were her stylist, makeup artist and agent following her. It would be difficult for the murderer to do anything. Then Liang Ting went on stage to sing, stopped to sign autographs for everyone and Ye Qi went on to sing. During this period, there was around 10 minutes where no one was in the dressing room.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°In other words, the murderer sneaked away during this time and poisoned the thermos in the dressing room. During the interrogation just now, several people went out during this time period. The murderer should be among them, right?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang moved a chair over to let Xiao Lou sit down. He opened today¡¯s interrogation records and analyzed it page by page.

    ¡°Zhao Yuxin said that after going to the bathroom, she quickly did her business and returned to the lounge. She was the first person to leave the bathroom and no one knows what she did after she went out. If she went to the toilet, flushed the water after entering the toilet, went outside and secretly went to Liang Ting¡¯s lounge to poison her before returning to the lounge, there is enough time.¡±

    ¡°Ye Lan said she forgot to bring toilet paper to the bathroom. This was her one-sided statement. Did she really forget to bring it or did she find an excuse for herpanion to leave so she could run out of the bathroom and poison Liang Ting? The confession from Sister Chen can confirm that Ye Lan really forgot to bring toilet paper. It was because Sister Chen had constipation and was in the bathroom the whole time. She heard the footsteps of Liu Xi leaving anding back. She also heard Liu Xi knocking on the door and handing Ye Lan the tissues.¡±

    ¡°Liu Xi took seven or eight minutes to find the tissues. This is a bit suspicious but Ye Lan is actually the most suspicious one.¡± Yu Hanjiang circled all the suspicious parts in the testimonies of these three people and looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°Ye Lan lied.¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully looked at these interrogation notes.

    Ye Lan said that someone hade in, perhaps a makeup artist or staff member. She heard footsteps that didn¡¯t belong to Liu Xi because their second set of styling had high heels while the person was wearing t shoes.

    Meanwhile, Sister Chen¡¯s testimony mentioned there was the sound of three sets of footsteps. First, a person went out. This was Zhao Yuxin, the one who left the bathroom the fastest. Second, someone else went out. This was Liu Xi who went to help Ye Lan find tissues. Third, a person came in and knocked on a cubicle door, calling out with a deliberately soft voice. This should be Liu Xi knocking on the door and handing the tissues to Ye Lan.

    The members of the girl group were wearing high heels and the sound of footsteps on the tiles would be very obvious. This waspletely different from the sound of t shoes on the ground. Sister Chen was sitting there and it was impossible not to hear a fourth person¡¯s footsteps.

    Ye Lan said she heard it while Sister Chen said she didn¡¯t. The testimonies of the two people contradicted each other and one of them must be lying.

    Why was Ye Lan lying?

    Yu Hanjiang exined, ¡°Out of the four people who went to the bathroom, only Sister Chen was wearing t shoes. If Ye Lan really heard the sound of t shoes on the ground, she should¡¯ve heard Sister Chen walking out of the bathroom, not someoneing in.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Ye Lan¡¯s testimony and suddenly realized, ¡°She is indeed lying. Only Zhao Yuxin, Ye Lan, Liu Xi and Sister Chen went to the bathroom at that time. Everyone else backstage hadpanions to prove they never went to the bathroom. If Ye Lan really heard the sound of t shoes stepping on the ground then it should be Sister Chen going out instead of someoneing in.¡±

    Walking in and out¡­ the footsteps weren¡¯t the same. Ye Lan panicked and said the opposite, indirectly proving that Sister Chen¡¯s testimony was correct. So why did Ye Lan lie?

    6th Anniversary Event Page

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 261: Starlight Entertainment 23

    Yu Hanjiang once again brought up the details of the five members of the girl group.

    Ye Lan was the one with the highest level of education in the girl group. She was born in a schrly family and both her parents were university professors. She had excellent grades since childhood and skipped a grade in junior high because of her excellent grades. She was admitted to a key university at the age of 17 and graduated with a master¡¯s degree at the age of 23.

    It stood to reason that a good girl born in such a family would rarelye to the entertainment industry.

    Her debut experience was actually very simple. She loved singing since she was a child and won awards in singingpetitions. She signed up for the talent show while she was studying for her master¡¯s degree at the age of 22. She didn¡¯t expect to pass all the way to the finals.

    Her gentle voice and fresh temperament captured the hearts of many fans. Finally, she came third in thepetition and signed with Starlight Entertainment. She applied for her thesis defense in advance, got her master¡¯s degree and became a member of the 505 girl group.

    In an interview with the 505 girl group, a reporter went to her house to interview her parents.

    Yu Hanjiang brought up the interview video and watched it with Xiao Lou. Her parents were both university professors and were as gentle and kind as Xiao Lou¡¯s parents. This made Xiao Lou feel like they were really familiar. There was a wall cab in her study that was filled with various famous books. ording to her father, Ye Lan loved reading since she was a child and she had read all the books in this cab.

    For this reason, fans liked Ye Lan more and more, they felt that she was a rare literary and artistic goddess in the entertainment industry. She was better than some stars who didn¡¯t know how to recognize words and hadn¡¯t read many books.

    Xiao Lou finished watching the interview and wondered, ¡°A girl born in this type of family is usually raised very well. She shouldn¡¯t be the killer?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Based on Sister Chen¡¯s testimony, Ye Lan isn¡¯t the murderer but there is something suspicious about her.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought carefully. ¡°That¡¯s right. Sister Chen only heard the footsteps of Liu Xi leaving and returning with the tissue. During this time, Ye Lan didn¡¯t go out. She should¡¯ve stayed in the bathroom and wouldn¡¯t have time tomit the crime.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang opened the profile in Ye Lan¡¯s file and pointed to one of the lines. ¡°Look here.¡±

    Xiao Lou read it carefully and was shocked. ¡°The Seventeenth Central School? Isn¡¯t this the school that Lin Yiyan attended?¡±

    Professor Xiao¡¯s memory was really strong. Lin Yiyan attended the Seventeenth Central School in high school and there was the school information on her profile. Yu Hanjiang had dealt with many cases so he subconsciously remembered these key points. Unexpectedly, Xiao Lou also remembered it clearly.

    Yu Hanjiang looked over with appreciation. ¡°The Seventeenth Central School is a bit special. It is divided into a ¡®junior high school¡¯ and ¡®senior high school¡¯. The two campuses are connected together and share the library, gymnasium and other teaching facilities. Calcting by age, Lin Yiyan is 30 years old this year and Ye Lan is 25 years old. In other words, when Lin Yiyan was in her second year of high school, Ye Lan was in her first year of junior high school. They happened to be in the same school.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Group Leader Yu was really sharp-eyed. He actually connected the two cases through this small detail!

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°Moreover, I just went to the official website of the Seventeenth Central School to check some information. The year Lin Yiyan was in her second year of high school happened to be the 50th anniversary of the founding of the school. Xie Yuan also happened to be involved. He started doing charity in 2005 and set up the Yuanhang Charity Foundation to donate money to some schools.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Could it be that Xie Yuan donated some money to their school?¡±

    ¡°It is likely that is the case. Lin Yiyan was originally a good student who was immersed in studying and aimed to enter a key university. Her diary style suddenly changed and she became Xie Yuan¡¯s fan. She called Xie Yuan her male god and husband in the diary every day. There must be a reason for her change.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang opened some reports of the school celebration. 13 years ago, it was Lin Yiyan¡¯s second year of high school and Ye Lan¡¯s first year of junior high school. The school celebrated its 50th anniversary. It was too long ago and there were few relevant news reports. It was impossible to discover if Xie Yuan participated in the school celebration or not.

    Xie Yuan¡¯s ¡®Yuanhang Charity Foundation¡¯ was established exactly 13 years ago. At that time, Xie Yuan was the most popr actor in the entertainment industry. He took the lead in doing charity and it was well received. He donated tens of millions of yuan at a time to support outstanding students from poor families to enter university. The Seventeenth Middle School was also included in the scope of his donations.

    It was very likely that Lin Yiyan noticed Xie Yuan because of this and fell under the suit pants of her male god. Would Ye Lan also be Xie Yuan¡¯s fan? Or did she know some secrets?

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang looked at each other. They were about to speak when someone rushed in. The man was wearing a ck wool coat, a light grey cashmere scarf, a hat of the same style and a pair of big sunsses on his face. He gasped at the door of Yu Hanjiang¡¯s office and asked hoarsely, ¡°Is Officer Yu here?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s me.¡± Yu Hanjiang looked up at him. ¡°Are you¡­ Mr Xie?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Xie Yuan took off his sunsses, scarf and mask. ¡°His face was pale and his eyes were red. He stared at Yu Hanjiang and asked in a trembling voice, ¡°Where is m-my wife?¡±

    Xiao Lou stood up. ¡°Mr Xie, pleasee with me. Mrs Liang Ting¡¯s body is temporarily ced in our forensics centre.¡±

    Xie Yuan followed Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang to the forensics identification centre next door.

    The freezer of the morgue was pulled open by Xiao Lou. The moment he saw Liang Ting¡¯s face, Xie Yuan¡¯s legs softened and he knelt down directly in front of Liang Ting, his face full of disbelief. ¡°Ting Ting¡­ how can this be? This¡­¡±

    He clung to his wife¡¯s already cold hand, cing it on his face and breaking down in tears. The man¡¯s cries echoed in the quiet morgue and was heart-wrenching. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang looked at each other and temporarily left the morgue to give him time to calm down.

    After 10 minutes, Xie Yuan walked out with red eyes. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. ¡°What the hell is going on? My wife doesn¡¯t have heart problems. How could she suddenly die?¡±

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°Someone poisoned the water in her thermos. She was murdered.¡±

    ¡°Murder?¡± Xie Yuan¡¯s eyes widened when he heard this and the veins on the back of his hand bulged as he violently punched the wall. He roared in a hoarse voice like a wounded beast. ¡°Who killed her? My wife has no grievances with others. How could she be poisoned and murdered?! Officer, you must catch this beast!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang watched him calmly. After a while, he interrupted by asking, ¡°Mr Xie, do you know Ye Lan?¡±

    Xie Yuan was taken back for a moment. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang continued, ¡°What about Lin Yiyan?¡±

    Xie Yuan took a breath and tried to stay calm. ¡°You previously called to question me about Lin Yiyan¡¯s matter and I told you. She and I only met once at thepany¡¯s annual meeting. She said I was her idol, toasted me politely and asked if I could add her on WeChat. I added her as a friend out of politeness but I never chatted with her in private.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang raised his eyebrow. ¡°Is that all?¡±

    Xie Yuan was angry. ¡°What do you mean? My wife just died and her body is in the morgue. Why are you asking me about Lin Yiyan instead of investigating her murder? Is the murderer Lin Yiyan?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him solemnly, ¡°Lin Yiyan is also dead.¡±

    ¡°¡­What?!¡±

    Xie Yuan was clearly shocked by the news and his face was full of horror.

    ¡°You are the key to connecting the two cases. Lin Yiyan really admired you and she entered the entertainment industry because of you. It is a routine procedure to investigate you. Mr Xie, I know that Liang Ting¡¯s death is a big blow to you. Please calm down and follow me to the interrogation room to cooperate with the investigation. I still have some questions to ask you.¡±

    Xie Yuan¡¯s face was white. He had just learned about Liang Ting¡¯s death and as a result, Lin Yiyan was also dead¡­ He grabbed his hair with both hands before hitting his head hard. Then he followed Yu Hanjiang to the interrogation room.

    Yu Hanjiang asked about 13 years ago. ¡°Tell me in detail about the establishment of the charity foundation.¡±

    Xie Yuan¡¯s face was calm. ¡°The Yuanhang Charity Foundation was indeed established 13 years ago. At that time, I won several awards and my ie was considerable. I couldn¡¯t spend it all myself so I wanted to do some charity and help a few students from poorer families. It is normal for celebrities to do charity. If you suspect that I amundering money, you can check the detailed ounts of my foundation. Every donation has a clear record.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Have you ever donated money to the Seventeenth Central School?¡±

    Xie Yuan thought about it for a long time and nodded. ¡°During junior high school, I studied at the Seventeenth Central School for a year and can be considered an alumni. It happened to be the school¡¯s 50th anniversary and I donated money to build the library. In addition, I gave schrships worth several million to the school for students with poor backgrounds but excellent grades.¡±

    ¡°Did you participate in the school celebration on that day?¡±

    ¡°Yes but I did it in secret. It feels vain to publicize things like charity. I just wanted to keep a low profile and donate to the school. I briefly spoke a few words at the ceremony and the media and the school didn¡¯t report on it too much.¡±

    This was why Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t find the relevant news records. No matter what Xie Yuan was like as a person, he could be called an excellent example for the entertainment industry in terms of doing charity.

    Yu Hanjiang continued to ask. ¡°Did the school send a student representative to give you flowers or something on the day of the school celebration?¡±

    ¡°It seems there was a girl who offered me flowers but it was too long ago. I don¡¯t remember.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other. It was very likely that this girl was Lin Yiyan.

    Lin Yiyan had close contact with the young and handsome Xie Yuan and was probably crazy in love with him since that day. She yelled ¡®my male god¡¯ and ¡®my husband¡¯ in her diary every day. In order to get close to Xie Yuan, she took the art exam in her third year of high school and went to a movie school to study and be a popr star in the entertainment industry. Ye Lan was in her first year of junior high school and must¡¯ve also participated in the school celebration. She knew that Lin Yiyan came on stage to give Xie Yuan flowers.

    Xiao Lou stared at Xie Yuan and asked softly, ¡°Do you love your wife?¡±

    Xie Yuan¡¯s mouth twitched and he replied without hesitation. ¡°Of course! I have been with Ting Ting for 10 years and we have two lovely children. Why wouldn¡¯t I love her?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang questioned him sharply. ¡°Did you have an affair with Ye Lan or Lin Yiyan? This is rted to two murders. Please answer truthfully.¡±

    Xie Yuan¡¯s fists on the table trembled violently. He seemed to be conflicted and his eyes were full of struggle.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°Liang Ting is the mother of your two children and she just died. Once your children grow up in the future, how are you going to exin it to them?¡±

    Xie Yuan, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The sentence was like a sharp knife that stabbed straight through Xie Yuan¡¯s heart.

    Xie Yuan¡¯s psychological defenses finally copsed when thinking of his children in the family. He hugged his head tightly with both hands and answered in a pained manner. ¡°I and Lin Yiyan¡­ only had one experience. On the day of thepany¡¯s annual meeting, she toasted me and I was a bit drunk. Lin Yiyan offered to take me home. As a result, she drove the car to a private vi.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°The Yuehu Vi?¡±

    Xie Yuan nodded. He recalled the experience that night and his face was full of regret. His head hung down and almost touched his chest. ¡°Lin Yiyan said that she has always liked me since over 10 years ago. I was her dream and would always be the male god in her heart¡­ I was probably possessed by a ghost at the time. I saw her saying all these things in an admiring manner and couldn¡¯t control it for a while. She and I¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°It was just a night? Did you get in touch with her afterwards?¡±

    Xie Yuan hurriedly shook his head. ¡°No! I regretted it once I sobered up. Lin Yiyan also said it was just a momentary impulse and acted like nothing happened. If you don¡¯t believe me, you can check her phone. I haven¡¯t talked to her or contacted her.¡±

    He paused and added, ¡°I was afraid that Liang Ting would divorce me if she knew about this. She has a serious cleanliness habit. If she knew that I spent a night with someone else, she would definitely never forgive me.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other. Liang Ting had a serious cleanliness obsession¡­ could she have killed Lin Yiyan after knowing that her husband had sex with Lin Yiyan?

    Yu Hanjiang immediately asked, ¡°Where were you and Liang Ting on the 16th and 17th of this month?¡±

    ¡°My daughter was sick and hospitalized. Liang Ting and I were in the hospital with our children.¡±

    ¡°Were you there all day?¡±

    Xie Yuan answered, ¡°She apanied my daughter during the day and I took over at night. We took turns to change shifts.¡±

    ¡°In other words, you don¡¯t know where she went at night?¡±

    Xie Yuan replied, ¡°She should¡¯ve gone home to rest.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not sure, are you?¡±

    Xie Yuan fell silent. He obviously wasn¡¯t 100% sure if Liang Ting went home after leaving the hospital.

    Yu Hanjiang then wondered, ¡°What about Ye Lan? Do you have anything to do with her in private?¡±

    Xie Yuan gritted his teeth. ¡°No, I really am unfamiliar with Ye Lan but Lin Yiyan should know her. That time I was with Lin Yiyan at the Yuehu Vi¡­ after getting up in the morning, I hurriedly left the vi but I ran into Ye Lan at the intersection. She gave me a shocked look and pretended not to see me. She turned around and left.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang raised his eyebrow. ¡°So Ye Lan knows about your private affair with Lin Yiyan?¡±

    Xie Yuan nodded with an ugly expression. ¡°She ran into me at the intersection next to Lin Yiyan¡¯s vi. It was obvious what happened. I was afraid Ye Lan would say something but it wasn¡¯t easy to ask her. I just pretended that nothing happened. After that, I exchanged a few words with Lin Yiyan and said I was drunkst night. It wouldn¡¯t be good for any of us if this incident was revealed and caused a scandal. We shouldn¡¯t contact each other any further. Lin Yiyan also agreed with this method of handling it and we deleted each other¡¯s WeChat ounts.¡±

    Xiao Lou frowned thoughtfully.

    If Xie Yuan wasn¡¯t hiding anything in his testimony, what was the rtionship between Lin Yiyan and Ye Lan? Ye Lan ran into Xie Yuan at the door of the vi and knew that Xie Yuan and Lin Yiyan spent the night together. Would she tell anyone this shocking news? For example¡­ Liang Ting?

    Was Lin Yiyan¡¯s death rted to Liang Ting or Ye Lan? The two cases were connected. The clues had increased but it also became moreplicated. Xiao Lou felt like his head was going to explode.

    Yu Hanjiang finished questioning Xie Yuan and let him leave. He saw Xiao Lou pressing a hand against his temple and lightly patted Xiao Lou¡¯s shoulder infort. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, things will be straightened out soon. We will interrogate a few more people tomorrow. Ye Lan isn¡¯t the murderer but she should know many secrets.¡±

    6th Anniversary Event Page

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 262: Starlight Entertainment 23

    Xie Yuan finished his transcript and saw Sister Chen waiting for him in the lobby. Sister Chen lowered her head in an ashamed manner. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I should¡¯ve been with Teacher Liang. If I hadn¡¯t walked away, she wouldn¡¯t have been killed¡­¡±

    Xie Yuan wiped his eyes in an embarrassed manner and put on his scarf and hat. He interrupted her in a hoarse voice, ¡°It is useless to say these things. I¡¯ll go back first. The children are still waiting for me at home. In addition, Ting Ting¡¯s matter shouldn¡¯t be released to the public for the time being. Please take care of it at the studio and wait for the investigation results. I will hold Ting Ting¡¯s funeral only after the matter is clear.¡±

    The two people left while chatting. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou happened to see Xie Yuan¡¯s back as they came out of the police station. Xiao Lou sighed lightly as he saw their backs disappear out the door. ¡°No matter the murderer¡¯s action, the poorest ones as a result of Liang Ting¡¯s death are her two children.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°Xie Yuan should be hiding it from the children for the time being. I hope this matter won¡¯t have too much of a negative impact on them.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and headed to the car. He and Yu Hanjiang went home together. By the time he got home, it was 1:30 in the morning. Yu Hanjiang took a hot shower and returned to his bedroom to lie down.

    He tossed and turned on the bed and couldn¡¯t fall asleep. So he sat up with a frown, leaned against the bed, turned on themp, took out the transcript and read the testimonies of everyone today. The more Yu Hanjiang read, the more he felt that things were wrong.

    He could confirm that Ye Lan wasn¡¯t the murderer. She was in the bathroom the whole time and couldn¡¯t havemitted the crime.

    The other two members of the girl group, Li Shengnan and Qin Huanhuan were applying makeup in the dressing room. Many people could confirm it. They never left the dressing room and naturally couldn¡¯t go out to poison Liang Ting.

    Only Zhao Yuxin and Liu Xi in the girl group hadn¡¯t been ruled out.

    Zhao Yuxin was the first to leave the bathroom. In addition, Liu Xi spent a long time looking for tissues and couldn¡¯t provide a strong alibi. They both had time to go to Liang Ting¡¯s lounge and poison her. Their lounge was also in the west corridor next to Liang Ting¡¯s lounge. They didn¡¯t need to worry about the staff noticing anything. It was very convenient to poison Liang Ting.

    However, there must always be a motive for killing. Zhao Yuxin or Liu Xi, what was their motive to kill Liang Ting?

    From a data point of view, Zhao Yuxin¡¯s father was a famous pianist and her mother was a dancer. She had been influenced by her parents since she was a child and inherited the advantages of her parents. She was good at singing and dancing and was proficient in musical instruments. Zhao Yuxin won the championship of the show without question and signed with Starlight Entertainment. She was currently serving as the captain of the 505 girl group and was the most popr member.

    Zhao Yuxin and Xie Yuan didn¡¯t know each other. Liang Ting also praised her for her talents and appearance. She and Liang Ting should have no grievances. She was young and popr. Why would she risk killing someone and ruining her own future?

    Liu Xi was also young and promising. She might¡¯ve been born in an ordinary working ss family and had a poor academic performance, but her voice was good. Her voice was the most simr to Liang Ting¡¯s voice and she was also the most loved by Liang Ting.

    This girl didn¡¯t like to talk but she was very serious about music. It was said that every time she recorded a song, she would practice repeatedly in the recording studio until her recorded voice was wless. Since her ethereal voice was highly recognizable, from a professional point of view, she would have no worries about her future even if the girl group disbanded in the future. Her voice belonged to the gods.

    Liang Ting highly appreciated her and gave her the rating of a ¡®soul singer.¡¯ What motivation did she have to kill Liang Ting?

    Zhao Yuxin and Liu Xi¡¯s family environments meant they couldn¡¯t have a grudge against Liang Ting due to this. Both of them went to music schools. In recent years, Liang Ting hadn¡¯t gone to any music schools to participate in activities. The only intersection with Liang Ting was when they participated in the audition show and Liang Ting served as their mentor for a period of time.

    Judging from the behind the scenes video of the audition show, Liang Ting was nominally a mentor but she actually showed up twice a week. She instructed the girls in the recording studio on their pronunciation, breathing and other details. In the videos, Liang Ting was strict but the five girls really respected her. After all, she was a senior in the music industry and it was an honor to have her teach five rookies.

    The teacher and students got along well. The girls were very polite to Liang Ting and always called her ¡®Teacher Liang¡¯. After the instructions, everyone would have a meal together. Judging from the videos, the atmosphere of the meal was pleasant. The five girls turned to Liang Ting and toasted her to thank her for her professional guidance.

    After that, the five girls smoothly made their debut. They were busy rehearsing, recording songs and doing various jobs. They never had any other intersection with Liang Ting. In the past three years since their debut, Liang Ting rarely made public appearances.

    Only extreme hatred would lead to killing someone. The total time that the five girls had been in contact with Liang Ting was no more than a week. Yu Hanjiang frowned and thought about it. There was no reason for Zhao Yuxin or Liu Xi to want to poison Liang Ting.

    Could it be that all five members of the girl group weren¡¯t the murderers? They were just interference objects?

    Yu Hanjiang once again read the information of the five girls and carefully analyzed every line. After reading it, he squeezed his pained head and finally put the pile of materials onto the bedside table next to him. Perhaps his judgment was correct and these five young girls had no motive to kill Liang Ting.

    If his inference that the ¡®five girls aren¡¯t murderers¡¯ was true, there was one possibility left. Ye Lan wasn¡¯t deliberately lying. She identally said the wrong thing when she was nervous. The ¡®footsteps in the bathroom¡¯ she mentioned was a distraction. The murderer might have never been to the bathroom.

    After all, Ye Lan, Liu Xi, Zhao Yuxin and Sister Chen all had no motives to kill. He had been so focused on the bathroom that perhaps he entered the wrong mindset. In reasoning, if one line didn¡¯t work out then he could try to find ideas in another line. What if the killer hadn¡¯t been in the bathroom? Then who was the killer?

    At that time, most of the staff members were gathered at the southeast corner to listen to Ye Qi¡¯s singing while the makeup artists and stylists were resting in the west corridor. Two of them were eating takeout in the tea room. These people could easily enter Liang Ting¡¯s lounge.

    The makeup artists and stylists of the girl group could be eliminated first. They were working together to help the girl group with their makeup and changing clothes. All the makeup artists and stylists never left during this period. Yu Hanjiang had specifically asked thisst night and it had been confirmed by many people.

    The makeup and styling team was invited by the agent Yun Lan and had been working with the girl group for a long time. They didn¡¯t know that Liang Ting was invited as a guest for the concert. Naturally, it was impossible to prepare potassium cyanide in advance to poison Liang Ting backstage.

    In the same way, Ye Qi¡¯s stylist Tony was invited by Yun Lan. Even Ye Qi didn¡¯t know that Liang Ting was a special guest. Naturally, his stylist couldn¡¯t know in advance. All that was left were the makeup artist and stylist Liang Ting had brought in.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned as he recalled the testimonies of these two people.

    The makeup artist Xiao Su said that when Teacher Liang came down, the takeout she ordered happened to be delivered. She asked if Teacher Liang wanted to change her appearance. Teacher Liang told her to eat first so she went to get the takeout.

    The stylist Ah Kim said the two of them were eating together in the lounge and chatting¡­

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly. There were obvious loopholes in the testimonies of these two people! Two people obviously weren¡¯t necessary to get a few takeout boxes. Just one person was enough.

    The fact that the two of them had been in the lounge when eating was an alibi for each other. Then what about when receiving the takeout? The two of them must¡¯ve been separated.

    It didn¡¯t matter if the makeup artist Xiao Su sneaked into Teacher Liang¡¯s dressing room to poison her or if the stylist Ah Kim took advantage of hispanion getting the takeout to poison Liang Ting. The thing was that the two of them couldn¡¯t prove each other¡¯s whereabouts for a few minutes.

    Yu Hanjiang seized on this and continued to analyze it.

    The makeup artist Xiao Su had been working with Liang Ting for a long time. She knew Liang Ting¡¯s preferences and mentioned that Teacher Liang had a serious cleanliness habit so Liang Ting always brought her own cosmetics. If she was the murderer, she could easily enter and exit Liang Ting¡¯s lounge as the makeup artist, putting the potassium cyanide in the thermos Liang Ting usually drank from. Then she just had to grab the takeout and go back casually.

    The stylist Ah Kim was a man with dyed blond hair, white skin and a bit of a girlish manner of talking. Yu Hanjiang remembered he said that it was his first time working with Teacher Liang. If he and Teacher Liang had any grudges then he might take this opportunity to get close to Liang Ting. After all, the makeup and styling were determined a week in advance and he had plenty of time to prepare.

    Yu Hanjiang thought up to here and his mind suddenly brightened. It was already past three o¡¯clock in the morning. He turned off the lights and fell asleep. He only slept for three hours before getting up to pick up Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou saw the obvious dark circles under his eyes and couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°You didn¡¯t sleepst night?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang pinched his brow, his voice a bit dry. ¡°I couldn¡¯t sleep until three o¡¯clock.¡±

    Xiao Lou handed breakfast over to him. ¡°Were you thinking of the case?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said in a helpless tone, ¡°It is an upational disease. I can¡¯t sleep well if I don¡¯t clear out the clues. After going backst night, I sorted out everyone¡¯s confessions and found some doubts.¡±

    He showed Xiao Lou the key parts of the transcripts.

    Xiao Lou looked down at the transcript. ¡°The makeup artist went to grab the takeout¡­ is there a problem with this?¡± His eyes lit up and he quickly figured it out. ¡°The makeup artist went to get the takeout but the hair stylist didn¡¯t go. The two of them were separated for a few minutes, right?!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, we have been paying attention to the girl group and agent in the bathroom but they have no motive for the crime. Now it seems that these two passersby we overlooked in the beginning might be the murderer hidden behind the scenes.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s back was cold as he thought about the makeup artist and hair stylist he saw yesterday.

    The makeup artist was a woman in her 30s with beautiful nail polish and delicate makeup on her face. She wore a camel-coloured cashmere coat, a id scarf and high heels. She was very fashionable.

    Xiao Lou had a strong impression of the hair stylist Ah Kim. After all, he was a bit effeminate when he spoke. Although he was a man, he was thin, fair-skinned and only 1.7 metres tall. He seemed to be the typical stereotype in the gay circles.

    Xiao Lou respected everyone¡¯s personality but he had an ufortable feeling when Ah Kim spoke yesterday. He always thought that something was wrong?

    Xiao Lou touched his chin thoughtfully but couldn¡¯t think of the reason. By the time his senses returned, Yu Hanjiang had finished the breakfast. Yu Hanjiang started the car and said, ¡°Once back at the police station, I will focus on questioning these people. You can apany me.¡±

    Xiao Lou also wanted to hear what these people said and nodded. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll help you record their words.¡±

    On the road, Yu Hanjiang called these people and asked them to go to the police station. It didn¡¯t take long for him to arrive at the station before the three people came. Ye Lan came the fastest. She happened to be staying at a nearby hotel. She was a celebrity and it wasn¡¯t easy for her to appear in public. Her agent Yun Lan was also by her side. Ye Lan had wrapped her head in a scarf and covered her face tightly with sunsses and a mask.

    Yu Hanjiang called her in first and asked her why she lied. ¡°Yesterday, you said that you heard someone enter the bathroom. However, I asked other people present. During that time, no one other than the four of you went to the bathroom¡­ why did you lie?¡±

    Ye Lan was startled. Her fingers tangled together and she was obviously a bit nervous. She trembled as she answered, ¡°I-I might¡¯ve remembered wrong. I was suddenly called for questioning by you and my agent said that Teacher Liang had an ident. I was very nervous and didn¡¯t remember clearly if there were footsteps in the bathroom. In any case, my mind was quite confused at the time.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Why were you nervous? Is it a guilty conscience?¡±

    Ye Lan¡¯s lips lightly shook. She gritted her teeth and refused to speak.

    Yu Hanjiang requested, ¡°Please tell the truth about your knowledge of Xie Yuan, Liang Ting and your senior school sister Lin Yiyan.¡±

    Ye Lan¡¯s face stiffened the moment she heard Lin Yiyan¡¯s name. She looked up and forcibly maintained her calm. ¡°Lin Yiyan? I know that she graduated from the Seventeenth Central School but I¡¯m not very familiar with her¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang directly interrupted her. ¡°Then why did you appear at the door of Lin Yiyan¡¯s vi? You were passing there by chance?¡±

    Ye Lan, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at her and spoke softly, ¡°Miss Ye, you have a good family and a bright future. You don¡¯t want to leave the stain of perjury on your body right? It is better to tell the truth. We can find out when we check it.¡±

    Ye Lan heard Xiao Lou¡¯s gentle words and gritted her teeth. She was silent for a moment before making up her mind and whispering, ¡°I-I went to her house to grab a few things. I saw Xie Yuaning out of her house in disheveled clothes. They should¡¯ve had an affair¡­ Teacher Liang also knows about it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang raised his eyebrow. ¡°How did Liang Ting know about it?¡±

    Ye Lan exined, ¡°Teacher Liang has a serious obsession with cleanliness. Xie Yuan came home and she smelled another woman¡¯s perfume. She remembered the smell of that perfume. Our group was invited to this year¡¯s film festival awards ceremony for a performance. Teacher Liang was a judge for the Best Music Award and Lin Yiyan attended the awards ceremony. The perfume she used was a limited edition and the scent was very special.¡±

    Ye Lan paused, her face pale and seemed truthful. ¡°Teacher Liang¡¯s nose is too keen and she could instantly smell it on Lin Yiyan¡¯s body. After the film festival, she asked Lin Yiyan to go to the lounge. I happened to pass by and saw Liang Ting p Lin Yiyan several times. Afterwards, I asked Sister Lin Yiyan about what happened and she said that Liang Ting smelled the perfume on her body.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­.¡±

    Liang Ting had a great talent for being a detective. It seemed that she and Lin Yiyan had a violent conflict.

    Ye Lan lowered her head. ¡°The moment I heard that Teacher Liang had an ident, my first reaction was that¡­ Lin Yiyan did something. I know my senior sister and she grew up spoiled by her parents. She was pped without being able to do anything and she must hate Teacher Liang very much. Her love for Xie Yuan has alsosted so many years and is almost like a heart disease.¡±

    Lin Yiyan died early yet Ye Lan suspected Lin Yiyan as the murderer? Yu Hanjiang noticed that something was wrong and asked in a low voice. ¡°You suspect that Lin Yiyan is the murderer but she didn¡¯te to the concert. How could she kill Teacher Liang?¡±

    Ye Lan was stunned and eximed, ¡°She dide!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou looked at each other. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Ye Lan unlocked her phone in a trembling manner, found her chat history with Lin Yiyan and showed it to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Group Leader Yu, look. She sent me a message yesterday saying it is my first concert and she will definitelye.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took the phone and read it. It was indeed a WeChat message sent by Lin Yiyan. The time was 3:30 yesterday afternoon and the content was consistent with Ye Lan¡¯s words.

    He immediately called his colleague and asked him to check the ticket sales records on the official website for the concert. Xiao Wu quickly replied, ¡°The ticket for seat 701 in area C of the VIP area was indeed bought by a person with the ID of Lin Yiyan.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Did this person enter the concert venue during the ticket checkst night?¡±

    ¡°The ticket check records show that the person in seat 701 of Area C didn¡¯test night.¡±

    This was natural. Lin Yiyan was already dead and the murderer wouldn¡¯t dare run to the concert with her ID card. It would be miserable if they were caught by the police. The murderer just sent a message to Ye Lan to confuse her and create the illusion that Lin Yiyan was still alive. It was precisely because of this that Ye Lan suspected that Lin Yiyan had killed Liang Ting.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Ye Lan. ¡°How long have you known Lin Yiyan? What else do you know?¡±

    Ye Lan replied softly, ¡°We met at school. At that time, we were both fans of Xie Yuan. We had amonnguage and could talk to each other. Later, she was admitted to the movie school and we lost contact for a few years. I participated in the audition show and won a prize. She took the initiative to contact me. She said it isn¡¯t easy to find people who can talk to each other in aplicated ce like the entertainment industry. We should look after each other in the future.¡±

    Ye Lan took a deep breath and continued. ¡°She added me as a friend and acted very well. However, I am more introverted and didn¡¯t talk much. Most of the time, she treats me as an object of confession and I¡¯m at ease being a listener. If she is unhappy, she will tell me about it. This includes Liang Ting smelling her perfume, pping her and her one night stand with Xie Yuan. I am the only one who knows.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang read through the chat history of the two people.

    A month ago, Lin Yiyan sent a message to Ye Lan: Congrattions junior sister. I heard that your 505 girl group will hold a concert in November? I also want to go. I have already bought a VIP ticket to support your first concert.

    Ye Lan sent a ttered expression: Thank you, senior sister. You are so busy. In fact, there is no need toe to the concert. I am very moved by your intentions.

    Lin Yiyan sent a smile: Then I¡¯ll take a look. I won¡¯te if I¡¯m too busy. I¡¯lle if I have time.¡±

    In the months that followed, the two people had no contact.

    Ye Lan said, ¡°I thought she was just being polite but she actually came.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment before saying, ¡°She didn¡¯te yesterday.¡±

    Ye Lan looked confused. ¡°She sent me a message saying she wasing.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told her, ¡°Lin Yiyan is dead.¡±

    Ye Lan, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    6th Anniversary Event Page

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 263: Starlight Entertainment 24

    Lin Yiyan¡¯s phone was in the hands of the murderer. Yu Hanjiang once thought about tracking it to locate the phone but the murderer was very cunning. They turned off the location function of the phone. Sometimes, they used theputer to scan the code to log in to WeChat but it was difficult to capture the specific location of the murderer.

    The murderer sent a message to Ye Lan just like they sent a message to others. This was to create the illusion that Lin Yiyan was still alive.

    Ye Lan suddenly heard the bad news that her senior sister was dead and her expression became even uglier. ¡°H-How did she die?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang simply said, ¡°She was murdered. We are still investigating.¡±

    Ye Lan¡¯s entire body started to tremble. ¡°How¡­ how could this happen?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang inquired. ¡°She likes to talk to you. As far as you know, who does she have a grudge with?¡±

    Ye Lan had red eyes. ¡°I only know that she has a grudge with Teacher Liang. Teacher Liang pped her several times backstage and Lin Yiyan never gave up on Xie Yuan. I thought she had killed Teacher Liang¡­¡±

    Ye Lan thought that Liang Ting was killed by Lin Yiyan. This was why she was so nervous that she said the wrong thing when the police questioned her yesterday. Unexpectedly, Lin Yiyan was also dead. So how could Lin Yiyan kill Liang Ting?

    Two people killing each other¡ªit was impossible. After all, this wasn¡¯t a ghost story.

    Ye Lan lowered her head and spoke in a weak voice. ¡°Senior sister just told me about some things that weren¡¯t going well in her life. For example, filming was too tiring, this director was too fierce, she wants to get married but she doesn¡¯t know which man is worth marrying¡­ I don¡¯t know if she has any grudges with other people.¡±

    This girl was obviously frightened by the news that both people had died and her hands were constantly trembling. It was natural. She was a good girl. How could she have seen murders? Now two people died and she knew both of them.

    Yu Hanjiang continued to question Ye Lan but couldn¡¯t find out anything else. So he let her go.

    Two pieces of information were obtained from Ye Lan. First, Liang Ting knew about her husband and Lin Yiyan and had pped Lin Yiyan. Secondly, the murderer was still sending messages everywhere using Lin Yiyan¡¯s phone.

    After sending Ye Lan away, Yu Hanjiang continued to question Liang Ting¡¯s makeup artist and hair stylist.

    The makeup artist Xiao Su. Her full name was Su Shanshan and she had worked with Liang Ting for over three years. Teacher Liang liked her skills in makeup very much and took her every time Liang Ting needed to participate in a major program. She had just gotten married at the start of the year and had a boyfriend who loved her very much. She found out she was pregnant some time ago and today, her husband came with her personally.

    Yu Hanjiang checked her phone.

    At 8:30st night, she ordered two takeout boxes which were delivered at around 9 o¡¯clock. Her phone contained the record of her answering the call from the delivery man. At that time, Liang Ting was about to perform on stage. Su Shanshan left the backstage area to get the takeout.

    Yu Hanjiang called the deliveryman to verify this. The other person said there was indeed a beautiful woman who came out to pick up the takeout and politely told him that he worked hard. After the woman took the takeout, she turned and walked backstage.

    Yu Hanjiang asked in a low voice, ¡°Do you remember if she went left or right after entering the door?¡±

    The takeout delivery man thought about it. ¡°It is the right!¡±

    The left was the west and the right was the east. The tea room where the two of them ate takeout was in the north direction. The distance was approximately the same whether she walked to the left or the right. If Su Shanshan wanted to poison Liang Ting, she should¡¯ve gone to the west but she went to the east.

    Yu Hanjiang hung up the phone and asked, ¡°Why go to the east?¡±

    Su Shanshan exined, ¡°I went there because there was cheering and it sounded very lively. I passed by and took a look because I was curious. Ye Qi was standing on stage. I stopped and listened for a while. It was very good. Then I took the takeout and went to find Ah Kim.¡±

    ¡°Are you familiar with Ah Kim? He said this was his first time cooperating with Teacher Liang.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know him very well. I first met himst week when the agent asked her toe and try out Teacher Liang¡¯s makeup and hair.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Then why did you help him order takeout?¡±

    Su Shanshan replied, ¡°We stayed together allst night and were busy backstage with Teacher Liang. We hadn¡¯t eaten and I thought he must be hungry as well. I asked him what he wanted to eat and opened two meals.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked her, ¡°You stayed together allst night? You weren¡¯t together during the time when you went to get the takeout.¡±

    Su Shanshan was taken aback and then she looked shocked. ¡°Yes, I really don¡¯t know where he was during those two minutes. He was already waiting for me in the room when I returned with the takeout.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang followed up by bringing in Ah Kim. He asked the other person to show him ID. Ah Kim gave an embarrassed smile and said, ¡°Officer, my real name is Jin Xiaoyong. Cough, this name is too unsophisticated so I chose a more western English name.¡±

    It was verymon for hair stylists to take English names such as Tony or Kim¡­ these names were too popr. The stylist said his real name was Jin Xiaoyong and Yu Hanjiang examined his ID carefully. The photo on the ID card was taken when he was in university. He was wearing sports clothes and looked youthful and immature. He only looked 60% simr to the man in front of him. Now Ah Kim was over 30 years old.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered in Xiao Lou¡¯s ear, ¡°Find a way to collect his fingerprint information and check it against the database.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded.

    Then Yu Hanjiang asked this man, ¡°Did you ever go to Liang Ting¡¯s lounge while Su Shanshan went out to get the takeout?¡±

    Ah Kim replied with an innocent expression, ¡°I went to the tea room and waited for Xiao Su when she went out to get the takeout. I never went to Teacher Liang¡¯s lounge. I was tired and hungry at the time and just wanted to eat quickly.¡±

    ¡°Did you hear the footsteps of other people passing by?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Ah Kim vowed.

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°I will ask these questions first. Please sign your name on the transcript.¡±

    Xiao Lou brought the transcript and inkpad over. After the other person signed his name, Xiao Lou said gently, ¡°Press your fingerprint beside your name.¡±

    Ah Kim pressed his fingerprint and smiled. ¡°Can I go now?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°Wait here for half an hour. There are still a few people I need to question. I will send someone to notify you once you can leave.¡±

    Ah Kim spoke helplessly. ¡°Officer, isn¡¯t this too much of a nuisance to people? I still have a job today¡­¡±

    Before he could finish hisint, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s sharp eyes swept over him and he immediately closed his mouth in a frightened manner.

    Xiao Lou quickly took the fingerprints to the fingerprint bank forparison.

    Everyone would enter their fingerprints in the database when applying for an ID card as an adult. The fingerprint database was the mostplete one. A person could have stic surgery and get a fake ID but they could never change their fingerprints.

    Yu Hanjiang asked Xiao Lou to check the fingerprints. He apparently suspected that the information provided by Ah Kim was false. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know why Yu Hanjiang doubted the other person¡¯s identity information but Xiao Lou unconditionally believed in Group Leader Yu¡¯s judgment. Hepared Ah Kim¡¯s fingerprint with the information in the database and was dumbfounded.

    This Ah Kim wasn¡¯t called Jin Xiaoyong at all. The person with a 99% fingerprint match in the fingerprint database was called Jin Xiaoyue and their gender was female.

    6th Anniversary Event Page

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 264: Starlight Entertainment 25

    After seeing Ah Kim¡¯s identity information, Xiao Lou understood why he felt so strange when seeing the stylist yesterday.

    He had seen this type of stylist with more girly movements in the hairdresser previously and hadn¡¯t thought much when he heard this Ah Kim speak. Now that he carefully recalled it, this Ah Kim had no obvious Adam¡¯s apple on the neck and her voice was soft. Even if she deliberately pretended to be a more feminine male hairdresser, she was still a girl after all. That was why Xiao Lou felt strange.

    Unexpectedly, things would actually be reversed in this way. Xiao Lou immediatelypared the results of the fingerprint and gave a copy of Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s ID to Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang took a look and frowned. ¡°Sure enough, there is a problem.¡±

    Xiao Lou was curious. ¡°Did you see that she was female?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang shook his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect her to be pretending to be a man. I just think she is the most suspicious one. Last night, I repeatedly reasoned it out based on everyone¡¯s testimonies and finally found that none of the five members of the girl group have a motive to kill Liang Ting. The makeup artist and stylist were both out of sight for a few minutes.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang paused and took out today¡¯s interrogation transcripts. ¡°I questioned the makeup artist Su Shanshan just now and ruled out her suspicion. She and Liang Ting have been working together for three years. She got married this year and she is pregnant. There is no reason to kill now. The delivery man also confirmed that she walked east after taking the takeout. Liang Ting¡¯s dressing room is to the west side and the timing will be toote. So, only the hair stylist is left.¡±

    Xiao Loumented, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect thest person left to be the hair stylist who wasn¡¯t noticeable at the beginning.¡±

    At that time, Xiao Lou thought that the makeup artist and hair stylist were passersby and his focus was always on the celebrities in the girl group. Unexpectedly, the 505 girl group was the biggest distraction and the murderer was the unremarkable hair stylist Ah Kim.

    Yu Hanjiang took the copy of Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s ID card andpared it to Jin Xiaoyong¡¯s card.

    He was a professional criminal police officer and had experience withparing the real person to the ID card. Jin Xiaoyong¡¯s ID card looked a lot like Ah Kim but the distance between the eyes and the nose and lips were slightly different. It was difficult to exin this unless the other person had stic surgery.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Jin Xiaoyong and Jin Xiaoyue are likely to be siblings so their appearance is very simr. We should go to the household registration office to check.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and went to the household registration centre with Yu Hanjiang.

    Sure enough, it was as Yu Hanjiang expected. Jin Xiaoyong and Jin Xiaoyue were twin brother and sister. They came from an ordinary working ss family. The rtionship between the siblings had always been good and they attended the same junior high and high school. However, the sister got very good grades and was often in the top three in the exams while the younger brother had very bad grades and often took thest three ces.

    More than 10 years ago, the two siblings were facing the university entrance examination. As a result, on the day of the university entrance examination, their parents were killed in a car ident. Jin Xiaoyue and Jin Xiaoyong didn¡¯t take the exam.

    There was no record of what happened after their parents¡¯ funeral was over. They only knew that Jin Xiaoyongter signed up to study in an art school and majored in beauty and hairdressing. After graduating, he became a hairdresser. He took the English name Ah Kim and first started as an apprentice in a hairdressers in Binzhou. He slowly became an independent hairdresser. Later, he opened his own hair salon and his business became better.

    His hair salon gradually became famous and he attracted some entertainment celebritiesing to him for styling. He was very good at designing a hair style suitable for the other person ording to the shape of their face and his reputation increased. Ah Kim quickly became a well-known stylist in the circle and often worked with celebrities.

    Yu Hanjiang saw this and said, ¡°ording to Sister Chen, Liang Ting¡¯s original hair stylist happened to be on her honeymoon and it conflicted with the concert. Sister Chen had no choice but to find Ah Kim who had a good reputation by word of mouth toe and try it.¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully recalled Liang Ting¡¯s appearance at the concert. ¡°Liang Ting¡¯s face is thin and her forehead is high. Ah Kim designed Liang Ting with mature and sexy curly hair, which can just cover the disadvantage of her forehead. Matched with the ck fishtail dress and it is perfectly in line with her temperament¡­ at that time, was it Jin Xiaoyong himself or his sister Jin Xiaoyue who styled Liang Ting?¡±

    ¡°It should be Jin Xiaoyue. She might¡¯ve learned some styling skills and asked her brother for help, designing a hairstyle for Liang Ting¡¯s face in advance. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t be able to prepare for the murder in advance.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded in agreement. ¡°It seems that Jin Xiaoyue changed identities with her younger brother when doing the test makeup and hair a week ago. She pretended to be her younger brother and do styling for Liang Ting in advance in order to get close to Liang Ting and to find opportunities to murder Liang Ting at the concert.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang continued to search theputer for Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s information but strangely, there was no record of her going to school.

    The younger brother Jin Xiaoyue studied at a vocational school for three years to learn hairstyling. The relevant files could be found. However, for the sister Jin Xiaoyue, her school records came to an abrupt end in the third year of high school.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thoughtfully touched her chin. ¡°Jin Xiaoyue didn¡¯t go to university?¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°The time of their parents¡¯ death happened to be in the third year of high school. Their parents died suddenly and the siblings didn¡¯t have stable work or ie. As far as I know, the annual tuition fees for a vocational and technical school that Jin Xiaoyong went to should be very high. How could the two of them afford it?¡± He paused and made a guess. ¡°Is it because Jin Xiaoyue gave up studying to provide for her brother to go to school?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°It is possible. Her school records can¡¯t be found at all and this proves she didn¡¯t continue to go to school after graduating from high school. His grades were good. Even if she missed the university entrance examination, she could¡¯ve chosen to repeat it but she didn¡¯t¡­ Maybe it is as you said. She gave up the opportunity to continue school to go work for money, letting her brother go to a vocational school.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it with some regret. In fact, Jin Xiaoyue could¡¯ve been admitted to a good university with her grades. However, at that time, her parents passed away and the siblings lost their spiritual support. Both redoing the university examination and attending a vocational school required a lot of money. She had to choose one of the two and she chose her brother.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°What is the grudge between Jin Xiaoyue and Liang Ting?¡±

    ¡°Check the car ident that year.¡±

    If Liang Ting was driving and killed the siblings¡¯ parents then it made sense for the two people to join forces and kill Liang Ting. Yu Hanjiang immediately retrieved the records of the car ident of Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s parents.

    The records showed that Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s parents had a car ident at an intersection. Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s father identally ran a red light. The driver of a truck braked but due to inertia, the car was crushed into scrap metal. The responsible party was Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s father. As the parents hadn¡¯t bought any ident insurance, the siblings didn¡¯t get any marypensation.

    On the day of the incident, Liang Ting was attending the wedding of a friend in the circle. Therefore, the car ident had nothing to do with Liang Ting.

    Xiao Lou wondered. ¡°It has nothing to do with their parents¡¯ car ident. Later, Jin Xiaoyue went out to work and make money for her brother to go to school. What hatred would she have with a big star like Liang Ting?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang answered, ¡°At present, we can¡¯t find the relevant information. We will have to look for Liang Ting¡¯sst agent. By the way, we will have to sort out all the activities that Liang Ting has participated in over the years.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°What are you going to do with Ah Kim?¡±

    ¡°Her suspicion is the biggest so I will detain her first. In addition, I will send two colleagues to find Jin Xiaoyong. If my guess is correct, the siblings should¡¯ve exchanged ID cards. Jin Xiaoyong is holding his sister¡¯s ID card and he might not be in Binzhou at present.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°If Jin Xiaoyue is really the murderer then she shouldn¡¯t have told her brother about the n. Instead, she would¡¯ve used an excuse to distract him and then pretend to be her brother so that it won¡¯t be suspicious. It is just that she underestimated us too much. She thought she was smart to dress as a man but forget about her fingerprints.¡±

    It was thanks to Yu Hanjiang being vignt enough to doubt Jin Xiaoyue, sending Xiao Lou to check her fingerprints. The most important thing now was to find out the motive for her crime.

    After the discussion, Yu Hanjiang arranged for Xiao Wu to check the information on the ID card ¡®Jin Xiaoyue¡¯. Xiao Wu soon found it. ¡°Jin Xiaoyue went to Yuezhou next door a week ago. She didn¡¯t buy a high-speed rail ticket but a city bus ticket.¡±

    The bus ticket inspection wasn¡¯t so strict. Jin Xiaoyong must¡¯ve used his sister¡¯s ID card to run to the next city.

    Yu Hanjiang ordered, ¡°Immediately notify the Yuezhou police. Search all hotels and guesthouses and control him when you find him. Xiao Wu, Xiao Li, the two of you will go to Yuezhou in person. You must bring this person back to me.¡±

    The two young criminal police officers set off to Yuezhou to arrest someone. Yu Hanjiang took Xiao Lou back to the interrogation room.

    Ah Kim was still sitting there. Her expression was a bit impatient as she repeatedly tapped her fingers on the table, as if tapping the apaniment of a song. The moment she saw Yu Hanjiang, she raised her head and asked, ¡°Officer, can you let me go now?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang pushed a copy of Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s ID card in front of her and asked in a low voice, ¡°Do you know this person?¡±

    Ah Kim¡¯s face was slightly stiff and she forcibly maintained herposure. ¡°Of course, I know her. She is my sister.¡±

    ¡°Where is she?¡±

    Ah Kim frowned unhappily. ¡°What does this matter have to do with my sister? What do you want with her?¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t your sister go to repeat sses after she graduated from high school?¡±

    Ah Kim clenched her fingers tightly together under the table, bit her lip and refused to answer.

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°The older sister wanted to go to repeat sses but the fees for repeat sses are very high. The younger brother wanted to go to vocational school to learn some skills. The family¡¯s savings were only enough for one person to go to school. After thinking about it, the sister decided to go to work and let her younger brother attend vocational school. Did I guess correctly?¡±

    Ah Kim looked up with a pale face. ¡°How do you know this?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°At that time, you made sacrifices because you loved your younger brother. You went to work while your younger brother went to school. However, when you grew up, you saw the bright and beautiful girls who graduated from prestigious schools and your heart has always been unbnced, right?¡±

    Ah Kim¡¯s lips began to tremble. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang showed her the fingerprintparison record. ¡°Don¡¯t pretend. You are Jin Xiaoyue. You and your brother exchanged identities. Your brother took your ID card and went next door to Yuezhou. I have sent a colleague to find him.¡±

    Jin Xiaoyue, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke bluntly. ¡°Say it, why do you want to change identities with your brother?¡±

    6th Anniversary Event Page (Final Submission Date: 15th November)

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 265: Starlight Entertainment 26

    Jin Xiaoyue gave an exnation for the exchange of ID cards. ¡°My brother has a girlfriend in Yuezhou. They met through online dating and have been in a long-distance rtionship. He is too busy at work and she has many opinions, so she wanted to break up with him.¡±

    ¡°Sister Chen talked to my brother two weeks ago about working together. The day of the concert happened to be his girlfriend¡¯s birthday. Shouldn¡¯t he go to celebrate his girlfriend¡¯s birthday with her? Therefore, my brother had been hesitant to go do the styling for Teacher Liang. If he doesn¡¯t apany his girlfriend then she might really break up with him. However, a big star like Teacher Liang asked to work with him. This would help him build his reputation so he was reluctant.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at her coldly. ¡°So you gave Jin Xiaoyong the idea to exchange ID cards?¡±

    Jin Xiaoyue clenched her fists. ¡°That¡¯s right. I look like my brother. When the time came, I just had to change to a hairstyle simr to his and rece him to do the styling for Teacher Liang. He took my ID card to see his girlfriend in the next city.

    Xiao Lou asked suspiciously, ¡°Wasn¡¯t your brother worried about letting you do Teacher Liang¡¯s hair? Wasn¡¯t he afraid you would mess up?¡±

    ¡°I have rented a house with him over the years and learned a lot about hair styling. He did a model in advance and taught it to me. I learned it. Teacher Liang¡¯s hairstyle wasn¡¯t difficult to do.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°In other words, you had already changed identities with your brother when Teacher Lin asked Ah Kim to try doing her hair. Did you curl her hair?¡¯

    Jin Xiaoyue nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. We just changed our identities in private. We didn¡¯t interfere with business. This shouldn¡¯t be illegal?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Did you see Liang Ting drinking from a thermos at that time?¡±

    Jin Xiaoyue looked innocent. ¡°What thermos? I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°On the day of the concert, didn¡¯t you go to Liang Ting¡¯s lounge and poison her thermos?¡±

    ¡°Officer, you can¡¯t wrong an innocent person!¡±

    No matter what Yu Hanjiang asked, she just said she didn¡¯t know. Liang Ting wasn¡¯t killed by her so don¡¯t wrong an innocent person. This girl¡¯s lips were sealed. It seemed she wouldn¡¯t voluntarily confess until stronger evidence was found. Yu Hanjiang had to detain her temporarily while waiting for the next step.

    Liang Ting¡¯s former agent had quickly been found by Shao Qingge. He was a man surnamed Li. He arrived at the police station and couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°Liang Ting had a straightforward and simple personality. She didn¡¯t know how to deal with people tactfully and sometimes her words might be hurtful. However, she wasn¡¯t bad-hearted. I can¡¯t think of anyone who has a deep hatred for her.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked him in detail about Liang Ting¡¯s experiences since her debut and then followed up with a key question. ¡°Do you have any impression of the name Jin Xiaoyue?¡± He handed a copy of the ID card to the agent.

    Mr Li frowned and thought about it for a long time. ¡°I have no impression. Liang Ting shouldn¡¯t know this person.¡±

    ¡°Think again.¡±

    Mr Li was definite. ¡°I really don¡¯t know her.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang requested, ¡°Can you give us a list of the programs that Liang Ting has participated in over the years, including TV shows, variety shows, talent contests, etc?¡±

    ¡°I can do this. I have all the videos of Liang Ting¡¯s jobs in my hand.¡±

    The agent provided an electronic version of the list as well as handing a hard disk to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°I am used to downloading and saving the videos of the shows my artists participate in. It is like a memorial and I can also review it at any time. It is quite interesting to watch shows from 10 years ago.¡±

    The hard drive given by the agent was sure to have important clues. However, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou got a headache after they connected the hard disk to theputer and turned it on. Liang Ting had debuted at the age of 18. In the past 20 years, the agent had downloaded and saved hundreds of programs without fail. Wasn¡¯t it too much work to look at it one by one?

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Shall we let our teammates help? Just the two of us would take several days to watch so many videos.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang felt this was reasonable. He sent screenshots of the programs list to the WeChat group and typed: @all memberse out to work.

    Ye Qi soon came out: Is there a clue?

    Yu Hanjiang sent Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s ID card photo to the group and said: At present, we suspect that this Jin Xiaoyue is the murderer. She had the time tomit the crime and she can¡¯t provide an alibi. However, we can¡¯t find her motive formitting the crime. We have decided to look up Liang Ting¡¯s past shows to see if she has any grievances with the deceased.

    Liu Qiao replied quickly: There are so many programs. The workload is too heavy for Group Leader Yu to watch alone. Let¡¯s divide the work. It will increase efficiency. We might not be able to investigate but it is okay to watch the video for clues.

    Shao Qingge: I am also looking for something to do. Give me some. This day is very boring.

    Qu Wanyue, Long Sen and Old Mo also came out one after another and said they had nothing to do at night. They could help.

    Yu Hanjiang exined: Jin Xiaoyue is 30 years old this year and Liang Ting is 44 years old. Liang Ting is 14 years older than Jin Xiaoyue. We only need to start from when Jin Xiaoyue is 18 years old, which is the year when Liang Ting was 32 years old.

    Jin Xiaoyue was still in kindergarten when Liang Ting debuted so there would be no grudges.

    The turning point in Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s life was when she was 18 years old. Her parents had an ident and the university entrance examination was missed. Her smooth life entered a low point. Liang Ting was 32 years old at the time so there were 12 years of programs that needed to be checked.

    Yu Hanjiang quickly divided the world: Each of you will watch a year and I will do the rest. If you have to fast forward, don¡¯t do it at faster than two times the speed so as to not miss clues. Focus on watching all the shows for Jin Xiaoyue. Note that her name might not be Jin Xiaoyue. It is likely that she took a stage name or an English name simr to Kim. I will now upload the programs to the sharedwork hard drive. Everyone will download it separately and check the program. After watching the program, report the results in the group here.

    The group of people lined up to make the ¡®OK¡¯ gesture.

    They started looking at the programs based on the division inbor. Yu Hanjiang worked backwards while everyone else was responsible for a year.

    That night, all the members of the WeChat group worked overtime and stayed upte. They reported the results in the group after watching a program. The WeChat group kept sending messages like ¡®X year X month X day, so-and-so program is normal.¡¯

    By 1 o¡¯clock in the morning, most of the programs on the hard disk had been checked but no clues were found.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help wondering if the grudge between Jin Xiaoyue and Liang Ting had actually happened privately instead of on a show. However, what would be the intersection between the working girl Jin Xiaoyue and the singing queen Liang Ting?

    He believed in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s judgment. There were so many shows. One of them must have a clue. Ye Qi took a deep breath and clicked on the program he was responsible for. It was when Liang Ting was 39 and Jin Xiaoyue was 25. The name of this show was Sing If You Want to Sing 1017.

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes lit up. Wasn¡¯t this the talent show that led to the debut of the 505 girl group? He immediately opened the video and watched it carefully.

    Sing If You Want to Sing was a talent show created by Binzhou TV. They invested a lot of money in it and also cooperated with thergest Starlight Entertainment Company in the circle. There were almost no barriers to registration. Anyone coulde to this stage as long as they wanted to sing.

    Singers who could get into the top six and enter the finals could sign contracts with Starlight Entertainment and made their debut as a solo or in a group. This was one of the best ways for music lovers to realize their dreams.

    The talent show had been running for many years and the 505 girl group became popr after their debut because they participated in this show three years ago.

    Liang Ting had participated in this season five years ago. Not long after Ye Qi started the show, he saw Liang Ting appear. She was wearing a handsome suit skirt and sat on the judges¡¯ bench. The host asked the audience to wee the guest for this episode, Liang Ting.

    Ye Qi sensed that something was wrong. He frowned and continued to look.

    This episode happened to be the knockout round of 10 people to six people.

    The host introduced the top 10 yers in turn. Ye Qi¡¯s eyes widened and he stared closely at their faces. No. 1, No. 2, No. 3¡­ it wasn¡¯t until the No. 7 yer came out that Ye Qi became stunned. He immediately paused and erged the image.

    The one walking on stage was a fair and delicate girl. She was around 168 cm tall with long ck hair. She wore a white dress and looked fresh. Ye Qi carefullypared her face to Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s ID card¡ªit was definitely the same person!

    Ye Qi took a screenshot and immediately reported it to the group: Sing If You Want to Sing 1017. Liang Ting is one of the judges and I found Jin Xiaoyue among the top 10 yers. Group Leader Yu, you take a look!

    The moment his words came out, everyone immediately opened the program Ye Qi mentioned.

    In this elimination round, the first pass required every contestant to sing a song. The judges would turn on a light. A green light meant a pass and a red light meant a failure. The yer could pass onto the next round if they got two green lights out of three judges.

    Ye Qi quickly used the mouse to skip the other people¡¯s singing and watched Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s part. He found that Jin Xiaoyue was a bit nervous. Her breathing was unstable, her voice was rtively trendy and her music recognition wasn¡¯t high enough. Still, it was okay overall.

    The song finished and the host said, ¡°Wee, the seventh contestant: Morning!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°Sure enough, her English name was used. This is why the agent has no impression of Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s name.¡±

    Xiao Lou was nervous. ¡°It seems this episode is the key.¡±

    The two of them continued to watch.

    Jin Xiaoyue stood in the middle of the stage. The camera zoomed in and they could see sweat on her forehead. She was obviously a bit nervous.

    The host asked her, ¡°Why take on this English name?¡±

    Jin Xiaoyue earnestly exined, ¡°The n for the day lies in the morning. I think the name Morning represents the early morning and hope.

    There was warm apuse from the audience.

    Then the host asked, ¡°You have made it all the way to the top 10. What do you want to say to your parents and family at this moment?¡±

    The girl took a deep breath and choked up. ¡°My parents died when I was 18 years old. I only have a younger brother. Back then, I missed out on the university entrance examination due to the death of my parents and failed to go to university. I started to work at the age of 18¡­¡±

    The show yed sad music in response and some audience members were moved by her. They even shed tears.

    The girl talked a lot about her hard experiences over the years. She had red eyes and couldn¡¯t help crying. The hostforted her for a while and she finally said, ¡°I have always loved music and singing very much. It is my biggest dream to be a singer! I came to participate in this audition and my brother is very supportive of me. I want to tell him to please rest assured. Sister will definitely work hard and I will definitely get ahead!¡±

    The apuse from the audience was extremely enthusiastic. Obviously, Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s tearful story had moved many people.

    The three judges also pped cooperatively. The host said, ¡°Judges, please turn on your lights.¡±

    The first judge gave a green light, the second judge gave a green light and the third judge Liang Ting¡­ gave a red light.

    The rule was that two green lights could enter the next round of PK. Liang Ting¡¯s red light had little effect. Jin Xiaoyue nced at Liang Ting before bowing to the judges, ready to prepare for the next round.

    Two yers were eliminated in the first round, leaving eight people. The second round of eliminations began. As long as she won the second round and entered the top six, she would get the opportunity to sign with Starlight Entertainment regardless of the final ranking. She was only one step away from bing a singer.

    Jin Xiaoyue chose an English song in the second round and sang with a lot of effort. Her final treble part made the audience apud. However, during the light up phase of the judges, the first judge gave a red light and the second judge gave a green light. The final decisiony in Liang Ting¡¯s hands.

    The host asked, ¡°Teacher Liang, what is your decision?¡±

    Liang Ting picked up her microphone. She stared at the girl on stage and calmly opened her mouth. ¡°Morning, do you mind if I speak more directly?¡±

    Jin Xiaoyue smiled and nodded. ¡°Teacher Liang, please say it.¡±

    ¡°First of all, you shouldn¡¯t choose an English song. Your English isn¡¯t good and your pronunciation is too blunt. This song¡¯s key is too high for you to control and it sounds very dry. Secondly, in this section, you have two end notes that were out of tune. Your basic vocal skills aren¡¯t good. Compared with the yers from music schools, the gap is actually very obvious.¡±

    The audience was stunned because they hadn¡¯t expected Liang Ting to speak so bluntly. Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s smile was also a bit stiff.

    The first judge had turned on a red light but he was obviously better behaved. He came out to soothe the field. ¡°Don¡¯t me the contestant. Morning didn¡¯t go to university because of her family reasons. I believe that as long as she studies at a music school in the future, she will definitely sing better¡­¡±

    Liang Ting frowned. ¡°Since you havee to apetition stage, I won¡¯t give you sympathy points due to family reasons. This is very unfair to the other yers. Everyone works hard. Don¡¯t think that you are working the hardest. Since thepetition has invited me to be a judge, I will only judge every singer from a professional perspective. This includes voice, singing ability and potential.¡±

    ¡°Your voice is actually good but your basic skills are too bad. In my opinion, your singing has no personal characteristics and you were very nervous. I didn¡¯t point out the few wrong notes in the first round. In the second round, there were two notes that were out of tune and the high-pitched part was ruined. I¡¯m sorry. In order to give other yers a fair environment, my result for this round is¡­¡±

    She pressed the red light. Jin Xiaoyue couldn¡¯t believe it when she saw the red lighte on.

    The host spoke regretfully, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Two judges have given a red light. Morning, you can only regretfully leave this stage! Still, it doesn¡¯t matter. As long as you don¡¯t give up on your dream, you will be sessful! Let us give her a warm round of apuse!¡±

    Jin Xiaoyue bowed and turned away. Yu Hanjiang noticed that when she walked off the stage, she nced at Liang Ting and her gaze was veryplicated.

    Xiao Lou saw this and couldn¡¯t helpmenting, ¡°Liang Ting¡¯s words are reasonable. In apetition, you can only show strength. There is no need for sympathy. However, Liang Ting was too direct and it was like a p to the face. Did this make Jin Xiaoyue hate her?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suggested, ¡°In the end, Jin Xiaoyue was seventh. The top six can go to the finals and get the chance to sign a contract. It can be said that Liang Ting broke her dream of bing a singer. This time, the 505 girl group held a concert. They are also singers who debuted on the talent show and now their future is infinite. Meanwhile, she has been very deste in recent years¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou sighed lightly. ¡°She might be psychologically unbnced. The fortune of the 505 girl group contrasted her downfall. She would definitely think that if Liang Ting had given her the green light and let her enter the finals, she could sign a contract. Perhaps she would be the same as the 505 girl group now? A superstar? Would she be able to hold a concert of her own?¡±

    The more she thought about it, the more painful it was and the more hate she felt. The mes of jealousy burned in her heart and the seed of hatred swept through her mind. In the end, it drowned out all reason and made her decide on the craziest action.

    6th Anniversary Event Page (Final Submission Date: 15th November)

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 266: Starlight Entertainment 27

    It was already 2 o¡¯clock in the morning by the time they finished watching the variety show. Everyone was in full spirits and was discussing it in the group.

    Ye Qi: I think Teacher Liang Ting¡¯s words are right. Jin Xiaoyue really didn¡¯t sing well with the second song. The eliminations depend on how well you sing on the spot. It would be unfair to other yers if she was given the green light. The same was true for when I participated in thepetition. Even if you performed well previously, if a song isn¡¯t sung well and you are eliminated, you can¡¯t me others. You can only me yourself for your mistakes.

    Liu Qiao asked: I¡¯m not familiar with singing. I think Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s song was okay to listen to. Xiao Ye, was she really out of tune?

    Ye Qi was from the conservatory of music after all. He was much more professional than anyone else in the group when it came to music. He exined seriously: Two notes are out of tune and the final ending is also too much. I feel that she wanted to be famous so much that she was very nervous and couldn¡¯t let her voice soar.

    Shao Qingge said: In fact, not all singers who signed with Starlight Entertainment through this talent show have be popr. Even if Jin Xiaoyue signs a contract, she won¡¯t go far. Her mentality copses too easily and her psychological endurance is weak. It is difficult to be a star with the psychological quality of crying on stage.

    Qu Wanyue: I¡¯m very sympathetic to Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s experience but objectively speaking, the other contestants sang better than her. I think it is reasonable for her to get seventh ce. The judges didn¡¯t randomly give points. If she hates Liang Ting for this then she really has a distorted mentality.

    Old Momented: Some people always like to me their failures on others. They always feel that others have no eyes and that they themselves aren¡¯t wrong. It is someone else¡¯s fault¡­ well, Jin Xiaoyue probably thinks like this. So the more she dwells on it, the more she hates Liang Ting?

    Ye Qi had also participated in an audition show. People with a good mentality would thank the stage for the opportunity to grow even if they were eliminated after failure. However, Jin Xiaoyue clearly wasn¡¯t such a person. She was too paranoid. It was as Shao Qingge said. Thispetitionpletely broke her mentality.

    Jin Xiaoyue had burst into tears on stage when talking about the death of her parents and the experience of missing the university entrance examination. Obviously, this wasn¡¯t purely for the effect of the program. She really couldn¡¯t control her emotions.

    Xiao Lou looked back at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°If Liang Ting turned on the red light five years ago, preventing her from making it to the finals of the talent show and making her hate Liang Ting¡­ why did so many years pass before she acted?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the spiteful gaze Jin Xiaoyue cast at Liang Ting when stepping off the stage and analyzed it. ¡°She is an ordinary person and it is difficult to get close to a big star like Liang Ting. This time, her younger brother got a once in a lifetime opportunity to style for Liang Ting. In addition, it is very likely that something happened recently to stimte her. The hatred she buried deep in her heart was ignited once again.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it and found it reasonable. Jin Xiaoyue might¡¯ve been stimted recently. Then after seeing Liang Ting, her new hatred was added to her old hatred. She decided to kill her to vent her anger. As for what she had done recently, they would have to continue to check.

    Jin Xiaoyue only had a high school degree and couldn¡¯t find a good job, so they hadn¡¯t been able to find where she worked. Perhaps there would be more clues when they found her brother tomorrow.

    Yu Hanjiang thought up to here and said in the group: Everyone has worked hard. Go to sleep. I will try interrogating Jin Xiaoyue again tomorrow. This case should be solved soon.

    The team members sent good nights in the group before turning off their phones to go to sleep. Yu Hanjiang also turned off theputer and went home with Xiao Lou.

    At 2 o¡¯clock in the morning, there were few cars on the street and the wide road seemed empty.

    The passing street lights were projected on the car windows, illuminating Yu Hanjiang¡¯s handsome profile. Xiao Lou turned to look. Yu Hanjiang was driving seriously, steering wheel held firmly between his slender hands as he stared straight ahead.

    He had only slept for three hoursst night and worked overtime until 2 o¡¯clock tonight. There was obvious fatigue on the man¡¯s face and short stubble showing on his chin¡­ he was obviously tired these days but had been acting strong in order to quickly solve the case.

    Xiao Lou spoke softly, ¡°Liang Ting¡¯s case should almost be solved. You should go to bed as soon as possible after going home tonight. Tomorrow is the weekend. You can sleepte and go to work at 9:30. In any case, Jin Xiaoyong hasn¡¯t been found. Jin Xiaoyue won¡¯t confess easily if we just interrogate her.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced over at Xiao Lou. He met this person¡¯s serious eyes and couldn¡¯t help blurting out, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll listen to you.¡±

    Xiao Lou chuckled. ¡°You are really a workaholic. In fact, there is no need to fight like this. This time, there is no time limit on the Hearts secret room. As long as we find enough clues, we can get an S-grade evaluation and a perfect clearance. Our efficiency is high enough.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll go back tonight and have a good rest. I will pick you up at 9:30 tomorrow morning.¡±

    Xiao Lou pointed to his chin. ¡°Get up in the morning and shave by the way.¡±

    It was only then that Yu Hanjiang realized he hadn¡¯t shaved for three days. This was the first time someone reminded him of the details of his life. Yu Hanjiang felt warmth in his heart and the corners of his mouth raised slightly. ¡°I know.¡±

    After returning home, Yu Hanjiang finally had a good night¡¯s sleep and he didn¡¯t wake up until 9 o¡¯clock the next day.

    He went to the bathroom to take a shower, dried his hair and listened to Xiao Lou¡¯s words by carefully shaving off his stubble in the mirror. He was refreshed and in good spirits as he happily went off to pick Xiao Lou up for work.

    This weekend, apart from the two police officers on duty, everyone else in his group had the day off. The entire police department seemed very quiet. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t return to the forensics centre. He simply stayed in the office with Yu Hanjiang to investigate clues.

    Yu Hanjiang contacted the talent market in Binzhou market and asked them to check Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s employment history.

    Manypanies went to recruit from Binzhou¡¯s talent market. Both university graduates and people with a high school diploma coulde here to find jobs. Jin Xiaoyue had a high school degree and couldn¡¯t find a good job. However, with her pride, she shouldn¡¯t be able to stand doing manual tasks such as being a waiter, cleaner or dishwasher in a restaurant.

    The biggest possibility is that she came to the talent market to find a decent job that didn¡¯t require high academic qualifications.

    The talent market soon gave a reply. Yu Hanjiang had guessed correctly. Jin Xiaoyue had indeed found many jobs through the talent market.

    The most recent one was when she applied this summer to work as the front desk employee for a veryrge hotel. The hotel front desk job didn¡¯t require too high a degree. She could get an interview opportunity as long as she was beautiful and articte.

    The introduction letter from the talent market and the introduction fee Jin Xiaoyue had paid after signing the contract with the hotel were all recorded in detail.

    Yu Hanjiang took a closer look at the electronic documents sent by the other party. In the photo on the letter of introduction, Jin Xiaoyue had long hair and she looked really beautiful. Her facial features were small and exquisite. This was why Xiao Lou felt a bit awkward when he saw her pretending to be a man.

    Yu Hanjiang immediately drove to the hotel and looked for the personnel department to confirm.

    The personnel director said, ¡°Jin Xiaoyue came to work at the front desk of our hotel in June this year. She worked seriously. A security guard at our hotel liked her and chased her for a long time but her head was stuck up high and she looked down on the security guard. By the way, she resignedst month.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°What was her reason for leaving?¡±

    The personnel director sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t know the details but something happenedst month. Xiao Hui, who was on the night shift with her, said that a few guests came in the middle of the night and recognized her. Jin Xiaoyue didn¡¯t show the guests a good face and sheter took the initiative to resign.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang immediately asked him to call Xiao Hui. Xiao Hui was around 25 years old. She wore a dark blue professional suit with a skirt and stepped into the office in high heels. There was exquisite makeup on her face and her hair was pulled up in a bun with a red checked hairpin. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou had seen several simr clothes and hairstyles along the way. It should be the work uniform of this hotel.

    Xiao Hui smiled politely at the personnel director. She heard that the police were looking for her and her face changed slightly. Her eyes showed confusion. ¡°Police? What happened?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Are you familiar with Jin Xiaoyue?¡±

    Xiao Hui was startled. ¡°Sister Yue? I know her well. Our front desk has three shifts and sometimes we have to work night shifts. She and I often worked together. She is very talented and knows a lot. I heard from her that she used to have very good grades. She would be in the top three of her ss every time. It was a pity that her family was too poor and she couldn¡¯t go to university.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou exchanged looks. Sure enough, this had be Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s heart demon. She should be very aggrieved about not being able to go to university so she vented her dissatisfaction to other people.

    Xiao Hui continued. ¡°She is very smart and her work efficiency is high when checking in clients. However, she resigned suddenly and deleted my contact information after she resigned.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang inquired, ¡°She was working the night shift with you when she resigned. Apparently, she met some people who knew her that night?¡±

    Xiao Hui thought about it carefully and described in detail what happened on that night.

    Last month on the night of October 15th, she and Jin Xiaoyue took over at 8 o¡¯clock that evening. They were arranged to work two night shifts.

    At around 9 o¡¯clock, a couple came in. It was a handsome man and a beautiful woman wearing designer clothes. The woman was carrying a limited edited bag from a big brand and she had arge diamond ring on her finger. They looked rich and they booked the hotel¡¯s most expensive luxury couple suite.

    As they were checking in, the woman suddenly spoke to Jin Xiaoyue. ¡°Are you Jin Xiaoyue?¡±

    Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s face changed in an instant.

    The woman continued. ¡°I am Qian Qian who sat in your front row in high school. Do you remember me?¡±

    The man next to her also looked surprised. ¡°Xiao Yue? Why are you working at the front desk of a hotel? I remember that your grades were good at the time¡­ I heard you missed the university entrance examination back then. Didn¡¯t you repeat itter?¡±

    Jin Xiaoyue clenched her fists and her entire face was as pale as paper. ¡°You recognized the wrong person.¡±

    The woman persisted. ¡°How can it be a mistake? You are Xiao Yue, right? My husband and I happened toe here for a business trip. We are old ssmates and should eat together when free.¡±

    She wanted to continue but the handsome man beside her gently stopped her and smiled. ¡°Sorry, we must¡¯ve made a mistake. Please check us in.¡±

    Jin Xiaoyue checked them in with an ugly expression. Once the two of them left, Xiao Hui asked, ¡°Sister Yue, are they really your ssmates?¡±

    Jin Xiaoyue bit her lip and refused to reply. Her fingers were tightly clenched and her long red nails were digging into her palm, almost causing her to bleed. Xiao Hui didn¡¯t dare ask again. As a result, within half an hour, another woman walked in with an assistant.

    The woman wore a very nice jacket. She had curly hair, wore a silk scarf and big sunsses. She was dressed extremely fashionably. As she got to the front desk, she looked at Jin Xiaoyue with surprise. ¡°Morning? Why are you here?¡±

    Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. ¡°You have the wrong person.¡±

    The woman smiled apologetically. ¡°Sorry, you look very simr to a friend of mine.¡±

    The assistant next to her dragged arge suitcase and the two of them checked in together.

    For the rest of the night shift, Jin Xiaoyue looked sullen and didn¡¯t say a single word. Xiao Hui was frightened by her expression and didn¡¯t ask her what was going on. Jin Xiaoyue resigned the next day.

    Xiao Hui¡¯s words told Yu Hanjiang the cause and effect. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou continued to question the other people in the hotel. No one knew the reason for Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s resignation and no one had conflicts with her.

    Yu Hanjiang followed the hotel¡¯s system to look at the check-in records for that night.

    The handsome and beautiful man and women were Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s high school ssmates. The man was a top student in the ss but he failed to pass Jin Xiaoyue every time. The woman¡¯s grades were average. The two of them passed the university entrance examination, were admitted to a university in the same city and were currently executives of the samepany.

    The woman with sunsses and curly hair who appearedter was a contestant who participated in the singing contest with Jin Xiaoyue five years ago. She won sixth ce and signed a contract with Starlight Entertainment. Although she wasn¡¯t a big hit at present, she was still a little famous. She hade to Binzhou to participate in a charity performance.

    On the way back, Xiao Lou analyzed it. ¡°It seems that she met old friends on that night shift and was stimted?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°The injustices and jealousy in people¡¯s hearts are all due toparison. Her previous high school ssmates whose grades were far inferior to her are now living better than her. They wore expensive clothing and are happily married. They also live in the most expensive suite when going out to stay at a hotel. Meanwhile, she is working as a receptionist at the hotel.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°The girl who called her Morning took sixth ce in thepetition. It is only one ce higher than her but now that person is a small, famous singer¡­ the contrast really hurts.¡±

    The seeds of imbnce were already nted in Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s heart. At this moment, the mes of hatred were finally ignited and she lost her sense of reason. It could be imagined how pained and regretful Jin Xiaoyue felt staying in that rented house with her brother after returning that day.

    Yu Hanjiang sighed. ¡°Wait until we find Jin Xiaoyong. Then this case can be closed.¡±

    6th Anniversary Event Page (Final Submission Date: 15th November)

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 267: Starlight Entertainment 28

    The police in Yuezhou City were very efficient. They found Jin Xiaoyong¡¯s residence in the afternoon and allowed Xiao Wu to return to Binzhou with Jin Xiaoyong. Jin Xiaoyong thought that the exchange of ID cards was discovered by the police and his face was full of panic.

    He confessed the moment he was taken into the interrogation room. ¡°Officer, I know I was wrong. I didn¡¯t do anything bad with my sister¡¯s ID card. I just went to see my girlfriend in the next city. This shouldn¡¯t constitute a crime, right? It isn¡¯t worth locking me up. I can ept criticism, education, fines, apologies or even writing a review! I will definitely reflect on it seriously and never do it again.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned at the man in front of him.

    This Jin Xiaoyong was around 1.7 metres tall. So when Jin Xiaoyue pretended to be him, she only needed to wear a pair of shoes with inner insoles. The hairstyles of the two siblings were exactly the same. Obviously, Jin Xiaoyue had cut her hair and dyed it blonde temporarily to pretend to be her brother. Jin Xiaoyong was a bit feminine when he spoke and his voice was soft. This was why Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s disguise as a man didn¡¯t arouse the suspicion of Liang Ting and her agent.

    Yu Hanjiang handed Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s ID card to him and asked in a low voice, ¡°Tell me in detail. Your parents died when you were 18. Why did only you go to school in the end?¡±

    Jin Xiaoyue had told them about this matter but he still needed to confirm it with the brother to see if she was lying.

    Jin Xiaoyong was stunned. ¡°Why are you asking about a matter from over 10 years ago?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stared coldly at him. ¡°Obediently answer the question.¡±

    Jin Xiaoyong was frightened by the police officer¡¯s sharp eyes and replied honestly. ¡°Yes, I begged my sister because I particrly wanted to learn a craft at the time. The family¡¯s savings was only enough for one person to go to school. My sister was soft-hearted and let me go. She said she can work in a milk tea store, earning money and saving for tuition. She can review her lessons and go back to school next year.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Then why didn¡¯t she return to her studies the next year?¡±

    Jin Xiaoyong was full of regret. ¡°The high schools in our county changed their policy the second year and no separate repeat sses were set up. We didn¡¯t know anyone and had no way to go to another school, so it was difficult to transfer the student status¡­ in the end, this matter was dyed too long, I felt sorry for my sister, so after I started working, half the money I earned went to her.¡±

    Xiao Lou heard that different ces had different regtions. Some schools didn¡¯t ept repeat students. Jin Xiaoyue gave up the opportunity to go back to school for her younger brother and waited a year, working to make money. Then she missed out on her chance. She must¡¯ve really regretted it at the time.

    Then Yu Hanjiang questioned, ¡°Where did your sister go to work in recent years?¡±

    ¡°A hotel front desk,pany logistics, etc. She had done many jobs but none of themsted more than a year. My sister is too ambitious and always looks down on these jobs.¡±

    ¡°Does she like singing?¡±

    Jin Xiaoyong nodded. ¡°She has loved singing since she was a child. Everyone says that she sings well.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang continued. ¡°In the singing contest five years ago, she made into the top 10 and was eventually eliminated. How was her mood when she returned home? Did she say anything to you?¡±

    Jin Xiaoyong had obvious sadness on his face when he remembered this matter. He lowered his head and answered, ¡°My sister shut herself up when she got home. She cried and smashed a lot of things. I persuaded her for a long time and told her that it was fine, she could sign up next year¡­ she scolded me, saying there were so many next years. She always thinks about doing it again next year only to miss the best opportunity.¡±

    Jin Xiaoyong spoke up to here and his eyes were red. His voice was also choked up. ¡°I know that my sister mes me in her heart. If I hadn¡¯t begged her then she wouldn¡¯t have softened and given up the opportunity to repeat her studies¡­ I also regret this incident. I should¡¯ve gone to work and let her retake the university entrance examination. Then I could¡¯ve found a way to go to vocational school¡­ I dyed her¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment before asking in a low voice, ¡°Didn¡¯t she participate in the audition show again the next year?¡±

    Jin Xiaoyong wiped his face, controlled his emotions and spoke hoarsely, ¡°She went but was eliminated in the screening stage because she was too nervous and forgot her lyrics. The person in charge voted her out.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Jin Xiaoyue always seemed to drop the ball at a critical moment. However, at the end of the day, it was a matter of mentality.

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°What was she doing after she quit her job and stayed home?¡±

    ¡°She has been in a bad mood recently. She is at home all day long and doesn¡¯t go out. I was afraid she would be sick and gave myputer to her, letting her y games at home to rx.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang inquired, ¡°What games?¡±

    ¡°Shooting, gun battle games. She likes these types of games. They are all downloaded on theputer. I don¡¯t know if my sister has downloaded a new game.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    This type of game where you blew people¡¯s heads away with guns was very hot-blooded and popr with boys. However, Jin Xiaoyue ying this type of game was simply adding fuel to the fire. The hatred in her heart continued to ferment and she even produced the idea of violent murder.

    Jin Xiaoyong added, ¡°I told her that even if she doesn¡¯t go out to work, the money I earn will support her for the rest of her life. If she adjusts her mood then she can go to my hair salon to be a beautician. I will introduce her to a teacher and it wouldn¡¯t be toote to learn from scratch.¡±

    Xiao Lou inwardly sighed. This younger brother was actually very concerned for her sister and had been trying to make up for the debt he owed her. Unfortunately, his sister was too extreme. If she could let go of the past and start from scratch then the lives of the siblings would slowly get better.

    Yu Hanjiang finally asked the most important thing. ¡°Was the exchange of identities your sister¡¯s idea? What was her reason?¡±

    Jin Xiaoyong said, ¡°My girlfriend¡¯s birthday coincided with the concert. Teacher Liang Ting invited me and I didn¡¯t want to refuse. If my sister does the styling for Teacher Liang for me then she can help me gain fame without dying my date with my girlfriend. In addition, she was bored at home every day and I was worried. I was happy when she was willing to learn hairstyling. I created a model of Liang Ting and taught her how to do it. My sister is very smart and she learnt it quickly after I taught her.¡±

    He paused and looked at Yu Hanjiang awkwardly. ¡°Ah, I know it is illegal to exchange ID cards but we didn¡¯t have any malicious intentions. It was just an exchange between siblings and I promise not to do it again!¡±

    Up to now, Jin Xiaoyong still didn¡¯t know that his sister hadmitted a crime. He thought that the police had brought him into interrogation just for the exchange of ID cards.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Take us to your ce to search.¡±

    Jin Xiaoyong was stunned. ¡°This¡­ is this necessary? Officer, I have made the reason for exchanging the ID clear. I really didn¡¯t lie to you. Searching my ce for something like this is illegal, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang showed him a stamped piece of paper. ¡°This is a search warrant.¡±

    He saw the other person¡¯s doubts and immediately continued speaking. ¡°Liang Ting is dead and your sister is suspected of murder. We need to conduct a detailed search of her residence.¡±

    Jin Xiaoyong¡¯s mouth instantly became big enough to stuff a duck egg inside.

    Yu Hanjiang took people to the siblings¡¯ residence. There was no evidence in Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s room but after going through theputer, Yu Hanjiang found a lot of searches about potassium cyanide dosage and Liang Ting.

    The evidence was conclusive. All that was left was for Jin Xiaoyue to confess. They returned to the police station and Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou interrogated Jin Xiaoyue again. They reyed the variety show from five years ago in front of Jin Xiaoyue and her face was as grey as ash.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke solemnly. ¡°In October, you were working the front desk of the hotel and ran into a beautiful old ssmate and a small, famous singer from the same variety show. The contrast made your mental state more unbnced. During the half a month of staying at home, you thought about it every day while ying games. The more you thought about it, the more you felt that Liang Ting is too hateful. Liang Ting ruined your dreams and future so you decided to kill her to vent your anger, right?¡±

    Jin Xiaoyue¡¯s lips trembled violently and she buried her face in her hands. A momentter, her shoulders shook constantly like she wasughing or crying. After a while, she suddenly raised her head. Her eyes were flushed and she roared like a wounded beast, ¡°It is all because of her! If that slut hadn¡¯t given me a red light, I would¡¯ve be a contracted singer of Starlight Entertainment. How could I have fallen to the point of working at a hotel?!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, old ssmate? On the surface, they are warm but they must¡¯ve beenughing at me secretly! I obviously got good grades and neither of them could surpass me. They became white cor executives? They must¡¯ve colluded with the leader behind the scenes!¡±

    ¡°There is also that garbage singer. She obviously wasn¡¯t as good as me but she chose a song that everyone liked to listen to and bounced around the stage like a monkey. Why? Why did she make it to the finals but not me? Liang Ting was biased against me!¡±

    ¡°God is too unfair, too unfair to me! I wasn¡¯t doing well but Liang Ting didn¡¯t even think about me! If it wasn¡¯t for her, I would already be a famous singer right now!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou looked calmly at the crazy woman in front of them.

    The years of knots in her heart hadpletely distorted her psychology. It was always someone else¡¯s fault and she was always right. Her old ssmates were doing well and she couldn¡¯t bear it. Obviously their grades weren¡¯t as good as hers. The singer of the same period became famous and she couldn¡¯t bear it. Why could this person be famous when she sang better?

    She alwaysined so much but she never found that the reason was with herself.

    At first, she chose to have a soft heart and helped her brother, missing out on the university entrance examination. This was truly tragic and regrettable. However, it had already happened and there was no need to keep thinking about it for so many years.

    In fact, in recent years, she had many opportunities to change her destiny. She could go to a mature age university and then find a job or she could go to a music school toy a solid foundation before participating in a singingpetition. Her younger brother was even willing to give her more ie and help her learn a craft. She could be a stylist, makeup artist etc. and have a very good life.

    She just never worked hard to change her destiny. She was only immersed in the pain and regret over and over again,ining about how God was unfair.

    She was blinded by hatred and jealousy and the world in her eyes was always grey. She couldn¡¯t see the warmth around her nor the hope in life. So in the end, she was burned to pieces and vented all the grievances of many years onto Liang Ting.

    She was psychologically fragile and didn¡¯t dare admit her failures. She pushed all her mistakes to others. On the surface, she was bold and a good nner so she dared to kill a person at a concert. In fact, she was the weakest person.

    ¡®If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars¡¯¡ªTagore

    6th Anniversary Event Page (Final Submission Date: 15th November)

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 268: Starlight Entertainment 29

    In the face of therge amount of evidence, Jin Xiaoyue finally confessed truthfully to the process of killing Liang Ting.

    Her younger brother inadvertently said that Liang Ting¡¯s agent was looking for him to do styling. Jin Xiaoyue was already depressed and remembered how she was once refused by Liang Ting and failed to enter the finals. Suddenly, she was filled with murderous rage.

    She exchanged identities with her younger brother. She asked him to cut off her long hair and dyed it blond. Then she put on makeup and shoes that increased her height, making her look like her brother.

    She went to see Liang Ting on the day of the makeup trial and looked for opportunities while curling Liang Ting¡¯s hair. She found that Liang Ting liked to drink water from a thermos. The agent mentioned it was Liang Ting¡¯s habit so she thought of poisoning it.

    On the night of the concert, when it was her turn, Liang Ting was ready to perform on stage. Jin Xiaoyue used the time when the makeup artist went out to get takeout to sneak into Liang Ting¡¯s lounge and dropped the poison into the thermos.

    Jin Xiaoyue didn¡¯t feel any regret when she confessed. Her expression was cold like she was telling someone else¡¯s story. Obviously, her psychology had beenpletely distorted. Yu Hanjiang could guess her thoughts. There was no hope in her life so it wasn¡¯t a loss to drag Liang Ting down with her.

    The case was closed and Yu Hanjiang notified Xie Yuan of the news. Xie Yuan came to the police station and happened to see the murderer, Jin Xiaoyue, who was handcuffed by the police and about to be taken into custody.

    He walked over with a calm face, fists clenched as he wanted to beat up the murderer. However, he was stopped by the officer next to him. Xie Yuan took a deep breath, resisting the urge to kill this person. He rxed his hands and spoke in a hoarse voice, ¡°Jin Xiaoyue, you will definitely go to hell.¡±

    Jin Xiaoyue just stared at him in an expressionless manner before being taken away by the police.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xie Yuan and told him softly, ¡°The case has ended. Jin Xiaoyue will be sentenced to death for intentional homicide.¡±

    Xie Yuan shook Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hand. ¡°Thank you for giving my wife justice. I will go back and arrange her funeral.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Do you have anything else to say about the Lin Yiyan case?¡±

    Xie Yuan shook his head. ¡°No, I have already said everything I know. I hope that you can solve the case as soon as possible.¡±

    The man turned and left, his back looking really lonely. Xiao Lou sighed. ¡°After this incident, he probably feels very guilty. I hope he can be a good father and educate his two children properly.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I will write the closing report this afternoon. Take a day off and we¡¯ll continue to investigate Lin Yiyan¡¯s case tomorrow.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed with Yu Hanjiang about taking a day off. At present, the investigation of Lin Yiyan¡¯s case had reached a deadlock. It was time for them to slow down and rearrange the clues.

    That night, Shao Qingge took the initiative to call Xiao Lou and invited them to dinner.

    The four members in the crew couldn¡¯t get away so Shao Qingge only invited Ye Qi, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou. Ye Qi loved hotpot and it was also very suitable for the cold winter. Therefore, the four of them came to a well-decorated hot pot restaurant and asked for a private box to eat in and chat.

    Ye Qimented, ¡°The Liang Ting case is really surprising. I always thought the murderer was one of the five members of the girl group but it turned out to be the hair stylist¡­ now that I think about it, Teacher Tony who styled me is quite kind.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°Is that the hair stylist who gave you the cockb style?¡±

    Ye Qi nced at him awkwardly. ¡°Chief Shao, don¡¯t remember my ugliest hairstyle so clearly.¡±

    Shao Qingge continued to tease him. ¡°I actually remember your female clothing most clearly. Miss Ye is very pretty.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The two of them routinely bickered. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou ignored them and simply immersed themselves in the meal.

    These days had been too busy. Not only had Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou slept badly, they had also ordered only takeout for lunch and dinner. Now Shao Qingge was treating them to hot pot and they had a rare break. They naturally couldn¡¯t treat their stomachs badly.

    Ye Qi opened his mouth when he was almost full. ¡°Next is Lin Yiyan¡¯s case. What do you think, Group Leader Yu?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang murmured, ¡°I am wondering if this secret room has a theme.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°3 of Hearts is revenge, 4 of Hearts is a scum man, 8 of hearts is treason¡­ what is it this time? It shouldn¡¯t be revenge again, right?¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully analyzed it. ¡°Liang Ting¡¯s case isn¡¯t revenge. In fact, Liang Ting and Jin Xiaoyue don¡¯t have that much hatred. Liang Ting was a judge and gave her a red light. It was fair. Her words might¡¯ve been a bit venomous but apetition itself is cruel. There is someone who advances and there must be someone who is eliminated. It doesn¡¯t reach the level of deep hatred. It was Jin Xiaoyue who had a twisted psychology and med Liang Ting for the failure of her life.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded in agreement. ¡°That¡¯s right. Then is the case about psychological distortion? In Lin Yiyan¡¯s case, the body was found frozen in the bathtub with ice cubes. Isn¡¯t it likely the murderer is psychologically distorted?¡±

    Shao Qingge added with a smile, ¡°In addition, this murderer is smarter than Jin Xiaoyue. They didn¡¯t leave any evidence behind.¡±

    The reason why the Liang Ting case was easy to solve was because the range of suspects was limited. Liang Ting was poisoned to death while drinking her water. It was limited to those who were at the scene and could poison her as well as the motive for the crime. They used the elimination method one by one and the one left at the end was naturally the most suspected murderer.

    No one had expected Jin Xiaoyue to be a woman disguised as a man but Yu Hanjiang reasoned that she was the most likely tomit the crime. He cleverly had her fingerprints checked and the truth of the case was immediately revealed.

    The difficulty of Lin Yiyan¡¯s case was that the murderer couldn¡¯t be locked on. The incident happened between 3:30 ¨C 4:00 a.m. on the day. It wasn¡¯t clear who was in her vi and who drove away in her car.

    Ye Qi¡¯s thoughts became fanciful. ¡°Could Liang Ting know that Lin Yiyan spent a night with her husband? Liang Ting had a serious cleanliness issue and couldn¡¯t bear this, so she killed Lin Yiyan for revenge? Now Liang Ting is dead and we can¡¯t find the murderer?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°We have considered the possibility you mentioned. I will check it tomorrow but it is unlikely.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°ording to Ye Lan, Liang Ting smelled Lin Yiyan¡¯s unique perfume at the movie festival awards ceremony and knew Lin Yiyan was the one who spent a night with her husband. Therefore, she pped Lin Yiyan a few times backstage. Liang Ting has a straightforward personality. Since she pped Lin Yiyan a few times to vent her anger, she shouldn¡¯t also be nning a murder after half a year.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou and nodded in agreement. ¡°It can be seen from the audition program that Liang Ting isn¡¯t the type of person with deep intentions. If she had deep intentions and knew how to be tactful then she wouldn¡¯t have offended Jin Xiaoyue.¡±

    The agent¡¯s description also mentioned it. Liang Ting was straightforward and simple. She said what she meant. For such a person, it would be the most difficult thing to suppress her anger for half a year and then carefully n a murder. She had directly pped Lin Yiyan a few times backstage and this was considered venting her anger.

    Ye Qi heard the analysis of the two people and found it reasonable. ¡°Then it seems we still have to slowly find the murderer.¡±

    Shao Qingge said, ¡°This will be handed over to Group Leader Yu. I¡¯ll also look for information in thepany to see if there are any clues about Lin Yiyan.¡±

    The four of them went home after dinner.

    On the way back, Xiao Lou thoughtfully looked at the scenery outside the car window with a serious expression on his face. Yu Hanjiang knew he was thinking about the case and didn¡¯t want to disturb him, so he focused on driving.

    It wasn¡¯t known how much time passed before Xiao Lou suddenly turned around. ¡°By the way, the most difficult part of Liang Ting¡¯s case is that Jin Xiaoyue disguised herself as a man, correct?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that we checked her fingerprints to confirm her identity, we would¡¯ve treated her as Jin Xiaoyong when investigating. Then our investigation would fall into a dead end because it would be difficult to find the grudge between Jin Xiaoyong and Liang Ting. The motive formitting the crime wouldn¡¯t be able to be determined.¡±

    Xiao Lou touched his chin. ¡°Then is it possible that the theme of this secret room is in fact¡­ disguise?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly as he suddenly thought of a possibility. He pulled the car to the side of the road and immediately called Qu Wanyue. There was a lot of noise from Qu Wanyue¡¯s side. Apparently, they were still filming. She took a few steps and came to a rtively quiet corner. She looked around, found no other people and asked softly, ¡°Group Leader Yu, what do you want me to do? I am filming over here.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°What is the situation these days?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s going well. For the first two days, Cheng Yu couldn¡¯t enter the right state when acting and often forgot his words. He NGed many times and was scolded by the director. ording to Liu Qiao, his agent forced him to recite his lines in the middle of the night and his performanceter was much better. In thest few scenes, the director seemed quite satisfied.¡±

    She paused before continuing, ¡°Qiao Xuening is also doing well here. Her acting skills are quite good. Many scenes don¡¯t need to be repeated and she is much better than Cheng Yu. The director often praises her and told Cheng Yu to learn more from her.¡±

    ¡°Has her dance scene started?¡±

    Qu Wanyue thought about it. ¡°ording to the shooting schedule, she will officially start filming her dance scene the day after tomorrow. Old Mo only set up the stage with his colleagues in the set group today. Since there are many dance scenes, the director will only take down the stage after a few days of filming.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Her legs are still okay?¡±

    ¡°The recovery is very good. She can also control the spinning movements I taught her.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang cautioned her, ¡°You should continue to pay attention to her dancing. Xiao Lou and I wille to the crew tomorrow.¡±

    Once he hung up, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°Do you doubt Qiao Xuening?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang answered, ¡°Cheng Yu is a rich second generation and was just ying with Lin Yiyan. Neither of them were serious. They are sex friends and he has no motive for killing Lin Yiyan. At present, the people rted to Lin Yiyan such as her agent Qi Ming, her best friend Qiao Xuening and her school junior Ye Lan all have an alibi. However, you mentioned a disguise just now and it reminded me of one thing. An alibi can be faked.¡±

    Fake alibi?

    Xiao Lou was startled. ¡°You mean, someone can pretend to be them to create an alibi?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Jin Xiaoyue can pretend to be Jin Xiaoyong so the key to this secret room is likely to be your guess.¡±

    6th Anniversary Event Page (Final Submission Date: 15th November)

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 269: Starlight Entertainment 30

    The next morning, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou once again went to the traffic department. They wanted to check the whereabouts and car records of people like Liang Ting, Ye Lan and Qiao Xuening.

    In doing so, the case of ¡®Liang Ting killed Lin Yiyan and waster killed by Jin Xiaoyue¡¯ could be ruled out. They could also confirm the movements of Qiao Xuening and Ye Lan during those two days.

    Facts proved that Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou¡¯s spection was correct. Liang Ting wasn¡¯t the type of person who had deep thoughts and would plot murder.

    On the two days of the incident on the 16th and 17th, Liang Ting drove a white car with the license te Bin A-T7777 from her residence to the hospital every morning before driving home at dinner time. In these two days, Liang Ting and Xie Yuan¡¯s youngest daughter was hospitalized for pneumonia and stayed in a VIP ward of a private hospital in the suburbs. Liang Ting went to the hospital to watch her daughter during the day and changed shifts with Xie Yuan at night. This was consistent with Xie Yuan¡¯s words.

    On the night of the 16th, Liang Ting drove home from the hospital and her car never left. There was no record of Liang Ting going outte at night in the taxi apps. On the morning of the 17th, she drove to the hospital again, proving that she had been at home on the night Lin Yiyan was killed.

    Liang Ting¡¯s suspicion waspletely eliminated.

    Ye Lan was with the 505 girl group on both days. She had the lowest level of suspicion. After all, the other four members and the agent of the girl group could prove that Ye Lan didn¡¯t leave the team in those two days. She only appeared to give this clue about Xie Yuan and Lin Yiyan.

    As for Qiao Xuening, there were many people from the show who could prove she was filming the variety show in the mountains on these two days.

    The agent Qi Ming¡¯s alibi was also very strong. He left in a taxi at 3:30 a.m. and was caught by the surveince at the gate of hismunity returning home. Lin Yiyan¡¯s car was driven out of themunity at 4 o¡¯clock and the timing didn¡¯t match for it to be him.

    There were only two possibilities when the suspects had an alibi.

    First, none of these suspects was the murderer and the real murderer was still hidden in the dark.

    Second, there was actually a murderer among the suspects and there was a problem with their alibi.

    Yu Hanjiang checked Lin Yiyan¡¯s vehicle information again. He found a 4S store based on the model of the burned car. After checking, it was confirmed that the two ck cars were new cars produced a year ago. Payment was made at the time of purchase by Cheng Yu.

    In other words, Cheng Yu bought two cars at once and gave one to his lover Lin Yiyan. This car was very valuable but for a rich second generation like Cheng Yu, giving a car to his girlfriend was a piece of cake.

    Lin Yiyan¡¯s second car was a sports car with the license te number of her birthday. This was bought by the agent Qi Ming and was obviously given by Qi Ming on Lin Yiyan¡¯s birthday. This information was within Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expectations and the investigation just 100% confirmed it.

    He returned to the police department andpiled all the information about Lin Yiyan¡¯s case before going to Binzhou TV station. It was to meet the director and staff of the ¡®Close Your Eyes When it is Dark¡¯ variety show.

    This variety show happened to be recorded by Binzhou TV station and the staff were in the radio and television station building. They were doing the final editing when Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou came to find them.

    Yu Hanjiang showed his police officer ID to the staff and the other party immediately stated that they would cooperate with the investigation.

    The director was a veteran of the TV station. He was in his 40s but he was full of youthful vitality. He loved to smile when he talked. Yu Hanjiang called him to a separate office for questioning. ¡°On the 16th and 17th, are you sure that Qiao Xuening was recording the show?¡±

    The director nodded. ¡°Of course. In order to edit the best performance, we yed several rounds of the game and only took a rest at 3 o¡¯clock in the middle of the night. Qiao Xuening wasn¡¯t good at ying this game and was always voted out by people. She showed a helpless look and it was very fun to shoot.¡±

    Xiao Lou often yed this type of game with his ssmates when he was in university. People who couldn¡¯t y were really easy to be cannon fodder.

    Yu Hanjiang inquired, ¡°How was the lighting during the recording of the show? Could everyone¡¯s faces be seen clearly?¡±

    ¡°It was a killing game at night so the lighting was deliberately dimmed to create a horror atmosphere. However, in the voting session, the lighting engineer will adjust the light very brightly and our cameraman will zoom in and give close ups on all the guest¡¯s faces. Naturally their faces can be seen clearly. Otherwise, it would be boring for the audience to watch a few dark shadows ying games.¡±

    Then Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Was the scene closed when the show was recorded? Could outsiders sneak in?¡±

    The director immediately shook his head. ¡°No outsiders can get in. Recording at night is inherently risky. The outer ring must be cordoned off and security guards were invited to guard it. We must ensure the safety of all guests and staff.¡±

    ¡°No one came in and no one left?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± the director replied.

    ¡°Was there anything unusual about Qiao Xuening that night? Her expression, voice or walking movements?¡±

    ¡°She was in good condition that day. She was very polite to everyone. She just had a bit of a cold so when speaking, her voice was a bit hoarse. However, it was fine and didn¡¯t affect the recording of the show.¡±

    ¡°What about her leg? Was there a problem?¡±

    The director was stunned before he thought of something. ¡°Oh, I remember. She identally fell from her horse when filming a martial arts drama. I heard that she broke her leg and was hospitalized. At that time, I was worried about whether she could record the show. Her reply to me was to look at her recovery. Later, she said she could record it. On the day we recorded the show, she had recovered very well and was walking normally.¡±

    The director paused before adding, ¡°The amount of activity for our show wasn¡¯t too much. Once dark, the guests will collectively enter their tents and the murderer wille out to leave a sign on the tent of the person they want to kill. At dawn, everyone took a few steps out of the tent. This had little effect on her legs.¡±

    ¡°Was she alone? Her agent didn¡¯te with her?¡±

    The director nodded. ¡°All the guests came alone. Our program has assistants and we arranged amodation for them.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang finished asking questions and said, ¡°Can I trouble you to give me what you shot without any editing? I want the original version.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang questioned the other staff including the makeup artists and stylists. They said that Qiao Xuening had no other abnormalities except for a cold. She seemed to be recovering well and walked steadily.

    She had a good temper and was very polite to everyone. This was everyone¡¯s opinion of Qiao Xuening.

    Soon, the director arranged for someone to give the original film of the show to Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang took it back for a closer look with Xiao Lou. It was as the director said. They recorded the program deep in the mountains and the horror atmosphere was indeed very realistic. There was some distance between the tents and it really gave people a chill when the murderer came out to ce the sign on a tent. Each tent had a camera that captured the performance of the guests when alone in the tent.

    Several times, Qiao Xuening¡¯s expression was captured in the close-up shots. She was sitting in the tent, her expression a bit nervous. She held her fingers and bit her lip like she was worried the murderer might stick the sign behind her. On the day of the recording, she wore a thick down jacket and held a hand warmer. She had a cold and sometimes couldn¡¯t help coughing.

    Qiao Xuening really didn¡¯t know how to y this game. During the vigers¡¯ voting, the other guests spoke nonsense seriously to whitewash themselves. However, Qiao Xuening¡¯s eloquence was far worse than the other guests and she was always voted out in the first round.

    She looked dazed and almost became the game¡¯s mascot.

    Xiao Lou deliberately observed her walking posture. Once he saw her turning back to the tent, he immediately paused it and pointed to her leg. ¡°She just recovered from a fracture of her left leg. When she walks, she will subconsciously ce her weight on her right leg. It can¡¯t be seen on the surface but after carefulparison, she steps with her left leg differently from her right leg. Her pelvis tilts slightly to the healthy side.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly. ¡°ording to Qu Wanyue, Qiao Xuening is currently agile in dancing, let alone walking. On November 17th, she recorded the show in the mountains. At that time, she subconsciously shifted her focus to her right leg when walking. Can she recover so quickly that she can move freely, let alone dance?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°Even if her legs can recover, she can¡¯t change so quickly mentally. It is okay when walking normally but for nothing to happen during dancing¡­ I have never seen such a patient. There must be a problem with Qiao Xuening¡¯s leg injury.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang watched Xiao Lou with admiration. Professor Xiao had sharp eyes and noticed that Qiao Xuening¡¯s strides when walking with her left leg and right leg weren¡¯t the same. She focused more weight on her right leg and it was obvious that the injury to her left leg had a certain impact on her mental state.

    So how could Qiao Xuening be so calm when dancing in front of Qu Wanyue?

    That afternoon, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou went to the crew together.

    The security staff of the crew didn¡¯t let them in until they saw Yu Hanjiang¡¯s police office pass. The other party immediately wanted to call for someone when they saw the police officer pass but Yu Hanjiang shook his head. ¡°I am investigating secretly. Please don¡¯t disturb the others for now.¡±

    The group of security guards exchanged looks.

    Currently, the crew was shooting a scene between the male and female leads. Everyone was busy and the staff were gathered together. The lightning, sound effects, photography and recording¡­ dozens of people were present. Therefore, the appearance of Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou didn¡¯t attract too much attention. Qu Wanyue, Liu Qiao and the others saw them but pretended not to know them. They continued to stay at their posts.

    The content of this scene was that the male lead had a misunderstanding with the female lead and left angrily. The female lead chased him down the street for a while only to identally fall to the ground. She shed tears silently before finally turning around and leaving in despair.

    This idol drama took the dog blood route of making the female lead miserable first and then the male lead.

    The crew had already started filming so Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou watched from a distance.

    Several days had passed and Cheng Yu and Qiao Xuening now cooperated quite well. Cheng Yu performed the angry expression well and Qiao Xuening ran after him. After she fell, she gasped with pain andy on the ground, weeping nkly. Tears fell and she cried sadly without any eye drops.

    Xiao Lou whispered to Yu Hanjiang, ¡°Qiao Xuening¡¯s acting is really good.¡±

    It was said that her crying scenes had almost be the benchmark of the entertainment industry. This reputation was indeed well-deserved.

    The director was very happy and spoke cheerfully. ¡°Okay, it¡¯s over! Today you are in a good state. This scene is very difficult and I thought we would have to film all afternoon. As a result, you passed at once. The crew will get a break. Everyone, go back and rest!¡±

    There were cheers from all around them.

    Cheng Yu ran over and spoke in a humble manner. ¡°Director Zhang, haven¡¯t I improved very quickly?¡±

    The directorughed and scolded him. ¡°It is because Xuening taught you well!¡±

    Qiao Xuening politely bowed to the director. ¡°Thank you Director Zhang, thank you everyone.¡±

    Director Zhang waved his hand. ¡°Everyone can go. I will send you the scenes that will be filmed tomorrow. The deputy director will send you back. Go back and prepare well for the dance scenes.¡± He looked at Qiao Xuening¡¯s legs and wondered, ¡°By the way, can your legs take it?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve made a full recovery.¡± Qiao Xuening smiled.

    The director earnestly told her, ¡°Don¡¯t force it. If your leg is injured then it canst a lifetime. It is very painful to suffer from arthritis when you are old. If necessary, you can ask for a stand-in. The close-up of your legs will be taken directly by the stand-in and I will do the post-processing.¡±

    Qiao Xuening immediately refused. ¡°It really isn¡¯t necessary. I can do it myself.¡±

    Her agent looked at her helplessly. ¡°Actually, I suggested that she use a stand-in for the difficult dance scenes but Xuening is insistent on doing it herself. She learned dancing when she was a child and has solid basic skills. Before her leg injury, she set aside time at the beginning of the month to go to the ballet ss to prepare for these scenes. She doesn¡¯t want these efforts to be wasted.¡±

    The director smiled with satisfaction. ¡°Xuening is indeed a very dedicated actor. Then let¡¯s try it. You will personally do it tomorrow and we will look at the effect. If you can stick to it then it is best to shoot it yourself.¡±

    Qiao Xuening nodded. ¡°Okay, Director Zhang.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang heard it all.

    Once the director left, Yu Hanjiang came to Qiao Xuening. ¡°Miss Qiao, we meet again.¡±

    Qiao Xuening was startled and spoke softly, ¡°Officer Yu? You came to the crew to find me. Did you make progress in Xiao Yan¡¯s case?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Qiao Xuening was delighted. ¡°Great!¡±

    The agent next to her was nervous. ¡°Officer Yu, the crew has a lot of mouths. Shall we go back to chat?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou returned to the hotel with Qiao Xuening and her agent.

    The agent poured cold water for the two of them and asked, ¡°Do you have a clue about who killed Lin Yiyan?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s sharp eyes fell on Qiao Xuening. ¡°That will be determined after we have seen Miss Qiao¡¯s stand-in.¡±

    Qiao Xuening¡¯s expression changed slightly. ¡°W-What stand-in?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke calmly. ¡°The stand-in who took your ce and broke her leg in the costume moviest time. Miss Qiao, did you forget so soon?¡±

    6th Anniversary Event Page (Final Submission Date: 15th November)

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 270: Starlight Entertainment 31

    In fact, Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t really have any evidence that Qiao Xuening used a stand-in for thest martial arts drama and that the stand-in had broken her leg. However, sometimes interrogation required fishing. He could ask questions first and then judge whether it was true or false based on the other person¡¯s expression.

    Qiao Xuening deserved to be someone who won a trophy for acting. She heard this question and looked at Yu Hanjiang with surprise. ¡°Officer Yu, what are you talking about? I don¡¯t understand. Thest time I shot the martial arts movie, I performed the entire thing by myself. Many people from the crew can testify for me.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stared into her eyes. ¡°So in the early morning of the 17th, did you personally go to the mountains to shoot the variety show Close Your Eyes When it is Dark?¡±

    Qiao Xuening smiled. ¡°Of course. The directors and guests of the variety show know what I look like. Can this be faked? I don¡¯t have a twin sister. If you don¡¯t believe me then you can check my household registration.¡±

    The agent next to her also hurriedly exined, ¡°Officer, I can guarantee that Xuening did go to the show that day. In fact, Xuening has never used a stand-in. I suggested she use a stand-in for this dance scene because I am worried about her legs but she rejected it.¡±

    Qiao Xuening added, ¡°Also, it is necessary to sign a contract when using a stand-in. Officer Yu, you can check the contract records of my agency.¡±

    She met Yu Hanjiang¡¯s gaze with a serious expression. ¡°Being an actor has been my dream since I was a child. I treat every scene with the same attitude. I am very serious when filming and will do everything by myself. Even if it is a difficult scene, I will learn and make breakthroughs by myself rather than relying on a substitute to solve it.¡±

    The agent nodded. ¡°Xuening has a good reputation in the circle. Officer, you can ask the directors who have worked with her. Her serious attitude is well received by the directors in the circle. She has debuted for 10 years and it isn¡¯t easy to reach her present state. You suspect that she has a stand-in without any evidence. To be honest, this is a bit insulting.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other.

    The two people spoke together and made it seem true. It was difficult to tell from their performance.

    Yu Hanjiang skipped this topic and sent a look to Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou understood what he meant and immediately calmed the scene. ¡°Miss Qiao, don¡¯t mind it. We are just asking routine questions because we heard the director talk about a stand-in. We were just asking about the situation, not directly convicting you.¡±

    Qiao Xuening had a good temper and smiled. ¡°I can understand and I will naturally fully cooperate with the police investigation. It is just that I¡¯ve told you everything I know regarding Xiao Yan. I don¡¯t know anything else.¡±

    The agent asked, ¡°Do you have a clue about her killer?¡±

    ¡°It is being checked.¡±

    A trace of regret shed in Qiao Xuening¡¯s eyes. ¡°I hope that the case is solved as soon as possible and Xiao Yan receives justice.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang turned on his phone and retrieved a photo of Lin Yiyan¡¯s death. In the photo, Lin Yiyan was lying in a bathtub filled with ice cubes, knife marks all over her body. Qiao Xuening¡¯s pupils shrank when she saw the photo and her face was pale. ¡°Officer, this¡­ how could Xiao Yan die so miserably?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had ced a photo of the deceased in front of her and observed her reaction.

    Qiao Xuening¡¯s reaction was normal. She was surprised like any ordinary person when seeing a photo of a dead person. He took back the phone, sat on the sofa next to her and took out a notebook and pen. He asked while recording, ¡°Do you know if there is a rtionship between Lin Yiyan and ice?¡±

    Qiao Xuening was still stunned. ¡°Ice? I haven¡¯t heard of it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly. ¡°You¡¯ve really never heard of anything. Think about it.¡±

    Qiao Xuening thought about it and suddenly recalled something. Her eyes lit up and she said, ¡°She likes to use ice cubes in summer to chill red wine. Drinking cold red wine will cool off the heat. She once told me that cool red wine has beauty effects and drinking a ss every day will make my skin better.¡±

    She paused before continuing, ¡°It is winter but there is heating at home. The temperature should be above 28 degrees. She might¡¯ve continued drinking cold red wine.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang noted down this point and asked, ¡°Can you borate on your rtionship with Lin Yiyan during university?¡±

    ¡°We were roommates in the same dormitory in university. My parents are bothpany employees and I have never acted before. I was admitted to the movie school and learned acting from scratch. Xiao Yan was the same as me. Therefore, we both had a lot ofmonnguages. We often went to the library to read books together. We soon became good friends who talked about everything.¡±

    ¡°In our second year, there was a web drama that was holding public auditions for the role of the heroine. The investor in the drama happened to be thergest entertainmentpany in the circle, Starlight Entertainment. We went to the interview with the attitude of trying it out and Xiao Yan actually passed.¡±

    ¡°Did you feel jealous at the time?¡±

    Qiao Xuening was silent for a moment before replying honestly, ¡°Of course. I was no worse than her. Both of us were neers and her acting skills were definitely not much better than mine. She was chosen while I wasn¡¯t chosen. It is human nature to feel jealousy. However, I was quickly relieved. After all, she is a good friend of mine and she can always help me if she bes popr. One more connection in the entertainment industry is better than one more enemy.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°The drama she filmed became popr and she changed from a small, invisible star to a popr star. During that time, was there any contact between you?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve always been in touch with her. She didn¡¯t ignore me because she became popr.¡±

    Then Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Later, she introduced resources to you and you slowly became popr. If it wasn¡¯t for your boyfriend exposing your private photos, your current achievements would be no worse than hers and you wouldn¡¯t have to act in this type of youth drama at the age of 30, right?¡±

    Qiao Xuening looked slightly embarrassed. ¡°Indeed, what happened at the time was a big blow to me and Xiao Yan had beenforting me. At that time, I wasn¡¯t in good spirits and almostmitted suicide due to depression. Fortunately, thepany of my family and friends allowed me to escape from the shadows.¡± She nced at her agent. ¡°Furthermore, I got a blessing in disguise and met my agent who helped me a lotter.¡±

    ¡°You adjusted your mentality with your agent and signed the contract when you came back?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang inquired, ¡°Where is your former agent?¡±

    Qiao Xuening replied, ¡°Married and had children. She left the acting world.¡±

    The questioningsted a long time. Yu Hanjiang asked clearly about her experiences since her debut. He even asked in detail what dramas she had filmed in recent years and which stars she worked with.

    Qiao Xuening was questioned for more than half an hour and was obviously a bit impatient. The focus in her eyes started to blur when answering questions. At this time, Yu Hanjiang gave Xiao Lou a look. Xiao Lou smiled and opened his mouth. ¡°Miss Qiao, do you feel ufortable during this period when your fracture is healing?¡±

    The questions abruptly changed direction and Qiao Xuening was slightly taken aback. ¡°Of course. It hurt at first, especially after there was a ster on my leg. It was inconvenient to walk. Fortunately, I usually exercise and my body is strong. The recovery speed is very fast.¡±

    ¡°Did the doctor tell you about the stages of fracture healing?¡±

    Qiao Xuening smiled apologetically. ¡°He seems to have said it. I¡¯m not a medical student and I don¡¯t understand it well. I don¡¯t remember it clearly.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°After the fracture, how many times did you go to the hospital for a check?¡±

    Qiao Xuening frowned and thought about it. ¡°It seems like¡­ five or six times.¡±

    Xiao Lou was like the most patient doctor in the world as he continued to look at her gently. ¡°During the check, what did the doctor do for you? Do you remember?¡±

    Qiao Xuening wondered, ¡°¡­Why are you asking about these things?¡±

    Xiao Lou exined. ¡°I am concerned about Miss Qiao¡¯s recovery process because I heard the conversation between you and the director. You have to shoot difficult dance scenes. If your legs don¡¯t fully recover and permanent damage urs then it is easy to get diseases like arthritis and osteoporosis when you are old. It will be very painful.¡±

    Qiao Xuening coughed lightly. ¡°I don¡¯t remember too clearly. In any case, I took x-rays every time. You can go to the hospital for the specific case records. The doctor told me that I am recovering well. Of course, he doesn¡¯t rmend that I dance but I think it¡¯s okay. I exercised every day after being discharged from hospital and now I have fully recovered.¡±

    ¡°Did the doctor ask you to supplement calcium and to drink bone soup when you were hospitalized with the fracture?¡±

    Qiao Xuening nodded. ¡°Of course. This will promote the healing of fractures.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at her and then asked, ¡°Who was taking care of you during this time?¡±

    ¡°My parents. They came to my house to take care of me.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Okay, we really troubled Miss Qiao today. In this case, we haven¡¯t locked down the murderer so we need to collect more clues. Thank you for your cooperation.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took the initiative to stand up and prepare to leave. Qiao Xuening also stood up and escorted the two men to the door. ¡°This is what I should do. If the two of you want to know something then you cane back to me. I hope you solve this case as soon as possible.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly. ¡°Miss Qiao, don¡¯t worry. We will catch the murderer as soon as possible.¡±

    After leaving Qiao Xuening¡¯s room, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou immediately went to the meeting room that Shao Qingge arranged for everyone on the top floor. Old Mo, Liu Qiao and the others found excuses toe to the meeting room and waited for the results of Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou¡¯s interrogation. They saw the two men enter the room and immediately surrounded them.

    Qu Wanyue was concerned. ¡°How is it? Is Qiao Xuening¡¯s suspicion big?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes were certain. ¡°She is lying.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang exined. ¡°Today, Xiao Lou and I went to question her using fatigue interrogation. First, I asked her many things about her past such as her university years, debut experience and TV series she filmed. This made her fall into her memories and rx her vignce. Then Xiao Lou abruptly asked her some details about the fracture and the hospitalization and her mind was unable to follow.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, there are several holes in her answers about the details of her hospitalization.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang opened the recorded transcript in front of everyone.

    Xiao Lou pointed to two lines.¡±First of all, after being admitted to hospital with a fracture, x-rays will be taken to check the location and severity of the fracture. Then the treatment n is determined and the patient is discharged after putting on a cast. The swelling degree and skin sensation at the site of the fracture should be observed in the early stags. It is usually around a week or so. After the swelling subsides, you need to go to the hospital for a review. The frequency of the follow-up review is once a month.¡±

    Xiao Lou patiently exined. ¡°Since the healing of fractures is a very slow process, recovery mainly depends on whether a callus is formed. Therefore, the review won¡¯t be so frequent. However, Qiao Xuening said she went to the hospital for five or six checks. Her fracture healed in three months and the maximum number of reviews should be four times. Either she was confused or she didn¡¯t care about it at all.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°What else?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and stated, ¡°Bone soup.¡±

    His teammates were confused.

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°The question I asked her was actually a trap. She replied that the doctor told her to drink bone soup to promote bone healing but this isn¡¯t the case. In patients with fractures, the fractured ends will actively release calcium ions and serum calcium will increase. This will also increase the burden on your kidneys. In theory, calcium supplementation isn¡¯t required. The most critical point is that bone soup will only supplement fat, not calcium.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Liu Qiao also studied medicine but she hadn¡¯t learned this knowledge yet. She heard Xiao Lou¡¯s words and couldn¡¯t help looking at him with admiration. ¡°So Professor Xiao deliberately tricked her? You asked if her doctor told her to drink bone soup? A normal person¡¯s reaction is to drink bone soup after a fracture but a doctor wouldn¡¯t suggest this. Thus, she walked into Professor Xiao¡¯s word trap.¡±

    Long Sen touched his nose. ¡°Bone soup doesn¡¯t supplement calcium? This is the first time I¡¯ve heard of it¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°The bones do contain a lot of calcium but it is biological calcium, not free calcium. Even if you stew the bones for a whole day, they won¡¯t be separated from the bones and won¡¯t be directly absorbed by the body. Thus, drinking bone soup to replenish calcium and grow taller is a misunderstanding. Bones contain a lot of fat so drinking bone soup won¡¯t make you grow taller. You will only gain weight.¡±

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t helpining. ¡°As a child, my parents often made me drink bone soup. They said it can promote the development of bones and make me grow taller. Fortunately, I didn¡¯t drink too much. Otherwise, I might be fat now¡­¡±

    Long Senughed. ¡°I also drank bone soup as a child but my height should be gically inherited!¡±

    The team members felt helpless. If Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t mentioned it then everyone would probably think that bone soup should be stewed after a fracture. Obviously, it was the same with Qiao Xuening.

    Xiao Lou concluded, ¡°The conjecture that Group Leader Yu and I came up with is probably correct. The person who got the fracture isn¡¯t Qiao Xuening. She has never been to the hospital so her answer is full of loopholes when asked about the details.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°She should have a stand-in who looks very simr to her. The drama she is currently filming is called Twin Flowers. In fact, from the beginning, this was a clue.¡±

    Everyone heard this and suddenly realized. The Lin Yiyan case and the Liang Ting case, the thing the two cases had inmon was disguise and substitution. This was the true core of 9 of Hearts.

    Jin Xiaoyue had a younger brother. She took his ce and killed Liang Ting. If Qiao Xuening had a stand-in then her fracture recovery problem was reasonably exined and her alibi could easily be falsified. She became the most suspicious person in this case, otherwise¡­ why hide that she had a stand-in?

    6th Anniversary Event Page (Final Submission Date: 15th November)

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 271: Starlight Entertainment 32

    Yu Hanjiang returned home that night and made ns for the next investigation.

    First of all, Qiao Xuening vowed that she never looked for a stand-in and that herpany would have a record of the contract. If so, it proved that she concealed it from everyone, including her agent and other colleagues. The agent¡¯s performance today was normal. She did seem unaware.

    Then Qiao Xuening and the stand-in might have some type of private transaction. This required checking Qiao Xuening¡¯s bank ount over the years, including her cash flow. If she had a record of withdrawing arge amount of money or transferring money to someone, he could check if it matched her filming schedule, especially during the filming of her martial arts movie ¡®Sword Rain¡¯.

    Secondly, the hospital where Qiao Xuening stayed needed to be investigated. They would talk to the attending doctor about Qiao Xuening¡¯s situation and see if they could find any details about the stand-in.

    The third point was her motive tomit the crime.

    On the surface, Qiao Xuening and Lin Yiyan were good sisters. They were roommates in university and went to the library every day. They talked about everything. If there was really hatred or conflict between them, it must be at two turning points.

    First, the two of them went for an interview together. Lin Yiyan was epted and became the heroine of an online drama that became an instant hit. However, Qiao Xuening was unsessful. Did something happen at the time? Did she hold a grudge about it?

    The second turning point was when Qiao Xuening became a huge hit. She could¡¯ve gone further and consolidated her status as a movie queen in the entertainment industry. However, someone exposed her private photos and sshed dirty water on her, saying she was too poor and loved the rich. This was why she abandoned her boyfriend who was her first love. This caused her personal setting to copse. A water army drove the rhythm on Weibo and the naked photos spread all over the forums as the otakus¡¯ chatting material.

    It hit her so hard that she even wanted to kill herself out of depression.

    Later, she recovered her image and won awsuit against the scumbag. She strengthened herself and re-entered the public¡¯s vision. Everyone stopped taunting her due to sympathy for her experience.

    Due to this, she was silent for two years. For an actor, two years was really important. Was this matter rted to Lin Yiyan?

    Yu Hanjiang sorted out all the clues to the case from beginning to end.

    Zhou Yuanyuan, who was detained due to suspicion, could also continue to be questioned tomorrow.

    ***

    The next day, Yu Hanjiang returned to the police department and first questioned Zhou Yuanyuan. The disfigured woman looked indifferent and only repeated one sentence. ¡°I¡¯m not a murderer.¡±

    Her hatred of Lin Yiyan was very obvious. The posters with the face scratched over were shocking but the posters and telescope weren¡¯t direct evidence. The fruit knife found at her home didn¡¯t have any blood on them. In addition, no fingerprints or hair were found at the crime scene¡­

    She couldn¡¯t be convicted just because she hated Lin Yiyan. Yu Hanjiang continued to have her stay in the detention centre while he went to see the doctor at the hospital with Xiao Lou.

    They asked for a lot of details about Qiao Xuening¡¯s hospital stay.

    The doctor told them, ¡°Qiao Xuening? I was very impressed with her. She was in pain during the fracture recovery period. Just like a child learning how to walk, she would gasp for breath with every step. However, she had strong endurance and never shed tears. She gritted her teeth and endured it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°What is the characteristic of her voice? Can you borate on it?¡±

    The doctor said, ¡°She had a cold all the time and her voice was a bit hoarse.¡±

    A hoarse voice. It was just like when she filmed Close Your Eyes When it is Dark in the mountains. At that time, her voice was hoarse due to a cold. Was it a coincidence or deliberate?

    Then Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Was there anyone apanying her when she saw the doctor?¡±

    ¡°She was always apanied by her agent.¡±

    ¡°How was her rtionship with her agent?¡±

    The doctor smiled. ¡°She didn¡¯t speak very much. Every time she came for a check, she was always in a hurry and rushed away. Big stars are afraid of being photographed by the paparazzi. Big sunsses, scarves and hats are the standard. She covered her face very tightly. After the x-ray was taken and I told her some precautions, she left. She didn¡¯t talk to me very much.¡±

    Xiao Lou took over. ¡°How much did her fracture heal when she was discharged from the hospital? Can she dance?¡±

    The doctor called up the x-ray from herst check-up on theputer. ¡°At that time, the callus had appeared, the fracture lines were blurred and walking wasn¡¯t affected too much. She also asked me if she could dance. I told her that it is better to observe for a while and that she shouldn¡¯t do too much strenuous activity. She should do what she could to avoid seque.¡±

    ***

    The clue the doctor gave was about the cold. It was still uncertain if it was a real cold or her deliberately pretending to have a cold to conceal her voice.

    After leaving the hospital, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou went to the bank to check Qiao Xuening¡¯s ount.

    The two of them unexpectedly discovered that Qiao Xuening often withdrew cash from the bank. The amount varied in size. Converted to RMB, it was sometimes thousands and sometimes tens of thousands. In the first half of this year, she withdrew one million cash during the filming of the martial arts movie Sword Rain. In November, she withdrew 200,000.

    The two of them printed her detailed bank records in recent years as evidence.

    On the way back, Xiao Lou flipped through the bank records and couldn¡¯t help specting, ¡°In this world, you can directly swipe your ID card or WeChat QR code to pay but she withdraws a lot of cash. Will this cash be a sry for the stand-in?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s possible. If she transfers money into an ount then it will leave a record. It is easy to find the other party¡¯s ount information. However, if she takes the cash and gives it to the other person privately then it won¡¯t leave any evidence.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded in agreement. ¡°It makes sense. It is hard to exin so many cash withdrawal records. What bags or cosmetics would she be buying?¡±

    ¡°If we ask her directly then she will just say that it is pocket money. A celebrity can spend tens of thousands on a meal or a shopping trip. We can¡¯t check cash transaction records.¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°However, this cash withdrawal is too suspicious. It just happens to match with the timing of her movie and variety show.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang made a guess. ¡°Suppose she has a stand-in who looks a lot like her. She has to act in a dangerous horse riding scene in a martial arts movie. She gave the stand-in cash in private but didn¡¯t expect this person to identally fracture her leg. Therefore, she gave the other party an extra fee for treatment. The other person went to see the doctor as Qiao Xuening.¡±

    ¡°This exins why her fracture recovery rate is faster than normal and why there are loopholes in her answers to the hospitalization.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang followed the other person¡¯s thoughts. ¡°If this assumption holds true, the stand-in was the one filming Close Your Eyes When it is Dark. She isn¡¯t familiar with the other guests and the stand-in doesn¡¯t have to worry about being embarrassed when asked questions. Moreover, in this variety show, she mostly stayed in the tent alone or voted. The process was very simple.¡±

    The 17th was the day of the incident. If Yu Hanjiang¡¯s spection was correct then Qiao Xuening¡¯s alibi was false. The stand-in helped her shoot the variety show in the mountain so that many people could be her alibi. Meanwhile, she appeared at Yuehu Vi and killed Lin Yiyan.

    Xiao Lou was puzzled about something. ¡°We checked the cars under Qiao Xuening¡¯s name. On the night of the 17th, her car was driven into the mountains. The end point was near the shooting location of the variety show. Her mobile phone software showed she didn¡¯t take a taxi to Yuehu Vi. Moreover, we checked all the cars that entered and left the vi during the two days of the incident. There were no vehicles rted to Qiao Xuening¡¯s rtives or friends. How did she enter the vi area?¡±

    A living person couldn¡¯t parachute down into the vi area or dig a hole inside?

    The surveince at the door didn¡¯t capture Qiao Xuening or the woman suspected of being Qiao Xuening. In addition, they found the owners of all the vehicles that entered and left the area. These people weren¡¯t rted to Qiao Xuening. Qiao Xuening didn¡¯t own any property in the Yuehu vi area. Unlike Zhou Yuanyuan, who lived directly opposite the deceased and whose suspicion was so big that Yu Hanjiang detained her.

    How did Qiao Xuening enter the vi area?

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment before suddenly saying, ¡°Perhaps she didn¡¯t enter the vi area on the 16th and 17th but¡­ stayed in Lin Yiyan¡¯s vi and waited for an opportunity.¡±

    Xiao Lou imagined this scene and suddenly got the chills. Was it truly as Group Leader Yu guessed and the murderer had in fact been hiding in Lin Yiyan¡¯s vi all along?!

    6th Anniversary Event Page (Final Submission Date: 15th November)

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 272: Starlight Entertainment 33

    Yu Hanjiang went home that night and watched the variety show Close Your Eyes When it is Dark shot by Qiao Xuening in the early hours of the 18th. During the show, there were many close-up shots. Yu Hanjiangpared the screenshot of the face in the variety show to the erged promotional photos of Qiao Xuening on the Inte.

    The two faces were exactly the same. There was no difference at all. It was just that the person recording the variety show had a slightly hoarse voice and sounded like she had a cold.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and fell into contemtion.

    Was there really anyone who looked so simr in the world? The only possibility was identical twins who were difficult to distinguish due to the same genes. Even if people looked simr, it wouldn¡¯t be to such an extent.

    Yu Hanjiang retrieved Qiao Xuening¡¯s family information from theputer. The data showed that Qiao Xuening was an only child and had no twin sister. Her parents were ordinarypany employees.

    In an interview, Qiao Xuening mentioned that her mother was an only daughter and her father had four brothers, all of whom had sons. She was the only daughter in this generation of the Qiao family and she had been favoured by her grandparents since she was a child. If her words were true then she probably didn¡¯t have any cousins who looked alike.

    Could the information be false?

    All of the current reasoning was based on the fact that ¡®Qiao Xuening has a stand-in.¡¯ As long as the stand-in was found, everything could be solved. However, if this reasoning was wrong then they would need new ideas.

    At present, the agent Qi Ming, Zhou Yuanyuan who was disfigured and the sex friend Cheng Yu had all been investigated. Only Qiao Xuening was left with a lot of fog covering her. He intended to continue investigating Qiao Xuening.

    The next morning, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou met to discuss their next move together.

    First of all, Yu Hanjiang wanted to visit Qiao Xuening¡¯s hometown to see if she had a twin sister or rtives who looked simr enough that they could pretend to be her through makeup. Secondly, Yu Hanjiang had the information of Qiao Xuening¡¯s ex-boyfriend. This person had many rtives in his hometown. His whereabouts could be investigated as well as the reason why he released Qiao Xuening¡¯s private photos.

    In addition, Yu Hanjiang asked Shao Qingge to continue investigating the details of Lin Yiyan¡¯s audition for the online drama ¡®Young Hearts¡¯ to see if Qiao Xuening had any conflicts with Lin Yiyan at the time.

    Once the arrangements were made, Yu Hanjiang picked up Xiao Lou. He went to the household registration management office, the bank, the administration of industry andmerce and other ces to investigate the information of Qiao Xuening¡¯s ex-boyfriend.

    This person¡¯s name was Xu Kai and he grew up in the same town as Qiao Xuening. His household registration was in this town and he showed no record of moving.

    He had several properties under his name. In addition, he was the owner of an Inte cafe and two hot pot restaurants. Judging from the records of the tax bureau, his annual ie in recent years was no worse than that of celebrities.

    After her privacy was breached, Qiao Xuening described in an interview that she had grown up in a small town. Every day after graduating andpleting the university entrance examination, she would go to the Inte cafe to y games. A girl who just graduated from high school was too simple and only looked at people¡¯s faces. The small box at the front desk of the Inte cafe was six years older than her. She thought Xu Kai was tall, handsome and cool when he smoked. He would tease her and she quickly fell in love, bing a couple with Xu Kai.

    The two of them had a fairly sweet summer romance. Later, she went to the movie school and didn¡¯t abandon her boyfriend as Xu Kai said because she ¡®disliked the poor and loved the rich.¡¯ Rather, the long distance rtionship weakened her feelings and there was a peaceful breakup. Of course, this was Qiao Xuening¡¯s official statement and waspletely different from Xu Kai¡¯s version. The people eating melons didn¡¯t know who to believe at the time.

    Once Xu Kai exposed her private photos, she and her ex-boyfriendpletely lost all pretenses and went to court. In the end, Qiao Xuening sessfully sued Xu Kai for damaging her reputation and Xu Kai paid her a high amount of damages. After that Xu Kaipletely disappeared from the public eye. All of this happened four years ago.

    After this incident, Qiao Xuening temporarily withdrew from the acting world and was silent for two years.

    On the way to the bank, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou discussed the case.

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°Xu Kai was the owner of an Inte cafe. No matter how good an Inte cafe¡¯s business, can he make enough money to open so many hot pot restaurants? Back then, Qiao Xuening sued him and he lost a lot of money.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang answered, ¡°Based on the tax records from his Inte cafe, he didn¡¯t make that much ie. Yet the hot pot restaurants he opened in thest few years are veryrge. The investment must be millions. Where did thise from? It is likely that he has made some type of transaction with someone.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°Maybe there was a person behind the scenes when he exposed Qiao Xuening¡¯s private photos.¡±

    A few years ago, his first love suddenly became a big star. If she really abandoned him then it was natural for him to feel ufortable. However, it was a bit too much to breach her privacy and post his girlfriend¡¯s nude photos everywhere on the Inte. Normal people wouldn¡¯t act like this.

    There was either someone behind him who purposely wanted to ruin Qiao Xuening¡¯s reputation or the character of this ex-boyfriend was really bad.

    The two of them arrived at the bank and investigated the turnover under Xu Kai¡¯s name in the past four years. There were no records of arge amount of money being transferred.

    There was also no problem with Lin Yiyan¡¯s private bank ount or the flow of money of her studio. Yu Hanjiang checked for a long time and the agent Qi Ming¡¯s ount was also normal.

    So where did Xu Kai get the money to open the first hot pot restaurant three years ago?¡±

    Xiao Lou was puzzled. ¡°Looking at the tax records of his Inte cafe, his annual ie should be between 150,000- 200,000. He also lost thewsuit andpensated Qiao Xuening with a one-time payment of one million yuan. He should¡¯ve lost his savings. How does he have enough money to open tworge hot pot restaurants?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°There must be someone who gave him money but I can¡¯t find any clues from Lin Yiyan and Qi Ming¡¯s ounts. It is likely a cash transaction.¡±

    ¡°The start-up amount for two hot pot restaurants, the decoration costs, the store rent and the waiters¡¯ sries must be at least several millions. Lin Yiyan didn¡¯t withdraw so much from her bank ount and she wouldn¡¯t be able to save that much cash the usual way.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment before something shed in his mind. ¡°Look to see if she has any real estate transactions four years ago!¡±

    The two of them drove to the housing management bureau to investigate Lin Yiyan¡¯s real estate transfer records. There, they found a clue. Four years ago, Lin Yiyan sold a house and the property was transferred to an elderly couple.

    Yu Hanjiang immediately looked for the elderly couple to investigate and the other person said, ¡°We bought this house four years ago. Miss Lin was in a hurry to sell it. The price was rtively favourable. The transaction price was three million, including the transfer fee. However, she said that she needed cash and had us directly withdraw cash for the transaction. I bought a suitcase of money and signed a contract with her on the spot.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other.

    Four years ago, Lin Yiyan sold a house and got three million in cash. Four years ago was when Qiao Xuening was bing a big star and had a chance to win the movie queen title. Then a private scandal broke out, causing her to fall from the altar overnight. It was also the year that Qiao Xuening tearfully spoke about Xu Kai. Xu Kai lost thewsuit andpensated her with one million yuan. Yet the following year, Xu Kai obtained business licenses for tworge hotpot restaurants from the administration of industry andmerce.

    The logic chain was clear. Lin Yiyan¡¯s cash was likely in Xu Kai¡¯s hands.

    Good girlfriends who talked about everything? It seemed that this was simply a stic sisterhood.

    6th Anniversary Event Page (Final Submission Date: 15th November)

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 273: Starlight Entertainment 34

    In the morning, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were busy as they drove all over the ce. They had lunch and then drove to Qiao Xuening¡¯s hometown.

    During the four hour drive, Yu Hanjiang told Xiao Lou to sleep for a while but Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t sleepy. He reorganized the clues for the entire case in the car and recorded all the current doubts in his memo book.

    It wasn¡¯t until 5 o¡¯clock that they smoothly arrived at Qiao Xuening¡¯s hometown.

    Qiao Xuening mentioned in her interview that her hometown was famous for its picturesque snow scenery. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou came when it snowed yesterday. At first nce, the buildings were covered with snow while there were snow-capped mountains around the town. The edge couldn¡¯t be seen and it was like a beautiful scroll slowly spreading out before their eyes.

    The snow scenery here was famous. Due to the snow, the cold air seemed much fresher than in the big city. The snow on the road made it slippery. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou had to be careful when walking. They parked the car and inquired with the locals for the location of the ¡®Whale Inte Cafe¡¯.

    This Inte cafe had a history of over 10 years in the small town. It should¡¯ve been renovated and expanded in the past two years. The former small Inte cafe had been transformed into arge one that upied two floors. The French windows were spacious and bright and the snow-capped mountains in the distance could be viewed without obstruction through the windows.

    Due to the incredible view, it attracted many tourists. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou took a look around after entering and found that the second floor was almostpletely full of people. They went to the front desk of the Inte cafe and a sweet-looking girl asked, ¡°Do the two of you want to drink coffee or surf the Inte?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took out his police officer¡¯s card and showed it to her. ¡°Is your boss Xu Kai here?¡±

    The girl was startled. ¡°Boss? He rarelyes here. I haven¡¯t seen him in over a month.¡±

    ¡°Do you know where he has beentely?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Our Inte cafe is managed by Manager Zhang. He is here today. Wait a minute and I¡¯ll call him over.¡±

    The manager of the Inte cafe quickly came to the front desk. ¡°Police? What do you want with my cousin?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we aren¡¯t here to arrest him. We are just investigating something that he might have knowledge of.¡±

    The other person was obviously relieved when he heard this. ¡°He should be sleepingte at home. There was a drinking partyst night and he was drunk. He might not be awake yet.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang found Xu Kai ording to the address provided by his cousin.

    His residence was very stylish and was in the best vi area in the town. There were two luxury cars parked in front of the door. ording to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s investigation, he was still unmarried but had constant girlfriends. His private life was chaotic.

    Hearing the doorbell ringing non-stop, Xu Kai rubbed his sleepy eyes, his expression terrible. ¡°Who is it?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke calmly. ¡°Police. Mr Xu, please open the door.¡±

    Xu Kai raised an eyebrow and suspiciously came over to open the door. ¡°Why are the police looking for me? I have been drinking for the past few days¡­ could it be that someone drank to death?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked directly, ¡°Do you remember Qiao Xuening?¡±

    Xu Kai¡¯s face was slightly stiff and he opened the door for the two of them to enter the house.

    He poured a ss of water for the two of them and sat on the sofa with crossed legs. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with Qiao Xuening? Wasn¡¯t the case between me and her closed long ago? The police actually came to my door. Does she want to sue me again?¡±

    ¡°Four years ago, why did you suddenly expose her photos?¡±

    Xu Kai smiled jokingly. ¡°It is just a revenge mentality. She pretended to be ady in front of the fans and innocent during interviews. I wanted her fans to see her true face.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°Did you know that it is illegal to infringe on people¡¯s privacy when you exposed the photos?¡±

    Xu Kai shrugged indifferently. ¡°At the time, I didn¡¯t think much. When we were together, she called me husband every day and said she loved me so much she couldn¡¯t live without me. Then she went to university and saw all the rich and handsome men around her. She started to dislike me for being ignorant and from a bad background. She wanted to get rid of me and used the cheap fucking excuse that a long distance rtionship is painful.¡±

    He paused before continuing, ¡°Therefore, I posted her photos on the Inte. She dared to dump me. I didn¡¯t want her to have a good result.¡±

    ¡°You lost a lot of money in thewsuit. Have you ever regretted your impulsive actions?¡±

    Xu Kai was casual. ¡°Regret it? It is just money. I can make more money if I lose it.¡±

    This man was aplete rogue.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Did someone instruct you to do this?¡±

    Xu Kaiughed. ¡°Who would dare to instruct me. Growing up, I didn¡¯t even listen to my father¡¯s words. I just thought this woman was too hypocritical so I posted a few photos of her on the Inte for everyone to appreciate. There is no other reason.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Xu Kai put on an attitude of ¡®I am a hooligan and you can¡¯t do anything to me.¡¯ It would obviously be very difficult to pry open his mouth. Xiao Lou had a headache when he saw such a person.

    Yu Hanjiang stared coldly at him. ¡°Where did the money for the hot pot restaurante from?¡±

    ¡°I earned it myself.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang threw the tax records from the tax bureau in front of him. ¡°You opened two hot pot restaurants. The decoration fee must be no less than one million, right? However, the annual ie of your Inte cafe was only 150,000 after taxes. You could only afford to open a hot pot restaurant after saving for 10 years. In addition, you just lost awsuit and had topensate Qiao Xuening one million in damages.¡±

    Xu Kai, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The man¡¯s face gradually became difficult to look at. He apparently hadn¡¯t expected the policeman toe prepared and even have records of his Inte cafe¡¯s ie. He scratched his head and spoke in a perfunctory manner. ¡°I have other ie?¡±

    ¡°Are you saying youmitted tax evasion?¡±

    Xu Kai, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This was difficult to answer. If he said he didn¡¯t do tax evasion then his ie wouldn¡¯t allow him to afford two hot pot restaurants. If he said he had other ie, it meant he was only taxed on the ie of 150,000 yuan and hemitted tax evasion. Tax evasion would lead to jail!

    Xu Kai¡¯s face was a bit stiff. He was about to speak when Yu Hanjiang interrupted him. ¡°Don¡¯t say it is a loan from a bank. Bank loans have records. We went to the bank to check. You don¡¯t have a loan under your name.¡±

    Xu Kai muttered, ¡°I looked for a friend to borrow it¡­¡±

    ¡°If you found someone to borrow it privately then please provide an IOU, the borrower¡¯s identity and the information about the repayment. Otherwise, the source of so much money is unknown and we can ask a colleague from the Economic Investigation Division to look into your financial issues.¡±

    Xu Kai waspletely blocked and had nothing to say. His face was as dark as the bottom of a pot.

    Yu Hanjiang folded his arms and stared at this person. ¡°Lin Yiyan gave it to you.¡±

    Xu Kai¡¯s back suddenly stiffened and he refused to speak.

    Yu Hanjiang continued, ¡°Furthermore, she didn¡¯t dare leave a clear record of a bank transfer. So instead of transferring money to you, she sold a house and asked the buyer to pay her in cash. She gave you the three million in cash directly, right?¡±

    Xu Kai¡¯s mouth twitched and he spoke in a trembling voice, ¡°Officer, this¡­ Lin Yiyan took the initiative toe to me and asked me to expose Qiao Xuening¡¯s scandal. The sum of money was sorge that I would never have to worry about food and clothing in this life. I was tempted! It might be illegal but she was the mastermind! I am just an aplice¡­ What is the big deal? I will pay the money to Qiao Xuening. In any case, business for my hot pot restaurants have been getting better in the past few years and a few million isn¡¯t a big deal. Can¡¯t I just pay her all of it? It has been so long. Does she still need to report a case and ask you toe investigate me?¡±

    This person was repeatedly questioned by Yu Hanjiang and was finally caught.

    Yu Hanjiang had his own methods to deal with this type of hooligan. The man had no principles if he posted private photos of his ex-girlfriend for money. He could see Qiao Xuening for money so he could naturally sell Lin Yiyan, his employer, for self-protection.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly, ¡°It wasn¡¯t Qiao Xuening who asked us to check you.¡±

    Xu Kai was startled. ¡°Then¡­ four years ago, the court already made a ruling. I lost money and apologized publicly. Whye to me now?¡¯

    ¡°Lin Yiyan was killed.¡±

    Xu Kai was stunned. He realized the meaning of this sentence and he paled. His hands clenched and he trembled. ¡°You, do you suspect that Qiao Xuening killed her in order to get revenge?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°It is possible. So you better cooperate with us and tell us the truth.¡±

    This scumbag was afraid and nodded frantically. ¡°I must say it! Qiao Xuening hasn¡¯t contacted me. She deleted my contact information a long time ago and I changed my mobile number in the past few years. I thought all the things that happened back then were over. Didn¡¯t she make aeback and is doing well?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Does Qiao Xuening have a twin sister or someone who looks like her?¡±

    Xu Kai shook his head. ¡°No, she is an only child. Their family lives not far from my home. I often saw her ying alone in the square as a child. I¡¯ve never heard of her having sisters.¡±

    ¡°Does she like ice?¡±

    Xu Kai was stunned by this question and spoke after a moment of silence, ¡°Ice? She is most afraid of ice. She was born with a cold body. Even if the heating is on in winter, she must turn on an electric nket in advance when sleeping. She needs to go to sleep in a warm bed or she can¡¯t sleep. It often snows here. Others will y outside in the snow but she doesn¡¯t dare touch the snow. She always walks with her hands stuffed in her pocket.¡±

    Xiao Lou heard this and couldn¡¯t help being curious. What did the ice cubes in Lin Yiyan¡¯s bathtub mean? Was it rted to being afraid of the cold?

    Next, Yu Hanjiang asked a lot about Qiao Xuening including her habits and hobbies. However, Xu Kai was in a rtionship with her over 10 years ago. She had just graduated from high school and was a lot different.

    Xu Kai¡¯s knowledge of her was limited and he could only provide so many clues.

    Yu Hanjiang warned him, ¡°If Qiao Xuening is really Lin Yiyan¡¯s murderer then you will also be in danger. Be careful of her revenge. She is filming these days but the show will soon be over. You can try to bring someone to apany you when going out. In addition, don¡¯t be at home alone.¡±

    A chill went down Xu Kai¡¯s spine and he got goosebumps. ¡°I-I know. I will be careful!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou left Xu Kai¡¯s house. Then they visited Qiao Xuening¡¯s school and the neighborhood where she lived as a child. The neighbours and school teachers said that Qiao Xuening had no twin sisters and they had never seen a girl who looked like her.

    She grew up here. Her parents couldn¡¯t have had two daughters and hid one of them. In addition, the hospital in the town had her mother¡¯s birth record. If another daughter was born then it was impossible for the doctor to miss it, right?

    Therefore, the doubt about Qiao Xuening having a twin sister could bepletely ruled out. Where did the person who looked like here from?

    This town was a four hours drive from Binzhou. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou checked the clues until 9 o¡¯clock at night. They went to the hot pot restaurant opened by Xu Kai for a meal and found their business was indeed good. It was sote yet the seats were full.

    The two of them decided to stay here for one night.

    Yu Hanjiang booked a room at a local hotel. After dinner, he and Xiao Lou returned to the hotel together. They had a shower and started to discuss what they gained today. Yu Hanjiang spoke first. ¡°The biggest problem right now is to find the stand-in.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°If it isn¡¯t twins then how can there be such a person?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it carefully before replying, ¡°stic surgery.¡±

    Xiao Lou was slightly startled before reacting. ¡°Yes, current stic surgery technology is so advanced. It can indeed make you look simr to another person¡¯s face.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Qiao Xuening is 168 cm tall and she weighs 50 kg. This is rtively well-bnced and it isn¡¯t difficult to find a girl who is the same height and weight as her. As long as the other person has a familiar face shape, she can ask this person to perform stic surgery based on Qiao Xuening¡¯s features. After makeup is worn, the person who had surgery will be ¡®manufactured¡¯ to look exactly like Qiao Xuening.¡±

    Xiao Lou got the chills when he heard this. ¡°It was said that Qiao Xuening was hit hard and was depressed for two years. In fact, she wasn¡¯t depressed, almostmitted suicide and hid in her home to adjust her mood. She was actually¡­ creating a stand-in for her own use?¡±

    ¡°It is possible. In those two years, she disappeared from public view and terminated her contract with her previous agent. She didn¡¯t even want to see her parents. Perhaps she knew it was Lin Yiyan who instructed her ex-boyfriend to expose her photos, causing her nude photos to be spread all over the Inte and privately collected by countless people. She had a grudge and wanted to kill Lin Yiyan.¡±

    Xiao Lou continued the topic. ¡°However, she was worried that she would be convicted of murder. She thought about it and decided to secretly create a stand-in. When necessary, she can use her stand-in as an alibi so she can remain innocent and the police¡¯s investigation will reach a deadlock.¡±

    ¡°The perpetrator of Lin Yiyan¡¯s case is very clever. After freezing Lin Yiyan in the bathtub, they used Lin Yiyan¡¯s phone to send WeChat messages to rtives and friends, confusing Lin Yiyan¡¯s time of death. If it wasn¡¯t for the neighbour¡¯s cat suddenly entering through the window and bing bloody, perhaps her next n would be to log into Lin Yiyan¡¯s Weibo ount and announce her withdrawal from the entertainment industry.¡±

    The more Xiao Lou thought about it, the more terrible it became.

    She silently killed Lin Yiyan and then forged Lin Yiyan¡¯s messages to make Lin Yiyan disappearpletely from the entertainment world. After a while, she woulde back to deal with the corpse and no one would be able to find Lin Yiyan. Letting a personpletely disappear from the world while ensuring she was free of suspicion. This meticulous scheming was truly frightening.

    The two of them were deep in discussion when Yu Hanjiang¡¯s phone rang. The nervous voice of the police intern Xiao Wu was heard. ¡°Group Leader Yu, it isn¡¯t good! A murder has urred in the vi area of Bingxue Town. A man named Xu Kai was killed! It is said that his cousin went to look for him tonight and found Xu Kai dead in the bathtub. He called the police and the local police officers have already gone to the scene¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression changed. He immediately put on his coat and went with Xiao Lou to the scene. As he strode out, he called Qu Wanyue. ¡°Teacher Qu, where is Qiao Xuening?¡±

    ¡°She just finished dancing with me and went back to the hotel to sleep.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged looks.

    Qiao Xuening was still filming in the crew and Qu Wanyue was always staring at her. At night, Shao Qingge arranged for Liu Qiao to live in the room above hers to pay attention to her movements. She couldn¡¯t run for four hours to kill Xu Kai in a small town.

    Xu Kai was suddenly killed. Who was the killer? Was it Qiao Xuening or her stand-in? Was the person in the crew really Qiao Xuening?

    6th Anniversary Event Page (Final Submission Date: 15th November)

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 274: Starlight Entertainment 35

    At 10:30 p.m., Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou arrived at the scene of the crime.

    The local police had sent people to cordon off the scene and they let Yu Hanjiang enter after he showed them his police officer¡¯s card.

    This town belonged to a subordinate unit of Binzhou City. The police at the scene heard that the leader of the Binzhou criminal police team actually came here in person and everyone was shocked. Unexpectedly, the case in this small town had rmed the top boss.

    Li Xinyang, the young officer in charge of investigating the case immediately greeted him and spoke respectfully, ¡°Group Leader Yu, why did youe to the scene in person?¡± He nced at Xiao Lou and Xiao Lou reached out a hand with a smile. ¡°Hello, Group Leader Li. I am Xiao Lou from the Binzhou forensic appraisal centre.¡±

    The other person was polite. ¡°It turned out to be Professor Xiao. Are you with Group Leader Yu?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang briefly exined, ¡°We happened toe here to investigate a case today. The deceased Xu Kai was rted to a murder case that we are investigating. Xiao Li, you can sort out the details of the deceased and hand over the case to me.¡±

    Li Xinyang nodded. ¡°Yes, Group Leader Yu. You can go to the scene first to see¡­ it is a bit weird.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou followed Li Xinyang upstairs.

    After entering the scene of the crime, they realized that Xu Kai¡¯s death was almost exactly the same as Lin Yiyan¡¯s death. It was just that Xu Kai was probably murdered when he was ready to take a shower because he didn¡¯t have any clothes on.

    He was lying in the bathtub, eyes wide with horror and his entire body covered with cuts. There were also ice cubes around him. However, Xu Kai¡¯s house had the heater turned on so the ice cubes had partially melted.

    The water from the ice cubes mixed with the blood on the body of the deceased and the water in the bathtub had turned blood red. Xu Kaiy in this pool of blood, dead. The scene was really shocking.

    Li Xinyang said, ¡°We just arrived at the scene. It was reported by Xu Kai¡¯s cousin, Zhang Xiaoyu.

    He turned his gaze to the side and pointed out Zhang Xiaoyu to Yu Hanjiang.

    This Zhang Xiaoyu was the manager of the Whale Inte Cafe. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou had just met him this afternoon. At this moment, he was holding his head and sitting on the bed while trembling. Yu Hanjiang sent a look to Xiao Lou and whispered in Xiao Lou¡¯s ear, ¡°You should do the autopsy first. I¡¯ll go question him to find out the situation.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. He put on gloves and leaned over to examine the body.

    In the bloody bathtub, the body was a bit puffy from soaking in the water. The murderer was still very meticulous aftermitting the crime. The blood on the surrounding walls were wiped clean and there were no traces of the blood sshing. All the blood flowed into the bathtub.

    Xiao Lou pulled out the plug of the bathtub and drained most of the blood, so that the body was exposed. Then he started to check it over carefully.

    Next to him, the forensic doctor of the small town consciously handed him the tools. Some young interns had probably never seen such a disgusting scene. They ran downstairs to vomit and Li Xinyang gave them a fierce look.

    Xiao Lou ordered, ¡°Give me a pair of tweezers.¡±

    The forensic doctor next to him served as his assistant and immediately handed over clean tweezers.

    Xiao Lou took a long hair from the bathtub and ced it in a sterile, airtight bag for preservation. He couldn¡¯t judge if this long hair was left by the murderer but the evidence found at the scene must always be brought back for careful examination.

    The deceased was naked and no other hair was found.

    The murder method was simr to Lin Yiyan¡¯s case. The fatal wound was the stab to the heart but the wound wasn¡¯t the same as Lin Yiyan¡¯s one. Xiao Lou lifted the deceased¡¯s body and looked at his back.

    The deceased¡¯s fatal wound was a stab to the heart but while Lin Yiyan¡¯s wound was pierced from the front, Xu Kai¡¯s wound was from the back. Therefore, the injury appeared wide on the back and narrower in front. It looked like a sharp knife had directly pierced Xu Kai¡¯s chest.

    Xiao Lou conducted a careful examination of the corpse while Yu Hanjiang approached Zhang Xiaoyu. He asked, ¡°What time did youe to your cousin¡¯s house and find his body?¡±

    Zhang Xiaoyu trembled as he replied. ¡°It was 10 o¡¯clock in the evening.¡±

    ¡°Did you contact your cousin this afternoon?¡±

    Zhang Xiaoyu nodded. ¡°I called him at around 6 o¡¯clock in the evening but he didn¡¯t pick up. I thought he went to the KTV again with his friends so I didn¡¯t care about him.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took Xu Kai¡¯s phone from the table next to the bathtub. ¡°Do you know the password?¡±

    Zhang Xiaoyu took it and unlocked it. Sure enough, there was a missed call at 6 o¡¯clock. It seemed that Xu Kai was already dead at the time.

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°You called him in the afternoon but he didn¡¯t answer. Why did you suddenlye to find him at 10 o¡¯clock at night?¡±

    ¡°I wanted to borrow some money from him¡­ my finances have been tight recently. He didn¡¯t answer his phone so I thought I woulde to his house and try my luck.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was deep. ¡°He was dead at the time. How did you get inside?¡±

    Zhang Xiaoyu hurriedly exined, ¡°I have the keys to his house because he sometimes goes on trips to discuss business. There is no one to take care of the fish and flowers at home. I live nearby so he gave me a key and asked me to take care of them for him.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded before continuing, ¡°Did you see any suspicious person or vehicle in themunity when you entered?¡±

    Zhang Xiaoyu thought about it and shook his head. ¡°No, I-I walked with my head down and didn¡¯t pay attention.¡±

    The cousin was afraid to look into Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes when answering the questions. His expression was flustered and his eyes dodged from side to side. He obviously had a guilty conscience. He must be concealing something but Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t think he was directly rted to Xu Kai¡¯s murder.

    After questioning Zhang Xiaoyu, Yu Hanjiang returned to Xiao Lou¡¯s side and whispered, ¡°What are the results?¡±

    Xiao Lou answered, ¡°The fatal injury is still a stab to the heart. A long knife directly pierced his heart. Judging from the wound marks, the murder weapon should be the same long knife that killed Lin Yiyan. The other knife marks on his body look like they were left after death.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°In other words, the murderer killed him and cut his body again?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, it is the same as the Lin Yiyan case.¡±

    He raised the head of the corpse, carefully checking the pupils and livor mortis. ¡°In terms of livor mortis, the time of death should be around six hours.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at the wall clock in the bedroom.

    The current time was 10:35 and the time of death was around six hours. In other words, Xu Kai¡¯s death time should be around 4:30 in the afternoon. The time when Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou left Xu Kai¡¯s house was exactly 4:30.

    The two of them noticed this and felt a chill. In other words, the moment they left the house, Xu Kai was brutally killed inside the bathroom by the murderer.

    Yu Hanjiang took a deep breath and lowered his voice as he spoke into Xiao Lou¡¯s ear. ¡°It is very likely that the murderer had already sneaked into Xu Kai¡¯s house and was ready to kill him when we interrogated him. It was just that the murderer was hiding in a corner where we couldn¡¯t see them.¡±

    Xu Kai¡¯s luxury vi was veryrge with a basement, living room, dining room and garden on the first floor. The second floor had the master bedroom and study, the third floor had several guest bedrooms and the fourth floor was the rooftop.

    It really wasn¡¯t easy to find a person hiding in such arge vi without a careful search.

    During the time when Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou came to investigate him, the main suspect Qiao Xuening was filming with the crew in Binzhou City. Qu Wanyue and their other teammates were watching her. Neither of them expected that the murderer woulde tomit a crime in advance. Therefore, they didn¡¯t conduct a detailed search of Xu Kai¡¯s residence.

    Moreover, the search of a resident¡¯s house required a ¡®search warrant¡¯ approved by their superiors. For example, Zhou Yuanyuan had a very strong motive formitting the crime and they could search her vi after just locking onto her as a suspect.

    Xu Kai was just someone with information in Lin Yiyan¡¯s case and not a suspect. The search warrant couldn¡¯t be easily issued. Even the police couldn¡¯t search people¡¯s homes so casually. As a result, the two of them likely missed the killer. If the murderer had been hiding in Xu Kai¡¯s house then they might¡¯ve heard Yu Hanjiang questioning Xu Kai.

    They remembered that when they came to Xu Kai¡¯s house, Xu Kai had just woken up. He should¡¯ve been woken by Yu Hanjiang¡¯s continuous ringing of the doorbell. He had walked directly from the bedroom to the living room with sleepy eyes and messed up hair. There was obvious stubble on his face and he shouldn¡¯t have washed.

    It made sense to think that the first thing Xu Kai did after Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou left was to take a shower.

    His cousin Zhang Xiaoyu said that he got drunkst night. It was normal for people with hangovers to take a shower to sober up. After Xu Kai entered the bathroom, he took off his robe and prepared to take a shower. Unexpectedly, the murderer who had been hiding in the vi suddenly took out a long knife and stabbed him in the heart!

    Xiao Lou pointed to the corpse. ¡°The difference from Lin Yiyan¡¯s case is that this time, Xu Kai¡¯s heart was pierced from behind. The murderer attacked him from behind and killed him with one blow.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Indeed. The murderer is likely to be a woman. If she fights head on with a tall and muscr man like Xu Kai then she might not be able to gain an advantage. At that time, Xu Kai had just taken off his clothes and was about to take a shower. He should be more rxed and it would be difficult to guard against an attack from behind.¡±

    After all, no one would think there was a person hiding in their bathroom!

    No wonder why Xu Kai¡¯s eyes were so wide that the eyeballs almost fell out. Obviously, he was just about to step into the shower when he was stabbed from behind. He must¡¯ve been shocked by the sharp point of the knife that pierced his chest.

    Li Xinyang carefully listened to the conversation between the two people and his face showed he waspletely at a loss.

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly looked at him. ¡°Do you have luminol?¡±

    Lin Xinyang immediately said, ¡°We brought it. Xiao Qi, go and get it for Group Leader Yu.¡±

    A young police officer grabbed the luminol and handed it to Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang used it to carefully inspect the scene. The murderer might¡¯ve cleaned up the blood stains but luminol could show them.

    Even if the blood stains were wiped clean by the murderer, the hemoglobin would still remain. The moment the ¡®luminol reagent¡¯ was sprayed on the hemoglobin, it would oxidize with the reactive oxygen and release blue-purple fluorescence.

    Yu Hanjiang sprayed a circle in the bathroom and soon, a lot of blue-violet fluorescent traces were revealed on the walls and the ground.

    Xiao Lou looked at the brightest area and walked over, making gestures while talking. ¡°Xu Kai was here when he was stabbed by the murderer and blood sprayed on the wall. Xu Kai struggled for a moment but soon died. Then the murderer moved his body into the bathtub, surrounded him with ice cubes and cut his body.

    Everyone understood Xiao Lou¡¯s gestures. It was also consistent with the remaining blood on the scene.

    Li Xinyang got goosebumps. ¡°This¡­ What type of hatred is this? It isn¡¯t enough to kill him. They have to freeze the body with ice and cut the body?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied lightly, ¡°The psychology of the murderer in this case has been distorted. Moreover, they are smart and can lurk in the target¡¯s house in advance to unexpectedly kill the target. My guess is that they have learned a lock-picking skill or else it would be difficult to exin how the murderer got into both Lin Yiyan and Xu Kai¡¯s houses.¡±

    Mysteriously sneaking into the target¡¯s home and then stabbing them to death in the bathroom¡­

    This murderer simply didn¡¯t lose to professional killers!

    6th Anniversary Event Page (Final Submission Date: 15th November)

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 275: Starlight Entertainment 36

    After the preliminary autopsy, Xiao Lou came to the following conclusions:

    First, the time of the murder was determined to be around 4:30 in the afternoon. The crime wasmitted immediately after they left. It was probably because the murderer was afraid of being caught by the police. She must¡¯ve run away aftermitting the crime. How did she escape? At present, they still needed to find themunity property management and check the vehicle ess monitoring.

    Secondly, the murderer had a soft spot for ice. She covered the body with ice which seemed to have a strange meaning, much like a ¡®curse¡¯. She killed both Lin Yiyan and Xu Kai and froze the corpses after killing them before venting her anger with the cut marks. Currently, the person with the greatest motivation and suspicion was Qiao Xuening.

    However, which one was the real Qiao Xuening?

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou nced at each other, a bit confused in their hearts. Yu Hanjiang spoke solemnly, ¡°I will do a search of the entire vi. I don¡¯t believe that she has left no clues.¡±

    The two men took the town¡¯s police officers and searched from the basement to the rooftop on the top floor. All the fingerprints, hair and a plum blossom shaped earring found on the top floor were sealed by Xiao Lou in a sterile bag and brought back.

    That night, Xiao Lou temporarily borrowed the town¡¯s forensic appraisal centre to check the evidence collected while Yu Hanjiang went to the property management to check the monitoring in detail.

    The two men were busy separately and didn¡¯t meet at the police station until 3 o¡¯clock in the morning. Xiao Lou pulled out all the identification results for Yu Hanjiang to see. ¡°The long hair found in the bathtub belongs to a girl called Lin Dandan.¡±

    Li Xinyang hurriedly said, ¡°I know this Lin Dandan. She is one of the wine girls working at our town¡¯s KTV. She looks very beautiful and has long hair. Xu Kai seems to have been dating her for a while.¡±

    Then Xiao Lou asked, ¡°What about Liu Qi and Yue Qingqing?¡±

    Li Xinyang froze for a moment before replying, ¡°They are all Xu Kai¡¯s girlfriends.¡±

    He smiled bitterly and rubbed his temples. Then he gave a detailed introduction to Xu Kai¡¯s love history in recent years.

    ording to Li Xinyang, Xu Kai was still unmarried. He was over 30 years old and handsome. He was also the big boss of an Inte cafe and two hot pot restaurants. He was especially rich and had be the ¡®local bully.¡¯

    Xu Kai was single and the number of girls chasing him was enough to form a long line. He basically changed girlfriends in the first half of the year and would give the girls a lot of money when he broke up with them. Therefore, his private life might be chaotic but there should be no girlfriends who wanted to kill him because he broke up with her.

    Li Xinyang said, ¡°Xu Kai¡¯s reputation isn¡¯t good but he is generous when dealing with his lovers. Many people know that he will give a lot of money when breaking up with his girlfriend. The girl will take his money and leave happily. Professor Xiao, the three girls you mentioned are all girlfriends he has been with in thest year.¡±

    Xiao Lou murmured, ¡°It seems I guessed right. The hair and fingerprints found in the basement, kitchen and bathtub are all left by Xu Kai¡¯s girlfriend. The earring should also belong to one of them. Obviously, he lets his girlfriends stay over often.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly. ¡°These people didn¡¯t kill him.¡±

    Li Xinyang wondered, ¡°Group Leader Yu, how can you determine this?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°He is rted to a murder we¡¯re investigating. The ice at the scene of the crime and the killing method are exactly the same. It is even the same murder weapon. This must be a serial homicidemitted by the same murderer. The women in your town who have been with him aren¡¯t too suspicious. Tomorrow, call them over for interrogation. If they can provide an alibi then let them go.¡±

    Li Xinyang sighed with relief. ¡°Okay.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°In addition, check the details of his cousin Zhang Xiaoyu. He is acting very guilty and should be hiding something from us.¡±

    Li Xinyang nodded. ¡°I understand.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang patted the young police officer on the shoulder. ¡°You worked hard. Go back first. It is dawn.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou left the police station and drove back to the hotel together.

    They returned to the room at 4 a.m. Yu Hanjiang pinched between his eyebrows and told Xiao Lou, ¡°I watched all the surveince videos of themunity. After the incident urred at 4:30, there were 30 vehicles entering and exiting themunity up to 10:00 p.m. I have recorded all their license te numbers. In addition, no suspicious person simr to Qiao Xuening was found.¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°Get some sleep. We will go to the traffic police tomorrow.¡±

    The two people slept separately and only got a few hours of sleep before getting up.

    The next morning at 7 o¡¯clock, Yu Hanjiang first called Qu Wanyue and told her, ¡°You must keep an eye on Qiao Xuening. Don¡¯t let her run away. Once Xiao Lou and Ie back, we can figure out her details.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I will find an excuse to teach her dance moves and stay with her all day to watch her.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang hung up and came to the traffic police department to check the information of the cars with Xiao Lou. None of the vehicles leaving the vi area after 4:30 yesterday afternoon were suspicious. All the car owners were residents of this small town and Li Xinyang checked their information in turn. Some went to the supermarket to buy groceries and others went to eat with their family¡­

    All the cars had other passengers who could prove the car¡¯s whereabouts. None of them were driven by one person.

    Yu Hanjiang touched his chin thoughtfully. ¡°She didn¡¯t drive away? It seems that she is very cautious. She is afraid that we will find her true information by checking the license te number. It is very likely that she left the vi area on foot.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°In Lin Yiyan¡¯s case, she drove Lin Yiyan¡¯s car away and her own vehicle couldn¡¯t be found. This time, she didn¡¯t drive. If she left on foot, there is only one exit in themunity. A photo should¡¯ve been taken of her, right?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang answered, ¡°However, none of the pedestrians who entered or left themunity yesterday looked like Qiao Xuening.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought carefully. ¡°Did she go over the wall?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°It is possible. The walls of the vi area might be rtively high but if she can climb trees, there are many ces where she can go over the wall. I have asked the property to provide me with monitoring of all locations around themunity. I will continue to check it today.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou went to the police station together.

    Li Xinyang had invited Xu Kai¡¯s girlfriends over early in the morning.

    All three of them had alibis. One sang with others at the KTV, one permed her hair in the hair salon yesterday afternoon and the remaining one had an appointment with three girlfriends to go shopping. All their statements were confirmed by others.

    The earring belonged to one of his girlfriends. Why was it left on the top level balcony? The other person exined in an embarrassed manner that Xu Kai had some special hobbies. Li Xinyang didn¡¯t ask any further.

    He simply took their transcripts and let the three of them go.

    As for Zhang Xiaoyu, he told them everything after being brought to the interrogation room. It turned out that he went to find his cousinst night because he participated in gambling and lost hundreds of thousands of yuan. He was afraid his wife would divorce him if she knew. He looked for his cousin for ¡®emergency money.¡¯ He didn¡¯t expect to see his cousin¡¯s body when he opened the door. He was so scared that he called the police.

    Li Xinyang handed the transcripts to Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou when they arrived.

    Yu Hanjiang took a closer look. It was as he expected. They didn¡¯t find anything from the three girlfriends and the cousin Zhang Xiaoyu but he wasn¡¯t disappointed. After all, Xu Kai¡¯s case and Lin Yiyan¡¯s case were serial homicides and the murderer was the same. The hair and jewelry of the girlfriends found in the vi couldn¡¯t help the progress of the case.

    Xiao Lou was regretful. ¡°The hair and fingerprints were found are all interference items.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly. ¡°The murderer hasmitted two crimes in a row and she learned from experience. She might be covered tightly all over and wore gloves so her fingerprints and DNA can¡¯t be checked. Her ice cubes should also be made on the spot.¡±

    The killer sneaked into Xu Kai¡¯s house early and made a lot of ice cubes in the freezer while Xu Kai was sleeping. Then she killed Xu Kai, buried the body in ice cubes and took away the containers from the freezer.

    In this way, the ice cubes in Lin Yiyan¡¯s case could be exined. The murderer lurked in Lin Yiyan¡¯s house in advance and made a lot of ice cubes using the freezer. After killing Lin Yiyan, she took away the containers used to make the ice, making the police question the source of the ice.

    Otherwise, the murderer carrying so much ice would be easy to arouse the suspicion of passersby. It would also be hard to move. Making ice on-site with water was the quickest way.

    Yu Hanjiang suggested, ¡°Let¡¯s look at the monitoring of themunity first.¡±

    Li Xinyang took the initiative to help. He called his colleagues and opened the surveince videos of the entire vi area provided by the property management. Each colleague was responsible for checking an area in detail.

    Everyone was busy all day¡­

    However, they didn¡¯t find anyone climbing the wall of themunity.

    Li Xinyang was puzzled. ¡°The murderer didn¡¯t drive away or climb over the wall. Can the murderer fly or dig holes?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang thoughtfully. ¡°It is the same with Lin Yiyan¡¯s case. We checked the surveince from start to finish. No suspicious vehicles or people entered. Did she fly or enter themunity from the ground?¡±

    In Lin Yiyan¡¯s case, the murderer drove Lin Yiyan¡¯s car when she left. This was clear. Then how did she get in? Since Lin Yiyan rarely returned to the Yuehu vi area, the murderer could¡¯ve sneaked in a month ago and it would be hard to find on the surveince.

    However, Xu Kai¡¯s case was different.

    Xu Kai went home every day. The murderer couldn¡¯t hide in his house for too long. At most, the murderer sneaked into the vi in advance when he went out drinkingst night. She took the opportunity to kill Xu Kai and left. It was no more than 23 hours and it was convenient for them to check the monitoring.

    Yet the monitoring couldn¡¯t find the murderer going in and out of themunity. How did the murderer enter the vi area where Xu Kai lived? How did she leave? Could the murderer really fly? This wasn¡¯t a martial arts script. The murderer couldn¡¯t easily fly out.

    Xiao Lou was baffled when he heard Yu Hanjiang say, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that we were caught in a thinking error from the start.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at him in a puzzled manner. ¡°Group Leader Yu, what do you mean?¡±

    ¡°The murderer didn¡¯t go over the wall. She walked in and out openly.¡±

    Xiao Lou was surprised. ¡°Since she walked out openly, why wasn¡¯t she caught by the surveince?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stared at Xiao Lou and lowered his voice, ¡°¡­If someone can use stic surgery to pretend to be Qiao Xuening then Qiao Xuening might pretend to be someone else on the monitoring. It should be her but unfortunately¡­ we didn¡¯t know it.¡±

    Qiao Xuening couldn¡¯t be found in the monitoring.

    It was probably because she changed her appearance.

    6th Anniversary Event Page (Final Submission Date: 15th November)

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 276: Starlight Entertainment 37

    In this case, they had locked onto the most suspicious suspect. She had a deep hatred for Lin Yiyan and Xu Kai and there were a lot of doubts in her testimony. Qiao Xuening was the only possible person left.

    The keyy in her modus operandi. How did she escape the surveince of themunity?

    None of the surveince cameras in themunity captured Qiao Xuening¡¯s figure. It was a secret room with a modern urban background. The murderer couldn¡¯t fly away. The only way she could be missed by surveince was if she changed her face.

    Xiao Lou heard Yu Hanjiang¡¯s spection and seriously analyzed it. ¡°If she changed her facepletely then she wouldn¡¯t need to find a stand-in who is exactly the same as herself for an alibi. Besides, she would have to give up the career she struggled so hard for in the entertainment industry. She wouldn¡¯t be able to film as Qiao Xuening or even use her bank card.¡±

    Withdrawing arge amount of cash from a bank required an ID card and going to the bank counter to have their identity checked before the money could be withdrawn. Last month, Qiao Xuening had gone to the bank to withdraw arge amount of cash. This record could be found in her ount.

    If she took out the money herself then it meant she didn¡¯t have stic surgery at the time. Otherwise, the bank teller wouldn¡¯t be able to withdraw huge sums for her.

    It shouldn¡¯t be the stand-in withdrawing money because Qiao Xuening shouldn¡¯t have handed over all her bank ounts to the stand-in to manage. If this was the case, the stand-in could truly rece her at any time.

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°I think the person who went to the bank to withdraw moneyst month should be Qiao Xuening herself. She arranged for her stand-in to get stic surgery¡­ is it necessary to change her appearance and give up on the entertainment industry just to kill Xu Kai?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought carefully. ¡°Your words make sense. There is another way to get the best of both worlds. She doesn¡¯t need to do surgery topletely change her face. She can temporarily change her face and pretend to be someone else.¡±

    ¡°You mean, disguise herself like Jin Xiaoyue?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°A clever makeup technique can make the face seen on surveince lookpletely different. In winter, many people wear down jackets so it will be hard to distinguish her true figure. We will have to look at the surveince carefully one more time, investigating every person one by one. Group Leader Li, can you please call the security guards in themunity over to recognize people?¡±

    Li Xinyang was confused by the words but he was very cooperative in seeking the help of themunity¡¯s security guards. There was no surveince camera at the entrance to Xu Kai¡¯s vi but there was surveince at the intersection leading to the vi.

    The murderer must¡¯ve hid in the vi after Xu Kai went out and left the vi after killing him. Not a single second of the surveince could be spared from the night Xu Kai went out drinking to when he was killed at 4:30 yesterday and the police arrived at 10:30.

    Xu Kai¡¯s vi faced the south and there were two roads passing the entrance of the vi area. One was to the west and led to the west gate of themunity. The other was the main road, the widest one in themunity.

    Yu Hanjiang put the monitoring of these two intersections on differentputers and observed them.

    The security guard of themunity stood behind him and checked every pedestrian passing by. From time to time, his voice was heard. ¡°Thisdy with a child is a resident of Area C 101. I know this old man. Aunt Zhang¡­ the person carrying the briefcase seems to be Mr Li¡­¡±

    There were few residents in the vi area and the owners were rich. The security guard knew more than 90% of the people. Yu Hanjiang asked the security guard to eliminate the suspicion of the pedestrians in the surveince one by one.

    The video yed until 7 o¡¯clock in the evening when a cleaner in an orange down jacket appeared on the screen. She held a broom in her hand and lowered her head as she walked into the vi area, cleaning the snow along the road. The surveince happened to capture her slowly sweeping the snow and she soon disappeared at the end of the road.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. He immediately rewound a few seconds before pressing the pause button to freeze the image on the cleaner¡¯s back. ¡°Call up the surveince from the other side of the road. See where this cleaner went from 7 o¡¯clock in the evening.¡±

    Li Xinyang hurriedly called up the surveince on the other side of the road on anotherputer. However¡­

    30 minutes passed and the cleaner still didn¡¯t pass by. At 7:30, Xu Kai¡¯s car drove out of the vi area. This was consistent with his cousin¡¯s testimony. He went to the entertainment clubhouse to have a drink with people at around 7:30. In other words, the cleaner was near the vi and saw Xu Kai leave.

    Xiao Lou felt creeped out as he thought of a pair of eyes staring at Xu Kai¡¯s car.

    The cleaner wore a fat down jacket, cotton pants and shoes. She looked slightly bloated and like a middle-aged aunt from the back. This was the key reason why Yu Hanjiang ignored her during the first round of investigation.

    Yu Hanjiang asked with a calm expression, ¡°Do you know her?¡±

    The security guard replied, ¡°Ourmunity has many cleaners and I can¡¯t tell from the back.¡±

    She went to sweep the snow on this road but didn¡¯te out of the intersection. Where else could she go?

    Li Xinyang had goosebumps. ¡°It seems the murderer pretended to be the cleaner and sneaked into the deceased¡¯s vi? She was wearing such a fat down jacket. It is likely that the murder weapon is hidden in the clothes¡­ as well as the ice cube tool?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Check the surveince after 4:30 yesterday afternoon. I¡¯ll see how she left.¡±

    Li Xinyang adjusted the surveince to 4:30 yesterday afternoon. It was the period of time when Xu Kai died. The group stared at the intersection. They watched until the police arrived after 10 in the evening but there was no sign of the cleaner aunt.

    The police had carried out a thorough search of the entire vi and the murderer definitely wasn¡¯t in the vi. Did she escape in a different way?

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Rewind to around 5:30 in the afternoon.¡±

    Li Xinyang did as he said and the video resumed at 5:30. Yu Hanjiang stared at the screen with a serious face. He had noticed a detail when he watched the video just now and it needed to be checked again. From 5:30 to 7:30 was the peak time for getting off work and there were several pedestrians on the road.

    Before long, at around 5:40, everyone noticed a man around 1.8 meters tall, wearing a ck down jacket, a hat and a scarf walking over with a briefcase in his hand. He was in a hurry like he had just left work.

    The camera captured his profile. He wore a mask and a pair of silver-rimmed sses. His sharp eyebrows and pair of narrow eyes made him give off an aura like that of an elitepany executive. The road where Xu Kai¡¯s house was located could lead to another vi area. If someone entered themunity from the west gate after getting off work, it made sense to take this road home.

    Yu Hanjiang asked the security guard, ¡°Do you know him?¡±

    The security guard looked closely. ¡°I¡¯m not familiar with him. I don¡¯t seem to have seen him before.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang ordered, ¡°Get the video at the west gate of themunity and y it around 5:30 in the afternoon.¡±

    Li Xinyang quickly found the video of the west gate camera. Yu Hanjiang stared sharply at the screen and everyone held their breaths. However, after 15 minutes, no man wearing a ck down jacket appeared.

    The west gate was connected to the road in front of Xu Kai¡¯s vi. Yu Hanjiang paused the video and stared at the person on the screen. ¡°The surveince at the west gate didn¡¯t capture his image but he suddenly appeared on this road. Obviously, he didn¡¯te in through the west gate but out of themunity. He also wasn¡¯t found at any other intersections near Xu Kai¡¯s vi.¡±

    Li Xinyang¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°In other words, this is the murderer who escaped from Xu Kai¡¯s house?!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°That is the only exnation.¡±

    Xiao Lou analyzed it seriously. ¡°It seems she first pretended to be a cleaner and wore a fat down jacket. After sneaking into Xu Kai¡¯s house, she poured tap water into the ice making container she carried to make a lot of ice cubes. Then she hid in the vi and waited for Xu Kai to return home. The crime could¡¯ve beenmitted in the middle of the night but Xu Kai was drunk and came back soon after dawn. The drunk Xu Kai went upstairs and fell asleep. She didn¡¯t do anything at the time. This is probably because she didn¡¯t want Xu Kai to die in his sleep. Therefore, she waited patiently for Xu Kai to wake up.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang continued his train of thought. ¡°In the afternoon, we suddenly came to the door and woke Xu Kai up. The murderer probably didn¡¯t expect the police toe. As we questioned Xu Kai, she hid in the vi and listened. The moment we left, Xu Kai went upstairs to take a bath. She immediately killed Xu Kai, put on another set of clothes, stuffed the cleaner¡¯s clothes into the down jacket and escaped.¡±

    It was no wonder why the surveince of themunity couldn¡¯t capture Qiao Xuening. She came in pretending to be a cleaner and came out pretending to be a man with a height of 1.8 metres. She must¡¯ve worn 12cm shoes that increased her height.

    Li Xinyang pointed to her shoes. ¡°She is wearing this type of Martin boots and it can¡¯t be seen if she is wearing insoles inside. After all, she is a woman and her body will look strange if her legs are too thin. Thus, she wore the super long down jacket.

    From the outside, the visual of a tall, muscr man was created by the long down jacket.

    In fact, her down jacket was stuffed with a set of cleaner¡¯s equipment and she used makeup to draw the sharp eyebrows. She wore sses and glued her double eyelids into single eyelids. After killing Xu Kai, she changed clothes at his house and left themunity like this.

    The murderer was really an expert at changing her appearance.

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang helplessly. ¡°She was hiding in the vi when we were at Xu Kai¡¯s house. She probably already knows we are investigating her. She will destroy the evidence and escape.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke decisively. ¡°Return to Binzhou immediately.¡±

    The two of them hurriedly drove back to Binzhou. On the way back, Yu Hanjiang made several consecutive phone calls. He told Qu Wanyue, ¡°Immediately find a way to control Qiao Xuening in the crew and collect her fingerprints. Then have Long Sen send them to the forensic centre for identification.¡±

    Qu Wanyue heard Yu Hanjiang¡¯s serious tone and quickly agreed. ¡°Yes. By the way Group Leader Yu, what is the situation on your side?¡±

    ¡°There are serial murders and the murderer is on the run. We have to be faster than the murderer.¡±

    Qu Wanyue was shocked. ¡°I understand. I will go now.¡±

    Immediately after, Yu Hanjiang called Binzhou Airport. ¡°I am Yu Hanjiang, the group leader of the Binzhou criminal investigation police department. We are currently investigating a murder case and the murderer might flee. If the ID card Qiao Xuening is used then immediately restrict their movements. In addition, if you encounter any suspicious identities that look different from their ID card then please detain them.¡±

    The operation was quicklyunched over at the airport.

    Yu Hanjiang sped up and rushed back to Binzhou City overnight. Once he arrived at the Binzhou forensic appraisal centre, Xiao Lou¡¯s colleague gave him the identification results. ¡°Wepared the fingerprints sent by the production team to the fingerprint database. This person is called Yu Xia and she died four years ago.¡±

    6th Anniversary Event Page (Final Submission Date: 15th November)

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 277: Starlight Entertainment 38

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou returned to the office and checked the fingerprint identification information. As their colleague said, Yu Xia had a car ident four years ago and her ID card in the database showed she was ¡®identally killed.¡¯

    Yu Hanjiang searched theputer database for the name. He had the impression that this was a university ssmate of Qiao Xuening and Lin Yiyan. Sure enough, he found Yu Xia in a photo of ss 3 of the movie academy.

    Yu Xia¡¯s parents had died a long time ago. She was admitted to university through a work study program. Although the girl worked hard and won schrships every year, she was ugly for an artist, especially in the movie academy where beautiful women were everywhere. She was the ugly ducklingpared to the other female students.

    As the ugliest girl in the ss, she had a very low sense of existence. She didn¡¯t participate in any club activities or party with her ssmates. She studied hard every day, wore big sses and looked like a nerd.

    Their sster had several people be popr including Lin Yiyan and Qiao Xuening. These people never mentioned a ssmate called Yu Xia in any interviews. She was like a green leaf amongst many flowers.

    She would always be a supporting role in the entertainment industry unless she got stic surgery. Moreover, the second and third female leads had beauty requirements and even viins had to be pleasing to the eye to attract the attention of the audience. Ugly viins had long been out of fashion and it was hard for her to gain roles.

    Looking at her acting experience before her ¡®death¡¯, it could be found that she yed some passersby and was at the bottom of the cast list. The audience didn¡¯t even bother to watch all the way to the end.

    Xiao Lou found an interview with her on the Inte. The reporter asked her, ¡°Your ssmates Lin Yiyan and Qiao Xuening are so popr. Do you have any private contact? Will they help introduce some resources to you?¡±

    Yu Xia replied, ¡°They are all famous people and we rarely have contact after graduation. Flowers always need green leaves to set them off. I know I¡¯m not as good-looking but there can¡¯t always be good-looking people in TV series. There should be some clowns. I am very clear about my position.¡±

    People sneered at the interview. ¡°She¡¯s really ugly! Isn¡¯t she trying to use our two goddesses Lin and Qiao to get attention? This old ssmate is too shameless!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang saw this and couldn¡¯t help frowning. ¡°Yu Xia¡¯s acting career after graduation was very unsatisfactory. She had been ying passersby for many years and her treatment is simr to that of an extra. Qiao Xuening should¡¯ve promised her many benefits so she was willing to be Qiao Xuening¡¯s stand-in.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed, ¡°Her face might not be her own after the stic surgery but she can be respected by the crew when acting as a stand-in for Qiao Xuening. There are fans and arge amount of money unlike when she was ying the passersby roles.¡±

    Should she act as a passerby every day, relying on a meager ie to support herself while acting as an extra for a lifetime? Or should she go along with Qiao Xuening¡¯s stic surgery and be Qiao Xuening¡¯s stand-in, enjoying the star treatment. Yu Xia chose thetter.

    Xiao Lou murmured, ¡°No wonder her acting skills are so good. After all, she graduated from the movie academy as a top student. She might¡¯ve be popr if it wasn¡¯t for her appearance.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, if you find a professional person to act as a stand-in then you don¡¯t have to worry about getting found out when acting. The secret transaction between Qiao Xuening and Yu Xia must be found in order topletely unlock the secrets. I will immediately arrest Yu Xia right now. As for Qiao Xuening, she is probably fleeing to the airport. I have already sent colleagues to the airport to watch. They won¡¯t let any suspicious people go.¡±

    ***

    In the streetste at night, the police cars whizzed past with their sirens on.

    Yu Hanjiang acted swiftly and went to ¡®Qiao Xuening¡¯ who was in the hotel arranged by the crew. Qu Wanyue had been looking for an excuse to teach Qiao Xuening regarding dance movements. She heard the knock on the door and was relieved. She guessed that Group Leader Yu had arrived.

    Sure enough, the agent opened the door to see Yu Hanjiang in a police uniform standing seriously at the door. He produced an arrest warrant, ¡°Miss Qiao Xuening, no, it should be Miss Yu Xia. We suspect that you are rted to a murder case. Pleasee back with us to assist in the investigation.¡±

    The agent was stunned. ¡°W-What?¡±

    ¡®Qiao Xuening¡¯ in the room heard this sentence and her face instantly paled. She might have the best acting skills but it was difficult for her to remain calm when Yu Hanjiang ced the handcuffs on her wrists. In addition, Yu Hanjiang had called out her real name.

    The agent followed Yu Hanjiang to the police department and was interrogated overnight. She said she didn¡¯t know anything.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Haven¡¯t you found that Qiao Xuening¡¯s personality isn¡¯t quite right in daily life?¡±

    The agent replied with a sad face, ¡°Ever since Qiao Xuening was hit by the exposure of her nude photos, her spirit was a bit abnormal. Therefore, she will sometimes forget things or suddenly change her mind about things. I tried my best to follow her and didn¡¯t dare to stimte her. I never thought there would be two Qiao Xuenings!¡±

    The agent really seemed to have no idea about this. After all, the agent was signed by Qiao Xuening after she came back and it was natural not to be clear about Qiao Xuening¡¯s previous habits. Yu Hanjiang questioned the agent and then Yu Xia. Yu Xia had an ugly expression on Qiao Xuening¡¯s face but she gritted her teeth and refused to say anything.

    Xiao Lou was very professional and directly invited a stic surgeon to check her. The stic surgeon said in detail, ¡°The mandible has been shaved, her nose is padded and her face is still receiving regr injections. Her eyebrows were shaved and then semi-permanently tattooed. Her double eyelids are cut and her ears have been minimally cut. Her entire face has been worked on and probably only the hair was left alone.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­.¡±

    It was too cruel. This was really aplete ¡®makeover¡¯. The face of Qiao Xuening in front of them waspletely different from Yu Xia¡¯s in the information.

    Yu Xia had a lot of pockmarks on her face, her jaw was wide, her nose t and her eyebrows were thick. Meanwhile, Qiao Xuening was a delicate beauty. The stic surgeon must be excellent if they could perform such sessful operations on this face.

    At three in the morning, Yu Hanjiang came to the emergency department of the hospital with Yu Xia and asked the doctor to take an x-ray of her. The emergency room department saw Yu Hanjiang¡¯s police officer ID and immediately cooperated with the police. He took her in, did the x-ray and gave it to Xiao Lou when it was ready.

    Xiao Lou picked up the film and looked closely at it in the light. ¡°There is no fracture line.¡±

    ¡°She didn¡¯t have a fracture? So it was Qiao Xuening who injured her leg. The one without the fracture is the stand-in.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Then why wasn¡¯t she stable when shooting the variety show?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°Her acting is very good.¡±

    He looked at Yu Xia. ¡°Miss Yu, do you want to say something?¡±

    Yu Xia¡¯s face drained of blood and she gritted her teeth like she was conflicted.

    Just then, Yu Hanjiang received a phone call. ¡°Group Leader Yu, a suspicious person was found at the airport. It was a man. As he went through the security check, we carefully checked and his face was different from the photo on the ID card. A female colleague of ours took out makeup remover and asked him to remove makeup on site. He immediately turned around, ran away and was taken down by us!¡±

    An on-site makeup removal? This female colleague deserved praise for her work.

    Yu Hanjiang coughed slightly. ¡°Thank you, I have sent someone to the airport to bring her back to the police department.

    Yu Hanjiang hung up the phone and nced at Yu Xia through the rearview mirror. ¡°Qiao Xuening has been found. If you keep refusing to confess then you will likely be convicted of being an aplice in the murder case and go to jail with her.¡±

    Yu Xia heard up to here and her expression finally copsed. She covered her face with her hands and trembled. ¡°I didn¡¯t know she would be crazy enough to kill people and use me as an alibi!¡±

    Back at the police station, Yu Xia confessed everything.

    Four years ago, she had been at a low point in her life. Every day, she was worrying about where to pick up her next acting job. Her parents died and her requirements were very simple. She would be satisfied as long as she had enough to eat and a ce to live. However, it was sometimes hard to support herself with the pay of an extra.

    As a result, Qiao Xuening¡¯s scandal broke out on the Inte. As a former ssmate, she also became a melon eater. Unexpectedly, Qiao Xuening found her and made a bold suggestion.

    Qiao Xuening told her, ¡°This incident hit me too hard. It is difficult for me to adjust my mentality and continue acting. In fact, I have many resources and I did nothing wrong. It is easy to whitewash myself. If you want to be my stand-in, I can give you a fixed sry that is more than 10 times your ie. I¡¯ll give you 30% of the pay for everything you act in.¡±

    Yu Xia was very tempted. It was just a stand-in. Many famous actors in the entertainment industry also had stand-ins. In any case, it was better than her current situation, right? Thus, she agreed.

    Qiao Xuening smiled and said, ¡°Xiao Xia, I have to say something bad. The entertainment circle is one that looks at the face if you want to go a long way. Your face isn¡¯t good. How about I pay for your stic surgery?¡±

    Yu Xia was a bit repulsed at first. Then she thought about how a certain actress had be more beautiful after getting stic surgery. The number of acting jobs increased and she became more popr. In any case, many people in the circle got stic surgery. It just depended on whether it was big or small. Yu Xia¡¯s skeleton was actually good and it wasn¡¯t the type that was hard to save. She should be able to look better after minor adjustments?

    Everything about the stic surgery was arranged by Qiao Xuening, including the stic surgery n which was decided on by Qiao Xuening and the doctor. Qiao Xuening promised her, ¡®I will give you a good look.¡¯ The doctor knew Qiao Xuening very well so Yu Xia didn¡¯t think much about it and just cooperated with the examination.

    She was a bit nervous when lying on the operating table. After the anesthesia, she lost consciousness and woke up with gauze all over her face. After waiting some time to remove the gauze, she looked in the mirror and was shocked. Why did this face look so much like Qiao Xuening?

    Qiao Xuening was by her side at this time. She looked into the mirror and asked with a smile, ¡°Does it look simr?¡±

    Yu Xia, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Seeing the two extremely simr faces in the mirror, Yu Xia shattered the mirror with fright.

    Yu Xia spoke up to this point and couldn¡¯t help her eyes turning red. She gritted her teeth and said, ¡°I saw the expected appearance after stic surgery on the doctor¡¯sputer and it didn¡¯t look like this at all. Qiao Xuening and the doctor lied to me. She made my face look exactly like hers. This was what she meant by a stand-in! She is simply a lunatic.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang saw she was close to losing control of her emotions and couldn¡¯t help interrupting in a low voice, ¡°Later, you still agreed to be her stand-in?¡±

    Yu Xia was silent for a moment before taking a deep breath. ¡°I couldn¡¯t help it. I was poor with no money and no rtives. I couldn¡¯t beat her at all. Besides, she did a great job. She paid for a female body and made it look like me. She put my ID card in the pocket of the corpse¡¯s clothes and caused a car ident where I ¡®identally died.¡¯ If I didn¡¯t listen to her then I wouldn¡¯t be able to survive in this world.¡±

    Xiao Lou got goosebumps when he heard this.

    This Qiao Xuening was really abnormal! She had a strong desire for control. When creating a stand-in, shepletely erased the stand-in¡¯s original identity so the stand-in could only live as her. She was also really smart. She could think of buying a corpse¡­

    A corpse was usually sold to medical schools to be dissected by students. If she had connections then she could buy an unimed female corpse. She also had a good rtionship with a stic surgeon.

    She stuffed Yu Xia¡¯s ID card into the pocket of the corpse¡¯s clothes, making the police think that the female body was Yu Xia. If the corpse had no rtives and the ID card was in the pocket then the police wouldn¡¯t spare the effort of testing DNA. Who would¡¯ve thought the corpse was fake?

    Yu Hanjiang inquired, ¡°Who is the doctor who performed the stic surgery on you?¡±

    Yu Xia spoke the names of the hospital and the doctor. Yu Hanjiang called his colleagues and had them go and catch the ck-hearted doctor. Then he asked Yu Xia to borate on her injured leg in the martial arts movie Sword Rain.

    Yu Xia said that she was originally supposed to film the martial arts scene in the first half of this year. However, once it was almost time to shoot the scene of the heroine chasing the hero on horseback, Qiao Xuening sent her a message at thest minute, saying: [This scene is dangerous. You can take a few days off filming. I also have to get to know the people in the crew so I can talk to them during the promotions.]

    Yu Xia didn¡¯t understand but this was her ¡®employer¡¯. She went to the hospital for a day using the excuse of a cold and the one who came back was the real Qiao Xuening.

    Unexpectedly, Qiao Xuening fractured her leg while filming. The filming was sessfullypleted but Qiao Xuening had to be hospitalized. As a result, she gained a wave of enthusiasm and countless fans called her ¡®the most dedicated actress.¡¯

    Yu Xia smiled bitterly. ¡°In fact, the heroine appeared for a total of 70 minutes in that minute. 69 minutes was filmed by me and only 1 minute was filmed by Qiao Xuening¡­ I didn¡¯t understand why she chose to film this scene in person. Then I saw that she had fractured her leg and realized that this person was really cruel to herself. At that time, her injured leg was on the hot search and the number of fans rose by several million overnight.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Where were you during her stay in the hospital?¡±

    ¡°I hid in my rented house and ordered takeout every day. I only dared to let the delivery person put the food on the window sill at the door. Then I sneaked out at midnight to throw out the trash.¡± She lowered her head as she spoke. ¡°I am just Qiao Xuening¡¯s shadow. If she injured her leg and is hospitalized then I naturally can¡¯t appear.¡±

    Next, Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°What about the variety show on the 17th? Was it you?¡±

    Yu Xia nodded. ¡°I shot that issue of Close Your Eyes When it is Dark because she requested it. She said that several guests didn¡¯t know her and no one would know anything was wrong. The variety show didn¡¯t need me to say too much. I could just pretend to be stupid and be eliminated. She also told me that she fractured her leg so I shouldn¡¯t run too fast in case people are suspicious.¡±

    Xiao Lou understood. ¡°So you pretended to have a leg injury but you can¡¯t make it too obvious?¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t fractured my leg so how could I pretend? I was afraid that I couldn¡¯t grasp it well. I just told the crew that my leg was almost recovered and was slightlyme when I walked. Therefore, they believed it.¡±

    This was why Xiao Lou saw ¡®Qiao Xuening¡¯ walking with unbnced legs on the variety show. It turned out that the stand-in was pretending.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you pretend when filming the new drama?¡±

    Yu Xia replied, ¡°It is because dance scenes are needed in the new drama. How can I dance if I pretend to be injured? The agent would have to find a stand-in for me but I am a stand-in¡­ in any case, Qiao Xuening said her leg was almost recovered so I told the director I could dance.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other. All the loopholes started here.

    The stand-in and real person¡¯s understanding of the leg injury was different. After all, the stand-in hadn¡¯t personally experienced being hospitalized and didn¡¯t know what level of recovery she was supposed to be at. She danced casually in the new drama and was caught by Qu Wanyue, Xiao Lou and the others who followed her closely and realized something was wrong.

    During Xiao Lou¡¯s questioningst time, he put forward the ¡®bone soup¡¯ she didn¡¯t know about and she replied that the doctor asked her to drink it. Now it seemed that it was Qiao Xuening herself who broke her leg.

    On the evening of November 16th, Yu Xia went to the mountain to shoot the variety show. She pretended to be sick with a cold to avoid suspicion. The variety show was filmed during the early morning of the 17th. During this time, Qiao Xuening herself was lurking in Lin Yiyan¡¯s vi and killed Lin Yiyan. She wanted to use the stand-in to create an alibi.

    Two days ago, Qiao Xuening secretly went to the small town and killed Xu Kai with the same technique. At that time, her stand-in was in the crew of Twin Flowers. If it hadn¡¯t been for Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou long suspecting her stand-in, her alibi would be perfect.

    Initially, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou thought that Qiao Xuening in the crew was the real one. They hadn¡¯t expected her to be the fake.

    Yu Hanjiang stared at Yu Xia in front of him and spoke coldly. ¡°The first time we looked for you, you knew it was Qiao Xuening who killed Lin Yiyan, right? However, you didn¡¯t notify Qiao Xuening that the police are investigating her. You instead sent me a message to check Zhou Yuanyuan to divert our intentions.¡±

    Yu Xia was startled for a moment before chuckling. ¡°Why should I notify her? She killed someone and should be sentenced to death if caught, right? I am her shadow. If she does then I won¡¯t need to be a shadow anymore. I can go into the sun. There will be one more celebrity who looks like Qiao Xuening and has acting skills. All her resources and poprity will¡­ truly belong to me.¡±

    She had an expression of longing on her face. ¡°In any case, I had nothing to do with her killing someone. I just followed her arrangement to shoot a variety show and act for her. I don¡¯t know anything. I just look like her. I¡¯m a victim.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou looked at each other.

    The suspects they encountered this time were all actors. In the end, the one with the best acting was the stand-in Qiao Xuening had chosen for herself.

    The stand-in didn¡¯t want to be a stand-in anymore and wanted to rece the original person. Therefore, she intentionally or unintentionally revealed some clues to the police and exposed the murderer Qiao Xuening.

    ***

    By the time Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou left the interrogation room, the real Qiao Xuening had arrived.

    The makeup on her face was forcibly removed and her true face was exactly the same as the double in the interrogation room. Her mouth was raised in a smile as she looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Officer, can you really tell who is Qiao Xuening?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly, ¡°It is really hard to tell just based on the face. It is a pity that you didn¡¯t remove your fingerprints during the stic surgery, nor can you change your DNA.¡±

    Qiao Xueningughed.

    Herughter was a bit hoarse. Listening carefully, it should be caused by long-term smoking. Theughter echoed in the empty corridor and was very gloomy. This woman had be mentally abnormal. She spent so much energy and money to create a substitute. Then she killed Lin Yiyan and Xu Kai. Perhaps it was just to satisfy her psychological pleasure.

    Now that the evidence was solid, Qiao Xuening didn¡¯t bother arguing for herself. ¡°I killed them and I guess that my shadow has betrayed me.. sure enough, I raised a tiger.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Can you tell us what the ice means?¡±

    Qiao Xuening raised her eyebrow. ¡°Have you heard of being buried in snow?¡± (TL: basically means to hide things. For example, the entertainmentpanies hiding artists to protect their own interests)

    She smiled at Xiao Lou. ¡°Lin Yiyan and Xu Kai joined forces that year to suppress me and I waspletely hidden by thepany. As a result, those two fools underestimated my resilience. Instead of being hidden by them, I let their bodies be buried ice. I heard that after they die, they will go to the ice hell and never be reborn.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou exchanged looks. So it was like this.

    So submissions for my celebration event are now closed!!

    For now, voting isn¡¯t open yet. It will be open in a day or two and I¡¯ll update this page with the voting form when it is open. I want to let everyone take their time looking at the entries without worrying about voting.

    Regarding the fanart, if you find one that you believed to be copied from somewhere else, please send me an email at [email protected] with information and the link to what you believe is the original work.

    Fanart: Entries are divided into the respective novels. Fanart that is several novels in one won¡¯t be in a folder. Please look at alll of them even if you don¡¯t read the novel because they are excellent (remember you can double click to erge image). Also, keep in mind that once voting opens, <strong>you will get to vote for up to 5 selections.</strong>

    <strong>Artists, please check your submissions. If you believe anything is incorrect or your submission is missing then please email me at the email provided above.</strong>

    Link: https://drive.google/drive/folders/1nR_qitG-VDBvuvQTwh4Vd1erSU8l2zd0?usp=sharing

    <strong>Fanfiction entries: I¡¯vepiled a word doc with all the links that is included in the google drive above. Writers, please check your submissions. If you believe anything is incorrect or your submission is missing then please email me at the email provided above.</strong>

    Voting Information Page

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 278: Drawing Cards

    As the murderer, Qiao Xuening took the initiative to plead guilty during the interrogation and 9 of Hearts finally ended. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou had collected all the information and the time to solve the case was very short. This time, they undoubtedly got a perfect clearance score of S for this secret room.

    The alibi that Qiao Xuening made was almost impable. Fortunately, it was a modern secret room this time. The fingerprint identification gave Yu Hanjiang great help. Otherwise, it would be really difficult to tell which one was the real Qiao Xuening and which was the fake.

    Everyone returned to their personal space again. A of Hearts smiled at them. ¡°Congrattions for once again getting a perfect clearance score of S. Please collect your rewards.¡±

    The first reward after a perfect clearance was the plot card. The plot card would y the entire process of the case from a god¡¯s perspective and some details that hadn¡¯t been rified would be shown. Yu Hanjiang took the plot card and opened it. A big screen appeared in front of everyone and started ying the plot.

    In the Liang Ting case, it was as everyone expected. Jin Xiaoyue took advantage of the timing to get the takeout to put the poison into Liang Ting¡¯s thermos. It was the Lin Yiyan case that creeped everyone out. This plot card started from Lin Yiyan¡¯s university era.

    In their second year, Lin Yiyan and Qi Ming went to participate in an interview for the online drama. In fact, the director at the time liked Qiao Xuening while the agent Qi Ming liked Lin Yiyan.

    In order to get this opportunity to y the heroine, Lin Yiyan hooked up with the Starlight Entertainment member who was in charge of this project and wouldter be her agent, Qi Ming. Meanwhile, Qiao Xuening hooked up with the director who was old enough to be her father.

    In the same hotel¡­

    The director hugged Qiao Xuening and promised her with a smile, ¡°Xiao Qiu, don¡¯t worry. This role must be yours.¡±

    Qi Ming put his arms around Lin Yiyan and said the same thing. ¡°In my heart, you are the most suitable candidate to be the female lead. Ourpany is the investor and I am in charge of this project. I can ask the director to make you the female lead.¡±

    Lin Yiyan blushed and squeezed Qi Ming¡¯s hand. ¡°Brother Ming, I¡¯m not with you just for a role. I really like a mature and stable man like you. You are my ideal boyfriend. I just want to be with you all the time.¡±

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help being stunned when he saw this. ¡°This Lin Yiyan is really too good at acting!¡±

    Qi Ming was coaxed by her gentle words. The next day, he went to thepany to find Shao Qingge and said, ¡°Chief Shao, among the girls I saw during the audition, there is one called Lin Yiyan who has an outstanding appearance and her temperament is in line with the role. She is determined and her acting skills are good. I think it is better to set her to y the female lead.¡±

    Shao Qingge said, ¡°This project is your responsibility. You decide.¡±

    Everyone saw Chief Shao appear in the plot movie and nced sideways at him. Shao Qingge touched his forehead. ¡°This is a friendly cameo but A of Hearts didn¡¯t give me a performance fee!¡±

    Ye Qiined. ¡°The root of everything is this web drama in their second year. Before this, the two of them hadn¡¯t acted in a drama. This is also the first time they participated in an interview. In order to get the role, both of them slept with someone. However, Lin Yiyan was better at finding the right person and her acting was very good. Qi Ming was moved by her ¡®true¡¯ feelings.¡±

    Rtively speaking, Qiao Xuening wasn¡¯t as sweet as Lin Yiyan. The final result was predictable. The investor was the boss and sometimes the director couldn¡¯t do anything. The financial backer wanted Lin Yiyan to y the leading role. How could the director object? As a result, Qiao Xuening¡¯s n fell through and Lin Yiyan sessfully became the female lead.

    At that time, Qiao Xuening hadn¡¯t known about it. She thought the investor had found a big star to act as the female lead and could only admit that she was unlucky. Unexpectedly, once the main roles were announced, the female lead column stated ¡®Lin Yiyan¡¯ and she understood everything.

    For a long time after that, Lin Yiyan relied on the help of the ace agent Qi Ming to be well-known in the entertainment circle. Meanwhile, Qiao Xuening didn¡¯t give up after the first interview. She continued to look for other opportunities while ying some supporting roles to umte acting experience.

    A few yearster, Lin Yiyan and Qiao Xuening met again at a ss gathering. Qiao Xuening showed a good performance and gave Lin Yiyan an expensive, limited edition bag that she bought after saving for two years. She pretended to be a good friend while giving the bag and spoke a lot ofpliments. She recalled the simple times when they were ssmates and went to the library together.

    Lin Yiyan was veryfortable with her ttery and thought that having a friend in the entertainment circle was good. Most importantly, she could support Qiao Xuening and make Qiao Xuening feel grateful to her. This feeling of ¡®helping a friend to the top¡¯ really satisfied Lin Yiyan¡¯s personality.

    Qi Ming handed her some scripts after screening them. Anything that conflicted with her schedule or that she didn¡¯t like was kindly thrown to Qiao Xuening. Then she spoke a few good words in front of the director.

    Qiao Xuening received some good roles. The experience umted in the past few years hadn¡¯t been wasted and she gradually became popr. She knew in her heart that Lin Yiyan wasn¡¯t the pure woman she showed on the surface but Qiao Xuening was willing to cooperate with Lin Yiyan to pretend to be sisters.

    The two of them often interacted on Weibo and in interviews, they gave a unified statement that the other person was a good friend from their university days. In any case, this was beneficial to the poprity of them both. Many fans of Lin Yiyan would follow Qiao Xuening¡¯s drama while Qiao Xuening¡¯s fans would also follow Lin Yiyan. This was a win-win cooperation.

    However, things quickly turned around.

    One year, Qiao Xuening¡¯s luck was very good. First, she acted in a TV series that went viral. Following that, Lin Yiyan received an invitation from two crews at the same time. Due to the schedule conflict, she could only choose one. She chose arge-scale sci-fi movie directed by an ace director with many famous stars participating. She threw the other script to Qiao Xuening like before.

    Qiao Xuening naturally thanked her on WeChat and gave her a bottle of limited edition perfume.

    Everyone thought that Lin Yiyan¡¯s big movie would explode. After all, the movie had many big names and a lot of money was spent on early publicity. Posters were stered all over the subway station and the momentum was powerful.

    Meanwhile, Qiao Xuening¡¯s small romance movie had little investment. The male lead was still a rookie and the director wasn¡¯t very famous. Qiao Xuening didn¡¯t care. She had starred in a hot TV series and just wanted to be familiar with the movie industry, even if the pay was low.

    The schedules of the two movies ovepped with each other and they were even released on the same day!

    Qiao Xuening politely helped Lin Yiyan publicize her movie. The two people reposted each other¡¯s new movies on Weibo and it seemed they really were sisters. Fans were happily saying that the goddesses were good friends and they would go to both movies.

    On the first day of the movie¡¯s release, the box office of the sci-fi movie starring Lin Yiyan was 10 times higher than Qiao Xuening¡¯s small and fresh romance movie. Qiao Xuening sent Lin Yiyan a congrattory message on WeChat: [Xiao Yan, it¡¯s great. It is estimated that the box office will easily exceed three billion yuan!]

    Lin Yiyan was very happy but pretended to be modest. [Not necessarily. The box office of the first day can guarantee it. It depends on the box office in the next few days. Your movie is good. The box office might be lower but the rating is very high.]

    Qiao Xuening sent a smile emoji. [How can Ipare with Xiao Yan? My poprity is still much worse.]

    Lin Yiyan also sent a smile. [Your poprity is rising very quickly. Don¡¯t worry, you will catch fire soon.]

    The two of them yed their roles andplimented each other on WeChat for a while.

    Xiao Lou and the others were watching from a god¡¯s perspective and could clearly see that both of them had sneers on their faces when sending the messages.

    The next day, the sci-fi movie starring Lin Yiyan was evaluated as a failure and the score dropped from 9 to below 7. Countless audiences who watched the movie went to the major movie forums toin. ¡°It is a big production but the special effects are too bad¡±

    ¡±The money went to paying the actors and the script was a mess!¡±

    ¡±The story isn¡¯t clear. I watched it for a few stars that featured in it, but I regretted it. The best bad movie of the year.¡±

    As for the romance movie starring Qiao Xuening, the ratings kept rising and many viewers started to spontaneously promote it in their friends circle. ¡°It is too touching. Qiao Xuening¡¯s crying scene was really well performed.¡±

    ¡±I can¡¯t help thinking of my own first love.¡±

    ¡°I went to see it with my boyfriend and cried in the movie theatre!¡±

    ¡°This movie is really refreshing amidst all the bad movies at the end of the year!¡±

    Due to the promotion of countlessizens, the next day, the box office of the small romance movie started to pick up and the proportion of screens allocated was increased. Meanwhile, the box office of therge sci-fi movie stagnated and even showed a downward trend.

    Lin Yiyan and Qiao Xuening paid attention to the box office of the movies they starred in with different thoughts.

    Three dayster, the box office of the romance movie surpassed the science fiction movie for the first time. Seven dayster, the romance movie starring Qiao Xuening became the strongest dark horse of the year. It jumped to number one in the box office and broke the two billion mark while heading towards three billion. Lin Yiyan¡¯s big production movie was so messed up that it couldn¡¯t exceed one billion in a week.

    Lin Yiyan didn¡¯t speak on WeChat and pretended to be dead on Weibo. Qiao Xuening was amused in her heart and didn¡¯t speak. The two sisters with a deep affection couldn¡¯t act any longer.

    The most shocking thing to Lin Yiyan was that Qiao Xuening was nominated for ¡®Best Actress¡¯ with this small investment, small production movie. She was actually invited to attend the annual movie festival awards ceremony!

    In the past, Qiao Xuening could only tter her from behind, give her gifts and beg her to introduce resources. Now Qiao Xuening entered the movie industry for the first time and her performance was far inferior to Lin Yiyan¡¯s. Yet she could win the ¡®Best Actress¡¯ trophy? How did this work?

    Lin Yiyan couldn¡¯t stand Qiao Xuening overtaking her.

    She went to check Qiao Xuening¡¯s background and soon found that Qiao Xuening had a rtionship with Xu Kai after graduating high school. Therefore, she contacted Xu Kai privately and negotiated a deal with him. She sold a house and handed three million yuan in cash to Xu Kai, who only needed to expose Qiao Xuening¡¯s nude photos online and ruin her reputation.

    Xu Kai was an unscrupulous man. He naturally agreed when he saw money and gave a scumbag performance. Qiao Xuening fell from the altar in an instant. Her nude photos were spread all over the Inte and she became a joke.

    She didn¡¯t think it was done by Lin Yiyan and indeed had a nervous breakdown, going to the hospital. During her recuperation in the hospital, her mentality gradually distorted as she watched her private photos being spread all over the Inte and thements of wretched men.

    This incident hit her hard. Later, she asked someone to investigate and found that Xu Kai¡¯s cousin Zhang Xiaoyu owed a gambling debt. She gave Zhang Xiaoyu a sum of money and asked him to question his cousin about it.

    Soon, Zhang Xiaoyu gave her the result. ¡°My cousin leaked it after he became drunk. It was Lin Yiyan who gave him the money.¡±

    Lin Yiyan! Qiao Xuening read the name in the text message and gritted her teeth while wishing to chew off the opponent¡¯s flesh.

    During the six months of rest in the hospital, she thought every day about what she should do in the future. At that time, a stic surgeon called Qin Muforted her and gave her the courage to continue. The young doctor had watched many of her works and was a small fan. Doctor Qin came to see her every day, telling her to put down her past, forget the photos and start again¡­

    Gradually, the two people developed feelings.

    People who fell in love sometimes became irrational. The young doctor was confused by Qiao Xuening and didn¡¯t discourage her when she proposed the stic surgery n. Instead, he helped her and became her aplice.

    He hadn¡¯t known that Qiao Xuening would kill people. He just thought that Qiao Xuening was using a stand-in to stabilize her mind. She would let the stand-in help with acting while gradually returning to the entertainment circle.

    Two years after the nude photos incident, Qiao Xuening came back with a new attitude.

    Two years was enough to change a person, let alone when such a big thing had happened. The Qiao Xuening who came back didn¡¯t talk much, was polite to everyone and behaved cautiously. Though there were some differencespared to the past, fans attributed it to her learning to be low-key.

    No one thought that Qiao Xuening was actually someone else. Her name was Yu Xia and she had Qiao Xuening¡¯s face.

    During the next period of time, Qiao Xuening asked her stand-in to shoot most of the scenes while she prepared her murder n. She inquired and learned about Lin Yiyan¡¯s residence in Yuehu Vis.

    On November 11th, Qiao Xuening dressed up in disguise and drove into the Yuehu Vis area. She also had a house here. It was just that the house was in the name of her secret boyfriend, the stic surgeon Qin Mu.

    Dr Qin was on a business trip that day and Qiao Xuening had the keys to her boyfriend¡¯s house. She drove her boyfriend¡¯s car into themunity in a straightforward manner and observed themunity every day. She movedte at night to destroy the camera in front of Lin Yiyan¡¯s house.

    Then on November 16th, she arranged for the stand-in to go to the variety show and told the stand-in, ¡°For my next jobs and the new drama, you will y for me. I will take a month to rx. Don¡¯t forget that my leg is injured. If necessary, pretend that your leg hurts.¡±

    Yu Xia didn¡¯t doubt it and replied, ¡°I know.¡±

    Qiao Xuening waited for an opportunity. On the evening of the 16th, she opened the lock of Lin Yiyan¡¯s house and sneaked inside. She used therge freezer in the kitchen to make ice cubes. It was because she knew Lin Yiyan was seldom at home and never entered the kitchen. This house was just a ce for Lin Yiyan and her lover to meet in private. She wanted to find a chance to act and it just so happened that Lin Yiyan came back that night.

    Qiao Xuening was hiding in the kitchen of Lin Yiyan¡¯s house when she heard the sound of the car driving into the vi. She watched the action in the car through the kitchen window and calmly took out the knife she prepared.

    The living room was dark when Lin Yiyan walked into the house. She didn¡¯t know there was actually a person hidden behind the sofa.

    She turned on the light and was about to go back to the bedroom to rest. As a result, the agent Qi Ming knocked on the door and came in. The two of them had an argument and broke up. At 3:30 in the morning, Qi Ming left angrily. Lin Yiyan turned and headed to the third floor. She removed her makeup in the bedroom, put on pyjamas and walked into the bathroom.

    She was standing in front of the mirror, arranging her hair while preparing to take a shower. As a result, the door behind her was pushed open and a face appeared in the mirror. It was Qiao Xuening with a strange smile on her face. Lin Yiyan turned around in horror only for a sharp knife to stab her in the chest.

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 Chapter 279: Drawing Cards

    Ye Qi watched the rey of the entire plot and had aplicated expression. He wanted to say, ¡®Your entertainment circle is really messy.¡¯

    In fact, Qiao Xuening had also acted unscrupulously in order to be famous. It was just that in the struggle between her and Lin Yiyan, she was about to surpass Lin Yiyan when she was kicked into the ice cer and hidden by snow. In the end, she became psychologically distorted and killed Lin Yiyan, covering the body with ice. The two of them yed sisters at the beginning but they couldn¡¯t continue their roles and Qiao Xuening ended up killing the other person with a knife¡­

    Liu Qiao concluded, ¡°It is terrible.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled and asked, ¡°Xiao Ye, after experiencing this case, do you still want to enter the entertainment industry?¡±

    Ye Qi was firm. ¡°This is just an individual case. There are also many people in the entertainment industry who are serious when ites to acting and singing. We can¡¯t generalize. I just know that if I go into the entertainment industry, I definitely won¡¯t recognize anyone as a brother or sister.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°Yes, it is the good brothers and sisters who are likely to stab you in the back.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang put away the plot card and nced over at A of Hearts. ¡°Are there other rewards?¡±

    A of Hearts smiled. ¡°Of course. This time, you can all get a special function card.¡±

    The group was excited when they heard this and immediately opened their card packs to check.

    [Function Card: Disguise Technique]

    [Rarity: A

    Description: A 9 of Hearts secret room limited card. It is made by Miss Qiao Xuening and can be obtained after a perfect clearance.

    Restrictions: Can be used in all types of secret rooms except for the Hearts room.

    Number of Uses: This is a special function card. It will disappear after one use.

    Effect: By using the Disguise Technique card, you can temporarily change your appearance and be an imaginary character. The disguise willst for four hours. P.S: You can also be Qiao Xuening.]

    Ye Qi saw this and couldn¡¯t help getting goosebumps. ¡°Who would want to be Qiao Xuening? I¡¯m afraid that I would have a nightmare when I sleep! I don¡¯t want to see Qiao Xuening¡¯s eerie smile behind me when I look in the mirror.¡±

    Everyone was so flustered by Ye Qi¡¯s words that they ignored thest description of the card.

    Xiao Lou told them, ¡°The difference from Liu Qiao¡¯s transformation card is that her card can be any person or animal she has seen for 10 minutes. The Disguise Technique card can be an imaginary person but it can¡¯t be an animal. The duration also isn¡¯t the same.¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s card was an S-grade card that couldn¡¯t be damaged but the duration was short. The Disguise Technique cardsted for four hours but would disappear after one use.

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°The range of the disguise card is wider and you can even be an idol star. The only drawback is that it is a one time disposable card.¡±

    Long Sen was excited. ¡°For example, Jordan who is very good at ying basketball. I just need to think of him and I can change into him with the Disguise Technique card?¡±

    A of Hearts smiled and nodded. ¡°Yes, it can only be used once so find the right opportunity. The Disguise Technique card only changes your appearance. You don¡¯t inherit their ability. Don¡¯t think that you can y basketball like Jordan if you disguise yourself as him.¡±

    Long Senughed. ¡°I¡¯m just giving an example.¡±

    Xiao Lou put the card away and looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°In fact, this card can be used for undercover work, especially in theter Clubs room. If we can¡¯t beat the hunters then we can be them and confuse them.¡±

    Ye Qiughed. ¡°Previously, it is to run away if we can¡¯t beat them. Now it is to hide among them?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    If they couldn¡¯t beat the opponent then just disguise as them. This was a new idea provided by Qiao Xuening. Each member had a disguise card. If they became the same person then the Hunter¡¯s League would probably be very confused. Why were there eight people who looked exactly the same?

    This time, the strength of the Hearts secret room fixed reward wasn¡¯t low. Yu Hanjiang put it away and asked, ¡°Can we draw the cards?¡±

    A of Hearts ced two treasure chests in front of them. ¡°Please.¡±

    Last time in the Spades secret room, Shao Qingge had contributed the most by bing the bug king and all the rewards were drawn by him. This time, Shao Qingge took the initiative to speak. ¡°I didn¡¯t help much. Let Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao do it.¡±

    The other team members had no objections.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou looked at each other. ¡°One each?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°Okay, let¡¯s draw it together.¡±

    The two of them put their hands into the treasure chest at the same time.

    [Weapon Card: Hand Grenade]

    [Rarity: S

    Description: There is a chance of obtaining it from the lucky draw after getting a perfect clearance and S-grade evaluation.

    Number of Uses: The S-grade card won¡¯t be destroyed after use but in each secret room, only five hand grenades can be used. Once the number of uses is up, it will enter the cooldown and refresh in the next secret room.

    Effect: Throw the hand grenade to the designated area to produce arge-scale explosion. You can blow up buildings, clear obstacles or throw other control cards into the enemy group. Please figure out the specific uses yourself]

    Yu Hanjiang was satisfied. ¡°This card is good. It is a weapon of mass destruction.¡±

    Ye Qi was excited. ¡°Combined with my musical instruments capable of group control, you can instantly kill dozens of enemies!¡±

    Previously, the melee weapons, sniper rifle and other guns were all single-target weapons. They killed one at a time and sometimes couldn¡¯t keep up with arge number of enemies. However, the hand grenade was excellent when encountering arge number of enemies. For example, thest bug secret room. He just needed to throw a few into the swarm of bugs to create a fire. Then the difficulty would be much lower.

    Everyone was very happy that Group Leader Yu was able to draw such a useful weapon card and they turned to Xiao Lou. ¡°What about Professor Xiao?¡±

    Qu Wanyue joked, ¡°Surely Professor Xiao won¡¯t draw any poets this time, right?¡±

    Xiao Lou helplessly turned over the card in his hand.

    [Summoning Card: Lu You]

    [Rarity: S

    Description: There is a chance of obtaining it from the lucky draw after getting a perfect clearance and S-grade evaluation.

    Additional Skill 1: Rainstorm on the 4th of the Eleventh Month

    Deep at night I listen to the wind and rain, the armored horses and cier enter my dreams.

    One of the masterpieces written by Lu You. Whenever the time of the secret room is the ¡®fourth day¡¯ or at ¡®4 o¡¯clock in the morning¡¯, you can choose a ce to summon Lu You. The area will sh with thunder, wind and rain. All the enemies in the area will fall into a state of fear and can¡¯t attack. Itsts 10 minutes.

    Additional Skill 2: Ode to the Plum Blossom

    Not envious to im spring for herself, she endures the envy of other flowers. Her petals might be crushed in mud but her fragrance remains the same.

    In this poem, Lu You praised the noble character of plum blossoms. Even if the plum blossom is crushed in the dust, it can exude an elegant fragrance.

    Summon Lu You and specify an area of 500 square metres. It will fill with plum blossoms, forming a beautiful plum blossom forest. The elegant plum blossoms scent will confuse enemies and cause all enemies in the area to fall into a state of illusion for up to 10 minutes. Can only be used once every 24 hours.]

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help praising it. ¡°Two super powerful group control skills!¡±

    The previous card group control skills were rtively short while Lu You¡¯s card duration was quite long. The first skill could only be used on the fourth day or at 4 o¡¯clock in the morning while the second skill could only be used once every 24 hours. The advantage was that the control time was very long. 10 minutes of group control was enough to cover the retreat of the team members at a critical moment.

    Xiao Lou held his head helplessly. Surely he had almost summoned all the famous poets, right?

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 Chapter 280: 9 of Diamonds: Rhythm Notes

    It happened to be 4 o¡¯clock in the afternoon when they left 9 of Hearts and returned to the main city. The afternoon sun of the City of the Moon shone into the living room through the French windows, coating it in ayer of warmth.

    The scene before them changed as they left the private space. Everyone appeared back in the living room. Ye Qi saw the familiar faces of his team members and couldn¡¯t help sighing in relief. ¡°Finally, the Hearts secret room is over. There is no need to deal with a perverted murderer! Next, shall we continue to clear the Diamonds room or take a rest?¡±

    The others turned their eyes to Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang, waiting for instructions.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang seriously discussed it. ¡°Continue with the Diamonds room? Normally the time spent in this room isn¡¯t too long. It is now four in the afternoon. We can finish the Diamonds room ande back to rest. Perhaps we will even make it back in time for dinner tonight.¡±

    In any case, there was Xiao Lou, the problem solving master and Old Mo, the designer with a strong sense of space. In addition, Ye Qi and Liu Qiao had strong problem-solving skills. The other team members only needed to cooperate with them and clearing the room shouldn¡¯t be a problem.

    Yu Hanjiang thought up to here and simply said, ¡°Continue to the next level. We have to hurry and clear the A-grade secret rooms.¡±

    The team members naturally had no problem with the decision. Yu Hanjiang walked to the Card Wall and directly drew 9 of Diamonds. The familiar red vortex appeared in the centre of the ying card and everyone appeared in a strange secret room.

    It was strange because in the previous Diamonds rooms, everyone was separated when entering the room. For example, thest Shangyuan Lantern Festival where the eight members were divided into four groups and each group appeared on a certain road in thentern maze. They needed to find a way to meet their teammates.

    Today it was different. All eight people were in the same closed room. This room was square and each side was 3 metres. The light in the room was extremely dim. Only four kerosenemps hung on four corners and the temperature in the room was low, giving people a gloomy feeling. It was as if they had entered a mysterious basement.

    Everyone saw their teammates around them and checked that no one was missing.

    Xiao Lou immediately opened his mouth. ¡°Don¡¯t move around yet. Be careful of mechanisms on the ground or on the wall!¡±

    Hearing this, the team members who wanted to walk around hurriedly stopped and waited quietly for the next hint.

    Soon, a little girl¡¯s clear and lovely voice rang out in the secret room. ¡°Wee to 9 of Diamonds, the Music Labyrinth. This is abyrinth of clues with music as the theme. The entirebyrinth has only one correct path to escape. The time limit of thebyrinth is one hour. If you walk out of thebyrinth within the given time then you will win the challenge. If time is up and you are still trapped inside then you will need to go to the Nightmare Room to be punished.¡±

    This was obviously the voice of A of Diamonds. Ye Qi¡¯s eyes lit up when he heard the ¡®music¡¯ theme and he spoke in an excited manner, ¡°Musicbyrinth? I heard of this theme when I used to y escape rooms.¡±

    Xiao Lou was an experienced yer and naturally knew this type of themed escape room.

    A of Diamonds continued, ¡°This time, there will be more punishments in the secret room. For example, if you enter the wrong password or enter a punishment room by mistake, the punishment will be triggered. The specific punishment method won¡¯t be announced for the sake of mystery.¡±

    The group members looked at each other. Not announcing it was even more terrible. Who knew how this keeper would torture everyone?

    A of Diamonds¡¯s voice echoed in the dark, cold space and it sounded a bit strange. Sheughed and told them, ¡°The reward method of this secret room is also rted to the mechanisms you unlock. If there are punishment rooms then there will naturally be reward rooms. If you unlock the mechanisms of reward rooms then you can get rare cards.¡±

    She paused for a moment. ¡°The countdown is about to begin. Good luck.¡¯

    A of Diamonds¡¯ voice disappeared and the floating boxes in front of everyone showed a red timer counting down. The timer showed 1:00:00. There was a time limit of one hour and the countdown had begun. Everyone immediately took a closer look at the surrounding walls, ceilings and floors.

    Yu Hanjiang had a keen eye and he soon found a hidden grid under a kerosenemp in a corner.

    He spoke with a serious expression, ¡°Since this is a clues maze, there should be clues in the dark grid over there. Maybe it is a code lock.¡± He nced at Xiao Lou with questioning eyes. ¡°Shall I grab it and took a look?¡±

    Xiao Lou answered, ¡°There is one hour so there is no need to rush. I would like to tell you some precautions first.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked around at his teammates and sighed. ¡°Perhaps some of you have never yed this type of clues maze before. The code lock and mechanism of this type of maze isn¡¯t directly ced in eye-catching ces like the rooms we have experienced previously where the question is ced and the answer can be obtained as long as we solve it correctly. For a clues type maze, many code locks require reasoning and solving puzzles.¡±

    Ye Qi watched Xiao Lou seriously. ¡°Is this a linked Hearts and Diamonds room? Solve puzzles, search for code locks and infer the correct password ording to clues? Open one room, continue to the next room and look for new clues.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. We all need to keep our eyes open and check carefully for clues in the secret room. Observe any suspicious ces carefully. After you find it, don¡¯t rashly touch it with your hands. There might be some mechanisms behind the clues such as water sprays, poison and other traps. Everyone should be careful.¡±

    They heard this and nodded to show they understood. They wouldn¡¯t do things like pitting their teammates and touching the mechanisms.

    Yu Hanjiang suggested, ¡°Everyone, take out the Night Pearl so we can see what is on this dark grid.

    The kerosenemps in the secret room were too dim, as if they were going to go out at any second. The floors and walls were all ck so it was hard to see what was on them. They heard Yu Hanjiang¡¯s instructions and immediately took out the Night Pearl.

    The Night Pearls illuminated the entire secret room. To everyone¡¯s surprise, there were many bloody handprints on the walls! The dense bloody handprints almost covered the entire wall and looked shocking.

    Qu Wanyue was startled by these bloody handprints and wanted to step back. Then she remembered Xiao Lou¡¯s instructions and immediately stopped in case she identally stepped on a trap. Seeing her ugly expression, Long Sen took her hand gently. ¡°It might be a suspense maze but there shouldn¡¯t be a murderer. Don¡¯t worry too much.¡±

    Qu Wanyue murmured, ¡°Throwing us directly into a crime scene? There are so many bloody handprints. Is the person who left them dead or alive?¡±

    The next moment, she heard Yu Hanjiang calmly say, ¡°This is indeed a suspensebyrinth. I found a box.¡±

    He opened the darkpartment under the kerosenemp and took out a box. It was an old sandalwood box with exquisite European-style carvings and a golden lock. Unfortunately, due to age, this lock had deteriorated. It needed a seven digit password.

    Yu Hanjiang took the box to Xiao Lou and asked, ¡°What will the password be?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought for a moment before ordering his teammates, ¡°Teacher Qu, Long Sen, please check your feet carefully to determine if there is anything under the floor tiles. Xiao Ye, Liu Qiao, check the walls on all sides to see if there are any other hidden panels. Chief Shao, check the ceiling with me. Group Leader Yu will look at the other kerosenemps.¡±

    The hidden grid that Yu Hanjiang found was rtively easy to see.

    The brick under the kerosenemp was slightly recessed and clearly looked different from the surrounding wall. After Yu Hanjiang took out the brick, he found a hole in the wall with this locked box. Other than that, no obvious clues were found in the room for the time being.

    The team members acted quickly ording to Xiao Lou¡¯s division ofbor. Ye Qi and Liu Qiao checked the left, right, front and rear walls before giving an answer. ¡°The walls are all t. We knocked on the bricks but there is no other hiddenpartment.¡±

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue were in charge of inspecting the floor and also spoke quickly. ¡°The floor doesn¡¯t move.¡±

    Xiao Lou frowned slightly. He raised the Night Pearl and closely examined the ceiling. There were no clues on the ceiling.

    Xiao Lou touched his chin thoughtfully. ¡°This is weird. We are only given a locked box and there is nothing on the ceilings, walls and floor. How do we crack this code?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°It is very likely that something has been missed. Please double check.¡±

    Everyone checked the area they were responsible for again. Three minutes passed and they came to the same conclusion. ¡°There are no other clues.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked closely at the bloody handprints on the wall. The bloody handprints were very messy and couldn¡¯t form any figures rted to numbers or words. The arrangement could be called irregr and the number was rtively high. It was roughly in the hundreds.

    Xiao Lou thought carefully. ¡°There are no clues in the room for the seven digit code. Then the clue must be in the sentence that A of Hearts told us. This is abyrinth with a music theme.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°The password is musical notes. The only ones that can be used as musical notes are do, re, mi, fa, so,, ti, that is, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. There are exactly seven numbers!¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Then how should these seven numbers be arranged?¡±

    1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. These seven numbers could form countlessbinations.

    If a piece of music was yed in the secret room then Ye Qi could hear the specific sequence of notes based on the melody of the music. However, it was extremely quiet in the secret room and only the nervous breathing of the team members could be heard.

    What clue was hidden in A of Diamonds¡¯ words? Or was there a clue in this room that everyone ignored?

    Xiao Lou was silent for a moment before suggesting, ¡°We should take a closer look at these bloody handprints. See if we can use them to connect with clues rted to music.¡±

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 Chapter 281: Music Labyrinth 2

    The group heard Xiao Lou¡¯s words and examined the wall together. They carefully observed the arrangement and distribution of the bloody handprints.

    The messy array of bloody handprints covered the entire wall and they couldn¡¯t see any clues for a long time. They weren¡¯t numbers or images. What did these handprints mean? In order to better observe theyout of these bloody handprints, Xiao Lou took a few steps back. He leaned against the wall behind him and observed the handprints on the front wall at the furthest distance.

    Gradually, he found that the bloody handprints on the wall had different shades. There were a lot of lighter handprints and after removing the interference of these light colored handprints, he could find that the darker handprints were arranged in five straight lines. Some of the handprints moved between these straight lines to form notes. Counting the straight lines carefully from top to bottom, there were exactly five.

    At the same time, Ye Qi called out excitedly. ¡°I understand, this is a music staff! The light colored handprints are just distractions. You can ignore them and only look at the deepest colored handprints. He took a step forward and pointed at one of the walls. ¡°These bloody handprints make up the five lines of the staff and the handprints in the middle are connected in the shape of a note. This one represents the ¡®mi¡¯ sound in the C key.¡±

    Their teammates, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Staves were drawn on the four walls with bloody handprints. It was worthy of the A of Diamonds.

    Xiao Lou nced at Ye Qi with relief. ¡°Fortunately, there is Xiao Ye. Otherwise, we would be eliminated in this music secret room.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang seriously nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t understand staves so I will leave it to Xiao Ye.¡±

    Long Sen, Old Mo and Shao Qingge exchanged looks and also said they couldn¡¯t understand.

    Qu Wanyue had been dancing since elementary school and she also dabbled in music. She might not be as professional as Ye Qi but she could understand simple staves. She listened to Ye Qi¡¯s words, turned to examine the other walls and agreed. ¡°Excluding the light colored fingerprints, the dark ones are indeed musical notation. The notes on the left wall are so, mi, re, do and.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes swept over the remaining three walls. ¡°The notes on the other three walls are, fa, mi, ti, so, so, fa, re, mi and so, mi, re, do, so¡­¡±

    He connected the notes of the four walls, adjusted the order and sang softly.

    Then Ye Qi¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°This is the score for a Christmas song!¡±

    So, mi, re, do, so.

    So, mi, re, do,.

    La, fa, mi, re, ti.

    So, so, fa, re, mi.

    It was a ssic Christmas song melody.

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t read the staves but he could hear the Christmas song when Ye Qi hummed it. Xiao Lou became puzzled. ¡°We can convert the notes of the staves into the number it represents. Do, re, mi, fa, so,, ti represents 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 respectively. The code of the wooden box is seven numbers while the melody of the Christmas song is 20 notes.¡±

    The notes of the Christmas song were changed into numbers.

    53215, 53216, 64327, 55423.

    Ye Qi scratched his head in a puzzled manner. ¡°There are 20 numbers. How do we pick our seven numbers to form a password?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it carefully. ¡°We have to pick 7 numbers out of 20. It is likely that the rule of ¡®superimposition¡¯ is used. Stack the four sets of numbers together and eliminate a number once it appears again. This will leave a final number without any repetitions. Then the order of these four sets of numbers after superimposition is 5321647.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was convinced by Xiao Lou¡¯s judgment and simply said, ¡°Try it.¡±

    He turned the password lock of the old wooden box to ¡®5321647¡¯. There was a clicking sound and the box was sessfully opened! The team members had admiration in their eyes as they watched Xiao Lou. Before anyone had time to speak, they heard the familiar Christmas song melody in their ears.

    <em>Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way£¬</em>

    <em>Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh¡­</em>

    In the confined dim space, music suddenly yed and startled them. Ye Qi raised his head and looked for the speakers. After looking around, he couldn¡¯t find them. He had no choice but to say, ¡°Isn¡¯t it frightening to suddenly y music? A of Diamonds has been affected by the other keepers.¡±

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°It seems that this secret room has a Christmas theme. We should look at the clue in the box first.¡±

    Inside the wooden box was a yellowing hardcover leather diary bound with red thread and a beautiful bow tied in front. Yu Hanjiang untied the red thread and opened the book. The first page read, ¡°Lucia¡¯s diary.¡±

    The handwriting was crooked and should belong to a child.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang looked at each other. Yu Hanjiang opened the diary while Xiao Lou used the Night Pearl to illuminate it. Yu Hanjiang read the diary aloud in a low voice so that his teammates could hear the information.

    ¡°November 11th, sunny.

    Today, my parents took me to move to a new home. Our new home is beautiful. It is a super big five storey vi. I like it here. My mother gave me a diary. I decided to record our family¡¯s life in this book from today.¡±

    ¡°November 15th, sunny.

    Today, I went to a new school. Some students said there are ghosts in the vi we live in. They will float around the vi in the middle of the night. Last month, all the people living in the vi were killed by a ghost. Since people were killed, the owner was anxious to sell it. I¡¯m a bit scared. Did ghosts really kill people? My mother said those rumors can¡¯t be believed but how can there be a ghost?¡±

    ¡°November 20th, sunny.

    I¡¯ve been living in my new home for a week and haven¡¯t heard any strange noises. I also didn¡¯t see anything floating outside the window in the middle of the night. They must be jealous that I am living in a big vi!¡±

    ¡°November 21st, gloomy.

    My mother hired a nanny to take care of me today. Her name is Ida. She has blond curly hair and her skin is very white. Dad also hired a driver to take me to school. Uncle Farrell has a long white beard and looks like Santa us.

    ¡°November 23rd, rain.

    It was raining heavily and my mother brought a cat back from the roadside. It was wet all over and looked pitiful. We decided to adopt it and called it Tom. Oh, she doesn¡¯t look like the cat in the cartoon Tom and Jerry. The Tom in my family is very white after taking a bath and is very beautiful.¡±

    ¡°December 1st, clear.

    Tom and I are getting along happily. She is my best friend. I personally drew a picture for her. She is super cute.¡±

    ¡°December 17th, heavy rain.

    Today, my mother and I took Tom to the pet hospital for grooming. Tom¡¯s fur was too long so I wanted to cut it and buy her a beautiful set of clothes. As a result, it suddenly rained. I caught a cold from the rain and my nose is runny. It is so ufortable.

    ¡°December 18th, cloudy.

    My cold isn¡¯t better. My head is cloudy and I sleep all day. There is no time to y with Tom.

    My mother called the school to take three days off for me to rest at home. Great, I finally don¡¯t have to see those annoying male ssmates. They always y pranks and put bugs in my schoolbag.

    ¡°December 20th, cloudy.

    This afternoon, I started to have a fever again. My mother invited a private doctor to give me an IV. I don¡¯t like IVs. They are too painful.

    ¡°December 24th, heavy rain.

    It is Christmas Eve and several people came to the house today. They are friends of my parents and a party was held on the first floor.

    Adults are really annoying. They are so noisy and keep drinking. Dad will definitely get drunk.

    My cold isn¡¯t better and I feel sleepy after taking medicine. I have decided to sleep this Christmas Eve and hope my illness will be better when I wake up tomorrow. During this time, my parents are too busy to apany me and they refused to let me participate in the Christmas Eve party, saying that I can¡¯t go out with a cold or my condition will be worse. These are all excuses. They just don¡¯t want a child to get in the way.

    Tomorrow is Christmas. Mom and Dad must sing Christmas songs, wish me a Merry Christmas and buy me lots of gifts. Then I will forgive them.

    It is Tom who treats me the best. She always apanies me.

    I am going to sleep.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang flipped to the back but found that all the pagester were nk. He nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°The diary is written up to here and there are no more entries. Something must¡¯ve happened to the family.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded in agreement. Based on the diary of the little girl Lucia, it can be inferred that the musicbyrinth we are exploring this time is probably the five storey vi where her family lives.¡± The vi was turned into abyrinth. If there were no obstacles then it was naturally easy to find the exit.

    However, A of Diamonds definitely wouldn¡¯t be so kind as to set up a vi where they could easily find the exit. Based on the clues known so far, every room in the vi might be equipped with puzzles and mechanisms. In addition, a five floor building wasn¡¯t a tbyrinth but a 3D one. Perhaps after solving a puzzle on the fourth floor, they would be directly transmitted to a room on the second floor. This would create a sense of spatial confusion.

    The exit must definitely be on the first floor but the rooms they needed to move through to reach the exit and the right order were still unknown. This required everyone to explore together. In fact, thisbyrinth was very simr to the escape rooms in reality.

    Old Mo was an expert when it came to space. Xiao Lou looked at him and told him, ¡°Old Mo, this time it is a five storey 3Dbyrinth. Make sure to draw a picture of every room we enter and whether we go up or down. Otherwise, we will be dizzy.¡±

    Mo Xuemin immediately took out a pen and paper and nodded. ¡°Understood. In a normal vi, the bedrooms will be on the second floor. At present, there are only lights in this room. It is probably a separate storage room and the floor number isn¡¯t known yet.¡±

    He paused before asking, ¡°Why is the little girl¡¯s diary in the storage room?¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t exin this. ¡°We should go to a few more rooms to figure out theyout of the vi.¡±

    Ye Qi wondered, ¡°The box containing the diary has been opened. Where is the door of this room?¡±

    The team heard this and couldn¡¯t help looking at each other. The walls of this room were full of bloody handprints, the melody of the Christmas song yed in their ears and a little girl¡¯s diary was left in the wooden box. Where was the door? Shouldn¡¯t they be given a door to go out of?

    Everyone looked around but didn¡¯t find any hidden doors.

    Xiao Lou read the diary again. ¡°The clue might be in the diary. The little girl¡¯sst entry is on Christmas Eve. Tomorrow is Christmas and she asked her parents to personally sing Christmas songs for her so she can forgive them¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke trailed off and nced at Ye Qi. ¡°Xiao Ye, try singing the Christmas song.¡±

    Ye Qi had aplicated expression. ¡°Professor Xiao, are you sure I should try singing to open the door?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Try it. In any case, there is no other method. This sentence in the diary shouldn¡¯t be useless.

    Ye Qi coughed, cleared his throat and started to sing the Christmas song following the melody being yed.

    The girl in the diary had an English name so this secret room should have a Western background. Therefore, Ye Qi sang the English version of the Christmas song. He sang really well and his voice was clean and clear.

    Strangely, as he sang, a small colored light abruptly lit up at the top of the room. Every time Ye Qi sang a word, there would be one more light and it extended along the wall.

    By the time the song finished, colorful lights surrounded the entire room. A huge Christmas tree appeared in the middle and the room was filled with colorful lights. The Christmas tree had stockings for gifts hanging from it and the entire scene was like a dream.

    Then something unexpected happened. The four walls in front of them suddenly disappeared and everyone appeared in a pink bedroom.

    The bloody handprints, the Christmas song melody that had been ying and the colored lights and Christmas tree were all gone. Everyone seemed to have woken up from a dream and returned to reality.

    This was arge bedroom with curtains, a bed and a wardrobe. It was in a cute pink that girls liked.

    Ye Qi stared nkly at the room in front of him. ¡°Is it really a voice control mechanism? Singing to unlock it is weird¡­¡±

    Before he finished his words, he heard Yu Hanjiang¡¯s solemn voice, ¡°Look at the bed.¡±

    Everyone followed Yu Hanjiang¡¯s words and saw a little girl in a dress lying quietly on the pink princess bed. She was covered with a quilt and only her head was exposed. The little girl had a delicate appearance and long, blonde curly hair. She looked like a beautiful doll sleeping peacefully.

    Unfortunately, her face was as pale as paper. There was obvious postmortem lividity.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s expression changed slightly. ¡°She must be Lucia. She is dead.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°So we were trapped in her dying¡­ dream just now?¡±

    A dream made sense. Otherwise, how could there be so many weird things in the room before a Christmas tree finally appeared?

    Were those bloody handprints her struggle in her dreams?

    The staves with bloody handprints drawn on the wall was a Christmas song. Before she died, her biggest wish was for her parents to sing Christmas songs to her and for them to spend Christmas with her. Unfortunately, her wish didn¡¯te true.

    Ye Qi remembered the scene when he saw the Christmas song just now and couldn¡¯t help sighing emotionally. ¡°The little girl who died was very innocent. This secret room seems to involve solving the mystery of the family¡¯s death in order to find the right way out. I don¡¯t believe in ghosts killing people. There must be a murderer.¡±

    Shao Qingge didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. ¡°Professor Xiao, should we find the mechanisms first or do the autopsy first?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

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 Chapter 282: Music Labyrinth 3

    Xiao Lou had yed many escape room games and the ¡®diary¡¯ was the mostmon clue in this type of game. Many themed escape rooms would use a diary to tell the yer what happened many years ago. They had to follow the clues in the diary to solve the puzzle. However, this was the first time he encountered a corpse in an escape game.

    Xiao Lou nced at the young girl on the bed and suggested helplessly, ¡°I¡¯ll do an autopsy while everyone else will look for clues in the room.¡±

    Thebyrinth had to be cleared in the one hour time limit. The difficulty was much higher than that of ordinary escape rooms.

    In reality, multiyer escape room games generally gave yers three to five hours to challenge and the number of rooms usually didn¡¯t exceed five. The little girl¡¯s dream room was just the first room. If Ye Qi hadn¡¯t understood the notes on the staves then everyone would still be there now, staring at the bloody handprints on all four walls with a headache.

    Xiao Lou thought up to here and warned, ¡°Everyone, hurry up. Don¡¯t miss any clues.¡±

    The team members started to take action. Some people looked through the closet, some looked through drawers and some on the balcony, bathroom and other ces.

    Xiao Lou stepped forward, removed the quilt and carefully examined the girl¡¯s body. The little girl looked peaceful and her clothes were neat. It was obvious that she didn¡¯t struggle before she died. There were no obvious scars on her body and no bruises on her neck. Judging from the postmortem lividity, the appearance of the face and the blue lips, it could be preliminarily determined that she died of poisoning.

    Xiao Lou examined the body and determined, ¡°She was poisoned. The time of death should be around three days ago.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang approached the bed and looked down at the little girl¡¯s body. ¡°The first room was her dream and required us to sing a Christmas song to fulfill her wish and escape from the dreand. Obviously, she was poisoned before she could spend Christmas with her parents. It can be inferred from her diary that she died on Christmas Eve.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Who would do such a thing to a 10 year old child?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang folded his arms and pondered on it for a moment. ¡°It is likely that her parents are dead and the murderer didn¡¯t want to keep anyone alive. Therefore, the little girl was also poisoned to death. We should check the medicine she has taken.¡±

    Hearing this, Liu Qiao found two bottles of medicine from the little girl¡¯s dressing table and handed them to Xiao Lou, ¡°Look, Professor Xiao.¡±

    Xiao Lou took it and read the name of the medicine. ¡°This bottle is anti-fever medicine and should be for a cold. Lucia recently fell ill and her cold hadn¡¯t improved. She took medicine every day. There is this medicine bottle so it is likely someone reced the capsules. She was poisoned after she took it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang picked up Lucia¡¯s diary and quickly flipped through it. ¡°A person who can walk into her room and change her medicine must be someone Lucia doesn¡¯t suspect and is very familiar with this vi. Her diary mentioned three key figures, namely the doctor, the nanny who took care of her and the driver who picked her up. All three are suspects.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°A lot of her parents¡¯ friends came to the party on Christmas Eve. Is the murderer the doctor, the nanny, the driver or a friend attending the party? We must find her parents¡¯ bodies as soon as possible before we can proceed to the next step.¡±

    Long Sen walked to the bedroom door and pushed it hard. ¡°The door can¡¯t be opened. There is another code lock on the doctor and it is seven digits.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked around and asked, ¡°What clues did everyone find?¡±

    Qu Wanyue came over. ¡°I checked Lucia¡¯s wardrobe and saw many pink princess dresses. I looked through the pockets of all the clothes and found nothing rted to numbers.¡±

    Liu Qiao continued, ¡°Lucia collected many rag dolls. There are precisely seven but I don¡¯t know if they have anything to do with the password.¡±

    She held seven rag dolls and ced them on the bed in turn.

    Xiao Lou took a closer look and found they were all ssic characters from cartoons. There were two Mickey Mouses in different colors, one Donald Duck, one Snow White doll, one Spider-man, one Winnie the Pooh and thest one was the female protagonist from Frozen. He checked the dolls carefully. All the dolls were very new with a zipper on the back. He pulled it down and only found cotton filling. There were no other clues.

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Do the seven rag dolls have anything to do with the seven digit password?¡±

    Xiao Lou answered, ¡°At present, we can¡¯t see the connection. Search again.¡±

    Mo Xuemin had found Lucia¡¯s bag and opened it. He took out all the textbooks instead and found a pencil case. It contained seven things including a pencil, brushes that were red, yellow and blue, an eraser, a ballpoint pen and a ruler. It was seven again. How did pencils and erasers connect with numbers?

    Xiao Lou frowned slightly. ¡°We should take a look at things that are music-rted. These dolls and pencil case are probably just distractions.¡±

    The group searched Lucia¡¯s room again. Suddenly, Ye Qi crouched down in front of a dresser. ¡°There seems to be apartment here.¡±

    He gently tapped on the bottom drawer of the table and heard a hollow soundpared to the other other drawers. Yu Hanjiang immediately came over and pulled out the drawer. He found that this drawer was much shallower than the others and had a mezzanine partition in the middle.

    He soon disassembled the partition and found a small and delicate box at the bottom of the drawer. The small ck box looked like a piano when opened. There was a little princess the size of a thumb standing on it in a pink tutu. Her left arm was up and her right arm was stretched out in a dancing pose.

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°This is a music box!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had never yed with a music box as a child so he handed the box over to Ye Qi. Ye Qi observed carefully and found the clockwork key on the bottom of the piano music box. He turned the knob slightly.

    The little person started to spin and at the same time, the music box yed a clear piano melody. Everyone fell silent at the same time and listened carefully. It was a very familiar melody. It was a children¡¯s song that almost everyone could sing.

    <em>Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are¡­</em>

    There was the original English version as well¡­ but no matter the version, the melody of the music was the same. The melody yed by the music box was very clear and present.

    Ye Qi listened carefully and quickly hummed the tune. ¡°C major, 4/4 beat, six bars in total. It is do-do-so-so-so, fa-fa-mi-mi-re-re-do, so-so-fa-fa-mi-mi-re, so-so-fa-fa-mi-mi-re, do-do-so-so-so and fa-fa-mi-mi-re-re-do.¡±

    Xiao Lou took out a pen and paper and wrote the corresponding number ording to Ye Qi¡¯s hummed melody.

    1155665, 4433221, 5544332, 5544332, 1155665, 4433221.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°The password is seven digits but the entire piece has six bars for a total of 42 notes. Do you still use the same method of eliminating repetitions like before.¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully scanned the recorded numbers. ¡°No, this piece of music is missing a note.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded in agreement. ¡°Yes, the entire piece doesn¡¯t have ti which corresponds to 7. If you use the superimposition and elimination method then only six digits would be left.¡±

    ording to the rules of eliminating duplicates, this melody would be 156432. There was no number 7 and they couldn¡¯t get a seven digit password.

    Ye Qi suggested, ¡°It is missing a number. Perhaps we should add 7 directly at the end so the password is 1564327?¡±

    Liu Qiao added, ¡°Lucia has seven rag dolls, there are seven things in the pencil case and the password for the doll is seven digits. Will it be as Xiao Ye said and we only need to add 7 at the end?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought it made sense. ¡°Try it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang walked over and entered the password 1564327 into the electronic lock at the door. The moment he finished, a piercing rm sound was heard. Immediately afterwards, countless rag dolls fell from above.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Being buried by rag dolls? He was a boy and his parents had never bought him a rag dog as a child. Today, he saw so many at once!

    Everyone was caught off guard by the dolls. The rag dolls didn¡¯t hurt when they fell and hit the body but this scene made everyone feel dumbfounded. Ye Qi couldn¡¯t helpining. ¡°The ceiling is obviously sealed yet a bunch of dolls fell from the sky. This isn¡¯t scientific at all.¡±

    Beside him, Long Sen cursed. ¡°Fuck, the little bear just sat on my head!¡¯

    Shao Qingge didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. ¡°This is the punishment?¡±

    Meanwhile, there was a Donald Duck doll hanging from Yu Hanjiang¡¯s head and dozens of teddy bears around him. Yu Hanjiang nkly stripped away the surrounding dolls and turned to help Xiao Lou clean up the dolls.

    Seeing Xiao Lou¡¯s dumbfounded face emerge from the pile of rag dolls, Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t help smiling slightly. ¡°This punishment is quite unique.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked embarrassed as he pushed away a Mickey Mouse doll lying on his face. ¡°The musicbyrinth we are in is likely to be all dreams so these unreasonable scenes will appear. We are now in Lucia¡¯s bedroom and the child¡¯s way of punishing us is to use dolls to bury us. If we go to another room, the punishment might be more dangerous.¡±

    At this point, the other team members also climbed out of the doll pile.

    Ye Qi quickly kicked the dolls into a corner and cleared an area where he could stand. He helplessly gazed at the dolls strewn all over the room. ¡°The password is wrong. It seems that it isn¡¯t the elimination method this time?¡±

    The elimination method plus the number 7 was the wrong password. Xiao Lou touched his chin thoughtfully and looked again at the numbers on the paper.

    1155665, 4433221, 5544332, 5544332, 1155665, 4433221.

    The first and fifth sections of this nursery rhyme, the second and sixth sections and the third and fourth sections were the same. During Ye Qi¡¯s humming, the third and fourth sections repeated parts continuously. This was kind of like an ¡®emphasis¡¯ on singing twice in a row.

    The first room used the superimposition elimination method. Perhaps the second second room was the repeated ¡®emphasis¡¯ section?

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Try 5544332.¡±

    The team members heard this and took a defensive posture out of fear that something would fall from the ceiling if the wrong password was entered. Yu Hanjiang stepped forward and quickly entered 5544332.

    However, this time there was no punishment. The moment the password waspletely entered, the melody of the music box stopped and the door of the little girl¡¯s bedroom opened with a creak. The sound of the door opening was unusually clear and there seemed to be an echo.

    It was pitch ck outside the door. The light from the girl¡¯s room warmly illuminated a fan-shaped area of the corridor. The team members exchanged looks. Yu Hanjiang took the lead to walk out of the room and Xiao Lou was right behind him. The other members immediately followed.

    There was an empty corridor where the lights were turned off. As everyone walked out the door, something suddenly rushed past their feet. In the darkness, a living creature suddenly rushed past their feet and everyone was frightened. They instantly took out the Night Pearls to light up the corridor.

    Yu Hanjiang looked calmly at a corner of the corridor. ¡°It is a cat.¡±

    As if to prove it, the thing in the corner turned around. Its eyes were a beautiful gold and the color of its fur was as white as snow. It was the cat mentioned in Lucia¡¯s diary that she named Tom. The white cat looked at everyone, meowed and disappeared at the end of the corridor.

    Xiao Lou nced at the direction it disappeared in and was thoughtful. ¡°If Lucia¡¯s family had an ident on Christmas Eve, it is likely that this cat is the only survivor. Perhaps it is here to help us uncover the truth.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°Go, follow her and see.¡±

    They all followed the cat around the corner and a door appeared in front of them. Yu Hanjiang walked over and opened the door. It was a piano room. There was a huge grand piano in the middle of the room and no other furniture.

    A woman was sitting at the piano. She wore a beautiful dress and had curly blonde hair all the way down to her waist. Her hands were on the keys of the piano like she was about to y a tune. However, there was a dazzling burst of blood on her dress. A sharp knife had pierced her chest from the front!

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 Chapter 283: Music Labyrinth 4

    The moment everyone walked into the piano room, the door behind them abruptly closed. The sound rang out in the room and Long Sen, who was in the rear, immediately turned around to tug at the door. He found that the door couldn¡¯t be opened at all and reluctantly said, ¡°We are locked in. It seems we need to find the code to get out of this room.¡±

    Qu Wanyue observed the door carefully. ¡°Why don¡¯t I see a ce to enter the password?¡±

    Old Mo also walked to the door and fiddled with it for a while. He didn¡¯t find any traces of a switch or door lock and told Xiao Lou, ¡°It seems the password lock isn¡¯t on the door. We need to look for it elsewhere.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked around. The room was empty, the walls and floors were t and there were no traces of a hiddenpartment. Besides the piano, there was nowhere to store clues.

    In an escape room game, sometimes there wasn¡¯t a password to enter at the door. There were also various pressing, stepping, puzzles and voice control mechanisms that worked as triggers. For example, the first room was a voice control mechanism that could only be unlocked with the Christmas song. This room had no code lock on the door so the key to escape should be the piano in the middle of the room.

    Xiao Lou had this in mind as he spoke. ¡°The piano in the middle is probably connected to a hidden pressing mechanism. It is only by pressing the corresponding key that this secret room will be opened.¡±

    Ye Qi agreed. ¡°This type of pressing mechanism is verymon in escape rooms. If the piano keys are connected by the pressing mechanism, the order of the keys is very important. Will it be a specific melody?¡±

    Xiao Lou told them, ¡°Let¡¯s find it.¡±

    He took a step forward and closely observed the beautiful woman.

    The woman was stabbed to death in a single blow. She didn¡¯t struggle before she died but the expression on her face was full of horror. It should¡¯vee at the hands of an unsuspected acquaintance. The murderer walked into the piano room, abruptly took out a knife and directly stabbed her to death.

    Xiao Lou analyzed. ¡°There is no doubt about the cause of death. It was the knife in her chest. Her identity¡­ could it be the hostess of the family? Lucia¡¯s mother?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°It is possible. Normal guests won¡¯te to the piano room. In this ce, she was sitting at the piano and preparing to y. Perhaps when the party took ce on Christmas Eve, someone asked her to y a piece of music.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang observed the space around the piano. There was no furniture so it seemed the piano was the only clue. He bent down to check under the piano and unexpectedly found a portable tape recorder more than half a meter wide hidden under the piano. There was also a speaker attached to the recorder.

    Yu Hanjiang took out the tape recorder and had a closer look. It was an old-fashioned tape recorder that could be started with a battery and contained a tape. As a child, he had used this type of tape recorder to listen to songs.

    Yu Hanjiang handed it over to Ye Qi. ¡°Can you use this?¡±

    Ye Qi nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    At this point, the tape had reached the end and it had automatically stopped ying. Ye Qi pressed rewind, rewound the tape to the beginning and pressed the y button.

    After a few seconds of silence, a clear and melodious piano melody entered their ears. It was a familiar melody with a trace of sadness. Many people had heard this melody but couldn¡¯t remember its name.

    Ye Qi was forced to learn musical instruments by his parents since he was a child and he had memorized the scores of such famous music. The moment he listened to it, he knew its identity. ¡°This piano piece is called Dream Wedding. Two well-knownposers tailored a piece of the piano master Richard yderman. There is a touching story behind this piece.¡±

    Xiao Lou was interested. ¡°The story? Let¡¯s hear it.¡±

    Ye Qi carefully told the story.

    ¡°One winter when it was snowing, a young man came to the Magic Academy in the Kingdom of Dreams. He fell in love with the school¡¯s most beautiful girl at first sight. This girl was the princess of the Kingdom of Dreams.¡±

    ¡°The young man had an ordinary identity and knew he couldn¡¯t be with the noble princess. He could only bury his love in his heart. Later, he finally couldn¡¯t suppress his feelings and confessed to the princess. After being rejected, he left the Kingdom of Dreams sadly. However, he couldn¡¯t forget her, his first love. Six yearster he returned to the Kingdom of Dreams to seek the princess only to encounter the princess¡¯ wedding.¡±

    ¡°The princess was marrying the prince of a neighboring kingdom. All the people of the Kingdom of Dreams were celebrating. The man stood in the crowd and watched the princess walking to the church with the prince. Suddenly, he rushed out. The guards beside the princess thought he was an assassin and immediately drew their swords. They didn¡¯t expect that instead of hurting the princess, he opened his arms, threw himself in front of the princess and said ¡®I will protect you.¡¯ Then people saw a sharp arrow pierce his chest¡­¡±

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help sighing. ¡°The man actually saw someone in the crowd pulling out a longbow to assassinate the princess so he rushed to protect her. Before he died, he dreamed that the princess walked into the church beside him in her wedding dress, smiled and said she would marry him. It is a tragic story of how the wedding in the man¡¯s dream will nevere true.¡±

    The expressions of the team members changed as they heard Ye Qi¡¯s story.

    The sad piano music was still ying in the room and Qu Wanyue couldn¡¯t help whispering softly, This man was quite infatuated and was willing to give up his life for the princess. It is a pity that they couldn¡¯t be together in the end due to their difference in status.¡±

    Shao Qingge joked, ¡°Xiao Ye, you are good at telling stories.¡±

    Ye Qi looked at Xiao Lou seriously. ¡°I think that the story behind this piano piece is rted to the murder.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other. Could the unfulfilled wedding in the dream be rted to the murders?

    The piano music on the tape finished and the room became quiet again.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was low. ¡°From Lucia¡¯s diary, it can be inferred that many people participated in the party on Christmas Eve. The hostess went to the piano room to y the piano and was killed. The murderer used the recorded piano music to cover it up. This shows that the murderer must know what piece the hostess would y.¡±

    It was for a very simple reason. If the hostess said ¡®I¡¯ll y To Alice¡¯ for everyone¡¯ and instead it was Dream Wedding on the recorder, everyone¡¯s suspicions would naturally be aroused. Since the piano music in the recorder was the same as the piece the hostess wanted to y, it proved the murderer was prepared.

    Xiao Lou spected, ¡°Perhaps ying the song Dream Wedding was suggested by the murderer.¡±

    There were so many piano pieces and Christmas was a joyous holiday. Why y a sad song like Dream Wedding unless someone deliberately suggested it. They could find a reason simr to ¡®I like listening to this piano piece the best¡¯ to let the hostess y it.

    Xiao Lou nced over at Ye Qi. ¡°Xiao Ye, can you y this piano song?¡±

    Ye Qi nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    No mechanisms or code lock had been found in the room and the door couldn¡¯t be opened. They could only try to unlock it with the piano. Yu Hanjiang understood Xiao Lou¡¯s meaning and stepped back to make room for Ye Qi.

    Ye Qi prepared himself and sat where the corpse had just been. He stretched out his slender hands and started to y Dream Wedding based on his memories. As a result, he just finished the first verse when the locked door suddenly opened!

    Ye Qi was excited. ¡°It indeed has to do with the piano!¡±

    The piano keys were connected to the hidden lock in the room. The door would open after pressing the correct keys just like Xiao Lou spected. They saw no other clues in this room. Everyone looked at each other and immediately walked out the door.

    The cat was nowhere to be seen and there was no light in the dark corridor. Yu Hanjiang raised the Night Pearl and saw another door after taking a few more steps. The group came to the door. Just as before, upon entering, the door closed behind them. They needed to find the code to this room to unlock the clues.

    They all started searching. This was a study and the colour scheme was cold ck and grey.

    The middle of the room contained a desk with a photo frame on the table. The photo showed the family of three. Xiao Lou picked it up to take a look. The lower right corner of the photo read, ¡°Wells, Shirley and daughter Lucia on her 10th birthday.¡±

    The man was wearing a blue suit and was handsome. The woman was beautiful and sexy in a white dress while the little girl was lively and cute in a pink dress. The scene of the family of three standing together was particrly warm.

    Xiao Lou observed the woman in the photo. ¡°The one who died just now really is the hostess of this house. She is called Shirley.¡±

    There was a globe next to the photo frame. Xiao Lou picked it up but didn¡¯t find anything abnormal, so he temporarily put it back.

    Ye Qi knelt down and searched the drawer under the bookcase. He found a stack of printed invitations and took them to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°These should be the invitations for the Christmas Eve party. They are done very well.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes swept over the names on the invitations. A total of five people were invited to the Christmas Eve party. They were Dr Simon, Mr Jack, Ms Karen, Ms Martha and Ms Susan.

    Xiao Lou leaned over to look at the stack of invitations and memorized the names of the five people. He analyzed it. ¡°There are two men and three women. Apart from Simon who is a doctor, the other four can¡¯t be identified. Since they can participate in a private party, these four people must have a very close rtionship with the host and hostess.

    Qu Wanyue found many books in the bookcase and took some out. ¡°Is Shirley a professional pianist or a teacher at a music school? There are many professional books on piano.¡±

    Ye Qi was searching through a desk drawer and found a printed form and delicate wooden box. He picked up the form, nced at it and called out excitedly, ¡°Shirley is indeed a pianist and she is very famous! I found a schedule for her tour!¡±

    He spread out the form on the table and read it loudly.

    November 25th: Japan ¨C Tokyo, concert.

    December 7th: Norway ¨C Oslo, piano performance.

    December 12th: Germany ¨C Frankfurt, piano performance.

    Xiao Lou spoke clearly, ¡°No wonder Lucia¡¯s diary mentioned that her parents were too busy during this time and didn¡¯t apany her. It turned out that her mother was busy going abroad to perform.¡± He walked over and asked, ¡°What¡¯s in the wooden box?¡±

    Ye Qi opened the wooden box and found a number puzzle inside. The numbers were filled in on the edges and only the middle ones were empty. There was a note next to it: A Christmas gift for Shirley. You can get it if youplete the puzzle¡ªWells who loves you.¡±

    Ye Qi handed the wooden box to Xiao Lou. ¡°Professor Xiao, this number puzzle is a bit weird. What do you think the password is?¡±

    Xiao Lou took the wooden box. At first nce, the number puzzle wasn¡¯t Suduko. It was a 6¡Á6 puzzle with a total of 36 boxes in a grid, of which 24 had been filled in with numbers. There were 12 vacancies left and he couldn¡¯t find any rules for filling in the numbers. Adding or subtracting the horizontal and vertical rows didn¡¯t work. He couldn¡¯t get the answer even if he followed the 1-9 Sudoku method.

    Xiao Lou stared at the puzzle and thought carefully. Since it was a gift from the husband to his wife, the 12 vacant numbers were likely to be rted to his wife. He looked at the schedule of Shirley¡¯s overseas performances this month and then the globe on the table.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes abruptly lit up. ¡°Liu Qiao, go to the globe to find the locations of Shirley¡¯s performances!¡±

    Liu Qiao was standing next to the globe. She immediately rotated it to find Tokyo, Oslo and Frankfurt.

    Xiao Lou ordered, ¡°Check thetitude and longitude of these cities.

    Liu Qiao quickly got the answers from the globe. ¡°Tokyo, Japan is 35 degrees northtitude and 139 degrees east longitude. Oslo, Norway is 59 degrees northtitude and 10 degrees east longitude. Frankfurt, Germany is 50 degrees northtitude and 8 degrees east longitude¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou filled thetitudes 35, 59 and 50 into the six nks in the first row. Then he filled the longitude numbers 139, 10, and 8 in the remaining puzzle areas.

    Sure enough, a ¡®pop¡¯ sound entered their ears and the box was opened.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help sighing. ¡°This globe is used to check thetitude and longitude.¡± The first time he saw the globe, he had wondered if he needed to turn it a few times to unlock it.

    Meanwhile, Xiao Lou saw the detailed ce names on the performance schedule and noticed there was a globe on the table. He realized that the cities¡¯titude and longitude might correspond to the number puzzle. This type of ¡®connected thinking¡¯ was a very important skill in escape room games.

    The box opened and revealed a sapphire ne and a card.

    The card said:

    ¡°Dear Shirley, we have been married for 10 years. You have been very busy over the years and often go on tour to do performances all over the world. I am also very busy at mypany. We can¡¯t spare too much time to apany each other but please believe that no matter where you go, my heart is with you.

    Shall we take a rest after Christmas this year?

    I think taking our baby daughter around the world is the best gift for Lucia.¡±

    Xiao Lou read this card and looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°This family is very rich. The host is the boss of apany and the hostess is a pianist. They live in a luxuriousrge vi but the two of them are too busy to apany their daughter. During her illness, their daughter was taken care of by the nanny and family doctor.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°The host¡¯s original n was to go around the world together after Christmas. So on Christmas Eve, he invited a lot of people toe to the house for a party. He didn¡¯t expect that this Christmas Eve would turn into a night of death.¡±

    The hostess¡¯ body was found in the piano room. Then what about the host?

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 Chapter 284: Music Labyrinth 5

    The number of clues found in the study was the highest among all the rooms. The invitations had the names of the people invited to participate in the Christmas Eve party and the murderer was probably among these people.

    In addition, they found the Christmas gift box given to his wife by the host as well as the hostess¡¯ performance schedule. They used the locations on the schedule to check the longitude andtitude on the globe, unlocked the gift box and saw the Christmas card written by the host.

    However, the door of the study still didn¡¯t open. Xiao Lou looked around and stopped on the wall of bookcases. ¡°There should be a clue we have missed. Hurry and look at the row of bookcases. Search through them as soon as possible.¡±

    The desk and drawers had been carefully rummaged through and no other clues could be found. Only the bookcases hadn¡¯t been checked. Qu Wanyue started with the left-most cab and found a lot of professional music books. Old Mo looked on the far right and saw some books rted to architecture. He quickly flipped through these books and told Xiao Lou, ¡°The host, Wells, is an architect and has opened a designpany. There is a brief introduction of hispany in this book.¡±

    Xiao Lou took it and put the clue away in his pocket.

    Judging from the brief introduction, Wells¡¯ architectural designpany wasn¡¯t small and the ie was considerable. Along with the money earned from his wife¡¯s performances all over the world, this family could afford a five storey vi. It was obviously a rich family so he couldn¡¯tpletely rule out a servant killing the master for money.

    Long Sen rummaged through the bookcase in the middle. ¡°There are so many CD cases here. Xiao Ye,e and take a look.¡±

    Ye Qi stepped forward and immediately said, ¡°These are all high quality CDs of Richard yderman¡¯s piano music. It seems that Shirley is a big fan.¡±

    Richard yderman, a world-renowned piano master was born in France and had many famous masterpieces. The CDs that appeared on the bookcase were all famous songs. Ye Qi exined, ¡°These five songs are ¡®My Destiny¡¯, ¡®Lyphard Melodie¡¯, ¡®A Comme Amour¡¯, ¡®Dream Wedding¡¯ and ¡®Don¡¯t Cry for Me Argentina¡¯.¡±

    Ye Qi took out the five CD cases and handed them to Xiao Lou. ¡°Are these CDs rted to the password of the room?¡±

    The tape recorder in the piano room just now could only y tapes, not CDs. Obviously, this room didn¡¯t have a sound mechanism that required ying the CD to unlock the room. What was the significance of these CDs? A case hint or a password reminder?

    Xiao Lou lowered his head to think for a moment. He opened all the CD cases and was surprised to find that four of the CD cases were empty. Their CDs seemed to have been taken away by Shirley. There was only a brand new CD left in Don¡¯t Cry for Me Argentina. The image on the front of the disk was the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires.

    The team members saw this and looked at each other. There was only one CD on the CD case and an image of the capital city printed on the disc. What did this mean?

    Xiao Lou reacted immediately. ¡°Liu Qiao, check thetitude and longitude of the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires on the globe.¡±

    Liu Qiao hurriedly rotated the globe, found the capital of Argentina and reported the result. 34 degrees southtitude and 58 degrees west longitude.

    Xiao Lou walked up to a bookcase on the wall.

    North was up, south down, west left and east right. If thetitude and longitude corresponded to the bookcase then the book he wanted was 58 books from the left (west) and 34 books from the bottom (south).

    The bookcase had only four shelves. Counting from bottom to top, it was impossible to count 34 books up. However, Xiao Lou found that after aligning with the longitude coordinates of 58, the books here were stacked horizontally. Nearly 20 books could be ced on each shelf.

    Xiao Lou counted 34 books from the bottom ording to the coordinates of 34 degrees southtitude. Finally, he locked onto the location corresponding to thistitude and longitude. This was a world famous book.

    ¡ªThe Lover.

    The moment Xiao Lou pulled out the book, the bookcase in front of him suddenly made a banging sound. Following this, the bookcase rotated 90 degrees and a long, narrow passage appeared in front of everyone!

    The team members stared at each other.

    They were all still wondering what Argentina meant. As a result, thetitude and longitude of the globe corresponded to the horizontal and vertical coordinates on the bookcase. After the main book was extracted, the bookcase would automatically rotate to open the passage. This was a detachable mechanism!

    Fortunately, Xiao Lou reacted quickly enough or they might¡¯ve stayed in this room for dozens of minutes.

    Currently, the countdown had reached 30 minutes and half the time had been used. They solved four rooms, the little girl¡¯s dream room, the little girl¡¯s bedroom, the hostess¡¯ piano room and the host¡¯s study. They found two bodies and the speed was fast enough.

    However, it seemed that the mechanisms were bing more difficult and Xiao Lou also felt a bit nervous. The host¡¯s body hadn¡¯t been found and there were no clues about the murderer. He held the clues they had collected previously and sorted his thoughts as he walked.

    Following down the narrow passageway revealed a staircase that went up.

    Everyone went up the stairs. Xiao Lou walked and gave a simple exnation. ¡°The famous book ¡®The Lover¡¯ is a love story between a poor French girl and a wealthy Chinese man. The two of them admired each other but due to differences in religious beliefs and ethnic culture, they couldn¡¯t be together. The heroine couldn¡¯t ovee the racial differences and returned to Paris to settle and marry a white man. The hero followed the traditional Chinese marriage. He obeyed the orders of his parents and married a Chinese girl he had never met. Many yearster, the man brought his wife to Paris and called the heroine. He said he loved the heroine as much as ever and would love her until he died.¡±

    Many people hadn¡¯t read this famous book but Xiao Lou happened to have read it. Even if he hadn¡¯t read it, the name of the book was very direct. Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°It seems that several clues in this murder case are rted to feelings.¡±

    Both the piano music Dream Wedding and the book The Lover told the story of a tragic love. It was impossible for so many coincidences to appear in a row.

    Yu Hanjiang analyzed it. ¡°The current suspicious characters include the five friends who were invited to the house on Christmas Eve as well as the little girl¡¯s personal doctor, nanny and driver. The motive for the crime is love. The murderer couldn¡¯t get their love and their psychology gradually became distorted. Therefore, they looked for a chance to kill the family.¡±

    Just now, Xiao Lou thought maybe a servant had killed the family for money but the continuous ¡®love story¡¯ clues made him deny his guess. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s analysis was more reasonable. There was a greater likelihood of killing for love in this case.

    Just then, everyone walked up the stairs to the first floor.

    There were two rooms on this floor. There was a door to the left and the right. Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Time is running out so we should split up. Four people enter one room or else the 30 minutes left probably isn¡¯t enough time.¡±

    The fact that the secret room was limited to one hour was the hardest thing. In a real life escape room, there were so many rooms that it would take at least five hours to y!

    Yu Hanjiang coughed slightly. ¡°Do you think grouping¡­ is feasible?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at him. ¡°We will open the heart channel. If one side can¡¯t solve a puzzle then we can discuss it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was relieved. There was Xiao Lou providing ¡®off-site¡¯ help so he didn¡¯t need to worry about difficult mechanisms. Xiao Lou summoned Qin Guan and connected with Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang quickly made a decision. ¡°Liu Qiao, Xiao Ye and Chief Shao will follow me to the room on the left.¡±

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°The remaining three people will go to the right with me. Keepmunicating at all times.¡±

    The eight people entered the two rooms in groups and continued to gather clues. In the room on the left, Yu Hanjiang entered with his teammates and found it was a child¡¯s toy room. It obviously belonged to the little girl Lucia.

    The room was filled with all types of rag dolls and the walls were painted colorfully by her. There were white clouds, a blue sky, green trees and various cartoon cows, sheep and rabbits. Therge room was left a mess by Lucia and the walls were almost ruined by her. The husband and wife clearly loved their only child very much and reserved such arge room for her DIY doodles.

    Yu Hanjiang saw the toys all over the room and had a headache. Xiao Lou sensed his thoughts and told him, ¡°Look and see if these dolls have a pattern.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang ordered, ¡°These dolls are too messy. First sort and organize them.¡±

    Ye Qi and Liu Qiao immediately separated to find the pattern while Shao Qingge stood in the middle of the room and carefully studied the drawings on the walls.

    Yu Hanjiang stood in a corner and spoke to Xiao Lou in his mind, ¡°What is the situation on your side?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°It is the hostess¡¯ cloakroom and there are many clothes, bags and shoes.¡±

    A dressing room that was dozens of square meters in size was extremely luxurious. The closets against three walls were full of beautiful clothing and many dresses for performances. One wall was made into a shoe cab with countless high heels and t shoes. There was a table in the middle with many drawers. It was a ce for storing jewelry.

    Xiao Lou asked his three teammates to look through the closets on one wall each, focusing on the pockets of the clothes, while he looked at the jewelry table in the middle. The bottom drawer of the jewelry table was locked with a four digit code. In the escape room games, the things with locks must have important clues.

    Xiao Lou asked his teammates to quickly search the closets. Long Sen and Old Mo were ufortable seeing some of the clothes. Qu Wanyue was the most efficient and quickly found an old wallet with a group photo in the inner pocket of the coat.

    The group photo consisted of Shirley, her husband Wells, two men and three women. The seven people stood in a row and smiled happily. A special rtionship couldn¡¯t be seen just by looking at the smiles.

    Qu Wanyue took it over. ¡°The seven people in the photo are all wearing university graduation clothing. They should be ssmates. There are precisely two men and three women. They should be the five people invited to the Christmas Eve party?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°It is possible.¡±

    He turned the photo over and saw some numbers on the back.

    Group photo of the 98th graduates ¨C June 7th.

    The password lock on the drawer had four numbers. Would it be 9867? Xiao Lou thought about it. The password shouldn¡¯t be this simple. If he entered 9867 and it was wrong then he didn¡¯t know what punishment would ur¡­

    Xiao Lou was silent for a few seconds. In an escape room, the password was rarely written directly. The number behind this phone was likely to be an interference item. He gave up on the simple attempt of 9867 and carefully examined the jewelry table.

    The jewelry on the table was ced very regrly. There were five jeweled nes hanging on the left from short to long, eight pairs of earrings in the middle area and seven bracelets on the right. There were eight pairs of earrings which could be understood as the number 16.

    The arrangement of this jewelry might be the password to the bottom drawer.

    It was a four digit password. Was it 5167 from left to right or 7165 from right to left? Or none of these options.

    Meanwhile, Ye Qi and Liu Qiao also found the pattern in the child¡¯s room next door. The two people had sorted out all the dolls in the room.

    Ye Qi was sweating profusely. He pointed to the organized dolls at his feet and stated, ¡°There are 5 Mickey Mouse, 6 bears, 7 Snow White dolls in different colors, 3 big turtles and 8 plush rabbits of different sizes.¡±

    Liu Qiao added, ¡°There is a cab here with a code lock. It is a five digit code.¡±

    There was nothing else in the room. Shao Qingge thoughtfully said, ¡°It seems the numbers after these dolls are organized are the password to the cab. The key lies in the order.¡±

    5, 6, 7, 3 and 8, how should the order be arranged?

    There were many possibilities if the five numbers were randomly arranged. If they entered the wrong number then they would be buried by dolls¡­ the adults didn¡¯t want to experience this type of punishment again.

    All the dolls in the room had been sorted so there must be clues on the order in the room.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the colorful graffiti on the wall. ¡°What do these drawings on the walls mean?¡±

    Shao Qingge had a headache. ¡°I can¡¯t read these children¡¯s drawings.¡±

    Ye Qi pointed to the crooked graffiti on the left wall. ¡°This wall seems to be the story of the tortoise and the hare. If arranged ording to this story, the tortoise won against the rabbit and should be in front of the rabbit. However, there are no animals like Mickey Mouse or the bear.¡±

    Liu Qiao was looking at a big graffiti tree with a sentence written next to it. She whispered, ¡°The lifespan of a tree is much greater than that of a human. If I can be a tree, how good would it be? I can get enough to eat in the sun every day.¡±

    So¡­ what exactly was the password for this child¡¯s graffitied room?

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 Chapter 285: Music Labyrinth 6

    In the dressing room, Xiao Lou quickly figured out the answer to the drawer lock.

    Theyout of the jewelry was regr and the nes were ced from short to long. The earrings were from the smallest studs to the longest dangling earrings. Then the arrangement of the jewelry numbers should follow the rule of ¡®short to long.¡¯

    Among the three types of jewelry, the earrings were the shortest (8 pairs = 16). Then it was the bracelets (7) and the nes (5). Therefore, the order of the password should be earrings, bracelets and nes. This was 1675.

    The drawer was a four digit rotating lock. Xiao Lou rotated the numbers to 1675. Sure enough, there was a click and the lock was sessfully opened.

    He opened the drawer and found a 30 cm long jewelry box in the drawer. The red velvet cloth looked a bit old and it was tied with a red ribbon in a beautiful bow. He opened the box and saw a ne lying inside, but the chain was a bit yellow. There was a space below with a piece of paper stuffed inside. It read: For my beloved. I hope you will always be as young and beautiful as you are when you are 18. I will always love you.

    Xiao Lou handed the ne to Qu Wanyue. ¡°Teacher Qu, can you tell what material this is?¡±

    Qu Wanyue said, ¡°tinum has a much better gloss and isn¡¯t prone to rust. Silver chains tend to turn yellow after a long time due to oxidation. This ne looks more like a silver chain. The pendant in the middle might be jade but it isn¡¯t transparent at all and the color is average. It should be a bargain ne that can be bought for a few hundred yuan at the mall.¡±

    She looked back at the jewelry on the table.

    The five nes on the left were shining brightly under the light. The first sapphire ne was very valuable at first nce and was suitable for wearing with various dresses. There were also two diamond nes with huge diamonds that dazzled people¡¯s eyes. They probably cost at least several hundred thousand yuan. In addition, the two jade pendants were crystal clear and one of them was probably fine jade.

    The silver ne locked in the drawer looked particrly poorpared to these luxurious jewelry. Due to age, the silver chain had oxidized and yellowed. The heart-shaped jade pendant also seemed covered with ayer of dust.

    Xiao Lou frowned slightly. ¡°This chain must have a special meaning to the hostess. She is so rich and has so much precious jewelry. Why bother locking a cheap silver chain in a drawer?¡±

    Long Sen spected, ¡°Looking at this note, it seems to be a gift from her 18th birthday so it has special significance. An 18 year old student has no source of ie so isn¡¯t it natural to be unable to afford jewelry? Students often give silver chains since diamonds are too expensive.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, this ne probably wasn¡¯t given by her husband. 18 years old is a normal age for first love.¡±

    Qu Wanyue also agreed. ¡°This should be something very important that her first love gave her. She didn¡¯t dare let her husband find it so she locked it in the bottom drawer.

    Most men wouldn¡¯t idly go through their wife¡¯s jewelry table in the dressing room. The hostess secretly locked this ne in a bottom drawer and it was difficult for her husband Wells to find it. She wouldn¡¯t have to hide it if this ne was from her husband.

    Combined with the clues suggested by the previous <em>Dream Wedding</em> and <em>The Lover</em>, Xiao Lou felt his deduction was close to the truth. ¡°The hostess is happily married and has a happy family but she has an unforgettable first love in her heart. As described in the novel <em>The Lover</em>, the male and female protagonists married other people for family reasons but they always loved each other.¡±

    Old Mo had a headache. ¡°Marrying one person but thinking of another. Isn¡¯t thispletely unfair to her husband?¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°There are indeed many examples of this in reality. People who are in love can¡¯t always be together. In the end, they go on blind dates, are introduced to someone and find a suitable person. Many couples aren¡¯t necessarily in true love. I heard many people have an unforgettable white moonlight in their hearts and will preserve the things the other person gave them. Even if these gifts aren¡¯t expensive, they are the most unique in their hearts.¡±

    The three of them stared at Xiao Lou. ¡°Professor Xiao, you seem to understand this quite well?¡±

    Xiao Lou touched his nose and exined, ¡°It is just a theoretical analysis. I have never been in love.¡±

    Qu Wanyue joked, ¡°Listening to your analysis, I thought you also have a white moonlight you can¡¯t forget.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang could hear Xiao Lou¡¯s conversation through the heart channel. He couldn¡¯t help whispering, ¡°Is there?¡±

    Xiao Lou was startled. ¡°What?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was serious. ¡°A white moonlight.¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately exined. ¡°It is a theoretical analysis. I have never been in a rtionship and don¡¯t have anyone I am unable to forget.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang sighed with relief. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good.¡±

    Then he changed the subject before Xiao Lou could feel doubts. ¡°Your spection is very reasonable. The hostess should have an unforgettable first love but she ultimately married Wells. Perhaps it was forced by her circumstances. Her true love could never forget her but couldn¡¯t get her love. In the end, hemitted a cruel act.¡±

    Xiao Lou was concerned. ¡°Have you solved the password? Are there any new clues?¡±

    ¡°It is solved and we found a book of doodles. I¡¯ll show it to youter.¡±

    It was Ye Qi who figured out the password to the child¡¯s room.

    The key clue to this was the sentence on the wall: The lifespan of a tree is much greater than that of a human. If I can be a tree, how good would it be? I could get enough to eat in the sun every day.

    There was a logical order in this sentence. The lifespan of a tree was greater than that of humans. Those with a greater longevity were ranked first.

    The toys in the room had been sorted and ssified, their specific numbers determined. The thing he was unsure of was their order. The only thing rted to order in the entire room was the sentence on the wall.

    The lifespan was the key to sorting the numbers.

    The five types of rag dolls were 5 Mickey Mouse, 6 little bears, 3 turtles, 7 Snow White and 8 bunnies.

    A tortoise had the longest lifespan and some could live up to 200 years. Humans were second since they had an average lifespan of 70-80 years. Bears usually lived for 20-30 years, rabbits for 10 years and mice had the shortest lifespan of 2-3 years.

    ording to the rule of longevity, the order of the toys was: turtle, Snow White (human), bears, rabbits and Mickey Mouse.

    This also matched the rule that the tortoise was before the rabbit based on the drawing of the tortoise and the hare.

    The password was: 37685.

    Ye Qi¡¯s logic wasplete and Yu Hanjiang entered the password into the door lock of the cab. Sure enough, it opened. A little girl¡¯s doodling book was found in the cab. Yu Hanjiang picked it up and saw that images in it were extremely creative. Lucia had a talent for drawing and recorded all the details of her family¡¯s life in the form of ¡®doodles.¡¯

    This picture book should be drawn before she moved into the vi.

    The first page was a drawing of her and her father going out for a pic. The second page was her father taking her to the amusement park, a movie, her father apanying her on her birthday¡­ in these pictures, her mother rarely appeared. Perhaps her mother was abroad for her performances.

    Lucia also wrote on one of the pages: Mom loves the piano more than she loves me.

    Thest page showed her moving into a new home with her parents. In front of the five storey vi, a man and a woman were holding her hand. There was a truck from the movingpany and next to it were two people, one man and a woman who came to help.

    This picture book connected with Lucia¡¯s diary. The picture book recorded her life before the move and the diary was written after the move.

    Judging from thest drawing, apart from her parents and Lucia, two other people came that day to help move. The diary showed that the nanny and driver were only hired after the move so the people in the picture couldn¡¯t be the staff. They were more likely to be her parents¡¯ friends.

    Yu Hanjiang pointed to the drawing. ¡°These two people are very important. They came to the vi on the day of the move and can understand theyout of the vi in advance. This murder case was obviously premeditated. It is difficult for people who have never been to the vi before to kill and then leave.¡±

    It was impossible for those unfamiliar with the environment to uratelye to the little girl¡¯s bedroom and poison Lucia.

    The two people in Lucia¡¯s drawing must be part of the five people invited to the Christmas Eve party. She had seen them a long time ago so when they entered her room to change her medicine, she wasn¡¯t too alert.

    Yu Hanjiang put away the book and asked Xiao Lou, ¡°The cab code has been unlocked but the door of the room hasn¡¯t opened. How do we get out?¡±

    The moment he spoke, the wooden board at the back of the cab suddenly opened on both sides and a passage appeared. At the same time, a passage also appeared at the back of a closet in the dressing room. Everyone moved forward along the passage and after passing a corner, they actually saw their teammates.

    Ye Qi eximed with pleased surprise, ¡°The passages from the two rooms are connected? Grouping can really save a lot of time!¡±

    Old Mo rubbed his pained head. ¡°Piano, bookcase, wardrobe¡­ everything is so messy. It should be abyrinth of mechanisms that A of Diamonds temporarily remodeled using the family¡¯s vi.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Old Mo, can you tell the space and direction?¡±

    Mo Xuemin had been drawing on the paper since entering thebyrinth. He heard this and took out the image he drew. ¡°The dream room we entered was on the same floor as the little girl¡¯s bedroom. Based on the windowyout, it should be the second floor. The piano room and study are also on the second floor. We went up a flight of stairs from the study so the hostess¡¯ dressing room and the child¡¯s toy room are on the third floor.¡±

    Now they were once again going down the stairs. Old Mo stared at the spiral staircase in front of him. ¡°From the length of this staircase, we are currently heading to the first floor.¡±

    Xiao Lou was immediately alert.

    Usually, a party took ce on the first floor of a vi where there was a dining room and kitchen for everyone to eat and chat. It was very likely there would be a major discovery on the first floor and it would also be the most difficult level in the secret room.

    Xiao Lou nced at Yu Hanjiang and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go. Everyone, be careful where you step.¡±

    The group walked down the spiral staircase for a while and saw a ss door. Xiao Lou opened the door gently. Sure enough, they walked into a luxurious living room.

    The middle of the living room contained a Christmas tree full of colorful lights. It was two meters high and very grand. There are many of Santa¡¯s red stockings hanging from it and the balloons on the wall spelled out ¡®Merry Christmas.¡¯ The host and hostess obviously put a lot of thought into this Christmas Eve party.

    The living room was a mess. The pillows on the sofa were thrown to the ground and the table was covered in snack bags.

    The long table in the dining room contained seven red wine sses and some empty wine bottles were scattered on the ground. There were also many unfinished fruits and pastries thrown on the tes on the table.

    This scene was like a mess that hadn¡¯t been cleaned up yet after a party. Most notably, a many motionless on the sofa in the midst of the mess.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged looks and stepped forward. Sure enough, it was the husband, Wells. He was already dead.

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 Chapter 286: Music Labyrinth 6

    Xiao Lou saw Wells¡¯ body lying on the sofa and immediately put on his gloves to conduct an autopsy. Meanwhile, his teammates consciously collected clues from everywhere in the room.

    Wells¡¯ eyes were wide open and his tongue was half sticking out. This was a typical sign of strangtion. There were obvious strangtion marks on his neck which showed characteristics of ¡®deepest at the center and gradually bing shallower toward the sides.¡¯ The strangtion marks were around three fingers wide.

    No other obvious injuries were found on the body.

    Xiao Lou quickly got a result for the autopsy. ¡°The cause of death was mechanical strangtion. His shirt showed signs of being pulled by violence and two buttons have broken off. The tool used by the murderer was probably his tie.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned while looking at the man¡¯s wrinkled shirt and analyzed, ¡°He should¡¯ve drunk a lot of alcohol at the Christmas Eve party. After sending the guests away, he fell asleep on the sofa. Unexpectedly, the murderer returned, took off his tie and strangled him.¡±

    This was a reasonable guess. The carpet next to the sofa was very neat but some red wine was spilled on the nearby floor tiles. It was dried and there were no signs of something being dragged. The body hadn¡¯t been moved. There was no need for the murderer to strangle Wells and then move him back to the sofa. Wells hadn¡¯t gone back to the bedroom to sleep. He likely fell asleep directly on the sofa because he was drunk. Therefore, he didn¡¯t know that his wife had been killed in the second floor piano room.

    Xiao Lou asked his teammates, ¡°What have you found?¡±

    Ye Qi had gone to the trash can in the dining room. ¡°The trash can is full of snack bags and various fruit skin peels. Nothing special.¡±

    Shao Qingge walked around the kitchen and said, ¡°There are many drinks in the refrigerator as well as fresh vegetables and meat that haven¡¯t been used up. It seems that on Christmas Eve, this couple personally cooked and entertained their guests at home.¡±

    Old Mo walked to the side of the dining room and found there was arge garden outside the French Windows. He tried to push it open but the ss door couldn¡¯t be opened. It seemed to be fixed in ce. Old Mo turned around and said, ¡°This ss door of the dining room should be unlocked by a mechanism. The outside garden is probably the way for us to leave the secret room.¡±

    Qu Wanyue and Long Sen searched all the cabs in the living room and found two photo albums in the TV cab. Long Sen took the albums to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Group Leader Yu, there might be information about the key characters of the secret room.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang immediately took it and examined it with Xiao Lou.

    The first photo album that Xiao Lou looked through was a collection of personal photos of the husband and wife. There were all solo photos of the two people before they went to university, including photos of their birthdays in their childhood as well as important events in elementary and high school.

    It could be seen from the photos that Shirley had been learning the piano since she was very young. There were many photos of her holding a trophy after winning various pianopetitions. Wells¡¯ hobby was also a musical instrument. He learned the violin and often participated in variouspetitions when he was young. Although the two people hadn¡¯t met each other when they were young, the boy wore a suit and the girl a small dress. The photos looked good when put together.

    There were a lot of nk spaces in the second half of the album. It wasn¡¯t known if there were no photos originally or if some of them had been removed.

    The second photo album held by Yu Hanjiang recorded their university days.

    The two of them didn¡¯t go to the same university. Wells studied at a School of Architecture at aprehensive university while Shirley was a student at the Conservatory of Music, as evidenced by the photos of the two people at the school gate.

    Their first photo together was in front of a big stage. The two of them seemed to be 20 years old at the time the picture was taken. Shirley was wearing a beautiful performance dress while Wells wore a handsome ck tuxedo. The handsome man and beautiful woman stood in front of the piano and took a photo together. They didn¡¯t look intimate and should be recently acquainted.

    After this, there were more and more photos together. They gradually started to hold hands and hug.

    Yu Hanjiang quickly flipped past the photos of the two and looked for other people in the album. He soon confirmed the identities of several other people. There were five people who took the most photos with Wells and Shirley and they were also the five invited to the Christmas Eve party. The names of the five people were written on the back of the photos.

    Dr Simon was a university alumni from medical school and friend of Wells. In the photo, Simon stood in front of aboratory building, wearing a white coat and posing with Wells. This person was half a head taller than Wells. He had a handsome appearance, wore silver-framed sses and looked gentle.

    Jack was also a friend of Wells. The two people apparently met at the university¡¯s basketball club. There was a photo of them wearing the same team¡¯s jersey and holding a basketball in the album. Jack was almost the same height as Wells.

    Susan was a ssmate of Wells. In the group photo, the two people held up the golden ¡®Design Competition¡¯ trophy. It seemed they participated inpetitions together and won prizes. They were partners at work.

    Finally, there were Martha and Karen. Both of them were best friends with Shirley. The three girls wore the same color and carried bags of the same style. There were several photos showing this. It seemed the three of them were very close and had a great rtionship.

    Yu Hanjiang sorted out these key photos. ¡°From the perspective of the rtionship between characters, the two men who participated in the party are friends of the husband Wells. Out of the three girls, two are friends of Shirley and one is Wells¡¯ university ssmate and perhaps a close colleague.¡±

    Xiao Lou found the graduation photo of the five people and said, ¡°They are students in the same year and graduated at the same time. Seven people took a photo together while wearing their graduation robes, indicating that everyone knows each other and their rtionship is good.¡±

    The photos could only determine the identity of each person. It was impossible to see who had emotional entanglements with Wells or Shirley. It was unlike the photo in 2 of Hearts where the best man stared directly at the bride.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°One of the five people is the murderer. Let¡¯s take a look at the little girl¡¯s drawing.¡±

    Lucia had drawn a picture of the day they moved in. There was a man and a woman helping her parents.

    The child¡¯s drawing only used colored pens to draw the outline of characters and the facial features were represented by lines. It was impossible to tell who was who but the body shape was obvious. For example, the height difference of her parents in the drawing was the same as in reality. Her father was half a head taller than her mother.

    Xiao Lou took out the drawing and had a closer look. ¡°The man in Lucia¡¯s drawing is half a head taller than her father. Based on this point, we can exclude Jack.¡±

    Jack was good at ying basketball and liked wearing sneakers. In the photo, he and Wells were exactly the same height.

    Since the little girl drew the height difference of her parents, she shouldn¡¯t deliberately draw the uncle half a head taller than her father unless it was true. ording to that line of reasoning, the murderer might¡¯ve been at the vi on the day of the move to find out theyout of the vi so they could n the murder in advance. Jack was less likely if he hadn¡¯t been to the vi.

    Then the remaining man, Dr Simon naturally became more suspicious. He was exactly half a head taller than Wells and as a doctor, it was convenient for him to change the little girl¡¯s cold medicine. If the murderer was him, it was possible for him to stab Shirley to death, strangle Wells and go to the little girl¡¯s room to change the cold medicine.

    Xiao Lou looked at the woman in the drawing. She had a slim build and curly hair. The little girl deliberately used a gold color to draw a wavy line behind the woman¡¯s head to show her hair.

    Susan, Wells¡¯ female ssmate, had short straight hair in the photo. Out of Shirley¡¯s two best friends, one had long straight hair and the other had big curly hair. The one with curly hair was called Karen.

    As long as the little girl wasn¡¯t drawing randomly, it could be determined that the people who came to help on moving day were Dr Simon and Karen.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang looked at each other and spoke at the same time, ¡°Will the murderer be one of these two?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang paused and frowned slightly. ¡°ording to the current clues, the most obvious suspect is Dr Simon. The jewelry that Shirley treasured represents a man in her heart who can¡¯t be forgotten. The famous book The Lover was found in the study and Dream Wedding yed in the piano room are very direct.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°The husband doesn¡¯t have any clues to indicate he had a white moonlight in his heart or other women admiring him. The key should be Shirley. Her treasured ne is too suspicious and there were also words like ¡®Love you forever¡¯ on the note.¡±

    So was the killer Dr Simon?

    The team members looked at each other and felt that the answer wouldn¡¯t be so simple based on the keepers¡¯ terrible personalities.

    The door was still locked. Xiao Lou saw there were 20 minutes left on the countdown and told them, ¡°There is still time. Don¡¯t jump to conclusions. We will search again to see if there are any other clues or mechanisms.¡±

    The team members separated.

    After three minutes, Liu Qiao suddenly said, ¡°There is a hidden door.¡±

    She was in charge of inspecting the living room just now but hadn¡¯t found any useful clues. She listened to Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang analyzing the case while knocking on the wall. Suddenly, there was a hollow sound. There was a door here.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang immediately stepped forward.

    The wall behind the TV in the living room was veryrge. The position where Liu Qiao knocked was just to the side of the TV. The echo of the wooden door was obviously different from the marble wall. Looking closer, they found a small keyhole.

    The nail-sized keyhole was integrated with the paint of the wall. It was hard to see it clearly unless one was looking closely.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s gaze swept over the spacious rooms¡ªthe living room, dining room and kitchen. Everyone had checked all the drawers and found no keys. All the clues that had been collected in the drawers of other rooms had been brought with them.

    Where was the key?

    Xiao Lou turned and looked at the middle of the living room. The team members followed Xiao Lou¡¯s gaze and locked onto the two meter high Christmas tree in the middle of the room. Xiao Lou told them, ¡°The key should be in one of the Christmas stockings. Find it as soon as possible.¡±

    There were many small red stockings hanging on the Christmas tree. At first, everyone thought they were just decorations but now it seemed there was most likely the key to the secret door hidden in them.

    His teammates heard this and acted immediately. The bottom socks contained many chocte candies. Ye Qi couldn¡¯t reach the socks hanging at the top. He looked at the taller Chief Shao next to him and asked for help.

    Shao Qingge stretched out his long arm and easily took off the highest sock. He opened it and sure enough, there really was a key. Xiao Lou grabbed the key and opened the secret door.

    It was a storage room. There were five beautifully packaged gift boxes in different colors on the floor. There were many Christmas elements on the wrapping paper such as snowkes, Santa us, stockings, etc.

    They were obviously Christmas presents given to the couple by the five people invited to the Christmas Eve party.

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°The final clue about the killer should be here.¡±

    There were only 10 minutes left on the countdown. If the murderer wasn¡¯t found then this time limitbyrinth couldn¡¯t bepleted at all.

    They came all this way. They opened the mechanisms and cracked the codes fast enough. They wasted almost no time. The keeper shouldn¡¯t have set the difficulty at a level that couldn¡¯t bepleted.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other and ordered at the same time, ¡°Open them.¡±

    The five gift boxes were quickly grabbed by five people and everyone tore off the exquisite wrapping paper.

    The moment the wrapping paper was torn off, a shocking scene appeared. Five boxes, five password locks!

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Could they drag the keeper of Diamonds out for a fight?

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 Chapter 287: Music Labyrinth 7

    The five gift boxes found in the storage room all had abination lock and the countdown of thebyrinth challenge showed only 10 minutes remaining. Everyone couldn¡¯t help being nervous when they saw the countdown floating in front of them.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath, stabilized his emotions and quickly scanned the five boxes on the ground. The five boxes had different colors: white, blue, purple, green and red.

    Apart from the different colors, the size and shape of the box were exactly the same. There were no password hints written on them. How to unlock the five boxes? The teammates were all in deep thought.

    Xiao Lou quickly judged, ¡°Since these five boxes are Christmas gifts brought by those invited to the Christmas Eve party, the boxes of different colors must correspond to their identity or hobbies¡­¡± He picked up the white box and dered confidently, ¡°The white one was sent by Dr Simon.¡±

    He was a doctor and the most representative color was white. This box muste from Dr Simon.

    The teammates got Xiao Lou¡¯s tip and suddenly became cheerful.

    Yu Hanjiang followed up by saying, ¡°The blue box was given by Jack. In the photo of him and Wells at university, the color of their team uniform was blue. The color of the box is exactly the same as the team uniform. It is a very specialke blue.¡± He found the photo andpared it. The color was exactly the same.

    Qu Wanyue followed next. ¡°The purple gift box is from Miss Susan. It is difficult for ordinary women to control this morous dark purple but in the photo, her heels are this color. She should like dark purple very much.¡±

    The remaining ones were green and red. Yu Hanjiang turned back to the photo of the best friends.

    In this photo, the three friends were standing side by side. They wore the same white dress and held bags of the same style but in different colors. Shirley was holding a cute pink handbag, Martha with her long straight hair was holding a dark green bag and the blonde curly haired Karen was holding a red bag. Obviously, Martha liked green and Karen liked red. The two boxes left were their Christmas presents.

    After locking onto the owner of each box ording to the photos, Xiao Lou started analyzing the password.

    Yu Hanjiang pulled out several rted photos in the album. ¡°Will the clues to the passwords be in the photos?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s take a closer look.¡±

    There were no clues in the storage room and the five guests weren¡¯t present. Only the photos were rted to them. There was a photo of Jack and Wells, both wearing jerseys. On the left, Jack had the number ¡®12¡¯ while on the right, Wells had the number ¡®08.¡¯

    This box was the simplest. Xiao Lou handed it to Ye Qi and Chief Shao. ¡°1208, open it and look for clues.¡±

    Time was limited and they had to all act together. Xiao Lou was responsible for cracking the code while finding clues was left to his teammates.

    He followed up with the white box. In the photo with Simon, Wells should¡¯ve gone to the hospital because of something. Simon was wearing a white coat with a stethoscope around his neck while Wells held a medical record in his hand.

    Xiao Lou moved the photo closer and examined it carefully. The patient¡¯s name was written in the medical record: Wells. Height: 180 cm. Age: 21 years old. BP: 98/70 mmHg. Among these data, only thest blood pressure item was a set of numbers that could form a password. High blood pressure came first and low blood pressure came after. It happened to be a four digit code.

    Xiao Lou handed the box to Liu Qiao and said, ¡°9870.¡±

    Liu Qiao immediately entered the password to open the box and found a letter inside. She read it carefully.

    The purple box came from Susan, a ssmate with a good rtionship with Wells. In the photo, the two people lifted up the trophy of the architectural designpetition together. The trophy was distinctive and wasposed of several metal lines interwoven and arranged. Apart from the trophy, both people were wearing suits and there was nothing on their clothes or in the background rted to numbers.

    Xiao Lou looked at the trophy and didn¡¯t see anything special. He handed the photo to Old Mo. ¡°Old Mo, look at this trophy?¡±

    Mo Xuemin had studied design. After seeing the trophy, he immediately realized the answer. ¡°The lines of the trophy make up a number. You have to cover up the gold part to see the silver.

    The trophy had arge silver area as the base color while the shining gold was used as embellishment. If people looked at the trophy then they were often attracted by the golden embellished. For example, if a few ck lines were drawn on a white wall then people would first notice what the ck lines expressed, not the below white wall.

    Xiao Lou was also looking at the golden embellishment and didn¡¯t see it clearly, but he reacted the moment he heard Old Mo¡¯s words. This was themonly used anti-color treatment from escape rooms.

    On puzzles, walls and other ces that were easy to confuse people, the creators would paint some colors on arge area of the background to make the yers think about what these colors represented. In fact, the painted color was the distracting item. They should be looking at the background color instead.

    Old Mo soon saw the code. ¡°The background color around the cup forms the number 1989.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Look for clues.¡±

    Old Mo opened the box and looked through it carefully. There were two boxes left, the green and red boxes from the best friends.

    In the group photo of the three friends, Martha wore a ne around her neck. There were four small pendants with diamonds strung on the silver chain that looked very delicate. The four numbers were 7679. This clue was very obvious.

    Xiao Lou handed the green box to Qu Wanyue and Long Sen.

    The clue for Karen was a bit hard to find. She didn¡¯t have anything symbolic on her body. Aside from carrying a bag, she was also holding a small doll. The background of the photo was an amusement park and there were many children taken in the background.

    Not far behind the three friends was a group of small children gathered together. Everyone was holding cute dolls in their hands and had their parents apanying them in a line at the gate of the amusement park. The doll in their hand looked like the one in Karen¡¯s hand.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang joined together to look at the photo, as if they were ying a game of ¡®Find the Difference.¡¯

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°What does this doll mean?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it carefully before his eyes lit up. ¡°Children¡¯s Day, the code is 0601.¡±

    There were so many children going to the amusement park in groups with their parents. It was alsomon for the amusement park to give dolls to people passing by on Children¡¯s Day.

    The three girls in the photo were showing cute poses with childlike innocence. Combined with the obvious ¡®doll¡¯ reminder in Karen¡¯s hand, Xiao Lou guessed that Karen¡¯s code was rted to the holiday represented by the doll. In this photo, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t think of anything else rted to numbers except for Children¡¯s Day.

    Yu Hanjiang believed in Xiao Lou¡¯s judgment and immediately entered 0601 on the box. The box was indeed unlocked! There were five people. They looked for clues from the photos and everything was unlocked within two minutes. Their speed had increased to the limit.

    The clues obtained from opening the boxes were sorted out by the teammates. Ye Qi quickly said, ¡°In Jack¡¯s box, there is a basketball model and a Merry Christmas card. There is nothing special.¡±

    Liu Qiao continued, ¡°Dr Simon wrote a letter stating that Wells¡¯ recent examination found that stenosis of the circumflex left artery of the heart was more than 40% and rmended medication to control it. In addition, Susan¡¯s physical examination report wasn¡¯t for good. The Helicobacter pylori infection exceeds the standard. He rmended to rest for a period of time and treat it well. He finally said that a healthy body is the best gift.¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help wondering when he heard up to here.

    ording to the inference just now, Dr Simon had been to the vi on the day they moved in and there was an old ne in Shirley¡¯s drawer. If he had an old rtionship with Shirley then the possibility of him killing Shirley¡¯s family due to love and hatred was the greatest.

    However, based on the letter, he was the family¡¯s personal doctor. This letter didn¡¯t fit the identity of a murderer. If he had decided to kill the family then there was no need to write a letter reminding them to take care of their bodies, right?

    Xiao Lou temporarily put down the letter and asked his teammates, ¡°What about the other three boxes?¡±

    Old Mo replied, ¡°Susan sent a model of a building and a card that said Merry Christmas.¡±

    Qu Wanyue added, ¡°In the green box sent by Martha, there was a small handmade Christmas tree that is very chic. The greeting card says: Merry Christmas, for the lovely little angel Lucia.¡¯

    Finally, Yu Hanjiang talked about Karen¡¯s box. ¡°Karen gave a bottle of perfume and the greeting card says: I wish the baby will always be young and beautiful.¡±

    The group looked at each other. A basketball model, a letter, a building model, a Christmas tree and perfume¡­

    Who was the murderer?

    At this time, all the box codes were unlocked and a strange rumbling sound entered everyone¡¯s ears. It was as if something had emerged from the ground. Xiao Lou followed the sound and saw that a square countertop had appeared right by the two ss doors next to the dining room. The size was just right for a gift box.

    Old Mo had noticed these ss doors a long time ago and guessed that they needed a password to unlock. Once he saw this, he couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°Outside the door is a garden. If we walk out this door then we will escape from thebyrinth?¡±

    Everyone agreed with Old Mo.

    Ye Qi analyzed it. ¡°This should be a pressing mechanism which is rted to weight. The weight of the five boxes is different. Only the correct box can open the door. We have to put the box corresponding to the murderer on it. Does this make sense?¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s face was expressionless. ¡°If we put the incorrect one and our challenge fails, will this vi copse?¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s imagination was a bit miserable but it wasn¡¯t impossible. There were five minutes left on the countdown. Time was tight. Which box was the right answer? Who was the real killer? Xiao Lou took a deep breath and scanned the five boxes again.

    Suddenly, he remembered that the theme of this secret room was a musicbyrinth. He immediately looked at Ye Qi and inquired, ¡°Apart from the letter, is there anything rted to music in the basketball model, architectural model, perfume or handmade Christmas tree?¡±

    Ye Qi was startled and quickly turned these things over to check carefully. He was surprised to find a nail-sized button under the beautiful architectural model. He pushed the button down and a clear and sweet piano music yed. It was Dream Wedding.

    Ye Qi eximed excitedly, ¡°This building model is actually a music box!¡±

    The moment the music yer, the outeryer of the building model dropped and there was something inside the model. Once the outeryer was gone, two hands appeared on the inneryer. The hands held up a five storey exquisite small vi that was continuously rotating with the rhythm of the music.

    This was the most special music box Ye Qi had ever seen.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke decisively. ¡°The murderer is Susan, a ssmate of Wells from the School of Architecture.¡±

    She didn¡¯te to the vi the day they moved in because she didn¡¯t need to. She was an architect and this entire vimunity was designed by her.

    Yu Hanjiang ced the purple box on the countertop at the entrance of the dining room. The next moment, the ss door in front of him opened.

    A light-hearted Christmas song yed in everyone¡¯s ears and there was also the clear voice of the keeper. ¡°Congrattions on your sessful escape from the secret room. Please enter the vi¡¯s back garden. The truth is there.¡±

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 Chapter 288: Music Labyrinth End

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou exchanged looks after hearing the prompt and entered the vi¡¯s back garden through the ss door with their teammates following behind. Originally after the end of the secret room, everyone should go directly to their personal space to find the keeper and receive rewards. Yet this time, everyone walked into a garden?

    This garden had arge area and there were many tall trees blocking the view. The cobblestone path was winding and crisscrossing like another maze. In the floating boxes above everyone¡¯s heads, the reminder of [Countdown 5:00] appeared.

    The group looked at each other.

    Old Mo wondered, ¡°The path in this garden looks veryplicated. It should be a small maze. Didn¡¯t we sessfully solve the mystery and escaped from the secret room? Why is there a five minute countdown? Do we have to escape from this garden?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought carefully about the hint received before leaving the vi: the truth was about to be revealed.

    He thought about the words the keeper said when entering 9 of Diamonds. The reward method for this secret room was rted to the mechanisms they unlocked. If they unlocked the mechanism of the reward room, they could get rare cards.

    Xiao Lou thought up to here and immediately opened his mouth. ¡°This is the rewardsbyrinth.¡±

    Ye Qi was excited after hearing this. ¡°I see. This is the same as the treasure chest maze in stand-alone RPG games. At the end of every forked road is either a treasure chest or monsters that are hard to deal with.

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°The rewardsbyrinth is limited to five minutes. Everyone needs to find treasure chests and get cards as soon as possible. We will act in groups and use the Four-way Arrow to mark the forks in the road.

    Everyone agreed with Xiao Lou¡¯s arrangement. They were still grouped like before. Xiao Lou was with the Long Qu couple and Old Mo. Yu Hanjiang took Chief Shao, Ye Qi and Liu Qiao. At the first fork in the road, one group went to the left and the other to the right.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s group went to the left. It didn¡¯t take long for them to see a square grid path. The grid was painted in different colors. In the first three rows, each row had one red square. The fourth row had two blue squares side by side, the fifth row was one red square, the sixth row was two blue squares and the seventh row was a semicircle in green. This part of the road was all connected by such grids and looked like one house after another.

    Xiao Lou looked at the colored grids on the ground in a puzzled manner. ¡°Three single red squares, two blue squares side by side, another red square, two blue squares and thest green semicircle¡­ what does this mean?¡±

    Qu Wanyue chuckled. ¡°Professor Xiao, haven¡¯t you ever yed hopscotch as a child?¡±

    Xiao Lou touched his nose in an embarrassed manner. ¡°I haven¡¯t yed it.¡±

    He liked being quiet since he was a child and wasn¡¯t as naughty as a boy. The game he yed most often at home was piling up blocks. He had never yed the game hopscotch.

    Long Sen pointed to the grids on the ground. ¡°This is a kid¡¯s hopscotch ground. The first three grids need to be hopped with one foot and you can stand on both feet in the two grids. Thest grid is a semi-circr one called a ¡®house.¡¯ You can stay there for a few seconds to rest. You can¡¯t stay for long in any of the previous grids.¡±

    Xiao Lou understood. ¡°The single grid is one foot, the two grids side by side are two feet and thest house is for rest. In this section of the road, we need to jump over ording to the rules or a punishment will be triggered?¡±

    Qu Wanyue replied, ¡°Yes, this section of the path is full of hopscotch games and we have to follow the rules.¡±

    Long Sen took the lead followed by Qu Wanyue, Old Mo and then Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou copied everyone and jumped ording to the rule one foot, one foot, one foot, two feet, one foot, two feet and rest. They hopped all the way forward.

    After half a minute of hopping, the group saw a fork in the road. Xiao Lou left a mark at the fork in the road. Everyone walked to the left first and found a treasure chest within a few steps. This time, the chest didn¡¯t have a password. They opened it to find a card inside.

    [Special Effects Card: Hopscotch Game]

    [Rarity: S

    Description: Abyrinth reward card. It is possible to obtain it from a treasure chest after clearing an A-ratedbyrinth.

    Use Effect: Arge hopscotch game will immediately be arranged in an area of 500 x 500 metres. Everyone in the area must move ording to the rules of the hopscotch game. If they make a wrong step then they will be punished.

    Cooldown: 24 hours.

    Punishment method: Step on the wrong square and freeze for three minutes in the corresponding square.]

    The effect of this card was very strong. It filled arge area with squares and could slow down any enemies who entered it.

    If they were being chased, they could arrange such a hopscotch game and the chasers would have to slowly hop from one foot to two feet. This was much easier to use than the small-scale Nine Pces Grid.

    If used with cards that blinded the targets such as Old Lady Qin¡¯s Human Bone Medicine Jar or Bai Juyi¡¯s pipa skill that caused chaos, the opponent will definitely make the wrong step. Every time they made a mistake, they would be controlled for three minutes. The overall control time limit was very high.

    Xiao Lou put away this S-grade card and asked Yu Hanjiang through the heart channel, ¡°Do you have any gains there?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°We just walked through a grid.¡±

    The team also encountered a colored grid but it was just a long horizontal ck and white one. The order of the rectangles was white, ck, white, ck, white, white, ck, white, ck and white.

    The moment Yu Hanjiang saw the ck and white grids, he knew it must be a stepping type mechanism. They would be punished if they stepped on the wrong one, by falling into a pit, for example. Therefore, he didn¡¯t move for the time being.

    This grid wasn¡¯t simply alternating ck and white. The two white grids were repeated after three alternating groups.

    Yu Hanjiang just wanted to ask the opinions of his teammates when Ye Qi immediately said, ¡°This is a piano keyboard!¡± He pointed to the horizontal bar under his feet. ¡°The white grids are do, re, mi fa, etc. on the piano. The ck grids are all semitones. We should step on the white keys to get the correct tone and make a perfect scale, don¡¯t touch the ck ones.¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡± Yu Hanjiang believed in Ye Qi¡¯s judgment. Once he heard Ye Qi¡¯s words, he also felt it was like a piano.

    Ye Qi consciously took the lead. He stepped on the first white grid and the piano sound of ¡®do¡¯ entered his ears. He continued to step forward and the white square really made the seven piano notes.

    His teammates followed Ye Qi quickly through the piano area and saw a golden treasure box around the corner. Yu Hanjiang stepped forward to open the treasure chest that contained a card.

    [Tool Card: Piano Music Box]

    [Rarity: S

    Description: Abyrinth reward card. It is possible to obtain it from a treasure chest after clearing an A-ratedbyrinth.

    Additional Skill 1: Music Box

    Open the piano music box in your hand and y the music Dream Wedding. Within one minute of the music box ying music, all targets within 50 metres will fall asleep. The cooldown time is 4 hours.

    Additional Skill 2: Pianist

    Erge the piano music box in your hand to be a real piano of the same size in reality. Find a person to sit at the piano and y any piece of music. During the performance, all hostile targets within 100 meters will immediately stop in ce and listen to the piano music intently. They can¡¯t move or release any card skills. The friendly targets can move but can¡¯t release skills.

    It is limited to one use in each secret room.

    Note: The repertoire can only be piano music and it can¡¯t be changed halfway through.]

    Ye Qi excitedly took the card. ¡°This card is better than the erhu drawn before. In particr, skill two. I can choose the hostile target and sit in front of the piano to y a song for a long time. The enemy can only watch from the sides and can¡¯t move or use any card skills. Hahaha!¡±

    Shao Qingge saw his happy expression and couldn¡¯t help patting Xiao Ye¡¯s shoulder. ¡°This is equivalent to a special concert card for you. The card allows you to y one piano piece. What is the longest piano piece that can be yed?¡±

    Ye Qi smiled. ¡°The longest piano piece in the world is Vexations by Americanposer Erik Satie. The entire piece is 18 hours and 40 minutes long and many pianists take turns ying it. It can be yed for an entire day and night.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Ye Qi made a sad expression. ¡°Unfortunately, I can¡¯t y it.¡±

    Shao Qingge helplessly touched his forehead. ¡°Among the piano music you can y, what is the longest one?¡±

    Ye Qiughed. ¡°I know a few Beethoven sonatas that are approximately 20 minutes long. This control time is long enough.¡±

    Out of the group control cards drawn so far, this skill of Piano Music Box was the most flexible. The control time was as long as the time of the piano music yed. It was almost customized for Ye Qi. If he wanted short control then he could y a normal three minute song. If he wanted to y for a long time then Ye Qi could y a Beethoven sonata and control the enemy for 20 minutes. It was just that it could only be used once in every secret room. This restriction was rtivelyrge and it could only be used at the most critical moment.

    There were also the card skills. The enemy couldn¡¯t move or attack while they could move but not attack.

    In other words, if Ye Qi controlled the opponent for 20 minutes then they couldn¡¯t directly kill the enemies. At most, Ye Qi could control arge number of enemies while his teammates moved and escaped. The moment the teammates escaped to a safe position, they would use various teleportation skills to pull Ye Qi over. Ye Qi yed the concert alone to hold back the opposite group and it was equivalent to giving the team 20 minutes to escape.

    Yu Hanjiang told Xiao Lou about the card skill and Xiao Lou was also very happy. ¡°This rewardsbyrinth isn¡¯t very difficult but the quality of the cards is very high. There are two minutes left in the countdown. Let¡¯s keep looking.¡±

    For the next two minutes, everyone spent some time in the back garden. They found more treasure chests but they didn¡¯t contain cards. There were only some strange pieces of a letter. Under the leadership of Old Mo, everyone moved quickly through the maze and collected a total of seven pieces.

    In the end, everyone met at the exit of the maze and put the pieces together to form aplete letter. Everyone finally knew the truth about the case in the 9 of Diamonds room, Music Labyrinth.

    The end of the letter said: Dear Shirley, I said I would love you until death. I did it¡ªSusan.

    Everyone¡¯s eyes almost popped out. It turned out that the ne was Susan¡¯s gift to Shirley on her 18th birthday. The two of them were high school ssmates. Shirley had taken the close photos of the two of them out of the album.

    Originally, Shirley said she would never get married. However, she felt the pressure of her identity and family and ended up marrying Wells. After the marriage, Shirley and Susan kept in touch privately. Susan often used the excuse of discussing business with Wells to meet with Shirley and she personally designed the decoration style for the couple¡¯s vi.

    Wells often exined to his wife that he and Susan were just ssmates and partners. He hoped his wife wouldn¡¯t think too much. In fact, he didn¡¯t know that Susan was actually looking for his wife, not him. They knew each other from when they were young and she was the white moonlight that Shirley couldn¡¯t forget.

    Some time ago, her daughter fell sick and Shirley decided to return to her family andpletely cut off contact with Susan. This stimted Susan. She believed that Shirley had betrayed the rtionship between the two of them that hadsted many years. It the same situation that was described in the book The Lover. Two people who loved each other had to separate and marry other people. They could only miss each other in this lifetime.

    She didn¡¯t want to be apart so she made a crazy decision. She killed Shirley¡¯s family of three and then killed herself in the garden. In this way, she could do as she wrote: I will love you until death.

    At the exit of the gardenbyrinth, Susan¡¯s body was found. Her dark purple dress was covered in blood and she had a sharp knife in her chest.

    Xiao Lou looked over at her and sighed. ¡°It is suicide.¡±

    [Music Labyrinth: End]

    Results of the voting for my celebration event are out. You can check it out at the below link or it is an announcement on the homepage.

    Results Page

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 289: 9 of Spades Secret Room

    After leaving the Music Labyrinth and returning to the main city, the expressions of the team members were a bitplicated. Everyone thought this case was a murder due to love but they didn¡¯t expect that the murderer who killed the family would be a woman.

    Ye Qi eximed, ¡°This is a pair of lilies!¡± (Lily = girl¡¯s love)

    Long Sen, Old Mo, Qu Wanyue and Liu Qiao also had expressions of disbelief.

    Yu Hanjiang wasn¡¯t surprised. He had seen many murders due to love in reality, including homosexual murders. The murderer could be either male or female. Yu Hanjiang analyzed, ¡°In the beginning, we found the jewelry box treasured by the heroine and inferred that there was a white moonlight in her heart. Therefore, we focused on the two men. This type of conservative thinking is actually a big taboo when ites to reasoning. No one stipted that the white moonlight in a woman¡¯s heart must be a man. We shouldn¡¯t ignore other possibilities.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Thankfully Xiao Ye discovered the secret of the architectural model.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled and looked at Ye Qi. ¡°Xiao Ye¡¯s credit in this maze is very big.¡±

    The other team members all agreed. Ye Qi was very happy and scratched the back of his head as he asked, ¡°The Diamonds secret room only took an hour and we aren¡¯t hungry. Do you want to go to the next level?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°The next level is 9 of Spades. Don¡¯t you need to rest?¡±

    Everyone replied that they didn¡¯t need it. The Diamonds secret room didn¡¯t consume energy and they didn¡¯t feel tired. Yu Hanjiang simply proceeded to pull the 9 of Spades ying card from the wall. The familiar ck vortex was generated from the card and everyone¡¯s vision darkened for a moment. A few secondster, Xiao Lou found that he had appeared in an unfamiliar ce.

    A huge red full moon was hanging high in the sky. Half of the moon was stained a blood red so the entire environment was extremely dim and the ground seemed stained with blood. There were many dry branches around him and arge number of crows flew by, making harsh sounds.

    Xiao Lou had never seen such a big red moon. Obviously, the background of this secret room wasn¡¯t an ordinary modern city. He looked around and didn¡¯t see his teammates. Everyone had been separated again after entering the secret room.

    The mechanical, icy voice of the keeper of Spades entered his ears. ¡°Wee Xiao Lou to 9 of Spades, Bloody Night Witch. Please take your number and identity card.¡±

    Two brand new cards appeared in Xiao Lou¡¯s hands out of nowhere. The first was a number te that said 11.

    The second was an identity card with the back of the card painted with a bloody full moon. Xiao Lou flipped it to the front and saw a curly haired woman in a dark purplece dress, a magic ball-shaped object in her hand. There was also the word: Prophet.

    The moment the identity card was turned over, the voice of the keeper, A of Spades once again entered his ears. ¡°The number card you are assigned in this secret room is ¡®Number 11¡¯ and the identity card is ¡®Prophet.¡¯ The skill of the prophet is that every night, you can check the identity of a yer and know if they are in the good camp or the werewolf camp.¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately understood the background of this secret room.

    It was a variant of the killing game, simr to ¡®Werewolf¡¯ or ¡®Close Your Eyes When it is Dark¡¯. The survival room 9 of Spades was actually simr to the variety show in 9 of Hearts that the stand-in shot in order to help the murderer.

    There was an identity card in the Werewolf game that can check the identity of other people. Xiao Lou was very interested in this type ofnguage reasoning game and often yed it in reality. He knew the general rules.

    A of Spades continued, ¡°This type is the Werewolf killing game survival secret room. All the challengers havee to a strange vige. Every time the blood moon rises and night falls, the werewolves wille out and hunt civilians and celestials. You are the prophet of the celestial. Your teammates can be werewolves, civilians or other characters in the celestial camp.¡±

    ¡°Please note that unlike traditional Werewolf games, the rules for determining the oue of this game aren¡¯t based on the three camps of werewolves, vigers and celestials. It is based on your team.¡±

    ¡°Your clearance condition: Survive 8 days in Bloody Night Witch and the number of survivors in the team must not be less than four.¡±

    ¡°During the game, yers killed at night and yers voted out during the day will leave the vige and enter the exile zone. They can only be rescued after clearing the game. If the game time is up and the number of survivors in the team is less than four, the team will be eliminated and enter the Nightmare Room.¡±

    ¡°No other cards can be used in this secret room. You can only use the skills of your identity card.¡±

    Xiao Lou listened to the rules and couldn¡¯t help being nervous.

    This secret room was different from the traditional Werewolf. Werewolf was usually yed based on the three camps of the werewolves, vigers and celestials. The conditions of victory in the game were either the werewolf team killing all vigers or all celestials or the vigers and celestials expelling all werewolves.

    In this game, the conditions for clearing it were different and was based on the team.

    The thing that gave Xiao Lou a headache was that the eight of them weren¡¯t necessarily in the same camp! Xiao Lou¡¯s identity card, the Prophet belonged to the celestial camp. What if a teammate drew a werewolf?

    Based on the information disclosed by the keeper, it could be seen that their team wasn¡¯t the only challenger for Bloody Night Witch. There were also other teams. In a big melee of several times, how to ensure that at least four teammates survived to the end was the headache.

    Xiao Lou asked the keeper, ¡°How many challengers are there in this secret room? What identity badges are there?¡±

    A of Spades replied, ¡°You¡¯ll know when the game starts.¡±

    Xiao Lou continued to ask questions. ¡°Are the other rules consistent with the Werewolf game? For example, people who are voted out during the day can express theirst words and those killed at night can only say theirst words on the first night. Someone will run for sheriff on the first day?¡±

    A of Spades replied, ¡°Yes, the game process is the same as the Werewolf killing game. There will be a vige chief to guide you through the game process. However, many new identity cards are added to make it more interesting and challenging.¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°Understood. Let¡¯s enter the game.¡±

    Meanwhile, Shao Qingge was looking at his card in a dazed manner.

    ¡°The number card you are assigned in this secret room is Number 5 and your identity of ¡®Dreamer¡¯ belongs to the celestial camp.¡±

    ¡°Your special skill is: every night, choose a yer to be a ¡®sleepwalker¡¯. The selected yer doesn¡¯t know they are sleepwalking. The sleepwalker is immune to all damage during the night. However, if you are killed at night then the sleepwalker you choose will die with you. People who are selected as the sleepwalker for two consecutive nights will also die immediately.¡±

    Shao Qingge had never yed the killing game and it was also the first time he saw the identity card of ¡®Dreamer.¡¯

    He looked carefully at the description on the card. Choosing a person was equivalent to putting a no-injury shield on them. Dreaming of the same person for two consecutive nights could kill them.

    He could attack or defend. This card was very useful. The disadvantage was that if he died, the chosen sleepwalker would also die. It seemed he couldn¡¯t easily choose his teammate. If he died, his teammate would also die.

    He looked thoughtfully at theic-style image on the card and asked, ¡°Are all my teammates celestials?¡±

    ¡°Not necessarily.¡±

    Shao Qingge raised his eyebrow with surprise. ¡°In other words, some members of my team might be werewolves?¡±

    The keeper nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    The three minutes where the identities were assigned passed and everyone entered the vige together.

    Warm light shone through the gaps of the leaves and the small wooden houses were arranged in a staggered manner. If it wasn¡¯t for the murder game regarding life and death, this must be a beautiful and peaceful vige.

    Everyone followed the instructions and headed to the square in the middle of the vige.

    Xiao Lou found that everyone had a number te pinned to their chests and his eyes quickly swept over the crowd. It ranged from number 1 to number 36. Obviously, there were 36 yers in this Werewolf killing game. Everyone was wearing the same clothes with exquisite totems embroidered on them. This should be the ethnic clothing of the vige.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s facial recognition ability was strong. Apart from his teammates, he didn¡¯t find anyone he had met before among the 36 people. Perhaps the keeper deliberately avoided matching him with people he had seen before. Otherwise, it would be easy to judge who were teammates.

    Theplexity of the situation exceeded expectations.

    There were stone benches carved with totems around the square. Everyone sat down one by one on the stone benches.

    An old man with white hair and a cane walked to the middle. He cleared his throat and said in an old, hoarse voice. ¡°Hello everyone, I am the mayor of Rhode Vige. I have always loved peace but there are werewolves lurking among the vigers and wanting to kill us! They are no different from ordinary people during the day but will show fierce fangs at night. I hope everyone will keep their eyes open and drive the werewolves out of the vige in the next few days for the peace of Rhode Vige!¡±

    ¡°Every day, there will be a round of voting to drive out the most suspicious person. There is a voting machine next to the stone bench¡­¡± The vige chief exined the voting rules and said, ¡°It¡¯s getting dark. Don¡¯t talk. Find your ce as soon as possible and don¡¯t go out at night.¡±

    Once the vige chief left, the remaining 36 challengers faced each other.

    Xiao Lou quickly locked onto his teammates. Yu Hanjiang was No. 1, Shao Qingge was No. 5, Ye Qi No. 7, Liu Qiao No. 18, Qu Wanyue No. 25, Long Sen No. 27 and Old Mo No. 30. The numbers werepletely disrupted. The people on other teams couldn¡¯t see that the eight of them were teammates. Simrly, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t see who out of the remaining people were on the same team.

    It was forbidden to speak right now and everyone had to scan the group with their eyes to confirm their teammates.

    The time flow in this secret room was extremely fast. In the blink of an eye, the sun set and the blood moon rose. Night was approaching and everyone quickly returned to their residences.

    They were all assigned a wooden house in the vige. The furnishings in the room were simple and primitive. There was a kerosenemp lit in the corner. Xiao Lou looked around the house using the light of the kerosenemp and found there was arge ckboard hung on a wall in the middle of the room. On therge ckboard were 36 cards with a blood moon as the background picture.

    He walked up to the cards and the ckboard immediately lit up. The familiar floating box¡¯s text prompt appeared.

    ¡°Introduction to the rules of the game: a 36 yer melee game, divided into three camps. There are 12 werewolves, 12 vigers and 12 celestials. Vigers don¡¯t have any special skills. They will sleep at night and can vote during the day. Celestials and wolves can activate skills when necessary.¡±

    ¡°The game time is eight days and werewolves can kill two people every night.¡±

    ¡°There are still three minutes before total darkness arrives. During this time, please turn over the cards on the ckboard to check the identity distribution of this werewolf survival game. You have only this one chance to check the identities.¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately reached out and quickly turned over the 36 cards on the ckboard when he saw this prompt. Among them, 12 were viger cards. Ordinary vigers had no skills and could be ignored.

    The thing that shocked Xiao Lou was that all 12 celestial cards were different! The celestial cards in this game included: Prophet, witch, hunter, demon hunter, cupid, dreamer, grave keeper, flower butterfly, bewitcher, guard, knight and elder.

    Xiao Lou had heard of some of these cards and hadn¡¯t seen others. Therefore, he had to hurry and be familiar with them.m Xiao Lou carefully observed the skills of the celestial cards he didn¡¯t know well.

    Flower butterfly: You can hug a person every night. The person who is hugged will lose the use of their skill that night. If a werewolf is hugged then all wolves won¡¯t be able to kill someone that night. In the entire game, the skill can only be activated two times.

    Demon hunter: Starting from the second day, one yer can be hunted every night. If the yer is a werewolf then they will die. If the yer is a good person then the hunter will die. The demon hunter isn¡¯t affected by the witch¡¯s poison.

    Grave keeper: At night, you can look through the gravestones of the people who were voted out during the day to know if they are a good person or a werewolf.

    Knight: During the day, you can choose a person to duel. If the person is a werewolf, the werewolf will be out immediately and it will be forced to be night time. If the person chose is from the good camp then the knight will be out. The dueling skill can only be activated once in the entire game.

    Elder: As the elder who has stayed in the vige for the longest time, the elder is automatically immune to damage when attacked by a werewolf for the first time. If attacked a second time, the elder will die. If ignorant vigers vote you out or you are killed by celestials (such as the witch¡¯s poison, the demon hunter¡¯s gun or continuous sleepwalking etc), the celestial camp will collectively lose their skills that night as punishment.

    Bewitcher: Good at deceiving people¡¯s hearts. You can specify a yer every night. If the bewitcher dies that night, the yer you appoint will die instead of you. The bewitcher can¡¯t appoint the same person for two consecutive nights.

    Xiao Lou carefully noted the characteristics of all the celestial cards before looking at the 12 wolf cards.

    Three minutes passed quickly. Once time was up, the 36 cards were shuffled and reorganized at a dazzling speed. Six sheets with six lines in total were turned over and stuck on the ckboard. At the same time, a number code appeared on the back of each code, from the number 1 to 36.

    The kerosenemp in the house went out and fluorescent letters appeared on the ckboard.

    [The game has started.]

    [Bloody Night Witch, Round 1: Night]

    [The celestial camp¡¯s operation¡­

    ording to the card face of this Werewolf killing game, the celestial card holders could act before the werewolves. This included the guard (choose a person to shield before the werewolf kills), dreamer (choose a person to enter the sleepwalking state), flower butterfly (choose tounch the skill to hug a person) and cupid (choose two yers on the first night to form a couple. As long as one of the couple is dead, the other must die for love).

    Xiao Lou might have a celestial card but the prophet¡¯s order of action was rtively low. He had to wait for these four to act first.

    He wasn¡¯t anxious and waited patiently for his turn. The next moment, he saw a prompt.

    [Cupid¡¯s arrow of love has shot you and No. 1. You are able to be a couple. Please open your eyes to confirm the person.]

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Wasn¡¯t number 1 Yu Hanjiang? It seemed that Cupid liked the lucky number ¡®1¡¯ so he designated 1 and 11 as lovers. This happened to connect Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou looked at the wall in aplex mood. Since he was connected to number 1, the card surface of the number 1 card became a screen for a video call.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s handsome face appeared on the reduced screen. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang stared at each other. They couldn¡¯tmunicate across the screen so they nodded their heads in confirmation.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes were unspeakably gentle. Xiao Lou thought to himself that Group Leader Yu might belong to the celestial camp. It would be nice to be fighting side by side.

    [You and No. 1 have be a couple and triggered a hidden task: if the couple and Cupid can live up to the 8th day of the game at the same time then the team that contains the three of you will get an extra card reward after clearing the level.]

    Xiao Lou was very interested in this hidden task but he didn¡¯t know who Cupid was. It would be very difficult for him and Group Leader Yu to live to the end. They could only strive to gain this hidden treasure chest.

    [You are a prophet. Please choose the identity of the first yer to check.]

    There were all the numbers of the yers on the ckboard. Xiao Lou pressed the number 1 without hesitation. He wanted to check Yu Hanjiang¡¯s identity first. The results soon appeared. The No. 1 card was flipped around in front of Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes and the front of the card contained a fierce ck wolf.

    [No. 1, identity is werewolf.]

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    A celestial and wolf love, the Cupid was too good at choosing right?!

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 290: Bloody Night Witch 2 : Strange Identity Card

    Under normal circumstances, if Cupid¡¯s identity card connected two good people then Cupid was also a good person. If they connected two werewolves then Cupid would belong to the werewolf camp. If it was a couple with opposite identities like a human and wolf love or a celestial and wolf love then Cupid and the couple would separately form a ¡®third party camp.¡¯ All other yers needed to be killed to win.

    However, now it was a 36 yer game. It was impossible for them to kill the other 33 people with just the three of them so the hidden mission was adjusted. Cupid and the designated couple all had to live to the eighth day.

    Xiao Lou checked Yu Hanjiang¡¯s identity on the first night because he was worried. If he and Yu Hanjiang weren¡¯t in the same camp then the next y would have to be carefully considered.

    There were 36 number cards on the ckboard, 11 of which were special cards.

    The backs of these 11 cards had the uniform red moon logo and were no different from other cards. It was just that they were shing. Every time they shed, a wolf image appeared in the center of the red moon one after another.

    ck wolf, white wolf, little wolf, a beautiful wolf¡­

    11 wolves appeared in the red moon in the sky. This image revealed an unspeakable gloomy atmosphere.

    The yers assigned to the wolf identity were slightly shocked when they saw the spectacr 11 shing werewolf cards in front of them. As the cards were shing, all of the werewolves¡¯ floating boxes filled with several sentences.

    [In this game, there are a total of 12 werewolf identity cards. You will form a huge and fierce werewolf team.]

    [One werewolf is a gargoyle and acts alone at night. They can¡¯t meet with the other werewolves and don¡¯t know the others¡¯ identities. The remaining 11 werewolves will establish a teammunication channel at night.]

    [Werewolves¡¯ clearance goal: ughter the vige.]

    [The so-called ughter is to kill everyone in the vige except the werewolf camp.]

    [You can kill yers at night or you can mix in with the good people camp during the day to cast good people out. As long as youplete the task of ughtering the vige, you can lead all your teammates in the contract book to pass the secret room perfectly.]

    [You can kill two yers tonight. Please discuss and choose the yers to kill.]

    [The werewolf team channel is open. Countdown to action: 30 minutes.]

    The prompts were over and everyone¡¯s faces appeared on the 11 werewolf cards at the same time.

    The 11 cards were: 1, 3, 7, 9, 13, 14, 15, 22, 25, 28 and 33.

    The group of people looked at each other through the ¡®group video¡¯ conference on the card wall.

    A momentter, a middle-aged voice was heard. It was the uncle with the number 9 card who was talking and his voice was very loud. ¡°Hello everyone. It seems there are four teams participating in the secret room this time. Teams have between 8 to 10 people so each team should be assigned three werewolf identities, right?¡±

    He should¡¯ve inferred this after seeing that his team had three wolves. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes swept over the card wall. The No. 7 Ye Qi and No. 25 Qu Wanyue were both werewolves. Their team also had three werewolves so the man¡¯s spection seemed reasonable.

    A girl with a high ponytail appeared on the screen of the 22nd card. She spoke in a cold voice. ¡°There are 12 werewolves and 24 people to be killed in the vige. The game time is limited to 8 days. Two people are killed every night and one is cast out during the day. 3¡Á8=24. It is theoretically possible toplete the task of ughtering the vige.¡±

    No. 13 was a man with a feminine appearance and a soft voice. He analyzed, ¡°This is only theoretical. There are many good people with strong skills. They will protect the vigers and drive out the werewolves. We might not be sessful at night or drive out the good people during the day. We can¡¯t ughter the vige unless there are powerful werewolves to drive the rhythm.¡±

    One teenager said, ¡°It seems the odds of winning 12 against 24 are very low but the 11 of us know each other¡¯s identities. We can cooperate during the daytime voting stage to collectively vote for the good people. The other camp don¡¯t know any identities and can be instigated by us. It will be easy to kill each other.

    The discussion was in full swing but Yu Hanjiang gradually realized something was wrong. ughter the vige? Was the mission for this secret room really to ughter the vige?

    Their team had only him, Ye Qi and Qu Wanyue in the werewolf camp. If they wanted to ughter the vige, they would have to kill Xiao Lou, Old Mo, Liu Qiao, Long Sen and Shao Qingge. However, once their teammates detected the three of them were werewolves, they definitely wouldn¡¯t just watch them ughter the vige. This was inconsistent with the setting of the good person camp.

    If the good people camp allowed the werewolves to ughter the vige and directly voted for each other during the voting stage to end the game, this secret room would be quite easy. A of Spades wouldn¡¯t make the game that simple.

    The task of the celestials was likely to protect the good people and the vigers¡¯ task was to expel the werewolves. The good people wanted to drive out the werewolves and the werewolves wanted to kill all the good guys. The tasks given to teammates were inconsistent. This was the biggest difficulty of the 9 of Spades secret room.

    The discussion on the werewolf channel continued. 11 werewolves talking at the same time was headache-inducing. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes swept over them and he interrupted in a low voice. ¡°First report your identities and skills in order to arrange the next n of action.¡±

    The man¡¯s voice was low and calm. Once it was heard in the voice channel, the messy discussion abruptly stopped. Everyone soon discovered it was No. 1 who spoke and his voice seemed convincing.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly. ¡°I will report it first. I am the wolf king.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The wolf king was one of the fiercest beings in the werewolf camp. At night, like other werewolves, he could kill any yer. During the day, if he died then he could take away a yer with him. Once the good camp voted for him to drive him out, the wolf king could drag one of them with him before he died, thus creating a numerical advantage for the wolves.

    Immediately after, the sweet looking No. 3 girl opened her mouth. ¡°I am an ordinary little wolf and have no skills.¡±

    No. 7 Ye Qi spoke loudly. ¡°I am the apostle of the blood moon and I can explode during the day to let the game directly enter night time. It will also seal all the skills of the celestial camp. If I seal them, the witch can¡¯t use the antidote and the demon hunter can¡¯t shoot.¡±

    The No. 9 uncle smiled boldly. ¡°I am the seed wolf. My skill is to sow viruses. I can spread the virus to someone who dies at night, infecting them and turning them into a werewolf, forcing them to join our camp. However, the premise is that this person is certain to die and they aren¡¯t saved by celestials like the witch or guard.¡±

    They had to ensure that the witch¡¯s antidote wasn¡¯t used and the dreamer or guard wouldn¡¯t save the yer. Then the wolf team would kill the person and nt the virus so the killed person was brought to the wolf team. This allowed them to gain one more teammate.

    No. 9 continued speaking. ¡°The disadvantage is that my skill can only be used once in the game. I need to grasp the timing.¡±

    The No. 13, 14 and 15 wolves were all in a row.

    No. 13 said, ¡°I am the ghost knight with an anti-injury skill. If I am checked by the prophet then the prophet will die. If poisoned by the witch, the witch will die. Unless I am voted out during the day, a celestial card can¡¯t directly kill me. The ghost knight is the hedgehog of the wolves. Whoever touches me will die.¡±

    No. 14 said, ¡°I am the big wild wolf. I will kill people with the wolves every night. After the wolves are done, I can act alone and kill another person. However, if any werewolf is eliminated during the day then my special ability will be invalidated. The longer the wolves live, the more people I can kill.¡±

    No. 15 was a very cute girl with a baby face and a clear voice. ¡°I am a nightmare. Every night, I can cause fear in a person and make them lose their skill that night. For example, If I use fear on the witch then they can¡¯t use the poison or antidote that night. It is the same for the prophet and they won¡¯t be able to check people. If I use fear on a viger then nothing will happen because they have no skills. I can¡¯t use fear on the same person two nights in a row.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes swept over these three people. The three wolves were sitting in a row and they all had very useful identity cards. 13 was an anti-injury, 14 was a killer and 15¡¯s fear controlled the field. If the wolves used these three well then they could gain a huge advantage.

    The 22 girl with a high ponytail continued, ¡°I am the wolf beauty. I can charm a person at night. If I am eliminated, the charmed person will follow me out. It is equivalent to pulling someone else with me when I die.¡±

    The No. 25 Qu Wanyue spoke softly. ¡°I am a spirit wolf with a very strong learning talent. I can learn the skill of a designated yer after a yer is killed on the first night. If I learn the prophet¡¯s skill then I can test people. If I learn the witch¡¯s skill then I can get a bottle of antidote. If I learn the guard¡¯s skill then I can give my teammates a shield. If I pick a viger then I will have the disguise of a viger. The prophet will see I am a good person if they examine me.¡± She paused before continuing, ¡°My skill can only be activated on the first night and what I learn depends on luck.¡±

    The No. 28 young man said, ¡°I am the fire wolf and my skill is to rage. If a wolf teammate is eliminated, I will enter a state of rage at night and designate a yer topletely lose their skill. It can only be used once in the entire game.¡±

    No. 33 said, ¡°I am like No. 3. I am a little wolf without any special skills.¡±

    Everyone finished speaking and Yu Hanjiang summarized it.

    There was also the gargoyle acting alone. The gargoyle was equal to the prophet of the wolves team. They could check people at night. The result of the check didn¡¯t simply show good people and werewolves. It would show specific identities such as prophet, witch and viger.

    If the gargoyle found the witch then they could jump out and ask the wolves to kill the witch. This was a very strong card and the identity was simr to the ¡®undercover¡¯ of the wolves. The disadvantage was that they couldn¡¯t meet with the wolves and the wolves couldn¡¯t judge the authenticity of the identity. A gargoyle who didn¡¯t act might be mistaken as an enemy by the wolves and killed at night.

    There were 10 wolves with skills and 2 little wolves in the wolves team.

    They had to kill 24 people in eight days. This might be difficult but the wolves had powerful skills. They had many field controls as well as a killing and anti-injury skill. If they cooperated well then it was possible to ughter the entire vige.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke softly, ¡°The wolves have many identities and there is a high probability that things will be messy without a unifiedmand. Therefore, a leader must be selected. It is better to let me be the leader temporarily. If you think I¡¯m not qualified then you can also rmend yourself.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression was serious, his voice was firm and he was a very reliable person. Besides, his identity was the wolf king and he could afford to take the position. The others had no opinion and nodded in agreement.

    Yu Hanjiang continued, ¡°The Werewolf killing game relies on logical reasoning ability. We want toplete the task of ughtering the vige. Naturally, the fewer people with strong reasoning ability in the good camp, the better. Everyone should give priority to killing the team¡¯s Hearts ace.¡±

    Ye Qi was shocked. Kill the ace of the Hearts room? Did Group Leader Yu mean to kill Professor Xiao directly on the first night?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang immediately followed up with the words, ¡°Now start voting. Kill the people you think will hinder us from ughtering the vige.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s heart was veryplicated. He didn¡¯t want to kill Professor Xiao first so he decided to watch Qu Wanyue and Group Leader Yu vote before making a decision. As a result, Yu Hanjiang voted for No. 6 and No. 36. Qu Wanyue understood Group Leader Yu¡¯s meaning and voted for No. 6 and No. 26. Ye Qi also reacted and blindly voted for No. 16 and 6.

    The votes were cast and No. 6 and 16 received the highest number of votes. Thus, the wolves made a final decision and ced the butcher¡¯s knife on the 6th and 16th cards on the first night.

    Yu Hanjiang continued, ¡°After dawn, I will run for sheriff. It is best for the wolves to have at least three people participating in the election at the same time.¡±

    The No. 22 wolf beauty raised her hand. ¡°I¡¯lle out and pretend to be the prophet.¡±

    No. 13 also said, ¡°I can jump out and help pull votes. In any case, I am the ghost knight. If the prophet doesn¡¯t believe me andes at night to kill me, I can kill them instead.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked another question. ¡°Raise your hand if your logical reasoning ability is weak and you aren¡¯t very good at ying the Werewolf killing game.¡±

    The No. 3 girl raised her hand weakly. ¡°I yed it online but my level wasn¡¯t very good. My winning rate was less than 40%.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Okay, the three of you go to run for sheriff with me. The others will vote ording to the situation. It is impossible for all the members of our wolves team to survive to the end. Sometimes we need to make sacrifices for our strategy. I hope everyone can understand. As long as the wolves win in the end, you will also clear the secret room.¡±

    Everyone had no opinion on the wolf king¡¯s decision. The discussion on their n of action was over.

    [Big wild wolf¡¯s extra action round.]

    [Big wild wolf, please open your eyes and specify a yer to kill.]

    [The big wild wolf has chosen to kill yer No. 26.]

    [Spirit wolf¡¯s extra action round.]

    [Spirit wolf, please open your eyes and designate one yer to learn from.]

    Qu Wanyue swept her gaze across the card wall. She wanted to learn from Xiao Lou but she was afraid that if Xiao Lou had a special identity like the prophet or witch, the wolves would know his specific identity when she reported the skill she learned and would definitely give priority to killing him.

    How could she harm her teammate?

    Therefore, she shouldn¡¯t learn from a teammate and should find someone she didn¡¯t know. There were 24 good people. 12 were celestials and 12 were vigers. The probability of learning a celestial skill was 50%. Qu Wanyue prayed silently in her heart. Learning a celestial skill was better than being a viger. She picked No. 31 on the card wall.

    [Congrattions, you have gained a special ability: hug of the flower butterfly. In this game, you can hug a yer and the yer you hug will lose all abilities at night. This skill can be activated twice at most.]

    Qu Wanyue¡¯s heart was happy. She had good luck. She blindly selected and actually found the flower butterfly!

    [Witch¡¯s action round.]

    [No. 6, No. 16 and No. 26 were killed tonight. Do you want to use the antidote?]

    [Witch: No.]

    It was dawn.

    Apart from the wolves and special celestial cards, the other civilians automatically went to sleep when it was dark. Everyone¡¯s metabolic system was blocked and they didn¡¯t feel hungry at all. After waking up, they came to the square designated by the vige chief.

    [Bloody Night Watch, Round 1: Day]

    The sun was shining and everyone sat down ording to their number tes. Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang. The two men were opposite each other. They didn¡¯t do or say anything but one look was enough.

    Xiao Lou said with his eyes: I know you are a werewolf.

    Yu Hanjiang said with his eyes: I won¡¯t let the wolves attack you. Don¡¯t worry.

    They were a couple connected by Cupid. The two of them might be a wolf and a celestial but they were tied together and it became destiny.

    Once everyone was seated, the old vige chief went to the middle of the square. ¡°For the peace of Rhode Vige, we need to elect a sheriff to maintain order in the vige. Those who want to run for sheriff, please raise your hand now.¡±

    There were a few seconds of silence before several hands were raised.

    The candidates running for sheriff in the Werewolf game could speak. Those who didn¡¯t run were unable to speak but they could vote for a candidate.

    Normally, the prophet shoulde out and run for the position of sheriff on the first day. This would allow them to lead the good people and show everyone a direction. However, Xiao Lou didn¡¯t participate in the election this time. It was because the person he checked on the first night was Yu Hanjiang and Yu Hanjiang was a werewolf. He couldn¡¯t just jump out and tell everyone that No. 1 was a werewolf, right? If this was the case, people from other teams would definitely vote for Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou himself would be destroyed as well.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know the identity of his other teammates so he decided to wait and see.

    A game with 36 yers thatsted for eight days was much moreplicated than an ordinary 12 yer game. The prophet didn¡¯t necessarily have to jump out in the first round. It was better to jump forward at the critical moment.

    Yet to his surprise, Yu Hanjiang actually raised his hand to be the sheriff? A werewolf was running to be sheriff during the day. Did Group Leader Yu want to take the initiative to control the rhythm?

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 291: Bloody Night Witch 3 - Sheriff

    TL: It seems some people are confused about the game. It¡¯s a very popr game in China which is probably why the author didn¡¯t exin all the rules. You can think of it as simr to Mafia (if you¡¯ve yed that game) although there are many extra identity cards and skills.

    Basically, every day the werewolves can kill people at night. Then during the day, every person will get a chance to speak once. If their turn is over and someone uses themter, they won¡¯t be able to speak to defend themselves so they have to speak well the first time. Once everyone has a chance to speak, they will vote on the person they find most suspicious and that person will be eliminated. Only the first day is different, since a sheriff is elected. The sheriff gets an extra vote and kinda controls the rhythm of the game. The process of the election is that only those who sign up for sheriff can speak and it is just once.

    As for the conditions to clear the game, they just have to meet one of the three conditions and the whole team will clear the instance. However, since they couldn¡¯tmunicate with each other, they can¡¯t decide on a unified goal and might work against each other. This might end up with none of the conditions being met and the team failing.

    A total of nine people participated in the election for sheriff. They were No. 1, 3, 13, 17, 20, 22, 29, 31 and 34.

    There were 27 people who didn¡¯t participate in the election and could vote.

    The vige chief said, ¡°No. 34 will start speaking and then rotate counterclockwise.¡±

    No. 34 was a very cheerful looking young man. He stood up and cleared his throat before saying, ¡°I am the prophet. I checked No. 6st night. Why? It is very simple. The number 6 looks auspicious and I found he was a good person. No. 6, I can only talk to you now. You are my golden water. You are a good person so you should keep this golden water medal.¡±

    ¡°There should be some adorable new people who don¡¯t know how to y so I will exin some professional terms. Golden water is a good person checked by the prophet and can be understood as the good person card. Silver water is the person saved by the witch with the antidote. The proof of golden water is greater than silver water because the person rescued by the witch at night might be a werewolf killing a teammate ormitting suicide to waste the antidote. Meanwhile, the good person tested by the prophet won¡¯t be false.¡±

    ¡°Since I am the first to speak, I can¡¯t talk about whether someone else¡¯s speech is good or not. I can only talk about my own logic. Tonight, I will test either 18 or 19. It is because there is a high probability of the middle position being a wolf. I revealed myself as the prophet because there is a high probability the wolf will kill me tonight. Guard brother, please protect me tonight and let me report the result of the inspection tomorrow.¡±

    The real prophet Xiao Lou was sitting in the audience and watching this young man brag so much. He couldn¡¯t help feeling amused. No. 34 was quite yful. He was either a werewolf deliberately pretending to be the prophet to confuse people or a viger or celestial making trouble. His acting skills were pretty good.

    After that was No, 31, a sexy beauty with blonde curly hair who spoke calmly. ¡°I listened to No. 34¡¯s words just now. You give No. 6 the golden water but this proof isn¡¯t very strong. No. 6 can¡¯t speak to certify it. I still doubt the identity of the prophet and want to see if any other prophets appear. I am a civilian and it is my habit to run for sheriff when ying the Werewolf game. It is because I don¡¯t like standing in the audience and voting. It is very hard if I vote incorrectly.¡±

    No. 29 said, ¡°No. 34 issued a good person card to be sheriff. It is indeed impossible to tell if it is true or false but his speech is smooth and he doesn¡¯t seem to have a guilty conscience. I will stand aside and watch the follow-up speech. As for the No. 31 beauty, I see you also have a preference for identity. Every time I y Werewolf, I have the same mentality as you. I don¡¯t like voting when I get the viger¡¯s card. Voting can always end up on the wrong side which is too difficult. I want to be a sheriff¡¯s candidate to speak. I will die if I can¡¯t speak for a day.¡±

    The No. 22 girl with the high ponytail spoke loudly, ¡°No. 34, why are you pretending? I am the prophet! No. 34, you must be the werewolf! I checked No. 20st night and I am sure that No. 20 is a good person. No. 20 can look at your ID and pick up my golden water. I checked No. 20 because I don¡¯t like to check neighbors. I usually skip my neighbor and checking someone in the 20s is easier to remember. I guarantee with my personality that I am the true prophet. Everyone, vote for me as sheriff. Tonight, I¡¯ll check candidates 29 or 31 who participated in the sheriff¡¯s election. I feel that the two of them are werewolves who likely went to be a sheriff candidate to canvass for votes. I¡¯ll check in the evening.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was slightly pleased in his heart. Thankfully, No. 22 was indeed a master. The werewolf who jumped out as the prophet spoke in a confident and upright manner. She was also guaranteed with her personality. Her acting skills were indeed superb. The first step was to be angry with No. 34, the next step was to send a good person to the stranger at No. 30 and pull them to stand with her. The third step was to say she would check 29 and 31. Both of them spoke well and participated in the election, which meant they might be werewolves. She verified there was nothing wrong with the logic of the two people.

    The yers listening were a bit confused. Both 34 and 22 imed to be the prophet. Who was real and who was false. Xiao Lou heard this and was very clear. Both were false. Still, the No. 22 girl was quite clever. She sent the golden water to No. 20 who happened to be running for the election.

    Sure enough, No. 20 immediately followed up. The man smiled and said, ¡°I will ept 22¡¯s golden water. I am indeed an ordinary viger who joined in the election. The 22nd beauty, you said you checked mest night. Maybe you really are the prophet who happened to find me or maybe you are a wolf. Seeing that I can talk, you deliberately sent me the golden water to pull me to your side. I¡¯m not so naive. In my opinion, the two who jumped out as prophet aren¡¯t particrly credible. I¡¯ll see what the following people say first.¡±

    No. 20 was quite sensible. The most taboo thing about Werewolf was to get a golden water card and then brainlessly stand in support of this person. In fact, a werewolf had a clear perspective. Apart from their werewolf teammates, all others were good people. The werewolf couldn¡¯t make a mistake when sending the golden water.

    Sometimes, werewolves would deliberately give stupid vigers the golden water to let them follow the trend and vote. The reasoning of No. 20 won the favor of many people. From Xiao Lou¡¯s perspective, No. 20 should be a good person.

    The next No. 17 smiled. ¡°At present, No. 22 and No. 34 have imed to be the prophet and each has their own reasons. I personally prefer No. 34 to be true. Just now, he spoke with a smile on his face and was very confident. He didn¡¯t seem guilty at all. There is no loophole in his logic. Meanwhile, the 22nd beauty was a bit excited and almost every sentence ended with exmation marks. I stand with 22. This is just people. The people who are voting for the sheriff can think carefully about the attitude of the two people when speaking. No. 34 is calmer.¡±

    The feminine-looking No. 13 refuted it. ¡°Friend 17, your speech is too subjective. What expression? He was confident and smiling? He spoke calmly? Don¡¯t you know that in addition to many logical reasoning Werewolf experts, there are also experts in Werewolf who have exquisite acting skills? You can judge by expression and speech alone but I don¡¯t agree. In addition, you said that 34 is very confident while 22 is a bit excited? If 22 is the prophet, can she not be excited if someone else is pretending to be the prophet? Excitement is normal? Based on the logic of their speech, I believe in 22.¡±

    The yers present had a headache. No. 17 supported 34 while No. 13 supported 22. Why don¡¯t they team up for a fight?¡±

    The next to speak was the sweet-looking No. 3. She said weakly, ¡°Hello everyone, I don¡¯t know how to y Werewolf that well. I went back to the wooden housest night and saw the 36 cards on the card wall. I only got three minutes to see the skill and I was dizzy reading them. Please forgive me if I don¡¯t speak well. I¡¯m an ordinary viger and just wanted to join in the fun. I will stand with the No. 34 brother. I think he speaks better. I will return the waterter.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The girl¡¯s voice trembled slightly and she seemed a bit nervous. She emphasized that she couldn¡¯t y and was pretending to be weak to gain sympathy. Then she stood by No. 34. Yet she knew the professional term ¡®return the water¡¯?

    Returning the water referred to the practice in which someone raised their hand to participate in the sheriff¡¯s election only to abandon the campaign. The No. 3 girl could definitely y. She probably had the habit of saying ¡®return the water¡¯ and was too nervous so she didn¡¯t pay attention to the details of her words.

    Finally, the No. 1 Yu Hanjiang spoke.

    Yu Hanjiang stood up. His eyes swept over the audience as he spoke calmly. ¡°I am an ordinary viger. I stood up to run for sheriff just to speak my opinion on the first day. The key to this game is to learn from thenguage of other people. Final the logical loopholes to analyze if the speaker is a good person or a werewolf. If you are dizzy and can¡¯t judge the identity of the other person then you can also abstain during the voting phase.¡±

    ¡°Let me analyze the few people who spoke just now.¡±

    ¡°First is No. 34. In my opinion, 34¡¯s speech is clearly organized. He sent the golden water to No. 6. No. 6 isn¡¯t participating in the election and can¡¯t speak or prove his identity. The credibility of 34 as the prophet ispromised. However, the prophet verifies people in advance after all. He doesn¡¯t know if the person he checked will participate in the election the next day. By chance, he checked on No. 6. It is understandable and he isn¡¯t just sending the golden water to pull people to his side. Therefore, the logic of 34 has no problem.¡±

    ¡°The logic of 22 is alsoplete. She sent the golden water to 20 and 20 says he is a good person, but didn¡¯t stand with her. This is the more sensible approach among the good people. Judging from the speeches, 20 and 22 don¡¯t seem to be teammates who have met each other before. From the perspective of 22, 34 is a wolf who jumped out to be the prophet. There must be two werewolves who came to the election to help him speak. It is also normal to test two sheriff candidates, 29 and 31 tonight.¡±

    ¡°The speeches of both prophets are fine, regardless of whether it is true or false. The logic is clear and I won¡¯t stand on a team for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s talk about No. 3. You can see that No. 3 is very nervous and didn¡¯t pay attention to the details of her speech. You said you can¡¯t y but in the end, you used the professional Werewolf term ¡®returning water¡¯? I hope you can speak better next time. At the very least, No. 3 doesn¡¯t have an ordinary viger card. She either has a celestial card or a werewolf card.¡±

    ¡°Taken together, it is hard to distinguish between the two prophets. I am an unskilled viger. If everyone can¡¯t determine who is the real prophet then you can vote for me and let me lead the team. I have some experience ying Werewolf and I will try my best to help the good people win. There are 24 good people and we have the advantage in number. As long as there is no infighting, our chances are still very good. That is all I will say.¡±

    The vige chief smiled and touched his beard. ¡°The people participating in the election have expressed their opinions. Next is the voting session. If you want to give up on the election then please put your hand down.¡±

    No. 3, 13, 17, 20, 29 and 31 all put their hands down. Only 1, 22 and 34 still insisted on running.

    It was too difficult to distinguish between 22 and 34 who both imed to be prophets and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s final summary was clear. Yu Hanjiang had a natural face of righteousness and he was calm and sonorous when speaking. It was easy to get the favor of passersby. Many of them voted for Yu Hanjiang and in the end, Yu Hanjiang got 15 votes. This far surpassed the votes for No. 22 and 34.

    The vige chief told him, ¡°Congrattions on being elected as the sheriff. Please take your badge.¡±

    [Bloody Night Watch, Round 1: Exile Voting Stage]

    [Unfortunately,st night No. 6 and 16 were cruelly killed by the werewolves!]

    [No. 6 and 16 are out. Please give yourst words.]

    Those killed on the first day were allowed to sayst words. From the second day on, there would be nost words when they were killed at night, only when they were killed during the day.

    No. 6 smiled bitterly. ¡°It seems the wolves don¡¯t like the number 6? They killed 6 and 16 in a row. I have nothing to say.¡±

    No. 16 was next. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say. I was killed on the first day. I am an ordinary viger and perhaps I¡¯m just more unlucky. I¡¯m cheering for my teammates.¡±

    The two of them turned and left the vige. Everyone looked at their backs with mixed feelings. As the sheriff, Yu Hanjiang decided to let people speak clockwise.

    The first to speak was No. 17. Xiao Lou remembered him. He helped 34 during the election just now, saying that 34 was smiling and didn¡¯t seem to have a guilty conscience. This time, he helped 34 again. The man carefully analyzed it. ¡°The situation should be clear now, right? Out of 34 and and 22, 34 issued the golden water to No. 6. Facts have proved that the golden water issued by 34 isn¡¯t wrong. The number of wolves is inherently smaller and it is impossible tomit suicide on the first day to try and deceive the antidote. It is because there is the identity card of ¡®big wild wolf¡¯ among the werewolves. Once a wolf dies, the big wild wolf¡¯s killing skill will be invalidated. Therefore, No. 34 is the true prophet and No. 22 is the werewolf!¡±

    No. 18 was Liu Qiao and she spoke calmly. ¡°It is really impossible for the wolves to kill a teammate on the first day since they can¡¯t guarantee the witch will save someone. If a teammate really dies then the big wild wolf¡¯s killing skill is invalidated. This is undoubtedly a huge loss for the wolves. There is no need to take such a big risk. Therefore, the identity of No. 6 as a good person can be determined. However, can this be used to deduce that No. 34 is the prophet? Not necessarily. No. 34 imed to be the prophet and happened to pick No. 6. The wolves also killed No. 6. I personally don¡¯t believe in so many coincidences. It is also possible that he is a werewolf who deliberately pretended to be the prophet and reported a good person who was killed.¡±

    Next, the topic of 22 and 34 was hotly debated. Some people believed No. 34 was the prophet. It was too much of a coincidence if he happened to pick No. 6 and then No. 6 was killed. Others thought No. 22 was the prophet and 34 was lying. He was actually a werewolf. He knew No. 6 was killed and deliberately gave the golden water to No. 6.

    Once it was the two people¡¯s turn to speak, No. 22 continued to insist she was the prophet but No. 34 suddenly changed his words. ¡°In fact, I am the hunter. I jumped out on the first day to find the werewolf who ran for sheriff. If I die tonight, I will definitely take away the werewolf I was looking for. This is my purpose. No. 3 is the most suspicious person here. She said she can¡¯t y yet she used the professional term ¡®returning the water. She was deliberately canvassing votes and is too fake! Everyone, vote for No. 3 in this round! There is also No. 13 who obviously helped 22. I think there must be a werewolf among the sheriff candidates. The identity of No. 13 is also in doubt. You can focus on these two.¡±

    The No. 3 girl retorted, ¡°I was a bit nervous. I yed the mobile version of Werewolf but my win rate is rtively low, so I don¡¯t know how to y. This is a rtively modest way of speaking. Of course, I know professional terms such as returning the water and golden water. In fact¡­ I am the witch!¡±

    The girl suddenly became serious. ¡°In the 12 person game, you can im to be the witch. However, this is a 36 yer game and I was a bit confused as to whether to reveal myself or not. The wolves killed No. 6, 16 and 2st night. The system asked me if I wanted to use the antidote and I used it on No. 2. That is why No. 2 didn¡¯t die. No. 2 is my silver water. Today, only 6 and 16 died. Believe me, I¡¯m really the witch. If the witch dies then it will be very difficult for the good person camp to y.

    The other people listened to her hard-working exnation and didn¡¯t know who to believe.

    However, the wolves had the big wild wolf and it was reasonable to say they could kill three people. Only two died on the first day instead of three. It was indeed possible that the witch used the antidote. If the witch was out then it would be a great loss to the good camp. The winning rate of No. 3 might not be high but she knew how to grasp the mentality of the good people.

    During the final stage of the voting, the sheriff Yu Hanjiang spoke calmly, ¡°No. 22 still insists she is the prophet while No. 34 and No. 3 have changed their words. No. 34 says he is the hunter and No. 3 says she is the witch. They can¡¯t bepletely trusted. In this round of elections, we started with No. 34 and he imed to be the prophet. Since a prophet appearedter, why continue to insist on continuing the election as a prophet? Once you didn¡¯t be the sheriff, you changed your words to say you are the hunter. In my opinion, your logic ispletely unreasonable. If you are really the hunter then you are messing around and causing chaos.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s extra vote yed a certain role and in addition, No. 22 was the wolf beauty. The wolves naturally wouldn¡¯t vote her out. The final result was that 34 got 16 votes and was cast out.

    [Please choose whether to activate the skill or note.]

    [No. 34 has activated the skill and shot No. 3.]

    This result made the yers stare at each other.

    [Please say yourst words.]

    No. 34 smiled. ¡°I really am the hunter. I had a hidden mission. If I take out a wolf on the first day, I can get an extra reward after the game ends. No. 3 is indeed a wolf in my opinion. I don¡¯t believe the witch will be so stupid as to use the antidote on the first night. The witch only has one bottle of antidote and it must be reserved for the important prophet. No. 3 iming to be the witch is too false. That¡¯s it. I¡¯m going first¡­¡±

    Hisst words surprised Xiao Lou. It seemed many of the celestial cards received hidden missions, just like him and Yu Hanjiang who had to survive along with the cupid until the eighth day. The addition of hidden tasks would make the situation more confusing. Thest words of No. 34 ended and it became dark.

    [Bloody Night Watch, Round 2: Night]

    [Please select a yer to verify their identity.]

    Xiao Lou thought about it carefully. During the sheriff election, Xiao Lou abstained from voting. Shao Qingge, Long Sen, Old Mo and Liu Qiao voted for Yu Hanjiang but Ye and Qu Wanyue abstained.

    He couldn¡¯t rule out that Yu Hanjiang¡¯s wolf teammates helped him gain votes but it was also possible that Ye Qi and Qu Wanyue deliberately abstained from voting for Yu Hanjiang. Xiao Lou decided to check Ye Qi first tonight. He opened the number 7 sign on the ckboard.

    [No. 7¡¯s identity: Werewolf.]

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It was really urate. Xiao Ye was also a werewolf!

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 292: Wolvesâ€™ Strategy

    [You are the dreamer. Please choose where to activate the skill.]

    Shao Qingge thought carefully and chose No. 17 to enter the sleepwalking state. In his opinion, No. 34 was likely to be the hunter and No. 17 had been helping 34. He was probably a teammate of 34 and had a certain understanding of 34. He knew that 34 was a good person. Then tonight, the wolves might aim the knife at No. 17. He would use the dream to protect 17.

    [Spirit wolf, please act. You have learned the skill of the flower butterfly. Please choose whether to activate it or not.]

    Qu Wanyue chose ¡®no.¡¯ The flower butterfly¡¯s skill could be activated twice at most and it wasn¡¯t the right time yet.

    [Fire wolf, please act. Your wolf teammate has died. Do you want to use rage to make one of thempletely lose their skills?]

    This was a limited skill that could only be used once per game. The fire wolf chose ¡®no.¡¯

    [The wolves¡¯munication channel has been established.]

    Due to the exit of No. 3, there were only 10 yers left in the wolves team tonight. Her death also made it impossible for the big wild wolf to use his killing skill. Yu Hanjiang calmly said, ¡°Big wild wolf, tell me who you chased and killedst night. What happened?¡±

    No. 3 made up that she was the witch and saved No. 2. Other people might believe it but he definitely didn¡¯t believe it. Since the big wild wolf¡¯s extra action was after the other werewolves closed their eyes, none of them knew who he had killed.

    No. 14, the big wild wolf whispered, ¡°I saw that you killed 6 and 16 so I chased and killed 26st night. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t seed. 26 didn¡¯t die.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and analyzed it. ¡°As long as the witch¡¯s thinking is normal, it is impossible to use the precious antidote on the first night for an unknown stranger. There are three possibilities for why No. 26 didn¡¯t die. First, he is a guard and he protected himself on the first night. Second, he is an elder. The elder is automatically immune the first time they are killed by a werewolf and will die the second time. Third, the dreamer just happened to make No. 26 sleepwalk. The probability of this coincidence is very low. I prefer 26 to be the guard or elder.¡±

    The big wild wolf also agreed with Yu Hanjiang¡¯s point of view. ¡°I feel that 26 should be the elder and automatically immune to my attack. Of course, the guard protecting themselves on the first night is also regr gamey. I can¡¯t rule out that he is the guard. My killing skill might¡¯ve been invalidated but we blindly met a key card like a guard or elder. It isn¡¯t a loss.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes. It doesn¡¯t matter if he is a guard or an elder. He must die tonight.¡±

    Who was the other one to be killed?

    Qu Wanyue suggested, ¡°Kill No. 31. I just learned the skill of 31. She is the flower butterfly. If we kill the real one, I can pretend to be the flower butterfly if necessary.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke simply. ¡°Okay, kill 31 and 26. Let¡¯s see if the witch will save them.¡±

    He paused and nced over at his wolf teammates. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about tomorrow¡¯s n. If the true prophet appeared then No. 22¡¯s identity won¡¯t be preserved. Vote 22 out. 22 is the wolf beauty and can charm away a person. Changing one for one isn¡¯t a loss. If the prophet doesn¡¯t appear then 22 will continue to wear the clothes of the prophet. Pick a person and say they are the werewolf. Guide everyone to vote for them. If we can eliminate one more then we will have more of an advantage.¡±

    It was dawn.

    [Last night, No. 31 and No. 26 were brutally killed!]

    The survivors came to the square in the middle of the vige. At present, 3, 6, 16, 26, 31 and 34 were all out.

    Only No. 3 was a werewolf. The others were all good people. On the first day, the hunter deliberately attracted firepower in order to do a hidden task. As he was thrown out, he took a wolf away with him. At present, it seemed the wolves had the advantage by killing five good people. However, the hunter¡¯s approach had invalidated the wolves¡¯ powerful ¡®big wild wolf¡¯ card.

    As long as any wolf teammate died, the big wild wolf wouldn¡¯t be able to use his killing skill. This was very detrimental to the wolves.

    Yu Hanjiang looked around and spoke casually, ¡°Speak in a counterclockwise order.¡± Xiao Lou was No. 11 and would speakter if it was the counterclockwise order. He could listen to Xiao Lou¡¯s statement first and then make a decision when it came time for voting. The two of them hadn¡¯t exchanged any words so far and he needed to reach a unified strategy as soon as possible.

    No. 36 was a middle-aged old man. It was his turn to speak and his voice was full of confusion. ¡°I am still at a loss. I don¡¯t even know the identity cards for this Werewolf killing game. I will go along with the team. I am just an ordinary viger.¡±

    This uncle shouldn¡¯t be very good at ying. His words had no analysis at all.

    The young man in the 35th spot did a lot of analysis. ¡°No. 34 next to me jumped out as the prophet during the first round of the election and then he said he was a hunter as hisst words? I¡¯m really full of question marks. He said that he has a hidden mission. Do you believe it? Don¡¯t forget, the hunter might be able to shoot when voted out but there is another card that can shoot people out of the game¡ªthe wolf king! Don¡¯t forget the wolf king! I don¡¯t believe that the wolf king didn¡¯t go to be sheriff on the first day. Perhaps No. 34 was the wolf king. He didn¡¯t seed in pretending to be the prophet and once out of the game, he shot No. 3¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked calm as he listened to the analysis. There were no waves in his heart.

    In the game where the hunter and wolf king existed at the same time, the hunter and wolf king¡¯s death activated skills were the same. They were both prompted to shoot so it was difficult for others to 100% determine the identities of these two people. It was a pity that he suspected the wrong person. The wolf king did go to the election and became the sheriff.

    After No. 35 excitedly analyzed it for a while, No. 33 simply said, ¡°I don¡¯t understand the analysis of No. 35. Let me listen to the prophet¡¯s speech and see if the prophet has verified anyonest night.¡±

    The arguments of No. 32 and No. 33 werergely the same. They said they wanted to hear from the prophet. Xiao Lou nced at the two people. It wasn¡¯t possible to infer their identities for the time being.

    Once it was the turn of No. 30, Xiao Lou heard a familiar voice. It was Old Mo. He coughed and spoke sincerely. ¡°I am getting older and this is indeed the first time I havee in contact with this game. I have never heard of witches or hunters before. As an ordinary viger, I only know that our mission goal is to expel all the werewolves from the vige. I think the good camp has a numerical advantage and we should unite as soon as possible to find the werewolves and cast them out. My vote will go with the majority.¡±

    After he finished speaking, he returned to the stone bench and sat down. His eyes were straightforward and honest. This passage from Old Mo might sound unsatisfactory but from Xiao Lou¡¯s point of view, Old Mo had revealed very crucial information.

    First, Old Mo was a viger. This was something he shouldn¡¯t be lying about. Second, Old Mo¡¯s task goal was to evict all werewolves from the vige. When he said these two points, he was actually hinting to his teammates.

    Mo Xuemin finished his speech and No. 29 and 28 followed him. ¡°I am a good person. I want to cast the werewolves out¡±. Their speeches were in this vein and were very simple. They followed the trend and didn¡¯t mention anything else. From his point of view, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t hear anything wrong.

    No. 27 was Long Sen. He stood up and scratched the back of his head. ¡°I have never yed Werewolf. Now No. 6, 16, 26 and 31 have been killed, 34 was voted out and 3 was taken away. This leaves 30 yers remaining. As long as we drive all the wolves out of the vige, everyone can win. I remember that No. 3 said she was a witch and saved No. 2. I personally think the witch wouldn¡¯t use the antidote on the first night. There is only one bottle of antidote and it must be reserved for a key person, right? Therefore, the credibility of No. 3 being the witch is very low.¡±

    Xiao Lou heard this and his heart was clear. Long Sen and Old Mo had the same goal which was to drive all the wolves out of the vige. These two people should be vigers. He looked at Qu Wanyue. Long Sen was No. 27 and Qu Wanyue was No. 25. Since No. 26 was killed, Qu Wanyue spoke after Long Sen.

    Qu Wanyue stroked her long hair slightly before standing up with a smile. ¡°This big brother¡¯s words just now make sense. I am just an ordinary viger with voting rights and I can¡¯t activate any skills at night. I can only follow everyone¡¯s thinking. It is rmended that those who drew a celestial card carefully consider how to use their skills so the good camp can establish a numerical advantage as soon as possible. When voting during the day, we should try to vote for yers who speak like werewolves. In this way, the more time that passes, the greater our advantage. This time, I also want to hear the speech of the No. 22 prophet.¡±

    Xiao Lou heard this and immediately judged that Teacher Qu was lying.

    She first agreed with Long Sen and said ¡®This big brother¡¯s words just now makes sense.¡¯ However, everyone in the team knew that she and Long Sen were a married couple. She never called Long Sen ¡®big brother¡¯ because they were the same age.

    The other teams couldn¡¯t hear it and thought she was just being polite but her teammates would definitely hear that something was wrong if they were careful. She could call Long Sen ¡®this gentleman¡¯. There was no need to call him ¡®big brother¡¯. The first that she called him ¡®big brother¡¯ meant: don¡¯t believe a word of the nonsense I will speak next.

    Qu Wanyue must have a special identity. She was either a wolf or a celestial. She absolutely wasn¡¯t an ordinary viger. Judging from how she voted for a random stranger instead of Yu Hanjiang during the sheriff election, it could be inferred that she was likely to be a wolf. She didn¡¯t vote for Yu Hanjiang to deliberately avoid suspicion.

    Xiao Lou nced at Qu Wanyue. She happened to meet his gaze and smiled slightly at him.

    The speeches of No. 24 and 23 after Qu Wanyue were meaningless. They just repeated the same things as before. Once it was the turn of No. 22, everyone pricked up their ears.

    No. 22 had long straight hair and a cold voice. When running for sheriff on the first day, she directly jumped out as the prophet so people had a strong impression of her.

    She stood up and spoke calmly. ¡°I am the prophet. Yesterday when running for prophet, No. 34 also imed to be the prophet and everyone doubted our identities. I can understand if you didn¡¯t vote for me. However, don¡¯t make the same mistake again! Last night, I checked No. 23 next to me. This is a werewolf! Wasn¡¯t it too obvious just now? What is ¡®I¡¯ll vote for whoever you vote for¡¯? Do you have any calctions in your heart? First, cast out No. 23 today. I am absolutely right. No 23 is definitely a werewolf!¡±

    Everyone at the scene became suspicious at her words. No. 23 had already spoken. The content was very brief and there was indeed a suspicion of making no contribution. The prophet happened to check this personst night. Was it credible?

    For the next few speakers, No. 21 was skeptical and expressed the desire to listen to others. No. 20 expressed support. He thought that No. 22 was the prophet and her words were reliable. No. 19 also said he would listen and watch before voting.

    It was Liu Qiao¡¯s turn as No. 18. She stood up calmly and said, ¡°I¡¯ll sort out the logic. Yesterday during the day, both 34 and 22 imed to be prophets. From our perspective as onlookers, both their speeches were good and we couldn¡¯t tell who was real or fake. Everyone voted for the neutral No. 1 so that he got the sheriff badge. Later when No. 34 was cast out, he suddenly said he was a hunter. I was fascinated by his actions and perhaps he really has a hidden task.¡±

    ¡°No. 34 left and used a skill to take away No. 3. There are two possibilities.¡±

    ¡°The first possibility is that No. 34 does have a hidden task and he needed to take away a werewolf on the first day. The probability of blindly shooting a werewolf on the first day is too low so he decided to run for sheriff. He pulled the firepower to himself and let everyone throw him out. He analyzed the loopholes in people¡¯s speeches and found the one most likely to be a werewolf. As he was thrown away, he shot the opponent so he couldplete the hidden mission. This makes sense logically.¡±

    ¡°The second possibility is what No. 35 mentioned. No. 34 is actually the wolf king. He failed to pretend to be the prophet so he disguised himself as a hunter and pulled someone else with him. Both the wolf king and hunter have the ability to shoot before they die and we can¡¯t tell if he is a hunter or wolf king. However, we can trace the events backwards.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s look at No. 3; No. 34 shot No. 3 and took her away. No. 3 previously jumped out as the witch. How reliable is it? I think anyone who has yed this game knows that the witch shouldn¡¯t use the antidote on the first night to blindly rescue people. The witch¡¯s precious antidote is generally reserved for people with an important status. This is the case for the 12 yer game, let alone a 36 yer game? The witch didn¡¯t save the antidote for the prophet but saved an unknown person on the first night? I don¡¯t believe it. No. 3¡¯s witch identity is too fake, not to mention that there are too many loopholes in her speech. Since No. 34 took No. 3 away, I think No. 34 is a hunter and No. 3 is a wolf. This inference is the most reasonable.¡±

    ¡°No. 2 was issued with the silver water. Was it No. 3 making an identity for her wolf teammate or No. 3 randomly picking one? In this round, I have to listen to No. 2¡¯s words. I don¡¯t know the mission of the wolves. I only know that the good people need to ensure that more than half of us survive to win. As long as everyone unites and casts the werewolves out, it isn¡¯t difficult for half of us to live.¡±

    Liu Qiao finished her speech and calmly returned to her seat. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help feeling admiration when he heard her speech. Xiao Liu seemed to be a master at the Werewolf game. Her analysis showed a very clear logic.

    No. 17 was after Liu Qiao. ¡°The No. 18 sister makes a lot of sense. Do you still need to doubt that No. 34 is the hunter? The No. 3 he took away with his death is definitely a werewolf! There are too many loopholes and the logic of iming to be the witch doesn¡¯t make sense. She is definitely a werewolf. No. 34 took away No. 3 with his death. If 34 is the wolf king, how could he take away his wolf teammate?¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Did No. 17 have true love for No. 34? He helped speak for No. 34 two rounds in a row¡­

    It was No. 15¡¯s turn to speak and the girl with the baby voice directly said, ¡°I don¡¯t understand. I will vote with everyone.¡± Then it was over.

    The No. 14 man smiled. ¡°Have you noticed that 17 has been helping 34? it is true love! If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that he didn¡¯t die when 34 died, I would suspect that 17 and 34 were lovers appointed by Cupid! In this round, let¡¯s vote for 17. I think his identity is a problem. 34 is the wolf king and 17 and 18 are his wolf teammates. The two of them have been whitewashing the wolf king. It is really obvious. The regr method for the witch is to not prescribe the antidote on the first night but No. 3 said her winning rate is less than 40%. What if a rookie got the witch card on the first night? Can youpletely deny this possibility?¡±

    No. 13 also agreed, stating that 17 and 18 were working together to whitewash 34. They were much like werewolf teammates.

    No. 12 spoke innocently. ¡°The werewolves know each other and will definitely cooperate to cover each other. 17 and 18 could be whitewashing 34 but the two of you could also be pouring dirty water on 34. 17 and 18 think that 34 is a hunter while 13 and 14 think that 34 is the wolf king¡­ both make sense. In fact, it is very simple. Is 34 a good person or a bad person? The grave keeper just needs to look at the tombstone to see his identity. If 34 is a good person then it proves the analysis of 17 and 18 are correct and 13 and 14 are wolves. On the contrary, if 34 is a wolf then 17 and 18 are whitewashing their wolf teammates. Shouldn¡¯t the grave keeper jump out? As long as the grave keeper can prove the identity of 34, we can find at least two werewolves, right?¡±

    The identity of No. 12 should be a good person. Xiao Lou judged that he was a viger who was good at ying. His analytical ability was quite strong. He finished speaking and it was the turn of No. 11, Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou stood up and his teammates looked at him. Yu Hanjiang was also staring at him. Xiao Lou took a deep breath, sorted out his thoughts and smiled. ¡°Hello everyone, I am the prophet.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Why did another prophet appear!

    Xiao Lou spoke calmly. ¡°The usual game of Werewolf consists of 12 people. Four are wolves, four are vigers and four are celestials. However, today we are ying a game with 36 people. There are more identities, increasing the difficulty and the situation will be different. It will be more chaotic.¡±

    ¡°In eight days, it is possible to expel the 12 werewolves. You can calcte it yourself. If we vote for one werewolf every day, we can only vote eight werewolves out in eight days. A witch poisons one, a hunter takes one with him when he dies, the demon hunter kills several at night, a knight duels one to the death and the dreamer can possibly kill four. In other words, it is possible for 12 werewolves to be expelled from the vige in theory. It is just that the actual operation is very difficult. It is because the werewolves know who their teammates are. They can vote as a group and guide public opinion. The good people have never seen each other and can¡¯t trust each other absolutely. It is easy to be tricked in the voting stage. It is only when the vigers and celestials unite that we can expel all werewolves.¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t I jump out as the prophet on the first day?¡±

    ¡°It is because the game has eight days and it is easy for me to die at night if I jump out on the first day. If both the witch and guard are alive, there might be the situation of them both defending and saving me, wasting a skill. In addition, I checked a good person on the first day. It didn¡¯t make sense for me to appear. Thus, I decided to hide for a day and reveal myself the next day after finding a werewolf. That way, I can take a werewolf with me even if I die, so that the good people can gain an advantage.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at the No. 22 curly-haired woman. ¡°No. 22, when you were running for sheriff yesterday, you said you checked No. 20 who was a good person. No. 20 happened to be a yer who participated in the election and spoke after you. In this way, he was likely to help you when speaking. Today, you picked up No. 23 and said she was a werewolf. She has already spoken and there is no way to refute you. Every time you check a person, you can find the most favorable position for you. Isn¡¯t this too coincidental?¡±

    Facing Xiao Lou¡¯s gentle gaze, the smile on the woman¡¯s face became slightly stiff but she still tried her best to keep calm.

    Xiao Lou continued. ¡°In addition, you made an obvious mistake. When you spoke yesterday, you said you would check either 29 or 31 in the evening. Then today, you said that 23 is a werewolf. Since you aren¡¯t the prophet, you were busy discussing who to kill with your teammatesst night and forgot the people you said you wanted to check. This is a contradiction. The true prophet would have a very clear idea in their heart about who to check. They wouldn¡¯t change targets indiscriminately like you.¡±

    No. 22, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The people at the scene heard Xiao Lou¡¯s analysis and collectively nced at No. 22. This was a loophole! There were so many people who spoke yesterday yet he could clearly remember what everyone said. Xiao Lou¡¯s memory impressed everyone at the scene.

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°I will report the record of who I checked. The first day, I checked No. 30. I checked 30 because an integer is easier to remember. As a result, 30 is a good person and received my golden water. This is why I didn¡¯t reveal myself on the first day. It is meaningless to find a good person and it is easy to be killed by a werewolf. Last night, I checked No. 13 and he is a werewolf.¡±

    In fact, Xiao Lou checked Yu Hanjiang the first night and he was a werewolf. The second night was No. 7 Ye Qi who was also a werewolf. No. 13 and No. 30 weren¡¯t checked. He gave golden water to No. 30 because 30 was Old Mo and he knew that Old Mo was a viger. The killing vote was sent to No. 13 because he judged that 13 was definitely a wolf.

    Looking back at the speeches made during the election yesterday, No. 22 and 34 jumped out as the prophet. 17 repeatedly helped 34 speak. Xiao Lou spected that these two were real teammates and had a tacit understanding. However, the reason 13 supported 22 wasn¡¯t very good. Since 22 was a werewolf pretending to be a prophet, 13 had a high probability of being a wolf teammate who helped her get votes.

    What¡¯s more, today 13 stood up again to pour dirty water on 34, leading public opinion to say that 34 was the wolf king who took away the No. 3 witch¡­ for two consecutive days, his actions didn¡¯t seem like a good person. 14 was also suspected of being a werewolf but 13 was more suspicious. Xiao Lou saying that No. 13 was a wolf wasn¡¯t nonsense.

    Seeing everyone¡¯s eyes on him, Xiao Lou spoke calmly. ¡°To sum it up, No. 22 is a werewolf pretending to be a prophet. I have already mentioned the inconsistencies in her speech. No. 13 is the werewolf I have found. No. 14 is also very suspicious but he can be left toter. I suggest you vote for 22 today and cast out 13 or 14 tomorrow. I have a high probability of being killed tonight. I want to trouble the guard to protect me. The witch¡¯s antidote can be kept first. Of course, if you don¡¯t believe me then you can watch me be killed. Even if the prophet is dead, there are cards such as demon hunter and knight. The good people have an advantage. The key is calmness and unity.¡±

    Then Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°I¡¯m done.¡±

    Many of the people present threw admiring nces at Xiao Lou. This man was handsome, out-spoken, calm-looking and polite when he spoke.

    He said a lot and the amount of information wasrge. A slower mind might not remember his long analysis. It was just that Xiao Lou felt trustworthy and his attitude was very sincere. Those who didn¡¯t know how to y would believe him. They would listen to his logic and think it made sense.

    No. 22 and No. 11, two people imed to be prophets but No. 11 was more believable.

    The public opinion that followed was almost one-sided. In addition, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi expressed their belief in the No 11 prophet who appeared the next day Yu Hanjiang naturally gave his vote. ¡°There isn¡¯t much to say. Since the real prophet has appeared, we should vote for No. 22 who is inconsistent and pretended to be the prophet.¡±

    In this vote, apart from 22 who abstained, 80% of the remaining people voted for 22. No. 22 was out. To everyone¡¯s surprise, the moment No. 22 left the vige, the No. 36 old man straightened from his seat. He followed No. 22 like he had been bewitched. The old man followed the long-haired beauty out of the vige like a puppet. This scene caused a chill to go down everyone¡¯s spine.

    It became dark.

    [Bloody Night Watch, Round 3: Night]

    [You are a prophet. Please choose the identity of the first yer to check.]

    Xiao Lou went to the ckboard and touched his chin while thinking.

    In the first round, No. 6 and 16 were killed at night. During the day, Yu Hanjiang ran for sheriff. No. 34 pretended to be the prophet and then imed to be the hunter, taking No. 3 with him. Many good people were still struggling with the identity of No. 34 but Xiao Lou was certain he must be a hunter because Yu Hanjiang guided everyone to vote No. 34 out. No. 34 must not be Yu Hanjiang¡¯s wolf teammate.

    In the second round, No. 26 and 31 were killed at night. No. 22 was thrown out during the day and took away the innocent No. 36. Just now, the old man followed her in a daze. It was obviously the bewitchment skill. No. 22 must be the wolf beauty.

    Xiao Lou looked at the remaining 28 cards on the ckboard and his back suddenly became cold.

    On the first day, three good people and one werewolf died. On the second day, three good people and one werewolf died. The game time was eight days. If this rhythm continued, the wolves could kill 3 x 8 for a total of 24 good people in eight days!

    The werewolf team had 12 people. They could use the method of ¡®self-sacrifice to lead people¡¯ and drag the good people into the water. As long as there was a wolf alive in the end, the wolves could win. There was no doubt that themander of the team was Yu Hanjiang who had be the sheriff. He was leading the rhythm and in this way, he revealed important information to Xiao Lou.

    The task of the wolves was to ughter the vige.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 293.1: Acting Match

    At this time, Yu Hanjiang was also carefully analyzing Xiao Lou¡¯s thinking.

    The first day, Xiao Lou didn¡¯t appear as the prophet. Obviously, Xiao Lou had checked Yu Hanjiang¡¯s identity and found that he was a werewolf. It wasn¡¯t good to jump out and let everyone kill Yu Hanjiang. Therefore, Xiao Lou just hid for a day.

    The next day, he jumped out as the prophet. First, he debunked the false prophet No. 22¡¯s lie. Then he reported his own investigation, stating that No. 13 was a werewolf. No. 13 was indeed a werewolf but he definitely wasn¡¯t verified by Xiao Lou.

    It was because the identity of No. 13 was the ghost knight. The ghost knight possessed the anti-injury skill at night. If the prophet examined him then the prophet would be directly killed. Xiao Lou must¡¯ve checked another teammatest night, either Ye Qi or Qu Wanyue. He couldn¡¯t guide everyone to kill his teammate so based on his own analysis and reasoning, he concluded that No. 13 was a werewolf.

    The words of No. 13 were indeed like a werewolf. On the first day, he helped canvass votes for his No. 22 werewolf. The next day, he targeted No. 34 who imed to be the hunter. Thinking about it carefully, he could definitely be judged as a wolf.

    As long as Xiao Lou checked either Ye Qi or Qu Wanyue, he could guess who the three wolves in the team were. Then he could deduce the three celestials. It was because Long Sen and Old Mo already revealed their civilian status. The remaining three celestials were natural. They were Xiao Lou, Shao Qingge and Liu Qiao.

    From Yu Hanjiang¡¯s point of view, the team configuration was already very clear. It was just that Xiao Lou only knew Yu Hanjiang was a wolf and Long Sen and Old Mo were civilians. He needed to test another teammate to confirm it.

    Today, Yu Hanjiang believed Xiao Lou would have the team¡¯s information.

    Then he revealed himself as the prophet to guide public opinion to vote for the No. 22 wolf beauty. After that, he pointed the spear at No. 13 who looked most like a werewolf. Obviously, he was covertly protecting his wolf teammates Yu Hanjiang, Ye Qi and Qu Wanyue. He was throwing out the werewolves of other teams first.

    Thinking back to the statements made by Long Sen, Old Mo, Liu Qiao and the others¡­

    Old Mo and Long Sen had said, ¡°Drive all the werewolves out of the vige and the good people will win.¡±

    Liu Qiao had said, ¡° I only know that the good people need to ensure that more than half of us survive to win. As long as everyone unites and casts the werewolves out, it isn¡¯t difficult for half of us to live.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had received the goal to ughter the vige and kill all the good people.

    People of different identities had different tasks.

    Old Mo and Long Sen were ordinary vigers and needed to drive out all the werewolves to protect the safety of the vige. Long Sen, Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge were in the celestial camp. Celestials didn¡¯t have such strong feelings for the vige and didn¡¯t need to expel all the werewolves. They could win as long as they protected the lives of half their teammates. Meanwhile, werewolves had the highest difficulty mission. They needed to kill all the vigers and celestials.

    The mission objections of his teammates were contradictory. How to choose?

    It was very difficult for the vigers to win. It was because the vigers and celestials didn¡¯t know each other¡¯s identities. They were bound to mistakenly injure their own camp when voting. It was impossible to vote for a werewolf every day for eight days. In addition, the use of the celestials¡¯ skills might not necessarily kill werewolves urately. They needed to drive out 12 werewolves in eight days. This wasn¡¯t possible unless God wrote a script for everyone.

    The celestial camp was the easiest to win. They just needed to protect half their teammates. To ensure this, they just had to make sure the people who left every day were from different teams. For example, the four teams A, B, C and D participated in the game. Kill a member of team A tonight, team B tomorrow night and people from different teams every night. It was easy to do if the wolves discussed it well. There was also the protection of the witch, guard and dreamer and ensuring half the team lived to the end was very simple.

    Due to its simplicity, the victory of the celestial camp definitely wasn¡¯t a ¡®perfect clearance.¡¯

    The task of the werewolves was very difficult but they knew each other¡¯s identities and could cooperate with each other. They could also cooperate with their teammates on the contract book. It could actually bepleted and was a perfect clearance.

    He had to convey this to Xiao Lou as soon as possible.

    Yu Hanjiang thought up to here and was decisive. ¡°Kill No. 27 and 30.¡±

    [You are the witch. No. 27, 30 and 33 have died tonight. Do you want to use the antidote?]

    Liu Qiao was stunned when she saw the news.

    27 was Long Sen and 30 was Old Mo. How could two teammates die suddenly? Was it a coincidence?

    She quickly rejected the idea of it being a coincidence because there must be three werewolves in their team. It was impossible for these three people to remain indifferent when seeing Long Sen and Old Mo being killed at the same time. These three people had to agree that Long Sen and Old Mo were out or¡ªperhaps they deliberately let Long Sen and Old Mo be eliminated to convey a message to the remaining teammates!

    The more Liu Qiao thought about it, the more she felt it was thetter.

    In a 36 yer game, the wolves could randomly kill two people at night. It was the night of the third round and Long Sen and Old Mo were out at the same time. When they spoke yesterday, they both mentioned the task. Obviously, their werewolf teammates were conveying important information using this method so she couldn¡¯t rashly use the antidote.

    As for how 33 died, it was likely that the demon hunter shot and killed a werewolf!

    She currently had both medicines in her hand but her antidote had to be used to save the most critical Xiao Lou. Professor Xiao was the prophet and couldn¡¯t be killed. Liu Qiao took a deep breath and spoke calmly, ¡°I won¡¯t use the antidote.¡±

    As ordinary vigers, Long Sen and Old Mo woke up from their sleep and found they were actually locked in a small, dark room, They immediately guessed they were killed by the werewolves. It seemed the yers who were killed at night were locked in a small, dark room alone, unable to know the situation outside.

    The narrow and dark environment could make people feel anxious. They could do nothing but wait for the result of the game in this dark room. This was undoubtedly a type of psychological suffering.

    Long Sen walked around the small room, praying to give his teammates a bit of strength at this time. Meanwhile, Old Mo was thinking that after he went back to reality in the future, he should learn how to y Werewolf with his daughters.

    It was dawn.

    [Last night, No. 27, No. 30 and No. 33 were brutally killed!]

    In the square in the middle of the vige, the surviving yers gathered again. The wolves could kill two people every night and three people diedst night. Obviously, a celestial card was used.

    The vige chief stated, ¡°Sheriff, please lead the vigers to find the lurking werewolves as soon as possible and drive them out of the vige.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Today, speak counterclockwise.¡±

    The yers who were currently out included 6, 16, 3 and 34 on the first day. 26, 31, 22 and 36 were eliminated on the second day and 27, 30 and 33 were eliminated on the third day.

    On the third day of speaking, it went counterclockwise as usual and the first to speak was No. 35.

    The man spoke calmly. ¡°Last night, 27 and 30 were killed. Listening to their speeches, they should be ordinary vigers. Meanwhile, 33¡¯s death is a bit strange. I remember that No. 33 is a girl and there is nothing remarkable about her speech the other day. The main thing is that she is suspected of beingzy and not contributing. The witch shouldn¡¯t use an antidote for yers with such a low sense of existence, right? Yesterday, the No. 11 prophet clearly pointed out that No. 13 is a wolf. If the witch wanted to poison someone, it is right to take away No. 13 by poisoning. Why did No. 33 die instead? Thinking about it, I feel the biggest possibility is that the demon hunter shot someone. If this is the case, isn¡¯t the demon hunter¡¯s intuition too urate? After all, the risk of a demon hunter is quite high. If you kill the wrong person, you will die. Everyer should analyze it.¡±

    Since 36, 34, and 33 were all dead, the next one to speak was No. 32.

    No. 32 still had the same style from the first day when he ran for sheriff. His speech was simple and he didn¡¯t put forward his own point of view. ¡°The analysis of the yer next to me makes sense. It is better for me to listen to the speech of the No. 11 prophet. I am an ordinary viger and I believe that the No. 11 prophet is real. It is better to follow the prophet¡¯s ideas.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It seemed that the situation in the past few days made this viger dizzy and he simply gave up on thinking.

    No. 29 was excited. ¡°At present, only the identity of the No. 11 prophet is confirmed. I don¡¯t understand why the wolves didn¡¯t kill the prophetst night and instead killed the civilians 27 and 30. Perhaps it is due to the guard or dreamer protecting the prophet? As for the No. 13 werewolf that the prophet pointed out, why didn¡¯t the witch poison him? I don¡¯t understand. The witch should have two medicines in their hands right? What is the situation where none of them have been used? In any case, since 13 is the werewolf, we should first throw out No. 13!¡±

    The moment these words finished, the vige chief suddenly announced, ¡°No. 4, our heroic knight has decided tounch a duel against No. 13!¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This No. 4 person had quite a brash personality. He didn¡¯t wait for the end of the speeches and directly dueled No. 13. Since No. 13 was indeed a werewolf, he failed the duel with the knight and was expelled from the vige.

    Knights could initiate a duel with a yer at any time before voting during the day. This was a powerful celestial card. If the target of the duel was a werewolf then the opponent was out. If the duel was with the wrong person, the knight was out.

    Based on his own reasoning and the testimony of the prophet Xiao Lou, No. 4 decisively took away the No. 13 werewolf. This further expanded the numerical advantage of the good camp.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 293.2

    The speeches continued.

    No. 28 said, ¡°I want to give the knight brother a thumbs up. His duel took away the No. 13 werewolf. I will listen to the speech of the prophet. If a werewolf was foundst night, the prophet can point it out and one more wolf can be thrown out. Add the wolf killed by the demon hunterst night and three werewolves will be driven out in one day! The celestial cards are too powerful. We are one step closer to our main goal!¡±

    This person was actually part of the wolves team and he was pretending to be a good person.

    The No. 25 Qu Wanyue knew everything but she didn¡¯t reveal it. She stood up and followed the trend. ¡°I am an ordinary viger. I think the good people camp has a huge advantage now. ording to the original schedule, one werewolf was killed in each round. Yet today, the demon hunter killed one and the knight dueled another. We have already taken away two werewolves which is considered over-fulfilling our task. I am also waiting to hear the results of the prophet¡¯s inspection.¡±

    The few people after that didn¡¯t put forward any new points and just said that the celestial cards were very strong.

    The boy in the 20th spot had always been very rational. ¡°This round might¡¯ve taken out two werewolves using the celestial cards but everyone shouldn¡¯t be blindly optimistic. The knight¡¯s skill is a limited skill and can only be activated once. After he dueled No. 13, his skill is no longer avable. There is only one bottle of witch¡¯s poison and it can kill one wolf at most. The demon hunter can kill a wolf at night but they will die if they kill the wrong person. Therefore, there aren¡¯t many skills avable for the celestial cards. The number of good people might be superior now but I think it is wise to analyze it carefully in order to not make a mistake when voting.¡±

    No. 19 was calm. ¡°The worry of the yer next to me is reasonable. If we want to use the numerical advantage of the good people, everyone must work together at the voting stage. Wolves can vote as a group. Once the wolves have established a numerical advantage, they can directly kidnap the vote. They can¡¯t be taken lightly. In this round, I will also listen to the result of the prophet¡¯s investigation. I hope that the prophet has found a werewolf so that our advantage will be greater.¡±

    It was Liu Qiao¡¯s turn. ¡°Let me analyze the three people who diedst night. Based on their speeches, No. 27 and 30 were vigers. There are no obvious loopholes and no reason for the demon hunter and witch to attack them at night. They must¡¯ve been killed by wolves. I think everyone can agree with this.¡±

    Liu Qiao looked at the empty stone bench in the distance. ¡°The key is No. 33. This person has barely spoken for two consecutive rounds. She did nothing and followed the trend. The witch can¡¯t waste a bottle of poison to inexplicably kill her. Meanwhile, the demon hunter can hunt and kill werewolves every night. Why did they dare to kill No. 33? if they killed a good person by mistake then won¡¯t they die?¡±

    The demon hunter might be able to kill a werewolf at night but they will be punished and killed immediately if they killed the wrong person. Therefore, in the absence of certainty, the demon hunter wouldn¡¯t dare to act rashly.

    Liu Qiao analyzed it. ¡°I think the demon hunter is actually very smart. Let¡¯s take a look at area 30-36. At present, numbers 30, 31, 34 and 36 are all out. 34 is the hunter and 30 and 31 were killed by wolves. 36 was bewitched and taken away by the wolf beauty. These four people are all good people. In terms of probability, there must be a wolf among the remaining 32, 33 and 35?¡±

    Probability. The world that Liu Qiao mentioned was very important.

    Old yers of the Werewolf game sometimes judged werewolves based on experience and probability. For numbers 30-36, there were seven people in a row and it was impossible for all seven to be good people. Among these seven, there must be at least one wolf!

    Liu Qiao continued, ¡°Excluding the four good people, who among the remaining 32, 33 and 35 are wolves? In my opinion, 35 has always been a good speaker and he will analyze it carefully every time. One out of 32 and 33 must be a wolf. The demon hunter killed 33 quietlyst night. I think that the demon hunter and 32 are teammates on the same contract book and they figured out 32¡¯s identity through eye contact. I don¡¯t know if my analysis is correct?¡±

    Liu Qiao said this while looking around. She wanted to find the demon hunter who acted at night. This person posed a great threat to the wolves. Unfortunately, except for a few people who showed surprised expressions because of her analysis, the others were rtively calm. It seemed that the demon hunter¡¯s psychological quality was pretty good. They were punctured by Liu Qiao but were still silent.

    Liu Qiao concluded indifferently, ¡°I hope the demon hunter will continue to work harder. If you can hunt and kill a werewolf every night then the good camp has a great chance of winning.¡±

    Then she went back and sat down. Yu Hanjiang heard Liu Qiao¡¯s words and knew that she understood their intentions and was helping to find the demon hunters for the wolves.

    The existence of the demon hunter was indeed a great threat to the wolves. Last night, the demon hunter killed the No. 33 werewolf ording to probability, analysis and knowledge of teammates. If the demon hunter killed a werewolf every night then the wolves would definitely lose.

    Of course, if the demon hunter was strong enough then they could lead the vigers to win based on the condition of ¡®expelling all werewolves.¡¯ However, Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t want to bet on a demon hunter he didn¡¯t know at all. If the other person dropped the ball, wouldn¡¯t everything end up as a tragedy? Yu Hanjiang still hoped to control the situation by himself.

    Yu Hanjiang focused on the speeches of the people after Liu Qiao.

    No. 17 agreed with her spection. ¡°The probability theory is useful. The probability of there being seven consecutive good people is really too low. Exclude the four people who were out and find the wolf among the remaining three. I think this idea is okay. The No. 18 sister has made a reasonable analysis. As for whether the demon hunter reasoned it out like this, only the demon hunter knows. In any case, there is a powerful demon hunter in our camp. This is a good thing.¡±

    Next, the people from 16 to 12 followed suit and didn¡¯t say anything new. Once it was Xiao Lou¡¯s turn, all eyes fell on him. Xiao Lou stood up and spoke in a friendly manner. ¡°Thank you for believing in my identity as the prophet. The werewolves didn¡¯t kill mest night. It is probably because they think the guard will protect me and didn¡¯t want to waste this chance to kill? Let me talk about the inspection resultsst night. I checked No. 20st night and proved that he is a werewolf.¡±

    Since No. 20 had already spoken, it was really hard to argue against Xiao Lou designating him as a werewolf. His words just now were quite calm and he sounded like a good person. Unexpectedly, the prophet said he was a wolf?

    In fact, Xiao Lou didn¡¯t check 20.

    He knew that No. 20 was a good person. It was just that he had decided to help Yu Hanjiang and the wolvesplete their task. Therefore, he had to guide everyone to vote for the good people during the day or the werewolves would lose.

    The good camp had to rely on the demon hunter to win. Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t very confident in the demon hunter. After all, he didn¡¯t know this person. It was too risky to hand over his fate to someone he didn¡¯t know. He was more confident in Group Leader Yu.

    Xiao Lou thought up to here and continued talking calmly. ¡°Everyone can recall the sheriff election on the first day. 22 pretended to be the prophet and gave the golden water to No. 20. No. 20 said he wouldn¡¯t blindly stand by No. 22. The next day, I stepped forward as the true prophet and the false prophet¡¯s lies were revealed. She was voted out and used her skill to take No. 36 away.¡±

    He paused slightly and looked calmly at No. 20. ¡°I paid attention to No. 20 at the time because I suspect that No. 22 gave him golden water to help her teammate gain an identity. ording to normal logic, the werewolf who pretends to be a prophet will randomly give a good person the golden water to get their vote. It is this type of thinking that can easily be used by the wolves to give the golden water to their teammate. In case they are out of the game, their teammate can continue to wear the clothing of the golden water to confuse people. That¡¯s why I checked No. 20st night. I didn¡¯t expect it to be as I guessed. 20 is indeed a wolf. 20 and 22 yed a good show on the day of the election. No. 20 pretended to be a good person and didn¡¯t stand by No. 22. I have to say that your acting skills are very good.¡±

    yer 20, ¡°????¡±

    A ck question mark face?

    ¡®Your acting skills are outstanding. The dirty water was sshed mercilessly while every word was reasonable. If it wasn¡¯t for my identity card clearly stating that I¡¯m a good person, I would¡¯ve believed you!¡¯

    There was no way for No. 20 to speak and at this time, he was feeling very bitter.

    Xiao Lou concluded it. ¡°In this round, I originally wanted to cast out No. 13 and No. 14 who followed him the entire time. However, the knight dueled and eliminated No. 13. I just doubt No. 14¡¯s identity and I¡¯m not certain, so I suggest you vote for 20 first. After all, 20 is the werewolf I have checked. In addition, the werewolves will definitely try to kill me tonight. I¡¯m asking the witch to save me while the guard can protect other focus cards tonight. If I live one more day then I can provide more information to the good people. Thank you.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s speech was really convincing.

    After all, it was determined that 22 was a werewolf. She gave a golden water to 20 and 20 said he wouldn¡¯t stand beside him. The two of them did seem like they were acting out a show. In addition, the prophet said that 20 was a wolf. Therefore, everyone decided to vote 20 out.

    It was finally Yu Hanjiang¡¯s turn. He nced across the square and spoke indifferently. ¡°Since No. 22 acted so hard in order to help her No. 20 werewolf teammate, we will vote for 20 in this round and let him apany his good teammate.¡±

    No. 20, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    There were 23 people left. No. 20 got 15 votes and was voted out.

    Before leaving, No. 20 gave hisst words. ¡°I¡¯m really speechless! No. 11, I really admire your acting skills. You must be in the entertainment industry in reality, right? You speak in an amazing manner and your words are very organized. I almost believed your nonsense but my identity card is indeed a viger. Please note that this prophet might also be fake! Don¡¯t be misled by him! I¡¯m a fucking good person!¡±

    He ended up using swear words at the end. He was obviously very angry. Facing his angry eyes, Xiao Lou just smiled slightly and remained calm. Sorry, in order to win, he could only cooperate with the show.

    It became dark.

    [Bloody Night Watch, Round 4: Night]

    Night fell once again.

    [The werewolves¡¯ voice channel has been established.]

    Who was going to be killed tonight? The wolves looked at Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang ordered, ¡°Kill No. 2 and 4. We can¡¯t always aim at the people in the back row. The demon hunter calctes things ording to the position. Combined with everyone¡¯s speech and it is quite easy to find a werewolf.¡±

    No. 4 was a knight and No. 2 had nothing to say. He should be a viger or a celestial hiding deeply.

    Yu Hanjiang continued. ¡°If we kill these two then the witch definitely won¡¯t save them. The witch¡¯s antidote must be left to the prophet. If we want to ughter the vige, we must establish a poption advantage as soon as possible. Seed wolf, infect No. 2 and pull him into the wolf team.¡±

    [Do you choose to infect the killed No. 2 or No. 4 during the werewolves¡¯ action round?]

    [Select No. 2.]

    [It is the witch¡¯s action round. No. 2 and No. 4 were killedst night. Do you want to use the antidote?]

    [No.]

    [Prophet, please check a person¡¯s identity.]

    This time, Xiao Lou chose to check the middle position No. 15. The result was: a werewolf.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He really checked it again today.

    It was dawn.

    [Bloody Night Watch, Round 4: Day]

    [Last night was Christmas Eve. No one was killed!]

    This notice stunned everyone, especially those in the good people camp. How could no one be killed?

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 294: True and False Grave Keeper

    Since No. 2 was killed, the wolves infected him and had him join the wolves. Therefore, No. 2 didn¡¯t die. As for No. 4, he killed No. 13 in the duel yesterday. It was very likely that the dreamer had him sleepwalk or the guard protected himst night. The wolves¡¯ knife was offset by the dreamer/guard and No. 4 didn¡¯t die.

    This was why a rtively harmonious ¡®Christmas Eve¡¯ was formed on the surface.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at everyone. ¡°Speak counterclockwise.¡±

    There were 23 yers remaining and their numbers were: 35, 32, 29, 28, 25, 24, 23, 21, 19, 18, 17, 15, 14, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 5, 4, 2 and 1.

    Speaking counterclockwise, No. 35 was the first to stand up.

    This man looked gentle and elegant and his previous speeches analyzed things well. He should be part of the good camp. At this time, he took a deep breath and abruptly said, ¡°The prophet is fake. I am the grave keeper.¡±

    Xiao Lou was slightly surprised. Yesterday he deliberately guided everyone to vote for No. 20, stating that 20 and 22 cooperated and were wolf teammates. He vowed that he verified the identity of No. 20. His nonsense could fool all neutral yers who knew the truth but he couldn¡¯t fool the grave keeper.

    Only the grave keeper could check the tombstone of a person who died during the day and figure out if they were good or bad. He must¡¯ve turned over the tombstone of No. 20st night, proving that 20 was a good person.

    No. 35¡¯s expression was very calm. He stared at Xiao Lou, his eyes as sharp as a sword. ¡°You say that you are the prophet and checked that No. 20 is the werewolf. You analyzed that No. 20 and 22 are acting together? I turned over the tombstone of No. 20st night and found that he died unjustly. He is really a good person and was thrown out of the game by you. It is impossible for the prophet to have a verification error. There is only one exnation. No. 11, you are impersonating the identity of the prophet!¡±

    There was an uproar the moment this was said! It was now the fourth day and everyone¡¯s trust in Xiao Lou was very high. They didn¡¯t expect No. 35 to jump out as the grave keeper and say that the prophet was fake. If the prophet was fake then wasn¡¯t everyonepletely driven to vote incorrectly by him?

    Many people cast mixed nces at Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou¡¯s psychological quality could be called very good. His face still had a personable smile and he even took the initiative to meet No. 35¡¯s sharp eyes without any anger from the usation.

    No. 35 continued. ¡°I will give you the detailed logic. Three people, numbers 27, 30 and 33 diedst night. You analyzed that two were killed by the wolves and one by the demon hunter. I agree with this but the point is here. In the daytime, the prophet suddenly aimed a knife at No. 20 saying that he checked 20 was a werewolf and calling for everyone to vote for 20. At the time, No. 20 issued thest words that he was a good person and even swore. I felt weird so in the evening, I turned over the tombstone of No. 20. The result really surprised me. No. 20 is indeed a good person.¡±

    The man stared straight at Xiao Lou. ¡°If you are the prophet then why did you guide everyone to kill a good person? I personally think that the prophet was probably killed on the first day. The following prophets are all fake, including No. 22 and the current No. 11. Keep your eyes open and cast out No. 11. He must be a werewolf. Don¡¯t let him control the rhythm!¡±

    The grave keeper returned to his seat.

    Xiao Lou was nervous but he maintained a polite smile on the surface.

    After No. 35¡¯s speech, the yers were obviously a bit confused. After all, everyone had always believed in Xiao Lou but now it was revealed that Xiao Lou was a false prophet. Should they believe it or not?

    No. 32 who was after 35 always had no opinion. He said weakly, ¡°This¡­ No. 35 suddenly jumped out as a grave keeper and talked a lot. I don¡¯t know how No. 11 will exin it?¡±

    No. 29 was also very dumbfounded. ¡°If the grave keeper is real then No. 11 must be a werewolf pretending to be a prophet. I will keep this vote first and wait for the people after me to finish speaking.¡±

    No. 28 scratched the back of his head. ¡°I¡¯m dizzy¡­ so the conclusion is that No. 11 is a werewolf? In fact, I can¡¯tpletely believe No. 35¡¯s statement. We should listen to No. 11¡¯s exnation. I will keep this vote first and then vote ording to the situation.¡±

    After him was No. 25, Qu Wanyue. Qu Wanyue was very beautiful and her voice was also very gentle. She came forward with a smile. ¡°No. 35, don¡¯t pretend. You are definitely a werewolf.¡±

    As a result, the scene once again became confused. Everyone looked at Qu Wanyue with surprise.

    Qu Wanyue calmly told them, ¡°I will report my identity. I am the flower butterfly. As long as the flower butterfly hugs a person at night, that person will lose all their skills. If I happen to hug a werewolf, the wolf team will collectively lose their ability to kill. Last night, I chose number 35 for a simple reason. I didn¡¯t think there would be only one wolf among the seven people numbered 30-36. The people in this area are almost dead and in every round, No. 35¡¯s speech was very long. If he is a good person, why didn¡¯t the wolves kill him and instead killed people like 31 and 30? It is very likely that 35 is actually a werewolf.¡±

    She stared straight into No. 35¡¯s eyes. ¡°Therefore, I tried itst night and used the flower butterfly¡¯s skill to hug you. As a result, there was a Christmas Evest night. How can this be exined? The possibility that 35 is a werewolf is very high because once the flower butterfly hugs a werewolf, the werewolves can¡¯t kill people that night. It will definitely be Christmas Eve!¡±

    The group listened to her analysis and looked at each other. The wolf teammates silently praised Qu Wanyue¡¯s acting skills.

    No. 35¡¯s forehead veins bulged. ¡®Fuck, did they receive money to ssh dirty water? This isn¡¯t the Werewolf killing game but an actingpetition, right? One by one, no one was telling the truth?¡¯

    Qu Wanyue finished speaking and it was No. 24¡¯s turn to speak.

    No. 24 was a young man with sses who smiled. ¡°I am a melon eater. I am unsure of the identity of the No. 35 grave keeper and the No. 25 flower butterfly. I will wait and see what the prophet says. No matter whether he is the real or false one, we always have to give people a chance to argue, right? Pass.¡±

    Both 23 and 21 indicated their ignorance.

    Then No. 19 spoke seriously. ¡°Last night was Christmas Eve. It is a possibility that the flower butterfly happened to hug a werewolf. As long as the flower butterfly hugs a werewolf, it will indeed prevent the wolves from killing. However, there is another possibility. It is the guard or dreamer protecting the people the wolves were about to kill, their shields offsetting the wolves¡¯ swords. Or perhaps the witch used the antidote?¡±

    He smiled at everyone. ¡°We can¡¯t listen to the word of the wolves. The identity of the flower butterfly is still a question mark. Although the logic for you to hug No. 35 makes sense, I always feel that you are deliberately dragging No. 35 into the water. Of course, this is just my personal feeling.¡±

    He passed the turn and it was Liu Qiao¡¯s turn.

    Liu Qiao stepped forward with calm eyes. ¡°I am the witch. Last night was Christmas Eve and the wolves didn¡¯t kill anyone. The flower butterfly said she hugged No. 35 who happened to be a werewolf. This can be believed.¡±

    ¡°Let me report the wolves¡¯ killing style. In the first round, the wolves actually killed three people. They were No. 6, 16 and 26. I didn¡¯t prescribe the antidote but the ones who died in the end were 6 and 16, not 26. My guess was that he should be the elder or guard. It is because the elder is automatically protected from being killed the first time while the guard will often protect themselves at night.¡±

    ¡°The next day, the wolves aimed at 31 and 26. I didn¡¯t save them because on the first day, 26 didn¡¯t say anything useful. I guessed he was the elder. Once the elder is thrown out by a good person, all the celestial cards will lose their ability. In my opinion, the best result was for the elder to be eliminated by the wolves. There was no need to waste my antidote since it must be left to save the prophet.¡±

    ¡°In the third round, the wolves killed 27 and 30. As for 33 who died as well, it should be the demon hunter who acted. I didn¡¯t use the poison. During the day, I also analyzed that the demon hunter probably calcted it based on probability and cooperation with his teammates to directly kill the No. 33 werewolf.¡±

    ¡°In the fourth round,st night, the system gave me a notification that no one was killed. This is exactly the same as the inference that the flower butterfly hugged a werewolf and caused the wolves to lose their skills. Therefore, No. 35 is a werewolf and No. 11 is a good person in my opinion. As for why the wolves didn¡¯t kill the prophet? There is the guard and the witch still has the antidote. They definitely won¡¯t be able to kill the prophet. It is a waste of a knife. it is better to kill other people to quickly gain the numerical advantage. This way, the wolves will be able to kidnap the votes. For example, isn¡¯t it perfect to pretend to be a good person and vote out the prophet like No. 35? It is a pity that your wishful thinking was wrong. You probably didn¡¯t expect that the flower butterfly had long doubted you?¡±

    Qu Wanyue simply wanted to give Liu Qiao a round of apuse. She had thought of a script in a hurry and poured a basin of dirty water on No. 35 while clearing Xiao Lou¡¯s suspicion along the way. Unexpectedly, Liu Qiao received the script well and directly jumped out as the witch to confirm Qu Wanyue¡¯s identity.

    The witch was more convincing than the flower butterfly and she was also a watch with two medicines in hand. Once she appeared, everyone at the scene finally felt things bing clear. In addition, Liu Qiao reported the correct killing style from beginning to the present time. Her persuasive power rose in a straight line.

    Qu Wanyue wanted to give Liu Qiao a hug but on the surface, the two of them didn¡¯t even make eye contact. Liu Qiao finished speaking and returned to her seat. The two of them didn¡¯t seem to know each other.

    The witch¡¯s testimony made Xiao Lou¡¯s suspicion drop instantly.

    The next yers 17-12 didn¡¯t put forward new opinions. Everyone felt that since the flower butterfly and witch both confirmed that No. 35 was a wolf, the possibility that he was a wolf was higher than the possibility that No. 11 was a wolf. If there was no one else who imed to be a witch then they would believe in No. 18.

    Once it was Xiao Lou¡¯s turn, he smiled politely at No. 35. ¡°The wolves might be trying to kill me but they are afraid that the guard and witch will save me. Therefore, they want to use the daytime vote to ssh water on me and guide everyone to vote me out¡­ I have to say, this strategy is very clever.¡±

    No. 35 met his gentle smile and he almost vomited blood.

    ¡®Your acting skills are brilliant. You are speaking nonsense with open eyes!¡¯

    Xiao Lou continued. ¡°Everyone has seen No. 35¡¯s acting. It is very realistic but things are clear. I don¡¯t need to exin anything to you since it should already be exined by the witch. It was Christmas Evest night because the werewolves couldn¡¯t kill. I checked No. 5st night and he is a good person. No. 5 is my golden water.¡±

    Shao Qingge raised his eyebrow. He was No. 5 and Xiao Lou definitely didn¡¯t check him. It was because the configuration of three wolves, three celestials and two civilians in their team was already very obvious. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t need to waste this opportunity to check people.

    Xiao Lou had only one reason for saying he checked Shao Qingge. It was to wake up Shao Qingge. If he was a celestial with skills then he should activate the skill as soon as possible to assist his teammate. If it was a celestial card that couldn¡¯t be activated then hide it first. Shao Qingge understood and smiled.

    Xiao Lou kept talking. ¡°Today¡¯s vote should go directly to No. 35. There is no need to worry about it. The witch still has her two medicines and I am very confident in the good people¡¯s camp. The guard might¡¯ve protected me. If I am killed tonight, I am asking the witch to help me. It is now the fourth day and the process is just over halfway. There are five werewolves out of the game and seven are left. After 35 is voted out, there will be six wolves. The good people camp must continue to work hard.¡±

    The calmer Xiao Lou appeared, the more false the usation against him seemed. Many people had already started to waver. They felt that Xiao Lou, who had a gentle attitude and calm eyes, seemed more credible?

    To everyone¡¯s surprise, after Xiao Lou¡¯s speech, No. 10 suddenly jumped out. ¡°I am the prophet and I checked that 17 and 19 are werewolves. I have been dormant for a few days because I was afraid of being killed. Now it is okay. Many werewolves have been cast out and the good people have a great advantage. I don¡¯t need to worry about it and cane forward.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    What was this person doing? Inexplicably iming to be the prophet at this time?

    Yu Hanjiang narrowed his eyes slightly. There were actually two prophets. One was the prophet of the good people camp, who could check people every night. The results of the check only showed if the person was good or a werewolf.

    The other was the prophet of the werewolves. He was the gargoyle and he didn¡¯t act with his teammates. He could check people every night. The result of the check would show the specific identities such as guard, viger, witch etc.

    Obviously, No. 10 was the werewolves¡¯ prophet, the gargoyle. He could see that the werewolves were cooperating and the true prophet was on the side of the wolves. Thus, he jumped out and pointed the knife. The No. 17 and 19 he mentioned must be crucial celestial cards. He was telling his wolf teammates to kill the two of them as soon as possible.

    Many people present didn¡¯t have Yu Hanjiang¡¯s reasoning ability and they were full of disbelief when they heard No. 10¡¯s words. iming he was the prophet with such a simple sentence? What about his logic? What about the mental journey? What about the results of the check over thest few days? It was like he was ying around¡­

    The people around him looked at him withplicated expressions. Sure enough, No. 9 and 8 after him both said, ¡°Brother, are you here to be funny?¡±

    No one believed he was the prophet.

    Once it was No. 7¡¯s turn, Ye Qi abruptly said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m the grave keeper. No. 35 should be a werewolf. The wolves want to deliberately pour dirty water to guide everyone to kill the prophet. He said that No. 20 killed by the prophet yesterday is a good person? I checked his tombstone. How could it show a werewolf? Does he have two different tombstones?¡±

    The people around him were amused by Ye Qi¡¯s words.

    Ye Qi stared at No. 35 earnestly. ¡°Listen to me, the real grave keeper. I will tell you the results of the verification. No. 34 was cast out on the first day and the tombstone showed he was a good person, indicating he was the hunter. On the second day, the tombstone of No. 22 showed a werewolf. She used a charm skill to take away 36 when she died and should be the wolf beauty. On the third day, No. 20¡¯s tombstone showed that he was also a werewolf. No. 22 and 20 were indeed teammates helping with each other¡¯s identity. No. 35, you jumped out as the grave keeper and said that 20 is a good person. Obviously, you are also a wolf teammate. The prophet threatens you too much. Your method to kill the prophet was really clever. It is a pity that the witch is still here and exposed your lies.¡±

    Ye Qi imed to be the grave keeper. His speech was serious and his clear eyes were full of sincerity.

    Shao Qingge thought, ¡®Why sing? With your acting skills, you might even get an Oscar if you go to acting.¡¯

    It was Shao Qingge¡¯s turn to speak. He smiled and spoke briefly. ¡°¡­The prophet sent me the golden water and I¡¯ll pick it up. I am indeed just an ordinary viger and will follow everyone to vote. The sheriff will sum it up.¡±

    No. 4 and No. 2 didn¡¯t say anything usually. Yu Hanjiang finally concluded as No. 1, ¡°Today¡¯s speeches had many reversals. First, No. 35 imed to be the grave keeper and identified 11 as a false prophet. This was followed by No. 25 saying she is the flower butterfly. She said that the wolves couldn¡¯t kill anyone because she hugged 35st night. Then the witch revealed herself, indicating there was indeed no wolf killingst night¡­ I personally think that the logic of the flower butterfly and witch is more believable.¡±

    He paused and his sharp eyes stared directly at No. 35. ¡°No. 35, you said that the prophet was probably killed on the first day and all the prophets after that are false. Your logic actually has a very big hole in it. Do you remember thest words of No. 6 and 16 who were killed on the first day? Did they say they are the prophet?¡±

    The group thought about it and it dawned on them. Yes, if the true prophet had been killed then he should reveal his identity and say, ¡®I am the prophet and I was killed.¡¯ This would prevent others from pretending to be him and deliberately driving the rhythm.

    However, 6 and 16 were obviously passersby. They were killed and their speeches were just about ¡®why was I killed¡¯ and ¡®I am unlucky¡¯. There was no mention about the prophet. Therefore, No. 35¡¯s spection that the prophet was killed on the first day and everyone else after that was fake was unreasonable.

    The prophet wasn¡¯t killed on the first day and No. 22 was proven to be false. Then wasn¡¯t the true prophet No. 11? As for No. 10 who suddenly jumped out today, no one took his words seriously. Thinking about it this way, everyone felt No. 11 was the true prophet and No. 35 was a wolf.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice rang out. ¡°Needless to say, vote for No. 35 today.¡±

    The sheriff¡¯s statement sentenced No. 35 to death. Apart from No. 35 who voted for No. 11, almost all of them voted for 35. No. 35 was cast out. Before leaving, he expressed hisst words. ¡°All of you are awesome and should go to be movie emperors. I don¡¯t want to say anything else. Continue to be led by No. 11!¡±

    It became dark.

    Xiao Lou returned to his personal cabin and looked at the number tes left on the ckboard with relief. He could live thanks to his teammates¡¯ continuous nonsense! The strength of the team was the most powerful thing.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 295.1: Five Kills in One Night

    It was dark and Shao Qingge received a prompt. [You are the dreamer. Please choose the target you want to sleepwalk tonight.]

    Shao Qingge thought about it before answering, ¡°No. 4.¡±

    Last night, he dreamed of the No. 4 knight. The knight had driven out the No. 13 werewolf with a duel during the day and his identity exposed. Shao Qingge had been worried the werewolves would kill the knight at night so he gave the knight a shield.

    Tonight, he would continue to shield No. 4. If he dreamed of the same person for two consecutive nights then they would die.

    When speaking today, Liu Qiao, Qu Wanyue and Ye Qi all stood up to help Xiao Lou speak. In the eyes of other passersby, it was because No. 35 jumped forward and led to the counterattack of the witch, flower butterfly and grave keeper¡­

    Meanwhile, Shao Qingge could see that his teammates were collectively maintaining Xiao Lou.

    Obviously, his teammates had reached a consensus. Liu Qiao was the witch, Xiao Lou was the prophet and Shao Qingge was the dreamer. Long Sen and Old Mo were vigers. Then ording to the team configuration, Yu Hanjiang, Qu Wanyue and Ye Qi must be werewolves.

    Ye Qi¡¯s grave keeper ability must be fake and the No. 35 grave keeper was real. He was right that No. 20 had died unjustly. In other words, it was likely Xiao Lou had chosen to stand with the wolves and help the wolves kill.

    Since Professor Xiao wanted to help the werewolves, Shao Qingge had to do his part and kill the No. 4 knight.

    At the same time, the werewolves¡¯ voice channel.

    No. 2 was pulled into the wolf pit and his chin almost fell off. ¡°Um¡­ why am I here? The sheriff is actually a werewolf?¡± He was wondering why he was in the wolf channel with the wolves and thought it was a bug.

    No. 9 smiled. ¡°No. 2, we killed youst night and infected you. You have be a werewolf and joined the wolves. You will fight alongside us.¡±

    No, 2, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It was terrible!

    Not only was the No. 1 sheriff a werewolf but the No. 25 flower butterfly and No. 7 grave keeper who spoke for the prophet during the day were both werewolves! These wolves, weren¡¯t their acting skills too great? The No. 2 wolf was just pulled into the wolf team and was dazed.

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°No. 2, you aren¡¯t familiar with the previous actions of the wolves. You can just vote with us during the day.¡±

    No. 2 immediately promised. ¡°I understand. I am also a werewolf from now on and I will follow you.¡±

    Someone wondered, ¡°Is No. 11 really a prophet? Why do I think he has been helping the wolves?¡±

    This question immediately caused controversy.

    ¡°I also think it is strange. On the third day, he said that No. 20 is a werewolf but he obviously isn¡¯t one. On the fourth day, No. 35 imed to be the grave keeper. As a result, the prophet called for everyone to vote for 35. Voting for two good people two days in a row? How can there be such a prophet?¡±

    ¡°Yesterday, No. 10 also jumped out as a prophet. He said that 17 and 19 are wolves he checked. It is clear from our perspective that 17 and 19 aren¡¯t our teammates. I¡¯m a bit dizzy. What is going on.¡±

    Then someone pointed a finger at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°I think there is also a problem with the No. 1 wolf king. Do you know No. 11? Everyone, can we trust the wolf king so much? Are you letting your teammateplete the task, deliberately bringing the rhythm of the wolves to kill the members of other teams? Half of my team has been killed!¡±

    This was No. 28 whose identity was the fire wolf. He said that half his team was killed so it was likely that four of the people who were killed or voted out in thest few days were his teammates. In that case, it was natural for him to be nervous.

    Yu Hanjiang replied calmly. ¡°You are right. I do know No.11 but I didn¡¯t deliberately lead you to kill other team members. The No. 27 and 30 that I asked you to kill on the third day are my teammates.¡±

    Hearing this, the other werewolves looked at each other. Actually letting everyone kill two teammates overnight?

    Yu Hanjiang continued, ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, other people cane forward and speak. Does anyone else know No. 27 and 30? Are they members of your team?¡±

    It was silent. It was because No. 27 Long Sen and No. 30 Old Mo were indeed not members of their team. It was obviously true that the wolf king had killed his teammates.

    No. 28 who questioned Yu Hanjiang just now gave a light cough. ¡°Sorry, I just felt doubts. Then what do you mean? You are working with No. 11?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang exined. ¡°No. 11 is indeed the prophet. On the third and fourth days, he called on everyone to vote for a good person. The intention is obvious. He is showing his position. He wants to stand by the wolves and help usplete the task.¡±

    Hearing this, the other wolf teammates were very surprised. The prophet was standing with the wolves?

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Don¡¯t forget. Everyone¡¯s mission is different in this secret room. If everyone is focused onpleting their own tasks then it is likely no one will be able toplete it in the end.¡±

    Everyone carefully considered today¡¯s speech and their brains finally turned.

    The No. 15 girl said, ¡°In other words, we should find a unified goal as soon as possible and everyone will cooperate toplete the task? Or else the good people camp will keep obstructing us from ughtering the vige while the celestial cards will keep saving people and our wolf team¡¯s task won¡¯t bepleted?¡±

    Blocking each other, dragging each other back until finally everyone was eliminated¡­ A of Spades¡¯ trap was very deep.

    ¡°The vigers¡¯ mission is to expel all werewolves from the vige.¡± Yu Hanjiang analyzed in a low voice. ¡°It is only eight days and there are 12 werewolves. Even if one is thrown out urately every day, how can the remaining four werewolves be solved? As long as one person lives to the end, the good people can¡¯t drive out all the werewolves. The task of the vigers can only bepleted in theory and it is too difficult in practice.¡±

    The demon hunter had to urately hit the werewolves at night and the witch had to poison a werewolf, which couldn¡¯t be repeated. As long as one of the 12 werewolves hid deeply, the vigers¡¯ mission would fail. Moreover, the werewolves could vote with each other and cover each other. The vigers didn¡¯t know each other¡¯s identities and their hearts weren¡¯t aligned. They might not be able to vote for the werewolves during the day.

    The vigers could only achieve the perfect ending if the director wrote the script in advance.

    Yu Hanjiang followed up. ¡°Think carefully. The first time you entered the secret room, there was a reminder in your floating box. As long as the wolves ughter the vige, it is a perfect clearance. Don¡¯t you want the rewards for a perfect clearance?

    Yes, a perfect clearance. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s words made the werewolvese to a realization.

    No. 28 eximed, ¡°So the mission of the vigers is almost impossible toplete while the mission of the celestials is rtively simple but isn¡¯t perfect. Only the werewolves mission is considered a perfect clearance?¡±

    The No. 15 girl added, ¡°Us wolves canmunicate with each other by voice chat at night. We can cooperate and vote as a group. So everyone should choose the mission of the werewolves and fight for the perfect clearance?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°There are already some people who have understood this, including the No. 11 prophet and No. 18 witch. Up to now, the No. 18 witch hasn¡¯t poisoned any werewolves. This is a gesture.¡±

    The wolves were finally convinced of Yu Hanjiang¡¯s theory. There was an S-grade card given as a reward for a perfect clearance. Who didn¡¯t want it? Now there was a chance to get a perfect clearance. It was natural to work together.

    No. 28 had just been questioning Yu Hanjiang. At this time, he changed his attitude. ¡°Everyone, listen to themand of the wolf king. Who should we kill next?¡±

    ¡°Someone just asked why No. 10 suddenly imed to be the prophet. It is very simple. He is the prophet of the werewolves, the hidden gargoyle. He appeared at this time, sacrificing himself to give his teammates a knife. He said that 17 and 19 are werewolves, which actually means they are key celestial cards he had checked. We should give priority to handling them.¡±

    No. 15 agreed. ¡°I thought No. 10 was the gargoyle when he jumped out. His im to be the prophet was too false. He didn¡¯t exin at all and just pointed to 17 and 19. I think the two he pointed out are likely to have key celestial cards such as the guard, dreamer or demon hunter.¡±

    The gargoyle could find out the specific identity. For the previous three days, he had been hiding in the dark to check people silently. Now he jumped out on the fourth day. He must¡¯ve found a key card.

    The witch and prophet had already identified themselves. The key cards he found were likely powerful cards with protection and killing skills such as the guard, dreamer or demon hunter.

    Yu Hanjiang simply said, ¡°So we won¡¯t waste our gargoyle teammate¡¯s sacrifice. We will kill 17 and 19 tonight. Do you have any opinions?¡±

    No one objected. The wolves¡¯ knife pointed at No. 17 and No. 19.

    At the same time, Liu Qiao received a prompt. [No. 17 and No. 19 were killed tonight. Do you want to use the antidote?]

    ¡°No.¡±

    [Do you want to use the poison?]

    Liu Qiao thought about it. ¡°Yes, poison No. 32.¡±

    In her analysis about why the demon hunter suddenly killed No. 33, Liu Qiao used the probability theory to calcte that there must be a wolf in the 30-36 section. Four of them were out. The demon hunter killed 33 and didn¡¯t kill 32. Obviously, the demon hunter was a teammate with 32 and confirmed the identity of the teammate as friendly.

    Liu Qiao was now standing with the wolves so she had to try her best to help the wolves kill the good people. If she poisoned No. 32 then she could help the wolves build their numerical advantage.

    It was dawn.

    [Bloody Night Watch, Round 5: Day]

    [The ones who diedst night were No. 4, No. 10, No. 14, No. 19 and No. 32.]

    Everyone was shocked to see this. The wolves were surprised because they obviously killed 17 and 19. Why didn¡¯t 17 die? The good people were surprised. How did five people diest night? Wasn¡¯t five kills too fierce?

    Yu Hanjiang thought it over and quickly figured it out.

    17 should be the bewitcher celestial card. The bewitcher could appoint a target at will at night. If they were killed, the target they appointed would die on their behalf. In other words, a ghost was chosen to rece the bewitcher. Out of the five people who died, one of them must¡¯ve been chosen by No. 17 to rece him.

    No. 10 should be killed by the demon hunter. Out of the remaining two, it was likely that Liu Qiao used poison? He just didn¡¯t know which one Liu Qiao poisoned.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes swept over the group. There were only 17 yers still alive. He once again chose to speak counterclockwise. 30~36 were all dead and 29 was the first to speak.

    No. 29 seriously analyzed it. ¡°Five people diedst night. I think No. 10 was killed by the demon hunter. His im yesterday about being the prophet was too fake. Obviously, he was likely to be the wolf team¡¯s prophet i.e. the gargoyle. Therefore, the demon hunter killed himst night. As for the remaining four¡­ how can so many people die? I think I should listen to the witch.¡±

    No. 28 said, ¡°The speech next to me is rather one-sided. I want to add that No. 10 might¡¯ve been shot to death by the demon hunter or poisoned by the witch. After all, his actions yesterday were too strange. He was obviously a wolf. The demon hunter or witch likely dealt with himst night. As for how the remaining four died, I am also a bit confused. I will let everyone analyze it.¡±

    The next to speak was No. 25 Qu Wanyue. Her voice was solemn. ¡°I am the flower butterfly and I didn¡¯t activate my skillst night. It is because I couldn¡¯t think of anyone who seemed to be a wolf. I was worried that if I hugged the wrong person, the celestial cards couldn¡¯t be used. I didn¡¯t expect so many deathsst night¡­ Just now, the previous two people have analyzed that No. 10 was killed by a celestial card. This should be the consensus. There are four people remaining. I need to wait for the witch¡¯s report fromst night to determine what happened.¡±

    Qu Wanyue finished her speech and the No. 24 young man stood up. His eyes were slightly narrowed and there was an innocent smile on his face as he spoke loudly, ¡°At present, it is recognized that No. 10 was killed by a celestial card, right? I agree with this inference. After all, his actions yesterday were so weird that he almost wrote the word ¡®werewolf¡¯ on his forehead. He was either hit by the demon hunter¡¯s arrow or the witch¡¯s poison. As for how the remaining four died? I¡¯m here to rify your confusion.¡±

    The teenager paused and looked around at everyone before dering earnestly, ¡°I am Cupid. In fact, on the first night of the game, I connected numbers 4 and 14, making them a couple. So if the wolves killed No. 4 or 14 then the other person will die. That is why there were so many deathsst night.¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 295.2

    Everyone was surprised when they heard this. They didn¡¯t expect Cupid to be the reason why so many people diedst night!

    Meanwhile, Xiao Lou was sighing with relief. Cupid jumped forward. This was the best because Xiao Lou had a unified front with Yu Hanjiang and Cupid. They had the same hidden mission¡ªto live until thest day. If Cupid couldn¡¯t y, spoke too loudly and was thrown out or was killed by the wolves then the hidden mission of Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang wouldn¡¯t bepleted.

    No one knew the real couple except for Yu Hanjiang, Xiao Lou and Cupid. Therefore, only Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou knew that Cupid was lying.

    Cupid revealed himself at this time while also expressing his stance. He supported the true couple No. 1 and No. 11. As for 4 and 14 who died for love, this statement was to confuse the audience and let everyone lower their doubts regarding Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou.

    This Cupid was quite capable of ying and there were no logical loopholes in his speech. After all, there were too many deathsst night. If one of them was a couple then it was easier for people to ept.

    The teenager¡¯s eyes were also calm when he spoke. Obviously, many people at the scene believed Cupid¡¯s words.

    After Cupid¡¯s speech, No. 23 suddenly said, ¡°Cupid stated that 4 and 14 are lovers. I believe this for the time being. If this is the case, it can better exin how five people diedst night. The thing I find strange is why nothing happened to the sheriff? I¡¯ve yed many Werewolf games and most of the sheriffs survive less than three days. Then have you noticed? No one seems to question our sheriff at all. Don¡¯t think that this big brother looks righteous on the surface. Is he actually righteous? Have you never thought it was possible that a werewolf is the sheriff? Have we met a wolf sheriff?¡±

    Many people shifted their gazes to Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang was quite calm and his expression didn¡¯t change. He even cast an encouraging look at No. 23 as if to say, ¡®You continue.¡¯

    No. 23 was startled by the calm gaze but kept talking. ¡°Of course, I have no evidence. I just have a reasonable question. This is too strange. It is the fifth day of the game and the sheriff is still alive. Moreover, the prophet is still alive. He revealed himself on the second day. Why haven¡¯t the wolves killed him despite it being the fifth day? This is too unreasonable.¡±

    He paused before adding, ¡°If the wolves tried to kill the prophet and he was rescued by the witch or protected by the guard then it makes sense. However, look at what happened thest few nights. On the third night, the wolves killed 27 and 30 after the prophet was revealed. The fourth night was a Christmas Eve because the flower butterfly said she happened to hug a werewolf, so the wolves couldn¡¯t kill. On the fifth night, five people died. Two of them must¡¯ve been killed by the wolves. So why didn¡¯t they kill the prophet?¡±

    ¡°In other words, it isn¡¯t the witch or guard saving the prophet. It is that from beginning to end, the wolves never moved against the prophet. Isn¡¯t it strange?¡±

    People turned to look at Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou smiled slightly, as calm as Yu Hanjiang. However, once the seeds of doubt grew in the bottom of the heart, these doubts would only be bigger and bigger, growing like a vine. Everyone thought about it carefully and it was indeed not right.

    No. 11 revealed himself on the second round during the day. That night i.e. the night of the third round, the wolves killed 27 and 30 while ignoring the prophet. The fourth night was Christmas Eve. The fifth night, five people died but the wolves still didn¡¯t do anything about the prophet. Why? The prophet was a great threat to the wolves. There was no reason for the wolves to keep him alive, right?

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised. Last night the numbers 4, 10, 14, 19 and 32 died. Excluding No. 10 who was killed by a celestial card, the remaining four shouldn¡¯t have as high a priority as the witch and prophet, right? Why aren¡¯t they acting against the witch and prophet and are instead killing those who are more invisible?¡±

    ¡°I have a strange feeling like the prophet is being protected by the werewolves. Think about it carefully. Every time the sheriff votes, doesn¡¯t he follow the prophet? I guarantee that they must be teammates. Perhaps No. 35 in the previous round is the real grave keeper and there is indeed a problem with the No. 11 prophet. The No. 1 sheriff is also likely to be a wolf! It is rmended to vote out No. 11. A prophet who messes with the rhythm can¡¯t be allowed to stay!¡±

    Two consecutive people questioned the prophet and many people at the scene cast doubtful nces at Xiao Lou. This was also expected by Xiao Lou. After all, it was the fifth round of the game and the prophet was still alive.

    Anyone who could get to this level wasn¡¯t stupid. If they couldn¡¯t see that he was cooperating with Yu Hanjiang then if they went to the high level Hearts room, forget catching the murderer. They wouldn¡¯t even be able to find suspects.

    How should he resolve the current situation?

    The person after No. 21 happened to be Liu Qiao and Xiao Lou turned his attention to her.

    Liu Qiao stood up and opened her mouth. ¡°Why didn¡¯t the werewolves kill me and the prophet? I don¡¯t know. I only know that the prompt I receivedst night was that No. 19 and No. 17 were killed. I didn¡¯t save them using the antidote.¡±

    ¡°I will give you a careful analysis. Out of the five people who diedst night, No. 10 must be a gargoyle. He abruptly imed to be the prophet and pointed out 17 and 19. This is obviously to tell his wolf teammates to take care of these two key cards first. Facts proved that my spection was correct. The prompt I received was that the wolves killed 17 and 19 so I poisoned No. 10.¡±

    ¡°Yet 17 didn¡¯t die? There is only one possibility. No. 17 is the bewitcher. He can choose a person to be his stand-in at night. He chose either 4 or 14 and this triggered the couple chain effect, so that 4 and 14 died together.¡±

    ¡°The remaining No. 32 should be killed by the demon hunter or dreamer? Why did they kill 32? In my opinion, 32 did nothing during several rounds of speeches. Perhaps the demon hunter or dreamer thinks he is a wolf and killed him?¡±

    Liu Qiao looked at the man next to her. ¡°No. 17 is my silver water. He avoided the knifest night. As long as no one throws him out during the day, he won¡¯t die at night. I suggest that No. 17 chooses a werewolf as a stand-in so that our good camp has a greater chance of winning.¡±

    ¡°As for the two people questioning me and the prophet just now, I don¡¯t know why the wolves didn¡¯t kill me and the prophet. Perhaps it has something to do with the wolves¡¯ mission or perhaps the wolves deliberately didn¡¯t kill us to confuse people.¡±

    Liu Qiao mixed truth with lies, making people confused. In fact, what she said in the first half was true but she didn¡¯t poison No. 10st night. The innocent No. 32 was killed by her poison. However, only the demon hunter knew this. Once the demon hunter found out that No. 10 was a werewolf, they killed No. 10 immediately.

    At this point, the demon hunter had two choices.

    The first choice was to jump out and expose Liu Qiao¡¯s lie, confirming that No. 10 was killed by the demon hunter. The witch must¡¯ve poisoned a good person and there was a problem with the witch. At the same time, if the demon hunter revealed himself then the wolves would get rid of him tonight. It was because the existence most threatening to the wolves was the demon hunter.

    The second option was to not act for the time being. They would act ording to their own analysis, continuing to hunt and kill the werewolves at night to help the good people. Liu Qiao released a hook to help the wolves find the demon hunter. It depended on the demon hunter if the hook was grabbed or not.

    Liu Qiao finished her speech and No. 17 continued to speak. He confirmed Liu Qiao¡¯s words. ¡°I am indeed the bewitcher. I bewitched No. 14st night because I think he is a wolf. On the day No. 13 ran for the sheriff election, he helped speak for the false prophet No. 22 and No. 13. They must¡¯ve met at night and knew each other. These two should be wolf teammates. This is the reason why I chose No. 14st night.¡±

    This was right. The wolves killed 17 and 19st night and 17 bewitched 14, making 14 his surrogate. 4 and 14 were killed due to Cupid¡¯s connection and they both died for love. The remaining 32 was killed by the demon hunter.

    On the surface, this logic chain was okay. Only the demon hunter knew that the witch was lying.

    The next No. 15 and No. 12 all acknowledged the inference of the five kills in one night. After all, there were testimonies from Cupid, the witch and the bewitcher. No one thought that the witch would lie.

    It was Xiao Lou¡¯s turn and he stood up calmly. ¡°Some people questioned why the witch and prophet weren¡¯t killed. I will exin it to you. On the day when I revealed my identity, I was prepared to be killed on the third night. However, I mentioned in my speech for the guard to protect me.¡±

    ¡°I explicitly asked the guard to protect me. Wouldn¡¯t it be stupid for the wolves to kill me knowing that that guard would give me a shield? It would be better to choose two other people to kill. After all, the more good people that die, the greater the advantage of the wolves. In addition, they have other ways to deal with the prophet. For example, make the prophet lose his skills.¡±

    ¡°The fourth round was Christmas Eve. The wolves couldn¡¯t do anything even if they wanted to. The flower butterfly happened to hug a werewolf.¡±

    ¡°As for the fifth round, why didn¡¯t the wolves kill me? I can tell you the reason. It is because I lost my skillst night.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou still looked calm as he nced at the two yers who questioned him earlier. ¡°The prophet is really easy to die in a 12 person game because there are no skills to target the prophet. However, this is a 36 yer game. Don¡¯t forget, the wolves had the nightmare to fear the prophet and stop the prophet from testing people at night. There is also the fire wolf. In the event that a wolf teammate dies during the day, the fire wolf¡¯s anger can cause someone to permanently lose their skill.¡±

    A look of helplessness shed across Xiao Lou¡¯s face. ¡°It is a pity that the wolves dealt with me by letting me lose my skill and making me a useless person instead of rushing to kill me. I have to say that themander of the wolves is very clever. He knows that if they kill me, the witch will save me. If they keep me as a hostage then the witch won¡¯t dare to use her antidote.¡±

    ¡°Now I have been influenced by the fire wolf¡¯s anger and I havepletely lost my skill. I am no different from an ordinary viger. That is why they found other celestial cards to killst night. The witch definitely wouldn¡¯t save those cards and it is the best of both worlds.¡±

    ¡°If I was themander of the wolves then I would do the same. It is because this can ensure that the wolves can kill more people and maximize the benefits, building up a numerical advantage in the quickest time. Do you understand?¡±

    The group was stunned. They didn¡¯t expect there to be this type of routine. Take the prophet hostage so that the witch wouldn¡¯t use the antidote on others. At the same time, use the fire wolf¡¯s rage on the prophet so that the prophet lost his skill.

    It was amazing.

    Meanwhile, the wolves¡¯ reaction was: Why didn¡¯t we think of this? Isn¡¯t the prophet more like a werewolf than the actual werewolf?

    The No. 28 wolf was even more wronged. ¡®I didn¡¯t use rage, you didn¡¯t lose your skill¡ªI didn¡¯t, I didn¡¯t, don¡¯t try a scam!¡¯

    Xiao Lou definitely hadn¡¯t lost his skill. He just found the most reasonable exnation for the current situation.

    Besides, it didn¡¯t matter if he checked people or not. The werewolves were gradually bing dominant. The next home game could be handed over to Yu Hanjiang. He raised his head to look at Yu Hanjiang. This man was staring at him with a faint smile in his deep gaze as if telling him, ¡®Rest assured. The next thing, leave it to me.¡¯

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 296.1: Final Game

    Xiao Lou¡¯s speech was very logical and he spoke warmly and sincerely without showing any guilty conscience. Everyone thought about it carefully and felt that his words were reasonable. The prophet usually didn¡¯t survive for three days but this was in traditional 12 yer games.

    Now it was a 36 yer game and the wolves had too many cards that could be used to deal with the prophet. The nightmare wolf¡¯s fear and the fire wolf¡¯s rage could make the prophet lose his skills. For this reason, the wolves didn¡¯t need to rush to kill the prophet. On the contrary, keeping the prophet as a hostage prevented the witch from using the antidote rashly. The wolves could dispose of other cards first and build up a numerical advantage faster.

    Xiao Lou finished speaking and it was No. 9¡¯s turn.

    No. 9 was a werewolf. He acknowledged Xiao Lou¡¯s analysis and then pointed the finger at No. 23 who was the first to question Yu Hanjiang. ¡°I don¡¯t think No. 23¡¯s questioning has any evidence. Just because the sheriff isn¡¯t dead, you say that the sheriff is a wolf? What if the werewolves want to kill celestial cards first? They think the sheriff is a civilian and have decided to keep him for now. In any case, I personally believe in the sheriff. After all, he does have a righteous face and doesn¡¯t seem like a liar.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at this person, the expression on his face not changing. The other wolf teammates couldn¡¯t help admiring the wolf king¡¯s excellent psychological quality. No. 8 was a man wearing sses. He didn¡¯t speak much and didn¡¯t clearly state who he supported or doubted. He simply didn¡¯t contribute.

    Next was No. 7 Ye Qi and he looked at the rest of the speakers. There were only four people left who hadn¡¯t spoken. In addition to him, there was the No. 5 Chief Shao, the No. 2 wolf teammate who was infected and the No. 1 Yu Hanjiang. It could be said that the rest were all his team.

    In this round, the demon hunter didn¡¯t reveal their identity. Would the demon hunter continue to hunt werewolves tonight? Looking at the yers alive, there were 17 yers. Out of these 17 yers, the numbers 28, 25, 15, 9, 7, 2 and 1 were werewolves.

    This meant there were currently seven werewolves alive and 10 good people. On the surface, the good people had the upper hand but Professor Xiao, Liu Qiao and Shao Qingge had already united with the wolves. The wolves had as many as 10 votes. Even if the good people united, there were only seven votes.

    In this situation, hadn¡¯t the werewolves almost won?

    Ye Qi spoke solemnly. ¡°I am the grave keeper. I turned over the tombstone of No. 35 who was thrown out yesterday and it turned out he was indeed a werewolf! He deliberately poured dirty water on the prophet and guided everyone to get rid of the prophet. It is really heartbreaking!¡±

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He would¡¯ve almost believed it if he hadn¡¯t known that Ye Qi must be a werewolf. Xiao Ye had such superb acting skills. Maybe he could get a best actor award in the future when he went into the entertainment industry?

    Ye Qi continued to speak with righteous indignation. ¡°The wolves have copsed now and are trying to attack the good people using all means! I will give you a careful analysis of the situation. In the first round, the No 34 hunter died and he took away No. 3 who is a wolf. In the second round, the No. 22 wolf beauty was eliminated. In the third round, the demon hunter killed the No. 33 wolf and the No. 13 wolf was killed in the duel. Everyone voted for the No. 20 wolf who was killed. In the fourth round, everyone voted for No. 35. I turned over his tombstonest night and confirmed he is a werewolf. In the fifth round, the witch poisoned No. 10 and the demon hunter killed No. 32. Two wolves died. No 22, 33, 13, 20, 35, 10, 32¡­ they are all werewolves. In other words, eight werewolves have died so far and there are only four left!¡±

    Hearing Ye Qi¡¯s words, the eyes of some good people who didn¡¯t know the truth brightened. There were only 12 people in the werewolf camp. If it was ording to what he said and all these wolves were eliminated then there were indeed four wolves left.

    Ye Qi¡¯s analysis was very clear. However, his analysis was based on the premise that Xiao Lou was really helping the good camp.

    For example, in the third round, Xiao Lou sent the knife to No. 20 but in fact, 20 was a good person. In the fourth round, everyone voted for No. 35 when he was actually the real grave keeper. In the fifth round, five people died overnight and four of them were actually good people.

    It was just that the good camp didn¡¯t know this. Who would¡¯ve thought that the prophet would join forces with the wolf king?

    Ye Qi finished his speech and Shao Qingge chuckled while touching his nose. ¡°In fact, I am the dreamer. In the past few days, the subjects of my dreams were people who preferred to speak during the day. I listened to No. 7¡¯s analysis and agree that the wolves might¡¯ve copsed. Their thinking is obviously messy.¡±

    Shao Qingge narrowed his eyes and scanned the audience. ¡°I suggest that you cast out No. 23 or No. 8 in this round¡­ I found that No. 8 not contributing is a bit strange. If we vote them out today and tomorrow then the good people should be able to win.¡±

    The dreamer also appeared and the situation on the field became clearer.

    Shao Qingge finished speaking. The No. 2 newly infected voice spoke in a slightly less confident voice that was shaky, ¡°Since we all feel that No. 23 is questionable, I will vote with everyone.¡±

    It was Yu Hanjiang¡¯s turn to summarize things. He looked at No. 23 and his voice was very calm. ¡°No. 23 questioned the identity of the sheriff. In fact, it is reasonable. After all, the sheriff¡¯s vote is equivalent to 1.5 votes. The threat is still quite big. However, that is in a 12 yer game where every vote is important. Currently it is a 36 yer game. The wolves can act in a group to vote. It is necessary to worry about the sheriff¡¯s 0.5 votes? In a multiyer game, the priority of the sheriff actually isn¡¯t that big. The wolves didn¡¯t even kill the prophet. I feel that there must be a problem with themand and internal chaos.¡±

    He retracted his gaze and continued. ¡°I suggest voting for 23 in this round. It isn¡¯t because he questioned me. It is because when I looked at him, he would avoid my gaze like he had a guilty conscience. There is obviously a ghost in his heart.

    No. 23, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Hearing this, he almost spat out a mouthful of blood. It wasn¡¯t that he deliberately avoided No. 1¡¯s gaze. It was that the man¡¯s eyes were too deep. Just looking at him caused a chill to go down his spine, as if¡­ he hadmitted a crime? Few people here could keep looking at No. 1 for a long time, right? It was a pity that No. 23 had already spoken and he couldn¡¯t say anything else. He could only swallow down his grievances.

    After Yu Hanjiang¡¯s speech, the voting began on the spot. Out of the 17 people, 13 voted for No. 23. The remaining four people who abstained were No. 23, No. 21, No. 12 and No. 8.

    [No. 23 is out. Please make ast statement.]

    The young man scratched his head helplessly. ¡°I have the ominous feeling that the wolves are in control. I am a good person and it is very likely that it is the good camp who copsed in this game. I hope the remaining good people will keep their eyes open!¡±

    It became dark.

    [Bloody Night Watch, Round 6: Night]

    [The werewolves¡¯ voice channel has been established.]

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes swept over the card wall. Several rounds of the game had passed and there were only 16 yers left in the 36 yer melee. Among the people who were still alive, numbers 5, 8, 11, 12, 17, 18, 21, 24 and 29 were all part of the good camp. The remaining seven people were in the werewolf camp. It seemed that the ratio of good people to werewolves was 9:7 but in fact, the werewolves were already in control.

    It was because the No. 5 dreamer Shao Qingge, the No. 11 prophet Xiao Lou, the No. 18 witch Liu Qiao and the No. 24 Cupid would definitely stand on the side of the wolves. These four votes could be included with the wolves.

    The biggest threats at the moment were the demon hunter and bewitcher.

    The bewitcher wasn¡¯t easy to kill. He could confuse a person to substitute for him. Therefore, the No. 17 yer would be kept first. As for the demon hunter, it wasn¡¯t known if his teammate had given him insufficient hints or he was insistent on leading the good camp to win.

    He had been hunting werewolves at night for the past few rounds. If he killed Yu Hanjiang tonight¡­ there was no way to change the oue of the wolves¡¯ victory but in this way, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou wouldn¡¯t be rewarded for the hidden mission.

    However, Yu Hanjiang wasn¡¯t worried about this. It was because Liu Qiao helped him block the knife.

    Recalling Liu Qiao¡¯s speech during the day, her words were wrong. She said she poisoned No. 10 when in fact, she poisoned the good person No. 32. The No. 10 werewolf was killed by the demon hunter! Liu Qiao said she poisoned No. 10 and the demon hunter killed No. 32. Once the demon hunter heard Liu Qiao¡¯s words, they would know she was lying.

    Therefore,pared to Xiao Lou¡¯s reasonable logic and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face of justice, Liu Qiao¡¯s lies were very obvious from the perspective of the demon hunter. If the demon hunter suspected she was a werewolf then she would be hunted tonight.

    Once a demon hunter killed a good person by mistake, the demon hunter would die.

    Therefore, Liu Qiao¡¯s trick of ¡®leading the snake out of the hole¡¯ was actually very smart. If the demon hunter was a bit careless and killed Liu Qiao tonight, they would also be out due to wrongfully killing a good person. This would make it easier for the wolves to win.

    Of course, the demon hunter might be a bit smarter and saw that Liu Qiao was the witch but she was standing by the wolves¡¯ side. They wouldn¡¯t risk killing the witch. Nevertheless, it didn¡¯t matter which way the demon hunter took. The oue of the wolves¡¯ victory couldn¡¯t be changed by one or two people.

    It was the opposite of Ye Qi¡¯s daytime analysis. It wasn¡¯t that the wolves had copsed¡­ but the good camp that had copsed.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes swept over the scene. ¡°Kill No. 29 and 21. No. 17 temporarily can¡¯t be killed. He will just find a recement to die for him instead. The dreamer and Cupid are both on the wolves¡¯ side and they can be resolved at the end.¡±

    No one had any objections to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s decision and their knife pointed straight to 21 and 29. Immediately after this, Ye Qi suggested, ¡°Or should I directly explode once it is dawn?¡±

    He had already seen that the wolves had established a sufficient numerical advantage. There were currently 16 surviving yers. Nine were good people and seven were werewolves.

    After tonight, two more good people would be killed, leaving only seven people. This included Xiao Lou, Shao Qingge, Liu Qiao and Cupid who stood with the wolves. They could directly control the seventh and eighth rounds and cast out the good people.

    As the apostle of the bloody night, Ye Qi had another advantage after self-explosion. It was to seal all the skills of the celestials so that the demon hunter couldn¡¯t hunt and the bewitcher couldn¡¯t find a substitute. These two hunters could be resolved tomorrow night.

    ***

    At this time, the demon hunter¡¯s perspective.

    [Choose who you want to hunt.]

    The man stared at the numbers on the card wall and smiled. ¡°No. 25.¡±

    [Congrattions, you have sessfully hunted a werewolf and can live until tomorrow.]

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 296.2

    It was dawn.

    [Bloody Night Watch, Round 6: Day]

    [Last night, No. 21, No. 25 and No. 29 were brutally killed.]

    Liu Qiao couldn¡¯t help being stunned when she saw this. Qu Wanyue was No. 25. The wolves couldn¡¯t have killed Qu Wanyue so she must¡¯ve been killed by the demon hunter. Liu Qiao originally took the initiative to jump out to attract the attention of the demon hunter but they didn¡¯t fall into the trap. Instead, they hunted Qu Wanyue?

    Qu Wanyue¡¯s performance had no obvious ws unless¡­

    The hunter guessed that Qu Wanyue¡¯s flower butterfly was a fake.

    In the fourth round of Christmas Eve, it wasn¡¯t caused by Qu Wanyue hugging a werewolf. On second thought, when No. 35 jumped out to question Xiao Lou, Qu Wanyue was the first to speak for Xiao Lou. She said she was the flower butterfly and she hugged No. 35, so that the wolves couldn¡¯t kill. Perhaps at that time, the demon hunter was already suspicious of her identity.

    The most likely thing was that the demon hunter and the dead flower butterfly were teammates. So from the demon hunter¡¯s perspective, Qu Wanyue pretending to be the flower butterfly meant she was definitely a wolf. It didn¡¯t matter how he analyzed it. Hunting Qu Wanyuest night didn¡¯t have much of an effect on the big picture.

    Yu Hanjiang, Xiao Lou and the others soon calmed down. Before anyone had time to speak, several prompts appeared in their floating boxes.

    [The No. 7 apostle of the bloody night has exploded so we will immediately enter night.]

    [All the celestial skills will be sealed.]

    The werewolves knew that Ye Qi was going to explode today but for the good people, this news was like a bolt from the blue! No. 7?! The one who analyzed and vowed yesterday that the wolves had copsed?

    He jumped out to im the identity of grave keeper, saying that the tombstones of No. 20 and 35 had ¡®werewolf¡¯ written on them, indignantly scolding others for ndering the prophet. This No. 7? He was actually the apostle of the blood moon? Then everything he saw before was false and it was actually the opposite?

    Then it was very likely that No. 20, 35 and 23 voted out by everyone were good people. It wasn¡¯t the wolves but the good camp that copsed¡­ the good people who had this thought feltplicated and that they were fools.

    Since Ye Qi exploded, it directly entered the night and sealed the celestial card skills. The wolves could easily kill two more to stabilize victory.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at the card wall. There were still 5, 8, 11, 12, 17, 18, 24¡­

    The No. 24 Cupid and No. 11 Xiao Lou had to be kept until thest day. He wasn¡¯t in a hurry to kill the No. 5 Shao Qingge and No. 18 Liu Qiao. Among the remaining 8, 12 and 17, No. 17 was the bewitcher. Who was the demon hunter out of No. 8 and 12?

    He had to choose one. He thought carefully about the speeches of these two people but almost all of it was no contribution. In fact, it didn¡¯t matter who they killed. They could kill one at night and cast one out during the day.

    Yu Hanjiang made a decision. ¡°Kill 12 and 17, vote out 8.¡±

    Since Ye Qi¡¯s self-explosion caused all celestial skills to be sealed, the bewitcher couldn¡¯t find a substitute and could only die.

    It was dawn.

    [Bloody Night Watch, Round 7: Day]

    There were only 10 surviving yers left. They were numbers 1, 2, 5, 8. 9, 11, 15, 18, 24 and 28. Apart from No. 8, all those who remained were werewolves or those standing with the werewolves.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at everyone. ¡°Speak counterclockwise.¡±

    No. 28 passed on the turn. No. 24 Cupid passed it on and the other people passed the right to speak continuously. In the current situation, the werewolves had crushed the opponent. There was no need to waste time with acting and they could just cast out No. 8. It wasn¡¯t until No. 8¡¯s turn to speak that the man stood up and smiled. ¡°It looks like I¡¯m alone among the wolves now?¡±

    The others cast sympathetic gazes at him.

    The man told them, ¡°I am the demon hunter. In fact, I saw something was wrong on Christmas Eve in the fourth round. The No. 25 flower butterfly must be fake because the real flower butterfly is No. 31, my teammate who was killed by the wolves in the second round. Then I found that the prophet had been guiding everyone to vote the good people out and that the witch was also standing with the prophet¡­ I realized that your goal was probably to ughter the vige so I didn¡¯t expose the prophet.¡±

    ¡°After all, it is too difficult to bring the good camp to victory with my strength. On the contrary, the wolves canmunicate with each other and you have a higher rate of winning. Later, I killed 33 and 10 and finally 25st night in order toplete my hidden task. The demon hunter had to hunt at least three werewolves at night. This is my hidden task.¡±

    He calmly retreated. ¡°There isn¡¯t much to say. Vote me out.¡±

    Then he smiled and nced at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°The wolves¡¯mander is very great. This time, all our teams should be able to get a perfect clearance. If I guessed right, No. 1 and 11 are true lovers?¡±

    The demon hunter was also a very good yer. He killed three wolves on his own. It was just that it was too difficult to bring the good camp to victory. Everyone would question each other¡¯s identities. They weren¡¯t a team so there was no way to achieve absolute trust¡­

    This was unlike the werewolves who could speak at night without any identity concerns.

    In fact, in the beginning, the good camp had the advantage in terms of number of people and cards. The biggest advantage of the werewolves was unity. Some werewolves guided their teammates to their side so the wolves finally controlled the game.

    No. 5 and No. 2 didn¡¯t speak. Finally, Yu Hanjiang stated calmly, ¡°No. 8 demon hunter, you did your best.¡±

    He did his best. If he came forward to expose Xiao Lou¡¯s lie then the chaotic situation would ensure that neither the werewolves nor the good camp could win. Therefore, he chose to be patient when he saw that Xiao Lou, Liu Qiao and Ye Qi were cooperating to speak nonsense. This was the smartest way.

    Everyone voted for No. 8. Even No. 8 voted for himself and was out.

    It became dark.

    [Bloody Night Watch, Round 8: Night]

    There were nine people left. Five wolves and four good people. The four good people were Shao Qingge, Liu Qiao, Xiao Lou and Cupid.

    Yu Hanjiang ordered, ¡°Kill No. 5 and No. 18.¡±

    [Bloody Night Watch, Round 8: Day]

    [Last night, No. 5 and No. 18 were brutally killed!]

    [The No. 1 wolf king chose to explode and shot to take away No. 24. No. 11 died for love.]

    [The good people are gone and the game is over.]

    The wolf king self-destructed to kill Cupid and the prophet died from love. The couple lived with Cupid until the eighth day and the hidden mission was sessfullypleted.

    All the people locked up in the small ck rooms were released by the keeper. A prompt appeared on each of their floating boxes.

    [The werewolves sessfully ughtered the vige and killed all 24 good people. They reached the perfect clearance conditions.]

    [You will leave the vige in 10 minutes.]

    Once again, everyone gathered in the vige¡¯s central square. This time, everyone¡¯s chests contained their identity cards and they could clearly see everyone¡¯s identities. People returning from the small dark rooms were stunned by the result.

    No. 6 and 16 who were out of the game on the first day said, ¡°We were toofortable lying down and winning, right?¡±

    No. 26 who was killed the next day said, ¡°I am the elder. I didn¡¯t have time to y when I was killed the next night¡­ is my luck good or bad?¡± It was bad but then he got a perfect clearance? There were so many people yet the wolves blindly killed him on the first night. After losing his immunization, he was killed on the second night?

    No. 20 stared at Xiao Lou. ¡°You really are the prophet! Then why send a knife to me? I am a good person. How did you check that I am a werewolf?¡±

    His teammate next to him patted his shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t you understand? The prophet and wolf king are lovers. Lovers just want to be together. The prophet has long been in the arms of the wolf king.¡±

    There was a burst ofughter around them. Then No. 10 said, ¡°I am the werewolves¡¯ prophet but I feel that No. 11 was more like the werewolves¡¯ prophet. He helped the werewolves so much.¡±

    The No. 28 fire wolf joked. ¡°No. 11, I was really convinced by your acting skills. What was that about the fire wolf¡¯s rage permanently making you lose your skills? My god, I hadn¡¯t done anything to you. Your ultimate act of trying to scam me made me stunned! By the way, did you graduate from an acting school?¡±

    No. 35 walked up to Xiao Lou in a dumbfounded manner. ¡°I was wondering why it was so strange. Why do your votes always get good people out? I thought you were a fake prophet. As a result¡­ you and the wolf king were lovers and you were helping the wolves!¡±

    The people around them joked, ¡°No. 11 says that my love is a werewolf. All you good people must die.¡±

    Someone told the No. 24 Cupid, ¡°Your Cupid¡¯s arrow is really magical. You not only helped the werewolves win the game but all of our teams managed to pass the level perfectly!¡±

    The group had a lively conversation.

    Xiao Lou was surrounded by everyone and was a bit embarrassed. He shook his fist at them apologetically. ¡°Sorry everyone, I couldn¡¯t do anything else. Cupid connected the wolf king to me on the first day and I could only help the wolves.¡±

    People recalled the many details of what happened. The more they thought about it, the more they felt that themand of the wolf king, the logic of the prophet and the cooperation of the other werewolves and some celestial cards was really too magical.

    There was a discussion and the yers selected the most outstanding yers in this game.

    First ce at opening his eyes and speaking nonsense: No. 7 Ye Qi. That righteous indignation and vowing. He pretended to be a good person only to blow himself up?

    The reversal king: Yu Hanjiang. Obviously, he was the wolf king but he became the sheriff of the good camp. No. 23 and 21 questioned him and he stared at them for a few seconds. On the contrary, the two people felt a strong sense of guilt and that they were at fault?

    Fishing in troubled waters: Witch Liu Qiao. When speaking, truth and lies were mixed and it was difficult to distinguish the truth from the lies. Many people listened in a daze.

    The strongest logic: Xiao Lou. This was the first time they had seen a prophet who could persuade people with every ¡®wrong¡¯ theory.

    The most helpless person: No. 8 demon hunter. He had long seen that the group of people were acting but there was nothing he could do to reverse the situation. He could only apany them in their acting.

    The luckiest person: Cupid.

    It was a magical arrow. Not only did heplete the hidden task, he also allowed all teams to get the perfect clearance achievement.

    Seeing that the 10 minutes were almost up, the strangers who gathered together said goodbye to each other. The No. 24 young man came over and shook hands with Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang respectively. He said with a smile, ¡°As a couple shot by my arrow, the two of you have a tacit understanding that is even better than a couple. It surprised me!¡±

    Other people also came over to shake hands with them. ¡°Thank you, you are the best prophet I have ever seen.¡±

    ¡°We passed the level perfectly thanks to you.¡±

    ¡±I look forward to meeting you again in the future. Good luck!¡±

    ¡±Jiayou everyone, I hope youplete the level perfectly!¡±

    After these goodbyes, the people gradually disappeared from in front of them. The first time they entered the Werewolf instance, everyone was afraid they would be eliminated. In the end, after everyone¡¯s analysis and reasoning, the unanimous goal was quickly achieved: the wolf team had to ughter the vige.

    It wasn¡¯t only the credit of Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang that they could pass the level perfectly. There were also great yers such as Cupid, the demon hunter, the gargoyle, etc. Although it was the first time many of them had met today, Xiao Lou believed that the blessings they gave when they parted were true.

    ¡®Whether or not we see each other in the future, I hope you can also get the perfect clearance results. Good luck.¡¯

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 297: Clubs Secret Room

    After clearing 9 of Spades, everyone returned to their familiar personal space and saw A of Spades, who was wearing sunsses and pretending to be cool.

    The clearance process was very thrilling but fortunately, they finally achieved the ¡®perfect clearance¡¯ evaluation. Yu Hanjiang looked at the keeper and said, ¡°We received a perfect clearance so there should be extra rewards? Can we draw from the treasure chests?¡±

    A of Spades waved his hands and a row of familiar cards with a full moon on the back appeared in front of everyone. They were the identity cards that everyone used in the Bloody Night Witch secret room.

    Surprisingly, this time A of Spades didn¡¯t let them draw cards. He exined, ¡°This time, the secret room only rewards limited cards from the game. You passed the instance perfectly and there are additional rewards. You can freely choose four cards from all the identity cards in the Werewolf killing game.¡±

    Ye Qi heard this sentence and his eyes lit up. ¡°For example, if we choose a hunter then we can gain the ability of the hunter? All the characters that appear in the game can be chosen?¡±

    A of Spades nodded. ¡°Yes, the card skills correspond to the skills of the game characters. If you like, you can even choose Cupid to connect two people. Bind them together and if one is killed then the other will die.¡±

    Everyone looked at each other and got together to discuss it. The Werewolf killing game had a wide range of identity cards. Since all identity cards could be selected, they had to choose the four best ones.

    The celestial cards like the elder and grave keeper were actually of little use. The elder was immune to exile in the voting stage. Who would vote for them after leaving the secret room? As for the grave keeper who could turn over the grave stones of the dead in the night¡­ forget it!

    Ye Qi asked curiously, ¡°The prophet can check the other person¡¯s identity. If it isn¡¯t the Werewolf killing game, can we check the identity of people in the Hearts secret rooms? For example, guess the identity of the killer and find out whether they are a good person or werewolf at night?¡±

    A of Spades was expressionless. ¡°What do you think?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Ye Qi. ¡°This definitely isn¡¯t possible. If the prophet can check the identity of the murderer in the Hearts secret room, what will be the difficulty? Every night, we can check a suspect and clear the instance in a few days. We don¡¯t need to do any reasoning.¡±

    Ye Qi smiled and scratched the back of his head. ¡°Yes!¡±

    After careful consideration, Xiao Lou spoke. ¡°Take the dreamer first. The dreamer can protect a teammate from all damage during the night. The versatility is rtively strong. Once ites to the survival room, the person chosen by the dreamer at night doesn¡¯t need to be afraid of death.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°The dreamer can also kill someone directly by picking the same person for two consecutive nights. It can be offensive and defensive and it is very flexible to use.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at everyone. ¡°What do you think?¡±

    They all agreed.

    Shao Qingge joked with a smile. ¡°Can I use this card?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied. ¡°Of course, you used the dreamer in the game. You can keep it.¡±

    Shao Qingge immediately raised a few fingers. ¡°I ept.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at him helplessly. ¡°There are still several cards. Which ones do you think are better?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang made a decision. ¡°The witch who has a bottle of poison and a bottle of antidote. The poison can directly poison a person while the antidote can save lives at critical moments. We still have too few healing cards. We can only rely on Chief Shao and the bug king card and that isn¡¯t enough.¡±

    His teammates agreed. Although no one had been injured so far, if they encountered danger in the Spades or Clubs secret room then there was the bottle of antidote. A team member could be rescued when dying.

    There were two cards remaining. Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°The nightmare and the flower butterfly. The nightmare can frighten enemies, leaving them unable to use skills at night. The flower butterfly can hug the enemy and invalidate all the enemy¡¯s skills. They are two single target control cards.¡±

    The previous control cards like Ye Qi¡¯s flute all had short skill duration times. One control was around 3 seconds. However, Nightmare and Flower Butterfly had long skill durations. They could only be activated at night but the controlsted all night. These two cards were quite awesome if they encountered a night battle in the secret room.

    All the team members made the decision happily.

    A of Spades gave them the four S-grade game cards with a bloody moon pattern on the back.

    The S-grade card Dreamer was assigned to Shao Qingge since he was rtively skilled in using it. Witch was given to Liu Qiao, Nightmare was given to Old Mo who had no strong control skills and Flower Butterfly was given to Qu Wanyue.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t take anything. After all, Xiao Lou had too many control skills from his character summoning card and Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t like such fancy cards. The cards in his hand were basically des and guns. They were simple and easy to use.

    This time, they yed a thrilling killing game for a few days in the Spades secret room and were able to obtain four Werewolf killing game cards. The harvest wasn¡¯t bad. The previous haze in their hearts was swept away and joy filled their faces.

    Back in the main city, the group found a hot pot restaurant to eat first.

    This time, the Spades secret room deliberately shielded everyone¡¯s metabolic system. They were all like robots, spending many days in the unfamiliar vige, repeating the process of acting during the night and voting during the day without eating a single meal. They weren¡¯t physically hungry but they were psychologically hungry!

    After a delicious hot pot meal, they regained their vitality. Then they went back to the vi and continued with 9 of Clubs.

    An A-grade Clubs room wasn¡¯t too difficult so it should be a card game. This was what Chief Shao was good at. It was winning or losing money so they didn¡¯t feel too much pressure. They easily found the Clubs keeper and put on neat ck suits ording to the requirements of the teenager with facial paralysis.

    Everyone followed the Clubs keeper into the elevator. There was a ding and the elevator door opened. The Clubs teenager gave an introduction. ¡°Wee to thergest underground casino in the City of the Moon.¡±

    The group heard this and looked at each other. Wasn¡¯t the Clubs secret room against challengers? Why were they brought to the underground casino in the City of the Moon?

    As early as the 3 of Spades secret room, Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge had heard about the underground casino from the taxi driver. At that time, Shao Qingge said he would go and see it if he had time. Later, everyone came to the City of the Moon. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang weren¡¯t on the same flight as Shao Qingge and Ye Qi. The two of them found Shao Qingge and Ye Qi in the underground casino. At that time, Chief Shao was ying a few card games.

    Unexpectedly, the Clubs keeper brought them here today. They followed the teenager into the hall and everyone was startled by the hall that seemed to have no end in sight.

    Luxurious crystal chandeliers were hanging from the ceiling and the floor of the hall was covered with a thick carpet. There was almost no sound when stepping on it. There were countless tables lined up neatly throughout the hall, all of them covered with a uniform green nnel. 10 soft chairs were arranged around each of the tables.

    At this time, there weren¡¯t many guests in the hall. They were gathered at the tables to y cards in groups of two or three.

    It was the first time that many members of the team hade to such a big casino. It felt fresh but they were also nervous. All they could do was follow the footsteps of A of Clubs, not knowing what tricks he was going to y this time.

    The teenager led everyone to a side passage. A beautiful woman saw him and immediately spoke reverently, ¡°Master, the guests you have reserved will be here in half an hour. The room is ready for you.¡±

    The Clubs teenager nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    The underground casino had a total of three floors. He took everyone to the third underground floor and walked into a VIP box. The decorations in the box were much more luxurious than the hall and there was no one inside at the moment.

    Previously, the Clubs secret room was a game between challengers at a table. Once everyone walked through the door of the personal space, they would see a card table arranged by A of Clubs which was a closed game environment. Yet today, they were taken to therge casino by A of Clubs and the atmosphere was really strange.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°What do you mean by taking us to the casino?¡±

    The teenager spoke in a nk manner, ¡°This is thest card game of the A grade secret rooms. Naturally, I want to make it a bit more exciting.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled and touched his chin. ¡°This is the underground casino in the City of the Moon. I heard the beautiful youngdy say just now that you have reserved some guests. Don¡¯t tell me you have an appointment with some bigshots from the City of the Moon? We aren¡¯t ying with challengers this time?¡±

    The young man looked at Shao Qingge with cold eyes. ¡°You are smart. What is the point of always ying against challengers? I know the bnce in your bank card but this money isn¡¯t enough against the local tyrants. Today, I have invited some distinguished guests from the top 10 of the Card World¡¯s rich list. Their worth is immeasurable.¡±

    Everyone heard this and couldn¡¯t help sweating. Guests from the top 10 rich list? They were people that ordinary people would never be able to see in their lifetime, right?

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°You are letting us y card games with noble guests from the rich list?¡±

    Ordinary people and people on the rich list going to a professional casino to y cards? Was A of Clubs crazy?! Everyone wanted to ask this question but were forced to shut their mouths after meeting the teenager¡¯s cold eyes. It wasn¡¯t a good thing to offend the keeper.

    Yu Hanjiang simply said, ¡°Let¡¯s talk about the rules first. Do all eight of us need to y?¡±

    The Clubs teenager replied, ¡°The table seats are limited. You can choose two people as representatives to participate in the game. I will give 100 chips to everyone participating in the game. One chip represents 1 million gold coins. Winning or losing depends on your strength. If you lose all the chips, you can ask the dealer to continue to redeem chips. The amount will be deducted from your bank card. It isn¡¯t easy to make an appointment with these big shots so they need to have a good time in this game.¡±

    Shao Qingge narrowed his eyes. ¡°What do you mean by a good time?¡±

    ¡°It will start at 8 o¡¯clock in the evening and they will leave at midnight. You have to apany them until midnight. If you don¡¯t have enough chips, you can redeem it with money from your bank card on the spot until you lose it all.¡±

    Shao Qingge rolled his eyes. ¡°Are we little white mice caught by you to apany the bigshots to practice?¡±

    The Clubs teenager slightly raised his eyebrow. ¡°Aren¡¯t you good at ying cards? If you don¡¯t have the confidence to win then just lose and go back. These bigshots have a good temper. If you really lose the bnce in your bank card, they won¡¯t let you take off just one pair of underwear.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    They all turned to Shao Qingge for help.

    Chief Shao thought, ¡®I am under great pressure!¡¯

    He rubbed his temples and asked helplessly, ¡°What game is it this time?¡±

    A of Clubs replied, ¡°Texas Hold¡¯em.¡±

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Well, it was really professional.

    Texas hold¡¯em was a popr tournament card game all over the world. The rules were unified and there were many professional clubs and yers who made a living from it. Shao Qingge had gone to the world¡¯srgest Las Vegas casino to y it.

    The problem now was that if he lost money, it would be the team¡¯s money, not his own. The team¡¯s bank ounts were kept by him. There might be a lot of money in them but was itparable to the richest people? If he yed with the rich for a few hours and really lost then it would be his fault. Not to mention, his cards like Rich and Willful and Thousand Gold Coin Throw cost money to use.

    Shao Qingge wondered, ¡°Can we not y? I still think it is kinder to y against the challengers at your card table.¡±

    The Clubs teenager looked at him with cold eyes. ¡°You don¡¯t have to y and your entire team will go to the Nightmare Room to y. Then it won¡¯t just be a matter of losing your underwear. Perhaps you will have your fingers chopped off or your organs harvested.¡±

    Everyone replied in unison, ¡°Let¡¯s y!¡±

    Shao Qingge took a deep breath to calm down and nced at his teammates. ¡°Since everyone believes in me, let me be the representative today.¡±

    The others nodded. ¡°Of course. I believe Chief Shao will definitely be able to hold on in such a scene.¡±

    How could students like Liu Qiao and Ye Qi ever seen such a battle? ying cards with the richest people in the world? Ye Qi trembled just thinking about it. Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t good at ying cards. He had only yed Fight the Landlord. Qu Wanyue, Long Sen and Old Mo didn¡¯t y at all.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes swept over his teammates. ¡°Since no one else can y, I will take the other spot.¡±

    Shao Qingge asked, ¡°Group Leader Yu, you can y?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, but I¡¯m at the level of an amateur.¡±

    An amateur was better than nothing. Xiao Lou smiled and said, ¡°Then Chief Shao and Group Leader Yu will be our representatives. There is no pressure. It doesn¡¯t matter if you win or lose as long as you are okay.¡±

    Shao Qingge and Yu Hanjiang looked at each other and calm soon returned to their eyes. It wasn¡¯t a big deal to lose. What were they afraid of? Money could always be earned from scratch again. It was better than going to the Nightmare Room and losing a finger if they lost a game.

    The Clubs teenager opened his mouth. ¡°Okay, this time Shao Qingge and Yu Hanjiang are the team representatives. The others can watch but they can¡¯t make any noise. Next, I will briefly exin the rules of Texas hold¡¯em poker.¡±

    ¡°Everyone will get two hole cards in their hands and there will be fivemunity cards on the table. The goal of the game is to use the two cards in your hand and themunity cards on the table to make thergest five card poker hand andpare it with the other yers.¡±

    ¡°In the first stage, the dealer and the big and small blind bets are decided. Two hole cards are dealt to each person and they can fold or call in a clockwise order.¡±

    ¡°In the second stage, it is the flop. Threemunity cards are turned over and yers will make a decision in a clockwise order.¡±

    ¡°In the third stage, the fourthmunity card is turned over.¡±

    ¡°In the fourth stage, the fifth public card, also known as the river is turned over and the yers will make a decision in a clockwise order.¡±

    ¡°The amount you call must be the same or higher than the previous person. If you don¡¯t have enough chips then you can bet all in.¡±

    Shao Qingge and Yu Hanjiang understood the rules of the game or else they wouldn¡¯t dare sit at the table.

    The others who didn¡¯t understand would probably understand after hearing this. In other words, there were two cards in hand plus fivemunity cards. The fivemunity cards would be used to make thergest poker hand of cards. A of Clubs handed out a list of different card hands for everyone.

    From big to small, they were:

    Royal flush: The biggest cards of the same suit e.g. A, K, Q, J and 10 of Spades.

    Straight flush: Five consecutive cards of the same suit such as 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 of Diamonds.

    Four of a kind: Such as 77772.

    Full house: abination of a three of a kind and a pair such as 66644.

    Flush: Five cards of the same suit but any number.

    Straight: Five consecutive cards of different suits such as 6 of Spades, 5 of Hearts, 4 of Diamonds, 3 of Spades, 2 of Hearts.

    Three of a kind: such as 99937.

    Two pairs: such as 33668.

    One pair: One pair plus three misceneous cards.

    Misceneous cards: five single cards of any type.

    The size of the suits were easy to understand and it was consistent with many other games.

    It was just that the characteristic of Texas hold¡¯em was that each person had two hidden cards in their hand and five public cards on the table. Five out of seven cards could be used forparison and there were many possiblebinations. Moreover, themunity cards were opened in turn. Perhaps in thest round, your cards and the one on the table made up three of a kind, which was quite big. As a result, the next round opened a flush and someone else made a straight flush!

    In each round, deciding whether to all or fold was a psychological game. People with poor psychological quality might lose their minds and copse after ying a few games.

    Shao Qingge and Yu Hanjiang joined forces. Xiao Lou was still quite confident in them but he didn¡¯t know who the opponents were this time.

    After everyone understood the rules, the door of the private room opened.

    Several people who were impably attired came in. There were four men and two women. All of them were wearing sunsses that they took off after entering the room. They gave off powerful auras but they greeted the Clubs teenager very politely.

    These rich people were so polite to the Clubs teenager that Xiao Lou seriously wondered if this teenager with facial paralysis was actually holding the economic lifeline of the entire Card World, such as¡­ the bank? He could give everyone rewards and control their bank ounts. Perhaps he really had something to do with the bank?

    Once all the VIPs were seated, Xiao Lou saw a familiar face in the crowd.

    Wasn¡¯t this man Li Mo who was behind the 4 of Hearts case?

    He still remembered that case. In the elderly tourist group, an old man called Li Xuemin was killed. The method of death was an overdose of the insulin injection and they figured out that the real person behind the scenes was his son!

    Li Mo¡¯s nning process was fully shown in the plot card so Xiao Lou had a deep impression of this person.

    It was said that after his father¡¯s death, he used the assets under his father¡¯s name and his outstanding business acumen to be the richest real estate tycoon in the Card World within a few years. He and Shu Xiaomeng also got married smoothly.

    The young Li Mo, his biological mother died early and he was ignored by his father and stepmother. He became seriously ill and was left unattended. He was forced to go to the hospital alone which was very distressing. However, as an adult, Li Mo had a deep heart and made people fearful.

    He calmly calcted the death of his father.

    Now he appeared at the table of 9 of Clubs as a rich man.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 298: Largest Card Hand

    The Clubs teenager had Xiao Lou, Ye Qi and the others who weren¡¯t directly involved go to the neighboring room.

    This VIP room had an inner and an outer room. The outer room was spacious and had a card table that seated up to 10 people. The inner room was a lounge and the two rooms were separated by floor to ceiling ss. In this way, those who didn¡¯t y the game could watch from the inner room. They could see the situation of the card table clearly but they couldn¡¯t affect the people at the table.

    After bringing his teammates to the inner room, Xiao Lou found that the lounge had snacks and fruits prepared for everyone. However, they weren¡¯t in the mood to eat. Their expressions were full of worry.

    Xiao Lou took the initiative tofort his teammates. ¡°Card games have a certain element of luck. Besides, this isn¡¯t a game of life and death. If we lose everything then we will make money again.¡±

    His mouthful of poisonous words made Ye Qiugh. ¡°Yes, if it doesn¡¯t work then I can sing on the streets.¡±

    Old Mo added, ¡°I can also run my decorationpany again.¡±

    Long Sen said, ¡°I don¡¯t know if there is a shortage of school physical education teachers here? Or I can be a fitness trainer.¡±

    Qu Wanyue continued, ¡°The ie of a dance teacher should be pretty good.¡±

    Liu Qiao thoughtfully touched her chin. ¡°I haven¡¯t graduated from university. If I go to the pharmacy to apply for an internship, will anyone ept me?¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t be so miserable that we have to collectively go to work as a group.¡±

    Everyone rxed a lot after the conversation. Ye Qi said, ¡°In addition to luck, the key to poker is ying skills and psychological quality. I don¡¯t know how to y but I¡¯ve seen poker world championships on the Inte before. The professional poker yers are very calm. No matter what, Chief Shao and Group Leader Yu have a first-rate psychological quality. They aren¡¯t worse than these wealthy people.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°So there is no need to be too pessimistic. Just watch them y.¡±

    At this time, Shao Qingge and Yu Hanjiang were already sitting at the poker table.

    The Clubs teenager put on white gloves. He was obviously going to be the dealer in this game. He introduced everyone present in turn. Number 1 was Li Mo, the richest real estate developer in the Card World. Number 2 was surnamed Zhang, a capable woman with short hair. She was the owner of an Inte technologypany. Both of these people were young and promising.

    Number 4 was a slightly fat middle-aged man with the surname Liu. His family was in the clothing business and he was a rich second generation.

    A shrewd-looking man wearing sses was number 5. He was the boss of a movie and televisionpany and his surname was He. Number 7 was a stylishly dressed curly-haired woman. She had the surname Wang and was the owner of a luxury brand. The bald man as number 8 was the boss of an electronics business surnamed Chen. All four were over 40 years old based on their appearance.

    Since these people were all bosses, they called each other names like ¡®Chief Chen¡¯ and ¡®Chief Wang.¡¯ The Clubs teenager introduced them to Shao Qingge and Yu Hanjiang in the same manner. Yu Hanjiang was sitting in position 3 and Shao Qingge in position 6.

    The game began and they took turns in the dealer position.

    The Clubs teenager opened his mouth. ¡°In this game, each chip represents 1 million. The small blind bet is two chips and the big blind bet is four chips. Take turns to be the dealer and there is no limit. In the first game, Chief Li is the dealer.¡±

    In the rules of poker, the dealer didn¡¯t need to bet. The first yer on the left hand side of the dealer (clockwise) ced the small blind while the second ce ced the big blind. ¡®Blind¡¯ meant they had to bet before looking at the cards. Their vision was dark and it was entirely up to luck. This rule was to avoid the situation where everyone kept folding. The present of the blinds meant that if everyone had a bad hand and collectively folded, the dealer would win the blind bets.

    After the blind, the hole cards were dealt clockwise. After looking at the hands, the next yer after the big blind would take turns clockwise to fold, call or raise. The call must be equal to the previous yer¡¯s bet and the raise was higher than the previous yer.

    In every round of the game, the big blind was thest person to speak. In the first game, number 1 was the dealer, number 2 was the small blind and number 3 Yu Hanjiang was the big blind. For the hole cards, everyone got two hidden cards that only they could see. XIao Lou and the others couldn¡¯t see it from their room.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression was calm while Shao Qingge was smiling and looking very rxed. Number 2 pushed two chips into the middle of the table and Yu Hanjiang calmly ced four chips into the prize pool.

    It was the flop. Threemunity cards were opened on the table: 5 of Clubs, 7 of Hearts and 9 of Hearts.

    Suchmunity cards had many different hands such as a straight of 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9. Perhaps someone already had the 2 of Hearts in their hand and could wait for a flush of hearts. Or someone could have a pair of 5, 7 or 9 in their hands and could make three of a kind.

    In such a game, yers with a good hand would definitely call. Sure enough, the number 4 person next to Yu Hanjiang, the middle-aged uncle calmly followed with 4 million gold coins.

    Number 5 was also a middle-aged man with silver-rimmed sses. He pushed up his sses and smiled. ¡°Raise.¡± Then he pushed eight chips into the prize pool, raising it by 8 million gold coins.

    Number 6 Shao Qingge simply folded and the curly-haired woman at number 7 also folded. Chief Chen was the bald man sitting at number 8. His head could almost reflect the light of the crystal chandelier as he calmly said, ¡°Follow.¡±

    There were eight more chips.

    The number 1 dealer Li Mo looked calm as he stated, ¡°Add 12.¡±

    Number 2 folded.

    Once it was Yu Hanjiang¡¯s turn, Xiao Lou nervously calcted the prize pool in his mind. 2 chips for the small blind, 4 chips for the big blind, 4 chips for number 4, 8 chips for number 5, 8 chips for number 8 and 12 chips for number 1. The current total prize pool was 38 million.

    Sweat dripped down his back. The exchange ratio of gold coins to RMB was 100: 1 so this was 389,000 when converted to RMB. It was only one game.

    The world of the wealthy was too terrible. What would Group Leader Yu do? Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang nervously. Yu Hanjiang calmly chose to fold. Folding meant he would lose the 4 chips from the big blind just now but it was better than betting and losing.

    There was a saying ¡®losing less is equal to winning more.¡¯ In this game, they shouldn¡¯t y cards with impetuous hearts. In the first game, Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge both folded on the flop and the remaining bigshots continued to fight.

    On the turn card, A of Clubs revealed the fourth card which was a 3 of Diamonds. At this point, the amount of the bet had reached 1200. Number 4 frowned and folded. Number 5 also folded while number 8 chose to follow with 12. Li Mo also continued to call.

    It was the river card and A of Clubs opened thestmunity card: 2 of Clubs.

    Number 8 smiled helplessly and folded directly. Li Mo won automatically. He calmly revealed his hand which was two 7s.

    Themunity cards were: 5 of Clubs, 7 of Hearts, 9 of Hearts, 3 of Diamonds and 2 of Clubs. Li Mo had three 7s.

    Number 8 who folded at two Hearts cards in his hand. He obviously wanted to bet on a straight flush but unfortunately, his luck at the end was bad. Li Mo got 60 chips.

    Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge looked at each other tacitly. Yu Hanjiang actually got two kings and Shao Qingge got an A and a 9. Their initial hole cards were good but they still chose to fold to observe.

    In the second game, number 2 was the dealer and Yu Hanjiang was the small blind of 2 chips. On the flop, Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge folded again. In the third game, Yu Hanjiang was the dealer and still folded. Shao Qingge followed him by folding.

    The fourth game, the fifth game¡­

    As the games continued, the teammates observing found that Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge had folded eight games in a row! Moreover, they folded at the flop where only threemunity cards were turned over. Was it because their luck was extremely bad today and their hole cards were super bad every time?

    The mood of the team members was a bit uneasy.

    However, Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge looked the same. The former still had a calm expression while thetter had a smile on his face. They put on an attitude of ¡®you y, I will just watch the show.¡¯

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help speaking. ¡°Are they under too much pressure and don¡¯t dare to bet with the bigshots?¡±

    Qu Wanyue sighed. ¡°The world of the rich is really terrible. After ying eight games, Li Mo has won the most at present. I think he has won hundreds of chips. One chip is worth 1 million! I can¡¯t imagine it.¡±

    Long Sen smiled bitterly. ¡°If it was me then I would be shaking just sitting there. Tens of millions of gold coins in one round is simply the rhythm of buying a vi in a game!¡±

    Xiao Lou told them, ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous. Group Leader Yu and Chief Shao shouldn¡¯t be folding because of pressure. They must be observing their opponents.¡±

    Ye Qi looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°Professor Xiao, what do you mean?¡±

    ¡°The first time you y cards with people, you have to figure out their styles. There is no need to y too hard in the first few games. Based on my understanding of Group Leader Yu, he might fold even if he gets good cards. As for Chief Shao¡­ he might usually y cards very freely but this time he is facing a financial strength that far exceeds ours. If he is too unrestrained and loses all his chips then he will be very passive.¡±

    The simple truth was that if someone knew you only had 20 chips at most, they could raise it by 20 directly to force you to go all in. If your cards were a bit worse then you would lose directly.

    Currently, Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge only had 100 chips from A of Clubs. Even if they exchanged it with the amount in their bank ount, the maximum number was no more than 500 chips. The game wouldst for four hours and the rhythm of poker was very fast. One game only took 1-3 minutes.

    In each round, the big and small blinds added 2 and 4 chips. If you weren¡¯t the big and small blinds then you could fold after seeing the cards and there was no need to lose money.

    Although the two of them folded in eight consecutive games and it seemed a bit embarrassing, Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge actually only lost the big and small blinds once, in other words, a total of 12 chips. They still had a lot of chips in their hands. There was still a long time left. The game was four hours from 8 to 12 so there was no need to worry.

    The team members saw that Xiao Lou¡¯s mentality was very stable and gradually rxed. After all, the one who knew Group Leader Yu best was Xiao Lou. If he thought that Group Leader Yu was fine then they believed in his judgment. Indeed, Group Leader Yu¡¯s expression was very calm.

    On the second round around the table, it was Li Mo¡¯s turn to be the dealer again.

    Li Mo gave Yu Hanjiang a thoughtful look. Would this handsome man who had always been sitting like a statue continue to fold? He smiled at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Mr Yu, is your luck so bad today? You folded eight games.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied lightly, ¡°It is really a bit bad. I get bad cards like 3 and 4 every time.¡±

    Li Mo shrugged in a nomittal manner. ¡°I hope you and Mr Shao will have better luck in the second round. We don¡¯t want the two of you to keep watching all the time.¡±

    The number 5 man with sses joked. ¡°I also folded three games today. Chief Li, why don¡¯t you care if my cards are bad?¡±

    Li Mo smiled. ¡°I am meeting Mr Yu and Mr Shao for the first time today after all. Chief He, you are an old fox. You won so much money from mest time. I want you to spit it all out today.¡±

    Chief He chuckled. ¡°Then it depends on Chief Li¡¯s luck today.¡±

    They casually joked together. They should¡¯ve yed cards together often and were very familiar with each other. Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge looked at each other. After eight games of observation, the two of them already knew the opponents at the poker table.

    The number 1 Li Mo yed very steadily and would fold if he had a bad hand. Usually when he called, he had a good hand and often won. This scheming man could definitely count cards and probabilities. He was currently the biggest winner.

    The two women, the short-haired Chief Zhang in the number 2 position and the curly-haired Chief Wang in the number 7 position were more cautious. The number of folds with their hole cards was only second to Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge. They raised depending on their hand.

    Chief Liu in the number 4 position and Chief He in the number 5 position had simr styles. They went for one or two rounds to see the situation and would fold if it was wrong. They rarely got to thest round and folded on the turn i.e. when the fourthmunity card was turned over.

    The bald Chief Chen in the number 8 position was the most unrestrained yer and loved to bet on luck. As long as his hand was a bit better, he would raise and call. He would bet until thest round and it wasmon for him to lose dozens of chips in a round. He had a lot of money and wasn¡¯t afraid of losing.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s spection was correct. Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge were indeed observing the yers at the table to find out their details and y style. In the second round, Li Mo was the dealer and Yu Hanjiang was the big blind.

    Once threemunity cards were opened, Shao Qingge called 4 chips. The next four people also called, including Yu Hanjiang. The cards on the table were 7 of Spades, 8 of Spades and 9 of Diamonds.

    Themunity cards themselves were a straight. If someone got a 5 and 6 or 10 and J, they could make a straight. If someone had the 2 of Spades, they could also wait for the fifth spades card to make a flush.

    All eight people called, indicating that everyone had the chance to get a big hand.

    Li Mo nced at Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge. The two watchers were finally participating in the game. As the biggest winner at the moment, Li Mo¡¯s chips were piled up in three stacks in front of him. He wanted to see how the two men yed next.

    On the turn card, the keeper opened the fourth card: A of Clubs.

    The appearance of this card made things moreplicated. If someone¡¯s hold cards were a pair of A, they couldbine it with the A of Clubs to make three of a kind. This was considered a big hand. However, a flush was greater than a straight and a straight was greater than three of a kind¡­ people might not dare to call.

    This was the time when mentality was important.

    The number 4 Chief Liu called with 4, the number 5 Chief He also called with 4, the number 6 Shao Qingge folded, the number 7 Chief Wang folded and the number 8 bald-headed Chief Chen started to y freely again. He directly raised it to 12!

    It was Li Mo¡¯s turn and he deliberately increased the raise amount. ¡°24.¡±

    The man gently pushed 24 chips into the prize pool and gave Yu Hanjiang a thoughtful look.

    Li Mo was deliberately putting pressure on today¡¯s neers. Number 2 after him folded directly. To his surprise, the new handsome guy didn¡¯t frown when he saw that Li Mo added 24. His expression remained as calm as usual. ¡°Call.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also threw 24 chips into the prize pool.

    It was the river card. Thestmunity card was opened by the Clubs teenager to reveal a 9 of Spades.

    Themunity cards: 7 of Spades, 8 of Spades, 9 of Diamonds, A of Clubs and 9 of Spades.

    There were many hands that could be formed such as three of a kind, straight, flush, four of a kind and even a straight flush! There were still five people at the table and they started to express their intentions.

    Number 4 thought for a while before folding. Number 5 also folded. This was also within Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expectations since 4 and 5 didn¡¯t have a special style.

    Number 8 was different. His hand should be good so he simply raised. ¡°Let¡¯s have a whole number. 30.¡±

    It was Li Mo¡¯s turn and he smiled. ¡°Raise, 36.¡±

    He nced at Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang was thest to speak. This position had the advantage of being able to observe the attitude of the others before making a decision. The disadvantage was that if the person before him raised the amount higher, he had to match it to call.

    Before the hole cards were dealt, he bet 4 chips due to the big blind. On the flop, he called with 4. On the turn, he called with 24. If he continued to call with 36 chips then he would bet up to 68 million in this game!

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was in his throat and he couldn¡¯t help clenching his fists by his side.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change. He looked back at Li Mo and said calmly, ¡°Call, 36.¡±

    He counted 36 chips and threw them into the prize pool. There were gasps from the lounge. The team members were obviously surprised by Group Leader Yu¡¯s actions!

    The Clubs teenager said, ¡°Please turn over your hands topare the size.¡±

    There were three people left at the table. The teammates on the sidelines couldn¡¯t help standing up. They walked to the ss to carefully look at the cards on the table.

    Themunity cards: 7 of Spades, 8 of Spades, 9 of Diamonds, A of Clubs, 9 of Spades.

    Li Mo¡¯s cards were: 9 of Hearts and 9 of Clubs. In the flop, he already had three of a kind. Thest river card was a 9 and he got 9999. This was a veryrge hand.

    Number 8¡¯s hand was: 5 of Hearts and 6 of Spades. Add them to themunity cards and he had a straight of 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.

    Thest one was Yu Hanjiang. Everyone looked at him nervously. The man looked calm as he gently revealed his hand with his slender fingers.

    A 10 of Spades and J of Spades.

    In other words, when only three cards were revealed on the flop, he had already made up a straight of 7, 8, 9, 10 and J. Finally, once the 9 of Spades were turned over on the river, he could rece the 9 of Diamonds. He formed a pure spades set of 7, 8, 9, 10 and J¡ªa straight flush!

    No wonder why he had to call the big amount of 36 on thest round. It was because this time, his hand was already thergest one that could exist on the table!

    The Clubs teenager opened his mouth. ¡°Number 3, Yu Hanjiang won.¡±

    The round chips piled up on the table were calmly taken by Yu Hanjiang. In this game, he won a total of 200 chips!

    Ye Qi almost jumped up and down excitedly. ¡°Group Leader Yu won 200 million in this game!¡±

    Everyone saw the huge pile of round chips in front of Yu Hanjiang and sighed with relief.

    Xiao Lou released his fists and a smile appeared on his face. Group Leader Yu was indeed reliable. He knew that with Yu Hanjiang¡¯s calm character, he must have the biggest card type that existed before betting with Li Mo. Otherwise, once the 9 of Spade was revealedst, there might be a 9999 on the field. If he didn¡¯t have a straight flush then it was quite risky to call 36 chips.

    Folding for eight consecutive games and only calling when he got the biggest hand, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s strategy could be called ¡®as stable as Mount Tai.¡¯

    However, in this round, there were too many big hands possible with themunity cards. The number 8 bald middle-aged man and the number 1 Li Mo both became the fattest fish eaten by Yu Hanjiang!

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 299: Free Play

    Yu Hanjiang had 100 initial chips and folded for eight consecutive games, including a big blind and small blind. He had bet a total of 6 chips and had 94 left. No one thought that after folding eight consecutive games, he would call all the way to the end in the 9th game and win 200 chips!

    In this way, Xiao Lou didn¡¯t have to worry about Yu Hanjiang at all. Even if Yu Hanjiang continued to fold, he had more than enough chips to fold dozens of rounds. In addition, if he drew a better hand then he could win a few more rounds. If he lost less and won more then Yu Hanjiang would be the winner overall.

    Smiles finally appeared on the faces of the team members. Everyone walked back to the seats to sit down and Ye Qi spoke emotionally. ¡°Group Leader Yu¡¯s y is too stable! He has nearly 300 chips in his hand. As long as he doesn¡¯t have terrible luck, it will be difficult for him to lose, right?¡±

    Liu Qiao said earnestly, ¡°At least we don¡¯t have to go to work collectively.¡± She really had a headache just now. Everyone had the skills to make money except for her. She had been wondering if she should hand out flyers on the street.

    Xiao Lou heard Liu Qiao¡¯s words and chuckled. ¡°It won¡¯t be so miserable. Xiao Liu, do you really want to go to work? Don¡¯t underestimate Group Leader Yu and Chief Shao. Don¡¯t forget that Chief Shao is the master of card games and he hasn¡¯t acted yet.

    Everyone turned their eyes to Shao Qingge. Shao Qingge had already folded nine consecutive games. In the 10th game, once it was Shao Qingge¡¯s turn, he unexpectedly folded again.

    Today, Shao Qinggepletely acted as a spectator. He folded until the fourth round around the table. He directly discarded 24 chips. One chip was 1 million gold coins so his teammates were distressed.

    The chips in front of the others were piled high, with hundreds of them. Even Yu Hanjiang had nearly 300 chips in front of him. Inparison, Shao Qingge was indeed a bit pitiful. He only had 76 chips left in his hand and it could be seen clearly with one nce. In this type of gambling situation, if your chips were far below the opponent then you would fall into a rather passive situation. The opponent could even raise and force you to fold.

    The time reached 9 o¡¯clock and it was the 36th game of the fifth round around the table. Number 4 Chief Liu was the dealer and Shao Qingge was the big blind. Chief Liu smiled at Shao Qingge. ¡°Mr Shao, you have already folded for over 30 games. You are the big blind this time and your position is so good. Do you want to continue to fold?¡±

    Shao Qingge gently rubbed his temples like he had a headache. ¡°I have really bad luck today. I haven¡¯t touched any good cards, s.¡±

    Everyone spoke some polite words. ¡°My luck is also ordinary. I yed until now and haven¡¯t won or lost.¡±

    ¡±Chief Li is lucky. He has won the most, right?¡±

    Li Mo smiled. ¡°I just yed. Good luck can¡¯t always take care of me.¡±

    A new game began. Number 5 Chief He was the small blind and he bet 2 chips. Shao Qingge was the big blind and he bet 4 chips. Everyone received their hole cards and the dealer turned over the first threemunity cards: 3 of Clubs, 7 of Spades and 10 of Diamonds.

    Such cards were considered a ¡®dry¡¯ board in Texas hold¡¯em. In other words, there were very few hands that could be formed using the hole cards andmunity cards. Moreover, the three cards had different suits. The probability of a ¡®five card flush¡¯ hand appearing was extremely low. Thest spacing of 3, 7 and 10 also made it difficult to form a straight.

    This meant it was time to fight with the hole cards.

    For example, if someone got a big pair like AA or KK at the start, they could naturally continue to call. Maybe in the end, themunity cards will be a bunch of misceneous cards and the pair in their hand was the biggest. It was even possible that no one could get a pair and one A could win.

    The flop ended and it started after Shao Qingge. Number 7 folded, number 8 called 4 chips, number 1 called 4 chips, number 2 called 4 chips and Yu Hanjiang folded. Number 4 folded and number 5 folded. Once it was Shao Qingge¡¯s turn, he thought for a moment before throwing in 4 chips. ¡°Call.¡±

    Everyone at the table was a bit surprised. After all, this was Shao Qingge¡¯s first call. Li Mo joked. ¡°Mr Shao, you finally called? I thought you were just watching the fun.¡±

    Shao Qingge exined, ¡°Themunity cards aren¡¯t very good in this game. I will try a round to see my luck.¡±

    At the end, there were numbers 1, 2, 6 and 8 left on the table.

    On the turn card, the keeper opened the fourth card: 4 of Clubs.

    The bald Chief Chen frowned and threw 4 chips into the prize pool and Li Mo continued to call. In any case, 4 chips were irrelevant to him. If he lost then he lost. He had to wait for the fifth card to see.

    Number 2 also called 4 and Shao Qingge called as well.

    Compared with the fierce fights of the previous games, this game was rtively mild. Everyone only called 4 and didn¡¯t raise. It must be that their hands were very ordinary and themunity cards moreplicated. They just yed a game of luck and it wasn¡¯t necessary to increase the number of chips.

    It was the river and thestmunity car was 7 of Hearts.

    The bald Chief Chen called 4 and Li and the number 2 short-haired Chief Zhang also called. Once it was Shao Qingge¡¯s turn, he counted 12 chips and dropped it into the pot with a smile. ¡°Raise, 12.¡±

    It was directly tripled. Today¡¯s poker was a no-limits betting mode. Once someone raised the bet on the river card, the people after them would have to continue calling or raising until no one raised any longer.

    Shao Qingge was in thest position and thest one to speak. If Shao Qingge called 4 then the betting stage was over and everyone could turn over their hole cards at the same time forparison. However, Shao Qingge suddenly raised the bet. If the other three wanted to continue ying, they had to continue calling.

    The bald Chief Chen nced at themunity cards, thought about it and said, ¡°Call, 12 chips.¡±

    Chief Chen had the character of ¡®doesn¡¯t believe in evil¡¯. He would definitely call to the end as long as he had slightly good cards in his hand. Rtively speaking, Li Mo was much calmer. He saw Shao Qingge¡¯s raise and folded directly. It was probably because his hand was average and he didn¡¯t want to give money to his opponent for nothing.¡±

    The number 2 Chief Zhang was always very cautious and she also folded. Only Shao Qingge and the bald uncle were left at the table. It was Shao Qingge¡¯s turn again. He looked at the opponent with a smile and then pushed all the chips in front of him to the center of the table with a ¡®crash¡¯. ¡°All in.¡±

    The people at the card table looked at him in shock. This person folded over 30 rounds in a row, only to y in an unrestrained manner. He actually went all in!

    Since today¡¯s poker game was a ¡®no-limits¡¯ mode, there was no upper limit for betting in each round. A person could bet a few hundred in each round as long as there were enough chips. However, the wealthy folk weren¡¯t fools. If the cards in their hands were particrly bad then they wouldn¡¯t bet blindly and throw money away for nothing.

    Themunity cards in this game were the 3 of Clubs, 7 of Spades, 10 of Diamonds, 4 of Clubs and 7 of Hearts. It wasn¡¯t possible to make a straight or a flush. The biggest hand possible should be the hole cards being a pair of 7s plus themunity card 7 of Spades and of Hearts to make up 7777, a four of a kind.

    Shao Qingge actually went all in. Did he really have a four of a kind?

    Uncle Chen didn¡¯t believe it. Perhaps he only had three of a kind! Uncle Chen had already called to this point. If he folded then wouldn¡¯t he be abandoning his previous bets? In any case, he always had to look at the hole cards, right?

    Uncle Chen thought up to here and slightly narrowed his eyes at Shao Qingge. ¡°Call.¡±

    Shao Qingge had gone all in and pushed 52 chips into the prize pool. If Uncle Chen wanted to follow, he had to bet 52 chips. Unexpectedly, Shao Qingge raised the betting amount so high for such poormunity cards. The chips in the prize pool had already exceeded 120.

    The Clubs teenager said, ¡°Pleasepare your hold cards first.¡±

    The number 8 Uncle Chen showed it first. He had a pair of 10s in his hand. Add themunity card on the table and he had three 10s. This was already a very big hand. He didn¡¯t believe that Shao Qingge had four of a kind. He guessed that the opponent had three of a kind which was why he called.

    Then Shao Qingge revealed his hand. It really was a pair of 7s.

    He actually got 7777!

    ¡°¡­¡­.¡± Uncle Chen helplessly touched his bald head andmented, ¡°Mr Shao has good luck.¡±

    Shao Qingge took the chips on the table and smiled. ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡±

    However, he inwardly thought, ¡®I knew that you would definitely call with your temper so I wanted to win more. Thank you for giving me money.¡¯

    The next game hadmunity cards slightly simr to the one just now. It was a 2 of Spades, 6 of Clubs and 9 of Diamonds. It was arge spacing and no flush was possible. It was difficult to make a good hand. Whoever had arger pair in their hand was likely to win.

    Four people folded directly and four people called.

    The fourthmunity card: 9 of Hearts.

    Shao Qingge pushed all his chips into the pool again. ¡°All in.¡±

    Shao Qingge currently had 120 chips in his hand. He went all in and this put great pressure on those after him. Chief Wang who was after him folded directly. The bald Uncle Chen looked at themunity cards of 2, 7, 9 and 9. He raised an eyebrow and said, ¡°I don¡¯t believe you have a pair of 9s in your hand again!¡±

    Then he casually threw over 100 chips in the prize pool. ¡°Call.¡±

    This Uncle Chen was really determined.

    Unfortunately, Shao Qingge¡¯s luck in these two games was really good. Once he revealed his hole cards, he really did have a pair of 9s. He once again made the biggest 9999 four of a kind on the table.

    Shao Qingge happily took the chips and smiled politely. ¡°I seem to have a change in fortunes in these two rounds.¡±

    Uncle Chen, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge won twice in a row and the bald Uncle Chen was a bit depressed at losing hundreds of chips. He might be wealthy but money didn¡¯t fall from the sky. No one would be happy to lose, let alone lose two games in a row to the same person.

    Yu Hanjiang watched Shao Qingge with a clear heart.

    Shao Qingge had this ¡®all in¡¯ unrestrained style? He either folded or yed big to win. Every time he went all in, he would get the biggest hand. Uncle Chen hadn¡¯t believed in evil and lost two games in a row. Li Mo smiled and said, ¡°The two neers today are really good at ying.¡±

    He thought the neers would be frightened. Unexpectedly, Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge were very calm.

    In the first hour, everyone¡¯s betting amount was controlled within a certain range. In contrast, Shao Qingge yed in the most unrestrained manner and went all in for two consecutive games. It was just that when he went all in, he usually had thergest card in his hand. This looked unrestrained but it was actually very stable. Basically, fighting against him was giving money.

    The bald Uncle Chen had personally proved this with a painful lesson. The people at the poker table had different feelings in their hearts as the Clubs teenager started a new game.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 300: Surprise

    For the next few games, the cards dealt to them were rtively poor. Shao Qingge didn¡¯t continue to go all in. He folded eight games in a row and started acting as soy sauce. He watched the show and waited for everyone to ignore him. Perhaps at some point, he woulde out again.

    Li Mo decided to call in every game.

    He had many chips and it didn¡¯t matter if he lost 4 chips in each game. This type of y was amon ¡®loose hand¡¯ at the Texas hold¡¯em table. Call until he sees the river card and then see if he needs to raise. If he was unlucky and lost then the amount lost wouldn¡¯t be too big. If he was lucky, he could win a game. Generally, if he had a bit of luck then he could win a bit.

    Meanwhile, Chief Zhang and Chief Wang had the opposite ¡®tight hand¡¯ y. They folded after looking at their hole card. If their hand was good, they would continue calling to the river. This type of y was cautious and conservative. Naturally, there were fewer losses. The key to winning big or small depended on the hand in the game that they called.

    Yu Hanjiang had a more rigorous y style than a ¡®tight hand¡¯. He had only once won in the game but he won more than everyone by 10 times. It could be said that Yu Hanjiang was apletely opportunistic yer. Once he acted, he would kill with a single blow. Then he would hibernate and wait for the next opportunity.

    It was only Shao Qingge¡­ that Li Mo still couldn¡¯t figure out.

    This man of an unknown origin sat at the card table like a cat with his limbs spread out to watch the excitement. No matter how fierce the fight at the table, he just squinted with an attitude like it didn¡¯t matter to him. Yet just now, he went all in for two consecutive games and Uncle Chen lost hundreds of chips.

    He either didn¡¯t y or he yed big. This person shouldn¡¯t be underestimated. Li Mo came to a conclusion in his heart and continued to observe Shao Qingge¡¯s movements.

    It was now 9:30 p.m. and it was Yu Hanjiang¡¯s turn to be the dealer. The number 4 Chief Liu was the small blind and the number 5 Chief He was the big blind. The number 6 Shao Qingge was the first to act.

    After seeing his hole cards, Shao Qingge called 4 chips. Obviously, his hole cards weren¡¯t bad. The others simply called as well.

    It was the flop and the first threemunity cards were revealed: 2 of Spades, 5 of Diamonds and 7 of Clubs.

    They were very ¡®dry¡¯munity cards. As long as someone had a pair of 2s, 5s or 7s, they could make three of a kind. If they had one card then they could make a pair. However, this pair was smaller. If someone had a pair of As or Ks then they could call to see the situation.

    There was no need for other misceneous cards to call. This type ofmunity card was hard to create a straight or a flush. The probability was too low. After seeing themunity cards, three people folded. They were the number 3 Yu Hanjiang and numbers 4 and 5. The other five people continued to call and they didn¡¯t raise it from 4 chips.

    The turn: 10 of Diamonds.

    Shao Qingge smiled and said, ¡°Raise 12.¡±

    So far, themunity cards were 2, 5, 7 and 10. The possibility of a straight and a flush had been ruled out. Those who heard him speaking couldn¡¯t help wondering. This guy suddenly raised the bet. Perhaps he had a pair of 10s to make a three of a kind?

    The number 8 Uncle Chen folded directly. His hand was too bad. He had a misceneous 3 and 9 and there was no need to continue to call.

    The number 1 Li Mo said, ¡°Call 12.¡±

    Li Mo had a 2 and a 7 in his hand. Add the 2 and 7munity cards and he had a double pair 2277. If there was another 2 or 7, he could make a full house of 22277 or 77722.

    The short-haired female boss in the number 2 position thought carefully for a moment. She had a pair of Qs but themunity cards were 2, 5, 7 and 10. Chief Wang and Chief Li had both called 12. One of them must have a three of a kind and the possibility of thest card being a Q was very low. She could fold now or call 12 and see the fifth card before making a decision. However, her cautious character meant she made the more sensible choice. ¡°Fold.¡±

    There were three people left at the table. They were Li Mo, Shao Qingge and the number 7 Chief Wang with the elegant temperament.

    None of them continued to raise.

    The Clubs teenager said, ¡°Thest card is an A of Spades.¡±

    All themunity cards were spread out in front of everyone and possible hands had been determined. Seeing thest card, Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t help smiling slightly. He was the first to speak and once again pushed nearly all the 200 chips in front of him into the pot. ¡°All in!¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It was here again!

    This person had likely another big hand. He went all in to force the others to call and win more money. After all, he had used this method to win hundreds of chips from the bald Uncle Chen. One chip was 1 million so it was already several hundred million gold coins.

    Shao Qingge crossed his arms and his beautiful peach blossom eyes were full of joy. It was as if he was sure he would win.

    The number 7 Uncle Chenughed. ¡°Mr Shao, do you perhaps have a pair of As?¡±

    Themunity cards 2, 5, 7, 10 and A had four different suits. In theory, there was no possibility of a flush.

    If Shao Qingge¡¯s starting hand was a pair of As then it was reasonable for him to follow such misceneousmunity cards to the river. Finally, an A appeared. If he really got AAA, it was the biggest hand avable. It was natural to go all in.

    The number 7 Chief Wang raised an eyebrow. She was mature and sexy with delicate makeup on her face and curly hair. A strong woman naturally wasn¡¯t afraid of the poker table. However, all themunity cards had been turned over and she only had a 555 in her hand. There might be a 777, a 101010 or even an AAA. There were too many hands valued higher than hers.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s betting amount exceeded 100 chips. This wasn¡¯t a small number when converted into gold coins. She might have money but she couldn¡¯t give money to the other party for nothing, right?

    Previously, the bald Uncle Chen hadn¡¯t believed in evil and confronted Shao Qingge. Everyone saw him sending money to Shao Qingge in two consecutive games, bing a money-sending man. Every time Shao Qingge went all in, he had the highest possible hand. This time should be no exception?

    Chief Wang took a deep breath and smiled. ¡°Fold.¡±

    She didn¡¯t call. She didn¡¯t think her hand was worth the risk of hundreds of chips.

    Li Mo also calmly dropped his cards on the table. ¡°Fold.¡±

    He had followed the river to see if a 2 or 7 would appear to make a full house. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t get what he was waiting for. His hand could only make a 2277 with themunity cards. ording to the size of the card hands, two pairs was less than three of a kind. Not to mention, it was likely that Shao Qingge had AAA. Even if it was three 10s, it would still be bigger than Li Mo¡¯s hand. Calling again at this time was simply giving away money.

    Chief Wang folded with 555 and Li Mo¡¯s two pairs was even smaller than Chief Wang¡¯s hand. Naturally, there was no need to send money to Shao Qingge for nothing.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s all in bet was so high that two people folded directly, not wanting to y with him. Shao Qingge automatically won. Uncle Chenughed. ¡°Did you learn a lesson from me not to be fooled?¡±

    Chief Wang spoke calmly. ¡°Mr Shao likes to go all in when he gets a good hand. I don¡¯t want to be taken advantage of.¡±

    Li Mo smiled. ¡°We have Uncle Chen¡¯s previous experience and stopped the loss in time.¡±

    The bald Uncle Wang looked at Shao Qingge. ¡°Mr Shao, show your cards so you can convince everyone.¡±

    Everyone was thinking that it must be a pair of As. That he was lucky again and made AAA. Even Xiao Lou, Ye Qi and the others on the sidelines thought so.

    Ye Qi clenched his fists, his tone extremely excited. ¡°Chief Shao is lucky. He got two four of a kinds in a row and won over 100 chips from Uncle Chen. In this round, both number 7 and number 1 might¡¯ve folded early but they both followed when he raised to 12. Chief Shao can win dozens of chips. He is really 666!¡±

    Long Senughed. ¡°He is indeed our financial backer. It is three As.¡±

    Old Mo agreed. ¡°Yes.¡±

    As everyone was speaking, Shao Qingge slowly revealed his hand with a smile. All eyes were on the table in front of him.

    One was¡­ 3 of Hearts. The other one was¡­ 8 of Diamonds? Don¡¯t talk about two As, he didn¡¯t even have one?!!

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Fuck! This person was bluffing!

    Themunity cards in this round were 2, 5, 7, 10 and A. Li Mo¡¯s discarded cards were 2277 and Chief Wang¡¯s discarded hand was 555. In the end, Shao Qingge won with a 3 and an 8!

    He didn¡¯t even have the smallest pair. He held two misceneous cards but he dared to go all in? Wasn¡¯t he afraid of someone following him when he yed so big? Then he would¡¯ve lost everything!

    Everyone at the table looked at Shao Qingge withplicated expressions. Li Mo was dumbfounded and touched his nose. Chief Wang regretted it so much that her intestines were turning green.

    Shao Qingge just smiled and grabbed the chips from the prize pool in front of him.

    Sorry, the all in was just superficial acting. In fact, his hand was very poor. It was just that he had long seen Chief Wang¡¯s very cautious personality. She wouldn¡¯t fight for chips with others if there wasn¡¯t a high probability of winning. Li Mo was also very calm. Not to mention, in thest few games, he would call to the river card but as long as his hand wasn¡¯t strong enough, Li Mo would stop the loss in time. Folding when necessary was better than losing.

    If the only one left in this game was the bald Uncle Chen then Shao Qingge wouldn¡¯t dare do so. This uncle was very stubborn and might continue to call despite Shao Qingge¡¯s all in. However, he expected that Chief Wang and Li Mo wouldn¡¯t call. He used psychological tactics in this game.

    Winning wasn¡¯t just based on good or poor hands. It was on what opponents you were left with¡ªthe people.

    At the poker table, counting cards and probabilities was just the basics. Quickly analyzing the style and characteristics of all opponents was the most important thing. Shao Qingge folded more than 30 consecutive games to do this and he had now grasped the rhythm.

    In the lounge, Ye Qi, Old Mo and the others were also dumbfounded. Obviously, Shao Qingge only had a 3 and 8 in his hand but from start to finish, he put on the air of ¡®I have two As.¡¯ It was really the brave Chief Shao!

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 301: Impenetrable Person

    Uncle Chen almost coughed up blood when he saw Shao Qingge¡¯s hand. He remembered the previous two times when Shao Qingge went all in with himself. It made people subconsciously think that ¡®Mr Shao must have a big hand to go all in.¡¯ As a result, Shao Qingge used this mentality to bluff and force back all his opponents, winning more than 60 chips!

    One chip was equal to 1 million gold coins. This wasn¡¯t a small amount.

    Looking at the three stacks of chips piled in front of this person, Uncle Chen feltplicated. ¡°Sure enough, I underestimated Chief Shao. I thought you folded because you couldn¡¯t y. It turns out that you are actually a hidden master!¡±

    Shao Qinggeughed. ¡°Chief Chen is being too polite. I¡¯m not a master. At best, I¡¯m just familiar with the rules. I have been folding because my luck is really bad.¡±

    Was this still bad luck? He won so much by bluffing?!

    Li Mo looked at Shao Qingge thoughtfully. ¡°Mr Shao¡¯s acting is first-rate. I really believed you had three As.¡±

    The boss of an entertainmentpany, the sses wearing Chief He sighed lightly. ¡°Mr Shao¡¯s acting skills are indeed not inferior to the so-called movie emperors that mypany strongly supports.¡± He pushed up his sses and joked, ¡°Will you continue going all in next?¡±

    Shao Qingge narrowed his eyes. ¡°No, my heart can¡¯t take an all in all the time. In fact, I was so nervous just now. If one of you had called, wouldn¡¯t I have lost everything?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Looking at his expression and the attitude of ¡®I¡¯m sure to win¡¯, they couldn¡¯t see any nervousness at all.

    Unexpectedly, Shao Qingge was actually a thick-skinned old fox. He was very familiar with this type of card table. In the next game, everyone kept their eyes on Shao Qingge, observing him from time to time. Shao Qingge sat at the poker table and gradually felt a sense of oppression from all directions.

    Once the several wealthy people at the table started to pay attention to him, the situation became more difficult.

    Shao Qingge also knew that bluffing wasn¡¯t always effective. If everyone was defensive against him then it wasn¡¯t easy to scare his opponents. Therefore, he was honest for a time. He no longer called all in but just did regr calls.

    It was a pity that his cards and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s cards were very bad. The cards they got were all 3 and 6s that made it difficult to keep calling.

    The hole cards had a value rating. For example, AA and KK were first ss hole cards. As long as themunity cards revealed weren¡¯t obvious flush or straight cards, they could continue to call. However, if they got a 3 or a 6 then unless themunity cards also had a 3 or 6 to make a double pair or three of a kind, it was usually safest to fold.

    The two of them started to fold again.

    The pace at the poker table was increasing and unknowingly, it was already 10:30 in the evening.

    Yu Hanjiang continued to y steadily but his card luck was rtively poor. He only won a handful of games and he basically folded the other times. The chips he won at the beginning were decreasing. In the blink of an eye, he had less than 200 chips in his hand. Of course, these were given to him by the Clubs teenager. Even if he lost all of them, the money in their bank card wasn¡¯t lost.

    After winning arge sum of money from three consecutive all ins, he converged his unrestrained style of y. He raised and called, won and lost. He did this to make people unable to understand his mind.

    For the game at 10:30, the number 5 Chief He was the big blind and the number 6 Shao Qingge was the first to act. His two hold cards should be fine so he called 4. The big blind was 4 million and calling 4 chips was a normal operation.

    The number 3 Yu Hanjiang and number 4 person folded, leaving six people left.

    Flop: 6 of Diamonds, 6 of Hearts, 6 of Spades.

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This card type was quite terrible. Themunity cards were already a three of a kind!

    Someone just needed thest 6 in their hand and it would be a four of a kind. If someone had a pair then they could make a full house. If no one had a 6 or a pair then everyone could use the three 6s and whoever had the biggest hole card such as an A would win.

    This type ofmunity card was equivalent to drawing a heavenly hand when ying mahjong. (Heavenly hand = the winning hand where a yer wins the round on the first turn)

    The expressions of the people left on the table changed. Shao Qingge was the first to speak and he threw 10 chips into the pot. ¡°Raise.¡±

    The number 7 Chief Wang had been tricked before but unfortunately, she only had a 10 and a J in her hand. If she called then she would have no chance to win. She wisely folded.

    The bald Uncle Chen had always been stubborn. He had a pair of Qs in his hand which was already a 666QQ hand. There was no reason not to call. Moreover, he didn¡¯t just call. He added 10 chips, making it 20 instantly. ¡°Raise.¡±

    The raise amount had risen to 20 million.

    The teammates watching in the lounge stood up anxiously. Ye Qi was nervous. ¡°What card will Chief Shao have in his hand? Or does he want to bluff again?¡±

    Xiao Lou also couldn¡¯t figure out Shao Qingge¡¯s thinking and frowned in a worried manner. ¡°In this round, Uncle Chen is calling. Chief Shao can¡¯t bluff sessfully. The fact that Uncle Chen is raising now means he should have a good hand. He will definitely call to the end.¡±

    It was Li Mo¡¯s turn. Li Mo smiled slightly and from the three stacks of chips in front of him, he gently pushed 50 chips forward. ¡°Themunity card is three of a kind. It is such a good hand that we should y a big one.¡±

    50 chips was 50 million gold coins! Li Mo¡¯s raise amount was too big, right?

    Number 2 and number 5 after Li Mo folded directly. At the table, only Shao Qingge, Uncle Chen and Li Mo were left. If Shao Qingge wanted to continue then he had to call 50. There were around 200 chips left in his hand. Shao Qingge thought about it and said, ¡°Call.¡±

    Uncle Chen also continued to call. Li Mo didn¡¯t raise and it entered the turn.

    The fourthmunity card: 2 of Hearts.

    It was a useless card. It was still Shao Qingge¡¯s turn to speak. He called 50 based on the previous amount that was raised. At this time, there were too many chips on the table and it was a bit scary.

    Ye Qi looked at the pile of gold, round chips and couldn¡¯t help muttering, ¡°One chip is 1 million. Chief Shao bet 4 on the hole cards, 60 on the flop, and 50 on the turn. It is already 114¡­.¡±

    The river was a card that shocked many people: the A of Spades.

    Shao Qingge still had a smile on his face. He was the first to speak. He had already bet 114 chips. At this time, it was a loss if he folded. He could only continue to call and see the cards to the end. There were around 100 chips in front of him. Shao Qingge counted 50 and threw them in the pot. ¡°Call.¡±

    Uncle Chen frowned and also chose to call.

    Li Mo smiled slightly as he looked at Shao Qingge¡¯s chips. ¡°Raise, 60.¡±

    Shao Qingge only had 50 chips left in his hand. If he wanted to continue to call then the amount couldn¡¯t be lower than the previous raise. What should he do when the chips weren¡¯t enough? All in!

    At the poker table, once your chips were far below the opponent and your opponent raised more than you, all in could be used to solve it. Then you wouldn¡¯t have to keep calling for subsequent raises. You could just wait to reveal the cards.

    Shao Qingge smiled helplessly and pushed all his chips into the pot. ¡°All in.¡±

    Uncle Chen still had many chips and he only needed to match Li Mo¡¯s 60. Fortunately, Li Mo didn¡¯t continue to raise. Obviously, he deliberately did this just to force Shao Qingge to go all in.

    The Clubs teenager stated, ¡°Please reveal your cards.¡±

    Uncle Chen simply opened his hand. It was a QQ666, a full house.

    Shao Qingge immediately opened his hand. It was an AA666 or AAA66, which was also a full house.

    Shao Qingge actually got a pair of As. In this case, Shao Qingge¡¯s hand was thergest of the full house cards. AA666 and AAA66 were both bigger than Uncle Chen¡¯s QQ666!

    Li Mo smiled and turned over his cards. There was one 10 and one 6.

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Themunity cards were 6, 6, 6, 2 and A. Li Mo actually made a four of a kind, 6666.

    Uncle Chen leaned back in his chair in a frustrated manner. ¡°Chief Li, you actually got the 6!¡±

    Li Mo happily took the golden chips in front of him. ¡°It is good luck, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have continued for so many rounds.¡± He looked at Shao Qingge. ¡°It is Mr Shao who lost a bit miserably. In fact, if you start with a pair of As then the probability of winning is very high. It is a pity that I had better luck than you. I got the only 6.¡±

    There were 52 cards and three 6s were eliminated. There was only one 6 remaining out of 49 cards. The probability of getting this 6 was 2%. With such a low probability, Li Mo actually got it. There was no way.

    Shao Qingge smiled bitterly. ¡°Chief Li is really lucky today. It seems I have to find the master to exchange some chips.¡±

    The team members exchanged looks.

    Ye Qi spoke to Xiao Lou anxiously, ¡°Chief Shao actually lost it all in one go. I can¡¯t believe it!¡±

    This mood was like riding a rollercoaster. Shao Qingge had won so much with a bluff before and now he had lost all his chips. The expressions on the faces of the team members were a bit depressed.

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°If you got the pair of As, would you call?¡±

    They all looked at each other. Themunity cards were 666. There was no reason to fold when getting a pair of As.

    After all, the probability of someone getting thest 6 was only 2%. Normal people would think it was impossible for someone to get a 6 to make a four of a kind. In the full house cards, 666AA was the biggest one.

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°I think anyone who gets a pair of As at the start will call. There is no problem with Chief Shao¡¯s calling and raising in this round. He got a very big hand and the probability that someone else is bigger is only 2%. Regardless of probability or card counting, his chances of winning were over 80%. He didn¡¯t lose due to skills in this round. He just lost to luck.¡±

    Everyone was ufortable seeing Chief Shao lose more than 200 chips. Now Xiao Lou¡¯s calm analysis made them feel better.

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°You should¡¯ve also seen that since Chief Shao¡¯s all in bluff, Li Mo and Uncle Chen have been targeting Chief Shao. Unless he folds in every round, the opponent will definitely squeeze him dry of his chips. It was already obvious when Li Mo raised 60 in this game when Chief Shao had less than 60 chips remaining.¡±

    Shao Qingge had to go all in if he wanted to continue ying.

    None of the team members med Chief Shao for losing money. After all, their hands would be trembling if they were sitting there. They just felt ufortable at Chief Shao being jointly targeted. It had reached the most difficult situation. Shao Qingge had to use the team¡¯s savings. The chips that the Clubs teenager had previously given had no effect on the team as a whole. Now everyone was more nervous since it was using the team ounts.

    Ye Qi pretending to be optimistic. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Chief Shao already yed really well against these rich people today. If we end up losing all the money in our ount then we will all go to work together!¡±

    Xiao Lou patted Ye Qi on the shoulder, not knowing if he shouldugh or cry. ¡°Do you know Chief Shao well?¡±

    Ye Qi scratched his head. ¡°I probably¡­ know a little bit?¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°Chief Shao might like to y in an exciting manner but this time he isn¡¯t gambling with his money. It is rted to the money of the entire team. Chief Shao would never be so willful. With his shrewdness, it is impossible for him to fail to see it. Li Mo and the bald Uncle Chen were targeting him yet he raised the bet when he knew he was being targeted. Why?¡±

    Ye Qi quickly reacted. ¡°Right! In fact, he got 666AA and raised in the second round. Then Li Mo increased the raise and he should¡¯ve thought that Li Mo might¡¯ve gotten the 6! Li Mo doesn¡¯t like to gamble on luck like Uncle Chen. Li Mo has been ying very steadily. At that time, the smartest thing to do is to withdraw and stop the loss in time.¡±

    If Shao Qingge had quit at that point, he would¡¯ve only lost 16 chips in this game. Yet Shao Qingge actually yed to the end.

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°The fact that he didn¡¯t quit means he should have his own n.¡±

    Noone could think of Shao Qingge¡¯s n so they looked at the card table carefully. Unexpectedly, they discovered that Shao Qingge and Yu Hanjiang made brief eye contact.

    Then Shao Qingge spoke to the Clubs teenager. ¡°This is a no limit mode and there is no limit to the amount of chips brought to the table, right? I can continue to y as long as my chips are greater than the big blind?¡±

    The Clubs teenager nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Shao Qingge touched his chin. ¡°Then exchange 50 chips for me first.¡±

    50 chips was 50 million. The team¡¯s ount had several hundred million but he didn¡¯t exchange all of it. Ye Qi was a bit confused. ¡°Why isn¡¯t he changing more? Can¡¯t he be more active if he has more chips?¡±

    Xiao Lou saw this and smiled. ¡°I understand. Chief Shao ns to cooperate with Group Leader Yu.¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s bluffing game was too unforgettable and most of the people¡¯s eyes were on him. Yu Hanjiang was ignored. What type of tacit understanding had the two of them reached through eye contact?

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know what Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge were thinking.

    At this time, they could only believe in Group Leader Yu and Chief Shao.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 302: Cooperation

    Shao Qingge asked the dealer to exchange 50 million on the spot and he gained 50 chips. 50 million gold coins might be an astronomical figure for ordinary people but he was still the one with the least number of chips today. There were more than 500 chips stacked in front of Li Mo. It was 10 times as many as Shao Qingge.

    For the numbers 2 Chief Zhang and 7 Wang, the two women were very cautious when it came to ying cards. They might not have any big wins but they hadn¡¯t lost a lot. Currently, there were around 300 chips in their hands. Numbers 4 and 5 were simr.

    There were around 150 chips in front of Yu Hanjiang.

    The number 8 bald Uncle Chen yed quite aggressively. He often called to the end. If he was lucky, he could win a lot. However, generally speaking, he often bet and lost more. He had only 120 chips in his hand.

    Seeing Shao Qingge changing money, Uncle Chen also spoke to the dealer. ¡°Exchange 80 chips for me as well to make it a whole number!¡±

    The Clubs teenager gave him 80 gold chips. Uncle Chen looked at the pile of high chips in front of Li Mo. ¡°Chief Li is lucky today. You won so much?¡±

    A gentlemanly smile appeared on Li Mo¡¯s face. ¡°It is only 10:30. It isn¡¯t certain if I can keep these chips to the end. Feng shui turns around. Maybe in the next game, your luck will be better and you will win back all of it.¡±

    Uncle Chenughed. ¡°I will borrow your words.¡±

    Everyone was joking around while waiting for the Clubs teenager to shuffle. The teenager wore gloves and shuffled the deck of cards in a standard posture.

    Shao Qingge found that after losing all his chips, the bald Uncle Chen clearly no longer paid attention to him and instead stared at Li Mo with bright eyes. At the same time, the attention of other people on him decreased significantly.

    The smile on Shao Qingge¡¯s face remained unchanged but his heart was much more rxed. He needed to wait for another opportunity.

    In the next few games, Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge continued to fold. Numbers 2, 4, 5 and 7 each won a few games but due to their bad card types, everyone¡¯s betting amount wasn¡¯t high. Thepetition wasn¡¯t particrly fierce.

    Shao Qingge folded more than 10 games in a row. It seemed his hands were really bad. It was necessary to bet for the big blind and small blind. If it was their turn, they had to bet 4 or 2 chips. After two rounds of the table and more than 10 games, Shao Qingge had been forced to bet 12 chips. It was equivalent to wasting these chips and there were only 36 chips left in his hands.

    The time reached 10:50 p.m. After 20 minutes of rtively mild gamey, Shao Qingge became the dealer in this game. The next number 7 Chief Wang was the small blind and the bald Uncle Chen was the big blind. The number 1 Li Mo was the first to act.

    The hole cards were dealt and everyone received two cards. They looked down at their cards before Li Mo smiled and said, ¡°Call.¡±

    The minimum call amount was 4 chips. It was because at this time, themunity cards weren¡¯t turned over. No one knew what cards would be revealed. There was no need to raise unless they got a good hole card like AA.

    After one circle, all eight people called 4 chips to see the cards.

    The flop: 4 of Spades, 7 of Spades and 10 of Spades.

    There were three spades! Once someone had two spades, they could get a flush!

    The probability of a straight on this card was also very high. If their hole cards were a 5 and 6, they could wait for a straight of 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or if their hole card was a 8 and 9, they could wait for a J to get a straight of 7, 8, 9, 10, J¡­

    If they were waiting for a straight then most people would choose to bet and gamble. Meanwhile, those who got a straight with their hole cards would definitely raise.

    Seeing themunity cards, Li Mo was the first to speak calmly. ¡°Follow.¡±

    He didn¡¯t raise arge amount. He should¡¯ve drawn two cards that could make a straight and was betting on it. Or perhaps he had drawn a pair to make a three of a kind. If his starting hand was two spades then he definitely would¡¯ve raised.

    The number 2 Chief Zhang said, ¡°Call.¡±

    The number 3 Yu Hanjiang also called.

    It went one circle around the table and Shao Qingge called with 4 chips. The turn card was an A of Hearts. It was a card that had nothing to do with a straight or a flush, but it might lead to AAA.

    The number 1 Li Mo said, ¡°Call.¡±

    He didn¡¯t raise. It was number 2¡¯s turn and Chief Zhang with the short hair also simply threw 4 chips. ¡°Call.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang calmly said, ¡°Call.¡±

    Numbers 4 and 5 also chose to call. Shao Qingge lightly touched the cards on the table, nced at Yu Hanjiang thoughtfully and narrowed his eyes. ¡°Raise, 8 chips.¡±

    The chips in his hand were the least in the game. So many people were participating in the game and logically, he shouldn¡¯t participate. There were too many cards that could be formed in this game. It wasn¡¯t just a flush but many types of straights. As a result, he not only chose to call but he also raised?

    The team members couldn¡¯t help feeling worried when they saw it.

    Old Mo didn¡¯t know much about cards and directly said, ¡°The chips in Chief Shao¡¯s hands were too few. He only had 38 chips left at the start. He called 4 for the hole and the flop. Now he raised to 8 and there are only 22 chips left¡­¡±

    The team members looked at the small number of chips in front of him andpared it with the piles in front of others. They couldn¡¯t help feeling worried.

    Liu Qiao said, ¡°If someone raises it then Chief Shao will always be passive. With his personality, if he got a flush of Spades right at the start then he might go all in. Yet he just raised. I don¡¯t think he has a flush. It is more like he is waiting for a straight.¡±

    Qu Wanyue added softly, ¡°The two cards in hand and the existingmunity cards can¡¯t be directly made into a straight. There should be several people who are just short of a straight. In such a game of pure luck, why did Chief Shao raise?¡±

    Who could guarantee that thest card would form a straight? Ye Qi was extremely worried and didn¡¯t know what to say. He just kept his eyes on Shao Qingge. Xiao Lou patted him on the shoulder and spoke to his teammates, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Chief Shao should have his own n.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded vigorously as he stared at themunity cards on the poker table with wide eyes and clenched fists. It might be Shao Qingge sitting at the table but Ye Qi was extremely worried that Chief Shao would lose again in this game¡­

    Shao Qingge raised by 8 and the others had to call 8 to end the turn. Fortunately, 8 was an eptable number. For these wealthy people, it didn¡¯t matter if they spent 8 chips to follow to the next round. Numbers 7 and 8 chose to call and they lost 8 chips.

    On the river, thest card was a J of Diamonds. The appearance of a J of Diamonds made it impossible for a pure straight flush. At most, it was a mixed-colored straight. The number 1 Li Mo folded directly and the number 2 Chief Wang also folded. It should be that they didn¡¯t get the straight they were waiting for.

    Yu Hanjiang calmly stated, ¡°Call.¡± Then he pushed 8 chips into the pot.

    The number 4 Chief Liu folded. Number 5 also folded. Once it was Shao Qingge¡¯s turn, he suddenly smiled and pushed all 22 chips in his hand into the pot. ¡°All in!¡±

    Here it came again¡­

    The bigshots at the scene sighed at the same time.

    This man with a special temperament seemed to like going all in. Although he had won two out of three games, he lost all his money in thest game. He only had 22 out of the 50 chips he exchanged. Wasn¡¯t he afraid to lose again?

    The number 7 Chief Wang had faced Shao Qingge once before. That time, she was bluffed by Shao Qingge¡¯s all in and didn¡¯t dare to call. If she had called that round, her hand would actually be the biggest. Shao Qingge bluffed with a bad hand and she lost tens of millions. It was because she was too cautious that she missed the chance to win big.

    Chief Wang frowned slightly. After thinking a moment, she gritted her teeth and said, ¡°Call.¡±

    Her hand this time was very good. She started with an 8 and 9 and there were the 7 and 10munity cards to form a possible straight. As long as there was a J or a 6, she could make a straight. Since there was a J at the end, she had no reason to fold. In addition, Shao Qingge¡¯s all in was only 22 gold coins. She had enough chips in her hand. She didn¡¯t believe that Shao Qingge had a flush. After all, Shao Qingge had a ck history of bluffing!

    There was no need to mention the number 8 Uncle Chen. He just had to call and he would make the final round. He didn¡¯t even blink seeing everyone¡¯s actions. He counted out chips in front of him without blinking and threw them into the pot. ¡°Call!¡±

    The yers 3, 6, 7 and 8 were left on the field. Due to Shao Qingge¡¯s all in, the call amount reached 22. The others had to either fold or call the same amount of chips as him to show their cards. Both number 7 and 8 had called.

    It was number 3¡¯s turn to express his attitude and the team members looked at Yu Hanjiang nervously. They thought that Yu Hanjiang would fold but he calmly stated, ¡°Call.¡±

    His approach surprised Li Mo. Li Mo¡¯s impression of this man was that he is very stable, like a robot. He had never seen Yu Hanjiang raise and do the exciting all in. Yu Hanjiang seemed to only say the words ¡®call¡¯ and ¡®fold.¡¯

    Yet he actually called for 22 chips which was 22 million gold? Li Mo looked at Yu Hanjiang thoughtfully.

    No one continued to raise and the river was over. The Clubs teenager said, ¡°Please show your cards.¡±

    Everyone wanted to see Shao Qingge¡¯s cards first so they stared at him. Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°Or shall we look at your cards first? I am the dealer and I will show mine at the end.¡±

    Uncle Chen joked, ¡°Mr Shao won¡¯t be bluffing again in this game, right?¡±

    Shao Qingge coughed slightly. ¡°How can that be?¡±

    Uncle Chen urged him, ¡°Flip it over. We need to see your cards to be at ease.¡±

    Shao Qingge had no choice but to reveal his hand. There was a 2 of Diamonds and 4 of Diamonds.

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Was it bluffing again? The teammates watching in the lounge almost fell down collectively.

    Uncle Chenughed loudly. ¡°You really bluffed haha. I wasn¡¯t scared by your all in!¡±

    Shao Qingge helplessly held his forehead. ¡°I thought you would believe I have a flush.¡±

    Seeing that Shao Qingge was actually boldly bluffing, the number 7 Chief Wang was relieved. She proactively revealed her cards. ¡°My hand is a straight of 7, 8, 9, 10 and J.¡±

    Uncle Chen looked depressed. ¡°What a coincidence, I also have a straight of 7, 8, 9, 10 and J!¡±

    Both of them happened to have an 8 and 9. They formed a four with the 7 and 10munity cards on the table. They were waiting for a J to make a straight so even if Shao Qingge¡¯s all in raise of 22 million was very high, they didn¡¯t hesitate to call.

    The two of them were struggling. Who won when the cards were the same? In the end, the dealer said coldly, ¡°Number 3, please show your cards.¡±

    Everyone¡¯s eyes shifted to Yu Hanjiang. He kept calling and they also forgot that he also called to the end of this game. Yu Hanjiang revealed his hand.

    A of Spades and Q of Spades. His final hand was an A, Q, 10, 7 and 4 Spades flush!

    A flush was bigger than a straight. It didn¡¯t matter if their 7 and 8 card straights were the same. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s flush was bigger.

    The dealer dered, ¡°Number 3 wins.¡±

    The bald Uncle Chen looked at all ck cards in front of Yu Hanjiang and almost vomited blood. Yu Hanjiang calmly took the chips on the table in front of him.

    Uncle Chen stared at Yu Hanjiang with disbelief. ¡°This is unexpected! Mr Yu calmly called and didn¡¯t raise once¡­ you started with such a big flush, you even have the A of Spades. Yet you resisted not raising the bet?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied lightly, ¡°I like to know when to stop.¡±

    Shao Qingge had a bitter face. ¡°Oh, we¡¯ve lost again¡­ Master, please give me another 50 chips. Let¡¯s see how long I can persist.¡±

    The teammates in the lounge were all dumbfounded. Chief Shao¡­ lost again. They should feel ufortable. However, in this game, Group Leader Yu won over 200 chips and instantly became the second biggest winner after Li Mo?! So overall, this round could be considered a win?

    Ye Qi scratched his head in a confused manner. ¡°Chief Shao lost money to Group Leader Yu¡­ it is eptable?¡±

    Xiao Lou saw Yu Hanjiang¡¯s calm expression and smiled slightly. ¡°I see. Chief Shao went all in because he guessed that Group Leader Yu had the biggest hand and was helping him raise the chips.¡±

    The team members heard this and their minds suddenly became clear.

    Ye Qi was excited. ¡°Group Leader Yu ys very steadily. He rarely raises and usually folds or calls. Chief Shao always creates many waves and went all in several times. Just now, everyone¡¯s eyes were caught by him and they ignored the fact that Group Leader Yu called! In fact, Group Leader Yu is the biggest shark in this game!¡±

    The bald Uncle Chen asked, ¡°Mr Yu had such good cards. Why didn¡¯t he raise?¡±

    In fact, Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t need to raise. He had been ying very steadily. If he raised, then people might consider that he had a huge hand and yed calmly. Shao Qingge wasn¡¯t the same. He could create waves.

    No, Shao Qingge went all in again! On the surface, Shao Qingge yed crazily and seemed to be an all in professional. In this game, no one would associate him going all in with Yu Hanjiang. They just thought he had a big hand or was bluffing.

    In the end, he proved that he was bluffing. Everyone would just smile and say, ¡®Your strategy doesn¡¯t work.¡¯ They would gloat over Shao Qingge¡¯s all in and subsequent loss.

    No one knew that Shao Qingge was actually raising the bargaining chips.

    Yu Hanjiang was very calm and quietly reduced his sense of existence. He let everyone think he was waiting for a straight while Shao Qingge raised once and then went all in. He raised the call amount in two consecutive rounds and was actually acting as a raising tool for Yu Hanjiang. He lost all his money in exchange for his teammate¡¯s biggest win.

    This was the tacit understanding between Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge. Shao Qingge¡¯s continuous all ins attracted the eyes of the bigshots while Yu Hanjiang silently won. Someone pretended to be a shark and jumped around in front of everyone. However, they didn¡¯t know that the real shark was following behind silently.

    At this table, their biggest advantage was actually¡ªtheir teammate.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 303: Best Strategy

    These wealthy people often yed cards together and winning or losing wasn¡¯t important to them.

    They didn¡¯t know Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge and naturally focused on the two neers at the table. If Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge clearly cooperated then the six people would soon notice.

    It naturally wasn¡¯t good if the six people joined forces to beat the two of them. Therefore, the cooperation must be a secret and they couldn¡¯t be doubted.

    Yu Hanjiang would first fight steadily and establish a particrly calm image in everyone¡¯s hearts. Shao Qingge was the opposite. He went all in and his ups and downs were like a roller coaster. He also asionally bluffed. It was a typical ¡®unrestrained¡¯ y.

    On the surface, the two men hadpletely different styles. In this game, Shao Qingge¡¯s all in bluff failed and Yu Hanjiang won over 200 chips. Everyone naturally thought it was just a coincidence.

    Shao Qingge took the newly exchanged 50 chips from the dealer and sighed. ¡°I am the one who was rash. It seems that bluffing can¡¯t be used much. You are all on guard against me.¡± His eyes swept across the other table members and he didn¡¯t stop at Yu Hanjiang.

    It was just that the brief meeting of their eyes was enough for Yu Hanjiang to understand the meaning. This method couldn¡¯t be used anymore. All those sitting at the table had sharp eyes. Shao Qingge went all in and happened to send money to Yu Hanjiang. This would work once but not twice. The others weren¡¯t stupid.

    Fortunately, Yu Hanjiang now had nearly 400 chips and was the second biggest winner after Li Mo. Shao Qingge didn¡¯t have to worry about losing money at all. He could continue to create waves while Group Leader Yu stayed steady.

    The rhythm at the table was still fast.

    In terms of probability, the possibility of big cards like straights and flushes were very low. Many times, everyone had small hands such as one pair or three of a kind. When encountering this type of hand, the game could be over in a minute.

    Shao Qingge and Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t cooperate again. Yu Hanjiang was still very stable. He folded or called. He won very small victories and didn¡¯t have many losses. He always kept his chips around 400.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s luck seemed very bad. He folded more than 20 games in a row and finally got a good card. He directly went all in to fight once again. Unfortunately, the bald Uncle Chen¡¯s cards were bigger than his. Shao Qingge once again lost it all.

    Uncle Chen smiled and took away the chips on the table. ¡°Mr Shao, you are losing miserably today! However, I really appreciate your style of y. At least you look pretty handsome when you go all in.¡±

    Shao Qingge held his temples like he had a headache. ¡°Uncle Chen, don¡¯t joke like that. My luck is really bad. It seems that I can¡¯t make my money back today.¡± He looked helplessly at the dealer. ¡°Please give me 50.¡±

    The Clubs teenager handed him 50 chips nkly. It was 11:30 p.m. There were 30 minutes left until midnight and the end of the game. Shao Qingge nced at the table. Yu Hanjiang had 400 chips in his hand while Shao Qingge had 50.

    The teammates saw the situation and let go of their worries.

    Ye Qi quickly calcted it. ¡°Excluding the chips given by the keeper, Chief Shao has actually only lost 100 chips while Group Leader Yu still has 400. Time is almost up. If they keep folding, Group Leader Yu will win in the end!¡±

    Folding was naturally a strategy but if their hand was good then they could win a few more games.

    The clock in the room gradually approached midnight and the end of the game. For the next 20 consecutive games, Yu Hanjiang folded directly at the hole stage. If he drew small hands like a 3 or 7 then he didn¡¯t need to call to see the flop. Shao Qingge¡¯s hole cards also weren¡¯t good. After the flop, the hand wasn¡¯t formed well and he simply folded.

    The time soon reached 11:55. The dealer spoke lightly, ¡°In this game, it is number 3¡¯s turn to be the dealer.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was the dealer, number 4 was the small blind, number 5 was the big blind and the number 6 Shao Qingge was the first to speak. The blinds were ced and the dealer dealt two hole cards to each person.

    After receiving the hole cards, people would generally call 4 chips. People with slightly better hands would usually call to see the flop. They would look at the threemunity cards and then fold or raise.

    Shao Qingge nced at his hand and smiled slightly. ¡°Call.¡±

    Four golden round coins were put into the pot and Chief Wang after all also followed by calling. As a result, it was number 8¡¯s turn and Uncle Chen suddenly smiled. ¡°Raise to 10.¡±

    Everyone looked at him with surprise. He only received the two hole cards and raised. Did he get a super hole card like AA or AK? Li Mo nced at his hand, counted 10 chips and threw it in. The number 2 Chief Zhang calmly chose to call with 10 chips. Yu Hanjiang also called. Numbers 4 and 5 folded directly. Obviously, their hand was really bad.

    There were six yers left and the dealer turned over threemunity cards. J of Clubs, 10 of Clubs, K of Hearts.

    J of Clubs, 10 of Clubs, K of Hearts.

    Thesemunity cards meant there was likely to be a straight of 9, 10, J, Q, K or 10, J, Q, K, A. This was a ¡®doubled-headed¡¯munity card. If someone had two Clubs and another Clubs card was turned over, there might also be a flush.

    Shao Qingge was the first to speak. He smiled when he saw this and said, ¡°Call.¡±

    He had 26 chips in his hand. 4 were called after the whole cards and this round was 10. It meant only 12 were left.

    Uncle Chen jokingly wondered, ¡°Why don¡¯t you go all in?¡±

    ¡°I will take a look at the fourth card or else I might lose it all.¡±

    Chief Wang folded directly after seeing the threemunity cards. She had a pair of 7s in her hand and there was no need to call.

    Uncle Chen smiled and said, ¡°Call.¡±

    The number 1 Li Mo, number 2 Chief Zhang and number 3 Yu Hanjiang all chose to call. There were five people at the table and the dealer revealed the fourthmunity card, an 8 of Diamonds.

    The appearance of this card surprised everyone.

    Themunity cards were: 10 of Clubs, J of Clubs, K of Hearts, 8 of Diamonds.

    There were too many possibilities for the fourmunity cards to make a straight. If their hand was 7 and 9 then it became a straight of 7, 8, 9, 10, J. If their hand was a 9 and Q, it would be a straight of 9, 10, J, Q, K. If their hand was an A and Q then it was the biggest straight of 10, J, Q, K, A!

    The appearance of this 8 of Diamonds card greatly increased the probability of a straight.

    The double headedmunity card meant it was possible for both ends to have a straight. There was also the probability of forming a flush and a straight flush. Once multiple people called, it was destined to be an extremely fierce fight! At this time, if one¡¯s cards weren¡¯t good then they should fold as soon as possible to stop the loss in time.

    However, Shao Qingge pushed all the chips in his hand into the pot with a smile. ¡°All in!¡±

    The others took a breath. What was this all in? Wasn¡¯t this roller coaster ride already exciting enough?

    Uncle Chen raised his eyebrow. ¡°Are you bluffing and scaring people again? Or have you made a straight?¡±

    Shao Qingge chuckled. ¡°Guess?¡±

    He had a history of bluffing but also a history of getting the biggest hand. Everyone couldn¡¯t tell if he was bluffing or if he really had a straight. After all, the possibility of a straight in this situation was still very big.

    For Shao Qingge, going all in made it easy for him. It didn¡¯t matter to him how much other people raised. The all in person just had to wait until the end. This was equivalent to ¡®sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight.¡¯ In fact, the raise 10 was already 10 chips. He went all in but it was only 12 chips.

    Uncle Chen thought for a moment. ¡°Call.¡±

    Li Mo also smiled and threw 12 chips in. ¡°Call.¡±

    This short-haired female boss in position number 2 currently wasn¡¯t winning or losing. It was equivalent to acting as soy sauce all night.

    Her hole cards in this game were a pair of Ks and there was a K in themunity cards turned. This meant she currently had KKK, three of a kind. She spected that since Uncle Chen made a direct raise on the hole card, it was likely he had a rtivelyrge starting hand. Shao Qingge had bluffing experience and she couldn¡¯t believe him at all. Li Mo and Yu Hanjiang called, which meant they might have a mixed suit straight.

    Three of a kind was smaller than a straight. However, a four of a kind was bigger than a straight. What if there was another K at the end? Her four of a kind could be better than a normal straight. There were still 32 cards in the deck. The probability of waiting until the only remaining K came out was 1/32¡­ 3%, which was too low.

    The time was already 11:58 and this was likely to be thest game. Between a gamble and a fold, Chief Zhang boldly chose the former. ¡°Call.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°Call.¡±

    There were five yers left on the table. They were the number 1 Li Mo, the number 2 Chief Zhang, the number 3 Yu Hanjiang, the number 5 Shao Qingge who had gone all in and the number 8 Uncle Chen.

    Both the people at the table and the teammates watching in the lounge were clenching their fists nervously. There were such big cards and five people were calling. What types of hands would they have?

    The dealer turned over thest card calmly, the K of Clubs.

    River card: K of Clubs.

    Chief Zhang was so happy that she clenched her fists under the table! She had been waiting for this K. The pair of Ks in her hand and the one on the table meant that her hand was KKKK, a four of a kind!

    Four of a kind was bigger than a straight and a flush. Only the straight flush was bigger than her. Would there be a straight flush?

    She quickly calmed down and looked at the table.

    10 of Clubs, K of Hearts, J of Clubs, 8 of Diamonds, K of Clubs.

    A cold sweat broke out on Chief Zhang¡¯s back. There were three Clubs on the table, a 10, J and K. If someone happened to have a 9 and Q of Clubs or a Q and A of Clubs, they could make a straight flush.

    Could there be such a coincidence? She took a deep breath to calm her emotions and looked at the table as calmly as possible.

    The number 8 Uncle Chen touched his bald head and smiled bitterly. ¡°Fold.¡±

    The always stubborn Uncle Chen folded, which surprised everyone. He didn¡¯t call to the end. Obviously, he was aware that there would be very scary card hands at the table. He had a pair of Js in his hand, which was a rtivelyrge hand. This caused him to raise after the hole cards. Once the threemunity cards turned over, he could make up JJJ. He had been waiting for thest J to make four of a kind but unfortunately, it didn¡¯t appear.

    There was no need to call with three of a kind when it was smaller than a straight. He wasn¡¯t brainless to be a ¡®money-giving person¡¯ if he called. Therefore, Uncle Chen decisively folded.

    Li Mo calmly called with 12 chips.

    Chief Zhang¡¯s palms were cold and sweaty. Her four of a kind wasrger than a straight but she couldn¡¯t beat a straight flush. Should she keep going or fold to stop the loss?

    At this time, it was a psychological game. Based on her understanding of Li Mo, if he had a huge hand like a straight flush then he should raise instead of only calling. Since Li Mo was only calling, it was likely to be a mixed suits straight.

    Her four of a kind was greater than a mixed straight and there was no need to be afraid of Li Mo. Chief Zhang made a decision in her heart and pretended to be calm. ¡°Call.¡±

    At this time, the call amount was 12 million and the pile on the table was quite terrifying. It was Yu Hanjiang¡¯s turnst. If he also called 12 then everyone could show their cards. Chief Zhang stared at Yu Hanjiang. For this handsome and serious man, his eyes were always calm. He counted 20 chips with slender and powerful fingers and dered in a deep voice, ¡°Raise.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The person who only folded and called all the time suddenly raised? This practice caused the backs of those still ying at the poker table to be slightly cold. Yu Hanjiang was very stable, surprisingly stable. Even if he had a flush of spades at the start, he didn¡¯t raise. He just called until the end. Yet at this moment, he suddenly raised. Could it be¡­

    The scariest royal straight flush was in his hand?!

    Shao Qingge watched the show with folded arms and a smile on his face but the rest of the people had different thoughts.

    Li Mo looked thoughtfully at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Mr Yu, the amount of this raise is quite exquisite.¡±

    The call amount was 12 and Yu Hanjiang increased it by 20. This was a very delicate amount. If he added 100 directly then perhaps Li Mo and Chief Zhang would be forced to fold. However, the amount of 20 made people really unwilling to fold. Didn¡¯t it mean their previous call was for nothing? If they didn¡¯t fold, adding 20 was a bit painful.

    Li Mo simply counted 20 and threw it into the pot. Chief Zhang also bit the bullet and called. As long as it wasn¡¯t a straight flush, her four of a kind wasn¡¯t afraid of a straight.

    Unexpectedly, once it was Yu Hanjiang¡¯s turn again, he counted another 30 chips. ¡°Raise.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Was it endless?

    Xiao Lou who was watching from the lounge couldn¡¯t help chuckling. ¡°Group Leader Yu is using the psychological tactics of interrogating prisoners.¡±

    It was just like sitting in front of a suspect, peeling off theyers and exerting psychological pressure step by step until the opponent¡¯s psychological line of defense was broken. It slowly disintegrated and then finally copsedpletely.

    A call of 12 chips? There was no need to think about it. Add 20? They might be unhappy but they were reluctant to bear losing their previous chips. They continued to follow. Now he was raising it by 30? Yu Hanjiang increased the chips step by step to test the psychological endurance of the remaining opponents at the table.

    Li Mo had many chips in his hand. He wasn¡¯tcking these 30 chips and he followed very easily. He wanted to see what tricks Yu Hanjiang would y.

    Chief Zhang had a headache. Her four of a kind was indeed really afraid of a straight flush. What if Yu Hanjiang had exactly two Clubs in his hand and made a straight flush with themunity cards? This probability was very low but that didn¡¯t mean it didn¡¯t exist.

    Wasn¡¯t it possible with a probability of 3%? If she continued to call, what would she do if Yu Hanjiang raised it again?

    Today¡¯s game was a no limits mode. As long as someone raised on thest river, the others either had to fold or call with the same chips to be able to show their cards. If the one raising it was Shao Qingge, she would suspect that Shao Qingge was bluffing and continue to call. However, Yu Hanjiang never bluffed today. This man would only call to the end if he got a particrly good hand.

    Now Yu Hanjiang kept raising the chips¡­ he must have a straight flush!

    Chief Zhang gritted her teeth. ¡°Fold!¡±

    She finally failed to pass the psychological test. Although the betting amount was alreadyrge, if she continued to call then it was inevitable that Yu Hanjiang would increase the chips and she might lose more. She wasn¡¯t willing but there was no other way.

    She had a four of a kind. It wasrger than a mixed suits straight but she couldn¡¯t beat a straight flush. She had to think of the possibility of someone getting a straight flush. She lost her bets and regretted it a bit, but it was okay. It was wiser to stop the loss in time.

    Yu Hanjiang forced number 2 away with momentum. There were three people left at the table: Yu Hanjiang, Shao Qingge and Li Mo. Since Shao Qingge had gone all in early, in fact, now only Yu Hanjiang and Li Mo were having a one on one PK.

    Li Mo smiled and asked, ¡°Mr Yu, are you still raising?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was very straightforward and directly threw 50 chips in. ¡°Raise 50.¡±

    Li Mo shrugged. ¡°Call.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°Raise 60.¡±

    ¡°Call.¡±

    The two menpeted and the scene was extremely quiet. In this situation, whoever couldn¡¯t bear the psychological pressure and folded first was the loser.

    Yu Hanjiang stared at Li Mo with a calm and sharp gaze. ¡°Chief Li has been following to the end. Aren¡¯t you afraid of losing too much?¡±

    Li Mo wondered, ¡°Does Mr Yu also have a straight flush?¡±

    He used the word ¡®also¡¯ very cleverly. Obviously he himself had a straight flush. Of course, deciding if the opponent¡¯s words were true or not was also a psychological game. A smile appeared on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face as he didn¡¯t directly answer.

    He had looked calm and serious all night. This was his first smile. The man who had always been serious was extremely handsome with a smile, his deep eyes as bright as the stars. He lightly said, ¡°Raise 100.¡±

    The pile of chips were pushed into the pot by him and there was a clear and pleasant sound.

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang answered Li Mo¡¯s question with practical actions. Would Li Mo call?

    Uncle Chenughed. ¡°Fortunately, I folded early.¡±

    Chief Zhang didn¡¯t say anything but she also agreed in her heart¡­ the duel between the two men was a bit scary. It was now raised to 100 chips. These chips were worth millions so it was a really shocking number!

    Yu Hanjiang had been stable from start to finish. If he kept raising in this game perhaps he had a straight flush. If Li Mo called, he was likely to lose more. If he didn¡¯t call, it meant he had lost this battle between two tigers. For the wealthy, sometimes face was more important than money.

    Yu Hanjiang was pressuring him and Li Mo couldn¡¯t justify folding at this time. He frowned slightly and said, ¡°Call.¡±

    He pushed the chips forward and raised his eyes to look at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Mr Yu, are you still increasing it? Why don¡¯t you just go all in?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°I won¡¯t raise anymore. Let¡¯s show our cards.¡±

    He didn¡¯t increase the raise amount and ended the river card round with 100 chips. The Clubs teenager said, ¡°Please show your cards.¡±

    Themunity cards: 10 of Clubs, K of Hearts, J of Clubs, 8 of Diamonds, K of Clubs.

    Li Mo simply revealed his hand. It was an A of Spades and Q of Spades to make a 10, J, Q, K, A straight.

    Yu Hanjiang said calmly, ¡°Although Chief Li¡¯s cards are all ck, it is a pity that Spades and Clubs can¡¯t make a flush.¡±

    He showed his hand, an 8 of Clubs and 9 of Clubs.

    He started calling because he had been waiting for a Q to make a straight or a Clubs to make a flush. The river card was a K of Clubs, giving him a flush of Clubs. Therefore, he kept raising at the river.

    The moment Chief Zhang saw this, she wanted to hit the wall with regret. These two fought so fiercely but they didn¡¯t have a straight flush! Li Mo was a mixed suits straight and Yu Hanjiang was a flush, both of which were smaller than four of a kind. If she had known this, she would¡¯ve called to the end. Her four of a kind could¡¯ve beat these two people. She actually abandoned the KKKK because she was deceived by Yu Hanjiang and Li Mo¡¯s auras!

    The two men PKed and no one lost when it came to aura. However, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hand was better. Li Mo smiled helplessly. ¡°Mr Yu won.¡±

    Then Shao Qingge¡¯s yful voice entered his ears. ¡°Chief Li, don¡¯t forget about me. I might¡¯ve just been watching but I went all in. I can also participate in the final match.¡±

    An all in yer didn¡¯t need to raise because they had no more chips to raise the amount. It was precisely because of this that they could wait for other people to fight and directly show their cards with everyone forparison.

    Facing Shao Qingge¡¯s smile, Li Mo¡¯s back stiffened slightly. This feeling was very bad, as if he had fallen into a trap.

    Shao Qingge slowly turned over his cards. It was a Q of Clubs and an A of Clubs. Combined with themunity cards on the table, his final hand was: 10 of Clubs, J of Clubs, Q of Clubs, K of Clubs and A of Clubs. It was the biggest of all hands, a royal straight flush!

    There were gasps!

    Uncle Chen¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°You already got the best hand. Why didn¡¯t you add¡­ no, you went all in.¡±

    Shao Qinggeughed. ¡°Yes, I already used all in to say I have the biggest hand but you all ignored me.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Wasn¡¯t it because he had too much ck history regarding the all ins? In fact, as early as the turn card, Shao Qingge calcted it based on probability and figured out that he had won the game. Thus, he easily went all in.

    Thest round of the river card fight was too fierce. Shao Qingge never spoke. Everyone watched the PK between Yu Hanjiang and Li Mo and ignored Shao Qingge, who had long been waiting for the result of the all in.

    Yu Hanjiang released a lot of pressure, putting on the posture of ¡®my hand is big, don¡¯t call¡¯. He forced away the number 2 Chief Wang with the possibility of a straight flush. However, Li Mo seemed to guess that his opponent was ying psychological warfare and followed to the end¡­ in fact Yu Hanjiang also guessed that Li Mo would follow to the end. For the wealthy Li Mo, losing money in this game wasn¡¯t important. It was more shameful to lose face.

    Yu Hanjiang knew that Shao Qingge must have a straight flush in his hand and Li Mo couldn¡¯t make another straight flush when Yu Hanjiang held the 8 of Clubs. Li Mo must have a normal straight or a smaller flush.

    Therefore, he raised again and again, forcing Li Mo to follow him for three rounds. The chips were raised to 100 before he stopped. If Yu Hanjiang also went all in then Li Mo would definitely fold. Li Mo was a big fish so he had to put a long line out to fish slowly.

    The dealer spoke indifferently, ¡°Shao Qingge has the biggest hand. However, since he didn¡¯t call on the river card, he won the lower pot. Yu Hanjiang won against Li Mo and has received the remaining main pot.¡±

    The algorithm of the main pot and the side pot was based on the all in as the dividing line. Shao Qingge got all the previous betting amount from before he went all in. Then the bets after that belonged to Yu Hanjiang. The teammates couldn¡¯t figure it out but it seemed they both won. After all, the money was going to the same ount!

    However, the local people at the scene didn¡¯t know this. Their expressions wereplicated as they saw Shao Qingge and Yu Hanjiang start to split up the chips on the table. Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge actually divided up such a big cake. They felt really reluctant!

    Li Mo¡¯s eyes swept over the two men¡¯s faces and looked suspicious.

    Yu Hanjiang had a calm expression on his face as he nodded at Shao Qingge and praised, ¡°Mr Shao yed well this time with the all in.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled while counting his chips. ¡°It is just luck, luck. Mr Yu, your luck was also very good in this game.¡±

    The team members, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Poor Li Mo, was he taken as a fool with more money than sense by these two men?

    Li Mo only cared about the psychological warfare with Yu Hanjiang and ignored Shao Qingge, who had been watching the show.

    Shao Qingge used the ¡®achieve much with little effort¡¯ strategy in this game. He yed all in with 12 chips and on over 150 chips from the side pot! Meanwhile, Yu Hanjiang used psychological warfare to drive away the cautious Chief Zhang, fished up Li Mo and won nearly 200 chips from the main pot.

    The teammates didn¡¯t see how the two people divided up the chips in the end. They only knew¡­ they got a lot of money.

    The hour hand pointed to 12 o¡¯clock and the game was over. Shao Qingge took the initiative to stand up and stretched out his hand with a smile. ¡°It is nice to meet all of you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also stood up and spoke calmly. ¡°I hope I will have the opportunity to y cards with everyone in the future.¡±

    The subtext was: Thank you for your sending me money. In the next level, we no longer need to worry about running out of money!

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 304: New Challenge

    After finishing the poker game, Shao Qingge and Yu Hanjiang shook hands with the bigshots at the table and said goodbye.

    Li Mo took the initiative to say, ¡°I¡¯m tired after ying for four hours. Why don¡¯t I invite you all to have ate night meal?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Thank you, Chief Li.¡±

    As people who ¡®came to learn poker¡¯, Xiao Lou and the others didn¡¯t follow. Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge attended thete night meal together.

    At the meal, Shao Qingge chatted with Li Mo, Uncle Chen and the others about business matters. He was an investor himself. Aftering to this world, he had been paying attention to the stock market and they had manymon topics to talk about. He also specifically mentioned that he was a ¡®foreigner¡¯ and he hoped they would all take care of him.

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t speak much. He sat there and listened carefully.

    In the middle of the meal, Li Mo suddenly answered the phone. The moment he saw the caller ID, his eyes became extremely gentle and he deliberately lowered his voice as he answered the phone. ¡°I¡¯m entertaining outside and I¡¯lle home soon. Go to sleep first and don¡¯t wait for me.¡±

    Uncle Chenughed beside him. ¡°Chief Li, is it your wife checking on you again?¡±

    Li Mo was helpless. ¡°If I don¡¯t go home by midnight then Xiaomeng always calls to check. She is afraid I will have an ident.¡±

    Uncle Chen sighed. ¡°This husband and wife love is really enviable.¡±

    Li Mo¡¯s wife was Shu Xiaomeng, the girl who was hospitalized in the 4 of Hearts case. She didn¡¯t participate in the train trip but she had five best friends named ¡®X Xiao X.¡¯

    It seemed that Li Mo¡¯s experience was all true. After that case, he married Shu Xiaomeng. It was many years in the past when Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou entered 4 of Hearts. In that secret room, Li Mo was still a young man in his 20s.

    All the secret rooms in the Card World might be memories of the past. In this world, time can be freely controlled by the keepers and this further confirmed Xiao Lou¡¯s original spection. If everyone returned to reality, it was very likely that they would go back to the past to avoid idents and get a new opportunity to start life over.

    Due to Li Mo¡¯s wife, the meal ended on time at 12:30 that night. After leaving the restaurant, Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge took a taxi back to the vi. Xiao Lou and their teammates had been waiting for them there.

    Seeing the two people return, Xiao Lou took the initiative to bring a ss of warm water to Yu Hanjiang. He asked, ¡°Have you heard anything?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took a sip from the ss of water and spoke in a low voice. ¡°The Hunter¡¯s League is huge and there will definitely be strong financial support behind it, otherwise there wouldn¡¯t be so many bounties. Chief Shao just chatted with them for a while and even deliberately mentioned that he is a foreigner. I observed from the side and found nothing wrong with their expressions.¡±

    The two of them went to the meal to test if these wealthy people were rted to the Hunter¡¯s League.

    The number of foreigners (challengers) in the City of the Moon was extremelyrge. Most of the residents could live with them peacefully. Only the Hunter¡¯s League was full of hostility to foreigners and even killed them quickly. Every time they killed a foreigner, they could get a high bounty. There was definitely a wealthy benefactor behind such an organization.

    Shao Qingge sprawled out on the sofa, settling in afortable posture as he smiled. ¡°These people in the business are quite good at pretending, but I have an intuition that among the six people today, there must be some of the top level people of the Hunter¡¯s League.¡±

    Those who came to participate in the card game today were among the top 10 richest people in this world. It was very possible that some of these people secretly provided financial support to the Hunter¡¯s League.

    Ye Qi scratched his head and guessed. ¡°Will it be Li Mo?¡±

    Shao Qingge said, ¡°On the surface, he has deep affection for his wife and doesn¡¯t seem like such a cold-blooded person.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke indifferently, ¡°Don¡¯t forget, he quietly borrowed a knife to kill his own father.¡±

    Their teammates were silent for a while. Then Xiao Lou spoke. ¡°We can¡¯t determine if it is Li Mo or not at the moment. That bald Uncle Chen also has a strong sense of the world and perhaps it is him. Let¡¯s stop worrying about this problem and think about something happy. How much money did we win today?¡±

    Hearing Xiao Lou¡¯s words, their teammates consciously gathered around Chief Shao. Shao Qingge took out his identity card and summoned the ATM machine to show everyone the bnce of the ount. Their eyes were about to fall out when they saw the string of zeroes behind the number.

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes were wide as he counted carefully. ¡°Is this two billion?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°Yes, I won a lot with Group Leader Yu today. Along with the previous savings, our gold coins have exceeded the two billion mark. Now Xiao Ye won¡¯t dislike me for spending money on skills, right?¡±

    Ye Qi eximed, ¡°There is so much money that you could use your skill tens of thousands of times!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was solemn. ¡°Transfer two million to Xiao Lou. This is enough for our daily life. The most expensive thing in the Card World is skills. Chief Shao¡¯s Rich and Willful card costs 5 million gold coins to copy a card and it should be used wisely.¡±

    Shao Qingge took the Rich and Willful card out of his card pack and said, ¡°This card might be very strong but it also has restrictions. It can only be used in the secret room and it can only copy cards seen within thest half an hour. This ¡®seen¡¯ isn¡¯t just taking out the card and looking at it. It is to release the skills in front of it. Every time, the secret room can copy up to two cards and each card can only be copied once.¡±

    For example, the Li Qingzhao card had been copied and couldn¡¯t be copied again. Otherwise, they could directly take out 8 Li Qingzhao cards and use Stray Into the Depths of the Lotus Flowers to set eight teleport markers in the maze. This was simply a bug.

    Only cards seen in thest 30 minutes could be copied and this also limited Rich and Willful. It had to be used after seeing the cards used by teammates or opponents. There was no way to copy a card if it was banned in that secret room.

    Shao Qingge stated, ¡°At present, the cards copied include Li Qingzhao, Qin Guan, Ye Qi¡¯s teleportation card and Xiao Liu¡¯s light footwork card. In the next secret room, should I spend another 10 million gold coins to make two copies?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it for a while. ¡°In the next secret room, how about copying the Bug King card first?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°The Bug King card can treat wounds and even regenerate severed limbs. However, the number of bugs will be consumed during treatment. Once the Bug King card is used for treatment, the attack power will decrease. Copying one will be safer.¡±

    Shao Qingge simply nodded and agreed. ¡°What about the other card? Do you want to copy a control card?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Ye Qi. ¡°Xiao Ye, what is the cooldown time for your flute?¡±

    ¡°For the full level flute, the cooldown time is 7 seconds and the control time is 3 seconds.¡±

    There was a 4 second gap in the middle and the uncertainty of Long Sen¡¯s badminton control was too high. Yu Hanjiang spoke decisively, ¡°Copy the single control Flute card. The two flutes can take turns to smoothly connect the control skill in critical moments.¡±

    Now Chief Shao¡¯s total amount of gold was scary. His teammates had no objection to him using the Rich and Willful card to copy other cards. If it wasn¡¯t for the skill restrictions, they even wanted him to copy everyone¡¯s cards.

    After discussing the next n, Xiao Lou said, ¡°It is alreadyte today. We should go to sleep and rest well. Once we get up tomorrow morning we will discuss what level to go to next.¡±

    The team members were really tired after clearing the levels continuously. They went back to their rooms and fell asleep.

    The next morning, everyone woke up in high spirits. After eating the breakfast prepared by Xiao Lou in the dining room, they went to the rooftop of the building and summoned the team¡¯s Card Wall.

    Yu Hanjiang raised his head and stared at the four cards on the tenth level of the Card Wall. ¡°What is the next level?¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Shall we go in order of Hearts first?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t hesitate to pull out the 10 of Hearts directly.

    To everyone¡¯s surprise, they weren¡¯t sent to the Hearts secret room this time. Instead, they came to the personal space as a group. There were four sofas in the space and sitting on them were A of Hearts, A of Diamonds, A of Spades and A of Clubs.

    The Hearts sister gently brushed her curly hair behind her ears and smiled. ¡°Congrattions everyone on triggering the hidden secret room. Since all your previous A-level secret rooms have been evaluated as a perfect clearance, the A-level secret rooms in the 10th level will be arge-scale integrated linked room.¡±

    The A of Diamonds loli continued. ¡°This room willbine the reasoning of Hearts, the maze of Diamonds, the survival of Spades and the challenge of Clubs. Once you smoothly clear the instance, the four of us will provide you with one S-grade card each.¡±

    The eyes of the team members lit up after hearing the reward.

    In the past, the Hearts, Diamonds and Spades secret room rewarded them with up to six cards while the Clubs room only gave coins. Moreover, after clearing four secret rooms in a row, everyone would be exhausted physically and mentally.

    The biggest advantage of merging it into aprehensive secret room was that the background of the secret room remained unchanged. The disadvantage was naturally the increase in difficulty. A secret room thatbined reasoning, a maze, survival and challenge tasks was definitely not easy to clear.

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Is it necessary to go to the hidden room?¡±

    A of Spades replied coolly while wearing sunsses, ¡°You can choose not to go. If you continue to do the same as before and go to 10 of Hearts, 10 of Diamonds, 10 of Spades and 10 of Clubs individually, the final reward isn¡¯t as much as going to the hidden room. Once the hidden room is cleared, I will also reward you with a team shared Secret Room Resurrection Card.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart jumped. ¡°Resurrection card? Resurrection from death?¡±

    The Clubs teenager exined in an expressionless manner. ¡°After a death in an ordinary secret room, anyone who is eliminated will go to the Nightmare secret room. No matter who it is, the person can immediately return to their teammates with the resurrection card. This opportunity can only be used once.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other.

    Shao Qingge had the Bug King card in his hand and could heal any serious injury. Liu Qiao had the Witch Card and could save someone with the bottle of antidote. However, what if a teammate encountered fatal danger and died in the secret room when Shao Qingge and Liu Qiao weren¡¯t around? Then they were destined to be eliminated and go to the Nightmare room. It was very difficult to survive the Nightmare room.

    At this time, the resurrection card shared by the team would be a lifesaver. Every person would get an S-grade card and there was a team resurrection card. This was a big temptation and it was difficult to refuse.

    Yu Hanjiang simply dered, ¡°Let¡¯s go to the hidden secret room.¡±

    The Hearts sister smiled. ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes were firm. ¡°Yes.¡±

    The next moment, the four keepers reached out at the same time. The 10 of Hearts, 10 of Diamonds, 10 of Spades and 10 of Clubs cards flew out of their hands and floated in front of the group. They quickly merged and formed aprehensive card with four colors.

    In the center of the card was a huge ck and red vortex. The vortex formed a strange air current. Everyone was sucked inside in an instant and the view in their eyes darkened.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was beating very fast. He didn¡¯t know how difficult the four colored secret room would be. There would be murderers all around them, mazes, threats to their survival and other challengers. What type of world was soplicated?

    He opened his eyes and found himself wearing a white coat and sitting in a doctor¡¯s duty room.

    Before he could react, the phone on his desk rang abruptly. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t hesitate to answer the phone and a young nurse¡¯s anxious voice entered his ears, speaking quickly. ¡°Dr Xiao, a patient was sent to the emergency department. He was shot in the abdomen and must be operated on immediately! You should go to the emergency operation room on the first floor. Professor Zhu is waiting for you there and is asking for you to help him!¡±

    This was probably a plot task? Xiao Lou had no doubts and immediately took the elevator to the operating room on the first floor.

    At the same time, there was the Clubs teenager¡¯s emotionless voice ringing out in his mind. ¡°You are the chief resident of the general surgery department. It is your turn to be on the night shift tonight. There is an emergency in the emergency department. Side task: rescue the wounded. If the task is sessful and the wounded is hospitalized then you will be given the authority to ess the hospital¡¯s case database. You will soon know the result of the task failure.¡±

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and walked quickly to the door of the operating room.

    A middle-aged doctor in a white coat was waiting for him. The sign on his chest read ¡®Professor Zhu Wen¡¯. He was the professor mentioned by the nurse. The other person saw him and said, ¡°Dr Xiao, I called you here to help temporarily with an emergency. I don¡¯t have enough manpower here.¡± He lowered his voice and whispered in Xiao Lou¡¯s ear. ¡°A policeman was shot and already has symptoms of shock. We must try our best to rescue him!¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded solemnly and quickly followed Professor Zhu. The two people entered the operating area, washed their hands, disinfected and changed clothes.

    After all, Xiao Lou was a medical student and he hadn¡¯t forgotten these basic procedures. He entered the operating room and was about to look at the patient¡¯s condition only to see a very familiar face on the operating table.

    The man¡¯s nose was high, he had a strong figure and a very handsome appearance. Yet at this moment, his eyes were closed, his lips were pale and bloodless and he had a needle in his strong arm as he received an infusion. The monitor next to him showed that his blood pressure, heart rate and breathing were all unstable.

    The moment Xiao Lou came in, the monitor started to ring the rm.

    <em>Di¡ªdi¡ª</em>

    The shrill rm made Xiao Lou¡¯s breathing stop. It was Yu Hanjiang and he was having a cardiac arrest!

    At this moment, he felt cold all over. The cold air from the air conditioner in the operating room poured down from his neck and reached the soles of his feet, making him almost motionless.

    ¡°You will soon know the result of the task failure.¡± The reminder from the Clubs teenager just now echoed in his mind and Xiao Lou finally reacted. It was serious. If he failed then Yu Hanjiang was likely to die directly on the operating table!

    Xiao Lou clenched his fists hard and forced himself to remain calm. ¡°Hurry, give him CPR!¡±

    The nurse next to him immediately moved away. Xiao Lou rushed over to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hospital bed and stood firmly. His left and right hands ovepped with each other, aiming at Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart as he pressed down forcefully.

    CPR¡ªcardiopulmonary resuscitation. It was the basic thing that all medical students had to master. During the time when Xiao Lou was at school, he had scored full marks every time on the clinical tests of the emergency department. His movements were extremely standard.

    He looked at Yu Hanjiang who was pale and unconscious on the operating table and it felt like his heart was being strangled by a rope, making him unable to breathe. However, he knew very well that if something went wrong in the first aid phase, forget the team failing to clear the level. He could lose Yu Hanjiangpletely.

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t imagine such an oue. It was simply uneptable to let Yu Hanjiang die in the operating room of the hospital. Xiao Lou quickly controlled his emotions with great self-control and shouted at the nurse next to him. ¡°Defibritor, 200 joules!¡±

    The nurse immediately handed him the adjusted defibritor. Xiao Lou aimed at Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart. The electrode pads of the defibritor pressed against Yu Hanjiang¡¯s strong chest and almost caused Yu Hanjiang¡¯s entire body to bounce up.

    After the defibrition, Xiao Lou continued the chestpressions ording to the standard first aid techniques. A frequency of 100 to 120 times a minute was almost two times a second. The extremely fast-pacedpressions made the rescuer¡¯s physical exhaustion very serious but Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t care about this.

    His arms tensed and his ovepping hands continuously pressed against Yu Hanjiang¡¯s chest. After pressing for five seconds, Xiao Lou took a deep breath and leaned over to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s lips to give him artificial respiration.

    He might secretly adore this man in his heart but Xiao Lou had no time to think at the moment. He was currently a doctor and Yu Hanjiang was hovering on the edge of life and death. Xiao Lou¡¯s actions had to meet absolute standards.

    He wouldn¡¯t allow himself to be distracted at this time!

    Xiao Lou¡¯s left hand gently pressed against Yu Hanjiang¡¯s forehead while his right hand slightly raised the man¡¯s chin. Then he pinched his nose and joined their lips together so there were no gaps. The air in his mouth was evenly blown into Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mouth and he observed if there were any movement from the chest.

    After the artificial respiration, he continued to do chestpressions and another round of artificial respiration¡­

    Xiao Lou¡¯s rhythm was very good.

    Professor Zhu stood by. He had wanted to help but then he saw Dr Xiao walking briskly to rescue the patient. His reaction was very fast and standard. Professor Zhu eventually just stepped back and observed.

    The steps for a cardiac arrest had long been deeply imprinted in Xiao Lou¡¯s memory. His mind was nk and his movements gradually became mechanical. At this time, he only had one thought in his mind.

    Yu Hanjiang had to be rescued. He would drag this man back even if Yu Hanjiang was knocking on death¡¯s door.

    TL: Author¡¯s exnation about why Xiao Lou used mouth to mouth respiration during CPR in the hospital is in the .

    PR: Yeah, I was like, ¡°where¡¯s your artificial breathing equipment, you¡¯re in a hospital¡­ but also¡­ they kissed >< (while one was unconscious and the other trying to bring them from the edge of death, but still, progress!)¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 305: Line Between Life and Death

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t dare stop for a moment.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart hadn¡¯t recovered yet. If Xiao Lou failed to rescue him, Yu Hanjiang would die directly in front of him. This was the first challenge mission released by A of Clubs and Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t bear the result of failure!

    The golden time for patients with cardiac arrest was ¡®4 minutes¡¯. If the heartbeat wasn¡¯t restored within this time then the patient was likely to suffer irreversible damage. The moment Xiao Lou walked into the operating room, he saw Yu Hanjiang¡¯s cardiac arrest begin. It was still in the golden time and he had to grasp every second.

    After a round of CPR, he saw that Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heartbeat hadn¡¯t shown signs of recovery and immediately turned to shout at the nurse. ¡°0.5mg epinephrine intravenous injection, quickly!¡±

    The ambnce was close to this room and epinephrine was amon rescue medicine. Every ambnce would prepare it. Hearing Xiao Lou¡¯s words, the nurse quickly opened the package of a brand new syringe, took out the syringe, and diluted the epinephrine with normal saline. Then the nurse injected it decisively along the infusion channel in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s arm.

    After epinephrine was injected into the vein, it could quickly reach the heart through the blood cirction, excite the heart receptors and increase the cardiac output. Xiao Lou might not be a professional emergency doctor but he repeatedly memorized this first aid knowledge during the exam. He wouldn¡¯t remember incorrectly.

    After the epinephrine injection, he continued to do CPR while observing the data on the ECG monitor. In this life or death moment, Xiao Lou didn¡¯t dare rx for even a second. He didn¡¯t feel tired at all. The only thing left in his mind was the idea of ¡®save Yu Hanjiang.¡¯

    Time became extraordinarily long and every second was a type of torture.

    ¡­¡­

    He didn¡¯t know how long it took but the heart rate curve on the ECG monitor suddenly jumped. Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up and he continued to press against Yu Hanjiang¡¯s solid chest. As he moved, the heart rate curve changed from a typical ventricr fibrition waveform to a normal waveform.

    One after another, the green ECG waveforms slid across the monitor like running water. The blood pressure data gradually stabilized from the warning threshold just now.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes were hot as he withdrew his sore hands. Yu Hanjiang was alive! He had saved the dying man! At this moment, he even had the impulse to shed tears.

    Professor Zhu¡¯s surprised voice sounded in his ears. ¡°The heartbeat is recovered and he is ready for emergency surgery. Dr Xiao, help me.¡±

    Xiao Lou stepped aside and closed his eyes. He forced back the emotions in his eyes and calmed himself down. By the time he opened his eyes, he had regained his calm expression. He didn¡¯t dare look at Yu Hanjiang¡¯s pale face. He moved to Professor Zhu¡¯s side and put on sterile gloves.

    The two nurses quickly covered Yu Hanjiang¡¯s body with a green cloth, exposing only the wound on his abdomen. The anesthesiologist stepped forward to assess the patient¡¯s vital signs followed by the administration of a general anesthesia.

    Everyone in the operating room was busy. The equipment nurse pushed the cart and the clean sterile cloth was covered with silver surgical instruments. Xiao Lou stood next to the operating table and carefully observed the exposed wound on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s right lower abdomen.

    The wound was bloody and looked shocking. A bullet had hit this spot.

    The bleeding was most serious. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s shirt was stained red with blood and was stuck to his body. It couldn¡¯t be removed and had been cut open by scissors long ago. The moment Yu Hanjiang entered the operating room, he had been given a blood transfusion by the nurse. The cardiac arrest just now was probably caused by hypovolemic shock.

    The blood in the bag had almost finished and the nurse changed it with a new bag. Xiao Lou nervously asked, ¡°Is there enough blood prepared?¡±

    The nurse replied, ¡°It is enough. This police officer has B type blood and I¡¯ve brought enough B type blood from the blood bank.¡±

    Professor Zhu put on gloves and looked at the anesthesiologist. ¡°How is the situation?¡±

    The anesthesiologist answered, ¡°He is stable. Take out the bullet as soon as possible.¡±

    The bullet hit the right lower abdomen. Once the abdomen cavity was broken, intestinal perforation would cause abdominal infection and the condition would be difficult to deal with. Now that the heartbeat was restored and the blood transfusion was continuing, the top priority was to take out the bullet, explore possible bleeding points in the abdomen and quickly stop the bleeding to prevent infection.

    Professor Zhu¡¯s voice was heard. ¡°Doctor Xiao, get ready to disinfect.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. He took the iodine and cotton swab to disinfect the wound. After disinfection, Professor Zhu picked up a scalpel and cut open the right lower abdomen. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t bear to look at this bloody image but he had to keep his focus.

    Professor Zhu soon found the bullet, pulled it out with a tweezer and ced it in a sterile dish. Immediately afterward, he looked for bleeding points in the abdominal cavity and quickly ligated a bleeding blood vessel.

    The middle-aged doctor performed the operation proficiently while saying, ¡°The bullet stuck in a bend of the intestinal tract and didn¡¯t cause intestinal perforation. It is really fortunate. The risk ofrge-scale infection isn¡¯t high. If we closely observe after an operation then it shouldn¡¯t be a big problem.¡±

    Hearing this, Xiao Lou sighed with relief. Professor Zhu was a professional emergency doctor and Xiao Lou believed in his expert judgment.

    The subsequent operation went smoothly. There were no important internal organs at the location where Yu Hanjiang was shot and the bullet didn¡¯t cause perforation of the intestines. The broken blood vessels were found and the operationpleted after hemostasis.

    Once Professor Zhu finished the operation, he threw the patient to Xiao Lou. ¡°I have to prepare for the next operation. Dr Xiao, can I trouble you to stitch up?¡±

    He took off his surgical gown and turned away. Surgical sutures were usually done by trainees and residents. It was verymon for the surgeon to leave after surgery. Xiao Lou had to bite the bullet and stitch it upyer byyer.

    On thestyer of skin, Xiao Lou used the ¡®interrupted suture method¡¯ that wasmonly used in surgery. This method was suitable for incisions that might be infected. Each stitch was tied separately and it was more convenient to remove the stitches.

    After the stitching was done, the instrument nurse next to him spoke with a smile, ¡°Dr Xiao, your stitches were very beautiful. Every stitch is neat like it is done with a stapler.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    After all, he was a forensic doctor. He often sewed up the corpses after autopsy and his technique was natural and skilled. However, it was hard to tell the nurse ¡®I¡¯ve sewn a lot of bodies.¡¯ Asking a forensic doctor to rescue a patient and sew up the wound for Yu Hanjiang¡­ the secret room this time was so thrilling. He didn¡¯t know what would happen next.

    Xiao Lou smiled politely at the nurse and asked the anesthesiologist, ¡°Is the patient okay?¡±

    The anesthesiologist said, ¡°His vital signs are still stable. He should be able to wake up tomorrow.¡±

    Then the head nurse with two bars on her hat came in and asked the anesthesiologist to sign the book. She said, ¡°Once the operation is over, send the patient to the ward. The operating room must be vacated as soon as possible. There are more patients waiting.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Head nurse, which ward is the patient going to?¡±

    The head nurse said, ¡°This is a police officer with a special status. He suffered a work-rted injury while performing his duties. The dean specifically told me to send him to the VIP ward of general surgery. His condition needs to be kept confidential. Dr Xiao, please take care of him.¡±

    General surgery¡ªthis happened to be the ward where Xiao Lou was currently located.

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll take him back.¡±

    It would be great to send Yu Hanjiang to the VIP ward under his eyes. Xiao Lou could follow Yu Hanjiang¡¯s situation at any time. After changing out of the surgical gown, he and the anesthesiologist sent Yu Hanjiang to the VIP ward of the general surgery department on the 7th floor of the inpatient department.

    The nurse on duty in the ward immediately came over for an infusion, giving Yu Hanjiang an anti-infection medicine prescribed by Professor Zhu.

    Xiao Lou observed Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ECG monitor. His heart rate, blood pressure and breathing were normal but the effect of the anesthesia hadn¡¯t passed and he hadn¡¯t woken up yet. The night after surgery was critical. If there was a sudden infection during the night then measures had to be taken immediately. Therefore, Xiao Lou decided to guard Yu Hanjiang tonight.

    It was 3 a.m. and most of the hospital wards had turned off their lights. Xiao Lou sat next to Yu Hanjiang, gently held Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hand and let out a long breath. There was no danger. This was definitely the most stressful night he had ever experienced since he studied medicine.

    Seeing Yu Hanjiang unconscious on the operating table with his heart stopped, Xiao Lou felt that his heart was also going to stop. He couldn¡¯t imagine the consequences if he couldn¡¯t save Yu Hanjiang in those dangerous minutes.

    Xiao Lou gripped Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hand and muttered in a low voice. ¡°Fortunately, you are fine¡­ just fine.¡±

    The unconscious Yu Hanjiang naturally couldn¡¯t hear him. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t speak any longer and quietly guarded his side.

    Yu Hanjiang woke up and saw Xiao Lou napping by his bed. His hand was gently held and the warmth of the other person was transmitted to him.

    Yu Hanjiang tried to move his body. The anesthesia effect had passed and a sharp pain came from his right lower abdomen, causing Yu Hanjiang to suck in a cold breath. However, his heart was warm when he saw Xiao Lou¡¯s face and held Xiao Lou¡¯s right hand. This caused the pain in his body to be weakened.

    Yu Hanjiang gently held Xiao Lou¡¯s slender fingers.

    Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t deeply asleep. He was just so sleepy that he took a nap. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s slight movement immediately woke him up. Xiao Lou saw the man¡¯s deep eyes and couldn¡¯t help smiling. ¡°You¡¯re awake.¡±

    ¡°Did you guard me all night?¡± Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was hoarse.

    ¡°I happened to be on the night shift.¡± Xiao Lou looked down and found that their two hands were held together. He couldn¡¯t help his ears bing hot and he pulled his hand back quietly. ¡°How do you feel?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Yu Hanjiang frowned and wanted to sit up. XIao Lou hurriedly stopped him. ¡°Don¡¯t move. You just had a surgeryst night and be careful not to pull your wound.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± Yu Hanjiang obediently didn¡¯t move.

    After a few seconds of silence, Yu Hanjiang asked in a low voice, ¡°What happenedst night?¡±

    At the same time Xiao Lou also asked, ¡°What happenedst night?¡±

    The two people had their hearts connected and they couldn¡¯t help feeling stunned when they said the same thing.

    Xiao Lou touched his nose. ¡°You say it first.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mouth curved up. ¡°Yes. The moment I opened my eyes, I was shot and lost consciousness before I understood the situation.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was miserable enough. He was shot when he entered the secret room and almost died.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°I heard the nurse say you were injured while performing a mission. What mission is so dangerous?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and thought for a while. ¡°I was investigating a murder case and found some clues. I had just entered the vi when I was ambushed. The man had a gun in his hand and was hiding in the darkness, so I didn¡¯t see who it was.¡± He paused and frowned even more. ¡°I don¡¯t know if the case I¡¯m investigating is rted to the plot of the secret room. I will ask my colleagues for the case information and will take a closer look.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked down at his watch. ¡°It is only 7:30 a.m. and the hospital will allow visits after the doctor¡¯s inspection at 8 o¡¯clock. Your colleagues will definitelye to see you and you can ask them for information then.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou¡¯s white coat. ¡°Are you¡­ a forensic doctor? Or a clinician?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m the chief resident of the general surgery department this time.¡± Xiao Lou helplessly rubbed his forehead. ¡°The moment I entered the world, I received a call to rescue the wounded. I went to the emergency operating room and found that you were the one lying on the operating table.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang raised an eyebrow. ¡°So you saved mest night?¡±

    ¡°Not everything.¡± Xiao Lou exined. ¡°I only did CPR on you. The operation was done by Professor Zhu and he took out the bullet.¡±

    ¡°CPR¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes, you had a cardiac arrest and had to be rescued immediately.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t ask any more questions.

    Then Xiao Lou suddenly thought of something and looked away in an embarrassed manner.

    Last night, he had been too nervous. In addition, he was a forensic doctor, not a real emergency department doctor. He didn¡¯t have rich experience in clinical rescue. He used the knowledge and memory in his mind to give artificial respiration through Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mouth.

    In fact, there were airbags in the emergency department. He could¡¯ve put the airbag in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mouth to blow. Compression airbags were amonly used rescue tool in clinical practice. The principle was the same as artificial respiration. Usually while rescuing, one doctor would press the airbag to blow air into the patient¡¯s mouth while the other doctor performed the chestpressions. The cooperation between the two people would save effort.

    In any case, Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t a clinician and he hadn¡¯t experienced rescuing people in the hospital. He subconsciously used the textbook method of artificial respiration¡­

    No wonder the nurse looked at him with slightly strange eyes. The nurse was probably wondering why he used mouth-to-mouth instead of the airbag.

    Xiao Lou felt the tip of his ears bing hot.

    Last night, he had been in a hurry and didn¡¯t know how many times he fed air to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mouth. During artificial respiration, their lips fit together seamlessly. At this time, there still seemed to be the clear touch that belonged to the man remaining on his lips.

    Yu Hanjiang saw Xiao Lou¡¯s ears turning red and couldn¡¯t help caring. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? Your ears are so red.¡±

    ¡°¡­It might be too hot.¡±

    ¡°?¡± Yu Hanjiang felt the air conditioner was a bit cold but he didn¡¯t reveal it.

    There was a knock on the door outside. Xiao Lou quickly got up to rescue the door as if he had been saved. A few people hade to visit Yu Hanjiang. Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes swept over their name tags on their chests. They were the dean, the vice-dean and the director of surgery. The three bigshots personally came to do the inspection. This showed how important Yu Hanjiang was.

    The grey-haired dean walked up to Xiao Lou. ¡°How is the situation with Officer Yu?¡±

    ¡°The surgery went well. He woke up at 7 o¡¯clock this morning and the vital signs are stable.¡±

    The dean smiled and patted Xiao Lou on the shoulder. ¡°That¡¯s good. I heard Professor Zhu say that you rescued Officer Yust night. Thank you for the hard work, Doctor Xiao.¡±

    Xiao Lou hurriedly said, ¡°It is what I should do.¡±

    The dean and vice-dean spoke a bunch of concerned words like ¡®rest well¡¯ and Yu Hanjiang politely responded. Then the group turned and left. After a while, a few more police officers came in. They were probably Yu Hanjiang¡¯s colleagues and superiors. Xiao Lou automatically avoided suspicion and left the ward to let them talk.

    At exactly 8 o¡¯clock, the general surgery ward called for the doctors to do the rounds. Xiao Lou followed the professor around the ward to check on the other rooms, paying attention to see if his teammates were in any of them. Hepleted one round and didn¡¯t see his other teammates.

    There were more patients in the general surgery department and the rounds took nearly an hour. He finished checking the rooms after 9 o¡¯clock and was walking to the nurse¡¯s station when a young nurse stopped him. ¡°Doctor Xiao, the patient in VIP ward 1 is looking for you.¡±

    Xiao Lou turned to the VIP ward. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s police colleagues had gone away and the ward was full of flowers and fruit.

    The man was leaning against the bed and frowning. He had just climbed back from the gates of deathst night and his face was pale, but his eyes were calm and deep. Seeing Xiao Lou push open the door, he looked up and spoke softly, ¡°My colleague has brought the information.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked curiously, ¡°What case?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang handed the folder to Xiao Lou. ¡°It is a dismembered body case. A corpse was cut into numerous pieces and only a small part of them was found. The deceased was a young 30 year old man, a rich second generation. At present, the suspect is the deceased¡¯s brother. The two people had been fighting openly and secretly over their inheritance. Then once I went to the brother¡¯s vi to investigate, I was shot in the dark.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s back was slightly cold. ¡°It seems the murderer this time is difficult to deal with.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°I was shot as soon as I entered the second room and sent to the hospital to be rescued. The others might also encounter danger.¡±

    He frowned and wanted to get out of bed, but the sharp pain from his abdominal wound made him pause and he couldn¡¯t help sweating. Xiao Lou noticed his thoughts and lightly grasped his shoulder, pressing him back down on the bed. ¡°Don¡¯t move. You can¡¯t get out of bed after an operation. Leave our teammates to me.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked worried. ¡°You alone?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a doctor and I can freely enter in and out of the hospital.¡± Xiao Lou said. ¡°I have a type of intuition. The secret room plot is likely to happen in the hospital and our team members might also be in the hospital. I will first look for them here.¡±¡¯

    Yu Hanjiang instructed, ¡°Try to open Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings.¡±

    Xiao Lou remembered there was no prompt about any cards being banned in this secret room and summoned Qin Guan to open Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. He connected with Yu Hanjiang tomunicate. In this way, they could keep in touch at any time even without a phone.

    Yu Hanjiang felt the mental world that belonged to Xiao Lou and was relieved a lot. He said, ¡°Go, tell me if you find our teammates. Then we will discuss the next step in the n.¡±

    Xiao Lou turned and left. Once he left, Yu Hanjiang gently touched his lips,plex emotions shing in his mind.

    Just now after his colleagues left, Professor Zhu from the emergency department came for a visit and told him that Dr Xiao had personally performed CPR For himst night. Dr Xiao¡¯s arms were sore and he gave artificial respiration many times before Yu Hanjiang¡¯s life was saved in a thrilling manner. Dr Xiao was his life saving benefactor.

    Professor Zhu was just joking but Yu Hanjiang keenly caught the words ¡®artificial respiration.¡¯ Did Xiao Lou really aim at his lips and feed him air many times?

    Yu Hanjiang waspletely unconscious at the time but when he thought about Xiao Lou¡¯s lips being so intimate and close to his, he couldn¡¯t help his heart beating faster. This almost made the heart rate curve on the ECG monitor be messy.

    Xiao Lou was serious about saving him and he shouldn¡¯t think about crooked things. Still, he couldn¡¯t help feeling like his lips were burning. In the future, he had to get a good taste of a real kiss with Xiao Lou when he was conscious.

    Yu Hanjiang touched his hot lips again and a smile appeared on his face. Then he coughed, put on a serious expression, got rid of the random thoughts in his mind and focused on the case information.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 306: Bizarre Hospital

    Xiao Lou turned to leave the VIP ward. The moment he went out the door, a memory appeared in his mind. This memory didn¡¯t belong to him. Currently, he was connected to Yu Hanjiang using Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings and the strange memory obviously came from Yu Hanjiang.

    Professor Zhu stood by the hospital bed and joked, ¡°Last night, it was Dr Xiao who saved you. He did artificial respiration several times¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mind stayed on the words ¡®artificial respiration¡¯ and Xiao Lou¡¯s mind was a mess. Perhaps it was due to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s chaotic thinking but Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t clearly sense the other party¡¯s thoughts. There was just the repeated rey of the ¡®artificial respiration¡¯ clip.

    Group Leader Yu, why was he thinking about artificial respiration? Xiao Lou¡¯s ears were slightly hot. After hesitating for a while, he decided to go back to the ward to exin. After all, ording to the normal procedure of the hospital, the airbag should be used in first aid. Direct use of the mouth would inevitably make people suspicious.

    Yu Hanjiang was leaning against the bed with a serious face, carefully reading the case information. By the time Xiao Lou opened the door and came in, his mind had already recovered its calmness. Xiao Lou almost felt that¡­ the chaotic mind just now was his own illusion.

    Yu Hanjiang found that Xiao Lou was going back and forth and looked up in a confused manner. ¡°Why did youe back?¡±

    Xiao Lou approached the bed and coughed softly. ¡°Professor Zhu told you, right? I just sensed your memory.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang found that his thoughts had almost leaked and immediately pretended to be serious and calm. ¡°Yes, he did mention a few words about the rescue processst night.¡±

    Xiao Lou exined softly, ¡°I am a forensic doctor, not a professional hospital doctor. Last night, I saw you having a cardiac arrest and was in a hurry. I gave you a few artificial respirations ording to the first aid knowledge in the textbook¡­ I didn¡¯t think about using an airbag. Do you mind?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang put down the information in his hand and watched Xiao Lou. ¡°You came back to exin this?¡±

    Xiao Lou himself felt that exining was a bit redundant but he was worried that Yu Hanjiang would hate this intimate contact and wonder, ¡®Why use his mouth instead of an airbag?¡¯ Would Group Leader Yu think he was weird? He would always feel uneasy if he didn¡¯t exin. If he said it then he wouldn¡¯t have to worry.

    Xiao Lou was thinking wildly when there was a lowugh from Yu Hanjiang. The chuckle seemed toe from inside his chest, making Xiao Lou¡¯s ears hot.

    Xiao Lou was too embarrassed to look into the other person¡¯s eyes and didn¡¯t dare think anything in case of the heart channel. The next moment, his hand was gently held and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hoarse voice tinged with gentleness was heard. ¡°There is no need to exin. You don¡¯t need to be so unfamiliar and polite between us. No matter what you do, I believe you have a reason for it.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Thisplete trust caused Xiao Lou¡¯s heart to slightly warm.

    Yu Hanjiang continued. ¡°Don¡¯t think too much. It is just artificial respiration, not more intimate contact.¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help his heart beating faster. More intimate contact? He didn¡¯t know what Yu Hanjiang¡¯s words meant. He wanted to ask boldly but was too embarrassed. Under his man¡¯s gaze, Xiao Lou felt his entire face bing hot.

    Just then, his phone rang. The shrill ringing broke the silence of the ward.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at his white coat pocket and spoke softly, ¡°Answer the phone, it is probably information on a teammate. Clear the secret room first and we¡¯ll find a suitable time to talk again.¡± The level of danger was beyond imagination and they had to focus on the overall situation. What would their teammates do if they talked about personal topics now?

    Xiao Lou thought that his teammates might be in danger and immediately suppressed his confusion. He took out his mobile phone and pressed the answer button. The voice of a young doctor entered his ears. ¡°Hello, can I please ask if this is the chief resident of the general surgery department, Dr Xiao?¡±

    ¡°Yes, what is it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Dr Zhang from the endocrinology department. I have a patient here who needs a surgical consultation. Do you have time toe over?¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at Yu Hanjiang while asking, ¡°What is the situation of the patient?¡±

    Dr Zhang answered, ¡°The patient is Mo Xuemin, 66 years old. He was hospitalized for diabetes. He had an intestinal anastomosis operation half a month ago. Last night, he started to have severe pain in his lower right abdomen. He got up this morning and kept vomiting. We suspect that it is an intestinal obstruction. I would like to ask the surgery department toe and check it.¡±

    Xiao Lou felt numb. ¡°What did you say the patient¡¯s name is?¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll be right there.¡± Xiao Lou¡¯s head hurt as he hung up.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke softly, ¡°Thank you for your hard work. Go first and see what¡¯s going on with Old Mo. Keep in touch.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and turned to head to the endocrine department.

    He arrived at the ward and went to the nurse¡¯s desk to inquire about Dr Zhang. A young nurse went to the doctor¡¯s office and called Dr Zhang over. The other person¡¯s hair was messy like a bird¡¯s nest. He should¡¯ve been on the night shiftst night and didn¡¯t have time to wash up. He took Xiao Lou to see the patient.

    Xiao Lou entered the room and saw a gray-haired old man rolling on the bed while holding his stomach in pain.

    Old Mo?!

    Mo Xuemin was originally around 40 years old. He had dark hair, was tall and looked very energetic. However, the old man in front of Xiao Lou was obviously at least 60 years old and his back was slightly bent.

    Xiao Lou was stunned. He looked at the wrinkles on this familiar face and couldn¡¯t believe it for a while.

    Old Mo turned his head and saw Xiao Lou. He smiled bitterly and spoke in a hoarse voice. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on. I woke up like this. When I looked in the mirror in the bathroom this morning, I almost scared myself to death!¡±

    His voice also sounded old. Anyone who woke up and found themselves 20 years older would be shocked.

    Due to the presence of Dr Zhang, Old Mo couldn¡¯t say too much. Xiao Lou saw him frowning in pain and immediately calmed down. He walked forward and asked, ¡°What were your symptoms when you got up in the morning? Where do you feel sick?¡±

    ¡°I was nauseous and vomited several times in the bathroom. I can¡¯t eat anything and the pain in my stomach is terrible.¡±

    ¡°You lie t. I¡¯ll check you first.¡±

    Old Moy t on the bed cooperatively. Xiao Lou took out his stethoscope and listened. Then his expression changed suddenly.

    The intestinal sounds were abnormally hyperactive and there was the clear sound of passing air and water from the stethoscope. ording to Dr Zhang¡¯s description, the patient didn¡¯t pass gas or defecate all day long. His lower right abdomen was severely swollen and painful. There was nausea and vomiting plus the previous operation history¡­

    Xiao Lou spoke with a calm face, ¡°It is probably an adhesive intestinal obstruction. Take him immediately to the emergency department for a in abdominal radiograph to determine the location and severity of the intestinal obstruction.In addition, inform the chief surgeon of the gastrointestinal surgery department and arrange for a surgery after the diagnosis.¡±

    Patients with acute intestinal obstruction had very high mortality rates. Dr Zhang realized the seriousness of the problem and hurried out to make arrangements.

    Only Old Mo and Xiao Lou remained in the ward. Xiao Lou gently patted the lightly frightened Old Mo¡¯s wrinkled hand. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will arrange for you to receive surgery as soon as possible. It¡¯s just that¡­ how did you suddenly be an old man in his 60s?¡±

    Mo Xuemin helplessly lowered his voice. ¡°The keeper changed my age. In this secret room, I am a 66 year old man who has diabetes and has undergone surgery.¡± He joked, ¡°This time, I really became ¡®Old¡¯ Mo.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was surprised. ¡°The keepers can change everyone¡¯s age at will?¡±

    Old Mo nodded with a calm face. ¡°They intentionally made me grow older and sick to increase the difficulty of the secret room. The keepers are simply unscrupulous!¡± Old Mo cursed angrily before following up with a question. ¡°Do you know where Group Leader Yu and the others are?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°Group Leader Yu has just finished an operation and is still unable to get out of bed. The others haven¡¯t been found yet.¡±

    The moment he finished speaking, Dr Zhang pushed open the door and told Old Mo, ¡°I have arranged it with the imaging department. Let a nurse push you over there. The operating rooms are full and the fastest one will finish in 30 minutes. After taking the film, the escort will send you to operating room 3. Your case information has been passed onto the gastrointestinal surgery department.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Have you made an appointment with the chief surgeon of the gastrointestinal surgery department?¡±

    Dr Zhang nodded. ¡°Director Liu happened to be in the operating room today and he will do the operation personally.¡±

    Xiao Lou got up. ¡°I happen to be idle and can take him to get the film. Once finished, I will send him to the operating room.¡±

    Dr Zhang spoke gratefully. ¡°I have to trouble Dr Xiao.¡±

    Xiao Lou was still worried about Mo Xuemin¡¯s situation. Old Mo¡¯s heart had been beating like a drum and there was intense pain in his abdomen. An unknown illness instinctively made people fearful. He would be a lot more assured if Xiao Lou apanied him.

    Xiao Lou found a wheelchair and pushed Old Mo to the imaging department. As a result, he had juste out afterpleting the registration when he saw a familiar face. It was Long Sen. He was also in a wheelchair and being pushed by a carer.

    The 66 year old Old Mo in a wheelchair and Long Sen in a wheelchair with a cast on his leg met face to face in the corridor of the hospital. The two men stared at each other.

    Xiao Lou suddenly had a headache. His teammates were sick one by one. The keepers were deliberately making it difficult, right?!

    Long Sen¡¯s mouth twitched. ¡°Mo¡­ Old Mo, how did you be an old man?¡±

    Mo Xuemin wanted to cough up blood. ¡°What is your situation?¡±

    Long Sen was depressed. ¡°I broke my right leg and the cast has just been fixed on it.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Long Sen saw Xiao Lou wearing a white coat and nervously slid his wheelchair over. ¡°Professor Xiao, don¡¯t tell me that everyone is sick? Where is Group Leader Yu?¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°Group Leader Yu is okay. He just can¡¯t get out of bed after an operation and is looking at information in the ward.¡±

    The three men were silent for a moment and soon found one thing inmon. Their mobility was limited. Old Mo was going to have intestinal obstruction surgery and would definitely have to rest in bed after it. Long Sen had a broken leg and had a heavy cast put on. Yu Hanjiang was also unable to move around after an operation.

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help worrying about the others. He didn¡¯t know what happened to them.

    After Old Mo took the film and the results came out, Xiao Lou looked at the X-ray film and felt even more anxious. It was indeed an intestinal obstruction. He took out a pen from his white coat pocket, found a piece of paper, quickly wrote down a series of numbers and handed it to Long Sen. ¡°This is my duty number. If you have any questions then call me. I will settle Old Mo first and thene see you in the orthopedics department.¡±

    Long Sen nodded. ¡°Yes, go ahead.¡±

    Xiao Lou pushed Old Mo into the room.

    Director Liu had just finished an operation. Xiao Lou handed over Old Mo¡¯s film and gave a simple introduction. Director Liu said, ¡°The patient¡¯s case has been transferred and I saw it. It should be an intestinal obstruction caused by intestinal adhesion. I will do surgery immediately.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Do you need me to be an assistant?¡±

    ¡°No, there are two interns in the operating room. I will ask them to help. Dr Xiao, go ahead.¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t rest assured as Old Mo was pushed into the operating room. He paced anxiously back and forth in the corridor. He was afraid of what would happen to Old Mo in the operation¡­

    Yu Hanjiang felt Xiao Lou¡¯s anxiety through their connection and whispered infort, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Old Mo will be fine. The keeper arranged it like this just to weaken the team¡¯s fighting power.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s mood calmed down a bit. He looked at the red letters ¡®in operation¡¯ at the door and took a deep breath. ¡°It is useless to wait here. It is better to check on the whereabouts of our other teammates.¡±

    ¡°The hospital is so big. Do you want to go through every area?¡±

    ¡°I have a faster way.¡± Xiao Lou turned to the office of the operating area and exined, ¡°When I received the call to rescue mest night, the Clubs keeper told me that this was a side task. If Ipleted it, I could unlock the authority of the chief resident.¡±

    ¡°What authority?¡¯

    ¡°I can check all the cases in the hospital.¡±

    Xiao Lou pushed open the door of the office. There were several publicputers so that the surgery professors could ess the case files of patients at any time. Xiao Lou found a free seat and picked up the badge on his white coat.

    The badge read: General Surgery, Dr Xiao Lou.

    Underneath it was a line of small letters: 724762.

    There was an eye-catching ¡®Hospital Staff tform¡¯ icon on theputer desktop. He double-clicked to open it. The login interface needed the username and password. Xiao Lou entered ¡®xiaolou¡¯ in the username field and the work number 724762 in the password field and it opened smoothly.

    -Wee to general surgery, Dr Xiao Lou.

    The software¡¯s homepage had an outpatient area, inpatient area and other interfaces.

    Doctors in each department could only edit and modify the cases of their own departments but they could inquire about the cases of other departments in the hospital. Xiao Lou was a doctor of the general surgery department. After opening the inpatient department, the information of more than 40 patients in the general surgery ward automatically popped up, including Yu Hanjiang¡¯s case. He could edit and modify the information.

    There were no other teammates in the general surgery team. He had already seen it during the morning rounds. Xiao Lou found the ¡®case inquiry¡¯ button in the upper left corner and clicked on it.

    There were many ways to search. He could enter the patient¡¯s name, admission date, medical record number, date of discharge, etc.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know other information but the names of his teammates wouldn¡¯t be changed in the secret room. He quickly entered their names to search. Mo Xuemin and Long Sen¡¯s case records matched which made him believe in his own judgment even more.

    He entered ¡®Qu Wanyue¡¯ and found a case. Xiao Lou opened it and nced quickly.

    ¡ªQu Wanyue, female, 26 years old. An inpatient of the rheumatology department, diagnosed with lupus erythematosus.

    Lupus erythematosus was an immune system disease. Patients couldn¡¯t see the light or there would be a light allergic skin butterfly erythema reaction.

    ¡ªLiu Qiao, female, an 18 years old hematology patient. Admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of astic anemia.

    Xiao Liu¡¯s age hadn¡¯t been changed. The doctor¡¯s order for this case was all types of medicines used in hospitals to control the disease. Then a hematopoietic stem cell transntation was arranged for three dayster.

    ¡ªYe Qi, 7 years old with acute pneumonia. Currently living in the pediatric ward.

    Xiao Lou was startled. He rubbed his eyes and nced at the case record again.

    7 years old, pediatric ward? Ye Qi was turned into a 7 year old child this time?!

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 307: Combination of Old, Young, Sick and Disabled

    At the same time, the pediatric ward.

    The 7 year old Ye Qi was running around the children¡¯s entertainment area when a young nurse called Chen Feifei came up to him and smiled. ¡°Little Ye Qi, don¡¯t run around. Your parents aren¡¯t here so you should listen to the nurse sister¡¯s words!¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He really wanted to vomit up blood!

    Last time, the Beacon in Troubled Times secret room made him dress up as a girl in a brothel. This time, he directly shrank into a child? Did the keepers have a vendetta against him, bullying him like this?!

    Ye Qi had thought he was having a nightmare when he woke up in the morning and saw his short arms and legs. There were children all around him, chattering, being noisy and crying from time to time. The doctors in white coats and nurses pushing treatment carts hurried through the corridor as Ye Qi sat on the bed in a dumbfounded manner.

    Next was the routine hospital check¡­

    A group of doctors hurried in, asked him questions for a while and then left like a whirlwind. Ye Qi realized that he was in a pediatric ward. The headboard of his bed read ¡®Pediatrics Zone 1, Bed 7¡¯ so it couldn¡¯t be more obvious.

    The background of this secret room was a hospital. Ye Qi thought that if the background was a hospital then Xiao Lou was very likely to be a doctor. Maybe he could find Xiao Lou in the pediatric ward. As a result, he ran through the entire ward and didn¡¯t see any teammates. They were all strangers.

    The nurse soon found that the child Ye Qi in ward 7 was walking around early in the morning. The child¡¯s face was full of confusion like he hadn¡¯t woken up and was lost. It was too cute. The nurse couldn¡¯t help walking over to stop Ye Qi and remind him that he shouldn¡¯t run around. Although the child¡¯s pneumonia symptoms were under control, he hadn¡¯t fully recovered. It would be very troublesome if an infection urred.

    Ye Qi calmed down and smiled at the nurse. ¡°Nurse sister, can I ask you a question?¡±

    The little boy had white skin and two cute dimples when he smiled. He was so polite and sensible that the nurse¡¯s heart softened. She crouched down to look at him and her voice was gentle. ¡°What do you want to ask?¡±

    Ye Qi asked seriously, ¡°In your hospital, is there a doctor called Xiao Lou?¡±

    The nurse was startled. ¡°Xiao Lou? He seems to be the chief resident of the general surgery department.¡± To be certain, she turned back to ask the head nurse. ¡°Head nurse, is this year¡¯s chief resident of the general surgery department Dr Xiao?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Chen Yuqing in bed 18 just called for a surgical consultation.¡±

    The nurse looked back at Ye Qi. ¡°There is this person in the hospital. Why are you looking for Dr Xiao?¡±

    Ye Qi was joyful after hearing Xiao Lou¡¯s whereabouts and continued to maintain a child¡¯s innocent smile. ¡°Uncle Xiao is a good friend of my father. He oftenes to my house and I know him very well.¡±

    The nurse smiled. ¡°I see. He¡¯lle here for a pediatric consultationter.¡±

    Ye Qi had already noticed when the head nurse had said it just now. A surgical consultation was called for Chen Yuqing in bed 18.

    He turned and ran to bed 18. He saw a little girl with a pale face and sweat on her face. Her parents were apanying her by the bed. They saw Ye Qi curiouslying over and the young woman was puzzled. ¡°Child, who are you looking for?¡±

    It wasn¡¯t good for Ye Qi to stay in other people¡¯s rooms. In order to avoid causing suspicion, he smiled and scratched his head. ¡°Auntie, I went the wrong way.¡±

    At present, he hadn¡¯t found his other teammates and as a child, he couldn¡¯t go out of the pediatrics ward.

    Xiao Lou was the only clue he had so he would wait for Xiao Lou. Thinking of this, Ye Qi turned and left. He found the ce with the best view in the corridor and sat down, waiting for Xiao Lou toe.

    Xiao Lou was wondering about Ye Qi¡¯s age when he received a call requesting a surgical consultation for a little girl called Chen Yuqing in pediatrics.

    Thest name he typed into theputer was ¡®Shao Qingge¡¯ but nothing showed up after pressing the enter key. Xiao Lou frowned in a worried manner. ¡°Everyone else has been found but there is no information about Chief Shao in the hospital.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang made a guess. ¡°Will Chief Shao have the setting of a wealthy businessman again? Perhaps his rtionship with the hospital is on the financial side?¡±

    Those who had economic links to the hospital were medicine suppliers, equipment suppliers etc. However, thinking about Yu Hanjiang¡¯s cardiac arrest, Long Sen¡¯s broken leg, Old Mo¡¯s acute intestinal obstruction, Liu Qiao¡¯s blood disease and Qu Wanyue¡¯s immune disease, Xiao Lou always felt that the keepers wouldn¡¯t be so benevolent as to let Chief Shao be a money man in this secret room.

    He was silent for a moment before saying, ¡°I¡¯ll go to the pediatrics department to find Ye Qi first. I will check the information of Chief Shaoter.¡±

    There was no case information so perhaps Chief Shao hadn¡¯t been admitted to the hospital.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke in a low voice in his mind. ¡°Find all our teammates and make an appointment with everyone. After the ward rests tonight, we will enter the Peach Blossom Spring together at midnight. I have to say that this case might not be that simple.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go find them first.¡±

    The pediatric ward had called for a consultation. Xiao Lou took the elevator to the pediatric ward on the 10th floor.

    The moment he entered the ward, he saw a familiar-looking little boy sitting in the corridor and looking around. The boy had short hair and was wearing a blue and white checkered gown. His face looked a bit pale due to illness but his eyes were clear. They shed brightly when he saw Xiao Lou and he immediately ran over.

    Xiao Lou looked at the kid who was only up to his thigh and didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. ¡°¡­Ye Qi?¡±

    Ye Qi nodded vigorously. He showed a frustrated expression on his face as he said, ¡°I¡¯ve be smaller.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Anyone would feel flustered at the keepers changing the age and suddenly bing smaller. However, the Ye Qi in front of him was too cute with a tender face and some baby fat. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help reaching out to gently rub little Ye Qi¡¯s hair. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, everyone in the secret room is sick this time. You became smaller while Old Mo got older.¡±

    Ye Qi stared at him. ¡°You mean Uncle Mo became Grandpa Mo?¡±

    Xiao Lou felt helpless. ¡°Group Leader Yu just finished surgery and can¡¯t get out of bed, Long Sen has a broken leg, Liu Qiao and Teacher Qu are also sick¡­¡±

    Inparison, he was lucky to simply be smaller.

    Ye Qi was concerned. ¡°What about Chief Shao?¡±¡¯

    Xiao Lou frowned. ¡°I can¡¯t find his information. By the way, is the other Qin Guan card in your hands or his?¡±

    Ye Qi answered, ¡°All the copied cards are in his hands.¡±

    In this secret room, there were two cards that could be used to find their teammates.

    First, Qin Guan¡¯s Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. This could establish a mind connection with the designated teammate. Xiao Lou had already connected to Yu Hanjiang. It was only after the skill was refreshed at midnight that he could change the target to try and connect with Chief Shao. The other Qin Guan card was with Shao Qingge. They wouldn¡¯t be able to use it to find him unless Shao Qingge took the initiative to connect to Ye Qi.

    The second method was Li Qingzhao¡¯s Who Sent the Brocade from Beyond the Clouds. This allowed them to send letters to designated teammates.

    Xiao Lou thought about it. ¡°I will go back to the general surgery department and find a ce with no one present to summon Li Qingzhao and send a letter to Chief Shao. Xiao Ye, please go back to the ward first and stay in bed at midnight tonight. Don¡¯t fall asleep. I will use the Peach Blossom Spring to summon everyone. Group Leader Yu wants to talk about the case.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded. Once he turned around and found the nurse looking at him, Ye Qi immediately smiled and said, ¡°Goodbye Uncle Xiao.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes.¡±

    The nurse saw Dr Xiao and Ye Qi chatting in the corridor. Since Ye Qi said that Uncle Xiao was his father¡¯s good friend, no one had any doubts. They just thought that Dr Xiao was concerned about Ye Qi¡¯s condition.

    Xiao Lou smiled politely at the curious nurse and went to bed 18 to check the little girl who required a consultation.

    The little girl¡¯s name was Chen Yuqing and she was 7 years old. The reason for the surgical consultation was that she had abdominal pain. The ultrasound found a rare congenital gallstone. Xiao Lou carefully examined the case and suggested surgery as soon as possible. An appointment was made for the operating room tomorrow morning.

    After dealing with this patient, Xiao Lou turned and left the pediatric ward. He went upstairs using the stairwell to find Liu Qiao.

    The 9th floor of this building was the surgery department, the 10th floor was pediatrics and the 11th floor was the internal medicine department.

    The general surgery department was on the 7th floor and Yu Hanjiang was staying in a VIP room there. Long Sen was staying on the 9th floor and Ye Qi was in the pediatrics department on the 10th floor. The hematology department where Liu Qiao was living was on the 11th floor, the rheumatology immunology department where Qu Wanyue was staying was on the 13th floor and the 15th floor was the endocrine department where Old Mo was staying.

    Xiao Lou first went to the 11th floor to find Liu Qiao. He arrived and found that Liu Qiao wasn¡¯t in bed. He called the nurse to ask and the other person said, ¡°Liu Qiao has been sent for a bone marrow biopsy.¡±

    A bone marrow biopsy was amon method to check for blood diseases. It sounded very painful but in fact, local anesthesia would be used before the insertion. As long as one wasn¡¯t allergic to anesthetics, they generally wouldn¡¯t feel too much severe pain. Xiao Lou believed that Liu Qiao was a strong girl and definitely wouldn¡¯t be afraid of this pain.

    He waited for a while at the door of the bone biopsy room. He saw Liu Qiao being pushed out, her face unusually pale.

    After looking at Xiao Lou¡¯s concerned gaze, Liu Qiao nodded at him to say she was fine. Xiao Lou followed Liu Qiao to the room. Once the doctors and nurses left, Liu Qiao asked lightly, ¡°Professor Xiao, what is the situation now? Where are the others?¡±

    Her voice was very weak. Xiao Lou reassured her, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the others are also in the hospital and living in different wards. At present, only Chief Shao hasn¡¯t been found.¡± He paused and asked with concern. ¡°How is your body?¡±

    Liu Qiao answered, ¡°The doctor said it was astic anemia and the condition is more serious. He wants to arrange a stem cell transnt for me.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Another operation? After the operation, Liu Qiao would be unable to move freely.

    Liu Qiao¡¯s face was very pale due to anemia but her voice was calm. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. The A-grade rooms will clear the data after going out and it doesn¡¯t matter if I¡¯m sick or not. I just don¡¯t know what the secret room is this time. Why do we all have to be sick and hospitalized apart from you?¡±

    Xiao Lou also wasn¡¯t clear about it but he had a guess. ¡°There should be something happening in the hospital which is why the keepers had all of us stay here. Don¡¯t go to sleep at midnight tonight. I will open the Peach Blossom Spring to gather everyone so we can discuss it.¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded to show her understanding. Xiao Lou talked to her a bit before leaving. He went to the rheumatology immunology department on the 13th floor to find Qu Wanyue.

    He reached the 13th floor and had just entered through the door when he saw Qu Wanyue and Long Sen sitting in the corridor with ugly expressions. Long Sen was holding Qu Wanyue¡¯s hand and speaking in a low voice as if tofort her.

    Xiao Lou had some doubts and quickly stepped forward. ¡°Long Sen, why are you here?¡±

    Lon smiled bitterly. ¡°I am Wanyue¡¯s family member and the doctor called me toe over and discuss her condition.¡±

    Xiao Lou suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart¡­

    The next moment, Qu Wanyue exined with a white face, ¡°Professor Xiao, not only do I have systemic lupus erythematosus, the doctor said that I am also two months pregnant. Since my condition is active and needs medicine to control it, the doctor is worried that the medication will lead to fetal malformation. He suggested that after discussing it with my husband, I should terminate the pregnancy.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Long Sen scolded angrily, ¡°Those four bastards, why did they arrange such a messy setting? Wanyue and I don¡¯t have children in reality yet there is inexplicably a child in the secret room? The doctor also asked Wanyue to terminate the pregnancy?!¡±

    Qu Wanyue¡¯s face was pale while Long Sen was so angry that the blue veins on the back of his hands bulged. He wanted to immediately go to the four keepers to beat them up.

    Xiao Lou helplesslyforted the two people. ¡°In the future, you will have a child that truly belongs to you. The A-level secret rooms will clear the data after going out. This child¡­ can¡¯t be taken out. Don¡¯t be too sad.¡±

    Qu Wanyue responded softly. ¡°I know. I don¡¯t mind the baby. We can postpone the operation. However, this time the secret room is abination of four colors. The problem of survival won¡¯t be as simple as surgery, right?¡±

    Hearing this, a chill went down Xiao Lou¡¯s back. He took a deep breath and looked at the couple. ¡°Tell the doctor that the matter of the baby needs to be carefully considered. The operation can be dyed a few days. I am worried that if there is a team escape setting, it will be difficult for Teacher Qu to move if she has the operation.¡±

    Qu Wanyue nodded. ¡°I understand.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°At midnight, don¡¯t fall asleep. Group Leader Yu and I will gather everyone.¡± He patted Long Sen¡¯s shoulder and whispered in Long Sen¡¯s ear, ¡°The pregnancy might just be a secret room setting but Teacher Qu will definitely feel ufortable psychologically. You should apany her more. If there is something then call me.¡±

    Long Sen smiled bitterly. ¡°I know, I¡¯ll always be with her.¡±

    Xiao Lou said goodbye to the Long Qu couple and hurried to the operating room. Old Mo¡¯s surgery was justpleted. Director Liu said it was a sess and fortunately, it was found in a timely manner. Otherwise, the acute intestinal obstruction would¡¯ve caused arge amount of intestinal ischemia and necrosis, making it difficult to deal with.

    Xiao Lou sighed with relief.

    Old Mo¡¯s anesthetic was still working and his eyes were closed tightly. Xiao Lou and the nurse pushed the bed and sent Old Mo back to the endocrine department. He told Old Mo¡¯s attending doctor some postoperative precautions before heading back to the general surgery department.

    After entering the elevator, Xiao Lou closed his eyes and rubbed his painful temple.

    The 66 year old Mo Xuemin, the 7 year old Ye Qi, the severely anemic Liu Qiao, Long Sen with a broken leg and the pregnant Qu Wanyue¡­

    This was really aplete gathering of old, young, sick, disabled and pregnant!

    The pressure on the only healthy Xiao Lou was really great.

    Author¡¯s note: This secret room should be renamed: Xiao Lou is very busy.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 308: Attending Doctor

    Xiao Lou took the elevator back to the general surgery department on the 7th floor.

    It was already 1:30 p.m. He had been worried about Yu Hanjiang¡¯s situationst night and only napped by the bed. After waking up in the morning, he first did a round of the ward with the doctors in the general surgery department. Then he went to the endocrinology department to consult with Old Mo before going to pediatrics, hematology and the rheumatology immunology department to find his teammates. He had been so busy that he didn¡¯t even have time to drink water.

    Xiao Lou was so tired that he gasped and had a dry mouth. After entering the duty room, he immediately found a disposable cup and poured some water to drink. As he was drinking, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice rang in his mind. ¡°Xiao Lou,e to my room to find me.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought that Yu Hanjiang wasn¡¯t feeling well so he hurriedly put down the water ss and headed to the VIP room. The VIP room was spacious and Yu Hanjiang was leaning against the head of the bed while reading through information. The warm sun shone on his face and his profile became handsome and tough.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression was calm and the data on his monitor was normal. Xiao Lou rxed a bit and walked to the bedside. He asked. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Are you feeling unwell or is there a clue to the case?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked up at Xiao Lou with gentle eyes. ¡°Neither.¡±

    Xiao Lou was puzzled. ¡°Then why did you call me?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang simply ordered, ¡°Eat.¡±

    He stretched out his long arms and took a delicate lunch box from the bedside table next to him. Then he propped up the small table on the bed and put the lunch box on it. At the same time, he spoke in a low voice, ¡°You have been busy all morning and haven¡¯t had lunch yet. I ordered takeout for you using my mobile phone.¡±

    Don¡¯t talk about lunch. Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t even eaten breakfast and he was really hungry.

    Xiao Lou sat by the bed and took the chopsticks handed over by the other person. He opened the lunch box and saw fried snow peas, fish-vored shredded pork, braised chicken wings and pumpkin soup with vegetables. They were all very rich and included his favorite dishes.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart warmed looking at this lunch and he whispered, ¡°Thank you. ¡°What about your lunch?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang answered, ¡°I just had surgery and can¡¯t eat. The IV gave me some nutritional fluids and I don¡¯t feel hungry.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°After the operation, you really have to wait for your gastrointestinal function to recover before eating¡­ so I¡¯ll eat alone?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s lips curved up slightly. ¡°Yes, eat quickly while it is hot.¡±

    The fragrant lunch was ced in front of him. Xiao Lou was indeed hungry and started eating. Yu Hanjiang found that Xiao Lou¡¯s eating movements were very gentle and it was pleasing to the eye when he chewed food.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s ears became slightly hot as he was watched by Yu Hanjiang¡¯s gentle gaze. Therefore, he quickly ate the lunch and changed the subject. ¡°You should know that Teacher Qu is pregnant?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I heard your conversation with Long Sen.¡±

    ¡°This time in the secret room, our team has be abination of old, young, sick, disabled and pregnant. What do you think will happen next?¡± Xiao Lou sighed slightly, his expression helpless.

    Yu Hanjiang felt that Xiao Lou was on the verge of copse andforted him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the situation of our teammates isn¡¯t optimistic but we still have Chief Shao. Don¡¯t forget that the Bug King card can restore wounds. As long as Chief Shao is fine, Long Sen¡¯s broken leg can recover and my surgical wound will also heal. All of us can immediately regain mobility.¡±

    However, the Bug King card could only treat injuries. For example, Liu Qiao¡¯s blood disease, Teacher Qu¡¯s immune disease and Old Mo¡¯s intestinal obstruction could only be treated by medicine.

    Ye Qi¡¯s pneumonia had been brought under control. He might¡¯ve be a seven year old child but he wasn¡¯t affected. Today in the pediatric ward, Ye Qi had run all the way over when he saw Xiao Lou. He was bouncing around and full of vitality.

    As long as Shao Qingge was found, at least Yu Hanjiang, Long Sen, Xiao Lou and Ye Qi could move freely. If Qu Wanyue dragged it out and didn¡¯t receive surgery then she could also act since she was only two months pregnant.

    At present, the biggest fear was that something happened to Shao Qingge and he couldn¡¯t use his cards.

    The first time he entered the second room, Xiao Lou had checked his pockets and didn¡¯t find a card pack. on him. However, he could activate the cards that belonged to him directly as long as no outsiders were around. This time, everyone¡¯s card packs had be invisible and couldn¡¯t be transferred to teammates for use. Therefore, Shao Qingge¡¯s cards could only be activated by Shao Qingge.

    They had to find Chief Shao and have him use the Bug King card to cure the injuries of several teammates in order to be able to handle any unexpected situations.

    Xiao Lou thought up to here and went to the window. He opened the window, summoned Li Qingzhao and used the skill Who Sent the Brocade from Beyond the Clouds. He wanted to send a letter to Shao Qingge to inform him to stay awake at midnight tonight and ept Xiao Lou¡¯s Peach Blossom Spring transmission.

    However, the pigeon had just flown out when it returned to Xiao Lou¡¯s hands less than a minuteter.

    [The other person can¡¯t receive the letter.]

    Xiao Lou saw this reminder and couldn¡¯t help worrying. ¡°Chief Shao can¡¯t receive the letter What happened?¡±

    There were two situations where the letter couldn¡¯t be epted. The first was that the other person was in apletely closed environment where Li Qingzhao¡¯s pigeon couldn¡¯t fly in. The second was that the other person lost consciousness and couldn¡¯t receive and read the letter.

    Xiao Lou recalled the scene where Yu Hanjiang was sent for rescuest night and his back became cold. ¡°Could it be that something has happened to Chief Shao? Is he in aa right now?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had a solemn expression. ¡°It is possible.¡±

    Apart from Xiao Lou who was a doctor and could move freely, all the rest of their teammates were patients.

    Xiao Lou had long felt that the keepers wouldn¡¯t be so kind as to let Shao Qingge be a rich boss. This secret room had a hospital background and Shao Qingge was likely to have a serious illness and was unconscious. Otherwise, Shao Qingge had the Qin Guan card and could connect with Ye Qi at any time. Yet after a whole morning, Shao Qingge hadn¡¯t contacted Ye Qi.

    Xiao Lou became more anxious as he thought about it. ¡°Will Chief Shao be sent for rescue like you?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Check again to see if you can find his case.¡±

    Xiao Lou had checked the case at the doctor¡¯s office in the operating area around 10 o¡¯clock and there was no record at the time. It was three hourster. Perhaps Shao Qingge was hospitalized during this time?

    Xiao Lou had this thought and hurried back to the duty room. He turned on theputer and logged into the hospital staff system. He brought up the case query interface again and entered the patient¡¯s name: Shao Qingge.

    He still didn¡¯t find any records.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s mood was low and Yu Hanjiang whispered in his mind, ¡°Chief Shao shouldn¡¯t have had an ident before meeting us. My guess is that he is temporarily unconscious and can¡¯t receive letters or use cards to contact us. Since the background of the secret room is a hospital, I believe he wille to the hospital and meet us soon.¡±

    Normally, saying a person would go to the hospital soon felt like a curse. Yet in this moment, Xiao Lou preferred for Chief Shao toe to the hospital as soon as possible. At least in the hospital, he could freely enter and exit all the wards and pay attention to Chief Shao¡¯s safety at any time. Outside the hospital was beyond Xiao Lou¡¯s reach.

    He was silent for a moment before he returned to the VIP room and looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Did you find out anything about the case you were investigating?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang handed the information to Xiao Lou and gave a brief introduction. ¡°The deceased is Cheng Shaoyu, 28 years old. He is the oldest son of the rich businessman Cheng Jianqiang. The Cheng family has been in the clothing business for generations and created their own clothing brand. There are many shopping malls under the Cheng family and their assets exceed 10 billion yuan. Cheng Shaoyu was the general manager of the sales department of the Cheng Group. The ones who reported this case were garbage dump workers. A severed human hand was found in the garbage dump.¡±

    Xiao Lou was surprised. ¡°The dismembered body case you mentioned¡­ you didn¡¯t find the rest of the body?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Only the severed hands and feet were found in the garbage dump. Gic testing was used to determine Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s identity. The rest of the body hasn¡¯t been found yet. After investigating the social rtions and personal assets, we came to the conclusion that Cheng Shaoyu had no emotional disputes or debt disputes. His colleagues have a good evaluation of him and he didn¡¯t seem to have a deep hatred with anyone.¡±

    Xiao Lou was filled with rm. ¡°Do you have a suspect?¡±

    ¡°At present, the most suspicious one is Cheng Shaofeng, 26 years old and the half-brother of the deceased. We suspect him because Mr Cheng¡¯s health has been worsening in the past two years but no will has been made to dere his heir. If Cheng Shaofeng kills his brother, the entire Cheng family¡¯s assets will be his. There is sufficient motive formitting the crime.¡±

    Xiao Lou recalled Yu Hanjiang¡¯s experiencest night. ¡°You were shot when you went to Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s home to investigate?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face was calm. ¡°That¡¯s right. I went to his vi and was shot by someone hiding in the darkness as soon as I entered the yard. This case is moreplicated than I thought. This morning, my colleagues came and told me that the suspect Cheng Shaofeng has disappeared and Elder Cheng is unconscious. No clues can be found.¡±

    Only a psychopath or someone with deep hatred would dismember the body of the deceased.

    Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s body parts were found in the garbage dump. What was the rtionship between the murderer and Cheng Shaoyu? What was the reason for the sudden disappearance of the most suspicious brother? Everyone was forced to enter the hospital. Would there be deaths in the hospital?

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t figure it out so he had Yu Hanjiang rest first. At present, the most urgent task was to find Shao Qingge. Xiao Lou always felt uneasy at being unable to find him.

    In the afternoon, Xiao Lou went to several departments to take a look at the situation of his teammates.

    Ye Qi was called back to his room by a nurse for an injection, Liu Qiao was lying in bed to rest, Qu Wanyue and Long Sen¡¯s emotions had stabilized and Old Mo¡¯s anesthetic had worn off. After waking up, his wound hurt and he couldn¡¯t move from the bed¡­

    Xiao Lou observed his sick and disabled teammates before returning to the duty room to inquire about Shao Qingge¡¯s information again. He still didn¡¯t find anything.

    The on-duty phone rang and there were various consultation calls in the hospital, causing Xiao Lou to be overwhelmed. Not only did he have to pay attention to the situation of his teammates, he also had to do a good job with his hospital work. Other departments called for consultation and he had to rush over as soon as possible.

    Xiao Lou was as busy as a spintop. He was busy until dark when he returned to the general surgery ward again. The physical and psychological exhaustion made Xiao Lou¡¯s footsteps unusually heavy as he walked. He wanted to fall asleep but he didn¡¯t dare. He forced himself to stay awake and typed Shao Qingge¡¯s name into theputer again.

    He thought that there would once again be no result. However, the moment he clicked the mouse to refresh, a new case appeared in the window. Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up and he immediately opened the case with trembling fingers.

    Shao Qingge, male, 31 years old. Admission diagnosis: acute myocardial infarction. He was unconscious when arriving at the hospital and was admitted to the ICU. Past medical history: 80% stenosis of the left anterior descending coronary artery and circumflex coronary artery, 85% stenosis of the right circumflex artery¡­

    The line of ck words on theputer interface stabbed at Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes. Chief Shao¡¯s situation was the most serious one!

    He had an acute myocardial infarction and was directly sent to the ICU. The stenosis of three major blood vessels of the heart was more than 75%. This was already an indication for surgery. He required stent imntation or coronary artery bypass surgery or else there would be arge number of ischemic necrosis of myocardial cells and it would be hard to save him.

    The more Xiao Lou looked at the case, the more frightened he became.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice rang in his mind. ¡°Go and see him. Chief Shao is currently unconscious and the myocardial infarction is something that can¡¯t be healed using the Bug King card. We can only rely on the doctors in the hospital.¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately stood up. He took a deep breath and headed to cardiac surgery. If he remembered correctly, the cardiac surgery department was on the 8th floor, upstairs from general surgery.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t want to dy time by waiting for the elevator. He headed straight to the stairs and used his long legs to take two steps at a time, quickly reaching the 8th floor. It was currently 8 o¡¯clock in the evening and family visits were prohibited in the ward. It was already a semi-closed state. However, Xiao Lou was the chief resident of the general surgery department and could directly open the doors of the surgical departments.

    He swiped the card to open the door and strode the nurse¡¯s desk. The nurse knew him and greeted him. ¡°Doctor Xiao.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked bluntly, ¡°Did the cardiac ICU just receive a patient called Shao Qingge?¡±

    The nurse nodded. ¡°Yes, it has been less than 10 minutes.¡±

    ¡°I want to know about this patient¡¯s condition. Can I ask about his attending doctor¡­¡±

    He was speaking when a voice was heard behind him. ¡°It¡¯s me.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked back. The moment he met these eyes, he felt like all the blood in his body was frozen. He was frozen in ce and couldn¡¯t move even a finger. The man in front of him was half a head taller than Xiao Lou and wore a pair of silver-rimmed sses.

    He pushed up his sses and smiled. The smile gradually ovepped with one in his memory.

    The 2 of Hearts secret room, Rose Funeral.

    The plot card received after a perfect clearance reyed the entire case. Doctor Zhao Sen killed his wife and put her on a bed of roses. Then he chopped up the body of his cousin and ced the body in a suitcase. As he left the vi with the suitcase, he stopped at the door and smiled strangely at the surveince camera.

    At this time, Zhao Sen stood in front of Xiao Lou and smiled at him. This familiar smile gave Xiao Lou the creeps!

    Xiao Lou¡¯s back was cold and his head seemed like it was going to explode. After all, he had witnessed the bloody scene where Zhao Sen killed his wife and chopped up the body of his cousin. This was the first case he experienced aftering to the Card World and he had a deep impression of this ¡®double kill¡¯ murderer.

    Seeing Xiao Lou¡¯s stiff body, Zhao Sen smiled slightly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Doctor Xiao. I am Shao Qingge¡¯s attending doctor. The patient is in my hands and I will take good care of him.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 309: Murderer Zhao Sen

    During this time, Xiao Lou had experienced several Hearts secret rooms, encountered many murderers and assisted Yu Hanjiang in interrogating prisoners. He wasn¡¯t afraid of facing murderers directly but Zhao Sen gave him apletely different feeling.

    The other murderers were far less perverted than Zhao Sen. Xiao Lou once saw how Zhao Sen chopped up his cousin¡¯s corpse in the plot card and ced the pieces in the suitcase. The scene had left a serious psychological shadow on Xiao Lou¡¯s mind. Now facing this man¡¯s smile, Xiao Lou felt it really difficult to remain calm. He felt like he was being stared at by a poisonous snake¡­

    Yu Hanjiang noticed Xiao Lou¡¯s reaction and immediately calmed him down. ¡°Xiao Lou, calm down. Even if Zhao Sen is abnormal, he won¡¯t kill in front of so many doctors and nurses. Besides, we know he is a murderer but he doesn¡¯t know we are challengers.¡±

    All challengers who passed 2 of Hearts perfectly would get the Rose Funeral plot card and witness the bloody process of Zhao Sen killing. The challengers saw it from a god¡¯s perspective and never met Zhao Sen, so Zhao Sen didn¡¯t know them. He wouldn¡¯t immediately raise the knife against Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou thought up to here and gently clenched his fists by his side. He looked at Zhao Sen and tried to be as calm as possible. ¡°Shao Qingge is my friend. I heard he was in the cardiac surgery ICU and came to take a look. Dr Zhao, how is he doing now?¡±

    Zhao Sen sighed lightly. He took a medical record and handed it to Xiao Lou. ¡°The patient¡¯s CK-MB has increased significantly and he has hypokalemia. I¡¯ve already ordered to supplement the potassium ions to restore the water and electrolytes bnce. Then I will wait for the myocardial enzyme levels to be normal before considering stent imntation.¡± He paused before saying, ¡°Generally, it takes three to five days for myocardial enzymes to recover. During this period, I will keep him in the ICU ward and closely observe his vital signs.¡±

    Three to five days? Xiao Lou¡¯s heart jumped when he heard it. Zhao Sen might be a murderer but his professional level as a cardiac surgeon wasn¡¯t bad. Shao Qingge¡¯s treatment was in ordance with conventional treatment procedures. Zhao Sen and Shao Qingge had never met so he shouldn¡¯t be hostile to Chief Shao inexplicably.

    However, Xiao Lou didn¡¯t feel relieved at all thinking that the unconscious Chief Shao would be under Zhao Sen¡¯s hands for the next three to five days. Xiao Lou took a deep breath, bit the bullet and suggested, ¡°Shao Qingge is my friend. Can you transfer him to the ICU ward of our general surgery? I can take good care of him.¡±

    Zhao Sen smiled and refused. ¡°For the patient, it is better to leave him in the ICU of our cardiac surgery. Our department has a lot of experience in handling patients with myocardial infarction. Besides, I am his attending doctor. It makes no sense to transfer him to general surgery.¡±

    Xiao Lou still wanted to persuade him when Zhao Sen sneered. ¡°Dr Xiao, don¡¯t you believe in my level?¡±

    ¡°¡­Of course.¡± Xiao Lou saw that the other person¡¯s attitude was resolute and had to give up on the idea of transferring Shao Qingge. He asked for the next best thing. ¡°Can I go see him?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhao Sen nodded. ¡°It currently isn¡¯t visiting time but Dr Xiao is the chief resident of the general surgery department. Just tell the nurses station and remember to wear the istion clothing when entering the ICU.¡±

    Xiao Lou went to the head nurse to exin his intentions. Then he followed Zhao Sen to the ICU ward and put on the istion gowns and masks as required. Zhao Sen took out his staff card and opened the door of the ICU unit.

    The ICU ward for cardiac surgery was veryrge and only contained three patients. In bed 1 was an olddy over 70 years old. She was unconscious and looked to be in critical condition. She was intubated and connected to a venttor. Her heart rate curve and blood pressure data were very stable.

    Bed 2 had a young man in his 30s. He had his eyes open and was conscious. He saw Dr Zhao Sen and greeted him. ¡°Dr Zhao.¡±

    Zhao Sen walked over. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you are recovering well. I¡¯ve arranged for you to have surgery tomorrow.¡±

    The patient in bed 2 looked grateful. ¡°Thank you Dr Zhao!¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at him and the patient gave a friendly smile. Xiao Lou took note of his name and information before following Zhao Sen to bed 3.

    Shao Qingge was in bed 3. He was wearing an oxygen mask and his heart rate and blood pressure shown on the ECG monitor were low. A bunch of ECG monitor cords were connected to his body and a needle was stuck in the back of his hand as he received an infusion.

    The man who was usually smiling was lying unconscious on a hospital bed with a pale face. If someone tried to do something against him he wouldn¡¯t have any ability to resist. The more Xiao Lou looked, the more pained he felt and he didn¡¯t know what to say.

    Zhao Sen stood next to him and spoke casually, ¡°It¡¯s already very dark. Dr Xiao, go back to rest first. Once he regains consciousness, I will tell you. The general surgery department is very close. If you don¡¯t feel at ease, you cane and see him again tomorrow morning.¡±

    Xiao Lou had to nod. ¡°Yes, I will trouble you Dr Zhao.¡±

    Back in the VIP ward of general surgery, Xiao Lou¡¯s back was covered in sweat. His shirt was soaked and stuck to his body.

    He had to be in the same room as a perverted murderer and pretend to chat normally with the other person. Xiao Lou got goosebumps all over his body as he recalled the scene of Zhao Sen chopping up the corpse and the weird smile on the monitor. After entering the ward and leaning against the door, he took deep breaths and finally calmed down.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at him. ¡°Are you okay? Come and drink some water.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had rich experience with dealing with such perverted murderers. If it was Yu Hanjiang, he would be able to talk to Zhao Sen with a calm expression for several hours.

    Still, Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t a police officer after all. Considering this, faced with such perversion, Xiao Lou controlled his emotions very well. He came over, took the water handed by Yu Hanjiang and after a few sips, managed to calm down his emotionspletely.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke softly. ¡°You have been busy for nearly 30 hours. Now you should sleep and get a good rest.¡±

    If it wasn¡¯t for Yu Hanjiang¡¯s reminder, Xiao Lou would have forgotten to sleep.

    Yu Hanjiang looked around the room and pointed to a spacious sofa next to him. ¡°Just sleep here. The sofa can be used as a temporary bed. I am next to you so don¡¯t worry. Have a good night¡¯s sleep before you continue to be so busy. Otherwise, your body won¡¯t be able to bear it.¡±

    Xiao Lou had a headache and rubbed his temples. ¡°You are the patient and I am the doctor. How can I make you guard me?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes were gentle. ¡°Don¡¯t mind these things.¡±

    ¡°Actually, I can still hold on¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang cut him off. ¡°I am connected with you and I know how tired you are. Don¡¯t act strong and rest well to be able to deal with whates next.¡±

    Xiao Lou had rescued Yu Hanjiang in a thrilling mannerst night and hadn¡¯t closed his eyes all night. Today, he didn¡¯t rest and ran to several departments in a row to find his teammates. Just now, he had gone to the cardiac surgery ICU to find Shao Qingge¡­ the exhaustion in his body was like a rising tide that surged and screamed wildly in his mind. His eyelids fought all the time, urging him to rest as soon as possible.

    However, he was worried about Shao Qingge. Chief Shao was still in the ICU ward under the care of a murderer. How could Xiao Lou sleep?

    Yu Hanjiang was aware of his concerns and analyzed it. ¡°You just went to visit and showed that you are a good friend of Shao Qingge. If something happens to Shao Qingge then you will definitely pursue it to the end. Therefore, as long as Zhao Sen has the slightest intelligence, he won¡¯t do anything against Chief Shao that would arouse your suspicion. Don¡¯t forget, he might be mentally abnormal but he is extremely meticulous.¡±

    Recall the original 2 of Hearts case. Zhao Sen first sent a message to his wife that he would go attend a medical conference. He bought a ticket and sent a text message to his wife at the hotel to produce a sufficient alibi. Then he returned suddenly, killed his wife and cousin, dealt with the scene, framed his cousin and took away his cousin¡¯s body¡­

    He wasn¡¯t just a perverted murderer but one with a high IQ who used rigorous methods tomit crimes. Shao Qingge had attracted Xiao Lou¡¯s attention. Zhao Sen killing Shao Qingge now would just attract trouble for himself. Of course, these were all theoretical spections. Who knew if Zhao Sen would do the opposite? What if he experienced a sudden psychological abnormality and chopped up Shao Qingge?¡±

    Ye Qi continued, ¡°After I realized that you met Zhao Sen, I asked a nurse to call Ye Qi over from the pediatric ward in the name of investigating the case.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Do you want Ye Qi to listen using the bugs?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Ye Qi is a 7 year old child and calling him over won¡¯t attract suspicion. He can use the teleport card outside the window to ce the monitoring equipment in the ICU ward of the cardiac surgery department. Once Zhao Sen shows any signs of abnormal behavior then you can stop it right away.¡±

    Group Leader Yu was truly careful. Xiao Lou sighed with relief.

    Just then, someone knocked on the door. Xiao Lou opened the door to find the head nurse holding the hand of a cute child. The little boy looked around with dark eyes. Once he saw Xiao Lou, he immediately smiled brightly and called out in a clear voice, ¡°Uncle Xiao.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Ye¡¯s acting skills were bing more superb. He was quite good at pretending to be a child.

    The head nurse told him, ¡°Dr Xiao, Officer Yu asked me to call the pediatrics department and call Ye Qi over to ask something.¡±

    Xiao Lou took Ye Qi¡¯s hand from the head nurse and replied, ¡°Thank you, I¡¯ll take him over.¡±

    The head nurse wasn¡¯t suspicious and left. Xiao Lou closed the door behind him.

    Ye Qi ran up to Yu Hanjiang with a worried expression. ¡°Group Leader Yu, you suddenly called for me. Is there an important matter?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the cute child in front of him for a moment and couldn¡¯t adapt. He couldn¡¯t help touching his nose and exined with a cough, ¡°We found Chief Shao. He is in the ICU of the cardiac surgery department and his attending doctor is Zhao Sen.¡±

    ¡°Zhao Sen?¡± Ye Qi scratched his head doubtfully. He always felt this name was familiar. Soon, a horrifying memory came to mind. Ye Qi¡¯s back stiffened and his face was right. ¡°Is this the perverted murderer from 2 of Hearts, the cardiac surgeon Dr Zhao Sen?!¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Did you perfectly clear 2 of Hearts?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I got an S rating for my first Hearts room. I got the plot card and watched the plot of Zhao Sen killing two people in a row.¡± Ye Qi got goosebumps all over his body. ¡°Why did Zhao Sen appear here? He is also the attending doctor of Chief Shao? My god, will Chief Shao be chopped up by him?! He cut his cousin to pieces at that time!¡± Ye Qi became more panicked as he thought about it. His face turned white and he felt like his heart was being stabbed by a knife at the thought of Shao Qingge in danger.

    ¡°From the point of view of criminal psychology, a cautious murderer like Zhao Sen won¡¯t act against strangers of unknown origin. Even if he does, he will observe for a few days to find the most suitable time. Still, just in case.¡± Yu Hanjiang lowered his voice. ¡°Xiao Ye, go out the windowter and ce the eavesdropping bug in the ICU ward of the cardiac surgery department.¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡± Ye Qi nodded cautiously.

    Xiao Lou got up, walked to the window and pushed it open. He recalled the location of the ICU ward and said, ¡°The cardiac surgery¡¯s ICU ward is on the other side of the building. Xiao Ye, you will need to circle the building¡­ We are on the 7th floor. Will you be okay?¡±

    Ye Qi climbed to the window and looked around. ¡°I see a lot of air conditioners. I can use the teleportation card to move to the air-conditioners. As long as the corner is within 100 meters of the ICU ward, I can just directly throw the bug.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Okay, I will draw you the location of the ward. You be careful.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded. He looked closely at the distribution map drawn by Xiao Lou and moved out the window flexibly.

    The little boy¡¯s figure disappeared from the window in a sh. Xiao Lou watched with worry and found that Ye Qi seemed to be more agile after bing smaller. He was like a bird as he teleported several times with ease. In the blink of an eye, he reached the edge of the hospital building¡¯s side. He crawled over the air conditioner, threw the bug through the window and teleported back.

    The whole process took 10 seconds. Even if someone from the opposite building saw a child floating in the air, they would think they were imagining it.

    Ye Qi came back through the window and Xiao Lou immediately caught him. Yu Hanjiang instructed, ¡°Give me the other end of the bug.¡±

    Ye Qi handed the eavesdropper terminal to Yu Hanjiang and his worried voice trembled. ¡°Nothing will happen to Chief Shao right?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will closely monitor the situation in the ICU. Xiao Ye, go back first. We will gather in the Peach Blossom Spring at midnight.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded before turning to leave.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°Now can you rest assured? Get some sleep first. There are still three hours before the meeting. In addition, give me the Tao Yuanming card activation.¡±

    The card was hidden before activation and couldn¡¯t be given to teammates. However, after activation, it could be used by teammates just like the other end of the bug was given to Yu Hanjiang.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t think much. He activated Tao Yuanming and handed the card to Yu Hanjiang. He needed to take every opportunity to rest and keep up his energy. Three hours was already a luxury for him. Xiao Lou was indeed very tired. Under Yu Hanjiang¡¯s gentle urging, he took off his white coat andy down on the sofa.

    Soon, Xiao Lou fell asleep.

    Yu Hanjiang saw his furrowed brow and felt distressed. This time, their teammates had be old, young, sick, disabled or pregnant. Chief Shao was also unconscious and under the care of a perverted murderer. Xiao Lou was extremely busy and must be physically and mentally exhausted. He needs to sleep well. The team members hadn¡¯t been cured yet while Xiao Lou was exhausted in the hospital.

    Time passed and the agreed upon meeting time at midnight was approaching. Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t wake Xiao Lou. He opened the Peach Blossom Spring himself and summoned their teammates.

    Those who were invited pressured the confirm button. It was found that there were six patients wearing blue and white checkered gowns in the Peach Blossom Spring.

    The 66 year old Old Mo who was lying down in the Peach Blossom Spring after undoing surgery, the 7 year old Ye Qi with a height of one meter, Liu Qiao and Qu Wanyue who could still stand and Long Sen even had his wheelchair brought into this ce¡­

    Seeing their familiar teammates be like this, everyone couldn¡¯t help exchanging looks.

    Yu Hanjiang was calm. He had long seen his teammates through Xiao Lou¡¯s mind.

    ¡°Where is Professor Xiao?¡± Ye Qi was puzzled.

    At almost the same time, Liu Qiao also asked, ¡°Where are Professor Xiao and Chief Shao?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang exined, ¡°Chief Shao is unconscious and in the cardiac surgery department. Xiao Ye set up an eavesdropping device there to monitor Chief Shao¡¯s situation. Xiao Lou hasn¡¯t closed his eyes for almost 30 hours so let him sleep and rest first. Don¡¯t worry, they are fine.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s calm expression was reassuring and the team members didn¡¯t ask much.

    Yu Hanjiang stated lightly, ¡°I called everyone here to introduce you to the case. This time, I encountered a dismembered corpse case. The entire body hasn¡¯t been found yet. The thing I am most worried about is that there will be more people dying in the hospital.¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 310: The Dead

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s words made his teammates feel cold. Then they thought about it again. This was a linked Hearts, Spades, Diamonds and Clubs secret room. Hearts was mainly based on solving cases. Since they were forced into the environment of a ¡®hospital¡¯, there would definitely be a case in the hospital.

    Ye Qi thought of Chief Shao in the ICU and couldn¡¯t help feeling anxious. ¡°Will Chief Shao have an ident? He is under Zhao Sen¡¯s care and I can¡¯t rest assured! Zhao Sen is a murderer! Will the case in the hospital have something to do with Zhao Sen?¡±

    The team members didn¡¯t react at first to the name Zhao Sen until Liu Qiao wondered with a nk expression, ¡°Zhao Sen? The one who killed two people in 2 of Hearts Rose Funeral?¡±

    Liu Qiao had perfectly cleared 2 of Hearts and gotten the plot card. However, Qu Wanyue, Long Sen and Old Mo hadn¡¯t perfectly cleared 2 of Hearts. They had some impression of the name Zhao Sen but they didn¡¯t know he killed two people.

    Long Sen couldn¡¯t help feeling curious. ¡°Killed two people? Didn¡¯t Zhao Sen just kill his wife?¡±

    Old Mo added, ¡°I remember that too. He ced his wife on a bed covered with roses.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang saw the confused eyes of his teammates and simply activated the Rose Funeral Plot Card, ying it for everyone to see. The full murder scene was projected on a big screen. The faces of the group became uglier when they saw Zhao Sen slowly chopping up his cousin¡¯s body.

    Qu Wanyue felt nauseous and resisted the urge to vomit. She spoke with a pale face. ¡°It turns out there is such a hidden plot¡­ Xiao Ye just said that Zhao Sen is in the hospital now? What does it mean that Chief Shao is under his care?¡±

    ¡°Chief Shao is unconscious and living in the ICU of the cardiac surgery department. Zhao Sen is the doctor in charge of him.¡± Ye Qi¡¯s fists clenched and his heart hung in the air like it was hung by a rope. He thought of Shao Qingge lying in bed under Dr Zhao Sen¡¯s care and immediately wished to go through the window and take Chief Shao away by teleportation.

    The other team members looked nervous hearing Ye Qi¡¯s words. Qu Wanyue nced at Yu Hanjiang anxiously. ¡°Doesn¡¯t this mean Chief Shaopletely doesn¡¯t have the ability to resist?¡±

    Long Sen was also worried. ¡°He is also unconscious. Even if he has the Bug King card, it can¡¯t be used.¡±

    ¡°First of all, don¡¯t panic.¡± Yu Hanjiang interrupted everyone¡¯s anxiousness and remained calm. ¡°Zhao Sen might be the murderer in 2 of Hearts but he isn¡¯t necessarily the murderer in this secret room. Don¡¯t forget, he killed his wife and cousin in 2 of Hearts meticulously and left no evidence. It isn¡¯t in line with his style to rashly kill people in the hospital.¡±

    ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you mean that Zhao Sen is just an interference item? He is ced here deliberately to make us panic?¡± Long Sen was nervous.

    ¡°It is very likely that this is the case.¡± Yu Hanjiang handed the summarized case information to his teammates. ¡°Look at this first.¡±

    ¡°The deceased is Cheng Shaoyu and his body parts haven¡¯t all been found yet. The prime suspect is his brother Cheng Shaofeng who is now missing?¡± Liu Qiao couldn¡¯t help frowning. ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you think the case investigated by the police is rted to the hospital?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression was determined. ¡°I was injured and sent to the emergency department of this hospital due to this case. If they just wanted me to be admitted to hospital then they could arrange something like a car ident or falling from a building. They could even arrange direct hospitalization like the rest of you instead of giving me a gunshot wound and such detailed case information.¡±

    ¡°Guns in this world should be regted and most people won¡¯t have guns right?¡± Old Mo thoughtfully touched his chin and spoke in an old, hoarse voice. ¡°Since Group Leader Yu is hospitalized with a gunshot wound and has such detailed case information, this case is definitely linked to the hospital. A dismembered corpse case and a hospital¡­ will the body parts of the deceased be hidden here?¡±

    ¡°Should we go to the hospital morgue to find the body parts?¡± Ye Qi suddenly interjected. Since he became a child, his height was only up to everyone¡¯s waist and it was easy to ignore his existence when everyone was discussing.

    Their expressions changed again when they heard Xiao Ye¡¯s words.

    ¡°Going to the morgue to find body parts?¡± Qu Wanyue¡¯s stomach churned. She was prone to nausea and vomiting due to her forced pregnancy and the topic of dismembered corpses discussed today was really unfriendly to pregnant women. Her face shifted between pale white and green.

    ¡°Perhaps the morgue is haunted?¡± Ye Qi guessed.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Ye Qi¡¯s excessive imagination made Yu Hanjiang frown. ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense. How can a haunted morgue appear? This isn¡¯t a supernatural world.¡±

    ¡°Cough.¡± Ye Qi lowered his head in an embarrassed manner. ¡°I was just making a guess.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t make wild guesses.¡± Yu Hanjiang¡¯s cool eyes swept over his teammates. ¡°Ye Qi is right about one thing. The morgue is most likely to be rted to the dismembered corpse. Since we are at the hospital and the dismembered case I¡¯m investigating hasn¡¯t had all the body parts found yet, perhaps we can go to the morgue to find clues.¡±

    A night visit to the morgue sounded thrilling. This stimting activity wasn¡¯t suitable for the participation of children, pregnant women, the disabled or the elderly.

    Liu Qiao nced at her teammates and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡± She just had a blood disease and wasn¡¯t restricted in her movements. Moreover, she was a medical student and wasn¡¯t afraid of the morgue¡¯s environment.

    Yu Hanjiang had always known that Xiao Liu was very bold and calm. She took the initiative to volunteer and he let go of his worries. ¡°Okay, Xiao Liu. Go back to sleep and keep your spirits up. Tomorrow, you will go to the morgue to look for clues with Xiao Lou¡­¡±

    Then he heard a familiar, gentle voice in his ears. ¡°Don¡¯t go tomorrow, go tonight.¡±

    Everyone looked back to see Xiao Lou wearing ck pants and white shirt. Although he was thin, he was slender and well-proportioned. He was the only normal one among the group of old, young, sick, disabled or pregnant teammates. It was just that it was hard to conceal the tiredness on his face. The dark circles under his eyes were obvious and he didn¡¯t seem to be in good spirits.

    Seeing him appear, Yu Hanjiang strode up to him and asked softly, ¡°Why did you wake up?¡±

    Xiao Lou stared at the other person in a puzzled manner. ¡°I also want to ask you something. Why didn¡¯t you call me for the meeting?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang exined. ¡°You haven¡¯t rested for 30 hours and your body is overworked. I wanted you to have a good night¡¯s sleep so I didn¡¯t call you. In any case, you have already seen the information about the case. It doesn¡¯t matter if I arrange the tasks for everyone.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart warmed and he spoke softly, ¡°I¡¯m just a little tired but it doesn¡¯t matter. At least I can move freely. Inparison, everyone who has a variety of illnesses has it harder. You don¡¯t need to give me special treatment.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang understood Xiao Lou¡¯s meaning and nodded. ¡°Yes, I will call you for future meetings.¡±

    The others couldn¡¯t hear them clearly when they were talking.

    Even so, everyone was relieved by Xiao Lou¡¯s presence. After experiencing many secret rooms, they all felt that Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were perfect partners. If both people were present then everyone¡¯s odds of winning would increase a lot.

    Xiao Lou walked to his teammates and asked in a concerned manner, ¡°Are you okay? You are all sick. If you feel ufortable then you should see a doctor right away.¡±

    Old Mo smiled bitterly. ¡°I might¡¯ve be an old man but my body feels okay. There is just some pain from the surgery and I can¡¯t eat these days. I can only rely on the nutritional liquid IVs.¡±

    Long Sen continued, ¡°Professor Xiao, don¡¯t worry. I feel fine apart from having to move around in a wheelchair.¡±

    Qu Wanyue, Liu Qiao and Ye Qi also said there were no major problems.

    Xiao Lou rxed and nced at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Do you think there will be clues in the morgue?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°The torso of the deceased Cheng Shaoyu hasn¡¯t been found and the most suspicious one, Cheng Shaofeng has disappeared. During my investigation of Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s vi, I was shot. The person who shot me wasn¡¯t Cheng Shaofeng.¡±

    He paused and exined his inference to his teammates carefully. ¡°The heir of the Cheng family¡¯s assets hasn¡¯t been determined yet. Cheng Shaoyu and Cheng Shaofeng are half brothers and have a conflict of interest. So the moment we found out that the deceased was Cheng Shaoyu, we locked onto his younger brother as a suspect and came to investigate.¡±

    ¡°His brother is dead. If Cheng Shaofeng really killed Cheng Shaoyu then he will be the only heir to the Cheng family after his father dies. The smartest thing he can do is clear his suspicion, keep his inheritance rights and separate himself from the murder of his brother not shooting the police officer who came to investigate. Besides, our investigation was kept confidential and no one knew in advance that I would go to Cheng Shaofeng.¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help thinking of the thrilling moment when he rescued Yu Hanjiang and he couldn¡¯t help sweating. ¡°You mean that it isn¡¯t Cheng Shaofeng who shot you but someone who wanted to kill Cheng Shaofeng? They happened to meet you so they simply took care of you?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, Cheng Shaofeng shouldn¡¯t shoot just because he saw the police. I had no evidence at the time and just listed him as a suspect for a preliminary investigation. Shooting me would be like digging his own grave which doesn¡¯t fit his motive for murder. I¡¯m more inclined to believe that Cheng Shaofeng isn¡¯t the one who killed his brother or shot me.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took out Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s personal profile and handed it to everyone. ¡°There is another reason why I want to check the hospital¡¯s morgue. This Cheng Shaofeng once studied in medical school and got a degree at the age of 24. It is only after graduating that he decided to abandon the medical field to be a businessman.¡±

    ¡°Abandoned the medical field to be a businessman?¡± Ye Qi¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°He used to study medicine so his ssmates should be working in the hospital now? Perhaps Zhao Sen knows him. Then Zhao Sen isn¡¯t a murderer in this case but a witness?¡±

    Although such a change in identity was absurd, Ye Qi¡¯s spection wasn¡¯t impossible. After all, Zhao Sen¡¯s murder was in the second level. This was the 10th level and Zhao Sen was arranged in front of everyone to create panic. As a result, Zhao Sen became a witness instead?

    It seemed that the Hearts case this time was inextricably linked to the hospital. Xiao Lou thought of this and immediately made a decision. ¡°Go back to your rooms first. Liu Qiao and I will go to the morgue.¡±

    Ye Qi raised his hand. ¡°I also want to go. I have no restrictions in my movements.

    Xiao Lou rationally stopped him. ¡°Your pneumonia hasn¡¯t healed and it will be difficult for you to control your cough. In addition, it will be hard to exin why a child is in the morgue. Liu Qiao and I will go.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang originally nned it this way and he nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°Listen to Xiao Lou¡¯s arrangements. You will have other tasks. It is 12:30 in the morning. You should go back and have a good night¡¯s sleep to keep up your energy. Once you wake up tomorrow morning, find a way to write down the information of all the medical staff and patients in your ward. You should pay close attention to those who are seriously ill.¡± Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes shed with a cold light and his voice was deep. ¡°Tell Xiao Lou the moment anyone in your ward dies.¡±

    Everyone nodded to express their understanding.

    Xiao Lou asked Yu Hanjiang to take everyone out of the Peach Blossom Spring.

    The entrance of the Peach Blossom Spring was the VIP ward on the 7th floor. Therefore, everyone came to the ward where Yu Hanjiang was located aftering out of the Peach Blossom Spring. This card allowed for a collective summoning and teleportation but the disadvantage was that it couldn¡¯t send everyone back to their positions before the summoning.

    At this time, all the wards were closed. Ye Qi and Qu Wanyue could use cards to go out the window and return to their rooms. Long Sen and Old Mo¡¯s movements were inconvenient and it was difficult for them to go back alone. Regarding this, Xiao Lou often used the Tao Yuanming card so he had long thought of a way.

    He went to the duty room to find a clean nurse¡¯s uniform for Liu Qiao to put on. Then he put on his white coat, had Old Mo lie on a spare hospital bed and the two of them calmly sent Old Mo back to the endocrine department. Long Sen followed in his wheelchair.

    Xiao Lou was the chief resident so his ess card meant they were unimpeded the entire way. It was normal for doctors and nurses to send patients back at night. If the nurse on duty in the ward expressed doubt, Xiao Lou said he was the chief resident of the general surgery department and took the patient to do some data registration.

    The identity of chief resident could indeed provide a lot of convenience for his teammates. After sending back Old Mo and Long Sen, Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao took the elevator downstairs to the morgue. The morgue of the hospital was far from the inpatient building.

    It was one in the morning and the road was deserted. They asionally encountered medical staffing and going but there were no doubts after seeing Xiao Lou¡¯s white coat and Liu Qiao¡¯s nurse uniform.

    The two of them moved quickly and soon came to the door of the morgue. The silver metal door isted another world. Inside this door were all dead bodies.

    Xiao Lou asked Liu Qiao softly, ¡°Are you afraid?¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s expression was calm. ¡°What is there to be afraid of the dead? Living psychopaths are more terrible.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This girl was indeed a medical student. She could speak such calm words at the door of the morgue. Xiao Lou gave Liu Qiao a thumbs up with a smile and stepped forward to open the door of the morgue.

    There was a st of cold air that caused the two of them to shiver at the same time.

    Liu Qiao followed Xiao Lou in without changing her expression. Xiao Lou lowered his voice. ¡°Look separately.¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 311: Exploring the Morgue at Night

    The hospital morgue usually contained the corpses of patients who weren¡¯t imed by their families. For example, if the family members worked in other ces and the patients died in the hospital in an unexpected emergency, the corpses would be temporarily stored in the morgue until the families signed to im them. Some family members left the corpses in the hospital for a day or two in order to prepare for the funeral and then picked them up when the funeral home was arranged.

    The corpses here usually weren¡¯t stored for long periods of time. It was just a temporary transit station.

    The air-conditioning in the morgue was fully on. The light was dim and the environment was a bit gloomy but in fact, the number of corpses wasn¡¯t very high.

    The rows ofrge refrigerated drawers here were like cargo containers. On the outside of each freezer drawer was a number te with the names of the deceased. Xiao Lou quickly scanned the morgue and found there were only five drawers with names on them.

    They were numbers 5, 7, 11, 15 and 17. The other drawers with numbers on them had no name information on the outside. Xiao Lou tried to open one and found it was empty. It seemed that only those five drawers were currently being used.

    Starting from number 5, Xiao Lou opened all five drawers. The people inside were four elderly people and one young man. Their faces weren¡¯t familiar and there were no traces of dismemberment.

    Liu Qiao looked up and asked Xiao Lou, ¡°Professor Xiao, have these five corpses been murdered?¡± It was no wonder she was suspicious. After all, this secret room contained a Hearts element. The first reaction when seeing a corpse was probably that they had been murdered.

    She was dressed as a nurse and wore a mask, revealing only a pair of bright eyes.

    Most people who came to the morgue at night and saw so many corpses might be scared to death. However, Liu Qiao¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t show the slightest fear. She was calm like she was looking at an exhibit in a museum.

    Xiao Lou appreciated Liu Qiao¡¯sposure. After all, ¡®hauntings¡¯ were just part of TV dramas. They were materialists who learned about the human body and obtained the truth of a case by dissecting cadavers. They didn¡¯t do anything wrong and didn¡¯t need to worry about ¡®fierce ghosts¡¯.

    Xiao Lou put on sterile gloves and whispered to Liu Qiao, ¡°Your suspicions are reasonable. Since there are corpses, I will check their cause of death. You will be my assistant.¡±

    Liu Qiao simply nodded and stood next to Xiao Lou. ¡°Are you going to do an autopsy?¡±

    ¡°Not for the time being. If I find anything suspicious then I¡¯ll talk about it.¡± Xiao Lou gently lifted the white cloth covering a corpse. ¡°I will first do a check to confirm the cause of death and the approximate time of death. Xiao Liu, remove all the white cloths from the bodies.¡±

    In the hospital, every suspicious point must be investigated. Xiao Lou believed in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s instinct that the closest connection to the dismembered body was the morgue. Even if the dismembered body parts couldn¡¯t be found in the morgue, the morgue must contain a key clue and he shouldn¡¯t let it go.

    In the quiet morguete at night.

    Liu Qiao assisted Xiao Lou in turning over the corpses. Xiao Lou wore gloves and checked their pupils, muscle and skin spots while softly dictating to Liu Qiao and Yu Hanjiang in his mind.

    ¡°A 60 year old woman. There are traces of a pacemaker installed on the side of her chest. Judging from the condition of the corpse, the time of death has exceeded 48 hours. The cause of death is likely to be heart failure.¡±

    ¡°An older man over 80 years old with severe skin jaundice. There are no surgical traces on his body. He should be hospitalized for advanced liver cancer. This critical condition led to death and the time of death is less than 24 hours.¡±

    He reported it one by one and Yu Hanjiang quickly recorded it.

    They reached thest body, that of the young man. The moment Liu Qiao lifted the white cloth covering the corpse, Xiao Lou frowned suspiciously. ¡°There are two surgical wounds on the deceased¡¯s body.¡±

    Xiao Lou gently touched the two surgical scars with his gloved hands. ¡°The deceased is a young man around 30 years old. He has old surgical scars on his right lower abdomen and right upper abdomen. Seeing the healing of the wound, the operation should¡¯ve been done over a year ago. Based on what I can see, the surgical incision on the right lower abdomen is close to the iliac bone and can be an appendectomy. For the upper right abdomen, the liver and galldder are nearby.¡±

    ¡°Two surgical scars?¡± Yu Hanjiang was immediately alert. ¡°Can it be confirmed by autopsy?¡±

    ¡°The wounds have healed. If I cut it open again, it will leave obvious stitches and cause unnecessary trouble. Xiao Liu and I sneaked in and I don¡¯t dare risk dissecting it.¡± Xiao Lou paused before adding, ¡°I¡¯ll check again. Maybe there are other clues.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Yu Hanjiang sat up in the hospital bed, holding the notebook in his hand while whispering, ¡°Pay attention to safety.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we have the invisibility cloaks and can go invisible.¡± Xiao Lou looked at Liu Qiao. ¡°Xiao Liu, help me ce the corpse to the left lying position.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Liu Qiao assisted Xiao Lou and turned the corpse sideways. Xiao Lou carefully inspected the corpse and a puzzled expression soon appeared on his face.

    Liu Qiao was worried. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°¡­On the man¡¯s right side, there are only 11 ribs.¡± Xiao Lou concluded.

    ¡°Normally there should be 12 ribs right?¡± Liu Qiao might be a freshman but she had basic anatomical knowledge.

    ¡°Turn to the left again.¡± Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao worked together to turn the body over. After another careful examination, Xiao Lou spoke in a deep voice. ¡°There are 12 ribs on the left and 11 ribs on the right. Look here.¡±

    ¡°Is it a surgical trace?¡± Liu Qiao¡¯s eyes widened slightly. She followed Xiao Lou¡¯s finger and found a shallow trace on the right rear of the deceased. It had fused with the surrounding skin for too long. If Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t careful enough then it would¡¯ve been missed.

    ¡°This surgery uses a special material suture of stic surgery also known as cosmetic suture. The scar left after the wound healed is shallow.¡± Xiao Lou had seen this type of suture before. Along with the missing right rib, he soon thought of something. ¡°The deceased doesn¡¯t have congenital rib loss. The 12th rib on his right side was artificially removed.¡±

    ¡°Could it be that there was a tumor on the rib and it had to be cut off?¡±

    ¡°Not necessarily.¡± Xiao Lou looked serious as he drew a long along the shallow surgical trace with his finger. He frowned lightly. ¡°Based on the position of the incision, the bigger possibility is kidney removal.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Liu Qiao was taken aback when she heard Xiao Lou¡¯s spection and immediately looked down at the male corpse in front of her.

    ¡°Many nephrectomies are performed in ateral position and incisions are made diagonally near the 12th rib. Since the ribs at the back of the person blocks the kidney, in order to not be blocked during the operation, the chief surgeon will often remove the 12th rib. Then they would separate and ligate the kidney on the right side,pletely removing it from the human body.¡± Xiao Lou exined to Liu Qiao and Yu Hanjiang in a low voice.

    ¡°It seems the deceased had his kidney removed as well as his rib?¡± Yu Hanjiang¡¯s low voice was heard. ¡°Is it necessary to remove it due to kidney cancer or was a healthy kidney removed¡­ to sell to the ck market? Is it an organ smuggling case?!¡±

    ¡°I prefer thetter. His surgical wound is very strange¡­¡±

    Before he finished speaking, there was the sound of footsteps heading to the door. They were male leather shoes stepping on the floor. Xiao Lou¡¯s face changed abruptly and he immediately had Liu Qiao hold the corpse. He took off his gloves and took a few photos with his mobile phone. The two of them moved at a rapid speed and within 10 seconds, the corpse was covered in a white corpse and the five bodies pushed back into the drawers.

    ¡°Invisibility!¡± Xiao Lou took out the invisibility cloak and disappeared. Liu Qiao also quickly wrapped herself in the clock.

    The moment the two of them hid in the cloak, there was the sound of the morgue door opening. A tall man walked in. He wore a neatly ironed white coat, white clothes and silver-rimmed sses that reflected a cold light under the illumination of the incandescent light in the morgue.

    It was Zhao Sen!

    The murderer had appeared in front of them. Recalling the plot that she had just watched in the Peach Blossom Spring, Liu Qiao¡¯s pupils shrank and her body immediately stiffened. She really wasn¡¯t afraid of the dead but she was afraid of perverted living people! Now a perverted person was in front of her.

    Xiao Lou felt sweat dripping down his back.

    In the morguete at night, Zhao Sen walked in alone. Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao might be in an invisible state and couldn¡¯t be discovered by him but when the man looked around coldly with sharp eyes, Xiao Lou still felt like a snake was staring at him.

    Zhao Sen slowly made a circle in the morgue. Then he suddenly turned to look at Xiao Lou¡¯s location and headed toward where the two of them were standing invisibly. Xiao Lou was numb and he held his breath, not daring to make any sound. Liu Qiao also felt frozen. Her heart was beating violently but her breathing was about to stop. The two of them clenched their fists nervously and held their breaths.

    Zhao Sen¡¯s face was only 10 centimeters away from Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou¡¯s mind was nk and he didn¡¯t dare to move. Yu Hanjiang felt Xiao Lou¡¯s nervousness and immediately said, ¡°The existence of the Peach Blossom Spring is three hours. I will send you there straight away!¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t want to face this perverted person but his sense of reason told him that he couldn¡¯t back down. He continued to maintain the motionless posture and held his breath while speaking to Yu Hanjiang in his mind, ¡°It¡¯s fine. Zhao Sen can¡¯t see me. He ran to the morgue in the middle of the night for a reason. I want to see what he is going to do.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang warned, ¡°If something is wrong then go right away. I¡¯ll meet you here.¡±

    The full level Peach Blossom Spring could exist for three hours. It was why Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao dared to break into the morgue at night. If there was trouble then the two people could be transmitted back in an instant.

    It was scary to have Zhao Sen in front of the two of them, but Xiao Lou quickly calmed down. He wanted to see what Zhao Sen was doing here.

    Zhao Sen¡¯s face stopped when he was 10cm away from Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou could almost feel his perverted breath. Just as Xiao Lou was holding his breath for nearly half a minute, Zhao Sen whispered, ¡°I thought there were people in here. It seems I am thinking too much. How can the morgue be haunted? That is something that only happens in horror movies.¡±

    He turned and left. Xiao Lou¡¯s heartbeat was almost out of control before it calmed down a bit. After all, the murderer¡¯s erged face was right in front of him! The psychological and visual impact was even scarier than a horror movie!

    Xiao Lou stared at Zhao Sen¡¯s back. Zhao Sen turned and went to the rightmost corner of the morgue. The drawers there only had number tes and no names. Zhao Sen stopped there. Then he gently pulled open a freezer and looked inside.

    Since Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao¡¯s hiding location was far away from Zhao Sen¡¯s current position, the two of them didn¡¯t dare walk over in case they made a sound. Therefore, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t see precisely what was in the drawer of the freezer. Still, the thing hidden in the morgue must be a corpse.

    The moment Zhao Sen saw the corpse in the freezer, a weird smile appeared on his face. He closed the freezer after one nce, turned off the light in the morgue and left while locking the door of the morgue.

    Zhao Sen left and the morgue became pitch ck. Xiao Lou took a deep breath to calm his heartbeat. He took off the invisibility cloak and whispered in Liu Qiao¡¯s ear. ¡°That nameless drawer actually has someone.¡±

    This was worthy of a difficult secret room. Not only did they have to collect clues in the morgue at night but hidden clues were also set up!

    There were four walls of freezers and only five clearly had the names of people. Initial checking would make people subconsciously think that there were only corpses in the drawer where names were written while those that were nk were empty.

    Xiao Lou had opened two unnamed drawers just now and checked them. He confirmed they were empty and didn¡¯t waste time going through the empty drawers one by one. Who would¡¯ve thought there would be a body in a drawer in the corner?!

    Xiao Lou quickly walked to the ce where Zhao Sen had been. The lights of the morgue were turned off by Zhao Sen and Xiao Lou didn¡¯t dare turn on the lights in case Zhao Sen came back. He had to turn on his phone.

    Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao opened the drawer under the faint light of the mobile phone screen. In the drawer was a ck stic garbage bag. They opened the stic bag and found¡­

    There was only a head.

    The head was cut off and there wasn¡¯t even an extra blood vessel attached to the skin of the neck. The eyes on the head were so wide that they were about to protrude from the eye sockets. The horrified expression on the face seemed to be a fixed on it.

    The light of the mobile phone was weak. In the dark morgue, they suddenly saw a head with wide eyes. This image was too shocking and the two of them couldn¡¯t help gasping.

    Liu Qiao¡¯s face was white. ¡°This person looks familiar?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s teeth were slightly trembling and he had to take a deep breath to find his voice. ¡°Yes¡­ in 2 of Hearts, the corpse who was taken away after being chopped up by Zhao Sen. It is his cousin, He Yongqiang.¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 312: The Dead

    In order to avoid running into Zhao Sen on the way back, Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao quickly checked the remaining drawers in the morgue and then immediately returned via the Peach Blossom Spring.

    The entrance of the Peach Blossom Spring was the VIP ward of the general surgery department. At this time, there was only Yu Hanjiang in the ward. The lights in the entire area were turned off. Yu Hanjiang closed the curtains and turned on the shlight of his mobile phone.

    Liu Qiao¡¯s face was pale and she leaned against the wall to breathe deeply after entering the room. even if she was bold and not afraid of corpses, the scene just now had greatly stimted her. Her mind was still repeatedly ying back the ck garbage bag containing a human head.

    Xiao Lou also wasn¡¯t well. Zhao Sen¡¯s face had been just 10 centimeters away from him and at that moment, he had felt like his heart was going to stop beating. Seeing the two pale people, Yu Hanjiang was concerned. ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Xiao Lou exhaled slightly, calmed his mind and looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Do you know what happened just now?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I could feel it through the mind connection.¡± Yu Hanjiang grabbed some bottles of mineral water from the bedside table and handed it to them to drink. Liu Qiao opened the bottle cap forcefully with trembling fingers, raised her head and drank several sips of water. Then she spoke in a hoarse voice, ¡°Unexpectedly, Zhao Sen hid the body of his cousin at the hospital morgue.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect¡­¡± Xiao Lou rubbed his head painfully. ¡°At that time when the story of 2 of Hearts was reyed, Zhao Sen took the body of his cousin away in a suitcase and I thought he would throw it into the wilderness or something.¡±

    ¡°Sit down and talk.¡± Yu Hanjiang motioned for the two of them to sit on the sofa. He leaned against the bed and calmly analyzed it. ¡°For Zhao Sen, the environment of the hospital is the most familiar to him. Most people don¡¯t go to the morgue in an idle manner. If he hides his cousin¡¯s head in the morgue then he can check it at any time.¡±

    ¡°Yes, the body might be found if it is in the wilderness. At least in the hospital, it is under his control.¡± Xiao Lou opened the water bottle and took two sips. Yu Hanjiang was by his side so his emotions gradually calmed down. In fact, Zhao Sen¡¯s psychological perversion could be seen when he first entered the Hearts secret room.

    ¡°Remember, after Zhao Sen killed his wife, he put his wife¡¯s body on a bed of roses like it was a piece of art.¡± Xiao Lou turned to look at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°The first time I entered the 2 of Hearts secret room, I was startled by the scene. It was the first time I had gone to the crime scene.¡±

    ¡°Me too. The smell of roses was mixed with the smell of the corpse and I almost vomited on the spot. It was only after seeing the countdown that I forced myself to collect clues¡­¡± Liu Qiao recalled the scene and couldn¡¯t help frowning. ¡°So it seems that from the beginning, Zhao Sen likes making the corpses into specimens?¡±

    ¡°Yes, the rose bed looks like a human specimen. The cutting surface of He Yongqiang¡¯s head that we just found in the morgue is also very neat. For Zhao Sen, it is a work of art.¡± Xiao Lou said with a wry smile.

    ¡°Perhaps he left his cousin¡¯s head in the morgue formemoration. When he is free, he will go to the morgue to see his masterpiece.¡± Yu Hanjiang added calmly.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao had nothing to say.

    Normal people simply couldn¡¯t understand Zhao Sen¡¯s thinking. Most murderers would inevitably be scared after killing people. The further the corpse is thrown, the better. Yet Zhao Sen kept the corpse¡¯s head as a specimen by his side. He also went to visit it from time to time. It was really abnormal!

    Liu Qiao got goosebumps all over her body. She took a deep breath and quickly changed the subject. ¡°By the way Professor Xiao, do you think the other suspicious body in the morgue has something to do with Zhao Sen?¡±

    ¡°Probably not.¡± Xiao Lou frowned and carefully analyzed it. ¡°Zhao Sen is a doctor who specializes in heart surgery. The suspicious corpse we found had a kidney removal. The higher the level of the doctor, the more detailed the division of specialties. I personally think that kidney surgery has nothing to do with Zhao Sen.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I also think that Zhao Sen is just an interference item to create panic. There should be someone else in the hospital case.¡± Yu Hanjiang agreed with Xiao Lou¡¯s inference. Xiao Lou took out his mobile phone and handed it to Yu Hanjiang. Just before Zhao Sen walked into the morgue, he had taken a few photos of the scars on the body.

    Yu Hanjiang took a look. The old surgical scars on the upper right abdomen and lower right abdomen were very obvious and ugly. The scar on the back was very shallow and easy to miss if one didn¡¯t look closely. The scar had almost faded.

    ¡°Is it due to the long time between operations?¡±

    ¡°The stitches are different.¡± Xiao Lou exined. ¡°Ordinary surgical sutures heal quickly but they need to be removed and the scars are more obvious. There is also a thinner thread normally used in stic surgery. After healing, the scar will be rtively shallow. The sutures for the front are different from the back. The stitching method is also obviously not from the same doctor.¡±

    ¡°It seems he had three surgeries?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it isn¡¯t umon for patients to undergo three or four operations in the hospital but this person¡¯s surgical wound isn¡¯t normal. Based on the location of the wound and the missing rib, it can be inferred that he underwent a kidney-rted surgery. As for the type of surgery, I didn¡¯t have time to dissect the corpse and can¡¯t judge yet.¡± Xiao Lou paused. ¡°I want to check his case file. There might be clues.¡±

    ¡°Professor Xiao, I¡¯ll check it with you.¡± Liu Qiao took the initiative to volunteer.

    ¡°It is 2 in the morning. Xiao Liu, you go back to bed first.¡± Xiao Lou looked gently at Liu Qiao.

    An 18 year old girl followed Xiao Lou to the morgue in the middle of the night and was shocked by the sudden appearance of Zhao Sen and the severed head. She was also sick and severely anemic, so Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t bear to let her continue to follow him.

    ¡°Go back, we are here.¡± Yu Hanjiang turned toward Liu Qiao. ¡°Besides, you have been away from your ward for too long. If you are found by the doctor on duty then it is easy to arouse suspicions.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao urged her to go back so Liu Qiao didn¡¯t insist. She took off the nurse¡¯s uniform, put on the blue and white checkered gown and opened the window while using the Light as a Swallow card.

    Xiao Lou returned to the duty room and carried hisptop to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ward to check the information together. The name of the male deceased was Liu Renyuan. After Xiao Lou opened the office software of the hospital and entered the name ¡®Liu Renyuan¡¯, he quickly found the medical record.

    Xiao Lou checked it while reading the medical record to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Patient Liu Renyuan, male, 35 years old. He had an appendectomy for acute appendicitis three years ago. He was admitted in Marchst year to the department of hepatobiliary surgery for ¡®galldder stones¡¯ and went through a cholecystectomy. The chiefints when being admitted this time were waist pain, loss of appetite, fatigue and headache. He was admitted to the nephrology ward¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help wondering when he heard this. ¡°Thest time he was hospitalized was half a month ago. He lived in the nephrology department and the cause of death was acute renal failure. There are no kidney rted surgeries in his records.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang slightly raised his eyebrow. ¡°His kidney surgery wasn¡¯t done in this hospital?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at the case file again suspiciously. ¡°Once a doctor examines the body then the surgical scar shouldn¡¯t be missed. If he had surgery in the past then it will be written in the medical record. However, it isn¡¯t written in his case file. Judging from the healing of the surgical scar, the operation time should be more than a year ago.¡±

    If the kidney surgery was done before admission then the ¡®past history¡¯ column would definitely have something like ¡®Patient X in the year X and month X had XX surgery at XX hospital¡¯ written. The physical examination would also indicate ¡®patient has a 10cm surgical scar at the right back 12th rib.¡¯ This was the standard for writing medical records. Yet only the two surgical scars in the front were written and there was no exnation for the scar on the back.

    Yu Hanjiang asked with a calm face, ¡°Could it be that his surgery record was overlooked?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°The anesthesiologist, the surgeon, the first assistant, the second assistant, the head nurse in the operating room, the instrument nurse, the hand washing nurse¡­ each operation requires a lot of medical staff to work together. Moreover, after the patientes back from the operation, there is still a period of perioperative care. There are at least 10 medical and nursing staff involved in a surgery. It is too much work to erase all these traces.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was thoughtful. ¡°Do you think it is a case where the crime ismitted jointly in the hospital?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Xiao Lou¡¯s expression wasplicated. ¡°If it is a joint crime case within the hospital and his operation records are cleared, it will definitely involve the hospital¡¯s leaders and senior management. Otherwise, it would be difficult to seal up with so many people.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang gently pressed a hand to his temple. If a teammitted this crime then the investigation would beplicated. The suspects would shield each other and give each other alibis. This would cause greater difficulties to the investigation and collection of evidence. However, his spection wasn¡¯t necessarily correct. After all, there were too few clues from the body. This wasn¡¯t the first time that a mistake in reasoning was made at the beginning of a Hearts secret room. It was impossible to jump to a conclusion just yet.

    Liu Renyuan¡¯s surgical scar was really strange. There were no relevant records, it was as if it had appeared out of thin air. As for whether his kidney was really gone or not, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t confirm because there was no autopsy.

    ¡°Let¡¯s rest first. Tomorrow we will check with the doctor who received him.¡± Yu Hanjiang spoke softly.

    ¡°How is the situation with Chief Shao?¡± Xiao Lou walked to the bed and asked in a worried manner. ¡°Is there anything unusual reported from the bug?¡±

    ¡°Just now, I heard Zhao Sen enter the ICU and tell the nurse to change the medicine at Chief Shao¡¯s bedside. Then he went out and didn¡¯te in again.¡± Yu Hanjiang gently touched the back of Xiao Lou¡¯s hand. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will keep paying attention to Chief Shao. You go to sleep first and we will continue this tomorrow morning.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve just had surgery and your wound isn¡¯t well.¡± Xiao Lou pointed to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s lower right abdomen and spoke seriously. ¡°You are the patient. Don¡¯t always push the doctor to rest. You should sleep.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Yu Hanjiang had forgotten that he was a patient. The patient asked the doctor to rest, it really seemed like their identities were reversed. Yu Hanjiang saw Xiao Lou¡¯s serious expression and couldn¡¯t help smiling slightly as he spoke softly, ¡°Okay, Dr Xiao. We should both rest.¡±

    ¡°Yes, a little sleep can raise your spirits.¡± XIao Lou turned to sleep on the sofa, always feeling uneasy.

    What if Yu Hanjiang¡¯s spection was true?

    The staff of the hospital jointlymitted the crime with many doctors and nurses involved in organ trafficking. Once the patients staying in the hospital got off the operating table, they unknowingly lost a kidney and their operating record was deliberately erased¡­

    Or perhaps the patient knew and secretly signed an agreement to sell their organ to a person in need. The hospital just acted as an intermediary agency to privately sell organs. In either case, it was a death hospital.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t sleep well all night. In his dreams, he saw Zhao Sen staring at him coldly and He Yongqiang¡¯s cut-off head rolling around the drawer of the morgue. He dreamed that someone was holding a bloody scalpel and secretly cutting out his organs.

    Xiao Lou was covered with sweat when he woke up in the morning.

    8 a.m. was the time for the morning rounds. Xiao Lou followed the professors to check the general surgery ward and paid special attention to Officer Yu Hanjiang who was hospitalized for work-rted injuries. After checking the rooms, it was already 9:30. Xiao Lou was about to go to the other wards to see his teammates when his phone rang.

    The caller ID was an unfamiliar number. Xiao Lou was the chief resident of the general surgery department. The entire hospital had his on-duty number. It was probably a department calling for a consultation. Xiao Lou walked to a quiet corner and answered the phone. ¡°Hello.¡±

    To his surprise, Long Sen¡¯s eager voice entered his ears. ¡°Professor Xiao, a person died early in the morning in my orthopedic surgery ward. In the room right next to mine! The victim is a 35 year old man. His lumbar spine recement surgery was just finished yesterday and he needed to be rescued this morning. The doctors tried their best but the rescue was ineffective. They dered him clinically dead.¡±

    Xiao Lou quickly wrote down the name of the patient that Long Sen mentioned and nned to go to the hospital system to check the medical history of the deceased. He just hung up the phone when there was another call.

    Ye Qi¡¯s clear child¡¯s voice was heard. ¡°Professor Xiao, a patient in the pediatrics department has died. It is the little girl Chen Yuqing who you saw yesterday. I heard it was a sudden heart attack.¡±

    Xiao Lou was stunned. He lowered his phone and found two more messages had popped up on the screen.

    ¡°Professor Xiao, your line was busy and I couldn¡¯t get through. I want to report to you. I am Qu Wanyue. A 28 year old young woman from the rheumatology and immunology department died suddenly this morning. I¡¯m trying to investigate.¡±

    ¡°I am Old Mo. An elderly patient in the endocrinology department died suddenly and the family members are making trouble in the corridor.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Today¡¯s Xiao Lou was still very busy.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 313: Testimony of the Deceased

    Long Sen, Qu Wanyue, Old Mo and Ye Qi almost simultaneously told Xiao Lou that someone had died. Four people died at once. After Xiao Lou hung up the phone, he had a splitting headache. He only had four hours of sleepst night and at his time, his brain seemed to be repeatedly stirred by an electric drill. The vein on his temple bulged and his vision was a bit confused.

    Yu Hanjiang sensed Xiao Lou¡¯s difort through the mind channel. He frowned and turned away from the window to head to Xiao Lou¡¯s side, gently pressing a hand against his shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, deaths in hospitals are verymon. They aren¡¯t necessarily rted to the case.¡±

    Xiao Lou turned to his senses and found that Yu Hanjiang had actuallye down from the bed. He was worried. ¡°Can you get out of bed?¡±

    ¡°Yes, the wound is recovering well. During the rounds this morning, the director said that proper activities can be carried out to avoid intestinal obstruction caused by long-term bed rest.¡± Yu Hanjiang endured the pain from his wound as he spoke. ¡°Go to the wards and take a look. First briefly investigate the causes of death and we will investigate again if there are any doubts. You are going to have to work hard again today.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. It is nothing more than running errands.¡± Xiao Lou smiled and stood up. ¡°I¡¯ll go to pediatrics first. Walk around the ward and be careful not to exercise too vigorously. We don¡¯t want your wound to reopen.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I know.¡± Yu Hanjiang gave Xiao Lou a reassuring look. Once Xiao Lou left, he picked up his mobile phone and called a colleague at the police station. ¡°Immediately help me check someone called Liu Renyuan. He is male and 35 years old. I need his detailed social rtions information.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Group Leader Yu.¡± The young police officer¡¯s clear voice came from the other end of the phone.

    Yu Hanjiang was hospitalized due to a gunshot wound but his identity was a criminal investigations police officer. He could use his phone to contact the police department. The previous investigation of the ¡®Cheng Shaoyu Dismembered Corpse¡¯ case was sent to colleagues in the police force and he should fully utilize the resources at hand.

    Xiao Lou went to the pediatrics department first. Ye Qi was sneakily hiding behind a door and rushed over the moment Xiao Lou arrived. Xiao Lou looked at Ye Qi who only came up to his thigh and asked softly, ¡°What is the situation?¡±

    Ye Qi spoke nervously. ¡°The moment I came out of the bathroom at 9:30 in the morning, I saw a group of doctors and nurses rushing in the next room. The door of the room was closed and I¡¯m too short to see what had happened. I only saw Chen Yuqing¡¯s mother sitting at the door of the room and crying. After 10 minutes, a doctor walked out and said, ¡®Sorry, we tried our best¡¯.¡±

    These were thest words that family members wanted to hear in a hospital¡ªSorry, we tried our best.

    This sentence made it obvious that Chen Yuqing had died. No wonder Ye Qi was in a hurry to notify Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou asked in an incredulous manner, ¡°Chen Yuqing was fine when I had a consultation on her yesterday, Why so sudden?¡±

    Ye Qi obviously looked guilty. ¡°I don¡¯t exactly know. It is too inconvenient to be a child. The nurses don¡¯t let me run around. Just now, they forced me to return to my room. I secretly ran out to wait for you while the doctor and nurse weren¡¯t there.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°You go back first. I¡¯ll investigate.¡±

    He still remembered the 7 year old girl he saw yesterday. She had pale skin, a thin body and a cute smile. She said ¡®thank you Uncle¡¯ at the end of the consultation. At the time of the consultation, the patient¡¯s condition was fairly stable. Since Chen Yuqing had congenital gallstones, Xiao Lou helped make an appointment for her to have surgery the next morning.

    Xiao Lou turned and headed to bed 18. Chen Yuqing was dead and her skin was as pale as paper, with her mother sobbing beside her. The attending doctor was a capable woman of around 30 years old with a neat ponytail. Xiao Lou had a consultation with her yesterday and had written down her name¡ªLin Ting.

    At this time, Lin Ting¡¯s eyes were a bit lost as she stood by the bed holding the medical record with a solemn expression. Xiao Lou walked over and asked in a low voice, ¡°Dr Lin, what happened? Wasn¡¯t she fine yesterday morning?¡±

    Lin Ting sighed lightly. ¡°I nned to send her to the operating room this morning. I didn¡¯t expect that she would suffer a heart attack before being sent for anesthesia. We tried our best to rescue her but unfortunately, her heartbeat wasn¡¯t able to recover.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The concealment of a condition was verymon.

    For example, there was once a female ssmate in obstetrics and gynecology who mentioned such a thing in the group chat.

    Family members were afraid that the hospital wouldn¡¯t perform surgery and concealed a history of coronary heart disease in a pregnant woman. The pregnant woman had a normal ECG and Color Doppler ultrasound examination and the results were normal. However, in many cases of coronary heart disease, these tests couldn¡¯t find it. A professional coronary CT had to be done to find narrow blood vessels and pregnant women couldn¡¯t do a CT because of radiation. The doctors believed the family members and pushed the pregnant woman to the operating room. Who would¡¯ve thought that the pregnant woman would have a heart attack during the caesarean operation? The rescue was ineffective and she died.

    Discussion in the alumni group was very intense regarding this matter. Xiao Lou saw that many doctors had encountered family members and patients who concealed their medical history, especially AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Concealing it was serious.

    At that time, someone joked with Xiao Lou and said, ¡°It is morefortable to be a forensic doctor who deals with the dead. There is no need to worry that the dead will lie. The living are terrible and their hearts are tooplicated.¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help sighing when he thought of this and told Lin Ting, ¡°Don¡¯t me yourself too much. You have done your best.¡±

    Lin Ting was silent for a moment before saying softly, ¡°Yuqing sent me a card she personally made yesterday. She was very obedient and sensible. It really is a pity. If her heart disease was discovered earlier and she was transferred to cardiac surgery then she might¡¯ve been saved¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°When I came to the consultation yesterday, her mother was with her. Why didn¡¯t I see her father?¡±

    Lin Ting answered, ¡°Yuqing has been staying in our pediatrics ward for half a month and I¡¯ve never seen her father. I asked her mother but her mother refused to say anything. It is a matter of privacy so I couldn¡¯t ask any further.¡±

    Chen Yuqing¡¯s mother seemed to stabilize her mood. She wiped away her tears and covered her daughter¡¯s body with a white cloth before walking over. ¡°Dr Lin, my family is in a foreign country and I have to make arrangements for my daughter¡¯s funeral. It might take a few days. Can her body be ced in the hospital morgue first?¡±

    Lin Ting nodded. ¡°It can be temporarily ced in the hospital morgue until you im it.¡±

    The mother said thank you and turned away in a lost manner. Suddenly, Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Ms Chen, has your daughter ever had a heart check-up?¡±

    The woman was stunned and looked back. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Yu Qing¡¯s cause of death is a sudden heart attack. Did you know previously that she had a heart disease?¡±

    The woman paled and shook her head. ¡°I didn¡¯t know.¡±

    She left in a hurry. Xiao Lou noticed that her eyes were evasive which meant she must be hiding something. However, the specific situation still needed to be carefully checked. The daughter had just died and it wasn¡¯t good to stimte the mother.

    Xiao Lou went to the doctor to get her contact information. Then he turned around and headed to the rheumatology and immunology department to find Qu Wanyue.

    As a child, it wasn¡¯t convenient for Ye Qi to investigate but Qu Wanyue had already found the ins and outs before Xiao Lou came. She saw Xiao Lou and immediately walked over to whisper in his ear, ¡°The deceased was a 28 year old woman with lupus erythematosus. I heard she also had lupus nephritis. I saw that she wasn¡¯t in a good state mentally yesterday and she died of acute renal failure this morning.¡±

    Xiao Lou inquired, ¡°Has her family been here?¡±

    ¡°Her parents came to see her yesterday afternoon. When she became ill this morning, her parents had juste for a visit. The doctors tried their best to rescue her but failed. Her family members were calm after receiving the death notice. They didn¡¯t sob and just silently shed tears. It should be that her disease is difficult to treat so her family members had long been psychologically prepared.¡±

    Lupus erythematosus was an autoimmune disease. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know much about it. He just remembered that the disease progressed slowly. If it was well controlled then the prognosis was good. However, once there wereplications with multiple organs or multiple systems through the body then it was difficult to manage.

    In the final analysis, there were no specific drugs for immune diseases. It could only be controlled by special stimting autoimmunity. Once the immune system copsed, it was difficult for even the gods to save them. Judging from Qu Wanyue¡¯s description, the young woman who died in the rheumatology and immunology department had little to do with the case they were investigating.

    Xiao Lou wrote down the name of the deceased and exchanged a few words with Qu Wanyue before leaving.

    In the endocrinology department where Old Mo was staying, the deceased was an 80 year old elderly woman. The cause of death was diabetic ketoacidosis. There was no problem with the cause of death of this patient. It was difficult for an 80 year old elderly person to be involved in an organ trafficking case.

    Xiao Lou stopped by to check on Old Mo. He had just finished surgery yesterday and his mental state was much better today. Although his wrinkled and old appearance was distressing, Old Mo at least had a look in his eyes that showed hepletely epted his setting.

    Xiao Lou let him rest in bed for the time being.

    Thest stop was the orthopedic surgery department. Long Sen was waiting for Xiao Lou in the corridor in a wheelchair. Once Xiao Lou came in, he pushed the wheelchair over and spoke in a low voice to Xiao Lou, ¡°The deceased is a 35 year old young man. Qi Zhaoming was pushed for surgery yesterday. After the operation, he was unconscious and sent to the ICU ward. He was gone this morning and his family members couldn¡¯t be contacted. The doctor sent the body to the morgue.¡±

    Xiao Lou was surprised. ¡°The body was taken to the morgue? Didn¡¯t any of his family memberse?¡±

    Long Sen scratched his head. ¡°I just asked his roommate and it was said that not one family member has visited Qi Zhaoming since he was hospitalized. The surgery consent form was signed by himself. He died this morning and none of his family members could be contacted. He is very pitiful.¡±

    The deceased¡¯s body wasn¡¯t imed by the family and could only be sent to the morgue. This made Xiao Lou puzzled.

    Xiao Lou wrote down the name of the deceased and returned to the general surgery ward. Yu Hanjiang was out of bed and sitting on the sofa reading through information. He saw Xiao Loue in and wondered in a soft voice, ¡°What is the conclusion?¡±

    Xiao Lou sat down on the sofa, picked up a ss of water and took a few sips. Once the dryness of his throat was reduced, he said, ¡°The 80 year old elderly woman in Old Mo¡¯s ward died of diabetic ketoacidosis. The young woman in Qu Wanyue¡¯s ward had advanced lupus and died of renal failure due to multiple organ damage. These two patients should be interference items and can be ruled out. I need to carefully check the medical records of the remaining two.¡±

    He paused before adding, ¡°The little girl¡¯s heart attack was sudden and the doctor was caught off guard. It should have nothing to do with the hospital. Her mother is suspicious and probably concealed the medical history. The patient in the orthopedics department wasn¡¯t imed by any family members. These two corpses have been sent to the morgue.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked gently at Xiao Lou. ¡°Fortunately, you are a medical professional. You understand thesemon diseases and can quickly eliminate the interference items.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled helplessly. ¡°If I wasn¡¯t a medical professional then the keepers probably wouldn¡¯t have arranged this hospital instance for us. However, I would rather the keeper give me corpses in a morgue and let me perform an autopsy one by one. That is my profession.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    A roomful of corpses¡ªit was estimated that their teammates would feel ufortable psychologically.

    Xiao Lou found that Yu Hanjiang was holding a stack of documents and couldn¡¯t help looking over curiously. ¡°What are these documents?¡±

    ¡°A colleague from the police force sent it. It is Liu Renyuan¡¯s information.¡± Yu Hanjiang was very satisfied with the efficiency of his colleagues. He handed the information to Xiao Lou and exined, ¡°The suspicious body you found in the morgue, Liu Renyuan was a security guard in the Jincui Community before his death. I asked my colleagues to check themunity where he worked. Both his parents are dead, he isn¡¯t married and no rtives can be found. ording to the other security guards at themunity, he usually likes to smoke and drink and his personality is rtively withdrawn. He didn¡¯t have many friends.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Xiao Lou was surprised. ¡°No rtives and no friends. Does this mean we can¡¯t find out about his past experiences through social rtionships? By the way, the person who died in orthopedics just now also wasn¡¯t imed by any family members.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought of a possibility and couldn¡¯t help a chill going down his back. ¡°Can it be that the perpetrator specifically picked patients who have no rtives? Even if they died identally, no one will investigate the cause of death?¡±

    After someone with rtives died, the family members would definitely ask the doctor to find the cause of death. If difficult family members were encountered then perhaps banners would be hung up at the entrance of the hospital the next day.

    However, a patient who had no rtives died after going through surgery. The corpse could only be left in the morgue for a few days before being cremated. Or it would be taken to medical school to be used as materials for students studying human anatomy.

    How did he die? No one would care God didn¡¯t care and ghosts didn¡¯t know.

    Yu Hanjiang also thought of this possibility and narrowed his eyes. ¡°Moreover, the Jincui Community where Liu Renyuan worked is the high-end vimunity where the suspect Cheng Shaofeng lives. I was shot there when I went to investigate the case.¡±

    The deceased in the dismembered corpse case, the rich second generation Cheng Shaoyu; the suspect, his missing brother Cheng Shaofeng; the suspicious deceased, Liu Renyuan who was found in the morgue; the suspicious deceased Qi Zhaoming who died in the orthopedics department this morning and the little girl Chen Yuqing from the pediatrics department¡­

    What connected these people together?

    The even more troublesome thing was that the rest of Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s body hadn¡¯t been found, Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s whereabouts were unknown and the two deceased, Liu Renyuan and Qi Zhaoming had no family to investigate!

    Without the testimony of rtives and friends, there was no telling who they had offended and what they experienced.

    The only thing left were the two bodies in the morgue.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and told Yu Hanjiang, ¡°I will go to the morgue again tonight to dissect the bodies of the two suspicious deceased. I believe that the dead won¡¯t lie. They will definitely tell me the situation.¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 314: The Truth in the Morgue

    That afternoon, Xiao Lou stayed in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ward and the two of them checked information and analyzed the case together.

    The attending doctor had organized the death case reports and Xiao Lou found them in the medical record query system. Chen Yuqing of the pediatric department died of a sudden heart attack and Qi Zhaoming of the orthopedic surgery department died of postoperativeplications. There were clear andplete records of the treatment process. On the surface, both of them died in idents.

    Qi Zhaoming¡¯s informed consent form was signed by himself without any family members. The little girl Chen Yuqing¡¯s surgery consent form was signed by her mother. Her mother¡¯s name was Chen Yehua.

    Yu Hanjiang called his police colleagues to find out the information of Qi Zhaoming, Chen Yuqing and her mother Chen Yehua as soon as possible. His colleagues quickly sent an e-mail of the information to Yu Hanjiang.

    Qi Zhaoming dropped out of school after graduating from middle school. He currently had no formal job and had a 60 square meter house in the suburbs. When he was 10 years old, his parents fell to their deaths during an argument. Qi Zhaoming was raised by his grandmother who passed away 10 years ago. In this world, he no longer had any rtives.

    Chen Yuqing was studying in first grade of primary school and was excellent in both character and learning. She was just named one of the top three students this year. Her mother Chen Yehua was an illustrator and her father was unknown. Chen Yehua had been living with her mother and was a child of a single parent family.

    Xiao Lou saw these two documents and couldn¡¯t help wondering, ¡°The cost of orthopedic surgery isn¡¯t low. Qi Zhaoming graduated from middle school and has no formal job. His ie should be very low. How could he afford the expensive surgery and treatment costs?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and sent his colleagues another message: Help me check the bank records of Qi Zhaoming, Liu Renyuan and Chen Yehua.

    Since Group Leader Yu was investigating the dismembered corpse case, his colleagues were very cooperative with his requests. It took less than an hour for them to send the bank records of the three people to Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang took a closer look and found many things wrong in the statements.

    Liu Renyuan was a security guard. His bank card received a monthly ie which was disyed as ¡®Jincui Community Security Sry¡¯. This was consistent with his identity. His consumption records were rather messy. He spent his money on tobo, alcohol, food, cheap clothes¡­

    Liu Renyuan spent moneyvishly and barely made ends meet every month. However, on November 1stst year, he had just gotten paid his sry when on the next day, he went to the mall to buy a pair of limited edition sneakers. He instantly spent an entire month¡¯s sry.

    Liu Renyuan¡¯s previous consumption records showed that he normally bought shoes worth around 200 yuan. How could he suddenly decide to buy limited edition brand name shoes worth more than 4,000 yuan? For a rich person, it was normal to buy limited edition bags and shoes but Liu Renyuan¡¯s consumption record seemed a bit weird.

    In the past, most of his sry of around 4,000 yuan was used to buy tobo and alcohol. He only bought clothes once or twice a year. Obviously, his demand for clothes wasn¡¯t very high. Suddenly spending a whole month¡¯s sry to buy a pair of shoes in Novemberst year wasn¡¯t in line with his lifestyle habit, unless he suddenly had a source of high ie. However, there was no record of arge cash inflow into his bank card.

    If he spent a month¡¯s sry on shoes how did he eat or drink for the entire month?

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou nced at each other and continued to look it over doubtfully.

    Qi Zhaoming¡¯s bank card statements were even stranger. It only had a bnce of less than 100 yuan. Moreover, this bnce of 100 hadn¡¯t changed in the past three years. His bank card didn¡¯t have records of deposits, withdrawals or any consumption. The three year old bank card¡¯s turnover was almost nk.

    He only had this bank card and didn¡¯t withdraw money from his card or deposit money in the card. This showed that he usually spent in cash. His monthly rent and living expenses were all in cash. Then where did he get so much cash?

    Chen Yehua was an illustrator by profession and her monthly ie was fixed at around 20,000 yuan a month. The expenses of the mother and daughter were around 50% of the ie and the rest was deposited. However,st month, she suddenly withdrew 200,000 yuan cash from her bank card in one lump sum, taking out all her savings of thest few years.

    All three people had something odd with their bank ounts.

    Xiao Lou frowned. ¡°Liu Renyuan suddenly bought expensive limited edition sneakers, which is different from his usual living habits. In the next few months, he has several records of buying high-priced red wine. It feels like he won the lottery.¡±

    ¡°Qi Zhaoming has no bank card flow and uses cash for his living expenses. Either he has a temporary job that pays in cash or he has a problem with his ie and doesn¡¯t want to use a bank ount. It is all face-to-face cash transactions.¡± Yu Hanjiang paused before adding, ¡°We also need to carefully investigate where the 200,000 yuan that Chen Yehua suddenly withdrew went.¡±

    At present, they didn¡¯t know the reason for the strange ounting records of the three people but it proved that they locked onto the right targets to investigate. All three people should have some connection to the case.

    As a precaution, Yu Hanjiang sent the names and hospitalization information of the two people who died in the endocrinology department and rheumatology and immunology department to his colleagues in the police force. The result was exactly as they guessed. The two people had no suspicious points and could bepletely ruled out.

    The afternoon passed very quickly. Xiao Lou took a few more consultations and by the time it was finished, it was already 8 o¡¯clock. On the way back to the general surgery ward, Xiao Lou went to the ICU of the cardiac surgery department to check on Chief Shao.

    Shao Qingge still hadn¡¯t woken up.

    Xiao Lou endured his psychological difort and asked Zhao Sen, ¡°Has Shao Qingge¡¯s situation improved?¡±

    ¡°His myocardial enzymes have dropped a bit, his blood potassium is normal today and his heart function is slowly recovering.¡± Zhao Sen pushed up his sses and nced at Xiao Lou thoughtfully. ¡°Dr Xiao, you really care about this friend.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought, ¡®He is in your hands. If I don¡¯t always pay attention then what if you dismember him?!¡¯

    Still, Xiao Lou maintained a polite smile on the surface and exined, ¡°I grew up with Shao Qingge and we are very good friends. Since he is staying in our hospital, I naturally have to care more. By the way, when will his surgery be performed?¡±

    Zhao Sen flipped through the medical records. ¡°I will talk about it when he wakes up.¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke seriously. ¡°You must notify me when he wakes up. I wille to see him as soon as possible.¡±

    Zhao Sen smiled. ¡°Of course.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked casually, ¡°Dr Zhao, are you on the night shift tonight?¡±

    ¡°No, I will go off workter.¡±

    Xiao Lou was slightly relieved. He didn¡¯t want to run into Zhao Sen when going to the morgue tonight. Last night, that face was only 10 centimeters away from him and Xiao Lou still got the chills when he thought about it.

    At midnight, the card skills refreshed and Xiao Lou used the Peach Blossom Spring to summon his teammates again.

    Long Sen made inquiries in his department all afternoon and reported the results to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°The deceased Qi Zhaoming had an arrogant personality. He never took the initiative to speak to other patients during the hospitalization. He only watched videos on his mobile phone every day. He stayed in the hospital for a week and no one came to visit him. The olddy in the bed next door asked him what he did and he replied that he worked in a bar.¡±

    The police couldn¡¯t find his work information. There was no formalbor contract to work in a bar so it was hard to get official information. Yu Hanjiang frowned and asked, ¡°Bar? What exactly did he do?¡±

    ¡°He didn¡¯t mention it.¡± Long Sen scratched his head. ¡°I heard from someone in the ward that Qi Zhaoming looked quite rich. He was in good spirits a few days ago and ordered expensive takeout every day. His watch was also a famous brand. He was very handsome and the patients privately guessed that he was a host at the bar.¡±

    Ye Qi was taken aback for a moment. Host? What does that mean? Is it very profitable?¡±

    Long Sen touched his nose and looked at the 7 year old little Ye Qi. ¡°A child shouldn¡¯t have heard of it? A host is a man who sells his body. He can sell his body to rich women of course. He can also¡­ cough, serve men.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Ye Qi¡¯s face turned red. This topic was too dirty and he was too embarrassed to continue asking.

    Ordinary waiters at a bar definitely couldn¡¯t afford to wear famous brand name watches. Working in a bar and being handsome and rich was indeed easy to make people think of some type of gray area job.

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t think it was that simple.

    Xiao Lou nced at Ye Qi and asked, ¡°Did you find any clues about Chen Yuqing?¡±

    Ye Qi cleared his throat with a cough and spoke solemnly. ¡°Chen Yuqing often told the children that her mother is a very good illustrator. A little boy asked her who her father is and she said she had no father. The little boy said that everyone should have a father and Chen Yuqing became angry. The two of them started fighting because of this until they were coaxed by the nurses.¡±

    The children in the pediatric department were noisy every day and cried loudly during the injection. Ye Qi spent one day in the pediatric department and felt like his head was going to explode. ¡°Chen Yuqing¡¯s mother is very gentle. I heard that every time she buys fruits, she will buy more for the other children. Everyone really likes her. The little girl next to me said that she saw Aunt Chen secretly crying in the bathroom yesterday. I think the key to Chen Yuqing¡¯s plot line should be her father. Who is he?¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°Yes, Chen Yuqing¡¯s household registration only includes her mother. She is part of a single parent family and follows her mother¡¯s surname. There is no record of her father. My guess is that she is an illegitimate child. We will continue to investigate.¡±

    The deceased in Qu Wanyue and Old Mo¡¯s wards had been ruled out and nobody died in Liu Qiao¡¯s hematology department today.

    Yu Hanjiang also told his teammates the clues he found. The biggest doubts at the moment were the strange bank ount records of the three people and the surgical marks on Liu Renyuan¡¯s corpse.

    After the meeting, Xiao Lou asked Liu Qiao to put on a nurse¡¯s unifrom again to visit the morgue. Yu Hanjiang wasn¡¯t at ease and also wanted to follow. Xiao Lou was worried. ¡°You just had an operation. What if the wound opens or bes infected? It will be painful to re-stitch it. I¡¯ll use the mind connection to inform you whenever I find clues.¡±

    ¡°My wound is fine. I want to see their corpses with my own eyes.¡± Yu Hanjiang paused and suggested, ¡°Xiao Liu has the Thumbelina card. Make me smaller and put me in your coat pocket.¡±

    Seeing his firm eyes, Xiao Lou had topromise. ¡°Okay, I will take you if you be smaller.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Yu Hanjiang¡¯s gaze was gentle. ¡°I will be more at ease following you.¡±

    He was simply uneasy staying in the ward alone while Xiao Lou did such dangerous work. The fear that Xiao Lou felt yesterday while facing Zhao Sen at close range had been transmitted to him and Yu Hanjiang had been going crazy with worry. Therefore, he decided that he had to go with them tonight.

    Liu Qiao activated the Thumbelina card and handed it to Xiao Lou, letting Xiao Lou use it.

    Xiao Lou used the card skill so that Yu Hanjiang turned into a small version of himself. The reduced version of Yu Hanjiang in a blue and white checkered hospital gown looked very cute. Xiao Lou carefully picked up Yu Hanjiang and ced him in the chest pocket of his white coat.

    Yu Hanjiangy on the edge of Xiao Lou¡¯s pocket and poked out his head. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Xiao Lou took Yu Hanjiang and Liu Qiao to the door of the morgue.

    There was a big iron lock hung outside the door which should¡¯ve been put there by Zhao Senst night. Fortunately, the ¡®key¡¯ card he got in 3 of Hearts could still be used a number of times. Xiao Lou used the key to open the lock and gently closed the door after entering.

    The morgue was a closed space located underground. There were no windows and if the door was closed, the light inside couldn¡¯t be seen from outside. Liu Qiao turned on the light. Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes scanned the surrounding area and he found there were more corpses in the morgue. They were the patients who died in the hospital today.

    Xiao Lou walked over and first opened the drawer that said ¡®Chen Yuqing.¡¯

    A chill came. The 7 year old girl was as pale as paper, her eyes tightly closed. Xiao Lou lifted the white cloth covering the corpse and after careful examination, he found that she didn¡¯t have any surgical scars.

    Yu Hanjiang was observing from Xiao Lou¡¯s pocket and he couldn¡¯t help frowning when he saw this. ¡°Chen Yuqing has no traces of surgery on her body, indicating that she never had an organ transnt. Then why did her mother suddenly withdraw so much money?¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°It seems we have to ask her mother in person.¡±

    He proceeded to open the drawer where Liu Renyuan was stored.

    This was the suspicious corpse foundst night. Xiao Lou had already checked it. Tonight was just for further autopsy and confirmation. He asked Liu Qiao to turn the body over, picked up a scalpel and made a quick cut along the wound at the back¡­

    The kidney on the right was gone.

    The location of the kidney was empty and the rib bone was also cut off.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and calmly exined, ¡°Liu Renyuan¡¯s kidney was artificially removed and the operation wasn¡¯t done well. The treatment of the blood vessels and ureters aren¡¯t up to professional standards. There are multiple blood vessel injuries caused by operation. When the 12th rib was removed, the pleura was damaged. There are also traces of stitching.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked in a low voice, ¡°ording to your judgment, was the operation done by an amateur?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°A specialist professor in urology wouldn¡¯t do it like this. This feels more like a clinically inexperienced intern¡­ although the skin stitching was done beautifully.¡±

    Liu Qiao questioned it. ¡°On the surface, the skin stitching was indeed perfect. However, after opening the incision, the processing inside was messy. Professor Xiao, do you mean the kidney removal and the stitching aren¡¯t done by the same person?¡±

    ¡°Not necessarily.¡± Xiao Lou exined as he stitched up the incision. ¡°The skin suture is very good. In practice, ordinary medical students who practice on a model for two weeks can sew well. However, professional kidney separation and removal surgery requires years of clinical experience. The results can only prove that the one who performed the kidney removal on Liu Renyuan wasn¡¯t a professional urologist and nephrologist. It might be a doctor from other departments or an inexperienced surgeon who hasn¡¯t performed kidney surgery in a major hospital.¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully stitched up Liu Renyuan¡¯s body. Immediately afterward, he opened the freezer with ¡®Qi Zhaoming¡¯ written on it.

    Another corpse was pulled out.

    Qi Zhaoming had just finished lumbar surgery yesterday and there were obvious sutures near the fourth lumbar vertebra. However, no traces of surgery were found on the abdomen and waist which weremon for kidney surgery.

    Xiao Lou cut open the stitches from yesterday¡¯s surgery and carefully explored the surgical site.

    An artificial intervertebral disc was inserted between the third and fourth lumbar vertebrae of the deceased. This was a surgery performed by the orthopedic surgery department yesterday. Xiao Lou looked at the detailed surgery records and found nothing suspicious.

    Immediately afterward, Xiao Lou quickly dissected the deceased¡¯s abdomen, and waist and found that the liver, galldder, kidneys and other organs were all intact.

    Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t help being confused when he saw the results of Xiao Lou¡¯s autopsy.

    Liu Renyuan¡¯s kidney was missing but there was no relevant record in his case file. This was very suspicious. However, Chen Yuqing and Qi Zhaoming who died in the hospital this morning didn¡¯t have any organs missing. The cause of death also wasn¡¯t found to be abnormal after an autopsy.

    What did these two people have to do with the case they were investigating?

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 315: Shao Qinggeâ€™s Clues

    This time, the trip to the morgue was very beneficial. Liu Renyuan¡¯s right kidney was proved to be removed as expected. He started buying limited edition sneakers and high-end expensive wine in Novemberst year. Xiao Lou spected that he might¡¯ve sold a kidney in October-Novemberst year and received arge amount of cash. This was why he had the capital to squander money. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t be able to afford such extravagant consumption with his usual sry.

    Both Qi Zhaoming and Chen Yuqing didn¡¯t have any missing organs but there were many doubts about their bank ounts. It still needed to be investigated to see if they had anything to do with the case.

    Xiao Lou prepared to stitch up Qi Zhaoming¡¯s body and put it back in the freezer. He just picked up the stitches when there was the sound of men¡¯s leather shoes on the floor tiles outside the door. The footsteps were slow like someone was walking leisurely.

    In the middle of the night, in the empty corridor outside the morgue, the clear sound of footsteps was suddenly heard. Xiao Lou got the chills. The other person¡¯s walking rhythm was very familiar. It was exactly the same asst night¡¯s footsteps.

    Liu Qiao¡¯s face turned pale and she lowered her voice. ¡°It should be Zhao Sen right?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s expression was a bit ugly. This Zhao Sen was simply a ghost! Didn¡¯t he say he wasn¡¯t on duty tonight? Whye to the morgue again?! Looking at the corpse in front of him that hadn¡¯t been stitched up, Xiao Lou¡¯s heart beat violently. He took a deep breath and ordered decisively, ¡°Liu Qiao, help me use this time to stitch him up!¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded and held the body in ce.

    Xiao Lou was wearing gloves. He gently pressed the skin of the corpse with the tweezers in his left hand. The tweezers in his right hand picked up the suture needle. The needle tip passed through the skin and quickly knotted. It turned a circle and continued to sew and knot. His hands moved quickly like they were casting magic. The incisions that had just been cut were closed stitch by stitch to Xiao Lou¡¯s hand at a very fast speed.

    The footsteps in the corridor were getting closer and Liu Qiao felt that her heart was going to stop beating. If Zhao Sen came in and saw that the corpse had been cut then he would feel suspicious and investigate. Then they might be exposed!

    The corridor outside the morgue wasn¡¯t long and Zhao Sen¡¯s footsteps quickly approached the door.

    Yu Hanjiangy on the edge of Xiao Lou¡¯s pocket, afraid to make a noise. There was ayer of sweat on Xiao Lou¡¯s forehead but the movements of his hands were steady. The sound of footsteps outside were sounding ominously closer but he knew he couldn¡¯t panic now.

    At almost the moment Zhao Sen¡¯s footsteps stopped in front of the door of the morgue, Xiao Lou finished thest stitch in a thrilling manner. Liu Qiao immediately covered the body with a white cloth and the two people pushed it back into the freezer together before quickly turning off the lights.

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°Hurry, wear the cloak!¡±

    The card was activated and Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao put on the cloak at the same time, hiding their bodies. The next moment, the door of the morgue was pushed open.

    Zhao Sen entered the morgue, turned on the lights and looked around with narrowed eyes. He found no one in the morgue so he walked to the corner, opened the drawer where his cousin¡¯s head was stored and took out the ck bag.

    The round thing in the bag was his cousin¡¯s head. Xiao Lou clearly remembered what he saw when he opened the drawerst night. Seeing Zhao Sen turn to leave, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help wondering, ¡°Where is he going to take his cousin¡¯s head?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was heard in his mind. ¡°I¡¯ll follow and take a look.¡±

    He crawled out of Xiao Lou¡¯s pocket, ran along the corner to Zhao Sen¡¯s side and while Zhao Sen wasn¡¯t paying attention, Yu Hanjiang used the Light as a Swallow card to urately jump into the pocket of Zhao Sen¡¯s clothes.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Seeing the small version of Yu Hanjiang getting into Zhao Sen¡¯s pocket and being taken away by Zhao Sen, Xiao Lou¡¯s face turned pale and he inwardly spoke in a quivering voice, ¡°This is too risky¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied calmly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, if I encounter danger then I will directly transfer to the Peach Blossom Spring. You and Xiao Liu withdraw first. I will definitely be back in three hours.¡±

    Zhao Sen closed the door after leaving the morgue. Xiao Lou let out a breath and told Liu Qiao, ¡°Let¡¯s go back.¡±

    The two of them took off their invisibility cloaks, moved back to the Peach Blossom Spring and then exited from the entrance at the VIP ward of the general surgery department.

    Liu Qiao found that the thumb-sized version of Group Leader Yu in Xiao Lou¡¯s pocket was gone and was stunned. ¡°Group Leader Yu didn¡¯te back? Where is he?¡±

    ¡°¡­He got into Zhao Sen¡¯s pocket and went to investigate.¡± Xiao Lou frowned worriedly. ¡°He is still injured and is currently in a shrunken state. If Zhao Sen finds him then Zhao Sen can trample him to death with one foot.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s back stiffened slightly as he thought of the small version of Yu Hanjiang being trampled into a meat patty and he immediately made himself stop this terrible association.

    Liu Qiao was very optimistic. ¡°Professor Xiao, there is no need to worry so much. Group Leader Yu has aa n in mind and can be transmitted back at any time.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled reluctantly. ¡°Xiao Liu, go back and rest. I will wait here for Group Leader Yu.¡±

    Once Liu Qiao left, Xiao Lou restlessly paced back and forth in the ward.

    He tried to connect with Yu Hanjiang using the mind channel. The information in his mind was very confusing and he didn¡¯t know what Yu Hanjiang encountered. Xiao Lou was anxious and kept calling out in his mind, ¡°Group Leader Yu, are you there?¡±

    Finally, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was heard. ¡°Zhao Sen drove up a mountain. He has a private vi in the mountains and theyout of the house is strange. There is a separate showroom underground with many human specimens.¡±

    Xiao Lou was stunned and the soles of his feet were cold. ¡°Human specimens? Did he kill a lot of people and make specimens?¡±

    ¡°It isn¡¯t the whole body. It is separate organs.¡± Yu Hanjiangy on the edge of Zhao Sen¡¯s pants pocket, revealing his fingernail-sized head.

    Due to his miniature size, his vision was limited and he could only see the disy case clearly by raising his head. There were many transparent boxes in the showcase that contained various organs. This scene made people¡¯s hair stand up. If Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mental quality wasn¡¯t good then he might¡¯ve vomited in Zhao Sen¡¯s pocket.

    Yu Hanjiang quickly scanned this weird room and told Xiao Lou, ¡°There is a heart, liver, kidney and others I don¡¯t know. The specimens are all immersed in liquid and kept in ss boxes that are neatly ced.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Xiao Lou felt numb as he imagined this scene. ¡°Is it like a medical school¡¯s specimen disy case?¡±

    ¡°It should be. I haven¡¯t been to the specimen room of a medical school.¡± Although their minds were connected, they couldn¡¯t share their vision. Yu Hanjiang tried to describe the scene he saw to Xiao Lou in detail. ¡°I suspect that these are his cousin¡¯s organs.¡±

    ¡°It is possible. Perhaps his cousin¡¯s entire body was dismembered and made into specimens. He secretly did the limbs and organs previously. Today he took away the head. Will it be to make a specimen?¡± Xiao Lou had this thought and immediately warned nervously, ¡°Be careful, don¡¯t be discovered by him!¡±

    If Zhao Sen found Yu Hanjiang hidden in his pocket then maybe Yu Hanjiang would also be made into a specimen.

    Yu Hanjiang replied lightly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll pay attention.¡±

    Just then, Zhao Sen suddenly reached out, trying to find the key in his pocket. Yu Hanjiang noticed the handing to the edge of the pocket so he flew out and hid under the table. He hugged the legs of the table and stared at Zhao Sen through the gap beside him.

    Zhao Sen¡¯s cold eyes swept around the room. He didn¡¯t find the thumb-sized Yu Hanjiang hiding under the table. He took the key out of his pocket, opened a cab door and took out a strange liquid. The strong smell of formalin filled his nose, causing Yu Hanjiang to frown. Zhao Sen put on gloves, opened a transparent box, put his cousin¡¯s head in it and poured formalin inside the box.

    He was indeed making a specimen.

    Yu Hanjiang endured his nausea and watched this person finish the specimen. Then Zhao Sen ced the head specimen in the middle of the showcase and stared at his cousin¡¯s wide eyes with a weird smile on his face. ¡°Well, now you areplete. Soaked in formalin, your body won¡¯t rot. Brother, your horrified expression can be preserved for many years.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Zhao Sen finished the specimen and went to sleep in the bedroom. Yu Hanjiang transferred back to the Peach Blossom Spring. Seeing the thumb-sized Yu Hanjiang appear on the sofa, Xiao Lou hurriedly turned off the Thumbelina card and Yu Hanjiang changed back.

    Yu Hanjiang sat on the sofa, his expression ugly. ¡°He did make that head into a specimen.¡±

    Xiao Lou held his temples as he had a headache. ¡°Zhao Sen made so many organ specimens. Does he have a rtionship with the organ trafficking case?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°He dismembered his cousin¡¯s body and said that it isplete. This obviously means that his cousin¡¯s corpse was made into specimens. I found only one heart and liver in the showroom and the kidneys are a pair. They should be removed from his cousin¡¯s body. I didn¡¯t see the organs of any other people.¡±

    He paused before continuing to analyze it. ¡°Still, Zhao Sen¡¯s suspicion can¡¯t bepletely ruled out. Just now, you went to the morgue to do an autopsy and said that Liu Renyuan¡¯s kidney removal surgery wasn¡¯t very professional. Perhaps it was done by ayman or an intern? Zhao Sen is a heart surgeon. It is possible that Liu Renyuan¡¯s operation was done by him since he isn¡¯t a professional when ites to the kidneys.¡±

    Xiao Lou heard this and agreed with Yu Hanjiang¡¯s inference.

    If Zhao Sen was involved in the organ trafficking case then the information on Liu Renyuan¡¯s body could be reasonably exined. Zhao Sen did heart surgery all year round but he wasn¡¯t experienced enough to perform kidney surgery. However, they couldn¡¯t investigate Zhao Sen alone. They didn¡¯t have any evidence.

    Yu Hanjiang continued saying, ¡°We must keep an eye on Chief Shao and wake him up as soon as possible. I have a hunch that Chief Shao knows a very important clue or he wouldn¡¯t be in aa for so long.¡±

    It was the third day of the secret room and Shao Qingge was still in aa. Without Shao Qingge¡¯s help, the team members were restricted in their actions and couldn¡¯t leave the hospital. The investigation of this case couldn¡¯t spread out.

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°If he isn¡¯t awake tomorrow morning then I will consult a specialist.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang gently patted Xiao Lou¡¯s shoulder and softly told him, ¡°Go to bed first and speak in the morning.¡±

    The moment he finished speaking, Yu Hanjiang frowned suddenly. Their minds were connected and Xiao Lou soon noticed his pain. Xiao Lou asked in a worried manner, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Maybe I did too much activity just now. My wound has opened.¡± Yu Hanjiang was indifferent but Xiao Lou was very distressed. After all, Yu Hanjiang had just finished an operation and the wound must be very painful. Xiao Lou immediately stood up and ordered. ¡°Go back to bed and lie down. I will check you.¡±

    A momentter, Xiao Lou pushed the treatment cart in and opened Yu Hanjiang¡¯s gown. He took off the bloody gauze and saw that the wound was opened. Fortunately, it wasn¡¯t serious. Xiao Lou spoke softly, ¡°Please bear it. I will sterilize and re-stitch you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang hummed in agreement and Xiao Lou moved quickly. As he disinfected and changed the stitches, Yu Hanjiang looked at the seriously working man beside his bed and his heart softened. It didn¡¯t hurt, perhaps because all his attention was on Xiao Lou.

    After re-wrapping the wound with gauze, Xiao Lou softly advised, ¡°Don¡¯t do strenuous activity anymore. You are now a patient and the light footwork card can¡¯t be used casually.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll listen to you.¡±

    ¡°I will sleep on the sofa next to you. If you feel ufortable in the middle of the night, call me and I will prescribe painkillers.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart warmed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, this small injury is nothing.¡±

    Xiao Lou took off his white coat and slept on the sofa.

    He once again had a nightmare. This time, he dreamed that he entered Zhao Sen¡¯s organ specimen showroom and was surrounded by all types of fresh organs. The head of Zhao Sen¡¯s cousin was ced in the middle of the disy shelf, staring at Xiao Lou with wide eyes. Xiao Lou was taken aback by the head and was about to turn to walk away. As a result, Zhao Sen suddenly appeared behind him, ced a scalpel against his neck and asked with a smile, ¡°Dr Xiao, do you want to change into a specimen?¡±

    Xiao Lou shot up from the couch, sweating. These days, he always had nightmares. me that pervert Zhao Sen for always appearing in front of him, making Xiao Lou unable to rest well.

    His neck was chilly. Xiao Lou touched his neck and found his on-duty phone was ringing. He picked it up and saw that it was andline phone number, like a hospital department. Xiao Lou took a deep breath to stabilize his first heartbeat and answered the phone as calmly as possible. ¡°Hello, I am Chief Resident Xiao Lou of the general surgery department. What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    A nurse¡¯s soft voice entered his ears. ¡°Hello Dr Xiao, Shao Qingge of ICU bed 3 is awake. Dr Zhao told us to notify Dr Xiao as soon as he woke up. Would you like toe and have a look now?¡±

    It was 7 o¡¯clock in the morning. It wasn¡¯t work time yet. This was one of the few good news he heard in these past few days. Xiao Lou was happy and he hurriedly put on his white coat while saying, ¡°I wille right away.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also learned the good news. ¡°Go and see how Chief Shao is doing. Ask him if he has any clues.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and strode to the heart surgery ward. Zhao Sen hadn¡¯t gone to work yet and the door of the ICU was closed. Xiao Lou looked for the nurse on duty. Hello, I am Dr Xiao. Please open the door for me. I am going to see my friend.¡±

    The nurse opened the door in a friendly manner and told Xiao Lou to wear an istion gown.

    Xiao Lou entered the room and found that the elderly person in bed 1 was still wearing a venttor to inhale oxygen while the young man in bed 2 was gone. Shao Qingge in bed 3 was frowning and leaning against his bed, his face as white as paper.

    Xiao Lou quickly walked to his bedside and asked softly, ¡°Chief Shao, are you okay?¡±

    Shao Qingge might be ill but this guy was never serious in front of Xiao Lou. He saw Xiao Lou and immediately smiled. ¡°Professor Xiao is a doctor again this time? How did I be a patient? What about the others?¡±

    ¡°They are also patients.¡± Xiao Lou looked at him. ¡°Chief Shao, is there anything wrong with your body?¡±

    Shao Qingge put aside the joking manner and frowned slightly. Many memories poured into his mind and he was silent for a moment before pressing a hand against his temple. ¡°I have a strange memory. I seem to have just had a kidney reced not long ago?¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 316: Heart Surgery

    Shao Qingge¡¯s mood was veryplicated. He woke up with a different kidney. It was so bizarre he simply couldn¡¯t believe it, but the memories constantly pouring into his mind clearly told him that this was all true.

    The kidney in his body now originally belonged to someone else.

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help being stunned when he heard Chief Shao¡¯s words. Yu Hanjiang had long said that Shao Qingge would have clues but Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t expected him to be a direct participant of the organ trafficking case!

    ¡°Ask Chief Shao for the specific details.¡± The familiar voice in his mind pulled Xiao Lou back from his thoughts. Xiao Lou nced at Shao Qingge and asked softly, ¡°Did you change a kidney? Which hospital was the kidney transntation done in?¡±

    ¡°It should be Incheon Hospital.¡± Shao Qingge spoke with certainty.

    The hospital he mentioned was the one where Xiao Lou was currently located. ording to the setting, this Incheon Hospital was thergest general hospital in the city, with the most advanced medical equipment and the best expert professors.

    Xiao Lou continued to ask. ¡°Do you remember who performed the operation on you?¡±

    ¡°Let me think about it.¡± Shao Qingge pressed a hand to his throbbing temple and carefully sorted out the memories in his head. ¡°My dad asked an expert of the nephrology department called Qin Changmin. He is around 50 years old and I heard everyone call him Professor Qin. I stayed for three days in the hospital, did a lot of inspections and was then sent to the operating room for a kidney transnt.¡±

    At this point, Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t help raising his eyebrow. ¡°What messy setting has the keeper arranged for me? My kidneys are clearly very good and I didn¡¯t have chronic kidney failure, but they inexplicably reced my kidney. What does that mean?¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It wasn¡¯t bad to just rece one. If the keepers weren¡¯t happy then they could directly make him lose a kidney.

    Xiao Lou stepped forward and opened Shao Qingge¡¯s clothes. Sure enough, he found a surgical scar on the back waist. The stitching was very beautiful and the scar left after the wound healed wasn¡¯t ugly. He continued to ask, ¡°When was the operation performed? Do you know where the kidney that matched you came from?¡±

    ¡°It was done on November 11thst year.¡± Shao Qingge thought about it. ¡°I don¡¯t know where the kidney came from. I heard my father say it was bought from someone. It cost 20 million gold coins, which is almost 200,000 yuan.¡± He paused and looked at Xiao Lou in a worried manner. ¡°You are asking me about my kidney. Is there a problem with this kidney? Why am I hospitalized again?¡±

    ¡°Your kidney is probably from ck market organ trafficking.¡± Xiao Lou answered in a low voice. ¡°In addition, your hospitalization is due to acute myocardial infarction. Your heart has three arteries narrowed by more than 75%. Stent imntation is necessary. Otherwise, your heart is at risk of developing arge area of myocardial cell necrosis at any time.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Shao Qingge pressed a hand to his temple with a sullen expression. ¡°It seems that this time, I am set as a frail and sickly rich young master.¡±

    ¡°It isn¡¯t just you. Our other teammates are also hospitalized. Long Sen broke his leg and Group Leader Yu and Old Mo can¡¯t do strenuous activities after having surgery. Your Bug King card can repair the trauma. Find an opportunity to heal them and let them discharge as soon as possible so that we can continue to investigate the case.¡±

    ¡°How is Ye Qi?¡± Hearing Xiao Lou¡¯s words, Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t help worrying about Ye Qi¡¯s situation.

    ¡°He is fine. His pneumonia is under control but he is 7 years old and living in the pediatrics ward.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Shao Qingge thought of Ye Qi as a child and couldn¡¯t help smiling slightly. ¡°The Bug King card can only be used once in a secret room and it can be maintained for 24 hours after being used. Do you want to use it now?¡±

    ¡°Yes, use it as soon as possible before you are pushed to the operating table.¡± Xiao Lou remembered that Zhao Sen once said that once Shao Qingge¡¯s condition was stable, he would arrange cardiac stent surgery as soon as possible. Shao Qingge just woke up today. Zhao Sen would evaluate his condition after going to work. If there was no ident, the operation will be arranged tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

    The transformation of the Bug King card wouldst for 24 hours. Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t be allowed to undergo surgery in this transformed state. Who knew if his bug brothers would be obedient? If they climbed out during the surgery and killed the surgeon then Shao Qingge would die after the transformation ended.

    Xiao Lou looked at the clock on the wall. It was 7:20 a.m., 40 minutes from 8 o¡¯clock.

    Zhao Sen had gone to the morgue to take away his cousin¡¯s head in the middle of the night. After returning home, he was busy making specimens and didn¡¯t go to bed until 2:30 a.m. Therefore, he probably wouldn¡¯te to work too early.

    Xiao Lou thought up to here and immediately spoke to Yu Hanjiang in his mind. ¡°The Peach Blossom Spring skill is on cooldown and can¡¯t be used. I will send a text message informing everyone to put on their invisibility cloaks ande to the VIP room of the general surgery department as soon as possible. We only have half an hour.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied softly, ¡°Okay. Can Chief Shaoe over?¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at Shao Qingge who was lying on the hospital bed with a listless face. ¡°He is weak now and can¡¯t get out of bed. However, he can use the Bug King card and his physical strength will increase after the transformation. He can wear the invisibility cloak ande with me.¡±

    Shao Qingge immediately used the invisibility cloak. Xiao Lou pulled the curtains around bed 3 and turned to go out. Shao Qingge was invisible behind him. The elderly person next door was still unconscious and didn¡¯t know about any of this.

    The heard nurse smiled at Xiao Lou. ¡°Dr Xiao, have you seen the patient?¡±

    Xiao Lou replied calmly. ¡°Yes, he just fell asleep. Don¡¯t disturb him and wait until the attending doctores back.¡±

    Xiao Lou walked quickly back to the general surgery ward.

    The door of the VIP ward was open. Yu Hanjiang was leaning against the bed and sorting out documents. Although he couldn¡¯t see them, the streams of air let him know that his teammates had arrived quickly. After everyone entered the room, they greeted Yu Hanjiang softly. They were all here except for Liu Qiao who went to the morguest night and used the invisibility cloak.

    Yu Hanjiang informed Xiao Lou of this information. Once Xiao Lou entered the room, he locked the door and exhaled. ¡°Everyone,e out.¡±

    The moment he spoke, familiar figures appeared in front of him, including Chief Shao who had been following Xiao Lou.

    Ye Qi was pleasantly surprised. ¡°Chief Shao, you¡¯re awake?!¡±

    Shao Qingge turned his head and found the little boy who only went up to his waist. The cute round face made him want to pinch it. He reached out, squeezed Ye Qi¡¯s face lightly and chuckled. ¡°Who is this child? Come to Uncle.¡± Then he reached out and really hugged little Ye Qi.

    Ye Qi was now the stature of a 7 year old child and couldn¡¯t resist Shao Qingge, an adult man who was over 1.8 meters tall. Not to mention, Chief Shao was currently using the Bug King Card and he could hold Ye Qi as easily as holding a kitten.

    Ye Qi was picked up and lifted high in the air. He couldn¡¯t help blushing. ¡°What are you doing? Put me down!¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t make trouble. Uncle will buy you candy to eat. Do you like milk candy, fruit candy or chocte?¡±

    Ye Qi angrily kicked his legs but his short legs were soon controlled by Shao Qingge. He could only re at Shao Qingge.

    Their teammates, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Long Sen didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. ¡°Seeing Chief Shao so unruly, I feel relieved. His body should be fine, right?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang ruthlessly dismantled their hopes. ¡°He used the Bug King card and became energetic. Previously, he was lying in bed and couldn¡¯te down. Tomorrow he might have to do the heart stent surgery. Don¡¯t be careless. Your chief surgeon is Zhao Sen.¡±

    Shao Qingge frowned doubtfully. ¡°Zhao Sen? This name seems somewhat familiar?¡±

    His original evaluation for 2 of Hearts was a C rating. He didn¡¯t get the plot card and didn¡¯t have a deep impression of Zhao Sen.

    Ye Qi exined, ¡°It is the murderer of 2 of Hearts, Rose Funeral. He killed two people and dismembered his cousin¡¯s body.¡±

    Shao Qingge heard this and the rose bed shed in his mind as well as the photo in the study of the sses wearing doctor. Then his back stiffened. ¡°My attending doctor is that murderer?¡±

    Xiao Lou helplessly told him, ¡°Yes, Zhao Sen appeared in this secret room. I don¡¯t know if he is rted to the organ trafficking case we are investigating this time so we can¡¯t rm him.¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s expression copsed. ¡°¡­He is going to perform a surgery on me? Are you sure he isn¡¯t going to dissect me?¡±

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t have motivation to kill you. Besides, we will definitely protect you.¡± Xiao Louforted him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much about the operation. Push it back if you can. If you can¡¯t push it back then I will personally go to the operating room as an assistant to keep an eye on you.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded and put Ye Qi down. Then he walked to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s bed and asked, ¡°Where is the wound?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang opened his clothes, took off the gauze and said, ¡°The wound is rtively small. It should be easily cured?¡±

    Shao Qingge ced his hand lightly on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s wound. Then small bugs crawled out along his fingertips, moving back and forth like busy porters on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s wound. The wound healed at a speed visible to the naked eye and within a moment, the wound waspletely healed and no longer visible.

    Ye Qi saw this magical scene and spoke emotionally, ¡°In 8 of Spades, I really hated the bugs. Now I think these bugs are a little cute and their healing effect is too strong.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled softly. ¡°Of course, they have been tamed by me.¡±

    After healing Yu Hanjiang, Old Mo¡¯s surgical wound was also healed. Long Sen¡¯s broken leg took some time to repair but it didn¡¯t exceed 5 minutes. Long Sen only broke the ligaments in his leg and didn¡¯t lose half his leg directly like Chief Tang.

    Xiao Lou silently remembered the time it took to treat all the wounds.

    Once the treatment ended, Xiao Lou said, ¡°It is only 7:40 a.m. and the doctors haven¡¯t started the rounds yet. The others can return to their wards from the bathroom. Chief Shao lives in the ICU of the cardiac surgery department and it isn¡¯t convenient to enter. I will use Li Qingzhao¡¯s mark to bring Chief Shao over. Everyone else, don¡¯t press it by mistake when you receive the invitation from Li Qingzhaoter.¡±

    The team members said they understood.

    Xiao Lou gave Shao Qingge a ¡®wait a moment¡¯ look and turned to head to the ICU ward of the cardiac surgery department. He asked the nurse to help open the door and after entering, he marked Shao Qingge¡¯s bed with Li Qingzhao¡¯s Stray Into the Depths of the Lotus Flowers.

    The entire team could transit to the marked point after 5 minutes. He just needed to wait 5 minutes and could let Shao Qingge transfer over.

    ***

    Xiao Lou had just left when Shao Qingge suddenly remembered something. ¡°I just used the Bug King Card and I will make a copy of it.¡±

    They had already gained enough funds thanks to 9 of Clubs. The Rich and Willful card could only copy cards used within 10 minutes so it shouldn¡¯t be wasted.

    Shao Qingge spent 5 million gold coins to copy the Bug King card and nced at his teammates with a smile. ¡°Who wants this card?¡±

    It was such a strongbat card. During the 24 hour transformation, they were immortal and invulnerable, although afraid of fire. Even if their head was cut off, they could immediately repair it. Everyone was too embarrassed to ask for it.

    Shao Qingge touched Ye Qi¡¯s head. ¡°Then give it to young Ye Qi.¡±

    Ye Qi looked up at him in disbelief. ¡°Give it to me?!¡±

    Shao Qingge stuffed the card into Ye Qi¡¯s hand with a gentle gaze. ¡°You only have control cards in your hand. Yourbat power is too weak and you can¡¯t always run for your life if you encounter danger.¡±

    Ye Qi was ttered but still protested. ¡°I¡­ it is such a strong card. Shouldn¡¯t it be given to Group Leader Yu?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang casually told him, ¡°He gave it to you so take it. I don¡¯t need it.¡±

    Ye Qi nced at Shao Qingge and found that the other person was watching him with a smile. Although Shao Qingge wasn¡¯t serious and liked to tease him, he really treated him well. He was infected by the bugs in order to save Ye Qi in 8 of Hearts and by chance, evolved into the bug king. Now the unique Bug King card was actually given to him.

    Ye Qi¡¯s heart was warm as he happily collected the card. ¡°Thank you, Chief Shao.¡±

    Shao Qinggeughed. ¡°You¡¯re wee. You go back first. I¡¯ll wait for Xiao Lou to transmit me.¡±

    Li Qingzhao¡¯s transmission could only ur 5 minutes after the mark was ced. Xiao Lou would make a mark after entering the ICU ward and he needed to wait 5 minutes before calling Shao Qingge. During the wait, Yu Hanjiang chatted with Shao Qingge about the case.

    Shao Qingge had limited information. His rich father had arranged everything about the surgery. Yu Hanjiang spected. ¡°The time when you received the surgery and the time when the deceased Liu Renyuan received the money is just right. I suspect that your kidney came from him.¡±

    Shao Qingge raised his eyebrow in surprise. ¡°Deceased? The man who gave me the kidney is dead?¡±

    ¡°Yes, the body is ced in the morgue. Let Xiao Lou find a way to do a kidney match today.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Shao Qingge felt helpless. ¡°It seems that the organ trafficking case this time is veryplicated. Was the deceased killed?¡±

    ¡°The cause of death hasn¡¯t been found to be abnormal. We still have too few clues. I will be discharged from the hospital this afternoon to investigate.¡± Yu Hanjiang spoke with a calm face. ¡°If it is an organized organ trafficking group then there will be more people involved.¡±

    At the same time, Xiao Lou made a mark in the ICU.

    There were only 30 seconds left until the 5 minutes was reached when there was the sound of a door card being swiped and the door opening. Xiao Lou¡¯s back became stiff and he immediately headed to the door of the ward to block the person.

    Facing Zhao Sen¡¯s cold eyes, Xiao Lou¡¯s heart beat like a drum but there was a polite smile on his face. ¡°Dr Zhao, did you juste to work?¡±

    Zhao Sen was surprised. ¡°Dr Xiao came to see your friend so early? I heard he is awake. I will go to see him.¡±

    Bed 3 was currently empty. If Zhao Sen found this out then it would be difficult to exin how Shao Qingge disappeared.

    Xiao Lou had to grit his teeth and stop Zhao Sen. ¡°Excuse me, I have something I want to ask Dr Zhao.¡±

    Zhao Sen stopped. ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°It is necessary for Shao Qingge to have stent surgery?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It is easy for him to have a heart attack again if it isn¡¯t done. He already has three major arterial stenosis. You have also seen the results of the examination. Stent imntation canpletely alleviate the situation of vascr stenosis. I suggest it be done as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°Can I personally participate?¡± Since he couldn¡¯t push it off then he had to personally check. Xiao Lou spoke with an expression of worry, ¡°He just heard me say that three blood vessels in his heart are narrowed and he is too scared to do surgery. If I stand with him in the operating room then he will be more relieved. Dr Zhao, can I be your assistant?¡±

    ¡°Assistant?¡± Zhao Sen raised an eyebrow and joked. ¡°Dr Xiao, don¡¯t you believe in my level? Do you want to supervise me by the side?¡±

    ¡°Of course not.¡± Xiao Lou hurriedly waved his hand and spoke sincerely. ¡°I just want to relieve Shao Qingge¡¯s mind. He just had a kidney transnt surgeryst year and now he is going to have heart surgery. He is worried that his body can¡¯t bear it. If an old friend participates, even as an assistant, he can be more at ease.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s the case.¡± Zhao Sen said, ¡°The heart stent surgery is very sophisticated. Dr Xiao, you haven¡¯t studied it and you might not be able to do it. I have a fixed helper. If you don¡¯t mind, how about being the second helper?¡±

    ¡°No problem. I can just stand by to reassure the patient.¡± Xiao Lou replied with a smile.

    ¡°Yes, then let¡¯s go see him and set the time for surgery.¡± Zhao Sen turned and entered the ward, Xiao Lou following behind him nervously. They came to bed 3 and Xiao Lou sighed with relief when he saw Shao Qingge lying on the bed.

    There was no danger. Li Qingzhao¡¯s transmission had returned Shao Qingge to the ward at thest minute.

    ¡°Dr Zhao, can I not have the surgery?¡± Shao Qingge¡¯s expression was a bit ugly when he saw Zhao Sen, the murderer in person.

    ¡°No. Your blood vessel stenosis is already very serious. If a stent isn¡¯t inserted to clear the blood vessels then arge area of your heart will die due to ischemia. This time, you were sent to the hospital in a timely manner and were rescued. That won¡¯t necessarily be the case next time.¡± Zhao Sen exined calmly. ¡°I will arrange the surgery for you tomorrow at noon. You can make some preparations today. I will ask your family to sign the surgery consent form.¡±

    Shao Qingge looked at Xiao Lou and he stared helplessly back. It seemed the operation was inevitable.

    Shao Qingge felt cold thinking that the murderer who dismembered his own cousin¡¯s body would be performing heart surgery on him. If Zhao Sen¡¯s hands shook, wouldn¡¯t he lose his life? The keepers were deliberately embarrassing him, right?

    Seeing the blood pressure and heart rate rising on the monitor, Zhao Sen frowned slightly. ¡°Are you nervous?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°Dr Zhao is performing the surgery on me personally. I¡¯m just¡­ excited.¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 317: Amazing Reasoning

    Shao Qingge¡¯s surgery n was soon decided. Xiao Lou carefully checked the n and didn¡¯t find any obvious problems.

    These days, heart stent imntation was verymon and the doctors also had mature technology. Stents had sessfully been imnted in 80 year old people to improve cardiovascr stenosis. The risk of the operation itself wasn¡¯t very high.

    It was because the one doing the surgery was Zhao Sen that Shao Qingge and Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t rx. If Zhao Sen ¡®identally¡¯ made a mistake during the surgery then Shao Qingge¡¯s life would be gone.

    After Zhao Sen left, Shao Qingge held his throbbing head and looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°Since Group Leader Yu and Old Mo¡¯s injuries have been cured, why don¡¯t we just escape from the hospital? I don¡¯t want to die on the operating table.¡±

    It was too risky to let Zhao Sen, a murder, perform the operation on Chief Shao. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t dare take risks with Chief Shao¡¯s life. Shao Qingge would be in danger if the operation wasn¡¯t performed but it would be potentially more dangerous to leave it to Zhao Sen.

    Xiao Lou said that he would personally go as an assistant to stabilize Zhao Sen. Now that Zhao Sen left, Xiao Lou approached Shao Qingge and whispered. ¡°I have a way. Didn¡¯t your father let you live in the VIP ward and ask Professor Qin from the nephrology department to perform the kidney transntation for you? He should know the surgical specialists of this hospital, right?¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Yes, my body¡¯s weak, sick and rich young master¡¯s persona can be used. I can ask my father for help changing me to a specialist surgeon so I can be more reassured.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve checked. The director of the cardiac surgery department is surnamed Lin. Call your fatherter and say that Zhao Sen is too young, so you are worried. You hope to have an older and more experienced professor perform the operation on you. If your father knows someone in the hospital then he should be able to ask his friend to help you change the surgeon. Then I will be an assistant and watch from the side as double insurance.¡±

    A temporary substitution might offend Zhao Sen butpared with his own life, Shao Qingge would rather offend Zhao Sen and transfer to another hospital as soon as possible. He immediately borrowed Xiao Lou¡¯s on-duty phone, entered his father¡¯s number ording to memory and called it.

    A low voice entered his ears. ¡°Hello, you are?¡±

    ¡°Dad, it¡¯s Shao Qingge. I can¡¯t find my mobile phone so I¡¯m using a friend¡¯s phone to call you.¡±

    ¡°It turned out to be you.¡± The voice on the other end was filled with concern. ¡°I received a call from the hospital saying that you were awake. How are you? Are you okay? Your mother and I will go to the hospital to see you this afternoon.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Dad. I¡¯m in good health and spirit now. The doctor arranged for me to have surgery tomorrow morning.¡± Shao Qingge nced at Xiao Lou and followed his suggestion. ¡°However, I think that this Dr Zhao looks quite young. He is only 35 years old. He must have insufficient experience performing surgery and I¡¯m worried he can¡¯t perform well. After all, it is a heart surgery. If something goes wrong then I won¡¯t be able toe back from the operating table. So I¡¯m wondering if Dad can ask a friend for help arranging an older professional professor to perform the surgery on me¡­¡±

    The person on the phone interrupted him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about this. I am the one who arranged for Zhao Sen to be the doctor in charge of you.¡±

    ¡°¡­You arranged it?¡± Shao Qingge was stunned. ¡°Do you know Dr Zhao?¡±

    ¡°¡­He is 35 years old. Are his surgical skills really so good?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Director Lin is on a business trip. I called him when you were admitted to the emergency room the night before and he immediately arranged for Dr Zhao to be your attending doctor. Don¡¯t worry, Dr Zhao is Director Lin¡¯s favorite student and his medical skills can be trusted.¡± Shao Zhengyang spoke earnestly. ¡°All you have to do now is rx and don¡¯t think too much. Dr Zhao talked to me on the phone just now. You have three stenosis of the blood vessels in the heart but as long as the stent is imnted, the problem of vascr stenosis can be solved and the quality of your life in the future won¡¯t be affected.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Shao Qingge and Xiao Lou looked at each other.

    ¡°I have an important meeting. I wille see you in the afternoon after the meeting.¡±

    ¡°Okay, Dad. You are busy so go first.¡± Shao Qingge hung up and looked at Xiao Lou with a headache. ¡°It won¡¯t work to change the surgeon. Director Lin is on a business trip and Zhao Sen was arranged to take care of me. I don¡¯t think it will work to escape. If I escape then I might have a heart attack halfway through. It seems¡­ I can only let Zhao Sen do surgery on me?¡± Shao Qingge smiled a bit helplessly.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go to the operating room with you. The risk of escaping is too great. If you have a myocardial infarction in the process, I won¡¯t be able to save you.¡± Xiao Lou patted Chief Shao¡¯s hand gently in aforting manner. ¡°Zhao Sen might be a murderer but he doesn¡¯t kill just anyone. You have no grievances with him, he won¡¯t do anything to you. Your father is right. You should rx first. There are so many people watching during the operation and Zhao Sen won¡¯t dare to do anything.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Shao Qingge yawned and closed his eyes helplessly.

    ¡°Have a good rest. I will arrange it.¡± Xiao Lou spoke a few more words before turning back to the general surgery department.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s surgical wound waspletely healed and he could get out of bed and walk around. However, in order for the doctors and nurses not to doubt him, he was still lying in bed with a piece of gauze on his right lower abdomen, covering the healed wound.

    Yu Hanjiang saw Xiao Lou entering and immediately sat up. ¡°How did it go? Chief Shao called his father just now?¡±

    ¡°Yes, the surgery can¡¯t be postponed. This should be the arrangement of the keepers. I will personally apany him. In addition, I¡¯ll arrange for Liu Qiao¡¯s Witch card to be near. If something really happens, there is still the bottle of antidote to save a dying person.¡± Xiao Lou sighed helplessly. ¡°I hope Chief Shao¡¯s mood is okay and he doesn¡¯t scare himself so much that his heart stops beating.¡±

    ¡°No, his mental quality is no worse than ours.¡± Yu Hanjiang paused. ¡°His father mentioned a heart transnt just now. Are you thinking about this problem?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang could feel Xiao Lou¡¯s doubts with the mind connection.

    ¡°Yes, Chief Shao¡¯s father mentioned on the phone that Zhao Sen can perform a heart transnt.¡± Xiao Lou took a deep breath and looked at Yu Hanjiang seriously. ¡°A heart transnt is the mostplicated and risky of all surgical operations. First, separate the entire heart, cutting off all therge blood vessels and establishing an extracorporeal cirction. Then ce the frozen donor heart in and connect all the blood vessels. None of the steps can go wrong. One operation is likely to take six or seven hours. It is rare in reality for a young doctor in their 30s to be able to perform such aplicated operation.¡±

    ¡°The person who provides the heart is bound to be dead.¡± Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°This is scarier than a kidney transntation.¡±

    ¡°Yes, a person can have one less kidney but they can¡¯t live without a heart.¡± Xiao Lou thought about it and felt cold. A heart transntation surgery required sacrificing one person to save another. Usually, no one was willing to donate their own heart. The donors were usually death row inmates or those who had terminally ill diseases so they would donate their heart to save others.

    Then what if it wasn¡¯t voluntary? What if they were put out with a shot of anesthetic and then ced on the operating table? People who had their hearts removed could never wake up again. Their heart would be beating in someone else¡¯s chest while they could only be a cold corpse.

    Yu Hanjiang was also aware of the seriousness of the matter and calmly said, ¡°In the organ trafficking market, the price of kidneys is far less than a heart, right?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Of course, there are two kidneys after all. It is possible for people to donate one kidney for the sake of money and a kidney is rtively easy to find. On the other hand, it is difficult to find a suitable match for the heart and the person who donates the heart will die. Buying a heart is equivalent to buying a human life. The price is several times higher than that of a kidney.¡±

    ¡°So for the sake of money, will this group kill some homeless people, beggars or orphans? People with no one to investigate their deaths. They will be secretly sent to an operating room, receive a shot of anesthetic, have their hearts taken and then the hearts sold at a high price?¡± Yu Hanjiang spected.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Xiao Lou didn¡¯t answer but the possibility left him cold.

    There were many methods of killing. In the previous cases, the murderers killed the deceased due to all types of grudges. The dead at least knew why they died. The horror of the case in this secret room was that the deceased might not know the murderer at all and there were no grudges. Perhaps they didn¡¯t even know they would die before lying down on the operating table.

    They were human but they were treated like livestock, their organs taken out and sold everywhere.

    There was a moment of silence in the room.

    Yu Hanjiang had never personally encountered an organ trafficking case in reality. The real world was a society governed byw and hospitals were strictly regted. Doctors kept detailed records of operations every day and there was surveince everywhere in the hospital. There were no doctors in a regr hospital who would run the risk of going to jail due to ¡®trafficking organs¡¯.

    Yet in this secret room, Zhao Sen made his cousin into human specimens. If he could still work here, Yu Hanjiang really wondered if this ce called Incheon Hospital was actually an organ trafficking nest.

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly asked, ¡°Right, for kidney transnts and heart transnts, do organ donors and recipients need simultaneous surgery? For example, a simultaneous surgery where A¡¯s heart is taken out and ced in B¡¯s chest?¡±

    He didn¡¯t know the answers to these professional questions. Xiao Lou understood more and exined, ¡°Not necessarily. Kidneys and hearts can be frozen. For example, before a normal heart is taken out, it is treated with a potassium chloride injection which could temporarily stop the heart from beating. After taking it out, put it on ice and store it for 4 to 6 hours. Once it needs to recover its beating, it can be treated with drugs. In general, the person who provides the heart will have the operation performed first. The heart is taken out, frozen, stored and taken to the patient in need of the heart. There can be a time difference of around six hours during this period.¡±

    ¡°A heart can be frozen and stored for six hours without losing its function?¡± Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°So the person who provides the organ doesn¡¯t necessarily have to be in this hospital? As long as the organ is sent to the operating room within six hours, the surgery can be done elsewhere?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, this is what I wanted to talk to you about. Shao Qingge¡¯s kidney transnt was done by Professor Qin Changming from this hospital. I just checked the professor¡¯s information on the hospital¡¯s official website. Qin Changming is 50 years old and specializes in urology treatment of kidney disease. He has performed hundreds of operations every year. He has rich experience and old qualifications. However, Liu Renyuan¡¯s kidney surgery seemed to have been performed by a novice.¡±

    ¡°So the doctor who performed the kidney transnt on Shao Qingge isn¡¯t the same doctor who took out Liu Renyuan¡¯s kidney?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely not. Professor Qin wouldn¡¯t make such a low-level mistake like damaging the pleura and ureter while removing the kidney.¡± Xiao Lou recalled Liu Renyuan¡¯s autopsy results and said, ¡°Liu Renyuan¡¯s right kidney was taken out by a person inexperienced in surgery and there were no surgery records in his hospital record. My guess is that his operation was probably done in an illegal clinic.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face changed at the words ¡®illegal clinic¡¯ and his expression became more serious. He tapped the edge of the bed with his finger and analyzed it. ¡°The intermediary is responsible for finding the buyer and matching the organ while the illegal clinic is responsible for the organ collection. After the organ is obtained, it is secretly sent to Incheon Hospital and the hospital¡¯s specialist will give it to the person in need of the organ transnt. As long as this illegal clinic can deliver the frozen organ to the hospital within six hours, the location can be anywhere in the city.¡±

    ¡°If our reasoning is correct, this organ trafficking organization involves arge number of people and has aplete chain of interests as well as a system ofbor division and coordination. It will be difficult to get to the end of it.¡± Xiao Lou thought of the scene where Yu Hanjiang was shot with a lingering fear and whispered, ¡°You must pay attention to your safety while investigating. The other party has a gun. Don¡¯t be careless.¡±

    ¡°You know I am leaving the hospital?¡±

    ¡°We are connected by Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings.¡± Xiao Lou looked helplessly at the man in front of him. ¡°I can understand why you are anxious to investigate outside. Just remember my words and don¡¯t go head-to-head with the opponent. Protect yourself and I will let our other teammates join you as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes were gentle and he gently patted Xiao Lou¡¯s hand to reassure the other person. After a while, he asked with concern, ¡°By the way, has Chief Shao¡¯s kidney been matched?¡±

    ¡°Chief Shao is in the ICU and it isn¡¯t convenient to take a kidney biopsy. His case file has it written that he has B type blood. The date of the kidney transntation was November 11th. Liu Renyuan has a B blood type and was paid arge sum of money in November. This shouldn¡¯t be a coincidence. It is likely that Chief Shao¡¯s kidneyes from Liu Renyuan.¡± Xiao Lou paused. ¡°I took some of Liu Renyuan¡¯s kidney tissue when I dissected him. I will find a way to confirm it when Chief Shao is better.¡±

    ¡°I guess it is 80-90% probability of being correct. Liu Renyuan¡¯s appearance is clearly telling us that the case in this secret room is organ trafficking.¡± Yu Hanjiang stood up. ¡°I will go through the discharge procedures now. Later, I will visit Professor Qin Changming in the nephrology department.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll take you there.¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 318: Testimony

    It had only been two days since Yu Hanjiang¡¯s surgery. It was reasonable to say that he shouldn¡¯t be discharged from hospital. However, Yu Hanjiang recovered well thanks to Chief Shao using the healing ability of the Bug King card and could get out of bed and walk around. Secondly, he still had a homicide case on his hands so he had to return to the team to investigate as soon as possible. Thirdly, Xiao Lou was the doctor in charge of him. He signed that Yu Hanjiang could leave the hospital and no one else could say anything. The director of the department just spoke a few kind words out of courtesy before letting Yu Hanjiang go.

    In order to rescue him a few nights ago, his bloody clothes were cut to pieces by the nurse. Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t wear a checkered hospital gown while investigating. Fortunately, a colleague from the police force cleverly sent him a new set of clothes after receiving news that he was discharged from the hospital. Yu Hanjiang changed in the bathroom before going to the nephrology department on the 17th floor with Xiao Lou.

    After putting on the police uniform, Yu Hanjiang returned to his former look. His handsome and serious appearance made people feel afraid of the consequences at first sight, not to mention his tall and straight figure that gave people a strong sense of oppression.

    Professor Qin Changming might be a prestigious old expert but even he was very hospitable to Yu Hanjiang and took the initiative to pour water for him. ¡°Officer Yu, I heard you were injured and sent to our hospital for rescue while investigating a case. You were discharged so quickly? You should pay attention to your health!¡±

    Professor Qin Changming, director of the nephrology department of Incheon Hospital. His hair was grey, his figure slightly plump and he had a very amiable smile.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke casually, ¡°Professor Qin, my injury isn¡¯t serious and I have almost recovered. Excuse me for disturbing you today. I have some questions I want to ask. I hope Professor Qin will cooperate.¡±

    Qin Changming smiled. ¡°Of course, it is our citizen¡¯s duty to cooperate with the police. What does Officer Yu want to ask?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked bluntly, ¡°You are the one who performed Shao Qingge¡¯s kidney transnt, right?¡±

    Qin Changming looked calm. ¡°It was me. Shao Qingge is the only child of my old ssmate, Shao Zhengyang. Since the child isn¡¯t in good health, Old Shao asked me to perform the operation on his son. I naturally couldn¡¯t refuse. The operation went well. Why are you suddenly asking about this?¡±

    ¡°Do you know where the kidney came from?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. It was bought by Old Shao and the donor didn¡¯t want to be named.¡±

    ¡°You dared to use an unknown kidney for a transnt?¡±

    ¡°Officer Yu, you might not know but it ismon for people who donate organs to want to be anonymous. Of course, in principle, our hospital will help find organs for every person but it isn¡¯t so easy to find. Sometimes, family members have a way to find a suitable kidney. As long as we check the function of the kidney, we can do the transnt. After all, we can¡¯t just watch as a patient dies, right?¡± Qin Changming smiled.

    ¡°In the past three years, how many kidney transnts have you done? Can you provide the information for all the cases?¡± Yu Hanjiang asked.

    ¡°Not much. It adds up to around 10 cases.¡± Qin Changming turned on theputer. ¡°A kidney transnt requires a lot of money after all and ordinary people can¡¯t afford it. They will have to give up on treatment. In addition, those who can afford it might not be able to find a suitable kidney.¡±

    He brought up the cases where he did a kidney transnt and added, ¡°If Officer Yu needs it, I can copy the data of these patients to you.¡± Qin Changming quicklypressed and packaged the data and Yu Hanjiang stepped forward to copy it on a USB sh drive.

    ¡°By the way, why are you suddenly checking for kidney transnts? Is there something wrong?¡± Qin Changming looked at Yu Hanjiang suspiciously. ¡°Our operations were all performed ording to regtions. The 10 surgeries I did were also very sessful. There should be no problems?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it isn¡¯t convenient to disclose the reason for the investigation at the moment.¡± Yu Hanjiang unplugged the USB sh drive and spoke politely. ¡°Thank you Professor Qin for your cooperation. If there are any questions in the future, I mighte to trouble you again.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. Feel free toe at any time.¡± Qin Changming sent Yu Hanjiang away with a smile.

    Yu Hanjiang came out and Xiao Lou was waiting for him in the corridor. The two people looked at each other and Xiao Lou spoke through the mind channel, ¡°Do you suspect this Qin Changming?¡±

    ¡°He was very calm when he spoke and seemedpletely unaware. It is very likely that he only performed the surgery on patients in need of a kidney transnt and isn¡¯t directly involved in the organ trafficking.¡± Yu Hanjiang walked forward quickly while speaking. ¡°I feel that your spection is more reasonable. The real ones involved in organ trafficking is likely to be an illegal clinic. However, it still needs to be investigated if this hospital is an intermediary or is really unaware of it.¡±

    ¡°Chief Shao said his parents are here. Do you want to question them?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Yu Hanjiang paused. ¡°Zhao Sen is in the cardiac surgery department and I am wearing a police uniform right now. It might rm this murderer. You should take Shao Qingge¡¯s parents to your office and I will talk to them.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and separated from Yu Hanjiang at a fork in the corridor.

    By the time he came to the ICU of the cardiac surgery department, Shao Qingge¡¯s parents had already visited and were in the corridor to confirm the details of the operation with Zhao Sen and sign the letter of consent. Xiao Lou walked over and spoke politely. ¡°Hello, Uncle Shao. I am Shao Qingge¡¯s friend, Xiao Lou.¡±

    Shao Zhengyang¡¯s eyes were warm. ¡°Hello, I heard Qingge say that you cared for him during his hospital stay and came to visit him everyday. Thank you.¡±

    ¡°This is what I should do. Uncle, why don¡¯t youe to my office to sit after you finish this? There are some things I have to hand over to you.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    He signed the informed consent form that Zhao Sen gave him and turned to follow Xiao Lou to the general surgery department. To his surprise, a tall and handsome police officer was standing in the office, eyes as sharp as a sword. The other person spoke calmly. ¡°Hello Mr Shao. I am Yu Hanjiang, the group leader of the city¡¯s criminal investigations police team. I have a few questions to ask you.¡±

    Shao Zhengyang nced at Xiao Lou and thetter smiled apologetically. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Uncle Shao. I didn¡¯t mean to deceive you. Officer Yu had me call you over.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Why are you looking for me?¡± Shao Zhengyang frowned. ¡°I have been doing business in ordance with thew over the years and haven¡¯t done any tax evasion. Besides, tax matters shouldn¡¯t be investigated by a criminal investigations police officer, right?¡±

    ¡°It isn¡¯t a tax issue.¡± Yu Hanjiang stepped forward and calmly looked at Mr Shao. ¡°It is about your son¡¯s kidney. Mr Shao, do you know where this kidneyes from?¡±

    ¡°I had someone buy it.¡± Shao Zhengyang spoke indifferently. ¡°It might be cold-blooded to say this but some people regard money as more important than their health. As long as people are willing to give a high price, they will be willing to sell one of their kidneys. Qingge is the only son of the Shao family and I will do whatever it takes to save him. Besides, this kidney wasn¡¯t expensive. It only cost 20 million gold coins. I don¡¯t know exactly where it was bought from. My assistant was responsible for this but he resigned six months ago and returned to his hometown. You can contact him if you want to know the details.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid that the kidney from an unknown source was obtained illegally?¡± Yu Hanjiang asked in a deep voice.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care about this. I just know it can save my son.¡± Shao Zhengyang spoke coldly. ¡°Is it illegal to buy a kidney to save my son? If one day you are a father and your son bes ill, won¡¯t you also save him at all costs?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other, feeling helpless in their hearts. Chief Shao¡¯s ¡®father¡¯ was very difficult to deal with. It seemed that they had to find the missing assistant to investigate the kidney matter. This clue probably needed Shao Qingge to check.

    Yu Hanjiang temporarily sent away Mr Shao and after saying goodbye to Xiao Lou, he returned to the police force to go to work.

    Xiao Lou continued to check the information. He downloaded the information of all doctors who did organ transnts in this hospital, stored them in the mailbox and sent them to Yu Hanjiang. After a busy day, a lot of data had umted and it was difficult to lock onto the suspect.

    There were too many departments involved in organ transnts. In addition to kidneys, there were also heart transnts, liver transnts and even corneal transnts.

    Corneas were also difficult to obtain. After all, people who donated their corneas would be blind. Generally, only people who were dying would donate their corneas. However, cornea matching was easier and had high adaptability. Therefore, the organ trafficking organization was most likely a group of ¡®money first¡¯ people. They could kill one person and sell the heart, liver, kidney and corneas to gain the maximum benefits.

    This was a bit scary. Humans were like livestock in their eyes who could be sold at will! Once again, Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t able to sleep well this night.

    Ye Qi also didn¡¯t sleep well. Shao Qingge used the Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings with him and joked, ¡°I will have an operation tomorrow morning. Dr Zhao will operate on me personally.¡±

    Ye Qi was scared to death. Chief Shao hadn¡¯t seen the plot card and didn¡¯t know Zhao Sen¡¯s cruelty. Ye Qi had seen the scene of Zhao Sen chopping up a corpse with his own eyes and spoke nervously, ¡°Or perhaps you shouldn¡¯t have the operation. Should I take you away overnight?¡±

    Shao Qinggeughed. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, I¡¯m very lucky. Moreover, Xiao Lou will personally be an assistant and watch Zhao Sen.¡±

    Ye Qi wasn¡¯t reassured. ¡°I also want to watch your surgery. Can I go in wearing the invisibility cloak? Or let Liu Qiao turn me into the size of a thumb so I can enter Professor Xiao¡¯s pocket? By the way, Liu Qiao still has a bottle of antidote. Take it for insurance.¡±

    Shao Qingge listened to his flustered voice and calmed down instead. He spoke softly, ¡°Okay, I shouldn¡¯t tease you. Don¡¯t be nervous. I won¡¯t have an ident. If I am killed directly by Zhao Sen on the operating table then this secret room would have an SS grade difficulty, not A grade. Besides, Zhao Sen isn¡¯t operating on me alone. There are many doctors and nurses.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s face was bitter. ¡°Okay, Chief Shao. Take a break earlier. I hope that everything goes well.¡± Ye Qi paused before speaking excitedly. ¡°By the way, I will put a bug in the operating room. Once Zhao Sen dares to move against you, I will kill him immediately.¡±

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He heard the 7 year old child¡¯s voice in his ear and couldn¡¯t help smiling. He knew that tomorrow¡¯s surgery was extremely dangerous but he wasn¡¯t alone. He had his teammates.

    Early the next morning, Xiao Lou woke up and hurriedly washed his face and brushed his teeth. Then he casually ate breakfast.

    He was just about to head to the cardiac surgery area when he received news from Yu Hanjiang. The man¡¯s low voice was heard in his mind. ¡°My side has a new discovery. There is another dismembered corpse case reported to the police by an olddy in a residential building. She only found the deceased¡¯s limbs but no torso. This modus operandi is very simr to Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s case. There is too much information to investigate. Let Long Sen and Old Mo be discharged first to help me while you take care of Chief Shao.¡±

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and calmly said. ¡°Rest assured, I will protect Chief Shao. I will go to the operating room now.¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 319: New Clues

    By the time Xiao Lou came to the cardiac surgery department, Shao Qingge had been pushed out of the ICU ward. His mental state seemed good and his body data was very stable. Zhao Sen had contacted the anesthesiologist and he would be sent for anesthesia soon.

    Xiao Lou walked quickly to Shao Qingge¡¯s bed and leaned over to whisper in his ears. ¡°Chief Shao, don¡¯t worry. I will follow you all the way. The risk of death in stent imntation isn¡¯t high. This is a type of minimally invasive interventional surgery and postoperative recovery is very fast. You will wake up smoothly.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s warm words offort relieved Shao Qingge¡¯s heart a lot and a smile appeared on his face. He nodded and said, ¡°Okay, I will cooperate with the anesthesiologist. I will sleep and be fine when I wake up.¡±

    It was best for him to think so. Xiao Lou sighed with relief and apanied the nurse to send Shao Qingge to the anesthesia room.

    They had just walked to the door of the cardiac surgery department when he saw a 7 year old boy hiding behind a pir, poking his head out from time to time. After meeting Xiao Lou¡¯s gaze, the little boy¡¯s eyes brightened and he quickly ran over. He stopped by Shao Qingge¡¯s bed and spoke softly. ¡°I came to see Chief Shao. Are you going to the operating room now?¡±

    Shao Qingge looked sideways when he heard the familiar voice and smiled. ¡°Xiao Ye? Why are you here?¡±

    Ye Qi answered, ¡°I took advantage of the morning rounds when the doctors and nurses weren¡¯t paying attention to me to sneak out to see you.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m fine.¡± Shao Qingge reached out to gently touch Xiao Ye¡¯s head. ¡°This surgery is very simple. It is just a small opening in the blood vessel without needing to open the chest and take out the heart. Xiao Lou will be present so there won¡¯t be any problems.¡±

    ¡°Yes, then I¡¯ll wait for you toe out.¡± Ye Qi slipped a card to Xiao Lou. ¡°Professor Xiao, take this bug and put it in your pocket. I will be able to hear any movements in the operating room. If things go wrong, Liu Qiao and I wille to the operating room to help immediately.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Xiao Ye, go back and inform everyone that they should find a way to leave the hospital as soon as possible to help Group Leader Yu. Group Leader Yu has a new case and there are more clues to investigate. There aren¡¯t enough people.¡± Xiao Lou whispered in Ye Qi¡¯s ear. ¡°You should first find an excuse to go through the discharge procedures. If the attending doctor doesn¡¯t agree then escape from the hospital together tonight.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± Ye Qi turned and left, making a ¡®jiayou¡¯ gesture to Shao Qingge.

    Shao Qingge watched the little guy leaving and smiled. ¡°Ye Qi is very cute as a child.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°Yes. He also cares about you a lot. He specifically sneaked out to see you.¡±

    ¡°I connected to himst night and my nervousness must¡¯ve affected him.¡±

    After hearing Chief Shao¡¯s exnation, Xiao Lou suddenly remembered something. ¡°Group Leader Yu and I are also connected to each other. I don¡¯t know what is going on with his side. It is said there is a new case.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was about to go to the crime scene to see the second corpse. Xiao Lou spoke worriedly in his mind. ¡°Group Leader Yu, everything is fine with Chief Shao. I¡¯m going to send him to the operating room. What is your situation?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°The dismembered body was found in the garbage dump. This time, our police team will be dispatched together to conduct a search of the garbage dump on the outskirts of the city. I suspect there is more than one dead person. I can¡¯t talk much. I will contact you again at noon. Watch the surgery well and don¡¯t be distracted.¡±

    Xiao Lou told him to pay attention to safety and pushed Shao Qingge into the anesthesia room. The operation required general anesthesia. Shao Qingge soon lost consciousness under the effect of the anesthesia. After the anesthesia was stabilized, Zhao Sen also came over with a young assistant. Xiao Lou and Zhao Sen changed into the surgical gowns, disinfected and washed their hands.

    The light above Shao Qingge¡¯s head turned on and the operation officially began. Xiao Lou stood beside him and he was so nervous that he was sweating.

    On the other hand, Zhao Sen was extremely calm. He methodically opened a channel in the femoral artery of Shao Qingge¡¯s left thigh and inserted a slender sheath tube that slowly headed for the heart along the blood vessels. With the help of a contrast agent, the doctor could clearly see the blood vessels in the human body through the x-ray.

    Interventional surgery was a delicate and minimally invasive surgery. Unless Zhao Sen intentionally punctured Shao Qingge¡¯s heart or blood vessels, the possibility of Shao Qingge experiencing an ident on the operating table wasn¡¯t high. However, the blood vessels of the heart were so fragile. If Zhao Sen wanted to kill Shao Qingge then any operation error could kill him!

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t dare to rx and he stared closely at the dense image of the blood vessels. Soon, Zhao Sen saw the blocked blood vessels. He pointed at the ck shadow on the screen to the assistant next to him and said, ¡°See? This is the left anterior descending coronary artery. This is the circumflex artery¡­¡±

    The young doctor next to him said, ¡°The stenosis is more than 80%. It is true that the stent should be ced as soon as possible or the probability of a myocardial infarction is too high.¡±

    The two people discussed it while putting the balloon wrapped with the metal stent into the blood vessel channel. They guided it to the location of the lesion and spread it. The originally narrow blood vessel was opened by the stent and the blood flow became unobstructed. Immediately afterward, Zhao Sen put in the second and third brackets¡­

    His expression was always calm and his hands were very steady during the operation. His movements were quick and decisive. He was indeed a great surgeon. Xiao Lou stood on the sidelines the entire time, his heart in his throat out of fear that something would go wrong in the process.

    It was just one hour but it felt as long as a century. It wasn¡¯t until Zhao Sen said, ¡°It¡¯s done,¡± that Xiao Lou sighed with relief, forehead sweaty.

    Zhao Sen nced back at Xiao Lou and joked, ¡°Dr Xiao should be relieved now? I said a long time ago that your friend¡¯s surgery isn¡¯t difficult. Why are you so nervous?¡±

    Xiao Lou reluctantly smiled and pretended to be calm. ¡°Thank you Dr Zhao. I have never seen such a delicate intervention before. I was just nervous watching it.¡±

    Zhao Sen turned to change his surgical gown, took off his gloves and spoke while washing his hands, ¡°The new generation of vascr stents used now has a very good effect. Your friend¡¯s three narrow blood vessels have beenpletely dredged. Next, he just needs to take medicine regrly and the risk of a myocardial infarction will be very low. However, he needs to pay attention to avoid doing any intense exercise and it is best not to be too emotional.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded seriously. ¡°I will tell Shao Qingge.¡± He paused before pretending to ask casually, ¡°By the way, I heard that you can do heart transnts?¡±

    The moment he spoke, the surroundings suddenly seemed quiet. The cold air of the air-conditioning blew onto Xiao Lou¡¯s neck and Zhao Sen¡¯s eyes behind his sses were cold and sharp, causing a chill to go down Xiao Lou¡¯s spine. Zhao Sen answered lightly, ¡°Oh? Dr Xiao is interested in heart transnts?¡±

    Xiao Lou gritted his teeth and said, ¡°I heard Uncle Shao say it yesterday and was just asking casually. Is it true that you can do the mostplex heart transnt at such a young age?¡±

    Zhao Sen slowly washed his hands without answering the question, making the atmosphere awkward for a while.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t ask again and waited patiently. Momentster, Zhao Sen finished washing his hands and headed to the lounge next door while answering, ¡°A heart transnt surgery is reallyplicated. I have done only a few and they were all with Doctor Lin.¡±

    Xiao Lou quickly washed his hands and followed while pretending to be curious. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t it be difficult to find a heart donor? Most people don¡¯t donate their hearts. Where does the hospital usually find the heart source?¡±

    Zhao Sen went into the lounge, poured a ss of water and took a few sips. ¡°There are some death row prisoners who will donate their hearts before death if there is a sessful match. This is regarded as a good deed and will umte blessings for future generations. Secondly, they can get some money to supplement their families. Our hospital only performed two heart transntsst year and the hearts came from prisoners sentenced to death. The consent form was signed before doing so.¡±

    ¡°It is a good thing for the death row inmates. They won¡¯t die from being shot and it is a good thing to save another life with their heart.¡± Xiao Lou pretended to chat with Zhao Sen while continuing to question him. ¡°Apart from death row prisoners, are there any other sources?¡±

    ¡°The hearts of some people who are judged as brain dead can be used. You are a doctor and should know that the standard for clinically judging a person¡¯s death isn¡¯t cardiac arrest but brain death. Some patients are brain-dead but their hearts are still beating. Taking the heart out during this time can also save lives.¡±

    ¡°That is true.¡± Brain-dead people had lost consciousness and were clinically treated as dead. Sometimes, the heart of a brain-dead patient was indeed still beating. If there was consent from the family members then it was reasonable, medically ethical and legal to take out the heart to save others.

    Xiao Lou continued asking, ¡°A major operation like a heart transnt should require several doctors to cooperate together?¡±

    ¡°Of course. There is Director Lin and I along with two assistants. Usually four people are needed toplete it.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Zhao Sen thoughtfully. This man¡¯s expression was calm and not guilty at all when talking about the topic of a heart transnt. However, Zhao Sen¡¯s psychological quality wasn¡¯tparable to that of ordinary people. He could even calmly make specimens out of the organs of his cousin¡¯s body¡­

    Since a heart transnt operation required several people to work together, if Zhao Sen was rted to the organ trafficking organization then the entire heart surgery team would bemitting the crime. Director Lin, Zhao Sen and the two assistants were all suspects.

    Xiao Lou thought this was unlikely.

    The doctors and nurses of the cardiac surgery department added up to over 20 and the operating rooms of Incheon Hospital were a different department that included head nurses, instrument nurses, scrub nurses plus the anesthesia department. How could so many peoplemit the crime together? Perhaps the doctors at Incheon Hospital really didn¡¯t know the source of these organs.

    In this case, Zhao Sen wasn¡¯t the murderer¡­

    He really was a witness?!

    Xiao Lou was shocked when thinking of this possibility and he pretended to inadvertently ask, ¡°By the way Dr Zhao, do you know someone named Cheng Shaoyu? He is the eldest son of the richest person in our city¡¯s clothing industry. Cheng Jiandong.¡±

    ¡°I know him.¡± Zhao Sen smiled. ¡°I did his heart transnt.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°!!!!¡±

    Zhao Sen was a person associated with the ¡®Cheng Shaoyu dismembered body case¡¯ and he personally performed surgery on Cheng Shaoyu?

    Yu Hanjiang was originally investigating the ¡®Cheng Shaoyu dismembered body case¡¯ before being sent to the hospital because of his injury. Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s torso hadn¡¯t been found, only his limbs. Therefore, the police didn¡¯t expect it to be organ trafficking at first. They only thought it was a revenge killing. The suspicion was on Cheng Shaofeng, the deceased¡¯s younger brother who he had conflicts with due to property inheritance.

    Unfortunately, Cheng Shaofeng disappeared and Yu Hanjiang was shot during the investigation. The case entered a bottleneck and no further clues were found.

    It wasn¡¯t until Xiao Lou discovered the suspicious corpse of Liu Renyuan in the morgue and performed a secret autopsy that it was determined that Liu Renyuan¡¯s right kidney was missing. The two men gradually linked the case to organ trafficking.

    Cheng Shaoyu was a rich second generation so he didn¡¯t need to sell kidneys for money. The most reasonable guess that was Cheng Shaoyu also experienced an organ transnt. He wasn¡¯t a seller of organs but the beneficiary of an organ transnt.

    Xiao Lou had just casually questioned Zhao Sen but he didn¡¯t expect it to be a key clue in this case. Cheng Shaoyu actually underwent a heart transnt!

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and calmed himself quickly. Then he nced at Zhao Sen with a smile. ¡°Dr Zhao is really amazing. You can do a heart transnt at such a young age. I can only do an appendectomy right now. It is too shamefulpared to you.¡±

    Zhao Sen was in a good mood after being praised. He drank a mouthful of water and continued. ¡°The one operating on Cheng Shaoyu was actually chief surgeon Director Lin and I just helped. Director Lin was responsible for removing the heart and I put the healthy heart in. We each did half of it. Otherwise, our physical strength wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand the seven hours of surgery.¡±

    ¡°Yes, being a surgeon really requires a lot of stamina¡­¡± Xiao Lou paused and shifted the subject. ¡°By the way, did the heart transnted into Cheng Shaoyue from a death row prisoner or a brain-dead patient?¡±

    ¡°The Cheng family is rich enough to find a death row prisoner to buy it.¡± Zhao Sen smiled. ¡°It should be considered lucky for Young Master Cheng. He happened to find a suitable heart. He had congestive heart failure that was at the end stages. If he didn¡¯t have a heart transnt then he probably wouldn¡¯t have lived for even a year.¡±

    ¡°Dr Zhao, operating room 3 is cleaned up and the patient has been anaesthetized. Do you want to start the operation?¡± A nurse knocked on the door and wondered.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ming.¡± Zhao Sen put down the water ss, stood up and told Xiao Lou, ¡°I still have an operation to do.¡±

    ¡°Okay, you can go to work.¡± Zhao Sen watched him leave. Then he quickly walked to the general surgery duty room and closed the door, his heart beating violently. He searched for Yu Hanjiang through the mind channel, ¡°Group Leader Yu, it is important. I discovered that Zhao Sen has done a heart transnt on Cheng Shaoyu!¡±

    ¡°I sensed most of it when you were talking to him.¡± Yu Hanjiang¡¯s calm voice was heard. ¡°My side also has a major discovery. Arge number of dismembered corpses have appeared in this garbage dump on the outskirts of the city. After a preliminary judgment, it has been determined that at least five people have been thrown away.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± A chill rose from the soles of his feet and Xiao Lou felt numb. ¡°The organization we are investigating this time is simply a bunch of inhuman beasts!¡±

    ¡°I think so too.¡± Yu Hanjiang nced sharply at the body parts everywhere. Many of the corpses were charred and the scene was shocking. It was like purgatory on earth.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 320: Source of the Dismembered Corpses

    The ones who reported it this time were an elderly couple who worked at the garbage collection station all year round.

    The garbage collection station at the outskirts of the city had a history of many years. Urban garbage would be transported here first for sorting and recyble garbage was sent to a professional garbage disposalpany to be recycled. Hazardous garbage was sent to another garbage treatment nt forplete destruction.

    Yu Hanjiang walked over and questioned those who reported it. ¡°How did you find these corpses?¡±

    The olddy stood there with her head lowered. She was afraid to speak and was obviously horrified by the terrible scene.

    The old man coughed and spoke in a trembling voice. ¡°We both drove the garbage truck this morning and came to work as usual. The garbage over there was piled up. We wanted to load the garbage into the truck as soon as possible. I didn¡¯t pay attention at all. It was my wife who suddenly screamed and said there was a hand in the garbage dump. I looked over and sure enough, there was indeed a dark hand!¡±

    The olddy thought of this scene and shivered. ¡°Yes, it was a burnt hand and obviously didn¡¯t belong to a small animal. It had five fingers and looked like a human hand. I looked through the trash bin and found another hand! My legs weakened in fright and I didn¡¯t know what to do. My husband responded quickly and told me to call the police.¡±

    The elderly couple were obviously passersby who had nothing to do with the case. They identally came across the dismembered corpses in the garbage dump and were so scared that they were still shaking.

    Yu Hanjiang wrote it down while asking, ¡°How often is this garbage collection station cleaned up?¡±

    The old man replied, ¡°Around every three days. The city has too much garbage. If it isn¡¯t sorted and cleaned up in time then there would be no room.¡±

    ¡°In other words, this rubbish was delivered within thest three days?¡± Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly. He was shot three days ago. Was it a coincidence or was the organ trafficking organization suddenly disposing of the corpses after detecting that something was wrong?

    ¡°It should be?¡± The old man spoke uncertainly. ¡°We cleaned this area three days ago and no dead bodies were found. It was only when we came this morning that we found it. This batch of garbage should be newly delivered within thest three days.¡±

    ¡°Can you tell where the garbage came from?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s too difficult.¡± The old man frowned in a distressed manner. ¡°The rubbish from all themunities, streets and schools will be sent here and piled together. It is hard to identify what is from where.¡±

    All the garbage from the city was gathered here so the specific source of the corpses was indeed difficult to trace.

    Yu Hanjiang endured the pungent smell in the air and took a breath. Then he crouched down and examined the pile of garbage carefully. In addition to the burnt corpse parts, there was also arge amount of garbage such as rotten vegetable leaves, peels, takeout lunch boxes and other household waste.

    His keen eyes found a takeout box with the words ¡®Good Taste Porridge Store¡¯ on them as well as disposable stic chopsticks and paper towel packaging bags with a small yellow man and the words ¡®Spicy Rice Noodles¡¯ on them.

    He stood up and asked the colleague next to him in a low voice, ¡°Where is thergest vegetable and fruit warehouse in our city?¡±

    The male colleague answered, ¡°I remember there is a farmer¡¯s market in the west of the city. Vegetables and fruit are sold in boxes there and it is especially cheap. The city¡¯s vegetables and fruits should be purchased from there?¡±

    Another female colleague whispered, ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you suspect the corpses came from a vegetable market?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression was cold. ¡°For this batch of corpses, it seems they were hurriedly processed. There are burn marks on the corpses. The other party wanted to cremate the corpses and burn them to ashes without leaving any evidence. There might¡¯ve been an ident during the cremation and the corpses weren¡¯tpletely burned. Therefore, they hurriedly threw the body parts into the trash can where they were transported by the garbage truck here.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang pointed to therge amount of vegetable leaves and fruit peels in the garbage dump. ¡°There should be arge farmer¡¯s market near the trash bin where they threw the corpses. It is difficult for urban residents to produce this much vegetable leaves, fruit peels and other garbage in three days. In addition, there are cartons, woven bags and other garbage that are also used for the vegetables and fruits at the farmer¡¯s market.¡±

    His colleagues listened to his analysis and nodded in agreement.

    The forensic doctor apanying them spoke bitterly. ¡°Group Leader Yu, these body parts are too fragmented and burned. It will be difficult to determine the time of death and manner of death. I don¡¯t even know how many are dead. I will have to take back the corpses for DNA testing andpare the gic data to missing people. The results will be given to you tomorrow at thetest.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Thank you everyone, you¡¯ve worked hard. Let¡¯s call it a day.¡±

    Today¡¯s criminal police officers were a bit of a mess. They followed Yu Hanjiang to search through the entire garbage dump looking for corpses and everyone smelled very bad. After returning to the police station, they went to take a shower and change clothes.

    Yu Hanjiang took advantage of his time in the shower to continuemunicating with Xiao Lou. ¡°I¡¯ve locked onto a suspected area. It is the farmer¡¯s market distribution center in the west of the city. If we can find the ¡®Good Taste Porridge Store¡¯ and ¡®Spicy Rice Noodles¡¯ store within 5 kilometres, the trash bin nearby is the most likely ce where it was thrown. The organ trafficking organization might be around there.¡±

    Xiao Lou was surprised by the efficiency. ¡°You even found specific stores?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang exined, ¡°The takeout boxes for these two ces were found in the garbage dump.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang paused, washed away the shampoo foam on his head and continued, ¡°My colleagues are all from the secret room. I don¡¯t know if having them investigate might inadvertently alert the enemy. Therefore, I think it is better for our teammates toe and help as soon as possible. They aren¡¯t the police and don¡¯t need to do too many disguises. It is convenient for them to visit as ordinary people.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°I will let Old Mo, Long Sen, Qu Wanyue and Ye Qie to help you. Old Mo and Ye Qi can be a grandfather and grandchild. It isn¡¯t easy to suspect old people and children. The Long Qu couple will act as themselves and it is more convenient for them to go to the farmer¡¯s market to buy vegetables.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang naturally agreed with Xiao Lou¡¯s arrangement. He thought the same.

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°After Chief Shao is discharged, should I have him go to check his father¡¯s side?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Mr Shao doesn¡¯t seem to know the source of the organ and he said it was all done by his assistant. The assistant who resigned and left needs to be investigated. This person probably knows the contact information of the organ trafficking organization. Moreover, this person resigned half a year ago¡­ half a year was just around the time of Shao Qingge¡¯s operation. The assistant suddenly resigning is a bit strange.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I will think of a way to let Chief Shao leave the hospital as soon as possible so he can go home and check the assistant.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang noticed that Liu Qiao wasn¡¯t mentioned. ¡°For Xiao Liu, are you arranging her to stay and help you?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Xiao Lou exined, ¡°Liu Qiao¡¯s anemia is more serious. Her condition is in the progressive stage and she can¡¯t go too far. I want to keep her in the hospital. I personally think the suspicion of Zhao Sen, Qin Changming and the other doctors isn¡¯t big but it can¡¯t bepletely ruled out. It is necessary to find all the cases of organ transnts in thest few years and organize the detailed information for you.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s words once again coincided with Yu Hanjiang¡¯s thoughts. The man smiled with relief and said, ¡°Okay, we will work together. Pay attention to your safety.¡±

    Xiao Lou was silent for a moment before suddenly wondering, ¡°There is a problem I have been unable to figure out. You found dismembered body parts in the garbage dump. All the body parts are limbs and the torso is missing. The torso is where the organs are located so it was processed separately. It is likely that this dark organization grabbed people, removed their organs and threw away the corpses. Then¡­ why Cheng Shaoyu?¡±

    Cheng Shaoyu was the first deceased in this case and a rich second generation.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Cheng Shaoyu was the beneficiary of an organ transnt. Someone else transnted the organ into him and there is no such thing as an illegal clinic taking his heart and throwing his body into the garbage dump. So why was he dismembered?¡±

    The organ trafficking organization secretly removed people¡¯s organs and threw away their corpses. This was the most reasonable spection at present. Cheng Shaoyu obviously didn¡¯t belong to this column.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke calmly. ¡°Have you heard of a retaliatory imitation crime?¡±

    Xiao Lou was stunned and didn¡¯t understand Yu Hanjiang¡¯s meaning for a while. Yu Hanjiang exined in a low voice, ¡°A used a certain method to kill B¡¯s dear rtive or loved ones. B took revenge and deliberately chose the same method to kill A. From the perspective of criminal psychology, doing so will make them enjoy it more.¡±

    Xiao Lou understood. ¡°You mean that Cheng Shaoyu received a heart transnt. This heart came from another person and that person died after losing their heart. Once a rtive learned about this, they retaliated against Cheng Shaoyu and killed Cheng Shaoyu with the method of dismembering the body?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°This spection is reasonable. Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s method of being dismembered is very simr to the body parts that were found in the garbage dump. It is obviously an imitation. The people from the organ trafficking organization are murderers and have killed many people for years. Among those who were killed, a rtive found out the truth and took revenge on the recipient of the organ. Cheng Shaoyu was retaliated against.¡±

    This made sense? Why else would Cheng Shaoyu, the beneficiary of a heart transnt, be dismembered? Perhaps it was the rtive of the deceased retaliating against him.

    Xiao Lou was shocked. ¡°This is bad. Chief Shao also had an organ transnt. What if someone retaliates against him?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also thought of this and immediately said in a deep voice, ¡°Go and see Chief Shao as soon as possible and determine the source of his kidney!¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was about to stop. He immediately took a deep breath and headed to the ICU ward.

    He had always been worried that Zhao Sen would do something to Chief Shao during the operation andpletely ignored that Chief Shao might be retaliated against by a family member after the surgery. After all, Shao Qingge also ¡®bought¡¯ someone¡¯s kidney.

    The door of the ICU ward was closed tightly. Xiao Lou asked the head nurse to open the door and found a young nurse standing by the bed, smiling lightly at Shao Qingge. She was grabbing Shao Qingge¡¯s wrist as if to give him an injection, but there was no infusion bag in her hand.

    Was she going to inject air into Shao Qingge¡¯s blood vessels?!

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was going to explode. He quickly walked over and asked in a harsh voice, ¡°What are you doing?!¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 321: Suspect

    Xiao Lou strode over and reached out like lightning to grab the nurse¡¯s wrist, making her stop. She was holding a 20ml syringe that had just been opened and there was no medicine in the syringe!

    Inpatients didn¡¯t need this type of injection needle for transfusion. It was usually used for intramuscr injections. For an intravenous infusion, one just needed to puncture the blood vessel on the back of the hand with a needle, open the vein channel and connect the drip.

    Now she was holding an empty syringe in her hand and grabbing the back of Shao Qingge¡¯s hand. Wasn¡¯t this giving Shao Qingge an injection of air?!

    Once 20ml of air was continuously injected into the blood vessel and followed the bloodstream to the heart, therge number of air bubbles couldn¡¯t be discharged. This would cause a gas embolism, resulting in multiple organ failure or even cerebral infarction, with the patient dying quickly.

    The more Xiao Lou thought about it, the more afraid he became. If he was one stepte then perhaps Shao Qingge would¡¯ve changed into a cold corpse! Killing with air was really convenient and secretive!

    Looking at the sleeping Shao Qingge, Xiao Lou suppressed his anger. His always gentle gaze became extremely cold as he gripped the other person¡¯s wrist and asked sharply, ¡°What were you going to do?¡±

    The nurse was stunned. She lowered her head and whispered, ¡°D-Dr Xiao, I¡¯m here to take blood for an examination?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°Using this syringe to draw blood?¡±

    In clinical practice, it was rare to use this type of injection needle to draw blood. In order to check for various blood indicators, different colored negative pressure needles were used to draw blood. Xiao Lou had never seen the operation of directly drawing blood with a needle tube and then distributing them into various test tubes.

    The nurse was obviously lying.

    Xiao Lou frowned and looked at her. The name ¡®Xu Fangfang¡¯ was written on the nurse¡¯s chest badge. The girl was petite. She wore the white nurse¡¯s uniform, a mask and a hat with one bar that was the sign of the most junior nurse. Xu Fangfang had beautiful eyes and curved eyebrows. It was obvious that she was a pretty girl just by looking at the upper half of her face and that she was around 25 years old.

    Xu Fangfang shrank back as Xiao Lou stared at her and she spoke timidly. ¡°Dr Xiao, I¡¯m really here to draw blood.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡± Xiao Lou calmly pulled her to the nurse¡¯s station. The head nurse was there and Xiao Lou asked directly, ¡°Head Nurse, did Dr Zhao give an order to draw blood from the patient in bed 3 of the ICU?¡±

    The head nurse looked through the doctor¡¯s orders on theputer and replied, ¡°Yes, he wanted to draw blood to check the myocardial enzymes after the surgery.¡±

    Xiao Lou picked up the empty syringe in Xu Fangfang¡¯s hand and coldly asked, ¡°Is this type of needle used to draw blood in this ward?¡±

    The head nurse was taken aback and stared at the young nurse incredulously. ¡°Xiao Xu? Why did you bring this injection needle to draw blood from a patient?¡±

    Xu Fangfang was exposed and she was visibly flustered. ¡°I-I identally took it by mistake¡­¡±

    The head nurse gave her a reproachful look. ¡°A mistake?! Blood drawing is done every day and different inspection items use different negative pressure tubes. This is the basics. How can you make a mistake?! I remember that you are usually very careful. What is this situation?¡±

    Xu Fangfang¡¯s eyes suddenly turned red. She lowered her head and her voice was choked up. ¡°I-I just received a call. My grandfather passed away at noon today. I was very confused and happened to take the wrong syringe to draw blood from the patient. Then Dr Xiao came in. It is just a misunderstanding.¡±

    ¡°A misunderstanding?¡± Xiao Lou frowned slightly, not believing this exnation.

    ¡°Ah, a family member has passed away. You should¡¯ve told me immediately instead of making mistakes at work¡­¡± The head nurse helped her. ¡°Since your grandfather has passed away, take time off and go home for two days. I will ask Xiao Wu to help with your night shifts.¡±

    Xu Fangfang thanked the head nurse and then bowed to Xiao Lou. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Facing this red-eyed girl who was about to cry, Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know what to say. He had to let the other person go and Xu Fangfang immediately turned to change clothes.

    Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t a police officer and had no right to arrest the nurse. Beside, he only saw Xu Fangfang grab Shao Qingge¡¯s hand and appear to be about to give him an injection. There was no clear evidence that ¡®Xu Fangfang wants to murder Shao Qingge¡¯. Xu Fangfang insisted she was flustered and took the wrong syringe. There was no way. He couldn¡¯t convict someone for taking the wrong syringe, right?

    However, Xiao Lou always felt that this girl¡¯s actions weren¡¯t as simple as ¡®taking the wrong syringe¡¯. The moment he walked into the ICU, he clearly saw this nurse with a strange smile. She stared at Shao Qingge with even a hint of hatred in her eyes. This scene gave Xiao Lou the creeps.

    It was impossible to see incorrectly. A normal nurse wouldn¡¯t have this look when drawing blood from a patient. It was better to be cautious than to let a suspect get away.

    Xiao Lou thought for a moment and immediately sent a text message to Liu Qiao. ¡°Xiao Liu, there is a nurse called Xu Fangfang from the cardiac surgery department. I suspect she is rted to the case we¡¯re investigating and she is very hostile to Chief Shao. I have to stay to look after Chief Shao. Can you find a way to follow her?¡±

    Liu Qiao replied. ¡°No problem. I will use the Thumbelina card to make myself smaller and go into her pocket or backpack. She won¡¯t find me. Professor Xiao, send me her photo. I wille to the cardiac surgery department in advance to wait for her.¡±

    Xiao Lou secretly took a photo of Xu Fangfang from the nurse¡¯s station when no one was paying attention and sent it to Liu Qiao. Then he looked at the head nurse and politely suggested, ¡°Since Xu Fangfang has asked for leave, can you change the nurse who draws Shao Qingge¡¯s blood?¡±

    The head nurse smiled at him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, this time I¡¯ll draw the blood from him myself.¡±

    Xiao Lou followed the head nurse. She entered the ICU ward and quickly and skillfully drew the blood. Xiao Lou sighed with relief when he saw that Shao Qingge¡¯s vital signs were stable.

    He walked out of the ward and went around chatting with a few patients. On the surface, he was the chief resident of the surgery inpatients and wanted to understand the patients¡¯ conditions. In fact, Xiao Lou was investigating.

    Zhao Sen was still in the operating room. Xiao Lou asked several patients about their impressions of Zhao Sen and Director Lin. One of the olddies said, ¡°Director Lin is a great person! He was the one who did the operation for my granddaughter¡¯s congenital heart disease. She has recovered well from the operation and will be discharged from hospital tomorrow. I want to make a banner for Director Lin.¡±

    A 70 year old man spoke cheerfully. ¡°These heart surgery doctors and nurses are very good. They treat us like family members. My heart stent was done by Dr Zhao. At first, I wasn¡¯t at ease because he looked so young. Then I asked the other patients and found that Dr Zhao is young and promising. The operation was done very well¡­¡±

    The patients were full of praise for Dr Zhao and Director Lin. Xiao Lou¡¯s suspicions about Incheon Hospital weren¡¯t fully removed but emotionally, he didn¡¯t want these doctors to be involved in organ trafficking.

    After chatting with the sick, Xiao Lou went to find some young doctors to find out the situation.

    ording to them, the cardiac surgery department of Incheon Hospital had two groups. The group led by Director Lin mainly performed thoracotomy while the group led by Zhao Sen mainly performed interventional surgery. If there was major surgery like a heart transnt then the two of them worked together. Zhao Sen could be half-considered as Director Lin¡¯s apprentice and the rtionship between the master and apprentice was very good. The doctors and nurses in the department got along well and there were never any quarrels.

    As Xiao Lou investigated, he felt more and more like this department wasn¡¯t a team involved in organ trafficking. The medical staff were very sunny and when mentioning a heart transnt, they had a rxed tone and upright expression. It was impossible for all of them to be so good at acting, right?

    He did one round of the cardiac surgery department before Shao Qingge finally woke up.

    Xiao Lou heard the news and immediately entered the ICU ward. He saw Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes were open and finally sighed with relief as he walked to the bedside. ¡°I was scared to death just now. It¡¯s great that you are fine.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°What can happen? You were watching from the side so Zhao Sen didn¡¯t dare to do anything during the surgery.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not talking about the surgery.¡± Xiao Lou pressed a hand against his throbbing head. ¡°The surgery went well. Unexpectedly, the danger was after the surgery. Just now, there was a nurse who seemed to want to kill you. Fortunately, I found out in time. Xiao Liu is currently tracking her.¡±

    ¡°A nurse?¡± Shao Qingge heard this and his expression changed. ¡°No, who the hell did I offend?¡±

    The moment he entered the secret room, he was in aa for several days. He had to do an operation he was afraid about and once it was done, he was almost murdered¡­ Could it be that he had been lying down too many times so the role the keepers gave him this time was so exciting?

    Shao Qingge looked helplessly at Xiao Lou. ¡°Should I go home as soon as possible? If I live in the hospital, every day is a test of life or death!¡±

    ¡°After the heart stent, you have to be observed for a few days before you can be discharged. It is necessary to go through the formalities but I can think of a way to transfer you to the ward I am in charge of. This way, it is safer.¡± Xiao Lou made a more feasible suggestion. ¡°Have your father help in this matter. It will be easier this way.¡±

    ¡°Yes, isn¡¯t Group Leader Yu discharged? I can live in his VIP room.¡± Shao Qingge called his father and said he didn¡¯t like the cardiac surgery ward. He wanted to go to where his old friend Xiao Lou was. Xiao Lou¡¯s general surgery department had a VIP ward and the conditions were better. Shao Zhengyang really loved his only son and immediately came forward to negotiate¡­

    Things went well. At 3 o¡¯clock in the afternoon, Xiao Lou personally took Shao Qingge to VIP-1 of the general surgery department.

    Yu Hanjiang was just sent away yesterday and now Shao Qingge was living here. Xiao Lou thought helplessly that he was about to be a ¡®teammate guardian¡¯. He had to worry about everyone¡¯s safety issues!

    Shao Qingge felt very safe living in Xiao Lou¡¯s department. He leaned against the bed and wondered, ¡°Say, why did the nurse want to kill me? I don¡¯t seem to have offended a nurse?¡±

    ¡°ording to my analysis with Group Leader Yu, people who receive an organ are likely to encounter retaliation from the family members of the organ donors.¡± Xiao Lou exined. ¡°Cheng Shaoyu who is being investigated by Group Leader Yu had a heart transnt and he was dismembered.¡±

    ¡°Revenge? Isn¡¯t my kidney from the dead Liu Renyuan?¡± Shao Qingge raised an eyebrow. ¡°Does a family member think I killed him? However, the surgery wasn¡¯t done by me. We just spent money buying the kidney. This logic isn¡¯t quite right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m also surprised by this point. Both of Liu Renyuan¡¯s parents have died and he has no rtives.¡± Xiao Lou had a headache. ¡°However, it is still unclear if the specific source of your kidney is Liu Renyuan. I need to take a sample of your kidney tissue andpare it with Liu Renyuan¡¯s kidney. I wanted to do it after you got better but now it seems¡­¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Do it as soon as possible. I can handle it.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Yes, weren¡¯t my blood vessels dredged after the heart stent was imnted? I feel that my body is full of strength now, unlike the previous few days. It isn¡¯t difficult. Just take a small tissue biopsy. It is no problem.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll make arrangements.¡± In order to avoid leaving a record and arousing Zhao Sen¡¯s suspicion, Xiao Lou simply got the treatment cart himself. He took the tools, secretly took a sample of Shao Qingge¡¯s kidney tissue and found an excuse to send it to theboratory topare with Liu Renyuan¡¯s left kidney tissue.

    However, the result of theparison surprised him. It wasn¡¯t a match?! Shao Qingge¡¯s right kidney wasn¡¯t from Liu Renyuan!

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and immediately told Yu Hanjiang the news. ¡°Our spection is wrong. Liu Renyuan and Shao Qingge might¡¯ve performed the operation in Novemberst year but Shao Qingge¡¯s kidney isn¡¯t from Liu Renyuan.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had also thought of this possibility and spoke in a low voice after hearing the results. ¡°Liu Renyuan¡¯s kidney was transnted to another person while Shao Qingge¡¯s kidney came from another donor. It seems this organization has done more organ sales than we thought!¡±

    ¡°On your side, has the DNA result of the newly discovered corpsese out?¡±

    ¡°From the body parts, a total of five people¡¯s DNA was detected. We searched the database and the DNA of these five people didn¡¯t match any of the registered missing people. In other words, these five people died unexpectedly but no one reported them gone.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Xiao Lou felt a cold wind pouring into his heart. ¡°Then it is like we previously guessed. The organization specifically looked for those whose rtives wouldn¡¯t care and their deaths wouldn¡¯t attract great attention?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was deep. ¡°Most of the fingers are burned and we can¡¯tpare with fingerprints. However, the fingerprints of one hand were intact. Ipared it with the fingerprint database and confirmed that the deceased is called Wang Wei. He was a takeaway employee.¡±

    Did the takeout boxes that appeared in the trash bin have anything to do with this deliveryman?

    Xiao Lou carefully organized the current clues and found that if Chief Shao¡¯s kidney didn¡¯te from Liu Renyuan, the little nurse must know a clue. Perhaps this nurse Xu Fangfang was a rtive of Shao Qingge¡¯s kidney donor. Her rtive must¡¯ve died abnormally, causing her to feel a lot of hate.

    Chief Shao was safe now and Xiao Lou started worrying about Liu Qiao.

    It was risky to send Xiao Liu to follow her alone but at that time, the only thing he could think of was Liu Qiao¡¯s Thumbelina card. This allowed her to be smaller for a long time and could stay in a person¡¯s pocket. In addition, Xu Fangfang was less than 1.6 meters tall. Liu Qiao had many cards and could handle her.

    Xiao Lou was worried until 5 o¡¯clock in the evening when Liu Qiao sent a text message with an unfamiliar number. ¡°Professor Xiao, Xu Fangfang¡¯s grandfather passed away today. The moment she got home, she knelt down and cried in the mourning hall. She cried for more than an hour before fainting. She was taken back to her bedroom to sleep by her grandmother. She has a close rtionship with her grandparents. Her parents weren¡¯t there and there are no other rtives.¡±

    Unexpectedly, Xu Fangfang¡¯s grandfather really did pass away. Then was she telling the truth when she said she mistakenly grabbed the wrong syringe? However, he clearly saw Xu Fangfang facing Shao Qingge with a weird smile and her eyes weren¡¯t right.

    Xiao Lou was in a confused state until Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was heard in his head. ¡°Have Xiao Liu continue to follow Xu Fangfang. I believe that she must know something.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s words gave Xiao Lou great confidence. He sent a message to Liu Qiao. ¡°Xiao Liu, pay attention to safety. If you encounter something that can¡¯t be resolved, immediately hide yourself with the invisibility cloak to protect yourself.¡±

    Liu Qiao replied, ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    At this time, Liu Qiao was still the size of a thumb and Xu Fangfang¡¯s mobile phone was like a bed to her.

    Xu Fangfang was sleeping very deeply. Liu Qiao raised Xu Fangfang¡¯s hand and unlocked her mobile phone with her fingerprint. She first sent a text message to Xiao Lou to report. Then she deleted the records and opened Xu Fangfang¡¯s WeChat. She was too small and needed to jump around on the phone to change the interface.

    There were many contacts in Xu Fangfang¡¯s mobile phone. Looking at the names, most of them were colleagues from Incheon Hospital. Her grandparents probably didn¡¯t use WeChat and there were no records of them chatting with her on WeChat. However, there was a chat record pinned at the top that caught Liu Qiao¡¯s attention.

    The other person¡¯s nickname was ¡®Husband¡¯. This seemed to be Xu Fangfang¡¯s boyfriend.

    Liu Qiao jumped over and opened it with her foot. Thest message was on November 17thst year. The other person simply said ¡®let¡¯s break up¡¯ followed by a 60 minutes voice call. It was unknown what the two people talked about.

    Finally, Xu Fangfang replied: You scumbag, I misread you!

    Then she cklisted the other person¡¯s WeChat ount.

    This made Liu Qiao feel puzzled. If they broke up and she cklisted him, why did she keep her boyfriend¡¯s WeChat chat record at the top? If she opened WeChat every day, she would see the other person¡¯s profile picture at first nce. Wasn¡¯t this self-abuse?

    A girl¡¯s attitude toward her ex-boyfriend was normally ¡®I am happy to see him have a bad life¡¯. As far as Liu Qiao knew, no girl would pin her ex-boyfriend¡¯s WeChat record at the top.

    This wasn¡¯t quite right.

    Liu Qiao wanted to continue scrolling up when Xu Fangfang suddenly turned over and opened her eyes. Liu Qiao quickly got under the pillow.

    Xu Fangfang was stunned. Just now, she seemed to see a little girl the size of a thumb jumping around on her phone? Was she dizzy from crying and had an illusion? She raised her pillow suspiciously and found there was nothing underneath.

    Xu Fangfang turned over, closed her eyes and continued sleeping.

    Liu Qiao sneaked out of a gap at the head of the bed. There were many secrets behind this nurse. She would stay at the girl¡¯s house and check them out.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 322: Clue Arrangement

    In the afternoon, Long Sen went toplete the discharge procedures. The doctor didn¡¯t know that Long Sen¡¯s broken leg was healed and suggested he shouldn¡¯t be discharged for the time being. Qu Wanyue was in the active stage of her illness and also shouldn¡¯t be discharged. The two of them used the excuse of ¡®there is an urgent matter at home to deal with¡¯ and were stubborn. Finally, they signed the consent form stating they would ¡®bear the consequences if there was danger after discharge¡¯ andpleted the discharge procedures.

    Ye Qi hadn¡¯t recovered yet. The doctor told him to have his parentse over before he could be discharged¡­ Ye Qi didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. The keepers were only responsible for making him smaller. They didn¡¯t seem to have arranged parents for him? Ye Qi had no choice but to ask Yu Hanjiang to be his father.

    It just so happened that Yu Hanjiang was about toe to the hospital to find Xiao Lou so he helped Ye Qi with this favor.

    The 7 year old Ye Qi pointed to Yu Hanjiang and seriously told the doctor, ¡°This is my father.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­.¡±

    The doctor found that the police officer in front of him was handsome and looked nothing like the cute little Ye Qi. However, Ye Qi said this was his father and the other party didn¡¯t deny it. The doctor had to warn, ¡°Your son¡¯s inmmation might be better but it is still dangerous when leaving the hospital. Have him take the medicine on time and keep him warm. Don¡¯t let him catch a cold again.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang simply replied, ¡°Yes, I will pay attention.¡±

    Ye Qi seized the initiative to hold Group Leader Yu¡¯s hand. ¡°Dad, let¡¯s go. I don¡¯t want to stay in the hospital.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang seriously signed the consent letter and left the pediatric ward with Ye Qi.

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t helpughing. ¡°Xiao Ye, you are really smooth when saying ¡®Dad¡¯.¡±

    Ye Qi immediately retracted his hand and looked up at Yu Hanjiang in an embarrassed manner. ¡°Hehe¡­ there is no way. I wanted Chief Shao to pretend to be my father but he can¡¯t get up from the hospital bed! Brother Long and Sister Wanyue don¡¯t look like a couple who can have a 7 year old son. I can only wrong Group Leader Yu.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied casually, ¡°It¡¯s fine. Let¡¯s go see Old Mo.¡±

    The man spoke solemnly, ¡°My father wants to go home to recuperate. His current state is stable and the hospital environment will just make him feel depressed and anxious. Rest assured, I will ask a special family doctor to take care of him.¡±

    Old Mo smiled. ¡°Yes yes, my son is very filial.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at him and asked, ¡°Dad, how do you feel about your recovery?¡±

    ¡°I can get out of bed and walk now¡­¡±

    The two people acted together and the doctor was helpless. He had to sign the discharge consent form. After leaving the ward, Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help joking, ¡°A grandfather, father and son, all three generations areplete.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, who became a father and a son, felt helpless. Fortunately, they got Old Mo and Ye Qi discharged from the hospital. He nced at Xiao Lou and suggested in a low voice, ¡°We should have a meeting to exchange information. Then go and investigate in groups. I will meet up with the people who have been discharged from the hospital. You, Chief Shao and Liu Qiao continue to stay at the hospital. We will see you in the Peach Blossom Spring at midnight tonight.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and watched them leave.

    Yu Hanjiang temporarily settled Long Sen, Qu Wanyue, Old Mo and Ye Qi in a nearby hotel. At midnight, Xiao Lou opened the Peach Blossom Spring¡¯s teleportation and the team members arrived in order. Liu Qiao also returned to her normal appearance.

    Seeing Chief Shao safe and sound, everyone was relieved.

    Thisbination of old, weak, sick, disabled and pregnant really wasn¡¯t easy. They had to fight with wits and courage against the doctors and nurses every day. However, what was waiting for them next might be even more sinister.

    Yu Hanjiang looked over his teammates and spoke calmly. ¡°I will first summarize the clues for everyone so we can have aprehensive understanding of the case.¡±

    At present, only Xiao Lou knew all the clues. The others were still in a state of confusion so they pricked up their ears to listen seriously.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke softly, ¡°There is the ¡®Cheng Shaoyu dismembered body¡¯ case. The deceased Cheng Shaoyu is a rich second generation and his family has tens of billions in assets to inherit. His younger brother Cheng Shaofeng is a half-brother and they have apetitive rtionship. At present, Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s torso hasn¡¯t been found yet.

    ¡°Then there are the three deceased in the hospital. The first is Qi Zhaoming, an unemployed person with no ie in his bank card but he can maintain daily expenses for up to three years. The source of cash is unknown and there are no surgical wounds. It is not yet certain if he is rted to the organ trafficking case.¡±

    ¡°The second is Chen Yuqing, a 7 year old girl who died of a heart attack. Her mother Chen Yehua is an illustrator and took out 200,000 yuan in cash. The destination of the cash is unknown. Moreover, her mother might¡¯ve concealed her medical history. Further investigation is needed to determine if this is rted to the organ trafficking case.¡±

    ¡°The third person is Liu Renyuan, a security guard at Jincui Community. He is the main subject of suspicion. His medical records don¡¯t show the scar on the right kidney side but during an autopsy, Xiao Lou found that his right side was missing a rib and his right kidney was removed. Liu Renyuan suddenly received arge sum of money in Novemberst year and was spendingvishly. Connect it to his missing right kidney and it is likely that he sold a kidneyst year and got arge amount of cash. The kidney removal operation was very unprofessional and damaged the pleura and ureter. This wasn¡¯t done by the same person who did Chief Shao¡¯s kidney transnt. Therefore, we can reasonably specte that there might be an illegal clinic where unprofessional doctors are secretly performing organ harvesting operations on people to make huge profits.¡±

    ¡°The dismembered body parts of the five murdered people found today were burned. Four of them couldn¡¯t be found in the DNA database and didn¡¯t match the DNA of any missing people. There is one person identified through fingerprintparison. A takeout deliveryman named Wang Wei. The cause of his death is unclear.¡±

    The team members all had a headache listening to Group Leader Yu¡¯s clues.

    The scope of this case was far greater than the previous Hearts cases. There were already nine dead people! Moreover, many of the corpses discovered by Group Leader Yu today couldn¡¯t even be identified, let alone be used to lock onto a suspect.

    Ye Qi asked curiously, ¡°The source of Chief Shao¡¯s kidney couldn¡¯t be found?¡±

    Xiao Lou answered, ¡°Chief Shao¡¯s father said his assistant was in charge of this matter. One of the people we need to investigate is this assistant.¡±

    Shao Qingge thought about it carefully. ¡°I remember that his assistant¡¯s surname is Zhong. I always call him Uncle Zhong. He had been with my father for many years but soon after my operationst year, he quit and returned to his hometown. He said that his daughter-inw gave birth to a boy and he wanted to go home to look after his grandson.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang instructed, ¡°Chief Shao, please check the assistant. We must know the source of the kidney.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°No problem.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at Liu Qiao. ¡°What about the nurse Xu Fangfang? Did you find any clues?¡±

    Liu Qiao told everyone about the unreasonable situation of the WeChat record being pinned that she discovered. Then she added, ¡°After Xu Fangfang fell asleep, she kept calling out someone¡¯s name¡ªWang Wei. This should be her ex-boyfriend that she can¡¯t give up on.¡± Liu Qiao looked at Yu Hanjiang and asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t this the name of the deliveryman that Group Leader Yu mentioned?¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s discovery shocked Yu Hanjiang.

    If Wang Wei died due to an organ transnt and Xu Fangfang knew that Shao Qingge was the beneficiary of the organ transnt and hated Shao Qingge, then everything would make sense. The source of Shao Qingge¡¯s kidney had to be quickly investigated and they also had to continue investigating Xu Fangfang. Where did she learn about Shao Qingge¡¯s kidney transnt record? There might be someone behind the scenes advising her.

    Yu Hanjiang instructed, ¡°Xiao Liu is responsible for watching Xu Fangfang. Xiao Lou, continue to collect the medical records of all organ transnts in the hospital. Tomorrow, Long Sen, Teacher Qu, Old Mo and Ye Qi will join me in going to the farmer¡¯s market in the west of the city. If I¡¯m right, the den of this organization is near the farmer¡¯s market!¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 323: Triangular Area

    In previous cases, the first priority when finding a corpse was to determine the identity of the deceased. It was only by knowing the identity of the deceased that Yu Hanjiang could investigate his social rtions and find the most likely suspect to have killed them.

    This case waspletely different from the past.

    Among the nine dead bodies that appeared, four of them couldn¡¯t be identified or their names confirmed. For another two, it hadn¡¯t been determined if they were rted to the organ trafficking case. Only the dismembered Cheng Shaoyu, Liu Renyuan with the missing kidney and the delivery man Wang Wei were determined to be rted to the case and clearly identified. Out of these three, only Wang Wei¡¯s ex-girlfriend Xu Fangfang could be contacted to talk to.

    Liu Qiao was responsible for watching Xu Fangfang and she knew the specific address of Xu Fangfang¡¯s grandmother.

    Yu Hanjiang ordered, ¡°Xiao Liu, secretly search Xu Fangfang¡¯s home to see if you can find any clues. In addition, you have to watch and protect Xu Fangfang tonight. If she is really an insider then she might be in danger of being killed.¡±

    This organ trafficking organization was cold-blooded and cruel. They regarded human lives as trash and could definitely kill to shut someone up.

    Liu Qiao nodded seriously. ¡°I understand. If someone wants to kill Xu Fangfang, I will immediately use the Thumbelina card to make her smaller and take her away.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°If you encounter danger then protect yourself. If you need help then contact me straight away.¡±

    Everyone left the Peach Blossom Spring and separated. Liu Qiao used her memory of Xu Fangfang¡¯s movements during the day and went back to Xu Fangfang¡¯s house with the light footwork card.

    Xu Fangfang¡¯s house wasn¡¯t far from the hospital. Her grandfather had passed away and his body was ced in the mourning hall. He would be sent to the funeral home for cremation after dawn. Xu Fangfang had cried and fainted in the afternoon. She slept for a long time and was in charge of guarding his spirit tonight.

    The girl kneeling in the mourning hall was full of grief and her eyes were bloodshot. She looked at the portrait of her grandfather and kept sobbing. It was difficult for Liu Qiao to note forward andfort her. Liu Qiao took advantage of the mourning girl not paying attention to put on the invisibility cloak and sneaked into the bedroom.

    Xu Fangfang¡¯s bedroomyout was simple with a bed, wardrobe and dressing table. There was no storagepartment under her bed and the drawers in her wardrobe were full of socks and underwear. After a brief search, Liu Qiao didn¡¯t find any suspicious clues so she turned to search the drawers of the dressing table.

    The dressing table had three drawers. The top drawer contained a red jewelry box. Next to it was a card with the words ¡®Dear Fangfang, Happy Birthday. Love you forever¡ªWang Wei, October 8th¡¯. The jewelry box was empty. Xu Fangfang wore a heart-shaped ne around her neck and this should be the birthday gift from Wang Wei.

    A man¡¯s belt was folded in the middle drawer. The packaging of the box was very delicate and there was also a card on it. It was a gift from Xu Fangfang to Wang Wei dated November ofst year. Unfortunately, the belt wasn¡¯t given since they broke up.

    Liu Qiao was filled with doubts as she continued to look at the bottom drawer. This drawer couldn¡¯t be pulled out and was obviously locked. Liu Qiao thought about it and took out the Master Key card. This card was from the Fenglin High School case in 3 of Hearts a long time ago. There was a limit on the number of times it could be used. Her card had one use left. If used up, this card would be invalid.

    However, Liu Qiao intuitively sensed this drawer had an important clue. She didn¡¯t save this card and instead used it to directly open the drawer. The drawer contained a velvet box and a letter.

    Inside the box was a shiny diamond ring. The diamond was quiterge and very valuable at first nce. The inside of the diamond ring had the letters ¡®WW&FF¡¯ engraved. This should be a diamond proposal ring from Wang Wei to Xu Fangfang.

    Liu Qiao opened the envelope and found a letter inside with Wang Wei¡¯s handwriting. The letter said: ¡®Fangfang, I finally saved enough money to buy the diamond ring you like. I have already contacted the weddingpany. Let¡¯s get married at the end of this year. I will give you the happiest and most romantic wedding. At that time, we will invite your grandparents and parents and my family to attend. I will protect you for the rest of my life.¡¯

    Liu Qiao looked at the evidence and felt ratherplicated.

    On the surface, Xu Fangfang and Wang Wei¡¯s rtionship should be very good. Wang Wei even bought a diamond ring for a marriage proposal. Why would he suddenly break up with her? Then after the breakup, Xu Fangfang didn¡¯t throw away the gifts and cards from her ex-boyfriend. She even pinned the WeChat dialogue box of her ex-boyfriend to the top. Did she suddenly learn about something and regret it? It had been nearly half a year since November. Why didn¡¯t she contact Wang Wei?

    This diamond looked quite big. It should cost a lot of money, right? Diamonds usually had an appraisal certificate. Liu Qiao searched the inside of the envelope again and found a diamond ring appraisal certificate inside. It was a diamond ring that was nearly one carat. It was worth 10 million gold coins, which was 100,000 yuan.

    A diamond ring of 100,000 yuan was a bit extravagant for the working ss. Wang Wei was a takeout deliveryman and his sry wasn¡¯t high. How could he buy such an expensive diamond ring? It seemed it was necessary to check Wang Wei¡¯s bank records.

    Liu Qiao frowned slightly and used her mobile phone to quickly photograph the evidence collected at Xu Fangfang¡¯s house. Then she reported it to Yu Hanjiang immediately.

    Liu Qiao replied, ¡°I understand.¡±

    Since Xu Fangfang stayed up all night guarding her grandfather¡¯s soul, Liu Qiao who hid herself in her room wasn¡¯t discovered at all.

    After Ye Qi, Long Sen and the others left the hospital, they temporarily stayed in a hotel. Yu Hanjiang asked everyone to rest early to recharge their energy so they could deal with tomorrow¡¯srge-scale investigation. Shao Qingge was sleeping in the hospital. To prevent any idents, Xiao Lou slept on the sofa in his room.

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t close his eyes all night andpiled the information of the deceased, including their family members and work. This was for a follow-up investigation. In addition, Professor Qin Changming¡¯s data on kidney transnt patients was alsopiled. A telephone investigation would be used to confirm the source of the kidneys transnted into these people.

    At 7 o¡¯clock in the morning, Yu Hanjiang washed his face with cold water and woke up his four teammates staying in the hotel. The farmer¡¯s market in the west district. This was the focus of the four people¡¯s investigation this morning.

    At 7:30 a.m., the morning market had already begun. Therge farmer¡¯s market that covered several acres was very lively. There were trucks from many restaurants who got fresh vegetables from here and some citizens came to buy vegetables at the morning market because it was the cheapest.

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue were originally a couple and it was natural for them to y a husband and wife. The two of them got out of a car and walked around the farmer¡¯s market hand in hand, looking for the ¡®Good Taste Porridge Store¡¯ and ¡®Spicy Rice Noodles¡¯ that Yu Hanjiang mentioned.

    Old Mo and Ye Qi were acting as a grandfather and grandson. Ye Qi took Old Mo¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Grandpa, I want to eat fruit.¡±

    Old Mo smiled and replied, ¡°Okay, Grandpa will buy it for you.¡±

    Xiao Ye had superb acting skills and a tacit understanding with Old Mo. The two people entered the farmer¡¯s market and strolled by the stalls one by one, checking for suspicious people while buying fruits.

    The four people moved separately and Long Sen and Qu Wanyue soon had a result.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s temporarily built WeChat group received a message from Long Sen. ¡°Group Leader Yu, we¡¯ve found the ¡®Good Taste Porridge Store¡¯. It is in an alley diagonally opposite the farmer¡¯s market. Wanyue and I have gone in to have a bowl of porridge.¡±

    It was time for breakfast and the porridge store was crowded. The table where Long Sen and Qu Wanyue were sitting was for four people. Next to them was an olddy with no ce to sit. Qu Wanyue took the initiative to move positions and politely asked her to sit down.

    The olddy thanked her with a smile and sat down to drink the preserved egg porridge.

    Qu Wanyue pretended to be curious. ¡°Auntie, why is the business of this porridge store so good? The store is full of people and I think there are still people queuing up outside.¡±

    The olddy answered, ¡°This porridge store has been here for five years and the porridge is famous. People from nearbymunitiese here to drink porridge every morning. I like the preserved egg porridge the best.¡±

    Qu Wanyue wondered, ¡°Doesn¡¯t this ce do takeout? Why are so many people lining up to buy it?¡±

    ¡°There is no takeout for breakfast. There are too many porridges to be served and there is no supply. Lunch and dinner can be delivered.¡±

    Qu Wanyue nced around the ce. She found a table containing arge number of takeout boxes, consistent with the photos sent by Yu Hanjiang. Qu Wanyue took out her mobile phone, pulled up the information about Wang Wei that Group Leader Yu had found from the database and asked, ¡°Auntie, do you know this deliveryman?¡±

    The olddy hesitated. ¡°Why are you looking for him?¡±

    Qu Wanyue exined softly, ¡°This is my brother and he delivers takeout around this area.¡±

    The olddy suddenly realized. ¡°No wonder. Of course I know this young man. However, I haven¡¯t seen him in a long time.¡±

    Long Sen wondered, ¡°When was thest time you saw him?¡±

    The olddy thought about it carefully. ¡°I have a deep impression of him. This little brother is the most handsome one among several deliverymen and he is also polite. He always says ¡®I wish you a happy meal.¡¯ My neighbor is a young couple who don¡¯t know how to cook. They ordered takeout every day and he delivered it. However, I haven¡¯t seen him since Novemberst year. I still remember my neighbor asking why they changed deliverymen. What about the previous one? The new delivery person said that he quit and went home.¡±

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue looked at each other. It seemed that Wang Wei had experienced something in Novemberst year and quit delivering takeout.

    Afterpleting the investigation of the ¡®Good Taste Porridge Store¡¯, they went out to find ¡®Spicy Rice Noodles¡¯. They walked a few streets and found a small store at the deepest end of a small alley. On the door sign that said ¡®Spicy Rice Noodles¡¯, the paint for the word ¡®spicy¡¯ was almost faded. They would¡¯ve missed it if it wasn¡¯t for Long Sen¡¯s sharp eyes.

    The two of them went in and asked for ¡®meat noodles with sauce¡¯. Then they sat down to eat. The taste of the rice noodles wasn¡¯t bad. The store was small in size. It had only four tables and could amodate only 16 guests at a time. On the other hand, there were several QR codes for takeaway tforms on the dining table. Qu Wanyue pretended to chat while paying and asked the cashier, ¡°Your rice noodles are delicious. Do you deliver?¡±

    The female cashier smiled. ¡°Of course. We receive hundreds of takeout orders every day. If you like, you can follow us and order takeout.¡±

    Qu Wanyue scanned the QR code and wondered, ¡°How far can the takeout be delivered?¡±

    ¡°Delivery is within 5 kilometers. If it is more than 5 kilometers the rice noodles will be sticky and can¡¯t be eaten anymore.¡±

    Long Sen took out his phone and showed Wang Wei¡¯s photo. ¡°Have you seen this delivery man? He is my brother.¡±

    The girl was surprised beforeughing. ¡°I have seen him. Previously he came here to pick up takeout. This young man is handsome and good-tempered but I haven¡¯t seen him since November ofst year.¡±

    After walking out of the store, Long Sen and Qu Wanyue came to a secluded corner.

    Qu Wanyue analyzed it. ¡°The locations of the two stores have been determined. Both of them do takeout so any residents within 5 kilometers could¡¯ve ordered their food and threw the garbage away after eating the takeout. Then the garbage truck will collect it and send it to the garbage dump.¡±

    Long Sen took a branch and drew an image on the ground. ¡°¡®Spicy Rice Noodles¡¯ is in position A and the ¡®Good Taste Porridge Store¡¯ is in position B. There are five streets between the two stores and they are only three kilometers away from each other. There is also the farmer¡¯s market. These three ces connect to form a triangle. Group Leader Yu¡¯s scope of investigation can be further reduced. I think that illegal clinic is somewhere in this triangle.¡±

    Qu Wanyue said, ¡°Novemberst year is a critical time. Chief Shao and Liu Renyuan¡¯s operations were performed at that time. Wang Wei no longer delivered food in November and also underwent a transnt surgery. Or did he know something and was killed?¡±

    The two people nced at each other and immediately sent the results of the search and analysis to the WeChat group.

    Xiao Lou praised them. ¡°Amazing. You determined the triangle which makes the following investigation much easier.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also gave a thumbs up. ¡°Continue to visit nearby employees who deliver food and chat and listen to them. See if they are familiar with Wang Wei. Remember, don¡¯t be too deliberate or you might alert the enemy.¡±

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue replied at the same time. ¡°Understood.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Old Mo and Xiao Ye, how is your progress?¡±

    Old Mo and Ye Qi didn¡¯t respond. Currently, the grandfather and grandson were selecting fruit everywhere in the farmer¡¯s market. Ye Qi yed a naughty child and walked around various fruit stalls while Old Mo followed. The two people walked all the way and bought a lot of fresh fruits.

    As they passed a corner, Ye Qi suddenly said, ¡°Grandpa, I want to eat corn!¡±

    Old Mo helplessly took him to a stall that sold corn. The middle-aged woman saw Ye Qi¡¯s cute appearance and couldn¡¯t help smiling. ¡°Child, would you like some corn?¡±

    Ye Qi picked a rtively small corn. As Old Mo paid money, Ye Qi stood beside him and ate the corn. He asked, ¡°Auntie, your cooked corn has been peeled. Where are the skins?¡±

    The woman said, ¡°They are all thrown in the trash.¡±

    Ye Qi had actually seen the corn leaves in the trash can by her feet a long time ago. He pretended to ask curiously, ¡°Doesn¡¯t the garbage smell bad after a long time? Does anyone take it away? We have neighborhood aunties cleaning downstairs every day.¡±

    The middle-aged woman saw his serious expression and smiled. ¡°Of course there are also people here who clean up. After the morning market is over, there will be a garbage cart to throw all the garbage from the stalls into the garbage bin at the back.¡±

    Ye Qi let out an ¡®oh¡¯ sound and looked at Old Mo. ¡°Grandpa, I still want to eat green onion cake.¡±

    Old Mo looked helpless. ¡°Okay, Grandpa will buy it for you.¡±

    The two of them walked deeper into the farmer¡¯s market. Ye Qi quickly spotted a garbage cart and sanitation workers wearing masks while collecting garbage from different stalls. Ye Qi and Old Mo followed behind the small cart and soon found the trash bin the woman mentioned.

    This was a bin with a length of around 3 meters and a width of around 2 meters. It could hold arge amount of garbage and was obviously dedicated to the farmer¡¯s market. It was full of rotting vegetables and fruits.

    Ye Qi carefully inspected the area. His eyes were sharp and he noticed a small amount of ck ash in a hidden corner next to the trash bin. Ye Qi immediately became alert. ¡°Are these traces left from a burnt corpse?¡±

    Old Mo¡¯s face was serious. ¡°It is possible. We should take some samples back for Group Leader Yu to test.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded. He took a stic bag from his pocket and crouched on the ground to take some samples of the ck ash. Just then, there was the sudden sound of footsteps. Ye Qi hurriedly put the stic back in his pocket while Old Mo pretended to yell angrily, ¡°Hey you naughty child, I told you not to run around! Why did youe to the trash bin! You will be scolded if you go home with your clothes all dirty. Come out!¡±

    Ye Qi told him, ¡°Grandpa, I seemed to have seen a stray cat just now.¡±

    Old Mo interrupted him. ¡°What stray cat? Come out quickly!¡±

    Ye Qi was grabbed on the arm by Old Mo and pulled like a chicken.

    The two of them met a tall man head-on. The man was wearing big sunsses and his face couldn¡¯t be seen. He was dressed in a ck trench coat and exuded cold hostility. He turned his head to look at them and the eyes behind the sunsses seemed cold.

    Old Mo and Ye Qi were frightened and quickly left the scene.

    Ye Qi spoke in a childlike manner. ¡°Grandpa, my clothes aren¡¯t dirty. I still want to eat a sesame dumpling¡­¡±

    Old Mo scolded him. ¡°Your parents don¡¯t let you eat snacks. Be good and I will buy you breakfast!¡±

    The two of them went further and further away but Ye Qi always felt a sharp gaze staring at his back.

    It wasn¡¯t until they left the farmer¡¯s market that Ye Qi exhaled softly and whispered in Old Mo¡¯s ear, ¡°Why did my back feel chilly when that person just now looked at me? Will he be rted to the organ trafficking case?¡±

    Old Mo quickly calmed down. ¡°Report it to Group Leader Yu now!¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 324: Mysterious Community

    The two of them found a bun store to sit down and have breakfast. During the meal, they took out their mobile phones to send a message to Yu Hanjiang.

    Old Mo said, ¡°Group Leader Yu, we spent half an hour in the farmer¡¯s market. We happened to find the cart handling the garbage for the morning market. Xiao Ye and I followed and found the ce where the farmer¡¯s market usually throws their rubbish.¡±

    Ye Qi sent a photo.

    It was arge trash bin located at the back of the farmer¡¯s market. At this time, the trash bin was full of rotten vegetables and fruit. The amount of trash in the morning market was so much. It could be seen that the vehicles transporting trash in the city should clean up the farmer¡¯s market once a day. Otherwise, the trash bin would simply be full.

    The time could be narrowed down further.

    Yesterday on February 2nd, the elderly couple made a report and Yu Hanjiang led his team to find the body parts. Therefore, the garbage truck should¡¯ve taken away the garbage from the farmer¡¯s market two days ago, which was February 1st.

    ording to the action route on the map, if the garbage truck was going to the garbage station on the outskirts of the city, it should first go to the farmer¡¯s market to load the garbage from the vegetables and fruits. Then it should continue to collect garbage along the main road, the roadside and the residential areas.

    If the illegal clinic threw the body parts in a garbage bin of a residential area and it was found by the cleaning aunt, it would be easy to find the source. Therefore, the best way to deal with the corpses was to burn them and sprinkle the ashes. If an ident urred during the incineration process, the best ce to throw the body parts was the huge trash bin in the farmer¡¯s market.

    The farmer¡¯s market was full of good and bad people and a lot of garbage was generated every day. If body parts were buried by a lot of vegetable leaves and fruits then it wasn¡¯t easy to attract the attention of the cleaners. The location of the trash bin that Ye Qi found was very critical. Yu Hanjiang judged that the illegal clinic rushed to dispose of the corpses because there was an incident during the incineration process. The burn marks on the body parts also proved this.

    Ye Qi sent another photo. ¡°I found ck ashes in a hidden corner next to the trash bin. I don¡¯t know if it is ashes left by burning the corpses. I collected some and will send it to the police for professional testing.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang praised him. ¡°Good work. Are there any other clues?¡±

    Old Mo and Ye Qi nced at each other and decided to tell Yu Hanjiang about their encounter with the suspicious person. ¡°We met a man as Xiao Ye and I were searching for evidence near the trash bin. He is around 1.85 meters in height and was neither fat nor thin. He wore sunsses, a hat and ck clothes. He stared at us but stayed silent. I¡¯m not sure if it is rted to the case but I think this person is a bit strange.¡±

    Ye Qi agreed ¡°Yes, it is early in the morning and most of the people who go to the farmer¡¯s market are nearby residents and some restaurant workers picking up fresh vegetables. This man was dressed strangely and also wore a hat and sunsses. He didn¡¯t fit in with the surrounding environment. We didn¡¯t dare take the initiative to chat with him in case he really is a member of the organization. If he has a gun then Old Mo and I might not be able to deal with it.¡±

    Xiao Lou replied immediately after seeing the messages. ¡°You did the right thing. The members of this organization are cruel. Group Leader Yu was shot and almost died. If you encounter suspicious people then try not to stir the grass to startle the snakes.¡± After a pause, he added, ¡°Ye Qi is a child and Old Mo is over 60 years old. Even if that person is a member of the organization, he shouldn¡¯t doubt you.¡±

    Ye Qi replied, ¡°Yes, he didn¡¯t follow after we left.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°What is the situation on your side, Liu Qiao?¡±

    Liu Qiao told them, ¡°Xu Fangfang guarded her grandfather all night. In the morning, she went to sleep. Before that, she heard from her grandmother that someone woulde from the funeral home at noon to take away her grandfather¡¯s body. During the conversation, I found out the cause of her grandfather¡¯s death. Last year, a brain tumor was found and surgery wasn¡¯t possible. The family members were already mentally prepared and there should be no doubts about her grandfather¡¯s death.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told her, ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going to Xu Fangfang¡¯s house right now.¡±

    Someone from the police force drove while Yu Hanjiang sat in the back, opened hisptop and called up a map of the city.

    The triangr area determined by Long Sen and Qu Wanyue was of great significance and could narrow the scope of investigation. The trash bin found by Old Mo and Xiao Ye at the farmer¡¯s market further shortened the time.

    On January 31st, the criminal police force locked onto Cheng Shaofeng as a suspect in the death of Cheng Shaoyu. Yu Hanjiang went to the vi where Cheng Shaofeng lived (Jincui Vi) and was shot. He was sent to the hospital to be rescued and this was also the starting point of the secret room.

    On the same day, someone ordered takeout from the ¡®Good Taste Porridge Store¡¯ and ¡®Spicy Rice Noodles¡¯. After eating the takeout, they threw the boxes into the trash. The people who ordered the takeout were within the ¡®triangr area¡¯ drawn by the Long Qu couple or they worked within that area.

    That night, the organ trafficking organization suddenly started to dispose of the corpses inrge quantities. They burned the corpses near the garbage bin to the rear of the farmer¡¯s market. An ident happened midway and the corpses weren¡¯t burned cleanly. They had to hurry to dispose of them. The corpses were thrown into the trash bin and covered with vegetable leaves and fruit peels.

    On the morning of February 1st, the garbage truck cleared all the garbage from the trash bin at the farmer¡¯s market, drove down the road and collected all the garbage on the road (causing the takeout boxes of the ¡®Good Taste Porridge Store¡¯ and ¡®Spicy Rice Noodles¡¯ to be mixed in). The garbage in the truck was transported to the garbage collection station on the outskirts of the city.

    On February 2nd, yesterday morning, the elderly couple found a human hand while sorting the garbage. They called the police in a panic. Yu Hanjiang led the police over and searched the garbage collection station. After the corpses were taken back for testing, they found the DNA of five people but four couldn¡¯t be identified. One hand had a fingerprint intact. The fingerprints database was checked and it was confirmed to be the deliveryman Wang Wei.

    Yu Hanjiang sorted out his thoughts while drawing a 3D simtion on theputer.

    There were severalmunities near the farmer¡¯s market and located within the triangr area drawn by the Long Qu couple. The nearestmunity that met the three conditions of ¡®low poption density, poor security management and location secrecy¡¯ was¡­

    Antai Garden.

    Thismunity was an old building with a history of 10 years. The tallest building was only 7 floors. There were no elevators and no entertainment for young people nearby such as movie theaters or KTV. There was only a farmer¡¯s market to buy vegetables.

    Due to the poor environment and poor public security in the area, most of the residents were elderly. Some of the elderly people¡¯s children would pick them up after buying a house in the urban area. Naturally, there would be arge number of unused rooms in themunity.

    This type ofmunity which had no surveince at the entrances and exits and no elevators, had low housing prices and low rents. People who ran small businesses liked to rent here. Therefore, the entiremunity had good and bad people mixed in. There were likely to be some criminals among them.

    Yu Hanjiang searched the Inte and found many rental s for Antai Garden. Nearly half the houses were rented out and even the basement could be rented for a very low price. It could be imagined how messy the tenants would be.

    The evening of January 31st, Antai Garden.

    Thanks to everyone¡¯s efforts, Yu Hanjiang urately pinpointed the time and location. He called his colleagues on the police force and ordered, ¡°Call the traffic police to check the surveince of all intersections of the farmer¡¯s market in the west district from midnight January 31st to 9 a.m. on February 1st. In addition, look for garbage trucks, freight trucks and high-end private cars that passed by that area in this period. Note their license te numbers and check them one by one!¡±

    It was this mysterious organization that hurt Yu Hanjiang. They knew that the police were investigating Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s case and were worried they would be involved, so they rushed to deal with the corpses.

    The people of the mysterious organization must¡¯ve already run away. They wouldn¡¯t wait in ce for Yu Hanjiang to find them. However, Yu Hanjiang believed that they couldn¡¯t run from the long arm of thew. Even the most shrewd criminals would leave traces behind!

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 325: Xu Fangfangâ€™s Secret

    Yu Hanjiang came to Xu Fangfang¡¯s house. The hearse just happened to be picking up her grandfather¡¯s body. Xu Fangfang had cried for a long time yesterday. Yu Hanjiang waited patiently for her to bid farewell to the old man¡¯s body before walking forward and showing his police officer ID. ¡°Hello Miss Xu, I have some questions I want to ask you. I hope you can assist in the investigation.¡±

    The man in front of her wasn¡¯t wearing a police uniform but was dressed in casual clothes. A dark gray sweater and light gray long coat set off his tall and upright figure.

    Xu Fangfang was obviously stunned when she saw the police officer¡¯s card. ¡°Police? Why are you looking for me?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang directly asked, ¡°Do you know Wang Wei?¡±

    A trace of panic shed in Xu Fangfang¡¯s eyes and she quickly shifted her gaze. ¡°I don¡¯t know him.¡±

    ¡°Think again.¡±

    Xu Fangfang shook her head firmly. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Miss Xu, I hope you can think about it before answering.¡± Yu Hanjiang brought up Wang Wei¡¯s photo from his mobile phone, put it directly in front of Xu Fangfang and spoke softly, ¡°Wang Wei, 28 years old and a deliveryman. You and him used to be a couple. You celebrated your 24th birthday on October 8thst year and he gave you a ne, the one you are wearing around your neck. Then he suddenly broke up with you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang calmly watched the girl in front of him. ¡°Do you want me to continue speaking?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Xu Fangfang¡¯s body trembled violently as she recalled the past. She crouched down in pain and hugged her head, her voice choked up. ¡°How do you know this?¡±

    ¡°The police naturally have a way to investigate. Miss Xu, pleasee with me.¡± Yu Hanjiang whispered.

    ¡°Fangfang, who is looking for you?¡± An olddy walked into the room and asked in a hoarse voice.

    ¡°Elder, I¡¯m the group leader of the criminal police force. How much do you know about Wang Wei?¡± Yu Hanjiang walked up to the olddy and asked.

    ¡°Wang Wei is a very sensible and filial child. I have high blood pressure and he often buys medicine and delivers them to me. Sometimes it is inconvenient for us elderly people to move our old legs so he sends us food¡­ why are you asking about him? Officer, he wouldn¡¯t have done anything wrong!¡± The olddy was puzzled. She obviously didn¡¯t know that Wang Wei had died.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Xu Fangfang held back her tears and choked out, ¡°Grandma, don¡¯t worry. Wang Wei is fine. The police came to me because they are investigating something about the takeawaypany. I will go with them ande back.¡±

    She helped the olddy back into the house before going out to meet Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang asked his colleague to drive her back to the police department to make an official transcript. In the interrogation room, Xu Fangfang controlled her emotions/had already calmed her emotions. She told Yu Hanjiang about her experience of meeting Wang Wei and breaking up.

    Three years ago on a rainy night, Xu Fangfang was on the night shift at the hospital. That day, an old man with an acute myocardial infarction needed to be rescued. She was too busy to eat dinner and didn¡¯t feel hungry until midnight. She called for takeout and the delivery man was Wang Wei.

    The man was young and handsome. He delivered food in the rain and his clothes were wet, but his smile was simple and honest. He handed the takeout to her and said, ¡°Night shift? It is hard work. I hurried to deliver it and the food is still warm. Hurry and eat it.¡±

    Xu Fangfang opened the takeout boxes. The steaming food really did look like they were just cooked. The delivery man was obviously quick and the heavy rain couldn¡¯t stop him.

    Xu Fangfang¡¯s heart was warm and she spoke casually. ¡°Aren¡¯t you also on night shift delivering takeout? You are riding in the rain. Pay attention to safety!¡±

    This was one of the few warm things that Xu Fangfang felt in the middle of the night.

    A monthter, the two of them naturally got together. Due to thepany¡¯s arrangement, Wang Wei was transferred to the farmer¡¯s market area that was far from Xu Fangfang¡¯s work. He couldn¡¯t send her takeout anymore but it just so happened that the home of Xu Fangfang¡¯s grandparents was nearby. Therefore, Wang Wei often gave food to the two elderly people and was soon acknowledged by Xu Fangfang¡¯s family.

    Yu Hanjiang recorded up to here and frowned. He asked in a low voice, ¡°You have such a good rtionship and Wang Wei seems to be a trustworthy man. He suddenly wanted to break up. Didn¡¯t you feel any doubts?¡±

    Xu Fangfang lowered her head and spoke softly, ¡°I was very tired after the night shift that day. He sent a message saying he was bored with me after being together for so long and fell in love with another woman at work. What could I do? No girl would forgive her boyfriend for falling in love with another. His reason was enough for me to break up with him.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Did he propose to you?¡±

    Xu Fangfang shook her head. ¡°No.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang found the consumption records from a shopping mall. ¡°This diamond ring was bought by Wang Wei from a department store on November 13thst year. It is worth 10 million gold coins. The inside of the diamond ring is engraved with ¡®WW&FF¡¯. It is clearly a diamond proposal ring for you. He bought an expensive diamond ring on the 13th but said he wanted to break up with you on the 17th. How do you exin this?¡±

    Xu Fangfang¡¯s face was pale and she tightly clenched her fingers.

    She didn¡¯t expect the police to investigate so quickly and to even find Wang Wei¡¯s spending records. Buying a diamond ring on the 13th and then wanting to break up on the 17th on the grounds of ¡®I like another¡¯. No matter what, it didn¡¯t make sense.

    Before Xu Fangfang could organize her thoughts, she heard Yu Hanjiang say lightly, ¡°Wang Wei is dead. You should know this?¡±

    Xu Fangfang suddenly looked up, her voice trembling. ¡°W-What? He, he is dead?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang pushed the result of the fingerprintparison to her. ¡°Wang Wei¡¯s body was found in a garbage dump on February 2nd. I know this is a bit cruel to you but I hope you can cooperate with the police to solve this case as soon as possible and find the real murderer who killed Wang Wei. You are still lying up to now. Do you want Wang Wei to die with remaining grievances?¡±

    There were many photos of the scene in the appraisal report, including one of Wang Wei¡¯s hand. The cut off hand had charred traces but the five fingers were well preserved. The policepared the DNA and fingerprints and confirmed that the hand belonged to the takeout deliveryman Wang Wei.

    Yu Hanjiang asked in a low voice, ¡°Wang Wei¡¯s hand, are you familiar with it?¡±

    Xu Fangfang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The visual impact of the clear photos of the body part caused Xu Fangfang topletely copse. The hand that once held her gently was now chopped off and most of it burnt¡­

    Xu Fangfang pressed a hand against her stomach, sobbing and retching. Yu Hanjiang asked a policewoman to take her to the bathroom to vomit. Xu Fangfang almost vomited out all the contents of her stomach but she didn¡¯t eat anything this morning and could only vomit out acid water.

    10 minutester, Xu Fangfang returned to the interrogation room, her face as pale as paper and her shoulders trembling constantly. Yu Hanjiang calmly looked at her. ¡°Did you figure it out clearly? Are you going to continue hiding it or will you cooperate with us to find the real culprit who killed Wang Wei?¡±

    Xu Fangfang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The female colleague looked at her sympathetically. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s interrogation method was really cutting straight to the heart by using a photo of the corpse to stimte Xu Fangfang. If Xu Fangfang really loved Wang Wei then seeing photos of his corpse would indeed cause a mental breakdown.

    Xu Fangfang no longer insisted on her previous words and was white-faced. ¡°You¡­ can you really help me find the real culprit?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Of course. The police pays attention to evidence when handling cases. We won¡¯t mislead you like someone else and direct your hatred toward Shao Qingge, who had a kidney transnt. In fact, you know that the culprit isn¡¯t Shao Qingge but the one who operated on Wang Wei.¡±

    Xu Fangfang¡¯s eyes widened. Her mouth was so wide that a duck egg could be stuffed in it. She couldn¡¯t believe that Yu Hanjiang actually knew so much. Thetter still looked calm, with no fluctuations in his voice. ¡°In the hospital, you almost acted against Shao Qingge. Isn¡¯t it because Shao Qingge¡¯s kidney actuallyes from Wang Wei?¡±

    Xu Fangfang¡¯s lips trembled. ¡°H-How do you know this?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was just guessing but Xu Fangfang¡¯s words made his guess be true.

    On the way to Xu Fangfang¡¯s house, his colleague had sent him Wang Wei¡¯s bank records. The result confirmed that Wang Wei¡¯s bank ount only received his monthly sry and no additional ie. The savings in his ount wasn¡¯t enough to buy such an expensive diamond ring.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s father once mentioned that Shao Qingge¡¯s kidney was bought for 200,000 yuan and it was a cash transaction. The investigation records of the department store showed that the limited edition ¡®I only have you in this life¡¯ diamond ring was bought in Novemberst year and was indeed engraved with the letters ¡®WW&FF¡¯ as Liu Qiao said.

    Did Wang Wei¡¯s cashe from the Shao family? He sold his kidney and bought this diamond ring after getting a lot of cash. Then Xu Fangfang learned about it from somewhere and wanted to get revenge. This logical rtionship made sense.

    At the same time, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mobile phone received a WeChat message from Xiao Lou. ¡°The results of the DNAparison havee out. Chief Shao¡¯s kidney tissue genes are exactly the same as those obtained from Wang Wei¡¯s corpse.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang put down the phone and looked at Xu Fangfang. ¡°Miss Xu, tell me what you know. What did Wang Wei do in Novemberst year? Also, who told you that the beneficiary of his kidney is Shao Qingge?¡±

    Xu Fangfang gritted her teeth hard. Then after some ideological struggle, she spoke with a quivering voice. ¡°I-I always thought that Brother Wei broke up with me because he fell in love with another woman. That¡¯s what he told me at the time. Therefore, I cklisted him in a fit of anger. It wasn¡¯t until half a monthter that I learned the reason he said this to me was because he was desperate.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and encouraged her to go on.

    Xu Fangfang took a deep breath to sort out her thoughts and said, ¡°In Novemberst year, we were ready to get married. I went to the department store with him and the sister working there rmended me this diamond ring. I thought it was pretty and tried it on. I really liked it. Then she told me the price and I was shocked. I hurried away with Brother Wei. After leaving the department store, Brother Wei asked me if I liked the diamond ring. I said I liked it but we couldn¡¯t afford it, so let¡¯s buy a simple ring. He didn¡¯t say anything and I didn¡¯t pay attention to it.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know at the time that his mother had stomach cancer and needed surgery. Fortunately, it was in the early stages. The doctor said that early gastric cancer is easier to treat. However, the cost of surgery was very high. His parents don¡¯t work and he didn¡¯t have much savings at home. It might be because of this that he thought of¡­ selling his kidney.¡±

    At this point, Xu Fangfang was crying. ¡°I don¡¯t know where he saw the information but he must¡¯ve been deceived! After selling the kidney, he used part of the money for his mother¡¯s surgery, part of it to buy the diamond ring and the rest to prepare for the wedding¡­¡±

    ¡°However, not long after the operation waspleted, seriousplications urred. His mother said it took him a long time to go to the toilet and he found blood in his urine. His mother urged him to go to the hospital for treatment. He was afraid I would find out so he specifically went to another hospital for a check-up. As a result, he found out he was suffering from renal failure and severe urinary system infection. He was worried he would hurt me so he deliberately broke up with me.¡±

    Xu Fangfang buried her face between her hands, her entire face smeared with tears and her eyes red and swollen from crying. Yu Hanjiang sighed in his heart and handed her a pack of tissues.

    After her mood calmed down a bit, Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Did you learn all this information from his mother?¡±

    Xu Fangfang choked up and nodded. ¡°Yes, his mother gave me the ring. After the diagnosis, he left the city. We weren¡¯t able to find him until January this year when his friend told us that Wang Wei was dead.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang immediately became alert. ¡°A friend? Where did the friende from?¡±

    Xu Fangfang opened WeChat and found a portrait of a blue sky and white clouds. ¡°He said he was a friend and colleague of Wang Wei. Wang Wei only contacted him during this time. He also showed me the chat history of the two people. Wang Wei¡¯s condition progressed very quickly and he suffered every day. He couldn¡¯t bear it andmitted suicide, leaving a suicide note.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took Xu Fangfang¡¯s phone and looked at the chat history between her and the other party.

    The WeChat ID of the person with a blue sky and white clouds was ¡®Clear Sky¡¯. The chat photos and will between them and Wang Wei were probably from photoshop. Wang Wei would nevermit suicide. This person also told Xu Fangfang that Wang Wei¡¯s kidney was donated to Shao Qingge, the only son of the Shao family. It was the people from the Shao family who deceived Wang Wei. This caused Wang Wei to experience severe surgicalplications and he died in pain.

    This passage was clearly pointing the finger at the rich Shao family.

    Xu Fangfang lowered her head. ¡°A few days ago, Shao Qingge actually lived in the ward where I was working. It was really like the will of Heaven! I was too extreme at the time and I felt that Shao Qingge killed Wang Wei. In addition, my grandfather¡¯s death was a big blow to me. I didn¡¯t want to live any longer and I wanted to pull Shao Qingge with me.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s back was slightly cold. If Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t acted fast enough then maybe Chief Shao really wouldn¡¯t have woken up this time.

    He calmly said, ¡°You are a medical student. You should know that if a kidney transnt is done well, it won¡¯t have a big impact on the person who has the kidney removed. The culprit isn¡¯t Shao Qingge who bought the kidney. It is the person who performed the operation on Wang Wei!¡±

    Xu Fangfang lowered her head in shame. ¡°I know. I actually understood it after going back so I am willing to cooperate with your investigation. That is all I know. There is nothing else to hide.¡±

    Xu Fangfang¡¯s testimony provided Yu Hanjiang with many clues.

    First, Wang Wei was the victim of organ transntation. The people from the illegal clinic weren¡¯t well qualified which led to seriousplications after surgery. Wang Wei wanted to escape from reality and left the city. It was likely the illegal clinic was worried he would reveal the secret so they killed him.

    Secondly, the person who contacted Xu Fangfang shouldn¡¯t be from the illegal clinic. They wanted to hide it so desperately. How could they contact a loved one of the victim? The person with the ID of Clear Sky might also be a victim or a loved one of a victim. They had channels to find the whereabouts of the organ trafficking and were full of hatred for the beneficiaries of the organ trafficking.

    It was possible that this person was rted to the first ¡®Cheng Shaoyu dismembered case¡¯ because Cheng Shaoyu was the beneficiary of a heart transnt.

    Xu Fangfang couldn¡¯t leave for the time being. She had at least ¡®attempted¡¯ to kill Shao Qingge. Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t let her return to the hospital and continue to threaten Chief Shao. After Xu Fangfang was temporarily detained, Yu Hanjiang sent the results of today¡¯s investigation to the group.

    Xiao Lou spected, ¡°This Clear Sky knows a lot. They can urately locate the donors and recipients of all the organ transnt cases. They knew that Chief Shao¡¯s kidney came from Wang Wei and should naturally know where Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s heart came from.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°We can reverse the investigation and find the source of Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s heart. This Clear Sky might be a loved one of the victim. The victim had their heart removed and was killed. This made Clear Sky full of hatred for Cheng Shaoyu who used their loved one¡¯s heart to continue to live. Thus, they carried out a cruel revenge on Cheng Shaoyu¡ªdismembering and throwing away his body parts.¡±

    Shao Qingge had a headache. ¡°This means that the murderer of Cheng Shaoyu is probably this Clear Sky or someone with a close connection with them. In addition, the organ trafficking organization that has killed countless people hasn¡¯t been found yet?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°They are well informed. The emergence of Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s case definitely aroused their vignce. The personnel should¡¯ve been evacuated. However, I have locked down their probable nest.¡±

    Then Yu Hanjiang arranged the next n. ¡°Liu Qiao, immediately withdraw to the hospital. Xiao Lou, fully investigate the source of Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s heart. Chief Shao, check your father¡¯s assistant as soon as possible. Xiao Ye, Old Mo and the Long Qu couple, gather at the food street opposite the farmer¡¯s market at dinner time. After dark, we will explore Antai Garden together.¡±

    Everyone typed in the group chat. ¡°Received!¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 326: Antai Garden

    People came and went during the day. The five of them suddenly appearing at themunity could easily attract the attention of the residents. In the middle of the night when all households were asleep, they could use various movement cards to explore themunity. This made it easier to move.

    Old Mo and his ¡®grandson¡¯ Ye Qi took a taxi to the food street. Long Sen and Qu Wanyue also came at 6:30 p.m. The two sides met at the food street and pretended not to know each other, each side sitting down to eat.

    Soon, Yu Hanjiang also came. He pretended not to know anyone and ordered a bowl of noodles to fill his stomach. Then he typed something out and sent it to the group. ¡°I will act alone first and go to themunity to find out information. The four of you walk around and wait for my instructions.¡±

    He was wearing casual clothes like a sweater and coat, just like ordinary people on the street. No one would link him to the police.

    Once Yu Hanjiang finished eating, he went to a nearby agency to see if there was a vacant ce to rent. He said, ¡°I have anxiety and often suffer from insomnia at night. I need absolute quiet around me to sleep. What is the quietestmunity around here?¡±

    ¡°Antai Garden.¡± The agent was a very enthusiastic young man who spoke with a smile. ¡°The upancy rate of thismunity is less than 50%. The houses are very old and the rent is cheap. Most people staying there are doing business nearby. Many of the breakfast store owners have to get up at four in the morning to prepare breakfast so most of the residents are asleep before 10 p.m. It is very quiet.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Are there any ces for rent in thismunity? Can I go and see?¡±

    ¡°How big a house do you need? Are you living alone or sharing with someone?¡±

    ¡°A single house with one bedroom and one living room or sharing rent with others is fine. Can I go and check the environment first?¡±

    The agent nodded, took a bunch of keys and headed for the Antai Garden district with Yu Hanjiang.

    At the gate of themunity, the security guard was dozing off in the security room. There were no surveince cameras around this oldmunity. There were a total of 16 buildings in themunity with seven floors. Many of the balconies were empty and should be unupied. As the agent said, the upancy rate was indeed less than 50%.

    Yu Hanjiang followed him into the yard. It was past dinner time and several old people were walking around with their dogs. However,pared to most residential areas, thismunity was too deserted.

    The agent took Yu Hanjiang to see a few houses and Yu Hanjiang figured out the floor structure of themunity.

    Each building had two units and four apartments on each floor. On the east side was arge apartment that was 160 square meters with four bedrooms and two living rooms. In the middle was a ce that was 90 square meters with two bedrooms and one living room. It was the most affordable small apartment. In the west was a 130 square meters ce with three bedrooms and two living rooms, which was suitable for medium-sized families.

    The buildings were dpidated and old. The corridors were full of children¡¯s doodles and many residents¡¯ doors had advertising signs on them such as ¡®clearing the pipes¡¯, ¡®unlocking¡¯ and ¡®full-time infertility¡¯. None of the buildings were monitored.

    Yu Hanjiang followed the agent to look at a few apartments. The facilities outside might be outdated but the decorations inside were decent. The agent asked, ¡°Handsome guy, which one do you think is better?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked indifferently, ¡°The rent is too expensive. Is there a cheaper basement room?¡±

    The agent was dumbfounded. ¡°B-Basement?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°My finances are a bit tight recently.¡±

    The agent looked at him sympathetically. ¡°There is a basement and the rent is indeed the cheapest. Uh¡­ if you really want to rent a basement room then I¡¯ll show it to you?¡±

    ¡°Please.¡±

    The agent once again looked at Yu Hanjiang. He really couldn¡¯t connect this handsome and cold man to a poor person living in the basement. He thought this in his heart while taking Yu Hanjiang downstairs. He went to the door of the basement and opened the heavy iron door.

    ¡°The rent in the basement might be cheap but the ces are small in size. There is only the bedroom. There is no toilet, kitchen or a ce to wash up. Um, buddy, if you are really in trouble then you can stay for a few months as a transition.¡± The agent spoke enthusiastically.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s take a look.¡±

    There was a narrow corridor in front of him. On both sides of the corridor, many doors could vaguely be seen. Each door was closed tightly and numbers such as 101 and 102 were written on the door. There were no lights above their heads and it was pitch ck. The agent fumbled and pressed a button to turn on the light. However, there was only one light bulb in the entire corridor and the light was very dim.

    Yu Hanjiang scanned the surroundings sharply and asked, ¡°Has anyone rented the basement?¡±

    ¡°Of course. s, some people having difficulties have a limited monthly ie and can only afford to rent the basement.¡± After a pause, he coughed. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean you. You look very educated. This should just be a momentary downfall and you should be fine soon.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Yu Hanjiang responded casually. Then he wondered, ¡°Did you rent any of the basement rooms as warehouses?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± The agent pointed to the opposite side. ¡°The basement of Unit 1 of Building 13 opposite us has all been rented. Some of them are doing business at the farmer¡¯s market. They sell beef andmb and rent the basement as a warehouse. In winter, there is no heating in the basement and the temperature is often several degrees below zero. This is simr to the refrigerator. The beef andmb can¡¯t go bad even if ced here and it also saves electricity!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Sure enough.

    After inspecting themunity, Yu Hanjiang discovered that the most hidden ce was the basement.

    If the illegal clinic rented a ce for surgery, it would be suspicious when going up and down the stairs and meeting the neighbors. In addition, the basement had a locked door. They just needed to open the door and go down one floor. Then it was a closed corridor with a total of 14 rooms. As long as they closed the door, they didn¡¯t need to be afraid of being discovered by anyone.

    The basement had a low temperature and was suitable as a warehouse. If they rented all 14 rooms in the basement of one unit as a ¡®warehouse¡¯ then it wouldn¡¯t arouse the suspicion of the agency andndlord. Doing beef andmb business could exin the strange smell of the corpses.

    Yu Hanjiang put away the sharpness in his eyes and spoke calmly, ¡°Thank you. The basement environment is bad. I should rent the apartment with four bedrooms and two living rooms on the fourth floor. How much is the deposit? I¡¯ll share it with my friends.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is morefortable to live in a big house.¡± A deal was negotiated so the agent happily took Yu Hanjiang to sign the contract.

    It was getting dark. Yu Hanjiang finished exploring and told his teammates to enter Antai Garden. Just now, the agent told him that all the basements were rented in Unit 1 of Building 13. Yu Hanjiang took his teammates to the basement of Building 13 ording to his memory. His Mastery Key card still had a number of uses so he could use it to open the door to the basement.

    Yu Hanjiang opened the door and the team members entered the basement together. Although Yu Hanjiang inferred that the people of the mysterious organization had evacuated, everyone still maintained a high degree of vignce. What if the group was slow and didn¡¯t retreat? Maybe they would be greeted with a ck muzzle when entering the basement!

    Yu Hanjiang took the lead with the Night Pearl. Ye Qi, Old Mo and Qu Wanyue walked in the middle and Long Sen was in the rear. Then the moment the five of them entered the dark basement, the door behind them suddenly mmed shut. A prompt appeared in front of everyone at the same time.

    [Wee to the undergroundbyrinth of Antai Garden.]

    [Thebyrinth is limited to 30 minutes. If you can¡¯t find the right exit, each of you will lose one kidney¡ªA of Diamonds.]

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Could they swear?

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 327: Underground Labyrinth

    Everyone was mentally prepared. They wouldn¡¯t be surprised even if they saw a bloody operating room and stinking corpses. Who would¡¯ve thought that as they were investigating the case, the Diamonds keeper would suddenlye out to make trouble, turning the basement into abyrinth?

    Ye Qi had a bitter expression. ¡°I hate going through mazes the most. In addition, we don¡¯t have Professor Xiao this time. How can we get out?¡± He didn¡¯t want to lose a kidney.

    Qu Wanyue and Long Sen exchanged looks, both of them a bit guilty.

    Long Sen told them, ¡°I¡¯m not very good with mazes either and Wanyue¡­ cough, she is a road idiot in reality. She has to use her phone to navigate when going out or she will get lost.¡±

    Qu Wanyue smiled awkwardly. ¡°My sense of direction is a bit bad¡­¡±

    In terms of the Diamonds secret room, Xiao Lou was the strongest person. Following Xiao Lou, everyone could lie down and win. However, Xiao Lou was currently investigating the source of Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s heart. Yu Hanjiang was a ¡®poor student¡¯ in the Diamonds secret room. Qu Wanyue and Long Sen weren¡¯t good at mazes. Ye Qi¡¯s problem solving speed wasn¡¯t bad but he was dizzy in mazes. Then Old Mo¡­

    The group turned their heads simultaneously to stare at Old Mo. Old Mo was everyone¡¯s only hope!

    Mo Xuemin felt numb when four pairs of eyes stared at him. He touched his nose and coughed. ¡°Cough, I¡­ I can get through mazes but my best result is an A-grade evaluation. I can¡¯t solve any problems.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought that an A-grade evaluation was better than his C-grade. After all, Old Mo was a designer and he was sensitive to space. He shouldn¡¯t be afraid of a simple maze. He was afraid of encountering various questions to solve on the way.

    Yu Hanjiang took out his phone and found that the phone signal was blocked. They couldn¡¯tmunicate in the group chat. He had to try and contact Xiao Lou through the heart channel. ¡°Xiao Lou, are you there?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s voice was soon heard in his mind. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? I sensed you seem nervous.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang simply exined, ¡°We entered the basement of Antai Garden to investigate the organization¡¯sir. As a result, the moment the five of us entered the basement, we received a notification weing us to an undergroundbyrinth.¡±

    Xiao Lou was stunned. ¡°Abyrinth?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Yu Hanjiang answered helplessly. ¡°When I checked the basement in the afternoon, the basements of each building weren¡¯t connected to each other and there was nobyrinth at all. My guess is that it was temporarily made by the keeper of Diamonds. We must find the exit of thebyrinth before we can enter the basement in reality and continue searching for clues.¡±

    ¡°I see. A of Diamonds should¡¯ve collectively teleported you to a smallbyrinth in the instance. Hurry and explore the road first while paying attention to the mechanisms under your feet.¡± Xiao Lou advised. ¡°If you encounter a password problem and can¡¯t solve it then contact me. In addition, keep in touch.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Being able tomunicate with Xiao Lou made Yu Hanjiang feel relieved. He looked at the teammates behind him and said, ¡°I can contact Xiao Lou and ask him for help if necessary. Take out your Night Pearls for light.¡±

    Everyone took out their Night Pearls.

    Thanks to the faint light from the Night Pearls, they could see a narrow corridor in front of them. There were many doors on both sides of the corridor and each door was marked with a house number. On the left were the five rooms 101, 201, 301, 401 and 501. On the right were six rooms marked 102, 202, 302, 402, 502 and 602. At the end of the corridor was a ¡®¶¡¡¯ intersection with a left and right fork.

    This waspletely different from the basement house numbers that Yu Hanjiang saw previously.

    He came to the basement with the agent in the afternoon and theyout was seven doors on the left and right. The numbers on the left were odd numbers from 101, 201 to 701. The numbers on the right were even numbers from 102, 202 to 702. 1 was the first floor and 7 was the seventh floor. The house numbers in the basement corresponded to the 14 owners of the seven-storey building.

    It was said that the developer designed it this way because they originally wanted to make money and sell the basement as the owner¡¯s storage room. However, many owners didn¡¯t need a storage room and weren¡¯t willing to spend money to buy one. The basement was so redundant that it was mostly vacant. For this reason, it was strange that all 14 basement rooms of Unit 1 of Building 13 would be rented out.

    The undergroundbyrinth that didn¡¯t conform to reality proved that Yu Hanjiang¡¯s spection was correct. The undergroundbyrinth created by A of Diamonds was an independent instance and they weren¡¯t in the real basement of Antai Garden. It was only by getting out of this maze that they could go to the real basement to continue investigating clues. If they couldn¡¯t get out then they would really lose a kidney.

    The countdown had be 29:30. Yu Hanjiang took a deep breath and told everyone, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    The five people observed the area closely as they walked. The doors on both sides of the corridor were equipped with a code lock. The Night Pearls illuminated them and the number panel of 0-9 shed with a long blue light. The panel was a four digit code and was currently disying the initial password of 0000.

    Ye Qi wondered, ¡°What could the four digit password be?¡±

    Long Sen spected, ¡°Is it an important date? For example, November 17th when Wang Wei and Xu Fangfang broke up?¡±

    Qu Wanyue rejected his idea. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be. First of all, this isn¡¯t Wang Wei and Xu Fangfang¡¯s residence. Second of all, there are so many people dead in this secret room such as Cheng Shaoyu and Liu Renyuan that the corresponding dates are different. A date shouldn¡¯t be the password.¡±

    Old Mo grabbed his grey hair in a puzzled manner. ¡°The key isn¡¯t the password. There are so many houses. What door is the one we want? We can¡¯t open all the doors¡­¡±

    Ye Qi agreed. ¡°That¡¯s right! If we pick the wrong one, a room full of scalpels might be waiting for us.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s mind always went to scary ces and they didn¡¯t want to talk to him.

    Yu Hanjiang said casually, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will ask Xiao Lou.¡±

    If there was a problem they couldn¡¯t figure out then it was right to ask Xiao Lou. Who made Xiao Lou¡¯s mind spin faster than anyone else¡¯s? Xiao Lou heard Yu Hanjiang¡¯s description and wondered, ¡°There are only doors, corridors and door numbers, nothing else?¡±

    ¡°Yes, the 11 doors look exactly the same and it is impossible to open all of them.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps the hints are stillter on. Go and take a look.¡± Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t think of what door it should be for the time being and warned, ¡°By the way, the size of thebyrinth and whether it is dangerous or not isn¡¯t known. It is best not to get separated. The five of you should go together.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± Yu Hanjiang was also worried that if they split up, he wouldn¡¯t be able to find his teammates. He took out the Four-way Arrow card and ced an upward arrow sign before leading everyone forward.

    The five people walked along the narrow corridor to the end. There was once again a ¡®¶¡¡¯ intersection with a left and right road. Yu Hanjiang stuck the left arrow to the wall. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the left first.¡±

    His team members nodded to express their understanding and quickly followed Yu Hanjiang.

    They took a few steps and found that theyout of this corridor was exactly the same as the one just now. There were five rooms on the left and six rooms on the right. The room numbers were also 101-501 on the left and 102-602 on the right. Everyone could see the doors had password locks.

    Ye Qi was stunned. ¡°Isn¡¯t this exactly the same as before? Is it a copy and past model?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang calmly told them, ¡°Keep walking and first figure out the generalyout of the maze.¡±

    They continued forward and the ¡®¶¡¡¯ intersection appeared again. Yu Hanjiang stuck the left arrow and continued leading everyone to the left. Theyout of the corridor was still the same and there was a ¡®¶¡¡¯ intersection¡­

    After going through three ¡®¶¡¡¯ intersections, Yu Hanjiang saw the upward arrow. This was the mark he made at the starting point.

    Qu Wanyue felt numb. ¡°We went around all this way and returned to the original point.¡±

    Ye Qi got goosebumps and whispered, ¡°Surely this isn¡¯t the legendary ghost wall?¡±

    The so-called ¡®ghost wall¡¯ was when a ghost made an illusion so that people couldn¡¯t get out no matter where they walked. For example, if one wanted to climb up from the second floor, no matter how many stairs they climbed, they would always be on the second floor. This scene often appeared in horror movies. In addition, the undergroundbyrinth¡¯s environment was gloomy and the surrounding area was pitch ck. Ye Qi¡¯s words gave his teammates goosebumps.

    Long Sen sent Ye Qi a reproachful look. ¡°Why do you always say such scary things?¡±

    Ye Qi smiled wryly and scratched his head. ¡°I¡¯m good at thinking about the worst consequences.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced around the corridor. There was no such thing as ghosts so he was calm. ¡°This isn¡¯t a supernatural secret room and there should be no ghost wall. We will try going to the right.¡±

    This time, everyone kept going to the right at the intersections and as a result, after three intersections¡­ they returned to the starting point. All corridors had the sameyout. They each had 11 doors with a password lock.

    Ye Qi copsed. ¡°Where is the exit? A of Diamonds isn¡¯t ying with us, right?¡±

    Just then, there was a ¡®pop¡¯ sound at the end of the corridor and the light was turned on.

    The dazzling incandescent light frightened everyone. Then Yu Hanjiang discovered that in the ce that had been a wall, another corridor appeared. Everyone looked at the corridor with pale faces. The thing that made them even more creeped out was the sound of footsteps echoing out from the new corridor.

    Was this going from suspense to horror?

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t believe in ghosts so he frowned. ¡°Let¡¯s take a look.¡±

    He took the lead. Everyone was feeling creeped out but they boldly followed.

    The original ¡®¶¡¡¯ intersection had now be a ¡®crossroads¡¯. There was another straight corridor. The thing that made everyone copse was that this extra corridor was the same as the previousyout and the end was a ¡®¶¡¡¯ intersection. No matter if they went left or right, they would always return to the starting point.

    After reaching the starting point again, the light at the intersection once again turned on and another corridor emerged from the wall. The faces of the team members became uglier as Yu Hanjiang led everyone to continue exploring the way. He found that every time they got the starting point, there would be more roads. In the process of everyone¡¯s exploration, thisbyrinth was bing bigger¡­

    10 minutes passed and everyone was still underground and turning in circles. Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t help feeling anxious and he whispered in his mind. ¡°Thisbyrinth is a bit strange. Every time the light turns on, there will be more roads. However, no matter how we go, we will return to the original point. We are a bit dizzy.¡±

    Xiao Lou softlyforted him. ¡°Don¡¯t walk, take Old Mo to explore again. The forks in the road are well marked and his sense of space is very strong. He should be able to draw a map of the maze.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Yu Hanjiang turned to his teammates. ¡°Everyone stay here. Old Mo and I will walk it again.¡±

    The other four teammates were relieved. Professor Xiao might not be here but there was still Old Mo. Old Mo learned design and did 3D modeling every day. Drawing the maze shouldn¡¯t be difficult for him.

    However, Old Mo was now 66 years old and he was gasping just walking with everyone. Ye Qi took the initiative to hand his teleportation card to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Group Leader Yu, use this and go together.¡±

    The efficiency could be increased by several times with this card.

    Ye Qi¡¯s teleportation card could teleport 50 meters at a time and the length of the corridor was exactly 50 meters. Yu Hanjiang took Old Mo to a corner, made a mark, changed directions and teleported again¡­

    Old Mo didn¡¯t have paper and a pen but fortunately, there was his phone. He opened his notepad software, created a nk document and drew with his fingers as he moved. After doing this many times, the two of them had explored the entirebyrinth. The lights no longer turned on and the strange footsteps disappeared. There should be no missing corridors.

    Then Old Mo ced his phone in front of Yu Hanjiang. ¡°I¡¯m done. Group Leader Yu, you can take a look.¡±

    The densely packed map of thebyrinth made Yu Hanjiang suck in a breath. This was the biggestbyrinth they had encountered so far! Fortunately, Old Mo had a good sense of space and didn¡¯t be dizzy. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have been able to figure out the terrain even if they were stuck in the maze for a few hours.

    Old Mo took a deep breath and exined to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Thebyrinth we are in is a ¡®»Ø¡¯ shapedbyrinth. In other words, it is argebyrinth made up of countless small ¡®»Ø¡¯. This is why after following one direction, we will return to the ce we visited not long ago. We walked all the passages and there was no exit. There is only one exnation. The exit is a certain room!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at the map of the maze drawn by Old Mo again and carefully told Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou took a pen and paper and quickly drew it ording to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s description.

    »Ø»Ø»Ø»Ø»Ø

    »Ø»Ø»Ø»Ø»Ø

    »Ø»Ø»Ø»Ø»Ø

    »Ø»Ø»Ø»Ø»Ø

    »Ø»Ø»Ø»Ø»Ø

    »Ø»Ø»Ø»Ø»Ø

    The teammates were dumbfounded seeing this final figure and Xiao Lou felt numb.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°There are so manybinations of ¡®»Ø¡¯? No wonder why we became confused! Just looking at this is making me dizzy.¡±

    Qu Wanyue was pregnant and already prone to nausea. Just following everyone around in circles had made her feel the urge to vomit. Fortunately, Group Leader Yu and Old Mo explored the maze and she was allowed a short break. She felt much better now. Qu Wanyue carefully looked at the floor n of the maze and said, ¡°If the exit is really in a certain room, how can we determine which room it is?¡±

    This was the question that everyone wanted to ask. There were countless rooms and dizzying paths. Which room was the real exit?

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 328: Secret of the Exit

    The previousbyrinths were like treasure mazes in RPG games. At the end of the path, there was a treasure chest and opening the treasure chest would reveal a card. If they encountered a door, there was usually a password mechanism and a corresponding question. Solving the question and entering the password could open the mechanism.

    This time, thebyrinth waspletely different. There were numerous doors in the entire maze and all the doors were locked with a password¡ªbut where was the question?

    This was like an exam candidate getting the answer sheet and the examiner asking everyone to fill in the options with a pencil, only for there to be no questions? If there were no questions, did they have to choose between A, B, C or D randomly? Did they have to throw the eraser and choose whatever they wanted? The five people were lost.

    Old Mo scratched his head. He was able to draw thebyrinth floor n in the shortest time and had done his best. Solving puzzles wasn¡¯t his strong point. Old Mo nced at Yu Hanjiang and suggested, ¡°Or should we continue getting Professor Xiao¡¯s off-site help?¡±

    This suggestion immediately got everyone¡¯s approval. ¡°Yes, please get off-site help!¡±

    ¡±We need Professor Xiao!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told them, ¡°I¡¯m talking to him, don¡¯t worry.¡±

    It was the consensus of the team members to find Xiao Lou if there was a problem that couldn¡¯t be solved. During the Shangyuan Lantern Festival, so many riddles were beaten by him. Everyone believed that today¡¯s strange ¡®»Ø¡¯ shapedbyrinth wouldn¡¯t bother Xiao Lou.

    In fact, Xiao Lou was also a bit confused at this time. Previously, the problems he solved had a problem. This time, there was nothing?

    How could he solve it? He frowned as he looked at thebyrinth pattern drawn on the white paper. He thought about it for a moment before suddenly realizing something wrong. ¡°You said that when you went to the basement this afternoon, there were seven rooms on each side. Now there are five on the left and six on the right?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure I remember it correctly.¡±

    Xiao Lou felt that he had found something and continued to ask, ¡°The ones missing are rooms 601 and 701 on the left and 702 on the right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°On Old Mo¡¯s n of thebyrinth, there are five »Ø horizontally and 6 »Ø vertically. Theyout of thisbyrinth should be rted to five and six.¡±

    Thebyrinth is limited to 30 minutes. If you can¡¯t find the right exit, each of you will lose one kidney. This was the hint from A of Diamonds when entering the secret room instance. Everyone didn¡¯t think much of it at the time. They thought it was just a punishment warning from the keeper.

    A missing kidney! Now it seemed that thest sentence of A of Diamonds was a hidden clue.

    Yu Hanjiang heard Xiao Lou¡¯s analysis and his mind became clear. ¡°Each corridor in thebyrinth is missing three rooms. The keeper said that we will lose a kidney. Then the missing rooms should be the password.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded appreciatively. ¡°Yes, 601 and 701 are missing on the left and 702 is missing on the right. Since the password is four digits, remove the 0 and it is likely to be 6712. The key now is to find the corresponding room.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Is it rted to the keyword ¡®kidney¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Yes, the missing kidney.¡± Xiao Lou took out a pen and drew carefully on the paper.

    The five viscera organs were the heart, the liver, the spleen, the lungs and the kidneys.

    The six bowel organs were the stomach,rge intestine, small intestine, dder, galldder and san jiao. (san jiao = triple burner or triple energizer is a concept in traditional Chinese medicine. It is the hollow space inside the trunk. In TCM, there are five solid organs and each solid organ has its counterpart in a hollow organ. For instance, the heart is considered a solid organ, and the small intestine its hollow counterpart, or Fu organ. San Jiao is believed to be a body cavity of some kind which has the ability to influence other organs, and overall health, mainly through the free movement of Qi, the fundamental energy or life force.)

    The five viscera organs and six bowel organs was the general term for human organs in Chinese medicine and all human organs were located in the torso. It just so happened that Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s torso couldn¡¯t be found. Could this ¡®»Ø¡¯ shapedbyrinth with five horizontal and six vertical ¡®»Ø¡¯ also be regarded as the torso of an individual?

    The more Xiao Lou thought about it, the more he felt that he was right.

    He was very familiar with human anatomy. The kidneys were located behind the waist of a person. If thebyrinth image was regarded as a human torso then the middle row could be regarded as the central axis of the human body the spine. Then the kidneys should be in the lower position, in other words, the second-tost position of the torso.

    On the map of the ¡®»Ø¡¯ shapedbyrinth, Xiao Lou quickly drew the distribution of the five viscera organs.

    Lung, lung¡ªlung lung.

    Lung, lung¡ªheart lung

    Lung, lung¡ªlung lung.

    Liver¡ª¡ª¡ªspleen.

    ¡ªkidney¡ªkidney¡ª

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    The human body had two kidneys and the keyword of thebyrinth was ¡®missing¡¯. The deceased Liu Renyuan was missing his right kidney and the delivery man Wang Wei also died after surgery to remove his right kidney. The key room must be in the right kidney area.

    Thisbyrinth diagram was from a top view, like a person lying on a bed. It could be understood as the frontal image in human anatomy. The right kidney grew on the back of the human body. Naturally, it must follow the ¡®mirror rotation rule¡¯. So the right kidney was located on the left side of the map.

    If they ignored the ¡®left and right mirroring¡¯, they were likely to open the wrong room.

    Xiao Lou finished drawing the picture, confirmed his reasoning again and told Yu Hanjiang the result. ¡°Since we are seeing the front view and the kidney is on the back of the human body, the right kidney needs to be mirrored to the left. In the lower left corner of the maze, the ¡®»Ø¡¯ unit area in the secondst row and second column is the location of the right kidney in the trunk. There are 11 rooms in that corridor. The secondst row and second column should be room 201 on the left. That is the exit of thisbyrinth.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang heard Xiao Lou¡¯s words. It didn¡¯t matter if he understood it or not. He felt that Xiao Lou must be right. Time was urgent and Yu Hanjiang moved without hesitation. Everyone came to the door of the room indicated by Xiao Lou.

    At this point, there were still 5 minutes left on the countdown. Yu Hanjiang entered the four digit code of ¡®6712¡¯ into the code lock of room 201. There was a soft sound in their ears and the door really opened!

    Yu Hanjiang led his teammates into the room. The entire room was empty but connected to another corridor. This corridor was exactly what Yu Hanjiang saw in the afternoon¡ªthe real Antai Garden¡¯s basement!

    There was a light switch next to the corridor entrance. It was pressed and a dim light turned on overhead. The five people received prompts at the same time.

    [Congrattions on resolving the Antai Garden undergroundbyrinth. It took 25 minutes and 03 seconds. Thisbyrinth is evaluated as S-grade.]

    They sighed with relief and Ye Qi almost jumped up with excitement. ¡°We¡¯re really out? There were so many rooms. Group Leader Yu, how did you find the exit? You got it right immediately!¡±

    ¡°It was Xiao Lou who found it.¡± Yu Hanjiang told everyone Xiao Lou¡¯s theory of the ¡®five viscera and six bowels¡¯ and the ¡®missing¡¯ keyword. The team members listened with their heads in the clouds. They didn¡¯t know how the kidney matched with this room number 201 but they all felt ¡®I might not understand it but it is awesome.¡¯

    Ye Qi finally murmured, ¡°It is great to receive off-site help.¡±

    Old Mo smiled. ¡°Fortunately, Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao have the heart connection. Otherwise, we are people who don¡¯t understand human anatomy. How could we get the position of the kidney from the five viscera and six bowel organs?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This was true. If it wasn¡¯t for Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang taking the team members through the maze, forget 30 minutes. They wouldn¡¯t even know that the entirebyrinth was the torso of the human body and the exit could be found by finding the position of the right kidney if it was 24 hours.

    Thebyrinth was also connected to the five viscera and six bowel organs. The organ trafficking case this time was far moreplicated than everyone thought. The deceased so far had undergone a heart transnt, a kidney transnt¡­

    Would there be a liver transnt?

    Xiao Lou sensed Yu Hanjiang¡¯s thoughts and said, ¡°A liver transnt ismon and removal of one or two liver lobules will do little harm to the human body. If the illegal clinic¡¯s transnt business is moreprehensive, the entire human body is a treasure. We can¡¯t ignore the cornea transnts. After all, matching the corneas is the simplest.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face was calm. ¡°Okay, I will take everyone to search.¡±

    The basement was dimly lit and there was a strong cold air. What would be found when the closed rooms in the corridor were opened?

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 329: Secrets of the Basement

    In the undergroundbyrinth just now, all the doors had digital password locks with a keypad from 0-9. For the real rooms, the door lock wasn¡¯t electronic and couldn¡¯t be unlocked with the code 6712.

    There were 14 rooms in the basement. They were all locked and needed to be opened with a key.

    The Master Key could open any non-password door lock but it was a reward card for the perfect clearance of 3 of Hearts. Qu Wanyue, Long Sen and Old Mo didn¡¯t get a perfect clearance and didn¡¯t have the card. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s card only had one use left and Ye Qi had three uses left. This wasn¡¯t enough to open 14 doors.

    Ye Qi scratched his head. ¡°The number of Master Key cards isn¡¯t enough. Do we just smash open the doors?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told them, ¡°Stand back. I¡¯ll open the doors.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had a way to open this type of simple door lock even without the Master Key card. He walked to the door of room 101 and found a piece of iron wire to stick into the keyhole. He listened as he rotated it left and right. After a while, everyone heard a small click and the iron lock really opened!

    Ye Qi gave a thumbs up. ¡°Great. Group Leader Yu can unlock it like this and the 14 doors can be opened.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told them, ¡°We should hurry and search from the first room carefully.¡±

    As he spoke, he opened the door of room 101 and entered first, his teammates following after him.

    The scene inside the room gave the group a bit of a pause. It was an empty room that was nearly 10 square meters in size. There was a metal bed, a simple bedside table and an iron shelf used for infusions. It glowed with a dazzling cold light under the illumination of the Night Pearl. The bed was a thin foam mattress covered with white sheetsmonly seen in hotels.

    Ye Qi guessed in a low voice, ¡°Is this a ward?¡±

    Qu Wanyue looked around. ¡°From the perspective of theyout, it should be a ward. It is a single bed ward to prevent people frommunicating with each other and leaking secrets.¡±

    Old Mo sighed, his voice hoarse. ¡°How can you rest well after an operation in such a simple ward? There is no air conditioner in the room. This is fine in summer but once it is autumn and winter, the temperature of the room is so low that I¡¯m afraid they will freeze.¡± He was 66 years old now and the low temperature of the room made his hands and feet cold. His joints hurt as he walked. It was hard to imagine a person sleeping in such a cold ward after surgery.

    Long Sen frowned. ¡°We had surgery in the hospital and the wards we lived in at least had air conditioning and a TV. The environment was very clean. This ce is really terrible¡­ it feels like a horror movie with a hospital theme!¡±

    Ye Qi agreed. ¡°It isn¡¯t surprising at all to develop postoperative infections andplications in such a bad environment!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t speak. His face was extremely cold as he went into the room and searched quickly. After a quick search, no clues were found. Only then did he withdraw and continue to open the doors of the other rooms.

    Next was the opposite 102 and then 201, 202, 301, 302¡­ they were all uniformly arranged wards that were simple, damp and cold. Apart from the different house numbers, there was no difference in the furnishings of the rooms.

    Yu Hanjiang asked everyone to put away the Night Pearls and sprayed the ¡®luminol reagent¡¯ used to detect blood stains in each ward. Fluorescent spots appeared in the rooms, indicating that there had been blood stains in these ces. They were just hastily cleaned.

    In room 201, the blood stains formed puddles on the mattress and even around and below the bed. This should be blood oozing from the wound after the operation. To Yu Hanjiang¡¯s surprise, under the effect of luminol, several clear footprints appeared on the floor of room 201!

    The team members looked at the dark room covered with green messy footprints and felt all the hair on their body standing up! In the dark and cold space, so many fluorescent footprints suddenly appeared. This was indeed very simr to the scene of a horror movie.

    Ye Qi was scared and hid behind Old Mo, only showing his head to look at the ground.

    Yu Hanjiang exined, ¡°The reagent I just sprayed is luminol and it will fluoresce when it reacts with blood. The footprints in this room were caused by several people with blood on the soles of their feet walking around.¡±

    Everyone had heard that the police used special drugs to test for blood when investigating a crime scene but today was their first time seeing it in person. Ye Qi curiously asked, ¡°Group Leader Yu, can you judge from the footprints how many people there were at the time?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang lowered his head to observe carefully and an image gradually appeared in his mind. He closed his eyes to simte the crime. ¡°From the size of the footprints, there were three people in the room at the time. Among them was a man over 1.8 meters tall and a girl around 1.6 meters tall. The girl came down from the bed with messy footprints and rushed toward the door. She should¡¯ve wanted to escape but was stopped by another person. The three of them had a dispute. In the end, the girl was forced back on the bed.¡±

    The footprints only stayed around the bed and didn¡¯t reach the door. It was obvious that the girl had failed to escape¡­

    Qu Wanyue thought of her ending and her heart was stung. ¡°She is bleeding so much. Did the operation fail or something unexpected happened? She wanted to run but these people didn¡¯t let her run. So they just¡­ got rid of her?¡±

    Long Sen shuddered. ¡°They just killed her here?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded calmly. ¡°One of the five corpses we found did belong to a woman.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The room fell silent. Everyone seemed able to see the tragedy that happened in this room.

    A girl who was only 1.6 meters tall struggled to escape in the dark and bloody ward, only to be caught by two tall men. They forced her back onto the bed. She had just finished an operation and was weak with no energy to resist. They only needed to inject her with a lethal dose of medicine and she could only lie helplessly on the bed, waiting to die.

    Everyone looked at the messy footprints on the ground. The more they thought about it, the sadder they became. Yu Hanjiang took a few photos of the scene with his mobile phone and calmly said, ¡°Let¡¯s go. We have to continue searching for evidence.¡±

    It had already happened and they couldn¡¯t change it. They could only collect clues as soon as possible to find the culprit.

    Yu Hanjiang took his teammates into the depths of the corridor. The moment room 401 was opened, there was a pungent smell¡­ it was the smell of disinfectant.

    The room was filled with two movable beds with rollers. Next to them was a ss cab that looked like the medicine cab in a hospital. The cab was empty at this time and there was an ECG monitor beside each bed. Yu Hanjiang passed what he saw onto Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou thought about it before saying, ¡°This should be the anesthesia room.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang found no useful clues in the anesthesia room so he led his teammates to continue searching 402 opposite. Room 402 had the sameyout as 401 and was also an anesthesia room.

    Going further in, 501 was a temporary office and the environment was slightly better than the other ces. There were two desks with power plugs underneath. There should¡¯ve been twoputers here but they took theputers with them when they withdrew. They didn¡¯t leave any information.

    502 was simr to a meeting room. There was a desk, office chair and table. This was likely to be the ce where confidentiality contracts were signed and deposits paid.

    The moment the door of 601 opened, Yu Hanjiang could tell even without Xiao Lou that it was an operating room. There was an operating table in the middle of the room with a cart full of instruments next to it. A light for surgery was attached to the ceiling that could be pulled at will and there was an old ECG monitor.

    There were no clues left in the operating room but the small operating room made everyone angry!

    Surgery had to be performed in a sterile environment. The operating rooms in a hospital were clean, tidy and bright. There was a special hand-washing area outside the operating room and all medical staff had to wear sterile surgical gowns when entering the operating room.

    However, the operating room in front of them was more like a ughterhouse for livestock! The ground was only covered with ayer of cement and there were holes here and there. It wasn¡¯t even as good as a rough room. The walls were even more horrible. The painted white walls had lost their color and the walls had even cracked and expanded due to water leakage. Doing surgery in such an environment? What did they treat people as?

    Yu Hanjiang clenched his fists and whispered, ¡°Keep looking!¡±

    Room 602 was a garbage disposal room. There was arge garbage can that was used to store medical garbage. Thisrge garbage can had been cleaned out and no obvious clues were found. This group of people might be cold-blooded and brutal but they weren¡¯t stupid. They cleaned up the clues at the scene when they left!

    There were only 701 and 702 left to check. The five of them walked to the door. Perhaps it was because the basement temperature was too low. They couldn¡¯t help getting a chill. Yu Hanjiang opened the door of 701. The scene that appeared in front of them made everyone feel numb.

    They saw several empty beds side by side in the room, all of which were simple metal frames. Some were rusted and there was an awful, rancid smell in the air. Yu Hanjiang sprayed the luminol reagent used to detect blood stains in the room and found arge number of dense fluorescent spots around the room as well as on the beds.

    There used to be arge number of mixed blood stains in this room but they were washed away hastily and weren¡¯t visible on the surface. They could only be seen when using luminol for blood stain detection. Everyone looked at the mottled light specks and were frightened.

    Ye Qi was shocked. ¡°Is this also a ward? Isn¡¯t the distance between beds too close?¡±

    ¡°It isn¡¯t a ward.¡± Yu Hanjiang was expressionless. ¡°This is the morgue.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    A morgue! These empty beds were used to store bodies! The strong smell in the air should be from blood. Perhaps this was the true first crime scene. Those who failed the operation or those who might reveal the organization¡¯s secrets were¡­ dismembered here.

    Everyone felt sick to their stomachs thinking of this bloody and cruel scene. Long Sen immediately held Qu Wanyue¡¯s shoulder and stroked her back to prevent her from vomiting. Ye Qi resisted the urge to vomit and eximed angrily, ¡°These people are simply inhumane!¡±

    Old Mo thought of the photos of the dismembered corpses that Yu Hanjiang showed everyone and felt his temples throbbing. ¡°The dismembered corpses should have been processed here.¡±

    Qu Wanyue was the most attentive of the four teammates. She heard Old Mo¡¯s words and raised a doubt. ¡°The corpses were thrown into the garbage bin in the early hours of the 31st but it is possible that not all five people were killed on the 31st. Killing five people would cause too much movement. Some might¡¯ve died very early. Were the corpses only kept in the morgue or is there another ce to store them?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had also thought of this. The forensic doctor proved that the time of death of the five people wasn¡¯t the same. So were the corpses simply killed in this room 701 morgue or somewhere else?

    There was still 702. Yu Hanjiang turned and opened the door of 702. The moment he opened the door, an extremely strong wave of cold air hit his face. Old Mo, Ye Qi and Qu Wanyue were so cold that they sneezed several times. Yu Hanjiang and Long Sen¡¯s bodies were unaffected but they felt the coldness that burrowed into people¡¯s necks.

    They all took out their Night Pearls to take a closer look¡­

    The entire room was filled with rows of freezers. Ye Qi¡¯s eyes widened and he trembled in disbelief. ¡°Could it be that the people who were killed before were put in the freezer?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face was calm. ¡°I¡¯m afraid so. Previously when they rented this ce, they said they were doing the beef andmb business. It isn¡¯t surprising to buy freezers. The residents of thismunity probably didn¡¯t think that it wasn¡¯t beef andmb stored in the freezers but¡­ human corpses!¡±

    A ughterhouse. A living ughterhouse!

    There were 14 rooms in the basement. There were 6 wards, 2 anesthesia rooms, 1 operating room, 1 garbage disposal room, 1 office, 1 meeting room, 1 morgue and 1 cold storage room for storing corpses. It was like a butcher¡¯s professional killing assembly line.

    The butcher¡¯s knives were gone and the blood was washed away.

    However, they had evacuated less than three days ago and the blood stains could still be detected using luminol. The iron beds, equipment and freezers couldn¡¯t speak but they were clearly telling Yu Hanjiang the truth.

    The basement of Unit 1 of the 13th Building of Antai Garden was transformed by the mysterious organ trafficking organization into a human ughterhouse.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 330: New Doubts

    Xiao Lou perceived Yu Hanjiang¡¯s anger and also felt ufortable.

    He thought that the ck market organ trafficking couldn¡¯t be as bad as he imagined but facts proved¡­ these cold-blooded people who only cared about profit and didn¡¯t know how to respect life were countless times worse than he imagined! They weren¡¯t worthy of being called people at all. They only deserved to be called butchers.

    Doing organ transnts in such a dirty, chaotic and poor environment? It was unknown how many people died there in secret.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath, calmed down and asked Yu Hanjiang, ¡°Is there any written information at the scene?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also quickly calmed his emotions. ¡°They cleaned this ce up well when they left. The officeputers have been moved, not a single document is left and fingerprints are also difficult to collect. However¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked around as he remembered the rooms just now. ¡°I can extract blood. The blood stains were treated by luminol. The DNA shouldn¡¯t be destroyed and it can be extracted for identification. In room 201, the girl had a dispute with another person as she ran away. Perhaps she left some DNA clues.¡±

    Xiao Lou encouraged him. ¡°Bring back all the bloodstains that can be extracted. This time it won¡¯t be fruitless.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and turned back to room 201. He used the things he brought with him to extract the suspicious blood.

    By the time they left the basement, it was already 2 o¡¯clock in the morning. Yu Hanjiang stopped a taxi and asked his other four teammates to go directly to the hotel to rest. Meanwhile, he took the taxi to the hospital to find Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t sleep so he was waiting at the hospital.

    Yu Hanjiang arrived while Xiao Lou, Chief Shao and Liu Qiao chatting. Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t sleep either because he was connected to Ye Qi and Ye Qi told Shao Qingge about the progress at the scene.

    The teammates were investigating the scene while Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge analyzed the case.

    Once Yu Hanjiang arrived outside the general surgery department, Xiao Lou used his ess card to pick him up. They headed into Chief Shao¡¯s VIP room and locked the door. Xiao Lou took the initiative to pour a cup of hot water and handed it to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°It was hard work tonight. Drink some hot water to warm your stomach.¡±

    It was winter and the middle of the night. It could be imagined how cold the basement was.

    At this time, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s entire body was chilly as if he had been frozen.

    Xiao Lou was distressed for him and worried about the health of his teammates. He typed in the group chat: [Everyone, go back and take a hot bath. Drink a cup of water and sleep. It is best to plug in the electric nket. If you have a cold thene and ask me for medicine tomorrow. In particr, the elderly, the child and the pregnant Qu Wanyue should pay more attention. Your current physical condition isn¡¯t like normal.]

    Everyone replied that there was no problem.

    In fact, everyone¡¯s illnesses hadn¡¯t beenpletely cured and it was very tiring to follow Yu Hanjiang to investigate the case. However, the one who was the most tired was actually Yu Hanjiang who hadn¡¯t slept for two consecutive days. Other people didn¡¯t darein in front of Yu Hanjiang¡¯s dedication.

    Hard work was nothing. They just had to solve the case as soon as possible. Everyone wanted to leave this secret room earlier. Yu Hanjiang took a sip of the water that Xiao Lou handed him and warmth rose in his heart. He turned and sat on the sofa, taking out the photos of the scene to show them. Hearing the description and seeing it with their own eyes waspletely different.

    Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t help getting the chills when they saw the gloomy morgue with lots of blood stains. Shao Qingge held his pained temples. ¡°No wonder Xiao Ye¡¯s mental waves fluctuated so much. This is really like the shooting scene of a horror movie¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suggested, ¡°It iste at night and no one is working in the forensic center of our police station. If I bring the blood collected at the scene there, can you find a way to test it Xiao Lou?¡±

    ¡°As long as there is the equipment,¡± Xiao Lou answered. ¡°Take me to the police station and open aboratory of the forensic appraisal center. I should be able to use the equipment there.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Yu Hanjiang immediately stood up. ¡°Let¡¯s start as soon as possible.¡±

    Shao Qingge advised, ¡°Pay attention to safety.¡±

    ¡°Chief Shao, your heart surgery has just beenpleted. You should go to bed first.¡± Xiao Lou smoothly turned off the lights.

    Yu Hanjiang used the copy of Light as a Swallow and the two people simply went out the window. Yu Hanjiang gently hugged Xiao Lou¡¯s waist and led him to jump quickly on top of the buildings. They moved like they were flying and arrived on the roof of the police force building within 5 minutes.

    They sessfully entered the forensic appraisal center. Yu Hanjiang opened theboratory and let Xiao Lou analyze the blood.

    Xiao Lou was a forensic scientist and it was really easy for him to use theboratory equipment. He soon got a result. ¡°The blood extracted had the DNA of two people mixed in with it. I have printed the data and it is one female and one male. If you check the DNA database, you might be able to find these two people.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang opened theputer andpared the DNA. The female DNA was consistent with the only female DNA among the corpses he found in the garbage dump on February 1st. However, this girl¡¯s DNA couldn¡¯t be found in the police database.

    The DNA data registered by the police were generally for criminals with criminal records or missing people. Ordinary people only registered their fingerprint information when applying for ID cards, not DNA.

    This was why Yu Hanjiang had the DNA of five people but only identified Wang Wei. Wang Wei¡¯s fingerprints wereplete and a fingerprint match came out. The other four victims were still unidentified. The certain thing was that the bloodstains of the girl in room 201 belonged to the only female among the five dead.

    Then Xiao Lou detected male DNA that didn¡¯t belong to the five bodies. Yu Hanjiang took the DNA andpared it to the police database¡­

    The result was that this person was really found in the DNA database.

    This person was Yu Fugui. When he was 20 years old, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for ¡®robbery with a knife and injuring the house owner¡¯. Two years ago, he was released from prison after serving his sentence.

    This information made Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes shine. ¡°This person shouldn¡¯t be a victim but a member of the organization!¡±

    ¡°I think so too. His DNA wasn¡¯t among the dead.¡± Yu Hanjiang agreed with Xiao Lou¡¯s spection. ¡°A few days ago in room 201, an unknown girl had a dispute with a man. Perhaps during this dispute, she broke the skin of the other person and blood flowed.

    Evidence was also left. Perhaps this was the only thing the girl could do for herself before she died. She tried her best to grab the other person¡¯s hand and left the police an important clue! Such a hidden clue was caught by the rigorous Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke with a calm face, ¡°Yu Fugui should¡¯ve run away with the members of the organization. Tomorrow morning, I will investigate his social rtionships and lock onto his mobile phone location. Perhaps we can follow this line and find the realir of the organization!¡±

    The basement of Antai Garden was just a ce where they performed operations and killed people. The organization¡¯s realir shouldn¡¯t be a cold, damp basement. It should be an extremely luxurious resort vi or hot springs vi. After all, they made so much money by selling organs. How could they be willing to treat themselves badly?

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes narrowed as he quickly formted a n for the next day in his mind.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°The girl¡¯s identity is still unclear and her family hasn¡¯t reported her missing. Could she be an orphan without any parents, close friend or boyfriend so that no one noticed her disappearance?¡±

    If such a person went missing, it would indeed give the police a huge headache. She had no lover, no friends and no one to know if she disappeared or where she ended up. Still, Yu Hanjiang believed that any person who existed in society would definitely leave a trace. The DNA database couldn¡¯t determine her identity but there was always a way to find her origin¡­ for example, her missing organ?

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Organ transntation requires matching. She struggled with strength and definitely didn¡¯t experience a heart transnt. If it is a kidney transnt or liver transnt, we can focus on cases where the source is female kidneys or liver.¡±

    Xiao Lou frowned and thought about it. Then he suddenly shook his head. ¡°It isn¡¯t necessarily an organ transnt. If girls want to make money, there is a faster and safer way than organ selling. Most girls, no matter how poor they are, will rarely fall back on selling a kidney.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was startled. ¡°A more profitable way?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked serious as he clearly enunciated, ¡°They can also sell eggs.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The ck market sold eggs. These illegal transactions had been very popr recently.

    There was only one kidney in a person. If one was removed, they had to worry about side-effects. Selling eggs was more eptable to girls. After all, they ovted once a month. If they didn¡¯t be pregnant then those eggs were wasted anyways.

    A girl could shed nearly 400 eggs in a lifetime. It only took one to give birth to a child. If a girl didn¡¯t want a child for a time being, why not sell the extra eggs? Did it matter? Moreover, the eggs sold could help infertile couples have their own babies which was a good deed. This was the mostmonly used brainwashing rhetoric for ck market sales.

    In fact, selling eggs required ¡®ovtion stimtion injections¡¯ to force girls to shed more than 10 or 20 eggs at a time. This was equivalent to making them age by two or three years. Of course, they could ignore the passing of a few years of youth. The biggest risk of selling eggs on the ck market was that the procedure wasn¡¯t standard and it could easily cause ovarian stimtion syndrome and even infertility!

    If a regr hospital that did IVF took the eggs using the standard procedure, the damage to women was minimal.

    However, the ck market didn¡¯t care about the doctor¡¯s skill and the operating environment. Some even practiced medicine without a license. There was a lot of news on the Inte about girls selling eggs on the ck market who almost died.

    Then the blood in room 201 at the time¡­

    Xiao Lou spected, ¡°This organization is likely to be engaged in the business of selling eggs as well and deceived some pretty girls to sell their eggs. The process of collecting the eggs might¡¯ve caused heavy bleeding in the girl. Egg retrieval doesn¡¯t require general anesthesia and she was still conscious at the time. She struggled to escape when she noticed something wrong and was blocked by someone. She caused one of them to bleed in despair, leaving his blood behind. In the end, she bled to death in room 201¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s spection was reasonable. The benefits of selling eggs on the ck market wasn¡¯t as good as selling kidneys but it was more eptable to girlspared to selling kidneys. Postoperative bleeding was also amonplication of improper egg retrieval.

    A young life disappeared just like this. The crimes of the underground illegal organ trafficking organization were too numerous!

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 331: Yu Fugui

    Yu Hanjiang hadn¡¯t closed his eyes for two days and two nights. Xiao Lou saw that it was past 3 o¡¯clock in the morning and urged him to rest first. Yu Hanjiang was indeed exhausted so he simply listened to Xiao Lou¡¯s words and fell asleep in his clothes on the sofa in his office at the police station.

    Xiao Lou took a taxi back to the hospital and slept for a few hours in the duty room.

    The sky was bright when Yu Hanjiang was suddenly awakened from a nightmare. He dreamed of the cruel scene in 201. He might not be able to see the girl¡¯s face clearly but he could vaguely hear the two men and one woman arguing in the room. He was immersed in the dream and saw the cold environment of the basement, the blood everywhere and the girl¡¯s desperate tears.

    He seemed to be floating in the air as he watched a cruel movie.

    He didn¡¯t witness what happened in room 201 at the time. Everything in the dream was just theoretical spections based on the traces at the scene. However, Yu Hanjiang believed that his spection wasn¡¯t wrong. The other person¡¯s DNA detected in the blood could nevere from a victim.

    Yu Fugui was the key suspect who needed to be investigated.

    Yu Hanjiang washed his face with cold water to wake himself up.

    At 8 o¡¯clock in the morning, the police officers from various departments started toe to work one after another. Yu Hanjiang came to the civilian police office in the next building. He found an old policeman in his 40s and asked, ¡°Group Leader Lin, do you still remember Yu Fugui? You handled his robbery case that year, right?¡±

    Last night, he downloaded Yu Fugui¡¯s file from the police database and saved it on his phone. Now he turned on his phone and showed it to the other person. Officer Lin quickly remembered. ¡°I remember, I took people to capture him back then! This guy was a habitual offender. He stole from several nearby residents before I finally caught him.¡±

    Officer Lin recalled the past while pointing to the 20 year old Yu Fugui in the photo. ¡°This person was very energetic and tall. It was a pity he didn¡¯t do proper work and did some sneaky business. I gave him a good lesson at that time.¡±

    ¡°I read that his parents were divorced a long time ago?¡± Yu Hanjiang pulled over a chair and sat in front of Officer Lin, asking in detail about this person. Officer Lin called for a young intern to pour a ss of water for Yu Hanjiang and asked curiously, ¡°Group Leader Yu, why are you suddenly interested in this person? You are a group leader of the criminal investigations police force. Did this guy¡­ kill someone?!¡±

    ¡°He is rted to a murder I¡¯m investigating.¡± Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t borate. ¡°I want to know more about his experience and whether he has any family members or friends.¡±

    ¡°Oh, then you were right to find me.¡± Officer Lin smiled. ¡°In order to catch him back then, I even checked his seventh and eighth distant aunts. This boy¡¯s life was actually quite poor. His father used to run a hardware store but he lost all his money in the business. He often got drunk and hit his wife. Later, Yu Fugui¡¯s mother couldn¡¯t stand it. She left her child and ran away secretly. His father started to turn to theft. Yu Fugui learned from his father as a child and his technique was outstanding. He stole from five families in amunity andpletely avoided surveince. If it wasn¡¯t for the head of the family suddenlying back during the sixth robbery and encountering him, we might not have caught him.¡±

    ¡°Avoided all surveince?¡± Yu Hanjiang raised an eyebrow slightly. ¡°Then his anti-surveince awareness is quite strong.¡±

    ¡°Yes, why be a thief? I think he has a talent for being a detective!¡± Officer Lin sighed lightly. ¡°Once I caught him, I educated him. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison. I heard from the prison guards that he was okay in prison. He was very diligent, got along with the inmates and even read some books.¡±

    ¡°Group Leader Lin, do you know where he went once he got out of prison?¡±

    ¡°It seems to be the farmer¡¯s market in the west of the city. I think he worked as a takeout delivery man for a while.¡± Officer Lin paused before saying confidently, ¡°Yes, a prison guard I know said he once ordered takeout and happened to meet Yu Fugui delivering the meal. He was very pleased and said that this boy finally stopped being a thief and found a formal job after getting out of prison.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Yu Hanjiang was slightly startled. They were both delivery men and delivered food in the same area. Then this Yu Fugui had a great chance of knowing Wang Wei. Perhaps it was from him that Wang Wei learned he could get a lot of money from selling his organs?

    ¡°Does he have any rtives?¡± Yu Hanjiang asked.

    ¡°His mother ran away a long time ago and didn¡¯t care about him. His father was a habitual thief. Later, he climbed upstairs to steal something and identally fell to his death. Yu Fugui was in prison for 10 years and no one visited him. His aunts and uncles aren¡¯t willing to acknowledge him.¡± Officer Lin sighed emotionally. ¡°Their family is too weird and no one dared to interact with them. After all, they are a gambler, drunkard and habitual thief. It would just cause trouble to have such rtives.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Yu Hanjiang nodded in understanding before asking, ¡°I heard he had a girlfriend?¡±

    ¡°He had a girlfriend before he went to prison. She worked in a clothing factory. However, she never went to visit Yu Fugui in the 10 years he was in prison. It is estimated that she had broken off contact with him. For a normal girl, it is impossible to wait for a man for 10 years. She was 20 years old and would be 30 when she finished waiting.¡± Officer Lin smiled. ¡°As for whether he found himself a girlfriend after being released from prison, I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Group Leader Lin, can you tell me the details of the crimes hemitted that year?¡± Yu Hanjiang wanted to understand as much as possible. Officer Lin was responsible and gave him a description of Yu Fugui¡¯s methods of stealing.

    Yu Fugui eyed the chaotic residential areas. Many of the neighbors in such amunity didn¡¯t know each other. He would pretend to be a resident of themunity, walk around themunity every day and familiarize himself with the surroundings. Then he would urately pinpoint targets who were going on business trips or traveling abroad. Once the family left, he avoided the surveince cameras to sneak inte at night and steal from them.

    His lock picking skills were first-rate (his father taught him personally) so he stole without leaving any traces on the door lock. If a neighbor saw him opening the door, they would just think the owner was home. After all, he had the key!

    He mainly stole women¡¯s jewelry. Few people now left cash at home and a woman¡¯s ne was worth thousands. Earrings, rings and all types of jewelry could be sold for a lot of money. His hands and feet were extremely clean and he would restore the scene when he left, unlike some thieves who entered and left things a mess.

    Thus, some women returned from the business trips or travels and found their jewelry missing but just thought they lost it. Only those who had an excellent memory and were sure they put the jewelry in the drawer would report the crime and suspect a thief had been in the house. Unfortunately, Officer Lin couldn¡¯t find any clues at all.

    This was simply a thief with a king¡¯s ranking.

    Later, he was caught because the police found that amunity had lost several valuable pieces of jewelry in a row. They secretly set up surveince cameras in themunity. In addition, the head of the family suddenly came back when Yu Fugui was robbing the ce. Yu Fugui was nervous and stabbed the owner before running away with the knife. The head of the family called 120 and an ambnce, describing what Yu Fugui looked like. The police urately locked onto him through the surveince videos and arrested him within three days.

    Officer Lin gave a vivid description of the serial thefts that year. After listening, Yu Hanjiang asked in a low voice, ¡°Themunity where things were continuously stolen was Antai Garden?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

    In this way, Yu Fugui had a very good understanding of the situation of Antai Garden. Perhaps the organ trafficking organization chose this ce because of Yu Fugui. He wasn¡¯t an insignificant little fish but a big fish in the organization!

    However, Yu Fugui was imprisoned for 10 years and was released only two years ago. In other words, it had only been two years since he re-entered society. It was impossible for him to build such arge organ trafficking organization in this short period of time.

    Organ trafficking was an illegal activity and was very dangerous. Everything was done in secret. Moreover, this organization hadpletely developed the distribution of personnel and benefits. For example, who was invited to perform the operations? The person not only needed to have relevant medical skills but also guarantee they wouldn¡¯t leak the secret. Who pulled people into the organization? Who took care of the aftermath? Who found buyers and sellers and how should the specific profit share be calcted?

    Such aplex organization should¡¯ve been established for more than two years.

    In the two years since Yu Fugui was released from prison, he couldn¡¯t suddenlye into contact with the organ trafficking organization while delivering food. The organization wouldn¡¯t trust a stranger and the possibility of pulling him into the group was close to zero. In order to pull people into a group, the organization had to check them again and again. Otherwise, if there was a betrayal, they risked being caught by the police.

    So how did he join the organization in two years?

    Yu Hanjiang thought carefully and suddenly found a key point.

    10 years! Yu Fugui was in prison for 10 years!

    Could it be that he came into contact with the top of the organization during prison? The other person knew he had excellent anti-surveince capabilities and was a habitual thief who could open various locks, so he was introduced to the organization? After being released from prison, he didn¡¯t need to go through the organization¡¯s checks and directly became a full member, helping organize their at Antai Garden?

    Yu Fugui thought up to here and said, ¡°Group Leader Lin, can you help me get in touch with the guards during Yu Fugui¡¯s sentence? I need the information of all prisoners who were there during the same period!¡±

    There were quite a few inmates during this period and the scale of investigation was veryrge. Perhaps this time, they could catch a big fish!

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 332: Three Clues

    Yu Hanjiang stayed with Group Leader Lin all morning. He only returned to the criminal investigation police team after understanding all of Yu Fugui¡¯s circumstances.

    He first called the tel operator and asked the other party to provide the base point location of Yu Fugui¡¯s mobile phone signal as well as his call records for the past six months. However, the other party replied, ¡°In our system records, Yu Fugui hasn¡¯t purchased any phone cards.¡±

    Obviously, the mobile phone number Yu Fugui used wasn¡¯t under his own name. His anti-surveince awareness remained outstanding even after his release from prison.

    Then Yu Hanjiang went to the food deliverypany and asked about the whereabouts of Wang Wei and Yu Fugui. Thepany replied that Wang Wei resigned in Novemberst year. Yu Fugui resigned in Aprilst year and he only worked in thepany for half a year.

    However, the director of thepany also provided an additional piece of information. From January to Aprilst year, Wang Wei and Yu Fugui were responsible for takeout orders at the farmer¡¯s market in the western district at the same time. The two of them were in the same group and knew each other for certain.

    From this point of view, Wang Wei probably got in contact with the organ trafficking organization due to Yu Fugui.

    The two of them were in the same group. Apart from the breakfast, lunch and dinner rush, the delivery staff were more leisurely. They usually gathered in the square of the food street downstairs to chat. Wang Wei might¡¯veined about his mother having stomach cancer and how he was nning to marry his girlfriend, butcking in sufficient savings. This might¡¯ve been remembered by Yu Fugui. Then at the most suitable time, Yu Fugui introduced the topic of ¡®selling kidneys¡¯ to Wang Wei.

    An introduction from an acquaintance made it easier for people to rx their vignce. This way, Wang Wei was hooked.

    Yu Hanjiang also checked Yu Fugui¡¯s bank records. Before Junest year, his bank card had a fixed ie from his delivery man sry every month andmission ie from orders. Then after resigning in April, his bank card didn¡¯t record any ie for the entire 10 months to February this year. His consumption record was very normal and he previously just bought some daily necessities with this bank card.

    There was only a bit of change left on his bank card.

    Yu Hanjiang had wanted to rely on the mobile phone signal or bank card records to find Yu Fugui¡¯s location. He didn¡¯t expect that the person he encountered this time was an anti-surveince expert. He didn¡¯t manage to find Yu Fugui¡¯s number and his card wasn¡¯t swiped for a full 10 months. Who knew if he would still use the remaining change?

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and sent an emergency notice to the bank that issued the card. ¡°Please lock in on Yu Fugui¡¯s bank card. The moment there is any record on this card, you must notify the police as soon as possible!¡±

    Afterpleting all these investigations, Yu Hanjiang changed into in clothes and went to the hospital.

    Xiao Lou was having lunch with Chief Shao and Liu Qiao in Shao Qingge¡¯s VIP ward. After two days of rest, Shao Qingge had crawled back from the line of life and death and seemed to be in good spirits. His physical condition was much more stable and he could get out of bed without sudden heart palpitations. His face wasn¡¯t as pale as it was in the beginning and he had recovered some vitality.

    ording to Dr Zhao Sen¡¯s assessment, Shao Qingge¡¯s heart stent operation was very sessful. He could be discharged from the hospital after another two days of observation.

    Shao Qingge saw Yu Hanjiang and couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°Group Leader Yu, can I apply for early discharge? You are all busy working on the case and I¡¯m lying alone in the ward.¡±

    He used to lie down to win but he couldn¡¯t do that this time, right? If Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang weren¡¯t alert enough then he wouldn¡¯t have woken up. Moreover, there was a clue from the Shao family that Shao Qingge needed to check in person.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou and asked, ¡°Has Chief Shao¡¯s situation reached the discharge standard?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°I saw the results of his blood tests from the past two days. All his physical indicators are back to normal. If he takes medicine on time after his discharge, there shouldn¡¯t be any problems.¡±

    Shao Qingge sighed with relief. ¡°Then I will go through the discharge procedures. The hospital ward makes me ufortable.¡±

    Thanks to Xiao Lou¡¯s help, Shao Qingge¡¯s discharge procedures went smoothly. His father called and told him, a driver would pick him up at 3 p.m. Shao Qingge was finally relieved.

    Yu Hanjiang sat on the sofa and told his teammates about the results of the current investigation. At the same time, he sent messages to Ye Qi, Old Mo, Long Sen and Qu Wanyue so they would also know the progress of the case.

    Ye Qi sent a row of thumbs up. [The girl from 201 left such an important clue before she died! If we follow Yu Fugui then we can definitely find out the details of the mysterious organization.]

    Qu Wanyue added: [I didn¡¯t expect Yu Fugui and Wang Wei to have a direct connection. From this point of view, we can clearly sort out Wang Wei¡¯s line. We can form aplete set of buyer, intermediary and seller.]

    Shao Qingge joked, ¡°As a buyer, I was almost killed by Wang Wei¡¯s girlfriend. It was a real shock.¡±

    Wang Wei¡¯s line was indeed figured out but a connection still couldn¡¯t be found with the remaining dead: Qi Zhaoming, Chen Yuqing and Liu Renyuan.

    Liu Qiao made a guess. ¡°Qi Zhaoming had no ie in his bank card for three years and he had no organ transnt wounds. This organization is characterized by cash transactions. Could Qi Zhaoming be an intermediary of the organization? He lives alone and has no rtives or friends. I think his ie definitely isn¡¯t from a legal source.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also thought of this possibility.

    In Wang Wei¡¯s case, Shao Qingge was the ¡®buyer¡¯, Yu Fugui was the ¡®intermediary¡¯ and Wang Wei was the ¡®donor¡¯ and the ultimate ¡®victim¡¯. This was aplete business chain.

    Then would the remaining dead follow this rule?

    Xiao Lou said that Qi Zhaoming never had an organ transnt and he had no heart, liver or kidney problems that required buying organs to continue his life. He died from a lumbar spine surgery. This didn¡¯t need a transnt since an artificial disc recement could be done directly. So if he wasn¡¯t ill but was still involved in the case, it was most likely as an intermediary.

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°We did an autopsy of his corpse and there were no suspicious wounds. He died ofplications after the lumbar spine surgery. I checked the information and the sess rate of intervertebral disc recement surgery is quite good. There are no problems with his surgical record. Qi Zhaoming was rtively unlucky and happened to get an infection after the operation. His death is likely to be an ident.¡±

    Liu Qiao wondered, ¡°What about the 7 year old Chen Yuqing?¡±

    ¡°She should be the buyer.¡± Yu Hanjiang calmly answered. ¡°Her mother suddenly withdrew 200,000 yuan. It was such arge amount of cash at one time and Chen Yuqing has a serious heart disease. It is likely that her mother wanted to buy a heart for her daughter on the ck market.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°This will connect all the dead to the organ trafficking case. It is just that Chen Yuqing¡¯s mother is an illustrator. Will she have a channel to get a heart transnt? Cheng Shaoyu also had a heart transnt. Does she perhaps know Cheng Shaoyu?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spected, ¡°Cheng Shaoyu and Cheng Shaofeng are unmarried rich people. Chen Yuqing is 7 years old. The older brother is 28 years old and the younger brother is 26 years old. Chen Yehua is a single mother and there is no record of her daughter¡¯s biological father in the household registration data.¡±

    Xiao Lou was startled and nced at him. ¡°You mean, Chen Yuqing¡¯s father is probably Cheng Shaoyu or Cheng Shaofeng?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Can a heart disease be inherited?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Some heart diseases are inherited through the family.¡±

    Liu Qiao suddenly realized. ¡°In this way, Chen Yuqing is probably the illegitimate daughter of the first deceased, Cheng Shaoyu right?!¡±

    Ye Qi agreed in the group chat. [The rich second generation Chen Shaoyu had a rtionship with Chen Yehua when he was young and she ended up giving birth to a daughter. However, he couldn¡¯t marry Chen Yehua who has no family background. Chen Yehua can only raise her daughter alone. This is why the household registration management department has no record about the girl¡¯s father?]

    Xiao Lou followed this line of thinking. ¡°Cheng Shaoyu has a heart disease and passed it onto his daughter. Chen Yehua knew her daughter¡¯s heart disease was getting worse and had no choice but to find Cheng Shaoyu. He sessfully had a heart transnt before and perhaps he told Chen Yehua about the channel to buy a heart on the ck market. Chen Yehua suddenly took out 200,000 yuan to buy a heart for her daughter. As a result, the matching wasn¡¯t a sess or it failed for some other reason. The little girl failed to get a heart transnt and eventually died of the heart disease.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang grabbed a piece of paper and quickly wrote on it with a pen. All the people who appeared in the organ trafficking case were finally connected in theory.

    The first line was Cheng Shaoyu (deceased in the dismembered corpse case, heart buyer, beneficiary) ¨C Chen Yuqing (7 years old, illegitimate daughter, died of a sudden heart attack) ¨C Chen Yehua (lover, strange bank record, wanted to buy a heart) ¨C Clear Sky (WeChat profile picture was a blue sky and white clouds, probably rted to Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s heart donor victim, killed Cheng Shaoyu and dismembered his corpse for revenge)

    The second line was Shao Qingge (kidney transnt buyer, beneficiary) ¨C Uncle Zhong (assistant who resigned and returned home suddenly, insider on the kidney source) ¨C Wang Wei (right kidney donor, dead) ¨C Xu Fangfang (Wang Wei¡¯s girlfriend, knew Clear Sky, almost killed Shao Qingge in retaliation) ¨C Yu Fugui (kidney transnt introducer) ¨C unknown female (probably a victim of egg sales, left Yu Fugui¡¯s DNA behind before she died)

    The third line was Liu Renyuan (first deceased person found in the morgue, missing right kidney) ¨C Qi Zhaoming (suspicious deceased found in the morgue, possibly an intermediary for the organ trafficking organization).

    The teammates looked at the three linespiled by Group Leader Yu and felt things clearing up.

    The mysterious organization responsible for the organ trafficking must be a veryplex and huge organization. They should have a powerful backing. However, if they peeled the cocoon step by step, they could always find clues.

    Yu Hanjiang tapped several names with a pen. ¡°The focus of the first line is to check Chen Yehua and Clear Sky. Clear Sky only has a WeChat profile picture. I will ask operators to lock onto his location but I don¡¯t think this person will be so stupid to bind his WeChat ount with his ID card. He might change his WeChat ID every day.¡±

    ¡°As for Chen Yehua, is her daughter really Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s illegitimate daughter? How much does she know about organ transnts? This investigation task will be handed over to Xiao Liu, since she has the Thumbelina card and it is easier for her to get close to Chen Yehua. This woman is very wary and she might not speak if I go directly to interrogate her. You can use your method to investigate.¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded. ¡°Yes!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke to the group. ¡°For the second line, Chief Shao will follow up with Uncle Zhong. Find your father¡¯s assistant as soon as possible. He must know where your kidney was bought.¡±

    Shao Qingge answered, ¡°I understand.¡±

    ¡°I, Xiao Ye, Old Mo, Long Sen and Qu Wanyue are responsible for the line about Yu Fugui. The people he had contact with in prison and in reality might be important senior executives or members of the organ trafficking organization. They need to be investigated one by one.¡±

    The four people sent ¡®OK¡¯ emojis in the group chat.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s pen stayed on the third line and he looked back at Xiao Lou. ¡°This line is still iplete. Liu Renyuan had a kidney removed. Where was it transnted to? Can I leave this for you to check?¡±

    Xiao Lou seriously answered, ¡°Yes, I willpare Liu Renyuan¡¯s kidney genes with all those who had kidney transnts. I havepiled the information and should soon get a result.¡±

    Once all three lines were found out, the mysterious organ trafficking organization would naturally emerge. Yu Hanjiang had a hunch that they were getting closer and closer to the day when the truth was revealed.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 333: Investigation

    Yu Hanjiang assigned the different tasks to his teammates and everyone went to work diligently.

    In the afternoon, Shao Qingge returned home with the driver sent by his father and immediately started investigating the reason why Uncle Zhong resigned. His character in this secret room was set up as the second generation of a wealthy family. His father was a business tycoon who opened a real estatepany. He was busy every day with meetings. His mother was a gentle and virtuous housewife.

    The Shao family lived in a single family vi on the outskirts of the city that was more than 500 square meters. Shao Qingge lived on the third floor which belonged entirely to him. Shao Qingge was also a rich second generation in reality. He was very familiar with such an environment and wasn¡¯t surprised with the set-up. Once he got home, we went to his bedroom and changed into home clothes. Since his father was in a meeting at thepany, he took the opportunity to search for clues in his father¡¯s study.

    Shao Zhengyang¡¯s study was full of books on business management and economics. There was nothing special on the bookcases. The desk had three drawers. There was somepany information in the top two drawers and the bottom drawer was locked.

    Shao Qingge opened the lock with the Master Key. There was a paper bag in the drawer containing three printed documents. They were a consent form for a kidney transnt, a waiver of liability and a nondisclosure agreement.

    Shao Qingge quickly took photos with his phone and sent the documents to the WeChat group. [This is from my father¡¯s desk drawer but the person who signed the consent form was Zhou Yong, a death row prisoner, not Wang Wei.]

    Yu Hanjiang confidently said: [It is a fake.]

    Xiao Lou also said: [Chief Shao¡¯s kidney¡¯s genes are exactly the same as Wang Wei¡¯s and it is certain that ites from Wang Wei. This non-disclosure agreement was signed by the death row prisoner, Zhou Yong. There are two possibilities. The first is that the organ trafficking organization concealed the truth and told Uncle Zhong that the kidney was donated by the death row prisoner Zhou Young. The second possibility is that Uncle Zhong and the organization joined forces. He knew the source of the kidney is illegal and forged the agreement to deceive your father.]

    Yu Hanjiang: [The second possibility is greater based on Uncle Zhong¡¯s unexined resignation.]

    [I also think that Uncle Zhong has a problem. I¡¯m looking up information about him but there are no other clues in my father¡¯s study. I¡¯ll go downstairs and ask my motherter.]

    Just then, a gentle voice entered his ears. ¡°Qingge,e to eat. I made your favorite fish porridge.¡± Shao Qingge called out in response, put away his phone and headed downstairs quickly.

    This mother was arranged by the keeper and wasn¡¯t Shao Qingge¡¯s real biological mother. However, the keeper had instilled a lot of memories in him. Therefore, Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t help feeling kind when he saw this gentle, middle-aged woman.

    He sat down at the table and smiled at the woman. ¡°Mom, why are you working so hard and cooking by yourself?¡±

    The woman gently held Shao Qingge¡¯s hand and spoke in a distressed manner, ¡°me me for being bad. I was in poor health when I was pregnant and you were born with so many diseases. You just had a kidney transntst year and this time it was a myocardial infarction. I was almost scared to death when you fainted that day. Fortunately, you came back or else¡­¡±

    Her eyes were red as she said this. Shao Qingge held her hand andforted her, ¡°Mom, it¡¯s okay. The heart stent operation was very sessful and the doctor said the problem isn¡¯t big.¡± He served her rice while changing the subject. ¡°By the way, for the kidney transnt, Uncle Zhong found the kidney, right?¡±

    The woman wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes and nodded. ¡°Old Zhong knows a lot of people. He used connections with friends to find the right type of kidney for you.¡±

    ¡°Is this kidney really a gift from a death row inmate?¡±

    ¡°Yes. He was in good health and didn¡¯t have a disease. He was willing to donate his kidney to you before execution, which was considered a good deed. After your sessful operation, I got Uncle Zhong to visit his family members to give them extra money. It is said that the man has a 16 year old son. He wanted his son to grow up, study and be a useful person.¡± The woman¡¯s voice was gentle.

    ¡°You gave them extra money?¡± Shao Qingge raised his eyebrow with surprise. ¡°How much did you give?¡±

    ¡°50 million gold coins.¡± Mother Shao smiled. ¡°He can save my precious son. I think this isn¡¯t enough.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± The gold coins mentioned by Mother Shao was equivalent to 500,000 yuan. This was enough for a richdy to buy one or two limited edition bags but for ordinary people, it was an astronomical number. Shao Qingge rubbed his forehead helplessly. His mother was too gentle and kind. She not only gave the other party 200,000 yuan as stated in the contract but also gave an extra 500,000 as thanks after her son had a sessful operation. Even if the organs were bought from the ck market, a kidney wasn¡¯t so expensive.

    She gave the money to Uncle Zhong, asking him to transfer it to the son of the executed prisoner. In reality, the executed prisoner didn¡¯t save Shao Qingge at all. The kidney wasn¡¯t his and his son had nothing to do with the Shao family. What happened to those 50 million gold coins? They must¡¯ve been taken by Uncle Zhong, right?

    Shao Qingge continued to ask, ¡°By the way, why did Uncle Zhong resign? I remember that he has been with Dad for many years and Dad has always trusted him.¡±

    ¡°He is old. He was your father¡¯s assistant in name but in fact, he was more like a housekeeper to both of us. This was really tiring.¡± Mother Shao sighed lightly and exined. ¡°Moreover, his son married and had a childst year. He wanted to go back and look after his grandson. We couldn¡¯t force him to stay. Your father gave him a sum of money and let him return to his hometown to enjoy his old age.¡±

    ¡°Uncle Zhong¡¯s days must be very leisurely after he resigned.¡± Shao Qingge stroked his chin and smiled.

    ¡°Do you know where his hometown is? If I have a chance, I want to see him. After all, he is considered half my lifesaver as well.¡±

    ¡°His hometown is in a remote ce¡­¡± The woman wrote down an address for Shao Qingge. While she went to bring out fish soup from the kitchen, Shao Qingge secretly took a photo of the address and sent it to the group. [Uncle Zhong¡¯s address. In addition, my mother gave him an extra 50 million gold coins to transfer to the organ donor¡¯s family. I suspect that he has embezzled the money.]

    [Received. I will arrange for some people to investigate it.] Yu Hanjiang immediately called Uncle Zhong¡¯s bank to check his ount. He also checked Uncle Zhong¡¯s son and the results surprised Yu Hanjiang.

    Uncle Zhong¡¯s son was an ordinary member of apany and his daughter-inw was a kindergarten teacher. Both of them were working-ss employees and their sry was at an ordinary level. Their wedding was very simple. One year after marriage, they gave birth to a son. Strangely, at the start of this year, the two of them suddenly bought a 200 square meters double-storey house in the city center. They paid it off in one lump sum without a loan.

    The price of this house was far from what their sry could afford.

    Uncle Zhong¡¯s cash flow was clean. The Shao family paid him wages every month. As the housekeeper of the Shao family, his sry was three times that of his son but he couldn¡¯t afford buy a 200 square meters house in the city center at once. Even if he didn¡¯t eat or drink for 10 consecutive years, he wouldn¡¯t be able to save enough money.

    His son and daughter-inw had no channels for additional ie and this Uncle Zhong¡¯s financial source was definitely questionable.

    Xiao Lou spected: [Uncle Zhong might also be a member of the organ trafficking organization. Didn¡¯t he say that he knew a lot of people? If he doesn¡¯t know anyone from the organization, how could he help find a suitable kidney for Chief Shao so quickly?]

    Shao Qingge also felt that Xiao Lou¡¯s spection was reasonable. His impression of Uncle Zhong was a slightly overweight, always smiling and very kind uncle. He had done his duty in the Shao house for all these years and he would pick up the child Shao Qingge from school every day.

    As for whom Uncle Zhong was associated with, Shao Qingge had no idea.

    Shao Qingge asked: [Do you want me to go and check his hometown?]

    Yu Hanjiang immediately stopped him. [No, if Uncle Zhong is really a member of the organization, he knows you. It will be dangerous for you to check him suddenly. Let¡¯s do it this way. Old Mo and Xiao Ye will take a trip to Uncle Zhong¡¯s hometown. You are an old man and a child, so it¡¯s easy to avoid suspicion.]

    Old Mo replied: [No problem. We will set off tonight. I see his hometown is a ce with beautiful mountains and clear waters. I and Xiao Ye will use travel as an excuse to explore the ce.]

    Ye Qi joked: [It is public travel. Will Chief Shao reimburse our travel expenses?]

    [Okay.] Shao Qingge directly sent 100 red envelopes with thergest amount into the group. [If you need money thene and get it.]

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It was the first time they saw so many red envelopes in a group chat. Everyone was almost knocked unconscious by the rain of red envelopes. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou also snatched a few. The rich person was sending out red envelopes, this opportunity couldn¡¯t be wasted.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s information was helpful for the progress of the team¡¯s investigation, so Old Mo and Ye Qi immediately set off.

    Good news soon came from Xiao Lou. He sorted out the cases of kidney transnts in the hospital. Afterparing them through the DNA, he finally found where Liu Renyuan¡¯s kidney had gone.

    Xiao Lou said: [Liu Renyuan¡¯s right kidney was transnted to a woman called Luo Yuwei.]

    Yu Hanjiang had some doubts. [Can the kidneys of men and women be mixed?]

    Xiao Lou exined: [Kidneys aren¡¯t reproductive organs. People¡¯s kidneys look the same. If they are a simr age and a matching type, a man¡¯s kidney can be transnted into a woman and vice versa. The important fact is the matching blood type.]

    Yu Hanjiang: [Very good. New progress has been made with Liu Renyuan¡¯s line. I will immediately arrange for someone to investigate this woman who has received the kidney transnt.]

    Xiao Lou asked: [How is the situation at your side? Are there any suspicious people who have been in contact with Yu Fugui in prison?]

    Qu Wanyue and Long Sen were helping organize the information about Yu Fugui. After all, there were too many people in prison at the same time as Yu Fugui. It was necessary to organize their time in prison, what crimes theymitted and their rtionship with Yu Fugui during their sentence.

    The thick stack of information was enough to make the three people dizzy.

    Yu Hanjiang: [There are no clues right now. There are too many criminals who have a good rtionship with Yu Fugui. Hemitted the crime of burry and most of them locked up with him were robbers and burrs, as well as some economic crimes prisoners. The inmates in the prison were highly mobile in these 10 years and their backgrounds are veryplex. I only included those who were released from prison within thest few years and those with simple family backgrounds. This reduced the range of suspects to 50.]

    Shao Qingge had a headache when listening to this. It wasn¡¯t a simple matter to find out which of these 50 prisoners were closely rted to Yu Fugui and introduced Yu Fugui to the organ trafficking organization. Group Leader Yu would be really busy.

    Yu Hanjiang wondered: [Where is Liu Qiao? @Xiao Liu]

    It was getting dark and only Liu Qiao hadn¡¯t reported on her progress. Yu Hanjiang mentioned her in the group chat but Liu Qiao didn¡¯t reply. She was hiding in Chen Yehua¡¯s pocket at this time.

    The body of Chen Yuqing had been left in the morgue before. This afternoon, Chen Yehua finally found someone from a funeral home to take her daughter¡¯s body. Liu Qiao had stayed in the pediatrics department in advance. The moment Chen Yehua came out, she turned herself into the size of a thumb and used Light as a Swallow to fly at lightning speed into the pocket of her coat.

    Chen Yehua followed the funeral home¡¯s car to the crematorium first and Chen Yuqing¡¯s body was cremated. Immediately afterward, she returned to the arranged mourning hall with her daughter¡¯s ashes. In the ck and white photo on the wall, the seven year old girl¡¯s face was particrly dazzling. The entire mourning hall was empty. Chen Yehua walked into it step by step, standing in front of her daughter¡¯s photo and weeping silently.

    She cried for a long time. Liu Qiao didn¡¯t dare move in her pocket. She pricked up her ears to listen carefully. Suddenly, Liu Qiao heard the sound of footsteps outside the door. They were leather shoes and should belong to a man.

    Chen Yehua turned her head and screamed when she saw the other person. ¡°It¡¯s you? You scumbag, you dare toe here? Do you still have the face to see me and my daughter? Yuqing is only 7 years old yet she left like this!¡±

    The woman¡¯s hoarse scream was particrly harsh.

    The man hugged her hard. Liu Qiao in her pocket was almost squeezed into a meat pie. She immediately moved aside and listened to the man¡¯s soft voice. ¡°Sorry, Ah Hua. I know I owe you and Yuqing. I didn¡¯t expect that a suitable heart would be so difficult to find¡­¡±

    Chen Yehua had obviously lost her mind. She waved the man¡¯s hand away and interrupted him. ¡°Don¡¯t say it. There is nothing good about your Cheng family¡­¡±

    The man spoke in a deep voice. ¡°The things that happened back then weren¡¯t my fault. How could I know that Cheng Shaoyu would be such a brute that he wouldn¡¯t even let go of my girlfriend? He never regarded me as his brother just because I was born to his stepmother!¡±

    The man¡¯s anger overflowed when he mentioned this matter. He lowered his voice and growled, ¡°What can I do? Can I choose my own birth? He relied on the fact that he is the first son to fight me everywhere. He has a congenital heart disease and I didn¡¯t dare resist for fear he would have a heart attack and my father would skin me! I¡¯m also very unlucky to have a brother like this. I couldn¡¯t wait for him to have a heart attack one day and just die!¡±

    Liu Qiao, who heard big gossip from her hiding ce inside the pocket, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It seemed that Chen Yehua was originally the girlfriend of the younger brother Cheng Shaofeng. As a result, the older brother was shameless and raped her. She gave birth to a daughter who inherited his heart disease¡­ it was really a drama full of dog blood.

    The man who appeared in Chen Yuqing¡¯s mourning hall was the person the police had been unable to find¡ªCheng Shaofeng!

    However, Liu Qiao currently couldn¡¯t send a message to Xiao Lou. She could only minimize her presence, acting as a melon eater in this woman¡¯s pocket as she continued to eavesdrop on the conversation between the two.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 334: Resentment

    Liu Qiao hid in the pocket and listened to the gossip. After listening for more than an hour, she finally sorted things out.

    It turned out that Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s mother was born from a famous and rich family. She had always had business rtions with the Cheng family. Unfortunately, she wasn¡¯t in good health. Father Cheng and her had a business marriage and their rtionship wasn¡¯t deep. He cheated on her with a third party within a few years of marriage and secretly had another son. The original wife had heart problems and died of anger after hearing this.

    Cheng Shaoyu was 10 years old at the time and knew the cause of his mother¡¯s death. The third party sessfully entered the door to be Mrs Cheng along with her illegitimate son, Cheng Shaofeng. Cheng Shaoyu held a grudge against this mother and son. From an early age, he tried every means to bully his younger brother and stepmother. He made full use of his heart disease, pretending to be sick at every turn to make the mother and son helpless.

    Cheng Shaofeng was admitted to medical school when he grew up. Chen Yehua was the school flower of the academy of fine arts. The two schools happened to be next door and often held social activities. In their freshman year, they met in a social activity, fell in love at first sight and became a couple.

    Chen Yehua¡¯s parents were dead and she had been raised in her uncle¡¯s house since young. Her experience of relying on someone else¡¯s charity for over 10 years made her very introverted. Cheng Shaofeng might have a cheerful personality but he was actually very lonely inside. His mother was a third party and he hadn¡¯t met his father until he was 8 years old and followed his mother to the Cheng house. He was unfamiliar with this life and was bullied by his brother. His grandfather didn¡¯t approve of his mother and even Cheng Shaofeng wasn¡¯t weed by the family. They only had the oldest son of the Cheng family, Cheng Shaoyu in their hearts.

    At that time, the shares of the Cheng family were in the hands of the grandfather. Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s father favored his eldest son in order to please the grandfather even more. His mother was Mrs Cheng but she was actually just a canary in a cage. There was no freedom.

    The two peoplecked parental care when they were young and shared a lot ofmonnguage. They were just like two abandoned little animals hugging each other to keep warm. After being together for a long time, their rtionship got better and a sexual rtionship naturally urred. However, Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s contraceptive measures were always in ce because he didn¡¯t want his girlfriend to conceive a child at this time.

    During a holiday that year, Chen Yehua was 19 years old. In order to celebrate his girlfriend¡¯s birthday, Cheng Shaofeng booked a luxury hotel suite and wanted to have a romantic candlelit dinner with his girlfriend. As a result, Cheng Shaoyu used superb means to lure the tiger away from the mountain. When Chen Yehua entered the room, she was forced by Cheng Shaoyu.

    The next morning, Cheng Shaofeng hurried to the hotel and opened the door to see his girlfriend and brother sleeping on the same bed!

    Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s eyes were about to pop out. He was so furious he almost stabbed Cheng Shaoyu to death. Chen Yehua also copsed and almost jumped off a building to her death. The matter was so turbulent that Elder Cheng finally came forward to deal with it. The old man gave Chen Yehua arge sum of money and told her to leave the Cheng family¡¯s young master. Chen Yehua was forced to break up with Cheng Shaofeng and left. She only returned to the city in thest two years due to work reasons.

    If it wasn¡¯t for her daughter¡¯s heart disease, she would¡¯ve never wanted to see Cheng Shaofeng again.

    Liu Qiao had a headache as she listened. She analyzed the storyline from the quarrel between the two of them and it was even more terrible than the domineering CEO novels she had read. Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s mother died from anger and he had good reasons to hate his stepmother and younger brother. However, Chen Yehua was innocent. Wasn¡¯t it too much to act against his younger brother¡¯s girlfriend?

    What type of brain circuits did he have to sleep with his brother¡¯s girlfriend? Liu Qiao couldn¡¯t understand it. The poor and innocent Chen Yehua had a psychological shadow and her daughter died of a heart attack.

    Liu Qiao listened to Chen Yehua¡¯s cries and didn¡¯t know what to say.

    Cheng Shaofeng took her shoulders and whispered, ¡°Ah Hua, I came to see you to take you away. Let¡¯s run away together, okay? I will tell you a secret. My brother¡­ that animal Cheng Shaoyu, something might¡¯ve happened to him.¡±

    Chen Yehua was slightly stiff and asked coldly, ¡°Something happened? He insulted a girl again and was used?¡±

    ¡°Cough, that¡¯s not it.¡± Cheng Shaofeng wiped his face with embarrassment and spoke mysteriously, ¡°He might be dead.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Chen Yehua¡¯s eyes widened instantly. ¡°D¡­Dead?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I wanted to go to his house to discuss thepany¡¯s affairs but once I got there, I saw a man in a ck raincoat carrying a ck garbage bag while leaving. I thought he was a cleaner and didn¡¯t pay attention to it. Then I entered the yard, knocked and found my brother wasn¡¯t home. No one answered the phone. I thought he went out to fool around and sent him a message asking him to contact me. But he didn¡¯t contact me for several days in a row and I couldn¡¯t get through to him. He was also absent from thepany¡¯s important shareholders meeting. I think something must¡¯ve happened to him.¡±

    ¡°You mean, there was a problem with the person with the trash bag?¡± Chen Yehua trembled. ¡°It is likely that your brother¡¯s body was taken away in the trash bag?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Cheng Shaofeng nodded vigorously. ¡°Cheng Shaoyu has offended many people. I have a hunch he has been killed by someone. Otherwise, why can¡¯t he be contacted? He has been fighting with me for so many years. It is impossible for him to be absent from such an important shareholders meeting.¡± Cheng Shaofeng paused and lowered his voice. ¡°I drove home two days ago and found a police car at the gate of themunity. The police came to see me because my brother had an ident. I quickly turned around and ran away. I have been hiding in the countryside these days while preparing to take you away.¡±

    Chen Yehua wondered, ¡°You didn¡¯t kill him. Why did you run when the police came?¡±

    Cheng Shaofeng coughed slightly. ¡°Ahem, I didn¡¯t kill him but mypany¡¯s ounts aren¡¯t clean. If the police check carefully, it is possible for them to find something. I¡¯ve transferred 80% of the assets of my father¡¯spany and it is enough for us to live for a lifetime. Pack your things quickly ande with me. My private jet is at the airport. We can go abroad and be at ease. We will no longer have to care about the Cheng family.¡±

    He pulled Chen Yehua¡¯s hand as he spoke. Chen Yehua stiffly took a step back and asked coldly, ¡°Why should I go with you?¡±

    Cheng Shaofeng grabbed her shoulders anxiously. ¡°Ah Hua, let¡¯s forget the past, okay? You had a daughter with that beast Cheng Shaoyu but I don¡¯t mind. It isn¡¯t your fault. You came to me and I contacted Brother Rong, asking him to find a suitable heart for Yuqing. I used all my contacts but still couldn¡¯t find a suitable heart! You didn¡¯t want to ask for money but now your daughter is gone. You are alone and helpless. Just go with me. Did I ever say I wouldn¡¯t marry you? We can have another daughterter or a son is fine as well. I don¡¯t have a heart disease and it can¡¯t be inherited¡­¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t go with you! Some things have already happened and it is impossible to forget.¡± Chen Yehua interrupted him and shook off his hands. ¡°Both of you make me sick. My daughter is gone. Let me live quietly by myself¡­¡±

    Before she could finish, Cheng Shaofeng suddenly reached out and knocked her out using his elbow. Liu Qiao was in Chen Yehua¡¯s pocket and it wasn¡¯t good for her to go out now. Besides, she wanted to continue following Cheng Shaofeng.

    Cheng Shaofeng directly picked up Chen Yehua and carried her all the way to the underground garage. He stuffed her into the back of the car and immediately started the vehicle while calling the airport to get the ne ready. He drove so fast that he was on the airport expressway in the blink of an eye.

    If he escaped then it would be hard to continue the investigation. After thinking a bit, Liu Qiao dared to crawl out of Chen Yehua¡¯s pocket. She found Chen Yehua¡¯s phone and moved it under the clothes. Then she secretly lifted Chen Yehua¡¯s finger and unlocked the phone using her fingerprints.

    Liu Qiao remembered Xiao Lou¡¯s phone number. She struggled to enter his number on the phone and sent a short message. [Cheng Shaofeng is going to take Chen Yehua to escape. Intercept him at the airport! License te number Bin A-67158. Liu Qiao.]

    Cheng Shaofeng was driving. He noticed in the rearview mirror that the phone in the back was lit up but since he thought it was just due to Chen Yehua¡¯s body touching the phone, he ignored it. He didn¡¯t notice the thumb-sized girl who was hiding beneath Chen Yehua¡¯s clothes, struggling to press characters on the phone screen. After sending the message, Liu Qiao sighed with relief and continued to hide in Chen Yehua¡¯s coat.

    Xiao Lou received the message and immediately forwarded it to the group. Yu Hanjiang made a decisive choice. [I will personally intercept him.]

    Cheng Shaofeng was the key figure in the organ trafficking case. He absolutely couldn¡¯t escape!

    Yu Hanjiang left the job at hand, letting Long Sen and Qu Wanyue continue to sort out the information. He personally drove the car toward the airport. At the same time, he called the airport¡¯s high-speed toll booth and asked them to intercept a ck private car with the license te of Bin A-67158.

    In the car, Liu Qiao pricked her ears to listen to Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s call.

    Cheng Shaofeng made two calls. The first one was to a Brother Rong. Liu Qiao couldn¡¯t hear the other person¡¯s words but she heard Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s voice very clearly. ¡°Brother Rong, I¡¯m on my way to the airport¡­ no one is following. It was to pick up Chen Yehua. Cough, I know I was reckless. Don¡¯t worry, I guarantee that no one knows about this matter. Once I get there, I will tell her to shut up and not reveal a thing¡­ okay, see youter.¡±

    Then he called his secretary and exined somepany affairs.

    Liu Qiao memorized his words without missing anything. After shrinking down, this car was like a house to her and it was also moving at high speed. Liu Qiao felt dizzy like she was riding a roller coaster.

    Just then, she heard a loud bang in her ear!

    Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s car seemed to have hit something. The violent impact catapulted the whole car off of the highway and it fell beneath the bridge with a deafening bang! Liu Qiao¡¯s body was almost crushed by Chen Yehua who fell from her seat!

    Before Liu Qiao was able to react in any way, the car¡¯s fuel tank exploded and the window sses shattered.

    The car was burning in a terrible fire and Liu Qiao couldn¡¯t possibly save anyone in this situation, so her only choice was to save herself by escaping through the window. Just as she was using Light as a Swallow to escape, the car exploded¡ª

    As she flew into the sky, she saw Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s bloody head and Chen Yehua¡¯s pale face as shey unconscious in the back seat.

    Liu Qiaonded on a branch and stared nkly at the scene. An ident? Or was this deliberately killing people?!

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 335: Mysterious Organization

    This was the second time in the 18 years of her life, that Liu Qiao witnessed an ident up close. She couldn¡¯t help recalling the ident where she was sitting on the school bus with her sister. The memories she didn¡¯t want to recall popped up and the stress response made her mind nk out.

    Thissted until a shrill rm sounded in her ears. It waspletely dark and a police car sped over and stopped in a nearby emergencyne. Yu Hanjiang flew under the bridge with the light footwork card and lowered his voice. ¡°Liu Qiao¡­ Liu Qiao, where are you?¡±

    Only then did Liu Qiao recover and while still being the size of a thumb, she fell lightly on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s shoulder, her voice trembled as she answered. ¡°I¡¯m here. Sorry, Group Leader Yu. It was too sudden just now and I didn¡¯t have time to save them¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was relieved to hear her familiar voice.

    In fact, he had seen the car with the license te Bin A-67158 from a distance. Just as he was speeding to catch up, it collided with arge trucking diagonally from a side ramp. It was directly hit, fell beneath the bridge and exploded! At that moment, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart almost stopped beating¡ªLiu Qiao was still in the car!

    If Xiao Liu was killed then how could he exin it to his teammates?

    He sent the young girl Liu Qiao to monitor Chen Yehua. He thought Chen Yehua had a clean background. She was an illustrator and Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s mistress. There shouldn¡¯t be much information and the task of investigating Chen Yehua wasn¡¯t very dangerous. Who knew that Chen Yehua¡¯s boyfriend was actually Cheng Shaofeng and he would suddenly appear to take her away? In addition, the two of them got into a serious car ident on the way!

    Fortunately, Liu Qiao was fine¡­

    Yu Hanjiang took a deep breath, picked up the little girl from his shoulder, ced her in his pocket andforted her. ¡°It isn¡¯t your fault. You could do nothing more. If it was changed to someone else, they wouldn¡¯t have done better than you.¡±

    Normal people wouldn¡¯t be able to react, confronted with such an ident. Liu Qiao being able to fly out the window and escape unscathed was excellent enough. Asking her to save two adults when the speed exceeded 120 kilometers/hour was really too much.

    The traffic police and criminal investigation police would soon arrive so it was inconvenient for Liu Qiao to change back to her original form. She stayed in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s pocket and said, ¡°Group Leader Yu, I think Cheng Shaofeng was killed.¡±

    ¡°That is my guess as well,¡± Yu Hanjiang whispered. ¡°Don¡¯t worry and stay in my pocket at ease. You can tell me what you knowter.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Liu Qiao also calmed down and thought carefully about what she had heard and seen.

    Within a minute, the traffic police, criminal investigations police and ambnces had arrived. The traffic police quickly closed the road to investigate the scene. The driver of therge truck was a middle-aged man with a stubborn face. He cried while saying, ¡°It was too dark. I really didn¡¯t see the car next to me¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t believe his words. He walked up to the traffic police team leader and said, ¡°The person in the car is an important witness in a criminal case I am investigating. I have reason to suspect they were killed. This driver caused the ident and I need to arrest him for a detailed inquiry.¡±

    The traffic police team leader was very cooperative. ¡°Group Leader Yu, you can take him back after we finish the transcript. A traffic ident and intentional homicide are two different things. The sentencing ispletely different. We understand.¡±

    Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s car suddenly exploded and Cheng Shaofeng in the front row had been blown to pieces. However, it was only the front of the car that had been burned. Chen Yehua who was unconscious in the back seat was still breathing. The emergency doctor who came with the ambnce eximed, ¡°This woman can still be saved!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was surprised and immediately walked over. ¡°Please do your best to rescue her. Once she wakes up, notify me as soon as possible.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang brought up the surveince that the traffic police had found. ¡°Why did you stop in the nearby emergencyne for five minutes?¡±

    The driver scratched his head. ¡°I just stopped and went to the toilet¡­¡±

    ¡°Parking at the emergencyne on a highway to use the toilet? Can you make up an even more ridiculous excuse?!¡± Yu Hanjiang stared at him coldly, ¡°After going to the toilet, you drove forward and just happened to hit Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s car?¡±

    The driver felt numb due to these sharp eyes and looked away. ¡°This¡­ it can only be said that Mr Cheng was too unlucky. I didn¡¯t mean it. I really didn¡¯t see him. I really needed to go to the toilet¡­¡±

    He was too stubborn. Yu Hanjiang had to detain him first to check his background. After questioning the driver, Yu Hanjiang dragged his exhausted body and went to the hotel with Liu Qiao to meet his teammates.

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue had narrowed the range of suspects from 50 to 10. They saw Yu Hanjiang walking in with Liu Qiao who had transformed back to normal and Qu Wanyue immediately got up to hold Liu Qiao¡¯s hand, asking her nervously, ¡°Xiao Qiao, are you okay? I saw Professor Xiao saying in the group chat that Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s car exploded and you were still in the car. We were all scared to death!¡±

    Xiao Lou had learned this information through the heart channel and shared it with the team members.

    Liu Qiao replied with a pale face, ¡°I¡¯m fine. Fortunately, there was a hole in the car window and I flew out. However, I couldn¡¯t take Cheng Shaofeng away. This clue line is broken¡­¡±

    Long Senforted her. ¡°Don¡¯t feel responsible. This is obviously the keeper¡¯s arrangement. If we could sessfully catch Cheng Shaofeng then this case would probably be too easy to solve. He must know a lot.¡±

    Qu Wanyue also said, ¡°Yes, we can slowly check the clues. The only thing that matters is that you¡¯re fine.¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s heart warmed. She took a few sips of the warm water Qu Wanyue handed her and said, ¡°Cheng Shaofeng might not be caught but I learned a lot of information from his conversation with Chen Yehua.¡±

    She spoke about the grievances between Cheng Shaoyu and Cheng Shaofeng, about how Cheng Shaoyu slept with his younger brother¡¯s girlfriend and how Chen Yehua went abroad. After returning with her daughter, she asked Cheng Shaofeng for help.

    Yu Hanjiang heard this and frowned slightly. ¡°So Cheng Shaofeng was the one to help find a heart source for Chen Yehua¡¯s daughter?¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded. ¡°I was also shocked when I heard it. I originally thought that since Chen Yehua was Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s daughter, she would find Cheng Shaoyu to help. I didn¡¯t expect her first love to be Cheng Shaofeng and that he was really willing to help.¡±

    Long Sen sighed. ¡°This Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s feelings for Chen Yehua are quite deep.¡±

    Liu Qiao agreed. ¡°He knew his girlfriend¡¯s child wasn¡¯t his and was still willing to help find a heart. He really has a deep affection for her. I suspect that Cheng Shaofeng is an important high level member in the organ trafficking organization. He knew too much and was killed.¡±

    She took a deep breath and sorted out her thoughts. ¡°Cheng Shaofeng graduated from medical school, which we have known for a long time. He can help find a heart for the little girl and perhaps knows where his brother¡¯s heart came from. He mentioned a person ¡®Brother Rong¡¯ and also called this Brother Rong on the way to the airport. He was hit shortly after the call and Brother Rong should be a senior member of the organization.¡±

    ¡°It seems that the driver was arranged by Brother Rong. He waited in advance at the emergencyne at the high-speed fork on the highway. Once Cheng Shaofeng arrived, he drove the car and deliberately mmed into it.¡± Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°Brother Rong must¡¯ve given the driver enough benefits. As long as he insists it was a traffic ident, he will be sentenced to three years in prison at most since he didn¡¯t do a hit and run.¡±

    ¡°So short?¡± Qu Wanyue was startled. ¡°Hitting someone to death is only sentenced to three years?¡±

    ¡°Yes, a traffic ident doesn¡¯t depend on whether anyone is dead but if you run away afterwards. Those who take the initiative to call the police or wait for the traffic police won¡¯t be sentenced for a long time, even if they are fully responsible.¡± Yu Hanjiang paused before continuing, ¡°Brother Rong just needs to give the driver enough benefits. For example, if he gave millions of gold coins to kill Cheng Shaofeng then the driver just needs to im it was an ident, spend three years in prison and then get millions. Some people are willing to take the risk.¡±

    ¡°However, if it is found that he intentionally killed someone, it will be an execution right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°The key is that the evidence is difficult to collect. The driver is obviously a master. The traffic police¡¯s investigation also concluded it was an ident. Cheng Shaofeng happened to hit the side of the truck. Due to the strong collision force, he was hit and fell down from the bridge. The driver even stepped on the brakes. It doesn¡¯t seem like intentionally killing someone.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t believe this was an ident. There can¡¯t be such a coincidence.¡± Liu Qiao thought about it before suddenly recalling something. ¡°Oh yes, Cheng Shaofeng mentioned that he transferred 80% of the assets of his father¡¯spany. I think their organization might also be involved in moneyundering and it might involve the unequal distribution of profit. Could Cheng Shaofeng be responsible for the moneyundering while Brother Rong is responsible for the sale of organs?¡±

    ¡°That is possible.¡± Yu Hanjiang looked at Liu Qiao appreciatively. ¡°This line will be handed over to the Economic Investigation Bureau for investigation. Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s ounts must be carefully checked to see where he transferred it. Xiao Liu, what other clues are there?¡±

    ¡°Cheng Shaofeng went to his brother¡¯s house on a rainy day. He saw a man in a ck raincoat walking out from his brother¡¯s door carrying a garbage bag. He suspected that the man¡¯s garbage bag contained his brother¡¯s body.¡± Liu Qiao answered. ¡°If it rained, can you calcte the exact time of death for Cheng Shaoyu?¡±

    ¡°This is very important.¡± Yu Hanjiang picked up the phone and checked the weather forecast. ¡°For the past two weeks, it rained heavily at night only on January 25th, a week ago. We found parts of Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s dismembered body but we haven¡¯t been able to determine the exact time of death. Now it seems he died on the rainy night of January 25th. We can go back and investigate the man in ck.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that person should want revenge,¡± Liu Qiao agreed.

    Xiao Lou listened to their words through the heart channel and got a splitting headache.

    This case was like stripping offyer uponyer from a cocoon. Finding one suspicious person would often lead to more suspicious people. The more they investigated, the moreplicated it became¡­

    At first, it was just the case of Cheng Shaoyu. Then it was followed by the deceased such as Liu Renyuan, Qi Zhaoming, Chen Yuqing and Wang Wei. Later, they discovered Yu Fugui who was imprisoned for theft and this was followed by the spection that Chen Yehua and Chen Yuqing were rted to the Cheng brothers. Now Cheng Shaofeng finally appeared only to be suddenly silenced by the people behind him.

    The key word that connected everyone together was: organ trafficking.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and typed: [There is another clue that I just found today.]

    He paused and sent a photo to the WeChat group. [Today, I checked the medical school¡¯s website for information about Cheng Shaofeng when he was in school. I identally found that Zhao Sen and Cheng Shaofeng were students from the same medical school. Zhao Sen was Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s senior and they participated in a scientific researchpetition together on the same team. The two of them went to the stage to ept an award and took a group photo.]

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    They all looked at the photo of the young Zhao Sen and Cheng Shaofeng and couldn¡¯t help feeling numb. Zhao Sen once brutally dismembered his cousin and killed his wife. Cheng Shaofeng might be involved in organ trafficking. Once the two men stood together and smiled, the effect was really creepy.

    Xiao Lou reluctantly came to a conclusion. [Zhao Sen knows Cheng Shaofeng. It seems I have to meet with Dr Zhao and have a good chat with him, maybe this way I¡¯m able to find out if he knows whether Cheng Shaofeng had a close friend during school.]

    Shao Qingge had a headache. [Every time Zhao Sen is mentioned, my heart doesn¡¯t feel right. Every time I recall he gave me the two stents, my heart is almost going on strike.]

    Xiao Lou: [Chief Shao, stop thinking about Zhao Sen doing the surgery on you.]

    Shao Qingge sent a row of helpless emojis.

    Yu Hanjiang said: [He was the murderer in 2 of Hearts but in this secret room, he is instead an important witness.]

    Xiao Lou had to bite the bullet. [Leave Zhao Sen to me. After all, I am his colleague and it is better for me to investigate. The case might beplicated but we are very strong. Jiayou.]

    Ye Qi used a child¡¯s mobile phone to send a message. [I and Old Mo have already arrived. We sat on the long-distance bus for three hours and my butt hurts! It is dark and there are no people on the streets of the small town. We will start acting tomorrow.]

    Old Mo: [It is an old man and childbination. I hope we can find something.]

    Yu Hanjiang reminded them: [Cheng Shaofeng has just been killed. The two of you must be careful. If Uncle Zhong knows a lot, he might also be killed. Remember to ensure your own safety!¡±]

    Ye Qi and Old Mo sent nodding emojis.

    Yu Hanjiang gently exhaled. There were many clues but fortunately, the emergence of Cheng Shaofeng touched the core of the organization.

    At present, there were the three lines of Uncle Zhong, Yu Fugui and Cheng Shaofeng to be investigated. Liu Renyuan¡¯s kidney was also transnted to a woman. Xiao Lou would continue to investigate this line. They just needed to catch the secret ¡®Brother Rong¡¯ and everything could be solved!

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 336: New Discovery

    It was already dark by the time Ye Qi and Old Mo arrived at the hotel. There weren¡¯t many pedestrians on the street but the two of them didn¡¯t want to sleep all night and miss this opportunity. What if the murderer moved faster than them and directly killed Uncle Zhong? The lesson from Liu Qiao¡¯s incident couldn¡¯t be forgotten.

    After discussing it, the two of them decided to act together at night to first scope out the terrain of the town.

    ording to the address given by Shao Qingge, Uncle Zhong¡¯s home was in amunity called ¡®Nanfu Jiayuan¡¯ in the south of the town. The housing price of thismunity was medium level and they were all seven storey buildings. The management at the gate of themunity wasn¡¯t strict. The two of them followed the residents of themunity inside, pretending to be taking a walk after dinner as they strolled around themunity.

    Mo Xuemin brought Ye Qi to the square of themunity and saw some old men and women dancing a square dance. Old Mo was now a 66 year old man. He followed the customs when he arrived and quickly integrated into the square dance team, dancing with them. Ye Qi resisted the urge tough and stood waiting for him while watching the pedestrians around him.

    The square dance performed by the elderly was simple and Old Mo quickly learned the dance. Halfway, there was a song change and Old Mo pretended to sit down to rest. He chatted with an old man resting beside him. ¡°Oh, I can¡¯t dance any longer. My back hurts just dancing for a while.¡±

    The old man felt the same and sighed. ¡°I am also getting older and my back is bing worse. How can I keep up with exercising?¡±

    Old Mo casually asked, ¡°By the way, where is Old Zhong of Building 7? Why haven¡¯t I seen him these days?¡±

    ¡°You are asking about Old Zhong? What building are you from? I haven¡¯t seen you before.¡±

    ¡°I only recently came back here. My son and daughter-inw are busy at work and there is no one to take care of my grandson. They don¡¯t feel relieved leaving him to a babysitter so they asked me to help look after the child. Isn¡¯t it winter vacation? I just took my grandson to my hometown for a few days.¡± He beckoned as he spoke and Ye Qi immediately ran over. ¡°Grandpa.¡±

    ¡°Is this your grandson? He¡¯s so cute.¡± The old man smiled and touched Ye Qi¡¯s head.

    ¡°Grandpa, isn¡¯t Grandpa Zhong at home?¡± Ye Qi asked seriously.

    ¡°Old Zhong hasn¡¯t been back here in half a year. I heard he moved with his wife to the most expensive neighborhood in town. He worked as a housekeeper for the rich for many years and he must have earned a lot of money.¡± The old man was envious. ¡°Every time he came back, he drove a luxury car. He moved half a year ago and even left all the furniture to the renter.¡±

    ¡°Do you know where he moved to? Old Zhong and I have been old friends for many years and I want to see him.¡±

    The old man answered, ¡°Building 11 of Jinxiu Vi. It is the king of buildings. The lighting is very good and the price is frighteningly expensive.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Old Mo and Ye Qi exchanged nces. Unexpectedly, the address that Shao Qingge received had expired. Uncle Zhong had moved early. The strange thing was that Yu Hanjiang had checked Uncle Zhong¡¯s bank records and real estate records. Uncle Zhong only had the ce in Nanfu Jiayuan under his name. He never bought a new house. His son¡¯s property was a 200 square meter house in the city center and there were no houses under his name in this town.

    He moved to the best residential area in town. Who owned the house?

    The two of them were puzzled and stood up tacitly. Ye Qi pulled Mo Xuemin¡¯s hand. ¡°Grandpa, let¡¯s go home. It is too cold outside.¡±

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go back.¡± Old Mo took Ye Qi around the square and left themunity through the side door.

    The town wasn¡¯t big and they soon found the high-end residential area ¡®Jinxiu Vi¡¯. It was a pity that this residential area was strictly regted and entry wasn¡¯t allowed without an ess card. Ye Qi thought of a way. He and Old Mo hid behind a tree and put on the invisibility cloaks. Once a vehicle entered or exited through the gate, they used the teleportation to enter.

    Themunity should¡¯ve been newly built in recent years. The buildings were neatly arranged and the greenery of themunity was also excellent. Building 11 was indeed the king of buildings. The distance between the different buildings was more than 70 meters and there really was very good lighting.

    Ye Qi and Old Mo went to the property center first and searched the owner¡¯s register for a long time without finding Uncle Zhong¡¯s name. The two of them had to go to Building 11 to look for him floor by floor. However, a lot of people¡¯s doors were closed and it wasn¡¯t easy for them to forcibly enter. If it really didn¡¯t work, Ye Qi nned to let Group Leader Yu investigate¡­

    Just as the two of them came to the 16th floor, a person suddenly came out of the elevator. The man was wearing a leather jacket with a cigarette in his mouth and had a ck snake tattoo behind his ears. He walked to the door of room 1604 and knocked on it.

    The door opened and an old man came out, his voice hoarse. ¡°Ah Rong, why are you here?¡±

    It was Uncle Zhong!

    ¡°Uncle, I came to see you.¡±

    He said as he entered the house. Ye Qi immediately used the teleportation card to follow them inside. There was 30 minutes remaining with the cloak and he wanted to hear what the two of them were talking about. As a result, there were just some trivial polite remarks. This person¡¯s name was He Rong and he was Uncle Zhong¡¯s nephew. He came to visit his uncle because his uncle¡¯s 60th birthday was approaching and they were discussing how to celebrate.

    Meanwhile, Yu Hanjiang, Long Sen, Qu Wanyue and Liu Qiao were sorting out information at the hotel.

    10 people whom Yu Fugui had close contact with in prison were finally screened out. Several of them had names with the word ¡®Rong¡¯ in them. Since Cheng Shaofeng mentioned ¡®Brother Rong¡¯, Yu Hanjiang focused on them.

    The first one was Nie Rong.

    Nie Rong was imprisoned for an economic crime. He embezzled public funds and was sentenced to three years in prison. After being imprisoned, he and Yu Fugui were in the same cell. The two of them had a good rtionship and happened to be released one after another.

    Once released from prison, Nie Rong had already been dismissed from his public office and had to do business by himself. He rented a store in the city center and opened a clothing store. The Cheng family happened to be the leader of the clothing industry and his business had a close rtionship with the Cheng family. Perhaps he got to know Cheng Shaofeng from here.

    Qu Wanyue wondered, ¡°Could he be the Brother Rong that Xiao Qiao heard?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked closely at the man¡¯s information.

    Nie Rong attended a key high school and was admitted to a first-ss university. He majored in ounting. After graduation, he sessfully applied for a job in apany and soon became a financial director of thepany. He was well appreciated by the leaders.

    Such an excellent ountant had a promising future. However, he was blinded by money and secretly opened his own ount to embezzle thepany¡¯s public funds. Since the amount he embezzled wasn¡¯t the same every time, thepany leaders didn¡¯t find out. He used the public money to buy a car for his wife, sent his children to the most expensive kindergarten and bought a vi in the name of his parents¡­

    He often walked by the river so how could his shoes not be wet? Once thepany checked the ounts, they finally found what he was doing. They carefully calcted the amount and it was an astonishing figure. Thus, they took him to court¡­

    Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t help frowning when he saw this. ¡°This individual might have the name ¡®Rong¡¯ but he didn¡¯t interact with Cheng Shaofeng before going to prison and he doesn¡¯t seem to be a powerful person with the background to form an organ trafficking organization. His upation isn¡¯t suitable unless the organization hired him as a financial officer.¡±

    Liu Qiao said, ¡°He has a record of embezzling thepany¡¯s money during his ounting period. Such a person isn¡¯t very reliable when seeing money. I think it is unlikely that the organ trafficking organization would find such a person as an ountant, right?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it. He put this person¡¯s information aside for now and continued to look at the rest. One of them was called Rong Cheng, another was Li Rong and there were two brothers named Xie Rongyao and Xie Rongguang¡­

    Qu Wanyue saw this and didn¡¯t know if she shouldugh or cry. ¡°We just screened out this list and it is quite strange. Among the prisoners with a close rtionship with Yu Fugui, how could there be so many with the word ¡®Rong¡¯ in their names? Now it seems that Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s Brother Rong is a key clue so the keepers deliberately created some distractions.¡±

    Long Senined, ¡°The keepers won¡¯t let us lock down the core character too quickly. We have to check all these Rongs!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, none of these people should be missed. In addition, those without a ¡®Rong¡¯ should still be carefully investigated. Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s Brother Rong might not be the same person Yu Fugui knows. It might be someone Cheng Shaofeng knows but Yu Fugui doesn¡¯t know.¡±

    Cheng Shaofeng was a rich young master and had a widework of contacts. People he knew with the name ¡®Rong¡¯ had to be paid attention to. The scope of the investigation was getting wider and the workload was heavy.

    The four of them stayed upte to 3 a.m. when they finally screened out two key suspects.

    One of the suspects, Rong Cheng, was the boss of a pharmaceuticalpany. He was in jail for selling fake and inferior medicines. Two years ago, many patients with diarrhea were admitted to hospital and it seemed like a mass food poisoning incident. The doctors questioned the patients and found that everyone had taken cold medicine from thispany. They reported it to the Drug Administration and the police opened a case for investigation. It was determined that the medicine he was selling was a low-quality product so he was arrested and imprisoned.

    Yu Hanjiang analyzed it. ¡°Rong Cheng is the big boss of a pharmaceuticalpany and he must have many friends in the medical industry. He is capable of finding some people to carry out organ trafficking. Moreover, he doesn¡¯t care about the safety of patients and sold counterfeit products in order to make money. This proves he has long lost his humanity and can do anything for money. He was ruthless enough to sell fake medicine so he can naturally sell organs and kill people.¡±

    The team members all felt that forming an organ trafficking organization wasn¡¯t something that an ordinary person could do. They must have a widework of connections, strong capital and relevant medical knowledge. Rong Cheng met all three conditions.

    Moreover, while serving his sentence in prison, he lived next door to Yu Fugui. ording to the records of the prison guards and some surveince footage, it could be found that he and Yu Fugui often talked together.

    Liu Qiao asked, ¡°Where did he go after getting out of prison? Can you find out?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang pointed to the nk record on theputer. ¡°This is the strangest thing for me. He was released from prison two years ago and disappeared after he came out. Thest time he showed up was at the airport, taking a flight to a foreign country. There are two possibilities. First, he relied on his contacts to get a job abroad, developing his career there. Second, he pretended to go abroad and disappeared. Meanwhile, he actually returned to China secretly by private jet using a fake ID card and participated in the management of the organ trafficking organization.¡±

    This individual actually disappeared from the police database which was indeed very suspicious.

    Qu Wanyue analyzed, ¡°Perhaps he started preparing for this organ trafficking scheme from before he went to prison? After all, he was the boss of a pharmaceuticalpany and had the channels and financial resources to form such an organization. He can harvest human organs and use humans to test the new drugs developed by hispany.¡±

    Long Sen felt numb thinking about it. ¡°Does he treat people as guinea pigs?¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s expression was ugly. ¡°This person¡¯s background isn¡¯t simple. It will probably take a lot of effort to find him.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang put away this person¡¯s information and opened another folder. ¡°There is also this person.¡±

    The second key suspect was called Zhu Qingrong. His name was very literary. He wore a pair of silver-rimmed sses and looked gentle in the photos. No one would associate him with a prisoner. Zhu Qingrong was a medical student and saved the life of Yu Fugui while serving his sentence in prison.

    ording to the records sent by the prison guards, one time Yu Fugui suddenly copsed while participating in the prison¡¯sbor reform. It was Zhu Qingrong who performed CPR to save him. Yu Fugui was very grateful and often ate with him. However, Zhu Qingrong had a cold and indifferent character. He rarely talked with inmates and appeared quite mysterious.

    Yu Hanjiang focused on this suspect because he was jailed for manughter.

    He used to be an obstetrician but during an operation, his negligence resulted in the deaths of both the pregnant woman and the fetus. Her family took him to court, his doctor¡¯s license was revoked and he was imprisoned. Since his behavior wasn¡¯t intentional homicide, he was sentenced to manughter and got seven years in prison.

    Liu Qiao murmured, ¡°This man was previously an obstetrician. He was imprisoned for manughter and his license revoked. He can no longer apply for employment at a formal hospital. After being released from prison, it was likely he joined an illegal clinic to perform operations on people. Moreover, Professor Xiao¡¯s original conclusion from the autopsy is that the surgeon doing the organ transnt isn¡¯t an expert in this area. He matches this characteristic!¡±

    Qu Wanyue also felt that he was very suspicious. ¡°He is an obstetrician and should¡¯ve worked in the reproductive center for a while. He should be very familiar with female egg retrieval operations. Didn¡¯t Professor Xiao specte that the girl who died in Room 201 of Antai Garden died from bleeding during an egg retrieval operation? Is Zhu Qingrong the one who performed the operation?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang Road: ¡°He was released from prison two years ago, the girl in room 201 died a week ago, it is possible for him to be the person who did the operation. However, ording to the information recorded by the police, he did not continue to practice medicine after he was released from prison because he had his doctor¡¯s license revoked, but went to his rtive¡¯s pharmacy to help, that pharmacy is called ¡®Fukang Medicine¡¯ and we can check it tomorrow.¡±

    The others with the word ¡®Rong¡¯ in their name had close contact with Yu Fugui in prison but their profession wasn¡¯t right or they had found a stable job after being released from prison and hadn¡¯t resigned yet.

    Their suspicion couldn¡¯t bepletely ruled out but it was rtively lowpared to the two people Yu Hanjiang focused on.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 337: Who is Brother Rong?

    Meanwhile, Xiao Lou was on the night shift at the hospital and came to the cardiac surgery department. He checked the schedule and Zhao Sen was also on the night shift today. Xiao Lou walked to the doctor¡¯s office and saw Zhao Sen wearing silver-rimmed sses while writing medical records at his desk.

    Every time Xiao Lou saw Zhao Sen, he couldn¡¯t help thinking of the scene where Zhao Sen calmly chopped up his cousin¡¯s body in 2 of Hearts. Xiao Lou endured the difort in his heart and walked over with a smile. ¡°Dr Zhao, are you also on duty tonight?¡±

    Zhao Sen replied indifferently, ¡°Dr Xiao, are you looking for me?¡±

    Xiao Lou ced a fruit basket on Zhao Sen¡¯s table. ¡°Qingge has recovered very well after being discharged from hospital. He asked me to thank you since you are the reason his surgery was sessful. This is a part of his token of gratitude. He entrusted it to me to give to you.¡±

    Shao Qingge wouldn¡¯t thank Zhao Sen. He thought it was already considered lucky if his heart didn¡¯t stop beating out of fear of Zhao Sen.

    Of course, Xiao Lou bought the fruit basket with the red envelope issued by Chief Shao and borrowing Shao Qingge¡¯s name was only natural. Otherwise, Zhao Sen would definitely doubt it if Xiao Lou just randomly found him.

    Sure enough, Zhao Sen saw the fruit basket and smiled while pushing the sses up the bridge of his nose. ¡°Mr Shao is too polite. This is what I should do. Although the surgery was very effective, he can¡¯t be careless. Remind him to take his medicine on time. The medicine prescribed to him are all medicines that control blood vessel hardening and thrombosis. They must be taken for a long time.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll remind him.¡±

    Zhao Sen was probably hungry during the night shift. He opened the fruit basket, washed some fruits and took a few to the girls at the nurse¡¯s station. It waste at night and the area was unusually quiet.

    Xiao Lou sat in the office, eating fruit while chatting with Zhao Sen. ¡°You have to work the night shift every two days in the cardiac surgery department. It must be very hard.¡±

    ¡°It isn¡¯tparable to you. Don¡¯t you work night shifts every day?¡±

    ¡°There is no other way.¡± Xiao Lou smiled bitterly. ¡°Every doctor has to pass this test and it will be fine after a year. My work and rest schedule ispletely messed up and I rest when I have time. I just slept for two hours this afternoon and I¡¯m in high spirits now. I¡¯m not disturbing you, am I?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Zhao Sen closed the medical records and spoke while eating grapes, ¡°I have already handled everything.¡±

    The two of them silently ate fruits for a while. Xiao Lou organized his thoughts and pretended to casually talk. ¡°Right, it is only when Qingge was discharged from hospital that I found he and Young Master Cheng were also friends. You know Cheng Shaoyu, the one you and Director Lin performed the heart transnt on? He seems to have a younger brother called Cheng Shaofeng. He studied medicine only toter abandon it and go into business. Do you know him?¡±

    ¡°Cheng Shaofeng?¡± Zhao Sen looked over quickly.

    The man¡¯s sses reflected a cold light under the incandescent lights. Facing this sharp gaze, Xiao Lou¡¯s heart trembled slightly and the hairs on his back went up. He resisted the urge to escape and continued, ¡°I heard Qingge say that the rtionship between those two brothers doesn¡¯t seem to be very good. However, Cheng Shaofeng used to go to the medical university and you were alumni¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou felt numb due to the stare but he pretended to be calm on the surface, maintaining a polite smile on his face. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m just asking casually. You weren¡¯t in the same year so you probably don¡¯t know each other.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I know him.¡± Zhao Sen honestly admitted it in an indifferent manner. ¡°During our time in school, we worked together on a scientific research project. At that time, Cheng Shaofeng wanted to take the post-graduate entrance examination and applied for my tutor. My tutor appreciated him very much and he called me ¡®senior brother¡¯ every day. Thenter, he suddenly gave up on the postgraduate entrance examination and said he wanted to go home to help with thepany. It was only at that time that I found out he was a rich second generation.¡±

    ¡°It turned out to be like this¡­¡± Xiao Lou thoughtfully touched his chin. ¡°Why did he suddenly give up on the postgraduate entrance examination? Did he think that making money is more fun than studying medicine so he abandoned medicine to go into business?¡±

    ¡°That isn¡¯t it. I could see that he really liked studying medicine. He even published a few good papers when he was in school. He suddenly gave up because something happened at home. His father was diagnosed with Alzheimer¡¯s disease that year. If he didn¡¯t go back, his brother wouldn¡¯t let him have a single coin.¡± Zhao Sen smiled coldly. ¡°Compared with billions in family assets, a hobby isn¡¯t worth mentioning.¡±

    Alzheimer¡¯s disease was a degenerative change in the human brain that was difficult to treat. A person who was sick would gradually forget the past and not even know their rtives.

    His father got this disease. If Cheng Shaofeng didn¡¯t return to the Cheng house, he might be kicked out by his brother. Before his fatherpletely lost his memories, he had to fight for his own rights. It was understandable to give up on the postgraduate entrance examination and rush home.

    ¡°Cheng Shaofeng was a doctor. Is it possible to go back and do business?¡± Xiao Lou was puzzled. ¡°Did he take a course in economic management when he was in school?¡±

    ¡°Yes, he is a very smart person. The medical school courses were so heavy yet he could still take courses in economics. It is true that he was interested in medicine but he probably used going to medical school as a tactic to get his brother to rx his vignce. Once he graduated, he could have had a double degree of a Bachelor of Economics and a Bachelor of Medicine, but he only took the medicine one.¡±

    Zhao Sen paused before giving a smile that wasn¡¯t a smile. ¡°He is the son of a wealthy family but he had many small calctions in his heart. In the beginning, he called me Senior. After graduation, he didn¡¯t contact me for many years. As a result, his older brother was going to receive a heart transnt. He knew our hospital is the best and started calling my ¡®senior brother¡¯ again.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± This type of person was quitemon in reality. They wouldn¡¯t contact a person at all and only pretended to be affectionate when help was needed. Xiao Lou believed that Zhao Sen¡¯s words weren¡¯t false.

    It seemed that Zhao Sen didn¡¯t know about Cheng Shaoyu and Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s deaths. He also didn¡¯t seem to know about the existence of the organ trafficking organization. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t follow along with Xiao Lou¡¯s topic and say so much about Cheng Shaofeng.

    ¡°Do you know who Cheng Shaofeng had a better rtionship with when he was in school?¡± Xiao Lou pretended to be curious. ¡°Would such a rich person make friends with his ssmates?¡±

    ¡°Oh, there is one. Lin Rongrong had a special rtionship with him.¡±

    ¡°Lin Rongrong?¡± Xiao Lou wondered. ¡°It sounds like a girl? Was she his girlfriend?¡±

    ¡°It is a boy in my year. He was Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s senior brother. Cheng Shaofeng wanted to take two professional courses at the same time. When the courses conflicted, he would go to the school of economics. Lin Rongrong would give him notes for the courses of the medical school. He studied the notes and could get high scores in the exams.¡±

    ¡°It seems that Lin Rongrong helped him a lot¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhao Sen stopped and looked at Xiao Lou questioningly. ¡°Why are you suddenly so interested in Cheng Shaofeng?¡±

    ¡°No reason, I just heard Qingge say that Cheng Shaofeng is quite good and he used to study medicine. I was curious and asked.¡± Xiao Lou smiled awkwardly. ¡°Am I too gossipy? I¡¯m usually tired from working the night shift and like to find some casual topics to talk about.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Zhao Sen spoke calmly, ¡°I don¡¯t know much. Cheng Shaofeng worked on one project with my tutor and left after only half a year.¡± Just then, Zhao Sen¡¯s phone rang. There was a patient in the department of obstetrics and gynecology who had a heart attack. A consultation was needed. Zhao Sen stood up and put on a white coat. ¡°I¡¯m busy and will be going first.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I should go back to the general surgery department as well.¡± Xiao Lou looked at his hurried back with aplicated mood.

    The clues provided by Zhao Sen must be useful. Coincidentally, a senior who had a particrly good rtionship with Cheng Shaofeng also had ¡®Rong¡¯ in his name. Liu Qiao just heard him saying ¡®Brother Rong¡¯ and didn¡¯t know the specific character for it.

    This Lin Rongrong was also very suspicious.

    Back in the duty room, Xiao Lou told Yu Hanjiang the results of his investigation. At the same time, he downloaded Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s photos from the school website and sent them to the group.

    Yu Hanjiang locked onto the suspect Lin Rongrong instantly. His name was like a girl¡¯s and he was very white and delicate. He was thin, around 1.8 meters tall and weighed around 60 kg. Yu Hanjiang could send him flying with one kick¡­

    Would such a frail-looking boy be behind the ferocious and brutal organ trafficking organization?

    In the group, Ye Qi also sent a message. [Group Leader Yu, I have a new discovery! Uncle Zhong has a nephew called He Rong. I don¡¯t know if he is rted to the organization. In addition, we found that Uncle Zhong lives in a highly luxurious house. The ownership isn¡¯t in his name. Group Leader Yu, can you check it out?]

    Yu Hanjiang replied: [Yes.]

    The nephew of Uncle Zhong, He Rong, the ountant Nie Rong who lived in the same cell as Yu Fugui in prison, the boss of a pharmaceuticalpany Rong Cheng, the obstetrician whose medical license had been revoked Zhu Qingrong and the senior who helped Cheng Shaofeng in medical school, Lin Rongrong.

    There were so many people with the name ¡®Rong¡¯. In the end, who was the ¡®Brother Rong¡¯ mentioned by Cheng Shaofeng?

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 338: Investigation of Suspects

    Ye Qi and Old Mo¡¯s invisibility cloak has a duration of 30 minutes. Ye Qi hid while listening to He Rong and Uncle Zhong talk about the details of the 60th birthday. He Rong leaned against the sofa and said with a smile, ¡°Uncle, this 60th birthday will definitely be beautiful. I have booked the best hotel and arranged a banquet. Invitations have been sent to all your old friends. This is the finalized menu. Take a look.¡±

    Uncle Zhong smiled as he took the menu and scanned it. ¡°You are arranging it and I can rest assured. Still, don¡¯t be too extravagant.¡±

    He Rong patted his chest. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Uncle. I will definitely arrange it well¡­¡±

    The two people started to chat. Ye Qi listened to them while Old Mo quickly moved around Uncle Zhong¡¯s home. Thanks to the invisibility cloak Old Mo could move freely around the house. He wrapped his feet in it so he wouldn¡¯t leave any footsteps and was like a floating ball of air.

    The more he explored, the more startled he became. How was this an ordinary residence? It was almost like a vi.

    There were numerous rooms. In addition to the presidential suite bedroom with an area of 60 square meters, there was a study room, a chess room, a tea room, a guest room, a children¡¯s room¡­ there was even a 100 square meter gym with various high-end equipment. The balcony of the gym alone consisted of an entire wall of French windows with a width of more than 10 meters.

    Such a big house wasparable to a maze. People who didn¡¯t know the way might be dizzy when entering.

    Fortunately, Old Mo did interior design and was very sensitive to space. He quickly drew the floor n of Uncle Zhong¡¯s house in his mind and unexpectedly discovered that this wasn¡¯t a simple multi-bedroom house. It was three apartments joined together.

    In other words, someone bought three apartments on this floor and opened up the walls between the three of them. The three apartments werebined into one, bing a maze-like luxury house that was over 400 square meters in size.

    Seeing that the 30 minutes of invisibility was ending, Old Mo returned to Ye Qi and whispered in his ear, ¡°Xiao Ye, quickly withdraw.¡±

    Ye Qi replied softly, ¡°Yes, I will follow you.¡±

    A television program was being yed in the living room and Uncle Zhong and He Rong were chatting. They didn¡¯t notice the weak sound in the room.

    Ye Qi and Old Mo sneaked into the gym, opened the window and flew out with the teleportation card. They leaped continuously and stopped on the roof of a building in a distance before taking off their invisibility cloaks. Old Mo took out his mobile phone, drew the floor n in his mind and sent it to the group. [Group Leader Yu, this is the ce where Uncle Zhong lives.]

    Xiao Lou soon understood. [Three houses are joined together to form one set?]

    Based on the floor n, the middle was a small apartment while the left and right wererge apartments that were mirrored and symmetrical. Part of the walls might¡¯ve been smashed for renovation but the outline of the three apartments was still rtively obvious.

    [It seems he bought the entire 16th floor? He lived secretly in the building, buying three apartments to make a mansion. It is indeed much more low-key than living in a vi.] Yu Hanjiang paused before asking: [How many floors does this building have in total?]

    [There are 18 floors and it is the king of the entiremunity. I saw the renovations of Uncle Zhong¡¯s house and it must¡¯ve cost several million. The gym was very luxurious with one wall consisting entirely of windows. It is almostparable to a professional fitness club.] Old Mo was emotional. [The entire house is twice as expensive as his son¡¯s house.]

    [Group Leader Yu, you checked Uncle Zhong and he didn¡¯t have these three properties right? Could it be that He Rong bought them?] Old Mo asked doubtfully.

    Yu Hanjiang typed: [I¡¯ll look into it. Any other clues?]

    [I just heard Uncle Zhong and his nephew talking. Uncle Zhong will have his 60th birthday on the weekend. His nephew has prepared a birthday banquet and booked the banquet hall of the only five-star hotel in the town. There are still three days before the birthday banquet. Should Old Mo and I stay here to check it out?] Ye Qi suggested.

    [Yes.] Then Yu Hanjiang @ed all the members. [Go to bed first. Tomorrow, Ye Qi and Old Mo will wait for my notice. Teacher Qu and Long Sen will go to ¡®Fukang Medicine¡¯ Pharmacy. Liu Qiao, rest for a day. Xiao Lou will continue to follow Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s line at medical school.]

    [Okay, good night.] Xiao Lou sent this message and returned to the duty room. It was already 2:30 a.m. and everyone would only be able to get a few hours of sleep. They set an rm clock to get up at 8 o¡¯clock in the morning.

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue had breakfast. Then they walked arm in arm and pretended to go to the pharmacy to buy medicine.

    After entering the pharmacy, they saw a man in a white coat sitting at the cash register. He had clear eyes, white skin and long and clean fingers. He wore a pair of silver-framed sses and a white coat, making him look gentle but a bit cold.

    It was Zhu Qingrong. His first impression was pretty good and they werepletely unable to associate him with the word ¡®prison¡¯. It wasn¡¯t known what happened that year to cause him to make such a serious mistake in the operation, resulting in the death of the mother and child and himself being arrested.

    Qu Wanyue and Long Sen exchanged looks before walking in. Long Sen came directly to Zhu Qingrong and asked politely, ¡°Hello Doctor, my wife has been experiencing diarrhea these days. Can you rmend a medicine for it? By the way, she is pregnant. Will the medicine affect the fetus?¡±

    Zhu Qingrong looked at Qu Wanyue and asked, ¡°How many months are you pregnant?¡±

    ¡°Two months.¡±

    Zhu Qingrong got up and walked to the shelf. He found a box of medicine and handed it to her. ¡°This is Chinese medicine and the ingredients won¡¯t cause side effects to the fetus. You can take it with confidence. Three times a day with warm water. In addition, pay attention to having a light diet. Drink some nutritious porridge these days and don¡¯t eat spicy or stimting things. It causes too much of a burden on the stomach and intestines.¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you Doctor.¡± Qu Wanyue took the medicine box and asked casually, ¡°By the way, what time does your pharmacy open? I recently moved here and I wille to you to buy medicine if I have a headache.¡±

    ¡°Our pharmacy is open 24 hours.¡± Zhu Qingrong¡¯s voice was still calm and cold.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Long Sen and Qu Wanyue paid for the medicine. They couldn¡¯t stay here any longer so they turned and left the pharmacy.

    Zhu Qingrong sat down again. Qu Wanyue turned to look at him after going out. Through the ss window, she could clearly see the man¡¯s side profile. Zhu Qingrong¡¯s head was lowered as he held a tablet and seriously read the news.

    Long Sen lowered his voice and whispered in Qu Wanyue¡¯s ear, ¡°The members of the organization have all withdrawn yet he is still staying in the pharmacy. He doesn¡¯t seem like a cold-blooded, brutal guy. The manughter case might just be an ident. What do you think?¡±

    Qu Wanyue gently shook her head. ¡°I also don¡¯t think he is that bad but the investigation requires evidence. Many suspects will pretend to be innocent. We will report the results to Group Leader Yu and let him check it in detail.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll send a message.¡± Long Sen nodded in agreement. He took out his phone and reported Zhu Qingrong¡¯s situation to Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang was slightly surprised that Zhu Qingrong hadn¡¯t run away and was still working in the pharmacy.

    In his opinion, this Zhu Qingrong was very suspicious. This person saved Yu Fugui in prison and this met the conditions for pulling Yu Fugui to join the organization. Secondly, he had his doctor¡¯s license revoked due to manughter and was a doctor in obstetrics and gynecology. He was very likely to join an illegal clinic to make money by doing egg retrieval operations.

    However, if he was a member of the organization then the money he earned from the illegal clinic would be ten times higher than the sry of the pharmacy. Why waste his time sitting in the pharmacy? Moreover, the police¡¯s investigation into Cheng Shaoyu had already rmed the organization, making them evacuate from Antai Garden. Zhu Qingrong didn¡¯t hide and was sitting so openly in the pharmacy. Was he so confident that the police wouldn¡¯t get anything on him? Or was he innocent?

    Yu Hanjiang frowned as he thought about it.

    Soon, his colleague whom he asked to check the real estate information sent him the results. ¡°Group Leader Yu, you asked us to check Jinxiu Vi in Qingshui Town, Building 11 apartments 1601/1602/1603. All three properties belong to He Rong. In addition, I also found that He Rong has a sea-view vi under his name.¡±

    On the other side, the colleague investigating He Rong¡¯s profession also sent a message. [Group Leader Yu, He Rong¡¯s current profession is the boss of the Tianya Club. The entertainment club he opened in Qingshui Town is veryrge with three floors. It includes foot washing, bathing and massage services.]

    The colleague checking the background reported: [Both of He Rong¡¯s parents died when he was a child. He was raised by his uncle Zhong Yongqiang. After graduating from high school, he was admitted to medical school. However, he didn¡¯t be a doctor after graduation. He abandoned medicine and went into business.]

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and asked: [Medical school? Which one and which major?]

    [The anesthesia major in the same year as Cheng Shaofeng.]

    The colleague in charge of investigating the bank ount also sent a message: [Group Leader Yu, we found that He Rong doesn¡¯t have any record of bank loans. In the past few years, his private bank ount has recorded manyrge transactions, all of which are real estate transactions. In Novemberst year, a woman called Song Xiaoqing bought his two old houses in a small town at a high price. The price was much higher than the average market price. I will send you the transfer information from the Real Estate Bureau. In addition, nothing abnormal has been found in hispany¡¯s business flow. There is no tax evasion.]

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the four messages and his eyes narrowed slightly.

    He picked up his mobile phone and summarized the results in the group. [He Rong doesn¡¯t have any loans in his name. He is the legal owner of the Tianya Club and the monthly turnover in thepany ount is around 1 million yuan. After deducting expenditures and employee wages, the profit is around 300,000 yuan. In other words, he can make a profit of over 3 million a year by relying on this high-end club alone. The house price of the town¡¯s most high-end residential area, Jinxiu Vi is around 3 million yuan for one apartment. Based on his ie, it isn¡¯t surprising that he can buy three apartments and one private vi.]

    [He Rong is rich!] The team members sighed.

    [Is there a problem with the Tianya Club?] Xiao Lou thought for a moment. [I have never been to this type of ce but every time I pass by the door in reality, there are luxury cars always parked outside. There should be many big bosses, right?]

    [Yes, this type of VIP membership system is indeed a favorite for big bosses. In name, it is for bathing, massages, singing and entertainment. Who knows what the transactions actually are once the door is closed?] Yu Hanjiang was calm.

    [Will there be¡­ a physical transaction?] Xiao Lou was curious.

    [I will leave this to a colleague from the anti-vice and illegal activities office to investigate. The focus of our investigation is He Rong¡¯s financial situation. It is toote if I rush to the small town now. Xiao Ye and Old Mo, Tianya Club should be very lively at night. After your skills are refreshed at midnight, use the invisibility cloak to find out what¡¯s inside.]

    [Understood!] Ye Qi and Old Mo replied at the same time.

    [From the perspective of He Rong¡¯s ie in recent years, it isn¡¯t surprising that he can buy so many houses. The strange thing is that he bought three apartments and specifically built and renovated it into a single luxurious ce. Why should he let his uncle live there?] Yu Hanjiang quickly typed. [Second, did He Rong and Cheng Shaofeng meet during their medical school studies? Third, he had many real estate transactions in the past few years. What is going on with this? Simple real estate spection or moneyundering? Fourth, he is an orphan with no parents and was raised by his uncle. He opened such a high-end club but never borrowed money from a bank. Where did he get his initial capital?]

    Yu Hanjiang pointed out some problems and the team members exchanged fearful looks.

    [He Rong¡¯s suspicion has risen sharply! The source of funds is unknown and it should have something to do with Uncle Zhong and Cheng Shaofeng. Uncle Zhong clearly knows the source of Chief Shao¡¯s kidney¡­] Ye Qi scratched his head for a moment before specting: [Can it be that Uncle Zhong secretly relied on organ trafficking to make money? Then he gave the money to his nephew andundered the illegal money through the Tianya Club?]

    [It is possible.] Xiao Lou agreed. [This would exin why He Rong bought an entire floor and turned it into a luxurious ce for his uncle Zhong Yongqiang to live in. It is because the money was given to him by his uncle. However, his uncle worked as an assistant in the Shao family and his ie is limited. It will be less noticeable if his nephew buys a house.]

    [One more thing.] Yu Hanjiang looked at the information in his hand. [In Novemberst year, this is the critical period of time when Liu Renyuan and Chief Shao¡¯s kidney operations were performed. During this time, He Rong¡¯s private bank card suddenly gained arge amount of money. Someone bought several of his houses in the country at a price that was several times higher than the average market price.]

    [Houses in the country? Are the real estate transactionsplete?] Xiao Lou wondered: [Who is the buyer?]

    [It was a private transfer transaction to a woman called Song Xiaoqing. I will have my colleagues check her information.] Yu Hanjiang paused before saying: [At present, we will focus on He Rong and Zhong Yongqiang first. Xiao Ye and Old Mo will go to the Tianya Club to investigate. I will arrange things in the afternoon and rush over as soon as possible to be there for his 60th birthday party.]

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment before typing: [I have a hunch that Zhong Yongqiang knows a lot of inside information. Something is likely to happen at this Uncle Zhong¡¯s 60th birthday party.]

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 339: Lin Rongrong

    That morning, Xiao Lou turned on theputer and searched the ¡®alumni records¡¯ section of the medical school¡¯s forum. This section was used for contacting students of various years after graduation. Xiao Lou quickly found the information on Cheng Shaofeng and his senior Lin Rongrong.

    Both Cheng Shaofeng and Lin Rongrong belonged to the department of clinical medicine. When Cheng Shaofeng enrolled at university, Zhao Sen and Lin Rongrong were already in their third year. It just so happened that there was a male doctor at Incheon Hospital called Li Ran who was Lin Rongrong¡¯s ssmate during university. Therefore, Xiao Lou brought a cup of coffee during the lunch break to chat with this colleague.

    Xiao Lou first asked him about the situation of several patients he was in charge of. Then he shifted the topic to Lin Rongrong. ¡°By the way Dr Li, you graduated from the medical university right? Do you know Lin Rongrong from Clinical ss 1?¡±

    Li Ran smiled. ¡°Lin Rongrong? Of course I know him. We enrolled at the same time and were even roommates during university.¡±

    Xiao Lou met this Dr Li at work every day but he hadn¡¯t expected him to hold an important clue. Xiao Lou moved a stool over and sat down. He asked casually while drinking coffee, ¡°Where did your roommate go after graduation? It seems he isn¡¯t working at our hospital?¡±

    ¡°He isn¡¯t a doctor.¡± Li Ran looked at Xiao Lou in a puzzled manner. ¡°Howe you suddenly mentioned him?¡±

    ¡°Oh, a friend of mine was good friends with him during university and asked me yesterday for help finding out news about him.¡± Xiao Lou quickly made up an excuse.

    ¡°I see¡­ in fact, I don¡¯t know where he went after graduation.¡± Li Ran smiled apologetically.

    ¡°Oh? You were university roommates but you didn¡¯t keep in touch?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a long story.¡± Li Ran coughed. ¡°Lin Rongrong and I might¡¯ve been roommates but we weren¡¯t very close. In my first year when I went to the dormitory, I saw my roommate¡¯s name stuck on the door and wondered why ¡®Lin Rongrong¡¯ sounded like a girl. Later, he came to the dormitory with a suitcase. It turned out that he was a pretty boy. He had a cold personality so I didn¡¯t dare talk to him.¡±

    ¡°He wasn¡¯t well-liked in university?¡±

    ¡°He was rtively withdrawn. He always went to the library to study alone and didn¡¯t chat with his ssmates. At that time, everyone else liked to y games but he never participated. However, his grades were really good. He got schrships every year.¡± Li Ran sighed and shook his head. ¡°s, it is a pity. At the beginning of medical school, we all thought he would be the most promising ssmate. He was admitted to graduate school but he didn¡¯t end up going there.¡±

    ¡°He was admitted but didn¡¯t go? Did something happen?¡±

    ¡°Something happened in his family. I heard he had no father since he was a child. His mother raised him by herself. He was admitted to our hospital as a graduate student the year he graduated but on the day of the graduate interview, his mother died of uremia. He didn¡¯t attend the interview and missed the best opportunity.¡± Li Ran¡¯s face was full of regret as he talked. He obviously felt sorry for his former roommate.

    ¡°Uremia?¡± Xiao Lou was taken aback for a moment. This was a syndrome that was difficult to deal with in thete stage of chronic kidney disease and required hemodialysis. Hemodialysis was expensive and also difficult for patients. The only way topletely improve the symptoms of uremia was through a kidney transnt.

    A spection gradually emerged in Xiao Lou¡¯s mind and he continued to ask, ¡°Is the condition of Lin Rongrong¡¯s family not good? Did he have money for a kidney transnt for his mother?¡±

    ¡°No, his family is from the remote countryside and his mother didn¡¯t have a stable source of ie. They could only live on subsistence allowances. During university, he applied for financial aid every year and was busy working and studying. Maybe it was because he was too busy but he seldom yed with us.¡± Li Ran leaned back against the chair, his face full of helplessness. ¡°His family was so poor, forget about money for a kidney transnt, he needed to save money every time his mother received dialysis. I once saw him eating instant noodles in the dormitory for a whole week. He was extremely thin during school and looked malnourished. I could hardly bear to look at him.¡±

    ¡°He didn¡¯t retake the graduate examination after his mother died? With his grades, couldn¡¯t he pass the entrance examination after another year of reviewing it?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps this incident was too big a blow. At the time, he posted to his circle of friends asking what is the point of studying medicine? He couldn¡¯t even save his closest rtive. Maybe he was frustrated but in any case, he didn¡¯t go to graduate school or be a doctor.¡± Dr Li paused. ¡°It has been so many years since graduation but he never went to any ss reunion, nor did he contact us. I don¡¯t know where he works.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I know him.¡± Xiao Lou continued, ¡°I heard my friend say that Lin Rongrong and Cheng Shaofeng had a good rtionship. Do you know Cheng Shaofeng?¡±

    ¡°I know him. They met at an orientation party. Lin Rongrong is good at ying the guitar. It is said he was self-taught but he was really great. At that year¡¯s orientation party, there was no performance from our ss. The head teacher knew he could y the guitar and asked him to perform for them. It happened that Cheng Shaofeng also liked ying guitar. After bing acquainted backstage, they became familiar with each other.¡± Li Ran scratched the back of his head. ¡°Cheng Shaofeng was just like a little fan. He called Li Rongrong ¡®senior¡¯ and often came to our dormitory to get review materials. Lin Rongrong wasn¡¯t stingy and would lend his notes to this student. The rtionship between them was much closer than between us roommates.¡±

    ¡°Cheng Shaofeng called him¡­ Senior?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Lin Rongrong was two years ahead of Cheng Shaofeng so he should be called this.¡±

    It seemed that Zhao Sen didn¡¯t lie about this. Cheng Shaofeng and Lin Rongrong really did have a good rtionship and the students around them all knew this.

    Xiao Lou listened and was finally able to sort out the cause and effect.

    Cheng Shaofeng and Lin Rongrong had a good rtionship during their studies. Lin Rongrong helped Cheng Shaofeng out and should be a respected senior. During their studies, Cheng Shaofeng called him ¡®senior¡¯ out of courtesy. It would be reasonable to call him ¡®Brother Rong¡¯ after graduation.

    Lin Rongrong¡¯s mother died of uremia. He studied medicine for many years but couldn¡¯t save his only rtive. Thus, he gave up on graduate school in despair. In addition, he was born to a poor family so he might¡¯ve be psychologically distorted as a result. He embarked on an illegal and criminal path, relying on the medical knowledge he learned to make huge profits.

    He took the graduate exam for cardiac surgery and during his internship he worked as an assistant in the operating rooms for cardiac surgeries. Obviously, he was very interested in heart surgery. He taught himself to y guitar and was quite smart. He might not be a doctor but he had a good academic record and solid foundation. After several years of self-study and practice with cadavers, he might be able to learn the procedures for a heart removal and kidney removal. It was just that due to hisck of clinical experience, mistakes would inevitably ur during the operation. As a result, some people suffered from severe side-effects and died after the operation¡­

    The more Xiao Lou thought about it, the more he felt his guess was reasonable. He immediately told Yu Hanjiang what he had learned.

    At the same time, Xiao Lou raised his own doubts. ¡°There¡¯s one point that doesn¡¯t make sense. Lin Rongrong¡¯s family is poor and he shouldn¡¯t have any powerful rtives. It would be hard for him to form arge-scale organ trafficking organization with his own ability. From my point of view it would be more usible for him to be the surgeon in this organization instead of the leader.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had already arranged for his colleagues to investigate all of the suspects¡¯ household registration information, work history, bank records and social rtionships.

    He heard Xiao Lou¡¯s analysis and agreed. ¡°Lin Rongrong is indeed very suspicious. I investigated and found that he didn¡¯t work as a doctor after graduation. He went to work in a pharmaceuticalpany and did scientific research. The name of thepany he worked for was ¡®Huaxin Pharmaceuticals¡¯ which had its business license canceled by the Food and Drug Administration. Guess who thepany¡¯s boss is?¡±

    ¡°Is it Rong Cheng?¡± Xiao Lou touched his chin and analyzed it. ¡°The sale of counterfeit and inferior medicines hurt many people and some were admitted to hospital. As a result, the owner of the pharmaceuticalspany Rong Cheng was sentenced. His business must¡¯ve had its qualifications revoked.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°Lin Rongrong was an employee of this boss.¡±

    ¡°They actually have this connection¡­ after Rong Cheng was arrested and jailed, where did Lin Rongrong go?¡±

    ¡°His current whereabouts are unknown and this is what I feel is most suspicious.¡± Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment. Then he piled up some documents and turned to thest page. ¡°There is good news. Song Xiaoqing¡¯s identity has also been determined.¡±

    ¡°The person who bought two houses from He Rong? Is she rted as well?¡±

    ¡°Yes, she is a rich woman who does business rted to medical equipment. She has an older brother who is the biggest real estate developer in the city. The Jinxiu Vi project in Qingshui Town was developed by her brother¡¯spany. Previously, she had a romantic rtionship with Rong Cheng. When Rong Cheng was arrested, the police suspected her but there was no evidence. The source, whereabouts and ounts of herpany¡¯s medical equipment were all clean. After Rong Cheng was in prison, she broke up with him. She never visited him in prison and the two of them broke off contactpletely on the surface.¡± Yu Hanjiang picked up a pen and marked the key points in the information. ¡°After checking, I found that these people are inextricably linked.¡±

    Who was the most suspicious?

    Yu Hanjiang shared all the clues in the group, which caused the team members to develop a massive headache when they finished reading.

    Xiao Lou carefully sorted out the situation of these people and typed: [Lin Rongrong is likely to be the doctor performing surgery at the illegal clinic. I don¡¯t think he is the Brother Rong that Cheng Shaofeng was talking to. At that time, Liu Qiao followed Cheng Shaofeng to the airport. Cheng Shaofeng called Brother Rong to say he would be there in half an hour. Brother Rong must be a capable person and Cheng Shaofeng had to report to him when escaping. Brother Rong also arranged for the driver to hit Cheng Shaofeng and kill him¡­ I don¡¯t think Lin Rongrong would have the skills to do so? Could ¡®Brother Rong¡¯ be the Boss Rong of the pharmaceuticalpany?]

    Boss Rong made a lot of money through unscrupulous means by selling fake drugs through his pharmaceuticalpany. His assets were confiscated after he was arrested but who knew if he had transferred his assets abroad long ago? Moreover, Yu Hanjiang found that thest time he appeared was to take an international flight. Did he really go abroad or was it just a cover?

    Maybe when he sold the fake medicines, he had already formed this underground organ trafficking organization?

    There were so many suspects with ¡®Rong¡¯ in their names. Who was Brother Rong, who was a member of the organization and who was an interference item?

    In order to facilitate the understanding of the team members, Yu Hanjiang summed up the current clues.

    [Zhu Qingrong had his doctor¡¯s license revoked for manughter while Lin Rongrong was discouraged from studying medicine due to his mother¡¯s death. Both of them might¡¯ve be psychologically twisted to go to extremes, bing executioners in a dark operating room.]

    [Rong Cheng was the boss of a pharmaceuticalpany. He has a lot of money and a history of selling fake medicine. He Rong¡¯s source of funds is unknown and his uncle was the assistant of Shao Qingge¡¯s father. He opened an entertainment club and knows a lot of people. Both of them have the capital and strength to set up a huge underground organ trafficking organization.]

    [There is also Nie Rong who was sentenced to prison for embezzling public funds. His suspicion is low but he can¡¯t bepletely ruled out.]

    Long Sen had a headache and held his temples. [I feel that everyone is a suspect but who is the most likely?]

    Qu Wanyue: [I also think that ¡®when you pull a radish out of the ground, some dirt wille up with it (uncover evidence of other crimes during the investigation of a crime). Several suspects have a rtionship with each other. Is it possible that we just touched the edge of the organization and haven¡¯t touched the real core?]

    Yu Hanjiang asked a question. [Cheng Shaofeng called this person Brother Rong. Does this person necessarily need to have ¡®rong¡¯ in his name?]

    Everyone saw this sentence and were startled. Due to inertial thinking, Cheng Shaofeng called the other person Brother Rong so they thought that the other person was called ¡®XX Rong¡¯ or had the surname Rong. Yet what if Brother Rong was just a code name?

    Yu Hanjiang: [We will continue to investigate these people. I¡¯m leaving for Qingshui Town now. @Xiao Ye @Old Mo, you will join me tomorrow for Uncle Zhong¡¯s 60th birthday party.]

    Xiao Lou spoke through the heart channel. ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡± He always felt that something would happen tomorrow. This type of vague premonition meant he couldn¡¯t rest assured of Yu Hanjiang¡¯s actions.

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°You haven¡¯t had a good rest these few days. Xiao Ye and Old Mo are here. You don¡¯t need to run so far. Just stay at the hospital and wait for my news.¡±

    Xiao Lou was stubborn. ¡°I will take a day off tomorrow and apany you to go.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang knew that Xiao Lou was worried about him and couldn¡¯t refuse. ¡°Okay, then I wille to the hospital tonight at 6 o¡¯clock to pick you up.¡±

    ***

    At 6 o¡¯clock in the evening, Xiao Lou finished asking for leave. He went to the duty room to change into normal clothes and came to the ce where he agreed to meet Yu Hanjiang.

    The two of them ate dinner before Yu Hanjiang took Xiao Lou and drove to Qingshui Town. In order to avoid too much attention, he drove his own private car. The car quickly got on the highway. Xiao Lou sat in the front passenger¡¯s seat and it wasn¡¯t known what he was thinking.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at his side profile and asked in a low voice, ¡°What are you thinking about so seriously?¡±

    Xiao Lou frowned thoughtfully. ¡°I just feel that there is an important clue we have missed.¡±

    ¡°We have checked everything that should be checked. What part is irking you?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought carefully before his eyes lit up. ¡°Liu Renyuan¡¯s kidney! In the very beginning, we found that Liu Renyuan¡¯s kidney disappeared. Later, we suspected that his kidney went to Chief Shao. Then we found out that Chief Shao¡¯s kidney wasn¡¯t a DNA match. Chief Shao¡¯s kidney came from the delivery worker Wang Wei. Liu Renyuan¡¯s kidney was transnted to a woman called Luo Yuwei. Have you checked her?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment before answering, ¡°You told me this information and I certainly wouldn¡¯t miss it. However, the results of the investigation are disappointing. This Luo Yuwei died at home at the end ofst year.¡±

    ¡°Died?¡± Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes widened slightly. ¡°Was she killed? Or did she die of natural causes?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°ording to the results of the autopsy, she died of rejection after the kidney transnt. Her family members have already emigrated so this clue line has been broken.¡±

    Xiao Lou frowned.

    What else was being overlooked by them?

    Teacher Qu said ¡®when you pull a radish out of the ground, some dirt wille up with it¡¯ (uncover evidence of other crimes during the investigation of a crime). Maybe these things were just ¡®dirt¡¯. Then where was the real ¡®root¡¯ of the radish?

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 340: Night Exploration at the Club

    Originally, Yu Hanjiang had decided to rush to Qingshui Town the next day, but then he investigated more and found that the rtionships and backgrounds of these people were moreplicated than he had thought. He was worried that Xiao Ye and Old Mo wouldn¡¯t be able to cope so he set off early to provide support.

    This small town was remote but data showed that it had excellent scenery, good air quality and pleasant weather throughout the year, making it a very suitable ce for the elderly. It was a wise decision for Uncle Zhong to choose to return here. Not only could he enjoy retirement in his old age, but he could also hide in this small town and no one woulde to trouble him.

    It was already dark when Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou arrived and there were few pedestrians on the street. The nightlife of the small town wasn¡¯t as rich as that of big cities so the ¡®Tianya Club¡¯ located in the heart of the small town was particrly eye-catching. The three-storey building was surrounded by colorful neon lights that were shing in a brilliant manner.

    Before the two of them arrived, they got in touch with Ye Qi. They went to the hotel to pick up Ye Qi and Old Mo and then set off for the ¡®Tianya Club¡¯.

    Ye Qi sat in the back seat of the car and said, ¡°I went to the club with Old Most night. The cloak was in a cooldown state so we couldn¡¯t sneak in. We pretended to be outsiders and went to the door to ask about the identity of this ce. The security guard at the door said it was a membership-based entertainment club. People have to be introduced by an acquaintance and could only enter with a membership card. Normal people aren¡¯t allowed to enter.¡±

    Old Mo added, ¡°The management of this club is very strict. The security knows all of the customers so strangers can¡¯t get in. However, I found a lot of luxury cars parked in the parking lot of the club and I saw He Rong driving back here at 3 o¡¯clock in the morning. The club is closed during the day. It opens at 6 p.m. and goes until 8 a.m. of the next day.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang understood the situation. He looked down at the time on his watch and gave out decisive orders. ¡°It is 10:30 p.m. Xiao Lou and I will go explore first. Once the card skills are refreshed at midnight, Xiao Ye and Old Mo will go in again.¡±

    Ye Qi was worried. ¡°The clubhouse looks mysterious. If there is danger inside and the duration of the invisibility cloak ends, what will you do if you can¡¯t escape? Do you want to set up a teleportation point in advance?¡±

    Xiao Lou felt that Ye Qi¡¯s concern was very reasonable so he took out the Tao Yuanming card. ¡°I will open the entrance of the Peach Blossom Spring in the car. Later, if there is danger and we can¡¯t get out then we will transfer directly through this.¡±

    This was double insurance. The invisibility cloak had 30 minutes of invisibility and no one else could see them at all. If they couldn¡¯t find an exit within 30 minutes or if it was toote to escape, they would go directly back to the Peach Blossom Spring. The entrance was in the car and it was safe if the car was parked in the distance.

    Ye Qi and Old Mo put down their worries and sat in the car with peace of mind.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou came near the clubhouse. The two of them hid in a dark corner and waited until a private car drove to the door of the clubhouse and the doorman went down to help open the door. Yu Hanjiang whispered in Xiao Lou¡¯s ear, ¡°Let¡¯s go. Follow them.¡±

    Xiao Lou tacitly nodded and took out the Invisibility Cloak card. He was about to put it on when Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°No one knows what is going on inside the clubhouse. If it is a maze again, we might get separated. To be on the safe side, I will take you so we don¡¯t separate.¡±

    Then he simply reached out and gently grabbed Xiao Lou¡¯s wrist. Xiao Lou felt that this wrist was hot but it wasn¡¯t easy to pull his hand back. He saw Yu Hanjiang putting on the cloak and disappearing in front of him and knew it wasn¡¯t time to worry about this. He immediately activated the cloak.

    Yu Hanjiang also wrapped the cloak around where they were holding hands so no one could find them at all. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t see Yu Hanjiang but the clear touch on his wrist told him that Yu Hanjiang was right beside him. This made him feel at ease.

    The two of them arrived at the door of the clubhouse just as a big boss came down from the car. The boss was tall and he wore a suit with a shiny emerald ring on his finger that looked expensive. The receptionist at the door greeted him with a smile.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou followed him, shing into the club the moment the door was opened. The interior of the club was luxurious. The crystal chandelier in the lobby shone with a diamond-like luster and there was an elevator in the middle. The lobby manager saw the guest and moved forward. ¡°Mr Yu, wee. The room you booked has been kept for you.¡±

    Mr Yu smiled. ¡°Thank you. Is Xiao Ping here today?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve already asked her to prepare. Pleasee with me.¡±

    He followed the manager to a private room. Yu Hanjiang followed behind them with Xiao Lou.

    The boss walked into the VIP-8 room on the 1st floor. The room was very spacious with a sofa, coffee table and king-sized bed. In the attached bathroom, there was a luxurious bathtub that could easily amodate two adults. A young and beautiful woman was waiting for him in the room. The two of them should be very familiar with each other. The woman wasn¡¯t shy at all. She took the initiative to wee Boss Yu into the bathroom and asked with a smile, ¡°Mr Yu, is it the milk bath, essential oils bath or medicinal bath today?¡±

    Boss Yu gently pressed a hand against his forehead. ¡°I¡¯ve been tired recently. Let¡¯s make it a medicinal bath.¡±

    The woman turned to get the medicine and Boss Yu started to undress. Yu Hanjiang wasn¡¯t interested in watching a big man taking a bath so he turned to take Xiao Lou away. As a result, the two of them had just walked out of the bathroom when strange sounds were heard from the room.

    Xiao Lou looked back incredulously and the scene in front of him made him blush.

    The medicinal bath hadn¡¯t started when Boss Yu hugged the woman impatiently and rolled into the bathtub. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang hadn¡¯t expected to directly watch a live show. Both of them were embarrassed and quickly sneaked out.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and stabilized his heartbeat. He ignored the scene he just saw and spoke through the heart channel, ¡°This club is indeed not simple. It is nominally for getting massages but in fact¡­¡±

    He was too embarrassed to continue.

    Yu Hanjiang was very calm and spoke indifferently, ¡°I guessed it. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t have such a mysteriously and secretive VIP membership system for a simple bathing ce.¡±

    Xiao Lou coughed lightly and changed the subject. ¡°Does this ¡®Tianya Club¡¯ have a direct link with the organ trafficking organization?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s check it out.¡±

    The two of them left the room and returned to the hallway. The soundproofing effect of the door was excellent. They couldn¡¯t hear what was going on inside from the corridor. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou started to explore the club.

    They walked around and found that this club was like abyrinth. All of the corridors were decorated exactly the same. There were bright crystal lights on the ceiling and the floor was covered with marble tiles. The wide corridor had VIP rooms on both sides and the winding corridors meant it was easy to get lost.

    Xiao Lou was good at puzzles but his sense of direction wasn¡¯t very strong. After walking in a circle, he couldn¡¯t tell where he was and everywhere looked exactly the same. Yu Hanjiang also started to have a headache. ¡°A of Diamonds didn¡¯t indicate that this was a maze instance. It seems the ¡®Tianya Club¡¯ was arranged this way originally and there might be some secrets hidden here.¡±

    Xiao Lou helplessly suggested, ¡°We should call Old Mo. I can¡¯t tell any direction in this maze and it doesn¡¯t feel like a simple ¡®»Ø¡¯ structure.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang estimated the time of the invisibility cloak and spoke decisively, ¡°Let¡¯s go back. Once it is 12 o¡¯clock, we wille back with Old Mo.¡±

    The two men exited the club through the Peach Blossom Spring and returned to the car. Ye Qi saw them suddenly appear in the car and his eyes widened. ¡°What happened? You came straight back?¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°We encountered a maze and couldn¡¯t find the way.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told them, ¡°We will go back after midnight. We only have 30 minutes. Old Mo, try to get a good feel of the rooms inside the club.¡±

    Mo Xuemin nodded earnestly. ¡°I will try my best.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°After putting on the cloak, we can¡¯t see each other and it is easy to get separated. Old Mo will take Ye Qi with him while being connected to Xiao Lou through Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. Once you get to a corner, point out a direction to Xiao Lou. He will take me.¡±

    In this way, they wouldn¡¯t get separated even if they were invisible. The moment the card skills were reset at midnight, the connection between Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang was removed and he established a connection with Old Mo instead. The four of them put on their cloaks again and returned to the club.

    After passing the familiar lobby, everyone entered the first corridor. Old Mo took the lead while holding Ye Qi. Xiao Lou followed with Yu Hanjiang. At the corner, he heard Old Mo say in his mind, ¡°Left.¡±

    Xiao Lou led Yu Hanjiang to the left. They walked to the fork in the road and continued to follow Old Mo¡¯s instructions, walking to the left.

    As he walked, Old Mo remembered the room numbers and corridor positions in his head. After walking around, he found that this ce was much moreplicated than thebyrinth in Antai Garden. Antai Garden was divided into ¡®¶¡¡¯ junctions while thisbyrinth was divided into ¡®Ê®¡¯ intersections.

    Ye Qi quickly became dizzy and didn¡¯t dare to speak. He could only obediently follow Old Mo. The thing that made everyone more puzzled was that they didn¡¯t see anyone inside the ¡®Tianya Club¡¯! The guests should all be in the rooms. It could be imagined what was going on inside the rooms but the corridors were empty and quiet. It was like walking through a suffocatingly empty city.

    After walking for more than 10 minutes in the empty corridors like this, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help it anymore. He asked in his mind, ¡°Old Mo, what is the situation of this maze? Why does it seem like there is no end and we are just going around in circles?¡±

    Old Mo took a deep breath before answering, ¡°If my judgment is correct, this should be a maze of the ¡®Ìï¡¯ type. There are four ¡®Ìï¡¯ characters on this floor alone and the four ¡®Ìï¡¯ characters formed a ¡®»Ø¡¯ corridor structure.

    To facilitate everyone¡¯s understanding, Old Mo stopped at a bathroom. He wet his fingers and quickly drew a floor n on the hand washing stand.

    There were four ¡®Ìï¡¯ characters on the top, bottom, left and right but a clear space was formed in the middle and the four corners.

    ¿ÚÌï¿Ú

    Ìï¿ÚÌï

    ¿ÚÌï¿Ú

    Xiao Lou looked at the map drawn with water on the table and couldn¡¯t help feeling surprised. ¡°The Ìï is the ce we walked just now? I remember that each corridor is around the same length. The ¡®¿Ú¡¯ in the middle is the elevator and the lobby of the club. Then what are the nk areas in the four corners?¡±

    ¡°Xiao Ye and I observed this building from a high altitude yesterday. Its appearance is a standard cubic structure so the ¡®¿Ú¡¯ areas in the four corners will never be empty.¡± Old Mo paused and spected, ¡°I suspect the ¡®Ìï¡¯ are just for guests. Once peoplee to the end of the corridor, it is easy to think the road is a dead end. Yet in fact, there are probably many secret doors in this club.¡±

    Old Mo used water droplets to mark a few ces where the hidden doors might exist.

    This club was very skillfully designed. The corridors with the ¡®Ìï¡¯ structure formed arge number of corridors in the club. Even if the police came to investigate, the corridors ultimately resulted in dead ends so no one would think there were hidden doors leading to more areas.

    It was thanks to the presence of Old Mo that they knew. Fortunately, he looked down and observed the entire shape of the building in advance. Only then did he infer the secret inside the club. The first time Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang entered the club, they hadn¡¯t seen the existence of these hidden doors.

    Yu Hanjiang turned his head to look at the end of the corridor. The inside of the club was decorated luxuriously and the walls in the corridor had many mirrors hung. This would magnify the current scene visually. For example, a mirror ced at the end of the original 50 meters long corridor would make people feel that it was as long as 100 meters.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°Is there a problem with this mirror?¡±

    Old Mo agreed. ¡°I also think that it isn¡¯t a wall behind the mirror. There might be a secret space.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang simply said, ¡°Let¡¯s take a look.¡±

    The four of them quickly walked to the mirror. The mirror didn¡¯t look special. It was just amon full-length mirror with an ivory-white frame covered in delicate carvings. Yu Hanjiang reached out to push it but the mirror didn¡¯t move.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Is it not the mirror?¡±

    Old Mo suggested, ¡°Try it again. There are three corridors at the junction of ¡®Ìï¡¯ and ¡®¿Ú¡¯, all of them with mirrors. There should be secrets behind at least one mirror.¡±

    The four of them conducted a thorough investigation of the mirrors at the end of the corridors.

    They didn¡¯t find anything wrong with all the mirrors on the first floor and there also wasn¡¯t anything on the second floor. After seeing that there were only five minutes left for the invisibility cloak and they still hadn¡¯t investigated the third floor, Old Mo felt a bit guilty. ¡°Perhaps I thought incorrectly?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°We will keep looking. It doesn¡¯t matter if we don¡¯t find it. In any case, we can retreat through the Peach Blossom Spring. We will retreat the moment the duration of the invisibility cloak ends.¡±

    The four of them hurried up to check the third floor. There were mirrors at the end of all corridors. When he reached the mirror in the east corner, Xiao Lou suddenly stopped and spoke gently, ¡°This mirror isn¡¯t quite right.¡±

    On the upper left corner of the mirror, a small piece of paint on the ivory frame had fallen off.

    If it was a good quality mirror then the cleaner wouldn¡¯t wipe the paint off the frame when cleaning the mirror. It was only if the edge of the mirror hit the wall that the paint would easily fall off. If this was a door, then the corner where the paint fell off would be right next to the wall after opening it.

    Xiao Lou reached out and pressed a corner of the mirror. The mirror was still unresponsive but a LCD screen with the numbers 1-9 appeared on the mirror. Yu Hanjiang thought carefully. ¡°This is He Rong¡¯s club and his birthday is 1224. Will the password be his birthday?¡±

    The only person who could be linked to the club at the moment was the boss He Rong.

    Ye Qi was worried. ¡°What should we do if it is wrong?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang answered, ¡°If the police is called or the secret door is locked then we can directly retreat.¡±

    Ye Qi let go of his worries. ¡°That¡¯s right. It isn¡¯t a big deal to retreat. Group Leader Yu, you try it.¡±

    Xiao Lou interrupted them. ¡°The password shouldn¡¯t be 1224. So far, the mazes we have encountered haven¡¯t been as simple as the person¡¯s birthday. It might have to be analyzed from the terrain.¡±

    Old Mo thought carefully. ¡°Is the password rted to the structure of the maze?¡±

    Xiao Lou spected, ¡°Four ¡®Ìï¡¯ form a nk area and the character ¡®Ìï¡¯ has five strokes. 4 and 5 should be in the password. We have also checked and there are a total of 72 mirrors in the club. I think the password is more likely to be 4572?¡± (http://.strokeorder.info/mandarin.php?q=%E7%94%B0)

    He had just finished speaking when Yu Hanjiang directly entered the result. Ye Qi¡¯s eyes widened. Group Leader Yu didn¡¯t even hesitate. Did he believe in Professor Xiao so much? As it turned out, Xiao Lou¡¯s spection was indeed correct.

    After entering the password obtained from the terrain analysis, the mirror really rotated 90 degrees in front of everyone! A dark, narrow passageway appeared behind the mirror. Before everyone had time to see what was hidden in the passage, an ear-piercing rm rang out. There were 30 seconds left on the cloak while the sirens rmed the security guards in the club. There was the sound of hurried footsteps throughout the building.

    Ye Qi was nervous. ¡°This is bad. They will call the police! We should get out of here quickly!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang whispered in Xiao Lou¡¯s ear, ¡°Wait for me and only teleport in thest three seconds.¡±

    Then the man shed like a gust of wind into the secret passage. Xiao Lou saw the light of the Night Pearl in the secret passage before it immediately disappeared. Countless footsteps were heard from downstairs and getting closer to them!

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart almost stopped beating when he saw Yu Hanjiang move alone with the Night Pearl. The security guards arrived in the corridor on the third floor. The moment the effect of the invisibility cloak was over, they would be caught.

    Thest 10 seconds of the countdown¡­

    Xiao Lou counted silently in his heart. The moment he counted to 3, he decisively activated the teleportation! The four people instantly teleported back to the Peach Blossom Spring and the cloak became invalid almost immediately. They nced at each other with slightly nervous expressions.

    Ye Qi sighed with relief. ¡°I was scared to death. So dangerous!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stood under the peach blossom trees, his face pale.

    Xiao Lou looked at his expression and hurried forward. ¡°Did you see anything just now?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and answered in a low voice, ¡°Many guns. There were all types of guns.¡±

    The three people, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang dered solemnly, ¡°Behind the secret door of the ¡®Tianya Club¡¯, there is actually a huge arsenal of weapons. We have reached the core of this organization. When I investigated Cheng Shaofeng, I was shot. It was the people of this organization who wanted to kill Cheng Shaofeng to shut his mouth!¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 341: Birthday Banquet

    On the first day they entered the secret room, Yu Hanjiang was shot in the abdomen and experienced a cardiac arrest in the rescue room. Xiao Lou still felt lingering fear when thinking about the scene at that time. If the rescue wasn¡¯t in time, Yu Hanjiang probably would¡¯ve died on the operating table.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath to calm his mind. Then he asked Yu Hanjiang, ¡°You mean, the person hiding in Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s house at the time and who shot at you isn¡¯t the murderer who killed his brother but¡­ a killer sent by the organization?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had gone to find Cheng Shaofeng to investigate the ¡®Cheng Shaoyu dismembered corpse case¡¯.

    ording to Liu Qiao¡¯s description, Cheng Shaofeng went to see his brother for something on the rainy night of January 25th but he found a tall man wearing a raincoat and carrying a ck garbage bag near his brother¡¯s residence. It was probably the murderer who killed his brother. If this spection was true then Cheng Shaofeng was a witness in his brother¡¯s case. The one most motivated to kill Cheng Shaofeng was naturally Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s murderer.

    However, this didn¡¯t seem to be the case now. That person used a gun and it was difficult for ordinary people to get a gun.

    Yu Hanjiang closed his eyes and carefully recalled the scene at the time. He remembered that he and his colleagues parked the police car at the gate of themunity and walked inside. He came to the door of Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s vi and it wasn¡¯t locked, so Yu Hanjiang pushed the door open. The house waspletely dark. Just as he was about to turn on the light, there was a gunshot. Then a shadow jumped out the window and fled¡­

    This scene clearly remained in his memory but no matter how he looked back, he couldn¡¯t see the appearance of the killer. Judging from the silhouette, the opponent should be a man around 1.7 meters tall who was agile and flexible.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and analyzed it. ¡°The motive for killing Cheng Shaoyu was for revenge. It was probably done by someone rted to the victim of Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s heart transnt. He couldn¡¯t be so divine as to know in advance that we will investigate Cheng Shaofeng. Remember, the investigation into Cheng Shaofeng at that time was a secret and it was impossible to leak the news.¡±

    Ye Qi was puzzled and scratched his head. ¡°Is this a coincidence?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang touched his chin as he thought about it. ¡°The killer was probably hiding in Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s house for several days, just waiting for Cheng Shaofeng toe back and kill him. I opened the door to enter and he mistakenly thought I was Cheng Shaofeng, so he shot me.¡± Yu Hanjiang looked back at Xiao Lou. ¡°What do you think?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it and nodded in agreement. ¡°It makes sense. This can also exin why Cheng Shaofeng was ready to escape abroad by private ne only for someone to kill him halfway. It seems that the organization must have been trying to get rid of him.¡±

    Old Mo made a guess. ¡°Perhaps he knows a secret that shouldn¡¯t be known so he was killed by the organization?¡±

    A powerful young master like Cheng Shaofeng must already be a senior management level in the organization. What secret couldn¡¯t he know and why would knowing it result in him being murdered?

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou nced at each other and spoke simultaneously, ¡°The identity of the head of the organization?¡±

    ¡°Yes, only the boss will execute his men.¡± Ye Qi sighed. ¡°Killing, selling organs and smuggling weapons. If the boss¡¯ identity is revealed, any one of these crimes is enough for him to be sentenced to death! Therefore, the boss is likely hiding behind the scenes. The senior members don¡¯t know his true identity but call him by his code name!¡±

    Old Mo lookedplicated. ¡°His code name is Brother Rong?¡±

    Such spection frightened everyone but after thinking about it carefully, they felt it was reasonable.

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment before concluding, ¡°There are two possibilities. The first is that the ¡®Brother Rong¡¯ that Cheng Shaofeng called out at the time is one of the suspects we are investigating. He is someone Cheng Shaofeng is familiar with such as his senior Lin Rongrong or the pharmaceuticalpany¡¯s boss, Rong Cheng.¡±

    ¡°Secondly, the ¡®Brother Rong¡¯ on the phone is the leader of the organization. He has never been seen but Cheng Shaofeng identally learned his identity. The other person deliberately pretended to arrange for Cheng Shaofeng to go abroad by private ne but in fact, wanted to kill him.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°In any case, Brother Rong must be rted to the driver who killed Cheng Shaofeng.¡±

    Ye Qi asked curiously, ¡°Did the driver confess?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Yu Hanjiang answered. ¡°The driver was brought back by me for questioning but he insists it was fatigued driving. He changednes and forgot to look in the rearview mirror, causing him to crash into Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s car. For two days, I didn¡¯t arrange for him to be interrogated. I just locked him up. He will definitely think about it and be flustered. Let him be nervous for two days first. Once I go back tomorrow, I will use high-pressure interrogation on him to pry open his mouth.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought that the driver shouldn¡¯tst long under Yu Hanjiang¡¯s interrogation, but he was concerned about another problem. ¡°We opened the passage and the rm was triggered. I¡¯m afraid this action has aroused their suspicions and they will immediately transfer the batch of weapons. Then it will be difficult when the policee looking for evidence.¡±

    ¡°I put on the eleration shoes and became five times faster. A few seconds is enough,¡± Yu Hanjiang answered calmly. He was a police officer. When it came to ¡®anti-investigation¡¯ methods, no one was more professional.

    ¡°Group Leader Yu is really attentive.¡± Ye Qi gave a thumbs up. ¡°This way, they will think the sirens on the third floor rang because of the fire in the bathroom?¡±

    ¡°Hopefully they will think so.¡± Yu Hanjiang acted btedly. If the other side was more careful and left other clues in the mirror so that it could be detected as long as the mirror moved then it couldn¡¯t be helped.

    ***

    At the same time in the ¡®Tianya Club¡¯.

    He Rong received the news and quickly walked to the mirror at the end of the third floor. The mirror was no different from usual and the hair in the gap was still in its original spot. The trash can in the bathroom was smoking and the rm on the ceiling was shing red¡­

    It seemed like someone smoked a cigarette in the bathroom and identally lit up the garbage, triggering the smoke rm. However, the frequency of the rm on the ceiling wasn¡¯t the same as the usual smoke rm. The former was once per second while thetter was three times in two seconds. Most people couldn¡¯t hear it but in order to ensure the safety of the things inside the secret door, he specifically modified the rm. He couldn¡¯t hear it incorrectly!

    He Rong¡¯s face changed and he immediately turned around to give an order to his subordinates. ¡°Go and check the surveince to see who passed by in the corridor of the third floor just now!¡±

    His subordinates went down to the monitoring room to call up the surveince video for the corridor of the third floor. The result was a ck screen. He Rong was furious and mmed his hand hard against the table. ¡°When did the surveince break?¡±

    The security guard in front of the monitoring answered in a trembling manner, ¡°This¡­ j-just now it was fine? I just went to the bathroom and it broke¡­ Brother Rong, I r-really don¡¯t know.¡±

    He Rong grabbed at the other person¡¯s cor. ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you to keep watching? Why did you fucking go to the bathroom at the critical moment?!¡±

    The face of the security guard paled from fright.

    He Rong threw him onto the chair, picked up the phone with a calm expression and called someone. The call was quickly connected and He Rong spoke respectfully. ¡°Boss, it seems that someone has entered the warehouse on my side. I suspect we have been targeted by the police. For tomorrow¡¯s transaction¡­ do you want to change ces?¡±

    The other person spoke indifferently. ¡°You are too worried. The police aren¡¯t that great. The transaction will continue.¡±

    He Rong had to nod obediently. ¡°Then we will meet at the usual ce. I¡¯ll see you then.¡±

    After hanging up, He Rong still felt a bit uneasy.

    The other person was a master who left no traces. The mirror looked exactly the same as before and even the location of the hair hadn¡¯t changed. It wasn¡¯t a coincidence that the surveince was broken, right? He didn¡¯t know if anyone hade to the third floor and he wasn¡¯t sure if the mirror had been opened.

    He hoped he was thinking too much.

    He Rong turned to leave with a calm face. He didn¡¯t know that his every move was monitored by the drone and transmitted to the card screen that Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were looking at.

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang with admiration. ¡°He wanted to check the surveince to find us. Unexpectedly, Group Leader Yu monitored his movements in turn.¡±

    The Drone was an S-grade card given to them by Tang Ci and could be ced in the sky. In just a few seconds, Yu Hanjiangpleted a series of operations such as restoring the mirror, lighting a fire in the bathroom, destroying the surveince and cing the drone. ¡®Determined and fast¡¯ was not enough to describe the man¡¯s keen actions at critical moments.

    Ye Qi leaned over and looked at the scene on the card in confusion. ¡°A deal? Is the deal that He Rong mentioned about the weapons in the secret warehouse? Will he be handing them over to the boss tomorrow?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Yu Hanjiang confirmed Ye Qi¡¯s spection. ¡°The guns in the warehouse on the third floor are very new. They are a batch of goods just bought and there was no time for them to be traded. Tomorrow, He Rong will definitely participate in Uncle Zhong¡¯s birthday celebration. The birthday banquet is booked at thergest five-star hotel in the local area. We will check if the transaction takes ce at the hotel.¡±

    ***

    Xiao Lou¡¯s group of four exited from the Peach Blossom Spring and first went back to rest for the night.

    At noon the next day, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang came to the five-star hotel together. Ye Qi and Old Mo also pretended to go shopping and went to the door of the hotel. Ye Qi pointed to the magnificent hotel curiously and spoke in a childish tone, ¡°Grandpa, this hotel is very beautiful. Shall we stay here?¡±

    Old Mo took him to the door. He wanted to go in but was stopped by security.

    Old Mo smiled. ¡°We are from abroad and want to stay in this hotel. Are there any vacant rooms?¡±

    The security guard told them with a cold face, ¡°The whole hotel has been booked for today. No individual guests will be epted. Can you please find another ce to stay?¡±

    Old Mo regretfully turned away with Ye Qi.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang took advantage of the attention of the security guards being attracted by the old man and child to quickly walk around the back of the hotel. Yu Hanjiang nced at the tall stone pirs and said, ¡°Let¡¯s fly up on this side and find a window to enter the hotel.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked up at the ten storey building and asked anxiously, ¡°Can the light footwork card fly so high?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I have a way.¡±

    Then Yu Hanjiang extended his long arms and gently hugged Xiao Lou¡¯s waist. He activated the light footwork card, took advantage of when nobody was looking and exerted a light force on his legs to instantly jump onto an air conditioner on the third floor. He moved so flexibly it was like he was flying as he held Xiao Lou to scale the building.

    Within a few seconds, Yu Hanjiang had already flown to the 10th floor. He found an open window through which he entered the hotel with Xiao Lou.

    A guest had just left and the room was still messy. The cleaner aunt had opened the window to ventte while cleaning. She suddenly saw two handsome guys enter through the window on the 10th floor and was so scared she was about to scream. Yu Hanjiang rushed over and covered her mouth. Then he struck her neck and she fell straight down.

    Yu Hanjiang helped her to the sofa and blinked at Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou nodded and took the door card out of her pocket. To facilitate cleaning, the cleaner¡¯s door card could ess any floor. The two of them left the room and headed straight to the hotel restaurant on the eighth floor.

    The birthday banquet hadn¡¯t officially started but the venue had already been arranged. Big red ¡®longevity¡¯ characters were stuck on the wall and it looked very festive. There were many longevity peaches ced on the banquet table.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou came to the kitchen, knocked out two waiters, tied them up in the bathroom and quickly changed into their clothes.

    At 12:30 p.m., the guests came to the scene one after another to congratte the birthday star.

    Uncle Zhong was the protagonist today and he wore a red Chinese suit with a smile on his face. The 60 year old looked energetic. He was obviously very satisfied with the birthday banquet arranged by his nephew and he happily received the gifts. All the people who came were big bosses.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou carried tes and delivered food between the tables while observing the guests¡­ Apart from Uncle Zhong and his nephew He Rong, there were no other suspicious characters for the time being. Lin Rongrong, Rong Cheng and Nie Rong on their list of suspects didn¡¯te.

    The two people were feeling curious when they heard someone say to Uncle Zhong, ¡°Boss Song is here!¡±

    Uncle Zhong immediately stood up. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at the door to see a tall man in a ck suit and sunsses enter. Next to him was a short haired woman in a royal blue cheongsam.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered in Xiao Lou¡¯s ear, ¡°The female Song Xiaoqing is the boss who bought He Rong¡¯s houses at a high price. The male Song Dongping is Song Xiaoqing¡¯s brother and the developer of Qingshui Town¡¯s Jinxiu Vi real estate project.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. He remembered that these two people were also on the list of suspects.

    The names of the two people didn¡¯t have ¡®Rong¡¯ in them but they had frequent economic exchanges with He Rong. Song Xiaoqing bought He Rong¡¯s houses in the countryside at a high price while He Rong bought three properties in Jinxiu Vi developed by her brother. He Rong transformed it into onerge apartment for his uncle. In addition, Song Xiaoqing was once the lover of Rong Cheng, the boss of the pharmaceuticalpany¡­

    The interests of this group were veryplex and deserved Yu Hanjiang¡¯s special attention.

    They saw the Song brother and sister walking straight to Uncle Zhong. Song Dongping smiled and said, ¡°Old Zhong, it is your 60th birthday. We wish you happiness and longevity!¡± Song Xiaoqing opened a box and gave a piece of jade to Uncle Zhong. ¡°This is a small token of our appreciation. Please ept it.¡±

    Uncle Zhong looked at the crystal clear jade and narrowed his eyes with a smile. ¡°Mr Song is so polite!¡±

    They exchanged greetings for a while. After sitting down, He Rong spoke a few words on behalf of Uncle Zhong, thanking everyone foring. Then the birthday banquet officially began at 1 o¡¯clock.

    The scene of the birthday banquet was crowded and lively.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou moved through the crowd, serving dishes and delivering food. However, they didn¡¯t notice any suspicious movements. Everyone was just eating, drinking and chatting. He Rong had been apanying Uncle Zhong to help him serve tea and water. He had no intention of getting up and leaving.

    Were they wrong? The transaction wasn¡¯t being carried out in the hotel and Uncle Zhong was just simply celebrating his birthday?

    Time gradually passed. Half the delicacies on the table were eaten. Once everyone was full, they started to toast Uncle Zhong in turn. Uncle Zhong was in a good mood today. He drank a lot of wine and his cheeks were red. A bald man with a beer belly stepped forward. ¡°Thank you for your care over the past few years. I wish you a long life!¡±

    Uncle Zhong smiled and took it. ¡°Okay, thank you Mr Zhang! I will drink this cup!¡±

    Red wine flowed from his lips down his throat. The next moment, Uncle Zhong¡¯s eyes rolled and he fell straight to the ground.

    ¡°Ah¡ª¡± There were shrill screams from the crowd.

    He Rong¡¯s expression changed and he trembled. ¡°Uncle? What¡¯s wrong with you, Uncle?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang turned his head quickly and walked over. In the midst of the crowd, Uncle Zhong was stiff and blood spilled from the corner of his lips. He was lying on the ground with wide eyes and his face was full of disbelief.

    He Rong reached out to test his breathing and immediately burst out crying. ¡°Uncle! Wake up, Uncle! What are you doing in a daze? Call 120! Call an ambnce!¡±

    The surroundings suddenly became a mess.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou nced at each other, their hearts getting cold at the same time. They wanted to find some clues at the birthday banquet. Unexpectedly, Uncle Zhong¡¯s 60th birthday banquet¡­ turned into a funeral.

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

    Thank you aemecin for the fanart of Shao Qingge and Ye Qi.

 Chapter 342: Killed Witness

    Xiao Lou walked quickly and looked at the scene of the crime through the gap. Uncle Zhong¡¯s death was obviously due to poisoning. Judging from the time it took for him to copse and the almost immediate death, coupled with the condition of the corpse, the poison that killed Uncle Zhong should be the most effective and highly toxic substance, potassium cyanide.

    Potassium cyanide was a controlled substance that was difficult for the average person to buy and could kill with a few grams.

    Uncle Zhong sat at table 1 and there were seven people at the same table with him, including his nephew He Rong, Song Dongping, Song Xiaoqing and four famous local bosses. During the meal just now, Xiao Lou had always been paying attention to the situation at this table. The tableware that everyone used was uniformly provided by the hotel and the food they ate was the same. If the food was poisoned then everyone else would be affected.

    But only Uncle Zhong died. Since this was the case, the poison was most probably consumed through the tea or his wine ss.

    Uncle Zhong¡¯s tea was poured by a waitress. She poured it for the whole table using the same kettle and couldn¡¯t poison Uncle Zhong alone. The most likely cause was the red wine. Just now, many people took turns toasting Uncle Zhong, and some people brought the wine for toasting themselves. If there was poison in it, Uncle Zhong could easily be killed.

    Xiao Lou whispered to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°The murderer poisoned him using the red wine. Only Uncle Zhong was killed. It is very likely that the poison was in the red wine brought by thest few toasters. The murderer shouldn¡¯t have had time to leave the scene yet.¡±

    Uncle Zhong had just fallen. The murderer used poison to kill and would confirm that Uncle Zhong was dead before leaving.

    The police officer¡¯s card was in his shirt pocket. Yu Hanjiang can now go straight up to investigate as a police officer. ording to Xiao Lou¡¯s inference, the beer-bellied President Zhang who toasted Uncle Zhong was the most suspicious. But after thinking about it, President Zhang shouldn¡¯t have known about the poison.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and his sharp eyes quickly swept around. Suddenly, he saw a waiter around 1.7 meters tall carrying a te while leaving through the side door. The figure from the back looked familiar. It reminded Yu Hanjiang of the figure who jumped out the window on the night when he first entered the secret room and was shot in the abdomen.

    Yu Hanjiang narrowed his eyes and whispered in Xiao Lou¡¯s ear. ¡°Find Xiao Ye and Old Mo. Wait for me at the coffee shop opposite the hotel.¡±

    Then he turned and chased after the waiter.

    Xiao Lou was stunned. He turned and found that Yu Hanjiang had already disappeared through the side entrance of the hall. He quickly reacted. Group Leader Yu had probably locked onto a suspect.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s physical strength wasn¡¯t as good as Yu Hanjiang and he definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up. Once the police arrived, he might be suspected due to being a ¡®fake¡¯ waiter. Xiao Lou thought for a moment. Then he left the banquet hall through the back door and went to the bathroom to change his clothes. He left the drone in a corner of the banquet hall so he could observe the police investigationter.

    The police car and the ambnce came together. The doctors and nurses got out of the car and checked Zhong Yongqiang¡¯s body on the spot. Uncle Zhong had missed the best rescue time and his pupils were dted.

    Many guests sucked in a deep breath after the death of Uncle Zhong was confirmed.

    The local police quickly sealed off the scene and investigated the guests attending the birthday banquet one by one. The forensic doctor who apanied the team quickly came to a conclusion. The cause of death was poison and the most likely thing poisoned was a ss of wine used by Uncle Zhong. The red wine was taken back as evidence for verification.

    President Zhang, who was thest person to toast Uncle Zhong, trembled with fright. He shook his head like a rattle and stammered while exining, ¡°N-No, it isn¡¯t my fault. I have no grievances against Mr Zhong. How can I possibly poison the wine?¡±

    The policeman asked calmly, ¡°Where did you get the red wine?¡±

    President Zhang answered, ¡°There is a row of red wine bottles over there. I took one casually¡­¡±

    The police walked over and saw a row of red wine bottles. All of them looked the same and President Zhang couldn¡¯t tell which bottle had just chosen. The policeman asked, ¡°Was the cap open when you picked up the bottle?¡±

    ¡°It seemed to be open.¡±

    The policeman asked, ¡°What about the ss?¡±

    President Zhang thought about it. ¡°I asked the waiter for an empty wine ss.¡±

    The police officer found the hotel manager. ¡°Who was responsible for the drinks at this birthday party?¡±

    The manager spoke innocently. ¡°Mr He bought all the drinks in advance, they weren¡¯t purchased by our hotel.¡±

    The policeman asked, ¡°What about the cups and tableware?¡±

    The manager hurriedly exined, ¡°They were prepared by our hotel in advance and were sterilized in the morning. I swear that there was no problem when our tableware was put on the table! Officer, our hotel and Mr Zhong have no grudges. Don¡¯t suspect us!¡±

    Xiao Lou watched the scene through the drone monitoring and frowned even more.

    Based on the evidence obtained by the police, the poison was in thest ss of wine that Uncle Zhong drank. President Zhang said he casually took a bottle of red wine and asked the waiter for an empty ss. Then he poured the wine into the cup for a toast. The guests at the scene took the red wine randomly. If the murderer poisoned the wine in advance, they were likely to murder the wrong person. The best way to urately poison Uncle Zhong was to poison his ss.

    Table 1 contained Uncle Zhong and the most distinguished people in the audience. It was too easy to attack Uncle Zhong¡¯s attention when changing the ss. Therefore, the murderer picked President Zhang who was going to propose a toast to Uncle Zhong. They smeared the poison on the wine ss President Zhang took.

    The easiest one with ess to the ss was naturally the waiter.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou pretended to be waiters and entered the banquet hall to investigate. Obviously, the killer also pretended to be a waiter and brought the poisonous cyanide to the scene. He only needed to apply potassium cyanide in advance by wiping the wine ss with a white cloth containing the poison just before President Zhang took it.

    The local police quickly figured out this result and asked President Zhang to identify the waiter who handed him the wine ss.

    President Zhang looked at them and scratched his head nkly. ¡°The waiters are dressed the same and I can¡¯t really remember¡­ I only remember that it was a young man with short hair and about the same height as me, around 1.7 meters.¡±

    The waiters in the hotel were all dressed in the same uniform and it was difficult for a boss to remember the appearance of waiters. The police had no choice but to take all the waiters back to continue the investigation. At the same time, they asked the hotel for the surveince of the corridor outside the banquet hall.

    He Rong followed the police with a sullen expression while his uncle¡¯s body was sent for an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

    Xiao Lou put away his drone and turned to the coffee shop opposite the hotel.

    The organization must have sent a killer to poison Uncle Zhong. The waiter had already left the hotel. The police finding him was like looking for a needle in a haystack. He could only hope that Yu Hanjiang caught the killer when chasing him.

    There weren¡¯t many guests in the coffee store in the afternoon. Thus, Xiao Lou found a spot with an open view. He sat down by the window and ordered a cup of coffee. The coffee was served quickly. Xiao Lou was in a state of confusion and he was worried that something would happen to Yu Hanjiang who was pursuing the suspect alone. However, his physical strength and speed were much worse than Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang would have to take care of him if he followed and he might drag him down instead.

    Group Leader Yu often tracked prisoners in reality and had rich experience. Even if he was in danger, he should be able to escape, right?

    Xiao Louforted himself with this reasoning. He calmed down a lot after drinking the hot coffee and simply contacted Mo Xuemin first. ¡°Old Mo, where are you and Ye Qi?¡±

    In the early morning when they were exploring the ¡®Tianya Club¡¯, Xiao Lou and Old Mo temporarily connected using the heart channel. Qin Guan¡¯s Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings refreshed every day at midnight and the target could be changed after refreshing. Once connected, it couldn¡¯t be changed again for 24 hours.

    He and Old Mo were connected this time and the easiest way to find Old Mo was to ask directly through the heart channel. To Xiao Lou¡¯s surprise, there was no response from Old Mo in his mind. Xiao Lou continued to call out to Mo Xuemin. ¡°Old Mo? Can you hear me?¡±

    There were no mental fluctuations in his mind. It was just like a calm and windlesske without the slightest of ripples. Xiao Lou sensed something wrong and immediately sat upright nervously. He took out his mobile phone to call Old Mo and a kind female voice said in his ears, ¡°Sorry, the number you dialed is temporarily unavable.¡±

    Next, he called Ye Qi and also received, ¡°Sorry, the number you dialed is temporarily unavable.¡±

    An intense feeling of unease filled his heart and made Xiao Lou feel like he was sitting on pins and needles. He got up and looked out the window. The sky outside the French windows was clear and cloudless. There were peopleing and going on the street but Ye Qi and Old Mo couldn¡¯t be seen at all.

    Xiao Lou really wanted to contact Yu Hanjiang but he knew that Yu Hanjiang was busy tracking the suspect. His call might affect Yu Hanjiang¡¯s actions. Old Mo and Ye Qi had so many cards in hand and it wasn¡¯t easy for them to get into trouble. Besides, the signatures of Old Mo and Xiao Ye were still on the contract book. The signature was still there, proving that the person was alive.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath, quickly calmed down and called Shao Qingge¡¯s number. Shao Qingge wasn¡¯t in good health these days which was probably due to the operation. It was very easy for him to get tired. He had just woken up and was waiting for lunch when his phone rang. The woman across the table from him asked in concern, ¡°Who is calling you?¡±

    Shao Qingge nced at the caller ID and smiled. ¡°Mom, you eat first. I will answer my friend¡¯s call.¡± He picked up his phone, headed to the balcony and closed the door. Then he pressed the answer button and whispered, ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Professor Xiao?¡±

    On the phone, Xiao Lou¡¯s always calm and gentle voice showed a rare trace of anxiety. The ending tone even trembled slightly. ¡°Chief Shao, can you contact Xiao Ye?¡±

    Shao Qingge was stunned and tried to contact Ye Qi through Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. There was no response. His heart sank. ¡°I can¡¯t get in touch. How can this be?¡±

    Then Xiao Lou asked, ¡°After refreshing at midnight, did you establish a connection with Ye Qi?¡±

    ¡°It was established. He told mest night that the four of you visited the ¡®Tianya Club¡¯ and found a secret passage behind the mirror on the third floor of the club. Inside was a warehouse with many weapons hidden.¡± Shao Qingge was silent for a few seconds before his face gradually became hard to look at. ¡°Ye Qi slept around 2 o¡¯clockst night and I went to bed around the same time. I didn¡¯t wake up until noon and then I received your call.¡±

    ¡°So you haven¡¯t contacted him today?¡± Xiao Lou held his breath nervously.

    ¡°Yes, I just woke up and didn¡¯t have time to contact him.¡± Shao Qingge squeezed the phone firmly. ¡°Xiao Ye¡­ did something happen to him? Why can¡¯t I get in touch?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t get in touch with Old Mo and Xiao Ye either. My calls aren¡¯t getting through.¡± Xiao Lou took a deep breath. ¡°Once amunication channel has been established, the two people canmunicate directly. There is only one case where it will lose its effect.¡±

    ¡°Which case?¡± Shao Qingge guessed the situation in his heart but he couldn¡¯t believe it.

    ¡°The other person is no longer conscious.¡± Xiao Lou¡¯s fingers grasped the edge of the table hard, his veins clearly visible on the back of his hand. ¡°We can¡¯t get in touch with them through the mind channel which shows that Old Mo and Ye Qi are unconscious at the same time. Before they fell unconscious, they couldn¡¯t resist or give us a warning. The two of them have been investigating Qingshui Town for the past two days which probably attracted the attention of those people. They were knocked out and taken away.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Shao Qingge felt pain in his heart as he thought about the 60 year old Old Mo and 7 year old Ye Qi being knocked out and taken away. His heart had just been operated on and hearing this result, he almost had another heart attack. Shao Qingge pressed a hand against his chest and frowned. ¡°I¡¯lle to Qingshui Town right away.¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Xiao Lou noticed that Shao Qingge¡¯s voice had changed and hurriedly told him, ¡°You have just finished having an operation and shouldn¡¯t be too emotional. You should rest at home and continue trying to contact Xiao Ye through the mind connection. Once there is a reaction, tell me and we will find a way to rescue them after Group Leader Yues back. I think we have probably touched on the organization¡¯s core. Xiao Ye and Old Mo shouldn¡¯t have gone far.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Shao Qingge rubbed his forehead helplessly. In his current body, his heart would ache faintly when he was emotionally agitated. Wouldn¡¯t it just cause a mess for his teammates if he had another heart attack halfway? It was better to stay at home.

    ¡°In addition, Uncle Zhong just died,¡± Xiao Lou spoke softly.

    ¡°What?¡± Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°They killed again?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I suspect that our movements have been watched by the organization for a while now. This is why they are always one step faster than us and can kill our important witnesses. First was Cheng Shaofeng and then Uncle Zhong. He Rong might be next¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou felt a chill go down his spine as he thought about this.

    A pair of eyes had been staring at them in secret. Every time they found an important clue, it was cut off. Liu Qiao went to follow Cheng Shaofeng but Cheng Shaofeng had a car ident. He and Yu Hanjiang went to Uncle Zhong¡¯s birthday party and it turned into a funeral.

    When and how were Xiao Ye and Old Mo discovered and how did the organization manage to take them away at the same time without anyone noticing?

    The more Xiao Lou thought about it, the more he had a headache. However, he couldn¡¯t mess around. Group Leader Yu was still tracking the suspect. He had to stabilize his teammates and discuss countermeasures once Yu Hanjiang came back. After all, Yu Hanjiang would be more experienced in handling the situation of the ¡®missing teammates¡¯.

    Xiao Lou quickly calmed down and told Shao Qingge, ¡°Chief Shao, please contact Long Sen and Qu Wanyue so they don¡¯t go out today. Group Leader Yu and I will go find Xiao Ye and Old Mo. We will keep in touch using our phones.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll find Qu Wanyue and the others and tell them to be careful.¡±

    After putting down his phone, Xiao Lou sat back and drank another cup of coffee to keep himself calm.

    Time passed minute by minute but Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t appear. After 30 minutes, Xiao Lou was worried and sent a message to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°How is your situation there?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t reply. Xiao Lou waited a few more minutes and still didn¡¯t get a reply. He had to bite the bullet and call Yu Hanjiang. A gentle female voice entered his ears. ¡°Sorry, the number you have dialed has been turned off.¡±

    It was turned off? Was something wrong with Group Leader Yu too? He couldn¡¯t wait any longer. Just one more minute would increase the danger to his teammates!

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face was pale as he got up and left the coffee shop. He walked quickly toward the hotel where they stayedst night.

    However, the moment he walked around the corner of the street, his neck became numb as he felt like he was bitten by a mosquito. Then there was a strong feeling of dizziness. When he fell down, Xiao Lou saw a pair of shiny ck men¡¯s leather shoes that stopped in front of him.

    He immediately lost consciousness.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 343: Clue

    Xiao Lou woke up and his vision was pitch ck. His surroundings were so quiet that he could almost hear his own breathing. He wanted to stretch out his hands to explore but found they were tied behind his back. The rope was so tight that he felt a dull pain from his wrist. He seemed to be sitting on the cold concrete floor and his eyes were covered by a thick cloth.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t expect that one day, he would also encounter a thrilling ¡®kidnapping experience¡¯.

    He recalled the scene just now. Right after he walked around the corner, his neck suddenly felt numb and he quickly lost consciousness. The other party should¡¯ve been watching him for some time and had been observing his movements. Once no one was around, they shot him with an anesthesia gun and took him away.

    The men¡¯s leather shoes he sawst were thetest style, proving that the other person wasn¡¯t an ordinary street gangster. He was someone who paid attention to appearance. Ye Qi and Old Mo were probably also kidnapped by this person.

    Since he was brought here after he fell unconscious, he didn¡¯t know where this ce was. What¡¯s worse, he was connected to Old Mo and couldn¡¯t tell Yu Hanjiang about the current situation. Xiao Lou tried to contact Old Mo through Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings but there was still no response. It was very likely that Old Mo and Ye Qi were still unconscious.

    Xiao Lou quickly calmed down and carefully analyzed the current situation.

    There was no doubt that it was someone from the mysterious organization who kidnapped them. Maybe Qingshui Town was the stronghold of this organization so they had attracted the organization¡¯s attention as ¡®outsiders¡¯.

    All four of them wore invisibility cloaks when visiting the ¡®Tianya Club¡¯st night and couldn¡¯t have been seen. How could the other party lock onto them and kidnap them?

    The first possibility was that as early as the hospital where theyunched the investigation into the organ trafficking case, someone had been watching them. After they came to Qingshui Town, the other party monitored them and took the opportunity to capture them today. If so, there must be someone from the organization inside the hospital.

    The second possibility was that after they came to Qingshui Town, they identally triggered the rm in the secret warehouse of the ¡®Tianya Club¡¯ which aroused the organization¡¯s suspicion. Today, they came to Uncle Zhong¡¯s birthday banquet. The other party confirmed their identity and took them away. Either way, there could never be a good result being in the hands of this organization.

    What would this group of frantic lunatics do to them? Killing them was the quickest way to shut their mouths. After all, Cheng Shaofeng and Uncle Zhong were already killed by them, right?

    The thing that worried Xiao Lou the most was that many cards couldn¡¯t be used because his hands were tightly bound. For example, cards like Bai Juyi, Tao Yuanming, etc., required him to take out the cards with his hand and summon the card characters before he could use the attached skills. His card pack was hidden in this secret room and hadn¡¯t been found by kidnappers. Unfortunately, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t move his hands now and he couldn¡¯t take out the cards at all!

    What to do? Would Group Leader Yu find the clue he left behind?

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart thumped. The moment he had been anaesthetized, he left a card behind at the scene. It was the Drone card.

    At that time, he only had three seconds to react. By the time the dizziness hit his mind, the man in leather shoes had already walked in front of him. He used thest of his lucidity to activate the dragonfly-sized drone in the sky. If there were no idents, Yu Hanjiang should be able to find the drone he left behind. After recovering the card, he could see the scene under its surveince.

    Hopefully Group Leader Yu was fine. At present, only Yu Hanjiang could save them.

    Just as Xiao Lou was thinking about countermeasures, there was the sudden sound of footsteps. The sound of leather shoes stepping on the ground clearly echoed in the quiet space. Xiao Lou was alerted and listened carefully. There were three people, one of whom had very regr footsteps. He walked slowly and seemed calm and rxed. The other two followed this man.

    ¡°Brother Rong, these people have actuallye to Qingshui Town. What should we do?¡± It was a woman¡¯s voice.

    ¡°They dared to pull the hair on a tiger¡¯s head. What do you think the consequences will be?¡± The deep male voice showed a trace ofughter. He made a ¡®cut the throat¡¯ gesture with his hand and the two people with him immediately understood.

    ¡°Go and see first if the three of them are awake,¡± Brother Rong instructed in a low voice.

    The footsteps approached and Xiao Lou immediately pretended to sleep.

    He heard an iron door being opened and the tter of footsteps as the leather shoes gradually approached him. A pair of cold fingers gently pinched Xiao Lou¡¯s chin. Xiao Lou felt cold. It was like he had been bitten by a poisonous snake.

    The man asked with a smile, ¡°Are you awake?¡±

    The other person¡¯s fingers pressed hard, causing pain. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t dare to move and tried to keep his breathing steady. The man found that Xiao Lou didn¡¯t respond and let go, speaking indifferently, ¡°Watch them.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t until the other person left the room that Xiao Lou let out a slight sigh of relief.

    Judging from the footsteps and the echo when speaking, this was a closed space with an area of around 10 square meters. The door was a heavy iron door and the floor should be covered with cement instead of wood ormon floor tiles. The sound of footsteps was weakened in some ces which might be ground without cement.

    The man had brought a strange fragrance when he walked into the room just now.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know exactly where this ce was. His eyes were blindfolded and his hands were tied. He could only obtain more information using his hearing and sense of smell to facilitate the rescue of his teammates.

    ***

    At the same time, Shao Qingge anxiously waited for the call to be connected.

    ording to Xiao Lou¡¯s instructions, he informed Long Sen and Qu Wanyue that they should stay in the hotel and not go out. He also sent a message to Liu Qiao for her to rest in the hospital today. All three replied that they were fine for the moment.

    Then Shao Qingge called Xiao Lou¡¯s phone but only got a busy tone. Although his phone wasn¡¯t turned off, Shao Qingge had a bad premonition when the call wasn¡¯t connected/answered.. Shao Qingge persevered and tried three times. However, 10 minutes passed and still no one answered.

    What was going on? Was something wrong with Xiao Lou too? He tried to call Yu Hanjiang only to get, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, the number you dialed has been turned off.¡±

    Shao Qingge finally couldn¡¯t sit still anymore. He left and headed to the hotel to find Long Sen and Qu Wanyue. Seeing Shao Qingge¡¯s ugly expression, Qu Wanyue immediately invited him into the room and poured a ss of water for him. ¡°Chief Shao, you just finished surgery and should be resting at home. Why did you run out? In case your heart¡­¡±

    ¡°Something happened to Xiao Lou.¡± Shao Qingge interrupted her. ¡°And Ye Qi, Old Mo and Group Leader Yu can¡¯t be contacted at all!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Qu Wanyue stared at him incredulously. ¡°What the hell is going on?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t get through to the phones of all four people and I can¡¯t connect with Xiao Ye through Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. It is only when the other person is unconscious that this connection will be interrupted.¡± Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes narrowed and a sharp glint shed in them. ¡°I suspect that when they went to Qingshui Town to investigate the case, they were caught by the people of the organization.¡±

    ¡°Oh my god¡­¡± Qu Wanyue stared at Long Sen in disbelief. ¡°These people are crazy. If they grab Professor Xiao and the others, won¡¯t they kill them? What should we do now to save them?¡±

    ¡°We are a three hour drive away from Qingshui Town. Can we rush over now?¡± Long Sen had no idea how to proceed. Every time they entered, the Hearts and Spades secret rooms were led by Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang. Now neither of them could be contacted. His mind was about to be a mess.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Shao Qingge pressed a hand against his head that felt like it was about to burst. He had no experience in this area either! What should they do? Qingshui Town was too far away. Even if it was close, they had no clues. It was like finding a needle in a haystack!

    [Do you want to save me?] Suddenly, Xiao Lou sent a message in the WeChat group.

    [Xiao Lou?] Shao Qingge sat up straight and quickly typed: [Where are you? What is going on?]

    [At 12 midnight at Xishan Cemetery of Qingshui Town, prepare 5 billion gold coins inrge denominations. Pack them in boxes and ce them in front of the 10th tombstone from the left in the 18th row of the cemetery.] Xiao Lou sent a message and then continued. [All the remaining five people in the group muste. There can¡¯t be one missing. Once I get the money, I¡¯ll let your friends go.]

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Shao Qingge, Qu Wanyue and Long Sen exchanged looks.

    ¡°Professor Xiao¡¯s mobile phone should be controlled by them.¡± Qu Wanyue spoke softly. ¡°These people are using Professor Xiao¡¯s mobile phone to send messages and have us pay the ransom.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be as simple as paying a ransom to save our teammates.¡± Based on Shao Qingge¡¯s understanding of the Spades and Clubs keepers, things wouldn¡¯t be so easy. After thest Clubs secret room, Shao Qingge¡¯s savings were more than enough to afford 5 billion gold coins. Moreover, kidnapping and extortion wasn¡¯t like the cold-blooded and brutal style of the organization. It was more likely to be¡­

    ¡°They want us to pay and then kill the hostages?¡± Long Sen came back to his senses and spoke in a frightened manner. ¡°Having us all go there isn¡¯t only to get a lot of money but to also kill all of us, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Qu Wanyue stiffened and she nodded solemnly. ¡°It is possible. The chat records in the WeChat group must¡¯ve been exposed. It isn¡¯t just Professor Xiao. The phones of Old Mo, Xiao Ye and Group Leader Yu might be in their hands as well. They saw our chat history and know we are investigating the organ trafficking. They naturally won¡¯t let us go back alive!¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Shao Qingge suddenly picked up his phone and looked carefully at the messages from ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯. He couldn¡¯t help narrowing his eyes slightly. ¡°The other party asked for the remaining five people to be present, indicating they have only kidnapped three people.¡±

    ¡°Three? Is there someone who hasn¡¯t been kidnapped?¡± Long Sen scratched his head. ¡°Could it be Group Leader Yu?¡±

    ¡°It must be Group Leader Yu!¡± Shao Qingge stood up immediately. ¡°Xiao Ye and Old Mo haven¡¯t separated. If they are kidnapped then the two of them must¡¯ve been kidnapped together. Xiao Lou¡¯s phone is being controlled by the organization. Only Group Leader Yu remains. I can¡¯t reach him but it says that his phone is turned off rather than getting the busy tone or the ¡®out of service area¡¯ message.¡±

    ¡°Turned off. If Group Leader Yu was worried about us contacting him, he can mute his phone. Perhaps something is wrong with his phone such as it having no power or is broken? Is that why we can¡¯t contact him for the moment?¡± Qu Wanyue quickly spected.

    ¡°Yes, as long as Group Leader Yu isn¡¯t caught, Professor Xiao and the others can be saved.¡± Shao Qingge believed in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s strength but he couldn¡¯t wait. He reconfirmed the messages sent in the group and told the others, ¡°We will first take out the cash and get Liu Qiao. Then we will go to Qingshui Town to join Group Leader Yu as soon as possible.¡±

    Shao Qingge found somerge suitcases and called out an ATM machine on the spot. The other party had asked forrge gold coins so Shao Qingge took out gold coins worth 50,000 apiece. The three people quickly filled the suitcases, got into a private car and went to the hospital to pick up Liu Qiao.

    Liu Qiao had already received the news and found an excuse to get away from the doctors. She was waiting for them at the hospital gates.

    After getting in the car, Liu Qiao remained silent and sat in the back seat thoughtfully.

    Shao Qingge was driving the sports car. They had just left the city and reached the express highway when Shao Qingge¡¯s phone rang. It was an unknown number. Shao Qingge thought it was the kidnappers so he hurriedly answered the phone and asked in a low voice, ¡°Hello? Who is this?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s me.¡± The man¡¯s low and familiar voice entered his ears. ¡°Yu Hanjiang.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Hearing the familiar voice, Shao Qingge acted like a drowning person grabbing onto the life-saving straw. There was joy in his eyes as he eximed, ¡°Group Leader Yu! Do you know that Xiao Lou, Xiao Ye and Old Mo are in trouble?!¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± Yu Hanjiang¡¯s tone was calm but his fists were clenched so hard that the veins on the back of his hands bulged. He resisted the urge to catch those people and beat them up. He took a deep breath and told Shao Qingge, ¡°Xiao Lou left me the drone and I saw him being taken away.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had hurried back to the coffee shop only to find that Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t there and his phone couldn¡¯t be reached. He had to look around and he found the dragonfly-sized drone hidden under the streemp at the corner of the street.

    The S-grade card Drone was very easy to use. Once it was released, the card terminal could monitor it remotely. The released drone could also be recovered and the camera system inside the drone used to see images that had been monitored for some time.

    Yu Hanjiang first saw the scene inside the hotel that Xiao Lou had filmed. The local police questioned the guests attending the banquet. The ss of wine President Zhang brought over was the most suspicious but President Zhang couldn¡¯t remember what the waiter looked like.

    Yu Hanjiang recognized the waiter¡ªit was the mysterious killer who shot him at Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s house on the first day of the secret room.

    It was a pity that he lost this person halfway through. On the way, he encountered a group of small gangsters who tried to rob him. Yu Hanjiang put them down one after another but unfortunately, his phone broke in the chaos.

    Yu Hanjiang continued to watch. The drone surveince was nk for a while and it should be Xiao Lou taking back the card.

    After half an hour, the drone started working again. In the image, Xiao Lou was lying on the ground and seemed to be unconscious. A big man got down from a ck van and walked over to Xiao Lou. He leaned down and patted Xiao Lou¡¯s face gently, confirming that Xiao Lou didn¡¯t respond. Then he waved behind him. Two more people got out of the car and carried Xiao Lou away.

    The drone caught Xiao Lou¡¯s face.

    His eyes were closed and he was slightly frowning. He seemed to be quietly asleep. Seeing him being carried away without any resistance, Yu Hanjiang was annoyed. He wanted to enter the video and cripple all those bastards! If they dared to touch a hair on Xiao Lou¡¯s head then he would never let them go!

    Yu Hanjiang restrained his anger and contacted Shao Qingge to confirm the safety of their other teammates.

    Shao Qingge wondered, ¡°Did Professor Xiao¡¯s drone capture any other clues?¡±

    ¡°The drone captured the license te of the van. It is Bin A-78964. Xiao Lou left me a very useful clue and I will immediately go to find the location of the car. I will find them even if I have to turn over the entire Qingshui Town.¡± Yu Hanjiang paused before dering firmly, ¡°I won¡¯t let anyone get hurt.¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 344: Rescue

    Xiao Lou used thest few seconds while he was being kidnapped to leave the drone behind. The clues seen from shooting from high above were very important. Thanks to having the license te number, Yu Hanjiang could quickly track the location of the van.

    After hanging up, Yu Hanjiang immediately headed to the public security bureau of Qingshui Town. He went to the local criminal investigations police to help him obtain the surveince video to track down the van.

    The young police officer looked at his police officer¡¯s card with wide eyes. ¡°You are Group Leader Yu of the city bureau? Come in!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang followed the young man through the door of the bureau.

    A meeting was taking ce in the office. There were bloody photos of various crime scenes on the PPT. A man with a beard was exining the case with aser pointer. He saw Yu Hanjiang entering the room and raised an eyebrow suspiciously. ¡°You are?¡±

    The young police officer who brought Yu Hanjiang into the room said, ¡°Boss, this is Group Leader Yu from the city bureau.¡±

    The man immediately came over with a smile and held out his hand. ¡°Hello Group Leader Yu, I am Liu Haoming from the Qingshui Town bureau. I just called the city bureau and didn¡¯t think you woulde so soon.¡±

    The distance between the city and Qingshui Town was far. After receiving the phone call, it required at least three hours of driving. So Yu Hanjiang appearing at this moment shouldn¡¯t be because of the call. Liu Haoming thought of this and hit his forehead. ¡°Were you¡­ originally in Qingshui Town?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am investigating a case.¡± Yu Hanjiang shook hands with him and asked, ¡°Why did you call the city bureau?¡± His phone broke while chasing the killer so he hadn¡¯t received any calls from his colleagues in the city bureau.

    ¡°It¡¯s like this.¡± Liu Haoming opened the PPT and spoke in a low voice while showing a series of photos. ¡°I have a serial murder case and I wanted to ask an expert from the city bureau toe and investigate it.¡± He changed to the photo of the birthday banquet at the hotel at noon. ¡°The first deceased is Zhong Yongqiang. He was holding his 60th birthday party at Hua¡¯an Hotel at noon and was poisoned to death in front of everyone there. We carried out the evidence at the scene. After testing and analysis, we found the highly toxic potassium cyanide in the wine ss but the person responsible for the poisoning hasn¡¯t been found yet.¡±

    ¡°Did someone else die?¡± Uncle Zhong¡¯s matter was very clear to Yu Hanjiang. He was at the scene. The thing that puzzled him was the ¡®serial murder¡¯ that Group Leader Liu referred to.

    ¡°The second deceased is He Rong, Zhong Yongqiang¡¯s nephew.¡± Liu Haoming pressed the remote to change to the next photo. He Rong was lying on the driver¡¯s seat of a private car, eyes staring into the air and a bright line across his neck. ¡°At 1:30 pm., He Rong came to the police station to give his statement. Since he had no motive for murder and was never in contact with the wine ss, I let him go. I didn¡¯t think thatter in the afternoon, around 4 p.m., I would receive a report that he died in his car.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly while looking at photos of the scene.

    It was obvious why He Rong was killed. The people from the mysterious organization were always one step ahead of the police in reaching the witnesses of the police investigation. Cheng Shaofeng, Zhong Yongqiang and He Rong died one by one.

    Who was so divine that they could actually grasp the trend of the police investigation?

    ¡°The two deceased people are important witnesses in the case I am investigating. The murder in Qingshui Town will be investigated in conjunction with the January 25th dismembered body case of the city bureau. Group Leader Liu, please send me the information of the two deceased.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Group Leader Liu was anxious to give away this hot potato. He hurriedly had his subordinates give the file to Yu Hanjiang.

    ¡°Help me check the information of the car Bin A-78964. In addition, immediately bring up the surveince video of the south side of Wencheng Road between 2-2:30 to track the car.¡± Yu Hanjiang moved to a chair and sat down, his expression extremely serious. He didn¡¯t say why he was investigating the car but meeting his cold eyes, Group Leader Liu immediately waved a hand and ordered his subordinates. ¡°Quickly check it!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± His subordinates hurriedly moved.

    ¡°Group Leader Liu, the car Bin A-78964 is a ck van that belongs to He Rong.¡± A female police officer quickly reported the result.

    ¡°He Rong¡¯s car?¡± Yu Hanjiang raised an eyebrow in surprise.

    At that time, Xiao Lou hade out of the coffee shop, walked around the corner and was kidnapped when he came to Wenchang Road. He Rong should¡¯ve been taken back by the police to give a statement. Based on the drone surveince video, it wasn¡¯t He Rong who abducted Xiao Lou. Obviously, the other party deliberately drove He Rong¡¯s car to kidnap people. Then they killed He Rong so there would be no evidence.

    ¡°What about the surveince?¡± Yu Hanjiang asked in a deep voice.

    ¡°I¡¯ve brought it up, Group Leader Yu.¡± A young police officer answered.

    Yu Hanjiang got up and followed the other person to the surveince room. The surveince cameras basically covered all the main roads in Qingshui Town and the surveince for the Wencheng Road area was brought up for Yu Hanjiang to see. At 2:15 in the afternoon, Xiao Lou appeared at the corner. It wasn¡¯t known who attacked him but he suddenly fell down. A ck van drove over immediately and he was carried inside.

    ¡°A kidnapping?¡± Group Leader Liu was stunned.

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t exin and instructed with a calm face, ¡°Track the car.¡±

    At 2:18 p.m., the ck van appeared at the end of Wencheng Road and turned right into Dingxiang Avenue. At 2:20 p.m., the car encountered a red light and stayed at the intersection for one minute. Then it turned right into Haihu Road¡­

    The surveince screen continued to switch and the car¡¯s path was locked onto by Yu Hanjiang.

    However, after tracking it, he found that the car actually circled the main roads of the town three or four times!

    The police officers repeatedly adjusting the surveince were dizzy while the expression on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face became colder. This group deliberately drove back and forth through town to increase the difficulty of the investigation. It wasn¡¯t until 4:30 p.m. that the ck van turned a corner and entered an underground garage. It didn¡¯te out again.

    Yu Hanjiang stood up and stared at the entrance with narrowed eyes. ¡°Whichmunity is this?¡±

    Group Leader Liu hurriedly answered, ¡°It should be Jinxiu Vi. By the way, He Rong¡¯s body was also found in the underground garage of Jinxiu Vi. Group Leader Yu, do you want to go see the scene?¡±

    Jinxiu Vi was the ce where He Rong bought three apartments and renovated them into a luxury home for his uncle. The van that contained the kidnapped Xiao Lou drove into Jinxiu Vi and He Rong was killed in the garage. The things that happened in the underground garage would be critical.

    Yu Hanjiang immediately turned around. ¡°Go to the underground garage!¡±

    Two police cars drove into the underground garage of Jinxiu Vi. It was 6 o¡¯clock in the evening and a full four hours had passed since Xiao Lou disappeared. Yu Hanjiang clenched his fists to keep himself as calm as possible. He had to calm down to find and analyze clues. This was the only way Xiao Lou could be rescued.

    The underground garage of Jinxiu Vi had two floors. They were led by the security guard into the garage and soon found the ck van with the license te Bin A-78964.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart thumped violently when he saw the car quietly parked in the private parking space. He was really afraid to open the door and see Xiao Lou lying in a pool of blood. He couldn¡¯t ept such a picture!

    Group Leader Liu didn¡¯t know the situation. He waved to have his subordinates open the door.

    The door was locked. Two policemen used a lot of effort to open the doors. Yu Hanjiang looked in. The car was empty and no blood was seen. This made him feel slightly relieved.

    Yu Hanjiang got into the car and used the fingerprint detector handed over by Group Leader Liu to search the car carefully, not missing any corner. To his disappointment, no fingerprints were found in the car, not even on the steering wheel.

    Group Leader Liu said, ¡°These kidnappers must¡¯ve worn gloves while driving? Their anti-investigation ability is quite professional!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang let out a low hum of agreement and carefully searched the car.

    Group Leader Liu wondered, ¡°Who was kidnapped?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang simply answered, ¡°Some colleagues who followed me to Qingshui Town to investigate the case.¡±

    ¡°Fuck!¡± Group Leader Liu sucked in a breath. ¡°These people are too damn daring!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang kept his face calm and said nothing as he continued to search the car.

    No useful clues were found in thepartments of the car. He got out and went to the back seat. He picked up the shlight and searched every inch, not even missing under the seat. Suddenly, he saw a card lying quietly in a hidden corner under the back seat.

    Yu Hanjiangy down, reached under the seat and grabbed the card. During the time when the other policemen weren¡¯t paying attention, he quickly opened his palm and looked at the card. It was the Bug card. This was Ye Qi¡¯s card.

    The kidnappers probably used this car when they kidnapped Ye Qi and Old Mo as well. Ye Qi might not have lost consciousness yet when he was brought into the car. He probably ced a bug on these people and left the card under the seat. In this way, Yu Hanjiang just needed to find the card and he could activate the bug to hear the movements of the kidnappers.

    Ye Qi¡¯s reaction was quick enough at the critical moment. Yu Hanjiang ced the card in his pocket and spoke calmly. ¡°Take me to the scene where He Rong was killed.¡±

    Group Leader Liu took Yu Hanjiang forward and pointed to a red sedan car ahead of them. ¡°He Rong died in this car and the cause of death was mechanical asphyxiation. The time of death was around 3:30 p.m. in the afternoon. After our analysis of the scene, it is likely that someone was hiding in the back of his car for a long time. After he got into the car, he was suddenly strangled from behind with a rope.¡±

    ¡°What was the result of the on-site evidence collection?¡±

    ¡°No evidence such as fingerprints, hair, etc. were found. The murder weapon also wasn¡¯t found and the modus operandi was very clean.¡±

    ¡°Has the garage surveince been looked at?¡±

    ¡°The surveince on the second underground floor is all fucking broken!¡± Group Leader Liu was angry. ¡°The murderer should be very familiar with themunity and the surveince was probably destroyed by him!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. This was also what he expected. The surveince of the second floor garage had been destroyed and there were no clues about kidnapping or killing. He Rong died in his car while Xiao Lou, Ye Qi and Old Mo must¡¯ve been transferred after the van drove to the second underground floor.

    All vehicles leaving themunity were suspicious. Yet in this way, the scope of the investigation was too wide and it was difficult to narrow down the target in a short time.

    Yu Hanjiang thought for a moment. ¡°Group Leader Liu, please ask the property manager of themunity to get the monitoring after 3:30 p.m. All the cars leaving themunity have to be checked. In addition, from the second underground floor to the first underground floor, all suspicious people who took the elevator upstairs should be investigated.¡±

    Group Leader Liu nodded. ¡°Understood!¡±

    Seeing him turn to leave, Group Leader Liu was stunned. ¡°Group Leader Yu, where are you going?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°I have other clues to be investigated. Please feel free to contact me if you make any progress. By the way¡­ my phone broke. Can you lend me a mobile phone?¡±

    Group Leader Liu arranged for a subordinate to give a new mobile phone to Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang took out the sim card from his broken phone and ced it in the new mobile phone so the number was the same. Then he thanked them and quickly left Jinxiu Vi.

    He found his own car and carefully observed that there were no abnormalities in the car before getting in. Then he activated the bug card left by Ye Qi.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 345: Action Plan

    Thanks to Ye Qi¡¯s quick-thinking, the other end of the bug must¡¯ve been ced on the kidnappers. It was a pity that Ye Qi¡¯s Bug card had a distance limit. The full-level card could only eavesdrop within 500 meters. At this time, there was no sound from the bug, indicating that Ye Qi¡¯s location exceeded 500 meters.

    Yu Hanjiang ced the bug receiver in his ear. He looked around the town while calling Shao Qingge, ¡°Chief Shao, can you contact Xiao Ye?¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s voice was filled with a trace of helplessness. ¡°I am unable to contact him through Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. He should still be unconscious.¡±

    ¡°Where are you?¡± Yu Hanjiang nced at his watch. It was already 9:30 p.m. and there were only two and a half hours left before midnight, when they should ce the ransom payment at the cemetery as mentioned in the WeChat group. Time was very tight.

    ¡°There is still more than an hour until we arrive at Qingshui Town.¡± Shao Qingge was already driving at the speed limit of the highway. If he went any faster he would be intercepted by the traffic police. He was also very worried.

    ¡°Once you arrive, don¡¯t act immediately and listen to my instructions. I¡¯m trying to find out where Ye Qi and the others are,¡± Yu Hanjiang instructed softly.

    ¡°Check the location?¡± Shao Qingge asked. ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you have a way to find their position?¡±

    ¡°The drone left behind by Xiao Lou filmed the kidnapper¡¯s license te number and I found the ck van with the help of the police. There was no one in the car so they should¡¯ve been transferred. Fortunately, Ye Qi left a clue in the car. His Bug card is in my hand.¡± Yu Hanjiang exined. ¡°I am driving around Qingshui Town to check. As long as I hear any sounds, I will look for them within a 500 meter radius.¡±

    ¡°Ye Qi left the bug?¡± Shao Qingge gripped the steering wheel tightly and couldn¡¯t help ming himself. Ye Qi was able to leave the bug which proved he was still conscious when he was tied up. However, Shao Qingge was sleeping at that time. Ye Qi might¡¯ve used the Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings but didn¡¯t receive a response from Shao Qingge. Therefore, he left the bug and pinned his hope on Yu Hanjiang finding it.

    If Shao Qingge hadn¡¯t sleptte today, perhaps he would have found out when Ye Qi was kidnapped.

    ¡°I changed phones but I¡¯m still using the same number. I can contact you by phone if I have something,¡± Yu Hanjiang told him.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Shao Qingge took a deep breath, pushing aside the self-me in his heart. ¡°Group Leader Yu, we¡¯lle as soon as possible.¡±

    After hanging up the phone, Shao Qingge pressed hard on the elerator. There was a strong sense of being thrown back and the white sedan drove like lightning on the highway.

    At this time, Xiao Lou was sitting quietly on the ground, motionless. It was dark and he couldn¡¯t judge the specific time and ce.

    He and Old Mo were connected by Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. Now they were both kidnapped and he had to find a way to get in touch with his teammates outside. However, his card skills wouldn¡¯t refresh until midnight. Not to mention, his hands were tied and he couldn¡¯t activate his cards.

    He could only wait until his card skills refreshed and then find a way to activate Qin Guan¡¯s Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings again to establish a connection with Yu Hanjiang. What time was it now?

    He was the only person in this quiet space. He kept trying to contact Old Mo but Old Mo never responded. He didn¡¯t know how much time passed before a hoarse voice was heard in his mind. ¡°Professor Xiao?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart shook and he immediately asked, ¡°Old Mo, what is the situation on your side?¡±

    Old Mo woke up in a daze and was a bit lost for a moment. Then the darkness in front of him and his bound hands made him quickly judge the current situation¡ªhe was kidnapped.

    Old Mo smiled bitterly and exined, ¡°Ye Qi and I wandered around the hotel at noon to see if there were any suspicious peopleing or going. It didn¡¯t take long before we saw Uncle Zhong surrounded by people being carried out of the hotel. We hid in the corner to observe and were attacked from behind. I quickly lost consciousness, it felt like I was shot by an anesthesia gun.¡±

    His experience was simr to Xiao Lou¡¯s. The enemy had a professional anesthesia gun which could instantly bring down an adult.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Is Ye Qi with you? What is the environment like around you?¡±

    ¡°Xiao Ye isn¡¯t with me. I¡¯m blindfolded and can¡¯t see or hear anything. However, I just kicked the ground and heard an echo. It feels like I¡¯m locked in a closed room.¡±

    ¡°Is the ground covered with cement?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it must be cement.¡± Old Mo spoke confidently. He was very sensitive to decoration materials. The temperature and texture of the cement floor was different from wood or ceramic tiles. He was sitting directly on the cold concrete floor and this made him shiver.

    ¡°Has anyonee in?¡± Xiao Lou wanted to know more details.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I just woke up and heard you calling me in my head.¡± Old Mo frowned in a worried manner. ¡°I was kidnapped, right? Professor Xiao, where are you?¡±

    ¡°I was also kidnapped. I should be locked up in the same ce as you but a different room.¡± Xiao Lou paused andforted him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, our teammates are outside and they will find a way to save us. Old Mo, the two of us should keep in touch at all times. Once the contact is interrupted, it means it is midnight and the card skills are refreshed. I need to grasp this specific point in time.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± Old Mo spoke in an understanding manner. ¡°Once the skills are refreshed, can you find a way to contact Group Leader Yu?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I hope he hasn¡¯t been kidnapped as well.¡± Xiao Lou said helplessly. ¡°If Group Leader Yu was also kidnapped, we would have to find a way to meet up and escape together. Don¡¯t act rashly for now.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Old Mo and Xiao Lou talked about the case through their connection.

    Yu Hanjiang drove back and forth around Qingshui Town for three rounds. He didn¡¯t let go of even the dead end ces but the bug stayed silent.

    There were two possibilities. Either the three of them were taken away from Qingshui Town and were beyond the reach of the 500 meters radius of the eavesdropper or the person carrying the eavesdropper didn¡¯t make a sound. It was unlikely that a person would make no sound at all. They would at least have footsteps while walking. Therefore, there was a greater possibility that Ye Qi was no longer in Qingshui Town.

    Seeing that it was gettingte, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mobile phone rang again. ¡°Group Leader Yu, we are here.¡± Shao Qingge sent him a location via WeChat. The four of them had just gotten off the highway and were parked in a remote suburb.

    Yu Hanjiang told them, ¡°Wait for me there. I wille immediately.¡±

    He drove the car and quickly arrived at Shao Qingge¡¯s position. Shao Qingge got out of the car, walked over to Yu Hanjiang and spoke quickly. ¡°What is the result of the bug investigation? Is the range locked?¡±

    ¡°It isn¡¯t too optimistic.¡± Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression was extremely cold. ¡°Xiao Ye¡¯s bug can only transmit sounds within a range of 500 meters. They might¡¯ve been taken to a ce far away from Qingshui Town. I went around the town several times and couldn¡¯t hear any movement from the bug.¡±

    ¡°Then what should we do? It is almost time.¡± Shao Qingge frowned and looked down at his watch. It was 11:30 p.m. and there were only 30 minutes left until the midnight appointment time set by the other party. Just then, there was a message in the WeChat group.

    He saw ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ typing: [At midnight tonight, the Xishan Cemetery. Don¡¯t bete. The five of you have toe together. It can¡¯t be more or less. Otherwise, you will immediately see the bodies of your three friends.]

    Yu Hanjiang immediately replied: [I want to confirm the safety of these three people. Let me talk to them.]

    The other party said: [A call isn¡¯t necessary. I¡¯ll show you that they are still alive!]

    Three photos were sent to the group.

    Xiao Lou and Old Mo were blindfolded by ck cloth, their hands tied tightly behind their backs while they sat on the ground. While Xiao Ye was huddled in the corner like a shrimp. The three of them were locked in three rooms with no windows or lights. It looked like a dark basement and it was impossible to tell where they were.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou in the photo and his heart stung.

    Fortunately, on the surface, Xiao Lou didn¡¯t seem to suffer from any traumatic injuries. He shouldn¡¯t have been beaten or abused. Yu Hanjiang took a deep breath and spoke in the group: [See you at Xishan Cemetery at midnight. I¡¯ll pay the money so hand over my people.]

    The other party said: [You aren¡¯t allowed to call the police. If I find any police officers other than Group Leader Yu on the scene, you will immediately see videos of these three friends being dismembered, understood?]

    ¡°¡­¡­.¡± Yu Hanjiang almost smashed his phone out of anger.

    [I understand. We will try our best to cooperate.] He resisted the anger in his heart and calmly finished typing.

    [Very good. I¡¯ll see you soon.] The other party replied with Xiao Lou¡¯s phone.

    Yu Hanjiang put away his phone and looked at his four teammates. ¡°The phones of Xiao Ye, Old Mo and Xiao Lou are all controlled by them. They saw our chat history in the WeChat group and know that we have a lot of information. Their purpose is to lure us with the ransom and then wipe us out.¡±

    ¡°This is why they asked the five of us to go together to pay the ransom. If we do go, it is like throwing ourselves into the.¡± Shao Qingge¡¯s expression was ugly and a sharp glint shed in his eyes. ¡°I believe that once we fail to meet their requirements, these beasts will immediately take a video of them dismembering the three people and send it to us on Xiao Lou¡¯s phone.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Liu Qiao, Long Sen and Qu Wanyue all shuddered.

    They thought of the corpse with a missing kidney in the hospital morgue and then Xiao Lou, Xiao Ye and Old Mo being dismembered. They couldn¡¯t help feeling a chill and their blood was frozen. This was the biggest crisis their team had encountered so far. If they didn¡¯t handle it well, perhaps Xiao Lou¡¯s group of three would actually be dismembered!

    ¡°Fuck them!¡± Long Sen couldn¡¯t help swearing. ¡°If the five of us go together, it is very likely we will be caught as a group. Professor Xiao definitely won¡¯t be at Xishan Cemetery! Shouldn¡¯t we leave someone behind to save them?¡±

    The five of them going together was tantamount to death. However, if they split up and didn¡¯t meet the demands of the other side, it was possible Xiao Lou¡¯s group of three would be dismembered. Even if they went to Xishan Cemetery and beat up the people present, they wouldn¡¯t be able to save Xiao Lou¡¯s group. Rather, it might put them in danger. Their teammates were still in the hands of the kidnappers. Didn¡¯t this mean the five of them had to go obediently to Xishan Cemetery? Then wasn¡¯t it the end once all of them were caught?

    Everyone was silently in a dilemma for a while. Suddenly, Liu Qiao said, ¡°I have a way but I don¡¯t know if it will work.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang turned to her. ¡°Say it.¡±

    Liu Qiao took out a card. ¡°My Twin card can copy anyone I see within 30 minutes. Later, I¡¯ll pretend to be Group Leader Yu. Then I will summon Little Red Riding Hood and let her pretend to be me. This way, we can be five people.¡± She paused for a moment. ¡°Little Red Riding Hood will always follow me. At least on the surface, there will be five of us.¡±

    Qu Wanyue¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°This is a good method. Xiao Liu can pretend to be Group Leader Yu and Group Leader Yu can find a way to save the others!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°How long can you pretend to be a person and how long can Little Red Riding Hood exist?¡±

    The Twin card was first used by Liu Qiao in 4 of Hearts, Liuxi Vige. Later in the World Weekly, she used it to pretend to be a shark. She never used it in the subsequent secret rooms and Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t know the status of her card.

    Liu Qiao said, ¡°I can pretend to be Group Leader Yu for an hour and Little Red Riding Hood will follow me as long as I don¡¯t cancel it.¡±

    Little Red Riding Hood was one of Liu Qiao¡¯s fairy tale cards. As long as she didn¡¯t take it back, Little Red Riding Hood would always follow its master silently.

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it and nodded. ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll do that.¡±

    Liu Qiao used the Twin card and soon one more Yu Hanjiang appeared in front of everyone. He had the same height, appearance and even had the same voice. Then Liu Qiao summoned Little Red Riding Hood and arranged the girls¡¯ clothes. Qu Wanyue even helped her have the same hairstyle as Liu Qiao. From a distance, it looked indeed like Liu Qiao was following Yu Hanjiang. This should be fine in the darkness.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Liu Qiao appreciatively. ¡°Speak as little as possible to avoid arousing the other party¡¯s suspicions.¡±

    Liu Qiao who was pretending to be Yu Hanjiang nodded and spoke in the same voice. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Group Leader Yu, I will try to imitate your tone of voice.¡±

    Shao Qingge looked over at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°The five of us will go to Xishan Cemetery to pay the ransom. We will act ording to the circumstances. It is up to you to rescue the others, Yu Hanjiang.¡±

    This was the first time Shao Qingge called out Yu Hanjiang¡¯s name. For so long, he had always been referring to him as Group Leader Yu so it felt very strange. Yet at this moment, Yu Hanjiang saw firmness and trust in Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes. They were life and death brothers now.

    Shao Qingge stretched out a hand. Yu Hanjiang also extended his hand and the two people shook hands firmly to give each other some encouragement. The organization had arge number of guns and the members were cold-blooded and brutal. No one knew if they woulde back alive from this.

    Shao Qingge and the others faced the risk of being caught in a trap and all of them being wiped out. Meanwhile, Yu Hanjiang had to face the despair of possibly not finding Xiao Lou¡¯s hiding ce in time, causing his teammates to be wiped out.

    Yu Hanjiang turned to stare at the distant sky. The dark night sky was full of stars. Their current location was just north of Qingshui Town and it was a 20 minutes drive from Xishan Cemetery. Liu Qiao could pretend to be Yu Hanjiang for one hour. For the real Yu Hanjiang, he only had one hour to find Xiao Lou.

    Yu Hanjiang turned around without hesitation and waved to his teammates. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will bring them back intact¡­ if the n fails, I¡¯ll bury you next to me.¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 346: Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings

    Yu Hanjiang drove to where the criminal police force of Qingshui Town was stationed.

    At 11:40 p.m., the office was brightly lit. Group Leader Liu and the others were working overtime to investigate the vehicles driving out of the Jinxiu Vi garage. A young police officer saw Yu Hanjiang enter and quickly stood up. ¡°Group Leader Yu, you came!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and strode to the surveince screen. He asked, ¡°Have you found any suspicious vehicles?¡±

    ¡°At 4 p.m. this afternoon, there were a total of 84 vehicles that left the underground garage of Jinxiu Vi. 71 of them belong to owners of themunity and 13 are temporary vehicles. The vehicles belonging to owners are easy to check. I have already confirmed the property management to confirm it and there are no doubts. Out of the 13 temporary vehicles, the traffic management bureau has found 10 of them. There are three whose owners I have been unable to contact.¡± Group Leader Liu frowned and pointed to the surveince screen. ¡°Moreover, these three cars have disappeared from the surveince.¡±

    ¡°Show me.¡± Yu Hanjiang nced at the information and bent over to hold the mouse so that the surveince video quickly rewound.

    The three cars determined by Group Leader Liu were private cars with different colors of ck, white and red. They left Jinxiu Vi at 4:45, 5:10 and 5:30 p.m. respectively and left records at the surveince at the door.

    Strangely, the three cars disappeared from the surveincework after making one round around town.

    Yu Hanjiang clicked on the mouse to pause. The screen was on thest ce where the ck car appeared. All the cameras were broken in the residential area to the west of Qingshui Town. On the other screen, the white car appeared to the east of Qingshui Town while the red car disappeared into the south. The three cars drove in different directions into the blind spots of the surveince in a tacit manner.

    Yu Hanjiang decisively said, ¡°They are doing this intentionally.¡±

    Captain Liu was stunned and touched his chin thoughtfully. ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you mean that they deliberately drove to different sections of road at different times to confuse the police and make us unable to determine the specific direction they left?¡±

    ¡°Yes, they divided themselves into three to increase the difficulty of the investigation. These people have very professional anti-investigation capabilities.¡± Yu Hanjiang zoomed in on the surveince screen and carefully examined the tire marks of the three cars. He repeatedly switched between screens and the young police officer standing behind him was dazzled.

    ¡°Roads are being built around the town. Some sections of the roads aren¡¯t in good condition and there are no surveince cameras.¡± Group Leader Liu hurriedly exined when he saw Yu Hanjiang freeze the screen on a sandy road.

    ¡°It is the red car.¡± Yu Hanjiang straightened up and pointed to the tire marks on the screen. ¡°Vehicles with different weight will leave different tire marks when they pass through a dirt road. This red car should be full of people. It is obviously heavier than the other two cars. If my guess is right, the kidnapped people should be sitting in the back of this car.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Group Leader Liu patted his forehead. ¡°Yes, you can see tire marks more clearly on a dirt road with bad road conditions. They wanted to create numerous obstructions but they instead let us lock onto the car that took the hostages!¡±

    ¡°What is the situation around Qingshui Town?¡± Yu Hanjiang spoke softly. ¡°Give me a detailed map.¡±

    ¡°Oh, yes!¡± Group Leader Liu found a map and handed it to Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang picked up a pen and quickly drew three red crosses on the map. ¡°The ces where the three cars disappeared are to the east, west and south of the town. The red car with the hostages finally disappeared to the south. The ck and white cars should be meant to mislead the police. The red car is the key.¡± Yu Hanjiang raised his head with sharp eyes. ¡°There is no surveince installed in this area?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Group Leader Liu nodded vigorously. ¡°The surrounding area of Qingshui Town hasn¡¯t been developed yet. There are more than a dozen viges in the east, north and south directions. The economic conditions might not be good but the natural environment is beautiful. The city has issued a document with the intention of developing it into a tourist area.¡±

    ¡°How many viges are there in the south?¡±

    ¡°Six.¡± Group Leader Liu briefly introduced the situation of each vige.

    There were no wide roads at the junction of urban and rural areas, only country roads paved with sand and stone. In the south of the town, there were several forked roads leading to six different viges. The viges were far apart from each other and without surveince, no one knew where the car went.

    Yu Hanjiang lowered his head and nced at his watch. It was 11:55 p.m. and there were only 5 minutes left until midnight. The information that could be obtained from the surveince was limited. He could only infer that Xiao Lou was taken to the south and couldn¡¯t waste any more time. Yu Hanjiang had this thought and immediately turned around. ¡°I¡¯m going to find that car.¡±

    ¡°Do you need reinforcements?¡±

    ¡°No need.¡± Arge number of police officers might scare the snakes and lead to them getting rid of the hostages. Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t dare take this risk and waved his hand. ¡°Thank you for your hard work. Group Leader Liu, if you find anything then contact me immediately.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang turned to leave. He drove his ck private car and stepped on the elerator. The car rushed to the south of Qingshui Town like an arrow leaving the bowstring.

    In the middle of the night, there weren¡¯t many pedestrians in the town. Yu Hanjiang calmly drove at the highest speed and soon came to the position where the car disappeared from the surveince. The road condition here was very bad. He saw thest camera shing an infrared light on the side of the road. Further on was a country road with no street lights and no surveince. The dark country road was like a wild beast with its mouth wide open, almost swallowing people.

    Yu Hanjiang parked his car at the intersection and opened the map. There was a three-way forked road ahead. 10 kilometers to the left, there was a ¡®¶¡¡¯ junction leading to two viges. 10 kilometers to the right, there was another ¡®¶¡¡¯ junction leading to four different viges.

    In other words, this forked road led to six viges and Xiao Lou could¡¯ve been taken to any of the viges. Even if Yu Hanjiang drove the car at the fastest speed, it would take 30 minutes to reach the nearest vige. Checking them one by one would require at least 180 minutes.

    This was toote. If he found the wrong vige, it was likely to dy the best rescue time and this would result in Xiao Lou¡¯s group of three being brutally killed. This wasn¡¯t a maze where they could return to the original point if they went wrong. It was a life or death multiple choice question. He simply couldn¡¯t afford to choose the wrong ce.

    Out of the six roads, which one was the right one?

    The car disappeared in this area at 6 p.m. This was the peak time to get off work. Many vigers from every vige went to work in the small town so there were many cars on the road and the tire marks were very messy. He was no longer able to distinguish between the different tire marks, hoping to find the red car this way was impossible. The trail was broken yet again.

    Yu Hanjiang returned to the car with a cold face. Then his phone lit up and he received a message. [We have arrived at Xishan Cemetery.]

    It was sent by Shao Qingge.

    Yu Hanjiang replied: [Pay attention to safety.]

    Shao Qingge: [You too. Once midnight arrives, we will make contact with Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings.]

    Then he deleted the chat recordpletely. He carried the box containing the ransom money and went to the designated position with his teammates.

    Xishan Cemetery, the 18th row, the 10th gravestone to the left.

    It was almost midnight and the cemetery was deserted. The willow trees next to the cemetery swayed in the wind. Under the light of the hazy moonlight, the shadows of the trees on the ground were like ghosts dancing with teeth and ws.

    Going to the cemetery in the middle of the night made people feel terrified. Besides, it wasn¡¯t known who was watching them secretly. Shao Qingge turned on the shlight. He took his teammates to the gravestone and put down the box full of money.

    He shone a shlight on the gravestone only to find a printed A4 paper was stuck on the cold gravestone. It had instructions that read: ¡°Put down the box, leave the cemetery and turn left after going down the mountain.¡±

    Shao Qingge frowned and took out his mobile phone to send a message. [We handed over the money as agreed. Where are my friends?]

    The other person said: [Follow the instructions or you will only see their bodies.]

    Shao Qingge had to put down the box of gold coins and walked out of the cemetery with his teammates.

    At midnight, all the card skills were refreshed. No one noticed that in the darkness, a figure suddenly appeared and disappeared. Shao Qingge had summoned Qin Guan. At the same time, Shao Qingge¡¯s voice filled Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mind. The Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings connection had been established.

    ¡°We are under surveince. There should be hidden cameras near the cemetery. Judging from the response of the other person, they aren¡¯t suspicious about Xiao Liu pretending to be you and letting Little Red Riding Hood follow her. The ransom was ced in front of the designated gravestone. After leaving the cemetery, they told us to drive to the left.¡± Shao Qingge quickly told Yu Hanjiang about the situation in the cemetery.

    ¡°To the left?¡± Yu Hanjiang took out the map and took a look. Chief Shao¡¯s current location was at Xishan Cemetery. After going down the mountain, there was a country road to the left. Following that road would lead them to¡­ the forked road to the south of Qingshui Town.

    ¡°Follow their instructions,¡± Yu Hanjiang instructed softly. ¡°They might lead you to the ce where Xiao Lou¡¯s group is detained in order to kill everyone together.¡±

    ¡°Okay, keep in touch.¡± Shao Qingge took his teammates down the mountain, started the car and turned to the left.

    At the same time, the dark room.

    Xiao Lou and Old Mo were talking about the case when the contact suddenly broke.

    Both of them were awake and chatting in their minds. The iron door on Old Mo¡¯s side hadn¡¯t opened yet so it ruled out the possibility that he was knocked unconscious. If the Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings was broken, it could only mean it was midnight and their card skills had been refreshed.

    Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings could only be maintained for 24 hours and the target could be changed after refreshing the skill. Xiao Lou took a deep breath and shouted to the door, ¡°Is anyone there?¡±

    There was no sound from outside. Most of the cards in his card pack such as Li Qingzhao and Tao Yuanming needed to be held in his hands to activate and summon them. At this time, his hands were tightly tied so these cards couldn¡¯t be used.

    Two cards were the exception. They were Qin Guan¡¯s Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings and Xiao Yu¡¯s passive protection.

    Since Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings established a mind connection, this skill could be manipted with the mind. Xiao Yu¡¯s protection of his brother was a passive trigger. Once someone was going to take Xiao Lou¡¯s life, Xiao Yu would immediatelye out to help his brother. However, until now, Xiao Yu hadn¡¯te out. This proved that Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t in a life threatening environment.

    There should be no one outside. Xiao Lou took a deep breath and immediately used his mind to activate the Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings skill. Yu Hanjiang received a signal. He had just connected with Chief Shao so the other signal could onlye from Xiao Lou!

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart jumped and hurriedly epted themunication. A familiar voice was heard in his mind. ¡°Hanjiang, are you there?¡±

    The man¡¯s voice was as gentle as he remembered but it showed a bit of anxiety. A hint of ecstasy filled Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart. He held back his excitement and answered, ¡°I¡¯m here! Xiao Lou, how are you? Are you injured?¡±

    Xiao Lou felt warm when he heard this concerned voice. ¡°I¡¯m fine but I don¡¯t know where we are locked up. What is the situation over there? You haven¡¯t been caught?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Yu Hanjiang quickly exined. ¡°They used your mobile phone to send a message and asked Chief Shao to pay a ransom. At present, Chief Shao, Liu Qiao, Long Sen and Qu Wanyue are on the way to pay the ransom. I am at the intersection to the south of Qingshui Town to look for you.¡±

    Time was running out and they didn¡¯t have time to greet each other carefully. Yu Hanjiang decisively got to the most important point. ¡°Xiao Lou, can you describe the surrounding environment as much as possible?¡±

    ¡°There is a concrete floor, closed room and iron door. The other side has three people, two men and one woman. One of the men called the leader Brother Rong. He is probably the one we are looking for.¡± Xiao Lou closed his eyes and felt his surroundings carefully. He couldn¡¯t see anything because he was blindfolded but this made his hearing and sense of smell extremely keen. ¡°While the three of them were trying to determine if I was awake, I smelled a strange smell. It was a fresh fragrance and cold. It should be¡­ plum blossoms.¡±

    At first, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t determine what the smell was. Then he thought about it carefully, the elegant fragrance was obviously floral and it appeared on the man¡¯s body. It wasn¡¯t like perfume but was more like a natural fragrance. For example, a fragrance from when the other party passed through a field of flowers.

    There weren¡¯t many flowers that blossomed in February. Xiao Lou carefully searched through his knowledge base and determined that this was the cold fragrance of plum blossoms.

    ¡°Plum blossoms?¡± Yu Hanjiang hurriedly picked up the map. Previously, he had marked the six viges near Qingshui Town ording to Group Leader Liu¡¯s description. One of them was called ¡®Qinghe Vige¡¯ and it had arge number of plum blossoms nted. The city was trying to make it an eco-tourism resort with the theme of ¡®plum blossoms¡¯.

    Early spring wasing and it was the season for plum blossoms.

    If these people walked through arge plum blossom forest then they could naturally be contaminated with the smell of plum blossoms, bringing it with them to Xiao Lou. The fragrance of plum blossoms wasn¡¯t strong. Rather, it was very light and cold and this was keenly perceived by Xiao Lou.

    ¡°Protect yourself, I¡¯lle rescue you straight away.¡± Yu Hanjiang folded the map and stuffed it into his pocket. He abandoned the car, started the light footwork card and rushed in the direction of Qinghe Vige!

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 347: Mysterious Man

    The country road was dark. Yu Hanjiang used the moonlight to identify the direction. He had just walked two kilometers when dark clouds covered the night sky. This was followed by a sh of lightning splitting the sudden darkness. There was the sound of thunder in his ears and rain poured down. His entire body was soaked in an instant.

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t have an umbre with him but he didn¡¯t care about getting wet from the rain. He used the roadside branches as a foothold. In the rainstorm, the man flew forward like a phantom. His speed was several times faster than that of a fully powered sports car. He had to race against time to find Xiao Lou as soon as possible. Once he confirmed the safety of Xiao Lou, Ye Qi and Old Mo, Shao Qingge¡¯s group of four could find a way to escape.

    It only took 5 minutes before Yu Hanjiang arrived at the first fork in the road. He had already kept the map of the vige in mid. He just had to turn left on this road and after 10 kilometers he would arrive at Qinghe Vige.

    In the dark rainy night, Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t see his surroundings clearly. Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t dare use any lighting tools in case it attracted the kidnappers¡¯ attention. He continued to move forward in the darkness and soon, some faint lights appeared in his vision. He arrived in Qinghe Vige and found there were two or three families staying upte. Their lights were still on.

    Yu Hanjiang jumped down from the branches and observed the surrounding environment with the help of the faint light.

    Qinghe Vige was surrounded by a plum blossom forest. No matter what direction the kidnappers entered from, they would be covered with the scent of plum blossoms. The rainstorm had knocked down many petals and the air was mixed with the fragrance of plum blossoms and the smell of earth.

    The area of the vige was veryrge and he had to find the ce where Xiao Lou was imprisoned as soon as possible. Yu Hanjiang quickly entered the vige and moved along the main road. There was only the sound of a dog barking not far away as well as the sound of rain.

    Therge amount of rain interfered with the effect of the bug. Perhaps it was because the location of the bug was still more than 500 meters away from him but Yu Hanjiang still didn¡¯t hear any sound from it. He continued to explore the vige while asking Xiao Lou, ¡°It¡¯s raining outside. Can you hear the rain?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s raining?¡± Xiao Lou pricked up his ears to listen and frowned slightly. ¡°I can¡¯t hear it.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t hear such a heavy rain? It showed that there were no windows at Xiao Lou¡¯s location and it wasn¡¯t an ordinary house. Otherwise, the sound of the rain on the roof would be heard.

    ¡°You can¡¯t hear it at all?¡± Yu Hanjiang confirmed it again.

    ¡°Yes, it is very quiet where I am and there is no sound.¡± He paused and asked in his mind, ¡°Where are you?¡±

    ¡°Based on the plum blossom fragrance you mentioned, I locked onto Qinghe Vige and I¡¯m there now.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at the surrounding buildings.

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t hear the rain so it was impossible for it to be an ordinary viger¡¯s house. It was because the vigers here lived inrge courtyards, one-storey bungalows and the houses had basic windows. The rain was so heavy that those inside the house must be able to hear it.

    Unless¡­

    Xiao Lou was locked up in a dark basement.

    A basement was a closed space with no windows and no direct connection to the outside world. Therefore, the sound of rain couldn¡¯t be heard. The concrete floor, iron door and closed space described by Xiao Lou did indeed conform to the characteristics of a basement.

    In order to imprison Xiao Lou, Ye Qi and Old Mo in separate rooms, the basement area must be veryrge. The bungalows of the vigers generally didn¡¯t have basements. Where would Xiao Lou be?

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and thought for a moment. He continued to search around the main road of the vige to see if there were anyrger buildings here. He flew high into the sky and saw that there weren¡¯t any obvious high-rise buildings around. There were only single-storey bungalows.

    The moment he was flying along the main road to the end of the vige, a sh of lightning suddenly struck in the sky. In the dark night, the lightning pierced the sky like a sharp knife. Under the dazzling white light, a three-storey building unexpectedly appeared in front of him.

    The lightning onlysted a short two seconds and the surroundings fell into darkness again. Still, the scene that shed by just now was clearly engraved in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes.

    It was a newlypleted building. There was no time for the exterior to be painted so the concrete walls looked extremely cold under the torrential rain. The building area was veryrge and it was possible to build a basement of the same size. Moreover, the back of this building happened to have arge area of plum blossom trees.

    Yu Hanjiang took a deep breath and approached the building stealthily. There was noise from the rain pounding on the building but the sound of the outside environment was different from the sound of the bug, which still didn¡¯t transmit any sounds. Yu Hanjiang flew directly to the rooftop of this building with the light footwork card. Then he drew two cards from his card pack. It was the Night Devil Saber and a glock pistol.

    Once he was ready, he whispered in the heart channel. ¡°Xiao Lou, cooperate with me.¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately replied. ¡°Yes, say it.¡±

    ¡°If there are no idents, I should be on the roof of your building right now. Xiao Ye left me the bug. Try to make some noise and I will see if I can hear it.¡±

    If he could hear it then it proved Yu Hanjiang had found the right ce. The surrounding area of the building was very empty and there were no other disturbances. There was arge plum blossom forest behind it and it was impossible for anyone to hide in this plum blossom forest in the middle of the night in the heavy rain. Yu Hanjiang was on the roof of the building. 500 meters vertically and horizontally could just cover the entire building.

    Xiao Lou quickly understood what Yu Hanjiang meant. He cleared his throat and shouted, ¡°Is anyone there? Is anyone there?¡±

    At the same time, Xiao Lou¡¯s voice came from Yu Hanjiang¡¯s bug. The sound was very far away, like a reverberation after passing through an open corridor. It didn¡¯t sound real but it was definitely from a distance within 500 meters.

    In other words, Xiao Lou was in this building. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes narrowed. He found the ce where the hostages were being held!

    Xiao Lou asked in his mind, ¡°Can you hear me?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang flew down from the roof, moving lightly while groping around the edge of the building. He told Xiao Lou, ¡°I heard it. Keep talking so I can determine your position clearly.¡±

    Xiao Lou shouted, ¡°Is anyone there? I want to go to the bathroom!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang held the gun in his hand, bent over and advanced quickly in the direction of the sound.

    Sound came from far to near. Then the sound of leather shoes stepping on the concrete floor was heard from the bug. A man stepped forward and pinched Xiao Lou¡¯s chin with his cold fingers, a hint of mocking in his voice. ¡°Dr Xiao, do you want to go to the bathroom? I would rather see what you look like when you identally pee in your pants.¡±

    The corners of Xiao Lou¡¯s mouth twitched slightly. He tried to look away but the other person pinched him very tightly. That person¡¯s fingers were cold and it felt like a poisonous snake was wrapped around him.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s feelings were transmitted through the connection to Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression sank and he immediately quickened his pace.

    Judging from the volume changes in the bug, Xiao Lou was far away from the bug at first. His shouting had been a bit fuzzy. Then the man approached and his voice became unusually clear. Obviously, Ye Qi had ced the bug on this man.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered in his mind. ¡°Talk to him to dy time. I¡¯ming to rescue you straight away.¡±

    Xiao Lou endured the difort of his chin being pinched and asked with a frown, ¡°Who are you? Why did you bring me here?¡±

    ¡°Who am I? Dr Xiao is very forgetful.¡± The man spoke lightly. ¡°You were investigating Cheng Shaofeng and Lin Rongrong everywhere in the hospital. I told you so many clues but you haven¡¯t figured out who Brother Rong is?¡±

    Xiao Lou always thought this voice was familiar but he couldn¡¯t remember where he heard it. It wasn¡¯t until thest sentence that he finally understood.

    There was only one person who knew he was in the hospital to check Cheng Shaofeng and Lin Rongrong and that he left the hospital today¡ªit was the doctor colleague from the general surgery department, Li Ran.

    He remembered at that time, Xiao Lou found that his colleague Li Ran was a ssmate of Lin Rongrong. He pretended to chat and went to Dr Li to inquire about Lin Rongrong¡¯s situation. The other side had smiled and said, ¡°Of course I know Lin Rongrong. He and I were university roommates.¡±

    Dr Li not only cooperated with Xiao Lou¡¯s questions but also gave Xiao Lou a friendly introduction to Lin Rongrong¡¯s situation, including Lin Rongrong¡¯s failure to continue his studies after he was admitted to graduate school, his mother¡¯s death from uremia and so on.

    Now it seemed this man was the ghost hiding in the hospital!

    Yu Hanjiang was shot and admitted to the VIP ward of the general surgery department. Li Ran was a general surgery doctor. He naturally knew that Officer Yu was shot in the abdomen and that the killer sent to kill Cheng Shaofeng had gotten the wrong target. Then he was likely to report this to his superiors who wanted to kill Cheng Shaofeng.

    In the pediatric ward, Chen Yuqing died of a heart attack. On the day that Chen Yehua picked up her daughter¡¯s body from the hospital, Cheng Shaofeng wanted to take his lover to escape. Li Ran was the spy in the hospital and the organization knew that Cheng Shaofeng was running away. They set up a driver to ambush him on the highway and directly hit Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s vehicle.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s investigation at the hospital had actually aroused the suspicion of the organization. On the surface, Li Ran cooperated with Xiao Lou and told him details about Cheng Shaofeng, Lin Rongrong and others but he ignored one thing. Cheng Shaofeng and Lin Rongrong had a very good rtionship. Then what about Li Ran? As Lin Rongrong¡¯s roommate, Cheng Shaofeng must¡¯vee to his dormitory every day. What was Li Ran¡¯s rtionship with him?

    Xiao Lou thought up to here and couldn¡¯t help feeling annoyed. He was too careless. He asked his colleague about the suspect but he ignored the fact that his colleague himself might also be a suspect!

    Yu Hanjiang consoled him, ¡°It isn¡¯t your fault. Li Ran hid too deeply. I also didn¡¯t expect him to be a member of the organization.¡±

    Xiao Lou said in his mind, ¡°Li Ran, Lin Rongrong and Cheng Shaofeng must be a group. My guess is that Li Ran is responsible for the handover work at the hospital to ensure the smooth progress of the organ transnt operation. Meanwhile, Lin Rongrong harvests the organs at the illegal clinic and sends them to the hospital. They might share the same ideals in some aspects.¡±

    ¡°It makes sense.¡± Yu Hanjiang followed Xiao Lou¡¯s analysis. ¡°In regr hospitals, if the source of the organs isn¡¯t clear then doctors won¡¯t rush to perform transnts. However, Shao Qingge and Cheng Shaofeng had transnts at your hospital. I checked carefully and found that the source of the organs is reasonable and legal. There was also the signature of the donor. These things must¡¯ve been forged by Li Ran.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°For example, Chief Shao¡¯s kidney appears toe from a prisoner on death row and there are the signatures and fingerprints of the prisoner on the certification materials. Yet in fact, Chief Shao¡¯s kidneyes from the takeout deliveryman, Wang Wei. It is likely that Dr Li is in charge of forging the materials.¡±

    In this way, the entire chain of division ofbor of the organ trafficking organization wasplete.

    Lin Rongrong suffered a blow because his mother died of uremia. He thought that studying medicine couldn¡¯t even save his loved one. Rather than continuing with medical school, he went to the extreme and joined the illegal clinic to be responsible for the organ harvesting. His insufficient surgery experience meant that some organ transnt patients were left with severe side-effects and even died of organ failure.

    Zhu Qingrong of the obstetrics and gynecology department had his doctor¡¯s qualification revoked due to an error during surgery that resulted in the death of a pregnant woman. He spent several years in prison and after being released from prison, he might¡¯ve joined the organization to be responsible for the egg retrieval part of the operation.

    Li Ran was the transfer staff inside the hospital. He could send the data of patients who needed an organ transnt to the organization to find a matching type. After finding a suitable matching organ, he could forge the legal source of the organ and pretend that the organs came from death row prisoners¡¯ donations or social donations. The signatures of the family, donors and other formalities were readily avable and the hospital could perform operations on patients without any worries.

    Others like Rong Cheng, the boss of the pharmaceuticalpany and Song Xiaoqing, the boss of the equipmentpany, were probably responsible for the organization¡¯s funds. He Rong was responsible for moneyundering which was why he had a lot of strange real estate transactions.

    Qi Zhaoming who died from unrted issues in the hospital, Yu Fugui and others in jail might be minions of the organization. As ¡®hunters¡¯, they looked for targets they could harvest organs from. They would deliberately look for orphans who wouldn¡¯t attract people¡¯s attention if they went missing or poor people who were in dire need of money, encouraging these people to sell their organs for money.

    Uncle Zhong and Cheng Shaofeng were likely to be high level people in the organization who knew secrets so they were silenced.

    The careful analysis of Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou based on the clues so far meant that members of this huge illegal organization had gradually surfaced. However, they still had no clue about the biggest boss of the organization.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s voice came from the bug. ¡°You have my phone with you, right? Now that you know we are investigating the organ trafficking case, you have captured my friends?¡±

    Li Ranughed. ¡°That¡¯s right. All members of your WeChat group will be here soon.¡±

    The sound from the bug was close at hand. Xiao Lou and Li Ran were obviously nearby. Yu Hanjiang stopped, stepped into the building, went down the stairs and found a door locked by an iron chain.

    Yu Hanjiang was wearing ck clothes and was very careful when lurking in the dark. He couldn¡¯t rule out the possibility of infrared cameras in the basement. If he was exposed then it was likely to anger the other party and bring danger to Xiao Lou¡¯s group of three.

    Yu Hanjiang decisively put on the invisibility cloak, found a slender iron wire and gently stuffed it into the keyhole. There was a slight click as the lock was opened. Yu Hanjiang entered the basement and quickly restored the iron chains.

    There was a faint light in the corridor of the basement. At the end of the corridor, there was indeed a pinpoint-sized red light shing. It was a surveince camera aimed at the corridor. Fortunately, Yu Hanjiang was wearing an invisibility cloak and the other side couldn¡¯t see him on the surveince. The empty basement seemed extremely quiet.

    Yu Hanjiang followed Xiao Lou¡¯s voice from the bug. The structure of the basement was simr to the undergroundbyrinth of Antai Garden, with criss-crossing corridors and closed rooms.

    He didn¡¯t know what was in the rooms and Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t dare to rush forward for the time being. He used his memory of the previous map to move quickly. After turning left and right and going around several corridors in a row, he finally found the original key room of Antai Garden¡ªnumber 201.

    The door of the room was open.

    There were lights on in the room but it was very dim. Yu Hanjiang turned to look and found Xiao Lou sitting on the concrete floor with his eyes covered by a ck cloth and hands tied tightly behind him. A man was leaning over and pinching Xiao Lou¡¯s chin with his fingers.

    A sharp light shed in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes and he strode behind Xiao Lou. The next moment, Xiao Lou¡¯s voice rang out in his ears. ¡°You are bringing us all over just to kill us? Just like you killed Cheng Shaofeng and Uncle Zhong?¡±

    Li Ran smiled. ¡°Not necessarily. Perhaps there might be buyers who need hearts and kidneys. If you are matched then you can save lives before you die. Dr Xiao, do you want us to remove your left kidney or your right kidney?

    Xiao Lou got a chill down his back as he listened. These crazy bastards, they wanted to sell their organs for money?!

    Just then, Li Ran¡¯s phone lit up and a message appeared. Li Ran let go of Xiao Lou¡¯s chin and stood up, telling him coldly, ¡°I have work to do. Dr Xiao, if you really want to go to the toilet, I can only wrong you to settle it on the spot.¡±

    Then he turned and left. Xiao Lou wanted to stop this person when he felt a familiar breath approaching him. Xiao Lou was blindfolded and unable to see anything so he was puzzled. Suddenly, his shoulder was gently held by a hand and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was heard through the mind connection. ¡°It¡¯s me.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart thumped.

    Li Ran didn¡¯t notice that Yu Hanjiang came in. There was only one exnation¡ªYu Hanjiang was wearing the invisibility cloak. Xiao Lou immediately expressed in his mind that he understood.

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°This is an undergroundbyrinth that isn¡¯t any different from Antai Garden. There is infrared surveince everywhere, including the corner of the room where you are detained. I still don¡¯t know where Xiao Ye and Old Mo are. If I save you rashly and the other party sees you leaving on the surveince, it is likely they will immediately act against Xiao Ye and Old Mo.¡±

    ¡°I understand,¡± Xiao Lou spoke in his mind. ¡°Then find them first and make sure they are safe.¡±

    ¡°Yes, your hands are tied and there is no way for you to use your cards. I will help loosen them. Wait until I confirm the location of Xiao Ye and Old Mo so they can use their cards to save themselves. Then I will save you.¡± Yu Hanjiang went around behind Xiao Lou. He avoided the direction of the camera and neatly cut the rope that bound Xiao Lou¡¯s hands with a knife.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Yu Hanjiang came to Xiao Lou and examined him carefully.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s lips were dry and cracked. It was probably because he had been tied up for several hours without drinking any water. His eyes were covered by a ck cloth, making his face slightly pale. His thin chin had red marks from when Li Ran pinched him with too much force just now. His wrists were bruised due to the tightly tied rope, his arms were bruised from the concrete floor and the skin on the back of his hand was torn and bleeding.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes narrowed.

    This group of people hadn¡¯t abused Xiao Lou but they definitely weren¡¯t gentle. They must¡¯ve thrown Xiao Lou onto the ground like a sack of potatoes and roughly tied him up. Therefore, Xiao Lou had bruises all over his body.

    Yu Hanjiang felt distressed when he saw it and couldn¡¯t help reaching out his arms to gently hug Xiao Lou. His voice was soft as he said, ¡°You were wronged.¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t see but he could clearly feel this hug. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s body was particrly cold due to being wet from the rain, but Xiao Lou¡¯s heart warmed up the moment he was held in these arms.

    His hands were tied behind his back. The rope might be cut but he didn¡¯t dare hug back since there was a surveince camera in the room. Yu Hanjiang might be wearing an invisibility cloak but Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t wearing one. He could only sit on the ground and obediently let Yu Hanjiang hug him gently.

    Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t very embarrassed. He just thought that Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hug wasforting. His ears were slightly hot and he said quickly in his mind, ¡°I¡¯m fine. Go find Xiao Ye and Old Mo.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang released his embrace, gently shook Xiao Lou¡¯s finger and whispered, ¡°Yes, wait for me toe back.¡±

    The moment Li Ran was about to close the iron door, Yu Hanjiang rushed out like lightning.

    Li Ran felt like a gust of wind blew around him. He turned his head suspiciously but found that the lights were dim and there was no one in the corridor. Nevertheless, he always felt a sharp gaze on his back like a hunter staring at prey.

    Li Ran scratched his head and picked up his mobile phone. ¡°Watch the surveince well. Don¡¯t let them be rescued!¡±

    The author has something to say:

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s death gaze ¡ú_¡ú

    Li Ran: ???

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 348: Emergency Rescue

    Yu Hanjiang left the room where Xiao Lou was being held and immediately started looking for Ye Qi and Old Mo.

    The basement was very simr to Antai Garden. There were numerous ¡®»Ø¡¯ shaped corridors connected together to form argebyrinth. Fortunately, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s sense of direction wasn¡¯t too bad. Previously, he had walked through thebyrinth of Antai Garden with Old Mo and was familiar with the structure. Therefore, he didn¡¯t get lost.

    Just after passing two corridors, Yu Hanjiang suddenly heard a familiar voiceing from the other side of the corridor. The other party was groaning softly as if enduring extreme pain. ¡°Oh¡­ my stomach hurts¡­ it hurts so much¡­ ugh¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang quickly headed toward room 301. Through the window of the iron door, he could see a gray-haired old man lying on his side. His entire body was tied, his legs were bent and he was frowning. His face was cold and sweaty while he kept groaning. He seemed to be in a lot of pain¡ªIt was Old Mo!

    Yu Hanjiang knew with one nce that Old Mo was acting. This person deliberately made a sound because he guessed his teammates woulde to rescue him after midnight. He wanted to lead his teammates over using sound.

    The iron door was locked tightly and the room was monitored. Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t open the door rashly to save him. Coincidentally, Li Ran actually walked over after hearing the sound. He frowned and looked inside the room, speaking coldly, ¡°Stinky old man, what are you calling out for?¡±

    Old Mo¡¯s voice trembled slightly and his body kept shaking. ¡°My stomach hurts¡­ oh¡­ it hurts!¡± This acting was really superb. He had a weak and trembling appearance as he perfectly acted out a ¡®sick, old man in pain¡¯.

    Li Ran opened the door with a calm face and walked up to carefully check the rope that bound Old Mo. Then he tied an extra knot at Old Mo¡¯s wrist and opened the cor. ¡°Don¡¯t pretend. In any case, you aren¡¯t far from death. You¡¯ll be happyter!¡±

    After checking the rope, Li Ran turned around. He picked up a walkie-talkie and asked, ¡°Hey, are theying soon?¡±

    A clear voice was heard in reply. ¡°There are 10 minutes remaining. Get ready to act.¡±

    ¡°I understand. I¡¯ll make the arrangements.¡± Then Li Ran turned and left,pletely unaware that in the seconds when he opened the door, checked the ropes and closed the door, Yu Hanjiang had shed into the room and cut the rope tying Old Mo¡¯s hand. At the same time, he whispered in Old Mo¡¯s ear, ¡°This is like the undergroundbyrinth of Antai Garden. After three minutes, escape and put on the invisibility cloak. Go out and turn right three times. Wait for me at the door of 201.¡±

    Old Mo heard Yu Hanjiang¡¯s deep voice and finally rxed. He moved his fingers to show his understanding.

    Yu Hanjiang quickly left the room before the door was closed. Another gust of wind blew by Li Ran¡¯s side. He was startled and scratched his head doubtfully. ¡°How is there wind in the basement?¡±

    He turned and looked behind him. The old man in the room was still curled up on the ground in pain with no signs of struggling. Li Ran let go of his worries and walked around the corner. Yu Hanjiang simply followed him. This person should be going to check on Ye Qi next.

    Sure enough, Li Ran passed by a few corners before stopping in front of an iron door. He opened the door with a key and walked into the room.

    In a corner of the room, a little boy was curled up, blindfolded and motionless. Chief Shao hadn¡¯t been able to get in contact with Ye Qi using the Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings before midnight. This indicated that Ye Qi wasn¡¯t conscious yet. Yu Hanjiang came closer to find that Ye Qi was unconscious and had many bruises on his skin.

    Li Ran walked over and touched the artery on Ye Qi¡¯s neck. There was blood flowing under the warm skin, proving that the child was alive. Li Ran smiled and squeezed the boy¡¯s face. ¡°It seems to be an overdose of anesthetic seeing as you still haven¡¯t woken up. But it is useless even if you wake up. Who told you to know too much? We won¡¯t spare you even if you are a kid.¡±

    After confirming Ye Qi¡¯s condition, Li Ran got up to leave the room. He made a phone call and said respectfully, ¡°Brother Rong, the three people are under control. The remaining five will arrive at Qinghe Vige in 10 minutes. I have already made arrangements here. Should I deal with it directly or¡­¡±

    It wasn¡¯t known what the other party said but a hint of surprise shed in Li Ran¡¯s eyes. A few secondster, he nodded solemnly. ¡°Yes, I understand.¡±

    Seeing Li Ran turn to leave, Yu Hanjiang immediately contacted Shao Qingge through their heart connection. ¡°Chief Shao, where are you?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve been driving ording to the other party¡¯s instructions and the car has just driven onto a country road. It is raining heavily outside and the road is muddy. The chassis of my car is very low and I can¡¯t drive quickly at all. My car should be monitored by them¡­¡± Shao Qingge paused before adding, ¡°Just now, that person sent me a message again and told me to turn left at the road ahead.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang remembered that on the country roads, the left turn of thest fork led to Qinghe Vige. Obviously, this group wanted to lead Shao Qingge¡¯s group of five to Qinghe Vige to catch them all.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°I have confirmed the safety of Xiao Lou, Ye Qi and Old Mo. Your car shouldn¡¯t drive too fast and wait for me before taking action.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°No problem.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang notified Shao Qingge and took advantage of the time when Li Ran hadn¡¯t closed the door yet to pick up Ye Qi and cover the boy¡¯s body with the invisibility cloak. Then he quickly moved behind Li Ran and simply struck the back of Li Ran¡¯s neck with his hand!

    Li Ran had lowered his head to close and lock the door. Suddenly, a strong wind blew by his ear. He reflexively reached out to block but Yu Hanjiang had received professionalbat training and his movements were lightning fast! Li Ran hadn¡¯t clearly seen what was going on when there was a sudden pain at the back of his neck. The force almost broke his neck! Li Ran was dizzy and copsed straight to the ground.

    In the central monitoring room, thepanion responsible for surveince saw Li Ran falling down and immediately pressed the rm, speaking into the walkie-talkie, ¡°Alert, alert! Someone has broken into the base!¡±

    A harsh rm immediately sounded through the undergroundbyrinth. Yu Hanjiang issued a reminder to Xiao Lou. ¡°Run!¡±

    At the same time, he told Shao Qingge, ¡°Be prepared to abandon the car at any time!¡±

    The rope binding Xiao Lou¡¯s hand had already been cut. He heard Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice and immediately activated a card to put on the invisibility cloak.

    Old Mo had received a notice from Yu Hanjiang telling him to run away in three minutes. Three minutes had passed and piercing sirens suddenly rang through the basement. Old Mo knew that Group Leader Yu¡¯s rescue must¡¯ve been discovered. He hurriedly removed the already cut rope, took out the key card to open the metal door, put on his invisibility cloak and slipped away without a trace.

    He followed Group Leader Yu¡¯s instructions and turned left three times in a row. Old Mo came to the door of 201 and happened to collide with Xiao Lou who stood outside.

    The two of them couldn¡¯t see each other but the invisibility cloak only hid them from the vision of others. It didn¡¯t make the person wearing itpletely disappear. The human body still existed. Old Mo seemed to feel something hitting his shoulder and lowered his voice, ¡°Professor Xiao?¡±

    Xiao Lou whispered, ¡°It¡¯s me.¡±

    The rm ringing in the basement was deafening. The two of them leaned against a wall and waited for Yu Hanjiang to appear.

    Yu Hanjiang rushed to 201 with Ye Qi in his arms. Although they were wearing invisibility cloaks and couldn¡¯t see each other, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang could feel each other through the Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Is Old Mo here?¡±

    Old Mo¡¯s voice sounded from beside him. ¡°I¡¯m here.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Where is the exit?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang answered, ¡°Turn around, go right, left and then right. There will be a big iron door¡­ hurry!¡±

    Xiao Lou and Old Mo immediately turned around and quickly followed Yu Hanjiang. Xiao Lou asked softly, ¡°Where is Xiao Ye?¡±

    ¡°There was an overdose of anesthetic and he hasn¡¯t woken up yet. I am carrying him.¡±, Yu Hanjiang answered in a simrly low voice.

    The three people came to the end of the corridor ording to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s memory. They turned right, left and then right¡­

    On the surveince, the corridor was obviously empty but the door of the rooms holding the three hostages had been opened and the hostages disappeared simultaneously, as if they used some magic. The face of the woman in the monitoring room changed. ¡°Activate the emergency system. Don¡¯t let them run away!¡±

    The three of them were close to thebyrinth exit when there was a loud sound in their ears. This was followed by a heavy iron door immediately falling down and blocking the passage ahead!

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Not good!¡±

    The exit was sealed off.

    The heavy metal door was like a wall. There wasn¡¯t a lock so it naturally couldn¡¯t be opened with a key. The people in the monitoring room had obviously discovered they were escaping and activated a mechanism to block them with this metal wall. This wall must be invulnerable and couldn¡¯t be shot through with bullets. It could only be controlled by a mechanism and the mechanism for this wall must be in the monitoring room.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was solemn. ¡°We can¡¯t get out as long as this wall isn¡¯t opened. It seems we have to go to the monitoring room.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s voice was soft. ¡°There should be many people in the monitoring room with weapons. It will be very dangerous to go directly.¡±

    However, they couldn¡¯t just sit back and wait. The invisibility cloakssted for 30 minutes. The surveince currently couldn¡¯t see their location but once the invisibility cloak¡¯s duration ended, their movements would be clear to the opponents and it would be more difficult to escape.

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it before whispering in his mind, ¡°Take care of Ye Qi.¡±

    He asked Xiao Lou to open a corner of his invisibility cloak and handed over the sleeping Ye Qi. Then he turned quickly and left. As he walked to the corner, he left a sentence for Xiao Lou. ¡°I¡¯m going to sabotage the surveince. You pick me up.¡±

    Xiao Lou responded, ¡°Understood, pay attention to safety.¡±

    Three secondster, a gunshot came from a corner of the corridor! Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was almost in his throat. Fortunately, Yu Hanjiang had extremely precise marksmanship. In the dim corridor, the small surveince camera was shot and destroyed by him!

    In the blink of an eye, Yu Hanjiang walked from corner to corner. The sound of gunshots continued in his ears and sparks sshed in the corridor. The infrared surveince cameras installed on the ceiling were hit by Yu Hanjiang one by one!

    In the central monitoring room, a man pped the table hard. ¡°Fuck! Someone is destroying the surveince cameras!¡± The surveince wall in front of him showed that eight screens werepletely ck. The man narrowed his eyes. ¡°The surveince of area A was destroyed. He is in area A!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they can¡¯t escape as long as the door isn¡¯t opened.¡± The woman picked up the walkie-talkie and gave orders. ¡°Area A, the third corridor to the left. Stop them straight away!¡±

    The woman had just spoken when Yu Hanjiang heard a rush of footsteps. He leaned back against the wall and listened carefully. Two people were walking in a fast and steady manner. They should be professionally trained killers.

    The footsteps were getting closer to him. The next moment, there was the deafening sound of gunfire in the corridor.

    <em>Bang bang bang bang!</em>

    The two professional killers held machine guns in their hands. They faced the corridor where Yu Hanjiang was located and fired ferociously!

    The long and narrow corridor would change the trajectory but the two men were guarding the front and back exits of the corridor and cooperating tacitly. Yu Hanjiang might be wearing the invisibility cloak but suchrge firepower coverage was enough to shoot Yu Hanjiang into a sieve!

    Yu Hanjiang held his breath and immediately fell down the moment the guns aimed at the corridor. Arge number of bullets dangerously passed by his ears. However, this corridor was sealed. Even if Yu Hanjiang could avoid the first round, it was difficult to avoid the second wave of bullets.

    He frowned. Before he had time to ask Xiao Lou for help, a powerful force like a whirlpool suddenly sucked him away. It was a collective transmission to the Peach Blossom Spring.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 349: Unexpected Discovery

    The moment Yu Hanjiang acted to sabotage the surveince, Xiao Lou used the blind spot caused by Yu Hanjiang¡¯s destroyed surveince camera to activate Tao Yuanming¡¯s skill. Once Yu Hanjiang was in danger, he decisively opened the transmission and forcibly pulled Yu Hanjiang over.

    Yu Hanjiangpleted a spatial teleportation in thebyrinth. Thanks to Xiao Lou¡¯s help, he moved from the bullet-filled corridor to under a peach tree. Xiao Lou, Old Mo and Ye Qi were also in the Peach Blossom Spring.

    The Peach Blossom Spring was an independent space that could exist for three hours. No one could enter without Xiao Lou¡¯s permission and this space was absolutely safe. However, it also had shorings. It would disappear after three hours. If they hid here for three hours until the Peach Blossom Spring disappeared, they would return to the basement again.

    Xiao Lou saw Yu Hanjiange in and hurried up to him in a worried manner. ¡°Are you okay? I heard gunshots¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang waved his hand. ¡°I¡¯m fine. They had machine guns in their hands but you pulled me away in time.¡±

    The two of them were chatting when they saw that Shao Qingge also entered the Peach Blossom Spring. Xiao Lou was taken aback as he looked at Shao Qingge. ¡°Chief Shao, why are you here?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t havee in. Didn¡¯t I tell you that the exit of the undergroundbyrinth is blocked? After entering the Peach Blossom Spring, you can only go out from the entrance of the Peach Blossom Spring. The entrance is in the basement and no one can leave the basement until the wall is opened.¡±

    Shao Qingge nced at Ye Qi sleeping beside a tree and walked quickly to Ye Qi¡¯s side. ¡°I couldn¡¯t feel reassured so I came to see if I could help. I had Liu Qiao, Qu Wanyue and Long Sen stay outside. If it really isn¡¯t possible, the three of them can find a way to break the door from the outside.¡± He bent over and gently grasped Ye Qi¡¯s hand. ¡°Why hasn¡¯t Ye Qi woken up yet?¡±

    ¡°The dose of anesthetic used was probably too much. The dose for children is different from that of adults. Xiao Lou and Old Mo have woken up but the effect of the anesthetic probably hasn¡¯t passed for Ye Qi.¡± Yu Hanjiang paused before questioning Shao Qingge, ¡°The four of you abandoned the car and ran?¡±

    ¡°Yes, after receiving your message, I asked everyone to wear invisibility cloaks and run away. I pressed the elerator and the car should¡¯ve exploded in the forest.¡± Shao Qingge turned back. ¡°They don¡¯t know that the Yu Hanjiang in the car is just an imposter.¡±

    ¡°Very good,¡± Yu Hanjiang praised.

    ¡°When will Xiao Ye wake up?¡± Shao Qingge gently touched Ye Qi¡¯s head in a worried manner.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Ye Qi woke up in a daze. He heard Shao Qingge¡¯s anxious and concerned voice and blinked. ¡°Chief Shao? Where am I?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re awake!¡± Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes brightened and he gently supported Ye Qi to sit up. ¡°We are in the Peach Blossom Spring.¡±

    ¡°Oh, no wonder the environment felt so familiar.¡± He rubbed his aching temples and only saw Yu Hanjiang, Xiao Lou, Old Mo and Chief Shao in the Peach Blossom Spring. The others weren¡¯t around.

    Xiao Lou saw Ye Qi¡¯s confusion and quickly exined the current situation.

    Yu Hanjiang instructed them, ¡°The four of you should stay in the Peach Blossom Spring. I will destroy the surveince cameras. The duration of the invisibility cloak is only 30 minutes. Before it expires, I must destroy all the surveince cameras in the basement so they can¡¯t urately locate us.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going with Group Leader Yu.¡± Ye Qi waspletely awake now. His eyes were as bright as stars and full of seriousness.

    ¡°Are you going to add chaos?¡± Shao Qingge patted Ye Qi¡¯s head. ¡°Do you know how to use a gun?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t use a gun but I have the Bug King card!¡± Ye Qi raised his head to look at Shao Qingge. ¡°Chief Shao, did you forget? You gave me this card. The bug king transformation can only be used once per instance. Yours has been used but I still have one. After I transform, I will have the physical strength of the bug king and can provide cover for Group Leader Yu.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Shao Qingge heard him utter a lot of great truths and couldn¡¯t help being stunned.

    ¡°Chief Shao gave me such a powerful card. I want to make a contribution too.¡± Ye Qi smiled.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Yu Hanjiang simply nodded. ¡°Ye Qi wille with me.¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s Bug King card had previously been used to heal everyone¡¯s injuries then he used Rich and Willful to make a copy and handed it to Ye Qi. It just happened toe in handy now.

    Ye Qi received Group Leader Yu¡¯s consent and immediately activated the Bug King card. The 7 year old boy¡¯s eyes turned blood red and they were as beautiful as crystal clear rubies. Shao Qingge saw the 7 year old Ye Qi with red eyes and couldn¡¯t help chuckling. ¡°You are like a little boss.¡±

    Ye Qi scratched his head. ¡°I am using this card for the first time and I¡¯m not quite used to it. The world in front of me is also red?¡±

    Shao Qingge earnestly taught Ye Qi what he learnt from his own experience. ¡°In the eyes of the bug king, the same type is white while human beings are red. You have inherited the abilities of the bug king including climbing, jumping and healing. There is ayer of armor under the skin and severed limbs will regenerate immediately. You are only afraid of fire. However, the infection ability isn¡¯t inherited. Scratching the opponent won¡¯t change them into bugs.¡±

    If the infection ability was inherited then the Bug King card could directly infect all the surrounding humans into bugs. Then this instance would be a copy of 9 of Spades and they could easily pass.

    Ye Qi nodded. ¡°I understand. I¡¯ll climb the wallster to cover Group Leader Yu. I can also lead them away to make it more convenient for Group Leader Yu to destroy the surveince.¡±

    Shao Qingge warned him, ¡°Be careful. It doesn¡¯t matter if bullets hit the body. Your armor can¡¯t be pierced by bullets. Just don¡¯t get caught by fire. Bugs arepletely melted by fire, remember?¡±

    Ye Qi nodded vigorously. ¡°Yes, I know.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at this little boy whose height only went up to his waist and said in a low voice, ¡°Xiao Ye did a good job this time.¡±

    Ye Qi was confused. ¡°What?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang handed him the bug and Ye Qi suddenly realized. ¡°This was released before I fell unconscious. I thought that Group Leader Yu would be able to find the car that kidnapped us and perhaps you would find the card. Then you could follow the bug to find us. The situation was urgent and I didn¡¯t have time to use other cards. My consciousness was already blurred and I was afraid I couldn¡¯t control other cards, so I might as well leave you some clues.¡±

    It was Ye Qi¡¯s rational choice at a critical moment that made Yu Hanjiang lock onto their location. If Ye Qi had ran away in a panic at that time while the anesthetic had already taken effect, it was likely he would faint after running for two seconds.

    Ye Qi¡¯s cleverness made Yu Hanjiang feel very pleased. Now Ye Qi used the second Bug King card and their chances of escaping thebyrinth increased. Yu Hanjiang patted Ye Qi on the shoulder and praised him. ¡°Good job.¡±

    Ye Qi wasn¡¯t too embarrassed about being praised and smiled. ¡°I followed Group Leader Yu for so long and only learned a bit about investigating.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked back at Xiao Lou and spoke in a soft voice, ¡°Xiao Lou, continue to stay in the rear. The Peach Blossom Spring is our transit station. Once Xiao Ye or I are in danger, immediately pull us here.¡±

    During the time when the Peach Blossom Spring existed, team members coulde in and out of it repeatedly. This technique was used as early as 2 of Spades when Xiao Lou faced the zombies alone. No matter where Yu Hanjiang and Ye Qi were in the maze, they could instantly return to the Peach Blossom Spring under Xiao Lou¡¯s call. It was just that they would walk out of the Peach Blossom Spring at the entrance which was near the metal wall where Yu Hanjiang had destroyed the surveince just now.

    The repeated teleportations meant Yu Hanjiang and Ye Qi could move freely among the killers and make it impossible for the killers to lock onto their specific locations. They had to destroy all the surveince in thebyrinth as soon as possible and make full preparations for everyone¡¯s escape.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were connected to each other. If there was a need to be teleported then Xiao Lou could sense it even without Yu Hanjiang saying anything. Just now, he sensed Yu Hanjiang¡¯s crisis and forcibly pulled him into the Peach Blossom Spring.

    Still, even if there was the Peach Blossom Spring as a safe transit station, the opponent had many dangerous weapons and Yu Hanjiang had the body of a mortal. It wasn¡¯t a joke to be shot by a bullet.

    Xiao Lou watched Yu Hanjiang with worry. ¡°Pay attention to safety. I will also give this to you.¡±

    He handed the Light Feather Coat card to Yu Hanjiang. Thinking about it carefully, this was an S-grade defense card drawn from an early secret room. It could resist a fatal injury when worn on the body. Regardless of whether it was a knife or bullet, as long as it threatened the owner¡¯s life then this card would offset the attack. It was equivalent to an extra life.

    Yu Hanjiang smiled slightly and he pushed the card back to Xiao Lou. ¡°I don¡¯t need it. You keep this card.¡±

    Xiao Lou frowned. ¡°No, you must wear it.¡±

    Regardless of Yu Hanjiang¡¯s objection, Xiao Lou forcibly activated the card and put it on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s body. This meant that even if Yu Hanjiang was shot by a bullet, the damage could be offset and Xiao Lou could rescue him in time.

    Xiao Lou believed in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s marksmanship and actualbat level but¡­ he couldn¡¯t afford to gamble. He didn¡¯t want to gamble on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s life.

    This piece of clothing was as light as a feather and there was no sense of awareness when worn on the body. Yu Hanjiang had it forcibly put on him and felt warm. He gently shook Xiao Lou¡¯s hand and took Ye Qi to leave the Peach Blossom Spring.

    In the Peach Blossom Spring, Shao Qingge stood under a tree, his eyes narrowed slightly and his face thoughtful.

    Xiao Lou walked up to him. ¡°Chief Shao, did you reallye in when I opened the Peach Blossom Spring because you were worried about Xiao Ye?¡±

    At that time, Yu Hanjiang had told Shao Qingge about the danger of the basement and had him stay outside. Shao Qingge might be worried that Ye Qi hadn¡¯t woken up but it shouldn¡¯t be to the extent of wanting to take a look. After all, he might not be able to help even if he came in. It was because in this secret room, he had a serious heart problem and his strongest card, the Bug King had already been used by him at the beginning.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s personality meant he wouldn¡¯t do such impulsive things.

    Shao Qingge smiled slightly at Xiao Lou. ¡°Sure enough, nothing can be concealed from Professor Xiao¡¯s eyes.¡±

    Xiao Lou was concerned. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    Shao Qingge was silent for a moment. ¡°Just now when I drove the car into the forest, I found there were plum blossoms in a radius of at least one kilometer. Then some childhood memories shed in my mind.¡±

    ¡°As a child, I used to y in the plum blossom forest. The mountains were filled with the fragrance of plum blossoms.¡± The man squinted as he leaned against the tree and spoke. ¡°I was born in Qinghe Vige. Yes, this should be my hometown.¡±

    Xiao Lou was shocked. ¡°You mean¡­¡±

    ¡°My mother was weak and infertile. When I was 4 years old, I was adopted by the Shao family from Qinghe Vige. In addition, the car I took today is actually my father Shao Zhengyang¡¯s car.¡±

    A cold light shed in Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes. He didn¡¯t want to believe it but he still expressed his spection. ¡°This car was monitored by those people and they guided me all the way to Qinghe Vige. I suspect that a tracker was installed in the car and the only one who knows about this is¡­ my father.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Old Mo heard this and exchanged looks.

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 350: The Truth

    Xiao Lou had been wondering how such an ordinary old man like Uncle Zhong could have a rtionship with the organ trafficking organization.

    He made a lot of money from selling organs over the years and bought a house in the city center for his son. His nephew opened the upscale ¡®Tianya Club¡¯ and bought three apartments to turn into a mansion for him. There were so many big bosses attending his birthday party and this wasn¡¯t the treatment that a ¡®housekeeper¡¯ for the rich should have.

    Then what if the person standing behind him was the hidden boss? This was the only way to exin all of this¡­

    Uncle Zhong was nominally in charge but he was actually helping Shao Zhengyang handle the internal affairs of the organization. Perhaps he let his nephew He Rong open the ¡®Tianya Club¡¯ tounder money under Shao Zhengyang¡¯s instructions. As a predator of the business world, how could Shao Zhengyang be unable to control the housekeeper around him?

    In fact, as early as when Uncle Zhong became suspicious, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang should¡¯ve suspected that Shao Zhengyang was behind him.

    However, Shao Zhengyang was Shao Qingge¡¯s father and seemed decent by association. The two of them subconsciously thought that Shao Qingge¡¯s father had been kept in the dark by Uncle Zhong and didn¡¯t doubt him. They didn¡¯t expect that now all the signs pointed to the person they had least suspected!

    If the big boss was really Shao Zhengyang then did the keepers expect Shao Qingge to personally kill his own father?

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and looked at Shao Qingge. ¡°It is just a suspicion. There is no clear evidence that it is really your father, right?¡±

    Shao Qingge shook his head with a solemn face. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen him since I was discharged from the hospital. He said that thepany was too busy. Now it seems that he wasn¡¯t busy at thepany. He was actually trying to clean up the organization step by step.¡± He paused before continuing. ¡°In addition, I asked my mother to learn about Uncle Zhong¡¯s situation. Uncle Zhong has followed my father for more than 30 years. With my father¡¯s shrewdness, how could he not know what Uncle Zhong was doing? I¡¯m afraid that all of Uncle Zhong¡¯s actions were at his behest.¡±

    How could a housekeeper dare toe into contact with a dangerous organ trafficking organization if there weren¡¯t orders from the boss behind the scenes?

    Xiao Lou was puzzled before. Now that he heard Shao Qingge¡¯s words, he felt that Shao Zhengyang was very suspicious. Perhaps Shao Zhengyang showed a suspicious point that they hadn¡¯t noticed¡­ which clue has been overlooked?

    Xiao Lou frowned and thought carefully about the experience of questioning Shao Zhengyang at the hospital.

    At that time, Shao Zhengyang came to the hospital to check on his son. Xiao Lou used the excuse of ¡®I have something to hand over to you¡¯ to trick Shao Zhengyang into the duty room to ept Yu Hanjiang¡¯s investigation. Yu Hanjiang conducted a routine questioning on Shao Qingge¡¯s father.

    Shao Zhengyang had said that he bought the kidney for 20 million gold coins. He didn¡¯t know where it was purchased from because it was his assistant who handled his matter. Then half a year ago, his assistant resigned and returned to his hometown. They could go find him if they wanted to know the details.

    Yu Hanjiang asked him why he dared to use a kidney with an unknown origin and he said that as a father, it wasn¡¯t illegal to buy a kidney to save his son, right? If one day they had a child and that child was sick, they would also choose to save him at all cost.

    Shao Zhengyang acted too much like an old father eager to treat his son and he provided the police with the clue of Assistant Zhong so Yu Hanjiang¡¯s investigation concentrated on the missing assistant who suddenly resigned and returned to his hometown.

    Looking at it now, Shao Zhengyang knew that Uncle Zhong would be silenced so he conveniently pushed the me onto this assistant. The police might go to investigate Uncle Zhong but he would be a dead man before the police coulde into contact with him!

    No wonder the actions of this mysterious organization had always been one step faster than Yu Hanjiang. From the beginning, the police investigating Uncle Zhong was a trap left by Shao Zhengyang! Moreover, when going over Shao Zhengyang¡¯s testimony, Xiao Lou found a slight loophole.

    The price of the organ. It cost 20 million gold coins to buy the kidney, which was 200,000 yuan.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s kidney came from the takeout deliveryman, Wang Wei. Through the investigation of Wang Wei¡¯s bank ount and consumption records, it was found he suddenly had arge deposit in Novemberst year. He bought a diamond ring worth 100,000 yuan and his mother¡¯s surgery and treatment cost was around 80,000. He also stated in the letter that he found a weddingpany and wanted to prepare a romantic wedding for his girlfriend.

    All of these costs added up to approximately 200,000 yuan. Wang Wei didn¡¯t have a lot of savings. He sold his right kidney and got almost 200,000 yuan. The buyer paid 200,000 and the seller got 200,000¡­ what about the intermediary? Could it be that the mysterious organization was a charitable one that just wanted to assist in the sale of organs without charging any intermediary fees?

    This was impossible. Generally speaking, the money that the buyer paid to the intermediary, the illegal clinic, should be much higher than the amount the seller received. For example, they paid 300,000 yuan to buy a kidney and the kidney seller got 200,000. The remaining 100,000 would go to the illegal clinic. This was a reasonable distribution and an important source of ie for an organ trafficking organization.

    Under what circumstances would the organization dispense with the intermediary fee and directly sell the organ at cost price? Only insiders could enjoy this cost price.

    Uncle Zhong was an insider and helped buy a kidney for the boss¡¯ son so naturally there was no need for an expensive intermediary fee. All of the 200,000 yuan that was paid was handed over to Wang Wei, the seller of the kidney. The members of the organization didn¡¯t take any money, including the doctor who removed Wang Wei¡¯s kidney.

    Shao Zhengyang naturally knew the prices of organs on the ck market but a big boss like him didn¡¯t care for such a small amount of money. Therefore, when questioned by Yu Hanjiang, he subconsciously told the amount that Uncle Zhong had paid and ignored the intermediary fee¡­

    The organ price loophole was indicating that Shao Zhengyang was actually an insider!

    Xiao Lou became more shocked as he thought about it. If it really was Shao Zhengyang then all doubts could be reasonably exined. Why were Uncle Zhong and He Rong killed just as they arrived in Qingshui Town? Why was the organization clear about the movements of the police and even the movements of Shao Qingge¡¯s vehicle?

    In fact, as early as the hospital when Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou questioned Shao Zhengyang about the organs, the vignt boss realized this matter might¡¯ve been exposed and was ready to silence all mouths and destroy the evidence. He wanted to kill all those who knew about him.

    In this way, he would still be the powerful Boss Shao who was a respected businessman. Maybe he would start another charity andpletely whitewash himself. He would safely live the rest of his life without needing to face prison.

    As for Shao Qingge, his son¡¯s health wasn¡¯t good anyway. His kidney had just been reced and now it was his heart. This was an unrted adopted son and his kidney might be evidence of epting organs of an unknown origin.

    If necessary, this adopted son could be an ¡®abandoned¡¯ son.

    The more Xiao Lou thought about it, the more confused he became. His spection was passed onto Yu Hanjiang through their connection.

    Yu Hanjiang calmly told him, ¡°Xiao Lou, we really didn¡¯t pay close enough attention to the price issue. This was my dereliction of duty. Don¡¯t worry, the most important thing right now is to leave this basement. We can catch him once we get out.¡±

    ¡°Yes, be careful.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suggested, ¡°Chief Shao¡¯s mood isn¡¯t very good. You canfort him more.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced back at Shao Qingge. This person¡¯s face was indeed ugly after learning the boss they were looking for was actually his father. Xiao Lou walked over and gently pressed a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t think too much. This is the arrangement of the keeper.¡±

    Shao Qingge clenched his fists and pretended to be calm. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Since he ignores our feelings and wants to kill me, I certainly won¡¯t be soft-hearted. I just¡­ pity my weak mother. She should be unaware.¡±

    Xiao Lou sighed. How would Shao Qingge¡¯s mother be able to face all of this?

    Old Mo suddenly thought of something and had aplicated expression on his face. ¡°Chief Shao, you might be adopted but there should still be feelings after raising you for so many years. If Shao Zhengyang really wants to kill his son then there might be another possibility. Perhaps he has an illegitimate child?¡±

    ¡°It is possible.¡± Shao Qingge shrugged helplessly. ¡°He never came back during the time I was at home and rarely called my mother. Perhaps he stayed at his mistress¡¯ ce. If he has an illegitimate son and his adopted son dies, he has justification to leave his assets to his actual son. Besides, I¡¯m a sick and weak adopted son. Perhaps he is already tired of it.¡±

    Even wild beasts would look after their young. Even if it was an adopted son, how could he be so cruel? Then on second thought, it wasn¡¯t known how much blood Shao Zhengyang had on his hands. It might not be hard for him to kill Shao Qingge.

    The three of them didn¡¯t speak again. This spection made them angry and ufortable.

    At the same time, inside the undergroundbyrinth. Ye Qi walked around the corner with Yu Hanjiang and simply took off his invisibility cloak.

    In the monitoring center, a child suddenly appeared on the screen. The little boy jumped and flew to the ceiling. His hands and feet hooked steadily on the ceiling like there were barbs. His face turned toward the surveince camera and a smile appeared.

    The boy¡¯s eyes were as red as blood. When he smiled, there were two tiger¡¯s teeth that weren¡¯t fully developed. The man watching the surveince was so scared that he backed away. ¡°Fuck! Where did this kide from?¡±

    The woman next to him eximed, ¡°That is Ye Qi!¡±

    ¡°The boss is right. These people do have special abilities!¡± He hurriedly called someone. ¡°Brother Rong, what should I do? The group has started to break the surveince cameras in the basement and a kid is climbing the ceiling. They seem to be invisible and it is really hard for our people to find them!¡±

    ¡°Enable n C.¡± A cold voice was heard.

    ¡°Understood.¡± The man put down the phone and looked at hispanion beside him. ¡°n C, hurry!¡±

    The woman pressed the dark green button on the operator¡¯s station. Suddenly, arge number of devices simr to sprinklers appeared on the ceilings of all the corridors of the basement. A thick white mist was sprayed from the devices and spread rapidly in the corridors, emitting a strange scent.

    Yu Hanjiang was solemn. ¡°It is poison!¡±

    Ye Qi was stunned. The bug king wasn¡¯t afraid of anything except fire and poison wasn¡¯t effective against him. However, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s body wouldn¡¯t be able to hold on if affected by poison. Ye Qi hurriedly whispered, ¡°Group Leader Yu, go back. Leave destroying the surveince cameras to me.¡±

    ¡°Xiao Ye, break the surveince cameras in front of us. We will withdraw first.¡±

    Ye Qi heard the instructions and quickly moved along the ceiling, his sharp nails instantly crushing the camera at the end of the corridor! Immediately afterwards, Yu Hanjiang and Ye Qi appeared in the Peach Blossom Spring at the same time.

    Yu Hanjiang walked over and patted Shao Qingge on the shoulder tofort him. He didn¡¯t say much and instead turned to Old Mo. ¡°Old Mo, do you have the Special Effects Vine card?¡±

    Old Mo wondered, ¡°Special effects vine?¡±

    ¡°The reward card for perfectly clearing Zombie Town. We can¡¯t be poisoned for a period of time when using it,¡± Yu Hanjiang exined in a low voice.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have this card.¡± Old Mo touched his head awkwardly. ¡°Zombie Town is 2 of Spades? I didn¡¯t dare look for the serum. I only got a B rating so it wasn¡¯t a perfect clearance.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou¡¯s vine cards were used during the Financial Crisis instance. At that time, they forcibly dropped the zombie virus and infected a group of escaped criminals, turning them into zombies. Then they used the vine to fight against the infection and defend the construction site along with the other challengers.

    Someone who had a vine card in the team¡­ it was probably only Liu Qiao. If he remembered correctly, Xiao Liu had perfectly cleared the previous Spades rooms.

    Xiao Lou simply pulled Liu Qiao into the Peach Blossom Spring after hearing about it. Liu Qiao soon appeared under the peach tree and wondered, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Xiao Lou opened his mouth. ¡°Xiao Liu, you should have the Special Effects Vine card that you got from 2 of Spades, right? If I¡¯m not wrong, there are three doses of vine which can keep the injected people from being poisoned for 10 minutes.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Liu Qiao nodded, pulled out the card and handed it to Xiao Lou. ¡°The red, yellow and blue tube vines are only effective against the zombie virus while the green, purple and ck tubes are effective against all toxins.¡±

    ¡°Very good.¡± Yu Hanjiang gathered his teammates together and instructed in a low voice. ¡°Time is limited so we need to cooperate. This underground maze is very big and I can¡¯t move through it by myself in 10 minutes. Old Mo must help identify the location. It is difficult for Old Mo to avoid the killers with guns. Xiao Liu, turn him to the size of a thumb and ce him in my pocket. Both of us will be injected with the toxins vine then we will go find the central monitoring room as soon as possible. Liu Qiao, inject yourself with the remaining tube of vine. Once we press the button in the monitoring room to open the door, immediately go out and use Li Qingzhao¡¯s mark to teleport us over and pull all of us to a safe ce.¡±

    Then he nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°Xiao Lou, continue to stay in the Peach Blossom Spring. If we are in danger, immediately pull us back. There is the poisonous fog outside so you can¡¯t go out at all without the anti-toxins vine. Vines are limited and we need two group teleports to leave here. Xiao Liu must use the light footwork card reasonably and find a safe ce to mark. Please note that Li Qingzhao¡¯s mark only activates the teleportation after five minutes. There is a time dy so the moment you receive my instructions, act immediately. Do you understand?¡±

    Everyone nodded. ¡°We understand.¡±

    Shao Qingge walked up to Liu Qiao and whispered, ¡°How are Long Sen and Qu Wanyue?¡±

    Liu Qiao told him, ¡°After we jumped out of the car and escaped, they used the Chameleon card to investigate the area. When I was pulled in by Professor Xiao, Sister Wanyue had just found a clue. She found there were many fuse wires in the ground of this building. The soil was affected by the heavy rain and a few wires were exposed. We suspect that a lot of explosives are buried under this building.¡±

    The team gasped after hearing this!

    This group of lunatics might want to blow up the whole building directly. Not only would it get rid of Yu Hanjiang¡¯s group but the members of the organization who were still in the building couldn¡¯t escape either This method of wiping out evidence was really clean and neat!

    Yu Hanjiang tensed and urged them, ¡°Hurry and get vinated!¡±

    He rolled up his sleeves to reveal his strong arm muscles. Xiao Lou took the needle and injected the purple vine in his body. Next, he injected Old Mo with the green tube, while the remaining tube was reserved for Liu Qiao to use when she went outter.

    Liu Qiao took out the Thumbelina card to turn Old Mo to the size of a thumb and Yu Hanjiang put the small Old Mo into his pocket. He looked calm and firm. ¡°Let¡¯s go. We only have 10 minutes.¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 351: Final Plan

    The outside mechanisms had all been opened. At this time, the basement must be full of poisonous fog. Fortunately, Liu Qiao still had the vine card and they got 10 minutes of precious time. Seeing Ye Qi and Yu Hanjiang turn to leave with Old Mo, Xiao Lou hurriedly asked, ¡°Are you going together or separately?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang answered, ¡°We will split up. Xiao Ye will select a ce with surveince to attract the attention of those in the control room. Old Mo and I will find the way to the control room as soon as possible to open the metal door.¡±

    Xiao Lou was worried. ¡°Is Xiao Ye familiar with the route of thebyrinth? What if he gets lost?¡±

    Ye Qi didn¡¯t have the confidence to navigate thebyrinth alone. He didn¡¯t have the Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings channel to contact Shao Qingge and his phone had been taken. He might¡¯ve be the bug king and had his physical abilities improved but if the opponent used fire, Ye Qi could be in danger alone.

    Xiao Lou wouldn¡¯t allow such an ¡®in case¡¯ situation to happen. He looked back at Yu Hanjiang and asked, ¡°Is Xiao Ye¡¯s Bug card still in your hand?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Yu Hanjiang took out the card and handed it to Xiao Lou.

    A full level Bug card could release three bugs at the same time. Xiao Lou fixed one of them to Yu Hanjiang and handed the corresponding earpiece to Ye Qi. The other bug was ced on Ye Qi and the earpiece given to Yu Hanjiang. In this way, once a person spoke, the other person could hear it through the bug. This was equivalent to establishing the fastest voice channel. The remaining one was handed to Yu Hanjiang so he could eavesdrop on the enemy¡¯s movements when necessary.

    Ye Qi praised it. ¡°Great, the Bug card can still be used like this!¡± His Bug card was usually used to eavesdrop on others. Now they both wore one and it became like a dial-free walkie-talkie.

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°Go ahead and pay attention to safety. I will wait for your news.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and left the Peach Blossom Spring with their two teammates. The three of them came to the forked road. The area to the left had the surveince destroyed by Yu Hanjiang previously. He looked up at the dim light on the roof and said in a low voice, ¡°Xiao Ye, turn right and lead the killers away. Old Mo and I are wearing invisibility cloaks and we will find the location of the control room as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡± Ye Qi heard this and immediately shot forward like the wind.

    Ye Qi had the abilities of the bug king and was extremely agile. The height of a 7 year old child also added together to make him very flexible. In the blink of an eye, he climbed along the wall to the forked path and moved to the right ording to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s instructions. There was surveince in every corner. Ye Qi looked at the shing red camera in the corner, jumped to it and reached out his hand to smash it in an instant!

    In the central monitoring room, the two people saw the little boy appearing again and looked at each other. The yellow-haired man¡¯s voice trembled. ¡°Is this kid not afraid of poison? He actually crawled through the poisonous fog!¡±

    The short-haired woman¡¯s expression changed slightly and her voice was cold. ¡°Brother Rong is right. These people really have special abilities.¡± She picked up the walkie-talkie and ordered decisively, ¡°The little boy went to Area C. The people over there, deal with him immediately!¡±

    The woman just finished speaking when a door in the corner of the corridor in front of Ye Qi opened and a tall man walked out. The moment Ye Qi turned the corner, he saw a ck gun aimed at him. Before he could react, the man pulled the trigger. There was a bang and Ye Qi¡¯s chest was smashed. A bloody hole suddenly appeared!

    Ye Qi¡¯s heart trembled with fright. If this was a normal situation, this shot would¡¯ve killed him! However, the chest wound soon healed at a rate obvious to the naked eye, leaving only ring blood stains on the clothes.

    The man who came to hunt him saw that the child was shot but didn¡¯t die. He frowned and raised the submachine gun with both hands to fire ferociously at Ye Qi. For a while, there was only the sound of piercing gunshots in the entire corridor. The floor was almost turned into a sieve by the bullets! It was like a rain of bullets.

    Ye Qi¡¯s senses returned and he hurriedly climbed to the ceiling to avoid the bullets. Still, this was the first time he faced such a dangerous situation. No matter how fast, he couldn¡¯t dodge that many bullets. He was hit many times in the blink of an eye and blood flowed from his body. It was just that the bug¡¯s magical healing ability meant his actions weren¡¯t affected at all and he didn¡¯t feel any pain.

    The gunshots transmitted from the bug card were deafening and Yu Hanjiang hurriedly said, ¡°Xiao Ye, keep turning left in front of you. I¡¯ll meet you!¡±

    Ye Qi crawled along the wall like lightning. After turning left, it happened to be a ce where the surveince and lighting had been destroyed by Yu Hanjiang. He entered a dark corridor and the bug¡¯s vision in the dark was improved. Only a human¡¯s vision would be affected. Ye Qi was slightly relieved and said, ¡°Group Leader Yu, I¡¯m fine. The injuries have healed.¡±

    ¡°Be careful. Go ahead and destroy the lights as well as the surveince so they can¡¯t lock onto you.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    The killer found that the little boy was running away and hurriedly chased after him. He walked around the corner and found there were no lights. The man frowned and walked forward alertly. Then in the darkness, a white de shed before his eyes. Before he had time to react, a sharp de cut his throat!

    The man stared in disbelief and fell straight down.

    Old Mo was in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s pocket. He saw Group Leader Yu simply cut the throat of a person and couldn¡¯t help being frightened. Yu Hanjiang calmly put away the knife. He walked forward quickly and asked Old Mo, ¡°What is the route?¡±

    Old Mo took a deep breath. ¡°Thisbyrinth is twice as big as the one we encountered in Antai Garden. If we repeatedly search through it, we might not be able to find the control room in 10 minutes.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°What are your thoughts?¡±

    Old Mo thought carefully. ¡°Judging from the route we took just now, thisbyrinth is still made up of countless ¡®»Ø¡¯ shaped corridors. We were detained in the eastern area and they were all rooms with iron doors. No special rooms were found. The control room should be in the central or western region. Let¡¯s try to take shortcuts instead of detours. Go in a straight line to investigate!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang believed in Old Mo¡¯s judgment and told Ye Qi, ¡°Xiao Ye, you are now in the northernmost corridor. Go straight ahead. Don¡¯t take any forks in the road and observe if there are any abnormalities in the rooms in the corridor. In addition, pay attention to safety.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s clear voice came from the bug. ¡°Okay!¡±

    The three of them divided the path. Ye Qi crawled along the longest passage in the north while Yu Hanjiang and Old Mo went along the south side passage all the way to the west. They didn¡¯t turn when encountering a forked road and went forward at the fastest speed.

    In the blink of an eye, the three of them arrived at the far west. There was only a wall in front of them and no other path.

    Yu Hanjiang followed Old Mo¡¯s instructions and went north a certain distance. Then at the fork in the road, he turned and headed east.

    This course of action pointed out by Old Mo was equivalent to going one path all the way to the end and then taking another path all the way to the end in the opposite direction. This wouldn¡¯t make people dizzy and the speed of investigation would be the fastest.

    There were many surveince cameras in the area where Ye Qi appeared and killers kepting out. Fortunately, he learned his lesson and destroyed all the lights along the way as well. In the dark, it was difficult for these killers to target him urately. He swiftly climbed the walls, crushing the cameras and light bulbs on the ceiling.

    The surveince screens in the control room turned ck one after another. The killers moved but it was hard for them to find Ye Qi. Seeing the child quickly sabotage arge area of surveince, the yellow-haired man felt horror. ¡°This child isn¡¯t afraid of poison or bullets? He was shot so many times and his entire body is bloody yet he isn¡¯t dead. What is his origin¡­.¡±

    The short-haired woman spoke coldly. ¡°It seems the final n has to be used.¡±

    The man asked curiously, ¡°Sister Qing, what is the final n?¡±

    There were buttons of different colors on the console. The first blue button was to lower the metal wall. The second green button activated the poisonous fog, allowing the corridors to be filled with a highly toxic fog. It wasn¡¯t known what the third red button was for.

    The woman took a deep breath. ¡°Brother Rong told me to press the red button if the poisonous fog isn¡¯t enough to deal with these people. This will start the final n. I don¡¯t know what it is but Brother Rong said it can definitely kill them.¡±

    The yellow-haired man eximed, ¡°Then why aren¡¯t you pressing it? Press it!¡±

    The woman didn¡¯t speak. Her slender finger was gently ced on the red button as she frowned thoughtfully.

    Meanwhile, under Old Mo¡¯s guidance, Yu Hanjiang had checked half the area of thebyrinth at the fastest speed. However, most of thebyrinth contained empty rooms. They had been away from the Peach Blossom Spring for five minutes and the vine only worked for 10 minutes. If the control room wasn¡¯t found before the vine ended, they would never be able to go out again.

    Yu Hanjiang stared at the seemingly endless corridor in front of him and a sharp light shed in his eyes. He ordered in a deep voice, ¡°Faster.¡±

    His speed had actually reached its limit. In his pocket, Old Mo felt like he was on a ne and felt dizzy. Recognizing the direction in such a situation was a challenge for Old Mo. Just then, Ye Qi¡¯s voice entered Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ear. ¡°Group Leader Yu, I found a file room full of cabs!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°Go in and take a look. If it is useful information then take it away.¡±

    Ye Qi responded positively and climbed flexibly down from the wall into the room.

    The area of this room wasrger than the ordinary rooms. There were three walls of filing cabs and each cab was densely packed with documents. Ye Qi intuitively felt that these documents were rted to the organization¡¯s organ trafficking so he hurriedly opened one. He saw that the front page had these words written: Informed consent form for a heart transnt.

    Sure enough! This was the base camp of the organization. Ye Qi immediately reported it to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°It is likely to contain the patients¡¯ information. There are too many of them! I can only use the teleportation card to move them and pass them to Professor Xiao!¡±

    Ye Qi usually used his teleportation card to carry his teammate but in fact, this card didn¡¯t have a limit on what to carry. There was only a limit on the weight. He could teleport up to 100 kilograms.

    There might be many documents but they were all paper and the total amount didn¡¯t exceed 100 kilograms. It was just that it was difficult for Ye Qi to teleport so many file cabs in the narrow corridors. He thought of a way to bring the file cabs with the teleportation card. Xiao Lou transferred him back to the Peach Blossom Spring so that he could bring the documents into the Peach Blossom Spring. Then they would be handed over to Shao Qingge who also had a teleportation card.

    This reached Xiao Lou¡¯s mind through the Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings connection and he immediately summoned Ye Qi back. The team members discovered that Ye Qi appeared in the Peach Blossom Spring with three file cabsrge enough to crush him. The time was urgent and Ye Qi couldn¡¯t exin in detail. He just told Shao Qingge, ¡°This is information I found. I¡¯ll leave it to you, Chief Shao!¡±

    Then he disappeared before everyone¡¯s eyes and entered the maze again.

    However, Shao Qingge clenched his fists. He saw that Ye Qi¡¯s body was covered with blood! It wasn¡¯t known how many bullets Ye Qi had in his body but his clothes were red with blood and his face was covered with blood drops. His expression showed he didn¡¯t feel any pain but Shao Qingge felt a strong heartache.

    His body in this secret room originally had a weak heart and the pain in his heart was magnified a hundredfold, making him unable to breath for a while. Xiao Lou was about to look through the files when he found that Shao Qingge¡¯s face was extremely pale. He couldn¡¯t help asking in concern, ¡°Chief Shao, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Shao Qingge nced at Xiao Lou with clenched fists. ¡°The bug king effect onlysts 24 hours. The injuries caused by bullets can be healed but the bullets are still left in Ye Qi¡¯s body.¡±

    Xiao Lou was stunned. He hadn¡¯t expected this but Shao Qingge had used the Bug King card himself and even before obtaining it he had been a bug himself, so he should know the function of this card best. Xiao Lou trembled. ¡°Do you mean that the bug king¡¯s healing ability won¡¯t remove the bullets in his body? Then Xiao Ye¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s expression was very ugly. ¡°At first, I thought the bug queen was immune to bullets and she was only afraid of fire. Now it seems that bullets can be shot into the bug¡¯s body without causing pain to the bug and the wound can heal immediately. However, Ye Qi isn¡¯t a true bug after all. The transformation onlysts 24 hours. The bullets that have been shot into the body can¡¯t be removed. Only the trauma is healed.¡±

    Shao Qingge paused before enunciating clearly, ¡°After 24 hours, Ye Qi will turn back into an ordinary person and the bullets left in his body will kill him!¡±

    In other words, they didn¡¯t only need to leave the basement covered in explosives in 10 minutes. They also needed to clear this secret room within 24 hours. Xiao Ye had been hit multiple times and had bullets in many ces inside his body. Once he changed back to an ordinary person, the consequences would be disastrous!

    Xiao Lou thought of the little child covered in blood and felt iparable regret. ¡°We were careless. We shouldn¡¯t have let Xiao Ye take such risks¡­¡±

    The blue veins on Shao Qingge¡¯s hands bulged and his eyes were dark and murky. He spoke in a low and hoarse voice, ¡°Unfortunately, this is the only way. These assassins have machine guns and the invisibility cloak can¡¯t block bullets. If Group Leader Yu and Old Mo are shot then they will die on the spot! Ye Qi can lure them away from Group Leader Yu. We can only pray that Group Leader Yu will find the control room as soon as possible.¡±

    Otherwise, all the team members would be buried together.

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 352: Moment of Life or Death

    Yu Hanjiang and Old Mo¡¯s investigation area had exceeded half of the maze. After reaching the easternmost end again, they walked forward and found a corridor that was dark. The light bulbs and cameras were destroyed. This was obviously done by Ye Qi.

    Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t help frowning. ¡°Ye Qi has been here? There are traces of debris on the ground.¡±

    Old Mo was puzzled. ¡°The area we have checked ounts for half the entire maze. Ye Qi should¡¯ve checked a quarter of the area alone. However, all the rooms in the corridors have simryouts. Where is the control room?¡±

    A cold light shed in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes when he heard this. ¡°We fell into a trap!¡±

    Old Mo froze before soon reacting. ¡°Can it be¡­ the control room isn¡¯t in the basement?!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded, ¡°The first time I came to this building, I noticed it was a three-storey building. The basement is where you were detained but it isn¡¯t necessarily where the central control room will be. It might be on the first, second or third floors. If the first, second and third floors are alsobyrinths then the difficulty of finding the control room will increase exponentially.¡±

    Old Mo¡¯s heart trembled at these words. If Group Leader Yu¡¯s guess was correct and the difficulty of the three-storey maze increased exponentially then it was an impossible task!

    Yu Hanjiang asked Ye Qi in a low voice, ¡°Have you checked the path where the file room is?¡±

    ¡°I only checked half of it. I first brought the files back to the Peach Blossom Spring.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang simply instructed, ¡°Old Mo and I will go over there to see. Hide first and try to move only in the dark corridors.¡±

    At present, only that area hadn¡¯t been checked. Yu Hanjiang quickly walked forward with the eleration shoes. Halfway through, a dazzling light suddenly appeared in front of him. Ye Qi obviously hadn¡¯t been here yet.

    Yu Hanjiang looked up and found an elevator. At this time, the elevator had just stopped on the third floor. Yu Hanjiang pressed the button to go up. The elevator quickly came down to the basement and the metal doors opened slowly.

    Yu Hanjiang walked into the elevator but was unable to press the number ¡®3¡¯ to go up. There was a swiping area next to the number. This should be the same setting as a high-end hotel. One could only press the elevator floor after swiping a card. It was an elevator that only personnel could ride.

    Just now, the elevator had stopped on the third floor. Someone had obviously taken the elevator up. He spected that the control room should be on the third floor. Time was limited and it would definitely be toote if he checked the first and second floors sequentially. It was better to go directly to the third floor to see the situation.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the surveince camera in the corner, took out his handgun and pulled the trigger. There was the clear sound of gunshots. One shot exploded the camera and the other shot created a big hole in the ss ceiling!

    The next moment, he jumped with the light footwork card andnded firmly on top of the elevator.

    In the darkness, he could vaguely see the elevator chain. Yu Hanjiang quickly climbed along the chain to near the third floor. Then he took out a powerful submachine gun, shot open the door and rolled into the corridor.

    He squinted. The corridor here was very simr to the undergroundbyrinth and was almost a replica. Yu Hanjiang and Old Mo quickly figured out the direction and started to investigate.

    The rooms on the third floor were much smaller than the basement but the area was several timesrger. In addition, it wasn¡¯t gloomy like the basement. It was rather upscale. Most rooms had windows to the corridor and they could see the furnishings of the rooms through them. Offices, operating rooms, anesthesia rooms, wards¡­

    This was a small hospital!

    Yu Hanjiang determined that they had touched the organization¡¯s nest. After passing through three corridors in a row, Yu Hanjiang saw a room. There were no windows to the corridor and it wasn¡¯t clear what was inside. The silver-white metal door was closed tightly and it was obviously different from the other surrounding rooms.

    Yu Hanjiang thought for a moment before throwing thest bug on the wall. Then he really heard the conversation inside.

    ¡°Sister Qing, why aren¡¯t you pressing this red button?¡±

    ¡°I just feel that Uncle Zhong and He Rong died strangely, like they were killed.¡±

    ¡°We didn¡¯t make any mistakes so what is there to be afraid of? Can Brother Rong kill you? Let¡¯s deal with these people first. The truth about Uncle Zhong and He Rong¡¯s death will surely be revealedter on.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    The woman put her finger on the button. She was just about to press it when suddenly, the door behind her was kicked open. There was the bang of a gunshot in her ears and her hand was struck by a bullet!

    ¡°Ahhh!¡± The woman screamed with pain.

    The yellow-haired man hurried to press the button. Unfortunately, before his hand could touch the button, a strong wind headed toward his ear. He reached out to block it but the next moment, his wrist was grabbed and twisted by a pair of slender and powerful hands. A severe pain came from his wrist and it was dislocated by a strong force! Immediately after, his knees were kicked sharply and the yellow-haired man uncontrobly fell to the ground.

    The whole process took two seconds and it was too fast for others to react. The more terrifying thing was that they couldn¡¯t see anything. It was like the room was haunted. A gust of wind brought them down in an instant.

    Yu Hanjiang took out the white silk card and tied the two people up. Then he walked to the console.

    There were three buttons of different colors on the console in blue, green and red. Yu Hanjiang had interrupted before the red button could be pressed. This was obviously the mechanism to start the explosives. There was a letter B on the green button so this should be the poisonous fog that was activated second. Yu Hanjiang reached out and pressed the blue buttonbeled A. At the same time, he spoke in his mind, ¡°Have Xiao Liu prepare to evacuate immediately.¡±

    Xiao Lou hurriedly vinated Xiao Liu and told her to leave the Peach Blossom Spring. Liu Qiao exited the Peach Blossom Spring and saw the metal door in front of her slowly opening. She didn¡¯t want to wait for the door to rise slowly. She simply rolled on the ground under the door. Then she used the light footwork card to move quickly. The rain outside didn¡¯t affect her speed at all.

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue were outside. Liu Qiao took advantage of the card to fly between the trees. In the blink of an eye, she came outside Qinghe Vige and found the Long Qu couple. After confirming it was safe, she hurriedly set Li Qingzhao¡¯s mark.

    Yu Hanjiang wasn¡¯t in a hurry to go back. There was still some time for the vine card. He took off his invisibility cloak and pinched the yellow-haired man¡¯s chin. Then he asked in a deep voice, ¡°Who is Brother Rong? Say it.¡±

    The man was tearful from the pain. After seeing Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face, he sneered. ¡°So it is you, Officer Yu! None of you can run away today. You will die soon. Hahaha, why should I tell you? Tell a dead man? Go and ask the king of hell!¡±

    Suddenly, Yu Hanjiang took out a sharp dagger and thrust it forcefully at the back of the man¡¯s hand. A scream like a pig being killed instantly filled the control room.

    ¡°Ahhh¡ª¡±

    Yu Hanjiang rotated the dagger that pierced the back of the hand by 90 degrees. The yellow-haired man¡¯s hand was bleeding, his forehead was sweating and his entire body convulsed with pain. The screams were shocking.

    The woman next to him stiffened and her body shook slightly. She didn¡¯t expect Yu Hanjiang to be so cruel that he would stab herpanion¡¯s hand with a knife!

    Yu Hanjiang turned his head to look at her. ¡°What about you? Ms Song Xiaoqing, would you like to tell me?¡±

    Song Xiaoqing had beautiful curly hair when attending the birthday party today but now she had neat short hair.

    She was the boss of a medical equipmentpany and obviously wore a wig and delicate makeup. She seemed like an elegant and powerful businesswoman but in fact, she was an important member of the organ trafficking organization. The money she had was illegal money.

    Song Xiaoqing¡¯s lips couldn¡¯t help trembling slightly when she heard the question and she couldn¡¯t say a word. The man in front of her was full of hostility. His body was wet by rain and being near him was like being stared at by a cold, poisonous snake.

    Yu Hanjiang drew the bloody dagger and waved it at her slender fingers. Song Xiaoqing was so scared that there were tears in her eyes. She spoke in a trembling voice, ¡°Officer Yu, I don¡¯t know what you are talking about! What Brother Rong?¡±

    ¡°Is it Rong Cheng?¡± Yu Hanjiang asked calmly.

    Song Xiaoqing¡¯s face was white and her hands clenched involuntarily.

    Seeing her reaction, Yu Hanjiang knew that his guess was correct. He thrust the de toward Song Xiaoqing¡¯s hand, making her shake with fear. ¡°More than 10 years ago, you and Rong Cheng were a loving couple. He founded a pharmaceuticalpany with money from his family and you entered the medical equipment business. You made more and more money and gradually got lost in the desire for wealth. By chance, you met Shao Zhengyang, the big business tycoon and joined Shao Zhengyang¡¯s organ trafficking business.¡±

    ¡°Rong Cheng was eager for profit and sold fake drugs. Arge number of patients were admitted to hospital after taking the medicine. The drug administration found him, revoked his business license and put him in jail. During his prison term, you never visited him and pretended to cut off contact with him. Yet in fact, you recruited his men and secretly helped Uncle Zhong and He Rongunder money.¡±

    ¡°Once Rong Cheng was released from prison, you created the illusion that he was leaving the country. On the surface, he took an international flight abroad but in fact, he used a private jet to return secretly and changed his identity to continue the organ trafficking business. Thissted until Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s heart transnt killed an innocent person and a rtive of that person came back to retaliate and kill Cheng Shaoyu, then the police gradually discovered your conspiracy, am I right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Song Xiaoqing¡¯s face was blue and white, her eyes full of horror and her pupils contracted slightly. She obviously hadn¡¯t expected Yu Hanjiang to know this much.

    ¡°Brother Rong promised to send Cheng Shaofeng away by private jet but he killed Cheng Shaofeng on the way. Do you know about this?¡±

    ¡°I-I don¡¯t know anything.¡± Song Xiaoqing hurriedly shook her head.

    ¡°Then do you know that he actually buried explosives in the ground and was ready to kill us and you as well?¡±

    ¡°Impossible!¡± Song Xiaoqing¡¯s eyes widened and she shook her head frantically. ¡°It is impossible! He said that once this matter is over, he will leave and marry me.¡±

    ¡°You should be d that I came in time. Once that red button is pressed, this building will be blown up in an instant.¡± Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes were extremely cold and sharp as he stared into Song Xiaoqing¡¯s eyes. ¡°You are still being stubborn. Do you really want to die in vain? Did you forget how Uncle Zhong and He Rong died?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± There was a trace of struggle in Song Xiaoqing¡¯s eyes like her suspicion was aroused by Yu Hanjiang¡¯s words.

    It was eye-opening for Old Mo who was listening to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s interrogation from the pocket. Just now, Group Leader Yu pierced the yellow-haired man¡¯s hand with a knife. The action was neat and he didn¡¯t hesitate at all. Time was tight and Yu Hanjiang had to use some extreme means to find a witness. It was because the key to conviction was witnesses and material evidence. It was better to have a confession!

    After all, Shao Zhengyang was a person with prestige and there was no evidence. Were they going to catch Shao Zhengyang with spection? It would be better if Song Xiaoqing was willing to confess.

    In these few minutes, Yu Hanjiang pried open Song Xiaoqing¡¯s psychological line of defense. He saw that Song Xiaoqing¡¯s eyes were full of struggle and he spoke to Xiao Lou in his mind, ¡°Later once Xiao Liu opens the transmission, go out together. I will take Song Xiaoqing. She is an important witness.¡±

    Xiao Lou was worried. ¡°Will you be okay alone?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang reassured him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. You pull Old Mo and Ye Qi back to the Peach Blossom Spring first.

    Just then, there was the sound of footsteps behind him. A group of people had heard the movements in the control room and wereing as support. Yu Hanjiang cut the white silk into pieces to tie up Song Xiaoqing alone. Then he grabbed the back of her cor, picking her up like a chicken and exited from a broken window on the third floor!

    It was still raining heavily outside and Song Xiaoqing was instantly drenched. Yu Hanjiang used the light footwork card to carry her away. Then there was the sound of an explosion in his ears. The sound was so loud it almost broke their eardrums. Yu Hanjiang stopped on the tree and looked behind him.

    The three-storey building was actually razed to the ground by arge number of explosives! Smoke billowed and a fire zed in the sky on this dark rainy night. Yu Hanjiang stood on top of the tree with a calm and indifferent expression. Song Xiaoqing couldn¡¯t believe it. She stared at the mes and didn¡¯t know if it was the rain or tears blurring her vision. Her entire body was shaking violently.

    Yu Hanjiang whispered to her, ¡°Do you believe it now? You were almost killed.¡±

    Song Xiaoqing closed her eyes in desperation.

    Yu Hanjiang asked in his mind, ¡°Xiao Lou?¡±

    Xiao Lou responded. ¡°We¡¯re fine. Xiao Liu opened the transmission in time and we¡¯re all outside the vige.¡±

    By the time the reinforcements had pressed the red button, Liu Qiao used Li Qingzhao¡¯s marking skill to pull the team members out of the vige.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s voice trembled slightly. ¡°Apart from Xiao Ye¡¯s body that is covered in blood, no one else is injured. We must¡­¡±

    ¡°I know. Ye Qi was shot due to my negligence. We only have 24 hours left.¡± Yu Hanjiang paused and spoke softly. ¡°I caught a witness and will immediately set off for the city for questioning. I will inform my colleagues in the city to control the airport roads to prevent the suspects from leaving. Once we have the evidence, we will immediately arrest Shao Zhengyang and Rong Cheng!¡±

    Outside Qinghe Vige.

    In the torrential rain, the blood stains on Ye Qi¡¯s clothes looked particrly terrible. His teammates were scared to death when they saw this scene. Qu Wanyue hurried over and asked in a frightened manner, ¡°Xiao Ye, why is there so much blood on your body?!¡±

    Ye Qi smiled and brushed back his wet hair. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m now the bug king and I¡¯m not afraid of skin trauma.¡± He showed his white and clean arms. ¡°Teacher, look. All my injuries have healed. The blood on my clothes were from the moment of being shot. I don¡¯t even have a scar on my body!¡±

    Qu Wanyue was a bit relieved when she heard this. Suddenly, Shao Qingge walked over and forcefully took the child into his arms. Ye Qi was stunned. ¡°C-Chief Shao?¡±

    He was only 7 years old now and his height only went up to Shao Qingge¡¯s waist. Ye Qi was hugged like this and he was surrounded by the man¡¯s arms. Shao Qingge lightly rubbed the child¡¯s hair, his voice low and hoarse. ¡°Next time, leave this type of adventure to me. You can no longer use the Bug King card, understand?¡±

    Ye Qi wondered, ¡°Why? Didn¡¯t my injuries heal?¡±

    Shao Qingge didn¡¯t exin that the bullets were still in the body despite the injuries having healed.

    In other words, he only had 24 hours left. It was fine to be shot in the bug king state but once the transformation was over, if they couldn¡¯t catch the murderer and clear the instance smoothly¡­ Ye Qi would die. Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t bear to say this when seeing Ye Qi¡¯s brilliant smile.

    He took a deep breath, tightened his arms and hugged Ye Qi tightly. He used his body to block the torrential rain. Ye Qi¡¯s face was buried in Shao Qingge¡¯s chest and he was at a loss. This man¡¯s voice seemed particrly gentle in the rainy night. ¡°Listen to me. If you take such risks again, I¡¯ll take the card back and give it to someone else.¡±

    Ye Qi felt helpless. ¡°Okay, you have the final say regarding the cards copied with your money. Then¡­ in the future, my Bug King card will be used as a healing card while yours will be used as an attack?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao knew the truth and were also worried. Ye Qi¡¯s body didn¡¯t have any trauma but the deadly bullets remained inside him. Once the transformation ended, he couldn¡¯t be saved at all.

    Fortunately, not long after, a familiar figure appeared in everyone¡¯s vision. They saw Yu Hanjiang flying through the trees with Song Xiaoqing. Hended firmly in front of Xiao Lou, eyes full of concern. ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°There is no danger.¡±

    The group nced at each other. Then Xiao Lou walked to Shao Qingge¡¯s side and said, ¡°Chief Shao, don¡¯t worry too much. I believe Group Leader Yu can solve the case within 24 hours.¡±

    Shao Qingge released Xiao Ye and stared at Yu Hanjiang with eyes full of trust. ¡°My father hasn¡¯t been home recently and I don¡¯t know where he is staying. I brought out all the file cabs that Ye Qi handed over to me. Next, it is up to you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang calmly nodded. ¡°Yes, leave the rest to me.¡±

    The others heard his words and were relieved.

    Behind them, a fire zed while rain smashed down countless petals. The air was mixed with the smell of the explosion and the cold fragrance of plum blossoms. Eight people stood in the rain, their hair sticking to their wet faces and their vision was blurry.

    They were a bit scared looking back on the experience just now. In the process of everyone¡¯s cooperation, if there had been a single problem then they might¡¯ve been buried in this sea of mes. Fortunately, they escaped safely.

    Next, it was time to pull out these cold-blooded and brutal criminals one by one and bring them to justice.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 353: The Truth Comes to Light

    Shao Qingge¡¯s sports car had rushed into the forest just now and exploded into a pile of scrap metal. They could only return to the town using their cards. It waste at night and raining heavily, so no one could be seen on the country roads. Yu Hanjiang elerated and it took just a few minutes to return to Ye Qi¡¯s room in the town.

    Yu Hanjiang nced over everyone as he ordered, ¡°Xiao Lou, Chief Shao, Ye Qi and I will take Song Xiaoqing back to the city. The other four will stay at the hotel first and look through the materials Ye Qi found as soon as possible. Read it, organize a summary and send it to me.¡±

    The four people left behind nodded. The data that Ye Qi brought was piled up like a mountain and contained mostly patient cases. It would obviously take all night to finish sorting them.

    After leaving the hotel, Yu Hanjiang took his group to the parking lot and handed the keys to the car he drove to the town over to Shao Qingge. ¡°Chief Shao, you drive. Xiao Lou will sit in the front passenger¡¯s seat while keeping in contact with the other four. Ye Qi and I will escort Song Xiaoqing in the back seats. I will interrogate her on the way.¡±

    Qingshui Town was a three hour drive from the city. If they went to the interrogation room after reaching the police station there, these three hours would be wasted in vain. In special times, there was no need to stick to rules and regtions. Yu Hanjiang nned to directly question her on the road. Then after arriving at the police station, he could have Song Xiaoqing write aplete confession.

    The rain outside became heavier while Shao Qingge steadily drove the car as fast as possible.

    Driving too fast in the heavy rain was actually quite dangerous but Ye Qi was running out of time. Shao Qingge used the skills he¡¯d learned from racing on mountain roads with a few rich second generations. The moment the car got on the highway, it shot out like an arrow released from the bowstring.

    Inside the car, Xiao Lou sat in front and helped write the transcript while Ye Qi and Yu Hanjiang sat in the back as witnesses. Yu Hanjiang handcuffed Song Xiaoqing to control her. Song Xiaoqing¡¯s eyes were lowered, water dripped from her short hair and she looked discouraged.

    Yu Hanjiang asked about how she and Rong Cheng met. ¡°Miss Song, tell me your detailed experience from getting to know Rong Cheng to joining the organ trafficking organization.¡±

    Song Xiaoqing kept her head lowered and remained silent like she hadn¡¯t heard anything.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°How did that building explode just now? I think you should know it clearly. In order to kill us, he will even blow you up. Do you still have to protect such a person?¡±

    Song Xiaoqing¡¯s eyshes trembled as she thought of the fire that leapt as high as the sky just now. She couldn¡¯t help her lips twitching. Even so, she clenched her hands that were handcuffed behind her and gritted her teeth, refusing to speak.

    Just then, everyone¡¯s bodies abruptly tilted to the right and Song Xiaoqing almost hit the window. She raised her head in shock to look at the driver in front. Shao Qingge spun the steering wheel with both hands and the car changednes very quickly while he was driving! His low voice was heard in the car. ¡°Someone is following us.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at the rearview mirror. Sure enough, there was a car behind them with dazzling high beam lights. In the dark and rainy night, the color of the car couldn¡¯t be seen and the license te number was blocked, but judging from the shape and height of the lights, it should be an off-road vehicle. If an off-road vehicle collided with a car then it was naturally the car that would suffer.

    Seeing that the car was getting closer, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes sank and he turned to Shao Qingge, ¡°Can you get rid of them?¡±

    Shao Qingge raised his lips and smiled slightly. ¡°Trust me, I used to be a chunni and would often go to y with a few friends to do exciting things. Racing was my thing.¡±

    The moment he spoke, he moved his hands again and the car directly drifted 90 degrees around the corner in front! The moment the car turned, there was a gunshot from behind them. The other party apparently wanted to shoot the car¡¯s tires to cause it to roll over. Fortunately, Shao Qingge had evaded it in time!

    Listening to the harsh gunshots, Xiao Lou looked at Shao Qingge with fear. The man¡¯s eyes were extremely cold but the corner of his lips was raised with a trace of disdain. ¡°Want to chase me? Your technique iscking.¡±

    Song Xiaoqing in the back was frightened by Shao Qingge¡¯s two consecutive emergencyne changes. Her face was as pale as paper.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke indifferently, ¡°Ms Song, do you remember Cheng Shaofeng who died after being hit by a truck on the highway?¡±

    Song Xiaoqing suddenly realized. ¡°T-They are here to chase me?¡±

    ¡°Yes, your boss is probably afraid you¡¯ll say something unfavorable about him.¡± Yu Hanjiang paused and stared into her eyes. ¡°You know, us outsiders have special abilities. If the four of us are hit then we won¡¯t die. However, you certainly won¡¯t survive.¡±

    Song Xiaoqing, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you still not speaking?¡±

    The struggle in Song Xiaoqing¡¯s eyes were reced by determination. She gritted her teeth and said, ¡°I will say it!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou met his gaze in the rearview mirror and tacitly took out a voice recorder. Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°When did you meet Rong Cheng?¡±

    Song Xiaoqing lowered her head and answered softly, ¡°Brother Rong and I¡­ our two families were friends and we met when we were very young. After graduating from university, his father gave him a start-up fund to open his ownpany. He majored in pharmacology so he started a pharmaceuticalpany.¡±

    ¡°When did you get involved in the organ trafficking?¡±

    ¡°It should be 12 years ago.¡± Song Xiaoqing thought for a while before speaking with certainty. ¡°At that time, he lost all the funds his father gave him and thepany almost went bankrupt. He was very depressed and was drunk every day. Later, someone gave him an investment and rescued his pharmaceuticalpany. I don¡¯t know who it is.¡±

    Shao Qingge interjected, ¡°It should be my father. After going back, I will carefully check his investment records from 12 years ago.¡±

    He nced in the rearview mirror again as he spoke. The off-road vehicle¡¯s driver was pretty powerful and was chasing closely behind them. Shao Qingge could easily throw off his opponent with his superb driving skills. The problem was that the pursuers had guns that could shoot out the car¡¯s tires at any time!

    He had yed racing with his friends but they didn¡¯t use guns. He dodged just now by turning and drifting but he might not be so lucky next time. The situation was different. He couldn¡¯t be brave and rely on driving skills to avoid it. Shao Qingge squinted and he spoke to Yu Hanjiang through the Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings connection. ¡°Group Leader Yu, it seems I need your help.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded in understanding. ¡°Do you want me to shoot their tires before they shoot ours?¡±

    Shao Qinggeughed. ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

    Then he once again pulled the car hard into the far left overtakingne! The window of the front passenger¡¯s seat of the off-road was open and the man fired a few more bullets. As a result, Shao Qingge suddenly changednes and the bullets flew past the tires without any danger, shooting several holes in a nearby bridge railing.

    At this time, Shao Qingge¡¯s car and the off-road vehicle behind him were in the samene. The distance was no more than 100 meters away.

    Yu Hanjiang took out a gun and opened a window.

    It was still raining heavily. The moment he opened the window, a lot of rain mixed with cold wind poured into the car which made Song Xiaoqing shiver. Yu Hanjiang narrowed his eyes and aimed at the left front wheel of the car behind them. Heavy rain would affect the line of sight but Yu Hanjiang had caught criminals in the rain before. This effect waspletely negligible for him.

    Yu Hanjiang decisively pulled the trigger. There were two gunshots and the wheel on the left was instantly pierced by bullets!

    The vehicle that lost its center of gravity tilted uncontrobly. It was driving super fast and had no time to brake. The off-road vehicle crashed into the zone of nts in the middle of the highway. The man sitting in the front passenger¡¯s seat was so angry that he cursed. He took out his gun and wanted to shoot, only to find that the car in front was like a flexible fish. It changednes again and drove into the dark night.

    Shao Qingge nced in the rearview mirror and found that he had shaken off the other party. He couldn¡¯t help smiling and praised, ¡°Good job.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang put away the gun and rolled up the window.

    Song Xiaoqing was in shock. Her mouth was hanging open wide enough to stuff an egg in. Yu Hanjiang stared at her. ¡°Ms Song, continue.¡±

    Aftering back to her senses, Song Xiaoqingpletely gave up struggling and exined everything she knew.

    12 years ago, Rong Cheng¡¯s pharmaceuticalpany suffered a serious loss and was on the verge of bankruptcy. At a critical moment, someone helped him out. He regarded the other party as his benefactor. Song Xiaoqing really didn¡¯t know who this benefactor was or what business Rong Cheng did with him. She only knew that Rong Cheng started to develop new medicine and that thepany¡¯s performance was getting better.

    Later, Rong Cheng suggested to her that she start a medical equipmentpany so they could make money together, stating that the medical equipment industry was very profitable. Song Xiaoqing persuaded her brother and father to give her a sum of money as start-up capital. She didn¡¯t understand business at first so she just listened to Rong Cheng. She would cooperate with whoever Rong Cheng asked her to cooperate with.

    By the time she learned what type of business Rong Cheng was doing, it was toote. She had already fallen into it and the people with Rong Cheng weren¡¯t simple. They threatened her family¡¯s lives. She couldn¡¯t get away and could only continue making mistakes.

    Yu Hanjiang heard this and couldn¡¯t help asking. ¡°The benefactor who invested in Rong Cheng¡¯spany is the boss of your organization?¡±

    Song Xiaoqing nodded. ¡°It should be. He has never shown his face and I don¡¯t know his true identity. The only ones who probably know his identity are Brother Rong and Uncle Zhong. The moneyundering was arranged by Uncle Zhong and He Rong assisted. Meanwhile, Brother Rong took care of all themunications with the outside world.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou in the rearview mirror. It seemed that Brother Rong and Uncle Zhong were the second-inmands of the organization. One was in charge of internal matters and the other in charge of external matters. So the highest leader was Shao Zhengyang right?

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Chief Shao, have you checked your father¡¯s investment record before?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled bitterly and shook his head. ¡°No, I didn¡¯t doubt him at first. I have been checking Uncle Zhong¡¯s whereabouts these days. However, he is so careful that he didn¡¯t leave a handle even in investment. I suspect that my father invested in Rong Cheng¡¯s pharmaceuticalpany in the name of a subsidiarypany registered under another legal person.¡±

    Another legal person?

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know much about economics and asked curiously when he heard this, ¡°You mean, even if we find the investment records from 12 years ago, it will have nothing to do with Shao Zhengyang? He will have borrowed someone else¡¯s name?¡±

    Shao Qingge exined, ¡°This is amon urrence in the business field. For example, he registered an empty shellpany in the name of Uncle Zhong, made a good ount and invested tens of millions in thispany. Then thepany invested tens of millions in Rong Cheng¡¯spany. After that, the shellpany pretended to be poor in business and went bankrupt. At most, we can find the legal person, i.e., the scapegoat. It isn¡¯t easy to catch the one behind everything.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and thought carefully.

    Song Xiaoqing only contacted Brother Rong and didn¡¯t know who the boss was. This was actually within his expectations. Otherwise, it would be too simple to get a confession from Song Xiaoqing and then directly arrest the person.

    At present, they couldn¡¯t grasp Shao Zhengyang¡¯s handle unless they found Uncle Zhong or Rong Cheng, his two second-inmands. Unfortunately, Uncle Zhong had been killed. Rong Cheng¡­

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart tensed and he looked at Song Xiaoqing. ¡°Do you know where Rong Cheng is now?¡±

    Song Xiaoqing thought about it. ¡°He came to Qingshui Town yesterday. He was also there when your people were kidnapped. He went to confirm if you were unconscious or not. After that, he said he had something urgent to deal with so he went back to the city first. He has a vi in the city bought in my name. It is in Jincui Vi.¡±

    Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s residence was in Jincui Vi. Liu Renyuan, the first person discovered to have his kidney removed was a security guard of thismunity.

    Rong Cheng obviously came to Qingshui Town for the ¡®business¡¯ mentioned by the boss of the ¡®Tianya Club¡¯, He Rong. There were arge number of brand new guns hidden in the secret room of the ¡®Tianya Club¡¯. After Yu Hanjiang found it, they would definitely transfer these weapons as soon as possible. This might be theirst business. Once Rong Cheng transported the weapons to the boss, the person who was previously kind to him might immediately kill him.

    Once Uncle Zhong and He Rong who knew his identity were dead, Shao Zhengyang could sit back and rx.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Do you know where they usually hand over the weapons?¡±

    Song Xiaoqing answered, ¡°It should be at the Haiwan Dock. The previous handovers were all there. The dock is controlled by Brother Rong and many of those who work there are our own people.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang heard this and immediately called the city bureau to have them dispatch police officers to Haiwan Dock in advance. Shao Qingge knew the situation was urgent and floored the elerator.

    In the dark rainy night, the car sped all the way to the city. Ye Qi sat in the car and looked out the window. If Rong Cheng sessfully handed over the weapon and received the money, it was likely that Shao Zhengyang would kill Rong Cheng and take a private ne abroad. Then they wouldn¡¯t be able to catch the boss and pass the instance.

    However, if the weapons hadn¡¯t been handed over, there would probably be a fierce battle if they wanted to catch Brother Rong who was in possession of arge number of weapons!

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: </em><em>Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 354: The Whereabouts of Brother Rong

    Their speed was very fast on the way back to the city and Shao Qingge¡¯s mind kept shing back to his childhood memories. He frowned slightly and told Yu Hanjiang, ¡°I remember something. On the day I was adopted as a child, Shao Zhengyang came to Qinghe Vige to pick me up. The vigers were very enthusiastic about him visiting. He seemed to be familiar with the vige. He took me to visit the plum blossom forest outside the vige. He should¡¯ve lived there before which is why he made it his base. He invested in that building.¡±

    ¡°The structure inside the three-storey building is a general hospital. Old Mo and I found that there were many offices, operating rooms and wards on the third floor. Even if the vigers see strangers walking into the hospital, they won¡¯t care too much. After all, a small hospital doesn¡¯t seem suspicious on the surface. No one would¡¯ve thought they were doing an illegal organ trafficking business.¡± Yu Hanjiang spoke coldly. ¡°Now that the building has been blown up, Shao Zhengyang can still get rid of the rtionship.¡±

    ¡°That old fox!¡± Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help cursing. Then he remembered that the old fox was Shao Qingge¡¯s father in this world. He awkwardly coughed and changed the topic. ¡°By the way Group Leader Yu, how did you determine that Brother Rong was Rong Cheng?¡±

    ¡°First of all, Cheng Shaofeng called the other person on the phone by Brother Rong so it can¡¯t be Shao Zhengyang. Shao Zhengyang is more than 30 years older than Cheng Shaofeng and the seniority is wrong. Secondly, Song Xiaoqing also called the other person Brother Rong. The two of them used to be lovers. In addition, Cheng Shaofeng was killed while fleeing to a private ne. Since Rong Cheng disappeared after he went abroad, I spected that Rong Cheng has a private ne. Cheng Shaofeng¡¯s escape n was probably arranged by him which made it easy to kill him along the way.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Song Xiaoqing and added, ¡°I was just specting but Ms Song confirmed my spection.¡±

    Song Xiaoqing, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    At that time, the police officer had a serious and firm tone and she thought the other party had evidence. The result was that it was just a spection? It must¡¯ve been the look on her face that betrayed her.

    Then Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Ms Song, did your brother participate in these transactions?¡±

    Song Xiaoqing hurriedly shook her head. ¡°My brother and my father don¡¯t know anything about this.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°He Rong bought three houses and it happened to be in themunity developed by your brother¡¯spany. How can you exin that?¡±

    Song Xiaoqing told him, ¡°I just told my brother that He Rong and Uncle Zhong are my friends. He misunderstood that He Rong was my boyfriend so he sold the houses at a low price and came to participate in Uncle Zhong¡¯s 60th birthday party.¡±

    Her expression didn¡¯t look like she was lying and her brother hadn¡¯t appeared at the base. If her brother was also a member of the organization, he should have apanied her today and would also have been killed by the boss.

    Yu Hanjiang temporarily believed in this exnation. He questioned Song Xiaoqing about almost all the clues that had been found.

    Ye Qi smiled and said, ¡°After so many days of guessing, we¡¯ve finally determined who Brother Rong is. It is a pity that he is only the second-inmand. I didn¡¯t expect that the real boss would be Chief Shao¡¯s father. Now we have to catch Brother Rong?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Rong Cheng is the only one who knows the identity of the boss. If he is also killed then it will be difficult for us to formally convict Shao Zhengyang.¡± Yu Hanjiang had seen many criminals and Shao Zhengyang was one of the best. He didn¡¯t leave any clues behind and it was impossible to arrest people on the basis of spection. Song Xiaoqing¡¯s confession would lead to Rong Cheng¡¯s arrest. Then arresting Shao Zhengyang through Rong Cheng¡¯s confession was the best way to break this situation.

    ¡°Yet ording to Ms Song¡¯s words, Rong Cheng has returned to the city a long time ago. He should have arrived several hours earlier than us. What if thest deal has already been concluded and Brother Rong has been killed?¡± Ye Qi looked anxiously at Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang seemed to have thought of something before suddenly saying, ¡°Ye Qi, let me borrow your teleportation card. I will go first. Chief Shao, once you arrive at the city, bring Song Xiaoqing directly to the criminal investigations police department.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded. ¡°Yes, you have to be careful.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s teleportation card meant it wouldn¡¯t take more than a second to travel one kilometer. No matter how fast a car was, it couldn¡¯t match the teleportation card. Yu Hanjiang activated the card, decisively opened the door and disappeared into the rainy night.

    Xiao Lou was worried and asked through Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. ¡°Will it be toote by the time you rush over?¡±

    ¡°It should be possible or there would be no solution to this secret room.¡± Yu Hanjiang answered. ¡°My guess is that Brother Rong will find a recement to go to the dock to do the deal so as to not make the boss suspicious. Then he will run away by taking the ne. He isn¡¯t stupid. Uncle Zhong is dead so he will suspect that he won¡¯t be allowed to leave. Therefore, the location of his arrest won¡¯t be the dock but the international airport.¡±

    ¡°That makes sense.¡± Xiao Lou suddenly realized. ¡°Uncle Zhong died in such a strange manner. Brother Rong must¡¯ve guessed that the boss would kill all of them to whitewash himself. He would be stupid if he still took the weapons to trade. However, if you let the police go to the dock, will it be empty?¡±

    ¡°I will prepare to catch both.¡± Yu Hanjiang was calm. ¡°Smuggling weapons is also a felony. It is best to catch this group of people. If we just catch Rong Cheng then we can also follow his trail to find the whereabouts of the weapons shipment.¡±

    Xiao Lou really admired Yu Hanjiang¡¯s calmness at the critical moment. If they followed Song Xiaoqing¡¯s confession and ran to the dock to find Rong Cheng, they might end up letting the key figure Brother Rong escape by ne. Then this secret room wouldpletely fail.

    Fortunately, Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t get tunnel vision from Song Xiaoqing¡¯s words and calmly analyzed the situation. The airport was the key point.

    Yu Hanjiang took out his phone and called his colleagues at the airport. ¡°Immediately notify the airport. Use the heavy rain as a reason and try to dy the takeoff of all private and civil nes departing from there. We have to catch an important criminal!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang sped all the way with the teleportation card. After arriving at the urban area, there were more vehicles. Yu Hanjiang simply took out his light footwork card and flew to the roof of a tall building. In spite of the heavy rain, he rushed to the airport in less than 30 minutes.

    The announcer¡¯s soft voice was heard in the airport. ¡°Passengers, we are sorry to inform you that your flight KA-9966 can¡¯t take off temporarily due to the weather condition. The specific departure time is to be determined. Thank you.¡±

    ¡°We are sorry to inform you that flight KH-8775¡­¡±

    One flight dy after another came from the radio. The passengers waiting in the airport were on edge and some started to curse in low voices. ¡°What is the situation? All international flights aren¡¯t allowed to fly?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think the rain is too heavy. In addition, there is no thunder or lightning. How can the ne¡¯s take-off be affected?¡±

    ¡±What is wrong with the airlines? When will it take off?¡±

    The crowd of people was noisy while the airlines were crying. They didn¡¯t know why the airport suddenly said to temporarily dy all international flights.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes swept over the crowd. It waste at night and the waiting hall was packed, but he found no signs of Brother Rong. He asked some airport officials where the private nes were parked. After seeing his police officer ID, they cooperatively took him the distribution map of the tarmac. Sure enough, there was a private ne parked at the airport. The owner¡¯s name was ¡®He Jun¡¯ and the photo on the ID wasn¡¯t Rong Cheng.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly. He remembered the day that Cheng Shaofeng was killed and asked, ¡°Last Wednesday night, was this ne also at the airport?¡±

    The supervisor nodded. ¡°It was left here for many days. The cost for one day is tens of millions of gold coins. The owner should be very rich.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mind cleared. It seemed that as early as when Cheng Shaofeng was killed, Rong Cheng had been ready to escape. His private ne had been left here.

    He didn¡¯t run because he and the boss Shao Zhengyang had the same purpose¡ªto kill all insiders so he could change his identity and go abroad, enjoying the rest of his life. The owner ¡®He Jun¡¯ should be a new identity forged by him.

    Yu Hanjiang changed into the clothes of an airport surveyor and had the supervisor take him to the tarmac. The two of them got into an airport car and arrived at the location of the private ne. The ne was only one-third of the size of a normal civil aviation aircraft.

    The airport staff went up thedder and exined with a smile, ¡°I¡¯m very sorry. Due to the weather, your ne can¡¯t take off for the time being. We need to conduct some safety checks on your ne first.¡±

    The captain saw the two staff members and didn¡¯t feel any doubts. He let them in. Yu Hanjiang followed the supervisor inside the ne. The cabin was very luxurious and it was converted into a presidential suite. At this time, a middle-aged man in sunsses was reclining on the sofa, drinking a cup of coffee. There was a smile on his face like the winning ticket was in hand.

    After hearing footsteps, the man looked up doubtfully and suddenly met a pair of cold, sharp eyes. Before the man had time to react, Yu Hanjiang acted as fast as lightning. He instantly arrived in front of Rong Cheng, ced this person¡¯s hands behind his back and ced a pistol against his temple. Yu Hanjiang dered in a low voice, ¡°Rong Cheng, you have been arrested.¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 355: The Person Behind the Scenes

    Rong Cheng never expected that his n would be seen through by Yu Hanjiang. He had made all the arrangements and boarded the private ne. The ne was about to take off. He just had to get out of here and then he could steadily enjoy the second half of his life abroad with a brand new identity.

    Yet at this moment, Yu Hanjiang actually rushed in and ced a gun to his head!

    Rong Cheng was so angry he wanted to cough up blood on the spot! In order to escape, he deliberately boarded with no helpers but this made it convenient for Yu Hanjiang to directly get on the private ne to catch him. Rong Cheng really regretted it.

    Yu Hanjiang neatly handcuffed him, grabbed the man¡¯s cor to make him stand up from the sofa and pushed him forward while whispering, ¡°Follow me back to the police station.¡±

    Rong Cheng almost stumbled from the push but he pretended to be innocent. ¡°Who are you? Why are you arresting me?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang sneered. ¡°Still pretending to be innocent? You might¡¯ve used a fake ID but your fingerprints and DNA are in our database. I just need topare them and it is obvious why you are arrested.¡±

    Rong Cheng¡¯s face was ashen gray and he cursed in a low voice.

    Yu Hanjiang went all the way back to the police station and Shao Qingge¡¯s group also happened to be there.

    Through the heavy rainte at night, Song Xiaoqing and Rong Cheng stared at each other at the door of the police station. Song Xiaoqing rushed forward in an agitated manner and kicked the other person. ¡°Rong Cheng, you bastard! You actually wanted to blow me up as well! Why didn¡¯t you tell me there were explosives buried in the ground?¡±

    Rong Cheng¡¯s mouth twitched slightly but he was expressionless.

    Yu Hanjiang was happy to see the two dogs bite each other. Both of them were arrested and this would be a big help in the next interrogation. He could use Song Xiaoqing¡¯s testimony to put psychological pressure on Rong Cheng.

    Shao Qingge came up to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Do you need our help with the interrogation?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou and the other person immediately understood what he meant. Xiao Lou said, ¡°Chief Shao, Group Leader Yu is a professional at interrogating criminals. You can leave this ce to us. You have a more important task.¡±

    Shao Qingge was puzzled. ¡°More important? What is the task?¡±

    Xiao Lou whispered in his ear, ¡°Your father has not returned home during this time. Do you know his whereabouts?¡±

    ¡°No, I only called him once after getting out of the hospital and he said he was too busy at thepany to go home. I really don¡¯t know where he is.¡± Shao Qingge raised his eyebrow with a frown. ¡°Do you want me to go home and find out where he is? However, my mother has always been a canary kept in his cage. She should have no idea about his business affairs.¡±

    ¡°She might not know about business but what about emotional matters?¡± Xiao Lou¡¯s voice was serious. ¡°Sometimes, a woman¡¯s intuition can¡¯t be exined by science. If your father has a mistress outside and an illegitimate child, do you think your mother is really unaware of it?¡±

    ¡°That makes sense!¡± Shao Qingge smiled at Xiao Lou. ¡°She might be weak but I can see she is a very smart woman. Perhaps she knows where my father and his mistress are living. Of course, the premise is if he really has a mistress.¡±

    ording to Xiao Lou¡¯s spection, Shao Zhengyang must have an illegitimate child. Otherwise, how could he get rid of his only child, Shao Qingge so ruthlessly, even if he was adopted? Xiao Lou reached out and patted Shao Qingge¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Be careful and immediately tell Group Leader Yu if there is information.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded while Ye Qi actively suggested, ¡°I can go as well. I can protect you!¡±

    Ye Qi felt no pain and all his trauma was healed. He didn¡¯t know about the bullets still in his body and took the initiative to protect Shao Qingge¡­

    Shao Qingge sighed and rubbed Ye Qi¡¯s head. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s act together.¡±

    Ye Qi was still in the bug king state after all. Three hours had passed and Ye Qi would be fine for the next 21 hours. Shao Qingge would also feel more at ease with Ye Qi around him.

    Xiao Lou stayed at the police station to help Yu Hanjiang while Shao Qingge returned home with Ye Qi. His adoptive mother Qin Wan hadn¡¯t slept yet.

    In the middle of the night, the pale woman sat alone on the sofa in the living room in front of the TV. The sound of the TV echoed in the house but she had fallen asleep on the sofa. It wasn¡¯t known how many nights she had waited for her husband and son like this. Shao Qingge felt a little bitter when he saw this scene. He gently lifted her up to a sitting position and wondered, ¡°Mom, why are you sleeping on the sofa?¡±

    The close distance allowed Shao Qingge to smell a faint fragrance on her body which seemed to be perfume. Qin Wan woke up and rubbed her eyes. She saw the other person and quickly showed a gentle smile. ¡°Where have you been today? Why have you onlye back now?¡±

    Shao Qingge softly told her, ¡°I had to go out and do something.¡± He led Ye Qi over and gave introductions. ¡°This is my mother.¡±

    Ye Qi smiled brightly and bowed. ¡°Grandmother, hello!¡±

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    There really was a problem regarding the generations. Ye Qi was 7 years old but did he really have to call Shao Qingge¡¯s mother by ¡®Grandmother¡¯?

    Qin Wan looked at the blood on Ye Qi¡¯s body with surprise. ¡°Where did this childe from? Why is there blood all over his body?¡±

    Shao Qingge casually made up an excuse. ¡°This is my friend¡¯s son. He wasn¡¯t careful when it rained. He fell on the road and suffered some injuries. Fortunately, it was all skin trauma. His parents aren¡¯t home today so I decided to take him with me for the time being. Mom, I will take him upstairs to clean up.¡±

    Then he took Ye Qi with him to change into clean clothes. After all, Ye Qi¡¯s entire body was covered in blood and it was a scary sight. There were no children¡¯s clothes at home so Shao Qingge found a sweater from the closet for Ye Qi to wear. Ye Qi put on the sweater and looked like a child wearing a big sack. Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t helpughing.

    Ye Qi was embarrassed. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to be a child! Don¡¯tugh!¡±

    Shao Qingge suppressed hisughter with some effort. He looked at the child wearing an adult¡¯s sweater and whispered, ¡°It is quite cute.¡±

    Ye Qi didn¡¯t want to continue this embarrassing topic so he urged, ¡°Let¡¯s hurry to question your mother. Perhaps she really knows the whereabouts of your father.¡±

    Shao Qingge frowned and didn¡¯t know how to respond. This woman wasn¡¯t his mother. She was just a person in the secret room but his mind contained the memories of being raised by her for over 20 years. He couldn¡¯t see her as a stranger. Everyone spected that his father was probably the boss behind the scenes. Once his father was arrested and he left, his adoptive mother might be alone. However, he couldn¡¯t be soft-hearted at this point.

    Shao Qingge gently rubbed his temples and took Ye Qi downstairs. He sat down in the living room and asked, ¡°Mom, Dad hasn¡¯t been home for so many days. Do you know where he is?¡±

    Qin Wan¡¯s expression darkened. ¡°Probably at thepany.¡±

    Shao Qingge watched her. ¡°Mom, tell me the truth. Does he have someone outside?¡±

    Qin Wan was silent for a moment before sighing. She lowered her head and answered, ¡°As early as when the doctor told me I couldn¡¯t have children, he looked for a woman who was younger and more beautiful than me. He just didn¡¯t divorce me because my Qin family gave him financial help. The woman gave birth to a son and he hasn¡¯t stopped seeing her after all these years. I always pretended not to know.¡± She smiled bitterly and looked up at Shao Qingge. ¡°After all, I have to rely on him to live. As for your father¡¯s affairs, don¡¯t worry about it¡ª¡±

    Sure enough, it was as Xiao Lou expected. She did know that her husband had a mistress but pretended not to know. Shao Qingge gently took her hand and wondered, ¡°Where is their residence?¡±

    Qin Wan told Shao Qingge an address. Shao Qingge immediately informed Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Jincui Vi, Vi B-1. Do you need me to go over now?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°Let¡¯s not scare them first. The moment my side has a result, we will immediately arrest Shao Zhengyang.¡±

    Rong Cheng was very stubborn and he kept insisting he was innocent. However, Song Xiaoqing had already confessed and Yu Hanjiang yed her testimony for Rong Cheng to hear. ¡°If you confess now, you can serve as a witness. If you do a good job, the judge might reduce your sentence. If you don¡¯t confess then you will definitely be sentenced to death.¡±

    Song Xiaoqing confessed and Rong Cheng had no choice but to say everything. The thing that shocked Yu Hanjiang was that¡ª

    The boss wasn¡¯t Shao Zhengyang but Qin Wan. The seemingly weak and innocent Qin Wan, Shao Qingge¡¯s mother, was actually extremely cruel.

    The moment Xiao Lou heard this, his heart almost jumped out of his chest. ¡°Not good! Chief Shao and Xiao Ye are by Qin Wan¡¯s side!¡±

    The basic direction of their inference wasn¡¯t wrong. Uncle Zhong was from the Shao family and could help Shao Zhengyang with many things. Everyone had focused on Shao Zhengyang but in fact, Uncle Zhong could also do these things for the wife!

    Shao Zhengyang knew Shao Qingge¡¯s whereabouts so as a mother, how can she not be aware of her son¡¯s whereabouts? Today when Shao Qingge drove to Qingshui Town, it was with Shao Zhengyang¡¯s car and there was a tracker in the car. Shao Zhengyang hadn¡¯t been home for many days. Then who was more likely to have ced the tracker? It was Qin Wan! His mother had been taking care of him after he was discharged from the hospital. She must¡¯ve been watching when he went to the study to find information.

    The more Xiao Lou thought about it, the more frightened he became. He hurriedly told Yu Hanjiang, ¡°Group Leader Yu, hurry and tell Chief Shao!¡±

    Fortunately, Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge were connected to each other using Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. He didn¡¯t use the phone and spoke directly in his mind, ¡°The boss is your mother, not your father! We wille as soon as possible but be careful of her!¡±

    Meanwhile, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi were sitting on the sofa in the living room. Qin Wan brought out two bowls of steaming fish porridge. She ced the porridge in front of them and smiled. ¡°You both got caught in the rain. Come, drink some hot porridge first. Your friend¡¯s child is very cute. Let him rest here tonight and send him back tomorrow.¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s heart was warm. ¡°Thank you Mom.¡±

    He had just scooped up the porridge and was raising the spoon to his mouth when he heard Yu Hanjiang tell him that his mother was the boss.

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He looked at the bowl of porridge in front of him and his fingers became slightly stiff.

    Ye Qi was only interested in blood since turning into the bug king. No matter how fragrant, the fish porridge wasn¡¯t attractive to him at all. Still, he had to behave normally so he picked up the fish porridge and drank it.

    Shao Qingge was toote to prevent it. He watched Ye Qi wolf down half a bowl of porridge and his heart trembled. Fortunately, Xiao Ye was the bug king. Even if the porridge was poisoned, it would have no effect on him. Shao Qingge didn¡¯t dare to drink it. He put the bowl back on the table and held Qin Wan¡¯s shoulder as he started acting. ¡°Mom, I already ate beforeing back. I can¡¯t eat again.¡±

    Ye Qi keenly noticed that something was wrong when Shao Qingge put down the porridge but he ignored it and continued to drink the rest. Qin Wan¡¯s eyes were gentle. ¡°Then do you want a ss of water?¡±

    Shao Qingge hurriedly waved his hand. ¡°No, I¡¯m a bit tired. I¡¯ll go back to my room first to rest.¡±

    Just now, he had been feeling sorry for this woman. He thought that after her husband was arrested and her son left, she might be alone for the rest of her life. As a result, Yu Hanjiang told him such an amazing thing. He looked at the woman with a gentle smile on her face and got goosebumps.

    Thinking carefully, there had actually been some loopholes in his previous conversations with her.

    She said that Shao Qingge¡¯s heart came from a death row prisoner. The other party left a son behind and in order to express her gratitude for saving Shao Qingge¡¯s life, she gave Uncle Zhong 50 million gold coins and asked him to pass it on to the other person¡¯s son. Shao Qingge felt that she was too kind. She gave the death row prisoner 20 million gold coins for selling the kidney and another 50 million in thanks.

    Yet thinking about it carefully¡­ being kind didn¡¯t mean being stupid. How could the thank you amount be more expensive than the kidney itself? It was like someone picking up a wallet with 200,000 yuan and the owner giving them 500,000 yuan in thanks. It didn¡¯t make sense! He was afraid that the 500,000 yuan was for Uncle Zhong. She said this because she was afraid the police would discover it.

    The price of 200,000 that Shao Zhengyang told Yu Hanjiang was actually what Uncle Zhong told him. Shao Zhengyang wasn¡¯t too clear about the price of organs. He just listened to the report from Uncle Zhong. In fact, Shao Zhengyang was kept in the dark by his wife. Shao Zhengyang had been missing for so many days. Combined with the affair and illegitimate son, perhaps he had been killed by her?

    The more Shao Qingge thought about it, the colder he felt. In particr, he was flustered as Qin Wan kept sitting next to him and smiled at him lovingly. Still, he pretended not to know anything on the surface. He raised Ye Qi up and said, ¡°Mom, go to bed early. Xiao Ye and I will go to bed as well. The rain outside is too heavy and this kid is afraid of the dark. Let him sleep in my bedroom for one night.¡±

    Qin Wan¡¯s smile became gentler. ¡°Okay, take good care of your friend¡¯s child.¡±

    Shao Qingge told her goodnight and took Ye Qi¡¯s hand to go upstairs. After arriving in his room, Shao Qingge gently closed the door. Then he leaned against it and exhaled.

    Ye Qi looked puzzled. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    Shao Qingge made a ¡®shh¡¯ motion. He raised Ye Qi¡¯s hand and wrote on the palm: [She is the boss.]

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 356: Endgame

    The unexpected turnaround stunned Ye Qi. His first impression of Shao Qingge¡¯s mother was very good. Qin Wan looked like a gentle, weak woman and a loving mother. He couldn¡¯t connect her with the words ¡®boss of the organization¡¯.

    Ye Qi quickly wrote on Shao Qingge¡¯s hand, ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°The result of Group Leader Yu¡¯s interrogation shouldn¡¯t be wrong.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s mood wasplicated. It was no wonder Chief Shao didn¡¯t drink the bowl of porridge just now. He should¡¯ve received the message from Yu Hanjiang through Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings and didn¡¯t dare to drink it.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help feeling a chill as he thought of how he devoured the entire bowl of porridge. Did he drink a bowl of poison? Fortunately, he was now in the bug king state and wasn¡¯t afraid of poison. It was just that he felt ufortable in his stomach when he thought about it.

    Ye Qi rubbed his stomach in fear. He took Shao Qingge¡¯s hand and quickly wrote, ¡°What should we do?¡±

    Shao Qingge walked to the bedside and opened the curtains.

    For safety, the windows of each floor of the vi had anti-theft iron bars. The distance between the bars was less than 10 centimeters so it was impossible for the two of them to climb out the window. In other words, they couldn¡¯t sneak away. They also couldn¡¯t catch Qin Wan rashly in case she was startled and got away. Qin Wan thought they suspected Shao Zhengyang so she should be less vignt towards them.

    Shao Qingge remembered the scene where he leaned over and gently lifted her up because he felt sorry for her¡­ Her hair was wet with rain and gave off a light scent. If she had been waiting for her husband and son at home then where did the raine from?

    That scent¡ªhe recalled it carefully¡­ it was the smell of plum blossoms.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou started to quickly collect information on Qin Wan.

    Qin Wan was originally the eldest daughter of the Qin family. After marrying Shao Zhengyang, the Qin family¡¯s fortune declined and theirpany went bankrupt. Fortunately, her grandfather left her arge inheritance. She took out part of the inheritance and invested it in Rong Cheng¡¯spany 12 years ago.

    She opened a shellpany in the name of Uncle Zhong and invested in Rong Cheng¡¯s pharmaceuticalpany. The shellpany dered bankruptcy within half a year. In terms of the ounts alone, this matter had nothing to do with her.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°What is her rtionship with Uncle Zhong?¡±

    Rong Cheng answered, ¡°He is her distant rtive. Shen Zhengyang wanted to hire a housekeeper and she introduced Uncle Zhong to him. Uncle Zhong was kind, hardworking and capable, so Shen Zhengyang kept him by his side. In name, Uncle Zhong was the Shen family¡¯s housekeeper but he was actually the madam¡¯s spy and would watch Shen Zhengyang¡¯s movements.¡±

    ¡°When did the organ trafficking business start?¡±

    ¡°It was after a year of our cooperation. We were researching new drugs but the cycle for a new drug to go on the market was too long. The return of funds was too slow, the development of new drugs would take several years and approval even more years. Then clinical trials would also take a few years. We couldn¡¯t wait at all. Thus, when Sister Qin asked me to do the organ trafficking business, I agreed without hesitation.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°How did she suddenly get involved in this business?¡±

    Rong Cheng exined, ¡°She can¡¯t have children. She always hoped for the day when women could transnt their wombs. Unfortunately, the technology in this area isn¡¯t mature enough. She said that she wanted to help people with organ problems so she invested in a hospital that could do organ transnts.¡±

    Xiao Lou recorded up to here and couldn¡¯t help looking up to ask, ¡°Is that the hospital in Qinghe Vige?¡±

    Rong Cheng nodded. ¡°Her grandfather was from Qinghe Vige. She spent some time ying in the vige when she was a child. She liked the plum blossoms there. Later, she went back to the vige and adopted a child. However, she felt it wasn¡¯t easy for women to invest in a hospital so she used the name of her husband Shao Zhengyang.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged looks.

    The two of them thought that Shao Zhengyang was clever and hadn¡¯t left any evidence. They hadn¡¯t expected that such a powerful woman was behind Shao Zhengyang. It was estimated that Shao Zhengyang himself didn¡¯t expect his weak wife at home to do so many things behind his back, right?

    Rong Cheng, Uncle Zhong and Qin Wan¡¯s cooperation expanded. Judging from Rong Cheng¡¯s confession they did as many as 1,000 liver, kidney, heart and cornea transnts in these years.

    The organization was divided into three departments.

    Li Ran in the hospital was the head of the intelligence department. He collected information on patients who needed organ transnts.

    Yu Fugui and Qi Zhaoming belonged to the hunting department. They would look for orphans, beggars, single men with low literacy or people in urgent need of money and take them to do organ matching. Once the matching confirmed a suitable organ they would contact the hospital to arrange the surgery date.

    Qinghe Vige was too far away from the major hospitals in the city and the preservation time of important organs was limited. Thus, theyter opened the underground base at Antai Garden. After the operation, their organs would be sent to the hospital immediately. The forged certification materials were all prepared by Li Ran.

    The corneas could be preserved for a long time so they were operated on in the hospital in Qinghe Vige. The egg retrieval operation was also in Qinghe Vige. Therefore, the residents of Qinghe Vige often saw some young and beautiful girlsing to the vige. They thought these girls came to enjoy the flowers and to travel. They never thought these girls were here for an egg retrieval operation.

    The girl at Antai Garden had an ident and suffered heavy bleeding in the middle of the egg retrieval process.

    The other victims and members of the organization were basically the same as Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou had guessed.

    There were Zhu Qingrong and Lin Rongrong. The former had his doctor¡¯s license revoked due to a surgical ident. After he was released from prison, he joined Rong Cheng¡¯s organization. He usually worked in the pharmacy and would be asked to go and work when there was an egg retrieval process. The money from this was enough for him to live. Meanwhile, Lin Rongrong lost confidence in medicine due to his mother¡¯s death. He went to extremes and started to perform organ harvesting operations.

    Yu Hanjiang heard this and asked, ¡°Who did Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s hearte from?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. This matter was arranged by his brother Cheng Shaofeng.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked again, ¡°When did Cheng Shaofeng join?¡±

    ¡°Cheng Shaofeng joined the organization around five years ago. He was miserably suppressed by the Cheng family and couldn¡¯t get ahead in the family. At some business gatherings, he met me and we had some good discussions. He asked me for help and I showed him a clear way.¡±

    Just then, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s phone lit up. It was a message from Qu Wanyue. [Group Leader Yu, we found Cheng Shaoyu¡¯s medical record in the pile of documents. The heartes from a vagrant singer called Zhao Mingming. ording to the records, he has no father or mother. However, he was in good health and had a very healthy heart.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang clenched his fists together and stared sharply into Rong Cheng¡¯s eyes. ¡°A heart transnt will directly kill the donor. Don¡¯t you know this is murder? You are exchanging human lives for money!¡±

    Rong Cheng shrugged. ¡°There is no alternative. Once some roads have been taken, you can¡¯t go back.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and immediately turned on theputer to check the vagrant singer¡¯s information. Since he had no father or mother, who would kill and dismember Cheng Shaoyu to avenge him? After investigating, Yu Hanjiang found that someone hade to the police station to report Zhao Mingming missing a while ago. Zhao Mingming¡¯s name was written in the missing persons record book.

    Zhao Mingming had no rtives but he could have a lover or a good friend who was as close as a brother. His heart was removed and he died innocently. This group of beasts must¡¯ve destroyed his body. Then someone found he was missing and reported it to the police. This person must care about him very much.

    Yu Hanjiang saw the name listed in the column of the person who reported it: Xie Yuntian.

    Zhao Mingming¡¯s heart saved Cheng Shaoyu and it was probably Xie Yuntian who had the WeChat ID of Clear Sky who saved him. (Tian=sky)

    Yu Hanjiang handed the information to Xiao Lou and whispered, ¡°All the clues have been found.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Will you make the arrests now?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stood up, eyes as sharp as a sword. ¡°These people must be caught all at once. We can¡¯t let any of them go.¡±

    Li Ran had been blown up in that building while Uncle Zhong and his nephew in charge of the moneyundering were killed. The two doctors who performed operations at the illegal clinic, Zhu Qingrong and Lin Rongrong were still free on the outside. Yu Fugui, the hunter of the organization must be caught. The murderer of Cheng Shaoyu also couldn¡¯t escape punishment. He might be motivated by revenge but he had to pay the price for killing and dismembering Cheng Shaoyu.

    It was 4 o¡¯clock in the morning. Qu Wanyue, Long Sen and the otherspiled a detailed list after reading the documents for several hours. The shocking thing was that the names of victims exceeded 10 pages!

    Some of them were lucky. They only had their kidney, liver or eggs removed and continued to live. It was a pity that the operations performed in the illegal clinic would have a far-reaching impact on their lives and they would suffer slowly in pain.

    However, there were also many people who quickly became ill due to postoperativeplications and other reasons. Since most of these people had no rtives, no one would care if they disappeared, let alone report it. Their lives disappeared quietly and became money flowing into the pockets of these beasts.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the list that seemed to give off the smell of blood and tightly gripped the pistol hanging from his waist. The organization must be caught all in one go. There couldn¡¯t be a single fish that slipped through the!

    There was heavy rain on the streetste at night and the sirens of police cars seemed to spread throughout every corner of the city. Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t arrest so many people alone. For the small fries, he asked his colleagues to take care of them. He and Xiao Lou turned off the siren and drove to Shao Qingge¡¯s residence personally.

    Currently, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi were pretending to be sleeping in the bedroom upstairs. Suddenly, the door was gently pushed open. The next second, Ye Qi suddenly threw Shao Qingge to the ground! The bullet flew over Shao Qingge¡¯s ear. The other person had used a silencer.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s heart almost stopped.

    Ye Qi told him, ¡°My night vision is better than yours. Qin Wan has a gun in her hand!¡±

    Shao Qingge clenched his fists and hid on the side of the bed with Ye Qi. He held his breath and didn¡¯t dare make a sound. Qin Wan walked slowly into the room. Suddenly, lightning shed through the sky outside the window and shone on Qin Wan¡¯s pale and indifferent face. Her gentle disguise had disappeared and her eyes were covered with ayer of frost.

    This was immediately followed by another sh of lightning and the rumble of thunder that made one¡¯s heart tremble. The hiding ce of the two people was undoubtedly revealed in the light. Qin Wan raised her gun again. Ye Qi knew that the only fighting card on Chief Shao¡¯s body was the Bug King card but it had already been used in this secret room. In addition, Chief Shao¡¯s heart was still weak. Ye Qi had to go against this woman alone.

    Ye Qi pressed down Shao Qingge¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t move, I¡¯ll deal with her!¡±

    He jumped forward, his hands and feet clinging to the ceiling like hooks. Then he slowly moved behind the woman. The moment the woman pulled the trigger in Shao Qingge¡¯s direction, Ye Qi jumped down fiercely from the ceiling, sat directly on her shoulder and strangled her neck! The sudden change caused the fired bullet to miss. A big hole was shot in the window ss.

    In any case, Ye Qi had the ability of the bug king. He stretched out his sharp nails, grabbed the gun from the woman¡¯s hand and pressed it against her temple. ¡°Don¡¯t move!¡±

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This was the most handsome Ye Qi he had ever seen, even if Ye Qi was only a 7 year old child right now.

    The woman stopped moving and stared coldly at Shao Qingge. Shao Qingge stood up and asked softly, ¡°Mom? Why do you want to kill even me?¡±

    Qin Wan¡¯s lips raised in a sneer. ¡°You people should all die!¡±

    The next moment, she fell to the ground, her body constantly twitching like she was being poisoned. Ye Qi hurriedly lifted her chin and saw a trace of ck-red blood on her lips.

    Shao Qingge wondered, ¡°¡­She took poison tomit suicide?¡±

    At this time, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou arrived at the scene. They saw Qin Wan lying on the floor and the four people stared at each other.

    Xiao Lou asked what was going on with his eyes and Ye Qi hurriedly exined, ¡°Shemitted suicide!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang crouched down, tore off the back of her cor and examined her back. Thanks to the light from the shes of lightning outside the window, they could clearly see that there was a familiar ck totem tattoo on the shoulder de of the woman¡¯s back.

    There was a long silence before Yu Hanjiang calmly dered, ¡°She is a hunter.¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 357: Hunter

    [Congrattions to Xiao Lou¡¯s team for sessfully passing the 10th level secret room.]

    After Qin Wan killed herself, this prompt appeared in the floating boxes in front of them. This happened regardless of whether they were the four staying at the hotel in Qingshui Town to sort out the information or Yu Hanjiang¡¯s group of four looking at each other in Shao Qingge¡¯s bedroom.

    Shao Qingge stared at the corpse of the woman lying on the ground, his heart a bit heavy. After all, he had called this woman ¡®mother¡¯. His mind was full of warm memories of being adopted by this woman for over 20 years. She had taken good care of him and personally cooked for him. Yet when the moment came, she didn¡¯t hesitate to point a gun at his head!

    The love between a mother and child and the grace of nurturing weren¡¯tparable to the ck totem on her shoulder.

    A hunter.

    This word was like a thorn in everyone¡¯s hearts.

    Ye Qi recalled the nightmare experience of 3 of Spades and couldn¡¯t help shaking as he got goosebumps. ¡°These hunters are inhumane. They are almost like a brainwashed cult. They are so crazy that they would even kill the son they raised¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°Do you remember in the underground basement of Qinghe Vige just now, I put on the invisibility cloak and took you, Ye Qi and Old Mo away? The four of us disappeared from the surveince but those people didn¡¯t seem surprised.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought carefully about it. It was indeed strange. If it had been ordinary people, they would be shocked to see a person suddenly disappear in front of them. Yet the killers who chased them were very calm. They directly picked up the machine guns to shoot at the empty corridor.

    Xiao Lou made a guess. ¡°Perhaps they already knew we were ¡®foreigners¡¯? Qin Wan ordered them to kill us. In addition to silencing us, perhaps this is the more critical reason?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°I¡¯m afraid she noticed us as early as when you used an excuse to bring Shao Zhengyang over to be questioned.¡±

    Xiao Lou shuddered. This strange league of hunters took ¡®killing foreigners¡¯ as their most important goal. Their cruel and vicious means were far beyond the understanding of Xiao Lou¡¯s team. It was as Ye Qi said. Hunters were crazy and didn¡¯t even let go of their teammates. The hunters¡¯ deep hatred for them and the identity of the leader of the organization wasn¡¯t known at all. Would Brother Jiu have any clues?

    Yu Hanjiang perceived Xiao Lou¡¯s thoughts and spoke through the Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings channel. ¡°I will go to Brother Jiu to ask once we leave the secret room.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°The instance has been cleared. Shall we leave as soon as possible?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment before suddenly saying, ¡°Everyone take a rest first. I have one more thing to deal with.¡±

    Ye Qi was curious. ¡°Isn¡¯t it already cleared? Group Leader Yu, what else is there for you to worry about?¡±

    ¡°Zhao Sen.¡±, Yu Hanjiang said calmly.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Shao Qingge¡¯s back became cold as he thought of the perverted murderer who wore silver-rimmed sses and did heart surgery on him. Shao Qingge asked in a low voice, ¡°You are going to catch him?¡±

    ¡°Zhao Sen has taken two lives with his hands and I can¡¯t let him get away with it. Besides, if he isn¡¯t dealt with he might disturb the secret rooms in the future.¡± Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou and asked for his opinion. ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I can understand.¡± Xiao Lou stared into Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes seriously. ¡°After all, you are a police officer. A perverted murderer is moving around in front of you so you will feel ufortable if you allow him to escape.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang met these gentle eyes and his heart warmed. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t me him for being ¡®nosy¡¯ but was supportive of his approach. This made Yu Hanjiang feel very grateful. He took ast look at Xiao Lou before turning around. ¡°I¡¯ll go quickly.¡±

    Xiao Lou was a bit worried. ¡°Are you going to catch him alone?¡±

    ¡°I am a criminal investigations police officer in this world so I will follow the normal procedures. Don¡¯t forget, I followed him to his vi when I was the size of a thumb and have ready-made evidence. His house is full of his cousin¡¯s body parts.¡±

    Shao Qingge made an expression of disgust and endured his nausea as he imagined the scene that Yu Hanjiang mentioned.

    Ye Qi was very curious and there was a hint of excitement in his tone. ¡°Zhao Sen is too abnormal. He actually made his cousin¡¯s body into a specimen collection. Group Leader Yu, I will apany you. I am still the bug king and can help you if Zhao Sen resists.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t refuse and took Ye Qi with him to Zhao Sen¡¯s private vi in the mountains.

    The two of them opened the door and found Zhao Sen smiling while admiring his ¡®masterpieces¡¯ in his specimens room. The entire room was full of internal organs and limbs, making Ye Qi feel nauseous.

    Yu Hanjiang had followed Zhao Sen once before and was very familiar with the vi. It could be regarded as Zhao Sen being caught red-handed.

    Zhao Sen was arrested and Yu Hanjiang pulled out the file for the 2 of Hearts ¡®Rose Funeral¡¯ case.

    The timeline of this secret room was shortly after the Rose Funeral case happened. Zou Xiaomei¡¯s parents couldn¡¯t contact their daughter for a few days so they called the police. The police arrived at the scene and found a strong rancid smelling from the vi. They followed the smell to the bedroom and the scene they saw shocked all the officers present.

    A female corpse was lying on a bed covered with roses. It would beparable to a work of art if it wasn¡¯t for the stench.

    After investigation, the police found He Yongqiang¡¯s hairs in the kitchen floor drain and arge number of He Yongqiang and the deceased¡¯s fingerprints on the tableware, confirming that the two people had a meal together. They unlocked Zou Xiaomei¡¯s mobile phone and saw the chat history between her and He Yongqiang. During the time when Zou Xiaomei died, her husband Zhao Sen was on a business trip. He had sufficient alibi so the police locked onto He Yongqiang as a suspect.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at the investigation transcript in the file. Zhao Sen was brought in to be questioned. He was indeed on a business trip. The airport and hotel cameras captured his face. Zhao Sen said he didn¡¯t know his wife was having an affair with He Yongqiang.

    The police were unable to find He Yongqiang so it became a pending case.

    Everything went ording to Zhao Sen¡¯s script. The two people were having an affair and quarreled. He Yongqiang identally killed her and fled out of fear of being caught. Zhao Sen was an innocent victim.

    Unfortunately, this time he met Yu Hanjiang. No one could run from the long arm of thew. Not only did Yu Hanjiang find the body parts of He Yongqiang that were turned into specimens, he also took off the delicate watch worn on Zhao Sen¡¯s right wrist and handed it over to the technical department for identification.

    The final identification found the DNA of his wife from the blood in the gap of his watch chain.

    The person in charge of the case was a familiar name¡ªXie Xinghe.

    Yu Hanjiang was startled. Was this Xie Xinghe the one he knew? He was unexpectedly the group leader of the criminal investigations department of a sub-bureau.

    Yu Hanjiang asked his colleagues from the police force to inform Xie Xinghe toe see him at the city bureau the next day.

    At 8 o¡¯clock in the morning, a young and handsome criminal investigations police officer rushed over after receiving the news. He asked in a puzzled manner, ¡°Group Leader Yu, I heard you made progress in the Rose Funeral case?¡±

    Xie Xinghe was only an 18 year old boy when Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou experienced the Maple Leaf secret room.

    Yu Hanjiang remembered that after the innocent Ying Xiaoya was killed, Xie Xinghe swore to be a criminal investigations police officer in front of her grave. He didn¡¯t expect that he would actually meet Xie Xinghe who had be a police officer here.

    The young man in front of him had a calm gaze. The youthfulness had long since faded from his body and he showed signs ofpetence.

    Yu Hanjiang picked up the file and asked, ¡°This case is yours. Did you notice something wrong?¡±

    Xie Xinghe nodded. ¡°It wasn¡¯t right. He Yongqiang fled in fear after killing someone. This spection is reasonable based on the superficial evidence. However, we have searched for a long time and couldn¡¯t find any signs of He Yongqiang¡¯s whereabouts. It is like he disappeared out of thin air. In addition, Zhao Sen¡¯s alibi seemsplete but the part where he slept in the hotel is missing. He stayed on the second floor of the hotel. After entering the room, he could escape out the window, drive back to the city and kill his wife and cousin. I calcted the distance between the two cities. It isn¡¯t toote if he drives back while pretending he was sleeping the entire time.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang gazed at him with approval. ¡°The murderer is indeed Zhao Sen. I have arrested him and brought the evidence for you.¡±

    Xie Xinghe looked at Yu Hanjiang suspiciously, not sure why this person would intervene to help him. It wasn¡¯t until he came to the appraisal department and saw the organ specimens all over the room that a trace of horror shed on Xie Xinghe¡¯s calm face.

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Have you ever met a perverted murderer before?¡±

    Xie Xinghe frowned. ¡°It is really¡­ surprising.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang lightly patted the young man¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I will leave the rest to you. I have to go first.¡±

    Xie Xinghe respectfully said, ¡°Thank you, Group Leader Yu.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang left the criminal investigations police department. At the same time, Xiao Lou¡¯s voice was heard from the Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings channel. ¡°Did you meet Xie Xinghe? The high school student from 3 of Hearts who was determined to be a policeman?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect it either. I wanted to drop off Zhao Sen¡¯s case and it turned out to be Xie Xinghe¡¯s case.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stopped at the door.

    The early morning sun was dazzling. Pedestrians on the street came and went in a hurry. The existence of hunters and challengers seemed to have no impact on the world.

    Yu Hanjiang analysed, ¡°I have a bold spection that the secret rooms have their own rules of operation. For people like Li Mo, Zhao Sen and Xie Xinghe, we met them at different ages in different secret rooms and even influenced their life trajectory. If I didn¡¯t deal with Zhao Sen today, we might meet him again in the future. Simrly, if we hadn¡¯t cleared the Maple Leaf secret room perfectly then perhaps we wouldn¡¯t have triggered the ending of ¡®Xie Xinghe wants to be a police officer¡¯. With his cleverness, he might¡¯ve be psychologically distorted and be a difficult murderer for us.¡±

    Xiao Lou listened to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s analysis and couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°It is like a multi-line RPG game? We are yers and our every move will affect the ending of different NPCs?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Unfortunately, we only have one chance to pass the level and we aren¡¯t allowed to take a single step wrong. We are ying a game with our lives on the line. If we lose then we will disappearpletely. We can¡¯t save the progress and reload.¡±

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath. ¡°Let¡¯s leave first. I have already received the prompt.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also had a prompt on the floating box in front of him.

    [Xiao Lou¡¯s team has sessfully captured the murderer Zhao Sen and triggered the hidden ending. Extra rewards will be obtained after clearing the level.]

    [Do you want to leave the secret room now?]

    Yu Hanjiang decisively pressed ¡®yes¡¯.

    At the same time, his other teammates also pressed ¡®yes¡¯ and they gathered in their personal space.

    A of Spades, A of Hearts, A of Clubs and A of Diamonds were sitting in front of them. Everyone feltplicated seeing the four familiar keepers. They really couldn¡¯t express theirints about the secret room the keepers arranged.

    Shao Qingge endured his anger and smiled. ¡°The parents you arranged for me were very good. Thank you.¡±

    The Hearts sister smiled ¡°This is a benefit for you. You should thank us. Your gentle mother is the ultimate boss. Is it surprising? Were you surprised?¡±

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou was once arranged to be a wife and had noments for the Hearts sister. If she became upset then who knew what pit she would have for them in the next secret room?

    Yu Hanjiang was toozy to talk nonsense and simply said, ¡°Let¡¯s draw the cards. It can¡¯t be missing any of the rewards you promised us.¡±

    A of Spades wore sunsses and waved his hand lightly, still looking cold.

    Eight golden chests appeared in front of them. This was the first time they had seen so many treasure chests. The depressed mood of thest few days was finally lifted the moment the treasure chests appeared.

    Old Mo smiled. ¡°There is one each. Do you want to draw your own?¡±

    Ye Qi rubbed his hands excitedly. ¡°It was said before entering the secret room that the four-in-one secret room is very hard and the treasure chests will also increase. Let¡¯s draw it quickly. It is good for everyone to have a share.¡±

    The team members showed expectant expressions on their faces. Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Group Leader Yu, do you want to go first?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t object and simply ced his hand inside the chest.

    Xie Xinghe is from 3 of Hearts, the high school murder case. He swore to be a police officer at the end of the case.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 358: Lucky Draw

    All the cards that Yu Hanjiang drew previously were weapon cards such as the sniper rifle, submachine gun, shotgun and pistol. There were also sabers and daggers for closebat. He basically drew only weapons.

    What would he draw this time? Everyone was very curious. As a result, everyone was surprised when the card appeared.

    [Tool Card: Dragon Boat]

    [Rarity: S

    Description: After a perfect clearance and when there is a S score, there is a certain probability of obtaining it from the limited card pool.

    Note: ording to historical records, during the Dragon Boat Festival, many southern regions will have the traditional activity, the Dragon Boat Race. Different teams sit in a dragon boat and row desperately to the finish line. Whoever reaches the finish line first wins.

    The Dragon Boat card is made of the dragon boat used by the championship team of the Dragon Boat Race.

    The dragon boat is dropped into water and can amodate 15 people at the same time.

    The speed of the dragon boat is directly proportional to the speed of the people sitting on the boat and rowing. If there is no understanding and the frequency of the rowing is inconsistent then the boat can capsize.]

    Yu Hanjiang showed the card to Xiao Lou without any expression. Perhaps he had drawn too much weapon cards. This time, he actually drew a tool card. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help wondering, ¡°You drew such a card. Does this mean there will be a water secret room in the future?¡±

    The group simultaneously turned to look at the keeper.

    The Hearts sister just smiled and looked at them with gentle and loving eyes. Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t help getting goose bumps as he was reminded of the same gentle and loving expression from his adopted mother. A of Spades wore sunsses and his expression couldn¡¯t be seen. A of Clubs¡¯ face was as stiff as ever while A of Diamonds was toozy to look at them.

    They were terrible keepers.

    Xiao Lou helplessly said, ¡°Keep drawing.¡±

    The first time they drew the Night Pearl, they knew there would be night instances. Later, it turned out that the usage frequency of the Night Pearl was very high. Now Yu Hanjiang suddenly got the Dragon Boat card. Xiao Lou was sure that there would be a future secret room with arge body of water, perhapsparable to the World Weekly ¡°Endless Seas¡± they absolved previously. They could only row the dragon boat together. If the enemy was chasing them and they collectively boarded the dragon boat, the scene would probably be very awkward.

    Xiao Lou motioned to Liu Qiao to draw the next card. So far, Liu Qiao had only drawn fairy tale cards and this time was no exception.

    [Fairy Tale Card: Ugly Duckling]

    [Rarity: S

    Description: After a perfect clearance and when there is a S score, there is a certain probability of obtaining it from the limited card pool.

    Note: I believe you all know the Ugly Duckling fairy tale. The specific plot won¡¯t be described. In short, the ugly duckling who was despised turned into a beautiful white swan.

    Additional Skill 1: Ugly Duckling

    Turn the specified targets (up to 10) into a clumsy ugly ducking for 30 minutes. They can¡¯t be attacked during the transformation. It is a limited skill and can only be used once per secret room.

    Additional Skill 2: White Swan

    Turn yourself into a beautiful white swan. After transforming, you will have the flying ability of a swan. Itsts for 24 hours and can be cancelled at any time. A limited skill that can only be used once per secret room.]

    Ye Qi saw Liu Qiao¡¯s card and analyzed it. ¡°This card causes transformations and it can transform 10 targets at a time. If necessary, we can collectively be ugly ducklings and we can¡¯t be attacked for 30 minutes, right?¡±

    Shao Qingge held his head at the thought of a group of ducklings running around all over the ground. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be an ugly duckling. It is better to let the enemy turn into ugly ducklings. If we are being chased, Xiao Liu can turn 10 enemies into ugly ducklings so we can escape smoothly.¡±

    Transforming into an ugly duckling meant being invincible for 30 minutes. They could turn the enemy into ugly ducklings to have them act clumsily for 30 minutes while they ran away. The usage of the skill was quite flexible.

    As for the White Swan skill, it could be used as a disguise as well as a flying card that didn¡¯t neednding points. Once Liu Qiao transformed into a white swan, she could fly continuously for 24 hours.

    Old Mo¡¯s card this time was more interesting.

    [Tool Card: Lazy Sofa]

    [Rarity: S

    Description: After a perfect clearance and when there is a S score, there is a certain probability of obtaining it from the limited card pool.

    Note: A type of fashionable furniture that young people prefer. It is soft and veryfortable to sleep on.

    Effect: ce thefortable,zy sofa anywhere and lie on it. It can immediately eliminate fatigue, restore physical fitness and fill a person with energy.

    This card can only be used for three hours per day and its restoration effectsts for three hours.]

    Yu Hanjiang liked this card. They had entered the high level secret rooms but everyone¡¯s metabolism was the same as it was in the normal world. They sometimes had to stay upte to investigate the case and would be very exhausted. Later, if they needed to keep escaping then they could take turns using Old Mo¡¯s Lazy Sofa card to ensure they had sufficient physical fitness and didn¡¯t drop the ball at the critical moment.

    The next person to draw a card was Shao Qingge. Would the card he drew have something to do with money again? Everyone was curious.

    Shao Qingge turned the card over and looked at it.

    [Tool Card: Sapphire Ne]

    [Rarity: S

    Description: After a perfect clearance and when there is a S score, there is a certain probability of obtaining it from the limited card pool.

    Note: This is a magical ne. The sapphire pendant in the middle is so valuable that most people can¡¯t afford it. You can sell it in exchange for a lot of gold, more than you may think. Of course, if you¡¯re not short of money then you can also give it to others as a gift.

    The sapphire ne can only be given out once per secret room. Those who ept the ne will immediately be moved by the behavior and will have an indescribable affection for you. They will use all means to help you.]

    Shao Qingge smiled as he studied the ne in his hands. Meanwhile, Ye Qi hit the nail on the head. ¡°This is to increase favorability, right?¡±

    It was just like items in a game that increased the NPC¡¯s favorability. If they encountered some difficult people in the future secret rooms, they could gift them the ne and perhaps this person would help them find clues.

    The specific use of this card wasn¡¯t clear yet, they would need to study itter.

    Ye Qi saw his teammates¡¯ respective fun cards and couldn¡¯t wait to draw his own.

    [Musical Instrument Card: Suona]

    [Rarity: S

    Description: After a perfect clearance and when there is a S score, there is a certain probability of obtaining it from the limited card pool.

    Note: Everyone knows that it is the king of musical instruments.

    Once the sound of the suona is yed, other musical instruments have to kneel down. The melody that brainwashes people will definitely make the suona yer the most beautiful in the world.

    Effect: y the suona for 2 seconds and it will clear the interference of all negative states. It instantly sublimates people¡¯s souls, making them feel as if their souls are being washed and invigorated.

    If the suona is yed for a long time, all people in range will be upset by the sound of the suona and fall into a state of confusion and dizziness until the sound of the suona stops. Note that you can only blow with one breath while ying and taking breaths in the middle is ineffective. Take a deep breath and blow as long as you can. The enemy will be confused depending on the length. It is time to test your lung capacity.]

    Ye Qi stared nkly at the card. ¡°What the hell? Letting me y the suona?!¡±

    Shao Qingge had a headache. ¡°I hate the sound of the suona the most.¡±

    The others didn¡¯t look any different. Not many people liked the sound of the suona right? Unless it was for weddings or funerals¡­

    Ye Qi didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. He was really gathering all types of musical instruments.

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue¡¯s cards were also in line with their personal characteristics.

    [Transformation Card: Giant]

    [Rarity: S

    Description: After a perfect clearance and when there is a S score, there is a certain probability of obtaining it from the limited card pool.

    Note: Immediately be a giant over 10 meters tall, possessing the power of the giant n. Giants are inherently powerful and can trample humans to death like trampling on ants. They can uproot trees and destroy surrounding buildings. Note:byrinth buildings can¡¯t be destroyed.

    It is a limited card that can only be used once per secret room. The transformation canst 24 hours.]

    Maybe this card could be used to demolish things? When encountering a building blocking the path and there was no way around it, they can have Long Sen be a giant to directly remove it.

    [Dance Card: Ballet]

    [Rarity: S

    Description: After a perfect clearance and when there is a S score, there is a certain probability of obtaining it from the limited card pool.

    Note: Put on a ballet dancer¡¯s skirt and have the spinning ability of a top ballerina. Continuously spin over 100 times without any dizziness. During the spinning, the movement speed will increase by 10 times.

    Simply put, you can turn yourself into a fast-moving spintop.

    There is a cooldown time of 30 minutes. It is rmended to use it with other cards.]

    Qu Wanyue felt that if Long Sen became a giant and she became a spintop, the scene would be too beautiful to look at.

    Only Xiao Lou remained. As all eyes focused on him, Xiao Lou also drew his own card. He thought that it should be another summoning card this time right?

    As it turned out, he really did enter the card pool of historical figures. The people who came to him before were all poets from the graceful or unrestrained factions. Yet the one who came to look for him today was actually¡ªthe tea sage, Lu Yu!

    [Summoning Card: Lu Yu]

    [Rarity: S

    Description: After a perfect clearance and when there is a S score, there is a certain probability of obtaining it from the limited card pool.

    Note: Lu Yu is a famous tea sage in history. He is proficient in the tea ceremony and wrote ¡®The ssic of Tea¡¯.

    Additional Skill 1: Tea Fragrance Overflows

    Summon Lu Yu to make tea and treat guests to tea.

    The fragrance of tea will overflow within 500 meters. All hostile targets in range who smell the tea fragrance will immediately stop attacking and sit down to drink tea. After drinking the tea, you will be friends. The person you offer tea to will turn from an enemy into a friend. The effectsts 30 minutes.

    Additional Skill 2: Clean and Calm Energy

    The tea made by tea sage Lu Yu is incredibly fragrant and there is an endless aftertaste. Let the designated friendly target drink the tea made by Lu Yu to immediately remove fatigue, hunger and pain. It will make people feel refreshed and full of energy.

    Lu Yu can make up to 10 cups of tea at a time and can only make tea once a day.]

    In other words, it was 10 cups of tea a day. If given to the enemy, it could turn the enemy into a friend. If given to a teammate, it would clear their negative states.

    This card was simr to Old Mo¡¯s Lazy Sofa and Ye Qi¡¯s Suona cards. It repeatedly mentioned ¡®clearing negative states¡¯. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know what would happen in the next secret room but the many strange cards they drew today would definitely be useful.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 359: Extra Reward

    In addition to everyone getting an S-grade card, the four keepers had previously agreed that as long as they could clear the four-in-one secret room, they would also receive a team resurrection card.

    Xiao Lou remembered this clearly. The moment everyone finished drawing cards, he stepped forward and asked the four keepers, ¡°What about the team resurrection card you previously mentioned?¡±

    The Hearts sister gently lifted a finger and a card appeared in front of Xiao Lou.

    His teammates came over to examine it carefully. This card was obviously different from the cards that everyone had drawn. The usual cards were marked with hearts, spades, clubs and diamonds on the back. Meanwhile, the back of this card had a carved pattern like the cover of the contract book. It seemed to be a smaller version of the contract book.

    There were a few lines written in blood-red on the front of the card.

    [Team Card: Nirvana]

    [Rarity: S

    Description: A fixed reward for perfectly clearing the four-in-one secret room.

    Effect: Everyone on the contract book shares this card. The moment someone dies in a normal secret room and is eliminated to the Nightmare secret room, they can choose to use this card. If they use this card, they can immediately resurrect and return to their teammates. If it isn¡¯t used, they will continue to enter the Nightmare room. Those eliminated in the Nightmare room will disappearpletely.

    This is a limited card and will be destroyed after being used once.]

    The moment everyone read the description of this card, the card suddenly disappeared from in front of them. Xiao Lou¡¯s contract book lit up with a soft red light. He opened the book and found that this card had appeared on thest page of the contract book.

    It wasn¡¯t in one person¡¯s card book but in the contract book. This was in line with the ¡®team card¡¯ setting. In the future secret rooms, it could be activated immediately the moment a team member died. It was a pity that it could only be used once. The existence of this card allowed everyone to have a shared extra life but Xiao Lou hoped this card would never be used.

    He put away the contract book and looked at A of Hearts. ¡°I remember that we arrested Zhao Sen and triggered a hidden ending. There was a prompt that there is an extra reward. Is there another reward card?¡±

    The Hearts sister smiled. ¡°Yes, you can check the contract book.¡±

    Arresting Zhao Sen wasn¡¯t the task of this secret room. Yu Hanjiang just didn¡¯t want to let the murderer of 2 of Hearts, Zhao Sen, go free. Xiao Lou heard the words of the Hearts keeper and opened the contract book again. He saw that another card had appeared on thest page of the contract book.

    [Team Card: Voice Headset]

    [Rarity: S

    Description: A fixed reward for triggering the hidden ending of the linked secret room.

    Effect: When used, you can get pocket wireless voice headsets equal to the number of people in the contract book. Wear it in your ear and press it to initiate a voice call. You canmunicate with any team member on the contract book within a distance of 10 kilometers.

    Note: Thunderstorms, being underwater and other environments won¡¯t affect the signal of the headset.

    However, the signal will disappear as long as the distance exceeds 10 kilometers.]

    Ye Qi was excited after seeing this card. ¡°This is like an upgraded version of my Bug card? My bugs only have a range of 500 meters and only three of them can be used. Meanwhile, the number of voice headsets is equal to the number of people on the contract book. In other words, our whole team can wear the pocket version of the headsets to establish a team voice channel at any time?¡±

    Xiao Lou also liked this card very much. In a secret room with a modern background,munication problems could be solved with a WeChat group. However, if their mobile phones were confiscated or if they encountered a secret room with a background where mobile phones couldn¡¯t be used, the team voice headsets that weren¡¯t restricted by environmental conditions could help them a lot.

    So far, all the rewards for the 10th level had been obtained. Everyone got a card. Some were very practical and some were weird but they were all S-grade cards. It was worthy of their frightening experiences during the past few days.

    Xiao Lou put away the card pack. ¡°All the A-level secret rooms are cleared. Shall we challenge the S-level secret rooms next?¡±

    The four keepers exchanged looks.

    A of Spades spoke indifferently, ¡°The difficulty of the S-level secret rooms is one step higher than the A-level secret rooms. I suggest for you to not challenge them so easily. Now you already have such powerful cards with you. Isn¡¯t it good to stay in this world peacefully?¡±

    A of Clubs nodded in agreement and nced at Shao Qingge. ¡°In particr, Chief Shao. I remember that you have billions of gold coins in your card bnce. In addition, this time you got the priceless sapphire ne as a reward. Your ability means you can have a good life in this world. You can buy a vi of your own, buy a few sports cars and you can wake up naturally without having to worry about going to work everyday. Is this life bad?¡±

    Shao Qingge chuckled. ¡°It seems like a life one can only dream about.¡±

    The Clubs teenager was about to continue speaking when Shao Qingge smoothly shifted the conversation. ¡°It is a pity that it is all false. My identity is false and even the parents you arranged for me are false. Today, I am still rich. Who knows if you will suddenly bankrupt me tomorrow if you are unhappy? The Card World is controlled by you. The thing I dislike most is being a pawn on a chessboard.¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s words frightened his teammates but they were the truth. If they stayed in this world with so many cards and so much money, their team definitely wouldn¡¯t have a bad life. However, who knew what would be waiting for them the next second? What challenges would the keepers n for each week¡¯s World Weekly?

    After all, the rules of this world were left to the keepers and they were just pawns in the game. The rule of the game was to clear all secret rooms and to go back. They naturally had to work hard to return to the normal world. Many of them had rtives and wishes they couldn¡¯t let go of in the real world. It was impossible to stay here at ease.

    The little Diamonds loli smiled coldly. ¡°Since you are so persistent, we have no obligation to continue persuading you to give up. We respect the choice of every challenger.¡±

    The Hearts sister smiled. ¡°This is a friendly reminder. In the previous Hearts secret rooms, you managed to solve the case so smoothly due to the identities assigned to you every time. For example, Yu Hanjiang was a train conductor in 4 of Hearts, the prefectural magistrate in 8 of Hearts and a police officer in 9 and 10 of Hearts. You used your identity and position to collect clues and even arrest the murderer.¡±

    She suddenly looked at Yu Hanjiang. The smile on her face was still gentle but her eyes instantly cooled down. ¡°Then what if I no longer give you a favorable identity? Instead, what if I give you an identity that hinders you?¡±

    What if Yu Hanjiang wasn¡¯t a police officer in the 10th level? Could they have solved the case so smoothly and caught the huge organ trafficking organization in one go? It would probably be difficult. There was nothing wrong with the words of A of Hearts. The cases for the 9th and 10th level were veryplicated and Yu Hanjiang¡¯s police officer identity helped a lot. He could check the information of each suspect at any time andpare fingerprints and DNA¡­

    This saved everyone a lot of time and also provided great convenience during the process of collecting clues. If he was just an ordinary person then he could only go to the criminal investigations department at night to look through the information. If he was careless then he might be arrested himself.

    Xiao Lou thought up to here and hurriedly spoke to A of Hearts. ¡°Do you mean that in the S-level secret rooms, you will no longer set up identities convenient for solving the crime such as a police officer and forensic doctor?¡±

    The keeper of Hearts gently raised her lips in a smile. ¡°Otherwise, how can it be worthy of an S-level difficulty?¡±

    The team members stared at each other.

    A of Spades spoke coldly, ¡°Since you aren¡¯t afraid of death and want to continue with the S-level secret rooms, please draw your card.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang calmly said, ¡°Wait, let us go back and discuss it before making a decision.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, it is a life and death matter. We have to think about it. We will go back to the main city first and talk about it.¡±

    The four keepers looked at each other and disappeared in front of everyone.

    Just now, it was their personal space filled with fog and a wall of cards. Then in the blink of an eye, everyone returned to the vi in the City of the Moon. All eight of them were in the familiar living room.

    At this time, the sky was already dark and a warm light was shining in the distance. Once they came out of the personal space, everyone was restored to their original appearance. Old Mo was no longer the white-haired 66 year old man, Ye Qi was no longer 7 years old and Qu Wanyue was no longer pregnant. Her unformed baby disappeared.

    All of it seemed like a dream and everyone was silent for a moment. A momentter, Yu Hanjiang spoke in a low voice. ¡°Everyone, talk about your views. Do you still want to continue to break through?¡±

    Old Mo grabbed the hair that had returned to ck and smiled bitterly. ¡°I know that based on my personal ability, I don¡¯t have the skills to go to the S-levels. Thank you for your help during this time. However, my daughter is still waiting for me in the real world. Her mother passed away very early. If I don¡¯t go back, there will be no one to take care of my daughter¡­ so, I will desperately try to go home.¡±

    Old Mo¡¯s words made the atmosphere of the living room extremely heavy.

    It had been so long and everyone gradually got used to the intense and exciting rhythm of the Card World. Some things would gradually fade away. However, facts proved that blood was thicker than water. Family affection was rooted deep in one¡¯s bones and would never be forgotten.

    Qu Wanyue looked somber as she lowered her head, crossed her hands and whispered, ¡°Long Sen and I had a car ident on the way to our wedding. Our parents, friends and family were waiting for us at the hotel to get married. I don¡¯t want them to see two corpses instead of a bride and groom. They definitely won¡¯t be able to bear such a blow.¡±

    Long Sen hugged Qu Wanyue¡¯s shoulder tightly and silentlyforted her.

    A marriage turned into a funeral and the red words of joy were stained with blood. Such a tragedy would be a heartache that couldn¡¯t be resolved by the family in their lifetime. How could they bear to abandon their families and enjoy life in this world?

    Liu Qiao¡¯s expression was very serious. ¡°No matter what, I have to go back. I have to find a way to save my sister.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes were firm. ¡°I have to go back too. My parents only have me. In order to train me to learn music, they were frugal and spent most of their money on me. Moreover, I participated in a singingpetition and have entered the finals. My parents bought flight tickets to see thepetition. I don¡¯t want to let them go to thepetition venue happily only to see a corpse!¡±

    Ye Qi thought of the scene in reality when the ident happened and couldn¡¯t help clenching his fists.

    Shao Qingge gently held Ye Qi¡¯s fist and joked, ¡°If I go back with you, your dream will soon be realized. The organizer of the singingpetition and the owner of the recordpany are my good friends.¡±

    Ye Qi was stunned and didn¡¯t know whether tough or to cry. ¡°Chief Shao, we are discussing things seriously so don¡¯t joke around. It is boring to go through the backdoor to find your friends. I have to win the championship with my own strength.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled slightly and took back his hand. Then he nced at Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou. ¡°I¡¯m just waiting for these two to express their views.¡±

    The eyes of the team members fell on these two people.

    Everyone was very clear that Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were the strongest two people in the team, especially in the Hearts secret room. Without these two people, they wouldn¡¯t have been able to solve the crises again and again. If Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were unwilling to go back then the remaining six would have no confidence to reach the end.

    The eyes of the team members showed a glimmer of expectations and even pleading.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart trembled slightly. Everyone had a reason to go back. He had never been in love. His parents knew about his sexuality but they showed tolerance and understanding. They were the best parents in the world. He was less than 30 years old in reality. His parents were only 50 years old and still young. How could they bear the pain of losing their son?

    Xiao Lou looked up at Yu Hanjiang. Unlike the expectations in the eyes of the other team members, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes were deep and calm. Then they melted slightly when he met Xiao Lou¡¯s gaze and he whispered, ¡°Let¡¯s go back. Wasn¡¯t that our original intention behind forming a team?¡±

    Think back to the time when they first came to the City of the Moon. The eight people who didn¡¯t know each other were able to sign a contract with Xiao Lou¡­ solely for the purpose of going back.

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how difficult it is in the future. Let¡¯s not forget the reason why we got together in the first ce. Naturally, Xiao Lou and I have to go back. Either die or go back. It is just these two choices. There is no reason to live in this world.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s decisive words made the team members feel relieved. In fact, the most feared thing wasn¡¯t a strong enemy. It was that their teammates weren¡¯t firm enough and would give up at critical moments.

    ¡®Since everyone¡¯s goals are the same, don¡¯t be afraid.¡¯

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes lit up with excitement. ¡°That¡¯s great! Everyone has a firm goal. No matter how difficult it is in the future, I will at least have seven people by my side to face it with. It isn¡¯t so scary anymore.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged looks. Xiao Lou sensed what this person meant and smiled. ¡°It isn¡¯t just seven people.¡±

    Ye Qi wondered, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang answered, ¡°It is time to join them. Everyone, get ready. I will take you to see Brother Jiu.¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 360: Brother Jiu

    Who was Brother Jiu?

    Everyone was puzzled by Yu Hanjiang¡¯s words except for Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge, who already knew about it.

    Yu Hanjiang exined to everyone, ¡°Lu Jiuchuan is my cousin. In reality he is Major Lu¡ªthe leader of the Sharp Arrow Commandos. He died during a mission and I have been to worship in front of his grave with my family. I didn¡¯t expect to meet him in the Card World.¡±

    This exnation stunned everyone. A person buried in a grave actually appeared in the Card World?

    Ye Qi had a dazed face. ¡°Group Leader Yu, your cousin has been buried in a grave. Can he still go back like the keeper said? What will he do after go back? Take over a corpse?¡±

    The team members, ¡°¡­¡­

    Xiao Ye¡¯s words dumbfounded everyone.

    Xiao Lou was the one who answered. ¡°Group Leader Yu also had this doubt when he first saw his cousin. Later, we analyzed it and I spected that if we sessfully pass all levels and return to reality, the keepers can adjust the time node so we can go back to the past with our memories. We just have to avoid the ident and can continue to live.¡±

    Qu Wanyue heard this and a trace of excitement appeared on her face. ¡°Professor Xiao, do you mean that everyone will be collectively sent back to the past knowing the day we will encounter the ident? This way, we can avoid the ident in advance? For example, the date of my wedding to Long Sen was February 14th on Valentine¡¯s Day. If we go back to the past, we can revise the wedding date to avoid the car ident?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Theoretically, this is the case. Otherwise, it would be impossible to resurrect Brother Jiu who has already been cremated.¡±

    Ye Qi scratched his head in a puzzled manner. ¡°If it is like this, we can survive in reality. The problem is if we go back to the past with our memories, can we also save the lives of others? For example, I know someone who has failed to clear the instance. If I know the day he got into the ident, can I save him in advance? Then he can survive even if he doesn¡¯t pass the instance in the Card World?¡±

    Xiao Lou answered, ¡°I also don¡¯t know about this question. Perhaps only the keepers can exin it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°The keepers can freely control time which is why the time and flow rate of each secret room is different. Xiao Lou is just specting about how we can return to the real world. The final interpretation rights belong to the keepers. The only thing we can do now is reach the condition of clearing all the secret rooms in order to return.¡±

    The team members nodded in agreement. Only by clearing all the instances would they finally discover the way to go back to the real world. This was the only solution at present.

    Liu Qiao calmly said, ¡°Group Leader Yu, you said you would take us to find Brother Jiu. Does that mean your cousin is willing to join us?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Yu Hanjiang briefly summarized it, ¡°He built a very good team. Unfortunately, they were wiped out in J of Clubs. All of them were eliminated and entered the Nightmare Room. In the end, only four people survived the Nightmare Room.¡±

    ¡°These four people are very strong and are willing to cooperate with us.¡± Xiao Lou continued. ¡°If they join us, the strength of our team will be greatly improved.¡±

    ¡°Great.¡± Ye Qi didn¡¯t think much and was excited. ¡°People that Professor Xiao wants to cooperate with definitely won¡¯t be bad. If strong helpers join, the Spades level should be easier in the future? Ourbat cards are still too few.¡±

    ¡°Putting aside Brother Jiu, are the other three people trustworthy?¡± Liu Qiao inquired calmly.

    ¡°We also had doubts about this at first but after a brief period of investigation, I feel they are credible. All three of them are teammates who risked their lives with Brother Jiu. One of them even lost his legs in the Nightmare Room.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes showed a trace of admiration as he thought about Tang Ci sitting in the wheelchair. ¡°He lost his legs but still managed to survive the Nightmare Room. Such willpower can¡¯t be found in ordinary people.¡±

    ¡°¡­That is indeed very powerful. If it was me, I don¡¯t think I coulde out of the Nightmare Room if I was disabled.¡± Long Sen and Qu Wanyue exchanged looks and decided to follow the team. They smiled and said, ¡°We will listen to Professor Xiao and Group Leader Yu¡¯s arrangements.¡±

    ¡°Good. Then I¡¯ll talk to Brother Jiu and find a way for us to meet as soon as possible.¡± Yu Hanjiang took out the Absolute Domain Card. As long as the absolute domain was opened, he could enter the world created by Lu Jiuchuan and meet his brother.

    At this point, it was just past midnight. The Absolute Domain card refreshed its skill at midnight every night.

    Yu Hanjiang entered the domain space and was surrounded by a calm sea. The stars reflected in the sea were like broken diamonds thrown across the surface. The sea and the sky were the same color and the vast and boundless magnificent scenery reminded him of when he first saw Lu Jiuchuan in the World Weekly secret room. It was also at this piece of the sea and they faced each other steadily while standing on the water surface.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes swept around but he didn¡¯t see Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s figure. He called out, ¡°Brother Jiu.¡±

    There was no sound. Even his voice had no echo as it spread out. It was like it waspletely swallowed by the darkness.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart tightened slightly as he continued to shout, ¡°Brother? Are you there?¡±

    A breeze blew on the sea. The originally calm sea was sparkling and the surroundings were quiet. Standing in such an enclosed space he felt suffocated. Yu Hanjiang immediately canceled the card skill and left the absolute domain.

    The team members saw Yu Hanjiang suddenly disappear and then appear again, his expression a bit ugly. Xiao Lou noticed that something was wrong instantly and asked, ¡°What happened?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Brother Jiu wasn¡¯t there.¡±

    Xiao Lou was shocked. Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s Absolute Domain card was very special. As long as Lu Jiuchuan handed over the card to someone, this person could enter the independent space he created at any time. He would immediately know there was someone there ande to meet the person. Now he knew that Yu Hanjiang hade so why didn¡¯t he show up to meet Yu Hanjiang?

    Yu Hanjiang whispered, ¡°Unless he is in danger and can¡¯te.¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help being nervous. ¡°What should we do?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang dered, ¡°Go to Tang Ci.¡±

    His brother was in danger. It might bete at night but Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t sit still. Xiao Lou naturally wanted to follow him. Shao Qingge also wanted to go but Xiao Lou turned to him and said, ¡°Chief Shao, rest with the others. I will go with Group Leader Yu. This is the main city so keep your mobile phone with you at all times. Call if there are any problems.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    In the main city, his Bug King card couldn¡¯t be used and he might cause trouble if he followed. Moreover, only Tang Ci would know if Brother Jiu had an ident or not. After all, Tang Ci was the director of the intelligence bureau and his sources of information were wide-spread.

    Shao Qingge thought up to here and handed the car keys to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°The two of you be careful.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took the key, drove the car shared by the team and took Xiao Lou to Tang Ci¡¯s underground base.

    The City of the Moon was quiet and peaceful at night. There were no pedestrians on the street. The entire city was located in the mountains and forests and it seemed to be filled with the fragrance of flowers and nts everywhere.

    The vines on the roadside quickly slid past the window of the car. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression was extremely serious and Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help gently touching the hand holding the steering wheel. Heforted Yu Hanjiang softly, ¡°Don¡¯t be too serious. Brother Jiu¡¯s disguise is very good, so he shouldn¡¯t have been discovered by the hunters. Besides, he has Director Tang, Old Gui and Sister Huaying helping him. Perhaps it is just temporarily inconvenient for him to meet you.¡±

    The slightly cool touch on the back of his hand calmed Yu Hanjiang down. He nodded and said, ¡°Send a message to Tang Ci to ask.¡±

    Tang Ci was doing intelligence work and his major wasputers and software engineering. His anti-reconnaissance methods were even more powerful than the expert criminals that Yu Hanjiang had seen. Every time, Tang Ci would use a virtual number to send messages to them and there was no way to track it.

    However, Tang Ci previously left Xiao Lou a number that they could contact in emergencies.

    Xiao Lou sent a message. [Mr Tang, what is the situation with Brother Jiu? We went to the absolute domain and didn¡¯t see him.]

    There was a quick reply. [He found an important clue about the hunters and went to the City of the Sun. Now he can¡¯t separate himself from them. Why are you so anxious to find him?]

    Xiao Lou exined: [We just came out of the 10th level. We originally nned to bring our teammates over to meet Brother Jiu.]

    Tang Ci thought about it before saying: [Bring them to the City of the Sun to join me as soon as possible. Old Gui and Chu Huaying are also in the City of the Sun. Brother Jiu told me that within three days, the hunters are nning something big. The details are still being investigated.]

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other. Yu Hanjiang immediately turned the steering wheel and headed back to the vi. He woke up their teammates and ordered, ¡°Immediately pack your things. We are going to the City of the Sun!¡±

    Everyone looked dazed and Shao Qingge wondered, ¡°Will we be able to buy tickets in time?¡± He opened his phone and checked. ¡°The tickets for the earliest trips are sold out.¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°Do you remember how we passed the fourth level and everyone got a ¡®Universal Ticket¡¯ card. There is no restriction on transportation. We can use this to ride on aircrafts or trains.¡±

    Everyone opened their card pack and saw that they did have this card. It could be used to rece a ticket in cases of emergency.

    Old Mo wondered, ¡°Are we setting off now?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°The situation is urgent. We will set off immediately.¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 361: The Purpose of the Sofa

    Hearing Yu Hanjiang¡¯s words, the team members immediately went to pack their things. They brought only one change of clothes, their mobile phones and their identity cards. Each of them soon assembled downstairs with a backpack.

    The car couldn¡¯t hold eight people so Old Mo simply drove the tour bus they had bought previously. His team members got on the bus one by one and sat down. Old Mo started the vehicle and drove all the way to the train station of the City of the Moon.

    On the road, Shao Qingge looked at Yu Hanjiang¡¯s serious face and asked suspiciously, ¡°What is so urgent that you want to rush to the City of the Sun overnight?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know the specific situation either.¡± Yu Hanjiang exined, ¡°Mr Tang from the Intelligence Bureau gave the news that the hunters will make a big move in the City of the Sun in the next few days. He asked us to go and meet him.¡±

    ¡°Intelligence Bureau?¡± Liu Qiao heard this and couldn¡¯t help clenching her fists tightly. At the beginning, when she first arrived at the City of the Moon, she asked the Intelligence Bureau to help find out her sister¡¯s whereabouts but the other party said, ¡®No such person was found¡¯. Her sister had never been to the main city and had likely been eliminated in the first four levels. Liu Qiao always had a glimmer of hope remaining in her heart. She wanted the Intelligence Bureau to reconfirm the uracy of the information. Perhaps they just missed her?

    ¡°Xiao Liu, the director of the Intelligence Bureau, Mr Tang is a teammate of Brother Jiu. We are joining him in the City of the Sun this time.¡± Xiao Lou saw through Liu Qiao¡¯s thoughts instantly and nced at her. ¡°Regarding your sister, you can ask Mr Tang in person. Even if there is no news, don¡¯t be discouraged. As long as we can go back, your sister can be saved.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I know.¡± Liu Qiao nodded and loosened her hands. Her expression became a lot more rxed.

    ¡°By the way, how long will it take us to go to the City of the Sun by train?¡± Ye Qi asked suddenly.

    ¡°72 hours.¡± Shao Qingge happened to be checking the tickets on the phone just now and knew the time of the train¡¯s arrival. He heard Ye Qi¡¯s question and looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°It will take three days. Is this toote? Should we change to a ne?¡±

    ¡°When is the nearest flight?¡± Yu Hanjiang asked.

    ¡°Let me take a look.¡± Shao Qingge turned on hisptop, connected to his phone¡¯s hotspot and searched for flights from the City of the Moon to the City of the Sun. The surprising thing was that the earliest avable flight was at noon two dayster and the time it would take this flight to reach the City of the Sun was almost the same as the train they were taking now. For today and tomorrow¡¯s flights, the tickets showed ¡®Sold out¡¯ and there was a small note for all tickets: universal tickets aren¡¯t avable.

    ¡°It¡¯s sold out. This means all the seats are sold. They can¡¯t sell standing tickets and let us stand in the cabin.¡± Shao Qingge pinched his throbbing head. ¡°For the train, we used the universal ticket to jump the queue but I guess there won¡¯t be any free seats after getting on the train. The eight tickets are all standing tickets. Do we have to stand for 72 hours?¡±

    ¡°There is no need to worry about the seat problem. I remember that there are a few stops on the way. A group of people will go down. We can have a rest at that time,¡± Xiao Lou told him.

    ¡°Then take the train.¡± Shao Qingge shrugged helplessly and turned off theputer. ¡°At present, this is the only type of transportation we can take to the City of the Sun.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded decisively. ¡°Okay, go to the train station. Take the 1:30 a.m. train.¡±

    Every seat on the ne corresponded to a ticket. The tickets had been sold out and they couldn¡¯t get on with a universal ticket. For the train, they could stand in the aisle or junction of the carriage. It would be a hard night but once someone got off the train tomorrow, they could make up the ticket.

    Liu Qiao and Ye Qi had no objections about taking the train. They were students and had bought standing tickets when they couldn¡¯t buy tickets to go home during the holidays. They just needed to endure until reaching their destination. However, Shao Qingge was a big boss and had never suffered such a thing.

    Ye Qi happened to be sitting with Shao Qingge. He leaned toward Shao Qingge¡¯s ear and whispered, ¡°If you can¡¯t stand it, borrow Old Mo¡¯s Lazy Sofa card to sleep on. I remember that this card has no restrictions on the secret rooms it can be used in and it should be usable in the main city as well.¡±

    Shao Qingge didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. ¡°Old Mo¡¯s card is quite timely. It can be used as soon as it is drawn. It seems that everyone can only take turns to rest on thezy sofa tonight.¡±

    They had just returned from the 10th level and were exhausted. In particr, they experienced a collective escape from the basement at the end. As a result, they didn¡¯t have time to rest after returning to the main city and had to set off to take the train with standing tickets¡­

    They definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to endure standing in the aisle all night. Old Mo¡¯s Lazy Sofa was indeed very useful now.

    Old Mo drove the bus to the airport expressway and arrived at the train station within half an hour. He parked the car in the underground parking lot and paid a week¡¯s parking fee in advance. Then the eight people quickly took their luggage and headed to the security checkpoint.

    Yu Hanjiang took the lead and took out the Universal Ticket card. As they passed through the security check, this card automatically became a ticket for the KP-0714 high speed train departing from the City of the Moon to the City of the Sun at 1:30 a.m. today.

    The eight people passed through the security check in turn and entered the waiting lobby.

    The moment they walked into the lobby, they heard the soft voice of the female announcer. ¡°Dear travelers, the ticket check for the KP-0714 train from the City of the Moon to the City of the Sun is now starting. Please bring your belongings and check in from the ticket gates A10 and B10.

    The entrance of the waiting lobby was the A1 ticket gate. It was a long distance to A10. Yu Hanjiang nced at his watch and strode forward, his teammates quickly followed him. By the time they reached the A10 ticket gate, there was already a long queue.

    Shao Qingge wondered, ¡°There are so many people on the early morning train. Is there such arge passenger flow between the two main cities?¡±

    Ye Qi scratched his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. We haven¡¯t been to the City of the Sun yet. Does Uncle Mo know?¡±

    Everyone turned their attention to Old Mo who had a better understanding of the main city. Thetter exined, ¡°These two cities are the central cities of the Card World. They can be understood as Beijing and Shanghai in reality. The trains between these cities are basically always full. There are many people doing business and traveling as well as locals and foreignersing and going every day.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked around and found that everyone was busy lining up and paying no attention to them. He asked softly, ¡°Why are the challengers going back and forth between the two main cities?¡± Their team had been busy challenging the secret rooms sinceing to the City of the Moon and didn¡¯t even think of traveling to the other main city. Were the other challengers so idle?

    Old Mo smiled bitterly and shook his head. ¡°Not all challengers insist on going back like us.¡± He lowered his voice and asked his teammates toe closer. ¡°Remember? I told you about how some challengers have decided to live in the Card World. As long as they have strong cards, they aren¡¯t afraid of the World Weekly secret rooms and can live in this world very well. The City of the Moon and the Sun are rich in resources. When traveling back and forth between cities, they can do the business of buying and selling. For example, they can transport the seafood of the City of the Sun here to sell and bring the mountain treasures from here to the City of the Sun to sell.¡±

    Everyone heard this and looked at each other. Those challengers who didn¡¯t want to go back to the real world were seriously doing business in the Card World?

    The City of the Sun was a seaside city and seafood like fish, shrimp and crabs were naturally cheap. The City of the Moon was located between the mountains and forests. There was an abundance of exotic flowers and herbs and delicious beef andmb meat. Buying and reselling to earn a profit from the difference was indeed a good way to make money.

    Some challengers had no rtives worth worrying about in reality and their lives were unhappy. It was their personal choice to stay here. Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯tment on these people¡¯s choices. He only knew that he and his teammates would go back at all costs.

    Yu Hanjiang saw that it was their team¡¯s turn and gave his teammates a look. They stopped their discussion and queued up to check in. Their ticket showed carriage 3.

    After entering the station, they walked to the third carriage and got on. They found that the carriage was already full of people. The eight of them had used the universal ticket to get on the train when the tickets were sold out but it could only be converted to standing tickets. They had to stand pitifully in the gangway.

    Yu Hanjiang nced across the carriage. Perhaps it was because it was 1:30 a.m. but the passengers looked very tired. After putting away their luggage, the carriage soon quieted down. Most of the passengers fell asleep in their seats.

    Yu Hanjiang took everyone to the connection of carriages three and four. The area here was rtively spacious. Everyone put their backpacks on the ground. Yu Hanjiang saw the fatigue on his teammates¡¯ faces and felt uneasy. If he wasn¡¯t so eager to find Brother Jiu then he wouldn¡¯t have rushed to another city all night the moment they got out of the 10th level.

    He looked at Old Mo and asked in a low voice, ¡°Can thezy sofa be taken out?¡±

    Old Mo nodded and activated the S-grade card he just drew. Everyone saw a dark brown sofa suddenly appear in the open space at the junction between carriages. The material looked very soft andfortable.

    Old Mo said, ¡°The sofasts for three hours. Lying on it can relieve fatigue and restore physical fitness. Which one of you wille first?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Liu Qiao and Qu Wanyue. ¡°Ladies first. The two of you try it first.¡±

    Liu Qiao had dragged a body with a serious blood disease through the 10th level and rushed to find a safe area to teleport them in the rainy night. She never said she was tired but Yu Hanjiang could see the obvious dark circles under her eyes. Meanwhile, Teacher Qu was pregnant while running around with everyone so she also didn¡¯t have a good rest for two days.

    The two girls looked at each other and Qu Wanyue smiled. ¡°Xiao Qiao,e first.¡±

    Liu Qiao didn¡¯t refuse. She turned around and simply sat on it.

    The moment she sat down, her body seemed to be wrapped in ayer of soft feathers. The warm andfortable feeling was countless times better than the bed at home. She only sat on it for a few seconds and she already felt energetic all over. She was refreshed like she had just woken up from a peaceful sleep. Liu Qiao looked at Old Mo with surprise. ¡°Uncle Mo, this sofa is really easy to use!¡±

    Mo Xuemin cheerfully asked, ¡°Does it really clear fatigue?¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded vigorously. ¡°I am so energetic now. It¡¯s a feeling like I can get off the train and run 10,000 meters with no problem.¡± She stood up and pulled Qu Wanyue. ¡°Sister Yue, sit and see.¡±

    Qu Wanyue sat down and also sighed. ¡°It is really amazing. If there was such azy sofa in reality then I would want to buy it no matter how expensive¡­ it is a hundred times morefortable than a massage chair.¡±

    Ye Qi heard this and couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°It clears fatigue? I remember that my suona can also clear negative states. It should be able to temporarily clear your fatigue.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at him. ¡°Are you sure you want to blow the suona on the quiet train in the middle of the night?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    If Ye Qi really blew the suona, it was estimated that all the passengers in the carriage would rush over and beat him up together.

    Ye Qi smiled and scratched his head. ¡°I¡¯m just talking casually. Cough cough, it is enough for everyone to sit on the sofa. Come on, take turns.¡±

    They all took turns to sit on thezy sofa and their physical exhaustion disappeared. It was just that the sofa onlysted three hours. They were full of energy but this could onlyst for three hours. Still, it was better than being exhausted all night.

    Old Mo put the card away. ¡°This card seems to be quite useful? If we encounter the situation of being chased and be exhausted, we can sit down and rest for a moment before continuing on the way.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°It is worthy of an S-grade card. Is there a limit on the number of times it can be used?¡±

    Old Mo said, ¡°The state of fullness after using the sofa willst for 3 hours and it can only be used once a day. So after three hours, you might feel tired again.¡±

    Ye Qi asked, ¡°What about Lu Yu drawn by Professor Xiao? Can you summon him so we can drink tea?¡±

    Xiao Lou felt helpless. ¡°Lu Yu is an ancient figure. He can¡¯t be summoned in the environment of the main city.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It was 1:30 a.m and everyone could be full of energy until 4:30 a.m. He couldn¡¯t blow the suona at such an early time in the morning right? Fortunately, once it was 4:30 a.m, they just needed to endure a few more hours and it would be dawn.

    Yu Hanjiang told them, ¡°Let¡¯s rest.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at the carriage with the lights off. This familiar scene made a memory appear in his mind. In the 4 of Hearts secret room ¡°Extremely Quick Train¡±, he and Yu Hanjiang were on a train as train attendants. They met a tourist group, two pairs of couples and a group of close female friends.

    They woke up in the morning and found that an old man called Li Zhemin in the sleeperpartment had died peacefully in his sleep. The next morning, another young man called Zhao Quan died in the bathroom in a terrible state. A certain part belonging to a man was cut off.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath, nced at Yu Hanjiang and asked softly, ¡°Do you remember the Extremely Quick Train?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, there were two murderers. On the phone of one of the deceased was a picture calling it the train to hell.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at the window. ¡°The train we got on was KP-7311 and it was from the City of the Sun to the City of the Moon. Today¡¯s train is KP-0714 and it is from the City of the Moon to the City of the Sun. It is a reverse train¡­ I have a bad feeling.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang walked up beside him and looked up the window side by side.

    Outside was dark and their images were clearly reflected on the window. Xiao Lou¡¯s head just reached the tip of Yu Hanjiang¡¯s nose and the height difference was perfect. Xiao Lou¡¯s heart jumped slightly and he quickly changed the subject. ¡°Will there be another train murder case?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang gently touched his shoulder and there was a hint of gentleness in his low voice. ¡°Don¡¯t think too much. This isn¡¯t a secret room and we abruptly decided to take this train to the City of the Sun. There should be no murder.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, I hope we can reach the end smoothly this time and meet with Mr Tang.¡±

    TL: Please note that since this is a really long novel, the author sometimes forgets some things she wrote earlier in the novel or there are some bugs. E.g. here she says that ancient characters can¡¯t be used in the main city whileter, they are used. Haha, so try not to get too caught up in these small things.

    Also, for the next small mini-arc before the next secret room, I¡¯ll probably go back to chapters every second day for a small break. Once the secret room starts, I¡¯ll go back to daily releases

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 362: Unexpected Reunion

    At 7:30 in the morning, passengers in the carriage woke up and went to wash up. This train was the same as the one encountered in 4 of Hearts and it had 9 carriages. Of these, thest carriage was the residence of the train staff.

    Carriages 1-4 were hard seat carriages while 6-8 were soft sleeper carriages. The fifth carriage in the middle was the dining carriage. Xiao Lou¡¯s group of eight were at the connection between the third and fourth carriages and could see people heading to the dining carriage for breakfast.

    In order to avoid the peak time for washing up in the morning, they washed their faces and brushed their teeth before 7 o¡¯clock. Now there were peopleing and going and it wasn¡¯t very convenient for them to stay here. Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°We should go to the dining carriage for breakfast. We can also see if there are any suspicious people on the train.¡±

    Everyone followed Xiao Lou to the dining carriage and simply ordered some milk, soy milk and steamed buns for breakfast. As they were eating, they saw a group of young womening from the direction of the sixth carriage.

    They were dressed very stylishly and were talking as they walked. The one walking in front had long curly hair and a bright expression. She looked to be the oldest one in the group. The girl next to her was beautiful and gentle. She wore a light blue dress, a diamond ne around her neck and a bracelet on her arm.

    They were followed by four women with different appearances. However, the clothes they wore were all blue and white. There were different styles but simr colors. They looked like a group of close female friends.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes narrowed as he nced at the jade bracelet around one of the girl¡¯s wrists. ¡°This bracelet should be pure natural ice jade. It is very valuable. It seems this woman is quite rich.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged looks. The two of them had originally picked up a steamed bun to eat. Then after looking at each other, they put down the buns tacitly. Xiao Lou whispered, ¡°Shu Xiaomeng is the one wearing the bracelet?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°The one with dyed burgundy hair in front should be Liu Xiaoyan.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°There are also Zhang Xiaozhu, Wu Xiaofei, Cheng Xiaoli and Song Xiaoyu.¡±

    The other team members were at a loss listening to their conversation. Ye Qi was even more confused by the naming pattern of ¡®X Xiao X¡¯. He nced at Xiao Lou in a baffled manner. ¡°What are you talking about? Do you know these women?¡±

    Just then, the group of six friends sat down at the dining table not far away.

    Liu Xiaoyan spoke in a straightforward manner, ¡°For today¡¯s breakfast, is Xiaomeng treating us?¡±

    Shu Xiaomeng nodded. ¡°Sister, Yan, please order whatever you want.¡±

    Next to her, the short-haired Zhang Xiaozhu joked, ¡°Mrs Li has money. ording to me, you guys are really too much. You have to take the train! How convenient is it to fly? We can get there in one day. Meanwhile, it takes three days to ride the train!¡±

    The long-haired girl next to her spoke weakly. ¡°This is Sister Yan¡¯s idea. Last time when we went to the concert, Xiaomeng was unable to go due to physical reasons. Later, something happened on the train¡­ we didn¡¯t expect the goddess to finally be holding a concert again in the City of the Sun. It feels like a dreames true for everyone to take the train together.¡±

    Shu Xiaomeng agreed. ¡°Yes, this time no one is absent. The six of us can take the train slowly and it can be regarded as a trip to rx.¡±

    The other teammates heard their conversation and finally reacted.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°The best friends group of the Extremely Quick Train case is here again?¡±

    Shao Qingge nced at Shu Xiaomeng thoughtfully. ¡°The friends group that Xiao Ye and I met had names like Cheng Xuening, Qin Xuefei and so on¡­ are these the friends that Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao met?¡±

    The plot of the low level secret rooms was simr but there were many alternate versions. Old Mo said that it was like an exam paper with A, B and C versions. It was randomly generated so the group of friends that Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang met in the train was different from those Shao and Ye encountered.

    Old Mo, Liu Qiao and the Long Qu couple also encountered different people.

    Every time they entered a secret room, that secret room was just a generated instance and the NPCs also existed independently. For example, the deceased that Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang met in 4 of Hearts was called Li Zhemin. This meant the one that Ye Qi met couldn¡¯t be Li Zhemin. Li Zhemin couldn¡¯t die twice.

    Xiao Lou spoke softly, ¡°These six are the group of best friends that Group Leader Yu and I met in 4 of Hearts. They went to the City of the Moon to watch a concert. On the way, the scumbag Zhou Quan died. However, the killer wasn¡¯t among them. It was Cheng Mu who got on the train halfway. After arriving at the City of the Moon, they were taken by the police to give statements and probably didn¡¯t get to see the concert.¡±

    Ye Qi was stunned and a chill went down his spine. ¡°So many years have passed. Now, they are realizing their dream by taking the train to the City of the Sun to watch this concert together? As a result, they met you again at a different point in time?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, at this time, Shu Xiaomeng is already Li Mo¡¯s wife. Her best friend called her Mrs Li just now. The bracelet she¡¯s wearing should¡¯ve been bought by Li Mo.¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s expression changed and he lowered his voice. ¡°I remember that the theme of 4 of Hearts was the train to hell.¡±

    The hairs on Ye Qi¡¯s body stood up. ¡°These girls shouldn¡¯t be doing something again? Is it a murder case to send people to hell?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t speak. His brow was furrowed as he stared thoughtfully through the train window at the scenery passing by.

    The 4 of Hearts secret room urred when Li Mo and Shu Xiaomeng weren¡¯t living together. Shu Xiaomeng had a miscarriage and didn¡¯t go to the concert with her friends. Li Mo nned an elderly tour group and set up his father Li Zhemin to be killed. Among Shu Xiaomeng¡¯s group of friends, two of them were let down by a scumbag. The seven girlfriends got together to punish the scumbag Zhao Quan who was on the train.

    This was in line with what they said just now about not seeing the concert and being able to realize their dream together this time.

    Not long ago, everyone encountered Li Mo in the Club¡¯s secret room. Li Mo was 35 years old and the time flow in the main city should be the same. Therefore, the current age of Li Mo¡¯s wife was around 32 years old.

    It could be calcted that the current time was 10 years after the train case urred. Was it just a coincidence to meet this group of friends again?

    Shao Qingge took out his phone and quickly searched the news. He came to a conclusion. ¡°There is indeed a concert in the City of the Sun. Luo Yan, the queen of singing, will be holding a concert tomemorate the 20th anniversary of her debut in thergest stadium in three days.¡±

    Xiao Lou remembered the name. ¡°Yes, back then, they went to the City of the Moon to see Luo Yan¡¯s concert.¡±

    It was originally to see the concert but due to the scumbag dying on the train, they ended up being unable to see it. This group of friends likes the queen of singing. In order to realize their dreams, they reorganized the group to go to the concert after a period of 10 years.

    They met again on the same train. This feeling of time and space crossing gave Xiao Lou a sense of chaos. It was just like an 18 year old girl he saw a few days ago suddenly bing a 30 year old woman he saw today.

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it for a moment before whispering to Xiao Lou, ¡°It is still uncertain if this is a coincidence or not. Ask Mr Tang.¡±

    Xiao Lou took out his phone and sent a message to Tang Ci. [Mr Tang, what is going on with the concert?]

    Tang Ci replied: [Luo Yan is a female singer with a strong appeal in this world. She debuted 20 years ago and has countless ssic songs. She only holds a concert every five years and this happens to be the concert celebrating the 20th year since her debut. Fans are flocking to the City of the Sun from various ces. When the tickets for the concert were open for sale they sold out in less than five minutes.]

    It sounded normal. It was thememorative concert of a super popr singer and it was natural for fans toe from all over to support her. Still, Xiao Lou was a bit uneasy. [Is this rted to the Hunter¡¯s League?]

    [I don¡¯t know. I am still investigating. In this way, the City of the Sun will have many consecutively. There is therge concert, award ceremonies, star signings and football games held one after another. All the hotels in the city are almost full and traffic is very serious. After you arrive, go directly to the New Century Hotel to check in. I have booked rooms for you.]

    Xiao Lou answered: [I understand. I¡¯ll stay in contact.]

    He showed the phone conversation to Yu Hanjiang and shook his head. ¡°Mr Tang also isn¡¯t sure. Perhaps this is just a concert and we are thinking too much?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°I hope so.¡±

    He raised his eyes toward the dining table not far away. Shu Xiaomeng and her friends were eating breakfast happily and the young woman¡¯s face was filled with a warm smile. Her husband was a well-known businessman in this world and was very fond of her. She left her husband behind to go to a concert with a group of friends. It seemed the rtionship between these women was as good as ever.

    Did Li Mo know about this? Was it just amemorative concert held in a stadium of the City of the Sun?

    They would probably only know once they arrived at the scene.

    Yu Hanjiang thought up to here and made a request. ¡°Chief Shao, I want to find a way to buy a few concert tickets. I want to go and see it live.¡±

    Shao Qingge searched the Inte. ¡°The official channels have long been sold out. I can only buy high-priced scalper tickets¡­ let¡¯s see, the scalper¡¯s tickets are also very popr. This goddess has too many fans.¡±

    Ye Qi thought enviously, ¡®It will be good if I have so many fans at my own concert in the future¡­¡¯

    Shao Qingge said, ¡°I can only buy two tickets. It is three dayster at 8:00 p.m., the VIP seats. I bought them just in time.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°I will go with Xiao Lou. The rest of you, stay in the hotel and wait for our news.¡±

    He had a strange feeling. They met the group of friends again on the train and this time there was Shu Xiaomeng¡­

    Things might not be so simple.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 363: Convergence

    Shu Xiaomeng¡¯s group of six sat at the dining table not far away, eating and chatting. Their conversation revolved around Luo Yan, the queen of singing. Some of them had liked Luo Yan since high school. Their phone ringtones and rm clocks were all songs by the goddess. It could be seen that they were indeed Luo Yan¡¯s diehard fans. On the surface, there was no problem with them going to her 20th anniversary concert.

    Ye Qi searched for Luo Yan¡¯s information and whispered to his teammates, ¡°This singing queen has more than 80 million fans. Judging from online evaluations, she isn¡¯t just good at singing. She is also very talented. She has written many popr songs herself and is modest and gentle. Few people can match her status in the music scene. Several well-known singers in today¡¯s music scene are students brought out by her. These people will also act as special guests to help this concert.¡±

    Shao Qingge raised his eyebrow. ¡°Will there be an entertainment circle murder like the 9 of Hearts case?¡±

    They remembered the entertainment circle murders of 9 of Hearts. Theplex interpersonal rtionship in the entertainment industry opened everyone¡¯s eyes. Three dayster, the concert in the City of the Sun would have many singers participating and everyone always felt that something would happen.

    Xiao Lou suddenly thought of a question. He looked at everyone and spoke softly, ¡°Luo Yan is a famous singer in this world. The people who are going to her concert should be the natives of this Card World. Surely there won¡¯t be any foreigners going?¡±

    Old Mo answered, ¡°Not necessarily. There are many foreigners who decided to stay in this world and live here. If they are interested in music then going to a concert isn¡¯t a burden for them. The ticket price of Luo Yan¡¯s concert is nothingpared to the concerts of top singers in our world.¡±

    Shao Qingge agreed. ¡°Yes, I remember the current ticket price for VIP seats in celebrity tickets is more than 2,000 yuan. This is equivalent to 200,000 gold coins. Yet for Luo Yan¡¯s concert, the official price of VIP tickets is 50,00 gold. The very expensive scalper ticket is 200,000 gold. This is almost a quarter of what tickets will cost in reality.¡±

    In other words, in this world, they could buy VIP tickets for 500 yuan and ordinary tickets might be 200. Theparatively low price might attract arge number of challengers to the concert.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help sighing when he heard this. ¡°This is really cheap. 500 yuan is just a meal with friends in reality. I didn¡¯t know about this concert. If I had known, I would¡¯ve bought a ticket to see it.¡±

    Liu Qiao said, ¡°If one wasn¡¯t in a hurry to break through then such low ticket prices would indeed be very attractive.¡±

    There must be many challengers with the idea of ¡®joining the fun¡¯, especially young people who love music. The low ticket price, the gimmick of the 20th anniversary concert and the special guests meant that idle challengers might indeed buy a ticket to go see it.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°By the way, what is the day of the concert again?¡±

    Shao Qingge answered, ¡°Tuesday.¡±

    This was strange. Usually concerts were held on weekends which made it convenient for students and office workers to watch. Yet a Tuesday? Xiao Lou thought carefully and realized a key point. ¡°On weekends, all challengers are forced to enter the World Weekly secret room.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly. ¡°If the concert is held on a weekend, the challengers will have to do the weekly task and won¡¯t be able to go to the concert. But if it¡¯s a Tuesday then challengers are idle. Is this arrangement a coincidence? Or is it to deliberately attract challengers to go to the live concert?¡±

    At present, everything was just guesses without any proof. It was just that everyone felt a bit uneasy. After returning to the carriage after breakfast, Xiao Lou casually made small-talk to a few young passengers. He found that in the entire carriage, one-third of the young people were going to the concert. Luo Yan¡¯s influence in this world was definitely at a level that could be called a queen.

    At noon, the train stopped at a midpoint station. There were many people who got off the train. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou went to the conductor to buy tickets and they happened to get eight sleeper carriage tickets. They could take their luggage to the sleeper carriage to rest.

    Yu Hanjiang urged his teammates in a low voice, ¡°Watch all the passengers around you. If you find anything wrong then tell me and Xiao Lou immediately. It¡¯s best if nothing goes wrong during this journey. Otherwise, we might have to help solve a case again.¡±

    The recement tickets were scattered around different carriages. The team members found their own beds to sleep in and followed Yu Hanjiang¡¯s instructions to observe the surrounding passengers.

    During the journey, no idents happened. The 72 hour journey was a bit too calm. Apart from the appearance of Shu Xiaomeng¡¯s group of friends that made them nervous for a while, no other acquaintances or suspicious people were found on the train.

    Three dayster, the train finally arrived in the City of the Sun.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang deliberately followed Shu Xiaomeng¡¯s group off the train. They reached the exit and no one came to pick them up. The six girls directly grabbed two taxis to take them to their hotel. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang stopped tracking them after seeing the taxis disappear from sight. They also got two taxis and headed to the New Century Hotel booked by Mr Tang.

    The hotel was located by the sea and was a five star sea view hotel.

    Unlike the mountain and forest scenery of the City of the Moon, the City of the Sun was a seaside city with coconut trees everywhere along the road. People wore swimsuits and walked barefoot on the beach. Some peopley on the beach and enjoyed the sun. Children crouched down to pick up seashells and young people were surfing in the sea. The lives of the people here were really leisurely.

    Ye Qi had been fond of the sea since he was a child. He sat in the taxi and eximed upon seeing the blue sea and clean and delicate beaches outside the window, ¡°There is sunshine, the beach and the sea! The scenery of this city feels more beautiful than the City of the Moon!¡±

    Shao Qingge joked, ¡°Would you like to move our house here? I still have a lot of money and can buy a sea view vi here.¡±

    Ye Qi hurriedly waved his hand. ¡°There is no need for such trouble. It is important to go back as soon as possible. I think everything in this world is very unreal, just like a dream. The people¡¯s lives are too good to believe in.¡±

    There was no trash on the beautiful beach. It was unlike some tourist attractions in reality where the beach was dirtied by tourists. The water here was clear like it had been purified and everyone had smiles on their faces like they didn¡¯t need to worry about anything. If there really was a Heaven then this ce was probably the so-called ¡®Heaven¡¯ right? Yet somehow, Ye Qi felt cold looking at the smiles on the faces of people ying on the beach.

    The cars soon arrived at the hotel. Tang Ci had booked four double standard rooms for them in advance. Liu Qiao and Qu Wanyue lived in one and the rest were Ye Qi and Chief Shao, Old Mo and Long Sen, and Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang living together.

    Afterpleting the formalities, they took the elevator to the 17th floor, entered and put their luggage down in their room.

    The room wasrge and clean. The French windows on one wall gave a sweeping view of the sea. In the bathroom there was also a bathtub that could amodate two adults. This was a five star hotel and it was luxuriously decorated. The price shouldn¡¯t be too cheap.

    Just as Xiao Lou was about to send a message to Tang Ci to thank him, he received a message from him first, ¡°Go to the seventh floor restaurant. Let¡¯s eat first and I¡¯ll meet you there.¡±

    Xiao Lou took everyone to the restaurant on the seventh floor. They followed the waiter to the VIP room and instantly saw Tang Ci sitting in a wheelchair. This man looked young. He wore a short-sleeved shirt and his clothes were clean and spotless. A thin nket covered his legs. He had a beautiful appearance and exquisite features but hisplexion was a bit sickly. However, he didn¡¯t show the slightest ¡®weakness¡¯ of a patient. He was full of aura just sitting there and people didn¡¯t dare to underestimate him.

    He saw Xiao Lou and politely nodded. ¡°You came.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and introduced him to the team members. ¡°This is the director of the Intelligence Bureau, Tang Ci. Mr Tang, these are my teammates. You should already know them well and I shouldn¡¯t need to introduce them to you one by one?¡±

    Tang Ci nodded. ¡°Yes. Everyone, please sit down.¡±

    Apart from Shao Qingge who had seen Tang Ci before, it was the first time for Ye Qi, Liu Qiao and the others to meet the legendary director of the Intelligence Bureau. They were very curious but meeting his cold eyes, they felt it wasn¡¯t good to be too presumptuous. They had to sit quietly around the round table.

    Yu Hanjiang asked bluntly, ¡°Where is my brother?¡±

    Tang Ci answered, ¡°He was in a bit of trouble and couldn¡¯t get away. Don¡¯t worry, Huaying went to pick him up.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°What about Teacher?¡±

    ¡°Old Gui has a dinner tonight and can¡¯te for the time being. I came to receive everyone as well as discuss the next n. You must be hungry after sitting on the train for so long. Let¡¯s talk while eating.¡± Tang Ci pressed the service bell and spoke in a low voice. ¡°Room 3 is ready to be served.¡±

    The hearty meal was quickly served. Garlic prawns, spicy crabs, steamed lobsters, m tofu soup, abalone as well as a variety of shellfish, pipis and prawns, spicy fried ms¡­ this big table of seafood made the hungry group drool.

    Tang Ci exined, ¡°The City of the Sun is rich in seafood. I don¡¯t know if everyone can eat it?¡±

    Ye Qi hurriedly answered, ¡°I can eat it! We ate beef andmb every day in the City of the Moon. I haven¡¯t eaten seafood for such a long time.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°I will let Mr Tang spend money.¡±

    Tang Ci told them, ¡°Don¡¯t be polite. Eat first and then talk.¡±

    At his words, everyone unceremoniously began eating. Rather than peeling the shrimp and crab, Tang Ci just drank a bowl of soup slowly. He said he had already eaten and wasn¡¯t very hungry now.

    Once the seafood table was cleaned up, Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Mr Tang, do you n to join our team now?¡±

    Tang Ci answered indifferently, ¡°Brother Jiu said that after we meet, we will first do one or two of the weekly secret rooms together to get familiar with each other. Otherwise, if we go directly to the S-grade secret rooms and there is no tacit understanding, we will probably drag each other down.¡±

    Xiao Lou also agreed with this decision. ¡°Indeed, we arepletely unfamiliar with the cards of the four of you. We need to learn more about each others cards to make it convenient to cooperate in the S-grade secret rooms. I just don¡¯t know what type of secret room the World Weekly will be.¡±

    The World Weekly was randomly generated every time and it was impossible to choose between Hearts, Spades, Diamonds and Clubs. However, Shao Qingge¡¯s Bug King card could only be used in Spades and Clubs. In other words, if the World Weekly¡¯s secret room this week wasn¡¯t Spades or Clubs then Tang Ci¡¯s legs still couldn¡¯t be cured.

    Tang Ci read Xiao Lou¡¯s thoughts and calmly said, ¡°My wheelchair can be brought into the World Weekly secret room. I can move around using it. I have already tried it so there is no need to worry if it is a Hearts or Diamonds secret room.¡±

    Xiao Lou sighed with relief and nodded. ¡°The World Weekly starts on Saturday. We will use the remaining few days to get to know each other first. Should I dissolve the contract book? Then once Brother Jiues back, everyone will sign Brother Jiu¡¯s book together?¡±

    ¡°Brother Jiu means for you to be the captain. The four of us will release our contract and sign on your side.¡±

    Xiao Lou was startled. ¡°Brother Jiu really said that?¡±

    Tang Ci nodded. ¡°Yes, this time he wants you and Yu Hanjiang to be the leaders. Besides, it is the same no matter where you sign. We are a team as long as we are on the same contract book.¡±

    There was no need to argue too much about this. Since Lu Jiuchuan believed in them so much, Xiao Lou wouldn¡¯t decline. ¡°Okay. We are going to attend the concert of Goddess Luo Yan tonight. Mr Tang, have you received any news about the hunters?¡±

    Tang Ci shook his head. ¡°They are concealing their actions really well this time. Forget myself, even Brother Jiu can¡¯t find the organization¡¯s specific target. Brother Jiu just found out that some hunters came to the City of the Sun so he sent us an alert. Old Gui is using his contacts to investigate and I¡¯m also using my intelligencework. At present, the most likely event is the concert.¡±

    He turned on theptop he carried and opened a file. It was the floor n of Luo Yan¡¯s concert. The huge stadium could hold nearly 100,000 spectators and all tickets had been sold out. Each seat was marked either blue or red. Xiao Lou asked in a puzzled manner, ¡°What do the different colors mean?¡±

    Tang Ci¡¯s eyes shed sharply as he spoke slowly, ¡°The blue are tickets bought by natives. The red tickets are the challengers.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned when he heard this and pointed to the distribution map. ¡°You mean, the red seats are tickets bought by the challengers? Why is it so concentrated? Based on this distribution, areas A, B, E and F are for natives while C and D are for challengers. Didn¡¯t the tickets for the concert go on sale at the same time?¡±

    Tang Ci exined, ¡°I hacked into the ticketing system of the official website and found that they had set up an internal program. The tickets of this concert might¡¯ve been released at the same time for everyone to buy together but the internal program ssified the seats. You need to register an ID card when buying. Once it is found that the ID card of the ticket buyer is a foreigner, the other areas will automatically be locked and only tickets for areas C and D can be bought.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang looked at each other, a chill going down their spines at the same time. ID card lock to buy tickets? Wasn¡¯t this forcing challengers to sit in areas C and D?

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°For a 100,000 person concert, the challengers are concentrated in a certain area by secretly ssifying the tickets sold. What do they want to do?¡±

    Tang Ci said, ¡°This is what I am also puzzled about.¡±

    In fact, if it wasn¡¯t for Tang Ci being a top hacker who could hack into the ticketing system of the official website to discover this secret, no one would¡¯ve thought that buying tickets for the concert would be based on ID.

    The challengers and natives who bought the tickets must have no idea that there would be problems with the location of the tickets they grabbed. 100,000 tickets were released at the same time and all of them were sold within 5 minutes. Those who could get tickets would just feel lucky. Who would care if the location was in area A or area C?

    Ye Qi whispered, ¡°If the hunters did this, perhaps they nted a bomb in areas C and D?¡±

    Tang Ci shook his head. ¡°In the main city, explosives and guns are all controlled products and can¡¯t be used freely. Many of our cards will also be banned. Besides, such arge concert will have security checks. It is impossible to nt a bomb.¡±

    Ye Qi blushed. ¡°I¡¯m just guessing. Then what is their reason for concentrating the challengers in one area?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. The hunters had an extremely strong hatred for these challengers. There might be tens of thousands of challengers gathered together but there were also arge number of natives. Surely they wouldn¡¯t blow up the concert venue, right? Then what was the conspiracy?

    Yu Hanjiang saw that the time had reached 6:30 p.m. and stood up. ¡°I will go with the concert in person with Xiao Lou to check it.¡±

    Tang Ci looked at him. ¡°Where did you manage to buy tickets?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°I bought two scalper tickets online for a high price. They¡¯re both in area A and are seated tickets.¡±

    Originally, Shao Qingge wanted to buy a few more. However, the concert was about to begin and the online scalper tickets avable were limited. It wasn¡¯t easy to get even two tickets. He sent the redemption code of the e-tickets to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s phone. ¡°You can use this ticket collection code to get the ticket at the door.¡±

    Tang Ci looked at the two of them. ¡°Be careful.¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 364: Concert Accident

    On the way to the concert, they saw fans holding posters of Luo Yan and the two of them couldn¡¯t stay calm.

    Xiao Lou leaned toward Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ear. ¡°The entire distribution map that Tang Ci made is the result of ticket sales on the official website. However, many people won¡¯t necessarily go even if they buy the tickets. There are arge number of scalpers reselling the tickets at a high price.¡±

    For example, the scalper tickets bought by Shao Qingge were for area A.

    In other words, there were natives who bought the tickets and passed them onto challengers. Simrly, there would be challengers in areas C and D who didn¡¯t keep the ticket after buying it and sold it to natives at a high price.

    Areas A, B, E and F might be for natives while C and D were for challengers but there would definitely be some errors due to reselling tickets. If there were challengers who bought scalper tickets to sit in area A then there would naturally be natives who bought expensive tickets from challengers and ended up in areas C and D.

    No matter how powerful the hunters were, it was impossible to monitor the destination of all the resold tickets. What did they want to do?

    Xiao Lou was flustered as he lined up with Yu Hanjiang to collect the tickets. Since their tickets were in area A, they were guided by the staff to enter from the suitable entrance and walked to the VIP seats in the front row.

    By 7 o¡¯clock, the entire stadium was brightly lit. Fans entered the venue one after another and took their seats. Fans in the back rows raised posters and glow sticks. By 7:30 p.m., the stadium was already full of people.

    Xiao Lou unexpectedly discovered that in the third row of area A where they were sitting, six seats were empty. The two people exchanged looks. Then Xiao Lou took out his phone and sent a message to Tang Ci. [Mr Tang, please look at the buyers of seats 311-316 in area A. The concert is about to begin but these seats are empty.]

    Tang Ci had hacked into the official system yesterday afternoon and got the list of all the ticket buyers for the concert. After seeing Xiao Lou¡¯s message, he checked it on hisptop and quickly found the result. [Shu Xiaomeng, Liu Xiaoyan, Zhang Xiaozhu¡­]

    Xiao Lou showed the phone to Yu Hanjiang. The six familiar names on the screen made Yu Hanjiang frown.

    The concert¡¯s warm-up performance began and there were deafening screams around them. Xiao Lou had to get close to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ear and spoke close to it. ¡°Shu Xiaomeng¡¯s group of six didn¡¯te? They specifically came to the City of the Sun this time to realize their dreams. There is no reason for them to not be here.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes were deep as he spoke in Xiao Lou¡¯s ear, ¡°Li Mo.¡±

    Xiao Lou was startled before soon understanding. ¡°They were stopped by Li Mo?¡±

    ¡°Li Mo is powerful in this world and he knows a lot of business giants. Perhaps he received some news in advance so he prevented his wife and her friends from going to the concert.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The absence of Shu Xiaomeng¡¯s group of six further confirmed Xiao Lou¡¯s conjecture that something would happen at this concert. What exactly was it?

    The two of them looked at each other before sitting quietly in their seats, vigntly observing the surroundings.

    After the warm-up, Luo Yan finally came on stage. Under the lights, a middle-aged woman with smoky makeup and wearing a blue sequined fishtail dress walked to the middle of the stage. This woman deserved to be the queen of singing. She had a powerful aura. She covered her chest with one hand and bowed to the audience. Deafening screams filled the venue.

    ¡°Luo Yan! Luo Yan!¡±

    The screams almost overturned the roof of the stadium.

    Luo Yan smiled slightly and picked up the microphone. ¡°Thank you foring to today¡¯s concert. Today is the 20th anniversary of my debut and I¡¯m very happy to be here with you all. For the past 20 years, I was fortunate to have your support andpany¡­¡±

    She spoke a lot of sentimental words and many diehard fans were in tears.

    After the opening speech, Luo Yan started to sing. She sang lyrical songs and Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang heard a few songs in a row. 30 minutes passed as the fans on the scene waved glowsticks to the rhythm of the music, asionally singing along with the goddess. The atmosphere was very harmonious.

    At 9 o¡¯clock, Luo Yan stepped down to rest and a special guest group came up and sang a few songs. At 9:30 p.m., Luo Yan took to the stage again. She changed her style and started to sing more energetic fast songs. At 10 o¡¯clock, Luo Yan once again took a break and the special guest group came back to the stage to sing.

    During the entire process, nothing happened. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were very confused. Had they been thinking too much? However, everything that had happened so far couldn¡¯t be exined by coincidence, right?

    At 10:30 p.m., the concert was about to end. Luo Yan came on stage again along with the special guests. Luo Yan smiled. ¡°Today¡¯s concert will soon be over. For thest song, let everyone sing the chorus. Okay?¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± The response from the stadium converged into sound waves and broke through the clouds. Luo Yan raised her hand in a handsome manner and made an ¡®invitation¡¯ gesture.

    A band came to the stage. The drummer yed a crisp beat, the bassist yed a passionate melody and several young singers sang and danced. This song was a typical rock song. After an exciting concert for two hours, the emotions of the audience were thoroughly mobilized. In addition, the stars on the stage continued to pass it to the audience. ¡°Let¡¯s do it together!¡±

    ¡±Dance with me!¡±

    The apuse and screams were deafening and the entire audience stood up to the music. The singers on stage excitedly stomped their feet to apany the drums. The fans in the audience were doing the same. They waved the glowsticks in their hands while beating to the drums with their feet.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang sat in the midst of the crazy fans and seemed out of ce. The people around them were standing up, singing and dancing excitedly while the two of them were sitting.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart tensed. He had a hunch, this situation was likely to be difficult to end peacefully!

    The voices of a hundred thousand fans singing together at the same time were so loud that Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t hear what Yu Hanjiang was saying at all. The two of them didn¡¯t have the Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings connection and had to shout in each other¡¯s ears if they wanted to talk.

    Xiao Lou simply took out his phone and quickly typed: [This group of people seem to be out of control.]

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face was ugly. [The singers on stage are deliberately guiding it. Do you know about the stampede at the 1999 Millennium Concert?]

    Xiao Lou shook his head. He usually didn¡¯t pay attention to these things and had never heard of the Millennium Concert.

    Yu Hanjiang quickly typed an exnation. [At a concert in 1999, under the guidance of the singer, the people watching the concert kept stepping on the ground with their feet and dancing to the apaniment of the music. People repeated these movements for a long time and a conditional reflex was formed. At the end of the concert, people lost control of their emotions and arge-scale stampede urred. This resulted in a lot of people being trampled to death!]

    Xiao Lou saw Yu Hanjiang¡¯s brief description and felt cold. Then today¡¯s concert was actually¡­

    As if confirming their thoughts, just then, the singing stopped abruptly and Luo Yan on the stage dered loudly, ¡°Today¡¯s concert ends here. Please leave the venue in an orderly manner and I look forward to the next meeting! Goodbye, everyone!¡±

    In the dark, the exit lights were turned on and there were clear arrow indicators on the ground. This was the same as when a movie ended. They just needed to leave the scene ording to the indicator lights. Then suddenly, piercing screams were heard from areas C and D. ¡°Ahhhh¡ª¡±

    Several lights on the roof appeared to be loose. They fell and hit the audience directly, smashing several spectators and sshing others with blood. The excited crowd heard the screams and immediately ran toward the exits in a panic.

    The bodies that had just danced to the rhythm of the music didn¡¯t seem to listen to reasoning at this moment. Countless people joined the running army. Some identally tripped and the people behind them stepped on them.

    ¡°Ahhh¡ª¡±

    ¡°My hand! My hand is broken!¡±

    ¡°Oh my god, someone was trampled to death! Those behind me, don¡¯t squeeze!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t step on me! Help!¡±

    The screams of the crowd were heard one after another. The scene of the concert instantly turned into a hell on earth. Xiao Lou¡¯s expression became terrible as he listened to the screams. This was actually the result¡­

    The audience in areas A and B were affected by the screams from areas C and D and started to leave the venue quickly. The area around them became crowded with people trying to get out as fast as possible. Yu Hanjiang saw fans nearby wanting to squeeze Xiao Lou into the crowd. He immediately reached out and hugged Xiao Lou in his arms. He quickly led Xiao Lou to a corner and ced one hand on the pir in front of him as support while keeping Xiao Lou in his arms.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was almost jumping out of his chest.

    The stadium waspletely chaotic. It was like everyone had lost their wits. The crowd was full of screams and curses. Yu Hanjiang protected him with his body and Xiao Lou could feel the steady and powerful heartbeat from this man¡¯s chest.

    Xiao Lou reached out his arms and hugged Yu Hanjiang firmly. His body couldn¡¯t help shaking. This cruel and bloody scene was even more terrifying than a nightmare.

    He saw with his own eyes that after many people fell over, they were stepped on by the crowd and trampled to death! He could hear the screams of those people, the constant calls for help and even the cries of children¡­

    However, he couldn¡¯t do anything. The madness of 100,000 people wasn¡¯t something he could stop alone. It turned out that this was the n of the hunters: let the foreigners be in chaos and trample each other to death!

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 365: Hunters

    Crowded ces were inherently dangerous, let alone a stadium where the headlights on the roof had just broken. In the dark environment, there were tragic screams everywhere and it was easy for people to lose their minds.

    Everyone was rushing desperately toward the exits. The consequence of crowding was that more people fell to the ground.

    At this moment, even if you knew that someone was under your feet and you were unwilling to step on them, it was impossible to stop because there were more people behind you, pushing you forward. Even if one wanted to avoid stepping on others, the force of the people around would automatically push you forward.

    Some people were squeezed by the crowd like sandwiches. They were caught by the people in front and behind them, moving in the same direction as the crowd with the direction of their bodies no longer under their own control.

    The constant screams from the crowd made Xiao Lou numb. He hugged Yu Hanjiang¡¯s back to support himself so that he wouldn¡¯t be squeezed into the crowd.

    ¡°We have to think of a way. We can¡¯t let things go on like this.¡± Xiao Lou quickly calmed down and spoke in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ear. ¡°Can you stop them? We can¡¯t let them squeeze any longer!¡±

    Areas A and B were rtively good since they were close to the exits. There might be arge number of spectators rushing out but once they went out, the number of people in the venue would quickly decrease. The lights on this side also hadn¡¯t fallen down.

    Areas C and D were undoubtedly the areas hardest hit by this ident. These areas were located in the deepest part of the stadium and were more than 1,000 meters from an exit. There was also a downward staircase in the middle where it was easy to fall when it was crowded. The lights over there also suddenly fell and injured the audience, causing the crowd to lose control even more.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face was gloomy as he looked at areas C and D. The surroundings were too noisy and he couldn¡¯t hear clearly. He had to lean toward Xiao Lou¡¯s ear and say, ¡°The hunters had a premeditated n. They considered the terrain factors and concentrated the challengers in areas C and D which are furthest from the exit. The lights on the roof there must¡¯ve been deliberately damaged. Luo Yan, the celebrity, must be involved.¡±

    Xiao Lou felt a chill go down his spine. ¡°Luo Yan is also a hunter?¡±

    In fact, Luo Yan could¡¯ve stopped the ident early on. She was the main character of this concert and had a microphone in her hands. She just needed to say, ¡°Please don¡¯t get excited. Everyone, please go back to your seats, leave in an orderly manner and don¡¯t crowd the aisles.¡± The audience would mostly calm down and there wouldn¡¯t be such a serious stampede ident.

    Yet where was she? During the time when the audience was screaming out of control, crowding and trampling on each other, the singers on stage had quickly left the scene under the escort of their agents and bodyguards. She went backstage and the big stage was empty.

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t believe that the goddess would just watch as her fans were trampled to death! Although arge number of foreigners gathered in areas C and D were injured, many natives in other areas were also affected by the screams and injured by the crowding. The hunters had no mercy on theirpatriots in order to kill foreigners!

    The anger in Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was beyond words. He clenched his fists forcefully. The noise around him was deafening. Even if he yelled, no one would listen to him. The only way was to get to the big stage and pick up the microphone to be heard and make everyone calm down.

    However, the wireless microphone was taken away. Besides, he had to go through the aisle from here to the big stage. Currently, the aisles were full of people. Many cards were banned in the main city so he couldn¡¯t fly there directly. It would be great if Ye Qi was here. Xiao Lou remembered that Xiao Ye had some instrument cards that could be used in the main city.

    As he was feeling anxious, he heard the sound of an instrument. It was the tinkling of piano keys. The melodious notes slid across the eardrums like running water. In the noisy, screaming stadium, the sound of this music was like clear water extinguishing the mes.

    It was different from the passion and excitement of the rock song of the concert just now. The tune of this piano piece was extremely ethereal and soothing. The soft notes rang in the ears, clear and agile like it was suddenly raining on a fine day. The fine water drops fell one after another.

    It was Kiss the Rain, a very famous piano piece. Xiao Lou had heard this song before. It was especially suitable to listen to carefully when alone. This soothing, light music made people feel like it was a rainy spring day. The restlessness in one¡¯s heart would be gradually eliminated by the soft notes.

    Who was ying the piano? Xiao Lou tiptoed and looked over Yu Hanjiang¡¯s shoulder toward the big stage. Under the spotlight, a familiar teenager sat¡ªYe Qi!

    Currently, Ye Qi was wearing a clean white shirt. His delicate and elegant side face was no less beautiful than a celebrity. The young man¡¯s slender fingers kept hitting the keys. His expression was serious but his face was slightly pale. There was no one else around. He just appeared out of thin air. It also wasn¡¯t known where he got the piano to y.

    Xiao Lou quickly reacted and spoke in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ear, ¡°It is his piano music box.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also remembered this card. In the 9 of Diamonds secret room, Music Labyrinth, Ye Qi got the S-grade card Piano Music Box. It had two skills. The first one was to open the music box and y the song Dream Wedding. This made all targets within 50 meters fall asleep.

    The second skill was to erge the piano music box to the size of a normal piano. If he sat in front of the piano and yed a piece, all targets within 100 meters would be locked in ce and listen to the entire piece. He couldn¡¯t change songs in the middle of ying.

    Ye Qi had joked that if he yed the piano for long enough, he could make people stand still and listen to his concert for dozens of minutes. The range of 100 meters from the stage included area C that was deep in the stadium and area D on the second floor.

    The piano music yed by Ye Qi itself was very good. Combined with the card effect, everyone in the C and D areas who hadn¡¯t had time to run into the aisles were fixed in their positions and couldn¡¯t take a step!

    The stampede would soone to an end if they didn¡¯t move. Although the people who had been trampled to death couldn¡¯t be saved, the masses who hadn¡¯t joined the trampling army could still avoid the tragedy.

    Xiao Lou saw this scene and a hint of surprise shed across his face. ¡°Wait. How did Xiao Ye get here?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also didn¡¯t know how Ye Qi suddenly appeared. His sharp eyes quickly swept across the stage and he keenly spotted a figure. There was a man standing behind the curtain who was over 1.88 meters tall. He couldn¡¯t see the face of the other person from Yu Hanjiang¡¯s position but the familiar profile immediately allowed him to confirm the identity of the other party. ¡°It is Brother Jiu.¡±

    Xiao Lou heard this answer and felt slightly relieved. ¡°Brother Jiu seems to have found something. He probably brought Ye Qi over desperately. Only Ye Qi¡¯s music card could control this type of group riot.¡±

    At this point, Ye Qi¡¯s forehead was covered in sweat. He forcibly maintained hisposure, letting his hands hit the keys ording to the music score in his memories to ensure the piano music wouldn¡¯t be interrupted. He couldn¡¯t imagine what the consequences would be once it was interrupted and the control effect ended.

    The total duration of the piano piece ¡®Kiss the Rain¡¯ that he yed was 4 minutes and 20 seconds. Brother Jiu asked him to control the scene for five minutes so he had chosen this softer piece to y. Once he came to the scene, it was like hell on earth. It was full of screams and curses and he even saw a young man being trampled on by the crowd behind him!

    Ye Qi turned pale with fright. He took out his music box and turned it into a piano. He sat in front of the piano and yed the music. The notes of the piano rang through the stadium and the scene gradually stabilized.

    The crowd beyond 100 meters was still squeezing toward the exit. Yet in this circle of 100 meters around the stage, everyone sat back quietly on their seats. Those rushing out heard the music and their pace slowed down¡­

    By the time Ye Qi yed earnestly for a whole minute, the entire stadium waspletely quiet. Only the piano notes lingered in their ears. The originally passionate concert seemed to suddenly be an enchanting concert.

    Xiao Lou saw the stable scene and gradually exhaled, rxing his clenched fists.

    Just then, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mobile phone received a message from an unfamiliar number: [This is equivalent to openly fighting the hunters. Ye Qi¡¯s music piece will end in 3 minutes. Leave the scene the moment the music stops. There were hunters in the crowd so don¡¯t look back.¡±

    The other party didn¡¯t write the name but Yu Hanjiang knew that this message was sent by Brother Jiu. He showed his phone to Xiao Lou and Xiao Lou nodded to express his understanding.

    Ye Qi sat on the big stage and yed the piano in a frightened manner. This was the most nervous he had been since learning the piano. He hadn¡¯t even been as nervous when taking the piano exam but now his hands were covered with sweat. The audience was watching him and there might be hunters among them. Ye Qi¡¯s heart was full of fear.

    Finally, the piece finished ying and there was warm apuse from the audience. Ye Qi stood up and the light on him went out. Ye Qi hurriedly put the piano away in the darkness and headed backstage. The mood of the audience hadpletely calmed down. The four minute piano music had awakened everyone like cold water. The crowd recovered their senses and there would be no morerge-scale crowding and trampling.

    People started to line up to leave. The people trampled to death in the aisles remained in ce. The corpses were bloody and depressed crying rang out through the stadium. The expressions on the faces of the audience members were very frightened but they orderly left the scene as quickly as possible. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang also mixed in with the crowd and left quickly.

    After arriving outside the stadium, the two people finally sighed with relief, their faces a bit ugly. Xiao Lou found Yu Hanjiang holding his hand tightly. It was so dangerous just now that he hadn¡¯t noticed. Xiao Lou raised his head to look at Yu Hanjiang and asked softly, ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke at almost the same time. ¡°How are you?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Let¡¯s go back to the hotel first.¡±

    The two people walked to the side of the road. A car suddenly stopped, the door opened and Ye Qi poked out his head. ¡°Get in the car quickly!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou hurried into the car. Inside the car, there was a familiar person sitting in the driver¡¯s seat while Tang Ci was in the other front seat. Tang Ci had hisptop open as he tapped quickly with his slender fingers. Countless characters shed across theputer screen.

    The appearance of the man in the driver¡¯s seat was unremarkable. It was the face of a passerby in the crowd. It was the disguise mask that Tang Ci gave Lu Jiuchuan. Yu Hanjiang recognized it with one nce. ¡°Brother?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan stepped on the elerator with a strong foot and he spoke in a deep voice, ¡°Go to the hotel and meet the others first. Xiao Tang will exin the specifics.¡±

    The ck car quickly moved into the traffic.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Tang Ci. ¡°What is going on?¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 366: Hunting Plan

    Earlier that day. It was a coincidence that just as Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou left the hotel, the remaining team members returned to their rooms and as a result, Shao Qingge actually met Li Mo in the elevator.

    Previously in the underground gambling game in the City of the Moon, Shao Qingge and Li Mo had yed Texas Hold¡¯em for several hours. It had happened in the main city so Li Mo also recognized Shao Qingge.

    Shao Qingge took the initiative to greet this person. ¡°Chief Li.¡±

    Li Mo nodded. ¡°Mr Shao, what a coincidence.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled and wondered, ¡°Chief Li, did you alsoe to the City of the Sun and stay in this hotel?¡±

    Li Mo quietly replied, ¡°Yes, I came here for a meeting.¡±

    The two men exchanged a few polite words while Ye Qi had the courage to secretly ce a bug on the sole of Li Mo¡¯s shoes.

    The concert was about to begin. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou found that six seats in the VIP section were empty and asked Tang Ci to check them. As a result, they found that these vacant seats belonged to Shu Xiaomeng and her friends.

    The team members sensed that something was wrong. Then Ye Qi heard a conversation between Li Mo and Shu Xiaomeng through the bug.

    Shu Xiaomeng seemed very angry and her voice was trembling. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you let us go to the concert? I couldn¡¯t watch the concert 10 years ago. This time, in order to achieve our dream, Xiao Yan and Xiao Yu specifically asked for leave from work to make this special trip. It is bad enough that you wouldn¡¯t let us go but isn¡¯t it too much to keep everyone locked up in the hotel?¡±

    Li Mo answered indifferently, ¡°It is for your own good not to go. Luo Yan isn¡¯t as simple as you think.¡±

    Shu Xiaomeng jumped to her feet. ¡°What do you mean? I have liked Luo Yan¡¯s songs for 20 years. You don¡¯t know¡­¡±

    Li Mo interrupted her. ¡°The scene of the concert isn¡¯t safe. You will understand soon. Xiaomeng, have I ever done anything to hurt you since we met?¡± Shu Xiaomeng was stunned by this question. Li Mo sighed and told her softly, ¡°Trust me. Stay in the hotel and have a good rest. The one you admire isn¡¯t as gentle and kind as you think.¡±

    Ye Qi heard this and hurriedly told Tang Ci the information. This also confirmed Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou¡¯s previous spection that an ident was likely to happen at the concert.

    Tang Ci informed Lu Jiuchuan of the news. Lu Jiuchuan had already arrived at the concert. He was pretending to be a security guard and was maintaining order at the scene so he had the opportunity to enter the backstage area.

    At 9:30 p.m., when Luo Yan first stepped down to change her clothes, Lu Jiuchuan hid in her dressing room. He saw a ck totem tattoo on Luo Yan¡¯s back right shoulder. She was a hunter!

    Lu Jiuchuan didn¡¯t know what they were going to do. ording to the clues obtained so far, especially the seat distribution map that Tang Ci got after hacking the official website, there would be arge number of challengers gathered in Area C and D. If something happened then it would probably be a mass incident.

    The use of firearms was prohibited in the main cities. It was impossible for hunters to take submachine guns to Area C and D to shoot arge number of people, nor could they bury explosives. Lu Jiuchuan had been in the Hunters League for more than half a year. He knew these people were unscrupulous in achieving their goals and were very good at manipting people¡¯s hearts. Therefore, they might use the crowd to kill the challengers.

    Tang Ci checked everyone¡¯s cards and found that Ye Qi¡¯s piano music box had thergest range of crowd control so he urgently brought Ye Qi to the scene. Lu Jiuchuan responded and let Ye Qi enter the stadium from the back door. Tang Ci entered the lighting section to control the spotlight and Ye Qi suddenly appeared on the big stage.

    Yu Hanjiang heard theplete process and couldn¡¯t help clenching his fists. ¡°Where is Luo Yan?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan answered coldly, ¡°She ran away after the incident. As for the idol singers she called, they each ran away faster than the other.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s fists clenched tightly. He really wanted to catch this woman and let her try what it felt like to be trampled to death! In order to kill the foreigners, she actually created a mass stampede in a stadium of 100,000 people. She was crazy!

    Tang Ci added, ¡°I just checked the lights in the stadium and the lines were destroyed in advance. This is why the lights on the ceiling fell one by one at the end of the concert, injuring the crowd and causing panic. There were many hunters in Area C and D. They took advantage of the chaos to deliberately push foreigners to the ground, guiding those behind to step on the bodies.¡±

    He closed his eyes. ¡°The official data hasn¡¯te out yet but my preliminary estimate is that the mass stampede has caused more than 100 deaths and 1,000 injuries. A few dayster, it will be the mandatory World Weekly. It is questionable how many of the injured can survive the unknown World Weekly secret room.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    If it wasn¡¯t for Brother Jiu having Ye Qi get on the big stage in time, the ident would be even more serious. After all, there were only a handful of cards in the hands of other challengers that could be used in the main city and have a wide range of field control capabilities.

    Xiao Lou lightly shook his fist. ¡°The hunters want to kill us and won¡¯t let go of even the original inhabitants of the world. Many people in Area A where Group Leader Yu and I were sitting were also trampled and injured. They are too much! Is it just to receive the bounty?¡±

    The driving Lu Jiuchuan suddenly answered, ¡°It isn¡¯t just the bounty.¡±

    Everyone turned their heads to stare at him.

    Lu Jiuchuan might be wearing a mask but the man¡¯s eyes were as sharp as an eagle. ¡°I have been lurking in the Hunters League for more than half a year. Some time ago, I finally came into contact with some high level people. This includes some local wealthy people. Although the bounty isn¡¯t that interesting for them, it¡¯s different for the normal members. The league¡¯s daily expenditure is enough to buy a building in the city center. If it wasn¡¯t for a deep hatred with foreigners, why would they spend so much manpower and financial resources so set up a league that specializes in fighting foreigners?¡±

    It was true that even the money of the rich didn¡¯t fall from the sky. If they had enough money it was understandable to kill a few enemies. However, what about therge-scale rewards offered for killing foreigners? As long as a foreigner was killed, there would be bonuses¡­

    Wasn¡¯t this too extreme? For example, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang had tried their best to observe the bottom line of a human being since entering this world. They never massacred any original, innocent inhabitants of this world. They only killed murderers or in self-defense. They had no grievances with the Hunters League so why were they targeted?

    Lu Jiuchuan said, ¡°I¡¯m still investigating the hatred that the Hunters League has toward us. I have a bold spection that in this organization, there are actually many of our own kind.¡±

    Xiao Lou had long thought about this. It was because the hunters were well aware of the setting of ¡®foreigners have mysterious powers¡¯. The hunters knew that foreigners had cards on their body and some hunters even took the cards after killing foreigners to enhance their strength.

    If it wasn¡¯t for a challenger joining this organization, how could they understand the challengers¡¯ situation like this? They even knew when the World Weekly tasks were and used them to send hunters there to kill foreigners.

    As early as 3 of Spades, there were hunters who received news in advance and harmed people. If it wasn¡¯t for the betrayal of a challenger, how could the natives know so much?

    The more Xiao Lou thought about it, the colder he became. He couldn¡¯t help making a guess. ¡°I remember Old Mo said that many challengers are willing to stay and continue living in this world. Could it be that the people who want to leave like us are on the opposite side of them and will affect their survival here?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan nodded with interest. ¡°Tell me about your analysis.¡±

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°For example, if you want to stay then you must kill other challengers to get the right to reside in the Card world? In this way, it makes sense for them to join the Hunters League. ording to the strange personalities of the four keepers, they might really give out this type of task.¡±

    They had previously experienced the Spades secret rooms and there was the setting of ¡®killing each other¡¯. Perhaps the ultimate boss of the Hunters League was also a challenger? He brainwashed the natives and offered bounties, causing arge number of natives to join the organization to target challengers¡­

    Ye Qi felt numb as he said, ¡°ording to Professor Xiao, it might be possible to assume that the task they received is to kill a challenger to obtain the right to reside here. For example, killing one challenger will give them the right to reside here for one year? If there is really such a terrible setting then won¡¯t they hunt challengers on arge scale to survive in this world? If they kill a lot then perhaps they can live forever?!¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s words made the atmosphere freeze in an instant and it felt like a horror game.

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s expression became gloomy when he heard this spection and he spoke softly, ¡°In any case, we have to go back to the normal human world. This world is crazy. For them, lives have be data and bonuses. I have juste into contact with a few key figures in the Hunters League. I will pay close attention to investigating them in the next few days. It will be beneficial for us to obtain more clues.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang heard this and couldn¡¯t help worrying. ¡°Brother, Saturday is the World Weekly. Don¡¯t you have to go with us?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan nodded. ¡°Yes, I will try to finish the investigation before Saturday. Time is tight so I will first sign the contract book today. Once you enter the World Weekly, you can directly pull me in.¡±

    The car soon arrived at the underground garage of the hotel. Tang Ci gave a message to his teammates in advance so Old Gui and Chu Huaying were waiting for them in the garage.

    Lu Jiuchuan took out the contract book and destroyed it on the spot. At one time, there had been a dozen names in this book. It was the first team formed by Lu Jiuchuan. It was a pity that almost all of them were wiped out in the J of Clubs secret room. Only four people survived. The other names had long since disappeared from the contract book but Lu Jiuchuan remembered them in his heart.

    Lu Jiuchuan looked at the contract book as it burned to ashes in his hand and smiled bitterly. ¡°My teammates are gone but I will go back with their wishes.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang walked over and gently held his brother¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Now you have us.¡±

    Xiao Lou took out his contract book.

    Lu Jiuchuan simply said, ¡°Sign it. I hope that changing contract books will bring us good luck.¡±

    He took the lead in signing ¡®Lu Jiuchuan¡¯ on the next page.

    Tang Ci followed suit and signed it. Gui Yuanshan and Chu Huaying also quickly signed. The four new names had soft light effects in the contract book, representing the official formation of the contract.

    In order to prevent too many people from gathering in the underground garage and attracting the attention of hunters, Xiao Lou didn¡¯t tell his other teammates to go downstairs. The contract signing was carried out in secret in the car.

    Lu Jiuchuan handed the contract book back to Xiao Lou. ¡°I have something to do. I will meet with the other team members and will talk about it in the World Weekly.¡±

    Chu Huaying calmly looked at him. ¡°Are you going to take risks again?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan told her, ¡°This is a rare opportunity. The day after tomorrow, there will be a meal where the high level members of the Hunters League are attending. I have to go.¡±

    Chu Huaying nodded. ¡°Don¡¯te back with another injury and make us treat you.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled. ¡°I know. I¡¯ll be careful.¡±

    Old Gui looked at Tang Ci. ¡°I will be with Huaying. I have to go back and arrange the people in the guild. I¡¯ll leave it up to you to cooperate with them and prepare for the World Weekly.¡±

    Tang Ci answered, ¡°Senior, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll pull you into the secret room on Saturday night.¡±

    Gui Yuanshan was the leader of the biggest challengers association, the Distant Association. Meanwhile, Chu Huaying was the leader of the Luoying Pavilion. They really had many things to manage. Today, they just followed Brother Jiu to dissolve the contract book and sign a new contract so as to join the World Weekly together.

    Everyone said goodbye in the underground garage and Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang, Ye Qi and Tang Ci took the elevator back to the hotel room.

    Xiao Lou leaned against the wall wearily and closed his eyes. The tragic scene of the concert once again appeared in his mind. Those who fell in the aisle, waving their bloody hands, struggling wildly, calling for help, screaming¡­ the pain they experienced before they died was beyond imagination. They were all lives! All of them!

    Xiao Lou really couldn¡¯t understand the brutality of the hunters. No matter the reason, could they still be called ¡®human¡¯ if they ignored the lives of others and killed innocent people indiscriminately? No, they were just a group of cold killing weapons.

    The contract book in his hand seemed unusually heavy. He was the owner of this contract book. In the beginning, he just wanted to form a team with Yu Hanjiang. Now 12 names had been signed on the contract book.

    Hunters were cruel, cold-blooded and would do whatever it took to kill as many challengers as possible. Could they really pass through the S-grade secret rooms this time?

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 367: Preparation

    Tang Ci returned to the hotel and immediately pulled out all the information of Luo Yan on hisptop. He organized the information and sent it to Lu Jiuchuan.

    Lu Jiuchuan replied, ¡°Luo Yan is just a senior member of the Hunters League. She isn¡¯t the core. I can¡¯t find out who the real boss is at present. This person is hiding very deeply. He knows the challengers well and also has great influence in the Card World. He has a lot of money in his hand and is hard to deal with.¡±

    Tang Ci wondered, ¡°Last time, we met ten times the hunters in J of Clubs. This time, you signed Xiao Lou¡¯s contract book. Are you worried that if you continue to sign your contract book, J of Clubs will be a hunting game again?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan did have this consideration.

    The advanced secret rooms were customized ording to the team¡¯s situation and wouldn¡¯t be repeated. Therefore, strategies and previous experiences were useless. The S-grade secret rooms must have brand new backgrounds and settings. It was just that with his contract book, Lu Jiuchan¡¯s team suffered heavy casualties and it felt like bad luck. If he switched to Xiao Lou¡¯s contract book, perhaps theter secret rooms would be changed due to the difference in the owner of the contract.

    Of course, everything was unknown before entering the S-grade secret rooms. If they met ten times the hunters as they didst time then they would have to fight hard.

    Lu Jiuchuan advised, ¡°For the next few days, work hard to organize the team¡¯s cards and prepare some supplies. It won¡¯t be convenient for me to contact you for the next two days. I will likely be making contact with the senior members of the Hunters League. If I contact you rashly then it might expose us instead. In addition, Ye Qi must be protected. He has shown his face today and perhaps someone will try to assassinate him.¡±

    Tang Ci answered, ¡°Understood. I have hacked into the surveince system of the hotel. Once a suspicious person appears, I will notify Ye Qi as soon as possible and deal with it. Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    At the end of the conversation, Tang Ci pulled everyone into a group chat. As a top hacker, he was fully prepared for anti-surveince. He had developed the chat group and there was no need to worry about being monitored.

    Tang Ci typed: [The hotel is temporarily safe. Before Saturday, try not to go out and eat in the hotel restaurant. Old Gui and Chu Huaying still have things to deal with. At midnight on Saturday, we¡¯ll enter the World Weekly. For the next few days, recharge and prepare for a tough battle.]

    Old Mo sent a message: [We¡¯re still not sure what type the secret room will be. If it is Clubs or Spades then it will be another fierce battle.]

    He still remembered the Spades World Weekly, Endless Sea. They were on a ship, suffered a shipwreck and a capsize, starvation, exposure to the sun, sharks and hunters. After a few days, his skin was almost peeling off.

    The death rate of the World Weekly might be controlled at 20% and their team¡¯s strength meant they shouldn¡¯t be eliminated tragically, but he still couldn¡¯t take it lightly. Xiao Lou saw this and replied: [Report all the cards in your hands to Mr Tang for statistics.]

    Tang Ci¡¯s words also had this meaning. [Organizing the cards will make it convenient to arrange emergency tactics.]

    Most of the B and C-grade cards obtained in the early days could no longer be used such as the Master Key, Nine Pces Grid and other cards that had a limit on the number of uses. The restrictions for the A and S-grade cards were rtively small. Every person sent screenshots of the cards they had to the group for Tang Ci to organize into statistics.

    Ye Qi¡¯s cards were mainly musical instruments such as the flute, erhu, guzheng, piano and suona. Most of them were control cards such as single target control and group control. It was veryprehensive. He also had the Bug King card copied by Shao Qingge and the teleportation card.

    Liu Qiao had the light footwork card ¡®Light as a Swallow¡¯. She also had the Twin card that allowed her to pretend to be someone else and other fairytale cards such as Little Red Riding Hood, Poison Queen, Thumbelina, Mermaid Princess and the Ugly Duckling.

    Old Mo had decoration and furniture rted cards in his hands. The Long Qu couple¡¯s Chameleon cards were strong investigation cards and there were sports and dance rted cards for attacking, defending or escaping. Chief Shao¡¯s cards were very expensive but Rich and Willful could copy any card and was the strongest of the S-grade cards. It had unlimited possibilities.

    Yu Hanjiang had guns and weapon cards. Xiao Lou¡¯s style was the strangest with many ancient character cards¡­

    They all knew the cards of their teammates but they were very curious about Tang Ci¡¯s cards. They were full of expectations as Tang Ci showed screenshots of his cards. Data master, mechanical ants, the drone, a mechanical centipede, mechanical spider, mechanical snake, healing robot¡­

    Ye Qi was stunned as he saw therge number of intelligent machines. [So many machines?]

    Tang Ci said: [Some of them are cards I¡¯ve developed myself.]

    Xiao Lou knew that Tang Ci was a research maniac and a top hacker in this world but he still couldn¡¯t help feeling admiration when he saw so many smart, mechanical cards.

    Old Gui¡¯s cards were rted to pen, ink, paper and inkstone. They had all seen his pen that could make things float in the air before.

    Chu Huaying had the melee weapon Blood Spider, which was why she was known as the Queen of Spiders. It was said that her dagger cut through iron like it was mud. Every time she killed a person, a red mark would appear on the weapon. These days, the blood-colored marks on her dagger had be a dense spider web, shocking her teammates.

    Chu Huaying told them: [You don¡¯t need to be afraid. All those I killed were hunters. There were no innocents.]

    Old Gui joked: [Huaying is first on the bounty list of the Hunters League because she has killed too many hunters. You can get a high bounty for killing her.]

    Chu Huaying acted with Lu Jiuchuan in the World Weekly. Lu Jiuchuan pretended to be unable to beat her and was stabbed by her, leaving a spider mark. This way, he could exin the failure. However, it could only work once or twice otherwise the organization would be suspicious.

    This was also the reason why Chu Huaying didn¡¯t appear in public. She was number one on the hunters¡¯ bounty list. There would definitely be a pursuit the moment she appeared. Thus, she immediately disappeared after signing the contract with Xiao Lou.

    As for Brother Jiu¡¯s cards, Tang Ci said: [Brother Jiu went to carry out a special task and has disguised his identity. In order to avoid the suspicion of the Hunters League, his cards are temporarily sealed by me in the underground factory. I will retrieve his card pack before the World Weekly begins.]

    At present, only Lu Jiuchuan wasn¡¯t in the group. Everyone hoped that he woulde back safely.

    There were still three days until the World Weekly. Xiao Lou said: [Have a good rest. We should try to avoid meeting in the next few days. Take good care of yourselves and if there is anything, get in touch through phone.]

    Since it was almost 11 o¡¯clock, everyone took a shower and went to bed. Yu Hanjiang saw that Xiao Lou¡¯s face was a bit pale and patted him on the shoulder. ¡°You are tired. Have a shower and rest early.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and headed to the bathroom for a shower. Once it was quiet, he couldn¡¯t help thinking about what happened at the stadium today.

    He and Yu Hanjiang had been in Area A and the situation wasn¡¯t serious. They weren¡¯t pushed into the crowded aisle by the panicked crowd. In addition, Yu Hanjiang had protected him well so Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t injured.

    However, he had seen it with his own eyes and heard it with his ears so the tragic scene still lingered in his mind. His nose still seemed to be filled with the strong smell of blood. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t imagine the suffering that those who were trampled to death had endured.

    He frowned and let the cold water wash over his body. After taking a cold shower, his mind gradually regained its calmness. His power was limited and he couldn¡¯t save too many people. He just wanted to leave this crazy world urgently.

    There might be some criminals in the real world but most people would abide by the rules of society. He wouldn¡¯t need to worry about surviving every day, let alone participate in the undecided World Weekly missions every weekend. On weekends in reality, young people would gather for dinner, to watch movies or go on a date¡­ now he thought that such a weekend had be a luxury.

    Xiao Lou dried the water from his body, changed into pajamas and headed back to the room. Yu Hanjiang headed to take a shower. Xiao Lou sat at his desk and turned on hisptop to browse the Inte. He wanted to see if there were any news reports about today¡¯s events.

    Soon, he saw the headlines that were written in bright red: Stampede at Luo Yan¡¯s concert. Thousands injured!

    Yu Hanjiang came out from the shower and found Xiao Lou staring at theptop screen with a pale face. He approached and looked at the screen. Xiao Lou had opened a news website which reported on the stampede at the concert in detail.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was low. ¡°It seems like the official statistics havee out.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and spoke softly, ¡°At tonight¡¯s concern, 578 people died, 1086 people were seriously injured and many more have minor injuries. At present, the bodies of the dead are being collectively cremated while the seriously injured are treated at the hospital.¡±

    578 wasn¡¯t a simple number. It was a total of 578 lives.

    Most of the 1,086 severely injured people were challengers. If they couldn¡¯t heal their injuries before Saturday then they would likely be eliminated in this week¡¯s World Weekly. At this time, what was their mood in the hospital?

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment before asking, ¡°Where is Luo Yan? Has she apologized for this incident?¡±

    Xiao Lou gripped the mouse and brought up Luo Yan¡¯s homepage. ¡°Her public rtions team responded quickly. The moment the news came out, she immediately posted an apology letter which was obviously written in advance. Luo Yan apologized on her personal page and announced she would quit the entertainment circle and not sing again. Still, what will this change? The dead won¡¯te back to life just because she apologized. She is just acting.¡±

    Luo Yan¡¯s personal homepage had more than 500,000ments. Except for some brainless fans still defending their goddess, most of thements were condemning and verbally abusing her¡­ still, this wasn¡¯t important anymore. Shepleted her mission as a hunter, killing over 500 people and seriously wounding over 1,000 people. She would be sure to get amendation from the organization.

    Yu Hanjiang sighed lightly when he saw Xiao Lou¡¯s pale face and wondered in a low voice, ¡°If¡­ if our team can¡¯t clear the S-grade secret rooms, do you have any wish you want to fulfill? It is better to say it now so as to not leave any regrets for yourself.¡±

    Xiao Lou raised his head and met the man¡¯s deep and gentle gaze.

    Wish to fulfill?

    His mind suddenly shed to his first encounter with Yu Hanjiang in reality. On that cloudy and rainy day, he was summoned by the police and went to the city bureau to make a transcript. Yu Hanjiang stood in front of the French windows in a police uniform, tall and upright like a pine tree. His handsome side profile was like a statue.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s first impression of Yu Hanjiang was that the man was very handsome but he was too serious and cold. His eyes were sharp like he could see into the depths of the heart. Facing this police officer, Xiao Lou was sweating when he was questioned out of fear he would say something wrong and affect the police¡¯s investigation of the case.

    This was their first meeting. He never would¡¯ve imagined that he and Yu Hanjiang would have so many intersections.

    During this period of getting along, Xiao Lou¡¯s impression of Yu Hanjiang had changed a lot. This man was very principled, decisive and straightforward. His personality wasn¡¯t as cold as his first impression.

    In particr, Yu Hanjiang had always taken care of Xiao Lou. During the Beacon in Troubled Times secret room, they had been husband and wife and shared a bed. Xiao Lou was moved by Yu Hanjiang at that time.

    Every time Yu Hanjiang inadvertently held his hand, his heart would beat like a drum. As long as Yu Hanjiang was by his side, he would inexplicably feel at ease.

    However, he didn¡¯t dare say it. The cruel and cold-blooded hunters exceeded his imagination. There might be many hunters like Luo Yan. It was unknown if they could survive the next period of time. Brother Jiu had such a strong team yet they were almost all wiped out in J of Clubs. How many levels could their current team reach? If they were eliminated, their souls would diepletely.

    In such a harsh living environment, how could he have the leisure to worry over emotional problems. Their lives weren¡¯t necessarily guaranteed. If he confessed now and Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t like him, would it cause trouble instead?

    There was a struggle in Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes. This was the first time he liked someone. If he was in the stable and peaceful real world, he might have the courage to actively pursue Yu Hanjiang. It was just that now the word ¡®like¡¯ had be so heavy he didn¡¯t dare mention it. If the rtionship between him and Yu Hanjiang became stiff then it would definitely have a negative impact in the next secret room.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s mood was particrly contradictory. Under Yu Hanjiang¡¯s gaze, he quietly moved his eyes away and whispered, ¡°Of course, there are many wishes I want to fulfil. As a son, I want to support my parents. I also hope that my students will graduate smoothly¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked in a low voice, ¡°Anything else?¡±

    Xiao Lou was silent. He wanted to say, ¡®And you. I haven¡¯t told you yet, how much I like you.¡¯

    His eyes were slightly hot but he couldn¡¯t say this sentence.

    The next moment, Yu Hanjiang gently held Xiao Lou¡¯s hand. Xiao Lou¡¯s fingers trembled as he tried to withdraw it, but Yu Hanjiang held his hand tighter.

    In order to see theputer screen clearly just now, Yu Hanjiang had moved the chair next to Xiao Lou. Their seats were very close. Yu Hanjiang suddenly pulled his hand and Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help leaning forward. He was unexpectedly pulled into the other man¡¯s arms.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°???¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 368: Confession

    He was tightly pressed against the other person¡¯s strong chest and Xiao Lou heard his heart beating violently. This sudden movement made him startled to the point he even forgot to breathe.. His entire body was stiff and his voice trembled slightly from the tension. ¡°Y-You?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang hugged the person in his arms tightly, a trace of hoarseness revealed in his low tone. ¡°In the stadium previously, I was really worried something would happen to you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s instinctive reaction when the stampede started was to protect Xiao Lou in his arms. There were tragic screams ringing in his ears and the entire scene was chaotic. At that time, Yu Hanjiang had only one thought in his mind¡ªhe couldn¡¯t let Xiao Lou get hurt.

    He would definitely go crazy if Xiao Lou was knocked down and trampled by the crowd. Fortunately, they were both fine. The aftermath made Yu Hanjiang clearly realize just how important Xiao Lou was to him.

    In fact, he had understood his own heart as early as 8 of Hearts when he and Xiao Lou were married. He even went to ask Brother Jiu about his confused feelings. It was just that during this time, they went to one secret room after another and he couldn¡¯t find the right opportunity to talk to Xiao Lou and make things clear. Moreover, he hadn¡¯t been sure how Xiao Lou felt about him previously.

    This was until thest secret room when he was shot in the abdomen and Xiao Lou gave him artificial respiration in order to save him.

    It was normal for a doctor to give patients artificial respiration. Then Yu Hanjiang discovered that when he mentioned this matter, Xiao Lou would be nervous and blush. He also exined that he was in a hurry and did it ording to the first aid knowledge in the textbook. That he forgot about the airbag and did Yu Hanjiang mind?

    At that time, the two of them were connected with Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. Xiao Lou¡¯s expression was anxious when he exined and he kept avoiding Yu Hanjiang¡¯s gaze. His thoughts were tangled and he didn¡¯t dare think about anything. If it was just artificial respiration to rescue a patient then there was no need to exin at all.

    His exnation that wanted to cover it up actually revealed his heart. Yu Hanjiang wanted to solve it on the spot but there was still the case of the 10th level secret room and he was seriously injured in the hospital bed. He resisted the urge to pierce this thinyer between them and wanted to find a suitable opportunity to tell Xiao Lou clearly.

    Now was the right time. The contract had been re-signed. The new team was about to prepare for the World Weekly and the difficult S-grade rooms that followed. You know, Brother Jiu¡¯s team was almost wiped out in the beginning S-grade secret rooms! Perhaps after entering the S-grade secret rooms, he would no longer have the chance to say it.

    Yu Hanjiang sighed lightly and reached out to gently touch Xiao Lou¡¯s wet hair. ¡°Today¡¯s matter has passed. Don¡¯t think too much about it. However, I have something to tell you, if I don¡¯t say it now, I¡¯ll definitely regret it.¡±

    Xiao Lou was startled. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s embrace was so warm that he couldn¡¯t bear to let go for a while. However, was it appropriate for two big men to hold each other like this? Xiao Lou¡¯s ears were slightly hot as he reached out to push the other person away. ¡°Group Leader Yu¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t let go and suddenly changed the subject. ¡°In the emergency room of the 10th level, I was shot in the abdomen and unconscious. You gave me artificial respiration and I have no memory of this matter.¡±

    Xiao Lou was embarrassed. ¡°I exined it. At that time, I was in a hurry and didn¡¯t use the airbag¡­ do you mind?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang gazed into Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes. ¡°Of course I don¡¯t mind. I just have some regrets in my heart. After all, that was the first time you kissed me but I have no impression of it. That¡¯s why I wanted to discuss it with you¡­ can we review it again?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes widened in an instant. Review it again? He had no idea that Yu Hanjiang would say such a thing. Review it? This¡­ did it mean Yu Hanjiang wanted to kiss him?

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart almost stopped beating and his cheeks turned red. He quickly avoided Yu Hanjiang¡¯s gaze but the next second, Yu Hanjiang reached out and lifted his chin in order to stare directly into his eyes.

    The man¡¯s voice was gentle to the extreme as he clearly enunciated each word. ¡°Xiao Lou, I like you. Don¡¯t you feel it at all?¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Seeing that the other person didn¡¯t respond, Yu Hanjiang simply lowered his head and directly kissed Xiao Lou¡¯s lips. Xiao Lou was so shocked that his body was frozen like a statue.

    Yu Hanjiang reached out to hold his head and gently deepened the kiss. Their lips were sealed together/touching and it felt countless times better than he had imagined. Xiao Lou¡¯s lips were very sweet, like the candy he had eaten as a child. Compared with artificial respiration, such a formal kiss was more lingering and memorable.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes gradually deepened. He sped Xiao Lou¡¯s head with his slender fingers and ced his other arm around Xiao Lou¡¯s waist, pulling them even closer.

    Xiao Lou was held and kissed by this man and his mind went nk. He grabbed onto Yu Hanjiang¡¯s shoulders to support himself while the heat on his lips made his ears burn. His lips were firmly kissed by Yu Hanjiang and he uncontrobly let out an ambiguous sound.

    ¡°Oh¡­ um¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s brainpletely lost its ability to think.

    ¡­¡­

    It wasn¡¯t known how much time passed before Yu Hanjiang let him go. Xiao Lou¡¯s face was red from the kiss and his legs were a bit weak.

    This Yu Hanjiang was really used to throwing a straight ball. How could he kiss directly without waiting for the other person¡¯s response? Moreover, their first kisssted so long. Xiao Lou was¡­ too shy to speak.

    After Yu Hanjiang finished the kiss, he seemed to think about Xiao Lou¡¯s opinion and asked in a low voice, ¡°You like me too, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Kissing and then asking? What was this logical order?

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face was red as he nodded under the other side¡¯s deep gaze. He had to admit that he really liked Yu Hanjiang. During the kiss just now, his heart had been about to jump out of his chest. This was his first kiss. None of his youthful dreams were as good as today.

    Yu Hanjiang smiled and held Xiao Lou¡¯s hand. ¡°I knew that my instincts couldn¡¯t be wrong. I held your hand and you didn¡¯t shake it off.¡±

    Xiao Lou was startled. ¡°Did you do it deliberately?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at him calmly. ¡°I have never led others. You are the first person I¡¯ve ever wanted to actively approach. You can say it was deliberate but I just wanted to test if you disliked it or not.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It turned out that they had both been carefully testing each other.

    Thinking back carefully, the two of them first held hands when they went to Tang Ci¡¯s underground factory. The elevator suddenly dropping made Xiao Lou nervous and he looked to Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang immediately held his hand. At that moment, his heart was beating like a drum but Yu Hanjiang behaved very calmly and he didn¡¯t dare to think more.

    Later, they acted as husband and wife in 8 of Hearts. The two of them not only held hands but also slept in the same bed. Xiao Lou thought that Yu Hanjiang was immersed in acting but now he knew that it wasn¡¯t an act.

    The person he liked had been silently liking him for so long? Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was filled with sweetness and he couldn¡¯t help smiling as he stared up at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Hanjiang, you are also the first person who made my heart move.¡±

    The first love and first kiss were all given to him. In this crisis-ridden world, perhaps this was the only warmth in his heart.

    Upon hearing this, Yu Hanjiang immediately reached out and hugged Xiao Lou tightly. Xiao Lou also tacitly hugged the other person. He heard the man¡¯s gentle, deep voice in his ears. ¡°Xiao Lou, it is good to meet you here.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes were hot as he replied softly, ¡°I¡¯m also fortunate to have you.¡±

    If Yu Hanjiang wasn¡¯t by his side then he didn¡¯t know how long he could hold on.

    Yu Hanjiang smiled slightly as he gripped Xiao Lou¡¯s fingers and clearly dered in his ear, ¡°From now on, no matter what we encounter, I will always be by your side. If we can live then we will go back together. If we can¡¯t¡­ I will die with you.¡±

    They would stick together in life or death. Such a promise was more moving than any words of love. Was there anything to be afraid of when this man wanted to live and die with him?

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 369: Bar Gathering

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t go to sleep until midnight. Before going to bed, Yu Hanjiang leaned over and kissed Xiao Lou¡¯s forehead, softly saying, ¡°Have a good rest. Good night.¡±

    The simple good night kiss made Xiao Lou¡¯s heart beat faster and his cheeks flush. He tossed and turned on the bed, not sleepy at all. He couldn¡¯t help recalling the scene where he was kissed by Yu Hanjiang just now.

    Xiao Lou touched his hot lips and closed his eyes in an embarrassed manner. Fortunately, Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings wasn¡¯t activated. Otherwise, how embarrassing would it be if Yu Hanjiang knew he was reminiscing about the kiss? He needed to be careful in the future when they were connected.

    In fact, Yu Hanjiang wasn¡¯t asleep either.

    Brother Jiu had previously despised him for being a ¡®firm single person¡¯, saying he was a hard stone and no one would like him. Now this hard stone was opening up. He had learned to care for and protect another person and have his heart beat faster at this person¡¯s proximity. He was ecstatic because his confession was epted.

    For him, Xiao Lou was the only light in this dark world and the only softness under his hard armor.

    On the bed next door, Xiao Lou was breathing evenly and seemed to have fallen asleep.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mouth was curved up in a small smile as he thought, ¡®Xiao Lou, if we really go back one day then I want to take you home to meet my parents and tell them that this is the person I love the most. I will live the rest of my life peacefully with him.¡¯

    The next morning, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang woke up with noticeable dark circles under their eyes. The two people met each other¡¯s eyes and averted their gazes at the same time out of embarrassment.

    Last night¡¯s dreams were filled with all types of indescribable things. Perhaps it was because both of them were in love for the first time and had experienced their first kiss. After all, they were young men and it was natural to have dreams at night. After taking a cold shower, the two people calmed down and went to eat together as if nothing had happened.

    Shao Qingge and Ye Qi had finished eating lunch in the restaurant on the seventh floor. Shao Qingge saw Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjianging over and spoke to them in a low, teasing voice. ¡°I didn¡¯t see the two of you at breakfast today. What did you dost night that you only woke up now?¡±

    Shao Qingge just asked casually but the two of them had guilty consciences. Xiao Lou thought of what happenedst night and couldn¡¯t help his ears reddening. Yu Hanjiang pretended to be calm as he said, ¡°It¡¯s nothing. We just discussed the next n.¡±

    Shao Qingge saw Xiao Lou¡¯s red ears and smiled. ¡°It seems you discussed it until verytest night. Group Leader Yu has always had a regr routine. This is the first time Group Leader Yu has slept in until noon.¡±

    Ye Qi seriously suggested, ¡°Don¡¯t work too hard. You should go to bed earlier in the future.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    In fact, rather than saying they went to bedte, it was more like they couldn¡¯t fall asleep. This was too embarrassing to say so Xiao Lou just replied in a perfunctory manner, ¡°Go back to the room as soon as you finish eating. Xiao Ye, pay attention to your safety.¡±

    Just then, Xiao Lou saw Tang Ci enter the restaurant in his wheelchair. Shao Qingge and Ye Qi said their goodbyes and went back to their room first. Tang Ci acted like he didn¡¯t know Xiao Lou¡¯s group and went to eat by himself.

    He sent a message in the group chat: [A friend from the Intelligence Bureau gave me a clue. On the challengers forum someone sent a message to some teams, requesting everyone to have a gathering at the seaside bar tonight at 1 a.m. I¡¯m not sure about the reason.]

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou exchanged looks and picked up their phones. Yu Hanjiang used the chat software made by Tang Ci to send a message. [Did the challengers be aware of the crisis because of the stampede at the concert and want to discuss countermeasures to deal with the hunters?]

    Tang Ci: [It¡¯s possible.]

    Old Mo saw the message in his hotel room and said: [Apart from Old Gui¡¯s Distant Association, the Luoying Pavilionposed of females and the mysterious Eternal Kingdom, most challengers still act in teams. I¡¯ve received many challengers in the City of the Moon before and they are often unwilling to join this type of organization.]

    Qu Wanyue added: [If it was me then I wouldn¡¯t want to join. The organization might serve as a backer but there are many rules to abide by and we aren¡¯t familiar with the other people in the organization. Teams like ours have the most freedom.]

    Tang Ci: [ording to the statistics of our Intelligence Bureau, nearly half the total number of challengers haven¡¯t joined arge-scale organization. Those who are operating in a team ount for quite arge number. If these scattered teamse together to deal with the hunters then we can¡¯t predict the consequences.]

    Teams like Xiao Lou¡¯s always put their teammates as the first priority. If they met other challengers in the Spades or Clubs secret room, they tried not to meddle in other people¡¯s affairs and protected their own teammates. This was probably the ideology of most challengers.

    However, this stampede incident was too cruel and might¡¯ve raised the vignce of arge number of challengers.

    If the amount of snow was light then it was possible to ¡®sweep the snow away from the front door¡¯. However once the snow became heavy enough to crush a person¡¯s house, they had to unite or they could only wait to be broken one by one.

    Xiao Lou was worried. [Most cards are disabled in the main city. If the challengers confront the hunters openly then the number of casualties and injuries will definitely exceed imagination.]

    Challengers had cards in their hands and many of them could be used in the main city. For example, yesterday Ye Qi controlled a group of people with the piano music box. If these teams could survive to the present then they must have some powerful cards in their hands.

    The hunters tantly challenged the challengers. More than 500 people had died in the stampede incident and over 1,000 people were seriously injured. If the challengers united to kill the world¡¯s native people out of anger then the consequences would be unimaginable.

    Xiao Lou remembered that Spades showed them some scenes after clearing 3 of Spades, Financial Crisis. Some challengers directly released the zombie virus in the central square, turning everyone into zombies. Some people wantonly ughtered the natives like they were killing monsters in a game. they didn¡¯t regard the natives of this world as human beings at all. Among the challengers, there were some unscrupulous people who survived by any means.

    Now there was a deep hatred between the hunters and challengers. If they openly fought then it would be the ordinary people without any cards who would be the most affected. They were people, not NPCs or a bunch of data in a game. They had their own feelings and consciousness.

    Xiao Lou asked in the group: [Do you want to go and take a look?]

    Yu Hanjiang agreed: [We can put on the invisibility cloak and take a look. We don¡¯t know what they want to do at this gathering.]

    Ye Qi was worried. [Will it be the hunters again? Perhaps they are deliberately luring the challenger teams to kill them again?]

    Tang Ci refuted it: [That shouldn¡¯t be the case this time. The challengers forum needs strict certification. The news of this gathering is only spreading within the forum. Moreover, those attending should be challengers with good strength. Even if hunters appear, they will be outnumbered and killed by the challengers.]

    He paused before adding: [I¡¯m in a wheelchair and it isn¡¯t convenient for me to go. If you want to take a look, I can send you the location of the bar. This might be an internal gathering of challengers but you should still be careful. If the situation isn¡¯t right then withdraw immediately.]

    Yu Hanjiang suggested: [It is too inconvenient to move with a lot of people. I¡¯ll go with Xiao Lou.]

    The team members had no objections to this.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang got ready. At 1 a.m. that night, the two of them arrived at the bar. This bar was veryrge with two floors and the beach could be seen outside the French windows. Usually, many people came to the bar to listen to the music, eat barbecue and drink beer. However, tonight the bar was very quiet. The door had a sign that said ¡®closed¡¯ on it.

    ording to the intelligence bureau, the bar was opened by a challenger.

    The door was locked and Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t get in. They had to put on their invisibility cloaks, fly to the roof and leave the bug on the roof to carefully listen to the movements inside.

    They heard a woman exim in an agitated manner, ¡°The hunters are really too much. A school sister I know was trampled alive in the stampede! What do they regard us as?¡±

    A middle-aged voice said, ¡°I¡¯m the leader of a team. One of my team members died at the concert and another is seriously injured in the hospital. Originally, we thought we could live in peace with the people of this world but they are bing crueler. We can no longer sit back and wait to die!¡±

    ¡°Yes, so many leaders are gathered today. We should discuss a countermeasure!¡±

    ¡°I think we should kill Luo Yan first! If it wasn¡¯t for her holding a concert and deliberately selling tickets at a low price, there wouldn¡¯t have been so many challengers attracted to the scene to be trampled to death. She must be a high level hunter!¡±

    ¡°Do you think Luo Yan is so easy to kill? She ran away after the incident and we can¡¯t even find her shadow now¡­¡±

    The group of people had a heated discussion and the bar was noisy.

    Just then, a low and calm voice was heard. ¡°Don¡¯t be agitated. I didn¡¯t organize this gathering to incite you to fight directly with the Hunters League. It isn¡¯t good for us to do that.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou nced at each other. This voice seemed somewhat familiar?

    The two men took a closer look through the roof window.

    They saw a man wearing a silver mask sitting on the stage for the bar singers. His mouth was shown below the mask and was curved up in a slight smile as he said in a loud voice, ¡°We don¡¯t know who is in the Hunters League or what their strengths are. The most terrible opponent is always the unknown. Therefore, I don¡¯t suggest that you impulsively go to kill Luo Yan or the hunter minions to vent your anger. This can¡¯t fundamentally solve the problem.¡±

    His words made sense. The people at the scene heard his calm voice and their emotions quickly settled.

    A girl said, ¡°White fox, stop keeping us in suspense. You sent a message on the forum for us to gather in this bar. What do you want to say?¡±

    The man nced over the audience and the narrow eyes behind the mask curved in a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I just want to say that the only way to solve the problem is to leave this world.¡±

    The air was drawn out of the bar.

    Then someone couldn¡¯t helpining. ¡°Isn¡¯t this nonsense. If we could leave this Card World, who would fucking want to stay here?!¡±

    The masked man answered calmly, ¡°The hunters have an extremely strong hostility toward us ¡®foreigners¡¯. I don¡¯t know the reason for this hostility. However, if our positions were changed and our home was invaded by strange people with strange abilities who can easily kill our rtives and friends, wouldn¡¯t you be afraid?¡±

    They all looked at each other.

    The man turned to sit on the sofa. ¡°If one day you suddenly wake up and find that your city has experienced a financial crisis for no reason or if you go to the hospital and a parasitic infection breaks out due to strangers, wouldn¡¯t you hate them?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The man continued slowly, ¡°We are outsiders and we don¡¯t belong to this world. Thus, we have to go back to our original world. The fundamental way to solve this problem is for the two worlds to operate independently so they don¡¯t interfere with each other.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang heard his theory and were very shocked.

    This man¡¯s idea was indeed reasonable. If his conjecture was true and all the incidents in the Card World were due to the arrival of challengers then for the people of this world, killing challengers was tantamount to driving away the invaders. They were just protecting their homes.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Hanjiang, do you have an impression of this person?¡±

    It was no longer ¡®Group Leader Yu¡¯¡­

    Yu Hanjiang was very pleased and nodded. ¡°I remember. We met a masked man in Liuxi Vige and he had a card to pull things from the air. He took away our jewel. When we left 4 of Spades, we chose the City of the Moon as our main city while he insisted on choosing the City of the Sun. I didn¡¯t expect to meet him here.¡±

    Xiao Lou admired Yu Hanjiang¡¯s memory. Perhaps Yu Hanjiang took note of everyone they met as a ¡®suspect¡¯. He whispered, ¡°This person¡¯s thoughts are very interesting. Do you want to talk to him?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, wait for them to finish the meeting.¡±

    The bar was full of the prominent leaders of the free challenger teams. Once the man finished exining his theory, he told everyone, ¡°We should try our best to clear the final SS-grade secret room and return to the real world. Then there will be no more need to face the hunters. It doesn¡¯t work if we stay here. After all, we don¡¯t belong to this world.¡±

    Many leaders felt he was talking nonsense for a long time. At 2:30 a.m., all the challengers dispersed spontaneously. Many of them had light footwork skill cards and moved without attracting the attention of the natives having a barbecue on the beach.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang looked at each other, dropped from the roof and entered the bar. The bar was warmly furnished and the walls and roof were covered with green nts. The man with the mask was sitting there and leisurely drinking a cocktail. Yu Hanjiang walked up behind him and spoke in a soft voice, ¡°What a coincidence that we meet again.¡±

    The man looked back at the two of them. ¡°The two of you are?¡±

    Xiao Lou gave a reminder. ¡°We have worked together in Liuxi Vige.¡±

    The man was stunned and his eyes were full of doubt. ¡°Is it? I have no impression of the two of you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Do you have a card that can take things from the air?¡±

    The man smiled and shook his head. ¡°No, the two of you might¡¯ve got the wrong person. Would you like to sit down and have a drink?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou felt a bit strange. They shouldn¡¯t have made a mistake with their ability to recognize people. The man in Liuxi Vige might be wearing a mask but his height, body shape and pattern of his mask were all the same. Most importantly, his voice was also the same as that person.

    Did he pretend on purpose or did he lose his memory?

    The two of them sat down and talked with him. As far as they could tell, this person didn¡¯t seem to be acting. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou doubtfully returned to the hotel.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 370: White Fox

    Tang Ci¡¯s Intelligence Bureau had collected a lot of information about the challengers so the two of them decided to ask Tang Ci. They had just heard the key name ¡®White Fox¡¯ on the roof. This should be a code name.

    Tang Ci hadn¡¯t slept yet because he was waiting for them toe back. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang knocked on the door of Tang Ci¡¯s room. Upon entering Yu Hanjiang asked directly, ¡°Mr Tang, have you heard of White Fox?¡±

    Tang Ci frowned and opened hisptop. ¡°I know of this person. He is a famous expert in the challengers forum. The ID used in the forum is White Fox. He has sent many strategies to pass through the various low-level secret rooms so he has a certain prestige among neers. In addition, he bought a bar on the shore of the City of the Sun to do business in this world.¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°The challengers¡¯ meeting was called by him. He should¡¯ve sent a private message to the leaders of many challenger teams who often appear on the forum. We didn¡¯t receive private messages because we don¡¯t use the forum.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t get a private message either. Someone in the Intelligence Bureau got it and reported it to me.¡± Tang Ci paused before continuing, ¡°Why? Is there something wrong with this person? Did he organize the meeting to call for a fight between the challengers and hunters or does he have other ns?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°He suggested that the challengers go to the S-level secret rooms to leave this world. His theory is very interesting. He thinks that us ¡®outsiders¡¯ are equivalent to invaders. Our existence has disturbed the peaceful life of the native people and brought all types of disasters to them. It is only when we leave that the two worlds can return to peace.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°I think his theory is valid. Thinking about it carefully, it is true that there will be trouble wherever we go such as homicides, disasters, a financial crisis or a doomsday. On the surface, the keepers asked us to go to secret rooms to solve problems but what if it is because we are going to these secret rooms that the keepers have to create problems for us to solve?¡±

    Was there trouble first that required their help to solve? Or were the problems deliberately created for them to clear the secret room? If it was thetter then they had brought disaster to the people of this world. Regardless of whether it was the financial crisis or the invasion of the bugs, the number of dead or injured natives was simply incalcble!

    Yu Hanjiang continued, ¡°The strange thing is that we met him in 4 of Spades, Liuxi Vige but he doesn¡¯t seem to have any impression of us. I don¡¯t think he is pretending but I shouldn¡¯t have recognized the wrong person. Did he lose his memory?¡±

    Tang Ci listened to their words thoughtfully and opened an e-mail. It was the investigation report on White Fox.

    He had long noticed this person called White Fox. After all, this person was active in the forum and tried his best to write clearance strategies for the challengers. Some strategies were even more detailed than the versions from the Intelligence Bureau. If they followed his strategies then it was no problem to clear all the B-grade secret rooms. As long as one cleared the B-grade secret rooms, they could get many good cards and have a higher chance of passing the World Weekly.

    Now he had assembled arge number of leaders of challenger teams to persuade them to try and leave this world¡­

    It felt like this person couldn¡¯t wait to persuade the challengers to leave.

    The investigation showed that White Fox¡¯s real name was ¡®Bai Jiayu¡¯ and he was 30 years old. In reality, he was a teacher of thenguage department at university. Surprisingly, there was no information about his teammates.

    Tang Ci could invade the ID card management system of the Card World to find the challenger IDs and the teammates who were together. This was also the reason why the Intelligence Bureau could lock onto Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou immediately.

    Yet White Fox¡­ opened a bar alone in the City of the Sun and was leading a leisurely life. He wasn¡¯t close to anyone. Even if it was kept secret, the Intelligence Bureau¡¯s eyes were spread all over the world. It was impossible to find no clues.

    Tang Ci closed the information. ¡°This person is very strange. Either he isn¡¯t a challenger or¡­ all his teammates have died and he is the only one left. If that is the case, it would be very difficult for him to clear the World Weekly every week.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou looked at each other. Xiao Lou was confused. ¡°Then how do we exin meeting him in Liuxi Vige?¡±

    Tang Ci wondered, ¡°Based on the time calction, you should¡¯ve met him just over a month ago?¡±

    The flow rate of time in different secret rooms often changed but time in the main city remained stable. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou came to the City of the Moon and were found by the Intelligence Bureau a month ago, which was just after they passed 4 of Spades. Then they must¡¯ve met the masked man in Liuxi Vige more than a month ago.

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Tang Ci told them, ¡°ording to the investigation information, Bai Jinyu has opened a bar in the City of the Sun for half a year.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    How could this be? The premise of entering the main city was that they had to pass through the fourth level. They met the masked man in the fourth level so he should be a neer who had never been to the main city. Meanwhile, Bai Jinyu had stayed in the main city for half a year. If this was the case he had definitely passed the fourth level half a year ago.

    However, the voice, eyes and mask of the two people were so alike. Was it a coincidence?

    Xiao Lou suddenly thought of a possibility. ¡°Does he have a twin brother?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang heard this sentence and remembered something. ¡°I remember in 4 of Diamonds, there was a bnce mechanism. The two scales had to be the same weight to open the door. The solution to the mechanism was for two people to lie sideways together with their center of gravity in the middle, so that the weight of the two scales is equal. Xiao Lou¡¯s reaction was really fast at the time but we didn¡¯t break the record.¡±

    Xiao Lou also remembered it. ¡°We asked A of Diamonds about it at the time. She said that the best result in 4 of Diamonds was five minutes faster than us because the two challengers were twins. They looked exactly the same and weighed exactly 62 kilograms. They just needed to stand directly on the scales to pass the instance.¡±

    The masked man just now was around 1.75 meters tall and he was thin. His weight would probably be around 60 kilograms. Could it be that he was one of the twins who set the record for 4 of Diamonds? Then the one they met in Liuxi Vige was the other twin. This was why they recognized him while Bai Jinyu didn¡¯t recognize them?

    However, why did the twins separate? This man seemed to have many hidden secrets.

    Tang Ci thought about it. ¡°I will have the people of the Intelligence Bureau continue to pay attention to White Fox. If he really has a twin and the two brothers often exchange identities then it might¡¯ve been missed by our intelligencework since they are mistaken as the same person.¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t figure out the reason for this for the time being. They participated in this early morning meeting and it was now Thursday. At midnight on Saturday, the World Weekly secret room was going to open. They didn¡¯t have time to pay attention to other things.

    Tang Ci told the two of them, ¡°Go back and rest first. Old Gui and Huaying have almost finished things on their side. Brother Jiu is undercover in the Hunters League and I¡¯m afraid he will be in danger. I must have him return to the team as fast as possible.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also agreed with this. ¡°Yes, he told me not to contact him for the time being and I don¡¯t dare open the Absolute Realm to find him. I can only wait for it to be midnight on Saturday so we can use the contract to pull him directly into the secret room.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought, ¡®I hope this week¡¯s World Weekly will be Spades or Clubs¡¯.

    It was only in the Spades or Clubs secret room that they could use the Bug King card to heal Tang Ci¡¯s leg injury, letting Tang Ci recover his strongest fighting power as soon as possible. However, if they had bad luck and were randomly assigned the Hearts or Diamonds room then they could only grit their teeth and pass through it together.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 371: Identity Exposed

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou returned to their rooms at 3 o¡¯clock in the morning. They slept separately and rested. It was Thursday and the two of them slept until noon. At lunch, they met Shao Qingge again. Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes narrowed and he joked, ¡°Last night, did the two of you have no rest? What did you do to stay up all night?¡±

    This time, they went to the bar to explore so Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t feel guilty. He answered in a straightforward manner, ¡°Last night, we went to the seaside bar and only came back to our room at 3 o¡¯clock. We also met an acquaintance at the bar.¡±

    It was known that the two of them went to the bar but Shao Qingge hadn¡¯t expected them to return to the hotel sote. He immediately put away his smile and asked in a low voice, ¡°What¡¯s going on? Who did you meet?¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Do you remember the masked man we met in 4 of Spades?¡±

    As early as 3 of Spades, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi had worked together with Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou. Shao Qingge and Ye Qi formed a team afterwards and they promised to meet again in 4 of Spades. In Liuxi Vige, they first met Liu Qiao at the mountain temple and Long Sen and Qu Wanyue outside the vige¡­

    The masked man didn¡¯t partner with them but there was temporary cooperation.

    Ye Qi thought carefully. ¡°I remember him. At that time, we had found most of the gems. He used the technique of fetching objects from the air to take the gems in our hands. We thought he wanted to grab the gems but he said he wanted to cooperate.¡±

    There were quite a few people who passed Liuxi Vige in the end but everyone had a deep impression of this masked man. After all, the other challengers showed their true faces while he mysteriously wore a silver mask to hide his identity. When speaking, his voice was soft but not feminine. It was quite easy to recognize him¡­

    Shao Qingge answered, ¡°I remember that he went to the City of the Sun after passing the fourth level?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°We met him at the barst night but he didn¡¯t know us at all. Moreover, ording to the information from Mr Tang, he has opened that bar in the City of the Sun for half a year and couldn¡¯t have appeared in 4 of Spades a month ago. Our guess is that he has a twin brother and the person we met should be his twin.¡±

    Shao Qingge and Ye Qi exchanged looks. Ye Qi scratched his head. ¡°Are you sure they are twins? What if they are just wearing the same mask?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was very confident in his ability to recognize people. ¡°Different people wearing the same mask won¡¯t look simr. In addition, his mask still reveals his eyes and lips. These features are simr to the masked man we saw in Liuxi Vige.¡±

    Ye Qi heard up to here and couldn¡¯t help wondering, ¡°If the twins came to this world at the same time, they should¡¯ve found each other with the contract after passing through 2 of Clubs and formed a team to do the tasks. Howe one of them came to the main city half a year ago and the other is still in the novice secret room of 4 of Hearts¡­ unless they didn¡¯t die at the same time?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told them, ¡°We feel this matter is strange so after discussing it with Xiao Lou, I have decided to tell everyone that if you meet this person in the future, you should be careful. It isn¡¯t clear if he is an enemy or a friend.¡±

    Ye Qi and Shao Qingge both nodded to show their understanding.

    After the meal, Xiao Lou went to Old Mo again and asked if he had heard anything about ¡®White Fox¡¯ or twins. Old Mo answered, ¡°White Fox is very famous in the challengers forum and I saw him post some tips. He is just very secretive. I have never seen him in person or heard that he has a twin brother.¡±

    Both Tang Ci¡¯s Intelligence Bureau and Old Mo¡¯swork couldn¡¯t confirm the identity of this White Fox. Xiao Lou had to put it aside for the time being.

    There was still no news from Brother Jiu. A day passed and everyone was very worried.

    On midnight of Friday night, all challengers in the main cities would be forced into the World Weekly secret room.

    Previously in order to avoid the World Weekly, they had done as Brother Jiu advised and drew a card before midnight on Friday night to enter a secret room. Now all the A-grade secret rooms were cleared and they should gather together. They would be a 12 person team for the first time and people were both looking forward to it and feeling worried.

    At 11 o¡¯clock on Friday night, Xiao Lou asked in the group chat: [Is everyone ready?]

    Tang Ci typed: [Ready.]

    Gui Yuanzhang and Chu Huaying simply sent short words. [Yes.]

    [Wait for it to be midnight.]

    Lu Jiuchuan wasn¡¯t in the group and Yu Hanjiang was a bit worried. [Where is Brother Jiu?]

    Tang Ci said: [He should be at the dinner and it isn¡¯t convenient for him to contact us. At midnight, we will use the contract to forcefully pull him in.]

    At this time, the Ronghua Building in the City of the Sun, the presidential suite on the top floor. Several people were eating fruits and ying cards, including Luo Yan who had her concert just two days ago.

    She dressed differently from her usual cold, goddess style. Today¡¯s Luo Yan wore a fiery red low-cut dress with curly maroon hair, revealing her beautiful figure. Her dress revealed most of her shoulders, disying the ck totem tattoo on her scap. Everyone here was a hunter. Lu Jiuchuan also had realistic tattoos on his body and none of them shied away from it.

    The table was ying Texas hold¡¯em. Luo Yan got a full house and won the game. She took all the chips on the table and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I won again.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan sat next to her and smiled in a gentlemanly manner. ¡°Miss Luo, you are really lucky today.¡±

    Luo Yan turned to him with a smile. ¡°Mr Chen¡¯s luck also isn¡¯t bad. You might not have won but you didn¡¯t lose much.¡± She meaningfully scanned the gold coins in front of Lu Jiuchuan. ¡°It is like you are deliberately controlling your chips so that you don¡¯t lose or win.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan chuckled. ¡°Miss Luo is overestimating me. How can there be such a thing.¡±

    There was a smile on Luo Yan¡¯s face as she leaned toward Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s ear. ¡°I remember that Mr Chen used to go in and out of the casino in the City of the Moon. Howe your ying skills are so strange after I haven¡¯t seen you for a while?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan said helplessly, ¡°Perhaps my luck with cards is bad today.¡±

    The moment he finished speaking, he felt something cold on his chest. Lu Jiuchuan lowered his head. He didn¡¯t know where Luo Yan grabbed it from, but a gun was currently pointing at his heart.

    The smile on the woman¡¯s face became gentler. ¡°I heard rumors that the challengers have a lot of cards that can disguise their appearance, such as the S-grade special effects card, Mask. This card acts like a transparentyer that can change your appearance arbitrarily after wearing it. Mr Chen, have you heard of it?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s back went cold. He was currently using the Mask card to change his face, posing as a high level member of the Hunters League called Chen Wenbo.

    In order to participate in this meal, he privately investigated Chen Wenbo for a long time to find out his habits. Thest World Weekly secret room happened to be a Spades room with a disaster-like world. Many hunters were dispatched. Lu Jiuchuan followed Mr Chen into the World Weekly and cooperated with Chu Huaying to kill him. Then he pretended to be Chen Wenbo to participate in this dinner.

    After the dinner, he stayed to apany these people to y cards and to hear what they talked about. Where did he reveal himself to Luo Yan?

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s heart was full of shock but he pretended to be calm as he smiled, ¡°I haven¡¯t heard of the card that Miss Luo mentioned. I am ignorant.¡±

    ¡°You haven¡¯t heard of it?¡± Luo Yan stepped back and stared coldly into Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes. ¡°Aren¡¯t you using it right now?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The next second, Lu Jiuchuan grabbed her wrist and twisted it in the opposite direction. Then his body crouched down and he slid quickly under the table! At almost the same time, Luo Yan pulled the trigger. The silenced gun made no sound as a bullet burst out and embedded itself in the wall behind where Lu Jiuchuan had just been.

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s expression changed sharply.

    Luo Yan ordered, ¡°Kill him!¡±

    The people ying cards heard this, simultaneously picked up their guns and shot at Lu Jiuchuan. The densely fired bullets formed a that covered heaven and earth. Lu Jiuchuan couldn¡¯t avoid them all. As he was dodging, his shoulder was hit by a bullet and his white shirt was immediately stained red with blood.

    Lu Jiuchuan rolled on the ground and quickly hid behind a stone pir. The sound of their slowly approaching footsteps was heard in his ears as a sharp pain came from his shoulder. Lu Jiuchuan nced at the window next to him and quickly shed over. His feet smashed into the window ss as he decisively jumped out the window.

    This was the highest floor of the hotel. It was the 68th floor and the fall would definitely kill him!

    However, the moment Lu Jiuchuan jumped out the window, a giant bird made of burning mes spread open its wings and steadily caught him. Lu Jiuchuan sat on its body and the big bird screamed sharply before flying high. It was like fire moving through the night sky, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

    A man slowly came out of an inner room and spoke coldly, ¡°He really is Lu Jiuchuan, the owner of the S-grade summoned beast, Vermilion Bird. The group of people he initially led killed hundreds of our elites.¡±

    Luo Yan¡¯s expression was ugly. ¡°Lu Jiuchuan? Wasn¡¯t he eliminated early on?¡±

    The man went to the broken window and looked at the mes shing like a shooting star in the distance. He picked up a piece of ss, held it to his nose and sniffed at the blood. Then his eyes narrowed as he said, ¡°Lu Jiuchuan unexpectedly survived the S-grade Nightmare Room.¡±

    The other people heard this and looked at each other.

    The man ordered, ¡°Immediately track him. Hispanions also might be alive. This time, we can¡¯t let any of them go.¡±

    Rainbow Turtle: My sleeping schedule has been really out of whacktely for some reason (probably stress). No matter how hard I try, I¡¯ve only been getting 2/3 hours of sleep before waking up and trying to fall back asleep again. Due to that I¡¯ve honestly had no energy to do anything and I¡¯ve been getting constant headaches.

    In order to try and restore my sleep schedule, I¡¯ve decided to stop updating as much for a month and try to rx more. After this chapter, I will update it at one chapter a week for a month.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 372: World Weekly Secret Room

    11:55 p.m. on Friday night.

    Suddenly, there was a strange uneasiness in Tang Ci¡¯s heart. The World Weekly was starting soon. If everything was going well with Lu Jiuchuan then he should send a message that said ¡®in ce¡¯. This was something they had agreed upon in advance. But until now the message still hadn¡¯te.

    Tang Ci had booked himself a room on the top floor. From the window, he could see the Ronghua Building in the distance. If he wasn¡¯t mistaken, the top floor of the Ronghua Building suddenly burst into mes and a fiery streak glided across the night sky like a meteor.

    It was Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s summoned beast, Vermilion Bird!

    In order to avoid being discovered by the hunters during the undercover period, Brother Jiu¡¯s cards were handed over to Tang Ci for temporary custody. However, the sacred beast card recognized its master. The Vermilion Bird card could only be controlled by Lu Jiuchuan and it couldn¡¯t be discarded. He always carried it with him. As a limited edition card, there was only one Vermilion Bird card in the entire Card World. Once the Vermillion Bird appeared, everyone knew that the person who used this card was Lu Jiuchuan.

    Brother Jiu would never reveal his identity unless it was absolutely necessary.

    Tang Ci¡¯s expression changed when he had this thought and he immediately wrote in the group chat: [Xiao Lou, it is likely that something has happened to Brother Jiu. Use the Peach Blossom Spring to forcefully pull him over now!]

    There were four minutes until the World Weekly.

    Xiao Lou saw the message and hurriedly summoned Tao Yuanming in the room. It took 10 seconds to open the Peach Blossom Spring and then he teleported his teammates over. Everyone received the Peach Blossom Spring notification. A momentter, 12 people gathered under the peach blossom trees.

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s white shirt was dyed red with blood. His brow was furrowed and he covered his left arm without saying a word. Yu Hanjiang saw this and his heart shook. He hurried over and supported Lu Jiuchuan. ¡°Brother? What happened?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s voice was low and hoarse. ¡°My identity has been discovered. I don¡¯t know what I did to expose myself but they knew I used the Mask card to disguise my face. It is certain that there were challengers inside the Hunters League or they wouldn¡¯t know about this card.¡±

    He removed the card effect and revealed his original appearance. His facial features were extremely handsome. The outline of his jaw was sharp and his sword-like eyebrows gave him a heroic spirit. It was a pity that this handsome face had an obvious scar with a length of 5 centimeters on the left side of the forehead.

    Tang Ci lost his legs in the Nightmare Room while Lu Jiuchuan almost ruined his face in the Nightmare Room¡­

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t dare think about what they experienced. In this moment, he saw his brother¡¯s appearance that was covered in blood and felt like a knife had stabbed his chest. ¡°Don¡¯t talk. Your injury is more important. Mr Tang, can you treat him¡­¡±

    Tang Ci sighed and summoned a healing robot.

    Shao Qingge and Ye Qi¡¯s Bug King card could only be used in the Spades and Clubs secret room while Liu Qiao¡¯s Witch card¡¯s antidote was for saving someone from a near-death state. Their team didn¡¯t have any other healing card and needed to rely on Tang Ci¡¯s robot.

    Unfortunately, the robot could only treat trauma. It couldn¡¯t do surgery to remove the bullet.

    Tang Ci said, ¡°It is almost midnight. If the bullet can¡¯t be taken out then the wound will be inmed and infected. If the secret room is an ancient one then you will die¡­ this isn¡¯t good. Why don¡¯t we draw the card for the Spades or Clubs secret room, dig out the bullet and then use the Bug King card topletely heal the wound?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan immediately refused. ¡°No, going to an S-grade secret room now is just looking for death. We have 12 people who haven¡¯t cooperated before. My identity has also been exposed. There might be many hunters in the Spades or Clubs secret rooms.¡±

    Xiao Lou saw Brother Jiu enduring the pain with a frown and felt very worried. ¡°Brother Jiu, I might be a forensic doctor but I can do simple surgery. The bullet being left in the arm isn¡¯t fatal for now. I can help you take it out. It is just that there is no equipment like anesthesia or a scalpel¡­¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled at Xiao Lou. ¡°This isn¡¯t difficult.¡± Then he nced at Chu Huaying. ¡°Huaying, let me borrow your dagger.¡±

    Chu Huaying handed the dagger to him without any expression.

    Lu Jiuchuan handed the dagger to Xiao Lou in a light manner. ¡°Huaying¡¯s spider dagger can cut through iron like it is mud. It can be used as a surgical knife. After entering the World Weekly secret room, please help me remove the bullet first.¡±

    Xiao Lou was startled. ¡°This dagger¡¯s cutting surface is too wide. It isn¡¯t as thin as a scalpel. Using it to cut your skin will cause trauma and bleeding. Without any anesthetic, you¡¯ll faint from pain¡­¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan told him, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about this. It¡¯s about time, so get ready.¡±

    Everyone had a clock in the upper right corner of their floating boxes and it was showing 23:59:50 on Friday night. The countdown was 10 seconds.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s fingers were a bit stiff as he held the dagger. He silently prayed in his heart that the World Weekly was a Spades or Clubs secret room. They could directly use the Bug King card and Brother Jiu wouldn¡¯t feel any pain. After removing the bullet, the wound would heal automatically.

    Unfortunately, the keeper didn¡¯t seem to hear Xiao Lou¡¯s prayers.

    The 10 second countdown ended and everyone¡¯s vision turned ck. They opened their eyes again and found themselves in a dark passage. The long and narrow passage seemed to have no end and there was no light around them. A gust of cold wind blew, causing everyone to shudder.

    Yu Hanjiang took out the Night Pearl and found his teammates around him. This obviously wasn¡¯t a Hearts secret room or they would be assigned different identities to solve the case¡­ A dark environment where the team members were together¡ªwhat would it be?

    [Wee to the World Weekly secret room: Headless General¡¯s Tomb]

    [You havee to the tomb of an ancient general. It is said that the ancient people were very good at building their tombs into mazes and setting up all types of dangerous mechanisms to prevent the invasion of tomb robbers.]

    [Unfortunately, you have broken into the tomb and disturbed its master.]

    [Task requirements: Find the treasure hidden in the general¡¯s tomb and exit thebyrinth from the sole exit in the tomb.]

    [This World Weekly is a Diamonds secret room and each team is independent. There is no time limit but the final elimination system is implemented. All participating teams are ranked simultaneously. The shorter the time it takes to leave thebyrinth and the more treasures that are found, the higher the ranking.]

    [At the end of the World Weekly, the bottom 20% of the teams will be eliminated directly.]

    Xiao Lou saw the notifications in front of him and his face slightly paled. This was a Diamonds secret room with independent scoring and elimination at the end!

    The final elimination system was very cruel. No matter how hard one worked, all participating teams would be in the rankings. If they were in the bottom 20% then they were bound to be eliminated. It was unlike the Hearts secret room where the instance could be cleared by solving the case or the Spades secret room where they just had to survive. This time, it didn¡¯t matter if they sessfully found the exit and the treasure. They would still be eliminated if their ranking was too low!

    Of course, Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t worried that his team would be at the bottom. It was just that not knowing the timing and progress of the other teams and not having the rankings updated in real time would inevitably give people a lot of psychological pressure.

    Old Mo¡¯s expression was very ugly. ¡°It is an elimination system and thepetition will be quite fierce. In the face of life or death, many teams will show a strength that is several times more than their usual potential¡­¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan whispered, ¡°Quickly, hurry up and take out the bullet.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked over. Lu Jiuchuan was already sitting cross-legged on the wet and cold ground. He used his teeth to tear off the blood-stained shirt sleeve, revealing a terrible wound.

    Usingmon sense, it was impossible to do surgery in this type of environment. There was no disinfectant or anesthesia. The person experiencing the surgery would have their flesh gouged with a knife and would suffer unimaginable pain.

    However, this was now the Card World. As long as he took out the bullet, the remaining wound could be left to Tang Ci¡¯s intelligent robot to bandage and treat.

    Xiao Lou held the Blood Spider dagger and looked at Yu Hanjiang. The other person patted him lightly on the shoulder and whispered to him, ¡°Since he has asked for it, he can bear it. Let¡¯s do it.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan raised his mouth in a smile. ¡°I have to trouble you.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and came beside Lu Jiuchuan. He used the light of the Night Pearl to see as he moved the Blood Spider and quickly cut at Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s arm. The man¡¯s muscles tensed. The stinging pain of his skin being cut open by a sharp de made him sweat but he gritted his teeth and didn¡¯t make a sound.

    Xiao Lou knew that the slower his movements, the longer Brother Jiu would suffer. He couldn¡¯t drag things out. It was best to act quickly.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face was extremely serious as he stared at Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s wound. His slender hand cut Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s arm along the muscles. In the midst of the blood, Xiao Lou quickly found the bullet and precisely removed it with the dagger. This dagger wasn¡¯t a scalpel and the trauma it caused was too big. Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s arm was dripping with blood and the scene of flesh and blood caused people who saw it to feel numb.

    Shao Qingge thought of Ye Qi in the 10th level who also had many bullets stuck in this body. In fact, they could¡¯ve used this violent method to take out the bullets and let the bugs heal the wound. However, he was reluctant to let Ye Qi be cut apart. In addition, one of the ces where Xiao Ye was shot was his chest and that area was more dangerous than his arms.

    Now looking at Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s sweaty and pale face, Shao Qingge felt a lingering fear. He leaned toward Ye Qi¡¯s ear and whispered, ¡°Remember, you aren¡¯t invincible even if you turn into the bug king. The bug king can still be injured. There might be healing powers for 24 hours but if not handled properly, the bullets left in the body after 24 hours can be very life-threatening.¡±

    It was only now that Ye Qi realized how dangerous the 10th level secret room had been. He nodded earnestly. ¡°I know. Thank you.¡± His teammates had worked like crazy to solve the case overnight and didn¡¯t sleep even for a minute. It turned out they wanted to leave the 10th level quickly because they were afraid something would go wrong¡­

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes were slightly hot and he trembled. ¡°Unfortunately, this is a Diamonds secret room and our Bug King card can¡¯t be used. Otherwise, Brother Jiu¡¯s injury could be healed immediately.¡±

    Tang Ci used his healing robot to stitch together Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s wound. It was just that the healing robot¡¯s power wasn¡¯t as strong as the bug king¡¯s. Lu Jiuchuan had to endure the severe pain. Fortunately, the wound started to heal quickly after being bandaged and the man¡¯s paleplexion gradually improved.

    Long Sen, Qu Wanyue, Liu Qiao and Old Mo stood to the side in a shocked manner. Lu Jiuchuan was really a strong person! Xiao Lou cut his arm open with a knife and forget about shouting in pain. He actually didn¡¯t make a single sound from beginning to end! It was worthy of being a tough soldier.

    Everyone had been uneasy about four new people joining the team since they didn¡¯t know each other. Now they saw Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s reaction to the injury and felt shame and admiration in their hearts. Were they hugging the thigh of a great god?

    Xiao Lou¡¯s hand was sweaty as he returned the dagger to Chu Huaying. Chu Huaying put away the dagger with the scarlet spider web pattern on the handle. She looked into Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes and said lightly, ¡°This dagger is used for killing. It is a waste to use it to dig out a bullet for you.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuanughed before ncing at Xiao Lou. ¡°Thank you, you are really bold and careful.¡±

    Xiao Lou had tried his best to avoid doing too much damage to Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s arm. His hands were swift to make Lu Jiuchuan suffer less. Lu Jiuchuan appreciated this calmness and decisiveness at a critical moment. He thought that this was the person his younger brother liked and couldn¡¯t help patting Xiao Lou on the shoulder as he chuckled. ¡°You helped me once. Let my younger brother repay you well.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°???¡±

    Yu Hanjiang reacted and said with a sullen voice, ¡°You still have the leisure to joke around!¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan put away the jokes and waved his hand. ¡°Let¡¯s go and explore what is buried in this general¡¯s tomb.¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 373: Generalâ€™s Tomb

    The corridor of the ancient tomb was wet and cold. Only their footsteps sounded in the eerie silence. This type of environment felt weird and it was even worse when no one spoke.

    It was pitch ck in front of them so everyone quickly took out their Night Pearls. They used the light from the Night Pearls to find that there was a paved dirt ground and the surrounding walls were also made of dirt. There weren¡¯t any bricks.

    Was this the entrance to the tomb?

    Sure enough, they walked for a while and found a stone door in front of them. There were strange totems painted on the door and twonterns next to the stone door which were always lit. The light might be dim but the oil in it seemed as though it would burn forever. Once everyone approached, the wick started to sway gently and cast strange ghostly images on the surrounding walls, like two ghost fires floating in the darkness.

    Ye Qi wasn¡¯t afraid of these illusions and curiously asked, ¡°This ce is a centuries old underground tomb, right? Can themp oil burn for so long?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan wanted to go forward to take a look but Yu Hanjiang was worried. His brother had just been hurt and might not be able to avoid any traps. Thus, he reached out to stop his brother and went forward himself to check the two lights.

    Yu Hanjiang observed carefully before saying, ¡°Themp oil added in here should be made of a special substance. It isn¡¯t the same as other oilmps we¡¯ve seen.¡± He nced at Xiao Lou as he spoke, as if waiting for Xiao Lou¡¯s exnation.

    Xiao Lou walked up to him and also observed it for a few seconds. ¡°This is the ¡®Eternal me Lamp¡¯. It can burn for hundreds of years without being extinguished. Putting it in a tomb has another precept apart from lighting the tomb. For those who believe in Buddha, if they want to see liberation after death then they will use their body as ampstand and their heart as amp burner. An additional precept is to add oil and they will be as wise as themp.¡±

    The team members listened carefully. Several times before, Professor Xiao had led everyone to pass the Diamonds secret room. His knowledge was extensive so they didn¡¯t feel surprised to hear him exin the meaning of themp. On the contrary, they felt like it was normal for Professor Xiao to know this. After all, Xiao Lou was a top student who had ¡®submitted the answers while others were still reading the questions¡¯.

    However, this was the first time that Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s group of four were cooperating with Xiao Lou¡¯s team.

    Lu Jiuchuan heard him exin the meaning of the Eternal me Lamp and made an expression that said ¡®the person my brother likes is really smart¡¯. Chu Huaying was expressionless but she listened very carefully. Tang Ci looked indifferent while Teacher Gui smiled and didn¡¯t interrupt. He just listened to the exnation.

    ¡°This is the first time I¡¯ve seen an Eternal me Lamp. Themp oil added to this should be the beeswax in the legends?¡± Xiao Lou stated.

    ¡°Beeswax?¡± Lu Jiuchuan raised an eyebrow. ¡°The secretion of bees?¡±

    ¡°Yes, to be precise, it is the fatty substance secreted by worker bees and it is also the material for constructing honebs. The ancient people were very wise. They melted honebs with hot water and refined it into beeswax. Lamp oil made of beeswax burns very slowly. If ced in the tomb, it can burn for a long time as long as there is a constant supply of oxygen. This is the origin of the Eternal me Lamp.¡±

    ¡°Professor Xiao is right,¡± Teacher Gui suddenly spoke in a low voice. ¡°Archaeologists found an Eternal me Lamp in the Dingling Tomb of the Wanli Emperor and confirmed that the material for making themp was beeswax. As for the so-called ¡®man-fishmp oil¡¯ from the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, there is currently no final conclusion in the scientificmunity.¡± Gui Yuanzhang looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to be so interested in history and archaeology at your young age.¡±

    (TL: A record of the construction of the mausoleum has this line ¡®Candles were made from the fat of ¡°man-fish¡±, which is calcted to burn and not extinguish for a long time.¡¯ It is uncertain what the ¡®man-fish¡¯ is referring to, whether it is a mermaid like the modern form of the word or other aquatic animals)

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Xiao Lou suddenly met a real expert and his ears became hot. ¡°Senior, I usually love to read some misceneous books. Compared to you, the knowledge that I¡¯ve learnt is just superficial.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang was a famous calligrapher and professor in the history department with profound knowledge. Xiao Lou¡¯s father was a fan of Teacher Gui and had collected one of Teacher Gui¡¯s works at home. Xiao Lou was embarrassed to give a lesson in front of his elder.

    Teacher Gui spoke gently, ¡°Don¡¯t be humble. The Diamonds secret room that we¡¯ve encountered this time might not necessarily be an ancient tomb that exists in history. It is most likely that the keeper referred to some historical books and set it up casually. We shouldn¡¯t dwell on dynasties and the history of the tomb. We should first look for the exit.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan was a man of action. He stepped forward when he heard this and tapped lightly on the stone door. There was a muffled sound in their ears. It could be seen that the stone gate was very thick and couldn¡¯t be destroyed or pushed open with human strength. It must be opened by a mechanism.

    Lu Jiuchuan wondered, ¡°The mechanism to open the door are those twomps?¡±

    Xiao Lou scanned the surroundings and didn¡¯t find any other traces of mechanisms so he suggested, ¡°See if the twomps can turn?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang heard this and tried to turn the Eternal me Lamp in front of him in a circle. Lu Jiuchuan, who was standing on the right, also walked over and learned from his brother¡¯s actions, spinning the othermp in a circle.

    The stone door didn¡¯t react.

    Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan exchanged looks. They tried to turn it in the opposite direction¡­ there was still no response from the stone door.

    Xiao Lou stepped back and stared at the totems on the stone door carefully. The totem patterns were very messy. As he was feeling puzzled, Gui Yuanzhang abruptly said, ¡°Half of the totems on the stone door are yin carvings and the other half are yang carvings. Oncebined together, they form a pattern simr to the taiji. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiji_(philosophy))

    After all, he was an expert in calligraphy and knew a lot more about yin and yang characters than most people. If Xiao Lou remembered correctly, Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s seal on the calligraphy collected by his father was a yin carving.

    The yin engraving would be recessed while the yang engraving would protrude. This was obvious when touching it with the hand. However, if a person was just looking with their eyes then it would be easy to confuse the two.

    There was a hint from his senior and Xiao Lou soon discovered the meaning of the pattern.

    In the Taiji map, there were many animal patterns which were interfering factors. This made the entire picture look like a scene of ancient people offering sacrifices. Once he excluded the interfering factors, he could see the figures of a man and a woman. In the pattern on the left, the woman¡¯s left hand was facing up and it was clockwise. In the pattern on the left, the man¡¯s two hands were facing up but it was counterclockwise.

    Xiao Lou quickly analyzed the solution. ¡°For themp on the left, turn it clockwise while the one on the right is turned counterclockwise twice. The speed on the right is twice that of the left but try to ensure that bothmps are in the right position at the same time.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan heard this and took action. Themp that was turned in one circle needed to be slow while the one that was turned twice needed to be fast so that the twomps were synchronized.

    Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t certain if it was necessary for them to be synchronized. He just noticed that the dance movements of the man and woman in the pattern were synchronized. If the Eternal me Lamp was too fast or slow then the mechanism might not work.

    It turned out that there was nothing wrong with his caution.

    By the time Yu Hanjiang had turned themp on the left one round, Lu Jiuchuan had just finished turning themp on the right two rounds. They clearly heard a ¡®click¡¯ sound from the two mechanisms and immediately afterward, the surrounding ground started to shake. Everyone heard a loud sound as the stone door in front of them slowly rose up, revealing a dark corridor.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at his brother. ¡°Go in?¡±

    The door just now was the entrance of the maze. If it wasn¡¯t for Teacher Gui and Xiao Lou analyzing the opening method of the mechanism together, they might have been stuck at this stone door for a long time.

    Shao Qingge smiled. In the past, Professor Xiao used to solve thebyrinth questions while Old Mo led the way. Now there was Gui Yuanzhang who understood history. This week¡¯s World Weekly happened to be an ancient tomb and the clearance should go smoothly. In any case, Shao Qingge had alwaysin down to win in the Diamonds secret room and he couldn¡¯t help too much. He simply followed Xiao Lou silently.

    As a result, he had just taken a few steps when Ye Qi eximed, ¡°Look behind us!¡±

    The group looked back and realized that the heavy stone door had released itself the moment they entered the maze. The loud ¡®boom¡¯ sound it made as it hit the ground was like a hammer hitting everyone¡¯s hearts.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly. ¡°Our road back is sealed the moment we enter thebyrinth. This is really amon trick from A of Diamonds.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan simply said, ¡±Regardless, we can¡¯t go back. We have to keep moving forward.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at his feet using the light of the Night Pearl. Contrary to the earthen floor from before, after entering the ancient tomb, the ground was covered with bluestone bricks. The stone bricks looked old but were very clean. The cold environment of the underground made everyone feel a bit of a chill as they stepped on the stone bricks. Xiao Lou politely asked Gui Yuanzhang, ¡°Senior, do you know about these types of bricks?¡±

    The reason he asked this was because there were strange patterns on the bricks on the ground and the walls. What if a mechanism was hidden on the bricks? If they identally stepped on it, would poisonous arrows shoot from the walls?

    Gui Yuanzhang crouched down after hearing this and Xiao Lou held the Night Pearl to lend him the light.

    The old man knocked on the brick on the ground with his hand. He listened to the sound and carefully touched the patterns on the ground before saying, ¡°The bricks are simply carved with some cloud and dragon patterns. Moreover, it has clear edges and corners. Judging from the craftsmanship, it is likely to be the tomb bricks from the Eastern Han Dynasty. This type of brick ismon in Han Dynasty tombs and the patterns are decorative. There is no reference for significance. It is unlikely for the bricks to be hiding a mechanism.¡±

    Xiao Lou let go of his worry and stared at the dark passage ahead. ¡°Everyone, pass through here as quickly as possible.¡±

    There were no mechanisms on the ground so everyone sped up immediately. They walked for half a minute before the dark passage came to an end. There was a forked path ahead.

    Everyone raised their Night Pearls for a closer look. The corridors on the left and right were the same and were so deep that the end couldn¡¯t be seen. In this dark environment where gusts of wind blew, there was always a strange anxiety in their hearts. They were afraid that ghosts and other things would rush out of the darkness at any moment.

    This might be a Diamonds secret room but who knew if the keeper would deliberately set up some ¡®idents¡¯ to scare them? After all, the four keepers had always been less than reliable.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath. Should they head to the left or the right? If thisbyrinth was reallyrge and they went the wrong way, they would waste a lot of timeing back.

    Lu Jiuchuan suggested, ¡°We have 12 people. Why don¡¯t we split into two teams?¡±

    Xiao Lou was also in favor of this. First, going in teams meant they could explore both paths at the same time, saving half the time. Secondly, 12 people were very crowded in this narrow passage. In case there was something like poisonous arrows, they might collide with each other because they couldn¡¯t move freely. It was easier to move in smaller teams. As for how to split it up¡­

    Lu Jiuchuan looked at Xiao Lou with gentle eyes. ¡°Xiao Lou, you can decide. You know more about everyone and the four of us will listen to your arrangement.¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t bother refusing and quickly said, ¡°I, Hanjiang, Brother Jiu, Mr Tang, Old Mo and Liu Qiao will be on one team. Senior Gui, Senior Huaying, Chief Shao, Xiao Ye and the Long Qu couple will be on the other team. Chief Shao has the Li Qingzhao card and you can leave a mark to teleport back. In addition, take out the Four-way Arrow card. Mark every fork in the road with arrows so as to avoid getting lost.¡±

    Xiao Lou actually considered a lot when making such an arrangement.

    He and Shao Qingge each had one of the Li Qingzhao cards, so the two of them were naturally in different teams. Chief Shao¡¯s Bug King card couldn¡¯t be used in the Diamonds secret room and hisbat ability was average. Thus, Chu Huaying who had very highbat effectiveness was assigned to him. She and Lu Jiuchuan had killed many hunters. Her presence meant there was no need to worry.

    Old Gui had a great understanding of history and archaeology so their team could smoothly solve any mechanism puzzles that they encountered. The Long Qu couple were responsible for investigation when necessary and Ye Qi was responsible for control. This configuration was veryprehensive.

    On Xiao Lou¡¯s team, there was no need to talk about Yu Hanjiang¡¯sbat power while Brother Jiu was injured. Liu Qiao¡¯s Witch card could save lives while Mr Tang couldn¡¯t walk, so it was more convenient to take care of them in this team.

    He added Old Mo to draw the map of the maze as soon as possible. If their team went in the right direction, he could use Li Qingzhao¡¯s mark to call over the other six people directly. If they headed in the wrong direction then they could use Old Mo¡¯s guidance to return quickly and find the other team.

    The team leader had to take care of every aspect. He was now the captain of the contract book and had to be responsible for every member. There was no objection to his arrangement. On closer consideration, they found that Xiao Lou¡¯s arrangement was the most reasonable n at present.

    Once the teams were divided, Xiao Lou took out the reward card from the previous level, the Voice Headset. He gave one to each person and exined, ¡°Put this in your ear, press it with your finger and talk. All teammates within range can hear you. The effective range of this headset is 10 kilometers and the tomb shouldn¡¯t be bigger than that. We will stay in touch at all times.¡±

    Everyone quickly put on the headset and tried speaking in it. Their headsets were all functional.

    Splitting into teams was the best way to save time in abyrinth. In any case, Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s group of four not only cleared all of the A grade secret rooms, but even survived the (S grade) Nightmare Room. They were very calm about Xiao Lou¡¯s decision.

    Xiao Lou looked at Teacher Gui. ¡°Senior, I will have to trouble you to lead your team.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang replied, ¡°Yes, you should also be careful.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan simply waved his hand. ¡°Split up and act. If you encounter any problems then contact us with the voice headset.¡±

    Thank you to Chuna for the fanart!

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 374: Labyrinth Danger

    The Voice Headset was a very useful teammunication device.

    In normal times, everyone could speak without interfering with each other. It was only when a finger was pressed to the headset that their voice would be transmitted to the whole team. The two teams had split up and there was no need to frequentlymunicate with each other unless there was an emergency.

    After splitting up, Xiao Lou¡¯s group of six took the path on the left.

    Tang Ci was in a wheelchair and had limited mobility. Liu Qiao wanted to help him push the wheelchair but before her hand could touch it, Tang Ci calmly refused. ¡°It¡¯s fine. My wheelchair is electric and I can move by myself.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan chuckled when he heard this and nced at Liu Qiao. ¡°Little girl, don¡¯t worry, this wheelchair was made by him and there are control buttons on the armrests. It can move in a straight line and turn. It is almost as good as an intelligent robot. Of course, there is no way if we encounter stairs or steps. The wheelchair can¡¯t go down them, so you can help at that time.¡±

    Liu Qiao retracted her hand and nodded. ¡°I have a light footwork card here. If Mr Tang needs it then you can use it to move up the stairs.¡±

    Tang Ci looked at her, expression still indifferent but his eyes slightly softened. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about your sister¡¯s matter. The Intelligence Bureau can no longer find news of her and you should be clear about what that means. Don¡¯t think too much. First clear the World Weekly and the S-grade secret rooms.¡±

    Liu Qiao lowered her head and remained silent, hands clenched into fists by her side.

    Lu Jiuchuan wondered, ¡°Sister?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at him. Lu Jiuchuan immediately understood and didn¡¯t ask again.

    Just then, a set of stairs going down appeared ahead of them. It was impossible to see the end using the Night Pearl and it wasn¡¯t known where the stairs led. The deep ck hole was like a beast with its mouth open, wanting to swallow everyone.

    Old Mo wondered, ¡°Stairs going downward? Is this a 3Dbyrinth¡­¡±

    A tbyrinth was much simpler than a 3D one. In a 3D maze, they not only had to pay attention to the change in direction but also the intersection of space. It wasn¡¯t known how many floors thisbyrinth had. There was only this path in front of them. Everyone exchanged looks before Yu Hanjiang dered decisively, ¡°Go and see.¡±

    At the same time, Teacher Gui¡¯s voice was heard from their headsets. ¡°There are stairs on our side leading deeper underground.¡±

    Xiao Lou replied, ¡°It is the same for us. Senior, be careful.¡±

    They exchanged information and the 12 people headed slowly down their respective staircases.

    The stairs were very narrow and eachyer only fit half the size of an adult foot. It wasn¡¯t known where the water on the bricks came from but it was very slippery to step on. Of course, it was inconvenient for Tang Ci¡¯s wheelchair to move on such stairs. Liu Qiao wanted to hand over the Light as a Swallow card to Tang Ci but he refused again. ¡°You have good intentions but you can keep it for your own self-defense. I have a way.¡±

    They saw him summon two mechanical ants around 20 centimeters long. They were too bigpared to normal ants but their appearance was very lifelike. The ants¡¯ two antennas had two cameras that sent back the surrounding scenery they saw to Tang Ci. It was very convenient when exploring the way.

    Under Tang Ci¡¯smand, the two mechanical ants quickly climbed down the stairs. Then an iron cable flew from the armrest of Tang Ci¡¯s wheelchair. The front end of the barbed wire was firmly stuck into the stone bricks of the wall. The wheelchair seemed to have found a track and followed the wire, sliding down the stairs faster than Liu Qiao¡¯s light footwork card could have.

    Liu Qiao stared after him in a daze. Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang and Old Mo also exchanged looks.

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes darkened and his voice was a bit hoarse. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen his wheelchair have so many functions. Xiao Tang, he¡­ must¡¯ve made a lot of preparations to go to the S-grade secret room with us.¡±

    Naturally, he had endured more pain than anyone could imagine. Thisplex wheelchair couldn¡¯t have been developed sessfully in a day or two. Nobody knew how many times he fell and got cuts and bruises in the course of the experiments.

    Tang Ci spent half a year in the factory where he studied machinery. To avoid his identity being exposed, he rarelymunicated with the outside world. After losing his legs, he didn¡¯t give up on himself and rarely showed sadness. He relied on the technology of intelligent robots from reality to study hard and made such a smart wheelchair with his own hands.

    The strength of this man really made Xiao Lou feel admiration and distress. Even if Tang Ci had lost his legs and was in a wheelchair, he had never been weak. He didn¡¯t need the protection of his teammates. He could protect himself.

    Lu Jiuchuan took a deep breath, suppressing the stinging paining from his heart as he quickly followed.

    Yu Hanjiang, Xiao Lou and the others also walked down the stairs quickly. Liu Qiao and Old Mo were at the end. She handed the cloth attached to her skyntern card to Old Mo and whispered, ¡°Uncle Mo, you can draw the picture of the map directly on this with your fingers.¡±

    She wanted to help even a little bit.

    Mo Xuemin was reminded of his daughter who was only a few years younger than Liu Qiao. He patted the girl on the shoulder with a smile and said, ¡°Okay, give me this in the future. It makes it more convenient for me to draw pictures at any time.¡±

    Tang Ci¡¯s wheelchair touched t ground. His mechanical ants had explored the path in front of him and gave him feedback. There were no touching or stepping mechanisms found and after 10 metres, a rtively wide tform appeared. This was why Tang Ci dared to directly hook the wire to the wall to let his wheelchair slide down.

    Currently, Tang Ci and his mechanical ants were on the tform. There was a door on each side of the tform. There were also Eternal me Lamps on either side of the doors, but they weren¡¯t lit. The beeswax hadn¡¯t burned out so it wasn¡¯t known why the lights went out.

    Xiao Lou used the light of the Night Pearl and soon saw the pattern on the door. It was simr to the stone door that was the entrance of the ancient tomb. The scene portrayed was that of ancient priests as well as a man and woman dancing. Xiao Lou used the depiction of their movements to analyze the opening method of the mechanism.

    ¡°Turn themp on the left clockwise twice and the one on the right counterclockwise once.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan quickly acted to open the first stone door.

    This was a closed stone room that was around 4 square meters in size. The entire room was empty but apass was hung on the wall. Tang Ci had his mechanical ants enter to explore. After confirming that there were no mechanisms for traps, Xiao Lou walked in and examined thepass carefully.

    There were many charm-like things on thepass. If he ignored the messy patterns, he could clearly see the signs for east, south, west and north. Xiao Lou opened his mouth. ¡°It is the ancient version of apass.¡±

    Old Mo was excited. ¡°Great, there is apass so we can urately pinpoint our underground location. This will make it more convenient for me to draw a map of the maze and it will be hard to get lost.¡±

    Xiao Lou took down thepass. The strange thing was that when he moved thepass left and right in his hand, the pointer didn¡¯t move.

    Yu Hanjiang was puzzled. ¡°Is it broken?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it for a moment. ¡°Open the opposite stone door.¡±

    Everyone returned to the tform and Xiao Lou continued to analyze the opening method of the mechanism based on the pattern on the door, opening it like the other. The stone room contained a wooden box that was unlocked.

    They opened it and found some damaged clothes and a bronze mirror. Xiao Lou picked up the bronze mirror and as a result, his reflection in the mirror was strangely distorted. It looked like a ghost, shocking him.

    In a dark secret room, he suddenly saw his face that was distorted and deformed. This really caused a chill to go down his spine. Yu Hanjiang immediately grabbed his shoulder lightly while his other hand took the mirror. He looked at himself in the mirror. His appearance was also distorted and deformed.

    Lu Jiuchuan came over and asked, ¡°Is this a magic mirror for revealing demons?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned at his brother. ¡°What do you mean by that? Are you implying that Xiao Lou and I are monsters?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuanughed. ¡°I¡¯m just adjusting the atmosphere or else it will feel really strange.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Previously, he thought that Brother Jiu was handsome and gentlemanly. Then aftering into contact with him, he found that this brother had apletely different personality from Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang never joked around. He looked serious and indifferent but he was actually very good at taking care of others. Meanwhile, Lu Jiuchuan liked to joke and tease. No matter what troubles he encountered, he had a very rxed appearance even when his arm was cut by a knife.

    The only thing they had inmon was probably the blood in their bones. Neither of them were afraid of death and were obsessed with their identified goals.

    Xiao Lou took the bronze mirror from Yu Hanjiang, looked at his strange looking self in the mirror and said seriously, ¡°This should be¡­ the yin yang mirror.¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 375: Yin Yang Mirror

    Xiao Lou¡¯s words made the other five people feel puzzled and they all leaned over to look at this mirror.

    It was the first time Yu Hanjiang had heard the term ¡®yin yang mirror¡¯. He carefully examined the bronze mirror in Xiao Lou¡¯s hand and soon discovered the reason for his distorted appearance in the mirror. It was because the bronze mirror had flipped his features.

    This effect was a bit like the fun mirrors in an amusement park. In principle, it would use the refraction of light and the unevenness of the mirror surface to cause the image in the mirror to be distorted and deformed to a certain extent.

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°ording to legend, there are two sides to the yin yang mirror. The yin side is for death and the yang side is for life. There is also a saying that the yin yang mirror is able to show ghosts from the underworld¡­ However, the mirror we found doesn¡¯t seem to have the ability to see ghosts from the underworld like it does in xianxia novels. It just reverses the projected image.¡±

    ¡°Show me.¡± Tang Ci extended his hand and Xiao Lou gave him the bronze mirror. Tang Ci didn¡¯t look at his face in the mirror. Instead, he was checking closely to see if there were any hidden mechanisms in the mirror. Soon, Tang Ci discovered that there was an inteyer in the middle of this bronze mirror but it couldn¡¯t be opened, like it was fixed in ce. He frowned before ncing at Xiao Lou. ¡°Where is thepass?¡±

    Xiao Lou handed him thepass they had just found in the other room.

    Tang Ci held the yin yang mirror with one hand, flipped it to the back and gently ced thepass on the bronze mirror. To everyone¡¯s surprise, the originally frozen pointer on thepass started to spin quickly the moment it touched the yin yang mirror. The pointer spun several times before finally stabilizing. Based on the position of thepass, the downward stairs should be in the east.

    Old Mo wondered, ¡°Is this yin yang mirror used to activate thepass?¡±

    Tang Ci returned the mirror andpass to Xiao Lou. ¡°The manufacturing principle of ancientpasses is based on attraction to the earth¡¯s maic field, which is the same as modernpasses. This yin yang mirror has a mirror on one side while the other side looks like ancient bronze. In fact, the material isn¡¯t pure copper. I found that this bronze mirror contains mas. It is because there are some mas in the materials of my wheelchair that reacted when I approached the mirror.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan thoughtfully touched his chin. ¡°In other words, the mas in the bronze mirror can be used to activate thepass and restore its function. The things found in these two secret rooms are tools to help us get out of thebyrinth?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about the mechanisms of these two rooms. Just like the stone door they used to enter thebyrinth, both doors were opened by judging the direction of the man and woman dancing in the sacrificial image and turning the Eternal me Lamps ording to this.

    They had gone through so many Diamonds secret rooms previously and the mechanisms were always different. Now the opening method of the entrance was exactly the same as the method for these two small rooms. It was impossible for the keeper to be sozy and set up three of the same mechanisms in a row. The only exnation was that they hadn¡¯t really entered thebyrinth yet.

    The section of road they had just walked was only the entrance to thebyrinth, the ¡®warm-up¡¯ area leading to the undergroundbyrinth. Thepass and yin yang mirror also had no direct rtion with the owner of the tomb. They were just the tools that the keeper gave them.

    Xiao Lou thought up to here and said, ¡°Brother Jiu is right. What we have just walked through should just be the entrance to thebyrinth and these are tools given to the yers by the boss when ying escape rooms. Thepass and yin yang mirror that we picked up should be of great use in the next part.¡±

    Xiao Lou handed thepass to Old Mo while he held the mirror himself.

    Lu Jiuchuan was already starting to have a headache and he couldn¡¯t help rubbing his temples. ¡°Fuck, we¡¯ve walked for so long and opened three doors, but it is just a fucking prelude?¡±

    Tang Ci nced at him, seemingly used to his rough swearing. Tang Ci said calmly, ¡°ording to the statistics from the Intelligence Bureau, the World Weekly Diamonds-type secret rooms are different from ordinary ones. Ordinary Diamonds secret rooms can be escaped in a few hours but the World Weekly ones are notoriously time-consuming. Some teams couldn¡¯t find the exit in a few days and starved to death inside thebyrinth.¡±

    Old Mo heard this and his face paled while he clenched his fists. Under the light of the Night Pearl, Old Mo¡¯s face paled rapidly. Liu Qiao was the closest one to him and found that he didn¡¯t look right. She hurriedly asked with concern, ¡°Uncle Mo, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Old Mo¡¯s voice was hoarse. ¡°My previous team was wiped out in the World Weekly Diamonds secret room and I was the only one left¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang also remembered this. The first time they teamed up with Old Mo, he had mentioned his previous team. His team was an unremarkable one among the challenger teams. None of them had gotten high scores for clearing the secret rooms. They had no S-grade cards and their strength was average. So in the Diamonds World Weekly, a team of 10 was wiped out and Old Mo was the only one left.

    In order to survive, Old Mo started an ¡®intermediary¡¯ business in the main city. He introduced hotels and rented houses to new challengers. He also joined a designpany as a decorations designer for local residents. After meeting Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang, he regained the confidence to clear the secret rooms and entered Xiao Lou¡¯s team.

    Xiao Lou walked up to Old Mo. ¡°Old Mo, if I remember correctly, you said that it was a rotatingbyrinth?¡±

    Mo Xuemin nodded calmly. ¡°I have a deep impression of that World Weekly. Every time the maze would rotate 90 degrees, the challengers would be dizzy and find it hard to locate the exit. Some people stepped on mechanisms and were shot to death by arrows. Others encountered hunters and were killed¡­¡±

    Hunters! There had never been hunters in the fixed Diamonds secret room but the World Weekly secret room that Old Mo experienced did have hunters appear. This was the key reason for the heavy casualties of their team that week.

    Tang Ci said calmly, ¡°Old Mo¡¯s Rotating Labyrinth is a Diamonds World Weekly secret room from over a month ago. The challenger¡¯s death rate was calcted by the Intelligence Bureau at over 30%. The background of the World Weekly was abyrinthpetition. Many challengers were forced to enter so there were hunters mixed in and doing assassinations in thebyrinth.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan frowned. ¡°As far as I know, it isn¡¯t as easy for a hunter to enter the Diamonds secret room as it is to enter Spades. Diamonds is a closedbyrinth unlike Spades¡¯ open world. This time, the World Weekly is an undergroundbyrinth. If they want to enter, they need to open the mechanisms themselves.¡±

    Tang Ci told him, ¡°We have done the statistics. The probability of hunters appearing in the Diamonds World Weekly is around 2%. This means that out of 100 teams, only two teams will be unlucky enough to encounter hunters. Will we be one of the unlucky teams?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan gave a helpless, bitter smile. ¡°My identity has been exposed. If they insist on chasing me¡­ perhaps they will track my location and follow me to this undergroundbyrinth.¡±

    They searched for so long and only got the yin yang mirror and thepass. At present, it wasn¡¯t clear how big this underground tomb was or how many dangerous mechanisms were inside¡­

    The more frightening thing was that there might be hunters who woulde out from behind and stab them at a critical moment. It seemed that this World Weekly was unprecedentedly dangerous.

    In the absence of hunter interference, Xiao Lou could crack all the puzzles, Teacher Gui knew history and archaeology, Tang Ci was familiar with all types of machinery and Old Mo was abyrinth guide with a strong sense of direction. Their team would definitely be one of the best among the challengers. This time, all the teams were ranked together and it was impossible for them to fall into thest 20% and be eliminated.

    However, that wasn¡¯t necessarily the case once there were hunters. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help feeling nervous. He pressed on the voice headset and asked, ¡°Senior Gui, how is your side?¡±

    Teacher Gui¡¯s voice soon rang in everyone¡¯s ears. ¡°I found two small rooms. The solution to the mechanism is the same as the stone door at the beginning. Inside the secret room is apass and a mirror.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°What color is the back of the mirror?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang answered, ¡°There were white totem patterns painted on the bronze.¡±

    Xiao Lou flipped over the bronze mirror in his hand. The bronze was painted with ck patterns. This was the yin yang mirror. The yang side was white and the yin side was ck. White was for life and ck was for death.

    This time, the yin yang mirror of thebyrinth should be divided into two. Xiao Lou got the ck yin mirror and Teacher Gui got the white yang mirror. In other words, the side that Teacher Gui went to was probably life while Xiao Lou and the others were heading to death.

    Mo Xuemin heard up to here and quickly reacted. ¡°Based on the tools that Teacher Gui got, from the moment we went down, thisbyrinth is likely to have a symmetrical structure. The mechanisms we will encounter here will be very simr to theirs. However, it isn¡¯t known which way leads to the exit of thebyrinth or if thebyrinth will rotate after opening a certain mechanism.¡±

    Xiao Lou was currently holding the yin bronze mirror that symbolized the ¡®death door¡¯ but it was as Old Mo said. Perhaps thebyrinth would rotate after they touched a certain mechanism. Or perhaps their life and death paths would actually cross inside thebyrinth.

    The door to life wasn¡¯t necessarily the exit of thebyrinth.

    Xiao Lou thought for a moment before telling Gui Yuanzhang, ¡°Senior, we will continue to act in teams. It is currently impossible to judge if the path of life or death is correct. In addition, we must be careful. We can¡¯t rule out the possibility of encountering hunters in this World Weekly.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang softly replied, ¡°Okay.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Is thepass activated? What is the direction in which you are going down the stairs?¡±

    ¡°It has been activated. This side is to the west.¡±

    All their card skills had refreshed at midnight. To be on the safe side, Xiao Lou decided to ce the Peach Blossom Spring here. If they encountered unsolvable troubles, they could at least return to the Peach Blossom Spring for temporary refuge. The Peach Blossom Springsted for three hours and the entire team would be safe for the next three hours.

    Xiao Lou called out Tao Yuanming. It took 10 seconds to cast it and the entrance of the Peach Blossom Spring was set on the tform between the two small secret rooms.

    Lu Jiuchuan looked at the ancient man in front of him and asked curiously, ¡°What type of card is this? Is it a skill to pull me under peach blossom springs?¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°Yes, it is a summoning card that calls Tao Yuanming.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan gave Xiao Lou a strange look. ¡°You can summon ancient people?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang answered casually, ¡°Xiao Lou can summon many ancient people such as Su Shi, Liu Yong, Li Qingzhao, Qin Guan, Tao Yuanming, Lu Yu and even Di Renjie to help look for clues. However, the previous secret rooms were rtively smooth and Di Renjie never came out.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He was silent for a moment before giving Xiao Lou a thumbs up. ¡°Great.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°What about Brother Jiu¡¯s cards? I haven¡¯t seen them yet.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuanughed. ¡°I can summon the vermillion bird. It might be an ancient beast god but it can¡¯t be active in this type ofbyrinth. It needs a wide space to y. There are also some¡­ cheetahs, lions and other beasts.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang raised an eyebrow. ¡°So all your cards are summoning beasts?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan helplessly touched his forehead. ¡°Yes, if necessary, I can ride on a lion to run away.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Tang Ci calmly brought the topic back on track. ¡°We should move on now that we¡¯ve got thepass.¡±

    Everyone adjusted their attitude and followed Old Mo to continue down the stairs. Thepass was handed over to Old Mo since his sense of direction was the best, so he took the lead. Yu Hanjiang was next to protect him, followed by Xiao Lou, Lu Jiuchuan, Tang Ci and Liu Qiao.

    The stairs extended all the way down and there were no changes for the next period of time. In front of them were endlessly rotating stairs and everyone felt a bit uneasy. The dark passage and the endless downward spiral made it feel like they were being guided to the depths of hell.

    They walked for five minutes before Ye Qi finally couldn¡¯t help it. He pressed a finger to his voice headset andined to all his teammates, ¡°Why are these stairs so endless? We keep going down and it is all the same. Surely we haven¡¯t really run into a ghost wall?¡±

    I am back and regr releases will begin again starting from the start of next week! In addition, I will be starting my new novel, The Virtual Character I Personally Raised Wants to Marry Me, soon. Please look forward to it!

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 376: Ghost Wall

    The so-called ghost wall meant to walk around in a circle repeatedly. It was amon thing that often appeared in ghost movies. For example, in school horror movies, the protagonist would frantically climb the stairs at night but no matter how long he climbed, he was always stuck on a certain floor and could never get out.

    Xiao Lou heard Ye Qi¡¯s words and immediately stopped. He questioned Old Mo, ¡°Has thepass changed?¡±

    Mo Xuemin replied, ¡°We are walking down a spiral staircase so the needle of thepass has been circling around.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought for a moment before wondering, ¡°Is it circr movement?¡±

    Everyone looked at him and Xiao Lou exined, ¡°Have you ever heard of an experiment? If you blindfold people and have them walk in a straight line on a wide yground, you will find that they are actually walking in a big circle.¡±

    He was activating the voice headset to talk so these words also reached the ears of the six people in the other team.

    Ye Qi was stunned. ¡°Is this a ghost wall? Does it exist in reality?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Biological studies have found that the instinctive movement of any creature is a circr motion. The root cause lies in the subtle differences in the body structure. For example, the length of a person¡¯s two legs aren¡¯t the same. One leg is slightly longer and one is slightly shorter, just like a mathpass with a very small difference in its legs. If you walk for a long time then you will be walking in a circle.¡±

    Xiao Lou paused before adding, ¡°Our eyes use reference objects and our brain constantly positions and corrects us so we can walk in a straight line. However, once we are blindfolded and rely on intuition to walk, anyone will walk in a circle. It is the same for birds and other animals. If the eyes of a bird are covered and you let them fly in the sky, they will also fly in a circle.¡±

    Ye Qi suddenly realized. ¡°In other words, right now we are just constantly making a circle on the stairs. The staircase seems to be never ending but in fact, we are hallucinating and actually keep moving in circles?¡±

    ¡°Yes, this should be an illusion of thebyrinth. Otherwise, we have been walking for so long that we should be dozens of meters further underground. The ancient people couldn¡¯t have dug a tomb so deeply.¡±

    Old Mo agreed. ¡°There must be something affecting our vision and making us see an illusion. Our eyes are seeing stairs that go down but in fact, there are no stairs here.¡±

    From an architectural point of view, the foundation of modern high-rise buildings wouldn¡¯t be dug so deeply. The ancient people didn¡¯t have such a high level of technology that they would dig 100 meters underground to build a tomb.

    Old Mo raised thepass. Currently, the needle of thepass was pointing to the north. He remembered that when thepass was activated in the secret room just now, he checked the direction and it was the east.

    Mo Xuemin took thepass and turned 90 degrees on the spot. The needle on thepass shook for a moment and Mo Xuemin locked onto the ¡®east¡¯ position. He found a wall in front of him. The wall was no different from the surroundings. It was covered with blue-gray bricks that had strange cloud decorations on them.

    Mo Xuemin walked toward the wall. He reached out his hand and pushed the wall in front of him. The next moment, everyone¡¯s eyes widened. They saw that Old Mo¡¯s arm actually went through the wall! A trace of surprise shed in Mo Xuemin¡¯s eyes. He continued to walk forward and his entire body seemed to be sucked in by the wall as he disappeared without a trace!

    Yu Hanjiang and the others immediately followed. The five people walked through the wall one after another. They were shocked to find that they were actually in a wide room asrge as a basketball court!

    Xiao Lou hurriedly notified the other team through the voice headset. ¡°Senior Gui, if I remember correctly, thepass was pointing out that the direction of the downward stairs was to the west when you found it?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°Adjust thepass so it is pointing to the west. Then pass through the wall. The wall and the stairs are just illusions.¡±

    Upon hearing Xiao Lou¡¯s words, Gui Yuanzhang immediately turned around with thepass. He positioned himself to the west and decisively led his team members to pass through the wall. His low voice was heard in Xiao Lou¡¯s ear. ¡°It is a room with arge area.¡±

    It seemed that Old Mo¡¯s guess was right. The things encountered by the two teams were basically the same, except that they were in the east and the other team was in the west. The directions were opposite and it confirmed that this was a ¡®symmetrical tomb¡¯.

    Gui Yuanzhang continued, ¡°I can see six walls, a pill furnace and many strange charms. Is it the same on your side?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes swept over the space. This spacious and empty room had a size of around 100 square meters. Unlike the dark environment outside, this room was brightly lit. The whole room was shaped like a hexagon and there was an Eternal me Lamp hanging at each of the six corners. All sixmps were lit so they could clearly see inside the tomb.

    The middle of the tomb contained a high, bronze medicine hut that was over one meter tall. A strange green smoke wasing from it. Everyone immediately covered their mouths and noses vigntly.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Is it poisonous?¡±

    Xiao Lou analyzed it. ¡°It should be non-toxic or else most of the challenger teams who can¡¯t think of the principle of the ghost wall would be poisoned to death by the smoke while walking down the stairs. We walked down the stairs for five minutes and our bodies didn¡¯t feel ufortable.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought the same. ¡°It seems that this smoke is the cause of our hallucinations.¡±

    Just now, they had walked down a flight of stairs to enter this tomb. However, due to the influence of the smoke, they experienced a visual illusion. They were actually walking in circles around this secret room, which was why thepass pointer kept spinning but what they saw was a spiral staircase leading into the darkness. Fortunately, everyone reacted quickly to the illusion and relied on the correct position of thepass to get rid of it.

    Tang Ci released the mechanical ants to explore and they walked quickly around the space. The ground was fine. The mechanical ants didn¡¯t encounter any traps that caused them to fall into pits or trigger sword-like mechanisms.

    Everyone went to the medicine hut with confidence and observed carefully. Six charms were pasted on the bronze medicine hut and the surrounding six walls were also covered with charms. There were too many charms. They covered almost all the walls, making it look strange.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t understand the meaning of these charms so he asked Teacher Gui through the voice headset. Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s response was also, ¡°I don¡¯t understand them.¡±

    They were almost like ghost paintings. The medicine hut was the mostmon hexagonal shape with charms of different colors attached to each side. The room was constructed to be hexagonal. The six walls were covered with strange ghostly symbols while colorful, hideous masks hung from the ceiling. The entire room looked like a ce where religious believers performed ceremonies and it gave them the chills. Still, such ayout easily reminded Xiao Lou of the opening method for some mechanisms.

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Look at the six walls first to see if there are any hidden mechanisms. If there is no hidden grid in the walls, the mechanism should be connected to the medicine hut in the middle. My guess is that by rotating the medicine hut so that the charms on each side correspond to the charms on the six walls, we can open this room.¡±

    After all, the medicine hut had six walls and the room also had six walls. There were charms on both the medicine hut and the walls. Rotating the medicine hut to correspond to the charms on the wall was the most reasonable mechanism. Everyone walked separately. In front of the six walls, they tapped and pressed on the bricks gently with their hands.

    The results were soon reported. ¡°There are no hidden mechanisms.¡±

    It seemed the medicine hut was the answer. Everyone set their sights on the medicine hut in the center.

    Liu Qiao carefully examined the six charms on the medicine hut andpared them to the charms on the walls. ¡°The charms on the wall are different from the ones on the medicine hut. In addition, the charms on the medicine hut all have different colors. What do these charms mean?¡±

    Xiao Lou walked to the wall in the upper left corner.

    He found that the strange patterns on the charms on this wall resembled animals such as pigs, cows, horses and sheep. Due to the blood-red strokes drawn on yellow paper, the patterns were a bit distorted. They densely covered the wall so he couldn¡¯t distinguish it for a while.

    It was confirmed after a closer look that this wall indeed had a variety of animals. The second wall had evil ghosts with teeth and ws. The third wall had some strange scenes with doors drawn on many charms.

    The charms on the fourth wall had the shapes of men and women. The men and women were dancing and the movements were very simr to those seen on the stone doors. It was like the dance that ancient people performed during sacrifices. The fifth and sixth walls were full of symbols that were hard to determine what they were.

    Xiao Lou touched his chin thoughtfully. Six walls, a hexagonal pill furnace and charms covering the walls¡­

    What exactly did it mean?

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 377: Mysterious Mechanism

    Xiao Lou walked in front of the six walls in turn, carefully memorizing the charms on each wall in his mind. He closed his eyes and seriously recalled the drawings on the six charms. Then he used the voice headset to confirm it with Gui Yuanzhang of the other team. ¡°Senior, have you carefully looked at the charms in the room? Are there some pigs, cows, sheep and other livestock?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang replied, ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°There is one wall with doors painted on charms, one wall with young men and women dancing in sacrifice, one wall with ferocious ghosts, one wall with strange ck patterns with no specific shapes and some charms painted in blood?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang nodded. ¡°Yes, the charms of the two rooms should be the same and the mechanism opening method as well. Do you have the answer?¡±

    The team members held their breaths while waiting for Xiao Lou¡¯s deduction. These charms looked too scary, especially the one wall covered with bloody charms. It felt like a cult. They couldn¡¯t understand it so they could only put their hope in Xiao Lou who had the strongest ability to solve puzzles.

    Xiao Lou heard Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s confirmation and took a deep breath. He only answered after thinking about it, ¡°This should be the six paths of reincarnation.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang raised his eyebrow. ¡°The six paths of reincarnation? Reincarnation in Buddhism?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and exined to his teammates, ¡°Buddhism teaches about reincarnation of cause and effect. After death, people will reincarnate ording to their good and bad deeds in life. They might enter one of the six realms: the gods¡¯ (devas) realm, the human realm, the demi-god (asura) realm, the animal realm, the hungry ghost realm and the hell realm. The charms on the six walls should represent the six ways of reincarnation.¡±

    He walked up to the wall where the doors were painted. ¡°The side with the doors drawn on them is the gods¡¯ realm. Many people who do good deeds can reincarnate into the gods realm and receive blessings. This is the best result. The one with the drawing of the men and women dancing is the human realm. Merits and demerits are offset and everything is reset. The wall with the pigs, cows and sheep is the animal realm. The one with the ghosts is the hungry ghost realm and the ck one with no substance is the asura realm, often known as the demi-god realm. The one with the blood charms is the most painful hell realm. The red likely symbolizes the blood pool hell in the 18 hells.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    They finally understood what the seemingly disorganized charms symbolized after Xiao Lou¡¯s analysis and exnation.

    Liu Qiao nced over the six walls. ¡°In other words, from the gods realm to the hell realm, the torture suffered after reincarnation will be more and more horrible. Those who have done more evil will be sent to the 18 hells?¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°It seems so. I will take another look at the charms on the medicine hut.¡±

    He stepped toward the medicine hut and examined the six colors of the charms carefully. ¡°Gold should be the color that symbolizes the gods realm and ck should be the hell realm. The order of the six walls should be the same as the order of the charms on the medicine hut. As long as the gold charm is turned to the gods realm and the ck to the hell realm then the entire medicine hut shouldpletely correspond to the six paths of reincarnation on the six walls.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Should we turn the medicine hut?¡±

    ¡°Try it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, Lu Jiuchuan and Old Mo came forward to each hold a corner of the medicine hut and turned it around with difficulty. In the other room, Gui Yuanzhang, Shao Qingge and Long Sen turned the medicine hut ording to Xiao Lou¡¯s reasoning.

    The moment the medicine hut was aligned, there was a loud ¡®rumble¡¯ in everyone¡¯s ears. A door appeared on each of the six walls in the room. They were stone doors that allowed only one person to pass through. Behind the stone door was the exact same narrow passage and it was impossible to see what was behind the passage.

    Ye Qi¡¯s voice entered his ear. ¡°Which way are we going? We can¡¯t have six people act separately, right?¡±

    Xiao Lou frowned. 12 people dividing into two teams was the most scientific and reasonable configuration. If they split into even smaller teams then it was more likely for the team members to be in danger. For example, Ye Qi had a poor sense of direction and him going alone meant he would definitely get lost. Shao Qingge, Long Sen and the others didn¡¯t have the ability to solve problems alone. In addition, if they encountered hunters then they might die.

    They couldn¡¯t split into any more teams.

    There were six stone doors. Which way should they go? It was a multiple choice question with six choices. The door on the wall symbolizing the gods realm seemed the least dangerous while the wall of hell with the blood charms was terrible. However, was the gods¡¯ realm really the exit and the hell realm necessarily the path of death?

    Xiao Lou calmed down and thought about it. He suggested, ¡°Senior Gui, you go to the gods realm path while we will take the hell realm path.¡±

    The team members heard this and were shocked. There were so many paths to choose from such as the human realm path, the animal path and the hungry ghosts path. Why did they have to take the hell realm path?

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°The yin yang mirror we got is the ck yin one which symbolizes the gate of death. This corresponds to the door of the hell realm path. My guess is that there might be a way to live if we take the hell realm path?¡±

    He nced at Yu Hanjiang, a less than certain look appearing in his eyes for the first time. ¡°Of course, my spection might not be urate every time. If we encounter danger in the hell realm then we can use the Peach Blossom Spring to withdraw. Do you want to try it?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang met his worried eyes and gently held Xiao Lou¡¯s shoulder, a hint of softness in his voice. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Even if you choose the wrong door, no one will me you. There are many detours in thebyrinth and we have to try it slowly. It is impossible to find the right exit immediately.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan agreed. ¡°Just go to the hell path. Will we be sent to hell by taking this hell path?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang heard their conversation and advised, ¡°You be careful.¡±

    ¡°Senior, you be careful as well.¡± Xiao Lou was a bit uneasy as he looked at the six walls. ¡°The gods¡¯ realm sounds like a good ce but it might not necessarily be safer.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I know. I will get in touch if there is a situation.¡± Gui Yuanzhang released the headset and the two sides ended the voice call for now.

    They selected different doors. From now on, they would encounter different mechanisms and scenes. Old Mo took the cloth that Liu Qiao handed him and quickly drew a map by hand. After passing through the first entrance, they entered thebyrinth. In the east and west sides of the symmetrical ancient tomb, there were six exits that made a total of 12 paths.

    These 12 paths might branch out into even more forked paths. It seemed that the area of thisbyrinth wasrger than the rotatingbyrinth that Old Mo had encountered previously. Which way led to the final exit? No one knew. It was as Yu Hanjiang said. They naturally had to explore thisbyrinth slowly. How could anyone be lucky enough to find the exit in one go?

    Xiao Lou took out the Four-way Arrow and stuck a blue arrow on the doorway of the wall symbolizing the hell realm. Yu Hanjiang walked to the door and looked inside. The passage was pitch ck. Using the light of the Night Pearl, he could see that it was long and narrow with a height of 1.7 meters, making it necessary to bend down to walk through. The width was around 40 centimeters and it could only amodate one person at a time.

    Moreover, it was impossible for Tang Ci¡¯s wheelchair to pass through such a narrow passage. It was impossible to leave Tang Ci here alone. Lu Jiuchuan perceived this and sought Tang Ci¡¯s opinion. ¡°Xiao Tang, why don¡¯t I carry you on my back?¡±

    Tang Ci spoke in an expressionless manner, ¡°You are still injured. My treatment robot might¡¯ve relieved the pain but your wound isn¡¯t fully healed. Do you want to crack open the wound again carrying me on your back?¡±

    Old Mo was drawing thebyrinth map while walking so it wasn¡¯t convenient for him. Lu Jiuchuan was about to get his brother Yu Hanjiang to help when he heard Liu Qiao suggest, ¡°If Mr Tang doesn¡¯t mind, I can use my Thumbelina card to make you smaller.¡±

    Tang Ci remembered her card. It could turn people to the size of a thumb, making it convenient to be carried in a teammate¡¯s pocket. The passage was too narrow and it was indeed inconvenient for his wheelchair to enter. Moreover, if the path had many bends or downhill slopes then it would be more difficult for his wheelchair to move. Tang Ci didn¡¯t hesitate any longer and nodded. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s fingertips shed with a golden light and the card effect was triggered. Everyone saw Tang Ci disappear and then a thumb-sized Mr Tang appeared on the wheelchair.

    Lu Jiuchuan curiously held the smaller Tang Ci in his palm, taking a closer look before smiling. ¡°This card is interesting. You are much cuter after you¡¯ve be smaller. I will put away your wheelchair while you sit in my pocket.¡±

    Before Tang Ci could agree, Lu Jiuchuan put Tang Ci in his shirt chest pocket and put away the smart wheelchair card. Tang Ci was stuffed into the pocket and held on to the edge with both hands to expose his face. His expression was still indifferent. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan looked down at the little person in his chest pocket and joked, ¡°Have I be your mount?¡±

    Tang Ci spoke calmly, ¡°Or do you want to summon your lion and let it carry me?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll take you. Lions have no IQ. If you happen to fall and get trampled to death then your death is too unjust.¡±

    Tang Ci, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Could he change pockets?

    Lu Jiuchuan gently held Tang Ci with his finger so Tang Ciy steady in his pocket. Then he strode toward the door.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at his brother. ¡°Brother, I will take the lead while you are in charge of the rear?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan had no opinion. ¡°Okay.¡±

    The person who took the lead would be in more danger because if there was a mechanism ahead of them, they would be the first to be affected by it. Fortunately, Tang Ci¡¯s mechanical ants could be used to explore the way. If there were any triggers for mechanisms on the ground then the ants would find it first. Tang Ci released the ants and the two mechanical ants disappeared down the dark passage in the blink of an eye.

    Yu Hanjiang raised the Night Pearl and took the lead in going through the door to the hell realm. The height of the passage was only 1.7 meters. Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan were more than 1.85 meters tall and had sturdy bodies. They could only explore slowly with their backs bent. Rtively speaking, Xiao Lou was thinner and it was much easier for him to walk through such a passage. Liu Qiao was the mostfortable. She was less than 1.7 meters tall and didn¡¯t need to bend down.

    The passage was a bit like a cave. There were many uneven stones on the wall and the path was wet and slippery. It wasn¡¯t known where the water came from. Yu Hanjiang held the Night Pearl in his left hand to illuminate in front of him. His right hand naturally stretched out and gently held Xiao Lou¡¯s hand. ¡°Be careful, the road here is very slippery.¡±

    The two of them were walking forward in the dim lighting so the other team members didn¡¯t see Yu Hanjiang¡¯s movements.

    Xiao Lou perceived the familiar warmth from his hand and his heart warmed up. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Everyone, go slowly.¡±

    The passage was nearly 100 meters long. It was narrow and slippery and it was easy to fall if one didn¡¯t pay attention. It was also possible to bump their heads on the uneven stones of the wall. Therefore, everyone was careful and cautious. They moved slowly step by step.

    They walked for five minutes before Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes brightened. The ground he stepped on became t stone bs and the passage became more spacious. It could amodate several people moving side by side.

    The light here was brighter. It wasn¡¯t because the number of Night Pearls in their hands had increased. The reason why the environment had be brighter was because some light appeared in the distance. A dark blue fire floated in the air, making the entire scene strange and gloomy.

    Old Mo had just finished drawing the curved cave and was stunned to see the scene in front of him. ¡°This is¡­ ghost fire?¡±

    It really was like a scene from a ghost movie.

    Xiao Lou calmly said, ¡°It might be a visual illusion or it could be phosphorus fire. It is said that phosphorus powder often appears in ancient tombs, it floats and burns extremely easily in the air. It can look like ghost fire.¡±

    Liu Qiao agreed. ¡°Phosphorus is a chemical that easily ignites itself. Ancient witches or wizards would often use it to put on a performance and scare people. You don¡¯t have to worry. These floating ¡®ghost fires¡¯ should be the spontaneousbustion of phosphate powder and there is no offensive power.¡±

    Everyone was relieved to hear the exnations of the two science students. After all, seeing blue mes floating in the dark environment really gave people the creeps. In addition, the road they were taking was to the hell realm. Who knew if the keeper would arrange for some ghosts toe out and scare them?

    Just then, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s low voice was heard. ¡°There are patterns on the wall.¡±

    He was responsible for taking the lead so he used the Night Pearl to observe his surroundings. Once the Night Pearl shone on the wall, Yu Hanjiang found some strange patterns. Unlike the cloud patterns on the wall bricks previously, these patterns were very rich, like vivid pictures.

    Xiao Lou walked up to him and took a closer look. In the first pattern, a man was ced in an oil pan and tortured. His distorted face and frightened eyes made Xiao Lou feel numb.

    Liu Qiao¡¯s voice was heard in his ears. ¡°There is also a pattern here.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at the right side of the wall and saw a man being burned to death on a hot copper pir.

    Lu Jiuchuan couldn¡¯t help frowning when he saw these pictures. ¡°These are the punishments of hell, right? It looks very miserable.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang continued to move forward.

    The surrounding walls were full of cruel images of torture. A person was put into a pool of blood bubbles, their entire body being slowly corroded by the blood to a pile of white bones¡­

    Another person had their tongue cut off, someone else had their ten fingers cut off, the next was hung upside down from an iron tree while sharp pieces of iron pierced his body, waiting for the blood to run out drop by drop¡­

    While another one was struggling to climb a mountain while the mountain was covered with sharp knives. Every step would cut the person¡¯s body¡­

    The more they looked, the more numb they felt. Weren¡¯t these tortures from the 18 levels of hell in mythology?

    Xiao Lou¡¯s expression was particrly solemn. Once they walked through the long passage and passed thest image, he whispered, ¡°All the drawings are the punishments from hell such as the tongue pulling hell, the scissors hell, the iron tree hell, the mirror hell¡­ there is also the steamer, the copper pir, the knife mountain, the ice mountain, the oil cauldron, the blood pool, the mountain of fire, etc. It is no different from the 18 tortures of hell in myths.¡±

    The terrible murals and floating ghost fire made the six people feel cold.

    Was this hell path really the right way?

    Tang Ci¡¯s voice came from Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s pocket. His body had shrunk so his voice was smaller, but it was very clear in this quiet space. ¡°Are these murals warning us that if we continue to move forward, we will also experience these 18 types of hells¡¯ torture?¡±

    Everyone¡¯s expressions changed. Tang Ci¡¯s worry was very likely.

    After all, they were walking in the hell path!

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang looked at each other and nodded tacitly. Yu Hanjiang said in a low voice, ¡°Since we¡¯re here, we can¡¯t give up halfway. I want to see what secrets are hidden in this hell path.¡±

    TL: For those interested in learning more about the 18 hells, you can read about them here. Of course, different websites will have different names so they might not match the names that author and then I have selected.

    Link

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 378: Gods Realm

    At the same time, Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s team entered the door of the ¡®gods realm path¡¯. The scene behind the door surprised everyone.

    After approximately 50 meters of darkness, they came to a spacious area. The space that was the size of a basketball court was filled with many bronze ¡®Buddha statues¡¯ of various shapes. There was a circle of Eternal me Lamps lit around them, making this ce brightly lit.

    There was a cushion and incense burner ced in front of each Buddha statue. It was apparently for kowtowing and offering incense.

    Taking a closer look, they could see that one of the Buddha statues had a small deer with it, one was holding Buddha beads and another was holding a bowl simr to those for almsgiving. Others were holding a pagoda in their hands, carrying scriptures, riding an elephant, carrying a lion, raising their hands, bowing their heads to meditate, carrying a cloth bag, holding banana fans or had eyebrows as long as beards¡­

    There were all types of bronze statues ced in a circr pattern in the grand hall and it looked lively.

    The group looked at each other. The hall was enclosed and there was no obvious exit. There were two options at this time. First, they had encountered a dead end and needed to go back. Second, they had to find the hidden mechanism of this hall to open a door leading deeper into thebyrinth. Clearly, the second one was more likely.

    Ye Qi scratched his head as he examined the Buddha statues. ¡°Among the Buddhist statues, I only know ¡®Guanyin Bodhisattva¡¯ and ¡®Tathagata Buddha¡¯ from Journey to the West but I don¡¯t know the others¡­ do you know them?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not familiar with them.¡± Shao Qingge shrugged. He was an atheist. In reality, he set up his own fundspany and believed that the key to a person¡¯s sess was whether they worked hard or not, not God¡¯s blessing. Therefore, he never went to offer incense when passing by temples. Like Ye Qi, he only knew those from Journey to the West that he had seen in his childhood. He waspletely ignorant of the other gods.

    Fortunately, Gui Yuanzhang recognized these bronze statues. ¡°The bronze statues in this hall are the 18 Arhats. For example, this is the Deer Sitting Arhat. This one is the Meditating Arhat, the Scratched Ear Arhat, the Calico Bag Arhat, the Laughing Lion Arhat, the Overseas Arhat¡­¡±

    There were 18 Arhats and Gui Yuanzhang actually called out all of them in one go.

    Chu Huaying nced at him with surprise. ¡°Old Gui, do you believe in Buddha?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang smiled. ¡°There are some things you believe in and some you don¡¯t believe in.¡±

    He didn¡¯t answer directly but Shao Qingge thought that Teacher Gui obviously believed in Buddhism. How could ordinary people clearly call out the names of the 18 Arhats? Moreover, when Xiao Lou mentioned the six paths of reincarnation earlier, this senior obviously knew about it.

    Shao Qingge looked at Gui Yuanzhang. ¡°Senior, do you have a solution to the mechanism of this room?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang murmured softly, ¡°The ¡®gods¡¯ in Buddhism are the Arhat, Bodhisattva and Buddha in order of status. We have met the 18 Arhats now. My guess is that after unlocking this room, in the next room we might encounter the high status Bodhisattvas or even Buddhas. ording to the theory of the six paths of reincarnation, those who can enter the gods¡¯ realm have done many good deeds during their lifetime. So in theory, this room shouldn¡¯t have mechanisms that are too dangerous.¡±

    Then he took a step forward and calmly kneeled on the cushion. The other team members didn¡¯t dare move and just stared at him. They saw Gui Yuanzhang put his hands together, bow to the statue in front of him, get up and kneel down again¡­

    Afterpleting the three kneeling and three prayers worshipping Buddha ceremony, the bronze statue in front of him changed its direction slightly. His teammates were overjoyed.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help eximing, ¡°It seems the solution to this room is to kneel to worship Buddha?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang nodded. ¡°It is a pressing mechanism.¡±

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue exchanged looks. The two of them hadn¡¯t been able to speak before but now when they heard this, Qu Wanyue asked softly, ¡°Senior, there are 18 Arhats. Do we have to kneel down and worship them all?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang answered lightly, ¡°It should be. Pleasee and do so.¡±

    The team members quickly kneeled in front of different Arhat statues and copied Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s actions of kneeling and praying three times. There should be a pressing mechanism under each cushion. After kneeling, the corresponding bronze statue rotated a bit.

    Once the six people finished worshipping the 18 Arhats, there was a sh of golden light in front of them. A melodious Sanskrit sound entered their ears and the scent of sandalwood wafted through the air.

    The 18 Arhats moved and a door opened behind them. It was a wide corridor covered with red carpet, both sides lined with bright lights. There was so much light here that there was no need for the Night Pearls.

    Gui Yuanzhang stood up. ¡°Keep going forward. Xiao Ye, please report to Professor Xiao about our situation.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded and pressed on the voice headset to speak. ¡°Professor Xiao, how is your progress? We met something simr to a Buddha hall. There were 18 Arhat statues inside and the way to unlock the mechanism was to kneel on the cushions in the front of the statues. We have unlocked the mechanism and are about to continue.¡±

    After hearing Ye Qi¡¯s voice, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged looks. The scene in front of them made the six people feel cold. Xiao Lou thought in his heart, ¡®Your side is the 18 Arhats while our side is the 18 hells.¡¯

    In front of them was the first level of the 18 hells, the hell of tongue ripping. The walls of the entire room were covered with tongues of different lengths, making people feel numb. Xiao Lou wanted to talk but found he couldn¡¯t make any sound. Yu Hanjiang, Old Mo, Liu Qiao, Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci were also in the same situation. Everyone opened their mouths and tried to speak, but found they hadpletely lost their voice!

    Lu Jiuchuan calmly pointed to his mouth and then the tongues on the wall. The meaning was obvious. This was the hell of tongue ripping so they were affected by the punishment and temporarily lost their ability to speak. Yu Hanjiang nodded at his brother and made a ¡®go quickly¡¯ gesture.

    Ye Qi was still asking through the headset, ¡°Professor Xiao, what is the situation over there? Can you hear me?¡±

    A long absence without any response could worry the team members on the other side. Xiao Lou helplessly summoned Qin Guan and used Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings to connect with Ye Qi.

    Ye Qi received the invitation and immediately epted it. Immediately afterward, Xiao Lou¡¯s voice was heard in his mind. ¡°We are in the 18 hells and have reached the hell of tongue ripping. We can¡¯t speak. Tell Senior Gui to be careful. There are likely to be illusions everywhere in thisbyrinth.¡±

    Ye Qi was startled and immediately reported the situation to Gui Yuanzhang. ¡°They are in the hell of tongue ripping and no one can speak.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang frowned and pressed on the headset. ¡°A realistic scene of hell actually appeared¡­ you should take extra care. In order not to distract you, we won¡¯t contact you for the time being. If there is danger, we will withdraw directly to the Peach Blossom Spring.¡±

    The moment Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s voice was heard, Xiao Lou¡¯s waist was tightly pulled. The next moment, Yu Hanjiang brought Xiao Lou directly into his arms while activating the Light as a Swallow card simultaneously as he flew into the air. At almost the same time, the tongues on the wall suddenly extended and swept fiercely toward where Xiao Lou had just been!

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 379: Hell of Scissors

    Xiao Lou¡¯s entire body stiffened when he saw this scene. Fortunately, Yu Hanjiang reacted in time or else his neck would have been tightly strangled by these tongues and he would¡¯ve suffocated to death.

    The tongues hanging on the left and right walls were apparently taken from the evil spirits who had been punished in the hell of tongue ripping. Xiao Lou thought that it had just been a scene deliberately arranged by the keeper to scare them. Unexpectedly, the keeper even had the tongues be weapons to attack them?! He still didn¡¯t know how the mechanism was triggered.

    Tang Ci previously had the two ants scout the way in this room and there were no abnormalities when they touched the floor. Obviously, this wasn¡¯t a mechanism triggered by stepping on the ground. Then once they walked in, the tongues on the wall started a fierce offensive! Maybe this room was voice controlled? Did the sound of their footsteps activate the mechanism?

    Since the six people couldn¡¯t talk, the entire room was extremely quiet and the sound of their footsteps was really clear. It was reasonable to infer that the control mechanism was based on sound.

    Before Xiao Lou had time to think about it, Yu Hanjiang turned fiercely in the air. He flew to the wall along with Xiao Lou and took out a sharp knife, aiming it at the tongues on the wall and shing down hard!

    The man¡¯s eyes were deep and full of hostility as he attacked. The visual effect of the room full of tongues might be horrible and disgusting but Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t shake at all when he saw these things. In the blink of an eye, half a wall of tongues was actually cut off by him! As he shed, the tongues on the wall seemed enraged and stretched out several times.

    Yu Hanjiang moved through the air, using the tongues asnding points for the light footwork card. His left hand held tightly to Xiao Lou¡¯s waist while the knife in his right hand danced around him. He protected his front, back, left and right sides tightly. The knife shone and countless tongues were cut by him. For a time, no tongue could get near him.

    They couldn¡¯t speak but Yu Hanjiang was using action to tell his teammates that he was opening the way for everyone.

    The severed tongues fell like a heavy snowfall and the amount of blood on the scene made people want to vomit. However, they had been through so many secret rooms and everyone¡¯s psychological quality had improved. Apart from the big men who were embarrassed to vomit, Liu Qiao also resisted the urge.

    Lu Jiuchuan waved his hand and made the ¡®go quickly¡¯ gesture. Immediately afterward, he lowered his head to look at Tang Ci, worried that he would identally drop him if he moved quickly. He gently stuffed Tang Ci deeper into his pocket.

    Tang Ci was stuffed deep into the pocket and could no longer see what happened outside. He wanted to climb out but¡­ now they had encountered the hell mechanisms. Brother Jiu would definitely be distracted taking care of him. He couldn¡¯t fall and get stepped on by his teammates, messing things up.

    Tang Ci thought about it and decided to stay quietly in Brother Jiu¡¯s pocket. The next moment, Lu Jiuchuan jumped fiercely. Tang Ci felt like he was sitting on a roller coaster and was stunned.

    Lu Jiuchuan kicked away the tongue attacking him and pulled out a weapon card. Most of his cards were for summoning beasts but he had also drawn an S-grade weapon called the Cold Ice Sword. This sword was slim, sharp and had a very thin de. It also had a light blue handle and matching scabbard. It looked like a martial arts sword but the moment it was drawn from the scabbard, a strong wind wrapped around the sword. It was as if the sword was made of ice and snow.

    This sword came with a freezing function.

    Yu Hanjiang opened the way with his knife while Lu Jiuchuan followed closely behind with his Cold Ice Sword.

    The tongues didn¡¯t have time to touch their bodies. They were either cut off mercilessly by Yu Hanjiang or frozen by Lu Jiuchuan. The two brothers quickly resolved the surrounding tongues. Old Mo and Liu Qiao weren¡¯t idiots and immediately followed behind them.

    It wasn¡¯t known how long this ¡®wall covered with tongues¡¯ was. Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan ran forward quickly while fighting with the flexible tongues. There was Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s Cold Ice Sword that froze the tongues along the way and the entire passage almost turned into an ice cer. The frozen tongues looked like stctites in a cave.

    Five minutester, the six people passed through the tongues smoothly and arrived at an empty space. Xiao Lou sighed with relief. Both Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan had reacted swiftly and their fighting abilities were good. The cooperation of these two brothers meant the hell of tongue ripping wasn¡¯t too much of a threat. His concern was that they were walking the path of the hell realm. What hell would they encounter next?

    Xiao Lou opened his mouth. ¡°The hell of tongue ripping has passed. We should be able to speak?¡±

    His voice was heard.

    Lu Jiuchuan couldn¡¯t help cursing. ¡°Fuck, those tongues are really disgusting. The hell of tongue ripping actually used tongues as a mechanism. The Diamonds loli looks cute but her heart is actually so perverted.¡±

    Tang Ci stuck out his head from the edge of the pocket and spoke calmly. ¡°You better not scold the keeper in the secret room in case she deliberately makes things more difficult for us after she hears it.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled. ¡°Did I scold her? I was just praising her for being super cute. I have never seen such a cute loli. She wore that dress and looked like a porcin doll.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Brother Jiu¡¯s desire to survive was quite strong. It just wasn¡¯t known if the keeper could hear it. After regaining his speaking function, Xiao Lou saw that Yu Hanjiang was covered in blood and hurriedly grabbed his hand in a worried manner. ¡°Are you okay? There is so much blood¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang smiled slightly at the concern and whispered, ¡°It¡¯s fine. The blood is from cutting those things, I¡¯m not injured. Thisbyrinth is very strange. Do you think the hell of tongue ripping just now was an illusion?¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t exin it clearly. In a normal tomb, there wouldn¡¯t be such strange mechanisms. However, this was a tombbyrinth arranged by the keeper. It wouldn¡¯t be unusual if strange things appeared. He took a deep breath and stared at the dark passage ahead. ¡°Whether it is an illusion or not, there might be 17 more levels of hell waiting for us next. Please be careful.¡±

    Liu Qiao might¡¯ve felt nausea from the disgusting tongues but her face remained calm as she asked, ¡°Professor Xiao should know the order of the 18 hells? What will the next level be?¡±

    ¡°The hell of scissors.¡±

    The group was silent for a moment before Yu Hanjiang waved. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    It was only then that he discovered he was still holding Xiao Lou¡¯s waist and the two of them were very close. Just now, he had carried Xiao Lou in an anxious manner and forgot to let go. The team members must¡¯ve seen it but no one said anything. Yu Hanjiang calmly retracted his hand and pretended that nothing happened while Xiao Lou¡¯s ears turned red.

    The group continued to walk forward. They found and descended another short flight of stairs before entering a wide rectangr passage. ording to the rules of the punishment, those who instigated discord, ndered and harmed others would be sent to the hell of tongue ripping after death and have their tongues pulled out by ghosts. Meanwhile, those who were sent to the hell of scissors would have their ten fingers cut off. It was said that the ten fingers were connected and the pain of having one finger cut off was a torture that ordinary people couldn¡¯t bear.

    Xiao Lou looked at the dense formation of scissors ahead of him with an ugly expression. These scissors weren¡¯t the ordinary scissors for household use. They were huge scissors that were 1 meter wide and 1.5 meters long. Forget cutting off fingers, they could cut a person at the waist when they opened and closed!

    In addition, the scissors were all over the space. It was impossible to fly through, above or below them with the light footwork card. Moreover, the scissors opened and closed extremely quickly. There was the constant sound of ¡®click click¡¯ in their ears. If they identally touched the sharp des then they might have their legs, arms or even their head cut off!

    Lu Jiuchuan endured the urge to curse the keeper and spoke in a low voice, ¡°I can only freeze people and animals with my sword. These scissors are all iron and can¡¯t be frozen. How do we pass through them?¡±

    Crawling, jumping and running weren¡¯t feasible. Freezing, chaos, being fixed in ce, drowsiness and other controls were targeted at living creatures. The scissors were a mechanism and a tool and weren¡¯t affected by those card skills.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged looks. Just then, Liu Qiao suggested, ¡°I can be smaller and go and take a look.¡±

    Her Thumbelina card had two skills. One was to make herself smaller and the other was to make other people smaller. For the scissors in the formation, the closest distance to the ground was 10 cm. Liu Qiao¡¯s height would only be 5cm when she shrank and she could go straight past them.

    Xiao Lou looked at Liu Qiao. ¡°Be careful.¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded and decisively turned herself smaller before walking through the scissors. She didn¡¯t simply walk past. As she walked, she raised her head and carefully observed the rules of the scissors.

    Soon, Liu Qiao found that for every meter, there were 10 scissors distributed in the air. Although the distribution was disorderly and the scissors moved back and forth, these ten were linked when opening and closing. In other words, the scissors in one row would follow certain rules of opening and closing. If they passed through while it was closed then there was no need to be afraid of being cut by the sharp des.

    The second row followed another rule. The third row¡­

    After 18 rows, Liu Qiao finally left the scissors formation and saw an empty space in front of her.

    She immediately told Xiao Lou, ¡°Professor Xiao, the scissors formation has 18 rows of scissors and each row has their own rule of opening and closing. The fastest frequency is one second while the slowest one is around three to four seconds. There is nothing over four seconds. If everyone¡¯s reaction is fast enough, you can move through the gap while the scissors are closed. There is no lethality as long as the scissors are closed.¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s approach was actually quite dangerous. For example, the first row of scissors was closed so they entered the scissors formation, only to find that the second row was opened. Once this row closed, wouldn¡¯t everybody¡¯s bodies be directly cut in half?

    However, no one could think of a better way. There were so many scissors densely packed together that they couldn¡¯t use the light footwork card. The scissors weren¡¯t affected by control skills so they could only bite the bullet.

    Xiao Lou carefully observed the changes in the scissors formation. There were many scissors and the sharp des were constantly opening and closing, giving people huge pressure¡­ but in the final analysis, this was the same as any mechanism in a game. There was always a way for yers to pass. It just depended on whether they could grasp it or not.

    There were two ways to pass through this type of mechanism.

    The first method was to look at the timing to avoid all the scissors and pass through the formation. The second method was to walk and stop, passing one row at a time. They had a rtivelyrge number of people so it was easy to make a mistake when charging through the formation all at once. It would be safer to pass through one row at a time. Xiao Lou thought up to here and called out to Liu Qiao, ¡°Xiao Liu, pleasee back and lead everyone.¡±

    They couldn¡¯t see the entire formation clearly but Liu Qiao had be smaller and passed through it. She was naturally more familiar with the rules than them. The 5 cm tall Liu Qiao came back and said, ¡°I¡¯ll lead the way.¡±

    Once she re-entered the scissors formation, Xiao Lou and the others stood there, ready to run at any time. The moment the scissors closed, Liu Qiao yelled, ¡°Go, three rows at once!¡±

    The four people moved quickly through three rows. Sure enough, these three rows of scissors were closed and had no lethality. Meanwhile, the fourth row of scissors was open and floating back and forth. If they took half a step forward then the moment the scissors closed¡­ they would be cut in half. The sharp des of the scissors were frightening.

    Liu Qiao looked up at the scissors formation. The opening and closing frequencies of the back rows were different. The fourth row opened and closed every two seconds, the fifth row opened and closed every three seconds, the sixth row was every four seconds and the seventh row was every second.

    ording to the principles of mathematics, one could find the mostmon multiple. In other words, every 12 seconds, these four rows of scissors would be closed at the same time.

    Liu Qiao silently counted 12 seconds in her heart and said, ¡°Go to the seventh row!¡±

    Xiao Lou saw Liu Qiao¡¯s calction logic and couldn¡¯t help admiring her more in his heart. The key to this scissors formation was to see the rhythm and pattern of opening and closing from a god¡¯s perspective. Then find out how many rows were simultaneously closed and sprint through them. It was a rhythm based on the ¡®mostmon multiple¡¯.

    Under Liu Qiao¡¯s guidance, everyone passed through the scissors formation without any danger. Lu Jiuchuan looked back at the rows of scissors and shook his head. He sighed with relief and smiled at the thumb-sized Liu Qiao on the ground. ¡°Little girl, you are really good and bold.¡±

    Liu Qiao wasn¡¯t modest and calmly exined, ¡°I learned science and found some rules when I passed through the scissors.¡± Then she looked up in Mo Xuemin¡¯s direction. ¡°Uncle Mo, can you carry me? The Thumbelina skill has a cooldown. Once I change back then I can¡¯t be smaller again. If you need me to be smaller againter then I can help.¡±

    Old Mo naturally had no objections. He picked up the little girl and put her in his pocket.

    The six person team became a 4 + 2 team. Lu Jiuchuan had Tang Ci in his pocket and Old Mo had Liu Qiao in his pocket. The group took a short rest before continuing to move on.

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 380: Hell of the Tree of Knives

    They walked down the next set of steps and soon saw the third level, the hell of the tree of knives. There was an empty space asrge as a basketball court. The center contained an iron tree. On that tree, every branch and leaf looked like sharp knives. Many pierced bodies hung on the branches. The tree was full of corpses, among which was arge number of female corpses in white clothes, their ck hair hanging down.

    Xiao Lou stopped and wondered what the mechanism of this hell of the tree of knives would be. It wouldn¡¯t hang them up, right?

    Tang Ci released the mechanical ants to explore the road. As a result, the ants had just taken a few steps forward when the iron tree seemed toe alive. It suddenly stretched out a long iron chain, rolled up the two ants and hung them upside down from the tree! The ants were made of metal and were instantly cut apart by the sharp branches and leaves.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Was it really going to hang them from the tree?!

    Tang Ci, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It was a pity for his ants. Fortunately, his card allowed him to summon arge number of mechanical ants. Two dead ones had little impact. Lu Jiuchuan once again inwardly scolded A of Diamonds for being abnormal as he nced at Yu Hanjiang, ¡°Can you avoid it with your skill?¡±

    ¡°It should be possible. My knife can cut iron like it is mud. These vines are made of iron so it shouldn¡¯t be a problem to cut them down. However, it is too dangerous for me to bring all of you over.¡± Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression was extremely serious. ¡°Is it a stepping sensor? If we don¡¯t touch the floor, it can¡¯t sense where we are and can¡¯t hang us upside down from the tree?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡± Tang Ci had many mechanical cards in his hands. In addition to the ants who explored the way and the mechanical spiders for attacking, he also had aerial drones. His drones could carry outrge-scale bombings in designated areas, could be used as a stealth reconnaissance aircraft or for transporting. It was very versatile.

    Tang Ci sent only two drones into the air. If there was a sensor on the ground so that the tree would sense it when someone stepped on the ground, attacking the target and hanging them from the tree¡ªthey just had to avoid stepping on the ground.

    As it turned out, they were too optimistic. The drones flew through the air but the moment they entered the area of the iron tree, they were swept up by the iron vines and instantly turned into a pile of debris.

    Tang Ci was helpless. ¡°This won¡¯t work. It is a 360 degree sensor with no dead ends.¡±

    It was more exaggerated than modern high-tech intelligence. So why did such a strange mechanism appear in an ancient tomb?

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help wanting toin about the keeper. He rubbed his temples, took a deep breath and quickly calmed down as he examined this strange tree. The iron tree in front of them was covered with corpses. Once they were captured by the iron chains, they would also be corpses hanging from it.

    Moreover, this iron tree was extremely sturdy. It was impossible for them to destroy the entire tree artificially.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s knife might be able to cut the iron chains grabbing people but he couldn¡¯t cut the iron tree with a diameter of over five meters. Besides, no one knew how many chains the tree could throw at once. It was too dangerous to rush over directly¡­

    Xiao Lou thought carefully before specting, ¡°Since it is a sensing mechanism, there are only a few types. One is pressure sensing which is where we step on the ground and the iron tree can immediately determine our position. Another is sound sensing. As long as we make a noise such as footsteps or breathing, the iron tree can urately lock onto our position. Then there is visual sensing. Assume that all the leaves of this tree have eyes then it can immediately notice us wherever we go and pierce us with the sharp knives.¡±

    The team members turned their heads to look at thergest tree they had ever seen in their lives. There were rusty spots on the tree. The rusty iron might have oxidized due to the blood flowing on the tree. Most of the corpses on the tree were dry bodies that had been dead for a long time but one¡­ seemed to have died not long ago.

    As a forensic doctor, Xiao Lou was very sensitive to the time of death. He saw that there was a female corpse hanging from the top of the iron tree. She wore a short-sleeved ck shirt and jeans with her hair tied back in a ponytail. She was hung upside down on the tree, a sharp branch piercing her chest and her face full of horror. The corpse hadn¡¯t rotted yet and there wasn¡¯t any obvious livor mortis.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart turned cold. ¡°Look at the female corpse at the top¡­ she should¡¯ve died within 30 minutes¡­¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan was obviously stunned. Everyone was struggling to figure out how to get through this mechanism while Professor Xiao actually had time to study the dead body hanging upside down on the iron tree and determine the time of death? Was he treating the Diamonds secret room as a Hearts secret room?

    Then Lu Jiuchuan carefully pondered on Xiao Lou¡¯s words and realized something. ¡°She died within 30 minutes. Do you mean that this person entered thebyrinth not long ago?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s expression was heavy. ¡°She is probably a hunter.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    In this World Weekly, the keeper already said that all teams were independent and would enter a separate secret room. All yers would participate in the rankings and the elimination was determined ording to the elimination system. In other words, their team couldn¡¯t meet other challenger teams in thebyrinth.

    On this iron tree, 99% of the corpses were dressed in white with long hair hanging down. Their faces were white like they were hanged ghosts. They should be the evil ghosts punished in this hell. The corpse hung at the top waspletely different from the other corpses in terms of clothing and time of death. In addition, her skin wasn¡¯t as pale and the ce where she was pierced by the sharp branches was¡­ bleeding.

    She was human. The only people who could enter thisbyrinth were hunters.

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s back felt cold. ¡°My damn mouth jinxed us! The hunters actually tracked down thisbyrinth but they probably came in from a different location than us. Perhaps that is why this woman died in the hell of the tree of knives?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and looked up at the woman¡¯s corpse. He didn¡¯t know if he should be ufortable or d. He was silent for a moment before saying, ¡°We found the body of a hunter here. At least this proves that¡­¡±

    He nced at Yu Hanjiang and continued seriously, ¡°In the confrontation between hunters and challengers, the four keepers should maintain a neutral attitude. The hunters who entered thebyrinth have to solve puzzles and mechanisms like us. The loli keeper isn¡¯t throwing the game for them.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, theye to kill us in thisbyrinth only to end up killed by the mechanisms. However, the hunters who came here to track Brother Jiu shouldn¡¯t be weak. This hunter was stabbed to death by the iron tree here¡­ it obviously won¡¯t work for us to break straight through.¡±

    Should they go back and find another way? However, they weren¡¯t reconciled at the thought of giving up their previous work.

    Xiao Lou hesitated before suddenly saying, ¡°I have a way that we can try.¡±

    Everyone saw him take out a card and look at the iron tree calmly. ¡°This iron tree should rely on vision, sound and pressure sensing. As long as we enter its sensing range, not even a mosquito can escape. Therefore, we must make it unable to sense us.¡±

    The eyes of the team members lit up.

    The card that Xiao Lou took out was the invisibility cloak.

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 381: Time

    For the mechanism of the hell of the tree of knives, Tang Ci had tested it just now with mechanical ants and drones. No matter whether it was the ants crawling on the ground or the drones flying in the air, they could see with their own eyes that the iron tree would immediately release a vine-like iron rope at a speed that couldn¡¯t be distinguished with the naked eye. It would entangle around their prey and hang it upside down from the tree.

    The hunter hanging at the top of the tree must¡¯ve been too careless. She directly entered the sensing range of the iron tree and was killed in seconds.

    Xiao Lou proposed to use the invisibility cloak because it could hide their bodies and the sounds they made. This card had been repeatedly used in the other secret rooms. After wearing it, they would be invisible and the sound of their footsteps would disappear¡­

    The only thing that didn¡¯t go away was touch.

    They could still bump into each other while wearing the invisibility cloak. This proved that the cloak made them disappear from vision and hearing but they still existed. If they stepped on the floor with the cloak then it would trigger the pressing mechanism on the floor.

    Therefore, the invisibility cloak and light footwork skill must be used at the same time.

    Xiao Lou nced at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Put on the invisibility cloak and then use the Light as a Swallow card to fly over. It is like a mass of air passing in front of the iron tree, so it shouldn¡¯t trigger the sensing mechanism.¡±

    Tang Ci felt this statement was reasonable so he summoned a drone again. ¡°We will experiment with my drone. Let it wear the invisibility cloak and see if it can pass.¡±

    The invisibility cloak was a bonus card for 3 of Hearts. Almost everyone had one and itsted for 30 minutes. If necessary, two people could share one. Currently, Tang Ci and Liu Qiao were in the pockets of their teammates. If their teammates wore the invisibility cloak then they would also be invisible.

    Tang Ci didn¡¯t need to use his invisibility cloak so he put it on the drone to do experiments. He controlled the drone and flew it around the iron tree. Tang Ci could sense the location of the drone but the drone couldn¡¯t be seen.

    Momentster, the drone returned. Tang Ci took off the invisibility cloak and nodded at Xiao Lou. ¡°Professor Xiao is right. The mechanism relies on vision, sound and stepping for an all-round sensor. It is only when we put on the invisibility cloak and fly past that it won¡¯t trigger the attack of this big iron tree.¡±

    How to fly over? Yu Hanjiang had Light as a Swallow and could move with Xiao Lou. Liu Qiao also had Light as a Swallow and this could be used by Old Mo. In any case, she was in Old Mo¡¯s pocket and would be safe if Old Mo was safe.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at his brother. ¡°Brother, do you have a flying card?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan nodded and summoned the vermilion bird directly. They saw arge burning bird suddenly spread out its wings in the air. Its entire body was covered with gorgeous red feathers and it made the eyes of the team members widen.

    Xiao Lou observed it. ¡°This is a divine beast? The ability is very powerful, right?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan answered, ¡°The vermilion bird¡¯s divine fire can create a wide range of mes that can burn down an entire forest.¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help thinking of something. Brother Jiu had such a strong fire attack card. If he had entered the bugs secret room then he could¡¯ve directly set fire to the bugs and easily passed the instance. However, the A-grade secret rooms were all customized ording to the team and Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s experience definitely wouldn¡¯t be a bug infection.

    The body of the vermilion bird was five meters long and three meters wide. Fortunately, the hell of the tree of knives was a rtively wide space and it could fly through it. If it met a narrow passage like the scissors formation just now, the vermilion bird wouldn¡¯t have been able to get through.

    However, could the invisibility cloak cover the vermilion bird?

    Xiao Lou was about to ask when Lu Jiuchuan exined, ¡°The vermilion bird might be big but it has already recognized its owner. Its fate is connected to me and it will be affected by me. If I am invisible then it will be invisible.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at his brother¡¯s arm. ¡°If you are injured, will it also be injured?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan gently touched its wings andughed. ¡°Yes, fortunately my wound has been wrapped up so it can still fly.¡±

    Now everyone had the tools to pass so Xiao Lou¡¯s method could naturally be implemented.

    Yu Hanjiang held Xiao Lou¡¯s waist. The two of them activated the invisibility cloak at the same time and flew past directly with the Light as a Swallow card.

    Old Mo used Liu Qiao¡¯s card and Lu Jiuchuan rode the vermilion bird. In a sh, the six people left the range of the iron tree. They looked back but the iron tree behind them didn¡¯t move. It couldn¡¯t see, hear or feel them so it couldn¡¯t be helped.

    Xiao Lou sighed with relief. ¡°Let¡¯s move on.¡±

    The body of the hunter hanging from the iron tree made everyone a bit uneasy. As Xiao Lou walked, he spoke to Ye Qi through Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. ¡°On your side, have you found any traces of hunters?¡±

    ¡°No. We¡¯ve had a smooth journey. It was full of melodious Sanskrit sounds and there are many pictures of Bodhisattvas on the walls.¡±

    At this point, Ye Qi¡¯s group of six had entered a very strange room. The area of the room was around the size of a ssroom in high school. On the four walls, there were four colorful and lifelike murals. They were yellow, white, red and green.

    Ye Qi didn¡¯t understand Buddhism but it could be seen that the four murals on the wall should be Bodhisattvas. Sure enough, Gui Yuanzhang said, ¡°These four are the four great Bodhisattvas in Buddhism.¡±

    He looked at the first wall and exined to his teammates. ¡°The one wearing the earthy yellow clothing and riding an old elephant is Samantabhadra. The background of this painting is Mount Emei, the temple of Samantabhadra who symbolizes worthiness.¡±

    ¡°The one dressed in red and holding the staff in his hand is K?itigarbha. Mount Jiuhua is the background and it represents vows.¡±

    ¡°The one dressed in white and holding the jade vase is Guanyin, representingpassion and the background is Mount Pot.¡±

    ¡°The one wearing green clothes and riding a green-faced lion is Manjushri, representing wisdom. The background is Mount Wutai.¡±

    Wisdom,passion, vows, worthiness. They were the four great Bodhisattvas of Buddhism. In addition to the lifelike figures, the four murals also had exquisite and detailed mountains and rivers in the background. It was almostparable to the paintings in museums.

    Ye Qi praised it. ¡°This is painted very well. The color is bright and the details are exquisite. Then what are the positions of these four Bodhisattvas and how do we open the mechanism in this room?¡±

    Under the doubtful gaze of the group, the murals in front of them suddenly split open, turning into countless hand-sized pieces. Then the pieces flew apart and the murals on the four walls became disorganized.

    Chu Huaying raised an eyebrow. ¡°This seems to be a jigsaw puzzle mechanism. Do we have to remember the four pictures just now?¡±

    Her teammates, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    They had only been in the room for a few seconds. How could they remember it?!

    The expressions of the group were ugly. Ye Qi scratched his head and said, ¡°We don¡¯t necessarily have to remember the original picture to put together the jigsaw puzzle. Cough, in any case, the pieces are irregr. The edges have to match up and the colors of the clothing are rtively easy to find. Shall we¡­ try it first?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang thought for a moment. ¡°In this way, I¡¯ll be responsible for the puzzle of Manjushri. Huaying will be responsible for Samantabhadra, Chief Shao and Xiao Ye will be responsible for K?itigarbha and Mr Long and Miss Qu will be responsible for Guanyin. You should first look for the clothes and hair when doing the jigsaw puzzle since they are easier to put together. Then focus on the rivers and mountains in the background. Hurry.¡±

    The moment he spoke, the notification ¡®Countdown 30:00¡¯ appeared above everyone¡¯s head.

    They had toplete four walls of jigsaw puzzles in 30 minutes! Ye Qi often yed jigsaw puzzles as a child but there was no time limit and there was the original picture for reference. Now the original picture was broken directly and time was limited. Everyone was a bit nervous when they saw the countdown and they quickly went to the wall.

    Soon, Ye Qi found that Teacher Gui had left the simpler two pictures to them. For the two murals of K?itigarbha and Guanyin, the former was in red and thetter wore white. The clothing pieces were very easy to find. After putting the clothes together, the figure¡¯s outline was clearer. Then ording to the pieces of the edge, they looked for adjacent pieces for each fragment. They roughly worked out the picture.

    Meanwhile, the murals that Gui Yuanzhang and Chu Huaying were in charge of were very difficult. First, the clothing had several colors. Secondly, Samantabhadra and Manjusri also had mounts, not to mention aplicated background.

    However, the speed of Gui Yuanzhang and Chu Huaying wasn¡¯t slower than the other two groups. In particr, Chu Huaying¡¯s slender fingers quickly picked up the pieces and put them together. After only 10 minutes, she had already pieced together 50% of the mural. Ye Qi admired her and quickened his pace.

    Once there was 10 minutes left on the countdown, Gui Yuanzhang took the lead inpleting the puzzle of Manjusri. Once there was 8 minutes left, Chu Huaying finished the puzzle of Samantabhadra.

    At the same time, the Shao Ye and Long Qubinationspleted the puzzles of K?itigarbha and Guanyin. Everyone was shocked. Qu Wanyue couldn¡¯t help saying in an ashamed manner, ¡°Ourbination isn¡¯t as fast as Senior Gui and Sister Ying alone.¡±

    Chu Huaying said, ¡°I have the ability to never forget something. Once I see a picture then I can instantly remember it. Old Gui is already familiar with Bodhisattvas and it is natural for him to put it together easily. There is no need to me yourselves. You finished it within the time limit.¡±

    She seemed indifferent but she didn¡¯t speak in a condescending manner.

    In the beginning, Qu Wanyue didn¡¯t dare get too close to the legendary female killer. Now after hearing Chu Huaying¡¯s words, her sense of distance narrowed slightly. She looked at Gui Yuanzhang and said, ¡°Senior Gui is right. The first level is the 18 arhats and the second level is the four great Bodhisattvas. Next there is the higher level Buddha?¡±

    Long Sen scratched his head. ¡°Will there be a Buddha?¡±

    Ye Qi said, ¡°No matter how difficult the mechanisms, at least there is no danger. Professor Xiao just told me that while passing the hell of the tree of knives, the iron tree was full of corpses and a hunter¡¯s corpse was found.¡±

    They just met a time limited puzzle and everyone had been very nervous. Ye Qi didn¡¯t have time to pass the message onto his teammates.

    Gui Yuanzhang heard this and his expression changed slightly. ¡°A hunter?¡±

    Ye Qi described what had been passed through the Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. ¡°Yes, the branches and leaves of the iron tree were all sharp knives. The hunter entered the hell of the tree of knives and was identally killed by the iron tree. Her body is still hanging from it.¡±

    Chu Huaying clenched her left first tightly and her right hand drew the spider dagger from her card pack. ¡°It seems that the hunters have entered thebyrinth. We have to be careful.¡±

    Shao Qingge wondered, ¡°Where did theye from? How could a hunter get in front of Xiao Lou¡¯s group?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang was silent for a moment beforeing to a conclusion. ¡°Six realms of reincarnation, six paths¡­ what if the time flow rate is different?¡±

    This conclusion made the group look at each other.

    Ye Qi shook off the goose bumps. ¡°A day in Heaven is a year on earth. That¡¯s what they say in xianxia novels. We are now walking on the path of the gods¡¯ realm. 30 minutes here might not necessarily be 30 minutes in the hell realm path¡­ is that what you mean?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang nodded solemnly. ¡°The hunter walked in front of Xiao Lou¡¯s group either from another entrance or they were directly transported from the other reincarnation paths. The time for the hell realm path should be faster than the other reincarnation paths. The length of imprisonment of the 18 hells is calcted as 10,000 years. The keeper can¡¯t really let them stay for 10,000 years so time will bepressed.¡±

    Meanwhile, Xiao Lou¡¯s stomach suddenly grumbled. He had eaten before entering thebyrinth. It seemed like it had only been an hour since he entered thebyrinth. Why was he hungry all of a sudden? He was embarrassed to tell his teammates that he was hungry but hiding it wasn¡¯t something Xiao Lou would do. Every feeling in the secret room was a message. Even if it was simple hunger, maybe it would represent something else?

    Xiao Lou thought of this and stopped, asking, ¡°Do you feel hungry and tired?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan also stopped and rubbed his stomach. ¡°I¡¯m really hungry. I just had a big meal before entering the secret room. What is going on?¡±

    Old Mo scratched his head. ¡°I also feel very tired. Is it because we¡¯ve been moving forward and passing through several mechanisms in a row?¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully thought about it and made a guess. ¡°The reason should be the eleration of time. We feel that we¡¯ve only been in the hell realm for an hour but in fact, the time flow in this passage is very fast. ording to the current level of hunger, it should¡¯ve been a day.¡±

    He was busy in the hospital and he often forgot to eat. He would only be this hungry if he went a whole day without eating.

    Tang Ci agreed with Xiao Lou¡¯s inference. ¡°The speed of time in the secret room is controlled by the keeper but this is the first time I¡¯ve encountered time flowing differently in different regions of the same secret room. It seems that this hell path really isn¡¯t easy.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang made a quick decision. ¡°Let¡¯s stop and eat something to replenish our physical energy.¡±

    Otherwise, it would be hard if they met hunters while hungry.

    In 3 of Spades, Financial Crisis, everyone got the card to give them a package of supplies. They could use it once a day to receive milk, mineral water, instant noodles, chocte and other basic foods. It wouldn¡¯t fill an adult man¡¯s stomach but it was better than nothing.

    The group sat down, took out their supplies and ate quickly.

    After Tang Ci and Liu Qiao became smaller, their appetite had also decreased because their stomachs were smaller. Lu Jiuchuan looked at the thumb-sized Tang Ci in his pocket and broke the chocte in his hand into a small piece the size of a sesame seed. He raised it to Tang Ci¡¯s mouth with his fingertip and smiled. ¡°Is it enough?¡±

    Tang Ci, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Tang Ci opened his mouth in an expressionless manner and ate the sesame seed-sized chocte on Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s finger. Then he really became full and couldn¡¯t help letting out a burp.

    Lu Jiuchuan had tough. ¡°How about you be smaller like this every day in the future? It is so easy to feed you, hahaha.¡±

    Tang Ci, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He ignored this person and climbed back into the pocket to rest.

    Xiao Lou smiled and gave half his instant noodles to Yu Hanjiang. As a result, Yu Hanjiang took the initiative to hand the milk to Xiao Lou. ¡°You drink this. I¡¯ll just drink some water.¡±

    Food was limited. Xiao Lou¡¯s physical exertion wasn¡¯t serious. Meanwhile, Yu Hanjiang cut at the tongues with a knife and flew with the light footwork skill. Yu Hanjiang was more than 185 cm in height and his body was much stronger than Xiao Lou¡¯s body. He naturally ate more than Xiao Lou.

    In this situation, Xiao Lou was too embarrassed to take the food handed to him. However, he saw Yu Hanjiang¡¯s gentle gaze and couldn¡¯t refuse. Xiao Lou simply put the two bottles of milk back in the card for the time being. ¡°Keep it first. If we be hungryter then we can cushion our stomachs.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t oppose it. They had to pass through 18 hells with this time flow. Forget being killed by the hells. It would be funny if they didn¡¯t starve to death.

    Yu Hanjiang got up and pulled Xiao Lou. ¡°Since the time flow has beenpressed, we should go as fast as possible. We¡¯ve only passed through the third hell.¡±

    The team members had no objections and followed him.

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 382: Hell of Mirrors

    The fourth level of the 18 hells, the hell of mirrors was said to have many mirrors that allowed people to see the sins theymitted during their lifetime. The six people walked forward a certain distance and ran into a mirror head on.

    The entire hell of mirrors allowed everyone to see themselves clearly. There seemed to be no path behind the mirrors. Yu Hanjiang reached out to push lightly against one but he couldn¡¯t move it at all. Xiao Lou observed carefully but didn¡¯t find any mechanisms in the mirrors.

    The team members had question marks above their heads. ¡°How do we open this?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought for a moment before pulling out the yin yang mirror from his pocket. Their mirror happened to be the yin mirror which could shine into the underworld¡­ He used the yin yang mirror on the mirror wall in front of them and found a hidden passage inside one of the mirrors. Why could Xiao Lou think of using the mirror to open the mirror wall right away while they couldn¡¯t think of it?

    The other team members except for Yu Hanjiang had this mentality. Yu Hanjiang was ustomed to Xiao Lou¡¯s familiarity with various mechanisms and immediately walked in after the passage appeared in the mirror wall. Everyone followed him and they soon discovered that they had entered a mirror maze.

    There were mirrors to the front, back, left and right which clearly reflected their images. Some of their reflections were deliberately distorted and looked like ghosts. Walking in such a mirror maze with the Night Pearls was really scary.

    Old Mo¡¯s heart trembled. Just now, he saw that his entire face in the mirror was covered with blood and he almost burst out swearing. These strange mirrors deliberately distorted everyone¡¯s facial features and bodies and some of them even added bloody effects. It felt like an evil spirit was bleeding tears¡­

    Xiao Lou also saw himself distorted in the mirrors on his left and right. Everywhere he went, these distorted images would follow like a shadow. This mirror maze was too torturous. It was an intricate maze with many side roads. In addition, there were mirrors to the front, back, left and right with some scary mirror images appearing from time to time. They walked for a while like headless flies and ended up back at the start.

    Lu Jiuchuan frowned. ¡°This mirror maze curves around. Can we find the way?¡±

    Everyone looked at Old Mo who had the best ability to find the path. Old Mo took a deep breath. ¡°me me. I just saw myself bleeding in the mirror and was so shocked I forgot the route. Cough, let¡¯s go through it again while I draw it¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Old Mo, don¡¯t you have the dyeing card? Can¡¯t you cover all these mirrors?¡±

    Mo Xuemin¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Yes, I was too nervous and forgot about this.¡±

    He had picked up the Color Elements card. In the Endless Seas World Weekly, he used it to dye the sea water.

    After entering the mirror maze again, Old Mo dyed all the mirrors on both sides of the first section of the path green. The surface of the mirrors was covered in green dye, making the function of the mirrors useless. Naturally, there were no more scary shadows distracting them.

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled. ¡°This is really a method. We can use paint to deal with mirrors.¡±

    They felt like an illegal ganging to the door to collect debts, walking all the way while sshing paint on the mirrors. If the mirrors were conscious¡­ they would probably want to vomit up blood at this point. Old Mo sshed the scary mirror maze with colors, turning it into a colorful children¡¯s yground.

    Everyone walked through the colorful maze and Old Mo quickly drew a map. ¡°This should be a square maze with four ¡®Ìï¡¯ characters grouped together. The exit is in the upper right corner. Our vision and psychological states were affected by the mirrors just now but the maze itself isn¡¯t difficult.¡±

    Old Mo led the team to quickly move out of this small mirror maze. White fog began to appear faintly in front of them and the surrounding temperature was getting higher and higher.

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°It is the fifth level, the hell of steaming.¡±

    They looked at the white fog in front of them and couldn¡¯t help stopping. It was like a huge sauna.

    Liu Qiao was a science student and recognized this steam to be very simr to the steam used in her high school experiments. She hurriedly said, ¡°Don¡¯t touch the steam. The temperature should be 100 degrees Celsius. If we pass through the steam then we won¡¯t just be burned. We¡¯ll be cooked.¡±

    Everyone naturally didn¡¯t dare try such torture as being steamed alive. In addition, they didn¡¯t know how big the hell of steaming was in front of them. If they rushed in, there might be no return and they would collectively be steamed human flesh.

    Xiao Lou nced at Lu Jiuchuan. ¡°We can only cool it down. Brother Jiu, can your ice sword freeze the steam?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan shook his head. ¡°No, it can only freeze living creatures, not the air. Otherwise, I would¡¯ve frozen the scissors just now.¡±

    So what should they do? None of them seemed to have a card that froze things. How could they pass such a hot hell of steaming?

    Tang Ci abruptly thought of a way. ¡°My drones are resistant to high temperatures so I should be able to try it.¡±

    He summoned a drone which flew through the white steam and sent back a lot of useful information. Tang Ci looked at the numbers disyed on the screen and said, ¡°The temperature is 100 degrees Celsius and the ambient humidity exceeds 70%. This hell of steaming is around 100 meters in length. There are no cards for cooling so we can only force ourselves through.¡±

    For example, there was Ye Qi¡¯s teleportation card which allowed them to teleport 50 meters. 100 meters was teleporting twice.

    They would be exposed to the steam at 100 degrees for two seconds. They might not die but they would be burned. Still, they could endure it. Unfortunately, Ye Qi wasn¡¯t present and they didn¡¯t have any other fast-moving cards. If they stayed in the steam for a long time, they would burn their entire body¡­

    They were worrying about what to do when Tang Ci summoned four robots. They were very simr to the robots in sci-fi movies and had No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 on their chests.

    They came in front of Tang Ci. It wasn¡¯t known what Tang Ci did but the chests of the four robots suddenly opened and turned into four sets of armor. Tang Ci exined, ¡°Everyone, go in. This is my mechanical armor. It might be awkward to move in them after wearing them but fortunately, the material is simr to the metal of the drone. It can withstand high temperatures.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Mr Tang had so many treasures in the bottom of his box!

    Yu Hanjiang took the lead in entering the metal armor. Once the armor closed, there was a transparent window in front to see the road. Xiao Lou saw the imposing sight of Yu Hanjiang wearing the armor and couldn¡¯t helpughing. ¡°You are like a future mech warrior.¡±

    Tang Ci told them, ¡°The battle armorsts only 10 minutes. It can protect against bullets and high temperatures. We must act quickly.¡±

    They did indeed be very clumsy after wearing the armor. They made a loud sound every time they took a step and it was awe-inspiring to listen to. The four ¡®mech warriors¡¯ slowly walked through the high temperature hell of steaming for five minutes. This ¡®coat¡¯ might¡¯ve prevented everyone from being burned but they still felt hot inside it.

    After leaving the hell of steaming, everyone immediately took off the metal armor and took a big breath of fresh air.

    Just then, Ye Qi¡¯s voice entered Xiao Lou¡¯s mind. ¡°Professor Xiao, we passed the second level which was a Bodhisattva puzzle. We thought we would see a Buddha level after we finished but in fact, heavenly beings can¡¯t see Buddha. Instead, we returned to the original splitting of paths of the six realms of reincarnation.¡±

    Xiao Lou was stunned. ¡°What?¡±

    They returned to the beginning? How could this be?

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 383: Origin

    Xiao Lou thought that the two roads chosen by the two teams, the gods realm path and the hell realm path would lead to the depths of thebyrinth and perhaps the only exit of the entirebyrinth. As a result, Ye Qi and the others only walked through two rooms with mechanisms and actually returned to the original entrance point?

    In order to confirm it, Xiao Lou used the voice headset to start a voice call. ¡°Senior Gui, are you sure that you are back at the original point? Perhaps it is another room arranged exactly like the six paths of reincarnation?¡±

    In secret rooms, simr scenes often appeared which made people mistakenly think they had gone back to the ce they had just been. In fact, the rooms were just copied which confused people. In order to avoid this situation, Xiao Lou had left a mark in the original room of the six paths of reincarnation.

    Gui Yuanzhang was confident. ¡°It is the origin. An arrow mark was ced at the door when we entered the gods realm path before and this room has that arrow.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    That¡¯s right. Oldbyrinth yers knew to put an arrow mark at any fork in the road to indicate the path they have taken. Since Teacher Gui saw the mark he ced, it meant they had returned to the room from before.

    In this way, Ye Qi¡¯s group took a trip to the gods¡¯ realm with no gains and actually returned to the starting point of the six realms of reincarnation? Was the gods¡¯ realm path circr?

    Gui Yuanzhang said, ¡°It seems that the gods¡¯ realm doesn¡¯t contain the exit. We are nning to choose another door to go in and see. Professor Xiao, do you have any suggestions? The remaining ones are the human realm, the demi-god realm, the animal realm and the hungry ghosts realm. Which one should we enter?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was a bit confused. Thisbyrinth was more difficult than anybyrinth he had encountered before. They had been in here for more than an hour and he had no idea about the exit or even the structure of thebyrinth.

    After hearing the discussion of the team members, Old Mo took out his own map. The hell realm path already showed signs of curving. Perhaps it was also a big circle. Once they passed through the 18 hells, they might return to the origin¡­

    Xiao Lou thought about it and suggested, ¡°Try the human realm?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang agreed. ¡°I think so too. Then we will enter the door of the human realm. Contact me if there is a situation.¡±

    Xiao Lou warned. ¡°Watch out for hunters and always be alert.¡±

    Xiao Lou hung up the call and looked at his teammates. ¡°We have only reached the fifth level of our hell realm path. We should continue. This path might not necessarily be correct but I¡¯m not willing to give up halfway.¡±

    The others agreed with Xiao Lou¡¯s opinion. Though this path might not necessarily be the right one, but¡­ it doesn¡¯t have to be the wrong one either?

    If they walked back halfway and this was the correct exit, wouldn¡¯t they be filled with regret? If they chose a path then they should finish walking it. At the very least, they couldpletely eliminate it from the possibilities.

    The six people continued walking forward and saw the sixth level, the hell of copper pirs.

    It was said that people who deliberately set fires during their lifetime or set a fire for reasons such as destroying evidence, revenge etc. that caused innocent people to be implicated, would be sent to the hell of copper pirs. Little ghosts would strip off their clothes and make them hug a copper pir that was one meter in diameter and two meters in height while naked. Charcoal was burned in the cylinder and air was constantly blown with a fan. The copper pir would soon be hot and the person holding the copper pir would naturally be burned alive.

    In the room in front of them, countless copper pirs appeared.

    All of them were glowing red from the fire contained inside and were constantly rotating. The clicking sound of metal mechanisms moving could be heard.

    The distance between the copper pirs was only 30 cm. If they weren¡¯t careful and touched a copper pir while walking through, their skin would definitely be burned instantly or evenpletely burned to charcoal.

    For people like Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan who were over 185 cm and had sturdy figures, it was hard for them to pass through the 30 cm gap without guaranteeing that their bodies wouldn¡¯t touch the copper pirs. In addition, the arrangement of the copper pirs was chaotic and covered the entire room. They had to go sideways for the first step and in the second step, they might hit the next copper pir head on¡­

    The six people stood at the entrance to the hell of copper pirs and Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help having a headache. How could they survive? These copper pirs could burn people to death. The stand-alone games he yed in university weren¡¯t so difficult to pass. Today, he gained a new insight.

    Lu Jiuchuan raised his head. ¡°The copper pirs are very high. Can we perhaps fly over from the top?¡±

    Tang Ci said, ¡°I¡¯ll have the drone fly up and see.¡±

    A miniature drone moved under Tang Ci¡¯s control and flew to the top of a copper pir, only to find that the copper pirs were directly attached to the ground below and the ceiling above. With no possibility to go beneath or above the copper pirs, the only way left was to pass from the middle.

    The only problem was that the gap between each pir was too small. Perhaps a skinny person could pass sideways without any problems but if a fat person encountered this, they would definitely be stuck in the middle of two copper pirs.

    They were struggling to figure out what to do when Liu Qiao suddenly opened her mouth. ¡°I have a way that might work.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at the little girl who poked her head out of Old Mo¡¯s pocket. ¡°Xiao Liu, say it.¡±

    Liu Qiao exined, ¡°Professor Xiao, do you remember the fairy tale card I drew before? The Ugly Duckling card. I can transform up to 10 people into ugly ducklings or turn myself into a white swan. After transforming, you can¡¯t be attacked for 30 minutes but your actions will be awkward. I think the average duckling is smaller than a human and they should be able to pass through a gap of 30 cm?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan wondered helplessly, ¡°What type of strange cards have you drawn?¡±

    Liu Qiao didn¡¯t know how to answer this question. In any case, she had the strange fairy tale cards, Xiao Lou had various ancient characters while Uncle Mo had building material and afortable sofa. Group Leader Yu¡¯s weapons were normal but they couldn¡¯t be used in thisbyrinth.

    Xiao Lou thought of Liu Qiao¡¯s Ugly Duckling card and didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. ¡°This can work. You can change 10 at a time right? First, turn Mr Tang¡¯s pathfinder ant into a duck and see if it can get through.¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded. ¡°Yes, I haven¡¯t seen the size of the duck this card transforms you into yet.¡±

    Tang Ci called out a mechanical ant.

    Liu Qiao might be in Old Mo¡¯s pocket but she could still control her cards smoothly. She found the Ugly Duckling card and used the skill to change the mechanical ant into a cute duckling. The size was only 10 cm wide and 20 cm tall.

    Tang Ci controlled it to move forward¡­

    The 30 cm gap was narrow for adults but for ducklings¡­

    It was spacious!

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was overjoyed. ¡°Yes, let¡¯s do it like this.¡±

    Liu Qiao gave a reminder. ¡°Mr Tang, after Brother Jiu bes a duckling, can you ride him?¡± After all, Tang Ci¡¯s legs still weren¡¯t working even if he was the size of a thumb. Someone had to take him with them or he could only crawl over slowly.

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled. ¡°No problem. I will be a ride for Xiao Tang.¡±

    Thus, the card in Liu Qiao¡¯s hand shed and she turned Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang, Old Mo and Lu Jiuchuan into four ducklings. The four ducklings lined up neatly in the hell of copper pirs. This scene looked like it came from a cartoon.

    Lu Jiuchuan, ¡°Quack quack quack.¡±

    Tang Ci wondered, ¡°What did you say?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan, ¡°Quack quack quack quack.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°Quack quack.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°Quack, quack, quack.¡±

    Liu Qiao and Tang Ci, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    As a human, they couldn¡¯t understand the words of a duck at all! Nevertheless, Liu Qiao probably guessed Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s meaning. It should be that he wanted Tang Ci to climb onto his back. Therefore, Liu Qiao helped Tang Ci sit on thest duckling (Lu Jiuchuan).

    Lu Jiuchuan was relieved.

    Liu Qiao walked in front and led the way. After all, she was only the size of a thumb and the distance of 30 cm was a wide road for her.

    The four ugly ducklings, Yu Hanjiang, Xiao Lou, Old Mo and Lu Jiuchuan followed Liu Qiao. They might move awkwardly as ugly ducklings but no matter how clumsy, they could still get out of this hell of copper pirs within 30 minutes.

    Xiao Lou felt that their team¡¯s style was bing increasingly stranger.

    In the mirror maze, Old Mo sshed paint the entire way. In the hell of steaming, Mr Tang asked everyone to wear mech armor. Now Liu Qiao turned them into ugly ducklings to pass through the hell of copper pirs¡­

    It wasn¡¯t known who it was but one duckling identally brushed against a copper pir and the duck feathers on his body were almost charred. He let out an urgent quacking sound. In the end, the six people took 15 minutes to pass through the hell of copper pirs without any danger.

    Liu Qiao sighed with relief and withdrew the card. Everyone returned to human form.

    Lu Jiuchuan asked, ¡°Xiao Tang, I was talking to you just now. Why didn¡¯t you react?¡±

    Tang Ci was expressionless. ¡°I only heard quack, quack, quack.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s group of four, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    So Tang Ci and Liu Qiao only heard quacking while the four of them talked all the way?

    Tang Ci wondered, ¡°What did you say?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled dryly. ¡°I asked you what it felt like to ride a duckling. Cough, forget¡­ let¡¯s forget about today.¡±

    It was better to forget the ck history of quacking together as soon as possible.

    Xiao Lou smiled and touched his nose. ¡°The next level should be the hell of the mountain of knives.¡±

    Those who killed people would be sent to the hell of the mountain of knives after death. They were stripped of their clothes and forced to climb the mountain of knives naked.

    The six people continued to move forward and saw the seventh floor, the hell of the mountain of knives. The wide room was densely packed with sharp knives. This was an undergroundbyrinth after all and they couldn¡¯t be made to climb a mountain. The hell of the mountain of knives was changed to be arge pit filled with knives and there was also a constant rain of knives from the ceiling.

    The light footwork card couldn¡¯t be used to fly past. If they used the knives as anding point then they would definitely get cuts all over their body.

    This level was much more difficult than the previous hell of scissors. Xiao Lou stood at the door and observed for a long time. He was unable to find any regrity in the knives falling. As a result, Old Mo proposed an idea. ¡°I can use my marble floor to create a path over the knife pit. Everyone just needs to avoid the knives falling from above.¡±

    The more people, the more strength there was. Everyone¡¯s cards were really being put to the best use today.

    Old Mo¡¯s marble brick could be used to pave the ground or build upright walls. It was a very versatile construction card.

    Moreover, this card had 100 pieces of marble to use at will. The marble could cover the length of the knife pit and the quality was excellent. The bricks would form a solid path which wouldn¡¯t break from the falling knives, meaning the group didn¡¯t need to worry about suddenly falling into the pit of knives below the path.

    Old Mo saw that his teammates had no opinions and took out the marble to quicklyy them down.

    The knife pit was originally densely packed with sharp knives. The knives that made people feel creepy were quickly covered by the marble floor tiles. In front of everyone, a t marble path was formed.

    There were still the knives falling from the ceiling. Tang Ci suggested, ¡°I will use my drones to block the knives. Everyone, go quickly.¡±

    He normally only summoned one or two drones for flight tests. Now he summoned arge number of drones that flew together in the air and formed a metal, protective umbre that blocked all the knives falling from the ceiling.

    Under the protection of the drones, the group quickly walked across the marble floor.

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help feeling that the seemingly difficult hell of the mountain of knives had actually be the simplest level. This showed how important the rational use of cards was. If Ye Qi and the others were here, Teacher Gui¡¯s brush could make them float in the air or Ye Qi¡¯s teleportation card would allow them to pass this level smoothly. There were actually many ways to do it and it was up to everyone to use their brains.

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 384: Hell of Ice

    The eighth level was the hell of ice and the entire room was frozen. Before entering through the door, everyone felt a burst of cold air that drilled straight into their hearts. It was colder than entering a morgue.

    There was ice all around them. The ground, the ceiling¡­ the entire space was white and the icy surface was very slippery, making it difficult for them to walk. The extremely low temperature made everyone stand at the door, their teeth chattering from the cold.

    They didn¡¯t find any dangerous mechanisms in this room but it was ufortable to walk through. Moreover, the time flow rate of the hell realm was deliberatelypressed. They stayed in the ice room for one minute but ording to the rate of their body metabolism, they had actually been in here for one hour.

    Xiao Lou thought up to here and hurriedly summoned Bai Juyi.

    Bai Juyi¡¯s first skill, Old Charcoal Seller, could generate a charcoal fire in any environment. Previously, he didn¡¯t think that this fire was of great significance. Now in this freezing cold ice room, the charcoal fire that Bai Juyi lit was simply ¡®sending charcoal in snowy weather¡¯. (Idiom=providing help in one¡¯s hour of need)

    Lu Jiuchuan didn¡¯t want to evaluate Xiao Lou¡¯s cards anymore.

    Bai Juyi actually came out and lit charcoal for everyone. Xiao Lou quickly took out thepass and made four warm charcoal stoves ording to the previous method, filling them with the charcoal fire that Bai Juyi had lit. He gave one each to his teammates and said, ¡°Everyone, take a stove and move through the hell of ice as soon as possible. This space has timepression so after a while, our bodies will get frostbite.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took the lead. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    It was only when they really entered the ice room that they realized the cold outside was just a small fraction of it. Once in the room, the blood in their bodies almost froze. There happened to be some drops of water on Xiao Lou¡¯s eyshes and they froze almost instantly, making blinking strenuous. The sweat on Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s hair also formed a thinyer of ice and he looked like a person with white hair.

    Everyone was trembling from the cold and they were frightened. If it wasn¡¯t for Xiao Lou¡¯s stove, it was estimated that they would quickly lose consciousness and be ice statues. Tang Ci released a drone for investigation and quickly came to a conclusion. ¡°The ambient temperature is -50 degrees Celsius. Humans can¡¯t survive here at all. We must hurry!¡±

    They had just taken a few steps and everyone¡¯s legs were almost frozen while their teeth were chattering.

    Lu Jiuchuan was forced to summon the vermilion bird again. The divine beast¡¯s skill was Vermilion Bird Heavenly Fire, which cast mes in a wide range. The Vermilion Bird Heavenly Fire might not be able topletely melt this ice room but it could at least alleviate the low temperature of the environment.

    The vermilion bird pped its wings andrge mes spread through the surrounding area. This was the first time Xiao Lou had seen the power of the vermilion bird. This should currently be the team¡¯s strongest group attack card.

    Lu Jiuchuan deliberately left a passage in the middle. The group quickly escaped from the hell of ice while the mes were flowing and the temperature rose.

    Xiao Lou was originally worried that there might be unexpected surprises in this hell of ice such as ice falling or copsing beneath them. He didn¡¯t expect the keeper to be so kind to them. This level was just the extreme cold and there were no other dangers.

    They passed through the hell of ice and arrived at the ninth level.

    It was the hell of oil cauldron. Contrary to the extreme cold just now, this ce was extremely hot. It was said that people whomitted a lot of evil in their lifetime would be stripped naked and ced into the oil cauldron to be fried after death¡­ The long and narrow room was arranged like a huge bathtub. There was no way to stand. Unfortunately, the thing boiling underneath this ¡®bathtub¡¯ wasn¡¯t a hot spring but hot oil!

    The consequences were unimaginable once they identally fell into the cauldron. The air was filled with a weird burnt smell. The thought of it being the smell of fried human flesh made everyone feel nauseous.

    In the hell of the mountain of knives just now, Old Mo could pave the marble floor because the knives underneath could be used as a support point. However, the oil cauldron couldn¡¯t support the marble. The weight of the marble meant it would sink the moment it was ced in the oil.

    Lu Jiuchuan said, ¡°The passage here is only one meter wide. The vermilion bird can¡¯t fly here.¡±

    There were only two ways to get through here.

    First, fly through the air. Second, use cards with effects like ¡®immune to damage¡¯ or ¡®no fear of high temperatures¡¯ to swim across the oil cauldron.

    If it was the first method then it was easy for Liu Qiao. She could transform into the white swan and fly over. However, the Light as a Swallow card didn¡¯t allow them to fly for a long time and they had to find anding point within 10 seconds. How could there be anding point in the oil cauldron? Once their feet touched the hot oil, their feet would be instantly useless. Therefore, the Light as a Swallow card couldn¡¯t be used in the hell of oil cauldron.

    For the second method, they could use Tang Ci¡¯s mechanical armor to swim past but it onlysted for 30 minutes and could only be used once every 24 hours. They had already used it in the hell of steaming, so it couldn¡¯t be used now. As for other cards with simr invincible effects, only Xiao Lou¡¯spass circle was currently avable. Unfortunately, thepass set a range for the invincibility. Once out of that range, they would still be turned into fried human flesh.

    What should they do? Swimming across the oil cauldron obviously wouldn¡¯t work. They could only find a way through the air. Xiao Lou fell into deep thought.

    Floating¡­ paving the way¡­

    Suddenly, an item that often appeared in sports games, the bnce beam, came to mind.

    The bnce beam was used in gymnastics to bnce in the air. Old Mo happened to have the Solid Wood Flooring card. Moreover, this wooden board could be cut into any desired shape. It could be cut into narrow wooden strips and ced together to form a wooden bridge.

    The question now was how to float the wooden floor. Putting the wood directly into the high temperature oil cauldron wouldn¡¯t work. There must be something to support it.

    Xiao Lou thought carefully and some images emerged in his mind. A long time ago in the Spades secret room, he used thepass to draw circles and used the floating rings as hidden weapons. One or two rings couldn¡¯t support the weight of the wooden nks and his teammates but what about hundreds of them connected together?

    Xiao Lou thought of this and hurriedly said, ¡°I have a way!¡±

    Everyone looked at him and saw him taking out the S-grade Compass to draw circles on the ground earnestly. He drew circles with diameters of one meter. Every time a circle was drawn, a metal ring would appear on the ground like magic.

    Lu Jiuchuan watched curiously as Xiao Lou worked busily. It took one second to draw one circle and in the blink of an eye, Xiao Lou had drawn hundreds of circles. The metal circles piled up like a mountain beside him before he finally stopped his movements and raised his hands gently.

    They saw that the circles seemed to have their own consciousness and floated into the air ording to Xiao Lou¡¯s instructions! Then they connected and stacked together one by one, quickly extending out 50 meters over the oil cauldron. Every one meter, there were dozens of floating rings stacked on top of each other. The visual effect was like a series of disks floating in the air.

    Lu Jiuchuan found that Xiao Lou¡¯s operation was awesome. Even the magicians in games weren¡¯t as cool.

    Yu Hanjiang understood Xiao Lou¡¯s intentions. ¡°Do you want Old Mo to use the rings as support points to build a wooden bridge in the air?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and nodded. ¡°Yes, give it a try. Old Mo, split apart your wooden nks.¡±

    If the rings were densely stacked in order of diameter from small torge, they could actually be made into solid circles suspended in the air for his teammates to step on. However, the workload for Xiao Lou was too big and it would probably take an hour for him to finish it. He only drew some circles of the same size and stacked them together as support points to make it easier for Old Mo to build a bridge.

    Old Mo took out the Solid Wood Flooring card. This solid wood floor was enough to cover a 140 square meter house. Therefore, if Old Mo cut them ording to a length of 10 meters and a width of 1 meter, it would be possible toy a wooden bridge.

    Mo Xuemin was familiar with his furniture cards. He quickly cut the boards and ced them on Xiao Lou¡¯s circles.

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°Once the wooden bridge ispleted, everyone will walk over.¡±

    He and Old Mo cooperated with each other and a wooden bridge in the air was officiallypleted.

    Lu Jiuchuanughed. ¡°We will soon be a construction team.¡±

    They went to the hell of the mountain of knives and paved a marble path. They went to the hell of oil cauldrons and directly made a wooden bridge in the air. Was there a better construction team than them?

    Everyone followed Yu Hanjiang onto the wooden bridge in aplicated mood. The boiling oil cauldron was under the bridge. On the wooden bridge, everyone calmly lined up to move. They looked as if they were crossing a small river that wasn¡¯t frightening at all.

    <strong>TL: Hey everyone! To celebrate CG almost reaching 10,000 members on discord, we will be holding a fanart or fanfiction event. There is no voting or judging. Anyone who enters has a chance to enter a lucky draw pool and win! The lovely trantors and authors have contributed prizes. There are 50 prizes and 50 chances to win! Be sure to check out the details here.</strong>

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 Chapter 385: Hell of the Pit of Cattle

    After leaving the hell of oil cauldrons, Xiao Lou carefully calcted it. They had gone through half of the 18 hells. At present, every ¡®hell secret room¡¯ had a certain degree of difficulty but there was nothing they couldn¡¯t cope with. They needed to reach the end as fast as possible to determine if the hell realm path was the right exit or not.

    A strong sense of hunger struck again. Xiao Lou turned back to his teammates. ¡°Are you hungry?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan frowned. ¡°ording to the flow of time in the hell realm path, has another day passed?¡±

    They just ate something recently. It might¡¯ve just been chocte, biscuits and instant noodles but it didn¡¯t make sense to be hungry so quickly. Xiao Lou spected that the ¡®hell realm path¡¯ had timepression. One hour here was actually one day.

    However, the card skills weren¡¯t calcted ording to the time flow of the hell realm path. Many card skills were only avable once every day. For the cards, only three hours had passed since they entered the tomb. The supplies package could only be opened once a day and it was still on cooldown. They didn¡¯t even have the biscuits to eat now.

    The hunger in his stomach became stronger. Xiao Lou had to take out the two bottles of milk he hadn¡¯t drunk earlier and handed one to Yu Hanjiang. Lu Jiuchuan and Old Mo just drank water instead of milk. The milk wasn¡¯t enough to fill their stomachs but now conditions were limited and they could only make do. The best ones were Tang Ci and Liu Qiao. Due to their physical changes, they only needed one sip of milk to fill their stomachs.

    Tang Ci said, ¡°Just now, Xiao Liu and I didn¡¯t use the supply package. How about we take it out and divide it between everyone?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan had a different opinion. ¡°The two of you should save it first. If the rest of this path is time-consuming and we be hungry again, there will be nothing to eat.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°We will make do with milk first while we try to finish the hell realm path.¡±

    Eating all the food at once was too risky. Leaving Tang Ci and Liu Qiao¡¯s food cards behind meant there was still some guaranteeter.

    Everyone drank the milk and walked forward quickly. A few minutester, another room appeared in front of them.

    It was the hell of the pit of cattle. This was a hell for livestock. It was said that anyone who abused livestock during their lives and based their happiness on the suffering of animals would be sent to the hell of the pit of cattle after death. Their statuses would be exchanged and they would be abused by the livestock in turn.

    In the huge pit the size of a football field, there were crazy cows everywhere. If ordinary people fell into the hell of the pit of cattle then they would be pierced by sharp horns or trampled on by countless hooves. They would definitely die.

    Xiao Lou thought about it and asked Old Mo, ¡°Do you have enough nks?¡±

    The terrain of the hell of the pit of cattle was also a big pit. If there were enough nks then they could follow the method of the hell of oil cauldrons and walk over using the air bridge. After all, the mad cows could only charge around in the pit. They couldn¡¯t fly into the sky to hit the group.

    Old Mo smiled bitterly. ¡°I used almost all of it in the hell of oil cauldrons just now. The area of this cow pit is too big and the nks won¡¯t cover it.¡±

    Xiao Lou carefully observed the mad cows in the pit. These cows were twice asrge as real cows. If they were stepped on by their hooves then their internal organs would probably be crushed. Moreover, the collision routes of the mad cows were messy and disorderly. They didn¡¯t move ording to a set route.

    There were two ways to cross the cow pit. One was to fly through the air and the second was to rely on control skills to pass. If they wanted to fly through the air, he would have to draw circles. Old Mo¡¯s boards weren¡¯t enough so it would be too time-consuming. As for control¡­

    Most of the control cards in the team were in Ye Qi¡¯s hand. If Ye Qi was here then they could control the field with a wide range of music such as the piano or guitar. The mad cows would be obedient immediately. It was a pity that Ye Qi was with Teacher Gui.

    Xiao Lou had to ce his hope on Lu Jiuchuan, ¡°Brother Jiu, your ice sword can freeze living things right? Can you freeze these cows?¡±

    ¡°Of course. However, the duration of the sword¡¯s freezing is only three seconds.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke casually. ¡°Three seconds is enough. We can pass this level using the light footwork cards.¡±

    The two brothers exchanged looks and immediately started moving. Lu Jiuchuan took the lead and swung the ice sword in his hand. The mad cows in the pit were immediately frozen into ice statues. He shouted, ¡°Go!¡±

    Then he stepped on the ice statues and quickly rushed to the other side of the pit. Yu Hanjiang grabbed Xiao Lou¡¯s waist smoothly and flew through the air using the ice statues as a foothold.

    In three seconds, everyone flew over the frozen cows in a thrilling manner. Looking back, the mad cows were already awake, mooing and rushing in their direction. If they were a bit slower then they would¡¯ve definitely been trampled into minced meat.

    Everyone felt a lingering fear as they continued to move forward. They had only taken a few steps when another room appeared in front of them. It was the hell of boulder crushing.

    Xiao Lou whispered a reminder. ¡°This is the hell of boulder crushing. There might be falling stones so we should be careful.¡±

    They had just entered the secret room when the door behind them closed. A steep upward slope around 2 meters wide appeared in front of them. Before they had time to see how long the steep slope was, a huge spherical stone suddenly rolled toward them from the top of the slope down the narrow two meters wide passage.

    The stone encountered the downhill slope and rolled even faster! The huge boulder almost upied the entire passage and they couldn¡¯t avoid it at all. The exit behind them was blocked and a huge stone was approaching in front. If they couldn¡¯t think of a way to pass this room as soon as possible, the huge stone would roll over them and crush them into patties.

    The group quickly retreated. Xiao Lou was in a hurry when he saw that the boulder was only 4 meters away from everyone and he summoned Li Qingzhao. Lu Jiuchuan saw a beautiful ancient woman appear. Then she took out a book and started to read poetry. ¡°Searching and seeking, deserted, bleak misery and miserable sorrow¡­¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan, ¡°???¡±

    Popping out to recite poetry at a critical moment? The style of their team was truly bing stranger. The moment Li Qingzhao uttered the first word, the speed of the rock slowed down like the slow motion button of the movie had been pressed.

    It was only now that they discovered the spherical stone didn¡¯t fill the entire space. After all, this hall was rectangr with a width and height of 2 meters. The spherical stone could only fill the horizontal and vertical space, leaving a small gap in the four corners. It was like putting a ball in a square box. The four corners would have gaps.

    Just now, the stone was rolling too fast and it seemed to fill the entire space visually. It was going to crush them and everyone couldn¡¯t help feeling anxious. Now that the rolling boulder was slowed by Li Qingzhao¡¯s skill, everyone naturally found the gaps.

    Lu Jiuchuan understood. ¡°Drill through the corner?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes. Li Qingzhao¡¯s slow-motion control is limited in duration. We have to move quickly through the corner!¡±

    The huge boulder that was forced into slow-motion was rolling down like a snail. The distance it moved in one second was 10 centimeters. This was not much different from being still. The gap in the corner was big enough for one person to move through. Everyone immediately divided into two groups and moved to the left and the right to quickly go single file through the gaps.

    Li Qingzhao finished reciting the passage and the boulder was released from the control. The group turned their heads and saw it rolling downhill quickly, mming into the wall with a huge ¡®boom¡¯!

    If Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t used his card to control the field at a critical moment then everyone would have been crushed by the boulder. Xiao Lou was relieved and said, ¡°Continue.¡±

    The next room was the hell of skinning.

    The entire room was covered with peeled human skin. Countless lifelike human faces hung in the air, making everyone get goosebumps. The human faces followed them like they were aware. It was as if the faces would float in front of them to scare them at a close range. Suddenly seeing an unfamiliar face in front of them without a body¡­

    This ghost movie-like scene made Lu Jiuchuan swear. ¡°Fuck! There are so many ghost faces!¡±

    Xiao Lou had a guess. ¡°They are all human skins peeled off from people. We shouldn¡¯t touch them.¡±

    The strange-looking faces that filled the room were full of resentment.

    Some faces had horrified expressions, some were full of blood and some showed resentment¡­

    Xiao Lou felt numb looking at these faces with different expressions so he closed his eyes to calm down. Then he spoke to Tang Ci. ¡°Mr Tang, can you test out their attack methods?¡±

    Tang Ci sent a drone to investigate. The moment the drone flew into the room, they saw a human face quickly attach itself to it.

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan resisted his nausea. ¡°The human faces will stick to our faces? Does this mean that if we are touched by a human skin mask, our face will be skinned and reced by the human skin mask?¡±

    This was the hell of skinning. The punishment was to have all their skin peeled off. If they entered this room then they would also suffer the pain of being skinned. The human faces floating everywhere made it hard for the group to find a way to avoid them. What made it worse was that arge number of their card skills were used to clear the other hell rooms and were currently on cooldown.

    Xiao Lou thought about everyone¡¯s cards¡­

    Right, there was Old Mo¡¯s space rotation! He found that after Tang Ci sent the drone, the face masks would turn to the drone. In other words, the faces relied on vision to determine the location of the target. The group had used up their invisibility cloaks and their skills were on cooldown. However, there was another card that could confuse the field of view.

    Mo Xuemin heard Xiao Lou¡¯s words and immediately took out the Rotate Time and Space card. The faces in the room were affected by the card and abruptly turned 180 degrees on a horizontal axis. This was equivalent to them being upside down.

    Once a person was upside down, it was difficult for them to quickly lock onto a target in their field of view. The countless faces that were upside down still made people feel ufortable but they could quickly flee past them.

    Xiao Lou hurriedly said, ¡°Go quickly and avoid their attacks!¡±

    The faces in the room were turned upside down and only the group¡¯s legs could be seen.

    By the time they saw the faces of Xiao Lou¡¯s group, the group had already rushed halfway through the room. The faces wanted to chase them but due to their confused vision, it was difficult to lock onto a target. The six people ran quickly the entire time and rushed out of this strange room in five minutes.

    Xiao Lou felt a lingering fear. After this tomb secret room, he would no longer be afraid when watching ghost movies.

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 Chapter 386: Origin

    The six people walked for a while until a blood red pool appeared in front of them. It was already the 13th level, the hell of the blood pool.

    In therge pool of blood, red bubbles appeared and corroded bones were faintly visible. If they fell into the blood pool then they would definitely be corroded into a pile of bones just like those. They could only pass this secret room by air.

    There were no materials to build a bridge. Xiao Lou thought for a moment before speaking to Lu Jiuchuan, ¡°This hell of the blood pool is rtively wide. Brother Jiu can fly over by riding the vermilion bird¡­ by the way, how many people can the vermilion bird carry at a time?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan helplessly took out the vermilion bird card. ¡°The vermilion bird recognizes its master and will only carry me. Other people won¡¯t be able to ride on its back.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked another question. ¡°Then it doesn¡¯t matter if you take someone else with you?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan was taken aback. ¡°That is the case.¡±

    Xiao Lou was overjoyed and nced at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Hanjiang, where is the white silk?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took out the White Silk card and Xiao Lou handed it to Lu Jiuchuan while exining, ¡°Brother Jiu, the white silk of this card can be freely stretched and tie people together. Can I trouble you to ride the vermilion bird while carrying us separately with the white silk?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    So this time, it was a high-altitude crane? Lu Jiuchuan found that Xiao Lou and the others truly had a lot of cards for everything! He nodded. ¡°No problem.¡±

    The vermilion bird was summoned again. Lu Jiuchuan jumped onto the vermilion bird¡¯s back and tied the white silk around Xiao Lou¡¯s waist. Once the vermilion bird took off, Xiao Lou was also lifted into the air. He gripped the white silk tightly, not daring to look down at the blood pool.

    The vermilion bird flew very quickly and Xiao Lou reached the other side of the blood pool in the blink of an eye. Lu Jiuchuan put him down and went to pick up the other teammates. The next one was Old Mo and finally Yu Hanjiang.

    Lu Jiuchuan took back the Vermilion Bird card andughed. ¡°My vermilion bird must be in a strange mood after being used as a temporary crane for you.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    They really wronged the vermilion bird.

    The 14th level was the hell of the wrongful dead. Those who were sent to the hell of the wrongful dead would never be able to live again.

    There was no mechanism in this room but the environment was very depressing. After entering, they all felt like the air had been drawn away and there were heart-piercing screams all around them.

    The six people covered their ears and quickly entered the 15th level, the hell of dismemberment.

    The hell of dismemberment and the hell of the mountain of knives was simr. It was just that the pit of the hell of the mountain of knives was full of sharp knives. Old Mo used the marble to pave a path across. Meanwhile, the hell of dismemberment contained countless sharp knives flying back and forth in the air.

    The densely packed knives which flew at all angles to cut the skin of the sinners meant there was nowhere to hide. The pain experienced after being cut by the knives was definitelyparable to death by a thousand cuts.

    Fortunately, the flying knives were light and easy to deal with. Xiao Lou took a card out of his card pack¡ªthe hair dryer. The hair dryer was an A-grade card drawn a long time ago and it created a powerful wind to blow away all things in range. The thin des could be blown away by the strong winds.

    Xiao Lou started the hair dryer while shouting at his teammates, ¡°Get ready to rush through as fast as possible!¡±

    He raised the hair dryer and blew it to the left and right. A gust of wind immediately formed and the knives were quickly blown to the side, creating a safe passage without any flying knives! Lu Jiuchuan no longer wanted to evaluate Xiao Lou¡¯s cards. A hair dryer should be used to blow hair but instead it was used to open a path. It was amazing.

    The group followed Yu Hanjiang through the room. ording to the setting of the 18 hells, there were three rooms remaining. They were namely the hell of the mountain of fire, the hell of mills and the hell of sawing.

    The entire room of the hell of the mountain of fire was filled with fire. Everyone was almost scorched by the fire before they even entered the room and they hurriedly took a step back. Fire filled the whole room and they had to take protective measures to get through the mes.

    Going directly into the fire was looking for death. Tang Ci¡¯s heat-resistance armor was the best choice but unfortunately, it had already been used to get through the hell of steaming. They could extinguish the fire first if they had rain or water cards but unfortunately, they didn¡¯t have any.

    Xiao Lou came up with a method. Chief Shao¡¯s Rich and Willful card could copy other cards. If he had Chief Shao copy Tang Ci¡¯s mechanical armor card and then they returned here, wouldn¡¯t they be able to use the armor to pass through?

    Of course, it was impossible to walk back the original way to see Shao Qingge. Teleporting there directly using the Peach Blossom Spring was a good choice. He could use Li Qingzhao¡¯s Stray Into the Depths of the Lotus Flowers to leave a teleportation mark at the hell of the mountain of fire. After Chief Shao copied the card, the six of them could instantly teleport back to this hell.

    Xiao Lou thought up to here and asked Ye Qi through Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings, ¡°Xiao Ye, how is your progress over there?¡±

    Ye Qi replied, ¡°Professor Xiao, I was just going to talk to you. We are back at the original point!¡±

    Xiao Lou heard this and was stunned. ¡°You¡¯ve already gone through the path of the human realm?¡±

    ¡°Yes, we walked through it and returned to the room with the six paths of reincarnation that had the mark left on the door.¡± He paused before adding, ¡°We returned to the original point after going through the gods¡¯ realm and Senior Gui had us try the human realm. As a result, the path of the human realm was very strange. We entered a long curved passageway with murals on the walls on both sides.¡±

    ¡°The entire path of the human realm had no mechanisms. It was a very long, long road which almost made me think we encountered another ghost wall. However, the murals on both sides of the wall kept changing and seemed to be telling a story.¡±

    The first time Ye Qi¡¯s group entered the human realm path, they were mentally prepared to encounter variousplicated mechanisms. The thing that surprised everyone was that there were no mechanisms at all. It was all murals.

    They looked at the murals along the way and their brains were a bit confused. This path seemed to be never ending¡­

    Gui Yuanzhang suddenly said, ¡°Humanity? It is like we are walking through a person¡¯s life.¡±

    The team members finally reacted. The murals in this passage were messy but they seemed to be telling the story of the same person. It was from childhood to old age. Weren¡¯t they walking through a person¡¯s life?

    Ye Qi exined it to Xiao Lou. ¡°Senior Gui spected that the story of the murals is probably rted to the owner of this ancient tomb. We couldn¡¯t quite understand these paintings but fortunately, Sister Huaying¡¯s memory is very good. She noted down most of the murals on the walls.¡±

    Xiao Lou was more confused after hearing this. ¡°So you are back in the six-way reincarnation room?¡±

    Ye Qi nodded. ¡°Yes, I just wanted to discuss with you if we should continue to challenge the doors. By the way, are you still in the hell realm path?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I have to ask for Chief Shao¡¯s help with something. I will open the Peach Blossom transmission so please have everyone ept it.¡±

    Ye Qi immediately conveyed Xiao Lou¡¯s words to his teammates. ¡°Professor Xiao will open the transmission. Please ept it.¡±

    Xiao Lou summoned Li Qingzhao to leave a teleportation mark at the location of the hell of the mountain of fire. Li Qingzhao¡¯s teleportation was dyed and was only avable after five minutes. This was just enough time for them to return from the Peach Blossom Spring.

    He started the transmission and soon everyone gathered in the Peach Blossom Spring.

    Time was urgent so Xiao Lou spoke quickly. ¡°Chief Shao, please use the Rich and Willful card to copy Mr Tang¡¯s mechanical armor. Senior Gui, I have a question to confirm with you. You have just walked the gods¡¯ and human realm paths. After that, you returned to the original point which is the room with the six paths of reincarnation, right?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang nodded. ¡°Yes, we will leave a mark every time we enter a door.¡±

    Xiao Lou took out the map that Old Mo had drawn on the cloth. His speech was very fast but it was organized. ¡°We walked for a while after entering thebyrinth from the stone door and found a fork in the road. Then we split up into two teams. We headed east while you headed west. We immediately found two rooms and got thepass and yin yang mirror. Then we encountered the spiral staircase that seemed like a ghost wall but was actually an illusion.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang nodded. ¡°Yes. After passing the spiral staircase, we each entered a room with the six paths of reincarnation.¡±

    Old Mo finally reacted when he heard this. ¡°So after you walked through the gods¡¯ realm, you returned to the six paths of reincarnation room. After walking through the human realm, you once again returned to that room. Then thisbyrinth¡­ is actually petal-shaped?¡±

    Suppose the first stone gate could be regarded as the rhizome that was divided into two branches. The two rooms that provided thepass and yin yang mirror could be regarded as two leaves. Then going forward, the rooms with the six paths of reincarnation that the two teams met respectively were two flowers?

    The central part was the six paths of reincarnation room while each petal was the path behind the six doors. Regardless of which door they walked through, they would go around and return to the center. In this petal structure, the six petals definitely weren¡¯t the exit.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face was serious. ¡°Once weplete the hell path, we will most likely return to the center of the flower, which is the room with the six paths of reincarnation.¡±

    He said, ¡°If this spection is confirmed then the exit of thebyrinth probably isn¡¯t the six doors.¡±

    At first, everyone entered the room with the six paths of reincarnation. They cracked the charms and medicinal hut mechanism and saw six doors on the six walls. They subconsciously felt that the exit was behind one of these doors so they tried out a route.

    Yet in fact, the six paths of reincarnation was a flower-likebyrinth. No matter which door they went through, they would go back to square one in a big circle. Therefore, the exit wasn¡¯t one of the paths. It was at the origin!

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 Chapter 387: Petals Labyrinth

    Xiao Lou took the n that Old Mo had drawn and pointed to two of the six paths of reincarnation rooms. ¡°The exit of the maze is probably in the six paths of reincarnation rooms. However, we observed it carefully and we didn¡¯t find another special mechanism.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang agreed. ¡°Indeed, the six walls of the room and the medicine hut in the middle were covered with charms. The medicine hut in the middle can be rotated to expose the doors on the six walls. ording to what you said, the exit of thebyrinth is originally in this room. Then what is the mechanism?¡±

    Old Mo made a guess. ¡°Perhaps the medicine hut can continue to rotate?¡±

    They were pressed for time and there were currently no further clues to analyze. Xiao Lou simply suggested, ¡°Senior, can I trouble you to go back to the six paths of reincarnation room and examine it carefully? We have to go back to the hell realm path and finish the remaining three levels to see if everyone¡¯s conjecture is right.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang nodded and the group quickly left the Peach Blossom Spring.

    The location of the Peach Blossom Spring was the tform on the east side of the stairs. If they continued east, they would find the six paths of reincarnation room on the east side. If they went in the opposite direction then they would go to the six paths of reincarnation room on the west side.

    Gui Yuanzhang led the team back to the six paths of reincarnation room while Xiao Lou used Li Qingzhao¡¯s teleportation to teleport the six people back to the hell of the mountain of fire.

    Shao Qingge had copied Tang Ci¡¯s Smart Armor card with his Rich and Willful card. They put on the heat-resistant protective armor again. The entire hell of the mountain of fire was full of raging mes. Under normal circumstances, they would be burned to death when they entered. Now the heat-resistance armorpletely isted them from the mes and the six people smoothly exited the hell.

    They had gone through 16 of the 18 hells. The remaining two levels were the hell of mills and the hell of sawing.

    The hell of mills was like a giant, spinning millstone. Xiao Lou had seen this type of mill at his grandparent¡¯s house when he was a child. It was used to grind wheat to produce flour. At this time, the grinding disc that upied the entire room rotated quickly. If they failed to run properly then they would be ground down into minced meat.

    Xiao Lou used Li Qingzhao¡¯s deceleration skill again and everyone quickly climbed over the grinding tes.

    The hell of sawing contained countless sharp saws cutting back and forth. The movement of these saws was extremely fast. If they weren¡¯t careful, they would be split in half. After carefully observing it for a while, they discovered the rules behind the movement. Based on the simrity to the mechanism of the hell of scissors, they carefully moved past step by step.

    The path of the 18 hells were over and a beam of light appeared in front of them. Xiao Lou walked out of the glowing door with his teammates. Sure enough, it was the six paths of reincarnation room. Xiao Lou saw the blue arrow mark left by himself beside the door of the hell realm.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged looks and thetter spoke in a low voice. ¡°Our guess is correct. Thisbyrinth is indeed petal shaped. No matter which way we go, we will eventually return to this secret room.¡±

    To put it simply, this undergroundbyrinth was a giant flower to the east and the west.

    Assuming that the six paths of reincarnation room where Gui Yuanzhang was located was Point B and Xiao Lou¡¯s location was Point A, then the current course of action of Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s team was: Point B ¡ú gods realm path ¡ú Point B ¡ú human realm path ¡ú Point B.

    They made tworge circles inside thebyrinth rather than going into the depths of thebyrinth.

    The current course of action for Xiao Lou¡¯s team was: Point A ¡ú 18 hells path ¡ú Point A. They also went around in a big circle.

    The first time they entered the six paths of reincarnation room, six doors appeared on the six walls. They would subconsciously think that one of these six doors was the right exit and would try it separately.

    Whether it was the gods¡¯, human or hell realm¡­ the end was the starting point.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s gaze swept across the entire secret room. The charms on the wall were still there and the medicine hut in the middle corresponded to the six walls. Would this medicine hut continue to rotate as Old Mo spected? He told his team, ¡°Try turning this medicine hut.¡±

    The medicine hut was too heavy to be moved by one person. Previously, it took Lu Jiuchuan, Yu Hanjiang and Old Mo working together to turn it. The three of them stepped forward again after hearing Xiao Lou¡¯s words. They each held a corner and started to shove. Yet no matter how hard they tried, the medicine hut that was one meter tall wouldn¡¯t move.

    Xiao Lou asked Ye Qi, ¡°Xiao Ye, what have you found?¡±

    Ye Qi answered, ¡°The medicine hut doesn¡¯t move. We checked the six walls carefully and didn¡¯t find any other mechanisms. I also tried pulling some charms off but the room didn¡¯t respond.¡±

    Where was the mechanism?

    Xiao Lou continued to observe the six paths of reincarnation room. Suddenly, he saw that on the medicine hut in the middle, the three charms corresponding to the path of the gods¡¯ realm, the hell realm and the human realm were flickering with a faint light.

    His eyes narrowed and he walked over for a closer look. It wasn¡¯t dazzling but the charms corresponding to the three paths were indeed flickering.

    Xiao Lou felt enlightened. He pressed down on the voice headset and told everyone, ¡°The three doors we went through weren¡¯t in vain. The design of the petalsbyrinth should be like this: the center of the flower is the mechanism but the six petals must be lit up before the mechanism in the center can be activated. The activation of the petals is shared. We have just finished the hell realm path and three charms on the medicine hut have been activated. My guess is that we must make all six charms light up before this medicine hut can be activated.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang took a closer look. There were indeed three charms shing on the medicine hut in the center.

    Ye Qi was excited. ¡°This is the same as a stand-alone RPG game. First, light up the branches of the mechanism before we can activate the main mechanism. It seems we will have to continue walking through the remaining three doors?¡±

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Senior, how about you go to the demi-god realm and we will go to the animal realm?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang had no objection. ¡°Okay.¡±

    The six people on Xiao Lou¡¯s team entered the animal realm path and inexplicably found that they all turned into animals?! Lu Jiuchuan became a ck bull, Yu Hanjiang became a horse, Old Mo became a big chicken and Xiao Lou was amb. Tang Ci and Liu Qiao were already transformed so their animal forms were also small. Tang Ci became a thumb-sized puppy while Liu Qiao was a thumb-sized pig.

    Lu Jiuchuan, ¡°Moo!¡±

    Old Mo, ¡°Cluck cluck.¡±

    Liu Qiao, ¡°Oink oink?¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°Baa baa?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    No one could understand this fucking cross-speciesnguage!

    The six people felt dark. The animal realm directly turned them into animals. Little loli, you are too good at pitting people.

    Yu Hanjiang flung his horse¡¯s tail and stomped his hooves, meaning, ¡°Go quickly.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan leaned down his bull¡¯s head to let Tang Ci climb on top of his horns. The thumb-sized Tang Ci puppy had to climb helplessly. Meanwhile, Liu Qiao climbed up Old Mo with difficulty. Yu Hanjiang took the lead followed by a bull, sheep, chicken, puppy and pig. Theirnguage wasn¡¯t clear so they didn¡¯t say anything in order to avoid making strange sounds.

    The deeper they went, the gloomier the atmosphere. They found many corpses of the same kind and a lot of blood. Xiao Lou was surprised to find that this path actually disabled their cards.

    The animal realm path was apparently to let them experience the tragedy of being animals. The surrounding walls were full of bloody murals. All types of animals were tortured to death while shedding bloody tears. The more Xiao Lou saw, the more frightened he became. Fortunately, there were no dangerous mechanisms in this path. They walked for around 10 minutes before reaching the exit.

    Xiao Lou saw the door of light and sighed with relief. He left the animal realm path with his teammates. Everyone finally changed back.

    Lu Jiuchuan rubbed his pained head. ¡°First, I became an ugly duckling and then I got to experience the feeling of being a bull. This experience is really rich.¡±

    Xiao Lou, who had be a little sheep, didn¡¯t want to talk.

    He walked toward the central medicine hut and saw that the charm symbolizing the animal realm had lit up. Ye Qi and his group were walking along the demi-god realm path and it hadn¡¯t lit up yet. Xiao Lou asked carefully, ¡°Xiao Ye, how is your side?¡±

    ¡°Our side is full of strange monsters. These monsters have no physical form. They are like ck fog floating in the air and constantly attacking us. Fortunately, Senior Gui is very powerful and used his writing brush to drive away the monsters!¡±

    Xiao Lou was acquainted with the power of Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s brush. Once he waved the brush, he could make the target float in the air. His presence meant Xiao Lou didn¡¯t need to worry about any danger Ye Qi and the others would encounter for the time being. He led his teammates to continue walking the final path of the hungry ghosts realm.

    They entered the path and had only walked a few meters when fierce ghosts with hideous faces swooped toward them. Xiao Lou hurriedly summoned Bai Juyi and used the third skill Song of Evesting Regret to make all targets within range immediately stop attacking! Countless evil ghosts seemed to have had the pause button pressed and they stopped moving immediately.

    Xiao Lou felt a lingering fear as he eximed, ¡°Go!¡±

    The six people ran forward quickly. They passed around a corner and more evil ghosts pounced at them. At the same time, evil ghosts emerged from the ground and held their legs tightly. There were weird screams that made people¡¯s ears hurt.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°This is the hungry ghosts realm. Do they want us to be food for these hungry ghosts?¡±

    As he spoke, he drew his knife and cut at the little ghost holding Xiao Lou¡¯s leg. Simultaneously, he pulled Xiao Lou to him and flew up lightly, stepping on the heads of a few ghosts to rush forward quickly.

    Old Mo learned from his example and flew up lightly with Liu Qiao in his pocket while Lu Jiuchuan simply rode on the vermilion bird.

    The hungry ghosts realm path was very long. The ground, walls and ceiling were packed with evil ghosts. These evil ghosts used their teeth and nails, revealing ghastly white bones. The image was scarier than a tide of zombies!

    Yu Hanjiang took the lead and his knife swung swiftly. It would instantly cut at any hungry ghost that reached out to grab him from the walls.

    Xiao Lou concentrated on dealing with the evil ghosts above their heads. The speed of drawing a circle with thepass was one second. The silver rings floated in the air and became weapons to attack the hungry ghosts, throwing them away.

    The two people cooperated to clear the field, followed by Old Mo and Lu Jiuchuan.

    It wasn¡¯t known when the hungry ghosts realm path would end. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang moved all the way and felt like their arms were going to break. The bones in the cave kept increasing and eventually Lu Jiuchuan couldn¡¯t tolerate it anymore. He directly used the divine beast¡¯s big move.

    It was Vermilion Bird¡¯s Heavenly Fire! The red mes swept through the passage in an instant! The white bones were burned and the entire cave was filled with fire. Yu Hanjiang took the opportunity to hold Xiao Lou and leaped forward quickly.

    They once again returned to the six realms of reincarnation room.

    Simultaneously, Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s voice was heard in Xiao Lou¡¯s ear. ¡°We just came out.¡±

    Xiao Lou held down the voice headset. ¡°Us as well.¡±

    The two people tacitly went to the medicine hut. As expected, they saw that all six charms on the medicine hut were lit up with a soft white light.

    Xiao Lou was happy. ¡°The mechanism has started.¡±

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 Chapter 388: Mysterious Sarcophagus

    It was only when all six petals were lit up that the central mechanism would be activated. Xiao Lou¡¯s inference was indeed correct. Where was the secret mechanism in the medicine house?

    Yu Hanjiang, Lu Jiuchuan and Old Mo stepped forward to grab three corners of the medicine hut and turn it. They thought that after all six colored charms were lit, the medicine house would continue to turn. But¡­

    The three of them exhausted their strength given by the milk and still couldn¡¯t turn the medicine hut.

    Yu Hanjiang looked up. ¡°Is the mechanism not in the medicine hut?¡±

    However, apart from the medicine hut in the middle of the room, the floor didn¡¯t show any hidden mechanisms. They also carefully checked all six walls and there was no mechanism. Xiao Lou frowned and looked around.

    The Eternal me Lamp? He walked over and tried to turn the lights on the six walls. They couldn¡¯t be turned or moved. The Eternal me Lamp was fixed in its ce, so it shouldn¡¯t be a mechanism. It wasn¡¯t the surrounding walls, the medicine hut, the Eternal me Lamp, the ground¡­ where would the mechanism be?

    Xiao Lou suddenly looked up. The ceiling! The room had the ground, walls and medicine hut eliminated so only the roof was left. Who would¡¯ve thought that the mechanism of the underground tomb would be on the ceiling?

    Xiao Lou instructed, ¡°Pay attention to the masks on the ceiling.¡±

    The masks were colorful and had all types of weird patterns on them. The numerous masks covered the entire ceiling. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t see clearly so he sent a look of help to Yu Hanjiang¡­

    Yu Hanjiang understood in seconds. He immediately held Xiao Lou and flew up with the light footwork card.

    From this short distance, Xiao Lou found that some of the masks corresponded to the six paths of reincarnation. He tried to remove the ck mask corresponding to the hell realm path. The ce that the mask covered was a stone brick with the corresponding charm painted on it.

    Xiao Lou quickly removed six masks of different colors and exposed six stone bricks. He moved the positions of the stone bricks so that they corresponded with the six walls.

    There was a loud bang in everyone¡¯s ears. The six-walled room shook violently like an earthquake was urring. The medicine hut in the center of the room suddenly sank, revealing a deep slide. Yu Hanjiang hugged Xiao Lou andnded back on the ground. The two of them came to the medicine hut together and looked down.

    The slide had no visible end and it was uncertain where it went. Still, this was certain to be the exit of the petal shapedbyrinth they had encountered.

    Xiao Lou held down the voice headset and told Gui Yuanzhang how to crack the mechanism. ¡°Senior, the mechanism is on the ceiling. If you remove the masks with the six colors then six stone bricks with charms will appear. Adjust the position to correspond with the six paths of reincarnations and the medicine hut will be activated.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s voice was soon heard in his ear. ¡°There is another secret room below the medicine hut. Enter and see?¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°Keep in touch.¡±

    Both teams headed into the depths of thebyrinth using the slide.

    A whileter, a man and a woman came out of the door to the path of the demi-god realm and walked into the six paths of reincarnation room. They wore ck tights that were easy to move in and had silver-white metal masks on their faces. Their faces couldn¡¯t be seen clearly but their eyes were sharp and cold. The medicine hut had sunken into the ground and revealed an exit. The two people exchanged looks.

    The man spoke in a cold voice. ¡°It seems they have found the exit of this room.¡±

    The woman frowned, her voice revealing a trace of difort. ¡°The exit is actually beneath the medicine hut. We split up and entered different paths to block them, but our timing with them was staggered every time and we became injured. If we knew this, it would¡¯ve been better to wait in the room of six reincarnations.¡±

    The man looked at her calmly. ¡°Why so anxious? This time, we don¡¯t necessarily have to kill Lu Jiuchuan. Our task is to follow and find out the details of his team. We don¡¯t know how many people are in his team right now and we might not necessarily be sessful if we make a move.¡±

    The woman thought about it and nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Then she looked around and fixed her eyes on the door to the hell realm path. ¡°Where is she? Why hasn¡¯t shee out after so long?¡±

    ¡°She probably died in the hell realm path.¡± The man walked to the front of the medicine hut, looked down at the slide and picked up his walkie-talkie. ¡°Everyone, listen to my order. There is a path beneath the medicine hut in the center of the six paths of reincarnation room. Continue to track them and pay attention not to be found by them.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± A few voices were heard in his ears before the man and hispanion jumped down the slide.

    A long corridor paved with stone appeared in front of them. The sound of their footsteps was clear with every step they took. Yu Hanjiang held the Night Pearl and led the way. Xiao Lou, Lu Jiuchuan and Old Mo followed closely. Tang Ci and Liu Qiao were still thumb-sized and stayed in their pockets.

    Xiao Lou paid attention to the murals on the wall as he walked.

    The first picture was about a baby being born. This baby should be of distinguished status because people held a grand blessing event for the birth. The second picture was of the child growing up and wearing colorful dresses with beautiful braids. It was a girl.

    Later, it told the story of her marriage. She wore a red wedding dress and a phoenix crown. There was a mighty guard of honor and the wedding banquet was very lively. The entire wedding mural was five meters long.

    The characters in the murals were so vivid that they quickly understood the contents of the three paintings. Strangely, the murals came to an abrupt end after the candle-lit night in the bridal chamber. Liu Qiao couldn¡¯t help wondering, ¡°What happened to her after the marriage? Logically, if the murals represent the life experience of the owner of the ancient tomb, it should be painted until the owner¡¯s death. It doesn¡¯t make sense to only paint half of it, right?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at the murals and fell into contemtion. The murals used arge amount of red that resembled blood stains, revealing a trace of strangeness in this dark passage. He asked Ye Qi through Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings, ¡°Xiao Ye, what is happening on your side?¡±

    Ye Qi answered, ¡°There are some murals on the wall. It is about the life of a woman, from her birth to her marriage¡­¡±

    ¡°What about after her marriage?¡±

    Ye Qi paused in a slightly confused manner. ¡°There is nothing after her marriage. The walls after it are empty.¡±

    Xiao Lou heard this and the strange feeling in his heart grew stronger. He softly told Yu Hanjiang, ¡°The theme of this week is the headless general¡¯s tomb. I¡¯m afraid that the owner of this tomb isn¡¯t a simple general.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stopped in front of thest mural. ¡°Did this woman¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°She probably died after getting married.¡±

    Liu Qiao was right. If the tomb used the murals to record the life of the tomb owner then it was unreasonable to record the murals of this woman only to stop at the marriage. If a normal woman was buried, they must be images of her heirs and some important traces of herter life.

    ¡ªUnless she died shortly after marriage and there was nothing to record.

    The group exchanged looks and continued to move forward. The deeper the passage, the narrower and colder it became.

    Xiao Lou asked Old Mo, ¡°Which direction is thepass showing?¡±

    Old Mo answered, ¡°East the entire time.¡±

    It was a straight passage without any forks or bends and Old Mo could clearly identify the direction ording to thepass. It wasn¡¯t known how much time had passed before Xiao Lou noticed a stone door in front of him. There was a strange turntable on the door marked with the symbols for gold, wood, water, fire and earth.

    Xiao Lou adjusted the turntable ording to thew of the five elements so it became wood, fire, earth, gold and water.

    The next moment, the stone door opened smoothly in front of everyone.

    Simultaneously, Ye Qi sent him a message. ¡°Professor Xiao, we saw a five elements turntable. The mechanism is very simple. The door was opened by Senior Gui and there is a coffin in a room!¡±

    Xiao Lou looked up and saw a coffin in the room. It was a sarcophagus with unintelligible characters carved on the stone like strange spells.

    The entire room was brightly lit and the Eternal me Lamp in the corner had been burning for many years. The light might be on but the temperature of this room was very low. The cold made everyone shiver. The even stranger thing was therge amount of blood on the sarcophagus.

    Lu Jiuchuan raised an eyebrow. ¡°There is so much blood on the sarcophagus? Has someone else entered this room before us?¡±

    Xiao Lou answered, ¡°The blood has been here for some years. It has oxidized and solidified from the air so it appears red-ck. It should be left over from hundreds of years ago. It isn¡¯t that someone came to this room. It is that something bad happened during the cement of this sarcophagus.¡±

    People who weren¡¯t afraid of corpses naturally weren¡¯t afraid of blood.

    Xiao Lou stepped forward to examine the blood around the sarcophagus. He soon came to a conclusion. ¡°The blood is leaking out from inside the coffin.¡±

    Everyone heard this and sucked in a breath. Who or what was in the coffin? How could there be so much blood seeping out?!

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face was a bit pale as he took a step back and looked at the sarcophagus in front of him. ¡°I suspect that the sarcophagus contains the woman from the mural. She was still alive when ced in the coffin.¡±

    That was why she struggled so much that blood leaked from inside the coffin.

    Everyone felt cold. Putting a living person in a coffin and burying her underground. She would experience fear, pain and hunger until¡­ the final despair. Who had really experienced the feeling of waiting to die?

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath, turned around and told his teammates, ¡°This ancient tomb should be a living tomb. The coffin on Ye Qi¡¯s side probably also has a woman buried alive. A master buried these women alive and created the six paths of reincarnation rooms. This is probably¡­ a priest¡¯s ceremony?¡±

    Sure enough, Ye Qi¡¯s voice entered his ear again. ¡°There is blood on the sarcophagus!¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s spection was confirmed. There were two women buried alive in this tomb on the east and west sides. In order to exit from this ancient tombbyrinth, they needed to find the main tomb, know the identity of the tomb owner and find the meaning behind this priest¡¯s ceremony.

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Just then, the sarcophagus shook violently. The sharp and piercing sound of nails sliding across the surface of the stone entered their ears. The originally solidified dark blood on the sarcophagus turned bright red like it had just started flowing out.

    Lu Jiuchuan leaned back and eximed, ¡°Sudden movement of the corpse?!¡±

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 Chapter 389: Red Clothes

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s words startled everyone.

    The shaking of the sarcophagus became more intense and then the entire room started to shake like there was an earthquake. The blood oozing from the gaps flowed further to the ground. Xiao Lou saw the dazzling blood and quickly stepped back. ¡°Be careful, everyone!¡±

    He had read novels about tomb robbing before where the protagonists would encounter the legendary ¡®zongzi¡¯ after entering the tomb. (zongzi=well-preserved corpses named after the sticky triangr rice cakes known as zongzi)

    The so-called ¡®zongzi¡¯ were actually zombies. The dead buried in ancient tombs would mutate into zombies and attack intruders. They were generally very difficult to deal with. However, he had never heard of a zongzi bleeding?

    The zombies had been buried in the ground for hundreds of thousands of years. The corpses should have long been rotten and air-dried. How could it have fresh blood? Could it be an illusion?

    Xiao Lou looked around quickly.

    In the cold stone room, there were only four corner lights and the sarcophagus in the middle. He couldn¡¯t find any sources of drugs that would make people hallucinate. Moreover, after falling into the hallucination of the spiral staircase, everyone became very cautious. Before entering a new room, they would pay attention to their breathing so as to not inhale toxic gas or incense.

    The scene of the sarcophagus shaking wasn¡¯t an illusion so how could they exin the blood oozing from the gaps?

    Xiao Lou was puzzled. Just then, the lid of the sarcophagus started to shake wildly as if something was desperately trying to open the lid in order to climb out. Yu Hanjiang immediately protected Xiao Lou behind him. He held the handle of his knife tightly with his left hand and stared at the sarcophagus with sharp eyes.

    Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s voice entered Xiao Lou¡¯s ear. ¡°There is something in the sarcophagus. Should we stay or withdraw?¡±

    Obviously, the same thing was happening in Ye Qi¡¯s room.

    Ye Qi said, ¡°If it is a big zongzi, we should be able to beat it right? After all, we have cards in our hands.¡±

    Shao Qingge had doubts. ¡°Big zongzi? Is it the type you eat at the Dragon Boat Festival?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Chief Shao, can¡¯t you be serious?

    Chu Huaying exined in an expressionless manner, ¡°The thousand year old zombies in ancient tombs aremonly known as zongzi.¡±

    Shao Qingge, who had never read tomb robbing novels, reacted btedly. ¡°Oh¡­ in other words, the dead person in the coffin is suddenly moving?¡± Then he quickly stepped back and hid decisively. In the Diamonds secret room, the Bug King card couldn¡¯t be used. He couldn¡¯t use stocks to deal with zombies so he could only rely on his teammates.

    Xiao Lou suddenly said, ¡°We should be careful. It isn¡¯t necessarily a zongzi.¡±

    It was still unknown what was in the coffin. If it was a thousand year old zongzi then it was equivalent to a high level zombie. They had cards and weren¡¯t afraid of zombies and bug groups. Was it necessary to be afraid of a zongzi when it was six against one?

    Xiao Lou¡¯s biggest concern was¡­ it might not be a zongzi in the coffin. The blood was telling him that things weren¡¯t that simple.

    After a brief exchange on the voice channel, the lid of the sarcophagus was pushed up fiercely and the thing in the coffin finally broke free from its restraints, letting out a sharp, ear-piercing cry. The door of the stone chamber closed behind them and everyone was trapped in this room.

    In the enclosed space, the sharp cries started to reverberate. The strange sound was like a mental attack that shook everyone¡¯s brains. This was followed by the sarcophagus lid flying toward the six people!

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s knife shed sharply, directly smashing the stone into two halves.

    In the other room, Gui Yuanzhang moved the writing brush in his hand and the sarcophagus lid was stopped by him. It followed the trajectory of the writing brush and hit the wall with a loud boom!

    The group looked back at the sarcophagus in horror.

    The moment the lid was destroyed, they finally saw what was crawling out of the sarcophagus. It was a young woman. She wore a gorgeous red wedding dress with gold silk thread embroidery that looked brand new.

    The woman¡¯s face was as white as paper and she had a beautiful hairpin in her hair. However, no matter how neatly her hair had been arranged previously, right now this hairpin loosely hung on her head, while most of her waist long, ck hair was messily scattered over her back and shoulders. Her slender hands were stained red with blood and her nails seemed broken from when she opened the sarcophagus just now. Her eyes were also red with blood.

    The woman¡¯s resentful eyes were directed at the crowd and Xiao Lou felt a chill from her stare. Before he could react, the woman grabbed at Xiao Lou with her bloody hands!

    Yu Hanjiang made a decisive action and wielded the knife to cut off her arm. However, the woman was extremely agile and her body very flexible. She retracted her arms and her red embroidered shoes stepped on the stone wall of the enclosed room. She leaped and avoided Yu Hanjiang¡¯s de sharply before grabbing at Lu Jiuchuan standing next to him.

    Yu Hanjiang saw that the woman in red was about to choke Lu Jiuchuan and shed at her. Lu Jiuchuan also pulled out the ice sword and swept it forward horizontally. The surprising thing was that the freezing effect of the sword seemed to have no effect on the woman.

    Lu Jiuchuan retreated quickly and avoided her attack in a thrilling manner.

    The woman failed to attack Lu Jiuchuan and aimed for Old Mo next. Mo Xuemin desperately raised a row of marble walls in front of him to stop her but to Old Mo¡¯s shock, the woman¡¯s nails actually dug a hole out of the marble wall!

    Liu Qiao saw this and hurriedly summoned the Witch card.

    The Witch card in her hand was a must-kill card. In a dark environment, give the designated target a bottle of poison which could immediately kill the opponent. Liu Qiao spilled the poison but the woman in red showed no response!

    Xiao Lou took out the Compass card. He drew a few circles quickly and manipted the metal rings to trap her from all directions!

    The woman saw the rings wrapped around her body and seemed to have the ¡®sh¡¯ ability. She instantly moved from one corner of the room to another corner, ignoring Xiao Lou¡¯s rings. Then she rushed at Xiao Lou again.

    The six people exchanged looks.

    At the same time, in the other secret room, the woman in red appeared and Gui Yuanzhang quickly aimed the brush at her.

    Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s brush could control a weight up to 100 kg. The object would move in the air and follow the trajectory of Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s brush. He originally wanted to throw the woman against the wall with one stroke but he suddenly realized that the woman wasn¡¯t under his control at all!

    Ye Qi took out his flute and started ying music.

    The flute could make a single target fall asleep and it was a very strong control skill. He thought that the moment the flute was yed, the woman would fall into a sleepy state. Unexpectedly, the woman didn¡¯t respond at all!

    Chu Huaying saw this and her slender shadow moved like the wind. This was the first time Ye Qi and the others had seen Chu Huaying acting. She was as fast as lightning and they couldn¡¯t see it clearly. In the blink of an eye, she hade behind the woman in red.

    A cold light shed in Chu Huaying¡¯s hand and the blood-red Spider Dagger urately hit the red-clothed woman in the back.

    Yet Chu Huaying¡¯s dagger didn¡¯t have any sense of touch. It was as if it had stabbed a mass of air. No matter what the other side was, there would definitely be the sensation of the dagger being inserted into flesh. Then why¡­

    Chu Huaying was slightly startled. The next moment, the red-clothed woman turned back, her eyes full of bloody tears. The bright red tears continued to slide down her pale cheeks. Immediately afterwards, she reached out her pale hands and grabbed Chu Huaying¡¯s neck.

    Gui Yuanzhang eximed, ¡°Huaying!¡±

    Ye Qi also called out in shock. ¡°Sister Ying, be careful!¡±

    They wanted to help but Chu Huaying disappeared from in front of everyone like she had been sucked into another space.

    Ye Qi¡¯s face turned pale and he hurriedly took out his musical instruments to take control of the field. Long Sen and Qu Wanyue took action as well, using the Chameleon card to blend into the environment to find a chance to attack the woman in red.

    Shao Qingge retreated to the door and quickly reported to Xiao Lou, ¡°Xiao Lou, Chu Huaying is gone!¡±

    Meanwhile, Xiao Lou¡¯s group had encountered an unprecedented crisis. The cards of the six people seemed to have failed. They obviously released their skills but they couldn¡¯t control the woman in red.

    Seeing her sharp ws about to hit Xiao Lou, Lu Jiuchuan shouted and the ice sword in his hand stabbed at the woman¡¯s neck. The woman twisted to avoid it. Then she screamed and continued to attack Xiao Lou.

    Yu Hanjiang reached out with his left hand and pulled Xiao Lou into his arms. Then he used the light footwork card to step onto the broken stone bricks, avoiding the woman¡¯s attack while shing at her head with the knife. The woman didn¡¯t evade this time. Her blood-red eyes kept staring straight at Xiao Lou, her eyes constantly shedding bloody tears while her hair moved around her.

    Lu Jiuchuan couldn¡¯t help cursing. ¡°Fuck, is this an upgraded version of the zongzi? How the hell can she fly?¡±

    Tang Ci wondered, ¡°Chief Shao said that Huaying is missing. What is going on?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was tense due to being stared at by the woman but he quickly calmed down and thought about countermeasures.

    He had read tomb robber novels. Zongzi were generally mutated corpses and most corpses had amon feature¡ªtheir movements were slow. Zombies also followed this rule. After all, the water and blood inside the corpse had been lost and their muscles were shriveled. It would be too unscientific if their actions were faster than humans.

    Meanwhile, the woman in front of them was extremely agile. She could avoid everyone¡¯s attacks and even leap on the walls. She was so flexible and could fly. She naturally wasn¡¯t a zongzi.

    Xiao Lou faced the eyes filled with bloody tears and trembled. ¡°She¡­ is probably a resentful spirit or ghost.¡±

    As if to prove his thoughts, Yu Hanjiang shed at her head with his dagger. Not only did her head not split apart, but it was like she was a mass of nothingness. The sharp knife passed directly through her body but she remained unscathed.

    Obviously her body was like air, unable to be injured in any way. It was only a resentful spirit or ghost with no physical body.

    Just then, Ye Qi¡¯s nervous voice was heard from the voice channel. ¡°Professor Xiao, my musical instruments and Senior¡¯s brush is useless against her. Our control skills are invalid! Sister Ying¡¯s dagger also couldn¡¯t stab her to death. It shouldn¡¯t be a zongzi. I don¡¯t know where Sister Ying has gone. I can¡¯tmunicate with her on the voice channel.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°How did Huaying disappear?¡±

    Ye Qi replied, ¡°She was choked by this woman and disappeared.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought for a moment. Then he freed himself from Yu Hanjiang¡¯s arms, took a deep breath and voluntarily walked in front of the woman.

    The woman flew over and grabbed Xiao Lou¡¯s neck! Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart trembled and he reflexively wanted to protect Xiao Lou, but Xiao Lou stopped him. ¡°It¡¯s fine, don¡¯t resist.¡± His voice was calm. ¡°She has no physical body and we can¡¯t touch or hurt her. She naturally can¡¯t hurt us either.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stopped moving. The next moment, Xiao Lou disappeared in front of everyone. Yu Hanjiang was shocked. He was afraid that Xiao Lou had an ident but if Xiao Lou was dead, why didn¡¯t they see his body? So did Xiao Lou and Chu Huaying enter another space?

    He thought this and stepped forward without hesitation. He took the initiative to contact the woman in red and was choked by her. Then Yu Hanjiang disappeared as well.

    Lu Jiuchuan had to helplessly say, ¡°Let¡¯s go together and see what is going on.¡±

    Everyone collectively came forward. More bloody tears streamed from the woman¡¯s eyes as she constantly choked everyone. It wasn¡¯t until thest person disappeared that everyone was shocked to find¡ª

    The six of them had returned to the original stone room. In front of them, the sarcophagus was motionless and it was still covered by the lid. There was no bright blood on it, only the dried up dark blood from thousands of years ago. The horror scene just now seemed to be an illusion.

    Xiao Lou was standing in front of the sarcophagus, looking thoughtfully at the spells on the sarcophagus.

    Yu Hanjiang nervously walked over, ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Xiao Lou pressed down on the voice headset and told his teammates, ¡°The woman in red should be a resentful spirit without a physical body. It can be understood as an illusion created by strong resentment. Just now, we were brought into an illusion by this resentment.¡±

    This is tomorrow¡¯s chapter because I¡¯m getting my wisdom teeth pulled out tomorrow and will be in recovery.

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 Chapter 390: Resentful Spirit

    Everyone¡¯s expressions became serious when they heard Xiao Lou¡¯s words.

    In the other room, the group had followed Xiao Lou¡¯s instructions and stopped resisting. They collectively returned to the stone room and saw Chu Huaying standing in front of the sarcophagus. Then they heard Xiao Lou¡¯s analysis.

    Ye Qi quickly understood. ¡°So everything just now was an illusion? That¡¯s why all our card skills were invalid on her and stabbing her with a dagger didn¡¯t hurt her?¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°This room hasn¡¯t changed. The sarcophagus is still in ce, there is no fresh blood leaking from it and nothing has crawled out. It is just that we were affected by a hallucination after entering this room and didn¡¯t know we were in an illusion. If we couldn¡¯t discover it in time, we would have ended up fighting desperately with the resentful spirit and would have just consumed our physical strength in vain.¡±

    Shao Qingge rubbed his temples. ¡°Xiao Lou, do you mean that everything we saw after entering this room was an illusion and we needed to be ¡®struck to death¡¯ by the resentful spirit to return to the present state? However, under normal circumstances, anyone would resist when seeing the resentful spirit. The fiercer we resist, the more ferocious the resentful spirit will be?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is only when we don¡¯t resist and we are ¡®killed¡¯ by her resentment that we can escape the illusion she created.¡± Xiao Lou paused before continuing, ¡°These women were buried alive in the ancient tomb. Before they died, their resentment gathered and they became resentful spirits. This might give us important clues.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s voice entered his ears. ¡°Clues? What clues did the illusion just now give us?¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Did you see a woman wearing a red wedding dress, embroidered shoes and some jewelry?¡±

    Ye Qi nodded. ¡°Yes, she was a bride with messy hair and bloody tears in her eyes. Her face was as white as a ghost. By the way, what is the difference between a ghost and a resentful spirit?¡±

    Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t clear about the exact difference between a resentful spirit and a ghost. It seemed there was nothing wrong with considering her a ghost? Ye Qi¡¯s answer told him that the resentful spirits in both rooms were brides.

    Xiao Lou thoughtfully looked at the coffin in front of him. ¡°Since both women were wearing wedding dresses, it is likely they were buried directly in the sarcophagi on their wedding night.¡±

    Everyone heard this and sucked in a breath.

    The wedding night should be the happiest moment for a woman. In ancient times, women were raised by their parents and married at a young age. When they got married, they must¡¯ve fantasized about how tall and brave their husbands would be and how kindly he would treat them. On their wedding night, they would be shy and nervous¡­

    As a result, they were married in their wedding dress and instead of being sent to the bridal room, they were put in a sarcophagus. The shock, fear and anger of the two women was conceivable. It was no wonder that after they were buried alive, their resentment persisted and they even brought those who entered the room into an illusion.

    Qu Wanyue spoke in a soft voice, ¡°Burying a bride alive is too cruel¡­ Professor Xiao, is this the priest¡¯s ceremony you mentioned?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I previously spected that this ancient tomb is a living tomb. It seems this guess isn¡¯t wrong. The owner of this ancient tomb likely had the brides carry out a living sacrifice ceremony. They were put in the coffin and buried alive.¡± He stared at the sarcophagus in front of him. ¡°At present, we have only found one sarcophagus on each side. Perhaps there will be more in the ancient tomb.¡±

    After all, it was a living sacrifice. This was such a big tomb, would there only be two sacrifices inside it?

    Xiao Lou leaned over to look closely at the spells on the sarcophagus. He always felt they were a bit familiar. Suddenly, he thought of the scene of the woman in red choking his neck. In the scene, the woman had a twistedb in addition to the hairpin. Thisb seemed to have the same symbol on it?

    Xiao Lou left the stone room and stopped in front of a mural. It was the mural of the grand wedding scene. He found that there were many utensils and wedding dowry boxes with simr symbols. It was just hard to notice such a subtle clue when the mural was so big.

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°The sarcophagus,b and dowry items all have the same symbol. It is likely the symbol of the woman¡¯s family.¡±

    Old Mo came over to take a closer look. ¡°This symbol looks a bit like¡­ a ghost face symbol?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also came and stood beside Xiao Lou. He observed the mural and spoke softly, ¡°I heard that in ancient times, viges and tribes would have their own gods that they believe in. This totem is indeed like the symbol of the bride¡¯s n.¡±

    Xiao Lou pressed against the voice headset and asked the other team, ¡°Look carefully at the symbols on the sarcophagus and then go to the mural outside. Can you find the same pattern?¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s excited voice soon entered his ears. ¡°Found it! The wedding banquet dowry boxes are engraved with the exact same pattern as the one on the sarcophagus. It is a bit like¡­ a wolf totem?¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°The one we found here is more like a ghost face totem.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang heard this and analyzed in a low voice, ¡°The women buried alive in the two stone rooms are obviously from different tribes. It is possible that the owner of the tomb married women from different tribes and buried them alive on the wedding day so as to achieve the effect of the priest¡¯s ceremony?¡±

    The more they heard, the colder they felt. From the moment they entered this living tomb, everyone had felt it was weird and gloomy. It turned out that too many living people were buried here. They were also brides buried on their wedding day.

    Chu Huaying calmly said, ¡°Then in order to leave, we must find all the brides buried alive, draw a floor n based on their location in the tomb and guess the exit of the ancient tomb?¡±

    Xiao Lou suddenly remembered the priest¡¯s ceremony of Liuxi Vige. At that time, seven gems were ced in different corners of the vige in the shape of a ¡®human body.¡¯ A girl was brutally killed that year. How many brides were buried alive in this tomb? Where were they buried and what was the meaning of this ceremony?

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath. ¡°We have to slowly look for the other brides. Let¡¯s open the sarcophagus first.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Open the sarcophagus and take a look? How could Xiao Lou say it so calmly? Everyone felt dumbfounded.

    Yu Hanjiang understood Xiao Lou¡¯s thoughts. ¡°Do you want to open the coffin for an autopsy?¡±

    Ye Qi remembered the woman with bloody tears just now and got goosebumps. ¡°Professor Xiao, are you sure you want to open the coffin? Perhaps a zongzi will really pop out?¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°The keeper is principled and will rarely use the same trick twice in a row. Just now, she scared us with the resentful spirit so there should be no zongzi.¡±

    He went to the sarcophagus as he spoke. The lid of the sarcophagus flying up and the bride in red crawling out from it was just a hallucination.

    Currently, the sarcophagus was just ced there quietly. Xiao Lou motioned for Yu Hanjiang to open the lid of the coffin. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s method was simple and crude. He directly pried open the lid with the dagger and lifted it up. Sure enough¡­ there was a skeleton in a red wedding dress lying in the coffin.

    It was too old and the body had long decayed. Only white bones were left among the bright wedding dress, making people get the chills. After being put in the sarcophagus, she struggled frantically so the inside of the sarcophagus was covered with ck-red blood everywhere. She pounded on the sarcophagus with both hands until her hand bones were broken. Her woodenb was also lying quietly inside the coffin.

    Xiao Lou stated, ¡°In terms of bone development, this girl shouldn¡¯t be older than 18 years old.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan couldn¡¯t help scolding them. ¡°This group of animals, they actually buried such a young girl alive in the coffin?!¡±

    Xiao Lou picked up the woodenb engraved with the ghost face totem. ¡°We will take this. Perhaps it will be useful with ater mechanism.¡±

    Xiao Lou opened the sarcophagus while on the other side, Gui Yuanzhang did the same. Inside were the white bones of the bride who was also dressed in a wedding dress. In addition, they found a bracelet in the coffin.

    Ye Qi thought about it. ¡°Just now, the female ghost was wearing this bracelet when she grabbed Sister Huaying¡¯s neck.¡±

    He picked up the bracelet carefully.

    Xiao Lou told them, ¡°We will continue to enter the depths of thisbyrinth. This ancient tomb will definitely have more than these two people buried alive.¡±

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 Chapter 391: The Secret of the Sarcophagus

    Aftering out of the cold stone room, the six people in Xiao Lou¡¯s group and the six people in Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s group continued to walk deeper into thebyrinth. There was a gust of wind through the corridor paved with stone bs that made everyone get goosebumps. In the quiet corridor, there was only the sound of breathing and footsteps.

    Old Mo was holding thepass to check. Their route was still heading eastward but it wasn¡¯t due east. It was around 10 degrees offset from the east.

    They walked some distance before Old Mo stopped. He looked around and opened his mouth. ¡°How big is this ancient tomb? We¡¯ve been walking for 10 minutes since we came out of the stone room but we still haven¡¯t found anything.¡±

    Xiao Lou also felt puzzled. He looked at the n drawn by Old Mo. After leaving the six realms of reincarnation room, they walked in a straight line. 500 meters passed and they found the first sarcophagus. Next was another straight line and there was no fork in the road.

    He pressed down on the headset to ask about the situation on the opposite side. ¡°Senior Gui, have you found anything over there?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang replied. ¡°No, it is a straight corridor. There are no murals on the walls and no mechanisms.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked again, ¡°What about the direction? It still hasn¡¯t changed?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang looked down at thepass in his hand. ¡°Yes, it is just like before.¡±

    Xiao Lou felt helpless. ¡°Keep going and stay in touch.¡±

    They walked forward for another few minutes before finding that the walls were once again covered in colorful murals.

    Yu Hanjiang held up the Night Pearl for illumination. Xiao Lou walked over to observe carefully. The contents of the murals still depicted the period from infancy to adulthood. It was just that this time, there was no scene of the marriage. Judging from the clothes and hair, the protagonist of the mural seemed to be a man.

    The clue of the totem had been found in the mural before. Xiao Lou observed the murals more carefully this time. The man¡¯s ck hair was tied in a bun on top of his head with a simple elegant wooden hairpin and he had a jade pendant on his waist in the shape of a crescent moon. Thest mural looked like the scene of him joining the army? The man wore the armor of an ancient soldier.

    Xiao Lou was stunned. ¡°It isn¡¯t a woman this time.¡±

    It had previously been spected that the owner of the tomb had married many young girls from different tribes to sacrifice them and bury them alive in the ancient tomb¡­ now the appearance of a man in the murals showed that this spection was wrong.

    After reading the murals, a stone door appeared in front of them. There was a simple Taichi diagram that would open the mechanism as long as the pattern was restored. As Xiao Lou spected, there was a sarcophagus in the stone room and the blood oozing from the gaps in the sarcophagus had already solidified and ckened.

    Would there be resentment again that would make them fall into a hallucination? The group took a step back and stared warily at the sarcophagus. However, one minute passed and nothing happened.

    Xiao Lou told them, ¡°Open it and see.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang pulled out his dagger and split open the lid of the sarcophagus. There was a white skeleton inside the coffin that was wearing armor. The metal armor had long since oxidized and ckened due to age. He held a jade pendant in his hand that was the same as in the mural. There was the mark of a crescent moon on it.

    Xiao Lou leaned over to look closely at the bones and analyzed, ¡°It is an adult male and the age should be around 25 years old. There were signs of a fierce struggle before his death. All of the bones in his hands were broken.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned as he looked at the white bones in the coffin. ¡°There was a bride in the sarcophagus just now. It seems that it is a soldier this time?¡±

    Xiao Lou temporarily didn¡¯t understand. He asked Gui Yuanzhang in a low voice. ¡°Senior, what did you find over there?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang had just entered the stone room. Chu Huaying opened the coffin and found a skeleton lying inside. There was a ne around the neck bones of the skeleton. The pendant was a bit like a wolf¡¯s tooth and there was a strange totem painted on it.

    Gui Yuanzhang answered, ¡°A corpse and a totem ne were found. The clothes should be coarse cloth.¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°Look at the pelvis of the corpse. Is the upper part peach shaped or oval? For the angle of the pelvis at the very bottom, is the angle around 70 degrees acute or greater than 90 degrees obtuse?¡±

    Chu Huaying was right next to the coffin. She heard this and answered, ¡°It is peach shaped and the angle is acute.¡±

    It seemed to be a man again.

    In a case where the corpse had dposed to bones, the key to distinguish between a male and female was the pelvis. The female pelvis was oval and the angle of the pubic symphysis at the bottom was 100 degrees or more, facilitating the birth of children. Males didn¡¯t need to give birth so the angle of the pelvis below was sharp and pointed.

    Xiao Lou told the others about his conclusion. ¡°The newly discovered bones in the rooms on both sides are male. We seem to have a soldier here and you should have a schr?¡±

    Ye Qi added, ¡°The murals we just saw seem to be the scene of a schr growing up.¡±

    Everyone exchanged nces.

    The underground tomb was full of strange things. The brides were the first ones discovered, it was thought that the owner of the tomb had deliberately married some young girls to bury them alive. Since the owner of the tomb was a general, perhaps he was a lustful man. Before he died, he wanted to drag some women to hell with him. Maybe he paid attention to ¡®enjoying women without lifting a finger¡¯.

    Now it seemed this wasn¡¯t the case. The bodies of two men were found in the next stone rooms. Judging from the jade pendant and ne left on them, they still belonged to different tribes. The only thing inmon was that the people buried alive were very young.

    So what was this ceremony?

    Xiao Lou was temporarily unable toe to a conclusion. ¡°Continue looking first. We have to find all the sarcophagi.¡±

    After leaving the stone room the group walked a bit further. A corner appeared at the corridor ahead, at an angle of around 135 degrees to the corridor.

    Xiao Lou stopped at the corner and ordered, ¡°Old Mo, check the direction.¡±

    Old Mo held thepass carefully. ¡°Based on thepass pointer, this direction¡­ it should be due north.¡±

    North?

    The direction suddenly changed and everyone couldn¡¯t help being more cautious.

    Along the way, murals appeared on the walls on both sides of the passage. This time, the main characters of the murals were two small children. The two of them were ying with each other, looking lively and cute.

    There was only one pair of murals. Then another stone door appeared.

    Xiao Lou pushed open the stone door gently. It actually opened without a mechanism.

    Inside the room was still a sarcophagus. Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t need Xiao Lou¡¯s reminder. He directly used his de to split open the lid of the sarcophagus.

    The scene inside the coffin made everyone feel numb.

    They saw two cute children in the coffin. They looked only seven or eight years old and were a boy and a girl. The girl was dressed in bright red with her hair in two small braids. The boy was wearing white and his hair was tied up. The skin of the two children wasn¡¯t rotten. They looked¡­ alive!

    Two vivid-looking children suddenly appeared in the coffin in the tomb. Lu Jiuchuan couldn¡¯t help taking a step back.

    At the same time, Ye Qi¡¯s voice was heard in Xiao Lou¡¯s ears. He was obviously frightened and his voice trembled slightly. ¡°Professor Xiao, there are two children in the coffin. One is male and the other is female!¡±

    The next moment, the boy and girl suddenly opened their eyes, two lines of bloody tears dripping from them. The two children cried and their crying made the people listening to them sad. They stood up and stretched out their arms as if asking Xiao Lou to hold them.

    Yu Hanjiang held up his sword and ced Xiao Lou behind him.

    Lu Jiuchuan saw the two children moving toward them and felt numb. ¡°This room is just like a ghost horror movie! How can the children in the coffin still move? Is it another illusion?¡±

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath. ¡°Everyone, close your eyes. Don¡¯t look and don¡¯t listen.¡±

    Everyone did so immediately. A momentter, the strange crying of the children really disappeared. Xiao Lou opened his eyes and saw that the two children were still quietly lying in the coffin. They hadn¡¯t moved at all.

    He said, ¡°This is the live sacrifice of a virgin boy and girl.¡±

    Ye Qi heard this and his eyes widened. ¡°I heard a saying that many powerful officials in ancient times will find some young boys and girls to bury alive with them when they die. It is like bringing servants to wait on them in the afterlife.¡±

    Xiao Lou exined. ¡°The ancients believe that even mortals have immortal energy in their bodies. In particr, that virgin boys and girls have spiritual roots inside their bodies. Their immortal karma and energy are stronger than the average person. Thus, the ancients liked to use virgin boys and girls to be buried with themselves to help them be immortals after death.¡±

    He looked at the two lovely children in front of him. He couldn¡¯t help clenching his fists and spoke in a low voice. ¡°Once the bodies rot after death, their immortal energy will leak out. In order to not let the immortal energy in the bodies of these children leak, they will force a lot of mercury into the body of the children when they are still alive. This way, their bodies will remain the same and they will look like they are still alive.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Lu Jiuchuan sucked in a breath. ¡°In other words, they grabbed living boys and girls and poured mercury into their bodies? How did they do that?¡±

    ¡°I have read some information. They usually poured the mercury into the child¡¯s mouth. They also created holes in the top of the head, the back and the soles of the feet, through which they slowly poured in mercury. After the mercury entered the body, the children didn¡¯t die immediately. The mercury flowed all over their body and they slowly suffered to death. Mercury has a strong antiseptic effect and the corpse will remain fresh for a long time.¡± Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help his voice trembling. It was the first time he had seen such a cruel burial system.

    ¡°Fuck!¡± Lu Jiuchuan couldn¡¯t help cursing. ¡°These beasts, they slowly tortured children to death and they still want to fucking be immortal? They are so evil that they should go to the 18 hells!¡±

    ¡°It seems that these two children look like living people because they are filled with mercury.¡± Yu Hanjiang had his three views refreshed about some of the feudal society¡¯s burial systems. It was really ignorant and cruel.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s words were transmitted to Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s team of six through the voice headset.

    Qu Wanyue looked at the two children in the coffin and clenched her fists. ¡°Is this tomb owner really doing this for the so-called immortality? He buried so many people alive for himself?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang told them, ¡°There is a saying that if living people die for them, not only can it help them be immortal but those who died will also serve as their servants in another world.¡±

    He nced at the two children in the cold sarcophagus and said in a deep voice, ¡°We have found two beautiful young brides, two strong young men and two pairs of boys and girls. ording to this logic, after death, the tomb owner will have a wife, a concubine, servants and boys and girls to help him cultivate immortality. This can be called very satisfactory.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Such a person wanted to be an immortal? He should go to hell and ept the 18 types of torture!

    Gui Yuanzhang leaned over and took off two charms from the chests of the two children.

    At the same time, Xiao Lou also found the amulets on the children.

    He leaned down to take off the charms. ¡°It is said that the virgin boys and girls used for burial shouldn¡¯t just keep their physical bodies intact. Their souls also need to be confined to the tomb, to be loyal to the tomb owner and never reincarnate. These charms should be a way to suppress the souls of the children.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Did the children¡¯s pained cries just nowe from their sealed souls?

    No one knew what to say.

    Xiao Lou took off the charms. He didn¡¯t know if this was a type of relief for the children.

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 Chapter 392: Hunters

    The group came out of the stone room and continued to go forward. At a corner, Yu Hanjiang came to a sudden stop. His ears keenly heard a strange footstep. Yu Hanjiang immediately held his breath and whispered in Xiao Lou¡¯s ears, ¡°Someone is following us.¡±

    He was a criminal investigations police officer who often tracked prisoners. Thus, he had a strong sense of anti-surveince.

    The corridor was paved with blue stone bs and the sound of footsteps was very clear. Tang Ci and Liu Qiao were in the pockets of their teammates so there should only be four footsteps in their party. Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s footsteps were heavy, Xiao Lou¡¯s were light and Old Mo walked slowly because he had to draw the map while walking¡­

    The sound of the footsteps that just entered his ears didn¡¯t belong to any of his teammates.

    Xiao Lou heard Yu Hanjiang¡¯s words and the scene of the hell of the tree of knives shed in his mind. A hunter hung from the iron tree, sharp des stabbing her chest as she bled to death. It was just one of the hunters who sneaked into thebyrinth. There definitely wouldn¡¯t be only one. So¡­

    The ones tracking them from behind were hunters?! Xiao Lou suddenly tensed up. He lowered his voice and asked in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ears, ¡°How many people are there?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang listened carefully. ¡°The footsteps have stopped. The other side is very cautious. I can¡¯t distinguish how many there are at present. However, we can leave surveince.¡±

    Xiao Lou understood. He looked up and found a bright light in the corner. Then he left the drone card previously given by Tang Ci behind the light. In this way, the light would cover up the drone and prevent the other party from noticing the presence of this surveince.

    Lu Jiuchuan and Old Mo found Xiao Lou cing the surveince and wanted to speak. Then they saw Xiao Lou make a ¡®shh¡¯ gesture and they immediately shut up. Yu Hanjiang made a gesture that meant some people were following them.

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s expression changed slightly and he mouthed, ¡°The hunters?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. Xiao Lou ced the drone surveince and used Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings to inform Ye Qi, ¡°Xiao Ye, you might have hunters following you. Be careful and keep quiet for now. Find a way to tell your teammates as soon as possible.¡±

    Ye Qi heard Xiao Lou¡¯s voice in his mind and quickly wrote a few words on the palms of his teammates. ¡°There are hunters tracking us.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang frowned slightly and looked back at Long Sen and Qu Wanyue.

    The two people nced at each other and immediately stuck to the wall. They used the Chameleon card to blend in with their surrounding environment.

    The Chameleon card allowed them to be hidden and it wasn¡¯t easy for them to be found. Long Sen and Qu Wanyue quickly disappeared and moved while sticking to the wall. Sure enough, they saw three hunters sneaking this way around the corner. They immediately went back and reported it to Gui Yuanzhang. ¡°There are three people, two men and one woman. They are wearing silver masks.¡±

    Chu Huaying said, ¡°So few people? Are they the most capable elite?¡±

    There was a strict hierarchy in the Hunter¡¯s League. Ordinary hunters usually entered low level secret rooms such as 3 or 4 of Spades to kill neers. The mid-level hunters often went to the A-grade secret rooms and World Weekly secret rooms. A team who could reach all the way here must have many cards and were experienced. It wasn¡¯t easy to deal with them so the hunting and killing tasks often failed.

    The other side already knew that Lu Jiuchuan was in the team yet they sent so few people¡­ maybe this time, they were all elites with strong abilities.

    Chu Huaying had followed Lu Jiuchuan in and out of the secret rooms many times, killing more hunters than she could count. On the bounty list of the Hunter¡¯s League, the name Spider Queen was ranked first. She also had a certain understanding of this organization. She went to Old Gui and lowered her voice. ¡°If there are three elites, the six of us should have a chance to win against the three of them.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang shook his head. ¡°Don¡¯t inadvertently alert the enemy. We will see the situation on Xiao Lou¡¯s side first.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s group of six continued to move forward without incident. They discussed thebyrinth and sarcophagi and on the surface, they hadn¡¯t discovered that they were followed by hunters.

    A man and a woman sighed with relief and moved forward. The thing they didn¡¯t know was that Xiao Lou was holding a card in his hand. The card was like the screen of a phone and clearly disyed the surveince video of the corridor.

    They saw a man and a womaning their way. They were both wearing silver masks so their faces couldn¡¯t be seen. Still, judging from the way they were walking, their skills should be good. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang looked at each other and Xiao Lou pointed to a stone door next to them.

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and headed to the door. His other teammates followed. There was no sarcophagus behind the door. Instead, there were stairs leading to the top. Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan quickly hid on both sides of the stone doors. Xiao Lou said, ¡°There are stairs here. It should be the exit of thebyrinth. Let¡¯s go up and take a look.¡±

    Old Mo cooperated with the acting. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Everybody, be careful.¡±

    Then Xiao Lou and Old Mo pretended to climb the stairs while they actually jumped down after a few steps and hid in a corner of the stone room.

    The room became extremely quiet. Then Ye Qi¡¯s voice rang in Xiao Lou¡¯s mind. ¡°Professor Xiao, we have three hunters on our side. Sister Huaying wants to take care of them. How is the situation on your side? Are there many hunters?¡±

    Xiao Lou answered, ¡°There are only two of them. Let¡¯s do it to avoid having a long night.¡±

    These hunters should be the vanguard sent to investigate their situation. They didn¡¯t want to kill the team in the World Weekly secret room so they trailed behind and observed secretly.

    Lu Jiuchuan had killed many elite hunters with his team of a dozen people. His fame as well as strength were enough to scare the organization of hunters. They wouldn¡¯t act rashly before figuring out Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s new teammates.

    If Xiao Lou and the others were in a dangerous situation in thebyrinth then these hunters might take the opportunity to pick up the mistake and deal them a fatal blow. If they dealt with it calmly, the hunting might not happen from beginning to end.

    It wasn¡¯t known how much information the five hunters had at the moment. In any case, they couldn¡¯t be let go. Time passed and the room was so quiet that a needle dropping could be heard. Everyone held their breaths.

    Just then, the sound of footsteps suddenly entered their ears. The man and woman seemed to think their group had already gone upstairs so the two people quickly followed into the stone room. Yet the moment they entered the room, they were greeted with a sharp de!

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hands were quick and fierce. He shed at the man¡¯s neck with a sharp de and it almost cut off the man¡¯s head! However, the man¡¯s reaction was also extremely quick. At almost the same moment that Yu Hanjiang swung the de, he immediately bent over and to the side, avoiding the de in a thrilling manner. As his body sank, his feet retreated quickly like he was wearing roller skates.

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s Cold Ice Sword followed closely. The tip of the sword that swept over was freezing cold.

    The man raised a strange metal shield to block Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s freezing air current. The eyes behind the mask were as sharp as an eagle as he coldly dered, ¡°It isn¡¯t that easy to kill me!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was toozy to talk nonsense. He directly took out his hand gun, installed the silencer and aimed at the metal shield. A bullet was fired and shot at the middle of the man¡¯s shield. It created a spider web-like pattern but it didn¡¯t hurt the man. The manughed. ¡°My shield is bulletproof¡­¡±

    The next moment, hisughter abruptly stopped. It was because Yu Hanjiang¡¯s second bullet followed closely and shot precisely in the center of the pattern where the bullet had exploded just now. It shot through the shield and directly into the man¡¯s chest!

    The man stared in disbelief before falling straight down to the ground. The metal shield could be broken after two consecutive shots hit the same location.

    Lu Jiuchuan praised it. ¡°Your marksmanship has improved.¡±

    The remaining tall woman noticed that the situation wasn¡¯t good and turned to run away.

    Xiao Lou was ready. Just now, he had drawn many metal rings just in case. At this moment, he slightly raised his hands upwards. Numerous rings fell from the ceiling like a, instantly wrapping around the woman¡¯s legs. She couldn¡¯t get out for a while.

    Lu Jiuchuan jumped and the ice sword in his hand pierced straight forward into her neck! The woman¡¯s body twitched twice before she fell to the ground and stopped breathing.

    Lu Jiuchuan walked over and took off her mask. Yu Hanjiang also took off the mask of the man who died at the door¡­ they looked ordinary. Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly and asked, ¡°Brother, have you seen these two hunters before?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan shook his head. ¡°No.¡±

    He pulled away the back of the woman¡¯s cor, revealing a ck totem tattoo on her shoulder. ¡°Based on the tattoo, she should be an intermediate hunter. The advanced ones aren¡¯t so easy to deal with. The organization has found my whereabouts yet they only sent these cannon fodders. Aren¡¯t they looking down on us too much?¡±

    Xiao Lou was stunned and his heart felt cold. ¡°Run!¡±

    Almost simultaneously, the bodies of the two dead hunters suddenly exploded into many fragments with a loud ¡®boom¡¯!

    Fire zed in the entire room and the wave of heat rushing toward Xiao Lou¡¯s face also threw him to the ground. Fortunately, Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan had run quickly or else they would¡¯ve been blown to ashes.

    The moment the hunter corpses exploded, thebyrinth started to shake violently. It was as if an earthquake was urring in the entire ancient tomb and it was hard for everyone to stand firmly.

    Liu Qiao¡¯s expression changed. ¡°Will this ce copse?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang immediately flew over with the light footwork card and held Xiao Lou¡¯s waist firmly. ¡°Go!¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan simply rode on the vermilion bird while cursing. ¡°These beasts actually engaged in a suicide attack? Fuck, they could actually think of cing bombs in their bodies!¡±

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    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 393: Purpose of the Hunters

    At the same time, the western part of the maze.

    Gui Yuanzhang also led his team into an empty stone room and found stairs leading upwards. Theyy in ambush in the stone room. Once the hunters entered, Ye Qi immediately controlled them with the group control of his musical instrument.

    Chu Huaying moved as fast as lightning. In the blink of an eye, she teleported behind one of the men, ced the blood-red dagger to the man¡¯s throat and coldly asked, ¡°Who sent you here?¡±

    The man saw the spider pattern on the dagger and his expression changed abruptly. ¡°Spider Queen?¡±

    The Blood Spider¡ªthis sharp dagger was the symbol of the Spider Queen.

    Rumor had it that the Spider Queen was a murderous demoness who killed without blinking. Every stripe on her dagger represented a life reaped. Now on the handle of the dagger, the blood-colored lines were densely packed like a spider web, showing how many hunters she had killed.

    She killed all the hunters who crossed her path. It was precisely due to this that the Spider Queen became a top prize on the Hunter League¡¯s bounty list. Anyone who killed her could get billions of gold coins, which was equivalent to tens of millions of yuan.

    The man clenched his fists. He was just about to raise his hand when the next moment, a sharp pain came from his knee. Chu Huaying simply kicked him to the ground. The dagger in her hand moved and made a fresh bloody mark on his neck. ¡°Say it. Who is your boss?¡±

    Meanwhile, Gui Yuanzhang had used his brush to float up the other two people and throw them hard against the wall!

    The two people hit the stone wall ording to the trajectory of Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s brush and they coughed up blood. Gui Yuanzhang raised the brush and let them stay in the air as if he was ying with them. He nced at the man controlled by Chu Huaying and spoke coldly, ¡°Do you want to try floating like them in the air and being smashed to the point of breaking your internal organs?¡±

    The three hunters¡¯ faces were ashen.

    The woman floating in the air screamed, ¡°Y-You are Gui Yuanzhang? You¡¯re not dead?!¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang gently lowered the brush in his hand and the two people fell down abruptly,nding on their butts. Chu Huaying¡¯s dagger was still touching the man¡¯s throat. She was worried that he wouldmit suicide so she pinched his jaw to stop it. ¡°Say it, Who sent you here? Who is the boss of your organization?¡±

    The man had a strange smile on his face.

    At this moment, Ye Qi suddenly shouted, ¡°Everybody, run! the hunters have bombs on them!¡±

    This was the message Xiao Lou had told him through Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings.

    The expressions of the team members changed dramatically when they heard Ye Qi. Long Sen and Qu Wanyue had used the Chameleon cards to merge with the stairs, nning to help out if necessary. The moment they heard this, the two people pulled Shao Qingge and used the Long Jump card to directly jump up the stairs!

    Ye Qi used the teleportation card to escape while Gui Yuanzhang used the brush to draw a movement route under his feet, flying up the stairs with the help of the wind.

    The next moment, a loud bang entered their ears. Ye Qi looked back and saw that the entire stone room was affected by the shock wave of the explosion. Smoke blew up to the ceiling and fire soared. A wave of heat hit his face, almost knocking him to the ground.

    The stones on the wall fell down and even the upper part of thebyrinth started to shake violently. The three hunters must¡¯ve been blown to pieces and Chu Huaying¡­

    She was the furthest from the stairs. Was she unable to escape?! Ye Qi¡¯s eyes widened and his voice shook with nervousness. ¡°Sister Huaying?!¡±

    He heard a calm voice. ¡°Here.¡±

    Ye Qi turned his head to look. He didn¡¯t know when but she had actually run out in front of everyone.

    The team members, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Chu Huaying was like a gust of wind.

    Shao Qingge asked curiously, ¡°Miss Chu, do your cards enhance your body¡¯s abilities?¡±

    Chu Huaying answered, ¡°Yes, my only attack weapon is the Spider Dagger. I have received many enhancement cards. My hearing, vision, muscles, flexibility and movement speed have all been greatly improved. It is like adding attributes points to characters when ying a game. They are permanent increases.¡±

    Just then, due to the shock wave, a huge stone flew up from below the stairs. It was about to hit Shao Qingge¡¯s face when Chu Huaying shed to Shao Qingge¡¯s side and stretched out a fist.

    The stone was actually turned into powder from her fist.

    The team members, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Sister Ying¡¯s strength was finally clear.

    This type of physical enhancement card couldn¡¯t be used alone but in the hands of a master, it was a permanent attribute improvement.

    It wasn¡¯t as much as the increase from the Bug King card that came with its own recovery ability but once these cards were acquired by those who had mastered fighting skills, the person would be even more powerful. They didn¡¯t know what Chu Huaying did in reality but judging from her neat moves, it was likely she had learned martial arts like taekwondo or other fighting skills.

    No wonder she had been able to follow Lu Jiuchuan through so many dangerous World Weekly secret rooms and kill so many hunters. She herself was the strongest weapon.

    Ye Qi thought, ¡®This sister feels like a top agent. Breaking rocks with her hand is even more exaggerated than in the movies.¡¯

    Chu Huaying retracted her fist and nced at Gui Yuanzhang. ¡°Me and Brother Jiu have had many encounters with hunters. Once their whereabouts are revealed or they are in danger of being captured, they will generally bite the poison pill in their teeth. Yet this time, they actually carried bombs on them. It is equivalent to a suicide attack.¡±

    She spread out her hands and everyone found a button-like thing that was shing a red light on her palms.

    Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°What is this?¡±

    Chu Huaying exined, ¡°It should be a tracker. I found it on the man¡¯s cor.¡±

    Just now, she teleported behind the man. The moment she pressed the dagger against his throat, she noticed something flickering on his neck. When Ye Qi told them to run, she had pulled it off first.

    Gui Yuanzhang took a closer look. ¡°It really is like a tracker. It seems the Hunter¡¯s League has found our location. As for how many people there are in our team and the cards we are carrying, they shouldn¡¯t haveprehensive information yet.¡±

    Thebyrinth shook violently again.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s voice entered their ears. ¡°Thebyrinth might be copsing. Everyone, look for an exit!¡±

    The group¡¯s expressions changed and they walked forward quickly.

    Chu Huaying and Gui Yuanzhang were discussing it as they walked. She frowned. ¡°How did the hunters enter thebyrinth? How did they lock onto Brother Jiu¡¯s location?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang shook his head. ¡°We will have to investigate this again. Is the tracker you got a pure location one or is it used for eavesdropping and surveince as well? Will it reveal too much information about us?¡±

    Chu Huaying thought about it. ¡°Hold it first and give it to Tang Ci to see. Perhaps he will have some insight.¡±

    As she spoke, she gestured behind her to signal that Long Sen and Qu Wanyue shouldn¡¯te out yet. The couple had used the Chameleon card to merge with the wall. Even if the tracker had a monitoring function, those two won¡¯t be discovered as long as they stayed hidden.

    The four people headed forward while the Long Qu couple melted into the color of the floor and followed behind them.

    In thebyrinth on the other side, Old Mo was walking and observing thepass needle. He said, ¡°Our current direction is true north and there are many forked paths ahead. Damn, this floor should be argebyrinth!¡±

    Thebyrinth was divided into the upper and lower floors.

    The lower floor was full of living sarcophagi. Xiao Lou¡¯s team and Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s team had their own stone rooms. They judged from the bones that those buried were brides, young men and children. Yet apart from the weird atmosphere of the lower level, it actually wasn¡¯t difficult. Everyone walked toward the end without encountering any forks in the road and the mechanisms were easy to open.

    The upper floor was actually the location of the six realms of reincarnation room.

    They first entered the six realms of reincarnation room and lit up the six petals in the petal-shapedbyrinth. Then they went down to the second floor and the sarcophagi appeared. Now they found all the sarcophagi and climbed up the stairs again, indicating that their current location was on the same level as the six realms of reincarnation room.

    This floor was the real,rgebyrinth.

    Liu Qiao heard this and couldn¡¯t help wondering, ¡°Uncle Mo, do you mean that the ancient tomb has two levels, level -1 and -2. The -2 level we were just now contains the coffins to provide us with clues. Meanwhile, thergebyrinth is on -1?¡±

    Old Mo nodded. ¡°Yes, this old tomb has an upper and lower structure. The lower floor isn¡¯t a maze. There is only one road to go from beginning to end and contains coffins where people were buried alive. We are now back to the upperbyrinth and we should be far away from the petalbyrinth.¡±

    Just then, thebyrinth shook violently again and the group almost couldn¡¯t stand firmly. They held onto the wall while above them, some fragments fell. Yu Hanjiang immediately reached out to grab Xiao Lou¡¯s wrist, whispering, ¡°Be careful.¡±

    Xiao Lou leaned against him and looked at the shaking corridor. He couldn¡¯t help bing more nervous.

    There was the saying, ¡®When it rains, it pours¡¯. Originally, the exit of thebyrinth wasn¡¯t easy to find. As a result, thebyrinth was shaking like there was an earthquake thanks to the hunters¡¯ disturbance. Would it copse?

    If they moved around like headless flies, it was likely they would be buried alive.

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s expression was ugly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid this is the real purpose of the Hunter¡¯s League. They want to bury us alive in this tomb!¡±

    Chu Huaying¡¯s voice came from the headset. ¡°I was also thinking that just now. Brother Jiu, your reputation is famous. Back then, you killed countless hunters in J of Clubs. How could they just send a few small fries to track you? Now it seems that they sent some suicide bombs to directly blow up thebyrinth!¡±

    Everyone sucked in a breath when they heard this.

    The challengers didn¡¯t know the type of World Weekly secret room in advance because it could be randomly generated between Hearts, Spades, Diamonds or Clubs.

    The hunters were different. As early as 3 of Spades, there were hunters who heard about the financial crisis ahead of time and lurked in the inns to deal with the ¡®foreigners¡¯. Maybe this time, the hunters already received news that this World Weekly was an underground tomb.

    They didn¡¯t know the details of Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s teammates and they might not be able to defeat Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s team no matter how many hunters they sent. Thus, they used this extreme method. Directly blow up the tomb and bury Lu Jiuchuan and his teammates alive.

    Lu Jiuchuan was so angry that the veins on his forehead bulged. He clenched his fists and cursed in a low voice. ¡°These people are really fucking crazy. They are worse than brainwashed cult members!¡±

    He looked at Yu Hanjiang and came over to pat his brother on the shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I made it hard on you this time.¡±

    Xiao Lou took the initiative to open his mouth before Yu Hanjiang could speak. ¡°Brother Jiu, don¡¯t say that. Even if the hunters didn¡¯te to track you, we would bump into them sooner orter. The top priority now is to find the exit of thebyrinth as soon as possible.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan nodded and stopped talking.

    Xiao Lou looked ahead at the shaking corridor and couldn¡¯t get rid of his worry. This corridor seemed to have many forks. At present, they had no idea about the upperbyrinth. If they couldn¡¯t find the exit and thebyrinth copsed, burying them alive¡­

    Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan weren¡¯t good atbyrinths. They could only rely on Xiao Lou and Old Mo.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath to calm down before walking to Mo Xuemin¡¯s side. ¡°We have to investigate the road as fast as possible and map the terrain quickly. It is toote to worry about such things. The four of us will act separately, leaving signs at the intersections and always keeping in touch.¡±

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 Chapter 394: Secrets of the Burying Alive Tomb

    There were many forks in this corridor heading to the north. Once everyone came to the first fork, Xiao Lou left a blue mark and walked to the right, Yu Hanjiang left a red mark and walked to the left while Lu Jiuchuan and Old Mo continued to move forward. They also split up at the fork in the road ahead, leaving ck and white arrow marks respectively.

    Soon, Xiao Lou came to the exit and found the blue mark he had left behind. Then he saw Yu Hanjianging from another exit.

    Xiao Lou was stunned. ¡°Is it a circr path again?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°My side had no other forks in the road. It felt like a circle going around. The corridor wasn¡¯t straight, there was a strange arc.¡±

    As they were talking, Old Mo and Lu Jiuchuan also returned to the original point at the intersection ahead.

    The four people looked at each other.

    Liu Qiao suddenly opened her mouth. ¡°We are in the upperbyrinth and the six realms of reincarnation room just now had a petal-like structure. Then will thisbyrinth have a structure simr to the green leaves, rhizomes, branches and other structures?¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s words awakened them. There were petals so it was normal for her to think of green leaves and branches.

    Looking back on the forked road just now, the curve really did look like a ¡®leaf.¡¯ After turning into the fork, it didn¡¯t take long to return to their original point. It was like drawing a circle around the outer edge of the de.

    Old Mo looked at the map on the cloth and said, ¡°It should be green leaves. I have been staring at thepass just now and the pointer is constantly changing, indicating that the direction of the corridor isn¡¯t fixed. If my guess isn¡¯t wrong, the remainingbyrinth is like a big tree, with many branches and leaf-likeworks. As for the position of the exit, we can only check it slowly.¡±

    One forked path was a leaf then where was the exit?

    All the corridors had the same width and it was impossible to distinguish the main stem, the branches and the leaves¡­

    The difficulty of thisbyrinth was beyond Old Mo¡¯s imagination. He was a bit dizzy and he couldn¡¯t help saying softly, ¡°This World Weekly is too difficult. My guess is that the elimination rate this time is more than 20%. In the six realms of reincarnation room alone, there must be countless challengers who can¡¯t pass through the mechanisms in the 18 hells.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled bitterly. ¡°No matter how difficult, at least the other teams don¡¯t have a limited time and can explore slowly. They can walk through thergebyrinth for five or six days and find the right way out. Meanwhile, we are different.¡±

    The hunters had pitted them too much and thebyrinth would soon copse. The originally difficult secret room had the difficulty increased by several times. As long as the other challengers were daring enough and weren¡¯t afraid of bones, ghosts and resentful spirits, they could explore slowly and think of it as a stimting tomb robbery game.

    However, Xiao Lou¡¯s team were moving for their lives! If they couldn¡¯t find the exit as soon as possible, they would be buried alive. Where was this a normal Diamonds secret room? The hunters had turned it into a survival secret room!

    Xiao Lou wanted to send everyone back to the Peach Blossom Spring but the spring was at the entrance of thebyrinth. After returning, everyone could only enter through the six realms of reincarnation room from the beginning and then go down to the -2 floor.

    However, the -2 floor had been blown up and they couldn¡¯t get in at all. The only way out was to hope to find the exit in the numerous branches and leaf-like paths of thebyrinth in front of them.

    There were so many forks. Usually, they could be checked one by one¡­ but now the situation was urgent. Time didn¡¯t allow them to test them one by one.

    Thebyrinth¡¯s shaking was getting worse. The four of them had taken separate forks in the path just now and soon returned to the origin. There must be many more time-consuming ¡®circling¡¯ paths in the remaining forked roads.

    If they continued to circle back and forth in thebyrinth, they would be like a few small insects climbing a big tree, walking along the branches and leaves, dizzy and unable to find the exit at all.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and made a bold decision. ¡°Everyone, stop. We must carefully analyze the current clues to see if we can infer the correct path in thebyrinth.¡±

    The team members heard this and tacitly stopped.

    If someone else was saying this, they might not believe it. However, it came from Xiao Lou¡¯s mouth and they were involuntarily convinced. In any case, time was limited. Rather than running everywhere to find the exit, it was better to calm down and analyze the clues carefully.

    Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s team also stopped. He asked in a low voice, ¡°Do you want to analyze the lower level of the tomb?¡±

    Xiao Lou answered. ¡°That¡¯s right. Old Mo, show me thebyrinth n that you drew.¡±

    Mo Xuemin handed the cloth to Xiao Lou.

    The teammates gathered together. Thisbyrinth had two floors. In order to distinguish, Old Mo drew two pictures on the cloth. For the upper floor, there was a petal-shapedbyrinth in the east and west, with the six petals representing the six realms of reincarnation. The stamen in the middle was the main room covered with charms and this was also the entrance to the lower level.

    On the lower floor, Xiao Lou and Gui Yuanzhang had split up so Old Mo drew two lines.

    One was Xiao Lou and their action route. After finding the first sarcophagus, they first moved around 30 degrees southeast. This was followed by the second sarcophagus and then moving north to find the third one.

    As for Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s group, they first moved 45 degrees to the northwest and found a second sarcophagus. Then they continued to move to the northwest. There was an obtuse angle of about 135 degrees between the two roads and this was confirmed by Senior Gui at the time.

    Xiao Lou confirmed it again. ¡°Senior, you walked in one direction on the -2 floor and the angle between the two corridors of the second and third room was around 135 degrees, right?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang answered, ¡°Yes, I used thepass pointer to measure the angle.¡±

    The direction of thepass definitely wouldn¡¯t be wrong.

    Xiao Lou took a closer look at the images drawn by Old Mo and tried to connect the six sarcophagi into a line in his mind.

    Then he was surprised to find that all the sarcophagus chambers were connected. The design was very simr to the shape of a ¡®skimming spoon¡¯ and thest chamber pointed due north, just like the tip of the skimming spoon¡ª

    The Alpha Ursae Majoris, directly facing the North Star.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up and he spoke with certainty. ¡°I understand. The stone rooms on the bottom floor where the living are buried alive are connected together like the seven stars of the Big Dipper! The true symbolism of the coffins in this underground tomb should be the legendary¡ªQixing Gongyue!¡± (A tomb group consisting of nine burial mounds arranged in the form of the seven stars of the Big Dipper.)

    The team members heard this and were in a state of shock.

    ording to legend, the tombs had three burial mounds on the left and three on the right. There was also one in the middle that seemed to be held up by the six tombs. This symbolized the dignity and status of the tomb owner.

    The Qixing Gongyue had a total of seven tombs, all connected, which was the pattern of the seven stars in the Big Dipper.

    Based on their positions, the three burial chambers that Xiao Lou and the others discovered in the east should be the alpha, beta and gamma Ursae Majoris while the three discovered by Gui Yuanzhang in the west were the epsilon, zeta and eta Ursae Majoris.

    The thing that was missing was the middle star of the Big Dipper.

    Xiao Lou carefully recalled the position of the delta Ursae Majoris and drew an intersection on Old Mo¡¯s map.

    Old Mo was worthy of having a background in design. His map drawings were very urate and he even used the scale thatmon engineering drawings needed to follow. He marked the scale: 1 cm = 10 meters on the map, which meant that 1 cm on the map was actually 10 meters in the tomb. Old Mo had been measuring the distance with his footsteps the whole way so the images he drew using the multiples calction couldn¡¯t be wrong.

    Xiao Lou pointed out the delta Ursae Majoris of the Big Dipper on the map ording to the order of the seven stars. Then he converted it using the side lengths and angles of the triangle. He was a science major and calcting this type of trigonometric distance math problems that even middle school students could do were easy for him.

    Soon, he calcted the exact location of the delta Ursae Majoris.

    From the alpha star, the exit of the stairs in thest chamber they had just been in, walk around 30 meters due north and then 300 meters due west to reach the delta star.

    For Senior Gui, the exit of thest tomb was the eta star so they could reach the delta star by walking 300 meters due south and then 300 meters due east.

    The two teams were now on both sides of thebyrinth. There were many forked roads and the dense leaf-like structure seemed like a headache. Yet in reality, they just had to set the direction of thepass and they could find the most correct path.

    The position of the delta star was the intersection of the two teams i.e. the exit of the Qixing Gongyuebyrinth!

    Xiao Lou spoke quickly on the voice channel. ¡°Senior Gui, watch thepass and walk 300 meters to the south and then 300 meters to the east. We will meet you at the location of the delta star!¡±

    The team members were confused but everyone had the same thought in their hearts:

    ¡®Listen to Xiao Lou. It was better than moving like a headless fly in thebyrinth.¡¯

    Thebyrinth was shaking like it was going to copse and everyone was inevitably nervous. The more critical the situation, the more it tested their trust in each other.

    Gui Yuanzhang didn¡¯t have much contact with Xiao Lou but he had a very good impression of this young man. He had heard of Qixing Gongyue, this type of tomb in legends. In addition, Xiao Lou had the map of the tomb and it proved that the arrangement of the lower floor was the seven stars of the Big Dipper. Then it was extremely likely that the exit of thebyrinth was the ¡®missing¡¯ delta star in the middle.

    Gui Yuanzhang looked at the forked road head of him and decisively ordered, ¡°Go ording to Xiao Lou¡¯s words. Let¡¯s keep up!¡±

    There¡¯s been a series of fanart by the same artist for Card Room so I will be slowly revealing them with every chapter. Check out the first one:

    Poor-Sam by B.K0036

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 Chapter 395: Labyrinth Exit

    Old Mo took thepass and set the orientation ording to the angles calcted by Xiao Lou.

    In order to reach the position of the alpha star as quickly as possible, Yu Hanjiang used the light footwork card and carried Xiao Lou. Old Mo took Liu Qiao and Lu Jiuchuan rode on the vermilion bird while carrying Tang Ci in his pocket. The group of people swiftly headed north for 30 metres and then continued west. On the way, they encountered many forked roads. However, they had thepass for positioning. They just needed to ensure the direction was urate and they couldn¡¯t go wrong.

    On the other side, Ye Qi and Shao Qingge both had teleportation cards. Long Sen and Qu Wanyue could use the long jump card to jump 8 meters at a time. Chu Huaying¡¯s movement speed was very fast and Gui Yuanzhang could use his brush to assist in flying. Everyone followed the directions and distances mentioned by Xiao Lou.

    Within three minutes, the six people came to a stone room. Xiao Lou¡¯s group also just came from the other direction.

    Ye Qi was excited. ¡°It seems that Professor Xiao¡¯s spection is correct. This should be the position of the delta Ursae Majoris?!¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Go and take a look.¡±

    The stone door was closed and couldn¡¯t be pushed open. There was aplicated ¡®checkerboard¡¯ on the door that was covered with white stones of the same size. The stone in the middle was fixed and the arrangement of the surrounding stones was very messy.

    Lu Jiuchuan rubbed his chin and looked at the checkerboard. ¡°Is it the endgame in Go?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang immediately denied it. ¡°No. Go has ck and white stones. This board only has white stones. How can one y Go with stones of the same color?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan wasn¡¯t embarrassed about guessing wrong and just smiled. ¡°What is it? Do these stones represent stars?¡±¡¯

    Gui Yuanzhang took a closer look at the stone door and nodded to confirm Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s spection. ¡°It should be a star map mechanism.¡±

    Xiao Lou observed for a moment. ¡°It is a star map mechanism and all the white stones represent a star. We need to reset the star map to open the door. The fixed white stone in the middle¡­¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang wondered, ¡°Is it the missing delta Ursae Majoris?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it. ¡°It is in the middle of the upper part. It might be the North Star.¡±

    He gently touched the stone in the middle and found that it couldn¡¯t move. In ancient times, the North Star was a very important reference for distinguishing position. At night, if they could find the Northern Star in the sky then that ce was north. The opposite was south, left was west and right was east. In this way, they could infer their specific orientation and not get lost.

    The star map was rted to the North Star and the theme of the tomb was the ¡®Qixing Gongyue¡¯. This showed that they needed to restore the Big Dipper on the star map.

    The moment Xiao Lou touched the North Star, the star map in front of him suddenly changed. Two white stones moved on the checkerboard to the lower right corner of the chessboard, facing the North Star.

    Xiao Lou told the group, ¡°This is a reminder item that will help us locate the alpha Ursae Majoris and the beta Ursae Majoris.¡±

    After all, many challengers didn¡¯t draw maps while walking through thebyrinth like Xiao Lou¡¯s group. There was also a possibility that they couldn¡¯t analyze that the sarcophagi in the lower level was in the symbol of the Big Dipper. Therefore, the star map mechanism of the stone door would give some hints to the challengers.

    It was easy to infer that this was the North Star. Then based on the connection below, they could figure out that it was the Big Dipper. No matter how the Big Dipper changed, the scoop portion of the skimming spoon would definitely face the North Star. Since the alpha and beta Ursae Majoris were already positioned, it wasn¡¯t difficult for Xiao Lou to restore the other stars. At an obtuse angle to the connection between the alpha and beta stars was the gamma star. Next to it was the delta star¡­

    Xiao Lou reached out his slender fingers, picked up the stones on the checkerboard ording to the pattern in his memory and quickly pieced together a star map of the Big Dipper. The moment the star map waspleted, the checkerboard lit up with a soft light. The mechanism of the stone door was unlocked and there was the loud rumbling sound of the stone door rising.

    Everyone exchanged looks and Tang Ci cautiously had the mechanical ants enter the room first to see if there were any pressure mechanisms inside. The ants moved around and confirmed it was safe. Then Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan took the lead in entering. The other team members followed.

    The stone room was around 100 square meters and was very spacious. The walls of the room were lit up by a whole ring of the Eternal memps and there was a sarcophagus in the middle on a tform. The sarcophagus was one sizerger than that of the coffins found in the lower floor and there were many strange charms carved on the coffin.

    Xiao Lou looked at the charms closely. They seemed to be consistent with those found on the coffins in the lower floor.

    Just then, the entire stone room shook violently and the group stood unsteadily. Yu Hanjiang hurriedly supported Xiao Lou and eximed, ¡°It seems that thebyrinth is going to copse! We must hurry!¡±

    The lights of themps kept flickering and there was some lime on the ceiling that was falling like snow. This showed that the explosion had affected the upper part of the tomb and it was going to copse.

    Xiao Lou realized the seriousness of the situation and hurriedly said, ¡°Everyone, look at the surrounding walls separately. Hanjiang, see if you can open the sarcophagus!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and flew to the front of the sarcophagus. He lifted the dagger in his hand and shed it horizontally. The entire lid of the coffin was instantly cut by him.

    Xiao Lou stepped forward and looked inside the coffin. There was a skeleton inside. Around the bones were gold and silver jewelry, jade jewelry and other burial items. Every piece looked valuable. Shao Qingge couldn¡¯t help wondering, ¡°Can I take them out to sell?¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°Don¡¯t act for the time being.¡±

    He pulled the treasures aside with his hands and revealed theplete set of bones inside the sarcophagus.

    Based on the shape of the pelvis and the bone quality, it should be an elderly man. The edges of the vertebrae showed obvious degenerative changes and the preliminary estimate was that he was over 50 years old.

    The most important thing was that his bones consisted only of the body¡ªthe skull was missing. Where was the head?

    The team members saw this and exchanged looks. Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°The corpse doesn¡¯t have a head?¡±

    Xiao Lou stared at the bones thoughtfully while Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°The World Weekly secret room this time is called ¡®Headless General¡¯s Tomb¡¯. Can the corpse without a head be the owner of the ancient tomb?¡±

    The moment he spoke, the sarcophagus suddenly moved to the side, revealing stairs that led downwards.

    Ye Qi was extremely happy. ¡°This is the exit of thebyrinth right?¡±

    The group wanted to go down to take a look when Xiao Lou abruptly called out to them, ¡°Don¡¯t go down. Something is wrong.¡±

    He stared at the headless skeleton in the coffin with doubts. ¡°The ancients were most concerned about leaving their entire body after death. His tomb was made so luxuriously. Not only are there the six realms of reincarnation mechanisms but there are also coffins in the shape of the seven stars on the lower level. Obviously, he wants to rise to immortality and go to eternal bliss after death. How can he let his head be separated?¡±

    Ye Qi quickly retracted his feet. ¡°It makes sense. A corpse without a whole body should be the most taboo thing in ancient times.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang also nodded. ¡°It really doesn¡¯t make sense. This corpse has no head. Perhaps he offended someone in his lifetime and was beheaded by his enemy during burial?¡±

    Ye Qi was confused. ¡°Beheaded during the burial? If there was really a deep hatred then how could just the head be cut off? Surely the corpse would be broken and fed directly to dogs. How can he still liefortably in the grave?¡±

    Indeed, if the hatred was so deep then how could the enemy just cut off the head before burying the person in the tomb? It was as Ye Qi said. A real enemy would definitely throw the corpse into the wilderness so it was chewed on by wild dogs.

    Gui Yuanzhang opened his mouth. ¡°There is another possibility. This is actually a deceptive coffin.¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately reacted when he heard Senior Gui¡¯s words. ¡°Yes, the person in the coffin isn¡¯t the owner of the tomb! He put the sarcophagus here and ced a headless corpse inside it to blind the eyes and confuse the tomb robbers!¡±

    A diversionary tactic was amon method used in ancient tombs. In order to prevent future generations from robbing the tomb, they usually ced some fake coffins and corpses to confuse the tomb robbers. Meanwhile, the real tomb owner was concealed in a more hidden ce.

    This time, the World Weekly was called ¡®Headless General¡¯s Tomb¡¯. After many twists and turns, everyone finally found the central tomb. There was arge number of gold and silver treasures and a headless corpse. Many people would subconsciously think they had found the owner of the tomb and the exit of thebyrinth. If they weren¡¯t cautious enough, they would probably go down the stairs¡­

    Tang Ci released his mechanical ants. ¡°I will investigate first.¡±

    The moment the mechanical ants descended the stairs, a sound filled their ears. Xiao Lou had ced a drone on the mechanical ants so everyone soon saw a shocking scene. After going down, it was actually a room filled with a rain of arrows!

    The moment the challengers¡¯ feet stepped on the bs of the room, the mechanism would be activated and the surrounding walls would shoot out a dense number of poisonous arrows. This was unavoidable if they were slightly careless and they could even be turned into a hedgehog¡­

    Ye Qi was frightened by the sight. ¡°The Diamonds loli girl is too much. She actually yed such a trick at the end!¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan whispered, ¡°I have long said she was abnormal.¡±

    Fortunately, Xiao Lou and Senior Gui thought calmly. Just now, they had been worried that thebyrinth was copsing and wanted to run down the stairs in a panic¡­ if their reaction had been even a bit slower, they would¡¯ve been shot dead by the arrows in thebyrinth.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°If this is fake then where is the real tomb owner?¡±

    Xiao Lou inquired, ¡°Did you find anything on the surrounding walls?¡±

    Chu Huaying answered, ¡°All the walls have been checked. There are nopartments or mechanisms.¡±

    Xiao Lou raised his head to look at the top of the coffin. There were no mechanisms on the surrounding walls and below this room was a room full of arrows to deliberately trick people. The most likely thing was that there was another mechanism above and it was where the real tomb owner was buried.

    Xiao Lou looked closely at the roof. The roof looked like an astrbe and contained many stone-like decorations on the surface. Among them was thergest stone that could be used as the North Star. Looking in the direction of the star map on the stone door just now, he found the stones arranged in the Big Dipper. The colors of these seven stones were obviously brighter than the surrounding ones.

    There were many vacancies around the Big Dipper like grooves. Some grooves¡­ the shape looked familiar? Among them were a round one and a crescent-shaped one¡­

    Xiao Lou thought of the ornaments representing different tribes found in the coffins. There was a sh of inspiration in his mind and he asked, ¡°Senior Gui, did you bring all the items found in the coffins of those buried alive?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang held out his hand and handed the bracelet and pendant with the totem patterns on them to Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou took out his own woodenb and jade pendant from his pocket. He nced at Yu Hanjiang and pointed to the grooves next to the star map on the roof. ¡°Hanjiang, try putting these things in the grooves on the roof.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang flew up lightly using the light footwork card and ced the four ¡®tokens¡¯ in the grooves. He found the grooves for the bracelet, the semi-circr woodenb, the round jade pendant and the wolf tooth-shaped pendant. The four items were ced into the four grooves and fit perfectly!

    Xiao Lou¡¯s lips raised in a smile. ¡°The items found in the coffins of those buried alive are the keys to open the final tomb.¡±

    The moment all the items were ced, the group heard a rumbling sound. The te tiles above their heads suddenly split open to both sides, revealing a square skylightrge enough for one person to pass through.

    Old Mo suddenly realized. ¡°There is another floor above. It seems that this tomb is actually a three-floor structure?¡±

    In order to avoid being pitted again, Tang Ci released a drone to investigate. Soon, the drone returned to his hands. The camera recorded the approximate scene in the stone room and Tang Ci said, ¡°There is a sarcophagus in the room above.¡±

    This was the real owner of the tomb!

    Second entry by B.K0036: Xiao Lou attracts girls of all ages

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 Chapter 396: Identity of the Tomb Owner

    It was confirmed that there were no mechanisms like the rain of arrows below so Yu Hanjiang flew up. Old Mo, Gui Yuanzhang, Long Sen and Qu Wanyue also jumped up. For those without methods such as the light footwork card, Yu Hanjiang lowered the white silk and pulled his teammates up one by one.

    The stone room above was twice the size of the previous one. It was a wide space of nearly 200 square meters and the surrounding walls were covered with colorful murals. There was a one meter high stone tform in the middle of the room with a sarcophagus on it. Around the sarcophagus were three full circles of Eternal memps and there were many yellow charms.

    Xiao Lou walked quickly to the murals on the four walls, which fully described the life of the owner.

    The owner of this tomb wasn¡¯t a general but the emperor of a small country in ancient times. As a concubine born child without favor from his father, coupled with him not even being the eldest son, made him the perfect target of bullying during his childhood. In order to get the throne, he endured the humiliation. Once he grew up, he killed many of his own brothers and started a mutiny. There was a bloodbath in the pce as he killed his brother who had just be the emperor and took the dragon chair for himself.

    Perhaps it was because he suffered too much as a child but his psychology was distorted. During his reign, he was tyrannical and inhumane. Judging from the murals, countless people were killed or injured under his tyranny.

    In hister years, he suddenly started to believe in Buddhism. He thought he was sinful and might go to hell after death. Thus, he ignored the daily political affairs and instead stayed in the pce, reciting scriptures while frequently having nightmares.

    The national teachers around him gave him the idea to build the ¡®Qixing Gongyue¡¯. Look for young men and women of the four major tribes to use as sacrifices, cing them as four stars of the Big Dipper. In addition, find two pairs of virgins and pour mercury into their bodies to preserve the corpses, sealing the ¡®immortal energy¡¯ in the corpses for him, the owner, to ascend as an immortal.

    The old emperor believed in these words and spent 10 years building the tomb. The entire tomb was a three floor structure and the top floor was his main tomb. It was high above and the location was very hidden.

    The -1 floor was an easy ce for tomb robbers to find. There were mechanisms and thebyrinthine paths everywhere. If tomb robbers entered then they would die. If they were skilled enough to get through the six realms of reincarnation room and find the sarcophagi in the lower floor, they would be confused when they followed the path to the leaf-likebyrinth.

    Moreover, he deliberately made a deceptive coffin and ced arge amount of gold and silver treasures in it. This way, the intruders would think they had found the main room. The moment they rxed their guard and went down the stairs, they would be shot by poisonous arrows and turned into hedgehogs¡­

    Xiao Lou read the murals on the wall and didn¡¯t know how to evaluate it. He was a materialist and didn¡¯t believe in ¡®cultivating to be immortal¡¯. However, many ancient people believed in those legends and burying people alive was just a ceremony for them. Pouring mercury into children under the age of 10 and letting them die a painful death was a good thing from the perspective of ¡®preserving their immortal energy¡¯¡­

    Xiao Lou turned back to the sarcophagus. ¡°Open the coffin to see.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang split it open with his dagger. It was just that this coffin was so strong it didn¡¯t respond to his sh. It wasn¡¯t known if the materials used were different or if the keeper deliberately made it so the coffin couldn¡¯t be destroyed.

    Xiao Lou leaned closer and examined the charms around the coffin. These charms were very familiar. They looked like the charms in the six realms of reincarnation room but they weren¡¯t quite right, on closer inspection¡­ they seemed to be distorted.

    It was simr to the distorted appearance when they looked in the yin yang mirror? Xiao Lou took out the yin yang mirror. He looked with the yin yang mirror and discovered that the patterns of the charms around the coffin were indeed the same as the charms of the six realms of reincarnation room.

    Gui Yuanzhang saw it and also took out his yin yang mirror. The two people looked at each other. ¡°The six charms for the realms of reincarnation?¡±

    Xiao Lou examined the top of the sarcophagus carefully and found a petal-like shape on the lid of the sarcophagus. He used the yin yang mirror to illuminate the charms and ced the six different charms on the shape in the order of reincarnation.

    Ayer of soft light appeared on the mark. Xiao Lou reached out to push open the lid of the coffin. He was just trying it out but unexpectedly, the lid was really opened.

    The team members leaned over to look inside the sarcophagus. They saw an old man in his 50s lying inside. He was wearing a dragon robe and had a serene expression. There wasn¡¯t much jewelry, gold or silver in the coffin. Perhaps it was because he was cultivating to be an immortal and didn¡¯t need money.

    Curiously, after all these years, the corpse of the tomb owner hadn¡¯t decayed. While the sacrifices who had been buried at the same time as him had already turned into skeletons, his face was only slightly pale and he had some livor mortis on his body. This difference in preservation was simply unreasonable.

    Ye Qi asked curiously. ¡°Did he also pour mercury into himself? Wouldn¡¯t it be a very painful way to die?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°It isn¡¯t like mercury. His body isn¡¯t the same as the boy and girl we found filled with mercury. It feels more like a magic artifact mentioned in fantasy novels to preserve the body.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang seemed to think of something and abruptly said, ¡°Open his mouth to take a look.¡±

    Fortunately, Yu Hanjiang was right in front of the sarcophagus. Once he heard those words, he reached out and pried open the deceased¡¯s mouth with two fingers. A soft beam of light came from the dead man¡¯s mouth. There was something inside.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Is it the legendary jade cicada?¡±

    During ancient times, they often put valuable items in the mouth of the deceased such as a jade or night pearl. There was also a legend about a jade cicada. A jade that looked like a cicada could prevent the body from decaying after death.

    The reason why the body of the tomb owner didn¡¯t corrode was probably due to the ¡®jade cicada¡¯ in his mouth.

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Take it out and see?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took out the jade cicada that was the size of a thumb. The next moment, the corpse in the sarcophagus decayed at a speed visible to the naked eye. It was like a wall suddenly falling down. In the end, only the bones were left.

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This scene was almost like a horror movie and they felt numb seeing it.

    Just then, the entirebyrinth started to shake violently again. Everyone was shaking so hard that they had difficulties staying upright. A door appeared on one side of the stone room and Xiao Lou¡¯s expression changed. ¡°Go!¡±

    Tang Ci sent the mechanical ants to explore the way and everyone ran behind the ants. Behind them, countless rocks rolled down, rubble sshed everywhere, dust flew in the air and the vibration caused by the copse of the tomb was more terrible than a major earthquake!

    Yu Hanjiang flew while hugging Xiao Lou¡¯s waist tightly and the other team members also used their own skills. Everyone was busy escaping and simply couldn¡¯t care about the others. There was only one thought in their minds¡ªrun!

    They finally saw the light ahead. As everyone jumped out, a loud bang was heard from behind them. The entire tomb copsed and the three-storeybyrinth was instantly buried by boulders and dust.

    Xiao Lou stared back at thepletely buriedbyrinth, his heart beating quickly. He was so nervous that he could barely breathe just now when he was taken out by Yu Hanjiang. Fortunately, he escaped at thest moment. A lingering fear filled him at the thought.

    Xiao Lou looked around. ¡°Is everybody okay?¡±

    The dust that had flown when thebyrinth copsed made everyone¡¯s heads grey and their clothes were so dirty that it was like they rolled around on the burial mounds¡­ Fortunately, they ran fast enough and no one was hurt.

    ¡°We¡¯re fine!¡±

    ¡±There are no injuries.¡±

    Xiao Lou was relieved when he heard the confirmations of his team members. Just then, the shiny, floating boxes popped up in front of everyone simultaneously.

    [Congrattions to Xiao Lou¡¯s team for sessfully clearing the World Weekly ¡®Headless General¡¯s Tomb¡¯. The ranking is being settled¡­]

    [In thisbyrinth challenge, your team took a total of 4 hours, 38 minutes and 44 seconds.]

    [You are ranked number 1 in the world.]

    [Please find the Diamonds keeper to receive the rewards.]

    Everyone was stunned seeing thest few lines. First in the world? It seemed that it was a blessing in disguise!

    The hunters exploded bombs in thebyrinth which caused the entire tomb to crumble. In order to escape with their lives, they had to abandon the method of testing out the forked roads and risked it all on their desperate reasoning.

    As a result, they became the team that took the shortest time and was the first to leave the World Weeklybyrinth?

    Third entry by B.K0036: ATM Queen

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 Chapter 397: Clearance Reward

    They left the World Weekly secret room and Xiao Lou¡¯s group directly entered the personal space.

    A little girl was sitting on the soft sofa, her head lowered to eat cake.

    She wore a pink tutu skirt and had her hair up in two ponytails. Her skin was white and tender and it looked like they could almost squeeze water out of it. She obviously looked like an angelic lovely girl but after recalling the dangerous and strange mechanisms in the iparablyplicatedbyrinth that they encountered this time, no one could show the slightest softness to the little girl in front of them.

    Lu Jiuchuan had called the Diamonds little girl abnormal and this sentence was indeed correct. Of course, he said a few words behind her back, but in front of her, Lu Jiuchuan still put on a respectful attitude and smiled. ¡°Our achievement is number one in the world. Can we ask you to receive the rewards?¡±

    The little girl licked the cake from the corner of her lips and looked at him. ¡°I am so abnormal. How can I give you any rewards?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Fuck, this kid still held grudges!

    Seeing the deted Brother Jiu, Ye Qi hurried forward and spoke in a coaxing tone. ¡°This week¡¯sbyrinth was designed very well. I have yed many stand-alone games and I have seriously never seen such a fun and dangerousbyrinth before. We scolded you because you almost killed us but in fact, everyone still admires you in their hearts.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Ye released the exaggerated praise without frowning and his mouth seemed to be smeared with honey.

    To the side, Shao Qingge held back a smile and touched his nose. He thought, ¡®Xiao Ye¡¯s mouth is so sweet. He will surely be able to mix in with the entertainment industry in the future.¡¯

    The little loli was praised by Ye Qi and her mood seemed much better. She put down the cake and said, ¡°I am a principled keeper. Your score is first in the world and you will naturally receive two cards as a reward. Open your contract book and have a look.¡±

    Ye Qi wanted toin. ¡®We risked our lives and it wasn¡¯t easy to get out of thebyrinth, only for you to give us two cards? Even Spades isn¡¯t as stingy as you!¡¯

    Nevertheless, he met the little girl¡¯s eyes and didn¡¯t dare say anything. He smiled. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Xiao Lou opened the contract book and found that there was indeed a new card inside.

    [Tool Card: Jade Cicada]

    [Rarity: S

    Reward for the teams with a clearance score within the top 5% for the ¡®Headless General¡¯s Tomb¡¯ World Weekly secret room.

    Additional Skill 1: A Cicada Sheds its Carapace.

    After using the Jade Cicada, trigger the ¡®A Cicada Sheds its Carapace¡¯ skill. This will immediately release all controlled teammates from the control and teleport them to the designated location 1000 meters away. The cooldown time is 1 hour.

    Additional Skill 2: Jade Cicada Continues the Life

    After cing the jade cicada in your mouth, your body will enter a ¡®false death state¡¯. Your breathing and heartbeat will stop immediately and your body will be as stiff as a corpse. You can resurrect immediately after taking out the jade cicada. It is limited to one use in every secret room.]

    This card was like the Resurrection Card obtained previously. It was a card that was bound to the contract book and appeared on thest page. A card bound to a team had the advantage that it could be activated by everyone in the team.

    The strength of this card was worthy of everyone¡¯s hard work.

    The first skill ¡®A Cicada Sheds its Carapace¡¯ was a team teleport in an emergency situation. If all members were controlled or had strayed into a dangerous zone, ¡®A Cicada Sheds its Carapace¡¯ could be used to collectively escape. It could save lives at a critical moment. In addition, its teleportation had no preconditions. It was much more convenient to use the jade cicada than the Peach Blossom Spring teleportation or Li Qingzhao¡¯s mark.

    As for the false death of the second skill, maybe they could use it to save their lives in a dangerous situation when besieged?

    Xiao Lou put away the contract book and wondered, ¡°Isn¡¯t there another reward?¡±

    The little Diamonds loli waved her finger and a card with a golden light flew in front of Xiao Lou. The description of this card was very simple.

    [Jump a Level]

    [You can skip any row of S-grade levels on the card wall. The card will be invalid after use. Please consider it carefully before using it.]

    Xiao Lou froze for a moment before showing the card to his teammates.

    Lu Jiuchuan held this thin card in his hand and looked at it, wondering, ¡°Does this mean that for the remaining S-grade levels, we can directly skip a row? For example, J of Hearts, J of Diamonds, J of Clubs and J of Spades. If we use the Jump a Level card, we can pass these levels directly?¡±

    The little loli nodded, two cute dimples appearing at the corners of her mouth as she propped up her chin with her hands. ¡°Yes. But¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou hurriedly asked, ¡°But what?¡±

    ¡°Jumping levels might allow you to skip a lot of dangers but you also won¡¯t receive any rewards for them.¡±

    Challenging levels would give rewards but there were risks. It made sense that skipping a level allowed them to avoid the risk while losing the rewards. The question was: which row should they jump?

    Yu Hanjiang walked up to the card wall. At present, Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s group of four had joined Xiao Lou¡¯s contract book and everyone¡¯s progress was consistent. The secret rooms below the 10th level were fully cleared. Only the J, Q, K and SS-difficulty double kings rooms were left.

    Yu Hanjiang turned back and looked calmly at the keeper. ¡°For J, Q and K, do these secret rooms have the same difficulty? Or is it that the higher you go, the more difficult it is?¡±

    If the K level was the most difficult, it was a good choice to skip it and directly enter the double kings level.

    The Diamonds loli answered, ¡°In theory, the S-grade secret rooms will gradually increase in difficulty but the difference isn¡¯t big.¡±

    Xiao Lou put away the card and politely said, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    The Diamonds loli wondered, ¡°Do you want to continue with the next level?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked around at his teammates. After the World Weekly, everyone was exhausted physically and mentally. Lu Jiuchuan was injured when entering the World Weekly and everyone had moved in a rush, so there was no time to discuss the next n.

    Yu Hanjiang met Xiao Lou¡¯s gaze and understood. He nced at the keeper and replied, ¡°Not for now. We will go back to the main city.¡±

    ¡°The City of the Sun or the City of the Moon?¡±

    The City of the Moon was their base camp and Old Mo had rented a vi there. Yet before the World Weekly, they stayed collectively at the hotel booked by Tang Ci. Xiao Lou was hesitating when he heard Tang Ci suggest, ¡°Go to the City of the Sun. We have to investigate a clue.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°The City of the Sun.¡±

    The moment he spoke, everyone¡¯s vision darkened and they had collectively returned to the hotel. This suite was the residence of Tang Ci. He was rich and had booked the presidential suite on the top floor. The 12 people stood together but it didn¡¯t feel crowded.

    Tang Ci nced at Chu Huaying. ¡°Huaying, what did you want to tell me?¡±

    Chu Huaying¡¯s expression of hesitation just now was caught by Tang Ci. Upon hearing this, she took out a button-sized object and handed it to him. ¡°It was found on a hunter. I suspect that it is a card with tracking or surveince capabilities. Old Gui has already blocked its function.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang took out a card. It was the ink for his pen, paper and inkstone cards. Unlike Old Mo¡¯s dye that could only dye the environment, Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s ink had a strong shielding effect. Applying the ink to anything could temporarily disable the function. For example, apply ink to a TV and the TV would break. If someone¡¯s card was drawn over with the ink, the card would temporarily lose its skills. The shielding effectsted one hour.

    In order to prevent this button from being used for surveince, Gui Yuanzhang had blocked it while leading the team through thebyrinth. Now Gui Yuanzhang took out the ink card and told the people around him, ¡°I want to unblock it. Everyone, hide first and let Tang Ci study this thing.¡±

    The teammates understood and quickly hid in the next room.

    The presidential suite had two bedrooms and they closed the door after going to the next room. After a while, Chu Huaying knocked on the door. ¡°Come out.¡±

    Everyone went out to see that Tang Ci had already dismantled the button-like thing into a pile of scrap iron. He said, ¡°This is a remote tracker with eavesdropping and a remote control function that can control the bombs in their bodies.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned, ¡°In other words, the Hunter¡¯s League used the remote control to detonate the bombs after hearing us defeating them? I wonder how much they heard.¡±

    Chu Huaying spoke coldly, ¡°I questioned the hunter and the other party recognized my dagger and Old Gui¡¯s brush. They should¡¯ve discovered that we are still alive.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan thought carefully. ¡°Xiao Tang might not have been discovered yet. He was hiding in my pocket the whole time.¡±

    Due to the inconvenience of movement, Tang Ci had been the size of a thumb since entering the six realms of reincarnation room. He was in Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s pocket and his voice was very small. In addition, he didn¡¯t speak at the time so the hunters probably shouldn¡¯t have discovered him.

    Simrly, Liu Qiao, Long Sen and Qu Wanyue hadn¡¯t been exposed.

    Xiao Lou had used the rings to control a hunter and Old Mo had talked to cooperate with Xiao Lou¡¯s acting. Yu Hanjiang, Lu Jiuchuan, Old Gui, Chu Huaying, Ye Qi and Shao Qingge had all spoken and their voices had been transmitted to the Hunter¡¯s League.

    The good result was that Tang Ci and Liu Qiao, who were in the pockets, and Long Sen and Qu Wanyue, who used the Chameleon card to integrate with the environment hadn¡¯t been discovered. They shouldn¡¯t be included in the cklist of the Hunter¡¯s League.

    Gui Yuanzhang said, ¡°It is good if they mistakenly judge that we only have eight people. However, if they follow the clues of Xiao Lou¡¯s contract book and continue to investigate, my guess is that the rest of the people can¡¯t be hidden for long.¡±

    Old Mo¡¯s expression changed. ¡°Our base in the City of the Moon!¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart also trembled slightly. They rented the suburban vi to act as a base and their actions during this period of time had been rtively hidden. It was hidden but there would always be clues. The difficulty of the initial secret rooms wasn¡¯t great and Xiao Lou once went to the supermarket to buy food to cook for his teammates. They also had dinner together at a hot pot restaurant¡­

    If the Hunter¡¯s League really wanted to investigate, they could definitely grasp the information of the team quickly.

    Yu Hanjiang walked to Lu Jiuchuan with a calm face and lowered his voice, ¡°Brother, you have been to J of Clubs. The theme of the secret room is an escape game and you encountered 10 times as many hunters as your team, right?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s team had nearly died in J of Clubs. Tang Ci also lost his legs in the Nightmare Room of J of Clubs.

    Chu Huaying and Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s expressions were a bit ugly as they thought of the tragic experience.

    Lu Jiuchuan clenched his fists, the blue veins on the back of his hands bulging violently. He shook constantly as he recalled the faces of his sacrificed teammates. He took a deep breath to calm himself down before answering in a low and hoarse voice, ¡°Yes, we had 15 people and we faced 150 hunters. All of them were high level hunters with various cards.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°You specifically practiced cooperating for the S-grade secret rooms. Under such circumstances, you were almost annihted. We have just formed a team. What are our chances of winning if we go to J of Clubs?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan closed his eyes and didn¡¯t answer. What were the chances of winning? In fact, the teammates were uncertain in their hearts.

    Ye Qi had been quite confident at first but this time, thebyrinth had hit him too hard. In particr, when it came to dealing with the hunters, Chu Huaying acted as fast as lightning while Gui Yuanzhang was fierce and decisive. In contrast, they could only stand by the side¡­

    Sister Huaying and Senior Gui were so strong and Brother Jiu and Tang Ci were also very good yet their team was almost wiped out. If it was reced with the current team of 12, was it possible to pass J of Club¡¯s battle royale?

    It was highly unlikely. They might have the powerful Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge and Ye Qi had the ace Bug King cards, but Xiao Lou, Liu Qiao and Old Mo weren¡¯t particrly powerful people. The Long Qu couple were also better at reconnaissance and escape¡­

    12 vs 120, it made people desperate thinking about it.

    Xiao Lou suddenly suggested, ¡°Why don¡¯t we skip the 11th level?¡±

    The team members all stared at him.

    Xiao Lou was very rational and his voice was calm and gentle. ¡°Meeting force with force isn¡¯t necessarily a wise choice. We should use our strengths and avoid our weaknesses. Based on our current state, it is really hard to deal with the battle royale room in the 11th level. We have to face 10 times as many hunters as us. The 11th level is a terrifying ce because hunters can appear in groups and fight directly with us¡­¡±

    He walked in front of Lu Jiuchuan and his clear eyes met the other person¡¯s gaze. ¡°Brother Jiu, the other side didn¡¯t necessarily know theposition of your previous team when breaking through, right?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan thought about it and nodded. ¡°Yes, we acted secretly.¡±

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°Now the Hunter¡¯s League probably knows our team¡¯sposition and will definitely be fully prepared. If we go to the battle royale secret room, the organization must send 120 high level hunters against us. Under such conditions, it will be difficult to guarantee everyone¡¯s survival.¡±

    His eyes swept over the faces around him and he said softly, ¡°I don¡¯t want to lose any teammates.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Who would want to see their teammates die in front of themselves?

    That tragic experience often caused Lu Jiuchuan to be awakened by nightmares in the middle of the night. He closed his eyes slightly, loosened his fists and simply replied, ¡°Okay, I will listen to you. We will simply skip the 11th level.¡±

    At present, it had been determined that the 11th level would have a ¡®forced confrontation¡¯ secret room. Even if the keepers modified some of the rules, the tailored ¡®force confrontation¡¯ would be hard for them.

    In addition, the Hunter¡¯s League had a way to send arge number of members into this secret room and it would probably target their team specifically.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t want to take any risks and Lu Jiuchuan didn¡¯t want to experience it again. Since they knew there was a tiger waiting on the mountain, it was reckless to go there. Then why not simply change the route?

    Xiao Lou looked around and asked his teammates, ¡°Do you have anyments?¡±

    The others said they had no problems.

    Xiao Lou dered, ¡°Then it is decided. We will skip the 11th level.¡±

    He paused as he suddenly thought of something. He turned to Yu Hanjiang and asked softly, ¡°Hanjiang, don¡¯t you think that the masks on the faces of the hunters we saw in thebyrinth are somewhat familiar?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. He recalled the scene at the time and answered in a deep voice, ¡°White Fox¡ªhis mask also looked like this.¡±

    Fourth entry by B.K0036: Truck-san at it again

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    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 398.1: Investigation

    Regarding the silver mask, all the team members who experienced the Liuxi Vige secret room had an impression of it. The first time they met the masked man in Liuxi Vige of 4 of Spades, he wore a silver mask. The man¡¯s temperament was very special and the mask on his face was also unique. Some strange ck patterns were drawn on the silver mask as decoration.

    Shao Qingge carefully recalled the mask in his mind. ¡°No wonder I felt like the masks of the hunters in thebyrinth were a bit familiar. Didn¡¯t we see it in Liuxi Vige before?¡±

    Ye Qi walked to Xiao Lou and asked softly, ¡°Professor Xiao, do you think the twins are also hunters? It shouldn¡¯t be a coincidence that they are wearing the same mask as hunters, right?¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t give an urate answer. A mask alone couldn¡¯t exin the problem. This person code-named White Fox was a mystery and he might also have a twin brother. Were these twins allies or enemies? For example, if he was a hunter, why did he have to convene arge number of challengers to gather in the bar after the stampede incident and encourage them to pass the secret rooms to leave this world? Yet if he was on the side of the challengers, how could he wear the same mask?

    Xiao Lou was puzzled. He nced at Tang Ci and asked, ¡°Mr Tang, is there any information from the Intelligence Bureau on this White Fox? Is he still at the bar in the City of the Sun?¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute, I will check it.¡±

    Tang Ci opened hisptop and typed a series of characters which they couldn¡¯t understand, logging into the Intr of the Intelligence Bureau. This was the informationwork established by Tang Ci and it had collected more than 90% of the challengers¡¯ information, including when they entered the main city, their residence in the main city, their team formation and part of their information in reality.

    White Fox, formerly known as Bai Jinyu. There was very little information about him. Tang Ci only knew that he came to the City of the Sun a year ago and opened the bar in the City of the Sun 6 months ago. He usually lived in the bar and there was no information on his teammates at all.

    The Intelligence Bureau had limited information so Tang Ci simply hacked the surveince system of the City of the Sun. His eyes were fixed on theputer as he checked the surveince near the bar. Soon, he fixed his mouse on the surveince screen and pointed to the image on theputer. ¡°His bar is open.¡±

    Everyone entered the World Weekly at midnight on Saturday night and it took them four and a half hours to clear the World Weekly. It was now just 5:00 a.m. Bars were generally open at night so this wasn¡¯t unusual. The strange thing was¡­ during the surveince, Bai Jinyu appeared at the door of the bar to grab a package of takeout.

    Xiao Lou was stunned. ¡°Isn¡¯t he a challenger? If he is a challenger, he should¡¯ve entered the World Weekly like us and he shouldn¡¯t havee out yet.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang analyzed it. ¡°We took 4 hours and 38 minutes to clear thebyrinth, ranking first in the world. If there were no hunters that popped up in the middle, we wouldn¡¯t have rushed to escape using the riskiest method. Other challengers would move through thebyrinth ording to the normal thinking and it would take more than five hours.¡±

    In other words, if Bai Jinyu was a challenger, he wouldn¡¯t be able to get back to the main city so quickly. Even if his team was ranked second in the world, the time wouldn¡¯t be so short. 99.9% of challengers would still be stuck in the World Weeklybyrinth at this time.

    There were only two exnations for why Bai Jinyu would appear in the bar in the City of the Sun at this time.

    One, he wasn¡¯t a challenger. Two, before the World Weekly opened at midnight, he forcibly opened another secret room on the card wall, entering the secret room to avoid this World Weekly.

    Tang Ci moved his mouse and quickly retrieved Bai Jinyu¡¯s information. ¡°He came to the City of the Sun a year ago and the ID number used at that time was indeed a challenger number. A challenger¡¯s ID card has the first four digits different from a native¡¯s ID card. This is why I recorded his information. Why didn¡¯t he participate in this World Weekly? Did he open a secret room ahead of time to avoid it?¡±

    Opening the fixed secret room on the ward wall before Saturday to avoid the World Weekly was the method that Lu Jiuchuan taught to Yu Hanjiang in the beginning. Some time ago, Xiao Lou¡¯s team used this technique to avoid several rounds of the World Weekly.

    However, even if he opened the secret room before the early hours of Saturday morning, could he clear it so quickly? There were no teammates mentioned in the database. How could he sessfully break through the level alone?

    The more they thought about it, the stranger they felt.

    Lu Jiuchuan touched his chin. ¡°This White Fox is suspicious. Should I personally go to meet him?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang immediately objected. ¡°You are now the key monitoring target of the Hunter¡¯s League. You shouldn¡¯t appear easily.¡±

    ¡°It isn¡¯t a problem.¡± Lu Jiuchuan smiled and took out a card. It was the mask that he used to go undercover in the Hunter¡¯s League. It could immediately change his face.

    Yu Hanjiang just wanted to ask his brother what he would change into when Yu Hanjiang saw Lu Jiuchuan transform himself into a fashionable university student in his 20s. His hair was dyed blond and the studs in his ears shed brightly.

    Tang Ci, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Tang Ci saw the chunni version of Lu Jiuchuan in front of him and looked away in disgust.

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled and wondered, ¡°Does anyone want to apany me?¡±

    Ye Qi was interested in the bar and raised his hand. ¡°I want to go.¡±

    Shao Qingge stopped him. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t go. On the night of the stampede incident at the concert, you showed up and yed the piano on the stage. You will probably be recognized.¡±

    Ye Qi thought about it and obediently put down his hand. Qu Wanyue smiled and volunteered. ¡°I will go with Long Sen. We haven¡¯t made a public appearance yet and we were also invisible in thebyrinth with the Chameleon card. The monitoring of the Hunter¡¯s League shouldn¡¯t have captured us.¡±

    Long Sen agreed. ¡°Yes, even if they go to the City of the Moon to check our information, it will take time.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged looks. They also felt that it was more appropriate for Long Sen and Qu Wanyue to go to the bar. Xiao Lou inquired, ¡°Teacher Qu, have you used your invisibility cloaks?¡±

    Qu Wanyue took out the card. ¡°No.¡±

    Xiao Lou exined. ¡°We used them when passing through the 18 hells and the cooldown time hasn¡¯t ended yet. Let us borrow your cards and I will go with Hanjiang. At that time, you and Brother Jiu will act separately at the bar to dy Bai Jinyu. Meanwhile, I will investigate privately with Hanjiang to see what secrets this bar might be hiding.¡±

    Qu Wanyue and Long Sen immediately handed the cards to Xiao Lou.

    Tang Ci advised them, ¡°The five of you should act carefully. The rest of us will stay behind.¡±

    His eyes swept over Shao Qingge, Ye Qi and the others. ¡°For safety, don¡¯t disperse for the time being. Rest here tonight, this way we can take care of each other.¡±

    No oneined about the arrangement. Tang Ci¡¯s presidential suite wasrge enough to rest on the sofa.

    Lu Jiuchuan waved his hand and the group of five started to act. Lu Jiuchuan drove Tang Ci¡¯s personal car with his four teammates. The group followed the navigation and soon arrived at the bar beside the sea.

    The location of this bar was very good. After opening the French windows, customers could see the white sandy beach and endless sea. It was 5:30 in the morning but there were still many customers at the bar and people on the beach having night barbecues. It was leisurely and romantic. There was a soft guitar ying at the bar, apanied by the voice of a female singer.

    Qu Wanyue listened for a moment. ¡°This song¡­ I¡¯ve never heard of it before. It shouldn¡¯t be a song from our world. Have any of you heard it?¡±

    Everyone said that the melody was unfamiliar.

    Yu Hanjiang told them, ¡°After we stop, Xiao Lou and I will put on the invisibility cloaks and explore the bar.¡± He nced at Lu Jiuchuan in the front and said, ¡°Brother, you might¡¯ve changed your face and look like a rebellious university student but you should still be careful so as to not be recognized.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    He parked the car in the parking lot, opened the door and got out smoothly. He lit a cigarette and held it to his mouth. The rebellious youth with blond hair, earrings and a cigarette was yed vividly by him and Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t helpughing. After spending so much time in the secret rooms, everyone¡¯s acting skills had really improved.

    Lu Jiuchuan looked at Qu Wanyue and Long Sen and joked, ¡°The two of you should act as lovers, this will show your true colors.¡±

    Qu Wanyue smiled. ¡°Okay. Brother Jiu, we will pretend not to know you.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan agreed. ¡°Yes, you get into your roles. I will go first. Hanjiang and Xiao Lou, follow me. The two of you, wait a few minutes beforeing in.¡±

    He left the parking lot first and headed toward the bar. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou followed using the invisibility cloaks. They only had 30 minutes.

    Lu Jiuchuan opened the door and deliberately held it open for a few seconds without closing it. This made it convenient for Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang to enter. This was a ¡®clean¡¯ bar. The melody of the song sung by the resident singer was soft, the lights in the bar were warm and the decorations were stylish. Unlike ordinary bars that were smoky and full of dancing, this one was more suitable for a few friends to meet and chat while drinking.

    The moment Lu Jiuchuan entered the bar, he saw a man with an outstanding temperament standing behind the bar. He used his slender fingers to hold two bottles of wine, slowly pouring them into the ss. The two types of wines mixed together and the ss changed into dazzling colors. Bai Jinyu was making cocktails for the guests. The face of the man was hidden by his mask. Only a pair of dark and deep eyes could be seen.

    This mask reminded Lu Jiuchuan of the hunters he encountered in thebyrinth. In particr, the ck pattern decorations on the silver mask looked like they came from the same batch produced by the manufacturer.

    Lu Jiuchuan walked to the bar and tapped his finger on the countertop. ¡°Give me a ss of tequ sunrise.¡±

    Bai Jinyu¡¯s voice was gentle. ¡°Yes, please wait a minute.¡±

    He skillfully prepared a ss of tequ for Lu Jiuchuan. The color was a beautiful orange-red and it had a gradient of light to dark from bottom to top. It was just like the morning glow when the sunrise was going to ur.

    Lu Jiuchuan took the cup and sat down to drink. Tequ was a strong alcohol but he drank it without changing his expression. After drinking it, he ordered another ss. Three consecutive ssester, Bai Jinyu couldn¡¯t help reminding him, ¡°This type of drink has a strong alcohol content. You will be drunk if you drink more.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled and waved his hand. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. Give me another one.¡±

    Just then, Qu Wanyue and Long Sen also walked into the bar. They entered the bar arm in arm, as if they were a couple in love. Qu Wanyue wore a strapless dress with her long hair scattered around her shoulders. She looked very sexy and charming. Long Sen wore a shirt and trousers. Combined with his tall and muscr body, the two people matched very well when they walked in.

    Long Sen gazed at Qu Wanyue gently and asked in a low voice, ¡°What do you want to drink?¡±

    Qu Wanyue¡¯s face was a bit red. ¡°I don¡¯t drink very much.¡±

    Long Sen nced at the alcohol list and said, ¡°Give her a ss of white coconut grove.¡±

    This ss of alcohol was simr to the color of coconut milk. Qu Wanyue took a sip from the straw and the rich coconut taste stimted her taste buds. It was sweet and sour. Long Sen ced his hand on his wife¡¯s shoulder and wondered, ¡°Do you like it?¡±

    Qu Wanyue nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Would you like to try something else?¡±

    Qu Wanyue thought about it before ncing at Lu Jiuchuan. ¡°I want to drink what he¡¯s having.¡±

    Long Sen questioned it. ¡°Is that tequ? No, it is too strong. You will be drunk.¡±

    Qu Wanyue smiled heartlessly. ¡°If I get drunk then you can carry me on your back.¡±

    The two people started to show affection and many single people in the bar were blinded by this affectionate couple.

    Next to them, Lu Jiuchuan drank while speaking in a pained voice. ¡°Xiao Nian, I love you so much¡­ how could you ask to break up? In this world, no one loves you more than me¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Please continue to perform and buy time for the two of them.

    Fifth entry by B.K0036: When you can¡¯t draw men so Long-Sen bes a Chameleon

    CG 10K event

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 398.2

    The nonsense that Lu Jiuchuan spoke after being ¡®drunk¡¯ was extremely realistic and he yed the role of a broken-hearted young man well enough. He almost shed two lines of tears from his eyes. Xiao Lou found that Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes were red as if he was about to cry. Then Lu Jiuchuan suddenly grabbed Bai Jinyu¡¯s arm and said affectionately, ¡°Xiao Nian, you came back right?¡±

    Bai Jinyu didn¡¯t push him away, instead there wasughter in his eyes. ¡°Handsome guy, you are drunk. I¡¯m not Xiao Nian¡­¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan stared at him with red eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not drunk. Xiao Nian, don¡¯t leave me¡­¡±

    As he held onto Bai Jinyu, he reached out a hand toward the other person¡¯s mask. ¡°What is this on your face?¡±

    Yet just moments before he came into contact with the silver mask, Bai Jinyu suddenly made a move! His hands were as fast as lightning, his fingers grabbing Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s wrist forcefully while the smiling eyes turned extremely cold. Lu Jiuchuan was pinched by the opponent and didn¡¯t dare to move, so he continued to act. ¡°Xiao Nian?¡±

    Bai Jinyu spoke lightly. ¡°You are drunk.¡±

    He sent a look at the security guards around him. Two tall security guards grabbed Lu Jiuchuan and sent him out of the bar.

    Qu Wanyue looked frightened as she whispered, ¡°Is this handsome guy lovelorn?¡±

    Long Sen looked sympathetic. ¡°He probably just broke up with his girlfriend and ran to the bar to get drunk.¡±

    Qu Wanyue took a few sips of her drink. Then the boss handed her a ss of tequ sunrise like Lu Jiuchuan. She took a sip but the alcoholic nature was so strong that she coughed. Long Senughed and took it. ¡°I said that this alcohol is strong but you still insisted on drinking it¡­¡±

    The two of them continued to drink at the bar to drag out time.

    Currently, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou had already figured out theyout of the bar. The bar had two floors. The upper floor was a small VIP room while the lower floor was the lobby. The middle had a hollow structure, so the upper private room could see the resident singers on the first floor. Yu Hanjiang went around the second floor but found nothing suspicious.

    Meanwhile, Xiao Lou came around to the back of the bar on the first floor. In the corner was a door which should lead to the storage room. The strange thing was that the door was locked and could only be opened by using a fingerprint.

    Xiao Lou pressed his ear to it and heard a rustling noise from inside. It sounded like a mouse in a hole. It was like¡­ someone struggling?

    He looked around. At this time, the eyes of the people at the bar were all on Qu Wanyue and Long Sen. From Xiao Lou¡¯s position, he could only vaguely see Bai Jinyu¡¯s back. Xiao Lou quickly ced the drone monitoring in an inconspicuous ce at the crossbeam above the door. Then he went back to the bar and signaled for Long Sen to withdraw first.

    The 30 minutes time limit of the invisibility cloak was approaching soon. Long Sen noticed someone touching his back lightly. He knew it was Xiao Lou and downed the remaining alcohol in his ss. ¡°Thank you, Boss. Your mixed drinks are very delicious. I wille again next time.¡±

    He pulled Qu Wanyue out the door and Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou immediately followed.

    Outside the door, Lu Jiuchuan hugged a tree and vomited. Of course, he wasn¡¯t really drunk. He was just pretending to be drunk. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the other peopleing out and he stumbled toward the parking lot. Since there was no one around, Yu Hanjiang unlocked the car and everyone quickly got in.

    Qu Wanyue asked, ¡°What did you find?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan was the first to speak. ¡°This White Fox has very good skills and can react faster than Chu Huaying. Chu Huaying¡¯s physical fitness has been strengthened by many S-grade cards and her reaction ability is very fast. Meanwhile, White Fox gave me a sense of threat that was stronger than Huaying. Just now, I deliberately tested him. If I hadn¡¯t been pretending to be drunk, my wrist probably would¡¯ve been broken the moment he acted.¡±

    As the captain of the naval special forces, Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s fighting skills were already top-notch. Bai Jinyu could actually make him feel threatened so this person must not be underestimated.

    Yu Hanjiang nodded solemnly. ¡°I also saw it. His moves should be the result of professional training. Most people can¡¯t reach this level even if they have cards to increase their strength.¡±

    He turned toward Xiao Lou. ¡°What did you find on the first floor?¡±

    ¡°There was a door at the back of the bar with a fingerprint lock. I couldn¡¯t open it. There was also a strange sound from behind the door. It sounded like someone struggling. So I left the drone in an inconspicuous position on the crossbeam for monitoring.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan praised him. ¡°You are truly careful. Let¡¯s wait and see if the drone captures anything.¡±

    The identity of White Fox was unknown and they couldn¡¯t easily alert the enemy. They could only investigate this way.

    Momentster, a picture appeared on Xiao Lou¡¯s surveince card.

    Bai Jinyu used his fingerprint to unlock the door, which was confirmed with a ¡®di¡¯ sound and the door opened. He walked inside with a takeout box and closed the door behind him.

    Naturally the vision of the drone was now obstructed, but it still faithfully transmitted the soundsing from behind the door. They heard the leather shoes slowly stepping on the ground and the takeout box being put on a table. At the same time, a conversation started between the people inside the room.

    A man asked coldly, ¡°How long do you think you can keep me here?¡±

    Then another simr voice was heard. ¡°You don¡¯t want to stay here? You get something to eat and drink and nobody will disturb your rest. Isn¡¯t that nice?¡±

    The other person spoke mockingly. ¡°Then should I thank you for your hospitality, Brother?¡±

    The footsteps suddenly stopped, only to be clearer again. Then a noise entered their ears as the man opened the door and looked up at the drone. His masked face was magnified on the screen and Xiao Lou saw those eyes curve slightly, as if he was smiling. ¡°Interesting. Someone actually installed monitoring at my ce.¡±

    The man in the room was surprised. ¡°Who is checking you?¡±

    Bai Jinyu said, ¡°Just now, the drunk guy who was lovelorn had very good acting skills. I heard that Lu Jiuchuan has a card called ¡®Mask¡¯ that can change his face at any time.¡± Bai Jinyu stared at the drone. ¡°Lu Jiuchuan, is that you?¡± Then he took down the drone, pointing it at a bottle of wine to let the camera get a good shot.

    Lu Jiuchuan, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou squeezed his forehead helplessly and put away the drone card. ¡°I hid the drone in a very inconspicuous corner yet he found it so quickly. He is really cautious.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t me yourself. At least we got some gains from the investigation this time.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and thought about it carefully. ¡°The person locked up by him is his twin brother, right? The voices of the two people are very simr. If it wasn¡¯t for a slight difference in tone, it would sound like he was questioning and answering himself.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°I heard that man call him Brother. Why did he lock up his brother?¡±

    Everyone found it strange. The secrets of those two brothers were truly puzzling. Just then, Yu Hanjiang thought of something and said, ¡°We met the masked man in 4 of Spades, in other words, Bai Jinyu¡¯s twin brother. There were also hunters in 3 of Spades.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s spirit shook. ¡°You mean, the brother we met in 4 of Spades was likely a hunter, not a challenger?!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°As early as 3 of Spades, there were hunters who killed ¡®foreigners¡¯ and took their identity, mixing into the teams. Is this also the case with 4 of Spades? At that time, the masked man used cards and everyone subconsciously regarded him as a challenger. We ignored that he might be a hunter. Each time after killing a challenger, he could have obtained their cards.¡±

    Xiao Lou got a chill at the thought.

    Back then, a man wearing a mask suddenly appeared and took everyone¡¯s gems by grabbing things from the air. Later, he joined the team and cleared the secret room with everyone. No one suspected that he was a hunter.

    However, it made sense that he was a hunter. Hunters could be found in low level Spades secret rooms. The thieves encountered in 3 of Spades were the evidence. It wasn¡¯t surprising that hunters would also appear in 4 of Spades.

    This exined why the twins came to the main city at different times. If the twins were hunters, they could freely enter and exit the low level secret rooms. Therefore, the time when they met the younger brother in 4 of Spades had no reference significance. Perhaps the younger brother, like the older brother, came to the main city half a year ago. Then he happened to receive the mission to kill in 4 of Spades and met Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang and their group.

    He wasn¡¯t a neer who was clearing 4 of Spades. He was a hunter who went to 4 of Spades to kill the neers.

    He probably became aware that Xiao Lou and the others had teamed up and he couldn¡¯t beat them alone. Thus, he didn¡¯t try to kill them. Instead, he pretended to be apanion of the challengers to pass the level with everyone. The challengers who died in the vige might¡¯ve been killed by him.

    Qu Wanyue suddenly opened her mouth. ¡°By the way, Long Sen and I escaped the vige very early. There were also a few other challengers outside the vige. Those who left the vige at that time shouldn¡¯t be weak. Yet by the time we met up with Xiao Lou, those challengers had been eaten to the extent where only bones were left. Could it be¡­ the masked man killed them? Then their corpses were eaten by beasts?¡±

    Long Sen added, ¡°In addition, there were the corpses of the challengers found in the vigeter on. We thought the deaths were caused by infighting among the challengers but we can¡¯t rule out that it was actually done by the masked man.¡±

    The more Xiao Lou thought about it, the more he felt that this spection was more consistent than their previous conjectures.

    By the time they met the younger of the twins, they had already agreed to join forces. In addition to Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang, Shao Qingge, Ye Qi, Liu Qiao, Long Sen and Qu Wanyue, there was a team of four who were employees of the samepany and had a few cards in their hands.

    The temporary alliance formed by the scattered people wasrge and powerful. The masked man couldn¡¯t easily deal with so many people so he chose to hide his identity and stay with everyone to look for opportunities. However, he never found a chance because Yu Hanjiang was sufficiently alert and didn¡¯t let his teammates act alone. Thus, when they cleared the instance, he went to the City of the Sun when most of the others chose the City of the Moon.

    Bai Jinyu and his twin brother might both be members of the Hunter¡¯s League. Tang Ci said that Bai Jinyu¡¯s ID card showed he was a challenger¡­

    It also proved that Xiao Lou¡¯s previous spection was correct.

    There was arge number of challengers among the hunters so they were well aware of the challengers, including the variety of cards and the World Weekly secret rooms. Moreover, they brainwashed the native inhabitants of the world, making people crazily hunt for ¡®foreigners¡¯ when they were also ¡®foreigners¡¯! This group of people were traitors among the challengers and they were killing theirpatriots!

    However, this made Xiao Lou wonder. What was the reason that transformed a challenger into a hunter and killer of the opposing camp?

    Sixth entry by B.K0036: Young and Handsome Garbage Collector

    CG 10K event

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 399: Inference

    Lu Jiuchuan also agreed with Xiao Lou¡¯s analysis. During his undercover operation in the Hunter¡¯s League, he always suspected there might be challengers mixed in with these people. In the World Weekly missions, the hunterpanions he worked with were very familiar with the way cards were used. Perhaps they were taught by challengers.

    Now the emergence of the twin brothers further confirmed Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s spection.

    Lu Jiuchuan thought for a moment before looking back at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Shall we grab this pair of brothers and interrogate them? So many criminals were arrested and interrogated by you to make them confess. If you interrogate them, I don¡¯t believe they can keep silent.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t approve of his brother¡¯s simple and rough approach. ¡°The surveince was easily discovered by Bai Jinyu and he is now on guard. We don¡¯t even know the details behind him. If we try to catch him, we might fall into his trap. I always feel that behind Bai Jinyu is a force that is stronger than we think.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°Brother Jiu, Hanjiang¡¯s words make sense. At present, Bai Jinyu isn¡¯t directly going against us. It isn¡¯t clear if he is a hunter or on the challenger¡¯s side. It is better to act after knowing it for certain.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled and nced at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Fine. In any case, the two husbands are singing as one. I can¡¯t say anything to you.¡±

    Long Sen paused. ¡°Husbands¡­ what husbands?¡±

    Qu Wanyue poked him in the arm and coughed. ¡°Let¡¯s go back first in case everyone else is worried.¡±

    Long Sen was still wondering if Brother Jiu¡¯s sentence about ¡®husbands singing as one¡¯ was a joke. Hisnguage skills might not be good enough but wasn¡¯t it more appropriate to describe two men as ¡®one voice, one harmony¡¯. Why did he describe them as husbands? It seemed that Brother Jiu¡¯snguage skills were worse than his.

    Long Sen came to this conclusion. Then he looked back and found that Xiao Lou¡¯s ears were a bit red. It might be too hot so Long Sen considerately helped Professor Xiao lower the window.

    Currently, it was summer in the City of the Sun. The time was approaching 6 o¡¯clock in the morning. The first rays of dawn broke through the clouds and sprinkled gently on the sea, dyeing the blue sea water an orange-red color. Lu Jiuchuan drove on the wide seaside road with coconut trees lining the way. The sea breeze blowing onto his face brought the dampness of sea water.

    Xiao Lou turned his head. The scenery of the City of the Sun was very different from that of the City of the Moon. It was a typical coastal city but it was more beautiful than any coastal city he had ever visited in reality.

    The sea water here was crystal clear and seemed to be dyed by the blue sky. The beach was white and delicate and there were many shells scattered around. The crashing of the water at high tide was like a pleasant note and people¡¯s lives were rxed and leisurely. There wasn¡¯t as much pressure as in reality.

    Along the endless coastline, there were many specially built holiday vis. It was said that the house prices were still very cheap. Shao Qingge now had a lot of savings in his card and it wasn¡¯t a problem for each of them to buy a vi here and settle down¡­

    No wonder there were challengers who were willing to stay in this world.

    Xiao Lou thought about it and something shed in his mind, as if a clue had surfaced. A few words gradually became clear in his mind and he blurted out, ¡°The Eternal Kingdom?¡±

    His teammates heard this and looked at him in confusion.

    Yu Hanjiang asked in a low voice, ¡°What did you think of?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s mind returned and he replied, ¡°The Eternal Kingdom. I remember Old Mo once mentioning that the goal of this guild is to stay in the Card World instead of returning to the real world. Most of them buy cars and houses in this world and even marry natives of the Card World!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang pondered on it for a moment. ¡°You mean, the Hunter¡¯s League is likely to be rted to this guild?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°The ultimate goal of the Eternal Kingdom is to stay in the Card World. They are attracted by the beauty of the Card World andpletely gave up on everything in reality, even their rtives. Therefore, they despise thews of the human world and there is no psychological barrier for them indiscriminately killing innocent people.¡±

    As early as when they arrived in the City of the Moon, Old Mo had introduced them to the three major challenger associations.

    The Eternal Kingdom did gather a group of challengers who wanted to stay in the Card World. Everyone had their own purpose. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t evaluate whether it was a wrong choice for people to stay here. After all, he wanted to go back to reality because he had concerns there. Then what if some people weren¡¯t living well in the real world?

    For example, in reality, they were too poor to afford a house, they didn¡¯t have a decent job, they didn¡¯t have harmonious rtives or a lover or they suffered too much in reality. For these people, wasn¡¯t the Card World like heaven? Sometimes the difference between heaven and hell was just one thought.

    For those who were unhappy in reality, the Card World was equivalent to giving them a chance at rebirth. They only needed to go through the secret rooms, get powerful cards and gain some gold at the Clubs rooms to own their own house and car in the Card World. They could even find a boyfriend or girlfriend to fall in love with and get married here. They were much happier here than they were in reality. Why should they go back?

    Lu Jiuchuan thought of this possibility. ¡°I¡¯ve heard about the Eternal Kingdom challengers association. They really have staying here as their goal. Most challengers in the Eternal Kingdom remain at the 8th level. After passing the 8th level, they can get enough good cards to deal with the World Weekly.¡±

    Qu Wanyue wondered, ¡°In other words, after passing through the 8th level, they stop? After that, they just need toplete the World Weekly every weekend? If the team is strong, the World Weekly isn¡¯t difficult for them, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, most of the members of the Eternal Kingdom have cards that can save their lives. Theirbat effectiveness isn¡¯t high but their ability to escape is absolutely excellent. It shouldn¡¯t be a big problem to pass the World Weekly.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan looked at Xiao Lou in the rearview mirror. ¡°Professor Xiao, do you suspect that this guild is rted to hunters and they have additional conditions to stay in the Card World?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just making a bold guess. Assuming that the real world and Card World are two different spaces, there will definitely be conditions for challengers who want to survive in this different space for a long time, right? It is like how we need a green card to live abroad. If there is a ¡®green card¡¯ in the Card World, how can people get permanent residency?¡±

    Qu Wanyue¡¯s expression changed. ¡°For example, kill a challenger and get a green card for one year?¡±

    Long Sen¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, there is a reasonable exnation for some challengers defecting to join the hunters. They want to stay here forever and will kill people in exchange for time.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face was a bit pale. ¡°This is just my guess. I just think our understanding of the Card World is too one-sided because we are all eager to go back. We will subjectively think this world is cruel and not worthy of nostalgia. Yet for some people, this world might be paradise.¡±

    The car fell silent.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s bold spection did have a certain possibility of being true and could reasonably exin many problems. If so, the number of hunters would only grow.

    Lu Jiuchuan knew very well that it took a long time to break through. Facing the secret rooms that kept bing more difficult, challengers would feel tired and frustrated. If their teammates died in front of them, their willpower to go back would gradually diminish.

    Lu Jiuchuan had also wavered when he saw his teammates being killed in J of Clubs. He thought it was better to simply die here. It was just a shing thought but Lu Jiuchuan, who wasn¡¯t afraid of death, had almost given up. How could someone with less determination persist in breaking through the S-grade secret rooms?

    Over time, people would be unable to clear the instances and would naturally be numb. They would have the idea that it was better to stay in this world. Perhaps in the end, those who insisted on clearing the secret rooms were an outlier among challengers.

    The group didn¡¯t talk as the car drove back to the hotel.

    Tang Ci¡¯s group hadn¡¯t slept yet. After all, their teammates were taking risks, making the rest of them unable to sleep peacefully.

    In fact, on the way, Xiao Lou had told Ye Qi the results of the investigation through the Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. The two of them had connected in thebyrinth and itsted for 24 hours, so it hadn¡¯t been broken yet.

    Ye Qi also ryed Xiao Lou¡¯s spection to the others.

    So when Xiao Lou¡¯s group of five went upstairs, Tang Ci already knew the result.

    Tang Ci told them in a straightforward manner, ¡°My side has collected little information on the Eternal Kingdom. This is the most mysterious challenger organization and no one knows who the president is. Even their own people don¡¯t know it.¡±

    Old Mo added, ¡°I only heard that the leader of the Eternal Kingdom is quite strong and the World Weekly tasks are like an entertainment game to him. The internal audit of their association is very strict and experts provide members with many clearance strategies to pass the World Weekly¡­¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang frowned. ¡°White Fox or Bai Jinyu, could he be a high ranking person of this Eternal Kingdom?¡±

    Tang Ci opened the challengers¡¯ internal forum and showed all the posts published by White Fox. ¡°He has posted many strategies for secret rooms below A grade in the forum. His identity as a challenger is indeed in line with the style of the Eternal Kingdom. It¡¯s unknown whether or not he¡¯s a high level member of the Eternal Kingdom, and we also don¡¯t know if the Eternal Kingdom has an alliance or cooperation with the Hunter¡¯s League. I will continue to have my informants keep watch. The clues need to be collected slowly.¡±

    Chu Huaying agreed. ¡°There is no hurry. In any case, the soldierse to block us and wateres to cover us. No matter how abnormal the Hunter¡¯s League, they are human beings. Humans have weaknesses. If they dare to chase us, we can also find ways to fight against them.¡±

    Ye Qi sent her an admiring look. ¡°Sister Ying is right!¡±

    Tang Ci told Xiao Lou, ¡°You are tired from staying up all night. Rest first.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Then we will now go to sleep and get up at noon to eat and supplement our physical strength. Then we will discuss the next level.¡±

    They spent 4 hours in thebyrinthbined with the night visit to the bar. The group was indeed exhausted.

    There were two presidential suites next to Tang Ci¡¯s room that happened to be vacant. Shao Qingge paid for the rooms and everyone stayed in separate bedrooms for several hours. Xiao Lou was confused and had a nightmare.

    In his dream, he stood on a wide tform that was much like the personal space, except that the surrounding area was pitch ck. There was a beam of light cast in the middle, like the spotlight on arge stage.

    A of Spades wore sunsses and held a gun to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s forehead. He threw another gun to Xiao Lou and ordered coldly, ¡°If you want Yu Hanjiang to live, you must kill Ye Qi.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s entire body was sweating. His fingers were trembling and he couldn¡¯t hold the gun firmly. Xiao Ye¡¯s face was pale as he looked at Xiao Lou with pleading eyes. And beside Ye Qi stood Shao Qingge, aiming a gun at Xiao Lou.

    The four people confronted each other in the dark and empty environment¡­ this depressing feeling made Xiao Lou almost breathless. His chest was stuffy like a boulder was pressed against it.

    Suddenly, shots rang out. It wasn¡¯t known who pulled the trigger first. Xiao Lou woke up from his nightmare and found that the sky was bright outside the window. It was noon. Yu Hanjiang sat next to the bed and asked him in a low voice, ¡°What is it? Did you have a nightmare?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang slept next door and heard Xiao Lou crying out. He came to check and as a result, he saw Xiao Lou suddenly wake up.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was beating ridiculously fast as he looked at the familiar man in front of him. The scenes in his dream were so clear that he couldn¡¯t distinguish between dreams and reality.

    Yu Hanjiang noticed that Xiao Lou¡¯s sweat had soaked his clothes. Yu Hanjiang gently touched Xiao Lou¡¯s sweat-drenched hair and spoke softly. ¡°Is it due to what you were thinking earlier that you had a nightmare? Did you dream about a teammate being killedst night?¡±

    Xiao Lou was a bit surprised. ¡°How did you know?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang exined, ¡°If it can make you feel ufortable like this then it definitely isn¡¯t a good dream.¡±

    The familiar smell from the man¡¯s body made Xiao Lou feel at ease. It had just been a dream. He was really too nervous.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and calmed his emotions. He stared at Yu Hanjiang and asked, ¡°If one day, the keepers or hunters capture me and ask you to kill a teammate in exchange for my life, what would you do?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou¡¯s clear and warm eyes with surprise. Perhaps Xiao Lou faced such a cruel choice in his nightmare. This question was difficult to answer. He was silent for a moment before smiling slightly, ¡°If it was you, what would you do?¡±

    Xiao Lou was startled. ¡°Don¡¯t kick the question back to me. Answer it first.¡±

    ¡°It is the same whoever says it. It is because I believe our answer is the same.¡± Yu Hanjiang reached out, hugged Xiao Lou tightly in his arms and whispered, ¡°If there is a day when I can¡¯t save you, when they take you as a hostage in order to convince me to kill others, I will choose to kill you myself and then die with you.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    As expected, it was the same idea.

    In an instant, the depression and difort in Xiao Lou¡¯s heart dissipated and was reced with ease.

    It was just a dream. Yesterday, he spected on how the challengers would change positions into a hunter so he dreamed of this dilemma. Perhaps some people were forced to be hunters and it wasn¡¯t voluntary. However, if he one day faced this dilemma, Xiao Lou knew that Yu Hanjiang wouldn¡¯t forget their original intentions.

    What was the point of living if they relied on killing innocents in exchange for the right to live? Death wasn¡¯t terrible. The terrible thing was losing your soul and bing a walking demon.

    He heard Yu Hanjiang say, ¡°I know¡­ you don¡¯t want to live with such shame and I am the same.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled, gave a soft hum of agreement and reached out to hug this person back.

    Yu Hanjiang pressed a kiss to Xiao Lou¡¯s forehead and tightened his grip, his voice extremely gentle. ¡°Xiao Lou, don¡¯t think too much. The hunters we face have long since lost their humanity but we know what we should do and what we shouldn¡¯t do. I always remembered the words you said a long time ago¡ªthis world might be crazy but we aren¡¯t crazy yet.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded from within his arms.

    In fact, there was nothing to worry about. No matter how bad the result, just die together. Even if they failed, they would be together in another world. They would apany each other on the road to the Underworld and they wouldn¡¯t be alone.

    The two people hugged for a while. Once Xiao Loupletely let go of his nightmare, he broke away from Yu Hanjiang¡¯s embrace and suddenly asked, ¡°By the way, is Brother Jiu aware of our matter?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was very calm. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help his ears turning red. ¡°Did you tell him?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous. He really appreciates you. Rest assured, he has already seen you as one of his own in his heart.¡±

    Xiao Lou paused before asking nervously, ¡°Then once we go back, would you like to meet my parents with me? They are very good people and their personalities are gentle.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was stunned for a moment and a trace of ecstasy filled his heart. He hugged Xiao Lou tightly again and whispered in his ear, ¡°If you are willing to admit our rtionship in front of your elders then I naturally won¡¯t refuse. I also want to get your parents¡¯ approval and let them know that you have a boyfriend whose name is Yu Hanjiang.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The nightmare originally made Xiao Lou ufortable but now he felt sweet in his heart. Yu Hanjiang had told his older brother about their love and Xiao Lou wanted to take Yu Hanjiang to introduce him to his parents. This showed that both of them were serious about their rtionship and wanted their beloved to be recognized by their family.

    Rather than thinking about bad things, they should be optimistic and think about their ns for the future.

    Just then, a notification popped up on the phone. Tang Ci had sent a message in the group chat. ¡°Everyone, go downstairs to eat and take your room card to have the buffet lunch. We will discuss where to go after the meal.¡±

    They had restored their spirits and were about to meet a new challenge.

    Seventh entry by B.K0036: What I think Peach Blossom Springs looks like

    CG 10K event

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 400: New Instance

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang finished lunch and headed to Tang Ci¡¯s room. The other team members had already arrived. After a few hours of rest, they had all recovered their energy. Tang Ci looked at Xiao Lou and wondered, ¡°Next, do you want to stay in the City of the Sun to continue investigating this Bai Jinyu or go directly to the next level?¡±

    Xiao Lou answered, ¡°I suggest going to the next level. Bai Jinyu must be prepared now. Even if we continue to look, we might not be able to find clues. Moreover, Brother Jiu¡¯s identity has been revealed and hunters mighte at any time. It isn¡¯t safe to stay.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan also agreed with Xiao Lou. He walked up to Tang Ci, looking at the pale man in the wheelchair as he said in a low voice, ¡°Let¡¯s go to the next level first and help you heal your legs. Once your legs regain mobility, we will have a better chance of winning if we encounter hunters again.¡±

    Ye Qi heard the words ¡®heal your legs¡¯ and interjected. ¡°The Bug King card can only be used in the Spades and Clubs rooms. Shall we go to Q of Spades or Q of Clubs?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°Let¡¯s go to Spades. In any case, both the survival and challenge rooms aren¡¯t easy.¡±

    They finished the discussion and entered the personal space. All four keepers were present. The little loli was still eating the cake while ignoring their presence. The Clubs teenager spoke with a nk expression. ¡°You are about to face the S-grade secret rooms. Are you ready?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Xiao Lou took out the Jump a Level card obtained from the World Weekly secret room and said, ¡°We have decided to skip the ¡®J¡¯ row of secret rooms.¡±

    A of Clubs wondered, ¡°Are you afraid of encountering J of Clubs cat and mouse game?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan shrugged and generously admitted it. ¡°Yes, I have experienced the cat and mouse game before and don¡¯t want to do it again. It doesn¡¯t feel good to be a mouse chased by 10 times the number of cats.¡±

    A of Clubs told him, ¡°The S-grade secret rooms aren¡¯t repeated. Your previous team entered J of Clubs and got the 15 vs 150 cat and mouse game. This time it might not be the same.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan raised an eyebrow. ¡°The game situation has changed but you still want us to directly confront the hunters, right?¡±

    The Clubs teenager didn¡¯t deny it and countered, ¡°It is a challenge secret room. If you don¡¯t want to fight the hunters, do you want to fight us four keepers directly?¡±

    This counter-question made everyone speechless. The strength of the four keepers wasn¡¯t clear to everyone but they could change the flow of time and even monitor the movements of all the challengers. Previously, Lu Jiuchuan casuallyined in thebyrinth that the loli was abnormal and it was heard by her. Obviously, nothing in the secret rooms was out of their control.

    Fighting against these four people? That was just looking for death!

    Xiao Lou skipped this topic. ¡°Next, we will choose Q of Spades.¡±

    A of Spades still wore his sunsses and the corners of his lips slightly curved up as he looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°In fact, you still have another choice. Do you remember the 10th level?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang remembered the organ trafficking case and couldn¡¯t help frowning. ¡°You mean, the four-in-one hidden secret room?¡±

    A of Spades nodded. ¡°Yes. You performed very well in this week¡¯s World Weekly and you were ranked first among all the challengers in the world. In order to reward you, we have created hidden secret rooms for both the Q and K levels. I shouldn¡¯t need to talk about the benefits of the hidden secret rooms?¡±

    Previously, they had been to the 10th level and there were naturally a lot of benefits.

    First of all, the four-in-one secret room saved a lot of time. It had the same background and was equivalent to passing through four levels at one time.

    Secondly, the rewards for the hidden room were extremely rich. After passing it, every person would be rewarded with an S-grade card. The total rewards from clearing the Hearts, Spades, Diamonds and Clubs secret room separately definitely weren¡¯t as high as the hidden secret room. The card rewards for Hearts and Diamonds were usually in the range of 2-4 while Spades and Clubs often didn¡¯t give cards as rewards.

    They had skipped the J level so it was natural to choose the hidden secret room that gave more rewards.

    However, the hidden secret rooms had its own disadvantage¡ªthe difficulty would increase. In the 10th level, Shao Qingge¡¯s adoptive mother was actually the final boss. Xiao Lou and the others were also kidnapped and almost had their organs removed. Moreover, the team members were old, weak, sick, disabled or pregnant, with various mobility difficulties. They felt scared thinking about it again.

    If the Q level became a hidden secret room, what would the difficulty be?

    Xiao Lou walked to his teammates and asked everyone for their opinions softly. ¡°What do you think? Do you want to pass through all the rooms or go straight to the hidden secret room?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan answered, ¡°I suggest the hidden secret room. Going through the four secret rooms one by one is too troublesome. All the S-grade secret rooms are difficult. We can die at any time in Spades and Clubs, Hearts might be a serial murderer and we can be tossed into a messybyrinth by Diamonds. It is better to get it done at once then four times in a row.¡±

    Tang Ci told him, ¡°Our previous team hasn¡¯t been to a hidden secret room. The difficulty of the four-in-one room won¡¯t be any lower than the individual Clubs and Spades¡­ are you sure you want to go to the hidden secret room?¡±

    Chu Huaying looked like it didn¡¯t matter. ¡°I can go anywhere.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang said, ¡°Now Xiao Lou is the captain. Professor Xiao can decide.¡±

    Xiao Lou was silent for a moment before ncing back at A of Spades. ¡°For the four-in-one secret room, our cards won¡¯t be disabled?¡±

    A of Spades nodded. ¡°Of course.¡±

    Their cards weren¡¯t disabled. This meant that Tang Ci¡¯s legs could be treated as soon as possible.

    Xiao Lou continued. ¡°What about the rewards? Is it the same asst time? One S-grade card per person?¡±

    A of Spades gently flicked his fingers and 12 golden treasure chests appeared in front of everyone. ¡°This is the custom of the hidden secret room. If you smoothly clear it, you will get one treasure chest per person. The specific card depends on luck. There is also an extra reward: The SS rarity card, Time Reversal. It can turn back time up to 5 hours.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Reversing time?! Wasn¡¯t this card too much?

    Reversing time by five hours meant that if they cleared the Q secret room and came to the K or SS secret room, they could go back five hours and start again if one of their team members died.

    It was just like failing a boss fight in the game. They could load the file from five hours ago and try it again? Another scenario was if a team member died. They could go back five hours and let their teammate avoid death. Such a strong card made everyone decide in an instant.

    Everyone expressed their opinion. ¡°Go to the hidden secret room.¡±

    ¡°Every person will receive one card and there is the additional reward of Time Reversal. This is much richer than doing the rooms separately!¡±

    ¡±That¡¯s right. It will also save time since we can get it done at once.¡±

    The 10th level was difficult but it wasn¡¯t to the point of being impossible. They seeded and got 8 S-grade cards as well as the very rare team resurrection card.

    This time, there was the addition of Brother Jiu, Mr Tang, Sister Huaying and Senior Gui. The team¡¯sbat effectiveness had greatly improved. In addition to Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou, Mr Tang¡¯s logical thinking ability was very strong and he was a top hacker. If they encountered a modern version of a secret room, Tang Ci could hack someone else¡¯sputer to check information¡­

    Thus, there was no need to worry too much.

    Xiao Lou thought of this and said, ¡°Then go to the hidden secret room.¡±

    The four keepers asked simultaneously, ¡°Have you decided?¡±

    The Hearts sister¡¯s royal voice, the Diamonds loli¡¯s childish voice, the youthful, cold voice of the Clubs teenager and the deep, adult male voice of Spades mixed together. Each syble was in sync and the strange mix made people feel numb. They always felt that the four keepers were asking them with pity, ¡°Are you ready to die?¡±

    Xiao Lou coughed. ¡°We¡¯ve thought about it. We will go to the hidden secret room.¡±

    Four cards flew out at the same time.

    Q of Hearts, Q of Diamonds, Q of Clubs and Q of Spades quickly superimposed and merged together in the air.

    There was a soft ck and red light that intertwined around the cards. Xiao Lou stretched out a finger and lightly touched the card. The next moment, the vision of the team turned ck. They woke up again and notifications popped up on their floating boxes.

    [Star Calendar Year 3000, the Sten Federation.]

    [This secret room isn¡¯t limited in time and there are no special tasks. You can even stay here forever.]

    [Good luck.]

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help feeling startled when he read this.

    There was no task or time limit. This sounded easy but it made him more worried.

    If there were no special tasks then it showed that the clues on the Hearts side weren¡¯t easy to find in a targeted manner. ¡®Stay here forever¡¯. This sentence was simply a big pit, meaning that if they couldn¡¯t get out of this secret room smoothly, don¡¯t even talk about returning to reality. They might die here.

    Xiao Lou watched the surroundings warily.

    This was an enclosed room with a superrge bed that was over 2.5 meters in length and width. The room was very luxuriously decorated with crystal chandeliers, thick carpets, a separate dressing room and arge bathroom over 8 square meters with a round bathtubrge enough to amodate three adults.

    Xiao Lou was wearing loose home clothes. He walked into the dressing room and found that all the clothes inside were formal.

    Tuxedos, suits¡­ even white evening clothes with gold trim and matching fine boots. There were many ties, bow ties and cuffs on the table in the middle of the dressing room. The size of the clothes matched his body. So what was his identity in this world?

    Xiao Lou was sitting next to the bed, intending to use Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings to contact Yu Hanjiang when a notification appeared on the floating box. [You are in a card restricted zone and you can¡¯t use any cards.]

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    A of Spades was a big liar! Just now, he said there were no restrictions on the cards. Why was there a card restricted zone? It was the same as a test paper being issued. Once he turned to the back, there were additional questions worth a very high amount of points.

    It was impossible to use cards so Xiao Lou could only carefully collect clues in the room and sort out his memories.

    At the same time.

    The moment Lu Jiuchuan opened his eyes, he saw that he was in a ce simr to a closedmand room. He was sitting on a silver metal chair with a blue holographic screen in front of him with many gxy symbols on them. A small green dot was shing rapidly on the map. Along with the dot, there were detailed navigation paths.

    Directly behind the holographic screen was a vast starry sky.

    Countless stars dotted the dark sky. asionally, he could see meteors slipping by. Such a magnificent starry sky scene stunned Lu Jiuchuan. He thought about the ¡®Star Calendar Year 3000, Sten Federation¡¯ that he saw when he entered the secret room and Lu Jiuchuan couldn¡¯t help cursing in a low voice, ¡°Fuck, this is the future interster time?!¡±

    Just then, themand room door opened automatically.

    Tang Ci looked calm as he moved in a wheelchair to Lu Jiuchuan.

    He looked up and observed Lu Jiuchuan, who was wearing a ck military uniform and hat with several gold stars on his shoulders. The belt was tied tightly around his waist and his legs were straight and long. The army boots on his feet were polished brightly, almost reflecting the cold light of the roof.

    The man¡¯s appearance was undoubtedly handsome but there was a 5 cm long scar on the side of his face, ruining this wless face. The scar wasn¡¯t ugly but it added a bit of fierceness to his face.

    The cold eyes melted into a warm color after meeting Tang Ci¡¯s eyes.

    Lu Jiuchuan walked quickly in front of Tang Ci and spoke with a gentle gaze, ¡°What are you looking at?¡±

    Tang Ci was startled and his voice was soft. ¡°It seems you haven¡¯t worn a military uniform for a long time¡­¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan took off the hat that was obstructing him and smiled. ¡°Do you think I look handsome in a military uniform? In fact, our navy uniform is also handsome. This ck color actually reduces the value of my appearance.¡±

    Tang Ci ignored this person who was shamelessly showing off his good looks. He moved his wheelchair to the interster navigation map and asked, ¡°Did the guards install the memories of your identity?¡±

    The moment he spoke, Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s mind was suddenly filled with many memories of this world. Lu Jiuchuan raised an eyebrow and pressed hard against his temple to relieve the pain from the influx of information into his mind.

    Tang Ci spoke lightly. ¡°From what I know, you are themander of the Arrow Corps and the youngest major general of the Locke Empire. You have just finished a battle and you are flying the warship back. I am your¡­ adjutant. I should be a militarymander? In the previous battle, I was attacked by a warship when driving my mecha. I was injured and lost both my legs.¡±

    His voice was calm, like the story he was telling had nothing to do with him.

    Lu Jiuchuan gently ced a hand on this person¡¯s shoulder. The keeper had modified the reasons for Tang Ci¡¯s leg injury. In fact, Tang Ci¡¯s legs were directly cut off by someone in the Nightmare Room¡­

    It was a scar deep in Tang Ci¡¯s memories that he didn¡¯t want to uncover.

    Lu Jiuchuan didn¡¯t talk about the legs and changed the subject. ¡°How much do you know about the world view?¡±

    Tang Ci took out a bracelet from his pocket, opened the portablemunicator and tapped it with his finger. A 50 cm wide holographic screen with aplete interster map appeared in front of him. He pointed at the map and said, ¡°The Sten Federation is the human allianceposed of several countries. The country we are from is called the Locke Empire and it is thergest country in the Sten Federation.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan touched his chin thoughtfully. ¡°Empire? Is it a constitutional monarchy?¡±

    ¡°To be precise, it should be a dual constitutional monarchy. His Majesty¡¯s power is above the Parliament. All major decrees need to be signed by His Majesty. He can also appoint the prime minister and members of the Parliament, who are the first leaders of the country. Another key message is that His Majesty isn¡¯t in good health. This time, we are urgently called back to the pce.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan felt helpless. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be another attempt to usurp the throne, right?¡±

    In 8 of Hearts, they experienced an ancient political fight and pce fighting script. Gui Yuanzhang was the elderly emperor and Lu Jiuchuan was the general who needed to help the emperor quell the rebellion¡­

    He didn¡¯t want to do such a thing again in today¡¯s interster world.

    Lu Jiuchuan gently rubbed his temples with his fingers. The keepers had instilled a lot of information in his mind. He had to digest it slowly and sort it out one by one. At this time, Tang Ci suddenly spoke. ¡°The interesting thing is that the emperor this time isn¡¯t Old Gui. The royal family of the Locke Empire has the surname of Xiao.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s fingers that pressed to his temples stiffened. ¡°Xiao¡­ Lou?¡±

    A handsome young man in white, exquisite clothing appeared in his mind. It was Xiao Lou from his instilled memories.

    However, in this world, Xiao Lou was His Majesty¡¯s only son.

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s mouth twitched. ¡°Xiao Lou is the only prince of the empire?¡±

    Tang Ci looked calm. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan swore. ¡°Then what about my brother?¡±

    ¡°Yu Hanjiang¡¯s rank is also a major general. He is the captain of the royal guards and protects the crown prince personally.¡±

    ¡°¡­The keepers are really fucking good at arranging things!¡±

    Meanwhile, Yu Hanjiang was looking at the mirror while wearing a military uniform and frowning.

    The royal guards wore a white military uniform. The man in the mirror had wide shoulders, a narrow waist and long legs. His perfect inverted triangle figure made him seem even more upright and he wore a sharp sword at his waist.

    He wanted to try and use his cards but a notification appeared that said: [You are in a card restricted zone and you can¡¯t use any cards.]

    Card restricted zone?

    Yu Hanjiang opened the window and looked out.

    This should be the imperial pce. The white castle-likeplex of buildings was arranged in an orderly manner. The towering Gothic style looked extremely magnificent and the floor of the pce was covered with spotless, white marble bricks. The square in front was neatly lined with neatwns, flower beds and there was a circr fountain.

    Not far away, there were royal guards in a white uniform like his, patrolling back and forth. The guards were tall, upright and walked neatly. Their expressions revealed the dignity that belonged to those who served royalty.

    Yu Hanjiang closed his eyes and carefully recalled the memories that the keepers had instilled in him.

    He joined the army at the age of 18, graduated from the Ninth Military Academy with honors at the age of 22 and entered the royal guards. Seven yearster, he became the captain and was responsible for ensuring the safety of the only crown prince of the empire.

    Long Sen was also a member of the royal guards but his duty was to protect His Majesty. Qu Wanyue was his wife and a dancer. Lu Jiuchuan was Yu Hanjiang¡¯s cousin and he also graduated from the Ninth Military Academy. He was currently themander of the Arrow Corps. Tang Ci was Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s adjutant, a graduate of the mecha department and a genius at operating mechas.

    Apart from them, the information of other people couldn¡¯t be found in his memories. This meant that Yu Hanjiang still didn¡¯t ¡®know¡¯ his other teammates for the time being, nor did he know what identity the keepers arranged for everyone. At present, the most important thing was¡­

    His Royal Highness, the crown prince of the empire, was called Xiao Lou. This status was both noble and dangerous. He needed to meet Xiao Lou as soon as possible.

    Yu Hanjiang thought of this and immediately turned around to leave. A few of the royal guards who just changed shifts came over. After seeing Yu Hanjiang, they stood at attention and saluted respectfully. ¡°Major General.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang returned the salute and asked, ¡°Where is His Highness?¡±

    A guard answered, ¡°His Highness has just eaten lunch and returned to the Twin Pces to rest.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. Based on the location in his memories, he turned and walked toward the Twin Pces where Xiao Lou lived.

    Eighth andst entry by B.K0036: Embarrassed Liu Qiao

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 Chapter 401: Ye Qi

    Ye Qi opened his eyes and found himself in a bedroom. Blue and white checkered sheets, a simple wardrobe and a desk were the only furnishings in the room. On the desk was a row of strange reference books. He pulled out two books at random and saw the titles ¡®Mecha Operation Skills¡¯ and ¡®Mecha Systems Theory¡¯.

    The moment he held the books, countless unfamiliar memories poured into his mind like a storm. Ye Qi closed his eyes, took a deep breath to resist the headache and carefully sorted out the setting of this world. The empire, Southern Cross Star¡­ Ninth Military Academy.

    He was a freshman in the Mecha Operations Department of the Ninth Military Academy. His parents died in a battle many years ago and he grew up in the imperial orphanage. When he was 10 years old, a wealthy businessman who was donating charitable funds to the orphanage took a fancy to him, and took Ye Qi home for adoption. From then on, Ye Qi led the life of a wealthy young master. He was an orphan without a father or a mother¡­

    This setting made Ye Qi sigh with relief. After all, in the 10th level, Shao Qingge had parents who loved him very much but his adoptive mother became the final boss. Ye Qi was rxed without any parents or rtives. At least he didn¡¯t have to worry about being stabbed in the back by his loved ones. As for the rich businessman who adopted him¡­

    It was Shao Qingge.

    The moment this name appeared in his mind, Ye Qi almost coughed up blood. He had Shao Qingge¡¯sst name so he was now called ¡®Shao Yeqi¡¯. What type of shit setting was this?! After he saw Chief Shao, he would have to call out ¡®Father¡¯!?

    Ye Qi really wanted to squeeze the Hearts keeper to death. She was responsible for setting the identities in the secret rooms every time. Did this older sister have a grudge against him? In 8 of Hearts, he was a girl in a brothel, in the 10th level he was a child and now he was asked to call Shao Qingge ¡®Father¡¯.

    Ye Qi had a headache. He held his temples and didn¡¯t know how to face Chief Shao.

    Just then, someone knocked on the door. ¡°Yeqi, the exam is about to take ce. Hurry up!¡±

    Ye Qi responded to the person. The current time was early July and the major schools in the empire were busy organizing the final tests. As a student of the Mecha Operations Department of the Ninth Military Academy, Ye Qi also had to take the final exams.

    The Ninth Military Academy¡¯s system was very strict. The test scores were assessed ording to A (above 90 points), B (75-90 points), C (60-75 points) and D (less than 60 points). For the final examination, they had to ensure that every course was at least a B. If there was one course below B then they could apply for a repeat. If two or more courses were lower than a B, they would directly repeat the year.

    Ye Qi had already taken the theory test. This afternoon, a practical test for mecha operation was arranged. How could he take this test?

    Ye Qi grabbed at his hair, a bit at a loss. Don¡¯t mention booting up the mecha, he couldn¡¯t even drive a motorcycle in the real world. He had ridden a bicycle at most. Doing the actualbat operation of a mecha? He tried to quickly sort out the knowledge in his brain¡­ regretfully the amount of memories and information he received from the keeper was so high, it only caused Ye Qi a massive headache.

    The roommate outside was still urging him. Ye Qi had to walk in front of the mirror and quickly tidy up his clothes. He was wearing a dark blue military uniform that was the uniform of the Ninth Military Academy. Ye Qi saw himself in the mirror and was stunned. He was originally 17 years old and in this world, he was set up to be an 18 year old freshman. However, he had never worn a military uniform before.

    This blue military uniform made him look a bit more heroic. It looked good.

    Ye Qi put on the hat hanging next to him and the matching tall, ck leather boots.

    He went outside and saw his roommate. The moment he saw this face, Ye Qi¡¯s mind instantly recalled his memories of this person. This tall and handsome roommate of his was called Liu Jian. After seeing Ye Qi, he smiled and walked over. ¡°Why were you dawdling? You will bete if you don¡¯t leave soon and the instructor will definitely lecture you.¡±

    Ye Qi gave a random excuse, but he was actuallycking in confidence. Taking the mecha control test? He rather felt like heading to an execution ground¡­

    Ye Qi followed his roommate. Along the way, he looked around and found that the surrounding buildings were all painted dark gray. The whole school had a ¡®cold¡¯ style and it was so solemn that Ye Qi didn¡¯t dare speak loudly.

    The students around him were wearing military uniforms and they were all radiant. They stood with their chests out and walked with the correct posture. Ye Qi was too embarrassed to keep looking around so he followed Liu Jian to the science and technology building.

    The two people took the elevator to the top floor where many students were already waiting in line in the corridor.

    The instructor¡¯s voice came from inside. ¡°No. 7 Shao Yeqi, please enter and take the test.¡±

    Ye Qi nervously walked into the mecha control room. Under the instructions of the female instructor, Kelly, he went into the mecha driving simtion cabin.

    In front of him was aplicated console with red, yellow, green and blue buttons on it. There were also joysticks on the left and right sides. Ye Qi waspletely confused. He quickly recalled the knowledge about mecha control in his mind but before he had time to remember all of it, the instructor said, ¡°The test will begin.¡±

    A mountain appeared on the screen in front of him.

    The realistic VR effect made Ye Qi feel like he was really flying a mecha in the mountains. Suddenly, a snowy peak appeared in front of him and blocked the mecha¡¯s path. Somehow, Ye Qi¡¯s reflexes were faster than his brain¡¯s reaction. He held the joystick on the right and mmed it upwards while his left hand remained firmly on the bnce lever¡­

    The mecha soared into the sky like a Dapeng spreading its wings. (mythical giant bird. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peng_(mythology))

    It flew past the snowy peak and into the air without any danger.

    Ye Qi¡¯s mind fully recovered the knowledge about mecha control. He remembered that he was an outstanding student in the Mecha Operations Department and was often praised by instructors. It was said that in recent years the most talented people in mecha maniption came from the Ninth Military Academy. One was Tang Ci of ss 2993 and the other was Shao Yeqi of ss 3000¡­

    Tang Ci? Mr Tang was also from the mecha department?

    The distracted Ye Qi finally snapped back to attention when three electromaic cannons suddenly attacked his mecha!

    The angles of the projectiles of these three electromaic cannons were extremely tricky. Ye Qi saw that they wanted to smash into his mecha and his left hand continued to stabilize the bnce while his right hand quickly and continuously pressed a few buttons. The mecha he controlled resembled a flexible fish as it rotated to the left and dodged to the right. It actually avoided the three shots of artillery fire heading toward him!

    Instructor Kelly nodded with satisfaction and scored an A+ in the first assessment.

    The next examination went surprisingly smoothly as well. Ye Qi got down from the cockpit and his head was covered with sweat. He didn¡¯t dare believe that a rookie who could only ride a bicycle could actually control such an advanced intelligent armor! These physical memories just now must¡¯ve been instilled in him by the keeper based on personal settings.

    There was a rare smile on Instructor Kelly¡¯s face. ¡°The results of the examination havee out. The three scores of your mechabat assessment are all A+ and the scores of the theoretical courses are also A+. Not surprisingly, you can apply for the schrship for outstanding students.¡±

    Ye Qi saluted her with a standard military salute. ¡°Thank you, Instructor.¡±

    Kelly said, ¡°I heard that your father hase to Southern Cross. The test is over so you can go home for the holidays.¡±

    ¡°¡­Oh.¡±

    Father? He didn¡¯t want to recognize this father.

    Ye Qi mightin about the keeper¡¯s arrangement but he still had to meet up with Chief Shao as soon as possible.

    Ye Qi thought this and wanted to contact Shao Qingge with hismunicator. Just then, a message suddenly popped up on themunicator around his wrist. [I am waiting for you at the school gate.]

    The contact name of the person who sent the message was ¡®Father¡¯. This naturally had to be Shao Qingge. Ye Qi hurried out of the science and technology building and headed toward the school gate.

    The Ninth Military Academy was strictly managed and ordinary people weren¡¯t allowed to enter.

    At this time, Shao Qingge was standing opposite the school gate. He was wearing casual white clothing and had his hands in his pockets. His eyes were narrowed as he stared in the direction of the school gate, his body posture leisurely and casual. A few girls at the gate of the school looked at him and whispered, ¡°Who is that man? He is so handsome.¡±

    ¡±I don¡¯t think he is an instructor at our school.¡±

    Just then, a figure ran swiftly out of the school gate.

    Shao Qingge smiled lightly when he saw Ye Qi in a military uniform. He crossed the road and walked straight toward Ye Qi. There were many students around so Ye Qi had to call out awkwardly, ¡°¡­Father.¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s smile widened. He moved closer to Ye Qi¡¯s ear and lowered his voice, his tone full of humor. ¡°Yes, Father will take you home.¡± Then he gently grabbed Ye Qi¡¯s wrist and led this person forward.

    Ye Qi followed him with red ears. He felt every pore in his body resisting this strange rtionship.

    Shao Qingge was very young. Ye Qi might nominally be his adopted son but in fact, the two of them were only a bit over 10 years apart. ording to memory, Shao Qingge was in his early 20s when he adopted Ye Qi and now he was only 30 years old.

    Ye Qi often joked and called Shao Qingge his ¡®golden father¡¯ but this time, they actually had an adopted father-son rtionship. Ye Qi had to call him ¡®Father¡¯ and felt a sense of inexplicable shame in his heart.

    Shao Qingge calmly took his red-cheeked ¡®son¡¯ to the car.

    There were only the two of them in the car and Ye Qi immediately broke free of his hand. ¡°Let go of me.¡±

    Shao Qingge let go and looked at Ye Qi with a smile. ¡°My family¡¯s Xiao Ye is really handsome in a military uniform.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s face waspletely red from his blush as he muttered, ¡°Who is your family?¡±

    ¡°You have my surname Shao. Aren¡¯t we a family?¡± Shao Qinggeughed and took off Ye Qi¡¯s military cap, rubbing Ye Qi¡¯s head affectionately. ¡°Weren¡¯t you quite smooth when calling me Father just now?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Ye Qi had nothing to say.

    He had even worn female clothing. It didn¡¯t seem that difficult to ept being Shao Qingge¡¯s son? It was better than being a brothel girl in 8 of Hearts, right? Ye Qi took a deep breath and raised his head to look at Shao Qingge, only to meet his deep and gentle eyes.

    His heart skipped a beat at those eyes. Ye Qi hurriedly turned his head away, avoiding this gaze as he coughed lightly. Then he calmly changed the topic. ¡°The scores for my theory sses andbat sses are all A+. The instructor told me that I can take a holiday. Are we going straight home?¡±

    Shao Qingge retracted his hand and leaned backfortably against the seat,zily saying, ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go home.¡±

    Ye Qi sat opposite him and asked curiously, ¡°Do you have any clues about where our other teammates are? I only know that Tang Ci was a student of the 2993 ss of the Mecha Operations Department. He is my senior and went to the Arrow Corps after graduation.¡±

    Shao Qingge answered, ¡°Lu Jiuchuan is a major general in the Arrow Corps.¡±

    Ye Qi sighed. ¡°It is a true performance. Brother Jiu used to be a soldier¡­ what about Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao?¡±

    Shao Qingge narrowed his eyes slightly like he knew something interesting. ¡°Yu Hanjiang is the captain of the royal guards and is mainly responsible for protecting the safety of the imperial royal family. Meanwhile, Xiao Lou is the distinguished His Royal Highness.¡±

    Ye Qi was choked up. ¡°A prince?¡±

    Shao Qingge gave a smile that wasn¡¯t a smile as he touched his chin yfully. ¡°A guard and a prince. This is really interesting.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°???¡±

    Seeing Ye Qi¡¯s nk face, Shao Qingge put away his smile. He touched Ye Qi¡¯s head again and said, ¡°Three dayster is the birthday banquet of the crown prince. I will also attend.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Take me with you. This way, I can see Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao.¡±

    Shao Qingge told him, ¡°Call me Father.¡±

    Ye Qi didn¡¯t hesitate. ¡°Father!¡±

    ¡°¡­What about your principles?¡±

    Ye Qi said righteously, ¡°A big man can bend and stretch. Don¡¯t say Father. You can even make me call you Grandpa!¡±

    Shao Qingge was amused by him.

    ¡®There is no need for Father or Grandpa. There is another name in the future that you can call out every day.¡¯

    More fanart entries. Check out Miss Ye from the Fragrant Sky House by Ara

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 Chapter 402: Twin Palaces

    At the same time, the imperial pce.

    There were many Gothic-style buildings in the pce. The towering spires rose to the sky and the neat pceplex was magnificent. The Twin Pces was the most distinctive building in the entireplex. It was located on the west side of the imperial pce and consisted of two modr white pces connected to each other.

    Yu Hanjiang was the captain of the royal guards and the keepers had instilled all types of information about the imperial royal family into him. Of course, the map of the distribution of the entire pce was also clear.

    He used the knowledge in his memory and quickly found the Twin Pces. There were several guards at the entrance of the pce and they saluted upon seeing Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Major General.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Is His Highness inside?¡±

    One of the guards answered, ¡°His Highness just had a meal and is taking a break after lunch.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and directly pushed open the door to enter. The guards seemed used to him directly entering the Twin Pces. They lowered their heads and pretended not to know anything.

    After entering, Yu Hanjiang first passed through a long corridor. The floor of the corridor was covered with a light gray marble that was clean of any dust. It was like a mirror that clearly showed the reflection of Yu Hanjiang¡¯s slender figure.

    On both sides of the corridor were rows of windows that upied almost 50 meters of the walls. The windows were iid with stained ss that contained various exquisite patterns, which shone colorfully under the sunlight.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s leather boots stepped on the marble floor and made a regr sound.

    The entire pce only contained Yu Hanjiang¡¯s footsteps. It was as if he entered an emptybyrinth. If a stranger came here for the first time, they would definitely be stunned by theplicated paths.

    Fortunately, Yu Hanjiang was very familiar with this ce. He walked around several consecutive corners ording to the path he remembered and finally reached the crown prince¡¯s chambers. He reached out and knocked on the door. A momentter, the door opened from the inside and Yu Hanjiang met a pair of familiar eyes.

    Xiao Lou was stunned for a moment before a smile filled his eyes. ¡°I guessed that you would find me.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang ced his right hand over his heart and bowed to salute. ¡°Your Highness.¡±

    This was an instinctive action. He was the captain of the guards and he had to salute when he met the noble crown prince. It wasn¡¯t known if there were any outsiders in Xiao Lou¡¯s pce so the necessary etiquette must always be done.

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°I am alone. Don¡¯t worry about etiquette. Come in.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang entered the room and looked carefully at Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou was wearing the white clothing of the imperial family. It was tailored to him and the cuffs and neckline were decorated with silver patterns. The ornamentation wasn¡¯t exaggerated but instead looked very delicate. He was wearing a pair of white leather boots and a belt was tied around his waist, making his legs look straight and long. The originally good-looking facial features were set off by this clothing, making him look like a real prince who walked out of a painting.

    Yu Hanjiang stared at this person and the color of his eyes gradually deepened. How many people were willing to surrender at the feet of such a handsome prince? If one were to line up all thedies willing to marry him, they should effortlessly be able to form a circle around the pce.

    Xiao Lou saw Yu Hanjiang staring at him and spoke in an embarrassed manner. ¡°It seems I have to wear these clothes to a birthday party so I tried it on. Do you think it¡¯s weird?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang blurted out, ¡°You are very good-looking.¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°This time, I have to wrong you. You are my guard so you have to salute me in front of others.¡±

    Softness filled Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes as he answered calmly, ¡°I¡¯m not wronged. I¡¯m very satisfied with the keeper¡¯s arrangement.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t exin. He just thought, ¡®I am happy to be your guard. How can I be wronged?¡¯

    Yu Hanjiang saw Xiao Lou¡¯s puzzled eyes and coughed lightly before changing the topic. ¡°In my memories, I only have Brother Jiu, Mr Tang, Long Sen and Qu Wanyue. I don¡¯t have any information about our other teammates. How about you?¡±

    ¡°¡­I only have you in my memories.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was startled. Then Xiao Lou turned around and asked him to sit in the living room to talk.

    The crown prince¡¯s pce was naturally luxurious. Yu Hanjiang nced around Xiao Lou¡¯s residence before taking off his military hat and following this person to sit on the sofa.

    Xiao Lou asked an intelligent robot to pour water for them. The robot was a cute little boy. He came with two sses of water and greeted Yu Hanjiang politely. ¡°Master, Major General, please drink water.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°¡­Thank you.¡±

    He nced at the robot carefully. From the outside, it wasn¡¯t much different from a human being. In fact, this was the crown prince¡¯s intelligent mecha ¡®Spirit Fox¡¯. Not only could it help Xiao Lou with housework but it could also transform into abat mecha to protect the safety of its master.

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°Just now, I carefully sorted out my memories. The era we are currently in is of an interster world. I am the only heir to the imperial family. My father, the emperor Xiao Qin, is 55 years old this year and is in poor health. The empress passed away a few years ago. I have an older sister called Xiao Rou. She married a prince of the Azure Empire in the distant Aquarius star field. Last year, she gave birth to a son. My sister and I haven¡¯t seen each other in three years.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s memories had the same information. Yu Hanjiang nodded and signaled for him to continue.

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°As a child, I was born with a serious illness and almost died. Therefore, my father didn¡¯t let me leave the pce. All these years, he had teacherse to the Twin Pces to teach me. I never went to school and have no ssmates or friends.¡±

    ¡°Seven years ago, you joined the royal guards. One night, you were patrolling the pce and happened to encounter me sneaking out. You didn¡¯t bring me back but followed me to protect me. We gradually became friends. In name, you are my guard but you are actually my only friend in the pce. In addition, my father has arranged a fianc¨¦e for me. She seems to be the daughter of General Lin and is called Lin Yan.¡±

    These were the memories that the keeper instilled in Xiao Lou.

    Yu Hanjiang heard this and raised an eyebrow, seemingly a bit unhappy. ¡°Fianc¨¦e?¡±

    Xiao Lou awkwardly touched his nose. ¡°The setting is like this.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly leaned over and slightly lifted Xiao Lou¡¯s chin, his voice low. ¡°Don¡¯t forget, our real rtionship isn¡¯t just friends.¡±

    Next, his lips were kissed in a domineering manner by this man.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes widened slightly and his ears instantly turned red.

    ¡­Was this okay?

    A guard kissed the prince forcibly in his living room? This strange ¡®taboo love¡¯ scene made Xiao Lou¡¯s heart thump.

    Yu Hanjiang wore a military uniform and gave off an air of abstinence, but he was extremely enthusiastic when kissing someone. He even forcibly pried open Xiao Lou¡¯s teeth. Xiao Lou¡¯s eyshes trembled slightly as he closed his eyes and gently hugged Yu Hanjiang back.

    Yu Hanjiang pressed him against the sofa. Xiao Lou was kissed so much that his ears burned and he unknowingly made weak sounds like a sultry cat, ¡°Um¡­ mmm¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s gaze deepened and he reached out to hold the back of Xiao Lou¡¯s head and pulled him even closer.

    ¡­¡­

    It wasn¡¯t known how much time passed.

    Xiao Lou¡¯sck of oxygen made him push this person hard. ¡°You are¡­ enough¡­ let¡¯s talk about business first¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was usually a very calm person. However, Xiao Lou, who had the identity of the crown prince, had a unique charm. It was difficult for Yu Hanjiang to control himself for a while. He wanted to crush His Royal Highness who was wearing such fine clothing against the sofa¡­

    The word fianc¨¦e did bother Yu Hanjiang a bit.

    Now he kissed Xiao Lou and perceived the other side¡¯s response. He knew that Xiao Lou liked himself and a trace of satisfaction shed in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes. He let go of Xiao Lou and reached out his thumb to gently wipe off the transparent liquid on Xiao Lou¡¯s lips, his deep voice a bit hoarse. ¡°Sorry, I lost control.¡±

    Xiao Lou sat up with red ears.

    Both of their clothes were messy. The military uniform and formal outfit were ruffled and there was a strange sense of confusion mixed with abstinence. Xiao Lou lowered his head to tidy up his messy shirt while Yu Hanjiang also seriously neatened his military uniform.

    Their breathing was restored and the two men acted as if nothing had happened. They continued to discuss the topic from just now.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°For the time being, don¡¯t worry about the situation of our teammates. Brother Jiu and Mr Tang are on their way back. Long Sen is in the pce protecting His Majesty. Qu Wanyue is Long Sen¡¯s wife and should be home at this time. The others haven¡¯t shown up yet. They might be on another plot line or they might show up at your birthday.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°My birthday banquet will be held three dayster. My father wants to make this birthday banquet very grand. Once it is over, I can help him with management of the imperial government. Do you think there will be a problem at the banquet?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Your birthday banquet should be a key plot point. There are three days left, so you should prepare first. In addition, the imperial pce is an area where cards are restricted. Since we can¡¯t use cards, we can¡¯t be connected using Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. So for the next three days, I will constantly stay at your side.¡±

    Xiao Lou was stunned. ¡°Are you going to live in the Twin Pces? Is this okay?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked serious as he stared at Xiao Lou and said indifferently, ¡°As the captain of the royal guards, it is my duty to protect Your Highness personally.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Another fanart entry. Check out Xiao Lou and Ye Qi in ¡®Beacon In Troubled Times¡¯ by ColdChillyRamen

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 Chapter 403: World Background

    Yu Hanjiang was obviously ¡®using official authority for private interests¡¯. Did a guard have to live with the crown prince in order to protect him? The pce wasrge but there were no guest rooms. Xiao Lou was the crown prince. Even if there were friends or guests who wanted to stay at the pce, there was a separate pce specifically for guests to stay in. Who would sleep in the crown prince¡¯s pce?

    There was only one bedroom in Xiao Lou¡¯s quarters. If Yu Hanjiang wanted to stay overnight, he could only sleep on the same bed as Xiao Lou. This bed was big enough for four adults toy down side by side and sleeping with Yu Hanjiang wouldn¡¯t be crowded at all. But Xiao Lou felt this wasn¡¯t a good idea. The crown prince was sleeping with a guard. If this came out, how could he exin it to others?

    Xiao Lou met Yu Hanjiang¡¯s serious eyes and couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°You mean, you want to stay with me tonight?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked calm. ¡°That¡¯s right. If someone asks, I will say His Highness is resting in the bedroom while I stand guard outside the bedroom to keep His Highness safe.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Standing guard? He really thought of himself as a guard?!

    Xiao Lou definitely couldn¡¯t bear to let Yu Hanjiang stand outside all night. He had topromise and say, ¡°Sleep with me tonight. In addition, I have to see my father this afternoon. Will you apany me?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied solemnly, ¡°I am Your Highness¡¯s guard. No matter where Your Highness tells me to go, I will go.¡±

    Now he suddenly turned obedient? Xiao Lou recalled the scene where he was just kissed and couldn¡¯t help his ears reddening again. He cleared his throat and changed the topic. ¡°It is lunch break and Father should be resting. Let¡¯s get familiar with the world¡¯s background first.¡± He gave an order to his intelligent mecha. ¡°Spirit Fox, open the gxy map.¡±

    The clear juvenile voice of the mecha answered him at once. ¡°Yes, Master.¡±

    A holographic screen with a width of around three meters appeared in front of them. It was dotted with stars. Somes were marked in blue and there was a simple text description next to them.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang got up and walked to the gxy map. Xiao Lou said, ¡°The blue markeds should be where humans are living at the moment.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked closely. There weren¡¯t many blue marks on the gxy map. It seemed that even though humans had explored many gxies in the universe, the universe was far wider than humans imagined. Many ces were beyond the reach of astronomical telescopes and no one knew what could be out there.

    Compared with the vastness of the universe, humans were really small.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s fingers glided across the gxy map and then a map of the Sten Federation appeared on the screen in front of him. This map contained gxies,s and cities where humans lived.

    Xiao Lou spoke based on the knowledge in his memories. ¡°The Sten Federation is a human allianceposed of severalrge and small countries, which are spread over different gxies. The unified currency is star coins and people can freely enter and exit the different nations. The Locke Empire where we are located is thergest and most populous country in the Sten Federation. The capital star is located near the center of the Gemini star field.¡±

    He pointed to the gxy next to it. ¡°This is the Aquarius star field and contains the capital star of the Azure Empire, the nation with the best rtionship with us. My sister married into this ce.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s fingers lit up several regions on the gxy map. ¡°There are also some small countries located in the Libra and Leo star fields. There might be some friction with these countries but the overall rtionship is still harmonious.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the map of the humans and touched his chin thoughtfully. ¡°In my memories, there hasn¡¯t been any war between human countries in the past 100 years. The human alliance has achieved unprecedented unity. The key for bringing people with suchplicated thoughts together should be the threat of alien forces? Earth was destroyed and it wasn¡¯t easy to rebuild their homes.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes. In this vast interster space, humans have to form alliances for survival and reproduction.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang slid the map back and pointed to the blue areas. ¡°From the gxy map, the Gemini, Aquarius, Libra and Leo star regions are those developed and settled by humans. Most of the other gxies in the universe aren¡¯t suitable for human survival. In order to expand our territory and supplement resources, human beings have been exploring the unknown universe for several decades.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought for a moment before suddenly asking, ¡°What is the situation on Brother Jiu¡¯s side? I remember you saying that Brother Jiu and Mr Tang are on their way back?¡±

    ¡°The Arrow Corps led by Brother Jiu is the vanguard army with the strongestbat effectiveness in our empire. Based on my memories, Brother Jiu left the capital star six months ago. The military assigned him a secret mission and I haven¡¯t had any contact with him for half a year. I have heard from some generals in the military department that he will be back soon.¡±

    Xiao Lou was a bit puzzled. ¡°You are cousins but you haven¡¯t had contact with him for half a year?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang exined in a low voice, ¡°The military¡¯smunications are all encrypted. It is normal that I can¡¯t contact him during his mission. I only remember that we had a meal together before he left. He said he would go to a far away ce to perform a secret mission and that he probably wouldn¡¯t return to the capital star for a year and a half.¡±

    It seemed they would have to wait for Brother Jiu toe back to ask about this matter.

    His secret mission might be a clue to this secret room.

    Yu Hanjiang asked Xiao Lou, ¡°Since the background is the interster age, will there be intelligent alien creatures like the parasitic race we encountered in 8 of Spades?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°It is possible. There are only four star regions on the map that are suitable for human survival and there is still a lot of unknown territory. Perhaps the Q level is hiding dangerous extraterrestrial life. If aliens appear, they will definitely be more difficult to deal with than the bugs of 8 of Spades.¡± Xiao Lou felt numb thinking of those parasites.

    He paused and looked at the map of the Sten Federation. ¡°Still, is it also possible that it is human infighting? A of Hearts has arranged the identity of a prince for me. Will there be attempts to usurp the throne or other drama?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had a headache and pinched his brow. ¡°We should wait for Brother Jiu to get back. We can¡¯t confirm anything now.¡±

    At the same time, themand room of the Arrow Corps¡¯s warship.

    Lu Jiuchuan ced both hands on the desktop and stared carefully at the navigation on the holographic screen in front of him. ¡°We are about to pass through the Aquarius star field and then we will make a space leap¡­ what does this mean?¡±

    Tang Ci pushed the wheelchair in front of the screen and exined, ¡°It means leaving the gravitational pull of one gxy and jumping to another gxy in an instant.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled and touched his nose. ¡°Yes. After we jump to the Gemini star field, we will soon be able to reach the capital star. Then we will find a way to meet Hanjiang.¡±

    Tang Ci suddenly asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you think something is wrong?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan looked at him. ¡°What?¡±

    Tang Ci frowned in a confused manner. ¡°In my memory, I only remember that my legs were injured in a previous battle. However, I can¡¯t remember the details of the battle or how they were injured. What about you?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s expression gradually became serious. ¡°¡­Me neither.¡±

    ¡°So for what reason did we run all the way to distant outer space?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan carefully searched his mind but he couldn¡¯t think of anything. He got a headache and held his temples. ¡°I only remember returning to the capital star six months ago. I had a meal with my brother and he asked me where I was going for my next expedition. I told him that I was going on a secret mission for the military but I can¡¯t remember the details of the mission at all.¡±

    Tang Ci was even more puzzled. ¡°Is it because the mission isn¡¯t important so the keepers didn¡¯t give us the details? Or is it because the mission is too important that we lost key memories to avoid the task being affected?¡±

    There was a fundamental difference between the two possibilities.

    If it was an insignificant mission and the keeper was toozy to set the details for them, there was no need to dig deeply. But what if it was thetter? Then the memories they lost about the ¡®secret mission¡¯ were likely to affect the team¡¯s ability to leave this interster secret room.

    The two people frowned and fell deep in thought. Yet no matter how hard they thought about it, they couldn¡¯t remember anything about the mission.

    Lu Jiuchuan felt like an electric drill was constantly stirring in his mind. He had a splitting headache. There seemed to be something in his memories but it was blocked by a thick barrier, like a seedling trying to break through the ground only to encounter an iron te. His face was ugly and he formed fists to hit his head hard.

    Tang Ci gently took his arm. ¡°Don¡¯t think about it. As long as something important happened, there will definitely be clues. The two of us have no memories but aren¡¯t there other people in the corps?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Yes, we can ask the others.¡±

    He tapped on hismunicator and had the officers above the major ranke to themand room.

    Soon, five officers in ck uniforms walked into themand room with swift steps and saluted Lu Jiuchuan. ¡°Major General!¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan asked, ¡°What special mission did we do this time?¡±

    The five people exchanged looks, their faces nk.

    Lu Jiuchuan wondered, ¡°You don¡¯t know or you don¡¯t remember?¡±

    One of the blond-haired officers called Knox simply said, ¡°Reporting to the major general, I don¡¯t remember!¡±

    The others agreed. ¡°What did we do??¡±

    ¡±It seems to be a cruise?¡±

    ¡±We cruised around in the first half of the year.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci looked at each other. Something was wrong. If it was really an insignificant task then the keeper didn¡¯t need to go through so much trouble. They could just set it as Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci identally getting injured while encountering star thieves or an alien attack¡­

    Obviously something serious happened during the past several months, but no one could remember what exactly happened. Were their memories wiped? Why was there a splitting headache every time they tried to think about it?

    Lu Jiuchuan took a deep breath and whispered in Tang Ci¡¯s ear, ¡°Go back to the capital star and check the military department. Since we received the mission from the military, there will definitely be clues at headquarters.¡±

    Tang Ci agreed. After all, they collectively suffered from amnesia and there was no way to inquire from other ces.

    Rainbow: I will be having minor surgery at the start of August to fix a small airway problem I¡¯m having, which was the cause of my sleeping problems a few months ago. It does mean I have a really busy workload before I take time off from work. Then there¡¯s the recovery from the surgery and workload when my leave is finished. So starting from Monday next week, chapters will be released once a week until the end of August.

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 Chapter 404: Mystery

    In the afternoon, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang went to visit the emperor. The emperor sitting on the throne was already 55 years old but he was in good spirits. His luxurious royal clothing with white gold patterns made him look extremely majestic but his gaze toward Xiao Lou revealed a bit of the gentleness of a father.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang bowed simultaneously. ¡°Your Majesty.¡±

    Xiao Qin nodded and motioned for them to get rid of the courtesy. Then he asked, ¡°Are you ready for the birthday banquet in three days? This is your first public appearance. As the prince of the empire, you can¡¯t be nervous and have peopleugh at you.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at him calmly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Father. I won¡¯t have stage fright.¡±

    Xiao Qin casually asked about Xiao Lou¡¯s current situation. Xiao Lou responded fluently, including how his body was, whether his studies werepleted on time and so on. After all the questions, he suddenly said, ¡°You should go first. I have some things that I want to talk to Major General Yu about.¡±

    Xiao Lou was startled and nced at Yu Hanjiang. Then he saluted the person on the throne and turned to leave.

    His father wanted to talk to Yu Hanjiang alone. Could it be that Yu Hanjiang constantly barging into his son¡¯s bedchambers had reached the old man¡¯s ears? Or did he have an important task for Yu Hanjiang? Xiao Lou was worried so he simply waited outside the pce.

    At this time, inside the pce.

    The magnificent imperial pce was so quiet that a pin falling could be heard. Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t know why the emperor wanted to talk to him alone but he maintained hisposure on the surface and asked respectfully, ¡°Your Majesty, what are your orders?¡±

    The man on the throne put away his smile and turned serious. ¡°Major General Yu, your grandfather was once my father¡¯s guard. In a battle many years ago, he sacrificed himself to protect my father. I remember that you came to the royal guards after graduating from the military academy seven years ago. For seven years, you have been protecting the crown prince?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°If he encounters danger one day, will you protect Xiao Lou at all costs, just as your grandfather protected my father?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded decisively. ¡°Of course. It is my duty to protect His Highness.¡±

    The man on the throne suddenly lowered his voice, ¡°I mean, at all costs¡ªincluding your own life.¡±

    The question was a bit abrupt. However, it was normal for a person to ask their guard ¡®are you willing to sacrifice yourself to protect me?¡¯ After all, a guard must be prepared to sacrifice themselves for their master. Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t hesitate and answered, ¡°Yes, I am willing to do my utmost best to protect His Highness.¡±

    The emperor finally smiled. He stepped off the throne and handed a ring to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°This is the spiritual fragment of Spirit Fox, the advanced S-grade smart mecha. In fact, the mecha currently used by Xiao Lou hasn¡¯t activated all its functions yet. Use this to activate the realbat Spirit Fox and use it when necessary to protect Xiao Lou¡¯s safety.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took the ring and wore it on his thumb.

    The emperor suddenly beckoned. ¡°Come in.¡±

    A momentter, a young man walked in from the side hall with a smile. He was wearing white royal clothing and appeared slender and elegant. His gentle bearing was just like a noble prince walking out of a manhua. It was Xiao Lou.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s head was full of question marks. Xiao Lou had just left from the main entrance behind him. Why did he suddenlye from the side hall? In addition, the smile on his face¡­

    Somehow, Yu Hanjiang felt it was a bit strange. After meeting Xiao Lou¡¯s gaze, the weird feeling was magnified countless times. These eyes didn¡¯t have the feeling of Xiao Lou at all. Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes were as clear as water. Meanwhile, the person in front of him seemed to have less aura in his eyes.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes were full of trust every time he looked at him. Sometimes after being watched by Yu Hanjiang for a long time, Xiao Lou would blush and avoid his eyes. However, the individual in front of him stared condescendingly into Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes and when he walked over, he seemed to be looking at his subordinate.

    He smiled as he approached Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Major General Yu.¡±

    The voice was exactly the same¡­

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and whispered in his ear, ¡°Does Your Highness remember Xiao Liu?¡±

    Xiao Lou was startled. ¡°What?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang acted at lightning speed!

    Before Xiao Lou could react, Yu Hanjiang grabbed his hand, gripped his wrist and twisted it in the opposite direction. The arm was forced behind his back while Yu Hanjiang¡¯s other arm quickly crossed this person¡¯s neck. As long as he moved, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hand could definitely break his neck instantly.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly. ¡°Major General Yu, what do you want to do? Do you want to fight with me?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes were as sharp as a sword as he stared at the person in front of him, dering coldly, ¡°You, are, not, His, Highness.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Father, what¡¯s the matter with this person? He doesn¡¯t know me anymore?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s fingers gripped hard and Xiao Lou¡¯s wrist was almost broken. He frowned slightly in pain and ordered, ¡°Let me go.¡±

    Rather than letting him go, Yu Hanjiang stared up at the man on the throne. ¡°Your Majesty, what is the meaning of this?¡±

    The man on the throne seemed to be watching a y. He heard Yu Hanjiang¡¯s question and smiled. ¡°Apart from me, you are the only one who can look at him and know he isn¡¯t Xiao Lou¡­ how did you notice?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t want to exin. He and Xiao Lou had known each other for so long and experienced countless life or death situations together. The tacit understanding and intimacy formed between the two of them couldn¡¯t be reced by a person having Xiao Lou¡¯s face.

    The expression was wrong, the actions were wrong, the tone of speech was wrong and the expression in his eyes was even worse. How could Yu Hanjiang not know whether or not the person in front of him was his beloved?!

    Yu Hanjiang had a cold face and didn¡¯t answer. This made the emperor sigh. ¡°Let him go first.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for three seconds before letting go of the ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ in front of him. Even though they were wearing the same clothes and the appearance and figure were indistinguishable like identical twins¡­

    This Xiao Lou made Yu Hanjiang feel like he was a particr eyesore. The temperament was much worse than the real Xiao Lou. His Xiao Lou was unique in the world. Other people weren¡¯t qualified to use Xiao Lou¡¯s face to talk to him.

    The emperor exined, ¡°I have only one son, Xiao Lou. He nearly died of illness when he was a child. In fact, it wasn¡¯t an ident. Someone snuck into the pce and wanted his life. The throne of the empire has always been passed down through bloodline but once the heir to the throne dies, the next emperor can be elected by Parliament. Do you understand?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart turned cold. ¡°So you made another Xiao Lou?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The Xiao Lou you see now is exactly the same as my child because he was copied from his genes.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The emperor beckoned and ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ walked to him obediently. The emperor touched his head affectionately and said, ¡°He is very obedient. No matter what I ask him to do, he will do it¡­ including sacrificing himself for Xiao Lou.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hands were firmly clenched into fists and blue veins bulged on the back of his hands.

    He couldn¡¯t stand this Xiao Lou who looked exactly the same superficially but had a puppet-like expression on his face. His entire body was shivering with anger and he wanted to rush over and use a mask to block this face that looked exactly the same as Xiao Lou.

    The emperor continued, ¡°You don¡¯t need to care about other things. Since you can determine the real Xiao Lou, you just need to remember my words and protect the heir to the throne.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face was gloomy. ¡°Who is the person who entered the pce and wanted to assassinate His Highness? Are there any leads?¡±

    The emperor shook his head. ¡°There are too many possibilities. Even today, I have few people I can trust.¡± He walked to Yu Hanjiang and gently held his shoulder. ¡°Your grandfather once sacrificed himself to protect the emperor and your Yu family has been loyal for generations. It is only due to this that I dare to boldly leave Xiao Lou¡¯s safety to you. You have been inseparable from him for the past seven years and have cultivated a tacit understanding that is different from ordinary people. You can recognize him with a single nce. I hope that you can fulfill your promise. I will leave my son to you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a long time before saying softly, ¡°Your Majesty, rest assured. I will protect him.¡±

    The emperor nodded. ¡°Go. At the birthday banquet three dayster, the copy will take Xiao Lou¡¯s ce. It is up to you to protect the real Xiao Lou.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at the expressionless puppet ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯. He ignored the awkwardness in his heart and turned to leave the pce. The moment he walked out the door, Xiao Lou was waiting for him at the entrance of the pce. Xiao Lou saw him, quickly approached and whispered, ¡°Father wanted to see you alone. What did you discuss?¡±

    This was the real Xiao Lou. The eyes were ck and clear. He was very gentle when smiling and his eyes were always focused. Yu Hanjiang resisted the urge to hug this person and replied in a low voice, ¡°The walls have ears here. I¡¯ll tell you when we get back to the Twin Pces.¡±

    Xiao Lou saw Yu Hanjiang¡¯s serious expression so he quickened his pace and returned to the Twin Pces with him.

    After entering the pce, Yu Hanjiang smoothly locked the door.

    Xiao Lou saw this person¡¯s gloomy face and nervously asked, ¡°What is going on?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang abruptly pressed Xiao Lou against the wall and kissed him hard.

    This kiss seemed a bit eager. Yu Hanjiang pulled open his tie, supported himself on the wall with his left hand and trapped Xiao Lou between himself and the wall. His right hand held Xiao Lou¡¯s waist tightly and their bodies pressed together without any gaps.

    Strictly speaking, this was the third time Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou had kissed.

    Yu Hanjiang was very gentle the previous two times but this time, he seemed crazy. Xiao Lou¡¯s lips were slightly sore from the kiss. The moment he opened his mouth, the other rushed in eagerly¡­

    The hot kiss allowed Xiao Lou to clearly feel Yu Hanjiang¡¯s uneasiness and anxiety.

    He lost control for the second time today. Was it rted to what the emperor had said? Xiao Lou noticed that Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mood wasn¡¯t stable so he wrapped his arms around his neck and gently stroked the back of the man¡¯s head.

    After being hugged by Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s emotions finally calmed down. He let go of Xiao Lou and ced their foreheads together, his voice hoarse. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m just¡­ I¡¯m worried about you.¡±

    Xiao Lou thoughtfully held his hand, fingers sped together as he softly asked, ¡°What is going on?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment before whispering, ¡°When I was held back by the emperor just now, there appeared a person who looked exactly like you. Your father said he was a clone from your genes.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°What? A clone?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang reached out and gently took Xiao Lou into his arms. His voice was a bit dull like it wasing from his chest. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to evaluate him.¡±

    ¡°That man had the same face as you and smiled and talked like you. Even so, I could see with one nce that he wasn¡¯t you. Even though he looked exactly the same, I felt ufortable when he approached me. I was particrly repelled¡­¡±

    ¡°Yet on the whole, he imitated you very well. Imagine if one day, he reces you and does bad things, even hurting our teammates. If they can¡¯t tell the fake from the real, will he y with us?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± A chill went down Xiao Lou¡¯s spine.

    There was someone exactly like him who was copied from his genes? Gically there was no difference, so one couldn¡¯t tell them apart, this was equivalent to the existence of identical twins?!

    It was as Yu Hanjiang said. If this person used his face to cheat their teammates, Ye Qi and the others would definitely let their guard down upon seeing ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯. Just thinking about it made one feel terrible.

    Imagine if there was a person who looked exactly like Yu Hanjiang. It was okay if Xiao Lou recognized him but if not¡­ he probably wouldn¡¯t even know how he died.

    Xiao Lou reached out and firmly hugged Yu Hanjiang back. ¡°Gene duplication is simply disregarding human life.¡± His voice trembled slightly because of anger. ¡°Hanjiang, I can be sure that you are real. How about you?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s arms tightened. ¡°Of course. What is our rtionship? If I can¡¯t even distinguish the difference between the original and a counterfeit, what qualifications do I have to say that I like you and to be your boyfriend?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart warmed.

    In any case, Yu Hanjiang wouldn¡¯t be deceived by the fake Xiao Lou.

    Even if the pce banned cards and they couldn¡¯t use Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings¡­

    Their hearts were already connected. What was the need to rely on an external force?

    This was mutual knowledge and promise from the heart. It wasn¡¯t something that could be reced just by using the same face.

    Xiao Lou quickly calmed down and whispered in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s ear, ¡°We must tell our teammates the news as soon as possible. It might not just be me. The others might also have been copied. Once we meet them, we have to check our past experience. Right now, we can¡¯t trust others easily!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, I will arrange it.¡±

    Another CR entry. Check out Ye Qi¡¯s Heart Room Curse by Meitakashi129

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 Chapter 405: Long Sen

    The news about the clone of Xiao Lou must be told to their teammates as soon as possible. The easiest teammate to find at the moment was Long Sen. As a member of the royal guards, Long Sen followed the emperor directly. However, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t seen him when they went to meet the emperor just now. Based on the shift system of the royal guards, Long Sen was likely resting today.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou simply went to the guards¡¯ residence and found Long Sen¡¯s room based on their memories.

    Long Sen was wearing civilian clothes and was about to go out. He was startled when seeing Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou before he hurriedly saluted respectfully. ¡°Your Highness, Major General.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang lowered his voice. ¡°Let¡¯s go into your room and chat.¡±

    All members of the guards lived on the west side of the pce in single rooms. Long Sen led Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou into his room and carefully locked the door. Before he could speak, he heard Yu Hanjiang wondering, ¡°After entering this secret room, have you seen any other teammates? This includes me and Xiao Lou.¡±

    ¡°???¡± After finding that Yu Hanjiang was serious, Long Sen perceived the gravity of the matter and replied, ¡°I haven¡¯t seen anyone else. I¡¯ve only met His Highness, that is, Professor Xiao. At noon today, Professor Xiao and the emperor were walking around. It wasn¡¯t convenient for me to say hello. He smiled at me when I looked at him¡­¡±

    Long Sen nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°Professor Xiao, do you have something to say to me?¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged looks.

    He shook his head and informed the other person in a serious tone, ¡°Long Sen, I haven¡¯t seen you at all today.¡±

    Long Sen looked dazed. ¡°Eh? Didn¡¯t we just see each other at noon?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s face was cold. ¡°That was a clone, not Xiao Lou himself.¡±

    ¡°Clone?¡± Long Sen recalled the smile that Xiao Lou gave him and couldn¡¯t help getting goosebumps. ¡°Is it like the sci-fi movies with gic cloning? He is exactly the same Xiao Lou?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Hanjiang also met that person just now.¡± Xiao Lou frowned with displeasure. ¡°This time, there is likely to be a crisis of human cloning in this secret room. In order to prevent you from being deceived, Hanjiang and I came to find you first to inform you about this matter.¡±

    Long Sen scratched the back of his head. ¡°I really couldn¡¯t tell. That person looked exactly like you.¡±

    Fortunately, that ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ didn¡¯t talk to him. Otherwise, based on his trust in Xiao Lou, he would do anything the other person asked him to do without any doubts. Now that he thought about it, a chill went down his spine.

    Xiao Lou advised, ¡°In short, every time you meet a teammate in the future, you should check their identity first. We¡¯ve been through many secret rooms together while the clones are stuck in this world. We can tell the real from the false by asking some random details.¡±

    Long Sen suggested, ¡°For example, Li Qingzhao¡¯s skill?¡±

    Xiao Lou answered, ¡°Who Sent the Brocade from Beyond the Clouds and Stray Into the Depths of the Lotus Flowers.¡±

    Long Senpletely put down his worries and gently exhaled. ¡°You are really Professor Xiao.¡±

    Xiao Lou helplessly told him, ¡°The one you are seeing now is real but this might not necessarily be the caseter. Be careful and check the information first. If the other person can¡¯t answer, they are a clone.¡±

    Long Sen nodded earnestly. ¡°I understand. It isn¡¯t just you. Our other teammates might also have clones. This secret room should be testing our tacit understanding? It would be bad if we are fooled by the clones.¡±

    Xiao Lou rubbed his forehead. ¡°Yes. At present, I¡¯m not sure if the other Xiao Lou will fight us but based on the personality of the keepers, he definitely won¡¯t help us.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang saw Long Sen¡¯s casual clothes and inquired, ¡°Are you going out?¡±

    Long Sen exined, ¡°It is my day off and I wanted to go home to find Wanyue. In my memories, we live in a residential building in District F of Capital Star. Wanyue is my wife and a dance teacher at Locke University. Every guard only has two days of vacation each month to go home and visit rtives, so I want to go back and contact her.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, go home first and tell Qu Wanyue clearly about the clones so she can be careful. I will find a chance to take Xiao Lou out this afternoon to meet with Brother Jiu.¡±

    Xiao Lou was worried. ¡°Is it even possible for me to get out of the pce?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned for a moment. ¡°You stay here with Long Sen while I¡¯ll find a suitable set of clothes for you. Later, dress up as a royal guard and leave the pce with me.¡±

    Xiao Lou also thought this was a good idea. ¡°Okay, the size of my clothes is¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stood up. ¡°I know.¡±

    Long Sen choked up and thought, ¡®How does Group Leader Yu know the size of Professor Xiao¡¯s clothes? The height is easy to judge but what about waist circumference and hip circumference? Don¡¯t military uniforms have to be tailored?¡¯

    Long Sen seriously suggested, ¡°Do you want to measure it now?¡±

    ¡°¡­No need.¡± Did Yu Hanjiang need a tape measure to measure Xiao Lou¡¯s waist? How many times had he hugged it?

    Xiao Lou¡¯s ears turned red and he coughed softly. ¡°There is no need to be so careful. I think it is okay to wear it roughly.¡±

    Long Sen scratched his head. ¡°Oh.¡±

    He was just kindly giving advice.

    Yu Hanjiang turned to leave.

    Long Sen looked at Xiao Lou withplicated eyes. ¡°That man really looked exactly like you. Cloning technology in the interster era seems very advanced. Is it that easy to create a clone by using one hair of yours??¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°In the final analysis, cloning technology is the asexual reproduction of cells. If the technology of this era is mature enough, it is possible to reproduce countless Xiao Lous with just a few of my hairs.¡±

    Long Sen suddenly realized. ¡°Oh, it is just like Sun Wukong pulling out a handful of monkey hairs to create countless Sun Wukongs.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    How on earth did he catch Qu Wanyue with hisnguage skills?

    The two of them were chatting when Yu Hanjiang knocked on the door and came in holding a big bag.

    Xiao Lou saw that the bag contained a brand new uniform and was happy. ¡°You found it so quickly?¡±

    ¡°I am the captain. I can take advantage of the convenience of my position and go directly to the inventory to receive a new uniform suitable for you. I said I was getting it for one of my subordinates.¡±

    Xiao Lou stood up and nced at Long Sen. ¡°Then I¡¯m going back with Hanjiang first. Once you get home, have a good chat with Teacher Qu to see if she has found any clues. I¡¯ll see you in two days.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I will definitelye back before your birthday party.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou left Long Sen¡¯s room and returned to the Twin Pces.

    After entering the room, Yu Hanjiang let Xiao Lou change into the military uniform. The clothes he found really fit perfectly. It was like it was specifically made for Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou was wearing a military uniform for the first time and he wasn¡¯t good at putting on the belt. Yu Hanjiang walked behind him and spoke in a low voice, ¡°I¡¯ll help you.¡±

    The man¡¯s hands moved around his waist and gently wrapped the belt around Xiao Lou before fastening the buckle.

    Then Yu Hanjiang asked Xiao Lou to sit on the sofa.

    He went over, got on one knee and raised Xiao Lou¡¯s foot.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face turned slightly red. Although he was still wearing his clean white socks, the heat of the other person¡¯s hand was still clearly transmitted to the soles of his foot. This kind of intimate feeling made him unbearably nervous and embarrassed.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s toes slightly shrunk back.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was low. ¡°Don¡¯t move.¡± He grabbed Xiao Lou¡¯s foot and seriously put on the military boot. He stuffed the trouser legs into the boot and then put on the other one.

    The whole process was gentle, like a guard serving his master.

    A man who was extraordinarily handsome in a military uniform was kneeling down in front of him and seriously putting on his boots¡­ Xiao Lou¡¯s heart beat like a drum. He was too embarrassed to look at Yu Hanjiang and every inch of his skin was burning.

    It wasn¡¯t easy to wear a full uniform. Xiao Lou hurriedly stood up and looked in the mirror.

    The fabric of the white military uniform was very high quality. There were no creases and it was neat, revealing an air of abstinence.

    Yu Hanjiang stood behind him, watching him. Xiao Lou usually wore casual clothes, but he unexpectedly looked so good in a uniform. He had a tall body, an upright posture and his aura wasn¡¯t inferior to a formal soldier. Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t look away.

    In the mirror, Xiao Lou met the man¡¯s deep eyes. His heart jumped and he quickly lowered his head to carefully put on his hat. ¡°Shall we go now?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang returned to his senses. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Xiao Lou lowered the brim of his hat and immediately followed behind Yu Hanjiang.

    He walked calmly with the correct posture, maintaining the same pace as Yu Hanjiang like a subordinate.

    There were guards patrolling everywhere in the pce. It would be suspicious if Xiao Lou appeared cowering. He might as well stand upright and act as a guard.

    Yu Hanjiang was the captain of the guards. Most of the guards saluted when they saw him. The ¡®small soldier¡¯ following Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t attract too many people¡¯s attention.

    They walked all the way to the gate of the pce unimpeded. The soldier in charge of security saw Yu Hanjiang and stopped him due to regtions. ¡°Major General, are you going out?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied softly, ¡°Yes, His Highness sent me on an errand.¡±

    He handed his identity card and ess permit to the other party for inspection. It was confirmed there were no problems and they were released.

    Just like this, Yu Hanjiang left the pce with Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou was slightly relieved and told Yu Hanjiang, ¡°Your identity as captain is really easy to use. Where are we going now? Have you made an appointment with Brother Jiu?¡±

    ¡°Come with me. We¡¯ll go directly to his house.¡±

    In front of the imperial pce was a square that was thousands of square metersrge with a fountain in the middle. The soldiers were lined up in three rows, patrolling back and forth in the square so that ordinary people couldn¡¯t get close to the solemn pce. There were royal guards stationed within a few kilometers of the pce¡¯s vicinity. This was simr to the ¡®forbidden guards¡¯ protecting the emperor in ancient times. It was almost impossible for outsiders to enter the pce.

    The emperor previously said that Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t ill as a child but there was an assassination attempt. How did the person get into the pce? Was it an insider?

    Yu Hanjiang temporarily suppressed his doubts about this matter and led Xiao Lou across the square to the parking lot on the northwest side. He drove a suspension vehicle dedicated for the guards and took Xiao Lou to the outskirts of the city.

    The suspension vehicle moved in the airne and soon arrived at the vi where the Lu family lived.

    ording to the setting, Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s grandfather and father were generals who had been killed in battle many years ago. Today, only Lu Jiuchuan was left in the Lu family.

    Yu Hanjiang parked the suspension vehicle on the tarmac at the door.

    After waiting a while, they saw a military suspension vehicle flying this way. Lu Jiuchuan pushed a wheelchair down and faced Yu Hanjiang. The two brothers didn¡¯t say anything. Lu Jiuchuan walked over to open the gate and Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou followed him into the yard.

    No one lived in the house but there were robots around to clean it. The yard was very clean.

    Lu Jiuchuan took everyone to the living room. He examined Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou carefully and found that both men were wearing the uniforms of the royal guards. He couldn¡¯t help chuckling as he patted Yu Hanjiang on the shoulder. ¡°How could you take His Highness out of the pce?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked calmly, ¡°Have you seen Huaying or Old Gui?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan shook his head. ¡°No, I only know Tang Ci and you two.¡± He looked his brother and Xiao Lou up and down with appreciation. ¡°The military uniform really fits you. Of course, Xiao Lou is also handsome.¡±

    Xiao Lou was initially worried that Brother Jiu and Tang Ci were clones.

    However, there was nothing suspicious in their reaction when he mentioned Chu Huaying and Gui Yuanzhang. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s question just now was a test. The clones definitely wouldn¡¯t know Chu Huaying and Gui Yuanzhang. Moreover, Brother Jiu¡¯s personality that could make jokes at any time and anywhere was something that wasn¡¯t easily copied by ordinary people.

    Tang Ci said, ¡°Let¡¯s talk about business.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan put away his smile. ¡°Yes, you must¡¯vee to me for something. What did you find out?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Lu Jiuchuan and seriously said, ¡°Brother Jiu, it is like this. An identical Xiao Lou has appeared in the pce. It is a clone made from my genes.¡±

    CG 10K event (one week remaining until the deadline on August 15th)

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 406: Heavy Fog

    Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci exchanged looks when they heard this.

    Tang Ci frowned slightly. ¡°A clone? Did you see him?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang answered, ¡°Long Sen and I have seen him. His appearance is exactly the same as Xiao Lou. This is why we wanted to notify you as soon as possible. The cloning technology of this world can copy people at will and we must be on guard against it.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan cursed. ¡°The keepers are really enjoying tormenting us. It seems that things are moreplicated than I thought.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Brother Jiu, do you have any clues?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan turned to sit on the sofa. He took off his military hat and ced it next to him while saying, ¡°I was ordered to carry out a special mission but strangely, Tang Ci and I have forgotten the details of the mission. We only know that Tang Ci suffered a leg injury during that mission. Moreover, all the officers of my Arrow Corps don¡¯t remember the special task we were going to perform either.¡±

    This time, it was Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou¡¯s turn to exchange looks.

    Yu Hanjiang walked up to him and sat down. ¡°I remember that half a year ago, before you left, you told me that the military department asked you to carry out a special mission. Since the military task was confidential, you didn¡¯t tell me the contents of the task.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan nodded. ¡°Yes, this memory is also in my mind. It proves that we did meet each other half a year ago. I just can¡¯t remember the details of the mission.¡±

    Xiao Lou was puzzled. ¡°That¡¯s strange. Can there be collective amnesia?¡±

    Tang Ci shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m afraid it isn¡¯t as simple as amnesia. We remember many things that happened in the past six months, including which gxies our warships stayed in and where we replenished supplies. I even remember what everyone ate for their three meals during the space flight. It is more like specific memories were suddenly erased.¡±

    He paused before describing it. ¡°For example, there is a ckboard full of mathematical forms and problem solving steps. We can see all the forms but the key information to solve the problem has been erased from the ckboard.¡±

    Selective memory loss? What exactly was the memory they lost?

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang and the other person was also full of doubts. Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Since it is a task assigned by the military, can you find some clues from there?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan shrugged helplessly. ¡°Aftering back to Capital Star, Tang Ci and I went to the military headquarters. Several generals didn¡¯t mention anything about the mission. General Lin also expressed his kind condolences to us, saying they received news that the Arrow Corps had been attacked by alien beings in the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land and suffered heavy casualties.¡±

    Tang Ci added, ¡°Even stranger is that the report sent by Brother Jiu to the military is indeed the same. The Arrow Corps was attacked by alien creatures and fought fiercely for 24 hours with heavy casualties, requesting for support.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan frowned. ¡°I just have no impression of this. When we woke up, we were already on the way back. No one can remember what happened during that time.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou fell silent.

    How could a person suddenly lose part of their memories? Furthermore it was even stranger that everyone collectively lost their memories. It was like this secret mission was never assigned and it was just Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s illusion.

    Lu Jiuchuan himself felt it was a bit strange, as if receiving this mission was just a dream.

    Xiao Lou opened his mouth. ¡°It seems that your lost memory is probably an important clue rted to the mystery of this secret room.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also agreed with this point and said in a low voice, ¡°The current point of concern is, who is the senior officer who issued the task to Brother Jiu? Secondly, when you passed through the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land you sent a report to military headquarters, saying you were attacked by alien creatures. What happened at that time?¡±

    As long as these two points were clearly discovered, the mystery could be solved.

    Lu Jiuchuan stated, ¡°I think we need to go to the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land again.¡±

    He stood up, turned on hismunicator and a map of the universe appeared on the blue holographic screen in front of him, including an area marked in redbelled Hilt No Man¡¯s Land.

    Tang Ci rolled over in his wheelchair. ¡°Hilt No Man¡¯s Land is located near the Clock Constetion in the south. It is very far from us and humans haven¡¯tpletely explored this star field yet. It is unreasonable for us to run to such a remote ce in a warship for no reason. For the report to the military department, it might¡¯ve been sent using Brother Jiu¡¯smunicator and identity verification but he has no memory of this. It isn¡¯t certain if the report was really sent by him or not.¡±

    The secret room this time was much harder than the 10th level. In the 10th level, at least everyone gathered together within a day. Yu Hanjiang also encountered a corpse dismemberment case at the beginning and had a definite investigation target.

    But this time there was no death and the direction of the investigation was very vague. There was a lot of information and it wasn¡¯t known what was the truth or a lie.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath. ¡°The first thing we have to do now is to find all our teammates. I have confirmed there is a copy of me and he might hurt the others. They don¡¯t know that he isn¡¯t me, this is too dangerous. I am even more worried that this person is a hunter. Then the consequences will be really unimaginable¡­¡±

    The other three were grim-faced when they heard this.

    If Xiao Lou¡¯s clone was a hunter then it would be easy for him to kill Ye Qi and Liu Qiao who trusted Xiao Lou blindly. This was what Xiao Lou was most afraid of. He clenched his fists, ¡°Xiao Ye, Chief Shao, Senior Gui, Sister Huaying, Old Mo and Liu Qiao. Do you know their whereabouts?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan shook his head. ¡°I have no memories of them. This means we haven¡¯t intersected for the time being.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Are they doing another task line?¡±

    Xiao Lou spected, ¡°Chief Shao¡¯s setting of a ¡®rich man¡¯ shouldn¡¯t change. After all, our team¡¯s funds are in his hands. His card bnce contains billions of gold coins. The conversion of gold coins and star coins is 1:1. We can check well-known wealthy businessmen in the federation and see if anyone matches him.¡±

    ¡°Let me check it.¡± Tang Ci opened hismunicator and quickly entered some information.

    Invading various websites to check information was his strength. He could even get the address of the person he wanted to check.

    In all the dense data, Tang Ci quickly locked onto Shao Qingge.

    ¡°I¡¯ve found him. The boss of the Noah Medical Technology Company is called Shao Qingge.¡± Tang Ci scanned Shao Qingge¡¯s personal information and paused on the column of personal rtionships. ¡°Shao Yeqi? Is it the Ye Qi that we know?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Xiao Lou leaned over toward the screen. ¡°How is Ye Qi¡¯s surname Shao?¡±

    Tang Ci answered with a nk expression, ¡°Based on the information, Shao Yeqi is Shao Qingge¡¯s adopted son.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    So Ye Qi was going to call Shao Qingge ¡®Father¡¯?

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. The keepers really had bad taste. Every time there was a plot in the secret room, they would bully Ye Qi. First he was a girl in a brothel, then a 7 year old child. Now he had to call Shao Qingge by ¡®Father¡¯. Xiao Ye must be very depressed.

    Yu Hanjiang stated, ¡°No matter what, at least we know their identities. Then the next step will be easier.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes. Mr Tang, see if you can find Shao Qingge¡¯s personal contact information and tell him about the clones as soon as possible. By the way, what about Old Mo, Xiao Liu, Sister Huaying and Senior Gui?¡±

    Tang Ci called out the holographic keyboard and tapped on it.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t understand what was entered but a string of characters swiped across the screen. Finally, Tang Ci stopped his hands and turned back to Xiao Lou. ¡°I can¡¯t find them.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan froze. ¡°Even you can¡¯t find them? Did something happen to them as soon as they entered the secret room?¡±

    Xiao Lou hurriedly opened the contract book and was relieved when he saw the 12 names still on it. ¡°They are still in the contract book, proving they are alive. It is just that Mr Tang can¡¯t find anything.¡±

    Tang Ci exined, ¡°I hacked into the federation¡¯s identity information database and didn¡¯t find their information, indicating that they aren¡¯t in the official identity system records. Which could mean they are from ck households. For example, they might be star thieves wandering around or stray children abandoned at birth and not adopted by orphanages. Or perhaps they were set up as an alien race?¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This wasn¡¯t as good as the 10th level, although back then they were abination of the old, weak, disabled and pregnant, at least it was easy to find each other.

    Yu Hanjiang also felt helpless when he heard the result. He looked at Lu Jiuchuan, ¡°At present, I, Xiao Lou, you, Mr Tang, Long Sen, Qu Wanyue, Chief Shao and Xiao Ye are all in the empire. The key plot of this secret room will surely take ce in this country. Xiao Liu, Old Mo, Senior Gui and Chu Huaying are likely to be collecting clues elsewhere.¡±

    Xiao Lou also calmed down. ¡°Yes, the four of them aren¡¯t part of the main story line and shouldn¡¯t be in too much danger for the time being. If we follow the plot, we will definitely meet them.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan interjected, ¡°I remember, the crown prince¡¯s birthday is in three days, right?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Yes. On the birthday, the clone will attend the banquet in ce of Xiao Lou. Cards are banned within the pce. This is why I brought Xiao Lou out this time. In addition to meeting with you, I wanted to see if cards could be used outside.¡±

    Tang Ci summoned his mechanical spider. ¡°They can be used here.¡±

    Xiao Lou suddenly had an idea. ¡°We just can¡¯t use cards in the pce. It didn¡¯t say that the effect of the cards would be invalid. It is better to borrow the Thumbelina card from Brother Jiu to make me smaller and bring me back to the pce in your pocket. The transformationsts up to 24 hours. If I am still in a shrunken state after entering the pce, it means the card effect that has been used will continue to be effective inside the pce.¡±

    Last time, Liu Qiao had given Lu Jiuchuan a copy of the Thumbelina card that Chief Shao had made. This way, Lu Jiuchuan could make Tang Ci smaller. Due to Tang Ci¡¯s mobility problems, this card was still in Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s temporary custody.

    Unexpectedly, it came in handy now.

    Yu Hanjiang heard this and felt that Xiao Lou¡¯s idea was good. The key point had been grasped. Although they couldn¡¯t activate cards within the pce, that didn¡¯t necessarily mean that the card effect itself would be invalid.

    If this spection was true, he could use the Thumbelina card on Xiao Lou on the day of the birthday banquet outside the pce and then take the thumb sized Xiao Lou with him to the banquet scene.

    He also wanted to see what the clone wanted to do.

    Entry for CG¡¯s 10k Event. Check out A of Hearts and Diamonds Little Loli by Ara

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 407: Birthday Banquet

    Tang Ci soon found Shao Qingge¡¯s contact information and called him using hismunicator. There were a few beeps before a gentle mechanical tone entered their ears. ¡°Hello, the owner isn¡¯t at home. Please leave a message if you need anything.¡±

    Tang Ci left a message for Shao Qingge, asking to call him back. Immediately after, he called thepany. The assistant said that Chief Shao wasn¡¯t in and they couldn¡¯t get through to him on Shao Qingge¡¯s private number.

    Tang Ci told Xiao Lou, ¡°Shao Qingge isn¡¯t home or at thepany. I can¡¯t reach him through his private number.¡±

    Xiao Lou spected, ¡°Will he be with Ye Qi?¡±

    Tang Ci looked at the information on the search. ¡°Ye Qi is currently a freshman at the Ninth Military Academy in the mecha operations department. Now it is July and it is only a few days away from the summer holidays. Perhaps Chief Shao went to pick up Ye Qi in person?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan heard Ninth Military Academy and inquired, ¡°Didn¡¯t we graduate from that school?¡±

    Tang Ci nodded. ¡°Yes. You were in the militarymand department while I was in the mecha control department. I am Ye Qi¡¯s senior.¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°If Chief Shao went to pick up Ye Qi then Southern Cross where the academy is located is far away. It takes two days and two nights to travel to Capital Star. Since we can¡¯t reach him on thendline, perhaps it is because the signal is blocked on the Southern Cross side?¡±

    Tang Ci suggested, ¡°By the way, Professor Xiao, can¡¯t your peach blossom spring forcibly summon teammates? Can you try pulling them over directly?¡±

    Xiao Lou felt it was unlikely. Previously when he pulled his teammates over, everyone was in the same city or even the samebyrinth. They were very closeparatively. Now it was the interster era. Could this skill spans? It was too unscientific.

    Starships and high intelligence mecha needed space leap technology to travel between stars. Why did humans need these mechas if they could directly teleport between gxies tens of thousands of light years away?

    Even though he intellectually felt that the possibility of the peach blossom spring calling his teammates wasn¡¯t likely, Xiao Lou still wanted to try it. He summoned Tao Yuanming, released the peach blossom spring and invited his teammates.

    Soon, six people appeared under the peach blossom trees.

    In addition to Xiao Lou¡¯s group of four, there were Long Sen and Qu Wanyue.

    Qu Wanyue came over. ¡°Long Sen just came home and inexplicably asked me many questions about our university days. I answered them and he finally believed I was real. He nervously told me that this instance has clones?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, we found Xiao Lou¡¯s clone in the pce.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t help looking at Long Sen. This guy actually needed to rely on questions to determine if his partner was real or not. Long Sen¡¯s observation ability was too lowpared to Yu Hanjiang who relied on his eyes to recognize the clone in seconds. Long Sen had to train again.

    Long Sen noticed Yu Hanjiang¡¯s disappointment and scratched his head. Then he asked with a smile, ¡°Professor Xiao, you suddenly called the team. Is there anything important?¡±

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°We can¡¯t find Liu Qiao, Old Mo, Sister Huaying or Senior Gui in the database. We wanted to see if we could use the peach blossom spring to gather all our teammates.¡±

    Long Sen nced at Tang Ci. ¡°Even Mr Tang can¡¯t find them?¡±

    Tang Ci shook his head. ¡°Their names aren¡¯t in the federation¡¯s database.¡±

    After waiting a while, there were still only the six of them in the peach blossom spring. There were no traces of Liu Qiao¡¯s group and Xiao Lou had to helplessly say, ¡°It seems there is no way to teleport across the universe. We must be on the same to enter the peach blossom spring.¡±

    This was within Xiao Lou¡¯s expectations so he didn¡¯t feel too lost. At the very least, Liu Qiao¡¯s group of four not entering the peach blossom spring indirectly proved his spection. ¡°The other six currently aren¡¯t on Capital Star.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan touched his chin. ¡°So there must be another plot line?¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°Chief Shao and Ye Qi should be on their way back from Southern Cross, since they originally live on Capital Star. However, the remaining four should be searching for clues elsewhere. I just don¡¯t know what roles have been assigned to them.¡± Then he asked Qu Wanyue. ¡°Do you have any news about Xiao Liu¡¯s group?¡±

    Qu Wanyue shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know them in this world. I am a dance teacher and the four of them aren¡¯t among my students or colleagues. By the way, I know General Lin¡¯s daughter, Lin Yan. It is said that she is the fianc¨¦e of the crown prince.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan nced at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Xiao Lou has a fianc¨¦e?!¡±

    His eyes were veryplicated, as if saying, ¡®He has a fianc¨¦e. Aren¡¯t you fucking holding onto him?¡¯

    Yu Hanjiang ignored his brother¡¯s eyes and calmly asked, ¡°What type of person is Miss Lin?¡±

    Qu Wanyue found that he didn¡¯t mind and answered honestly, ¡°Lin Yan is one of the most talented students I have taught. She has been learning ballet since primary school and her figure is good. She has a gentle and generous personality. Her father is a three star general in the military and her mother is the dean of the Imperial Central Academy of Sciences. His Majesty probably chose her as the crown prince¡¯s fianc¨¦e due to her strong family background.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°It does sound like a good match.¡±

    Xiao Lou touched his nose. ¡°But I don¡¯t know her.¡±

    Qu Wanyue was doubtful. ¡°Yet in my impression, Lin Yan really seems to like the crown prince and often talks about how good you are. Professor Xiao, are you sure you don¡¯t know her?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve never met her before.¡±

    Qu Wanyue was silent for a moment. ¡°Does Miss Lin know the clone?¡±

    Xiao Lou only remembered his father mentioning to him that he had a fianc¨¦e and the marriage was decided by his mother. As for what the girl looked like, Xiao Lou really had never seen her before.

    Yu Hanjiang also perceived this wasn¡¯t quite right. ¡°Everyone, we will split up first. Be careful and leave the number of yourmunicators. Teacher Qu, see if you can find Miss Lin again and inform us of any clues.¡±

    Qu Wanyue answered, ¡°I understand.¡±

    They saved each other¡¯s numbers.

    Aftering out of the peach blossom spring, Yu Hanjiang used the Thumbelina card in Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s hand to shrink Xiao Lou. He ced Xiao Lou in his pocket ording to Xiao Lou¡¯s suggestion. At the same time, they connected to each other using Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings.

    Yu Hanjiang drove back to the pce.

    Xiao Lou inevitably felt nervous as they approached the gate of the pce. What if all card effects were automatically invalidated the moment they entered the pce? Wouldn¡¯t he be bigger as soon as they went through the gate?

    Yu Hanjiang calmly passed the inspection of the guards and walked through the pce gates.

    Fortunately, Xiao Lou¡¯s worries didn¡¯t happen and he still stayed small in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s pocket.

    Xiao Lou sighed with relief and heard Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice in his mind. ¡°You guessed correctly. As long as the card is used outside the pce, the effect will still be in ce after entering the pce. However, we can¡¯t activate cards inside the pce. It will be difficult if we encounter unexpected situations.¡±

    All instant use cards were disabled within the pce. The only ones that could be used were the cards where the ¡®effect duration is rtively long¡¯. For example, Thumbelina¡¯s transformation, as well as Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings bothsted for 24 hours. They were activated outside the pce and still worked after entering the pce.

    Yu Hanjiang returned to the Twin Pces with the small Xiao Lou. Then he lifted the card¡¯s transformation effect and sent a message to the team members. ¡°I have tested it with Xiao Lou. If a card is used outside the pce, the effect is still valid after entering the pce.¡±

    In this way, Qu Wanyue could use the Chameleon card to sneak into the pce in advance on the day of the birthday banquet.

    ***

    That night, Yu Hanjiang slept in Xiao Lou¡¯s pce.

    There were no guest rooms so he could only sleep in the same bed as Xiao Lou.

    As early as 8 of Hearts, they had been husband and wife and shared the same bed every night. However, they hadn¡¯t exchanged feelings at the time so they were embarrassed to touch each other. Every night, the two of them would lie on their backs on the bed and sleep in this position, not touching each other. It was like they were corpses lying next to each other.

    Now it was different. They had confessed to each other and were sleeping on the same bed. Both of them were energetic adults. In case it was difficult to control themselves¡­

    The more Xiao Lou thought about it, the hotter his face became. He took a shower, went to the bed and pretended to be asleep.

    Yu Hanjiang took a shower in the bathroom.

    He came out and found that Xiao Lou had his back to the bathroom, upying only a quarter of the bed and freeing up arge space for Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang lifted the quilt and got in. He stretched out his long arms and gently embraced Xiao Lou from behind.

    His low voice entered Xiao Lou¡¯s ears. ¡°You are sleeping on the edge of the bed. Aren¡¯t you afraid of falling?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s ears were hot while he moved closer to Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang held him from behind and both of them had the same shower gel scent. Xiao Lou thought to himself, ¡®We seem more like a couple than in 8 of Hearts?¡¯ He was nestled in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s arms, the man¡¯s strong chest pressed against his back. The heat that passed over made his heart beat faster.

    As he was thinking about this, lowughter entered his ears. ¡°Yes, since we really are a couple.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He forgot about Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings.

    Anything he thought could be passed onto Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mind.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face turned red. He didn¡¯t dare to think about anything and quickly closed his eyes.

    Yu Hanjiang simply turned him over and pressed him against the bed, deep eyes staring at him. ¡°Xiao Lou, we have experienced so many secret rooms together. Do you know which one I liked best?¡±

    Xiao Lou was embarrassed to answer but an answer appeared in his mind.

    8 of Hearts.

    Yu Hanjiang ced his lips close to Xiao Lou¡¯s ears and emphasized every word, ¡°I also like 8 of Hearts most¡ªit is because in that world, we were married for the first time and have memories of the bridal chamber.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He always felt a bit ashamed due to Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. He couldn¡¯t hide anything in his mind so he simply reached out and hugged the man pressing against him. ¡°I think you already know but in fact, I already liked you at that time.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was gentle. ¡°Me too.¡±

    The kiss came and he was toote to prevent it. The moment his lips were pried open, Xiao Lou¡¯s mind became nk. He didn¡¯t know when, but Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hands entered his loose pajamas and removed his clothes.

    It was the first time Xiao Lou had been naked with someone.

    He was hugged by Yu Hanjiang while naked and Xiao Lou¡¯s entire body looked like a cooked shrimp. He lowered his eyes in embarrassment while Yu Hanjiang¡¯s scorching kiss was printed on his lips, gradually going down¡­

    Xiao Lou was so nervous that his entire body stiffened. He felt it was a bit sudden.

    An ambiguous sound filled the bedroom. Xiao Lou closed his eyes and grasped the sheet with his hands.

    Even so, Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t do it to the end. He knew that the current environment wasn¡¯t suitable for cing a burden on Xiao Lou¡¯s body. Yu Hanjiang calmly stepped on the brakes and took a deep breath to stabilize his fierce heartbeat, his voice low and hoarse. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I have a sense of measure.¡± After a pause, he exined, ¡°I left some marks on you to distinguish you from the clone.¡±

    Xiao Lou was flushed. ¡°You are using your official authority for private interests.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang readily admitted it. ¡°Yes. In fact, I just want to stamp marks on you and prove that you¡¯re mine.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Proof with ¡®full body stamps¡¯?

    In fact, Xiao Lou knew why Yu Hanjiang did this. He had a fianc¨¦e and Yu Hanjiang wasn¡¯t happy, so he left a kiss mark.

    Don¡¯t look at this man¡¯s usual cold appearance. His sense of possessiveness was very strong.

    Still, Xiao Lou could understand. If Yu Hanjiang was the one who had a fianc¨¦e then he definitely wouldn¡¯t be happy.

    In order to avoid the situation going out of control, Xiao Lou had to hug Yu Hanjiang and reassure him. ¡°My fianc¨¦e is just a set up and I¡¯m not familiar with her, let alone going to marry her. If the emperor forces me to marry her, I will confess to her that I like you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was satisfied with this and leaned over to kiss Xiao Lou. Then he turned over andy beside Xiao Lou, hugging him tightly. ¡°Go to sleep.¡±

    Xiao Lou closed his eyes with peace of mind.

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 408: Birthday Banquet

    The next morning, Xiao Lou went into the bathroom to wash up and his eyes widened in embarrassment when he saw himself in the mirror. His entire body was covered in hickeys. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s method of stamping him was too unreasonable. He helplessly put on a shirt with a high cor and buttoned it all the way to the top. After confirming that no traces were exposed, he headed to the dining room.

    Yu Hanjiang had already put on his military uniform. He took the breakfast from the chef and brought it to the room to eat with Xiao Lou.

    The day after tomorrow was the birthday banquet.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Can we get the guest list for the birthday banquet?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang answered, ¡°I will go to the conciergeter. The guests at the banquet were arranged by the emperor and the guards also have a detailed list in their hands. The banquet will be held in the pce and only people with the invitation are allowed inside.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡±

    After the meal, they went to the concierge department and got a detailed guest list for the party.

    The birthday banquet for the crown prince wasrge in scale. There were numerous guests from the business, political and military circles. All major general and above ranked officers left in Capital Star would attend, including Lu Jiuchuan who just returned. There were also the heads of departments such as the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health, as well as important members of Parliament.

    Nominally, this was a banquet hosted by the emperor for the crown prince¡¯s birthday. No reporters were invited and there would be private chats to reminisce¡­ although such asions weren¡¯t for unrestrained reminiscence. The birthday was secondary. The most important meaning was to bring the crown prince to meet officials from all walks of life.

    The guest list was very long. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes swept over it before suddenly pausing on a name. Xiao Lou apparently found the name as well. ¡°Shao Qingge? He ising to the party too?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Chief Shao is the vice-chairman of the Imperial Chamber of Commerce. So it is normal for him to receive an invitation letter. After knowing you are the crown prince, he will definitely bring Ye Qi with him. Ye Qi is¡­ his son, making it convenient to bring him to attend.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Xiao Ye definitely won¡¯t want to call him Father.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment before abruptly saying, ¡°Your father asked the clone to attend the birthday banquet. What is he thinking? If he really wants to pass the throne to the crown prince, he should give you a chance. After all, those attending the birthday banquet are all important officials from various fields. You also need to know them.¡±

    A strange uneasiness had filled Xiao Lou¡¯s heart since seeing the long list. ¡°Maybe the emperor received the news ahead of time and is worried about someone assassinating me at the banquet, so he asked the clone to rece me?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it carefully. ¡°It is a possibility. By the way, do you have any impression of the serious illness you had when you were a child? What happened?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought it over but he got a headache when he tried to remember it.

    He pressed down on his temples. It was like there was something in his mind but it was blocked. Abruptly, a sharp pain struck his head as countless nerves seemed to be harshly torn. The veins at his temples throbbed and a lot of sweat dripped down his forehead.

    Yu Hanjiang immediately squeezed his hand while the other hand gently stroked his back. ¡°Okay, don¡¯t think about it.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked pale. ¡°I can¡¯t remember at all.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang handed him a ss of water and said soothingly, ¡°Drink some water to calm down.¡±

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and took a few sips of water before he managed to calm down. Just now, it was as if a saw had appeared in his mind and cut at his nerves. It was a pain he had never experienced before.

    Yu Hanjiang was worried. ¡°You are like this and Brother Jiu also got a headache when thinking about the special task. It is as if you also have selectively lost your memory. It seems the mission this time isn¡¯t simple. Your father said that you weren¡¯t sick when young but it was an assassination attempt. How reliable do you think his words are?¡±

    The headache gradually disappeared and his mind became clear. Xiao Lou thought about it before answering, ¡°The selective amnesia, clone and special tasks are definitely rted to each other. Perhaps Brother Jiu¡¯s task was rted to the clones? Maybe someone is secretly carrying out the n to ¡®clone human beings¡¯ and wants to manipte a clone into the federation¡¯s government?¡±

    ¡°If that is the case¡­ as the crown prince, you are the first target they will want to get rid of.¡±

    If Xiao Lou was gone, the cloned Xiao Lou could rece him without anyone knowing. The clone would be the crown prince, inherit the throne and rule the Locke Empire. As long as all those who knew about it were killed¡­

    Yu Hanjiang recalled the copy of Xiao Lou that he saw in the emperor¡¯s pce that day. The appearance was the same. His smile was kind and gentle and his temperament was elegant. If it wasn¡¯t for Yu Hanjiang¡¯s distaste for Xiao Lou¡¯s clone clouding his vision¡­ objectively speaking, it was indeed 90% simr to Xiao Lou.

    He looked particrly obedient in front of the emperor, like a well-behaved pet. Yet who could be sure that pets didn¡¯t bite their owners?

    That night, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou sneaked into the pce archives to search for more clues.

    There was no record of Xiao Lou¡¯s childhood illness and no information or records of the clone. If it wasn¡¯t for the emperor letting Yu Hanjiang see the copy of Xiao Lou in person that day, they wouldn¡¯t have even known that there were two crown princes.

    At the same time, Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci were also struggling. They put on their invisibility cloaks and infiltrated the military headquarters together, searching the military¡¯s confidential documents and orders issued in the past year. However, they didn¡¯t find any information rted to the ¡®secret mission¡¯. It was as if it was really just a dream.

    The next morning, Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan exchanged information.

    Lu Jiuchuan believed that Xiao Lou¡¯s spection was reasonable. ¡°The task we performed is likely to involve the core secrets of the empire¡¯s military department. Perhaps there is a base for the clones in the remote Hilt No Man¡¯s Land. Me, Tang Ci and several senior officers of the Arrow Corps all have amnesia. This is absolutely man-made.¡±

    Xiao Lou was thoughtful. ¡°Selective amnesia¡­ Perhaps Brother Jiu and Mr Tang received advanced hypnosis?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan wondered, ¡°Hypnosis?¡±

    ¡°There is deep hypnotherapy that can make you forget selective painful memories. It is amon treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. In today¡¯s interster era, technology is advanced to the point that clones can be created. Then something like deep hypnosis to make people forget certain memories shouldn¡¯t be difficult to achieve.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan had a headache and pressed his hands to his temples. ¡°If it is hypnosis, will I remember it one day? Do you mean this memory isn¡¯t deleted, it has just temporarily fallen asleep?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes. For memories that were hypnotized to be forgotten, certain situations are needed as a trigger to retrieve them. So Brother Jiu, your previous suggestion is correct. Perhaps you really need to go to the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land again. Maybe you can remember what happened there in the familiar setting.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci nced at each other and thetter said, ¡°After the birthday banquet, Brother Jiu and I will find a way to retrieve that memory. The most important thing at the moment is the crown prince¡¯s birthday banquet.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°By the way, there is good news. Shao Qingge and Ye Qi will alsoe to the birthday banquet. The two Bug King cards are on them. Brother Jiu, find a way to contact Chief Shao and organize a ce to cure Mr Tang¡¯s legs first.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan was filled with joy. ¡°That¡¯s great.¡±

    Another day passed peacefully. There were no additional gains. The current clues weren¡¯t clear enough and all the conclusions were just their guesses.

    The next day was the crown prince¡¯s birthday banquet. Xiao Lou put on the white military uniform of the guards again. He ate something to fill his stomach and followed Yu Hanjiang out of the pce.

    Yu Hanjiang found an empty corner, used the Thumbelina card to shrink Xiao Lou and ced him in his pocket.

    The emperor had him stay in the Twin Pces to protect Xiao Lou so it wasn¡¯t good for Yu Hanjiang to show up at the birthday banquet. He had to borrow Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s ¡®Mask¡¯ and reced his face with the face of a soldier called ¡®Abner¡¯ who was on duty tonight. He took Xiao Lou back to the pce, knocked out the soldier and tied him up in a room. Then he came to the banquet instead of the guard.

    The ce where the banquet was held was the White Dew Pce, a pce specially used by the imperial family to entertain distinguished guests. The royal guards stood outside the pce to protect those inside. Yu Hanjiang knew the arrangements of the guards well. He walked over calmly, found his position and stood there.

    The banquet would officially begin at 7 o¡¯clock in the evening.

    At 6 o¡¯clock, guests started arriving in groups of two or three. The gun hanging from Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s waist was taken by a guard at the pce gate. In order to ensure the safety of the banquet, the guests weren¡¯t allowed to carry weapons tonight.

    Not long after, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi also arrived. Ye Qi was wearing the uniform of the Ninth Military Academy. He looked very energetic and wondered as he followed Shao Qingge, ¡°Father, is His Highness here yet?¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Ye really called out this title smoothly!

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°He is the main character tonight. He will definitelye on time. Let¡¯s go in first.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had changed his face and Xiao Lou was hiding in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s pocket. Therefore, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi didn¡¯t stop when passing by the two people. They obviously didn¡¯t recognize Yu Hanjiang.

    Long Sen was the emperor¡¯s guard and would definitely be protecting the emperor. It just wasn¡¯t known if Qu Wanyue was inside yet.

    Just then, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s sharp eyes saw that a tree in the distance shook slightly like a gust of wind was blowing. However, the surrounding trees didn¡¯t move. It was Qu Wanyue. She sneaked into the pce with the Chameleon card and had integrated with the environment.

    Yu Hanjiang told Xiao Lou through Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings, ¡°Qu Wanyue is over there.¡±

    ¡°I saw.¡± Xiao Lou paused before suddenly asking, ¡°I will soon see that person, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, he looks exactly like yourself. You should be mentally prepared.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m curious. How much does he look like me?¡±

    The next moment, Xiao Lou was speechless.

    Through the gap in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s pocket, he saw someone walking this way while surrounded by guards. He wore exquisite and luxurious white royal clothing. There was a slight smile in his eyes and his appearance was handsome. He was tall and his gestures showed the elegance and calmness of the imperial family.

    The key was that the face, figure and smile were exactly the same as Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou thought in a trance that it was like himselfing out of the mirror.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 409: Banquet

    <em>TL: Thank you to Mie who has selected five bonuses releases of CR as their prize for the CG 10k event. Expect a few more chapters throughout the day.</em>

    The prince¡¯s birthday banquet officially began at 7 o¡¯clock in the evening.

    Yu Hanjiang led Xiao Lou into the banquet hall and like the other guards, stood silently in the corner of the hall while trying to minimize his sense of existence. His gaze swept over the people present and he soon focused on ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ and the emperor in the crowd.

    This birthday banquet had no official media reporters invited and was equivalent to a private birthday party. The atmosphere wasn¡¯t as serious as a government meeting. The expressions on the faces of the guests attending the banquet were rtively rxed but the clothing was very formal. Male guests wore suits or a military uniform while female guests and family members wore evening dresses.

    The emperor spoke a few words before asking the crown prince toe forward.

    The clone of the crown prince who looked exactly the same as Xiao Lou walked out onto the stage and smiled slightly at the guests in the hall. His clear voice rang through the entire banquet hall. ¡°Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend my 25th birthday banquet. I am extremely honored to meet all distinguished guests on such an asion. I hope to have more opportunities in the future to learn andmunicate with you¡­¡±

    He was wearing the white royal outfit today and kept smiling when he spoke, looking personable and calm. The young crown prince didn¡¯t have the arrogance of a superior. Rather, he was humble and polite, making people feel he was kind and gentle.

    He stood on the stage and spoke eloquently, his outstanding temperament attracting the attention of the guests almost instantly. Many youngdies blushed uncontrobly when they met his gaze.

    Yu Hanjiang stared at the person on the stage and frowned. It had to be said that this man was truly very simr to Xiao Lou.

    Of course, Yu Hanjiang believed that if Xiao Lou attended today¡¯s banquet in person and gave a speech on stage, he would definitely be much more attractive than the person on stage right now. After all, Xiao Lou was a university professor in reality and often taught public sses to hundreds of students. Still, objectively speaking, the clone performed very well. At the very least, most of the officials in the audience were appreciative and the emperor seemed very satisfied.

    The crown prince finished his speech and there was warm apuse.

    The dinner was buffet style and the atmosphere was rxed and free. It was also convenient for the emperor to introduce the crown prince to officials from various departments. The emperor took him through the banquet hall and greeted several military generals.

    The marshal of the empire was called Ye Ming. He was 66 years old and had gray hair but he was still sprightly in his military uniform. The three ¡®general¡¯ level senior officers were called Lin Zecheng, Farrell and Es and they were dressed in solid ck, dark blue and green uniforms respectively.

    There was no distinction between sea,nd and air forces in the military department of the Locke Empire. Instead, it was divided into military regions. Perhaps it was because this era no longer had naval and airbat. Most of the battles took ce in the stars and needed to rely on highly intelligent mecha.

    Marshal Ye Ming was the supreme leader of the imperial army and the three generals were in charge of the southern, eastern and northwestern military districts of the empire. The Arrow Corps led by Lu Jiuchuan belonged to the southern military region. Its immediate superior was General Lin Zecheng, the biological father of the crown prince¡¯s fianc¨¦e, Miss Lin Yan.

    Several officers saluted the crown prince, who responded with a respectful salute.

    Lu Jiuchuan followed General Lin and extended his hand toward ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯, saying, ¡°Your HIghness, happy birthday.¡±

    General Lin gave an introduction. ¡°This is Major General Lu Jiuchuan of the Arrow Corps.¡±

    The crown prince nodded and shook hands with Lu Jiuchuan, a polite smile on his face. ¡°It turned out to be Major General Lu. I¡¯ve long admired you. I heard that Major General Lu is the youngest major general in the military? You are really young and promising.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan took back his hand. ¡°Your Highness is overpraising me.¡±

    If it wasn¡¯t for Yu Hanjiang telling him in advance that Xiao Lou had a clone in the pce, Lu Jiuchuan almost couldn¡¯t tell¡ªthey were too alike. The appearance and figure was 100% reproduced. Even the smile seemed to have been taken from Xiao Lou¡¯s face!

    Yet after thinking about it carefully, it felt wrong. The ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ in front of him looked at Lu Jiuchuan without the slightest sense of intimacy. It might be inconvenient to call him Brother Jiu in public but the eyes shouldn¡¯t be so estranged. It was obviously the first time he met Lu Jiuchuan. His attitude was polite and there was a slight alienation.

    After greeting Lu Jiuchuan, he continued to greet the other military officials.

    Lu Jiuchuan stared at this person¡¯s back and stroked his chin thoughtfully. He was just turning around to find Shao Qingge when he saw Shao Qingge and Ye Qi take the initiative toe to this side.

    Shao Qingge reached out to the crown prince and said with a smile, ¡°Your Highness, happy birthday. Today you are really extraordinary. I admire you.¡± Chief Shao was clearly joking with Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t in a hurry to stretch out his hand. He just smiled at Shao Qingge until the concierge next to him whispered in his ear, ¡°This is Mr Shao Qingge, vice-chairman of the empire¡¯s Chamber of Commerce.¡±

    Then Xiao Lou reached out his hand and shook Shao Qingge¡¯s hand lightly. ¡°Mr Shao, I¡¯ve heard a lot about you.¡±

    Shao Qingge, ¡°???¡±

    What? Wasn¡¯t he recognized?

    Ye Qi who was following him also walked to Xiao Lou. ¡°Hello Your Highness!¡±

    Xiao Lou was puzzled. ¡°This is?¡±

    Ye Qi was stunned as he stared at Xiao Lou, as if saying, ¡®Professor Xiao, it¡¯s me! Don¡¯t you know me in a military uniform?¡¯ However, Xiao Lou showed no reaction to his gaze.

    Shao Qingge perceived that something was wrong and gently wrapped an arm around Ye Qi¡¯s shoulder, introducing him. ¡°Your Highness, this is my son, Shao Yeqi. He has always admired you so I brought him to see you in person.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled at Ye Qi, his eyes gentle. ¡°Mr Shao¡¯s son is a student of the Ninth Military Academy?¡± He clearly saw that Ye Qi¡¯s uniform belonged to the Ninth Military Academy.

    Shao Qingge answered, ¡°Yes, he just finished his freshman year.¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke with admiration. ¡°The Ninth Military Academy is notoriously difficult to get into. With a distinguished father like you, the son is sure to do well.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°???¡±

    Listening to the dialogue between Shao Qingge and Xiao Lou, Ye Qi gradually perceived something was wrong. He stepped back nkly until he saw Xiao Lou walking past him and followed Shao Qingge to continue to meet other guests.

    Ye Qi leaned toward Shao Qingge¡¯s ear. ¡°He doesn¡¯t know me?¡±

    Shao Qingge raised an eyebrow. ¡°He doesn¡¯t know me either. There is a problem with this Xiao Lou.¡±

    Ye Qi was puzzled. ¡°Did he lose his memory? Why isn¡¯t Group Leader Yu with him?¡±

    The two men were full of question marks. Then they saw Lu Jiuchuan walking toward this side with a ss of red wine in his hand, speaking to them politely, ¡°Hello Mr Shao, I am Lu Jiuchuan, the head of the Arrow Corps.¡±

    Shao Qingge nced around and found that most of the guests¡¯ eyes were on the crown prince and few people were paying attention to them. Thus, he also took a ss of wine and picked up some food before heading to the lounge area in the side hall with Lu Jiuchuan to sit down and talk while eating.

    Lu Jiuchuan asked in Shao Qingge¡¯s ear, ¡°Do you have the Bug King card in your hand?¡±

    Shao Qingge also lowered his voice. ¡°Yes. If Mr Tang¡¯s legs need treatment then you can let Ye Qi use the card at any time. However, the pce is a card restricted area. After we entered, our cards couldn¡¯t be activated anymore.¡±

    He knew about the Bug King card and knew that Tang Ci needed his legs healed. It seemed this was the real Shao Qingge.

    Lu Jiuchuan felt very helpless. Now every time he saw a person, he had to first determine if they were true or false. He paused before asking suspiciously, ¡°Tang Ci left a message on the phone at your residence. Didn¡¯t you hear it?¡±

    Shao Qingge and Ye Qi looked at each other before Ye Qi answered, ¡°We came back from Southern Cross and rushed straight to the imperial pce to attend the birthday banquet. Time was too tight. I didn¡¯t even have the chance to go home and change out of my uniform.¡±

    No wonder the two of them took the initiative to say hello to ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯. It turned out they didn¡¯t return home at all and hadn¡¯t heard Tang Ci¡¯s message. Lu Jiuchuan whispered in the ears of the two people, ¡°This Xiao Lou is a clone and he isn¡¯t the Xiao Lou we know.¡±

    Ye Qi was stunned. ¡°C-Clone?¡±

    Shao Qingge frowned. ¡°Does this mean that someone created a person based on Professor Xiao¡¯s appearance?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan nodded. ¡°Yes, it is hard to tell from the outside.¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°No wonder why I felt that something was wrong. He looked at us like he was meeting us for the first time. His eyes were very strange.¡±

    Ye Qi looked around alertly. ¡°Where is the real Xiao Lou? Isn¡¯t the crown prince called Xiao Lou? He didn¡¯te to today¡¯s banquet?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan didn¡¯t know how to answer Ye Qi¡¯s three consecutive questions. He pinched his brow and said, ¡°The real Xiao Lou is with Hanjiang. To be precise, he is thumb-sized and sitting in Hanjiang¡¯s pocket. Hanjiang is also at the banquet but he borrowed my mask and disguised himself as a soldier in the royal guards. I don¡¯t know who he is.¡±

    To ensure the safety of the banquet, all the guards were standing on the side. They were dressed in neat white uniforms and every one of them stood tall and upright. It was really unclear which one was the disguised Yu Hanjiang.

    Shao Qingge mused, ¡°So the theme of this secret room is¡­ cloning?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan gave a low curse. ¡°It isn¡¯t clear at present. The keepers sent us a nk paper for us to answer and there are no questions. Fuck, I don¡¯t know what problem to solve.¡±

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He held his chin, seemingly lost in thought.

    A momentter, Shao Qingge suddenly said, ¡°By the way, when my father was in charge of the Noah Medical Technology Company, he seemed to have invested arge sum of money tounch the Noah¡¯s Ark Project. The core of this n was gic experimentation.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Yourpany is involved in gic projects?¡±

    ¡°It was 20 years ago so I don¡¯t remember it clearly. Later, it was said that the experiment failed. All relevant data and experimental products were destroyed. I will go back and check if there are any missing clues.¡±

    Ye Qi made a guess. ¡°Does the gic experiment have something to do with human cloning?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan looked at him. ¡°Do you have any ideas?¡±

    Ye Qi answered softly, ¡°In the past, didn¡¯t someone use a cell from a sheep to make a cloned sheep? In theory, animal experiments work so it is possible for humans. If so, Professor Xiao might have more than one clone. The name Noah¡¯s Ark for a gic experiment definitely sounds strange.¡±

    Shao Qingge narrowed his eyes as he listened to Ye Qi¡¯s serious analysis. ¡°Noah¡¯s Arkes from the Bible. It is said to be a ship made ording to God¡¯s instructions. The purpose of the big ship is to allow Noah, his family and various creatures in the world to avoid a disaster!¡±

    He looked at Shao Qingge and spoke doubtfully, ¡°Chief Shao, your father¡­ my grandfather, why did he start the Noah¡¯s Ark project? I think this must be a key clue.¡±

    Shao Qingge patted him on the shoulder with a smile. ¡°My son is so smart.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The trio were chatting when they saw a young woman in a red evening dress walk up to ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯.

    The girl had a very good figure and her red dress set off her skin making it appear as white as snow. Along with delicate makeup, she was very bright and moving. Out of all the female guests, her appearance and temperament were undoubtedly the most outstanding.

    After seeing her, ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ smiled and nodded politely. ¡°Miss Lin.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan hugged his arms and gazed at the woman thoughtfully. ¡°She is Lin Yan?¡±

    Ye Qi wondered, ¡°Who is Lin Yan?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan exined in a low voice, ¡°It is said that she is the fianc¨¦e of the crown prince. Xiao Lou doesn¡¯t know her personally but the clone seems very familiar with her.¡±

    The next moment, the crown prince suddenly leaned over, took her hand very gently and kissed the back of it. Lin Yan¡¯s face was a bit red and her eyes were full of adoration as she gazed up at him.

    The handsome man and beautiful woman were indeed a good match when standing together. The crown prince stretched out his arm and Lin Yan gently held it.

    Shao Qingge had the expression of watching a good show. ¡°They are engaged?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s voice was helpless. ¡°The marriage was decided when the empress was still alive. My guess is that after this birthday, they will be officially married. The crown prince is 25 years old and it is time for him to get married and engage in politics.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°What should Xiao Lou do if he gets married? Should he let the clone rece him? Can he use the double on the wedding night?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan felt helpless. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    Meanwhile, Yu Hanjiang watched ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ in an expressionless manner.

    ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ held the woman by the arm while smiling and greeting the guests, as if the woman next to him really was his crown princess. He was very considerate and tolerant of her and his eyes were full of gentleness when he looked at her.

    Yu Hanjiang was very ufortable about this person using Xiao Lou¡¯s face to look at a woman with gentle eyes. This scene of a ¡®handsome man and beautiful woman¡¯ was especially dazzling. Yu Hanjiang simply couldn¡¯t look anymore and moved his gaze away.

    On the contrary, Xiao Louy on the edge of Yu Hanjiang¡¯s military uniform pocket and carefully observed the scene. The moment he saw ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ reach out to gently help tuck Lin Yan¡¯s hair behind her ear, he suddenly spoke in his mind. ¡°Hanjiang, don¡¯t you think something is wrong?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang heard the familiar voice in his mind and immediately responded, ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°If he is just a clone, why does he have contact with my fianc¨¦e?¡±

    Xiao Lou and Lin Yan might have no feelings at all, but in name, Lin Yan was his fiancee. They were formally engaged when the empress was still alive. The clone should have the awareness of a clone. How could he contact the master¡¯s fianc¨¦e without authorization? He still acted so intimately in front of the emperor?

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 410: Intruder in the Twin Palaces

    Meanwhile, outside the Twin Pces¡­

    Qu Wanyue had used the Chameleon card to blend into the surrounding environment before entering the pce. The duration of this card was longer than the invisibility cloak and it was more convenient for investigation. She asked Long Sen for a map of the imperial pce in advance. The first thing she did upon entering the pce was to find the Twin Pces where Xiao Lou lived. This was also Xiao Lou¡¯s arrangement.

    Before today¡¯s banquet, Xiao Lou had made three arrangements.

    First, ording to the plot of the secret room, Tang Ci¡¯s legs were injured in battle in the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land. It was inconvenient for Tang Ci to attend the dinner party so he would go to the hospital for a detailed physical examination. His legs were injured and his brain lost some of his memories. It was reasonable to go to the hospital for an examination. At the same time, he could also test whether he and Lu Jiuchuan had received hypnosis.

    Secondly, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang would disguise themselves and go to the banquet. If someone came to assassinate the clone then they would be able to respond in time.

    Third, Qu Wanyue would use the Chameleon card to guard near the Twin Pces. In case the other party tried to assassinate the Xiao Lou in the Twin Pces instead of the one at the banquet, Qu Wanyue would be able to inform them immediately.

    It was 9 o¡¯clock and Qu Wanyue hid near a stone pir in front of the Twin Pces. There weren¡¯t many soldiers patrolling around the Twin Pces. Most of the guards had gone to the banquet to protect the crown prince and the emperor. This side was rtively vulnerable, with only two soldiers remaining standing upright at the entrance.

    Qu Wanyue stared for an hour but there was no movement at the door. Just as she thought that Professor Xiao was being overly worried, the two soldiers at the door fell straight to the ground! However, she couldn¡¯t see anyone. It was like the wind had knocked them over.

    Qu Wanyue was shocked in her heart. The other party had the same stealth ability as her and must¡¯ve stealthily attacked the two guards. This person struck quickly and urately. Almost instantly, the two guards who were over 1.8 meters tall dropped directly to the ground.

    The door of the Twin Pces opened like a gust of wind had blown in.

    Qu Wanyue immediately followed. The Chameleon card not only allowed her to blend perfectly with the environment, but it also increased her crawling speed to a certain extent.

    Qu Wanyue flexibly climbed into the Twin Pces. The ss wall of the pce changed colors under the light, giving the illusion one stood in a maze. There seemed to be a shadow in front of her. Qu Wanyue followed the shadow the entire time. After passing several corridors, the shadow came to a door and opened it.

    This should be Xiao Lou¡¯s ce of residence. Was the shadow here to kill Xiao Lou?

    Momentster, the other party seemed to notice that no one was in the room and quickly opened the window to escape. Since this person had no form, Qu Wanyue didn¡¯t know in what direction they escaped.

    Qu Wanyue left the Twin Pces and quickly came to the banquet scene. She had used her card at the entrance of the pce and had seen Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou go outside the pce and use the card to disguise themselves. She knew who Yu Hanjiang had disguised himself as.

    Qu Wanyue came down the wall behind Yu Hanjiang who was pretending to be a normal guard and whispered, ¡°Group Leader Yu.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded to confirm his identity.

    Qu Wanyue told him, ¡°There is something wrong in the Twin Pces.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also felt that this matter wasn¡¯t quite right¡­

    Wasn¡¯t the emperor worried about the crown prince being assassinated so he found a double to attend the birthday banquet? Then why was there no movement on this side while someone sneaked into the Twin Pces to assassinate Xiao Lou?

    At the banquet, the crown prince and his fianc¨¦e toasted everyone. The host and guests talked to each other and the crown prince seemed to havepletely blended into the scene, forgetting his identity as a clone. The day that Yu Hanjiang saw the clone for the first time, he had been as docile as a pet in front of the emperor with a dull gaze¡­

    Such a submissive clone hadpletely disappeared.

    Currently, there was only calmness and confidence in his eyes. He always kept a polite smile on his face when talking with politicians. His simrity to Xiao Lou was getting closer and closer to 100%, like he was the real crown prince.

    Uneasiness rose in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart. Such unease also affected Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou asked uncertainly, ¡°Is he really a clone?¡±

    The scene of the banquet was lively. It wasn¡¯t until 10 o¡¯clock that the crown prince¡¯s birthday banquet officially ended and the guests were sent out in batches. Yu Hanjiang, who pretended to be a guard, took the initiative to send Shao Qingge out. Shao Qingge saw the strange face in front of him and smiled. ¡°Is that you?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and didn¡¯t say anything. It was only when they were out of the pce that Xiao Lou poked his head out of Yu Hanjiang¡¯s pocket and whispered, ¡°Xiao Ye.¡±

    Ye Qi looked down and saw the thumb-sized Professor Xiao. No one else could have the Thumbelina card. This was the real Professor Xiao!

    Ye Qi was excited. ¡°I finally see the real one! Professor Xiao, what does that person want to do?¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°Time is tight. Go to the peach blossom spring to talk.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang followed Shao Qingge to their suspension car. Xiao Lou opened the peach blossom spring in the suspension car and summoned all his teammates directly.

    Soon, eight people gathered under the peach blossom trees. There was still no Liu Qiao, Old Mo, Senior Gui or Chu Huaying. All the eight people currently on the Capital Star had arrived.

    Yu Hanjiang took Xiao Lou out of his pocket and held him in the palm of his hand. Xiao Lou asked Qu Wanyue, ¡°Teacher Qu, what did you see?¡±

    Qu Wanyue was nervous. ¡°Someone snuck into the Twin Pces. The guards at the door were knocked out instantly. The person was invisible except that a shadow appeared when they were illuminated by strong light. Judging by the shadow, they should be a man around 180 centimeters tall.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°What about Lin Yan¡¯s side? When did she first meet with the crown prince?¡±

    Qu Wanyue said, ¡°I pretended to care and asked her about it before. She said that when she was 16 years old, her mother negotiated with the empress. Then with the consent of the emperor and General Lin, the marriage was set. She met with His Highness once during the engagement dinner and fell in love at first sight.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s expression became uglier.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke softly, ¡°At 16 years old, I should¡¯ve still been in the military academy and hadn¡¯t joined the royal guards yet. Do you know about the engagement dinner that year?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t attend the engagement dinner at all.¡±

    The team members stared at each other.

    Shao Qingge came over and joked, ¡°Isn¡¯t your father overly nervous? Even if he is afraid of you being assassinated, surely he shouldn¡¯t let the clone attend the engagement dinner? Will the clone rece you in the bridal chamber and when you have children as well?¡±

    Xiao Lou was silent for a moment before saying, ¡°There is only one exnation.¡±

    The team members looked at Xiao Lou on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s palm.

    The next moment, they heard him calmly stating, ¡°I am the clone.¡±

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 411: Real and False Clone

    In fact, as early as when Yu Hanjiang mentioned the ¡®clones¡¯, Xiao Lou had already had doubts. If it was just to prevent the crown prince from being assassinated, wasn¡¯t it riskier to create a clone and leave the other person in the pce? If the crown prince was really killed, wouldn¡¯t the clone take the opportunity to rece the crown prince?

    Moreover, it was unreasonable to forbid the crown prince from leaving the pce, going to school and socializing just because of poor health. Xiao Lou also had no memory of the ¡®serious illness¡¯ when he was a child. He seemed more like the clone hidden in the pce.

    Looking at the shocked eyes of his teammates, Xiao Lou took a deep breath and quickly sorted out his thoughts. ¡°First of all, in this world, I have never left the pce since I was a child. I have no ssmates or friends. The emperor said he was worried about my health and invited a teacher to the pce to teach me. Isn¡¯t this like house arrest in disguise?¡±

    ¡°Second, when I was five years old, I supposedly had a serious illness and almost died. However, I have absolutely no memory of it. Every time I try to think about it, I get a headache. I suspect that I¡¯ve been deeply hypnotized and have forgotten something crucial.¡±

    ¡°Thirdly, Lin Yan and the crown prince met at the engagement dinner but I¡¯ve never been to one. I¡¯ve never even seen Lin Yan, my fianc¨¦e. There is no reason to let a stand-in attend such an important asion like an engagement, right? What¡¯s more, the emperor introduced him to many military and government officials tonight. It isn¡¯t reasonable to let the substitute attend.¡±

    ¡°So it is very likely that I am the fake crown prince who was copied and hidden in the Twin Pces. The one who attends important asions is the real crown prince.¡± Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Do you think my analysis is correct?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Meeting those calm eyes, Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart stung slightly. It didn¡¯t feel good to be someone¡¯s substitute but Xiao Lou quickly epted it. It was probably due to experiencing so many secret rooms but his ability to withstand things was extremely powerful.

    Since Xiao Lou didn¡¯t mind his identity at all, Yu Hanjiang had to talk rationally. ¡°I agree with your analysis. If you are the clone then it exins the current doubts. The emperor probably deliberately left me by your side and released the news that I am protecting the true crown prince. Which is why someone sneaked into the Twin Pces to kill you tonight.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled bitterly. ¡°True and false, false and true. What is this emperor thinking?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned tightly. He thought for a moment before analyzing it in a low voice, ¡°From the emperor¡¯s perspective, perhaps it can be analyzed in this way¡ªyou have lived in the Twin Pces all your life. Perhaps the emperor made a clone when his son was very young. He deliberately had you live in the Twin Pces and be a substitute for the crown prince. Everyone knows that the crown prince lives in the Twin Pces. At the age of five, you weren¡¯t sick. There was an assassination attempt.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and motioned for him to go on.

    ¡°In that ident, you discovered that you are a clone. Thus, the emperor had a doctor perform deep hypnosis on you so you can forget what happened in the past. You only know that you have a serious illness. Then he had you continue to stay in the Twin Pces as the crown prince¡¯s substitute, where you could be assassinated at any time. Meanwhile, the real crown prince has been by the emperor¡¯s side and was secretly protected by him. My appearance is actually a cover. The emperor asked me, the captain of the royal guards, to protect you personally. In this way, the assassin will think that your identity is 100% real.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it carefully and found that Yu Hanjiang¡¯s analysis had some credibility to it. ¡°In order to let the clone die as a substitute¡­ convince him that he is the real thing?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°The emperor never said you were a clone and you have always regarded yourself as the real crown prince. Therefore, you don¡¯t need to act at all and it is impossible for you to betray the emperor. You grew up living in the Twin Pces, studied hard and asionally wandered around the pce or slipped out to y. Everything you showed was like the real crown prince.¡±

    Acting would always reveal some clues. How could the assassin know Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t the crown prince when even he didn¡¯t even know it himself?

    Twin Pces, twins, this was what it originally meant.

    Xiao Lou felt cold in his heart.

    His mind was full with memories of all those years. The emperor had always treated him well. Although he wouldn¡¯t let Xiao Lou go out of the pce, the emperor invited the best teachers to guide him to learn and gave him the most advanced smart mecha. Perhaps it was the memories having an effect on him but he respected the emperor very much and smoothly called him ¡®Father¡¯.

    As a result, the other person just treated him as a tool that could be sacrificed at any time?

    Xiao Lou closed his eyes to calm himself down. ¡°The key question now is where the assassin came from and why he¡¯s trying to kill the crown prince? How did the emperor make a clone of the crown prince?¡±

    Shao Qingge wondered, ¡°Does it have anything to do with the Noah¡¯s Ark project?¡±

    Xiao Lou stared at him and Shao Qingge exined, ¡°My Shao family¡¯spany is called Noah Medical Technology. 20 years ago, weunched the Noah¡¯s Ark project. I was less than 10 years old at the time and I vaguely remember my father mentioning that the subject of the project was gic research.¡±

    He gazed at Xiao Lou on the palm of Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hand in a thoughtful manner. ¡°The time when you were sick¡­ five years old. Wasn¡¯t this 20 years ago?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, the time is indeed right.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan suddenly came over with a very serious expression. ¡°Xiao Lou, you said that every time you think about when your five year old self was sick, you get a headache? Tang Ci and I also have a headache when we try to think about the battle in Hilt No Man¡¯s Land. We can¡¯t remember any details. Our symptoms are so simr. Tang Ci and I shouldn¡¯t be clones as well, right?¡±

    The team members, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Tang Ci¡¯s face was nk. ¡°Humans need time to grow. We aren¡¯tputer programs that can use Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V to immediately create a Lu Jiuchuan.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan looked confused. ¡°Wasn¡¯t the cloned person directly made by high-tech means?¡±

    Tang Ci helplessly held his forehead. ¡°Professor Xiao, please exin to this liberal arts student what gene cloning technology is.¡±

    Xiao Lou also found that everyone seemed to have a misunderstanding about ¡®clones¡¯ and exined in detail. ¡°Gene cloning technology is to allow cells to reproduce asexually and divide, forming offspring with the exact same genes. Assuming today¡¯s world is a sci-fi world where human cloning technology is already mature and I want to make a clone of Lu Jiuchuan. First of all, I have to extract cells from Brother Jiu and culture them in vitro in a special nutrient solution. The cells form after a period of time and create a foetus of Lu Jiuchuan, with the exact same genes as Brother Jiu. This could not directly clone an adult version of Lu Jiuchuan.¡±

    He looked at Lu Jiuchuan and asked seriously, ¡°Brother Jiu, do you understand what I mean?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan understood now. ¡°Cloning a human means using my cells to asexually reproduce and form an ¡®offspring¡¯ with the same genes? It can give birth to as many as you want rather than cloning an adult version directly?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, this is what Mr Tang means. Human beings require the process of growing up from babies.¡±

    The team members nodded in understanding. Cloning a human was equivalent to cultivating a baby in a petri dish with cells. There was no need to go through a normal human pregnancy and childbirth and it also wasn¡¯t copying and pasting a human.

    Xiao Lou was worried. ¡°If there are professional cloningboratories in this world, sessful cell culture means they keep the clones in cryogenic sleep until they reach adulthood and then release them when necessary, giving them instructions. By imnting control chips in their brains, these clones will be powerful and obedient living weapons.¡±

    After all, there were no parents or rtives around them when they opened their eyes. They naturally would have to obey the orders of the people who made them.

    Tang Ci added, ¡°The memories of Brother Jiu¡¯s and my pasts are very clear. Only the happenings in Hilt No Man¡¯s Land some time ago have been selectively forgotten. If we are clones, then we were copied since childhood and lived with our families. If we were cloned six months ago after the incident, there wouldn¡¯t be enough time for the clones to grow. I don¡¯t think there is any medical technology that can make a cell grow to an adult in half a year.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan realized. ¡°So it shouldn¡¯t be possible that we are clones? It is just selective amnesia?¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°I should¡¯ve been cloned since I was a child. Perhaps after the birth of the crown prince, the emperor joined the Noah¡¯s Ark project and cloned me. I was born close to the real crown prince and we are more like twins, just that we never met each other.¡±

    Ye Qi asked curiously, ¡°If one cell can copy a person, how many clones will there be of the crown prince? Will there be more than two Professor Xiaos?¡±

    The team members heard this question and got goosebumps. It was really hard to imagine countless Xiao Lous standing in a row, smiling at everyone at the same time.

    Yu Hanjiang had a sullen expression on his face. ¡°It is still unclear how many clones there are. We shouldn¡¯t ignore the possibility that Ye Qi just mentioned. Perhaps the emperor took a lot of cells from his son to do experiments and many copies of Xiao Lou were made.¡±

    Was it possible that they would one day face the dilemma of being besieged by an army of Xiao Lous?

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry as he held his temple. ¡°Assuming this may be true, I am just one of the important clones and there should be many more clones hidden in the darkness. This means you can¡¯t believe in any Xiao Lou you meet. We need to agree on a secret code.¡±

    Tang Ci¡¯s eyes swept over the group. ¡°Let¡¯s confirm first that everyone present is real.¡±

    Long Sen opened his mouth. ¡°I can confirm that Wanyue is real. She even remembered the scene where she saw me for the first time in university. I went to their school to y basketball and identally missed when shooting, knocking her unconscious and sending her to the hospital.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Friend, it is a miracle that you managed to chase and catch Teacher Qu!

    Qu Wanyue smiled helplessly. ¡°Yes, the memories in reality shouldn¡¯t be able to be known by the clones.¡±

    Ye Qi said, ¡°Chief Shao must be real. We both have the Bug King card.¡±

    Tang Ci and Lu Jiuchuan were also confirmed. After all, Lu Jiuchuan had the only Vermilion Bird card in the world and Tang Ci could summon a mechanical spider. This was impossible for a clone.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°What code should we use to check it?¡±

    Ye Qi suggested, ¡°Heavenly king overwhelms the earth tiger, pagoda will stop the river demon?¡± (TL Note: A famous secret code. It has no meaning and is now mostly used for funny conversations between friends)

    The team members, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge helplessly pulled him from behind. ¡°Child, don¡¯t make trouble.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought carefully. ¡°Just ask about Time Reversal, the additional reward we will get after clearing the secret room. At present, only our team has entered the Q secret room and knows what the final reward is. Time Reversal is a rare SS grade card that can reverse time up to five hours.¡±

    Everyone would naturally remember this card. The keepers had told them that they could get this rare reward from clearing this four in one secret room. It was the key reason they decided to enter the hidden secret room. The clones definitely wouldn¡¯t know about it.

    They agreed and the group exchanged clues with each other.

    At present, Xiao Lou spected that he was a clone.

    Yu Hanjiang believed that the emperor asked him to protect Xiao Lou to consolidate Xiao Lou¡¯s identity as the ¡®imperial crown prince¡¯.

    Tang Ci had gone to the hospital for a check-up. The doctor told him that there was no sign of injury to his head and that his memory was probably blurred due to post-traumatic stress disorder. This meant he didn¡¯t want to remember the tragic experience and instinctively hid that memory. Tang Ci didn¡¯t believe this exnation. He preferred to think that he and Lu Jiuchuan had been deeply hypnotized.

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s investigation in the military department ended without a result. Apparently, the information rted to the special mission had been erased.

    Qu Wanyue was in charge of Lin Yan¡¯s plot line. Miss Lin had been in love with the crown prince since they were engaged at the age of 16. In addition, Lin Yan¡¯s mother, Zhang Shaohua was the dean of the Imperial Central Academy of Sciences. Her research team was top-notch. It was still unclear if she had participated in the Noah¡¯s Ark project. Her father, Lin Zecheng was themander in chief of the southern military region of the empire and Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s direct superior. This girl should be able to provide some clues.

    Long Sen was by the emperor¡¯s side and could take the opportunity to check the secrets behind the emperor.

    Xiao Lou assigned the tasks and had everyone disperse as soon as possible. After all, they would be considered suspicious if they didn¡¯t go back for a long time.

    Yu Hanjiang returned to the pce with Xiao Lou in his pocket.

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 412: Cloning Program

    Yu Hanjiang came near the vicinity of the Twin Pces and took advantage of theck of people to take off the mask on his face. He changed back to the appearance of the captain of the royal guards and walked calmly toward the Twin Pces.

    ording to Qu Wanyue, the guards at the door had been knocked out by someone. Yet when Yu Hanjiang arrived in front of the Twin Pces, he found the two guards on duty standing there properly.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°What about His Highness?¡±

    The two of them saluted respectfully while answering, ¡°His Highness is resting in the bedroom.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang stared into their eyes and questioned in a deep voice, ¡°Did anyone go in during the time I was away?¡±

    The two people exchanged looks and answered with certainty. ¡°No!¡±

    Based on the reaction of these two men, they seemed to have no idea of what just happened.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned, opened the door and quickly entered Xiao Lou¡¯s residence. He entered the bedroom and released Xiao Lou from the pocket of his military uniform. Xiao Lou changed back to his normal size and exhaled gently before he looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°What do we do now? Continue to pretend we don¡¯t know or go to the emperor to ask for the reason?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang answered, ¡°Just pretend you don¡¯t know anything and continue to cooperate with His Majesty¡¯s script. Otherwise, once they realize that you know you are a clone and have a sense of resistance, the emperor and crown prince might just get rid of you.¡±

    Cards couldn¡¯t be used in the pce so it wouldn¡¯t be easy for him and Yu Hanjiang alone to deal with the wily emperor.

    The best way was to pretend they didn¡¯t know anything.

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°Previously, the emperor asked you to prepare to attend tonight¡¯s birthday banquet but when it actually came, he didn¡¯t let you attend. He will definitely give you a reasonable exnation so that you continue to believe you are the true crown prince.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes. Then I¡¯ll wait for his exnation.¡±

    As they were talking, guards suddenly came to the corridor. ¡°Your Highness, Major General Yu, His Majesty has asked you to see him at the White Dew Pce.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou nced at each other. Xiao Lou quickly took off the military uniform and changed his clothes. Then he and Yu Hanjiang went out together toward the White Dew Pce.

    The emperor asked Yu Hanjiang to stay at the entrance of White Dew Pce and summoned Xiao Lou alone.

    The White Dew Pce was the ce where the birthday banquet had been held tonight. At this time, all the guests had left and the ce had been cleaned very thoroughly. The emperor sat in the meeting room with his hand against his forehead in a tired manner. It wasn¡¯t known what he was thinking.

    Xiao Lou stepped forward and bowed. ¡°Father.¡±

    The emperor looked up and stared at him with deep eyes.

    Xiao Lou looked as usual as a trace of concern filled his eyes. ¡°Are you feeling unwell?¡±

    The emperor rubbed his temples. ¡°I¡¯m just a bit tired. Come and sit down.¡±

    Xiao Lou walked over and sat on the chair to his right hand side. The emperor, Xiao Qin took a sip of tea. ¡°Major General Yu should¡¯ve told you about the clone?¡±

    Two days ago when Yu Hanjiang had gone to see the emperor with Xiao Lou, the emperor had asked to talk to Yu Hanjiang alone and mentioned the matter of the clone. Based on the rtionship between the two, it was normal for Yu Hanjiang to tell Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou answered honestly, ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t there anything you want to ask?¡± Xiao Qin put down his teacup and fixed his eyes on Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou was silent for a few seconds before asking softly, ¡°Father, you had him attend the birthday banquet for me. Is it because you were afraid someone would do something to me?¡±

    Xiao Qin smiled and nodded. ¡°You¡¯re smart.¡±

    Was this lying to a three year old child? Xiao Lou ignored the displeasure in his heart and continued his words, ¡°Father is really thoughtful. Can you tell me who wants to kill me?¡±

    Xiao Qin replied, ¡°If the crown prince dies then ording to the regtions, the next sessor will be elected through Parliament. At present, the speaker, the marshal and the three generals are all highly respected and might benefit from it. There might even be more than one person who wants to get rid of you. I have to be extremely cautious before you take the throne.¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°In other words, if I die and you have no more heirs, the inheritance of the imperial throne will definitely be broken by me. I might rarely show up in public but the concept of ¡®the imperial crown prince inherits the throne¡¯ is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. They need me to die before they can implement the next n?¡±

    The emperor was silent for a moment before dering, ¡°In fact, you once had a brother.¡±

    Xiao Lou was taken aback. ¡°A brother? Why don¡¯t I remember?¡±

    ¡°He was one year older than you and he was assassinated before you were born.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    There was a trace of pain in the emperor¡¯s eyes. Due to sorrow, his voice was hoarser than usual. ¡°He was so young. He couldn¡¯t even speak but he was secretly poisoned in the pce. I could only watch him die in front of me¡­ his body slowly became cold and stiff. He couldn¡¯t even call me Father once before he died.¡±

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know what to say. When speaking of the past, the emperor¡¯s sad emotions really didn¡¯t seem to be an act¡­

    Could he believe this ¡®father¡¯?

    The emperor paused before continuing, ¡°Your mother was in poor health. She had just fallen pregnant again and the death of your brother hit her too hard. She was stimted to give birth to you prematurely. The doctor said she wouldn¡¯t be able to give birth again in the future and you became our only child. I named the ce of your residence the Twin Pces tomemorate your brother.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Did the Twin Pces mean this?

    The emperor spoke up to here and suddenly grabbed Xiao Lou¡¯s hand, his eyes filled with a father¡¯s love. ¡°I have experienced the pain of losing a son so I want to protect you well. Over the years, it isn¡¯t that I don¡¯t want you to go out. It is just too dangerous outside. Even in the pce, there is a possibility of an assassin sneaking in. Today was your birthday party and your first public appearance. I was worried that someone would take advantage of it to enter the pce. This is why the clone attended the banquet for you.¡±

    ¡°You mean, you wanted to use the clone to lead the snake out of the hole?¡±

    The emperor sighed. ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°What is the result?¡±

    The emperor smiled bitterly and shook his head. ¡°They were very cautious. Instead ofing to the banquet, they went to the Twin Pces. Fortunately, you and Major General Yu weren¡¯t there at the time. Otherwise, the consequences would be really unimaginable.¡±

    Xiao Lou watched the gray-haired emperor in front of him and his mood was really mixed.

    The emperor¡¯s sincere attitude and sad expression today really looked like a father who was worried about his son¡¯s safety. However, Xiao Lou¡¯s sense of reason told him that things couldn¡¯t be as simple as the emperor stated.

    Xiao Lou lowered his eyes. ¡°Father, rest assured. I will protect myself and listen to your arrangements.¡±

    The emperor patted the back of Xiao Lou¡¯s hand with relief. ¡°Go now. Major General Yu is by your side and I can rest assured that he is indeed the most loyal guard.¡±

    Xiao Lou turned to leave the White Dew Pce and saw Yu Hanjiang at the door.

    The two people were connected with Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings and Xiao Lou had passed on the emperor¡¯s words to Yu Hanjiang.

    Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t say much. He turned and returned to the Twin Pces with Xiao Lou.

    Once there was no one around, Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Do you believe it?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t believe it.¡± Then he inquired, ¡°Still, something he said does make sense. Do we know if there are any records about my dead brother?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suggested, ¡°Let Mr Tang check it out.¡±

    He sent a message to Tang Ci and the other party soon responded with the result of the inquiry. ¡°The emperor and the empress did have a child but he unfortunately died at the age of one. It was said to be due to illness. Since the emperor and the empress were very sad, the media didn¡¯t dare report about it indiscriminately. There was only a brief obituary by the official media about this matter.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at the ck and white image in the obituary. The young prince didn¡¯t even have a portrait. This was probably the unspeakable pain of the imperial family and he was never mentioned again after his death.

    Today, officials and the public agreed that Xiao Lou was the only prince and heir to the throne.

    Xiao Lou thought carefully about the emperor¡¯s words. ¡°We don¡¯t know which of the emperor¡¯s words is the truth or a lie but at the very least, it should be true that the young prince was poisoned. Perhaps this is why he took his second son¡¯s cells to participate in the gic experiment? He had already lost a son and didn¡¯t want to lose a second one.¡±

    ¡°So he made countless copies of his child? In any case, all the clones have the same genes and are considered his sons. As long as one of his sons survives, he won¡¯t lose.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s guess might be correct. There were more than two Xiao Lous in this world.

    <em>Semi proofread by Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 413: Mysterious Assassin

    If it was as the two of them spected and the emperor cloned many copies of Xiao Lou, how many clones were there in the pce?

    The Xiao Lou that Yu Hanjiang saw next to the emperor on that day looked very obedient and his eyes were a bit dull. Yu Hanjiang recognized instantly that he wasn¡¯t Xiao Lou. Meanwhile, the Xiao Lou attending the birthday banquet tonight was calm and polite. His words, deeds and demeanor were indeed like a noble crown prince. Were they different people?

    Xiao Lou noticed Yu Hanjiang¡¯s thoughts. ¡°The appearance and voice of the clones won¡¯t be different but the eyes and temperament are all formed after birth. It is impossible for it to be exactly the same. So the Xiao Lou you saw that day and the Xiao Lou you saw tonight are probably two people.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°This means that there are already three Xiao Lous in the pce, including you?¡±

    Xiao Lou was also very puzzled. The emperor was worried about experiencing the pain of ¡®losing a son¡¯ again and cloned many versions of Xiao Lou with the same genes. This was logically understandable. However, the rtionship between father and son needed to be cultivated. Only the child raised by his side would have a bond with the emperor.

    If the sessfully copied cells were ced in a petri dish until they reached adulthood, such a person wouldn¡¯t be close to the emperor and wouldn¡¯t understand all types of knowledge. Wouldn¡¯t it be dangerous for him to inherit the throne?

    Nevertheless, if all the clones were kept by the emperor¡¯s side then wouldn¡¯t it be a mess?

    Xiao Lou thought about it and came up with a spection. ¡°Suppose there are three Xiao Lous in the pce. I grew up living in the Twin Pces and on the surface, I am the ¡®crown prince¡¯. The second is the obedient Xiao Lou you saw that day. He can be pushed out to block danger in an emergency. The third is the true crown prince hidden by the emperor?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°In other words, on important asions like the engagement dinner and birthday banquet, the emperor will invite the true crown prince out. Then what if the emperor is careless and the true crown prince is killed?¡±

    ¡°So let me be the real one?¡±

    In Xiao Lou¡¯s memory, he received a good education from a young age. The emperor personally selected teachers for him and the courses he studied included astronomy, geography, history, politics, economics, trade, militarymand, mecha control, etc. It covered all aspects andid a solid foundation for seeding the throne. There was no need to do this if one was just raising a clone.

    Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°The emperor put so much effort into you and always made you think of yourself as the real crown prince. This way, if the crown prince is killed, you can rece him at any time? Of course, if you are killed then the other son he raised is just as good.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°This is double insurance. The emperor made me think of myself as the crown prince while also letting the other Xiao Lou think of himself as the crown prince. We all feel that we are the real one. This way, there is no need to pretend and we won¡¯t betray the emperor. If one of us has an ident, there is still the other one left. In any case, to the emperor, we are all gically his offspring.¡±

    Then which one was the real crown prince? Or were all three Xiao Lous in the pce clones? How did the emperor distinguish it?

    The more he thought about it, the more confused Xiao Lou became and the more his head started to ache. It was as if there was some dusty memory about to break out but it was blocked by something. Yu Hanjiang lightly held his hand. ¡°If you can¡¯t think of it then don¡¯t force yourself. Let¡¯s wait and see the result of Chief Shao and Teacher Qu¡¯s investigation.¡±

    Xiao Lou stopped thinking about it and took a deep breath to ease the sharp pain in his mind. He nced at Yu Hanjiang and spoke. ¡°There is another problem I don¡¯t understand.¡±

    ¡°Is it about the guards at the door of the Twin Pces?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded in a puzzled manner. ¡°Teacher Qu said she saw someone sneak into the Twin Pces but just now when you returned, the two guards firmly dered that no one entered. Obviously, they were knocked out and didn¡¯t know what happened at the time. The guards thought I never left the Twin Pces. So how did the emperor know that someone entered the Twin Pces to assassinate me?¡±

    Apart from his teammates, those who knew that Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t in the Twin Pces could only be¡­ the invisible person who infiltrated the Twin Pces.

    Thinking of this, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou exchanged looks and Xiao Lou lowered his voice. ¡°There is no need for the emperor to go to such trouble to send someone to kill me. He could just kill me directly. Moreover, he put so much effort into me. There is no reason to suddenly get rid of me.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suggested, ¡°There is another possibility. He has ced surveince in the Twin Pces.¡±

    At this point, Yu Hanjiang suddenly raised his hand.

    There was an exquisite silver-white ring on his thumb that had been given to him by the emperor. The emperor had said it was a fragment of Spirit Fox that activated the S-grade smart mecha. Xiao Lou saw it and asked softly, ¡°Spirit Fox? Does this S-grade smart mecha have the ability to monitor the entire Twin Pces?¡±

    ¡°Try it.¡±

    He gently pressed against a knob on the ring and called the intelligent robot, Spirit Fox.

    The next moment, the teenager-like robot came to them. Then a long silver-white tail appeared behind him that rose more than three meters high. Fortunately, the ceiling height of the Twin Pces exceeded three meters or the tail of Spirit Fox would definitely pierce the roof.

    The tail rose and split into two halves instantly, one to the left and one to the right. These formed the sharp wings of the smart mecha. The body also started to transform quickly. In the blink of an eye, abat mecha that was five meters tall and three meters wide appeared in front of the two of them.

    The entire body of the mecha was covered with silver-white high-tech synthetic metal that was shiny and smooth. It had smooth lines and the two eyes emitted a dazzling white light. A clear, juvenile voice entered their ears. ¡°Master, the Spirit Fox intelligent body has been activated.¡±

    The smart mecha that could transform instantly made Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang widen their eyes.

    Xiao Lou stepped forward and reached out to touch the beautiful metal wings of the mecha while asking softly, ¡°Spirit Fox, are you monitoring the Twin Pces?¡±

    Spirit Fox was very honest. ¡°Yes, Master. The entire Twin Pces has an electronic defensework and invisible surveince cameras which I have set up to ensure your safety at any time.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang heard this and immediately said, ¡°Call up the video from 9 to 10 o¡¯clock this evening.¡±

    A holographic screen appeared in front of Spirit Fox and showed a 360 degrees monitoring of the entire pce. There were no dead ends. The two of them saw that around 9:10 p.m. tonight, someone did knock out the guards at the door. The dark figure shed into the Twin Pces and all the way to Xiao Lou¡¯s bedroom. He opened the door and found no one inside, so he jumped out the window and escaped.

    The entire process was recorded but unfortunately, only the shadow of the assassin was captured on the screen. Judging by the shadow, this person should be a male with a height of 180 cm. Why was the other party invisible? Did he have an invisibility card?

    Xiao Lou watched the surveince thoughtfully. The two guards at the door woke up at around 9:30 and looked at each other. ¡°Why did you fall asleep?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡±

    Looking at the door of the Twin Pces, they found that the door was closed tightly and there didn¡¯t seem to be anything unusual. The two of them were worried about being held ountable so they insisted that nothing happened when Yu Hanjiang questioned them.

    Yu Hanjiang wondered in a low voice, ¡°Spirit Fox, did His Majesty ask you to transmit the surveince data to him?¡±

    Spirit Fox replied, ¡°Yes, His Majesty can control me remotely.¡±

    Xiao Lou spected, ¡°It seems he knew that someone sneaked into the Twin Pces because he can have Spirit Fox monitor the movements in the Twin Pces at any time. Then¡­¡± Xiao Lou thought about his affection with Yu Hanjiang on the bed the night before and his ears turned red. He asked Spirit Fox, ¡°Did you send the video of the night before yesterday?¡±

    Spirit Fox¡¯s voice was filled with a trace of confusion. ¡°The night before yesterday, I was dormant and nothing was recorded.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang raised an eyebrow. ¡°You don¡¯t record in your dormant state? What if someone sneaks into the Twin Pces while you are asleep?¡±

    Spirit Fox exined, ¡°Once an outsider approaches the Twin Pces, my infrared detector will automatically sense it and immediately turn on the hidden surveincework. If this person is someone unfavorable to His Highness, I will immediately sound the rm.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°It is like a dash cam. The recorder will automatically turn on when someone passes near the vehicle. However, Spirit Fox is much more advanced than that.¡±

    ¡°After all, it is an S-grade smart mecha that can transform. Perhaps it can take us on interster flights?¡±

    Spirit Fox was very confused. ¡°Master, what are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°Nothing. You go to sleep.¡± Yu Hanjiang pressed the ring and the mecha in front of him quickly changed back to the appearance of an ordinary intelligent robot, obediently retreating back.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were ready to wash up and go to sleep.

    Xiao Lou let Yu Hanjiang wash first. Yu Hanjiang went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Xiao Lou turned to sit on the sofa. He just wanted to turn on hismunicator to read the news when he noticed a cold wind blowing behind him. Xiao Lou looked back alertly. The next moment, a cold hand grabbed his neck and a low voice entered his ears, ¡°Don¡¯t move.¡±

    A gun was ced against his back and Xiao Lou slightly stiffened.

    He told Yu Hanjiang about his current situation through Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. ¡°Someone is attacking me. I can¡¯t see him. There is no image in the mirror so he should be invisible.¡±

    In the bathroom, Yu Hanjiang turned the shower on high and pretended to be washing. In actual fact, he quickly put his clothes back on and hid behind the door, asking Xiao Lou in his mind, ¡°Is it the assassin? Did he stay in the Twin Pces instead of running away?¡±

    No matter whether it was Qu Wanyue or Spirit Fox¡¯s surveince, all they saw was that the window opened and a dark shadow went out the window¡­

    They didn¡¯t see anyone go out. So this man had been hiding in Xiao Lou¡¯s bedroom all the time?

    <em>Semi proofread by Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 414: Repair

    Meanwhile, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi followed Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s car to his residence.

    Lu Jiuchuan had been worried about Tang Ci¡¯s leg injury. Today, they happened to meet the Shao Ye duo and everyone had time. Lu Jiuchuan privately asked Shao Qingge to heal Tang Ci¡¯s legs tonight and Shao Qingge readily agreed. After arriving at the vi, Lu Jiuchuan locked the door and carried Tang Ci onto the sofa.

    Shao Qingge said, ¡°Xiao Ye, use your card. Mr Tang, let me look at your legs.¡±

    Tang Ci calmly rolled up his trousers. The ce below his knees was empty. They had been cut off by some kind of sharp weapon. It was really distressing to see and it was hard to imagine how this person had persevered to live.

    Shao Qingge patted Ye Qi¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Get ready and let the bugs repair the severed limbs.¡± He added warmly toward Tang Ci, ¡°Mr Tang, it will take about 30 minutes to regrow your legs. The healing of the bugs won¡¯t be painful but the image¡­ it can be a bit disgusting.¡±

    Ye Qi added, ¡°Yes, the two of you should close your eyes.¡±

    ¡°Is it really that bad?¡± Lu Jiuchuan sat next to Tang Ci and gently ced an arm on Tang Ci¡¯s shoulders, joking, ¡°Xiao Tang, close your eyes or else I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t be able to bear the stimtion.¡±

    Tang Ci ignored Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s joke and stared at his severed limbs without caring. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Come on.¡±

    Ye Qi asked, ¡°Start now?¡±

    Tang Ci nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Ye Qi took out the Bug King card and turned into the bug king. Tang Ci found that Ye Qi¡¯s eyes suddenly turned blood red, which was quite cool.

    Then he gently touched Tang Ci¡¯s severed limbs with his fingers. Many bugs crawled out along Ye Qi¡¯s fingers and tightly clung to Tang Ci¡¯s severed legs. Lu Jiuchuan was disgusted by the scene and felt numb, but Tang Ci¡¯s expression was calm as hemented, ¡°They are cute bugs.¡±

    The three people, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Cute?

    Lu Jiuchuan helplessly said, ¡°I forgot he likes bugs. He also made a bunch of mechanical ants.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled and touched his nose. ¡°Mr Tang¡¯s preferences are really special.¡±

    Ye Qi looked very serious because he needed to focus on the treatment.

    Every time the bug king treated wounds, it consumed the bugs. The consumption for a normal wound ranged between 1% to 10%. Meanwhile, Tang Ci had lost almost half his legs. In order topletely restore it, this Bug King card needed to consume around 50% of its reserves. The strength of the Bug King card was directly proportional to the number of stored bugs. From now on, the strength of this card would be halved.

    Fortunately, Shao Qingge also had the Bug King card. Moreover, the transformation of the bug kingsted 24 hours and they wouldn¡¯t necessarily encounter danger during this time. It was a bargain as long as Ye Qi¡¯s card healed Tang Ci. It was because the data of S-grade secret rooms wouldn¡¯t be cleared. As long as it was cured now, Tang Ci¡¯s legs would be healthy after leaving the secret room!

    Thanks to the efforts of the bugs, Tang Ci¡¯s severed legs started to slowly grow new flesh and blood¡­

    The new flesh was tender and the skin of the calves was almost transparent under the light.

    This scene was very magical. Lu Jiuchuan watched for a while before some pictures shed in his mind and a feeling of pain struck. Lu Jiuchuan hugged his head and his voice was hoarse. ¡°Bugs¡­ the bugs¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge turned to him. ¡°What are you thinking of?¡±

    The bug secret room was the 8 of Spades room that Xiao Lou¡¯s team had cleared. At that time, Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci hadn¡¯t joined the team yet, so they hadn¡¯t experienced the bug¡¯s instance. This was the first time Lu Jiuchuan had seen the scene of bugs treating wounds. The strange thing was that this scene¡­ seemed to have been left in his memory for a long time. It was familiar.

    He took a deep breath and spoke while pressing a hand against his pained temples. ¡°Where have I seen these bugs before?¡±

    Tang Ci was startled and observed the bugs on his legs. ¡°I also have a small impression of them.¡±

    Shao Qingge narrowed his eyes as he thought about it. ¡°You haven¡¯t been to the bug¡¯s secret room. The first secret room after everyone joined the team was the Diamonds World Weekly. The Bug King card was banned, so neither Ye Qi nor I have used it. ording to your previous words, you haven¡¯t seen the bugs before. Since they are now present in your memories, perhaps you have seen them in this world?¡±

    Tang Ci looked up. ¡°Is it the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land? Does it have to do with our lost memories?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan knocked on his head. ¡°It is possible. The bugs are alien creatures and we are now in the interster era. It doesn¡¯t seem strange to see bugs on distants.¡±

    Shao Qingge added, ¡°The bugs are originally aliens and it is indeed possible to see them again in an interster world. However, the bugs in this world should be an upgraded version different from the ones we encountered. Otherwise, I would be able to use the Bug King card to order all the bugs to listen to mymands and have an army of millions of bugs. I don¡¯t think the keepers will be so kind.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan also felt it was impossible for the keepers to send an army of bugs to Shao Qingge as helpers.

    What were those bugs in his memories?

    30 minutes soon passed. Ye Qi focused on the treatment and was sweating profusely when he finally put away the bugs. He stared at Tang Ci¡¯s legs and eximed excitedly, ¡°They really grew out!¡±

    Tang Ci¡¯s legs werepletely grown and even the white toes were very distinct. Tang Ci was joyful in his heart and tried to stand up. It was just that he hadn¡¯t stood for a long time and his legs were weak. He almost fell back on the sofa.

    Lu Jiuchuan hurriedly supported him, letting Tang Ci lean against his arms while reminding him in a low and gentle voice, ¡°Be careful.¡±

    Tang Ci nced at Ye Qi and Shao Qingge. He seemed to be holding back a certain emotion as ayer of water appeared in his eyes. ¡°Thank you. I never thought I could¡­ stand up again.¡±

    Ye Qi smiled and scratched his head. ¡°Mr Tang doesn¡¯t need to thank us. It is just using a card and we should do so.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan told Shao Qingge, ¡°Don¡¯t be polite. If you need anything in the future then feel free to ask.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°Yes. In any case, Mr Tang¡¯s legs have just grown out. We haven¡¯t used the severed limbs healing ability of the bugs before and I don¡¯t know the effect. Don¡¯t walk too much for the next two days and adapt slowly.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll watch him.¡±

    Since it was veryte, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi left to return to their residence.

    Tang Ci had to walk a few steps to try it out but his legs trembled after only two steps. Obviously, he hadn¡¯t yet adapted to the new legs. Moreover, he walked barefoot on the marble floor, which made Lu Jiuchuan feel distressed.

    Seeing Tang Ci¡¯s face turn pale, Lu Jiuchuan simply picked him up and brought him back to the bedroom, solemnly ordering, ¡°Take a good rest. You have to adapt to your new legs. Patients who have a leg fracture have to rehabilitate slowly let alone you who hasn¡¯t walked for six months. What is the hurry? I¡¯ll walk with you tomorrow.¡±

    Tang Ci¡¯s face showed a rare shallow smile when he met Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s concerned gaze. ¡°Brother Jiu.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan waved his hand. ¡°There will be no discussion.¡±

    Tang Ci¡¯s voice was very soft. ¡°Thank you for staying with me. If it wasn¡¯t for you, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to hold on until now.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan was startled. ¡°What?¡±

    Tang Ci got into the bed and covered his body with his quilt. ¡°I won¡¯t say good words twice. Forget it if you didn¡¯t hear it.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He really didn¡¯t hear it clearly. He only vaguely heard¡¯ thank you¡¯. Lu Jiuchuan smiled and touched his nose. ¡°There is no need for thanks. Since when have you treated me with such formal courtesy? Have a good rest and we¡¯ll talk about it tomorrow.¡±

    He leaned over to pull at the quilt for Tang Ci, unable to help the widening smile on his face.

    It was a miracle that Tang Ci could stand up.

    He would no longer have to sit in a wheelchair, pretending to calmly cover his empty trouser legs with a nket.

    The Tang Ci in front of him had straight and slender legs and walked with confidence and calmness. For six months, he had been in a wheelchair with limited mobility and even going to the bathroom was a form of torture. Thus, Tang Ci tried to reduce his meals and his entire body slimmed down. Lu Jiuchuan felt pain in his heart when he thought about this. He wanted to take this on for Tang Ci.

    Now the Tang Ci who could walk was back. It was great.

    Lu Jiuchuan sat by the bed and looked at the pale person lying on the bed. He secretly swore in his heart that this time, he would protect Xiao Tang and never again let him suffer any grievances.

    Shao Qingge and Ye Qi arrived home and turned on theirmunicator. There was indeed a message left by Tang Ci.

    The two of them had rushed to attend the crown prince¡¯s birthday banquet and missed this special message. Fortunately, the ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ in the pce didn¡¯t do anything against them. Shao Qingge and Ye Qi weren¡¯t affected by the clone.

    Ye Qi was tired from the day. He changed out of his military uniform and went to take a bath. Meanwhile, Shao Qingge went to the study and opened hismunicator.

    His father had already passed away and handed the Noah Medical Technologypany to Shao Qingge. At that same time, he handed Shao Qingge a key to activate the safety deposit box of the Shao family in the bank.

    It was an induction ring that had been locked in a cab of the study by Shao Qingge.

    After entering the study, he thought of it and immediately opened the lock with his fingerprint. He saw the blue ring quietly lying there.

    He took out the ring and put it on, remembering that it was given to him by his father before his father¡¯s death. Many wealthy people would rent a safe at the bank to store gold or cash for emergencies. This type of safe required a special token to open. What would be in his father¡¯s safety deposit box? It wouldn¡¯t be a sum of money, right?

    Could it be rted to the Noah¡¯s Ark project?

    Shao Qingge frowned. He opened the management system of the medicalpany and entered his identity and password. Currently, he was the most powerful person in thepany with the highest system authority.

    He checked thepany¡¯s investment projects over the years and found the Noah¡¯s Ark project 20 years ago.

    After opening the project n, Shao Qingge read it carefully and found several suspicious points.

    First, this project was about the Noah¡¯s Ark Restart n. The restart meant there had been a Noah¡¯s Ark n before. When was the first time? What did they study?

    Second, if the investment amount was converted into yuan then it would be as high as 3 billion yuan. The n for such an important project didn¡¯t list any details, including the direction of funds, the cost budget, the profit distribution, etc. The n was too brief. It only said ¡®the gene project will benefit humanity¡¯. It was a false slogan without any core content.

    An investment of 3 billion would definitely require discussion and approval from the board of directors. Obviously, this top secret n was approved by the senior executives of the board of directors at that time. They also knew that there were too many medical ethics issues involved in this matter so they didn¡¯t dare make it public. They deliberately made the n vague.

    Shao Qingge nced at the information. The n had his father¡¯s signature. In addition, there was information about some cooperative scientists. Among them was a well-known professor from the Imperial Academy of Sciences¡­ Zhang Shaohua?

    Wasn¡¯t this Lin Yan¡¯s mother?

    Shao Qingge narrowed his eyes and copied the information, intending to send it to Xiao Lou tomorrow.

    In addition, the ring for the safe must be an important clue. Once the bank opened tomorrow, he would go there first and open the safe left by his father.

    TL: Btw, I have a side blog where I have written up novel reviews of danmei raws I have read. I¡¯ve also written a post about how I got into tranting and danmei, as well as a list of all the novels I have tranted. Feel free to check it out here.

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 415: Assassinâ€™s Advice

    Ye Qi came out after taking a shower and found a warm light from the study on the second floor. He dried his hair while walking over and found Shao Qingge sitting at the desk. Shao Qingge was looking at the information on the screen with an extremely serious expression on his face.

    In Ye Qi¡¯s impression, Shao Qingge usually wasn¡¯t very serious. He liked to squint and tease others. He was a ¡®frivolous¡¯ rich second generation. It was rare to see his face have such a serious expression. Maybe Chief Shao was like this at work? A serious man was more pleasing to the eye.

    Ye Qi entered the room and asked softly, ¡°Chief Shao, what clues have you found?¡±

    The next moment, the seriousness disappeared from Shao Qingge¡¯s face. It was reced by the familiar smile as he raised an eyebrow to look at Ye Qi. ¡°What did you call me?¡±

    Ye Qi was stunned. ¡°Chief Shao?¡±

    Shao Qingge stood up and walked to Ye Qi in two or three steps. He reached out his slender fingers and lifted the young man¡¯s chin, eyes slightly squinting. ¡°Think about it. What should you call me?¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s mind returned and his ears turned slightly red. ¡°Father?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled. ¡°Now you remember that I am your adoptive father?¡±

    The red color at the tip of Ye Qi¡¯s ears spread rapidly and even his cheeks started to turn red as he answered, ¡°We don¡¯t have to care about the name in private, right? This was all arranged by the keepers. It feels strange calling you Father¡­¡±

    He thought that Shao Qingge was joking but the man suddenly squeezed Ye Qi¡¯s jaws, his eyes squinted as they lingered thoughtfully on Ye Qi¡¯s facial features. This scrutinizing gaze made Ye Qi¡¯s heartbeat elerate. The two of them were so close to each other that he could almost feel Shao Qingge¡¯s warm breathing.

    Ye Qi¡¯s tongue was knotted and uncontroble. ¡°Y-You, why are you looking at me? Is there something on my face¡­?¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s voice was low and deep. ¡°The keepers blindly arranged it? No, they will never set an identity at will. Why am I your father?¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s brain was a mess as he blurted out, ¡°Didn¡¯t you adopt me?¡±

    Shao Qingge was still staring at Ye Qi¡¯s face. ¡°Why should I adopt you?¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He was troubled by Shao Qingge¡¯s consecutive questions. Then suddenly, a thought shed through Ye Qi¡¯s mind and he stared at Shao Qingge with wide eyes. ¡°Can it be that my background isn¡¯t simple?¡±

    Shao Qingge finally let go of Ye Qi¡¯s chin. He folded his arms across his chest and paced back and forth in the study. ¡°ording to my memories, I went to the orphanage to do charity more than 10 years ago and adopted you. At that time, you were only five years old and both your parents were killed at the front lines¡­ did they really die?¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s heart became more uneasy. ¡°What are you trying to say?¡±

    Shao Qingge stopped and looked back at Ye Qi. ¡°I am the only heir to the Shao family. I am young and unmarried. Why would I adopt a five year old child? I wouldn¡¯t adopt you unless you are special.¡±

    He turned the holographic screen of hismunicator to Ye Qi. ¡°I checked the investment records of the Shao family over the years and found the Noah¡¯s Ark project 20 years ago. This project wasn¡¯t the first gic experiment but a n to ¡®restart¡¯ it. This shows that the first research happened much earlier than our expectations. I saw a man with thest name ¡®Ye¡¯ in the signature list of this project and checked it. He looks very simr to you.¡±

    Ye Qi stared at the photo on themunicator. ¡°Am I also a clone?¡±

    ¡°The timing isn¡¯t right. In addition, you just look simr to him. You aren¡¯t identical like Xiao Lou and the clones.¡± Shao Qingge paused and stared at Ye Qi. ¡°This person called Ye Wenbo should be your biological father. I checked his information. He was a senior officer in the southern military region.¡±

    Ye Qi was confused. ¡°Didn¡¯t my father die on the front lines?¡±

    A hint of sharpness shed in Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes. ¡°It is possible that he was ¡®killed¡¯.¡±

    There was a fundamental difference between ¡®died¡¯ and ¡®killed¡¯. The former was an ident while thetter was man-made.

    Ye Qi didn¡¯t have many feelings toward the man in the photo. He was sent to the orphanage when he was very young. Then when he was five years old, he was adopted by Shao Qingge. The one closest to him in this world was Shao Qingge. He had no memories of his biological father or mother.

    However, Shao Qingge had found the name of Ye Qi¡¯s biological father in the project 20 years ago. This proved that Ye Qi¡¯s father also participated in the project and his death might not be that simple.

    Ye Qi reflected on this and immediately said, ¡°This is an important clue. We must tell Professor Xiao as soon as possible.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°Yes, I have sent a message to Group Leader Yu. Tomorrow, we will go to the bank early and open the safe left by my father.¡±

    At this time, inside the pce.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s neck was pinched by a hand but the expression on his face was calm.

    Logically speaking, most people would definitely be panicked and afraid if they were grabbed by the neck and had a gun pressed against their body. However, Xiao Lou didn¡¯t show any agitated reaction except for stiffening for two seconds at the beginning.

    His face was as calm as usual and his breathing had no disturbance. He stood there steadily without a frown.

    The assassin perceived his calmness and couldn¡¯t help asking coldly, ¡°Your Highness, aren¡¯t you afraid of me killing you?¡±

    Xiao Lou chuckled. ¡°Will you?¡±

    The cold fingers pinching his neck tightened slightly. Xiao Lou¡¯s breathing became more difficult but he didn¡¯t feel panicked. He and Yu Hanjiang were connected and through this mind connection he knew that Yu Hanjiang was currently waiting for an opportunity in the bathroom next to him. He believed that Yu Hanjiang definitely wouldn¡¯t let him die at the assassin¡¯s hands. Moreover, he didn¡¯t think the assassin would kill him immediately.

    Xiao Lou spoke quietly, ¡°Haven¡¯t you been hiding in my bedroom for a long time? I don¡¯t know what special power you used to hide your figure but I had no awareness of your existence. You have a gun in your hand. If you really came here just to kill me, there would have been countless opportunities to attack and kill me with a single shot. Instead, you waited for Yu Hanjiang to enter the bathroom before making a move.¡±

    Xiao Lou stood motionless, his voice not wavering at all. ¡°Just now, if you wanted to kill me then you could just pull the trigger when you held the gun against my back and I would be a corpse. Yet you didn¡¯t do so. That means that there is some value to keeping me alive, right?¡±

    The assassin paused for a moment before speaking in a hoarse voice. ¡°You¡¯re really smart.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Who sent you here? What do you want to do?¡±

    The assassin was just about to answer when a strong wind struck the back of his head. Before he could react, there was a sharp pain from his arm. Click! This was the sound of his wrist bone being broken abruptly!

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes were full of hostility. It wasn¡¯t known when, but he had quietlye around the assassin¡¯s back.

    Then the man acted as quick as lightning in a neat manner! There was a sharp capture and he urately controlled the wrist that the assassin was using to hold Xiao Lou. He twisted it in the opposite direction and the wrist was directly broken by a strong force.

    The other hand protruded like lightning and snatched the gun from the assassin¡¯s hand. At the same time, his right foot mmed into the opponent¡¯s fragile hollow at the back of the knee, kicking the opponent to the ground. He folded the assassin¡¯s hands behind him for control and held the gun against the assassin¡¯s head.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was low and dangerous. ¡°Don¡¯t move.¡±

    Xiao Lou noticed the looseness of his neck and immediately came to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s side. He knew that Yu Hanjiang woulde to rescue him so he deliberately chatted with the assassin to dy time.

    Yu Hanjiang deserved to have received professional training. Although the assassin was invisible, the cold fingers on Xiao Lou¡¯s neck and the gun at his waist clearly revealed the location of the assassin.

    The assassin had obviously underestimated the enemy. When Yu Hanjiang ced the gun against his head, he stiffened slightly. Yu Hanjiang moved the gun in his right hand forward while continuing to use his left hand fiercely. A burst of pain came from the assassin¡¯s broken wrist like his flesh had been hardened and separated! He gritted his teeth without screaming, almost crushing his teeth.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°Who sent you? Didn¡¯t you hear His Highness asking you something?¡±

    The assassin might be invisible but the ck barrel behind Xiao Lou gave away the location of the assassin¡¯s hand. Xiao Lou¡¯s bathroom actually had another exit and Yu Hanjiang cooperated with Xiao Lou to subdue the assassin.

    It took him only three seconds to subdue a person. It was too quick for the assassin to react.

    The assassin sneered. ¡°No wonder why the old emperor entrusted His Highness to you for protection. Captain Yu is really extraordinary. I can be caught by you even though I am invisible.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense. Who sent you? I won¡¯t ask a third time.¡±

    The assassin said, ¡°Master asked me to bring a few words to His Highness.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged looks before Xiao Lou instructed, ¡°You say it. I will listen.¡±

    The assassin let out a lowugh. ¡°Master said that when necessary, Your Highness should protect yourself and leave the Capital Star as soon as possible. Remember, the one who can live to the end is the winner.¡±

    The moment he finished speaking, Yu Hanjiang felt his hands loosening.

    The arms that were tightly controlled just now obviously felt like human arms but at this moment, the arms seemed devoid of flesh and bones as they slipped from his hands. It felt like he was holding a¡­ slippery loach?

    Yu Hanjiang was startled and wanted to chase. However, a ck shadow appeared by the window and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

    Silence was restored in the room.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and stared at his hands. Human arms had bones, flesh and blood yet when the man transformed just now, he was just like a cartge creature?

    Xiao Lou was worried. ¡°Who is he? Who is his so-called master?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment. ¡°If he was a hunter, he would¡¯ve done something to us a long time ago. Perhaps he was sent by some force in this world to warn you. Also, he shouldn¡¯t be human.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang in a puzzled manner. ¡°Not human?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it. ¡°This secret room has an interster background and there should be alien creatures. So perhaps the assassin¡¯s invisibility ability doesn¡¯te from a card but from the talent of this alien race. When he ran away just now, my hands seemed to be touching a slippery loach.¡±

    Xiao Lou felt numb. ¡°Alien creatures¡­ like the bugs we met in 8 of Spades?¡±

    Just then, messages popped up on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s phone.

    The first two were from Lu Jiuchuan. ¡°Xiao Tang¡¯s legs were cured and even his toes have grown out. I¡¯m so happy that I can¡¯t sleep tonight. Thank you. I won¡¯t say much. I will note this down!¡±

    ¡°By the way, when Ye Qi used the Bug King card to heal Xiao Tang just now, Xiao Tang and I both remembered some things. We must¡¯ve seen the bugs in this world. We have decided to go investigate the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land but the military department definitely won¡¯t approve my application. I am currently the leader of the Arrow Corps and I can¡¯t leave Capital Star. What should I do? Let¡¯s discuss it tomorrow.¡±

    Then there were the messages from Shao Qingge. ¡°The investment records of 20 years ago have been found. This is a photo of the n with the signatures of some people. These people participated in the Noah¡¯s Ark Restart n that year and they require investigation. The thing that puzzles me is that Ye Wenbo is probably Ye Qi¡¯s biological father. I suspect that his death isn¡¯t that simple. Ye Qi¡¯s orphan status wasn¡¯t set by the keepers at will. It is definitely a clue.¡±

    ¡°My father left me a ring to open the safe that my family has stored in a bank. I will go to the bank early tomorrow to retrieve it and tell you if there are any clues.¡±

    Finally, there was the one from Qu Wanyue. ¡°I am still in contact with Miss Lin. I have asked her to have afternoon tea tomorrow to talk about dance rted matters. After drinking the afternoon tea, I will use the Chameleon card to sneak into her house. I will report any progress.¡±

    Their teammates were working hard and Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were very pleased.

    However, Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was still a bit uneasy. There were still no signs of Liu Qiao¡¯s group of four. Where were they?

    <em>Partially proofread: Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 416: Noahâ€™s Ark Project

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang carefully sorted out the current clues. The clear plotline was Lin Yan, the crown prince¡¯s fianc¨¦e, and her mother Zhang Shaohua, the dean of the Academy of Sciences who was sure to have participated in the Noah¡¯s Ark n.

    There were also many dark plotlines such as the origin of the assassin and the identity and purpose of his so-called master; the lost memories of Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci; Ye Qi¡¯s life experience and the clones of Xiao Lou in the pce. These clues would be more troublesome to investigate and needed to be sorted out as soon as possible.

    The whereabouts of their other teammates also needed to be confirmed as soon as possible. Xiao Lou believed that Liu Qiao¡¯s group of four wouldn¡¯t disappear inexplicably. Maybe once everyone met, the answer to this secret room would be clearer.

    Since it was veryte, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang went to bed to rest.

    In order to guard against the assassin sneaking into the Twin Pces again, Yu Hanjiang protected Xiao Lou in his arms vigntly. At the same time, he had the smart mecha, Spirit Fox, turn on the surveince of the Twin Pces again.

    No one slept well that night.

    The next morning, Lu Jiuchuan woke up and found Tang Ci standing in the living room, leaning against the wall and walking forward slowly. His legs weren¡¯t flexible, like a child learning to walk. He had a limping, awkward posture but¡­ his eyes were extraordinarily bright.

    The warm morning light shone on his slightly pale face. His forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat but every step was serious and firm. Lu Jiuchuan had not seen such a radiant Tang Ci for a long time. There might be no expression on this person¡¯s face but Lu Jiuchuan knew that Tang Ci was very happy to stand up again.

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s heart softened. He quickly moved over to help but was quietly interrupted by Tang Ci. ¡°Don¡¯t help me.¡±

    ¡°Okay, you can go by yourself.¡± Lu Jiuchuan smiled and watched this person practice walking. ¡°Have you adapted to your new legs?¡±

    ¡°Yes. They are easy to use and I¡¯m getting used to them.¡± Tang Ci wiped the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand and stopped due to tiredness. The next moment, Lu Jiuchuan picked him up and turned toward the living room.

    Tang Ci¡¯s voice was filled with displeasure. ¡°What are you doing¡­¡±

    Before he could finish, he heard Lu Jiuchuan say lightly, ¡°Did you forget that you should wear shoes?¡±

    Tang Ci looked down and found he was walking barefoot in the living room.

    He hadn¡¯t worn shoes for a long time and didn¡¯t have any pairs of suitable shoes around him, so he forgot this detail. His white toes had been touching the cold floor for a long time and were red, as if protesting its owner¡¯s disrespect toward his feet. Lu Jiuchuan carried him to the living room, found a pair of slippers and ced them on his feet. ¡°¡¯ll buy you a pair of shoester. Put on these slippers first.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan immediately became serious. ¡°Say it. What did you dream of?¡±

    ¡°I dreamt that we were attacked in the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land. The thing that attacked us was a strange alien creature with high-tech smart armor and seemingly invisible capabilities.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan frowned. ¡°An invisible ability? Is this rted to the assassin who entered the Twin Pces that Qu Wanyue mentioned?¡±

    ¡°Since it was in my dream, I can¡¯t be sure if it is a memory. I think we should set off for the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land as soon as possible. It is only by going there that the puzzle will be solved.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan agreed. ¡°I asked Hanjiang and Xiao Lou to meet today.¡±

    ***

    Meanwhile, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi had breakfast before going to the Royal Bank, thergest one on Capital Star.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s father had left a safe here.

    Shao Qingge didn¡¯t know what was stored in it. He went to the bank¡¯s VIP ount manager and showed his token to open the safe. The manager checked his identity and took him to the top level of the bank.

    Shao Qingge followed the manager to the safe left by his father.

    Ye Qi stared curiously at the safe. This cab was nearly 1.5 meters high and there was a password sensing area set in front of the silver metal safe. Shao Qingge used fingerprint verification to unlock the first password. After that, he ced the ring left by his father in the sensing area to unlock the second password. There was a line on the screen that said ¡®password matching seeded¡¯.

    The next moment, the silver metal cab in front of their eyes slowly opened¡­

    Then Ye Qi and Shao Qingge froze at the same time. The cab was full of money. Rows of red banknotes were ced in the cab. Ye Qi had never seen so much cash in his life. This could be used to build a wall!

    The manager smiled and asked, ¡°Chief Shao, do you want to take the safe away?¡±

    Shao Qingge had to helplessly hold his forehead. His rich father was really simple and rough. He actually left Shao Qingge a cab of cash!

    However, thest thing he needed was cash. He was now in charge of the Noah Medical Technologypany and his monthly profit was enough for him to live without any worries. Even if he had no money in this world, the cold coins they earned before meant he would definitely have no worries about food and clothing once it was converted into star coins. It was better to leave behind some clues than a cab of money.

    There was a hint of disappointment in Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes. The manager felt that Mr Shao was indeed rich and willful if he was able to feel disappointed when seeing a cab of money.

    Shao Qingge nced at Ye Qi. ¡°Take it back directly? Or just put it on the card?¡±

    Ye Qi didn¡¯t want so much cash but he felt that it wasn¡¯t right to deposit it in the card. He carefully observed the cab. The cash might be ced neatly but¡­ each row was missing a piece?

    At first nce, it seemed fine. Then after thinking about it carefully, it wasn¡¯t right.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s father was a celebrity on the empire¡¯s rich list. If he really wanted to leave a cab full of cash, why didn¡¯t hepletely fill the cab? Was he short of that little money? If there was no shortage, why were there vacancies in each row?

    Ye Qi tried to count from left to right. If he took a bundle of money (100,000) as a numerical unit, the first row was missing 2. The second row was 9¡­ the third row was 7, the fourth row was 5¡­ then there was 0, 7, 1, 5. There were a total of eight rows in the cab and each row wascking a bundle of money.

    Ye Qi connected the string of numbers in his heart.

    29750715? Eight digits, was it a password? Or¡­ a date?

    If it was a date, was it July 15th, 2975? Today was July 16th, 3000. Yesterday was Xiao Lou¡¯s 25th birthday, i.e. July 15th. So Xiao Lou¡¯s date of birth was July 15th, 2975!

    This discovery made Ye Qi¡¯s heart beat faster. He didn¡¯t think it was a coincidence.

    Ye Qi and Shao Qingge had used Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings to connect when they went out. Then, Ye Qi immediately told Shao Qingge about this discovery. Shao Qingge had originally been reaching out to touch the money in the cab but he stopped hard when he heard this.

    This money¡­ it wasn¡¯t just money his father had left him. It was a password! A password that involved an important clue!

    Fortunately, Xiao Ye was smart and attentive enough. If they destroyed the arrangement of money in the cab and deposited the money directly into their bank card, they would have lost the most important clue.

    Shao Qingge squinted at the manager next to him and asked with a smile, ¡°Can I move the entire cab?¡±

    The manager nodded. ¡°Of course, Mr Shao was the one who bought the safe. After confirming your identity and signing, you can move it away at any time.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded and signed the confirmation contract.

    The cab was veryrge. In order to not damage the arrangement of the money in the cab, Ye Qi took advantage of when the people around him weren¡¯t paying attention to use the teleportation card and bring the cab directly back to the suspension car. Then he sighed. ¡°July 15th, 2975 is Xiao Lou¡¯s birthday. It isn¡¯t a coincidence that your father used the money to show this number!¡±

    Shao Qingge frowned slightly. ¡°I found out that 20 years ago, thepany put 3 billion stars into the Noah¡¯s Ark Restart n and the date left by my father was 25 years ago. Could it be that on July 15th, 2975 when Xiao Lou was born, the Noah¡¯s Ark project wasunched for the first time? Then 20 years ago when Xiao Lou was five years old, it was restarted again?

    Ye Qi thought about it carefully and nodded in agreement. ¡°It is reasonable! Restart means there must be one before. If it was first started 25 years ago and then restarted 20 years ago, both times are rted to Professor Xiao! The first time was the day he was born. The second time was when he¡­ was seriously injured and lost his memory?¡±

    The two of them exchanged looks and immediately informed Xiao Lou of the important news.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the message on the phone and immediately said, ¡°Xiao Lou, we must make a decision.¡±

    After a day, the Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings had been broken. After all, thismunication could only be maintained for 24 hours and new cards couldn¡¯t be used in the pce. Still, Xiao Lou understood what Yu Hanjiang meant from his eyes. ¡°Do you want to leave the pce to investigate?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s find an excuse to leave the pce and have Brother Jiu lead the Arrow Corps to protect you. It is only in this way that we can move the whole team, find out the truth about that year as soon as possible and find a way to meet up with Liu Qiao and the others.¡±

    There was no progress in staying at the pce. It was just sitting and waiting for death. It was better to burn one¡¯s boats. They should flee from this pce where cards were forbidden to carry out aprehensive investigation.

 Chapter 417: Countermeasures

    Xiao Lou also wanted to leave the pce. If he stayed in the pce, he would be easily monitored by the emperor. There were also assassins of unknown origin staring at him and restrictions on the use of cards in the pce. It was difficult for him and Yu Hanjiang to find clues in the pce and it was absolutely impossible for the emperor to keep clues rted to the clone in the pce.

    Judging from the clues obtained by his teammates, the current focus was Lin Yan¡¯s mother, Zhang Shaohua. She was a participant of the Noah¡¯s Ark project and a well-known dean at the Academy of Sciences. She would definitely know many secrets. There was also the cash left by Shao Qingge¡¯s father and the lost memories of Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci.

    These things could only be properly investigated after leaving the pce. However, with the identity of the crown prince, it wasn¡¯t so easy for Xiao Lou to leave.

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°The emperor definitely won¡¯t let you go out. If you directly tell him you want to leave, he won¡¯t agree. So there is only one way: escape the pce.¡±

    Xiao Lou walked to the window and looked down at the guards patrolling the pce. He couldn¡¯t help frowning. ¡°I¡¯ve sneaked out with you a few times but it was controlled to within two hours. This is why the emperor didn¡¯t discover it. If we run away directly, the emperor will send someone to chase after us. Won¡¯t that be inviting trouble?¡±

    Xiao Lou might not necessarily die if he stayed in the pce but once he ran away, it was indeed possible for the emperor to kill him.

    If he and Yu Hanjiang stayed in the pce to act, Brother Jiu and the others would be outside investigating. Xiao Lou wouldn¡¯t be at ease and would always be afraid of his teammates encountering danger. Besides, four people were missing and this was a knot in Xiao Lou¡¯s heart. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t sleep peacefully if he didn¡¯t know their whereabouts.

    After thinking about it, Xiao Lou made a straightforward decision. ¡°We can¡¯t run away rashly. We must make aplete n. First, gather all the team members in the peach blossom spring and discuss countermeasures.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also agreed and got up. ¡°Come on, I¡¯ll take you out of the pce.¡±

    In order to prevent Spirit Fox from filming them while monitoring the Twin Pces, Yu Hanjiang simply shut down the smart mecha. Xiao Lou put on the uniform of the royal guards and left the pce with Yu Hanjiang. They went and found a ce where no one was present to open the peach blossom spring.

    Soon, the team members gathered under the peach blossom trees and Ye Qi also carried in a silver safe.

    Tang Ci was now able to stand. Everyone was very surprised seeing him walking slowly rather than being in a wheelchair. Ye Qi excitedly looked him up and down and blurted out, ¡°Mr Tang is so tall¡­¡±

    Previously, Tang Ci had been sitting in a wheelchair so it wasn¡¯t known how tall he was. Now that he could stand, they discovered that his height was around 1.8 meters, which was half a head taller than Ye Qi. He wore ck military pants that were appropriately tailored and a pair of matching military boots that lined his straight and slender legs. He was very beautiful.

    Shao Qingge saw Ye Qi looking up at Tang Ci and couldn¡¯t help chuckling. ¡°Don¡¯t look. You are the shortest.¡±

    Ye Qi expressed his dissatisfaction. ¡°I am young. I can still grow taller, okay?¡±

    Shao Qingge gently patted him on the head. ¡°You have to recognize reality. It¡¯s fine to be shorter. It is more suitable with your baby face. Imagine if you are 1.88 meters tall and have a baby face. Wouldn¡¯t it be scary?¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge always teased Ye Qi who was absolutely unable to say anything in return. Xiao Lou smiled as he nced at Ye Qi¡¯s baby face before walking in front of Shao Qingge and speaking sternly, ¡°This is the safe your father left for you?¡±

    Tang Ci also looked down at the silver cab. ¡°What is inside?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan touched his chin. ¡°Is this the date when the Noah¡¯s Ark project started?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°I think so too. Still, leaving a date doesn¡¯t mean anything. We have to dig for more clues.¡± He nced at Ye Qi. ¡°You haven¡¯t moved these banknotes?¡±

    Ye Qi hurriedly shook his head. ¡°In order to not destroy the clue in the safe, I used the teleportation card to bring it directly. Nothing inside was moved.¡±

    Xiao Lou took a step back and examined the safe.

    There were eight rows and the bundles of banknotes were arranged neatly. The vacant ces indeed formed 29750715. He tried to take out the first bundle, untying the white straps and carefully counting it.

    There were 100 banknotes in one stack. The face value of each banknote was 1000 star coins so it added up to 100,000 star coins.

    There were 9 stacks in each row for a total of 900,000 star coins. The cab had eight rows so the total value of banknotes in this safe was 8 x 9 = 7.2 million star coins.

    Xiao Lou was thoughtful. ¡°If I remember correctly, Chief Shao¡¯s father was a well-known wealthy businessman in the empire. He left a safe for his son, only putting in 7.2 million in cash inside and leaving vacant spots to indicate a date¡­ this is too unreasonable.¡±

    He spent a lot of time arranging a box of banknotes, only to leave a date? Why didn¡¯t he simply send a short message to Shao Qingge that said, ¡®Remember the crown prince¡¯s birthday?¡¯

    The crown prince¡¯s birthday was known by anyone in the empire. Why use so many banknotes to form a birthday? Shao Qingge¡¯s father must not be so simple. The cash must have other clues.

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°What does 7.2 million mean?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Well, we can think about this matterter in the future. First, let¡¯s discuss how to escape.¡± He turned to Lu Jiuchuan. ¡°Brother Jiu, has the military assigned you a new task?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan answered, ¡°After returning to the Capital Star, I went to see my immediate superior, General Lin. He said that we were attacked in the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land and suffered heavy casualties, so we should rest on the Capital Star. In particr, Tang Ci lost his legs in this ident so he told me to take good care of Tang Ci. He gave us a week of vacation.¡±

    Tang Ci added, ¡°Brother Jiu and I have been staying at home these days and haven¡¯t gone to the military headquarters. We are indeed on vacation.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned with displeasure. ¡°On the surface, General Lin gave you a holiday and let you stay on Capital Star but in fact, he doesn¡¯t want you to leave and investigate this matter, right?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan looked serious. ¡°Right. Therefore, Tang Ci and I can¡¯t enter the warship of the Arrow Corps or leave Capital Star without permission from our superiors in the military. We will be blocked at the space station.¡±

    Xiao Lou naturally couldn¡¯t leave either. The space station of Capital Star was simr to the international airport during the Earth age. It had the most stringent security inspections. All spacecrafts, warships and suspension vehicles that came or went needed an ¡®Entry and Exit Permit¡¯. Xiao Lou was the crown prince, Yu Hanjiang was the captain of the royal guards and Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci were forced to take a holiday by the military. None of them could leave.

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°There is a way to deal with the security inspection. We can hide collectively and avoid the security inspection of the space station. Or we can let one or two people leave the space station through the security check first. Then they will collectively pull us over with the peach blossom spring.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°It makes sense!¡±

    Tang Ci spoke calmly, ¡°I am more inclined to use the peach blossom spring for teleportation. The cloak just hides the body and doesn¡¯t turn us into air. The security inspection might have high-tech things like electromaic induction or thermal sensing. The body would be invisible but human metabolism can¡¯t be blocked. If there is a high-tech scanning device, we will be detected and intercepted.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°Then use the peach blossom spring for teleportation. We can have someone pass the security check and leave the space station first before using the peach blossom spring to pull us over¡­¡± He nced at Shao Qingge. ¡°At present, only Chief Shao and Xiao Ye can enter and leave the space station at will, right?¡±

    For the others, their identity as a guard, prince or member of the military was the focus of attention. If stopped at the space station, it would be over. Qu Wanyue would also find it hard to apply for a pass when going out. Meanwhile, Shao Qingge was the boss of apany and could go to others without restrictions in the name of a business trip or tourism.

    Everyone¡¯s eyes turned to Chief Shao.

    Shao Qingge simply answered, ¡°Yes, leave this matter to me. I have just been to Southern Cross to pick up Ye Qi. The expiration date of my permit has passed but it isn¡¯t difficult to apply for a new one. My son is on summer vacation and I want to take him on a trip. This is enough for a reason.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Do you need to take an interster spacecraft to leave Capital Star?¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°Of course, private suspension vehicles can only fly on a and don¡¯t have the ability to sail across the stars. Brother Jiu¡¯s warship can¡¯t be used so we can only take the interster passenger spacecraft. Tickets for the spacecraft should be easy to buy but I need to know the destination. Where should we go first?¡±

    Xiao Lou opened the interster navigation map and looked at the blues that had human inhabitants in front of him.

    Suddenly, a memory shed in his mind¡­

    There was a beautiful, young woman dressed in a luxurious white wedding dress while walking across the pce¡¯s long, red carpet. His memory of this woman¡¯s appearance was vague but he clearly remembered her gentle voice that spoke in his ear, ¡°Xiao Lou, your sister is getting married and going to a far away ce. You have to take care of yourself and grow up quickly. If there¡¯s an opportunity in the future, be sure to visit me sometime.¡±

    This seemed to be thest thing she said to Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou frowned slightly. ¡°The Azure Empire in the Aquarius star field. My sister is over there.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci exchanged looks and the other said, ¡°Princess Xiao Rou? I have no impression of this person. I only heard that she is married to a prince of the Azure Empire and the wedding was a grand affair.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang carefully recalled it. ¡°I don¡¯t have any memory of her in my mind. Maybe it is because she is older than us. We were all children when she got married. Xiao Lou, what do you remember?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t remember what she looks like. I only remember her walking through the pce in her wedding dress and saying in my ear that she was getting married and going far away. If there is a chance in the future, I should go see her.¡± Xiao Lou paused for a moment. ¡°Since the keeper arranged an older sister for me, she shouldn¡¯t be useless, right? I have a hunch that she might know something.¡±

    The team members felt the same way.

    It didn¡¯t matter if Xiao Lou¡¯s sister had clues about the clones or not. It was necessary for them to meet her.

    Shao Qingge said, ¡°Then we will go to the Azure Empire. I¡¯ll go back and book the tickets.¡±

    Xiao Lou handed the Tao Yuanming card to Shao Qingge. ¡°I have to trouble Chief Shao to spend 5 million to copy this card. We can leave the Capital Star by teleportation. If you go back to Capital Star in the future, you might need to use this card as well.¡± He looked at Long Sen and Qu Wanyue. ¡°Teacher Qu, Lin Yan¡¯s side¡­¡±

    Qu Wanyue readily answered, ¡°I understand what Professor Xiao means. Not all of us can leave the Capital Star. I¡¯ll follow the clues regarding Lin Yan. I¡¯m her dance teacher and she isn¡¯t on guard against me.¡±

    Xiao Lou warned, ¡°Be careful. If you are in danger then withdraw directly.¡±

    Qu Wanyue smiled. ¡°Rest assured. I have the Chameleon card. Escaping isn¡¯t a problem.¡±

    Long Sen added, ¡°Then I will continue to stay with the emperor and watch the other clones? If something happens in the pce I¡¯ll be able to inform you in time.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°That¡¯s it. Remember, pretend you don¡¯t know anything about the clones and don¡¯t expose yourself.¡±

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue nodded cautiously.

    Shao Qinggepleted the copy of Tao Yuanming and Xiao Lou passed the card to Qu Wanyue. He told her that if they were intercepted on the way, she could open the teleportation.

    The other card was temporarily handed to Shao Qingge. He would board the spacecraft before teleporting them over.

    Once this was all set up, they left the peach blossom spring and returned to their respective residences.

    Xiao Lou felt uneasy. Today, he suddenly remembered the scene when his sister was getting married. For some reason, he might not remember her appearance but he could clearly feel that the back of the woman wearing a wedding dress had a strange sense of loneliness and sadness.

    Was it because she was leaving her home or was she aware of something?

    Xiao Lou checked the information. The year that the princess got married happened to be when he was five years old.

    He lost too many memories of that year so there was only a vague image of his sister getting married in his mind. There was the blue sky, the white clouds, the red carpet that went on for kilometers and the back of the woman wearing the white wedding dress.

    Xiao Lou held his pained temples and whispered, ¡°I hope everything goes well. I have to find a way to meet my sister.¡±

    <em>Proofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 418: Escape Plan

    Shao Qingge came home and found a huge suitcase. The bills in the safe were transferred and arranged in the same order in the suitcase. The vacant areas were reced with white paper of a simr thickness.

    Then he applied for a permit to leave the Capital Star.

    As the boss of the Noahpany, Shao Qingge had been traveling betweens over the years. Today¡¯s permit approvals were all artificial intelligence checks. His permit was approved in less than an hour. Since ¡®Shao Yeqi¡¯ was his adopted son, the apanying family permit was also approved along with it.

    The destination of Shao Qingge¡¯s trip this time was the Azure Empire in the Aquarius star field and the reason for the trip was travel.

    After obtaining the permit, Shao Qingge went to the official website to book tickets.

    At 3 o¡¯clock in the afternoon the following day, there was an interster passenger spaceship departing from Capital Star, passing through two gxies and arriving in the Azure Empire after 36 hours. The ordinary economy ss tickets had been sold out but there were tickets for the luxury suites left.

    Shao Qingge simply bought a ticket for the luxury suite.

    He finished all the preparations and sent a message to Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan. ¡°The take off time is 3 o¡¯clock tomorrow afternoon. Before take off, I will open the peach blossom spring to pull you in. Be ready to ept.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang replied, ¡°I know.¡±

    Shao Qingge and Ye Qi quickly packed their luggage. In addition to the suitcase of money, there was a suitcase of clothes and one forpressed food.

    In fact, food was provided on the spacecraft and everything could be bought with money. It was just that after so many secret rooms, they were really scared by A of Spades. In the previous sea instance, A of Spades had everyone on the cruise ship get food poisoning, diarrhea and dehydration. They didn¡¯t necessarily dare to eat the things on the spacecraft this time. It was better to bring their own.

    So at noon the next day, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi dragged three oversized suitcases to the space station.

    There were many people waiting for the security check. They all sat in the waiting hall in an orderly manner.

    Currently, the students of the entire empire were on summer vacation and there were many young people waiting for flights. They should be travelling. As Ye Qi followed Shao Qingge, he unexpectedly met his roommate from the Ninth Military Academy, Liu Jian.

    His roommate was over 1.8 meters tall. After changing out of his military uniform, he wore a simple white t-shirt and jeans. He was very eye-catching standing in the crowd. Ye Qi tried to hide but the other person ran over excitedly. ¡°Yeqi? What a coincidence! You are also at the space station. Where are you going?¡±

    Ye Qi had to squeeze out a bright smile and pretend to be rxed. ¡°I¡¯m going on a trip with my father.¡±

    Liu Jian looked envious. ¡°Your father is so nice. He is actually apanying you personally! s, my parents don¡¯t care about me at all, let alone go out to y with me.¡±

    Then he looked to the left and right. ¡°Where is your father?¡±

    The young man wearing sunsses next to Ye Qi slightly smiled and answered, ¡°Hello, thank you for taking care of my family¡¯s Xiao Ye in school.¡±

    Liu Jian was stunned. ¡°T-This¡­ Mr Shao? You are too young¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge didn¡¯t exin. He just lightly grasped Ye Qi¡¯s wrist. ¡°We are boarding. Say goodbye to your ssmate and let¡¯s go.¡±

    Ye Qi waved to his ssmate and followed Shao Qingge. Then they queued up at the VIP security checkpoint together.

    Shao Qingge lowered his voice and whispered in Ye Qi¡¯s ear, ¡°Does your roommate have a good rtionship with you?¡±

    Ye Qi nodded. ¡°Very good. I remember that I often go to ss with him. His parents seem to be soldiers. As for whether he has any clues on him, I¡¯ll think about it more carefullyter.¡±

    Shao Qingge gave a light hum and walked into the security check channel.

    There were things simr to infrared scanners on the left and right sides that scanned their bodies. The three suitcases were also ced on the conveyor belt of the security check channel. The staff in charge of the security inspection could see the contents of the suitcases and there was a weird look on his face. A suitcase of cash and a suitcase ofpressed foods? What did these two people n to do?

    It looked like they just robbed a bank?

    The woman at the exit of the channel picked up Shao Qingge¡¯s ID card and permit and examined them carefully. Shao Qingge took off his sunsses and was very cooperative. After repeatedly confirming that the face was okay, the staff members let it go. Everyone came to the conclusion: travelling with cash is probably a quirk of the rich.

    The two men boarded the interster spacecraft with their luggage.

    Ye Qi whispered, ¡°This inspection feels more stringent than at the airport. You can¡¯t go without a permit. Brother Jiu usually needs to go to the military dedicated space station. It will probably be even more stringent, right?¡±

    Shao Qingge shrugged. ¡°Of course. If they can drive the warship to run away then it will be a mess. The two of them must not be able to leave. We can only pull them onto the spaceship. Later, lock the door and don¡¯t open to anyone knocking on the door during the interster journey.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded solemnly.

    The two of them walked onto the interster passenger spacecraft and came to the VIP luxury suite ording to the number on the ticket.

    The cabin had a size of over 100 square meters. It was a family suite with three bedrooms and two living rooms. Of course, the ticket price was scarily expensive. Yet for the sake of his teammates, Shao Qingge didn¡¯t hesitate to book this type of spacious suite. Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help feeling that it was good to have a wealthy backer. There was no need to worry about money.

    After entering the room, Shao Qingge closed all the curtains and locked the door. Then he summoned Tao Yuanming to open the peach blossom spring.

    Soon, several familiar figures appeared under the peach blossom trees. Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci were dressed in casual clothes and were obviously ready in advance.

    Yu Hanjiang wore the uniform of the royal guards while Xiao Lou wore casual clothes. The two of them should¡¯ve been in the Twin Pces when they were pulled in. Yu Hanjiang had no other clothes and could only wear this.

    Long Sen and Qu Wanyue stayed in the Capital Star as agreed and didn¡¯t ept the transfer.

    Shao Qingge was relieved to see his teammates arrive and smiled. ¡°We are taking the crown prince to escape. I feel that we are ying a big game this time. What if the emperor finds out and intercepts us halfway?¡±

    Xiao Lou was very calm. ¡°He shouldn¡¯t have expected us to teleport away with cards and his doubts won¡¯t be on Chief Shao.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded and nced at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°I brought some changes of clothes. Group Leader Yu, you change out of this. Wearing this is too eye-catching.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had no objections. Shao Qingge had a simr size to him so he should be able to wear Shao Qingge¡¯s clothes.

    The group came out of the peach blossom spring and the four newly arrived teammates saw the luxurious suite booked by Shao Qingge. There was a guest dining room, small kitchen and three bedrooms. It was just like the presidential suite of a hotel. Lu Jiuchuan joked, ¡°It is great to have money. I was ready for everyone to squeeze into one cabin for 36 hours but with Mr Shao, riding an interster spacecraft has be a type of enjoyment.¡±

    He sat down on the sofa, crossing his long legs as he asked, ¡°What¡¯s next?¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°I have to find a way to meet my sister.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang objected. ¡°The position of the princess isn¡¯t clear yet. I don¡¯t want you to take risks.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it. ¡°Yes, let¡¯s first investigate clues in the Azure Empire and then find a way to go to the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land to see if we can help Brother Jiu and Mr Tang restore their memories¡­¡±

    Just then, a gentle voice rang in their ears. ¡°Guests, the KS-7391 interster passenger spacecraft to Azure is taking off soon. Please return to your seats and wear the safety helmets¡­¡±

    Everyone sat on the safety seats in a cooperative manner.

    After experiencing some turbulence, the spacecraft soared into the sky, separated from the gravity of Capital Star and sailed into the vast universe. Xiao Lou opened a corner of the curtain and looked out. On the edge of the vast starry sky of the universe, the Capital Star was bing smaller and smaller¡­

    He had finally escaped from the pce. He just didn¡¯t know what was waiting for them on this interster voyage. Was this the beginning of the Spades secret room?

    <em>P</em><em>roofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 419: Star Coin Password

    The interster passenger spacecraft soon broke away from the gravitational circle of Capital Star and entered the stage of a stable navigation through the universe.

    A soft voice was heard from the radio in the cabin. ¡°Passengers, our spaceship has started to sail at a fixed speed. In the next part of the journey, you can go to the hall on the second floor of the spaceship to buy all types of food by yourself. At the same time, the entertainment center on the third floor will be open 24 hours a day. Passengers who want to participate in various entertainment activities can use the app of the spaceship to make an appointment in advance¡­¡±

    It was the group¡¯s first time taking a starship but it was simr to a luxury cruise. Apart from the rest cabins, the other public areas were transformed into food and entertainment areas.

    If it wasn¡¯t for them collectively escaping from Capital Star with the crown prince, they would¡¯ve been able to rx on this spaceship for two days.

    Now there was no interest in going out to y.

    Shao Qingge opened the third suitcase he was carrying and took out arge amount ofpressed food, cing it on the table for everyone to eat. Lu Jiuchuan opened a package ofpressed beef, stuffed a piece of beef into his mouth and joked, ¡°Chief Shao is really well-equipped. You have such arge suitcase of food.¡±

    For the convenience of action, they were all empty handed. Only Shao Qingge and Ye Qi brought two suitcases of luggage.

    Ye Qi came over and mysteriously lowered his voice, ¡°Previously, we experienced a World Weekly. It was an instance on a cruise ship. Chief Shao was rich and took us to eat the expensive breakfast in the VIP restaurant, where a steamed bun would cost several hundred yuan. Chief Shao told us that expensive goods will always be good.¡±

    Tang Ci asked with interest, ¡°And then?¡±

    Ye Qi nced at Shao Qingge. ¡°Then just like those who ate the free breakfast, we got food poisoning and diarrhea! Hahaha.¡±

    Shao Qingge told him, ¡°¡­You remember it so well.¡±

    Ye Qi finally stoppedughing, coughed lightly and said in a serious manner, ¡°A of Spades told us that spending money will still be punished. Thus, Chief Shao learned a lesson and doesn¡¯t want us to eat on the spaceship. He went to the convenience store this morning and bought a whole suitcase full of sealed food.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci had expressions that said ¡®it was originally like that¡¯.

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge had no way to defend this ck history so he just patted Ye Qi on the shoulder. ¡°Is it wrong to be cautious? Be obedient and go cook a packet of noodles for your father. Don¡¯t forget that I am your adoptive father in this world. Impudent.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s ears turned a bit red as he red at this person. He turned to cook the noodles for his ¡®father¡¯, cooking a bowl for his other teammates as well while he was at it.

    Everyone had a simple meal before Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°There is still a long way to go until the terminal. Why don¡¯t we study the banknotes? Chief Shao, did you bring them?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± Shao Qingge opened the first suitcase that was stuffed with cash.

    To avoid the movement of the paper money from bing disorderly while the suitcase was being dragged, Shao Qingge had filled the missing positions with white paper of a simr thickness.

    ¡°We put the banknotes in the original order and didn¡¯t find any other patterns.¡± Shao Qingge told them.

    ¡°Take a look at it again.¡± Xiao Lou took the first stack of banknotes from the upper left corner, undid the white strap around the money and spread out the 100 banknotes on the ground to check them one by one.

    The teammates also leaned over to take a closer look.

    In order to make aparison, Shao Qingge simply summoned the ATM machine, took out a few more star coins and handed them to his teammates.

    Everyone epted the banknotes from Shao Qingge and crouched down next to the banknotes spread out on the ground by Xiao Lou. Theypared the details bit by bit, the scene resembled an ¡®everyone spot the difference¡¯ game.

    Tang Ci concluded, ¡°The pattern is the same. The front has an image of the founding emperor of the Locke Empire. The back is the denomination of 1,000, the uneven Braille and the banknote number.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly said, ¡°Look at the lower right corner of the banknote. The anti-counterfeiting sign is different.¡±

    Among this group, Yu Hanjiang was the most observant. After all, he was a criminal investigations police officer and he had encountered a lot of counterfeit money in his previous cases. He was more sensitive to anti-counterfeiting marks.

    In the interster era, few people used banknotes. The ID card in their wristmunicator was bound to the bank card and they could pay by scanning directly. Still, banknotes were hard currency after all and banks would definitely have reserves. Moreover, banknotes needed anti-counterfeiting signs or wide-spread counterfeit money would crush the market economy.

    After hearing Yu Hanjiang¡¯s words, everyone turned the banknote to the back. Ye Qi quickly noticed it. ¡±The light color is different? On the notes left by Chief Shao¡¯s father, the light of the anti-counterfeitingbel changes horizontally. For the notes just taken out of the ATM, it changes vertically.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°The light changing ink on the banknotes is to prevent copying and counterfeiting. The two versions of the money have different anti-counterfeiting ink printing methods, so the angle of the color change under the light will be different. Mr Tang, can you please check if the empire has announced any revisions to the star coins over the years?¡±

    Tang Ci took out hismunicator and quickly told everyone the result. ¡°Four versions of the banknotes have been issued since the empire was established. The third version is the one in the safe and the fourth version was issued in August 2975. It has been used to this day and is the version just taken out of the ATM.¡±

    Xiao Lou soon realized the crux of the problem. ¡°In other words, the banknotes left by Elder Shao were the third edition. This edition stopped printing in August 2975. Starting from August, new banknotes were issued. He withdrew 7.2 million in old banknotes from the bank, proving he must¡¯ve withdrawn these banknotes before August 2975.¡±

    Once new banknotes were issued inrge numbers, the old version would stop printing. It would be impossible to withdraw a full 7.2 million cash from the bank. The only exnation was that Shao Qingge¡¯s father had already withdrawn 7.2 million in cash before the new version of the banknotes were issued and he deposited it in the safe.

    The date of July 15th, 2975 that was suggested by the money cement coincided with the time when he withdrew the cash. At a time when the new banknotes hadn¡¯t been issued yet, he withdrew all old ones.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou and analyzed it. ¡°This proves our spection about the date. July 15th, 2975 must be the time when the Noah¡¯s Ark project wasunched. For some unknown reason, Elder Shao took out arge amount of banknotes from the bank and left it to Shao Qingge as a clue.¡±

    He must¡¯ve been uneasy in his heart or had a bad feeling about the n, so he was prepared and left a clue in advance.

    Xiao Lou suddenly asked, ¡°Chief Shao, do you remember when your father died?¡±

    Shao Qingge thought about it. ¡°It should be 18 years ago, not long after the Noah¡¯s Ark n was restarted.¡±

    Then he nced at Ye Qi and continued, ¡°Ye Qi¡¯s biological parents also died 18 years ago, shortly after he was born. ording to the information, they died in a battle on the front lines but I don¡¯t think it is so simple. I saw the signature of Ye Qi¡¯s father on the Noah¡¯s Ark restart n.¡±

    Ye Qi scratched his head. ¡°I have no impression of my parents at all. I only remember growing up in an orphanage.¡±

    Shao Qingge frowned and pressed a hand to his temples. He suddenly remembered the reason he adopted Ye Qi in the first ce. That year, he went to the orphanage to do charity and donated a sum of money. As the representative of the children, Ye Qi presented flowers to him on stage. At that time, Shao Qingge was still young but he felt something familiar from the child¡¯s clear eyes. Therefore, he adopted Ye Qi.

    Shao Qingge looked at Ye Qi. ¡°Ignoring all our past experiences, in this secret room, I didn¡¯t know you at all yet I adopted you. It is because you are Ye Wenbo¡¯s son. I have met your biological father.¡±

    These words were rather convoluted but Ye Qi quickly understood. ¡°You mean that the matter of you being my adoptive father wasn¡¯t arranged randomly but involves a clue that has to do with the Noah¡¯s Ark n back then? My biological father and your father have participated in the project? In addition, you¡¯ve met my biological father?¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°Yes, my impression isn¡¯t clear but your biological father came to our house and had a quarrel with my father. At that time, I was very young and didn¡¯t hear what they said. I just heard them arguing. The certain thing is that they both died unexpectedly in those two years. My father was in a car ident and your parents died on the front lines.¡±

    Xiao Lou frowned slightly. ¡°Are the deaths of your fathers not an ident?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Where is that list?¡±

    Shao Qingge took out hismunicator and erged the downloaded Noah¡¯s Ark restart n in front of everyone.

    The signature page had more than a dozen names. In addition to the directors of the Noah Medical Technologypany, there was the Imperial Academy of Sciences and several high-level people from the military¡­

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart was suddenly filled with a bad feeling and he nced at Tang Ci. This person understood what he meant and quickly typed these names in hismunicator to search. The results of the query made Tang Ci¡¯s expression change.

    He told them in a deep voice, ¡°Elder Shao was killed in a car ident on August 10th, 2982. Major General Ye Wenbo died in September of the same year. Qi Zhao, a professor at the Academy of Sciences, died of poisoning in theboratory in November of the same year. A scientist, Lian Lu died of a heart attack in November¡­¡±

    Every time he read out a name, the expressions of his teammates became uglier.

    After he read the news of the deaths of nine people in session, Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help being stunned. ¡°All of them have died?¡±

    Tang Ci answered, ¡°There is only one person left. It is Lin Yan¡¯s mother, Professor Zhang Shaohua.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Apart from Professor Zhang, all the other insides were silenced 18 years ago. This is the Heart¡¯s aspect of the secret room we need to investigate but we can¡¯t even find the bodies of the deceased.¡±

    In an investigation, if there were corpses then they could at least infer the cause of death and time of death. At the crime scene, they could find all types of evidence and clues left by the suspect¡­

    However, now the nine dead bodies had be nine urns or were buried in the cemetery years ago.

    The scene of the crime had beenpletely destroyed.

    It was a serial murder case without bodies, a fucking 18 year old case?!

    Lu Jiuchuan had a headache. ¡°How to check this?¡±

    Everyone looked at Yu Hanjiang. An old case from 18 years ago was much harder than sending everyone to the crime scene for the autopsy and to look for the murderer like in the past.

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it carefully. ¡°We can¡¯t use previous thinking to investigate this case such as investigating social rtions, grudges and the cause of death of the deceased. In the final analysis, they must¡¯ve been silenced. So we only need to start from the n itself. Investigate those who are still alive, the secrets of the Noah¡¯s Ark n and the forces behind it.¡±

    Ye Qi suggested, ¡°Lin Yan¡¯s mother, Zhang Shaohua, is being investigated by Teacher Qu. She is the only one alive who signed her name. Perhaps she will have some clues?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang shook his head. ¡°Since the other people have been killed, they can¡¯t leave this hidden danger alone. My spection is that Zhang Shaohua was hypnotized and can¡¯t remember that period of time. The person who killed the others let her go because she is General Lin¡¯s wife. Perhaps General Lin protected her or His Majesty gave some face to General Lin.¡±

    His Majesty?

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s mention of this person wasn¡¯t sudden. The emperor wasn¡¯t on the list but the n definitely had something to do with him. Otherwise, how could they exin the clones of the crown prince in the pce?

    Xiao Lou nced at the money on the ground.

    The 100 pink banknotes that had the same color as the yuan banknotes wereid out on the ground in sequence.

    Apart from the anti-counterfeiting mark that proved this was the third edition of star coins issued before 2975, would there be any other clues on the banknotes?

    He crouched down and carefully examined the front and back of the banknotes.

    Suddenly, Xiao Lou said, ¡°There is a problem with the serial number of those banknotes.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was startled. He came over and crouched down beside Xiao Lou. ¡°The number?¡±

    ¡°Bank self-service ATM machines don¡¯t store so many banknotes. For suchrge cash withdrawals, you need to book it in advance at the bank. For example, if there was an engagement in my hometown then brand-new banknotes are usually used for the betrothal gift. We will make an appointment in advance and pick them up at the bank counter. In this way, the new banknotes taken out will have consecutive numbers.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes lit up and he carefully looked at the number area on the lower right corner of the back of the banknote.

    First was G446805.

    Second was SABFD31.

    Third was G446806.

    Fourth was AMCR333.

    Fifth was G446807.

    Sixth was AEFPF13¡­

    1, 3 and 5. The odd number banknotes were serial numbers. For 2, 4 and 6, the even numbered banknotes weren¡¯t consecutive.

    Xiao Lou ressified the banknotes on the ground and exined, ¡°The notes with consecutive numbers all start with G and should have been taken out of the bank by appointment. Meanwhile, the notes without consecutive numbers should be clue notes that Elder Shao specifically found and inserted.¡±

    After being sorted on the ground, everyone looked down at the notes¡ªsure enough.

    For every stack of 100 banknotes, the odd numbered banknotes were numbered consecutively while the even numbered banknotes weren¡¯t numbered consecutively. Finally, 50 consecutive banknotes and 50 disorderly banknotes with clues were filtered out of the first stack.

    If they excluded the interference of the consecutive banknotes and only looked at the ¡®clue banknotes¡¯ with messy numbers, they could find a strange pattern.

    Xiao Lou opened his mouth. ¡°The numbers on the clue banknotes are only 1 and 3.¡±

    The team members took a closer look and found that there were basically no other numbers between 0 and 9 in the 50 clue banknotes. They were all 1 and 3. The second was 31, the fourth was 33, the sixth was 13, the eighth was 1111¡­

    Ye Qi was in a daze. ¡°What do the 1 and 3 stand for?¡±

    Xiao Lou was very good at math but he had only heard of decimal conversion and binary conversion of 1 and 0. He had never heard of 1 and 3 representing anything.

    The room quieted down as everyone fell into thought.

    Just as everyone was thinking about it with a frown, Shao Qingge suddenly stepped forward and told them softly, ¡°This is Morse code.¡±

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 420: The Secrets of Noahâ€™s Ark

    Morse code?

    Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t thought of this at first. Then he quickly responded after Shao Qingge reminded him. ¡°Morse code is an internationalmon code that has been circting for many years. A short dot signal is a ¡®dit¡¯ and a long ¡®-¡¯ signal is a ¡®dah.¡¯ The short signalsts for 1 second and the long signalsts for 3 seconds¡ªthese could be 1 and 3.¡±

    Ye Qi was stunned. ¡°Is this using Morse code? It is like a spy game!¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled and touched his nose. ¡°So this box of banknotes left behind by Elder Shao is really using Morse code? Do you know how to decode it, Chief Shao?¡±

    Shao Qingge thought carefully and got a headache. ¡°As a child, my father taught it to me while saying that it was a code passed down from a very old era. The thing he taught me was exactly the same as what Professor Xiao said. It has short and long tones and differentbinations can be decoded into different numbers and letters. On the banknotes, the 1 stands for a short note and the 3 for a long note. This really makes sense.¡±

    Ye Qi joked, ¡°You actually know Morse code? Our Chief Shao is finally no longer terrible at the Diamonds room.¡±

    Shao Qingge didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. ¡°The keepers instilled the memories in me. I just remembered them.¡±

    He leaned over to pick up the banknotes with the clues from the ground. ¡°This one, the clue number is 31. If decoded ording to the long and short tone of Morse code, it represents the letter N. This one is 333. It is all long tones and represents the letter O. 13 is A. 1111 is four short tones and stands for H. 111 is for S. 13 for A. 131 for R and 313 for K¡­¡±

    This was the clue that his father left him.

    The Morse code that Shao Qingge learned in his childhood soon became clearer in his memories. He quickly decoded the Morse code on the banknotes while Xiao Lou took a nk piece of paper and recorded the message based on Shao Qingge¡¯s words.

    It reached this point where Xiao Lou suddenly called out. ¡°Just a moment.¡±

    Shao Qingge looked over at him and Xiao Lou flipped over the paper to show the letters he had just written down.

    NOAHSARK.

    Tang Ci was the first to react. ¡°NoahsArk; Noah¡¯s Ark?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded earnestly. ¡°Yes, the Morse code that Chief Shao just decoded means Noah¡¯s Ark.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It could only be said that the way Shao Qingge¡¯s father left the clue was too awesome. It was moreplicated than any Diamonds mechanism they had encountered before. It actually ended up as Morse code.

    Banknotes, numbers, Morse code, English letters¡ªNoah¡¯s Ark.

    He left this safe behind. Even if people found it, they wouldn¡¯t understand the secret. Most people would just think he left a box full of money for his son when they saw all the banknotes.

    Shao Qingge was in aplicated mood. ¡°Should I continue to decode it?¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°Go on. Take out all the banknotes and we will help sort them out. Remove the banknotes with disordered numbers that are interference items and ce the ones with 1 and 3 in order.¡±

    Everyone but Shao Qingge and Xiao Lou started to act.

    There were eight rows of banknotes in the suitcase. There were 9 stacks in each row and each stack had 100 banknotes. It was a total of 7,200 banknotes, of which 3,600 were interference items and meaningless. There were 3,600 banknotes with numbers 1 and 3.

    Ye Qi had never seen so many banknotes before. He counted the money until his hands cramped.

    Yu Hanjiang, Tang Ci and Lu Jiuchuan were also sorting out the money quickly. Then they stacked them in front of Shao Qingge in order.

    Shao Qingge decoded the letters in order and Xiao Lou recorded them on the sheet of nk paper.

    The room was very quiet. Only the low voices of Shao Qingge and Xiao Lou were heard.

    ¡°1311, letter L¡­ 3313, letter Q¡­ 3313, letter X¡­¡±

    Ye Qi sat beside them and didn¡¯t dare disturb them.

    He listened to Shao Qingge constantly reporting the number and decoding it and he felt the tension of watching spy dramas as the underground resistance intercepted the ¡®dit dit dah¡¯ of a telegram, decoding it into Chinese.

    There were 3,600 codes which was a lot of work.

    Shao Qingge wanted to make sure he wouldn¡¯t make any mistakes. His childhood memories of learning Morse code became clearer and clearer. After converting the 1s and 3s into short and long tones, his decoding speed became faster and faster.

    In a sh, Xiao Lou¡¯s paper was already full of decoded letters. Finally, all 3,600 banknotes were decoded.

    Xiao Lou started to trante it from the beginning.

    ¡°Noah¡¯s Ark program was officiallyunched on July 15th, 2975. Scientists overcame the problem of cell replication. The cell culture they made is theoretically sufficient to grow a cell to adulthood.¡±

    ¡°This experiment must be kept secret. Human cells are best provided by the few insiders. So, like them, I took my son Shao Qingge¡¯s cells and added them to the experimental group¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou read up to here and couldn¡¯t help looking at Shao Qingge.

    Shao Qingge felt helpless. ¡°Go on. Even if I am a clone, I can ept it.¡±

    Xiao Lou continued the trantion. ¡°Professor Zhang used her daughter Lin Yan¡¯s cells. The cells provided by His Majesty came from Xiao Lou, the newly born imperial crown prince.¡±

    Xiao Lou still looked calm reading his name. He paused before continuing, ¡°A weekter, the Academy of Sciencesunched a secret experiment. My heart was very uneasy. One time, I went to theboratory and found that they had cloned over a dozen copies of my son¡¯s cells and ced them in culture dishes. I asked them, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that only one copy would be used as an organ donor for our children in the future?¡± They exined that there was a risk of failure in cell cloning and the sess rate could only be guaranteed by preparing more.¡±

    ¡°This scares me even more. What if all of them seed? How will I face the same five, six or even a dozen Shao Qingges in the future?¡±

    ¡°Shao Qingge is the crystallization of my love with my wife. If he is freely copied, how can I exin to my son why he has so many brothers? At the beginning, I agreed to this n so there would be a clone avable to help treat my son in case of an emergency. ording to scientists, human aging is due to the aging of organs. If we raise a young clone as a donor, we can extend our lifespan when we get old and take the organs from the clone at any time. If we be sick then we can get a healthy organ transnt at any time without worrying about rejection. Cloning humans is like the life insurance that human beings buy for themselves, giving them one more life. It was stupid of me to believe this.¡±

    ¡°Now the research of this group of madmen has deviated from the original intention. I have to stop this.¡±

    ¡°I secretly sneaked into theboratory and destroyed the specimens of Qingge. I felt like I was killing people. Those cells were on the verge of growing into baby form¡­ I saw countless babies in theboratory. My god!¡±

    ¡°Due to the work of the scientists, the cells grew into babies. But those babies raised in the vitro culture medium had too many physical defects. All of them died before they even reached the age of 6 months. The Noah¡¯s Ark project had no choice but to be terminated!¡±

    The decoded information stopped here.

    This was just the record for the first n. There was no record of the restart of the Noah¡¯s Ark n. The safe was prepared by Shao Qingge¡¯s father after the end of the first n. The banknotes taken in 2975 also proved this. Once the second n started, perhaps he was monitored or he was killed too suddenly. He didn¡¯t have time to leave more clues.

    The team members stared at each other.

    Taking the cells of children and making countless identical babies. This image caused goosebumps to form. Xiao Lou took a deep breath. ¡°In the first n, all the clones died? So five yearster, they should have had more advanced technology when the n restarted?¡±

    For example, elerate the process of cell replication and infant growth? They could let a baby grow to the age of five in just one year? Otherwise, how could they exin that the second batch of clones in the pce were the same age as Xiao Lou?

    The crazy scientists seemed to ignore that once human reproduction, growth rate and even gic inheritance could bepletely controlled by humans, it would allow scientists to modify the characteristics of human beings at will like machines¡­ they could no longer be called ¡®human¡¯!

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 421: Zhang Shaohua

    The group faced the table full of notes of Morse code and the room fell silent again.

    The clues left behind by Shao Qingge¡¯s father made everyone feelplicated. Unexpectedly, the Noah¡¯s Ark n thatunched 25 years ago had had hundreds of clone babies dying within six months, forcing the n to end.

    In this case, why did the n restart when Xiao Lou was 5 years old?

    Elder Shao felt uneasy during the first n and even secretly destroyed Shao Qingge¡¯s specimen. Why did he agree to try it again and sign the n?

    Less than two years after the implementation of the n, all those who signed it died due to various ¡®idents¡¯ apart from Professor Zhang Shaohua. Why did the boss behind the scenes suddenly kill those people?

    These issues were the key to the next part of the investigation.

    Xiao Lou carefully sorted out his ideas and spected, ¡°Based on the clues left by Elder Shao, we can guess that the original intention of the Noah¡¯s Ark n was to provide humanity with a ¡®reserve person¡¯ to deal with various diseases that might appear in the future. Once the body is sick, they could directly use the organs, bone marrow or blood of the clone for treatment. The clones might stay in the Petri dish all their lives without any social interaction or self-awareness, just like flowers kept in a greenhouse and isted from the outside world.¡±

    Tang Ci looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°I¡¯m used to backing upputer data on a removable hard drive to avoid data loss after aputer virus. This clone is equivalent to a data backup of the human body. After the data of the body goes wrong, the backup data can be used to repair it. Am I understanding correctly?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, the backup clones wouldn¡¯t have any self-awareness and would have only grown up in a Petri dish. They wouldn¡¯t be able to speak or even understand the humannguage. Such clones can¡¯t be called ¡®human¡¯. They are just a bunch of experimental data.¡±

    Shao Qingge folded his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes slightly. ¡°So my father agreed to the first n and wanted to make a backup for me? It was only after he discovered that the scientists had copied more than a dozen specimens that he became frightened.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned thoughtfully. ¡°The failure of the first experiment should be a problem with the Petri dish and due to this the babies didn¡¯t survive. So what was the opportunity to start the second n? Since they dared to restart, they must¡¯ve improved this cloning technology. This can at least ensure the survival of the clones and match the age of the main body?¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°If it is just the catalytic technology that allows the clones to mature and grow rapidly to the same age of the body, it shouldn¡¯t be enough for the boss behind the scenes to kill and silence all participants. There must be another reason.¡±

    Ye Qi made a bold guess. ¡°Maybe there was a clone who developed a sense of self and escaped from theboratory?¡±

    The teammates were stunned and looked back at Ye Qi.

    Ye Qi scratched his head and said seriously, ¡°Isn¡¯t this what happens in science fiction movies? The clone escaped from theboratory and came back for revenge, killing all the scientists who experimented on him like he was a mouse.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled and touched his hair. ¡°You¡¯ve seen a lot of movies.¡±

    Ye Qi was a bit embarrassed. ¡°I guess.¡±

    Unexpectedly, Xiao Lou actually approved of Ye Qi¡¯s spection. ¡°Xiao Ye¡¯s guess is also reasonable. We can¡¯t rule out the possibility that a clone fled theboratory or took away confidential documents, resulting in all insiders being killed.¡±

    He paused before adding, ¡°I just don¡¯t think it is likely that the clone wille back and retaliate by killing the insiders in the n. On the surface, the causes of death of these people, such as the car ident, front-line sacrifices,boratory poisoning or high-altitude fall are reasonable ¡®idents¡¯. The murderer must be very powerful to create so many idents.¡±

    Ye Qi nodded in agreement. ¡°Professor Xiao is right. The clones shouldn¡¯t have the ability to kill nine people without leaving any loopholes. There must be a big boss behind it.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked into Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes and asked in a low voice, ¡°Do you have someone you suspect?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled helplessly. ¡°It is simr to what you think.¡±

    ¡°His Majesty?¡± Yu Hanjiang felt that the most suspicious one was the emperor.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Xiao Lou also thought so and spoke softly. ¡°If my father created the idents then it would be seamless. Moreover, there are two clones of the crown prince in the pce. He has motivation to kill all the participants.¡±

    The room was silent for a few seconds.

    Shao Qingge leaned back on the sofa and said with regret, ¡°Unfortunately, the only person left alive who signed is Zhang Shaohua who most likely can¡¯t remember anything. We also can¡¯t directly go and ask the emperor.¡±

    In order to avoid themunicators being located and tracked, Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang, Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci had left theirmunicators in Capital Star before transferring to the Peach Blossom Spring. Qu Wanyue would contact Shao Qingge directly if she made any progress.

    A video recorded by Qu Wanyue was sent to themunicator.

    The video was made in the backyard of arge vi. A woman with short, ear-length hair was sitting in a wheelchair. She didn¡¯t have too many wrinkles on her face and her facial features were exquisite. She was a woman with a very good appearance but her eyes were calm like water, as if she had no soul. Her eyes were quietly staring at the teacup on the stone table and no emotions could be seen.

    Zhang Shaohua should be in her 50s this year but she still looked young.

    Lin Yan walked over, crouched down beside her and spoke softly, ¡°Mom, I brought your favorite oranges. Why don¡¯t you eat a few?¡±

    The woman looked at Lin Yan like she was a stranger.

    Lin Yan smiled and peeled the orange for her, holding a piece to her mouth. ¡°Mom, try it.¡±

    The woman in the wheelchair opened her mouth like a puppet and ate the orange without saying a word.

    Lin Yan fed her an orange before saying, ¡°Dad has been busy recently. He hasn¡¯te to see you for a long time. Mom, don¡¯t me him. He was thinking about you when he left today. He asked me to spend more time with you¡­¡±

    She kept talking to herself while her mother was unresponsive.

    Lin Yan¡¯s voice became choked up and tears appeared in her eyes.

    Zhang Shaohua saw her crying and reached out to touch her head, softly asking, ¡°Who are you? Why are you crying?¡±

    A gust of wind blew through the yard and scattered the woman¡¯s hair. Lin Yan stood up and quickly wiped away her tears. She covered her mother with a nket and pushed her wheelchair. ¡°It is windy. I¡¯ll take you back to rest.¡±

    The video ended after the two people entered the house.

    The six people watched the video before looking at each other.

    Shao Qingge lookedplicated. ¡°So Zhang Shaohua was able to live because she lost her memory?¡±

    Immediately after, Qu Wanyue sent another text. ¡°I went to find Lin Yan this afternoon. After chatting, I pretended to leave before using the Chameleon card to sneak into her house. Her house has a secret backyard and the door is always locked. Zhang Shaohua is under house arrest here. It is said that she¡¯s in poor health and retired early to rest at home. However, I think she isn¡¯t in poor health but has an issue with her brain.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged looks.

    Previously, Yu Hanjiang spected that the person behind the scenes wanted to kill the insiders involved in the Noah¡¯s Ark n and wouldn¡¯t leave the hidden risk, Zhang Shaohua. It turned out the reason Zhang Shaohua survived was because she forgot everything, even her own daughter.

    Yu Hanjiang walked next to Shao Qingge, took themunicator and quickly typed in it. ¡°Are you sure that she has lost her memory?¡±

    Qu Wanyue replied, ¡°Lin Yan spent an afternoon with her. I¡¯ve been hiding and observing. She doesn¡¯t seem to be acting. ording to my investigation, Zhang Shaohua hasn¡¯t been seen in public for almost 18 years.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°What is the emperor¡¯s reaction?¡±

    Qu Wanyue answered, ¡°Long Sen is in the pce. The signal is blocked and he can¡¯t contact me. However, Capital Star is very calm and the troops stationed here haven¡¯t reacted. The emperor shouldn¡¯t have discovered the crown prince¡¯s escape yet.¡±

    ¡°Continue to pay attention to the movements of Lin Yan¡¯s family. The two of you should be cautious, pay attention to safety.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll report back if there is any progress.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang cut off themunication and frowned. ¡°It seems that we can¡¯t find any useful clues from Zhang Shaohua¡¯s side for the time being. However, there is a problem. My intuition tells me there¡¯s something incredibly wrong here.¡±

    Xiao Lou was connected to him with Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings and soon made a guess. ¡°Lin Yan?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang opened the Morse code clue that was just tranted and pointed to one of the lines. ¡°The experiment must be kept confidential and the human cells were best provided internally. Professor Zhang used the cells of her daughter Lin Yan.¡±

    Lin Yan¡¯s cells.

    She and Xiao Lou were born in the same year. In the first n, the clones created from Lin Yan¡¯s cells naturally died. So did she participate in the second n?

    Shao Qingge thought about this question and said, ¡°Zhang Shaohua is a professor and the dean of the Academy of Sciences. In the second experiment, she should¡¯ve continued to add her daughter¡¯s cells to the experimental group. So theoretically, Lin Yan should also have surviving clones, right?¡±

    Tang Ci quickly checked the information of Zhang Shaohua, Lin Zecheng and Lin Yan and showed it on the virtual screen in front of everyone. ¡°Professor Zhang Shaohua graduated from the Imperial Academy of Sciences and has a doctorate in gics. She married General Lin Zecheng in 2973 and gave birth to her daughter in Lin Yan in 2975. In 2981, a year after the Noah¡¯s Ark n was restarted, she suddenly became seriously ill and couldn¡¯t continue to work. The Imperial Academy of Sciences approved for her to go home and rest in advance.¡±

    The serious illness definitely wasn¡¯t simple. It was called ¡®rest¡¯ but it was actually house arrest. Her husband, General Lin, was definitely not innocent. He might know about the gene project like the emperor.

    Now Zhang Shaohua didn¡¯t even recognize her daughter. It wouldn¡¯t be easy to dig out clues from her.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°At present, apart from Elder Shao who sensed the danger in advance and secretly left the safe with the banknotes and morse code behind, the other insiders have been killed or have amnesia. It will be hard to find out what happened that year.¡±

    In the other secret rooms, Yu Hanjiang mainly had the identity of a police officer and could arrest suspects for questioning.

    Meanwhile, in this secret room he couldn¡¯t interrogate the main suspect, the emperor, or even General Lin. The suspects had special identities and a lot of power. They couldn¡¯t act rashly without sufficient evidence.

    Xiao Lou carefully organized the current clues in his mind. ¡°Now we only have two breakthroughs. One is Lin Yan¡¯s side. It would be great if her mother could remember anything. The other is that my sister Xiao Rou might know something.¡±

    Xiao Lou always felt that the words she told him on her wedding day weren¡¯t that simple.

    -Xiao Lou, your sister is getting married and going to a faraway ce. You have to take care of yourself and grow up quickly. If there is an opportunity in the future, be sure to visit me sometime.

    On the surface, they were the words that a loved one said while parting.

    So why did she say this to Xiao Lou instead of the other two princes who were hidden by the emperor?

    The Noah¡¯s Ark project wasunched for the second time the year she got married and the creation of the clones had definitely seeded. Did she know that the crown prince had been cloned? As the crown prince¡¯s sister, could she tell the difference between a clone and the real prince?

    Xiao Lou had a headache when he thought about the memories of his 5 year old self.

    Yu Hanjiang saw Xiao Lou¡¯s face turning pale and immediately walked over. He gently held Xiao Lou¡¯s shoulder and told him in a soft voice, ¡°If you have a headache then don¡¯t think about it. Once we arrive on Azure, we will find a way to contact your sister and test her position.¡±

    Xiao Lou made a soft ¡®hmm¡¯ and stopped thinking.

    Just then, a soft female voice was heard from the radio. ¡°Passengers, our spacecraft is about to pass through the ¦Â-spiral Neb. You can enjoy the beautiful and spectacr natural view of the universe from the observation deck on the 3rd floor¡­¡±

    All six people were stunned.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t helpining, ¡°The starship also broadcasts about scenic spots?¡±

    In the past, every time he took the train to the university or a provincial city, the announcer would introduce the city¡¯s famousndscapes. These long ago memories made Ye Qi feel nostalgic for a moment. He walked to the French windows and looked out at the view.

    It had to be said that the luxury suites booked by Chief Shao were truly worth the money spent. There was an unobstructed view and they could see the spiral neb in the universe. In the distance,yers of nebe rotated as if to form a giant, purple vortex. It made the human spaceship look incredibly small inparison.

    Ye Qi eximed, ¡°It is spectacr! I have only seen this spiral neb in photos taken by telescopes. I didn¡¯t think that one day I would be able to see it from such a short distance!¡±

    The teammates heard his words and walked over to see the spectacr scene outside the window.

    They couldn¡¯t continue investigating before arriving at Azure so they should take a break to rx.

    It was 10 o¡¯clock in the evening when the spacecraft passed through the spiral neb.

    Shao Qingge told them, ¡°Let¡¯s take a break. We can¡¯t leave the spaceship right now anyway. We can only restore our energy. How should we arrange the three bedrooms?¡±

    Ye Qi actively said, ¡°I¡¯ll stay in a room with Professor Xiao.¡±

    This guy was obviously Xiao Lou¡¯s die-hard fan. Yu Hanjiang definitely wouldn¡¯t agree. He directly took Xiao Lou to a bedroom while saying casually, ¡°Go and sleep with your father.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan also ignored Xiao Ye and took Tang Ci to the next room, leaving the sentence, ¡°Good night.¡±

    Ye Qi stared at Shao Qingge with a torn expression.

    Shao Qingge walked over to him with a smile. He leaned over and stared into Ye Qi¡¯s eyes. ¡°Why? Don¡¯t you want to sleep with your father? I remember that when you were a child, you liked to nestle into my arms.¡±

    Ye Qi immediately retorted, ¡°Nonsense! Why can¡¯t I remember this?!¡±

    In fact, he remembered it. He had been adopted when he was already five years old. Perhaps it was because he grew up in the orphanage and had no concept of ¡®home¡¯. There was no sense of security. Once he arrived in a new environment, Ye Qi simply couldn¡¯t sleep at all. Therefore, Shao Qingge took the initiative to carry Ye Qi to his bedroom and apanied him to sleep.

    Ye Qi had woken up many times in the morning to find himself in Shao Qingge¡¯s arms, using Shao Qingge as a pillow.

    The more he thought about it, the more humiliating it became. The keepers definitely had a grudge against him. He was set up as Shao Qingge¡¯s adopted son and they also gave him so many memories from his childhood.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s heart softened when he saw Ye Qi¡¯s red ears and he reached out to touch Ye Qi¡¯s head. ¡°Don¡¯t think too much. In this secret room, I am your father. What is so humiliating about you hugging me to sleep when you were a child? It wasn¡¯t just hugging me to sleep. You also seem to have wet the bed when you were a child.¡±

    Ye Qi blushed. ¡°¡­Can you stop talking?¡±

    Shao Qingge chuckled. ¡°Yes, I won¡¯t say it.¡±

    He would request it againter. Of course, by that time, Ye Qi would be nestling in his arms with a different identity.

    Thank you to Friedfishtticks for the lovely fanart of outfits from 4 of Hearts. You can also check it out on their twitter here

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 422: Thrilling Moment

    Tang Ci wasn¡¯t used to sleeping in a bed with someone, nor was he used to his new legs. Hey in bed in a position that was very much like a corpse.

    Lu Jiuchuan saw this upright and tense sleeping position and couldn¡¯t help joking, ¡°Your sleeping posture really looks like you¡¯re being forced to sleep with a gangster and you¡¯re worried about being molested¡­¡± He moved toward Tang Ci and there wasughter in his voice. ¡°Tang Ci, is it necessary to be so nervous when sleeping with me?¡±

    Tang Ci¡¯s eyshes trembled slightly. His ears were red but his expression was calm. ¡±I¡¯m not nervous but I¡¯m not used to sleeping next to someone. This bed is too small.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuany down next to him, deliberately leaving an arm¡¯s length or so as he smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m a gentleman. It is just sleeping together and I won¡¯t do anything to you.¡±

    Tang Ci turned to him. ¡°A gentleman?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes were full ofughter. ¡°Why? Don¡¯t I look like a man of integrity?¡±

    Tang Ci, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    You are a man with thick skin.

    Tang Ci gazed at this person before turning around and ignoring him. ¡°Sleep.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled. ¡°Good night.¡±

    Gradually, the room was filled with Tang Ci¡¯s even breathing as he entered dreand. Meanwhile, Lu Jiuchuan couldn¡¯t sleep at all. He simplyy his head on his arm and thought about things. It wasn¡¯t known how much time passed when the ship suddenly shook violently.

    Tang Ci woke up from his sleep. It was like the ship was experiencing an earthquake. Due to inertia, he suddenly crashed into Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s arms. Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s reflexively extended his long arms to catch Tang Ci. ¡°What happened?¡±

    Tang Ci was hit in the nose and whispered, ¡°The spaceship is shaking?¡±

    He struggled to get out of Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s arms. However, the man¡¯s arm around his waist tightened as he whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t move. There is something wrong outside.¡±

    ¡°Did we encounter turbulence?¡° Tang Ci¡¯s words came from his chest. ¡°For example, an airne bumping into turbulence. Will there be such a thing in the universe?¡±

    As if to confirm his guess, the ship shook violently again.

    Lu Jiuchuan was shaken and rolled straight out of bed.

    He held Tang Ci tightly with his right hand while bracing hard against the ground with his left hand. He rolled on the spot toward the door to inform his teammates.

    At the same time, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were also awakened by the violent vibration. Yu Hanjiang put his arms around Xiao Lou¡¯s waist and flew out directly with the light footwork card. He grabbed the pir in the living room with one hand and shouted. ¡°Wake up. There is a situation outside!¡±

    Ye Qi also pulled the sleepy-eyed Shao Qingge out.

    The six people exchanged nces before walking to the windows and opening the curtains. It was dark outside the porthole and countless stars decorated the vast universe.

    In the darkness, a red behemoth was floating silently in front of them. Its ¡®eyes¡¯ emitted a blinding red light while sharp wings spread from the body like knives. The shiny, metallic lines were sharp and seemed like they could destroy everything.

    Lu Jiuchuan was surprised. ¡°What is that? An alien creature?¡±

    Shao Qingge was still yawning. Now hepletely woke up. He stared at the behemoth not far away and said, ¡°It is such a huge size¡­ we are simply food in front of it.¡±

    The ship was still shaking violently.

    Tang Ci took out hismunicator to look up information but he was shaken to the point of unsteadiness. Lu Jiuchuan immediately held his waist from behind. Then Tang Ci brought out the virtual screen, typed some information and frowned. ¡°There is a navigation failure and I can¡¯t locate our current position. Thework connection is interrupted and the signal of the spacecraft is affected!¡±

    He paused before continuing, ¡°Based on the speed of the spacecraft and the course we passed through before we went to bed, the ce we arrived at should be near.. the Hydra Star Field.¡±

    Xiao Lou recalled the interster map he had previously seen. ¡°There is no human habitation in the Hydra Star Field. However, this starship route has been opened for over 10 years. It is impossible for alien creatures to suddenly appear on this route.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned at the behemoth not far away. ¡°It isn¡¯t an alien creature but a huge starship. Our starship¡¯swork is interrupted. It should be affected by the interference electromaic wave that this ship is emitting.¡±

    Ye Qi stared at the behemoth. ¡°Group Leader Yu is right. Look over there!¡±

    Everyone followed Ye Qi¡¯s gaze.

    They saw the de-like side wings of the huge warship suddenly stretch out and cling to their starship like sharp ws. The ship shook frantically once again as the ws struck!

    The six people almost fell to the ground collectively. They hurriedly grabbed the pir with their hands to steady themselves.

    More and more ws stretched out from the starship. The entire interster passenger ship was controlled by the ws. The ship shook more severely and the passengers screamed from outside the door. ¡°Ah, what¡¯s going on?!¡±

    ¡±The ship seems to be under attack?¡±

    ¡±Oh my god, what the hell is this?¡±

    The red light from the eyes of the behemoth shone on the porthole of the spacecraft. Once the passengers saw it, their screams became even harsher! It was like a huge spider with sharp wings made of eight special metals. It could change into ¡®sharp ws¡¯ at any time to capture its prey.

    At this point, the star passenger ship became its prey.

    ¡°This is a warship! We have encountered star thieves!¡±

    ¡°Oh my god, are they the legendary, murderous star thieves?¡±

    The screams outside were already in a chaotic state.

    Just then, all the screens in the cabin were forcibly opened and a woman in a ck leather suit, a ponytail and a silver mask appeared in the video. She was apparently controlling the ship¡¯s video broadcasting system.

    The woman¡¯s eyes were as sharp as a knife and her voice was as cold as ice. ¡°Open the door of the ship and leave all your belongings. Then I will consider letting you live.¡±

    The team members, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    She was wearing a mask but everyone recognized her instantly.

    <em>¡ªChu Huaying, you are so powerful! You actually became a star thief?!</em>

    Another lovely fanart by Friedfishtticks of Chief Shao¡¯s bug king form.

    <em>Partially proofread: Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 423: Star Thieves

    Xiao Lou had been worried about the situation of his other four teammates. He hadn¡¯t expected to see Chu Huaying in this way. The woman standing in the starshipmand room was wearing handsome ck clothes and a mask covered most of her face. Only a pair of cold eyes was showing. Xiao Lou almost didn¡¯t dare recognize her. ¡°Is it really Huaying?¡±

    Tang Ci was certain. ¡°It is her. I won¡¯t make a mistake about this.¡±

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t helpining. ¡°I thought we had met star thieves and were going to be caught. Then it turns out that the leader of the star thieves is actually a teammate? Sister Huaying is too cool!¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled andmented, ¡°She really has the potential to be a thief. She is performing with her own personality.¡±

    Since Chu Huaying had be a star thief, they didn¡¯t have to worry about their safety for the time being. Lu Jiuchuan looked back at Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang. ¡°What¡¯s next? Go meet Chu Huaying? Or continue to Azure?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Look at her mask.¡±

    Since Chu Huaying¡¯s face appeared on the screen, Yu Hanjiang had been staring at the strange mask on her face. The silver mask with strange ck patterns on the edges looked very familiar.

    Xiao Lou was startled. ¡°Isn¡¯t this the same mask the hunters wore before?¡±

    The others also remembered the hunters they had met in the tomb. In their memory, the masks on the hunters who tracked them were like this. There was also the owner of the bar in the City of the Sun. The twin brothers wore the same masks on their faces.

    Tang Ci had checked this mask but no clear source had been found. It was sold everywhere on the Inte. If there was a pattern, they could even find a manufacturer to order it at will. A simple mask didn¡¯t mean anything. However, Chu Huaying wearing the mask was enough to make everyone wary.

    Ye Qi wondered, ¡°Is it possible that this isn¡¯t the real Sister Huaying but a clone and a hunter?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan frowned. ¡°We can¡¯t determine whether it is the original or a clone just from the appearance and voice. We have to find her in person to verify it. We are now hiding in Chief Shao¡¯s luxury suite. It is inconvenient to go out so why don¡¯t we pull her over?¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Brother Jiu, do you mean to pull her to the Peach Blossom Spring?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan nodded. ¡°Her starship isn¡¯t far from our ship. It should be possible to use the teleportation of the Peach Blossom Spring, right?¡±

    At midnight, all card skills were refreshed. The Tao Yuanming card was in Shao Qingge¡¯s hand. Once Shao Qingge heard this, he took out the card and returned it to Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou summoned Tao Yuanming, opened the Peach Blossom Spring and issued an invitation to the designated target.

    The characteristic of the skill for the Peach Blossom Spring was that only the user could see the entrance and only the user could decide who could enter the Peach Blossom Spring. Those who entered the Peach Blossom Spring weren¡¯t just limited to teammates. The characters in the secret room could enter with the user¡¯s permission. Therefore, the one who entered the Peach Blossom Spring wasn¡¯t necessarily the original person.

    Xiao Lou actively invited her to enter. Even if she was a clone, she could enter.

    For the sake of safety, the six people scattered after entering the Peach Blossom Spring. They could catch her at any time if the situation wasn¡¯t good.

    Soon, everyone saw Chu Huaying in ck appearing under a peach blossom tree. She looked around and saw Lu Jiuchuan. The coldness quickly dissipated and she stepped forward to greet him. ¡°Brother Jiu.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan nodded to her and asked, ¡°Have you seen any other teammates?¡±

    Chu Huaying shook her head. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen them.¡± She nced over the group in a puzzled manner. ¡°What about Xiao Liu, Old Mo and the Long Qu couple? They aren¡¯t with you?¡±

    She was able to urately say the names of their teammates. It seemed to be the real Chu Huaying and everyone was relieved.

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°Long Sen and Qu Wanyue stayed on the Capital Star of the Locke Empire to follow up on an important clue. For the other three, we have no news. Mr Tang checked the federation database and they weren¡¯t found in the ID or household registration systems.¡±

    Chu Huaying was silent for a moment. ¡°They shouldn¡¯t be in trouble, right?¡±

    Xiao Lou told her, ¡°That isn¡¯t necessarily the case. Their names are still on the contract book so they are still alive.¡±

    Chu Huaying found Tang Ci standing under a tree instead of in a wheelchair and her eyes brightened. She looked Tang Ci up and down and asked, ¡°Your legs have really recovered?¡±

    Tang Ci gave a rare smile. ¡°Ye Qi contributed the Bug King card and I grew new legs.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This line sounded a bit strange. He grew new legs¡­ why did it feel like he was a strange creature?

    Chu Huaying was pleased with Tang Ci¡¯s words. ¡°That¡¯s great.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at the silver mask on Chu Huaying¡¯s face and wondered, ¡°Where did you get this mask?¡±

    Chu Huaying took off the mask and exined, ¡°The moment I entered the secret room, I was locked up on the Dark Night starship. The keepers arranged for me to be the vice-captain of the star thieves. Our boss was a man with blond hair and blue eyes. He asked me to drink to deliberately get me drunk. How could I get drunk so easily? I just pretended and that idiot wanted to take the opportunity to kill me.¡±

    Everyone sweated for her when they heard this. It seemed that Chu Huaying¡¯s start wasn¡¯t smooth.

    ¡°Kill you?¡± Xiao Lou was worried. ¡°Could it be a hunter?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I found this mask in his bedroom.¡± Chu Huaying handed the mask to Xiao Lou. ¡°Fortunately, I could use cards on the starship. The moment he acted, I went behind him and finished him off with the spider dagger.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Chu Huaying might be downying her experience but everyone could imagine the danger at the time.

    The moment she entered the secret room, she was filled with alcohol by the leader of the star thieves. Fortunately, she was cautious enough and deliberately pretended to be drunk. It turned out that the other party wanted to kill her! If she wasn¡¯t sensitive enough and hadn¡¯t reacted quickly enough toplete the reverse kill, she wouldn¡¯t have been able to see her teammates alive.

    Lu Jiuchuan looked at Chu Huaying and joked, ¡°The boss of the star thieves tried to kill you but you ended up killing him. So you should be the leader of the star thieves?¡±

    Chu Huaying nodded calmly. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Sister Huaying was really domineering. She directly killed the boss and seized his power?

    Lu Jiuchuan chuckled and touched his nose. ¡°The way you intercepted the passenger starship just now really looked like a female demon.¡±

    Chu Huaying raised her eyebrow and made noment on his evaluation of her.

    Ye Qi watched Chu Huaying with admiration. ¡°Sister Huaying, your Dark Night starship looks like a spider magnified by tens of thousands of times. It has teeth and ws and is like the boss in a game. I was ready to fight a boss just now but the leader of the star thieves turned out to be you! Haha, the boss is a friend. I was nervous for nothing.¡±

    Chu Huaying smiled at Ye Qi before turning to Xiao Lou. ¡°I have been looking for your whereabouts over the past few days. As a star thief, I can pilot the starship to wander around the universe. My starship is on the wanted list of all the federal nations so I¡¯m unable to enter the space stations. So the only way to find you was by intercepting passenger starships.¡±

    This was why she intercepted this starship. The robbery was fake but the search for people was real.

    Lu Jiuchuan joked, ¡°You are the number one person on the hunter¡¯s wanted list in the City of the Sun and the City of the Moon. Now you have be a star thief wanted in various nations. Why are you wanted all the time?¡±

    Chu Huaying also felt helpless about this. ¡°That¡¯s why I can only hide. I wore this mask in order to avoid suspicion.¡±

    Shao Qingge nced at Xiao Lou. ¡°What should we do next? Go with Huaying or continue to Azure?¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Is Huaying¡¯s starship safe? Now that you are the leader of the star thieves, are your men willing to listen to your orderspletely?¡±

    Chu Huaying nodded. ¡°I was the vice-captain and the boss was killed by me. I told them he died of alcohol poisoning and they didn¡¯t doubt me. They listen to me. Moreover, these star thieves are homeless and desperate. Without my protection, they will only die if they try to sneak out.¡±

    Tang Ci thought about it and asked earnestly, ¡°Your starship¡¯s performance should be much higher than that of a normal passenger ship, right? Is it possible to move around the universe at will?¡±

    ¡°Yes, my starship has the fastest speed and most flexible space jump capability. This is why the federal nations have been unable to catch us. Of course, in order to avoid being discovered by patrols, I shouldn¡¯t stay in the vicinity of their routes for too long. We need to make a decision as soon as possible.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged looks.

    At midnight, the Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings connection had expired. Nevertheless, Xiao Lou saw his own thoughts in Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes. Therefore, he suggested, ¡°Why don¡¯t we go to the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land first?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded in agreement. ¡°Your identity is the crown prince of the Locke Empire and the invisibility cloak onlysts 30 minutes. If we rashly appear in the Azure Empire and we are discovered, it might cause trouble. Instead, if we act with the star thieves, we won¡¯t be easily caught by the emperor. Moreover, the whereabouts of Liu Qiao¡¯s group of three are still unknown. We have to find them as soon as possible.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan also agreed with this decision. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land. Tang Ci and I might be able to retrieve our memories.¡±

    Ye Qi wondered, ¡°What about the clue on the princess¡¯ side?¡±

    Xiao Lou answered, ¡°My sister Xiao Rou is now the wife of a prince of the Azure Empire. She has been married for over 10 years and there is no hurry to investigate her. Let¡¯s go with Huaying first. It is important to find our other teammates. Huaying was almost killed by a star thief after entering the secret room. I¡¯m worried that Xiao Liu and the others will also be in danger.¡±

    Everyone looked at each other and felt this was the best way at present.

    Chu Huaying simply said, ¡°Then it is decided. Come with me first. My starship is 10 times faster than a normal passenger ship. I can also send you back any time you want to go to the Azure Empire.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Huaying, how will you return to the starship?¡±

    Chu Huaying raised her wrist and pressed a knob on her watch. A small, smart mecha appeared in front of everyone. ¡°I will go back in my mecha and pretend to kidnap you. I need you to cooperate in acting.¡±

    Xiao Lou understood. ¡°The four of us will put on our invisibility cloaks while you kidnap Chief Shao and Ye Qi.¡±

    Chu Huaying nodded. She quickly left the Peach Blossom Spring and drove the small mecha from the escape pod at the rear of the starship. Ye Qi stood by the window and only saw a red light shing in front of him.

    Momentster, Chu Huaying¡¯s face appeared again on the screen of all the cabins.

    She took control of the ship¡¯smunication channels and said, ¡°I will give you 30 seconds to open the door of the starship and let my people in to search your belongings. As long as you leave the money, I¡¯ll let you go.¡±

    After all, the passenger ship didn¡¯t carry lethal weapons. After being intercepted by the brutal star thieves, it was like a well-behaved domestic cat encountering a ferocious beast. There was almost no resistance.

    The captain was pale and his forehead was sweaty from nervousness. ¡°I-I have been piloting this starship for so many years and this is the first time I¡¯ve encountered star thieves! Hurry and hit the space station¡¯s emergency line.¡±

    Chu Huaying seemed to have guessed his idea and added coldly, ¡°If you dare to ask for help, I will immediately blow up the ship and let all the passengers be buried with the stupid captain!¡±

    The moment she spoke, the spider starship¡¯s ws entangled with the starship once more and the hull started shaking violently again!

    The passengers on the starship stumbled and screamed with panic. ¡°Don¡¯t they just want money? Give it to them!¡±

    ¡±I heard these star thieves are evil. We won¡¯t die here today, right?¡±

    ¡±I only brought some jewelry. As long as I can live, I will give it all to them!¡±

    Many people hugged each other and cried. The scene was chaotic. Meanwhile, the hull was shaking non-stop like it had encountered an earthquake or tsunami. There was a bnce system failure and there was the danger of falling into the universe at any time!

    Under such pressure, the captain had to grit his teeth and open thending hatch of the starship, caving to their demands.

    Chu Huaying took a few men and drove a small airship tond.

    They were dressed in ck and heavily armed, with submachine guns in their hands. They could kill hundreds or thousands of people casually. Most of the people who took the passenger starship were ordinary people. They saw the star thieves entering the starship with guns and didn¡¯t even dare go out. They all tried to reduce their sense of existence.

    Chu Huaying ordered coldly, ¡°Everyone, squat down and hold your head in your hands. Don¡¯t move if you don¡¯t want to die.¡±

    The group of people squatted down in a trembling manner. Chu Huaying quickly led her men to control the scene.

    At the end of the corridor, the door of the VIP luxury cabin was closed tightly. She nced at it before walking over and kicking the door. ¡°The people in there,e out for me.¡±

    The sound of the kick made the passengers tremble as they held their heads.

    The door slowly opened and Shao Qingge and Ye Qi walked out obediently with their suitcases in hand. Shao Qingge said, ¡°I only brought cash. I will give it all to you as long as you spare our lives.¡±

    Chu Huaying raised her chin and asked her subordinates to open the suitcase. She saw the cash inside and nodded with satisfaction. Then she stepped forward to look at Ye Qi. The corners of her lips curved up and she gently raised Ye Qi¡¯s chin. ¡°This young man is so good-looking. Take him back to y with you.¡±

    The men answered in unison, ¡°Yes, Boss!¡±

    The travelers, ¡°????¡±

    Chu Huaying then nced at Shao Qingge. ¡°As for his gentleman, he is very handsome. Leave him to me.¡±

    The passengers, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    This demon was taking away two handsome men?

    The male passengers were so frightened they didn¡¯t dare to lift their heads out of fear they would be considered handsome by her. Chu Huaying smiled. ¡°There is a good harvest today. I am in a good mood and won¡¯t make it difficult for others.¡±

    She waved to the Shao Ye duo. ¡°Take these two away.¡±

    Shao Qingge and Ye Qi¡¯s expressions were very ugly. They were reluctantly tied up by Chu Huaying¡¯s underlings and taken away.

    Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang, Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci were behind them under the invisibility cloaks.

    After the group left in the mini warship, the other passengers were still in shock, especially the young men. They couldn¡¯t help thinking, ¡®Those two men were taken by the star thieves because they are good looking? It seems that it is safer to be ugly!¡¯

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 424: Hilt No Manâ€™s Land

    Chu Huaying returned to the Dark Night starship and brought Shao Qingge and Ye Qi to themand room. At the suspicious looks of her subordinates, Chu Huaying waved her hand. ¡°Everyone, scatter. The money you grabbed today will be enough for you to eat for several years.¡±

    Her subordinates left. Chu Huaying closed the hatch and walked to the console.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s group of four took off their invisibility cloaks.

    Lu Jiuchuanughed and joked, ¡°Huaying, you really are like a female demon star thief.¡±

    Shao Qingge reluctantly said, ¡°Our good names will be destroyed by you.¡±

    Ye Qi scratched his head. ¡°Perhaps there will be a hot search on the Inte: Star thieves intercepted a passenger starship and abducted two men. Will these two people be mistreated?¡±

    Chu Huaying took off her mask. ¡°Where are we going? I will enter it in the navigation.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan also put away the jokes. ¡°Go straight to the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land.¡±

    Chu Huaying¡¯s fingers found a red-marked area on the navigation map. ¡°This area? It should be the domain of the bug species.¡±

    Everyone was shocked when they heard this.

    Xiao Lou nervously asked her, ¡°Have you ever seen the bugs?¡±

    Chu Huaying answered, ¡°ording to the setting of the secret room, my parents were both star thieves and died many years ago. I have been wandering around the universe with this starship since I was born. I have passed through the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land many times. It is the territory of the highly intelligent bugs and it is very dangerous.¡±

    She looked at Lu Jiuchuan in a puzzled manner. ¡°Why do you suddenly want to go there?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan briefly exined, ¡°Tang Ci and I led the Arrow Corps to perform a special mission there but we have lost our memories of that mission. The Locke Empire¡­ that is the nation where Xiao Lou is located, has clones, two of which are clones of Xiao Lou. We found out that the empireunched this ¡®Noah¡¯s Ark project¡¯ 25 years ago to make the clones and the n was restarted 20 years ago. Nine insiders have been killed sessively to silence them since then.¡±

    Chu Huaying understood. ¡°In other words, the subject of this secret room investigation is cloning and the so-called Noah¡¯s Ark project?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan nodded. ¡°Yes, things areplicated and we don¡¯t have many clues at the moment.¡±

    Tang Ci added, ¡°The special mission I performed with Brother Jiu and our lost memories must have something to do with this. Therefore, we want to go back to the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land to see what secrets are hidden there.¡±

    Chu Huaying was silent for a moment before telling them, ¡°I can enter the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land with my starship.¡±

    Everyone was very surprised when they heard this and Lu Jiuchuan wondered, ¡°What do you mean by being able to enter?¡±

    Chu Huaying asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you think my starship looks like something?¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°It looks like a huge spider!¡±

    Xiao Lou murmured, ¡°Don¡¯t the bugs¡­ look like spiders?¡±

    He recalled the bugs encountered in 8 of Spades and the small bugs that crawled out of Ye Qi¡¯s fingers when he healed Tang Ci. It was indeed very simr to the appearance of a spider.

    Chu Huaying opened the 3-dimensional view of the starship on the virtual screen. ¡°The design of this Dark Night starship is inspired by the shape of the bugs. The eight wings of the starship can deform at any time or expand to increase flight speed. They can also elongate and be eight very aggressive ws. At the same time, high-energy electromaic guns can be fired from under the eight nks. They are wide-range shots that make it impossible for other starships to get close.¡±

    She paused before continuing, ¡°The important thing is that this starship doesn¡¯t only look like an erged bug. It also has anti-surveince capabilities that allows it to disguise itself as a bug and sneak into the bug territory in the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Why is the design like this?¡±

    Chu Huaying shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know the specific situation. I¡¯ve been on this starship for as long as I can remember but the designer of the starship is long dead.¡±

    Who was the designer of the Dark Night starship?

    Why would they design a starship that could enter the bugs¡¯ territory?

    Everyone looked at each other. These coincidences were telling them that there was a secret hidden in the bugs¡¯ territory. The special mission that Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci performed at the beginning must be rted to this secret.

    Chu Huaying¡¯s starship provided great convenience to everyone.

    Xiao Lou inquired, ¡°Have you ever been to the bugs¡¯ territory? Do you know how many bugs there are on the?¡±

    Chu Huaying thought about it. ¡°I have passed through the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land many times over the years but I haven¡¯tnded on the of the bug race. I just heard my parents say that the starship cannd on the.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan said, ¡°Go and see.¡±

    Ye Qi remembered the bugs from 8 of Spades and couldn¡¯t help getting goosebumps. ¡°Do we have to experience 8 of Spades again? In case we are infected by the bugs¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge gently pressed a hand to Ye Qi¡¯s shoulder. ¡°What are you afraid of? We have the Bug King card.¡±

    Ye Qi immediately became happy. ¡°Yes, the Bug King card allows you to transform for 24 hours. At that time, all the bugs must listen to Chief Shao¡¯s words. No matter how many bugs we encounter, there won¡¯t be a problem escaping.¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°In order to avoid fierce resistance from the bugs, don¡¯t attack them when wend on the bug, let alone use fire.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan had thought about calling out his Vermillion Bird directly to burn all the bugs. However, at Xiao Lou¡¯s reminder, he directly dispelled the idea of fighting against the bugs.

    After all, fighting was very costly. In addition, they were breaking into the nest of the bugs. If those bugs couldn¡¯t be burned, angering them wasn¡¯t a good thing. It was best to investigate secretly.

    The group reached an agreement and Chu Huaying said, ¡°I will prepare the space jump and take a shortcut to the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land.¡±

    Her fingers quickly entered instructions in the starship¡¯s navigation screen.

    The Dark Night starship was worthy of being a starship wanted by the major empires. It flew extremely quickly and made several space jumps in a row. It crossed a gxy in no time and arrived at the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land in just one hour.

    It was a familiar environment, triggering their memories so Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci started to get headaches.

    Many messy pictures shed through their heads but they couldn¡¯t see what was going on.

    Chu Huaying controlled the starship. All eight wings spread out, stabilizing the ship. The spider-shaped starship broke through the heavy airflow of the atmosphere of the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land like lightning¡­

    Momentster, a brown appeared directly in front of them. The ck clouds and fog surrounded the dark brown that had a slightly lighter gold circle in the middle. It was quietly suspended in the universe like an eye staring at the surroundings.

    Ye Qi was taken aback by the strange look of the. ¡°This¡­ is the bug?¡±

    Everyone¡¯s hearts became uneasy as they got closer to the. 8 of Spades was the invasion of the bug species. In the end, only a few bugs came to the human city. Now they were going straight to the bugs¡¯ stronghold! What was the secret here?

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 425: Bug Planet

    The Dark Night starship soon passed through the thick ck fog around the and hovered above the surface of the bug.

    Chu Huaying¡¯s fingers operated the console controls hitting the button to turn on the starship¡¯s anti-surveince system. She drove the starship around the, investigating and selecting anding site.

    On the virtual screen in front of themand console, they could see an erged view of the.

    Everything was ck.

    The entire was deste. No nts could be seen and there were no rivers or mountains. It was like a desert dyed ck. However, this type of ck was different from pure ck ink. It was like¡­ a thick ck velvet nket?

    Chu Huaying adjusted the surveince camera in front of the starship. She aimed it at the ground of the and zoomed in by a hundred times.

    Then the group saw a scene that was extremely shocking.

    Therge ck area was indeed like a thick nket. The ¡®fluff¡¯ of the nket was swaying with the wind. The ¡®nket¡¯ wasn¡¯t dead but alive and was spreading around. There was a lot of white, pebble-like stuff on the nket. They should be bug eggs. These bug eggs kept hatching nail-sizedrvae.

    Anyone with trypophobia would probably faint from fear when seeing this scene.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s group had experienced the bug instance. They saw these familiar little bugs and could maintain their calm. Meanwhile, it was the first time that Lu Jiuchuan, Tang Ci and Chu Huaying had seen such arge-scale bug scene. Tang Ci looked away stiffly and Lu Jiuchuan couldn¡¯t help cursing. ¡°Fuck! It is full of bugs. This ce is disgusting!¡±

    Chu Huaying frowned. ¡°Is this ck carpet-like thing for hatching the bug eggs?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it. ¡°This should be the legendary bug fungus nket.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan looked back at Xiao Lou. ¡°Fungus nket?¡±

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°The nket can be understood as a hotbed to provide nutrients for the bugs. It is made with secretions of the adult bug to help the young bugs grow quickly. The fungus nket can elerate the growth and reproduction of the bugs. The reason why the is ck is because the entire is covered with the fungus nket.¡±

    Ye Qi was excited. ¡°I have yed interster themed games. There are indeed zergs who rely on the nket to reproduce and expand. Since this is the home of the bugs, the entire is covered with a fungus nket. It seems there are bugs everywhere?¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°The bugs on this aren¡¯t quite the same as the ones we encountered in 8 of Spades.¡±

    He paused before borating, ¡°The bugs we encountered in 8 of Spades needed blood to survive. They parasitized the human body through blood and quickly infected and controlled an entire human city. Once in danger, they fused with each other to upgrade. The bug with the highest level couldmand the low level bugs.¡±

    Ye Qi continued. ¡°Meanwhile, the bugs on this survive on the fungus nket? They don¡¯t need blood?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s group of three hadn¡¯t experienced the bugs in the secret room and couldn¡¯t understand Xiao Lou¡¯s meaning for a moment.

    Xiao Lou conclused. ¡°In other words, the ability of the bugs here is much higher than the bugs we previously encountered. The number isn¡¯t on the same level. If we identally let the bugs merge, Chief Shao might not be able to control the scene.¡±

    Ye Qi heard this and he couldn¡¯t help his face turning white. He remembered that in 8 of Spades, Shao Qingge used his body to protect Ye Qi from a bug attack. As a result, Shao Qingge ended up infected. Heter used his mind and willpower to conquer the parasite and after many fusions, he evolved into a level 10 bug king. He got the Bug King card due to this blessing in disguise.

    The most powerful bug in that secret room was the level 10 bug queen.

    Today, the ruler of the bug would definitely be at a higher level.

    After all, those who invaded the human city definitely weren¡¯t the elite force of the bugs. The bugs on this had absorbed the best nutrients from an early age and developed smoothly. Their ability was naturally the strongest.

    The 8 of Spades¡¯ clearance process was so thrilling. Now they definitely wouldn¡¯t have the advantage if they faced the bugs head-on.

    There was a moment of silence in themand room.

    A momentter, Chu Huaying looked at Xiao Lou¡¯s serious face and asked, ¡°Are we still going tond? If Chief Shao can¡¯t control them, the number of bugs on this isn¡¯t something we can deal with.¡±

    The¡¯s ck nkets on the screen were very scary.

    However, they hade all the way here and weren¡¯t willing to back down.

    Xiao Lou carefully thought about it. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the first to see if there is an area with less bugs and have the starshipnd there. If we can¡¯t deal with the bugs, at least we will be able to escape.¡±

    Chu Huaying nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    She elerated the speed of the starship and continued to fly around the bug.

    The wasn¡¯trge. The area was only a tenth of the sizepared to thes upied by humans. The starship was so fast that it circled the entire within 30 minutes.

    Unexpectedly, a bright color suddenly shed in everyone¡¯s eyes.

    On a covered with ck nkets, the touch of red was particrly eye-catching.

    Chu Huaying steered the starship closer.

    Arge, golden-red mountain range appeared on the screen. The mountain range stretched out for hundreds of kilometers and was like a wide red river. It added a beautiful embellishment to the ck.

    Ye Qi wondered, ¡°Is this a volcano?¡±

    Tang Ci went to themand deck and carefully looked at the mountains below his feet. ¡°The color is simr to fire but this mountain range isn¡¯t a volcano. There are no traces of a volcanic eruption. These mountains¡­ are more likely to be a mineral vein.¡±

    Ye Qi stared at the vast golden-red mountain range in his vision and muttered, ¡°Is this the rare mineral that the starships and mecha are built out of? The legendary red crystal mine?¡±

    Tang Ci was also a graduate of the mecha control department. He had definitely learned the theoretical knowledge of mecha manufacturing.

    Tang Ci nodded solemnly at Ye Qi¡¯s words and told his teammates, ¡°In Year 2000 of the star calendar, humanity found a precious mineral on ¦Â-75. The appearance is red-gold and its hardness exceeds even the hardest metal, chromium. It is resistant to high temperatures and isn¡¯t easy to oxidize. It won¡¯t be corroded even when ced in a strong acid solution with a very high concentration. Adding this metal to the manufacturing materials of starships and mecha can greatly improve the performance of a new generation of mecha.¡±

    He paused before saying, ¡°Due to overexploitation, nearly 80% of the minerals on ¦Â-75 have been mined by humanity. The remaining mineral resources can onlyst for around 10 years. Human scientists have been looking for new resources all these years. Could this where the bugs live be the resource star they found?¡±

    Chu Huaying turned and walked to the window. She looked at therge ore vein under her feet and wondered, ¡°What does the task Brother Jiu performed have to do with the clones?¡±

    Ye Qi had a guess. ¡°Is there a clone base on this?¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°We have just circled the. 99% of the is covered with the bug¡¯s fungus nket. Only this vein has no fungus nket. If there are any clues about the clones then it should be in this ce.¡±

    He looked back at Yu Hanjiang and asked for advice. ¡°Do you want to go down and see?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°We havee here so we should go down and take a look. Try not to rm the bugs.¡±

    Chu Huaying pressed thending button. Dark Night folded its wings andnded steadily on one of the veins.

    The surrounding area was barren. The only thing that could be seen were the red-gold veins that shed with a soft luster.

    Chu Huaying decided to stay on the starship. If someone tried to drive the starship away, it would leave them miserable if they were all stuck on the bug. Xiao Lou also thought it would be better for her to stay on the starship. If there was an ident, at least they could escape.

    The five people opened the hatch. Tang Ci first sent out a drone to investigate the surrounding environment.

    The drone returned and Tang Ci said, ¡°The oxygen content of the is scarce but we can survive. The average temperature is 68 degrees and the ground temperature is over 90 degrees. These ores will dissipate heat around them. The temperature is too high to directly step on them.¡±

    It was 90 degrees. Stepping on them would definitely burn the soles of their feet.

    Fortunately, they had passed the hell of steaming in the World Weekly. They naturally had a way to deal with this temperature. Tang Ci took out the ¡®Mechanical Armor¡¯ card and they put on the high-temperature-resistant armor.

    Five men dressed in armor fell to the ground.

    From Chu Huaying¡¯s point of view, this scene was like astronautsnding on a strange.

    Xiao Lou gave everyone a Voice Headset. Chu Huaying also wore one to facilitatemunication.

    The five people investigated around the vein but found nothing special. They were surrounded by hard and hot ore. Ye Qi took some for research.

    Xiao Lou was confused. ¡°There are no traces of a human base. Moreover, there is the high temperature of 90 degrees and thin oxygen. Is such a harsh environment really suitable for the construction of a human base?¡±

    The environment here was so bad.

    There were no nts, no oxygen and more crucially, no water.

    People couldn¡¯t survive without water and the cost of transporting food and water was too high¡­

    Lu Jiuchuan mused, ¡°Is the task we carried out actually irrelevant to the cloning n?¡±

    Just then, a buzzing sound was suddenly heard.

    Ye Qi looked up. ¡°Does it seem like a big cloud ising toward us?¡±

    The was surrounded by a dark fog. Then what were the dark clouds?

    Shock filled Xiao Lou¡¯s heart. ¡°No, that¡¯s not a cloud, those are bugs. They are bugs who can fly!¡±

    TL: Just a small note about zergs/bugs. I originally chose bugs because I wasn¡¯t sure if they were the same as zergs, which is moremonly used in interster themed novels. Now that this arc has revealed they are the same, but I will keep using bugs except when referring specifically to the game zerg.

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 426: Thrilling Time

    The bugs they encountered in 8 of Spades had extremely strong jumping abilities.

    Now these bugs actually grew wings.

    Therge number of bugs flying in the sky was like a ck cloud that moved quickly in their direction. The strange ¡®buzzing¡¯ was the sound that the bugs made when using their wings to fly.

    It was a lot more terrifying than the swarm of locusts in transit that Xiao Lou had once seen.

    Looking at the situation, they would definitely be overwhelmed by the bugs in the sky.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and ordered decisively, ¡°Quickly withdraw!¡±

    Before they had time to retreat, the winged bugs seemed to have received some kind of order. They suddenly dived towards them like hungry tigers rushing over fiercely!

    The dense group of bugs rushed from the sky at the five people. Xiao Lou instantly fell to the ground under the momentum of their assault. Fortunately, the hard armor had helped him block the first wave of attacks or the bugs¡¯ sharp wings might¡¯ve pierced his body.

    The moment Yu Hanjiang saw this scene, he took out a weapon and quickly killed the surrounding bugs. He forced his way to Xiao Lou and asked in a low voice, ¡°Are you okay? Are you hurt?¡±

    Xiao Lou was dizzy from falling but he wasn¡¯t hurt. He hurriedly said, ¡°I¡¯m fine. Everyone, hurry up. Don¡¯t try to fight here. There are too many bugs!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang activated the light footwork card, held Xiao Lou and rushed to the starship!

    Ye Qi originally had musical instrument cards that could control these bugs but he was currently wearing clumsy armor. He simply couldn¡¯t hold the instruments at all. After seeing that he was lying on the ground and surrounded by bugs, Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes shed and he didn¡¯t hesitate to take out his trump card.

    As a shrill scream entered his ears, Shao Qingge took off his armor and his eyes instantly turned blood red.

    He transformed into the bug king!

    He used the bugnguage to give orders to the surrounding bugs.

    After hearing the order, the group stopped for a few seconds in a hesitant manner.

    Shao Qingge eximed into the voice channel of the headset, ¡°Run! I don¡¯t know how long I can control them. There should be more advanced bugs behind them and their orders are in conflict with mine. They are going to kill us!¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s expression changed and he directly used the teleportation card.

    He wanted to teleport to Sister Huaying¡¯s starship but when he looked back, Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci were on the ground and covered in bugs. It wasn¡¯t known what happened but their faces were pale and they seemed to be in a lot of pain.

    Ye Qi wanted to save them but Shao Qingge whispered to him, ¡°You go back. I¡¯ll save them.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡± Ye Qi wanted to ask, ¡®What if you can¡¯t control the situation?¡¯

    Shao Qingge ordered, ¡°Listen to me!¡±

    Ye Qi gritted his teeth and turned to leave, telling the other person in a trembling manner, ¡°You have to be careful.¡±

    At this time, Shao Qingge was more than a few dozen meters away from Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci. The bugs were everywhere in the sky and on the ground. Shao Qingge jumped to Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci.

    The surrounding bugs noticed his aura and retreated.

    Shao Qingge saw the two people¡¯s pale faces and couldn¡¯t help being concerned. ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s voice was hoarse. ¡°My head is very painful. It feels like my brain is about to explode!¡±

    Tang Ci also had a headache.

    Shao Qingge told them, ¡°I¡¯ll take you away.¡±

    He pulled out the teleportation card to take Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci. Just as he was about to turn around and leave, a gentle female voice was heard in his ears. ¡°This is our bug territory. Is it something you can easily enter and leave?¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s expression changed. It was the bug queen.

    Unlike the level 10 bug queen met in 8 of Spades, this queen was a higher level. Shao Qingge was unable to give orders to her and he even sensed a strong oppression.

    The queen said softly, ¡°Children, go ahead and kill them.¡±

    Shao Qingge was king of the bugs but this queen was the highest ranked leader on the bug! Was there any need to think about who they should listen to? It was like the start button was pressed. The frozen bugs swarmed even more crazily at Shao Qingge¡¯s group of three.

    Tang Ci and Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s memories had re-emerged in this familiar environment. In particr, when they heard the queen¡¯s voice their headaches became so strong, it felt like their heads were going to explode and they lost the ability to think. It was as if there was a sharp knife in their brains that was cutting at their nerves. The two people directly fainted!

    Ye Qi saw the huge number of bugs rushing at Shao Qingge and paled with fright. His hands clenched into fists as he watched Shao Qingge being flooded by the bugs while his heart felt like it was being twisted by a pair of hands¡­

    Ye Qi roared, ¡°Shao Qingge,e back quickly!¡±

    The crying voice was transmitted through the headset to Shao Qingge¡¯s ears.

    Shao Qingge was flooded by countless bugs and he was wounded all over. In order to protect the unconscious Brother Jiu and Tang Ci, he had to use his body to resist these attacks.

    In any case, he was the bug king.

    His terrible recovery ability made his body heal quickly. He even forcibly broke the wings of a bug, squeezed off the bug¡¯s head and took the initiative to aim his wound at the bug.

    Countless small bugs entered his body through his blood.

    It was the nature of the bug race to seek integration when encountering danger.

    Ye Qi watched the man standing in the midst of the bugs. His clothes were stained red with blood but he was smiling. His blood-red eyes narrowed slightly and he said jokingly, ¡°Thank you for sending the senior bugs to me and letting me continue to evolve. Do you think they can hurt me?¡±

    The queen shrieked, ¡°Step back, I¡¯ll deal with him!¡±

    The surrounding bugs retreated like the tide and Shao Qingge saw a huge female bug in the air. She had eight pairs of wings and looked exactly the same as Chu Huaying¡¯s starship. She was hundreds of times bigger than Shao Qingge. Such a huge sizepletely shocked Shao Qingge.

    The queen of the bug was too abnormal, right?!

    Shao Qingge spoke into the headset. ¡°Huaying, I will hold her back. Have the starship take off and leave quickly!¡±

    Chu Huaying immediately pressed the start button.

    The spider-like starship spread open its wings and flew up to the sky in an instant.

    Ye Qi stood by the window and looked at the man suspended in the air with red eyes. ¡°Will he be fine alone? What if he can¡¯t beat the queen? The queen of the bug looks much more powerful than the one encountered in 8 of Spades.¡±

    Xiao Lou gently pressed a hand on Ye Qi¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Chief Shao has an idea.¡±

    Through the window, they could see Shao Qingge and the bug queen fighting fiercely! The queen seemed to be trying to eat him and every attack aimed at his fragile head!

    However, Shao Qingge was extremely flexible. In addition, he had just fused with the flying bugs and had gained the flying ability. He flew agilely in the area and avoided the queen¡¯s attacks several times!

    The queen wasrge in size and had powerful attacks. She could split open a mountain with one hand. Meanwhile, Shao Qingge was flexible and light. For the time being, it was hard to distinguish who would win.

    Ye Qi looked frightened. He was afraid that Chief Shao would be eaten by the queen.

    He was worried to death about him, because he couldn¡¯t help him and instead had to helplessly watch him fighting the bug queen.

    Ye Qi choked up when he saw the starship getting further away from the bug. ¡°We are leaving. What is he going to do?¡±

    Yet the moment he finished speaking, there was a familiar voice behind him. ¡°This queen is really difficult to deal with. Let¡¯s go quickly. After all, this is still the territory of the bugs and we can¡¯t afford to stay any longer.¡±

    Ye Qi quickly turned around and found Shao Qingge had appeared directly in themand room with Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci.

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°I pulled them over with Li Qingzhao¡¯s mark.¡±

    This was why Shao Qingge had deliberately dyed for five minutes.

    Ye Qi was so anxious that he had forgotten about this method. He saw Shao Qingge¡¯s body covered in blood and his eyes turned slightly red. He rushed to Shao Qingge and tightly hugged the man in front of him. ¡°Are you okay? You scared me to death. I was worried you would be killed by the queen¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s heart softened when the young man rushed into his arms and he rubbed Ye Qi¡¯s hair, telling him in a soft voice, ¡°It¡¯s fine. My body can be healed. It is just bleeding a bit.¡± He chuckled and hugged Ye Qi. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    Ye Qi found that there really didn¡¯t seem to be any injuries, so he let go of his worries. He broke free from Shao Qingge¡¯s arms with a red face.

    Shao Qingge pointed to Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci. ¡°Brother Jiu and Mr Tang fainted.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang heard this and hurriedly stepped forward to take off their armor.

    Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci¡¯s eyes were closed. They were indeed unconscious.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned when he saw this. ¡°What is going on?¡±

    Shao Qingge answered, ¡°I don¡¯t know. They just suddenly fainted. Perhaps they were stimted by the queen¡¯s voice and their headache was so severe that they couldn¡¯t bear it.¡±

    If Brother Jiu and Tang Ci could really remember something then their trip to the bug wouldn¡¯t be in vain.

    ***

    Lu Jiuchuan had a long nightmare and some messy pictures kept shing through his mind.

    He heard a low, majestic voice in his ear that spoke slowly to him, ¡°There are just a few bugs. As long as you eliminate those bugs, you can upy the precious resource star. This operation needs to be kept confidential. It shouldn¡¯t be difficult to perform this task for the Arrow Corps, right?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan saluted the other side with a standard military salute. ¡°Yes, Sir!¡±

    The other person continued, ¡°Scientists have sent drones to investigate the. There are no intelligent creatures on the entire. Fire can burn these low level bugs. I will give you half a year to clear all the obstacles on the and establish a military base. Then help the miningpanies settle in¡­¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan saw himselfing out of the military building and heading to the Arrow Corps.

    A subordinate asked him, ¡°The general called you. Is there a new task?¡± Lu Jiuchuan smiled. ¡°Astronomers have found a resource star that is upied by bugs. The general asked us to go and eliminate the bugs.¡±

    ¡°Eliminate the bugs? This is too simple! Can¡¯t insecticides be used directly? Do they need to send our Arrow Corps?¡±

    ¡°The entire is upied by bugs and insecticides don¡¯t work. It is fire¡­¡±

    The officers discussed it.

    At that time, no one took the bugs seriously.

    Later, Lu Jiuchuan led the Arrow Corps to the bug and the scene in front of him shocked him speechless.

    The number of bugs exceeded a few hundred million and the entire was covered by a ck bug nket. How could it be so easy to eliminate the bugs?

    The was too big. The vanguard of the Arrow Corps drove their mecha to drop gunpowder in batches. In the blink of an eye, fires were lit everywhere on the ck!

    In the scorching fire, they heard a chilling cry.

    The sad screams of the bugs could actually prate the barrier of the starship and clearly reach everyone¡¯s ears!

    It was just burning some bugs. There was no need to worry¡­ everyoneforted themselves in this way.

    Then a frightening scene soon urred.

    The bugs who encountered danger suddenly started to merge with each other frantically.

    Dozens, hundreds and thousands of bugs merged together to be high level bugs. They even formed wings that could fly! The vanguard troops sent by Lu Jiuchuan were attacked by thousands of advanced bugs and were wiped out!

    The bugs¡¯ sharp ws could destroy the most advanced mecha!

    These were low level bugs?

    Lu Jiuchuan realized that he had encountered an unprecedented alien creature and immediately ordered a retreat.

    Just as the warship was preparing to evacuate, a gentle female voice was suddenly heard by everyone. The voice was very soft, like blowing wind, but it was clearly conveyed in everyone¡¯s minds.

    She said, ¡°Invading the home of the bugs and ughtering my children. Haven¡¯t you humans done enough evil over the years?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan was shocked. ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Wasn¡¯t it said that these low level creatures had no awareness? How could she speak human words?

    The other side chuckled slightly. ¡°Since you are here, I will let you be buried with my children.¡±

    The moment she spoke, countless high level bugs moved like a swarm of bees. The ck swarm of bugs instantly surrounded Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s warship and smashed through the defensive cover with their sharp ws.

    Lu Jiuchuan woke up from the nightmare in an instant.

    He held his temples with a pale face and said softly, ¡°I remember.¡±

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 427: Memory Reproduction

    Lu Jiuchuan woke up and found he was lying on a sofa. Tang Ci was next to him and hadn¡¯t woken up yet. Tang Ci¡¯s face was pale, his brows were furrowed tightly and he was constantly sweating. He seemed to be caught in a terrible nightmare.

    Were the scenes that shed through his mind just now dreams or his memory?

    Lu Jiuchuan propped himself up, gently held Tang Ci¡¯s hand and whispered, ¡°Xiao Tang, wake up.¡±

    Tang Ci was trapped in the nightmare when he heard a familiar voice calling to him. He struggled to wake up from the nightmare and meet Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s deep eyes.

    After seeing him open his eyes, Lu Jiuchuan helped him sit up and handed him a ss of water. ¡°Drink some water.¡±

    Tang Ci was covered in a cold sweat. The sweat had soaked through his shirt and even his hair was damp. The bloody scenes in his dream made him tremble uncontrobly. His fingers shook as he took the water cup and took a few sips in a hurry.

    The warm water slid down his throat and his body gradually warmed up. Tang Ci finally recovered his mind. He looked at Lu Jiuchuan and his voice was a bit hoarse from just waking up, ¡°Brother Jiu, I had a nightmare just now.¡±

    ¡°Me too.¡±

    They looked at each other and Tang Ci quickly reacted. ¡°If the content of our dream is the same, is it proof that it isn¡¯t a dream but forgotten memories?¡±

    After all, they were scenes that shed through the minds when they were unconscious. It might just be a dream. Then what if the two people¡¯s dreams were the same? It would prove that everything in the dream was a real event they had experienced together.

    Lu Jiuchuan spoke in a deep voice, ¡°On February 17th, 3000, my direct supervisor General Lin summoned me to destroy low level bugs on a ck in the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land. He wanted us to upy the precious resource star.¡±

    Tang Ci continued, ¡°You went back to the Arrow Corps in the afternoon and told me to get ready to leave for the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land on the 19th. I asked what the task was and you said it was to go and kill some bugs.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang heard up to here and spoke to Lu Jiuchuan, ¡°Brother, do you remember that we met on February 18th? You said you were going on a mission and wouldn¡¯te back for a long time. I asked you about the mission. Since the special task of the military headquarters had to be kept a secret, you didn¡¯t tell me¡­ the timing of this event is just right.¡±

    The task was epted on the 17th, he said goodbye to Yu Hanjiang on the 18th and they left on the 19th.

    It seemed that these fragmented images were really forgotten memories.

    Xiao Lou walked to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s side. ¡°Brother Jiu and Mr Tang haven¡¯t experienced the 8 of Spades we did and had never seen these bugs before. So you underestimated the enemy and encountered an ident while performing a mission in the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan spoke calmly, ¡°General Lin told us that the was full of small bugs and there were no intelligent creatures. At the beginning, we didn¡¯t pay attention to the bugs. After we arrived, we set off a lot of gunpowder on the to burn them. This just lead to the esction of their fusion.¡±

    Tang Ci recalled these experiences and his face turned pale. ¡°I remember the bugs evolving their ability to fly and all the vanguard troops we sent out were destroyed. The bugs might be afraid of fire but the number of them was toorge. They directly covered us with a sea of bugs and prated our armors with sharp wings. They even prated the shield of the starship!¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan added, ¡°Many people died and I was helpless. I had to send an urgent distress call to the military.¡±

    Tang Ci said, ¡°Later, a female voice warned us that she wanted to bury us with her children¡­ she should be the queen of the bugs? The voice we just heard is the same as the female voice in my memory.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°What happenedter? How did you escape from so many bugs?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan pressed hard against his temple for a moment. ¡°Someone should¡¯ve saved us. The situation was extremely dangerous. The bug army had broken through our starship¡¯s shield and even destroyed the bnce system. The starship couldn¡¯t take any more. More and more bugs were entering the starship to start a fierce battle with our soldiers. Xiao Tang¡¯s legs¡­¡±

    He suddenly fell silent.

    In his memory, he watched Tang Ci¡¯s legs being cut off by the sharp ws of the bugs.

    The ground was covered with blood.

    Tang Ci had fainted from the pain. Lu Jiuchuan was filled with anger and rushed to hug Tang Ci tightly¡­

    In fact, Tang Ci¡¯s legs had been cut off in the Nightmare room of J of Clubs. Only Tang Ci knew what had happened at that time and Lu Jiuchuan hadn¡¯t witnessed it. Then the keeper modified the plot in this secret room. Tang Ci¡¯s legs were fine at first before they were cut off by the bugs in front of Lu Jiuchuan.

    Lu Jiuchuan simply didn¡¯t want to recall that scene.

    The unprecedented headache was still clearly in his mind. He watched Tang Ci fall into a pool of blood while the legs that had been cut off below the knees were thrown away by the bugs. His heart felt like it had been crushed and it was hard to breathe.

    He went crazy and picked up a submachine gun to fire ferociously at the bugs!

    The bugs saw the cluster of mes emerging from the barrel and were frightened. Harsh screams rang out through the starship. The bugsing from behind attacked Lu Jiuchuan more madly.

    Arge hole was poked in Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s shoulder by the bugs. Blood flowed like water but he felt no pain at all. He just wanted to kill the bugs and die with them!

    Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t handle so many bugs by himself.

    It wasn¡¯t long before he fell to the ground because he lost too much blood.

    Lu Jiuchuan felt his consciousness gradually bing blurred. He crawled hard and held tightly to the unconscious Tang Ci, choking out the words, ¡°Xiao Tang¡­ I hurt you¡­ but it is nice that I can die with you.¡±

    Before losing consciousnesspletely, he heard a clear song in his ears.

    The sound seemed toe from the distant sky above like it was the sound of Heaven¡­

    Lu Jiuchuan closed his eyes. He drove away the bloody images in his mind and suddenly turned around to hug Tang Ci tightly.

    The team members saw his movement and looked puzzled.

    Tang Ci was the only one who knew why Brother Jiu suddenly hugged himself. He remembered that the moment his legs were cut off and he was about to faint from the pain, a man had rushed over like a crazy beast to hug him. The man growling with pain was thest scene in his memory.

    Lu Jiuchuan must¡¯ve been devastated. It was normal to be emotional when thinking back on that scene.

    Tang Ci reached out to gently touch Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s back andforted him in a soft voice. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Aren¡¯t I standing here well? My legs have been healed. You don¡¯t need to feel sorry for me.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan wasn¡¯t sorry. He just had a heartache.

    He suddenly thought about how difficult it must¡¯ve been for Tang Ci to survive after losing his legs in the Nightmare Room of J of Clubs. At that time, he wasn¡¯t with Tang Ci¡­ it was the greatest regret of his life that he left Tang Ci to face the pain and fear of losing his legs alone.

    Perhaps the keeper deliberately re-yed the scene of Tang Ci losing his legs in order torture Lu Jiuchuan and let him know what a terrible nightmare he had experienced.

    He would rather have his own legs cut off than let Tang Ci suffer that pain again.

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s arms tightened as he held Tang Ci hard. The body temperature of the person in his arms made him feel at ease. It was good that Tang Ci was still around and his legs had recovered. He secretly vowed that even if he fought for his life, he would never let Tang Ci get hurt again.

    Lu Jiuchuan took a deep breath to calm himself down. Then he released Tang Ci and turned to his teammates. ¡°After Xiao Tang fainted, I was hurt fighting the bugs. I lost too much blood and my consciousness gradually blurred. Before I fell unconscious, I heard a strange song. I was dying at the time and thought I was hearing a song from Heaven. Now it seems that song should be real. ¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged looks. Singing?

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Did ite from the people who saved you?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan didn¡¯t know that the bugs were highly intelligent creatures and set fire to many of them. The queen was so angry that she wanted them to die as well. It was impossible for her to let them go that easily.

    The people who showed up at the key moment and saved them were the focus.

    Xiao Lou sorted out the time sequence. ¡°Brother Jiu sent a distress signal to the military headquarters. The nearest army couldn¡¯t have arrived within minutes. Therefore, it isn¡¯t the imperial army who saved you.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan nodded. ¡°The military¡¯s statement was that we were attacked by alien creatures in the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land and received heavy casualties. Passing allies saved us but that definitely isn¡¯t what happened.¡±

    Who saved Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci?

    Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci could only recall these things. They had no memory of what happened after they fell unconscious so Xiao Lou naturally couldn¡¯t know.

    Chu Huaying stood next to the window and looked at the ck underneath. ¡°I¡¯ve been wandering among the stars since I was a child. I heard from my parents that there are bugs in the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land. This shows that it isn¡¯t the first time humans havended on the bug. Do you remember the queen¡¯s warning just now?¡±

    She repeated it. ¡°Invading the home of the bugs and ughtering my children. Haven¡¯t you humans done enough evil over the years?¡±

    Shao Qingge frowned slightly. ¡°The evil done over the years¡­ it seems there were humans who ughtered the bugs before Brother Jiu? During the conversation with the queen just now, I could clearly feel her anger. Her hatred for human beings is very strong. Will the invasion of human cities in 8 of Spades also have something to do with this?¡±

    They had experienced 8 of Spades first but the time flow in the Card World could be adjusted. Perhaps the ughter of bugs by humans led to the bugs retaliating?

    In 8 of Spades, an entire city fell and apart from the dozens of surviving challengers, tens of millions of humans were infected by bugs and became their puppets.

    If 8 of Spades had a logical connection with this secret room then it was likely a retaliatory invasion?

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart became colder the more he thought about it. ¡°Sister Huaying, your starship was made ording to the appearance of the bugs. The predecessors on this starship must¡¯vended on the bug. Why don¡¯t we start the investigation with the other star thieves?¡±

    Chu Huaying simply nodded. ¡°Okay, I will call them all over for an interrogation.¡±

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 428: The Past

    Chu Huaying had lived on the Dark Night starship for 28 years. In her memories, she grew up wandering among the stars with her parents since she was a child. Unfortunately, her parents died early. The Dark Night starship nevernded on the bug while she was there, so she only had half of an understanding of the.

    Chu Huaying gave an order and the more than 30 star thieves on the starship gathered in themand room.

    She started to question them one by one. ¡°Have you ever been to the bug before? How much do you know about this?¡±

    Most of the star thieves only had limited knowledge. They heard from their parents that there were bugs on this but no one knew what type of bugs they were. The scene of the bugs fusing that they had seen just now had made many people pale with fear.

    Yu Hanjiang was more professional at interrogation than Chu Huaying. He wore a mask and stood beside Chu Huaying while carefully observing the expressions and movements of these star thieves. As Chu Huaying interrogated an old man with gray hair, Yu Hanjiang suddenly leaned toward her ear. ¡°The moment this old man heard about the bug, his eyes dodged and his right hand instinctively moved behind his back. He definitely knows something.¡±

    Bodynguage was very important. In many cases, Yu Hanjiang could judge if the suspect was telling the truth or lying based on subtle bodynguage. This was the result of his many years of interrogating criminals.

    Chu Huaying focused on the old man in front of her.

    The old man was over 50 years old and was from the same generation as Chu Huaying¡¯s father. He was responsible for the maintenance of the starship. He usually didn¡¯t show up much but Chu Huaying remembered him.

    She walked up to the other person and said warmly, ¡°Uncle Qin, you watched me grow up. Now I am the captain of the Dark Night starship. I should have the right to know some secrets, right? Otherwise, what if I do something like identally driving the starship to the bug again and end up hurting everyone?¡±

    The old man trembled, gritted his teeth and refused to speak.

    Chu Huaying waved the other star thieves out, then continued. ¡°Just now, the bugs suddenly flew over to attack us. What is the reason? The bug queen asked if us humans haven¡¯t done enough evil over the years. Do you know what she means? Can you tell me?¡±

    The old man was silent for a moment before slowly answering in a hoarse voice, ¡°23 years ago, we were wandering around the stars and inadvertently found there were many precious minerals on the. Wended at a vein and wanted to mine for some minerals to sell, only to be surrounded by curious bugs.¡±

    ¡°We were startled and about to pick up our weapons, only to be stopped by the former captain. The bugs didn¡¯t attack us. They just watched us curiously. The captain said that we only had 30 people and we didn¡¯t know the ability of the bugs. We shouldn¡¯t rush to hurt the native race here. It was best tomunicate and negotiate with them.¡±

    ¡°However, humans and bugs don¡¯t speak the samenguage and we didn¡¯t know how to negotiate. We spoke for a long time but the bugs just curiously surrounded us and didn¡¯t give us any response. This was when the captain thought of approaching the bugs. He happened to have an injury on his hand and the bugs actually crawled along his wound into his body¡­¡±

    Chu Huaying¡¯s expression changed. ¡°And then? He became a bug?¡±

    ¡°No, he conquered the bugs in his body.¡± The old man¡¯s face had an expression of admiration when mentioning the former captain. He coughed before continuing, ¡°It was amazing. The captain gained the ability to understand the bugs. He went to talk to the bug queen and told her that we were just taking some minerals that were worthless to the bugs but very precious to us.¡±

    ¡°Did the queen agree?¡±

    ¡°She agreed.¡± The old man said. ¡°Those minerals were rubbish to the bugs but they could help humans improve the mecha armor. Coincidentally, we happened to carry nts that could help the queen elerate the reproduction of the fungus nket.¡±

    The Dark Night starship did have a greenhouse dedicated to growing vegetables and fruits. After all, star thieves wandered the universe and couldn¡¯t always eatpressed biscuits. The development of science and technology meant that nutrition solutions had be popr. It could elerate the growth of crops and a cabbage could ripen in just a few days.

    Unexpectedly, the nutrient solutions actually also worked for the bugs?

    Xiao Lou suddenly had a bold guess in his heart. ¡°So you reached an agreement with the bug queen. You would provide nutrient solutions for her to reproduce her fungus nket while she would let you mine the minerals on the?¡±

    The old man nced at Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou was wearing a mask and his face couldn¡¯t be seen clearly. Only a pair of ck and clear eyes were seen and his voice was very gentle¡­ the old man didn¡¯t know if he should answer.

    Chu Huaying said indifferently, ¡°They have decided to join the star thieves and they are my people. Uncle Qin, don¡¯t worry and say it.¡±

    The old man nodded. ¡°We were at peace with the bugs on this and designed a new starship based on the shape of the bugs. After that, we mined a lot of minerals to sell and continued to deliver nutrient solutions to the queen to spread the nket all over the entire. Those three years were the best years for our star thieves¡­¡±

    Chu Huaying could guess the next plot. ¡°You sold a lot of precious minerals and the profits made other people jealous. They would definitely wonder about the source of it and find a way to track you?¡±

    Old Qin closed his eyes with pain and clenched his fists. ¡°Yes. During the time when we went to the bug to mine, we were tracked by anti-reconnaissance drones. The hidden resource star was discovered by the Minister of Resources of the Locke Empire. Then he asked the military for help and they sent an army to exterminate the bugs and upy the resource star¡­¡±

    Uncle Qin recalled the scene of that year and trembled all over. He choked up while speaking. ¡°The star thieves had countless deaths and injuries. Finally, only a few people managed to drive the starship to escape, including me and your parents.¡±

    Chu Huaying frowned. ¡°In other words, because the minerals you sold were too precious and the quantity you sold was too high, the imperial army tracked you and found the resource star this way.. They didn¡¯t know the bugs were intelligent creatures and sent troops to destroy them directly.¡±

    Uncle Qin said, ¡°After all, in their eyes, our star thieves should be eliminated and they should monopolize the resources star for huge profits. Of course, they wanted to kill us and the bugs¡­ they just didn¡¯t expect the bugs to be so terrible. They couldn¡¯t eliminate them. On the contrary, the bugs fought hard and almost destroyed all the troops that were sent. Only a few people survived and fled in the fastest S-grade mecha.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Where is your old captain?¡±

    Old Qin was silent for a moment before whispering, ¡°He was captured.¡±

    ¡°In other words, the captain who fused with the bugs was captured by the military and returned to Capital Star?¡±

    ¡°Yes, he developed a strong ability after merging with the bugs. Normally he shouldn¡¯t have been caught so easily but there were too many troops sent. In order to protect us, he piloted his mecha to fight. The elite troops of the empire also had strongbat ability. They directly trapped the captain¡¯s mecha with an electromaic and took him away¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang looked at each other and despite wearing masks, they could both see that the other thought of the same possibility.

    Chu Huaying opened her mouth. ¡°Uncle Qin, if you know something then tell us.¡±

    The old man sighed. ¡°The old captain often chatted with the queen after merging with the bugs so the queen also learned humannguage. When we fled in the starship, I heard her say that humans shouldn¡¯t step foot on the bug ever again or she will kill us one by one. Due to this, we never dared tond on the bug again.¡±

    He looked at Chu Huaying with regret. ¡°If I knew you would run to the bug today, I would¡¯ve stopped it! Huaying, don¡¯t be so impulsive again. The bugs aren¡¯t easy to deal with!¡±

    Chu Huaying nodded. ¡°Thank you, Uncle Qin. I understand. You can go back and rest.¡±

    The old man left and the rest of them took off the masks.

    Everyone¡¯s expression was ugly.

    Ye Qi came to a conclusion. ¡°The star thieves inadvertently found that there were minerals coveted by human beings in the bug territory and negotiated with the bugs for mutual benefit¡­ However, the thieves became greedier and sold more minerals. This attracted the attention of the Ministry of Resources. After a discussion between the Ministry of Resources and the military, they decided to eliminate the star thieves and the bugs in one fell swoop in order to upy the resource star. This triggered the fierce resistance of the bugs and they were defeated in the end. The bugs suffered heavy losses and the bug queen started hating humanity. More than half the star thieves were wounded and killed and the captain was caught. Meanwhile, the army was almost wiped out?¡±

    If the military headquarters had softened their attitude and negotiated with the bug queen then the tragedy wouldn¡¯t have happened.

    However, it was their first time seeing these seemingly ¡®weak¡¯ bugs. Human beings were born as ¡®higher creatures¡¯ and were arrogant. They subconsciously felt, ¡®Aren¡¯t they just low-grade bugs? Fire can burn them and then the will be ours.¡¯

    The facts gave them a headache.

    Ye Qi¡¯s summary made the team members feel heavy, especially Lu Jiuchuan who had suffered the loss. However, this was the plot that the keeper set for him and Tang Ci and it happened before they entered the secret room. If it had been Lu Jiuchuan, he would¡¯ve never acted so rashly.

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly spoke softly, ¡°The captain of the star ship was captured 20 years ago. It was also the year that the Noah¡¯s Ark n restarted.¡±

    In 2977, the star thieves found the bug. They sold minerals and profited for three years.

    In 2980, the star thieves were tracked by the empire and the military carried out a n to destroy the bugs and almost wiped them out. The only gain was the capture of the former captain of the star thieves, who had merged with the bugs.

    In the same year, the Noah¡¯s Ark n was scheduled to restart.

    Could it be a coincidence?

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath. ¡°The first Noah¡¯s Ark n in 2975 failed because there was a problem with the culture medium. The children who were cloned didn¡¯t live long and the experiment was suspended. We¡¯ve been wondering why the program was restarted in 2980. Now it seems that it has to do with the discovery of the bugs!¡±

    The timing was too coincidental!

    That year, humans suffered on the bug and captured the captain of the star thieves who had merged with the bugs. Not long after that, the Noah¡¯s Ark n restarted and they invested 3 billion to study the method of cloning humans again.

    Xiao Lou had long spected that the nned restart was due to a huge upgrade in experimental techniques. Now it seemed they were inspired by the bug¡¯s abilities to replicate cells for healing wounds.

    Yu Hanjiang followed his words and kept specting. ¡°The culture medium that humans use to grow vegetables and fruits can speed up the growth of the fungus nket. Can the genes of the bug race elerate human development?¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°If that is the case, the scientists will definitely experiment on the captured star thief captain. Perhaps they extracted the bug genes from his body and added some of those gene fragments to the gene sequence that replicates human cells?¡±

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and clenched his fists tightly as he shook. ¡°This is why the second experiment was so sessful that the cloned children could grow to the same age as the original body so quickly. It is because crazy scientists hybridized and modified human genes!¡±

    A chill went down the backs of the team members when they heard this.

    What if the genes of the bugs were added to the human gene sequence and mutated? Were they crazy?!

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 429: Gene Fusion

    The current conclusions were based on Xiao Lou¡¯s spection but the team members knew the possibility of this spection being correct was extremely high.

    The time clue waspletely urate.

    The Morse code left by Shao Qingge¡¯s father and the business n for thepany¡¯s investment project that Shao Qingge found clearly showed that the Noah¡¯s Ark project wasunched twice.

    The first time was in 2975 which was the same as Xiao Lou¡¯s birth date. However, all the babies cloned that time died due to defects because of the culture medium and the n was forced to be terminated. The second time was in the year 2980. The cloning project was sessful but there was a problem in the middle, resulting in the elimination of all insiders.

    In the same year, the captain of the Dark Night starship was captured and taken back to the capital. It was the first time the empire¡¯s people discovered the alien bugs.

    They were seemingly weak bugs but they had strong evolutionary and reproductive abilities. The rapid reproduction of the fungus nket gave the scientists new inspiration. They let the cells of the human clones fuse with the genes of the bugs, causing rapid growth. It was even possible to grow from a newborn baby to five years old, which exined why the three Xiao Lous in the pce were the same age.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t believe such a crazy thing. He couldn¡¯t help looking at Xiao Lou and asking in a trembling voice, ¡°They are studying humans like they would nts? How can they fuse the genes from other races into the human cells? Isn¡¯t it like growing gically modified vegetables and hybrid fruits?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face was calm. ¡°There are many examples of nt hybridization, such as thick skinned oranges and the hybrid between a pomelo and mandarin to produce oranges. There is also the orange and citron hybrid to produce lemons¡­ However, these nts have no consciousness or thoughts. The study of new species won¡¯t harm the original species. Meanwhile, researching humans is beyond the scope of scientific ethics! No one can be sure if variations or difficult to treat gic diseases will emerge when bug and human genes are mixed!¡±

    Human beings had been researching for so many years and gene sequencing had long been carried out. Then why had the scientists never modified and fused human genes? Was it because they didn¡¯t have the ability?

    No, they just didn¡¯t dare to be the sinner of the era.

    Many family inherited diseases came from genes. Who knew what consequences there would be from modifying genes at will? What if the gically modified peoplebined with normal humans and gave birth to an offspring with serious gic diseases? Once this type of defective gene entered human society, it might even deal a devastating blow to humanity!

    Let alone the fusion of alien genes into a human body.

    Once this precedent was set, wasn¡¯t it possible for future scientists to edit the genes of birds or beasts at will into human cells to create all types of weird clones? What exactly would the experimental products produced be? A human-bird hybrid? A human and cat? Perhaps even a human and pig?

    The reason why nature had ¡®reproductive istion¡¯ and made it so that different species couldn¡¯t reproduce with each other was in order to preserve the uniqueness of each species. Once this naturalw was broken, humans would no longer be humans.

    Xiao Lou thought about how there might be bug genes in his body and felt all the hairs on his body standing up. He closed his eyes and forced himself to calm down. Then he looked over at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°My guess is that after capturing the captain, they found that the captain¡¯s climbing and jumping ability had improved beyond human limits. He could even heal from injuries. They felt that it would be good if human beings had this ability so they took the captain¡¯s genes and studied them.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded in agreement. ¡°Yes, in their eyes, the captain is simr to Superman. Taking his genes for research is indeed in line with the style of mad scientists.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°So there are likely to be bug genes in my body?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang gently pressed a hand to his shoulder and answered in a gentle voice, ¡°Don¡¯t care about this. You are you. Your identity, experience and even your genes in this secret room are set by the keepers. We will eventually leave this room.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°I understand. I just want to give it a try. If I have the bug genes, have I inherited some of their great abilities?¡± He walked to Chu Huaying. ¡°Huaying, let me borrow your dagger.¡±

    Although Chu Huaying didn¡¯t know what he was going to do, she still handed him the dagger.

    Xiao Lou grabbed the dagger and pointed it at his left arm. He didn¡¯t hesitate to cut himself in a simple and neat action!

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression changed and he immediately stepped forward to grab Xiao Lou¡¯s wrist. ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    Xiao Lou observed the blood on his arm. The moment the dagger cut him, he clearly felt pain. Blood flowed from the wound to the ground and there were no signs of healing.

    Only then did Yu Hanjiang understand. Xiao Lou actually used this method to test whether he had the healing ability?

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart felt slightly pained seeing Xiao Lou cut himself and he nced at Shao Qingge. ¡°Help.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled and walked over to Xiao Lou. ¡°You obviously haven¡¯t inherited the bugs¡¯ healing ability. I guess it depends on me.¡± He ced his finger gently on Xiao Lou¡¯s wound.

    The wound was very shallow so it was easy for the bugs to heal it. The scratch on Xiao Lou¡¯s arm healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. The skin that grew back was smooth and delicate. There were no visible scars at all.

    Xiao Lou looked at the healed wound and thought about it. ¡°Is it because the captain didn¡¯t evolve enough to gain the ability to heal wounds? Or did the bug genes mutate after fusing with human genes and it didn¡¯t allow humans to inherit this ability?¡±

    Chu Huaying frowned. ¡°Based on what Uncle Qin said, the former captain evolved enough to negotiate with the bug queen. His level shouldn¡¯t be low. Perhaps it is the second case and humans can¡¯t inherit this ability.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang opened his mouth. ¡°There is another possibility.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked back at him.

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes were gentle and he enunciated every word. ¡°You aren¡¯t a clone.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This sentence caused everyone to be stunned. The conclusion that Xiao Lou was a clone had been reasoned out not long ago. As a result, Yu Hanjiang now denied this reasoning?

    Of course, there had been many times before in previous secret rooms where their reasoning was wrong.

    The key reason why they spected that Xiao Lou was the clone was that he didn¡¯t attend the crown prince¡¯s engagement banquet, nor did he attend the key birthday banquet. He had been hidden by the emperor in the Twin Pces all the time¡­

    However, this wasn¡¯t based on anything. The emperor was probably the only one who knew if Xiao Lou was a clone or not.

    Perhaps the princess would know something?

    Xiao Lou thought of this and said, ¡°We should consider the next n. Do you want to go to Azure to find my sister?¡±

    At that time, they boarded Chu Huaying¡¯s spaceship and temporarily decided to go to Hilt No Man¡¯s Land. There were two reasons for it. One was to let Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci recall their lost memories. The other reason was to try and find the whereabouts of Liu Qiao and the others along the way.

    Their first goal had been achieved but Liu Qiao¡¯s group was still missing.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Azure is inhabited by humans and your sister moved there after getting married. Perhaps Liu Qiao¡¯s group is also on that. In any case, we have nowhere else to go now. We might as well go to Azure.¡±

    There was no objection to this decision.

    However, Chu Huaying was on the wanted cklist of all nations in the federation and couldn¡¯t directly enter the space station of Azure. Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang, Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci had secretly escaped from Capital Star. They didn¡¯t apply for a permit and couldn¡¯t enter the.

    Fortunately, there were no restrictions on cards here and there were plenty of ways to do it.

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Chief Shao and Ye Qi will go to Azure and then use the Peach Blossom Spring to transport us over.¡±

    Chu Huaying added, ¡°I will use the starship to send you to the space station. I won¡¯t go with you. It is better for me to stay on the starship. This way, I can provide you with transportation anywhere you want to go and it is more convenient to move.¡±

    She was now the leader of the star thieves. It was indeed inconvenient for her to go to Azure. It would be more dangerous if she was caught. It was better for her to stay freely on the starship and continue as a star thief.

    Xiao Lou agreed with her. ¡°Yes, you have to be safe.¡±

    Chu Huaying nodded. She walked to the console and pressed a few buttons. The Dark Night starship glided across the night sky like a meteor. It soon left the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land and took a shortcut to Azure.

    ***

    After several hours, a blue water-covered appeared in everyone¡¯s vision.

    Xiao Lou opened the navigation and pointed to Azure. ¡°This is the human settlement in the Aquarius Star Field. This is upied by the nation called the Azure Empire and they have always had a close rtion to the Locke Empire. 20 years ago, my sister married a prince of this empire and now she is a princess of the Azure Empire.¡±

    Ye Qi asked curiously, ¡°How much older is your sister than you?¡±

    Xiao Lou had a very vague impression of his sister. He thought about it before answering, ¡°When I was 5 years old, she just got married and should have been 20 years old. She is 15 years older than me.¡±

    Ye Qi scratched his head. ¡°It is strange. The emperor and empress gave birth to Princess Xiao Rou and then didn¡¯t give birth for the next 15 years?¡±

    Xiao Lou was slightly startled when he heard this. ¡°I had a brother who was one year older than me but heter died. I heard the emperor say that my brother was poisoned.¡±

    Ye Qi murmured, ¡°In other words, they gave birth to Princess Xiao Rou and almost 13 years passed before they gave birth to your brother. Then your brother was poisoned by an assassin and they gave birth to you the next year?¡±

    The more they heard, the stranger they felt.

    Under normal circumstances, if the couple was in harmony then the time interval for giving birth would be mostly controlled within 2 to 3 years. If women gave birth naturally, it was almost normal for two children to have an interval of one year. Today¡¯s fertility technology should be much higher than it was in the past and the risk when having children was very small. How could the emperor and empress not have had children for 13 years?

    How could a princess be 14 or 15 years older than her younger brother?

    Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t thought about this detail before. Now that Ye Qi reminded him, he also felt the situation wasn¡¯t right. Perhaps the emperorunched the cloning program due to this matter? What if the emperor or empress had a gic defect that caused their children to die? Did his older brother die from a gic disease rather than an assassination?

    Perhaps the emperor wanted to clone the prince because he wanted to transform the genes of his offspring?

    Xiao Lou lightly pressed a hand to his temples. He couldn¡¯t understand why the emperor had done such a thing but Xiao Rou must know something. Perhaps a lot of the mysteries could be unraveled after seeing his sister.

 Chapter 430: Azure Planet

    Chu Huaying¡¯s starship sailed much faster than the average passenger starship. By the time they arrived at Azure, the passenger starship that Shao Qingge and Ye Qi had been on was still three hours away from the terminal.

    Shao Qingge and Ye Qi had their ticket purchase records. In order to pass through the security check and enter Azure, they would have to have valid proof, the security personnel would definitely check the information of the spacecraft they were riding. It would arouse suspicion if they arrived too early.

    Chu Huaying flew the starship to a hidden corner and waited for the passenger starship.

    In these three hours, they took a break, ate something and organized their ideas.

    Yu Hanjiang briefly summarized the current clues. ¡°The first area of doubt is who saved Brother Jiu and Mr Tang on the bug and why did they lose part of their memory? Secondly, why did the emperor restart the Noah¡¯s Ark project and why did he kill all the insiders that year?¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°Third, am I a clone? What is the emperor nning by having so many clones in the pce? Also, who sent the invisible assassin who snuck into the Twin Pces on my birthday? What did he mean by ¡®the one who lives to the end is the winner¡¯?¡±

    Once all the doubts were exined and the truth was revealed, the fundamental problem of this secret room should be solved.

    As for clearing the instance¡­

    Ye Qi made a guess. ¡°Is it necessary for us to expose the conspiracy of that year, solve the problem of the remaining cloning program, take out the emperor and support Professor Xiao to take the throne?¡±

    After all, Xiao Lou¡¯s identity was the emperor¡¯s son and there were at least two clones of him in the pce.

    This sensitive identity wouldn¡¯t allow him to use ¡®retreating¡¯ to clear the instance. He would either be killed by the other princes and be a victim of the struggle or he would take the throne himself. It was impossible for another Xiao Lou to leave him alive.

    Therefore, Ye Qi¡¯s spection was actually very reasonable.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s status was noble but this identity would also bring him danger.

    Lu Jiuchuan held his pained head. ¡°Do we have to lead troops to war?¡±

    Tang Ci said calmly, ¡°Now that we have fled from Capital Star, we should be prepared for the worst when we go back.¡±

    Everyone was silent.

    This time, the keepers didn¡¯t point out a clear way to clear the secret room. Now that everyone was in a difficult situation, they had to first investigate the matter of the clones while protecting Xiao Lou who had a special status.

    Three hours passed quickly and a passenger starship appeared in the radar surveince area of Chu Huaying¡¯s starship.

    It was the one that Shao Qingge and Ye Qi had previously been on.

    Chu Huaying looked at Shao Qingge and advised him, ¡°My starship can¡¯tnd at the space station. Wait for the passenger starship tond before sneaking over with the teleportation card. Mix in with the other passengers to get through the security passage.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°I understand.¡±

    Ye Qi joked, ¡°What if the passengers recognize us? The two of us were captured by the star thieves. Who would expect us to suddenly reappear here?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled slightly and took out a pair of sunsses from his pocket, putting them on Ye Qi¡¯s face. ¡°This way, no one will recognize us.¡± As he put on the sunsses, his fingers inadvertently slipped over Ye Qi¡¯s cheek. Ye Qi felt the ce that was touched be slightly hot and couldn¡¯t help whispering, ¡°I¡¯m not a child. I can put it on myself.¡±

    ¡°Your father will put it on for you.¡± Shao Qingge said with a smile. ¡°When you were a child, I even bathed with you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± Ye Qi¡¯s face was red. ¡°Shut up!¡±

    Chief Shao bullied Ye Qi daily and the team members were long used to it.

    Xiao Lou walked over and handed the Tao Yuanming card to Shao Qingge. ¡°The Peach Blossom skill is on cool down and can¡¯t be used again until midnight tonight. Chief Shao, after you arrive in the Azure Empire, settle down in the hotel first. Investigate the surrounding environment and make sure it is safe. Then pull us over the moment it is midnight.¡±

    Shao Qingge took the card. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    The passenger starshipnded at the space station. Chu Huaying drove a small mecha to send Shao Qingge and Ye Qi to the vicinity of the space station. As the starship stopped on the tarmac and the passengers got off one after another, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi used the teleportation card to get to the end of the line.

    The passengers in the back felt a gust of wind blowing. They looked back and saw two men, one tall and one short, standing in the line wearing sunsses. The young man in front smiled, revealing two cute dimples.

    At the security checkpoint, the staff checked the permit information, ferry ticket and identity of the people going through. There were no problems and they were soon released.

    Shao Qingge and Ye Qi sessfully entered the Azure Empire.

    Shao Qingge had booked a hotel online before he left. He had booked the luxurious presidential suite of the local five-star Ferris Wheel hotel. There were three bedrooms and it was convenient for the team members to live there together.

    Shao Qingge called a suspension car and took Ye Qi to the hotel to check in.

    The entire hotel was like a giant Ferris wheel and all the rooms were like balls floating in the air. Shao Qingge and Ye Qi took the hotel¡¯s special elevator to the highest ball and opened the door to enter.

    The suite was very spacious, fully furnished and luxuriously decorated, but its prime asset was that it had an extremely wide view.

    Ye Qi stood in front of the floor to ceiling windows and sighed emotionally. ¡°It is a sky room and we can see the stars from the transparent skylight on the roof. If we stand in the living room, we can see the night view of the entire city¡­¡± Shao Qingge thought he would praise the room. As a result, Ye Qi¡¯s words changed. ¡°What about those with a fear of heights?¡±

    Shao Qingge walked up to him and spoke helplessly, ¡°Your ideas are always on a different path.¡±

    Ye Qi smiled and carefully observed the city under his feet. ¡°It is as prosperous as the capital of the Locke Empire. However, there are more aerial buildings here. Most of the surface is painted blue and white and it is very clean.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°Yes, the pce should be in that direction.¡±

    He pointed his finger to the distant sky.

    The pce of the Azure Empire was also a building floating in the sky. Generally, people of this empire believed that the higher they lived, the more noble they were. The pce was located at the highest point in the entire city. It definitely wasn¡¯t easy if someone wanted to sneak into the pce. A mecha would probably be destroyed by the pce defense forces before even approaching.

    Ye Qi looked at the time on the electronic clock and suggested, ¡°It is still half an hour until midnight. Do you want to take a bath first?¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Are you concerned about me?¡±

    Ye Qi moved his eyes away in an embarrassed manner and his voice was very light, ¡°Your wounds might¡¯ve healed and you changed into clean clothes but you did fight a long time with the bugs¡­ it would be nice for you to take a bath.¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s lips curved up lightly. ¡°Do you want to wash up with your father?¡±

    Ye Qi blushed. ¡°What are you talking about? I¡¯m not a kid!¡±

    Shao Qinggeughed and jokingly whispered in Ye Qi¡¯s ear, ¡°Then we¡¯ll talk about itter.¡±

    Ye Qi was stunned as he watched the back of the man leaving. His heart was beating as fast as a drum. He touched his hot face and felt that he wasn¡¯t in the right mood today. It might be because he saw Shao Qingge¡¯s bloody battle which reminded him of Shao Qingge blocking the blow for him in 8 of Spades¡­

    In fact, ignoring Shao Qingge¡¯s love of teasing him, Shao Qingge had always been very good to him.

    He even rescued Ye Qi more than once in critical moments.

    Ye Qi¡¯s mind was a mess so he turned on hismunicator and searched for thetest news of the Azure Empire to divert his attention.

    Suddenly, his eyes were fixed on a headline.

    [The princess of the Azure Empire will host a grand charity dinner in two day¡¯s time.]

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes brightened. Wasn¡¯t the princess Xiao Lou¡¯s sister?

    It was after midnight when Shao Qingge came out of the bath. Ye Qi hurriedly said, ¡°Quickly call Professor Xiao and the others. I have an important discovery!¡±

    Tao Yuanming appeared in the room and opened the Peach Blossom Spring.

    The four people who had been waiting were pulled into the Peach Blossom Spring by Shao Qingge.

    They exited the Peach Blossom Spring and found themselves in the presidential suite of the Ferris Wheel hotel booked by Shao Qingge.

    Lu Jiuchuan couldn¡¯t help eximing, ¡°Xiao Lou¡¯s cards might have no offensive power but they are really useful. There is group teleportation. No matter whether we are escaping or travelling, it is as convenient as opening a space-time portal.¡±

    If his original team had Xiao Lou then perhaps they could¡¯ve passed through J of Clubs.

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s expression darkened as he thought of his sacrificed teammates and he changed the subject. ¡°We have secretly escaped. How can we see Xiao Rou? It isn¡¯t appropriate to directly break into the pce, right?¡±

    Ye Qi erged the holographic screen of hismunicator in front of everyone and spoke excitedly, ¡°Look at this! In two days, the princess will host a charity dinner at the sail-shaped hotel of the Azure Empire.¡±

    Ye Qi had checked the princess¡¯ information while Shao Qingge was washing up.

    Xiao Lou leaned over to take a look and couldn¡¯t help smiling. ¡°Xiao Ye, you did well. We can start from the charity dinner and find a way to enter to see my sister.¡±

    Xiao Rou had been doing charity work for the past few years. She held charity dinners every year. The wealthy businessmen of the empire gave her face by attending. All the money obtained from auctioning jewelry would be donated to orphanages.

    Lu Jiuchuan touched his chin. ¡°How can we get in? Should I pretend to be a security guard with Hanjiang?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°We can refer tost time and use the Mask card to disguise as guards.¡±

    Shao Qingge had just washed up. He heard up to here and narrowed his eyes. ¡°Have you forgotten a card?¡±

    Xiao Lou reacted first. ¡°The sapphire ne that was drawn from the 10th level?¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°Yes, I got this ne and thought it was quite useless at the time. After all, we aren¡¯t short of money. Now it cane in handy. If I remember correctly, this ne can also increase favorability.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Yes! If we give the sapphire ne to Xiao Rou then she must really like it. Maybe after increasing the favorability, she will stand on our side?¡±

    Shao Qingge said, ¡°I am a businessman from the Locke Empire and I have always admired the princess of our empire. I heard she was holding a charity dinner and decided to give her a piece of jewelry. Isn¡¯t this reasonable?¡±

    The teammates exchanged looks and thought it was a good idea.

    The sapphire ne was an S-grade card drawn by Chief Shao after passing the 10th level. It was absolutely valuable after it became a real object. If they thought of the characters in the secret rooms as NPCs with awareness and emotions, perhaps the NPC would really help them after they gave a gift to increase favorability?

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 431: Charity Dinner

    Tang Ci soon found out the time, ce and guest list of the charity dinner.

    The dinner was a charity dinner hosted by Xiao Rou in her own name. All the guests were well-known local businessmen. Not many government officials wereing and her husband, Prince Herman also wouldn¡¯t attend. Even so, she was a princess and the security at the dinner would still be very strict. The Azure Empire had royal guards and it wouldn¡¯t be easy to get close to the princess.

    Xiao Lou was worried. ¡°Even if Chief Shao wants to give the sapphire ne, he has to find an intermediary to introduce him. Otherwise, the princess won¡¯t meet an unknown businessman rashly.¡±

    This wasn¡¯t a problem for Shao Qingge. He thought carefully and remembered a name. ¡°Mypany has a long-term cooperation with a pharmaceuticalpany here. Their boss is Kevin Roman.¡±

    Tang Ci looked over the list of people invited to the charity dinner. ¡°It just so happens that Kevin Roman is going to attend this dinner. Chief Shao can try and ask him for an introduction.¡±

    Shao Qingge said, ¡°It should be fine. In my memory, I have worked with him for many years. He is an old friend. I¡¯ll contact him early tomorrow morning.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan opened his mouth. ¡°There are two ways for us to enter the dinner. One is to pretend to be a security guard for the charity dinner. The other is to rece a rich businessman attending the dinner.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang seriously said, ¡°Previously, at Xiao Lou¡¯s birthday party, I could pretend to be a guard because I was the captain of the guards. I knew the detailed arrangement of the guard team and understood enough about the people under me. Now we are in the Azure Empire and we don¡¯t know any of the guards in charge of protecting the princess, much less their habits. If we just impersonate them with the mask, we might be caught instantly.¡±

    The rules of each nation¡¯s guards were different. Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t know this ce at all. If he rashly pretended to be a guard of the princess then it would be a careless move.

    Lu Jiuchuan touched his chin. ¡°So it is easier to pretend to be a rich businessman?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Yu Hanjiang went forward and looked at the list found by Tang Ci. ¡°We have to find a rich man who isn¡¯t bringing a close family member and who hasn¡¯t met the princess many times. This way, we won¡¯t be easily found out.¡±

    Tang Ci screened through it and suddenly said, ¡°What a coincidence. There happens to be one in the Ferris Wheel hotel.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Just choose him. I will pretend to be him.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought carefully. ¡°Not all of us can go to the banquet. It is better for someone to stay behind.¡±

    If they all went and were destroyed, there really was no way out.

    Tang Ci volunteered. ¡°I¡¯ll stay.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan wasn¡¯t reassured about Tang Ci and decisively said, ¡°I¡¯ll stay with you. Before the dinner, we will open the Peach Blossom Spring in the hotel. If the situation goes wrong then we will directly pull everyone over.¡± He looked at his brother. ¡°Hanjiang, take Xiao Lou with you and protect His Highness.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°I know.¡±

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°How about this? We will first control the rich man in the Ferris Wheel hotel. Hanjiang will pretend to be him and I will pretend to be the rich man¡¯s assistant. We will sneak into the dinner together. Chief Shao and Ye Qi will explore the princess¡¯ attitude. Then I will meet her.¡±

    The group had no objection to this decision.

    The next morning, Shao Qingge changed his clothes and set out to visit Kevin Roman with Ye Qi.

    He and Kevin had worked together for many years. In his memory, he met this person every year and knew him as a good business partner. After hearing that Shao Qingge and his son were travelling to Azure, Kevin warmly greeted them and entertained them in his private manor.

    He was a man with blond hair and blue eyes that were like the deep ocean. He wore a white shirt and satzily on the sofa while joking, ¡°Mr Shao, it is rare to see youe out with your son.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled and said, ¡°The child has grown up so it is necessary to take him out and see the world.¡±

    Ye Qi was ufortable listening to the tone of an ¡®old father¡¯ from Shao Qingge. He had to say, ¡°Hello, Uncle.¡±

    Kevin nodded at him and looked at Shao Qingge. ¡°Did youe here this time just because you are taking your son to travel?¡±

    Shao Qingge spoke bluntly, ¡°In fact, I wanted to take this opportunity to visit the princess. As you know, the princess is from our Locke Empire. She seldom returned home after marrying Prince Herman many years ago. My father had some connections with the princess. Just a while ago, I happened to get a very precious sapphire ne by chance. I heard that the princess likes all types of jewelry. I want to give this ne to her.¡±

    Kevin was slightly stunned. ¡°The princess has a noble status. What jewelry hasn¡¯t she seen before? Is the ne that amazing?¡±

    Shao Qingge took out the ne and showed it to him.

    A heart-shaped natural sapphire surrounded by a circle of diamonds glowed brightly in the light.

    Sapphires in this world were a rare jewel, let alone such arge, pure and natural heart-shaped sapphire. The color was extremely pure and it was indeed rare.

    Shao Qingge closed the jewelry box and smiled. ¡°You should be more familiar with the princess. Can you help introduce me? I would like to visit the princess of our empire.¡±

    Kevin readily agreed. ¡°Okay, I will put you in touch.¡±

    Shao Qingge suggested, ¡°I heard there will be a charity dinner tomorrow evening. Why don¡¯t you take me to meet her then?¡±

    Kevin hesitated. ¡°Tomorrow¡¯s dinner is privately hosted by the princess and people without an invitation can¡¯t go in. The pce is no longer issuing invitations¡­ Why don¡¯t you go in with me and I¡¯ll find a chance to introduce you to the princess?¡±

    Shao Qingge naturally agreed. He raised his ss and said, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    The two of them had a ss of red wine before Kevin had the chef serve the food.

    The business cooperation between the Shao family and the Roman family had started from their father¡¯s generation and hadsted over 30 years. Shao Qingge wanted to ask the other person if he knew about the Noah¡¯s Ark n. However, if Kevin was an insider then this inquiry was likely to alert the enemy. He had to restrain the impulse and instead chatted with Kevin about some recent cooperation projects.

    After dinner, Shao Qingge returned to the hotel with Ye Qi.

    He took out the Rich and Willful card and copied the sapphire ne.

    This ne was worth a lot of money, whether it was given away or auctioned off. Unfortunately, it was a consumable card and was gone once it was given away. He would copy it so if necessary it could still be used again in the future.

    Then he copied the Mask card from Lu Jiuchuan.

    This card was simr to Liu Qiao¡¯s Twin card, except that Liu Qiao¡¯s card allowed her to transform into any creature she had seen within 30 minutes, including humans, nts and animals. Meanwhile, ¡°Fake Face¡± only allowed them to transform themselves into the appearance of a human being. The user could change the face like when ying games and the appearance could be changed arbitrarily.

    Immediately after, Xiao Lou had Ye Qi take out the Bug card and hand it to Tang Ci. ¡°Mr Tang, can this bug be ced on the sapphire ne?¡±

    Tang Ci took Shao Qingge¡¯s sapphire ne. He carefully observed it for a while before stuffing the bug into the middle of a few diamonds at the back of the gemstone ne. The diamonds blocked the appearance of the bug and it wasn¡¯t obvious from the surface that there was a problem with this ne.

    After making these preparations, Tang Ci invaded the Ferris Wheel hotel¡¯s system and disrupted the monitoring on the top floor. Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan pretended to be waiters and knocked on the door of VIP room 11 of the Ferris Wheel hotel.

    Zhou Sheng, the rich man who had just taken a shower, looked into the peephole and wondered, ¡°Waiters? I didn¡¯t call for service, did I?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang, who was dressed as a waiter in a ck vest and bowtie, spoke respectfully. ¡°Sir, this is a gift presented by the hotel to guests of VIP suites. It is a fruit tter and a bottle of red wine. I wish you a happy stay at the hotel.¡±

    The hotel often gave gifts when he stayed here in the past. Zhou Sheng opened the door without any doubts.

    Yu Hanjiang pushed the cart into the room. The moment he turned around, his left hand suddenly lifted, aimed at Zhou Sheng¡¯s neck and sharply fell.

    Before the man had time to react, he was knocked out.

    Lu Jiuchuan gave his brother a thumbs up. Then he quickly walked into the room and tied Zhou Sheng up. Yu Hanjiang disguised himself as Zhou Sheng using the Fake Face card and he unlocked themunicator with Zhou Sheng¡¯s fingerprint. He found the assistant¡¯s information and sent a message to the assistant. ¡°You don¡¯t have toe tomorrow. I will give you three days off.¡±

    The assistant asked doubtfully, ¡°President Zhou? I don¡¯t have to apany you to the dinner party?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang quickly typed. ¡°No, I have my own arrangements.¡±

    The assistant had to reply, ¡°I understand.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Lu Jiuchuan. Lu Jiuchuan carried President Zhou back to their suite, threw him into a spare room, tied him up and joked, ¡°It is getting easier for us to do bad things. It only took five minutes to kidnap a person.¡±

    Tang Ci blocked the hotel¡¯s surveince while Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan teamed up to take the person away. They were more professional than many kidnappers.

    Xiao Lou felt helpless. ¡°This is also ast resort. Brother Jiu, take good care of this President Zhou.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang showed the assistant¡¯s photo to Xiao Lou. ¡°Tomorrow, you will dress up as the assistant and we will go to the charity dinner.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and took the other Fake Face card copied by Shao Qingge.

    At midnight, the card skills refreshed.

    Xiao Lou and Ye Qi linked to each other with Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. The other one was used to establish a connection between Shao Qingge and Lu Jiuchuan. This way, they could evacuate on the spot if there was an ident.

    After finishing all the preparations, everyone slept and refreshed themselves.

    The next evening, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi set off to meet Kevin. Meanwhile, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou pretended to be the rich businessman Zhou Sheng and his assistant and headed to the Royal Double Sails Hotel where Xiao Rou was hosting the charity dinner.

    This hotel was a royal seven star hotel that was shaped like a sailboat.

    The royal guards surrounded the entire hotel in an imprable manner. Prince Herman attached great importance to the safety of the princess.

    At 6 p.m., the guests entered the hotel in twos and threes. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou walked to the door and showed the invitation letter they found from President Zhou. Once the invitation letter was checked and their identities confirmed, they were allowed to enter the scene.

    The long red carpet stretched all the way from the entrance of the banquet hall.

    The guests attending the dinner were all dressed up, especially the women. Each one had exquisite makeup and was holding a beautiful clutch. They wore dazzling evening dresses of various colors like hundreds of flowers.

    There were many female guests today. Many of them were the princess¡¯ friends while others were wealthydies invited to participate. After all, the theme of the charity dinner was the auctioning of the jewelry. Women were far more interested in jewelry than men.

    The boss and assistant Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were disguised as both wore suits and looked unremarkable in the crowd.

    The two of them entered the hall and found a corner to minimize their sense of presence.

    They soon saw Chief Shao and Ye Qi entering with Kevin.

    Ye Qi wore a white suit that Shao Qingge had bought him to wear temporarily for this event. His figure was short and he had a baby face. He didn¡¯t look mature when wearing a suit. On the contrary, he gave off a youthful feeling. In particr, he was like a clear stream at the banquet filled with bald and big-bellied middle-aged rich men.

    Many girls cast curious nces at Ye Qi. Ye Qi¡¯s ears turned red and he followed Shao Qingge like an obedient little duckling. Shao Qingge was used to these types of asions. At Kevin¡¯s introduction, he quickly met a few wealthy businessmen and smiled at these people.

    At 7 o¡¯clock, the banquet officially began.

    Xiao Rou came to the start of the red carpet.

    A few maids and guards followed her as her entourage. She was a woman who looked to be in her 30s with fair and delicate skin and exquisite features. Her hair was arranged in an elegant bun and she wore a light gold fishtail dress. There were a few pieces of jewelry on her body and she gave off an elegant and luxurious air.

    Xiao Lou stared at her and some messy images shed through his mind.

    He suddenly remembered that his mother seemed to look like this?

    His older sister looked like his dead mother.

    Everyone around him was bowing. Xiao Lou hurriedly lowered his head and buried his face in the crowd.

    He had disguised himself with the Fake Face card and his sister had married when he was 5 years old. The woman in front of him was very different from the girl in his memory who was getting married. If they met on the road then he might not recognize her.

    The strange thing was that the moment he saw this woman, he inexplicably felt a sense of intimacy in his heart. They seemed to have known each other for a long time and were very close family members.

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 432: Charity Dinner

    The charity dinner soon began.

    Xiao Rou picked up the microphone and smiled as she said the opening speech. ¡°Thank you to all the guests attending tonight¡¯s charity dinner. Over the years, the charity foundation I established has helped tens of thousands of homeless orphans. It isn¡¯t my contribution alone but the result of everyone working together. I¡¯m d to see that everyone is keeping this kindness to help others.¡±

    ¡°Tonight, I took out some jewelry for a public auction. The proceeds of the auction will be donated to poverty-stricken areas to build free schools. I have always believed that children are the future of the empire. We should treat them kindly and help them grow as much as possible¡­¡±

    The princess had persisted in doing charity over the years and helped many orphans who had lost their parents. Her evaluation was very good among the people. Her brief speech also resulted in warm apuse from the audience.

    The auction officially began.

    There was no need to mention if the jewelry taken out by the princess was good or bad. Just thememorative significance was enough to double their value. The on-side bidding continued to rise and an ordinary ruby bracelet even sold for 30 million star coins.

    Of course, the princess promised that all the money from the auction would be donated to schools so these high bids could be regarded as indirect phnthropy contributions. There was such a good performance opportunity and many rich businessmen wouldn¡¯t let it go.

    It continued until 8 o¡¯clock and there was only thest diamond ne left for the auction.

    The auctioneer smiled and said, ¡°This is a diamond ne. It is starting at 8 million star coins.¡±

    There were constant bids and the price quickly broke through 10 million.

    ¡°10 million!¡±

    ¡°15 million!¡±

    ¡°20 million!¡±

    The bidding cards rose one after another. By the time the bidding reached 30 million, there were obviously fewer bidders.

    After all, the value of this ne itself wasn¡¯t worth so much. There still needed to be a sense of measure when doing charity. The money of the rich didn¡¯te from the sky. They always had to consider it when donating tens of millions at will.

    The auctioneer repeated, ¡°30 million going once, 30 million¡­¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled and held up the auction card.

    The auctioneer was stunned and excitedly eximed, ¡°This gentleman has bid 50 million!¡±

    The guests at the scene looked back at him in shock.

    The man holding up the bidding sign was slender and handsome. His chestnut- colored hair was simply tied back in a short ponytail behind his head. This hairstyle set off his face. It didn¡¯t make him look silly but instead gave him a romantic and uninhibited temperament. He narrowed his eyes and gave a smile that wasn¡¯t a smile. This was particrly attractive.

    Many youngdies at the scene blushed and their hearts throbbed as they whispered, ¡°Who is this person? He looks really handsome?¡±

    ¡±I haven¡¯t seen him before¡­¡±

    ¡±The princess has hosted charity dinners before but he seems to have never attended?¡±

    ¡±He was brought by Kevin. He is so rich!¡±

    Chief Shao was rich and spent money willfully.

    Ye Qi saw him casually raising the 50 million auction card and felt pained.

    Of course, the total savings in Chief Shao¡¯s ount was far more than this number. It made sense for him to buy the diamond ne at a high price in order to get close to Princess Xiao Rou. In any case, Chief Shao would always spend money as long as he went out. He needed 5 million to use a skill. Let¡¯s just consider it as him using a skill 10 times.

    The auctioneer had a smile on his face and he immediately said, ¡°50 million going once, 50 million going twice, 50 million going three times¡ªsold! Thank you to this gentleman for his support of the charity foundation!¡±

    There was a round of apuse. Many people were wondering, ¡®Who is this handsome and rich strange man?¡¯

    The auction finished and it was time for the buffet dinner. Kevin took Shao Qingge to find the princess in the meeting room.

    The princess smiled. ¡°I don¡¯t seem to have met this gentleman before?¡±

    Kevin graciously introduced them. ¡°Princess, this is Shao Qingge, the boss of the Locke Empire¡¯s Noah Medical Technologypany. This is Shao Qingge¡¯s son, Shao Yeqi. The father and son have traveled to the Azure Empire and wanted to visit you. I took the initiative to bring them to the charity dinner. I hope you aren¡¯t offended.¡±

    Xiao Rou heard ¡®Noah Medical Technology¡¯ and her fingers suddenly clenched. Then they rxed.

    The expression on her face remained unchanged and she maintained her smile. After listening to Kevin¡¯s introduction, she extended her hand. ¡°It turns out that you are President Shao. Thank you for paying a high price for the diamond ne to support our charity foundation.¡±

    Shao Qingge politely shook hands with the princess. ¡°You are wee. I¡¯ve heard of you since I was young. Unfortunately, I haven¡¯t had an opportunity to meet you since you got married 20 years ago. It is an honor to meet you today.¡±

    He took out the prepared sapphire ne jewelry box and handed it to Xiao Rou. ¡°I heard that the princess likes all types of jewelry. I recently happened to collect a sapphire ne. It is a meeting gift and I hope you like it.¡±

    Xiao Rou saw him open the jewelry box. The ne lying on the ck velvet was extremely exquisite. The pure natural sapphire was the most beautiful one she had ever seen in her life. A trace of amazement shed in Xiao Rou¡¯s eyes. ¡°This meeting gift from President Shao is too valuable.¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s voice was gentle. ¡°Expensive jewelry onlyplements a beautiful woman with an outstanding temperament.¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Chief Shao¡¯s ability for exaggerated praise was really great. ttery came easily.

    It wasn¡¯t known if the effect of increasing favorability yed a role but Xiao Rou¡¯s eyes obviously softened after receiving the jewelry. She looked at Kevin and said, ¡°Mr Roman, you go ahead first. I want to talk to President Shao alone.¡±

    Kevin stepped back with interest.

    Then Xiao Rou looked at Shao Qingge and asked, ¡°President Shao, my father¡­ is he okay?¡±

    Shao Qingge answered, ¡°His Majesty is in good health and spirits.¡±

    She was silent for a moment before asking softly, ¡°What about my brother Xiao Lou? I heard that my father held a birthday banquet for him a few days ago. I couldn¡¯t go to congratte him personally because of the long journey.¡±

    ¡°His Highness is very well. I also attended his birthday banquet. By the way, I happen to have a video of the banquet. I don¡¯t know if you are interested in it?¡±

    Xiao Rou¡¯s eyes shed with excitement but she soon calmed down. ¡°Show me.¡±

    Shao Qingge opened the video on themunicator.

    In fact, this was a scene that Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou had recorded with a drone at the time. The one in the video wasn¡¯t Xiao Lou himself but the ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ who attended the birthday banquet. It wasn¡¯t certain if he was the real person or a clone.

    In the video, ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ held the hand of his fiancee, Li Yan. He politely greeted the guests while wearing the royal outfit. He looked handsome and elegant.

    However, Xiao Rou¡¯s expression became ugly after seeing the young man in the video.

    Her hands trembled slightly before she forcibly controlled her emotions. Ye Qi had been watching her movements carefully. Once he saw this, he used Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings to speak to Xiao Lou. ¡°The princess watched the video and had a strange reaction.¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°Look at her attitude.¡±

    Shao Qingge looked at her pale face and wondered, ¡°Princess?¡±

    Xiao Rou¡¯s mind returned. She quickly adjusted her expression and said with a smile, ¡°I haven¡¯t seen my brother for many years and I hadn¡¯t expected him to have grown so tall already. I almost couldn¡¯t recognize him¡­ President Shao, don¡¯tugh at me.¡±

    Shao Qingge said, ¡°I understand.¡± He paused before suggesting with fake kindness, ¡°If you miss His Highness, why don¡¯t you go back and see him? I think Your Highness misses you too.¡±

    Xiao Rou¡¯s hands trembled as she stood up. ¡°President Shao, I¡¯m not feeling well. I will go back to the pce first.¡±

    Ye Qi carefully spoke. ¡°Professor Xiao, she is leaving. I think she seems to be stimted.¡±

    Xiao Lou ordered, ¡°Have Chief Shao give her that thing.¡±

    Ye Qi gently poked Shao Qingge¡¯s wrist. Shao Qingge understood, took out the earpiece of the Voice Headset, stuffed it in the jewelry box and whispered in Xiao Rou¡¯s ear, ¡°Princess, make sure no one is watching you and press the bump on the earphone.¡±

    Xiao Rou looked around, stuffed the earpiece in her ear and pressed the button.

    Then she heard a clear, soft voice in her ear. ¡°Sister, I¡¯m Xiao Lou. I want to see you.¡±

    <strong>I am once again holding my annual tranting anniversary event for all the novels I have tranted. There are two events, a fanart event and a novel reviews event where cash prizes and other prizes will be given. If you aren¡¯t an artist then feel free to check out the novel reviews event where anyone can join as long as you submit a review. You can check out all the details of the event below.</strong>

    7th anniversary celebration event

    <em>Partially proofread: Paranoid Kitten </em>

 Chapter 433: Meeting

    Xiao Rou heard the gentle voice in her ear and her entire body froze. The smile on her face was gone and she was pale like she had seen a ghost.

    The earpiece that Shao Qingge handed her was part of the Voice Headset card that Xiao Lou had activated. Shao Qingge also wore one in his ear so he could hear what Xiao Lou had said. Just now, Xiao Lou said, ¡°Sister, I am Xiao Lou. I want to see you.¡± Unexpectedly, the princess¡¯ expression became so ugly. Wasn¡¯t her reaction too strange?

    Shao Qingge narrowed his eyes and carefully observed the woman in front of him.

    Xiao Rou¡¯s ability to control her emotions was first-ss. She soon calmed down and said to Shao Qingge, ¡°Chief Shao, I am very happy to meet you. Thank you for giving me the ne. If Chief Shao is willing to stay on Azure for two more days, I will find a chance to entertain both of you. It is toote today. My husband will be worried if I go backte.¡±

    Shao Qingge understood her meaning and respectfully saluted. ¡°Your Highness, please go slowly.¡±

    She spoke a bunch of polite words but in fact, herst sentence was the key¡ªher husband would be worried if she went backte.

    Her husband was Prince Herman, the crown prince of the Azure Empire. Xiao Rou hosted a charity dinner in her name today. Prince Herman wasn¡¯t present but he must¡¯ve sent personal guards to protect her. On such an asion, it would inevitably attract attention if she met Xiao Lou. There were probably people sent by the crown prince who were watching her movements.

    She hadn¡¯t responded when Xiao Lou spoke.

    Yet when she was speaking, she deliberately held down the bump on the small earpiece so that Xiao Lou could hear her words.

    Xiao Lou was understanding. ¡°Sister, I¡¯ll wait for your arrangement. Once it is convenient for you to meet me, contact me through this earpiece.¡±

    Xiao Rou didn¡¯t reply. She just nodded to Shao Qingge, turned and quickly left.

    The time had reached 10 o¡¯clock in the evening and the buffet dinner was nearing its end. Shao Qingge and Ye Qi followed Kevin to leave the scene. At the same time, the disguised Yu and Xiao duo also left. They met at the Ferris Wheel Hotel.

    The real Mr Zhou was controlled by Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci. It wasn¡¯t known where Tang Ci got the sleeping pills from but he made Mr Zhou sleep all day. Yu Hanjiang took off the mask from pretending to be Mr Zhou and frowned. ¡°The princess refused to see you. Is she being watched?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°She held a charity dinner at the hotel tonight and invited a lot of people. It is normal for the pce to send people to protect and monitor her. It must be inconvenient for her to see me.¡±

    Ye Qi scratched his head. ¡°The princess is very strange. When we showed her the video, her hands were shaking the whole time. Professor Xiao asked to meet her and her face became as pale as a ghost. Is she a friend or an enemy? If she is standing opposite us and has someone arrest us when we go to meet her, won¡¯t we be throwing ourselves into the?¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s worry wasn¡¯t unreasonable. The princess¡¯ current attitude wasn¡¯t clear. They weren¡¯t sure if she would help Xiao Lou solve the mystery of that year or return the escaped Xiao Lou to the emperor.

    However, Xiao Lou thought it was worth taking a risk. After careful consideration, he said, ¡°In any case, I have to meet her. She must know a lot of secrets. It is fine if she wants to hurt me. We have the Tao Yuanming card that allows us to move through space. If she wants to do something to me then Brother Jiu can directly pull me back. She can¡¯t catch me.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan agreed. ¡°In any case, we don¡¯t have any other clues to check. Let¡¯s talk with the princess first. When you go to see her, open the Peach Blossom Spring. This space can exist for three hours. If there is an ident then you can be sent back to the hotel at any time. Huaying¡¯s starship is also waiting for us near the space station. We can always escape on this starship if the princess or Prince Herman issues a wanted warrant to arrest us.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought carefully about the words that the princess had said before she left. ¡°Listening to her meaning, tomorrow she will find an opportunity to ¡®entertain¡¯ Chief Shao. Then we will dress up as Chief Shao¡¯s assistants and go with him?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, wait for her to arrange it. We aren¡¯t familiar with this ce and it isn¡¯t good to act rashly.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and looked at Tang Ci. ¡°Mr Tang, the bug on that ne won¡¯t be found?¡±

    Tang Ci said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I hid the bug behind the diamond and firmly glued it so it can¡¯t be seen from the outside. The only way is if they take apart the whole ne.¡±

    Xiao Lou frowned slightly. ¡°Unfortunately, the range of Ye Qi¡¯s bug is only 500 meters. The princess has now returned to the pce¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°It isn¡¯t toote. We can wear the invisibility cloak and go near the pce.¡±

    Xiao Lou also had this idea and the two of them set off together.

    Yu Hanjiang borrowed Ye Qi¡¯s teleportation card. Then he used the Light as a Swallow card, held Xiao Lou¡¯s waist and flew directly out of the Ferris Wheel hotel.

    The light footwork skill and teleportation were used together and it was like they flew through the air.

    In a sh, Yu Hanjiang took Xiao Lou to the vicinity of the pce.

    The inside of the pce was heavily guarded and there were soldiers patrolling everywhere. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t dare to break in. In any case, they could hear the bug as long as they were within 500 meters. They walked around the outside of the pce and soon located Xiao Rou¡¯s residence.

    She lived in Aquarius Pce and the whole pce was shaped like a beautiful bottle.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou held the other end of the bug. There was a rustling sound in their ears. Then they heard Xiao Rou say, ¡°This is the sapphire ne that Mr Shao gave me.¡±

    There were a few seconds of silence before a man¡¯s cold voice was heard. ¡°He doesn¡¯t know you but he gave you such a precious ne the first time you met?¡±

    Xiao Rouughed. ¡°You are thinking too much. Mr Shao is a businessman from the Locke Empire. He happened to travel to Azure and visit me. After all, my current identity is your princess. He can¡¯te to see me empty-handed?¡±

    Then Prince Herman asked, ¡°What else did he say besides giving the ne?¡±

    Xiao Rou answered, ¡°He spent 50 million coins on a diamond ne and said he wanted to do his best for charity.¡±

    Herman chuckled. ¡°It seems that Mr Shao is a very kind businessman.¡± He got up and went to Xiao Rou, telling her gently, ¡°I¡¯m not against you having contact with businessmen from the Locke Empire. I¡¯m just worried about your safety. Don¡¯t forget, you aren¡¯t alone now. Think about the child in your belly, okay?¡±

    Xiao Rou smiled and said softly, ¡°I know. I¡¯ll make a doctor¡¯s appointment for an obstetric examination tomorrow.¡±

    Herman wondered, ¡°Didn¡¯t you just check itst week?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not feeling veryfortable these days. For the sake of the child¡¯s health, I want to do anotherprehensive checkup.¡±

    Herman thought about it. ¡°It doesn¡¯t hurt to be cautious. I¡¯ll go with you tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°You are so busy. I am fine going alone¡­¡±

    Herman interrupted her with augh. ¡°How can that work? As a husband and father, I should spend time with you no matter how busy I am. What time did you make the appointment?¡±

    ¡°Professor Edwin is the one who examined me at Saint Paul¡¯s Hospital. He is on duty tomorrow afternoon. I made an appointment to go to him for aprehensive examination tomorrow afternoon at 3:30.¡±

    Herman nodded. ¡°You are tired today. Have a good rest. I¡¯ll pick you up tomorrow on time.¡±

    The sound of leather shoes stepping on the floor gradually disappeared, followed by the sound of the door opening and closing and the man whispering to the maid, ¡°Take care of the princess.¡±

    The maid entered the room and asked respectfully, ¡°Princess, do you want to take a bath now or do you want to have ate night snack?¡±

    Xiao Rouughed. ¡°Go and get me some pastries. By the way, remember to remind me that I am going to Saint Paul¡¯s Hospital tomorrow at 3 p.m for a checkup. My personal doctor, Professor Edwin, is very busy and I can¡¯t bete.¡±

    The maid responded in agreement and turned to leave.

    Xiao Rou suddenly said softly, ¡°Go to Dr Edwin and tell him I want another checkup.¡±

    The maid didn¡¯t hear it clearly and turned back. ¡°Princess, what did you say?¡±

    ¡°I said that I¡¯ll let Professor Edwin arrange everything¡­ Herman is really worried too much. In fact, he doesn¡¯t have to apany me. He is so busy and I don¡¯t want to trouble him for this little thing.¡±

    The maid said, ¡°he cares about you too much. He loves you and everyone is envious.¡±

    Xiao Rou smiled. ¡°Yes. You go.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were both wearing invisibility cloaks. Hearing this, Xiao Lou gently squeezed Yu Hanjiang¡¯s arm. ¡°She made the time, ce and people very clear.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, your sister is really smart. Let¡¯s go back and make arrangements first.¡±

    In fact, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang didn¡¯t need to make this trip.

    Just now during the conversation between Xiao Rou and Prince Herman, she had pretended to rub her ear and pressed the bump on the earpiece in her ear. In this way, their conversation was transmitted to Xiao Lou in real time.

    She delivered the message even without the bug.

    She didn¡¯t show any ws to Prince Herman. She only said she was going for a checkup but in fact, she was hinting at everything.

    Tomorrow at 3 p.m., Saint Paul¡¯s Hospital, Professor Edwin.

    Go to Dr Edwin and say that I want another checkup. He will arrange everything.

    This was the message Xiao Rou wanted to tell her brother.

    If Xiao Lou wanted to see her, tomorrow afternoon was the best opportunity. She would arouse her husband¡¯s suspicion if she met Shao Qingge again in the short term. If the reason was a pregnancy checkup then it shouldn¡¯t be suspected, right?

    Back at the Ferris Wheel hotel, Xiao Lou looked serious. ¡°My sister is indeed being watched. Prince Herman has likely sent people to watch her. Today she met Chief Shao and she had to personally report to her husband.¡±

    Shao Qingge said, ¡°No wonder she didn¡¯t dare to see you. I spent 50 million to buy the ne and there was the rmendation from Kevin. The reason for visiting her formally is justified. If you meet her inexplicably then suspicion will definitely be aroused.¡±

    She was so cautious that it made Xiao Lou even more uneasy.

    She was a princess but she couldn¡¯t move freely. He didn¡¯t know if she had been having a good time all these years?

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and looked at Tang Ci. ¡°Mr Tang, please find Dr Edwin as soon as possible. We must be prepared by 3 o¡¯clock tomorrow afternoon.¡±

    Tang Ci¡¯s speed when checking information was very fast. Dr Edwin was the most authoritative expert in the field of obstetrics in the Azure Empire. Tang Ci had even found the other person¡¯s address in five minutes.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou looked at each other and acted immediately.

    They first returned the tied-up Mr Zhou to his room in the Ferris Wheel hotel.

    Immediately afterward, they headed to Dr Edwin¡¯s house.

    The two of them sneaked into the professor¡¯s apartment. The gray-haired professor had just taken a shower and was walking into the bedroom with a yawn. Suddenly, a dark shadow shed from the window. He was stunned. The next second, his neck was grabbed hard from behind and a low, cold voice entered his ears. ¡°Don¡¯t make a noise and don¡¯t move. The princess sent us.¡±

    Edwin hurriedly raised his hands. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told her, ¡°She said she would have another checkup at 3 o¡¯clock tomorrow afternoon. You arrange for us to go to Saint Paul¡¯s Hospital.¡±

    Edwin replied, ¡°I understand. Please let me go first.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang released him and said in a low voice, ¡°I offended you.¡±

    Edwin suggested, ¡°There is a group of interns at the hospital recently. I will get you two sets of white coats. Put on the coats and wear the student¡¯s name tag on your chest. Wait in the duty room of the obstetrics and gynecology department at 2 o¡¯clock.¡±

    Xiao Lou politely said, ¡°Thank you, Professor.¡±

    Edwin wondered, ¡°Is something wrong with the princess? This is the secret code for an emergency that she agreed upon with me. Who are you?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told her, ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I can¡¯t tell you. The situation is really urgent. You just need to make the arrangements.¡±

    Edwin nodded. ¡°Yes, the princess can rest assured.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s expression was heavying out of the professor¡¯s house. He hadn¡¯t cared about his older sister for all these years. Perhaps it was because the memory of a five year old was too vague but he hadn¡¯t even remembered what she looked like.

    His sister lived alone in a strange country and should have a very difficult time, right? Professor Edwin should be one of her few confidants.

    Xiao Lou sighed in his heart. He could see her tomorrow. Everything could be discussed after they met.

    7th anniversary celebration event

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 434: Meeting

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang naturally couldn¡¯t show their real faces. After all, Xiao Lou¡¯s face was exposed to the public at the birthday banquet and there were many rted reports in the news. Almost all the people in the Locke Empire could recognize the crown prince. It was difficult not to be recognized even in a foreign nation.

    Fortunately, he and Yu Hanjiang each had the Mask card which allowed them to disguise themselves and change their appearance at will.

    Xiao Lou turned himself into a 20 year old university student who had just graduated while Yu Hanjiang turned himself into an intern. Both of them looked very young and were in line with the setting of ¡®intern¡¯ that Dr. Edwin had mentioned.

    At noon the next day, the disguised Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang arrived at Saint Paul¡¯s Hospital.

    The two of them were dressed in white coats with the name tag of interns hung on their chest. They quickly passed the inspection at the entrance of the hospital and entered the obstetrics and gynecology building to find the room where Dr. Edwin was on duty.

    Professor Edwin was sorting out the cases. He didn¡¯t ask too much when seeing the two of them and just said, ¡°You follow me and learn.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at the case data on his screen. Xiao Rou was three months pregnant and everything was stable. She was also pregnant with twins. Originally, she had made an appointment for an examination next month. Now she suddenly mentioned it in order to give Xiao Lou and the others a chance to go to the hospital and meet her.

    At 2:40 p.m., Professor Edwin left the clinic office and took the two ¡®interns¡¯ to the treatment area to hide in a VIP examination room.

    A momentter, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang heard familiar voices in their ears. Xiao Rou and Prince Herman had arrived.

    Xiao Rou said, ¡°Professor, please give me another check. In the past few days, I have always felt very stuffy and my stomach isn¡¯t veryfortable. I don¡¯t sleep well at night and am suffering from insomnia.¡±

    Prince Herman frowned. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me if you weren¡¯t feeling well?¡±

    Xiao Rou softly told him, ¡°I didn¡¯t want you to worry.¡±

    Prince Herman asked, ¡°Professor, is her condition serious?¡±

    Professor Edwinforted him. ¡°The princess might just be having a rtively strong reaction in the early stage of her pregnancy. Don¡¯t worry too much. The results of thest examination were all normal. Today I will help you check it thoroughly. Princess, pleasee with me.¡±

    Herman wanted to follow but the professor stopped him. ¡°Please wait in the office. It isn¡¯t convenient for family members to enter the examination room of the obstetrics and gynecology department. I will call you when I do an abdominal ultrasound for the princess. You can see the two little babies in 4D color ultrasound.¡±

    Prince Herman didn¡¯t think too much. He smiled as he kissed Xiao Rou¡¯s forehead and said, ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you outside.¡±

    Xiao Rou was helped into the examination room by the old professor with gray hair.

    The moment she entered the room, she met a pair of clear and bright eyes. The man was dressed in a white coat and looked like a young student who had just graduated. His facial features were ordinary.

    Xiao Rou murmured softly, ¡°You are¡­¡±

    Professor Edwin said, ¡°Princess, they came to see mest night.¡±

    Xiao Rou told him, ¡°Professor, let me talk to them alone.¡±

    The old professor nodded and advised, ¡°I will give you 10 minutes. I¡¯ll try to hold back the prince.¡±

    After he left, Xiao Rou stepped forward and stared into Xiao Rou¡¯s eyes. ¡°Xiao Lou, is that you?¡±

    Xiao Lou took off the mask and smiled. ¡°Sister, it has been a long time.¡±

    The young man in front of her was handsome and had an outstanding temperament. She could vaguely see what their father looked like when he was young.

    Xiao Rou excitedly grabbed his hand, her voice trembling slightly. ¡°How did youe here? Isn¡¯t it dangerous for you to do this? In the pce, I don¡¯t know if there are still¡­¡± She paused, her eyes full of struggle as if she was hesitating over whether to speak or not.

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°There is someone who looks exactly like me?¡±

    Xiao Rou stared. ¡°How do you know?¡±

    Xiao Lou calmly said, ¡°I¡¯ve seen them.¡±

    Xiao Rou¡¯s face was pale and her hands were clenched tightly by her side.

    Xiao Lou asked her gently, ¡°Sister, can you tell me what you know? Am I a clone as well?¡±

    Xiao Rou looked up at the handsome young man in front of her, her fingers trembling as she slightly caressed Xiao Lou¡¯s forehead. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t avoid it until her fingers stopped on the upper left corner of Xiao Lou¡¯s forehead in the hairline position.

    She whispered, ¡°You are my brother.¡±

    Xiao Lou was puzzled. ¡°How can you tell?¡±

    Xiao Rou¡¯s eyes were very soft as she choked out, ¡°Mother wasn¡¯t in good health so I was the one who took care of you after you were born. Once, due to my negligence, I identally knocked over a cup and burned you with hot water. You were less than three years old and cried non-stop. I held you to coax you but it was useless. I was so scared¡­.¡±

    She gently touched a small piece of ck at the corner of Xiao Lou¡¯s forehead. ¡°After your wound here healed, there was a scar left. I was worried that the scar would be ugly. However, I would be scolded by Father if I sent you for cosmetic surgery. Therefore, I found a tattoo artist and tattooed the scar ck. You can¡¯t see it because it is usually blocked by your hair but once you push up your hair, it will be very clear. It is a nail-sized tattoo that only I know about.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang looked at each other with realization.

    At the birthday banquet, the prince¡¯s hairstyle was delicate and revealed his smooth forehead. There was no trace of a tattoo at all. Therefore, Xiao Rou knew with one nce that he wasn¡¯t her real brother.

    She had taken care of Xiao Lou since he was born and she was the person who knew Xiao Lou best.

    In addition, this was a tattoo she had left herself.

    After hearing that Xiao Lou was the real prince and not a clone, Yu Hanjiang couldn¡¯t help feeling a bitplicated. No matter the identity, Yu Hanjiang would always protect Xiao Lou. However, if Xiao Lou was the true prince, why didn¡¯t the emperor let him attend the engagement banquet, birthday banquet and other important asions?

    Xiao Lou also had these doubts and he took a deep breath. ¡°When did you know about the existence of the clones?¡±

    Xiao Rou answered with a pale face, ¡°I identally saw something terrible when you were five years old. You were too young and I couldn¡¯t tell you. Mother was ill and I didn¡¯t dare tell her out of fear of stimting her¡­ I was trying to figure it all these years but there seems to be an agreement between Herman and Father. Since I married him, he has people secretly spying on me. It is hard for me to contact you, let alone see you.¡±

    Xiao Lou listened to her choked up voice and his heart softened. ¡°Sister, don¡¯t me yourself. It isn¡¯t your fault. I¡¯ve grown up so tell me what you know. I will find a way.¡±

    Xiao Rou nodded. ¡°Not long after your fifth birthday, Father suddenly called you over. I was curious and followed secretly. Then I found a man in a white coat had entered the pce and drew a lot of blood from you. You were unconscious and I didn¡¯t know what he wanted to do with your blood.¡±

    Xiao Rou recalled the scene she had witnessed back then and couldn¡¯t help trembling. ¡°Later, I went to the Imperial Central Hospital to see Mother and once again saw the doctor who came to draw blood from you that day. I always thought the doctor was a bit strange so out of curiosity, I knocked out the nurse. I put on a mask, pretended to be a nurse and snuck into theboratory.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked softly, ¡°Then? Did you see the clones?¡±

    Xiao Rou nodded. ¡°There were many five year old children who looked exactly the same as you, soaked in liquid filled with nutrients!¡±

    Xiao Lou imagined the scene and couldn¡¯t help getting goosebumps.

    Xiao Rou held her head in her hands. ¡°I almost fainted and hurriedly ran away. I was afraid I would be killed for knowing something I shouldn¡¯t know, so I always pretended that nothing happened. Not long after, Father suddenly proposed to marry me to the crown prince of the Azure Empire. At that time, Mother was recovering from her illness and I had no choice but to agree¡­¡±

    Her eyes were full of tears as she looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°Xiao Lou, sorry, I couldn¡¯t stay in the pce to protect you. I was helpless as a girl and I was only 20 years old. I didn¡¯t dare say anything. I was really too afraid. I had nightmares every night for some time.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. No one could do better if they were in your position.¡± Xiao Lou gently touched her shoulder. ¡°I have lost a lot of memories from when I was five years old. What happened that year?¡±

    Xiao Rou¡¯s face was pale as she clenched her fists hard. ¡°I don¡¯t know but my guess is that the five year old clones of you must have important uses. Otherwise, why copy so many of you?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s expression changed slightly. ¡°So many? How many did you see back then?¡±

    Xiao Rou didn¡¯t want to recall that horrible scene. She gritted her teeth and answered, ¡°Hundreds of them were neatly arranged in the nutrient solutions for raising children. Those children¡­ some of them smiled and their smiles were exactly the same as yours.¡±

    A chill went down Xiao Lou¡¯s spine as he spoke in a deep voice, ¡°In other words, I am the real prince raised by you. I have the scar and tattoo that you left for me on my forehead. Father doesn¡¯t know about it. When I was five years old, he made hundreds of clones of me out of my blood? What does he want to do?!¡±

    7th anniversary celebration event

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 435: Legends

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart was full of many doubts. For example, his older brother who died at the age of one that the emperor mentioned to him and the invisible man who sneaked into the Twin Pces on the day of the birthday banquet. Did his sister know about these things?

    Just as he was about to ask, he heard a conversation between Professor Edwin and Prince Herman outside the door.

    Prince Herman¡¯s voice was anxious. ¡°How long will the check take?¡±

    Professor Edwin said, ¡°The princess wants to do aprehensive physical examination. She said she is feeling stuffy so I arranged for a cardiologist to carefully check her heart and draw blood to check her hormones¡­ Don¡¯t worry, the doctors are experts I contacted in advance. The nurse took the princess to draw blood just now. After having blood taken, she will return to the ultrasound room.¡±

    Prince Herman¡¯s footsteps stopped at the door before he turned around and said, ¡°Very well, call me when shees out.¡±

    The doctor left with Prince Herman. Xiao Lou knew that time was tight and he had to make a long story short. ¡°Sister, I have a few questions to ask you.¡±

    Xiao Rou nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Father told me that I once had a brother and he was assassinated before he reached one year old. Therefore, Father experienced the loss of a son. Is this true?¡±

    Xiao Rou¡¯s face was slightly pale. ¡°There was indeed a prince who died before the age of one. Mother received a heavy blow from his death. At that time, she was pregnant and she stayed in the hospital for half a year before giving birth to you. As for whether he was assassinated or not, I don¡¯t know. Father just announced that he died of illness.¡±

    It seemed the emperor hadn¡¯t deceived him about this.

    Then Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Father and Mother gave birth to you less than two years after they got married. So why did they have another child only after 13 years? Did they have emotional problems or gic problems?¡±

    Xiao Rou carefully thought about it for a moment. ¡°I remember when I was five years old, Mother was pregnant and it was with twins. Unfortunately, there was a miscarriage after less than three months. I don¡¯t know the specific reason for the miscarriage. Mother cried very sadly. The miscarriage caused a lot of damage to her body and she spent the next few years recuperating. The key problem for having no children during those years should be her weak body. Father loved her very much and didn¡¯t want to marry again.¡±

    Xiao Lou seized the time to ask, ¡°Was the invisible person who sneaked into the Twin Pces on my birthday sent by you?¡±

    Xiao Rou wondered, ¡°Invisible person?¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°Yes, he was invisible except for a dark shadow when he left.¡±

    Xiao Rou decisively shook her head. ¡°It wasn¡¯t me. I got married to the prince of the Azure Empire at the age of 20. It is hard for me to leave the pce at ordinary times and there are no more than five people I can trust here. I couldn¡¯t send someone to find you¡­¡± She seemed to think of something and suddenly said, ¡°Actually, I have heard some legends about invisible people.¡±

    ¡°What legends?¡±

    ¡°Azure is one inhabited by humans but it isn¡¯t full of just human beings. Nearly 50% of it is all ocean. I heard that there are magical creatures in the ocean that humans can¡¯t see. People call them invisible creatures.¡±

    ¡°Since they are fundamentally invisible, how can it be confirmed that they exist?¡± Xiao Lou was puzzled.

    ¡°Legend has it that fishermen by the sea asionally hear strange songs at night but they can¡¯t see who made the sound. When I got married and came here, many elders scared children by saying ¡®the invisible people who sing in the middle of the night will eat them¡¯. Of course, these are just rumors. No one has seen these so-called invisible people. I also thought about them when I heard you mentioning it. Do you think it has something to do with the person you met?¡± Xiao Rou was nervous.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang nced at each other and saw a hint of surprise in the other person¡¯s eyes. Strange singing? Didn¡¯t this match with the mysterious existence that saved Brother Jiu¡¯s life?

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Sister, you mentioned the sea. Which specific sea area? Is there a special ce?¡±

    ¡°It is all just rumors. No one has seen them.¡±

    The sound of Prince Herman¡¯s footsteps was heard again.

    They had met privately for 10 minutes already. If it dragged on any longer, Prince Herman would definitely be suspicious and break into the examination room. It would be difficult to exin why two interns were giving the princess the checkup.

    Xiao Lou went to Xiao Rou and gently put his hand on her shoulder. ¡°Sister, protect yourself and your children. I will see you again once I resolve these things.¡±

    Xiao Rou¡¯s eyes instantly turned red and she choked out, ¡°I¡¯m doing fine. But you¡­ how many of those clones who look exactly the same as you are still alive? What if they want to pretend to be you? If necessary, I can testify that you are the real crown prince.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Is there a difference between real and false?¡±

    Xiao Rou was shocked. ¡°You mean?¡±

    Xiao Lou calmly said, ¡°For Father, we are all his offspring, whether it is a clone or the real person. In any case, we are all called Xiao Lou and our genes are the same.¡±

    Xiao Rou stared in disbelief. ¡°How can he do this? Mother worked so hard to give birth to you! He actually took your blood to make more than 100 clones! If Mother knew then she would be so mad!¡±

    Xiao Lou helplessly said, ¡°Mother has passed away. No one can control him¡­¡±

    Xiao Rou¡¯s face was full of loss. ¡°Then what will you do?¡±

    Xiao Lou told her, ¡°Sister, rest assured. I will live well. Take care of yourself.¡±

    Xiao Rou hurriedly said, ¡°You also take care! I can¡¯t help much but if one day you need to prove your identity, I will help testify for you!¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded to her and gave Yu Hanjiang a look. Yu Hanjiang used the headset to send a signal to Brother Jiu. Lu Jiuchuan immediately used the teleportation of the Peach Blossom Spring.

    Xiao Rou¡¯s eyes were filled with reluctance and concern as she saw Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang disappear.

    Immediately after, Prince Herman pushed open the door. He looked at the empty room and frowned. ¡°The check took so long?¡±

    Xiao Rou held her temple and pretended to be weak. ¡°I just checked my heart and was taken by the nurse to draw a tube of blood¡­ where is Professor Edwin? Let him take me to do the ultrasound.¡±

    Herman examined the room. Once he saw nothing suspicious, he helped Xiao Rou away.

    ***

    Xiao Lou¡¯s group of six gathered in the Peach Blossom Spring.

    Tang Ci wondered, ¡°How did it go? Did you gain anything from meeting the princess?¡±

    Xiao Lou told his teammates what his sister knew.

    Lu Jiuchuan couldn¡¯t help scolding the emperor after hearing this. ¡°Fuck, what the hell is the emperor doing? Cloning a hundred sons? This is simply a mass assembly line production!¡±

    Xiao Lou said seriously, ¡°We have previously spected that the emperor cloned the prince because the empress couldn¡¯t have another child. In addition, the premature death of the eldest prince at the age of one made him suffer the pain of losing his son. He was worried that no one would inherit the throne if I died. He simply cloned a few more to guarantee at least one would be able to live long enough to inherit the throne.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan touched his chin. ¡°If he is worried that no one would inherit the throne, it is enough to clone two or three. If there are 100, won¡¯t there be a mess?¡± He looked at Tang Ci. ¡°Xiao Tang, would you copy so much backup data?¡±

    Tang Ci was expressionless. ¡°Even data engineers will only make two or three backups of the core data. No one will be idle and bored enough to copy it onto 100 USB sh drives. Fundamentally, backing up data is for security reasons. If the original data is damaged, it can be repaired. Having arge number of backups can backfire.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan agreed. ¡°That¡¯s true. For example, I can make two copies of important information on myputer for security. However, if I make 100 copies, isn¡¯t it easier to lose one or for it to be stolen?¡±

    Ye Qi scratched his head. ¡°Yes, the emperor made 100 clones of the prince. If they are used by other people, won¡¯t it be giving himself trouble? What if all these clones gain their own self-awareness and startpeting for the throne? This is more exaggerated than the fight over session in the Kangxi era. 100 identical princespeting for the throne? You can¡¯t even shoot a movie like this!¡± (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangxi_Emperor#Session_disputes)

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s description made people want tough and cry.

    100 princespeting for the throne wasn¡¯t that simple. Not to mention that these 100 people looked the same.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°The emperor will naturally think about this. Don¡¯t forget, Xiao Lou¡¯s father is a man who has sat on the throne of the Locke Empire for decades. He can¡¯t be so foolish as to create 100 crown princes to trouble himself.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°The 100 princes is what my sister saw back then, not what we might see now.¡±

    The group heard this and their expressions changed slightly.

    Shao Qingge had been silent this whole time. Now his eyes narrowed. ¡°Do you mean that most of the princes might be dead?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes. Hanjiang is right. The emperor would¡¯ve certainly thought about this. He naturally didn¡¯t make 100 clones to raise them all and create trouble for himself. If theypete for the throne then it will just make the pce messy. How could he do a thing that doesn¡¯t benefit himself? Maybe he nned all this from the beginning. He cloned so many princes in order to choose the best prince to raise.¡±

    Ye Qi looked at Xiao Lou and blurted out, ¡°It is just like nting potatoes. nt arge area first, choose the best looking ones and throw away the others?¡±

    Xiao Lou closed his eyes. It was hard to imagine a life that looked exactly like his own being copied and then killed one by one.

    However, his heart was telling him that it was true.

    The cloning n was so cold-blooded and brutal.

    Xiao Lou opened his eyes, calm restored to his face. ¡°It is survival of the fittest. First, mass produce the goods, select the best to stay and destroy all defective products. Isn¡¯t this the principle of many enterprises when producing high-end goods?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang also thought of this. ¡°Including Xiao Lou, there are three crown princes at the pce. The other two are presumably the elites screened out of the Noah¡¯s Ark program.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci looked at each other. They somehow remembered the scenes they saw when the bugs integrated with each other on the bug. The low level bugs fused together to high level bugs and eventually became a queen.

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s expression sank. ¡°Why does this n sound like¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s voice was soft. ¡°Raising a Gu.¡± (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gu_(poison))

    Ye Qi sucked in a breath. ¡°Surely this isn¡¯t inspiration from researching the bugs?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded with a white face. ¡°Low level bugs fuse into high level ones. This has been witnessed by several military officers who went to the bug. This is very simr to raising a Gu. Many people have heard the legend of a Gu king. To create a Gu king, you must first put many poisonous insects in the same vessel and let them kill each other. The weak will be killed and eaten and the one who lives to the end is the highly toxic Gu king.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was low. ¡°On the day of the birthday banquet, the invisible man who sneaked into the Twin Pces said something to Xiao Lou that I didn¡¯t understand. Now it seems his words were implying that the cloning n is actually a Gu breeding n.¡±

    ¡°He said¡ªthe one who lives to the end is the winner.¡±

    7th anniversary celebration event

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 436: Gu Raising Project

    Xiao Lou suddenly had a headache.

    In the depths of his mind, something seemed to suddenly awaken. It was like seeds breaking through the ground and sprouting rapidly. The severe pain pulled at his nerves one by one. It was so severe that he closed his eyes and pressed both hands against his temples. His shirt was instantly soaked with sweat.

    Yu Hanjiang saw he had turned pale and hurried to hold him, asking in a worried voice that was slightly hoarse, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    The pale-faced Xiao Lou shook his head madly. ¡°There are many messy scenes in my mind¡­¡±

    There was a lot of blood, the same faces as himself and the cries of children. It was a ce that was scarier than hell.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes were bloodshot as those who looked exactly like him pulled at each other. The children¡¯s nails became the sharpest knives as they stabbed at their own kind. There was blood all over the room.

    He gasped with exhaustion. His strength was gradually consumed and his wounds were bleeding. His consciousness blurred but he knew that once he fell, he would die immediately.

    What to do? Why did Father call him to this ce that was more terrible than a nightmare? Who were these people? Why did they look like himself? Father asked him to find a way to live. What should he do?

    Seeing one child after another fall around him, he became wise and thought of an idea.

    Xiao Lou ran to a corner,y down and pretended to be dead by covering himself with a corpse. The pungent smell of blood made him almost unable to breathe. He looked up and met a pair of eyes. The eyes belonged to a five year old child. The child who died without closing his eyes looked exactly the same as himself.

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    After suddenly awakening from the nightmare, Xiao Lou found the familiar hotel skylight overhead. Through the ss, he could see the stars in the sky. He stared at the sky in a daze until a familiar voice entered his ears. ¡°You are awake? Does your head still hurt?¡±

    The voice was low and gentle. It was Yu Hanjiang.

    Xiao Lou came to his senses, frowned and wanted to get up. Yu Hanjiang immediately helped him, cing a pillow behind his back so he would be morefortable. The other team members weren¡¯t present. This was the bedroom in the hotel where he and Yu Hanjiang were staying. Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Did I fall asleep?¡±

    ¡°To be precise, you were unconscious. You fainted from the pain. I was worried about you so I took you to the bedroom and kept watch while you slept.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at the watch on his wrist.

    They had returned to the hotel at 3:30 p.m. and it was already 3:30 a.m. He had passed out for 12 hours. Yu Hanjiang hadn¡¯t even changed into his pyjamas. He just sat by the bed to guard Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou¡¯s heart warmed and he gently held the other person¡¯s hand. ¡°I remembered what happened when I was five years old. The keepers probably let me restore my memories because we reasoned out this key information.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the other person¡¯s still pale face and asked in a low voice, ¡°The Gu?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded, his voice trembling slightly. ¡°There were 100 clones and only four survived in the end. Father put all the children together and had everyonepete for survival. I saw so many children who looked exactly like myself and was scared¡­¡±

    This memory was vivid like Xiao Lou experienced it himself.

    Competing with 100 ¡®selves¡¯ in order to survive was crueler than the mass murders in horror movies.

    Yu Hanjiang gently hugged Xiao Lou. ¡°How did you survive? You don¡¯t have the bug genes in your body. You shouldn¡¯t be able to beat those clones in hand-to-handbat, right?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled bitterly. ¡°I hid in the corner and pretended to be dead. I covered myself with the corpse of another child and they stopped attacking me. Many of the clones were just released from the nutrient solution and couldn¡¯t even speak. Compared to them, the only advantage I had was that I lived in human society for five years and had more knowledge than them. They have been in the nutrient solution and grown to the age of five. They only had their nature and instincts.¡±

    In other words, the five year old Xiao Lou survived the Gu raising project by relying on IQ. Others relied on their physical strength. Their genes might be the same but the culture medium was different. There would be subtle differences when they grew up.

    Since the clones released from theboratory hadn¡¯t yet experienced human education, their IQs were at the infant level. It was just that their growth rate was elerated by the nutrient solution and they became five year old children.

    The emperor put these children together to find the best ones to continue to train. The defective products were destroyed directly¡­

    It was indeed a cold-blooded and brutal Gu raising scheme.

    Perhaps in the eyes of the emperor, these children were just ¡®private goods¡¯ raised by him and he had the right to ¡®select the best¡¯.

    The group of five year old children might¡¯ve had no emotions at the time but Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t help feeling cold all over when he remembered the bloody scene of countless identical childrenpeting for survival.

    After that selection, Xiao Lou went through deep hypnosis and forgot everything.

    Yu Hanjiang hadn¡¯t expected the emperor of the Locke Empire to be such a madman! He said in a deep voice, ¡°The emperor put the clones together and selected the best ones to continue training. He couldn¡¯t even let go of his real son? What if you were killed in that selection? Does the emperor feel that a prince who can¡¯t cope with the clones with a baby¡¯s intelligence doesn¡¯t deserve to live?¡±

    ¡°Probably. After all, those 100 clones really did have the IQs of a baby. If I couldn¡¯t solve this problem then he probably would¡¯ve abandoned me.¡± Xiao Lou lightly pressed a hand to his temple and calmed himself down. ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about the ethical issues of this matter. I have found some details from the memories of my five year old self that should be useful.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang softly told him, ¡°I will pour you a ss of water. Your voice is hoarse.¡±

    He got up and poured a ss of warm water for Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou took a few sips to moisturize his throat. FeelingOnce he felt much better, Xiao Lou cleared his throat and continued speaking, ¡°First of all, there wereare a total of four children who survived the selection, including me. There are two clones of me in the pce clones we have previously seen in the pce added up to three. Where is the remaining clone?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spected, ¡°Will he be secretly hidden by the emperor?¡±

    ¡°There is this possibility. However, it is also possible that someone took him away.¡±

    He paused and added, ¡°In addition, they are still human after adding the bug genes. They don¡¯t have the ability to fuse together and upgrade. In other words, when a clone kills a clone, he won¡¯t ¡®eat¡¯ the other person to upgrade. Dead is dead. On the other hand, the clones have obtained the healing ability of the bugs. The wounds on their bodies can recover after a period of time. I found this out during the selection. It is just that some clones healed quickly while others healed slowly.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°What about climbing and jumping?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°No, they still have to walk upright. This might have something to do with the gene fragments that were screened when the cells were copied. A hybrid fusion of species is alreadyplex technology. There is a risk of mutation.¡±

    Just the healing ability alone was already powerful.

    Normal humans would have to go to the hospital to be bandaged and treated. Meanwhile, the clones just had to wait to heal if they were injured.

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°My concern is whether a clone¡¯s self-healing can regenerate a limb or internal organs, they will be regarded as ¡®undying¡¯. They will never get sick and there will be no need to go to the hospital. They also aren¡¯t afraid of fire like the bugs.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression sank. ¡°This is simr to the ancient emperors who cultivated into immortals.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Xiao Lou said helplessly. ¡°At present, the research on clones is only at the first generation and no one knows if the second generation of clones will mutate after theybine with normal humans. As I said before, the insertion of artificially modified genes into the human gic sequence is likely to trigger a butterfly effect, creating a variety of gic problems that can¡¯t be solved.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°We have to stop this.¡±

    ¡°My sister saw only my clones. However, the Noah¡¯s Ark project didn¡¯t only take my genes. There are other clones. In order to stop this, we must find all the clones.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered in a low voice, ¡°What should we do after finding them? Destroy them?¡±

    Terrifyingly, most of today¡¯s clones were adults in their 20s. They had lived in human society for so many years and had their own ideas and consciousnesses. There was no obvious difference with humans apart from their genes.

    How could they destroy these self-aware clones?

    What was the difference between this and killing someone?

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath. ¡°It won¡¯t work to simply destroy them. There must be another way. Let¡¯s find all the clones first. Stopping the Noah¡¯s Ark project should be the method to clear the secret room?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°Okay. One of your clones is missing. We must find this fourth ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ as soon as possible. Secondly, we also have to investigate the legend of the invisible people that your sister mentioned. They must know something about the people who rescued Brother Jiu and Tang Ci.¡±

    Xiao Lou frowned. ¡°My sister said they are marine life. The water area of this exceeds 50%. What types of marine life are there?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said helplessly, ¡°Let¡¯s take our time and search slowly. We will always find a clue if we investigate along the beach.¡±

    TL: I made a small error with the description for the event below. All the novels on the spreadsheet list I made are eligible. Any novels not on the list won¡¯t be considered a valid entry.

    7th anniversary celebration event

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 437: Clue

    It was already 3 o¡¯clock in the morning and it wasn¡¯t good to wake up their teammates in the middle of the night. Yu Hanjiang remembered that Xiao Lou had fainted in the afternoon and hadn¡¯t eaten dinner, so he scavenged through Shao Qingge¡¯s luggage to find some food.

    It wasn¡¯t good to ask room service to send food so he simply cooked a bowl of noodles he had obtained and added a poached egg.

    A momentter, Yu Hanjiang came to the bedroom with the bowl of steaming noodles and called out to Xiao Lou. ¡°Come and eat something. You haven¡¯t eaten dinner so you must be hungry.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s mind was full of messy memories and he hadpletely forgotten about this thing called ¡®hunger¡¯.

    He smelled the noodles and his stomach cried out in response. The growling was particrly clear in the quiet bedroom. Xiao Lou rubbed his stomach and coughed lightly. ¡°I slept for 12 hours and I¡¯m really hungry.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s lips slightly curved and he handed the chopsticks over. ¡°Eat it.¡±

    Xiao Lou sat down at the table and quickly finished the bowl of noodles. The food in his stomach made his whole body warm up. He had been used to living alone but now he felt it was nice to be taken care of.

    Xiao Lou smiled at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Thank you. It is delicious.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang packed it up and raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°Do you still need to be polite with me?¡±

    Xiao Lou wiped his mouth clean and changed the topic. ¡°Has Brother Jiu thought about any other clues? Is there anything about the people who saved them on the bug apart from the singing?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang shook his head. ¡°Brother Jiu lost too much blood by the time he was rescued and his consciousness was blurred. He even thought the song was a hallucination and the sound came from Heaven. As for the rest, he didn¡¯t see anything and he doesn¡¯t remember what happened after he was rescued.¡±

    Xiao Lou was thoughtful. ¡°In other words, the only clue at present is ¡®singing¡¯. My sister told us that fishermen here sometimes hear the singing at sea. Is it just a legend? Let¡¯s rest first and tomorrow we will investigate together.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Okay, go and take a shower before going to sleep.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s clothes were soaked in sweat and he was really ufortable. Therefore, he took a shower, changed into pajamas andy down on the bed.

    In a daze, he dreamed of his five year old self locked up in a room with countless cloned children. The same faces kept swaying in front of him. Then the faces of the children gradually changed to his present appearance.

    There were countless faces with all types of expressions. Some were smiling while others showed emotions like indifference, ridicule, hatred or jealousy¡­ countless ¡®selves¡¯ appeared in front of him as Xiao Lou curled up in the strange nightmare. Yu Hanjiang found that Xiao Lou was cold all over so he reached out and gently held Xiao Lou in his arms, patting the other person gently on the back like he was appeasing a child.

    The warmth from Yu Hanjiang calmed down Xiao Lou in his sleep.

    He reached out as if grabbing a life-saving straw and hugged Yu Hanjiang tightly before falling asleep.

    Once he woke up the next day, Xiao Lou found that his face was against the man¡¯s sturdy chest, his hands were tightly hugging the other person¡¯s waist and he was leaning against Yu Hanjiang in a ¡®depending on each other¡¯ posture.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s ears turned red as he quickly broke free of the man¡¯s arms and coughed. ¡°I had a nightmarest night. I dreamed that many clones were in front of me.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang held Xiao Lou¡¯s hand. ¡°I know. That¡¯s why I was holding you to sleep. I wanted you to have a good rest.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart warmed at this soft gaze and his mouth curled up in a smile. ¡°It is just a nightmare. Come on, it is time to go.¡±

    The two of them walked out of the bedroom. The others were already gathered in the dining room. Ye Qi saw Xiao Lou and hurried over. ¡°Professor Xiao, you woke up? Are you feeling better? Yesterday afternoon, you suddenly fainted and you scared me.¡±

    Xiao Lou reassured him. ¡°I¡¯m fine. I just fainted because I had a terrible headache. I remembered what happened when I was five years old.¡±

    The four people heard this and immediately walked curiously to Xiao Lou.

    Lu Jiuchuan was the first one to ask. ¡°What did you remember?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked serious as he exined softly, ¡°Our guess is correct. The emperor cloned so many copies in order to raise a Gu. The 100 five year old children were locked up in the same room by the emperor topete and only the best could survive. In the end, including me, four children survived. Let¡¯s assume I am number 1, the very obedient Xiao Lou that Hanjiang saw with the emperor is number 2, the one who attended the birthday banquet and seems the most like the official crown prince is number 3 and the one we have never seen before is number 4.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan was full of resentment. ¡°In other words, the other 97 clones were killed artificially? The emperor is really sick!¡±

    Ye Qi murmured sarcastically, ¡°The emperor¡¯s way of grooming his heir is really amazing¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou told them, ¡°We currently don¡¯t have any clues about the fourth Xiao Lou. He might¡¯ve been hidden by the emperor or he might¡¯ve escaped from the Locke Empire. We should go find the invisible people who can sing. They might have some clues.¡±

    The team members agreed.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°The entire Azure is over 50% water. It is toorge so we better find a vehicle for us to use.¡±

    Shao Qingge thought about it. ¡°I will go find a suspension car.¡±

    Since the other four had sneaked into the Azure Empire and couldn¡¯t be discovered, only Shao Qingge and Ye Qi could freely travel. Thus, Shao Qingge came forward to buy arge suspension vehicle that could fit up to 10 people.

    The car was simr to a ¡®floating house¡¯ with luxurious furnishings inside.

    In the future, the mainstream means of transportation in the cities of thes were suspension vehicles. Air traffic was developed and there were no traffic jams. Moreover, the vehicles had automatic navigation and driving so there was no need to consider the issue of a driver¡¯s license.

    Shao Qingge drove back to the hotel to pick up the other four. Then he followed the navigation to the nearest beach.

    The beach here was as beautiful as the one in the City of the Sun. The white sandy beach was clean and reflective while the sand was delicate and soft. Many tourists yed barefoot on the beach while others were ying recreational water activities.

    Shao Qingge and Ye Qi inquired along the way, ¡°Have you ever heard of the invisible people who sing?¡±

    The tourist looked dazed. ¡°I haven¡¯t heard of it!¡±

    Ye Qi also asked some innocent children. ¡°Have your parents ever told you that disobedient children will be caught and eaten by an invisible person who sings in the middle of the night?¡±

    The children looked at Ye Qi like he was a fool. ¡°Haha, big brother, are you three years old? Only three year old children would believe such a story!¡±

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The two men investigated at the seaside all morning and got nothing.

    Everyone knew it was just a legend, like the fairy tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. If they pulled over a person by the side of the road and asked ¡®Have you seen Snow White¡¯ then that person would feel they were sick in the head.

    Even children thought that Ye Qi was sick. Only three year old children would believe this type of story, not five year olds.

    Back in the suspension car, Ye Qi had a headache. ¡°No one has seen the invisible people who can sing and no one has heard the song. Is this legend reliable?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Check somewhere else.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan leaned back on his seat, crossed his legs and analyzed it. ¡°This legend isn¡¯t groundless. I think there must be something in the sea, but humans live onnd. We don¡¯t know enough about the mysterious ocean. It is no use asking at tourist attractions. It is better to go find some fishermen whose livelihood is in the sea.¡±

    Xiao Lou also agreed with this idea. ¡°Look for fishermen. They know the sea best.¡±

    This was the beach closest to the hotel. Shao Qingge had driven the suspension car here. After hearing Xiao Lou¡¯s words, Shao Qingge modified the route in the navigation and the suspension car headed to the area where fishermen usually lived.

    Ye Qi found the oldest man in the fishing vige. ¡°Elder, have you heard the legend of the invisible people?¡±

    The old man basked in the sun and smiled. ¡°Who is it? My ears aren¡¯t good.¡±

    Ye Qi leaned close to the old man¡¯s ears and amplified his volume. ¡°Invisible people from the sea! I am from abroad. I heard that there were people singing every night and out of curiosity I came here to see them.¡±

    The old man squinted. ¡°Singing? Oh, the daughter of Old Zhang next door likes singing best.¡±

    Ye Qi was full of helplessness.

    There was still no result after investigating in the fishing vige. Ye Qi was full of frustration as he returned to the suspension car. ¡°No one in this area has ever heard the singing. It is a rumor that is left over from previous generations.¡±

    The clues were too vague and the vast sea area of this was beyond imagination. It was too difficult to investigate.

    Still, Brother Jiu was right. The legend had spread for so many years and it shouldn¡¯t be false. Someone must¡¯ve heard it. It was just that they couldn¡¯t find out who first heard the song and where. It had been so many years and there were no traces.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°It seems that we can only wait until after dark to wander around and test our luck. Perhaps we can meet the invisible people who can sing?¡±

    The sea was so big. Even if they drove Chu Huaying¡¯s starship, it would take several hours to orbit the. The speed of the suspension vehicle was much lower than the starship. If they wanted to navigate around the entire with the suspension car, it might not necessarily be finished in three days.

    Luck? It was indeed possible to bump into it out of luck.

    Yet what if it didn¡¯t happen? Wouldn¡¯t they just waste time?

    Xiao Lou thought up to here and suddenly said, ¡°I have a way.¡±

    The team members all stared at him.

    Xiao Lou took out a card with a helpless expression. ¡°I can only invite Di Renjie.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    They almost forgot. Out of all the strange character cards that Xiao Lou had drawn, there was one card that had never been used: Di Renjie.

    Di Renjie was specifically designed to deal with ¡®confusing¡¯ situations. If they used Di Renjie¡¯s skill they could directly find a clue in the Hearts room or eliminate a wrong maze route or unlock a mechanism in the Diamonds room. Now this was abined secret room and it was more convenient to find clues with Di Renjie. Unfortunately, this card was limited and could only be used once in a secret room.

    Ye Qi heard the name Di Renjie and couldn¡¯t help being excited. ¡°Out of Professor Xiao¡¯s cards, Di Renjie is indeed the one we have never seen before. Then please invite Di Renjie toe once it gets dark?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, I will do it in the early hours of the morning when there is no one present.¡±

    Shao Qingge stopped the suspension car in thergest fishermen vige on Azure ne and waited for it to be dark.

    The legend of the invisible people singing was passed down by fishermen so it must¡¯ve been encountered by their ancestors when going out to sea. Therefore, the probability of finding clues near the fishing vige was the highest.

    It got dark and the lights in the fishing vige went out one after another. Once all the fishermen fell asleep and it was 1 o¡¯clock in the morning, Xiao Lou summoned Di Renjie.

    A young version of Di Renjie, dressed in ancient official clothes and holding a fan in his hand while thinking appeared.

    Xiao Lou used the skill: Detective.

    Di Renjie muttered, ¡°Let me think about it¡­¡±

    Then under the curious looks of the team members, Di Renjie reached out and pointed into the distance. A soft light appeared in the distant sea. This must be where the clue was.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up and he put Di Renjie away. ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s go.¡±

    7th anniversary celebration event

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 438: Uncharted Waters

    Shao Qingge drove the suspension car in the direction of the light. It waste at night and the whole sea was quiet and windless. The street lights around the coastline were getting further and further away from them. It was dark all around them. There were many stars visible in the sky and some stars were projected onto the surface of the sea, as if countless diamonds had been spilled across it.

    Shao Qingge¡¯s vehicle floated in the air and got closer and closer to the bright light.

    Suddenly, a squall blew up around them, it was a hurricane. The team members felt a strong force and their whole bodies suddenly leaned back. Yu Hanjiang hurriedly hugged Xiao Lou¡¯s waist. ¡°Be careful!¡±

    Ye Qi had been sitting on the sofa. Since the suspension car was blown over by the strong wind, he rolled to the rear of the vehicle like a ball. There was a loud ¡®boom¡¯ in his ear and the suspension car fell directly into the sea!

    If the emergency escape window wasn¡¯t opened in time when the vehicle fell into the water, the window would be more and more difficult to open due to the water pressure outside being greater than the air pressure inside the vehicle. Then the people trapped in the vehicle would suffocate and die.

    Yu Hanjiang knew the emergency measures for falling into the sea.

    He was quick. The moment the car crashed into the water, he took out the Night Devil Saber and shed the skylight of the suspension car in one blow. Then he used the light footwork card and flew into the sky with Xiao Lou.

    The skylight was split apart and water poured wildly into the car.

    Ye Qi was caught off guard. Sea water poured into his mouth and he was forced to expel it, coughing. ¡°Cough¡­ cough!¡±

    He couldn¡¯t swim and a lot of water poured into his lungs while he was coughing. Ye Qi was ufortable as he waved his hands and struggled. Shao Qingge hurriedly swam over, grabbed him and swam out of the suspension car through the skylight.

    Yu Hanjiang pulled out the white silk card. Shao Qingge grabbed the white cloth and Yu Hanjiang pulled the two of them out of the sea.

    Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci could swim. They both had quickly held their breaths and climbed out of the suspension car.

    At almost the same moment they climbed out, the metal car sank into the deep sea at a speed that was visible to the naked eye. It was only then that Lu Jiuchuan discovered there was a huge vortex nearby!

    Lu Jiuchuan couldn¡¯t help cursing. ¡°Fuck! Did Di Renjie point us to a clear path or a dead end? If our reactions weren¡¯t quick enough, we would have drowned¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou eximed, ¡°Everyone, run and pay attention avoiding the whirlpool!¡±

    The vortex in the sea swept toward them like a tornado, threatening to consume all of them. Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s expression changed and he decisively summoned his Vermilion Bird.

    The big bird spread open its me-like wings and flew into the air with Lu Jiuchuan on its back.

    Yu Hanjiang threw the white silk card to his brother and Lu Jiuchuan took it smoothly. He tied Tang Ci with the white cloth and flew forward. Yu Hanjiang hugged Xiao Lou while moving away from the vortex with the light footwork card while Shao Qingge took out his teleportation card and helped Ye Qi teleport 50 meters at a time.

    Ye Qi¡¯s face was red from the coughing. Shao Qingge patted his back lightly and asked softly, ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, cough cough¡­ hurry!¡±

    The six people used their fastest speed to move and thrillingly avoided this vortex!

    The surrounding area was pitch ck and despite the help of the starlight in the sky, it was impossible to see the sea surface. However, Xiao Lou had the impression of many things floating in the nearby sea¡­

    He took out the Night Pearl.

    A chill went down Xiao Lou¡¯s spine when he saw the sea area illuminated by the Night Pearl. ¡°Look at the sea!¡±

    His teammates turned their heads. They saw the wreckage of countless ships scattered on the surrounding sea surface and many white bones! Among them was a boat floating crookedly in the sea. The wood of the surface was rotted but they could faintly see a lot of blood on the wood as well as torn clothing.

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Is this a¡­ sea restricted area?¡±

    ording to legend, there were certain areas of the sea where humans couldn¡¯t enter. It was because it was impossible for those who entered to leave alive. There was the so-called ¡®Devil¡¯s Triangle¡¯ in movies. All ships that arrived in this area couldn¡¯t avoid the fate of being sunk.

    Based on the wreckage of arge number of ships around them, they had identally entered a forbidden area. They could only escape alive by relying on some powerful cards.

    The light designated by Di Renjie happened to be in the center of the sea vortex.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath. ¡°What the hell is in there?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan suggested, ¡°Perhaps that whirlpool is the entrance to the underwater world?¡±

    It was a pity that none of them were professional divers. If they dove toward the bottom of the sea, they could barely survive for a minute or two. After a long time, they could only drown. How could they explore the vortex?

    Xiao Lou asked Yu Hanjiang, ¡°What should we do?¡±

    It was the first time he had no idea about what to do next. Di Renjie might¡¯ve helped them find the key sea area but how could they go down there? It would be great if there was Liu Qiao. Xiao Lou remembered that Liu Qiao had the fairy tale ¡®Daughter of the Sea¡¯ card in her hand. This could turn the whole team into merpeople and they wouldn¡¯t have to be afraid of the sea.

    He was just thinking this when a strange song came through the surface of the sea.

    Everything around them was silent. There was only the ethereal and clear singing voice that was like a call from ancient times. It rang softly in everyone¡¯s ears. They couldn¡¯t hear what she was singing about but the sound was soft and beautiful, like it came from Heaven.

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s expression changed. This was exactly what he had heard before he fell unconscious on the bug.

    There wasn¡¯t even a shadow around them. It wasn¡¯t known where the song came from.

    The song continued, as if there was some magic spell calling them.

    The six people gradually became a bit confused, as if arge garden had appeared in the whirlpool on the surface of the sea. There was a road leading into the depths of a sea of flowers that was even more beautiful than a mirage.

    Yu Hanjiang pinched his legs and ordered, ¡°Everyone, quickly cover your ears. This sound can confuse you!¡±

    The group returned partially to their senses. Xiao Lou immediately took out the Voice Headset and gave it to everyone. The six people covered their left ears with one hand and pressed down on the bump of the right earpiece with their other hand. The singing could no longer be heard and they regained their sanity.

    Ye Qi murmured, ¡°I seemed to have had a hallucination just now?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan added, ¡°This song is a bit magical. I remember that when I heard the song on the bug, I was in a trance and thought I saw Heaven. It must¡¯ve been a illusion!¡±

    Tang Ci said softly, ¡°A marine creature that can sing? It is the legendary mermaid?¡±

    Xiao Lou was stunned before he remembered a rumor. ¡°Right! It was written in the ssic of Mountains and Seas that there was a type of fish person in the deep sea with the upper body of a human and the tail of a fish as the lower body. These fish people like to sing and are very good at confusing people with the magical singing. If a ship passes by and someone hears the fish people¡¯s song, they will be bewitched and follow it until they crash and die. The fish people often use the singing to lure passing ships and kill the humans.¡±

    Ye Qi this and suddenly realized. ¡°I know the mermaids. Fairy tale games often have the mermaid singing setting¡­ the fish people in the ancient Chinese legends are actually the mermaids in Western fantasy legends?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, it is the deep sea mermaids!¡±

    Xiao Lou thought of the Daughter of the Sea card that Liu Qiao had drawn and had a strange premonition. ¡°Perhaps Xiao Liu, Senior Gui and Old Mo aren¡¯t human this time but deep sea merpeople!¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°However, if they¡¯re on this, why didn¡¯t they react when we used the Peach Blossom Spring? Can¡¯t they teleport if we are all on the same?¡±

    Xiao Lou made a guess. ¡°Perhaps the merpeople can¡¯t go to shore or perhaps the deep sea environment blocked the call of the card?¡± He paused and added, ¡°Of course, I¡¯m just making guesses. I¡¯m not sure if Xiao Liu and the others are here or not.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had a serious expression. ¡°If Liu Qiao¡¯s group are really merpeople, it is likely that the merpeople have a separate plot line. Something has happened that they need to solve.¡±

    Shao Qingge rubbed his temples. ¡°The question now is how do the six of us enter the environment of the merpeople?¡± He looked at Ye Qi, whose face was red and his hair was wet. ¡°Xiao Ye and Professor Xiao can¡¯t swim. Group Leader Yu, you might be able to swim but the merpeople live in the deep sea. Humans can¡¯t go down there, right?¡±

    They were stuck in an endless loop.

    If Liu Qiao was present then everyone could be merpeople and they didn¡¯t need to be afraid of the sea.

    The problem was that they had no idea about Liu Qiao¡¯s whereabouts.

    Tang Ci¡¯s expression was sullen. ¡°My drones can¡¯t enter the sea¡­ I knew I should¡¯ve made a mechanical submarine.¡±

    Shao Qingge had a sh of inspiration. ¡°Can I buy a submarine with money?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. ¡°Chief Shao, money can¡¯t solve everything. Submarines are military controlled equipment and ordinary people definitely can¡¯t buy them. I would¡¯ve been able to use my authority to get one in the Locke Empire but I have escaped with Tang Ci¡­ we aren¡¯t familiar with this empire.¡±

    The six people floated in the sea and looked at each other.

    There was a moment of silence before Xiao Lou suddenly thought of a method. He hit his forehead energetically. ¡°¡­Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings! How could I forget about this?¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Yes! We can use Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings to establish a mental connection with teammates. If Liu Qiao is on the, we can connect to her and have here to meet us!¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately summoned Qin Guan, used Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings and invited Liu Qiao to establish a connection.

    The invitation was sent out for a moment before there really was a response.

    The familiar girl¡¯s voice was heard in his mind. It contained a bit of doubt. ¡°Professor Xiao?¡±

    Xiao Lou was really pleased hearing this sound!

    He hurriedly said, ¡°Xiao Liu, where are you? We are now in the sea of Azure. Since entering the Q secret room, I haven¡¯t seen you. Are you with Senior Gui and Old Mo?¡±

    Liu Qiao, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    There was sudden silence in Xiao Lou¡¯s mind.

    Xiao Lou was puzzled and wondered, ¡°Xiao Liu?¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s voice rang out again. ¡°Professor Xiao, what are you talking about? Didn¡¯t we just meet?¡±

    7th anniversary celebration event

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Ktten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 439: Deep Sea Mermaid

    A chill shot down Xiao Lou¡¯s spine when he heard Liu Qiao¡¯s words. He thought of his dream that contained the adult versions of himself and suddenly realized that if Liu Qiao saw Xiao Lou, it was likely to be a¡ª

    Clone.

    No matter whether it was the 4th Xiao Lou or a 5th or 6th copied from the 4th Xiao Lou¡­

    In short, Xiao Lou was certain he had never seen Liu Qiao in this secret room but Liu Qiao confidently said that she had met him. This meant that the clone next to Liu Qiao was very simr to Xiao Lou and could deceive her.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s pupils shrank and he hurriedly asked in his mind, ¡°Xiao Liu, where did you see him? What did he say to you?¡±

    Liu Qiao was puzzled. She was just about to answer when there was a knock at the door. She got up and opened the door. The moment Liu Qiao opened the door, she met a pair of ck, clear eyes. These eyes were looking at her with an extremely kind and gentle gaze.

    Xiao Lou stood in front of her and asked, ¡°You haven¡¯t slept yet?¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes, I can¡¯t sleep.¡±

    Xiao Lou entered her room and ced a te of snacks on the table. ¡°I just came from Old Gui and brought some of your favorite snacks.¡±

    Liu Qiao stared at the snacks on the table. ¡°Thank you¡­ I¡¯m not hungry.¡±

    She was a bit confused and tried to connect to Xiao Lou with the mental connection. ¡°Professor Xiao? Aren¡¯t you sitting across from me? Why do you want to talk to me with the Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings?¡±

    Sitting across from her?

    Xiao Lou felt even colder at the thought that someone who was exactly like him was sitting facing Liu Qiao. He hurriedly said, ¡°Xiao Liu, be careful. The Xiao Lou you see isn¡¯t real. He is a clone!¡±

    This matter was tooplicated and Xiao Lou summed it up as quickly as possible. ¡°My identity is the prince of the Locke Empire. In order to select the best heir, my fatherunched the Noah¡¯s Ark project 20 years ago in which he cloned hundreds of Xiao Lous. There are currently four known surviving Xiao Lous. The one you have encountered is probably number four. I¡¯m not sure if there will be more clones in the future or not.¡±

    Liu Qiao, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Just then, the Xiao Lou sitting in front of her sighed in a helpless manner. ¡°If only my card pack wasn¡¯t stolen, I would be able to contact Hanjiang and the others. Xiao Liu, why don¡¯t you go out to the sea as soon as possible, find the others first and bring them back to the merfolk¡¯s pce? We can find a way after we gather together.¡±

    Who should she trust?

    Liu Qiao¡¯s heart tensed and she gently clenched her fists under the table to keep herself calm. She heard herself saying calmly, ¡°It is better to discuss the matter with Senior Gui and the others. I don¡¯t know where to find them alone. If I get lost, won¡¯t it be more troublesome?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled slightly. ¡°Yes, we will discuss it tomorrow.¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s mind was messy. The Xiao Lou in front of her was exactly the same as the Professor Xiao in her memory. His movements, voice and even his facial expressions and tone¡­ how could he be fake?

    She never would¡¯ve doubted the Xiao Lou in front of her if it wasn¡¯t for the Xiao Lou who suddenly connected to her with Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings.

    She had seen Xiao Lou on the first day she entered the secret room.

    ording to the setting, Xiao Lou was her brother and the sessor of the merpeople¡¯s kingdom. Liu Qiao was the mermaid princess.

    Several human bones were found on a shipwreck deep in the sea. Theyunched an investigation into the case and found that this shipwreck didn¡¯t belong to the Azure Empire¡­

    Now another Xiao Lou told her that clones existed in this world?

    Liu Qiao was stunned and continued tomunicate with Xiao Lou through the Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings connection. ¡°How can I believe you?¡±

    ¡°I have the Qin Guan card and can establish this connection with you. Isn¡¯t this proof enough?¡±

    Liu Qiao calmly told him, ¡°The Professor Xiao I know said that on the first day he came to his secret room, he went to investigate a shipwreck in the sea and his card pack was stolen. As a result, he can¡¯t contact Group Leader Yu.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s words made Xiao Lou feel like he had fallen into an ice cer.

    The clone actually knew about the card pack and knew Yu Hanjiang¡¯s name? It was impossible for people in the secret room to know their team. The only exnation was that¡ª

    The Xiao Lou by Liu Qiao¡¯s side was likely to be a hunter!

    Seeing Xiao Lou¡¯s face turn pale, Yu Hanjiang hurriedly held his hand and asked in a low voice, ¡°What is the situation?¡±

    ¡°I connected to Liu Qiao but she said that Professor Xiao is sitting opposite her. This man knows the situation of our team very well and even made up an excuse that his card pack was stolen so he couldn¡¯t contact you.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s mouth dropped open. ¡°There is a Xiao Lou by Liu Qiao¡¯s side? She believes that Xiao Lou instead of you?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°No, she had doubts about both of us. After all, the excuse that the other Xiao Lou made up can exin his circumstances. The card pack was stolen and maybe it was stolen from me. More importantly, that man knows the information of our team well. I suspect he is a hunter.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s expression was very ugly as he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. ¡°The hunters have found out the situation of our team?¡±

    Tang Ci opened his mouth. ¡°Inst week¡¯s World Weekly, they sent people to follow us to the headless general¡¯s tomb. Both Xiao Liu and I were small at the time and Long Sen and Qu Wanyue used the Chameleon card to integrate with the environment but¡­ perhaps they have figured out the configuration of our team through an unknown method?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan wondered, ¡°They even know most of our cards?¡±

    Tang Ci¡¯s eyes seemed frozen as he stared at the dark sea. ¡°Information probably leaked from the Intelligence Bureau.¡±

    The group sucked in a breath.

    Tang Ci¡¯s Intelligence Bureau database contained information about all the challengers, including their team.

    In the beginning, Lu Jiuchuan had found Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou by relying on the informationwork of the Intelligence Bureau. He had Tang Ci invade the official household registration office of the Card World and found the ID numbers of all outsiders, allowing him to find challengers this way.

    Tang Ci spoke with a nk expression, ¡°Brother Jiu wanted to reorganize the team and once again challenge the S-grade secret rooms to return to the real world. He saw the news that Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou broke the world records and asked me to follow the two of you closely. So on the day you came to the City of the Moon, Old Gui sent someone to pick you up at the airport.¡±

    Xiao Lou naturally remembered this matter. At the time, they suspected that Old Gui had a problem. Then they learned that Old Gui was Brother Jiu¡¯s teammate. Xiao Lou nced at Tang Ci. ¡°Mr Tang, you mean that you have the details of everyone on the contract book?¡±

    Tang Ci nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Otherwise, Lu Jiuchuan couldn¡¯t be reassured when teaming up with them.

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled bitterly. ¡°Sorry, this matter can¡¯t be med on Xiao Tang. It was my idea. Hanjiang and Xiao Lou repeatedly refreshed the world records. I naturally believed in your abilities but I wasn¡¯t familiar with your other teammates. Therefore, I checked the information of the people on your contract book in detail¡­¡±

    Ye Qi shook his head. ¡°Brother Jiu¡¯s idea is right. Checking the situation of the other teammates before forming a team is being responsible. We can¡¯t just casually form a team to break through. If a traitor were to join, it might lead to the whole team being annihted.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan patted Ye Qi¡¯s shoulder. ¡°It is good that you understand. Last time, I almost died in J of Clubs. I had to be more cautious when reorganizing the team so I had Xiao Tang organize your details¡­ this included the cards you drew as well as your real-world identities and jobs.¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Mr Tang, you suspect that this information was obtained by the hunters?¡±

    Tang Ci answered, ¡°I was worried about the information leaking and deleted it after seeing it with Brother Jiu. However, since I am a hacker and can invade other people¡¯sputers, it follows that myputer can also be infected with viruses.¡± He bowed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it was my negligence.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan gently hugged his shoulder and didn¡¯t say anything.

    Tang Ci had experienced the most terrible Nightmare Room. He had his legs cut off and needed to rely on a wheelchair with restricted mobility for half a year. It was different for people who hadn¡¯t personally experienced his suffering to empathize with him.

    He was strict with his new teammates so it was natural for him to find out everyone¡¯s details.

    The information leakage wasn¡¯t the result he wanted.

    Lu Jiuchuan definitely wouldn¡¯t me Tang Ci but he was afraid their teammates would start to doubt him. After all, the information was likely to be leaked from Tang Ci¡­

    Yu Hanjiang spoke softly, ¡°Now isn¡¯t the time to hold people ountable. Even if the information on Mr Tang¡¯sputer wasn¡¯t stolen by hunters, the Hunter¡¯s League has other channels to find our information. You aren¡¯t the only hacker in this world. If you can find this information then other people can as well. We don¡¯t me you, so you don¡¯t need to feel guilty.¡±

    Tang Ci felt warm and raised his head to look at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan gave his younger brother an appreciative look before saying, ¡°That¡¯s right, hunters always have a way to find our information. Let¡¯s first think about how to solve the current problem.¡±

    ¡°It will be bad if Liu Qiao believes the clone over Professor Xiao!¡± Ye Qi anxiously pulled his hair. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he turned to Shao Qingge. ¡°By the way, don¡¯t we also have a Qin Guan card? We can also connect to Liu Qiao and tell her that we are with the real Professor Xiao!¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. He took out the Qin Guan card copied previously and tried to establish a mental connection with Liu Qiao.

    However, a message suddenly popped up in his floating box. ¡°The card skill has failed to release. There is a card skill shielding maic field within 10 kilometers.¡± At almost the same time, Xiao Lou received the notification, ¡°The Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings connection has been interrupted. There is a card skill shielding maic field within 10 kilometers.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s expression changed. ¡°The connection between us and Liu Qiao was probably discovered by the other person. The ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ next to Liu Qiao might have a very strong card that can block card skills over arge area.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    In the imperial pce, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou could connect to each other outside the pce. The pce only banned the usage of new cards. The skills already used were still in effect. Now the card shielding maic field actually caused all the activated skills to lose their effect?

    This was the strongest hunter they had ever encountered. The key was that the other side had Xiao Lou¡¯s face¡­

    Ye Qi was worried. ¡°It¡¯s over. The other person noticed that we were using cards. Will something happen to Liu Qiao?¡±

    Xiao Lou remained calm. ¡°The stronger the skills, the more restrictions there will be. This is arge-scale maic field and the duration won¡¯t be too long. Otherwise, the hunters can turn all our cards useless and we will have no chance of winning at all.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan agreed. ¡°Skills with such arge range and strong effects shouldst for less than 10 minutes.¡±

    Shao Qingge watched as the Qin Guan card turned gray and spoke regretfully, ¡°Unfortunately, Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings has failed. The cooldown time is 24 hours and it can only be used tomorrow morning¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°I am the same. The skill can be used once in 24 hours. Now that it is interrupted, we will have to wait until the early hours of tomorrow morning.¡±

    This was 24 hours. What would ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ do to Liu Qiao and the others within this time?

    Liu Qiao should be wary of this Xiao Lou but after all, he had Xiao Lou¡¯s face. Besides, if Senior Gui and Old Mo were also merpeople, they didn¡¯t know that Xiao Lou was a clone. If Xiao Lou stabbed them in the back, wouldn¡¯t Gui Yuanzhang and Mo Xuemin be killed?

    The more Xiao Lou thought about it, the more anxious he became.

    For every second of dy, their teammates could be in more danger. What should he do?

    Xiao Lou lowered his head and thought carefully. Then his eyes lit up. ¡°I almost forgot. I still have Su Shi.¡±

    Ye Qi wondered, ¡°Su Shi? I remember he has the skill to make dongpo pork. His dongpo pork is particrly delicious.¡±

    Apart from the Dongpo Pork, Su Shi¡¯s strongest skills were actually the first and second skills.

    The first skill was When did the Bright Moon First Appear? It made the current scene a full moon night and forced all the people at the scene to enjoy the moonlight for one minute. The full moon night wouldst for eight hours until dawn and it was currently the only scene change card.

    The second skill was Thousands of Years¡¯ Worth of Historical Figures. It would immediately reset the skill cooldowns of all character cards within 100 meters.

    Su Shi was equivalent to the captain of the character cards and he could refresh the skills of all character cards.

    Qin Guan¡¯s Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings was currently on cooldown and he couldn¡¯t establish a connection with Liu Qiao. However, Su Shi could immediately refresh the cooldown of Qin Guan¡¯s skill.

    Su Shi¡¯s second skill could only be released once in every secret room but now was the most critical moment.

    Xiao Lou decisively said, ¡°Once the card maic shielding is over, I will summon Su Shi.¡±

    7th anniversary celebration event

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Ktten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 440: How Many Clones?

    How long did the maic shieldingst? This was the other side¡¯s card and no one knew the effect, but they could always test it.

    Ye Qi took out his musical instrument card, Flute.

    The flute could control a single target, making the target fall asleep for three seconds. The cooldown time was 10 seconds and he could y the flute once every 10 seconds. If the skill couldn¡¯t be released, it proved that the effect of the card shielding hadn¡¯t ended. If the skill could be released then the opponent¡¯s card effect was over.

    Once every 10 seconds, Ye Qi yed the flute to make Shao Qingge sleep.

    No effect¡­

    Shao Qingge was still awake.

    Ye Qi tested out the skill while Xiao Lou counted the time in his heart. This way, he could urately judge the duration of the card maic shielding in the hunter¡¯s hands. If they encountered it againter, they could be psychologically prepared.

    Ye Qi was trying it for the 30th time when Shao Qingge suddenly fell asleep. Yu Hanjiang hurriedly reached out to prevent Shao Qingge from falling into the sea. Ye Qi excitedly eximed, ¡°The card skills can be used!¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°It looks like the maic shieldingsts for five minutes.¡±

    All card skills in a wide range were shielded for five minutes. This card was really strong.

    Lu Jiuchuan spoke with a calm expression. ¡°We willpletely be at a disadvantage if we encounter arge number of hunters and they use this card in a team battle.¡±

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°Fortunately, it is just the skills shielding. Knives, guns and other weapons should still be usable?¡±

    No one knew what would happen in the future. They could only adapt to the situation.

    Xiao Lou said with a calm expression, ¡°First, connect to Xiao Liu again.¡±

    He summoned Su Shi.

    The poet of the bold and unrestrained faction waved the fan in his hand and recited aloud, ¡°Great river flows east, waves flushing down, thousands of years¡¯ worth of historical figures¡­¡±

    The familiar words were spoken and the skills of all character cards were refreshed. Qin Guan¡¯s Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings skill changed from an unusable gray to a ¡®usable¡¯ green state.

    There was only one reason why there was no response from the mental connection. The other person had lost consciousness.

    In the 10th level, Ye Qi was knocked unconscious and Shao Qingge couldn¡¯tmunicate with him. Just earlier, Xiao Lou was able to talk to Liu Qiao through the connection but now Liu Qiao didn¡¯t respond. There was only one exnation. The clone ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ noticed they were using cards and quickly controlled Liu Qiao.

    Was Xiao Liu in danger?

    Xiao Lou immediately opened the contract book. Fortunately, the name ¡®Liu Qiao¡¯ wasn¡¯t erased, proving that she was still alive.

    Lu Jiuchuan suggested, ¡°Let¡¯s connect to Old Gui.¡±

    Shao Qingge hurriedly invited Gui Yuanzhang to establish a mental connection. Soon, a hoarse voice was heard in his mind. ¡°Chief Shao? What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Shao Qingge spoke quickly in his mind, ¡°Senior, the Xiao Lou that you and Liu Qiao saw is a fake. The real Xiao Lou is with us. Hanjiang, Xiao Ye, Brother Jiu, Mr Tang and I can prove Xiao Lou¡¯s identity. You must be careful of the Xiao Lou on your side. He is a hunter! In addition, it is likely that something has happened to Xiao Liu¡­¡±

    In Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s impression, Shao Qingge always had azy andid-back attitude. Now the voice in his mind was speaking fast as if he was chased by a wolf and every sentence was full of tension.

    Gui Yuanzhang turned over and got out of bed while speaking doubtfully, ¡°Chief Shao? Didn¡¯t you and Xiao Ye eat with us at noon today?¡±

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    At this moment, he really wanted to curse like Brother Jiu. Fuck!

    Eat together at noon? How could this be?

    Obviously, he was driving the suspension car at noon with his teammates to find the invisible people who could sing.

    Seeing Shao Qingge¡¯s expression be extremely ugly, a bad feeling appeared in Xiao Lou¡¯s heart. He asked in a low voice, ¡°Does Senior Gui not believe you?¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s expression was dark. ¡°He said that he ate with me and Ye Qi at noon today.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan cursed directly. ¡°Fuck! Chief Shao and Ye Qi also have clones! The ones who ate with Old Gui must be copies.¡±

    Ye Qi was dumbfounded. ¡°What is this? Did I also participate in the Noah¡¯s Ark project?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart became cold.

    It wasn¡¯t until now that he discovered how difficult this secret room was.

    It would be good if only Xiao Lou had been copied hundreds of times and had only a few surviving clones. They just needed to look for the real Xiao Lou.

    Now Shao Qingge and Ye Qi also had clones?

    Was the one around them real?

    Xiao Lou looked back at Shao Qingge and Ye Qi. He believed that the Chief Shao and Ye Qi in front of him were real. The action of copying cards with Rich and Willful was extremely skilled and it wasn¡¯t something that could be imitated. It was the same for Ye Qi. He was a student at the music conservatory and he habitually yed a good melody on the flute. It wasn¡¯t something that ordinary people could imitate.

    The vein on Shao Qingge¡¯s temple bulged and he said in a deep voice, ¡°The Morse code that my father left behind only records the first Noah¡¯s Ark n. My father didn¡¯t leave me any clues about the nned restart.¡±

    Tang Ci spected, ¡°In other words, when the Noah¡¯s Ark n was restarted in 2980, your father probably added your cells to the experimental group again?¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded grimly. ¡°After all, he signed the n and allowed 3 billion star coins to be invested in this project. The first n might¡¯ve disturbed him and he went to theboratory to destroy my specimens but who knows about the second n? He must¡¯ve been persuaded again. Otherwise, how could he sign the project?¡±

    Xiao Lou also found this spection reasonable. ¡°Since Chief Shao signed the n, it doesn¡¯t matter if he was willing or forced. It is possible that he used his son¡¯s cells for the experiment.¡±

    Ye Qi murmured, ¡°I remember that my biological father, General Ye Bowen, also signed the n? So my cells were taken for the experiment?¡± Ye Qi had goosebumps at the thought that there was a copy of him in the world.

    Shao Qingge asked through the mind connection, ¡°Senior Gui, besides me and Ye Qi, what other teammates are around you?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang answered, ¡°Xiao Lou, Old Mo, Liu Qiao, Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci.¡±

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan met his gaze and couldn¡¯t help trembling. ¡°What is the situation? Am I there as well?¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded. ¡°Old Gui has seen you and Mr Tang.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan frowned. ¡°However, our fathers didn¡¯t participate in the Noah¡¯s Ark project.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had an ugly expression. ¡°Brother Jiu, don¡¯t forget that you and Mr Tang had an ident on the bug and heard the strange song. You should¡¯ve been rescued by the merpeople. After they rescued both of you, it is possible they took your cells to make clones. Is this the key reason why you lost your memories?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s expression changed. ¡°It makes sense. We really can¡¯t remember anything after we were rescued.¡±

    Xiao Lou opened his mouth. ¡°In other words, the merpeople are also secretly studying the clones. They didn¡¯t want this matter to be known to outsiders so after saving Brother Jiu and Tang Ci, they took your cells and hypnotized you to forget this. Then they put you back on the starship of the Arrow Corps?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan clenched his fists. ¡°This is a possibility.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°If the 4th Xiao Lou is a hunter then why didn¡¯t he kill Brother Jiu and Mr Tang directly? Why did he hypnotize them and let them return to Capital Star?¡±

    Xiao Lou spected, ¡°It is probably putting out bait to catch a big fish? If he killed Brother Jiu and Mr Tang and let clones rece them to return to Capital Star, it is easy for the clones to reveal themselves since they don¡¯t have the memories of the real people. It is only by returning the real people that it can get rid of our wariness.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang wondered, ¡°Is he waiting for us to find Liu Qiao¡¯s group of three to catch us and kill us all at once?¡±

    7th anniversary celebration event

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Ktten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 441: Merpeople Prince

    Ye Qi suddenly thought of a more terrible result. He looked at Xiao Lou and said, ¡°Professor Xiao, if the merpeople are studying clones as you said and they grew the cells from Brother Jiu and Mr Tang to adults in such a short period of time, can¡¯t they copy Liu Qiao, Senior Gui and Old Mo too?!¡±

    Xiao Lou also thought about this and his expression became uglier. ¡°You are right. After all, Xiao Liu, Old Mo and Senior Gui are among the merpeople and it isn¡¯t difficult to take their cells to make clones.¡±

    Tang Ci wondered, ¡°Who in our team hasn¡¯t been copied?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang opened his mouth, ¡°My memories since childhood were very clear. Apart from going to the military academy at the age of 18, I haven¡¯t left Capital Star or been to the hospital for an examination. In theory, they shouldn¡¯t have been able to get my cells.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan said, ¡°There is also Huaying. She grew up as a star thief and has been wandering around the universe on the Dark Night starship. She hasn¡¯tnded on any human which makes it difficult to clone her.¡±

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°Long Sen and Qu Wanyue grew up on Capital Star. Their parents are very ordinary people not rted to the Noah Ark¡¯s n. They shouldn¡¯t be cloned either.¡±

    Shao Qingge joked, ¡°Our team has 12 members and only four haven¡¯t been cloned. The remaining eight might be pirated copies. So this secret room is actually a game that is fighting against piracy?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    At this time, Chief Shao still had the leisure to joke. Everyone believed that this was definitely the genuine Chief Shao.

    Xiao Lou opened the contract book and reconfirmed the names of his teammates. He sighed with relief. ¡°Fortunately, all 12 names are on the contract book. At least everyone is alive, regardless of whether they are cloned or not.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Long Sen and Qu Wanyue are temporarily safe. Huaying is the leader of the star thieves and nothing should happen to her. I am worried about Liu Qiao, Senior Gui and Old Mo. Liu Qiao has lost consciousness so we have to check Senior Gui as soon as possible and develop the next n.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan thought about it. ¡°By the way, hunters can find our information but they can¡¯t know what we talked about in private. The only way to make Old Gui believe us is to tell a secret that only we know but can¡¯t be found from any channels.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci exchanged looks and soon reached a tacit understanding.

    Tang Ci came to Shao Qingge¡¯s side and softly told Chief Shao, ¡°One time when we were trapped in abyrinth, Senior Gui told Brother Jiu and me that he was a calligrapher in name but he actually privately liked traditional Chinese painting. In the third grade of primary school, his brush painting was sold online and he earned 400 yuan. This was the first ie of his life. He drew a plum orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum in the ink style.¡±

    Shao Qingge used the Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings channel to talk to Senior Gui, ¡°Senior Gui, Tang Ci told me that your painting from the third grade of primary school sold for 300 yuan. Do you remember what you painted at the time?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s low voice was heard in his mind. ¡°It is 400 yuan. I painted a plum orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded to Tang Ci. ¡°It is right.¡±

    Tang Ci sighed with relief. ¡°He is the real one. Even his parents don¡¯t know about this.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang wondered, ¡°Is Tang Ci next to you? Then who did I see today?¡±

    Shao Qingge exined, ¡°The Brother Jiu, Tang Ci, Xiao Lou, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi that you have seen are all clones grown from cells. Senior Gui, didn¡¯t you notice that something was wrong?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang thought carefully. ¡°Professor Xiao said at the beginning that his card pack had been stolen. Chief Shao and Ye Qi couldn¡¯t use it either. Meanwhile, Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci are lying unconscious in the treatment room. Xiao Lou exined that the S-grade secret room is very difficult and it must be the arrangement of the keepers.¡±

    Shao Qingge frowned and ryed Senior Gui¡¯s words to Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou felt helpless. ¡°This clone is very clever. We had a teammate who was unconscious for several days in the 10th level. He used the keeper¡¯s arrangement to exin that the card pack was stolen and some teammates are unconscious. It is really easy to believe.¡±

    In the 10th level, Shao Qingge was unconscious and only woke up on the third day. There were also some secret rooms in which a certain type of card was forbidden. If all of this was understood as the plot deliberately set by the keepers in order to increase the difficulty, what reason did the team members have to suspect it when they didn¡¯t know about the existence of clones?

    They just had to not reveal too much and the Liu Qiao trio would soon follow their rhythm and trust them.

    Xiao Lou opened his mouth. ¡°Ask Senior Gui what they have been doing these days.¡±

    Shao Qingge asked in his mind, ¡°Senior, what have you been doing since you entered the secret room? Apart from Brother Jiu and Tang Ci who are unconscious, are there any abnormalities about Xiao Lou, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang answered, ¡°There is nothing unusual on the surface. Everyone has been investigating the human bones in the shipwreck. Xiao Lou used his forensic knowledge to specte that there were eight men and two women. The time of death was 20 years ago and the cause of death was drowning. Since the ship was a military ship and the pattern on it wasn¡¯t the emblem of the Azure Empire, we came to the conclusion that the ship came from another nation. We are now investigating that clue.¡±

    Shao Qingge looked at Xiao Lou in aplicated manner. ¡°Your clone knows forensic anatomy. No wonder why Liu Qiao¡¯s group trusted that Xiao Lou so much.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Imagine a person who was 99% simr to Xiao Lou in appearance, voice, expression and action. When investigating the case, he could quickly analyze the characteristics of the human bones and cause of death as before. He could even specte on the origin of the shipwreck¡­

    He said that his card pack had been stolen. Would his teammates still doubt it?

    Yu Hanjiang was keenly aware of something that was wrong. ¡°This Xiao Lou might not necessarily understand forensic anatomy. It is more likely that he knew the people on the shipwreck and knew how they died. He can naturally tell their gender, cause of death, time of death and the origin of the shipwreck. He can also make Liu Qiao trust his ability to investigate cases and mistakenly believe he is Xiao Lou.¡±

    Xiao Lou suddenly reacted. ¡°20 years ago, the Gu raising n killed most of the cloned children. Those who survived were the elites. We haven¡¯t seen the 4th Xiao Lou. Maybe someone took him out of the pce and fled to Azure? They had an ident in the sea and everyone else died, while the clone survived?¡±

    Shao Qingge added, ¡°Humans are afraid of water but bugs aren¡¯t afraid of water. The clones have the bug genes in their bodies and perhaps they also inherited this advantage? They can still breathe under water like a fish.¡±

    This sentence shocked Xiao Lou. ¡°So the three clones of Shao Qingge, Ye Qi and I can stay at the bottom of the sea?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang carefully borated on his thoughts. ¡°Suppose that someone in the military secretly took the 4th Xiao Lou out of the pce and fled to Azure with the clones of Shao Qingge and Ye Qi. Their starship identally came here and encountered the whirlpool. The starship fell into the deep sea and everyone drowned. Only Xiao Lou, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi with the bug genes survived.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°These people took away the information rted to the clones when they fled. The shipwreck allowed the bug-gene-altered clones to obtain the information of the Noah¡¯s Ark n and continue their research in the deep sea?¡±

    If this spection was correct then the current clues could be connected.

    The sunken ship and human bones encountered in the deep sea were the remains of the scientists of the Locke Empire and some of the military officers who fled with the clones. Those who fled the empire in haste were probably aware of the madness of the emperor¡¯s ns and that he would surely kill them. Thus, they ran away with a few clones and all the information¡­

    As a result, all the humans died due to the whirlpool and only the three gically modified clones survived.

    At that time, Xiao Lou, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi were theoretically five years old with the IQ of babies. The merpeople might¡¯ve fancied the cloning data they brought and were very interested in the n, so they raised the three clones to adulthood. Otherwise, how could three outsiders live in the deep sea territory of the merpeople?

    Xiao Lou looked at Shao Qingge. ¡°Ask Senior Gui about their identity within the merpeople.¡±

    Shao Qingge immediately asked, ¡°Senior Gui, what are the identities assigned to all the teammates you have met?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang answered, ¡°Xiao Lou is the prince of the merpeople while Liu Qiao is the mermaid princess and his sister. Shao Qingge and Ye Qi are Xiao Lou¡¯s friends. Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci are humans saved by Xiao Lou when he went out six months ago. Old Mo is the architect of the merpeople and I am the elder of the merpeople.¡±

    Shao Qingge listened while simultaneously rying it to his teammates.

    At the end, Lu Jiuchuan couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°So it was the Xiao Lou clone who saved us from the bug?¡±

    Tang Ci nodded. ¡°He has lived among the merpeople for more than 20 years and perhaps he has learned the merpeople¡¯s song that disturbs the mind. At the same time, he has the bug genes in his body. He can understand thenguage of the bugs and talk to the bug queen?¡±

    At that time, the bug queen was furious and vowed to bury all the members of Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s corps. How could she let them go unless someone hadmunicated with her and eliminated her anger?

    He knew the merpeople¡¯s song, the humannguage and the bugnguage¡­

    Xiao Lou helplessly held his forehead. ¡°This clone is much better than me.¡±

    This clone was much more powerful than the original. Wasn¡¯t this what the emperor wanted to see most? ording to the principle of survival of the fittest, this Xiao Lou was the best person to inherit the throne. His body wouldn¡¯t be injured and even his internal organs could be repaired automatically. He wasn¡¯t afraid of water and walked t in the deep sea. He could sing the merpeople¡¯s song and confuse people¡¯s minds. He also had a high IQ.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t helpining, ¡°This clone simply took the cool sci-fi protagonist¡¯s text. Let alone inheriting the throne of the Locke Empire, he can also inherit the throne of the merpeople. In addition, he can destroy the Azure Empire and make friends with the bugs. Unifying the stars isn¡¯t a dream.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled and touched his nose. ¡°Unfortunately, the one who took the male lead¡¯s script is our enemy, a hunter.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This was too depressing!

    How could the real Xiao Loupete with the hunter who took the main lead script?

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t swim, let alone go into the deep sea. He would drown within five minutes. He had no ability to heal his body. Minor injuries would hurt and serious injuries would kill him.

    Xiao Lou felt helpless. ¡°If we want to solve this Xiao Lou hiding among the merpeople, we have to find out who within the merpeople is helping him forge his identity. How could he be a prince of the merpeople when he is a clone?¡±

    Ye Qi curiously said, ¡°Does he have a tail? If he doesn¡¯t have a tail, wouldn¡¯t he be exposed?¡±

    Shao Qingge simply asked Senior Gui. ¡°Senior, have you seen Xiao Lou, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi with tails?¡±

    ¡°The merpeople have long evolved legs to walk. In the merpeople pce, they can walk on legs like normal humans. However, once they go out to the sea, they grow the iconic tail of the merpeople. They can swim up to 200 kilometers an hour in the sea.¡±

    It was faster than a sports car!

    Shao Qingge looked at everyone withplicated eyes. ¡°Senior Gui said that they have tails.¡±

    Ye Qi got a chill and he couldn¡¯t help reaching back to touch his tailbone¡­ cough, it was hard for him to imagine what it was like to grow a fish tail. He would rather see the clone merman Ye Qi.

    Tang Ci mused, ¡°There is a tail? In other words, these clones are likely to be version 2.0?¡±

    7th anniversary celebration event

 Chapter 442: Upgraded Clone

    Version 2.0? Tang Ci¡¯s words surprised everyone.

    The clone ¡®human version 1.0¡¯ had human cells fused with bug cells. They gained the ability of the bugs to develop rapidly using the fungus nket so that their bodies could grow and mature in a short time. At the same time, they inherited the bugs¡¯ healing ability.

    The clone version 2.0 was upgraded on the basis of 1.0 and integrated the genes of the merpeople. They could sing the songs of the merpeople and grow a fishtail?

    Yu Hanjiang said calmly, ¡°Suppose the merpeople had a crazy mastermind like Xiao Lou¡¯s father. 20 years ago, the starship of the Locke Empire crashed into the deep sea. This merperson found the three surviving clone children and all the data of the Noah¡¯s Ark n. Thus, he brought the three clones back to the merpeople and upgraded them to version 2.0 using the existing data. Then they killed the real prince of the merpeople and let Xiao Lou version 2.0 be the sessor of the merpeople.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s head felt like it was going to explode. ¡°So the Xiao Lou that Liu Qiao and the others saw wasn¡¯t number 4 that escaped the empire but the upgraded number 5? The 5th Xiao Loubines the human, bug and merpeople genes. He isn¡¯t afraid of the deep sea and also has a tail. He can move quickly through the sea at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Lu Jiuchuanined, ¡°The clones can be upgraded. Just like a mobile phone, it released version 1.0 and 2.0? Will there be 3.0 in the future? Are the keeper¡¯s brains a bottomless pit?¡±

    Tang Ci said calmly, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how many versions there are. At present, Senior Gui and the others are definitely dealing with the high level clones who have thebined genes of three species. In order to solve these 2.0 versions, we must first go down to the deep sea.¡±

    Xiao Lou opened his mouth. ¡°We are ordinary human beings and can only survive in the water for five minutes. If we want to go to the deep sea, we can only rely on Liu Qiao¡¯s Mermaid Princess skill. However, now Liu Qiao is controlled. Let¡¯s see if Senior Gui can think of a way.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded and conveyed Xiao Lou¡¯s meaning to Senior Gui.

    Gui Yuanzhang replied, ¡°Yes, I will go find Liu Qiao right away.¡±

    Xiao Lou and the others had relied on various card skills to escape from the whirlpool at sea. They had found a broken, wooden ship floating nearby.

    At this time, the six people were standing on the ship and shivering in the night wind.

    This wooden boat was obviously the boat of a local fisherman. It was very simple and empty ¨C all the people onboard must¡¯ve died. Ye Qi had been soaked in the sea and blown by the wind. It felt like he was walking on the streets in short sleeves in the cold winter. He couldn¡¯t help wrinkling his nose and sneezing.

    Xiao Lou was also very cold. He simply summoned Bai Juyi and quickly made temporary hand warmers using thepass.

    Lu Jiuchuan took the hand warmer and sighed. ¡°The cards can still be used like this¡­¡±

    Ye Qi smiled. ¡°Brother Jiu, you should get used to it soon. Professor Xiao uses Bai Juyi every time to make fire and warm us up. He even used the white silk to make a parasol!¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan gave Xiao Lou a thumbs up.

    Each person held a hand warmer and felt much morefortable. Like this they could endure being at sea.

    Xiao Lou opened his mouth. ¡°Chief Shao, make sure to keep in touch with Senior Gui.¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s expression sank. ¡°Senior Gui said that the 5th one ising.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s back became tense. ¡°Have Senior Gui be careful. Don¡¯t be controlled like Liu Qiao!¡±

    At this time, the merpeople¡¯s pce.

    There was a knock on the door. Gui Yuanzhang didn¡¯t respond. He quickly drew a painting with a brush and threw it on the bed. Then he put on the invisibility cloak and watched the change.

    The door was gently pushed open and Xiao Lou came in.

    The arched pce was surrounded by sea water and there were many colorful fish swimming outside. It was like the Antis Underwater Hotel.

    Gui Yuanzhang held his breath and saw Xiao Lou walking to the bed where ¡®he¡¯ was sleeping. There was a silver glow from his fingertips and the ¡®dummy¡¯ on the bed was immediately immobilized.

    Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s eyes suddenly narrowed.

    His strongest cards were the brush, ink, paper and inkstone cards that could be used inbination. For example, the brush and paper could be used together. What he drew on the paper with a brush could quickly be real objects. It was just like the legend of the ¡®magic pen Ma Liang¡¯. The things he drew could onlyst two hours and it was enough to confuse the false with the true.

    Gui Yuanzhang had studied art and calligraphy since primary school. He had just drawn a picture of himself at tremendous speed. Therefore, what was currently lying on the bed was actually a drawing of himself.

    It wasn¡¯t known how Xiao Lou knocked out the man on the bed. Gui Yuanzhang saw him pick up the old man and quickly walk out. The usually kind and gentle Xiao Lou had hard eyes and looked frighteningly cold. If he smiled it would make people shudder.

    It was hard to imagine such a terrible expression on Xiao Lou¡¯s face.

    Gui Yuanzhang held his breath. Once Xiao Lou left, Gui Yuanzhang drew a series of wind-like trajectories with his brush. He quickly left the room and took several consecutive turns to reach Old Mo¡¯s room.

    Liu Qiao was controlled, the second one was him and the third would definitely be Old Mo!

    Currently, it was already 2 o¡¯clock in the morning. Mo Xuemin was sleeping soundly. Suddenly, the door was quietly pushed open. His alertness from experiencing several secret rooms meant Old Mo immediately woke up. The moment he was about to take out his weapon, he heard the voice of his senior. ¡°Go quickly, it is dangerous!¡±

    Mo Xuemin didn¡¯t have time to ask anything. Gui Yuanzhang dragged him and used the brush to draw a curved track under their feet with the brush. They flew out of the room like the wind.

    As an elder of the merpeople, Gui Yuanzhang knew a secret section of the sea where few merpeople went. They left the pce and a long tail appeared behind both of them. They swam behind a remote reef in the deep sea at a very fast speed.

    The surroundings were full of colorful coral but Old Mo had no intention of enjoying the beautiful scenery of the deep sea. He was frightened and asked, ¡°Senior Gui, what is the situation? You suddenly pulled me out.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang asked, ¡°I remember that you have a daughter?¡±

    Mo Xuemin had doubts but he still replied, ¡°My daughter is only in middle school. This is why I must find a way to go back. Her mother died very early and I am her only rtive.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang asked again, ¡°Do you have all your cards?¡±

    ¡°I have all of them¡­ what is going on?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang confirmed that the Mo Xuemin in front of him was real. Then he summarized Shao Qingge¡¯s story at a very fast speed.

    Mo Xuemin¡¯s expression was ugly. ¡°What? Clone?!¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang said, ¡°The theme of this secret room isn¡¯t investigating the shipwreck that Xiao Lou told us but gene replication. The Xiao Lou, Shao Qingge, Ye Qi, Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci that we previously saw are all fake. Our real teammates are currently together. They have found out about the merpeople but they can¡¯t swim or go into the sea.¡±

    Old Mo¡¯s face was puzzled. ¡°Clones? Then how do you know they are real?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang exined, ¡°I mentioned some things to Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci about my childhood. Only the three of us know about it. Just now, we talked about this. In addition, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang are with them. Shao Qingge connected to me using Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings and Xiao Lou has beenmunicating with him. They have confirmed each other¡¯s identity.¡±

    Mo Xuemin remembered how he recently got along with Xiao Lou and a chill went down his spine. ¡°No wonder! Professor Xiao said at the beginning that his card pack was lost and Chief Shao and Ye Qi also didn¡¯t have their cards with them. I wondered why my card pack wasn¡¯t missing. Did the keepers pick certain people to arrange the plot? Now it seems like all three of them are fake and don¡¯t have the cards in their hands, so they made up this excuse!¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang said, ¡°The fake Xiao Lou sneaked into my bedroom and knocked unconscious the dummy I made. He would definitely go to your bedroomter. I also ced a dummy in your bed but my brush¡¯s magic pen effect onlysts two hours. Time is tight. We must find Liu Qiao within two hours.¡±

    Mo Xuemin¡¯s heart was filled with shock. ¡°What happened to Liu Qiao?¡±

    ¡°Xiao Lou initially used Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings to connect to Liu Qiao. He was found out by the fake Xiao Lou and the fake immediately controlled Liu Qiao. Now Liu Qiao is unconscious. Professor Xiao asked us to find her as soon as possible and get her to activate her Daughter of the Sea card. It is only when all of them can be merpeople that they can go to the sea to investigate.¡±

    Mo Xuemin realized the seriousness of the matter and his expression became solemn. ¡°The pce is too big. Liu Qiao definitely isn¡¯t in her own room. We have to hurry and find her!¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang nodded. ¡°Yes, this pce is actually abyrinth. We have discovered this in the past few days. After a few days of investigating, have you figured out the route of thebyrinth?¡±

    Mo Xuemin smiled bitterly. ¡°Senior is thinking too highly of me. The pce is thergestbyrinth I have ever encountered. It is about five timesrger than the headless general¡¯s tomb of thest World Weekly. I have only figured out half of it. Fortunately, thisbyrinth isn¡¯t a three-dimensional multiyer structure. It will be more convenient to find the path than in a 3Dbyrinth.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang nodded. ¡°It isn¡¯t toote. Find the path while looking for Liu Qiao. In two hours, the dummies I made will vanish. Not only will Xiao Liu be in danger but the two of us won¡¯t be able to escape either!¡±

    TL: For those who also read on my website and can¡¯t ess it, I had to temporarily region block a few countries for various reasons. You can join my discord and read the full announcement for the list of countries blocked and any updates I have.

    Discord Link

    7th anniversary celebration event

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 443: Merpeople Labyrinth

    The situation was urgent and time was running out. Thus, Gui Yuanzhang and Mo Xuemin quickly discussed countermeasures before returning to the merpeople¡¯s pce. From the outside, the pce was shaped like a giant ¡®jellyfish¡¯. There were countless small shell-shaped buildings and these buildings were connected by transparent ribbons.

    Mo Xuemin still didn¡¯t understand what technology was used in the building of the pce. It was stably suspended in the sea without falling or floating. It seemed to be fixed there by a magical force.

    The merpeople had lived in this area for generations. Initially after entering the secret room, Gui Yuanzhang and Old Mo weren¡¯t used to the sudden growth of a tail. After several days of adaptation, they could now skillfully swim at a very fast speed of 200 km/hour in the deep sea.

    In a sh, they came to the entrance of the merpeople¡¯s pce.

    Due to the existence of the invisibility cloak they were using, the guards at the entrance didn¡¯t see them. Gui Yuanzhang dragged Old Mo into the pce and quickly moved through the long corridor.

    Meanwhile, Old Mo recalled the map of the pce.

    Over the past few days, in addition to following ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ to investigate the case, he had spent the rest of the time wandering around the pce. Unfortunately, thebyrinth was toorge and he had little time to act alone each day. At present, he had only explored half of the west side of thebyrinth.

    Thebyrinth had a feature. There was a room at the end of each forked road. From the clues that Old Mo currently had, there were 180 rooms in this half area of the west side of thebyrinth.

    There were so many rooms. Where would Liu Qiao be kept?

    Old Mo said, ¡°We only have two hours and it will take too long to check all the rooms one by one.¡± He nced at Gui Yuanzhang. ¡°Should we go to Xiao Liu¡¯s residence first? What if she was knocked out and kept in her room?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Liu Qiao was unconscious and the possibility of her remaining in her residence couldn¡¯t bepletely ruled out.

    As the princess, Liu Qiao lived in thergest building on the west side of the pce. The shape was a pink shell and it was very recognizable.

    Old Mo and Gui Yuanzhang often came here to find Liu Qiao so they were very familiar with the road. They soon came to Liu Qiao¡¯s residence based on their memory.

    There were also guards at the door of the princess¡¯ residence. Gui Yuanzhang and Mo Xuemin moved around to the side window and quickly entered through it.

    On the table in the living room was a te of delicate pastries that were Liu Qiao¡¯s favorite snack.

    The merpeople¡¯s food in the deep sea was mainlyposed of algae, small fish and shrimp. This snack was seaweed-based and the crystal clear green snacks were neatly ced on the te. Only the middle was missing a piece. It should have been eaten by her.

    These snacks were likely to be tampered with. Who brought it? The clone version of Xiao Lou who came here just now?

    Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s expression changed as he quickly walked to the door of the bedroom. He pushed open the door with his left hand while holding the brush with his right hand, ready to attack if the clone version of Xiao Lou was present.

    However, the room was empty. There were no traces of a struggle and even the bed was neat and tidy.

    Gui Yuanzhang walked around the room and concluded, ¡°It is possible that Liu Qiao ate the drugged food brought by Xiao Lou or the other person controlled her using a method we don¡¯t know. Liu Qiao suddenly lost consciousness and didn¡¯t resist at all.¡±

    Old Mo wondered, ¡°Is there a ce for the merpeople to lock up prisoners? Will Xiao Liu be locked up?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang shook his head. ¡°The merpeople¡¯s jail is far away. I remember it was in the deepest part of the sea and is so dark that no trace of light can be seen. It is like hell. Liu Qiao has only been unconscious for a few minutes. If Xiao Lou took her to the deep sea to lock her up, there would be no time to go back and capture me. Liu Qiao should still be in the pce.¡±

    Old Mo thought about it carefully. ¡°The west side of the pce is full of merpeople living there. Liu Qiao is the princess after all. It is easy to be discovered if she is taken away. Isn¡¯t it more likely that she was taken to the east side?¡±

    ¡°There are more members of the royal family living in the east side¡­¡± Gui Yuanzhang spoke up to here before frowning. ¡°Will he bring Liu Qiao to his residence?¡±

    ¡°It is possible!¡± Old Mo eximed. ¡°This fake Xiao Lou is the prince of the merpeople. Even if he is seen bringing his sister to his residence, it won¡¯t arouse suspicion. Besides, it is his ce and he can watch Liu Qiao at any time.¡±

    ¡°Quickly go and look.¡±

    The two of them sped toward the prince¡¯s residence.

    The pceplex wasplicated but Old Mo had once gone to Xiao Lou¡¯s bedroom two days ago to discuss the case. He had a strong sense of direction and would never get lost if he had been to a ce once.

    There was Old Mo as the guide. Gui Yuanzhang followed him and they reached the door of a blue building in the east within 10 minutes.

    The ce where Xiao Lou lived was very magnificent. The blue building looked like a huge starfish and there were many guards lined up in rows at the entrance.

    Gui Yuanzhang waved the brush in his hand. Wind blew and the seawater in the pce was blown violently. A whirlpool soon formed not far away.

    The guards¡¯ expressions changed and the tallest captain said, ¡°How can there be a whirlpool here? A few of youe with me to take a look.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang and Mo Xuemin took the opportunity to sneak into the pce.

    A few days ago, everyone had gathered here to analyze the case but they hadn¡¯t explored the surrounding halls at all. Based on the starfish-like architectural appearance, it could be spected that the pce had a total of five halls. Gui Yuanzhang suggested, ¡°We will look through it one by one.¡±

    Five halls wasn¡¯t a lot but it caused Gui Yuanzhang and Mo Xuemin to be a bit dizzy.

    It was because theyout of these five halls were exactly the same and they connected to each other. In addition, Xiao Lou¡¯s building seemed to be able to rotate. Every time they entered a side hall and came out, the direction would change. It was easy to make them think, ¡®Have we been here before?¡¯

    Gui Yuanzhang simply took out the Four-way Arrow to mark the entrance of the halls where they had been so they didn¡¯t enter them again.

    The two men moved through four side halls but no traces of Liu Qiao were found.

    The moment they entered the fifth hall, the voice of the guard captain was heard from outside. ¡°His Highness is back.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang and Mo Xuemin¡¯s hearts tensed. They hurried to collect the arrow marks at the entrance of the four halls and rushed into thest hall.

    Theyout here was the same as the other ces. The two people quickly walked into the bedroom and took a closer look.

    On the wide shell bed, Liu Qiaoy quietly inside. She was as pale as paper and her eyes were closed.

    Gui Yuanzhang strode to the bed, reached out his hand and tested Liu Qiao¡¯s breathing.

    Her breathing was normal. It seemed she had just lost consciousness.

    Old Mo also came over. He searched through Liu Qiao¡¯s pocket and touched a familiar thing. ¡°Her card pack is still here.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang hurriedly said, ¡°Put her on your back and let¡¯s go!¡±

    Outside the door, Xiao Lou¡¯s voice was heard. ¡°I just went out. Has anyonee to see me?¡±

    The guard answered, ¡°No¡­ by the way, just now a strange whirlpool appeared! When we went to check it, the whirlpool disappeared. I don¡¯t know what happened.¡±

    Xiao Louughed. ¡°The asional whirlpool might be rted to the crustal movement of the sea floor. Don¡¯t care about it.¡±

    Then he pushed open the door and entered the fifth hall.

    The oversized shell bed that was nearly three meters wide was empty. Liu Qiao was gone.

    Xiao Lou squinted slightly as he stared thoughtfully at the open window next to him.

    Gui Yuanzhang and Mo Xuemin¡¯s hearts were beating very fast. At almost the moment Xiao Lou pushed open the door, they jumped out the window. Mo Xuemin found the invisibility cloak from Liu Qiao¡¯s card pack, covered Liu Qiao and ced her on his back. Senior Gui quickly drew the wind with his brush.

    Inside the pce, everyone must walk on legs and there were too many forks in the corridor. There were obstacles everywhere so it wasn¡¯t convenient to show their tails and swim quickly. Fortunately, Old Gui¡¯s brush could control the air and water currents and current direction. Using the brush, the two of them fled the pce quickly with Liu Qiao on their backs.

    The merpeople could swim freely in the vast sea outside the pce.

    Mo Xuemin and Gui Yuanzhang¡¯s legs became long tails in the sea. Every time their tails swung, they could swim hundreds of meters in an instant.

    Within 10 minutes, the two people swam out to the sea.

    In the distance, a broken ship was lit up with a soft light and a few shadows could be seen faintly.

    The two of them immediately recognized it as the light from the Night Pearl.

    Old Mo was happy as he swam toward the broken boat with Liu Qiao on his back. Gui Yuanzhang took out the Night Pearl card and lit up the nearby sea.

    Xiao Lou saw the familiar light and shouted, ¡°Is it Senior Gui?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang said, ¡°Yes, we have left the pce with Liu Qiao. He will soon find that Liu Qiao is missing.¡±

    Xiao Lou was a bit surprised. Didn¡¯t they rescue Liu Qiao too smoothly?

    Still, time was running out and he had no time to think about it. Shao Qingge carefully confirmed the authenticity of Senior Gui and nodded to Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou was relieved and asked, ¡°Are Xiao Liu¡¯s cards still there?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang nodded. ¡°All of them are present. Are you going to dive into the deep sea now? Or should we discuss our ns first?¡±

    They wouldn¡¯t necessarily benefit by rushing into the sea. Xiao Lou said, ¡°Since Xiao Liu has been rescued, let¡¯s discuss what to do next.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang thought about it carefully. ¡°I¡¯ll take you to a deserted ind far away from where the merpeople live. I identally found it many years ago when I went out with the elders of the merpeople. It should be safer. In addition, Liu Qiao¡¯s card can only transform you once a day. You have to adapt to the abilities of the merpeople as soon as possible.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded, ¡°Okay, please lead the way. We will first change into merpeople and adapt to the environment of the sea.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang took out the card ¡®Daughter of the Sea¡¯ from Liu Qiao¡¯s card pack and used the skill Mermaid Princess to turn all teammates within range into merpeople.

    The moment the card was used, all their legs became long tails.

    Ye Qi touched his tail. He stood on the boat and staggered, causing him to hurriedly hold onto Shao Qingge¡¯s arm.¡±I feel that I don¡¯t have legs anymore. How do I walk?¡±

    Shao Qingge looked at Ye Qi¡¯s cute tail and couldn¡¯t helpughing. ¡°You have to be in the water.¡±

    Then he suddenly took Ye Qi¡¯s hand and jumped straight into the sea.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t swim and he had an innate fear of seawater. After entering the water, a lot of sea water poured into his lungs. He just wanted to cough only to find out that there wasn¡¯t the full feeling of being choked. His entire body was soaked in seawater and he didn¡¯t feel ufortable at all. It was as natural as breathing air.

    Shao Qingge dragged him forward to swim. Ye Qi tried to wave his tail and his body did advance a few meters.

    He felt it was very magical and looked over at Shao Qingge. ¡°It seems that this is the talent of the merpeople. I don¡¯t need to learn to swim anymore. I know how to do it without a teacher!¡±

    The next moment, Lu Jiuchuan, Tang Ci, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou also jumped into the sea one after another.

    There were no obvious changes in their upper body but they had collectively grown a fish tail. It looked pretty good.

    Ye Qi suddenly asked, ¡°By the way, our legs have be tails. If we change back to humanster, will we still have pants?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    This guy was always thinking of strange questions.

    Shao Qingge didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. ¡°Definitely. Previously when I changed to the size of a thumb and returned to my adult size, my clothes weren¡¯t destroyed. The transformation is a change of your entire appearance. What nonsense are you thinking?¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s face slightly turned red. His tail moved and he quickly followed everyone to move forward.

    Gui Yuanzhang led the way and everyone else followed closely behind him. They used their tails and swam faster and faster in the sea. They swam hundreds of kilometers in less than half an hour.

    Gui Yuanzhang said, ¡°Here we go. This is it.¡±

    Xiao Lou poked his head out of the water and found the deserted ind mentioned by Gui Yuanzhang.

    No traces of ships were found around them. There must be very few people here. It was indeed safer to use an isted ind on the sea as a temporary base. Xiao Lou said, ¡°Everyone, settle down here first.¡±

    The group of people came ashore. Old Mo put Liu Qiao down and Xiao Lou came over. He held Liu Qiao¡¯s wrist with his fingers and found her pulse was normal. ¡°Xiao Liu should just be stunned. She isn¡¯t injured.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned as he watched Liu Qiao being ced on a big stone by Old Mo. Liu Qiao was the princess. After entering the sea, a tail automatically appeared. It was a silver tail that was two meters long. It spread out on the sea reef and exuded a bright luster in the moonlight. It was very beautiful.

    Ye Qi sat down next to Liu Qiao. ¡°I don¡¯t know what the clone fed Liu Qiao. Will she be unconscious for long?¡±

    Xiao Lou answered, ¡°If she was knocked unconscious by drugs, the time shouldn¡¯t be too long. She should wake up tomorrow.¡±

    Everyone was concerned about when Liu Qiao would wake up when Yu Hanjiang suddenly asked, ¡°Are you sure that the Liu Qiao you rescued is the actual Liu Qiao?¡±

    7th anniversary celebration event

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 444: Plan

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s words stunned his teammates and a chill rose in their hearts at the same time.

    The clone was no different from them in appearance.

    The card pack could be handed over to others. For example, Xiao Lou had previously given his card pack to his teammates for safekeeping. What if after the 5th clone controlled Liu Qiao, he ced her card pack on a clone¡¯s body?

    The card pack alone couldn¡¯t determine the person¡¯s identity.

    In order to determine if Liu Qiao was the original or not, they would have to check some secrets that they knew that couldn¡¯t be discovered by the hunters. However, now Liu Qiao was unconscious and it was impossible to determine if she was the original one or not.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Where did you find her?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang recalled his experience in the merpeople pce just now and frowned. ¡°The rescue of Liu Qiao went rtively smoothly. We first went to Liu Qiao¡¯s residence. We didn¡¯t find her so we spected that the clone might¡¯ve taken her to his own residence. We went to Prince Xiao Lou¡¯s residence and found the unconscious Liu Qiao in the fifth side hall.¡±

    Old Mo added, ¡°At that time, ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ happened toe back from outside. We heard him talking to the guard at the door. We were pressed for time so I didn¡¯t think too much. I directly ced Liu Qiao on my back and we fled the pce.¡±

    The entire process was thrilling but the two men didn¡¯t encounter any obstacles.

    Yu Hanjiang asked, ¡°Senior Gui and Chief Shao are connected to each other. You said that the clone went to your residence to find you. After he knocked ¡®you¡¯ unconscious, he took you away?¡±

    He nodded. ¡°Yes, he took away the dummy I drew with the Magic Pen Ma Liang skill.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged looks. They always felt there was a problem. Why did the 5th clone want to take Liu Qiao to his residence? Was this Liu Qiao actually a long-made clone that had been left in his residence?

    Nothing could be concluded until Liu Qiao woke up.

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°We should be cautious and control Xiao Liu first. That way if she is a clone or a hunter, we can prevent anything from happening in the middle of the night while everyone is asleep.¡±

    Shao Qingge suggested, ¡°In 8 of Spades when I was infected by the bugs, didn¡¯t you turn me thumb-sized and ce me in a bottle of mineral water? I think this method can be used. First make Liu Qiao smaller and ce her in the bottle. Once she wakes up, we can check her memory before releasing her. For us, this is rtively safe and Xiao Liu should understand.¡±

    After he was infected in 8 of Spades, everyone was worried that he would attack them. Thus, they made him smaller and ced him in a bottle. The current situation was simr. If Liu Qiao was a clone or a hunter then she was likely to hurt the team members behind the scenes.

    If turned into the size of a thumb, she would have no attack power. This was safer for her and her teammates.

    Gui Yuanzhang took out the Thumbelina card from Liu Qiao¡¯s card pack and shrank her. Thus, the mermaid princess on the rock became a thumb-sized fish.

    Ye Qi took out the supplies card and poured out the water in a bottle of mineral water. Then he poured sea water into the bottle and ced Liu Qiao in it.

    Liu Qiao was unconscious and soon sank to the bottom of the mineral water bottle.

    The group looked at the little fish in the bottle in aplicated manner.

    The identities of the others had been checked so Xiao Lou found a rock to sit down on. He ced his blue tail next to him and said, ¡°We should think about the next n. Senior Gui, can you show me Liu Qiao¡¯s cards?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang handed Liu Qiao¡¯s card pack to Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou found that the duration of this Mermaid Princess skill had changed from the initial two hours to eight hours. He said, ¡°Xiao Liu must¡¯ve used this mermaid card several times during her free time. It has reached full level and canst as long as eight hours.¡±

    Ye Qi wondered, ¡°When did she use it? I haven¡¯t seen her change into a mermaid.¡±

    Old Mo said, ¡°This girl Liu Qiao is very careful. She probably found that the duration of the card is too short so she used it a few times to make it full level. We haven¡¯t seen her use it because thest few instances didn¡¯t need the card. My guess is that she probably did experiments in the bathtub¡­¡±

    Ye Qi thought about how Liu Qiao had changed into a shark during the cruise ship World Weekly and felt that this possibility was very high. Liu Qiao was an adventurous girl. Changing into a mermaid when she was bored was quite in line with her personality.

    It was precisely due to this that her full level card provided great convenience to everyone. Otherwise, if the card was still in its initial state and the transformation onlysted two hours, this time was too short to sneak into the pce to investigate.

    Xiao Lou thought about it. ¡°Every transformationsts eight hours. We can sneak into the pce every night to investigate and leave before dawn?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang shook his head. ¡°The merpeople are active after dark and sleep during the day. It should be the other way round.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Then wait until dawn before diving into the deep sea. Senior Gui, Old Mo, please exin the situation of the merpeople to us.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang sat next to him and spoke in a low voice, ¡°The system of the merpeople is very simple. Some small matters are determined by the king while major matters must be agreed upon by the elders at a meeting. If you add me, there are currently seven elders among the merpeople. Since the merpeople live in the deep sea and don¡¯t interact with other races, we generally live in harmony like arge family. If I carefully calcte it, there are many close rtives among the merpeople. All of the merpeople are rted to each other.¡±

    Mo Xuemin added, ¡°The merpeople¡¯s pce is actually argebyrinth. In the past few days, I have only explored half the area. Arge area in the east hasn¡¯t been explored yet. Still, judging from the appearance, there are several veryrge pces. Perhaps there¡¯s also a cloneboratory?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang asked, ¡°Is the key to this secret room the clones?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, we fled from the Capital Star of the Locke Empire to the Azure Empire. After investigating it step by step, the root of all of this is the Noah¡¯s Ark project 20 years ago. Judging from the clues, we can only clear the instance if the cloning program ispletely terminated.¡±

    Old Mo looked at Xiao Lou with aplicated expression. ¡°The merman Xiao Lou is quite strong. In the past few days, he has taken people to investigate the shipwreck and his analysis is very urate. He is exactly the same as you¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang inquired, ¡°Where is the shipwreck? We have to go and take a look.¡±

    Old Mo answered, ¡°It is very close to the pce. The shipwreck has 10 human skeletons, eight men and two women. The oldest is 50 years old while the youngest is a five year old girl.¡±

    ¡°Five years old?¡± Xiao Lou was stunned. ¡°20 years ago was when that group of clones was aged to five years old. Are you sure it was a five year old girl who died?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang nodded. ¡°The clone Xiao Lou said that ording to the pelvis and bone age, he judged it was a five year old girl. I also examined the child¡¯s bones. Judging from the height, it indeed seemed like a girl around five years old.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou looked at each other and came up with a name. ¡°Lin Yan?¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Professor Xiao¡¯s fiancee?¡±

    Shao Qingge narrowed his eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t forget that Lin Yan¡¯s mother, Zhang Shaohua also participated in the Noah¡¯s Ark project. It is normal for Lin Yan to be cloned. The group that fled Capital Star that year took away Lin Yan¡¯s clone. Or is it possible that they took Lin Yan herself and the one left on Capital Star is actually the clone?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s face turned pale. ¡°If the Lin Yan who stayed on Capital Star is a clone, it exins why the emperor didn¡¯t let me attend the engagement banquet and instead had the 2nd Xiao Lou attend. No one knows what will happen if two clones get married and have children. Perhaps the emperor wants to bring two clones together for another experiment?¡±

    Ye Qi got goosebumps. ¡°Will there be a version 3.0 and 4.0?!¡±

    Old Mo was confused hearing this. ¡°What is version 3.0?¡±

    Ye Qi simply exined, ¡°The clone version 1.0 is the first generation where human genes are fused with bug genes. Version 2.0 is based on 1.0 and has the additional merpeople genes fused. Versions 3.0 and 4.0 haven¡¯t appeared yet!¡±

    Old Mo had a headache. ¡°Is this treating the study of human genes as code modification? Researching different system versions? Does the organization that studies the clones have the technology to destroy them?¡±

    Tang Ci nodded gravely. ¡°Just like a systempany has system bugs and antivirus software, there must be a special way if we want to destroy the clones.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan touched his chin and came to a conclusion. ¡°There are many clones in this world. We must find all the clones andpletely terminate the Noah¡¯s Ark project. Xiao Lou is the prince and should inherit the throne of the Locke Empire. On the merpeople¡¯s side, the prince is a clone as well so we should support Liu Qiao, the mermaid princess, to rise to the throne. It is only in this way that the world will go back on track?¡±

    Everyone thought about it carefully and felt that Brother Jiu¡¯s idea was quite correct. Eliminating the clones was their clearance goal.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Since we are here, we must first solve the problem of the merpeople. We have to find the cloneboratory in the deep sea and the person who has been studying the clones behind the scenes for all these years.¡±

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Let¡¯s take a rest first. At dawn, we will go to the pce.¡±

    The group of people sat on the reef by the sea, their tails neatly draped next to them. The moonlight was like water and everyone¡¯s tails emitted a soft glow.

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou¡¯s beautiful blue tail and then at his ck tail. He wondered, ¡°The tail colors are different. Is there any special meaning?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang exined, ¡°The different tail colors signify the merpeople ns. Silver is the symbol of royal blood while blue, green and cke from the three ns.¡±

    Xiao Lou opened his mouth. ¡°The symbol of the different ns is the tail. How is the rtionship between the three ns?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang answered, ¡°The current king is very prestigious. Based on what I remember, there hasn¡¯t been a war among the merpeople in the past few decades.¡±

    Just then, Liu Qiao in the bottle opened her eyes.

    She looked around and swam in the bottle. She found she couldn¡¯t get out and had to ask, ¡°Professor Xiao? Why did you lock me up?¡±

    7th anniversary celebration event

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 445: Liu Qiao

    Liu Qiao¡¯s voice was blocked by the mineral bottle water. It sounded very weak but Xiao Lou noticed the movement in the bottle. He took the mineral water bottle from Ye Qi and spoke quietly, ¡°Xiao Liu, you woke up?¡±

    Liu Qiao swam around the bottle and found that Xiao Lou in front of her seemed to be magnified dozens of times in her field of view. His face looked like a wall to her. She finally reacted and said, ¡°Why did you turn me thumb-sized and lock me up in the bottle? Is it the same as with Chief Shao in 8 of Spades?¡±

    Shao Qingge asked, ¡°Do you remember 8 of Spades?¡±

    Liu Qiao answered, ¡°Of course. Chief Shao was infected when saving Xiao Ye from the bugs. We were afraid he would hurt the team members so we used my Thumbelina card to lock you in the bottle¡­¡± She suddenly realized. ¡°I understand. You made me smaller and locked me in the bottle because you are afraid I will hurt everyone? Do you suspect I am a clone?¡±

    Xiao Lou heard this and his suspicion of her reduced a lot. After all, only the team members knew that Shao Qingge had been infected by the bugs in order to save Ye Qi. Liu Qiao urately said this so her credibility had greatly increased.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke softly, ¡°Do you remember where we first met?¡±

    ¡°The mountain temple in Liuxi Vige. I turned into Little Red Riding Hood and used the skyntern to guide you over. This allowed you to find the human bone pit behind the mountain temple.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang continued to ask, ¡°In the Beacon in Troubled Times secret room, what were our identities?¡±

    Liu Qiao seriously replied, ¡°Group Leader Yu was the newly appointed prefectural magistrate, Professor Xiao was your wife, Chief Shao came from a rich family, Old Mo was an expert, Long Sen was a royal guard, Sister Qu was the princess¡¯ close maid, I was a medical girl and Ye Qi¡­ ¡° She looked at Xiao Ye. ¡°The number one girl in the brothel.¡±

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help holding his forehead. ¡°Can you not mention that dark history¡­ Group Leader Yu, can you change the level for the question?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang immediately changed the question. ¡°What diseases did we all have in the 10th level?¡±

    ¡°Professor Xiao was the chief resident of general surgery, Group Leader Yu was shot and sent to the emergency department, Xiao Ye was in the pediatrics department with pneumonia, Chief Shao had a heart disease and had stent surgery, Long Sen broke his leg and had orthopaedic surgery, Old Mo had an intestinal obstruction and was sent for surgery, I had a blood disease and Sister Qu was pregnant and had lupus erythematosus¡­¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan touched his nose. ¡°It sounds like you were all sick in the 10th level.¡±

    Ye Qi said, ¡°Thebination of old, weak, sick, disabled and pregnant was really miserable. Only Professor Xiao was in a normal condition¡­ However, I think this level is more troublesome. In level 10, it was just that everyone¡¯s mobility was limited. The clues were very clear. Meanwhile, here we don¡¯t even know how many clones there are.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang continued, ¡°What was the plot of 9 of Hearts?¡±

    ¡°An entertainment circle murder case. The first murderer was psychologically distorted and killed the judge who gave her a red light in a singing contest. The second was a stic surgery stand-in who killed her close female friend.¡±

    Xiao Lou heard Liu Qiao¡¯s answers about the past instances and was finally relieved. For the sake of insurance, he continued to ask, ¡°Xiao Liu, do you remember the library of the medical school. On the 23rd floor, there is information on Chinese medicine.¡±

    Liu Qiao thought about it. ¡°Yes, I often go to the 23rd floor to borrow books to read.¡±

    Xiao Lou was silent for a moment before looking at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°There are no problems. This should be Liu Qiao.¡±

    Everyone was relieved to hear it.

    Liu Qiao opened her mouth. ¡°The snacks that ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ brought to me should be mixed with some drugs. I fainted after eating it. If it hadn¡¯t been for Professor Xiao suddenly using Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings, I wouldn¡¯t have doubted his identity at all. He was too much like Professor Xiao.¡±

    Xiao Lou helplessly said, ¡°It is hard to tell the difference in appearance because the genes of the clones are 99% simr. It is like identical twins. What you saw was the number 5 Xiao Lou who has the genes of humans, bugs and merpeople. In addition, he is a hunter and is hard to deal with because he knows everything about our team.¡±

    Liu Qiao wondered, ¡°Hunters? Why would a clone be a hunter?¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°My guess is that hunters, like challengers, can travel through different secret room worlds. We cane to this world and be assigned different identities. Naturally, hunters can also be assigned identities. The more important the identity of the hunter, the more difficult it is for us to clear the instance.¡±

    Shao Qingge was thoughtful. ¡°For example, my adoptive mother in the 10th level was a hunter.¡±

    Ye Qi remembered the scene of that rainy night and couldn¡¯t help being frightened. ¡°If I hadn¡¯t reacted quickly enough with Chief Shao, his mother would¡¯ve killed us at thest minute!¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at his teammates and spoke meaningfully, ¡°Therefore, the hunter being assigned the identity of the ¡®Xiao Lou clone¡¯ will greatly increase the difficulty of us clearing this level. If we aren¡¯t alert enough, we might fall into his trap.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suggested, ¡°We can avoid him first and check the shipwreck.¡±

    Xiao Lou agreed. ¡°Yes, we will dive into the deep sea as soon as it is dawn.¡±

    Liu Qiao swam around the bottle and asked, ¡°Can you let me out? I am the princess of the merpeople so I¡¯m familiar with theyout of the pce. Perhaps I can help.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang nodded, went over and opened the lid of the bottle. He poured out the little mermaid using his fingers. At the same time, Gui Yuanzhang cancelled the effect of the Thumbelina card and Liu Qiao returned to her original size.

    Her tail was the longest of all of them. It was more than two meters long and was silver-white. It glowed in the moonlight and was more beautiful than the heroine of the mermaid movie.

    Lu Jiuchuan nced at her tail. ¡°Is this the tail of a merperson with royal blood?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang nodded. ¡°The sign of royal blood is very obvious. The tail is silver. Moreover, the pure merpeople lineage is dwindling. The merpeople believe in the concept of species and believe that the silver tail is the noblest. Those who can inherit the throne must be a pure blood descendant with a silver tail.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought for a moment. ¡°The current merman prince is artificially raised with gic technology. As long as the gene fragment that determines the color of the tail is extracted and fused with the cells of the 4th Xiao Lou, the grown 5th Xiao Lou will automatically have a silver tail symbolizing royal blood?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°Then find an excuse such as an ¡®illegitimate son living outside¡¯. The merpeople won¡¯t doubt the identity of the prince. After all, he has the pure blood¡¯s silver tail.¡±

    Ye Qi looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°Can we distinguish Professor Xiao from the clone using the color of the tail?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°My tail is the blue of ordinary people while his is the silver of royal blood. It can be distinguished. It is just that in the pce, the merpeople walk on legs and don¡¯t reveal their tails. On the surface, it is still difficult to distinguish. Try not to separate when we act tomorrow, lest we be tricked by the clones.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang said cautiously, ¡°If we get rid of the clones, we can naturally let Liu Qiao be the new ruler of the merpeople.¡±

    Liu Qiao was stunned. ¡°Me? A ruler?¡±

    Ye Qi patted her on the shoulder. ¡°Isn¡¯t it a lot of pressure? Professor Xiao also has to inherit the throne. Both of you have very special identities in this level.¡±

    Liu Qiao thought about it and seriously nodded. ¡°Okay, I will cooperate with you.¡±

    The time was 4:30 a.m. Xiao Lou said, ¡°We will rest and depart at dawn.¡±

    They had stayed upte until now and were really tired. Everyoney on the reef and slept for a while.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t fall asleep. He lowered his head like he was thinking about something. After a long time, he secretly held Yu Hanjiang¡¯s hand and wrote a few words on Yu Hanjiang¡¯s palm. Yu Hanjiang raised an eyebrow and gave Xiao Lou a look that said ¡®I understand¡¯. He said warmly, ¡°Take a rest.¡±

    Xiao Lou closed his eyes and napped for half an hour.

    Before long, a faint light appeared on the sea to the east. It was already dawn when Xiao Lou woke everyone up. ¡°Get ready to act. There are still five hours left on the merpeople transformation time.¡±

    The merpeople¡¯s habit was to sleep during the day and go out at night. It was safer to act at dawn.

    In order to facilitate underwatermunication, Xiao Lou opened the Voice Headset card and gave everyone a headset. He pressed the bump of the earpiece and said, ¡°Xiao Liu, please lead the way. I will be in the back with Group Leader Yu.¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded and plunged into the sea. Her silver fishtail drew a beautiful arc in the air.

    Gui Yuanzhang and Old Mo followed closely. Next, Chief Shao, Xiao Ye, Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci jumped into the sea one after another.

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou followed at the end. The group swam quickly toward the location of the sunken ship.

    Once they adapted to the ¡®legs into tail¡¯ setting, they swam faster through the sea.

    Ye Qi had been andlubber for over 10 years. He was terrified every time he went into the water. He never thought that one day, he would be able to swim freely in the depths of the sea and even see the colorful fish there.

    The deeper they dove into the sea, the more beautiful the scenery.

    A magnificent picture of the seabed slowly unfolded in front of everyone. Coral of various colors were like arge flower bed on the seafloor, covering the entire sea area. Schools of fish moved through the coral. The colorful deep sea fish opened the door to another world.

    This was the mysterious, quiet but dangerous sea floor.

    There were cute little fish as well as ferocious giant whales. The sea was a ce that had always followed the rule of ¡®survival of the fittest¡¯. Large fish ate small fish while small fish ate shrimp. The weak simply didn¡¯t have the right to exist.

    It was no wonder the merpeople would be interested in the Noah¡¯s Ark project. If the merpeople genes were truly fused with human and bug genes, the merpeople would have the rare chance to be the overlord of the entire sea.

    Liu Qiao said, ¡°The sunken ship is just ahead.¡±

    The group followed her. It didn¡¯t take long before a military starship came into view.

    The starship had good workmanship and was very high quality. Even if it was old, the metal shell of the starship had no obvious signs of rust. Lu Jiuchuan swung his tail to quickly move forward. He grabbed the hatch and took the lead in entering the cabin.

    The others followed quickly.

    Lu Jiuchuan walked into the control room. He looked at the bird-like mark on the console and spoke softly, ¡°This starship should be the ¡®Egret¡¯ that was retired 25 years ago in the southern war zone. This bird-like insignia represents the egret.¡±

    Tang Ci was slightly startled. He walked beside Lu Jiuchuan and looked at theplicated control console. ¡°It is indeed the control mode from over 20 years ago. If I remember correctly, the Egret is¡­¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan stated, ¡°It is General Lin¡¯s starship.¡±

    7th anniversary celebration event

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 446: General Lin Zecheng

    The currentmander-in-chief of the southern military region of the empire was Lin Zecheng, Lin Yan¡¯s biological father and Xiao Lou¡¯s nominal father-inw.

    Xiao Lou heard the name and immediately cheered up. ¡°Brother Jiu, can a starship be operational again after its retirement?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan shook his head. ¡°No. ording to the rules of military headquarters, retired starships must be sealed. All imperial soldiers know that the Egret starship was retired 25 years ago.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°So this group of people secretly flew the Egret to escape from Capital Star? Since Egret is General Lin¡¯s starship, the escape n must be rted to General Lin.¡± He looked at his teammates. ¡°Let¡¯s go search for clues in teams of two. Communicate through the headset if there is a situation.¡±

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Number five brought you guys here, right? Did he damage the scene?¡±

    Liu Qiao answered, ¡°No, he only examined the bones and said that the crime scene must be protected.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Where are the corpses?¡±

    ¡°This way.¡± Liu Qiao led the way in front and Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang quickly followed.

    They moved down a long corridor and a silver-white hatch appeared in front of them. Liu Qiao opened the hatch and 10 human skeletons appeared in the room. They had obviously experienced a struggle before they died. The posture of the human bones was distorted.

    Xiao Lou leaned over to examine them and quickly came to a conclusion. ¡°There are eight men and two women. This little girl is really around five years old. Most of the others are young adults and there is one elderly person over 50 years old.¡±

    At this time, Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci also came over. Lu Jiuchuan said, ¡°Arge amount of damage was found in the right rear of the starship. It should be that the shield was crushed by the pressure of the deep sea when the starship was caught in the whirlpool.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°After all, this starship isn¡¯t a professional diving ship. It is difficult for ordinary starships to bear the water pressure of the sea. The damage to the defensive shield would be almost instantaneous. They probably weren¡¯t able to react before the huge water pressure crushed their internal organs.¡±

    Just then, Ye Qi spoke in their earpiece. ¡°Eh? It seems like there is a doll here?¡±

    Xiao Lou turned and headed to Ye Qi. He took a closer look at the doll that was picked up. It was a very good quality Barbie doll. She was dressed in a lovely pink dress with her blonde hair carefullybed into two ponytails.

    The doll was made of special waterproof material. This was why it was still intact after all these years.

    A warship and a doll, it was hard to match them with each other¡­

    Xiao Lou thought about it carefully and soon came up with a key point. ¡°If adults are escaping for their lives, it is impossible for them to bring a doll on the starship. Dolls are usually a little girl¡¯s favorite toy. This starship has the body of a five year old girl. It is likely that the doll belongs to her.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang followed up by asking, ¡°Would anyone kindly buy a doll for a clone?¡±

    Xiao Lou shook his head. ¡°20 years ago, all the clones should have been around five years old. However, they hadn¡¯t received any human education so their IQ was at the level of a baby. Clones with baby IQs definitely don¡¯t need toys to coax them. So it is more likely that¡­ the doll belongs to the little girl herself.¡±

    Ye Qi stared. ¡°The little girl who died here is Lin Yan herself?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded with a calm expression. ¡°Maybe there is also her biological father, General Lin Zecheng.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan touched his chin and thought carefully. ¡°20 years ago, General Lin Zecheng was in his 30s. He wasn¡¯t themander-in-chief of the southern military region but a major general who led a corps like me. The Egret starship was the starship he used to perform his missions. He was very familiar with the starship so he used it to flee Capital Star with his daughter in an emergency?¡±

    Xiao Lou returned to the cabin full of corpses and looked closely at the distribution of bodies around him.

    He found that there was a man next to the five year old girl. The man¡¯s arms held the girl¡¯s shoulders tightly and he protected the girl in his arms. The man¡¯s bones did belong to an adult male in his 30s.

    Xiao Lou pointed to the bones. ¡°This man should be General Lin Zecheng. As a father, he instinctively protected his daughter when there was danger.¡±

    A chill went down Ye Qi¡¯s back. ¡°Then where did General Lin and Lin Yan on Capital Stare from? In addition, what about Zhang Shaohua who has amnesia?¡±

    Shao Qingge told him, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that all of them are clones.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    No wonder why the person behind the scenes killed all those who signed the n but let go of Professor Zhang Shaohua. After the ident she no longer talked and lost all her memories. Perhaps it wasn¡¯t amnesia but as a clone, she had no memory of her husband and daughter?

    Xiao Lou hurriedly said, ¡°Teacher Qu is in danger. Please inform her and tell her to be careful!¡±

    Shao Qingge wanted to inform the other person but unfortunately, the deep sea blocked any signals. He simply couldn¡¯t contact Qu Wanyue at all. Shao Qingge looked at hismunicator that had no signal and frowned. ¡°I have to wait until we leave the sea. She has the Chameleon card to integrate with the environment. She should have no problems for a while.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked everyone, ¡°Are there any other clues?¡±

    Tang Ci asked, ¡°Senior Gui, was the door of the starship open when you came to investigate the case?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang answered, ¡°The door was open when we first came.¡±

    Tang Ci nodded. ¡°This means that someone hase here before you because the door of this type of starship can only be opened with a password. It is likely that someone from the merpeople came to the starship and took away all the materials rted to the Noah¡¯s Ark project.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked around. ¡°There are the bones of 10 humans. Apart from General Li Zecheng and the five year old Lin Yan, the identities of the other eight can¡¯t be determined.¡±

    Suddenly, Ye Qi walked up to a corpse and stared nkly at the semi-circr ne around the corpse¡¯s neck. Shao Qingge hurried to Ye Qi, gently held his wrist and asked in a low voice, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Ye Qi said, ¡°This ne¡­¡±

    He unbuttoned his shirt and pulled out the exact same ne. ¡°It is a pair with mine.¡±

    Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Is this corpse your real father, General Ye Bowen?¡±

    Tang Ci said, ¡°ording to the official records, General Ye died on the front lines. In fact, he actually escaped from Capital Star with General Lin, a few clones and the information of the Noah¡¯s Ark project. In this way, the ¡®sacrifice on the front lines¡¯ was a deliberate fabrication?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan agreed. ¡°After all, it is difficult to exin clearly if a young general suddenly disappeared. It is easy to use ¡®death on the front lines¡¯ to exin it.¡±

    Shao Qingge frowned. ¡°It seems that some of the people involved in the n who died from strange deaths are likely to be on this starship. They must¡¯ve noticed that the emperor wanted to kill them so they collectively fled from Capital Star with the clones and relevant information on the Noah¡¯s Ark project. Unfortunately, they were not omnipotent. They encountered a whirlpool at sea and lost their lives and the information of the Noah¡¯s Ark project along with the clones and specimen was stolen by the merpeople.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced back at Liu Qiao. ¡°Your father, the king of the merpeople. Do you think he has any problems?¡±

    Liu Qiao shook her head. ¡°My father is a very kind and amiable person. He doesn¡¯t seem to know about the clones. I¡¯ve never heard any news about the human race in my 18 years of memory.¡±

    Then Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Is there anyone among the merpeople who has a deep understanding of genes or biology?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang suddenly remembered something. ¡°There was a mermaid elder called Kareen Ger who was particrly fond of studying this aspect. He has bred many deep sea fish that the merpeople can eat.¡±

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Go back today and check this elder tomorrow. I¡¯m afraid there will be a problem on Teacher Qu¡¯s side.¡±

    The group had no objection and left the starship.

    Back at the deserted ind, Xiao Lou asked Shao Qingge to contact Qu Wanyue. Soon, Qu Wanyue¡¯s face appeared on the screen projected from Shao Qingge¡¯smunicator. She was surprised when she saw everyone¡¯s collective tails. ¡°How did you all be merpeople? Did you use Xiao Liu¡¯s card?¡±

    Xiao Lou answered, ¡°We found clues rted to the deep sea merpeople and just entered the water as a group. By the way, have you found anything unusual when tracking Zhang Shaohua these days? The family of three might all be clones.¡±

    Qu Wanyue was startled. ¡°Clones? I just wanted to tell you. Zhang Shaohua is always nk-eyed and rarelymunicates with General Lin and Lin Yan. She doesn¡¯t even know her daughter Lin Yan. She sits in the yard every day in a daze. Yetst night, I hid in her bedroom using the Chameleon card and observed her for one night. I found that she had frequent nightmares!¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged looks. She had nightmares?

    If Zhang Shaohua was a clone who hadn¡¯t received a human education, she would be a fool without any worries. How could she frequently have nightmares?

    Qu Wanyue continued. ¡°Furthermore, she clearly called out ¡®Yan Yan¡¯ when she woke up in the middle of the night. It was only once but I heard it very clearly¡­ what is going on? She didn¡¯t know Lin Yan during the day. So why would she call out Lin Yan¡¯s name while dreaming?¡±

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and suddenly thought of a possibility.

    People could control their own emotions and pretend to be dumb, but only dreams couldn¡¯t be controlled.

    Therefore, Zhang Shaohua on Capital Star should be the real one.

    The bones of two females were found on this starship. One was the five year old Lin Yan. The other one had an age consistent with Zhang Shaohua but she was very far from Lin Yan. They didn¡¯t seem like a close mother and daughter.

    Perhaps Zhang Shaohua sensed the crisis and asked her husband to take away her daughter first while she stayed in Capital Star.

    Or did she change identities with the clone and pretended to be dumb for all these years in order to wait for an opportunity?

    7th anniversary celebration event

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 447: Next Plan

    The things that Qu Wanyue witnessed couldn¡¯t be false. Moreover, she used the Chameleon card to integrate with the environment and secretly sneaked into General Lin¡¯s house. No one could have found her so there was no possibility of deliberate acting.

    Having a nightmare and calling out the name ¡®Yan Yan¡¯, but not knowing her daughter at all during the day? The most likely reason was that Zhang Shaohua was just pretending to be crazy and stupid. She just couldn¡¯t control her dreams.

    Xiao Lou looked at Qu Wanyue on the screen. ¡°Zhang Shaohua stays home all day and doesn¡¯t go out? Do General Lin and Lin Yan visit her often?¡±

    Qu Wanyue answered, ¡°General Lin rarely returns but Lin Yan wille every afternoon to find her mother. She takes her mother out to enjoy the sun, serve tea, pour water and massage her shoulders. This girl is very filial.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang looked at each other and came to the same conclusion. ¡°Lin Yan doesn¡¯t know that she is a clone?¡±

    Qu Wanyue said, ¡°I can¡¯t see that she is a clone. She really cares about her mother and it doesn¡¯t seem like an act.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it carefully. ¡°The culture medium developed after the Noah¡¯s Ark n restarted might be able to sessfully control the growth rate of the cells. For example, letting a cell grow to five years old or to 30 years old in a few days?¡±

    Tang Ci came over and said, ¡°Assuming that they added the bug¡¯s fungus nket to the culture medium and could freely control the growth rate of the cells, this would exin why the clones of General Lin¡¯s family could appear at the same time. General Lin was 30 years old and his daughter was five years old so the clones should also meet these age characteristics.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan touched his chin. ¡°In other words, the cells might¡¯ve been taken at the same time but one catalyst was used a lot more to grow to 30 years in a short time. The other was grown to five years old. Then take them out of the culture medium and let them be a family?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes. In this way, Lin Yan has been staying with her parents since the age of five. Her parents might be clones but she has deep feelings towards them. She shouldn¡¯t know that she is a clone.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°General Lin probably doesn¡¯t know either. The real General Lin is dead and the clone must obey the emperor. Then there is no one who can shake the emperor¡¯s position.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan crossed his arms and thought for a moment. ¡°Among the military generals, Lin Zecheng has the highest prestige and the best rtionship with the emperor. This is why his daughter was engaged to the crown prince when the empress was still alive.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked back at Qu Wanyue. ¡°Has Lin Yan recently met with the crown prince?¡±

    ¡°Yes. She went to the pce yesterday afternoon. It is said that His Highness invited her to dinner. At 9:30 p.m., she returned home and happily told Zhang Shaohua about it. However, Zhang Shaohua still had a dull expression and didn¡¯t respond. Lin Yan spoke a lot to herself,plimenting the crown prince¡¯s gentlemanly nature and how kind he was to her.¡±

    ¡°The crown prince?¡± Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang spoke in unison.

    ¡°Yes, Long Sen came home on vacation yesterday and told me that the emperor hasn¡¯t mentioned the crown prince¡¯s escape to anyone. The strange thing was that when he patrolled the pce yesterday, he saw ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ walking with his own eyes. Based on what he heard from the guards at the Twin Pces, the crown prince has been staying in the Twin Pces to study recently.¡±

    ¡°It seems that after we escaped, the emperor simply let the clone rece me.¡± Xiao Lou didn¡¯t know how to evaluate the emperor. It could be seen from the time he let the five year old Xiao Lou participate in the cruel ¡®natural selection¡¯ that he didn¡¯t have any preference for Xiao Lou just because Xiao Lou was the child born from the empress¡¯ body.

    If Xiao Lou died in that selection, it was estimated that the emperor wouldn¡¯t shed a single tear, right?

    In any case, there were so many children exactly the same as Xiao Lou. For the emperor, all the clones were his son. There was no difference from one being born biologically and the others being artificially grown.

    ¡°Perhaps the death of his oldest son stimted him and the emperor has long been psychologically distorted. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t agree to the Noah¡¯s Ark n.¡± Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou and spoke softly, ¡°After all, this n can¡¯t be made public. He doesn¡¯t dare conduct arge-scale search for you. It is best to have the clone rece you and treat it as if nothing has happened.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is also possible that he sent people to secretly look for me and kill me.¡± Xiao Lou took a deep breath. ¡°Teacher Qu, continue to watch Lin Yan. If anything happens then contact Chief Shao.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡± Qu Wanyue nodded at everyone. Then she found Liu Qiao, Gui Yuanzhang and Old Mo and spoke joyfully, ¡°You found Xiao Liu and the others?¡±

    ¡°Yes, they are all merpeople. Xiao Liu is the mermaid princess,¡± Xiao Lou answered.

    ¡°No wonder why you have all be merpeople and collectively grew tails. It turns out that Xiao Liu and the others are merpeople.¡± Qu Wanyue nced over the team members. ¡°Oh, why don¡¯t I see Sister Huaying?¡±

    ¡°Sister Huaying¡­¡± The moment Ye Qi was about to speak, Xiao Lou suddenly interrupted him. ¡°Huaying has another task. I asked her to investigate my sister¡¯s plotline at the Azure Empire¡¯s pce. She wille to join us tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good. Take care and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.¡± Qu Wanyue cut off the videomunication.

    Ye Qi was very puzzled. Chu Huaying was obviously a wanted star thief and she was operating the Dark Night starship near Azure to wait for them. Why did Professor Xiao suddenly say that she went to the imperial pce to investigate Xiao Rou? In addition, since when was she meeting everyone tomorrow? Wasn¡¯t this speaking nonsense with open eyes?

    Xiao Lou must have his reasons for saying so. Ye Qi naturally didn¡¯t pierce it. He consciously shut his mouth and retreated behind Shao Qingge.

    Next to him, Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci exchanged looks. They saw a trace of doubts in the other person¡¯s eyes but soon calmed down.

    Xiao Lou walked toward Liu Qiao and spoke softly, ¡°Xiao Liu, Senior Gui and Old Mo risked themselves to rescue you. More than two hours have passed. The clones among the merpeople should¡¯ve discovered that you were rescued. If the other Xiao Lou calls on the merpeople and says that we have kidnapped you, we will have many enemies. We might not be a match for the merpeople.¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded. ¡°Yes, there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers among the merpeople and their attack power in the sea isn¡¯t inferior to the giant whales. If we really fight, we won¡¯t have an advantage. In addition, isn¡¯t this secret room implying that I should inherit the throne to clear the level? It isn¡¯t the best choice to fight with the merpeople. Professor Xiao, what do you think?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it. ¡°I want to give you a task but it requires you to take a risk.¡±

    Liu Qiao wondered, ¡°What task? Am I going alone?¡±

    Xiao Lou answered, ¡°I naturally won¡¯t let you take risks alone. Old Mo and Senior Gui will go with you. The three of you should first explore the path in the pce and find theboratory where the clones are studied. Once the path is known, it can save a lot of time.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded in agreement. ¡°The transformation effect can only be maintained for eight hours. We have to find clues in a limited time so we can¡¯t go in circles in thebyrinth. It is good to find the path in advance.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at Gui Yuanzhang and Old Mo. ¡°The three of you were originally merpeople and you are used to the deep sea environment. In addition, Old Mo is the one with the strongest sense of direction among us. Once you find out the location of theboratory, we will go there together.¡±

    Old Mo agreed simply. ¡°No problem. I¡¯ve explored half of the paths in the pce. Now it is dawn and most of the merpeople will be sleeping after dawn. It is convenient for us to move.¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°We should wait until after the card skills refresh at midnight to go. At that time, I will ce the Peach Blossom Spring here. If there is danger, I can directly teleport everyone back¡­ I must ensure everyone¡¯s safety.¡±

    Old Mo nodded in understanding. ¡°Professor Xiao is thoughtful.¡±

    They had slept for less than an hourst night and they were really exhausted. Ye Qi¡¯s stomach even made a growling sound. Ye Qi scratched his head in an embarrassed manner. ¡°I didn¡¯t eat muchst night, cough. I¡¯m a bit hungry.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled at Xiao Ye. ¡°In fact, I¡¯m also hungry. It is better for us to eat something first. There are other arrangements this afternoon.¡±

    The supply card could provide them with chocte, milk, instant noodles and mineral water but it wasn¡¯t enough to eat only these things. This deserted ind was full of vegetation so they should be able to find something to eat.

    Yu Hanjiang suggested, ¡°Xiao Ye and Chief Shao, apany me to pick fruits. On the way, we will see if we can hunt any game. Your transportation cardsbined with my light footwork card means that if there are any wild animals on this ind, they can¡¯t run away.¡±

    Shao Qingge and Ye Qi nodded. They turned and followed Yu Hanjiang to leave quickly.

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Brother Jiu, can you catch fish?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan raised his chin. ¡°You are asking the right person. During my time in the military academy, I learned how to survive in the wild and I caught a few fish. Of course, this is on the premise that there are fish to catch.¡±

    Xiao Lou went to the sea and saw the clear water. ¡°There should be some edible fish in the shallow sea. Go and take a look.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan waved to Tang Ci. ¡°Xiao Tang, let¡¯s go together.¡±

    Xiao Lou also followed. ¡°Mypass can be used to make fishings. I might be able to help.¡± He looked at the remaining three people. ¡°Old Mo, Xiao Liu and Senior Gui, please help pick up some branches and make a fire.¡±

    The three of them nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    Some timeter, Yu Hanjiang returned carrying a hare and pheasant in his hand. Ye Qi carried many green fruits in his arms and eximed excitedly, ¡°This fruit shouldn¡¯t be poisonous. I saw several monkeys eating it just how. In addition, Group Leader Yu shot the pheasant and hare with absolutely perfect marksmanship. One shot!¡±

    At this time, Xiao Lou also came back. He heard Ye Qi¡¯s words and asked with concern, ¡°Did you use a silencer? The sound of the shooting might be heard by nearby merpeople.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s group of three also gained a lot. Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci carried several fish each. Lu Jiuchuan told them, ¡°We caught nine fish. It is just enough for one per person.¡±

    Ye Qi suddenly looked at Old Mo and asked a strange question, ¡°Uncle Mo, are the merpeople carnivores or herbivores? If the three of you eat fish, do you think you are eating the same kind?¡±

    Old Mo helplessly held his forehead. ¡°In marine life, it is normal for big fish to eat small fish. They aren¡¯t the same kind. The merpeople are omnivores. They eat nts in the sea as well as small fish and shrimp.¡±

    Ye Qi was relieved and handed a fish to Old Mo.

    Everyone had now changed back to human legs. Old Mo, Gui Yuanzhang and Liu Qiao could also put away their tails onnd. The group sat around the branches and Xiao Lou used Bai Juyi to make a fire. The two brothers, Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan were very professional at roasting game and the scent of cooked meat soon floated to their noses.

    Shao Qingge said with a smile, ¡°Our team seems to be really hungry.¡±

    Ye Qi stared at the grilled fish in front of him, rubbing his hands together greedily. ¡°After all, it doesn¡¯t matter if it flies in the sky, runs on the ground or swims in the water. As long as it is edible, we always have a way to cook it!¡±

    Xiao Lou chuckled. ¡°Xiao Ye, you¡¯re speaking as if we came to rob the secret rooms.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang handed the grilled fish to Xiao Lou and told him softly, ¡°Taste it.¡±

    Xiao Lou took a bite and couldn¡¯t help praising it, ¡°Delicious. Xiao Liu, have you guys tried it?¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s expression was bitter. ¡°Us merpeople usually eat fish raw. We aren¡¯t used to eat it cooked¡­¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang suggested, ¡°Leave the three raw ones to us.¡±

    Old Mo scratched his head. ¡°The scene of us eating raw fish is a bit bloody. Why don¡¯t we go somewhere else and eat it?¡±

    Ye Qi asked curiously, ¡°Why is it bloody? I¡¯ve also eaten sashimi.¡±

    Old Mo asked, ¡°Are you sure you want to see it?¡±

    Ye Qi smiled. ¡°Yes, isn¡¯t it just tearing it and eating it piece by piece?¡±

    The next moment, Old Mo suddenly opened his mouth. They saw arge number of sharp teeth that could instantly tear through a human¡¯s neck! His mouth opened to the size of his entire face and there was only a terrifying bloody basin in Ye Qi¡¯s vision. After that, a fish was directly ced in Old Mo¡¯s mouth.

    Ye Qi stared and the grilled fish in his hands fell to the ground with a ¡®plop¡¯.

    Shao Qingge didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry as he touched Ye Qi¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I had the premonition it would be bad but you just had to see it.¡±

    Old Mo swallowed the whole fish and shut his mouth. His facial features also returned to normal. He smiled and asked, ¡°Did I frighten you? Don¡¯t look at the upper body of the merpeople that is simr to humans. They are actually very ferocious and more terrifying than sharks. It is because sharks are just fierce and don¡¯t have an IQ. The merpeople have sharp teeth and they have the highest IQ among marine creatures.¡±

    Ye Qi held his scared heart. ¡°Your mouth is as big as a face and can directly bite off a human head?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang told them solemnly, ¡°So we shouldn¡¯t rush into the merpeople pce without 100% certainty. Professor Xiao is right. We have to be fully prepared.¡±

    7th anniversary celebration event

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 448: Gene Sequence

    Lunch ended and everyone instinctively felt a strong sense of sleepiness. After all, they only slept for one or two hoursst night and were seriouslycking sleep. Seeing his teammates yawn out of sleepiness, Xiao Lou told Old Mo, ¡°Old Mo, use the Lazy Sofa card.¡±

    Mo Xuemin took out the Lazy Sofa card from his card pack. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s take turns sitting.¡±

    Thezy sofa could instantly eliminate tiredness and rejuvenate people. It was used to strengthen their spirits quickly because of the time constraints. Xiao Lou had arranged tasks for the afternoon.

    Everyone took turns sitting on the sofa and soon felt refreshed.

    ¡°We have to go back to the Azure Empire and ask my sister for help.¡± Xiao Lou took some bone fragments out of his pocket. ¡°I took a small piece from each of the 10 skeletons in the shipwreck just now. I want to go to the hospital¡¯sb to extract DNA from the bones and test the gic fragments to identify these 10 people.¡±

    Ye Qi was curious. ¡°These people have been dead for 20 years. Can DNA be extracted from the bones?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The half-life of DNA is 521 years. Every 521 years, only half of the chemical bonds between DNA will be broken. DNA can be extracted from bones stoned in ancient tombs for hundreds of years. 20 years is nothing.¡±

    ¡°Great. If the extracted DNA can confirm the identities of the deceased, we can unlock arge part of the secrets of the Noah¡¯s Ark n.¡± Lu Jiuchuan smiled at Xiao Lou. ¡°It is really convenient to have a forensic doctor.¡±

    ¡°I just hope that the gene bank of the empire has saved everyone¡¯s gic data.¡± Xiao Lou said. ¡°If Mr Tang can invade the empire¡¯s gene bank and retrieve the data, we canpare it to the identities of the 10 deceased.¡±

    Tang Ci nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t know the encryption level of the gene bank but I will try my best.¡±

    ¡°Get ready to go.¡± Xiao Lou nced at Liu Qiao¡¯s group of three. ¡°You should also go together with us. We can meet Huaying and see if we can get any clues from her.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Liu Qiao¡¯s group of three also followed.

    They could jump directly into the sea to swim toward the shore. Xiao Lou and the others could only use the light footwork card and teleportation cards to move forward.

    The discement ability of these cards was excellent. Everyone soon arrived at the small fishing vige. Liu Qiao¡¯s group of three immediately put away their tails and walked on both legs like normal humans.

    The suspension car that Shao Qingge had bought previously had been sucked in the whirlpool and turned to scrap. Fortunately, he wasn¡¯tcking in money. He bought a new car and drove it. As they passed near the pce, Xiao Lou pressed on his earpiece and spoke softly, ¡°Sister, can you hear me?¡±

    The effective range of the team¡¯s Voice Headset was 10 kilometers. Last time, Xiao Lou left an earpiece with his sister for contact. At this time, Xiao Rou was eating in the pce. She pretended to rub her ears and pressed quietly on the bump of the earpiece. Then she asked the maid next to her, ¡°What are we eating tonight?¡±

    Xiao Lou knew she had heard it and quickly said, ¡°Sister, I would like you to ask Dr Edwin for help. He should have gic identification equipment at his hospital? I need to extract some DNA from bones to identify the gic sequence.¡±

    Inside the pce, the maid took out a recipe. ¡°Princess, the doctor said you need vitamin supplements. This dinner recipe is nutritionally bnced. Do you need to check if it should be changed?¡±

    Xiao Rou smiled. ¡°That¡¯s fine. I¡¯m a bit tired. I want to take a shower and then sleep for a bit.¡±

    The maid answered, ¡°Yes, Princess. Call me if you need anything.¡±

    A few secondster, Xiao Rou came to the bathroom. There was the sound of a lot of water rushing from the headset. Apparently, she had turned on the shower to the maximum in order to disrupt any eavesdropping device. She pressed on the earpiece and said in a low voice, ¡°Xiao Lou, what¡¯s the matter? Where are the bones from? Is someone dead?¡±

    There was the sound of the shower but Xiao Lou still heard her clearly. He exined, ¡°I found some skeletons at the bottom of the sea and we are suspecting they escaped from the empire. I need to determine the identity of these people. Sister, can you contact Dr Edwin and ask him to help?¡±

    Xiao Rou spoke softly, ¡°Yes, Dr Edwin is on duty this afternoon. He is an obstetrician. Find a woman to pretend to be pregnant and go to him for a consultation. Tell him I sent you and he will find a way to help.¡±

    Xiao Lou answered, ¡°Thank you, Sister.¡±

    Xiao Rou paused before continuing, ¡°Father never mentioned the matter of you escaping from Capital Star to me. There are also no movements from Prince Herman¡¯s side. I don¡¯t know what Father means¡­ In short, you must be careful and take good care of yourself.¡±

    ¡°I know. Sister, you should also take care.¡±

    After the call, Xiao Lou looked at Liu Qiao. ¡°Xiao Liu, you are the only girl here. Later, you will pretend to be pregnant. We have to go to the hospital to see an obstetrician.¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang once again used the Fake Face card to pretend to be two ordinary passersby. Their identity was Liu Qiao¡¯s family while Liu Qiao was the patient. The others would wait nearby.

    The trio registered at the hospital and it was soon their turn.

    Liu Qiao walked to the clinic. Dr Edwin nced at the young girl and asked, ¡°Are you pregnant? Is this your first visit?¡±

    Liu Qiao calmly answered, ¡°Yes, I came for a pregnancy check-up.¡±

    The doctor looked at the two men behind her. He was just about to have the family members go out when Xiao Lou suddenly walked to the doctor and told him in a low voice, ¡°Princess Xiao Rou had use. We are the two interns from before. Please help.¡±

    Edwin responded quickly and smiled. ¡°Okay, the patient and her family shoulde with me.¡±

    He took the three people to a consulting room and had the interns go out. Once there was no one left, Xiao Lou exined his intention. ¡°Professor, I want to borrow the equipment of the gic identification center.¡±

    Edwin frowned. ¡°You can¡¯t get in the identification center now¡­ they will leave work on time at 5:30 in the afternoon. I will find a way to take you there at that time. Wear the clothes of an intern like you didst time.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°Thank you, Professor.¡±

    ***

    At 5:30 in the afternoon, Professor Edwin¡¯s consultation time ended. He brought three ¡®interns¡¯ in white coats to the identification center. He quickly entered theboratory and locked the door.

    The equipment in the future world wasn¡¯t the same as the one known by Xiao Lou. Fortunately, with the help of Professor Edwin. Xiao Lou sessfully extracted DNA from the bones and used the instruments to analyze the gene sequences.

    The identification process of the high-tech equipment was fast. In a sh, 10 detailed gene sequences appeared on the screen. The densely packed nucleic acid data made Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes brighten. He copied the information before destroying the records of the data, speaking in a low voice, ¡°Thank you, Professor.¡±

    Edwin waved his hand. ¡°Go now lest you are discovered.¡±

    After leaving the hospital, Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang and Liu Qiao walked quickly to the coffee shop near the hospital that they had agreed upon with the others.

    In a small private room on the second floor, Tang Ci, Old Mo and Gui Yuanzhang were drinking coffee. There was a woman sitting with the three men. She was dressed in a ck leather coat and her hair was neatly tied up in a ponytail. She looked heroic and cool.

    Liu Qiao asked, ¡°Sister Huaying?¡±

    Chu Huaying hummed lightly in response. ¡°I have limited time so I will tell you the key points.¡±

    Xiao Lou walked into the private room and sat down. ¡°What did you discover when investigating my sister?¡±

    Chu Huaying answered, ¡°Princess Xiao Rou doesn¡¯t know much about the Noah¡¯s Ark n. She married Prince Herman 20 years ago. Before marrying, she had seen Xiao Lou¡¯s clones but she couldn¡¯t find any more information. After her marriage, her actions were monitored by her husband. I suspect this is an arrangement the emperor had with Prince Herman.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°What about Herman?¡±

    Chu Huaying frowned. ¡°The prince is very wary. It is difficult for me to get close to him but based on my investigation, he has no knowledge of the Noah¡¯s Ark n. The Locke Empire secretly studying clones can¡¯t be known by too many people. On the Azure Empire¡¯s side, Xiao Rou knows a bit but Prince Herman doesn¡¯t know anything. The focus of our investigation should still be the merpeople.¡±

    Xiao Lou thought carefully. ¡°After midnight tonight, Xiao Liu will go with Old Mo and Senior Gui to explore the way. If you sessfully find the cloneboratory, I will pull you back to the Peach Blossom Spring. Then we will go to the pce to solve the behind the scenes culprits¡ªthe hunters who look exactly like us.¡±

    Chu Huaying simply said, ¡°Okay, I will wait for you to summon me.¡±

    She stood up and walked toward the door. She had just arrived at the door when she abruptly stopped and looked back at Liu Qiao. ¡°Xiao Liu, you must be more careful. I heard that you are the mermaid princess. Perhaps the person the other Xiao Lou wants to get rid of the most is you. After all, you will threaten his inheritance rights.¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded earnestly. ¡°I know. Sister Huaying, you should also be careful.¡±

    Chu Huaying dered, ¡°I will go first. See youter.¡±

    She turned and left, her high-heeled leather boots clicking on the floor as she quickly disappeared from everyone¡¯s vision.

    Xiao Lou looked at Tang Ci and wondered, ¡°Where is Brother Jiu?¡±

    Tang Ci answered, ¡°Chief Shao and Ye Qi returned to the hotel to check out. They checked in at the Ferris Wheel Hotel and will definitely arouse suspicion if they don¡¯t go back to the room for a few days. Brother Jiu followed them secretly to protect them from idents.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°It¡¯s indeed better to be more cautious. Mr Tang, can you invade the Locke Empire¡¯s gene bank?¡±

    Tang Ci took out hismunicator. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it is already done. Let¡¯spare the sequences you have detected.¡±

    7th anniversary celebration event

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 449: Identity Confirmation

    The security firewall of the imperial gene bank had extremelyplex passwords. It took a lot of time for Tang Ci to invade the gene bank and there was a risk of being discovered and tracked at any time. After obtaining the gic information copied by Xiao Lou, Tang Ci quickly searched andpared them to the gene bank.

    The first ones to have their identities confirmed were Major General Lin Zecheng and his biological daughter Lin Yan.

    Xiao Lou looked at the results of theparison. ¡°The gic sequences of Lin Zecheng and Lin Yan are 100% simr to the data in the imperial gene bank. There is no difference. These two must be the real ones.¡±

    Tang Ci added, ¡°Ye Wenbo¡¯s genes aren¡¯t abnormal.¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°Find Ye Qi¡¯s information from the gene bank and see if Ye Wenbo is his biological father.¡±

    Tang Ci nodded. He quickly tapped on the keys to find the information on Ye Qi. ¡°Here.¡±

    Xiao Lou sat next to him andpared it carefully before confirming it. ¡°They are biological father and son. Ye Qi grew up in an orphanage. Did his mother send him to the orphanage?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang crossed his arms and analyzed it. ¡°Ye Wenbo died 20 years ago but Ye Qi is only 19 years old. This indicates that Ye Qi wasn¡¯t born yet when Ye Wenbo died. At that time, Mrs Ye was pregnant. After she gave birth, she secretly gave him to the orphanage for his safety. Then what about the whereabouts of Mrs Ye?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it. ¡°Perhaps she was killed or secretly ran away?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Yes, we will checkter. If she is still alive then she is an important witness.¡±

    Tang Ci continued to search for the information of the remaining seven people. His slender fingers tapped the keys quickly and a string of gic dataparison results were shown on the screen in front of everyone.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at the listed names. ¡°Qin Rong, Zhu Xingchen and Palmer. They all died at the age of 40 years old. The three of them are gic experts who signed onto the Noah¡¯s Ark project. The data that we found before stated that they died from all types of idents, including a car ident,boratory experiment and falling from a building.¡±

    Tang Ci said, ¡°The so-called idents are just an excuse to cover it up?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed, ¡°In the past 20 years, they haven¡¯t been able to find the bodies of the people who died from ¡®idents¡¯. It is said that Ye Qi¡¯s parents died on the front lines. In fact, his father died at the bottom of the sea and his mother¡¯s whereabouts are unknown. This shows that the reported causes of death for all the people involved in the n are false.¡±

    Nine people had been identified and there was still thest remaining female.

    Tang Ci tapped on the keyboard. ¡°Thest one is¡­¡±

    The group looked at theparison results on the screen and their eyes widened with surprise.

    Xiao Lou eximed, ¡°Zhang Shaohua?¡±

    Tang Ci exined, ¡°The DNA of the 30 year old woman is 99.5% simr to Zhang Shaohua in the gene pool.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°The simrity is 99.5%, meaning there is still 0.5% that isn¡¯t the same?¡±

    Tang Ci marked the different genes in red. ¡°I might not be a gic expert but the sequence difference in this nucleotide is very obvious. Professor Xiao, what do you think?¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°This is a gene fragment that has been artificially modified.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was thoughtful. ¡°It seems that the Zhang Shaohua who escaped with Li Zecheng and Lin Yan was actually a clone. The one who stayed on Capital Star is the real one. She has been pretending to be crazy all this time?¡±

    Tang Ci wondered, ¡°Her husband and daughter chose to run away. Why did she stay on her own?¡±

    Xiao Lou thought about it and spected, ¡°I¡¯m afraid she took the initiative to do this. She quickly made a clone of her own age in theboratory. Then she asked her husband to take the clone and their daughter while she pretended to be the clone andy in theboratory. She chose to stay on Capital Star to pretend to be a clone. Perhaps it was to observe the emperor¡¯s decisions regarding this matter?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°It is possible that she knows too many secrets so it is safest to use the identity of a clone. After all, the emperor won¡¯t be on guard against a clone with the IQ of a baby.¡±

    This woman, Zhang Shaohua, was very courageous. If her husband and daughter escaped sessfully, she would stay behind with the emperor and find out the conspiracy between the Noah¡¯s Ark n. This was a win-win situation.

    Unfortunately, the starship that her husband led the escape on was lured by the merpeople¡¯s song and crashed into the sea.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡±Since it was a clone, why did she die on the starship? Aren¡¯t the bugs not afraid of water?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°It could be that Zhang Shaohua did something when making the clone so that the clone lost the ability of the bugs?¡±

    This couldn¡¯t be concluded because they didn¡¯t have other clones topare with human genes.

    Yet based on the current clues, Zhang Shaohua¡¯s clone did die in the sea while the Xiao Lou, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi clones weren¡¯t afraid of the deep sea environment and survived. The emergence of these three among the merpeople was the evidence.

    The other experts and escorts on the starship died and the information of the Noah¡¯s Ark n was stolen by the merpeople. Fortunately, the identification of the 10 deceased on the shipwreck connected all these events.

    Liu Qiao spoke in a nk manner, ¡°Professor Xiao, I can¡¯t understand many of the things you said. What is going on with this cloning n?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked gently at her. ¡°The three of you have remained in the deep sea so you might not be clear about the previous situation. Why don¡¯t I tell you about the whole incident?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang and Old Mo also nodded. ¡°Professor Xiao, please exin.¡±

    Xiao Lou cleared his throat. ¡°I was born in year 2975. The emperor had just lost his son and was worried that he would suffer the pain of losing another son. The queen¡¯s body was too damaged to bear more children so he proposed the Noah¡¯s Ark n. He wanted to clone me several times as backup. Many experts, professors, generals of the military headquarters and the boss of the Noah Medical Technology, Shao Qingge¡¯s father, participated in the n.¡±

    ¡°In the middle of the n, Elder Shao identally entered theboratory and saw hundreds of babies identical to his son. He was frightened and secretly destroyed the specimens of Shao Qingge. Later, the cells were turned into babies but due to a problem with the culture fluid, the babies couldn¡¯t survive for long. The n was forced to be terminated. Elder Shao left Shao Qingge a password box that told the story in Morse code.

    In 2980 when I was 5 years old, the star thieves wandering the universe sold precious minerals they took from the bug. They were discovered by the empire¡¯s Ministry of Resources. The emperor sent General Lin Zecheng to lead troops to the bug. They wanted to destroy the bugs and upy the resource star. However, they were almost wiped out due to the bugs¡¯ strong ability to evolve. Several surviving troops captured the leader of the star thieves who had fused with the bugs and discovered the bugs¡¯ fungus nket that can elerate growth.

    In July of 2980, the Noah¡¯s Ark n was restarted. Scientists fused the bug genes with human genes and added the bugs¡¯ fungus nket to the culture medium. They not only sessfully turned the copied cells into babies but also mastered the technology of catalyzing cells and allowing them to turn into adults in a short time. They cloned hundreds of Xiao Lous. Then the emperor held a ¡®natural selection¡¯petition and had all the Xiao Lous kill each other to screen out the best heirs. In the end, there were four Xiao Lous, including me.

    General Lin Zecheng noticed the emperor¡¯s madness and fled Capital Star with the 4th Xiao Lou. The starship crashed into the sea area of the merpeople. The merpeople obtained the information of the Noah¡¯s Ark n and transformed the cloned children. They made versions with tails who cane and go freely in the deep sea. The 5th Xiao Lou improved from the 4th Xiao Lou is the merman prince that you know.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Upon hearing this, Liu Qiao, Gui Yuanzhang and Mo Xuemin all showed frightened expressions. Unexpectedly, the plot on the empire side was soplicated. Xiao Lou even experienced a cruel natural selection game at the age of 5 years old?

    ¡°It is crazy for the emperor to have so many children kill each other.¡± Old Mo couldn¡¯t helpining.

    ¡°Professor Xiao, did you say that there were four Xiao Lous that survived? Besides you and the 4th one, where are the number 2 and 3?¡±

    ¡°They are with the emperor. Among them, number 2 is most likely to be the new crown prince. He has already reced me after I left Capital Star. In addition, he and the clone Lin Yan have a marriage contract and they are developing a rtionship.¡± Xiao Lou answered quietly.

    Liu Qiao asked, ¡°So our task is to get rid of all the clones?¡±

    ¡°At the moment, yes. We will deal with the empire sideter. We must first solve the problem of the deep sea merpeople. The n will remain the same. After midnight tonight, the three of you will dive into the deep sea and determine the location of the cloneboratory as soon as possible. At that time, you will directly pull us with Li Qingzhao¡¯s mark¡¯s teleportation skill.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Liu Qiao nodded earnestly.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang looked at each other, confirming it with their eyes. Then Yu Hanjiang got up and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go and meet Chief Shao. It will be dark soon. We should return to the deserted ind as soon as possible.¡±

    7th anniversary celebration event

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 450.1: Merpeople Labyrinth

    The group arrived at the Ferris Wheel Hotel, and found Shao Qingge driving a suspension car and waiting for them in the parking lot. Lu Jiuchuan was also sitting in the car. He saw everyone and asked with concern, ¡°Did the process of checking the genes go smoothly?¡±

    Tang Ci nodded. ¡°The identities of the 10 deceased have been confirmed. Zhang Shaohua on Capital Star is the real person.¡±

    Shao Qingge sent the news to Qu Wanyue so that she could continue to follow up.

    Meanwhile, Xiao Lou looked at Ye Qi and asked, ¡°Xiao Ye, do you have an impression of your mother?¡±

    Ye Qi shook his head. ¡°Not at all. I lived in an orphanage before I was adopted. Why?¡±

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°The bones of your mother weren¡¯t found on the starship. You are now 19 years old and your father died 20 years ago. It is obvious that your mother was pregnant at the time and didn¡¯t flee with your father. I don¡¯t know if she was killed by the emperor or is secretly hiding¡­ we have to check again.¡±

    Ye Qi scratched his head and took off the ne around his neck. Then he grabbed the ne found with his father¡¯s bones and put them together. ¡°The ne I¡¯ve worn since I was a baby and my father¡¯s ne looks like two half moons. When they are put together, they are one round moon. Are there any clues hidden in here?¡±

    Tang Ci took them and observed carefully for a moment before suddenly saying, ¡°This is a smart chip. It ispletely impossible to open if it is only a half circle. The half of Ye Qi¡¯s ne can be called the key to the smart chip carried by Ye Wenbo.¡±

    Xiao Lou was happy. ¡°Let¡¯s take a look and see if there is any information on it?¡±

    Tang Ci connected the unlocked smart chip to hisputer. There was a folder in it called ¡®Experimental Group Information¡¯. He opened it and saw many familiar names.

    Xiao Lou, Shao Qingge, Ye Qi¡­

    Every case was clearly andpletely recorded, including the days when the cells started to replicate, the daily development of different cells, the day when the cloned person was born, which nutrients were added, etc.

    Ye Qi didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. ¡°What type of children will be born in the future? Directly extract cells, clone them and raise them in the culture medium until they are five years old. Mothers don¡¯t have to work hard to conceive, raise children and give them milk. They can directly send the child to elementary school.¡±

    Shao Qingge said helplessly, ¡°Then the entire social order will be in disarray. Your child can quickly be raised to the same age as you or even older than you.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked closely at the chip. ¡°This is full of the clones¡¯ case files. In addition to the three of us, there are the children of the researchers involved in the project. Some even contributed their own cells. Our guess might be a bit wrong. The clones taken away from the Egret at that time by the merpeople might be more than three.¡±

    Ye Qimented, ¡°In this case, they will have more materials for experimentation¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told everyone, ¡°Let¡¯s go. We have to hurry up.¡±

    Shao Qingge started the suspension vehicle and moved quickly through the airnes to the fishing vige by the sea.

    It was dark and the fishermen had started to rest. Shao Qingge parked the car in a corner where no one could find it and used various discement cards to return to the remote deserted ind with his teammates.

    There were still three hours until midnight when all the card skills were refreshed. Old Mo¡¯szy sofa had a cooldown time and a restriction on the continuous effect, so they made full use of these three hours to rest.

    Tents were set up on the deserted ind. Xiao Lou started a fire and everyone sat around the fire, leaning against trees to sleep.

    It was almost midnight when everyone woke up.

    Liu Qiao asked, ¡°By the way, where is my card pack?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang took out a card pack from his pocket. ¡°It is here with me. You were unconscious when we saved you and we weren¡¯t sure if you were the real Liu Qiao or a clone. Thus, we first took away your card pack. Chief Shao rmended to shrink you so we also used your Thumbelina card.¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded in understanding. ¡°That¡¯s fine. It is good to be cautious. Then you don¡¯t doubt me now?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at her with a gentle smile. ¡°Of course. You know about the secret rooms we have experienced. How can you be fake?¡± He paused before saying to Gui Yuanzhang, ¡°Senior, please return the pack to Xiao Liu when you enter the waterter. She will be able to protect herself with the card pack if there is any danger in the sea.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly said, ¡°Leave the Daughter of the Sea and the Witch cards to me. Daughter of the Sea can turn everyone into merpeople so we can go to the deep sea to join you. The Witch card has the antidote. Chief Shao and Ye Qi¡¯s Bug King cards have been used. In a critical moment, the witch¡¯s antidote might be able to save lives.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang handed these two cards to Yu Hanjiang before returning the card pack to Liu Qiao.

    It was soon midnight. Xiao Lou got up and looked at the dark sea in the distance. ¡°The three of you, act quickly and pay attention to safety. If you encounter the patrol troops, you can use the invisibility cloaks to avoid them. If you encounter danger that can¡¯t be solved, call me using Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings and I will pull you back to the Peach Blossom Spring.¡±

    Xiao Lou summoned Qin Guan and connected to Old Mo using Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings.

    Yu Hanjiang advised, ¡°Old Mo, after finding the cloneboratory, immediately use the mark and pull us over.¡±

    Mo Xuemin nodded cautiously. ¡°Yes, we willplete the task.¡±

    The trio nced at each other before leaping into the dark water, jumping flexibly.

    The green, blue and silver tails hit the water and created beautiful sshes. In the blink of an eye, the three merpeople were no longer in view. They could travel at a speed of 200 km/hr and the effective range of the team headset was only 10 kilometers. Therefore, they had tomunicate with each other in their minds.

    Xiao Lou told Old Mo using Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings, ¡°This n is very risky. You must be careful. If you really can¡¯t do it, call me directly and I will pull you back.¡±

    Old Mo replied, ¡°Professor Xiao, don¡¯t worry. I have an idea in my heart.¡±

    On the deserted ind, Xiao Lou frowned as he watched the waves die down and calm return to the sea. His brow was furrowed and full of fear. Under the moonlight, his face was much paler than usual and his hands by his side were clenched into fists. He seemed very uneasy.

    Yu Hanjiang stepped forward and gently wrapped an arm around his shoulder, telling him in a low voice, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Senior Gui and Old Mo already know the truth. They will definitely be more careful. Our n is risky but it is also the best solution.¡±

    The man¡¯s low voice made Xiao Lou feel much better. He took a deep breath and managed to squeeze out a smile. ¡°I hope everything goes well and they don¡¯t get trapped in thebyrinth.¡±

    Ye Qi optimistically said, ¡°No, they won¡¯t. The three of them grew up in the deep sea and their actions are more flexible and lighter than ourrge group. In addition, Old Mo has the strongest sense of direction and the strongest ability to move through thebyrinth. As long as there are no strange mechanisms and he just has to explore the way, I believe Old Mo can find the path soon.¡±

    Thisbyrinth was quite special. In the previousbyrinths they encountered, there was no one else and it didn¡¯t seem crowded for them when walking together. Meanwhile, this merpeople pce was full of merpeople and patrolling troops. If their group entered thebyrinth then it was easy to attract the attention of the merpeople. It would only be worse for them if they were besieged at that time.

    The deployment of vanguard troops might be risky but it was by far the best strategy at present.

    7th anniversary celebration event

    <em>Partially proofread: Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 450.2: Card Room (Rebirth)

    By this time, Liu Qiao, Old Mo and Gui Yuanzhang had reached the pce.

    The pce in the middle of the night was much more active than during the day. There were patrolling guards walking around but this wasn¡¯t a problem for the three people who had grown up in the pce since they were young. In addition to their merpeople abilities, they had many cards.

    Gui Yuanzhang used his brush to increase their speed in the pce.

    In addition, they wore the invisibility cloaks so the guards couldn¡¯t find them at all.

    The pce buildings on the west side had been checked previously and there were more forked paths on the east side.

    The three people quickly explored the way and Old Mo remembered the path in his mind.

    After all, the invisibility cloak onlysted for 30 minutes. Once the cloak failed, it was possible to be surrounded by merpeople. ¡°Time is running out. The three of us will split up. Remember to leave a mark at the junction of dead end roads and use the voice headset to keep in touch.¡± Old Mo instructed.

    The distance inside the pce wasn¡¯t over 10 kilometers so the three of them couldmunicate with each other using the voice headset.

    Gui Yuanzhang nodded. ¡°Okay. Be careful.¡±

    The fluorescent Four-way Arrow card might be easy to notice but it was safer to leave a mark. The three of them agreed to leave a sharp arrow-shaped mark at the intersections with dead ends.

    After a while, the three of them met at a big intersection. Due to the invisibility cloaks, they couldn¡¯t see each other and almost ran into each other.

    Senior Gui immediately said, ¡°I moved through over a dozen forked paths and the end of the paths were just the residences of merpeople. Nothing abnormal was found.¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded. ¡°Me too.¡±

    Old Mo wondered, ¡°There are so many forked paths but no clues. What is the structure of the east side?¡±

    Senior Gui had a headache. ¡°I have an ordinary sense of direction. I still have to rely on you to move through thebyrinth.¡±

    Old Mo nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll go forward, Xiao Liu will go to the left and Senior Gui will go to the right. Continue to explore!¡±

    Soon, Senior Gui and Liu Qiao met up but there were no traces of Old Mo.

    Liu Qiao wondered, ¡°Where did Uncle Mo go? Is his path the right one?¡±

    Just then, Mo Xuemin¡¯s familiar voice was heard in their ears. ¡°I understand it now. The eastbyrinth is actually aplicated fishbone structure. The many side roads are the residences of the merpeople and noboratory has been found. There is only one main road in thebyrinth, which is like the backbone in the middle of the fishbone.¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°It makes sense. No wonder why there are so many interference roads. These forked roads are the ribs of the fish. Uncle Mo, will theboratory be in the position of the fish head? Or is it the fish tail?¡±

    Old Mo answered, ¡°I¡¯ve reached the fish head. It is a beautiful 270 degree viewing tform surrounded by colorful fish. It is like an aquarium. I didn¡¯t find any obvious mechanisms. Theboratory is probably at the fish tail.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang wondered, ¡°Should we go the other way?¡±

    ¡°Yes, turn around and go straight to try it.¡±

    Old Mo quickly returned to Liu Qiao and Gui Yuanzhang and they continued the investigation in the opposite direction.

    Just then, they saw Xiao Lou passing through a spacious corridor. The surrounding guards looked at him and immediately saluted him respectfully. ¡°Your Highness.¡±

    Xiao Lou frowned and asked, ¡°You still haven¡¯t found the princess?¡±

    A guard lowered his head in shame. ¡°This subordinate sent troops to search the nearby seas but they haven¡¯t been able to find the princess. In addition, Elder Gui and Mr Mo have also disappeared.¡±

    Xiao Lou ordered, ¡°Keep looking. Report back to me immediately if there is any news.¡±

    The three people didn¡¯t dare to go out. They held their breaths and hid until Xiao Lou passed by and disappeared at the end of the corridor. Then the three people sighed with relief.

    Liu Qiao suggested, ¡°Should we follow him? This is the area where the elders live and he usually doesn¡¯te here. He suddenly passed by today and headed to the depths of thebyrinth. Perhaps he is going to the cloningboratory?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang nodded. ¡°It makes sense. Let¡¯s follow and take a look.¡±

    The three of them followed Xiao Lou from a distance and reached the fish tail position of thebyrinth.

    This was very simr to the V-shaped tail of a normal fish, with a branched path to the left and right. Looking closely, the left and right sides were exactly the same. There was also a door on either side with a strange figure-shaped switch on them.

    Old Mo looked nk as he whispered, ¡°The two doors are exactly the same?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang frowned. ¡°The theme of this secret room is clones. Since people have a real and fake self, thebyrinth should also have something real and false. If we open the real door, we can enter the cloningboratory. If we open the false door, perhaps we will die.¡±

    Old Mo was happy. ¡°Fortunately, we met the 5th Xiao Lou and he showed us the way.¡±

    The trio couldn¡¯t follow too closely so Xiao Lou had already disappeared from sight. However, Senior Gui was keenly aware of a clue. ¡°He went to the left. You see, the sea waves on the left are different from the right. Someone has obviously just passed by.¡±

    Old Mo nodded. ¡°Yes, I have informed Professor Xiao. He told me to use Li Qingzhao¡¯s mark to summon everyone over and solve this 5th Xiao Lou first.¡±

    He summoned Li Qingzhao and used the marking skill, Stray Into the Depths of the Lotus Flowers.

    Li Qingzhao¡¯s mark could teleport all teammates to this position after five minutes. As long as they waited five minutes, their teammates could instantly appear in front of them. The trio hid nervously and waited for the right time¡­

    Five minutester, Xiao Lou¡¯s group appeared in front of them.

    At this point, the invisibility cloaks of the trio had lost their effect. Xiao Lou walked up to Old Mo and asked in a low voice, ¡°Are you sure that the 5th Xiao Lou entered the door to the left?¡±

    Old Mo nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Xiao Lou ordered, ¡°Let¡¯s go to the right.¡±

    Liu Qiao was startled and wondered, ¡°Why should we go to the right? Didn¡¯t he go to the left?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled slightly as he looked at Liu Qiao. ¡°He is a clone, a fake. Then the ce he went to is naturally the false one. Maybe he discovered you and wanted to deliberately lure everyone to follow him into the false door.¡±

    Liu Qiao suddenly realized. ¡°It makes sense.¡±

    Xiao Lou had just finished speaking when Yu Hanjiang arrived at the door to the right.

    There was a graphic mechanism on the door. Old Mo said, ¡°It should be a fishbone. The floor n of thebyrinth is like a fish bone.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang used his finger to draw a fish bone on the mechanism and the door opened.

    He looked around vigntly and walked into the room.

    The scene inside was simply shocking. There were coffin-sized ss containers filled with light blue liquids ced one after another. ¡®Specimens¡¯ of human beings were lying inside them. Among them were Xiao Lou, Shao Qingge, Ye Qi, Lu Jiuchuan, Tang Ci¡­

    After seeing so many copies of himself suddenly appearing in theboratory in the weird nutrient solution, Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help feeling a chill going down his back. ¡°I will definitely have nightmarester!¡±

    Just then, a vessel in theboratory started to shake violently.

    A girl actually climbed out of a ¡®transparent coffin¡¯. She was covered in a strange blue liquid and her hair was sticky. Her skin was dehydrated by the nutrient solution and she looked a mess.

    She and Liu Qiao had exactly the same face!

    Liu Qiao took a horrified step back. ¡°She¡­ is my clone? When was I copied? In addition¡­ she was raised to be 18 years old like me!¡±

    The Liu Qiao covered in nutrient solution stared at her other self coldly. Due to being soaked in the nutrient solution for too long, her voice seemed a bit hoarse but her words were extremely calm. ¡°You are the clone.¡±

    Liu Qiao looked to Xiao Lou for help. ¡°Professor Xiao, she actually wants to try to create chaos by passing off the fake as the real?¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately connected with Liu Qiao using Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings and asked through the mind channel, ¡°Have you seen the traditional Chinese medicine books on the 23rd floor of the medical school¡¯s library?¡±

    The Liu Qiao in a disheveled state quickly replied, ¡°Our medical school¡¯s library doesn¡¯t have 23 floors. It is only 12 floors and the Chinese medicine books are on the 6th floor.¡±

    Xiao Lou decisively ordered, ¡°Take her and withdraw!¡±

    The next moment, Yu Hanjiang tied up the Liu Qiao next to Xiao Lou with the white silk card. Then everyone disappeared from the merpeople pce in an instant and appeared under the peach blossom trees.

    It was a collective transmission to the Peach Blossom Spring.

    Both Liu Qiaos arrived in the Peach Blossom Spring. One was in an embarrassing state while the other was well-dressed.

    Xiao Lou took off his coat and ced it on the former Liu Qiao. Liu Qiao nced at him and said gratefully, ¡°Professor Xiao, I didn¡¯t expect you to find me so soon.¡±

    The neatly dressed Liu Qiao had a pale face. ¡°What do you mean? Do you believe her instead of me?¡±

    ¡°I already knew you were a fake. You fell into mynguage trap without being aware of it. The library of the medical school doesn¡¯t have a 23rd floor.¡± Xiao Lou looked at the girl in front of him. His voice was calm but his eyes didn¡¯t have the usual gentleness. ¡°We acted in front of you because we wanted to rescue the real Liu Qiao as soon as possible.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes were sharp. ¡°You cooperated with the 5th Xiao Lou to lead us to the pce. You wanted to destroy all of us at the bottom of the sea, right?¡±

    7th anniversary celebration event

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 451: Thrilling Five Minutes

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s question made ¡®Liu Qiao¡¯ speechless. In the past two days, the eight ¡®teammates¡¯ in front of her had cooperated so well that she mistakenly thought everyone really believed her. Yet in the end, she was told that this was all acting?

    They just used her to save the real Liu Qiao?!

    She really didn¡¯t know how to answer the question Xiao Lou asked about the library but she would reveal the truth if she said she didn¡¯t know. She cleverly muddled through it but ended up falling into Xiao Lou¡¯snguage trap!

    Liu Qiao clenched her fists hard and stared fiercely at Xiao Lou. ¡°I have been following you for the past few days. How did you inform everyone that I am a fake?¡±

    Xiao Lou answered calmly, ¡°I only needed to make eye contact with Hanjiang and wrote a few words on his hand for him to understand. As for the others, don¡¯t you remember how we acted separately at noon yesterday?¡±

    Liu Qiao remembered the scene at lunch yesterday and her face suddenly turned white.

    Ye Qi smiled and reminded her, ¡°Group Leader Yu took me and Chief Shao to hunt hares and told us the truth on the way. Professor Xiao took Brother Jiu and Mr Tang to catch fish and told them. After that, everyone separated when you went to the hospital to test the DNA. Mr Tang was able to tell the truth to Uncle Mo and Senior Gui. Didn¡¯t you pay attention to these details?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± She was really too careless.

    Lu Jiuchuan said, ¡°Xiao Lou deliberately told you that Chu Huaying wanted to meet us in order to let you rx your vignce and think we all fell into your trap. In fact, I was the one disguised as Huaying. You fell into our trap instead.¡±

    Tang Ci nced at him. ¡°I hadn¡¯t expected Brother Jiu to dress up as a woman. I had to hold back fromughing at that time.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan ced an arm around Tang Ci¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ll take that as apliment.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at the fake Liu Qiao. ¡°You have been following us but some of us have disappeared from your vision at different times. You don¡¯t know Huaying¡¯s whereabouts and there is no need for you to know our next n.¡±

    He nced at Yu Hanjiang, who immediately took the card pack from Liu Qiao¡¯s pocket. At the same time, he pulled out a gun and aimed it at the fake Liu Qiao¡¯s head.

    The girl¡¯s mouth raised in a sneer. ¡°Do you think I¡¯m afraid of that?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told her, ¡°You¡¯re not afraid of guns.¡±

    The next moment, he took out the Alcohol card obtained in 8 of Spades and poured arge amount of alcohol on Liu Qiao¡¯s body. She was tied up by the white silk and couldn¡¯t move. Her entire body was almost instantly soaked by the alcohol. This was followed by Yu Hanjiang pulling the trigger and using the sparks to ignite the alcohol!

    She heard the man¡¯s low voice in her ear. ¡°However, you are afraid of fire.¡±

    Liu Qiao, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The moment the mes moved across her body, Liu Qiao¡¯s mouth issued a harsh scream.

    This sound echoed through the confined space of the Peach Blossom Spring. Xiao Lou¡¯s heart tightened and he turned to look at the Liu Qiao soaked in blue liquid next to him. She was pale as she watched the clone being swept up by the mes.

    It wasn¡¯t a great experience to see someone who looked exactly the same as oneself burning to death.

    Nevertheless, Liu Qiao looked calm.

    Xiao Lou walked to Liu Qiao and exined softly, ¡°Xiao Liu, she is a hunter and must be dealt with as soon as possible. Otherwise, she will unite with the other hunters and kill us instead. Moreover, she has a way tomunicate with the 5th Xiao Lou among the merpeople.¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded. ¡°I understand.¡±

    Showing mercy to the enemy was to be cruel to oneself. The clones had the bug genes and any wounds could instantly recover. The only way to handle them was with fire.

    In the midst of the fire, the girl screamed and struggled at first but she soon became a pile of ash.

    Yu Hanjiang looked back at Gui Yuanzhang. ¡°How much time is left for Li Qingzhao¡¯s mark ced by you?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang replied, ¡°Two minutes.¡±

    In fact, during the time when Yu Hanjiang, Xiao Lou and the fake Liu Qiao entered theboratory on the right, Gui Yuanzhang had moved as fast as possible to another fork in the road and released Li Qingzhao¡¯s mark.

    They had two Li Qingzhao cards. Old Mo and Gui Yuanzhang each took one.

    Old Mo ced the mark to bring everyone to the deep sea. Then Xiao Lou used the Peach Blossom Spring to bring everyone back to the deserted ind and the mark Gui Yuanzhang ced would send them back to the deep sea. This whole process didn¡¯t take much time. The key to doing this was to get rid of the Liu Qiao clone and smoothly pass the card pack back to the real Liu Qiao.

    Li Qingzhao¡¯s mark only allowed teleportation five minutes after it was ced. They would have to wait another two minutes.

    Liu Qiao nced at the ck ash on the ground before looking back at Xiao Lou. She asked seriously, ¡°Professor Xiao, how did you know I was hidden in the cloneboratory?¡±

    Xiao Lou took out the Witch card and handed it to Liu Qiao. ¡°You used the antidote?¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and patted Xiao Liu on the shoulder. ¡°I said that you have always been very cautious. How can you make this type of low-level mistake? If I remember correctly, the 5th Xiao Lou suddenly came and gave you snacks when I was connected to you. At that time, you had doubts about him. How could you eat the snacks he gave?¡±

    Old Mo suddenly realized. ¡°Yes! After we saved the fake Liu Qiao, she said that she ate the snacks given by Xiao Lou and fell unconscious. Professor Xiao, did you doubt her after she said this?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes. Therefore, I asked Group Leader Yu to try and test her understanding of the instances. I didn¡¯t expect the hunters to know so much about all the instances we have experienced.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had asked Liu Qiao many questions about the instances but in fact, they were just all probing questions.

    The reality-rted question asked by Xiao Lou was the key. The fake Liu Qiao would be mentally rxed after answering Yu Hanjiang¡¯s questions correctly. Xiao Lou took advantage of this and gave her anguage trap.

    The cooperation between the two of them was wless.

    Ye Qi asked curiously, ¡°Since Liu Qiao didn¡¯t eat the snacks that Xiao Lou sent, why did she suddenly faint?¡±

    Liu Qiao said, ¡°I ate them.¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Eh?¡±

    Liu Qiao calmly exined, ¡°At that time, Professor Xiao and I were connected and the clone used the card shielding to interrupt Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. I received a system notification that the cards were blocked. I thought that since this card doesn¡¯t belong to our team, it must belong to a hunter.¡±

    Ye Qi agreed. ¡°Yes, the natives of the Card World don¡¯t use cards. Those who have cards can only be challengers or hunters.¡±

    Liu Qiao let out a sound of agreement before saying, ¡°I was sure that Professor Xiao, who used Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings to connect with me, was the real one. Then the one in front of me had to be the hunter. Since he opened such a powerful shielding card to interrupt Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings, he must want to use me to do something. Perhaps I have a clone as well. After he controls me, he will use my clone to confuse you.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    She could think so much at a moment of life or death. This was the calm Liu Qiao that everyone was familiar with.

    Xiao Lou looked at her gently. ¡°That¡¯s why you pretended to eat the snacks the man gave you?¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded. ¡°I thought that Xiao Lou wouldn¡¯t directly kill me because once I die, my name will disappear from the contract book. Then if another Liu Qiao appears in front of you, all of you will immediately know she is false. He should knock me unconscious and lock me up. I won¡¯t wake up for a long time and he will use the clone to trick you.¡±

    Liu Qiao¡¯s face was slightly pale as she thought of the danger of that time. She gently clenched her fist to keep herself calm and said, ¡°I thought of a risky method, which is to use the Witch card.¡±

    ¡°The Witch can produce a poison and an antidote. I am used to taking out the poison and antidote every time I enter an instance and bringing it with me so that I¡¯m not toote at the critical moment. This habit helped me. He blocked the card skills but I already had the two drugs in my hand and could take them directly. I took the poison before eating the snacks, followed by the antidote.¡±

    Ye Qi scratched his head. ¡°I remember in the werewolf game, the witch can¡¯t poison or save herself?¡±

    Liu Qiao told him, ¡°This S-grade card doesn¡¯t restrict the targets.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang took out the Witch card from his pocket and handed it to Liu Qiao. Sure enough, the two skills were already in the gray ¡®cooldown¡¯ state. This was an instance limited card and could only be used once in each instance. The witch only had two pills.

    The card description said: The witch can produce a poison and an antidote. These two drugs can only be taken at night. Feeding the poisonous pill to the designated target will cause the target to die at dawn. Giving the antidote to a target can make a target who died at night immune to the death effect. They will revive at dawn and all negative states are removed.¡±

    These two pills could only be used at night, which was consistent with the werewolf instance. The difference was that the S-grade Witch card¡¯s poison and antidote weren¡¯t limited in the scope of use. They could poison the enemy, poison teammates or even poison themselves.

    Liu Qiao said, ¡°I took the poison before eating the snacks he brought. After that, I ate the antidote. In this way, even if I eat the snacks and faint at night, the Witch¡¯s antidote wille into y at dawn and I will recover instantly.¡±

    The team members were in shock.

    If there was a problem with one of these links, wouldn¡¯t Liu Qiao poison herself to death?

    Ye Qi gave a shocked thumbs up. ¡°Poisoning yourself to save yourself. You can actually y like this. It is amazing!¡±

    In the original werewolf instance, Liu Qiao was the witch. After clearing the level, everyone chose the S-grade Witch card and gave it to Liu Qiao. She thoroughly studied the usage of this S-grade card so she could use this method of self-poisoning and self-healing to avoid the control of the clone.

    The clone thought she was unconscious but didn¡¯t know that Liu Qiao would immediately wake up at dawn due to the witch¡¯s antidote. Xiao Lou had always emphasized the flexible use of cards. Liu Qiao was truly a student and fan of Professor Xiao. She learned how to use the cards very well.

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°Were you in the cloningboratory when you woke up?¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded. ¡°There aren¡¯t many ces to hide in the pce. Besides, I am still the princess. It will be hard to exin if I am found. He must have hidden the fake Liu Qiao in a ce where you can easily find her and hid me in a secret room. When I woke up, I was soaking in a container filled with blue liquid, surrounded by Professor Xiao, Chief Shao, Xiao Ye, Brother Jiu and Mr Tang¡­ I didn¡¯t dare go out because I was afraid there would be surveince in theboratory. Thus, I kept lying in the nutrient solution and pretended to be asleep.¡±

    Calcting it carefully, she had woken up at dawn and the group didn¡¯t rescue her until after midnight. Liu Qiao had soaked in the nutrient solution for 17 hours and was really calm enough to pretend to be sleeping.

    Ye Qi heard up to here and finally realized something. ¡°So Professor Xiao has long discovered there was a problem with the Witch card? That¡¯s why Group Leader Yu deliberately took away the Witch card when the card pack was returned to the fake Liu Qiao, lest she perceived that the skills were on cooldown and suspected something?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Xiao Lou has always been careful. Meanwhile, the clone Xiao Lou was careless. He knocked Liu Qiao unconscious but didn¡¯t check her card pack. He just ced the card pack on the clone Liu Qiao. This was his biggest mistake.¡±

    Xiao Lou felt helpless. ¡°There is no other way. This secret room has too many clones. There are a lot of details to analyze when judging if our teammates are real or false or it will be easy to get caught. In particr, the hunters know everything about our previous instances.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°The 5th Xiao Lou is very smart. He probably wanted to hide the real Liu Qiao and let us believe in the fake Liu Qiao. Then once we enter the pce and find the real Liu Qiao, we will naturally have the preconception that the Liu Qiao in the nutrient solution is false. Then we are likely to kill Liu Qiao.¡±

    Liu Qiao had blue liquid all over her when climbing out of the nutrient solution. She did look more like a clone.

    If they believed in the Liu Qiao beside them, they would indeed believe that the one in theboratory was fake. Yet in fact, the one in theboratory was real!

    Ye Qi was frightened. ¡°He didn¡¯t kill Liu Qiao because he was afraid the name on the contract book would be gone and we would be alerted. Therefore, he wanted to borrow our hands to make us kill our real teammate?¡±

    Everyone heard this and got goosebumps.

    If Professor Xiao wasn¡¯t careful enough to distinguish the fake; if Liu Qiao wasn¡¯t careful enough to poison and heal herself to wake up from her unconscious state¡­ once they identally fell into the trap, it was really possible they would kill the true Liu Qiao without knowing. This scene was really terrible when thinking about it. If the ending was like this, everyone would feel guilty for a lifetime!

    Now that the cause and effect was finally clear, everyone started sweating at the false rm.

    Gui Yuanzhang reminded them, ¡°It is time for the teleportation of Li Qingzhao¡¯s mark.¡±

    Xiao Lou nced at his teammates. ¡°From now on, the nine of us will act together. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    There was a bright sh of light in the Peach Blossom Spring and the nine people disappeared without a trace.

    At the same time, they appeared at a fork in the deep seabyrinth.

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t directly look for the 5th clone. He was certain that since the room on the right was the cloningboratory, the one on the left must be full of traps. It would be a dead end if they entered.

    In addition, the clone Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao¡¯s n to lure everyone into the trap room had failed. The clone Xiao Lou would definitely think of other ways to deal with everyone.

    Xiao Lou ordered softly, ¡°Quickly find the elder of the merpeople. Old Mo, please lead the way.¡±

    Old Mo nodded and turned toward the other side of thebyrinth.

    7th anniversary celebration event

    <em>Partially proofread: Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 452: True and False Prince

    Late at night was the most active time for the merpeople.

    Some merpeople had gone out to sea to hunt while many others were walking through the pce. Fortunately, Old Mo and Gui Yuanzhang had already figured out the structure of thebyrinth. The group used the help of various discement cards to move quickly through the pce. They avoided the guards patrolling the pce in a thrilling manner.

    Under the leadership of Old Mo, everyone took a shortcut and soon arrived at the ce where the elders of the merpeople lived.

    Kareen Ger was an elder of the merpeople who was nearly 100 years old. He had golden curls and eyes as blue as the sky.

    The moment they opened the door, everyone found that he was sitting on a shell-like sofa, his eyes so wide that his eyeballs were about to fall out. Yu Hanjiang saw this scene and noticed that something was wrong. He rushed over to check the elder¡¯s pulse. Then he turned back to his teammates. ¡°He is dead. It also just happened.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang frowned. ¡°Was he killed by the 5th Xiao Lou?¡±

    Xiao Lou walked over and quickly inspected the corpse. ¡°He was strangled and there are obvious bruises. It should be that someone around him suddenly moved behind him. He was too defenseless and died in shock.¡±

    The group had spected that the elder called Kareen Ger liked to do gic experiments. He had bred many deep-sea fish that were edible for the merpeople.

    Xiao Lou looked around and found there was aboratory next to the living room where many strange little fish and shrimp were raised. If he hadn¡¯t died, they still wouldn¡¯t be sure if he was involved in the cloning program. Now that he was dead, their spection had naturally been confirmed.

    Liu Qiao said, ¡°This elder has always been low-key among the merpeople. It is just that we respect him very much because he raised many delicious fish and shrimp as food for us.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang crossed his arms over his chest as he analyzed the crime scene. ¡°20 years ago, the elder identally passed by the starship Egret and found that many people had died in the starship, but some of them survived in the deep sea environment. At that time, the clones had no human consciousness. Some of them might¡¯ve still been in the petri dish. Therefore, the curious elder brought them back secretly and continued the research based on the Noah¡¯s Ark project.¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°He developed another version of the clone. Using the basis of the original clone, he integrated the genes of the merpeople. It could be said that the self-aware Xiao Lou, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi who are in the merpeople¡¯s pce are all versions 2.0.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan couldn¡¯t help cursing. ¡°In the end, the Xiao Lou 2.0 version killed the one who raised him?¡±

    Shao Qingge narrowed his eyes. ¡°The hunters have always been inhuman. There must be a problem with the cooperation between the fake Liu Qiao and the fake Xiao Lou. He noticed that the n failed and killed Kareen Ger, the only insider.¡±

    The cloning project was clearly a secret research and there weren¡¯t many people who knew about it. Now that the researcher was dead, there was no evidence. No one could exin the real origin of the merpeople¡¯s prince, Xiao Lou. This was a brilliant move to destroy evidence.

    Obviously, this 2.0 version of Xiao Lou in the pce was much smarter than the clone Liu Qiao that had been with everyone.

    Liu Qiao suddenly thought of something and immediately turned around. ¡°This is bad! Let¡¯s run!¡±

    Xiao Lou also thought of this. The group turned around in unison to leave the elder¡¯s residence. As a result, they had just taken a step out of the door when they saw the white-dressed ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ standing in front of them. Beside him was the king of the merpeople as well as hundreds of merpeople guards, all armed.

    This posture of ¡®catching thieves¡¯ was really magnificent.

    At almost the moment that the fake Xiao Lou appeared, the real Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang, Liu Qiao, Tang Ci, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi had immediately hidden themselves with the invisibility cloaks. Only Liu Qiao, Gui Yuanzhang and Old Mo remained in view.

    The fake Xiao Lou looked around before he smiled at Liu Qiao. ¡°Sister, what are you doing with Elder Gui and Mr Mo at Elder Kareen¡¯s residence?¡±

    Liu Qiao looked at him coldly and didn¡¯t reply.

    Xiao Lou spoke to the guard beside him. ¡°Go inside and take a look.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± The two guards entered the elder¡¯s room before sooning out again, their voices trembling with horror. ¡°Your Highness, Your Highness, Elder Kareen has been killed!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Xiao Lou was stunned and hurried inside with the guards.

    After a few seconds, he returned to the ce where he had just been and pointed to Liu Qiao in disbelief. ¡°Elder Kareen watched you growing up and can be considered half your teacher. You actually did such a terrible thing!¡±

    The king, who was close to 100 years old, looked at Liu Qiao suspiciously. ¡°Why did you kill Elder Kareen?¡±

    Liu Qiao looked calm. ¡°Father, I didn¡¯t kill him.¡±

    Xiao Lou frowned. ¡°Do you still want to argue? The princess also has the right to inherit the throne. I know you have been very dissatisfied with me but you shouldn¡¯t kill Elder Kareen! Liu Qiao, you have disappointed me too much!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Liu Qiao was speechless. She really wanted to give the hunter in front of her a five star praise. This performance wasparable to a movie emperor. He could switch freely between a moderate version, a serious version and a viin. Why be a hunter? Wasn¡¯t it good to go into the entertainment industry?

    ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ put on a sad expression. ¡°Somebody, grab them for me!¡±

    Currently, ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ was the prince and the surrounding guards naturally had to listen to him.

    The group of guards gathered and pointed sharp weapons at Liu Qiao.

    Liu Qiao didn¡¯t resist and just stood in ce, looking at the gray-haired old man in front of her. ¡°Father, do you remember when Elder Kareen told you that Xiao Lou was your son? Did you never doubt his identity?¡±

    The king thought about it. ¡°He said that Xiao Lou is my illegitimate son living outside. I asked him to do gic testing and Xiao Lou has the silver-white tail that signifies the purest lineage. It definitely isn¡¯t wrong.¡±

    Just then, the clones of Shao Qingge and Ye Qi appeared.

    They were friends of Prince Xiao Lou. The three clones had grown up together.

    ¡®Shao Qingge¡¯ took the initiative to testify. ¡°The princess killed Elder Kareen because he found the prince living outside and brought him back. She has been holding a grudge all these years.¡±

    ¡®Ye Qi¡¯ agreed. ¡°She has always been unhappy seeing this brother that suddenly emerged. Now she killed Elder Kareen and would definitely try to kill the prince next. His Highness has always treated her as a sister but she has a wolf¡¯s ambition!¡±

    ¡®Shao Qingge¡¯ narrowed his eyes. ¡°Your Majesty, the first rule of our merpeople prohibits us from killing each other. These three people havemitted a big taboo and must be dealt with ording to ourws!¡±

    The real Shao Qingge and Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Seeing people who looked exactly like them acting in front of them wasn¡¯t something that ordinary people could experience. Ye Qi really wanted to vomit. ¡®Please don¡¯t make your expression so vivid, okay?¡¯

    He was really unustomed to seeing his face acting so much. Meanwhile, the clone Shao Qingge could emte some of Chief Shao¡¯s charms. He squinted his eyes and gave a smile that wasn¡¯t a smile. At first nce, they were quite simr.

    ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ nced at the surrounding guards. ¡°Why are you still hesitating? Grab them!¡±

    Just then, everyone heard a gentle voice. ¡°Hold on.¡±

    This voice was exactly the same as that of Prince Xiao Lou¡­

    They all looked back and saw another Xiao Lou walking out of Elder Kareen¡¯s residence. He was as handsome as Prince Xiao Lou in front of them. There was no smile on his face. His eyes were clear and calm as he stared straight at ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ in front of him.

    Xiao Lou and Xiao Lou faced each other.

    The guards, ¡°???¡±

    What was going on? There were two identical princes?

    Number 5 raised an eyebrow. ¡°Liu Qiao, where did you find someone who looks like me? Do you want to kill Elder Kareen, kill me, let this person rece me and then let him give the throne to you? Your calctions are really clever.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled at him. ¡°Is this enough? Clone.¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    Xiao Lou walked in front of the king. ¡°Father, I am the real prince. As for these three¡­¡± He nced at Xiao Lou, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi. ¡°They are all clones developed by Elder Kareen using the Noah¡¯s Ark project.¡±

    The moment he finished speaking, the real Shao Qingge and Ye Qi came to his side.

    The surrounding guards were stunned.

    The king was horrified. ¡°What is this? Why do they all look the same?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Number 5 in front of him. ¡°Merpeople with pure blood will have a silver tail, right?¡±

    Number 5 answered casually, ¡°Everyone knows this.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Then let¡¯s see whose tail is silver and who is the real prince.¡±

    Number 5 was taken aback. This Xiao Lou¡¯s tail was clearly blue. The clone Liu Qiao had reported it to him a long time ago. How could Xiao Lou openlypare the lineage of the merpeople? Wasn¡¯t this seeking death?

    Could it be¡­

    Just then, he saw Xiao Lou suddenly jump up and swim flexibly to the vast sea above the pce.

    A beautiful silver tail moved behind him. The tail was 2.5 meters long and each scale on it shed with a soft and shining luster. It was a dazzling silver and was like a light lighting up the deep sea. This was the symbol of the purest lineage respected by the merpeople for generations!

    The king couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°T-This is the real prince?¡±

    The number 5 Xiao Lou¡¯s face was white as he stood in the pce.

    Xiao Lou quickly swam around the pce before returning to his original spot. He changed back to slender legs and moved toward the king. The smile on his face was still gentle as he gave an order, ¡°Grab these three imposters!¡±

    The guards hadn¡¯t reacted when his eight teammates moved.

    Liu Qiao¡¯s hands shed and she used the Thumbelina card. Before the number 5 Xiao Lou could react, he had shrunk to the size of a thumb and was ced in a bottle!

    Lu Jiuchuan also had a copy of the Thumbelina card in his hand and he used it on the fake Shao Qingge in the same way. As for the fake Ye Qi, he was controlled by the real Ye Qi. Ye Qi blew the flute and the soft melody rang out. The other person immediately fell asleep. Then Yu Hanjiang moved like lightning and used a hand knife to directly knock out the fake Ye Qi!

    The guards were stunned¡­ what should they do? Was it okay to just watch?

    Xiao Lou exined seriously, ¡°Father, these people sneaked into the pce to disturb us merpeople. Liu Qiao will exin the specific situation to youter¡­¡±

    The king was at a loss and was invited back to the pce by Xiao Lou and the others.

    The moment the door closed, Liu Qiao started to patiently exin the whole thing to the king. Of course, the matter of the challengers and hunters were deliberately omitted by her. She only said that those three imposters were outsiders who mixed into the merpeople poption to make trouble. Elder Kareen was their aplice.

    The king was soon persuaded by the facts.

    Meanwhile Xiao Lou and the others took the three hunters to the side hall.

    The number 5 Xiao Lou locked in the bottle had a cold face. He didn¡¯t expect that the plot didn¡¯t go ording to his arrangement. Instead, there was a strange reversal!

    He gritted his teeth. ¡°Why didn¡¯t my card shielding work?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at the clone in the bottle and calmly said, ¡°Your card is too threatening to us. If you open the card shielding and the merpeople transformation fails, causing us to change back to ordinary humans, wouldn¡¯t we instantly die in the deep sea?¡±

    The 5th Xiao Lou suddenly reacted. ¡°So¡­¡±

    Old Mo said, ¡°I have the Nightmare card in my hand that can mark a person in advance, letting that person lose all their skills at night. You found us and deliberately showed us the wrong way. We followed you in order to mark you with the Nightmare card, not because we were hooked. This means that you willpletely lose your skills tonight.¡±

    The 5th Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    No wonder his card failed when he wanted to open the shield.

    This group of people was really calcting and nned everything really well.

    Was there still a need to ask about the tail? It was definitely Old Mo¡¯s dye card!

    Xiao Lou seriously added, ¡°By the way, Old Mo¡¯ dye card created a silver form that is 95% white pigment, 4% ck and 1% blue. Naturally, my tail was dyed with this. The silver tail represents the pure blood of the merpeople. We took advantage of this setting. We can also use the false to confuse the real.¡±

    The 5th Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Why were these people more like the viins?

    7th anniversary celebration event

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 453: Returning to the Palace

    ¡°What should we do with the three hunters?¡± Xiao Lou turned back to consult Yu Hanjiang¡¯s opinion.

    Yu Hanjiang stepped forward. He looked at the smaller version of Xiao Lou in the bottle and asked softly, ¡°How did the hunterse to this world? How did you find out about our experiences in the other secret rooms?¡±

    The fake Xiao Lou answered coldly, ¡°We naturally have our sources. How else can we kill you?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang continued questioning him. ¡°What¡¯s in it for you when killing challengers? Can you stay for more years in the Card World?¡±

    The other person suddenly fell silent. His pale face had no expression and it was as if he had be a statue.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned and slowed down his tone. ¡°If you tell us about the Hunter¡¯s League, I can consider not killing you since you look exactly the same as Xiao Lou.¡±

    ¡°Heh¡­¡± This Xiao Lou¡¯s lips curved as if he heard a big joke. He let out a weirdugh in the bottle before answering indifferently, ¡°I can¡¯t live anyway if the mission fails. Please give me a good death.¡± Then he closed his eyes and put on a cold expression of ¡®go to hell¡¯.

    Yu Hanjiang nced at Xiao Lou and shook his head.

    Xiao Lou had no choice but to force the hunters back to the Peach Blossom Spring and set them on fire.

    These hunters were simply stubborn.

    Everyone had encountered many hunters to reach this point. The thing they all had inmon was that they would rather die than to reveal the secrets of the organization after the mission failed. It was like collective brainwashing.

    Their loyalty to the organization exceeded even the most instinctive desire for survival. Why?

    People who weren¡¯t determined enough were likely to betray their friends and rtives in front of death. The Hunter¡¯s League wasn¡¯t full of people who could be determined when looking at death. Yet every time the knife was ced to their neck, no information could be found out about the organization. This was too strange.

    Xiao Lou spoke softly, ¡°They all aren¡¯t afraid of death. I don¡¯t believe that all the people in the Hunter¡¯s League arepletely unafraid to die. My guess is that if they leak the secrets of the Hunter¡¯s League, they might face something worse than death. This is why they would rather choose to die than to speak.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it carefully and agreed. ¡°It makes sense. Those who spill the beans will experience something worse than death? This is why many huntersmit suicide by taking poison after the mission fails.¡±

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°The organization has its own rules, such as the reward system for the heads of challengers. They can also move between different secret rooms and rece some special characters. I now suspect¡­ could the Hunter¡¯s League be an organization created by the keepers to confront the challengers?¡±

    Ye Qi heard this and hit his forehead in realization. He walked to Xiao Lou and spoke excitedly, ¡°Professor Xiao¡¯s suspicion is very likely! If the keepers aren¡¯t involved, how can some hunters enter the secret rooms and be key characters? Is it a coincidence that Chief Shao¡¯s adoptive mother in the 10th level or the clones in this level are hunters?¡±

    Shao Qingge opened his mouth. ¡°If this is the case, the hunters might have to travel around different worlds on missions?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan had a serious expression. ¡°During my time undercover in the Hunter¡¯s League, I did often receive missions from my superiors but there was only one mission objective¡ªkilling outsiders. Since I wasn¡¯t a real hunter, I asked Huaying to help me every week. They didn¡¯t know that my missions failed and didn¡¯t punish me. I don¡¯t know what punishment the hunters who really failed the mission will receive.¡±

    Tang Ci said, ¡°In other words, from the moment we entered the Card World, there is a force that always opposes us. Our goal is to clear the secret rooms while their goal is to kill us?¡±

    The team members heard Tang Ci¡¯s words and exchanged looks.

    At first, everyone thought this force was spontaneously organized by the natives, like a ¡®cult¡¯ directed against foreigners. Now it seemed that not only did the hunters know about their cards but they even knew the past experience in secret rooms. How could the natives have such great abilities?

    After all, the natives were limited to one room. For example, the king and princesses from the ancient world of 8 of Hearts couldn¡¯t appear in the entertainment world of 9 of Hearts. They couldn¡¯t know what happened in the entertainment world.

    Previously, Yu Hanjiang tried to test the fake Liu Qiao and she was able to answer all the information about the 8th, 9th and 10th levels.

    Everyone shuddered at the thought.

    There seemed to be a pair of eyes watching them all the time.

    In the Card World, there were only four people who knew everything that happened in the secret rooms. They were the four keepers, A of Hearts, A of Spades, A of Clubs and A of Diamonds!

    The keepers could freely control the flow of time in each world. They were the real power of the Card World. Behind them was the big joker and little joker. Perhaps as Xiao Lou spected, the Hunter¡¯s League was an organization created by them. From the beginning, they selected a group of people to stand on the opposite side of the challengers?

    Ye Qi gave an example. ¡°When ying online games, there are often two official factions set up. For example, in World of Warcraft. yers can either choose the Alliance or the Horde factions. If they meet in the wild, they can attack each other. So the Card World has the same set up, with the hunters and challengers forming two opposing factions?¡±

    Previously, Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t sure about the origin of the Hunter¡¯s League. Now after all this time, they gained more information about the hunters and he had to doubt the intentions of these keepers.

    The feeling of being yed wasn¡¯t nice but the factions were officially set and the task wouldn¡¯t be deceptive. The method to leave here was still to clear the secret rooms. It was just more difficult.

    ***

    At this point, Liu Qiao had spent 10 minutes informing the king about the consequences of the cloning incident.

    The king of the merpeople was extremely frightened. He couldn¡¯t believe that the dead Elder Kareen had been secretly studying clones and had produced version 2.0s.

    In order to convince him, Liu Qiao took him through thebyrinth to theboratory that contained many petri dishes that looked like ss coffins. These containers contained many identical ¡®specimens¡¯.

    The king¡¯s face became as dark as the bottom of a pot when he saw so many specimens.

    Liu Qiao suggested, ¡°Father, the cloning n is too crazy. We must stop it as soon as possible. Otherwise, there will be arge number of identical merpeople in the future and our tribe will bepletely chaotic.¡± She paused before adding another sentence, ¡°Moreover, after the genes are copied, our bloodline is no longer pure.¡±

    Thest sentence was the key. The merpeople attached great importance to the bloodline. The thought that future merpeople would be mixed with the genes of humans and bugs was absolutely unbearable for the king.

    The king immediately ordered, ¡°Destroy all the specimens in theboratory!¡±

    Liu Qiao nodded. ¡°Father, don¡¯t worry. Let me and my brother take care of the aftermath of the incident.¡±

    The specimens should have the genes of bugs, humans and merpeople. They were soaked in the nutrient solution and hadn¡¯t woken up yet. The pce was in the depths of the sea and couldn¡¯t be set on fire. Liu Qiao told Xiao Lou about this through Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. ¡°My father agreed to destroy all the cloning experiments. Let Xiao Ye and Chief Shao help carry away the petri dishes from theboratory.¡±

    Ye Qi and Shao Qingge had the teleportation cards and could bring a lot of weight with them. The two of them swam back to the deep seabyrinth and moved the hundreds of petri dishes back to the Peach Blossom Spring with the teleportation cards.

    The team members were solemn as they looked at the hundreds of ¡®ss coffins¡¯ ced in the Peach Blossom Spring.

    Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan looked at each other. The two brothers tacitly walked forward, took out the clones from the ss containers one by one and piled them together. Then without hesitation, Yu Hanjiang poured a few bottles of alcohol on them and set them on fire.

    This scene made the team members feel a bit ufortable.

    In particr, seeing the burned clones that looked exactly like themselves¡­.

    Ye Qi resisted the urge to vomit and his face turned pale. Shao Qingge held his shoulder with one hand and covered his eyes with the other hand. ¡°Don¡¯t think too much. These clones don¡¯t have a consciousness. Just think of them as intable dolls made ording to our appearance.¡±

    Ye Qi was stunned. ¡°Intable dolls¡­ Chief Shao, you know a lot.¡±

    Shao Qingge chuckled and rubbed his hair. ¡°Of course, how else can I be your father? I will teach youter slowly.¡±

    Ye Qi was shocked speechless.

    The original difort of the team members was instantly relieved when they heard Shao Qingge¡¯s words. It was true that they felt much better when thinking of these experiments as dolls.

    Lu Jiuchuan joked, ¡°Today¡¯s Peach Blossom Spring is simply a crematorium. Will Tao Yuanming have an opinion?¡±

    Xiao Lou felt helpless. ¡°We can¡¯t set a fire in the sea so we can only bring them back to the Peach Blossom Spring to burn them. Fortunately, the Peach Blossom Spring will automatically disappear after three hours. Once a new space is opened again tomorrow, there will be no more traces and smells.¡±

    At this time, the peach blossom trees were ck and gray and the air was full of a strange burning smell. It was really ufortable.

    Xiao Lou nced at the Peach Blossom Spring that was temporarily used as a crematorium and sighed. Then he told his teammates, ¡°Let¡¯s go and find the king. After all, my tail is dyed and it won¡¯t be good if the color fades.¡±

    Everyone imagined the scene of Xiao Lou swimming in the sea, only for the silver color to fade away. It would probably stun the merpeople. The prince¡¯s tail was actually dyed?!

    ***

    Inside the pce, Liu Qiao was connected to Xiao Lou with Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings while she apanied the king tofort the agitated old man.

    The king patted her on the shoulder and said earnestly, ¡°Your brother might be my illegitimate son but after all, you are brother and sister. I hope for you to live in harmony and not kill each other¡­¡±

    The king still felt a lingering fear as he thought of the scene of the clone Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao confronting each other. He was afraid that one day, the brother and sister would really want to kill each other to fight for the throne. Thest thing a father wanted to see was this scene.

    ¡°Father, rest assured, I have always respected my brother. However¡ª¡± Liu Qiao looked calmly at her father in front of her. ¡°It is more appropriate for me to inherit the throne.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± The king stared at Liu Qiao in disbelief. ¡°Have you¡­ always had this ambition?¡±

    ¡°Father, my brother doesn¡¯t want to be the leader of the merpeople. He has alreadymunicated with me in private and wants me to take over. I respect his decision and am willing to take on the burden for him. If you don¡¯t believe it, you can ask him yourself.¡± Liu Qiao wasn¡¯t lying. Her acting skills had been honed but this was what Xiao Lou had told her through their connection.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s tail was dyed and he naturally couldn¡¯t stay with the merpeople to be the king. In addition, Xiao Lou¡¯s true identity was still the crown prince of the Locke Empire. He had to go back as soon as possible to solve the problems of his own nation.

    ¡°That¡­I have to discuss it with your brother.¡± The king looked worried.

    Just then, Xiao Lou finished dealing with the clones and returned to the pce. He came to the king, bowed and respectfully said, ¡°Father, the experiments have been handled.¡±

    ¡°Your sister said that you don¡¯t want to inherit the throne. Is this true?¡± The king asked doubtfully.

    ¡°Yes, Father.¡± Xiao Lou¡¯s expression was extremely serious. ¡°I might be your child but my mother hasn¡¯t been found. Many of our people think that my origin is unknown and they won¡¯t be convinced if I seed the throne. Liu Qiao is the only child of you and the queen. Her blood is the purest.¡± He turned to look at Liu Qiao gently. ¡°Moreover, my sister has been smart from an early age. She must be the best person to inherit the throne.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± The king was worried and seemed to hesitate over who to pass the throne to.

    ¡°Father, why don¡¯t you make a decision after consulting the elders?¡± Xiao Lou suggested.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll ask the elders for a meeting.¡± The king turned and left.

    There were a total of 11 elders among the merpeople. Kareen had been killed and out of the remaining 10 elders, Gui Yuanzhang could handle at least five of them. In other words, there were at least six votes on Liu Qiao¡¯s side.

    That night, the king urgently summoned the elders. More than half the elders believed that Xiao Lou¡¯s origin was unknown and it would be easier to convince the public if Liu Qiao, who was born to the king and queen, inherited the throne.

    The next morning, the king announced the result to all the merpeople.

    Liu Qiao walked through the pce in formal clothing and took the crown from her father. She officially became the heir of the merpeople. Xiao Lou stood next to her with a smile, his expression pleased.

    In reality, Liu Qiao was his student. After spending so much time in the Card World, her carefulness, wisdom and courage had all improved. She had be more and more outstanding.

    The side mission involving the merpeople had been sessfullypleted. Xiao Lou might¡¯ve been the leader but Liu Qiao¡¯s vignce and self-rescue actions definitely deserved praise. If she was really unconscious, her teammates would be busy everywhere and it wouldn¡¯t have been so easy to take care of the hunters.

    After the session ceremony, Xiao Lou said goodbye to Liu Qiao and the king.

    He exined it to the king. ¡°Father, when I was young, I was taken back to the pce by Elder Kareen and had to leave my mother. I want to find her. Next, I will have to leave the pce for a while. You must take care of yourself.¡±

    The king sighed. ¡°Go ahead. Since this is your obsession, I have no reason to stop you.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao looked at each other and Liu Qiao told him through their mind connection, ¡°Professor Xiao, us merpeople can¡¯t help you too much with the matters in the Locke Empire. You must be careful.¡±

    The merpeople could stay onnd for a day or two but it would be very ufortable in the long term. Moreover, Liu Qiao was now the heir of the merpeople and she couldn¡¯t leave the pce without authorization.

    Xiao Lou nodded to her. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The three of you stay here and wait for our good news.¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang, Old Mo and Liu Qiao personally saw them off.

    Just as Xiao Lou¡¯s group was about to leave the sea, Gui Yuanzhang suddenly said, ¡°We can¡¯t help personally but our cards are okay. Professor Xiao, please take our three card packs.¡± Then he spread out his palms and took out three card packs like a magic trick. Apparently, the three people had previously talked about giving the card packs to Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou looked at Senior Gui with surprise.

    Giving such an important thing to his teammates showed that he had absolute trust in Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Don¡¯t you want to keep them for self-defense?¡±

    Gui Yuanzhang said, ¡°The problem of the merpeople has been solved. Last night, the three of us carefully checked and didn¡¯t find any fish that slipped through the among the merpeople. The clones have beenpletely destroyed and Liu Qiao is now the heir. No one can hurt us.¡±

    Still, Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t rest assured. He thought about it and said, ¡°Leave the invisibility cloak and the dye card just in case.¡±

    The dye card could dye the tails of the merpeople but it wasn¡¯t very useful when returning to the Locke Empire. Meanwhile, the invisibility cloaks helped with escaping at critical moments. Gui Yuanzhang nodded and took the cards handed over by Xiao Lou. ¡°Take care.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at them. ¡°The three of you should also take care. We will see you after leaving the secret room.¡±

    The six people didn¡¯t say anything else. They swam back to the surface of the sea, getting rid of their tails and bing normal people again.

    Shao Qingge drove the suspension car out of the fishing vige. At the intersection of the skynes, he stopped and asked, ¡°Where to next?¡±

    Xiao Lou said decisively, ¡°Return to the Locke Empire.¡±

    TL: Sorry ,something unexpected came up at work and there will be no CR releases for a week after today¡¯s chapter.

    7th anniversary celebration event

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 454: Video Data

    Shao Qingge and Ye Qi were the only ones who could pass through the security at the space station. Xiao Lou could only use the Peach Blossom Spring teleportation method again.

    At midnight, the card skills were refreshed. Shao Qingge and Ye Qi bought tickets for a starship back to the empire. After passing through the space station, the two of them didn¡¯t board the passenger starship but directly boarded Chu Huaying¡¯s Dark Night starship. Then they opened the Peach Blossom Spring¡¯s teleportation in the cabin.

    The group of people appeared on the Dark Night starship. Chu Huaying saw that everyone looked tired and poured sses of water for them. Then she walked over and asked, ¡°Did it go smoothly on the merpeople side?¡± During the time when Lu Jiuchuan pretended to be Chu Huaying, he hadmunicated with her about it so she knew the general situation.

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled. ¡°It went smoothly. All the hunters and clones were resolved and Xiao Liu became the only sessor. Moreover, we found detailed information about the Noah¡¯s Ark project in Elder Kareen¡¯sboratory.¡±

    Tang Ci said, ¡°If webine this information with the things left behind by Ye Qi¡¯s father, we can clearly know what happened that year.¡±

    He turned on hismunicator and brought up a video.

    The video was shot on July 15th, 2975, the day the Noah¡¯s Ark project was firstunched.

    They saw a spacious meeting room containing a few experts, ministers, military officials, Shao Qingge¡¯s father and the emperor, who was young at the time. The emperor projected a n onto the screen and said, ¡°You canment on the Noah¡¯s Ark n put forward by Professors Qin Rong, Zhu Xingchen and Palmer.¡±

    The people named were all those whose skeletons were found in the shipwreck under the sea.

    There was a heated debate in the meeting room, with one person saying, ¡°Isn¡¯t it crazy to clone humans?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t agree with such a n. It isn¡¯t ethical and once research on human gic cloning is carried out, the butterfly effect is likely to go beyond human control!¡±

    ¡°Professor Palmer, why did youe up with such a bizarre n?¡± Ye Qi¡¯s father, Ye Wenbo asked.

    Palmer smiled and exined, ¡°Isn¡¯t it normal to back up important data on a chip? General Ye, I remember that your father died of heart failure. If there was a backup clone to transnt organs into him when something went wrong and he could live for many more years, would you reject it?¡±

    Ye Wenbo choked up. ¡°This¡­¡±

    Palmer nced around the room. ¡°What if in the future, your beloved wife or children get a disease that is hard to treat? If there is a clone with organs, tissues, skin and blood that can be used at any time, you don¡¯t need to be afraid of any diseases.¡±

    General Lin Zecheng frowned. ¡°Life and death is something that humanity has been experiencing for thousands of years. If we make clones as a data backup like you say, can we live forever?¡±

    Palmer shook his head. ¡°There is no such thing as immortality. It is just one more health guarantee, like buying yourself health insurance. Aren¡¯t you all afraid of death or your loved ones dying from a disease?¡±

    There was sudden silence in the meeting room.

    The young Zhang Shaohua calmly said, ¡°My teacher is right. Animal cloning technology has long been mature while human cloning hasn¡¯t passed the approval of the ethics society. The key is that ethicists believe that once clones enter society, they will pollute the human gene pool. In addition, if they be self-aware then they are likely to conflict with their main selves.¡±

    Lin Zecheng looked at his wife with disbelief. He seemed unable to believe that she would support it.

    Zhang Shaohua¡¯s expression was extremely calm as she stood up, walked to the screen and swiped it to reveal the detailed n. ¡°However, Professor Palmer¡¯s cloning n is different. The sessfully cloned experimental products won¡¯t enter human society but will be kept in the petri dishes for all their lives. They will have no knowledge and no human behavior. They are just data backups stored in the hospital.¡±

    Zhang Shaohua paused and looked at her husband. ¡°It is like a 20 year old woman going to the hospital to freeze a few eggs. Once the quality of her eggs declines, she can take out the frozen eggs and get pregnant. You can understand it as the clones being a temporarily frozen organ bank cultivated from our own cells. One day when we get sick, we can take the organs, bone marrow or other necessary parts from the clones.¡±

    There were more arguments.

    Just then, the emperor suddenly spoke slowly. ¡°I agree with the n.¡±

    Everyone in the meeting room turned to look at him. The emperor lowered his voice and said, ¡°If this n was implemented earlier, my oldest son wouldn¡¯t have died. He was poisoned and had acute liver and kidney failure. I couldn¡¯t find any organs that could be transnted to him. If there was a clone to provide him with organs, he would now be able to walk and call me Father.¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The room fell silent after those present saw the sad expression on the emperor¡¯s face.

    The emperor¡¯s gaze swept over the room. ¡°Now, let¡¯s vote.¡±

    The people in the meeting room looked at each other. Some raised their hands to agree while others were silent. Eventually, more than half the people present agreed and the n was officiallyunched. The video ended here.

    Tang Ci opened the second video.

    In the same meeting room, there was a meeting discussing the second n. The professors, Palmer, Qin Rong and Zhu Xingchen didn¡¯t say that they added the bug genes. They just said that they had improved the culture medium and could ensure that the clones would survive.

    Zhang Shaohua added, ¡°Furthermore, after we sessfully grow them, we will destroy all excess experimental products and leave only one or two as data backups in the secretboratory. Once your children need it in the future, they will obtain the corresponding organs or tissues from theboratory specimens.¡±

    She added, ¡°If this research is sessfully implemented, there will be a leap in human medical technology. All the children born can automatically get a clone to protect their health for a lifetime.¡±

    In the video, Shao Qingge¡¯s father showed a conflicted expression on his face. He must¡¯ve been uncertain but in the end, once everyone around him raised their hands, he also raised a trembling hand to agree.

    The people signed the n in turn.

    ***

    There were only two videos in the data chip found on the skeleton but it was enough to exin the situation.

    The Noah¡¯s Ark project, originally led by the emperor, was jointly proposed by the gics and reproductive experts of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, Palmer, Qin Rong and Zhu Xingchen.

    Zhang Shaohua was a direct student of Professor Palmer and responsible for the data collection and experiment arrangements.

    The starting point actually made sense. They wanted to keep the clones as organ backups in theboratory, so that the clones would have no human knowledge. Any redundant clones would be destroyed. The clones they wanted to make were more like ¡®frozen organ banks¡¯ than humans.

    At both meetings, Zhang Shaohua didn¡¯t know much about it judging from her performance.

    Xiao Lou spected, ¡°Zhang Shaohua was very young at the time and blindly worshipped her mentor. She thought that her mentor¡¯s decision was right. She certainly didn¡¯t know that the emperor¡¯s way of ¡®destroying¡¯ the clones was so cruel as to directly ce hundreds of clones together in a test of survival of the fittest.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°Palmer and the others probably hadn¡¯t expected the emperor to be so crazy either. After knowing all of this, they realized the crisis and chose to escape. They took away a clone of the crown prince and arge number of cloned specimens from theboratory.¡±

    Xiao Lou said helplessly, ¡°The n deviated from the original intention and wentpletely out of control. The emperor vited the original agreement of not allowing clones to join human society and personally raised the 2nd and 3rd Xiao Lous into adults. He wanted to raise the best crown prince.¡±

    The chip contained the two videos as well as arge amount of cloned gic data, case studies, the experimental protocol written by Professor Palmer, Professor Qin Rong and Professor Zhu Xingchen, Zhang Shaohua¡¯s observation records in theboratory¡­

    There were even photos of the clones that they took with them when fleeing Capital Star.

    The photos were marked with numbers such as Xiao Lou 4, Shao Qingge 1, Ye Qi 7 and so on.

    The information found was really iron-d proof.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Now the material evidence isplete. If this is released onto the Inte of the empire, it will definitely arouse public anger and they will find a way to let the crazy emperor step down. Now the key is to find a few witnesses who can convince the public. After all, with today¡¯s high-tech means, videos can bepletely faked.¡±

    Xiao Lou was thoughtful, ¡°If it is about witnesses, I can personally testify. My sister Xiao Rou might also be able to help. As for someone else¡­ Zhang Shaohua?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°We have to go back to Capital Star and find her as soon as possible. It will be hard if she is also silenced.¡±

    Voting for my 7th anniversary event is now open. There are 105 lovely entries so be sure to check them all out below:

    Voting Page

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 455: Interstellar Distress

    After determining the next destination, the Dark Night starship officially set sail.

    Chu Huaying went to the console and set the navigation. The Dark Night starship was much faster than passenger starships and it could reach Capital Star in just one day.

    When Xiao Lou escaped from Capital Star, he had left the Tao Yuanming card with Qu Wanyue for safety. Once they arrived at the space station, Qu Wanyue could open the Peach Blossom Spring and pull everyone over. This would solve the difficulty of not being able to pass through the security check.

    The group was unable to have a good rest for the past few days while traveling back and forth between the deep sea pce and the deserted ind. Seeing the exhaustion on everyone¡¯s faces, Chu Huaying suggested, ¡°It is best to go and rest first. At the current speed of travel, we will probably arrive at Capital Star at 8 o¡¯clock tomorrow morning. Tonight, you can get a good night¡¯s sleep and replenish your energy. Then you can deal with the affairs of the Locke Empire.¡±

    Currently, they were all in themand room of the starship. The starship wasrge and had many rooms to rest in. Chu Huaying arranged for them to stay in the three rooms near themand room. Two people would stay in one room and could take care of each other.

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°Everyone has been working hard these days. Have a good night¡¯s sleep. Huaying, I have to trouble you to watch the navigation.¡±

    Chu Huaying nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The starship has automatic navigation. I will stay here to keep an eye on it.¡±

    Xiao Lou gave the team headsets to everyone who was missing one. ¡°If something happens then contact us through the headset.¡±

    The six people left themand room and headed to the rooms arranged by Chu Huaying. They closed the door and went to sleep.

    These rooms had two single beds side by side. It was enough to go to sleep without disturbing each other.

    Perhaps it was because he was too tired but Xiao Lou fell asleep as soon as hey down on the bed.

    His sleep was very deep. It wasn¡¯t known how much time had passed when Xiao Lou suddenly rolled off the bed. His head hit the floor at the foot of the bed and the pain instantly awakened Xiao Lou. He looked around and found that the surroundings were shaking violently.

    He was stunned. He held the bed to get up and asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    On the bed next to him, Yu Hanjiang also sat up. He rushed to the porthole and pulled the curtains. Outside the window was the dark sky of the universe but due to the shaking starship, the stars in his field of view were also shaking.

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°There are no other ships in the area so it likely isn¡¯t an attack.¡± He pressed the button of the team headset. ¡°Huaying?¡±

    There was no response.

    Xiao Lou quickly put on his coat. ¡°Go to themand room and find her!¡±

    The two of them walked to the door, only to find that the door was locked from the outside. Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t push it open. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes shed coldly and he signaled for Xiao Lou to retreat. At the same time, he took out the Night Devil Saber and aimed it at the metal door, shing fiercely!

    This was worthy of being an S-grade weapon. The sharp de that could ¡®cut iron like it was mud¡¯ directly split the metal door in half!

    Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou went out sideways one after another.

    The next rooms were where the group of four were resting. Yu Hanjiang walked to the door of room 2 but the soundproof door meant he couldn¡¯t hear any sounds inside. Xiao Lou simply held down the team headset and asked, ¡°Xiao Ye, Brother Jiu, are you awake?¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s panicked voice came from the earpiece. ¡°I just woke up. What is the situation? Why is the starship shaking?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan had also woken up and let out a hoarse curse. Then he said, ¡°Chu Huaying is a star thief. Can we still be robbed by other star thieves?¡± The first thing he thought of was the star thieves because this scene was exactly the same as when the passenger starship was intercepted by the star thieves.

    At that time, Chu Huaying piloted the starship of the star thieves to intercept the passenger starship. Everyone was asleep and awakened due to the shock to the starship. Now it happened again. What was the situation?

    Tang Ci murmured, ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem to be star thieves¡­.¡± His voice suddenly became serious. ¡°The starship has lost its bnce.¡±

    Shao Qingge finally woke up and was confused. ¡°What is going on?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang ordered in a low voice, ¡°All of you get away from the door. The doors have been locked so I¡¯ll cut them open..¡±

    Then he raised his weapon, his actions simple and neat. The doors of the two rooms were cut in half by him.

    The newly dressed teammates rushed out. Shao Qingge¡¯s hair was messy and he didn¡¯t have time to organize the half-ponytail behind his head. His chestnut-colored hair was all scattered and he looked very flustered.

    Xiao Lou nced at the electronic locks outside the three rooms and frowned. ¡°I¡¯m afraid it isn¡¯t that simple. There must be hunters among the star thieves. Otherwise, how can we be locked in the rooms?¡±

    This conclusion caused a chill to go down everyone¡¯s spines. Ye Qi quickly reacted. ¡°Our rooms were locked from the outside and the bnce equipment of the starship was suddenly damaged. Does this mean they want us to crash in the universe along with the Dark Night starship?¡±

    Tang Ci¡¯s expression changed when he heard this and he hurriedly headed toward themand room.

    The door of themand room was also locked. Yu Hanjiang stepped forward and sshed it apart. Themand room was empty and there was no trace of Chu Huaying. Xiao Lou once again spoke into the voice headset. ¡°Huaying? Can you hear me?¡±

    There was no response.

    Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci looked at each other and walked calmly to the console.

    The destination of the navigation system had been modified to the clock constetion near the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land. The screen of the starship was currently showing red failure signs everywhere.

    The moment the two of them stood in front of the console, rm sounds rang through themand room.

    ¡°Bnce system failure!¡±

    ¡°Gravity system failure!¡±

    ¡°The starship¡¯s energy is running out! Attention, the energy of the starship is about to be exhausted!¡±

    The rm sounds became even harsher.

    More than half of the system indicators were showing a red exmation mark that represented an error.

    Tang Ci stood in front of the console and quickly tapped on some buttons. The map was magnified by several times and there was a ck vortex-like mark on the map. Tang Ci¡¯s face suddenly turned white. ¡°This starship can onlyst a few more minutes. We are near the legendary cosmic graveyard¡­¡±

    Ye Qi¡¯s back stiffened. He walked to Tang Ci¡¯s side to look at the map and his eyes widened. ¡°Is it the forbidden area mentioned at the military academy where severe weather is frequent and cosmic sandstorms often ur?¡±

    Tang Ci nodded. ¡°Yes. The in front is ¦Â-131 of the clock constetion. It is the most prone to cosmic sandstorms. It is said that countless wreckage of starships are floating around ¦Â-131. I don¡¯t know how many people have died here.¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s expression was ugly. ¡°Can the Dark Night starship be saved?¡±

    Tang Ci and Ye Qi were both mecha students. After graduation, Tang Ci became a mechanical engineer in Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s corps. Hearing this, he immediately checked the starship¡¯s various systems before shaking his head. ¡°The starship¡¯s intelligence system has beenpletely destroyed and the energy is about to run out. We must try to escape as soon as possible. Hurry and find the escape capsules!¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan couldn¡¯t help cursing. ¡°Dammit. Chu Huaying knows the most about this starship. Where did she go?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang suddenly asked, ¡°Are you sure it really was Chu Huaying?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan was slightly stunned. ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be any mistakes. She was holding the spider dagger.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang told him, ¡°That is the Chu Huaying we saw before. What about the one we saw today?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s heart suddenly became cold. Yes, the Chu Huaying they saw today only said a few words. She didn¡¯t take out the spider dagger or use Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings to check the information and confirm their identities. Everyone boarded the starship and then she set the navigation destination before letting them rest first.

    She didn¡¯t say more than a few words from beginning to end.

    When they arrived at the Dark Night starship and saw Chu Huaying standing in themand room, they subconsciously felt that she was the real one and didn¡¯t doubt her identity.

    In addition, Chu Huaying was a star thief from the beginning. Everyone inferred that she wouldn¡¯t have a clone. Now thinking about it¡­ it seemed the hunters had drilled through this loophole!

    Xiao Lou said guiltily, ¡°It was our carelessness.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan had a headache and held his forehead, ¡°I can¡¯t me you at all. Who would¡¯ve thought that Chu Huaying would also have a clone? However, there wasn¡¯t any data about her in the chip data set we received, right? She also isn¡¯t a person of the Locke Empire. She grew up as a star thief and has been wandering the universe. How can she be cloned?¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°There is no time to think about these things. Quickly find the escape capsules!¡±

    Every regr starship should be equipped with escape capsules. Right now, the starship¡¯s systems were destroyed and energy was about to run out. The escape capsules were their only hope.

    The group was also aware of the seriousness of this matter.

    The moment he finished speaking, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi flew out with the teleportation cards, Yu Hanjiang following closely. The three of them came to the stern of the starship and were surprised to find that all the escape capsules were gone¡­

    Yu Hanjiang saw that all the doors in the corridor were locked. He used his weapon to sh all of them.

    The man was full of anger and his eyes were so cold that he could almost freeze people. He split open all the doors and the group was shocked to find¡ª

    The starship was actually empty.

    Xiao Lou saw this scene and clenched his fists, his voice trembling slightly, ¡°This is giving us a taste of our own medicine.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke coldly, ¡°They know that we can¡¯t pass the security checkpoint and will have Chief Shao use the Peach Blossom Spring for direct teleportation. At that time, the fake Chu Huaying personally went to receive Chief Shao and Ye Qi. Chief Shao opened the Peach Blossom Spring and we collectively appeared in themand room, so we didn¡¯t realize that the starship was actually empty.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°This was a trap set for us.¡±

    Where did the people on the starship go? What happened to the real Chu Huaying?

    In the past few days, they had been busy with the merpeople. It had been four full days since the Dark Night starship left everyone¡¯s field of view. Who knew what had happened during this period?

    In addition, everyone had just sessfully resolved the merpeople side plotline and were psychologically rxed when they met Chu Huaying. They thought that the number 5 Xiao Lou was the boss. After solving this boss, the next boss would naturally be the emperor of the Locke Empire, Xiao Lou¡¯s father.

    They didn¡¯t expect that the hunters would actually dig such a big pit for them on the way back!

    The ship¡¯s bncing system hadpletely lost its function.

    The entire starship was shaking violently and even rotated 360 degrees. This was much more exciting than a rollercoaster.

    Ye Qi was small and thin. When the starship rotated fiercely, he was directly thrown dozens of meters away. Ye Qi hurriedly flew back with the teleportation card in a frightened manner and firmly grasped Shao Qingge¡¯s hand. Shao Qingge held him with one hand while using the other hand to grasp a door frame.

    The thing Tang Ci hated the most since he was a child was a rollercoaster. At this time, the out of bnce starship was swaying like a headless fly in the universe and it was more disgusting than a rollercoaster. He almost vomited and his face was as pale as paper.

    Lu Jiuchuan reached out his long arms and directly pulled Tang Ci into his arms, hugging Tang Ci tightly.

    The two people rolled dozens of meters on the ground. Lu Jiuchuan stretched out his long legs and hooked them around a broken door frame in the corridor. He steadied his body and asked, ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    Tang Ci heard the violent heartbeating from the other person¡¯s chest and took a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯m fine. I just don¡¯t want to die here¡­¡±

    Previously, he was chased by so many hunters in J of Clubs and survived.

    Now it seemed that a hunter¡¯s strength didn¡¯t lie in the quantity but in the quality. When encountering a hunter with a high IQ, one was enough for everyone to suffer!

    The feeling of losing wasn¡¯t good at all.

    Xiao Lou heard the conversation of his teammates and med himself.

    He thought he was careful enough. He yed around with the hunters among the merpeople, using the fake Liu Qiao to rescue the real Liu Qiao and letting Old Mo¡¯s Nightmare card abolish the strongest shielding card of the 5th Xiao Lou. He even dyed his tail silver and pretended to be the prince of the merpeople to give way to Liu Qiao¡­

    It could be said that they had a very smooth time among the merpeople.

    Who would¡¯ve thought that the moment they left the merpeople, there would be another boss waiting for them and it was also a hidden boss! They were directly tricked and sent to their deaths in the starship!

    The Dark Night starship flipped through the universe like a rollercoaster.

    Sometimes they were upside down and sometimes they smashed into the metal wall so hard their organs were almost disced. They couldn¡¯t see anything in front of them and their minds were a mess.

    The energy of the ship was almost exhausted and the lights in the corridor were flickering and dimming.

    The metal doors split apart by Yu Hanjiang floated around in the corridor due to weightlessness.

    Just then, the starship flipped violently and a sharp metal piece aimed straight for Tang Ci¡¯s eyes. Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes narrowed and he reached out to grab it. The sharp metal edge instantly cut his palm and blood sttered. Tang Ci trembled and cried out, ¡°Brother Jiu!¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan forcefully threw the metal piece into an empty room next to him and cried out, ¡°I¡¯m fine. Everyone, quickly find a way to escape!¡±

    The bnce system was broken and energy was about to run out. To make matters worse, there was the cosmic graveyard in front of them that had torn countless starships to pieces. Once they encountered a sandstorm, the entire starship would be cut to pieces and the consequences would be disastrous¡­

    Ye Qi was so anxious that his eyes were red. ¡°What should we do? There are no escape capsules left! If we just break out of the starship, we won¡¯t be able to live in the universe for more than a few seconds!¡±

    Just then, the cold mechanical voice of the system was heard from themand room. ¡°Warning. A cosmic sandstorm has been detected ahead. It is approaching us. 100 kilometers away¡­ 80 kilometers away¡­¡±

    The speed at which the starship was moving was too fast.

    Once the starship was swept up in the sandstorm, it would be like a ship at sea encountering a category 10 hurricane. There would definitely be nothing left.

    Ye Qi closed his eyes in despair.

    Shao Qingge suddenly hugged Ye Qi tightly and whispered a few words in his ears.

    Ye Qi was taken aback but he couldn¡¯t hear it clearly.

    Just when he thought he was going to die, Xiao Lou suddenly shouted, ¡°Hanjiang, activate Spirit Fox!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang reacted and hurriedly took off the ring on his hand, giving it to Xiao Lou.

    There was a soft sh of silver light and everyone heard a young voice. ¡°The S-grade mecha Spirit Fox has been activated. Master, what is yourmand?¡±

    ¡°Open the cockpit and prepare for immediate take-off.¡± Xiao Lou desperately grabbed at a life-saving straw. He dragged Yu Hanjiang to the Spirit Fox¡¯s cockpit while shouting to his teammates in the corridor, ¡°Come here quickly!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang threw the white silk to Lu Jiuchuan who held Tang Ci to fly over together. Shao Qingge and Ye Qi used the teleportation cards to move through the hatch. Xiao Lou didn¡¯t dare to dy and immediately pressed the start button after his teammates entered the cockpit.

    ¡°The hatch is closing.¡±

    ¡°The flight system is activated in 5, 4, 3, 2¡­1.¡±

    At the end of the countdown, the huge tail behind Spirit Fox suddenly opened and turned into wide wings. The sharp metal lines of the mecha exuded a bright luster under the light.

    The S-grade mecha soared into the sky. The protective ss of the Dark Night starship was shattered by it and countless ss pieces poured into the universe like small meteors gliding through the sky.

    At almost the same moment that the Spirit Fox soared into the universe, the spider-like Dark Night starship fell into the cosmic sandstorm. The dark vortex quickly caused the starship to be fragmented¡­

    Everyone saw this scene from the porthole and their hands became sweaty.

    This was too thrilling. They were almost destroyed!

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 Chapter 456: Mecha Spirit Fox

    If it wasn¡¯t for suddenly starting the S-grade mecha Spirit Fox at the moment of life or death, the group would already be buried in the ruins of the universe. As they watched the Dark Night starship being crushed by the cosmic sandstorm into a pile of metal residue, Ye Qi hurriedly said, ¡°Run! The sandstorm¡¯s speed is very fast. It will be terrible if we are caught in it!¡±

    Xiao Lou immediately raised the speed of Spirit Fox to the maximum and drove the mecha in the opposite direction to escape.

    The ck pressure that was the sandstorm followed behind them. Xiao Lou¡¯s expression was heavy and his spirit was strained to the extreme. He was afraid that the Spirit Fox wouldn¡¯t be fast enough and they would be swallowed by the sandstorm¡­

    Fortunately, the performance of the S-grade mecha was very strong. Five minutester, Spirit Fox finally left the sandstorm far behind.

    After seeing the sandstorm move diagonally in another direction and getting further away from them, the group was finally relieved.

    Everyone looked at each other. There was ayer of sweat on everyone¡¯s forehead. Some people, such as Ye Qi, sweated more and even their clothes were soaked with sweat.

    Ye Qi breathed hard, his face pale. ¡°This was an extreme escape! It was only one second away. I thought we were going to die here.¡±

    He suddenly paused and looked back at Shao Qingge. ¡°By the way, did you just say something in my ear?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled and gently rubbed his head. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I¡¯ll tell you once we go back.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan walked to the console and asked curiously, ¡°Where did this mechae from?¡±

    Xiao Lou answered, ¡°My father left it to me.¡± He looked at everyone and spoke in a guilty manner, ¡°Sorry, I shut it down before and just remembered that it could fly in the universe.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang exined, ¡°Not long after we entered the secret room, the emperor summoned me and gave me the ring. ording to him, the ring is the mental fragment of the mecha Spirit Fox. Once it is activated, it will be theplete body of Spirit Fox. He handed me this ring and asked me to protect Xiao Lou no matter what.¡±

    Tang Ci was a bit surprised. ¡°The S-grade mecha Spirit Fox? It is S-grade and should be one of the most powerful mechas in the empire. Unexpectedly, you have one in your hand?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan was thoughtful. ¡°The emperor actually gave you such a valuable mecha. Is he really the viin boss?¡±

    Xiao Lou also found it very contradictory. If he didn¡¯t have the S-grade mecha with him, everyone would¡¯ve died. In his previous meetings with his father, the emperor¡¯s concern didn¡¯t seem false. He instructed Yu Hanjiang to protect Xiao Lou no matter what.

    Xiao Lou clenched his fists to calm himself down and said, ¡°Although the Spirit Fox rescued us this time and the emperor gave it to me in the name of protection, but it was actually used for surveince.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang agreed. ¡°On Xiao Lou¡¯s birthday, someone sneaked into the Twin Pces. The emperor knew about it because Spirit Fox actually deployed a 360 degree surveincework around the entire Twin Pces with no blind spots. It reported the situation in the Twin Pces to the emperor. In order to avoid our escape being known to the emperor, Spirit Fox was shut down during the entire process.¡±

    Xiao Lou added, ¡°We have examined it in detail. There was no tracker in the ring to start Spirit Fox and there were no problems after Spirit Fox was shut down. Therefore, we took it with us when we escaped.¡±

    Xiao Lou was really d. If the ring was left in the pce then everyone could only close their eyes and wait to die. Fortunately, Yu Hanjiang said at that time, ¡°The ring the emperor gave me should be a key item. Let¡¯s take it with us.¡± It was this idea that saved everyone at the key moment.

    Lu Jiuchuan continued to ask, ¡°Do you really think the emperor is the ultimate boss?¡±

    Xiao Lou answered, ¡°He is the initiator of the Noah¡¯s Ark project and the leader of the Gu raising n. On the surface, he is indeed the ultimate boss of this secret room but now I¡¯m no longer sure about that.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang gently held Xiao Lou¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Everything can wait until we return to the empire. We have to find the whereabouts of the real Chu Huaying first and figure out when she was cloned.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan wanted to speak when Tang Ci interrupted him. ¡°Show me your hand.¡±

    He forcibly lifted Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s left hand where blood was still flowing from the wound created by the sharp metal. The entire palm was bloody. Distress shed in Tang Ci¡¯s eyes and his expression sank. ¡°If you are injured then stop moving. Sit down and I will give you some treatment.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled. ¡°It is just skin trauma and it doesn¡¯t matter. Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    During the time when he was undercover in the Hunter¡¯s League, he had be ustomed to injuries and this was really nothing. Even so, Tang Ci forced him to sit down on a couch and summoned a healing robot to bind the wound.

    Lu Jiuchuan trusted his hand to Tang Ci. He stretched out his legs on the sofa and looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Do you have a clue as to where Huaying is? How can we find her in such a big universe?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou. The other person frowned slightly and carefully sorted out his thoughts.

    After a while, he carefully analyzed it. ¡°The Huaying we encountered the first time must be real. The swap must¡¯ve happened when we were dealing with the merpeople plotline on Azure while Huaying was alone on the starship. If I remember correctly, there were hundreds of star thieves on the starship yet so many people disappeared. The only exnation is that someone controlled the real Huaying and let the fake Huaying take the position of captain. All the star thieves were transferred away and the fake Huaying was used to lure us into the trap.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan doubted it. ¡°Huaying has teamed up with us for so long and her alertness isn¡¯t low. She also said that when she entered the secret room, she was forced to drink by a hunter only to kill the other person and take the captain¡¯s position. How can she be controlled?¡±

    Xiao Lou answered, ¡°It is possible that someone acted on her food. They should be able to freely enter and leave the food storage of the starship at will. If they poisoned the food that Chu Huaying eats every day then it is possible.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang had been frowning while deep in thought. He heard this and suddenly said, ¡°Uncle Qin?¡±

    Xiao Lou had also thought of this person. ¡°During the time when we questioned all the star thieves about what happened over 20 years ago, he was the only one who looked evasive.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°I saw that he had a problem at the time and asked Huaying to test out a few sentences. Then he told everyone about the origin of the star thieves and bug. Most of what he said is true and was corroborated by our further investigation. There is just one thing that I don¡¯t think is right when thinking about it now.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Is it thest thing he said about how things were so terrible that he didn¡¯t dare tond on the bug after all these years? If he knew that Huaying would run to the bug, he would¡¯ve stopped it.¡±

    Shao Qingge raised an eyebrow. ¡°Looking at this sentence in hindsight, it is just like someone saying ¡®I would stop you if I knew what you were going to do¡¯. In fact, it is really useless.¡±

    Ye Qi also noticed what was wrong and scratched his head. ¡°We wandered around the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land for so long and even patrolled the bug. He is the repairman of the Dark Night starship and should¡¯ve seen it a long time ago, but he didn¡¯t stop us. In other words, he pretended to be acting for our own good but he actually watched us enter the bug without giving us a warning?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spoke softly, ¡°He is a hunter. Watching us go to our deaths, why should he stop it?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It was true that he knew the dangers of the bug. He was probably watching from the sidelines when everyonended on it. Why should he speak up and give a reminder?

    During Chu Huaying¡¯s questioning, he pretended to say that he would¡¯ve stopped it if he knew. Everyone hadn¡¯t thought too much about the words at the time. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were busy analyzing the star thieves and the Noah¡¯s Ark n so they ignored this detail. Now it seemed that he had exposed himself a long time ago.

    Xiao Lou touched his chin thoughtfully for a moment before suddenly saying, ¡°I see. Huaying is likely to have been taken to the bug!¡±

    The teammates were stunned when they heard this.

    Ye Qi was in a daze. ¡°This matter has to do with the bugs?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°We overlooked a key point. Brother Jiu was in danger when the 5th Xiao Lou passed by. The singing of the merpeople and the clones of Brother Jiu and Mr Tang that appeared among the merpeople all prove this. The strange thing is that the 5th Xiao Lou is the prince of the merpeople. Why would he happen to be ¡®passing by¡¯ the bug?¡±

    The merpeople were located in the deep sea of Azure while the bugs were in the remote Hilt No Man¡¯s Land.

    A prince from the ocean happened to pass by the bug territory? Did this make any sense?

    Yu Hanjiang spected, ¡°It seems that we only took care of a small boss. The 5th Xiao Lou suddenly visited the bug. Perhaps it was to reach an agreement with the bug queen? For example, study the cloning program together?¡±

    Xiao Lou followed his thoughts. ¡°So the 5th Xiao Lou used this condition as an exchange. The angry bug queen realized that it was profitable and let go of Brother Jiu and his group. Otherwise, how could she suddenly release them when she said they would all be buried with her?¡±

    Tang Ci thought about it carefully. ¡°It makes sense. In this way, the cause and effect can be exined. The merman prince visited the bug and wanted to work with the bugs to study the cloning program. For example, extract more of the bug genes so that the clone version 3.0 can have the jumping ability and other abilities of the bugs. Then he rescued Brother Jiu and me to copy our genes, nning to use our clones as bait in order to wipe out our entire team?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan had a headache. ¡°In other words, there is likely to be another cloningboratory on the bug?¡±

    Ye Qi was dumbfounded. ¡°So that Uncle Qin also joined forces with the bugs?¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°Uncle Qin has watched Huaying grow up since she was a child. It is easy for him to get Huaying¡¯s hair. Perhaps when wended on the, he secretly gave Huaying¡¯s genes to the bugs. Then the bugs cloned Chu Huaying as quickly as possible and used the fake Chu Huaying to lead us to the Dark Night starship, destroying the starship¡¯s systems and taking away the energy. This way, we would be buried in the universe.¡±

    The team members stared at each other.

    There was a fake Liu Qiao on the merpeople side and a fake Huaying on the starship. This instance was really tiring.

    Xiao Lou opened the contract book and nced at the names on it. ¡°Huaying is still alive. We have to find a way to save her!¡±

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 Chapter 457: Bug Planet

    Xiao Lou turned on the navigation system and set the destination as the bug. The screen showed that it would take half an hour to reach the destination. Xiao Lou looked at the meteors outside the window and thought quickly about countermeasures.

    At present, Ye Qi and Shao Qingge¡¯s Bug King cards had been used. Ye Qi¡¯s card was used to heal Tang Ci¡¯s legs and Shao Qingge became the bug king thest time theynded on the bug. These two cards could only be used once in a secret room. Now the bug king¡¯s skills were on cooldown and it was even more difficult for them to sneak onto the bug.

    The bug queen had great hostility toward humans. Once she called the bugs to attack them, the six of them alone wouldn¡¯t be able to face the countless bugs. The number of bugs on this was far beyond that of 8 of Spades. Lu Jiuchuan led an army to eliminate the bugs but was almost wiped out. This time there were only six of them, which wasn¡¯t even enough for the bugs to fill the gaps between their teeth.

    The cockpit suddenly quieted down. Yu Hanjiang found that Xiao Lou was frowning and asked him in a low voice, ¡°What are you thinking?¡±

    ¡°I have a question about Chu Huaying¡­¡± Xiao Lou came to his senses and turned to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Huaying should be on the bug. Uncle Qin must¡¯ve reached an agreement with the bug queen. As a hunter, why didn¡¯t Uncle Qin kill Chu Huaying?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Yu Hanjiang heard this and also felt puzzled in his heart.

    Xiao Lou turned back to Lu Jiuchuan. ¡°Brother Jiu, I remember you said that previously Huaying killed too many hunters and became first on the wanted list. The reward for killing her should be very high, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Lu Jiuchuan shook his cured left hand and walked up to Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang. ¡°In fact, Huaying isn¡¯t the type of female devil who kills people without blinking an eye. Most of the hunters she killed were to help cover for me. During my six months undercover in the league, I have experienced the World Weekly secret room many times. She followed me to the same world and helped me eliminate the hunters who were doubting my identity.¡±

    ¡°Of course, we know this. Previously in the Endless Sea World Weekly, Chu Huaying killed the hunters with you so you could meet me.¡± Yu Hanjiang answered softly.

    ¡°Since Huaying is first on the hunter¡¯s reward list, why hasn¡¯t Uncle Qin killed her yet?¡± Xiao Lou was puzzled. ¡°Doesn¡¯t Uncle Qin want to receive the high bounty?¡±

    ¡°Could it be that they want to do some research with Sister Ying¡¯s genes?¡± Ye Qi actively ran over to participate in the discussion.

    ¡°The bugs have already taken Huaying¡¯s genes to clone Chu Huaying version 1.0. There should be no need to continue studying her genes. If they were afraid that Huaying¡¯s name would disappear from the contract, they would first keep her until the starship crashed and then kill her¡­ but now that the starship has crashed, Huaying is still alive?¡± Xiao Lou was puzzled by this.

    ¡°It is a bit strange.¡± Yu Hanjiang frowned. Then after a few seconds, he thought of a possibility. ¡°Perhaps the hunters discovered that we aren¡¯t dead? Therefore, they didn¡¯t kill Chu Huaying and want to use her to lure us in?¡±

    ¡°I can read the team contract book to judge the life or death of our teammates. How do the hunters know if we are alive or dead?¡± Xiao Lou paused before a chill went down his spine. He couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°Do you think they have an item that can determine the survival of challengers?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s assume the hunters and challengers are opposing factions. Our goal is to clear the secret room while the goal of the hunters is to kill us. Will the system show them a message like ¡®12 survivors among the challengers¡¯? It is just like how we can see how many bosses are left when ying a game instance.¡± Ye Qi scratched his head and made a guess.

    ¡°¡­This also makes sense.¡± Xiao Lou pondered on it. ¡°If Uncle Qin can see something like ¡®12 survivors among the challengers¡¯, he would know that we didn¡¯t die when the starship crashed. Therefore, he didn¡¯t rush to kill Chu Huaying who has lost consciousness. Instead, he wants to use Chu Huaying as bait and lead us to save her.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang and asked the other person¡¯s intentions with his eyes.

    Thetter nodded at him. ¡°We have to jump in even if we know that it is a trap. Chu Huaying is our teammate. We can¡¯t just let her die. She alone can¡¯t cope with an entire of bugs. In addition, if the bug really has a cloningboratory then we must destroy it to pass the instance. We have to go to the bug.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s words were exactly what Xiao Lou thought. There was a trap. If they had a choice, they would make a detour. However, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and force their way through it.

    Tang Ci said calmly, ¡°Huaying¡¯s cards are mainly physical enhancement cards. If she wants to escape then she can only use the invisibility cloak. I¡¯m worried that if she is unconscious, it will be more difficult for us to save her. In addition, there are countless bugs on the. I agree about saving Huaying but we have to make full preparations in advance.¡±

    The was full of bugs.

    Once theynded on the bug, the sensitive bugs would definitely report the news to the bug queen. Forget finding the cloningboratory to save Chu Huaying, they might find it even difficult to move before they were drowned in a sea of bugs.

    How should theynd on the bug to minimize damage?

    The group fell into contemtion again.

    After a while, Xiao Lou said, ¡°The invisibility cloaks can be used for 30 minutes. During 8 of Spades, we once wore the invisibility cloak and passed through the square at night. The bugs didn¡¯t find us. The bugs in 8 of Spades have the same origin as these bugs so the invisibility cloak should also be effective against these bugs.¡±

    ¡°Still, the cloak onlysts for 30 minutes. Is this enough time?¡± Lu Jiuchuan pressed a hand to his temple. He had a headache when thinking about these bugs. ¡°The size of the bug is sorge. If we want to find the cloningboratory, we could probably search for a month and not find it.¡±

    ¡°Brother, do you remember that the first time we came here, we circled the and didn¡¯t find any buildings protruding from the surface of the. This indicates that the cloningboratory isn¡¯t on the surface but underground.¡± Yu Hanjiang said. ¡°More than 90% of the bug is ck. The ck part is the fungus nket used by the bugs for reproduction. We shouldn¡¯t need to search these areas.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes lit up as he looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°The fungus nket will provide nutrients for the development of the bugs. It is of great significance to the bugs, just like soil necessary for the growth of nts. It is impossible to dig a deep pit under the fungus nket to build a secretboratory. Then we only need to search the areas of the without them.¡±

    ¡°So there is less than 10% of the area left? This can save a lot of time.¡± Lu Jiuchuan touched his chin and looked at Yu Hanjiang in aplicated manner. ¡°There is the presence of you and Professor Xiao. Why do I always feel that I¡¯m not smart enough?¡±

    ¡°Brother Jiu, just get used to it! Each time I followed Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao through the Hearts secret room it always left me wondering if I even have a brain!¡± Ye Qi seriously agreed with him.

    ¡°It is veryfortable to lie down and win,¡± Shao Qingge said with a smile.

    ¡°The cloning n must be carried out in secret. If the queen really cooperated with the merpeople to study the clones, it is impossible to ce theboratory in an area with too many bugs. She should find a rtively remote ce to build the undergroundboratory.¡± Tang Ci didn¡¯t joke around or engage in the teasing of his teammates. His face was cold as always, giving the impression of a talking robot.

    Nevertheless, his words made sense.

    ¡°Yes, a remote ce without the fungus nket and suitable for the construction of a secretboratory. It is probably the vein we foundst time.¡± Xiao Lou concluded.

    ¡°That mineral vein has been mined by the star thieves and there are many precious ores piled up in the mines. At that time, the bugs rushed over so we didn¡¯t have time to check if there were any hidden mechanisms to go underground.¡± Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°The secretboratory is probably under the veins that have been mined.¡±¡¯

    ¡°Six months ago, Brother Jiu led the Arrow Corps to the bug. The merman Xiao Lou passed by and reached an agreement with the queen to study the cloning project. After the bugs built the cloningboratory¡­¡± Xiao Lou paused before wondering, ¡°The bugs shouldn¡¯t be good at constructing underground structures, right?¡±

    ¡°They might have a consciousness but they are just bugs after all. They live on a fungus nket and don¡¯t use the equipment that humans need. How can they build undergroundboratories?¡± Yu Hanjiang thought about it. ¡°Will the merpeople help? The merpeople can buildbyrinths in the ocean so their level of construction must not beckingpared to humans.¡±

    ¡°The merpeople have lived in the sea for a long time and might not be able to adapt to the environment of the bug. Moreover, they used many materials such as shells when building the pce in the sea. This isn¡¯t the same as digging at the ground. The difference in building something underground is quite big,¡± Xiao Lou answered seriously.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± The team members were stunned. How could those two people calmly discuss ¡®architecture¡¯ in this situation?

    ¡°Digging underground is best done by humans.¡± Yu Hanjiang paused before wondering, ¡°Could it be the star thieves helping?¡±

    ¡°Uncle Qin should¡¯ve been in contact with the bugs very early on and sent Huaying¡¯s genes to the bugs to create a clone. However, half a year ago Huaying and the star thieves hadn¡¯t gone to the bug. Uncle Qin has been staying with the starship the whole time. How can he help the bugs build aboratory?¡± Xiao Lou frowned and thought carefully. Then a key point shed through his mind and he trembled. ¡°There is another possibility. The previous captain of the star thieves might not be dead!¡±

    ¡°¡­The previous captain?!¡± Ye Qi heard this and his eyes widened. ¡°20 years ago, General Lin captured him and brought him back to Capital Star. His gene fragments were extracted and used in the Noah¡¯s Ark project. That¡¯s right¡­ there seems to be no record of his ending!¡±

    ¡°Yes, based on the information we found in the merpeople kingdom, it was only said that the scientists extracted his genes and found they were different from human genes. After research, these genes were fused with human genes. However, from beginning to the end the information never stated what happened to the previous captain.¡±

    Xiao Lou paused and looked at Ye Qi. ¡°In addition, Ye Qi, your words just now were very important. He was taken back by General Lin.¡±

    ¡°So he could¡¯ve also been taken away by General Lin?¡± Yu Hanjiang thought about it. ¡°General Lin took his daughter and all the information on the Noah¡¯s Ark project with him when running away. If the previous captain was still alive, it is indeed possible for General Lin to take him as well.¡±

    ¡°He has the bug genes in his body so he didn¡¯t die when the Egret crashed into the sea.¡± Shao Qingge¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly as he finally reacted to the reason for Xiao Lou¡¯s spection. ¡°If this is the case, the previous captain not only knows the specific location of the bug as well as the details about the cloning n. He also saw the merpeople in the deep sea?¡±

    ¡°I have always been wondering how the merpeople could suddenly upgrade and transform the clones. They aren¡¯t familiar with human and bug genes and might not necessarily be able to do experiments with the data. Yet if the previous captain was alive, he could indeed work together with Elder Kareen to help the merpeople develop the clone 2.0 version.¡± Tang Ci spoke calmly.

    ¡°At that time, the clones had juste out of the petri dishes and their IQs were equivalent to newborn babies. Even if Elder Kareen of the merpeople rescued them, it would be hard for him to get much information from them. As an adult, the previous captain knew a lot and he survived in the deep sea. He worked with Elder Kareen to create a clone 2.0 version with a tail. Later, he took the merman prince Xiao Lou to visit the bug. He and the queen are old friends. If hees forward to negotiate with the queen then she can easily agree.¡± Ye Qi followed everyone¡¯s thinking and found that after adding this key clue, everything became more reasonable.

    How else could the prince of the deep sea merpeople suddenly visit the bug and save Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci?

    Apparently, there was a ¡®middleman¡¯ who led the way for the prince.

    This person had lived on the bug for several years¡ªthe original captain of the star thieves!

    ¡°After the queen gave her consent, the captain stayed on the bug and assisted the queen in building the cloningboratory. He also contacted his old subordinate, Uncle Qin on the Dark Night starship and asked Uncle Qin to steal Chu Huaying¡¯s genes?¡± Lu Jiuchuan finally sorted out the logic and frowned. ¡°It seems there is more than one boss in this instance. We have overlooked the key figure ¨C the previous captain of the star thieves!¡±

    The mysterious captain had been secretly promoting the Noah¡¯s Ark project.

    He worked with the merpeople in the deep sea to create the version 2.0 clones, he saved Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci and instructed his old subordinates to steal Chu Huaying¡¯s genes. He cloned a copy of Chu Huaying on the bug¡­

    Maybe he was also a hunter?

    TL: You can check out the winners of the fanart event at the link below.

    Fanart Event Winners

    <em>Partially proofread: Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 458: Bug Cave

    Regarding the previous captain of the star thieves, the information that Xiao Lou and the others knew was only what they heard from Uncle Qin¡¯s mouth. There was little information about this person in the official databases.

    Tang Ci called up the database. ¡°20 years ago, this man called Rod Bell was the most wanted man in the Locke Empire. He was on the wanted list of all nations in the Sten Federation. It is said that this person was like a ghost and he often intercepted passenger ships. No one knows his origin. They only know that he was the most powerful star thief.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at the photo on the screen. The man had long blond hair and dark and deep eyes. They were slightly squinted like a poisonous snake staring at its prey.

    Tang Ci added, ¡°I checked all the databases and the only thing he has left in the federation is his name Rod Bell and this photo.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the photo and spoke softly, ¡°This person has been wanted by the federation for so many years but he has never been caught. He obviously has some skills. If General Lin hadn¡¯t led the army to destroy the bugs and happened to collide with the star thieves, perhaps this person would still be continuing to escape among the stars and the star thieves would be even more difficult to deal with.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded in agreement. ¡°General Lin took him back and tortured him to extract a confession, only to find that no matter how serious the injuries, he could heal quickly. It is presumably this magical healing ability that attracted the attention of the scientists. They wanted to extract Rob Bell¡¯s genes and add them to the cloning project.¡±

    Ye Qi sighed emotionally, ¡°This guy was wanted for so many years but he managed to survive after being captured by General Lin. Then he followed General Lin to escape from the empire and survived falling to the deep sea. He is truly lucky!¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan joked, ¡°His vitality is almost like an immortal cockroach.¡±

    Tang Ci spoke seriously, ¡°This man is not only lucky but also very clever. If he is really on the bug then we have to carefully consider how to deal with him.¡± Tang Ci looked at Xiao Lou and asked, ¡°Professor Xiao, do you have any good ideas?¡±

    ¡°Let me think¡­¡± Xiao Lou touched his chin and fell into deep thought. After a while, he opened his mouth. ¡°We must make good use of the 30 minutes of the invisibility cloak. Afternding on the bug, Mr Tang will use his drones to make a map of the mineral veins as soon as possible. We will divide into three groups ording to the map, put on protective armor and use the teleportation or light footwork cards to investigate all the veins that have been mined by the star thieves. If you find an entrance in a mine, immediately use the team¡¯s Voice Headset to notify everyone to gather.¡±

    ¡°If there is still time remaining on the invisibility cloak, we will continue to sneak into theboratory to rescue Huaying. If the cloak¡¯s duration has run out then we have to be ready to fight the star thieves at any time.¡±

    ¡°The star thieves group consists of hundreds of people, including Rod Bell. There are also the bugs and the bug queen. There are only six of us and the odds of victory are very low. We must not persist in fighting. We should choose control cards and escape while controlling them. Immediately blow up theboratory after saving Huaying.¡±

    ¡°In order to avoid us being trapped in theboratory, I will leave Spirit Fox in the safest ce and open the Peach Blossom Spring in its cockpit. Afterpleting the task, everyone will collectively withdraw to the Peach Blossom Spring and leave the bug quickly.¡±

    Xiao Lou spoke up to here and looked at his teammates helplessly. ¡°Time is tight and I can¡¯t think of a better way.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s do it like this. We only have 30 minutes. If the invisibility cloak fails before we find the location of theboratory, it will be troublesome if we attract the attention of the surrounding bugs. Leave the Peach Blossom Spring as a method of retreat. Then even if the task fails, we can at least withdraw and avoid being wiped out.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan also agreed. ¡°The teleportation card can move 50 meters at a time. 30 minutes is enough for us to examine all the mineral veins. The main problem is the situation after entering the cloningboratory. If there is a head-on conflict with the star thieves, will pure control work?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Ye Qi next to him. ¡°Xiao Ye, take out all the cards with group control skills from your card pack and organize them.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± Ye Qi hurriedly pulled out his card pack. He had been drawing instrument cards since entering the Card World, from the flute and guitar at the beginning to the guzheng, guqin, piano¡­ not long ago, he also drew the king of musical instruments, the suona.

    Many of them were instruments he hadn¡¯t learned yet.

    Ye Qi told them, ¡°The guitar and guzheng can cause sleepiness in a wide range. The control time of the piano is rted to the length of the music I y and I can control the enemy for 10 minutes at most. It is important to note that once I start ying the piano, any teammates within 100 meters can move but you can¡¯t release skills. The other targets can¡¯t move or release skills.¡±

    During the trampling incident at the City of the Sun concert, Ye Qi had relied on ying the piano on stage to control the scene. This card was actually the card with the longest control time at present but the range was only 100 meters. In addition, his teammates would also be affected and they wouldn¡¯t be able to use cards. This must be clearly stated in advance to avoid causing damage to the team.

    Xiao Lou took out a card. ¡°My Bai Juyi card has two skills, The song of the Pipa yer and Song of Evesting Regret to control the field over a wide range. If I let Bai Juyi cooperate with Xiao Ye¡¯s instrument cards and use it continuously, we should be able to control them for¡­ around 15 minutes.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan wondered, ¡°Is 15 minutes enough for us to rescue Huaying?¡±

    Tang Ci spoke in an expressionless manner, ¡°Do you think based on the personality of A of Diamonds that it will simply be aboratory underground? Even if we find the entrance to theboratory, there is a good chance it will be abyrinth.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan couldn¡¯t help cursing. ¡°I almost forgot. That Diamonds girl loves to make trouble. If we have to go through abyrinth then 15 minutes is very tight. In addition, thisbyrinth is likely to be more dangerous than the merpeople one¡­ At least in the merpeoplebyrinth, we had Old Mo who was familiar with the terrain to lead the way. This time, we have to feel our way forward.¡±

    Xiao Lou also felt helpless. ¡°There is no other way. We can¡¯t clear the instance without solving the problem of the bug.¡±

    There was a moment of silence.

    Yu Hanjiang told them, ¡°Don¡¯t lose heart. Chu Huaying shouldn¡¯t be in aa. She is waiting for us to save her. Perhaps she can help us solve some of the troubles.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan touched his chin. ¡°Yes, Huaying is very strong. I don¡¯t believe she will be caught fully unguarded. Once she wakes up, it will be easier for us to save her.¡±

    Just then, the clear voice of Spirit Fox was heard in their ears. ¡°Master, there are three minutes left until we arrive. Please be ready tond.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at the dot on the navigation map and took a deep breath. ¡°We¡¯re almost there. I¡¯ll leave Spirit Fox outside the bug and we¡¯llnd using the movement cards.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang opened the card pack that Gui Yuanzhang gave them and handed the brush, ink, paper and inkstone set cards to Lu Jiuchuan. ¡°Brother, your vermilion bird is too big a target in the sky. Later, use Senior Gui¡¯s brush and take Mr Tang with you. Can you handle his brush?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan took the cards. ¡°Of course. Previously when we were on our original team, we often exchanged cards.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang gave Liu Qiao¡¯s Light as a Swallow card to Shao Qingge. ¡°Chief Shao, your teleportation cards can only move horizontally. Take this light footwork card.¡±

    Shao Qingge nodded and pulled out a card which he handed over to Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Later afternding, I will explore the way with Xiao Ye. The teleportation card can take more than one person so one is enough for us. You take this card and go with Professor Xiao. It will be faster.¡±

    The two of them exchanged cards with each other.

    As they were talking, Spirit Fox had crossed through the dark clouds around the bug. On the monitoring screen, the familiar bug fungus nket appeared. Xiao Lou stared at the screen and quickly adjusted the orientation of the mecha until arge number of veins appeared in his vision. Xiao Lou pressed the pause button and told Spirit Fox, ¡°Wait for us here and be ready to evacuate at any time.¡±

    Spirit Fox replied, ¡°Yes, Master.¡±

    Xiao Lou wore Spirit Fox¡¯s ring on his hand again, summoned Tao Yuanming and ced the entrance of the Peach Blossom Spring in the cockpit.

    He opened the cockpit and saw that the mine under his feet was full of precious red crystal stones. They were connected like a sea of fire. The hot air made Xiao Lou¡¯s chest dull. The average temperature here was as high as 68 degrees Celsius and the ground temperature exceeded 90 degrees. They couldn¡¯t step on the ground directly without being burned.

    Tang Ci gave them the protective armor to wear and Xiao Lou had everyone check the team¡¯s Voice Headset.

    The heavy metal armor could resist high temperatures but it made people move awkwardly.

    Fortunately, there was the help of the cards. Xiao Lou gestured to his teammates through the transparent helmet. Yu Hanjiang immediately hugged him tightly and jumped down with the Light as a Swallow card.

    At the same time, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi and Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci alsonded with their cards.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s voice was heard from their earpieces. ¡°Everybody, turn invisible.¡±

    The six people dressed as ¡®astronauts¡¯ used their invisibility cloaks the moment theynded. This way, the people or the bugs on the wouldn¡¯t find them.

    They jumped from a height of thousands of meters down onto the bug and Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help shouting due to the weightlessness of the free fall, ¡°This is more exciting than bungee jumping!¡±

    From such a high position, they fell to the ground in less than half a minute. If there wasn¡¯t the buffer of the cards, all six people would¡¯ve been smashed.

    Ye Qi¡¯s heart was beating madly as he stabilized his body.

    Tang Ci quickly said, ¡°The drone¡¯s surveince has reported that six veins here have been mined. Chief Shao and Ye Qi, check the two on the left. Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao will check the middle and I will go to the right with Brother Jiu.¡±

    Xiao Lou answered, ¡°Yes, let¡¯s act.¡±

    The six people divided into three routes. Under the dual protection of the invisibility cloak and protective armor, they didn¡¯t have to worry about being found or the ground burning the soles of their feet. The six people used the teleportation cards to move like the wind and start a search of the six mines.

    Soon, Ye Qi¡¯s voice was heard from the earpiece. ¡°I didn¡¯t find anything here.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan added, ¡°There is nothing here either.¡±

    Xiao Lou instructed, ¡°Keep looking.¡±

    A momentter, Shao Qingge told them, ¡°The two mines on the left have been searched. There is nothing.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s voice also came from the earpiece. ¡°No anomalies were found on the right.¡±

    Everyone was cing their hopes on Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang. At this time, Yu Hanjiang suddenly stopped. ¡°Look 30 degrees in front to the right.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked in this direction. There was a strange pit between the two mines that was constantly emitting hot mes. Even the surrounding ground was covered with red magma that converged into a river. This scorched the dry and cracked earth.

    Xiao Lou was slightly stunned. ¡°Is this¡­ a volcano?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang shook his head. ¡°It looks like a volcano but it is just an illusion.¡±

    Xiao Lou felt a sudden force from his waist. It was Yu Hanjiang who took him to the crater of the ¡®volcano¡¯ with the light footwork card. Xiao Lou looked closely¡ªit really was an illusion!

    This wasn¡¯t a volcano at all but a huge pile of ming red crystals. The river of magma was just a false image created by the red crystals being ground to powder and gathered together. From a distance, it looked like an ¡®erupting¡¯ volcano and the mes converged into a river¡­

    Was it a coincidence or man-made?

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t hesitate to speak. ¡°This must be Rod Bell¡¯s doing! The bugs are most afraid of fire. He created a fake volcano and built an undergroundboratory nearby. Ordinary bugs will be too scared to approach. This way, they can keep it absolutely confidential.¡±

    The informed senior bugs knew that this wasn¡¯t fire but just a type of ore. Thus, there was no need for them to feel afraid.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°Go and take a look.¡±

    They were wearing high temperature protective armor and naturally didn¡¯t need to be afraid.

    The two of them walked to the middle of the ¡®volcano¡¯ crater. The crater formed by arge number of highly pure ores was actually the entrance to the cloningboratory.

    Xiao Lou immediately used the voice headset to inform everyone and the others hurried over.

    He opened the entrance that looked like a volcano but was actually a well cover to reveal a long, narrow and straight underground passage. There was an elevator that went directly underground but they couldn¡¯t start the elevator in case it attracted attention. Xiao Lou whispered in the earpiece, ¡°Use the light footwork skill to go down. I¡¯ll take the lead with Group Leader Yu. Chief Shao and Xiao Ye will be in the middle and Brother Jiu and Mr Tang will bring up the rear. Don¡¯t bump into each other.¡±

    The group jumped down to the passage in turn and gentlynded on the ground.

    The underground area was dark and no light could be seen. The dark environment,bined with the humid and cold air, was very simr to the underground passage in 8 of Spades where they encountered the bugs. This made Xiao Lou think of very bad memories.

    The bugs had good night vision. They liked wet and cold ces best. Therefore, it was normal for theboratory built on the bug to have the preferred bug environment.

    However, it was hard for the six of them to find their way. They were just ordinary human beings and couldn¡¯t see anything in the dark.

    To make matters worse, the loli¡¯s distant voice was heard in everyone¡¯s ears. ¡°Wee to the bug cavebyrinth. Good luck.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan almost swore out loud. This damn girl, did it make sense to make twobyrinths in one instance?

    One was in the sea and the other was underground. It was also a dark maze. Did they have to blindly touch the wall to find their way?

    Yu Hanjiang told them softly, ¡°There are three minutes left on the cloak.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Things were bing worse.

    With only 3 minutes of invisibility left and confronted with a dark maze, how were they supposed to find the location of theboratory, let alone Chu Huaying?

    It was dark and the pressure on Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t low. He took a deep breath and said, ¡°We can¡¯t find the location of theboratory in three minutes. Let¡¯s simply take out the Night Pearl for light. Xiao Ye, be ready to control the scene. Take off the heavy armor so it is easier for us to move.¡±

    Ye Qi immediately took off his armor and held several group control cards in his hand.

    Xiao Lou took out the Night Pearl to illuminate the surrounding environment. The walls of the bug cave were pitted and the roads were winding. Fortunately, the ground was fairly t.

    He led everyone a few steps forward and they soon encountered the first fork in the road.

    Xiao Lou made a mark on the wall and turned to the left. Before long, there was another fork in the road. Xiao Lou continued to make marks and took a few more steps before finding another fork¡­

    One minuteter, Xiao Lou stopped helplessly at a fork in the road.

    Along the way, he had encountered eight forked paths in a row. There were more forks in the bug cave than Xiao Lou imagined. It was asplex as a cobweb.

    That¡¯s right¡­ a cobweb!

    Xiao Lou¡¯s heart became cold. ¡°Perhaps the bug maze has a cobweb-like structure?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan endured the idea of grabbing the little loli to beat her up and frowned. ¡°A cobwebbyrinth? There are countless paths on a cobweb. Which path is the right one?¡±

    Xiao Lou spected, ¡°Perhaps theboratory is in the middle of the cobweb? Let¡¯s try to go to the middle.¡±

    The group followed Xiao Lou to a corner.

    Just then, the sound of footsteps was heard in the cave¡­ it seemed to be a woman¡¯s high heels.

    Everyone immediately held their breaths. Xiao Lou hurriedly put away the Night Pearl but as a result, he heard the other person whispering, ¡°Brother Jiu, Professor Xiao, is it you?¡±

    It was Chu Huaying¡¯s voice.

    Lu Jiuchuan raised an eyebrow. He took out the Night Pearl again and walked around the corner.

    Chu Huaying was standing in the passage. She was pale and her mouth was bleeding. Her hair was somewhat disheveled and she was haggard. Lu Jiuchuan hurried over and reached out to help her. ¡°Are you hurt?¡±

    Chu Huaying bit her lip. ¡°It¡¯s fine. It is just skin trauma. I escaped while they were in the meeting¡­¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan looked back at Yu Hanjiang and blinked at him. Yu Hanjiang stepped forward and asked, ¡°Huaying, do you know the location of theboratory?¡±

    Chu Huaying nodded. ¡°Yes. Are you going to theboratory?¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled. ¡°Yes, please show us the way.¡±

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    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 459: Chu Huaying

    Chu Huaying wasn¡¯t surprised by Xiao Lou¡¯s words. She nodded at Xiao Lou. ¡°I marked every fork with the spider dagger when I slipped out of theboratory just now. I can take everyone back the same way.¡±

    She paused and looked at Lu Jiuchuan with a serious expression. ¡°By the way, are you sure you want to go to theboratory? There are arge number of advanced bugs over there. The seven of us alone definitely aren¡¯t their opponents. I sneaked out by relying on my invisibility cloak. Is your cloak still avable?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan shook his head helplessly. ¡°It has been used.¡±

    Chu Huaying frowned. ¡°So are you going to force your way through?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked into her eyes and spoke seriously. ¡°Ending the cloning program and destroying the relevantboratories is the goal of this secret room. We have to go. It is our only chance.¡± He looked back at Yu Hanjiang and asked softly, ¡°Hanjiang, what do you think?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°The problem of the bug must be solved. Huaying, lead the way.¡±

    Chu Huaying didn¡¯t worry about it any longer and simply said, ¡°Okay,e with me.¡±

    She turned and walked forward. The six men quickly followed her.

    The underground bug cave was humid and cold. The passage was very narrow and only one adult could pass through at a time. The height was only around 1.7 meters and people who were taller than this had to bend down to walk.

    Lu Jiuchuan followed Chu Huaying. Then it was Yu Hanjiang, Xiao Lou, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi. Tang Ci was at the very end and summoned a drone to survey the surrounding environment.

    They came to the fork in the road ahead and saw a spider-shaped mark on the wall.

    The mark was special. The hard stone was dug out so deeply that it could only be done by Chu Huaying¡¯s S-grade weapon card, the Spider Dagger.

    Lu Jiuchuan looked back at Yu Hanjiang and gestured for him to look at the mark on the wall. Yu Hanjiang looked at the spider mark and didn¡¯t say anything.

    Chu Huaying reminded, ¡°Be careful and watch your feet. The road here isn¡¯t easy to walk.¡±

    There were countless forks in the corridor and people with a poor sense of direction would be dizzy. This also confirmed Xiao Lou¡¯s previous spection that the underground bug cavebyrinth was indeed a ¡®cobweb¡¯ structure. If no one led the way and they had to find the path themselves, they wouldn¡¯t be able to explore such a huge underground maze in one day.

    Chu Huaying said that she escaped from theboratory and carved a mark with the dagger along the way. Now she returned following the spider mark and she didn¡¯t have to worry about going in the wrong direction.

    She turned left and right, taking everyone through a dozen forked paths in a row.

    After a moment, she stopped at a fork in the road and whispered, ¡°It is right in front.¡±

    The six people listened carefully. Chu Huaying chose the path on the left at the fork. They followed her for a bit and the cave in front of her suddenly opened up. The narrow corridor that used to allow only one person to pass had be a cave of around 20 square meters. In the wide space, it was so quiet that even the breathing of their teammates could be heard.

    A metal door appeared in the cave. Chu Huaying pointed to the door and indicated with her eyes the location of theboratory. Lu Jiuchuan walked to the door and asked, ¡°How do we open the door?¡±

    Chu Huaying said, ¡°They opened it with a graphical password.¡±

    She walked up to Lu Jiuchuan and reached out with her index finger to draw an image on the door. As expected, the door opened.

    Lu Jiuchuan looked inside the door. There was a wide passageway. It was clearly more carefully decorated than the uneven ground of the cave. The ground was paved with t tiles and the ceiling was lit up. Some sophisticated instruments were ced in the room and it looked like a humanboratory.

    Chu Huaying told them, ¡°Those should be the instruments for gene extraction. Theboratory area is veryrge. There are several rooms inside, which are the experimental areas for soaking the clones. They are kept inside after being anesthetized.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan looked at Yu Hanjiang and nodded at him. The other teammates went inside quickly.

    The moment Tang Ci at the end of the team entered theboratory, the door behind him suddenly closed. Chu Huaying was just opening her mouth to continue the exnation when there was a sharp pain from her neck.

    A white dagger shed in her vision followed by her field of view spinning. Her head fell to the ground and her eyes happened to see her cut off neck.

    Chu Huaying who had her mouth open in horror. ¡°??!!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang held the dagger with cold eyes. The de reflected Chu Huaying¡¯s horrified face.

    He didn¡¯t hesitate to cut off Chu Huaying¡¯s head!

    Yu Hanjiang held the dagger in his right hand while his left hand took the card pack from Chu Huaying¡¯s pocket.

    At almost the same time, the ceiling of theboratory suddenly opened and revealed a ck hole. Then countless red crystals fell down like a rain of sharp arrows!

    If such a dense cluster of crystals hit people, everyone would instantly turn into hedgehogs.

    It was an enclosed space and there was nowhere to avoid it.

    Xiao Lou shouted ¡®withdraw¡¯ and the six people disappeared instantly.

    One secondter, the six people returned to the ce where they had just met Chu Huaying.

    The cave was extremely quiet and they could clearly hear their fierce heartbeats. Ye Qi let out a breath with a pale face and spoke while trembling, ¡°It was too dangerous. The clone led us into a trap¡­ Fortunately, Professor Xiao left a path of retreat ahead of time and put down Li Qingzhao¡¯s mark before following her. Otherwise, we would¡¯ve been shot into six hedgehogs.¡±

    The two brothers, Lu Jiuchuan and Yu Hanjiang had a tacit understanding. Brother Jiu just gave one look and Yu Hanjiang knew that this Chu Huaying was fake. Therefore, he and Xiao Lou nned out an act to let the clone rx her vignce and gain back Chu Huaying¡¯s card pack.

    The hunter¡¯s n to use the clone to lead everyone into a trap had once again failed.

    Yu Hanjiang handed the card pack he had just received to Lu Jiuchuan. ¡°Brother Jiu, Huaying¡¯s card pack was snatched by them and the spider dagger was in the hands of the clone. Huaying might be in a lot of danger right now.¡±

    Xiao Lou told them, ¡°My guess is that the real Huaying has escaped.¡±

    Ye Qi wondered, ¡°Why do you say that?¡±

    Xiao Lou analyzed it. ¡°If she is unconscious, the hunters couldpletely lock her up. We would have to spend a lot of time moving through thebyrinth before finally finding her in the trapboratory. Since she is unconscious, we wouldn¡¯t be able to determine if she is the real or false one. If the hunters activated the mechanism at that time, we would not only have to avoid the crystal rain but also protect the unconscious Chu Huaying. Our chances of being killed will rise.¡±

    Shao Qingge narrowed his eyes. ¡°Professor Xiao has a point. If we hadn¡¯t discovered this Chu Huaying had a problem, making us put down Li Qingzhao¡¯s mark in advance, maybe we really would¡¯ve been trapped in thatboratory.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at his teammates. ¡°The hunters chose to send a fake Chu Huaying to lead the way. This approach isn¡¯t safe. It is as Chief Shao said. If we see through the fake Huaying then it is easy to be prepared in advance.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang understood his meaning. ¡°You mean, the real Huaying has escaped and the hunters are worried that we will meet the real one first. Therefore, they sent a fake to guide us into a trap?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t need to send the fake Chu Huaying to lead the way for us. They can let us explore it ourselves. Once we walk through thebyrinth a few times and we are exhausted, they can deal with us. Then won¡¯t there be a higher chance of winning?¡±

    The teammates thought Xiao Lou¡¯s analysis made sense.

    If it wasn¡¯t for Chu Huaying¡¯s sudden escape, the hunters really didn¡¯t need to do ¡®superfluous¡¯ actions like sending a fake to confuse everyone. Directly controlling the real Chu Huaying and leading everyone to save her would make it easier for Xiao Lou¡¯s group to fall into the trap.

    Lu Jiuchuan had a solemn expression. ¡°Huaying is definitely still in thisbyrinth. We have to find her as soon as possible.¡±

    Xiao Lou instructed, ¡°Let¡¯s try another direction.¡±

    Just now, the fake Chu Huaying took them into a trap. This meant the realboratory had to be in another direction. However, there were too many underground passages in the spider cave. Xiao Lou could only go in the opposite direction as much as possible based on memory.

    Everyone walked forward for a while.

    They had walked around more than a dozen corners in a row when Lu Jiuchuan heard very light footsteps from the other side of the corridor. He held his breath and once the moment came, he reached out suddenly and grabbed the other person¡¯s shoulder decisively, pulling them hard toward him.

    The person he dragged over was Chu Huaying.

    She paused and raised an eyebrow. ¡°Brother Jiu¡­ Professor Xiao? Why are you here?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan let go of her with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s actually you?¡±

    He looked back at Yu Hanjiang. Thetter walked up to Chu Huaying and asked softly, ¡°Did you escape from theboratory?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if it was aboratory. They put me in a closed room. During the time when they weren¡¯t paying attention, I knocked out the two star thieves guarding me.¡± She frowned slightly and looked around. ¡°The path in thisbyrinth has many twists and turns. I was dizzy and couldn¡¯t find an exit.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Can you find your way back?¡±

    Chu Huaying thought about it. ¡°It should be possible. After running out, I always went to the left when encountering a fork in the road. If I want to return along the original road, I just have to go to the right.¡± She looked at Xiao Lou with some surprise. ¡°What? Do you want to go back?¡±

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°We have to hurry up and find the cloningboratory. The ce where you were detained is probably theboratory. Can you please lead the way?¡±

    Chu Huaying didn¡¯t hesitate and immediately turned to lead the way.

    After walking through several forked roads in a row, a door appeared in front of them. Chu Huaying led everyone to the door and opened it. ¡°It should be here¡­¡±

    She hadn¡¯t finished speaking when Lu Jiuchuan suddenly screwed her arm behind her back. He pushed her into the room and closed the door with great force.

    At almost the same time that the door closed, there was a deafening explosion from the room!

    Xiao Lou¡¯s group of six teleported again to the ce where they just met Chu Huaying. Ye Qi¡¯s lips were pale and bloodless. He clenched his fists and held back his anger. ¡°Another clone! How many fakes are there?¡±

    Xiao Lou helplessly looked at him. ¡°Xiao Ye, have you ever yed minesweeper?¡±

    Ye Qi murmured, ¡°You mean¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°We will use the clones to eliminate traps like the minesweeper game.¡±

    Once all the traps were eliminated, the one that was left was naturally the realboratory.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s expression was heavy as he looked at Lu Jiuchuan. ¡°Brother Jiu, you must not make a mistake.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I have known Chu Huaying for so long. In every World Weekly, she would help cover for me. How can I not distinguish between the real and the fake?¡±

    Ye Qi didn¡¯t know how Brother Jiu could distinguish it but the others didn¡¯t have much contact with Chu Huaying. They couldn¡¯t tell between the real or the false one so they could only rely on Brother Jiu¡¯s eyes.

    In any case, if Brother Jiu looked back into Yu Hanjiang¡¯s eyes then they all knew what it meant.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath. ¡°Let¡¯s continue. I don¡¯t know how many more Chu Huayings will be sent to interfere with us.¡±

    <em>Partially proofread: Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 460: Real and Fake Teammate

    Li Qingzhao¡¯s mark could be changed up to three times in abyrinth.

    Xiao Lou had just changed the location of the mark and followed the fake Chu Huaying to the trap room. Lu Jiuchuan pushed the clone into the trap and he sent his teammates back collectively to the marked point.

    The practice of using the clones to y a ¡®minesweeping¡¯ game was very dangerous but it was the best way to distinguish between the real and fakeboratories.

    The size of thisbyrinth was beyond Xiao Lou¡¯s imagination. If they looked for it step by step, they might not necessarily be able to find the real one. The emergence of the clones was equivalent to a multiple choice question in an exam. It gave them the opportunity to use the ¡®exclusion method¡¯.

    It was all thanks to Chu Huaying¡¯s crucial escape. This forced the hunters to send out clones to confuse them.

    Xiao Lou carefully recalled the routes they had just taken.

    The first clone took them to the west while the second reversed the direction to the east. There were too many forked roads so Xiao Lou decided to try true north next.

    After passing through a section of the passage, another Chu Huaying appeared in the corridor. She was leaning against the wall to rest.

    This time, Chu Huaying¡¯s entire body was soaked in blue nutrient solution and her hair was covered with blue mucus. It was just like when everyone first found Liu Qiao in the merpeoplebyrinth.

    Ye Qi thought, ¡®This time it should be the real one, right?¡¯

    She might be soaked in nutrients but she still looked as cold and proud as in his memory.

    Chu Huaying walked quickly to Lu Jiuchuan and nodded. ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s get out of here first before talking.¡±

    It was simple and easy, just like her personality.

    Ye Qi just wanted to sigh with relief when Lu Jiuchuan looked back at Yu Hanjiang and gave his brother a ¡®you understand¡¯ look.

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Another fake? How on earth did Brother Jiu tell the difference?

    Xiao Lou stepped forward and spoke in a low voice, ¡°Please take us back. We have to destroy the cloningboratory.¡±

    Chu Huaying raised an eyebrow. She didn¡¯t ask any further questions and turned to guide the way for everyone.

    They walked for a while before finding a door to the north. Chu Huaying said, ¡°This is the experiment¡­¡± Before she could finish, Lu Jiuchuan took out the Cold Ice Sword and directly shed her body, freezing the clone into an ice sculpture!

    Lu Jiuchuan turned back. ¡°Withdraw!¡±

    The mood of the people who returned to the starting point wasplicated.

    Ye Qi helplesslyined, ¡°Why is this also a fake? I really don¡¯t know Sister Huaying!¡±

    Xiao Louforted him. ¡°We just cleared another mine. There is noboratory to the north either.¡±

    East, west and north were all wrong. They hadn¡¯t searched the south so Xiao Lou immediately turned around. ¡°Go to the south!¡±

    Everyone sped back along the path they had just followed. Thebyrinth might curve around but they had walked all the paths they encountered. They returned to the original path much faster than when they explored the path in the beginning.

    They followed the unmarked paths straight to the south.

    Lu Jiuchuan took the lead with the Night Pearl while the others followed. They walked through more than a dozen forks in a row ording to the markings.

    They had just reached a three-way path when Lu Jiuchuan suddenly felt a strong wind against his ear. The speed was as fast as lightning! Lu Jiuchuan hurriedly paused and leaned back, dodging the opponent¡¯s attack. The next moment, a pair of slender and pale hands like eagle ws attacked his face!

    Lu Jiuchuan grabbed the opponent¡¯s wrist but the person shed behind Lu Jiuchuan like a flexibly snake. She swept her legs forward and almost tripped Lu Jiuchuan.

    Fortunately, Lu Jiuchuan reacted quickly enough. He grabbed the wall next to him and swiftly turned sideways to avoid it.

    In the narrow passage, it was difficult for the two people to exchange blows. They tried several tricks in session but no one got the advantage. This person specifically attacked Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s blind spot while Lu Jiuchuan couldn¡¯t even see the other side¡¯s face.

    Under the illumination of the Night Pearl, Ye Qi quickly saw the shadow of the person fighting with Lu Jiuchuan on the wall. It was a woman with a long ponytail.

    Ye Qi thought, ¡®Quietly hiding and attacking as soon as we meet. This is definitely a fake!¡¯

    The next second, Lu Jiuchuan lowered his voice. ¡°Huaying, it¡¯s me.¡±

    The other person immediately stopped. Everyone felt a gust of wind blowing around them before Chu Huaying¡¯s solemn and indifferent face appeared in front of them. ¡°Sorry, I needed to test you to see if you are real.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s lips raised in a smile as he looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°This is Huaying.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang, ¡°¡­¡­.¡±

    The one who fought as soon as they met was the real one?

    Ye Qi looked at Brother Jiu in a daze, not quite understanding his logic.

    Lu Jiuchuan exined, ¡°Huaying¡¯s physical qualities have been enhanced by the cards, including her hearing, smell, vision, strength, speed, etc. She can sense strangers from far away. It is impossible for her to make obvious footsteps when escaping, nor would she happen to bump into people. The spider goddess is the most ghostly existence. She can only find us. We can¡¯t find her.¡±

    Everyone suddenly realized.

    The sound of high-heeled footsteps when escaping was really stupid. The first Chu Huaying not only made obvious footsteps but also pretended to be injured. Lu Jiuchuan wanted to help and she didn¡¯t respond. If it was the real Chu Huaying, she would push Lu Jiuchuan and refuse his help even if she was injured.

    The second and third ones weren¡¯t agile enough and they also took the initiative to pretend it was a ¡®chance encounter¡¯. Chu Huaying wouldn¡¯t meet anyone. She could sense strangers and avoid them long before she was noticed by them.

    Therefore, Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s method of distinguishing between the real and fake Huaying was actually very simple.

    The clone could copy Chu Huaying¡¯s genes but they couldn¡¯t copy her abilities that had been strengthened by the cards!

    Looking into Chu Huaying¡¯s calm eyes, Xiao Lou was finally relieved. He stepped forward and asked, ¡°How did you escape?¡±

    Chu Huaying answered, ¡°I just heard your conversation. You are looking for theboratory? I¡¯ll take you there and exin as we walk.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded and followed her with the teammates.

    Chu Huaying held down the voice earpiece. This was what Xiao Lou left to her the first time on the starship. Since the Voice Headset card was in Xiao Lou¡¯s hand, the hunters only took Chu Huaying¡¯s card pack. They didn¡¯t find the miniature earpiece plugged deep into her ear.

    The moment she pressed the button, her voice entered everyone¡¯s ears at the same time. ¡°Uncle Qin added drugs to the water I drank. He didn¡¯t know I¡¯m sensitive to smell. I smelled it and pretended to be unconscious to see what he wanted to do.¡±

    Her expression was a bit ugly as she walked forward quickly while exining to her teammates. ¡°He took me to the bug and locked me in the undergroundbyrinth. Leaving only a few star thieves to guard me. My hearing is strengthened by the cards so if I listen carefully, I can hear any sounds within five kilometers.¡±

    ¡°I heard a strange man talking to the bug queen. He said, ¡®I¡¯ve set the procedure. They will die without a burial.¡¯ Then the queen said, ¡®Okay, I will trust you once more.¡¯ I didn¡¯t know what their conversation meant. After midnight, I put on my invisibility cloak and went out looking for clues, only to almost get lost in thebyrinth.¡±

    ¡°During this period, I would go out at midnight and use the 30 minutes of invisibility cloak to move through thebyrinth and familiarize myself with it as much as possible. Thisbyrinth is very simr to a cobweb structure. There are a total of fourboratories, three of which I haven¡¯t been in. They should be fake. The remaining one should be real. Last night, I saw a blond man enter theboratory. I didn¡¯t dare follow him inside but I heard strange things from outside¡­¡±

    Chu Huaying paused and took a deep breath before continuing, ¡°They are mass-producing clones and have also imnted smart chips in the brains of the clones. With those smart chips they can not only control the action of the clones but also thenguage they¡¯re using. Those clones are called version 3.0.¡±

    A chill went down Xiao Lou¡¯s spine when he heard this. ¡°Sure enough, this lunatic is transforming the clones!¡±

    Version 1.0 was the integration of humans and bugs but they only had the ability to heal themselves. Version 2.0 was the integration of humans, bugs and deep sea merpeople. Not only did they have the ability to heal themselves but they could grow tails and survive in the sea.

    What were the improvements in version 3.0?

    Ye Qi spected, ¡°Could it be that version 3.0 has the jumping and climbing abilities of the bugs? In addition, there is a smart chip imnted in their brains so they willpletely listen to themands of their master. They can self-heal, aren¡¯t afraid of water and their jumping and climbing ability are equally excellent. Aren¡¯t they human-shaped weapons?¡±

    Chu Huaying nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. This bug base has arge underground factory that is producing clones on an assembly line. All clones receive a craniotomy as soon as they are taken out of the petri dish¡­ strictly speaking, it isn¡¯t surgery. The clones can heal themselves so they let the bugs directly imnt the smart chips into the clones¡¯ brains. The self-healing ability of the clones will automatically repair the brain tissue. These chips grow firmly in the brain and can¡¯t be taken out using medical means.¡±

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°A streamlined production and using chips to control all the clones? Who will control them?¡±

    Chu Huaying had a serious expression. ¡°This time, they aren¡¯t in the control of the bug queen. The brain terminal for the chips is in the hands of that man. I heard Uncle Qin call him Captain. He is probably the previous captain of the star thieves who was captured in the past!¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    As expected, they shouldn¡¯t look down on Chu Huaying. She wasn¡¯t actually captured by Uncle Qin but just pretended to be caught. After taking this risk, she came to the secret base of the bugs and found a very crucial clue.

    During the days when everyone was investigating the merpeople on Azure, Chu Huaying used the 30 minute duration of the invisibility cloak to investigate every night after midnight. She relied on her strong flexibility and enhanced senses to overhear a lot of conversations. Thus, she analyzed that there was a cloneboratory in the cave.

    Xiao Lou asked worriedly, ¡°Where is the captain?¡±

    ¡°He left not long ago. He took a group of clones with him and I don¡¯t know where he has gone. He left the underground factory for the bug queen to supervise. I just escaped because I found there were samples of me among the produced clones. I was afraid you would be deceived.¡±

    Just then, Chu Huaying¡¯s expression changed. ¡°No, the bugs have found us!¡±

    The south was the realboratory and there were many high level bugs stationed there.

    Chu Huaying used the invisibility cloak to hide from the bugs when she escaped. Now 30 minutes had passed and the invisibility cloak had lost its effect. In addition, she brought a group of people with her. The high level bugs quickly found them with their keen sense of smell.

    Xiao Lou hurriedly ordered, ¡°Xiao Ye, be ready to control the field!¡±

    Ye Qi immediately took out the guitar and yed a song on the guitar.

    Arge number of bugs heard the sound of the guitar as soon as they turned the corner and they fell asleep at the same time.

    Xiao Lou eximed, ¡°Huaying, seize this time and quickly take us to theboratory!¡±

    Chu Huaying nodded and walked forward quickly. Lu Jiuchuan used Senior Gui¡¯s brush to draw a wind path at their feet. The speed of the group simultaneously increased and they came to the edge of Ye Qi¡¯s control range in an instant.

    There were countless bugs crawling around outside the range!

    Ye Qi felt numb when he saw this scene. He immediately took out the guzheng and used ¡®Autumn Moon Over Han Pce¡¯!

    The bugs in this area were affected by the gentle guzheng music. They weren¡¯t allowed to attack and could only crawl on the walls anxiously. Shao Qingge hugged Ye Qi¡¯s waist as he moved forward. Ye Qi yed the guzheng while struggling to pass through the passage filled with bugs.

    Fortunately, the passages in the south were rtively spacious. Otherwise, they might not be able to make it through once it was filled with bugs.

    After reaching the edge of the control range, Ye Qi took out the suona.

    This time, none of the teammates had any opinion about the suona.

    Ye Qi took a deep breath and blew a loud sound.

    The king of musical instruments was really extraordinary. The moment the sound of the suona came out, it plunged the surrounding bugs into chaos. Xiao Lou and the others were also dizzy from the noise and wanted to cover their ears.

    Ye Qi¡¯s lung capacity was quiterge. The control time was rted to the suona ying time. He blew for half a minute with one breath until his face turned red. Ye Qi hadn¡¯t specifically learned how to y the suona so the sound was particrly harsh. Everyone felt like they were attending a funeral. Xiao Lou and the others elerated their speed like they were being chased by wolves¡­

    Some of it could probably be credited to Ye Qi¡¯s suona.

    Shao Qingge watched Ye Qi work hard to control the field and tightened his arms, lest Ye Qi fell behind and got overwhelmed by bugs.

    There were more and more bugs around them but the bugs couldn¡¯t get close with Ye Qi controlling the field.

    Xiao Lou saw that all the instrument card skills were about to enter the cooldown and hurriedly asked, ¡°Huaying, how far?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re almost there!¡±

    Ye Qi felt like he was about to copse. After ying the suona non-stop for half a minute, he took out the piano.

    The group of bugs aimed their ws at Ye Qi but Ye Qi started to y the piano with a grim expression.

    This piano had a feature. All enemies within 100 meters couldn¡¯t move while all teammates could move but they couldn¡¯t use cards.

    Ye Qi yed the piano surrounded by bugs and confined arge number of them within 100 meters, just to buy time for his teammates to escape the danger.

    He ordered, ¡°Everyone, go!¡±

    100 meters for 10 minutes. This was all he could do.

    Xiao Lou looked at Ye Qi surrounded by bugs and decisively said, ¡°Xiao Ye, hold on. I will pull you to the Peach Blossom Springter!¡±

    The team members disappeared quickly but Shao Qingge stayed.

    Ye Qi looked at the man beside him in a stunned manner. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you go?¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled as he stood beside Ye Qi. He gently held Ye Qi¡¯s shoulder and said softly, ¡°How boring is it to y the piano for a bunch of bugs? I¡¯ll stay with you. Ye Qi, close your eyes and just y for me.¡±

    Ye Qi was actually very panicked about being surrounded by a bunch of bugs staring at him with blood-red eyes.

    If his piano ying was interrupted or he yed the wrong note, he would instantly be submerged in a sea of bugs!

    Now that he heard Shao Qingge¡¯s words, Ye Qi suddenly calmed down.

    He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. He devoted himself to the music he was ying. This was his favorite piano piece and he had already memorized the score. Slender fingers pressed the keys and his fingers yed a soft melody. He seemed to see the blue sky, white clouds and the sea. He yed the piano on the beach. His audience was only one person, Shao Qingge.

    Seeing Ye Qi start to y in a focused manner, Shao Qingge smiled slightly but he didn¡¯t remove his hand from the young man¡¯s shoulder.

    The surrounding bugs, ¡°?????¡±

    All the bugs first experienced the guitar and guqin. Then they were confused by the piercing suona. Now they couldn¡¯t move collectively. They could only stay still and watch as Ye Qi yed the piano with his eyes closed in an intoxicated manner.

    The bugs were collectively stunned.

    <em>This person, did youe to our bug to y a concert?</em>

    <em>Partially proofread: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 461: Previous Captain

    The most flexible control card that Ye Qi had was the piano music box. The control time of this card was rted to the length of the music that Ye Qi yed but there could be no mistakes or change of tracks while ying. Thus, Ye Qi chose a song that was over 10 minutes long.

    The 100 meters range controlled by the piano was arge circle with a radius of 100 meters centered on Ye Qi¡¯s piano. This covered many forked paths in thebyrinth. Just now, most of the bugs moved after hearing them and surrounded them from all sides. Now they were controlled by Ye Qi¡¯s piano music. It could be said that Ye Qi controlled more than 90% of the bugs in thebyrinth.

    The time that Ye Qi bought for everyone was extremely precious. Xiao Lou followed Chu Huaying and walked forward quickly. All the bugs he saw along the way were motionless on the ground, listening to Ye Qi ying the piano.

    Lu Jiuchuan crossed over a bug¡¯s body and couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°Xiao Ye¡¯s psychological quality is quite good. His music isn¡¯t out of tune despite facing so many bugs!¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°He is from the conservatory of music. He has learned the piano from an early age and is very professional.¡±

    Unfortunately, Ye Qi couldn¡¯t control all the bugs. Some slow moving bugs were more than 100 meters away from his piano. Xiao Lou simply summoned Bai Juyi and asked him to recite Song of Evesting Regret.

    There was the sound of Bai Juyi slowly chanting words in the cave. ¡°On July 7th in the evesting pce, when there were no whispers in the middle of the night; I would like to be a winged bird in Heaven and a branch on earth¡­¡±

    Bai Juyi¡¯s skills, Song of Evesting Regret and Song of the Pipa were all ranged control skills.

    Bai Juyi was the center and all the surrounding bugs were brainwashed by Song of Evesting Regret. They fell into a sleepy state and Xiao Lou whispered, ¡°Go, hurry!¡±

    Thest group of bugs was sessfully controlled by Bai Juyi. Chu Huaying quickly bypassed the fork in the road ahead and Yu Hanjiang opened the eleration shoes. He grabbed Xiao Lou¡¯s wrist and followed.

    The same wide cave as before appeared again.

    They remembered when they followed the first fake Chu Huaying to a simr cave. The moment they entered through the door, sharp crystal stones fell like a rainstorm and almost turned everyone into hedgehogs. The second trap was a bomb buried underground in advance. It detonated the moment the door was closed. If Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t reacted quickly enough, everyone might¡¯ve been blown up¡­

    There were too many traps in thebyrinth.

    Seeing the same scene once more inevitably reminded everyone of the previous thrilling experiences.

    Yu Hanjiang gave his brother a look that meant, ¡®Are you sure this Chu Huaying is real?¡¯

    Lu Jiuchuan nodded, making Yu Hanjiang feel relieved. Then he walked to Chu Huaying and asked in a low voice, ¡°Huaying, how big is thisboratory and how many rooms are there? Have you figured it out?¡±

    Chu Huaying answered, ¡°This morning, I sneaked over when they didn¡¯t notice and used the invisibility cloak to follow the star thieves in and search. Theboratory is divided into three linked areas. The first one is the instruments area. There are arge number ofplex and sophisticated scientific instruments. Next is the data storage area where there are many specimens stored in the growth culture. Finally, the innermost area is the assembly line factory to make the clones.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°We can only use fire to destroy theboratory but¡­ theboratory is sorge. It will waste too much time to pour the alcohol bottles on them and then ignite the alcohol.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan smiled. ¡°This is easy to handle. I can summon my vermilion bird. The vermilion bird can set fire to arge area.¡± He turned back and asked Chu Huaying, ¡°How do we open this door? Do we need to enter a password?¡±

    ¡°When I followed them previously, it was unlocked using an image password.¡±

    She stepped forward and quickly drew something on the password area in the middle of the door.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke softly, ¡°The bugs have just found us. It is likely that the queen has been informed of the news. The queen must be on her way here. Everyone, be careful and destroy theboratory at the fastest speed!¡±

    He looked at his brother and quickly took out a gun from his card pack, throwing it to Lu Jiuchuan.

    Lu Jiuchuan took the submachine gun and magazine and loaded the bullets skillfully. Yu Hanjiang took out another gun. The two brothers looked at each other and gestured for their teammates to stay back.

    The moment that Chu Huaying opened the door, Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan quickly rushed into the room one after another. They were back to back, one person facing left and the other facing right. The dark guns covered the entire range of their fan-shaped field of view. Once they detected a change, they could pull the trigger immediately to resolve the threat.

    Of the two brothers one was a soldier and the other a policeman. Although this was the first time for them to cooperate like this, but they had a tacit understanding.

    The moment the two men broke in, eight star thieves looked back at them in surprise. They were very familiar. They werepanions of Chu Huaying on the Dark Night starship. At this time, two star thieves were manipting the instrument in front of them. The holographic screen of the instrument showed a dense string of DNA. The double helix structure of the DNA sequence rotated on the screen.

    The remaining six star thieves all had weapons in their hands. They apparently knew that Xiao Lou had led his team into thebyrinth. Unexpectedly, these people arrived so quickly despite the interception of the bug army!

    The six men were stunned for a moment before immediately raising their guns.

    However, once everyone had weapons then it depended on who was faster!

    Lu Jiuchuan carried the submachine gun and fired in front of him ferociously.

    For a moment, there was only the rattling sound of the submachine gun firing and the bullets hitting the walls and ground.

    The man was originally tall and he had a visible scar on his face from the J of Clubs Nightmare Room. At this time, there was a joking smile on his face but hostility in his eyes. He was like an evil god. As he walked, he frantically fired the submachine gun in a fan shape. The bullets shot in front of him like a rainstorm and the thieves were so frightened they tried to flee.

    Such fierce suppression made the enemy almost breathless.

    Xiao Lou saw him suppress a few people in an instant and was shocked. Then thinking about it, Brother Jiu was a soldier. He was the captain of the Sharp Arrow Commandos and the enemies he encountered might have been more cruel than the star thieves today. It was normal for him to be able to use a gun like this.

    Compared to his brother¡¯s violence, Yu Hanjiang appeared more calm.

    As Lu Jiuchuan suppressed the star thieves with firepower, Yu Hanjiang stepped in. He narrowed his eyes slightly and aimed at the location where the star thieves were hiding. He pulled the trigger three times in a row and the sound of his pistol mixed in with the fierce assault of the submachine gun. The gunshots were loud and clear. One shot hit the head, one hit the heart and the third shot directly destroyed a star thief¡¯s palm.

    The gun was fired with great precision!

    The star thieves tried to shoot them but were instead killed by the cooperation between Lu Jiuchuan and Yu Hanjiang. The moment the third person raised his weapon, a bloody hole was shot in his palm. He screamed in pain and identally dropped the gun in his hand.

    The next moment, he felt his arm being wrenched behind him. It was dislocated by a strong force.

    It was Chu Huaying.

    Chu Huaying¡¯s actions were lightning fast. She might not use a gun like Lu Jiuchuan and Yu Hanjiang but she had the greatest mobility. She moved from the side to the rear of the opponent, controlling the star thief in two or three moves. Her pale fingers gripped the man¡¯s neck like eagle ws as she asked coldly, ¡°Where is the previous captain?¡±

    The star thief paled with fright. ¡°I-I don¡¯t know!¡±

    Chu Huaying frowned. ¡°Do you want to die or confess honestly? Choose one of the two.¡±

    The star thief frantically shook his head. ¡°I really don¡¯t know! The previous captain took some people away and left us behind to help Uncle Qin with the undergroundboratory¡­¡± As he spoke, his eyes shed with another color. It wasn¡¯t known where he got it from but the hand that wasn¡¯t controlled suddenly grabbed a dagger and he stabbed it at Chu Huaying behind him!

    However, Chu Huaying¡¯s perceptual ability was extremely sensitive. How could she be easily calcted by others?

    The moment the other person was about to attack, she took out the spider dagger and cut the star thief¡¯s neck with a single strike.

    The blood staining the sharp dagger quickly disappeared like it had been swallowed by the dagger. Then a blood-red pattern appeared on the handle of the spider dagger. This meant that it had ended another person¡¯s life.

    Chu Huaying put the dagger away and gave Lu Jiuchuan a look. ¡°These people have been brainwashed. Don¡¯t leave any of them!¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan understood. He raised the submachine gun and continued to press forward. Yu Hanjiang specifically dealt with those trying to ambush them and the two people solved the rest. Xiao Lou controlled the floatingpass to protect his teammates while Tang Ci quickly invaded theputers of the star thieves and copied the data in the database.

    The group of five broke through the first line of defense and came to the second room. They found that there was arge number of cell specimens stored here, just as Chu Huaying described. There was a wall of freezers and it wasn¡¯t known how many cells were frozen in them. Each cell was likely to be a living human weapon in the near future.

    Xiao Lou ordered, ¡°Hanjiang, use alcohol to destroy these cells.¡±

    Destroying cells was much easier than killing clones with self-healing ability. After all, cells wouldn¡¯t move.

    Yu Hanjiang handed the card to Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou summoned the bottles of alcohol and poured them on a testing bench. Then he ignited it with Bai Juyi¡¯s charcoal fire. Tang Ci worked with him to open the freezer doors and take out the frozen cells, throwing them in the fire.

    The frozen cells were burned by the fire and quickly turned into a pool of liquid.

    Lu Jiuchuan and Yu Hanjiang stared alertly at thest door.

    Yu Hanjiang spoke in a low voice, ¡°Where is Uncle Qin?¡±

    Just now, the star thieves had said that their captain had gone to an unknown ce and left some of them behind to help Uncle Qin continue the experiments¡­ However, they came from the first room and didn¡¯t find any traces of Uncle Qin.

    Chu Huaying replied, ¡°I saw him the other day. Perhaps he knew he couldn¡¯t beat us head on so he ran ahead of time?¡±

    Xiao Lou and Tang Ci quickly disposed of the frozen cells.

    At a rough estimate, there were hundreds of thousands of cells. If they hade one stepter, all these cells would¡¯ve been grown into clones and the consequences would be unimaginable.

    Xiao Lou hurried to Yu Hanjiang¡¯s side. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter where Uncle Qin is. First, destroy the production line of the clones. Xiao Ye can only control the bugs for 10 minutes. We don¡¯t have much time!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and looked at his brother.

    Lu Jiuchuan pulled the trigger and violently shot the door of the third room.

    The door was shot open and the group followed Lu Jiuchuan into the room.

    However, the scene inside the room caused everyone¡¯s expressions to stiffen.

    Inside the door, there were dozens of Xiao Lous, dozens of Lu Jiuchuans¡­ in addition, there were Tang Ci, Chu Huaying, Ye Qi and Shao Qingge.

    Countless clones were smiling at them with neat, bizarre smiles.

    <em>Partially proofread: Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 462: Army of Clones

    Lu Jiuchuan couldn¡¯t help cursing when he saw countless copies of himself. ¡°Fuck! Is this a damn clone army consisting of human weapons? All these clones have chips installed in their brains?¡±

    Chu Huaying¡¯s expression was calm. ¡°I¡¯m afraid so. The version 3.0 they have researched and upgraded is a real biological weapon. These clones have no self-consciousness and will only act ording to the instructions of the chips.¡±

    At this time, the instruction of the chip should be: smile.

    Therefore, hundreds of clones smiled at the same time and it was like their expression had been copied and pasted.

    Tang Ci had never smiled in front of his teammates. Seeing countless clones of himself smiling so strangely, Tang Ci frowned unhappily. Lu Jiuchuan looked at these people with strange smiles on their faces and felt sick to the bottom of his heart. These people were just wearing their skins! This was fucking piracy!

    Could something purely transformed from a cell be called human?

    Lu Jiuchuan was just about to shoot the submachine gun when the next moment, the ¡®Xiao Lous¡¯ in the front row moved collectively. Their bodies had the bug genes and after upgrading and improvements, they had inherited the excellent climbing and jumping ability as well as the self-healing.

    The dozens of Chu Huayings also crawled over the walls quickly and reached out to grab the gun in Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s hand!

    In the back, the dozens of Lu Jiuchuans and Tang Cis moved like lightning, cutting off their escape route!

    The clones of Shao Qingge and Ye Qi surrounded the five people. The clones of Ye Qi were as petite as him but they were the most flexible and crawled extremely quickly. In the blink of an eye, a few Ye Qis were right in front of Xiao Lou. One was to the left and one to the right. They reached out with tacit understanding to grab Xiao Lou¡¯s neck!

    Xiao Lou looked at the bright smile on Ye Qi¡¯s cute face while the hands mechanically attacked and a chill rose in Xiao Lou¡¯s heart.

    Yu Hanjiang reached out his long arms and grabbed Xiao Lou¡¯s waist. He quickly jumped away with his light footwork card. He dodged a few attacks from the clones without any danger while the Night Devil Saber in his hand simultaneously shed. The white de fell and severed the arms of the Ye Qis!

    The shocking thing was that they grew a new arm at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    Lu Jiuchuan cursed as he fought the Lu Jiuchuans who came after him. ¡°Fuck, the upgraded clones heal too quickly. We have to set fire to them as soon as possible. This space is too small to be used. Throw them off and go to the factory!¡±

    Hitting (copies of) himself was something he absolutely never wanted to experience again.

    In addition, the genes of these Lu Jiuchuans had been upgraded. The clones that had the bug genes incorporated were superior to the original Lu Jiuchuan in physical fitness and sensitivity. Furthermore, he was fighting more than one at a time. He could barely cope at first but it definitely wouldn¡¯tst long.

    Chu Huaying was surrounded by more than a dozen clones but she relied on the flexibility of her body to move between the clones. The spider dagger in her hand swung quickly and for a while, the area where she was in was sshed with blood. One after another, the Chu Huayings around her had their body parts cut off relentlessly. It was just that the bugs¡¯ healing ability meant she could only slow down the attacks of these clones, she couldn¡¯t kill them. Chu Huaying was surrounded and looked to be in a slightly embarrassing state. Her ponytail was loose and her hair was messy.

    Xiao Lou was hugged by Yu Hanjiang and flew into the air. He saw this scene and summoned Li Qingzhao. ¡°Everyone, quickly look for Uncle Qin. He must be manipting the chips!¡±

    Li Qingzhao read a familiar poem. ¡°Seeking, searching, whates of it but coldness and destion; a world of dreariness and misery and stabbing pain! As soon as one feels a bit of warmth, a sense of chill returns¡­¡±

    The skill immediately slowed down the actions of hostile targets.

    Therge scale group control made all the clones seem to be in ¡®slow motion yback¡¯ in a movie. Their movements were slow and stupid. It took them several seconds to lift their hands slowly. They each seemed to have lost the ability to move and appeared like zombies.

    Lu Jiuchuan hurriedly dragged Tang Ci out of arge number of clones while Chu Huaying also rushed like a sharp arrow. Yu Hanjiang flew directly in the air with Xiao Lou in his arms. Chu Huaying told them, ¡°Theboratory area is veryrge and the assembly line factory is in the innermost part. Hurry!¡±

    The five people rushed out of the third room and into the innermost part of theboratory.

    In front of them was the ¡®production factory¡¯. It was the size of a football field and mass produced clones.

    Everyone was horrified to discover that the entire factory was arranged like a bug fungus nket. A circr ¡®fungus nket conveyor belt¡¯ was made. There were countless sessful clone babies lying on the fungus nket and automated machinery was feeding them a strange nutrient solution. Every time a baby was fed, it would grow quickly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    The baby ced on the fungus nket at the beginning was already an adult when leaving the fungus nket¡­

    The process of creating clones was really faster than raising pigs at a feed factory. There was mass production, rapid catalysis and a fully automatic assembly line operation. Based on this efficiency, how many Xiao Lous could be produced in a single day?

    The vein on Xiao Lou¡¯s temple bulged as he looked at the clone ¡®Xiao Lou¡¯ lying on the fungus nket. He was really speechless.

    Once the clone left the factory, they would be taken by conveyor belt to the factory next door. The process that took ce there should be the ¡®chip imnting¡¯ step described by Chu Huaying.

    Yu Hanjiang waved his hand with a serious expression. ¡°Go!¡±

    They walked quickly along the conveyor belt toward the next factory where the surgery was indeed taking ce.

    The clones transported along the conveyor belt were already adults. There were sophisticated instruments that drilled directly into each clone¡¯s temple at the most fragile part of the human skull to directly imnt a microchip.

    The clones had the self-healing ability of the bugs so the wound in the skull was automatically repaired. The blood coagted quickly and even the skin became intact.

    A clone with the imnted chip hadpleted thest step of the transformation. It finally became a qualified humanoid weapon.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang looked at each other. There was a door at the end of the factory. This should be the entrance to the control center of the entire factory. It could control the operation of all the instruments as well as manipte the chips in the clones to give instructions.

    Yu Hanjiang made a gesture to Lu Jiuchuan. Lu Jiuchuan pointed at the door and stretched out his long leg. He kicked open the door while pointing the submachine gun into the room.

    A person was sitting in the middle of the room. He had a familiar face. It was Uncle Qin whose voice trembled and whose eyes looked away when he was questioned by Chu Huaying on the starship.

    It was just that the gray-haired old man no longer looked timid. Instead, there was a gentle smile on his face.

    The moment Lu Jiuchuan pointed the gun at him, the old man spoke in a gentle voice, ¡°Children, get up and eat. These people who sent themselves to the door today are left for you. You must tear them up and eat them.¡±

    The screen was filled with experimental data. There were many instruments on the console and Uncle Qin pressed one of the buttons. Xiao Lou hurriedly said, ¡°Stop him!¡±

    Chu Huaying rushed into theboratory like a gust of wind. She twisted his arm behind his back and pressed the spider dagger against his throat. ¡°How do you control the chip? Say it!¡±

    Uncle Qin¡¯s lips curved in a weird arc. ¡°It¡¯s toote¡­ it is impossible to tell you.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°You would rather die?¡±

    Uncle Qin burst outughing. ¡°Hahaha, death? Do you think there are hunters who are afraid of death?¡±

    Chu Huaying didn¡¯t talk to him again and directly cut his throat!

    Suddenly, there were rustling movements from outside. Xiao Lou looked back and saw the clones who just finished production on the assembly line surrounding them like hungry wolves after receiving instructions from the chip.

    At the same time, Li Qingzhao¡¯s slow motion control finished. Arge number of clones outside the factory also rushed in ording to the instructions.

    They were densely packed like a tide and stared at the group of five like they were the most delicious food. Some clones even drooled.

    By the way, these clones had the same faces as them!

    Yu Hanjiang ordered, ¡°Brother, set them on fire! We can¡¯t handle so many clones!¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan cursed. ¡°Fuck, if I set fire to such arge area then I might burn you. Back away!¡±

    Fortunately, the cloning factory was spacious enough. The space that was the size of a football field wasrge enough for the vermilion bird to y. Yu Hanjiang¡¯s group stayed in the control centre while Lu Jiuchuan summoned the vermilion bird and broke through the window.

    There was a sharp scream as the vermilion bird¡¯s wings spread out. Lu Jiuchuan rode it around the factory and at the same time, he activated the extremely powerful and fierce limited big move¡ªVermilion Bird Heavenly Fire!

    Hot mes emerged from the vermilion bird¡¯s mouth and a raging fire instantly swept through the factory. The entire factory turned into a sea of fire. The clones were swallowed up by the mes and let out loud screams.

    However, due to the instructions from the chip, their faces still maintained that strange smile even as they burned to death.

    Xiao Lou stood in the office and watched many clones with the same appearance as him dying. His heart felt extremely heavy. These clones might have no self-awareness and were grown from cells using scientific means but they were also living beings. Until they died, they didn¡¯t even know why they came into this world.

    The people who proposed the cloning n were really damned!

    ***

    At the same time, Ye Qi¡¯s piano music was reaching the end.

    He knew that the song was about to finish. The piano didn¡¯t allow him to change the song in the middle so once it ended, the controlled bugs would instantly wake up.

    There were countless bugs at his feet and a sea of bugs in the distance!

    The consequences of the bugs waking up were unimaginable.

    Ye Qi trembled while ying the piano. ¡°I don¡¯t know what is happening on Professor Xiao¡¯s side. Why hasn¡¯t he used the Peach Blossom Spring to pull us over yet? I will be finished ying in half a minute!¡±

    Shao Qingge frowned and asked in a low voice, ¡°Can you slow it down?¡±

    Ye Qi shook his head. ¡°No, the piano music must be yed normally. If I y it wrong, it will immediately fail.¡±

    Shao Qingge thought carefully and gently patted Ye Qi on the shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, if time isn¡¯t sufficient on Professor Xiao¡¯s side then I can dy for a few more minutes.¡±

    Ye Qi didn¡¯t know what Shao Qingge¡¯s solution was but he had to trust the other person.

    Ye Qi gritted his teeth and yed thest note.

    The piano music stopped and thest note echoed in the cave for a few seconds.

    The surroundings suddenly became quiet. The bugs were drowsy from listening to the piano for 10 minutes. At this moment, they woke up and were still in a daze at first. They didn¡¯t seem to know where they were. Then they saw Ye Qi and Shao Qingge in front of them and finally recovered from the music. They immediately aimed their teeth and ws at the two people!

    Outside, the voice of the bug queen rang out. ¡°Don¡¯t let them escape!¡±

    The queen had arrived. After receiving the order from the queen, the bugs¡¯bat effectiveness instantly improved. Ye Qi and Shao Qingge were about to be overwhelmed when¡­

    Shao Qingge suddenly raised his hand.

    Golden coins scattered all over from the sky!

    This was the S-grade tool card, Thousand Gold Coin Throw. By throwing one million gold coins around him, he could make any target within the range of the gold coins fall into a dizzy state for five seconds.

    The bugs in the area were blinded by the sh of gold coins and were collectively stunned.

    The five second duration was very short but¡­

    Chief Shao had a lot of money.

    Five secondster, he scattered many more gold coins!

    Ye Qi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    It turned out that he meant to dy those bugs by using money.

    It really hurt to see him control the bugs in this way!

    It wasn¡¯t known how much money Shao Qingge had scattered. If this continued, their family would be ruined. Chief Shao¡¯s skills couldn¡¯t be easily used. Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help calling Xiao Lou using the voice earpiece. ¡°Professor Xiao, how is your side?¡±

    Currently, Xiao Lou was using thepass to draw a protective circle around them to prevent them from being burned by the mes.

    Meanwhile, Lu Jiuchuan had burned the three areas in session.

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s voice came from the earpiece. ¡°I¡¯m done. No fish slipped out of the.¡±

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and ordered, ¡°Withdraw!¡±

    The team members were collectively pulled back to the Peach Blossom Spring.

    The sea of fire in front of them shed past and turned into the familiar peach blossom trees.

    The team members recalled the thrilling scene just now and fell silent.

    Xiao Lou thought to himself that he probably wouldn¡¯t forget the previous scene in his life. Those cute babiesy on the conveyor belt and were quickly catalyzed to grow to an adult. Then they were imnted with brain chips and turned into weapons.

    Humans weren¡¯t as good as pigs and dogs.

    Once the ethical bottom line of science was broken, the evil consequences would be tasted by humanity itself.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath and looked at his teammates. ¡°Let¡¯s go. We have to return to Capital Star as soon as possible!¡±

    If he was right, the previous captain had probably gone to Capital Star, the ce where the Noah¡¯s Ark project began.

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 463: Return to the Empire

    Before going to the bug, Xiao Lou had ced the entrance of the Peach Blossom Spring in the cockpit of Spirit Fox. Now everyone walked out of the Peach Blossom Spring and the familiar console was in sight. The mecha was in standby mode and all the buttons on the console were lit up with a soft blue light.

    Xiao Lou walked to the console.

    From the window, the bug could be seen below the mecha. The area where theboratory was established suddenly exploded.

    Crimson mes rose to the sky and heat waves rolled over. The rumbling sound was deafening. The surrounding crystals were blown away by the shock waves of the explosion and scattered everywhere. The red crystal fragments looked like the most brilliant fireworks in the sky.

    Lu Jiuchuan¡¯s Vermilion Bird Heavenly Fire was truly terrible. The mespletely destroyed the cloningboratory. At this point, the entire underground cave copsed and the bug queen who just arrived let out an angry roar. The bugs who had evolved to grow wings heard the call of the queen and turned their heads. Then they all headed toward the location of Spirit Fox!

    The bugs gathered around the queen and looked like arge ck cloud moving up.

    They surrounded Spirit Fox at a very fast speed. Xiao Lou quickly pressed the start button. ¡°Spirit Fox, retreat quickly!¡±

    The mecha that received the instruction immediately spread out its wings and soared into the sky. It flew over the top of the bugs and broke through the atmosphere like a stray arrow, entering the vast universe of stars.

    The bugs desperately chased after them but their flying speed wasn¡¯tparable to the S-grade mecha. After only 10 seconds, Spirit Fox broke through the ck clouds and left the bug and the chasing swarm of bugs far behind.

    Xiao Lou sighed with relief and instructed Spirit Fox, ¡°Leave the Hilt No Man¡¯s Land as soon as possible.¡±

    Spirit Fox replied, ¡°Yes, Master.¡±

    Chu Huaying listened to the strange young voice and couldn¡¯t help wondering, ¡°What is this mecha?¡±

    Xiao Lou exined, ¡°It is the S-grade mecha that the emperor left to me and Hanjiang. Previously, the Dark Night starship was destroyed and we managed to survive thanks to this mecha.¡±

    Xiao Lou only slightly mentioned the matter of the Dark Night starship but Chu Huaying could imagine the danger at that time. She looked at everyone and said softly, ¡°Sorry. I didn¡¯t have time to contact you when I was taken away by Uncle Qin. Did Uncle Qin use the clone to lead you to the starship? Then he secretly destroyed the starship in order to bury you in the universe?¡±

    Xiao Lou answered, ¡°Yes, Uncle Qin destroyed the bnce system of the Dark Night starship and drained its energy. It set the navigation destination to the clock constetion with frequent cosmic sandstorms. Fortunately, we escaped the sandstorm using this mecha.¡±

    Chu Huaying had a hint of guilt on her face.

    Lu Jiuchuan came over and patted Chu Huaying on the shoulder. ¡°This matter can¡¯t be med on you. We weren¡¯t careful enough and didn¡¯t check if the Chu Huaying we met was true or false. We directly teleported to the Dark Night starship. Moreover, Uncle Qin is a hunter and has been lurking around you. He wasn¡¯t right when we interrogated him and we should¡¯ve noticed it¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou told her, ¡°It¡¯s all over. Don¡¯t me yourself. This time, it is a lesson. We will have to be more cautious in the future.¡± He paused and looked back at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°Did you find that Uncle Qin¡¯s sentence was strange?¡±

    -Death? Do you think there are hunters who are afraid of death?

    Uncle Qin¡¯s crazyughter before he died echoed in his ears. Yu Hanjiang touched his chin and pondered on it for a moment. ¡°You mean, the reason that hunters aren¡¯t afraid perhaps isn¡¯t what we guessed?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°I previously spected that hunters aren¡¯t afraid of death because failing the task might be more painful than death. Death is a relief for them so they aren¡¯t afraid to die.¡±

    Ye Qi scratched his head in a puzzled manner. ¡°Isn¡¯t it reasonable to specte like this? It is human instinct to want to live. As a result, they would rather die than tell any of the organization¡¯s secrets. It is obvious that the result of the leak will be worse than death.¡±

    ¡°I thought so as well. Yet when Uncle Qin died just now, he didn¡¯t show despair. Heughed wildly like he had aplished some mission and died very happily.¡± Xiao Lou took out the contract book and looked at the Team Resurrection card that hadn¡¯t been used yet. ¡°Can the hunters¡­ be resurrected?¡±

    Xiao Lou put away the contract book and looked at everyone. ¡°We aren¡¯t eliminated directly if we fail. There is the Nightmare Room.¡±

    Ye Qi was taken aback. He had experienced the 3 of Spades Nightmare Room. He had struggled to survive by eating bark and weeds. It was also this room that left him with a deep fear of hunger and made him want to fill his stomach first thing every time he woke up.

    Lu Jiuchuan, Tang Ci and Chu Huaying had all gone through the J of Clubs Nightmare Room. Brother Jiu had a scar left on his face while Tang Ci lost his legs. The moment the words ¡®Nightmare Room¡¯ were mentioned, the expressions of several people became ugly.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s voice was soft. ¡°If challengers fail the mission, there is a chance to escape from the Nightmare Room. After a hunter dies, they might have another chance. The difficulty is less than the Nightmare Room so they aren¡¯t afraid to die? If so, doesn¡¯t this make sense?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment. ¡°Where exactly do the hunterse from and what will be the oue after death? We can¡¯t confirm this information¡­ unless we also be hunters.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan raised an eyebrow. ¡°Don¡¯t say unless. We must never be hunters.¡±

    There was sudden silence in the cockpit.

    Xiao Lou changed the subject in order to ease the atmosphere. ¡°Well, let¡¯s think about what to do after arriving at Capital Star. There are still the 2nd and 3rd Xiao Lou at the pce. The Noah¡¯s Ark n was initiated by the emperor while General Lin and Lin Yan are determined to be clones. How do we take care of these people?¡±

    Chu Huaying wondered, ¡°We can¡¯t kill all of them, right?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan shook his head and rejected the idea. ¡°Several of them have lived in Capital Star for 20 years and have developed self-awareness. They are different from the clones in theboratory. If we could clear the instance by simply killing them, this secret room would be meaningless. Huaying¡¯s ability means it would be easy to kill a few people when using the invisibility cloak to hide.¡±

    Chu Huaying shrugged. ¡°So what do you think?¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan also didn¡¯t have a clear idea. He just thought that the way to clear the instance wasn¡¯t as simple as killing the clone. He had to look at Xiao Lou, asking with a smile, ¡°Professor Xiao, what do you think?¡±

    Xiao Lou calmly analyzed it. ¡°The theme of this secret room is the Noah¡¯s Ark cloning project. We have investigated it until now, gained all the relevant information of the n, identified all the participants and found the two cloningboratories among the merpeople and the bugs respectively.

    ¡°On the merpeople¡¯s side, we destroyed theboratory and let the mermaid princess Liu Qiao seed the throne. On the side of the empire, what we have to do is destroy all the data rted to the experiment and get rid of the influence of the two copied crown princes and the clone General Lin. I am the genuine prince and should inherit the throne. Do you think this idea is correct?¡±

    Everyone heard this and nodded. They agreed with Xiao Lou¡¯s viewpoint.

    Yu Hanjiang added, ¡°The difficulty is that the 2nd Xiao Lou has self-awareness and thinks he is the real crown prince. The clone General Lin has been active for 20 years and has long been able to pretend to be the real one. He is highly powerful in the army and is Brother Jiu¡¯s direct boss and themander-in-chief of the southern military region. Few people will probably believe us if the identities of these people are exposed.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. The second clone in the pce attended the engagement and 25th birthday party. He appeared in public and shook hands with many officials. I am the real prince but I didn¡¯t attend these two events. If the emperor wants to treat the 2nd clone as the genuine crown prince, how can I prove myself?¡±

    The clones looked exactly the same as him and it was difficult for others to distinguish who was real and who was false. At this time, the emperor¡¯s words could determine Xiao Lou¡¯s life or death. Who would dare to refute it if the emperor said Xiao Lou was a fake?

    The only one who could prove that Xiao Lou was the real crown prince was his sister, Princess Xiao Rou.

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°I remember that when you left Azure, Xiao Rou told you that she would be willing to help if you need to prove you are the real prince one day. Prince Herman might be watching her but she is very clever and has Dr Edwin helping her. Maybe she can make an excuse to leave the pce?¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°If I remember correctly, the crown prince and Lin Yan are engaged right? Their biological age is currently 25 years old. If the crown prince wants to participate in politics, it is a good choice to get married first.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was startled. ¡°You mean, the clone of the crown prince and the clone Lin Yan are likely to get married in the near future?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Judging from the reactions of Qu Wanyue and Long Sen, the emperor didn¡¯t send anyone to find me after we left the pce. He directly let the second clone live in the Twin Pces and meet with Lin Yan frequently to grow their feelings. Obviously, he wants to arrange for the second clone to rece me. Then isn¡¯t it logical to let the second clone marry Lin Yan?¡±

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°Once they get married, things will be even more unclear! The crown prince is false and the crown princess is also false. Meanwhile, the Xiao Lou who has never seen the crown princess is the real person? No one would believe it.¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°That¡¯s why we have to hurry up. Currently, the biggest hope is the still alive Zhang Shaohua. She has been pretending to be crazy for so many years and must have her own ideas. She is an insider of the Noah¡¯s Ark project and can prove that her husband, General Lin and her daughter, Lin Yan are both clones.¡±

    Shao Qingge interjected. ¡°Qu Wanyue hasn¡¯t contacted me for the past two days. Do you want me to contact her now and ask about the situation of Professor Zhang?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Send her a message. Let her call us back when it is convenient for her.¡±

    Currently, it was 2 o¡¯clock in the morning. Shao Qingge sent a message to Qu Wanyue with Xiao Lou¡¯s words. Unexpectedly, Qu Wanyue wasn¡¯t asleep. She quickly responded to the message and requested a call.

    Shao Qingge picked up.

    In the video, Qu Wanyue was sitting in her bedroom at home. She wasn¡¯t wearing pajamas but convenient sportswear. As soon as she saw her teammates, she anxiously said, ¡°Professor Xiao, where are all of you? You have toe back as soon as possible! The emperor is going to hold a secret wedding for the crown prince and Miss Lin on the 1st of the next month!¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Professor Xiao was really a god¡¯s prophet. He actually guessed this.

    Xiao Lou told her, ¡°We are on the way back. How is Zhang Shaohua¡¯s side?¡±

    Qu Wanyue answered, ¡°She is still the same. Her eyes are dull every day as she sits on the wheelchair to bask in the sunlight. I also found out from Lin Yan that she is going to be officially married to the crown prince. She happily shared the good news with her mother when she came home today but Zhang Shaohua didn¡¯t show any emotions after hearing the news.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°The 1st of next month. This means we only have three days.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang¡¯s expression was heavy. ¡°Let the clone Xiao Lou and clone Lin Yan get married. Then announce that the crown prince is married and take the crown prince to attend various meetings. This way, the clone canpletely rece you. His wife Lin Yan and his father-inw, Lin Zecheng are on his side. You will have no chance of winning.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled bitterly. ¡°Is the emperor¡¯s intention to make me give up and stop appearing in front of him? The best sessor he chose from the Gu raising n is number 2?¡±

    ¡°There is also the always submissive number 3 whose role is unknown¡­¡± Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou. ¡°We have to hurry to contact your sister so she can prove your identity. We also need to have Zhang Shaohuae forward to prove this crazy n.¡±

    He paused and his eyes softened. ¡°You are the only crown prince. No one can rece you.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded at him and turned to Qu Wanyue. ¡°Teacher Qu, please keep an eye on Zhang Shaohua. We will soon reach Capital Star. Then you will directly pull us over using the Peach Blossom Spring.¡±

    Qu Wanyue simply answered, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll be waiting for your news.¡±

    Xiao Lou cut off the call and turned to the console, setting the destination to Azure. ¡°We have to go back and bring my sister, the key witness.¡±

    Spirit Fox turned 180 degrees and flew toward Azure.

    ***

    An hourter, the mecha arrived near Azure.

    Shao Qingge and Ye Qi were the only ones who could pass through the security check of the space station. The two of them pretended to have missed thest passenger spacecraft and returned to Azure from the space station.

    Shao Qingge drove the suspension car directly to the pce. Once he was within 10 kilometers of the pce, he pressed on the voice earpiece and spoke softly to Xiao Rou, ¡°Princess, this is Shao Qingge, Xiao Lou¡¯s friend.¡±

    Xiao Rou was slightly taken aback when she heard this ¡°Mr Shao? What is going on?¡±

    Shao Qingge exined, ¡°The emperor is going to have the clones of Xiao Lou and Lin Yan get married to officially rece your brother. Currently, you are the only one who can prove he is the real crown prince. Therefore, Xiao Lou asked me to invite you to the empire to attend this wedding.¡±

    Xiao Rou seemed a bit embarrassed. ¡°Attending the wedding, this¡­¡±

    ¡°Or do you want to escape from the pce now and we¡¯ll take you away?¡±

    Xiao Rou was silent for a moment before pressing on the earpiece. ¡°I understand. Don¡¯t worry, I will find a way to return to the empire. As the older sister, I should attend my brother¡¯s wedding. Tell Xiao Lou that he must protect himself and wait for me toe back.¡±

    Shao Qingge said, ¡°Thank you, Princess.¡±

    The two of them returned to the cockpit of Spirit Fox. Xiao Lou was waiting anxiously for the result and sighed with relief when Shao Qingge returned. ¡°My sister said those words so she must have a method. Let¡¯s go back to the empire to talk to Zhang Shaohua.¡±

    Ye Qi was worried. ¡°What if Princess Xiao Rou can¡¯t return?¡±

    Xiao Lou told him, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter who is real or false. The one that the emperor says is real is real. The princess¡¯ testimony is just the icing on the cake and doesn¡¯t y a key role.¡±

    Then he suddenly asked a question, ¡°What if the emperor also has a clone?¡±

    The teammates were dumbfounded when they heard this.

    The emperor?

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°The emperor was worried that he would suffer the pain of losing his son and that no one would inherit the throne. He made hundreds of clones of the crown prince to raise a Gu. Would he be so stupid as to not leave himself a way out? He must¡¯ve taken his own cells as well to make a clone. As he gets older, he can rece his organs at any time if they aren¡¯t working properly. Isn¡¯t this why he started the Noah¡¯s Ark project?¡±

    The team members, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou¡¯s words made sense. The emperor was worried that his son would die. Then was he not worried about his own assassination? He helped make clones for his son. It didn¡¯t make sense that he wouldn¡¯t have a data backup of himself.

    Ye Qi¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°In other words, it is only by finding the emperor¡¯s clone that we can seize his fate? It is only by cutting off his path of retreat that we can really talk about ending the cloning project?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded solemnly. ¡°Yes. There were cloningboratories in the merpeople kingdom and on the bug. We haven¡¯t yet found the cloningboratory in the Locke Empire, the beginning of the story.¡±

    <em>Partially proofread: Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 464: Zhang Shaohua

    After several hours of space travel, the Spirit Fox made two consecutive space jumps and finally arrived at the space station of Capital Star at 5 o¡¯clock in the morning. Shao Qingge used hismunicator to send a message to Qu Wanyue.

    In order to avoid another version of the Chu Huaying clone incident that almost wiped out the team, they were all more cautious this time. They asked Qu Wanyue to verify her identity before she pulled them over.

    Xiao Lou asked, ¡°In which hotel did you marry Long Sen?¡±

    Qu Wanyue replied without thinking, ¡°The ocean-themed wedding hall on the third floor of the Sofitel Hotel in Jiangzhou.¡±

    Shao Qingge smiled and asked another question, ¡°How much does a table cost for a wedding banquet in the Sofitel Hotel?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Chief Shao¡¯s question was really tricky. The hunters might be able to find out that Long Sen and Qu Wanyue were in a car ident on their way to the wedding and knew the hotel they booked, but they surely wouldn¡¯t have checked the price of the banquet, right?

    Those who knew the price were naturally those who ordered a banquet in person.

    Qu Wanyue said, ¡°The standard is 3,500 yuan for a table¡­ Chief Shao, have you been there?¡±

    Shao Qinggeughed. ¡°A friend of mine got married in this hotel previously so I know the price. The banquets at this hotel might be a bit expensive but the dishes are good. Once we return to Jiangzhou, invite us to your wedding for a wedding drink.¡±

    The group heard his words and knew that this Qu Wanyue should be real.

    Qu Wanyue earnestly replied, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I have only been in contact with Lin Yan these days. Every time I go out, I use the Chameleon card to prevent people from discovering me. In order to prevent my genes from being taken, I will wear a wig when going out and I don¡¯t dare to leave even a single strand of real hair at Lin Yan¡¯s home.¡±

    Qu Wanyue took note to not even leave behind a strand of hair. She was even more cautious than a spy. Xiao Lou no longer suspected her and said, ¡°We are in the range of Capital Star. Use the Peach Blossom Spring to pull us over.¡±

    Previously when leaving Capital Star, he had left another copy of the Tao Yuanming card with Qu Wanyue to make it more convenient for them to return.

    Qu Wanyue opened the Peach Blossom Spring in her own living room. The next moment, she saw her seven teammates appear under the peach blossom trees.

    Chu Huaying was a star thief and there was no way for her to go through security, but it was easy to get her there with the Peach Blossom Spring.

    Xiao Lou¡¯s eyes swept over his teammates and he quickly arranged the next n. ¡°Brother Jiu and Mr Tang, return to the Arrow Corps to find out who is participating in the wedding banquet. Disguise as General Lin¡¯s men and mix into the scene of the wedding.¡±

    Then he looked at Chu Huaying. ¡°Huaying, just act together with Brother Jiu. When the timees, we will meet up with you¡±

    Chu Huaying nodded. ¡°Okay. How will you find the cloningboratory if Zhang Shaohua refuses to cooperate?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said softly, ¡°Check the ce where the queen was recuperating. 20 years ago, Xiao Rou apanied her mother to see a doctor and stumbled upon the cloningboratory. The hospital the queen was visiting must have a problem.¡±

    Xiao Lou heard these words and a trace of doubt shed in his mind.

    Why did he always feel that something was wrong?

    Why did Xiao Rou happen to find the cloningboratory and see the hundreds of identical Xiao Lous?

    ***

    In the afternoon, Qu Wanyue invited Lin Yan to have afternoon tea with her. She used the Thumbelina card to bring Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang in her pocket.

    Qu Wanyue was nominally Lin Yan¡¯s dance teacher but the two of them had a good rtionship in private. They were teacher and student as well as friends. Lin Yan looked radiant and seemed to be in a particrly good mood. She wore a huge diamond ring on her hand that shone brightly.

    Qu Wanyue said sincerely, ¡°In two days, you will be officially married. Lin Yan, congrattions on getting what you want.¡±

    Lin Yan blushed. ¡°Thank you, Teacher.¡±

    Qu Wanyue wondered, ¡°Will you be going to the pce to live after you get married?¡±

    ¡°Yes, His Highness is letting me move directly into the Twin Pces.¡±

    Xiao Lou frowned when he heard this from inside the pocket. This Lin Yan really liked the clone of the crown prince. He felt sorry for her. She probably didn¡¯t know anything and even the fact that she was a clone was kept in the dark.

    Qu Wanyue and Lin Yan chatted while drinking tea under the tree. Meanwhile, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang sneaked out of the pocket and flew directly to Zhang Shaohua¡¯s room using the light footwork card. From Qu Wanyue¡¯s perspective, it was like two small mosquitoes flying past and Lin Yan didn¡¯t notice any abnormalities.

    Zhang Shaohua was sitting on the balcony in the sunlight. She didn¡¯t look old but her eyes were dull. She stared nkly ahead and it wasn¡¯t known what she was thinking.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiangnded on her shoulder.

    Her eyshes trembled slightly, as if she noticed something, but she didn¡¯t say anything.

    Xiao Lou spoke into her ear, ¡°Professor Zhang, do you remember the Noah¡¯s Ark project?¡±

    Zhang Shaohua looked forward without squinting but she gently clenched her fingers on her knees.

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°We have found the whereabouts of your husband, General Lin Zecheng, your daughter Lin Yan, your mentor Professor Palmer and your colleagues Professor Zhu Xingchen and Professor Qin Rong.¡±

    Zhang Shaohua¡¯s fingers clenched harder and her lips trembled. ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°If you want to know the details, follow me to a ce at midnight tonight.¡±

    Then Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang flew back to Qu Wanyue¡¯s pocket.

    They weren¡¯t sure how much surveince there was on Zhang Shaohua and it wasn¡¯t appropriate to chat here. After midnight, the cooldown of all skills was over. The best ce to talk was naturally the Peach Blossom Spring where no one could enter without Xiao Lou¡¯s permission.

    Qu Wanyue noticed that the two of them were back in her pocket so she stood up and said goodbye. ¡°Miss Lin, I have something to do so I won¡¯t bother you any longer.¡±

    ¡°Teacher Qu, I will send you off.¡±

    Lin Yan sent her teacher out of the house. Then she turned back to the vi and saw Zhang Shaohua pushing out her wheelchair, face pale like she had seen a ghost. Lin Yan walked up to her in a worried manner and gently held her hand. ¡°Mom, what¡¯s wrong? Why are your hands so cold? It is windy outside. Go back and rest.¡±

    Zhang Shaohua¡¯s eyes were nk and she remained indifferent to the concern of her ¡®daughter¡¯ in front of her.

    Xiao Lou saw this and sighed. ¡°Lin Yan is really concerned about her mother but in Zhang Shaohua¡¯s eyes, she will always be a fake.¡±

    What was Lin Yan¡¯s existence? This girl was perhaps destined for tragedy since she was created.

    This was because she was a clone.

    ***

    Shortly after midnight, Xiao Lou sneaked into Zhang Shaohua¡¯s residence with the Chameleon card and pulled her into the Peach Blossom Spring.

    Zhang Shaohua stared at the peach blossom trees in front of her with a hint of surprise. Then she quickly calmed down and asked eagerly, ¡°You found my husband and daughter? Where are they?¡±

    Sure enough, it was all a pretense. Now she couldn¡¯t pretend any longer after hearing news about her husband and daughter.

    Yu Hanjiang came out from behind a tree and handed her two hand bones. ¡°We found a sunken starship in the deep sea of Azure. It was the Egret Starship that escaped from Capital Star. I have the bones of General Lin and Lin Yan. I also found the bones of your mentor Professor Palmer and Professors Qin Rong and Zhu Xingchen.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang spread out the bones of the dead in front of her. ¡°There are also your bones. Of course, it isn¡¯t you but the clone you arranged to confuse people.¡±

    Zhang Shaohua, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou saw the disbelief on her face and simply took out the printed gene sequence. ¡°These are all the gic fragments extracted from the bones. We havepared it with the data in the Imperial Gene Bank and have confirmed that the bones found in the deep sea shipwreck are exactly the same as those of your husband, daughter, mentor and colleagues.¡±

    The woman in front of him looked at the gicparison report and her body trembled violently. Her face was white. She had been waiting for good news about these people only to hear about the death of her loved ones.

    The faith that kept her waiting for 20 yearspletely copsed at this moment.

    She couldn¡¯t even stand firmly and her pale fingers forcefully held the peach blossom tree beside her as support. She took deep breaths repeatedly to keep herself calm before staring at Xiao Lou with red eyes. ¡°This is¡­ is it true? Are they really dead?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Unfortunately, the entire Egret Starship sank into the deep sea.¡±

    Zhang Shaohua suddenlyughed. Sheughed for a while before crouching under the tree and crying bitterly.

    After 20 years of waiting, this was the result¡­ she had expected it but it was too hard to ept!

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang waited for her to vent her emotions.

    A long time passed before she controlled her expression and looked up. ¡°Are you the crown prince?¡±

    Xiao Lou was a bit surprised. ¡°Have you seen me?¡±

    ¡°I saw you at Lin Yan¡¯s engagement banquet¡­ no, it wasn¡¯t you¡­¡± She shook her head and murmured in a low voice, ¡°That man¡¯s smile was much gentler than yours and his voice was softer when talking.¡±

    ¡°The one you saw should be clone number 2.¡± Yu Hanjiang exined lightly. ¡°The one in front of you is the real crown prince.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Zhang Shaohua stared at Xiao Lou¡¯s face. The young man in front of her had calm, dark and clear eyes without a trace of a guilty conscience. He looked at her calmly. Indeed, there were some differences in temperament when looking closely.

    Xiao Lou smiled slightly at her. ¡°Professor Zhang, I think you have long realized the danger of the Noah¡¯s Ark project. Now the emperor wants to rece me with the clone. He has already reced General Lin and Lin Yan. If you hadn¡¯t acted at that time, perhaps even you would¡¯ve been reced by a clone by now¡­¡±

    Zhang Shaohua interrupted him. ¡°What do you want?¡±

    Xiao Lou answered. ¡°It depends on Professor Zhang. What do you want to do?¡±

    In the quiet Peach Blossom Spring, pink petals fell. The peach blossoms all over the mountain made the whole world as beautiful as a dream. Zhang Shaohua looked at the petals in the distance and asked with a frown, ¡°What type of ghostly ce is this? Can you use illusions?¡±

    Xiao Lou quickly reacted. Apart from the hunters, the natives of the secret room didn¡¯t know about cards. Zhang Shaohua thought he was using illusions to confuse her eyes.

    This also proved that Zhang Shaohua was a plot character in the secret room and an important witness.

    Yu Hanjiang exined, ¡°His Highness did use some illusions so as to prevent you from being watched. We also relied on these illusions to sneak out of the pce. We went to Azure to investigate and identally found the sunken ship in the sea.¡±

    Zhang Shaohua looked at Yu Hanjiang in shock. ¡°You¡­ the captain of the royal guards actually escaped from the pce with the crown prince to investigate the so-called truth?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded. ¡°We would¡¯ve only fallen into a passive state if we stayed in the pce. That¡¯s why we ventured out of the pce. We found the bugs and we also found the deep sea merpeople. The Noah¡¯s Ark project has been upgraded many times and now the clones researched by the alien creatures is version 3.0. They have the genes of three races fused together and they even have their actions controlled by smart chips.¡±

    Xiao Lou continued, ¡°Professor Zhang, the Noah¡¯s Ark project was wrong from the beginning and we can¡¯t let it continue. Do you want the clone to continue to use the face of your daughter Lin Yan? Do you want the version 3.0 clones controlled by the smart chips to run rampant in this world and squeeze out the human race?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang said, ¡°In the cloning workshop, a streamlined production has already begun. Hundreds of Xiao Lous can be produced in one day.¡±

    Hearing this, Zhang Shaohua¡¯s body trembled violently. Her face was full of remorse as her red eyes stared at the ground. Then she copsed and hugged herself, so agitated that she was incoherent. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Yan Yan, I¡¯m sorry Ah Cheng! Yes, I killed my husband and my daughter! I shouldn¡¯t have believed the nonsense of those people!¡±

    In the video material left behind about the first cloning project, General Lin was originally opposed to it but Zhang Shaohua strongly agreed with her mentor¡¯s proposal. She insisted on not letting the clones enter society. They would stay as data backups hidden in theboratory¡­

    Who would¡¯ve thought that this n would deviate from the original intention and be so crazy?

    Zhang Shaohua¡¯s voice was choked up. ¡°20 years ago, I noticed that His Majesty took the cloned children for a ¡®fairpetition¡¯ to select the best children to stay while killing the rest. It was only at this time that I found the project had long been out of our control. However, I couldn¡¯t do anything. I could only inform my husband as soon as possible¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°You had your clone follow your husband away from Capital Star while you stayed. Why did you do this?¡±

    Zhang Shaohua lowered her head and gritted her teeth. ¡°I have all the information on the Noah¡¯s Ark n. I was worried that if the n failed, at least I would have a backup here. If we act separately, at least one person can save the data. I made an agreement with him that one day, we must reveal the truth and never let the clones rule this nation!¡±

    Yu Hanjiang asked sharply, ¡°The n failed? What was General Lin trying to do when he escaped Capital Star with the information?¡±

    Zhang Shaohua wondered, ¡°Didn¡¯t you go to Azure to investigate? Didn¡¯t you find out?¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Previously, he always felt that something was wrong. Now he finally figured it out. He had missed one of the most critical suspects.

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 465: Ignored Details

    Previously when Xiao Lou found the sunken Egret Starship in the deep sea, his first reaction was that General Lin Zecheng piloted the starship to escape and heard the merpeople¡¯s song at sea. Since this song had the ability to ¡®confuse people¡¯, they were unable to stop themselves from flying to the ce where the song came from and were devoured by the whirlpool.

    There were arge number of destroyed ships and human skeletal remains near the whirlpool. This proved that the legend of merpeople hunting with songs was true. For this reason, Xiao Lou spected that General Lin¡¯s group was unlucky and had an ident.

    But what if¡­ it wasn¡¯t an ident?

    There were currently at least 10 knowns inhabited by humans. Why did Lin Zecheng go to the Azure Empire?

    The Egret Starship might¡¯ve been dmissioned but it was the empire¡¯s top warship. How could it ¡®identally¡¯ drive to the sea and also get involved in a whirlpool?

    There were too many coincidences to be exined as an ¡®ident¡¯ and too many unreasonable areas. Now Zhang Shaohua confirmed that her husband had fled to the Azure Empire to carry out a ¡®mission¡¯ and it further proved Xiao Lou¡¯s spection.

    Xiao Lou asked softly, ¡°Did General Lin go to the Azure when Princess Xiao Rou got married?¡±

    Zhang Shaohua nodded. ¡°Yes. I was worried that His Majesty would kill all those who knew about the cloning n so we got together to discuss countermeasures. During this time, Capital Star was heavily guarded and patrol troops kept going back and forth. So many people fleeing together would definitely be noticed¡­¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°So Xiao Rou¡¯s wedding became the best opportunity for you to escape?¡±

    Zhang Shaohua took a deep breath and looked at the two of them. ¡°The princess was getting married to Prince Herman of the Azure Empire and he came to pick her up in person. The gate over the space station was open for a period of time. The emperor was busy presiding over the wedding. My husbandunched the Egret in advance and took the opportunity to escape. Then he went to the Azure Empire with Prince Herman¡¯s wedding team.¡±

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged looks. It turned out to be like this.

    It was no coincidence that the Egret sank in the sea area of Azure. They fled with Princess Xiao Rou¡¯s marriage team. Xiao Rou must¡¯ve known this but didn¡¯t tell Xiao Lou. Instead, she misled Xiao Lou with the ¡®legend of invisible people¡¯. She even let Xiao Lou and his teammates go to the sea to find the merpeople.

    The legend?

    He was afraid she knew the location of the merpeople long ago. She knew that the merpeople could use their songs to crash nearby ships. The Egret sinking into the deep sea was probably done by her.

    Instead of saying General Lin¡¯s group encountered an ident, it was more urate to say they were deliberately silenced by Xiao Rou!

    Xiao Lou recalled the sister who smiled softly at him and his heart got a chill. He always felt that something was wrong before. Now thinking about it carefully, they actually ignored many details in the process of the investigation.

    Xiao Rou¡¯s story was that 20 years ago, she apanied her mother to the hospital and happened to enter aboratory. There, she found hundreds of identical children who looked exactly like her brother.

    The cloning project was a top secret n. How could the princess ¡®happen¡¯ to enter theboratory? Was the area where they did the experiments not monitored? People could freelye and go at will?

    Xiao Rou also said that after she learned about it, she panicked and didn¡¯t dare to tell anyone. Her father asked her to marry Prince Herman so she agreed.

    There was also a contradiction here. Since the emperor wanted to keep it a secret, how could he let his daughter who knew the truth marry into another nation? If Xiao Rou told this story, wouldn¡¯t the Azure Empire know the secret of the clones?

    If the emperor wanted to keep it a secret, the best course of action was to keep the princess under house arrest in the pce, not to let her marry.

    The princess was obviously lying.

    Xiao Lou looked at Zhang Shaohua and said, ¡°Professor Zhang, can you give us the information about the Noah¡¯s Ark project?¡±

    Zhang Shaohua shook her head. ¡°The information isn¡¯t on me.¡±

    Xiao Lou was surprised. ¡°It isn¡¯t on you? Did you hide it?¡±

    Zhang Shaohua¡¯s fists tightly clenched and her lips trembled slightly. ¡°Those who participated in the project died sessively and I knew that the emperor wanted to kill everyone to hide this secret forever. I could only pretend to be a clone in order to live. I couldn¡¯t carry the information on me so I had to hand it over to Mrs Ye.¡±

    Mrs Ye Bowen? In other words, Ye Qi¡¯s biological mother.

    Yu Hanjiang asked in a low voice, ¡°Is Mrs Ye still alive? Where is she?¡±

    Zhang Shaohua answered, ¡°She is dead but her child should be alive.¡±

    General Ye and General Lin escaped from Capital Star together and died on the Azure. Mrs Ye was pregnant at the time so Zhang Shaohua gave her the information to secretly take away. Mrs Ye fled to a remote city where she gave birth to Ye Qi and sent Ye Qi to an orphanage¡­ Meanwhile, Zhang Shaohua couldn¡¯t escape from the emperor¡¯s pursuit.

    The official obituary stated that General Ye and his wife died unexpectedly on the front lines. Their child Ye Qi was sent to an orphanage. It wasn¡¯t known what method Mrs Ye used but the emperor didn¡¯t kill the child.

    Later, Shao Qingge went to the orphanage to do charity. He felt Ye Qi was familiar so he adopted Ye Qi.

    The emperor only killed the insiders but he didn¡¯t kill an innocent child¡­ perhaps he didn¡¯t expect that those in the know would leave clues by various means, including the safe and Morse code left by Chief Shao¡¯s father and the full information that Mrs Ye might¡¯ve left behind.

    It seemed they would have to rely on Ye Qi if they wanted to find thisplete information.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged nces and thetter continued to ask, ¡°Where is theboratory?¡±

    Zhang Shaohua answered, ¡°The first experiment was done in the secretboratory on the top floor of the Royal Star Hospital. I don¡¯t know if theboratory has been moved away in recent years.¡±

    Xiao Lou wondered, ¡°Was Rod Bell, the captured leader of the star thieves, also taken away by General Lin?¡±

    Zhang Shaohua nodded. ¡°Yes, he was the first generation gene sample to be taken.¡±

    Xiao Lou closed his eyes and carefully organized his thoughts in his mind. After finding the parts he neglected about Xiao Rou, most events could be reasonably exined. However, there was still one final link missing.

    Why did the emperor give him the S-grade mecha, Spirit Fox? In addition, who sent the invisible man who sneaked into the Twin Pces?

    Xiao Lou thought about it for a moment before suddenly asking, ¡°20 years ago, the Noah¡¯s Ark project was restarted. Among the first clones you made, there were samples from His Majesty, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course. We only made one clone of His Majesty, which was also His Majesty¡¯s request. He wanted a copy with his body data in case of future injury or illness. This way, he can always have ess to the clone¡¯s organs.¡±

    This was also expected by Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou continued to ask, ¡°Is there a clone of Xiao Rou?¡±

    ¡°There is one as well.¡±

    Xiao Lou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    His guess was correct.

    The emperor had cloned his son. How could he ignore himself and his daughter? The original intention of the cloning n was to make a copy of the body data so that when the original was sick or injured, the organs or tissues of the clone could be used at any time. How could the emperor not prepare such ¡®insurance¡¯ for himself and his daughter?

    Therefore, the first batch of clones didn¡¯t only contain Xiao Lou. There were also the emperor and Princess Xiao Rou.

    Of course, the throne of the empire was inherited by the crown prince and there was no need to select the best princess through the Gu raising n. This was why the emperor only made one clone as a gic backup for the princess and hid it in aboratory.

    Back then, perhaps Xiao Rou didn¡¯t only find her brother in theboratory but also herself.

    Zhang Shaohua said that the Noah¡¯s Ark project had created a clone of the emperor and Xiao Rou but they were missing from the information found among the merpeople and the bugs. Their gic data had obviously been deleted.

    Who deleted it?

    It could only be the person who had been holding the relevant data of the cloning project, Rod Bell.

    Apart from the backup left with Zhang Shaohua, the mostprehensive copy of the original Noah¡¯s data was the one taken away by General Lin. After the shipwreck, General Lin and the others drowned in the deep sea. Only Rod Bell, who was fused with the bug genes, and the unconscious clones survived.

    Rod Bell obtained and modified the data, deleting the part about the princess and the emperor. Then he handed it over to the merpeople.

    The bugs also obtained the information with the deleted parts. Therefore, Xiao Lou never suspected if the emperor or Xiao Rou were clones. It was because there were no gic samples of these two people in the database!

    It now appeared that Rod Bell deliberately deleted the data of the emperor and the princess to mislead Xiao Lou in their investigation.

    He knew Xiao Rou.

    Maybe all this was a collusion between him and the princess.

    Yet why would a princess and star thief join forces?

    ***

    Through questioning Zhang Shaohua andbining it with their previous investigations, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang finally confirmed most of their spections. The two of them secretly sent Zhang Shaohua back to General Lin¡¯s vi before summoning the other teammates to the Peach Blossom Spring.

    Xiao Lou told them the results of Zhang Shaohua¡¯s interrogation and his current spection. The teammates were shocked when they heard it.

    Ye Qi couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°Xiao Rou? She looks gentle and kind and has been helping us the whole time. She is actually the boss behind the scenes? My impression of her was quite good.¡±

    Shao Qingge asked helplessly, ¡°So my sapphire ne was directly given to the instance¡¯s boss?¡±

    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan chuckled and touched his nose. ¡°Giving a gift to the boss is something only you can do, Chief Shao.¡±

    Shao Qingge, ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Ye Qi helped him out. ¡°Cough, fortunately, you copied it before giving it away. However, Chief Shao¡¯s ne might¡¯ve had some effect. At the very least, Xiao Rou didn¡¯t immediately send someone to kill us after getting the ne.¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°She didn¡¯t kill us. She just used the ¡®legend¡¯ to induce us to investigate the merpeople at sea. If we hadn¡¯t reacted quickly enough, we would¡¯ve died in the deep sea.¡±

    Ye Qi was stunned. ¡°¡­So she borrowed someone else¡¯s knife to kill us?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang summed it up in a low voice. ¡°The princess¡¯ method of borrowing someone else¡¯s hand to kill us is really wise. Perhaps the shipwreck of the Egret was also her doing.¡±

    Lu Jiuchuan raised an eyebrow. ¡°This woman looks weak but she is really hiding her strength. So why did she do this? Does she want to inherit the throne? She doesn¡¯t seem ambitious¡­¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°Her motives are still unclear but she must¡¯ve joined forces with Rod Bell.¡±

    The group was silent for a moment before Xiao Lou changed the subject, ¡°How is the wedding investigation?¡±

    Tang Ci answered calmly, ¡°I checked the time, ce and list of invited attendees. At that time, Brother Jiu and I will disguise ourselves as General Lin¡¯s guards and go to the wedding.¡±

    Chu Huaying added, ¡°The wedding will be held at St John¡¯s Church. I will dress up as a priest of the church.¡±

    Shao Qingge asked, ¡°How am I going to attend with Ye Qi? We don¡¯t have an invitation. If we have to pretend to be someone else, there is Liu Qiao¡¯s Twin card that allows us to be someone we¡¯ve seen within one and a half hours.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to go to the wedding scene. The two of you have another task.¡± Xiao Lou looked at Ye Qi and asked, ¡°Xiao Ye, you grew up in the orphanage. Do you have any impression of your biological mother?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember what my mother looks like. I was an orphan without any parents¡­¡± Ye Qi scratched his head and frowned as he thought back carefully. He was reminiscing when he remembered something and his eyes lit up. ¡°Yes, there was a kind aunt who came to the orphanage every weekend to visit us and bring us delicious food. Could she be¡­¡±

    ¡°She is probably your mother. Think back. Did she give you anything?¡± Xiao Lou wondered.

    Xiao Qi, have you ever heard of a wish bottle? If you bury the wish bottle under the tree, your wish will be fulfilled.

    A childhood memory shed through Ye Qi¡¯s mind.

    The image of the woman in his memory was very vague. After all, he was far too young, being less than 5 years old at the time. He only remembered that the woman had a gentle voice. Every time she came to the orphanage, she would bring a lot of food for everyone. She was funny and yful and the children liked her very much. One day, she said this and hugged Ye Qi. Then she never appeared again.

    ¡°A wish bottle under the tree.¡± Ye Qi remembered this childhood memory and looked at Shao Qingge. ¡°Let¡¯s go back to the orphanage to search. There is a tree at the door of the orphanage. Perhaps the clue she left me is there?¡±

    <em>Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality</em>

 Chapter 466: Endgame

    That night, the group acted separately.

    Shao Qingge and Ye Qi rushed to the orphanage overnight and found a big tree at the entrance. After so many years, the tree branches and leaves were lush and the trunk was thicker than the waist of an adult. Ye Qi and Shao Qingge exchanged looks before immediately digging around the roots of the tree. It didn¡¯t take long for the two of them to dig out the wish bottle.

    Ye Qi opened the wish bottle. It was filled with a smart chip for storing data.

    At the same time, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang wore the invisibility cloak and infiltrated the top floor of the Royal Star Hospital mentioned by Zhang Shaohua.

    The door of theboratory was closed tightly. There was a long corridor in front of the door with infrared detectors on both sides of the corridor walls. The door had a strict verification system that scanned pupils and checked fingerprints. If the verification was incorrect then sirens would be triggered¡­ they couldn¡¯t get in at all.

    How could they open this door?

    The two people thought about it for a moment before Yu Hanjiang spoke to Xiao Lou through Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings, ¡°We can¡¯t enter through the door but we can try to enter from the ceiling. Aboratory on the top floor will always have air conditioning vents.¡±

    Xiao Lou understood the meaning. ¡°Use Thumbelina to be smaller and then get in through the vents?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and simply said, ¡°Go!¡±

    This method was amazing. The two of them immediately left the main door and climbed to the top of the building using the light footwork card. Then they used Liu Qiao¡¯s Thumbelina card to reduce their size, found the vent for the air conditioner and quickly entered.

    Two people the size of a thumb passed through the vent of the air conditioner smoothly. They entered the internal ducts of the building and jumped down from the air conditioner into the top floorboratory.

    There wasn¡¯t much evidence left in thisboratory.

    Apparently, someone had cleaned up here.

    Theboratory was clean and tidy with manymon instruments used in scientific experiments. There were no traces of nutrient solutions, ssware, cells or clones.

    If outsiders entered then their first reaction would be that this was a very ordinaryboratory.

    Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang circled theboratory and found no evidence in it.

    Yu Hanjiang wondered through the mind channel, ¡°Could it be that they abandoned this ce and moved the cloningboratory somewhere else?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked around. He had a strange feeling. ¡°The most dangerous ce is the safest ce. If insiderse here and find that theboratory has changed a lot, the first reaction will be ¡®they must¡¯ve changed locations¡¯ and then stop investigating. Perhaps it¡¯s like they¡¯re hiding the truth behind a mirage and the only thing we are seeing right now is the mirage itself?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought about it and agreed. ¡°It makes sense. We will search carefully. Perhaps there is another secret room in theboratory.¡±

    The two of them continued to search for suspicious mechanisms in the walls and the ground but nothing was found.

    Xiao Lou stood in the middle of theboratory and looked around carefully. ¡°Don¡¯t you think thisboratory is too small in size?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was startled. ¡°Is the area smaller?¡±

    ¡°The size of the lobby on the first floor when we entered the hospital was veryrge. This building is a standard cubic building. It stands to reason that the area of the top floor should be the same as the first floor. Yet thisboratory¡­ the area is only around 80% of the size of the first floor. Arge number of instruments and equipment are ced here, making it easy to visually misjudge that the narrow space is due to the crowding effect of too much equipment.¡±

    Xiao Lou quickly moved through theboratory from beginning to end with measured steps. ¡°However, distance won¡¯t deceive people. I have just measured it with my footsteps. The first floor is 40 meters long and 10 meters wide. The top floor is 35 meters long and 10 meters wide.¡±

    Perhaps it was because he was usually in a forensicboratory that Xiao Lou was sensitive toboratory space. Yu Hanjiang heard this and immediately reacted. ¡°The missing length is five meters. There is a hidden room in here!¡±

    Xiao Lou suggested, ¡°Let¡¯s carefully search the east end and west end.¡±

    The width of 10 meters hadn¡¯t changed but the length of 40 meters was shortened to 35 meters. Where was the remaining space of 5 meters x 10 meters? It must be a hidden secret room.

    Yu Hanjiang went east and Xiao Lou west.

    Soon, Yu Hanjiang heard Xiao Lou¡¯s voice from the Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings channel. ¡°I found it!¡±

    The westernmost wall looked like a wall but it was actually a huge hidden door that was opened and closed using a nearby instrument. This instrument happened to be theputer for gic sequencing. Xiao Lou turned on the instrument and entered the password Noah¡¯s Ark, which was the first line of Morse code left to Shao Qingge by his father.

    The whole wall opened slowly.

    Xiao Lou saw a shocking scene.

    In this space of nearly 50 square meters were two coffin-sized ss containers standing quietly, filled with a blue nutrient solution.

    Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t be more familiar with the two people lying quietly inside the containers.

    One was his father.

    ***

    The information found among the merpeople was missing the parts about the emperor and Xiao Rou.

    The data found with the bugs was based on the merpeople¡¯s data and included the ns of chip imntation and the bug gene improvement. Some clones had the invisibility of the merpeople and could be produced in a streamlined manner.

    The invisible man was originally from version 3.0.

    This was an artificially manufactured product after optimizing the genes of the three major races.

    The invisible man who sneaked into the Twin Pces was obviously a tool controlled by the star thief leader Rod Bell with the chip. He left Xiao Lou with the words ¡®the one who lives to the end is the winner¡¯ in order to lead Xiao Lou to leave the pce and go to Azure to investigate. This way, he could implement the hunting n for Xiao Lou¡¯s team.

    On the merpeople¡¯s side, if Liu Qiao wasn¡¯t smart and Xiao Lou wasn¡¯t cautious enough, they would¡¯ve all died in the deep sea. After the failure of the first hunting n, the hunters used the clone of Chu Huaying to lead Xiao Lou¡¯s group to the starship and they almost died along with the starship¡¯s crash!

    From the beginning, the invisible man who sneaked into the Twin Pces was a trap.

    Now the truth had finallye out.

    ***

    There was one day left until the wedding between the crown prince and Lin Yan.

    Xiao Lou once again called his teammates to determine the n of action for the wedding day.

    On August 1st, the weather was clear and cloudless.

    Prince Xiao Lou and Miss Lin Yan set off from the pce. The prince was wearing luxurious clothing and looked elegant. The prince¡¯s fiancee wore a white wedding dress that was bright and moving. The two of them walked hand in hand along the red carpet and looked very well matched.

    They received the blessing of the people and boarded a luxurious carriage from the imperial pce.

    The carriage took the two people all the way to Jinsha Castle and entered the most sacred church.

    Lin Yan¡¯s father, General Lin Zecheng and her mother, Professor Zhang Shaohua were the only rtives and friends apanying them.

    Zhang Shaohua had been pretending to be stupid for years and she had a dull expression. Therefore, General Lin specifically gave her a half-veil hat that covered her face, lest she lose her manners at the wedding.

    Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci pretended to be guards and followed General Lin and his wife.

    To the surprise of the two, Xiao Rou actually came.

    It wasn¡¯t known how she persuaded Prince Herman but she came to her brother¡¯s wedding in person and walked beside the emperor.

    The guests entered the church and took their seats in turn.

    Chu Huaying had sneaked into the church in advance and secretly kidnapped the priest, recing him.

    She dressed as a man and wore a priest¡¯s hat as she read aloud the oath, ¡°Today, we are gathered here under the gaze of God to witness the wedding of Prince Xiao Lou and Miss Lin Yan. This is a sacred, pious and serious moment. If anyone has any reason to oppose their union, please step forward now or remain silent forever¡­¡±

    During the oath, the priest asked if anyone had any objections but it was just a routine. Xiao Lou and Lin Yan stood in front of the priest and neither of them took it seriously.

    Yet the moment Chu Huaying¡¯s words finished, a clear voice suddenly rang out inside the church, ¡°I object.¡±

    Everyone at the scene looked back in unison.

    Xiao Lou, dressed in the same white royal clothing as the groom, walked forward on the red carpet. Next to him was Yu Hanjiang, the captain of the royal guards in a handsome military uniform.

    The entire audience was stunned.

    How¡­ howe there were two crown princes?

    The two people looked exactly the same and no differences could be seen in their facial expression. However, the prince who came from outside the church was calm andposed in his steps. His innate dignity was brilliantly set off by his suitably tailored clothing.

    He walked under the sunlight, surrounded by a golden halo.

    On the other hand, the expression of the Xiao Lou standing in the shadows of the church suddenly became a bit gloomy.

    The eyes of the two men met in the air. Xiao Lou smiled and said, ¡°Clones can never rece the real person. The order of the human world shouldn¡¯t be broken by scientific experiments without an ethical bottom line.¡±

    His words were so iprehensible that the guests at the scene were puzzled.

    The emperor sitting in the front row suddenly stood up. ¡°Somebody,e and capture this man who dares to impersonate the crown prince!¡±

    The moment the emperor spoke, the guards didn¡¯t even have time to respond when Yu Hanjiang already acted. He raised his gun and moved to the emperor¡¯s side in an instant. He used one hand across the emperor¡¯s chest to control him while the other hand held the gun against the emperor¡¯s head. ¡°Who dares to move?¡±

    At General Lin¡¯s side, Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci acted at the same time and quickly subdued Lin Zecheng!

    Chu Huaying, who had been reading the oath, came behind the fake Xiao Lou unnoticed and pressed the spider dagger against his neck. She whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t move.¡±

    Lin Yan was frightened and dismayed. ¡°Who are you? Is this a rebellion plot?¡±

    Xiao Lou waved calmly. Tang Ci erged the projection screen with hismunicator. The two video meetings of the Noah¡¯s Ark project more than 20 years ago were clearly presented in front of everyone.

    ¡°Cloning humans is like copying data. We are just making our own data backups!¡±

    ¡°However, can these clones be treated as human beings?¡±

    ¡±We can guarantee that they won¡¯t enter human society¡­¡±

    The voices of the young emperor, General Lin and many familiar faces in the meeting room 20 years ago echoed clearly in the church.

    The senior military officials, government officials and businessmen present turned pale.

    Xiao Lou looked at Princess Xiao Rou sitting in the front row and said softly, ¡°Sister, I was personally brought up by you when our mother became ill. You are the only one who can prove who is the real prince and who is the clone.¡±

    Xiao Rou stood up calmly. She looked between Xiao Lou and the Xiao Lou held hostage by Chu Huaying. A momentter, she took a deep breath and pointed to the Xiao Lou who was taken hostage by Chu Huaying. ¡°He is my brother because my brother¡¯s forehead has never been scarred. You are the clone and you have a scar on your head from an ident.¡±

    Xiao Lou touched the scarred corner of his forehead, his face still holding a smile.

    Sure enough.

    If he hadn¡¯t guessed in advance that Xiao Rou had a problem, Xiao Lou would¡¯ve definitely been caught off guard by Xiao Rou. Yet now looking at Xiao Rou performing hard in front of him, he just found it ridiculous.

    Xiao Lou asked her, ¡°Where is Rod Bell?¡±

    Xiao Rou was stunned. ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°Is he manipting you through the chip? My cloned sister.¡±

    Before Xiao Rou could respond, Xiao Lou made a gesture and Chu Huaying suddenly acted.

    The speed of the spider queen wasn¡¯tparable to most people. Huaying was the best at moving like a ghost. Before the people in the church could see what was going on, Chu Huaying shed behind Xiao Rou and cut off her right hand with the sharp spider dagger!

    A shrill scream broke out as people saw the slender hand fall to the ground and roll along the red carpet to Xiao Lou¡¯s foot.

    ¡°Ahhh¡ª¡±

    The guests were stunned by the changes at the wedding.

    Many people at the scene instinctively wanted to escape but they were forced back by Tang Ci¡¯s mechanical spiders. Long Sen, who was responsible for guarding the church today, stood at the entrance and directly sealed it with Old Mo¡¯s marble brick.

    None of them could run away!

    Xiao Rou¡¯s face was as pale as paper as she screamed, ¡°What are you doing, you imposter?!¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at her severed hand. ¡°You¡¯ll find out soon enough.¡±

    A few secondster, the blood from Xiao Rou¡¯s cut wristpletely solidified. The wound suddenly began to heal. From the cut area¡­ a new hand grew.

    The white, thin fingers grew from the cut parts like the buds of a nt. The skin was as smooth as jade.

    Everyone who saw this scene sucked in a breath.

    ¡°Oh my god, how did her hand grow out?¡±

    ¡°Am I having a hallucination?¡±

    ¡±H-Her broken hand is still on the ground but she has a new one?¡±

    The guests at the scene couldn¡¯t believe this bizarre sight.

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°The biggest difference between a clone and human being is that the body heals automatically after injury. No matter how good you act, you can¡¯t hide this instinct. This is your advantage but it has also be a sign to identify you.¡±

    The moment he finished speaking, Lu Jiuchuan shot General Lin Zecheng in the head. Chu Huaying moved like the wind behind Xiao Lou and Lin Yan and cut off their fingers. Yu Hanjiang even shot the emperor¡¯s head in public view!

    The situation waspletely out of control!

    Long Sen had built a circr marble wall outside the door to stop the guards from supporting the emperor. There were only a few guests who entered the wedding venue and this incident surprised all those present.

    Then they saw that the bodies of the emperor, General Lin, Prince Xiao Lou and Lin Yan actually healed.

    The emperor was shot in the head but not only was he alive but the wound on his head was restored to its original state?

    The emperor¡¯s eyes instantly turned red. He stared viciously at Xiao Lou and ordered in a low voice, ¡°Kill him.¡±

    In the present situation, there was no need for acting. Several clones rushed fiercely toward Xiao Lou as if someone pressed the start button.

    Yu Hanjiang immediately rushed to Xiao Lou¡¯s side and held him to narrowly avoid the attacks of Xiao Rou and the emperor.

    A soft piano piece was suddenly heard from outside the church.

    It was Ye Qi. He estimated the distance of 100 meters and yed the piano outside the church so that no one inside the church could move. His teammates such as Xiao Lou couldn¡¯t use cards but they could continue to move.

    Xiao Lou walked to the position where the priest had been just now and nced around the church. ¡°You have seen the videos about the Noah¡¯s Ark project. You should already know who proposed this and what they are studying.¡±

    ¡°My father, the emperor, experienced the pain of losing a son and decided to clone me as a backup. Unexpectedly, this n was used by people with other interests. Now, the clones are already humanoid weapons. Some people want the clones with evolutionary capabilities to rece humans and rule the world. We must stop this crazy n.¡±

    ¡°From today onward, I will inherit the throne of the Locke Empire. It is time for these fake and shoddy clones to disappearpletely from our eyes.¡±

    He looked at Yu Hanjiang and Yu Hanjiang spoke to Ye Qi through Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings.

    At the moment when Ye Qi¡¯s piano ying stopped, Yu Hanjiang, Lu Jiuchuan, Chu Huaying and Tang Ci acted simultaneously. They poured the prepared alcohol on the clones and set them on fire right then and there. The clones let out heart-wrenching screams as the mes swept over their bodies.

    These screams sounded extremely weird. There was a human voice that was mixed in with the roars of the bugs.

    The people present looked away, their expressions extremely ugly.

    Xiao Lou, the crown prince, actually burned the emperor and usurped the throne in public? There had been many royal battles since the founding of the empire but this was the first time that a prince like Xiao Lou had appeared¡­

    The shocking truth was in front of them but it was difficult for everyone to ept and digest for a while.

    The emperor, the crown prince, his fiancee, the princess, General Lin¡­

    The guests watched these people gradually bing charcoal and were afraid to take a breath.

    Xiao Lou looked at the people in the church. ¡°The whole thing will be exined to you by Major General Yu, the captain of the Royal Guards and Major General Lu Jiuchuan, the captain of the Arrow Corps. Regarding today¡¯s wedding, the media won¡¯t report a word about it. Everyone present shouldn¡¯t remember too much, right?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked calm standing on the stage but the implied majesty in his voice shocked people.

    The young crown prince was now the only heir to the throne.

    The real emperor had dominated the Noah¡¯s Ark n and thought he was clever enough to make a clone of himself. He never expected that one day, he would be backstabbed by his own clone.

    Now he could only lie in the cold culture solution in aa.

    Those who challenged the bottom line would end up facing the consequences.

    <em>Partially proofread: Paranoid Kitten</em>

 Chapter 467: Conclusion

    Tang Ci had already sorted out the guest list for the wedding and handed it to Xiao Lou. Long Sen had sealed the church with marble bricks so no one could escape.

    What just happened was too strange. What clones, self-healing ability and regenerated limbs? It was like watching a movie and the witnessing people couldn¡¯t believe it was true!

    The church had calmed down but no one dared to speak. Most of the guests lowered their heads and trembled with fear. The church was so quiet that even the sound of breathing couldn¡¯t be heard.

    Xiao Lou nced around and spoke calmly, ¡°There will be no media coverage about what happened in the church today. Everyone here should know what to say and what not to say.¡±

    He looked at Yu Hanjiang who nodded and walked to the crown prince¡¯s side. ¡°His Majesty is old and weak. He died unexpectedly due to excessive excitement at the wedding. There was an assassination attempt on the crown prince and his wife on the way back. In order to protect the crown prince, the princess and General Lin were unfortunately killed by the assassin. The assassin¡¯s name is Rod Bell. He is a star thief wanted by the Sten Federation for many years.¡±

    The group sucked in a breath the moment they heard the calm words of the captain of the royal guards.

    This was reversing ck and white and confusing the public. Not a single sentence was true!

    However, the emperor was the ruler of the Locke Empire and Xiao Lou¡¯s biological father. If he didn¡¯t find a suitable excuse, how could Xiao Lou exin burning his father, sister, father-inw and fiancee at the wedding?

    What would people think of him?

    Moreover, the cloning program had broken the bottom line of scientific ethics. Making all of this public would only cause panic among the people. The more worrying thing was that the crazy scientists who were interested in cloning, would perhaps start the research again after hearing the truth. It was hard to guarantee they wouldn¡¯t reproduce version 4.0.

    The best method was to bury the secret forever and destroy all data about Noah¡¯s Ark. This wouldpletely end the cloning of human genes.

    For the guests present, Xiao Lou decided to use hypnosis to make them forget what happened today.

    In the beginning, Liu Qiao and Tang Ci experienced hypnosis after they were rescued by the merpeople. The merpeople were best at hypnosis. Before the wedding, Xiao Lou had found a way to contact Liu Qiao and Gui Yuanzhang was already on his way to the Locke Empire. He would be here soon.

    Outside the door, Lu Jiuchuan drove the long prepared Arrow Corps starship to above the church. Long Sen put away the marble. All the people in the church were escorted to the starship and secretly sent to the pre-prepared territory.

    That night, the imperial news published a heavy obituary.

    ¡°At the wedding of Prince Xiao Lou, His Majesty the Emperor died of a sudden cerebral infarction due to excessive excitement. On the way back, the crown princess and General Lin were killed by assassins. His Highness was injured and is being taken to hospital for treatment.¡±

    The happy event turned into a funeral. People were very worried about Xiao Lou¡¯s situation and the entrance of the hospital was crowded with reporters.

    The captain of the royal guards, Yu Hanjiang, told reporters with a cold face that the prince had only suffered trauma and was in a stable condition. However, the prince had a heavy heart from the loss of his loved ones and temporarily didn¡¯t want to ept any interviews.

    On the forum, people spontaneously offered flowers for the emperor and prayed for the prince.

    The sky over the empire was overcast and people were worried.

    All those who attended the wedding didn¡¯t go home that night.

    Once they woke up the next day, their memories were almost the same as what was described in the news. However, they always felt that their memory of the wedding was a bit vague. It seemed that something was wrong but they couldn¡¯t remember what went wrong.

    At this time, the ¡®wounded in an assassination attempt¡¯ crown prince was standing in theboratory on the top floor of the royal hospital.

    In front of himy two coffin-sized ss containers containing his closest family in this world.

    Yu Hanjiang finished dealing with the reporters and came up to the top floorboratory. He found Xiao Lou standing in front of the two ss containers with a serious and thoughtful expression.

    Yu Hanjiang went to him, gently holding his shoulder and asked, ¡°Is there anything else you don¡¯t understand?¡±

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°The Xiao Rou in theboratory looks like she is only 20 years old. This is the age she got married. Obviously, her body has been frozen here since before she got married that year. In other words, the Princess Xiao Rou who got married and went to the Azure Empire 20 years ago was actually the clone.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang looked at the young girl in the ss container and a trace of regret shed in his eyes. ¡°Xiao Rou hugged you before you got married and said you must grow up quickly. Was that the real Xiao Rou or the clone Xiao Rou?¡±

    In Xiao Lou¡¯s childhood memory, his sister wore a white wedding dress and walked along the long red carpet of the pce. There was no joy on the bride¡¯s face, only a trace of loneliness. Her voice was very gentle as she leaned over to speak in Xiao Lou¡¯s ears.

    Xiao Lou always felt that she should be the real one. Her tone of perseverance and the nostalgia in her eyes didn¡¯t seem to be pretend. Moreover, there was no need for the clone to disguise herself in front of the 5 year old Xiao Lou.

    Xiao Lou took a deep breath to remain calm. ¡°My sister who left the pce in her wedding dress should be real and she was changed on the way. 20 years ago, Xiao Rou saw our clones in theboratory. She should¡¯ve met Rod Bell, the star thief leader who was in the cloningboratory at the time.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang thought carefully for a moment and spected, ¡°In other words, Xiao Rou saw Rod Bell at theboratory and had her clone rece her for the wedding at his instigation?¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°This star thief is extremely cunning. At that time, Xiao Rou was a simple princess and she didn¡¯t want to marry a man she didn¡¯t love. She was bewitched by the star thief and promised to let the clone marry Prince Herman in her stead. Therefore, she cooperated with the star thief in an act and left the pce in her wedding dress. She switched halfway and let the clone rece her.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang followed along with this line of thinking. ¡°Unfortunately, she didn¡¯t expect that the so-called ¡®recement¡¯ was a real recement. Since then, the clone became Princess Xiao Rou while the real Xiao Rou was ced into this ss coffin by the star thief, never waking up again.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°Yes, the words she told me when I was 5 years old were actually a farewell forever.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang frowned. ¡°Xiao Rou¡¯s clone probably had a consciousness at the time and listened to Rod Bell. She cooperated with the star thief to guide General Lin¡¯s starship to the deep sea, where it crashed due to the whirlpool.¡±

    The star thieves had been traveling around the universe all these years and sold precious minerals. He probably knew about the merpeople for a long time and borrowed their hand to kill the humans on the starship.

    The plot had been guessed 70-80%.

    Rod Bell had the genes of the bugs and survived the deep sea. He deleted the information of the Noah¡¯s Ark project and cooperated with the fake Xiao Rou to build a secretboratory among the merpeople.

    On the surface, Princess Xiao Rou was monitored by her husband Herman.

    Yet in fact, it should be the other way around. It was the fake Xiao Rou who was watching her husband Herman. Through her husband, she kept abreast of the empire¡¯s movements and reported them to Rod Bell.

    Therefore, after developing version 3.0, Rod Bell sent the invisible man to the Twin Pces to look for Xiao Lou and guided him and Yu Hanjiang to leave the pce to find clues. Once Xiao Lou came to Azure, the fake Xiao Rou induced them to check the fishing vige. She led them step by step into the trap among the merpeople.

    Rod Bell was a hunter and the fake Xiao Rou was the tool he used.

    Yu Hanjiang took Xiao Lou¡¯s right hand and looked at the ring on his finger. ¡°Then how do you exin the Spirit Fox activation ring that His Majesty gave me?¡±

    Xiao Lou looked at the ss coffin. ¡°How old do you think my father in the container looks?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang examined it. ¡°The emperor looks the same age as the emperor who was burned yesterday.¡±

    Xiao Lou nodded. ¡°It is possible that the emperor we met when we first entered the secret room was actually the true one. Therefore, he summoned you to test if you can distinguish the true from the fake and gave you the activation ring of the smart mecha.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang found Xiao Lou¡¯s spection unexpected. ¡°You mean, the original emperor was the real one? He still had a bit of affection for you, the genuine prince, so he gave you the mecha so you can defend yourself. Later, the emperor was reced by the clone?¡±

    Xiao Lou answered, ¡°It is very likely. The hunters failed to kill us in the merpeople¡¯s pce, failed to let us die with the crashed starship and we even broke through the siege in the bug¡¯s undergroundbyrinth. Three consecutive ns failed so they had to put all their eggs in a basket to try and get rid of us on Capital Star.¡±

    If so, the real emperor might¡¯ve only been killed and reced by the clone in recent days.

    The emperor might be crazy and abnormal but he wouldn¡¯t kill his son himself. He just used the Gu raising n to make all his childrenpete fairly. Since the second Xiao Lou had the self-healing ability of the bugs, he gave his real son the smart mecha to bnce out their strength.

    How did he die? When was he reced by the clone?

    A figure shed in Xiao Lou¡¯s mind and he suddenly wondered, ¡°By the way, where is the third Xiao Lou?¡±

    Yu Hanjiang was slightly taken aback. ¡°Do you mean the one around the emperor who was slow-witted and obedient?¡±

    ¡°We saw three clones of me in the secret room with a consciousness. The second one participated in the engagement banquet and birthday banquet. His demeanor and temperament is most simr to the original. The third one is the obedient prince whom you saw. The fourth one was taken away by General Lin and saved by the merpeople after falling into the deep sea. The fifth one was improved ording to number four and became the prince of the merpeople as well as a hunter.¡±

    Xiao Lou looked seriously at Yu Hanjiang. ¡°The clones among the merpeople were burned by us and the second Xiao Lou at the wedding was killed by us. Then¡­ where is the third one?¡±

    Surprise filled Yu Hanjiang¡¯s heart. ¡°Number three hasn¡¯t appeared. I have only seen him once.¡±

    At that time, he used the behavior and eye analysis to determine that the Xiao Lou attending the birthday banquet wasn¡¯t the same as the one he met. Yu Hanjiang defined them as the second and third Xiao Lous.

    During this time, the one who made the public appearance was always number two. He was the one who resembled Xiao Lou the most.

    Out of all the clones, number three was the one with the weakest sense of existence. He had been by the emperor¡¯s side and was like a good and obedient pet¡­

    What if he suddenly did something to the emperor?

    The emperor would be caught off guard.

    Clones were amunity of interests. The existence of the version 3.0 chips meant they were easily controlled by Rod Bell.

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°On the way back to Capital Star, the star thief took control of the third Xiao Lou and asked him to kill the emperor. He hid the emperor in theboratory on the top floor of the hospital and woke up the emperor¡¯s clone, letting the clone rece the emperor. They wanted to resolve us at the wedding but they missed a person, Zhang Shaohua.¡±

    Xiao Lou hadn¡¯t found Zhang Shaohua¡¯s real DNA from the bones found on the sunken ship so he spected that Professor Zhang on Capital Star was the real one.

    Zhang Shaohua pretended to be a fool for 20 years and helped Xiao Lou find the most intact information. This allowed him to determine that there was a problem with the identity of the emperor and Xiao Rou. They made a detailed n in advance andpleted a clean counter-attack at the wedding.

    Rod Bell¡¯s hunting n failed again.

    Xiao Lou said, ¡°I don¡¯t know if he wille to make trouble? I need to stabilize the situation as soon as possible.¡±

    Yu Hanjiang nodded and looked at him gently. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll arrange it.¡±

    ***

    The next day, the reporters announced that Prince Xiao Lou was discharged safely.

    The imperial cab held an emergency meeting and sessfully passed the proposal for Xiao Lou, the crown prince, to inherit the throne.

    On the day that Xiao Lou seeded the throne, the royal guards escorted Xiao Lou all the way under the leadership of Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang held Xiao Lou¡¯s arm and personally sent Xiao Lou to the gate of thergest pce building in the imperial pce.

    Xiao Lou wore the emperor¡¯s clothing and looked calm and dignified. He walked in an unhurried manner toward the exquisite and luxurious throne.

    He turned and sat down slowly on the throne, the symbol of the highest power. Then he faced officials from all walks of life filling the hall.

    Everyone ced their right hand on their chest and bowed in unison. ¡°Your Majesty.¡±

    Xiao Lou smiled and raised his hand. ¡°Everyone, you can dispense with the courtesies.¡±

    At almost the same time, notifications popped up in the floating box in the upper right corner of Xiao Lou¡¯s vision.

    [Congrattions to Xiao Lou¡¯s team for smoothly clearing the Q secret room: Interster Voyage.]

    [You can either go back to your personal space to collect your rewards or stay in this secret room for the rest of your lives.]

    [Please make a choice: A. stay. B. Return to your personal space.]

    Xiao Lou didn¡¯t hesitate to press the B option and returned to his personal space with his teammates.

    For him, there was no need to stay after clearing the secret room. They had to hurry to the next secret room and leave the Card World as soon as possible.

    The clones of the Q level had left a serious psychological shadow on his teammates.

    Inter secret rooms, they must first confirm the authenticity of the other person when seeing each teammate. They almost died because of an oversight. It was still terrifying when thinking about it. In addition, they hadn¡¯t even seen the big boss of this level, Rod Bell, let alone take care of him.

    This man didn¡¯t show up until the end.

    Clearing the secret room didn¡¯t require them to kill the hunters.

    The hunters were in the darkness while they were in the light. The future K level was still uncertain but there were only two levels left. Then they could leave this strange Card World.

    They had to give it their all.

    I am starting a new job and need to do intensive training for it in January. I will have no time to trante at all so all chapter releases will be paused for January. It will resume again in February and hopefully, the schedule will be more stable since this job has steadier hours.

    <em>Partially proofread: Paranoid Kitten</em>

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!