In the darkness, the eye was wide open, with bloodshot eyes.
Before Xia Jing could do anything else, the sound of a door opening suddenly came from the right, followed by the sinister voice of the man with the mustache: "Sir, what are you doing?!"
Behind the crack in the door, the eye slid quickly to the right and disappeared in an instant.
Xia Jing stood up, and the man with a mustache appeared from behind the third door. He smiled and quickly closed the third door behind him.
He strode towards Xia Jing, standing directly between Xia Jing and the second door.
The NPC maintained that eerie smile and said coldly, "Sir, this isn't a place for guests. What brings you here? Are you lost? Do you need me to take you back to your room?"
Xia Jing just looked at him like this, then glanced at the third door.
Behind Xia Jing, Song Yang's voice suddenly rang out lazily: "Sorry, we were hungry and wanted to eat something, but we couldn't find a waiter or a cook, so we came here. We're so sorry."
"Really? That's really our fault. Could you please allow me to take you to the front to order? I will definitely call the chef right away!" The man with a mustache was still staring at Xia Jing.
Xia Jing laughed and pointed to the door in front of him: "What's in here? It looks very interesting."
"Sir, you're incredibly curious!" The man with the mustache's voice grew colder and colder. "This is the kitchen's storage room. I know—I know you're so curious you're wondering what I just walked out of. That's the wine cellar! The wine cellar is cold, and the storage room is a mess. Please don't run around. It would be terrible if something happened!"
Xia Jing withdrew his hand, put his hands in his trouser pockets, his eyes were ambiguous, and he turned to walk towards Song Yang.
Song Yang obviously didn't expect that while he was searching for clues ahead, Xia Jing actually found his way to the basement of the hotel.
His eyes swept across the small space, and when he met the gloomy gaze of the man with the mustache staring at Xia Jing's back, he didn't say anything, but simply put his arm around Xia Jing's shoulders, pushed the young man forward, and took half a step behind, blocking Xia Jing behind and blocking the man with the mustache's sight.
The man with the mustache wanted to catch up, but he said calmly, "We're not hungry anymore, so you don't need to follow us."
The man with the mustache paused, trying to raise the corners of his lips higher, and said through gritted teeth: "Yes, sir."
The two of them walked out of the kitchen quickly, and Xia Jing whispered, "There's someone in the 'warehouse'."
Song Yang moved his lips, but before he could say anything, his peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of Lu Xiang's back at the left corner.
If he remembered correctly, there was only an upward stairwell on the other side of the corner, and Lu Xiang was squatting on the ground with his back to them, curled up into a ball, and no one knew what he was doing.
Song Yang and Xia Jing looked at each other, walked over and took a look at the front of Lu Xiang, and found that this guy was actually gnawing on a round cabbage in big mouthfuls.
He opened his mouth as wide as possible and grunted as he gnawed hard, like a dog that had been hungry for two or three days tearing a piece of delicious raw meat. His eyes were full of greed and desire, and his way of eating was so barbaric that it was not like a human!
Lu Xiang noticed two shadows falling on his head, was startled, and suddenly raised his head.
His eyes were wide open, his cheeks were puffed up, his breathing was rapid, and his nose and face were covered with cabbage fragments.
Song Yang's face darkened - this vegetable was definitely stolen from the kitchen refrigerator by this guy while he and Xia Jing were dealing with the mustache guy!
His desire for vegetables has reached such an uncontrollable level that it is almost certain that there is something wrong with the vegetables in this hotel.
Lu Xiang was startled by their sudden appearance and immediately hid the half-eaten cabbage behind him.
He stood up in a panic and said, "I, I just didn't eat enough from those snacks tonight, so...haha, I usually eat very healthily and have a healthy salad every day. I really can't adapt to not being able to eat vegetables all of a sudden! And I only stole one cabbage, nothing else, really just this one!"
He explained a lot, feeling guilty, but Song Yang only asked him one question: "You don't want to die in this dungeon, do you?"
This one sentence made Lu Xiang freeze, and all subsequent excuses were stuck in his throat.
He lowered his head, his cheeks twitching slowly, as if he was still chewing the leaves in his mouth.
Tears welled up in my eyes.
He shook his head silently.
"Then give it to me." Song Yang stretched out his hand.
Lu Xiang seemed to struggle a bit. He closed his eyes, sniffed, and said pitifully, "I don't know why, but I just really want to eat vegetables. I'm sorry, Xiao Yangyang..."
He handed the cabbage to Song Yang.
Xia Jing came over and looked at the appearance of the cabbage, then looked at the cross-section that Lu Xiang had gnawed out.
There is nothing special about it. It is just an ordinary-looking cabbage, except that it grows perfectly, without any rotten or broken leaves, and is lush and green.
Lu Xiang raised his arm to wipe his mouth, not daring to say a word. He just watched the two of them studying the cabbage.
He said hoarsely, "...After seeing this cabbage, do you really not want to eat it at all?"
After observing, Xia Jing said, "I want to eat, but I can hold it back. How about you?"
He looked at Lu Xiang and asked calmly, "How badly do you crave vegetables? If you're not allowed to eat them, will you go crazy?"
Lu Xiang didn't expect Xia Jing to ask this. He opened his mouth and was a little stunned. Perhaps he really didn't know, or perhaps he didn't dare to think about it.
He just glanced at the cabbage, swallowing hard, his Adam's apple rolling up and down.
Finally, he said in agony, "I really don't want to die. If you really have to, just tie me up!"
After hearing this, Xia Jing said gently: "Then if the main monster appears, it will be very inconvenient to drag you along."
"..." Lu Xiang, "Wuwuwuwu, what should I do, little Jingjing, wuwuwuwu, I don't want to die!"
Song Yang glanced at Xia Jing speechlessly and said to Lu Xiang, "...Since you're in the same room with Lu Chenfei, let him watch you for now. By the way, you're working with him, right? Which floor are you searching? Is he the only one up there now?"
Lu Xiang said weakly, "On the second floor. We acted separately. He probably doesn't know I came downstairs yet..."
Song Yang sent a message to Lu Chenfei, who soon came down and said to Lu Xiang in disbelief, "Are you going to die?! If you want to eat vegetables so badly, you should know that the vegetables here are not normal. How dare you eat them like this?!"
Lu Xiang no longer had the courage to talk back.
During the day, he could still find excuses to justify his actions, but now, his appetite had overwhelmed him and he had done something that even he himself could not imagine. He was still frightened and cried, "I'm sorry, Xiao Feifei, I was wrong!"
Song Yang whispered to Lu Chenfei, "I know you don't get along well with him, but we're moving in groups of two or three now so we can look after each other. Why did you separate from him?"
Lu Chenfei felt a little uncomfortable when Song Yang pointed out his little thoughts.
He scratched his hair and whispered, "I know, I know. I'll keep an eye on him later."
After that, Lu Chenfei and Lu Xiang went upstairs again, and Xia Jing and Song Yang also searched other corners of the hotel lobby that had not been searched. At nine o'clock, the nine players met in Cheng Hua's room.
In the guest room area on the second floor and above, no one could find any useful clues. The only ones who had any results tonight were probably Song Yang and Xia Jing.
"Is there someone in the basement? There's definitely something fishy going on here!" Zhou Yaqing's brows raised. "Can't we just find a way to break in?"
Song Yang leaned against the wall with his arms folded, and calmly analyzed: "After the mustache guy ran into us, he should become more vigilant. I'm afraid he will have people guarding there 24 hours a day."
However, there must be important clues in that place, but how to get in is a problem.
Xia Jing recalled the clues and said slowly, "Before that NPC closed the door, I noticed that behind the door leading to the left of the basement, there was a very deep corridor, and the end was not in sight."
"That's not a decorated walkway. It's made of mud and stone bricks, like a roughly excavated underground passage. I'm afraid there's no sophisticated ventilation equipment."
Everyone was stunned.
Song Yang understood what Xia Jing meant and said, "In other words, if we want to maintain an aerobic environment where humans can close the door and stay inside for a long time, there is probably another exit at the other end of the corridor."
Everyone was cheered up.
——And where is that exit?
Xia Jingping said calmly, "There's only a forest outside the hotel. No matter what, we should set off early tomorrow morning. We can keep an eye out for clues on the way to the vegetable and fruit field."
By this time, Chenghua seemed to be hungry too.
He stuffed the few remaining cookies into his stomach, swallowed them, and nodded: "Yes, this is the only way now."
Zhou Yaqing's face was tense. "What about tonight? No, that's not right. It should be tomorrow morning. Cao Jun had an accident early this morning. Will we also encounter an accident tomorrow morning? We have to make some preparations!"
Speaking of this, the atmosphere in the room became tense again and fell into a stiff silence.
The problem is that they still don't know what happened to Cao Jun.
Zhou Yaqing suggested, "I think why don't the nine of us squeeze into one room tonight? That way everyone can take care of each other!"
Song Yang considered this suggestion and shook his head.
He raised his chin, pointed at the bed in the hotel, and said, "I think everyone still needs to sleep under the mosquito net tonight, but after sleeping there for one night, you should have already felt that whether it is a double bed or a single bed in this hotel, it is just the right size to accommodate the corresponding number of people. There is not even enough space for an extra person."
Everyone's expression became solemn, they knew that what Song Yang said was right.
Unless they all squeezed on the bed in a sitting position, no one could rest well.
If they gave up the idea of gathering in one room, Cheng Hua would actually be in the most delicate situation, because he would be the only one in his room tonight. If something really happened, he would probably be helpless.
Song Yang also considered this and said, "Uncle Cheng can come to our room. We can take turns to keep watch at night. The three of us can work hard together."
Cheng Hua, however, didn't like causing trouble for others. After a moment of hesitation, he finally gritted his teeth and said, "Cao Jun left the hotel on his own early in the morning. Regardless of whether he did it on his own or not, as long as he tied me up, there's no way I could have walked out on my own!"
Everyone was shocked.
Tying myself up might prevent something like what happened to Cao Jun from happening, but what if a monster really broke in in the middle of the night? Wouldn't I be unable to even resist?
Cheng Hua was determined to use this method. He said, "It's okay. I have an offensive monster prop on hand. I will hold it in my hand all night. You don't have to worry about me, just tie me up!"
Since Chenghua is so determined, there is nothing much for them to say.
They all brought some tools such as ropes. Lu Chenfei was responsible for stepping forward and tying Cheng Hua up.
Lu Xiang muttered, "That means I can't get up to pee in the middle of the night, so I have to pee in bed."
An awkward cough was heard.
Cheng Hua said angrily, "Anyway, this isn't a real hotel!"
...No need to pay any money!
Seeing Cheng Hua's expression, Gu Chen hesitated for a moment before saying to his sister, Gu Xing, "Xiao Xing, how about I tie you up too? I won't sleep tonight and will stay by your side. This way, I can at least ensure that nothing will happen to you."
Gu Xing said nervously, "But if you plan to stay with me all night, there's no need to tie me up. I think we should just stay awake and look at each other tonight."
Gu Chen hesitated and said, "That's fine."
Zhou Yaqing touched his arm and frowned, "I'd rather stay awake all night than be tied up."
Having said that, it seemed like everyone was ready to stay up all night.
"My suggestion is that if nothing major happens tonight, everyone can take turns keeping watch and rest for a while, at least to ensure that you have enough energy to trek ten kilometers tomorrow," Song Yang said calmly, "but at four o'clock in the morning, I hope everyone can wake up. Please set your phone alarms early."
According to Little Mustache, their hotel unlocked the lock outside the guest room at five in the morning, and Cao Jun also walked out of the room on his own after that.
Therefore, to be on the safe side, they can wake up an hour earlier and then be prepared to deal with unknown situations that may arise around five o'clock.
Everyone listened to Song Yang's words and nodded.
After separating, they each returned to their rooms.
Xia Jing walked to the window and looked outside the hotel just like last night.
The logo light at the highest point of the hotel had gone out, and it was pitch black outside. At the same time, the sound of the door being locked was heard outside their door.
Song Yang walked up to Xia Jing, and Xia Jing asked without turning his head, "Do you think the mosquito nets in the hotel are really used to keep out monsters?"
This issue has actually been discussed several times.
Up to now, there are still people who are skeptical about this, but out of fear, they still choose to follow Song Yang's advice.
Song Yang said solemnly, "Although it sounds a bit unbelievable, this hotel's position is very delicate, but the failure of protective items often means that there will be a protective measure in the dungeon that is much weaker than the items, but also very critical. The dungeon hopes to block the powerful effects of the items and let players identify them themselves."
"So my answer to your question is, yes."
Hearing this, Xia Jing turned to look at him and stretched out his hand.
Song Yang stared at him for a few seconds, knowing that at this moment, the two of them must have guessed the same thing again.
He didn't ask anything, but tacitly handed the glass jar he took from the kitchen to Xia Jing.
Xia Jing picked up the bottle and stared at the red seeds inside the jar.
After a moment, he opened the jar and poured out the contents. Then he picked up a seed, walked to the bed, pulled the mosquito net over, and held the seed close.
Song Yang stood beside him.
The seed between Xia Jing's index finger and thumb was only slightly larger than the hole in the mosquito net.
It just so happens that it can be blocked outside by the mosquito net.