Yu Hanjiang returned Ye Qi's teleportation card to him when they left the Spade 3 secret room. Now, watching Ye Qi and Shao Qingge teleport into the village, Xiao Lou felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity and hurriedly asked, "Should we follow them?"
"Yes, Professor Xiao, you can finally use your speed shoes."
The S-grade equipment card "Swift Wind" that Yu Hanjiang gave us before can increase movement speed by 5 times after activating the skill. Although Ye Qi and Shao Qingge can teleport, the " teleportation card " has a drawback - it can only teleport horizontally in a straight line and cannot pass through obstacles.
The village roads are winding, so catching up with them shouldn't be difficult.
Xiao Lou activated the speed-up shoes skill, and his feet moved like the wind as he quickly chased after Ye Qi and Shao Qingge in the direction they had disappeared.
Yu Hanjiang followed closely behind, keeping a certain distance from him.
Even without accelerating, Captain Yu was able to keep up with him. Xiao Lou felt ashamed. It seemed that his physical strength and speed were worlds apart from Captain Yu's. Even accelerating five times, he could still be caught by Captain Yu. He should do more physical training in the future.
The village roads were not complicated, and the two quickly followed. Soon, Ye Qi and Shao Qingge came into view.
Ye Qi and Shao Qingge had clearly walked into a dead end and were about to turn back when Xiao Lou bumped into them.
Under the moonlight, they couldn't see each other's faces clearly from a distance, only their outlines were vaguely visible. Ye Qi realized that his path was blocked by two tall men. He instinctively wanted to run away, but Yu Hanjiang grabbed the hood of his clothes and whispered, "Why are you running? It's us."
The voice was deep and cold; it sounded familiar.
Ye Qi was stunned for a moment, and before he could react to who it was, he heard a gentle voice in his ear, with a hint of laughter: "Little Ye, have you forgotten us so quickly?"
That's Professor Xiao's voice!
Ye Qi's eyes suddenly lit up, and he exclaimed excitedly, "It's you guys!"
Yu Hanjiang gestured for him to be quieter and pointed to a large tree in the distance. Ye Qi understood and quickly followed.
The four of them arrived at a tree in the distance. Shao Qingge said with a smile, "I thought we wouldn't run into you guys this time. We wasted too much time in Heart 3 and Diamond 4. "
Yu Hanjiang asked in confusion, " Heart 3? Didn't we tell you about the plot of Heart 3 before?"
Shao Qingge: "..."
Captain Yu is still as direct as ever.
Ye Qi stared wide-eyed at Shao Qingge: "You already knew the plot?! No wonder you were looking for Ying Xiaoya everywhere at Fenglin High School! I was wondering who Ying Xiaoya was, turns out Captain Yu and Professor Xiao spoiled the plot for you!"
Unfazed by being exposed, Shao Qingge narrowed his charming eyes and said with a smile, "Unfortunately, there is no Ying Xiaoya in our world. The deceased was a girl named Zhou Yu, and the murderer was not named Zhang Qing."
Ye Qi complained, "Although there is no Ying Xiaoya at our Fenglin High School, the plot is similar to what CEO Shao predicted. It is a story about revenge. CEO Shao found the book ' The Count of Monte Cristo ' and followed the clues to find the murderer."
At the time, Ye Qi was quite impressed, thinking CEO Shao was incredibly clever to be able to pinpoint the murderer based on a single book. Little did she know, Shao Qingge had already gleaned the plot details from Professor Xiao beforehand …
Upon hearing this, Xiao Lou seemed thoughtful: "So, the names of the main character and the murderer in Heart Room have all been changed?"
Shao Qingge nodded: "Just like the Diamond Secret Room, which has the same mechanism but different questions, I feel that the Heart Room also has a question bank. Different Challengers will randomly draw the plot after entering. The general direction is the same, but there will be many differences in the small details. Therefore, you can't just rely on other people's spoilers to pass the game perfectly. You have to use your own brain to find clues."
Yu Hanjiang asked, " Did you also encounter trouble in the Diamond 4 escape room?"
Ye Qi looked embarrassed: "We thought about the body scale for a long time before finally deciding to lie down on it, and it took us more than 25 minutes."
"It's good that you can pass the level." Xiao Lou smiled and patted the boy's shoulder, saying, "It seems that the Guardian is controlling the time flow of the escape rooms. After you separated in Financial Crisis last time, you went to Heart 3 - Plum Blossom 4 - Diamond 4, and we went to Plum Blossom 3 - Red Heart 4 - Diamond 4. We both went through three escape rooms. This time, we were matched together again."
Ye Qi's eyes were full of joy as he looked at Xiao Lou and said, "Yes! With you guys here, I suddenly feel much more confident."
Shao Qingge said, "We can't be careless either. I just noticed that many Challengers have already entered the village, so the number of people matched this time shouldn't be less than in Financial Crisis. The most crucial thing is the prompt when entering Liuxi Village."
"You mean, there are seven gems in the village, and finding any one of them is the key to passing the level?" Xiao Lou asked.
Shao Qingge nodded: "Clearance is based on teams. Ye Qi and I have signed a contract book, so we're one team. You two are another team, so for the four of us to clear the level, we need to find at least two gems."
Ye Qi also realized what was happening and said nervously, "I just saw someone acting alone without any teammates. If he wants to clear the level, he'll have to find a gem by himself... There are seven gems in total, but with two-person teams and single-person teams, there will definitely be more than seven groups. So, the items needed to clear the level will eventually be in short supply."
Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly and lowered his voice, saying, "This is clearly a challenge deliberately created by Spade 4's secret room. Later on, in order to pass the level, there will be direct competition between Challengers. Those who haven't gotten the gems will try to steal them."
Unlike Financial Crisis, where everyone can team up to clear the room, this room will inevitably eliminate someone. We cannot blindly trust other Challengers.
Perhaps, the other party claims to be willing to join forces with you, but at the last moment, they steal your gems, causing you to lose everything.
Human nature is unpredictable, so we must be wary.
Xiao Lou agreed, "Let's just focus on ourselves in this secret room. The four of us just need to find two gems to clear it. We don't have the energy to help the other Challengers. We won't bother them unless they bother us."
Yu Hanjiang nodded and said, "Let's go into the village first, find out the terrain of the whole village, and draw a map."
Xiao Lou asked, "Shall we act together?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "Let's split up. CEO Shao and Ye Qi have teleportation cards. You two can check the west and north sides of the village, while Professor Xiao and I will check the southeast."
Shao Ye and Xiao Lou both had no objections. Xiao Lou reminded them, "By the way, there's an old lady surnamed Qin who owns a huge Tibetan Mastiff. That dog is very fierce. If you encounter it, be sure to avoid it."
Ye Qi's face turned pale: " Tibetan Mastiff? That's the black dog that severely injured the two Challengers at the beginning, right?"
"That's right, it has a very sensitive sense of smell and can smell strangers." Xiao Lou suggested, "Once you encounter it, you can use the Balance reward from Diamond 4 to trap it for 5 minutes, and then use the Teleportation Card to escape quickly."
"Understood." Ye Qi nodded vigorously. "We have a teleportation card; it can't catch up."
Yu Hanjiang instructed, "Be careful, you two. Meet here in an hour."
The four of them split up and entered the village. Shao Qingge and Ye Qi went to the west, while Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang went to the east.
Under the moonlight, in the quiet village, shadowy figures moved about, and the sound of very light footsteps could be heard.
Xiao Lou roughly counted that he and Captain Yu had met nearly ten Challengers along the way, and adding the ones CEO Shao and Ye Qi encountered on their way to the west, the number of Challengers matched into this escape room must have exceeded twenty.
Most Challengers who arrive at Spade 4 are not weaklings; they must have a lot of reward cards obtained after completing the game—some fly in the sky, some crawl on the ground, and some use ropes to hook onto buildings and leap. Challengers show off their unique skills, which reminds Xiao Lou of a martial arts movie where a secret manual appears in a mountain villa, and martial arts masters from all walks of life come to steal the treasure in the dead of night.
Since two fools were eliminated early in the escape room due to their reckless actions, everyone became cautious, trying to move quietly so as not to disturb the sleeping Villager or the other Challengers.
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang encountered a man and a woman who glanced at them and quickly turned away. No one seemed inclined to get to know each other; they were all busy figuring out the village's layout.
After entering the village, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang ignored everyone else and began to explore the village's roads, trees, and buildings on their own...
Just then, Xiao Lou suddenly saw a huge lantern rising in the distance. It was something like an ancient " kongming lantern." The round lantern floated in the air, emitting a warm, soft light. A ribbon was hanging from it, with several large characters written on it: " Challenger, please come and join us."
The two exchanged a glance, and Xiao Lou asked, "What does this person want to do?"
Yu Hanjiang said in a low voice, "Let's ignore him for now and find out the terrain of the village first."
Aside from the genetically modified individuals, all the Villagers in Liuxi Village are blind and cannot see the kongming lantern in the sky. Today is only the first day of the escape room, and the hidden boss, who can see, is unlikely to be attracted by the kongming lantern and reveal his identity. Therefore, this person releasing the signal lantern at night to lure other Challengers to gather is likely to discuss countermeasures with everyone.
However, Yu Hanjiang did not intend to go there. Challenger was a mixed bag, and it might not be a good thing for everyone to act together.
The two ignored the kongming lantern in the sky for the time being and continued to investigate.
Suddenly, Xiao Lou heard a familiar barking sound breaking the silence of the night. The sound was coming from an alley not far away—a Challenger had disturbed the Tibetan Mastiff!
Xiao Lou saw two girls running out of the alley as if their lives depended on it, and he immediately stopped them: "What's going on?"
A girl, her face pale, said, "That dog has such a keen sense of smell and hearing! We didn't even go inside; we just happened to pass by its door, and it started barking!"
The other girl was relatively calmer and said, "I'm worried that if it keeps barking like that, it will wake up the whole Villager."
Xiao Lou shared this concern—if the Tibetan Mastiff's cries woke up the Villager, it would be disastrous. With so many Challengers scouting the village, the commotion would be considerable. The Villagers ' hearing was extremely sharp, and the Challengers might be discovered by the Villager and driven out to spend the night with the wild beasts outside the village.
Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang and whispered, " Captain Yu, I want to try to control this Tibetan Mastiff and stop it from barking."
Yu Hanjiang realized what he was about to do and nodded: "Okay, I'll cover you."
The two girls were surprised to find that instead of running away, they turned around and walked towards the house where the Tibetan Mastiff lived.
Xiao Lou peered through the crack in the door and saw the location of the Tibetan Mastiff. In the moonlight, the nearly one-meter-tall Tibetan Mastiff cast a huge black shadow on the ground. It was tied to a stone pillar in the house, and at this moment, it was furiously pawing at the ground and roaring fiercely at the door, clearly extremely angry about the strangers invading its territory.
Xiao Lou decisively summoned Qin Guan.
Additional skill 1: Tender as water, a beautiful dream.
Qin Guan gazed tenderly at the Tibetan Mastiff. The fierce dog, momentarily stunned by the gaze, then drifted into a sweet dream.
In my dream, there was a beautiful female dog, all golden yellow, chasing after the other dog and drooling. The beautiful dog even gently licked its head.
Tibetan Mastiff: "..."
Lost in his "dream of longing," the Tibetan Mastiff, instead of continuing to roar, obediently lay down on the ground.
Yu Hanjiang: "..."
Xiao Lou hadn't expected Qin Guan's single-target control skill to be so powerful. Seeing the ferocious dog suddenly become so docile, he was both amused and exasperated, and said to Yu Hanjiang, "It's done, but this skill can only control it for 3 minutes at most. Let's finish investigating this alley as soon as possible."
Three minutes is enough for Yu Hanjiang, who is skilled in reconnaissance.
Yu Hanjiang quickly checked the alleyway. There were three households in the alley, with two forks at the end. He turned around and returned to the alley entrance with Xiao Lou. The two girls were still waiting for them. Seeing that they had returned safely, they breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Where's the dog?"
Xiao Lou said, "It's asleep. But it might wake up again. You should leave this area quickly and don't disturb it."
The two girls nodded, then turned and left nervously.
On the first night, all the Villagers were fast asleep, except for Tibetan Mastiff, who was easily disturbed.
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang quickly familiarized themselves with the village's terrain, returned to the large tree in the middle, and met up with Shao Qingge and Ye Qi.
Yu Hanjiang took a large lotus leaf and drew a map of the village's distribution in the southeast direction on it. Shao Qingge and Ye Qi then added a map of the distribution in the northwest direction. The four of them looked down and observed carefully.
The village is laid out in a square pattern, with an entrance in the east, south, west, and north. Two main horizontal and vertical passages form a "well"-shaped internal transportation network. On these main roads, there are some smaller branches, which are basically alleys with only one household and dead ends.
The village has more than 120 households, and all the houses are traditional brick and tile houses with the same shape. There are no numbers at the door, so strangers can easily get lost after entering the village.
Every household has a vegetable garden, growing some common vegetables. Many families keep dogs, but most of them are asleep at this time. The fiercest dog is still the Tibetan Mastiff belonging to Old Mrs. Qin on the east side of the village.
Yu Hanjiang marked the location of Tibetan Mastiff on the map.
Ye Qi said, "We saw a not-so-high mountain to the west of the village. The spring water flows down from the mountain and forms a stream that surrounds the entire village. The villagers must get their drinking water from the spring water on the mountain."
Shao Qingge added: "There is also a large pond to the northwest. I don't know if you can fish there."
Yu Hanjiang said, "The east and south sides we went to were all large areas of farmland where the villagers grew crops."
Farmland stretches to the east and south, springs lie to the west, a large pond is to the north, and beyond that, layers upon layers of mountains. This village is like a piece of natural jade that has fallen into the mountains by accident.
Yu Hanjiang looked down at the map of the entire village, paused for a moment, and said, "The gem might be hidden in Villager's house. We need to pay close attention to the house of Old Lady Qin, who raises Tibetan Mastiffs. We also need to carefully check the mountains, ponds, and farmland over the next few days."
"Should we find a place to stay first?" Xiao Lou asked. "Xiao Ye, have you guys gone up the mountain to the west?"
"It was too dark, so we didn't dare go up. We only saw springs flowing down the mountain, forming streams." Ye Qi paused, his eyes filled with apprehension: "What if there are wild beasts or poisonous snakes on this mountain?"
Xiao Lou smiled slightly: "No, that won't happen."
Ye Qi asked in confusion, "Didn't the clue in the secret room say that there are wild beasts in the mountains?"
Xiao Lou explained, "That's a mountain outside the village. This mountain is located within the boundaries of Liuxi Village. And think about it, in the evening, many villagers carry water down from the mountain to the west. Since blind people dare to go up the mountain to fetch water, it proves that the mountain must be safe."
Yu Hanjiang nodded in agreement: "That's right. If there were wild beasts in this mountain, the Villagers wouldn't be able to go there to fetch water every day."
Ye Qi suddenly realized, scratching his head and saying, "Oh yeah! How come I didn't think of that..."
Shao Qingge smiled and said, "Then let's go. We can find a place to spend the night on the mountain."
The four of them traveled together to the western mountain.
The mountain was low and covered with many trees. A very flat path ran through it, clearly worn smooth by the frequent visits of villagers. The four of them followed the path uphill and soon came to a clear spring. The sound of the flowing water tumbled past their ears, the gentle murmur of the stream particularly clear in the dead of night.
To the four people's surprise, there was a mountain god temple directly opposite the spring.
Under the moonlight, the desolate temple in the wilderness exudes an eerie atmosphere.
Xiao Lou walked to the front of the temple and looked up at the tightly closed gate.
There were some strange talismans pasted on the door, and he couldn't help but say, "This temple looks a bit odd. What do these talismans mean?"
He couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong with him.
However, standing in front of the temple, there is always a feeling of cold wind blowing and a chill running down your spine.
After examining them closely for a while, Xiao Lou suddenly said, "Don't you guys think the patterns on these talismans look a bit like... eyes?"
The three of them were taken aback when they heard this and turned to look at each other.
The papers rustled in the wind. On the yellow talismans, strange lines were drawn in red. Ignoring the messy lines around them, the central pattern was an oval with a drop of blood in the middle—wasn't that the shape of an eye?!
Eye?
The entire village is blind, and the talisman...
Is the drawing of eyes related to their blindness?
Yu Hanjiang never believed in ghosts or gods. He frowned and made a decisive decision: "Let's go in and take a look."