Yu Hanjiang is a typical man of action. As soon as he finished speaking, he stepped forward and pushed open the door of the dilapidated temple.
With a creak, the sound of the dilapidated wooden door being pushed open was especially jarring in the dead of night.
As the door was pushed open, a sudden gust of wind swept in from inside the temple, raising dust everywhere. The yellow paper covered with strange symbols rustled in the wind, and the eerie atmosphere made Ye Qi shudder.
Thinking of the terrifying temples in various movies, Ye Qi couldn't help but stammer, "Could there be ghosts here?!"
Shao Qingge turned to Ye Qi with a half-smile: "Does Ye think Spade 4 will suddenly turn into a ghost-themed escape room? Are the Villagers all ghosts in disguise? Are there vengeful spirits haunting this temple?"
Ye Qi shrank back, forcing a smile, and said, "I've heard that ghosts don't have shadows, but the Villagers cast shadows when they walk, so they shouldn't be ghosts. However, I'm not sure if there are vengeful spirits or evil ghosts in this temple... Don't you find these talismans terrifying? Maybe some evil ghost is cursing the Villagers, causing everyone in the village to be born blind?"
Yu Hanjiang calmly said, "Don't overthink it and scare yourself. These talismans are man-made."
Ye Qi paused, then asked, " Captain Yu, are you sure?"
Yu Hanjiang picked up a talisman from the ground, gently touched the red lines on it, and said, "The bloodstains on the talisman haven't dried yet; it must have been drawn recently." He handed the talisman to Xiao Lou: " Professor Xiao, can you determine if it's human blood?"
Xiao Lou took it and smelled it, saying, "It doesn't look like human blood. It has a strange fishy smell. It should be pig's blood or duck's blood."
In the dead of night, in the desolate wilderness, with gusts of cold wind blowing, the atmosphere was quite eerie. The talismans in the dilapidated temple were flying around in a mess, yet the two of them were still able to calmly analyze the bloodstains on them—their composure was truly astonishing to Ye Qi.
Ye Qi took a deep breath to calm down, leaned closer to look at the talisman, and said, "Using animal blood to draw eyes and sticking them in the temple, is it a curse to make the Villagers blind?"
Xiao Lou nodded: "On the surface, yes."
Yu Hanjiang took two steps forward, then suddenly stopped, frowning as he looked at the tree beside him—the withered tree was swaying precariously in the wind, making a creaking sound that made one's teeth ache, and several branches had broken off and fallen to the ground.
Seeing him frowning in thought, Xiao Lou stepped forward and asked softly, " Has Captain Yu discovered something?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "Someone has been here."
His sharp gaze fell upon the dilapidated temple ahead, his voice calm yet icy: "Those hiding in the temple, come out."
There was no response from inside the house.
Yu Hanjiang said in a low voice, "Friend, we mean no harm. We just plan to stay in this temple tonight. Let's keep to ourselves and get to know each other. Or would you prefer us to force our way in?"
A moment later, everyone heard footsteps.
She was a little girl less than 1.4 meters tall, wearing a red hat and a red cloak. Ye Qi couldn't help but whisper to Xiao Lou, " Are there any children in Card World?"
Xiao Lou also found it strange. This little girl only reached his waist and looked like a primary school student. She had her head down, her face buried in the huge red hood, so he couldn't see her features. She said in a clear, childlike voice, "Big brothers, since you're going to sleep here, I'll find somewhere else. But this temple is strange, so be careful."
She left those words behind and turned to leave. Xiao Lou watched the little girl's retreating figure, feeling that something was amiss.
Yu Hanjiang suddenly turned around and said, " You were the one who put down the Kongming Lantern, weren't you?"
Little Girl paused slightly.
Xiao Lou was also taken aback, then turned to look at Yu Hanjiang, who gave him a reassuring look.
At the time, Xiao Lou was dealing with the suddenly shouting Tibetan Mastiff and temporarily ignored the kongming lantern. By the time he had subdued the Tibetan Mastiff, the kongming lantern had disappeared from the sky. Yu Hanjiang, a frequent investigator, was exceptionally sensitive to the location of clues. Although he was in the maze-like Liuxi Village, he immediately remembered the direction in which the kongming lantern had appeared—to the west.
There was only this mountain to the west. The four of them did not encounter any other Challengers on their way here, but they saw this little girl in the temple.
That's why Yu Hanjiang asked that question.
Little Girl didn't turn around, her voice tinged with innocence: " Kongming lantern? I don't know what you're talking about."
Yu Hanjiang said coldly, "The tree in the temple has broken branches from top to bottom, while the wind is blowing from east to west. Therefore, it is more likely that the branches were broken by someone stepping on them."
"When we entered the village, we saw a woman moving quickly among the trees. She must have drawn a card that allows her to move using trees. The temple gate was tightly closed and showed no signs of being opened, yet you were inside—clearly, you jumped in directly using the trees and accidentally broke a dead branch."
" The first few levels of the Card Room are very difficult; it's impossible for a child like you to complete them alone. Therefore, your current form is definitely not your true form. Besides the Flying Card, you also drew a card that can change your form."
"The transformation card has a cooldown period, and you're in such a hurry to leave... Am I right?"
The little girl fell silent.
Xiao Lou, Ye Qi, and Shao Qingge looked at each other in bewilderment.
Captain Yu truly lives up to his reputation as a police officer; his series of questions left the other party completely speechless.
.
He was able to find so many clues at the scene, and through the traces of broken branches and rigorous logical reasoning, he deduced that the Little Girl in front of him was not the original form, but the girl with the " Lightness Skill "—the other party neither admitted nor denied it, which clearly meant that Captain Yu had guessed correctly.
Xiao Lou smiled and said, "Don't worry, we mean no harm. You can tell us the clues you've found, and we'll give you a map of Liuxi Village in exchange. How about that?" He paused and added, "You were setting off the kongming lantern on the mountain just now, so you probably haven't had time to explore the village yet, right? The map should be helpful to you."
Perhaps because Xiao Lou's attitude was too gentle, the girl finally took off her hat.
As she removed her hood, her face and figure instantly changed—she was a girl with delicate features, a hint of indifference in her expression, a ponytail that reached her shoulders, and wearing casual clothes and white sneakers.
She was about 1.65 meters tall, a whole head shorter than Xiao Lou, but her gaze remained calm. She looked up and met Xiao Lou's eyes, her voice cool and clear: "Give me the map first, and then I'll give you the information you want to know."
Xiao Lou said, "We only drew one map. Do you have any paper or pen? I can make a copy for you."
The girl tossed a white handkerchief over and said, "This handkerchief is special. You can write directly on it with your hand, and it can also enlarge itself at any time. The ribbons on the Kongming Lantern were made from it."
It seems this was also produced by a card with special functions. Xiao Lou quickly drew a floor plan of Liuxi Village on the handkerchief with his index finger, walked up to her, and handed it to her with a smile: "Now you can tell us, right? Why did you release the kongming lantern to lure the Challenger here?"
The girl checked the handkerchief, carefully put the map away, and then said, "I found human bones in the temple."
Xiao Lou was startled: "You mean, the remains of the dead? How many?"
The girl said expressionlessly, "There are a lot of them; I accidentally dug them out."
Ye Qi suddenly shuddered: "Holy crap! How come there are dead people's bones? Could it be like Fenglin High School, where they murdered and buried the body? Is this the Spade Secret Room or the Heart Room?!"
The girl glanced at him and continued calmly, "I wanted to lure the Challengers here for this reason. I don't know what the human bones in the temple mean, but I guess that to perfectly complete Spade 4, besides avoiding the Villagers and finding the gems, we might also need to solve the mystery of the Villagers ' blindness and the presence of human remains in the temple."
"Why are you digging up temples?" Yu Hanjiang asked in a low voice. "Is it to find gems?"
The girl nodded: "After entering the village, I went west and followed the stream upstream. I found the spring and this abandoned temple. The temple was strange, and I wanted to see if I could find any gems. There was only one house in the temple that was dedicated to the mountain god. Behind the house, there was a patch of ground that looked strange, so I dug around and found a big pit filled with human bones."
Yu Hanjiang asked, "So that's why you brought Challenger here, hoping everyone can solve the mystery?"
The girl calmly said, "I only want to pass this level easily and get out of this room alive. If you want to achieve a perfect pass, you can try to solve the puzzles." She waved her hand and said, "I'm leaving now. Do as you please."
After saying that, she leaped up and flew to the treetops in the distance.
After several leaps using the trees, the girl quickly disappeared into the night.
Ye Qi couldn't help but say, "This girl is quite amazing, like a master with Lightness Skill in a martial arts novel."
Xiao Lou looked in the direction she disappeared, his eyes filled with admiration: "To be able to walk all the way to Spade 4 by herself, this girl is no ordinary person. She must have a lot of good cards, like that transformation card from earlier, which turns her into a girl of about ten years old, making it easy to lower people's guard."
Shao Qingge stroked his chin and said, "Perhaps she escaped the criminal's pursuit by using this kind of disguise during the Financial Crisis."
Yu Hanjiang suddenly said, " Ye Qi's question just now was crucial."
Ye Qi was taken aback: "What...what question did I ask?"
Yu Hanjiang repeated, "Is this the heart room, or the Spade Secret Room?"
Xiao Lou realized what was happening and said, "This should be a series of interconnected escape rooms."
Ye Qi's eyes widened: "You mean, Liuxi Village is actually a linked escape room between Spade and Hearts?"
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "That's right."
Shao Qingge agreed, saying, "That makes sense. Financial Crisis is a linked escape room between Spade and Plum Blossom, where you survive while also getting coins from the Plum Blossom Secret Chamber. Liuxi Village is a link between Hearts and Spade, where you survive while solving puzzles... It seems like the fourth level will eliminate a lot of Challengers."
Xiao Lou recalled Red Heart A's words and said, "The elimination rate is over 80%."
Yu Hanjiang also recalled the hint when entering the secret room, and frowned, saying, "Killing Villagers is prohibited... There were no such prohibitions in Spade 3. Challengers could kill Freelancers without being punished. Suddenly, killing Villagers was forbidden in Spade 4. I found it strange at the time. It seems that Hearts added these prohibitions."
Red Heart 4: The main suspect will confuse Challenger. Spade 4: Survival and suspense intertwine; Challenger must not only evade Villager and find gems, but also solve skeleton and talisman puzzles to achieve a perfect completion.
It seems that the elimination rate in the fourth stage before entering the main city is quite astonishing.
Yu Hanjiang said decisively, "Let's go check behind the house. It would be best if you could get a perfect score on Spade 4, but don't force it if you can't."
The four of them walked around the dilapidated building and came to the back of the house.
As the girl said, there was an abnormal patch of ground here, with extremely lush weeds growing there.
Sheng's presence is strikingly different from its surroundings.
She was probably digging a hole here in search of gems—but she ended up digging a huge pit.
The countless human bones piled up in the pit gleamed coldly in the moonlight, sending chills down one's spine.
Ye Qi and Shao Qingge looked grim and stiffly turned their heads away.
Xiao Lou stepped forward, squatted down, and used a twig to pick up the bones in the pit for a closer look. After a moment, Xiao Lou concluded: "The bones are in a similar state of decay, so the time of death should be more than 30 years ago. Something must have happened, and they were all buried here."
Yu Hanjiang roughly counted the number of pelvises: "There are more than forty."
Shao Qingge felt a throbbing pain in his temples: "So many people dead, was it a village massacre?" As a heartless person, the sight of murder cases and corpses gave him a splitting headache. So many skeletons were enough to trigger his trypophobia, and he barely managed to stay upright.
Yu Hanjiang pondered: "The talismans in the temple, the buried bones, and the collective blindness of everyone—the ancestors of this village must have offended someone, been cursed, or been punished by someone."
Xiao Lou chimed in, "Since this is a secret room linked by Hearts and Spade, it's more likely to be man-made."
Yu Hanjiang chimed in, "The murderer might still be in the village."
Xiao Lou nodded: "Finding the culprit will solve the problem of the Villagers ' blindness."
Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou exchanged a knowing glance.
Shao Qingge and Ye Qi: "..."
They both desperately wanted to ask, "Who am I? Where am I? What should I do?"
Shao Qingge decided to give up thinking and go look at the moon.
Ye Qi actively joined the discussion: "The strangest thing about this locked room is that we can't touch the suspects, let alone interrogate them. We have to hide from Villager at all times, so how are we supposed to know what happened thirty years ago?"
"The investigation will be difficult, but it's not without clues. The murderer will definitely leave a trace." Yu Hanjiang said, then stood up, turned and walked towards the dilapidated building, saying, "That girl just released a kongming lantern. Maybe other Challengers will enter this temple. Let's search the temple first to see if there are any other clues."
Everyone agreed with Captain Yu's suggestion and went into the temple together.
The abandoned ancient temple had been deserted for a long time. The two arms of the statue enshrined inside had been cleanly severed and lay scattered nearby, broken into pieces. The statue was painted with brightly colored paint, but due to its age, the colors had faded. The wooden sculpture was chipped here and there, looking utterly dilapidated.
Yu Hanjiang observed carefully for a moment and said, "This should be a mountain god. Many people have the custom of worshipping mountain gods and praying for their protection so that the next year will be blessed with good weather and a good harvest. The statue of the mountain god has been destroyed. It seems that the other party has a deep hatred for the Villager of this village."
Just then, a series of footsteps sounded outside.
The four men turned around alertly and went outside, only to see several Challengers entering the temple one after another, each with a different expression.
The middle-aged man at the head of the group asked, " Were you the ones who set off the kongming lantern just now?"
Xiao Lou shook his head and smiled, saying, "We also saw the kongming lantern and followed the direction to find our way here."
The man looked at Xiao Lou suspiciously and asked, "So what did you find?"
Xiao Lou pointed to the back of the house.
Several people went over to investigate, and soon, they heard terrified screams: "Ah—so many dead human bones!"
It was a girl's voice, and her mouth was immediately covered by her companion: "Keep it down!"
The middle-aged man's voice trembled slightly: "What the hell is going on? Which bastard led us to this dilapidated temple to see these dead bones?!"
The woman next to him said nervously, "Let's find a place to spend the night first. This village is strange in every way, so let's not meddle in other people's business!"
The man took a deep breath and said, "That's true. Anyway, the Spade Secret Room requires us to find the gem within seven days, so finding the gem is the priority."
The group turned back to Xiao Lou, looking at him warily, and asked, "You haven't already found the gem, have you?"
Xiao Lou said with a smile, "We just arrived too. We saw the human bone pit behind the house and were wondering whether we should continue the investigation."
The other party clearly didn't believe his story, but they couldn't just take action directly, so the group left with grim expressions.
Next, more Challengers came, and after checking the village, they ran up the mountain. After discovering the human bones in the temple, they all turned around and left. Obviously, most of them didn't want to meddle and just wanted to clear the game.
However, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang had no intention of leaving and were still investigating seriously.
Ye Qi asked tentatively, "Are we sure we want to sleep in the temple tonight?"
Xiao Lou said optimistically, "Although this house is a bit dilapidated, it can keep out the wind and rain, which is good."
Ye Qi: "..."
There's a pile of human bones behind the house! And you call that good? Professor Xiao is too calm.
However, Captain Yu looked at Xiao Lou with approval, while Shao Qingge looked at the moon with indifference. Ye Qi could only swallow hard and say, "Okay... then I'll sleep here."
Following these teammates, Ye Qi felt that he would gradually become abnormal, and maybe in the future he could sleep soundly even with a skull as his pillow.