The three of them were exhausted after all the hard work, especially as the sun was scorching, so they decided to take a break before continuing.

They walked to the grove, each found a place under the shade of a tree, and sat down to rest slowly.

Qin Xue was the most tired among them. He had been curled up in that cage for a day and a night, and his energy had long been exhausted. Now that he was finally out, he fell asleep within two minutes.

Mingqiao propped up his head and stared at the restaurant in the distance. Although he had come out, he still had a lot of things that he didn't understand.

For example, why was there nothing unusual when they went up to the third floor for the first time, but everything changed when they went up to the second and third floors the second time? What caused these changes? And the questions he had thought about before but had no conclusions became obstacles that he could not overcome in his reasoning process. If they encountered similar problems next time, they would still not be able to solve them.

But we can barely come to some rough conclusions: following the rules can save your life, breaking the rules will be punished, and the rules are made by at least two people.

"Mr. Ming, can you please stop thinking about it?" Shi Xin looked at Ming Qiao's regretful expression, feeling somewhat depressed. "We've already gotten out, and we've left people in the small dark room and the maze. Even if someone accidentally enters the cafeteria in the future, the exit will always be open."

"There's something I can't understand," Mingqiao said.

"But this thing itself is illogical." Shi Xin was puzzled: "You will only get yourself into trouble if you try to argue with something illogical. It's better to think simply. If enemies come, we will fight them. If water comes, we will block it. As long as we can save people and escape, that's enough."

"It's not always possible to escape as luckily as this time." Ming Qiao found it hard to agree with Shi Xin's statement: "Only by accumulating experience can you run faster in the future."

"Okay." Shi Xin didn't want to get tangled up with him, so he picked up a piece of grass and held it in his mouth, then took the camera hanging on his chest and took a photo of the restaurant: "To commemorate the first day of my escape from death, it was not easy."

"Please don't distribute it randomly after you go out." Mingqiao reminded: "It will have a bad impact on the school."

Shi Xin snorted coldly: "Even if I don't say it, can you guarantee that those who have experienced it in your school won't tell others? You can't shut everyone up. The school is already like this, what good reputation do we need? Maybe it will be difficult to recruit students in the future."

"..." Ming Qiao was powerless to refute and could only watch Shi Xin pat the restaurant again and again.

"Let's talk about something else, Mr. Ming." Shi Xin noticed Ming Qiao's glances from time to time, and his face was calm: "Where are you from?"

"Jingxi."

"It's quite far from our city."

"Well, it takes six or seven hours by high-speed rail."

"Why do you want to be a teacher? And so far away from home."

"My parents are both teachers, and they wanted me to work in this industry," Mingqiao said slowly. "I was interested in history, so I chose this major in college. I was hesitant about whether to give up the path of being a teacher, but after doing an internship for a while in my senior year, I still wanted to be a teacher, so I applied for guaranteed admission to graduate school and continued to study for three years. After graduation, my supervisor recommended me to come here, so I came."

"Then how often do you go home?" Shi Xin asked again.

"I'll go back and live there for a while during the winter and summer vacations." Ming Qiao looked at him, "What about you? Why do you become a reporter?"

"Why so many whys?" Shi Xin closed his eyes lazily. "I just like it. I run around everywhere and listen to stories everywhere. Although it's tiring, it's very interesting."

"Your family is from Xingchuan?"

"Yeah." Shi Xin nodded: "A native, I have lived here for more than 20 years."

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

Shi Xin froze for a moment, his face slightly red, not sure if it was from the sun or something else: "No."

"Oh." Mingqiao nodded thoughtfully: "That shouldn't be the case. With your looks, how can you not find a girlfriend?"

Shi Xin said hesitantly, "There are many handsome guys in our Xingchuan University. I am just an ordinary person, so it is normal that I can't find anyone."

Mingqiao was a little skeptical: "Really?"

Shi Xin nodded: "Really, I've never been in a relationship, so it's not my turn."

Mingqiao looked at him several times again and shook his head in confusion.

Shi Xin is a sunny type in both appearance and temperament, and he is the type that girls like. Especially at his age, he is beginning to become mature, but he still has a hint of youthfulness that is not easy to fade away. He is likable no matter how you look at him, and he doesn't look like someone who has never even been in a relationship.

Is it because I am too old? I don't understand the current mainstream aesthetics?

Not much older.

Mingqiao began to have deep doubts about his age.

Shi Xin was standing next to him, also fidgeting as if a needle had been stuck in his butt. He didn't know why Ming Qiao suddenly asked such a question, like an elder, especially with the unique scrutiny of a teacher, which made him feel uncomfortable.

Although he was not his student, Shi Xin still felt nervous about being caught in a premature relationship by his teacher.

He is already 22 years old, an adult! This is not puppy love!

"I think Qin Xue and Deng Ya are more like premature love." Shi Xin couldn't help but blurt out when he thought of this.

Ming Qiao was caught off guard by his circuitous train of thought. He smiled and said, "Really? I think the two of them plus Wang Lu are more like a love triangle."

"..." Shi Xin wanted to say, I didn't ask you to draw inferences from one example.

"Qin Xue is good at studying and is pretty. Deng Ya is mischievous and likable. Wang Lu has a rich family and is pretty. I can roughly tell that Wang Lu likes Qin Xue and Deng Ya also likes Qin Xue. Qin Xue himself is wavering, but perhaps he prefers Deng Ya a little more." Mingqiao simply summarized: "Although it is normal for adolescents to have a little impulse and affection for the opposite sex, they are still too young. I will go back and talk to their class teacher to see whether to call their parents. This matter needs to be properly guided and they can't waste their time on it."

"How do you see so much?" Shi Xin was a little surprised.

"Not all of them can be seen." Mingqiao said: "The teachers in the office will discuss when they are free. For example, I heard this teacher say today that he found some clues about someone, so he will check it out in person during class. If that doesn't work, he will ask the two to answer the question together. If someone cheers, it means it's true."

"So these are all verified by countless teachers?" Shi Xin thought carefully and was horrified: "No wonder the head teacher would know if anyone in the class fell in love before."

“So, if you don’t want to be discovered, just don’t do anything,” Mingqiao concluded.

Perhaps it was because he had been easily seen through by his teachers since he was a child that a chill ran down Shi Xin's back. Even though he knew Ming Qiao was not talking about him, he did not want to continue the conversation: "Let's go, don't rest."

"What's wrong?" Ming Qiao supported himself and stood up: "Did you find anything else?"

"No." Shi Xin felt guilty and said quickly, "I just thought that if I encounter something later, it will be more difficult to solve it in the dark, so I might as well go out when it's daylight."

"That makes sense." Mingqiao said as he called Qin Xue up, then turned to Shi Xin and said, "Maybe we can run into Teacher Zhang and the others. Let's look for them as we go."

They have just passed the first stop, and there are still playgrounds, libraries, and teaching buildings waiting behind them. The offices and restaurants are in such a state, it is conceivable that other buildings will not be normal either.

If they left earlier, they could save the students from danger and leave the school earlier.

Mingqiao is now a little nervous. He carefully observes the surroundings with every step he takes, for fear that some rules or punishments will come out and trap them in this grove.

Fortunately, the grove was not big and nothing strange happened along the way.

Everything seemed to be the same as usual. He just took a stroll in the grove after dinner, leisurely digesting his food and avoiding the heat.

"Teacher Ming!"

Mingqiao was suddenly brought back to his senses by a scream. He immediately looked towards the source of the sound and found Zhang Wanqiao and the other two standing by the stands of the playground. Their expressions were panic, fear, and a hint of surprise.

Shi Xin and Qin Xue also saw them and ran over without stopping.

"Why are you still here?" Mingqiao asked, "Didn't you come out a long time ago?"

"We can't walk on the playground anymore." Wang Da wiped his nose and said, "Teacher Ming, the playground has become a swimming pool."

"Swimming pool?" Mingqiao found it unbelievable. He looked down at the stands and found that it was still the red rubber track, nothing different.

"Teacher, look." Wang Dada saw that Mingqiao didn't believe him, so he picked up a small stone from his feet and threw it gently. The originally calm surface of the runway was actually stirred up by the small stone into a crown-shaped splash, and two drops of red water splashed at their feet.

Mingqiao was a little dumbfounded for a moment.

They just came out of the restaurant, how come they met again!

"Teacher Zhang, is there no other way to go?" Shi Xin asked Zhang Wanqiao with a frown.

"No," Zhang Wanqiao shook her head helplessly. "The cement stands are the only place where people can stand, but the stands only extend to the rostrum at most. The rostrum is far from the exit, and there is no tool of suitable length to build a bridge. It is impossible to get out in the usual way."

"How deep is the water?" Mingqiao asked.

"I don't know." Zhang Wanqiao said, "Don't touch this water, it's corrosive."

"corrosion?"

"Teacher Ming," Deng Ya, who had been standing by with her head down, came over and whispered, "We ran into Wang Lu after we came out. She seemed determined to swim over. But as soon as her skin touched it, it immediately burned and white smoke came out. She screamed miserably, it must have been very painful."

Hearing the news that Wang Lu had indeed come out, Ming Qiao could not suppress his excitement: "Is she okay? Where is she now?"

"She was swallowed by the water." Deng Ya stammered.

"What do you mean by swallowed?" Qin Xue asked.

"After she touched the water, she refused to come out," said Deng Ya. "We thought she was too weak from the pain, so we tried to pull her out. But not only did we fail to pull her out, we watched her being sucked deeper and deeper into the water, from a finger to her entire hand, and then to her arm and body. The force in the water was too great, and the three of us couldn't stop it."

"So you can only watch Wang Lu being swallowed into the water." Mingqiao's voice trembled a little.

"Yes, we can't save him." Zhang Wanqiao choked.