In fact, even if he didn't say it, Shi Xin and the others would not dare to act impulsively again. The lessons they had learned before were enough to make them vigilant. Moreover, since they were bringing Mingqiao with them this time, they had to pay attention to Mingqiao's physical condition at all times and could not be careless.

Mingqiao spoke with a heavy nasal tone, and after a few words he seemed to be out of breath, and had to stop and take a deep breath before continuing. This time the cold came on violently, and coupled with the tiredness and hunger in the past few days, even the best body could not hold on, causing the cold to continue to worsen, and there was no sign of improvement.

His mind was groggy, and he could only speak whatever came to his mind when talking to the two people. He couldn't figure out what to do specifically or how to find the agency and clues.

"Mr. Ming, are you okay?" Shi Xin looked at him worriedly and put his hand on Ming Qiao's arm. The burning heat from his palm made him realize that Ming Qiao's condition was getting worse, and he always felt that he would collapse in the next second.

This worry and fear even made his heart beat faster.

"It's okay." Mingqiao pushed his hand away and stood up straight, slowly breathing a sigh of relief. He rubbed his brow and temples vigorously, and the headache was slightly relieved: "Let me calm down first."

His brain worked slowly but tenaciously, like a rusty machine being forced to operate.

But something suddenly flashed through this rusty machine, as if a large piece of rust had fallen off, revealing the silvery and smooth metal interior. At that moment, Mingqiao felt that he had missed something before, as if he had not done a certain step or found a certain corner, but he really couldn't remember it.

Although his intuition had never been very accurate, the sudden flash of inspiration just now gave him a strong premonition - there must be something in the basement where they had turned into dwarfs.

His headache got worse.

"I'll help you rethink your thoughts," Mingqiao coughed a few times and tried his best to suppress his speech, "There is definitely no way out of the playground outside, so all the clues and mechanisms involved must be found in this casino and that basement. My idea is to look for it in the casino first. If the casino doesn't have it, we have to reopen the door of the casino so that we can go back to the basement."

Shi Xin and Qin Xue looked solemn and nodded in agreement.

"And we have to hurry up. If we slow down a little here, it will be more dangerous outside."

Qin Xue was not as calm as Ming Qiao and Shi Xin. He took a deep breath when he heard this.

Shi Xin looked at Qin Xue's trembling fingertips hanging by his side, patted his shoulders solemnly, and pinched them a few times with moderate strength: "Keep the same mentality as before, don't feel pressured, your teacher Ming is here this time, you don't believe me, but you also don't believe him?"

Ming Qiao met Qin Xue's frightened eyes when he looked up, and he felt that he had finally shed his usual adult shell and turned into a brave child: "You did very well, keep up the good work."

Qin Xue blinked and nodded at Ming Qiao.

This means being prepared.

"Be careful when you go in."

"good."

Mingqiao looked at the serious expressions of the two people in front of him, gritted his teeth, and opened the door.

The monster that had been harassing them just now had disappeared, and the casino was brightly lit, as if nothing had changed from the beginning. However, the three of them knew in their hearts that this place was completely different.

Shi Xin frowned and looked around: "Everyone in the casino has changed."

Mingqiao also followed him and looked around, and found that all the people he had met in the casino for the first time were gone, and all he saw were unfamiliar faces.

Qin Xue poked his head out and saw the leisure area at the corner: "Even the administrator has been changed."

"Teacher, I have an idea." Qin Xue raised his hands to his chest as if he was answering a question in class, "Is it possible that those monsters are transformed from humans, and they can switch and change between their respective forms?"

"No." Ming Qiao shook his head. "The monsters that turn into humans are different from the monsters that bite people. I have thought about the difference between the two. The monsters that turn into humans are closer to the zombies in the movies. They are chaotic and have no thoughts, but their basic human form will not change. But the latter are more like... alien creatures. Their appearance and body shape cannot appear on a human... I don't know how to describe it. They can't be human."

"I understand. What you mean is that these two monsters belong to two completely different races and will not transform into each other, so the old ones must have gone out or disappeared, and new ones came in." Shi Xin followed Mingqiao's words.

"Yes." Ming Qiao said, "As far as I know, there are two doors in the casino. One is the one we just came in through, which can barely be considered a back door, and the other is the main door, which is the one we entered the casino from the basement. Since we have been guarding the back door and have not found any movement of people, it means that these newcomers must have entered through the main entrance of the casino. But when we came in through the main entrance, the main door could no longer be opened."

"Why?" Shi Xin was still puzzled: "Is there any need to change people?"

Mingqiao thought about it and said uncertainly: "Maintain the appearance, or more accurately, confuse the audience?"

"To trick more people into letting down their guard and staying here?"

"They are not people, they are gamblers." Ming Qiao thought and said, "They need people to come here to gamble and make a profit."

"What is the connection between the endless flow of people and money and this secret room?" Shi Xin pursed his lips slightly, and raised his head after a second to meet Ming Qiao's gaze: "That meat grinder."

Qin Xue did not participate and did not know what they were talking about, but he vaguely felt that it should be an important clue.

Ming Qiao breathed a sigh of relief: "When I first saw the meat grinder, I wondered where the endless rotten meat inside came from. Now it seems that everything can be explained."

"The meat grinder has two pipes, one connected to the water and the other to the casino. The meat grinder in the basement continuously delivers the red liquid to the playground. No wonder the playground has a good drainage system but the acid water has not decreased. It turns out that it is not a problem with the drainage system, but that it is indeed 'raining' in the playground." Shi Xin continued to analyze: "As for the money, it may be used to pay the electricity bill or something, or to deal with gamblers."

"So we have to go to the basement." Ming Qiao said, "Preventing the production of acid water will not go wrong, and it can solve the most urgent dilemma. Once the crisis outside is resolved, it doesn't matter if we spend a little longer in here."

Qin Xue listened for a while and roughly understood the cause and effect: "Teacher, but you just said that the front door can't be opened. How can we get back to the basement?"

"Repeat what you two did just now, and then attract darkness and monsters. If our guess is correct, this is the time when the personnel are replaced. We run to the main entrance in advance and go out as soon as the door opens." Ming Qiao added: "Also, we have to prevent the replacement of old and new personnel in the casino. After all, they are also an important part of the production of acid water."

"Understood." Qin Xue circled his thumb and index finger and made an OK gesture.

Mingqiao looked at Shi Xin and nodded: "Let's get started."

In fact, Qin Xue was more skilled in angering the boss, but in order to maintain his image as a good boy in Mingqiao's eyes, he quietly pushed this important task to Shi Xin.

So Mingqiao watched Shi Xin run to the leisure area to find the administrator with ease, and while waiting for the call to be connected, he did not forget to glare at Qin Xue.

Mingqiao turned his head and glanced at Qin Xue: "Did you provoke him?"

"No." Qin Xue pretended to be innocent: "I don't know anything, teacher."

Ming Qiao looked at his poor acting skills and chuckled, "Let's go, let's wait at the main entrance.

Qin Xue got himself into trouble and followed Ming Qiao obediently.

"Qin Xue, when you get out, focus on studying hard."

Qin Xue didn't quite understand why Mingqiao suddenly said this.

"In fact, the teacher may know what kind of person you are better than you do." Mingqiao tried his best to reduce the presence of the two people, and took him through the gambling tables in the mahjong area, and finally stood at the door of the main entrance. He looked at the child in front of him with a stern look that he had never had before: "In school, or to be more specific, in your entire academic career, you don't need to maintain a so-called perfect personality. The charm you have established is far less than what you actually show. So, don't take those detours, be yourself, and what you want will come naturally."

The more Qin Xue listened, the redder his face became, and in the end he wanted to bury his face in his neck.

Mingqiao was right, and he had no way to refute it. Moreover, he had basically received praises from teachers all his life, and Mingqiao was the first one to point out the problem so ruthlessly.

Mingqiao looked at him and sighed slightly, then patted Qin Xue's back and forced him to look up: "I'm not saying this for any reason, I just saw that you're too tense, so I want you to relax."

Qin Xue was about to cry but had no tears: "Teacher, what kind of relaxation method is this?"

"The criticism and education relaxation method." Mingqiao smiled.

Qin Xue leaned against the wall, raised his head and took a deep breath: "I know."

"real?"

Qin Xue tilted his head and pursed his lips helplessly: "I really know, I'm only in junior high school, I'm precocious, but I won't fall in love too early."

"Well, that's what I wanted to say."

Qin Xue finally laughed out loud and relaxed his whole body. He followed Ming Qiao and looked in the direction of Shi Xin, then saw the man making a gesture to them from a distance and then hung up the phone.

"Are you ready?" Mingqiao asked Qin Xue.

"alright."

The next second, the entire casino fell into darkness again. Ming Qiao held the door handle tightly until a familiar footstep sounded in his ears: "Teacher Ming, let's go."

Mingqiao pulled the door hard instantly. This time, what was in front of them was no longer the wall flowing with red liquid, but a bright, wide corridor with flashing neon lights.

They came out, they came back.