The heavy footsteps hit the two men's hearts like a hammer. Mingqiao and Shixin looked intently in the direction of the wooden door until the familiar figure appeared in their sight.
Not only did the "giant" come back, but he was also carrying a wooden box as tall as a person on his back.
He was so tired that his forehead was covered with sweat. A large triangle of sweat had formed on his front, which was particularly noticeable on his dark clothes. He wore a pair of gray-white knitted gloves and tightly grasped the hemp ropes that bound the wooden box. The corners of the box were nailed with flat wooden strips three fingers thick. When he came in, he accidentally bumped into the wall and scraped off a large piece of the wall.
The "giant" looked at the wall paint that fell on the ground and snorted in dissatisfaction. He kicked the annoying piece of white paint aside and waited until he reached the middle of the house before throwing the wooden box off his back.
After a bang, as the wooden box fell to the ground, a large amount of dust flew into the air, and the air in the room instantly became turbid. The already not-so-bright environment was covered with a layer of gray fog.
Mingqiao covered his mouth and nose, squinted his eyes deeply, and tried his best to see every detail.
The "giant" lifted the hem of his clothes to wipe the sweat off his face, then returned to the toolbox. He took out a claw hammer, shook it twice in his hand, and seemed to feel it was not suitable for his hand, so he changed for a bigger one. Then he nodded twice with satisfaction and slowly stood up.
He took two steps and stood in front of the wooden box with his back to Mingqiao and the others. He spread out his hands and spat on it, then wiped the saliva off and raised his hand to hit the nail used to fix it.
As the metals collided, wood chips flew everywhere.
From Mingqiao's perspective, even though the "Giant" was wearing a loose T-shirt, it still couldn't hide the muscles on his back that were as strong as the mountains. The sharp lines showed his absolute strength. The work badge hanging on his chest swayed with his movements, and finally when it hit the "Giant's" arm for the fifth time, he took the badge off his neck and threw it on the table.
Mingqiao leaned over to take a look.
At this time, the work badge was turned over, and a folded hundred-yuan bill was pressed inside, pushing up the plastic card shell into an arc.
"There are other things besides money." Shi Xin said in a low voice.
After his reminder, Mingqiao looked carefully from several angles and found that there was a piece of off-white paper under the hundred-yuan bill.
If someone could carry it close to their body and put it together with money, it must not be ordinary paper. Shi Xin took advantage of the "giant" not paying attention and ran out in two steps to pull the work card to their hiding place. Although they could not spare the energy to take care of the work card for the time being, it was at least a possible clue.
During this time, most of the nails on the wooden box had been pried open by the "giant".
The ground was in a mess at this time, with all kinds of tools, wood chips, and nails scattered all over the ground, like a battlefield, and the things in the wooden box were in the middle of the ruins.
It was the meat grinder.
The giant's eyes were shining, he took off his gloves, which were already torn, and carefully touched the outer wall of the meat grinder, as if he was afraid that his rough hands would leave scratches on the machine, so his movements were extremely gentle. But this abrupt scene did not last long, the giant suddenly dropped his hands, revealing a look of contempt and disgust.
The sudden contrast was really confusing. Mingqiao glanced at Shi Xin, and the other also shook his head.
The "giant" picked up the gloves on the ground and put them on again, then dragged the meat grinder tube to the cabinet.
He first compared the size of the meat grinder and the cabinet with his hands, and after confirming that it could fit in, he took a shovel the size of his arm and started digging. The "giant" was very strong and very fast, and the hard cement floor was like soft tofu, which he dug easily.
Mingqiao and Shixin could only see the soil that was constantly blown away, with a strong earthy smell, and soon piled up into a small hill.
When the pit was almost dug, the "giant" stuffed the meat grinder in, hitting the inner wall of the cabinet several times, and the action was not gentle at all. However, what no one expected was that just when the meat grinder could barely stand upright in the cabinet, the two pipes actually began to extend towards the wall and underground.
Mingqiao's eyes widened in surprise.
It was as if there were two invisible hands in the wall and underground, dragging the two pipes inward. Soon, sporadic rats began to appear in the pipes, and then gradually increased in number.
The whole process took no more than three minutes, but it was enough to make the onlookers' ideas collapse.
It goes against common sense.
The "giant" was obviously frightened, but he still gritted his teeth, picked up the shovel on the ground, and began to fill the dug soil back.
At this moment, the familiar bell rang again. The "giant" paused in burying the soil and looked towards the table following the sound.
Before he left, he had locked his cell phone in the desk drawer. Now that it was ringing, the "Giant" belatedly started looking for his keys.
Mingqiao and his friends were closest to the desk, and the ringing sound was transmitted through the layers of wood to their ears, which was annoying. But because of this, the noisy ringing sound could cover the sound of the two people talking.
"Now we can only prove that he was indeed the one who moved and installed the meat grinder, but those two pipes are really incomprehensible to normal people." Ming Qiao looked a little tired. His mind was no longer as flexible as it was during the day, and it was even more difficult for him to think now.
"Then let me tell you my guess." Shi Xin took a deep breath and put himself in an absurd state: "Let's temporarily treat the pipeline as a supernatural result and leave it aside. Let's go through the entire story logic. The giant owed a gambling debt for some reason and couldn't pay it back, so it came to its door and promised to help it pay off the loan as long as we help it install this meat grinder. This is our previous speculation based on the giant's notebook."
Mingqiao nodded.
"It should have helped the giant pay off some of his gambling debts, so he was happy when he first opened the wooden box. But perhaps he felt guilty and didn't want the machine to cause trouble for the school, or maybe he was simply annoyed by the thought of labor, so he showed his dislike for the meat grinder."
Shi Xin said: "So I guess it was it that called. If it was a supernatural being, it must have known that the meat grinder had been installed. It called either to inform the giant that the remaining gambling debt had been paid off, or to inform him to leave. After all, when we first came to the basement from the playground, there was no one inside."
"I'm more inclined to the second theory," Ming Qiao said. "Based on the time, it already knew that a group of us had come out of the cafeteria and were heading to the playground. If someone searched carefully, they would definitely find this place. Informing the giant to leave without being discovered is the last bit of dignity an NPC can show."
"I thought of another thing." Shi Xin said.
"What?"
"Since it can trap us in the cafeteria and the playground, why can't it seal this basement? Wouldn't it be safer this way? Why bother notifying the giant to escape?"
Ming Qiao propped up his head and thought for a while: "I do have an answer. Remember the two forces we discussed before?"
"Yeah." Shi Xin nodded.
"Perhaps, it did seal this basement, but its opponent opened a loophole for us." Mingqiao organized his words: "Just like the escape room you mentioned, although the game creator always creates one space after another that is difficult to escape, in order to make the game fully playable, enough decryption clues must be provided. So we are not the only player against it, the one who left us clues is on the same front as us."
While they were talking, the "giant" had found the key that had fallen deep in his pocket. The two of them stopped talking in time and continued to stare at the "giant"'s actions.
He inserted the key into the keyhole, turned it a circle, and then opened the drawer.
The phone's ringtone had just finished a cycle, and after a two-second pause it rang again. The giant pressed the answer button and put the phone to his ear.
However, the person who called was not "it" as Mingqiao and Shixin guessed, but a gambling friend of "Giant". The person on the other end of the phone shouted, "Okay, Lao Liu, you won't come after you pay off your gambling debts? You owe us something else."
The Giant froze for a second, his hand holding the phone shaking slightly from the force he was holding: "I've already paid you back, what else do you want?"
"Come on, play two more rounds."
"Fuck you." The giant hung up the phone immediately after cursing, but before he could catch his breath, the phone rang again.
It was still the same person, but this time he only said one sentence: "Your mother is in the hospital, right?"
Ming Qiao watched the "giant" freeze in place, and when he spoke again, his voice had become a little hoarse: "I'll go right away."
After saying that, he cursed again and began to pack up his things slowly.
First, he mixed some cement to seal the bottom of the meat grinder and locked the cabinet door. Then he started to lock other things, such as mobile phones and keys. He placed things in a haphazard manner, but it was obvious that he was careful not to let others take over his home. Finally, he took a broom to sweep the floor.
When he had dealt with all this, the "Giant" pulled out the chair in front of the desk and took a deep breath.
There was helplessness, pain and struggle in his eyes.
Perhaps this day was destined to come since he first came into contact with gambling.
The "giant" left, taking his notebook with him. Only when the wooden door was slammed shut did Shi Xin pull Ming Qiao out of the corner where they were hiding.
"Where to go next?" Shi Xin asked.
"This room is the same as the one we passed before. I don't think there is any mechanism we are looking for here." Mingqiao's meaning was self-evident. "Let's continue to follow the giant. Maybe we can find other clues."
"I think so too." Shi Xin took out the work badge that he had hidden long ago and tied a knot on the table leg with the rope on it.
When the work badge is hung down, the bottom is not far from the ground, so they just need to jump.
Shi Xin first grabbed the rope, stepped on the table leg, and moved down two steps.
"Mr. Ming, we have to hurry."
"Okay." Mingqiao had a similar experience in the cafeteria before, so he was no longer scared. He followed Shi Xin and climbed up the rope together. The two of them climbed very fast. After reaching the ground, they untied the spring buckle at the end of the rope, picked up the remaining work badges and ran away.
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