The gentle and gorgeous afterglow of the sunset came in through the tiny crack of the door, filling the room with golden light. The fresh air from outside blew in, washing away the boredom in the room.
It was almost evening when they went in, and now that they were out, time had not passed.
Shi Xin opened the door wide and stepped out. He really didn't want to see anything about the playground anymore, but the reality was not always what one wished.
Mingqiao also came over to see the scene clearly.
There was still the rostrum in front of them, but it was at the other end opposite to the entrance. They only needed to take three more steps forward to reach the edge of the rostrum, and there was still red, corrosive liquid under their feet.
"Did we miss any important mechanism?" Shi Xin asked dully.
"...The casino issue has not been completely resolved." Ming Qiao took a deep breath: "We may have found the wrong exit."
Shi Xin lowered his head, and his spine inevitably bent.
Mingqiao patted Shi Xin's back gently a few times and comforted him, "At least everything we did was not in vain."
"Yes." Shi Xin could only nod: "Send the students to Zhang Wanqiao and the others first?"
As soon as Shi Xin finished speaking, hurried footsteps came from behind: "Teacher Ming."
It was Wang Dada and Qin Xue who came running over.
Mingqiao looked at their sweaty foreheads and said quickly, "Don't run, walk over here slowly."
But it still didn't slow down the two of them.
Wang Dada arrived first. He shouted loudly, "I was sitting on the ground when I heard the door open. I ran over here. It turned out to be you, Teacher Ming. How did you come out so quickly? Did you find anything?"
"We are not fast. The speed of time inside is different from that outside. In fact, we have spent the whole night inside," Mingqiao said. "We didn't find anything big, but we found a dozen more students. Go back and tell Teacher Zhang to bring Deng Ya here. Don't stay on the stands. If there are too many people later, there won't be enough room on the stands."
"Yes sir!" Wang Dada saluted Mingqiao in a not-so-standard military manner and immediately ran away.
Qin Xue came up and looked inside the door. He was shocked and obviously frightened by the sudden appearance of more than a dozen people. "Teacher Ming, where did you find these people? What's going on in the playground?"
"I found it in the basement." Ming Qiao didn't want to explain too much, so he could only give a brief explanation: "We have found the source of the acid water in the playground, but we can't stop the production of more acid water for the time being. There are other mechanisms we haven't found, but I estimate that we will be able to escape from the playground soon."
"Let's move these students to the podium." Mingqiao said to Shi Xin.
"good."
At this time, Zhang Wanqiao and the others came over, and Mingqiao quickly asked her to help move the students out of the house. After all, no one could guarantee that there would be no danger inside, and staying outside, except for a little heat, other conditions were pretty good.
After moving a dozen people out, Mingqiao and the other two were so tired that they could hardly breathe. He and Shi Xin were in even worse condition and collapsed to the ground. They had been hungry for a long time and had done a lot of physical work. Their limbs were sore and they couldn't use any strength. They didn't even have the strength to sit up and talk to Zhang Wanqiao and the others. White light was flashing in front of their eyes.
Before the younger ones could recover, something bad happened to the older ones.
"Teacher Ming, reporter Shi, what happened?" Zhang Wanqiao had just settled her students when she turned around and saw Ming Qiao and Shi Xin lying half-dead. She was so scared that she almost lost her soul.
Ming Qiao met Zhang Wanqiao's worried eyes and could only hold on to his breath and say, "I'm just tired, it's okay. By the way, is there anything to eat?"
Zhang Wanqiao quickly took out two steamed buns and a bottle of water from the plastic bag and handed them to him.
Mingqiao's lips had cracked due to not drinking water for a long time, and the deep red grooves seemed to be about to bleed in the next second. However, what surprised Zhang Wanqiao was that Mingqiao walked to Shi Xin first with the two steamed buns and water.
Shi Xin was so hungry that he was in a semi-comatose state and there was no response after calling him for a long time.
Mingqiao could only hold Shi Xin and prop up his upper body, then turn on the water and slowly feed it into his mouth.
Shi Xin's Adam's apple rolled obediently and he drank half a bottle of water.
Mingqiao stuffed another steamed bun into his hand and watched him chew subconsciously: "Are you feeling better?"
"I'm sleepy." Shi Xin muttered.
"Take a nap." Mingqiao crossed his legs and sat against the wall, so that Shi Xin could rest his head on his legs. After Shi Xin fell asleep, he drank half a bottle of water and broke off half a steamed bun to eat. Only then did he feel better in his stomach and his head was not so dizzy.
As the sky gradually darkened and the temperature dropped, Wang Dada and the other children were tired after a day of work and found a comfortable position to sleep early.
The dark environment suggested that everyone should rest and recuperate, but Mingqiao was the only one who couldn't calm down.
"Teacher Ming, are you still hungry? I have some food here." Zhang Wanqiao directly handed the plastic bag of food to Ming Qiao.
"You're not asleep." Ming Qiao waved his hands twice: "No need to give it to me, keep it. I don't know how long these students who were rescued from the basement have been trapped. Give it to them when they wake up."
Zhang Wanqiao looked at the students on the ground and sighed, "Were they playing on the playground when the accident happened?"
"That's very likely." Ming Qiao said, "But I guess they were trapped in the basement not because of the acid, but something else."
“Apart from acid water, is there anything else on the playground that could endanger people’s lives?”
"Yes." Mingqiao looked at her and said seriously, "Rules."
"I do not understand."
"Based on my experience over the past few days, if you break the rules, some copies will be triggered and you will be trapped inside. Unless you find a clue to escape, you will have no choice but to stay there until you die."
"Like in the restaurant?"
"Yes."
Zhang Wanqiao felt a layer of cold sweat on her back.
"Teacher Zhang, take a nap." Ming Qiao let out a sigh of relief: "We haven't found the most crucial clue yet, and we still have a tough battle to fight."
When I woke up, it was already bright.
Mingqiao opened his eyes and saw Shi Xin had sat up and was staring at him.
"What's wrong?" Mingqiao asked, rubbing his eyes.
Shi Xin hesitated for a moment, but still said, "You have a low-grade fever."
"Maybe I got caught in the wind at night." Mingqiao shook his dizzy head and said, "It's okay. It will be fine in a while."
"Don't go in later." Shi Xin suggested, "I'll take Qin Xue with me."
"Can it be done by just the two of you?" Ming Qiao had just finished speaking when his head started to hurt, as if it was split in half. He clenched his fist and pressed it against his forehead: "Stop getting angry at each other and fighting."
"I'm not that childish," Shi Xin pouted, "I won't argue with a little brat like him."
Mingqiao thought about his current physical condition and felt that it might not be suitable for him to go in with Shi Xin again. If he was unable to help and was even a hindrance, it would be a waste of time and effort.
"Then you should be careful and think first if you encounter anything suspicious. Don't be impulsive."
"good."
Shi Xin stood up and walked to Qin Xue's side. Seeing that he was still asleep, he kicked him on the butt mercilessly: "Little brat, I'll give you a chance to show off. Come in with me, and we'll find all the remaining clues."
Qin Xue yawned and glanced at Shi Xin: "Why me and you? Where's Teacher Ming? I'll go with him."
Shi Xin gritted his teeth and said, "Your teacher Ming said that he would let me take you in for training. If he takes you in, you will not be able to let go and will not dare to express yourself."
Qin Xue looked at him suspiciously: "Really? Why do I feel that this is not something Teacher Ming would say." After saying that, he glanced at Ming Qiao.
Mingqiao could probably guess what Shi Xin and Qin Xue had talked about, but the current situation only allowed Qin Xue to go with Shi Xin, so he gave him a comforting smile in return.
Shi Xin said proudly: "See, your teacher Ming smiled at me, which means what I said is true."
"Teacher Ming was clearly smiling at me." Qin Xue did not give in.
Seeing this, Shi Xin could only use a roundabout threat tactic: "Anyway, I just want to say one thing, are you going to leave or not? If not, I will go and fight with Wang."
"Walk."
So the two of them went back in through the small door they came out of under the watchful eyes of Mingqiao and others.
The furnishings in the room have not changed, except for the mahjong table.
Qin Xue went up to pick up a cracked one and examined it carefully in his hand: "Did you break it apart?"
"No, it opened by itself."
Qin Xue quickly noticed the piles of mahjong tiles piled together: "Are you playing Candy Crush?"
"Yes." Shi Xin nodded, "You are right, your teacher Ming also thought so at the beginning, so we escaped."
"I knew it was Teacher Ming who solved it." Qin Xue laughed twice.
When Shi Xin heard the laughter, he always felt that it contained a hint of sarcasm, but he was too lazy to argue with Qin Xue. After all, he had promised Ming Qiao not to fight with him.
He didn't want to waste time arguing with Qin Xue anymore, so he simply walked around the room looking for other things.
The cotton string that controlled the light bulb switch that he and Mingqiao found before they came out was still there. Shi Xin went over and pulled it, and the room fell into darkness again.
"What are you doing?" Qin Xue's eyes went dark and he opened his mouth to question.
"Shh." Shi Xin signaled him to shut up: "Listen to the sound."
Qin Xue closed his mouth angrily, pricked up his ears and began to listen.
Just like that, he really heard it. Outside the wall, a short piano piece was repeating, pausing for ten seconds each time before starting over again.
"Can you play it?" Shi Xin asked in a low voice.
"Hmm." Qin Xue slowly hummed the tune of the piano piece: "To Alice."
At this time, Shi Xin simply pulled the cotton thread and turned on the light again, and the piano sound stopped abruptly.
Shi Xin looked at Qin Xue and flicked his fingers in the air a few times: "Then let's get started."
He pulled Qin Xue to sit beside the mahjong table, and then tapped the tiles with his fingers.
A "mi" sounded from inside the mahjong.
"What's going on?" Qin Xue stared at the three-tube card with wide eyes.
"I just discovered it." Shi Xin said, "While you were leaning against the wall listening to the piano music, I was studying these mahjong tiles, and I accidentally discovered that some of them can make sounds."
Seeing that Qin Xue was still dazed, he added, "This room-locked game is very simple. As long as you understand the rules, deciphering it will take only a few minutes. There are only a few things given in the room. Since mahjong was a clue before, it can be a clue later. Who says a prop can't be reused?"
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