The two of them had their last instant noodles together at the Student Supermarket, and each added a sausage and a boiled egg.
They had been hungry for too long in the casino, so they were not picky about what they ate. Although the food conditions were much worse than before in the restaurant, they were already satisfied to be able to "luxuriate" in adding a sausage and a boiled egg to their instant noodles.
After eating, Mingqiao found a half-person travel backpack, first integrated the things they found in the casino, and put a lot of bread and water in it, enough for the two of them to eat for seven or eight days. The backpack was a bit heavy when it was full, and Shi Xin saw this and hurried over to take the initiative to take on this responsibility, and also took the stool they sat on.
After finishing all this, Mingqiao and Shixin came out of the Student Supermarket.
The sun is shining brightly outside. The weather has been getting hotter since June, especially the sun at noon which makes people feel hot all over. The burning and stinging sensation always discourages people from staying outdoors.
Mingqiao and Shixin braved the scorching sun, walked through the corridor covered with vines, and finally stood in front of the library.
The library of No. 1 Middle School is not big. It is a small second floor covering only about 200 square meters. There is a small path in front of it, which is the back of the teaching building. On both sides are weeds that no one has taken care of. The outer beige wall of the library has fallen off so much that the color is almost invisible. The base of the wall and the corners are covered with dusty spider webs, cigarette butts and other garbage.
Usually, there is almost no one coming here, but on the reading day once a week, there will be a few fixed students coming here to borrow books, and occasionally people from the student union and clubs will come here to organize small activities and meetings.
So as long as there is a one in ten thousand chance that there is someone inside, no matter if there are a hundred, ten, or even one, Mingqiao will go in.
There was a small entrance hall at the door of the library, where the two finally stood to say their final goodbyes.
"You really don't want me to go in with you?" Shi Xin put his backpack on the ground at his feet. He knew Mingqiao's answer, so it was useless to ask this question. So he found the old-fashioned mobile phone with a bright flashlight from the side of the backpack and handed it to Mingqiao: "I fully charged it in the supermarket, and if you are in danger, you can play some music. This phone is loud, and I will go in to help you when I hear it."
Ming Qiao looked down at the phone lying in his palm, tried to turn on the flashlight several times, and laughed softly: "Have you forgotten that the sound inside and outside is completely isolated after the copy is turned on."
Shi Xin lowered his head and said nothing for a while.
"It'll be fine." Mingqiao raised his hand and touched Shi Xin's head twice, messing up his slightly longer hair. "Wait until I come out. I also have something to tell you."
"Okay." Shi Xin left three days' worth of food for himself, and gave the rest, including his backpack, to Ming Qiao: "Be careful."
"Um."
Mingqiao put on his backpack and took two steps forward. Just before he was about to push the door open, he turned around and glanced at Shi Xin.
The other party was still standing there, looking back quietly.
It looked like an exquisite sculpture. But the sculpture's eyes were filled with emotions that were about to overflow, and it was impossible to ignore them.
Mingqiao blinked, then ran back desperately and hugged Shi Xin.
He tightened his arms around Shi Xin's back and asked in a muffled voice, "Will you blame me if I can't get out?"
"No." Shi Xin held Ming Qiao's shoulders in his arms and buried his head in the side of his neck: "You are doing what you should do, I support you. If you succeed in rescuing the trapped students by yourself, I will be proud of you."
"Let's go." Ming Qiao broke away from Shi Xin's embrace and strode into the library. This time he didn't even look back. He was afraid that if he and Shi Xin hugged for too long, he would really become timid and would not dare or want to step into this building again.
It was pitch black inside the library, so Mingqiao turned on the flashlight on his cell phone and shone it around.
Rows and rows of bookshelves were neatly arranged, but the places where all kinds of books should be placed were all yellow blocks. And if you look closely, even the bookshelves are made of small silver-gray blocks.
——The entire library has turned into a world of building blocks.
This realization gave Mingqiao a strange feeling. There seemed to be nothing scary here except the usual darkness. Instead, it felt like he had entered a children's playground.
He returned to the place where he had just entered, shone the flashlight, and found the switch on the wall not far away.
The moment the switch was pressed, all the lights in the room lit up after a brief "sizzle" sound. Even the old central air conditioner hanging on the roof began to supply cool and moist air to the entire house after a "ding" sound.
Mingqiao put away his cell phone, put it back into the side pocket of his backpack, and walked into the library.
As he moved, some fine dust floated in the air and danced in the beam of light.
Ming Qiao passed the first row of shelves at the entrance and arrived at the center of the first floor of the library.
There is a long table made of white building blocks. The blocks are larger than those on the bookshelf, but smaller than those that serve as books.
The table was also covered with a thin layer of dust, which stood out clearly against the glossy white bricks.
There are six chairs made of brown building blocks around, the same model as the table blocks.
"Is anyone there?" Ming Qiao shouted, and what responded to him were two echoes that gradually weakened.
No one, to be more precise, no conscious living person.
Mingqiao took out a small pack of wet wipes from his trouser pocket and wiped the building block table clean. He waited until the water was almost dry before taking off the backpack and putting it on the table.
His shoulders, which had been numbed by the pressure, were finally relieved. Mingqiao twisted his arms and began to collect clues for "escape" on the first floor of the library.
The first thing he found was a piece of white "paper" the size of A4. This "paper" was made up of many little fingernail-sized building blocks, and there was nothing written on it.
Then Mingqiao found the same "paper" on the bookshelf in the corner, and there was no content on this paper either.
Just when Mingqiao was puzzled, he felt a strange force urging him to move forward. His limbs and legs were all out of control, and finally he returned to the white table.
"Teacher Ming." Shi Xin's voice sounded in his ears. Ming Qiao shuddered all over, and then he felt that he had regained control of his limbs.
He immediately turned around on the spot, but did not see Shi Xin or any communication equipment.
"Mr. Ming, you don't have to look for me. Just listen to me." Shi Xin spoke quickly and anxiously: "After you went in, an old-fashioned game console appeared at the entrance. The display screen was a third-person perspective centered on you. In other words, I could have a bird's-eye view of all your actions from outside. But the images were all mosaic squares. I don't know if you have ever played pixel games with that style of painting. What I saw of you was a QQ person made up of small squares, and you were still wearing the same shirt and trousers as before."
Mingqiao was so shocked that he couldn't speak for a moment.
This statement sounds like he has traveled into a game, and Shi Xin is the player.
"Were you controlling me just now?"
"Yes." Shi Xin said, "Didn't you see what was on those two pieces of paper? You violated the rules."
"No." Mingqiao frowned and looked at the two A4-sized white building blocks beside him: "I can't see anything here."
"Okay, let me tell you. The first one, the one on your left, contains the library rules and regulations."
"I remember the details and everything."
“1. This library has two floors, divided into four areas. The first floor is for popular science books and newspapers, and the second floor is for leisure reading and reference books.
2. Food and water are not allowed to be brought into the museum.
3. There are no staff members at this museum.
4. The museum is open from 9:00 to 17:00 every day from Monday to Friday. Electricity is available in the museum during the opening hours.
5. A book is a square object cut from paper, not a building block.
6. A bookshelf is an object cast in one piece from steel, not a building block.
7. Desks and chairs are objects made of processed wood, not building blocks.
8. If you see the blocks, check yourself for any violations.
9. (Supplement) Outsiders are prohibited from entering the museum.
Follow the rules or risk the consequences.”
"What about the other one?" Mingqiao asked.
"This piece of paper is the summary page of a paper."
"author."
"Sun Guiping."
"He is my graduate supervisor." Mingqiao didn't say anything else, but frowned even more tightly.
He knew that his first priority should be to deal with the things that caused the violation. But when he heard the name, he was a little unable to walk.
Sun Guiping, my most respected mentor, why does his thesis abstract page appear here?
The first floor is for popular science books and newspapers. Popular science books for middle school students certainly do not contain journal articles, and newspapers are even less likely to use A4 paper to publish an academic paper. So it is somewhat strange that the abstract page of Sun Guiping's paper appears here.
What does he have to do with this?
The more Mingqiao thought about it, the colder he felt.
He recalled that when he was in the casino before, he also thought of Sun Guiping for a moment. When he first came into contact with Texas Hold'em in the casino, he remembered that Sun Guiping wanted to teach him how to play during his graduate studies.
Before that, there might have been other clues - for example, Sun Guiping said that his wife, Mingqiao's master's wife, once designed a maze and won a grand prize, but at that time the master's wife smiled and waved her hands and said, "A hero does not brag about his past achievements," so Mingqiao had long forgotten about it, and even when he encountered a maze on the second floor of the restaurant, he never thought about it.
Once is a coincidence, twice is also a coincidence, what about three times?
Could it really be such a coincidence?
How could Sun Guiping, a person who has nothing to do with Xingchuan City, leave so many things in this school?
But then again, if Sun Guiping really had nothing to do with Xingchuan City, why did he recommend himself to teach at the No. 1 Middle School in the first place?
Mingqiao's mind was in a mess.
Sun Guiping.
Is he the villain among the game designers, or is he the one who has been fighting against the villains?
"Mr. Ming, there is a piece of paper on top of the bookshelf to your right."
"I don't want to move." Mingqiao closed his eyes to resist the sudden headache: "You control it."
After he said this, he really felt his limbs moving on their own. He even jumped one meter high on the spot effortlessly and reached the A4 paper made of building blocks on top of the bookshelf on the right.
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