Even though they were mentally prepared, the four of them still felt their stomachs churning the moment they saw the scene before them.
Four frozen bodies were displayed in the dilapidated and deserted lounge.
Each corpse showed signs of being torn and devoured, and purple-black blood was evenly splattered on the ground, covered with a thick layer of frost.
This is also why Zhang You could not tell the direction of the stench of corpses and the smell of blood, because every corner of the house was filled with blood and body parts.
"It's really unexpected. Student Zhang actually managed to get inside the investigation site."
The student union and others walked in slowly and were disappointed to see that Zhang You was still alive.
Lily drawled dryly, "However, entering the lounge is only the beginning. We still need to conduct a thorough inspection inside. Remember, we only have an hour."
Zhang You looked at them patiently without saying a word. Silently, he moved his legs, suppressing the rising of stomach acid, and walked to the four bodies one by one.
"Put the phone closer." Tang Xinjue observed the scene attentively.
There were countless scenes in nightmares more disgusting than this one. Tang Xin Jue was barely disturbed by the chaos and quickly identified: "These four individuals are all tall, adult males. They likely died of freezing to death, and the wounds on their bodies were inflicted by the dark creatures after death."
There was more to say, but Tang Xinjue didn’t say it.
It would be impossible for a normal corpse to gather so many dark creatures in such a short period of time. Moreover, some of those creatures just now had no interest in corpses.
It is more likely that they were released here intentionally, either to destroy the scene or to prevent people from coming to look for them.
But no matter what the reason was, Tang Xinjue knew that she had indeed guessed part of the answer by accident.
"Here's the truth about the heating failure."
She spoke softly.
"The four bodies were the heating staff. They were all wearing uniforms and had work badges. They were all in the heating staff's lounge, clearly ready to go to work."
But before the harsh winter arrived, they met with accidents and froze to death one after another, so heating could no longer be implemented.
"But..." Tang Xinjue frowned, "There should have been five people here."
There were five thermoses on the table, five chairs in the room, and a lone work badge on the ground, sealed in ice.
Lily spoke slowly, "Mr. Tang's eyesight is...very good."
Tang Xinjue ignored her and said to Zhang You, "Go to the window and take a look."
There were four windows in the room. Zhang You pushed three, but they were all sealed shut, and the direction of the seal was from the outside in. Only when he pushed hard on the last window did the window snap and drop debris, slowly opening a crack.
"It seems the fifth heater left from here." Looking at the window that had obviously been damaged by violence, Tang Xinjue concluded, "Or in other words, only the fifth person managed to escape."
Zhang You repeated Tang Xinjue's words and turned to look at the Student Union.
The other person forced a fake smile and said into the microphone in a surprised tone, "Oh, it turns out that our school's heater really had an accident. This is troublesome. Without a heater, how can we continue heating?"
After saying that, Lily looked around the house again and asked, "What's even stranger is, how could the heater suddenly freeze to death? Was it a scary monster? Or a malicious student? This is truly a question worth exploring."
Tang Xin Jue sneered: "Then explore it yourself, don't waste our time."
Lily: “…”
"Haha," she chuckled, "Dear classmates, don't you want to cooperate with the student union's inspection?"
"Oh?" Tang Xinjue asked back, "If I remember correctly, our mission should have ended, right?"
Zhang You was cheered up.
Tang Xin Jue spoke clearly, "From the very beginning, our mission has been to help you successfully resolve your heating problem. This process consists of three parts: first, inferring the cause, formulating a hypothesis, and determining a location for investigation; second, conducting an on-site investigation. If the hypothesis is correct, we can discover the cause of the heating failure; and third, finding a solution to the heating problem."
Student Council: "...Yes, are you all done?"
"Of course. We have already found the correct answer, the correct location, and the correct cause of the heating failure: the heater's sudden death..."
Lily pressed on, "What's the solution?"
"There were five heaters, four died and one ran away. The solution, of course, is to find the one who ran away." Tang Xinjue answered as a matter of course.
It is well-reasoned, logically complete, and irrefutable.
"So," Lily continued, "How do we find the last heater?"
"That's your business," Tang Xinjue said softly. "As soon as the scene was discovered, the student union should have reported it or sent someone to look for it. Given your abilities, finding a heater should be easy, right? If you can't find one, I'd suspect you're deliberately not wanting to solve the heating problem."
Put the hat on someone else's head first, so that those who want to put the hat on you will have no way to start.
Of course, she wasn't aimless - the student union's requirements were clearly far beyond the candidates' abilities. Did they have to track down the heaters while trapped in their dormitories?
Everything outside the basic logical chain, including why the heater froze to death, where the remaining heaters went, etc., has nothing to do with them.
Sure enough, as the student council fell silent, the mission reminder sounded again:
[Ding Dong! Mission completed, heating restoration process triggered. Please wait in the dorm for the cooling to complete!]
The stone in their hearts fell, and everyone finally felt relieved.
The student union had no choice but to abandon their plot and declare them a success. Their spirits had faded, and they even dropped the pretense. Lily, clutching the microphone, went through the motions in a sinister tone, "Congratulations on successfully helping us complete our field trip. Despite your laziness and cunning ways, it's clear that the school is forgiving and kind... In light of this, we've decided to give you a gift. Dear students, what would you like?"
It would be a lie to say he wasn't excited. Especially after escaping danger and feeling exhausted, Zhang You suddenly felt that even the second face on the back of the student union's head was not so scary anymore.
She looked at the reward options provided by the Student Union, which included "Appreciation from the Student Union", "A Random Prop", "A Test Hint"... There were so many options that it was difficult to make a decision for a while.
Just as he was in a trance, Tang Xinjue's serious voice suddenly rang out on the phone: "Let Zhang You go back to the dormitory first!"
When the voice reached his ears, Zhang You suddenly shuddered, and the dizziness in his head was swept away. He remembered his current situation.
Lily giggled, her carefully styled curls trembling. "This can be considered a gift."
The rubbish student union actually dug a hole here!
If he had chosen a different gift, Zhang You would have lost the chance to return to the dormitory. If the student union hadn't been able to hear the cursing during the call, the dormitory would have started cursing long ago.
"Let Zhang You come back." Tang Xinjue finalized in a deep voice.
"Are you sure? Then I'll grant you your wish. Today's student council broadcast ends here~"
Guo Guo suddenly said, "Wait, you haven't said when the heating will be restored!"
"Ah, didn't I tell you?" Lily feigned surprise before slowly speaking, "Before night falls, warmth will return, but the Student Union believes that the students will be able to hold out until nightfall, right?"
With that, the radio crackled, leaving only the chaotic signal stream after the broadcast was turned off.
Less than two minutes later, the dormitory door was pushed open forcefully, and Zhang You stumbled in, pointing weakly at the mask on his face.
Several people hurriedly helped her to get it off. Zhang You's face, which had been blue from holding his breath, finally showed up. He didn't care about the damage the cold air was doing to his chest. He took a few deep breaths and said weakly, "Give me something to eat..."
At four o'clock in the afternoon, the temperature was minus 60 degrees Celsius.
All the bedding and mattresses in the dormitory had been removed and piled on the floor in the middle of the room. Together with the tables and chairs, they built a thick, small tent, which the three of them sheltered in. They wore down jackets one after another, covering all exposed skin to prevent frostbite.
After eating and drinking their fill, the three decided to just hold on until the end.
Tang Xin Jue took out the phantom demon's arm that had been frozen into a popsicle and studied it with great interest: "This is the first time I've seen their limbs in this form."
This was all thanks to the [Light of Righteousness] buff. Otherwise, although she had a way to repel it, she might not be able to obtain such a complete specimen.
"Wait, judging from this arm, it seems to be substantial. So is it a ghost or a monster?" Guo Guo curled himself up into a ball, as if this arm could break the ice and revive at any time. However, he couldn't help his curiosity and asked in a low voice.
Tang Xin Jue thought about it carefully. "Strictly speaking, except for a very few, dark creatures cannot voluntarily leave the darkness. However, if they rely on some kind of energy or substance, such as ice, water, fire, or even electronic signals, they can temporarily appear in physical form."
"What's more, this is just a charred, powerless stump. It was frozen before it turned into dregs, so it was perfectly preserved."
Tang Xin Jue caused the toilet plunger to spray another stream of water, which quickly froze in mid-air, forming identical icicles upon falling. She knocked the two icicles together, and the pure ice shattered with a snap, while the icicle containing the Phantom Demon's broken arm remained intact.
"Look, this is the formation of an enchanted weapon." Tang Xinjue joked while holding up the icicle.
Zheng Wanqing's eyes lit up: "If I tie them all to my body, will I be invulnerable to swords and guns? Can I charge forward without worry?"
Several people: ...Your idea is very wild.
Guo Guo said quietly, "If that day comes, please stay three meters away from me, lest my sanity value drops first. Thank you."
Zhang You couldn't help laughing, but the moment he bent his mouth, the wound would split open, so he could only continue to be in seclusion.
…
At seven o'clock in the afternoon, the indoor temperature reached minus 68 degrees Celsius.
[Moderate frostbite: Health value -20 Your health value will decrease at a rate of 1 point every 10 minutes]
Exhausted from a day of constant anxiety, coupled with the stiffness of the cold, several people were already drowsy. Even though they knew their health was decreasing, they didn't have the energy to care.
The dilemma of extreme environments is that the human body is often more fragile than we imagine.
But its hope also lies in the fact that human vitality is more tenacious than we imagine.
Tang Xin Jue put away the toilet plunger. If one sensed it carefully, one could see two symbols existing in his mind at the same time, one was a cartoon leather plunger, and the other was a light golden [Light of Righteousness] buff.
At this time, it should have been used once, the color of the buff is much darker than before. It seems that it has a very strict limit on the number of uses and can only be used as a temporary aid.
In order to safely pass the increasingly dangerous exams, the key to breaking through lies in improving one's own strength: five-dimensional attributes... and superpowers.
Thinking of this, Tang Xinjue held his head and slowly closed his eyes amid the overwhelming feeling of heaviness.
[… Ding Dong, the heating has been restored. Thanks to your efforts, we have successfully overcome the winter…]
[Exam progress: 25%]
In the silence, Tang Xinjue opened his eyes, and tears flowed almost the next second.
It's not because of sadness, but because sweat seeped into the corners of my eyes as I opened them, and the soreness stimulated physical tears.
Tang Xinjue stretched out his hand with difficulty, wiped the water droplets on his face, and then forcefully threw the quilt off him.
It's too hot!
If she had been a minute later, she might have suffocated in the thick quilt and died before the exam even started.
As the quilt was lifted, scorching hot air hit him in the face. Tang Xinjue looked down and saw that she was lying on the bed, still wearing her down jacket. The layers of clothing weighed nearly ten pounds. It was a miracle that she didn't suffocate.
What about others?
This thought arose, and a prompt sounded at the same time:
[Ding Dong, thanks to your tireless efforts, winter has ended. However, because the heater failed to control the fire and overheated, summer has arrived early. Please control the indoor temperature and strive to survive!]
...Wow, summer straight after winter?
It’s bad enough that the order of the four seasons is disrupted, but what the hell is the reason for this - excessive heating?
After being speechless for a few seconds, Tang Xinjue turned over and got out of bed, rescuing his roommates who were almost suffocated.
“Ahhhh!!”
As soon as Guo Guo woke up, she frantically took off her cotton coat and trousers. Even though she had sniffed and sworn last season that she would rather live in an extremely hot environment than freeze to death, but now—
"It's so hot, it's so hot, it's so hot!"
Looking at the temperature gauge again, the pointer had moved to the completely opposite direction: 37 degrees.
Tang Xinjue took a sip of water and said, "If it stays at this temperature, it's bearable, but based on our experience in winter, the temperature will definitely continue to rise."
As soon as he finished speaking, the next second, the pointer of the measuring meter moved up another notch.
Everyone: “…”
After changing all the heavy clothes into shorts and shirts, the sweaty people finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"This is very bad news." Zhang You checked the faucet and said seriously, "We have no water."
This time, not only the air conditioner was on strike, but also the faucet in the dormitory. The only available water in the dormitory was the half-empty water dispenser and a few bottles of water I won in a raffle at the mall.
Under high temperatures, body moisture will evaporate quickly, and water consumption may increase ten times than usual, not to mention the need for water for washing and cooling. This amount of water will not last long.
In the solemn atmosphere, Tang Xinjue took out the toilet plunger.
"Puff" - a stream of clear water spurted out from the rubber head.
After a few seconds, she hesitated and said, "Is this considered water resources?"
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