"Everyone, please pay attention. The third level of the test is about to begin."
"Behind this rolling door in front of you is a very spacious football field. Scattered across the field are ten rooms converted from shipping containers. All you have to do is enter any room within the allotted time."
"Each room has a maximum capacity of ten people. Once the time is up, candidates who have not entered the room will be automatically eliminated. Please keep this in mind."
There are ten rooms, and each room has a limit of ten places. This means that half of the people will be eliminated by competing for the room based on physical fitness.
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone gathered their strength and crowded into three layers behind the yellow line.
Then a bell rang and the shutter door slowly rolled up.
It had only risen about twenty centimeters when someone in the front of the line slid in quickly on their stomachs.
The higher the rolling door was raised, the harder the crowd squeezed in.
Zheng Yuanyuan was standing outside the crowd at first, but when she saw that many people in front of her had already gone in, she became extremely anxious and rushed into the crowd without even gritting her teeth.
Qi Mi was about to call her to stop, but then he thought that it seemed like he was meddling too much, so he swallowed his words.
She walked around the crowd, found an empty seat, and quickly went in, arriving at the examination room.
In front of me is a huge green football field. Above the grass are containers of ten colors, including red, black, yellow, and blue. The red ones are closest to the door, and all ten places have been occupied by people entering the field.
Next came the black and yellow colors, over which a large number of people were engaged in a fierce fight.
The white container was the farthest away, standing alone a few hundred meters away. More than a dozen people were running towards it, tearing each other apart. The scene was extremely lively.
Seeing this intense scene, Qi fans were worried and looked everywhere for Zheng Yuanyuan.
A few seconds later, she saw Zheng Yuanyuan outside the blue room in the middle of the football field.
She was struggling with more than 20 people. She didn't know who pushed her in the crowd, and she fell to the ground with a thud. Most of the bun she had tied up in the morning was scattered.
Qi Mi frowned slightly and was about to go over to help her when he saw her suddenly stand up, pull the bun on her head, tie it into a ponytail neatly, and rush over again.
Qi Mi stopped.
Then she felt a tap on her shoulder.
Looking back, she saw a tall, wheat-skinned girl sprinting past her, shouting, "What are you still standing there for? Time's running out! Hurry up!"
Qi Mi took another worried look, then withdrew his gaze and ran towards the farthest white room like an arrow.
No one could catch her.
She moved nimbly among the crowd. Those who wanted to stop her could only knock down the corner of her clothes. Before they could catch her, she would escape like a slippery loach and quickly run to the front row.
She kicked the door open and saw a man with a side-parted hairstyle and glasses sitting inside. Although he sat in a leisurely posture, his chaotic breath and slightly flushed cheeks still revealed his fatigue from running just now.
Qi fans remember him as one of the first few people to arrive in the front row. Probably because he arrived directly in the room without going through the fierce fighting outside, his clothes and hairstyle were well maintained.
Unlike the next boy who pushed the door open, his hair was messy, a button of his shirt was pulled off, and there were several bloody nail scratches on his face.
He sighed deeply, his expression showing doubt about his life: "Fuck, is this a test or a fight?"
However, before he could take a firm step, a figure rushed in from behind and bumped him into it. Fortunately, Qi Mi was quick-witted and pulled him back.
The boy, still in shock, patted his heart and thanked her.
Qi Mi smiled and withdrew her hand. There wasn't much time left when she came in. When the last person came in, it was just in time. As soon as the door closed, the shrill ringing of the bell lingered over the football field.
The time has come.
The tall girl who came in last leaned against the door and slowly let out a breath.
It turned out that the competition here was even more intense than they had imagined. In this atmosphere of desperate struggle, very few people could enter the room. Only half of the rooms were full, and the remaining five rooms had less than ten people.
This farthest white room has the fewest people, only four.
"You...are not tall...but you run quite fast." The tall girl panted, really surprised by Qi Mi's speed.
Qi Mi chuckled and found a seat to sit down: "Not bad, you have good athletic genes."
"Oh my god, I'm so tired." The tall girl snorted twice, quickly pulled out a chair, sat down, and lay on the table to rest.
For a moment, the room was divided into two atmospheres.
On the left, Qi Fan and the man with glasses leaned back in their chairs without changing their expressions or beating their hearts, looking contented.
On the right, a tall girl and a boy with messy hair were lying on the table, panting and groaning with exhaustion.
At the same time, the camera in the room accurately transmits real-time images.
After the area was cleared, the outside world was quiet, with only a few people sitting in the main monitoring room above the football field.
Through the surveillance cameras in each room, the invigilating officers observed the examinees. Three senior examiners sat solemnly in leather chairs, with ten mid-level examiners standing behind them, recording the details of each room and assessing and grading them.
"Is that the woman with special abilities in her hands?" the man with a thick beard sitting in the middle asked slowly.
He stared at the monitor in the white room and ordered someone to zoom in on Qi Mi's appearance to the maximum.
In an instant, that handsome profile occupied most of the screen.
She seemed to be talking to the person opposite her, with a faint smile on her lips and a few strands of messy hair hanging casually on her cheeks, adding a touch of wanton laziness. Although she did not have a delicate appearance, the nobleness in her bones could make people fall in love with her at first sight.
As an "old acquaintance", Li Xu was naturally not attracted by her beauty. He pulled the corner of his mouth meaningfully and looked away: "Yes, it's her. She seems to be a good friend of Wei Zhongji."
"When did Wei Zhongji get such a great friend?" another senior purification officer chimed in. "She's so beautiful, could she be Wei Zhongji's..."
The three of them exchanged knowing glances, and the smiles on their faces deepened.
The bearded man scoffed and stared at Qi Mi with a sharp gaze: "Then I have to take a good look at how powerful the woman that Wei Zhongjie strongly recommended to the base commander is."
He was watching, and at that moment Qi Mi happened to raise his head, and a pair of beautiful amber eyes immediately appeared on the screen. The indifferent and cold gaze was like a poisonous snake spitting out its venom, attacking directly through the monitor.
Just one look can poison the whole body.
Bearded man: “…”
On the other end of the surveillance camera, Qi Mi looked at the surveillance camera with an expressionless face.
The tall girl was curious and tilted her head to take a look. She asked, "It's just a surveillance camera. What's so interesting about it?"
"It's nothing, I just don't like the feeling of being stared at." Qi Mi withdrew his gaze.
The boy with the messy hair quickly saved his image and continued, "It's an exam, so it's normal for them to stare at us."
The man with glasses silently adjusted his glasses and sat up straight: "Someone is coming."
When the three heard this, their eyes immediately fell on the closed door.
Half a minute later, a junior purification officer walked in with a wooden box in his hand. After placing the box on the table, he immediately began to announce the rules to them:
"When you hear the bell, you can touch this B-rank strange object with your hands to enter the barrier. But don't worry, this strange object has been processed by our technology, and its attack on consciousness is very weak. All you need to do is find it in the barrier and purify it. After waking up, please leave the room as soon as possible."
"The number of participants for the third round is limited to twelve. Only the first twelve people to exit the room will be eligible to proceed to the next round. Please keep this in mind."
After saying that, the purification officer pushed the wooden box to the middle of the table, opened the lid, and a peach wood comb suddenly appeared in front of the four people.
The comb must be quite old, with two broken wooden teeth. There are simple symmetrical cloud patterns and a few lines of poetry engraved on both sides.
We will be together through life and death.
Hold your hand and grow old with you.
"Isn't the third level a test of physical fitness? Why do we have to enter the barrier?" The tall girl blinked and asked the purification officer. "I remember junior purification officers are only responsible for searches, not entering the barrier to rescue people. It won't be dangerous, right?"
"Please rest assured, this test will not harm you. Purification Officers often deal with strange things, and it's possible they might accidentally fall into the barrier. Therefore, we will conduct these tests from time to time to improve the Purification Officers' speed in dealing with strange things."
"Although we've entered the barrier, we've already identified the strange object we've touched. All we have to do now is race against time to find it. So, overall, this is a test of your physical fitness."
The Purification Officer spoke all at once, as if he had explained it many times before.
Qi Mi almost understood. In the past, when she entered the barrier, it was either because her consciousness was confused and she forgot what she touched, or she went in to save people without even looking at the strange face, so it took a long time to get out every time.
But this test was different. The trick was clearly laid out before them. Once inside the barrier, all they had to do was find it as quickly as possible. Ultimately, it was all about speed and stamina.
It is reasonable to place this assessment at the third stage.
After the purification officer's explanation, the tall girl must have understood and stopped asking. However, while she said she was afraid, her actions were not vague at all. As soon as the bell rang, she quickly reached out and touched the wooden comb.
The boy with glasses was the second one. He adjusted his sitting position to avoid falling to the ground before he reached out to touch it.
The boy with the messy hair looked at the two people whose consciousness had already entered the barrier, raised his hand and gestured to Qi Mi: "How about you go first?"
Qi Mi didn't care and slowly stood up: "It doesn't matter who comes. The four of us are still partners for now. No matter who finds the strange thing, all four of us can come out of the barrier."
What matters in the end is who wakes up first and who runs out of the room first.
The boy insisted that he would be the last one to go, so Qi Mi didn't refuse anymore. The moment his fingertips touched the wooden comb, the familiar feeling of dizziness came over him again.
She opened her eyes and saw a pair of old, wrinkled hands hanging in front of him.
Like a conditioned reflex, Qi Mi quickly raised his hand to block, and when his other hand was about to strangle the other person's neck, his movement suddenly stopped.
The owner of this hand is an elderly man with gray hair but bright eyes. He holds a mercury thermometer in one hand and is about to touch her forehead with the other.
As if to take her temperature.
The old man remained frozen in place, looking at her with concern.
Qi Mi was startled and slowly withdrew his hand.
"Well, as soon as I saw this old lady with great martial arts skills, I knew someone had traveled through time." A woman in a red cheongsam laughed and elbowed the man in a suit next to her. "I said he would travel through time and space first. You lose."
“…”
The man silently made a gesture to push up his glasses, but without any glasses to push, it was all in vain.
Upon hearing this, Qi Mi looked at herself. She was wearing a floral dress and holding an old palm-leaf fan in her hand. The loose flesh on her body felt very solid to the touch. With the reflection of the cabinet glass, she could tell that she was about sixty or seventy years old.
And the old man next to her seems to be her husband.
After these quasi-purification officers entered, the useless NPCs went directly into standby mode and remained motionless.
Qi Mi cleared his throat and opened his mouth, a slightly weak voice slipping out: "There is still time to guess here, why don't you hurry up and find something."
"Yes, grandma, I'll look for it right away." The woman joked familiarly and turned around to continue searching for something.
Qi Mi glanced at her and saw that the study was not big enough and thought it would be enough for the two of them, so he walked out of the room: "I'll go check out the other rooms."
"Okay, Grandma, be careful!"
Qi Fan: "..."
As soon as I walked into the living room, a little girl suddenly jumped up from the sofa: "Oh my god, I really came in?!"
"Yes, you came in." Qi Mi walked slowly towards them, gently waving a palm-leaf fan, and he really looked a bit old.
The little girl touched herself in amazement, her eyes shining. "This is my first time entering a barrier. This feeling is so magical. Everything I touch feels so real."
Qi Mi sighed softly and quickly held down his restless hand: "Remember your gender and don't touch me."
The boy dressed as a little girl realized it later and put down his hand awkwardly: "Sorry, sorry, I was too excited."
"Hurry and find a comb."
"Um!"
After saying this, Qi Mi went to another room, fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan, leaving the little girl with a frown on her face, mumbling to herself, "Who is this grandma?"
Qi Mi walked to the master bedroom.
From the bed to the cabinet, all the furniture here is mahogany. There is a calligraphy scroll with the words "A harmonious family brings prosperity" hanging on the wall. There is a mat on the bed, and an old-fashioned fan stands by the bed, gently shaking its head.
There is a calendar on the bedside table, with an item noted next to today's date: taking a family photo with the kids.
Qi Mi suddenly realized that the family had dressed so beautifully because they were going to take a family photo. She raised her hand and touched her forehead. The weakness in her limbs was obviously a sign of a fever. She wondered if she could catch up.
After a moment of wandering thoughts, she opened the drawer to look for the comb.
Mu Shu didn't see it, but she saw some bottles and jars of medicine. After confirming which bottle was the unexpired antipyretic medicine, she put it in her pocket and continued to open the next drawer.
A few minutes later, a woman's shouting was heard from the study.
"I found the comb!" The woman held the wooden comb excitedly.
Qi Mi took a fruit knife from the living room and returned to the bedroom: "Where did you find it?"
"It's in this gentleman's pocket, carefully wrapped in a red handkerchief. If I hadn't noticed his pocket was bulging and been more careful, I don't know when I would have found it." The woman raised her head and pointed to the red handkerchief on the table.
Embroidered crookedly on it were two wild ducks or mandarin ducks, with the same words written on them:
We will be together through life and death.
Hold your hand and grow old with you.
Mandarin duck handkerchiefs, cloud pattern combs... probably only tokens of love would have been preserved to this day.
Qi Mi didn't want to take credit for the work, so he handed over the knife and sat back in his original seat.
The woman took the knife, confirmed the purification method again and again, and then stabbed it hard.
The moment the blood flowed out, Qi Mi felt his body sink, as if he was weightless after falling from a high altitude. When he opened his eyes again, he saw the white table again.
Probably the color of each room corresponds to the color of the tables and chairs, and the tables and chairs in the white room are all white.
The cloud-patterned wooden comb in the wooden box has completely shattered, burying the stories of the past.
This was the first time Qi Mi had emerged from the barrier so quickly. It seemed like less than ten minutes had passed, and she had woken up from a nap. She regained consciousness and, seeing that the other three hadn't moved, she left the room first.
The other rooms were extremely quiet, and she was the only one on the huge green football field.
This leisurely figure made the more than ten people in the monitoring room open their eyes wide.
Li Xu's fox eyes twitched slightly, he snorted, and took a sip of tea calmly, which was still hot.
This cup of tea was served almost when the bell rang, so it was difficult for it to cool down in less than ten minutes.
The bearded man looked at Qi Mi with interest: "It seems that this woman has some skills. She should be more than qualified to be a junior purification officer."
Another person smiled and said, "Yes, once she steps out of the room, she's already entered the organization. With her pretty looks, the base commander will definitely like her. In my opinion, it's very likely that we'll be colleagues in the future. Maybe she can even be promoted to our position."
The two were discussing heatedly, but only Li Xu had a gloomy face.
This B-grade cloud-patterned peach wood comb was first purified by him. He completed the purification in a new record of 27 minutes and was praised by his superiors. Although it has been technically processed by the agency this time, he still felt a little unhappy that Qi Mi came out so quickly.
He put down the scalding cup of tea and stared at Qi Mi. He saw that after she glanced at the big screen, she walked towards the blue room in the middle of the football field.
There were a lot of people when the area was cleared just now, and they were far away. Qi Mi didn't see Zheng Yuanyuan through the crack in the door, and didn't know whether she finally entered the room.
After trying to open the door but failing, she went around to the small window on the side.
There were only seven people in the blue room: three men and four women. Zheng Yuanyuan sat near the door, quietly hunched over the table. Her hairstyle had evolved from a cute bun to a high ponytail, and now it was completely loose. She must have fought fiercely to get a seat there.
Qi Mi looked at her with a smile on his face and congratulated her softly, "Congratulations, you did it."
This crying girl is indeed braver and stronger than she thought.
Hearing the sound coming from the other end of the playground, she looked up and saw the three people walking towards her.
The tall girl was so excited that she jumped around like a giant rabbit, making the two boys next to her look so petite.
The boy with the messy hair cast a faint glance at the girl, then pulled the boy with glasses away from her and muttered, "This girl must have taken some catalyst to grow so tall."
The taciturn man with glasses adjusted his glasses and ignored him.
The girl was so excited that she didn't notice the two men's unhappy expressions. She smiled and said, "I didn't expect that the four of us advanced together! Oh my god, we are so amazing!"
Qi Mi walked towards him and said, "Aren't you the most capable one? If you hadn't discovered that the old man had something in his pocket, I'm afraid we might not have found it even if we searched the whole house."
The girl proudly raised her head and swung her ponytail happily: "That's right, from childhood to adulthood, I have never been afraid of anyone when it comes to luck!"
Qi Mi was suspicious: "Are you lucky?"
"Yes! I have always been admitted to a key school with a smug look, and I have always relied on buying lottery tickets for my pocket money. Even my mom said that I was just lucky... What are you doing suddenly?" Seeing Qi Mi suddenly holding her hand, the girl paused.
After checking, she indeed saw the words "Better Luck" in the girl's skill column.
The complete opposite of Ye Shiliu.
"What luck! It's something you can't even ask for." Qi Mi sighed.
I couldn't help but think of the big brother in Carnival City who found the young city lord after going to the toilet.
The girl smiled and shook Qi Mi's hand solemnly. "I think there's a 90% chance that we'll become colleagues. Why don't we get to know each other now? My name is He Kele, because both my parents love to drink Coke. What's your name?"
Qi Mi curled his lips: "Qi Mi."
The boy with the messy hair extended his hand unceremoniously: "My name is Xu Yifei, Yi means combining work and rest, and Fei means soaring into the sky."
The three looked at the man with glasses.
"Shi Qingluo." As if he really disliked their lively atmosphere, he walked aside silently after he said that.
He Kele grumbled to Qi's fans: "I feel like he's not a very easy person to get along with."
"Not necessarily, maybe he just doesn't like to talk." Qi Mi explained. After all, Du Rui, who works with him, has the same personality.
Noticing that Qi Mi was right next to the blue room, He Kele curiously walked around to the window and asked, "What were you looking at just now?"
"Look at my friend." Qi Mi walked over and pointed to her, "The one with the hair down."
He Kele took a closer look and said, "It's a cute girl."
"Um."
"Let me use my magic here to bless your friend to come out quickly, so that I can have a cute female colleague." As he said this, He Kele clasped his hands together in a childish manner and stared at Zheng Yuanyuan with a bright gaze.
Qi Mi smiled and said childishly.
At this moment, there was a sudden noise in the yellow room next door, and two boys rushed out.
There are six spots left.
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