Take him away
Qi Jing came to the library alone. After entering through the main gate, he went straight to the seventh row of bookshelves, which were filled with novels, some of which looked like they had been covered in dust for a long time.
When he counted to the twenty-first book, he took it out. There was a secret compartment where the book should have been, so he went back to the seventh row of bookshelves and started counting from the beginning, exchanging the number on his hand with the third book.
Then he walked to the 21st book and put the one he had replaced on it.
Then there was a "click" sound, and the book that had just been placed was pushed up. Qi Jing took the book out, and the secret compartment was opened.
When Qi Jing opened the partition of the secret compartment, a key appeared in his sight. He did not expect that the key was actually a stone, about the size of a dice.
Picking up the key, Qi Jing opened the door leading to the four-sided clock as requested.
This is a spiral staircase, very narrow, very old, and very light, and it looks like it will collapse at any time.
He walked up carefully. There was a faint light on the wall along the stairs, which allowed him to see the stairs clearly.
The door of the four-sided clock was closed after he came in. There was no light here except these lights. He held the railing with one hand, afraid that the stairs would fall down because of their old age, and walked up step by step with the other hand holding the wall.
The higher he went, the dimmer the lights on the walls became. He finally reached the top floor and was startled when he opened the door.
Because there was not only Chen Ming inside, but also Liu Qi, whose face looked like this, but Chen Ming was standing, while Liu Qi was tied up.
Because there was a small opening in the room, the light from outside could shine in so it was not very dark, but it still turned on the light on the watch, and thereby started the call with Shu Yan and the others.
Qi Jing closed the door and stood as far away from Liu Qi as possible. He looked at Chen Ming with his face against Liu Qi's and asked, "You asked me to come find you, but you didn't say he was there too."
Chen Ming said that after he came in, he sat next to Liu Qi. He did not look at Qi Jing, but untied the bindings on Liu Qi's feet. However, he did not know whether he tied them too tightly, as it took him a long time to untie them.
After being untied, Liu Qi stared at his legs. His mouth was taped shut and he couldn't speak. He could only hum.
Chen Ming played with the untied rope, not looking at Qi Jing nor answering his questions. He just muttered to himself: "Qi Jing, we are not normal people. You may think I am crazy when I say this, but you will understand after you get out of this mission."
"When you step into this school, many of you are destined to die, and only a few will survive. Furthermore, the same will happen in the next mission. In this cycle, you will continue to die, just like us, until the third mission is over, until your cycle ends, and until the next cycle begins."
"It's hard to get out alive, because the students here also want to live, and if they want to live, they will kill you, so you will definitely die here. But I can help you, and my condition is to take him out and keep him alive."
Chen Ming looked at Liu Qi, then looked up at the sky outside the small opening.
"His brother Liu An died to protect us. We all owe him a debt. The person Liu An cares about most in his life is his brother, so I want you to take him out."
"I've been here for many years. I'm an orphan myself anyway, so it doesn't matter whether I live or die. But before Liu An died, he asked us to take good care of Liu Qi. Qi Jing, you have to hold on until the third mission is over, then everything will be over."
"Your father told me that he found a place called the Special Works Bureau. There are some people there who are different from us. He said that they are helping me fight Qi San. He said that we will be able to go home soon." Chen Ming pulled out a cell phone with a broken screen from his pocket. "This phone was left by your father. He said the password is your birthday."
Qi Jing took the phone away, and when he turned it on, the wallpaper was a couple. The man's mouth and nose looked very much like Qi Jing's, and the woman's eyes were the same as Qi Jing's.
Chen Ming: "Those are your parents."
Looking at the unfamiliar photos, Qi Jing's fingers moved subconsciously. He entered the password but it showed an error. He was stunned and looked up at Chen Ming.
Chen Ming was also looking at him, and suddenly he smiled: "Qi Jing, you don't think that the birthday in your mind is really your birthday, do you?"
Chen Ming leaned against the wall, one leg bent, and looked up at the light. "Your current memories are all fake, all made up by Qi San. All of you may not be from the same world, just like me and Liu Qi. He said he lived in Y City, and I lived in Tomorrow. He said he had never heard of a city called Tomorrow in his world, and I had never heard of Y City in my world. At first I thought we were ignorant, but as he talked about international superstars, none of which I had heard of in my world, I realized that we were from different worlds."
"Actually, if you think about it, it makes sense. After all, if a country suddenly lost tens of thousands of people, how could there not be news? Such a large-scale event would definitely attract the world's attention. But if a country just lost a few people in different cities on an ordinary day, then that's normal, because disappearances happen in every city in the world. It's like a pound of rice. If one or two grains are missing, it won't be noticeable on the scale. But if a whole bowl is missing, the weight is much more than just one or two grains."
Qi Jing held up his phone and asked him, "Who is Qi San?"
"He is the one who created everything here, and he is the one who is leading us step by step towards death."
"How are we going to get out alive?"
At this point, Chen Ming smiled and looked at Qi Jing. He said seriously, "Actually, you were dead from the start. You should have read the survival card before getting on the bus. But, have you forgotten the rules of this mission?"
"Game rules? There are no game rules written on the card." Qi Jing frowned.
"It was mentioned, but it wasn't on the card, and I mentioned it when you came here."
Qi Jing quickly searched in his mind for when the rules of the game were mentioned. Suddenly, he remembered what Dada said when he saw them and what Chen Ming said similarly when he first arrived.
She said, "Congratulations to everyone for making it to the starting point of the game. Next, please separate and form a line."
He said: "Everyone, please abide by our rules of the game and stand in line consciously."
It turned out that their subconscious minds had already agreed on what was written on the card. Just like they did at the beginning, they thought they could leave as long as they could survive seven days. They didn't expect that they were not intended to leave here from the beginning.
"I told you so." Chen Ming's voice was filled with laughter, just like when he first saw them. "Everyone, please abide by our rules of the game and stand in line consciously."
"I guess the person who brought you here also told you to stand in line when you want to play the game."
"You're much luckier than the rest of us. Everyone in our cycle who actually made it to the starting point of the game is here. None of us made it out alive. I don't know what the second mission is like, but I'm sure they want you dead more than we do. In this mission, we have to kill you to escape, but you have to rely on yourselves to survive."
"On the seventh day, all the students will be waiting for you at the gate. Not only will you need to avoid them, but you'll also have to choose the right car. I'm not 100% sure which car it will be, but I'm 50% sure it will be one of the third and seventh."
"Don't rush in. You should first observe the situation of the people who got on these two cars. If they disappear as soon as you get on, you can get on, but if you can still see them after getting on, don't get on. If they disappear, it means you made the right choice. If they are still there, it means you made the wrong choice. Those who made the wrong choice will become students here like us. Those who made the right choice can move on to the next mission."
"Each car has a limit of 42 people, but it can actually seat 43. There's no driver in the car. To open it, you need the key you just got. When all the missions are completed, Qi San should be dead, and this world will disappear."
"The seventh one. Before we arrived at the starting point of the game, we saw an expired card that told us one plus six. I don't think the person named Qi San really wants us all to die."
Chen Ming: "Expired card? The one you're talking about should be the one Liu Qi's brother once found, but then his brother disappeared, and we didn't find the card either. In that case, just be careful."
Liu Qi became quiet the moment he heard his brother's name. He thought about the time before his brother was still alive, and the time after their group completed their first small mission. Back then, they were still alive.
He has no eyes, but he can see everything clearly. He saw Qi Jing, his parents on Qi Jing's mobile phone wallpaper, and Chen Ming's current appearance.
Shi Ran looked indifferent. In the past, his brother had entrusted him to Chen Ming, and now Chen Ming had entrusted him to Qi Jing. He wanted to speak, but his mouth was glued shut, so he could only mumble "Chen Ming!"
Qi Jing glanced at the time. It was already past two o'clock. He looked around and asked, "What are you going to do? I took him away. Are you going to stay here alone?"
Chen Ming: "Me? I'll stay here. After you leave, our group will probably disappear like his brother. And those of you who got on the wrong bus and became students will replace me, replace all of us. But you don't have to worry about their safety. After this world collapses, all of you will return to your own world."
Qi Jing: "Everyone, not including you, right?"
"We are the past, and you are the present and the future."
Chen Ming stood up, picked up Liu Qi and made him stand up. He led him to Qi Jing, opened the door and said, "It's time for you to go."
Qi Jing wanted to go over and pull Liu Qi, but he dodged him. Listening to his whimpering, he said, "He seems to have something to say. Do you want to listen?"
Chen Ming smiled and touched Liu Qi's head, then shrugged and said, "Forget it. It's probably a curse word for me. You don't know, this brat curses me every day. I don't want you to be cursed before you leave. Okay, let's go!"
Just like that, Chen Ming handed the person over to Qi Jing and closed the door, isolating the two of them. He didn't look at Liu Qi, and in fact, he hadn't looked at him many times since Qi Jing came in. And he also knew that what Liu Qi wanted to say was not to scold him, but probably to blame him for being like his brother, giving him to others and not caring about him.
After they left, Chen Ming looked out at the sky through the small opening and muttered softly, "If we're lucky, we'll all be reincarnated into the same world in our next life, and then meet again in the same country and city."
"Liu An, I have done my best. Please bless your brother."
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