A terrifying day
The next second, Si Qingli unexpectedly invited Wen Yan, "We're going to play an escape room later, but we're both a little scared. Why don't you come with us?"
“Yes, Ayan,” Liu Xirou chimed in, “School starts tomorrow, so it’s a good time to relax.”
“Okay.” Wen Yan sent a message to Wen Ling telling her where she was going, and then followed them to the top floor in the elevator.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, a huge and bloody ghost face came into view, startling Wen Yan. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was just a poster on the wall.
Si Qingli covered her mouth and chuckled to herself.
Looking around, the walls were covered with horror-themed posters. Si Qingli and Liu Xirou remained calm, while Wen Yan was the most frightened.
Actually, Wenyan isn't that afraid of ghosts, but if a ghost face suddenly appears, he'll be terrified.
The group of players before them had finished, so the three of them started playing cards at the table. For three people playing cards, Dou Dizhu (Landlord) is the most suitable game.
Wen Yan looked at the cards on the table. "I don't know how to play Dou Dizhu." In fact, he didn't know how to play any card games.
“It’s okay, it’s very simple,” Si Qingli said as she skillfully shuffled the cards, which clattered in her hands. “You’re so smart, you’ll definitely learn it in no time.”
When he was in high school, some of his classmates secretly brought playing cards to school to play. He thought it was novel and played a few rounds, but he couldn't even understand the rules of the game and kept losing. He felt that he was too bad at the game and was too embarrassed to continue playing.
Wen Yan felt bad about spoiling the fun, so he reluctantly agreed. Maybe he'd learn it this time.
"3 is the lowest card, and the highest cards are the Joker, then the 2," Si Qingli patiently explained the rules of the game. "Four cards of the same rank together form a bomb, which can beat the highest single card..."
Seeing that Wen Yan was completely confused, Liu Xirou said, "Let's play a few rounds first. It'll be easier to learn as we play."
"Then I'll deal the cards." Si Qingli randomly picked a card, turned it face up and mixed it with the other cards. "The person who receives this card is the landlord."
Wen Yan knew the rules. He watched Si Qingli deal the cards nervously, secretly hoping he wouldn't draw the revealed card. He didn't want to fight alone.
Seeing Wen Yan's expression, Si Qingli deliberately changed the order of dealing the cards, and the face-up card eventually ended up in Wen Yan's hand.
Liu Xirou: "Ayan, how about we switch?"
Si Qingli blinked. "Playing cards is all about the excitement, being the landlord is what makes it fun."
Liu Xirou smiled helplessly.
"That's true." Perhaps after being beaten up, his card skills had improved. Wen Yan tremblingly turned over the three landlord cards: 3, 6, and 9.
Is his luck really that bad...?
The three cards were close in number, and he thought he might be able to make a straight. At that moment, Wen Yan was still trying to comfort himself. But after he sorted out the cards, he realized that he was incredibly unlucky.
A straight requires five consecutive cards of the same number, but he unfortunately lacks the crucial 5 and 10. His gaze drifts to the bright red Joker, and he breathes a sigh of relief. It's alright, at least he still has a high card.
The landlord played first, and Wenyan planned to play all her smallest cards first, "a pair of 3s".
Si Qingli threw down two cards, "A pair of 2s."
Wen Yan was taken aback when Si Qingli played such a powerful card right from the start. Looking at Si Qingli's confident demeanor, he felt a pang of anxiety, wondering if he would be unable to play any more cards.
Si Qingli drew 10 cards at once, "Airplane".
Wen Yan and Liu Xirou said in unison, "No."
Si Qingli: "Yes, 10."
Liu Xirou played a pair of J.
The pair of 2s was Wen Yan's highest card besides the King. He wanted to break them up and save them for last, but seeing Si Qingli's dwindling hand, he hesitated.
Wen Yan looked confused, and Si Qingli smiled, "Do you want it? If not, I'll give it to you."
Wen Yan made a tough decision, "Yes! Two."
"Bomb." Si Qingli played four 5s, leaving her with only one card in her hand.
"don't want."
"No." Wen Yan looked at Si Qingli's card in despair. He had only played four cards!
"Xiao Wang." The farmer won, and Si Qingli smiled smugly.
"Her luck is amazing!" Wen Yan exclaimed, looking at the 16 cards remaining in her hand.
After playing a few more rounds, Wenyan was always the landlord. Although he didn't win a single round, he played fewer and fewer cards, which at least gave him a sense of accomplishment.
When it was their turn to enter the secret room, Wen Yan looked at the pile of cards with a hint of lingering interest.
It was pitch black inside. The door creaked shut, and the last ray of light was cut off. The strains of opera singing echoed from the end of the narrow, dark corridor.
Si Qingli had already browsed the comments section of the escape room while in the elevator, and knew the location of each NPC like the back of her hand.
She pretended to be scared, "What's that sound up ahead? I'm a little scared."
Just as Liu Xirou was about to speak, she was grabbed by the arm. "Xirou, come closer to me."
"I'll go first." Wen Yan took a deep breath. As long as he didn't suddenly appear out of nowhere, he was fine. After mentally preparing himself, he walked to the front.
Wen Yan carefully moved forward along the wall. Nothing happened after she turned the corner, and her tense nerves relaxed slightly. She unconsciously quickened her pace.
A cold hand reached out from a crack in the wall and gently brushed across his neck. Wen Yan's hair stood on end, and he stumbled back several steps before collapsing against the wall with a loud thud.
It was pitch black all around, and nothing could be seen. Liu Xirou pulled Si Qingli over and asked with concern, "Ayan, are you alright?"
"It's alright, it's alright." Wen Yan realized that she was leaning against the wall, and she stood up quickly and continued walking forward.
Si Qingli smiled broadly in the darkness, but then her smile vanished as a hand grabbed her ankle.
"Ahhh!" Si Qingli screamed, kicking her legs and flailing her arms wildly, hitting the wall with a "snap" as the backlight turned on.
The dim light came on, barely enough to make out the outline of the corridor.
Liu Xirou was startled by her shout and quickly grabbed her hand, "Qingli, what's wrong?"
Wen Yan turned back from the front and said, "It must have been touched by a staff member."
"Hmm...yes." Si Qingli's face fell.
Why is no one in the comments section mentioning that NPCs will repeatedly attack players?
The door was covered with the three blurry words "Dressing Room," and there were jumbled grids of text embedded in the wall next to it. This should be the first task point.
By the dim light, Wen Yan carefully examined each character. When he saw the "East" and "Wind" at the beginning and end, and the "Treasure" and "Horse" at the east and west, he had his answer.
"It should be Xin Qiji's 'Qing Yu An: Lantern Festival'."
Liu Xirou softly recited, "The east wind releases a thousand trees of flowers at night... It really is true, Ayan, you are so clever."
"This level is relatively easy." Wen Yan slid through the text grid, feeling a little uneasy. This level only required them to memorize poems; she had no idea what the next level would be like.
The text was arranged neatly, and the door opened simultaneously, revealing a bright red light inside. A strange ancient painting was placed in the center of the room. The painting depicted a female opera singer with heavy makeup, her bright red and purple costume appearing particularly eerie under the light.
Si Qingli quickly looked around. The comments section said that the safest place was where the costumes were stored. She ran to the clothes rack and said, "Let's split up and look for clues."
"good."
Wen Yan squatted down to examine the black wooden box, while Liu Xirou walked towards the dressing table.
Si Qingli carefully felt the costume. Suddenly, she touched a cold, raised bump, like a button. She immediately sensed something was wrong. The next second, a shrill female voice rang out, "So you really want to steal my costume, huh!"
"Ah!" Si Qingli was so frightened that she collapsed to the ground.
Liu Xirou ran over and helped her up. "Qingli, are you alright?"
At the same time, Wen Yan's scream rang out from the other side. Upon seeing what was in the box, he jumped three miles away.
Holy crap!
How come there are still people dead?!
Something slowly flowed from his hand. Wen Yan stiffly raised his hand and found it covered in blood. He frantically shook his hand, trying to shake off the "blood".
"Ayan, what's wrong with you!" Liu Xirou pulled Si Qingli over to check on him, and when they found the human head in the box, they gasped in shock.
Wen Yan smiled helplessly, "This secret room is really scary."
Si Qingli stubbornly replied, "It's so-so. Xi Rou hasn't been scared more than a few times."
"Alright, let's look for clues first." Liu Xirou walked to the dressing table again, searched for a while, but found nothing.
Just as she was about to leave, she looked up and a bloody, grotesque face suddenly appeared in the mirror.
"Ah!" Liu Xirou froze, her eyes uncontrollably fixed on the mirror.
"What happened? What happened?" Si Qingli ran over. The ghost face in the mirror had disappeared, replaced by a line of bloody words.
Liu Xirou patted her chest. "There was a ghost face in the mirror just now. It was so scary."
Wen Yan also saw it, but he was far away and the light was dim, so he couldn't see it clearly and wasn't frightened.
“Avenge me.” Si Qingli read the words aloud.
They pieced together the clues they found and pieced together the story: the actress was envied and had her costume stolen, preventing her from performing on stage. In a fit of rage, she found the person who stole her costume, only to be brutally murdered by him.
"So the head belongs to a female opera singer?" Wen Yan pointed to the black box.
Liu Xirou boldly opened the box and took out the plastic human head inside. "It should be."
"But where are we supposed to find the murderer?" Si Qingli wandered around for a while but couldn't find a single clue about the murderer.
“Hmm,” Wen Yan suddenly noticed the painting, “the answer might be in the painting.”
The three of them crowded around the painting, their eyes scanning every inch of it, and sure enough, they discovered a new clue. In the crowd below, a woman stared intently at the female lead on stage.
Upon closer inspection, Liu Xirou exclaimed, "Hey, isn't this person... just like the head in my hand?"
"It really is." Si Qingli looked at the painting and then at the human head.
Wen Yan: "So, someone has already avenged the actress, but she doesn't know it."
"How do we let her know that someone has avenged her?" Liu Xirou asked.
Si Qingli had a sudden inspiration. She looked at the mirror and said, "The actress appeared in the mirror just now, so she must still be there. All we need to do is show her the head."
Liu Xirou sat down in front of the dressing table, raised the human head, and sure enough, the female lead slowly appeared in the mirror, the bloody ghost face replaced by a calm human face.
"Creak—" The door in the depths of darkness opened, and they successfully passed the second test.
Liu Xirou smiled and said, "Qingli, you're so smart!"
Si Qingli smiled smugly, "That's right."
The three went inside, only to find that there were three more doors inside.
Liu Xirou was stunned. "Does this mean we have to split up?"
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