Chapter 158

The moment he passed through the wall, a light suddenly lit up in front of him.

His sight was dazzled by the sudden light, and Xu Ming closed his eyes subconsciously. His heart was involuntarily hanging, but soon, it slowly calmed down due to the footsteps and concerned voices coming from all around.

"Ahhh, it's out! It's really out!"

Lu Yueling's voice was the first to sound, and then he felt his arm being supported, and something fluffy seemed to be turning around at his feet.

Without bothering to answer any questions, Xu Ming waved his hands repeatedly to indicate that he was fine. The moment his sight was restored, he turned around without hesitation and pressed the rule book against the half-open door behind him.

There was no door handle on the door panel, but the moment the rule book was pressed on it, it was attracted to the door panel like a magnet. Light flowed behind the half-open door, constantly leaking out strange whispers and ambiguous low laughs, and there were also thin hands made of pure white light, clinging to the edge of the door, still trying to climb out.

This time, Xu Ming learned his lesson. He closed his eyes, ignored them, and just used the rule book as a door handle and pulled it back hard -

there was a "bang" sound, accompanied by a miserable scream.

The whole world suddenly became quiet.

Xu Ming's surging emotions also calmed down for a moment.

He slowly opened his eyes. Not sure if it was a psychological effect, but Xu Ming felt that the room she was in seemed to have become darker. It was so quiet that it seemed as if someone had wiped out all the sounds.

After a while, someone asked, "Are you okay?" and all the darkness suddenly came to life again - someone rushed over to support her body, and someone stepped forward to check the closed door. Only then did Xu Ming realize that her hands and feet were shaking violently. She became unsteady and sat down on the ground. She didn't know what she was thinking about, and her eyes felt sore again.

The shadow dog was sniffing in front of the closed door. After confirming that it could no longer smell any dangerous scent, it trotted over and lay down next to Xu Ming's legs. Just as it climbed steadily, it was blown away by the lion cat squatting on Xu Ming's knees.

Lando looked over with a speechless look, too lazy to pay attention to them. He helped Xu Ming to lean on his shoulder and touched her forehead: "How do you feel? Are you uncomfortable?"

Xu Ming wanted to shake her head, but she felt dizzy after shaking it, so she could only nod. After a pause, she suddenly remembered something and picked up the rule book again with difficulty. She first took back the authority to make work badges that had been distributed before, and then turned to the special area page and let Gu Yunshu and Kuai Le out.

With two more people, the small room suddenly seemed crowded. Especially Kuai Le, her condition was not much better than Xu Ming, and she could only lie down when she came out - in comparison, Gu Yunshu was better, although her face was ugly, but at least she could stand steadily.

He still had the energy to tell the others what happened inside the door.

Lu Yueling and the cat were both furious. At this moment, Kuai Le finally opened his eyes weakly and saw the black hair in front of him that exploded into rays. He almost couldn't help but pout again.

Lu Yueling was so scared that she rushed over to slap the man in the face. Kuai Le's eyelids trembled, and he finally woke up completely - his eyes turned left and right, and then he trembled and said:

"We... came out?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Lu Yueling was still immersed in Gu Yunshu's plain narration just now, and the look she gave to Kuai Le and Xu Ming was filled with a bit of heartache and pity that was inconsistent with her character. But Xu Ming had cats and dogs, so her sympathy had nowhere to go, and she could only temporarily focus on Kuai Le, whom she had just met.

"Don't be afraid." She comforted the person in front of her in an unskilled manner, "Master... Teacher Ming Ming has brought you all out!"

"Oh..." Kuai Le slowly turned her eyes away and looked at the wall beside her, "The door..."

"Close it, close it!" Lu Yueling continued to report actively, and as if she was afraid that she would not believe it, she deliberately stood up and opened the door again in front of her - an ordinary door with an ordinary door handle, and an ordinary corridor was revealed after it was opened. Everything looked so normal.

It was as if everything they had experienced not long ago was just a terrifying nightmare.

When they woke up from the dream, everything was over.

"Don't worry." Lu Yueling squatted in front of Kuai Le, her tone was rare and gentle, "It's okay. Everything is over."

"..." Kuai Le also seemed relieved. After a moment of silence, he nodded with relief and gently closed his eyes.

——But the next second, his eyes opened again.

As if she realized something, she glanced at the open door again. After a moment, she spoke in disbelief, her voice trembling a little:

"Nothing's wrong!"

"?" Lu Yueling was at a loss, "Huh?"

"Where's the elevator!" Kuai Le almost jumped up from the ground, but soon sat back down, "Look at the door at the end of the corridor, it's obviously still this room!"

Lu Yueling: ...

Now that you put it that way, it seems to be true...

"That, I wanted to ask just now." Xu Ming, who had been silent all the time, spoke again, his voice tired, "From the time we entered until now, this room wouldn't have changed at all, right? Where's the exit? It hasn't appeared either?"

Landor shook his head. After thinking about it, he took the initiative to take a clock and went out along the corridor to try it.

Not long after, he was seen walking back from the other end of the room.

"There is no exit." He said with certainty, "The room is still arranged the same as before."

"Sure enough." Xu Ming sighed, and stroked the cat squatting beside his legs, "This weird story is still running, we still can't get out."

"Fuck." Kuai Le crossed his arms and said unhappily. Probably because he felt that it was not enough to vent his anger, he paused for two seconds and added bluntly, "Stupid weird story, fuck it."

"..." Looking at her in shock, Lu Yueling was silent for a while, and silently distanced herself from her.

"This strange story and the world behind the door are originally separate, just like two independently existing cities." At this moment, the cat next to Xu Ming finally spoke, "The two cities can be connected by high-speed rail, but it does not mean that they are... well, interdependent."

As if to show that it is more cultured, it pondered the last sentence and used an idiom. After speaking, it quietly raised its eyes to look at Xu Ming's expression, but the latter just pursed his lips and looked thoughtful.

"In other words, we still have to find another way to dismantle this strange story..." Xu Ming muttered, his eyes fell on the partition wall of the room.

The partition wall made of pure flesh and blood, there are many pus bags on it, and all kinds of debris are floating in the pus bags.

Landor and his friends had already broken several pus bags while trying to dig out the clock, so that there was a pool of dirty water on the ground. Xu Ming stood up carefully and walked forward, looking at the wall in front of him, with a thoughtful look on his face.

"You said before that the things in here are roots?" She turned to confirm with several mutated roots. After getting an affirmative answer, she nodded slightly.

The operation of the strange story requires the support of roots - if starting from this idea, the only thing that can be done now, besides this wall that has been integrated with a large number of roots, is the mutated roots that Lando and his friends were caught in. With

the idea of ​​giving it a try, Xu Ming asked Lando and his friends to open another abscess. This time it seemed to be more strenuous than the previous time when they dug the clock. Even with the help of a cat, it took a long time to open one. The moment the dirty water leaked out, the surface mucous membrane began to wriggle and grow again. It

grew back in the blink of an eye.

The moment the mucous membrane closed, the dirty water in the abscess was filled again. Everyone stared at the pus bag that was bulging again. This time, even the cat couldn't help it.

"Oh my god." It couldn't help but sigh, "Bitch."

They had never tried to dig roots directly from the wall before, and they never thought that this would be more unpleasant than digging a clock!

Xu Ming was relieved.

"This at least proves that our direction is right." She rubbed her forehead, "The clock can be taken at will, but the roots can't. It can be seen that these roots are indeed very important to this strange story."

"I see." Lu Yueling was shocked, "They won't let people dismantle it, what should we do?"

Xu Ming was also thinking about this problem, and fell into deep thought for a while. After thinking for a while, he didn't come up with any countermeasures, but remembered another thing.

"Come to think of it, I was very concerned before..." Xu Ming pursed his lips, "Why did the existence behind the door choose me as the key?"

"It didn't choose you as the key." Kuai Le said with certainty, "but you happened to become the key."

"?" Xu Ming turned back in surprise, and quickly reacted, "You mean, it's because I came down, so..."

"Yeah." Kuai Le nodded. As a being parasitized by the Lighthouse Man, she still has some memories from the Lighthouse Man - or, in other words, from the lighthouse.

"This building is the selection site for the last key, but you are not among the original candidates." Happy closed his eyes tiredly, sorting out his thoughts while saying, "The original candidates... should be a group of human souls that have merged with roots, just like me and the dog man. It's just that they are more in line with its standards, and 'it' has been trying to cultivate them a few years ago..."

Cultivate? Close to mutant roots? Xu Ming frowned slightly, and something suddenly flashed through her mind——

"Player?" She murmured subconsciously, and the moment the words came out of her mouth, her scalp suddenly tingled.

"Probably." Happy nodded slightly. After she became an alien root, she didn't pay much attention to human affairs. However, after cooperating with Dali Chuwei, she sometimes got some information, so she was not unfamiliar with this term, "Or, former player."

"..." The faces of several people present suddenly became solemn. Only Lu Yueling was slow to react and looked around. After a pause, she followed the crowd and put on a bitter and resentful expression.

Xu Ming turned around twice on the spot, and the vague guess in his mind became clearer.

"If this is the case, then the appearance of the 'player' at the beginning may not be accidental..." She thought, "Originally, there was no rule book in this world, only roots. Humans who use roots directly will be affected and induced..."

Just like the floor manager and the pickpocket in the unit. Gradually assimilated, gradually alienated, until finally, joined the door.

The rule book is much safer. Although there is a price to pay for using it, it does not affect people's sanity.

The previous conversation with Kuai Le in the world behind the door basically proved Xu Ming's guess, that is, the rule book was created by the earliest people with special abilities, and its original intention was to prevent the loss and madness caused by the direct use of the root...

"This is a saw." Xu Ming finally understood, "Humans created the rule book to offset the influence of the root. And this is not good for the lighthouse. So it found a way to influence some humans, letting them choose to give up the protection of the rule book..."

It's not accurate to say it's giving up - it's more accurate to say that they choose to go crazy.

Order and rationality are the natural protective layer of human beings, but for people with psychic physiques, this layer of protection is inherently missing.

Under certain deliberate inducements, they became more and more unbridled and arrogant, so unbridled that even the rulebook could not provide further protection, until in the end, they became parasites of the roots and gradually went crazy.

"..." Happy listened, but closed his eyes helplessly.

"I was no longer around when the 'players' rose, so I don't know much about them." She whispered, "I don't know if their loss of control has anything to do with the Lighthouse. I only know that the Lighthouse is happy to see their existence."

Perhaps the existence behind the door is indeed scheming and has been looking for the last key for itself long ago; or perhaps, it is just that humans are simply stupid and happen to be crazy in the way that the Lighthouse likes the most.

In any case, those alienated roots generated by players are indeed the "keys" most favored by the existence behind the door. This is why when this strange story was generated, in addition to these "foods", another batch of mutant roots were brought in and placed on the upper floor.

"'It' took away all the roots from those people and put them here." Happy said, "It is both a bait and a benefit."

Without their original roots, those former players will definitely look for them everywhere, or collect more cards in order to strengthen themselves - and those cards are the tickets to the 100th floor.

"The Peering Mirror has been sending messages to the outside, right?" Happy said, looking at the still unconscious Teacher Mirror, "But in fact, even if she doesn't send some messages, the Lantern Man will send them to the outside."

For example, the method to enter the 100th floor, such as the information that your roots are on the 100th floor. And when someone really follows the prompts and comes down, it will be regarded as a new key candidate, and guided by the light caller, it will complete the final door opening ceremony and become a real key.

"The key is the key to maintaining the door open, so it also needs to be protected and strengthened. Those roots are prepared for it." Happy pointed to the wall, "I don't know the details, it's probably a routine like 'opening the door will inherit billions of inheritance'..."

However, these roots also support the operation of this makeshift ghost story, which she didn't know - but thinking about it this way, it makes more sense.

This ghost story is a very makeshift one. But it is still a ghost story after all.

Once the "key" absorbs these roots, it is equivalent to having the right to use the roots. Rounding it off, it's Domain Master, which is equivalent to getting a famous strange story for free.

As mentioned before, the key needs to be strengthened and protected. The better it is protected, the better it is for the lighthouse. In this mutually beneficial situation, it doesn't seem strange to give away a strange story for free...

But I didn't expect that none of the candidates who were valued came down, but Xu Ming did. It just so happened that the lighthouse seemed to like her very much, so he just made her the new and most important key...

The result of the hot head was that the door that was finally opened was closed again.

"...Wait." Xu Ming heard this, but seemed to suddenly think of something, and hurriedly raised his hand, "You mean, these roots were originally intended for the key?"

"Yes." Happy nodded.

Xu Ming: "And I am the designated key."

Happy: "...Indeed."

"In other words." Xu Ming slowly put his hands together, "The things on this wall are all for me?"

Happy: "..."

"No." She felt that Xu Ming's understanding seemed to be a little problematic, "Logically, only those who opened the door count as keys, and only after opening the door can you get these roots..."

"I opened it." Xu Ming turned his head and looked at her firmly, "I opened it."

Although it was only opened a crack, it was not voluntary - but you can say whether it was opened or not.

Happy: ...

Although I still feel like something is wrong, but when I think about it carefully, it seems to be true...

Of course, this logic makes sense, but the partition wall still refuses to recognize it. Xu Ming tried to prick the abscess with a sharp weapon, but it still couldn't be pierced.

So she decisively took out the rule book. She

carefully wrote down all the twisted logic just now, and didn't forget to add a signature of "Strange Talk Demolition and Relocation Office" at the end.

It's not over yet after she finished writing. After thinking about it, she added another sentence, "So these roots are my legal property. A person can dispose of her legal property at will. Including taking, discarding and giving away."

The moment she finished writing, a tremor like a response came from her heart. Xu Ming took a deep breath and tried to reach out to the wall again.

This time, with just a light touch, the pus bag in front of him burst immediately.

The cracked epidermis did not close again. Xu Ming waited quietly for the pus to drain out. He stretched out his hand and took out the root hidden under the shrunken epidermis.

It was a very small pendant that felt like metal. In the middle was a small red heart. Even though it had just been soaked in pus, it still looked sparkling.

Xu Ming stared at the small red heart, paused for a moment, and suddenly laughed.

Then he turned around and carefully placed it aside in the hands of Gu Yunshu.