Chapter 28

In a blink of an eye, nearly twenty minutes later.

Xu Ming put down his pen, turned his neck with difficulty, and exhaled deeply. He caught a glimpse of the charcoal-black figures still sitting in rows around him. The fatigue that had just disappeared surged up again like a tide.

The good news is that there are fewer Ajiao in the room now, and the air is also much clearer, at least it doesn't always feel like being smoked.

As for the missing part, Xu Ming temporarily put it into the rule book. This was still the suggestion of the whale man. She didn't quite understand the principle. It was probably to use the binding relationship to store the other party in a designated container... But who cares.

It works.

Xu Ming thought silently and took another look at the rule book in his hand. Maybe it was her illusion, but after storing some Ajiao, the notebook itself seemed to become a little thicker.

However, the whale man had a different view on this.

"Is it possible that what has increased is actually the thickness of the work card drawing?" It said slowly, "Although this part of the paper does not belong to reality and most people cannot see it, since it exists, it will still have some sense of existence."

...Really?

Xu Ming was stunned for a moment, but he breathed a sigh of relief. She was wondering before, why the thickness of the remaining blank space in the notebook did not seem to decrease after drawing so many pages of work cards in a row. Now it seems that this part of the paper itself is not included in the original number of pages, and it "grew" separately.

Fortunately, at least there is no need to worry about running out of the notebook.

Xu Ming thought thankfully, and flipped the notebook to the back.

The papers at the back were all blank, and there was no sign of the captured Ajiao. She couldn't help but frown: "Is it okay to just put them in like this? What if I want to let them out?"

How should I do it?

"It's very simple, just give them an instruction they can understand. For example, give them a direct order, or make an agreement to tap the cover twice or something like that." The blubber man said.

"Can we communicate directly with each other through thoughts?" Xu Ming suddenly had a new idea, "Like I communicate with you through thoughts?"

"It's possible when they are in the book. I guess it won't work if they are out of it." The blubber man thought about it and shook his head slightly, "If they are out of the rule book, the connection is not enough."

Their binding relationship is for the rule book. If they want to communicate directly with Xu Ming, they need to rely on the connection between Xu Ming and the rule book. And this is not something that can be borrowed whenever one wants - like it, it is only because it is so deeply bound to the rule book that it can use it to establish a business consciousness connection with Xu Ming.

The binding relationship brought by the work badge is much weaker. When other abnormal beings inhabit the rule book, this weakness can be temporarily supplemented, allowing them to have the same binding depth as the blubber man; however, once they leave the rule book, this temporary deepening will naturally disappear.

The situation of these Ajiao is different from that of other beings. Their souls have been emptied of space, so empty that only some instinctive reactions are left. Even if there is a business consciousness connection, they cannot take the initiative to express anything to Xu Ming, and can only passively receive instructions. In other words -

"Then isn't the only mental command I can give them directly one?" Xu Ming reacted immediately, "Except letting them leave the rule book, I can't make them do anything."

"One more thing, once you let them go, you have to find a way to get them back." The whale man said dimly, "It's okay, think about it. Just think of it as spending a few dozen work badges to buy a reusable special effect."

Xu Ming: "..." It has to be used!

"That can't be helped. After all, their characteristics are there... I've told you, such a frivolous thing is useless."

Xu Ming:...

"Don't keep calling them things, they were human beings before." After a moment of silence, she sighed softly, "Forget it, I didn't register them just to find help."

She said, flipping through the rule book again, but thought about it and felt strange:

"Wait, but their frivolous characteristics, can't other abnormal beings see it?"

Just over ten minutes ago, her door was opened from the outside. The whale man told her afterwards that it was a rat-faced man who looked fierce, and he was probably here to cause trouble for her.

But he just took a look outside and ran away without looking back. Xu Ming wasted a lot of time talking and trying to persuade him in the air.

The explanation given by the whale man was that they were scared away by those Ajiao. Xu Ming didn't care at that time, but now he feels something is wrong. Can this be scared?

"It depends on their ability. Some are naturally stupid and there is nothing you can do about it; some can sense it and they will reveal their true colors if you let them look at them for a few more seconds." The whale man said faintly, "Besides, when you see something you haven't seen before, you will always be scared."

Xu Ming: "?"

The whale man said concisely: "The donkey in Guizhou."

Xu Ming: "..." I understand.

"It's unbelievable." She opened the book again to draw her work card, and sighed from the bottom of her heart, "You actually know ancient Chinese."

"Just so-so." The fat man was humble, "When I was still free, I spent a lot of time looking up information about various animals, and I came into contact with them in the process."

"..." Xu Ming's pen tip paused.

Why did you think of looking up information about animals?

Xu Ming vaguely felt that it would be better not to explore the answer to this question.

"By the way, have you checked the skill page at the front of the rule book?" The fat man simply counted the number of people on the card at present, and suddenly said, "No matter how small the ant is, it is still meat. You have signed so many of them. There should be some progress in unlocking them, right?"

"Yes, there is." Xu Ming said honestly. She had considered this before, and she had turned back to look at the gap between the work cards just now.

But... how should I put it.

Yes, but some are not obvious.

"There is an extra skill under 'Rotten Fruit Replacement', but the words are not fully displayed."

Xu Ming said, and turned the rule book to the front again. The whale man curiously leaned forward to take a look, and found that it was true -

there were already several more lines of handwriting in the blank line at the bottom of "Rotten Fruit Replacement", but the handwriting was blurry, as if hidden under a layer of rice paper, making it difficult to see clearly.

The blubber man lay almost on top of it, and with great effort, he managed to make out a few words:

"Double substitution... When you enter the strange story area... you can get the text from the last page of the rule book... Select a keyword... Replace it with something... Only applies to... Hiss, what does it apply to?"

The whale man shouted before he finished reading it, and felt a little regretful: "It seems to be quite practical, but why is the most important part blurred? I can't see it clearly no matter how hard I try."

"What else can I do? Just slowly unlock it." Xu Ming sighed helplessly, picked it up and put it aside, and turned the notebook back to the work card drawing page, "And even if it is useful, it can't be used this time. Don't be too happy too soon."

She had calculated before that there were a total of 32 A Jiao in this batch, and she has already finished more than half of the work cards. And judging from the current display level of the skill description, even if she successfully put cards on all the A Jiao, I am afraid it will be difficult to completely unlock it.

So, there is no point in being anxious.

Xu Ming thought calmly, picked up the pen again, and continued to draw the A Jiao not far away

, stroke by stroke. Unexpectedly, not long after drawing, there was another knock on the door. It was so quick and abrupt that she almost drew the person's eyes crooked.

Xu Ming frowned and raised his head. The next second, he heard Qiu Yufei's voice coming from outside -

"Mingming! Teacher Mingming!" She knocked on the door and said anxiously, "Are you there? Come out quickly, something happened!"

"......?!" Xu Ming was startled and hurried forward to open the door. He saw the person outside the door panting, obviously running back.

"What's the matter?" Xu Ming looked around vigilantly, "What happened to you?"

"No, it's not me!" Qiu Yufei waved her hands repeatedly, panting, "It's Sister Yun, Gu Yunshu!"

"She somehow ran into the lobby and was found by the staff. She is being surrounded now!"

Xu Ming: "..."

? ! !

*

Soon, hurried footsteps could be heard in the corridor.

Xu Ming asked the remaining A Jiao to wait in the room, and he and Qiu Yufei hurried to the elevator. Qiu Yufei hurriedly walked forward and told her the previous situation:

"About five minutes ago, I was talking to that yellow-haired guy in the corridor on the first floor... Oh, you shouldn't know him..."

"She does." The blubber man lying on the edge of Xu Ming's bag interrupted at the right time, his head shaking with the amplitude of the movement, "That was actually the taxi driver who brought you here. He was lucky that he survived the first round without knowing anything..."

Another boy who also mistakenly entered was not so lucky - the male college student who was in the same round with Bohe, obviously did not trigger any death rules, but still died under the knife of the deceived human and became the victim of this cycle. In the eyes of the blubber man, this is much worse than being killed by a dead monster.

"Shut up." Xu Ming reached out and put it into the bag, then looked at Qiu Yufei, "Then what?"

"Then, then I suddenly heard a sound upstairs, as if something hit the wall. Then I saw Gu Yunshu running down the stairs, running desperately along the corridor on the first floor, as if chasing something.

"I called her on purpose, but she didn't seem to hear it..."

As a result, Qiu Yufei watched Gu Yunshu run out of the corridor on the first floor, through the small exhibition hall, and finally ran into the hall - and there, there were three staff members on duty at the front desk alone.

Xu Ming's eyebrows jumped when he heard it: "Then what?"

"Then she was surrounded by the staff! They even pulled out weapons! I just realized that they were equipped with pistols..." Qiu Yufei said with a lingering fear, "I felt that this situation was quite strange, so I hurried up to find you."

As they were talking, the two of them had already taken the elevator to the first floor. Xu Ming's first reaction was to look towards the hall, but he saw that the entire hall was empty. While he was stunned, his arm was suddenly pulled hard by Qiu Yufei.

"Here, here!" Qiu Yufei looked very nervous and spoke in a whisper, "Teacher Mingming, look at the corridor! "

Xu Ming looked over and saw several figures slowly moving forward in the corridor on the first floor on the other side. On both sides were hotel staff. One of them was held in the middle with his head tilted to one side. He looked soft and motionless.

It was Gu Yunshu.

Xu Ming's brows knitted tighter immediately. Just as he was about to get closer to see the situation, he heard the voice of the whale man in his mind suddenly sounded -

"Don't go over!"

"..." Xu Ming paused consciously.

Seeing that she listened to the advice, the whale man quickly continued: "This kind of abnormal existence that sneaked in and has a certain combat power is the most worthy of vigilance no matter which ghost story area they are placed in. Those staff members are now on high alert. If you go up now, they will only turn their attacks on you!

"You can't beat them, and you can't save them. Even if you can save them, then what? Where to escape? Where to hide? This is their territory!"

Unless Xu Ming and his team can enter the third round right now, and then quickly join that Butterfly, there may still be a chance. After all, according to the intelligence obtained before, the room number 13 provided by Butterfly is outside the management scope of the hotel.

The problem is that this is not realistic.

"..." Xu Ming pursed his lips hard, looked up at the corridor, and suddenly a fantasy arose in his mind.

"Will they just send her away?" She said in her mind, "I remember Tang Menglong's information said that this ghost story area will release the dead who enter..."

"It's hard to say." The whale man paused, but said slowly, "But I don't think so."

"Releasing the dead should be the result of the operation of some rules within this ghost story area. But Gu Yunshu, she is different from that dead person."

"She smuggled in."

This means that while she is not bound by the rules of ghost stories, she is not protected by any rules. The

most common result is to be treated as a takeout that is delivered to the door. After all, a soul with weight is also a very good nutrient in itself.

Xu Ming: "..."

"Um, Teacher Mingming?"

Just as he was getting anxious, Qiu Yufei's voice rang softly behind him. She was even more confused than Xu Ming at this moment. Seeing Xu Ming stop just now, she naturally stopped as well.

"Where are they going? Why are they still walking inside?" She leaned her head and tried to look into the corridor, "What should we do?"

"..." Xu Ming didn't say anything, but just closed his eyes tightly.

Then, he heard her exhale heavily.

"Go back to the elevator and don't come out." She said, waving her hand backwards, straightened her back, and walked forward again.

"Hey...hey? What do you want to do?"

In his head, the anxious voice of the blubber man sounded again, but this time, it was obviously a bit flustered: "I just said so much, what on earth did you not understand? I warn you not to mess around, I told you that you can't do anything about this matter--"

"You have to do it even if you can't." Xu Ming's mouth was tightened, and he replied in his mind, "I sent her out, what's the point of leaving her alone?"

Besides, it's not completely impossible now.

- Since the rules of the monster talk don't protect her, then use her own rules to protect her.

"...No, wait a minute." Hearing her say this, the blubber man couldn't help but pause. Xu Ming's words should have boosted morale, but for some reason, it only felt more uneasy after hearing them, "What do you mean?"

"Nothing." Xu Ming said, and saw the two staff members carrying Gu Yunshu stopped in front of a door, and frowned again.

"Just remember to cooperate with me later."

Whale fat man: "..."

No, so what do you want me to cooperate with? What else do you expect me to cooperate with?

Give you special effects?

*

On the other side.

Time goes back two minutes. At

the other end of the corridor. On the second floor stairs.

Ling Guang rubbed his face, which had just been made up, and walked down the stairs slowly. His companion Fang Xueqing's undisguised ridicule was coming to his ears.

"Oh my God, so you gave up your cheating and came back directly because of this?"

She sneered rudely, stopped, folded her arms, and looked at Ling Guang with amusement: "Boss. And you're hiding the boss. If you like to imagine so much, why don't you write novels."

Ling Guang: "..."

"I said, this is not just my imagination." He closed his eyes and took a breath, then stopped, "At that time I really was--"

"You did see a very ferocious monster fleeing in front of you, and you did hear someone talking through the wall. Yes, I understand." Fang Xueqing raised her eyebrows, "But how can you be sure that the monster was scared away because of that man; how can you be sure that the guy was talking to you?"

"Silly, you didn't even see her!"

"..." Ling Guang choked.

He tried to explain: "But she was..."

"She was most likely talking to someone else at the time. It's just that you are a fool, you imagined too much and thought she was talking to you!" Fang Xueqing couldn't help shaking her head, "Don't you use your brain? You were lying at the time, and there was half a stairwell between you. Are you a god? Your eyes can turn and look at you through the wall. It's fully automatic."

She closed her eyes in disgust and shook her head again.

"Boss. There is a hidden boss." She exhaled, "This is simply the second funniest joke I have heard this year besides the Demolition Office."

"..." Ling Guang looked at her in confusion, "What Demolition Office?"

"It's that weird Demolition Office. Someone used this to fool Xiao Wang, and he believed it." Fang Xueqing looked at the time on her watch and waved her hand impatiently, "Forget it, let's talk about it later, let's go to the restaurant first, maybe we can find something there..."

Their room is located in 8201, and it is actually more convenient to take the elevator down. But Fang Xueqing wanted to observe the situation of other rooms, so she walked all the way along the corridor. When she went downstairs, she simply walked from the stairs.

Ling Guang was still thinking about the hidden boss. He nodded nonchalantly and walked downstairs. After reaching the first floor, he seemed to notice something. He not only hurriedly retreated into the stairwell, but also pushed Fang Xueqing behind him back.

"…What's wrong?" Fang Xueqing was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted and showed a vigilant look. Ling Guang did not answer immediately, but carefully stuck his head out again and looked into the corridor.

"They are hotel staff." He lowered his voice so that only the two of them could hear, "They are dragging a person and opening a door... Strange, the person seems to be unconscious."

"Human?" Fang Xueqing frowned immediately, pressed Ling Guang's body, and also leaned out to look, "Tsk, I can't see clearly here... Wait, why do I feel that the cleaning clothes are a little familiar?" "

Aren't the cleaning uniforms all the same?" Ling Guang looked at her strangely, and his expression immediately became serious, "The point is what they want to do."

If they are attacking living people, they can't just ignore it.

But then again... The intelligence sent back by Brother Tang didn't mention this kind of situation.

Ling Guang pressed the corners of his lips, and his observation became more and more tense. On the other side, the cumbersome door opening procedure seemed to have finally come to an end. Amid the heavy shaking of the key and the clicking of the door lock, the heavy door panel that was obviously different from the guest room door was pushed open with force, making a harsh creaking sound.

Ling Guang felt a pain in his teeth when he heard it.

Just as he was desperately thinking about whether he should step forward to intervene and how to intervene, another pair of footsteps appeared in the corridor.

"Please wait a moment!"

Along with the hurried footsteps, there was also a clear female voice. Ling Guang and Fang Xueqing both looked over instinctively, but from their perspective, they could only see a rough outline.

It seemed to be a young girl... Ling Guang made the best judgment he could, and the next second, he heard the girl say, "I'm sorry, but please put her down."

"..." So straightforward!

Ling Guang was obviously not the only one who was shocked by the girl's straightforward request. The hotel staff were also obviously stunned. After a moment, someone actually answered her.

But the response was also very straightforward.

"Why?" Ling Guang heard one of them ask.

Immediately afterwards, the girl took two steps forward, and her clear voice rang out again. In the clarity, the tone was more firm -

"Because - when two countries have diplomatic relations, they will not kill the envoys!"

...

...?

Ah?

Ah? ? ?

"What is she saying?" - This was Ling Guang and Fang Xueqing who were both confused.

"What is she saying?" - This was the staff who was also confused.

"...Help, what are you saying!"

- This was the whale fat man who was confused and went crazy.

"..."

Xu Ming closed her eyes for a moment because of the noise, and replied in her mind, "Shut up!"

Then she opened her eyes again, took a breath silently, and walked forward slowly:

"As the saying goes, when two countries are in diplomatic relations, they will not kill the envoys. Besides, we are not here to fight with you."

The hotel staff not far away all turned half-side with vigilance. Xu Ming's heart was pounding, but she just pretended not to see it, and only stopped again cautiously a few steps away from them - and almost at the moment she stopped, it suddenly became dark behind her.

A pile of charred corpses suddenly appeared behind them, and the black pressure was like a dark cloud, but in a flash, it disappeared again.

As if startled by the scene, several staff members became more alert. Xu Ming saw it and smiled.

"Please don't be nervous. We have absolutely no bad intentions."

She said, straightening her back as much as possible. Although her heart was about to jump out of her throat, she continued to recite the lines that she had rehearsed in her mind countless times:

"Formally introduce myself, Xu Ming, special sales representative, from the Strange Talk Demolition Office.

"The one in your hand is my colleague who is also in the same industry. If you don't believe me, you can look at her chest. There should be our company's work badge... We were sent to your district for an inspection. "

To put it simply, it is the traditional sense of "messenger."