Chapter 33
The way Xu Ming thought of to leave was not difficult, but it was somewhat of a loophole.
To put it simply, it was to use the strange story to send the dead out, as well as the binding mechanism of the rule book.
"No matter what the truth of this strange story is, the White side hopes to kill Butterfly, that's for sure. This is also the basis for my negotiation with that person tomorrow."
Xu Ming lowered his head and scribbled on the notebook while saying, "Based on this, it shouldn't be difficult to let it help us send Gu Yunshu out."
The next step was very simple - let Gu Yunshu leave with the No. 9 rule book, and A Jiao, who also had a work badge, stayed. Xu Ming left himself another reminder to ensure that after the next cycle began, he and Qiu Yufei would not enter the hotel after getting off the car, but would go back directly.
After that, the Ajiaos with work badges were released as guides. Relying on the natural connection between the work badges and the rules, they followed the instructions all the way... In theory, they should be able to get out directly.
The only thing that made people feel uneasy was the Ajiaos' ability to recognize the way...
But there was nothing they could do. They had no better choice. The blubber man could not stray too far from the rule book. As a living person, Qiu Yufei could not see the invisible connection between the rule book and the work badge.
The blubber man heard this and said "Ah" with excitement.
"I think this method is feasible." It rubbed its chin in a very professional manner, and its originally pointed chin was soon flattened. "The only thing is that in this way, the rule book will be a little dangerous... But Gu Yunshu's fighting ability is still quite impressive, and he should be able to hold on until you get out. Those A Jiao look stupid, but since they can follow Gu Yunshu all the way here, there will be no problem chasing him out!" The
more the whale fat man spoke, the more he felt that this method was reliable, and his movements gradually became larger and larger, obviously he had let go of a huge stone. Xu Ming nodded nonchalantly, but his tone was still thoughtful:
"The difficulty now is how we can take the others out."
The whale fat man who was dancing with joy: "...Ah?"
"The main problem is how to merge with them and how to convince them to follow us." Xu Ming ignored its dullness and continued, "In the next round, Yu Fei and I will be the third round of the cycle, and we should arrive at the hotel in the morning... Do we have to wait at the door of the hotel to stop them? But even if we stop them, we can't take them away directly. They don't even have any memory. What's more, there are people who arrived earlier than us."
"Or we can leave them some hints before the next round and let them wait after getting off the car... but we have no idea how to do it... maybe we can use the rule book to establish some rules to guide them?"
Blubber Man: "..."
"Sorry, wait a minute." It slowly raised its hand and interrupted Xu Ming's thoughts sincerely, "Where did the other people come from?"
Xu Ming looked at it in surprise, as if he heard something strange: "Of course, it's the other living people in this hotel."
"I know." The Blubber Man continued to look at her sincerely, "Then what does it have to do with you?"
Xu Ming: "..."
"Let's not talk about other things, but at least we have to take the taxi driver with us." After a moment of silence, Xu Ming couldn't help but say, "He followed us in."
"He came in with the dead." The whale man corrected her wording calmly, "It was just that you happened to be in a car at that time."
Xu Ming: "..."
She closed her eyes with restraint: "But if he didn't take us at that time..."
"If he didn't take you, he might have had a car accident somewhere else. Who knows." The whale man pointed and argued, "It was his fate to come in, which means he has this disaster in his fate. It's not you who insisted on dragging him in. Why do you care so much?"
... Can't I really just throw this thing away?
Xu Ming was silent again. After a moment, he shook his head and continued to write and draw on the rule book. The fat man seemed to be worried by her, and he crawled over again with a grunt, intending to persuade her again. Before he could speak, he caught a glimpse of what Xu Ming was doing, and was startled again.
"What are you doing? Drawing work cards?" It was surprised, "Haven't all the Ajiao already had their cards drawn?"
"...I'm studying whether I can make work cards without directions." Xu Ming looked at it unhappily, and after thinking about it, he responded.
...??? ???
The fat man was startled again when he heard this. At this moment, Xu Ming's pen stopped, and a wisp of red line floated on the rule book, slowly spreading outward. The fat man looked in the direction of the red line, and then he realized that there was an extra work card on the bed without knowing when.
It was the same plastic-sealed shell as the one given to Ajiao and the others, but the one connected to the shell was no longer the thin red line that seemed to float with the breath, but a smooth red ribbon, which looked very normal.
The whale man curiously leaned over to take a look and found that the work card was also different from the ones issued in the past. In the photo was a Q-version figurine with a common face, and it was difficult to tell whether it was a man or a woman. The unit he belonged to was still "Strange Talk Demolition and Relocation Office", but the position was written as "temporary worker".
What's more special is that the name column on this work card is completely empty.
"..." The whale man lowered his head to look at the work card, and for some reason, he suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart.
"Well." He pointed with his finger and asked humbly, "What exactly is this..."
"A semi-finished work card." Xu Ming nodded with self-affirmation.
Blubber Man: “…So you’re doing this for…”
“Keep it for backup.” Xu Ming continued to nod self-affirmingly, “It all depends on how the talk goes with that person tomorrow.”
If the other party really intends to rescue people, then she feels that she can fully cooperate with them, and the way of cooperation is also very simple -
she leaves some semi-finished work badges in the hotel, and if someone else comes in, the hotel will organize an interception, and then an employee will wear the work badge and act as a guide bee, following the connection with the rule book to bring the person out directly...
The name on the work badge is left blank, waiting for the person wearing it to fill it in. However, there are still two problems. One is that she is not sure whether the hotel staff can leave the hotel. If not, this cooperation plan needs to be adjusted. The other is that this method is more labor-intensive. After all, once they leave, they don’t know whether they can return...
All these need to be determined after tomorrow’s interview. Xu Ming couldn’t make up his mind for the time being and could only make some preparations as much as possible.
The whale fat man on the other side was dumbfounded again.
——Cooperation.
She even thought of cooperation.
...However, if it weren't for the fact that it was still living under someone else's roof, it would really sincerely suggest that Xu Ming go directly to Sichuan after he got out and sit on top of the Leshan Giant Buddha.
"No, kid...I mean, miss." The whale fat man was silent for a moment, and wiped his face vigorously - hard in the true sense, with a brush, directly smoothing out the delicate facial features.
But it didn't care about these at the moment, and stepped forward a few steps and sat directly under Xu Ming's nose.
"Maybe I'm a little blunt, but I think you're a little drunk now." A crack appeared on the head with smoothed facial features, and it opened and closed to spit out sounds.
"..." Xu Ming paused while drawing a new work badge.
The tip of the pen poked the notebook twice impatiently, and she raised her eyes slightly: "What do you mean."
"Literally." The whale man crossed his arms, his mind cracked again, "I don't know if you are overwhelmed by your own lies or what, or you are so moved by some Hu Yang's spirit that you even forget who you are... You seem to really think you can do a lot of things."
Xu Ming: "..."
She pursed her lips uncomfortably, put down the pen in her hand, and was about to speak, but saw that the whale man had raised another finger seriously, but his tone was rare and serious:
"But what is the facts?
"The fact is, you guessed the position of the white chess side. Although it seems reasonable, you have no direct evidence to prove that they are harmless; the fact is, you do have a very powerful rule book, but you don’t know how to use it, and you haven’t even fully unlocked it; the fact is, you look so awesome just because you are an idiot, and the so-called Weird Talk Demolition Office does not exist at all. "
Another eye popped out of the whale man's head, and he looked at him with a complicated expression:
"I admit that you are quite smart and clever. But don't think too much of yourself.
"Good luck in Hongqiang is an accidental event, but good luck will not last forever. Not to mention that you are carrying a rule book... It's okay if you don't let others know about this, but once it is discovered by non-humans with ulterior motives, you will be an obvious super luxury takeaway. How dare you gamble?"
Xu Ming: "…………"
In fact, Fang Xueqing and others had given similar reminders about the speculation that "the white chess piece is Hu Yang" - people like them in the industry, the most taboo is to casually trust in strange stories and identify one party as Hu Yang. Sometimes, this kind of misidentification is enough to be fatal.
Therefore, Xu Ming was prepared in his heart and had the idea of further testing. However, before she could speak, she saw the whale fat man raised his index finger again.
"And the most important point." It said, and suddenly sighed heavily.
"The white chess side, or this 'Magic Cube Building', probably won't be able to hold on for much longer. Even if all your guesses are correct and the other party is willing to cooperate with you, it will be useless. Why waste your time?"
...?
Xu Ming was stunned and sat up straight subconsciously: "What do you mean?"
"Need I say it? It's obvious." The whale man said faintly, "At first I thought the side that gave the white chess candy was the domain lord, so I didn't think much about it. But if it's really like you said, the butterfly is the domain lord, then it's probably finished.
"Do you know why humans call domain lords 'trees' and parasites 'dodder'? Because the advantages of domain lords are natural, with luxuriant branches and leaves and deep roots. Even if the dodder has the ability to counterattack, it will take a long time to accumulate and plan...so the smart dodders avoid the domain master, develop slowly, and specialize in picking up loopholes.
"The White side is already gifted to be able to delay the human's death by using two loops in the other side's home turf, and of course it also took advantage of loopholes. But once it starts a head-on confrontation, it has absolutely no chance of winning, understand?"
From the perspective of the Domain Lord, Butterfly has no reason to tolerate the White side -
assuming that Xu Ming's speculations are all true, then the current situation is actually very clear. The so-called "loop" is actually a serpentine queuing channel set up by the White side in front of the real core area, but this channel is divided into two parts. The one on the highway is the space queue, and the "loop" in the hotel is the time queue.
The guests go forward in circles along this "snake-shaped channel", and each time they go through a circle, they are closer to the real core area. Although the essence is still approaching, and the butterflies can use "secret rooms" and other methods to hunt some food in advance. But in essence, the existence of this queuing channel still greatly slows down the speed at which the guests enter the core area.
What's more, this queuing channel is not only long, but also limited in flow. Only three new people enter each round. If there are dead people coming in, they will be released directly. Sometimes there are not even three.
This means that if the cycle in the hotel is not dismantled, the speed of the butterflies' eating will always be slowed down, and there are so many dishes stuck on the highway outside. Put yourself in their shoes, which domain master would be willing to tolerate such a troublesome guy?
Not to mention, being able to build such a "queuing mechanism" shows that the chess party must have its own roots. For the domain master, it is also a rare dish.
"..." Xu Ming pondered his words for a while, and then thought of the scales and butterfly wings that Gu Yunshu had mentioned. He seemed to understand something, and his face changed slightly, "Then now..."
"I suspect that the butterfly used the scissors to destroy more than just the number of days in the cycle." The whale man said coldly, "Even if the number of days in the hotel cycle can be cut to one day, what's the use? The cycle on the highway cannot be eliminated. It's better to make a concerted effort, find the right opportunity, and invade directly, and wipe out the white chess pieces and the humans trapped in the cycle in one pot."
It's all over.
Gu Yunshu is not in the cycle, so there are some things she shouldn't see. But she has seen the scales and butterfly wings, which is not a friendly signal.
This cycle, which has been cut to only two days, is probably already riddled with holes and shaky; the process of killing everyone in its tracks is probably already underway.
"I really think the method you came up with at the beginning is good, and I think it will work." The whale man finally concluded, "But for other things, I sincerely suggest that you don't mix them up. If you really feel bad, it would be a good idea to find someone who is doing gardening to report it after you get out. You don't have much time left, so run as fast as you can before entering the core area..."
"Sister, stop it, there are butterflies everywhere outside!"
The whale man's tone was unusually earnest.
Xu Ming: "..."
The corners of her mouth pursed again, and the tip of the pen in her hand moved slightly, but she didn't respond for a while.
Only after she absentmindedly finished drawing the second half-finished work card did she let out a heavy breath and reached out to lift the blubber man who was spinning anxiously beside her onto the bedside table.
"Thank you for telling me so much. I will think about it carefully."
She said softly, with a serious tone. After that, she took a tissue to wipe her hands and added another sheet to the other person's tissue bed:
"Some things will have to wait until I meet that person tomorrow... I will be more careful.
"It's getting late, you just stay here. I'll go call Qiu Yufei back to sleep."
After saying that, he got up, opened the door and went out.
The whale fat man was left alone, sitting in his own tissue nest. After a moment, Fang Manyan shook his head in a complicated manner.
"It's really a child." It muttered and sat carefully in its own quilt.
After a while, the door opened again, and Xu Ming and Qiu Yufei stepped in. The closet was creaked open, and it was Gu Yunshu who was looking for a place to rest. After a while, the light in the room was snapped off.
This was their third night in this hotel.
If nothing unexpected happens, it should also be the last night.
*
On the other side.
In room 8207.
Mint turned off the lights early and lay on the bed, but for some reason, she couldn't fall asleep.
She was still thinking about the two guest rules she found in the room not long ago - they were made of the same material, but had completely different contents.
Comparing them, she felt a chill down her spine for no reason.
Because she thought they were too weird, she even asked her friend about them. But her friend said that both were fake, and were just props put out by the hotel to create a scary effect, and told her not to believe any of them and not to care.
… Even so, Bohe couldn’t help but care.
Thinking carefully, my friend seemed to be acting strange this morning. He didn’t wake me up when I fell asleep on the bus, and went downstairs to check in alone. He also kept complaining about a headache and stopped me from going to eat… The restaurant was still open at this time, but he forced me to go back to sleep… The more I thought about it,
the weirder it seemed.
Bohe pursed his lips and tossed and turned again. I slept for two hours in a daze and woke up again. I found that I couldn’t fall asleep again, so I just sat up and turned on the night clock. She turned on the lights and took out her phone to play for a while.
She didn't have any games on her phone, so the only things she could use to kill time were social apps. She opened her favorite platforms and browsed for a while, then she remembered that she hadn't posted
a photo to check in since she moved in. She quickly found a good angle and took a very exquisite photo. After retouching it, she uploaded it directly. After posting it, she opened the album out of habit, intending to delete the one that hadn't been retouched - but the moment she saw the album, her expression froze.
…I saw that a lot of photos had appeared in her photo album at some point.
Many of them were selfies of her, taken in the corridor, and with the statues on display. Mint remembered some of them, but some confused her as she had no idea when they were taken. When she flipped back, she saw photos of her and her friend. The background was also the exhibition hall on the first floor. The two girls were smiling happily at the camera.
Mint stared at the photo, her brain buzzed, and her hair almost exploded instantly.
She remembered clearly that her friend checked in before her, and the two of them met in her friend's room. Her friend had not left the room since she checked in until now…
She It is impossible for them to take photos together in the showroom!
Mint's scalp went numb when she realized this. At this moment, she heard a series of notification sounds on her phone, and a pop-up window popped up. She clicked on it almost instinctively, and the phone screen immediately switched to another interface.
It was the social platform where she had just posted the check-in photo.
The beeps just now were all comment notification sounds.
Mint has also accumulated some fans on this platform, but in just a short while, the number of comments has reached more than ten.
The breath of a living person blowing on her face instantly diluted the fear just now. She closed her eyes and slowed down her breathing, and finally felt her heartbeat gradually calm down.
...Yes, recalling it carefully, she seemed to have taken photos with her friends in the showroom. And they both dressed very nicely today, and this place was so suitable for taking photos. According to her friend's personality, it would be abnormal not to take photos...
I guess I just remembered it wrong.
Yes, I just remembered it wrong.
Constantly comforting herself, Mint finally opened her eyes slowly.
The moment she saw the content of the comments on the screen clearly, her eyes froze again.
I saw that under the photo, there were comments lined up one by one, with uniform blank avatars, random account names, and the focus was surprisingly similar:
[This butterfly is so beautiful! ]
[I have never seen such a beautiful butterfly, it's amazing! ]
[The butterfly in your photo is so beautiful——]
...
...? ! !
Bohe looked up in astonishment, clicked on the empty-lens photo she had taken before, and repeatedly enlarged it and looked at it again and again.
There was no butterfly in it at all
. At this moment, as if realizing that she was reading, the comments that had originally stopped growing suddenly surged at an alarming speed. The phone kept ringing, and pop-ups popped up one after another, one after another, all over the place, but they all showed the same content -
[The butterfly in your photo is so beautiful]
[The butterfly in your photo is so beautiful]
[The butterfly in your photo is so beautiful]
[Such a beautiful butterfly. ]
[Go and have a look] -
[It's looking at you. ]
"..."
The suppressed fear grew higher and higher as the number of comments piled up. When Bohe saw the last sentence, she couldn't help but burst into a scream!
The cell phone was thrown out as well, and it fell to the ground with a thud, right where Mint had taken the picture before.
The cell phone that fell to the ground was still flashing and ringing. Mint widened her eyes in shock and instinctively stepped back. Her sight inadvertently glanced upwards, but she suddenly caught a glimpse of a strange color -
her heart skipped a beat. She sat stiffly in the same place, and although she was screaming for life, she couldn't help but continue to raise her head, and her sight slowly moved upwards.
...At this moment, her eyes were suddenly covered.
In the room with only one person, a pair of hands suddenly stretched out from behind her. The palms pressed on her eyes, and the arms brushed across her cheeks. Whether it was the hands or the arms, there was a creepy coldness.
"Don't look." She heard her friend's voice ringing in her ears, "Now close your eyes and go out, follow me. I'll take you down."
"Don't open your eyes. Don't look at it. Don't read any text. If you hear me suddenly change my mind, don't even listen to me."
"Hurry up, hurry up. It's very angry."
"That stupid woman messed up everything..."
"I knew I shouldn't trust her."
*
At the same time.
On the other side.
Xu Ming was sleeping soundly, and suddenly heard the anxious voice of the whale man in her ears.
The voice was very low, as if afraid of disturbing something. She opened her eyes in a daze, and saw the whale man using his hands and feet to drill into her bag. She turned her head in confusion, but found that Qiu Yufei, who was sleeping next to her, had sat up at some point.
She was watching TV, staring at it intently.
The room was dark, with only the fluorescent light of the TV flickering in the darkness, making a continuous hissing sound.
Xu Ming felt something was wrong, and subconsciously looked in the direction of the TV, only to see snowflakes all over the screen; then he looked at Qiu Yufei, who was still staring at the screen, as if infatuated.
"...Yufei?" Xu Ming's breathing stagnated slightly, and he called out tentatively. Qiu Yufei only responded faintly, without even looking at her.
...Xu Ming's expression was even more serious now. He looked at the whale man again and found that he had completely disappeared. He only made some careful sounds in his mind: "The situation is not good, very bad!"
Xu Ming: "...What do you mean?"
"That 'butterfly' is crazy and suddenly started to make trouble!" The whale man's voice was even weaker, weak and tense, "I'm so stupid, really! I guessed that it would find a chance to invade and kill everyone in one fell swoop, but I didn't expect it to be so anxious and not even give us one more day..."
"You are an idiot and can't see that now there are words growing everywhere on the butterfly wings and scales, and the places without words are almost distorted..."
"......?"
Xu Ming quietly got off the bed, reached into Qiu Yufei's bag and asked in a low voice: "What has it been twisted into?"
The whale man hissed and made a sound that sounded like a toothache. On the other side, Qiu Yufei gave Xu Ming the answer she wanted.
——Almost at the moment when she took out Qiu Yufei's work card, she heard Qiu Yufei's intoxicated murmur from the bed.
She said, the butterflies here are so beautiful.