After the pop-up notification appeared, Xiao Lou was soon presented with the option to "Leave Secret Room World?" Xiao Lou pressed "Yes," and a flash of white light appeared before his eyes. Then, time and space shifted, and he saw a familiar card wall. On the card wall, all the cards of the four suits from 2 to K were glowing with a soft light. There was also a "Cleared" stamp in the lower left corner of the playing cards, and the names of the various secret rooms were printed on the cards.
Red Heart 2, played solo Rose Funeral, spade 2 The challenge from Zombie Town to Plum Blossom 2: Meeting Yu Hanjiang at 10:30, then going to Black Ye Qi, Spade 4 I met Liu Qiao, Qu Wanyue and Long Sen at Liuxi Village.
This wall recorded all of their scores, and looking at it now brings back a flood of memories.
In the blink of an eye, they had been in Card World for quite some time, passing through so many secret rooms.
Xiao Lou stood in front of the card wall, his feelings a complex mix. Before he could speak, a clear, youthful voice suddenly came from behind him, " Professor Xiao, you're finally out!"
It's Ye Qi's voice.
Xiao Lou hurriedly turned around and saw Shao Qingge, Ye Qi, Jiu Ge, Tang Ci, Old Gui, and Hua Ying waiting for them in Personal Space. With all his teammates there, Xiao Lou finally breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at Ye Qi and asked gently, "Xiao Ye, did you clear the game ahead of schedule?"
Ye Qi strode up to Xiao Lou and said in a low voice, "We've just been sent to the waiting area after completing our mission, just like the waiting area in the Blood Night Witch instance. It's a closed space. If the six of you can't solve the puzzle successfully, or if you get killed by the Hunter in the night maze, we'll all be eliminated together."
Xiao Lou explained with understanding, "I see. In other words, you've been transported to a past world. Finding clues is considered completing the mission. You'll enter the waiting area first. Only after we successfully exit the secret room will you be considered to have passed. If we fail, you'll all be eliminated together."
Lu Jiuchuan said, "That's right." He paused, then looked at Yu Hanjiang, "By the way, have you seen all the clues we left behind?"
Yu Hanjiang nodded. "Yes, thanks to the detailed clues, we were able to find the murderer successfully."
Shao Qingge walked over with a smile and joked, "I knew my idea was brilliant. Who would bother digging up graves in Mass Grave? We can build a joint burial tomb, bury the clues inside, and outsiders won't understand them, but Xiao Lou will understand them at a glance."
Xiao Lou looked at him helplessly, "Only CEO Shao could come up with this."
Ye Qi asked with concern, "How are you? Was it very dangerous?"
Tang Ci said, "We didn't encounter Hunter in the world three years ago, and neither did CEO Shao and the others. So the most likely scenario is that all the Hunters are in the original world. It must have been very difficult for the six of you to complete the game."
He glanced at the blood-stained gauze on Xiao Lou's neck and the patch of black, rotting flesh on Yu Hanjiang's hand, frowned slightly, and took out his medical robot. "Would you like me to treat your wounds?"
Everyone was so excited about the reunion that they overlooked Xiao Lou and the others' injuries. Now, reminded by Tang Ci, Lu Jiuchuan couldn't help but curse, "Damn, what happened to your hand? It's practically rotting down to the bone!"
Ye Qi looked at Xiao Lou nervously, " Professor Xiao, your neck is still bleeding! And Teacher Qu's neck was choked until it turned blue! Who was so heartless as to almost strangle you to death?"
Qu Wanyue smiled, her voice hoarse, and said, "I don't know either. " Xiao Lou
It was Long Sen who did it. Of course, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang both tacitly didn't want to say this truth. After all, Long Sen was controlled by the sound of the rattle drum and completely lost his mind. Old Mo even almost committed seppuku with a knife.
Seeing his teammates looking at him with concern, Xiao Lou quickly smiled and said, "Don't worry, everyone, it's just superficial injuries. The Hunters we encountered this time were all very strong, and it really wasn't easy for us to get out of the night maze."
Although he spoke these words lightly, Ye Qi and the others could imagine the danger at the time.
Lian Xiao Lou Yu Hanjiang was injured, which shows how terrifying Hunter is.
Ye Qi said, "My and CEO Shao's Bug King Cards can only be used in a secret room, so they can't heal your injuries. Only Mr. Tang can help. Let Mr. Tang's robot heal you quickly!"
Tang Ci said, "Everyone, please sit down first and heal your injuries before we talk."
His healing robot is quite cute, with a big head and a short body. It can heal most external injuries, including knife wounds and rotting wounds. However, it is powerless against severed limbs or internal organ injuries, and you have to rely on the bug king card.
Fortunately, Xiao Lou and the others were not seriously injured this time, and Tang Ci's medical machine could take care of it.
Tang Ci gently untied the gauze from Xiao Lou's neck.
A 10-centimeter-long wound was visible on Xiao Lou's collarbone. The sharp knife had left a horrifying scar, with the flesh turned inside out and the bone exposed. This wound was less than 2 centimeters from Xiao Lou's carotid artery, which gives an idea of how dangerous the situation was for him.
In bright light, Yu Hanjiang could clearly see the scar. His eyes darkened, and he said in a low voice, "You still say you're fine? You were just 2 centimeters away from dying."
Xiao Lou said in a comforting tone, "It's only 2 centimeters short. It's just a superficial wound. I'll be more careful in the future."
Yu Hanjiang didn't say anything more, and gently took his hand.
Tang Ci quickly stitched up Xiao Lou's wound with the medical robot, then healed Yu Hanjiang's right hand. The bruises on Qu Wanyue's neck also quickly disappeared. To Xiao Lou's surprise, Liu Qiao also had injuries on his arms and calves, but they were all tiny wounds, as if he had been bitten by something small.
This girl is so strong; she didn't utter a single word.
Xiao Lou
He asked in a low voice, "Xiao Liu, were you injured in the water?"
Liu Qiao nodded calmly, "Yes, when I was submerged in the water, many strange things entangled me, like countless small snakes biting me. Luckily, I escaped quickly."
Xiao Lou gently patted her shoulder and said, "I asked you to distract them; this was really too risky." Liu Qiao rarely smiled, but she did. "Of course, I have two lives anyway. I just need to take the antidote in time."
Lu Jiuchuan's brow remained furrowed throughout. The injuries on these people and the information revealed in their conversation all indicated that the six of them were later ambushed by Hunters, while the six teammates who were transported to the past by chance had a much easier time, only investigating clues and not encountering Hunters.
Compared to CEO Shao and Ye Qi, who nearly starved to death in the Famine world and survived by eating tree leaves every day, Lu Jiuchuan and the others were actually living the most comfortable life in the world three years ago.
After Tang Ci put away the treatment robot, Lu Jiuchuan whispered, "Tell us what exactly happened in this case."
Xiao Lou briefly recounted the process of solving the puzzle and the encounter with the Hunter in the maze to his six teammates.
The culprit in the ghost case is Qi Ran, which Shao Qingge and Ye Qi correctly guessed; Lu Jiuchuan and the other three deduced that Han Ningshuang's accomplice was a masked man, but they didn't know his name; finally, Xiao Lou combined the clues left by his teammates and successfully solved all the mysteries, and also found out that the culprit in the Sunken Lake Case was another girl that his grandmother had adopted years ago.
Upon hearing this, Tang Ci paused, stunned. " The killer in the Sunken Lake Case is connected to long hair... Could it be that Zhou Xiaoyun is the woman we met outside the city three years ago with her head shaved?"
Lu Jiuchuan also recalled this incident, slapping his forehead as he said, "During our world investigation three years ago, we focused on ghost cases, identifying Han Ningshuang and the Masked Man as the prime suspects. The clues we left for you were also about these two. We did see a bald woman outside the city, but everyone assumed she was a passing nun and didn't pay her any attention."
Xiao Lou said, "I can't blame you for this, because we only discovered the Sunken Lake Case at Zuiyue Lake after we split up. You had no idea there was another case in this locked room mystery. However, this makes me understand Zhou Xiaoyun's motive."
He looked at Yu Hanjiang, who nodded in agreement, and said, " Qi Ran's motive was to avenge his mother-in-law, wiping out the entire family in one fell swoop. Zhou Xiaoyun's motive was for herself. Most likely, Zhou Xiaoyun had a bad experience in her childhood, which gave her a psychological trauma related to long hair and red clothes. So when Qi Ran started killing, she joined in. However, their methods were so different that we initially mistook them for two unrelated cases. But in the end, it turned out that the murderers in the two cases actually knew each other and had been covering for each other."
Shao Qingge felt a headache coming on. He rubbed his temples and said, "As long as the mystery is solved in the end, that's fine. The hardest part this time, besides the transmission of clues across time and space, is how many Hunters did you guys actually encounter?"
Xiao Lou said, "There were thirteen people, and the most dangerous one was the murderer, Qi Ran."
Ye Qi gasped. "The murderer is also Hunter. I remember in the tenth stage, CEO Shao's mother was Hunter; in the qth level, Professor Xiao's clone was Hunter. Could it be that Hunter can travel into the Secret Room World and directly take the murderer's identity?"
Yu Hanjiang shook his head. "I'm afraid it's not that simple."
Tang Ci immediately took out his laptop, looked at Xiao Lou, and said seriously, "This is our last chance to investigate the Hunter Organization. Otherwise, if we go to the Twin Kings' secret room, knowing nothing about the Hunters, it could be even more dangerous than the K Chamber. Professor Xiao, please tell me as many characteristics of the Hunters you encounter as possible, and I'll see if I can find any information."
Xiao Lou carefully organized his thoughts and said, "The more distinctive features include a young man in a black cloak who can manipulate crystal balls of different colors; an older man named Scarface who can control tornadoes and inescapable nets; and a young girl who possesses an Absolute Domain." The card creates a dark alleyway realm and includes an illusion card that can copy the effects of other players' card skills into illusions. There's also a male character with a Double Swallow Kite that can carry teammates, and he also possesses many poisoned hidden weapons.
Yu Hanjiang added, "A boy with a gun and a protective umbrella is called Xiao Qi; a young man with superhuman strength can ignore bullets; an old lady uses her withered hands as weapons; a long-haired woman's hair can grow indefinitely; and there's the Hunter that Liu Qiao meets who can summon strange water monsters underwater."
Tang Ci typed rapidly on the keyboard, and Lu Jiuchuan's brows furrowed more and more as he listened. Finally, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Damn, this Hunter is way stronger than the one we faced with Plum Blossom J back then!"
Chu Huaying, who had been silent all along, suddenly said, " The Hunters we encountered in Plum Blossom J were just small fry, but there were so many of them that it took us several days, and we ran out of cards, which is why so many of us died. This time, the Hunters seem to be all elites. It's really not easy for you guys to get through this."
Gui Yuanzhang asked doubtfully, " Where did these Hunters get their cards? Is it like we suspected, that they set up two factions from the beginning: Hunters and Challengers? We collect cards by clearing secret rooms and solving puzzles, while they collect cards by killing people?"
Just then, Tang Ci's expression suddenly changed.
Seeing his pale face, Lu Jiuchuan hurriedly asked, " Xiao Tang, what did you find out?"
Tang Ci turned the computer screen around for everyone to see, pointing to it and saying, "I couldn't find information on most of the Hunters I just mentioned, but I did find some information on the cards Crystal Ball, Tornado, and Double Swallow Kite."
Xiao Lou stared at the information displayed on the computer screen, slightly taken aback. "These cards originally belonged to the three brothers, but they had long ago..."
He died in a previous Weekly Secret Chamber attack.
Tang Ci said, "Yes, their ID cards have been cancelled. All Card World Challenger information can be found in the population management system. I hacked into the management system. The three men died sometime a month ago during a diamond attack." Weekly Routine.
Old Mo suddenly interjected, "Was it because Hunter appeared in many mazes during that Rotating Maze? Several of my teammates died, and our team almost wiped out during that Weekly Routine; I was the only one who survived."
Tang Ci nodded. "It's Rotating Maze."
Xiao Lou looked at the information in the document, stroked his chin, and seemed to be deep in thought.
Yu Hanjiang paused for a moment, then said in a low voice, "In other words, after a Hunter kills a Challenger, they can obtain the cards from the Challenger."
Xiao Lou agreed, "This speculation is quite reasonable. We obtain cards by clearing the secret rooms, while they steal our cards by killing us. After the three brothers were killed by Hunter, their card holders were also taken away, so we saw these cards again in the K secret room."
Silence suddenly fell over the Personal Space.
There are other ways to obtain cards besides "clearing secret rooms". Since cards can be given to teammates to use, Hunters can also kill them to take the card holders from them.
The stronger the Challenger killed, the greater the increase in the Hunter's strength.
The law of the jungle prevails over the law of nature; that is Hunter's rule of survival.
Xiao Lou took a deep breath and said, "It seems Hunter has far more cards than we do. The final level will definitely be harder than the K Chamber." He then glanced around, puzzled, and asked, "By the way, where are the four Guardians?"
Ye Qi looked around curiously and said, "We've been in Personal Space for so long, and we haven't seen Hearts Sister, Diamonds Lolita, Spade Cool Guy, or Plum Blossom Silly Guy. Do they also go home after work?"
Every time I clear an escape room, I see the four familiar Guardians: Hearts Sister, who always has a smile and pretends to be friendly; Diamonds, a girl with a bad temper who loves desserts; Spade A, who wears sunglasses and tries to look cool; and Plum Blossom A, a boy with a stoic expression.
Now that all four of them are gone, everyone feels a little uneasy.
Xiao Lou looked back at the card wall and was surprised to find that, apart from all the cards in 2K that were glowing green with the light of having passed the level, there were only the last two cards, the King and Queen, left, which had unknowingly merged into one.
The card sometimes showed a golden Joker, and sometimes a silver Joker.
As Xiao Lou looked at the card, it suddenly shone brightly, followed by two voices that rang in his ears simultaneously: "Congratulations on passing all the card rooms in 2K. Today, you will not be greeted by four Guardians, but by the two kings of Card World."
"You have three days to make a choice. Option A is to receive the ultimate reward package and stay in Card World; Option B is to continue challenging the final Twin Kings Secret Room, and leave Card World after completing it."
"We will be here, ready to face your challenge at any time."
The voices, one soft and the other bright and cheerful, blended together in a very eerie way.
The two kings did not appear; only their symbols appeared on the card wall.
Options a and b reminded Xiao Lou of the choice he made when he first entered Card World; he chose b without hesitation.
He believed that this time, his teammates would all choose option B as well.
Nobody wants to stay here.
However, they were not in a hurry to challenge the final level and had three days to make final preparations.
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged a glance, took a deep breath, looked at the massive card wall, and said, word by word, "We choose B. In three days, we will challenge Twin Kings' Secret Room."