After reading Jian Jing's letter, the monster started to stir. Its huge body writhed, the sound-emitting organs from some unknown part of it roared incessantly, as if furious, as if threatening, glaring at Cao Yu who sat opposite it.
Cao Yu broke out in a cold sweat.
He was decent at international chess normally, but please note that since yesterday morning, the guests had started working and had only rested for two hours from evening till now.
It was past one in the morning, when people are most drowsy. And he was already in his forties, his stamina was far from what it used to be. Playing chess, an activity that tires the brain, was especially exhausting for him.
But Cao Yu knew he could not concede defeat.
If he lost in a contest of pure brainpower, wouldn't he be dragging the team down? He would also fail his fans' expectations and ruin his image.
Endure.
He rubbed his temples and focused on the chessboard.
The monster's chess skills were ordinary, but it kept disturbing Cao Yu with its actions and sounds, preventing him from concentrating.
Sweat dripped.
The onlookers around seemed to also sense his plight and secretly exchanged looks.
Zheng Keyan took the lead to say, "Teacher Cao, we've got the stuff, let's go."
"I've solved the sudoku next door," Coco glanced at his watch and whispered, "It's almost two o'clock."
Cao Yu nodded imperceptibly, his gaze falling on Jian Jing. With the materials tucked under her arm, she nimbly avoided the monster's tentacles and retreated safely to the door.
"I'll cover you," Jian Jing handed the materials to Jiang BaiYan and took her gun back. "Walk slowly, don't rush."
Cao Yu slowly exhaled and said casually, "Alright."
The other four successively entered the sudoku room next door. After making his move, Cao Yu carefully got up and left as quietly as possible without making a sound.
The monster's tentacles thrashed violently, but it did not try to obstruct Cao Yu. Instead, it picked up one of the chess pieces and charged forward, taking out his king.
Cao Yu's eyelid twitched. "Oh no!"
With his last move, he had exposed his king!
Slap.
The king toppled over, the game was decided.
The monster let out a "hee hee" sound and turned to look at Cao Yu.
The bone fragments on the ground crunched as they were stepped on.
"Run!" Jian Jing pushed him.
It was laughable, really. Cao Yu saw her as his biggest rival, taking every chance he got to compete with her and set traps without showing any mercy. But at this critical juncture, the person he trusted the most turned out to be her.
If it had been Coco or Han Bo instead, even though their performances had also been outstanding, he would have definitely hesitated for a moment, wondering if he could trust them.
But not with Jian Jing.
When she said to run, Cao Yu obeyed without the slightest hesitation.
Gunshots sounded from behind.
The distance was very close, this shot must have hit its target. But Jian Jing knew clearly that the situation was not optimistic: she was by the door while the monster was on the sofa, at most two to three meters apart.
The simulation gun, though realistic, was not semi-automatic, requiring the trigger to be pulled continuously.
In the time it took to fire one shot, the monster would be able to pounce right up to her.
There was no way she could fire a second shot.
Jian Jing chose to duck and evade. But because Cao Yu was behind her, she could not roll backwards. With the agility of a middle-aged man, the possibility of them colliding was very high. Then the two "enemies" would roll together and it would be mutual destruction.
She could only lunge diagonally forward, jumping right onto the sofa, before turning to fire another shot.
The monster named Qiao Zhi should be a dungeon boss, thick-skinned and durable, with fairly high physical and magic defenses. Even after two shots it was still bouncing around merrily, showing no signs of having suffered a critical strike.
But she was almost out of bullets.
The stench of blood closed in.
Jian Jing pounced forward, using her hands to push off the office desk as leverage to flip over it, using the desk as cover. At the same time, she grabbed a heavy object off the desk and flung it out.
Bang! The ornament collided with the wall, the muffled sound heavy.
Qiao Zhi was completely unharmed, crouching on the sofa and glaring viciously at her.
--
After broadcast.
Danmu 1: Didn't expect to see action scenes in a variety show.
Danmu 2: This is for real? Not nitpicking, but is there really no script?
Danmu 3: Stunt doubles tell you, even with a script it takes great skill, the positioning is amazing.
Danmu 4: Must be reshot afterwards! I bet my spicy sticks on it!
Danmu 5: Use your brain, with such outstanding scenes, would Teacher Jian get them?
Danmu 6: Wait, isn't Teacher Jian a writer? Did she forget her own identity?
Danmu 7: Blockbuster action film of the year, more thrilling than Hollywood thrillers.
...
--
Beneath the thick barrage of danmu, the standoff continued.
Jian Jing yanked open all the drawers and finally found a box of bullets in the bottom layer. But the monster would not give her time to reload. Like a compressed spring, it leaped up precisely and landed on the office desk.
The two sides were face to face.
Jian Jing's mind blanked for a second, instinct taking over her body as she swung the gun stock in a chopping motion.
The gun stock slammed heavily into Qiao Zhi's face.
The tentacles scattered, revealing a highly realistic black face. "NO--" it let out a muffled human voice.
If this was a real monster, Jian Jing would have certainly shoved the gun into its mouth to end it all while it was stunned. But this was a fake one. Jamming the gun in might wreck the intricate robot.
Er, couldn't afford to pay for that.
Jian Jing turned and fled.
This time, she smoothly circled around the office desk. The exit was right ahead, but a variable emerged again.
The red light turned off, the green light turned on.
The monsters revived again, shuffling out from the rooms on both sides of the corridor, like ghosts wandering. And Jian Jing had just stepped out of the office when she was spotted by three to four monsters.
Her: "..."
Enemies in front, boss behind, what to do?
--
After broadcast.
The post-production for the haunted house was mischievous as usual.
After Jian Jing met the two groups of monsters on the corridor and ended up trapped, red and blue health bars appeared above everyone's heads, accompanied by Street Fighter's BGM.
Danmu 1: Post-production being naughty.
Danmu 2: Getting the vibe.
Danmu 3: Kites and them!
Danmu 4: 6666666666
Everyone thought a melee fight was about to unfold, but Jian Jing's reaction was unexpected.
She turned back into the office, leapt up onto the backrest of the sofa in one bound, removed the ventilation grille above, then gripped the edge of the opening and kicked off.
She didn't make it up...
Danmu 1: Just like rock climbing me.
Danmu 2: That grip strength requirement is too high, Teacher Jian overestimated herself.
Danmu 3: She's still short, if it was our little brother he'd definitely have made it.
Danmu 4: Are you sure your brother wouldn't cry out of respect first?
Her first jump failed. Before she could leap up a second time, Qiao Zhi had already pounced over.
It was tall and large, its weight nothing to sniff at. Crouched on the sofa, it was practically a small mountain. Jian Jing hastily dodged, but her coat tail was grabbed by a tentacle. Forced to shed the coat, she crashed onto the coffee table, sweeping the chess pieces everywhere.
Danmu 1: Damn, that looked painful.
Danmu 2: She fell pretty hard.
Danmu 3: It's over, is anyone coming to the rescue?
Danmu 4: The others are blocked by the small monsters! Teacher Jian shouldn't have come back, her teammates could have drawn the monsters away and she'd have escaped safely. Huge mistake!
Danmu 5: Who can analyze so much at a critical moment?
Danmu 6: Are Jian Jing fans not allowed to question her?
...
While they were arguing, the situation changed again.
Jian Jing fell onto the coffee table, then the next moment, exerted force at the waist to spring up, directly planting her feet on Qiao Zhi's back and using that as leverage to climb up to the ventilation opening.
Bracing her knees against the edge, she crawled in smoothly.
The monsters had sucker-like organs on their bodies, allowing them to crawl like geckos. Qiao Zhi also crawled up the wall. But this boss, unlike the small monsters, had an exceptionally large physique.
It got...stuck at the entrance.
Jian Jing moved swiftly and had a small frame. Crawling on her knees, she soon shook off the pursuing monster and turned into a side path.
The camera switched to the room next door.
--
The rest were trapped in the room by the small monsters.
Han Bo had originally wanted to break out by force, but as soon as he stepped out, he ran out of bullets in his gun and simply could not deal with the endless waves of monsters popping out. Everyone was very anxious. Although there was no danger to life in the game, abandoning their teammates went against team spirit.
No one suggested giving up. They tossed out ideas loudly.
Han Bo and Coco were both in favor of using chairs as shields for backup, while Cao Yu was searching the room, trying to find other weapons to subdue the monsters.
"There seems to be sounds from the ventilation shaft." Jiang BaiYan brought a chair over to climb up. "Jing Jing?"
"It's me." Jian Jing poked her head out. "Make way."
He stretched out his hand to help her down, extremely shocked, "Are you okay?!"
"I fell down a little," Jian Jing said plainly, "Who is this person?"
She was asking about the obviously dead NPC in the corner, a male in his twenties, wearing athletic clothes, with a backpack next to him, a big hole in his temple, and blood clots in his hair. There was a gun next to his hand, looking like a suicide scene.
Cao Yu answered: "It should be Henry, who we've been looking for."
Previously—Henry, male, currently missing. The last place he was seen was this abandoned old hospital. They came to this strange place precisely to look for their friend Henry.
"I almost forgot about him," Han Bo scratched his head, voicing what everyone was thinking.
Jian Jing wanted to examine him, but after the intense chase earlier, she had expended a lot of energy and now sat weakly in a chair, not wanting to move.
Sleepiness attacked her, and she couldn't help covering her mouth as she yawned.
After vigorous exercise, sweat evaporates, leaving the body feeling cold. She shivered slightly.
"If you don't mind," Jiang BaiYan handed over his jacket, "put this on."
They were filming the third episode of the show. The guests now understood the nature of the haunted house. Even filming in summer, it was best to wear a jacket in case the air conditioning suddenly dropped to 16°C and left them shivering in the heat.
Jiang BaiYan's casual clothes were very crisp, jeans + white tee + shirt jacket.
"Thank you." Jian Jing was familiar with him and didn't need to politely refuse, taking it and putting it on.
Zheng Keyan took out some mineral water and cookies from Henry's backpack and opened them to share with everyone: "Let's all eat something, I'm starving."
"I'm about to fall asleep," Coco rubbed her eyes and couldn't help yawning too.
Now the yawns spread to everyone else. No one could resist.
They were all dog-tired.
Cao Yu, the oldest of the group, had the lowest energy and suggested, "Let's block the door and vents and get some good rest."
No one objected.
After blocking the door and vents to ensure no monsters could get in, everyone found a place to sit and rest.
Zheng Keyan and Coco continued searching Henry's backpack, taking out two self-heating hot pots, three bottles of drinking water, a pack of chocolate cookies, and several bags of spicy sticks.
So everyone sat down on the floor and started cooking little hot pots to eat.
The spicy flavor was very energizing. Jian Jing took a cookie in her mouth and searched the NPC's body, finding many things.
First were two letters. One letter was identical to the one found earlier in the office next door, containing many professional medical terms. The gist was the doctor asking a friend to help look into some medical cases he had encountered.
The second letter was from a father to his son Henry.
"To my son Henry...(omitting the father's many encouragements to his son), My good friend Dr. Li once sent me a letter. Those medical cases concerned me greatly, but when I wanted to contact him about it, I heard he had gone missing. I felt extremely regretful about this.
"If my health allowed it, I really hoped I could go to the hospital where he used to work and find out exactly what happened...(omitting medical explanations)...Unfortunately my days are numbered. If you are interested, perhaps you could go there and take a look. I have a premonition that it will be a huge secret..."
This tied the storyline together.
Dr. Li had joined the X Club to investigate issues with the chemical plant, and sent the strange medical cases to his friend. Before his death, the friend mentioned this matter to his son Henry. Henry came to investigate for some reason, and died here.
And they had come to the hospital because of Henry's disappearance, to find the answers to the mystery.