Escape from the Thriller World – Chapter 17
by Little PandaVolume One: The Old Corpse in the Mountain Village
Devil’s Punishment
Don’t be blinded by what’s in front of you.
Ning Lan hurried towards the restroom. “Bang bang bang” sounds came from the women’s toilet door. She hid behind the wall next to the door and saw tentacles stretching out from underneath.
Was the “it” that the library wanted them to avoid this mutant octopus-tentacled creature?
She couldn’t disturb “it,” she had to be quiet.
Ning Lan originally wanted to wash her hands and clear her head, but now she lost all desire to wash her hands. She quietly backed out of the restroom.
Ning Lan clenched her hand, breaking out in a cold sweat.
Shen Qingyou noticed her unusual behavior and said: “What’s wrong? You don’t look so good.”
Ning Lan mumbled: “The library isn’t right, I saw tentacles…”
Shen Qingyou’s eyes flickered as she said: “We shouldn’t stay in the library long. We need to finish the puzzle and leave here as soon as possible.”
Ning Lan agreed with Shen Qingyou and said: “The tentacle monster could come anytime, let’s hurry and finish the task.”
The game system detected that only the two of them were left for the task, so it re-established and issued a new task.
γGame System Promptγ
γThere are 45 puzzle pieces hidden in the book area. The side with more pieces wins, while the side with fewer pieces will be punished.γ
Ning Lan originally wanted to break the game rules by evenly distributing the pieces, but her behavior was detected by the system and the task was reassigned. The game’s devious intentions were to test them.
Originally there were 60 pieces, now adjusted to 45. They have now become competitors.
The two of them spent the whole afternoon searching, but after going through several areas of books, the numbers still didn’t add up.
“This isn’t right, which area did we overlook? We’re still missing the last five puzzle pieces,” Shen Qingyou said with slightly furrowed brows.
Ning Lan pointed to the bookshelf next to the library service desk and said: “The administrators took back the books they were organizing, we haven’t checked those yet.”
It was just dinner time. The two of them jogged to the library service desk, where two staff members wearing plaid shirts with X badges were organizing books.
One staff member was recording the number of books, while the other was organizing the returned books, stacking them neatly one by one into a cardboard box for re-numbering.
Organizing books is a job that requires patience and meticulousness. The two staff members were working diligently without distraction.
Ning Lan stepped forward and asked: “Hello, does the service desk provide food and drinks?”
The staff member stopped writing and said: “We have a few cups of instant noodles left. Does the customer need any? Hot water is provided.”
Instant noodles aren’t boxed meals or pastries, they’re snacks so it should be fine, right?
Ning Lan looked at the X badge work ID on his chest again, nodded and said: “One cup of spicy pepper beef noodles, one cup of braised beef noodles.”
The staff member took out two cups of instant noodles from under the cabinet and handed them to her, saying: “There’s a water dispenser in front, the water is always kept hot.”
The staff member pointed out the location of the water dispenser. Ning Lan tore open the two cups of noodles and put in the seasoning packets. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Shen Qingyou, who had already started to act.
Shen Qingyou went to help the other staff member organize books, taking the chance to search for puzzle pieces.
The staff member noticed her good intentions and politely refused, saying: “Organizing is my job, let me do it.”
He was worried she would mess up the numbers he had sorted, so he quickly stopped her.
Shen Qingyou’s hand had just found a few puzzle pieces, within reach.
She saw the puzzle pieces she was about to get being put back by the staff member. Ning Lan handed her a cup of instant noodles and said, “Eat something, we haven’t eaten all day.”
Shen Qingyou took the noodles and nodded. The two sat at the desk in front of the library eating instant noodles.
Ning Lan gave her a disposable fork and said, “Spicy pepper or beef? Choose one. The administrator said there’s not much food left, so we’ll have to make do with this.”
Smelling the spicy pepper flavored noodles, Shen Qingyou said, “When I was working as a special police officer, we often ate instant noodles when we didn’t have time to eat.”
That time was brief but beautiful, probably an unforgettable period since Shen Qingyou joined the police force.
Shen Qingyou suddenly missed the fulfilling life of solving cases, but she couldn’t go back…
Ning Lan got two disposable paper cups from the administrator at the service desk, filled them with water, and handed one to her, saying, “Let’s try to get back to the real world soon, both of us…”
Shen Qingyou’s eyes deepened a bit as she said, “Hopefully.”
The two finished their noodles unhurriedly. Ning Lan never forgot to keep an eye on the staff member putting books in various areas.
“We’ve got work to do now. He’s been to every area,” Ning Lan said, eating a few bites of noodles with her fork.
Shen Qingyou finished drinking her soup. She took out a tissue she carried with her and wiped the corners of her mouth. She stuffed the rest into Ning Lan’s hand and said, “One person for two areas each. Come when you’re done eating.”
Ning Lan nodded and quickly finished the instant noodles in her hand. She walked with big strides towards the romance novel and mystery novel sections.
The two areas were close to each other, making it convenient for her to search.
Three hours later, forty-five puzzle pieces were found by the two of them together, but in reality, Shen Qingyou held twenty-one pieces, while Ning Lan only had twenty-four.
Shen Qingyou admitted that she had gone easy on her. She already owed her three times, so this time she gave it back to her.
The library’s broadcast sounded again:
γGame System Promptγ
γThe winner of this round is player Ning Lan.γ
γThe second-place player Shen Qingyou, punishment is to go back to the previous day’s storyline.γ
It was clearly her who was finding puzzle pieces later, how come she ended up winning…
Ning Lan, confused and bewildered, finally remembered that Shen Qingyou had slowed down her pace in finding puzzle pieces, deliberately doing so.
“Shen Qingyou, you intentionally let me win, didn’t you?” Ning Lan said, shaking her head in disbelief.
“One of us always has to remain victorious, right? I only owe you twice now, Ning Lan.” Shen Qingyou revealed a faint smile.
“I don’t really mind these things, you know…” Ning Lan said with a wry smile.
Her throat felt dry, and she didn’t know what to say.
She was her first teammate to break through the thriller world together, right?
“Ning Lan, I, Shen Qingyou, don’t like owing favors to people.” Shen Qingyou said with a light smile.
This stubborn and slightly cold woman, Shen Qingyou, was still pretending to be strong.
Ning Lan struggled to take a few steps back. As their eyes met, she suddenly felt a hint of reluctance.
The game save for both of them changed again, and Shen Qingyou was torn away by a mysterious force.
Ning Lan watched her teammate leave and said: “Shen Qingyou, remember, don’t go to the paper offering shop again! Don’t meet Xie Wu!”
Shen Qingyou’s light shadow was slowly separating, her game save memory would rewind to one day ago, a brand new game.
Shen Qingyou stared at her, she raised her hand to wave and said: “A new day, see you again.”
Ning Lan raised her head and said: “18th floor of Tong Lau, let’s not miss each other.”
The farewell scene between the two had a bit of a feeling of parting in life and death.
The game system only had three chances to load a save again, Shen Qingyou used one, so two chances were left.
Ning Lan thought about how she let her win, feeling uneasy inside.
She took a sharp breath, looking up at the ceiling of the library.
Now she was left alone, the game was still continuing.
She had to bring victory and definitely decipher the clues.
Ning Lan, who made up her mind, clenched her fists. She would reclaim the victory that belonged to Shen Qingyou.
The winner of the game got the complete puzzle. Ning Lan spread out the 45 puzzle pieces on the library table and started to piece them together.
Ning Lan held the picture in her hand and took a photo of the whole image with her phone.
The puzzle would scatter at a touch, so the best way to preserve it was to store it on her phone for easy viewing.
Ning Lan held her phone horizontally and looked at it repeatedly. Isn’t this the “Jigoku Hen” (Hell Screen) hanging in Wei Jinye’s house?
Because it was a puzzle pieced together, the young girl being burned to death in the fire couldn’t fully express the painter’s artistic conception. The face pieced together from the puzzle looked somewhat distorted.
Did the puzzle look more like that woman with half her face burned?
Ning Lan had long noticed that this painting had some connection with the female ghost in her dream, so was there really some link between them?
Ning Lan put her phone away safely and tidied up the puzzle pieces on the table, putting them in her backpack.
In the blink of an eye, it was almost closing time. The library broadcast sounded: Hello to all friends still browsing books, our library is about to close. Please leave in advance and remember to take your important personal belongings with you!
They must leave the library before 10 o’clock, they couldn’t break the rules.
They had spent a whole day in the library. Ning Lan put on her backpack and walked towards the exit when a mysterious person wearing a hat stopped her and said, “The hidden clue issued by the game will be given to you by me.”
Ning Lan looked up and stared at that person.
She recognized those eyes!
Isn’t he the NPC from the bar?
“Are you an NPC? We’ve met before, right?” Ning Lan said.
The NPC lowered his head and pulled down his hat, saying: “The game system sent me here, specifically for the winning player.”
Ning Lan nodded and took the envelope from his hand. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared into the corridor of the library.
Ning Lan tore open the envelope and pulled out an A4 paper from inside. On it was a line written with a fountain pen: Don’t be blinded by what’s in front of you.
Ning Lan smiled and said: “That’s a hint, which is pretty much like no hint at all…”
The moment she stepped out of the library, the game changed again.
Ning Lan’s game time synchronized with theirs on the same channel, but some small things had changed.
It meant they had gone back to the day before.
The butterfly effect she had mentioned earlier reappeared in the game…
This time, Wei Jinye didn’t go crazy, but Security Captain Xu Sanduo went mad instead.
As soon as Ning Lan returned to the Tong Lau, she saw several security guards pulling and tugging at Xu Sanduo, trying to stop him from hurting himself. He was holding a flashlight and repeatedly hitting himself on the head.
“Boss, stop messing around!” A security guard stepped forward to stop his behavior.
Xu Sanduo giggled “hee hee hee” and, like a little girl, flamboyantly applied some lipstick to his mouth, constantly muttering: “Find mommy, garden, find mommy in the earthworms.”
He must be possessed by a ghost.
Seeing this, Ning Lan said to them: “Find some ropes to tie him up, and quickly go invite the Sanqing Daoist to come.”
Several security guards held Xu Sanduo down tightly. Xu Sanduo seemed like he had eaten “dali wan” (a fictional super-strength pill), he glared at them with his eyes, then took the flashlight and started smashing it towards their heads.
Right after that, a few more security guards came and pressed Xu Sanduo to the ground, tying up his hands. Only then did he settle down.
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