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墨書 Inktalez
I chuckled and said, "It should be this hint, but it's not just one head; it's two heads. Because this Zombie also has a head, and correspondingly, it has two legs and two arms, all of which should be included."
After I said that, Marlon immediately chimed in, saying the password was 284. He was quick, seemingly eager to show us that he was proficient in addition and subtraction within ten.
After entering 284, we found that the password was still incorrect. The three of them looked at me, and I said, "It's not 284; it's 294. Don't you remember there was also a hand in that black box in the first room?"
Right, right! When we entered 294, the book-shaped password box indeed opened. At that moment, I heard a voice whispering in my ear: "Impressive! No wonder you can see me." I thought to myself, what does being able to see you have to do with anything? Perhaps it was because I had seen it in the first room and had shown surprise when it noticed me.
Opening the book box revealed a small Flashlight and a piece of paper with four colored blocks. When I turned on the Flashlight, it emitted purple light, similar to those counterfeit detection Flashlights from years ago. This kind of light would reveal a bright number 100 on real hundred-dollar bills, while fakes would show nothing. This Flashlight must be used to find clues hidden from other light sources.
The paper had four colors: red, yellow, green, and blue, each with a word written on it. Together they formed an idiom: "Naked and Unadorned."
"What does 'Naked and Unadorned' mean?" Xiao He asked weakly.
Marlon quickly replied, "It means two people lying together without clothes. Right, Liu the Boss?" After saying this, he looked at me as if seeking my affirmation of his vast knowledge.
I nodded and said, "The literal meaning is indeed that, but a deeper interpretation should be about removing disguises and facades so everyone can communicate openly."
Xiaoyuan chuckled and said, "Brother Long, are you eager to lie down with Xiao He so soon?" Marlon grinned but remained silent, tacitly agreeing. Xiao He lowered her head and said nothing.
I recalled what the Spirit God had told me next to that skeleton Zombie, asking me to remove its clothing. That must have been the meaning behind it. With that thought in mind, I walked directly toward the Zombie.
It was holding a locked box in its hands. I removed the box without hesitation and stripped away the skeleton's clothing, revealing a true skeleton underneath. Using the Flashlight, I shone it on its different ribs and discovered four blocks of different colors: red, yellow, green, and blue. But they were just colors; there was nothing else on them. What could this represent?
Seeing me strip the Zombie, they understood what was happening and gathered around to stare at the four colored blocks. Just when I felt like I might come up with an idea, that voice echoed in my ear again: "Use that small Flashlight to shine." Its hint aligned perfectly with what I was thinking.
"Do I even want to keep playing?" I suddenly shouted. The feeling of having an idea only to have someone tell me directly was frustrating—like watching a movie and someone suddenly spoiling a crucial part by revealing that your favorite character dies.
My outburst startled them; they all asked what was wrong. Realizing I had misspoken, I punched Marlon on the shoulder and said, "Why are you pulling my clothes? Do I even want to keep playing?"
"I didn't..." "Alright, go get that UV Flashlight." I interrupted him before he could finish his sentence. Fortunately, the room was dark, so whether he pulled me or not was entirely up to me.
Marlon handed me the flashlight and said, "I really didn't pull you. Is there a ghost in this room? I was just dragged in here."
I replied, "You're overthinking it. This store has been open for so long; if there were ghosts here, it would have closed down ages ago. You pulled my clothes and still won't admit it? Is that how hypocritical you are? A real man takes responsibility for his actions." I scolded him again.
"Fine, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pulled your clothes," Marlon said grumpily, then silently moved to the other side of the room, seemingly afraid I would use his pulling my clothes as an excuse to berate him again.
"Haha, he's so wronged." The voice beside me echoed again. I remained expressionless, my face showing no signs of emotion; at this point, I had completely learned to ignore it.
The UV Flashlight indeed served its purpose. When I shone it on the color of the ribcage, several uppercase numbers appeared. By sorting them according to color, I derived a four-digit code that was used to open the box held by the Zombie. Upon opening the box, it was empty except for a very small card. The card had two letters written on it: g and n, each with a subtle red line pointing outward.
I examined it closely and even used the Purple Light flashlight to check; indeed, those were the only pieces of information present. I hadn't started thinking about where to place it when another phrase echoed in my ear: "Imperial decree."
"Damn," I exclaimed in frustration. Marlon quickly raised his hands and said, "I didn't pull your clothes! I swear! Besides, I'm over here; even if I wanted to pull them, I couldn't."
His words made me laugh instead of getting angry. In a gentle tone, I said, "I'm sorry; I just didn't think about what this card might be used for and got carried away with my emotions. Have you all thought of anything?"
Xiaohua shook her head, but Xiaoyuan quickly responded, "Looking at the red lines, they should relate to the seal on that imperial decree. Remember how there were two characters on that seal with similar lines?"
"Ah!" Marlon slapped his forehead and said, "Right! How did I not think of that earlier?" After saying this, he returned to the second room to fetch the imperial decree.
"I finally understand why your Dragon Brother is so foolish; with all that slapping around all day long, anyone would become foolish," I couldn't help but laugh. Xiaohua laughed too, while Xiaoyuan remarked, "His reaction illustrates one thing well: he can think of these things too; we just thought of them first."
"Haha."
When Marlon brought back the imperial decree, he placed the card onto the seal. It fit perfectly. Even the numbers on top were symmetrical, making it easy to derive the four-digit code from them. This code was for unlocking the lock on the desk in the second room; it was also the last password lock among these three rooms. Once this lock was opened, only the rotating lock on the clock at the entrance remained.
As I unlocked the desk, I found only a piece of white paper, flawless and clean, just like my appearance, pure like my heart.
At that moment, it was obvious that I needed to use the Purple Light to examine it. I didn’t give the Spirit God a chance to remind me; I immediately picked up the Purple Light flashlight and shone it on the paper. Sure enough, under the illumination of the Purple Light, rows of dense characters appeared on the white paper. The text seemed to instruct how to open the combination lock.
The lock was quite complex; it required turning a dial a certain number of times clockwise and then counterclockwise, followed by several more turns before pulling it to unlock.
Since this was the last lock, Marlon was eager to show off. He rolled up his sleeves and declared, “Let me do it! Let me drive away the darkness and bring light!”
In that instant, I noticed a very distinct Ghost Grasp Seal on his hand, each finger clearly marked as if stamped. Fortunately, at that moment, the flashlight hadn’t shone on it, so no one else noticed, including Marlon himself.
I quickly pulled down his sleeve to cover the Ghost Grasp Seal and said, “Just unlock it; why roll up your sleeves? It looks like you’re about to fight. Can’t you be a bit more refined?”
“Alright, alright! It doesn’t matter; anyway, I can bring you light with my hardworking hands,” Marlon replied cheerfully.
Unfortunately, despite his confidence, he struggled to open the lock and took a full five minutes before finally succeeding.
Once we exited the secret room, everyone was immersed in the joy of our successful escape. Marlon seized the opportunity to suggest we go out for a nice meal and then sing karaoke to celebrate. “It’s on me!” he exclaimed. Xiaohua and Xiaoyuan happily chimed in, “Sounds great! Thank you, Long Ge!” I remained silent, my gaze fixed on Liu Boss approaching from a distance. I was eager to discuss the Spirit God inside with him.
Liu Boss walked over with a smile and said, “Congratulations on successfully escaping! It only took fifty minutes; that’s impressive. How is everyone?” The three of them were clearly still lost in their victory and chatted happily as they made their way toward the reception room. Madam poured each of them a glass of water while they began chatting joyfully inside. Only I understood what Liu Boss meant by asking if they were alright.
I didn’t go into the reception room; instead, I stood at the exit of the secret room in the hall. Liu Boss seemed ready to go back in and restore the room’s setup. Noticing I hadn’t left, he smiled at me and said, “You should take a break and have some water while I go in to restore the props.”
With that, he entered through the door we had just come out of and closed it behind him. Just as he shut the door, I spotted three Confinement Talismans affixed to it—genuine talismans with real effects. At that moment, I couldn’t hold back any longer; I even began to suspect whether Liu Boss understood some supernatural matters himself and had deliberately trapped a Spirit God inside to enhance this horror theme's atmosphere. But then again, that seemed unlikely; there would be no benefit for him in doing so.
Thinking alone would never yield a correct answer. I pushed open the door and stepped inside; it turned out there were lights in here; we just couldn’t find the switch.
Liu Boss was dressing a skeleton in a Zombie Outfit when he saw me enter without any particular reaction. He simply chuckled at me and said, “I knew you would come in. You should be able to see or feel something now.”
His question clearly caught me off guard. I asked in confusion, "Boss, do you also know that there’s something strange about this theme?"
He put away his smile and replied, "I know, not only that, but I see it often. It's just that I don't see it with my eyes; I see it through the camera." After saying this, he pointed to the camera in the corner of the ceiling and continued, "This thing can capture it, although it's quite blurry—just a mass of black mist. I used to be an atheist, but now I've changed." With that, he pulled out his phone and opened an app.
I knew the camera could capture images, but was he going to show me a video? I asked, "Do you have the video saved?" He shook his head and said, "No need to save the video; I'll show you a live feed."
It turned out that his camera was a network camera that used Wi-Fi and could display real-time footage directly. It could also be controlled to adjust its angle—up, down, left, or right.
He handed me the device and said, "You can take a look yourself; you can swipe the screen to control the camera's perspective." After that, he busied himself with props and went into the second room to set up the puzzle again. I started swiping through the feed. When the camera pointed at me, I was taken aback: I didn’t expect to look so handsome on the screen. After admiring myself for a few seconds, I felt a jolt: the black shadow Boss mentioned was right beside me and getting closer.
I lost all interest in admiring my handsome appearance on the screen and quickly shut it off. I hurried into the second room where Liu Boss was stuffing a piece of hint paper into the mouth of a head hanging on the wall. When he saw me enter, he smiled and said, "You saw it, right? Don't be afraid; it's been here for some time and has never harmed anyone. There's nothing I can do about it either. Sigh... I hope you won't spread this around. If word gets out, I won't be able to keep this escape room running; it's my life's work." After saying this, he looked melancholic, as if troubled by the situation.
I smiled and said, "Boss, I'm a Taoist; I can definitely help you resolve this issue. If you trust me, we can have a good talk about it. Of course, if you don’t believe me, I won’t say anything either. But I still suggest you handle this matter properly; after all, my friend has already been harmed. Perhaps it's not my friend it wants to hurt but me because it knows I've seen it. You also can't guarantee that future players won't see it either; isn't that right?"
Liu Boss looked at me without any hesitation and said, "I definitely believe you. If you're willing to help, that's great! May I ask how to address you? I will cooperate fully."
PS: This chapter is an additional update for "I Am Hami, You Are Melon" thanks to 111 flowers from Boss. I've written four thousand words as a token of gratitude. Good night!
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