"Do you remember what time it was when the system announced the player's death?" Baili Xin asked Xia Chi as his feet stepped on flat ground.
The little King of Hell looked at the two of them curiously.
Xia Chi said without hesitation: "About ten o'clock in the morning?"
Baili Xin: "Yes, it's ten o'clock in the morning."
"Within two minutes, two people died one after another. Ten o'clock in the morning is likely the time when players are judged every day."
Xia Chi: "But there was a person who died and was resurrected, but we don't know who it was."
Baili Xin looked up at the reinforced concrete buildings that stood like peaks in the city, "Xia Chi, do you know where that player is?"
Xia Chi: "I'll go ask around, wait for me."
Having said that, he trotted to the guard room.
There are many buildings in the Jinhai Luxury Apartments, but Baili Xin is now standing at the door. In a few minutes, he only sees one or two people coming out.
High-rise buildings, prosperous cities. It has the richest residential density, but also the most unfamiliar neighborhood relationships.
Five minutes after Xia Chi left, he trotted back, "I see, she works in Area 3, let's go over there."
The time is now eleven o'clock in the morning. They followed the directions and quickly found the home where Baby-faced man worked.
According to the security guard, Baby Face works on the first floor of Building No. 3.
It was a four-story building with a yard. The first and second floors belonged to one family, and the third and fourth floors belonged to another family.
Several people stood outside the yard and looked inside. The floor-to-ceiling windows on the first floor were one-way glass, so they could only see their own reflections and could not see anything about the scene inside.
I walked around the front of the yard to the main entrance at the back. Not long after the knock on the door, an old voice asked through the door frame, "Who is it?"
The three of them looked at each other. Xia Chi said, "Uncle, I'm Xiao Chi, the security guard. They are Xiao Wen's relatives. I want to talk to Xiao Wen about something. I heard that she works here. Can I meet her?"
Xiaowen is the name of the baby-sitter of the baby-faced player. This was told to Xia Chi by Baby-faced player when he was crying yesterday.
Soon after the sound of clothes rubbing against each other was heard in the room, the door opened and an elderly man poked his head out from the crack of the door. "What do you want from Xiaowen?"
Through the crack in the door, Baili Xin looked inside.
I vaguely saw a swaying figure passing through the hall.
He seemed to be dragging something in his hand, which flashed by and disappeared in Baili Xin's blind spot.
Baili Xin retracted his gaze and said, "It's nothing. We are Xiaowen's two brothers. We couldn't get through to her since yesterday, so we wanted to come and see what's going on."
"Can't get through on the phone?" The old man was stunned for a moment, his eyes flickered slightly, and he opened the door a little wider. "Xiao Wen left yesterday afternoon because we felt that she was not suitable for our family's work situation, so we fired her. She cried for a long time at the time. I also felt that this little girl was very pitiful, but I, an old man, could not make any decision, so I could only watch Xiao Wen leave."
"Did Xiaowen not come back later?" Xia Chi took a deep breath. "I saw Xiaowen in the community yesterday afternoon. She cried for a long time and finally said she wanted to come to your house for the last time to try and see if she could stay. I saw that she was walking towards you when she left."
The old man finally opened the door. His cloudy eyes swept back and forth over the three people. "There are shoe covers on the shoe cabinet. Put them on and come in to talk."
As he spoke, the old man moved to the side to make room.
The hall was a bit messy, with some children's toys scattered on the ground, but there was not much dust on the shoe cabinet, and it was obvious that it had just been cleaned.
The old man took out a piece of cloth from the drawer and spread it on the sofa before letting them sit down. "Sorry, someone in our family has mysophobia and can't stand outsiders touching the furniture in the room. It's not just you, please don't misunderstand."
"You just said that you couldn't get through to Xiaowen on the phone. Did something happen to her?" The old man skillfully found a few disposable paper cups from the drawer, and with his back slightly hunched, he poured a glass of water for each of them.
Baili Xin's eyes fell on the toys on the carpet: "Is there a child at home?"
The old man smiled stiffly, "Yes, my grandson is at home. He is naughty and throws things everywhere every day. He cleans up things but throws them again. It's really worrying."
"Oh, that must be a lively child," Baili Xin said casually, "Xiao Wen is missing. She is our beloved sister. We are very worried about her."
"How could he disappear?" The old man avoided his gaze. "He's a smart kid. Besides, we live in a society ruled by law now. Maybe he just went out to relax for a few days. Don't worry too much."
"Since you think she is smart, why did you fire her?" Baili Xin didn't beat around the bush and asked the question directly.
The old man looked a little guilty: "Actually it's not Xiaowen's fault. Didn't I just say that my family is mysophobic and Xiaowen is always dirty, so I let her go."
"It's not clean at all?" Xia Chi looked at Baili Xin in surprise, "Where is it not clean?"
The old man bit his lip and hesitated for a moment before saying, "My body is always dirty and I can't get it clean even if I take a shower."
Xia Chi pursed her lips.
He had seen the scars on the baby-faced man's arms and initially thought that he had suffered some kind of violence. But now it seems that they might have been caused by constant bathing and scrubbing
"That child is good in every way, except that she likes to play in the yard every day. Although she says she is very clean, you have to know how many germs there are outside, and there is so much dust in the air."
"I don't know what's so good about the yard. I stand in the yard every day. I just stand there, motionless, and I don't know what I'm looking at."
Xia Chi and Baili Xin looked at each other again, and Baili Xin said, "Can we go to where she is standing and take a look?"
The old man frowned and hesitated for a long time. After a moment, he nodded reluctantly: "Okay, just for a while."
A few minutes later, Baili Xin and the other two stood at the place where the old man said Xiaowen often stood.
The railings in this family's yard are covered with roses. The pale pink roses are dotted on the lush green branches, making it look like a sky garden.
Xia Chi tried to look around, "Brother, there doesn't seem to be anything strange. From here it looks like a residential villa area, nothing strange, right?"
Baili Xin had just finished looking at this time. The railing was very high, and his line of sight could just pass over the rose bushes.
There are buildings all around, and further away is another adjacent residential area. If you ask me if it's strange, I didn't find anything unusual.
Puzzled, Baili Xin looked away and heard Xia Chi's deliberately lowered voice: "Brother, don't you think this old woman is lying to us? Baby Face is a player, so she shouldn't be looking around here for no reason. Or did we miss something?"
Little King of Hell: "It's just a very ordinary building. I didn't notice anything."
Baili Xin lowered his brows slightly. He looked at Xia Chi beside him, and then at the rose bush in front of him.
Then he did something that Xia Chi didn't quite understand.
Baili Xin slowly squatted down and took a horse stance.
Xia Chi: "Brother, what are you doing?"
Baili Xin did not answer Xia Chi, but looked around again. When he was halfway through the scan, Baili Xin's eyes suddenly stopped, as if his attention was attracted by something.
Xia Chi became even more curious.
"We overlooked one thing," Baili Xin looked forward and whispered, "We are all about 1.8 meters tall, but Baby Face is only 1.6 meters tall. The plane we see is different from the perspective she sees."
"I think I know why she's been watching here every day."
"Stand right here beside me and bend down to take a look."
Baili Xin finished speaking and stood up to make way.
Xia Chi stood in confusion where Baili Xin had just stood. When he squatted down imitating Baili Xin's posture, the scene in front of him almost made him scream.
The dense rose bushes' leaves are crisscrossed, leaving just enough space for a small hole.
Through this small hole, you can just see the scene not far away.
The painted walls blend in with the surrounding buildings to form the shape of an eye!
The small green hole looks like an eye socket, and what you see through the hole happens to look like a human pupil.
Xia Chi staggered two steps, quickly stood up and looked into the distance again. It was still just an ordinary building!
"Oh my god," Xia Chi bent down again and looked into the distance. The ferocious pupil appeared again, "It's too tricky, isn't it? Looking through this small hole, who would have thought of this."
"Brother, what the hell is that big eyeball? Does it have anything to do with our mission?!"
Baili Xin looked towards the target: "I don't know if it is related, but from Baby Face's point of view, she should think it is related. Otherwise, she wouldn't be observing it every day."
Xia Chi: "Then why didn't she tell us about this discovery?!"
Baili Xin: "Don't forget, although we are completing the task together, how many points we get in the end depends on our task performance. If she posts all her findings, the final score may not be too high. People are selfish. If she didn't get any useful information from other players, how could she hand over the clues she dug to others?"
"This is the human nature of the public. It has nothing to do with good or evil. After all, no one wants to suffer a loss."
"But right now, it seems that for the ten of us, each of us has discovered something in the tasks or places we have been involved in. Among the few of us, only the one with the baby face is tall enough to find the small hole and then see the eye. It is very likely that the others have also discovered something."
Xia Chi: “…”
He understood the truth, but when it was pointed out so bluntly, he still felt a little confused and sighed.
"That's not right. The two of us didn't find anything. The professional missions we received have nothing to do with the main quests."
Baili Xin: "I don't think so. Our mission seems to have nothing to do with the main storyline, but almost everything we come into contact with points to one place. Some players should have seen the clues directly, while others, like us, need to see them indirectly."
"Ah?!" Xia Chi scratched his head, "Where are they pointing to? Why don't I know?"
Baili Xin hesitated for two seconds and silently said a few words: "X University."
"Chen Ping, who committed suicide, was from x University. I don't know if it was a premonition or a materialization of the dream that Chen Ping's ex-girlfriend also came from x University. Lin Mu graduated from x University. Luo Ran placed Lin Mu's soul in x University."
"The name of this university appears a little too often, as if it wants to tell us to come quickly."
Xia Chi: "Ah, I remember now, the old man in that old couple is also from X University."
Xia Chi stood up from the small hole and pointed to the room where the pupil was. "Brother, I was in that room just now and I seemed to see a black shadow flash by. It moved very quickly and looked very much like the black cat we saw on the first night. Do you think we should go over and investigate?"
Baili Xin seemed to have seen the black cat as well: "Do you think Baby Face saw the black cat and went over to investigate?"
Xia Chi: “.”
That’s a good question!
"This clue should be Baby Face's. I think it's best for us not to break the barrier for now, but to investigate according to the clues given to us by the system. What do you think? Although the system is not very trustworthy, at least so far, we haven't seen the system cheat us. Since our own clues are very clear, let's sort out the clear ones first."
Xia Chi's head was now buzzing with excitement. He stared at Baili Xin with sparkling eyes, full of admiration.
It seems like what brother said is right.
I'll listen to you, everything is up to you, everything is up to you!
____________________________
Studio.
Holy shit, I was so scared when the eyes came out. Isn't that baby-faced guy staring at such a big eyeball every day scared
I’m afraid I won’t be able to climb to such a high floor.
God Xin conquered Xiachi again.
God Xin is really unique as he can think of squatting down to look for the baby face. Who could have thought of this
I finally understood that this instance was an information explosion. The system gave each of the ten people a bunch of information, and then identified the correct one from a bunch of information that was unknown to be true or false.
It is a bit ironic that when you said this, what came to my mind was the explosion of information in the three-dimensional world. True news and false news, countless news are flooding around us, and we don’t know which one is true and which one is false. Today someone says that there is an economic crisis, and tomorrow someone says that there is a great economic opportunity.
…
____________________________
They did not find Baby Face on this trip, but they did gain something, which was that they clarified the direction of the investigation again.
When returning to the room from the yard, Baili Xin glanced at the mirrored window.
He has always been a keen observer. Although he couldn't see the scene inside through the mirrored glass, Baili Xin could feel that someone was hiding behind the glass and observing them.
When they returned to the room from the yard, the old man asked calmly: "What were you looking at in the yard for so long? Is our yard so beautiful?"
Baili Xin: "It's mainly because the roses in your yard are so beautiful that I was stunned for a moment. Xiaowen must also like the roses in the yard so much that he goes there so often."
"As long as you like it," the old man glanced at the clock on the wall. The time on the clock was almost half past eleven. "If you have nothing to do, leave quickly. My daughter will be home from get off work soon. She won't be happy to see you."
The host wanted to drive them away, and the few people did not try to stay. They simply thanked the old man and prepared to leave.
Just as they opened the door, there was a sudden sound of chaotic footsteps at the staircase. Then a huge voice ran down the stairs and hugged the old man in his arms.
"Grandpa, Grandpa, play with me~"
The expressions of the three people changed slightly.
The boy holding the old man looked to be nearly twenty years old. His fat body was like a wall, trapping the old man tightly.
The old man's expression was not very good. He pushed the boy with difficulty and said perfunctorily: "Okay, okay, grandpa will play with you later, you play by yourself first."
Although he was twenty years old, his expression was very ignorant.
The young man had a big face, like a silver plate, with two green bean-sized eyes on both sides of his face. His eyes were small but the distance between them was wide.
Saliva kept flowing out of his mouth and stained the old man's clothes.
Not a very smart look.
The old man's already livid face instantly turned worse. He trembled and tried to push the young man away, but the young man seemed to be completely unaware of the old man's disgust and still held the old man tightly.
The old man stood there stiffly, as if he had been petrified by Medusa's rays.
Not getting a response from the old man, the young man turned his head irritably, and saw three people preparing to leave as if he had discovered a new world.
The next moment, the young man let go of the old man and rushed towards the few people without caring about his relatives.
"Goudan!" Seeing that the young man was about to pounce on the three men, the old man suddenly roared, and the next second the young man, who was running wildly, suddenly stopped as if he had been acupunctured.
The old man smiled awkwardly at the few people, and called out the name "Goudan" like a puppy, "Be obedient and go play by yourself."
Goudan looked at the three people somewhat unwillingly, grinned at them, revealing his long and narrow teeth hidden under his lips, and moved slowly to the hall, starting to play with the toys scattered on the ground.
Xia Chi stared at Goudan's back and asked, "Is this the little grandson you were talking about?"
The old man said, "Hey, when my grandson was born, his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, and the lack of oxygen to his brain caused his mental retardation. Now he is 20 years old, but his mental age is only 3 years old. We can't do anything about him. We sent him to a special institution for care, but because he was too lively, the special institution finally let us take the child back."
"Why is it..." Xia Chi hadn't finished his words when Goudan suddenly yelled without warning, and the next second he punched the plastic toy on the ground. The toy, unable to bear the pressure, instantly broke into pieces.
As he smashed the toys, he kept muttering, "I'll beat you to death! I'll beat you to death! I'll beat you to death, you shameless thing!"
Not only is his fighting power off the charts, he even has a tendency towards violence.
Xia Chi's expression was a little dull, but the old man was impatient. He walked up to the three people and drove them out in a very arrogant tone: "How long are you going to stay here? Can you leave quickly? I'm telling you, Xiaowen is not at our house, and we don't know where Xiaowen went later. She is so old, and her feet are on her own legs. She can go wherever she wants. If you want to find your sister, go somewhere else and don't come to our house again!"
Just as the door closed, Goudan's voice was heard again: "Sister Xiaowen, I'm scared. Hug me, woo woo woo."
With a loud "bang", the door slammed shut, blocking out all sounds in an instant.
The three of them looked at each other for a while, then left silently.
After they were a little distance away from the room, Xia Chi looked back with a unhappy expression.
In the yard, the old man stood there without knowing when.
He stood expressionlessly behind the metal railing, looking over with gloomy eyes.
The old man's face was a little pale due to his old age, making it look like a skeleton wrapped in wrinkled and dry skin, with deep eye sockets, which was very weird.
The old man seemed to make eye contact with Xia Chi, who shuddered instantly and quickly looked away.
"This family is weird," Xia Chi looked at Baili Xin and said weakly, "They have mysophobia and they have such a high risk 'child'. I suddenly understand why Baby Face broke down and cried. If they were just looking for a job and couldn't do it, they would just leave. But we have to accept it because we have a professional mission. I, a grown man, am a little scared when I see such explosive power, let alone a girl like Baby Face."
"Pah, I knew that the system would not assign us any simple tasks. Sure enough, every task is a hell-level challenge."
"What kind of evil taste does this system have? I really hope that one day the system can also go through the entire process of torturing people."
____________________________
Studio.
Xia Chi is really bold in speaking out.
I have to say, it spoke my mind.
Although it's a bit rude, such a family only hired one nanny, who is a mysophobia, an older violent and mentally retarded boy, and an old man who likes to find faults. In their case, they should hire three nannies, right? They treat us players like non-humans, and they are always finding faults. It makes me angry just thinking about it.
The main thing is that players cannot say the word "no", otherwise they will die.
It's not just the baby-faced ones, it's difficult for everyone else too. The kindergarten teacher is almost going crazy. There are more than 30 children in the class, and parents complain all the time. Everyone has their own demands. They all want to sit in the best seats and sleep in the best dormitories. If it were an ordinary kindergarten, the teacher would just fight back, but this is in the game, and if there are more than five complaints, she will be judged as derelict in her duty.
So hopeless. The nanny had no power to leave or resist, and the teacher had no power to criticize.
I think the programmer in the plaid shirt is going to die. He has been working for three days straight, although the main reason is that he is not familiar with the business. Three days, even if he is a gamer, he can't stand it.
Oh my god, this copy is poisonous. Is this the adult version of 996 work
It’s a bit ironic that in the adult world, you don’t deserve to be tired.
____________________________
When I walked out of the community, it was exactly twelve o'clock noon.
Baili Xin took out the old flip phone from his backpack, and a new message arrived as expected.
He opened the message on his phone and took a look.
—"Why are you ignoring me?! I know what you're looking for, answer me and I can help you!"
After reading it, Baili Xin turned off his phone and threw it into his backpack.
These days he still receives two messages on this phone every day.
One is at twelve noon and the other is at twelve evening.
Except for the first day when he replied to the other party's message, he just read the text messages every day and never replied again.
The other party's mood gradually changed from calmness at the beginning to anxiety now.
Do you know what I'm looking for? I don't even know what I'm looking for. You're really smart.
As soon as he threw the broken little phone into his backpack, a system prompt sounded in Baili Xin's mind.
Ding! Dear Bailixin players, good afternoon.
Isn’t it a surprise and unexpected that we meet so early today
Yes, I was also surprised and surprised that this task was released so early.
Ding, player Baili Xin, please rush to X University before 8 o'clock this afternoon!
Blissin: …
X University, finally here I am.
System: Recently, students at X University claim to have seen ghosts in the library. Teachers on duty saw books flipping by themselves. A cup of steaming coffee mysteriously appeared in front of a clean library table. In the toilet, the faucet turned on by itself, and the air conditioner also turned on by itself.
Please stay in the library tonight. I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow at 8 o'clock. We suggest you leave now.
Congratulations to the player for obtaining the access code to the x University Library x1.
After the cold electric sound of the system fell, a translucent three-dimensional map appeared in Baili Xin's mind.
At the same time, there was an access card marked with x University in his backpack.
After taking out the access card and looking at it in his hand, Baili Xin looked thoughtful.
His next plan was indeed to go to X University. If Xia Chi had not suggested coming to see the nanny today, he might have been in X University now.
It was just Xia Chi's delay, but the system took action first.
Is it the normal operation of the professional mission, or is it because you don’t want them to continue investigating Jinhai Luxury Apartments
Baili Xin glanced in the direction of Xia Chi and found that Xia Chi's eyes were dazed for a moment, and then they became clear again after a while.
The next moment, Xia Chi rubbed his palms helplessly, "Brother, I just received a system task, telling me to rush to a shopping mall before 2 pm. What about you?"
"..." Baili Xin's eyes darkened slightly, "I just received the mission to go to X University."
Xia Chi quickly looked down at the navigation: "Help, our mission locations are exactly opposite. Damn, this upper shopping mall is so far from here, I have to leave now."
"Brother, let's talk privately if there's anything going on."
Having said that, Xia Chi prepared to go to the road to hail a taxi.
Just halfway through the walk, Xia Chi seemed to remember something, and suddenly stopped and turned to look at Baili Xin: "Brother, I remembered something."
"Do you remember the night before last, when I was patrolling this neighborhood, you told me to keep an eye out for Chen Ping's ghost?"
"I actually saw it at that time, but I was so shocked at that time that I forgot to reply to you."
"It was around midnight. I happened to be patrolling in the small square of the community and saw Chen Ping doing something."
Baili Xin: "What action?"
Xia Chi thought for a while, then slowly raised his arms, clasped his hands together, and bent over to make a digging motion: "It's this motion, as if he's holding a shovel to dig something."
"It was quite creepy. I bravely moved closer and saw that he was mumbling something. But I'm not you, I can't read lips, and I don't know what he was saying."
"I just approached, and Chen Ping suddenly looked up at me and chased after me. I was frightened and ran away."
"I'm sorry, brother. It took me so long to remember this." Xia Chi blushed and scratched his head. "Then I mustered up the courage to go back, and I happened to see Chen Ping being taken away by a man in black holding an umbrella."
"That person is very problematic," Xia Chi slapped his forehead angrily, "Why did I just think of it now? Damn my brain."
"I was only one step away from the truth. I'm sorry, brother."
"Well, I should know the man in black holding the umbrella you mentioned." The little King of Hell, who had been silent, spoke lightly.
Xia Chi looked puzzled: "?"
Could it be that the truth was really uncovered by myself
I am indeed a genius!
Little King of Hell: "Ahem, that man is a ghost messenger from the underworld, specializing in catching lone ghosts and sending them back to the underworld. So he is innocent, don't wrongly accuse him, there are not many employees who work seriously and sleeplessly for 24 hours these days."
Baili Xin: "..."
Xia Chi: “…”
It turns out that the biggest capitalist has been hiding beside them
_____________________________
Studio.
Xia Chi exclaimed “Oh shit”.
The most powerful capitalist in history—Little King of Hell.
Suddenly I felt a little sorry for Hei Wuchang. What happened? Not only did he work diligently, but in the end he was framed as a criminal suspect.
But their clothes are really weird.
Here’s a little-known fact: the civil servants in the underworld thought that outfit was normal.
This is the information gap.
____________________________
Underworld.
"A-choo!" Hei Wuchang sneezed. Bai Wuchang, who was flipping through some information, glanced at the person beside him and said, "What's wrong? You look so delicate, are you catching a cold?"
Hei Wuchang glared at Bai Wuchang and said, "Can you please hope for me? I'm so handsome, why don't you say that someone is thinking about me?"
"Missed you?" Bai Wuchang glanced at Hei Wuchang silently, "Missed you to bring them to the underworld? Who else would miss you except me?"
After saying that, Bai Wuchang buried himself in a pile of information again.
Black Wuchang leaned his head against White Wuchang's shoulder with some curiosity, stretched his neck and stuck his head out: "What are you looking for?"
Bai Wuchang: "Looking for an ancient temple, but unfortunately, I haven't found it yet."
Hei Wuchang randomly picked up a book from a pile of books and said, "Then I'll help look for it, too. What kind of ancient temple is it?"
Bai Wuchang opened his mouth slightly, and was about to say something, when suddenly a ghost rushed in from outside, "Oh no! Several ghosts that Hei Wuchang brought back have died."
____________________________
Seven o'clock in the evening.
Under the scarlet night, Baili Xin walked into X University alone.
Xia Chi left for the mission location at noon, and Little King Yan also left with a somewhat grim look on his face.
Let’s not talk about the little King of Hell for now. Xia Chi’s departure made Baili Xin feel vaguely strange.
It was as if the system deliberately isolated the two of them and made them act separately.
Logically speaking, this should be unlikely.
I hope I'm just over-speculating.
X University is the most famous university in X City.
This university mainly focuses on liberal arts and arts. Among them, the Performance Department of X University has long become one of the benchmark departments of X University because it has produced several celebrities.
Because he had an access card, the guard didn't try to stop Baili Xin and let him in.
As soon as he entered the campus, Baili Xin was immediately attracted by the huge fountain in front of the university.
In front of the main teaching building, a huge fountain is spraying water upwards.
Three long and thick water jets spurted out from the pool, leaving a thick and colorful stroke in the air like ink splashing.
Baili Xin stopped, looked up at the three water columns, his eyes flashing slightly.
s419m: Host, do you like this fountain? I will arrange for it right away and dig a fountain for you according to your preferences.
Blissin: ... I can't bear it.
s419m:Ah
Baili Xin: Do you think that these three jets of water look like the three incense sticks used in sacrifices
The shape of the pool below is very much like a tripod. From where we are standing, it looks like a huge incense burner.
s419m: ??? ??? !!! Master Host, please don't scare me! I'm timid and can't stand being scared.
Baili Xin didn't say anything more. The huge column of water slowly fell down and the pool returned to calm again.