Xiao Yao was extremely insecure. She would sweep the steel pipe around every once in a while, mumbling something. Occasionally, she would suddenly stare in one direction with her neck stiffly stretched out.
Chen Yang observed her for a long time and felt that anyone who was timid would be scared to death by her.
"She was on the verge of collapse on the first day of the mission." Chen Yang lowered his voice, "She was a newcomer and had been acting alone. She had no help, reminders, or encouragement from her teammates or friends. Her condition was also very poor. All factors were not enough for her to survive until the last day, but she survived until now. It's unreasonable."
He was half crazy, as if he was being held on by force.
Chao Jian got up with crutches.
Chen Yang raised his head in confusion and poked Jian's shoe with his cane: "Don't you want to chat?"
“…The reincarnation of a roundworm spirit?” Chen Yang muttered and got up. The woman looked like she hadn’t slept for a few days, and he couldn’t sleep either, so he just chatted with her.
Before Chen Yang got close, Xiao Yao was already on high alert. The mental pressure kept her on the verge of collapse.
"Xiao Yao, it's me and my brother, don't be nervous." Chen Yang shone the dim flashlight over there.
Seeing that it was a living person, Xiao Yao did not let go of the steel pipe. She said hoarsely: "I'm just... very afraid of ghosts."
Xiao Yao was about to say that even though she knew there were only monsters in the building and no ghosts, she was still afraid, when she heard Chen Yang whisper, "Then we have a common topic."
Xiao Yao stared blankly at him and the boy as they sat down.
"I'm also very afraid of ghosts." Chen Yang sighed, "You dare to stay alone, but I don't dare."
Xiao Yao thought of something confusing, and his bloodshot eyes widened even more: "I wouldn't dare to do that either. I usually sleep with the lights on. How could I dare to stay alone in a dark office building?"
Chen Yang listened to the woman's incoherent words and suddenly met her pale face. He was about to speak when he heard her mumbling, "I was forced to do it. I had no choice. There were so many people and monsters, and I couldn't tell who was good and who was bad. I was afraid to be with everyone, so I hid myself... I didn't come out until there were seven people and my guess was overturned..."
"Every day I feel like I won't live to see the next day." Xiao Yao bit the hand that was holding the steel pipe, his teeth grinding against his flesh, his face showing a dazed look, "I don't even know how I got through the past three days."
Chen Yang said: "Maybe you are lucky."
Xiao Yao shook his head and sneered: "If you are lucky, you won't enter the mission world."
Chen Yang inappropriately recalled a piece of information that Xiangdong had revealed: people with identity numbers are immune to natural disasters and man-made calamities in the real world, and they either die in the mission world or keep moving forward.
His shoulders sank, and a furry touch swept across Chen Yang's neck. He moved Chao Jian's head away.
Fell asleep so quickly.
Chen Yang scratched the place where Chao Jian's hair had rubbed against him. Since he was so sleepy, why didn't he just sleep in the original place instead of following him to Xiao Yao's place.
The head that had been pushed aside leaned back, and Chen Yang moved his nose. There was no strange smell in Chao Jian's hair, nor on his body, and he was not sweating much.
In the past six months, the color of Chao Jian's hair faded, so he dyed it back to the same chestnut color. He had an extreme preference and obsession with this color.
Chen Yang scratched his short hair. Although he also liked to dye his hair chestnut brown at a certain age in the past, he just dyed his hair that color the most times but it was not his favorite color.
In comparison, Chao Jian's love was much deeper than his.
There was a faint light next to him. Chen Yang glanced at it reflexively with his peripheral vision, and the next moment he stared at it fiercely.
Xiao Yao was looking at his cell phone, and a small pendant tied with a dark brown rope was swaying gently in the air.
It was a shiny pink lop-eared rabbit.
Chen Yang showed a curious expression: "The pendant on your phone is quite unique, can I see it?"
Xiao Yao did not respond immediately. She looked at Chen Yang with a hint of wariness in her eyes, as if she felt that he was not likely to be interested in girls' gadgets.
"I like shiny things." Chen Yang smiled embarrassedly.
Xiao Yao hesitated for a moment and handed him the phone.
Chen Yang took the phone and stared at the pendant. He was sure that this lop-eared rabbit was exactly the same as the one hanging on the keychain of the phone owner.
"What time is your company?" Chen Yang returned the phone to Xiao Yao and asked casually without showing any emotion.
Xiao Yao touched the pendant: "404."
Chen Yang rubbed his fingertips. The owner of the phone worked in the same company as Xiao Yaba, 402. He looked at Xiao Yao's pendant again. Could it be that two young female white-collar workers working in the A3 building were using the same pendant? Was it just a coincidence and there was no other connection
"Are you a fan of celebrities?" Chen Yang asked in a casual tone.
"Not bad." Xiao Yao looked at him strangely, "Why did Mr. Chen suddenly ask this?"
"Just chat. We can't be tense all the time during the mission. We need to change our minds appropriately so that our thinking will be flexible." Chen Yang said seriously. He mentioned the celebrity that the phone owner liked, "Do you know him?"
Xiao Yao said, "My best friend likes him." She was obviously a little more relaxed when she mentioned an acquaintance, "Mr. Chen is also a fan of his?"
Chen Yang touched the tip of his nose: "My brother is."
Xiao Yao rolled his eyes: "Oh, so I can't tell that he would pay attention to the entertainment industry."
"My brother only pays attention to the work, not the person. He doesn't buy peripherals and doesn't write any star-chasing diary." Chen Yang said.
"A hand diary? My best friend can write one." Xiao Yao put away his phone.
Chen Yang controlled his breathing. Once was a coincidence, twice was a coincidence, but three times was not.
The colleague of the little mute, who is also the owner of the mobile phone, is what Xiao Yao calls her best friend.
Chen Yang crossed his legs and leaned his head against Chao Jian's head unconsciously. When the little mute took out his cell phone for the first time, he felt that there were clues in the phone, and he still thinks so now.
Xiao Yao’s best friend’s star-chasing diary, mobile phone, and key chain are all in his backpack. The diary is full of records related to celebrities.
Chao Jian sorted out a lot of information from it, but still couldn't find out the lock screen password.
It seems that the star-chasing diary is just a distraction, the key lies with Xiao Yao.
The next step is important.
Just as Chen Yang was about to wake up Chao Jian beside him, the weight on his shoulders disappeared.
"I want to go to the bathroom." Chao Jian rubbed his eyes, his voice low and slow, with a little bit of dependence and intimacy, "Brother."
"Hey." Chen Yang said to Xiao Yao who was looking over, "Then I'll go to the bathroom with my brother first."
As soon as he arrived at the restroom, Chen Yang took out the phone from his backpack and tried to unlock it using Xiao Yao's name.
"No." Chen Yang leaned against the sink, and his heartbeat, which had jumped into his throat, began to drop rapidly.
Chao Jian took the phone and swiped with his index finger. It prompted "Pattern error, please redraw", and he started swiping again.
Chen Yang: "This is..."
Untied.
"Yao Hui's lock screen pattern is reversed." Chao Jian returned the phone to Chen Yang, "You can see the rest yourself."
Chen Yang did not ask Chao Jian "Weren't you sleeping? When did you notice her unlock pattern?" It was not important. He took the phone and found that the screen saver was a photo of Xiao Yao and the owner of the phone.
The two young women have similar eyebrows and eyes, probably they are best friends.
Chen Yang noticed that although there was no signal on his phone, all its functions were still usable. He quickly checked WeChat and saw that the first message in the chat history was a message for help.
Xiao Yao: I’m trapped in the elevator, call the police to save me! ! ! !
The time showed it was Thursday morning, 9:25.
Chen Yang clicked on it and scrolled up to the chat history.
Thursday 8:57 a.m. —
I am a useless dog today: Dear, have you arrived at the company yet, Rose, Rose
Xiao Yao: I'm yawning while waiting for the elevator.
Xiao Yao: I watched TV series until 2 a.m. last night, and now my eye bags are almost falling to my chest.
You are such a useless dog today: Hey, I have warmed up the chairs in the office, and you are still downstairs. There is no comparison between people.
Xiao Yao: It’s still early for me. Some people in our company don’t come until 9:30.
I'm also a useless dog today: oh no, so jealous.
Xiao Yao: I won’t say any more. I’m getting into the elevator. Let’s have lunch together.
The chat content above was meaningless, so Chen Yang did not read it again. He slid the page and stopped at the last message. He recalled everything that happened before entering the mission world that day, trying to sort out the timeline.
It turned out that things were not going smoothly and the timing of everything was vague.
Chen Yang's palms were sweating. He changed his hand to hold the phone: "When did the fire alarm in the building go off?"
Chao Jian said it was 9:15.
"9:15..." Chen Yang murmured. The alarm sounded for a while, and many people came down from the emergency passage and gathered on the first floor. He estimated that the whole process from the time the alarm sounded to the time the situation stabilized took about ten minutes.
"What are you doing?" Zheng Zhitan's voice came from the door.
Chen Yang's train of thought was interrupted, and he looked sullenly at the other party and Pan Lin as they came in one after the other.
"Is it a shame to bother you?" Zheng Zhitan said, "I'm sorry."
He said this but his actions did not match his words. He zipped up his pants without paying any attention to the people around him.
Then Chen Yang saw Pan Lin kneeling in front of Zheng Zhiqin.
Chen Yang: “…”
Chao Jian: “…”
Zheng Zhitan: “…” He picked up Pan Lin and threw him aside, “Be good, let me pee.”
Pan Lin blushed with embarrassment.
For Pan Lin, Zheng Zhiqin, who showed the judgment of a veteran, was not only his financial backer, but also his hope and support for surviving. He was determined to please him.
Just now, when Zheng Zhiqin zipped up his pants, Pan Lin knelt down out of habit, forgetting that there were other people here.
Chen Yang pulled Chao Jian out and saw Qiao Qiao and the mute. He was stunned: "Why are you all here? Where is Xiao Yao?"
She doesn't want to join us. The mute holds up the sticky note pad.
Bro, is there something wrong with her
Chen Yang talked about the cell phone message.
The sound of a lighter being clicked came from behind, accompanied by Zheng Zhitan's vague voice: "The signal in the elevator is not good, there is a delay."
"The message on WeChat shows 9:25, but the actual sending time will be earlier." When Chen Yang looked over, Zheng Zhiqin squinted his eyes, lit a cigarette, pressed the cap of the lighter with his thumb, and smiled at him.
Chen Yang smelled the cigarette and his Adam's apple rolled. This guy's addiction to smoking is even worse than Xiangdong. He turned back and continued to sort out the clues. That day, he and Chao Jian entered the A3 floor at around 8:40. Chao Jian had been sitting in the lobby, and he walked around the first floor.
From the time they entered the building to the time the alarm sounded, to the time the tsunami approached and the mission began, they did not hear any elevator malfunction during this entire period.
Xiao Yao told her bestie that she was going into the elevator at 8:57.
Qiao Qiao, who had been silent the whole time, said softly, "Around 9:20 to 9:25, Yu and I," she bit her lips until they bled as she thought of the other person eating Li Zheng, "were pressing the elevator button with that monster, and there were other people around."
"Both elevators were out of order. They wouldn't open. They didn't respond. I didn't hear anyone inside calling for help."
"Then the crowds on the street started running wildly and the power went out in the building." Qiao Qiao stopped talking here. There was no need to explain what happened next as it was something that everyone experienced.
These are enough to determine that Xiao Yao has been trapped in the elevator.
"Then what about her now..." Pan Lin didn't control his voice well, he gasped and shouted, "She is tomorrow's monster?!"
"So you've been testing me."
At the same time, Xiao Yao's resentful voice was heard in the darkness outside. She walked closer to the halo, staring at Chen Yang, her hands gripping the steel pipe shaking constantly.