Judging from the information revealed in the leave application, the real Li Zheng took leave due to allergy, and the current Li Zheng is a monster in disguise.
Chen Yang put the leave application in his pocket and asked Pan Lin in a low voice: "Did you see him when you came out?"
Pan Lin cried and nodded: "He is still in the office, I didn't dare to look at him."
"We've found the monster. What should we do now?" Pan Lin was panicking. "Should we reveal his identity? Then he can disappear?"
"Will he kill us all just when we are about to expose the truth?" Pan Lin looked around suspiciously, sucking in the snot that was running down his nose. He looked embarrassed and helpless.
"No." Chen Yang said, "Ghosts have their own rules. They will only kill those who violate the rules and taboos. They can't do whatever they want."
"Let's go to your company." Just as he finished speaking, he saw Brother Yu and his group coming towards him in a hurry.
The young female white-collar worker whose colleague had just died also came out of the company. When her teammates asked her about the incident with concern, she tearfully told them what had happened.
Then Chen Yang talked about the leave application again, and the corridor was filled with suppressed sobs and gasps.
"Damn, it's actually him!" Wang Hao cursed in a tense voice, "He's pretending so well!"
"At that time, he, Qiao Qiao, I, and the dead Aries buddy, the four of us went to Jingfeng on the fourth floor. He dragged Qiao Qiao to the third floor halfway to make evidence of his alibi and use me to divert attention." Wang Hao gritted his teeth.
"How could it be him? He's tall and has a good figure, he doesn't look like a monster at all." The girl who had a crush on Li Zheng couldn't accept this reality and sobbed in panic, "He helped me, encouraged me, and told me that we could definitely go home."
"… "
"Li Zheng is a monster, and so is Qiao Qiao. They seem to have a good relationship, so it's impossible for her not to know about his leave." Brother Yu glanced at Pan Lin, who was crying so hard that she couldn't breathe, and paused, "And Mr. Zheng, he approved the leave, so he must have known that Li Zheng didn't come to the company."
"Too scary, all three of them are monsters..."
The frightened whispers suddenly stopped and the corridor was dead silent.
So far, three people have been eaten, one violated the rules and was sucked into the sea, and there are only 19 people left out of the 23 people, but there are three monsters among the 19 people... This ratio is devastating.
Is it true that half of them are not human
Everyone froze and dared not move.
Chen Yang called out to Pan Lin: "Let's go." He pulled Chao Jian, who took his flashlight and backpack and lay on his back.
“…” So you let me free up my hands and back so that I can carry you.
Chen Yang carried Chao Jian on his back easily and skillfully and walked straight to the stairs.
Pan Lin came to his senses and staggered to catch up.
The remaining dozen or so people in the corridor were hesitant. Knowing who the monster was was one thing, but witnessing the man's true form with their own eyes was another. They were not mentally prepared.
"Brother Yu, are we going?"
"I don't dare to go. The monster is in Jingfeng. It's exposed now. If we go, we will be killed by it."
Brother Yu groaned, "It shouldn't be. I think that since we came in with our ID numbers to do the mission, the rules keep giving us hints and asking us to find the key to breaking through. This shows that the real purpose of the mission is to upgrade the tasker, not to wipe out the whole team."
"Then shall we... go to Jingfeng as well?"
"Go." said Brother Yu.
Zhang Lan pulled Xiao Huanyu, the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes showing tenderness and patience: "Listen to what Brother Yu said, let's go too."
"Who is he? Why should we listen to him? The mole on his eyebrow is so disgusting." Xiao Huanyu spat.
Zhang Lan patted her boyfriend on the back and coaxed him, "It's not that we have to listen to him, but what he said makes sense. The current situation is not favorable to us. We..."
"Enough, enough. You keep chattering all day long. I'm so annoyed. Are you my mother or my grandmother?" Xiao Huanyu waved her hand away impatiently and strode away.
Zhang Lan was not angry. She chased after him and continued to teach him earnestly.
The mission is very dangerous and she could die at any time. She hopes her boyfriend can survive and return to the real world alive.
He is still young and has a good heart. He has just started his life.
In Jingfeng's office, Qiao Qiao was leaning over Li Zheng's desk and talking to him, the potato chips in his mouth making a crunching sound.
"Where is Pan Lin?"
"Go out now." Li Zheng was flipping through a pile of documents and said nonchalantly, "Her husband doesn't care about him, so why should we care about him?"
Just as Qiao Qiao was about to say something else, the door opened with a ding.
Speak of the devil; he will appear.
Pan Lin came back, followed by a group of people, blocking the door.
A dozen figures stood there, neither coming in nor speaking, looking eerie.
"Why are you all here?"
Qiao Qiao had a potato chip in her mouth. She seemed to realize something was wrong. Her lips and teeth trembled, and the potato chip broke into pieces with a "crack". Half of it poked her upper palate, and the other half fell on the surface of her shoe.
Seeing the alertness of the people at the door, Qiao Qiao stood up puzzledly, turned around, and left Li Zheng's desk.
There was a sudden noise in an office on the left, and everyone looked over with bated breath.
Zheng Zhiqin's figure appeared in their sight. He seemed to have just come out of the toilet, with part of the hem of his shirt hanging outside and he hadn't had time to tuck it in.
Zheng Zhitan didn't come out. He leaned lazily against the glass door, holding a half-burned cigarette in his hand, the orange spark flickering.
A group of people were divided into four parts in a weird atmosphere, namely Chen Yang and others, Qiao Qiao, Zheng Zhitan, and Li Zheng who became the focus.
Something is about to happen.
"What the hell..." Li Zheng put down the information in his hand and stood up. He swept his eyes over everyone and finally stopped at Qiao Qiao. He said blankly, "Is it related to me? What's wrong with me?"
Chen Yang said, "You are taking a leave because of allergies."
Before Li Zheng could respond, Qiao Qiao shone a flashlight at him in astonishment: "You asked for leave? Allergy? When did it happen? How come I didn't know?"
Realizing something, she took a step back and muttered to herself, "The horoscope book says that my fortune this week will be bumpy, but I will be able to turn danger into safety."
Thinking of another detail, Qiao Qiao suddenly looked towards Zheng Zhiqin standing by the glass door and took a breath.
Zheng Zhiqin stared at Chen Yang at the door.
Chen Yang had a strange illusion that his father was checking his homework. He took out the leave application form and said, "Li Zheng, this is yours. You have applied for a week's leave."
"You guys," Li Zheng pointed at himself and said stupidly, "doubt me?"
No one answered.
"I am allergic." Li Zheng took a few deep breaths, as if to suppress his anger at being wrongly accused. "I submitted the leave application after get off work yesterday, but I went to the hospital for an IV drip last night. I found out that I was almost healed in the middle of the night. After a good night's sleep, I was discharged from the hospital this morning and came to work at the company."
Wang Hao's questioning and vigilant voice came from the crowd: "Who would believe this? Your leave has been approved, why don't you take the opportunity to play at home and come to the company so actively?"
Li Zheng blurted out: "I like going to work!"
The office suddenly became eerily quiet.
The workplace is cruel and boring. Even if you are working in a field you like, it will gradually become boring.
Even if work is an expansion and extension of your interests and hobbies, you will still lose your passion.
No one dares to say that, like going to work? Bullshit.
Li Zheng seemed to know that this excuse was untenable. He subconsciously looked towards Qiao Qiao. The light from multiple flashlights illuminated his little action clearly.
Chen Yang found that this trend was not what he expected. The heavy-tasting monster he thought would appear did not happen. Instead, he caught a glimpse of an office crush
Chen Yang tugged at Chao Jian's slightly cold arm, Chao Jian pushed his hand away, and patted the back of his hand twice.
Like letting him go at his own pace.
Chen Yang adjusted his thoughts and asked Li Zheng: "How did you become allergic?"
Li Zheng hesitated and couldn't answer for a long time.
Everyone retreated towards the door step by step, leaving only Chen Yang and Chao Jian at the door.
The atmosphere was tense to the extreme.
Li Zheng closed his eyes and shouted, "I can't eat seaweed!" He showed a desperate expression, "Fairy, you put that stuff in the sushi you brought yesterday. I felt sick after eating it. I went to the hospital after get off work."
Qiao Qiao looked at him suspiciously: "Why didn't you tell me you couldn't eat?"
Li Zheng said nothing.
Chen Yang witnessed this scene and was basically sure that it was an office crush. He walked in and said, "You said you were discharged from the hospital this morning. Do you have any evidence?"
Li Zheng stood there in a daze.
"I have the medical record!" Li Zheng opened his eyes and frantically searched his backpack. "I came directly to the company this morning. The medical record is in my bag. Wait a minute..."
The young man muttered to himself with his back to everyone, then suddenly he let out an "Ah" and shouted, "Found it!"
The air flowing around suddenly froze, and everyone stared at the back of Li Zheng's head, afraid that he would suddenly turn around and see the face of a monster.
The timid one wishes he could faint right now.
However, the scene they expected did not happen. When Li Zheng turned around, his face was still the same, and he really had a medical record book in his hand.
An ordinary medical record book.
The medical record was full of scribbles, and Chen Yang could only recognize the date and nothing else.
Chao Jian took the medical record, looked at it, and threw it on a table.
Chen Yang judged the information from Chao Jian's expression. Li Zheng did go to the hospital after get off work yesterday, and was indeed discharged in the morning. He did not lie.
Li Zheng silently took out the medicine prescribed by the doctor from his backpack, unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled them up, revealing the needle holes on his arms. He stole a glance at Qiao Qiao, shyly lifted up his shirt, bit the hem, and shone the flashlight on his chest and back.
There are still some faint red acne marks on it that have not yet faded.
Everyone: “…”
A dramatic reversal of the situation?!
We are not fools. We can see that Li Zheng took a leave but still came to the company happily. It’s not because he likes to go to work, but because of love.
This is the power of love.
"So, it was a mistake." The girl who had a crush on Li Zheng looked at Pan Lin with discrimination and blame in her eyes.
Pan Lin lowered his head, looking embarrassed: "Mr. Chen, I..."
"I don't need to explain, right?" Zheng Zhiqin's voice sounded, "There are too many employees in the company, I can't remember them all, and I didn't expect to cause such a big misunderstanding. Fortunately, Xiao Li was able to explain the matter clearly, otherwise Xiao Li, Qiao Qiao, the three of us would have been executed together."
After half-jokingly saying this, Zheng Zhiqin waved to Pan Lin and said, "Didn't I tell you to stay at your seat? Why are you running to me and digging through my desk?"
There were fireworks in the man's eyes, and it was hard to tell what emotion he was expressing in his voice, but Pan Lin shuddered. He clenched his fingers and said in a mosquito-like voice, "I... I'm scared."
“When I ran to look for you, you were not there. I didn’t mean to rummage through your things. I just accidentally knocked a document off the table, and when I picked it up, I accidentally saw…” Pan Lin started crying as he spoke. His asymmetrical face looked hideous in the halo of light from the flashlights. He looked at Zheng Zhiqin pitifully, like a little dog who was afraid of being abandoned by his owner.
Chen Yang looked at Zheng Zhitan.
"I was in the inner room at that time." Zheng Zhitan gave Chen Yang an answer and went back to the office without even looking at Pan Lin.
Pan Lin ran towards Zheng Zhiqin in a hurry. His waist accidentally hit the corner of the table. He twisted his waist and hissed a few times in pain. He covered his waist and staggered after the figure that disappeared into the darkness.
"Hey, freak, you're not trying to confuse people with a leave application, are you?"
A vicious voice came from behind. Pan Lin stopped in his tracks, his thin shoulders trembling slightly: "I didn't... I didn't..."
"It's not me!" Pan Lin turned around and roared with red eyes. His voice was harsh and sharp. He didn't say anything more. Others didn't matter. The most important thing was Zheng Zhitan. He couldn't let Zheng Zhitan abandon him.
Pan Lin couldn't even hold his phone properly. He couldn't stop crying, but the panic in his eyes gradually faded away, replaced by determination and clarity.
At the beginning, when Pan Lin heard that someone in the team had died, he didn't lose his mind. At that time, he thought that even if he went to hell, it didn't matter as long as Zheng Zhitan was there.
But when he saw Li Zheng's leave application and suspected that Zheng Zhiqin, Qiao Qiao and Li Zheng were all monsters, and death was really about to happen to him, he found that he was afraid, so he made the most correct choice at the first time and ran to find Chen Yang.
It is better to live a miserable life than to die.
Nothing is more important than being alive.
What Pan Lin feared the most was that Zheng Zhiqin would not go to hell with him. He would most likely go alone. That was not okay. Absolutely not okay! He had to hold on to Zheng Zhiqin so that he would have a better chance of getting out alive.
Chen Yang withdrew his gaze from Pan Lin's back. He glanced at the other people, wondering who had called him "freak".
Zhang Lan saw what Chen Yang was thinking, so she took the initiative to speak up and said kindly, "I'm sorry, my Xiaoyu meant no harm."
Chen Yang: "No need to apologize to me."
Xiao Huanyu: "Why are you apologizing to him?"
They both spoke at the same time, and the situation was very awkward.
Zhang Lan was dragged away by Xiao Huanyu, and her voice of comfort and coaxing gradually became blurred.
Li Zheng was also trying to comfort Qiao Qiao who was implicated by him.
"I forgive you." Qiao Qiao said generously, "I'll give you food next time. If you can't eat anything, just tell me. I'm not a fragile person. I won't get upset if I'm rejected. You're still my good friend."
Li Zheng choked: "There may not be a next time."
"Okay, don't be so pessimistic. We'll do our best." Qiao Qiao stroked his dog's head. "Little Leo, your horoscope this week may be worse than mine, but it's not a dead end."
She turned to look at the group of people at the door again, focusing her attention on one of them. She pursed her lips and said, "Mr. Chen, the misunderstanding has been resolved. The monster is someone else."
These words were like a huge rock thrown into ice water, the cold water splashing in everyone's heart. They shivered quickly and distanced themselves, the undercurrent of defense materializing in that instant.
Chen Yang and Chao Jian, who were still standing together, seemed out of place.
Chen Yang pondered the clue of "23 divided by 23". 23 divided by 23 equals 1, 22 divided by 22 is also 1... 19 divided by 19 is also 1, all are 1.
No matter how the number of people changes, the result is always 1.
What does “1” actually mean
Chen Yang felt that he was trapped in a fixed mindset again without realizing it, and couldn't break free. He asked Chao Jian absentmindedly: "Go back to the company?"
"Let's go eat something." Chao Jian said, "Lunch time is long gone, I'm hungry."
Chen Yang looked at his cell phone and saw that it was almost 3:30 in the afternoon. He found the mute and asked her to go downstairs with him.
As soon as he arrived at the hall, Chen Yang felt something was wrong. He looked around carefully and suddenly stopped at one place.
A large part of the shawl covering the two bodies collapsed!
Chen Yang walked over with rapid breathing. He used Chao Jian's crutch to lift up the shawl, and then put the shawl back.
There was little left of the two bodies.
The hidden monsters want to eat meat, which is why the bodies don't disappear.
Chen Yang returned to Chao Jian as if nothing had happened. Just as he was returning the crutch to him, a muffled sound was heard not far away.
"Bang!"
A fat corpse was thrown down from the third floor. It was the middle-aged man whose head had been eaten.
After throwing the body away, Zheng Zhiqin flicked a handful of cigarette ash off. He stood at the guardrail and looked at Shenhai. He waved at Chen Yang with the hand holding the cigarette and left.
Chen Yang did not drag the body to the other two in the corner, but placed it in the center of the hall... a position that could be seen by anyone standing on the guardrail on the third floor.
There are so many of them, one of them might come across a monster eating a corpse.
A moment later, Chen Yang was sitting in a coffee shop, eating a bowl of hot pickled cabbage noodles, while Chao Jian was eating braised beef next to him.
The mute sat opposite them, and she was eating the cake given by Chen Yang.
Fortunately, this was something Chen Yang took from the company's refrigerator, not his own, otherwise she wouldn't dare to eat it. The man in Chen Yang's family has a strong sense of territory.
Chen Yang was looking for pickled vegetables in the instant noodle bucket. He casually asked the mute, "Where do you live?"
The mute poked the plastic fork into the cake, quickly took out a sticky notepad and pen from the pocket of her denim skirt, wrote a few words and showed them to Chen Yang.
Qingcheng, northern suburbs.
"In the northern suburbs." Chen Yang was a little surprised. "I live in Sanlianqiao."
The mute was stunned.
Chen Yang looked at her and said, "You too?"
The mute nodded vigorously.
Chen Yang was even more surprised. This was the second person from Sanlianqiao he had met besides Chao Jian. His eyes softened as he looked at the mute: "Why haven't I seen you before?"
I went abroad when I was very young. I have been studying and treating my throat for many years. I came back at the end of last year and lived with my cousin. The mute wrote excitedly on the paper, with surprise written all over his face.
Chen Yang moved his foot against Jian's leg. No wonder he had never seen it before.
Brother, if I can get out alive this time, I will remember you at Sanlian Bridge and knock on every door to look for you^v^
Chen Yang saw what the little mute had written and was silent for a moment. He took out a notebook and said, "Write your contact information here."
The mute not only wrote down her contact information, she also couldn't help but write about her own mission experience.
Those who had preceded her had already written, so she also wanted to write.
This is a very ceremonial thing, and also a commemorative one. She hopes that everything she has experienced can be seen by others.
Chen Yang found that the little girl wrote very seriously, just like an elementary school student taking notes. After she finished writing, she checked it several times and made sure there were no problems before pushing the notebook back to him.
The note ends with - dumb.
Chen Yang drank a mouthful of instant noodle soup and sighed. The mistake in the leave application form might be a coincidence, or it might be that the monster wanted to use Li Zheng to interfere with everyone. He took out his mobile phone and opened the video recorded by the service desk. He watched it for a while without blinking, turned it off with a headache, and continued to sigh.
"Do you want to eat again?" Chao Jian nudged him with his knee.
"I don't want to eat anymore." Chen Yang had just finished speaking when the instant noodle bucket was taken away by Chao Jian. He said, "There's only a little left. Don't eat anymore. There's enough food. If you're not full, you can make another bucket."
Chao Jian ignored him.
Chen Yang suddenly saw the mute staring at him, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't. He was very confused and asked in confusion, "What's the matter?"
The mute scribbled something and held up the sticky note pad.
Brother, you are so stupid.
Chen Yang was shocked. He whispered to Chao Jian, "The little mute said I was stupid."
Chao Jian scooped up some instant noodles and ate them: "You're not stupid."
Chen Yang's eyes came alive, and he said, "You are stupid."
Is there any difference between “…”
Chen Yang tried to defend himself: "You may not believe it, but I am still young, but my brain and memory are sometimes good and sometimes bad. Sometimes I am a little confused."
Chao Jian: “Yeah.”
Chen Yang's words were blocked by this word. He was silent for a moment and curled his lips meaninglessly.
"It's okay to be stupid, as long as you are honest." Chao Jian said.
"You've said the word 'honest' many times. I feel confused every time I hear it. Am I not honest enough in the mission world?" Chen Yang lay down on the table, rested his head on his arms, and closed his eyes to take a nap.
Chao Jian remained motionless in the posture of picking up noodles, and only lowered his brows after a long while.
The mute felt the cold loneliness from the boy.
Although he is always following the person he loves, watching over her all the time, he is lonely, his soul is homeless and he has no one to rely on.
The mute ate the strawberry on the cake. She still envied Chen Yang. It was so nice to have someone to accompany her in such a dangerous mission world.
But she wasn't jealous.
Chen Yang deserves to have a partner who can share life and death with him.
The mute did not disturb the two people opposite her. She quietly finished her food and wrote and drew on the sticky note pad.
The people around me didn't make much noise, they were all tired.
Chen Yang slept for a while in a daze. When he opened his eyes, he saw a face very close to him. The boy was also asleep on the table, sleeping facing him.
"Ah." The mute on the other side called Chen Yang and handed him a mobile phone, "Ah."
"You didn't take a rest? Is this your cell phone?" Chen Yang said.
It's not mine, I found it at the company. The dumb man turned the page and wrote.
Chen Yang turned on his phone: "I set a pattern lock, but I can't unlock it."
The mute looked at him expectantly.
"I don't have the skills." Chen Yang sighed, "Just give it a try, maybe you'll get lucky and win."
"Usually it's 7, l, z..." Chen Yang tried one by one, but all of them were wrong passwords. Please redraw them. He silently raised his head and looked at the mute.
Chen Yang woke up his unfathomable partner: "Can you unlock it?"
Chao Jian climbed up and leaned back on the chair. There were red marks on his face, and he looked a little childish: "What do you think?"
Chen Yang said: "... I don't think so."
"Personal information." Chao Jian continued his tail tone.
Chen Yang immediately winked at the mute.
The mute made an "OK" gesture and went back to the company to search.
Will a cell phone be useful
Chen Yang said: "My intuition tells me that there are key clues in the phone."
The mute's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Let's find a way to unlock it first." Chen Yang said as he looked at the people in the coffee shop. Five of them were not here. They were Zheng Zhitan and Pan Lin, Xiao Huanyu and Zhang Lan, and the female white-collar worker who said that half of the team were monsters.
The people in the store were listless. If someone asked them if they were tired from school or work, they would say they were tired from both.
But if we ask them now whether they are tired from school or work, the answer is neither.
Because now it's hell on earth, I'm so tired that I'm about to explode. No matter how many brain cells I have, they are not enough. It's very painful.
Chen Yang called out to the white-collar workers and asked them what time they went to work and what time they got off work every day.
After some investigation, the result was that the average time people go to work is 9 o'clock and get off work is 6 o'clock.
"Mr. Chen, does the working hours have anything to do with the mission?" Brother Yu asked.
"I don't know." Chen Yang looked at his phone. It was now past four o'clock, and there was still more than an hour before the end of get off work.
Chen Yang felt that it was very important, but he didn't know why.
In a company on the second floor
Zhang Lan tore open the package of instant noodles, picked up the thermos on the long table and poured water into it.
A wave of heat hit her face and she rubbed her eyes. Her delicate eye makeup had been ruined by the cold sweat, and this rubbing made her look even more tired and haggard.
The signs of age are also revealed.
She is almost 40 years old, and half of her life has just passed by. Zhang Lan was distracted and the boiling water in the instant noodle bucket overflowed. A few drops splashed on her hands. She subconsciously reached for a tissue to wipe it.
"Xiao Yu?" Zhang Lan shouted towards the conference room. When there was no response, she pressed the instant noodles with a fork and walked in with it.
Xiao Huanyu lay on the leather sofa, curled up with his arms and legs unable to open.
"Xiao Yu." Zhang Feng put the hot instant noodles on the table, "The noodles are ready, get up and eat."
"I don't want to eat it, take it away!" Xiao Huanyu said angrily.
"How can I not eat? I know you still blame me for always saying that I don't want to go to work and want to die. You think it's because of me that we came here, but I really just said it casually." Zhang Lan regretted it very much. She didn't say it casually, she said it on purpose. That was to make herself look younger.
She searched online and found that young people like to mock work in that way.
"Haha." Xiao Huanyu sneered, "Sister, what else can you do besides reasoning?"
"I..." Zhang Lan was speechless, "Then I apologize."
"Forget it." Xiao Huanyu was unmoved, "Your apology is worthless."
Zhang Lan sat down on the chair and whispered, "It's all my fault. I'm a nagging person. I shouldn't have been so nagging." She covered her head, eager to resolve the conflict with her boyfriend, "Can I compensate you?"
"Compensate me?" Xiao Huanyu curled up in the sofa.
"Yeah." Zhang Lan said tenderly.
"Okay." Xiao Huanyu suddenly laughed, "Then how are you going to compensate me?"
He turned around abruptly, revealing an extremely horrifying face, or rather, it could no longer be called a face.
All facial features were distorted and displaced, and mucus was constantly oozing out.
Like some kind of mollusk.