There are 2 sets of desks and chairs in the small office, and 2 data cabinets at the side. Then, there is a storage box for each desk, a computer, and nothing else. It looked normal, nothing ‘unclean’ can be seen.
Qin Tan led the way and walked in slowly, followed by 4 people. When Jiang Dong is about to come in, Lou Fan stopped him and said, “Doctor Jiang, you should stay at the door, in case we all get locked out.” That’s how it’s played out in the movies – the last person goes in, the door slams shut, and the group disappears.
Jiang Dong nodded and stood at the door with a smile as he waited.
At first glance, they don’t see any clocks in the office. Seeing that there isn’t any danger in the office, everyone mustered the courage to look around. Lou Fan opened the data cabinet, which contained a black alarm clock.
“There’s an alarm clock here.” Lou Fan shouted, and everyone gathered around. The time shown in the clock is indeed 1:35 am. Lou Fan reached out to take it, but Qin Tan grabbed his hand, “I’ll do it.”
Lou Fan rejected and said, “I’ll do it.”
Lou Fan reached out and picked up the alarm clock. In a blink of an eye, a figure appeared in the air, suspended 10 centimeters above the ground. His figure is transparent, his face looked pale, and he looked like a ghost no doubt. Lou Fan turned his head around and, unsurprisingly, Jiang Dong is behind them. The entire space seemed to be isolated, and the offices around them were no longer clear but looked blurred through a layer of veil.
“Oh ho ho ho, someone is here again!” The ghost grinned so widely that the corners of his mouth are pulled up to his ears. Obviously, it should be scary, but Lou Fan didn’t know why he wanted to laugh.
The ghost’s eyes swept across the 5 people, and he nodded with satisfaction upon seeing that no one attacked, “You guys did well. Do you want to reset the clock? Then play a guessing game of rock paper scissors with me. If you win, you can adjust it. But if you lose, it’s the end.”
“Guess game? Are you serious?” Lou Fan felt incredible and asked, “What happened when we lose?”
Seeing how Lou Fan is not afraid of him at all, the ghost snorted softly, “If you lose, you’ll lose your life!”
That’s quite expected, but why rock paper scissors?
Before Lou Fan could figure it out, the ghost roared, “Hurry up and send someone out to play the guessing game with me.”
The team gathered around and began to discuss who should do it. Except for Jiang Dong, everyone else pointed to Lou Fan.
Lou Fan turned to Jiang Dong, “Doctor Jiang, are you good at guessing games?”
Jiang Dong got taken aback and replied, “I’ve never played this before.”
Lou Fan nodded and started rolling up his sleeves, looking like he is going to fight – his childhood instinct is a bit stimulated. He hadn’t played this game for a long time. He stood in front of the pale-faced ghost, stretched out a fist, and said, “Let’s start.”
The blue-faced ghost gave Lou Fan a contemptuous look, “It would be 2 wins in 3 rounds, don’t pretend to be ignorant.”
Lou Fan: “…” Who is pretending?
“Rock paper scissors!” The blue-faced ghost said aloud like a child.
In the first round, Lou Fan showed a paper gesture, and he won.
The blue-faced ghost bared his teeth at Lou Fan like a threat, “Again! Rock paper scissors!”
In the second round, both Lou Fan the blue-faced ghost played the scissors so it is a draw.
The blue-faced ghost smiled provocatively, “Haha, come again! Rock paper scissors!”
In the third round, Lou Fan showed the rock gesture, while the blue-faced ghost showed scissors so Lou Fan won.
The blue-faced ghost changed his expression in an instant and wanted to pounce towards Lou Fan. Qin Tan clenched the Tang sword in his hand and was just about to pull Lou Fan’s wrist with force.
Lou Fan: “2 wins in 3 rounds, don’t pretend to be ignorant.”
The blue-faced ghost deflated like a balloon that has been punctured. He turned around and waved his hand dejectedly, “You have won, goodbye.” How pitiful his back looks!
The next moment, the scenery around the team returned to when they went in just now. There are no ghosts around, and Qin Tan held the clock in his hand. Taking a glance at Lou Fan, Qin Tan twisted the spring at the back and adjusted to the same time as his watch.
“This is the end?” Chen Shuyang and Wen Lang felt a little weird.
Chen Shuyang scratched his head, “What kind of mission is this? It couldn’t be we simply play rock paper scissors for the rest of the clocks and then win the game?”
Looking into Chen Shuyang’s sincere questioning eyes, Lou Fan said, “Won’t it be too casual?”
Even Jiang Dong is a little dumbfounded, confused.
Qin Tan stayed calm as he looked at the clock that is back to normal and started to think. After a while, he said, “Except for the time to find the clock, it took us 10 minutes from contact with this ghost to the end. If we stay together all the time, the time is a bit tight. Moreover, we still need to rest, and we cannot rule out that we might need to fight the ghost for real to win them.”
Lou Fan thought for a while and nodded in agreement, “Qin Tan is right. Guessing game maybe just one of the ways. But the basic should be we need to deal with the ghosts behind every clock, and we can only set the time back to the correct time if we win. Thinking it this way, it’s too inefficient if we all stay together.”
It is too dangerous to separate individually so they finally determine to split into 2 groups. But it is difficult to decide how to divide the group. Lou Fan waved his hand and said that they should play a hand flip game to decide – who flipped to the same side will form the same team.
Team 1 would be Qin Tan, Lou Fan, and Chen Shuyang, while Wen Lang and Jiang Dong would be in Team 2.
The result caused Wen Lang to show a dark face, but he couldn’t say anything. With such a fair method of grouping, he could only say that he is unlucky. Jiang Dong only smiled indifferently, as if he didn’t mind who he is teamed with.
“That’s it then, we will meet in the lobby in 2 hours.” Qin Tan said, “Wen Lang and Jiang Dong, you go to the right, and the three of us are in charge of this side, is it alright?”
Everyone nodded their heads. Wen Lang and Jiang Dong walked out of the office to the right of the hall.
Lou Fan said with a smile, “It’s good to let those 2 get familiar with each other. Jiang Dong is actually pretty good, so I don’t know why Wen Lang felt that he is not pleasing to the eye.”
Qin Tan: “Even if he dislikes him, he still has to get along. We are doing this to survive, not to form a team to play games.”
Lou Fan laughed, it actually felt a bit like playing a game, at least he thought this time is easier than the first 2 missions.
The planning of the office in this prefecture hall is a bit strange. The office doors on both sides are not aligned as usual design. If one doesn’t go to the opposite side to see, one won’t be able to see what’s happening there on this side.
The 3 walked into the office next door, and the layout is exactly the same as the first one. It seemed that all office rooms had the same layout. After another carpet search, Chen Shuyang found a watch in the file box. Qin Tan gestured towards the two of them and reached for the watch. A burly man appeared in front of them and the surroundings became blurred again. Lou Fan clenched the bow in his hand, ready to shoot an arrow at any time. In his heart, he thought to himself that this time there should be a tough fight.
The appearance of the big man is not terrifying, but it can still be seen that he is dead and is a ghost.
Chen Shuyang stood behind Lou Fan and whispered, “Fortunately, these ghosts are not as scary as the ones in the movie.” In the movie, they were all bloodied, with blue faces and fangs. Their hair is so long that it touched the ground, aiming to scare people to the maximum.
Without waiting for the big man to speak, Qin Tan said, “What kind of match do you want?”
Since Qin Tan asked first, the big man didn’t say what he is going to say. His eyes swept the three of them and he smiled, “Hehe, arm wrestling.”
Lou Fan glanced at the ghost’s arms that are comparable to his own thighs, and turned speechless: This is a blatant cheat.
Lou Fan looked at Qin Tan worriedly but Qin Tan returned a soothing look and turned to the big man to ask, “What are the rules?”
“1 match to decide the winner.” The big man is going to win so he said with a smug look on his face.
Qin Tan nodded and removed his backpack. A set of tables and chairs suddenly appeared in front of him. Qin Tan sat on it, rolled up his sleeves, and showed his strong arms. The big guy on the opposite side is wearing a tank top and his arms are bulging, it’s obvious that he is not easy to mess with. He sat down on the chair with a plop, and his small mountain-like body seemed to be about to collapse the chair.
“We’ll start at the count of 1, 2, 3.”
The two linked their arms. Lou Fan is a little curious if Qin Tan could actually touch a ghost, but it seems he really can. The two of them charged with energy and their arm muscles bulged. At first glance, Qin Tan seemed to have no chance of winning.
“1, 2, 3, start.”
After the big man counted down, the two of them immediately exerted force, refused to give in to each other. Qin Tan’s expression is stern as he secretly exerted his strength, while the big man is grinning. Without a doubt, he is also going all out. The big man is still smiling at first, but after a while, beads of sweat could be seen on his forehead. Qin Tan also gritted his teeth secretly, and the two are evenly matched.
Chen Shuyang opened his mouth in surprise. He didn’t expect Qin Tan’s strength to be so strong. Compared to the ghost’s arm, the size of Qin Tan’s arm obviously belongs to the category of normal people, but he can fight against the big man, not to mention that the opponent is a ghost.
Lou Fan was cheering Qin Tan secretly from behind when he suddenly glimpsed the grim expression of the big man on the opposite side. Without thinking, he made a face at the big man. The big man got stunned for a moment, and just like that, Qin Tan suddenly exerted his strength. With a bang, the big man’s arm is pushed down on the table.
He actually lost?! The big man widened his eyes in disbelief. Then suddenly realized that it was Lou Fan’s fault, he jumped up from the chair, “I’m going to crush you!”
Lou Fan pulled Qin Tan back and said, “You bet, you pay. Don’t act dumb!”
The big man glared at Lou Fan angrily but stopped moving forward. He warned fiercely, “Don’t let me see you again. Otherwise, next time, I will definitely crush you.”
Lou Fan grinned and waved at the ghost, “See you next time then.”
Ghost: “…” I’ve never seen someone with such thick skin.
Chen Shuyang got stunned by Lou Fan’s bizarre behavior and didn’t recover from that for a while. Then he murmured, “Brother Lou, you are really amazing.”
Lou Fan: “It’s not amazing, it’s cleverness. At the same time, I wanted to test if it’s true that they won’t be able to fight back as long as we win. Now, it seems like this is the case.” These ghosts must be restricted by something, as long as the winner is determined, the ghost can’t do anything about it.
The surroundings recovered again and Qin Tan picked up the watch to adjust the time. The watch started to work normally, and he put the watch back in place. Lou Fan paused and picked up the watch. After a moment of thought, he put it in his backpack.
Wen Lang and Jiang Dong walked into the first office on the right. They didn’t speak a word and started looking for the clock in tacit understanding. However, they searched all over and couldn’t find it. Who would have thought when Jiang Dong turned around, he saw the round clock hanging on the wall.
Raw word count: 3000
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Banana: Hey guys, please forgive me for the late chapter yo. It was Chinese New Year holidays and I got no time to translate. Moreover, I didn’t stockpile after jj’s news _(;3/ gimme some time and the schedule will continue as usual yo~