When Qin Tan and his party arrived in the room with a huge picture frame, 2 hours had passed. Ignoring the fragments on the ground, Wen Lang walked to a door with a flower pattern drawn on it and pushed the door open without any hesitation.
Jiang Dong responded very quickly and shoved Wen Lang aside. At that moment, Wen Lang saw countless flowers with sharp teeth rushing out of the door. Qin Tan decisively swung the Tang sword in his hand and quickly cut off the flower that is pouncing at him with a wide opened mouth. The flower fell to the ground, and the wound dripped bright red ‘juice’.
Wen Lang and Jiang Dong immediately took out their weapons
Others are not so lucky. They couldn’t dodge in time and get bitten on the neck by the big mouth of the man-eating flower. Next, the petals bulged, and the person got sucked into the flower. The flowers that managed to devour prey seemed to be satisfied. Moving its cheek-like petals, they quickly retreated behind the door.
A few minutes later, the other man-eating flowers seemed to have received some instructions. Seemingly dissatisfied, they still returned to the door without hesitation. The door with the flower painted closed with a bang as if something so terrible had never appeared before.
Qin Tan looked around with a sullen face. Both the Level 1 team and the newcomer team lost a member each. Then, of the remaining 3 survivors, one of them lost an arm. The other 2 got lucky and only suffered minor injuries.
[Banana: Apologies for breaking immersion here. Just want to provide an update of the currently surviving people in case anyone wants to know. Also, Song Ye (the temporary leader of the junior team was not mentioned anywhere so far so I’m not sure if he is one of the people who fell into the trap previously)]
Team 1 (from 8 ppl to 6 ppl now)
Qin Tan
Wen Lang
Jiang Dong
1x Level 1 team (1 just died from the man-eating flower)
2x newcomers (1 just died from the man-eating flower)
Team 2 (still 6 ppl)
Lou Fan
Chen Shuyang
Nie Feng
2x Level 1 team
1 newcomer (Zhuo Lan)
“Treat your injury.” Qin Tan gave some medicine to the wounded people.
Jiang Dong helped the newcomer to bandage his wounded arm as he gro.a.ned in pain. The wounds that had been treated with medicine quickly stopped bleeding, and Jiang Dong wrapped them up with a layer of bandages.
Wen Lang bowed his head and stood aside. He was a little reckless just now, opening a door without even being prepared. He glanced up at the 3 remaining doors, hesitating.
After Jiang Dong finished with the bandages, he put away his things and walked to Wen Lang’s side. Then he said in a low voice, “I’ll open the door, you stay away.”
Wen Lang frowned at Jiang Dong and retorted, “With your luck, a monster might come out and we’ll be finished.”
“Even if a monster appears, I will be blocking in the front so get out of the way.”
Wen Lang pulled Jiang Dong, not giving an inch, “I refused.”
Jiang Dong stroked his hair irritably and grabbed Wen Lang. The two of them looked at each other face to face, their noses almost touching. Jiang Dong stared into Wen Lang’s eyes. Gritting his teeth, he said to Wen Lang, “I said I’ll go, I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Wen Lang stared at Jiang Dong. He could even feel the hand grabbing him shaking slightly. Wen Lang sighed. His palm touched Jiang Dong’s arm, and he said softly but firmly, “We will do this together. You will choose a door, and I’ll by your side.”
A steady stream of heat is transferred from Wen Lang’s hand to him. Jiang Dong looked at Wen Lang’s firm eyes, and there is an indescribable light shining inside. He smiled helplessly and pulled Wen Lang’s hand down. He gave it a squeeze before letting go.
“Okay, we’ll do this together, but you have to stand behind me.”
Wen Lang wanted to say more, but Jiang Dong stopped him.
Qin Tan made the wounded stand farther away, before walking to stand behind his 2 team members. Jiang Dong glanced at the remaining door and walked to the door with the bird pattern. Wen Lang couldn’t help but raised his hand to touch Jiang Dong’s arm. Jiang Dong didn’t even look back as he patted Wen Lang’s hand comfortingly. Then, he pushed Wen Lang away and moved his body to block in front of him. Jiang Don took a deep breath and pressed the door slightly harder, the door opened silently, Jiang Dong held his weapon tightly and held his breath. However, 10 seconds later, everything is calm as usual. Then he heard a voice.
…
Chen Shuyang took some time to sort out all the fragments, and with his excellent memory, he quickly filtered the patterns in his mind. One has to say that Chen Shuyang is indeed a figure of academic dominance; being calm and organized.
Half an hour later, Lou Fan stood under the huge puzzle and looked at the painting with admiration.
On the far right side of the painting, a tall figure surrounded by white light stood there. Lou Fan can’t see his face clearly, but he can feel the divine aura emanating from the figure. The figure is painted with his left hand in a downward gesture. On his right shoulder, there is a huge bird. Its species can’t be identified, but its eyes are sharp. It looked like an eagle but even more ferocious. At the feet of the figure, a group of people is crawling on the ground. There is a small group of people standing in the middle. They are looking up at the figure, holding a mass of red things in their hands.
As Lou Fan looked at it, an absurd feeling arose in his heart as if he is inside the painting itself, looking up at the tall and vague figure in front of him. But he had a feeling that the figure is looking down at the group of people below with a kind and solemn gaze. There’s even a little expectation and hint of hope inside.
“I know which door to choose!”
Chen Shuyang shouted, pulling Lou Fan’s thoughts back in an instant as if his soul had returned to its original place. When Lou Fan looked at the painting again, the scenery just now has disappeared. The jigsaw that Shuyang completed is clearly a landscape painting with shining dots in it. When one looked at it with concentration, it can be seen as a simple pattern of the bird.
Chen Shuyang jumped up happily to push the door with a bird pattern but is pulled back by Nie Feng. Chen Shuyang looked at him puzzledly, with a question in his eyes.
Lou Fan angrily stepped forward and smacked Chen Shuyang on the head, “So reckless. If it’s not correct, wouldn’t you just send yourself at death’s door?”
Chen Shuyang said aggrieved, “It’s definitely right, I can’t be wrong.”
Hearing the reply, Lou Fan felt helpless, not sure if to laugh or cry. What can he say to such a serious and confident top student?
Nie Feng pulled Chen Shuyang aside and walked up to the door. After he opened the door, everything around is calm.
Chen Shuyang exclaimed, “See! I already said it is correct.”
“Alright, alright, you are the best.” Before Lou Fan could finish speaking, he heard an excited voice calling him.
“Brother Lou!” Wen Lang shouted, “Brother Lou, I finally see you!”
This tone is like meeting a savior, with impatient and infinite grievances.
Lou Fan subconsciously looked for Qin Tan’s figure. When he saw Qin Tan coming out of the door opposite, he is stunned for a moment. Then he burst out laughing so hard that he couldn’t straighten his back.
“Hahaha……”
Chen Shuyang puzzledly looked at his other team members with splashes of colors on their faces, “What’s wrong with you guys?” Such a sorry state.
Wen Lang exaggeratedly sighed, “Without Brother Lou, I can’t live anymore. It’s too sad to say it so let’s not talk about it. It’s finally a victory reunion!”
Both teams walked out of the door and into the corridor. Before Lou Fan could speak to Qin Tan, a familiar and cheerful mechanical voice sounded in the air:
[Ding dong! Congratulations to the players for passing the 2nd level. Right now, we will immediately start the Guard Patrol mode. The guard’s patrol time limit is 1 hour. The location is random, so please hurry up and escape. Be careful and don’t get caught by the guards, otherwise, there will only be a dead end yo!]
Its voice is pleasant and cheerful as if the result of getting caught is not death but some great reward.
Black lines above everyone’s head [-_-ll], but there is no time to think too much. 3 long sirens sounded in the air. Lou Fan did not doubt the words of the mechanical voice at all. He shouted for everyone to run. Immediately after, he took the lead and ran in a direction. No one knows what that ‘Guard’ looks like, but it doesn’t sound easy to mess with. However, his luck must have run out because when Lou Fan turned a corner at a T-junction, a soldier-like guard covered in silver armor spawned in the area. The word ‘turn around’ is still stuck in Lou Fan’s throat and the guard had already rushed over. It moves mechanically but is not dull at all. Rather, it is very flexible. It is holding a long spear in its hand, which is emitting a cold glint.
Lou Fan stopped on his track and stepped back. Qin Tan, who is behind him, is already facing the guard with his Tang sword held up. The iron weapon collided with a ‘BANG’, and Jiang Dong, Wen Lang, and Nie Feng immediately swarmed forward. Chen Shuyang wanted to go up with his long spear as well but got pulled by Lou Fan. Lou Fan turned his head and said, “Everyone, go back to the previous junction. You have to immediately escape when you see the guards.”
The junior team and the newcomers immediately turned around and ran. They don’t know where to go but turn to whichever path they saw.
Lou Fan pulled out some cross arrows from the quiver at his waist and shot 3 arrows at the guard. However, the omnipotent cross arrows are like an egg hitting a stone. When they hit the guard, they simply fell to the ground, not even causing a scratch on the guard. Lou Fan’s expression changed. Looking at the guard who is only feeling tickled from the 4 people’s attacks, he said decisively, “Stop fighting and take the opportunity to run. You can’t be caught.”
Chen Shuyang hurriedly yelled, “Try using the immobilizing amulet!”
Wen Lang pulled back and got an amulet out. Then he sticks it on the guard, and the guard is immobilized! The four immediately pulled away and ran. 5 seconds later, the heavy footsteps of the guards sounded again.
This immobilizing amulet can only last 5 seconds!
The 6 people ran together, and Qin Tan said, “Don’t separate, run together.”
Wen Lang immediately nodded with understanding. They must not separate, promise him!
Lou Fan nodded, it would be best if the six of them stayed together, so that they won’t have to worry about the others.
However, in their hasty escape, the 6 people from the junior team and the newcomer team, are now left with only 3 running ahead of them. No one knows where the other 3 people have run off to.
After running through a few forks, the guard behind him had been thrown off so the group stopped to take a breath and rest. But before their breathing could turn stable, the familiar heavy footsteps sounded from another direction so everyone immediately started running again.
After an hour.
[Ding dong! The Guard Patrol mode is turned off, see you again in 4 hours yo!]
The alarm is lifted, and several people immediately collapsed to the ground without caring about their image. Their eyes are closed and their faces are pale as if they are terribly sick. Only the rapid ups and downs of their chests indicated that they are still alive, and their hearts are beating strongly.
“Have we really entered just a maze? Who said this mission is a transitional mission, which is easy, and not difficult at all?!” Wen Lang gritted his teeth, “It’ll be fine if we just be careful?! Man, … I felt… like dying.”
As the last 2 words are spoken, Jiang Dong covered Wen Lang’s mouth and said, “Children’s words carry no harm (idiom), don’t talk nonsense.”
Wen Lang: Frck your ‘Children’s words carry no harm’, who are you scolding?!
However, Wen Lang could only glare at Jiang Dong. For some reason, he didn’t dare to refute, and he subconsciously spat twice (to undo the words he said).
Lou Fan propped himself and sat up. His eyes looked back and forth between Wen Lang and Jiang Dong and finally smiled with a motherly look on his face. Wen Lang rubbed his arms, only feeling Lou Fan being creepy while Jiang Dong grinned at Lou Fan, showing a knowing look.
Tsk, Lou Fan felt like he has underestimated Jiang Dong’s mensao-ness!
Lou Fan stop bothering with them and turned to look at Qin Tan, scanning up and down. Before he could see enough, he got hugged by Qin Tan.
“Stop looking.”
Lou Fan buried his head in Qin Tan’s chest. Qin Tan’s voice sounded muffled in his ears, tickling his heart. His fingers unconsciously pressed on Qin Tan’s thigh. Immediately, someone grabbed his unruly hand.
“Are your skin feeling itchy, hmm?” (Do you want to get spanked?)
Lou Fan’s face twitched. Does he know what kind of situation is this? Still talking nonsense!
Raw word count: 3037
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