Her hair was wet with mucus and stuck to her scalp. From time to time, a piece of flesh would get stuck in her hair. The blood had dried on her skin, leaving large patches of reddish-brown stains. It was itchy and uncomfortable.
She tore off the lower half of her singlet and used the part of her back that wasn't soaked in blood to wipe her face and body. She felt a little better than before. Then, she raised her head and looked around her numbly.
Whenever she opened her eyes, her vision would be filled with silver mirrors of all shapes and sizes.
After walking through more than a dozen mirror chambers, Lin Sanjiu finally stopped at an unremarkable place. She let out a long sigh and sat on the ground with a thud. She wasn't tired, but her heart felt as heavy as a thousand kilograms. It was so heavy that she couldn't breathe.
"Even this trick doesn't work." This time, Mrs. Manas' voice was filled with confusion and anxiety. "What should we do now?"
Lin Sanjiu rubbed the corner of her eyes tiredly but didn't say anything.
Speaking of which, she already had a vague feeling when she used her mimicry in the haunted house.
The effect of Nuwa's mimicry seemed to be fading. It was getting worse and worse.
When Lin Sanjiu was in the haunted house, she had to rely on her steel-like willpower when she was in her mimicry form to keep her mind clear. Therefore, that feeling was only a blur and it wasn't very clear. However, it was different this time.
She didn't expect that the "Nuwa mimicry" would last for a whole five minutes before she could figure out the internal structure of the mirror chamber. Even after the mimicry ended, Lin Sanjiu still had some energy left.
Combining the distance and speed she took when she circled the diamond building to search for Lin Sanjiu, Lin Sanjiu, who was in her Nuwa mimicry form, calculated the length and approximate area of the outer perimeter of the diamond building. She built a preliminary three-dimensional model of the building in her mind. Every mirror chamber that she walked past became a "known" part of the model. She used their shape and volume to fill up a part of the three-dimensional model. Based on the structure of the model, she walked past another six to seven mirror chambers that were at key points. After leaving the mirror on the ceiling a few times, the interior of the diamond building became clear.
It was not an exaggeration to say that Lin Sanjiu already had a map of the entire interior of the building.
However, this didn't mean that she had found the mirror chamber where the grand prize was.
In fact … On the contrary, it was only after Lin Sanjiu had a nearly complete mirror maze model that she truly felt lost and exhausted.
In this building, every mirror chamber was different. In other words, every mirror chamber was the same.
None of the Mirror Chambers had a particularly unusual shape. None of the mirror chambers had any special settings. Their geographical locations were all over the place, and there was no pattern to them. The more mirror chambers they visited, the slimmer their chances were.
Nuwa's state had already ended. However, to be honest, Lin Sanjiu didn't have much confidence in it even if it could mimic again.
"I think it's probably because …" Mrs. Manas didn't expect this either. After a while, she mumbled to herself and explained, "The conversation between you and Nuwa happened more than two years ago … Your impression of her is probably starting to fade. The less you know about her, the less effective the mimicry will be. After some time, you might not even be able to mimic Nuwa. "
Lin Sanjiu didn't say a word after hearing what Mrs. Manas said. She just sat on the floor and stared at the mirror in front of her. In this mirror, she didn't have a head. Only his slender limbs had returned to normal. He sat on the floor with a pair of bone wings spread out behind him.
"What's wrong with you?" Mrs. Manas waited for a while. She felt that there was something wrong with Lin Sanjiu, "Why aren't you talking?"
Lin Sanjiu opened and closed her mouth a few times before her voice came out hoarsely.
"If we can't find the grand prize, it means that this round won't end," Lin Sanjiu said slowly. Her voice became softer and softer, "In other words, the cat doctor, Puppeteer, and I are all trapped in this round. It's not impossible for us to die here. As for Reno and Rena … we might not be able to save them … "
Mrs. Manas didn't know how to comfort her.
"We started from Hyperthermal Hell. Along the way, I made a lot of friends. Luther, Marcie, Hai Tianqing, and so on … At first, I thought that I was lucky, but now, I can't be so sure. "Lin Sanjiu smiled bitterly and closed her eyes," Look, who is with me now? How would I know? The last time I met them was not the last time? "
"When I was reading a book, I read a quote from an author.
'All human suffering is essentially anger at one's own incompetence.' Today, I can be considered to have truly understood the meaning of this sentence. "
Lin Sanjiu exhaled slowly and touched her cheek with her palm.
"You … You don't have to be so depressed," Mrs. Manas thought for a long time before she managed to find a few words, "At least you still have Meowie Hu — hmm, Puppeteer shouldn't be your friend, right? Ahem, anyway, once you enter this building, you can't get out. This means that they are definitely still inside, so … "
"Wait, what did you say?" Lin Sanjiu suddenly shuddered and sat up straight.
"I said, since you know the map, as long as you keep walking, you will definitely meet them …"
"No, that's not right," Lin Sanjiu immediately interrupted her, "Did you just say that once you enter the building, you can't get out?"
"Yes," Mrs. Manas said, a little confused, "Didn't you already know that?"
That's right. Even if a posthuman touched the mirror on the outer edge of the diamond building, he or she would not be teleported out. Instead, the posthuman would be "thrown" into the mirror maze on the other side of the building. Lin Sanjiu had tested this out herself.
"Why didn't I think of this earlier?"
Lin Sanjiu smacked her head hard and quickly summoned the 3D model that she had recorded with her higher consciousness. Then, she frowned. There was a hint of excitement in her puzzled expression, "No, this is weird."
"What's weird?"
Lin Sanjiu sprung up from the ground. The gloomy expression on her face had faded away. She paced around the mirror maze a few times, mumbling something under her breath as she paced back and forth.
"Comparing the two … probability … Why … Could it be?" Lin Sanjiu mumbled softly for a while. She couldn't understand what she was saying. Before Mrs. Manas could say anything else, Lin Sanjiu suddenly stopped and turned around.
She stared at Ji Shanqing with her cheetah-like sharp eyes. He was standing in front of a mirror. Lin Sanjiu's foot froze awkwardly on the spot.
After she recovered from her shock, Lin Sanjiu stared at him and smiled.
Ji Shanqing, who had just stepped out of the mirror, looked like a crane on stilts. His legs were stretched long, but his body was still normal. He was still wrapped in the plain cloak. For a moment, he seemed a little flustered, but he quickly regained his composure. He smiled at Lin Sanjiu and nodded, "We meet again."
It was as if the agreement between them had never happened.
"Yeah, we meet again." Lin Sanjiu walked to the center of the mirror maze. She looked at him like a cat looking at a can of food. "What a coincidence. I was just thinking about you, and you appeared."
"That's right. It's quite a coincidence. "Ji Shanqing nodded solemnly as if he had heard something important.
"It's not easy to meet you again. It's fate. Let's have a chat," Lin Sanjiu tilted her head and smiled at him, "After all, it's quite tiring to keep looking for the grand prize."
Ji Shanqing pursed his lips. Somehow, he looked a little unnatural. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Why don't we start with why you tricked me into turning back?" Lin Sanjiu asked curiously. Seeing that he was unmoved and didn't say a word, Lin Sanjiu smiled. "It's fine if you don't want to talk about that. Let's talk about the triangular mirror house. "
Ji Shanqing didn't say anything. He just watched as she took out a pen and paper and quickly drew a few shapes on the paper.
"Since it's an isosceles triangle, it's related to the previous mirror chamber. They can be classified into three types. To make it easier to explain, why don't you draw the previous mirror chamber as a square? "Lin Sanjiu didn't seem to be in a hurry. She said slowly," The first scenario is a triangle.
It sat perpendicular to the square; in this case, because the outer edge was round as a whole. The mirror on the left is closer to the outer wall, and the mirror on the right is closer to the next mirror room. "
"In the second situation, the bottom of the triangle is close to the outer wall, and the mirror on the right is pointing at the center of the building. In this case, the mirror on the left will lead to the next mirror room on the edge line, while the mirror on the right will lead to the lost edge line. "
"The third situation is exactly the opposite of the second. The bottom of the triangle is closer to the center, the mirror on the left is close to the outer wall, and the mirror on the right is pointing to the next mirror chamber. Even if you touch the mirror on the outer wall, you won't be teleported out of the building. Instead, you'll be thrown to the other side, and the consequences will be more serious. So, here's the problem. "
Lin Sanjiu put away her pen and paper and looked at Ji Shanqing, who was pursing his lips.
"You're definitely a smart person. Otherwise, you wouldn't have figured out my plan the moment you saw me. You even came up with a way to trick me into walking on a dead end. So, why would a smart person like you give up on a path that has a two-thirds chance of being correct and ask me to walk on that path? "
"I'm not a very smart person, but if I can think of this problem, there's no reason you can't think of it. No matter how I think about it, the only explanation I can think of is that you don't care about the outer boundary or the structure of the building. Everything you have done is just an act — "Lin Sanjiu narrowed her eyes as she said this. Her eyes glinted with a sharp, cold light.
"That's because I already know the structure of this place," Ji Shanqing nodded and continued softly.
"You admitted it much faster than I thought." Lin Sanjiu smiled and took a step back. She looked at him from head to toe. "Even though the mirror maze doesn't seem to have a proper structure, as long as I'm patient and think of a few reliable methods, I will eventually figure out the structure. The reason why you didn't hesitate to ask me to walk on the right path was because you believed that I would turn back and die. Secondly, you knew that even if I knew the entire structure, I wouldn't be able to find the grand prize. "
Ji Shanqing's expression changed slightly. He looked up with his limpid eyes.
"I didn't expect you to think so deeply. I've underestimated you." When he raised his head and smiled, he looked like a big boy again. However, there was a hint of madness in his eyes. "Since you've said it, I'll be honest with you. Let me be honest with you. This final race is just a joke! I've walked through every mirror maze in this building, but I couldn't find the grand prize. There's no way out. There's no way out. I don't have food to eat, water to drink, and I can't even close my eyes to sleep. There's a three-minute time limit! There were a few times when I woke up after the broadcast ended … Do you know what this means? I'm only 22 years old. I'm going to be trapped here until I die! If that's the case, I don't mind dragging a few more people down with me! "
His voice was getting louder and louder until it sounded like he was screaming. The veins on his forehead bulged. However, Lin Sanjiu crossed her arms and remained unmoved. When he was done, she pulled her hand out and clapped her hands slowly.
"Well said," she smiled with her eyes narrowed. "Everything you said makes sense. That's exactly what I was thinking just now. Oh, of course, except for the part where I want to drag someone down with me. "
Ji Shanqing probably didn't expect such a reaction from Lin Sanjiu. He froze on the spot, his chest rising and falling.
"Since you mentioned the three-minute time limit, I thought of something."
Lin Sanjiu looked at Ji Shanqing's darkened face as if she had just seen the most interesting thing in the world.
"Before you came in, I had already been feeling sorry for myself. After you came in, I purposely dragged the time and talked so much nonsense. But guess what? "Lin Sanjiu smiled. She could feel that Ji Shanqing's body had tensed up. "The three-minute time limit has already passed. However, the announcement didn't ring. "
"What did the announcer say again?
'Please leave this place quickly and find the mirror chamber where the grand prize is,' right? "Lin Sanjiu said calmly. Her gaze fell on Ji Shanqing's face. "I thought it was a warning. I didn't expect it to be a hint. When it didn't ring, does it mean that I've found the grand prize? "
"I think you've gone crazy from thinking about the grand prize."
After a while, Ji Shanqing chuckled coldly.
Lin Sanjiu's expression calmed down. She stared at him without blinking. "If I'm wrong, why don't you turn around and leave? You only need to raise your hand to reach the nearest mirror. It's impossible for me to stop you before you teleport. "
Ji Shanqing pursed his lips tightly. His expression turned even worse, but he didn't move.
"Because if the grand prize ran away after the player recognized the grand prize, it would be ridiculous," Lin Sanjiu said softly. "No wonder you don't look like a man or a woman … It's because items don't have a gender. The reason why you keep shuttling through the mirror chamber is to create the illusion that you're a player, right? "
Ji Shanqing took a deep breath and lowered his chin.
His next sentence was spoken so softly that Lin Sanjiu almost didn't hear it clearly. "Compared to what happens after you recognize me, you would rather die in the mirror maze." (To be continued)
PS:
I've changed some of the plot of the previous chapter. If you're interested, you can clear your memory and read it later. It won't affect the plot.
When I opened the page just now, I found out that my classmate, Missa-chan, rewarded me with a leaf and 7 monthly tickets! You almost scared me to death! Tycoon Chan, please accept my worship … Did you read Kisaragi Station for three days? It's been hard on you. Thank you for your support! I hope you'll continue to like it. If you have any suggestions, please let me know! (PS: I'm not condensed this time, haha)
Also, thank you to I am Bai-sama, Wu Yanluo, Blood Sea/Blood Sea, Eight Desolation 3, Hana Mian, Squirrel Egg Tart 2, Ghost Heartless, Bread & Milk House 2, Mikasayou 2, 128093546258, Hashimoto 2, Haitang Fainting, Shuyo 160118134017235, Otomonogatari, I Love Uchiha, Jichiyama Yuriyama ^ Cross ^ Qing Cheng, Shigeru Shigeru is the Great Lizard, Yu Xiaoxiao 3, Creature That Jumped Out of the Three Realms, Little Fat Bird, and Egg Son's Sachet!
Thank you to Devil Chain ZSR, A Astaroth, Flying Wood, Runninglola, LazyAlice, Wild Boar, Singing Sake, Cute Nicknames, Tianbian, Mikasayou, Lord Manman, Rain Moon Ringtone, Aka Aka, Die Chen 0112 for monthly tickets!
[I'm leaving]
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