When Ruo Yu and the other two girls came out of the women's restroom, Brother Jue and the other two boys had been waiting for them at the door for more than a minute.
"How was it? Did you find anything? "Feng Bujue asked.
"We didn't find any items, but … there seems to be a hint," An Yueqin replied.
Before she could finish, Xiao Ling continued, "In the women's restroom, there were three graffiti on one of the walls. The first one was a game of tic-tac-toe. The second one was a game of Tower of Hanoi. The third one was a rather strange one … It looked like an irregular pattern made up of many curved lines, and the meaning was unclear."
"Did you guys remember the three patterns?" Feng Bujue quickly asked.
"We definitely remembered the first two." This time, it was Ruo Yu who answered. "But the third one … Only Xiao Ling could remember it completely."
"Oh … okay." Feng Bujue nodded. "Since you've remembered it, let's go."
"Eh? What's the situation on your side? "An Yueqin quickly asked when she saw Brother Jue turn around and leave.
"Naturally, I have memorized everything that has happened on our side, but to save time, I suggest we talk as we walk." When Feng Bujue replied, he had already dragged Xiao Tan down the stairs to the second floor.
Seeing this, the others didn't say anything and quickly followed. An Yueqin, who was holding another "turning on flashlight," consciously walked to the back of the group and was responsible for bringing up the rear.
"The situation in the men's restroom is similar to yours." After walking for two to three meters, Brother Jue began to explain. "We don't have any graffiti here, but behind the door of each of the three squatting cubicles, there was a line of words …" He paused and continued, "The first cubicle's door said, 'Be careful of the sink.' The second cubicle said, 'Pay attention to your feet.' The third one said, 'Don't run in the corridor.'"
"Hmm …" As soon as Brother Jue finished speaking, Xiao Ling said, "Regiment Commander, did you notice that the messages hidden in the two toilets might be …"
"That's right." Feng Bujue didn't wait for her to finish and said, "Those messages are 'important hints' about each room." He paused for half a second and continued, "The graffiti in the women's restroom is obviously a hint to the idea of the nine-grid. The nine-grid puzzle appeared in the music room, and the music room puzzle can only be solved by the Three-Thousand Nunnery. Since the nunnery is a girl, the clue appeared to be in the women's restroom."
"Oh! I get it now. " Hearing this, Xiao Tan chimed in. "Based on what you said … the sentence 'be careful of the sink' in the men's restroom is a reminder to the sink in the biology room. The puzzle in the biology room will be solved by me … or 'Yueda'. Since Yueda is a boy, the clue should be in the men's restroom."
"Yes." Feng Bujue agreed. "In other words, after we left the second-year Class A, the best course of action should have been to go to the restroom. If we had checked the clues in the restroom before we entered the biology and music rooms, we would have been able to solve the puzzle of the 'seat number' more easily, and Xiao Tan would have been able to avoid being injured by the monster." He shrugged. "But … it's not too late. After all, our team is stronger than the rest. Even though we didn't follow the best course of action, we didn't lose too much. In any case, we just need to be careful from now on. "
"Then … based on this hypothesis, can we make a deduction like this?" Ruo Yu was reminded of something. She turned to her Brother Jue and said, "In the scenario after this, we need to solve the puzzles of at least four areas, and these four areas will have to be solved by you, me, Xiao Ling, and Phantom Dawn using a unique skill."
"Yes," Feng Bujue replied. "The possibility of that is high."
"If that's the case, then we don't have much time left," Phantom Dawn added. Phantom Dawn added in a timely manner, "Even if we include the classroom that we started from, we have only explored two and a half sections. Already, one of our flashlights has run out of juice. If we continue with our previous progress, there is an eighty percent chance that the light won't last until we reach the last room."
"Don't worry, I've already considered that." Feng Bujue added, "From now on, we'll pick up the pace and explore two more areas. If things go south, we'll return to the biology classroom and use the alcohol and gauze on the table to make torches. Using that method … we should be able to last for another half an hour."
"Oh … so that's the plan." When Phantom Dawn heard that, he did feel slightly relieved.
The group's conversation reached the bottom of the stairs.
Xiao Tan, who was leading the group, did not think much of it. He raised his flashlight and shone it up. He raised his head to look up and prepared to go up the stairs.
However, at that moment …
"Wait!" Brother Jue, who was standing next to Xiao Tan, suddenly reached out to stop him. He quickly said, "Something's wrong …"
In this gloomy and oppressive environment, the phrase "something's wrong" itself was also a factor that could make people feel afraid …
"Wh … what?" Xiao Tan pulled his foot back and stammered.
"Look closer …" Feng Bujue turned around and used his eyes to point at the stairs. "There are … footprints on the stairs."
"Hmm?" With the reminder, Xiao Tan noticed that as well. "Oh! There really are footprints! "
Indeed, there were footprints on the wooden stairs, but … they had to be shone directly on and looked at from a certain angle to see them clearly.
The stairs were about 1.2 meters wide, and on each step, there was a footprint. The footprints did not have any pattern on the soles of shoes. There was only an outer 'outline', and they looked 'hollow'.
"Looks like … this is the place that 'watch your step' is referring to." Feng Bujue said. "It's not inside the room but on the stairs. Ha …" At this point, he could not help but chuckle. "It's impossible to guard against that."
"Then … how do we solve this puzzle?" Phantom Dawn, who followed behind him, asked.
"Isn't it obvious? Just follow the footprints on the stairs and follow them up, "Feng Bujue said.
"Oh … I'll follow … Hmm?" Phantom Dawn wanted to say something, but he realized something was wrong. "How come I'm the one who's going up first?"
"Of course. Since this is a puzzle that corresponds to the hint in the male toilet, it has to be solved by a man." Feng Bujue replied. "Xiao Tan, who is played by Yuan Shitian, has already completed the autopsy in the biology classroom, so that leaves only you and me."
"Then, how do you know that you shouldn't be the one to do this?" Phantom Dawn asked.
When Feng Bujue heard that, he immediately raised one of his legs and dangled the sole of his foot over the footprint on the first step. Then he uttered a word that he thought was perfect in English. "LOOK."
Phantom Dawn took a closer look and narrowed his eyes. "Tsk … Is it because your feet are big?"
"My feet are not big, but they are definitely not as small as those who are less than 1.7 meters tall." Without even thinking about it, Feng Bujue was able to insert personal attacks into a perfectly normal conversation. That was indeed a talent.
"Stop wasting time! I'm not even done with puberty yet! " Phantom Dawn growled angrily. He took several steps forward and turned on his flashlight again. "Fine, fine … I don't have time to waste with you. We're in a hurry."
For the sake of the big picture, Phantom Dawn did not argue with Brother Jue but started to move.
Creak creak!
That was the sound made when Phantom Dawn's foot landed on the first step. It sounded like the sound of a wooden plank that could break at any moment.
Of course, even though the sound was scary, in reality, the steps did not break.
"What the … The layout of this footprint is quite sharp …" Phantom Dawn was about to take the second step when he realized that the left footprint on the second step was to the right of the right footprint on the first step. "Is he trying to climb up the stairs?"
Even though he complained, at this point, there was no telling what would happen if he turned back now. Therefore, he had no choice but to continue down the path that was before him.
Therefore, Phantom Dawn started to move up the steps one step at a time.
He only took a few steps when Phantom Dawn noticed that … the outline of the footprint fit perfectly with the size of his foot. This made him uncomfortable, but it also proved that Brother Jue was not wrong. He would be the one to solve the mechanism of the steps.
One step, two steps …
Phantom Dawn's balance was not bad. Even though the layout of the footprints was purposely designed to make things difficult for him, he still managed to step on every single footprint steadily.
After taking the twelfth step, Phantom Dawn came to a junction that connected two flights of stairs.
There were no footprints in this area, so he stepped on it directly. When both of his feet landed on the flat surface, the twelve steps that he stepped on started to creak strangely.
Immediately after, a faintly discernible black smoke rose from the steps, accompanied by that faint smoke … The outline of the footprints on the steps also disappeared.
"Hmm …" Feng Bujue saw this and mumbled, "After you're done, you can move up the steps freely."
After saying that, he lifted his foot and walked up two steps to test it. In the end, nothing happened. Even the squeaking sound was gone.
Therefore, the group stopped hesitating. Ten seconds later, all five of them had reached the turning point of the stairs.
"Okay … Then I'll continue." After everyone was in position, Phantom Dawn moved forward again to step on the second half of the steps.
Creak creak! Creak creak!
Similar to the first half, when Phantom Dawn was solving the mechanism, the steps still creaked.
Due to his experience, this time, he moved faster. After a few steps, his gaze went past the height of the second-floor floor. If he looked straight ahead, he would be able to see the second-floor corridor.
And Phantom Dawn … did raise his flashlight and lift his head to look.
If he did not look, he would have been fine, but once he did, he was so spooked that he almost rolled down the stairs.
"Hey …" Perhaps he was too scared, but this time, Phantom Dawn did not scream. He shone the flashlight on what he saw and said in a voice that sounded like he was about to cry. Without turning his head, he said, "Do you still remember the thing that appeared outside the window that we saw in the second-year Class A?"
Feng Bujue, who stood at the back, had noticed the anomaly from Phantom Dawn's shaking back. When he heard that, Brother Jue reacted instantly. "You saw it?"
"Hmm …" Phantom Dawn's' hmm 'had an obvious tremor to it. "He is now lying about one meter away from the last step, in a crawling position … and looking at me with a wicked smile on his face."
"How are you feeling?" Feng Bujue asked.
"My legs are weak. I might kneel down or fall down the stairs at any moment." Phantom Dawn did not like to beat around the bush, so he did not beat around the bush.
"That won't happen, right? You've already seen it. What is there to be afraid of? "Feng Bujue asked.
"That might be the case," Phantom Dawn replied. "But even though we are both 'seeing', there is a big difference between looking at it from a data perspective and looking at it from this perspective," he explained. "The former is like looking at a map while the latter is like watching a horror movie."
"Then, why don't you look at a horror movie as a matrix?" Feng Bujue drawled.
"I'm not as powerful as you …" Phantom Dawn sighed helplessly.
"Then, think about it this way," Feng Bujue said. "The worst case scenario is that when you walk past it, it suddenly lunges at you. That's no different from being attacked by a normal monster, right? Then, you'll have to fight back, fight back, and die … How big of a deal is that? "
"If you put it that way … you've really helped me a lot!" The third part of Phantom Dawn's sentence was practically a roar. It was clear that he had reached the state of extreme fear and anger.
"Even though I don't want to interrupt your conversation, I think I should remind you …" At that moment, Ruo Yu, who stood next to Brother Jue, suddenly interjected. "Phantom Dawn, the flashlight you're holding is running low. If you charge forward now, there is a chance that you can use the light to force the monster back or suppress it, but if you continue to stand there and stare at the monster, when the flashlight goes off, I'm afraid you won't need to go up, it will …"
"Ah!"
Before Ruo Yu finished, Phantom Dawn yelled and used his fastest speed to step on the footprints on the steps. He climbed up the stairs one step at a time.
Obviously, Ruo Yu's words were effective.
This told them that one of the ways to force a person to face their fear was to use a pressure that would increase their fear to force them to act.
In just five seconds, Phantom Dawn reached the end of the stairs, and as he approached, the monster retreated.
With each step that Phantom Dawn took, the expression on the monster's face changed. Finally, the wicked smile turned into a twisted expression of fear.
Finally, when Phantom Dawn stepped on the last footprint, the monster screamed under the light of the flashlight. Instantly, it dissolved into a puff of black smoke and disappeared.
When Phantom Dawn's feet stepped onto the second-floor corridor, the only thing left on the ground where the monster had crawled was … a pair of shoes.
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