Chapter 27: Test of Friendship
Xi Leng gently stroked the surface of the oil painting, sometimes smooth, sometimes rough.
The varying texture was the most beautiful music in his quiet world.
Qiaoqiao, as a science student, held a sense of mystical wonder towards art, leaning closer curiously and asking with cautious anticipation: “…Can I touch it?”
“Yes.” Xi Leng said. “It’s not the original anyway.”
Qiaoqiao rubbed her hands together, eager to try, and was quickly captivated by the unique texture, exclaiming repeatedly: “When I go to art museums, there are always barriers in front of the famous paintings, and security guards standing by, not even allowing flash photography… Eh?”
Qiaoqiao’s scalp tingled: “D-did it… move?”
Xi Leng couldn’t help but suspect that the program team was exploiting everyone’s respect for art, daring only to look from afar and not touch. If it weren’t for him, they would probably be stuck on the “black night will always pass” clue for ages, never imagining that the solution was to destroy Van Gogh’s masterpiece.
Now, the program team was playing a similar trick again.
Qiaoqiao accidentally applied a bit of force while touching the painting, and the oil painting unexpectedly moved inwards slightly. Xi Leng froze for a moment, then hurriedly applied more force, calling out to Qiaoqiao to help him push.
“It’s moving! It’s moving!” Qiaoqiao’s eyes widened, her pigtails bouncing. “But it’s so heavy…”
Seeing this, Jiang Songnan, with his rich acting experience, came over and said: “I’ve seen this kind of mechanism before while filming. Pressing or moving something on the bookshelf will reveal a hidden door.”
However, the two almost pushed the painting all the way in, feeling a strong resistance, but the huge metal shelf behind it remained motionless.
“This is a cooperative level.” Xi Leng made his judgment, turning to see Luo Jiayan also coming over to help push. He glanced at them, then shifted his gaze to Min Zhi. “Min Zhi-ge, try pushing the shelf, perhaps we need to press and push at the same time…”
This was probably his first direct interaction with Jiang Songnan in the escape room, including him with the word “you guys.”
The shelf looked even heavier, one person might not be able to move it.
Min Zhi immediately acted upon hearing his words. The people pressing on the painting could feel the shelf move slightly, then stop again.
They all looked at Jiang Songnan, who was standing aside, observing coldly.
Jiang Songnan raised an eyebrow, looking as if he had nothing to do with morality or team spirit, his hands still in his pockets.
Xi Leng, seeing the indignant look on Luo Jiayan’s face, and wanting to avoid further complications, said calmly to Jiang Songnan: “Jiang Songnan, please help too, work with Min Zhi-ge.”
Jiang Songnan finally felt a bit more agreeable. While Min Zhi pushed on one side, he pulled on the other, asking: “Don’t you know I’m two years older than Min Zhi?”
Xi Leng: “Huh?”
His childish behavior didn’t suggest that at all.
To be honest, in his opinion, Min Zhi wasn’t very mature either.
Min Zhi also noticed that brief glance, asking with a questioning look in his eyes: “What?”
“…Nothing.” Xi Leng turned his head back, then, along with the excited girl beside him, exclaimed, “The shelf moved!”
With the combined efforts of the five, the several-hundred-pound metal shelf slowly slid against the wall, moving from the center to the corner, revealing a dark opening where the painting was previously hanging.
The five filed in, a long, narrow, and dim metal passage appearing before them.
Every step they took created a strange and distant echo in the silent metal space, making them unsure whether it was the sound of their own footsteps or some hidden danger lurking in the darkness.
The passage was too narrow for two men to walk side by side. Xi Leng followed behind Min Zhi, instructing the others: “Let’s go.”
Min Zhi, his back to him, walked quickly, putting some distance between himself and the others, then asked in a very low voice: “You’re not afraid of enclosed spaces?”
Xi Leng didn’t know why he asked this, but he answered truthfully: “No.”
Min Zhi hummed in acknowledgment.
The long passage was quiet and safe, unobstructed, the only obstacle to overcome being their own fear.
Some might have thought of giving up along the way, but with companions both in front and behind, even the most fearful could only brace themselves and press on.
A few minutes later, they successfully cleared this level.
They were now facing a closed metal door, with large characters posted on the wall, one being the red letters “ICU,” the other a warning: “Intensive Care Unit, Authorized Personnel Only.”
But they had no other choice, the five of them facing the unknown danger together.
The ICU wasn’t locked, however, just as they were about to push the door open, a sharp scream suddenly erupted from inside: “Aaaaaah—Don’t come in! Don’t come in! Don’t come in!!!”
Caught off guard, Qiaoqiao and Luo Jiayan took a step back.
Xi Leng decisively pushed the metal door open.
This was indeed the ward they saw in the surveillance footage. The girl tied to the hospital bed was struggling desperately, her hair dry and messy, terrifying red marks on her wrists and ankles.
But seeing the unfamiliar faces at the door, she gradually calmed down, her eyes momentarily blank, then filled with intense wariness: “Wh-who are you? Don’t come any closer…”
But she couldn’t escape, only able to watch as the strangers approached. She trembled with fear, her lips chattering, clearly triggered by trauma.
The demons disguised as angels in white were both male and female. Even if they sent Qiaoqiao, the only girl, to communicate with her, she would likely resist fiercely.
“The ‘Ophelia’ at the door, did you paint it?” Xi Leng stood two steps away, speaking slowly. “Coincidentally, both your name and Xiaoya’s name are in it. But you’re not sick, and you won’t die, we’ll get you out of here.”
Feifei’s rapid breathing gradually calmed down, her tense shoulders relaxing. But she still kept her knees up, shielding her chest, her eyes wary.
Her shackled wrists rested on her knees, her wrists so thin, as if they would break with a slight force.
“Unrevealed grievances will crush you, sending you tumbling to the bottom.” Xi Leng said patiently, word by word. “Prepare yourself, set off again.”
Qiaoqiao suddenly realized, rubbing the goosebumps on her arms: “Yesterday’s piano staircase riddle… it was really related to today’s story.”
Xi Leng hadn’t specifically memorized the clues, but fortunately, he had a good memory and roughly recounted them.
“Although hardship drags you down, a friend extends a helping hand.”
“You don’t submit to fate, falling and rising again, finally reaching the top. Hope lies after hardship, you will surely find it.”
At this moment, they suddenly realized that these words described the two girls’ story perfectly.
“We’ve also seen your talent.” Xi Leng recalled the painting he saw at the top of the stairs, saying to her, “This isn’t paradise, it’s hell. Let’s get out of here together.”
However, despite his persuasion, the girl, having experienced the pain of losing her friend, remained unmoved. She seemed to have lost the ability to trust humans, shrinking back further.
In Jiang Songnan’s eyes, this whole act was long and tedious. He completely lost his patience, striding forward and asking directly: “Do you still want to get out of here? How do we unlock these shackles on you?”
Feifei, frightened, covered her ears and screamed.
Min Zhi immediately grabbed Jiang Songnan’s arm and, ignoring his struggles, forcefully pulled him aside.
“…Never give up.” Xi Leng glanced at Min Zhi and continued speaking to Feifei. “Xiaoya would also want to tell you this. And your father is still looking for you, he never gave up.”
Feifei finally looked up at him, large teardrops rolling down her cheeks, her dry and cracked lips moving: “Key…”
Xi Leng asked as calmly as possible: “Where’s the key?”
Feifei’s eyes slowly moved, focusing on the smooth, flat metal wall.
There were some square seams on the wall. Xi Leng pressed on them one by one, finding a hidden compartment that clicked open, revealing a metal key inside.
Xi Leng thought for a moment and handed this task to Qiaoqiao, the only girl: “Help her unlock the shackles.”
Qiaoqiao immediately took action, quickly unlocking the metal shackles on Feifei’s wrists and ankles.
Feifei, having been bound to the bed for so long, was unsteady on her feet when she got down. Fortunately, Qiaoqiao was there to support her.
“Thank you, thank you…” Feifei, who had been crying and screaming before, her voice hoarse, repeatedly thanked them.
“It’s okay, it’s okay, don’t speak, save your energy, that’s the most important.” Qiaoqiao comforted her gently, her eyes already red.
The six of them walked out of the passage and back to the hall, still no sign of the doctors or nurses.
This seemed too easy.
Xi Leng sensed something was wrong and turned to see the operating room in the surveillance footage empty.
“Where are they?”
“Where did they all go?”
Several voices asked similar questions.
Luo Jiayan also asked: “Can we leave now? But… how do we get out?”
Xi Leng picked up his words: “Let’s go upstairs first.”
If Feifei had a way to escape, she wouldn’t have been trapped in the hospital for so long. And her father, despite his years of effort, hadn’t been able to rescue her, and was currently hiding somewhere in the hospital.
Thinking of this, Xi Leng first took a photo of the rescued Feifei and tried to AirDrop it to “Xiaoya,” but unfortunately, he couldn’t find her via Bluetooth.
Wary of a “door kill,” they cautiously went upstairs.
They heard the commotion before they saw anyone. Medical staff were crowded at the glass entrance, banging desperately on the locked doors.
“Director! Director… You can’t do this!”
“Open the door! Director! Let us out!”
“Aaaaaah!! Open the door! Open the door!!”
The six who had just arrived were puzzled, but they heard a familiar title, Director.
Director Zhao, whom they had only seen in the video, was standing outside the locked glass doors.
He was indifferent, keeping a distance from his frantic subordinates behind the door, his voice amplified by a loudspeaker, clearly reaching inside the hospital: “If you don’t die here, you’ll die in prison.”
“We’ve been exposed, it’s too late…”
Someone’s legs gave way, and they collapsed on the floor, sobbing.
“Director, you can’t do this, my wife is due next month…”
“Director, you have a child too, how can you do this to us?”
“Director, Director, please…”
But Director Zhao outside the door was unmoved, having long lost his morality, compassion, and empathy.
He ignored their pleas and even their desperate curses, calmly asking: “What makes you any different from me?”
After leaving them with this question, he flicked his lighter, tossed it forward, and turned to leave.
Flames erupted, raging fiercely, instantly dyeing the world outside the glass doors orange-red!
“Director! Director! Director…”
The trapped people inside screamed and cried for help.
But the man who walked away indifferently never looked back.
…
The six stood quietly at the top of the stairs for a while, unnoticed by the despairing medical staff.
Xi Leng understood: “Director Zhao discovered that his secret was exposed, so he decided to set fire to destroy the evidence, burning down the entire hospital, taking everyone down with him.”
They shuddered.
“To… to the rooftop!” The weak Feifei suddenly gave directions. Her tone was resolute, but her face was even paler, trembling uncontrollably, perhaps recalling Xiaoya’s death.
The rooftop was the furthest from the fire on the first floor, but if rescue didn’t arrive in time, it was only a delaying tactic, a desperate struggle.
With a few buzzing sounds, the hospital’s power was cut off. Amidst the screams and cries, even the elevator lights went out.
Xi Leng, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief.
The others, who had been rushing towards the elevator, abruptly turned back. Min Zhi said: “Take the stairs, quickly.”
“Jiang Songnan, you lead the way.” Xi Leng gave orders decisively. “Jiayan, help Qiaoqiao support Feifei.”
Xi Leng added: “Min Zhi-ge and I will take the rear.”
No one objected, and Min Zhi was particularly pleased with his arrangement: “Mm-hmm, let’s go.”
The metal door leading to the rooftop was tightly chained.
Xi Leng’s first reaction was to go back to the storage room downstairs to find tools to break the lock.
Unexpectedly, the weak Feifei broke free from the two supporting her and stumbled forward, finding a key hidden in a crevice in the corner.
“This is… the key Xiaoya hid.” She murmured, her head lowered. “I… couldn’t bear to throw it away, but I also didn’t have the courage, to do what she did…”
Xi Leng said casually: “Because you’re brave enough, you have this opportunity to escape today.”
“You also saved us.”
The girl looked up in a daze, only to see the young man’s usual calm and indifferent expression, as if he hadn’t just spoken.
Feifei’s trembling hand regained some strength, inserting the key into the lock and turning it.
Click!
Feifei looked down and caught the heavy metal lock, as if catching the boulder that had been weighing down her heart.
She was free.
The others hurriedly came over to help remove the chains.
The dark clouds that had long lingered over Feifei, the last shackles and chains, finally dissipated as the setting sun’s afterglow shone through the doorway.
They hurriedly walked out, breathing in the fresh, free air outside. The setting sun in the distance was slowly sinking into the sea, its golden light illuminating everything, breathtakingly beautiful.
However, as they turned around, they all froze in unison.
On the other side of the rooftop, a magnificent golden building stood tall in the bay, a stark contrast to the dilapidated and gloomy mental hospital beneath their feet. It was the art hotel they had stayed in last night.
“We drove for almost an hour, and we’re still near here…” Qiaoqiao said in disbelief.
So close, yet so far away.
As the sun was about to completely disappear into the sea, the light suddenly dimmed, as if covered by a blue-gray filter, everyone looking dejected and disheveled.
Just then, with a bang, like a small explosion, flames suddenly erupted along the edges of the rooftop!
The six involuntarily huddled together towards the safe center.
“Why is the rooftop on fire too?” Luo Jiayan, panicked, instinctively looked at Xi Leng. “What should we do now?”
Xi Leng held his phone, but it couldn’t send any signal for help. This hopeless hope was more despairing than despair itself.
He turned on Bluetooth again, waited a few seconds, then suddenly exclaimed: “…He’s back!”
“…Who’s back?”
Feifei didn’t know about the deceased “Xiaoya.”
Xi Leng, while AirDropping their location, briefly explained: “A mysterious person, pretending to be Xiaoya, has been helping us.”
Feifei looked blank.
Xi Leng looked at her, about to speak.
Whoosh—whoosh—
A loud whirring sound came from above.
Looking up, a helicopter was descending!
They all fell silent, their eyes fixed on the approaching helicopter as it landed in front of them.
The rapidly rotating blades gradually came to a stop, the helicopter door opened from the inside, and a thin, limping man walked out.
It was “Zhu shifu,” whom they had met in the electrical room.
Or rather, it should be “Zhu Gongping.”
Like a sudden jolt of electricity, all the clues connected.
Zhu Gongping tried to visit his daughter through official channels but was repeatedly rejected by the hospital with various excuses, even accused of extortion.
In the past two years, Zhu Gongping never gave up, eventually disguising himself as a maintenance worker, “Zhu shifu,” successfully entering Ren’ai Mental Hospital. He wasn’t a medical staff member whose phone was confiscated, nor a patient under strict surveillance. This explained how he was able to sneak in a phone and communicate with his daughter’s phone via AirDrop…
In a flash, Zhu Gongping reached them.
Feifei, snapping out of her daze, burst into tears, blurring the weathered face of the man in her vision: “Baba… Baba…”
Zhu Gongping silently embraced his daughter, stroking the back of her head in comfort.
It was the first time anyone had seen such tenderness from this man.
After the father and daughter composed themselves, Zhu Gongping put his arm around his daughter’s shoulders and said to the others with a serious expression: “I can take you with me, but…”
He paused before finishing his sentence: “My helicopter can only take four more people.”
There were five guests, one too many.
Their expressions changed, this was clearly the classic “test of friendship” trope in movies and dramas.
It seemed Director Sheng Jiao had really put a lot of thought into creating a strong team bond.
Staying behind wasn’t a big deal, there was no real danger, but they had been tormented in the hospital for hours, their nerves on edge, constantly bombarded with scares, they were both mentally and physically exhausted.
Naturally, everyone wanted to leave this place of trouble as soon as possible.
Even Xi Leng wanted to clock out now.
Zhu Gongping’s words brought a long silence. The five exchanged glances in the quiet.
Jiang Songnan, who hadn’t contributed much today, perhaps to make up for it, suddenly said with a sullen face: “I’ll stay.”
His demeanor suggested that disagreeing with him was equivalent to opposing him, Jiang Songnan.
Xi Leng, however, said: “We can’t leave you in the fire just because you have red hair.”
Jiang Songnan: “…”
The tense atmosphere instantly dissipated.
Qiaoqiao shivered: “That was too cold.”
Luo Jiayan thought for a moment and also volunteered: “Then I’ll stay? I was locked up in the prison cell for over an hour, I’m not as tired as you guys.”
“I’m the least afraid of heat, I didn’t even sweat when we went upstairs.” Xi Leng looked at the approaching fire, saying casually, “I’ll stay.”
His reason seemed valid enough.
After returning Feifei’s phone, he felt unburdened. To avoid further complications, he simply sat down on the ground, unmoving.
Zhu Gongping, with a fierce expression, urged coldly: “Hurry up and get on the helicopter! Or you’ll all die here!”
The others had no choice but to say goodbye to Xi Leng and line up to board the helicopter.
Min Zhi was the last. He was urged a few more times by the man before reluctantly climbing aboard.
The helicopter had eight seats, with two professional pilots in the front, instructing them to fasten their seatbelts.
The pilot started the engine, and the helicopter rose shakily. The door next to Min Zhi was about to close—
Just then, Min Zhi, without warning, unbuckled his seatbelt and, under everyone’s astonished gazes, jumped out nimbly!
Xi Leng, sitting on the ground, also instinctively stood up.
The door slammed shut behind Min Zhi. The helicopter hovered in mid-air, its rotors spinning wildly, ruffling his neatly styled black hair.
Amidst the flying strands of hair, only his silver earrings remained motionless, gleaming, naturally drawing Xi Leng’s gaze.
Xi Leng only came back to his senses when Min Zhi reached him.
“Wh-why did you jump…”
The usually aloof and cold face now held an indulgent expression of “I can’t do anything with you,” his eyebrows raised as if it was the most natural thing to do, his words carrying a hint of arrogance.
“Who told you to be my fan?”
Xi Leng was silent for a moment.
…Such a forced fan-serving act.
But the corners of his lips couldn’t help but curve upwards.
Under the night sky, the surrounding flames were like the returning fiery sunset, swaying passionately in the sea breeze, illuminating their faces.
