Chapter 17
The elastic cord of the blindfold scraped against his cheek, bringing a slight sting.
Meng Huaizhi regained his sight. Although it was sight, it wasn’t very bright. After tying them up, the crew had turned off most of the lights.
A single, cold white LED lamp was left, hanging solitarily in the center of a room that was too large for it.
Under the light, Shen Wu’s three-dimensional features were cast in particularly deep shadows. Under his long lashes was a translucent, fan-shaped shadow, the tips of his lashes distinct.
He still had the black blindfold in his mouth.
After a few seconds, he released his jaw. The blindfold, catching the gazes of those watching, fell onto his lap.
“Can you untie the rope yourself?”
Hearing this, Meng Huaizhi looked at his bound hands and arms. His gaze paused as he noticed a small thread hidden in the hemp rope on his left wrist.
He twisted his right hand and tried to pull it. The restraints on his body suddenly loosened a lot. As he pulled and struggled, he quickly freed himself from the layers of hemp rope.
Without stopping, he immediately went to help Shen Wu untie the hemp rope on his hands.
As the first obstacle of the escape room was about to be overcome, the bullet screen was still immersed in the shock from a moment ago. The screen was so densely packed with comments that the two people in the picture were completely obscured.
[?????????]
[Ahhhhhhhh]
[Holy crap, what did I just see? Can someone slap me awake? I think I’m dreaming (incoherent rambling)]
[Damn, Shen Wu biting the blindfold is so hot…]
[Who can resist this!!]
[My good Wuwu, what are you doing? Please continue next time.]
[For a moment, I can’t say who I’m more envious of (lights a cigarette)]
[Why bite the blindfold? Can’t you see that huge Adam’s apple on his shirt?! (shouting)]
[Ahhhhhh, he bit it, he bit it!!!]
[Sister in front, please be clear. Don’t let the newcomers misunderstand (doge)]
[Shen Wu really did so many things that we Juzhi wouldn’t dare to do, ahhhh]
“Juzhi” was the self-proclaimed name of Meng Huaizhi’s fans, taken from the support slogan “Southern oranges and northern trifoliate oranges, only love for Huaizhi.”
As a top-tier male celebrity whose private life was almost transparently clean, Meng Huaizhi’s fans were mostly rational career fans, but there were also some more extreme solo stans.
When the solo stans saw the scene of Shen Wu biting the mask, they almost had a heart attack on the spot. But Meng Huaizhi had publicly stated his position on Weibo, so they didn’t dare to say too much or use excessive language towards Shen Wu.
[It’s for the show, it’s just for the game. Forcing a CP is a bit too much.]
[Please focus on the game, focus on the variety show, I’m begging you…]
But they still couldn’t withstand the more astonishing combat power of the CP fans.
[He doesn’t mind being bitten on the blindfold by someone else, and he’s in a hurry to help untie the rope. If you ask, it’s just a game (doge)]
[He doesn’t mind being bitten on the blindfold by someone else. If you ask, it’s just his germaphobia (doge)]
The two people involved were trapped in a dim little room, experiencing a completely different atmosphere from the audience in the live broadcast room. They had no mind to think about anything else.
Shen Wu’s hands were untied. He then worked with Meng Huaizhi, each responsible for one leg.
Before long, Shen Wu stood up from the chair, free again.
The two of them went to find the exit of the room together.
There was a card inserted in the doorknob. Shen Wu took it down and saw that it said:
Dear alumni of the Class of ’08 of Xingfu High School:
The year 20XX marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of Xingfu High School. On the day of the school anniversary, January 1st, the school will hold a grand celebration. We hereby sincerely invite all alumni to reunite on campus and witness this joyous moment together! …
Wonderful Adventure was a puzzle-solving variety show. The crew had rehearsed every segment in advance and prepared contingency plans for various emergencies. The only thing they hadn’t done was to give the guests a script in advance to ensure the most authentic and natural effect.
It was only after seeing this card that Shen Wu knew their environment. “So this is Xingfu High School, and we are alumni of this school?”
He looked around. “This school looks abandoned. They’re still inviting us back?”
Meng Huaizhi glanced at the scattered hemp rope on the floor. “The invitation method isn’t very friendly either.”
They had come to film the show, so of course, they had walked into this room themselves and let the staff tie them up.
Shen Wu was stunned for a moment at his words. Belatedly, he once again felt the high-and-mighty flower’s sense of humor and couldn’t help but laugh.
His laughter always had a bright and youthful air, whether on the sun-drenched racetrack or in this dark and eerie little room.
After a moment, Shen Wu composed himself and began his acting. “Mm, maybe there are other classmates, just like us. Let’s hurry out and find them. Then we can discuss a plan together and see how to get out of here.”
The room door was not locked, and the two of them pushed it open smoothly.
The corridor outside was also dim. Above them, incandescent lamps were arranged at equal distances, flickering and casting pale circles of light on the floor. The doors on both sides of the corridor were shrouded in darkness, as if horrifying monsters would emerge from them in the next second.
Through the cameraman’s lens, the audience in the live broadcast room quickly figured it out.
[This looks like a school corridor, right? Help, why is it so dense, like a hospital ward, without even a window…]
[Ahhhhhh bullet screen protect me!!!]
[Was the last season also this scary?? It’s late at night, kids can’t watch this, wuwuwu]
Shen Wu also felt a chill.
A sound of footsteps came from behind, like a small hammer tapping on his heart.
Shen Wu and Meng Huaizhi exchanged a glance. Just as they were hesitating whether to turn around, a clear and pleasant voice floated over, “Shen-ge!”
Shen Wu immediately turned to look and saw that it was Nan Dengwei.
Behind Nan Dengwei was Xia Fanxing. As the two of them got closer, the tense expression on Nan Dengwei’s face relaxed, revealing a trace of fear. “It’s so dark here, so scary… Luckily, Fanxing is with me. Shen-ge… are you with Senior Meng? Were you also tied up in a small room?”
After Nan Dengwei finished speaking, there was a strange silence for a few seconds.
Shen Wu glanced at Meng Huaizhi beside him and inexplicably remembered the time on set when he had drunk the milk tea Nan Dengwei had given him in front of him.
…As a supportive ex-husband, how did he get caught in a love triangle?
At this moment, Xia Fanxing stepped forward, breaking the solid triangular atmosphere. “Were you also one blindfolded and the other with a cloth stuffed in his mouth?”
Xia Fanxing didn’t understand why his mouth had to be stuffed and immediately asked his question.
“I was wearing a blindfold, but his mouth wasn’t gagged,” Meng Huaizhi replied.
“Huh?” Xia Fanxing frowned and complained repeatedly, “I knew it was strange. Why did they stuff a cloth in my mouth? Even if I could talk, I couldn’t guide Xiao Nan. Why go to such trouble? It’s so uncomfortable…”
With the cloth stuffed in his mouth, he couldn’t close it, and who knows how much saliva had uncontrollably flowed out. His handsome and dashing image must have been ruined.
The bullet screen enlightened Xia Fanxing.
[Xingxing, you should talk less. Don’t you have any idea why your mouth was gagged?]
[Hahahahahaha, I’m dying of laughter. Suddenly, it doesn’t feel so scary anymore.]
[Ahhhhhh, so how did Xingxing and the others escape? Was there no live broadcast??]
[To the person in front, the main camera for today’s live broadcast is obviously on Huai-ge’s side. For the other guests’ footage, just wait for next week’s highlights version~]
The live broadcast continued.
The four of them met and explored the corridor of this floor. It was pitch black, and the doors on both sides were tightly closed. They skipped them for now, planning to find the other two and meet up before doing anything else.
When they reached the staircase, a female voice came from below, “Shen Wu!”
Shen Wu looked down and saw that it was Lin Yanran, and the other actor guest, Liang Shu.
Liang Shu was tall and had a tough appearance and temperament. Most of his representative works were serious dramas, and he was known for playing righteous and tough guy roles. Standing next to the petite Lin Yanran, he looked very reliable.
The two of them didn’t seem to be very scared by the eerie atmosphere of the abandoned high school and were still in the mood to smile and greet them.
The four people upstairs were summoned and went down the stairs one after another. It was brighter downstairs.
The six of them gathered together, and the sense of tension vanished.
“Did you also receive an alumni invitation?” Lin Yanran asked.
Several people nodded.
Lin Yanran had experience playing murder mystery games and escape rooms with friends offline. She analyzed methodically, “It seems we are former students of this school. Whether the school anniversary is real or not is debatable. After all, this school looks like it has been abandoned for a long time.”
Nan Dengwei took out a newspaper from his pocket. “The room we came out of was a newspaper room. There were a lot of messy newspapers and magazines piled up inside. Only this newspaper was thrown into the trash can alone. I thought it was strange, so I brought it out.”
Xia Fanxing’s eyes widened, his expression saying, “Did that really happen?”
The fans in the live broadcast room were a bit embarrassed by their idol’s behavior and quickly filled the screen with a large number of bullet comments to cover it up.
Lin Yanran frowned and asked, “Why didn’t you take it out just now? What’s written on the newspaper?”
“I was afraid there was a mole among us, but now it seems we are all students who received the invitation,” Nan Dengwei explained, unfolding the newspaper at the same time. “The front page of this newspaper is a report on a fire from twenty years ago. The specific location has been blacked out, and only the words ‘high school’ and the date… January 1st can be seen.”
Shen Wu leaned over to take a look and confirmed that Nan Dengwei’s words were true. He quickly said, “It’s currently the night of December 31st, and January 1st is the school anniversary of this abandoned school. Could there be a connection?”
Meng Huaizhi took over, “From now until midnight should be the time left for us to escape.”
“If we don’t escape by midnight, will we be burned to death here…” Xia Fanxing was in full actor mode, his face filled with horror.
Lin Yanran was very willing to cooperate with him. Her lips turned pale, and her voice trembled, “Then shouldn’t we hurry up and find a way to escape?”
Liang Shu said briefly, “Probably.”
Having confirmed their ultimate goal for the night, they now had two tasks:
One, to investigate the truth of the fire from twenty years ago.
Two, to find the exit to escape.
According to the show’s usual routine, the two tasks were bound to be intertwined and inseparable. They had to solve the puzzle first, and then it would be possible to escape.
Shen Wu thought for a moment and said, “The four of us were tied up in rooms on the top floor. Let’s go downstairs and start searching from the first floor? The exit is more likely to be on the first floor.”
If it were a normal high school building, the exit would definitely be on the first floor. But this was the variety show of the cunning Director Fang Ci, so it was unlikely to follow common sense.
In any case, searching floor by floor was the correct way to explore. Besides, the top floor was too dark and seemed to be full of dangers. It would be better to go there after finding more clues.
No one had any objections to Shen Wu’s proposal. They went down three more floors together and arrived at the first floor.
They also confirmed the number of floors in this building, a total of five.
Each floor had two staircases, located at both ends of the corridor.
Between the first and second floors was a spacious straight staircase, located in the middle of the floor. It was wide enough for six people to walk side by side. There were two staircases leading to the second floor on each side, with a white wall in the middle of the landing, covered with all kinds of notices.
There were report cards, club recruitment posters, competition announcements… a variety of things. The only common point was probably that they all had a sense of age, either yellowed and faded, or with torn corners.
Among the scattered notices was a square school rules poster.
A white background with black characters, it was quite eye-catching. Especially in the center of the poster, there was a large, horrifying patch of bright red, like a bloodstain.
“I was in a campus horror movie before. There were nine school rules. If you broke them, you would die…” Lin Yanran began to speak slowly, pointing a vague finger at the bloodstained part of the school rules poster. “The two main characters held on very well and didn’t break eight of the school rules. Unfortunately, they relied on each other until the end and couldn’t control their feelings for each other…”
Hearing this, several people followed Lin Yanran’s fingertip and looked at the school rule she was pointing at. A large patch of blood bloomed like a garish flower, bright and piercing.
The school rule clearly stated: No puppy love.
