Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 184: Incandescence
“Carbon monoxide poisoning?” Qian Ai now looked at his own company as if it were filled with death traps everywhere. If it weren’t for the lack of time to set up a second rendezvous point, he definitely wouldn’t want to come back here. “Is it the kind caused by burning charcoal, like when you have a copper hot pot with lamb without opening windows or ventilating, guaranteeing dizziness within two hours…”
“Boss Qian, huh… you’ve lost your memory, but your life experience is still so rich…” Xu Wang placed his hands on his hips, trying to catch his breath after knocking down the man in a baseball cap and running up from the 3rd floor to the 10th. He felt as if he was doing a triathlon.
Without any foul indication on the [Cheat Sheet], and since they hadn’t ingested any suspicious food or water, coupled with the symptoms of drowsiness and sleepiness before the reset, Wu Sheng couldn’t think of any other conclusion besides carbon monoxide poisoning.
“Sheng Ge, is this an accident or deliberate?” Kuang Jinxin’s eyebrows were furrowed. His demeanor was serious and earnest, as if he was truly taking an exam.
“It’s definitely deliberate,” Qian Ai interjected. “We weren’t hot potting in the finance room.”
Xu Wang glanced at him irritably. “If you’re hungry, just go drink some water from the dispenser.” Always thinking about eating—is he a boss or a foodie?
“If it’s deliberate, why would someone do that?” Kuang Jinxin seemed to be asking Wu Sheng, but also seemed to be pondering to himself.
“Let’s do it again, and we’ll know.” Chi Yingxue, who had been quiet, cut in with a tone that was neither salty nor bland.
Sure enough, Kuang Jinxin turned to him. “Do it again?”
Chi Yingxue liked that his gaze was on him. “Go back to the finance room. When the time comes, we’ll know who’s playing tricks.”
Wu Sheng didn’t expect that the first person to align with his thoughts would be Chi Yingxue.
Doing it again sounded simple, but it meant gambling a precious opportunity. Using themselves as bait, winning the bet wouldn’t mean passing the exam but merely solving another major question. Losing the bet would leave them with only 5 chances.
12:30, finance room.
There were still the same six workstations, but this time only three were occupied.
“Once this damn test is over, the first thing I’ll do is pay back that kid, even if I have to sell blood or my body!” Qian Ai punched the desk, making a “thud” sound that rang out his true emotions.
13 minutes ago, they had “hosted” the man with blue hair again. Now, Qian Ai felt more guilty about “bullying” him than “not paying back the debt”, no longer finding Blue Haired irritating but rather like a melancholic blue painting.
“People donate blood for free now…” Kuang Jinxin kindly reminded.
“You—are you selling yourself?” Xu Wang also kindly reminded.
Qian Ai, caring about the second “kindness”, rolled up his sleeves to show off his biceps. “Doubting my physical strength?”
Xu Wang was stunned by his vigor, sincerely suggesting, “Why don’t you come work in our collections department?”
Waiting, especially waiting for danger to come, is always agonizing. It’s easier inside, where chatting and joking can pass the time, with the only task being for three people to create the liveliness of five. Those on watch outside had it harder.
The finance room was located at the very end of the employee office area, with its door facing the corridor, flanked by other department offices. Wu Sheng and Chi Yingxue were hiding in the office area to the right of the finance room door.
It was a shared office space, with frosted glass in the middle and transparent sections at the top and bottom. Wu Sheng and Chi Yingxue hid behind the workstation closest to the glass partition. They sat on the floor using the desk to conceal their bodies. Through the transparent section of the glass, they were able to see the corridor floor.
Time passed silently, with both men not speaking, just looking at each other and somehow finding peace and harmony.
At 14:20, a pair of feet, hands, and a rubber hose appeared outside the transparent glass.
Chi Yingxue noticed them first. In the past half hour, he hadn’t moved at all, just quietly watching outside. His concentration and endurance were even beyond Wu Sheng’s.
The person was bending over, slowly feeding a hose from an unknown source under the crack of the finance room’s door.
The frosted glass obscured their face.
If nothing was done, in another 50 minutes, the colorless and odorless gas from the hose would fill the finance room, just like last time.
But this time, it wasn’t like last time.
[Owl: Someone used [(Offense) You’re Under Arrest*] on you~~]
*Fold one’s hand to be captured (束手就擒) Idiom referring to binding your hands and allowing others to catch you without any resistance.
As Chi Yingxue dismissed the pop-up, Wu Sheng had already charged out of the office.
The person’s hands were twisted behind their back by a strange force, as if bound by an invisible rope. Startled, they straightened up just as Wu Sheng emerged.
The next second, realizing something was wrong, they turned and ran.
Scientifically, they were arrested with their hands bound, but their feet were free… Where was the effect of “being arrested”?
Wu Sheng didn’t have time to critique this and ran after the person. He was chasing when Chi Yingxue followed, just in time to see a figure in a gray coat. “Gray coat?”
Wu Sheng chased to the elevator. Just as the doors opened, Gray Coat darted in. Wu Sheng was speechless. The elevator doors don’t close instantly. With his current distance, he could definitely catch up…
“Bang!”
The sound of a high fall made Wu Sheng’s heart skip.
He and Chi Yingxue, who had caught up, rushed to the elevator door, only to find an empty shaft.
Shining a flashlight down, the actual elevator was stopped several floors below, with Gray Coat in a twisted position on top of the elevator shaft—they had four arms.
Wu Sheng caught his breath, then extended his arm with the flashlight further down, finally making out another person.
The person pressed under Gray Coat was mostly obscured. Only their slender arms were visible.
The noise alerted the three in the finance room that the perpetrator had been caught. They came over, only to find Wu Sheng and Chi Yingxue staring blankly at the elevator.
Kuang Jinxin had a bad feeling and rushed to the elevator door. Wu Sheng’s flashlight was still on, illuminating the abyss-like elevator shaft.
“Lin Lin…”
Wu Sheng turned around. “Is that the girl from your company you mentioned, the one who was harmed?”
Kuang Jinxin wanted to say “Mm”, but his throat tightened, and he could only blink away the tears, gently nodding. He remembered how Lin Lin lay on the elevator car; her arms positioned just like that. He had clung to the hope that as long as he and Chi Yingxue didn’t use the elevator, Lin Lin would be safe, like avoiding a side quest in a game. It was just self-deception.
Xu Wang sighed and patted his head comfortingly. “Call the police,” he said to Wu Sheng. “Someone died. It’s not a joke anymore.”
Wu Sheng pondered, suddenly remembering something, and looked for Chi Yingxue. “Xiao Kuang mentioned that the time the elevator broke, the fake maintenance worker attacking you was wearing a gray coat?”
Chi Yingxue skipped the question, pointing directly below. “It’s him.”
Wu Sheng: “The other one is a security guard?”
Chi Yingxue: “Right.”
Wu Sheng: “Then this time, where is the security guard…”
The reminder snapped everyone’s nerves taut.
The five people gathered at the elevator door turned around almost simultaneously. Caught off guard by a tremendous push, four of them fell into the elevator shaft, leaving only Boss Qian clinging to the door frame. Because of his sheer weight, he didn’t fall, and only then did he clearly see the security uniform and the ferocious face.
Time: 12:15, 18th floor, red number: 5.
The carbon monoxide trap that appeared at 14:20 was too late. This time, they changed their strategy, lying in wait at the place where Lin Lin might be pushed into the elevator shaft—based on the light Chi Yingxue saw looking up from the transparent elevator car, they pinpointed Lin Lin’s falling floor to the 18th.
Chi Yingxue and Kuang Jinxin went to the stairwell to talk at 12:10 that time, then encountered the security guard, found a flier, and even helped catch a “sneaky suspect” captured by the security guard. Based on this, the time they entered the elevator should be between 12:20-12:30.
Now, it was already 12:20.
Stakeouts, especially with nerves on edge, felt like an eternity.
12:21.
12:22.
12:23.
12:24.
“Bang.”
A sound came from outside the building. Through the building and layer of glass, by the time it reached the five people’s ears, it was already muffled and flat, so they couldn’t discern what the original sound was.
But soon, the commotion from various floors and screams from outside mixed into an unusual clamor.
“Someone jumped off the building—”
The five people, along with the employees eager to see what was happening, ran to the nearest window to look out. Many onlookers had already gathered below. From the high floor, people looked like ants, making it impossible to see the person who fell.
In the end, it was Kuang Jinxin who returned to his company on the 15th floor to confirm that it was indeed Lin Lin.
“How could this happen…” Xu Wang was a bit dazed. Everything was repeating—the baseball cap, Qian Ai’s attempted jump, the carbon monoxide trap. How did it suddenly change here?
“An object in motion continues to move until an external force changes its course.” Wu Sheng looked up, his pupils reflecting the blood-red number outside. “We’ve been discovered.”
Qian Ai: “You mean the bastard who harmed that girl realized we were staking out?”
Wu Sheng said, “Yes.”
Kuang Jinxin: “What do we do now?”
“Directly pull those two out.” Wu Sheng’s words were directed at Chi Yingxue.
Chi Yingxue shrugged, a gesture that could mean “oh,” “got it,” “fine,” and many others, which was very convenient to use.
[Owl: Someone used [(Illusory) Impression Tracking] on you~~]
The illusory stationery was used on Chi Yingxue himself. He closed his eyes, pulling up the appearances of those two in his memory. Soon after, two scenes entered his mind.
The man in the gray coat was going downstairs; the wall was marked with 14F.
The security guard was also going downstairs; the wall was marked with 15F. It was more like he was protecting than following.
The five were currently on the 15F. They exchanged glances, and without a word, they all rushed to the staircase!
“Bang!” They burst through the staircase door. By this time, the two men should have gone down at least two more floors.
However, Wu Sheng and Kuang Jinxin, both equipped with speed-enhancing stationery, quickly caught up with Gray Coat and the security guard, respectively.
The two caught their targets, waiting for their companions to join the fight with their stationery, but were reset to 12:00 by a sudden explosion.
The number outside the window: 4.
3rd floor, Xu Wang: “……”
7th floor, Wu Sheng: “……”
15th floor, Kuang Jinxin: “……”
16th floor, Chi Yingxue: “……”
On the rooftop, Qian Ai: “Did they have to go as far as to blow themselves up—!”
Security guard: “Mr. Qian?”
Qian Ai: “Don’t try to persuade me. Now that I think about it, jumping might be good, really…”
Boss Qian, whose heart was ashen, eventually returned to the 10th floor—if jumping could solve everything, it would be a relief. But jumping only to find, “Ah, I’m back again”, only led to more frustration!
“The tactics were too crude.” Upon regrouping, Wu Sheng’s first words were this.
Chi Yingxue was tempted to make a sarcastic remark but held back. Not everyone could take responsibility and be the team’s brain, let alone adjust and improve tactics repeatedly. Since he was reaping the benefits, he shouldn’t nitpick.
“Let’s compile our stationery now; we can’t keep attacking, searching, or defending in isolation. We need to combine our efforts.” Wu Sheng pulled over a blank sheet of A4 paper. “[Stationary Box].”
His four companions obediently opened their [Stationery Box], extending their arms like well-behaved kids standing in line to get their vaccination.
Wu Sheng quickly noted down everyone’s stationery, filling half a page.
“Merely restraining them isn’t enough; we need to prevent them from detonating explosives on themselves and have an illusory stationery that makes them tell the truth…” He was completely focused as he muttered to himself, drawing circles and lines on the paper.
The four companions, having retracted their arms, sat quietly beside him, watching him radiate the aura of a top student.
12:20, 18th floor.
The first move of the combined tactic—Kuang Jinxin, [(Defense) You Can’t See Me].
The invisibility tool ensured there was no chance of exposure.
12:22, Lin Lin appeared, entering the elevator area while looking around, as if searching for someone.
12:23, the security guard appeared. Lin Lin was completely unguarded, and they even exchanged simple greetings.
12:24, Lin Lin seemed not to have waited for the person she expected, and as she was about to leave, the elevator doors opened, and the security guard, seizing the opportunity, forcefully pushed her in.
The second move of the combined tactic—Xu Wang, [(Defense) Soft Landing].
The girl falling into the elevator shaft didn’t make a “clang” sound upon impact. The security guard, sensing something was amiss, looked down.
Now was the time for the fourth move of the combined tactic—Chi Yingxue [(Illusory) Lay Down Your Arms].
The security guard dropped to his knees at the elevator door.
The five companions held their breath.
Half a minute later, sensing something was wrong, the man in the gray coat emerged from his hiding spot. “Hey, you…”
Wu Sheng didn’t let him finish speaking, already deploying the fifth move—[(Defense) Mired*].
*Feet stuck in deep mud (泥足深陷) Metaphor referring to a troublesome situation that you can’t easily get out of.
The man in the gray coat suddenly couldn’t move his feet. Just as he looked down, Qian Ai delivered the long-awaited finishing move—[(Offense) Water Floods Jinshan*].
*(水漫金山) Idiom describing a flood. It comes from The Legend of the White Snake. It’s the spell used by the White Snake during her battle against Monk Fahai, which flooded the Jishan Temple.
A sudden downpour caught everyone off guard, soaking everyone to the bone and lingering until the water reached waist level before it finally ceased.
Whatever explosives were strapped to their bodies were all duds now.
The two men were completely baffled by the combination of attacks, especially since they had no idea where their opponents were.
“Who the hell is messing with me! Come out—”
A shout attracted the attention of employees on the 18th floor, all peeking out.
Taking advantage of the gathering crowd, the five invisible companions bound the two culprits and carried them back to the 10th floor at a brisk pace.
The 10th floor was Boss Qian’s territory, which was thoroughly cleared out.
The world finally quieted down.
The five companions threw the men into Qian Ai’s office, with Boss Qian closing the door behind them. The invisibility stationery was still not disabled.
According to Wu Sheng’s tactic, for safety, they kept using it.
So the man in the gray coat and the security guard could only stare blankly at the air, huddling together in fear.
Wu Sheng stepped forward, delivering the final gift—[(Illusory) Don’t Lie to Me].
Although the prompt was unheard, based on the pre-discussed tactic, the onlooking companions knew what Wu Sheng used. Xu Wang, Qian Ai, and Kuang Jinxin all awaited the effect, while Chi Yingxue slightly frowned, instinctively disliking the stationery.
The illusory stationery slowly took effect.
In the air, Wu Sheng’s voice emerged. “Why kill Lin Lin?”
Straight to the point, without any preamble.
The onlooking friends now viewed Wu Sheng through a “he’s right” filter, which full name was: “Just listen to him, as what he says is right” filter.
During the combined tactic earlier, their approval and admiration for this teammate had reached its peak. Now hearing him speak, it felt like the full set of answers to this exam was about to be revealed.
“She knew too much,” said Gray Coat, his gaze becoming evasive.
The security guard, unable to see others but could see his accomplice, found his accomplice responding to that ghostly voice in the air as if possessed. He was so frightened he forgot to curse, his face turning pale.
“What did she know?” Wu Sheng continued to ask.
Gray Coat said, “She knew we were going to bomb the building.”
Wu Sheng was startled, despite anticipating something like this.
“Bomb the building?” Qian Ai couldn’t help but blurt out.
The sudden emergence of a second unfamiliar voice made the security guard shudder.
However, Gray Coat seemed only to respond to Wu Sheng’s voice.
Wu Sheng asked, “Why would you do that?”
Gray Coat said, “For fun, hehe. Mo Lu says it’s not exciting just to play small pranks. If we’re going to do something, it should make a big splash.”
Wu Sheng didn’t expect that under the illusory stationery, he could still express something akin to “emotion”. How fixated must one be to leave such a deep imprint in their mind? “Who is Mo Lu?”
Gray Coat: “Our god.”
Wu Sheng: “The real name?”
Gray Coat: “I don’t know.”
Wu Sheng: “What do they look like?”
Gray Coat: “I don’t know.”
After a few seconds of thought, Wu Sheng suddenly changed the question. “How many people are in your group?”
The man in the gray coat began, “Four…”
“Thud!”
A sudden impact interrupted the questioning.
Outside, the gondola was swinging violently in the wind, like the clapper of a temple bell, striking the glass repeatedly.
“Crack!”
The tempered glass completely shattered.
“Be careful—” At the same time as the shout, Wu Sheng tackled the nearest Xu Wang and Qian Ai to the ground, immediately looking for defense stationery.
Chi Yingxue, with Kuang Jinxin in tow, hit the ground, wrapping his arms around him.
The tempered glass shattered into countless fine particles, bursting into the room. Since its edges were rounded, it actually couldn’t cause real harm to people.
But what came in along with the shattered glass was the gondola.
In the moment of hitting the ground, Wu Sheng reflexively looked for defense stationery but was a step too slow.
The gondola, with its cable snapped, crashed into the room like a steel cannonball, hitting everyone—in the not-so-large office, everyone on the ground was hit, none spared.
12:00, red number: 3.
All friends, determined and without hesitation, embarked on the exam again!
It was like having almost completed the final big question, only to be handed a blank sheet to start over. They couldn’t wait to fill in the previous answers from memory and get back to the crucial point of the last round.
The tactical approach remained unchanged. Wu Sheng quickly swapped some of the stationery, and then the five perfectly replicated the previous round’s process. By 12:27, they had thrown the people into Boss Qian’s office.
But this time, they lacked the illusory stationery for interrogation.
Fortunately, they already knew almost everything they needed to. The key now was that the opponents had four people.
One creating the attack with the gondola counted as one; there was still one lurking in the building.
In the tense wait, the gondola arrived as expected. Wu Sheng had already used [(Defense) Golden Bell Shield] but didn’t expect the gondola to break through the defense stationery!
Haste often leads to carelessness.
12:00, red number: 2.
The man in the gray coat, the security guard, and the thug disguised as a gondola worker were finally captured by the five. With stationery, dealing with them wasn’t difficult. The challenge was the unexpected events and potential mistakes.
Wu Sheng didn’t want to make more mistakes but couldn’t relax either. With only two chances left, letting their guard down could mean no more opportunities.
“We have one more person left,” he said to his four companions. “Who could it be?”
All faces were blank.
The three suspects, wrapped up by stationery like cocoons, were cornered. Without the interrogation illusory stationery, they truly didn’t utter a word, even when inflicted with slight pain by offense stationery. And the five couldn’t bring themselves to truly torture them.
“Let’s each go over things we’ve experienced alone.” Wu Sheng forced himself to calm down. “No matter how insignificant you think it is, if you’ve encountered it, count it.”
Xu Wang: “The secretary knocked to give me coffee; the man in the baseball cap came looking for revenge; the rest was all with you guys.”
Kuang Jinxin: “I was grooming the dog, then Chi… uh, brother, came looking for me.”
Qian Ai: “I was jumping off the building. The security guard tried to persuade me not to, but actually pushing me was his real intention. Then I went downstairs to my company… Wait.” His eyes widened. “It was that security guard, right! He pretended to save me but actually pushed me on purpose!”
“Let’s keep that in doubt.” Wu Sheng signaled to Chi Yingxue.
Chi Yingxue leaned against the wall, his experiences flashing through his mind like a slideshow. “I got up from my workstation and walked towards the door. The property management was fixing a light. A plier fell from the ladder, which I agilely dodged. I only went down one floor, so I took the stairs, just to meet a security guard bringing someone down. He tried to take me hostage, but I perfectly subdued him. Then I went to Xiao Sijin’s place, and then it was you guys.”
Qian Ai: “Director Chi, you really know how to insert yourself into the narrative…”
“No, wait.” Wu Sheng’s eyes flashed. “Who was the security guard bringing down?”
Qian Ai: “The guy in the baseball cap who attacked Xu Wang. That matches up.”
“It doesn’t match,” Wu Sheng said. “Xu Wang is on the 3rd floor. The security guard was taking the baseball cap guy downstairs. How could they run into Xiao Xue walking from the 16th to the 17th floor?”
Qian Ai: “……”
Xu Wang, Kuang Jinxin: “……”
Because that person hadn’t really stirred any waves from beginning to end, always out of the five’s line of sight.
“Three suspects.” Wu Sheng summarized. “The security guard on the rooftop, the designer fixing the light, and the person in the stairwell.”
Xu Wang: “What’s your plan?”
Wu Sheng: “Split into two groups. Boss Qian, Xiao Xue, Xiao Kuang, you three take those three to the first-floor security room and check if the rooftop security guard and the person we met in the stairwell are there. Xu Wang and I will go to the 16th floor to find the maintenance worker. If the person being taken down is still in the security room, you three don’t act. Wait for us to come over and regroup.”
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