Chapter 196: Mutants
To obtain the skill on the skill card, one must hold someone and spin that person around ten times.
Yin Chengjue's gaze first fell on Rong Yu.
This time, the crew had given Rong Yu a very fresh and clean makeup and outfit: a beige shirt paired with dark brown suspender pants. A pair of glasses frames rested on the bridge of his nose—just the frames, without lenses, with small cat ear tips on each side, adding a touch of cuteness to Rong Yu.
Since the suspender pants had two large pockets, Rong Yu very naturally had his hands tucked into them, too lazy to take them out even as he bent over searching for clues in a corner.
Yin Chengjue imagined the scene of himself holding Rong Yu and spinning in circles...
Ahem, ahem! And this is right in front of the cameras! What if it gets broadcasted and those gossipy people start making wild speculations? What should we do then? Rong Yu is still in the rising phase of his career. Back when I took Rong Yu to socialize at grandpa's seventieth birthday banquet, I also maintained a certain distance, making it seem like I was simply promoting an artist from my own company. Even if photos were taken, I was confident we could manage it through public relations. But this is video footage.
Pictures can be stubbornly claimed as photoshopped, but can videos?
Thinking of this, Yin Chengjue decisively abandoned the idea of picking up Rong Yu to spin, shifting his gaze to Hua Yun.
Here, picking up anyone at random would be simple for Yin Chengjue. Only lifting Hua Yun, who was similar in height and build to himself, would offer a slight challenge.
You're the one!
Yin Chengjue immediately made up his mind.
Hua Yun: ?
Hua Yun: "What do you mean by looking at me like that?"
Yin Chengjue: "My apologies."
After saying this, Yin Chengjue rushed to Hua Yun in a swift stride, bent down, lowered his head, hooked his left arm under Hua Yun's legs, braced his shoulder against Hua Yun's waist, and directly hoisted Hua Yun onto his shoulder!
Hua Yun: !!!
Everyone else: =口=!
Without another word, Yin Chengjue began spinning in place on the spot. To prevent Hua Yun from struggling and falling off his shoulder, Yin Chengjue very "considerately" used his free hand to clamp down on one of Hua Yun's arms!
Hua Yun: "Yin Chengjue, you #&#&#%!"
Despite his usual composure, Hua Yun was now swearing, spun into a dizzying whirl by Yin Chengjue until his head swam.
After silently counting ten spins, Yin Chengjue bent to set Hua Yun down. He himself was so dizzy he half-crouched on the ground, waiting for the spinning to stop.
"Hua Zi! Are you okay!" Wei Shu hurried over, reaching out to support Hua Yun who was nearly falling.
Hua Yun raised a hand to signal he was okay, but seeing Wei Shu's outstretched hand, a shadow flickered in his eyes. Seizing the moment, he grabbed Wei Shu's hand and let his full weight collapse against him!
Wei Shu was immediately thrown off balance by the sudden weight, his feet slipping out from under him as he fell backward!
"Thump!"
Fortunately, Hua Yun quickly placed his hand behind Wei Shu's head to cushion it, preventing Wei Shu from hitting his head, but Hua Yun's whole body was now pressed against Wei Shu's.
Everything happened too fast. Everyone was still stunned when Yin Chengjue lifted Hua Yun and spun. Yin Chengjue spun those ten circles fast and fiercely, finishing in no time. From setting Hua Yun down to Hua Yun staggering and tumbling onto Wei Shu, only a few seconds had passed.
So by the time everyone's gaze could finally focus, what they saw was Hua Yun lying on top of Wei Shu.
Everyone else: =口=! What just happened!
Yin Chengjue recovered a bit, feeling the dizziness wasn't as strong anymore, then stood up, his expression calm. "Sorry, I just found a skill card and needed to complete a small task."
After speaking, he noticed Hua Yun wasn't standing where he left him. Following everyone's gaze downward, Yin Chengjue saw Hua Yun and Wei Shu hurriedly straightening their clothes and getting up.
"It's fine, understandable." Surprisingly, the victim Hua Yun himself did not show any sign of displeasure. Upon closer inspection, the corner of his mouth even held a faint, upward curl.
"Understand what? This was dangerous, you know? Couldn't you have said something first? Ow, ow, you hurt my back! Hua Zi, have you gained weight again lately?" Wei Shu complained indignantly.
Hua Yun looked at Wei Shu: "If you know I'm heavy, why did you come to help me up? I could have stood still for a moment to recover."
Wei Shu: "Wasn't I worried you'd fall?"
Hua Yun: "Did I not fall even with you helping me?"
"You, you, you!" Wei Shu pointed at Hua Yun's nose. "You're taking my kindness for donkey's liver and lungs!"
[好心當成驢肝肺 (Hǎo xīn dàng chéng lǘ gān fèi): lit. to take someone's good heart for donkey's liver and lungs; fig. to mistake or not appreciate someone's good intentions, to take kindness for ill will.]
Hua Yun stared at the index finger pointed right at his face, reached up to grab it, and pulled Wei Shu close to his side, whispering in Wei Shu's ear, "Thank you."
Wei Shu quickly covered his slightly reddened ear and pushed him away, huffing, "Young Master Hua, you're so concerned with your image you can't even say thanks into the mic?"
Hua Yun: "I only said it for you to hear. Why would I say it into the mic?"
"Ahem... if you two are done flirting, shouldn't we continue looking for clues?" Qin Ke wore an expression that said, "I refuse to eat this dog food."
"Oh, right! Finding clues is what matters!" Wei Shu swiftly seized the excuse, earnestly putting distancing himself from Hua Yun's line of sight and hiding behind the other players.
Hua Yun watched Wei Shu's retreating back and let out an almost imperceptible sigh. Yin Chengjue, watching from the side, raised an eyebrow. "No way?"
Yin Chengjue: "I never would have guessed."
Hua Yun turned away with a dismissive, "Hmph!"
Yin Chengjue: "I thought you two were…"
Hua Yun cut him off with a weary sigh.
Just then, Rong Yu’s gentle voice floated over. "What are you two whispering about?"
Yin Chengjue turned his head at the sound and met Rong Yu's gentle, smiling face.
Rong Yu held up a hand, in which he held a Rubik's Cube. "I found this just now. There are letters written on this cube. I feel like they might be related to the letter locks on those three doors."
Hearing this, everyone gathered around. "Found a code? Where was it?"
Rong Yu pointed to one of the open drawers: "It was just lying in this drawer. When I picked it up, there was a piece of paper underneath that said: 'My memory hasn't been great lately. I've forgotten the door lock passwords several times. No choice, I can only remember them this way.'"
"Then the passwords for the three rooms must be in here!" Qin Ke rubbed his hands together eagerly. "Quick, quick, who can solve the Rubik's Cube? Do we need to solve all six sides to know the passwords?"
"Probably. Look at the colors on this cube. Aren't they the same as the colors on the password dials of those locks?" Hua Yun said.
Yang Ji happened to be standing by the door. Hearing this, he picked up a lock to confirm: "Yes, this third door has three password dials, all with letters. The colors are red, orange, and yellow. See if the cube has these three colors?"
"It does!"
"Then that's it. Whoever can solve a six-sided Rubik's Cube, step up now!"
Silence fell, no one raised a hand.
Finally, Rong Yu said, "Well, I can't solve all six sides, but... I can take it apart. We can dismantle it, then reassemble it according to the colors, right?"
Everyone else: "..." So straightforward and crude?
Yet facts proved that the simpler and more direct the method, the easier it was to get the desired result. They successfully opened the lock of the first room based on the clues from the cube.
However, just as Liu Qingling was about to push the door open, Xiao Xiao suddenly said, "Wait! I just cracked the password for the computer here!"
"Ah? So what?" Wei Shu didn't understand.
Liu Qingling also cautiously stopped opening the door.
Xiao Xiao stared fixedly at the computer screen. The cold blue light from the monitor reflected in his wide-open eyes, his shocked expression effectively capturing everyone's attention.
Lei Miao, who was standing closest to Xiao Xiao, walked over, glanced at the screen, and also froze. "This... these are..."
"Mutants." Hua Yun, who had also walked over, said. "This computer is actually monitoring the mutants. Considering Dr. Fu's current state of madness, it's not surprising he would monitor and observe them."
"My goodness, so many mutants crowded into these rooms! What are they doing? Lying around all over the place, are they asleep?" Wei Shu also leaned in closer, exclaiming in surprise.
"That's not the point. The point is, the rooms they are in now seem to be the three rooms we are about to open," Xiao Xiao said.
Liu Qingling was still by the door. Hearing this, he gave a "click" and refastened the lock. Knowing that a group of watchful, poised mutants were behind the door, only a fool would go in to search for clues now.
Liu Qingling: "Let's check the situation inside via the monitor first. Which room has fewer mutants?"
"The middle room has fewer, only four mutants. The other rooms have at least twelve mutants inside each," Xiao Xiao said. "We've already searched the previous rooms and taken all the clues we could find. But it feels like something is still missing. Every task route so far seems to have no clear direction yet. Now only these rooms are left. The key clues might still be hidden inside."
After these words, everyone collectively turned their gaze to the door of the room with the fewest mutants.
"There are nine of us total. Two against one of them should work, right? We just need to push them out of the room. The hallway outside has no lights. It's fine to let them wander in the hallway."
Saying and doing, Liu Qingling went to the middle door and quietly opened the lock. At the same time, Yin Chengjue turned off the lights in this room.
Lei Miao took off his long coat and covered the computer monitor. Others with jackets also took theirs off to cover the edges and corners, ensuring no light from the computer leaked out. Wei Shu, Yang Ji, and Xiao Xiao squeezed in with Lei Miao to watch the monitor.
With the lights off, when Liu Qingling took the lead and entered, the mutants paid no attention to him, acting as if he didn't exist, letting him search and rummage around the room for things.
Author's note:
The unspoken words between Yin Chengjue and Hua Yun:
Yin Chengjue: "No way? You two still haven't gotten together?"
Yin Chengjue: "I never would've guessed. You can actually hold back?"
Hua Yun turned his head away: "Hmph! A true gentleman has a sense of propriety and knows how to behave!"
Yin Chengjue: ...
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