Chapter 38 – Drawing Cards

After seeing the plot of the 3 of Hearts room, Xiao Lou’s heart couldn’t calm down for a long time. As Xie Xinghe stated in the end, Si Han and Ying Xiaoya were the most innocent while Zhang Qing was very contradictory. She was pitiful, sad but also hateful. Her heart was distorted by hatred and she eventually became the most disgusting person. The death penalty was her best ending.

However, Xiao Lou didn’t expect Xie Xinghe to become a police officer. Was there a follow-up to his story?

He remembered in 2 of Hearts when the murderer Zhao Sen left with his cousin’s body. Xiao Lou couldn’t help looking at A of Hearts and asking, “I remember you said that I might encounter Zhao Sen in the future. Then in future secret rooms, are we likely to encounter Xie Xinghe who has become a policeman?”

A of Hearts smiled. “Zhao Sen and Xie Xinghe, these characters will become free people after completing the plot of their secret rooms. Of course, it is possible you will meet them but the probability is low.”

Xiao Lou wondered, “Free people? What do you mean by that?”

“Most people in the Card World have their own living areas. For example, Ying Xiaoya and Zhang Qing will remain in the 3 of Hearts secret room. Those who don’t die in the secret room won’t be confined to a fixed room but may also appear in other secret rooms.”

For the sake of understanding, A of Hearts gave an example. “For example, Xie Xinghe was admitted to the police academy at the end of the 3 of Hearts room. In future secret rooms, if there is a police school environment or a police officer, you might meet him because the time flow rate in every secret room isn’t the same.”

Xiao Lou bowed his head and thought about it before opening his mouth. “In other words, Xie Xinghe was a high school student in 3 of Hearts. In 4 or 5 of Hearts, he might be in the police academy. Then in 7 or 8 of Hearts… he has graduated from the police academy?”

A of Hearts smiled and nodded. “Yes.”

The time flow rate, Xiao Lou had seen this concept before. When he entered 3 of Hearts, the secret room told him that the time flow rate in 3 of Hearts was different from the card world. One day there was equivalent to 10 minutes in the Card World.

If each secret room had an independent method of calculating time then ‘free’ people such as Xie Xinghe and Zhao Sen might indeed appear in countless secret rooms at the same time.

The keeper reminded them, “The actions of the free men are bound by the plot in their secret rooms. However, in other secret rooms, we won’t control the free people. They have their own will and might help you… or might kill you.”

Xiao Lou still wasn’t very familiar with the rules of the Card World but it was certain that a dead person could only stay in their secret room. Some free people could leave after the plot of the secret room finished and there was a certain chance they would appear in the other secret rooms.

2 of Hearts had the murderer Zhao Sen while 3 of Hearts had the policeman Xie Xinghe. In future secret rooms, there might be more and more ‘free people’ who would influence the challengers. They would become unstable factors in the secret room, increasing or decreasing the difficulty of the clearance.

The world of countless parallel secret rooms was really complicated.

Xiao Lou pressed against his temples tiredly and requested, “We have perfectly cleared the room. We can draw from the limited card pool, right?”

A of Hearts pointed to the golden treasure chest in front of them. “The two of you have signed a contract and the perfect clearance will only give one treasure chest. Please draw from it.”

Xiao Lou glanced at Yu Hanjiang. “Group Leader Yu, do you want to come?”

Yu Hanjiang thought of his drawn gun and shoes and then Tao Yuanming and the compass that Xiao Lou had drawn. He decisively said, “You do it.”

Xiao Lou didn’t protest and stepped forward, reaching into the treasure chest.

He drew out a golden S card.

[Congratulations on obtaining the S-grade rare card ‘Summoning Card: Detective Di Renjie’!]

Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were both stunned and hurriedly picked up the card to look at it.

[Summoning Card: Di Renjie]

Rarity: S

Description: After a perfect clearance and when there is a S score, there is a very low probability of obtaining it from the limited card pool.

Secret rooms limit: Di Renjie is restricted to being used in Hearts and Diamonds secret rooms. He can only be used once in every secret room.

Team Limit: Di Renjie is a team restricted card and all teammates on the same contract book can only carry one Di Renjie.

Additional Skill 1: Detective

Effect: Use in the Hearts secret room to find a clue within a 500 metres range. Use in the Diamonds secret room to find a mechanism within 100 metres.

Additional Skill 2: Discernment

Effect: Use in the Hearts room to point out a lying person. Use in a Diamonds room to exclude a mechanism option.

Note: As long as Di Renjie’s skills are used in the secret room, the clearance score will be lowered and the instance clearance won’t be perfect. However, sometimes it isn’t a good thing to pursue perfection. First, you have to live. If your reasoning has encountered a problem or if you can’t find a mechanism, it is advised that you call Di Renjie to help. Di Renjie will never lie to you.

Xiao Lou, “……”

He was speechless about his own luck.

Group Leader Yu drew a gun and shoes. Why did he draw Tao Yuanming and Di Renjie?

The card had a youthful version of Di Renjie drawn. He wore an official hat and looked quite handsome.

Xiao Lou stared at the card for a moment before touching his nose. “This is equivalent to a clue prompt card? If the later secret rooms are too hard to perfectly clear, we can call Di Renjie and at least live.”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “This card is very useful in the Hearts and Diamonds secret room so it is good to keep it.”

Di Renjie had more restrictions since he could only be used once in a Hearts and DIamonds secret room but the advantage was that he didn’t need to be grown. He automatically had two skills and could save their lives in a key moment in the later stages.

Drawing Di Renjie from a perfect clearance wasn’t a loss.

Xiao Lou seriously placed Di Renjie into his card pack and glanced at A of Hearts. “Can we rest?”

A of Hearts smiled. “The conditions of the 3 of Hearts room were very difficult. Therefore, this break is extended to 8 hours. You can sleep. Yes, I have prepared a shower for you. After all, I am a kind keeper.”

Xiao Lou heard this and was finally relieved.

It would be hard for him to keep his calm if this kept going.

He was really tired. He hadn’t rested well for three consecutive days and it felt like there was an electric drill inside his head. His headache was about to explode…

Moreover, he had been unable to bathe in the 3 of Hearts room.

At that time, he had been busy solving the case and didn’t have time to think about it. Now that he thought about it, Xiao Lou felt his entire body was uncomfortable.

Seeing his exhaustion, Yu Hanjiang spoke softly. “You go and wash up first.”

Xiao Lou nodded and looked at A of Hearts. “Beauty… can you look away?”

A of Hearts raised an eyebrow. “Rest assured, I don’t have the hobby of peeking at men in the shower. You slowly take a rest and I’ll set an alarm clock. Once eight hours pass, go to the card wall to draw a card.”

Then she disappeared. Xiao Lou wasn’t surprised since he was used to the keepers appearing and disappearing.

He turned and walked into the bathroom. It was spacious and was six square metres. It was a connected bathroom with the shower and wash area separated by a shower curtain. There was a hanger on the wall next to it where two sets of white dressing gowns hung. Two sets of toiletries such as towels and toothbrushes were also prepared on the sink. There were even disposable razors. A of Hearts was really quite sweet.

Xiao Lou took off his clothes, opened the shower and washed himself all over. He brushed his teeth, shaved and put on his pyjamas.

His body was covered with traces of heat and his wet hair hung down, making the contours of his face more gentle. His eyes were black and as clear as the water as he smiled gently. “Group Leader Yu, go and wash.”

Yu Hanjiang looked at this person and thought that Professor Xiao was really good-looking. No wonder why he was so popular in school. If it wasn’t for the accident, Xiao Lou would now be standing on the podium and expressing his knowledge of forensic science.

Xiao Lou discovered Group Leader Yu staring at him and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Yu Hanjiang retracted his gaze and replied lightly, “It’s nothing. You go sleep first while I take a shower.”

By the time he finished, Xiao Lou had fallen asleep. He was covered with a quilt and breathing well.

The bed prepared by A of Hearts wasn’t high-grade but it was comparable to a standard double room of an ordinary hotel. There were two beds and a table in the middle. Yu Hanjiang walked lightly and lie down on the bed next to Xiao Lou’s bed.

He thought he would lose sleep but he was so tired that he went straight to sleep.

During the days in the 3 of Hearts secret room, the two people had slept in the cold, hard corridor every night without a quilt. They often woke up in the middle of the night. Now it was a luxury to enjoy contact with a soft bed and warm quilt.

They slept with satisfaction.

Xiao Lou slept soundly and was finally woken up by Yu Hanjiang.

The man’s low voice rang in his ears in a rare gentle manner. “Get up, it’s time.”

Xiao Lou opened his eyes in a confused manner and found Yu Hanjiang sitting on the bed and watching him. He rubbed his eyes, sat up and subconsciously asked. ”What time is it?”

“The clock in the room shows that it is eight in the morning.”

However, there was no morning sun outside. There was still a thick white fog that didn’t allow them to tell day or night.

Xiao Lou remembered he was in the Card World, calmly got out of bed, went to the bedroom to wash his face and then headed in front of the card wall.

He would like to sleep for another eight hours but it was better to not violate the rules.

In the real world, oversleeping meant being scolded by your boss at most. Here, oversleeping might mean waking up in the Nightmare Room.

Xiao Lou raised his spirits and looked at the card wall. “Where next?”

Yu Hanjiang wanted to directly pull out 4 of Hearts and continue to solve the murder case. Then he looked back and saw that although Xiao Lou slept for eight hours, the tired look in his eyes couldn’t be hidden and there were obvious dark circles under his eyes. Yu Hanjiang thought about it and his fingers moved to the side, taking out the 3 of Diamonds. “Go in order to Diamonds.”

Even if it was a stable university teacher like Xiao Lou and even if his expression was calm, continuously experiencing a murder case was psychologically unbearable.

It was obvious that Xiao Lou had been very saddened by Ying Xiaoya’s death.

Therefore, Yu Hanjiang gave up on the idea of continuing 4 of Hearts and decided to slow down, choosing the Diamonds room that Xiao Lou was good at.

Group Leader Yu’s fingers were originally going to draw the 4 of Hearts and then suddenly moved to 3 of Diamonds. Xiao Lou understood that Group Leader Yu was thinking of him and his heart slightly warmed as he smiled. “Then we’ll go to Diamonds.”

Yu Hanjiang told him, “I’m not good at the mechanisms. I’ll have to rely on you in the Diamonds room.”

Xiao Lou spoke modestly. “I have only seen most of the mechanisms in secret rooms. Let’s wait and discuss it.”

The two people glanced at each other and stood side by side in front of the card wall.

Soon, their vision darkened at the same time.

[Welcome Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang to the 3 of DIamonds secret room, Character Puzzle.]

Clearance conditions: Unlock 3 mechanisms in the maze.

Perfect clearance conditions: Unlock all hidden mechanisms in the maze.

The instance clearance is limited to one hour and going over this time is considered to be a failure.

The instance clearance score is linked to time. The less time it takes, the higher the score.

The secret room’s tips were very simple and this was also a consistent feature of the Diamonds room. However, Yu Hanjiang had a headache when he recalled the pile of mathematical equations and messy arrows on the wall in the 2 of Diamonds secret room… he had a psychological shadow regarding this wall.

He only hoped that he could follow Professor Xiao to win.