Chapter 41 The Quiz Show (3) p1
Attack, or continue the stalemate?
Zhu Ming stared at Yin Yu for a moment, then, placing a hand on her waist, pulled her closer and pressed her against the tree trunk, reversing their positions.
Yin Yu leaned against the tree, a few leaves fluttering down around her shoulders, the smile on her face a little too genuine.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, dappling the ground. Zhu Ming, shrouded in shadow, leaned closer to Yin Yu, lowering her voice menacingly. “You don’t really think I can’t do anything to you, do you?”
The woman against the tree swayed slightly, like a vine in the breeze, adjusting her position for comfort. Instead of retreating, she tilted her head back, a playful smile on her lips. “What do you want to do to me?”
Good. Very good.
Zhu Ming’s competitive spirit flared. Her hand trailed up Yin Yu’s slender arm, then… with a perfectly straight face, she started tickling her relentlessly.
“Pffft…” Before Yin Yu could react, she burst out laughing, trying to dodge, but the limited space made it impossible.
She hadn’t expected Zhu Ming to resort to tickling. Even a god wouldn’t classify this as an attack.
“Alright, alright! You win! I surrender!” Yin Yu, always pragmatic, quickly conceded defeat.
But having finally gained the upper hand, Zhu Ming wasn’t about to let go so easily. She maintained her serious expression, a cold sneer in her heart. Take that, you troublemaker!
Yin Yu, helpless, her laughter shaking her body, her face flushed, seeing Zhu Ming’s determination to torment her, her eyes sparkling with amusement,
decided to use her usual tactic.
Since she couldn’t escape, she would embrace the situation. Let’s see if Zhu Ming could handle it.
Yin Yu, who had been curled up, suddenly straightened, her chest pressing against Zhu Ming’s, the smooth silk of her qipao brushing against Zhu Ming’s skin. A soft chuckle escaped her lips, the sound lingering in the air.
Zhu Ming abruptly jumped back, creating distance between them. She steadied herself and looked at Yin Yu, who was leaning against the tree, watching her with amusement.
Zhu Ming’s face burned. She pressed her lips together, her voice a mix of embarrassment and anger. “You… shameless!”
But no matter how Zhu Ming treated her, even when insulting her, Yin Yu didn’t seem offended, as if she lacked the emotional responses of a normal person, immune to both desire and pain.
Perhaps because of this, she didn’t seem to consider the consequences of her actions, simply using everything at her disposal, including herself.
The thought made Zhu Ming’s heart clench. She looked into Yin Yu’s clear, dispassionate eyes, devoid of malice or any other emotion, only amusement.
Dappled sunlight danced around them like butterflies. As the flush faded from Yin Yu’s cheeks, her expression returning to its usual serene mask, the turmoil in Zhu Ming’s heart subsided, replaced by a cold indifference.
This Yin Yu… she wasn’t human, no matter how human she appeared.
“Having fun?” Zhu Ming took a couple of steps back, sneering. “Fine. You win. Let’s see how long you can keep this up.”
She turned and walked away.
“Nice new weapon,” Yin Yu called out from behind her.
Zhu Ming didn’t stop, didn’t even acknowledge the comment, but she understood. Being able to bring a weapon into the instance meant there would be opportunities for combat.
…
Zhu Ming returned to the front of the temple and placed the empty clay pot on the table.
“Where’s the water?” Deng Yan asked, seeing Zhu Ming return empty-handed. The other two teams had successfully brought back water. They had all gone in the same direction. Why hadn’t Zhu Ming?
Zhu Ming replied, “There was a… slight mishap. Let’s look at the other clues first.”
Deng Yan looked displeased but didn’t press the issue. “Fine. Go ahead. The murals are simple. They might be clues for the poetry question. Nothing else seems important. I searched the dormitories. They’re all the same, just a single bed in each. The placement of the beds is interesting, but I don’t know what it means. I didn’t enter the other teams’ rooms, so I don’t know if they’re the same. However…”
She lowered her voice. “I found a passage leading underground. In our dormitory.”
Zhu Ming: “You didn’t go in?”
Deng Yan: “I didn’t dare go alone. I was waiting for you.”
Zhu Ming: “Alright, we’ll go down together later.”
“Okay.”
They fell silent, having little else to say to each other. They were strangers, forced to work together by the instance.
Zhu Ming turned to look at the smaller statue inside the temple. She walked over and circled it, examining it closely. It was “small” only in comparison to the one outside, still taller than a person, and, being indoors, protected from the elements, much more intricate and detailed. Offerings of fruit, flowers, and other items surrounded it, piled high like a small mountain.
The six-armed goddess statue was in the same pose as the larger one, but there were four additional stone carvings at its feet: a frog, a snake, an owl, and a human. These smaller statues, all kneeling in poses of reverence, complemented the murals on the walls.
The murals were simple. The one on the left depicted a group of snakes, frogs, owls, and humans attacking the six-armed goddess, who sent large birds, gorillas, and monkey-like creatures to fight them. The goddess emerged victorious, the snakes dismembered, the frogs bleeding, the owls thrown into a fire, and the humans surrendering, becoming her devout followers.
Zhu Ming then looked at the mural on the right. This one was much more peaceful, depicting the goddess as a benevolent ruler.
Her sword and shield were invincible. She held the moon aloft, illuminating the night, her ruler guiding their work, her book and lyre teaching them knowledge and art. Simple human figures, holding flowers and fruit, danced and sang around her. Behind them, the snakes, frogs, and owls had also become her followers, while the large birds and beasts that had fought for her stood beside her, sharing in the offerings, a scene of harmony and prosperity.
Zhu Ming looked closely at the mural on the left. The long beaks and slender legs of the large birds looked exactly like the herons at the lake. She thought for a moment. She knew how to get the water now.
She picked up the clay pot and left again, returning a short while later with a pot of clear water.
Yun Zouchuan, seeing only water and no soil, was puzzled. “Is it all sand outside?”
Zhu Ming shook her head. “There’s soil, but it doesn’t seem… right. Let’s wait. I want to find clean soil.”
Yun Zouchuan said, “By the way, someone from the Sword and Shield Team came over and asked me how to plant the seeds. I told him to bury them in soil and water them every day, not too much, not too little. I don’t know if he understood.”
“Whatever.”
…
Outside the temple, the Sword and Shield Team…
The triplets were digging in a damp patch of ground.
Zhao Shanhai, the oldest, asked his brothers, “Did you get it?”
Zhao Shanhu, the youngest and most cunning of the three, shook his head. “That girl is watching too closely. No opportunity.”
In the minds of most people, women were easy targets, especially the all-female team next door, whose member seemed to be an expert in the first task.
This was too good an opportunity to pass up. They had initially intended to just ask the Moon Team for help with the cultivation task, but Zhao Shanhu had a brilliant idea, remembering Examiner Yaya’s words: The gods’ favor is limited. The lower your scores on the first three tasks, the more difficult the final task will be.
He pulled his brothers aside and explained his theory. “It’s obvious. This is a competition. The higher the team’s score, the better the reward. Since the reward is a fixed amount, it means that if one team gets more, the other teams get less. Even if all four teams get perfect scores, we’ll only get a quarter of the reward. And the reward is linked to completing the instance, so we have to get the most rewards!”
Zhao Shanhai smacked him on the head. “Get to the point!”
Zhao Shanhu rubbed his head. “None of us are good at these tasks. No matter what we do, our score will be low. But that doesn’t mean we can’t get the most rewards. As long as the other teams’ scores are even lower, we’ll get the biggest share.”
Zhao Shanhe’s eyes widened in understanding. “Little brother, you’re so smart!”
The three identical-looking men huddled together, whispering, and decided to target the Moon Team first. Zhao Shanhu came up with a brilliant plan to increase their team’s score, lower the Moon Team’s score, and avoid arousing suspicion.
After all, the exam lasted for several days. If the other team retaliated and sabotaged their work, it would be disastrous.
His plan was to switch the seeds.
He had observed that each team had one seed, and they all looked the same.
But when they submitted their finished work, since each team was assigned different herbs, the Moon Team’s plant would be counted towards the Sword and Shield Team’s score, achieving their goal effortlessly.
Delighted by his younger brother’s plan, Zhao Shanhai slapped him on the back. “You’re the smartest of us three! Good job! We’ll do as you say!”
They split up. Zhao Shanhai went to get water, while Zhao Shanhe and Zhao Shanhu tried to switch the seeds.
But Yun Zouchuan had the seed in her pocket, her hand never leaving it, sitting there motionless. They had to abandon their plan for now.
Zhao Shanhai rubbed his buzz cut. “We’ll switch the seeds when they plant it. If that doesn’t work, we’ll find a chance to dig it up and replace it.”
“Alright, let’s do it.”
The three brothers returned to the temple with the soil, only to find a small pot of water on the Moon Team’s table, the flowerpot empty.
How could they plant anything without soil? And how could they switch the seeds if nothing was planted?
Zhao Shanhe asked with feigned concern, “You’ve got the water. Why aren’t you planting the herbs yet? What if you run out of time and they don’t grow? Look, we have so much soil. We can share some with you.”
Yun Zouchuan shook her head. “Our team leader said she’ll find clean soil.”
Although the three brothers looked identical, their personalities were distinct. Zhao Shanhai was aggressive, Zhao Shanhe was straightforward, and Zhao Shanhu was cunning.
Now, the aggressive Zhao Shanhai forced a friendly smile, pulling his brother back. “Why are you so enthusiastic? You’ll scare them! Mind your own business! And look at the soil you dug up! It’s all rocks and sand! Go and dig some more!”
Zhao Shanhe felt wronged. Big brother, they had all dug the soil together!
Zhao Shanhu quickly pushed his brother away. “Go on, big brother! Go dig some more soil!” Stop making things worse!
…
Zhu Ming and Deng Yan were busy with something else. In the center of their dormitory room was a square trapdoor leading to a dark passage.
They descended the stairs. As they were completely enveloped by darkness, they realized their suppressed abilities were restored.
Faint purple fluorescent stones, embedded in the walls at intervals, provided minimal illumination, just enough to see the path ahead.
They walked for about five minutes, then the passage widened, leading to a three-way intersection: left, forward, and right.
They chose the left path, which soon led to another intersection.
This was clearly a maze. Not daring to venture too deep, they returned to the surface.
Back at their table, Wenren Tu had also returned, covered in sweat. It was the hottest part of the day. Her bangs were plastered to her forehead.
“Couldn’t find any metal, just wood.”
To forge a dagger, they needed metal, a hammer, and a mold. They could theoretically have Yun Zouchuan hammer the metal manually if they couldn’t find a hammer, but even then, it seemed impossible.
Half a day had passed, and the Moon Team hadn’t completed a single task. The other teams weren’t doing much better. Only the Ruler Team had planted their seed.
Driven by hunger and thirst, the participants gathered in the main hall.
The newcomers, unfamiliar with instance etiquette, looked around the empty hall and asked, “When is the examiner taking us to eat?”
There were dormitories and bathrooms here, but no dining hall.
The heat made their hunger and thirst even more unbearable.
Zhao Shanhai said, “I don’t think it’s coming back. It’s just messing with us.”
Zhao Shanhu agreed. “Exactly. Restricting food is a common tactic in instances, forcing everyone to participate. If we want to eat, we have to find it ourselves.”
Zhao Shanhe pointed at the offerings surrounding the smaller statue. “What about these?”
Despite his suggestion, no one dared to touch them. Examiner Yaya had repeatedly emphasized the gods’ importance in this instance. What if eating their offerings was a taboo?
Everyone was hesitant, but no one touched the offerings.
While the others were gathered around the statue, Yin Yu, who had been sitting at her table, suddenly stood up and walked towards the dormitories, Tu Wei following closely behind. The newcomer in their team quickly followed.
Zhu Ming said, “Let’s go back to the dormitory. The food is underground.”
Wenren Tu, having just returned, didn’t know about the underground passage. Confused, she was dragged along.
Then the members of Bai Lianxue’s team also headed towards the dormitories, the Zhao brothers following suit.
Within moments, all four teams had decided to explore the underground maze. There was no food above ground except for the offerings around the statue, and while there were birds in the oasis outside, it was unclear who would be eating whom.
Zhu Ming, Wenren Tu, and Deng Yan descended the winding staircase. Hearing it was a maze, Wenren Tu said, “We need to stick together. Don’t wander off. We could get separated.”
Deng Yan suddenly asked, “What if we can’t find our way out?”
Wenren Tu replied, “We’ll find a way. If all else fails, we’ll just follow the wall.”
Deng Yan shook her head. “Give me your hands.”
She touched Zhu Ming and Wenren Tu’s hands. A compass-like symbol appeared on each of their hands. Although it was just a drawing, the needle moved. How strange.
Deng Yan explained, “My ability is called ‘Human Compass.’ No matter where you are, the red arrow always points towards the anchor point. I’ve set the anchor point on this stone.” It could be used on both people and objects, incredibly useful for regrouping.
“If you get lost, just follow the compass back.”
Zhu Ming suddenly turned to her. “Why don’t you switch with Yun Zouchuan? You can watch over our table.” A support-type ability like hers was better suited for a safer environment.
Deng Yan, having had the same thought, nodded. “Alright. I also want to take another look at the poetry question.”
But the moment she reached the surface, the compass symbols on Zhu Ming and Wenren Tu’s hands vanished. Deng Yan and Yun Zouchuan had to carry the exam papers and all their tools into the dormitory.
Deng Yan sat on the stairs by the entrance, maintaining her ability. If anyone entered, she could immediately see them.
As for Zhu Ming, Wenren Tu, and Yun Zouchuan, they followed the left-hand rule, venturing deeper into the maze.
…
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