Accommodation

"No new mission."

Those five short words explained everything.

Zheng Wuyou had discovered that Navy Blue Pajamas was handsome and had a sharp mind.

He just refused to open his golden mouth.

But whenever he spoke, it was crucial.

"So, do we have to stay at Old Zhu's family until five o'clock for it to count as complete?" Bangs Woman anxiously stared at the tightly shut wooden door, a thought of climbing over the wall flashing through her mind.

"Little sister, hurry up and think of another way!" The uncle in capri pants placed his hopes on the brown ear-length short-haired girl.

She had accurately found Old Zhu's family.

That at least proved she was capable.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. How did you know this was Old Zhu's family? And how are we supposed to complete this lousy mission?" The burly man hurriedly echoed.

Clinging to someone powerful was an unspoken understanding among gamers.

"I can't guarantee that everything I say is right. We still have time, so everyone should think first."

Zheng Wuyou did not want to be too absolute, and this was also a tactful refusal.

After all, if they made one wrong move, all the blame would fall on her.

Whether or not it had been their request.

Chi Ao Chi Yin had said that they could clear the level once the countdown ended or once they met the clearance conditions.

So time was not the only way to clear the level.

Zheng Wuyou turned her gaze to the five Lists in Navy Blue Pajamas's hand. Something had definitely been overlooked!

[Accommodation has also been arranged for everyone]

Three snakes meet their master...

They had been so focused on finding Old Zhu's family that they had completely overlooked the rooms she had deduced!

The apparent clearance condition might have been to find Old Zhu's family.

But the hidden condition was actually to find their accommodations!

For example, One Sheep Enters Alone Sun about to feed!

Didn't that mean that the person with the sheep zodiac had to enter alone before five o'clock, into the room of East Feast West Firecracker?

She looked down at her watch. There were fifteen minutes left.

Before this, Bangs Woman had tried climbing over the wall into Old Zhu's family, but the wall was nearly two meters high, and there was currently nothing they could use as a foothold.

Even working together with the man in sportswear, she had failed to climb over it.

They could only return dejectedly and work with everyone to decipher the riddles on the paper.

The uncle in capri pants had dragged Toothless Pajama Man around Old Zhu's family's outer wall in a full circle, but they had not found any usable point of entry either.

"Who has the sheep zodiac?" Zheng Wuyou snatched the List marked One Sheep Enters Alone from Navy Blue Pajamas's hand and immediately questioned everyone who had gathered again.

"Little sister, what's wrong?" The uncle in capri pants had just returned to the group and poked his head out at her in confusion.

How had the zodiac become involved now?

"I can't guarantee that I'm completely right, but if you trust me, Uncle, we can try."

"Listen to me. Take this List by yourself to the room across from us, the second room east of the Wooden House when counting forward. Find the place where firecrackers would be hung and stand there."

"The second room? Little sister, are you kidding? There aren't any firecrackers in sight." Half confused and half understanding, the uncle in capri pants turned back and looked at the rooms behind him along the Stone Path.

Although it was only a short distance away across from them, everything at the entrance could still be seen at a glance.

The doorway was full of clutter.

Where would there be firecrackers?

Zheng Wuyou naturally knew there were no firecrackers.

After observing for so long, she knew their only route was to find the most likely place for firecrackers to be hung.

"Big Sister, I know..." The Little Girl, who had always been introverted and shy, tugged at Zheng Wuyou's sleeve.

But she pointed toward the left side of the wooden door across from them.

Hmm?

How did this Little Girl know?

Everyone followed the direction of her finger and looked over. That place was the same as Old Zhu's family.

Other than walls piled from Black Soil.

It was completely bare, with nothing there.

"Huh? You say you know? Stop joking around." The burly man looked at the Little Girl suspiciously. When he had failed to find the firecrackers, he had even suspected something was wrong with his eyes.

Kids this age loved making up stories to deceive people in games.

"I'm not joking!" When the Little Girl saw everyone's eyes fixed on her—

She shrank farther behind Zheng Wuyou.

Hiding behind her, she spoke in a muffled voice.

"When the sun turned red just now, firecrackers were hanging there! And two Red-faced Dolls were standing at the neighboring house, watching us the whole time!"

Another hand stretched out from behind Zheng Wuyou, pointing toward the first room on the east side.

Red-faced Dolls...

One dog meets river Sun about to feed, East displays wedding dolls dwelling new fetus.

That sentence really did refer to the first room on the east side!

The Little Girl had not examined the Lists in detail, so there was no reason for her to fabricate something nonexistent to deceive everyone.

Yet she knew which rooms held the firecrackers and the wedding dolls.

She could only have stated such details accurately if she had seen them with her own eyes.

So the appearance of the Red Sun was actually hinting at everyone's locations?

"She wasn't wrong." Navy Blue Pajamas folded his arms across his chest, still holding the remaining four Lists.

"Don't be afraid. You're a lucky star." Zheng Wuyou crouched halfway and affectionately rubbed her hair.

At the time, everyone's attention had been focused inside the doors.

Who could have guessed that the clearance requirements were outside?

The Little Girl seemed very happy about this and smiled, revealing two little canine teeth.

Although the uncle in capri pants was only half convinced, he still followed the position the Little Girl had described, took his List, and stood to the left of the wooden door.

Time quickly reached 4:54 in the afternoon.

There were only six minutes left until five o'clock.

And they had only just assigned the man in sportswear his position.

The man in sportswear stood beneath the eaves of the first room on the east side.

Ever since hearing the Little Girl say that two Red-faced Dolls stood on either side, he had felt faint breaths brushing against him.

Even though Toothless Pajamas and the burly man did not believe it—

They still stood at the entrance of the third room on the east side, one on each side of the doorway beneath the Willow Tree swaying in the wind.

Bangs Woman led the short woman to stand at the alley entrance beside the third room on the west side. Behind them was the path leading to the dried-up vegetable garden.

Zheng Wuyou and the other two stood directly in front of the Wooden House.

Because the Little Girl had only seen the Red-faced Dolls, the firecrackers, and where the wine jars were placed—

The three of them could only rely on instinct and stand at the Wooden House's entrance, waiting to knock on each household's wooden door together with everyone else.

The entire world was especially quiet at this moment.

Other than the occasional startled bird cries from halfway up the mountain, only the synchronized tick-tock of nine watches remained.

Zheng Wuyou took a deep breath and looked at the already closed door of the Wooden House's Main Hall.

She silently counted to five once more.

When she reached three—

She raised her hand.

Making a gesture for three.

Two...

One...

Five wooden doors were knocked on at the same time.

Rhythmic knocking echoed throughout the mountainside.

Everyone waited uneasily for the outcome, waiting for the wooden doors before them to open in response.

But...

The wooden doors did not move at all, as though the homeowners were not there.

The minute hands on their watches had already reached 59.

The second hands were about to make their final rotation.

Everyone was incomparably tense, praying for the wooden doors before them to open quickly.

They pinned their hopes on this final minute.

The wooden doors did not open.

A wave of thick smoke drifted past.

The Red Sun once again hung high in the sky.