"Welcome to Nanfeng Mountain Manor in City C. Your mission will be complete once you solve all the escape room puzzles and deduce the storyline recreated by the production team."
"A friendly reminder from the production team: there are NPCs inside. Please don't hurt them by mistake."
As soon as the announcement ended, staff members opened the manor gates.
The six guests and all their camera operators entered.
The gates were tall and heavy. A chilly breath of air swept out the instant they opened. Jiang Nuo's expression shifted slightly as he glanced at the two stone lions flanking them.
A copper coin slipped from his cuff and landed nearby, right beside a stone lion's foot.
Si Yan noticed and turned to look at Jiang Nuo, who winked at him as though nothing had happened.
The gates closed.
The manor had four courtyards. The plaque over the main courtyard directly ahead read "Shared Courtyard," and posted signs directed them inside.
Only when everyone entered the first escape room did the show officially begin.
"It's so dark..."
Yang Xiaoxiao rubbed her eyes, struggling a little to adjust.
Every time she entered a place like this, she found it dark and cold.
Once their eyes adjusted to the darkness, everyone discovered a huge black-and-white photograph in the middle of the wall, starting from the entrance they had come through.
There were six people in the photograph. They looked like a family of five, with someone dressed as a nanny at the far side.
A stand sat beneath it, seemingly a control console.
Intent on stealing Jiang Nuo's limelight this episode, Tian Dong was about to step forward for a closer look when he stepped on something round. He cried out and fell to the floor.
"What was that?!"
He hurriedly scrambled up. Still haunted by the previous episode, he immediately broke out in goosebumps all over.
Jiang Nuo picked up what had tripped him. "It's a round ceramic doll."
He poked it with his finger and discovered a line of writing underneath.
"I don't really like the person who just joined us."
What a completely irrelevant statement.
"There's one here too." Si Yan picked up another. "I have the greatest responsibility, and it weighs on me every day."
The two exchanged a glance, then both looked at the photograph.
Jiang Nuo rubbed his chin. "Could each doll correspond to a family member?"
"I found one too!"
Chu Xiu called out, "My responsibilities are complete."
After looking over the photograph, Chu Xiu said, "It should be the oldest father."
The others all began searching for ceramic dolls.
They eventually found all six in the room, confirming Jiang Nuo's guess: the six ceramic dolls each corresponded to a family member in the photograph.
"Put the dolls on the stand in the order they're standing in the photo!" Tian Dong finally spoke up, shouting toward the camera, feeling very clever.
His fans obligingly praised him in the bullet comments.
The guests began discussing how to arrange them. Jiang Nuo handed his ceramic doll to Lin Yu and let them arrange it, standing quietly at the back to wait.
He genuinely had no idea.
Lin Yu read out the remaining words.
"I still can't read the words here, and I often wake up at two in the morning."
He hesitated for a while, then discussed it with Tian Dong and placed the doll in the baby's position.
The line on Yang Xiaoxiao's doll read, "There are two males I love deeply in this family."
"Oh," she said. "That would be the baby brother and the husband, right? In that case, it could be either the wife or the daughter in the photo."
Yang Xiaoxiao instinctively looked at Jiang Nuo. "What do you think, Brother Jiang?"
"I don't know. Maybe... the daughter."
Jiang Nuo gave a random answer, looking a little distracted.
Something seemed to occur to Lin Yu. He tugged at Yang Xiaoxiao's sleeve. "Put it in the wife's spot. The daughter should be the one who doesn't welcome the newcomer. Let's not ask Jiang Nuo about this."
He looked very considerate.
The final line was, "I have little connection to this place."
Tian Dong placed it beneath the person wearing a nanny's uniform. Seeing Jiang Nuo stumped for once, he immediately raised his voice. "Aren't you supposed to be so amazing, Jiang Nuo? How come you don't even know this?"
Si Yan looked at him coldly, his voice clear and cool. "You talk too much."
"I..." Tian Dong choked. He simply couldn't understand why Si Yan was willing to associate with Jiang Nuo.
He was such a big star. Being with currently popular celebrities like them would generate buzz!
LMAO, Jiang Nuo's an orphan. Of course he can't figure it out! Hahahahaha!
Fuck your mother, how come Jiang Nuo's dragging them down now?! He can't even do something this easy. Oh, he's an orphan. Never mind then, hehe.
Lin Yu's still speaking up for Jiang Nuo even after they ignored him! Truly the white moonlight of the Chinese entertainment industry! Get on your knees and learn from him, Jiang Nuo! Rude bastard!
The shameless crowd couldn't stand watching anymore.
The haters above have such filthy mouths. Was there nobody at home to teach you manners? Are you orphans too??
Show some decency. With insults that nasty, watch out for backlash!
Soon, all six ceramic dolls were settled into the grooves on the stand, and the mechanism rattled.
The old incandescent light began flickering.
The mechanism opened, revealing a wooden box containing a note and an engraved code for the exit.
Tian Dong picked up the note and read it aloud.
"At two in the morning, I woke to find everything quiet. Only that crying was missing. I realized my child was gone. I couldn't accept it, and it was all because of him!!! He's still here!! Why should he get to stay?!"
Reading it made his skin crawl for no apparent reason, and he tossed the note back.
"Let's just hurry up and solve the code so we can go to the next room."
But Jiang Nuo suddenly moved.
The moment the passage had been read aloud, he had distinctly felt the yin energy in the room fluctuate.
He patted Si Yan's hand, signaling for him to let go, then followed the aura of yin energy and resentment to where it was strongest.
It was in a corner facing the photograph, partway up the wall, where adults would normally have trouble noticing it.
Jiang Nuo crouched and felt along it.
"What are you doing?! Acting all spooky! The door's already open!"
Seeing him acting on his own again, Tian Dong urged him on impatiently.
"Do you have to make everyone wait just for you?! Jiang Nuo, you-"
Bang!
A ceramic doll hurtled past Tian Dong, grazing his neck before smashing into the wall and shattering.
Yang Xiaoxiao gave a quiet cry of alarm.
Tian Dong's pupils contracted in fright, and he glared at Jiang Nuo.
Jiang Nuo withdrew his hand and slowly raised his head, lifting his eyelids to look over. His ink-black eyes held no warmth.
"You're noisy." Noisy enough to irritate him a little.
Tian Dong trembled all over, somewhat intimidated.
This man was insane!! He was trying to kill someone!
The atmosphere froze for several seconds. Lin Yu hadn't expected Jiang Nuo to dare clash directly with another guest either.
Is Jiang Nuo trying to kill someone?! Lunatic! Psycho!
Fucking idiot! If you hurt Tian Dong, forget ever working in entertainment again!
??? I'm lost. What kind of asshole is Jiang Nuo? Does he have mania?
The bullet comments were flooded with abuse. Only the shameless crowd took an unusual tack.
Holy shit, that move was so cool!!
So Jiang Nuo's the innocent-on-the-outside, dark-on-the-inside type?! I like it!
Si Yan cast a cold glance at Tian Dong, then walked over to Jiang Nuo and crouched beside him.
"Don't be angry," Si Yan said. Copying Jiang Nuo, he stroked his hair too. "I'm here with you."
Sure enough, his little lucky star was the best-behaved.
The agitation in Jiang Nuo's expression subsided, and he lowered his head again to continue feeling along the corner.
He had a feeling that, with such heavy yin energy and resentment, whatever was inside would set its sights on them even if they left, unless they dealt with it.
The production team really knew how to pick locations. Each was more sinister than the last.
With a click, a patch of plaster suddenly fell away, exposing what lay inside.