Although Qiguan Yuan and Pei Yubai lived together, Qiguan Yuan was so tired that the two of them went to sleep after washing up.
The next morning, Meng Xu stood in the hotel lobby, holding the folder in his hand.
The guests came down from upstairs one after another.
They were all yawning.
When Pei Yubai and Qiguan Yuan stepped out of the elevator, everyone in the lobby was immediately drawn to them.
Qiguan Yuan was still wearing that dark red robe, his silver hair cascading over his shoulders and down to his waist.
The design hasn't changed much.
But I just can't get tired of looking at it.
Qiguan Yuan's eyes were half-open and half-closed, and he was leaning against Pei Yubai, clearly still half asleep.
Pei Yubai was wearing a thin black jacket, one hand in his pocket and the other hanging naturally at his side, Qiguan Yuan's fingers hooked around his ring finger.
[Starting to show off very early in the morning]
[Boss, isn't it too extravagant for us to have this for breakfast?]
Meng Xu cleared his throat, drawing the guests' attention back to himself, and began to explain today's task.
It's related to the secret realm I mentioned yesterday.
Meng Xu summarized the audience's feedback from the previous episode, saying that although it was a travel variety show, it was too mundane and bland overall.
Travel variety shows can certainly combine travel and entertainment.
So he secretly went to the comments section to find some interesting audience opinions and joined the event.
This secret realm came about in this way; during the week-long gap after the first phase ended, he spent a lot of money to create it.
Listening to the Waves Mansion, a mystery from the Republican era, solved by four groups, an independent track.
When Meng Xu "prohibiting the sharing of clues between different groups," Qiguan Yuan slightly raised his eyelids and glanced at him.
"What would happen if we were caught sharing information?" Meng Xu, adding that points would be deducted.
Qiguan Yuan "Oh," closed his eyes, and buried his face back in Pei Yubai's shoulder.
Whispering to Pei Yubai, "These points are useless to me, so can I break the rules whenever I want?"
Pei Yubai nodded. "That should be true. Meng Xu isn't very bright, so we can take advantage of this rule."
What are you two whispering about?
[Is there anything that I, as a VIP, cannot hear?]
[It seems like they're discussing something rather unpleasant.]
Four groups entered the mansion from different entrances.
Pei Yubai and Qiguan Yuan were assigned to the secret study.
The room was small and unlit; light streamed in through the window, reflecting off the lake and shimmering on the ceiling.
All four walls are lined with bookshelves, stretching from floor to ceiling, crammed full of books.
Qiguan Yuan stood at the door, looked around the room, walked to the desk, picked up the oil lamp, and shook it; there was oil inside.
He struck a match to light the oil lamp, and its orange light illuminated a small area around the desk.
Qiguan Yuan was quite interested in this so-called secret realm.
Pei Yubai rummaged through the bookshelf, pulled out a waterlogging logbook, flipped through it, and handed it to Qiguan Yuan.
Qiguan Yuan took it, read a few pages, and placed it on the table.
He then pulled out a book called "The Book of Light and Shadow" from the bookshelf and flipped through it.
Pei Yubai leaned closer, and the two of them squeezed under the oil lamp to read the same book. Qiguan Yuan's hair brushed against Pei Yubai's chin, tickling him.
[The two acted as if they were a married couple.]
[We've been married for a long time]
[Oh, right, right, just ignore me while you're showing off your love like this, no one else is around! [nosebleed]]
"What's written on this page? Read it to me, Pei Yubai."
Pei Yubai read it aloud once.
Qiguan Yuan hummed in agreement and turned to the next page of the book.
As he turned the page, his fingers brushed against Pei Yubai's hand. He didn't pull them back; he just left them there.
Pei Yubai found a hidden compartment on the bookshelf.
Inside the hidden compartment was a bronze token with the words "Secret Study" engraved on it.
This is their pass token for the first level.
Tsk, what kind of secret realm did Meng Xu create? Is this some kind of elementary school game?
Qiguan Yuan leaned against the desk, holding the oil lamp in his hand. The light shone upwards, making his face appear distinct.
Pei Yubai took the lamp from his hand, switched it to his other hand, and then grasped Qiguan Yuan's hand with the hand closest to Qiguan Yuan.
Their fingers were intertwined.
Pei Yubai was satisfied.
Emerging from the study, one finds a long corridor with windows spaced at intervals along both walls, offering views of the lake.
Qiguan Yuan carried the oil lamp and walked in front, with Pei Yubai walking beside him.
The corridor was narrow; when two people walked side by side, their shoulders touched.
" Yuanyuan," Pei Yubai called out.
Qiguan Yuan hummed in response, without looking at him.
He has excellent eyesight; he can see even when the lamp isn't in his hand.
Pei Yubai picked up the corner of Qiguan Yuan's clothes from behind and dusted it off.
Qiguan Yuan stopped and turned around. Pei Yubai was still holding the hem of his clothes in his hand, and the two were very close.
Qiguan Yuan looked down at the hem of my clothes in Pei Yubai's hand, then looked up at Pei Yubai again. "What are you doing with the hem of my clothes?"
Pei Yubai released his hand. "It's dirty. Let me pat it clean for you."
Qiguan Yuan glanced at the corner of his clothes that had been patted; it was indeed dusty.
The second level is located in the corridor and waterside pavilion.
The corridor is surrounded by the lake on three sides. When the wind blows, ripples appear on the lake's surface, and the sound of the water is rhythmic and gentle.
Qiguan Yuan stood at the entrance of the corridor, tilting his head to listen to the sound of water.
"What did you hear?" Pei Yubai asked. Qiguan Yuan didn't answer, continuing to listen. After a few seconds, he turned to look at Pei Yubai.
The sound of water is in four distinct sections. One person is walking very fast, one person is walking slowly, one person is spinning in circles, and one person is walking further and further away.
He walked along the corridor for a while, counted the pillars, and stopped in front of the fourteenth pillar, which had engravings on its surface.
"These pillars can be moved." He tried to push them, but they didn't budge.
Pei Yubai walked over, placed his hand on the pillar, and pushed it in another direction; the pillar moved.
Qiguan Yuan looked at Pei Yubai's hand pushing the pillar and asked with a smile, "How did you know to push it this way?"
"The direction of the engraving." Pei Yubai pointed to the engraving on the pillar. The engraving was pointing to the left. He pushed it to the left, and the pillar slid into a groove with a click.
Qiguan Yuan leaned against a pillar, watching Pei Yubai push the pillars. Pei Yubai pushed one pillar after another, and Qiguan Yuan didn't help, just watched from the side.
"Aren't you going to help me?" Pei Yubai asked.
Qiguan Yuan shifted to a more comfortable position against the pillar. "I'm keeping watch for you, to prevent anyone from coming over."
Pei Yubai glanced at him. "It's just the two of us here."
Qiguan Yuan smiled and said, "Then I'll supervise the construction for you." Pei Yubai didn't reply and continued pushing the pillar.
Qiguan Yuan watched him push the pillar for a while, then walked away from the pillar and went to the end of the corridor.
There was a wooden door with a combination lock on it.
He dialed four numbers, and the lock opened.
Pei Yubai walked over. " Yuanyuan, how did you know the password?"
Qiguan Yuan turned and glanced at him. "The order in which you push the pillars is the password."
Pei Yubai looked at the pillars he had pushed; there were four in total, from left to right, at positions 4, 2, 0, and 2.
Qiguan Yuan dialed the code corresponding to this set of numbers.
The two progressed rapidly and had already reached the third level.
The third challenge is in the secret room of the master bedroom.
The room was large, with a wooden bed in the center, several wooden crates piled in the corner, and a painting hanging on the wall.
Qiguan Yuan walked up to the painting, took it down, and turned it over to look at the back. There was a piece of paper pasted on the back with a few lines of writing on it.
"The four people from the Listening to the Waves Mansion never disappeared. On a rainy night, they took a boat from the shore, following the northwest wind, to a small town on the other side of the lake. They changed their names and went their separate ways."
Qiguan Yuan finished reading these lines, he tore off the paper and handed it to Pei Yubai.
After reading the words on the paper, Pei Yubai discovered four numbers on the back of the painting.
"7312," Pei Yubai said.
Qiguan Yuan walked to the combination lock at the other end of the room, dialed 7-3-1-2, and the lock opened.
Behind the door was a small, secret room. Inside the room was a table with a wooden box on it.
Qiguan Yuan opened the wooden box, inside was a bronze key with the words "Secret Realm" engraved on it.
Qiguan Yuan took out the key and looked at it in his palm.
The key was covered in green rust, and verdigris clung to his fingers. He put the key back in the box, then walked over to Pei Yubai, carrying the box. "Here you go."
Pei Yubai looked at him. Qiguan Yuan had already looked away, walked to the window and opened it. He squinted at the lake, the wind making his robes flutter.
Pei Yubai walked behind him and closed the window a little smaller.
When they left Listening to the Waves Mansion, the other groups had not yet come out.
Meng Xu stood at the door and paused for a moment when he saw them.
That's not right.
How could it be so fast?
He's already designed it to be extremely difficult.
"You guys cleared the level?" Pei Yubai handed the key to Meng Xu.
Meng Xu took it and looked at it for a moment. "This is the key to the ultimate secret realm. You are the first place winner."
Qiguan Yuan stood next to Pei Yubai, leaning against Pei Yubai, feeling sleepy again. Meng Xu wrote on their completion report, "Highest score overall, awarded hidden reward in the secret realm."
Qiguan Yuan wasn't interested in any of that; he hooked his finger around Pei Yubai's ring finger.
Meng Xu, "How about you go and cause some trouble for the other guests?"
Sure enough, with these two together, his activities were completely uninteresting.
He had originally planned to include a ghost.
The point is to see the guests scrambling and running away in terror.
Before he could even make a move, the two of them came out.
Just then, Pei Yubai's phone rang.
He answered the call.
It was Song Yuan calling.
The film crew needs him to come over for something.
He glanced at Qiguan Yuan.
Before he could say anything, Qiguan Yuan told him to go by himself. It was clear that Qiguan Yuan was more interested in causing trouble for the other guests these days.
Left with no other choice, Pei Yubai had to go by himself.
After Pei Yubai left, Qiguan Yuan stood there for a moment.
Only after Pei Yubai's figure disappeared from sight did he turn his gaze away, glance at Meng Xu, and without saying a word, turn around and walk back into the Listening to the Waves Mansion.
Pei Yubai's photographer followed behind him, carrying his equipment.
His instructions were to film Qiguan Yuan. As for where Qiguan Yuan was going, he didn't know or ask. He just carried the equipment and followed along.
But the moment Qiguan Yuan stepped through the gate of the mansion, his figure disappeared from the camera's view.
The cameraman felt like he was just adjusting the focus, and before he knew it, Qiguan Yuan had completely disappeared.
The photographer stood at the doorway, his lens pointed at the empty corridor, which was dimly lit and stretched endlessly, with no Qiguan Yuan.
He zoomed in and out with the camera, but the corridor was still empty.
He stubbornly walked a few steps forward, entered the mansion, looked around, and saw no one.
He went up to the second floor, but it was empty. He stood in the corridor for a while, then turned around, went downstairs, and returned to the lobby. Qiguan Yuan was not in the lobby.
[???]
[Where is Yuanyuan???]
[Didn't he go in?]
[Photographer, you lost them???]
How could you lose someone so big???
[If you can't do it, let me do it.]
The photographer walked back and forth in the mansion several times, from the first floor to the second floor, and from the second floor to the third floor, searching every room.
His machine was always on, and the camera was always filming.
The viewers in the live stream followed his camera and looked through every corner of the Listening to the Waves Mansion, but they couldn't find Qiguan Yuan.
Qiguan Yuan had already found a quiet room.
The room was on the second floor of the mansion, at the very back. It wasn't big, and it had a window facing the lake. He closed the door, the sound of the door closing very softly.
He walked to the window, placed the oil lamp he was holding on the windowsill, and sat down in the chair.
The chair was made of hard wood, and he leaned back, stretching out his legs.
There was a mask on the table.
The fox mask is white, with pointed ears and red patterns painted on it, and two holes for the eyes.
He picked up the mask, looked at it, and put it on his face.
The mask's string was tied to his silver hair, and the white mask against his red clothes looked surprisingly good.
After the mask was put on, his ears peeked out from the top of the mask; they were silvery-white, furry, and the tips were a little pink.
Its tail also emerged from under its robes, only one tail sticking out, fluffy and white, draped over the back of the chair.
He reached out and scooped up the tail, placing it on his knee, and gently smoothed the fur on it with his fingers.
He ran his fingers from the base of the tail to the tip, stroking it once, and the fur fluffed up again. He stroked it once more.
boring.
As for the cameraman, Qiguan Yuan had long since forgotten about him.
Actually, he didn't even notice that the cameraman had followed him in.
After grooming the fur on the tail, Qiguan Yuan lowered it from his knees and let it drape over the back of the chair.
He stood up from the chair, walked to the door, opened it, and left the room.
There were no lights in the corridor, and the light was dim, making his red clothes appear very dark in the dim light.
A fox mask was worn on her face, and silver hair hung down from both sides of the mask to her waist. Her tail swayed gently behind her, unhurriedly.
He walked forward down the corridor.
The shoes made no sound when they stepped on the floor, and the hem of the robe swept across the floor without making a sound either.
He stopped at the corner of the corridor and heard voices ahead.
It was Shen Yuzhou and Cheng Yanqiu.
Shen Yuzhou's voice came from the front, tinged with anxiety. "The books on this bookshelf are different from before. I remember this row was blue, but now it's red. Did you move them?"
Cheng Yanqiu's voice was calmer than his. "I didn't touch the bookshelf. You're mistaken."
Shen Yuzhou said it was impossible.
We caught two kids who were alone.
Qiguan Yuan stood at the corner, neither speaking nor moving. His tail swayed behind him.
The corridor was dimly lit, Shen Yuzhou didn't see him.
Qiguan Yuan leaned against the wall in the corridor, listening to Shen Yuzhou rummaging through drawers and cabinets inside.
He neither went in nor left; his tail wagged twice, then stopped.