Recap
He was deep in thought when suddenly there was a sharp and harsh ringing outside.
The sound is loud and sharp, and can be heard clearly in the room.
Then noisy footsteps sounded in the corridor.
Shen Xiuzhe, who had been sitting quietly on the bed, suddenly reacted violently. He didn’t even take off his clothes, just covered himself with the quilt and lay down on the bed.
He covered the little speaker and signaled for him to be silent.
Chu Shici’s mind was filled with questions.
What’s wrong?
Did someone fight their way in, or did someone run out?
___
After about three minutes, the ringing stopped. The chaotic and noisy footsteps also disappeared.
The little speaker shook the charging cable carefully, and after just a few waves, Shen Xiuzhe grabbed the plug.
He lay on his side on the bed motionless, even his breathing was much quieter.
The surroundings were extremely quiet and the atmosphere was extremely strange, making Chu Shici inexplicably nervous.
He didn’t know how long it took, but a ‘ding——’ sound suddenly came from the corridor.
Then there was the sound of wheels rubbing against the ground, two people were pushing a cart.
A voice sounded from far away, and Chu Shici leaned against Shen Xiuzhe’s chest. He noticed that Zhe-ge’s heartbeat was gradually accelerating.
The car stopped when it reached their door.
Shen Xiuzhe put down the little speaker and changed his posture to make it easier to jump out. The muscles all over his body were tense, and his aura changed instantly.
He transformed from a delicate and fragile doll into a vicious wolf dormant in the darkness. It seemed like the next second would break the person’s neck.
Chu Shici was shocked.
Judging from Zhe-ge’s movements, he is obviously a good fighter. It’s not surprising if you think about it carefully. In the past few worlds, Zhe-ge could still fight a group of people even if his combat power was not at its peak.
This seems to be an inherent attribute of his soul.
But Shen Xiuzhe was so good at fighting, how did he get caught?
Seeing that a fight was about to begin, the little speaker waved the plug in the air.
Whoever dared to touch Zhe-ge, he will poke their eyes out with his plug.
The next second, Chu Shici heard the door open.
But it wasn’t their door that opened, but the door opposite.
As the door opened, a man’s screams echoed in the corridor.
He kept scratching the walls and shouted in terror, “Don’t kill me! I will work hard to make money, don’t take me away! Please, let me go!”
“Help! Please don’t hit me, let me go home! Don’t kill me! Mom, Mom, I want to go home!!!”
The man sounded at least thirty years old. He was so frightened that he collapsed. At first he was begging for mercy, but in the end he just instinctively cried out for his mother.
The man’s shouts became smaller and smaller, and with the “ding” of the elevator, the corridor returned to calm again.
Shen Xiuzhe’s body relaxed again. He had no intention of discussing it and seemed to be used to it.
He lay back on the bed, picked up the little speaker and prepared to sleep.
Chu Shici poked his finger with the plug, lowered his voice and asked in a low voice: “Zhe-ge, what happened just now?”
Shen Xiuzhe didn’t answer.
“Where are they going to take that man? Dig a hole and bury him?”
“You seem to know what’s going to happen. Does this happen often?”
Chu Shici’s mind was filled with little questions.
He asked a lot of questions, but Shen Xiuzhe just replied coldly, “It’s not a cart, it’s a transfer stretcher.”
Then he put the little speaker beside him and turned his back to him.
Chu Shici thought for a moment, “Is it the kind of stretcher with small wheels?”
Shen Xiuzhe hummed, “How do you know? You’ve never left here.”
“I am an Internet-enabled smart speaker. I have been online before, so I know a lot.”
After all, this was the first time he saw a living speaker. With no reference, Shen Xiuzhe couldn’t tell whether he was lying.
Seeing that Zhe-ge had no intention of delving further, Chu Shici continued to ask, “That man screamed so miserably, where are they going to take him? Do you know?”
No one answered him and the room was quiet.
Just when Chu Shici was wondering whether to continue asking, Shen Xiuzhe’s cold voice came from the darkness.
“Listening to the sound of the bell before, it should be taking him to the monster room.”
Chu Shici stared blankly, “Monster room? Are there monsters in this world?!”
“I just heard people say that. I have never been there and don’t know what is inside. But the people who were taken there have not come back. After a while, new people will live in the opposite room.”
Shen Xiuzhe paused, pursed his lips and sneered.
“Wrong. It should be said that new people are being imprisoned.”
Shen Xiuzhe was not interested in these topics. After he finished speaking, he covered himself with the quilt and fell into a deep sleep.
The little speaker is next to him, fiddling with his plug and thinking hard.
He read the original novel from beginning to end. The background of this novel is a city set in the modern era and does not involve any supernatural or fantasy elements.
So where did the monsters come from?
Or is it that the monster room is actually just a name?
Shen Xiuzhe didn’t know the situation, so it was useless to ask him.
Chu Shici was thinking about it halfway when he suddenly thought of something.
Zhe-ge said that he knew about the ‘Monster Room’ because he heard someone mention it.
He was the only one in the room, and those who imprisoned him had a bad attitude, making it impossible to make small talk with him.
Who told him that?
Zhe-ge was already asleep. He had been tired for a day, and Chu Shici didn’t have the heart to disturb him.
There are more and more doubts, and the situation is not looking good. Even if Zhe-ge could fight before, now that he can’t see anything, his strength will be greatly weakened.
Chu Shici felt that this wave was not going to work. Only when his vitality value reaches 80 and he turns back into a human can they have a chance of winning.
If they don’t survive now, the team battle will definitely be lost.
He gave all the money he saved from completing tasks to the system to let it find a way to get a plug-in.
The system rubbed its hands in embarrassment, [I have seen the trading market in the junior forum. If you want to buy other plug-ins, you have to go to the advanced forum. There were so many people from the Supervision Department there that I didn’t dare go there.]
‘After the mission in this world is completed, my share of the money will be yours. Come on Tong-ge, you are the best!’
As soon as he heard that there was a lot of money to be made, the system gritted its teeth and patted its chest and promised that it would definitely bring back something good for the young couple.
It happened that there were only a few people on duty in the Supervision Department at night, so it rushed over, bought the plug-in and ran away.
Chu Shici waited for it until midnight, but couldn’t hold on and fell asleep.
Early the next morning, the system woke him up.
[My treasure, I got something good for you! I bought it under the nose of the Supervision Department. Praise me! Praise me!]
‘Tong-ge is awesome!’
After deducting the handling fee, the system returns the remaining money to him.
The new plug-in is called ‘Universal Ear’. It is a high-end product and the instructions are very convoluted.
The system gave him a summary.
After pressing it, the sound emitted or received by the radio, mobile phone, TV, and computer within a certain range can all be heard by the little speaker.
However, because there may be many people using these things in the same search scope and at the same time, the plug-in has limitations.
Only one receiver can be selected at a time, and only one of the given serial numbers can be chosen to eavesdrop on. If he wants to listen to something else, he’ll need to switch the receiver.
Although it is not a combat plug-in, it is a way for obtaining information, and Chu Shici thinks it is quite good.
While Shen Xiuzhe was washing up in the bathroom, he went to the backend to take a look.
There is an extra small program in the backend running with a row of buttons.
Among them, the buttons for radio, mobile phone and computer are all black, indicating that no one is using them nearby.
Chu Shici clicked on the TV option. There was only a serial number ‘1’ written in it, only one TV was on.
It’s too early now, it’s only around five o’clock in the morning, and not a lot of people are watching TV.
In the spirit of trying out new functions, Chu Shici yawned sleepily and chose to eavesdrop on the serial number ‘1’.
A female host’s voice soon came from the little speaker.
[# The police received a call early this morning. Some citizens working the night shift found a male body in the trash can. The identity of the deceased is still under investigation. #]
[# An urgent news is coming in. At 23:34 last night, a tourist bus exploded. Let’s connect with the on-site reporters. Hello Reporter Yang. #]
[# Hello, you can see the burning bus behind me, the firefighters are still trying their best to put out the fire. #]
[# Because it was late at night and the location was too remote, there were no witnesses around. It was not until 4 o’clock this morning that nearby villagers discovered the accident and called the police. According to the tour company, there were supposed to be 55 tourists and 2 staff members on board the vehicle. #]
[# How is the rescue operation going? #]
[# Only the bodies of three victims were found at the scene, the other passengers in the bus are all missing. #]
After the urgent news ended, the TV broadcast a few more daily news.
Chu Shici wanted to hear it again, but the news was suddenly cut off. He went back to the backend and looked around. All buttons had their lights turned off.
The people watching the TV had turned it off after watching this news.
Chu Shici exited the backend and smacked his lips while thinking to himself.
There were only 3 bodies left in the bus with 57 people.
After the explosion, the fire was so intense that it was difficult for those people to run out on their own.
Unless these 54 people got off the bus before the explosion, but this was a tour bus and they had no reason to get off.
It couldn’t be a simple accident, there must be something fishy.
He doesn’t know if the news that he had heard had anything to do with them.
Chu Shici was deep in thought when a cold voice suddenly came from above his head.
“Did you broadcast the news just now?”
Shen Xiuzhe had come out of the bathroom at some point. He wiped the water droplets from his hair, and his face didn’t look good.
Chu Shici nodded, and halfway through, he realized that not only could Zhe-ge not see it, the little speaker had no head either.
He put the plug into Zhe-ge’s hand and pretended that they were holding hands.
Before Shen Xiuzhe came to his senses, he told him the functions of the plug-in.
After hearing this, Shen Xiuzhe tilted his head in surprise.
The news they heard was too strange and he needed some time to digest it.
After two seconds, he rubbed the little speaker’s plug with his fingertips and said, “I have heard the voice of that host before. She is the regular female host of ‘Daily Morning’. That news program starts at 5 o’clock. Why do people here wake up at 5 o’clock to watch the morning news?”
No one answered his question, Chu Shici couldn’t figure it out either.
Seeing that Zhe-ge was willing to talk now, he quickly took the opportunity to ask his question, “Do you think that the missing people are possibly captured by the people who imprisoned you?”
“Not sure.”
Chu Shici changed the question and looked at the collar around his neck, “Zhe-ge, where is this place? How were you captured?”
Shen Xiuzhe was silent for a moment, “I don’t know.”
Chu Shici was stunned, “Ah? Which one do you not know?”
“When I woke up, I found myself locked in a room with no windows or any way to communicate with the outside world. The only exit was a door locked from the outside. A group of people held me down and held me at knifepoint, asking me to start painting for them from that day onwards.”
Shen Xiuzhe sat on the chair with a calm expression.
“No one told me where this place is, they just told me to paint. I don’t know what the paintings are used for.”
“?? How long have you been imprisoned?”
“There is no way to keep track of time here. I can only determine the time by the sound of the lights getting turned on and off and eating three meals a day. But what I noticed is that the time for turning off the lights is different every day, and the length of time between meals is not fixed.”
Shen Xiuzhe tapped his finger on the table, “So I don’t know how many days I have been detained.”
Chu Shici: ???
System: [???]
At first, Shen Xiuzhe didn’t answer. Chu Shici thought he didn’t want to say anything. He didn’t expect that Zhe-ge really didn’t know anything.
The imprisonment came so suddenly, as soon as he blinked, he changed from a world-renowned painter to a victim.
Chu Shici’s mind was in a state of confusion. He thought about it for a long time and felt that nothing was clear.
Fortunately, the system has its own clock. From now on, Zhe-ge will be able to keep track of the time.
Chu Shici thought for a while and asked him tentatively: “Zhe-ge, where were you the night before you were imprisoned?”
Shen Xiuzhe rubbed his forehead, “In my villa, my adoptive father and I had dinner together and discussed the art exhibition. After washing up and taking medicine, I went back to my room to sleep.”
“Medicine?”
“It’s just ordinary medicine for the flu. I caught the flu during that time.”
A dark thought came to Chu Shici’s mind.
Was Shen Xiuzhe betrayed by his adoptive father?
But in the original novel, the adoptive father was very kind to the male protagonist.
They have a close relationship. His adoptive father is his boss. Shen Xiuzhe’s money is his adoptive father’s money. There is no need for that person to kill the goose to obtain the eggs.
Questions came up one after another. Chu Shici was just a little speaker and he didn’t want to use his brain.
Zhe-ge’s vitality value is only -31 points. He is in a depressed mood and cannot be expected to come up with a reason.
Chu Shici sighed, ‘Tong-ge, this round depends on you.’
[Do you think I’m smart?]
‘Tong-ge is awesome!’
[……]
————
Shen Xiuzhe’s life is fixed. After breakfast, he paints based on feeling and memory as usual.
Chu Shici ran around on the ground, handing him paints.
Shen Xiuzhe was in a bad state. Maybe he was distracted by the morning news.
When he changed the brush again, he lost his grip on the brush and it fell from his hand.
Shen Xiuzhe knelt down and reached out, fumbling around in the direction of the sound.
After his fingers brushed against it twice, he heard a small sound.
The little speaker ran up to him, wrapped the fallen paintbrush around the thin charging cable, and brought it to his hand.
“Here, I picked it up! Zhe-ge, this floor has never been wiped. It’s very dirty. Don’t touch it with your hands anymore. Put me on the ground and I will help you find it next time.”
Shen Xiuzhe took the paintbrush and casually patted the head of the little speaker.
Seeing that Zhe-ge was in a bad mood, Chu Shici rummaged through the system’s memory card and found a cross talk* and played it to him.
*(Crosstalk or comic dialog is a traditional performing art in Chinese comedy. It is typically performed as a dialog between two performers, or rarely as a monologue by a solo performer. The acts would sometimes include singing, Chinese rapping, and musical instruments. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiangsheng )
There was no reaction on Shen Xiuzhe’s face, but he was reluctant to continue painting.
After a while, he took a deep breath and said, “That’s enough, turn it off.”
Chu Shici asked curiously, “Why? You don’t like it?”
Shen Xiuzhe ignored him and asked him to stop playing it again.
The system chuckled strangely: [Look at his hands shaking, he is suppressing his laughter. If you continue playing it, he won’t be able to draw today.]
Chu Shici shut down the cross talk.
Shen Xiuzhe breathed a sigh of relief.
At twelve o’clock at noon, Chu Shici was afraid that the person delivering the meal would see him, so he hid under the table.
After waiting for a long time, no one came to knock on the door.
Until about two o’clock in the afternoon, there was a knock on the door outside.
“Mr. Shen, what set meal are you going to have for lunch today?”
Shen Xiuzhe put down his brush and said, “C.”
“There are too many people ordering set meal C, so we didn’t prepare that many set meals.”
“A.”
“One set meal for room 3!”
Chu Shici: …
Why is there such a conversation before every meal?
Is this some sort of pre-meal ritual?
___
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Update: Tomorrow~
- After becoming enemies with the lord god
- Blog
- Completed
- Don't talk to me!
- Dropped
- Ghost Marriage
- Hunger Academy
- I opened a safe house in the Infinite Stream
- Notices
- Ongoing
- The Dragon Lord is Weak and Helpless but Has a Big Appetite [Interstellar]
- Want to ascend? Then fall in love.
- What can I do, I'm not human.
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