CH 22

Chapter 22: Four Seasons Protection Guide (9)

After the question was asked, the dormitory fell silent for a while.

The possessed ghost showed a struggle on its face, its facial features were twisted, and the pain looked even worse than being burned by the [Light of the Right Path] buff.

The few onlookers (in the dorm): ...is it so hard to answer a question?

Was it restricted by the exam rules and so it wasn't allowed to disclose anything?

After a long while, "Zhang You" gave up its struggle, like a dead fish without hope: "I, can't answer."

Seeing that the toilet plunger was about to fall, it hurriedly added: "It's not that I don't want to answer, it's that you asked too hard!"

After its stumbling explanation, everyone understood the general idea.

Many ghosts like it are dominated by instinct and weak consciousness, and they can't even "think", let alone complete complex systemic questions in their brains.

Like the one in Zhang You's body, who could  think and communicate, was already very rare, and it was very likely that it would continue to rise.

It was precisely because of this that it cherished its life so much that it was willing to communicate with Tang Xinjue.

Tang Xinjue nodded, "If that's the case, then I'll give you a minute to tell everything you can think of.

"By the way, since your IQ is limited, be a little self-aware, you don't need to try to lie."

Possessed ghost: ... ... As a ghost, it had never felt so aggrieved!

It didn't dare to delay, so it could only bite the bullet and rack its brains: "If we smell people, we will float over. It used to be blocked by doors. But [Spring] is different, we can enter the dormitory randomly. The more people in the dormitory, the more of my kind will come in... oh, yes!"

It suddenly remembered something, and his expression showed a hint of fear: "When the bell rings, we must leave here, run as far as possible, or the one being woken up—" The voice of "Zhang You" stopped abruptly.

[Detecting spoiler for the exam content, obliterating dungeon creature!]

The reminder sound fell into everyone's ears. Zhang You's body trembled, the cold feeling on her body suddenly disappeared, the focus of her eyes expanded and contracted, and she regained consciousness in an instant.

At the same time, the light in the room suddenly changed abruptly.

Outside the balcony window, unnoticeably, it changed from white fog to tangled with vine branches. At first glance, it seemed that the entire outer layer of the dorm was surrounded by layers of maddened plants.

——As the last ghost in the dormitory was obliterated, the last 'blindfold' also dissipated, revealing the true scene of spring.

"I felt that the ghost just disappeared, like it suddenly evaporated."

Zhang You said with lingering fears.

Since the possessed ghost was frightened by Tang Xinjue, she regained a little consciousness. Although she couldn't control her body, she could hear Tang Xinjue's conversation with it throughout the entire process.

The rest of the living looked at each other, and no one spoke for a while.

"If I heard it right... was it obliterated?" Guo Guo said in a voice full of fear.

"That's right." Tang Xinjue answered while untied Zhang You's body: "That ghost just accidentally revealed a spoiler, so it was obliterated by the exam rules."

She was not surprised.

The game was originally a two-way constraint. Xiaohong in the first instance was punished mercilessly for failing to give the NPC's gratitude, and the whole ghost only had one head left.

But except for her, it was the first time that the three people in the dormitory saw the punishment imposed by the rules, and they couldn't recover for a while.

"But since that's the case," Tang Xinjue called back her roommate's attention: "In addition to the current situation, we also need to understand what the spoiler is." Her eyes brightened: "And this spoiler, maybe it is related to the next level we have to face."

To a certain extent, they took a lot of advantage.

According to the possessed ghost, as long as the spring continues, new ghosts might enter the dorm at any time.

They couldn't avoid someone suddenly being possessed, but the four of them were close to each other. As long as the temperature of the people around them dropped, they would immediately feel it.

The four of them sat in a circle. Zhang You took out her maliciousness sensor, Guo Guo also took out a temperature measuring meter with a warning function, and the two sensing props were placed in the middle to sense danger from 360 degrees all around.

After all this was done, the few people finally had the heart to eat breakfast.

Being squatted on your back by a ghost will not only make you feel cold and weak, but your health will also decrease, and your appetite will also decrease. Zhang You and the others stopped after taking a few bites, and concentrated on waiting for Tang Xinjue to finish eating and analyze the current situation together.

Three pale faces stared at Tang Xinjue, who was eating the biscuits: "..." 

After she finished eating, she turned on the phone, and a hoarse voice floated out:

"When the bell rings, we have to get out of here..."

Roommates: "??? When did you record it?"

At that time, they were all focused on the ghost, and they even forgot that there was such a method!

"...The farther you run, the better, otherwise the one being woken up..."

The unfinished voice of "Zhang You" came to a screeching halt, leaving only endless blank space.

"If you guessed correctly, this paragraph should be considered a spoiler," Tang Xinjue said.

The only question is, what is it that wakes up? What does the bell ringing mean?

Guo Guo touched her head sadly, feeling that since the game started, her head had become increasingly bald, and her brain cells had died horribly.

Zhang You thought for a while: "I guess it may be referring to a more powerful monster. When the bell rings and the monster wakes up, it will also devour these little ghosts, so they have to escape."

Guo Guo touched her head, "Maybe the one who wake up is a ghost-hunting Taoist priest! As soon as the bell rang, the Taoist priest parachuted into the dormitory holding the ghost-hunting flag to clean up the evil spirits and help bringing justice..."

Zheng Wanqing's eyes were empty, and she seemed to have given up thinking, "It may also be Ultraman."

Guo Guo: "We are discussing the content of the exam now, can you be more serious? There is still Ultraman?"

Zheng Wanqing: "Are you serious? Lin Zhengying?"

*Lin Zhengying was a Hong Kong stuntman, actor, and action director. As a practitioner of martial arts, he starred in a number of notable films that found recognition outside Hong Kong (Wikipedia). Guo Guo was referring to Lin Zhengying's role as a Taoist Priest.

"It's alright, don't make any noise for now." Zhang You hurriedly put biscuits to block their mouths.

Tang Xinjue pondered for a few seconds: "I think Zhang You's speculation is more likely.

"Everything recovers, the weaker ghosts wake up first, and then the more powerful ghosts. The difficulty increases in turn, according to the level order of the previous dungeons, this seems more reasonable.

"Little ghosts eat people, but big ghosts... It's not impossible to eat little ghosts. So their activity time can only be before the big ghost wakes up."

Guo Guo clapped: "In this case, the bell is a reminder when the boss wakes up. Get*!"

*I put it on italic because the original text is in English. Get is a Chinese internet slang, which means to comprehend and understand a point. Obviously this came from English, get as in I get your point.

Tang Xinjue frowned: "But if this sentence contains only this information, will it be judged as a spoiler?"

Even if they didn't know in advance, when the bell rang and the ghosts fled, they would still realize that something was wrong and strengthen their defenses.

——But they only stop at vigilance, because they don't know more about the "boss".

In short, at present, whether they know it or not, the impact on this dormitory is not as great as knowing the haunting rules of little ghosts and big ghosts.

Can it be so simple that it can be judged as a "spoiler of the exam content", and even the creature that produce the spoiler be directly obliterated?

Tang Xinjue frowned: "If I were the rule-maker, then I would at least think that the disclosure of this information is enough to have a decisive impact on the exam clearance and change the fate of the entire dormitory."

Zhang You thought seriously: "You mean, there is hidden information that we haven't been able to find out?"

Nodding, Tang Xinjue was about to speak, and the temperature measuring instrument between the four suddenly rang.

Zhang You's malicious sensor followed, and the two palm-sized props were beeping, and a sound was faster than the other, foreshadowing the approach of the enemy.

A new ghost has entered the dorm!

Several people tense up in an instant, Tang Xinjue said solemnly: "Concentrate your mind, don't give them an opportunity."

In the game with ghosts, willpower is a very important part. One trades off the other; when one side shows timidity, it makes the other side stronger.

The dormitory members paired up two by two. Tang Xinjue took out one hand to hold the toilet plunger, and Zheng Wanqing carried the enchanted icicle. The two stood on the side near the dormitory door, and they were the first to feel the coldness rushing towards them.

"Be careful!"

Tang Xinjue swung it over and slapped at the coldness near Zheng Wanqing. At the same time, Zheng Wanqing shouted and slammed down the icicle. It made a crisp sound, and the phantom scattered in the air.

With a set of cooperation, they solved one!

Guo Guo's voice was fast: "There is still at the door, Xinjue be careful!"

Tang Xinjue immediately stabbed around her back, but the buff reacted faster than her:

[Ding dong!]

The two phantoms turned gray at the same time.

Tang Xinjue frowned.

The worst thing about passive buffs is that you can't control how you use them, and it's easy to spend them at times that don't really matter.

After a few times, the small golden sign in her mind had faded to almost invisible. Obviously, it can't last long.

"Sh*t! There is one on the lamp! It fell down!"

With a scream, Guo Guo's temperament suddenly changed, her facial features collapsed, and she grinned and giggled.

There was no doubt that Guo Guo had won the lottery again.

Zhang You and Zheng Wanqing shot quickly at the same time, holding the person down. The ghosts were driven out screaming, and they were scattered neatly and quickly*.

*Original text is 三下五除二; sān xià wǔ chú èr; broken up by three, five and two. this is a Chinese idiom. Originally it refers to one of the abacus formulas. Now it is more to describe doing things simply and neatly.

"It's safe for now." After carefully checking twice in the dormitory with the sensor and confirming that no ghosts were hiding, Zhang You was relieved.

The next second, the sensor beeped again.

Everyone: "..."

It's not over yet!

The new wave of attacks was obviously more dangerous. Even across the dormitory door, they seemed to hear the sharp howls of the ghosts, flying towards the door.

Waiting with bated breath inside the door, everyone is nervous, ready to act at any time.

——Just before the scream was about to appear in the door, all the movement suddenly stopped.

"Dong-- Dong--"

The bell rang.

The imminent coldness faded like a tide, and the group of ghosts ran away.

Several people invariably looked out of the balcony, where the sound came from. The ringing of the bell continued, and it stopped after a total of twelve rings.

"Are the big ghosts about to appear?" Guo Guo was very nervous, "What should we do?"

Tang Xinjue didn't say anything. She was thinking about something, her brows were getting tighter and her eyes were flickering.

After a long while, her eyebrows suddenly loosened, and she suddenly raised her head: "The bells don't just represent ghosts!"

"What?"

She spoke quickly: "And this rule should be directly related to the examination process - more likely, it is not part of the spring dungeon."

This is also the key to her doubts: if the possessed ghost revealed the content of the current dungeon, why was it that the previous sentence is fine, but the one about the bell was cut off?

Unless--

"The sound of the bell and the resurrection of the ghosts do not belong to the same dungeon. In other words, the two dungeons are still intertwined by the time the bell rings. When the bell is over, the unknown monster wakes up and we have entered the content of the next dungeon. Therefore, the rules of the game will determine it as a spoiler."

What is a spoiler? It's an early leak of things to come.

Tang Xinjue said word by word, "Because what it said is the content of the autumn exam."

Autumn?

Zhang You hesitated: "However, the game doesn't remind that spring has passed..."

"That's exactly the key." Tang Xinjue thought without hesitation, "Just like never saying that the dormitory is absolutely safe, the rules of the game never said that there will be reminders for the next season change.”

The dormitory door can block the ghosts the first time, and it can block the ghosts the second time, but will it definitely block them for the third time?

Similarly, if there is a reminder from winter to summer, and there is a reminder from summer to spring, then from spring to autumn, must there be a reminder?

A rule that is never clearly stated will not be 100% effective.

"If it's autumn now..." Zhang You's face turned pale, "Why does the game wants to hide it?"

Tang Xinjue exhaled, and the corners of her mouth twitched slightly: "Every change has a purpose. When the protective effect of the dormitory door disappear, then the ghosts are a danger to the students. So, by letting the cues of the changing seasons disappear, what is the danger to us?”