Two letters laid out the story's background, but the rest was a headache.
It was a puzzle box.
Called a Lu Ban box domestically and a puzzle box overseas, it was a device with mortise and tenon joints that was very difficult to force open. You had to find the trick to open the box and get what was inside.
Jian Jing pushed and pulled at it from all sides, but the lid would not open. She banged on it forcefully, but it still had no give.
The whole box was sealed tight, unable to turn or pry open. No matter what, it wouldn't open.
"A Lu Ban box, huh." When Cao Yu saw this thing he also had a big headache. "This is difficult. Does Teacher Jian know how to open it?"
"I hate that I can't just smash it directly." Jian Jing gave up and handed it to Coco, who was raring to go.
Coco took it in her hands to examine it, joking, "Rare to see Teacher Jian stumped. I thought there was nothing in this haunted house that could stump you."
"Misconception." She busied herself gnawing on a spicy stick, "This haunted house is pretty difficult, very realistic."
"The sense of immersion is strong," Jiang BaiYan said dryly, "I feel like I'm the extra holding the script to 'can't do it, too scary', then suddenly get eaten by the monster."
The others laughed loudly.
Coco teased him, "Have some more confidence in yourself. Wasting money hiring you for a few scenes as an extra, at least you've got to be the female lead as eye candy just waiting for the male lead to come rescue you and confess while surrounded by monsters."
The others laughed uproariously and pounded the floor.
Jiang BaiYan was very dissatisfied, "Why do you always bully me?"
"Because I got the villain's script!" Coco made a scary face, "I bully you so you can run crying to Teacher Jian!"
Jiang BaiYan protested, "When did I cry?"
Coco laughed, "Didn't you sob earlier in the tunnel?"
"Certainly--not!" He dragged out the words, "Teacher Jian, say something."
Jian Jing looked at them and scooted away, "Leave me out of your flirting."
"We're not flirting!" x2
Zheng Keyan's chopsticks picked up a fried noodle, watching the entertainment, "You two have great chemistry."
Han Bo put on a pained expression, "My ship has sailed with someone else."
Cao Yu just smiled without comment.
Jiang BaiYan pursed his lips and scooted next to Jian Jing, very aggrieved, "I can let her bully me, but how can you bully me too?"
"Oh, so only she's allowed to bully you and no one else?" Jian Jing smiled slightly, adding fuel to the fire, "Sorry about that."
Jiang BaiYan: [a confused face]
--
After airing:
Comment 1: Laughed so hard I rolled out of my chair
Comment 2: Little brother is too pitiful
Comment 3: Teacher Jian is sharp when she wants to be, no wonder she's a writer
Comment 4: One kill!
Comment 5: Coco and BaiBai's enemies-to-lovers is really great to ship
Comment 6: Similar age and looks, both skilled actors
Comment 7: What happened to the water-fire duo? You've changed!
...
--
Gossiping and joking were great ways to relax.
Sacrificing Jiang BaiYan let everyone's spirits relax. The puzzle box was passed around but no one could open it. Finally they unanimously agreed to break it open by force.
The dinner knife Jian Jing had taken from the dining room came in handy.
She wedged the blade into the crack made by banging it, pried hard, and opened it. There was a hidden compartment inside, a special maze. There was a steel ball inside that had to be turned to the correct position to attract the switch's magnet and open the lid.
In short, super annoying.
What was hidden inside the puzzle box was a map of the hospital layout, and a computer chip.
The hospital had three floors, two above ground and one below. Aside from the normal halls and stairs, there were many hidden passages and traps used to capture or hinder wandering monsters.
"There's a nightly curfew at the hospital. The doors can't be opened before 7pm," Cao Yu analyzed the situation. "To leave here, we have to take the exit from the hidden passages."
Zheng Keyan followed up, "The passage exit is at the end of the basement hallway, but right now there are monsters outside. We can't get through, right?"
"What about when the red light turns on at 3am?" Han Bo asked.
Jian Jing said, "The lights probably won't help. The file on the special patients says they can command regular infected and ignore light changes. With the Boss outside, the small fry definitely won't go back to sleep."
"So even if we wait until daylight it's no use?" Coco asked. "Then we can only lure the monsters away."
"There's a mechanism on the first floor lobby," Jiang BaiYan said dejectedly. "So the plan is to lure the monsters upstairs?"
"Let's plan this out carefully," Cao Yu said. "It looks like for now, we have to lure the monsters to the first floor lobby, activate the mechanism to trap them, then go back downstairs and leave the hospital through the passage exit."
Han Bo sucked in a breath, "We have to lure them? But with so many monsters, won't we get overwhelmed if they all rush over at once?"
Jian Jing said, "Use the passages. The monsters can only come through one by one, so it's not as dangerous."
"There are guns and walkie-talkies here," Coco found supplementary equipment in the room. "We can split up and act now."
After more discussion, they finally split into two teams for separate actions.
The first team had the most dangerous job, luring the monsters. They were responsible for leading the monsters to the first floor lobby. The second team would go back to the first floor through the passages, prepare the mechanism, and trap the monsters when they arrived.
Han Bo and Coco enthusiastically volunteered to lure the monsters. This was unsurprising, since those two were always the boldest. But the next person to voluntarily speak up was unexpected.
Jiang BaiYan said, "I'll go too."
Coco's eyes went wide in exaggerated astonishment, "Is the sun rising in the west today?"
"I'm the most suitable," Jiang BaiYan rolled his eyes. "With so much physical exertion, it would be too tiring for Teacher Cao. Sister Zheng is afraid of these things, and she's a woman. It looks like Teacher Jian sprained her ankle, so climbing around would be inconvenient. I'm a guy, I can't just do nothing."
Zheng Keyan was surprised, "Teacher Jian, you're hurt?"
"I fell and twisted it a bit, no big deal," Jian Jing waved it off and asked with interest, "Are you really going? Will you be okay?"
Han Bo laughed, "Teacher Jian, it was fine until you asked. What guy could say he's 'not okay' now?"
Jian Jing held in her laughter, "Then good luck to you."
Jiang BaiYan said dejectedly, "No other words of encouragement?"
"When you finish this wave, you can go back and get married?" she asked.
He was even more aggrieved, "I gave you pudding, back home there's only ZiZhenZhu, BaiMudan, LiNaLian, ShuangZhiChao*... Who should I marry?"
Jian Jing was shocked, "Who are they?" It sounded indecent.
"My succulents. Do you want them? If I die, you can inherit my estate..."
"And your flowers too?" Han Bo chimed in.
The others all laughed loudly.
Things were settled.
This room was a break room. Not only was NPC Henry here, but many lockers belonging to medical staff. They restocked ammunition and weapons from them, and everyone was equipped with a gun.
Everything was ready. Time to head out.
--
After airing:
The post-production team added "Final Battle" in big letters with rousing BGM.
The screen split into three, with Jiang BaiYan, Han Bo, and Coco each occupying one screen to show the monster luring process. First they climbed into the passages, then according to the map's instructions, split up in different rooms to attract the monsters in the hallway to chase them.
When the monsters were like hungry dogs spotting a bone, crawling into the passages one by one, only then did they lead this group of tails through the passages.
Because the mechanism needed 5 minutes to prepare, they couldn't go straight to the first floor. They had to circle around to the second floor first.
With the hallway monsters lured away, Jian Jing's group was able to take the normal stairs back down to the first floor.
There was still a mini boss here, the doctor monster from earlier patrols.
Jian Jing hid behind a wall, aimed, and fired several shots in succession.
The screen showed the NPC calculation panel again. Three hits, two to the torso and one to the leg.
Mini boss guarding the pass is down!
Cao Yu and Zheng Keyan sprinted to the lobby and found the hidden mechanism tile, connecting wires according to the instructions - like a puzzle game - until all the circuits were connected.
They tried pressing it once, and suddenly the walls around shot out rainbow lasers that crisscrossed in the center of the hall, the effect was very gorgeous, and different buttons would bring out different formations, which looked even more dazzling when used in combination.
Danmu 1: It smells like Resident Evil
Danmu 2: The lighting design runs through, well done
Danmu 3: Laser cage, cyberpunk!
Danmu 4: Where's the BGM?
......
"We're ready," Cao Yu notified the others through the walkie-talkie.
The camera switches to the passageway.
The three people being chased relentlessly by countless monsters are going full throttle, acting according to plan.
The post-production thoughtfully P-ed a simple map to indicate the movement position of each guest.
The three regrouped one after another.
The first was Han Bo. Having been singing and dancing on stage for years, his physique was just different. He had great endurance and a steady level. He slid down the banister and brought a group of monsters with him.
Zheng Keyan waved her hand: "Come over here."
Han Bo stepped over in one stride.
The mechanism was activated, and the laser beams intertwined to trap the three little monsters that were following.
The next was Coco.
She attracted two monsters, still looking relaxed. She jumped and skipped down, pouncing over to Jian Jing's side.
The lasers changed again.
Jiang BaiYan was so lucky (the program team deliberately "took care of" him) that after wandering around the second floor, he attracted four monsters and almost crawled out of the secret passageway of the ward.
Danmu 1: Hahaha poor little brother
Danmu 2: The program team must have scared him on purpose
Danmu 3: dbq I laughed
Danmu 4: Why is everyone bullying little Bai hahaha
......
"This way," Cao Yu directed at the staircase.
Jiang BaiYan sprinted, making full use of his long legs and finally ran to the finish line.
The lasers transformed, changing from a gathered V to the largest X-shape.
But as the saying goes, plans can never keep up with changes. Although the laser formations had three different types, ranging from small to large coverage. But the largest one was not completely overlapping with the previous one.
One corner was within the range of the previous one, but did not belong to the scope this time.
In other words, there was a monster...that moved.
The post-production inserted an animation explaining what happened.
Danmu 1: This tells us how important it is to learn math
Danmu 2: Got tricked by math huh
Danmu 3: Hint on the third watch, look at the tiles on the floor, there are some implications
Danmu 4: Teacher Jian didn't notice this time?
Danmu 5: She's not omnipotent, can't let her be responsible for everything right?
Danmu 6: Can we just watch the show properly? You can argue about anything
......
To be honest, missing a monster wasn't a big deal, the problem was that the monster that slipped through the net wasn't a small one, but Helen.
Unlike the tall and sturdy-looking George who would be difficult to deal with, she was harmless at first, just going with the flow of being led over. But after being trapped by the lasers, she became visibly irritable at a rapid speed.
As soon as she got out of the laser cage, she started going berserk.
A sharp, shrill cry came from her throat, and then the whole hall began to tremble, the floor shook and tilted, it was actually a large mechanism.
A lot of plastic balls fell from the ceiling, ping pong bouncing down, smashing to the ground and bouncing back, indiscriminately attacking.
Danmu 1: Damn, the first time seeing the boss go all out!
Danmu 2: As expected, the cuter the loli the more dangerous
Danmu 3: Burning money ING
Danmu 4: The smell of money
Danmu 5: When will this haunted house open for business?
......
