Chapter 52.2
The water level in the room was getting higher and higher and would completely flood the place in less than a few minutes yet the girl didn’t mean to stop her attacks. Tang Mianmian was worried but his gaze suddenly met Xiao Tangqiu’s.
Xiao Tangqiu gave Tang Mianmian a look.
Tang Mianmian nodded, took a deep breath and dived into the water all of a sudden.
“Speak! Say something! Weren’t you having a good time with your speech earlier? Why can’t you say a word now?” The girl’s smile was ferocious and twisted, and her whip flew towards Xiao Tangqiu, one lash after another. “So what if I, an experienced old player, died in this room? Aren’t you just the same? Since everyone is the same, let’s die together then! Don’t dream of escaping this room!”
Xiao Tangqiu clenched his jaw and tried to stop himself from exhaling in pain because he knew that some people were mentally messed up; the more pain others suffered, the happier they were.
His whole body was in agony. Coupled with the physical and mental exhaustion, his movements began to slow down. Gradually, he could no longer evade the girl’s whip.
But at this moment, she suddenly cried out, “Ahhhh!”
Suddenly, she turned around, whipping at the water. A man jumped out of the water screaming at once!
It turned out that Tang Mianmian quietly sneaked underwater to come up behind her and made a surprise attack when all her attention was focused on Xiao Tangqiu.
Xiao Tangqiu didn’t know what happened underwater. He only saw a Swiss Army knife stuck into the girl’s butt.
Xiao Tangqiu, “……”
A knife was inserted in her butt, angering the girl again. She gave Tang Mianmian a lash and then another. Tang Mianmian miserably screamed again and again.
Xiao Tangqiu, who was wounded all over, was temporarily freed, but he didn’t turn around and run. Of course, in this completely closed space, he couldn’t run even if he wanted to.
He quietly took out his crossbow. He didn’t act immediately but quietly waited for an opportunity, just like a beast in the savanna, calmly waiting to catch its prey. He remained motionless, waiting for his chance.
The mantis stalked the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
The water level grew higher and higher.
Finally, the water reached the ceiling and the house was completely transformed into an underwater chamber.
Regardless of whether the water was a good or bad thing for them, everyone had to fight to survive in the water. Tang Mianmian struggled especially hard. Not only was he holding his breath, he also had to dodge the girl’s whip. The girl had gone raving mad. Clearly everyone was about to die together soon but she was still attacking him underwater! Did she think that the road to the underworld was too cold for her feet that she needed someone to go first and cushion her feet?
On the other hand, when the water level reached the ceiling, Xiao Tangqiu narrowed his eyes slightly.
The time had finally come! Now!
Even if there was friction from the water, the girl was still hit to the wall by the arrow. The hand holding the whip was nailed to the wall so she lost her mobility instantly.
Tang Mianmian decided to seize the whip and returned several lashed to the girl without any hesitation.
Hit me?! Hit me?! I’ll hit you back! Beat you to death!
Although she was nailed to the wall and hit with her own weapon, the girl’s face wasn’t depressed at all. Instead, she burst out laughing hysterically.
So what if these two took advantage of her inattention and threw a surprise attack? Anyway, none of them could escape from here now and they would eventually end up with her!
This was an escape room without any way out at all!
Tang Mianmian’s heart sank at once. He subconsciously looked at Xiao Tangqiu. Earlier, he dared to sneak an attack on the girl according to Xiao Tangqiu’s suggestion because he trusted Xiao Tangqiu wholeheartedly. He believed that Xiao Tangqiu could find a way to leave the house, but until now, he didn’t seem to have found the key yet…
Did the three of them really have to die together here?
Just then, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly smiled.
Seeing him smile, the girl immediately turned pale and sensed something.
Did he find the key? That was impossible! There was no way anyone could find the key!
Xiao Tangqiu wasn’t wrong. As a veteran player, she took it lightly in the beginning because it was a D-level instance. As a result, she was trapped in this room forever.
Before the second group of players entered the instance, her soul could only wander around in the escape chamber. Because she begrudged the fact that she couldn’t find the key to leave, she searched for it the whole time her soul was trapped here.
Not only was she looking for the key when she was alive, she kept searching for it even after her death. She, herself, didn’t even know how long she had been searching, but she never found the legendary key of the chamber.
Therefore, she thought that the key didn’t exist at all. This was an escape room that had no way out!
When the second group of players entered the instance, she found that she could take their identities by killing new players and even return to the city of the abyss as they were. She was ecstatic, thinking that she had finally seen a glimmer of light after a long, dark night, provided, of course, that she lived to the end.
However, fate played a cruel joke with her after all. Although she successfully killed another player and got her identity at the beginning of the instance, she unfortunately drew the black ball of death again and returned to this nightmare chamber, which took away everything she had, including her life.
The girl suddenly burst out laughing again. She laughed more and more hysterically. She couldn’t escape! She couldn’t get out of here! But no one else could escape either!
None of them could get out of here! They should all join her and die together!
This was an escape room without a solution! This was an escape room that they could never escape from!
Key? It never existed.
She laughed crazily but suddenly stopped after seeing Xiao Tangqiu take out something from his pocket.
Wait! What was that?!
Something that glittered with metallic luster underwater…
Wasn’t that the key?
Xiao Tangqiu wasn’t sure whether his guess was right at first but he had no choice but to bite the bullet.
“The key is in the most dangerous place.”
The most dangerous place might not refer to a place but a time – the time when this room was completely transformed into an underwater chamber.
But at the same time, the most dangerous place might provide a hint.
Where was the most dangerous place?
The most dangerous place was the safest place.
What was the safest place for them? In other words, where was the safest place to hide the key?
Xiao Tangqiu didn’t know what other people thought, but he had his own answer, so he went with that. When the water completely flooded the room, he put his hand into his pocket with his breath held.
Because for him, his own pocket was the safest. If he wanted to hide a key, of course he would choose to hide it in his pocket.
When his fingertip touched a cold metal object, he knew that he was right.
He found the key to the room.
No! This was impossible!
Key? Where did he get the key?
This was clearly a room without an escape. How could there be a key? This was impossible!
The girl’s laughter froze on her face instantly and her facial features were distorted into a ferocious expression. She cried out frantically but ended up taking a big sip of water with and coughed violently.
Compared to her reaction, Tang Mianmian was ecstatic. He quickly dropped the whip and turned to swim towards Xiao Tangqiu.
He wasn’t very good underwater and wouldn’t be able to hold his breath for long. Fortunately, Xiao Tangqiu found the key!
Xiao Tangqiu wasn’t very good underwater either. He only held his breath for a while but felt his lungs contracting violently due to lack of oxygen. He quickly took the key and turned to open the door.
The moment the key was successfully inserted into the keyhole, he was completely reassured. This was indeed the key to the escape chamber. His guess was right!
However, things wouldn’t go as smoothly as planned. The girl, who was originally nailed to the wall, saw that they had actually found the key and immediately became furious.
She tried to break free from the arrow that had pinned her to the wall. In desperation, she yanked her hand away from the wall, the arrow plunging even deeper into her flesh.
She didn’t have time to pull the arrow out of her hand first. Instead, with the arrow still embedded in her hand, she pounced on Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian.
Tang Mianmian’s Swiss Army knife had already “died” in the line of duty. He could only block her attacks with his bare hands. The two began to fight hand to hand. He squeezed her neck mercilessly while he cursing inside. This woman was really crazy! They had already found the key to escape. Why the hell did she stop them from escaping? Obviously, she could also escape together with them!
However, he couldn’t speak underwater. If he opened his mouth, he would only gulp a big mouthful of water. He could only crazily curse in his heart while he strangled the girl who he seriously suspect had completely lost her mind.
The girl was very fierce, also choking Tang Mianmian’s neck while she gave Xiao Tangqiu a hard kick on the waist.
With that kick, Xiao Tanqiu crashed into the iron gate. His brain, that was originally slow due to the lack of oxygen, almost blacked out on the spot. Fortunately, his desire to live overcame everything else and he gritted his teeth, continuing to open the door.
The oxygen content in his lungs had dropped to the lowest point. His throat and lungs were burning at the same time. He knew that if he didn’t leave the underwater chamber soon, he would probably stay here forever and become the second her.
He didn’t believe that the girl didn’t want to escape. Clearly, they caught a glimmer of hope, but instead of helping, the girl acted as if she didn’t want them or herself to leave at all.
Did she really not want leave?