America: I came here to study, not to show mercy.

Chapter 85: The feeling of a horror movie, coming again?

"Victoria, let me see the map."

After glancing at several classmates who were searching with their heads down, Li Xiaoen extended his hand to Victoria.

"Are you looking at the map to see the distribution of treasure?"

Victoria handed over the map and looked down at it. "This location has a treasure score of three points. It's closest to the farm, and the next closest location is quite far away. I think the search will be quite difficult."

"Could it be that the treasure is hidden in a very secret place?" Victoria looked up.

Li Xiaoen couldn't help but look at Victoria: "Has the senior who is in charge of hiding the treasure this time ever arranged such an activity before?"

"We haven't had a hiking event in years, and this game is the first time. However, I seem to have heard that their club often organizes such activities."

"That's it."

Li Xiaoen nodded seriously, moved his feet, glanced at the tall and lush white oak trees growing around him, and walked up.

"Did you find something?"

Victoria was stunned for a moment, then quickly followed.

"Just trying out my guess."

Li Xiaoen murmured his reply, his eyes sweeping over the densely cracked lines on the trunk of the white oak tree, then turned to look at the other trees.

"You mean to say that the treasure is hidden under the bark of these trees?"

Victoria couldn't help but ask, but she saw Li Xiaoen beside her suddenly quickened his pace, immediately came to a tree, raised his hand and tore off a large piece of bark.

"Sean..."

Victoria shouted, but her eyes widened in surprise when she saw a round Princeton badge stuck on it with brown tape under the bark in the young man's hand.

"Everyone, you don't have to look for it anymore."

Standing on the low slope, Li Xiaoen shouted to the people below who were searching hard, and raised the badge in his hand.

"..."

"Sean, did you really find it?"

Seraphina reacted the fastest, stepping directly onto the bushes and running over.

"Take a look."

Li Xiaoen tossed the bark and the badge in his hand to Seraphina, then turned his head and raised an eyebrow at Victoria. "It's not exactly hidden, but it's quite cleverly hidden."

"Sean, how did you know it was hidden under the bark?"

After carefully examining the badge from top to bottom for a moment, Seraphina quickly moved closer.

"Think more, and then, find the differences."

Li Xiaoen shrugged and gave a simple answer.

Watching the four people who had just caught up with him disperse and walk away, Sufeier turned back and said, "Finding the difference is a good method, but how do you know it's on the bark?"

"When answering questions, candidates should understand the meaning of the teacher who set the questions."

Li Xiaoen smiled and brought up his high school Chinese teacher's catchphrase. Seeing the girls lost in thought, he added, "The senior in charge of hiding the treasure has done this kind of activity before, and this is his first time leading this kind of welcome event. He wants us to be surprised and interested in the hiding places without wasting too much of their time and energy."

As he spoke, Li Xiaoen picked up the slightly reflective bark in Seraphina's hand and said, "This kind of simulated bark can be prepared in advance. Once you arrive at the location, you can just find a place to stick it on. It's really convenient."

"You really guessed it."

Seraphina looked up at Li Xiaoen with complicated eyes, obviously still upset about his lazy attitude before.

"This kind of activity relies on wits, honey."

Li Xiaoen chuckled, then paused for a moment when he noticed Victoria's intriguing gaze. "Let's go to the next location."

Li Xiaoen took the lead and walked forward. "The four students in that team were very decisive. As soon as they saw we found the badge, they rushed to the next location without stopping."

"Ah...that's right!"

Seraphina reacted and shouted again, "Let's get going quickly, don't let them get ahead of us."

This time, when they arrived at the next location, Li Xiaoen and his group only saw two of the girls.

"Where are the two boys on your team?"

Seraphina asked curiously without any intention of avoiding suspicion.

"them……"

The two girls opened their mouths and looked at each other with some embarrassment. "They're going to places farther away, where the treasure scores are higher. The two of us girls will look for places near the farm. We'll split up and act separately."

"Is there such a tricky method?"

Seraphina couldn't help but exclaimed, and quickly turned around to look at Li Xiaoen and the others, but was immediately rejected by Victoria.

"no!"

Victoria shook her head resolutely, remaining unmoved by Seraphina's bitter expression. "The purpose of this orientation is to get everyone to collaborate and get to know each other. What's the point if we're separated?"

"If this is the only way to win the game, then I would rather lose."

"I agree with Victoria."

Sufeil echoed, having already turned to search the nearby white oak trees and bushes.

"Ok."

Seeing that all her companions agreed, Seraphina nodded helplessly and approached the two girls beside her in a flattering manner. "Can you tell us where you two have searched?"

"This……"

The two girls had bitter expressions on their faces. It was because they saw that Li Xiaoen and his group were all tall, handsome, and of noble appearance that they had no choice but to confess their team's plans. Now they were about to be asked about the results of their work.

"Shouldn't you just stop asking people questions like this?"

Li Xiaoen was at a loss for words and spoke up to help them out. "We're all competitors. How can we expect them to answer questions like that?"

"Alright alright."

Seraphina turned around helplessly, but still glared at Li Xiaoen with dissatisfaction. She glanced around and walked towards a piece that showed no signs of being turned over and started searching.

It is truly shameless for Seraphina, who is from America, to ask such a question.

Li Xiaoen complained in his heart. He had the impression that Seraphina had once introduced that her family was in charge of a security company and firearms wholesale, which was consistent with his stereotype.

Turning around, Li Xiaoen looked at the two girls who finally breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help asking, "You separated from the other two boys. Don't you have a whistle with you? What if something unexpected happens?"

Hearing this, Victoria also came over and couldn't help but make eye contact with Li Xiaoen.

"rest assured."

The two girls looked at Li Xiaoen gratefully. "The whistle was given to the boy who went deep into the woods, but we'll just search the area near the farm. We still have cell phone signal here, so don't worry."

"..."

What's going on? Why does it feel like the protagonists in a horror movie are scattering and then being defeated one by one?

Li Xiaoen was at a loss for words. He turned his head and saw Victoria nodding as if nothing had happened. He was shocked.

(End of this chapter)