Redemption from the Abyss: The School Beauty Insists on Pulling Me Out of the Mire

Lu Yi, who was following behind, wrapped his black trench coat tightly around himself. He had a feeling that the feng shui of this place was against him. Not only did he have to endure the poor sound quality, but he was also forced to watch the couple in front of him being affectionate and oblivious to everyone else.

Lu Yi silently recited Baudelaire's name, trying to dispel the cloying stench of romance that filled the room with the brilliance of literature.

A heavy, burglarproof iron door appeared ahead, with a nine-square combination lock embedded in the door frame.

Xie Wang stopped and looked down at the girl in his arms, a smile in his eyes: "Teacher Su, now that we've reached the end of the cold storage, do you still need your husband to continue providing the constant-temperature pillow service?"

Su Qinghe reached into his coat and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear: "My service is over, time to get down to business."

She resumed her usual aloof demeanor, walked straight to the combination lock, and Xie Wang, with his school uniform jacket slung over his shoulder, leaned lazily against the wall next to her as she solved the puzzle.

Lu Yi floated to the two of them, staring intently at the blood-red words on the wall and gasping in shock:

"It says that if you don't enter the correct password before the countdown ends, poison gas will be released."

He pointed to the ventilation ducts above his head, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty, "an industrial horror aesthetic that combines confined space with psychological oppression."

Su Qinghe didn't even look at the blood-red words on the wall; he was staring at the tiny production logo in the lower right corner of the electronic screen.

"The symbols on the wall correspond to the hospital patients' admission dates and bed numbers. The normal logic is to go back and find the four wards, collect the patients' birth dates, and then cross-reference them."

Xie Wang chuckled and removed the hair clip from Su Qinghe's head: "But I'm familiar with this kind of single-piece hair clip."

He straightened the hairpin, skillfully inserted it into the edge of the combination lock, flicked the metal tip a couple of times, and then it clicked off with a crisp sound.

The black outer shell of the combination lock was removed, revealing a complex network of red and blue circuit boards.

Lu Yi, standing to the side, was dumbfounded: "You're breaking the rules of the escape room; this is disrespectful to the horror theme."

Xie Wang didn't even turn his head, his fingers picking through the wires: "An artist who wants to go back to the morgue and rummage through the cabinets, I not only won't stop him, I'll applaud him as he leaves."

Lu Yi immediately shut up and shrank into the corner.

At that moment, a piercing metallic dragging sound came from the depths of the corridor. A tall NPC wearing a bloodstained butcher's apron, dragging a rusty iron hammer, approached with heavy steps.

The sound of a hammer scraping against the tiles accompanied the intense flashing of red light from the ceiling of the corridor. The feeling of oppression in the narrow space suddenly increased.

Lu Yi collapsed to the ground, clutching his head and reciting the mantra of the Eight Pieces of Brocade: "Two hands support the sky to regulate the three burners, draw the bow left and right as if shooting an eagle—"

The butcher NPC drew closer, raising his hammer in preparation for a final scare.

Xie Wang ignored the commotion behind him, pinched the red and blue wires between his fingers, and focused on examining the capacitor distribution on the circuit board.

"The high-voltage capacitor is on the left; directly short-circuit the right-side communication pin," Su Qinghe provided physical guidance.

Xie Wang interlaced his fingers, simultaneously touching the metal end of the hairpin to the tiny solder joint. A cluster of pale blue sparks flickered on the motherboard.

The countdown on the electronic screen went black instantly.

With a crisp click, the security door sprang open inwards.

The butcher NPC, poised to roar, froze less than three meters away, staring at the dismantled combination lock and the open door, his career facing a major crisis.

A normal player would be screaming and running away, or jumping up and down in frustration in front of the combination lock. These two were actually trying to break into a circuit right in front of them.

Xie Wang casually pressed the discarded casing back into place and dusted off his hands. Turning to the dazed NPC, he said sincerely, "Master, your magnetic lock model is too old. It's prone to crashing due to static electricity. I suggest you get a newer model."

The NPC held up a hammer, his mouth twitching beneath his mask.

Su Qinghe pursed her lips to suppress her smile, then stepped over the threshold into the new area.

Xie Wang kicked Lu Yi, who was still squatting on the ground: "Get up, and if you recite the Eight Pieces of Brocade again, this guy will be sent to his death with one blow."

As soon as Lu opened his eyes and saw the door wide open, he jumped up and scrambled inside.

Behind the door is a central garden, dimly lit, with withered trees and dry ice mist intertwined, and beams of light flickering beside the dried-up fountain.

"Lu Wen, you liar! You actually used me as a human shield just now!" Lin Lu's voice rose and pierced through the mist.

Xie Wang and Su Qinghe followed the sound, and Lu Wenzheng lowered his head and massaged Lin Lu's shoulders: "Grandma, I was wrong. That was a strategic retreat just now, to protect you from a safer distance."

Upon seeing Xie Wang and the other two appear, Lu Wen greeted them as if he had been granted a pardon: "You've finally come out."

Shen Hao, holding the bone prop he had picked up, stood guard in front of Xu You like a doorman. Xu You unscrewed the cap of a mineral water bottle and handed it to him.

Seeing Lu Yi's pale face, she mocked him mercilessly, "Master Lu, why do you look like this? Did you go inside to hone your poetry with zombies?"

Lu Yi turned up the collar of his trench coat: "How can a sparrow know the ambition of a swan? I just finished performing a ritual in French for lost souls in the morgue."

Lin Lu ran over and hugged Su Qinghe's arm: "Qinghe, the morgue is too scary. Lu Wen just dragged me and slammed my head against the wall."

Su Qinghe patted Lin Lu on the back and gently comforted him, "It's okay. We just cut off the access control system, so it will be much faster later."

Shen Hao leaned closer curiously: "Brother Wang, how did you break the access control? Did you smash it open with your fists?"

Xie Wang put his hands in his pockets and glanced at Su Qinghe: "Teacher Su taught well. Using a hairpin to create a short circuit in the motherboard is much more elegant than smashing the door."

Just then, a piercing electrical crackling sound came from the radio.

"Warning to players: Do not damage the secret room props! Do not damage the secret room props!" The control room staff had obviously witnessed Xie Wang opening the door through the surveillance cameras and were now angrily accusing him.

The central garden is so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Lu Wen's eyes widened, and he gave Xie Wang a thumbs up.

Xie Wang ignored the broadcast warning and turned to look at the entrance of the surgical building: "Let's go, only two more floors left, let's get through as soon as possible."

The group marched towards the final area, entering the connecting corridor of the surgical building. Suddenly, the corridor lights went out, and dozens of crisscrossing red laser beams blocked their way.

The reflective paint on the walls states the rules: Touching the rays will open the iron gates on both sides of the corridor, releasing zombies to chase you.

Lu Wen rolled up his sleeves and stretched his shoulders: "It's time to test your flexibility. Watch me perform a backbend over an infrared beam."

"It doesn't need to be that complicated." Su Qinghe pointed to the black receiver at the end of the corridor. "The photodetector has a fixed threshold. As long as a strong light source is used to bring the photoresistor into saturation, the system will determine that the light path has not been cut off."

Xie Wang understood immediately, took out his phone, turned the screen brightness up to the maximum, turned on the flashlight, and casually pulled out a pair of reflective sunglasses from Lu Yi's coat pocket to show off.

By using the refraction angle of the sunglasses, Xie Wang focused the strong light from his mobile phone onto the photoelectric receiver probe, causing the indicator light to turn from red to green, and the alarm system was completely paralyzed by physical deception.

"Alright, let's go." Xie Wang put away his phone and swaggered through the trap zone.

The NPCs, hidden in the shadows and ready to pounce on the pursuers, watched helplessly through the small iron window as the players strolled through the infrared array, exchanging bewildered glances, utterly powerless.

The process, which was expected to take two and a half hours, took less than fifty minutes for everyone to be standing at the exit.

The staff member in charge of settlement held a handful of reward stickers for clearing the level, staring at the group of unharmed high school students in deep thought. After observing Xie Wang's nonchalant expression, he silently stuffed the stickers back into the drawer.

The sun was shining brightly outside the amusement park, and cheerful music was playing over the loudspeaker.

Lu opened his arms and took a deep breath: "Light will eventually triumph over darkness, and the soul will be sublimated in redemption."

Shen Hao pushed him away with a look of disgust: "Put away your poem and go eat some barbecue, I'm starving."