Card Room (Rebirth)
chapter-102

There were only three gems currently found and many possibilities for the distribution of the gems.

Ye Qi didn’t quite understand why Xiao Lou could infer that the seven gemstones would form a human figure. He couldn’t help asking, “Professor Xiao, I think the position of these three gems are also like triangles, pentagrams, etc. How did you infer that it is a human form?”

Xiao Lou explained, “Just looking at the graphics, there are indeed many possibilities for the distribution of the three gems. The reason why I speculated that the gems form a human figure is that in addition to their position, they follow the human bones in Grandma Qin’s wine jar.”

Yu Hanjiang recalled the wine jar. “If I remember correctly, there were exactly seven human bones in her wine jar?”

Xiao Lou nodded. “Furthermore, these seven human bones were the temporal bone of the hard, the vertebrae of the cervical spine, the phalanges of the hands, the pubic symphysis of the pelvis and the toe bones of each feet. This represents the seven points of the human body. Grandma Qin said that the distribution of the gems makes a formation then we must certainly pay attention to her human bones. By connecting this, the position of the seven gems is probably also the seven points of the human body.”

Ye Qi suddenly realized. “The old lady soaked seven human bones in a wine jar and placed seven stones throughout the village in a human shape. This feels like a curse or a seal?”

Xiao Lou touched his chin and thought about it. “It really is like a seal in a xianxia game but there is no way to judge Grandma Qin’s specific reason for doing this. We have too few clues.”

Yu Hanjiang frowned. “Grandma Qin must be related to the case of the slaughtered villagers. We must first go to find the gems. It is only the first day and we have a lot of time to solve the puzzle. We can slowly analyze it.”

Xiao Lou nodded and followed Yu Hanjiang.

The four people came out of the ruined temple and were about to go down the mountain when they heard barking.

Xiao Lou felt surprised in his heart. He didn’t expect these dogs to have such a sensitive sense of smell. It was almost comparable to the police dogs who tracked prisoners. In just 10 minutes, they followed the smell of the gem to search the mountain. The western mountain was the base of the challengers and the second room required challengers to not kill the villagers. They would fail the secret room if they killed villagers by mistake. The villagers led the dogs to search the mountain and the villagers had to hide.

They were about to encounter a large search force and Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang glanced at each other.

Ye Qi hadn’t reacted yet when he suddenly saw Xiao Lou throw out the Balance. Two silver-white metal discs with a diameter of five metres were quickly created on the ground, trapping all the dogs and villagers inside.

The characteristic of Balance was that as long as the total weight on the left and right sides of the scale weren’t equal, the trapped target couldn’t leave the area of the disc. There were so many villagers and dogs so there must be different weights on both sides. Two huge scales with a diametre of five metres set them in place.

These dogs saw Xiao Lou’s group of four and wanted to leap to bite. Then they found they couldn’t move and could only bark wildly in the direction of the four people. The sound of more than a dozen dogs barking broke the tranquility of the west mountain. In fact, Xiao Lou did this to alert fellow challengers to hide quickly.

The balance lasted for five minutes and this was enough for Xiao Lou’s group to flee. The villagers couldn’t see and didn’t know what was going on. They heard their dogs barking and the next moment, a light wind blowing next to their body.

Since the road was blocked by the villagers, the four people couldn’t directly pass the dogs. Fortunately, Ye Qi’s Teleport card could blink through the gap. He aimed at the gap between the scales and took Xiao Lou. Then he returned and took Shao Qingge and Yu Hanjiang respectively.

Little Ye was really flexible when running for his life at a critical time.

Passing through the middle of the group of dogs, Ye Qi gasped with fear, his face white. “That Tibetan mastiff was only 10 centimeters away from me. If I wasn’t fast enough then it might’ve bitten my leg!”

Xiao Lou patted him on the shoulder in comfort. “It was hard. Let’s go.”

The four of them quickly went down the mountain. At the foot of the mountain, Xiao Lou heard a noise from the forest behind him. He looked up and saw a white figure gently jumping from one tree to another. The girl was as light as a swallow and seemed like a girl who learned the best footwork skill.

Her flight card was really powerful. Xiao Lou looked up at her and the girl nodded at him before flying toward the east of the village.

The villagers went up the mountain with so many dogs to search. The challengers who heard the dog barking was likely to go down the mountain to escape. Next, there would be a large number of challengers appearing in the village. They had to find the gem as soon as possible, otherwise, they could only rely on grabbing people’s things. Xiao Lou didn’t want to steal other people’s things.

Yu Hanjiang also knew that the situation was urgent. He handed the map to Ye Qi and said, “Little Ye, you have the Teleport card. Take Chief Shao to the farmland in the southeast as soon as possible to find the gems. I’ll go to the other farmland with Professor Xiao.”

Ye Qi nodded and activated the Teleport card with Shao Qingge, disappearing in front of him. Xiao Lou wanted to activate the acceleration shoes but his running speed was too slow. His result in the 100 metres spring had always been on the verge of passing. His foundation was poor and he wouldn’t be particularly fast with added speed.

Thinking up to here, Xiao Lou said, “We also have to hurry. Group Leader Yu, you should wear the acceleration shoes and go first.”

Yu Hanjiang shook his head. “I haven’t received the blindness effect and it is easy to go wrong. We can’t act separately. How about I put on the acceleration shoes and carry you?”

Xiao Lou didn’t worry too much. He simply handed the Gale card to Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang put on the acceleration shoes and started the acceleration skill with Xiao Lou on his back. Xiao Lou couldn’t react as Yu Hanjiang shot forward like an arrow.

Xiao Lou was dizzy and immediately reached for Yu Hanjiang’s shoulder, lest he fall. This intimate action caused the man’s back to slightly stiffen but his feet didn’t pause at all.

The breeze blew through his ears as the surrounding scenery quickly passed. Perhaps they moved too fast after wearing the acceleration shoes, causing the heartbeats of the two people to become a bit disordered. Yu Hanjiang’s steady breathing was also a bit short.

He carried Xiao Lou through the village in just five minutes. After coming to the farmland, Yu Hanjiang put Xiao Lou on the ground.

Xiao Lou realized that he had been holding Group Leader Yu and his ears became slightly hot. He quickly released his hands and changed the topic once he stood on the ground. “The gem should be in this area. Find it quickly so that other challengers won’t come here and take it first.”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “Okay, separate to search.”

It was currently the autumn harvest season and the farmland of golden wheat moved in the wind. The air exuded a clear fragrance.

The two people entered the wheat field. This wheat field was dozens of acres and seemed to never end. Where exactly were the gems buried? They wouldn’t be easy to find. If it was in the middle of the wheat field, did they have to level all of the wheat field and dig at the ground?

The project was too big. What clues were there?

Xiao Lou frowned at the large wheat field. Then he found that there were exactly seven scarecrows in the wheat field. The scarecrows were placed in the fields in order to drive out birds from stealing food. Look up and nothing could be seen, every scarecrow was the same size. However, looking down from the sky…

Xiao Lou’s eyes lit up. “These seven scarecrows are also lined up in a human shape. The westernmost one is the head and the easternmost two are the feet. The gem should be in the left foot position.”

Yu Hanjiang heard this and immediately ran over, lifting up the scarecrow. There was no abnormality on the ground. He touched the scarecrow and found that the stomach area was empty. He put his hand into the scarecrow’s stomach and pulled out a delicate wooden box. They opened the box and inside was a dark green gem.

Yu Hanjiang took the gem back to Xiao Lou’s side. “I found it.”

Xiao Lou was very happy and immediately spoke to Ye Qi through the heart channel. “Little Ye, have you found the gem? Are there seven scarecrows in the field?”

Ye Qi replied, “We haven’t found them, this farmland is so big… is there a gem under the scarecrow?”

Xiao Lou gave a tip. “Look from west to east, the scarecrows are arranged like a human. Look in the stomach of the scarecrow in the right foot position.”

Soon, Ye Qi’s excited voice entered his ears. “I found it! The gem is really in the scarecrow’s stomach!”

Xiao Lou ordered, “Bring the stone to meet up.”

The farmland had flat terrain and Ye Qi and Shao Qingge could teleport directly. Within a minute, they entered Xiao Lou’s vision. Ye Qi was holding a wooden box, eyes full of excitement. He came to Ye Qi’s side and opened the wooden box. “Professor Xiao, I found a gem. It is transparent.”

Xiao Lou received the gem handed over by Ye Qi and made a comparison to what he had found.

Both were spherical gems and very round. There was a bright line in the middle of the previous stone. The one that he and Yu Hanjiang found was dark green while the one that Ye Qi and Chief Shao found was almost transparent white. Under the light, the gem exuded a soft lustre, especially the line in the middle. It was very bright and beautiful.

Xiao Lou didn’t know much about jewellery and asked, “Do you know it?”

Yu Hanjiang and Ye Qi both shook their heads to show that they didn’t know.

Shao Qingge smiled and picked up the two gems, looking at them in the sun “This is the chrysoberyl stone. The one in Professor Xiao’s hand is the Hetian jade cat’s eye chrysoberyl. The one that Little Ye found is the moonstone cat’s eye. From a colour point of view, this gem should be natural. The shape of the stone is round and the cat’s eye line in the middle is so clear. Both gems are expensive.”

Ye Qi looked at him with admiration. “Chief Shao, did you do a lot of research on gems?”

Shao Qingge replied. “It is needed for business. I have studied gold and jewellery.”

Xiao Lou carefully examined the two gems. He found that there was a small hole in the middle of the two gems and wondered, “The hole in these gems, what does it mean?”

He was looking down and thinking about it when a girl’s calm and cool voice was heard behind them.”Seven gems, it should be a string bracelet.”

The four people suddenly turned back to see the girl sitting in a tree not far away. At their gaze, she jumped and steadily fell in front of Xiao Lou with open hands. Her palm also contained a gem. It was a golden cat’s eye stone. The colour was crystal clear and shone in the evening sun.

Shao Qingge narrowed his eyes. “You have the golden cat’s eye. It is the most precious variety and the one with the highest similarity to a cat’s eye.”

The girl put her hands away. “You should’ve guessed that this one was found in the bone pit at the temple.”

Xiao Lou asked, “You just said that the seven gems will form a bracelet. What is the basis?”

The girl pointed to the small hole in the middle of the gem. “This hole should be used for threading. The seven jewels are stringed together with a threat, which is very similar to a bracelet worn by girls. I’ve bought this type of cat’s eye bracelet before but I bought artificial ones. It was for tens of yuan and not as precious.”

Shao Qingge thought about it and nodded with approval. “Itis indeed like a cat’s eye bracelet that girls wear. If it is seven different varieties of pure and natural cat’s eye gems strung into a bracelet… the price would be very expensive.”

Ye Qi spoke curiously. “Then the owner of this bracelet should be very rich?”

Shao Qingge spoke. “Three of them have been found, including the transparent moonstone cat’s eye, dark green cat’s eye and golden cat’s eyes. There are also the common cat’s eye stones such as the red crystal cat’s eye, tourmaline cat’s eye, quartz cat’s eye, and alexandrite cat’s eye… the seven chrysoberyl colours are likely to be different. The different types of cat’s eye gems are gathered to make a bracelet. The owner not only has money but has done a lot of research on the cat’s eye stone.”

The girl looked at him in an unexpected manner. “Do you know jewellery very well?”

Shao Qingge smiled. “I understand a little bit.”

The three people, “……”

Shao Qingge was always sticking up his tail and now he said that he only ‘slightly understood.’

Xiao Lou smiled as he looked at the girl in front of him. “You have been hiding all the time but now you suddenly found us. Do you want to cooperate with us for a perfect clearance?”

The girl nodded. “You have found two gems and the four of you can clear the instance. I have also found one and there is no competition between us. Thus, I want to find you to cooperate and try to perfectly clear the instance.”

The girl was very clever. If the four people hadn’t found the gem and she rushed to work with them, it was likely that her own gem would be robbed. Now, the four of them had found two gems and could clear the instance. She didn’t need to be too defensive of them.

Grabbing extra gems wouldn’t add points and there was no need to start fighting each other. Cooperating to find the most perfect way to clear the instance was the most intelligent approach. The girl had a flight card and could fly with the help of the trees. This could help them find clues. In addition, the girl had obviously seen the strength of the four of them and believed they could help her.

The two sides hit it off.

Xiao Lou smiled and said, “Since you want to cooperate, can you tell me your name? You can’t always be called the flying hero.”

The girl seemed to have no humour cells and her face was still. “Hello, my name is Liu Qiao.”

Ye Qi was excited. “Hello, my name is Ye Qi!”

Yu Qingge thoughtfully touched the chin. “Liu Qiao, where have I heard this name before?”

Something flashed through Xiao Lou’s mind.

As early as the 2 of Clubs secret room, there was a card game with seven people. Shao Qingge started off with a psychological war and there were two girls as well. Out of the two girls, one was very thin and the other had a high ponytail. Xiao Lou finally helped them to win.

After the game, the group discussed the reasons why they came into this world and found that everyone was in an accident.

The bus the two girls were travelling on was the bus that caused the car accident that hit Xiao Lou.

One of the girls had said, “My sister probably also came to this world. She isn’t in good health and I don’t know how long she will live. If you have a chance to see her in the future, can you tell her to live well… her name is Liu Qiao.”

The memories poured into his mind. Xiao Lou reflected on where he heard this name and immediately asked, “Liu Qiao? Do you have a sister who was in a car accident with you?”

Liu Qiao’s face changed slightly. “How do you know that?”

Shao Qingge also remembered this matter. “We met her in 2 of Clubs. She was taking the school bus with you and got into an accident. Then she was pulled into the Card World.”

Liu Qiao’s fingers clenched and her eyes were full of worry. “My sister, she…”

Xiao Lou said, “She wasn’t eliminated from 2 of Clubs. She joined teams with another girl and we never saw her again after that secret room.”

Although they hadn’t seen her, Xiao Lou felt that her sister might not reach 4 of Spades. Both girls looked physically weak and were likely to be wiped out by the prisoners group in the Financial Crisis. Moreover, 3 of Hearts was very brain-burning and 4 of Hearts even more. 4 of Spades was an abnormal linked secret room with an elimination rate of more than 80%. Her sister had a very low possibility of leaving the novice area and smoothly entering the main city.

Liu Qiao was silent for a moment and whispered, “My sister is called Liu Ying and we were indeed in a car accident. After 2 of Clubs, I originally bought a contract to form a team with her. As a result, the keeper told me she was bound to someone else.”

This was consistent with what Xiao Lou said.

After 2 of Hearts, Liu Ying and the other girl she played cards with bound together. As a result, she missed her sister’s invitation.

Xiao Lou wondered, “Your sister said you weren’t well. How did you reach 4 of Spades alone?”

Liu Qiao’s face was slightly white. This road obviously hadn’t been easy. “After perfectly clearing 2 of Hearts, I drew a card that allowed me to move through the air and this allowed me to smoothly avoid the zombies in 2 of Spades. The teammates I matched with in 3 of Hearts and 4 of Hearts were strong. I could be considered lucky to hold on until now.”

Ye Qi was curious. “It is easy to be pitted when randomly matched with teammates. How did you survive 3 of Spades?”

Liu Qiao looked ugly. “I was randomly matched with a teammate in 3 of Spades and found there was something wrong with my teammate’s identity. I quickly got away from her and hid in the trees using the flying card. I used the milk and bread in my backpack and then ate the leaves to survive for seven days.”

Ye Qi felt empathy and his face was full of hate. “You were also pitted by your randomly matched teammate? I was the same. My teammate was a real life university senior. Once our food was stolen he took our food and disappeared!”

The others, “…”

These two miserable people, it wasn’t easy to survive by eating leaves.

Xiao Lou’s words were warm. “Your sister had a message for you, telling you to live well. Since we met so coincidentally, we will work together this time. Once we clear the fourth level, you will go to the main city with us. Then you can inquire about your sister’s whereabouts, okay?”

She couldn’t find her sister here. Once she went to the main city, if her sister successfully lived through the fourth level then they might meet there. These people’s description of her sister didn’t seem to be lies and they were very strong. Together, they might be able to get a perfect S-grade clearance.

Liu Qiao took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay.”

She turned around and said, “I hid in a tree last night and found some clues in the village. You should come with me.”