FI CH49: Changing Rules

Their eyes met for two seconds.

Lin Su closed his eyes and silently put his hands together in his heart: …Ni Ma, the one who came must be a life-sized figurine of He Zhenling, right?

In his consciousness: [Heh… haha.]

“…”

In the crowd, someone voiced their doubt: “How can someone be added at the last minute? How were they added?”

The staff member turned his head, the corners of his mouth curving on the mask. “First round test result, full marks.” He added in the suddenly silent atmosphere, “If you have any doubts, you are welcome to test him yourselves.”

The words “full marks” temporarily suppressed the discussion.

The staff member from the first round took out the room cards: “These are what’s left. Please pick one.”

He Zhenling didn’t even look. “Are there any presidential suites left?”

The crowd: “…”

There are two of these reckless weirdos!

The staff member’s mouth twitched again as he handed over a room card. “There are two in total, and one happens to be left.”

He Zhenling’s eyebrow raised slightly as he looked at Lin Su.

Lin Su averted his gaze as if nothing had happened: …What are you looking at? On what basis do you assume the other one is him?

He Zhenling only glanced once before retracting his gaze and taking the room card.

Right now, it was a public place with many people and ears.

The two stood apart, pretending not to know each other.

The staff member raised his hand again and led the group into the hotel. The hotel had a total of 13 floors, with the protruding middle floor being the 7th.

There were three elevators in total, which was just about enough for ten people in each.

Lin Su and He Zhenling walked into the same elevator.

The doors closed, and everyone pressed the button for their respective floors. Lin Su glanced and saw that no one had pressed the 7th floor. Come to think of it, it seemed no one had taken a room card for the 7th floor either.

It was unclear whether the organizers hadn’t given them out in the first place, or if everyone was deliberately avoiding it.

The ten-person elevator was a bit crowded.

Lin Su and He Zhenling stood at the very back, half an arm’s length apart. The elevator ascended slowly. In the quiet space, a voice suddenly came from the front:

“Um, you…”

He looked up and realized Tang Yin was also there.

Tang Yin seemed a little embarrassed. He glanced at him with a flushed face, then turned away and said, “You, give me your contact information. You dared to choose the 13th floor… If anything happens, you can call me.”

Lin Su: Oh…?

Seeing him silent, Tang Yin raised his voice again. “I’m repaying your favor, understand!”

Lin Su said, “No need. Didn’t you notice the signal is bad here?”

Tang Yin was stunned. “Ah?”

Just then, the elevator door dinged.

Tang Yin glanced at the floor number, hurriedly stepped out, and quickly turned his head to say, “Anyway, I’m in 602. If you need anything, just find me.”

With that, the elevator doors closed with a clang.

After Tang Yin left, no one else spoke.

The elevator went up floor by floor.

The presidential suite was on the top floor. In the end, only Lin Su and He Zhenling were left.

The quiet elevator finally stopped on the 13th floor.

The doors opened, and Lin Su walked out as if nothing had happened. Just as his foot landed on the soft carpet, a voice came from beside him: “What, helping others for pleasure again?”

He Zhenling said warmly, “Lin Kun.”

“…”

Lin Su’s steps paused.

Then he turned gracefully and asked, taking the initiative, “Why are you here?”

He Zhenling looked at him with a half-smile. “Of course, it’s because I’m too possessive.”

Lin Su: “…”

He turned his head away and pursed his lips shyly. “There might be surveillance in the hallway, don’t be like this.”

He Zhenling said slowly, “I came under the guise of your ’emergency contact.’ In the eyes of the organizers, no matter what happens between us, it’s very normal.”

Lin Su froze slightly: …Ni Ma, He Zhenling talking like this makes me a little scared.

Xuenima comforted: [Don’t be afraid, he’s not normal.]

Lin Su sighed and shook his head. He took out his room card and said to He Zhenling, “Whatever happens, it can’t happen in the hallway. Come to my room first.”

“…”

He Zhenling gave him a deep look and followed silently.

They entered the room, and the door closed.

Although the hotel looked a bit dilapidated from the outside, the presidential suite was luxuriously and spaciously furnished.

Lin Su took off his mask and put on a serious expression. “So how did you find your way here?”

He Zhenling also took off his face covering. “The organizers sent a very detailed text message to the emergency contact.” He looked up, implying, “Want to see it?”

Lin Su: .

“No, I’m good.”

He changed the subject. “Then who did you put as your emergency contact?”

He Zhenling: “Lin Family Village, Lin Kun.”

“…” Still so humorous.

Lin Su looked at him. “Participants as each other’s emergency contacts, will the organizers think we’re crazy?”

Xuenima: [They’ll probably think you want to die together.]

Lin Su lovingly muted it.

A figure moved in front of him, and He Zhenling sat sideways on the small sofa nearby. He crossed his long legs and finally composed his expression a bit. “…The organizers. So what’s this event all about?”

He looked up. “This isn’t officially organized, is it.”

Lin Su sat down in front of him and nodded. “That’s right. Doesn’t that make it more interesting?”

He recalled the little clues that had emerged in just two hours.

“You think your opponent is a ghost, but it’s actually the other participants; you think you’ve taken down the other participants, but there’s still the organizer behind the scenes. In the end, everyone might think they’re the oriole behind it all—”

He Zhenling picked up a bottle of mineral water from the table and took a sip. “Unlike me, who knew from the beginning that I was just a bird.”

Lin Su: “…”

Ni Ma, he really cares about that.

The muted Xuenima was quiet.

There wasn’t much to talk about regarding the event.

Lin Su straightened up slightly and looked at him sincerely. “About the fake name, it was my slip-up. If you have any dissatisfaction, feel free to vent it on me.” He paused, eager to try. “Otherwise, why don’t you zap me a little as punishment?”

He Zhenling saw through him. “Heh, you seem to be looking forward to it.”

“Nonsense.”

The person in front of him was silent for a second.

He Zhenling said, “Don’t be reckless. The current for punishment and the kind you’ve felt before are not the same concept.”

Lin Su blinked: …Huh?

“Forget it.” He Zhenling pinched his brow and sighed. “It’s just a weekly disposable alias anyway.”

He stood up. “I’ll head back first.”

Lin Su saw him to the entrance.

Before leaving, He Zhenling put his mask back on. He pushed the door open and turned his head. “Oh, right.” The fringe of his hair swept across his eyes, his gaze glittering above the mask.

“Wear your artifact. This place can’t handle you messing around.”

With that, he closed the door with a “click.”

Lin Su unmuted Xuenima: “Ni Ma, the ‘here’ he was talking about should be the hotel, right?”

Xuenima was vigilant: […Or what? Don’t say impure things.]

Lin Su shook his head and sighed lightly: “It’s all his fault for being too ambiguous today.”

After a short rest.

Everyone received a notification to go downstairs and prepare for the second competition.

Lin Su lived on the top floor.

When he arrived downstairs, he saw that the participants had almost all arrived, and everyone had brought their artifacts and various props.

The same staff member from before stood at the front.

Seeing that everyone was present, he began to announce the rules: “Our second competition has a time limit of two hours, and the scope is the entire hotel. I believe you all should have noticed—”

The corner of the mouth on the pure white mask lifted.

“More than one accident has happened here. Please find the locations of the accidents as much as possible, and describe the identity and form of the corresponding deceased souls.”

“As before, the more correct information, the higher the score.”

He picked up a timer. “Now, the competition begins.”

As he finished, the crowd dispersed.

Most people rushed towards the elevators, while only a small portion remained in the lobby or prepared to take the stairs.

Lin Su and He Zhenling didn’t rush to go up.

It wasn’t until they saw all three elevators stop on the 7th floor that they walked towards the elevator hall and pressed the down button.

The number decreased, and there was no one around.

Lin Su stood in front of the elevator and curved his lips, saying in a low voice, “I think I have an idea of the organizer’s purpose.”

A low “mhm” came from beside him.

He turned to look at He Zhenling. “You’ve guessed it too?”

“More or less.”

That meant he had basically guessed it.

Lin Su praised, “As expected of an inspector, so sharp.”

He Zhenling turned and reciprocated, “And you’re as expected of an anti-inspector, equally sharp.”

“…”

The elevator door opened with a ding!. Lin Su walked in. “You’re being cheeky, Xiao He.”

…

On the 7th floor, most people had indeed gathered here.

The 7th floor, being the middle break, was unoccupied.

Plus, people in their line of work more or less had some kind of sensing and knew that the source of the ominous sha energy was here.

It was better to investigate the source first while there were many people and the yang energy was strong.

Lin Su stood at the entrance of the corridor and glanced.

The entire corridor stretched straight through, and the rooms on both the left and right sides had no doors. Looking out from the nearest room, he found that all the room windows were boarded up.

The only light on the entire floor came from the lights in the corridor every few meters; the light in the rooms was quite dim.

The crowd had already dispersed to various places.

Lin Su took a piece of paper and a pen for recording from beside the elevator entrance and walked forward, scanning the rooms one by one.

At this moment, all kinds of artifacts were out, each showing their special abilities.

He walked in the middle with empty hands, like strolling through a night market, which was somewhat eye-catching.

Seeing this, those around him blocked their answers a little.

Lin Su sighed lightly and jotted down a few notes on the paper.

As he walked forward, his steps suddenly paused.

Next to him was the emergency exit door. He pushed it open and entered. The stairwell was even dimmer. A ray of light fell in from behind him, startling the person inside:

“Wah…!”

Tang Yin turned around, still shaken.

Their eyes met. He saw Lin Su’s mask clearly in the light. “It’s you?” Just as he was about to say something, his gaze fell on Lin Su’s body. “Wait, you didn’t bring an artifact?”

Lin Su: “No need.”

Tang Yin choked, then said, “I know you’re pow… powerful, alright? But this floor has heavy sha energy, you should at least bring a protective artifact!”

He seemed to have found an opportunity. “Ahem, do you want me to lend you…”

The light in front of him suddenly dimmed.

Lin Su turned his head and saw He Zhenling walk in from the half-open door, his tall figure blocking the light from the corridor. He was holding a paper and pen, stopped in front of Tang Yin, looked down, and said lightly:

“Move.”

Tang Yin’s words died in his throat. He stepped aside. “…Oh.”

He Zhenling scanned the area and jotted down a few notes without a word.

The cramped stairwell entrance suddenly felt crowded.

Tang Yin had also finished his detection and simply squeezed out. He returned to the corridor and said to Lin Su again, “You really don’t want one?”

Lin Su shook his head. “Keep it for yourself.”

Tang Yin unwillingly said “oh” and left.

The emergency exit door closed.

Lin Su also walked in. In the dim corridor, he took out a paper and pen to write. “Xiao He, the possessiveness is a bit strong.”

The person beside him paused. He Zhenling turned. “What.”

Lin Su’s pen flew across the paper, his head not looking up. “Nothing, just saying.”

“…”

He Zhenling was silent for a few seconds, then put away his pen. “You’re overthinking it. He was blocking the incident point.”

Lin Su continued, “He just wanted to return a favor.”

“What favor?”

Xuenima: […]

It closed its eyes in misery and retreated back into his consciousness.

Lin Su glanced at him, then turned back with a smile. The small silver pendant swayed by his cheek. “I helped him a bit in the first round.”

He Zhenling just said, “Mhm.”

“Finished writing?”

“Finished. Let’s go.”

The door pushed open, and Lin Su walked towards the next location.

The competition time was two hours.

Although the 7th floor was the most dangerous, the rules said the scope was the entire building, which meant there were incidents in other places too.

After surveying the 7th floor, the crowd dispersed.

Two hours was neither long nor short.

When there was about half an hour left, most people had already returned to the lobby, waiting to submit their answers.

The first one back was still Yu Yixun.

He even sat down on the sofa next to the lobby early on. When he saw people returning or passing by, he would greet them with surprise, “You guys are still looking?”

The person passing by was a bit embarrassed and forced a laugh. “We have to find everything, right?”

Yu Yixun looked leisurely. “That’s true.”

With ten minutes left, almost everyone was back, with only one or two still missing.

The participants sized each other up and found that Lin Su was among them.

“Has that one not come back yet? The one with the mask.”

“No, I just came down and saw him go up to the 11th floor again.”

“What’s on the 11th floor?”

“I don’t know, maybe he just wanted to take a look. But I saw that he didn’t bring any artifacts and ran all over the building.”

As soon as this was said, it sounded like a headless fly.

A few more voices of discussion arose in the crowd:

“Didn’t he get a full score in the last competition?”

“It’s hard to say. Inspiration is something that comes and goes, and everyone has their weaknesses.”

“Tch, if you can’t answer, you might as well come back early. You can’t rely on guessing for this kind of thing.”

As they were talking, a voice suddenly asked:

“Excuse me, what happens if you go over the time limit?”

The crowd followed the voice and saw it was Yu Yixun, who had returned first.

Yu Yixun raised a hand, his face full of arrogance. “You can’t just have the points for overtime be the same as everyone else’s, right?”

Although his attitude was disagreeable, what he said made sense to the people present, and a flurry of discussion erupted.

Hao Niu Bai spoke up unhappily, “What do you mean?”

Yu Yixun: “I’m just maintaining the fairness of the competition.”

Nearby, He Zhenling glanced at him coolly.

“Please calm down, everyone.”

The staff member pressed his earpiece and said with a smiling face, “I’ll ask for instructions from above.”

Hao Niu Bai snorted at Yu Yixun.

The scene finally quieted down.

With two minutes left, the last person besides Lin Su also hurried down and returned to the group, panting with lingering fear.

Someone asked, “Did you see Lin Kun?”

“No.”

“What’s going on? He didn’t run into trouble, did he?”

Amidst the crowd’s agitation, the time ticked down to the last 10 seconds. The elevators in front were still stopped on various floors, not moving.

Just as Hao Niu Bai was about to rush to the elevator entrance in a panic, the side safety exit door was pushed open with a “bang”—

Lin Su, wearing a mask, walked out unhurriedly.

He met He Zhenling’s eyes across half the lobby. The latter raised an eyebrow imperceptibly.

Hao Niu Bai let out a huge sigh of relief. “Why are you only back now!”

Lin Su walked closer in a few steps. “I wanted to write it more completely.”

A few steps away, a “humph” of unknown meaning was heard.

Yu Yixun regretfully withdrew his gaze, as if it was a pity that he had made it back just in time.

At the front, the end of the competition was just announced.

The masked staff member looked around. “Congratulations to everyone for returning on time. However…”

He picked up the scorebook and said, “I just went to ask for instructions regarding the time limit, and a new rule has been added: the earlier you return, the higher the point multiplier when your score is calculated. For those who return within the last 5 minutes, the point multiplier will be retained at 1.”

“Ah? How can you do that!”

A participant immediately said indignantly, “You didn’t say that before. Otherwise, I would have come back earlier.”

The staff member’s tone was calm. “Don’t worry, the difference in the point multiplier is very small. The deciding factor is still the amount of information you all have. This is just used to determine the ranking between two people with the same amount of information.”

With this said, the anger subsided a bit.

Hearing this, Lin Su cast a meaningful glance, then looked at the leisurely Yu Yixun beside him.

He asked Hao Niu Bai in a low voice, “Was Yu Yixun the first one back?”

“Yeah, how did you know?”

Lin Su smiled but didn’t speak.

Xuenima: [Are they trying to secure first place for Yu Yixun?]

“After all, they learned their lesson from the first round, afraid there would be another tie. The rule added at the last minute was aimed at me.”

Xuenima sneered: [Heh!]

During their conversation, the answers were already being checked at the front.

Each person, in the order they returned, submitted the answers written on their paper to the staff member. The staff member graded them on the spot, and all answers would be announced and reviewed at the end.

Yu Yixun went up first.

The staff member looked at it and announced, “All locations found, descriptions completely correct. Full marks!”

The first one was a full score, and the field was immediately in an uproar.

“Doesn’t that mean the first place for this round is already decided!”

“He also got a full score in the last round. First place is guaranteed.”

…

In the field, Lin Su and He Zhenling’s expressions didn’t change.

Yu Yixun returned to the crowd smugly.

The scoring continued.

As people went up one by one to submit their answers, the scores were released one after another, but none could compare to the first one.

Until it was He Zhenling’s turn. He took a step forward and handed over his paper.

The staff member carefully checked it. “Also… full marks!”

Another uproar from below.

Beside him, Hao Niu Bai said to Lin Su with some regret, “Aigh! What a pity. This handsome guy clearly got a full score too, but because he submitted it after Yu Yixun, he was still suppressed.”

Lin Su, not knowing what he was thinking of, couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Giggle giggle…”

Hao Niu Bai: ?

“What are you laughing at?”

Lin Su didn’t explain. “Nothing, just thought of something interesting. You’ll know at the end.”

Hao Niu Bai: “Huh???”

Soon, everyone in front had submitted their answers.

It was finally the turn of Lin Su, who had returned last.

All eyes fell on him at once. Lin Su walked to the front with the paper in his hand.

Yu Yixun watched him with a bit of wariness in his gaze and said with false sympathy, “Aigh… the last one back, you should have found everything, right? You can at least get third place, that’s not bad.”

Lin Su said, “I don’t know if I found everything.”

The crowd behind him, waiting with bated breath, looked at each other. Yu Yixun concealed the smugness of having victory in his grasp.

On the pure white mask, the smile was deep.

The staff member reached out a hand. “Let me see?”

Lin Su nodded. “But before that, I want to ask.”

He unfurled a piece of paper with a swish. It was densely packed with writing. “Your answers, from which dynasty do they start counting?”

“?”

__

Author’s Note:

Su: “Lin-Lin Hou” is straightening out the competition!

Double first place is definitely our Kun Da Niao, don’t worry O▽O

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