NOVEL SIMPLE
Chapter 39
Early in the morning before the alarm clock rang, Song Anan was woken up by the cat lying on top of her.
She groggily opened her eyes and happened to meet the innocent big eyes of Qiuqiu.
The two stared at each other, one human and one cat.
Song Anan suddenly remembered that last night before going to bed, Li Sirui had video called her and insisted on seeing the cat. So she went to the cat bed in the living room and brought it over.
Later as they were chatting, she was so tired that she forgot to bring the cat back out, which led to this scene early in the morning. Judging by its posture, it was probably hungry.
Song Anan resigned herself to getting out of bed and carrying Qiuqiu to the living room to find some food.
Pei Kuang was already up. Seeing her come out, he asked, "Do you want to go out for morning exercise?"
Song Anan nodded, "Wait for me, I'll put out some cat food and then go change."
Pei Kuang took Qiuqiu from her hands, "I'll do it, you go change."
After Song Anan had changed, Pei Kuang had already put out food and water for the cat.
The two of them went out as usual and jogged a lap around the island.
When they came back, the program team's breakfast had already been delivered. They were going out to film today, so to save time, the guests were not asked to make their own breakfast.
At the dining table, a staff member came over and began to announce today's filming schedule.
Today they were going to play an escape room. On the neighboring island there was a famous escape room attraction with the theme of "Deserted Island Horrors".
Just hearing this creepy name, Song Anan instantly felt a chill down her back.
Qi MuShi, on the other hand, was very excited, "Wow! Just the name sounds so thrilling!"
Escape rooms were the most popular activity for boys this age.
Shi Qing gave him a sideways glance, "It does sound exciting, I wonder if it's the same escape room you got scared crying in last time."
Having been exposed, Qi MuShi glared at Shi Qing, "That was just an accident!"
"Besides, last time it was because you and dad only cared about running away yourselves, leaving me behind. I was angry, not scared!"
Shi Qing casually "oh"-ed, clearly not believing him.
Qi MuShi had no recourse, he could only vow to prove himself this time.
【Hahaha, scared crying in an escape room, this Qi MuShi is a wimp who loves dangerous play】
【Laughing my ass off, the parents abandoned their child to save themselves in an escape room, such a Shi Qing and husband thing to do】
【Qi MuShi: You guys are heartless, only caring about your own escape and leaving me behind!】
【My god, this mother and son combo is too funny, I love scenes where they expose each other's embarrassing histories】
Everyone was clearly very excited about today's arrangements. Just hearing the name "Deserted Island Horrors" gave a thrilling feeling, and it had a nice regional touch.
Throughout breakfast, everyone was actively discussing and even guessing what the scenes might be.
For example, Deserted Island Horrors, there was sure to be a 'ghost' element.
Li Yu turned to Song Anan and asked, "Anan, are you afraid of ghosts?"
Before Song Anan could respond, Qi MuShi confidently answered for her, "Little auntie is so capable, she must not be scared!"
Song Anan: "..."
No, she was a little afraid!
Pei Kuang saw Song Anan's reaction from the side and was giggling inside.
He certainly hadn't forgotten the secret Song Linchuan had previously told him.
- My little auntie is afraid of ghosts, but she also loves horror films.
- She's too embarrassed to admit she's afraid of ghosts and always pretends not to be.
"Brother Pei Kuang, have you played escape rooms before? Are you very brave?" Qi MuShi looked at Pei Kuang curiously and asked.
Just now everyone else had been talking about escape rooms they played. Only Song Anan and Pei Kuang were silent.
Pei Kuang tugged at the corner of his mouth and replied, "Me? I've never played one. My courage is on the smaller side."
After speaking, he turned his head to look at Song Anan, "Later when we go in, can I follow you?"
Song Anan blinked, a little hesitant.
Him following her...
Well, it wasn't unreasonable. Two people were better than one, they could bolster each other's courage.
That way, with someone even more cowardly beside her, others might not notice her as much.
Song Anan nodded, "Alright, make sure to stick close to me later."
【Damn! Pei Kuang is awesome, I'd never have imagined he would get little auntie to protect him】
【Laughing to death, how did this grown man shamelessly ask a girl for protection so matter-of-factly】
【Pei Kuang: Wahh~ Little auntie, please protect me!】
【Little auntie: This useless nephew, forget it!】
Because of the special nature of today's activity, everyone was dressed relatively casually.
The program team had rented a large boat from somewhere, and after everyone got on, the boat set off for the "deserted island".
Drifting on the sea, everyone chatted and laughed on the boat, and soon arrived at their destination.
After disembarking, everyone stood on this small island, with the first impression that it was desolate.
Compared to the touristy island they had been staying at, this was like heaven and earth. This island looked as if it had never been developed at all.
Looking all around, there was not a soul in sight. The so-called "Deserted Island Horrors" theme was executed perfectly.
Following the program team's instructions, the group followed the signs on the island until they finally arrived in front of a large mansion.
Qi MuShi asked in puzzlement, "Isn't the theme Deserted Island Horrors? The escape room can't just be inside this mansion right?"
A staff member from the director team walked over, "That's right, this mansion is the entire escape room. We'll blindfold you guys later and someone will bring you inside."
Everyone: "..."
So it really was just that.
Initially hearing the theme, they had thought the range of activities would be all over the island.
So this was false advertising!
Especially Guo Xiu, he was a veteran escape room player who had experienced many different themes, but he had never played a so-called deserted island theme before.
So on the way here, he had been highly anticipating it, thinking they would play something novel. Who knew in the end they'd be brought here.
He had to ask, what was the difference between this and the "Haunted Mansion" themes they had played before!
Guo Xiu indignantly said, "You guys are false advertisers!"
Bad review! He would definitely give a bad review!
The staff member smiled and replied, "Teacher Guo, you can't say that. This is on a deserted island to begin with, calling it Deserted Island Horrors is not wrong, right?"
Guo Xiu: "..."
Unlike Guo Xiu's outrage, the other guests didn't have much issue with it.
Soon, people in black came over to blindfold them, then led the group inside the mansion.
With a heavy 'thud', the sturdy wooden door was shut from the outside, and Song Anan reflexively shuddered.
Countless scenes from horror movies instantly flashed through her mind.
Fortunately Pei Kuang had been by her side before they entered. Thinking of this gave Song Anan a lot more peace of mind.
The people in black led them for some time until finally seeming to bring them into a room, then left.
Immediately after, an electronic voice came from the room's speakers: "You have entered the first room. Players please remove your blindfolds."
Everyone removed their blindfolds as instructed and saw that all the guests were together. Only then did they slightly relax.
Especially Song Anan, whose first reaction was to look at the person beside her, meeting Pei Kuang's eyes directly.
"Are you alright?" Pei Kuang asked.
Song Anan shook her head.
With her eyes covered, her mind had gone out of control. Just now all the way here, she had been so frightened that she broke out in a cold sweat.
There was a saying that was indeed true, the scariest thing was scaring yourself.
Song Anan touched her nose, feeling a little guilty, and said in a low voice, "You're the one who's afraid. Stick close to me."
Pei Kuang couldn't help tugging the corner of his mouth into a slight smile, "Got it."
The others had also calmed down by now. After exchanging a few words about their experiences just now, they started looking around at their surroundings.
It was an antiquated room that looked like someone's study. Based on the furnishings, this should be someone's study.
Dim lighting, creepy environment, everyone shuddered instinctively.
To create a horrific atmosphere, escape room temperatures were generally kept very low. The jackets the program team staff had given them before entering now came into use.
Everyone quickly put on the jackets they were holding in their hands.
The program team had prepared jackets that were all the same style, just different sizes.
For some reason, just this simple jacket when worn by Pei Kuang made one take notice involuntarily.
【Am I seeing things? The jackets are all the same, so why does Pei Kuang's look more fashionable than the other guys' to me?】
【Um... He made this plain old jacket look like designerwear】
【Slurp! My brother's wide shoulders, narrow waist, and long legs make him a natural clothes hanger. He looks good in anything!】
Li Yu looked at Pei Kuang and joked, "Cheating! Don't think you can get special treatment from the NPCs just because you look so handsome in that."
Pei Kuang smiled, "What if it works?"
Qi MuShi immediately raised his hand and followed up, "Right, what if Big Boss takes a liking to Brother Pei Kuang? We'll just leave him here."
Everyone laughed at that, and the scary atmosphere in the escape room dissipated quite a bit.
Next, they officially started the theme and began looking for clues to solve puzzles.
The first room was fine. Everyone methodically found clues and with escape room veteran Guo Xiu there, they quickly opened the door to the first room.
Getting through three consecutive rooms, finally in the fourth room, individual missions opened up.
The first to draw an individual mission was Xie Yin.
Her mission was that she had to go through a long corridor alone to find clues in the innermost room.
Xie Yin kept waving her hands, looking like she was about to cry, "I can't do it, I really can't."
Faced with her reaction, whether it was the live studio audience or guests on site, no one felt it was inappropriate.
Given the "Deserted Island Horrors" theme, while there might be false advertising in the "deserted island" part, the "horrors" was real. This escape room had clearly put in effort into being terrifying and creepy.
The vastness and gloominess of the old mansion, along with the props that popped up from time to time, would have made even the bravest person uneasy if not for the fact that so many guests were together.
Xie Yin had explicitly said earlier that she was very timid.
"Then you can switch with someone," Guo Xiu said. "If we don't get this clue back, we can't get out of this escape room."
According to the rules of the escape room, single clue tasks could be switched between people.
By taking the initiative to say this, Guo Xiu was indicating that he was willing to switch with Xie Yin.
But unexpectedly, after hearing Guo Xiu's words, Xie Yin walked directly over to Song Anan.
"Anan, can you switch with me?" she asked.
Song Anan was taken aback. Switch with her?
She glanced at the creepy hallway outside and couldn't help but shudder inwardly.
[Is Xie Yin crazy? She doesn't dare to go herself but thinks her little auntie does?]
[To be honest, I understand why Xie Yin doesn't dare to go. Even watching through the screen, I'm scared by this creepy environment in the escape room. But doesn't she know the saying "don't impose on others what you yourself do not desire"?]
[Isn't Guo Xiu's meaning very clear? What is Xie Yin thinking, is she really dumb or just pretending to be?]
"It's better to find someone else. Anan is a young auntie, she would be scared to go too," Li Yu frowned and said.
Xie Yin smiled at Li Yu and said, "Sis Yu, I know Anan is not afraid, that's why I asked her to switch with me."
"Have you all forgotten what happened at breakfast?"
Everyone was stunned for a few seconds before recalling the incident at breakfast.
Song Anan felt caught in an awkward situation.
When Qi Mushishi said she was fearless, Song Anan did not refute it.
So in a way, Xie Yin was not wrong in her understanding.
The reason why Song Anan did not take the initiative to say she was afraid of ghosts was because she felt it was a little embarrassing and was too shy to talk about it.
But now in this situation, Song Anan was very self-aware. Even if she forced herself to go over there bravely now, she probably wouldn't be able to find the clue smoothly.
She didn't want to drag everyone down because of herself.
Just as Song Anan was thinking of explaining things clearly to everyone, Pei Kuang beside her suddenly spoke up, "No!"
Everyone was startled and turned to look at him puzzlingly.
Why was he getting so agitated? It wasn't asking him to switch.
Pei Kuang's face was calm as he said, "I'm scared."
Then he lifted his clothes and nudged Song Anan, letting her grab on to it.
He also put on an expression that said 'Who will protect me if you leave?'
Other guests: "..."
[Pfft! I'm really going to laugh to death because of Pei Kuang. His pretend 'weak and asking for protection' look is really unbearable.]
[Alright, although he's my male lead, even I can't bear to watch this~ covering face.jpg]
[Oh my god! I thought Pei Kuang was joking at first, but he really is afraid, I can't stop laughing]
[Sorry for everyone to see this, my 'weak and helpless' older brother!]
[Huh? As a fan of Pei Kuang for many years, I've never heard he was timid!]
[Uh...I haven't heard about it either. Have any other sisters heard about this?]
[He probably was too embarrassed to talk about it. After all, being timid isn't something worth bragging about.]
[Laughing to death, does he look embarrassed at all? He's completely shameless!]
In the end, under Pei Kuang's firm and matter-of-fact attitude, Xie Yin had no choice but to go find Guo Xiu to switch tasks.
But after this single clue task, it seemed to flip some switch in the escape room. The path forward became truly thrilling and exciting one escape room after another.
Screams from the guests echoed throughout the escape rooms, overlapping with each other, to the point where you couldn't even distinguish who was screaming.
The guests were so frightened they didn't even care about keeping up appearances anymore. Li Yu had practically become an accessory hanging on Guo Xiu, Qi Mushishi was also clinging tightly to her mother's arm, and Ji An was no longer trying to act cool, following his brother wherever he went.
Compared to the other three teams, Jiang Kai and Xie Yin were especially eye-catching.
The two were really too intimate, even hugging each other more tightly than the real married couple Guo Xiu and Li Yu.
The most ordinary team was Song Anan and Pei Kuang.
Although Song Anan was afraid, she kept up a brave front.
After all, she was hanging by a thread the whole time, constantly reminding herself that she had to protect the timid Pei Kuang.
If she was afraid, Pei Kuang would be even more afraid!
Therefore, Song Anan could only grip Pei Kuang's clothes tightly. At most when she was very frightened, she would grab his arm, and that was only when Pei Kuang took the initiative to offer her his arm.
[Uh...Jiang Kai and Xie Yin are too intimate, holding hands, hugging, embracing - how should I put it, after all they're not blood siblings, it doesn't seem appropriate.]
[Oh my god! Just now Xie Yin suddenly jumped onto Jiang Kai, wow, even siblings don't hug like that!]
[Speechless, our Xie Yin is just timid! When people are scared, who can still care about all these things!]
[That can't be said, the little auntie and Pei Kuang are quite careful, they didn't do that either.]
[The little auntie is bold, she's different from our Xie Yin. The situations are different, there's no comparability at all!]
[The little auntie is bold but Pei Kuang is timid. He didn't pounce on the little auntie either.]
[That's right, from beginning to end Pei Kuang didn't touch the little auntie at all. Even when he was that scared he didn't go grab the little auntie's arm, but offered his own arm for the little auntie to hold onto instead.]
[Wuwuwu, Pei Kuang's damn propriety, what a gentleman!]
[Ahhhh, this man is really attractive!!]
...
Although Jiang Kai and Xie Yin could not see the bullet screen comments, they gradually became aware that something was inappropriate from the looks of the other guests.
Both were concerned, so they slowly began to pay more attention.
They even deliberately kept some distance, but this seemed a bit like trying to cover things up.
Soon, they came to another new escape room.
This escape room was very spacious with a large area, so the clues were correspondingly harder to find.
Therefore, after discussing, everyone split up to look for clues.
To avoid suspicion, Xie Yin did not stay too close to Jiang Kai, but stood next to the Ji brothers instead.
The lighting in the room was too dim. Xie Yin accidentally tripped over something on the ground.
Ji QiuBai was right next to her and reflexively reached out to steady her.
Then Xie Yin fell into Ji QiuBai's arms.
Song Anan happened to see this scene. Her first reaction was - the male and female leads are having a romantic moment in the original book!
The wire in her brain instantly tightened and she grabbed Pei Kuang, suddenly pointing in another direction and shouting, "Look over there!"
Pei Kuang turned and looked in the direction she was pointing.
Qi Mushishi, who was beside them, also reflexively looked over.
But coincidentally, right in the direction Song Anan was pointing, a long-haired female ghost with blood dripping from her eyes suddenly dropped down from above.
Qi Mushishi's screams echoed throughout the escape room.
Song Anan was also scared silly, staring with wide eyes as the female ghost 'floated' towards them.
In a split second, Pei Kuang reached out and covered Song Anan's eyes.
Suddenly, all the lights in the room went out with a clunk, and eerie crying sounds came from all four corners of the room.
Song Anan's legs started trembling, her body shaking uncontrollably.
The more she shook, the more severe it became.
In the darkness, Pei Kuang turned around with his back to the camera, loosely putting one arm around Song Anan.
With his other hand he took off his microphone.
The next second, his low voice sounded by Song Anan's ear,
"Don't be afraid, I'm here."