The two groups naturally split up, with Chu Yueyi sensing that Shi Guanghua's intention to shake off the others was too obvious. However, she couldn't say much about it and similarly bid farewell to Ren Qinyan and Zou Qian.
The two groups entered different passages. The light in the corridor grew dimmer, with deliberately aged oil lamps flickering frequently, adding to the eerie atmosphere.
Chu Yueyi extended her hand to Shi Guanghua: "Give me your hand."
Shi Guanghua was puzzled but still obediently reached out.
Chu Yueyi looked at his leisurely reaction and mocked, "Weren't you scared? Now that Zou Qian and the others are gone, you're not afraid anymore?"
Shi Guanghua remained silent for a few seconds. He honestly held her hand and calmly said, "I am scared."
Chu Yueyi: "..."
What followed was a bizarre scene in the passage. The petite and sweet-looking Chu Yueyi led the way calmly, holding hands with the extremely tall and aloof Shi Guanghua, because the latter claimed to be afraid in the deep, dark passage.
-- Don't be fooled by Teacher Shi's expressionless face! He's already screaming "save me, wife!" in his heart! (Just kidding)
-- That's right, I have mind-reading powers, I can testify.
-- Ridiculous, he was just punching light bulbs with one fist, and now he has the nerve to act coy and say he's scared!?
-- Shi: Scared. Zou: Scram.
-- In the other group, the guys are leading the way, but here you are hiding behind your wife!!
-- Teacher Chu is in denial, if you want to hold hands just do it, no need to mock first.
Chu Yueyi had once been obsessed with Alfred Hitchcock's films, so she was completely unfazed by this environment and just wanted to quickly reach the puzzle-solving scene.
At that moment, a scream came from the other side of the wall, seemingly from Ren Qinyan and Zou Qian's direction.
Chu Yueyi and Shi Guanghua were startled. They stopped in their tracks and looked at each other with uncertainty.
Shi Guanghua honestly said, "Now I'm really scared."
He wasn't frightened by the environment set up by the production team, but the sudden scream from the other group was truly alarming.
On the other side, devices on both sides of the passage sprayed out countless black paper pieces, resembling a swarm of bats in the dim light, startling Ren Qinyan so much that she almost fell to the ground, fortunately caught by Zou Qian.
Zou Qian had been cautious all along, but seeing Ren Qinyan's pale face, he instantly forgot about the awkwardness caused by his own hesitation and asked with concern, "Are you alright?"
Ren Qinyan was still recovering from the shock. Upon realizing the true nature of the "bats," she finally relaxed: "I'm fine, it's just that my night vision isn't good, so I was a bit unsure..."
Ren Qinyan had been led by Chu Yueyi earlier, and now back to her blurry state, she naturally felt a bit panicked.
Zou Qian hesitated for a few seconds. He couldn't offer to hold her hand, so he simply pulled out the decorative chain on his sleeve and stuttered, "If-if you want, you can hold onto this and follow me."
Ren Qinyan carefully grasped the metal chain on his sleeve and gratefully said, "...Thank you."
-- I can't believe Zou Qian isn't afraid of fake bats? I thought he'd be howling in fear!
-- Well, the Joker is Batman's strongest enemy after all.
-- I was about to shout that I ship them, but then I remembered they're not supposed to be shipped.
-- Me too, I'll stick to shipping Yue Guang, otherwise we'll get scolded.
-- Do we even need to actively ship Yue Guang? Aren't they already a given?
Chu Yueyi and Shi Guanghua also encountered the bat storm. Countless deep black paper pieces flew around in a frenzy, making them feel as if they were in a ghost castle with eerie music playing. However, both of them calmly watched the scene, unfazed by the mechanism design.
"Fancy but pointless," Chu Yueyi shook her head, brushing off the paper pieces from her hair. She directly picked up the nearby clue and focused on studying it.
As black paper pieces danced chaotically under the strong wind, Shi Guanghua noticed that she was engrossed in solving the puzzle and no longer paying attention to him. He simply started humming a tune softly, which turned out to be the "Wedding March."
Dum, dum da-dum, dum, dum da-dum...
With no one else around, Chu Yueyi forgot they were filming a show. Hearing the familiar melody, she instinctively turned back and glared at him: "What are you up to now?"
Shi Guanghua: "Humming."
Chu Yueyi, flustered and angry: "Why this song in particular?"
Shi Guanghua: "Just humming randomly, is that not allowed?"
"No, it's not!" Chu Yueyi's puzzle-solving was interrupted by him. She instantly reverted to her at-home state, lifting her chin haughtily, "That's the soundtrack from 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' we're doing 'Romeo and Juliet.' You have no sense of music copyright, how shameful for a music producer!"
Hearing Chu Yueyi's nonsensical argument and seeing her looking up at him, Shi Guanghua bent down, lightly touching her forehead with his, and reminded her: "But 'Romeo and Juliet' has its own music."
Chu Yueyi: "..."
Chu Yueyi, blushing, pushed him away: "Don't disturb me while I'm solving puzzles..."
Fortunately, Shi Guanghua knew his limits. He didn't cross any lines in front of the camera, well aware of Chu Yueyi's idol image concerns. He was just deliberately trying to get her attention.
Chu Yueyi solved puzzles extremely quickly. Along the way, she was disturbed by Shi Guanghua a few times, angrily tapping him twice in secret, then shaking her wrist in dissatisfaction, muttering, "Even hitting you makes my hand hurt."
Shi Guanghua, who was tapped: "?"
Shi Guanghua, assessing the situation: "...I'm sorry."
-- Chu: Kissing will only slow down my puzzle-solving speed.
-- Shi: Humming to hint at marriage.
-- As expected of you, Shi Guanghua. Next door they're screaming at flying paper, but you're humming the wedding march.
-- Shi: In my world, there's no dark gloom, only sweet romance.
-- Teacher Chu is a die-hard fan of "Romeo and Juliet," not allowing any other Shakespeare plays to appear.
-- Shakespeare: Can't you just date without dragging me into it? I can't even walk on my own!
-- Teacher Shi, you've changed. Society has ground you down to speak so humbly.
-- Shi in music shows: From a professional perspective, I don't feel sorry. Facts speak louder than words.
-- Shi now: I'm sorry, wife. It's my fault your hand hurts from hitting me.
Shi Guanghua was the biggest obstacle in Chu Yueyi's puzzle-solving journey.
They arrived at the final scene after some playful bickering. She finally saw through his intention to slack off and mix around, hesitantly asking, "Aren't you going to participate in solving the puzzles at all?"
Chu Yueyi's mind worked quickly, deducing details by analogy. Seeing a special flashlight, she immediately used it to illuminate the password on the wall, accurately finding drawers hiding clues, as if she had watched the production team set everything up.
Shi Guanghua was just being led by her the whole time, occasionally teasing her, completely like a sightseeing tourist.
Shi Guanghua looked puzzled: "Do I need to participate?"
Chu Yueyi: "Otherwise you won't have any game experience."
Shi Guanghua: "When we usually play games, I don't have much experience either."
Chu Yueyi: "..." You're really a proud slacker!
In the final stage, Chu Yueyi's speed run finally came to a halt. She wandered around the vintage-style study, unable to find the next clue for a while, and could only circle around near the bookshelf.
The desk was piled with globes and letter paper, with a fake European fireplace lamp in the corner, its flickering light indistinguishable from real flames.
Shi Guanghua noticed that she didn't even glance at the desk and curiously asked, "Why aren't you looking at the desk?"
There were many props on the desk, but she ignored them completely, heading straight for the bookshelf.
Chu Yueyi explained methodically, "There's nothing unusual on the desk. This kind of game is about finding traces that shouldn't be here. If you're interested, you can look at the corner."
Shi Guanghua glanced at the fireplace and ladder in the corner. He had no enthusiasm for puzzle-solving and circled back to her side, asking, "Why do you keep turning here?"
Chu Yueyi frowned slightly. She looked at the ground, deep in thought, and explained, "Because this bookshelf can rotate, but I can't find where the mechanism is."
Shi Guanghua was stunned: "How do you know? We just came in?"
They had just entered the study a short while ago, yet Chu Yueyi already had a conclusion.
Chu Yueyi, with her detective mind, analyzed seriously: "There are faint marks on the ground, proving it has been turned. You can see it if you look carefully."
Shi Guanghua crouched down and indeed saw very shallow scratch marks, but they were easy to miss if not paying close attention. He wondered how she had noticed them.
-- Production team: Two hours to set up, two minutes to solve.
-- The attitude of a worker wanting to clock out on time is evident.
-- Shi: Do I need to participate? I always just coast through variety shows, milking the production team for money!
-- Teacher Shi, next time we meet in King's Canyon, have the guts to come down from her head before you speak!
Chu Yueyi couldn't understand why she couldn't find the clue. She dissatisfiedly circled in front of the bookshelf, starting to touch and feel around, searching for the mechanism to rotate the bookshelf.
Shi Guanghua leisurely said, "Actually, this is fine too."
Chu Yueyi felt around while asking, "What's so good about it?"
Shi Guanghua replied, "Being in here, it's just us."
Chu Yueyi focused on solving the puzzle, already thinking about dinner. She decisively said, "Not good, I want to go home and eat. I want steamed pork ribs."
She had seen Shi Guanghua take frozen ribs out of the fridge this morning, guessing they were for dinner preparations.
Shi Guanghua had romance on his mind, not expecting her to be thinking about food: "..."
He casually glanced at the bookshelf and suddenly said, "I think I've found a clue."
Chu Yueyi immediately looked up in surprise: "Where? Where is it hidden?"
Shi Guanghua looked at the code on top of the bookshelf and calmly said, "It's not hidden, it's right here."
Chu Yueyi looked up at the bookshelf. No wonder she couldn't find it; their perspectives were different. She had thought they needed some prop to see the secret, but Shi Guanghua's height unexpectedly broke through, seemingly skipping some steps.
Chu Yueyi: "Take a look and tell me."
Shi Guanghua: "I can't understand it."
Chu Yueyi: "?"
Chu Yueyi puzzled: "...How can you not understand?"
Shi Guanghua simply lifted her up. He calmly pointed to the location and said evenly, "See for yourself."
Chu Yueyi was caught off guard as she was lifted. She wrapped her arms around his neck, looked up to check the code on top of the bookshelf, and couldn't help but pinch his ear, gritting her teeth and muttering, "You can't understand English?"
She had fallen for his trick; he had studied abroad before!
Shi Guanghua held her, keeping a straight face as he said, "Illiterate."
Chu Yueyi: "..."
-- The worst slander overseas education had ever received.
-- Traveled half a lifetime, returned still illiterate?
-- Teacher Chu only thinking about getting off work and eating, Teacher Shi only thinking about romantic hugs.
-- Shi: Although I saw a ladder in the corner, we absolutely don't need such a thing!
-- I've learned my lesson, I'm immediately going to pretend to be illiterate to hit on my idol! Isn't that how love happens?
-- I'm even better, I don't need to pretend, I am illiterate [doge]!