Guan Wei and Tong Zheng agreed with Jing Minghe's proposal, but Jiang Zheng had a different opinion.
"Don't we need to explore here? Maybe we'll find some clues."
Jing Minghe smiled upon hearing this, said nothing, and turned to walk directly towards the small path.
Chi Hao naturally walked beside Jing Minghe, with Guan Wei following behind the two.
Youmi and Yan Xiaoxi also hurried to catch up, and Chen Mu and Lin Ling followed without hesitation.
Tong Zheng shrugged at Ke Wuwen and the others, "Sorry, if you have any ideas, feel free to do as you please. I have to follow our boss."
Ke Wuwen really wanted to follow Jing Minghe, but the two beside him were teammates he had been through two instances with, and he couldn't completely ignore them.
After hesitating, Ke Wuwen said to the two beside him, "Brother Zheng, Brother Yu, let's follow them. We can always come back to explore this mass grave later. Besides, it's pitch black here, and we definitely won't find anything."
"Alright," Jiang Zheng compromised, "They have more people. The minority obeys the majority."
Ke Wuwen immediately smiled, "Brother Zheng is generous!"
With that, he jogged to catch up with Jing Minghe.
Jing Minghe, who was already on the small path, was unusually quiet. He was still thinking about what Yue Yang had said before he died. He was absolutely sure that he had never seen Yue Yang outside, but Yue Yang seemed to know him. To be precise, Yue Yang knew the person he called "gege" (older brother), and only remembered it right before he died.
This matter was quite strange.
Jing Minghe frowned slightly. He didn't understand why Yue Yang, who had gone through two instances with him, would remember knowing him before dying and even mention that person.
"Jing Minghe," Chi Hao patted Jing Minghe's shoulder and said softly, "Some things only have answers when the time is right."
Jing Minghe paused upon hearing this and smiled, "That's true. In this situation, overthinking is useless and only adds to worries."
"Mhm."
Jing Minghe turned to look at Chi Hao, suddenly leaned closer, and said with great confidence, "Everything related to this place, I will uncover. Do you believe me?"
"I believe you."
"By the way, why do you think we didn't return to the resting area and were instead teleported into the instance?"
"Too simple."
Jing Minghe nodded in agreement, "You and I think the same. The previous instance was too easy. Anyone with decent memory and reasoning skills could figure it out. Moreover, even if others chose wrongly, they would only receive punishment, not death."
"So," Jing Minghe saw two rows of thatched houses, one vertical and one horizontal, ahead, "this is the real third Death Game instance."
"Is that where we'll be staying?" Ke Wuwen poked his head out from behind Jing Minghe. "They're thatched houses, they look quite decent."
Tong Zheng reached out and placed his hand on Ke Wuwen's head, "Kid, what do you mean decent? Aren't you scared?"
"Of course, I'm scared," Ke Wuwen said. "Terrified, but once we're here, fear doesn't help. It's the most harmful emotion, so it's best not to have it, don't you think, Idol?"
"...Idol?" Jing Minghe looked back at Ke Wuwen and saw the light in his eyes. He couldn't help but laugh, "Haha, you're right. In a place like this, bravery and optimism are the most helpful."
Ke Wuwen grinned, "Then let's hurry up and see what's inside those thatched houses. We're sure to find something related to the completion conditions."
The group approached and counted. There were a total of twelve thatched houses, six in a vertical row and six in a horizontal row.
The first thatched house in the vertical row was the kitchen. It contained a stove, a cutting board, and other items. Beside the stove was a large pot with half a pot of water. In a corner, there was a rather large shelf with many fruits and vegetables on it.
The remaining eleven houses were rooms for resting and sleeping. They contained beds, tables, chairs, and mirrors.
There were no personal belongings of the players. Jing Minghe said, "It seems the rooms are to be allocated by everyone. We've checked all eleven thatched houses, and there are no differences. Let's just pick them randomly, as they're only for resting anyway."
Everyone had no objections and casually chose a room to enter.
Having just come from the previous instance and directly into this one, Jing Minghe suggested everyone rest for a night before exploring tomorrow. The others accepted his suggestion.
Jing Minghe was in the middle thatched house of the horizontal row, Chi Hao was next to him, and their other neighbor was Ke Wuwen.
After resting on the bed for a while, Jing Minghe took out his pocket watch and opened it. It was 2:10 AM. Besides the door, the thatched house also had a window, which was half open. He could hear the faint sound of the wind outside and the intermittent chirping of insects.
Jing Minghe leaned against the bed and listened quietly for a moment, then suddenly had the urge to go chat with Chi Hao.
But he had just suggested everyone rest, so he couldn't possibly go and disturb someone.
Perhaps it was telepathy or unspoken understanding, but as Jing Minghe was still deliberating, the door to his thatched house was pushed open, and the person outside entered without asking.
"Chi Hao?" Jing Minghe jumped off the bed. "Why aren't you resting? Is there something you need?"
Jing Minghe noticed that Chi Hao seemed to be holding a small notebook. It was a bit dark inside the house, so he couldn't see clearly.
Chi Hao grunted, walked to the table, placed the item in his hand on the table, and said to Jing Minghe, "There should be a box with candles and a tinder on your bedside. Bring it here."
When Chi Hao entered, he had navigated to the bed using the moonlight outside and hadn't noticed anything on the bedside.
Hearing Chi Hao's words, Jing Minghe reached out and felt around the bedside. Sure enough, there was a box.
"Jing Minghe," Chi Hao walked behind Jing Minghe at some point and took the box from his hand. "Focus. Don't let unanswered questions affect you."
Jing Minghe quickly understood what Chi Hao meant and smiled, "I understand. Thank you for the reminder. I'll be more mindful in the future."
Chi Hao lit the candle, and Jing Minghe could finally see clearly what Chi Hao had placed on the table. It was indeed a small notebook, looking quite old, with curled corners.
"Take a look," Chi Hao pulled out a stool and sat down.
Jing Minghe took the small notebook while standing and opened the first page. "Heh, this handwriting is really ugly."
The writing in the small notebook was handwritten. The first page only had four words: "I am full of regret."
Regret? Regret what?
Flipping further, the second page had quite a lot of writing. However, the candlelight flickered constantly, and the writing in the small notebook was ugly and messy. Jing Minghe read with great effort, "I made a mistake, but I have no choice. I'm sorry. I don't know what to do. I just wanted to save him, not harm anyone. I regret not only failing to save him but also causing the death of more people. I don't know what to do. They have already merged. I have no way. I'm sorry."