Jing Minghe shrugged, "Who knows, maybe the things inside are very friendly to women, so I'm curious about what exactly is in here?"
Chi Hao, walking ahead, suddenly stopped. "Above."
As soon as Chi Hao spoke, Jing Minghe sensed it and looked up. Seven large lanterns hung in the air, but they seemed to have no candles inside.
With a click, a tiny flame suddenly lit up. Chi Hao had lit his lighter.
Jing Minghe, illuminated by the flame, saw clearly that they were seven bright red lanterns, and indeed, there were no candles inside.
"They are floating," Yue Yang stepped forward, tilting his head to observe carefully, "Without any support, there seems to be writing on them."
Hearing Yue Yang, Jing Minghe glanced at Chi Hao. Chi Hao immediately raised the lighter higher, and together with Jing Minghe, they leaned closer to examine them.
There was indeed writing on the lanterns. The first six lanterns each had one character, and the last lantern had two characters. From left to right, they were: Qi, Qing, Xi, Zhu, Zhen, Xin, Jin, Fu.
"So it's these eight characters."
Jing Minghe's voice was not loud, but Yue Yang and Guo Wei both heard him and looked at him with confusion. Su Dan Novel Network.
Yue Yang was about to ask, but he noticed Jing Minghe's strange expression, as if he had been paused, completely frozen, not even blinking.
"Hey, Jing Ming..."
Before Yue Yang could reach Jing Minghe's eyes, his hand was pulled away, and his words were cut off.
"Stop, don't touch him."
Chi Hao's warning was simple, yet Yue Yang couldn't help but retreat several steps, as if instinctively afraid of this person.
"You..." Yue Yang steadied himself and asked, "What's happening to Jing Minghe?"
"Don't worry." Chi Hao extinguished the lighter's flame, his eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of worry in his gaze as he looked at Jing Minghe.
Yue Yang exchanged glances with Guo Wei, both their eyes filled with unutterable questions.
About half an hour later, Jing Minghe suddenly snapped back to reality. The first thing he saw was Chi Hao, and without a word, he fell straight towards him.
Chi Hao let Jing Minghe lean on him and reached out to support him. "Jing Minghe?"
"I'm fine," Jing Minghe's voice was a little weak, "Let me rest for a bit."
"Okay."
"You're so thoughtful."
"..." Chi Hao wondered if he should just drop this guy on the ground.
Yue Yang and Guo Wei stood aside and watched quietly. They were full of doubts but tacitly decided to be silent background.
Jing Minghe rested for a while, then stood up straight, took a deep breath, and smiled at Chi Hao, "Much better."
Chi Hao asked directly, "What did you see this time?"
"I didn't see anything," Jing Minghe still seemed to be recovering, his voice a little weak, "I was chopped up. You can't imagine, I watched myself being chopped into seven pieces."
"Seven pieces?"
Jing Minghe nodded, his brow furrowed slightly, and as he recalled, he said, "I was placed on a very hard stone slab, and I could clearly feel my body being chopped off piece by piece, and the pain was quite real."
Guo Wei suddenly asked, "How did you know you were chopped into seven pieces?"
"I counted," Jing Minghe said, as if he knew what Guo Wei was going to ask next, and added, "Honestly, I don't know why I was in that situation and still had the mind to count how many pieces I was chopped into. It seemed like an instinct."
He then leaned against Chi Hao again, "Really, it hurt so much."
"Are you tired?"
Chi Hao looked down at Jing Minghe and asked a question that seemed inexplicable to others.
"Tired," Jing Minghe answered honestly.
"Then let's go back and rest."
With that, Chi Hao, half-supporting Jing Minghe, continued to walk forward.
Yue Yang and Guo Wei simultaneously thought to themselves: we still have to be able to get back.
They only thought this to themselves. If Chi Hao could really take them back, that would be the best.
After walking for a while, Jing Minghe started to yawn uncontrollably, even tears welling up. He was truly sleepy.
At this time, the only solution was to find someone to talk to.
"Chi Hao, do you think this direction is correct?"
"Yes."
Seeing that Chi Hao was still carrying the sticks they had used earlier, Jing Minghe teased, "Can this thing still be used? I'm really tired. If those things come again, you can use the dual-stick style, and I'll cheer you on from the side."
Chi Hao ignored him. Jing Minghe didn't mind at all and asked again, "Where did you get this thing?"
"The red cloth and yellow talisman were taken from the town mayor's house when we were looking for people. The stick was casually picked up from the ground when Bai Ying arrived."
"Wow," Jing Minghe praised without reservation, "You're amazing."
Chi Hao unexpectedly explained, "I originally wanted to take the red cloth and yellow talisman back to study them, but I didn't expect them to be useful."
"That's still amazing," Jing Minghe couldn't help but shiver, thinking of Cheng Jun and Jia Qi's deaths, "Otherwise, we would have been in deep trouble."
"We wouldn't have been."
Chi Hao said it with great certainty. Jing Minghe greatly admired Chi Hao's confidence, which he himself needed to support himself in moving forward.
"You say we wouldn't have been, and I believe you."
Jing Minghe seemed to be talking to Chi Hao, or perhaps to himself. He strongly suspected that after he said this, Chi Hao would tell him, "Don't flatter yourself, I don't care if you believe me."
Jing Minghe didn't hear Chi Hao say that to him. Instead, he heard Yue Yang's voice.
"It's the archway, it's really out."
After walking out of the archway, Yue Yang and Guo Wei looked at Chi Hao in unison.
"Mr. Chi, how did you know the correct direction?"
"I don't know."
Jing Minghe worried that Chi Hao's indifferent attitude might offend someone. After all, they were now considered companions. So, he explained for Chi Hao, "We saw what they wanted us to see there, so they naturally wouldn't keep us trapped inside."
"Is that so."
Jing Minghe looked around. "Strange, why don't I see Sister Youmi and Shen Yue?"
"Let's go back first."
Chi Hao spoke, and Jing Minghe was indeed tired.
Yue Yang and Guo Wei voluntarily offered to find Youmi and Shen Yue, so Jing Minghe no longer insisted and obediently followed Chi Hao back to rest.
Before entering the room, Jing Minghe suddenly remembered something. "I wonder what time it is now."
Chi Hao pushed Jing Minghe into the room. "Rest assured, I'll call you when the time comes."
"Ah?"
Jing Minghe was a little curious why Chi Hao had suddenly become so humane. He heard Chi Hao ask with a hint of annoyance, "What? Don't you trust me? Afraid I'll harm you?"
"No, no, no," Jing Minghe quickly denied with a smile, "No. Then I'll go to sleep. Bye-bye."