"Not a rest area?" Youmi asked doubtfully, "Have we not exited the instance yet?"
Jing Minghe shook his head. "The last instance is over. This should be a new instance."
"A new instance?" Qiao Qiao frowned. "How... could this happen? No buffer time at all?"
Why would they enter a new instance directly? Was the last one too easy? Qiao Qiao really wanted to complain, but this was the system's domain, and such thoughts could only remain in her mind.
Jing Minghe looked back. The light door had long since vanished. "Let's go in and take a look."
"What on earth is this place?" a woman's voice came from the second floor. "These photos look so scary. Shouldn't we have returned to the rest area?"
Hearing the voice, Jing Minghe and the others quickened their pace up to the second floor.
There was no elevator in this hotel, so everyone had to take the stairs. The motion-sensing lights in the stairwell flickered erratically, as if deliberately creating a terrifying atmosphere, and the lighting was very dim.
Upon reaching the second floor, the lights in the corridor were similar to those in the stairwell. At the end of the corridor, there was a room with its door open and lights on. The voice seemed to be coming from there. Su Dan Novel Network.
The group walked directly towards the lit room. The voices came again, a man and a woman talking.
"Damn it, we directly entered a new instance. This system is really messed up!"
"Are you sure this is a new instance?"
"Otherwise? Is it a new rest area?"
"Maybe, let's be optimistic."
"Tsk, you be optimistic. I don't think this looks like a rest area at all."
"It seems like someone is coming."
As soon as the woman finished speaking, Jing Minghe and the others walked in. The two groups faced each other and quickly confirmed each other's identities. The characteristics of players were evident on everyone's faces.
Before Jing Minghe and the others could speak, the man stepped forward to greet them.
"Hello, I'm Ning Ping, and she's my partner from the last instance, Si Lian," the man yawned, looking as if he hadn't slept in a long time, his eyes vacant and dark circles as heavy as a panda's. "And you? Immediately, no, now we are teammates in the same instance, let's get acquainted."
Jing Minghe nodded, leading everyone inside. "I'm Jing Minghe, this tall handsome guy is Chi Hao, and the other two, the taller one is Qiao Qiao, and the other is You Mi."
After speaking, Jing Minghe began to observe his surroundings.
When he came in, he noticed a small sign at the door that read "Exhibition Room."
The room was indeed decorated like an exhibition room. The walls were covered with photos of various sizes, and in the center, there were about six or seven glass display cases containing what looked like wooden figurines.
Since the lighting inside the room was no better than outside in the corridor, everyone could only muster the courage to get closer and observe.
Qiao Qiao bent over and peered at the glass display case. "They're wooden puppets, carved so realistically. They feel like they could come alive."
Si Lian was about to step forward but took a step back upon hearing Qiao Qiao's words. "Don't say that, it's too creepy."
After a pause, Si Lian continued, "If this really is an instance, should we start looking for clues now?"
"No rush," Jing Minghe finished observing the wooden puppets in the display cases and turned to look at the photos on the wall. "Not everyone is here yet. Let's wait until everyone arrives."
While Jing Minghe was speaking, the pendant on his chest flashed blue. In the dim environment, Jing Minghe noticed the pendant flashing for the first time.
Slightly stunned, Jing Minghe felt confused. How did he not know this pendant could glow?
Jing Minghe looked down at the pendant. There was nothing unusual. It hung quietly on his chest, still the ordinary rhombus-shaped metal pendant that Lu Fanfei considered extremely important, containing a photo of them as children in its clasp.
Jing Minghe was very sure that this pendant had no luminous function, so he couldn't help but suspect if he had a hallucination.
Or, it was caused by some peculiarity of this instance.
"What's wrong?"
Chi Hao put an arm around Jing Minghe's waist and leaned in to ask, "Did you find anything?"
Jing Minghe shook his head. "No, nothing."
Seeing Jing Minghe frown slightly and even take a half-step forward, as if trying to distance himself, the hand Chi Hao had around Jing Minghe's waist trembled slightly. He wasn't sure if Jing Minghe was still angry with him, but this feeling of being kept at arm's length was indeed very unpleasant.
"There's a lit room over there!"
A voice came from outside. Jing Minghe's attention was drawn, and he turned his head towards the door.
Two men and one woman walked in one after another. Seeing Jing Minghe and the others, they naturally stepped forward to greet them.
"You're players in this instance too, right?"
The speaker was the man leading the way. He was tall and slender with a straight posture. Even in the dim light, his heroic face was evident.
At first glance, Jing Minghe felt as if he had seen this person somewhere before.
The man seemed to realize he had said something redundant, chuckled, and began to introduce himself. "Hello everyone, my name is Gu Chenhui. I'm a Sanda coach outside. Although my brain isn't very sharp, I have plenty of strength. I hope we can cooperate happily."
Jing Minghe raised his eyelids slightly. He seemed to recall where he had seen this person, but he wasn't entirely sure.
After Gu Chenhui finished, the next person spoke. "I'm Xia Rong, a freelancer."
Finally, the woman peeked out from behind Xia Rong to look at the others. "Hello, my name is An Ruo. I don't have any special skills, but I'll try my best not to drag everyone down."
After everyone had spoken, Gu Chenhui walked directly to Jing Minghe, extended a hand, and smiled. "Long time no see, Minghe, don't you recognize me?"
Jing Minghe was startled and his eyes widened. He also smiled. "So it's you. Sorry, I really didn't recognize you just now."
Gu Chenhui patted Jing Minghe on the shoulder, but didn't remove his hand, leaving it there. "There's nothing to apologize for. We haven't seen each other for a long time."
Looking at the two who were suddenly familiar with each other, Chi Hao felt a surge of anger. He really wanted to chop off that hand on Jing Minghe's shoulder, but doing so would surely make Jing Minghe even angrier. Thus, he could only reluctantly turn his head away, not wanting to see.
After a brief exchange with Gu Chenhui, Jing Minghe introduced everyone else to him.
After they had all introduced themselves, Gu Chenhui began to examine the room.
"A puppet show," Gu Chenhui said, looking at the photos on the wall. His previously sunny expression, brightened by seeing a familiar face, turned somber, with a hint of disappointment in his tone. "This instance is related to puppets? Ah~ I'm most afraid of things like puppets."