Chapter 11: The Name Tag Ripping Battle

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——Suzhou Art Institute,

By the time they reached their destination, the sky had already been shrouded in black mist.

Most unexpectedly, after having the wound on his chin treated, Wang Baoqiang returned to the team, his dedication levels maxed out.

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“Is the treasure chest inside here?”

As soon as Gu Qing stepped out of the car, he saw a raised table covered by a large red cloth.

Once the remaining two teams arrived, everyone pulled back the red cloth to reveal the final clue for the night.

《Safe Usage Instructions》

“The treasure everyone is looking for is inside the safe, but to open it, you must enter the correct 4-digit password.”

“Teams that have already obtained clues can deduce the first three digits through reasoning.”

“The missing password can be found in the suitcases located in the building across from us. If your name tag is torn off by the person wearing the bell, you will be eliminated!”

“The person wearing the bell?”

Deng Chao looked around in surprise. “Who is the person wearing the bell?”

“There must be a mysterious boss hiding inside.”

Gu Qing looked into the camera and complained, “The director definitely won’t let us find the password easily.”

“Haha, brothers, let’s start searching for the password!”

Lu Hao laughed heartily.

Several men in black grabbed Gu Qing and the others by the shoulders, scattering them in different directions.

Once their positions were set, the men in black left, and the game officially began!

The design of the Suzhou Art Institute was quite devious; the entire layout was shaped like a cloister, resembling a maze. It was a venue carefully selected by the production team.

“The passwords we have now are the 1st and 3rd digits, which are 6 and 1. As long as we find two more, we can win.”

“I just don’t know if the treasure chest will be hard to find.”

Just as Gu Qing was walking and talking to himself,

He paused in his tracks, suddenly spotting a conspicuous silver case sitting on a window ledge ahead.

“Ha, am I really this lucky?”

Giving the camera an expression of disbelief, Gu Qing happily jogged over to grab the case.

“Shh~ don’t let anyone else find out.”

Gu Qing looked left and right, acting quite sneaky.

Having been a young man before he transmigrated, he naturally slipped into character after recording for the whole day.

As soon as he opened the case, there was a hint card inside.

“I’m rich!!”

Gu Qing’s eyes lit up. He rubbed his hands together and picked up the card.

But just as he was full of anticipation, flipping it over to find the answer,

“Empty?!”

Gu Qing froze.

The VJ in charge of filming him held back a laugh and zoomed in, maximizing the production team’s malice.

“Are you kidding me? There’s an empty one?”

Gu Qing stood up indignantly, just about to complain to the camera, when he suddenly caught a glimpse of another silver suitcase half-hidden behind a cabinet not far behind the VJ.

“There’s another one!!”

Gu Qing’s face lit up with joy. He hurried over, bent down, and retrieved the suitcase. “It’s hidden so well this time, it definitely won’t be empty.”

He opened it quickly, unable to wait to flip the password card over.

“Empty?!”

The second ‘Empty’ password came into view.

“*Slap!*”

Gu Qing felt like he’d been struck by lightning, then threw both empty cards into the suitcase in grief and anger. “Is finding a password really this hard?”

Just then,

“Password?”

A deep male voice suddenly came from the stairs on the left. “Xiao Gu, did you find the password?!”

The next moment,

Li Chen and Ma Su appeared from the corridor.

They spotted him instantly.

Gu Qing was half-kneeling, opening the suitcase. Their eyes lit up, and they quickly closed in on him.

“Brother Chen, what are you doing?”

Gu Qing panicked, quickly hugging the suitcase and turning to run. “I didn’t find the password!”

“If you didn’t find the password, why are you running?!”

Li Chen chased after him with a wicked grin.

“Let me see!”

“No way!!”

“Ma Su, block him from the side.”

Li Chen commanded while sprinting at full speed.

“You got it.”

Ma Su’s eyes brightened at the words; she had finally found her chance.

With the two of them flanking him and Gu Qing unfamiliar with the terrain, he was quickly cornered.

“*Huff, huff*~”

Gu Qing’s breathing was slightly rapid, his damp bangs sticking to his forehead. His back pressed against the cool brick wall, the damp moisture seeping through his clothes into his spine.

“Xiao Gu, are you still going to run?”

The ‘Big Black Bull’ had eyes only for the treasure chest. He cracked his knuckles, a smug chuckle rolling from his throat. “Hand over the case!”

“That’s right, little brother Gu Qing, don’t refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit.”

Ma Su also put on a wicked smile. “Big sister knows plenty of ways to torture people, you know.”

“I won’t!!”

Gu Qing resolutely opened the case, reached in, took out the hint card, and stuffed it into his mouth. “If you take one more step, I’ll eat it!”

“Playing that big?”

Li Chen couldn’t keep up the act anymore and was dumbfounded. “Don’t eat it and make yourself sick.”

“Then let me go.”

Gu Qing said, his words muffled by the paper card in his mouth.

“Fine, fine.”

Li Chen nodded helplessly. “Ma Su, let him go.”

“Are we really letting him go?”

Ma Su was reluctant, but suddenly seeing Li Chen winking at her, she immediately understood.

She stepped aside dejectedly. “You can go, little brother Gu Qing.”

“I’m really going?”

Gu Qing blinked, not expecting such a sudden surprise.

He carefully took the paper card out, and just as he lowered his head to put it back into the suitcase, a dark shadow lunged at him.

“Ma Su, go now!!”

Li Chen stepped forward, locking Gu Qing in his arms with force.

“*Swish*—”

Ma Su was quick-witted and snatched the suitcase from Gu Qing.

“Hahaha—”

The two of them laughed and ran away, leaving behind only one sentence: “Xiao Gu, you’re still too naive.”

After sprinting up who knows how many flights of stairs,

Li Chen pulled the panting Ma Su along, beaming with joy. “Quick, quick, open the case.”

“I know, I know.”

The two sat down. Ma Su opened the suitcase, her eyes shining. “We’re rich, we’re rich! There are actually two inside!”

“Hahaha, praise Xiao Gu, he really is our lucky star.”

Li Chen couldn’t hold back his laughter. He excitedly flipped through the cards, but when he looked closely, he gasped. “Empty?!”

“What? This one is empty too?”

“Both of them are!!”

Li Chen and Ma Su looked at each other, stunned into silence.

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“Sigh, I told them it was empty, why did they still grab it?”

Gu Qing brushed the dust off his legs, shrugging at the camera.

“I give this acting a perfect score.”

The VJ gave him a secret thumbs-up.

“Let’s go, keep looking for the password.”

Gu Qing chuckled and walked away.

“There’s water here?”

Gu Qing saw a blue water tank on the ground filled with water. “Just in time, I’m covered in sweat.”

“*Splash*—”

He crouched down, cupped the water in his hands, and began to wash his face.

“Brother Chen and Sister Su met up so quickly, I need to find Brother Chao and Sister Baby as soon as possible.”

Gu Qing didn’t forget to analyze the situation. “Otherwise, if I run into the same situation as last time, I’m definitely going to be unlucky.”

Just then,

“*Jingle*—*Jingle*—”

A crisp bell sound rang through the entire corridor, echoing clearly in the quiet building.

“A bell?”

“The mysterious person?!”

Gu Qing’s expression changed abruptly, and he stood up quickly. “Oh no, run!!”

“*Jingle-ling*—*Jingle-ling*—”

Seemingly having discovered its prey, the bell sound moved from far to near, the echoing noise becoming piercing, like a wild beast on the hunt.

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(End of chapter)