Xiong Jiabao’s words weren’t entirely wrong; at least he had the courage to try, which was a hundred times better than Dong Xiu and Li Yougen, who were timid as mice even when they had several lives left. Knowing he had done his best, Xin Meng didn’t blame him; she simply patted his shoulder reassuringly and said, “You must stay true to yourself and face it bravely. You’ll live longer than the two of them.”
This didn’t sound much like comforting words; it felt more like a curse, at least to Dong Xiu and Li Yougen, whose faces turned grim.
Xiong Jiabao was a bit confused, but Xin Meng’s words sounded much kinder than those of the other two. The contrast highlighted the goodwill in her words. He rubbed his nose and, with a heavy nasal tone, thanked her, “If I remember what she said, I’ll definitely tell you.”
“Mm.” Xin Meng nodded.
At that moment, the next bus arrived, and this time the person on it was Xin Meng, while the one she was looking at was You Yi.
Xin Meng was afraid You Yi would get on the bus, and her first reaction was to grab his hand, “Don’t get on!”
Seeing her in such a hurry, as if afraid You Yi would be taken away, Qi Xiaokui couldn’t help but tease her, “You look like a little wife not letting her husband find a mistress.”
Xin Meng’s face turned bright red, “What nonsense! I’m just… just afraid he’ll get into danger. We haven’t found a way to pass yet!”
Besides, the person on the bus looked just like him. Even if You Yi went over, it wouldn’t count as finding a mistress… right…
Wait! What was he thinking!
Xin Meng’s mouth twitched as she realized her train of thought had been completely derailed by Qi Xiaokui’s words.
You Yi smiled, ruffling Xin Meng’s hair as if he could see through her earlier thoughts, and said in a very cooperative manner, “With something real by my side, the fake can’t take me away.”
Xin Meng: “…”
On the other side, Dong Xiu couldn’t stand their lovey-dovey behavior and coldly said, “You guys have the leisure to joke around, not afraid of dying? Why not just go up and try it out!”
The bus was about to leave, and they were still talking about nonsense instead of figuring out how to pass. Did they want to drag everyone down with them? Dong Xiu felt indignant; he had already figured it out. This game was sometimes so cruel that many pieces of information only revealed themselves after someone died. Now, there were three people in the team with only one life left, while Xin Meng and Qi Xiaokui still had three lives, and You Yi had a full four!
If they didn’t go and die, how could they solve the puzzle? Without solving the puzzle, how could they pass?
He didn’t think his idea was wrong; after all, they still had so many lives left. If they ended up with just one life remaining, passing wouldn’t count as a death. As for the pain of dying? What did that matter? He had already experienced it four times; why should they have to experience less than he did?
Seeing that the others were unresponsive and the bus doors were about to close, he almost wanted to push one of them up.
“Anyway, You Yi can’t get on,” Xin Meng coldly looked at Dong Xiu, “Xiong Jiabao just died once, which means there was a problem with the previous reasoning. Until new clues appear, getting on would just be sending oneself to die. If you’re so anxious, you go up yourself!”
“Exactly,” Xiong Jiabao, still chewing on bread, hurriedly supported Xin Meng, agreeing, “You can, you go up!” After saying that, he even showed Dong Xiu the middle finger with both hands.
“You guys!” Dong Xiu’s face turned red with anger, but he couldn’t really risk his last life. He could only curse unwillingly, “If you have the guts, then don’t get on. Just wait to die together here!”
Their food wasn’t particularly abundant; Xiong Jiabao had almost eaten half of his backpack’s worth of food out of hunger. If they waited another two days without passing, they would starve to death here.
Thinking of the feeling of hunger, Xiong Jiabao shivered and quickly stuffed the remaining food into his backpack, not daring to eat it all at once.
“Don’t bother,” Xin Meng couldn’t be bothered to even look at him, turning back to watch the bus. The bus doors closed and it sped away.
Xin Meng frowned; it seemed like he saw himself on the bus moving his lips. Was it an illusion?
With this question in mind, he paid extra attention when the next bus arrived, and this time, the person on it was You Yi.
With the same handsome face and strong features, and beautiful tea-colored eyes, just like the real person, his eyes sparkled with a hint of an inorganic sheen. However, for the first time, his gaze wasn’t on Xin Meng but was fixed on Qi Xiaokui beside him…
He looked so focused, as if there was only one person in his eyes, and that person was no longer him…
Xin Meng suddenly felt an extremely uncomfortable sensation in his heart. He couldn’t help but frown, his expression very displeased. An inexplicable impulse surged within him, even wanting to step in front of Qi Xiaokui to redirect that gaze back to himself…
His palm was squeezed, and Xin Meng quickly came back to his senses. He turned his head and found the real You Yi looking at him, his eyebrows raised in a teasing manner. Xin Meng felt dizzy and wished he could dig a hole to hide in!
To divert this awkward and embarrassing feeling, he immediately shifted his gaze, pretending to look casually inside the bus. When he saw You Yi again, he inadvertently noticed that the You Yi on the bus was indeed moving his lips!
He unconsciously took two steps toward the bus but accidentally kicked Xiong Jiabao, who was sitting on the ground. Xiong Jiabao yelped, “Ouch!” Xin Meng reflexively looked down at him, and when he looked up again, the bus doors had already closed, and the bus was driving away.
Xin Meng felt a bit deflated and kicked Xiong Jiabao again, “What are you yelling for? I just discovered a clue, and you scared it away!”
Xiong Jiabao innocently hugged his calf, “I saw you were about to step over me, that’s why I yelled! I’m telling you, Xin Laodi, the real You Yi is right next to you. How can you be so engrossed in looking at a fake? Your eyes are about to pop out of your head.”
“What engrossed?” Xin Meng angrily continued to kick, “I found a clue! A clue!”
“Ouch, stop kicking! That really hurts!” Xiong Jiabao quickly begged for mercy, pulling his foot back and moving to the side, “What clue?”
“I saw his lips move, like he was talking,” Xin Meng said, “Earlier, I saw myself on the bus, and it seemed like my lips were moving too. I don’t know what I was saying.”
“Talking?” Xiong Jiabao squatted on the ground, hugging his bag, as if recalling something.
“It’s fine, there will be more opportunities. When the next bus comes, we can take a closer look,” Qi Xiaokui said, “But I haven’t learned lip reading, so I might not be able to see clearly.”
Dong Xiu moved the corner of his mouth but didn’t speak.
The next bus that arrived had Li Yougen on it. He looked at Xin Meng, and his lips were indeed moving!
“It seems like he really is talking!” Xin Meng affirmed, “But I can’t quite see what he’s saying.”
“Very short,” Qi Xiaokui squinted her eyes, “It seems like… a name?”
Xiong Jiabao suddenly shouted, “I remember now!”
“What do you remember? Stop yelling!” Qi Xiaokui was startled.
“I remember what that fake you said at the end!” Xiong Jiabao shouted excitedly, “She said—’I’m not calling your name!'”
Not calling your name!
“Sure enough!” Everyone immediately perked up, even the listless Li Yougen raised his head, “What they said was indeed a name!”
“Then hurry up and look, see whose name Li Yougen is calling!” Xiong Jiabao, who couldn’t understand lip reading, hurriedly urged the others.
“I can’t see clearly…” Xin Meng squinted his eyes into a slit but still couldn’t figure it out.
Logically, it should be a name of at most three characters. If they looked a few more times, they should be able to tell who it was calling. However, the movements of that person’s lips were too small, and with people coming and going inside the bus, their figures constantly overlapping, they only had a few seconds to observe, and it was intermittent. Unless someone was particularly familiar with lip reading, it was generally difficult for an average person to accurately discern what was being said in such a short time.
“Qi…” Qi Xiaokui tried to distinguish, “The character just now was Qi, my name?”
“What Qi? It’s clearly Li!” Xiong Jiabao retorted, and Li Yougen immediately glared at him, dissatisfied, and countered, “It’s clearly Xin.”
The few of them looked at each other, their mouths twitching.
“The pronunciation mostly depends on the tongue,” Xin Meng rubbed his forehead, speechless, “Many pronunciations look similar from the outside…”
Plus, the movements of that person’s lips were very small, making it really hard to distinguish.
The situation fell into a stalemate again. Without being able to be a hundred percent sure, no one dared to rashly get on the bus, and they could only watch as it drove away.
“Damn! My eyes are going blurry!” Xiong Jiabao rubbed his eyes vigorously.
“This isn’t a solution…” Xin Meng was also troubled. Even if they found the correct password, not being able to see clearly would be useless.
At that moment, Dong Xiu, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly asked, “Can you all be sure this is the correct way to pass?”
The other five looked at Dong Xiu, who sneered and said, “In order to accurately grasp all the information of the opponent at the negotiation table, I actually learned lip reading for a while.”
“Then why didn’t you say anything earlier!” Xiong Jiabao complained.
“What should I say? Just now, it was your name being called. You still have one life left; do you dare to go up?” Dong Xiu mocked.
Xiong Jiabao: “…My name?”
Then he really didn’t dare to go up…
“I can help you distinguish lip reading, but you all have to dare to go up and test it,” Dong Xiu said, “Let me make it clear: if the next one is me, I won’t go up. I only have one life and can’t afford to experiment. If you agree, then let’s do it this way. If you don’t agree, you can slowly figure it out yourselves.”
His tone was very irritating, making people feel quite displeased. However… they really had no other way.
“You won’t deliberately tell us the wrong name, will you?” Qi Xiaokui didn’t trust Dong Xiu.
“Why would I do that?” Dong Xiu sneered, “If I tell you the wrong one, then you won’t be able to verify whether this is the way to pass, right? What benefit would that be for me!”
Xin Meng actually believed this. After all, Dong Xiu was a smart person. He wanted them to expend their remaining lives to test his deductions. Only with correct information could they get the right answer. After all, Dong Xiu’s goal was also to pass; he just valued his own life more and didn’t want to go into battle himself.
“Okay,” Xin Meng said, “As long as it’s for passing, we can temporarily reach a consensus. Also, to ensure that the whole team can pass, if this method works, you must be the last one to get on the bus.”
“Just remember, if we all die, you won’t survive either.”
