PTYS Chapter 175

Shen Qingqiu’s footsteps faltered upon hearing this, and she hesitated for a moment before swiftly leaping up again, a wide smile spreading across her face.

Well, she just wanted to show off her lightness skills, not to disturb her thoughts.

Given the urgency of the situation, Shen Qingqiu focused all her thoughts on solving the riddles, as time was running out.

Currently, Xiao Muyu and her group had answered a total of 60 questions. Chen Kaijie, Zuo Tiantian, and Su Jin were able to solve one or two questions each time they went back, speeding up their progress.

Shen Qingqiu moved back and forth between the lantern riddles and Xiao Muyu like a bird. This time, after putting down a lantern, she glanced to the side and noticed Xiao Muyu’s face suddenly stiffen.

The system announced, “Special lantern triggered. The riddle solver must pause for five questions! They must answer all five correctly to be unsealed, without skipping or using a free pass.”

Shen Qingqiu cursed under her breath. There were only four riddles left, and now Chen Kaijie and the others had to fetch the lanterns themselves, so she had to go back.

Just as Shen Qingqiu clenched her fists in frustration and was about to turn around, Xiao Muyu stopped her, “You answer the questions. I’ll go. Su Jin, Tiantian, come back and help answer.”

Xiao Muyu glanced at the high-hanging lanterns and then at Chen Kaijie, saying, “Chen Kaijie, squat down and clasp your hands together. I’ll need a boost.”

Chen Kaijie understood immediately, squatting down. As Xiao Muyu ran towards him, he clasped his hands together, bracing his arms.

Xiao Muyu’s right foot landed forcefully on Chen Kaijie’s hands, and with a strong lift, Xiao Muyu soared into the air, grabbing two lanterns before landing nimbly.

Chen Kaijie clapped excitedly and quickly took the lanterns back.

Meanwhile, Shen Qingqiu, Su Jin, and Zuo Tiantian were looking at the riddles: “A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I (a character);” “Complex calculations (name of a Three Kingdoms character);” “No flowers, only cold (season);” “Nine deaths and one life (name of a medicine).”①

At a glance, Zuo Tiantian quickly guessed the fourth one as “Du Huo.” This riddle was simple, so Shen Qingqiu didn’t pay much attention to it.

As she was looking, Chen Kaijie and Xiao Muyu returned with the lanterns. He glanced at the riddles and pointed to the one about complex calculations, saying, “I know this one, it’s Pang Tong!”

“But ‘no flowers, only cold,’ isn’t that winter…” Before Chen Kaijie could finish, Xiao Muyu quickly covered his mouth. Chen Kaijie felt a chill down his spine, realizing he was mistaken. It wasn’t that simple.

“It’s summer,” Shen Qingqiu corrected immediately, having heard the poem before. Three riddles were solved, leaving “A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I,” which required guessing a character. This was tricky because it was related to the Heavenly Stems, which couldn’t be used to guess a character directly.

Heavenly Stems, Heavenly Stems, Day Stems! Shen Qingqiu’s eyes lit up as she realized the answer and looked up at Xiao Muyu.

Xiao Muyu patted Chen Kaijie, “Get the lantern.” But she smiled slightly at Shen Qingqiu, knowing she had figured it out.

“It’s ‘Han,'” Shen Qingqiu quickly answered correctly. Su Jin and Zuo Tiantian were confused by the answer, while Shen Qingqiu opened the fifth lantern, which read, “Peach blossoms in the sky with dew, apricot blossoms near the sun. (name of a flower).” Everyone was stunned, and Shen Qingqiu frowned, saying, “Get the lantern first.”

She leapt out, grabbed two lanterns, and brought them back. They had answered 65 questions so far, with 8 more to go, but the incense stick was almost burnt out.

The system’s rule was that each person had to answer at least 15 questions. Shen Qingqiu worried that if they just completed the task, they might only survive, and the system might have other tricks up its sleeve.

She forced herself to stay calm and kept fetching lanterns, buying Xiao Muyu time.

When she handed a lantern to someone without looking at their face, the person held her hand, saying, “Don’t worry, I’m here. Just focus on thinking.”

The incense stick’s ashes fell again, and it seemed like it would extinguish with one more fall.

The two lines of the poem came from Gao Chan’s “To High Attendant,” originally using “Peach blossoms in the sky” and “apricot blossoms near the sun” to metaphorically describe scholars achieving high ranks in the imperial examinations. The riddle had nothing to do with flowers. But what kind of flower could compare to these metaphorical blossoms?

As Shen Qingqiu fetched another lantern, she saw Xiao Muyu’s white dress fluttering in the air, making her look ethereal despite the unlucky color.

An idea struck her, and she shouted, “Muyue, come back, it’s trumpet creeper!”

She quickly put down the lantern and brought Xiao Muyu back.

Before Xiao Muyu could look at her, golden words blocked her view, and she saw Shen Qingqiu focused on the riddles again. After reading, she gave the answer, “Everyday upwards (name of a medicine) – Forsythia.”②

Shen Qingqiu shouted the answer and disappeared again. Xiao Muyu guessed another one, smiling and shaking her head. Shen Qingqiu was completely serious now, not even paying attention to herself.

The answer “Forsythia” made Chen Kaijie, Zuo Tiantian, and Su Jin laugh despite the tense atmosphere.

“Vice Captain, you’re amazing!” Chen Kaijie shouted, though it sounded more like “awesome.”

“Warning, inappropriate language detected!”

“Beep beep, what’s wrong with this system?”

“Pfft.”

“Haha, what are you saying, Brother Chen!”

“Haha…”

The five of them couldn’t help but laugh, even in this dangerous and eerie street, as they solved riddles and ran, enjoying a sense of joy.

Xiao Muyu returned to the yellow line to continue answering questions, her eyes locked on the riddles, moving quickly.

Shen Qingqiu moved back and forth like a red butterfly, her red and white outfit contrasting with Xiao Muyu’s calm demeanor, giving Chen Kaijie and the others a sense of security.

Although they weren’t as fast as Xiao Muyu, they had improved a lot.

When the last bit of incense ash fell, a strong wind blew through, making all the lanterns shake, and the riddles turned to dust and disappeared.

Shen Qingqiu dropped the lantern, drenched in sweat. She felt dizzy and staggered a few steps, finally leaning against a paper figure to steady herself.

“Qingqiu!” Xiao Muyu was alarmed and rushed to support her. Shen Qingqiu was sweating profusely, breathing heavily, and looked worse than the paper figure, clearly unwell.

“Vice Captain, are you okay?” Chen Kaijie and the others were also exhausted, having given their all, but they weren’t in as bad a shape as Shen Qingqiu, showing the extent of her injuries.

Shen Qingqiu forced a smile, “I’m fine, just tired. I just need to rest for a bit, don’t worry.” She looked at Xiao Muyu as she spoke.

At that moment, the system announced, “Congratulations to players Xiao Muyu, Shen Qingqiu, Su Jin, Chen Kaijie, and Zuo Tiantian for completing the second part of the 007 dungeon chain mission. You answered 100 riddles, got 89 right, and 3 wrong, with a final score of 86.

You set a new record for this round. No reward for this round, because it’s meaningless without a perfect score.

Besides, life is about striving for progress, not just material rewards. You’ll be proud of your efforts today.”

Xiao Muyu and the others frowned at the system’s pretentious words.

Shen Qingqiu felt unwell and took a deep breath, muttering, “What’s the point of designing this segment with no rewards or penalties?”

Xiao Muyu was puzzled, feeling like she had missed something. Suddenly, she felt Shen Qingqiu’s fingers tapping her palm urgently. Before she could look down, Shen Qingqiu’s hand squeezed hers.

Xiao Muyu’s heart skipped a beat, stopping her from moving. Shen Qingqiu coughed a few times and then collapsed into Xiao Muyu’s arms. Su Jin turned pale with fright, and she and Zuo Tiantian hurried over.

Xiao Muyu held Shen Qingqiu tightly, her voice trembling, “Qingqiu, don’t scare me.”

Shen Qingqiu rested her head on Xiao Muyu’s shoulder, whispering, “The paper figures have been brought to life. I’m out of strength, very dizzy.”

Xiao Muyu held Shen Qingqiu, trying to keep her steady while glancing at the nearest paper figure.

Shen Qingqiu pretended to grab the stall with difficulty, creating a breeze that lifted the paper strip on the paper figure’s forehead, revealing its small black eyes staring at them.

Xiao Muyu felt a chill down her spine as a terrifying thought occurred to her. Each paper figure might have been secretly brought to life under those paper strips.

She glanced around both sides of the street. This street seemed endless, and it was lined with paper figures. How many of them were there?

Xiao Muyu felt a chill down her spine. She supported Shen Qingqiu and said worriedly, “What should we do? Things don’t look good. This is too dangerous.”

“Captain Xiao, is the deputy captain seriously injured?” Chen Kaijie also seemed tense.

“No problem, she can still hold on. She can easily take down ten or eight more.”

Xiao Muyu nodded. “Chen Kaijie, take out your knife. Su Jin, Xiao Zuo, get ready. We need to start finding a way out.”

The three of them did as told. At that moment, Shen Qingqiu suddenly leaped to the left.

She darted forward, her dagger flashing like lightning across the necks of the paper figures, and instantly, eight or nine of them lost their heads.

Xiao Muyu also swung her sword, decapitating several paper figures before they could even react.

“Hurry, the paper figures have come to life!” Xiao Muyu shouted. Chen Kaijie and the others snapped back to reality in this horrifying scene and quickly started running forward.

In an instant, all the paper figures began to move. A fierce wind blew, lifting the paper strips. Underneath them, all the paper figures’ tiny eyes were staring at them, their faces twisted in a grimace.

However, their movements were not fast. Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu attacked suddenly, and the paper figures were decapitated before they could cause any harm.

Su Jin waved her torch, and the paper figures couldn’t avoid it, instantly catching fire.

This made Xiao Muyu feel that something was wrong. She recalled the system’s words at the end of the last game, “You will surely feel grateful and proud of your efforts today.”

Her heart tightened. “Qingqiu, solving the puzzle is meaningful!”

As soon as she said this, Shen Qingqiu had already sheathed her dagger and continued leaping over the paper figures.

Obviously, Shen Qingqiu had also realized this. Xiao Muyu’s face changed suddenly. “Shen Qingqiu, come back!”

At this time, Xiao Muyu saw the situation ahead. In the unclear place under the streetlights and smoke, a group of paper figures without paper strips was laughing and shouting as they rushed over.

What was even more terrifying was that these paper figures were originally similar to those on the street, except their clothes were colored, some red, some white.

But as they ran, one paper figure suddenly grabbed another, tore it apart, and then stuffed it into its mouth. Soon, one paper figure was devoured by another, and the remaining one grew larger, towering over the others like a giant.

When Shen Qingqiu cut down one paper figure, the closest one had already swallowed two others, its head now tall enough to touch the strings of hanging lanterns, standing over two meters high like an iron tower.

Shen Qingqiu’s slender figure looked fragile in front of these giant paper figures, making Xiao Muyu feel a burning anxiety.

“Qingqiu, come back!”

Shen Qingqiu dodged the paper figure’s swinging hand. The wind from the swing almost made her stumble, but she steadied herself by stepping on another paper figure’s head.

Then, Shen Qingqiu leaped back towards them. After a few jumps, she stood in front of Xiao Muyu, panting, “I know what I’m doing. Take advantage of its weakness and finish it off. Let’s go.” At least the paper figure hadn’t picked up the headless one’s body.

Xiao Muyu gritted her teeth in frustration. “You don’t know anything!”

After scolding, she glanced at Shen Qingqiu’s obviously unsteady steps, bent down, and carried her on her back, starting to run.

Shen Qingqiu, stunned by the scolding, didn’t react at first. When she did, Xiao Muyu had already carried her far away. Chen Kaijie and Zuo Tiantian were also running desperately.

The paper figures with talismans were all set on fire by Su Jin, and the whole street was ablaze.

But those towering over three meters high seemed impervious to fire, striding forward unscathed.

“They’re not afraid of fire!” Zuo Tiantian looked back and shouted.

“Muyu, we can’t keep running like this. Put me down, I’m better now.”

Xiao Muyu whispered, “Shut up and watch what’s happening behind us.”

Shen Qingqiu frowned, then calmed down and carefully observed the paper figures behind them. Now, only two giant paper figures, one red and one white, were left. The rest had been devoured by them.

Originally, those faces painted with rouge were ugly but at least intact.

Now, because they had swallowed other paper figures, their huge heads were completely torn apart, with shredded white and red paper protruding, looking disgusting and terrifying. Only the pure black pupils were clearly visible, looking down at them.

They weren’t running very fast, but because each step covered a long distance, it was impossible to shake them off.

The two giant heads poked out from the buildings on the street, their blood-red mouths wide open, laughing loudly, making one’s heart race.

The paper figures swung their giant hands, smashing houses without care. Debris and beams fell, making the world seem shrunken and at their mercy.

Shen Qingqiu noticed that the head she had cut off was in the hand of the red paper figure. As it moved, the head swayed.

Then it laughed at Shen Qingqiu, but the next moment, its smile turned ferocious, and it hurled the head towards them.

“Muyu, dodge!” The head flew at great speed, and in Shen Qingqiu’s vision, the head, which was now not just a paper figure, grew larger and larger.

The swollen, pale face with protruding, cloudy eyes was none other than Bai He Langjun.

“Ding, Part 3 of Task 007 – The Inescapable City of Yingzhou has officially begun.”

Author’s Note: The answers are all from Baidu.

The comments section already has some lovely people explaining the answers. Everyone is doing great. Looks like it’s possible; my language skills can still be put to use, haha. I especially liked Shan Xiaotian’s puzzle. It seems we all have similar tastes. In this one, I think Ling Xiaohua and Lian Qiao are great too. Lian Qiao really hit my funny bone, haha.

Chen Kaijie: Is this system from Jinjiang?

Xiao Zuo: Huh?

Chen Kaijie: …

Thank you, Mitu, for the deep water. How many do I owe now? I need to work hard to dodge the debts.