Mist

Chapter 65

Rubik’s Cube

Chapter 65

Ji Yushi’s heart which had been hanging from a thread seemed to have fallen in place as soon as he saw Song Qinglan.

It felt great reuniting with his teammate again. Ji Yushi almost forgot how he used to prefer acting alone.

“Cap Song?” Ji Yushi’s back hurt but he wasn’t angry, “I’ve always....been here?”

It wasn’t Song Qinglan but Cap Song.@@@@

His tone wasn’t especially warm but those who are more familiar with Ji Yushi could tell how happy he was to finally reunite with his teammate.

Despite being pressed against the wall, Ji Yushi didn’t struggle. He answered the question and then proceeded to comment on Song Qinglan’s appearance, “You’ve grown out a lot of stubble again!”

Just like in the Chaos mission, Ji Yushi was still neat and clean while Song Qinglan was the opposite. Tianqiong probably had a special liking to send Song Qinglan to a different distribution of time and it seemed to be particularly inclined in letting him develop a rough, manly appearance regardless of whether he himself liked it or not.

Song Qinglan hadn’t looked in the mirror for quite some time. His expression sank when he heard the comment.

Ji Yushi’s gleaming eyes fell onto Song Qinglan’s chin. He asked with confusion, “Have you been here for a long time?”

This distance allowed Song Qinglan to feel the warm breath from Ji Yushi. It made the gaze on his chin feel almost tangible.

Song Qinglan’s throat bobbed, “I’ve fucking been here for more than a week.”

When he was done saying this, his grip on Ji Yushi’s shoulder loosened and he took a few steps back.

“Advisor Ji!”

Song Qinglan was taller than him. As soon as he stepped aside, Ji Yushi only now saw that another two people had entered the room together with Song Qinglan.

One was Duan Wen with a stubble who was just as happy about the reunion while the other was —– Tall and fair, with a pair of peach blossom eyes, he wore the same black combat uniform they wore and there was a number ‘9’ written on his chest.

The young man nodded at him gracefully, “Hi.”

Ji Yushi, “..........”

This person was———-

Ji Yushi knew who it was. He wasn’t too surprised or in too much disbelief seeing him here. Tianqiong had hijacked Guardians who were in the middle of traversing to complete this multiplayer mission. It wasn’t a surprise to seeing other Guardians gathered here.

There was a saying that enemies meet on a narrow road. (KKnotes: One can’t avoid one’s enemy)

Ji Yushi just felt that, wasn’t it too much of a coincidence for them to run into the captain of the ninth squad?

The other party briefly greeted Ji Yushi.

What was suffocating was, although they weren’t in the same squad, they were Guardians from the same Jiang City branch, but neither Song Qinglan nor Duan Wen showed any intentions to introduce the two of them.

The other party didn’t feel embarrassed. He just stood there casually and allowed him to take him in.

Ji Yushi didn’t know him personally. His only knowledge of him came from Li Chun’s enthusiastic gossiping and most of it was bad talk about the other party. Ji Yushi felt bad staring at him, but he also didn’t know if he should greet him back.

Fortunately, before Ji Yushi could feel awkward, Duan Wen stepped forward, his figure blocking Lin Xinlan from his field of view.

Duan Wen’s eyes welled up, “Advisor Ji, do you know how much of a hard time we’ve had looking for you just because we caught a glimpse of your back view?”

Ji Yushi, “What back view?”

Duan Wen explained, “I actually didn’t see it with my own eyes so I’m not sure about the specifics. It’s just that in one of the rooms, just as we were going from one room to another, Cap Song said he saw you leave from that room. He called out but you didn’t look back. When we chased after you, you were gone.”

Ji Yushi expressed his doubts, “I haven’t heard anyone calling for me.”

“My guess was that you must not have heard.” Duan Wen sighed, “With your good memory, even if you didn’t recognise other people’s voices, you will definitely recognise Cap Song’s. I suspected that Cap Song may have been mistaken. Why wouldn’t you have responded otherwise?”

No wonder Song Qinglan asked ‘Where have you been’. Could they have been looking for him all this time?

Ji Yushi explained, “Ever since coming to this place, I have only gone through a total of five rooms, and that’s including the one we are in now.”

Duan Wen was surprised, “Only five rooms?”

It had been so long, but Ji Yushi only went to five rooms?

Everyone was shocked.

Song Qinglan asked, “Is it like that crevice and there is a problem with the flow of time here as well? To us, a week had passed, but for you it had only been an hour?”

“Not exactly.” Ji Yushi said to him, “I didn’t spend much time in the first few rooms and I had also spent three or four hours waiting for you guys together with Li Chun and Tang Qi.”

Duan Wen, “You met Chun’er and Tang Qi?!”

Ji Yushi nodded, “Yes, we arrived here together. After separating from them, I ran into other Guardians. One died as we made our way through and because the reason for it was unknown, we were trapped in that room for a while. About five hours later, the other Guardian chose to leave. I didn’t dare take the risk, so I stayed in that room for more than ten hours before arriving here.”

Hearing that Ji Yushi had separated from Li Chun and them, and then hearing about the other Guardian dying, Song Qinglan’s brows furrowed even further.

For those who didn’t understand Ji Yushi, Ji Yushi hadn’t been here for long and had also spent more than ten hours in one room. For him to boldly make such a conclusion, it did indeed seem unreasonable.

Lin Xinlan, “Let me ask, how can we complete the so-called ‘joining’ while avoiding those two possibilities?”

Ji Yushi, “Firstly, by figuring out the rules behind the movement of the rooms.”

Lin Xinlan, “How to figure out?”

Ji Yushi, “Whenever someone leaves the room, the room will move. It’s very simple. Before leaving the room, we remember the colours of the surrounding rooms and under the premise that it is safe, we test them out one by one to see what direction the colours change.”

Lin Xinlan, “And then?”

The two asked and answered back and forth. Somehow, there seemed to be some tension in the air.

Duan Wen was confused.

What was going on here?

Song Qinglan had already walked over. He stood in front of Ji Yushi, blocking him completely.

Song Qinglan habitually crossed his arms. His handsome face looked a lot more mature with the stubble, but he still looked unkept and distant.

He spoke coldly, “And then it would be cleared. Cap Lin, our Advisor Ji telling you how to go through this cube safely is already more than enough. You should use your own brain to figure out how to clear the mission. Don’t forget, we are opponents in this mission. Don’t think about trying to get the answer out from him.”

Lin Xinlan smiled, “Oh no, you saw through me.”

Song Qinglan, “If you have doubts about the analysis just now, you don’t have to come with us.”

Lin Xinlan, “Forget it. I’ll trust him and follow you guys.”

Song Qinglan was noncommittal. He didn’t want to talk to him anymore.

He turned around and saw Ji Yushi take something out of his pocket and carve something onto the ground.

Ji Yushi was using the zipper handle he had taken from his clothes. The mark he left was strange. It wasn’t a number nor a letter.

When he got back up while patting his hands, Duan Wen and Song Qinglan recognised it.

Song Qinglan had a small urge to laugh.

Little classmate Ji held grudges. Having almost been tricked into giving out the answer, he didn’t want to disclose anything else to Lin Xinlan.

What he had written on the ground was Big Beard’s language, something that no one else would understand.

“Let’s go.” Ji Yushi’s expression was the same, “Let’s check the colours of the surrounding rooms first.”

They chose to advance into a green room. It was on their left.

Duan Wen climbed up first. He waited at the entrance to prevent the door to the room from closing and causing them to separate again.

Everyone climbed up the stairs one by one.

“Song Qinglan.” Lin Xinlan suddenly shouted out.

Ji Yushi looked back and saw Lin Xinlan sitting on the ground with his hand stretched out, “Lend me a hand. My legs are numb.”

Ji Yushi, “........”

He simply continued climbing.

Behind him, Song Qinglan spoke heartlessly, “Get up by yourself.”

Lin Xinlan could only sigh regretfully, “Haa, we’re friends though. How did I offend you?”

The ambiguous atmosphere was strong.

Ji Yushi remembered what Li Chun had said about Lin Xinlan. His words didn’t seem too exaggerated.

He reached the new room and continued to mark the ground with his zipper handle. He turned a blind eye to the things happening behind him.

A pair of black boots appeared in front of him.

Song Qinglan squatted down beside him. He coughed dryly and then whispered to him, “That uh, that Lin Xinlan came from a year ago.”

A year ago.

Ji Yushi’s hand stopped. He didn’t raise his head, “From the time he confessed to you which resulted in you developing PTSD?”

PTSD?

Who gave that mess a name like that?

The timing and occasion wasn’t right. Song Qinglan didn’t know how to explain the matter, “.........”

Ji Yushi finally looked up.

He looked at the unshaven Song Qinglan. His eyes were very calm, “Don’t change the past, don’t talk about the present. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Cap Lin about this.”