Chapter 38.1 ?

The substitution word Xu Ming used this time came from an unclear reading record, with very casual wording, very frustrating sentences, looking like a post from someone’s Weibo or Moments—the reason for this guess is simple, because the record also included someone’s username and posting time.

Of course, that’s not the point.

The point is, the entire record has one focus.

“There is a big cockroach in my house! There is a big cockroach in my house! Help, I saw a shoe-sized cockroach at home—”

As for who exactly provided this record, Xu Ming couldn’t be sure. After the badges were distributed later, she received too many new records; but she guessed it might be the taxi driver who brought them, as the large cockroaches in City A are quite famous.

After making this change, Xu Ming still felt uneasy, pulling out the reading records to continue picking words, while also chatting with the blubberman.

“Hey.” She said in her mind, “Do you think it’s not enough just to change here? Might it be too low-key?”

“Should I go to the lobby again and change it in front of it to stabilize the hatred…”

“…” What responded to her was the blubberman’s eerie silence.

After two more seconds, she heard it say in a trembling voice: “Run.”

Xu Ming: “…”

“Now, run!” The next second, she heard the blubberman shouting, making Xu Ming’s head buzz, “Don’t stabilize the hatred anymore—it’s coming right at you!”

Xu Ming: “…”

Is the target that clear?

Xu Ming’s eyebrow twitched, and she immediately turned and rushed up the stairs. After a few steps, she felt something was wrong and looked downstairs while running.

“Are you sure it’s coming after me?” Xu Ming was puzzled, “Why don’t I feel anything.”

“Absolutely!” The blubberman was confident, “I just saw a butterfly flying towards you!” 

Xu Ming’s steps paused.

“No.” She couldn’t help but say, “Just one…”

“What’s wrong with one?” The blubberman continued confidently, “When you see one butterfly, it means countless others are eyeing you hungrily!”

“You didn’t even consider what you’ve done – changing people’s rules is enough to be hated, and you pointed at the butterfly and called it a cockroach. Do you think that’s polite?”

Xu Ming: …

So your expression is better than mine?

Xu Ming restrained herself, closed her eyes, and while speaking, had already gone up to the second floor. She pondered slightly, deciding to continue going up.

Anyway, the goal of attracting hatred was achieved, now just try to avoid it as much as possible—

While still contemplating, she suddenly heard a “snap” from above.

The next second, the entire corridor plunged into darkness.

“…This is bad.” The blubberman finally couldn’t hold back, whimpered, “It’s really coming after you.”

In fact, no reminder was needed—almost the instant the ceiling light went out, Xu Ming already felt a strong oppressive feeling from behind.

…Okay, I admit, directly changing to cockroach might have been a bit too much.

Without much thought, Xu Ming quickly sped up her steps, rushing upward while struggling to take out her phone. Without time to slowly find the flashlight, she directly turned on the camera, using the flash to illuminate her path, and urgently spoke in her mind:

“By the way, I have an idea.”

Blubberman: “?”

“Doesn’t it hate the number ‘7’?” Xu Ming said while running, “So what if I change my room number to 7—”

“Instead of doing that, why not take a few more steps and go directly to 8307!” The blubberman couldn’t help but say, “If changing the number worked, the whole Magic Cube Mansion would be filled with Room 7s by now!”

…True.

Xu Ming pondered, nodded in agreement, then quickly turned into the corridor, took out her room card, and swiftly opened her room door, releasing two burntmen, hurriedly gave an instruction, then quickly closed the door. Taking advantage of the butterfly not having caught up yet, she stumbled and continued forward.

The corridor lights had also gone out with the stairway lights, and Xu Ming’s night vision hadn’t adjusted yet. Without the phone’s light, she was almost blind.

Her room was right by the stairs, relatively easy to identify, but the rooms further down were hard to see. Hearing the oppressive feeling behind getting closer, Xu Ming didn’t have time to identify with a flashlight, she could only feel her way forward, counting rooms as she went.

“Hurry, hurry, hurry!” The blubberman cheered her on in her mind, “It hasn’t caught up yet, move faster—”

“Okay.” Xu Ming replied casually, already rushing to the door of 8307. Seeing the door slightly ajar, she didn’t hesitate, pushed the door open and went in—

As she closed the door behind her, a violent crash sounded from outside.

Of course, Xu Ming didn’t hear this sound—but she could feel that the oppressive feeling chasing her had finally disappeared temporarily.

The room lights were on. Under the light, she could clearly see two figures standing in the room—two Ajiao she had just released.

Familiarity breeds skill, they seemed to have become very adept at climbing walls and windows.

Xu Ming thanked them, retracted the two, then quickly went to the window and locked it.

—She remembered clearly, Gu Yunshu had once said she saw a lot of scales in 8307. This meant the butterfly had ways to enter this room, so it was better to lock everything that could be locked.

Just as she locked the window, she heard the sound of the blubberman collapsing in her bag, followed by a weak sigh:

“Thank goodness… finally got rid of it.”

By implication, the room was indeed free of anything suspicious, making Xu Ming feel more at ease.

According to the hotel staff, rooms with the number 7 were barely considered safe zones in the Magic Cube Mansion. Hiding here was better than elsewhere—

The best outcome would be to stay here for twenty minutes until the key given by Fang Xueqing activated. Then find a chance to rush out, use her skill to directly teleport outside, and this would be truly over.

“…” Listening to the blubberman’s mutterings, Xu Ming withdrew her hand thoughtfully.

“In fact, while I was looking for the door, I was also thinking about this.” She paused, speaking softly, “Then I had a somewhat extreme idea.”

Blubberman: “?”

“Either way, I’m teleporting.” Xu Ming said, “Why don’t I directly teleport to the room where its root is stored?”

After all, Fang Xueqing said that twenty minutes later, the sixth door she touched would lead to the place she wanted to go; she didn’t say it had to be a place she knew.

“…” The blubberman was silent for a moment.

After a while, it spoke sincerely: “I think you’re too conservative.”

Xu Ming was a bit surprised, not expecting such an evaluation—she thought the blubberman would scold her for courting death.

But before she could feel gratified, the blubberman spoke again: “Your idea is more than a bit extreme.”

Extremely explosive!

Before, it was just opportunistic theft, but now, not only are you not given the opportunity, you’re actively seeking it… Are you addicted to stealing company seals or something?

Xu Ming: “…” Just as expected. She knew it.

“Don’t rush, it’s just an idea.” She said while vigilantly scanning the room, “But since we’re here…”

“This isn’t about being here or not, you should be thankful you can leave!” The blubberman retorted, climbing up along Xu Ming’s handbag, peeking around, “Wow, this place is so clean.”

Xu Ming: “?”

“During the first round, you and others came here.” The blubberman recalled, “There were many things left by previous guests.”

Not like now, so clean it seemed unrecognizable.

Though its memory of the last round was also fuzzy.

“Oh, I remember. This is the room Brother Tang stayed in.” Xu Ming recalled, scanning every corner, still hoping to find something.

Seeing this, the blubberman shook its head from the bag’s edge.

“Don’t waste your efforts. Didn’t you have Gu Yunshu check? She said nothing was left—”

Before it finished, Xu Ming’s eyes suddenly fixed.

Then she exclaimed and walked quickly to the wardrobe by the door.

—The wardrobe was basically empty, only hanging two bathrobes for guests. In one corner of the wardrobe, there was a small safe for storing valuables.

What caught Xu Ming’s attention was this safe.

After bending down to look at the safe for a while, she tentatively reached out.

“What?” The blubberman was startled, “Do you think there’s something inside?”

“Yes.” Xu Ming responded casually, finding the default code above the safe and entering it, “This safe’s state is off.”

The same safe was also in her room. Xu Ming noticed when she checked in, the default state was open.

However, this safe was closed. That means—

“Sure enough.” Successfully opening the safe with the default code, Xu Ming looked at the small bag inside, her lips pressed slightly.

“Someone tampered with this safe.”

Blubberman: “…”

A subtle feeling of being slapped in the face, it fell silent again. But soon couldn’t help peeking out:

“So what’s inside? Could it be something left by Tang Menglong?”

“Not sure.” Xu Ming said, taking the small bag to the bed, carefully examining the packaging, her expression becoming more subtle.

The bag was an insulated bag with a chain porridge store’s name, looking like a leftover from takeout, very sloppy; she forcefully opened the bag, looking at the contents, even more confused.

“Never seen this before.” She muttered, taking it out. It was a semi-transparent egg-shaped object, not very heavy, less than a pound, glowing faintly inside, glowing brighter when held.

Not sure if it was her illusion, but the egg seemed to have a heartbeat, making her vigilant—cautiously, she put it down, intending to ask the blubberman, only to see it staring dumbfoundedly from the bag edge.

Its face was a mix of daze and shock.

Half its body already out, looking like it might fall.

Xu Ming: “…”