Some people fall asleep immediately after lying down, while others toss and turn, unable to find rest.
Their bodies are exhausted, but their nerves remain taut, unable to relax.
Shen Mo sat leaning against Bai Youwei, head lowered, silently pondering every event that had transpired since entering the game.
He and Bai Youwei had entered numerous games, but this one was undoubtedly the most difficult. They had spent so much time, endured so much suffering, yet hadn't even passed the second round.
Bai Youwei was unusually quiet.
She seemed frightened because Shen Mo hadn't surfaced for a long time during his first dive. Now, even as she slept with her eyes closed, she tightly gripped his hand, afraid to let go.
Shen Mo adjusted his position slightly to avoid crowding her.
Bai Youwei opened her eyes.
Shen Mo paused, then softly asked, "Couldn't sleep?"
"You're not asleep either…" Bai Youwei shifted, turning to lie on her side facing him.
"Mm." Shen Mo said softly, "Thinking about the game. If we can't find the 'treasure,' the only way to clear the game is probably to kill the guest. But our mobility underwater is severely limited, unless we find a way to get the fish ashore."
Bai Youwei listened, her lips pursed, but she didn't speak.
Actually, her rabbit could deal with the fish, but the house was too damp… Water was everywhere, and when the fish went berserk, the tide would rise. There was no way to guarantee where the electric current would travel.
Moreover, for the electric shock to be effective, it had to be concentrated on a single point. If it dispersed throughout the water, would it even severely injure the fish? After all, she couldn't see it underwater.
No matter how she considered it, the risks outweighed the benefits.
After pondering for a while, she spoke hoarsely, "The difficulty of this game lies in… the clues being too vague. In the frog's golden ball game, we had to find the golden ball. In the friends' gathering, we had to pick the most beautiful flower. Every game has a clear objective. But this game makes us guess what we're looking for. The only clue is a nursery rhyme."
She sighed softly and closed her eyes. "Summer rain so heavy, dark and can't see where the treasure is… Just based on this sentence, we can interpret two completely different meanings.
One is what Li Li said, that the treasure is hidden in the darkness, and because we can't see it, it's hard to find.
The other is that the treasure is not in the darkness, so no matter how much we search in the dark, we won't find it.
Either interpretation can be logically consistent within the context of the nursery rhyme.
Now we've found the pearl on the first floor… Combined with the clue Li Li found in the book, the pearl fits the 'shiny' characteristic. But there's one thing I don't understand. Shiny things usually shine through the reflection and refraction of light. So, without a light source, how can the pearl be shiny?"
Mentioning light, Shen Mo couldn't help but ask, "Could it be the flashlight?"
Bai Youwei shook her head. "The Warden said the answer is in this house. The flashlight is something we brought in from outside the game."
Shen Mo pondered for a moment, then said in a low voice, "For now, the pearl seems most likely. Let's try it tomorrow. Maybe we're just overthinking it, and the answer isn't complicated."
Bai Youwei murmured, "I hope so…"
The two spoke intermittently for a while, then closed their eyes to rest.
The night passed.
…
In such an environment, no one could sleep soundly.
The interior was cold and damp, the surrounding walls wet. Although the water only flooded the first floor, moist air still permeated the entire house.
Bai Youwei drifted in and out of sleep, the sound of the pattering rain in her ears. From time to time, someone in the house would turn over, their faint breathing rising and falling.
She opened her eyes drowsily and saw Shen Mo's handsome face, the dim yellow light casting shadows of varying depths upon it.
She watched him for a while, then nestled closer into his arms and closed her eyes again…
This night was peaceful and quiet.