When Qin Ci and Mu Yiran returned to their initial room, Ke Xun, as if seeing a savior, pounced on Mu Yiran, practically clinging to him.
He meowed and "talked" for a while. Mu Yiran gently pinched the back of his neck to soothe his still-ruffled fur, and then told everyone, "Ke Xun said that the animated series corresponding to Qi Qiang is *Meijianchi*."
"Meijianchi?" Qin Ci frowned, thinking, but his memory was blank. "I've never heard of or seen this animated series." "
I remember Mr. Lu Xun wrote a novel called *The Sword Forging*, which seems to be about the story of Meijianchi," Wei Miao said, covering his face and trembling as he faced the wall, having not dared to look at the pool of blood and Qi Qiang's corpse since last night.
"The legend of Meijianchi is that he was the son of Gan Jiang and Mo Xie," Mu Yiran said thoughtfully. "Gan Jiang forged a sword for the King of Chu, but was later killed by him. Before his death, Gan Jiang instructed his wife to let their son avenge him in the future. When Meijianchi grew up, he learned of this and took another precious sword forged by Gan Jiang to seek revenge on the King of Chu. He cut off his own head and gave it, along with the sword, to a chivalrous knight, asking him to kill the King of Chu in his place. The name Meijianchi comes from the fact that the distance between his eyebrows was a foot wide."
"Meow meow meow meow."
"Ke Xun said that the plot of the animated film has been changed and artistically processed, but the general outline is correct." Mu Yiran translated.
"Then Qi Qiang corresponds to the animated film 'Meijianchi'." Qin Ci nodded.
Wei Dong gasped, "Is it really okay to use such terrifying material in an animated film for children?"
"Meow meow meow meow."
"Ke Xun said this animated film caused quite a stir because of its dark and eerie art style and overly adult content," Mu Yiran glanced at Ke Xun, "He had nightmares after watching it once as a child, so it left a deep impression."
"So now, of the thirteen worlds, we've confirmed the titles of twelve, leaving only the world where Zhao Haicui died, which we still have no clue about," Zhu Haowen said.
"The hidden worlds have only triggered 'Good Cat Mimi' and 'Hailibu'," Luo Wei said.
"And there's 'Fire Child'," Mu Yiran looked at him, "In Hailibu's world, I triggered Fire Child's hidden world with his bow and arrow. You can go in now."
"Right," Qin Ci suddenly realized, "Fire Child's bow and arrow is a very important item."
Luo Wei didn't delay, only instructing Li Yaqing to stay in the initial room—her treasure bowl was already so big that it required two people to carry it. Luo Wei strode into the room, racing against time to find Fire Child's hidden world.
The rest of the group were also hurrying along. Mu Yiran glanced at Qi Qiang in the pool of blood: "Now that we've confirmed that his world is the Eyebrow Ruler, I think the other sword in this story might be the key to triggering his hidden world."
In the animated film, Gan Jiang forged two swords.
"Awooo!" Ke Xun made a gesture of raising a sword to commit suicide.
Everyone: "…"
"Ke Xun said it was the sword Nezha used to commit suicide." Mu Yiran translated.
Wei Dong hurriedly looked at Wei Miao: "Girl, hurry up, go back to the world of Nezha's Havoc in the Sea and get the sword!"
Wei Miao ran into the room trembling.
"Then, I'll go to the world of Black Cat Detective to find the hidden world," Mu Yiran said.
"Awooo!" Ke Xun bristled again.
"You stay and be his translator," Zhu Haowen pointed at Ke Xun expressionlessly, "I'll go to the world of Black Cat Detective."
"I'll go, after all, Haowen, you..." Qin Ci thought to himself, "You're getting more and more like a rat."
"Then I'll go to Zhao Haicui's world," Wei Dong volunteered.
Who would have thought that as soon as he stepped into the room, Huang Pi, who had been sitting silently against the wall, followed him in.
Ke Xun, Mu Yiran, Zhu Haowen, and Li Yaqing were left in the initial room. The group didn't just wait around, but continued to analyze the clues at hand.
"Currently, it is known that the worlds are interconnected in the following way," Zhu Haowen drew on the paper, "Tiger Learning Skills → Good Cat Mimi → Black Cat Detective;
Ma Liang's Magic Brush → Hailibu → Fire Boy;
Fisher Boy → Zhao Haicui's corresponding world.
"The rules of connection between these worlds seem to be random. Whether looking at the art style of the animation or the nature of the story, some have similarities, while others seem completely different."
"Perhaps," Mu Yiran pondered, "each world can trigger a hidden world, and it can also be triggered by another world. The triggering is unidirectional; that is, each world has two relationships: triggering and being triggered."
"So if we use lines to connect the worlds, these thirteen worlds are actually incredibly tightly linked together, forming a whole centered on this initial room," Zhu Haowen said.
"Meow meow meow—"
"Ke Xun said that perhaps the shape formed by these worlds connected by lines is Milen's signature." "Mu Yiran translated, then added to his words, "Our process of searching for hidden worlds and triggering them one by one is very likely about connecting the various nodes of this signature's strokes. When all the worlds are triggered, it's like a circuit connecting all the electrical wires, allowing the light to turn on."
"Miren's signature... perhaps it only has one 'rice' character?" Zhu Haowen suddenly looked up at Mu Yiran and Ke Xun.
"Aww!"
"Very likely," Mu Yiran looked around the room, "If the room we are in is located at the center point of the 'rice' character, then these six doors are equivalent to the intersection of all the strokes passing through the center point with the center point itself. To put it simply, it's the 'wood' character in the middle of the 'rice' character; the two dots on the left and right of the 'rice' character are not connected to this room, i.e., the center point."
"So, actually, we—are in his signature." Zhu Haowen's gaze narrowed slightly.
"I think his signature is a deliberately designed cursive script, with six points connecting to the center point," Mu Yiran wrote several different versions of the character "米" (mi) on the paper. "Depending on the script, the number of intersections in the strokes of the character '米' varies.
"For example, if it's an electronic version in boldface, the left and right dots of the character '米' don't connect to the center point;
"In Yao script, the upper right dot connects to the middle horizontal stroke, and the lower right stroke hardly intersects with the main character; "In semi-cursive
script, the upper left and right dots both connect to the middle vertical stroke.
"If each intersection point is a door, then Milun's signature should have seven more points connecting to the center point, making it a complex and ornate cursive script."
"This proves that as long as we trigger all the doors to the hidden worlds, it's equivalent to completing his signature on the character '米' (mi), allowing us to leave the painting."
"Meow—meow—meow—"
"What you said is indeed a problem," Mu Yiran looked at Ke Xun thoughtfully. "Zhao Haicui, Zhang Lifeng, and Qi Qiang are all dead. It seems there's no way to trigger the hidden worlds through them, but I think there must be another way. Otherwise, if one of the thirteen people dies, the others would all be doomed. The rules of the painting wouldn't be set up like that."
"Although these two are dead, their props are still here," Zhu Haowen pointed to the ground. "Although the rules prohibit exchanging props, now that the owners are dead, the props are essentially ownerless. Can we take them and use them?"
Mu Yiran walked over and picked up the sword Qi Qiang had dropped: "Let's try."
Ke Xun also walked over and picked up Zhang Lifeng's two longan seeds.
The Eyebrow Ruler and the Snow Child were both hidden worlds, and the group still had to wait for news from Qin Ci and the others.
As dusk approached, Qin Ci was the first to return from the Black Cat Detective world, carrying back Ge Lei, whom Mu Yiran had left behind the door after he had knocked him unconscious.
"I remember there are several episodes of the Black Cat Detective story," Qin Ci frowned and shook his head. "There are just too many characters and important items involved. I tried them all, but I still couldn't find them."
As he spoke, he lifted his leg, and everyone heard a paper-like rustling sound coming from his body.
Spending too much time in other people's worlds had begun to cause changes in him.
Wei Dong and Huang Pi returned next, it was nearly 10:30 PM.
Wei Dong, holding a pair of rabbit ear headbands, shook his head at everyone: "We couldn't find the hidden world. The monkey that Qi Qiang killed came back to life. I followed it everywhere, but there were no clues. Huang Pi followed the otter, but he couldn't find it either."
Ke Xun looked at Huang Pi: "Meow meow meow?"
Mu Yiran translated: "Even you don't know which cartoon Zhao Hai Cui corresponds to?"
Huang Pi frowned, his sparse eyebrows furrowing: "I don't know, I've never seen this one."
Ke Xun felt that Huang Pi was quite confident in his familiarity with old cartoons, even a little... ridiculously arrogant. The fact that even he didn't know this cartoon made him feel unhappy.
It was like discovering a flaw in the beautiful childhood memories he had always cherished deep in his heart. This was unbearable for him; his only pure land was incomplete—so much so that Huang Pi could no longer maintain his underworld boss persona and openly agonized over the cartoon.
As everyone pondered the clues in the animated film, Luo Wei finally returned, seemingly exhausted from running around searching for clues. He was still panting heavily and his face was pale.
Even he, usually so rational beyond his years, couldn't hide his anxiety: "I triggered a hidden world. The Fire Child has a magical gourd, the one that triggered the gourd used by Taiyi Zhenren in the story of Nezha Conquers the Dragon King to create Nezha's lotus incarnation—has anyone triggered the hidden world corresponding to Ya Qing?"
Everyone fell silent. Luo Wei frowned, turned to head towards the world of Nezha Conquers the Dragon King, but Li Ya Qing rushed up and hugged him, crying, "Don't go! It's too late! It's almost eleven o'clock! Don't worry about me..."
Qin Ci and Wei Dong quickly went to stop Luo Wei, but they couldn't bring themselves to say what they wanted to say—if Luo Wei didn't return before eleven, both he and Li Ya Qing would die, and if he stayed, it might only be Li Ya Qing who died.
Although it was a cruel thought, it was always better to have one more person survive.
"Ya Qing—" Luo Wei's glasses were fogged up, and he gripped Li Ya Qing's shoulders tightly with both hands.
Li Ya Qing sobbed, her legs giving way and she collapsed to the ground: "I don't want to die, waaaah—I don't want to die—Luo Wei—Luo Wei—it's my fault, I shouldn't have let you come along—don't tell my parents—just say I—eloped abroad with another boy—waaaah—I don't want to die—"
Li Ya Qing's thoughts were incoherent, and she cried so hard she couldn't breathe.
Luo Wei turned around and forcefully pushed aside Qin Ci and Wei Dong, who were blocking his way, and stepped into the gate of the Nezha Havoc in the Sea World.