Chapter 19: Four Seasons Protection Guide (VI)
Even though they were mentally prepared, the four of them still felt their stomachs churning when they saw the scene before them.
Four frozen bodies were displayed in the dilapidated and deserted lounge.
Each corpse showed signs of being torn and devoured. Purple-black blood was evenly splattered on the ground, covered with a thick layer of frost.
This is also why Zhang You could not tell the direction of the stench of corpses and blood, because every corner of the room was filled with blood and body parts.
"It's really unexpected. Student Zhang actually managed to get to the interior of the inspection site."
The student union and others walked in slowly and were greatly disappointed to see that Zhang You was still alive.
Lily said in a dry tone: "However, entering the lounge is just the beginning. We still need to conduct a careful inspection inside. Remember, we only have one hour."
Zhang You looked at them patiently without saying anything. He silently moved his legs and walked to the four bodies one by one, holding back the rising stomach acid.
"Put the phone closer." Tang Xinjue observed the scene attentively.
There are countless scenes in nightmares that are more disgusting than this. Tang Xin Jue was hardly disturbed by the mess and quickly identified: "These four people are all tall adult males. The cause of death should be freezing to death. The injuries on their bodies were torn by dark creatures after death."
There was more to say, but Tang Xinjue didn’t say it.
It is impossible for a normal corpse to gather so many dark creatures in such a short period of time. Moreover, some of those creatures just now had no interest in the corpse.
It is more likely that they were released here intentionally, either to destroy the scene or to prevent people from coming to look for them.
But no matter what the reason was, Tang Xinjue knew that she had indeed guessed part of the answer by accident.
“Here’s the truth about the heating failure.”
She spoke softly.
"The four bodies are the heating staff. They are wearing uniforms and have work badges. They are all in the exclusive lounge for heating staff, and they are obviously ready to go to work."
But before the winter came, they met with accidents and froze to death one after another, so heating could no longer be implemented.
"But..." Tang Xinjue frowned, "There should have been five people here."
There are five thermos cups on the table, five chairs in the room, and a lone work badge sealed in ice on the ground.
Lily spoke slowly: "Mr. Tang's eyesight... is very good."
Tang Xinjue ignored her and said to Zhang You, "Go to the window and take a look."
There were four windows in the room. Zhang You pushed three of them, but they were all sealed from the outside to the inside. Only when he pushed hard on the last window did the window start to drop debris and slowly open a gap.
"It seems that the fifth heater left from here." Looking at this window that was obviously damaged by violence, Tang Xinjue concluded: "In other words, only the fifth person managed to escape."
Zhang You repeated Tang Xinjue's words and turned to look at the Student Union.
The other party forced out a false smile and said into the microphone in a surprised tone: "Oh, it turns out that our school's heater really had an accident. This is troublesome. Without a heater, how can the heating be carried out?"
After that, Lily looked around the house again and asked, "What's even more strange is, how could the heater suddenly freeze to death? Was it a scary monster? Or a malicious student? This is really a question worth exploring."
Tang Xin Jue sneered: "Then explore it yourself, don't waste our time."
Lily: “…”
"Haha," she chuckled, "Dear classmates, don't you want to cooperate with the student union's inspection?"
"Oh?" Tang Xin Jue asked back: "If I remember correctly, our mission should have been completed, right?"
Zhang You was cheered up.
Tang Xin Jue spoke clearly: "From the beginning, our mission is to help you successfully solve the heating problem. This process is divided into three parts. First, speculate the cause, propose a hypothesis, and determine the investigation site; second, conduct a field investigation. If the speculation is correct, explore the cause of the heating failure; third, find a solution to the heating problem."
Student Council: "...Right, are you all done?"
"Of course. We have given the right answer, found the right place, and discovered that the right reason for the heating failure was the sudden death of the heater..."
Lily pressed on: "What's the solution?"
"There were five heaters, four died and one ran away. The solution, of course, is to find the one who ran away." Tang Xinjue answered as a matter of course.
It is well-reasoned, logically complete and irrefutable.
"Then," Lily was still unwilling to give up, "How do we find the last heater?"
"That's your business." Tang Xin Jue said softly, "As soon as the scene was discovered, the student union should have reported it or sent someone to look for it. With your abilities, it should be easy to find a heater, right? If you can't find one, I'll wonder if you deliberately don't want to solve the heating problem."
Put the hat on someone else's head first, so that the person who wants to put the hat on you won't be able to do so.
Of course, she was not making a pointless move - the student union's requirements were clearly far beyond the candidates ' abilities. Did they have to track down the heater while they were trapped in the dormitory?
Everything outside the basic logical chain, including why the heater froze to death, where the remaining heaters went, etc., has nothing to do with them.
Sure enough, as the student union fell silent, the mission reminder sounded again:
[Ding Dong! Mission completed, heating recovery process triggered, please wait in the dormitory for the cooling to end!]
The stone fell from their hearts and everyone finally felt relieved.
The student union had to give up their plot and announced their success. They lost interest and even dropped the disguised tone. Lily held the microphone and went through the process in a sinister tone: "Congratulations on successfully helping us complete the field trip. Although you are lazy and insidious, it is obvious that the school is tolerant and kind... In view of this, we decided to give you a gift, dear classmates, what do you want?"
It would be a lie to say that he wasn't excited. Especially when he had just escaped from danger and was exhausted, and suddenly got the end and reward, Zhang You suddenly felt that even the second face at the back of the student union's head was not so scary.
She looked at the reward options provided by the Student Union, which included "Appreciation from the Student Union", "A random prop", "An exam reminder"... There were so many options that it was difficult to make a decision for a while.
Just as he was in a trance, Tang Xinjue's serious voice suddenly rang out on the phone: "Let Zhang You go back to the dormitory first!"
When the voice reached his ears, Zhang You suddenly started to wake up. The dizziness in his head was swept away and he remembered his current situation.
Lily giggled and covered her mouth, her carefully styled curls trembling: "This can also be considered a gift."
The rubbish student union actually dug a hole here!
If he had chosen another gift, Zhang You would have lost the chance to return to the dormitory. If the student union hadn't been able to hear the swearing during the call, the dormitory would have started swearing a long time ago.
"Let Zhang You come back." Tang Xinjue decided in a deep voice.
"Are you sure? Then I'll grant you your wish. Today's student council broadcast ends here~"
Guo Guo suddenly said, "Wait, you haven't said when the heating will be restored!"
"Ah, didn't I tell you?" Lily pretended to be surprised, and then slowly said: "Before night falls, warmth will come again, but the student union believes that the students will be able to hold on until nightfall, right?"
With that, the radio made a crackling sound, leaving only the chaotic signal stream after the broadcast was turned off.
Less than two minutes later, the dormitory door was pushed open forcefully and Zhang You stumbled in, pointing weakly at the mask on his face.
Several people hurriedly helped her to take it off. Zhang You's face, which had been blue from holding his breath, finally showed up. He didn't care about the damage to his chest caused by the cold air. He took a few deep breaths and said weakly, "Give me something to eat..."
At four o'clock in the afternoon, the temperature was minus 60 degrees Celsius.
All the bedding and mattresses in the dormitory had been taken down and piled on the floor in the middle of the dormitory. Together with the tables and chairs, a thick small tent was built, and the three of them hid in the tent. They wore down jackets one after another, covering all exposed skin to prevent frostbite.
After eating and drinking, the three decided to just hold out for the final time.
Tang Xin Jue took out the arm of the phantom demon that was frozen into an ice stick and studied it with great interest: "This is the first time I have seen their limbs exist in this form."
This was all thanks to the [Light of Righteousness] buff. Otherwise, although she had a way to repel it, she might not be able to obtain such a complete specimen.
"Wait, judging from this arm, it has substance. So is it a ghost or a monster?" Guo Guo curled himself up into a ball, as if this arm could break the ice and revive at any time. He couldn't help his curiosity and asked in a low voice.
Tang Xin Jue thought about it carefully: "Strictly speaking, except for a very small number of dark creatures, they cannot take the initiative to leave the darkness. But if they rely on some kind of energy or matter, such as ice, water, fire, or even electronic signals, they can appear in physical form for a short time."
"What's more, this is just a charred, powerless stump. It was frozen before it turned into dregs, so it was preserved just in time."
Tang Xin Jue made the toilet plunger spray out a stream of water again. The water quickly froze in mid-air and turned into identical icicles when it fell. She knocked the two icicles together, and the pure ice shattered with a snap, while the icicle containing the broken arm of the phantom demon remained intact.
"Look, the formation of an enchanted weapon." Tang Xinjue joked while holding up an icicle.
Zheng Wanqing's eyes suddenly lit up: "If I tie them all to my body, will I be invulnerable to swords and guns? Can I charge forward without any worries?"
Several people: ...Your idea is very wild.
Guo Guo said faintly: "If there comes a day like that, please stay three meters away from me, otherwise my sanity will be lost first, thank you."
Zhang You couldn't help laughing, but the wound would split open whenever he bent his mouth, so he could only continue to be in seclusion.
…
At seven o'clock in the afternoon, the indoor temperature reached minus 68 degrees Celsius.
[Moderate frostbite: Health value 20 Your health value will decrease at a rate of 1 point every 10 minutes]
The exhaustion from a day of anxiety, coupled with the stiffness of the body due to the low temperature, made several people drowsy. Even though they knew that their health values were constantly decreasing, they didn't have the energy to care.
The dilemma of extreme environments is that the human body is often more fragile than we think.
But its hope also lies in the fact that human vitality is more tenacious than we imagine.
Tang Xinjue put away the toilet plunger. If one sensed it carefully, one could see two symbols existing in his mind at the same time, one was a cartoon leather plunger, and the other was a light golden [Light of Righteousness] buff.
At this point, probably because it has been used once, the color of the buff is much dimmer than before. It seems that it has a very strict limit on the number of times it can be used, and can only be used as a temporary aid.
If you want to pass each increasingly dangerous exam safely, the key lies in improving your own strength: five-dimensional attributes... and superpowers.
Thinking of this, Tang Xinjue held his head and slowly closed his eyes amid the overwhelming feeling of heaviness.
[…Ding Dong, the heating has been restored. Thanks to your efforts, we have successfully survived the winter…]
[Exam progress: 25%]
In silence, Tang Xinjue opened his eyes, and tears started flowing out almost the next second.
It's not because of sadness, but because sweat seeped into the corners of my eyes as I opened my eyes, and the pain stimulated the flow of physical tears.
Tang Xinjue stretched out his hand with difficulty, wiped the water droplets on his face, and then forcefully threw the quilt off his body.
It's too hot!
If it had been a minute later, she might have suffocated in the thick quilt and died before the exam even started.
As soon as the quilt was opened, the scorching hot air rushed in. Tang Xinjue looked down and saw that she was lying on the bed, still wearing a down jacket. The layers of clothes weighed nearly ten kilograms. It was a miracle that she didn't suffocate to death.
What about others?
As this thought came up, a reminder sounded:
[Ding Dong, thanks to your unremitting efforts, winter has ended. But because the heater failed to control the fire, the heating was overheated, causing summer to arrive early. Please control the indoor temperature and try to survive!]
...Wow, summer directly after winter?
It’s bad enough that the order of the four seasons is disrupted, but what the hell is the reason - overheating?
After being speechless for a few seconds, Tang Xinjue turned over and got out of bed, rescuing his roommates who were almost suffocated.
“Ahhhh!!”
As soon as Guo Guo woke up, she frantically took off her cotton coat and trousers. Even though she had sniffed and sworn last season that she would rather live in an extremely hot environment than be frozen to death by low temperatures, but now——
"It's so hot, so hot, so hot!"
Looking at the temperature gauge again, the needle had moved to the opposite direction: 37 degrees.
Tang Xin Jue took a sip of water and said, "If it stays at this temperature, it's still bearable, but according to our experience in winter, the temperature will definitely continue to rise."
As soon as the words fell, the next second, the pointer of the measuring meter moved up another notch.
Everyone: “…”
After changing all the heavy clothes into short-sleeved shirts and shorts, the sweaty people finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"This is very bad news." Zhang You checked the faucet and said seriously, "We have no water."
This time, it was not only the air conditioner that went on strike, but also the faucet in the dormitory. The only available water in the dormitory was half a bucket of water from the water dispenser and a few bottles of water won from a lottery at the mall.
Under high temperatures, body moisture will evaporate quickly, and water consumption may increase ten times than usual, not to mention the need for water for washing and cooling. This amount of water will not last long.
In the solemn atmosphere, Tang Xinjue took out the toilet plunger.
"Puff" - a stream of clear water spurted out from the rubber head.
After a few seconds, she hesitated and said, "Is this considered water resources?"
