Card Room

Everyone was exhausted from fighting the bugs early in the morning and they all slept until noon.

It had been snowing for several days in a row. Today was a rare day where the weather cleared up. Against the backdrop of the snow, the sunlight became even more dazzling. The moment Ye Qi came out, he was stunned by the sun above his head. He hurriedly closed his eyes and held the bottle in his arms.

Little Shao in the bottle was still asleep. This bug seemed to like sleep more than Chief Shao himself? Ye Qi couldn't understand the bug's thinking and had to take Chief Shao to the fire.

Old Mo's Solid Wood Flooring card was really easy to use. Xiao Lou cleaned the snow and set up a fire here to boil hot water. It was comfortable to have a cup of hot water in cold weather, not to mention that they could use the hot water for instant noodles.

The group gathered around the fire for lunch. Ye Qi suddenly had a question. "By the way, what do the bugs eat?"

He took the water bottle out of his arms and pointed to Little Shao lying inside it. "There are eight days to go before the room is cleared. We can't give him nothing to eat for eight days, right? What if he starves to death?"

The group looked at each other.

Xiao Lou pressed a hand to his temple. "Xiao Ye's concern is reasonable. We almost ignored the problem of feeding Chief Shao. However, what do the bugs like to eat? Leaves? Grass? Or… human blood?"

Yu Hanjiang had a serious expression on his face. "Judging from this world's settings, they are most likely to eat human blood. After all, the bugs will have scarlet eyes after mutation. They stare at humans like humans are food and bite people everywhere. The parasites are also passed on through the blood."

Ye Qi thought it was very reasonable and spoke seriously, "In addition, the bugs like to bite people."

Just then, the little person in the bottle turned over. Ye Qi immediately stared at him. Shao Qingge touched the wall of the mineral water bottle when he turned over. He seemed to be awakened and slowly got up.

He climbed up the wall of the bottle to the mouth of the bottle. Then he held the bottle cap with both hands and seemed to want to open it. Unfortunately, his strength was too weak and he couldn't push open the lid. Two attempts were unsuccessfully before he slid down the bottle wall.

Ye Qi watched the small figure fight against the water bottle and his heart felt like it was cut with a knife.

He should be angry about being trapped in the bottle, right? However, there was no other way. Ye Qi didn't dare to let him out.

Xiao Lou carefully watched from the side. He saw Shao Qingge sitting at the bottom of the bottle after sliding back down and whispered softly, "The bug's climbing ability is indeed very strong. He can climb up such a smooth bottle."

Ye Qi focused on another point. "Is he hungry? He is desperately pushing at the bottle cap. Is he looking for food?"

Xiao Lou couldn't determine if this was the case or not. After all, he didn't know the eating habits of the bugs.

Ye Qi suddenly activated the Scissors card and pierced his finger with a sharp scissors. Everyone was shocked, "Xiao Ye, what are you doing?"

The next moment, they knew the answer.

They saw Ye Qi drip the blood from his finger into the small hole in the bottle cap. A drop of bright red blood dripped down from the cap. Chief Shao, who was sitting at the bottom, saw it and his eyes brightened. He immediately got up and consumed the blood that Ye Qi fed him.

He licked his lips as if finding Xiao Ye's blood delicious.

Everyone, "……"

Ye Qi laughed. "He really does like blood. This is good. If he is hungry later then I will feed him a bit."

Xiao Lou knew that Ye Qi felt guilty about Shao Qingge being infected in order to protect him. Everyone naturally wouldn't compete over the task to cut their finger and feed Chief Shao since it would make Ye Qi feel better.

Xiao Lou walked over, patted Ye Qi on the shoulder and showed the contract book to everyone with a smile. "Chief Shao's name is still on here and it proves that our guess is correct. He isn't dead. As long as we pass the instance smoothly, we can take him back to the main city."

Ye Qi saw the words 'Shao Qingge' on the contract and was so excited that a layer of mist appeared in his eyes. "Great. Chief Shao is still there!"

It was good news and the others also showed their joy.

One day passed quickly and the eight hours of Shao Qingge’s transformation was about to end. Ye Qi looked at the sleeping person in the bottle with some embarrassment. He might attack us after he turns back. My instrument cards can’t control him for long. What should we do?”

Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang for advice and Yu Hanjiang told him, "Give him to me."

Liu Qiao prompted them. "The Thumbelina card's transformation effect has five minutes left. We need to be ready."

Ye Qi nodded and stared nervously at the countdown. Once there were 10 seconds left on the countdown, he opened the cap of the mineral water bottle, gently poured out Chief Shao and quickly stepped back. He was too small when thumb-sized and everyone couldn't see where he was.

The next moment, the transformation effect was over. A man with a height of more than 1.85 metres suddenly appeared in front of everyone. Ye Qi immediately controlled him with a musical instrument.

The man slightly narrowed his eyes and smiled at Ye Qi. "Xiao Ye, what are you doing?"

Ye Qi was shocked and he quivered. "Y-You know me?"

Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly and immediately flew to Shao Qingge. At a very fast speed, he bound Shao Qingge's hands and legs with white silk.

Yu Hanjiang specialized in arresting criminals and his skills in binding people were naturally very professional. He tied knots so that Shao Qingge couldn't break free no matter how great his strength. In this way, he couldn't attack his teammates even if he had the attack power of a bug.

Ye Qi's control ended in three seconds and Yu Hanjiang used three seconds to tie up this person.

Shao Qingge smiled. "Group Leader Yu's skills are still so neat. I have returned to normal now. Do you need to be so guarded against me? The bug in my mind wanted to invade my consciousness but I have assimilated them."

His tone and smiling expression were exactly the same as the usual Shao Qingge.

Qu Wanyue couldn't help feeling doubts and she whispered to Long Sen, "Are his words credible?"

Long Sen got goose bumps and said, "I don't know… the acting skills of the advanced bugs are better. If it is a bug talking right now then he is the Oscar winner among the bugs."

Xiao Lou whispered in Ye Qi's ears. "The Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings."

Ye Qi nodded and asked in the channel. "Chief Shao, is it you talking?"

However, there was no response.

Ye Qi reluctantly continued to ask, "Are your words true?"

The question was like a stone sinking into the sea. His mind was empty and for some reason, Ye Qi's heart was also empty. His nose was tingly as he reported to Xiao Lou, "He isn't Chief Shao. There is no response."

Xiao Lou, "…"

This acting was too much. The bug actually said Xiao Lou's reasoning that the bug and human would compete for control of the body. The bug's words were half true and half false. The team would've been fooled if they didn't have the Qin Guan card.

Yu Hanjiang replied lightly, "Of course we believe you. However, no one knows if the bug will regain control of your body or not. For everyone's safety, I have to temporarily wrong Chief Shao."

Shao Qingge, "……"

Not fooled? His eyes narrowed as he stared at Ye Qi. "Xiao Ye, even you don't believe me?"

"Shut up!" Ye Qi shouted angrily. "Don't control his body and say such things. You aren't him at all!"

After perceiving that he had been exposed, Shao Qingge's eyes suddenly turned scarlet! He stared at Ye Qi, almost boring a hole into Ye Qi's face.

Ye Qi was scared by the blood-red eyes and stepped back. Shao Qingge started to struggle hard but he couldn't get rid of the knots that Yu Hanjiang had tied him up with. After a while, he gave up and his eyes swept over everyone. "In any case, you can't kill Shao Qingge. I'll slowly wait for an opportunity. I'll take advantage of the silence of the night to bite everyone and it will be delicious."

Everyone, "……"

It was really annoying when the bug controlled Shao Qingge's body so say these words. Still, it was indeed true that everyone was reluctant to hurt Chief Shao.

Therefore, Yu Hanjiang made a wise decision. He rolled the remaining white silk into a ball and decisively stuffed it in Shao Qingge's mouth. "Be quiet. Don't think that you can bite people even if you have a mouth.

Shao Qingge whose mouth was gagged, "……"

The team didn't know whether they should laugh or cry. Group Leader Yu still had such means!

Ye Qi's face was ugly. Perhaps it was because the bug controlled Shao Qingge's body to speak that made him feel extremely disgusted. Chief Shao was the only one in the world. How could his body be controlled by a bug? Ye Qi really wanted to drive the bug away from Chief Shao.

However, it was impossible to drive them away as long as the bug didn't actively leave the body of the infected person.

Once there were other bugs nearby, they might merge with Shao Qingge to upgrade. In this way, Shao Qingge's consciousness might not be retained. All they could do now was to protect Chief Shao and control him. They couldn't let the bugs take advantage of the opportunity.

Nothing happened during the day. Once it was midnight, all of them received the same message.

[8 of Spades Doomsday Escape, the sixth day, 00:00 in the morning]

[Number of challengers remaining: 178]

Ye Qi stated, "Another 20 people died, indicating that the bug army has failed to slaughter the challengers and many teams survived."

Xiao Lou nodded, "After all, those who can reach 8 of Spades aren't too weak. It is like the university student team of the Distant Association. They had many good cards in their hands. If their leader wasn't someone like Cheng Ziyang then the team would be even stronger."

Old Mo added, "I have a hunch that the Luoying Pavilion team and the Eternal Kingdom team that we met in the supermarket are still alive. The elite teams of these two big guilds are very strong. I just don't know why the Eternal Kingdom suddenly came to 8 of Spades? They always adhere to the principle of 'we will be safe no matter what comes'. They can stay in the Card World and never take risks."

Xiao Lou thought of the bearded uncle in the supermarket and was also puzzled. "I don't know where they have gone but with their strength, it shouldn't be too difficult for them to survive up to now."

Yu Hanjiang looked around. "The bugs haven't found us. Since it is safe here, we can stay one more day to check the situation. This place is very empty. We have time to escape even if we are surrounded by the bugs."

The team was curious. "It is so empty. If we are surrounded by bugs, how can we run?"

Xiao Lou smiled slightly. "LI Qingzhao's Stray Into the Depths of the Lotus Flowers. We can set a mark in the secret room and the group will teleport to the marked point. Don't forget that we still have this trump card."

The team's eyes lit up. Li Qingzhao's Stray Into the Depths of the Lotus Flowers was a godly skill in mazes. If they hit a dead end in the maze, they could teleport directly back to the beginning of the maze. In other words, a marker could be set and the group would be teleported to the marked point.

Xiao Lou told them, "Once we are surrounded by the bugs, we just need one person to fly out and set the mark. Then we can teleport as a group. It is more flexible than Tao Yuanming's Remember Peach Blossom Spring."

Remember Peach Blossom Spring needed the peach blossom spring to be set in advance. They couldn't predict the time and location that the bugs would come from so the place and time to open the peach blossom spring was uncertain.

Stray Into the Depths of the Lotus Flowers was different. The valid period of the mark was only five minutes. Once surrounded by the bugs, they just needed one person to escape to place the mark. As long as everyone could hold on for five minutes, they could instantly teleport to the position of the mark that was placed five minutes ago.

Resisting the bugs for five minutes? Everyone was still very confident about this. Professor Xiao and Group Leader Yu were so thoughtful. No wonder why they had set up the tents on the snow.

At night, the team fell asleep.

Yu Hanjiang untied the white silk around Shao Qingge and Liu Qiao shrank him to the size of a thumb again. Ye Qi took the bottle containing the shrunken Chief Shao back to the tent and fed him some blood.

After shrinking, the appetite would become smaller. A few drops of blood seemed to be enough for Shao Qingge. Ye Qi whispered in his mind while feeding Shao Qingge. "Group Leader Yu tied you up all day and your wrists are red. It must be very painful, right?"

At midnight, the Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings channel was interrupted. Although Ye Qi knew that the other person wouldn't respond, Ye Qi still tried to communicate with him.

Ye Qi continued to make jokes in his mind. "You said you wanted to introduce me to a record company after returning to reality. How can I do so without you, my gold father? So you have to be well."

There was silence in his mind.

Ye Qi rambled on for a long time. He talked about how he liked to go to school as a child, giving up the university entrance examination to go to the art examination, entering the Conservatory of Music with much difficulty, participating in singing competitions…

He received no response but he continued to talk to himself in his head. It was unknown how long he did this when a low, gentle voice was suddenly heard in his mind. "Xiao Ye."

Ye Qi was stunned and almost thought he was in an illusion. The next moment, he heard the voice again. "Don't be afraid. It's me."

Ye Qi's eyes became hot. This wasn't an illusion. It was really Chief Shao's voice! The Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings channel was connected again. Shao Qingge's consciousness was still present!

Shao Qingge told him, "Just treat it as me having a bad Internet connection. I will disconnect from time to time and can't guarantee when I can talk to you. The bug's consciousness is too strong and it is hard to control my body. Tell Professor Xiao that the parasitism of the bugs isn't so simple. If a human's willpower is strong enough, they can assimilate the bugs. If humans who assimilate the bugs want to lead the bugs to destroy humans, it will be really terrible. This type of human is equivalent to retaining a human's intelligence and consciousness while also having the bugs' strength."

Ye Qi was shocked. In other words, after a human had assimilated the bugs, they could choose to continue to be human or lead the bugs to destroy humans?

Retaining human intelligence and possessing the powerful abilities of a bug. If a sinister person assimilated the bugs, they would become the boss of the bugs. For example, those with antisocial tendencies. If they assimilated the bugs, wouldn't it be easy for them to kill people?

Ye Qi was frightened.

The next moment, he heard Shao Qingge say, "There is one more thing."

Ye Qi was instantly serious. "Yes, say it. I'm listening!"

Shao Qingge's voice became extremely gentle. "Don't always try to talk to me in your mind, only to become disappointed again and again. I will feel distressed. Once I regain consciousness, I will take the initiative to look for you."

Ye Qi stared at the little Chief Shao in the bottle.

After being reduced in size, Chief Shao's facial features were almost indistinguishable. However, Ye Qi seemed to feel that Chief Shao's gaze was turned towards him very gently. Ye Qi's heart became hot and he released Chief Shao from the bottle. He held Chief Shao in his hand and touched Chief Shao's head. "I know!"

Shao Qingge, "……"

After becoming smaller, Ye Qi's face was like looking at a wall…

Still, this allowed him to see Ye Qi more clearly. He could see Ye Qi's long eyelashes and those clear eyes.

Shao Qingge smiled slightly. "Return me to the bottle just in case I suddenly lose control of my body and bite you."

Ye Qi nodded. He turned around to find a pillow, cut two pieces of cloth with scissors and handed Chief Shao the smaller version of a pillow and quilt that he had made. "Go to sleep under the quilt if you are cold in the bottle!"

Shao Qingge saw the pillow and quilt made by Ye Qi and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

In fact, he wasn't cold at all. It was because Ye Qi would carry the bottle in his arms when sleeping, carefully guarding him. Ye Qi's body temperature passed through the bottle so that the sleeping Shao Qingge seemed to receive natural heating.

During the most difficult time when he was infected, this teenager protected him like a treasure. Shao Qingge thought that once he returned to reality in the future, he would definitely protect this young man so that no one would hurt him.