Girls' Dormitory Escape - Chapter 23

 Chapter 23: Four Seasons Protection Guide (10)

     "Season reminder..." Guo Guo, who was thinking hard, suddenly patted her head and blurted out: "The season reminder will tell us the characteristics of each season!"

    At the same time, these characteristics usually explained the danger level of each season.

    Winter and summer were characterized by extremely cold and hot environments, which were obvious at a glance, but the characteristics of spring and autumn were somewhat difficult to distinguish.

    The characteristic of the spring in this exam was [The Recovery of All Things], and its core and rules were that all living things that "recover" become a danger to human beings. It was precisely because she knows the characteristics of the seasons that Tang Xinjue could guess the crisis of plants and insects, then prepare in advance.

    If Tang Xinjue's speculation was true, it undoubtedly represents a very bad fact: how could they fight against the danger from autumn when they know nothing about the season?

    "We are not necessarily ignorant." Tang Xinjue shook her head, "We still have common sense. If the game really has to hide the season changes, it means that the characteristics of autumn must be well known... It's afraid that we can guess."

    "The characteristics of autumn... Autumn is refreshing*? The autumn wind sweeps the leaves**?" Zheng Wanqing covered her head with a headache, "Help, it's really not suitable for me to think about this. Just let me hack the little ghosts."

*original text 秋高气爽; qiū gāo qì shuǎng; this sentence is an idiom that came from a poem, describing the clear skies and refreshing weather in autumn.

**original text 秋风扫落叶; qiūfēng sǎo luòyè; Also an idiom that came from a story. The original meaning is that the autumn wind sweeps away the fallen leaves, and later refers to a powerful force that quickly and easily sweeps away the decaying things.

    "There are two most well-known images of autumn, one is of withering, and the other is of good harvest." Zhang You reluctantly maintained her calm and followed Tang Xinjue's train of thought, "If you have to choose one, I guess it is a good harvest."

    Guo Guo shook her head like a rattle, and followed to retort: "No no no, I think it is withering." She gave the basis: "What do you think the role of the dungeon is? It's to kill us! So the characteristics of the dungeon must be negative, everything will wither in autumn, and it is particularly dangerous at first sight."

    Zhang You: "But if you say that, the image of spring is recovery. The positive seasonal characteristics may also contain more dangerous content."

    Guo Guo: ...It seems to make sense?

    Unable to come to a conclusion, the two looked at Tang Xinjue at the same time.

    Tang Xinjue's gaze was on the outside of the balcony, as if looking at something through the vines. The window was still surrounded by dense vines, blocking the outside world tightly.

    But there was an indescribable fluctuation, but it seemed to be outside the vines, slowly covering up...

    [Untouchable Things: your san value is slightly damaged, health value -5]

    [Mentally Shaken (negative buff) : your san value continues to drop, and the environment is more dangerous to you.]

    [Shh, there are things you can't easily perceive -- at least not yet.]

    Seeing the change in Tang Xinjue's status information, the others were momentarily incredulous.

    This is Tang Xinjue! In the face of female ghosts, she can smack their faces with the toilet plunger, and her san value is like a werewolf with a lock*. Now that she just glanced outside, the san value has dropped?

*obviously this means that her san value rarely ever decreased, but I can't find what this sentence refers to. I'm guessing it has something to do with werewolf game? If anyone knows, please tell me.

    But no matter how many people stretched their necks, they couldn't see what flood and beasts were outside the window. On the other hand, Tang Xinjue retracted her gaze and said calmly as if nothing had happened: "I prefer Zhang You's view. If we see Withering like we saw Recovery, the first thing that should wither is the vegetation outside the window."

    Obviously, they didn't seem to be withering. If you look closely, there were even fist-sized tumors growing on the original branches and leaves, as if the results are urgently needed.

    Wait... the result?

    Guo Guo's voice almost broke: "The plant ripens and bears fruit, which is a symbol of harvest! Zhang You, you are right, autumn is really a harvest season!" But she calmed down in a flash, "Now we know the season reminder, but what does it have to do with the current situation?"

    A bumper harvest, a bumper harvest... This image was more vague than "Recovery". This was too difficult to solve.*

*Originally 令人一个头两个大, literally 'makes one head and two big'. It means that something makes your head big because it's too difficult (something like needing big brain moment?)

    Seeing the time passing by, Guo Guo's head suddenly flashed: "I understand! Spring is the resurrection of ghosts, and autumn is the ripening of ghosts! The sound of the bell is a sign of the ripe ghosts, and the bell rings 12 times in autumn, it means that there are 12 ripe ghosts..."

    The more she spoke, the quieter her voice became, and she secretly glanced at the expressions of the others.

    Tang Xinjue gently encouraged: "It makes sense."

    Guo Guo was just happy when she heard Tang Xinjue then say again: "However - if one thing is ripe, the other will surely harvest. If it is a ghost who is ripe, who is responsible for the harvest?"

    Were the students in charge of the harvest? That was if they were capable. If they compare their strengths, it was more like they were being...

    Guo Guo's face suddenly turned pale, opened her mouth, and looked at Tang Xinjue.

    Tang Xinjue raised her eyes and looked back, her emotions contained in the calm wave light: "Yes, according to this logic, we are the one to be harvested.

    "Or, in front of the awakening powerful ghosts, all weak creatures are the objects to be harvested.

    "Autumn is the season of harvest. When the bell rings, they will come to harvest."

    Swish...

    The vines tangled in the glass windows had stopped growing wildly.

    The budding fruits broke open the epidermis of the branches and grew bigger and bigger at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    It's just that the members of dormitory 315 were not in the mood to appreciate this spectacle.

    They were fighting against several mutant plants, one of which was an unidentified flower stem as long as two people and wrapped around one of the members' necks, causing her face to turn blue and her whole body to struggle.

    The two were trying to rescue her —— at the door of the dormitory a few meters away, another member lay on the ground without knowing whether she was alive or dead. Her body was covered with a layer of cold air that had not yet dissipated.

    With enemies all around*, and the scene was critical. Just when several people were almost desperate, the plant that was wrapping around their roommate's neck suddenly loosened; the flower branch swayed twice, and quickly retracted into the corner of the wall as if feeling a natural enemy.

*another idiom, 腹背受敌 [fù bèi shòu dí], literally enemies on the belly and back. Meaning, there are enemies from front and back, surrounded by enemies.

    They were ecstatic: did they survive?

    "Here, have we cleared the dungeon?" One of them shook her hand and turned on her phone, but she didn't see any new notifications.

    Swish... There was a rustling sound outside the balcony window. The branches and leaves of the vines were shaking and rustling against the glass window.

    Several people did not understand what this scene represented, and looked at each other blankly. The girl who had just been entangled by the vines coughed for a while, then looked up with difficulty: "Do you feel it, the room seems to be dark?"

    "Dark? Is it because the light is broken?" They looked up quickly and found that the top lamp did seem to be a little darker, and it seemed to be slowly losing its light at an even speed.

    It's not like damage, it's like...

    "It's like something has sucked the light away." A girl muttered involuntarily.

    The rustling of vines outside the window disappeared.

    Only their breathing and heartbeats spread in the silence of the house.

    As if something grabbed the heart, the tension and goose bumps spread over the top of the head like a tide. Their breaths were slightly stagnant, and they turned their heads slowly.

    Outside the glass window, there was not a single vine.

    A bloody yellow, huge eye covered the entire glass window, and the split pupil turned and fell on them.

    The next moment, with the sound of shattering glass, the lights went out.

    ...

    When autumn comes and the sickle is about to fall, what do they need to do to avoid the fate of being harvested?

    In the narrow darkness, Tang Xinjue slowed down her breathing. Feeling that the girl beside her was trembling, she squeezed each other's hand. Perhaps because of the power of calmness, her roommates' body slowly calmed down, and she also learned to hold her breath.

    - Hide from the reaper's sight until the autumn harvest is over.

    Fortunately, the environmental structure of the dorm gave them just the right hiding space - the two wardrobes at the door, just enough to fit four girls.

    Guo Guo was timid and easily frightened, and had to follow Tang Xinjue to calm down; Zheng Wanqing was reckless and impulsive, so she was suppressed by the cautious Zhang You. The four of them teamed up in twos, got into the two wardrobes, and used it to cover their bodies.

    In this way, even if they guess wrong, there is a protective barrier to resist.

    Originally, the four were worried that they would be attacked by dark creatures when they entered the wardrobe. But until this moment, there was no sign of dark creatures, and everything seemed extremely quiet.

    This also confirmed Tang Xinjue's guess - the harvest came, and the ghosts retreated. A more terrifying being awakened.

    Maybe one, maybe… many!

    In the dark, vision becomes ineffective, and hearing becomes more acute. The sound of vines growing and shaking outside the balcony of the dormitory was faintly heard. Tang Xinjue noticed that from a certain point, the sound suddenly became louder; like slamming on the glass window hastily, like a reminder, and like a struggle.

    After that, the sound of the vines disappeared completely, and there was no trace of it in her ears.

    In the silence, her perceptual nerves awakened little by little, and like in countless nightmares, issued a dangerous warning to her body that was so strong it made her tremble.

    [Untouchable things (level 2): ​​Your san value is moderately damaged, health value -15]

    [Your san value is dropping rapidly, and the environment is very dangerous for you. ]

    [Perception is a double-edged sword, its function depends on which side you point the blade]

    Locking the screen, Tang Xinjue motioned Guo Guo to turn off the phone too, so that the last bit of light was annihilated in the cramped space.

    Swish...

    It was as if something was flooding into the room, like the rising tide of the sea, submerging the dormitory little by little.

    It seemed to be searching for something.

    Across the cabinet door, the most important senses were blocked, and everything in the outside world becomes a strange and unknown symbol in the mind. As danger approaches, panic breeds.

    Even if they didn't hear any sound, the four people in the wardrobe had an inexplicable perception - a pair of eyes were looking at the dormitory.

    It's getting closer and closer to the wardrobe.

    Swish...

    After a while, a small sound suddenly sounded, like gravel falling, stinging the nerves in her mind.

    Tang Xinjue frowned and closed her eyes. She felt that Guo Guo began to tremble again, and resisted making any sound.

    She didn't know how long, her mind was empty, and the voice disappeared.

    The sense of danger also dissipated like an ebb tide, until it completely disappeared in the dormitory.

    Opening her eyes, Tang Xinjue felt the fishy smell in her mouth. She just bit the inside of the corner of her mouth. A layer of cold sweat oozed from her back, but it also made her more awake.

    Patting Guo Guo's head, she said softly, "We are safe for the time being."

    [Autumn is here, autumn is here, came in anticipation of a bumper harvest --]

    The belated system notification sound accompanied by a strange humming appeared in her ear:

    [Ding dong! The footsteps of autumn have come quietly, students in the dormitory, have you felt the joy of the harvest?]

    [The final stage of the exam: the autumn dungeon has been started! The reapers have awakened, please survive to the end in their patrols, each reaper will only harvest once, and when there is no harvest, their rage will descend. The total of reapers this time is...]

    [Twelve!]


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