The Midnight Owl

The night was dark, and the moon was hiding in the dark clouds, refusing to let even a little light through.

Fifteen people appeared out of nowhere on a remote road in Anyang City. Some of them were carrying backpacks, some were wearing light clothes, and their clothes were different, just like a temporary tourist group.

But without exception, they all stood still and panted heavily. Some of their bodies were still stiff, while others had eased back a bit, but the pain in their eyes was still clear.

The truth of a thing sometimes does not lie in the result, but in the process.

The pain of death is more terrifying than death itself.

Han Buting was the first to straighten his body, with a sullen expression on his face.For a moment, Xu Wang thought that the other party was really going to beat someone up.But in the end, Han Buting just took a deep look at the five of them, as if he wanted to engrave them deep in his memory, draw a circle with a red pen and a forbidden slash, then turned around silently, and led the team to disappear into the vast night.

Xu Wang watched the five pretendingly strong backs go further and further away, feeling a little distressed for some reason.

The last trace of burning and suffocating horror was scattered in the cold wind. The first thing Wu Sheng did was to take out his mobile phone. As a result, it clearly showed Beijing time, 03:18.

Before the evil spirit appeared, he checked his cell phone once, and it was already past five o'clock at that time...

On the side of the road, Kuang Jinxin, who had just recovered, stopped a taxi with quick eyesight and quick hands, and called to Wei Menghan's team over there: "Go ahead."

Wei Menghan shook his head: "Let's go for a walk and let the wind blow."

Kuang Jinxin said very seriously: "Stop bragging, even vomiting with fever, let's go back to rest early."

Wei Menghan: "..."

The other party's persuasion was very sincere, that is, it was too down-to-earth, and there was a kind of heart-pricking that brought back the sad past.

"Leave us alone," Ji Yunlei said carelessly, changing his euphemistic style as the team leader, "This night was a mess, let's go back after having some fun."

"What fun are you looking for?" Qian Ai interjected, his tone subtly raised in curiosity, and he made up countless mosaics in a second.

Ji Yunlei thought about it casually and said, "Hot pot or barbecue is fine."

Qian Ai: "..."

For the first time in his life, Qian Ai was shaken by his eating and broadcasting career.

Because this night, he saw faith on a plain face.

The taxi couldn't hold five people, so Qian Ai, Kuang Jinxin and Qi Shan were taken away first.

Wei Menghan led the team and said goodbye to Xu Wang and Wu Sheng: "Be mentally prepared, see you tomorrow, and we will drag you into the secret passage."

Wu Sheng likes this kind of gauntlet: "I wish you every success."

Xu Wang's heart was not on the task line at all, and he was still thinking about Ji Yunlei's fun: "I just finished vomiting, so don't eat too greasy, drink some casserole porridge or something."

Wei Menghan shook his head: "The casserole porridge is only delicious from Guangdong and Fujian."

Xu Wang: "...bye."

Ten minutes later, Wu Sheng and Xu Wang finally stopped the second taxi.

They sat in the back seat together, and for two or three minutes after the car started, no one spoke.

Wu Sheng is sorting out the quest line.

From the beginning to the end, I went through all the links, clues, NPC lines and all the details experienced tonight, focusing on the key points, and the question marks.

After finishing everything, he turned his head and found that Xu Wang was still staring out of the car window, lost in thought.

His eyes are serious, his expression is serious, he is not in a state of being empty, he is obviously thinking about something.

Systematic deliberation on tactics or customs clearance tasks has never been the main task of the captain of his team. Generally, when he starts to think seriously, someone will suffer.

"What bad idea did you come up with?" Wu Sheng asked, his tone full of disgust, but the corners of his mouth curled up.

Xu Wang turned his head and looked at him fixedly, as if he had finally come to a conclusion: "Qi Shan knows Li Zijin."

"Qi Shan? Li Zijin?" Wu Sheng had no idea how the two of them got hooked.

"Didn't you notice that Qi Shan always looks at Li Zi?"

"..." He really didn't. He was staring at the quest line the whole time, wanting to see how the NPCs pursue love. It would be better to get some practical methods. As a result, he didn't see any good love, and it was all negative energy. .

"Forget it," Xu Wang realized that he had picked the wrong subject for discussion. The research direction of his military adviser had never been in such a delicate field as the human heart. "Just pretend I didn't ask."

Wu Sheng looked at the obvious "disgust" on Xu Wang's face, and felt sullen that "when the book is used up, I hate the wrong major".

About Qi Shan and Li Zijin, along the way, Xu Wang didn't figure out any new inside information, but when he returned to the hotel, Qi Shan was sitting on the first floor waiting for them.

Xu Wang was surprised and had a premonition, but it didn't show on his face: "Why didn't you go back?"

Qi Shan's hotel is not here. According to the original route, Kuang Jinxin and Qian Ai should get off here first, and he should sit for a while.

"I want to say sorry to you guys." Qi Shan didn't go around in circles.

Wu Sheng frowned, but didn't speak.

Xu Wang smiled, faintly, with some kind of understanding: "Go up and talk."

The three of them went back to Xu Wang and Wu Sheng's standard room together. After entering the room, Wu Sheng sat in the corner, making it clear that he would not participate in the communication.

Although Qi Shan said he was waiting for the two of them, Xu Wang was the captain.

All he has to do is guard.

Xu Wang pulled a stool for Qi Shan, handed him a bottle of purified water prepared by the hotel, and then sat down.

The new teammate didn't make any detours, so Xu Wang went straight to the point: "Want to quit the team?"

Qi Shan held the water without unscrewing it, paused for two seconds, and nodded.

Xu Wang asked, "Because Li Zi is near?"

Qi Shan was stunned for a moment, and touched his nose a little embarrassedly: "Is it so obvious?"

"Well," Xu Wang said honestly, "I was worried that you would jump over me all night."

Qi Shan was overjoyed, he didn't know how to speak, so he confessed so smoothly: "He is my idol."

The word "..." took Captain Xu, who had never been chasing stars, to react for a while.

"I've been a fan of several professional e-sports players," Qi Shan shared his star-chasing journey generously, "climbed from one wall to another, and broke with him..."

"Three years ago, he was only sixteen at that time. He operated Jusao and became famous in one battle!"

"His talent is absolutely overwhelming, speed, awareness, reaction, top-notch, but patience is almost lacking, but this can be honed..."

"Last year and the year before last were his most glorious times. I followed every game, I watched warm-up matches, and I even went to the scene to make calls..."

Qi Shan's speech speed is getting faster and faster, and the light in his eyes is getting more and more frenzied, like a fan of e-sports true fan Li Zi who is almost over age.

When recruiting staff, Xu Wang only saw Qi Shanyang's handsome appearance.

Only now did he recognize the soul of this classmate.

"That..." Xu Wang wanted to say that you should restrain yourself first, we have to continue talking about retiring from the team, but the other party automatically calmed down first.

"At the beginning of this year, he retired." The enthusiasm in Qi Shan's eyes has not yet faded, but there is already a trace of melancholy, intertwined and complicated. "19 years old is the golden age of an e-sports player."

Qi Shan smiled wryly, as if he felt sorry for Li Zijin: "I couldn't figure out the reason at the time. Nothing happened to him. At most, he didn't play well in the last two games..."

Xu Wang knew that he had now found the reason.

Just because I found it, I am not reconciled to replacing Li Zijin.

I resigned myself, and Wu Sheng's company has not dared to take on new projects for a month. This is the erosion of real life by "Owl". However, behind this erosion, there is also mental pressure.Mao Qiping in the Endless Sea has fully adapted to the intertwined life of the two worlds, but when talking about the reality, his eyes are still full of exhaustion.

What's more, Li Zijin is only 19 years old.

The brief silence made the atmosphere a bit heavy, Xu Wang pulled back the original topic: "Have you reached an agreement with their team?"

Qi Shan shook his head: "I have to leave the team before I can go after the new team, otherwise it will be cheating."

Xu Wang teased: "You left us and joined them immediately. This is called seamless integration, and it's also cheating."

Qi Shan was stunned for two seconds, then laughed, and admitted: "There is nothing wrong with that."

"You want to stay here, right?" Xu Wang unscrewed his own water and took a sip. This season, the normal temperature water is also a bit cold.

Qi Shan was amazed at his keenness, he thought that the new captain was just a little eloquent.

"This is the first level that requires a team of five." Xu Wang held the water bottle in his hand and looked at him. "If I were you, I would choose to wait here."

Unless Han Buting's team moves forward all the way, before returning to this level, if they come back again, they will have to increase their number again.

"I really want to stay here," Qi Shan confessed his selfishness, "but if you still trust me, I will seriously complete the other half of the love line tomorrow."

"I believe you will start well and end well," Xu Wang said, "but I'm afraid that at the next level, there will be no single people and teams that need to be added. We have to tie together."

Qi Shan understood what he meant, and in surprise, he smiled: "Are you so confident that you can hand in the paper tomorrow?"

Xu Wang glanced at Wu Sheng and nodded earnestly: "Our team lacks everything, not lack of self-confidence."

One wants to stay on 6/23, and the other wants to find new teammates as soon as possible to cultivate a relationship.

Before leaving, Qi Shan took out a sketch from his pocket and gave it to Xu Wang.It seemed that the work was done hastily, using only A4 paper and water-based pens, but after a few strokes, Xu Wang clearly recognized who was himself, who was Wu Sheng, and Kuang Jinxin and Qian Ai.

A team sketch of four people, not in unison.

"When I was waiting for you on the first floor, I just drew it casually. I borrowed the pen and paper from the front desk. If it doesn't look good, it's a problem with the tools." Qi Shan joked.

Xu Wang took the sketch, and suddenly felt that it was like a parting gift, with a subtle sense of ceremony.

Looking at the sketch, he asked what he always wanted to ask: "Where is your previous team?"

"It's gone," Qi Shan said calmly, "Some people want to go home, and some people went to Endless Sea to make money."

Xu Wang didn't continue to ask.

Qi Shan didn't care about what he said, but he could think about it differently. If one day Wu Sheng, Kuang Jinxin, and Qian Ai told him, Captain, we are quitting, we are going to leave...Thinking about it, it would be overwhelming.

After hesitating for a moment, Qi Shan also asked the last question: "When the stationery is available for the first half of today, why don't you ask me what stationery I have?"

Asking stationery, using tactics, this is a routine operation.

Xu Wang was stunned, and suddenly felt a little complicated: "We are waiting for you to tell."

Four eyes facing each other.

Laugh dumbly.

Meeting people depends on fate, but trust depends on running-in and time.

After sending Qi Shan away, Xu Wang threw himself directly into the bed, he was tired, his heart was tired, his head was still hurting, and the quilt was almost torn into cotton balls.

As dull as Wu Sheng, he can accurately give eight-character comments: "He is chic in front of others, but heart-pricking in the back."

"He said that, what can I do?" Xu Wang turned his head from under the quilt, with an aggrieved expression, "Can I stop him from pursuing his ideals..."

"Stopping for a day is not stopping for a lifetime." Wu Sheng couldn't see him being so entangled, and had the urge to catch Qi Shan back.

"If you meet Newton, you will change your mind faster than him."

"First, it is impossible for me to meet Newton. Second, even if I do, I will not quit the team."

It was a joking metaphor, but Wu Sheng's answer was word for word, very serious.

Xu Wangding looked at him, inexplicably feeling a tinge of expectation, and asked in a low voice, "Why?"

Wu Sheng didn't have to think about it: "With Newton's team, I can't be responsible for IQ."

Captain Xu's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot until he went to bed.

Military division Wu thought, sure enough, the failure to increase the number of personnel this time will cause great harm to the team leader.

Qian Ai and Kuang Jinxin both dreamed in the sleep after breaking through the level, a villain who dreamed of eating all over the world, and a villain who dreamed of drinking tea all over the world. continued.

When they woke up, both of them were in a cold sweat, and then they were told that their new teammates had changed their minds.

On the second day of 6/23, Jin and Qian kicked off with "surprise after surprise".

Until another zero came, they were still in a daze.

After feeling dizzy and weightless, five friends appeared at 1310.

The Han Buting team and the Mighty Han team did not show up, and it is estimated that they are still spending 2 minutes, trying to stagger with them.

The room is intact as before, there are no secret passages, no ghosts and ghosts, and the oil paintings are hung on the wall in good condition.

The five people are also a complete lineup, but they look at each other again, and there is a little more embarrassment in their eyes.

The five-in-one "ding—" came as promised.

Xu Wang looked at his arm, sure enough.

<Roster>: You have 5 minutes of exemption time, choose [Retire] or [Kick], the countdown starts.

When the five-person team was successfully formed yesterday, Owl also gave a similar reminder, but it may be because it is the first time to form a five-person team. The reminder is more detailed than this. It specifies all five-person levels. There is a 5-minute exemption time. If you kick someone or leave the team after this time, it will be deemed that all members have failed to hand in the test paper.

At that time, they had just formed Qishan, so naturally they didn't pay much attention.

Who knows that the world is unpredictable, so I will use it today.

Xu Wang didn't speak, just pointed at Qi Shan's arm.

Qi blinked, gave them an apologetic look, and clicked to leave the team.

The world went dark for a moment.

The five disappeared together, and soon appeared in the banquet hall together.

The guests were drinking and drinking, and the laughter was still there.

The other passers-by who were scattered in the banquet hall thought they had just come in from reality, some glanced at it, and some didn't raise their heads.

When they separated from each other, the reminder of <roster> sounded, and in the noise, only they could hear it.

The four friends received the same sentence: The number of teams is insufficient (4/5), do you want to increase the number?

Xu Wang raised his head subconsciously to see Qi Shan who had already walked over there, and the other party was also looking down at the reminder on his arm.

Qi Shan's reminder should be the one Sun Jiang received before - a lonely boat will never land.

There is light and direction in Qi's flashing eyes in the obviously mournful sentence.

Life is like this, with a direction, everything is bright.

Xu Wang withdrew his gaze, and together with all his friends, clicked to confirm the addition, and the candidate list was opened at once——

6/23 Chi Yingxue [Invitation]

6/23 Flash [Invitation]

6/23 Wang Chuming [Invitation]

...shorter than yesterday.

Yesterday there were too many monks and too little porridge, and today even the bottom of the bowl is empty.

Choose one of the three, and there are two that cannot be chosen. Xu Wang looked at Wang Chuming with a sacred feeling of the destined son.

"Wang Chuming?" Wu Sheng couldn't tell what he felt, so he just talked about the data and the facts, "He was elected together with Chen Xu yesterday."

Xu Wang: "..."

Let Wu Sheng remind him like this, it seems to be true.

Entering the team and then withdrawing, this is worth pondering.Was it returned within 5 minutes?Or is it like Qi Shan, walked around and saved a file?Can't one or two meet the lighthouse on the ideal road...

The so-called helplessness means knowing that it may be a trap, but you have to choose.

After all, this is only a possibility, and the one next to it is an obvious sinkhole.

After a brief exchange with the four friends, they extended an invitation to Wang Chuming.

ten seconds.

20 seconds.

half a minute.

1 minutes……

Recruitment invitations go nowhere.

Just as they were wondering, a young man in an army green jacket walked towards them, his steps were strong, and his walking was windy. Before the people arrived, the aura came first.

The four friends raised their heads together.

The man smiled brightly, his teeth were so white that they could reflect light: "Wang Chuming."

Xu Wang understood why he didn't accept the invitation: "Let's do a field trip first?"

"The main thing is for you to inspect me," Wang Chuming said frankly, "If you think it's appropriate, form a group, advance and retreat, and waste each other's time."

Xu Wang sensed that there was something in his words, so he pointed it out: "We are just a group of ordinary people who want to break through the barrier, and there is no requirement. If you have, you can tell it in advance."

Wang Chuming looked at them for a while, and understood why they couldn't talk any more. He thought that the other party could tell his identity at a glance, but obviously, the other party was not the old fritter in "Owl".

"I'm a mercenary." Wang Chuming said bluntly.

Xu Wang was even more confused: "Mercenaries?"

Is this introducing my real identity, or is there any special setting in Owl?

"It is to take people's money and help them pass the barrier." Wang Chuming said in more detail, "From this barrier onwards, the more people like me, the more people like me."

Xu Wang turned his head to look at his three little friends—is there such an operation?

The eyes of the three little friends were also full of emotion-there are business opportunities everywhere, see if you can find them.

Compared with Mao Qiping's list of projects, Wang Chuming's quotation is simple and clear. After all, the part-time job content is relatively simple: "It can be settled on a per-time basis, one thousand at a time, and a bonus of five thousand will be added for successful submission of papers. It can also be paid on a monthly basis. Buy out at [-] a month. , the bonuses for successful paper submissions are no longer counted alone. Passing through the level and the endless sea are both acceptable, and all the cash rewards in the owls obtained during the process belong to you."

Xu Wang: "..."

Wu Sheng: "..."

Qian Ai: "..."

Kuang Jinxin: "..."

"I don't have a big mouth," Wang Chuming was dumbfounded by the silence of the four people. "A cash treasure box can cost tens of thousands or thousands. My part-time wages can be paid out in minutes."

Qian Ai: "..."

There are also several hundred yuan, okay?

"It's not about money," Xu Wang paused, then said, "We still want to find teammates."

Wang Chuming shook his head: "I'm afraid that after looking around, you will find out that mercenaries are more useful." He paused, "There are many teams behind, and they are even money-making teams."

Xu Wang agreed: "People's hearts are separated from each other, and in many cases it is not as efficient as a simple employment relationship..."

Wang Chuming raised his eyebrows.

Xu Wang was half-joking and half-serious: "But if you don't suffer a big loss, you will always have illusions."

Wang Chuming nodded, understanding.

He has been in the owl for more than a year and has seen many teams like this. They are always full of enthusiasm at the beginning, but there are very few of them who can reach the end with the original team. This is a long-distance race that almost never sees the end. There are always people who fall behind, or simply give up.

The invitation sent out has exceeded the time limit, because Wang Chuming did not answer, it was automatically terminated.

Wang Chuming went to chat with other teams that needed more members, and the remaining four friends stood where they were, feeling a bit desolate.

Xu Wang looked at his teammates: "I regret it."

Kuang Jinxin was stunned: "Huh?"

Xu Wang said: "Five thousand is five thousand, at least get through this time first."

Qian Ai's black line: "Then why don't you stay Qi Shan for one more day, five thousand, your consumption concept is too casual!"

Xu Wang: "..."

He can be criticized, but the angle of this criticism...

"Ding--"

<roster>: Chi Yingxue asked to join the team, do you agree?

The four partners looked at their own arms, and they were all astonished.

Xu Wang, Wu Sheng, and Qian Ai thought they were hallucinating at the same time, but Jin Xin felt that, as expected, this was very similar to what Chi Yingxue did-it couldn't understand, couldn't figure it out, it felt like it was all a secret.

"I'm sorry, I just recommended myself," the voice behind him seemed familiar, but it couldn't be said that there was a trace of strangeness there, "Can we chat?"

The four turned around in unison, Chi Yingxue smiled politely, dressed as low-key as yesterday, and looked like a good-looking handsome man at first glance.

His brows and eyes are cold, the two times in Endless Sea and 3/23, even when he smiled, was as cold as moonlight.

But now, his smile is warm, like the shadow of the moon in the water, tinged with the warmth of the world.

"How do you want to talk?" Xu Wang asked.

Chi Yingxue lowered her eyes, thought for a moment, then raised her head: "We have dealt with each other before, right?"

"No," Qian Ai couldn't bear it anymore, "It's no fun if you pretend to be stupid like this. What have you done yourself, you don't know?"

Chi Yingxue sighed: "It seems that there is no need to ask, it was the King of Hades who caused me trouble again."

"Yan Wang?" Kuang Jinxin looked at Chi Yingxue carefully next to his captain, and confirmed that his appearance hadn't changed in the slightest from last time, but why did his whole feeling change?Who is Hades?

Chi Yingxue took a deep breath and smiled helplessly: "I have a dual personality, and Hades is my secondary personality."