Chapter 63: Drawing Lots

"...Forget it, don't make things difficult for Xiao Xiao. Just follow us along, it's only a game anyway."
Beibei spoke with a tone of clear disdain.

These words left Bai He feeling unhappy inside, but she kept silent.

The three of them ran for a short distance, soon reaching a dead-end room.

This room had no door, and inside were two tiny rooms with open doors.

Realizing there was nowhere left to run, the three of them had no choice but to stop.

They knew it was time for the scripted plot to trigger.

Before long, the female ghost NPC arrived.

As soon as she stood still, she muttered in confusion:
"Strange, where did Old Zhang go? Wasn't he supposed to block people here? Could he have fallen asleep?"

The originally designed plot involved players being chased by the ghost to this location, after which two players would be locked inside a secret chamber while the remaining players searched outside for clues to solve puzzles.

She had not expected Old Zhang, the person supposed to handle this, to be missing.

The female ghost NPC waited a moment longer, and seeing that Old Zhang still hadn't appeared, she hardened her resolve and decided to play Old Zhang's role herself.

After all, their establishment was here to make money; they couldn't let players wait around over such a minor issue. Should the players leave a bad review due to a poor gaming experience, she would be implicated and have her pay docked.

Thus, the female ghost NPC stood not far from the three of them and said:
"You have taken my skin, but you are not the ones who murdered me. I am willing to spare you. If you want me to let you go, obediently hand over two people for me to lock inside the secret chamber. The key to the chamber is right here in this room, but you will definitely never find it."

No sooner had her voice fallen than Huan Xiao eagerly said to the other two:
"I want to go into the secret chamber, what about you two?"

"I'll stay outside to save you." "I'll look for the key."

The two responses rang out simultaneously, and both Bai He and Beibei were stunned after speaking.

Unwilling to compromise with each other, Bai He made the first move and snapped:
"What are you sticking your nose in for when you failed math? Can your intelligence really find the key? I don't believe it."

"And you think you're any better? Besides, on the day of the pop quiz, I was halfway through when the teacher called me away! Who failed math?!"

Beibei was burning with rage from Bai He's provocation; Bai He always loved taking things out of context, speaking three truths mixed with four lies.

Bai He spread her hands and said:
"Who knows? For all I know, you probably cheated on a regular basis."

Veins popped on Beibei's forehead as she fought hard to keep herself from slapping a hand across Bai He's smug face.

Calming herself down, she said with sarcastic tone:
"Oh yes, since someone's grades are so much worse than mine, she probably wouldn't survive without making up excuses to comfort herself, right?"

"Wait, stop arguing!"

Seeing that Huan Xiao, a friend of the parties involved, made no move to stop the fight, while the other two looked fully prepared to argue for twenty-four hours straight, the female ghost NPC wept silently in her heart.

She was merely an NPC playing a terrifying ghost—couldn't they show her a little respect?

Not only had she been pushed aside, but now she had to mediate their argument. Did things really have to be this difficult?

"Hurry up and decide which two people are getting locked in, please!"

The female ghost NPC tried to sound formidable for once.

Seeing that they had almost quieted down, Huan Xiao offered a suggestion:
"How about rock-paper-scissors, or drawing lots? What do you think?"

"Fine."

Bai He nodded without looking at Beibei.

Beibei had no desire to cause unnecessary trouble for the staff either, so she agreed. However, she added cautiously:
"Let's draw lots instead, otherwise I'm afraid someone might cheat and break the rules."

"Who cheated? Stop talking nonsense."

Seeing that Bai He and Beibei were about to go at it again, Huan Xiao decided not to sit back and watch this time, immediately interjecting:
"Alright, let's draw lots."
"These are bamboo sticks I picked up nearby. Whoever draws the longer stick will stay outside to search for the key."

Huan Xiao held up two bamboo sticks with their top ends aligned evenly, though the parts concealed by her hand differed in length.

"I'll go first."

Disregarding Beibei's outstretched hand, Bai He snatched the stick Beibei had intended to draw.

She grinned triumphantly at Beibei and then asked Huan Xiao:
"Take a look, is the one I drew long or short?"

"Bai He, why did you snatch mine?"

Beibei glared at her rebelliously.

"You hadn't picked it up yet, so how did this stick become yours? Besides, she's your friend; who knows if she'd deliberately snap my drawn stick in half later? I'm just doing this to avoid getting tricked by you two."

Bai He waved the bamboo stick in front of Beibei, wearing a cheap, teasing smile.

Seeing that Bai He was still trying to slander Huan Xiao, Beibei immediately came to her defense:
"Do you think everyone is as dishonest as you? Besides, could you snap this stick with one hand without making any sound?"

"Stop arguing and just announce the result. Why waste time?"

Bai He deliberately acted as if she hadn't heard Beibei, her eyes fixed on the remaining bamboo stick in Huan Xiao's hand.

As Bai He wished, Huan Xiao handed the remaining bamboo stick to Beibei.

Beibei picked it up, looked at the stick in her hand, and then looked at the stick in Bai He's hand.

She paused suspiciously.

Then, she burst out laughing and said:
"Hahaha! The one you snatched was the short one?"

Humiliated by the mockery, Bai He lost her composure. She muttered a quiet curse under her breath and declared:
"Idiotic. Short is short, only you would treat it like a treasure. It's not like I was dying to search for the key outside anyway."

With that, she haughtily tossed her head and marched into one of the rooms, slamming the door shut with a loud bang.