Iris 21

In search of the key, Mu Qin and the others followed Xu Fu out of the office building. Xu Fu had walked all around the rooms in the building with the card in hand, testing every direction, and the tarot card's face had only lit up when it was pointed one way.

The same direction Mu Qin had tried before: toward the church.

Qiu Zijia said, "We searched the church too and didn't find anything. But the stairs to the second floor had collapsed, so we couldn't go up there or search it."

"Then it's very likely on the second floor." Xu Fu simply slipped Mu Qin's card into his pocket and led Mu Qin and the others toward the church.

Mu Qin could do nothing but accept it. Xu Fu acted as though it were only natural, with no intention at all of returning the card. But Mu Qin figured it didn't matter whether he gave it back or not. The Fool Card's effect was right there; Mu Qin only needed to follow Xu Fu.

Before they left, however, there was no way to bring the unconscious Han Li along. They could only leave her in the office building, on that battered bench. They turned off the room's light and shut the door behind her. If she was lucky enough, she could probably sleep there until she woke up.

The group then left the office building and followed Xu Fu slowly along the edge of the courtyard wall. Before long, Mu Qin noticed another rule about tarot cards in this game.

For instance, he had discovered that players could use one another's cards freely. Xu Fu had just taken Mu Qin's card and openly used it to lead them in search of the exit gate's key.

Mu Qin felt that Xu Fu had done it deliberately. He was intentionally showing Mu Qin this. If Mu Qin had any sense, he could infer from Xu Fu's actions that cards in the game could be fought over and used by different people. At the same time, Xu Fu was quietly warning him that once he entered other game maps and encountered new killers or teammates, he would no longer be foolish enough to reveal his cards so casually.

But this quickly led Mu Qin to a new question... Could killers use their cards too?

As far as Mu Qin knew, the Fool Card guided people along a path, pointing them toward items or hidden exits. He still did not know precisely what sorts of items or hidden exits it could point to, but he wanted to know: if a killer held the Fool Card, would it likewise guide the killer to items or exits?

The more Mu Qin thought about it, the less logical it seemed. For a killer, for a "ghost," finding a map's exit or its items had no meaning at all.

A killer's purpose was to slaughter every "human" on the map. He did not need to escape. Seeking exits and items was something only humans being hunted would do. Mu Qin guessed that once a killer had wiped out all the humans on the map, the game system would teleport him directly back to the safe house Zhou Yue had mentioned.

He would rest there for a while, then wait for the next game to begin.

In the next round, whether he would continue as the killer or become an ordinary human again was left to fate, entirely unknown.

An endlessly looping, terrifying game. Just imagining the infinite cycle he would have to face made Mu Qin shudder all over when he thought too deeply about it.

Returning to the earlier question, Mu Qin believed there were three possible outcomes if a killer held a tarot card other than the Death Card. First, he could not use it. Second, he could use it, with the same purpose and effect as when a human used it. Third, he could still use it, but its effect would be completely opposite to a human's. In other words, the Fool Card could guide a human to exits and items, while in a killer's hands, perhaps it would instead guide the killer to the humans' location.

The first possibility would be fine. But the second and third... Mu Qin did not like them at all.

Because in either of those cases, killers could keep taking tarot cards from humans. These cards all seemed to have potent supportive effects. Without cards, humans' ability to survive would drop sharply. And if killers could use such cards as well, it would only pile further pressure onto the humans' chances of survival.

There was also the matter of upright and reversed positions. Mu Qin knew that the upright Fool Card could guide the way, but what effect would the Reversed Fool have? And Zhou Yue had said that whoever drew the Death Card became the killer, so what would happen if someone drew the Reversed Death Card? Could they designate someone else as the killer at will?!

Mu Qin had wanted to ask Zhou Yue about that, but he had not had the chance. The time he and Zhou Yue could spend together was so short that Mu Qin felt a little disappointed.

There were simply too many questions. Setting all of them aside, there was only one thing Mu Qin wanted to know right now.

He stared at Xu Fu, who was walking ahead with Mu Qin's Fool Card in hand, searching for the right direction. In the end, Mu Qin could not hold back any longer. He stepped forward to Xu Fu's side and asked, "Xu Fu, what tarot card do you have?"

Xu Fu seemed to have expected the question. He answered calmly, "The Chariot."

"The Chariot? What does it do?" Mu Qin pressed.

Xu Fu explained, "It enhances the body's combat abilities. I don't know exactly how much. It seems to increase Defense and health, making me harder to kill, stronger, faster, and better at recovering. But the enhancement has a time limit, only a few minutes from the looks of it, and afterward I'll be extremely weak for a certain period."

Mu Qin understood. "I see. A card that can only be used in extreme circumstances. For a burst of power, or to keep yourself alive."

"Exactly. You understand it well." Xu Fu rather appreciated Mu Qin, and looked at him with approval. Then he said, "I don't know how that killer will act, but we're going to search the second floor of the church. We'll need to find a ladder or pile up things to climb there, and that will take time. So you and Qiu Zijia will be responsible for finding a ladder and searching the second floor. And I... when that killer comes, I'll draw his attention and lead him away."

"You'll draw his attention?" Mu Qin glanced at Xu Fu's leg. "Can you really do that?"

"If necessary, I'll use the Chariot Card." Xu Fu had apparently thought this through long ago. "So you have to act quickly. If you find the key, go open the door without stopping. Once it's open, I'll use the Chariot, clash with the killer, and rush for the exit. Then all of us can escape."

Mu Qin thought Xu Fu's plan sounded good, but he did not agree with it. He looked at Xu Fu's leg again and countered, "Your idea is good, but it has a fatal flaw. With your leg injury as it is, you probably won't even hold out until we open the door before you go down. And if we find something other than the exit key on the church's second floor, that would be even worse. It would be better if I drew the killer's attention from the start. When I can't hold out anymore, I'll run back to the church. Then you take over, and we'll lead the killer away in turns."

Mu Qin paused, then continued, "In the end, Qiu Zijia can take the key and open the door. By then, whether the killer is chasing me or chasing you, you can use the Chariot to help me get away, or escape yourself."

Xu Fu found Mu Qin's strategy reasonable and nodded. "All right. We'll do it your way."

Qiu Zijia, who was following behind Xu Fu and Mu Qin, did not fully understand their discussion and said nothing. But he silently remembered his task. He had no particular abilities; all he could do was try his best to do what he could.

After the three settled on their plan, they continued toward the church. The orphanage courtyard was not very large. The rain-soaked grass was wet and gave off a cold, damp smell. Soon, they passed the apartment building in the middle and returned to the vicinity of the church, where they could faintly see dim lights still glowing inside.

"Since we're going to the church's second floor, we won't go in yet. Let's find a nearby storeroom where they keep odds and ends. There should be a ladder there." Xu Fu raised his head and looked at the church's stained-glass doors. "When I left the church, I used the back door. There's a wooden shack behind it. That's probably the storeroom."

After Xu Fu finished speaking, he discussed it with Mu Qin for a few more moments. They decided to go around the church to the storeroom behind it, bring the ladder out, and carry it into the church so they could climb up to the second floor.

The plan was sound, but plans never kept up with changes. When Mu Qin and the others crouched low and followed the small courtyard path beside the church around to its back door, and found the storeroom, they discovered that someone had already opened its door.

The storeroom stood behind the church's back door, a wooden shack built against the courtyard wall. Its walls were made of wood, but its roof had been covered with bricks and tiles. It rose along the courtyard fence, surrounded by trees and grass. From a distance, it had a certain charm, giving the impression of a cabin in the woods.

Xu Fu said he had passed this little wooden shack earlier and had gone up to look at its door. It was a wooden door as well, and it had been locked. Originally, Mu Qin and the others would have needed to find the shack's key to open it. But Xu Fu said the door was extremely old and flimsy. Even locked, a couple of kicks could force it open, though it would make a great deal of noise.

The three came to the shack, full of confidence and ready to get to work. But when they reached it and looked at the door, they found it had already been opened by someone unknown. When they entered the cramped room, they saw only a chaotic heap of trash, with no sign at all of the ladder they had hoped for. Their faces immediately darkened.

Mu Qin asked Xu Fu, "Did you touch this door earlier?"

Xu Fu shook his head at once. "No, absolutely not! I only passed this shack before, looked at the door, and left."

Then it could only have been Zhou Yue. The thought came to Mu Qin at once.

Mu Qin had quietly tried to predict Zhou Yue's actions. He imagined what Zhou Yue, as a killer, would do in order to kill the humans in this game. Mu Qin had envisioned many possibilities. At first, he thought Zhou Yue might follow him and Xu Fu to the office building, then kill Han Li first, since she had been left there alone.

Then Zhou Yue would continue following them to the church. In that case, Zhou Yue would run right into the plan Mu Qin and Xu Fu had just discussed: taking turns luring the killer away. After Mu Qin and Xu Fu repeatedly pulled him this way and that, Qiu Zijia might find the key and open the door, perhaps truly allowing all three of them to escape.

Just as Zhou Yue had said, Mu Qin had chosen to do everything he could to help these humans. He would not go easy on Zhou Yue or betray his teammates for him. This round, then, he and Zhou Yue would be irreconcilable enemies.

But Zhou Yue had always been very smart. Three straight years as the top student in his entire high school class were proof enough of how exceptional his intelligence was. Someone as clever as Zhou Yue always had his own ideas and schemes, and it was difficult for Mu Qin to predict what he would do.

If he could not predict it, he had to find a way to change the situation.

Looking at the storeroom in complete disarray, Mu Qin seemed to think of an ingenious solution. He turned to Qiu Zijia and said, "You should still have a Fool Card in your hand."

Qiu Zijia nodded blankly and pulled the card from his pocket. He thought Mu Qin wanted it.

But Mu Qin refused it. He said, "I don't want yours. Just try it. See whether your card points to the same place mine does."