Card Room

Chapter 562 – The Sun and the Moon Shine Together

Xiao Lou wasn’t in a hurry to take off his invisibility cloak. The cloak still had 25 minutes left. If he encountered danger later, Yu Hanjiang wouldn’t need to be distracted taking care of him. He could also secretly help Yu Hanjiang.

Yu Hanjiang understood Xiao Lou’s thoughts. He was just about to speak when several black shadows suddenly appeared at the end of the corridor.

All of them had the same face and their appearance was similar to Yu Hanjiang, apart from having gray hair and looking over 50 years old. Even so, their figures were tall and upright. They were armed with batons and cold eyes and they immediately attacked Yu Hanjiang after discovering him.

These people attacked fiercely and the batons and their hands aimed straight at Yu Hanjiang’s head. Yu Hanjiang quickly bent down to avoid it. He grabbed Xiao Lou’s arm with one hand and quickly turned to escape.

They had just run a few meters when there was a sudden gunshot behind them.

Xiao Lou turned his head to see a few women in a dark green military uniform. They held a black handgun in their right hand and shot continuously in the direction where Yu Hanjiang was fleeing!

Bang bang bang!

Several gunshots rang out and sparks splashed in the corridor for a while.

Yu Hanjiang might not be able to see Xiao Lou but he had been holding Xiao Lou’s hand tightly. The moment he heard the gunshots, he hugged Xiao Lou in almost a conditioned reflex and rolled on the spot. The bullets brushed past the side of their ears and embedded in the wall in front of them.

Xiao Lou was terrified and asked in a trembling voice, “They… are they your parents?”

Yu Hanjiang answered with a serious expression. “Yes, they chased me all this way. This labyrinth contains my grandparents, my colleagues in the police force, my classmates in the police academy and so on. They are all armed. You should follow me and be careful.”

Yu Hanjiang’s side was much worse compared with the ‘pursuit of relatives and friends’ that Xiao Lou encountered.

It was probably because Xiao Lou’s relatives were teachers, civil servants and other occupations. They didn’t know how to use offensive weapons. Xiao Lou’s relatives and friends also had very ordinary physical fitness. Xiao Lou used the acceleration shoes that increased his speed by five times and they couldn’t catch up for a while.

Yu Hanjiang’s relatives were completely different. He came from a family of military police. His grandfather and mother were both soldiers and his father was an excellent policeman. Therefore, the ‘fathers’ pursuing Yu Hanjiang held batons while his ‘mothers’ carried guns.

No wonder why Yu Hanjiang’s entire body was covered with blood. He must’ve been injured in the process of escaping for his life.

He actually took out a submachine gun to deal with these people and it showed how serious the situation was.

Xiao Lou hurriedly reminded him, “Hanjiang, use the invisibility cloak quickly. You can’t beat so many people!”

Just now, Yu Hanjiang had just encountered the most terrible siege in the labyrinth alone.

One moment, it was his father carrying a baton and smashing him on the head fiercely. The next moment, it was his mother who shot at him with the pistol gun. In addition, a large number of colleagues with precise marksmanship came from all directions to shoot him.

Yu Hanjiang might’ve managed to save his life in a thrilling manner but he did suffer a lot of injuries. It wasn’t that he didn’t think of using the invisibility cloak but he didn’t dare rashly discard such a life-saving card before he figured out the terrain of the labyrinth.

Now Xiao Lou was by his side and his tense nerves finally relaxed slightly. His mood which was on the verge of collapse also stabilized. Yu Hanjiang heard Xiao Lou’s words and didn’t hesitate to use the invisibility cloak to hide in the darkness.

In order to prevent the situation of getting separated in the labyrinth after losing sight of each other, Yu Hanjiang held Xiao Lou’s hand tightly. Xiao Lou knew it must be very uncomfortable for Yu Hanjiang to be surrounded and injured so he held the other person’s hand back tightly. His fingers passed through the gap between fingers and their ten fingers were interlocked.

Yu Hanjiang was held back and felt a long-lost warmth in his heart.

The environment of the Nightmare Room was extremely harsh and he could lose his life at any time. Fortunately, he had Xiao Lou by his side and this made him feel at ease.

Yu Hanjiang asked in a low voice as he continued to walk forward, “Did you just encounter an attack by your relatives?”

Xiao Lou answered softly, “Yes, this should be a series of mirror labyrinths and the mirrors will generate a large number of relatives based on our memories to attack us. The relatives and friends you remember are very strong so the difficulty on your side is much higher than mine.”

Yu Hanjiang was stunned and soon understood what Xiao Lou meant. No wonder why his parents, relatives and friends in the labyrinth were so strong. It turned out they were based on his memory. He took a deep breath and wondered, “Did you come out of a mirror just now? I walked that road before and didn’t see you.”

“That mirror is actually a door that connects the two labyrinths we are in.” Xiao Lou paused and asked, “You have walked through the labyrinth for so long. Did you find that there are no forks in the road and they are all corners?”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “Yes, there is only one road and many corners. No matter how I move, I can’t get out.”

Xiao Lou thought about it. “It seems that the structure of the labyrinth on your side is the same as mine. The terrain map of this mirror labyrinth should be based on the principles of the Qimen Dunjia i.e. a circular labyrinth in the shape of the eight trigrams array. There is no way to get out from the corridor. In order to leave the labyrinth, we must find the Life Door.”

Xiao Lou didn’t understand the Qimen Dunjia. He just knew the Life Door. he believed in Xiao Lou’s judgment so he simply said, “You find the way and I’ll protect you.”

The two of them continued to walk forward and Xiao Lou quickly drew the terrain of the labyrinth map in his mind.

He stepped out of a mirror just now and met Yu Hanjiang.

Assuming that the labyrinths were connected, the northeast of the labyrinth where he was located was the south of the labyrinth where Yu Hanjiang was located. The two labyrinths were closely connected. If he wanted to find the exit of the labyrinth where Yu Hanjiang was located, he had to head to the diagonal position.

This labyrinth had a total of eight corridors. If he headed diagonally from the corridor just now, no matter whether it was clockwise or counterclockwise, he needed to go through four corners. In other words, pass through four corners and it would be the Life Door of the labyrinth where Yu Hanjiang was located.

There were 15 minutes left on Xiao Lou’s invisibility cloak. He squeezed Yu Hanjiang’s hand and said, “Quickly, follow me!”

Yu Hanjiang immediately followed.

It was dark. Due to the large number of mirrors on the walls on both sides of the corridor, their relatives might jump out of the mirrors at any time. They didn’t dare touch the wall with their hands and had to move forward in a groping manner.

In the dark environment, they could clearly feel each other’s body temperature and heartbeat.

The two of them tacitly didn’t speak again.

Yu Hanjiang listened carefully, holding Xiao Lou in one hand and his gun in the other so that he could counterattack at any time if someone suddenly attacked them.

Xiao Lou concentrated on finding the way.

The existence of the invisibility cloak caused those in the labyrinth to lose their targets. There was the cloak covering their footsteps and the two of them found the corridor where the Life Door was located in less than 10 minutes.

The layout here wasn’t necessarily the same as before. If he found the wrong mirror then it was likely to pull Yu Hanjiang into the hell of eternal disaster. For the sake of prudence, Xiao Lou whispered to Yu Hanjiang, “Have you counted how many mirrors there are in the corridor?”

Fortunately, Yu Hanjiang’s memory of details was very clear after many years as a criminal investigation policeman. He heard Xiao Lou’s question and answered without hesitation, “There are nine mirrors on the left and right sides of each corridor.”

Xiao Lou told him, “If my guess is correct, the fifth mirror in the middle on the right side is the exit.”

Yu Hanjiang never doubted Xiao Lou’s judgment. He led Xiao Lou eight meters down the corridor according to his memory. He remembered very clearly that every two meters or so, there would be a mirror hanging from the wall. Four mirrors was eight meters and then it would be the fifth mirror.

He stopped in front of the fifth mirror and pushed it hard.

There was a door behind the mirror!

Yu Hanjiang was overjoyed and immediately took Xiao Lou through the door.

The two of them had just taken a few steps when a blinding light appeared through the door, causing Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou to reflexively close their eyes.

The sun was harsher than the scorching midday sun.

The two of them closed their eyes for a moment to adjust before opening them at the same time.

The labyrinth was completely dark and now there was a strong light at the end of the corridor. It was obviously the exit. The two of them exchanged looks and no longer hesitated. They walked in the direction of the light.

They quickly walked to the door and were simultaneously stunned when they went out to take a look.

An endless desert was in front of them.

The environment of the Nightmare Room was the same as the ordinary secret room but the difficulty would be greatly upgraded. This was what Ye Qi, Brother Jiu and the others who experienced the Nightmare Room had long told Xiao Lou.

It wasn’t surprising to see the vast desert. The two jokers secret room had been a desert.

To their astonishment, the desert sky was split in half from the middle.

Half the sky was blue and cloudless, with a fiery sun hanging high. The other half of the sky was vast and deep, with brilliant stars and a soft crescent moon hanging in the air!

The sun and moon rose in the sky at the same time and divided the sky in half?

Such a strange sight was really unheard of for the two of them.

Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou stood in the desert and looked at each other for a moment.

A moment later, Yu Hanjiang stared at the split sky and frowned. “The sun and the moon are shining together? What does this mean?”

Xiao Lou suddenly thought of something. “Is it the big and little joker?”

Yu Hanjiang looked over at him. “Do you mean that the big joker represents the sun and the light while the little joker represents the moon and the darkness?”

Xiao Lou nodded with a serious expression. “There are 54 cards in a deck of cards. This isn’t a coincidence. Among the 54 cards, the big joker represents the sun and the little joker represents the moon. The remaining 52 cards represent the 52 weeks of the year. The 4 suits of Hearts, Diamonds, Spades and Clubs represent the four seasons of the year. The 13 cards of each suit represent the 13 weeks per season. If you add up all the points of the 54 cards, it is the 365 days in a normal year. If the big and little jokers are counted as one point, it is 366 days in a leap year.”

Yu Hanjiang, “……”

He had never studied playing cards and hadn’t expected a deck of cards to be so detailed.

Yu Hanjiang wondered, “So there is the sun and moon, the four seasons, the 52 weeks and 365 days—a deck of cards is constantly reincarnated and a complete Card World can be formed?”

Xiao Lou nodded. “Moreover, each card in the Card World represents a secret room and the two jokers are the makers of the rules of the entire world. We are seeing the scene of the ‘sun and moon shining at the same time’ in the Nightmare World. It is likely because this is the core rule of the Card World.”

Yu Hanjiang touched his chin and pondered on it. A bad feeling vaguely arose in his heart. “In the sky, light and darkness alternate and the sun and moon are together. The contradiction has reached the extreme.”

Half day and half night—such a sky was extremely strange. The sun and moon were together. They didn’t interfere with each other and each controlled half of the world. Sometimes the blue sky seemed to replace the night and sometimes the dark night seemed to swallow the blue sky…

Could it be that the two jokers of the Card World were also independent?

Xiao Lou analyzed it. “If the ‘sun and moon shining together’ is the core rule of the Card World, it is likely that the two camps of the challengers and hunters are the camps of the two jokers. They exist at the same time, each working independently and contradicting each other.”

Yu Hanjiang nodded in agreement. “It makes sense. The hunters represent the night. They appear and disappear and they must kill us to survive. The challengers represent the day. We can get a boost in strength by breaking through with integrity.”

He paused before suddenly asking, “Do you remember when we first came to the Card World, we had a chance to choose between A or B?”

“Yes. At that time, we all chose B and became challengers. Perhaps others face the same choice but they chose A and joined the other camp…”

The difference in choices made everyone stand on the opposite side.

Yu Hanjiang looked solemn. “It seems that the hunters aren’t the natives of the Card World, let alone NPCs. All the hunters are actual human beings themselves.”

This was why the hunters knew them so well.

The most frightening thing often wasn’t the puzzles and difficulties of the Card World but the human heart.

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