Card Room

Chapter 578 – Returning to the Past

Xiao Lou had just confirmed that this was the Two Jokers Secret Room when a young man’s voice was heard in the distance. “Brother Xu said to patrol carefully and everyone shouldn’t sleep tonight. If these people don’t die and manage to successfully come back from the Nightmare Room, we will kill them immediately. Don’t give them the chance to fight back!”

Xiao Lou held his breath and immediately hid behind a low wall.

He looked around quickly. It seemed that there had just been an explosion. There was black ash and broken bricks everywhere. There were pieces of clothing and he even saw an arm in the sand not far away.

Judging from the characteristics of the clothes, this arm belonged to Chief Shao.

Chief Shao was still in the bug king state and his body had a strong healing ability. He should have grown a new arm.

According to Huaying’s description, she had gone to the hospital with Liu Qiao and Chief Shao in order to cooperate with Old Gui’s acting. As a result, Xu Muran ignited the explosives buried in the ground. The raging fire from the explosion leveled the entire hospital to the ground.

It seemed that this was the hospital where the explosion occurred previously. There were many hunters patrolling nearby and Xiao Lou didn’t dare rush out. He had a hard time returning to the Two Jokers Secret Room. He couldn’t be killed just after returning.

Just then, hurried footsteps were heard in the distance. “There seems to be a shadow shaking over there. You guys, follow me to take a look!”

Xiao Lou’s heart tightened. The footsteps were getting closer and closer to him. He was thinking about how to leave when a notification popped up in his floating box: You have received an invitation to teleport to the Peach Blossom Spring. Do you agree to the teleportation?

His teammates were picking him up! Xiao Lou immediately pressed the agree button.

Cheng Ziyang led a few hunters to the ruins of the hospital and searched around but didn’t see anything. A boy who followed him asked anxiously, “Senior, were you mistaken?”

Cheng Ziyang frowned. “Everyone, be vigilant and continue to patrol!”

At this time, Xiao Lou had been summoned back to the Peach Blossom Spring.

Seeing him appear under the peach blossom trees, Ye Qi immediately ran to him with red eyes. He said in a trembling voice, “Professor Xiao, you’re finally back…”

Xiao Lou didn’t have time to reminisce with everyone. He looked at Tang Ci and asked, “How did you know that I just came back?”

Tang Ci explained, “The contract book is in my hand. I have been observing the names on the contract book. I saw your name appear and immediately had Ye Qi open the teleportation.”

Fortunately, Tang Ci was attentive enough to pull Xiao Lou to the Peach Blossom Spring at the first moment.

Xiao Lou asked directly, “What about the information?”

Tang Ci didn’t speak nonsense and handed Xiao Lou a few pieces of paper. “These are all found by Senior Gui and Chief Shao. I summarized them to make it easier for you to remember them. Time is limited. Professor Xiao, you should remember it as soon as possible.”

Gui Yuanzhang and Shao Qingge were on the hunter’s side. Any information they found was told to Ye Qi through Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings and Tang Ci was responsible for sorting out and recording the information.

The ‘key notes’ that Mr Tang sorted out were very clear. Xiao Lou read it quickly and forced himself to memorize it completely. In particular, he repeated the map of the surveillance distribution in his mind several times.

Ye Qi wanted to ask why Brother Jiu and Group Leader Yu hadn’t come back but seeing Xiao Lou’s pale face, he forcibly swallowed it down and looked at Tang Ci for help.

Tang Ci whispered in Ye Qi’s ear, “The teammates in the Nightmare Room likely did their best to protect Xiao Lou so he could come back. Time is limited. Don’t distract him.”

Ye Qi’s eyes were sore and he nodded vigorously.

Xiao Lou closed his eyes and concentrated in order to remember all the information that Tang Ci gave him as soon as possible. Then he took the contract book from Tang Ci. He looked at his three teammates in the Peach Blossom Sprig and told them in a hoarse voice, “I’m going back.”

Tang Ci stepped forward and gently shook Xiao Lou’s hand. “Don’t worry. I think that my past self will definitely believe you.”

Ye Qi agreed. “Yes, I also feel that I will fully cooperate with Professor Xiao in the past!”

Long Sen’s eyes were red. “Professor Xiao, thank you for your hard work.”

The temperature transmitted by his fingers was cold but the trusting eyes of his teammates made Xiao Lou feel warm. He nodded and didn’t speak again. He simply used Time Reversal.

[The time reversal has begun.]

[Time has gone back five hours. Only the card user can retain his memory of this time.]

Two notifications popped up. Then the people and things in front of Xiao Lou’s eyes quickly regressed like a movie. The shots became more and more messy before being stubbornly fixed.

Xiao Lou took a closer look. There was a building in front of him that was so familiar that it was shocking.

There was an obvious red cross on the two storey building. This was the oasis hospital he had found with Ye Qi and Liu Qiao. At this time, Yu Hanjiang was the size of his thumb and stayed in his pocket, unable to wake up due to the high fever.

It was 22:30 at night.

Time had gone back five hours and actually returned to this most critical moment!

In order to find the medicine for Ye Qi and Long Sen, Xiao Lou had divided the two into two groups. Brother Jiu took a few people to the south while he went north with Liu Qiao, Ye Qi, Chief Shao and Huaying. They came to the oasis town. Due to too many forks in the road, Huaying and Chief Shao acted separately and he only had Liu Qiao and Ye Qi by his side.

The doctor on duty at the door was still napping. The familiar picture completely overlapped with the picture in his memory.

Last time, Xiao Lou hadn’t hesitated to take Liu Qiao and Ye Qi into the hospital. Then they encountered the mirror labyrinth. Liu Qiao was controlled by her sister and Xiao Lou was stabbed to death. Then many irreparable things happened like a butterfly. The Xiao Yu duo was killed, forcing Old Gui to expose his identity and he killed Brother Jiu in a desperate manner.

Now he had returned to this critical time node. Xiao Lou definitely couldn’t walk directly into the hospital. The oasis town was full of surveillance cameras and the whereabouts of the three of them had long been mastered by Xu Muran.

What should he do?

Xiao Lou stopped, opened the contract book and took a look.

The team-limited cards Resurrection and Time Reversal had disappeared but the cards in his personal card pack had returned to the state they were five hours ago. For example, the skills of Tao Yuanming, Li Qingzhao, Su Shi, Lu Yu and the other cards were all available.

Xiao Lou quickly thought about countermeasures. After a moment, he made up his mind. He pressed down on his earpiece and told Shao Qingge, “Chief Shao, you still have a Tao Yuanming card in your hand. Can I trouble you to open the teleportation at the vineyard to pull everyone in?”

Shao Qingge didn’t ask much and simply opened the Peach Blossom Spring.

After 10 seconds, the entrance to the Peach Blossom Spring was formed. Shao Qingge launched the team-wide teleportation and the teammates came to the Peach Blossom Spring together.

They saw Xiao Lou, who was as pale as paper, and exchanged looks for a moment.

Ye Qi was nervous. “Why did you suddenly ask for the teleportation? Professor Xiao, do you think there is something wrong with the hospital?”

Shao Qingge asked, “What happened?”

Lu Jiuchuan and Xiao Lou were connected to each other using Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. At this time, he could feel Xiao Lou’s violent mood swings and messy memories. He saw many terrifying images in his mind, including him and Yu Hanjiang. They were covered in blood, holding guns in both hands and shooting wildly in a strange corridor full of mirrors.

The picture was so clear that Lu Jiuchuan was in a trance for a moment. “Xiao Lou, why do you have so many strange memories in your mind? Is it a dream?”

Xiao Lou glanced at everyone and clearly told them, “I came back from the Nightmare Room.”

The team members, “……”

This sentence made everyone’s heart tremble. Everyone looked at each other and didn’t understand Xiao Lou’s meaning for a moment.

However, the words ‘Nightmare Room’ were enough to make everyone wary.

Xiao Lou opened the contract book to show everyone and turned to the last page. “Read the contract book. The two team-limited cards of Resurrection and Time Reversal have disappeared. I was the one who used Time Reversal to push the plot of the secret room back to the present. It is because in the next four hours, I will die along with Hanjiang, Brother Jiu, Old Mo, Wanyue, Huaying and Liu Qiao.”

Everyone was stunned when they heard his calm words.

All dead? This was terrible. What was Professor Xiao talking about?

Old Gui’s expression changed the moment he saw that the Time Reversal card had disappeared. He walked over to Xiao Lou and asked in a low voice, “The plan succeeded? They sent you back?”

Xiao Lou nodded. “Senior, thank you for taking the risk and giving me the opportunity to change my fate.”

The more the team members listened, the more confused they became. After all, everyone’s memory didn’t have the events that followed. They were stuck at this point in time.

Group Leader Yu and Long Sen were infected with the plague and Xiao Lou decided to go find medicine. Professor Xiao actually said that everyone died later? This news was like a thunderbolt from the sky on a sunny day. No one could believe it for a while.

Xiao Lou saw the suspicious expressions of his teammates and quickly calmed down. He looked at Lu Jiuchuan. “Brother Jiu, you are connected to me using Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. You can prove that what I said isn’t false. It was you, Hanjiang and Huaying who fought together and desperately escorted me out of the Nightmare Room.”

Lu Jiuchuan’s face was pale. The clear and vivid images in Xiao Lou’s mind couldn’t be fake but in his memory, he really didn’t experience this.

Was it true that Xiao Lou was really… from the future?

Lu Jiuchuan glanced at Tang Ci. He seemed to be seeking Tang Ci’s opinion.

Tang Ci said calmly, “Professor Xiao’s words are amazing but the Time Reversal card has indeed disappeared. This card only allows the user to keep the memory so it makes sense that we don’t know the things he mentioned. Moreover, Brother Jiu is connected to him with Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. He can deceive people with his mouth but not with what he is thinking in his mind. I am willing to believe him.”

Lu Jiuchuan’s voice was solemn. “The images in Xiao Lou’s mind are very real and aren’t like an illusion or dream. I don’t think Xiao Lou has any need to deceive us as the captain. It must’ve been used by someone on our team. Think about it. Have you used this card?”

Everyone instinctively shook their heads.

Lu Jiuchuan simply waved his hand. “Then this card must’ve been used by Xiao Lou! The rest of us don’t dare easily use a team-limited card. Xiao Lou is the captain and it is most reasonable that he used it. Therefore, Xiao Lou will have his future memories while we don’t. His words are about what will happen in the future.”

Lu Jiuchuan looked at Yu Hanjiang in Xiao Lou’s pocket and frowned slightly. “Hanjiang is unconscious now. If he was awake, he would definitely believe Xiao Lou. As Hanjiang’s brother, I am definitely willing to believe in Xiao Lou as well.”

Xiao Lou’s eyes were slightly hot. After returning to the hospital five hours ago and finding he was already at the hospital, he actually didn’t have much expectations in his heart. He was worried that his teammates wouldn’t believe him and afraid he wouldn’t be able to change anything in the future.

However, Tang Ci’s calm analysis and Brother Jiu’s clear attitude made him finally relax his mind.

As long as Tang Ci and Brother Jiu were willing to believe him, his other teammates would soon be on his side.

Xiao Lou took a deep breath and looked at his teammates. “Are you willing to believe me?”

Ye Qi immediately nodded. “Professor Xiao has never deceived us. As long as this Professor Xiao is real, I believe him!”

Shao Qingge said, “He has the contract book and his connection with Brother Jiu was never broken. He must be real. I believe him.”

Qu Wanyue, Liu Qiao and Chu Huaying also nodded.

Gui Yuanzhang was originally the planner of the Time Reversal plan. He was the first to believe in Xiao Lou. He saw that the other team members all believed it and simply asked, “Professor Xiao, tell me about your plan. How are you going to deal with Xu Muran?”

Many teammates had never heard of Xu Muran’s name and they stared blankly at Xiao Lou.

Lu Jiuchuan, Tang Ci and Chu Huaying looked at each other in confusion. “Old Gui, do you mean Xu Muran?”

Gui Yuanzhang nodded. “That’s right. Xu Muran is the leader of the hunters in the Two Jokers Secret Room.”

Lu Jiuchuan raised an eyebrow with surprise. “He actually betrayed us?!”

Chu Huaying’s expression was calm. “Old Gui, how do you know this?”

Xiao Lou interrupted them in a low voice. “Now isn’t the time to dwell on these things. Hanjiang, Brother Jiu and Huaying were still in the Nightmare Room. The time flow rate of the Nightmare Room isn’t the same as here. I don’t know if you in this world will also be affected if they are obliterated in the Nightmare Room. Time is running out so let’s think about how to deal with the hunters.”

Lu Jiuchuan nodded in agreement. “Okay, we won’t ask anything else. We will listen to your arrangement!”

Tang Ci calmly said, “Professor Xiao came from five hours later and has brought a lot of information. We might not understand it for a while. Professor Xiao, directly tell us how to cooperate.”

Xiao Lou thought about it for a moment. “This method is a bit risky. I want to beat them at their own game and put on another play.”