C5 5th Chapter

Ba Hao received a mission: Go to No. 8, 3 Alley, West Road at 1: 00 in the morning to pick up the package.

At that time, King Lanling's phone rang as well. Ba Hao could not help but ask, "I received an order to retrieve a package. What is your mission?" King Lanling, who was snoring, immediately sat up and looked at his phone. Ba Hao asked him twice, but he did not answer.

He did not manage to get King Lanling to form an alliance with others. In fact, Ba Hao did not need help. He just wanted to reduce the hostility around him as much as possible. After returning to his room, Ba Hao closed his eyes for a while. He was overwhelmed by emotions. He had been in a half-awake state the entire time. When he went out again, it was already a quarter past twelve.

Ba Hao hadn't closed the door just now, but he didn't seem to have heard the sound of the night and Hongfu returning to their room. Could it be that they had a similar mission as him? All the lights in the rooms were turned off. There were two directors living at the stairs, and when they passed by, they could faintly hear the sound of snoring.

The place where they took the package was less than two kilometers away from the inn. They could just walk over. However, it was late at night in a foreign land without curfew. For safety's sake, Ba Hao brought a multi-purpose Swiss Army knife with him before he left.

On the first floor, there was only light at the front desk. The waiter was wrapped in a military coat, snoring on the only couch. Ba Hao looked at the sign with the room key hanging on it. They were the only guests in the inn. Naturally, the sign only lacked the keys to their five rooms. The waiter was sleeping soundly. He did not even know the key to the door was hanging on the door. Ba Hao pushed the door open and went out. A wave of cold air surrounded him. The temperature difference between day and night was really huge.

He took out his phone and said, "Come with me. Ba Hao deliberately walked without looking at his surroundings. After walking for a while, he suddenly turned around and ran towards the intersection behind him.

There was still no one on the road. It turned out that he was thinking too much and no one followed him. The mechanical female voice in the navigation reminded him that he had deviated from the direction. Ba Hao suspiciously returned to the correct route. He looked around as he walked, but from the beginning to the end, no one appeared in his line of sight.

Once he entered the alley, the streetlights disappeared. Ba Hao turned on his phone and looked around. Only then did he find number 8. It was a wooden hidden house. Under the dim light of his phone, he found number 8. The faded red door was very ancient. The crisp knocking on the door was especially ear-piercing in the dark alley. However, no one came to open the door. Ba Hao pushed the door gently. The door immediately opened. It turned out that the door had been closed. He walked in. There was an empty small temple hall inside, with a curtain hanging on the left and right side. The lights of the two long lamps on the shrines reflected a Great Tang card hanging on the wall. A strange smell that smelled like sandalwood and musk permeated the air.

"May I ask if anyone is here? I'm a member of the jigsaw puzzle game team. I'm here to pick up the package." Ba Hao raised his voice and asked.

No one answered. It was dead silent inside. Ba Hao took two steps forward. His heart beat faster. He could not help but put his right hand into his pocket. He quietly unfolded the Swiss Army knife and held it tightly.

There were two futons on the ground. The shrine was filled with candles, incense burners, and bundles of incense. There was a picture frame in the middle of the candle. It seemed to be a colorful photo. The light was too dim. He could not see the person in the photo clearly. He wanted to go closer and see it clearly, but the image in front of him became blurry.

Not good! Ba Hao held his breath, but it was too late. While the world was spinning, someone's palm hit his neck. Ba Hao's entire body fell to the ground, and he no longer had the strength to move.

After an unknown amount of time, a man squatted down beside Ba Hao. A pair of cold hands touched his face. He slapped his face. He wanted to see if he was still conscious. After confirming that he was completely unconscious, the man used his hand to clamp his cheek. He squeezed hard, and Ba Hao could not control himself and opened his mouth.

A burning liquid poured into his throat. It was like wine or medicine.

This person was very strong. But the man's hand did not come into contact with his face. This was a woman's hands. At this moment, her other hand reached under Ba Hao's neck. Ba Hao could not help but swallow the medicinal wine he drank. Then, her hand began to move downwards. She moved to Ba Hao's throat and stopped.

Now, as long as she used as much strength as before, Ba Hao would not be able to breathe anymore.

Bahao was shocked. His eyelids and mouth seemed to be glued to a strong glue. He could not control it at all. The most terrible thing was that his consciousness had already scattered. It was at this moment that he heard the door being kicked open. A person rushed in while panting heavily.

"What did you do to him? You changed your plan - why - " Not with - I - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "The voices around him began to distort, and a man's excited voice grew further and further away. This was the last sentence Ba Hao heard before he passed out.

Hurry up and wake up! Wake up! Bahao panted heavily like a dying fish that had been suddenly put back into the water. He woke up from his nightmare.

There was no temple hall around him. There was no cold hand on his throat. There was no mysterious woman or angry man beside him. He was lying on the bed in the room of the inn, panting heavily with sweat. The only thing that was not right was that he was still sleeping in his clothes, and he was still wearing the jacket he wore when he went out last night. The Swiss Army knife was also in his pocket. His entire body reeked of alcohol. It proved that what he had experienced last night was not a dream.

Other than that, his head was in pain. It was as if someone had hit his head with a hammer. The pain was more severe than any other time. He could not recall how he had come back.

It was already nine in the morning. The sun shone through the courtyard of the inn and lit up the entire corridor. At the table on the first floor of the courtyard, the other members of the team were all eating their breakfast with smiles on their faces. Seeing Ba Hao appear, everyone said in unison, "Are you sober?"

"Wine? I didn't drink!"

"I told you I must have drunk a broken film. Otherwise, I wouldn't have collapsed at the door and couldn't come in. Only then did the four of us carry you upstairs from the front desk." Daodao looked like he was taking credit for it.

"Yes! You guys are making too much noise and woke us up." Hongfu blinked her eyes while chewing a tsaba.

Ba Hao finally knew what had happened last night.

It turned out that at four in the morning, the waiter found Ba Hao lying in front of the inn, drunk like mud. He quickly called King Lanling, Wang Chao, and Daodao to help carry Ba Hao back to his room.

Ba Hao looked around. All the members were there.

"Were you all at the inn when you found me last night?"

Everyone nodded.

"When they carried you upstairs, I came out to take a look. My wife was not feeling well..." Milk Tea said apologetically.

"Last night, I knew you were going on a mission and I was quite worried. I called you several times but you didn't pick up. It was so dark that I didn't dare to go out. In the end, I waited until I fell asleep and only came out when I was woken up by you..." Jiongjiong quickly added.

Ba Hao looked at the expressionless night and asked, "Jiongjiong, do you know when night came back?"

"At 1: 15, I looked at the clock on the bedside table. I was so sleepy that I went back to sleep."

The woman who appeared in the small temple hall was not at night, but it could not be ruled out that it was night who called the clock back to create an alibi. Although Ba Hao was suspicious of the night, he looked at Hongfu and asked, "Hongfu, what about you?"

"Maybe it was past 10 o'clock. There was nothing to walk around. You should have come back before you left. Oh right. Qinzi also told me that you want to form an alliance... "

Qinzi interrupted Hongfu. Sorry, I am too tired and did not know that so many things happened but Hongfu did come back before I sleep. "

"I am also exhausted. Sister Qinzi did not snore, right?" Hongfu smiled in embarrassment.

Qinzi smiled and shook her head.

"Why are you questioning us? We each have our own tasks. We don't need to explain our whereabouts to you, do we?" Heiye said coldly.

"This game is very dangerous! If you know what happened last night, you will be afraid!" Ba Hao was rarely so emotional. He opened the private message from the comet and showed it to everyone. "Last night, I went to the address sent by the comet to do a mission. I was knocked out the moment I got there."

Ba Hao painfully ran through the messy memories of last night. Everyone was suspicious when they heard it. Ba Hao could only stand up. "Now, everyone, please come with me to No. 8 Third Alley on the west road. Let's get to the bottom of this matter."

The three Alley on the west road during the day was completely different from the night. People came and went. It was bustling with activity. This place was not far from Food Street, and was also where the old people lived. Under the sunlight, the residential house number 8 was a stone and wood building. The roof was exquisitely carved. It was colorful, and the window frames facing the street were painted in a ring of trapezoids. Although the red door with the banner of the wind and horses and the picture of the sun and moon and auspicious clouds were slightly faded, the red door was slightly faded. One could still see the prosperity of the residents in the past. The person who opened the door was a tanned, skinny, smiling uncle. He was startled when he saw the crowd. Soon, his gaze locked onto Ba Hao. "You came again so soon? Are you alright after drinking so much last night?"

The uncle spoke Mandarin with a thick Hunan or Hubei accent.

Ba Hao asked in confusion, "Do you know me?"

"How can I not know you? "We drank three pots of rye wine together last night. Handsome guy, you really can drink. I left you to stay last night and said I wouldn't do anything. You said you had to return to the team after completing the mission. They are..."

"Uncle, we are in the same team as Ba Hao. What happened last night?" Hongfu asked.

"Come in and have a seat. Have a cup of tea and talk slowly..."

This was not the empty small temple hall that Ba Hao had visited last night. Although the shrine and the Great Tang card he saw last night were in their original positions, In his memory, the picture on the shrine was gone. The walls were filled with large and small Tang cards, living Buddha pictures, and even leading figures. The gorgeous Tibetan carpet, chairs, and wooden furniture also proved that this was a place to receive guests. The rooms on the left and right were hung with Tibetan curtains. Ba Hao did not care about the courtesy. He opened the door and took a look. On one side was an empty room with no furniture, and on the other side was a wooden staircase that led up. The lighting in the room was not good. The incense burning in the temple hall could not conceal the musty smell, but it did not have the musty smell he remembered last night.

Uncle Niu said that he was a recluse who had just rented the house and intended to run the house. A few days ago, someone called Uncle Niu and asked him to wait for someone called Ba Hao. He also sent Uncle Niu an express delivery. There was some cash for the fee and a package that needed to be handed to Ba Hao. Uncle Niu said that he and Ba Hao met at first sight last night and invited him to drink. The two of them drank until three o'clock before Ba Hao went out.

Following Uncle Bull's narration, the way everyone looked at Ba Hao became more and more strange. Ba Hao knew that they were suspecting him and endured the headache that was getting more and more intense. He found the place where he fell last night and laid down on the ground.

"Ba Hao, what are you doing?" Everyone shouted at the same time.

"We have four ladies here. Please come and slap me."

"Why do you want me to slap you? Are you crazy?" Summer laughed.

"Please, I want to reconstruct the scene from last night and find the woman who plotted against me."

"You don't suspect that there is a traitor among us, do you? Last night, you were really drunk and dreaming..." Qinzi found it hard to believe.

Ba Hao covered his eyes with his headscarf. "I will prove to you that it is true. Please come and hit me!"

A woman with a strong rose perfume came over and slapped Ba Hao without hesitation. Although Ba Hao grimaced from the slap, he was sure that this warm and wet hand was not the woman from last night. She sat next to Ba Hao during dinner yesterday. The perfume was very familiar. This woman had a powerful aura. Her husband was skilled. Not a single blade of grass grew within ten steps.

"Thank you, Summer, next." Ba Hao's face was burning, but he was very clear in his heart.

Another woman came over and drew a few times on Ba Hao's face before gently patting him. Her palm was warm and dry, and her face was rough. There was no perfume on her body, but the smell of fruit laundry came from her sleeves.

Ba Hao was stunned for a moment. "Please give me another slap. Hit me hard."

The second time, she hit him a little too hard, but she was still afraid that he would hurt her. Ba Hao caught a characteristic. This person had a lot of calluses in his palm.

"Thank you, Qinzi. Next." Last night, the woman had no calluses on her palm. So it must not be this man. The way she hit him was so gentle, it could only be the gentle Qinzi. However, why did Qinzi, who had such a good appearance, have a thick and heavy palm cocoon like an old farmer? Qinzi said she was a yoga coach. Even the yoga coaches Ba Hao knew did not play with fitness equipment. Could it be that Qinzi was an exception to machine craziness, which was why she had calluses?

The third woman came over. Her hands were neither light nor heavy. Her palms were neither cold nor hot. There was no smell on her body.

Ba Hao was stunned again. He quickly searched his brain.

When she moved just now, her clothes made a rustling sound. This was the sound of the jacket material rubbing against each other. Among the girls, only Hongfu wore the jacket. He was sure that he did not hear this sound last night. "Thank you, Hongfu. Next."

The only thing left was the night. Ba Hao was almost certain that the woman last night was night. His heartbeat sped up.

This was a cold slap. His palm was dry and hard, and his palm was resolute. It was exactly the same as last night. The difference was that the night brought with it the smell of pine wood and dew disinfectant. After entering the house, she wiped her hands twice with a wet tissue. The slap that she gave Ba Hao was also as quick as touching it. Last night, the woman had played with Ba Hao's face for a long time. Would the night that hated physical contact really do that? Thinking about this, Ba Hao was shaken.

Ba Hao pulled off his blindfolded headscarf and sat up in confusion.

"Did you find out who it was?" Everyone either squatted or stood around Ba Hao.

Ba Hao shook his head. He could not come to an uncertain conclusion, even if it would cause him to lose everyone's trust.

"I have another way to ask the men here to say something. What did you do to him? " Why didn't you discuss it with me when you changed your plan? "I heard this last night before I lost consciousness. If I hear it again, I'll find him."

Apart from the three men in the team, there were also Daodao, Wang Chao, and Uncle Bull, the owner of the house. With doubt and impatience, the men repeated what they said. Even Uncle Niu happily told them. Ba Hao was still confused. "It doesn't look like it... Could it be that his tone is wrong? Or maybe I was about to faint and didn't remember the characteristics of my voice. Can you tell me again with excitement?"

"I don't have time to play! I'm going to do a mission! " King Lanling was the first to leave.

Heiye also stood up and coldly glanced at Ba Hao. "I thought you were an alcoholic, but I didn't expect you to be a coward, a liar!"

Since there was someone who tore the hole first, everyone didn't have to give Ba Hao face. Everyone bid farewell to Uncle Niu. Qinzi did not even look at Ba Hao. Ba Hao pulled her along. "What I said is true. Trust me..."

Milk Tea patted Ba Hao's shoulder with sympathy. "Don't drink so much next time. I'll ask Wang Chao to send us on a mission."

Hongfu gave him some face before she left. "Go back and have a good sleep. You won't have nightmares if you sleep well."

Jiongjiong was very protective of Ba Hao. "Ba Hao will not lie. Someone must have done something to make him hallucinate."

Daodao's face was full of smiles. "I believe..."

The fat man said he believed him, but his face was full of a perfunctory expression. "Let's get this over with as soon as possible.

Ba Hao declined Daodao and Jiongjiong's proposal to invite him to walk the streets in frustration. He locked himself in the room of the inn and found that there was a bag at the corner of the bed. This was a package sealed in a black courier bag. There were no labels on the package. He tore open the package and saw that there were three streamers in total. They were commonly seen five-colored streamers that symbolized the rise of good fortune. Each streamer had the picture of birds and beasts or unfamiliar Tibetan symbols drawn on it.

This was the package Uncle Niu was talking about? What the hell? He hadn't seen it at all last night. There were three banners in total. Were they prepared for their group? But there were eight people in the team!

Ba Hao finally sorted out his messy thoughts. There were three things he was sure of: First, the organization was a multi-player team and did not agree with each other. In the end, they came to an agreement. Although they could not figure out the cause and effect, they did not agree with each other. However, the woman had bewitched him, and the man had stopped her in time. In the end, an Uncle Niu had appeared to block the sword. This was solid evidence. Uncle Niu must be a member of the organization. He was the only gap that could be opened at the moment. This game was dangerous, and it was very likely that the next time it would be someone else's turn. Ba Hao couldn't just wait for someone to get hurt. If he didn't know the truth, he would have to take the blame.

Ba Hao jumped up, picked up his bag, and went straight to No. 8, Third Lane on the west road.

This was the third time he had come to this place in 24 hours. The old house under the sunset was covered with a layer of gentle golden light. The people walking in and out of the alley looked peaceful. It was a scene of peace and prosperity. Ba Hao suspected himself. Did he really encounter danger here last night?

This time, the door was locked. No one answered the door no matter how hard they knocked. Did Uncle Niu go out?

"Stop knocking, there's no one in this house anymore!" Under the roof opposite the old residence, an old man who was holding a horn pot to pour out the cigarette powder and was about to smoke his snuff said.

It turned out that this family had moved to Lhasa last year. The owner wanted to rent the house, but the price was very high. He had not found a suitable tenant, so the house was empty. The agent had a key and often brought people to visit the house, but the neighbor said that he had never seen Uncle Niu. When he heard Ba Hao mention the small temple hall's furnishings in the morning, he shook his head vigorously. He said that the furniture in this house was all in the backyard. The temple hall was empty this year.

What happened last night was not an illusion. Uncle Niu was acting for everyone to see. Ba Hao lost consciousness at around 1.0pm. It was four o'clock when he was found lying in front of the inn. It was already 10 o'clock when he brought his men back to the temple hall. It was enough time for the comet to settle the internal conflicts and set up an act.

Ba Hao felt more at ease, but then he felt more uneasy.

What was the comet trying to do?