Chapter Forty: Not Arranged by the Production Team? (Part Two)

Chapter Forty: Was This Not Arranged by the Production Team? (Part Two)

Zhang Le and Yang Xin’er found the second treasure chest and took the key, but they didn’t stop there.

“Do you think anyone else has found the other treasure chests?” Yang Xin’er asked.

“Probably not,” Zhang Le smiled. “The south represents fire. Fire—where around here is connected to fire?”

“The kitchen?” Yang Xin’er suggested.

“Yes, the kitchen! Let’s look for the kitchen,” Zhang Le nodded.

“But there’s no kitchen here. How are we supposed to find it?” After searching for a while, Yang Xin’er frowned.

“No, no! The five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, earth—they correspond not only to directions and attributes, but also to colors: white for metal, blue-green for wood, black for water, red for fire, yellow for earth!” Zhang Le mused. “Let’s look for the corresponding colors.”

“The corresponding colors?” Yang Xin’er glanced around.

“Red, scarlet—anything like that!” Zhang Le said, heading toward a red flag.

“Found it!” He walked over, looked closely, and discovered the third treasure chest hidden in the grass beneath the flag.

“Are you going to write the note again?” Zhang Le asked Yang Xin’er with a smile.

“Why bother? Let’s leave it empty and let them guess,” Yang Xin’er chuckled.

“Heh!” Zhang Le grinned, then plucked a blade of grass and placed it inside.

The two walked westward, only to encounter Liu Zheng and his wife seated on a rock, clearly empty-handed.

“Oh, Professor Liu, why are you sitting here? Have you found a treasure chest yet?” Yang Xin’er asked with a smile.

“No! We don’t even know what the treasure chest looks like,” Liu Zheng said nothing, but Xu Min shook her head with a wry smile. “Such a large place, four chests to find, but we don’t know their size. I doubt they’re big—just big enough for a car key. What about you two? Any luck?”

“If we’d found them, why would we be wandering about? We’d have left already,” Zhang Le lied smoothly, not blinking as he asked, “Did anyone else find any?”

“Apparently not. We ran into Liang Bin and his partner earlier, and they hadn’t found anything either,” Liu Zheng replied.

“Let’s check over there,” Yang Xin’er said.

After walking a short distance, Yang Xin’er glanced back at Liu Zheng and his wife, then whispered to Zhang Le, “Are we being too cruel?”

“It’s just a game. Let’s play however we like. Besides, we can share the keys with them later,” Zhang Le smiled.

With the method figured out, finding the chests became much easier, and the fourth key didn’t take them much time.

“Let’s go see what vehicles are available!” Yang Xin’er said brightly, noticing Zhang Le’s frown. “What’s on your mind?”

“I’m wondering if there might be a fifth treasure chest,” Zhang Le replied.

“I doubt it. Even if there is, it doesn’t matter. There are four types of vehicles, and we can pick any now,” Yang Xin’er smiled.

“That’s true,” Zhang Le agreed.

When they arrived at the vehicle storage area, they found Zhang Yao and Liang Bin talking to the director, holding a treasure chest.

The two exchanged a glance, both smiling with a mischievous satisfaction.

Yang Xin’er steadied her smile and called out, “Oh, Professor Zhang, you’re here! Did you find a treasure chest?”

“We found one, but unfortunately no key inside—only a slip of paper telling us to bring the chest to the production team to exchange for a key. But when we got here, it turned out to be a prank. Who could be so wicked?” Zhang Yao shook her head with a rueful smile.

“Could it be you two?” Liang Bin eyed Yang Xin’er and Zhang Le suspiciously.

“We’d like to say it wasn’t us!” Zhang Le grinned, exchanging a look with Yang Xin’er.

Liang Bin was at a loss for words, staring at them in silence. “Oh, Professor Liu Zheng is here too,” Zhang Yao remarked.

“Why is everyone here? Didn’t you find anything?” Xu Min asked.

“Of course we did,” Liang Bin suddenly smiled. “See, here’s a treasure chest. What about you? Still searching?”

“We found one, but it only had a blade of grass inside,” Liu Zheng laughed, then looked at Zhang Le and Yang Xin’er. “Xin’er, you two took the key from the chest under the flag, didn’t you? And you lied to us about not finding it. Why are you still here if you have the key?”

“We just have some questions for the director,” Zhang Le smiled. “Director, are there only four treasure chests—metal, wood, water, fire—or is there an earth chest as well?”

“There is!” the director replied crisply.

“But aren’t there only four types of vehicles? Why is there a fifth chest, and what’s inside?” Yang Xin’er asked, frowning.

“There were only clues for four chests on the task card,” Zhang Yao added.

“The card only provided clues for four chests. But from those, it’s easy enough to deduce the fifth,” the director explained.

“So what’s in the fifth chest? Another key?” Zhang Le wondered.

This time, the director didn’t respond, instead pointing behind Zhang Le. Turning, Zhang Le saw Chen Fang and Lin Yang approaching, both smiling.

“Why are you all here? Didn’t someone already find the treasure chest?” Lin Yang asked, puzzled.

“How did you know someone found a chest?” Liang Bin asked. “Are you talking about this? There’s nothing inside but a slip of paper.”

“A slip of paper? Turns out there’s more than one prankster!” Lin Yang paused, then took out a slip of paper. “I found a chest by the swimming pool, and it had a note inside as well.”

“This chest, I got here first—wahaha!” Liang Bin read the note aloud. “Wait, this handwriting is clearly not the same. So there’s more than one mischief-maker?”

Lin Yang took the note from Liang Bin and burst out laughing. “Whoever did this is even more wicked than me,” he said, looking at Zhang Le and Liu Zheng’s teams.

“Don’t look at us. The chest we found only had a blade of straw—worse luck than you,” Liu Zheng shook his head with a wry smile, then asked Zhang Le, “Xin’er, honestly, how many chests did you find?”

“What was inside the earth chest?” Zhang Le smiled, ignoring the question, and asked Lin Yang and Chen Fang.

“How did you know we found the earth chest? Honestly, I thought it was the wrong chest when we found it—there was no information about it on the task card,” Chen Fang laughed.

“A direct access card! No need for any vehicle, straight to the destination—impressive, right?” Lin Yang grinned. “In other words, we don’t even need to go; we’re already first. Wahaha!”

“Intelligence can’t compete with luck,” Zhang Le sighed.

“So, after all the keys we found, second place is the best we can hope for? That’s absurd!” Yang Xin’er complained to the director.

“You found all four chests? Unbelievable!” Liu Zheng and Liang Bin exclaimed in unison, eyes wide. Zhang Yao and Xu Min were equally incredulous. Lin Yang and Chen Fang were stunned as well.