When the five returned to the lobby on the first floor, it was noon, and lunch was already laid out on the table.
Everyone glanced up at the clock on the wall, and seeing that it still had the indigo pattern, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
As the NPC called everyone out to eat, the workers from the four rooms gradually emerged. As if by prior
arrangement, they showed everyone their hands and pockets to prove they had washed them thoroughly and had no intention of contaminating the color. They sat around the largest table, and Qin Ci spoke first: "Perhaps it's because of the pressure, but I've exceeded my usual performance today. From morning to noon, I've already finished two and a half cans."
Everyone nodded in approval, and Wei Dong chimed in: "I've also finished more than two cans! I was just thinking about finishing quickly so we could go find autographs this afternoon."
Shi Zhendong said somewhat sheepishly, "My hands are a bit slow; I only finished almost two cans."
"That's already very good," everyone said.
Guo Lixia flexed her wrists: "My wrists are a bit sore today, so I only made a little over one jar."
Mi Wei looked at Guo Lixia: "We still need to hurry up and finish as soon as possible. Who knows what might happen this afternoon?"
Guo Lixia was a little unhappy: "Not that I'm being nosy, but your group has the most people. Yesterday morning, Xiao Miao stayed behind to work, and this morning it was Doctor Qin. Logically speaking, Doctor Qin is experienced, and being a man, he's strong, so he should be out getting autographs! Berry storage isn't hard work, it's easier than making tomato sauce before. You girls are just too delicate! Avoiding work!"
Mi Wei was unjustly rebuked and trembled with anger: "Sister Guo, you... since it's not hard work, aren't you the slowest and least productive too!"
"You brat!" Guo Lixia was a little impatient, "I injured my wrist this morning. Our group leader fell and stepped on my wrist! You're not doing any work and you're picking on others!"
Mi Wei was so angry that she started to cry, feeling very wronged.
The remaining men hurriedly tried to comfort her. Ke Xun first checked Guo Lixia's wrist: "Sister Guo, why didn't you say so earlier? Does it still hurt?"
Guo Lixia waved her hand: "It doesn't hurt much, it's just a little clumsy when I exert myself. I'm more upset now, I got angry and messed up the work!"
"Sister Guo, you should rest for a while, let Ke Xun do the rest of the work!" Wei Dong also comforted Guo Lixia, and was about to massage her wrist.
Mu Yiran suddenly grabbed Wei Dong's arm and pulled him aside without saying a word: "Let Ke Xun do it, he's the one who caused the trouble."
"Okay~" Ke Xun picked up Guo Lixia's wrist and started massaging it, "After all, I'm an athlete, I'm a professional at massaging these kinds of sprains and bruises!"
Guo Lixia's expression gradually softened.
Mi Wei, under everyone's persuasion, gradually stopped crying.
After lunch, Ke Xun told everyone about his discovery that morning.
"Yesterday, all the other buildings in the castle were locked. Could we enter the other buildings through the underground passages in the maze?" Qin Ci said.
"I just don't understand, those who created the underground passages should also be part of the people in the painting. Don't they have the castle keys either?" Mi Wei said.
"If that bottle of red paint could be transported from the castle to the maze, then the murderer must have done it. Squeezing the red paint out of the person was done by that person!" Guo Lixia also offered a rare suggestion.
Mi Wei frowned slightly: "The murderer is the big boss in the painting, how could he not have the castle key?"
Guo Lixia sneered: "The murderer isn't necessarily the owner of the castle, what if it's something outside the castle?"
Everyone felt their analysis was getting increasingly off-putting, and Wei Dong hurriedly said: "Everyone has a point, we should go in through the underground passage while it's still light, maybe we can find our way to the other buildings in the castle."
Guo Lixia chuckled: "This kind of tunneling work is probably not suitable for women."
Wei Dong quickly waved his hand: "I'll go in! Ke'er and I will go in! You all wait outside!"
"So," Guo Lixia's voice rose, "women should stay in their rooms and work. Not completing your tasks is against the rules."
Mi Wei's face turned ugly: "I think emphasizing this division of labor between men and women is itself a form of discrimination against women! Women's intelligence is no less than men's! I've always had my own ideas about the whole case, and if I went to the scene, I could help come up with solutions!"
Miao Zipei felt it wouldn't be right not to help his classmate, so he whispered from the side, "Yeah, Mi Wei is smarter than me…"
Guo Lixia acted as if she hadn't heard Miao Zipei's words, staring straight at Mi Wei: "If you're so good, then you do it! You don't care about the division of labor between men and women, so go crawl through the tunnel!"
Ke Xun was about to go up and say something, but Guo Lixia was stronger than him and shoved Ke Xun away.
Mu Yiran's eyes were constantly scrutinizing Guo Lixia. Although he was full of suspicion, after observing her during lunch, he didn't see any suspicious signs on Guo Lixia.
"There's nothing dangerous about her," Zhu Haowen's voice came softly, "but her condition is definitely abnormal."
The so-called dangerous thing in this painting would naturally be something that could potentially taint the colors.
Guo Lixia was still yelling, "Aren't you so capable? Aren't you a strong woman? Then go crawl through a tunnel! I haven't seen you solve any puzzles yet! Aren't you just trying to find an excuse to be lazy? I've seen too many people like that!"
Mi Wei trembled with anger, "I don't need to crawl through tunnels to prove my worth! I have professional art knowledge and meticulous logical thinking! I can help everyone! Some people are only fit for manual labor!"
"You're just being lazy and shirking your duties. There used to be many female workers like you in our factory, sleeping with the deputy factory manager to do less work!" Guo Lixia's spittle landed directly on Mi Wei's face.
"Shrew! Uncultured shrew! Abandoned shrew!" Mi Wei's voice cracked, and she picked up an apple from the table and threw it at Guo Lixia.
Guo Lixia, not to be outdone, pounced on Mi Wei like a tigress, grabbing Mi Wei's hair so hard that Mi Wei's eyes rolled back.
The men quickly came over to break up the fight, two of them holding the two crazed women back.
"The key to our survival in the painting is unity," Shi Zhendong finally spoke up. "Now that you two women are the only ones left, you should be even more considerate of each other."
Mi Wei lowered her head and cried in grievance.
Guo Lixia released her grip, threw away the long hair she had taken, and said nothing more.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Qin Cicai said, "We need to finish the rest of the work, and then go to the maze to try to find the tunnel."
Miao Zipei hurriedly said, "Let me stay in our group, there's only half a can left, I'll do it!"
Mi Wei wiped away her tears and said nothing.
Ke Xun also said, "Sister Guo's wrist is injured, I'll do the rest of the work! Sister Guo, you can rest for a while."
Wei Dong said, "I'm getting used to it, I'll keep going! Boss Mu, go find the autographs!"
Zhu Haowen said, "I'll stay and finish the rest."
After the tasks were assigned, everyone returned to their rooms, ready to work harder to finish.
Mi Wei, rubbing her aching head, reluctantly prepared to go out with the rest of the group to continue looking for autographs. However, as she passed Guo Lixia, the woman suddenly attacked, grabbing Mi Wei's collar and shoving her like a punching bag, her face contorted with madness: "Who's the abandoned shrew! Who's been abandoned! Go to hell!!!"
The attack was so sudden that many who had already returned to their rooms didn't even realize what was happening.
Mi Wei was violently pushed a considerable distance, crashing into the door of the blue room and falling inside.
Only Guo Lixia's delirious murmurs remained in the hall: "Go to hell, go to hell, those who reopen old wounds should all die!"
Mi Wei lay on the floor of the blue room, taking a long time to get up, her face filled with fear and disbelief.
She had instantly become a "pollutant of color."
Ke Xun quickly helped Mi Wei up.
No one knew how to comfort Mi Wei, and they all regretted their carelessness earlier. The events had happened so suddenly that they didn't even have time to blame Guo Lixia.
Mi Wei, like a wounded animal, howled at everyone, "I've polluted the color! I'm going to die tonight!" Mi Wei's expression suddenly turned vicious, glaring at Guo Lixia, "If I die, you won't live either! None of you will live!"
"Stop her!" The crowd outside the room could only watch helplessly.
Ke Xun could only restrain Mi Wei's hands, but he could still feel her violent struggle: "If we die, we all die together! As long as I live, I'll make sure you all pollute the color!"
Mi Wei was thus pushed out of the blue room by Ke Xun, and Mu Yiran immediately tied her up tightly with the rope in his hand: "I'm sorry."
Mi Wei burst into tears, her eyes glaring fiercely at Guo Lixia: "You're a murderer! You killed me! I won't let you get away with this!"
Guo Lixia seemed to only then come to her senses, her expression showing fear, trying to avoid looking into Mi Wei's eyes.
No one expected such a troublesome turn of events today, and the original plan was almost completely disrupted.
Qin Ci reluctantly said, "Let's continue with the original plan and finish the work first."
Shi Zhendong shook his head: "At least one person needs to stay and watch over Mi Wei. That leaves only three people to go through the tunnel; it's too dangerous. Everyone should stay and finish the work first."
Mi Wei suddenly pleaded, "Please, splash the other colors on me. If that's the case, I won't be exploited by that big boss... At least I can die a quick death like He Yu and Ye Ningchen."
Everyone was already feeling distressed, and hearing this ... Miwei's words only made him more upset. Ke Xun forced himself to cheer up: "Don't be so pessimistic. Maybe we can find the autograph today, then the death won't happen!"
Miwei smiled and shook her head: "How is that possible? Even if we can enter the other rooms in the castle, it's impossible to search through hundreds of rooms in just one afternoon... Hurry up, please, let me die in peace."
Suddenly, a splash of green juice splattered all over Miwei—Zhu Haowen was standing beside her, crushing a green berry in his hand.
Miwei gave a bitter laugh: "Thank you."
The clock on the wall had turned pure green, a color combining yellow and blue, but no one bothered to look up.
"We seem to have some leads on the matter of the shadow dragging Xin Beibei last night," Mu Yiran suddenly said.