**Chapter 34: Dream and Reality Exchange Day (3)**
“Are you kidding me?”
Since Xueqing always had a poker face, I couldn’t tell if she was joking or being serious.
No, was I sick? Why would I think Xueqing was joking? When did Xueqing ever joke with us? She was always serious.
“Are you asking me to find Juncheng’s finger?”
Xueqing nodded silently.
“Just now, in the room.”
She was referring to this cold storage room.
“I… hid it.”
She meant Juncheng’s finger.
Xueqing hid the finger in the room and then wanted me to find it. The most fatal part was that neither Xueqing nor I were wearing any clothes! Clothes not only served to cover our bodies but also had another crucial function: to keep us warm. Besides our hair and certain other parts, the rest of our bodies were bare, like uncivilized monkeys, how could we possibly withstand such a low temperature!
After locking the cold storage room door, Xueqing sat down in front of it, curled up with her legs in her arms, and quietly watched me.
Her meaning was clear without needing to say anything: “If you don’t find it, I won’t let you out.”
In other words, if I couldn’t find Juncheng’s finger, I would freeze to death here.
Outside, Yu Hui’s knocking and shouting could be heard intermittently. However, due to the excellent soundproofing, I couldn’t clearly hear what she was saying.
Perhaps my hearing had already started to deteriorate.
“Don’t come in, or I’ll kill you immediately.”
That was Xueqing’s warning to Yu Hui outside the door.
Although her voice wasn’t loud, it still reached Yu Hui’s ears, because the knocking immediately stopped.
In the now quiet cold storage room, only Xueqing, sitting and gazing at me, and I, standing and hugging my shoulders, remained. Our breathing formed a stark contrast: Xueqing’s breathing was steady, while mine was quite rapid, always accompanied by heavy white breaths.
My body had already started to tremble, and even the words I spoke were shaky and trembling.
“Wh-why use… use this method? Just give it to me.”
“If you don’t want to give it, you don’t want to die.”
She expressed her feelings directly, without any pretense.
“But… if you find it, it’s yours.”
Is that so? I see. So, Juncheng’s finger is more important than your life.
Xueqing even broke ties with Kaoru Tsukiyose when she asked for Juncheng’s finger, because she was genuinely angry.
For some people, certain special things are their bottom line. Once someone crosses that line, they will act unreasonably.
For Xueqing, the finger Juncheng gave her might be something no one was allowed to touch.
However, this time, Xueqing also understood that Juncheng’s finger might be a tool needed to save Juncheng. Yet, she still didn’t want to hand over the finger she cherished as her life, so she hastily came up with this method.
‘I won’t give it to you, but if you find it, it’s yours, and I can’t control that. However, my main body will automatically recover and generate heat before I’m on the verge of death, so ‘freezing to death’ is the least likely option for me.’
Did Xueqing choose to enter the cold storage room without knowing this fact?
But she herself would be affected too. No matter how robust her body was, if she stayed in such a low-temperature environment for a prolonged period, she would eventually be unable to endure it.
So, was my concern to find the finger before Xueqing froze to death? Tsk, what a nuisance. As I turned around and surveyed my surroundings, I fell into a brief daze, because only then did I realize ‘why’ Xueqing had come to the cold storage room. Here, in this place, there were a large number of other people’s fingers—where should I even begin to search? To find Juncheng’s little finger among these hundreds of fingers?
Impossible.
What was the difference between this and finding a needle in a haystack! I didn’t have Ariadne’s Thread with me right now, so there was no way to find it. The key issue was that I couldn’t distinguish which finger belonged to Juncheng. Even if I actually found it, I might overlook it because I couldn’t recognize it, which would infinitely prolong the search process. Damn it, wasn’t there any breakthrough?
Were there any signs of movement?
Or was there anything unnatural anywhere?
My body temperature continued to be leached away, my judgment was declining, my consciousness became erratic, and the world before my eyes blurred.
Frost had already formed on my eyebrows and hair. My body shivered uncontrollably, my teeth chattered, and my hands trembled from the cold.
Damn it, I had underestimated this low-temperature environment.
How many minutes could a human endure in a low-temperature environment?
Half an hour? Twenty minutes? Fifteen minutes?
Regardless, I couldn’t stay here any longer. I had to move, to try and move my body as much as possible, and to continue thinking.
I forcibly moved my wrist, fingers, and other joints, then slapped my thighs a few times, using the pain to keep myself alert. The sound of slapping echoed repeatedly in the cold storage room.
After recovering slightly, I began to search. The bottles on the top shelf contained fingernails, and below them were eyeballs. So, fingers… found them. The small boxes in the cabinet below contained fingers. But which box did Xueqing hide the finger in?
One box contained five fingers, neatly arranged from thumb to pinky. Juncheng’s was the extra one. So, I just needed to open all the boxes to know. Quickly, faster, I started opening the boxes one by one, confirming the number of fingers and then discarding them. There was no time to put them back properly.
My consciousness was becoming increasingly blurred. In the extreme cold, my consciousness felt like it was being ground down by a file, constantly diminishing. If I completely lost consciousness, I would break down on the spot.
Perhaps because it was too cold, I was already losing the sensation of cold. This was not a good sign. If I started to feel warm, it might be a sign that I was about to die. Many people who froze to death had smiles on their faces when they died for this very reason – finding warmth in death from extreme cold.
I wasn’t afraid of death, and this body wasn’t that easy to damage. However, if I lost consciousness, this “treasure hunt game” would…
Although I didn’t know what Xueqing would do, opening the door was impossible.
Damn, I was so sleepy.
I really couldn’t hold on any longer.
“Where… in which box is it?”
F Sci-Fi Light Novel
I could no longer breathe through my nose. My nasal cavity felt sore, and the cold air entering my lungs took away my body heat from the inside.
I repeated the mechanical action: opening a box, counting the number of fingers, and then discarding it. The next one…
One, two, three, four—Did I see wrong? I actually found it! I was so lucky!
I quickly took out that finger and took a look. However, I was stunned again.
Because that finger was too short!
It was less than two centimeters. Even a pinky couldn’t be this short!
Moreover, it was placed next to the pinky, which further emphasized the stark contrast. It was like an extra sixth finger—could this be it? Perhaps among serial killers, there were also those born with six fingers. If that were the case…
And in the end, why would I assume Xueqing had so obviously placed the finger into a specific box? Moreover, Xueqing might have replaced a pinky in a box with Juncheng’s finger. If that were the case, wouldn’t my search method be completely meaningless?
Perhaps Juncheng’s finger was in a box I had already looked at, but I had overlooked it and discarded it on the floor.
I suddenly felt like I was sinking to the bottom of the ocean, unable to surface. I collapsed on the spot, feeling difficulty breathing and chest pain. Even covering my chest with my hands was useless. The hundreds of fingers scattered around seemed to be pointing at me, the eyeballs suspended in formalin seemed to be staring at me, and I heard auditory hallucinations, all accusing me.
‘It’s all your fault!’
‘How many more mistakes will you make?’
‘Put us back quickly!’
‘If you make a mistake, we’ll cut off your fingers!’
‘Yes! It’s all your fault! Pull out all your fingernails, then cut off your fingers one by one!’
Even covering my ears, the voices continued to echo in my mind. My head felt like it was splitting open.
I wanted to cry, but my stinging eyes couldn’t shed tears. The world before me had turned dark; there was no difference between opening and closing my eyes. On the verge of collapse, I could only apologize helplessly.
“I’m sorry—I’m sorry.”
“Help me.”
“Get lost.”
That voice dispelled all the voices in my mind, and the light returned before my eyes.
It turned out that a mass of dark mist had enveloped me earlier, and now all that dark mist had left me.
“Again—kill the main body,” I looked towards the source of the voice. It was Xueqing speaking.
And those ghosts feared Xueqing like a tiger. So, hearing Xueqing’s declaration of slaughter, they became silent and fled without a trace.
Did she help me?
Xueqing’s usually calm face showed no anger or joy. Her deep blue pupils were as profound as if they contained stars. Those were ghost shadows sealed in the remains. They must have come out because I opened the boxes.
“Xue… Qing.”
To panic and almost break down because of this was too embarrassing.
Huu, it’s okay. Cheer up, Zi’ai An.
Let’s start over. I had assumed that Xueqing must have mixed Juncheng’s finger with other fingers to make it difficult for me to find it. However, it didn’t mean that a finger had to be put in the same box as other fingers.
First of all, Xueqing rushed out and entered the cold storage room in a hurry. She shouldn’t have had time to replace a box of fingers with Juncheng’s finger. Besides, that would be too casual, relying too much on luck and being unreliable.
Moreover, when I entered just now, I indeed didn’t find any signs of disturbance or movement. This meant that Xueqing might not have hidden Juncheng’s finger in these cabinets or boxes at all. Then, Xueqing’s purpose for coming to the cold storage room might have just been a feint to confuse me, a smokescreen. So where would the finger be hidden? If I were Xueqing, treasuring that finger immensely, where would I put it to feel at ease?
Of course, it would be close to me.
Yes, keeping it close to me was the most reassuring.
So, should I search Xueqing’s body again?
Whatever, I’ll try it first.
I walked up to Xueqing and squatted down, kneeling on one knee, and said to her,
“Xueqing, I need to search your body.”
Xueqing agreed to my request, so I directly reached into Xueqing’s mouth.
But of course not. After all, Xueqing had just spoken, and if there was something in her mouth, her voice would sound different.
The possibility of her swallowing it was very small. Since Xueqing said she would give it to me if I found it, she wouldn’t put it in a place that was impossible to find. Besides, the finger would be dissolved by stomach acid. Xueqing wouldn’t do something as childish as ‘if I can’t keep it, then no one else will get it!’
Then other places… After all, Xueqing was not wearing any clothes right now. If she were to hide it on her person, then it could only be ‘hidden inside her body’. If it wasn’t in her mouth, then it could only be below…
First, I placed my hand over that area, then observed Xueqing’s expression.
Seeing that she had no reaction, I inserted my finger. Xueqing couldn’t help but let out a groan. I forcibly calmed my mind and continued to probe. It was so narrow…
If it’s this small, it would be difficult even to fit a pinky.
Was I wrong?
Did Xueqing not place Juncheng’s finger close to her?
No, it shouldn’t be. Then where was it? What did I miss?
Close to me doesn’t mean on my body. There was no carpet in this room either.
“Xueqing, can you please stand up and come over here? I want to see your back and what’s under your butt.”
Xueqing also agreed to this request. She stood up and walked to the side, but not too far away, perhaps fearing that I would suddenly open the door.
Judging by her reaction, Juncheng’s finger wouldn’t be there. Where was it? How could Xueqing hide it so well that I couldn’t figure it out at all? There wasn’t even a clue.
“Is that okay?”
“Mm-hmm, it’s okay.”
Then Xueqing returned to her original position and sat down again.
No clue at all.
My body… I mustn’t panic!
Quick, quickly turn your brain, create a solution out of desperation, have a flash of inspiration! Juncheng always came up with solutions in the most critical moments!
Clue, clue—why did Xueqing return to her original spot?
She could have sat by the door, why did she deliberately return to sit in front of the door?
The door, huh…
I know!
“I—I know! Little Xueqing, you’ve tricked me so badly! Juncheng’s finger isn’t in this room at all, is it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Hehehe, your reaction makes me even more certain!”
The finger is there!
I walked up to Xueqing, then knocked on the door and shouted to Yu Hui outside.
“Yu Hui! Quickly, quickly remove the doorknob! There’s something—something very important inside!”
Correct!
Actually, Xueqing did give me a hint! After she entered the room, when I asked her, “Are you asking me to find Juncheng’s finger?” she said something to me:
“Just now, in the room.”
The emphasis was on “just now”!
Why add this word? It meant “just now” it was there, but “now” it’s not!
So, what action divides “then” and “now”?
It’s closing the door! Combined with Xueqing’s action of only sitting in front of the door.
Juncheng’s finger is in the doorknob on the other side!
“Found it! It’s Lord Juncheng’s finger!”
“Heh heh—how about that?”
“You win.”
Xueqing stood up and gave a faint smile.
While I was still staring blankly, she suddenly tilted to one side. Reacting quickly, I rushed forward and caught her.
“Xueqing! Are you alright?! Yu Hui! Quickly open the door! Xueqing fainted!”
Damn it! You have to be so stubborn about these bizarre things. You’ve been influenced by that idiot Juncheng too! You can’t be in trouble! Smi—
If not, when that Lolicon Juncheng comes back, he’ll be angry with me!
