Chapter 573: Chapter 572: Squaring Off with the Preschoolers

Mu Qiu, Zhao Yu, Shu Ran, and Han Xizheng formed an alliance, growing their pair into a four-person search team.

Creating an alliance group for Qiu didn’t seem to be much of a challenge.

They sat in the staircase on the sixth floor, exchanging the information they had.

Han Xizheng: "We’ve searched the fifth and sixth floors, checked every corner of each room, but couldn’t find any trace of the archive cards."

Mu Qiu subtly exchanged a glance with Zhao Yu. Zhao Yu understood and decided to keep the search for supplies a secret, only mentioning the archive cards.

"We couldn’t find anything either. Plus, we’re not even sure what the archive cards look like, we can only guess a few things.

If the production team designed the archive cards as ordinary paper, there should be something different around them, like a camera lens.

If they’re designed to be more high-end, they might be like metal plaques, then we could use a metal detector to check."

Mu Qiu continued her thought: "But that’s a clumsy method, there are too many metal objects in a room, it would be hard to tell if there’s an archive card."

Shu Ran raised an eyebrow: "So you all made a false impression to fool us?! I thought you already knew the archive card is made of metal!"

Mu Qiu remained calm: "Don’t rush, these are minor issues. If we have this problem, others must have it too.

Right now, the urgent task is to expand the search range, quickly search all possible places, and also gather some intel from others.

Let’s split the work, once we reach a place. You’ll look for abnormal spots, and we’ll scan other areas with a metal detector, using both methods together, how about it?"

Besides this clumsy method, what else can we do, it also saves some time. With four people together, we don’t have to worry about them sabotaging.

Shu Ran, instead of directly dissolving the alliance, nodded in agreement.

"Alright, where to now?"

Mu Qiu glanced at her shoes, saying: "To that hotel. Sister Shu Ran, change into a pair of sneakers, better for running."

Otherwise, if we run into any creepy mannequins, wearing heels while screaming and running could lead to accidents.

Shu Ran’s delicate makeup stiffened.

After a moment of stiffness, she found an excuse for herself: "Fine, I’ll touch up my makeup meanwhile."

"...You still need to touch up your makeup? It’ll be wiped off with sweat anyway."

As if finally regaining her ground, Shu Ran stood up, giving her a haughty glance, and walked downstairs: "What do you know, maintaining a clean and perfect makeup is my baseline."

"Alright, as you please, but the most important thing is to change your shoes!"

She rolled her eyes at Mu Qiu from a few steps below.

Once Shu Ran finished touching up her makeup and changed into sneakers, returning to the camera, they regrouped downstairs of the apartment building and headed towards the hotel.

They didn’t see anyone else by the roadside; Mu Qiu cautiously glanced around, wary of anything or anyone suddenly appearing.

Luckily, in the bright and scorching daylight, they didn’t encounter anything strange until they entered the hotel.

She withdrew her gaze, walking in front of Han Xizheng into the hotel.

Meanwhile, across the street at a clothing store entrance, pop, four heads poked out.

Guan Yu’s head was at the very bottom, seeing the opposite group leave, she pondered:

"Mu Qiu hoodwinked Shu Ran again, are they teaming up to find the archive card?"

The second head followed up asking: "Did they ally based on charm? Or did they offer Shu Ran and Han Xizheng some benefits?"

"Charm-based alliance? What charm does Mu Qiu have?"

"...That comment is strangely accurate."

The third head listened to them, eyeing the tall chef’s hat in front, reached out and knocked it off.

Chu Qiu quickly steadied it, turning to ask: "What’s up, Brother Huai?"

Shi Yuhuai: "Your hat’s blocking my view."

"Oh, sorry."

He took the hat off and held it in his arms.

Only then did Shi Yuhuai’s expression relax, and he asked the last person: "Can you see?"

Chen Yi: "...Of course not! You’re taller than me."

"You could tilt your head."

"Why can’t you let me stand third?"

"Having nobody behind feels weird."

"...Fine, I’ll give in to you. Lower your head!"

After their chattering, Guan Yu spoke again.

"Mu Qiu definitely promised something, probably food.

Did you see those two eye-catching backpacks? If my eyes aren’t blind, they look like preschool backpacks."

Shi Yuhuai confirmed: "Ultraman and Snow White."

"...That’s really shameless, being an adult and stealing preschool backpacks to wear!"

And not sharing one with her!

Chen Yi asked from the back: "Are those bags filled with food? Where did they find it? What’s that black object in their hand?"

Chu Qiu: "Weapon. Looks like they’re going for a fight."

"Going for a fight with Ultraman and Snow White backpacks? Preschoolers scheduling fights after school?" Guan Yu rolled her eyes.

Shi Yuhuai recalled what they saw, explaining once again: "It’s a metal detector."

That thing scanned him once, he remembered it clearly.

Chen Yi: "Metal detector? What are they using it for? Scanning metal... Are the archive cards made of metal?"

Chu Qiu: "How do they know the archive cards are metal? Could they have seen one?"

Guan Yu narrowed her eyes slightly: "Maybe they’ve already found them."

If they found them, did they use them?

Shi Yuhuai, being the tallest among them, appointed himself as the "most authoritative leader," issued orders:

"Let’s follow them."

Guan Yu was squatted like a mushroom, looked up at him:

"What are we following them for? If they’ve gotten the archive card, wouldn’t being too close make it easier for us to get killed?"

"Even if we aren’t too close, if they decide to kill after getting the archive card, who do you think the first targets would be?"

Guan Yu silently looked at him.

"Definitely you."

"..." Shi Yuhuai corrected her, "Maybe you?"

Guan Yu’s eyes widened: "Impossible! Mu Qiu and Shu Ran are together, if they join forces, they’d want to eliminate you the most. Just ask the former audience members."

Audience members Chu Qiu and Chen Yi simultaneously turned to look at Shi Yuhuai, silently pointing at him.

"Based on the previous episodes, I vote for you."

"I vote for you too."

Shi Yuhuai: "..."

He seemed to accept this cruel fact, then said:

"Anyway, we’re all at risk of harm, might as well follow them, to see what they’re really up to. Plus, we can see what the archive card actually looks like."

"That kinda makes sense," Guan Yu stood up, rubbed her legs, stretched her fingers, took a deep breath,

"Let’s go! I’m ready! Let us adults use adult methods to fight to the death with those shameless preschoolers!"