Some people lay down and immediately fell into a deep sleep. Others lay down only to toss and turn, unable to rest.

Their bodies were weary and drained, yet their nerves remained taut, refusing to relax.

Shen Mo sat leaning against Bai Youwei’s side, head bowed, silently turning over every event that had unfolded since they entered the game.

He and Bai Youwei had been through quite a few games together, but this one was undoubtedly the hardest. They had spent so much time, suffered so much, and they still hadn’t cleared the second round.

Bai Youwei seemed especially quiet.

She appeared to have been frightened — because when Shen Mo had first dived underwater, he had gone a long time without surfacing. Now, even as she slept with her eyes closed, she gripped his hand tightly, not daring to let go.

Shen Mo adjusted his position slightly to avoid squashing her.

Bai Youwei opened her eyes.

Shen Mo was momentarily startled, and asked softly, “Can’t sleep?”

“You’re not asleep either…” Bai Youwei shifted, rolling to face him.

“Mm.” Shen Mo said evenly. “I’ve been thinking about the game. If we never find the ‘treasure,’ the only way to clear it is probably to kill the guest — but our ability to move underwater is severely compromised. Unless we figure out a way to get the fish onto land.”

Bai Youwei listened, pressing her lips together without speaking.

The truth was, her rabbit could deal with that fish — but this whole house was so wet… water was everywhere, and when the fish went berserk, the tide would surge. There was no way to guarantee where the electric current might spread.

Moreover, for an electric shock to deliver real damage, it had to be concentrated at a single point. If it dispersed across an entire body of water, would it even be enough to seriously harm the fish? After all, the fish was underwater, and she couldn’t see it.

No matter how she thought about it, the risk outweighed the benefit.

She mulled it over for a moment, then spoke in a somewhat hoarse voice: “The difficulty of this game lies in… the clues being far too vague. In the golden frog ball game, we had to find a golden ball. In the friends’ gathering game, we had to pluck the most beautiful flower. Every game had a clear objective — but in this game, we’re left to guess what we’re supposed to find, and the only clue is a nursery rhyme.”

She let out a soft sigh and closed her eyes. “Heavy summer rain falls, pitch-black, and the treasure cannot be seen… Just from that one line, two entirely different meanings can be drawn.

One is the interpretation Li Li mentioned: the treasure is hidden in the darkness, and because it can’t be seen, it’s hard to find.

The other is: the treasure is not in the darkness — so no matter how much you search in a dark place, you’ll never find it.

Either interpretation can hold logical consistency within the context of the nursery rhyme.

Now we’ve found beads on the first floor… Combined with the hint Li Li found in the book, the beads fit the ‘glittering’ description — but there’s one thing I can’t reconcile: glittering things typically produce their shine through the reflection and refraction of light. So without a light source, how could the beads be glittering?”

The mention of light prompted Shen Mo to ask, “Could it be the flashlight?”

Bai Youwei shook her head. “The inspector said the answer was within this house — but the flashlight is something we brought in from outside the game.”

Shen Mo thought for a moment, then murmured, “At this point, the beads still seem the most likely. Let’s try tomorrow and see. Maybe we’re all overthinking it, and the answer isn’t that complicated.”

Bai Youwei murmured, “Let’s hope so…”

The two of them talked in fragments for a while, then closed their eyes to rest.

The night passed.

…

In conditions like these, no one could sleep soundly.

The room was cold and damp, the surrounding walls slick with moisture. Although only the first floor was flooded, the humid air permeated the entire house.

Bai Youwei drifted in and out of sleep. The patter of rain filled her ears; occasionally, someone turned over inside the room, and the faint rhythm of breathing rose and fell around her.

She opened her eyes in a half-daze and saw Shen Mo’s handsome face, the dim amber light casting deep and shallow shadows across his features.

She gazed at him for a little while, then leaned into him and closed her eyes again, drifting off to sleep…

That night passed quietly and still.

—