She walked into the office and was surprised to find that there was still someone inside—it was that tall boy.
At this moment, he was leaning casually against the desk, looking completely at ease and unrestrained.
When the boy saw Su Yan, he didn’t seem surprised at all.
He raised his eyebrows slightly, said nothing, and showed no intention of leaving.
He simply watched her calmly.
Su Ying gave him a polite nod, then began to carefully inspect the room.
She had already wasted almost five minutes with “Si Nian” earlier, and she really couldn’t afford to waste any more time.
Thirty minutes wasn’t exactly short, but it definitely wasn’t long either.
After looking over the room as a whole, Su Yan felt that it was pretty much the same as what she’d seen before—nothing had really changed.
It seemed she’d have to look for problems in the details now.
Ah, she had stumbled into everyone’s favorite segment: the painstaking search for differences.
Rustle… rustle…
“Hiss!”
Su Yan suddenly turned around and stared at the man behind her.
The boy’s eyes met Su Yan’s without blinking, completely unfazed by her sudden movement.
“Do you really have to keep staring at me like you’re watching a show?” she couldn’t help but ask.
It was precisely because of his intense gaze just now that she couldn’t help but turn around.
The boy nodded in sudden realization.
“Am I bothering you?”
Su Yan was just about to say something polite, when he continued, “Then you’ll need to work on your tolerance.”
Su Yan: …..
She stared at him in disbelief, but the other party looked completely serious, showing not even a hint of mockery.
Words without malice are the most lethal.
Su Yan turned her head away, forcing herself to ignore his gaze and continued searching the room.
She suddenly hugged her head again, glancing suspiciously at this relaxed boy who seemed to be on vacation.
Noticing her look, the boy tilted his chin, signaling that she didn’t need to pay attention to him, and then continued to watch.
She hesitated for a moment, then tentatively called out, “Chu River and Han Border?”
The boy’s eyebrow arched.
Though his features were plain, he somehow gave off a rather commanding aura.
When he didn’t respond, Su Yan thought she’d guessed wrong and hurried to explain, “I…”
But the boy just laughed, stood up, and walked over.
“Hello, I’m Chu River and Han Border.”
As his tall figure approached, Su Yan could clearly feel his presence.
She straightened up slightly and touched her nose.
“I’m Yan Jing.”
What’s with this guilty feeling?
Su Yan suddenly realized that her words just now had sounded awkward, almost as if she were trying to curry favor.
If anyone should be guilty, it should be this guy who just said something so outrageous!
Thinking this, she immediately gathered her confidence, took a step forward, and reached out her hand.
“Hello, it’s very nice to meet you.”
She deliberately drew out and emphasized the words “very nice,” to show that she was indeed “very sincere” about being pleased to meet him.
Chu River and Han Border had originally planned to step back after seeing Su Yan’s discomfort, but he hadn’t expected her to take the initiative and step forward, showing no sign of being intimidated by his presence.
He nodded appreciatively and politely shook Su Yan’s outstretched hand, then let go.
Su Ying watched where he had just touched, feeling that this kind of handshake was a bit… mysterious.
The tension between the two of them was palpable, but the live comments were lively and cheerful.
“If these two could just stick together, I wouldn’t have to split my screen anymore.”
“Their names give off a real king vs. king vibe.”
“Is this girl here because she knows how popular our Chu God is and wants to ride the hype?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, they don’t know how popular the other guests are.”
“I’m more curious how she recognized Chu God.”
“Isn’t it obvious? With how relaxed Chu God looks, who else could be this chill without finishing their mission?”
Su Yan had no idea the viewers were questioning her.
After greeting him, she quickly returned to the task of searching for the mutant.
Logically speaking, this room wasn’t too complicated, but there had to be at least one or two mutants hiding inside.
After all, there were only three areas where things could be hidden—if one area had nothing, that wouldn’t make sense.
However, since Chu River and Han Border had already found a mutant in this room, whether there was still another one here was uncertain.
Maybe only one mutant had snuck in.
Still, she was a step too late.
Su Yan felt a bit frustrated. If she’d known earlier, she should have come directly to this room instead of explaining things to “Si Nian.”
She’d been worried that “Si Nian” would compete with her for the shapeshifter, so she’d hesitated.
Who would’ve thought she’d end up missing her chance and getting herself stuck in a predicament.
Forget it, better look around a bit more.
The table was still there, with four chairs, and five chairs in total—nothing wrong with that.
There were several pens in the pen holder on the desk, and Su Yan carefully counted them—yes, the number was correct.
She meticulously searched every corner, and finally spotted a red pen in one corner of the room.
This red pen was exactly the same as one of the long pens in the pen holder, as if they’d been made from the same mold.
Could this be a mutant in disguise?
Su Yan’s eyes lit up.
But the light in her eyes quickly faded again.
She couldn’t be sure whether this red pen was really a mutant.
Earlier, because she’d been pressed for time, Su Yan had only done a rough check of the items in the room and hadn’t paid much attention to these little details in the corners.
In other words, even Su Yan couldn’t remember if this pen had been here before.
After thinking for a moment, Su Yan suddenly turned to the “Chu River and Han Border” watching from the side.
“Um, can I ask what form the mutant you found took? If it’s a secret, just ignore me.”
Chu River and Han Border shook his head.
His task was already complete, so telling her was no trouble at all.
In fact, he was quite curious to see whether Su Yan could figure out the pen’s identity.
“It turned into a pot of green pothos placed by the door.”
Su Yan glanced at the empty doorway and understood immediately.
She remembered clearly that when she’d come into this room before, the green plant had only been under the window—there definitely hadn’t been one by the door.
But realizing this, she felt another wave of regret.
Such an obvious mutant—it was practically a freebie!
Too bad she hadn’t made it in time.
Timing… fate!
Still, thanks to the clue provided by Chu River and Han Border, Su Yan now had a rough guess about the pen, and she was able to determine whether it was a mutant or not.
If a mutant dared to turn into such an obvious green plant, then it was likely they didn’t know whether the guests had explored the map during the preparation stage.
Not only that, Su Yan guessed that the mutants must have subconsciously assumed the guests wouldn’t be clever enough to actively explore the map.
That’s why the mutant-turned-green-plant was left so blatantly in the open—it was hiding in plain sight.
If Su Yan and the others hadn’t explored the map, this would indeed have been a good plan.
Most guests who hadn’t checked the map in advance wouldn’t suspect such an obvious item was a shapeshifter.
Even if they did suspect, they probably wouldn’t waste a verification attempt on it.
After all, with only three chances, it wasn’t worth the risk.
Given all that, Su Yan didn’t think any mutant would turn into a pen and deliberately hide in a corner.
Because if you hid in a place like that and got found, the guests would almost certainly try to verify it—such a suspicious spot was just too obvious.
With that in mind, Su Yan put the pen back on the table and continued searching for other clues.
Chu River and Han Border saw Su Yan put the pen down and a trace of admiration flashed in his eyes.
Su Yan’s guess was correct—the pen was not a mutant.
Why was he so sure?
Because he’d seen this pen before.
Unlike Su Yan, Chu River and Han Border had actually checked every nook and cranny of the map during the exploration phase and had naturally seen this pen as well.
Even though both had explored the map, Su Yan and Chu River and Han Border had completely different methods.
If Su Yan just remembered the big things, then Chu River and Han Border remembered every detail.
Just now, Chu River and Han Border could clearly tell that Su Yan hadn’t noticed the pen before, which was why she spent so long pondering whether or not to verify it.
But once Su Yan put the red pen down, everything was settled—Chu River and Han Border instantly knew the result of her choice: she chose not to verify it.
That was certainly the right call, but what Chu River and Han Border really wanted to know was how she’d arrived at that conclusion.
He thought about it.
During Su Yan’s hesitation, it was obviously her question to him that changed the course of events.
But Chu River and Han Border just couldn’t figure out the connection between her question and her conclusion.
How did she deduce that the red pen was real and not a mutant, just from hearing that the mutant he found was the green plant by the door?
Chu River and Han Border watched Su Yan with a searching gaze, but didn’t ask aloud.
After ruling out one possibility, Su Yan relaxed a little, only to realize there were still countless other possibilities waiting for her.
There were a lot of things in this room—almost as if the production team had set up a bunch of little traps everywhere.
Su Yan’s head was starting to ache.
She couldn’t help but wonder if she should just switch rooms.
Rather than getting stuck in a rut, maybe it was better to look elsewhere.
Forget it, I’ll check another room first!
She turned and prepared to leave.
As she was about to walk out, Chu River and Han Border suddenly called from behind, “Yan Jing, why do you think that red pen wasn’t a mutant?”
Su Yan turned and looked at him in surprise—she hadn’t expected him to have this kind of question.
But it wasn’t anything remarkable, so Su Yan calmly explained her thought process to him.
Chu River and Han Border nodded in sudden understanding.
Her reasoning was quite unique—something he hadn’t thought of.
Watching Su Yan’s departing figure, he said casually, “There’s still another mutant in this room.”
Su Yan froze mid-step, turning back to look at him in shock.
After saying that, Chu River and Han Border straightened up, stretched lazily, brushed past Su Yan, and left the room.
They were even now.
Su Yan was completely bewildered the whole time, but she didn’t doubt Chu River and Han Border’s words.
There hadn’t been any conflict between them just now, so he had no reason to lie.
Even if he did, he wouldn’t gain anything from it.
But why did he choose to tell her this at this particular moment?
He didn’t seem like the kind of person who’d go out of his way to help others.
Just now…
Thinking of the question the boy had asked her, Su Yan suddenly had a revelation.
—He was paying back a favor!
She had answered his question earlier, so now he was giving her a clue in return.
Why was Su Yan so sure about this?
Because she suddenly realized that Chu River and Han Border could have asked his question earlier, when she put down the red pen.
But he deliberately waited until she was about to give up on the room, making it clear that he wanted to settle the score and not owe any favors.
He’d even waited until Su Yan was stuck before bringing up his own question, clearly planning on a one-for-one exchange.
If Su Yan had cleared the challenge easily, he definitely wouldn’t have asked his question at all.
Su Yan lowered her head and chuckled softly.
This guy really is…