Card Room

By this time, Liu Qiao, Old Mo and Gui Yuanzhang had reached the palace.

The palace in the middle of the night was much more active than during the day. There were patrolling guards walking around but this wasn't a problem for the three people who had grown up in the palace since they were young. In addition to their merpeople abilities, they had many cards.

Gui Yuanzhang used his brush to increase their speed in the palace.

In addition, they wore the invisibility cloaks so the guards couldn't find them at all.

The palace buildings on the west side had been checked previously and there were more forked paths on the east side.

The three people quickly explored the way and Old Mo remembered the path in his mind.

After all, the invisibility cloak only lasted for 30 minutes. Once the cloak failed, it was possible to be surrounded by merpeople. "Time is running out. The three of us will split up. Remember to leave a mark at the junction of dead end roads and use the voice headset to keep in touch." Old Mo instructed.

The distance inside the palace wasn't over 10 kilometers so the three of them could communicate with each other using the voice headset.

Gui Yuanzhang nodded. "Okay. Be careful."

The fluorescent Four-way Arrow card might be easy to notice but it was safer to leave a mark. The three of them agreed to leave a sharp arrow-shaped mark at the intersections with dead ends.

After a while, the three of them met at a big intersection. Due to the invisibility cloaks, they couldn't see each other and almost ran into each other.

Senior Gui immediately said, "I moved through over a dozen forked paths and the end of the paths were just the residences of merpeople. Nothing abnormal was found."

Liu Qiao nodded. "Me too."

Old Mo wondered, "There are so many forked paths but no clues. What is the structure of the east side?"

Senior Gui had a headache. "I have an ordinary sense of direction. I still have to rely on you to move through the labyrinth."

Old Mo nodded. "I'll go forward, Xiao Liu will go to the left and Senior Gui will go to the right. Continue to explore!"

Soon, Senior Gui and Liu Qiao met up but there were no traces of Old Mo.

Liu Qiao wondered, "Where did Uncle Mo go? Is his path the right one?"

Just then, Mo Xuemin’s familiar voice was heard in their ears. “I understand it now. The east labyrinth is actually a complicated fishbone structure. The many side roads are the residences of the merpeople and no laboratory has been found. There is only one main road in the labyrinth, which is like the backbone in the middle of the fishbone.”

Liu Qiao's eyes lit up. "It makes sense. No wonder why there are so many interference roads. These forked roads are the ribs of the fish. Uncle Mo, will the laboratory be in the position of the fish head? Or is it the fish tail?"

Old Mo answered, "I've reached the fish head. It is a beautiful 270 degree viewing platform surrounded by colorful fish. It is like an aquarium. I didn't find any obvious mechanisms. The laboratory is probably at the fish tail."

Gui Yuanzhang wondered, "Should we go the other way?"

"Yes, turn around and go straight to try it."

Old Mo quickly returned to Liu Qiao and Gui Yuanzhang and they continued the investigation in the opposite direction.

Just then, they saw Xiao Lou passing through a spacious corridor. The surrounding guards looked at him and immediately saluted him respectfully. "Your Highness."

Xiao Lou frowned and asked, "You still haven't found the princess?"

A guard lowered his head in shame. "This subordinate sent troops to search the nearby seas but they haven't been able to find the princess. In addition, Elder Gui and Mr Mo have also disappeared."

Xiao Lou ordered, "Keep looking. Report back to me immediately if there is any news."

The three people didn't dare to go out. They held their breaths and hid until Xiao Lou passed by and disappeared at the end of the corridor. Then the three people sighed with relief.

Liu Qiao suggested, "Should we follow him? This is the area where the elders live and he usually doesn't come here. He suddenly passed by today and headed to the depths of the labyrinth. Perhaps he is going to the cloning laboratory?"

Gui Yuanzhang nodded. "It makes sense. Let's follow and take a look."

The three of them followed Xiao Lou from a distance and reached the fish tail position of the labyrinth.

This was very similar to the V-shaped tail of a normal fish, with a branched path to the left and right. Looking closely, the left and right sides were exactly the same. There was also a door on either side with a strange figure-shaped switch on them.

Old Mo looked blank as he whispered, "The two doors are exactly the same?"

Gui Yuanzhang frowned. "The theme of this secret room is clones. Since people have a real and fake self, the labyrinth should also have something real and false. If we open the real door, we can enter the cloning laboratory. If we open the false door, perhaps we will die."

Old Mo was happy. "Fortunately, we met the 5th Xiao Lou and he showed us the way."

The trio couldn't follow too closely so Xiao Lou had already disappeared from sight. However, Senior Gui was keenly aware of a clue. "He went to the left. You see, the sea waves on the left are different from the right. Someone has obviously just passed by."

Old Mo nodded. "Yes, I have informed Professor Xiao. He told me to use Li Qingzhao's mark to summon everyone over and solve this 5th Xiao Lou first."

He summoned Li Qingzhao and used the marking skill, Stray Into the Depths of the Lotus Flowers.

Li Qingzhao's mark could teleport all teammates to this position after five minutes. As long as they waited five minutes, their teammates could instantly appear in front of them. The trio hid nervously and waited for the right time…

Five minutes later, Xiao Lou's group appeared in front of them.

At this point, the invisibility cloaks of the trio had lost their effect. Xiao Lou walked up to Old Mo and asked in a low voice, "Are you sure that the 5th Xiao Lou entered the door to the left?"

Old Mo nodded. "Yes."

Xiao Lou ordered, "Let's go to the right."

Liu Qiao was startled and wondered, "Why should we go to the right? Didn't he go to the left?"

Xiao Lou smiled slightly as he looked at Liu Qiao. "He is a clone, a fake. Then the place he went to is naturally the false one. Maybe he discovered you and wanted to deliberately lure everyone to follow him into the false door."

Liu Qiao suddenly realized. "It makes sense."

Xiao Lou had just finished speaking when Yu Hanjiang arrived at the door to the right.

There was a graphic mechanism on the door. Old Mo said, "It should be a fishbone. The floor plan of the labyrinth is like a fish bone."

Yu Hanjiang used his finger to draw a fish bone on the mechanism and the door opened.

He looked around vigilantly and walked into the room.

The scene inside was simply shocking. There were coffin-sized glass containers filled with light blue liquids placed one after another. 'Specimens' of human beings were lying inside them. Among them were Xiao Lou, Shao Qingge, Ye Qi, Lu Jiuchuan, Tang Ci…

After seeing so many copies of himself suddenly appearing in the laboratory in the weird nutrient solution, Ye Qi couldn't help feeling a chill going down his back. "I will definitely have nightmares later!"

Just then, a vessel in the laboratory started to shake violently.

A girl actually climbed out of a 'transparent coffin'. She was covered in a strange blue liquid and her hair was sticky. Her skin was dehydrated by the nutrient solution and she looked a mess.

She and Liu Qiao had exactly the same face!

Liu Qiao took a horrified step back. "She… is my clone? When was I copied? In addition… she was raised to be 18 years old like me!"

The Liu Qiao covered in nutrient solution stared at her other self coldly. Due to being soaked in the nutrient solution for too long, her voice seemed a bit hoarse but her words were extremely calm. "You are the clone."

Liu Qiao looked to Xiao Lou for help. "Professor Xiao, she actually wants to try to create chaos by passing off the fake as the real?"

Xiao Lou immediately connected with Liu Qiao using Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings and asked through the mind channel, "Have you seen the traditional Chinese medicine books on the 23rd floor of the medical school's library?"

The Liu Qiao in a disheveled state quickly replied, "Our medical school's library doesn't have 23 floors. It is only 12 floors and the Chinese medicine books are on the 6th floor."

Xiao Lou decisively ordered, "Take her and withdraw!"

The next moment, Yu Hanjiang tied up the Liu Qiao next to Xiao Lou with the white silk card. Then everyone disappeared from the merpeople palace in an instant and appeared under the peach blossom trees.

It was a collective transmission to the Peach Blossom Spring.

Both Liu Qiaos arrived in the Peach Blossom Spring. One was in an embarrassing state while the other was well-dressed.

Xiao Lou took off his coat and placed it on the former Liu Qiao. Liu Qiao glanced at him and said gratefully, "Professor Xiao, I didn't expect you to find me so soon."

The neatly dressed Liu Qiao had a pale face. "What do you mean? Do you believe her instead of me?"

"I already knew you were a fake. You fell into my language trap without being aware of it. The library of the medical school doesn't have a 23rd floor." Xiao Lou looked at the girl in front of him. His voice was calm but his eyes didn't have the usual gentleness. "We acted in front of you because we wanted to rescue the real Liu Qiao as soon as possible."

Yu Hanjiang's eyes were sharp. "You cooperated with the 5th Xiao Lou to lead us to the palace. You wanted to destroy all of us at the bottom of the sea, right?"

7th anniversary celebration event

Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality