The final grouping ended up with Xia Xi taking Bai Yue #1, and Luo Xinyu taking Bai Yue #2.
As for why Xia Xi didn’t take Bai Yue #2—the “Bai Yue” who had his Xia Xiaocha body—well, that was simply because Xia Xi wanted to swap back in front of witnesses.
If he swapped in private, and then that person used his male body’s strength advantage to knock him out and put on an act, wouldn’t that be the end of the line?
The first floor of the teaching building had already been thoroughly searched, and no special item had been found, so the group decided to head upstairs.
Luo Xinyu and Bai Yue #2 would search the second floor, while Xia Xi took Bai Yue #1 to search the third floor.
But when Xia Xi got to the third floor, it wasn’t a closed space like the first and second floors. Instead, it was shattered into piece after piece. Between the gaps of these third-floor fragments was the same kind of darkness Xia Xi had seen earlier when looking out the window.
He tried tossing a piece of chalk he’d taken from a classroom down into the gap. The chalk seemed to be swallowed up—no sound of it hitting the ground reached his ears.
“You go first.”
Xia Xi felt the gaps between these broken floor fragments were too dangerous. He was worried Bai Yue #1 might try something sneaky behind him and push him down, so he made her walk in front of him.
“I don’t want to! I’m scared too!”
Bai Yue #1 was very resistant.
And that was understandable. Even an ordinary person would feel fear standing at the edge of a cliff, let alone standing over this kind of bottomless black hole that clearly wasn’t anything good.
“Then we’ll walk side by side.”
Right now, Xia Xi had a male body with a strength advantage. Since he was on guard, there was no way she’d be able to push him with that girl’s body anyway.
“Fine~”
Bai Yue #1 obediently nodded.
After they came upstairs, there was a narrow path between this third-floor fragment and another fragment on the right. Following that path led to a second, smaller fragment.
This fragment was different from the first one. On its standing wall, just like in the office, a line of text was carved.
[Follow the arrow’s direction. Walk forward boldly.]
The arrow’s direction?
Xia Xi looked left and right but didn’t see any arrow pattern anywhere.
Could it be on the second floor?
Luo Xinyu and the others were searching the second floor. Who knew if they’d found anything special?
Either way, this was a useful clue. Xia Xi silently committed it to memory and then continued walking toward the third fragment.
Without him realizing it, Bai Yue #1 had fallen behind him.
There was no helping it—the path was just too narrow, barely wide enough for one person.
Xia Xi looked back at her and noticed she kept glancing downward, her face full of fear.
That scared expression didn’t look fake. Could this Bai Yue actually be the real Bai Yue?
A big pervert, logically speaking, probably wouldn’t have this kind of little-girl fearful expression.
Xia Xi didn’t dwell on it too much, because he had already reached the end of the path.
What he hadn’t expected was that this third fragment would be even narrower than the second—barely one person wider than the path itself.
On this third fragment, there was no connecting path to the next fragment. And jumping to the fourth fragment didn’t seem possible either.
That meant that on this trip to the third floor, aside from that carved message, Xia Xi hadn’t found anything else either.
“Um…”
Just as he was about to turn back and go downstairs, Bai Yue #1 suddenly called out to him.
“What is it?”
His brow furrowed again. Was she about to make a move on him now?
But Xia Xi had guessed wrong this time. She was just pointing at the third fragment.
“Xiaocha, don’t you think that fragment platform kind of looks like an arrow?”
Following Bai Yue #1’s words, Xia Xi took a closer look. The platform of this third fragment actually did seem like an arrow shape, just as she had said.
And the direction the arrow pointed was straight into the lightless darkness ahead.
[Follow the arrow’s direction. Walk forward boldly.]
If Xia Xi remembered correctly, that was what the carved message said.
Which meant…
He walked to the very end of the third fragment—the tip of that arrow—and leaned forward slightly, peering down into the darkness below.
It would be a lie to say he wasn’t scared. But Xia Xi had an idea he wanted to try.
He lifted one foot and tentatively stepped into the air right at the arrow’s tip.
Surprisingly, his foot didn’t fall through empty space. Instead, it stayed firmly on the air at the same level as the third fragment, as if something was holding his foot up.
Bingo!
There was an invisible air platform!
With his idea confirmed, he boldly walked forward in the direction the arrow pointed.
Behind him, Bai Yue followed closely, step by step.
After just a dozen or so steps, a building appeared right in front of them, where nothing had been before.
Xia Xi strode inside.
The room was filled with all kinds of sports equipment—badminton rackets, basketballs, soccer balls, volleyballs—you name it.
“Looks like this is the school’s equipment room.”
No wonder they couldn’t find the special item on the first floor. It seemed the item was hidden inside these kinds of concealed buildings. They had to find clues to locate the hidden buildings and then find the special item.
In the middle of the equipment room stood four cardboard boxes, none of them very large.
Xia Xi walked to the left and opened three of them in order from left to right. Bai Yue #1 walked to the right and opened the last one.
Contrary to Xia Xi’s expectations, he didn’t find any special item.
When he looked up at Bai Yue #1, he saw an expression on her face—a smile that didn’t suit her cute appearance at all.
“You’re the big pervert!!!”
Seeing this, Xia Xi instantly understood who she really was.
“So what if you know now? I’ve already got the special item. And I have you to thank for leading the way.”
Hearing that sweet, girly voice coming from Bai Yue’s body, Xia Xi couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat.
He quickly stepped forward, trying to use his physical advantage to pin her to the ground.
But she didn’t retreat. Instead, she took a step forward. The two of them bumped heads.
[Special item “Collision” has been triggered. The person whose body has been swapped will fall unconscious for ten minutes. After every ten minutes, that person will be partially assimilated by the original personality of the body they’re in. When that person swaps bodies again, this effect will disappear.]
“Hehehe~ Just like that, I’ve completed two tasks at once. We AIs are invincible!!!”
The big pervert who had taken over Xia Xi’s male body chuckled to himself for a moment. Then, he used the various exercise equipment in the room to work up a sweat, making his face flush red and his breath heavy. After that, he ran out the door.
“I should probably erase the carving on that wall…”
He casually picked up a stone from the ground, scratched up the wall with the carved message, then turned and ran downstairs.
“Help! That big pervert is trying to take over my Bai Xi body!!!”
