Qi Jiu scratched his head in embarrassment: "I have just grown up, and I don't plan to fall in love so early."

The old woman giggled: "Sooner or later, such matters as marriage are not decided by the parties involved. Some people can't ask for it, and some people can't break it off. Flowers come in clusters and go away like duckweeds..."

The old woman muttered a few words, then brought the topic to the right track, and continued to explain to everyone: "The hot springs are divided into men's and women's hot springs. Men are on the left and women are on the right. Remember, don't go wrong. "Yuzhiyu" does not allow it.

Mixed bathing.”

After everyone paid, the old woman counted the survival coins and gave everyone a timer. After all, the "Hot Spring Rules" mentioned: "Please strictly follow the instructions of the hot spring pool to guarantee the time. It is forbidden to arrive within the specified time of the selected hot spring pool.

"Leaved without permission".

"Let me explain first, there is only a simple bamboo fence between the men's and women's soup pools. Men are not allowed to peek, let alone sneak past." The old woman smiled sinisterly at all the men, "This kind of impoliteness has happened before.

The thing is, it’s very annoying.”

"Everyone, please." After explaining the precautions, the old woman opened the door to the hot spring pool.

"Sorry, I want to ask something," Qi Jiu asked the old woman a little embarrassed, "Can I bring this bamboo lantern near the soup pool? It belongs to the hotel. I am just an intern working. I'm afraid

I can’t afford to pay for it if I lose it.”

The old woman seemed to have a good impression of the young guide and waved to him: "Take it in, it's okay, as long as you don't get the bamboo lantern into the soup pool."

"Thank you very much." Qi Qiu, who was holding a will-o'-the-wisp bamboo lantern, bowed gently to express his thanks.

He found that after arriving at "Yu no Yu", the flames of the will-o'-the-wisp lanterns burned brighter and brighter, indicating that the density of wraiths here was greater than that on the streets outside.

It is a novel experience to soak in a hot spring bath filled with evil spirits.

Qi Jiu and the remaining three men walked to the bathroom on the left. When they confirmed that the shower stalls in the bathroom were separated, Qi Jiu breathed a sigh of relief because he was not used to bathing with strangers.

The "Rules for Bathing" clearly stipulates that the body must be washed thoroughly before bathing, so everyone rinsed carefully. It took about six or seven minutes before the sound of water from the shower head gradually subsided.

Qi Qiu put on the new yukata prepared for guests at the bathhouse. Just when he was about to walk to the hot spring pool, he suddenly thought of something and turned back.

He reached into the pocket of his yukata and immediately took out the "call girl card" that was thrown through the door by an unknown dangerous object last night.

Qi Gu speculated that since the shrine was once a place for pleasure in the dream, and "Yu no Yu" was originally integrated with it, then "U no Yu" was probably also a place used to serve rejoicing guests.

What kind of place breeds what kind of evil spirit? If you encounter a troublemaker while bathing, maybe the "call girl card" can come in handy.

With this in mind, Qi Jiu secretly stuffed the small card into his new bathrobe and walked towards the hot spring pool again carrying the will-o'-the-wisp lantern.

There was a lot of mist outside, and the thick white cover obscured people's sight.

There are a total of twelve hot spring pools distributed in the men's area. The hot spring pools are of different shapes and sizes. The edges of the pools are uniformly surrounded by unpolished black volcanic rocks, which are used to store yukata and belongings for tourists, which is full of wild fun.

The hot spring water in the pool is of very good quality and is thick and pure milky white.

The strong smell of sulfur filled the air, and after taking a deep breath, my whole body felt warm.

There seemed to be no fire ban rules near the hot spring pools. A small oil lamp was hung above each hot spring pool. The warm yellow light swayed in the misty winter night, adding a unique sense of tranquility.

If it weren't for the fact that they were currently in a dungeon with a narrow escape from death, the players would have mistakenly thought that they were on vacation at a hot spring resort.

The naming of these hot springs is also very unique. The twelve hot springs are named Beginning of Autumn, End of Heat, White Dew, Autumnal Equinox, Cold Dew, Frost Descent, Beginning of Winter, Light Snow, Heavy Snow, Winter Solstice, Lesser Cold and Big Cold.

The naming pattern is based on the twelve solar terms of autumn and winter. Qi Zhu guessed that the Nvtang next door distributed the twelve solar terms of spring and summer.

Each hot spring pool also clearly stipulates the minimum duration and limit of the number of people who can soak in the hot spring. The shortest one is the "Dahan" hot spring pool. You can leave after 20 minutes after entering, and the number of people is limited to two; the longest one is the "Liqiu" one, which requires

Soak for thirty-one minutes, and the number of people is limited to five.

Due to rules restrictions, "Yu no Soup" is a must-do mission for players, but the mission itself is always accompanied by crises.

In the absence of clear taboos, the first reaction of players is to look for the shortest soup pool. After all, the nights are long and there are many dreams.

Soon, the union leader and his followers had locked onto the "Big Cold" soup pool, which only required 20 minutes of soaking.

The young man at 102 originally wanted to choose the "Dahan" pool, but since the pool was limited to two people, he didn't want to conflict with the union boss, so he silently chose "Xiaohan" on the side.

The pool is only one minute longer than the "Big Chill" pool, so the problem shouldn't be too big.

Qi Jiu, who was holding a will-o'-the-wisp lantern, was still wandering in the mist.

Qi Qiu found that the duration of the twelve hot spring pools decreases from autumn to winter. He does not think that this time setting is randomly generated, nor does he think that the hot spring pools in the twelve solar terms of autumn and winter are just for the pursuit of elegance.

Solar terms often symbolize changes in weather and temperature...

In the flash of lightning in his mind, Qi Jiu caught a word - "temperature".

Is it possible that the more the solar term symbolizes coldness, the colder the water in the pool will become?

If we extrapolate from this conclusion, the situation in the Nvtang is just the opposite. The hotter the water in the solar term pool, the hotter it will be.

If so, the setting of Tangchi time also has a reasonable explanation——

In order to achieve fairness among players, the more painful the bathing environment is, the shorter the time setting will be, and vice versa.

Therefore, if you choose from the perspective of "temperature", it will be safer to choose the seasonal weather in spring and autumn.

But this does not mean that the only test of "temperature" during the bathing process is that there may be more unknown hidden dangers if the time is long...

After analyzing the pros and cons, Qi Gu walked to the six hot spring ponds that symbolized autumn. After hesitating for a moment, he finally placed the will-o'-the-wisp bamboo lantern beside the "White Dew" pond.

The water mist that filled the night became thicker and thicker, so thick that even the small oil lamp swinging on the top of the pool could not be seen.

Qi Qiu untied the yukata he had just put on, folded it, and pressed the "call girl card" under the yukata.

He was alone in the "Bai Dew" pool. Under the cover of the thick fog, he quietly descended into the pool, as if he didn't want to disturb the unknown things hidden in the thick fog.

The water temperature in the soup pool was just right, and the spring water filled with the strong smell of sulfur soaked his tired body. Qi Jiu rested his head on the volcanic stone and breathed a sigh of relief.

The twelve hot spring pools in the hot spring area were obviously very close, but at this moment he could no longer hear the voices of the other three men.

The thick white mist was like a barrier, shrouding him in the square inch pool.

All sounds were swallowed up by the thick fog, and it was so quiet that only the sound of flowing water mist remained.

Qi Ku, who closed his eyes and meditated, could even hear the sound of time passing.

The little ghost lantern placed by the pool is continuously absorbing the nearby yin energy, adding 0.1 happiness value to Qi Ku every three minutes.

Although slow, the Little Ghost Lantern is like a diligent little employee, constantly sucking up Yin Qi and tirelessly converting them into pleasant values ​​that can maintain the owner's mental health.

About fifteen minutes later, a "swish" sound suddenly came from the water not far from Qi Qiu.

Qi Jiu's eyelids twitched as he closed his eyes to rest, and then he felt the water patterns on the surface of the pool slowly undulating.

There is something "dirty" in the water.

As the opponent approached, the shaking of the water became more and more violent, and the pervasive smell of sulfur was gradually covered by a strange fishy smell.

At the same time, Qi Ku's pleasure value, which had been rising, began to decline.

It must have been this "uninvited guest" who polluted the water in the soup pool and disturbed Qi Qiu who was soaking in it.

The "Hot Spring Code" stipulates that you are not allowed to stare at fellow travelers who come to the hot spring for a long time, so Qi Ku, who was concentrating with his eyes closed, only cracked a slit to check for movement.

But the white fog was too thick, and the "uninvited guest" was blurred into a shadow with irregular edges. This shadow was moving from the opposite side of the pool in the direction of Qi Qiu.

"It's so comfortable. This water temperature is so comfortable..." As the uninvited guest gradually approached, Qi Jiu finally heard what it was saying.

Sure enough, pool water with a comfortable temperature can easily attract dirt. It's hard to have both.

As the uninvited guest approached, Qi Qiu's pleasure value was as crazy as raindrops "-1", and the supplementary effect of the little ghost lantern became minimal.

[The system detects that something dirty is approaching, please remove it from the pool as soon as possible, otherwise the pleasure value will be seriously reduced!] The system issues a warning.

[The current pleasure value decrease rate is 15 points/minute]

Qi Jiu: ...It won’t take five minutes for my pleasure level to fall below the critical value, and I won’t be able to survive the rest of the bathing time.

But from the system's warning, Qi Ku also discovered a hidden clue.

"In addition to losing pleasure points, will this filthy thing attack me?" Qi Jin asked tentatively.

[The system has detected that the uninvited guest in the hot spring pool is not aggressive filth, but do not relax your vigilance. This filth will (continuously) cause mental pollution to travelers] The system reminded again.

Qi Jiu was very satisfied with this answer.

Non-active aggressive filth - that is to say, as long as it is not overly provoked, it is unlikely to actively attack the player, and will only unconsciously release substances that pollute the player's spirit.

When encountering such ghosts with little attack value and only pollution, the usual way to "leave" them is to seal and transcend them.

This is easy for players with psychic skills and players with related props, but unfortunately, Qi Kui has nothing.

The only breakthrough that Qi Jiu can think of at the moment is to use the "ice machine that makes people tremble" he bought cheaply to make the "Bailu" pool water cold, so that the dirt will leave on its own because it is not adapted to the water temperature.

Because the monster just kept repeating "It's so comfortable, the water temperature is so comfortable...", it means that it came in to take a bath because it liked the water temperature of the "White Dew" pool.

But after confirming that the filth had no tendency to actively attack, Qi Chu decided to sacrifice some pleasure points to obtain information.

"Hey," Qi Jiu took the initiative to chat while leaning on the rocks beside the pool, "I said, did you just come from Yuzhiwu next door?"

Dirt was stunned for a moment: "Are you talking about me?"

Qi Jiu smiled: "There are only two of us in this Bailu Pond."

The dirty thing said "Oh" belatedly and answered him: "Of course, who else would come here specially?"

Qi Jiu: "Who are you here to find?"

He knew where the "Yuzhiwu" next door was, and the guests who came here must have their favorite "service staff."

The filth chuckled: "Miss Ikuko."

Qi Jiu didn't know the so-called Miss Ikuko, but that didn't stop him from acting like an old acquaintance, and said thoughtfully: "Oh, it turns out it's Miss Ikuko..."

The filth immediately became interested and let out a lewd chuckle: "Have you successfully met Miss Ikuko?"

Qi Jiu pursed his lips and shook his head: "Unfortunately, not yet, what about you?"

Filth smiled proudly: "Of course, don't worry too much. After all, not everyone can easily see the oiran."

Courtesan? Qi Gu thought to himself that he is still a rich filth.

But if it's an oiran...could it be the role of the guy in the dream?

Qi Jiu asked tentatively: "So are the rumors true? That the oiran is a boy or something..."

"How is that possible! I have never heard of such outrageous rumors," the filth immediately interrupted Qi Qiu with dissatisfaction, "Miss Ikuko is a genuine woman, the most perfect woman."

Qi Jiu frowned slightly. Could it be that the oiran mentioned by the filthy man was the same person as the oiran he saw in his dream?

what happened?

Things seem to be getting more and more complicated and interesting.

The name "Miss Ikuko" was like a strange button, and the filth in the pool became excited without warning: "You may not know it if you haven't seen it. Miss Ikuko is so beautiful... I can't believe that such a beautiful woman exists.

...But...it's so hard to see her...so hard, so hard..."

For a moment, the painful memory of Filth's life seemed to be activated. His praise for Miss Ikuko quickly turned into a painful moan: "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...It hurts...Miss Ikuko's bite hurts...it hurts."

…Help…Help me!”

The filth suddenly made a hoarse whimpering sound, and at the same time, the smell of wet and sticky blood became stronger and stronger.

The entire "Bai Lu" soup pool turned into a thick blood red the moment it whimpered.

The poor filth covered the left side of his neck, and his whimpers turned into desperate wails.

Qi Qiu's pleasure level also plummeted wildly due to his strong mood swings.

[Serious warning! The current decrease rate of pleasure value is 30 points/minute]

[The distance from the pleasure value to fall below 30 points: the remaining time is 30 seconds!]

[Attention! Once the pleasure value falls below the safety line, the traveler will be controlled by indescribable discomfort]

Qi Qiu immediately took out the small card of the call girl that was pressed under his yukata, handed it to the dirty thing skillfully and said: "I said, if it hurts so much, don't look for Miss Ikuko. I think this young lady

That’s pretty good.”

Now that he has explored the source of the filth's resentment, Qi Jiu is not going to use the stupid method of freezing hot springs. After all, he still has to continue bathing in this hot spring.

It is easy to find the problem and prescribe the right remedy.

Welcome guests have their own poison, and perverts have their own medicine.

Sure enough, the moment he received the small card handed over by Qi Kui, the filth immediately stopped wailing.

Black blood was still flowing out from its neck. It tilted its head and looked at the call girl depicted on the card with relish. It suddenly let out a laugh and then disappeared silently into the hot spring pool.

The surface of the pool returned to calm, and the stinky blood turned milky white in an instant.

While Qi Jiu breathed a sigh of relief, he discovered that his happiness level was only 34 points left.

He rested his head tiredly on the volcanic rocks. It didn't matter. He stayed here for a while and let the hard-working little ghost lamp give him some more...

Qi Gu, who continued to close his eyes and rest his mind, began to think. Looking at the painful and bloody appearance of the filth just now, he could easily deduce that the oiran named Ikuko was related to the blood pool.

Judging from the filthy man's last moments of wailing, it seemed that the courtesan named Ikuko had done something cruel and painful to him in this hot spring pool.

"The bite hurts so much..." It sounds very imaginative.

But what Qi Qiu is more concerned about now is: what is the connection between the keywords oiran, blood pool, Ikuko, and shrine, and the hot spring hotel where the explosion and burning accident occurred?

Since they exist in a copy, there must be some unknown connection between them. Maybe what I inferred before was just an appearance...

Just as Qi Qiu was thinking rapidly, a familiar voice came from not far away——

"Meow meow~"
Chapter completed!