Chapter 166: Chapter 166

"Savannah, I suddenly remembered there might be a prop in the last room that we missed. Could it be the key clue for this stage?" For origınal chapters go to NoveIꜰire.net

"Why don’t we go back and take a look? Maybe there’s something we overlooked." Gently, the jade hand picked up the key, brows furrowed tightly, with a very anxious expression.

Quinn Lockwood also felt that this stage was taking a bit too long, and since they hadn’t found anything useful for so long, she thought Ariana Lynch’s suggestion made sense. So they went back to the previous room and started searching.

Ariana followed after them and pretended to be deep in thought as she reached the doorway, slamming the half-open door shut.

"Savannah." Clutching her shoulder that hit the door, Ariana pretended to pull the door handle and used the opportunity to press the off button on one side, thus turning off the switch on the mechanism, which now could only be opened by professional technicians. Unaware of the truth, others would think all they needed to do was open the door using the previous method.

In the dim light of the flashlight, Quinn found the door lock and pulled it hard twice, but it didn’t move at all.

"Savannah, don’t worry. I’ll find someone to help you." Holding back a rising smirk, Ariana didn’t linger for even a second, quietly putting the key in her sleeve. She went back to the last room to hurriedly search around.

Pretending she found a key by the inkstone, Ariana quickly opened the door, and blinding light poured in. In the box at the door lay her task card.

She didn’t even look at the content because, to her, knowing who held the red card was most important.

She deliberately walked in a direction where there was no one, muttering to the camera about how no one could meet her and how Savannah was still trapped in the room.

Sylvia Lawson, coming down from the Ferris wheel, happened to see Ariana and hurriedly ran a few steps to catch up.

"Ariana, wait for me." Sylvia stopped breathlessly not far from Ariana, suspecting that Ariana had seen her a long time ago and walked fast on purpose.

A barely noticeable frown crossed Ariana’s face, but she politely smiled at Sylvia. When her eyes caught a glimpse of red at the opening of Sylvia’s envelope, they lit up. She patted Sylvia’s back with a worried expression, "How did you run ? Sit down and rest for a bit."

"I’m fine, Ariana. Where are you headed? It seems like you’re looking for someone?" Sylvia sensed something amiss with Ariana and felt certain that she was starting to deal with Quinn, which made Sylvia feel rather cheerful.

A flicker of strangeness passed through Ariana’s eyes as she moved forward a step, intending to tidy Sylvia’s slightly messy bangs. However, as she raised her hand, she accidentally knocked the envelope from Sylvia’s hand.

"Sorry." Picking up the envelope and seeing the red card exposed, Ariana looked somewhat surprised.

"I really didn’t expect you to draw the red one." Her tone was tinged with a bit of disappointment but also some relief.

Sylvia watched Ariana’s expression, sensing her interest in the card, and played along, "Ariana, is there something about this color..."

Ariana slid the card back into the envelope, handing it to Sylvia, and shook her head slightly, "Not really. It’s just that today’s horoscope said red is my lucky color. I thought maybe if I drew a red card, things would go more smoothly for me."

"Oh, is that so? Why don’t we switch cards, Ariana? Since we all draw randomly, I really hope you complete all your tasks smoothly." Sylvia sincerely looked at Ariana, handing the envelope back with both hands, making it hard for Ariana to refuse.

Laughing secretly to herself, Ariana reluctantly took the envelope, looking gratefully at Sylvia, and suddenly smacked her forehead in annoyance, "Oh dear, Savannah is still trapped in the room. Sylvia, hurry and help me find someone to open the door."

Meanwhile, Quinn was entirely in the dark.

Due to the power being cut off, all lights in the escape room went out, and her flashlight had also run out of battery.

Nearly an hour had passed, and it seemed Ariana deliberately trapped her here. Otherwise, just closing the door wouldn’t have resulted in a power outage.

But since they were filming a show, Ariana probably didn’t have the guts to leave her here too long; otherwise, how would she face criticism from the audience?

Thinking of this, Quinn sat down calmly on the floor and waited.

"Miss Lowell, if you’re too bored, you could talk to me. Although it’s against the rules for us photographers to speak, given the special circumstances..." Quinn’s photographer was crouching outside, filming the wooden door, regretting his choice to shoot from an outside angle.

Hearing the photographer’s voice startled Quinn, surprised that he was dedicated enough to stay outside the whole time.

"It’s fine; I guess someone will come to open the door soon."

Indeed, it wasn’t long before Ariana returned with the amusement park staff.

After getting out, Quinn behaved very composedly, not complaining at all to the crew, continuing with the game arrangements as if nothing had happened.

The director and producer both breathed a sigh of relief.

At the final face-off, after being guided briefly by the archery instructor, the formal competition began.

Quinn did have some archery skills. Due to her love for classical dance, she had always been interested in traditional things and had learned and understood many of them.

She held the bow and arrow in her left hand, hooked the string with her right, slightly turning her head towards the target, dressed in a Tang-style archery outfit, her long black hair tied high, radiating a battlefield elegance.

With a swoosh, the arrow landed straight in the sixth ring of the target.

Quinn couldn’t help but sigh; it wasn’t that her skills were poor, but Savannah’s frail body made it hard to draw even this mere 20-pound bow, making her hand shake. She remembered when she could hit the bullseye with a 25-pound bow.

The archery instructor nodded approvingly, noting that girls who could hit the sixth ring with such lack of force were rare.

Meanwhile, Ariana’s arrow completely missed the target.

"It really is quite difficult; I didn’t expect it to be this heavy." She smiled wryly at the camera and shook her head, but when she brushed past Quinn, her eyes brimmed with hatred.

As she drew the bow again, she wished she could aim the arrowhead at Quinn.

Yet, something felt off to her. She had never heard of Quinn having any archery training, and even she had struggled to manage the heavy bow. Yet Quinn seemed at ease with it!

Or was it that she had been hiding her strength all along?