Chapter 284 Sleeping Master 23

"Do you remember what time it was when the system announced the death of the player?" Bai Lixin asked Xia Chi when his feet were on the flat ground.

Little Hades glanced at the two of them curiously.

Xia Chi didn't think about it: "About ten o'clock in the morning?"

Bai Lixin: "Yes, it is ten o'clock in the morning."

"No more than two minutes before and after, two people died one after another. At ten o'clock in the morning, it is very likely that the time node for the trial of players is every day."

Xia Chi: "But one person died and came back to life, but I don't know who it was."

Bai Lixin looked up at the reinforced concrete buildings that stood like peaks in the city, "Xiachi, do you know where that player is?"

Xia Chi: "I'll ask, wait for me."

With that said, he trotted to the doorman's room.

There are many buildings in Jinhai Senior Apartment, but Bai Lixin is standing at the door now, and in a few minutes, only one or two people come out.

High-rise buildings, prosperous cities. It has the richest residential density, but also the most unfamiliar neighborhoods.

Xia Chi left for five minutes and ran back all the way, "I see, she works in Area 3, let's go over there."

The time is eleven o'clock in the morning. They followed the directions and quickly found the home where Babyface was working.

According to the doorman, the home where Babyface works is on the first floor of Building No. 3.

It was a four-story building with a courtyard, the first and second floors belonged to one family, and the third and fourth floors belonged to one family.

A few people stood outside the yard and probed in. The floor-to-ceiling windows on the first floor were one-way glass, so they only saw their own reflections, but they couldn't see anything inside.

From the front of the yard to the main door at the back, not long after the knock on the door, an old voice asked through the door frame, "Who is it?"

The three of them looked at each other, Xia Chi: "Master, I'm Xiaochi, the guard, and the two of them are relatives of Xiaowen. I want to find Xiaowen for something. I heard that she works here. Can you see her?"

Xiaowen is the babysitter's babysitter's name. This was told to Xia Chi when Babyface was crying yesterday.

The door opened shortly after the faint sound of clothes rubbing in the room, and an ancient old man stuck his head out from the crack of the door, "What are you doing with Xiaowen?"

Through the crack of the door, Bai Lixin looked inside.

I vaguely saw a swaying figure passing through the hall.

He seemed to be dragging something in his hand, flashed past, and disappeared into the blind spot of Bailishin.

Bai Lixin looked back: "It's nothing. We are Xiaowen's two brothers. We have been unable to get through on the phone since yesterday, so we wanted to come over and see what happened."

"Can't make a call?" The old man was stunned for a moment, his eyes flickered slightly, and he opened the door a little wider, "Xiaowen left yesterday afternoon, because we felt that she was not suitable for our family's work situation, so we dismissed her. She was crying for a long time at the time, and I also felt that this little girl was pitiful, but I couldn't do anything with my old bones, so I could only watch Xiaowen go away. "

"Did Xiaowen not come back later?" Xia Chi took a deep breath, "I saw Xiaowen in the community yesterday afternoon, she cried for a long time, and finally said that she would come to your house for the last time, and she wanted to try again. Let's see if she can stay. I think the direction she left is coming towards you."

The old man finally opened the door, his cloudy eyes swept back and forth over the three of them, "There are shoe covers on the shoe cabinet, you put on the shoe covers and come in and talk."

Saying that, the old man moved to the side to make room.

There is a mess in the hall, some children's toys are scattered on the ground, but there is no dust on the shoe cabinet, obviously the hygiene is just cleaned.

The old man took out a piece of furniture from the drawer and spread it on the sofa, before letting a few people sit down, "Sorry, there are people in our family who are obsessed with cleanliness and can't stand outsiders touching the furniture in the room. It's not just for you, don't misunderstand."

"You said just now that you couldn't get through on the phone with Xiaowen, what happened to her?" The old man skillfully found a few disposable paper cups from the drawer, and hunched his back slightly and poured a glass of water for each of them.

Bai Lixin's eyes fell on the toys on the carpet: "Is there a child at home?"

The old man smiled stiffly, "Yeah, my grandson is at home, his skin, and things are thrown everywhere every day. After cleaning up and then throwing them back, it makes people worry."

"Oh, that must be a lively child," Bai Lixin said casually, "Xiaowen is missing, she is the sister we hold in our hands, and we are very worried about her."

"Why did he disappear?" The old man's eyes were dodged. "A very clever child. Besides, it's a society ruled by law now. Maybe it's just going out for two days to relax. Don't worry too much."

"Since she thinks she's smart, why do you have to fire her?" Bai Lixin didn't beat around the bush, and asked the question straight to the point.

The old man looked a little guilty: "Actually, it's not Xiaowen's fault. Didn't I say just now that our family is obsessed with cleanliness, and Xiaowen's body is always dirty, so she let her go."

"It's not clean at all?" Xia Chi looked at Bai Lixin in surprise, "Where is it not clean?"

The old man bit his lip and hesitated for a moment before saying, "My body is always dirty, and I can't wash it off when I take a shower."

Xia Chi pursed her lips.

He had seen the scars on the arms of the baby's face. At first, he thought it was some kind of violence. So it seems that it may have been caused by constantly bathing and rubbing?

"That child is good everywhere, but she likes to play in the yard every day. Although she says she is very clean, you must know how many bacteria there are outside, and there is so much dust in the air."

"I don't know what to see in the yard. I stand in the yard every day. I just stand there, motionless, and I don't know what I'm looking at."

Xia Chi and Bai Lixin looked at each other again, and Bai Lixin said, "Can we go and see where she is standing?"

The old man frowned and hesitated for a long time. After a while, he bit his head and nodded: "Okay, just a while."

A few minutes later, Bai Lixin and the three stood at the place where the old man said that Xiaowen often stood.

The railings of this family's yard are covered with rose flowers, and the faint pink roses are dotted on the green branches, like a sky garden.

Xia Chi tried to look around, "Brother, there doesn't seem to be anything strange about it. From here, it looks like a residential villa area, so there's nothing strange about it, right?"

At this time, Bai Lixin had just finished watching, the railings were very high, and his line of sight could just cross the rose bushes.

There are buildings all around, and there is another adjacent community in the distance. To say it is strange, I did not find anything unusual.

Retracting his gaze in doubt, Bai Lixin heard Xia Chi's deliberately lowered voice: "Brother, do you think this old man is lying to us? Baby face is a player, and it stands to reason that she shouldn't be all right to look around here. Exactly. Or are we missing something?"

Little Hades: "It's a very ordinary building, and I haven't found anything."

Bai Lixin's brows drooped slightly, he looked at Xia Chi next to him, and then at the rose bush in front of him.

Then he made a move that Xia Chi didn't quite understand.

I saw Bai Lixin slowly squat down and set up a horse.

Xia Chi: "Brother, what are you doing?"

Bai Lixin did not answer Xia Chi, but looked around again. Just when his vision was halfway through, Bai Lixin's eyes suddenly stopped, as if something attracted his attention.

Xia Chi was even more curious.

"We overlooked a point," Bai Lixin looked forward and whispered: "We are all about 1.8 meters, but the baby's face is only 1.6 meters. The plane we see and the perspective she sees are Different."

"I probably know why she watches here every day."

"Stand down here and look down."

After Bai Lixin finished speaking, he stood up and moved out of the way.

Xia Chi stood suspiciously where Bailishin was standing just now. When he squatted down imitating Bailishin's posture, the scene in front of him almost made him scream.

The leaves of the dense rose bushes crisscrossed each other, leaving just a small hole.

Through this small hole, I happened to see the scene not far away.

The painted walls blend in with the surrounding buildings, forming the shape of an eye!

The small green hole seems to be an eye socket, and what you see through the small hole just happens to resemble a human pupil.

Xia Chi staggered two steps, stood up quickly and looked into the distance, it was still an ordinary building!

"Mummy," Xia Chi bent down again and glanced into the distance again, and the ferocious pupil appeared again, "Is it too tricky? From this small hole, who would have thought of this."

"Brother, what the hell is that big eyeball? Does it have anything to do with our mission?!"

Bai Lixin looked at the target: "I don't know if it's related, but from Babyface's point of view, she should think it's related. Otherwise, she won't be watching every day."

Xia Chi: "Then why didn't she tell us about this discovery?!"

Bai Lixin: "Don't forget, although we completed the task together, how many points we have in the end depends on our task performance. If she sends out all her findings, the final score may not be too high. People It's all selfish, she didn't get useful information from other players, how could she hand over the clues she dug up?"

"This is the human nature of the public. It has nothing to do with good or evil. After all, no one wants to suffer."

"But at the moment, maybe for the ten of us, the tasks or places that each of us came into contact with made us more or less discoverable. Among us, only the height of the baby face can find this small hole and then see this eye. It's very likely that other people have also discovered something."

Xia Chi: "..."

He understood the reasoning, but he still felt a little embarrassed when he pointed it out so sharply.

"That's not right. The two of us didn't find anything. The professional quest we received had nothing to do with the main quest."

Bai Lixin: "I don't think so. Our mission seems to have nothing to do with the main line, but almost everything we touch points to one place. Some players should have seen the clues directly, and some are just like us. , needs to be seen indirectly.”

"Ah?!" Xia Chi scratched his head, "Where are they pointing? Why don't I know?"

Bai Lixin pondered for two seconds, and said a few words silently: "X University."

"Chen Ping, who committed suicide, came from X University. Chen Ping's ex-girlfriend, who didn't know whether it was foreknowledge or materialized the dream, was also from X University. Lin Mu graduated from X University. Luo Ran put Lin Mu's soul in X University."

"The name of this university is played too often.

A little bit, as if I can't wait to tell us to come here quickly. "

Xia Chi: "Ah, I remembered that the old man in that old couple also came from X University."

Xia Chi stood up from Xiao Kong and pointed to the room where his pupils were, "Brother, I was in that room just now, and I seemed to see a dark shadow flashing, moving very quickly, it looked like we were on the first night. The black cat I saw. Do you think we should go over and investigate?"

Bai Lixin also seemed to have seen the black cat: "Guess, did Babyface see the black cat and then went to investigate?"

Xia Chi: "."

good question!

"This line should be a baby-faced line. I think it's best for us not to break the barrier now, or to investigate according to the line given to us by the system. What do you think? Although the system is not very credible, at least up to now, We haven't seen the system pit us. Since our own line is very clear, let's make it clear first."

Xia Chi's mind is only buzzing now, and his eyes are staring at Bai Lixin with a look of admiration.

Brother is so right.

Listen to you, listen to you, listen to everything!

_________________________________

Studio.

[Fuck Mad, it scared me to death when my eyes came out. That baby face stares at such a big eyeball every day, aren't you afraid! 】

[I am afraid that I will not be able to climb such a high floor. 】

[Xin Shen once again conquered Xia Chi. 】

[Can think of the perspective of squatting down to find the baby's face, Xin Shen also has no one, who can think of this. 】

[I can see it clearly, this copy is a big explosion of information. The system gave ten of them a bunch of information, and then identified the correct one from a bunch of unknown information. 】

[It's a bit ironic that when you said this, what came to my mind turned out to be our three-dimensional information explosion. True news and false news, countless news are all around us, and we don't know which is true and which is false. Today some people talk about the economic crisis, and tomorrow some people talk about the economic crisis. 】

【…】

__________________________________

They did not find the baby face during this trip, but they also gained something, that is, the direction of the investigation was clarified again.

When returning to the room from the courtyard, Bai Lixin glanced at the mirrored window.

His observation has always been keen. Although he could not see the scene inside through the mirrored glass, Bai Lixin could feel that someone was hiding behind the glass to observe them.

When they returned to the room from the yard, the old man asked calmly, "What are you looking at in the yard for so long? Is our yard so beautiful?"

Bai Lixin: "The main reason is that the roses in your family are so beautiful, and I was a little stunned for a while. Xiaowen must also go to the yard often because he likes the roses in the yard so much."

"As long as you like it," the old man glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, the time on the clock was almost half past eleven, "If you have nothing to do, hurry up, my daughter is going home from get off work soon. , she will be unhappy when she sees you."

The host chased away the guests, but the others did not force them to stay. They simply thanked the old man, and the three of them were ready to leave.

Just as they opened the door, there was a sudden sound of messy footsteps at the entrance of the stairs. Then a loud voice ran down the stairs and hugged the old man in his arms.

"Grandpa, grandpa, play with me~"

The expressions of the three changed slightly.

The boy holding the old man looked to be nearly twenty years old, and his chubby body was like a wall, trapping the old man firmly.

The old man's expression was not very good. He pushed the boy with difficulty and said perfunctory: "Okay, okay, I'll play with you when Grandpa, you play by yourself first."

Twenty-year-old height and age, but the expression on his face is very ignorant.

The young man's face is very large, like a silver plate, and two mung bean-sized eyes are distributed on both sides of the face. The eyes are very small, but the distance between them is wide.

The saliva flowed out of his mouth constantly and stained on the old man's clothes.

A not very smart look.

The old man's already ashen face turned bad in an instant. He shuddered and tried to push the young man away, but the young man seemed to have no idea of ​​the old man's disgust, and still hugged the old man tightly.

The old man stood stiffly in place, as if he had been hit by Medusa's rays and turned to petrified.

Without getting a response from the old man, the young man turned his head irritably for a moment, as if he had discovered a new continent, he saw three people who were about to leave.

The next moment, the young man let go of the old man and rushed towards several people at a pace that he did not recognize.

"Dog Dan!" Seeing that the young man was about to pounce on the three of them, the old man suddenly let out a roar, and the young man who was rushing in the next second seemed to be acupointed and stopped.

The old man smiled awkwardly at a few people, and called out the name "Dog Dan" like a puppy, "Be obedient, go and play by yourself."

Goudan glanced at the three of them unwillingly, grinned at the three of them and smiled slightly, revealing the vertical and horizontal teeth hidden under his lips, dawdlingly moved to the hall, and began to play with the toys scattered on the ground.

Xia Chi stared at Goudan's back, and asked, "Is this the little grandson you're talking about?"

The old man: "Hey, when my grandson was born, the umbilical cord

It was wrapped around his neck, and the lack of oxygen in the brain led to mental retardation. Now he is twenty years old, but his mental age is only three years old, so we can't do anything about him. We sent him to a special institution to take care of him before, but because he was too lively, the special institution finally let us pick up the child. "

"Why..." Before Xia Chi could finish his sentence, Goudan suddenly shouted without warning, and the next second he smashed his fist on the plastic toy on the ground. Toys that can't take the weight fall apart in an instant.

While he was smashing toys, he kept chanting words: "Kill you! Kill you! Kill you shameless thing!"

The combat effectiveness is not only on the table, but also has a tendency to violence.

Xia Chi's expression was sluggish, but the old man was impatient. He walked up to the three of them and drove them out in a very arrogant tone: "How long are you staying here, can you walk quickly? Tell you guys, little one. Wen is not at our house, and we don't know where Xiaowen went. She is so big, her feet are on her own legs, she can go wherever she wants, and she wants to find her sister elsewhere, don't come to our house again It's gone!"

At the moment when the door was closed, Goudan's voice came again: "Sister Wen, I'm afraid, hug me, woo woo."

With a loud "bang", the door slammed shut, instantly isolating all sounds.

The three looked at each other for a while, then left silently.

After a little distance from that room, Xia Chi glanced behind him with an unpleasant expression.

In the yard, the old man stood there at some point.

He stood blankly behind the metal railing, looking sullenly.

The pale complexion because of his old age made the old man's face at this moment look like a skeleton wrapped in wrinkled dry skin, with deep sunken eye sockets, which was extremely strange.

The old man seemed to be looking at Xia Chi, Xia Chi shuddered instantly, and quickly retracted his gaze.

"This family is weird," Xia Chi looked at Bai Lixin, and said weakly, "it's a 'child' with such a high risk factor, and I suddenly understand why the baby face collapsed and cried. If It’s just looking for a job. If you can’t do it, just leave, but we have to accept it because we are burdened with professional tasks. As a big boy, I’m a little scared to see such explosive power, let alone a girl like a baby face.”

"Bah, I knew that the system would not assign us any simple tasks. Sure enough, every task is a hell-level challenge."

"What kind of bad taste is this system? I really hope that one day the system can go through the whole process of its torment."

______________________________

Studio.

[Xia Chi really dares to say it. 】

[I have to say, I have spoken my heart. 】

[Although it is a little rude, but such a family only hires a nanny, who is a clean freak, an older, violent, low-minded boy, and an old man who likes to pick faults. In the case of their family, they have to hire three babysitters, right? Pressing our players as if they were not human beings, there are a lot of bugs. Just think about it. 】

[The main reason is that players can't say the word 'no' yet, and they have to die after they say it. 】

[Not only the baby face, other people are also very difficult. The kindergarten teacher was about to collapse. There were more than 30 children in the class, and their parents complained at every turn. Everyone had their own demands. All want to sit in the best seat, all want to sleep in the best dorm. If it was a normal kindergarten, the teacher would go back, but this is a game, and she will be judged as negligent if she complains more than five. 】

[So desperate. The nanny has no right to leave and resist, and the teacher has no right to criticize. 】

[The programmer in the plaid shirt, I think he is about to die suddenly, and has been working for three consecutive days, although the main reason is that he is not skilled in his own business. Three days, even if he is a player, he can't hold it anymore. 】

[My God, this copy is poisonous. Is this an adult version of a working 996? 】

[It's a bit ironic, the adult world is not worthy of being tired. 】

________________________________

When I walked out of the community, it was exactly twelve o'clock in the afternoon.

Blissin took the old flip phone out of his backpack, and a brand new message arrived as expected.

He turned on the phone information and took a look.

- "Why ignore me?! I know what you are looking for, answer me, I can help you!"

Bai Lixin turned off the phone after reading it, and threw the phone into the backpack.

In the past few days, he still receives two messages through this mobile phone every day.

One is at twelve o'clock at noon and one is at twelve o'clock in the evening.

Except on the first day he replied to each other's messages, and every day after that, he just read text messages and never replied.

The emotion on the other side has gradually changed from the initial calm to the current anxiety.

Know what I'm looking for? I don't even know what I'm looking for, but you're so smart.

As soon as he threw this small broken mobile phone into his backpack, a system prompt sounded in Bai Lixin's mind.

【Ding! Good afternoon, dear Bliss players. 】

【Is it a surprise and surprise to meet you so early today? 】

[Yes, I was also surprised and surprised, because this mission was released so early. 】

[Ding, please rush to X University before 8:00 this afternoon, player Bai Lixin! 】

Bai Lixin: […]

X University is finally here.

System: [Recently, students from X University claimed that they often saw ghosts in the library, and the teacher on duty would flip books when they saw them. In front of the clean chart desk, there will be a strange cup of steaming coffee. In the toilet, the faucet will turn on by itself, and the air conditioner will turn on by itself. 】

[Please stay in the library for one night tonight, tomorrow at 8:00, I look forward to seeing you again. It is recommended that you leave now. 】

[Congratulations to the player, get x1 access to the x university library. 】

After the cold electric sound of the system fell, a translucent three-dimensional map appeared in Bai Lixin's mind.

At the same time, there was an extra access card marked with University x in his backpack.

After taking out the access card, he put it in his hand and looked at it, Bai Lixin looked contemplative.

His next plan is indeed to go to X University. If Xia Chi doesn't propose to see the nanny today, maybe he is already in X University now.

It was Xia Chi's delay, but the system made the first move.

Is it the normal operation of the professional mission, or because they don't want them to continue investigating the Gimhae high-end apartment?

Bai Lixin glanced in the direction of Xia Chi, and found that Xia Chi's eyes were blurred for a while, and after a while, it returned to clarity.

The next moment, Xia Chi rubbed his palms helplessly, "Brother, I received a system task just now, and told me to rush to a shopping mall before two o'clock in the afternoon. How about you?"

"..." Bai Lixin's eyes sank slightly, "I also received the task just now to go to X University."

Xia Chi quickly lowered his head to check the navigation: "Help, our mission locations are just opposite. Gan, this shopping mall is so far from here, I have to leave now."

"Brother, let's talk privately about anything."

With that said, Xia Chi was about to go to the road to pick up a taxi.

Just halfway there, Xia Chi seemed to remember something, suddenly stopped and turned to look at Bai Lixin: "Brother, I remembered something."

"You still remember the night before yesterday, I was still patrolling this neighborhood, did you say let me pay attention to see if there is any ghost of Chen Ping?"

"I really saw it at the time, but I was taken aback and forgot to get back to you."

"It was about twelve o'clock in the morning. I happened to be patrolling the small square of the community and saw Chen Ping making a move."

Bai Lixin: "What action?"

Xia Chi thought for a while, then slowly raised his arms, folded his hands up and down, and bent over to dig a hole: "This is the action, as if he was digging something with a shovel."

"It's pretty scary. I approached a little boldly and saw something in his mouth. But I'm not you, I can't lip language, and I don't know what he said."

"I was just approaching when Chen Ping suddenly looked up at me and chased after me. I was scared and scared away."

"Sorry, brother, it took me so long to remember." Xia Chi blushed and scratched his head, "I then gathered up the courage to go back, just to see Chen Ping being taken away by a man in black with an umbrella. already."

"There's something wrong with that person," Xia Chi patted his forehead angrily, "Why do I only remember now, my brain, damn it."

"I'm obviously only one step away from the truth, sorry, brother."

"Uh, I should know the man in black holding the umbrella that you mentioned." Little Hades, who hadn't spoken much, said lightly.

Xia Chi looked puzzled: "?"

Could it be that the truth is really deciphered by himself?

I really am a genius!

Little Hades: "Cough, that person is a ghost messenger from the underworld, who specializes in catching orphaned little ghosts and sending them back to the underworld. So he is innocent, don't wrong people, he has been working hard 24 hours a day these days. There are not many staff."

Bai Lixin: "..."

Xia Chi: "..."

It turns out that the biggest capitalist has been hiding by their side?

_____________________________

Studio.

[Xia Chi calls out "Fuck". 】

[The strongest capitalist in history - Little Hades. 】

[Suddenly feel a little distressed, what happened to Hei Wuchang? Not to mention his diligent work, he was finally framed as a criminal suspect. 】

[But their clothes are really weird. 】

[Speaking of a cold knowledge, the civil servants of the underworld still think that the clothes are normal. 】

[This is poor information. 】

____________________________

Underworld.

"Ah!" Hei Wuchang sneezed, and Bai Wuchang, who was flipping through the documents, glanced at his side, "What's wrong? Jiaodidi, have you caught a cold?"

Hei Wuchang glared at Bai Wuchang: "Can you hope that I will be better? I'm so handsome, why don't you say that someone is thinking of me?"

"I miss you?" Bai Wuchang's eyes swept around Hei Wuchang silently, "Want you to bring them to the underworld? Who will miss you except me?"

After speaking, Bai Wuchang buried himself in a pile of documents again.

Hei Wuchang put his head on Bai Wuchang's shoulders a little curiously, stretched his neck and stuck his head out: "What the hell are you looking for?"

Bai Wuchang: "Looking for an ancient temple, but unfortunately, I haven't found it yet."

Black impermanence casually from a pile of books

I picked up a copy: "Then I'll help you find it too, what kind of ancient temple?"

Bai Wuchang opened his mouth slightly, just as he was about to say something, suddenly a ghost outside rushed in, "Not good! Several ghosts that Hei Wuchang brought back have disappeared."

_______________________________

Seven o'clock in the evening.

Under the scarlet night, Bai Lixin walked into X University alone.

Xia Chi left at noon and headed to the mission site, and Little Hades then left with a somewhat ugly expression on his face.

Leaving aside Xiao Yan Wang, Xia Chi's departure made Bai Lixin feel a vague sense of strangeness in his heart.

It's as if the system deliberately isolates the two of them and makes them act separately.

Arguably, this should be unlikely.

Hope it's just over-guessing myself.

X University is the most famous university in X city.

This university mainly focuses on liberal arts and art. Among them, the performance department of X University has long become one of the benchmark departments of X University because of several celebrities.

Because there was an access card, the guard did not stop Bailishin much and let him in.

As soon as he entered the campus, Bai Lixin was immediately attracted by the huge fountain in front of the university.

In front of the main school building, a huge fountain just sprayed upwards.

It was three thick and long water columns sprayed from the pool water, leaving a thick and colorful stroke in the air like splashing ink.

Bai Lixin stopped and looked up at the three water columns, his eyes flashing slightly.

s419m: [Master host, do you like this fountain? I'll arrange to go back and dig such a fountain for you according to your preferences. 】

Bai Lixin: [...I can't stand it. 】

s419m: [Huh? 】

Bai Lixin: [Do you think that when these three water jets are sprayed on, it is very similar to the three sticks of incense used in sacrifices? 】

[The shape of the pool below is very similar to a tripod. From our point of view, it is simply a huge incense burner. 】

s419m: [? ? ? ! ! ! Lord host, don't scare me! I'm timid and not scared. 】

Bai Lixin didn't say anything more, the huge water column slowly fell, and the pool was calm again.