Chapter 11: Continuation
1238 Words
Qi Xia remained seated, neither standing nor looking for clues.He still felt a bit uneasy.The only other person who stayed seated was the psychologist, Lin Qin."What are you thinking about?" Lin Qin casually covered her mouth and nose as she asked."Me?" Qi Xia was startled. "What, are you going to give me a psychological diagnosis?""Not really," Lin Qin smiled slightly. "Although people as smart as you might have some psychological issues, this situation really isn’t suited for therapy. I just wanted to know what you're thinking."Qi Xia paused for a moment and then replied, "I’m thinking about the cause.""The cause?"Qi Xia didn’t respond to Lin Qin but instead called out to Doctor Zhao. "Doctor, how long can an average person survive after being shot in the heart?"Doctor Zhao turned around, thought for a moment, and said, "If I remember correctly, when the heart is shot, a person will lose consciousness within seconds. But since 'death' in medical terms refers to 'brain death,' even if unconscious, the brain will still function for a few minutes."Qi Xia nodded. "So the goat-headed man screamed for several minutes earlier, which means his body must be much stronger than a regular human's?""Yes," Doctor Zhao confirmed. "He remained conscious for several minutes after being shot in the heart."The others fell silent, listening to Qi Xia and Doctor Zhao.It was thanks to the clarity of this trickster’s thinking that all nine of them had survived."So why do you think that is?" Qi Xia extended his index finger and thumb to form a g*n shape and pressed it to his temple. "Normally, people would choose to commit suicide like this."He thought for a moment and then lowered his hand, pointing to his jaw: "Or like this."Qi Xia then pulled his hand back and pointed to his heart."Either way... a person committing suicide would typically choose the least painful method. But why would he aim for his heart?"In his hands, Qiao Jiajin toyed with the goat-head mask and then flipped the man’s head, saying, "Maybe this guy’s head is so tough that one shot wouldn’t kill him.""If he coughed up blood, it shows his physical structure is the same as ours," Officer Li remarked. "Even if he's stronger, a shot to the head at this distance would definitely kill him."Qi Xia nodded. "In that case, I can only think of one reason."He pointed at the goat mask in Qiao Jiajin’s hands and said, "The goat-headed man probably shot himself in the heart to protect something. The 'game' isn’t over yet."Qiao Jiajin was stunned. "You mean... he was afraid of damaging his mask?""Exactly."Following Qi Xia’s instructions, Qiao Jiajin flipped the goat skin mask over. The rough inner lining of the leather was exposed to the group.A rotten, foul smell wafted from it.Just as Qi Xia had suspected, the inside of the goat skin mask had writing in black ink.Some parts were stained with blood, but Qiao Jiajin didn’t mind. He wiped it with his T-shirt, and the text became legible."What’s this?" Qiao Jiajin blinked, then began reading in his imperfect Mandarin:"I am a 'human-dog.'""You are cursed.""I hope you survive.""The clock never stops; the west is full of danger.""If you want to survive, turn towards your hometown a hundred times.""By the way, they say bamboo shoots sprout after the rain. Why aren’t they afraid of the rain?""See you after the rain."Qi Xia frowned slightly. This was indeed the next clue for the game...The shadow of death still loomed over them.They had already died, but were they to die again?"Hey, trickster, what does this mean?" Qiao Jiajin asked."How would I know?" Qi Xia scoffed. "There are nine people here. Do you expect me to figure it all out?"Lawyer Zhang Chenze slowly sat down in a chair and said, "Although I don’t want to admit it, your thinking aligns very well with the 'organizer.' If you have any ideas, you might as well share them.""I..."Before Qi Xia could speak, the wall to the west suddenly began to change.In shock, everyone watched as holes appeared out of nowhere.The cement wall that had once been solid now looked like a constantly shifting, soft surface.After a moment, rows of holes lined up neatly in the wall as though they had always been there.At the same time, a sound of chains pulling could be heard from the west side."What’s going on?" The group panicked for a moment."Look at the ceiling!" someone shouted in alarm.Everyone looked up and saw the ceiling was covered in holes too.Qi Xia finally stood up, took the goat skin mask from Qiao Jiajin, and carefully looked at the last line of text."See you after the rain.""Rain...?"Qiao Jiajin tiptoed to the wall, crouched down, and peered into one of the holes. He jumped back in fright, stumbling several steps."Sh*t!"He yelled and tried to find a place to hide, but there was nowhere to go."What’s inside? What is it?" Xiao Ran asked, her voice trembling in fear.The group knew that Qiao Jiajin was usually quite brave, so if something could scare him this much, it must be something serious."Sh*t!" Qiao Jiajin shouted again. "It’s harpoons! The holes are full of harpoons... and they’re 'retracting'!""'Retracting'?" Doctor Zhao asked, confused."It means they’re 'cocked.'" Qi Xia said. "Since earlier, there has been the sound of chains from the west side. Now these harpoons are loaded and ready to fire at any moment.""Hey! Trickster, think of something!" Qiao Jiajin rushed to Qi Xia’s side, anxious. "If all the harpoons fire at once, where can we hide?"Qi Xia thought carefully for a moment. Surviving himself wouldn’t be difficult; after all, there were already two corpses in the room.The harpoons’ piercing power was limited—if he piled the bodies in the corner of the wall and hid behind them, although he might get injured, his chances of survival were still high."It’ll be very hard to keep everyone alive this time. I need to take care of myself, so I won’t be saving you all again." Qi Xia said quietly."You..." Qiao Jiajin wanted to say something but stopped. He could only turn to Officer Li and Doctor Zhao for help, but they looked even more helpless.Qi Xia glanced at the lines of text on the goat skin mask again.Had he misunderstood?Only the last person remaining would end the 'game.'If everyone kept surviving, this deadly game would continue.After all, this room was strange—the walls in the west changed at any time.This didn’t fit any scientific logic; it felt more like magic.But if the organizer was someone powerful enough to use magic, why were they tormenting nine dead people?Could this be some twisted game run by an organization managing spirits?While Qi Xia was lost in thought, Lin Qin looked at the mask in his hand and spoke. "It says here... it gives us a way to survive. It says 'Turn towards your hometown a hundred times.'"The group calmed down slightly and began to think about this statement."Does it mean we should turn towards the direction of our hometown and spin a hundred times?" Tiantian asked."No, that can’t be right." Qiao Jiajin shook his head. "In this room, how would you even know where your hometown is? And spinning a hundred times would just make you dizzy, it wouldn’t have any effect.""I don’t care! I’ll try it!" Tiantian said, choosing a random direction and began spinning in place.Qi Xia thought for a moment. He knew it couldn’t be that simple.
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