Ten Days End Revised Edition

Chapter 16: More Trouble

Although the group didn’t understand much about medical knowledge, they generally grasped what Dr. Zhao meant.

For them, removing the harpoon was easy; stitching up a wound would be far more difficult.

"Now that the writer's life has been saved, all we need to do is leave this place quickly and find somewhere suitable to treat his wounds properly," Dr. Zhao’s words pulled everyone back to reality.

If they couldn't escape this eerie room, they would all eventually meet the same fate as Han Yimo.

"But how do we leave? Has the 'game' ended?" Lin Qin asked, covering her mouth and nose.

Qi Xia thought for a moment and shook his head. The mask had clearly written that the one called "Human Dog" wanted them to survive, and mentioned "See you after the rain."

Logically speaking, after this barrage of harpoons like a violent storm, the so-called "Human Dog" should show up. He might bring the next game.

But why hadn’t he appeared?

"Hey, liar," Jiaojia slowly walked over to Qi Xia with a serious expression and asked, "You know how to survive, don’t you?"

"What’s it to you?" Qi Xia coldly replied. "Whether I survive or not has nothing to do with you."

"I’m not as clever as you, so I have to find someone to cooperate with." Jiaojia seemed to be recommending himself. "You have brains, I have strength. Let’s team up."

Hearing this, Qi Xia frowned slightly.

"Sorry, I’m a liar. I don’t plan to trust anyone except myself."

Before Jiaojia could say anything else, a voice of doubt suddenly came from Officer Li.

"What’s this?"

Everyone turned to look and saw that Officer Li was carefully examining the harpoon in his hand.

"What’s going on?"

Dr. Zhao approached Officer Li cautiously and asked.

"It has writing on it." Officer Li handed the harpoon to Dr. Zhao.

Dr. Zhao took it and looked closely. His expression changed when he saw that the harpoon’s tail, the width of a finger, had small writing on it:

"I am 'Human Sheep,' seeing these words means you’ve survived."

"But how many of you actually survived?"

"Is anyone injured?"

"I’m really worried about you all."

"I can’t just sit here and watch you die."

"Fifteen minutes from now, death will descend again."

"Avoid it, find a way to survive."

Dr. Zhao clenched his teeth and then threw the harpoon on the ground in frustration.

"Am I being mocked? This is never-ending!" He yelled, as though he wanted to release all the pent-up frustration he had been holding back.

"Calm down!" Officer Li said sternly, "If you can’t control your emotions, how are you going to survive?"

"Survive...? But we’re already dead!!" Dr. Zhao finally snapped, "We’re already dead, yet we’re still being tortured by the fear of death. What does the 'Organizer' want from us?! Why can’t they just kill us or let us go?"

The faces of the others were grim. Indeed, what was the purpose behind this endless cycle of death threats?

Was it really like the sheep-headed man said? Were they being selected for some "god" role?

Does that mean only one person can become "god," and the rest will go to hell?

"Everyone, we’ve survived two 'games.' Do you think it’s because we’re clever? No!" Dr. Zhao clenched his fists, "We’ve just been extremely lucky! But what about next time? And the time after that? In this ever-changing room, how long can we possibly survive?!"

Officer Li pursed his lips, stepped forward, and grabbed Dr. Zhao by the collar. "Hey, buddy! At a time like this, the last thing we need is 'morale' to collapse! If you don’t want to live, you can go die by yourself! But don’t shake the resolve of everyone here!"

"I...!" Dr. Zhao’s lips trembled. "But how do we get out? Do you have a way to get us out?"

Officer Li paused for a moment, then said, "I don’t have a 'way.' All I know is we have to survive! As long as we survive, everything else will have hope."

He released his grip on Dr. Zhao, walked over, picked up the harpoon, and then moved over to Han Yimo. He checked the harpoon on his shoulder and found that both harpoons had the same writing on them.

It seemed their luck really was extraordinary.

In the previous round, they not only had to avoid deadly attacks but also had to leave at least one harpoon behind in order to know the next clue.

"At least this time, it gives us a clear clue," Officer Li read the words on the harpoon carefully and said, "Unlike before, this time the attack will only come from above."

He pointed to the words "Death will descend again" on the harpoon.

No sooner had he spoken than the entire room began to change again.

All the holes in the walls were slowly disappearing, and the holes in the ceiling were changing as well. Numerous rectangular holes, about one meter long and twenty to thirty centimeters wide, appeared. Upon closer inspection, there were nine such holes.

Could this be "death descending again"?

"It looks like the game is getting simpler," Officer Li sighed as he looked at the nine holes in the ceiling. "This is, I guess, a small blessing amidst misfortune."

"But why has it turned into 'Human Sheep' again?" Lawyer Zhang pointed to the body on the floor, which had been torn apart by the harpoons, and asked, "Wasn’t 'Human Sheep' already killed by us?"

Qi Xia thought for a moment, also feeling puzzled.

The sheep-headed person who had died earlier did indeed call himself "Human Sheep," but his mask had written "I am Human Dog."

One moment it’s a sheep, the next it’s a dog.

Could this be another clue?

"We don’t have time," Officer Li said to the group, "It’s already 1:23. It won’t be long before the nine holes in the ceiling release some kind of dangerous objects. Let’s grab the table boards and stand against the wall."

At this point, everyone noticed something strange about the table boards on the floor. These boards seemed to have a special design. After being torn apart by the harpoons, they had left behind small square pieces with handles. The wood in the center of the square was noticeably tougher than the edges.

Although the boards they had were small now, it seemed the nine holes in the ceiling were all concentrated near the center. It looked like standing near the wall should be safe.

Everyone silently picked up the broken table boards and moved to the wall, positioning themselves away from the central holes.

At this moment, Qi Xia didn’t move. Instead, he slowly closed his eyes.

From any angle, the third game felt too strange.

Because the "Organizer" had clearly given a solution.

In Qi Xia’s view, this hint was superfluous.

Did they want them to die or to survive?

Why single out "Human Sheep" and "Human Dog"?

If "Human Sheep" and "Human Dog" aren’t names, what could they represent?

"Hey, liar, come here!" Jiaojia shouted, "You’ll die standing under those holes!"

"Die…?" Qi Xia glanced coldly at the holes in the ceiling. "I won’t die here. I have a reason I can’t leave."

"What’s going on... the smartest person has turned into an i***t too?" Jiaojia seemed confused.

Qi Xia raised his finger and gently tapped his temple.

"Wait… wait… give me a little more time."

Everyone slowed their breathing, silently watching Qi Xia in the center of the room. None of them understood why he was still overthinking such an obvious game.