Chapter 18: True or False Questions
1310 Words
The nine of them were hanging in mid-air like chandeliers, holding onto the handles.
Lin Qing looked down, feeling a chill spread through her body. Below them was a pit about ten meters deep. If they lost their grip, they would certainly fall to their deaths.
"Hey, writer, hold on!" Qiao Jiaqing noticed that Han Yimo was slowly slipping, feeling anxious. "How can you be so weak at a critical moment?"
"I..." Han Yimo’s facial muscles were straining, but his body was still inching downward.
Qiao Jiaqing, who was close to Han Yimo, immediately let go of one of his hands, grabbed his pants, and pulled him up. With Qiao Jiaqing’s strength, it felt like Han Yimo was being lifted. He quickly grabbed the handle again. Seeing this, Officer Li also reached out to help, each of them supporting one of Han Yimo’s arms.
Just as the group was about to breathe a sigh of relief, they heard a muffled grunt.
Turning their heads, they saw that Tian Tian had let out a sound. It was only then that they remembered she had been injured.
But the girl seemed incredibly resilient—she didn’t utter a sound until her blood was smeared all over the handle.
Her right hand let go, and she only managed to hold the handle with her left hand. However, it was extremely difficult for her to support her entire body with just one hand, and she began to slip down rapidly.
Qixi’s expression changed, and he immediately grabbed her injured wrist.
In just a brief moment of contact, he noticed Tian Tian’s thin body trembling slightly, and her wrist felt ice-cold.
"Hey, you’re not such a bad guy after all," Qiao Jiaqing said, a little surprised.
Qixi sighed helplessly and replied, "I just don’t want to see any more bodies, don’t overthink it."
Minutes passed, and everyone’s arms began to ache. Hanging for so long was exhausting, and even Officer Li’s forehead started to sweat.
"When are we going to be hanging like this?" Lin Qing asked Qixi beside her.
"I don’t know," Qixi answered quietly. He knew that there were no more prompts for the next game, but they still saw no hope. If the organizers were more ruthless, they might leave everyone hanging until they perished. But...
Did that mean there really was no hidden prompt for the next game?
Qixi felt uneasy.
What if there was some hidden clue in an unexpected place?
He looked down at the floor below, and sure enough, where the floor had collapsed, a new wall appeared. In the farthest corner, there seemed to be a door.
But the door was still out of reach for everyone.
They were still about ten meters above the ground, and jumping from this height would certainly be fatal.
Lin Qing followed Qixi's gaze and after a while, noticed the problem.
"Is that a door?"
The others looked down and saw the worn wooden door at the bottom of the room.
Just as they were staring in shock and despair, the door began to open slowly.
A figure clad in black walked in from the shadows. Qixi looked closely and saw that this person, like the previous ones, wore a black suit, but instead of a sheep head, he was wearing a huge dark green snake head mask.
"Long time no see, everyone. I am ‘The Serpent’," the figure said slowly.
"Serpent, my foot!" Qiao Jiaqing shouted angrily, "After the Sheep and Dog, now it's a Snake? You believe I won’t kill you right now?"
"Please, calm down," the Serpent said calmly, glancing at the hanging group. "You are currently in the final round of the game. I have a lever here, and if I pull it, the ceiling will slowly descend, and no one will be harmed."
The group looked over, and indeed, next to the wooden door, there was a small, inconspicuous lever that no one had noticed in the dim light earlier.
"So… can you pull it now?" Xiao Ran asked timidly.
"I..." The Serpent smiled faintly and said, "I will play a game with you. Whether or not you live depends on how well you perform."
"Another game..." Dr. Zhao’s hair was disheveled, his teeth clenched, seemingly frustrated.
"Listen up, everyone. This game is called 'Yes or No'," The Serpent walked closer to the group hanging above and said, "You may ask me three questions in total, and my answers will only be 'yes' or 'no'. Be aware, I will not lie. After all three questions, if I agree to save you, I will pull the lever. If I do not agree, I will lock the door, leaving you to perish."
Qixi frowned.
Three questions? Only 'yes' or 'no' answers? This game was difficult, to say the least.
No matter what, the goal was for the Serpent to release them, so their questions had to revolve around that topic. But would he agree?
Xiao Ran, taking advantage of the group’s silence, asked quickly, "Hey, can you let us down?"
"Don’t!" Qixi’s eyes widened as he hurriedly reached out to cover Xiao Ran’s mouth, but the girl was too quick, and her question had already been clearly heard by the Serpent.
The Serpent smirked and answered, "No."
"Hey! Pretty girl?!" Qiao Jiaqing shouted, "We only have three questions, don’t waste them!"
"I..." Xiao Ran lowered her head, feeling extremely embarrassed.
"You have two questions left," the Serpent said calmly, stepping back and getting closer to the wooden door.
It was only at that moment that the group realized Xiao Ran's question had made this game exponentially harder.
The Serpent certainly wouldn’t make it easy for them. If he really wanted to save them, why set up this game in the first place?
But then again, if he didn’t want to save them, how could they possibly get him to pull the lever?
Even if they changed the question to, "Will you not let us down?" his answer would simply be "yes."
"Scammer, do you have a way?" Qiao Jiaqing turned back to ask Qixi.
Qixi closed his eyes for a moment, his mind racing.
A way, a way.
As a person, how could he have so many ways? Every step they had taken since entering this room had required his solutions. Why should he be the one to bear the lives of so many?
But then, he felt a sense of desperation.
If he gave up, did anyone else have a chance to survive?
"I can't die here..." Qixi’s eyes suddenly lit up with faint hope. "She’s still waiting for me..."
A gentle voice echoed in Qixi’s mind: "Xia, do you know? There are many paths in life, and everyone has their own."
He slowly opened his eyes, and a sense of clarity washed over him.
That’s it. His mistake had been following the path set by others.
"Serpent," Qixi spoke softly.
Officer Li turned around, surprised, "Hey, what are you going to ask? Let’s coordinate beforehand so we don’t repeat what just happened."
"It’s fine. I’ve figured out how to survive," Qixi answered with certainty, looking down at the Serpent. "Don’t speak. This will end soon."
"You really have a plan?" Zhang Chenze asked.
"Probably," Qixi took a deep breath, carefully considering his next question.
No, to be precise, just one question.
One question was all that was needed to end this game.
From the start, this game wasn’t about figuring out how to make him pull the lever. It was about thinking through the logic of 'yes' and 'no.'
The Serpent seemed particularly interested in Qixi, his eyes peering out from the hollow spaces of his snake mask.
Qixi paused for a moment before asking, "Serpent, if my next question is 'Will you pull the lever,' will your answer be the same as this one?"
- Writer
