The End of Ten Days

An old tungsten filament lamp hangs from the center of the room by a black wire, flickering with a dim light. The quiet atmosphere, like ink dripping into clear water, is spreading and permeating the room. In the very center of the room stands a large round table, which looks worn and shabby. In the middle of the table is a small clock with intricate patterns, ticking away at this moment. Around the table sit ten people in various clothes. Their clothes seem tattered, and their faces are stained with dust. Some are lying on the table, others are sitting back in their chairs, all sound asleep. Beside these ten people stands a man wearing a goat-head mask and a black suit. His gaze, piercing through the shabby goat-head mask, watches the ten people with great interest. The clock on the table chimes, and both the minute and hour hands point exactly to "twelve". From a far distance outside the room comes a deep bell sound. At the same time, the ten men and women sitting around the round table slowly wake up. When they gradually come to their senses, they first look around in confusion, then at each other with puzzlement. It seems that no one remembers why they are here. "Good morning, nine of you," the Goat Head speaks first. "I'm very glad to meet you here. You have been asleep in front of me for twelve hours." The man's bizarre appearance, in the dim light, scares everyone. His mask seems to be made of a real goat's head, with many hairs having turned yellow and black, stuck together in knots. There are two holes dug for the eyes in the goat mask, revealing his cunning eyes. His every move not only gives off the unique fishy smell of goats but also a faint rotten odor. A man with tattooed arms freezes for a few seconds, finally realizing the unreasonableness of this matter, and asks the Goat Head hesitantly: "You... who are you?" "I believe you all have this question, so let me introduce myself to the nine of you," the Goat Head says happily, waving his hands, as if he has long been ready with the answer. A young man named Qi Xia sits farthest from the Goat Head. He quickly looks around the room, and after a moment, his expression becomes grave. Strange, this room is really strange. There is no door, just walls on all four sides. In other words, theall around, roof and floor of this room are all closed, but there is a table in the center of the room. If that's the case, how did they get here? Could it be that they were sent here first, and then the walls were built? Qi Xia looks around again. The floor, walls and ceiling here are all covered with crisscross lines, which divide the walls and the floor into many large squares. Another thing that concerns Qi Xia is the "nine of you" mentioned by the Goat Head. No matter how you count, there are ten people sitting around the round table. Including the Goat Head himself, there are eleven people in this room. What does "nine of you" mean? He reaches into his pocket, and as expected, his mobile phone has long been taken away. "No need to introduce yourself to us," a cold woman says to the Goat Head. "I advise you to stop your behavior early. I suspect that you have detained us for more than twenty-four hours, which constitutes the crime of 'unlawful detention'. Every word you say now will be recorded and will form testimony against you." As she speaks, she rubs the dust on her arm in disgust, as if she hates being dirty more than being imprisoned. The cold woman's words really wake everyone up. No matter who the other person is, he dares to kidnap ten people alone, which has already violated the bottom line of the law. "Wait..." a middle-aged man in a white coat interrupts everyone's thoughts. He slowly looks at the cold woman and asks, "We all just woke up. How do you know we have been detained for 'twenty-four hours'?" His tone is steady and forceful, but it hits the nail on the head. The cold woman calmly points to the clock on the table and replies: "The clock here points to twelve o'clock, but I have the habit of staying up late. The last time I checked the clock at home, it was already twelve o'clock, which means we have been detained for at least twelve hours." After speaking, she points to the surrounding walls and continues: "You should have noticed that there is no door in this room, which means this person took a lot of trouble to get us into this room. He said we have been asleep for twelve hours, and now the clock points to twelve o'clock again, which means it has at least gone around twice, so I suspect it's 'more than twenty-four hours'. Is there a problem?" After listening to this answer, the man in the white coat gives the woman a cold look, with suspicion still in his eyes. After all, in such an environment, this woman is too calm. Would a normal person say such words calmly when facing such a kidnapping? At this time, a strong young man in a black T-shirt asks: "Goat Head, why are there ten people here, but you say there are nine?" The Goat Head is silent and does not respond immediately."Son of a b***h, I don't care how many people are here..." The tattooed man cursed, propping himself up on the table in an attempt to stand, only to find his legs weak and powerless. So he continued pointing at the Goat Head, "Bastard, I advise you to be sensible. You probably have no idea how serious the consequences will be if you mess with me. I really will kill you." As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of the men present gradually turned serious. At this moment, there really was a need for someone to take the lead. If they could join forces to subdue the Goat Head, the situation might still be under control. But everyone found that their legs, as if injected with something, were completely unable to exert any strength. Thus, the tattooed man could only threaten the Goat Head with words, shouting abuses loudly. Qi Xia didn't speak. He reached out and gently stroked his chin, staring at the clock on the table, deep in thought. Things seemed not as simple as imagined. He knew that the Goat Head had said "nine participants". If there were ten people here, it could only mean that one of them was not a participant. Who was that person? There were six men and four women sitting in this room. Could one of them be the "kidnapper"? The Goat Head stopped talking, slowly walked to Qi Xia's side, and stood behind a young man. Everyone followed his gaze and realized that this young man was different from all the others here. Although his face was also dirty, it was filled with a happy smile. The Goat Head slowly raised his palm and placed it on the back of the young man's head. The young man's smile became more and more strange. He looked at everyone excitedly, as if he had long known something. With a dull thud, the Goat Head slammed the young man's head hard against the table. Pinkish-white matter, like spilled paint, spread across the table in an instant, and blood splattered on everyone's faces. The young man's skull had actually been smashed to pieces on the table. From outside the room, a distant bell rang again. Qi Xia was very close to the deceased. He felt a piece of unknown object stick to his face, warm and sticky. He thought his psychological quality was strong enough, but he didn't expect to start trembling at this moment. The girl sitting to the right of the deceased froze for three seconds, then her face twisted and she let out a shrill scream. This scream shattered everyone's psychological defense. To be able to smash the hardest human skull against the table with his hand, was that Goat Head still a "human"? Why could his thin body burst out with such great strength? The Goat Head spoke slowly: "The reason I prepared ten people is that I need one of them to make you quiet down."