The moment Qi Si drove the blade into Chang Xu's neck, Zou Yan's eyes widened.
Her expression froze in that instant.
Or rather, everyone and everything in the entire space—their actions, movements, and expressions—froze in that moment.
The blood splattered across the shirt seeped out from between the fibers, turned into droplets, and flew back into the wound on the corpse's neck.
The blood pooling on the stairs trickled upward, contracted into a small puddle, then flowed back into the blood vessels.
The corpse that had fallen to its knees rose in a strange pose and retraced its steps, moving backward along the path it had taken before, like a film playing in reverse.
Qi Si watched as the pallor drained from Chang Xu's face and the color of the living returned. His tall, lanky figure walked like a reanimated corpse, stepping up the stairs one by one before disappearing around the landing.
The vines that had been clawing wildly through the stairwell twisted and withdrew toward the walls on either side, winding like snakes as they slipped into the shadows between the stones.
At some point, the rain stopped. The air was steeped in the damp smell of water and the fragrance of flowers.
Qi Si found himself unable to move. Only his thoughts could drift freely through his mind.
Zou Yan before him was likewise unable to act. Only her right hand, wrapped in vines, still twisted in defiance.
"Because she hasn't fully turned into a monster, only her right hand, which belongs to the supernatural, can move?"
Qi Si committed this discovery to memory.
After deciding that the correct answer was hidden in the seventh rule—[Only monsters can kill humans. Please believe that you are human]—he had begun to consider what would happen if a human killed another human.
He knew that after obtaining the four-line poem clue from Chang Xu, Zou Yan had immediately conducted an experiment to verify it, triggering a rewind in time.
In other words, the conditions for triggering a time rewind weren't strict. They were practically within reach.
The dungeon's backstory also revealed that Annie had killed the man who loved Anna deeply, then made a deal with a deity and started a three-day time loop.
By analogy, the switch that triggered a time rewind was very likely related to "murder."
If a human killed another human, time would rewind by an hour, bringing the dead back to life. Only if a player died at the hands of the supernatural would the time-rewind mechanism not be triggered.
Hence, "Only monsters can kill humans."
Whether or not that was the case, Qi Si planned to kill someone and find out. After all, he was a man of action, with a strong practical streak.
Ever since he entered the Old Woman's room and learned that "monsters aren't affected by time rewinds," Chang Xu had been a dead man in Qi Si's eyes.
That was precisely why he had practically blown his own cover by telling Chang Xu part of the truth. He'd treated it as a final bit of exposition before his death.
"From what I can tell, neither the person killed nor uninvolved bystanders retain their memories of a time rewind. Otherwise, there's no explaining why I have no memory at all of the first round of the game."
"Besides monsters, the only ones who can keep their memories intact through a time rewind are the ones who trigger it—the killers."
"We have to make use of the fact that monsters can kill humans to break out of this, while also holding on to our human identities. That means we need to use the time-rewind mechanism... What an interesting design!"
A complete plan gradually took shape in the depths of his mind. Qi Si watched the specks of dust drift slowly upward through the gloom. In the end, he couldn't make any large movements, so he merely curved his lips into a faint smile and waited for the time rewind he had triggered to end.
The light around him dimmed inch by inch. As the light disappeared, his consciousness sank. In the darkness, where he couldn't see his own hand, the sound of rain rang in his ears once more.
It was a downpour.
Muffled by the thick stone walls, all that reached his ears was a faint rushing sound.
In an instant, the world lit up.
Qi Si found himself leaning against a wall. A double bed stood before him, covered in scattered bone fragments.
It looked familiar. He remembered that those bone fragments had once belonged to two skeletons.
Chang Xu was beside him, trying to crush the fragments into even smaller pieces.
The victim, who had just died once, straightened up and looked at Qi Si. "You were under the Nightmare's influence just now. I figured the skeletons were the key, so I smashed them."
Qi Si was only dazed for a moment before his memories caught up with what had happened.
He remembered: this was the first room on the third floor. After finding the paper with writing on it beneath the pillow, he had fallen under the Nightmare's influence and seen Annie's past.
Time had indeed rewound, and Chang Xu indeed remembered nothing...
Qi Si smiled, his expression bright and open.
In a casual tone, he asked, "Brother Chang, what time is it?"
Chang Xu didn't understand why he was asking, but he still lowered his eyes to look at the Pocket Watch in his hand. Somewhat puzzled, he answered, "Two... one-oh-eight? Just now, the minute hand seemed to have moved forward another tick."
At this time, Zou Yan probably hadn't had a chance to lie in wait by the stairs yet.
Even if she had, it didn't matter. He could just have Chang Xu die one more time.
Qi Si made up his mind and gave a quiet "Mm" before turning to leave the room. "I've already figured out how to clear the dungeon. I won't be visiting the last two rooms."
He paused for two seconds, then looked back at Chang Xu. "Of course, if you're interested in solving the mystery, you can go take a look around yourself. If you're interested in Miss Anna, you can go straight to Room 3."
Chang Xu: ...I'm interested in neither, thanks.
Even so, when Qi Si started down the stairs, he hesitated.
They hadn't known each other for long. He couldn't possibly believe whatever Qi Si said without question.
The third floor clearly held important clues.
Qi Si knew exactly what Chang Xu was thinking. His voice remained calm and unhurried. "Considering we've been working together, I'd still advise you to go downstairs soon. You should know that Zou Yan has already caught wind of our clues. She knows most of this dungeon's secrets and could be waiting by the stairs at any moment to kill one of us, triggering the 'Minimum Death Quota' mechanism."
Chang Xu caught the flaw in Qi Si's words.
Based on the information they had, all they could infer was that the holder of the Eye of Hermes was either Zou Yan or Ye Zi.
Yet Qi Si was so certain that Zou Yan was the one who had discovered their clues...
Chang Xu thought of the odd behavior of the Pocket Watch of Fate and raised an eyebrow. "Did you trigger the time-rewind mechanism?"
Then he saw the young man before him visibly freeze for a moment before giving a wry smile. "You guessed right. I came back from an hour in the future. So take it from someone who's been there: you should get out of here soon."
People tended to believe "facts" they had worked out for themselves. Qi Si understood that well, which was why he had deliberately left a gap in what he said.
Chang Xu fell for it without realizing, and pressed him instinctively. "How did you trigger the time rewind?"
"Ah, it was pretty simple, actually..." Qi Si slipped his hands into his pockets and glanced up at the ceiling. "Too bad I don't plan on telling you."
Chang Xu: My fists are itching.
Maybe it was just his imagination, but he felt there was a hint of malice in Qi Si's smile. For no reason he could explain, the back of his neck turned cold.
The danger sense he'd developed since childhood made him give up on asking any more questions.
A few seconds later, Qi Si had already hurried down to the stairwell landing. He stopped and looked back from a distance. "Brother Chang, your room probably isn't safe anymore. Go to my room once you're downstairs. Keep an eye on Lin Chen, and don't let Zou Yan trick him into going outside and slaughtering him."
"I'd like to borrow your Pocket Watch of Fate. Of course, if you don't agree, that's fine too. It just means none of us will be able to clear the dungeon."
At that, the young man lowered his eyes and sighed. "I'll go test my theory first. If I fail, you can all think of another way."
Chang Xu asked without hesitation, "What theory?"
Qi Si looked up at him, slowly raised a finger to his lips, and smiled as he replied with two words: "Take a guess."
Before you continue