Keep going

Qi Xia had remained in his seat the entire time, neither standing up nor looking for clues.

Something still felt a little off to him.

Psychological Counselor Lin Qin had also stayed seated.

"What are you thinking about?" Lin Qin asked casually, covering her nose and mouth.

"Me?" Qi Xia paused. "What, are you going to give me a psychological assessment?"

"Not really. Though people as clever as you tend to have some psychological issues, this situation hardly lends itself to therapy." Lin Qin smiled faintly. "I just wanted to know what you were thinking about."

Qi Xia considered for a moment, then said, "I'm thinking about the reason."

"The reason?"

Qi Xia ignored Lin Qin and called out to Doctor Zhao instead. "Doctor, how long can an ordinary person survive after being shot in the heart?"

Doctor Zhao turned around and thought briefly. "If I remember correctly, a person shot in the heart loses consciousness within seconds. But since medical 'death' refers to 'brain death,' the brain continues functioning for a few minutes even after consciousness is lost."

Qi Xia nodded. "That Goat-Headed Man screamed for several minutes just now. Does that mean his body was much tougher than an ordinary human's?"

"Yes. Even after being shot in the heart, it took him several full minutes to lose consciousness completely."

Hearing Qi Xia and the doctor talking, everyone fell silent.

It was only thanks to this swindler's clear thinking that all nine of them had survived.

"Then why do you think he did that?" Qi Xia extended his index finger and thumb into the shape of a gun and held it to his temple. "Most people would choose to kill themselves like this."

He thought for a moment, then pointed his hand upward beneath his chin. "Or like this."

Qi Xia lowered his hand and pointed at his heart:

"Either way... people who kill themselves choose a method that minimizes their suffering. So why did he aim at his heart?"

Qiao Jiajin toyed with the goat mask, then turned the man's head over to inspect it. "Maybe this bastard's skull was even tougher, and one shot wouldn't have killed him."

"The fact that he coughed up blood proves his anatomy was the same as ours," Officer Li said. "No matter how tough he was, a shot to the head at that range would definitely have killed him."

Qi Xia nodded. "In that case, I can only think of one reason."

He pointed at the mask in Qiao Jiajin's hands. "The Goat-Headed Man most likely shot himself in the heart to protect something. I'm afraid the 'game' isn't over yet."

Qiao Jiajin froze. "You mean... he was afraid of damaging his mask?"

"Exactly."

At Qi Xia's direction, Qiao Jiajin turned the goatskin mask inside out, exposing its rough lining to everyone.

A sour, rotten stench wafted out of it.

Just as Qi Xia had expected, words had been written inside the goatskin mask in black pen.

Some parts were stained with blood, but Qiao Jiajin didn't care. He grabbed his T-shirt and wiped them off, finally making the writing legible.

"What the hell?" Qiao Jiajin paused, then began reading the words in his imperfect Mandarin:

"I am 'Human Dog.'"

"You have been cursed."

"I hope you survive."

"The clock never stops. Death lurks on all four sides."

"If you want to survive, turn toward your hometown one hundred times."

"Oh, right. People always talk about bamboo shoots springing up after the rain, so why aren't spring bamboo shoots afraid of being battered by it?"

"See you after the rain."

Qi Xia frowned slightly. As expected, these were clues for the next game...

The shadow of death hanging over them refused to lift.

They were already dead. Did they have to die again?

"Hey, swindler, what does this mean?" Qiao Jiajin asked.

"How would I know?" Qi Xia snorted. "There are nine people here. Do I have to do all the thinking?"

Zhang Chenze, the lawyer, slowly sat down in a chair. "Much as I hate to admit it, your thinking aligns very closely with the Organizer's. If you have any ideas, please share them."

"I..."

Before Qi Xia could speak, the walls around them suddenly began to change.

As everyone watched in shock, holes appeared out of thin air, one after another.

The walls, originally made of cement, now seemed like some constantly shifting, pliable substance.

Moments later, neat rows of holes lined the walls, as though they had always been there.

At the same time, the sound of chains being pulled came from all four sides.

"What's happening?" Panic swept through the group.

"Look at the ceiling!" someone cried.

Everyone looked up and found that the ceiling, too, was riddled with holes.

Qi Xia finally stood, took the goatskin mask from Qiao Jiajin, and examined the final sentence closely.

"See you after the rain."

"Rain...?"

Qiao Jiajin crept over to the wall and peered into one of the holes. He immediately recoiled in fright, stumbling back several steps.

"Holy shit!"

He shouted and tried to find somewhere to hide, only to discover there was nowhere at all.

"What's wrong? What's in there?" Xiao Ran asked fearfully.

Everyone knew Qiao Jiajin was already unusually brave. Anything that frightened him enough to send him stumbling backward had to be terrible.

"Motherf-!" Qiao Jiajin shouted. "Harpoons! Every hole is full of harpoons being pulled back!"

"What do you mean, 'being pulled back'?" Doctor Zhao asked in confusion.

"They're probably being cocked," Qi Xia said. "We've been hearing chains from every side for a while now. Those harpoons are being cocked and could fire at any moment."

"Hey! Swindler, hurry up and think of something!" Qiao Jiajin came over to Qi Xia, his voice urgent. "If they all fire from every direction at once, where are we supposed to hide?"

Qi Xia considered carefully. Keeping himself alive wouldn't be difficult. After all, there were already two corpses here.

The harpoons had limited penetrating power. He only needed to pile the two corpses in a corner and hide behind them. He might still get injured, but his chances of survival would be high.

"Keeping everyone alive this time will probably be difficult. I need to protect myself too, so I won't be saving you again," Qi Xia said quietly.

"You..." Qiao Jiajin stopped short. He could only turn to Officer Li and Doctor Zhao for help, but the two looked even more helpless.

Qi Xia looked again at the clues written on the goatskin mask.

Had I misunderstood?

This "game" would only truly end when just one person remained.

If I kept everyone alive, these murderous games would keep appearing.

After all, this room was deeply strange. The walls on all four sides could change at any moment.

It seemed to defy every scientific principle, more like magic.

But if the Organizer was someone powerful enough to wield magic, why torment the nine of us dead people?

Was this some sick game run by an organization that managed ghosts?

While Qi Xia was lost in thought, Lin Qin looked at the mask in his hands and spoke. "It says here... how we can survive. It tells us to 'turn toward our hometown one hundred times.'"

Everyone calmed down a little and began pondering that sentence.

"Does it mean we should face our hometown and spin around?" Tiantian asked.

"That can't be right." Qiao Jiajin shook his head. "How would you figure out which direction your hometown is in this room? Besides, spinning around a hundred times won't do anything except make you dizzy."

"I don't care! I'll try it first!" Tiantian picked a direction at random and began spinning.

Qi Xia thought for a moment, knowing it couldn't possibly be that simple.