Another wave

Although none of them knew much about medicine, they understood the gist of what Doctor Zhao meant.

Pulling out the harpoons was easy for them now. Stitching up a wound was hard.

"The writer's life is no longer in danger. All we need to do now is get out of here as quickly as possible, then find somewhere with the proper facilities to treat his wound again."

Doctor Zhao's words brought everyone back to reality.

If they couldn't escape this bizarre room, sooner or later they would all end up like Han Yimo.

"But how do we get out? Is the 'game' over?" Lin Qin asked, covering her mouth and nose.

Qi Xia thought carefully, then shook his head.

The writing inside the mask had been clear. Someone called "Human Dog" wanted them to survive and had said, "See you after the rain."

Logically, after that rainstorm of harpoons, the so-called Human Dog should have appeared, possibly bringing the next game.

But why hasn't he shown himself?

"Hey, swindler." Qiao Jiajin slowly walked over to Qi Xia and asked with a serious expression, "You've got a way to survive, right?"

"What?" Qi Xia replied coldly. "What does whether I survive have to do with you?"

"I'm not as smart as you, so I need someone to team up with." Qiao Jiajin seemed to be pitching himself. "You've got brains, I've got muscle. Let's work together."

Qi Xia frowned slightly at that.

"Sorry, I'm a swindler. I don't intend to trust anyone but myself."

Before Qiao Jiajin could say anything else, a puzzled voice came from Officer Li.

"What's this?"

Everyone turned to look and found Officer Li closely examining the harpoon in his hand.

"What is it?"

Doctor Zhao approached Officer Li and asked cautiously.

"There's writing." Officer Li handed the harpoon to Doctor Zhao.

Doctor Zhao took it and looked, his expression changing. Sure enough, tiny words were inscribed on the tail of the finger-thick harpoon:

"I am 'Human Sheep.' If you can read this, it means you survived."

"But how many of you survived?"

"Is anyone hurt?"

"I am truly very worried about you."

"I cannot stand by and watch you die."

"In fifteen minutes, death will descend from above again."

"Dodge it. Find a way to survive."

Doctor Zhao gritted his teeth, then hurled the harpoon to the floor.

"You think I'm a pushover?! This never ends!" he roared, as though trying to release all the emotions he had suppressed until now.

"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!" Doctor Zhao finally reached his breaking point. "We're already dead, yet we still have to suffer the fear of dying! What the hell does the 'organizer' want?! Can't he just kill us outright or let us go?"

Everyone looked grim. He was right. What was the point of these endless waves of death threats?

Was it really to select a "god," as the Goat-Headed Man had said?

Would one person become a "god" while everyone else went to hell?

"Everyone, we've survived two 'games.' Do you think it's because we're smart? No!" Doctor Zhao clenched his fists tightly. "We've just been incredibly lucky! But what about next time? And the time after that? How long can we possibly survive in this constantly changing room?!"

Officer Li pressed his lips together, stepped forward, and grabbed Doctor Zhao by the collar. "Hey... buddy! When our lives are on the line, the one thing we can't afford to lose is morale! If you don't want to live, go die on your own! Don't drag everyone else down!"

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

Officer Li pondered for a moment before saying, "I don't have a 'way.' All I know is that we have to survive! As long as we're alive, there's hope."

He released Doctor Zhao's collar, walked aside to pick up the harpoon and inspect it, then went over to Han Yimo to examine the harpoon in his shoulder. Both harpoons bore the same words.

It seemed their luck really had been extraordinary.

In the previous round, they had needed not only to dodge the lethal attacks, but also to keep at least one harpoon to learn the clue for the next round.

"Whatever the case, at least we've been given a clear clue this time." Officer Li carefully read the words on the harpoon. "Unlike before, this attack will only come from above."

He pointed to the tiny words, "Death will descend from above again."

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire room began changing again.

All the holes in the walls slowly disappeared, while the holes in the ceiling also began to change. Numerous rectangular openings appeared, each seemingly a meter long and twenty to thirty centimeters wide. A closer look revealed nine openings in total.

Was this what "death will descend from above again" meant?

"It looks like the game is getting easier." Officer Li sighed as he looked at the nine openings in the ceiling. "That's a blessing amid all this misfortune."

"But why is it 'Human Sheep' again this time?" Lawyer Zhang pointed at the corpse on the floor, torn apart by the harpoons. "Didn't we already kill Human Sheep?"

Qi Xia thought for a moment and also found it strange.

The Goat-Headed Man who had just died had indeed called himself "Human Sheep," yet the writing inside his mask had said, "I am Human Dog."

First a sheep, then a dog.

Could this be another clue?

"There isn't much time left," Officer Li told everyone. "It's already one twenty-three. Before long, those nine holes overhead will probably launch something dangerous down at us. Everyone, pick up a piece of the tabletop and stand against the walls."

They now noticed something strange about the tabletop pieces on the floor. The tabletop seemed to have been specially constructed. After the harpoons had torn it apart, all that remained was a square section with a handle. The wood in the center looked harder than the wood around it.

Although the tabletop pieces they held were now quite small, all nine openings in the ceiling were clustered near the center. Standing by the walls should be safe.

Everyone silently picked up a broken piece of the tabletop from the floor and spread out along the walls, keeping well away from the openings in the center.

Qi Xia, however, stayed where he was and slowly closed his eyes again.

No matter how he looked at it, the third game was far too suspicious.

The "organizer" had given them the solution outright.

To Qi Xia, this latest hint seemed completely unnecessary.

Do they want us dead, or do they want us alive?

Why specifically mention "Human Sheep" and "Human Dog"?

If "Human Sheep" and "Human Dog" aren't names, what could they mean?

"Hey, swindler, get over here!" Qiao Jiajin called. "You'll die standing under those holes!"

"Die...?" Qi Xia glanced coldly at the openings overhead. "There's no way I'm dying here. I have a reason I must get out."

"What's going on...? Has even the smartest guy turned into a turncoat?" Qiao Jiajin was puzzled.

Qi Xia raised his index finger and lightly tapped his temple.

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

Everyone even slowed their breathing as they quietly watched Qi Xia in the center of the room. None of them quite understood what there was to think over so repeatedly in such an obvious game.