Rat games

It was the first time the group outside the room had voluntarily taken part in a game, and everyone was a little nervous.

"Qi Xia," Lin Qin called.

"What is it?"

"You said before that different animals represented different types of games, right?"

"That seems to be the case."

Lin Qin glanced at Human Rat, then asked quietly, "What do you think a 'rat game' is?"

Qi Xia was considering the same question. Without knowing the type of game in advance, Tiantian would be at a disadvantage.

But what were rats associated with?

"The game being played right now seems to fit a rat's traits: searching for a target among piles of clutter," Qi Xia said quietly. "Could rats represent search games?"

Inside the room, Tiantian first took a quick look around and found that it contained many shelves.

Each shelf was stacked with cardboard boxes of various sizes. At a glance, there were at least a hundred.

Tiantian picked up a random box and examined it. It was full of odds and ends.

She did a quick calculation. If she opened the boxes one by one and rummaged through their contents within those five minutes, she would never find the "Dao." There were simply too many boxes.

She looked up again and noticed that this small storeroom had only one incandescent light bulb. Its switch was on the wall beside her.

Tiantian thought for a few seconds, then suddenly hit upon an idea.

Bracing herself, she shoved a shelf over with a tremendous crash.

The people outside immediately grew alarmed at the sound.

"Hey! Pretty girl, are you okay?" Qiao Jiajin shouted.

"I'm fine," Tiantian called back. "I just thought of something."

Qi Xia considered it briefly, then nodded. "Yes, that really is a good idea."

"Huh?" Qiao Jiajin froze. "You even know what she's thinking? Can you two secretly transmit your voices like people in martial arts novels?"

The noise inside grew louder and louder as Tiantian knocked over every shelf, scattering cardboard boxes across the floor.

All sorts of odds and ends spilled out.

Some boxes held plastic plates and bowls, some held old clothes, and others held wastepaper.

She walked over to a few boxes that were still intact and stomped on them hard. Before long, the once-tidy storeroom was a complete mess.

Panting, she surveyed the room and decided it was about time. Then she walked to the wall and switched off the light.

The room instantly went pitch-black. Only Tiantian's breathing could be heard.

"This..." Tiantian looked around, slowly furrowing her brow.

As she remembered it, the little ball called a "Dao" gave off a faint glow. With the clutter scattered all over the floor, there should have been a very good chance of spotting it in the dark.

Yet the instant she switched off the light, the entire room had plunged into darkness, without even the faintest glimmer.

Refusing to give up, she steeled herself and walked forward, kicking the boxes around to widen her search.

How could a glowing ball vanish without a trace in a dark room?

After kicking things around for quite a while, Tiantian felt she had opened every box, yet she still had not found anything that glowed.

Just then, Human Rat knocked on the door from outside and said, "Ten seconds left."

Tiantian shook her head helplessly and turned on the light.

In the sudden light, she discovered a box of canned food right at her feet. The cans had previously been inside the cardboard box, but now lay scattered across the floor.

She reached down, picked up a can, and read its label. It contained beans.

Tiantian shook the can, and sure enough, it made a rattling sound.

"I'm such an idiot..." Tiantian gritted her teeth. "Could it be inside one of these cans?!"

Creak-

Human Rat turned the handle from outside and pushed the door open. "Time's up. Challenge failed."

Startled, Tiantian looked up, coming face-to-face with Human Rat's eerie features.

The three outside immediately came forward. Qiao Jiajin asked, "Well, pretty girl? Did you find it?"

"No..." Tiantian tossed the can aside and stood up with a sorrowful expression. "I suspect the 'Dao' is inside one of these cans, but opening dozens of cans with my bare hands in five minutes... isn't easy either."

Qi Xia looked down. These were all cans of broad beans, so hiding a "Dao" inside one made sense.

Yet he still felt something was off.

Tiantian left the room dejectedly and glanced at Human Rat in fear.

But Human Rat did nothing else. She simply shut the door and remained standing in front of it.

"So we really only lose one 'Dao'?" Tiantian asked quietly. "She isn't going to kill me..."

Human Rat smiled and asked, "When did I ever say I was going to kill you?"

Seeing this, Qiao Jiajin finally understood. "Hey... con man, if that's how it works... can't we try again?"

"Try again?" Qi Xia frowned.

"We already know the 'Dao' is probably in one of those cans. This time, we can go straight in and start opening them. She won't kill us anyway."

Qi Xia looked at his pocket. There was only one "Dao" left inside.

Human Dragon had said that these "Dao" were both their rewards and their "stakes."

From the looks of it, taking part in these games required paying a certain number of "Dao" to wager against the other party. If they spent too many here, they would be unable to play any games later.

"Pretty girl, are you sure you searched all the other boxes?" Qiao Jiajin asked her to confirm.

"I didn't go through them carefully. I just opened all the boxes, then turned off the light." Tiantian shook her head. "But I didn't see anything glowing, so... the 'Dao' should be inside a sealed container."

"Good. Then I'll go in and give it another try!" Qiao Jiajin said with a nod.

But just then, Qi Xia suddenly reached out to stop him.

"Wait."

"Hm?"

Qi Xia looked at Human Rat and asked, "Can I hear the rules again?"

"Of course!"

Human Rat smiled, turned around, and opened the door.

Only then did they discover that the room was somehow as good as new. Every shelf had returned to its original position, and the boxes had been put back too.

"Holy shit!" Qiao Jiajin froze.

Lin Qin and Tiantian also cried out in astonishment.

Human Rat slowly walked inside, looked around, and asked, "Well? Isn't my 'game' amazing?"

Qi Xia nodded.

Human Rat continued, "My 'game' is called 'Seeking the Way.' Admission costs one 'Dao.' There is one 'Dao' in this room right now. If you can find it within five minutes, it's yours."

With that, she smiled warmly again.

After hearing her out, Qi Xia slowly nodded.

"I want to play again," he said.

"Sure, no problem." Human Rat nodded. "You can play as many times as you like."

"This time, I'm betting my life," Qi Xia said.