Chapter 16: Another Wave

Although the crowd didn't understand any medical knowledge, they generally grasped what Zhao Yisheng meant. For them now, removing the harpoon was straightforward, but suturing the wound was incredibly difficult.

"Now that the writer's life is saved, the only thing we need to do is get out of here quickly and find a proper place to treat his wound again."

Zhao Yisheng's words pulled everyone's thoughts back to reality. If they couldn't escape this eerie room, they would all end up like Han Yi Mo sooner or later.

"But how do we leave? Is the 'game' over?"

Lin Geng asked, covering her mouth and nose.

Qi Xia thought carefully for a moment and shook his head. The mask had clearly stated that the one called "Ren Quan" wanted them to survive and mentioned "see you after the rain." Logically, after this storm of harpoons, the so-called "Ren Quan" should appear, possibly bringing the next game. But why hadn't he shown up?

"Hey, cheater."

Qiao Jia Jin slowly walked over to Qi Xia, his face serious as he asked, "You have a way to survive, right?"

"What about it?"

Qi Xia replied coldly, "Whether I survive or not, what does it have to do with you?"

"I'm not as smart as you, so I need to team up with someone."

Qiao Jia Jin seemed to be pitching himself, "You've got the brains, and I've got the strength. Let's work together."

Qi Xia frowned slightly at those words.

"Sorry, I'm a cheater. I don't plan to trust anyone except myself."

Before Qiao Jia Jin could say more, a question suddenly came from Li Jingguan's direction.

"What's this?"

Everyone turned to look and saw Li Jingguan carefully examining the harpoon in his hand.

"What is it?"

Zhao Yisheng approached Li Jingguan and asked cautiously.

"There's writing on it."

Li Jingguan handed the harpoon to Zhao Yisheng. Zhao Yisheng took it, looked it over, and his expression changed. Sure enough, on the thick tail of the harpoon, there were tiny words:

"I am 'Ren Yang.' If you can see this text, it means you all survived.""But how many of you survived?""Was anyone injured?""I'm truly very worried about you.""I can't just stand by and watch you die.""In one quarter of an hour, death will rain down again.""Dodge them and find a way to survive."

Zhao Yisheng gritted his teeth and slammed the harpoon to the ground.

"Is this guy messing with us? It never ends!"

He roared loudly, as if releasing all the pent-up emotions he'd been holding back.

"Calm down!"

Li Jingguan said sternly, "If you can't control your emotions, how are you going to survive?"

"Survive...? But we're already dead!!"

Zhao Yisheng finally couldn't hold it in anymore, "We're already dead, yet we're still tormented by the fear of death. What does the 'organizer' want from us?! Can't he just kill us outright or let us go?"

Everyone's faces looked grim at that moment. Yes, these waves of death threats— what was the point of it all? Was it really like what that sheep-headed figure said, to select a "god"? Did that mean only one person would become the "god," and the rest would go to hell?

"Everyone, we've survived two 'games' already. Do you think it's because we're smart? No!"

Zhao Yisheng clenched his fists tightly, "We've just been incredibly lucky! But what about next time? Or the time after that? In this ever-changing room, how long can we actually last?!"

Li Jingguan pursed his lips, stepped forward, and grabbed Zhao Yisheng by the collar: "Hey... buddy! In a life-or-death situation like this, the last thing we can afford to lose is 'morale'! If you don't want to live, go ahead and die yourself! Don't shake everyone's resolve here!"

"I...!"

Zhao Yisheng's lips trembled slightly, "But how are we supposed to get out? Do you have a way to get us out?"

Li Jingguan pondered for a moment and said, "I don't have a 'plan,' but I know we have to survive! As long as we survive, there's hope for everything."

He released his grip on Zhao Yisheng's collar, picked up the harpoon from the ground to examine it, then walked over to Han Yi Mo and checked the harpoon in his shoulder. He noticed the same text on both. It seemed their luck really had been extraordinary. This round wasn't just about dodging the fatal attacks; they also had to keep at least one harpoon to get the clue for the next round.

"Anyway, at least this time we have a clear clue."

Li Jingguan read the words on the harpoon carefully and said, "It's different from before— this time, the attack will only come from above." He pointed to the words "death will rain down again."

No sooner had he spoken than the entire room began to change. All the holes in the walls slowly disappeared, while the countless holes in the ceiling started shifting positions. In the end, only nine remained. Three holes in each row, for a total of three rows.

"It looks like the game is getting simpler."

Li Jingguan gazed at the nine holes in the ceiling and sighed, "I guess that's a silver lining in the misfortune."

"But why has it turned into 'Ren Yang' this time?"

Zhang Lüshi pointed to the mangled corpse on the ground and asked, "Wasn't 'Ren Yang' already killed by us?"

Qi Xia thought for a moment and found it strange too. The sheep-headed figure who had just died had called himself "Ren Yang," but the mask inside had said "I am Ren Quan." One moment it was sheep, the next it was dog. Was this another clue?

"There's no time left."

Li Jingguan addressed the group, "It's already 1:23. It won't be long before those nine holes in the ceiling start shooting harpoons. Everyone, grab the table boards and stand against the walls for now."

Most of the table boards on the floor were shattered, with only a few smaller ones still usable. Fortunately, all nine holes in the ceiling were clustered in the center, so the walls seemed safe. Everyone quietly picked up the broken table boards and spread out along the walls, staying far from the central holes.

Meanwhile, Qi Xia didn't move and slowly closed his eyes. From every angle, the third game seemed too suspicious. Because the "organizer" had directly provided the solution. In Qi Xia's view, this hint was completely unnecessary. Did they want them to die, or to live? Why specifically mention "Ren Yang" and "Ren Quan"? If "Ren Yang" and "Ren Quan" weren't names, what could they represent?

"Hey, cheater, get over here!"

Qiao Jia Jin shouted, "If you stand under those holes, you'll die!"

"Die...?"

Qi Xia glanced coldly at the holes in the ceiling, "I won't die here. I have reasons I have to get out."

"What's going on...? Has the smartest one among us gone rogue?"

Qiao Jia Jin was puzzled.

Qi Xia extended his index finger and gently tapped his temple.

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

Everyone even slowed their breathing, watching Qi Xia in the center of the room quietly. They didn't understand what there was to ponder in such an obvious game.