Chapter 358: The Calamity

"What do you mean?" Su Shan turned back in confusion, glancing at Lin Geng and Qin Dingdong, her eyes seemingly hoping that the two seniors could explain it to her.

However, Qin Dingdong and Lin Geng had never been on the Sheng Xiao train either, so they had no idea what Di Gou meant by that.

"It's nothing," Di Gou replied proactively. "Just everyday complaining."

Su Shan turned back and took three “Dao” from each person, then handed them over to Di Gou.

Di Gou pursed his lips and reluctantly accepted the tickets. He stretched his muscles and bones, as if transforming into a different person, then turned and opened the door behind him.

This appeared to be a fairly spacious glass shop.

"Slacking off is one thing, but once the tickets are paid, it's my work time," Di Gou said seriously. "From now on, I'll do my best to kill all of you."

That single sentence sent a chill down Zhang Chenze's back.

It was hard to imagine such a statement, completely against the law, being said so confidently, as if it were just an ordinary job.

The group followed Di Gou inside and found that this place was quite different from the game arenas they had seen before.

The glass shop, nearly 100 square meters, was spotlessly clean, with all debris and rubble cleared away. Even the various glass items inside had been dusted off, making it almost indistinguishable from a real-world store.

How could this be the work of someone who slacks off?

"Have we been tricked?" Su Shan said. "You've cleaned this place up so nicely—clearly, you want people to come in and see it, right?"

"Don't flatter yourself," Di Gou replied coldly. "When I'm working, I just want to do the job properly—no one can make me slack off. And when I'm slacking off, that's all I want to do—if anyone tries to make me work, I'll fight them tooth and nail."

"What a strange person," Su Shan said.

"A strange dog," Qin Dingdong corrected.

Di Gou led the group to the center of the room, where several large structures made of glass stood, reaching from the floor to the ceiling, resembling enormous fish tanks.

Qin Dingdong reached out and knocked on one of the huge fish tanks, discovering that the glass was very thick, seemingly made of a special material.

"Be careful not to leave fingerprints," Di Gou said. "They're a pain to wipe off."

Qin Dingdong shot Di Gou an annoyed look and, when Di Gou wasn't paying attention, deliberately smeared a big handprint on the glass.

Su Shan peered into the large fish tanks and saw that each one contained something like a podium, with two small holes on the podium—though their purpose was unclear.

The floor and ceiling of the glass rooms were made of metal mesh, and the floor nearby seemed to have various mechanisms set up.

Di Gou walked over to the wall and pressed a switch, changing the atmosphere in the room.

Several spotlights dropped from various directions, illuminating the five large fish tanks in the center, while the rest of the shop plunged into complete darkness. The entire space transformed into a massive stage, with only the fish tanks gleaming under the lights.

"Everyone, please let me explain the rules."

Di Gou led the group to the side of the large fish tanks and said to them, "The rules for this game are very simple: as long as any one of you four can defeat me, you win."

"Defeat?"

"Yes." Di Gou nodded. "Each of us five will have our own glass house, and when the game starts, we'll all be in our respective glass houses."

At that moment, the group looked at these towering fish tanks, which were arranged in a regular pattern.

In the center was a cylindrical glass room, with square glass rooms directly in front, behind, to the left, and to the right of it, each about two or three meters apart. Since they were made of glass, the occupants of each room could see into the others.

Interestingly, the four square glass rooms were made of glass in different subtle colors: pink, green, orange, and blue.

The central cylindrical glass room, upon closer inspection, was made of deep red glass.

"It looks like we five have five rooms," Su Shan said. "We've got you surrounded, but we can't even touch you—how are we supposed to 'defeat' you?"

"You don't need to defeat me in a literal sense," Di Gou explained patiently. "As long as you beat me within the game rules, you win. You can think of this game as a simple prop-based battle."

"Prop-based battle?"

Di Gou nodded and pulled out several wooden sticks from his suit pocket.

The group leaned in to look; these sticks resembled the fortune sticks used in temples.

"Each of you starts with two different 'Qian'. When it's your turn, you'll each get a new 'Qian'. Different 'Qian' have different functions." Di Gou went to one of the square glass rooms and opened the door. "If you want to use a 'Qian', insert it into the small hole on the right side of the podium—that counts as 'making a wish' with it."

Lin Geng stepped forward for a closer look; it was probably similar to playing a card. The podium in the glass room stood on the floor, with two small holes that could perfectly hold a 'Qian'.

"What about the other hole?" Zhang Chenze asked, pointing to the one on the left.

"That's exactly what I was going to say." Di Gou replied, "If you insert a 'Qian' into the hole on the left, it gets passed to the person on your left—that's considered a 'gift'."

"'Gift'?"

"Yes."

Di Gou casually picked up a 'Qian' and inserted it into the hole on the left. The 'Qian' quickly disappeared into the hole, and a few seconds later, it popped out on the podium of another glass room.

"That's the gift," Di Gou demonstrated and then said to the group, "Each turn, you can only choose one action—either 'make a wish' or 'gift', but not both."

Su Shan frowned as she looked at the room; from the inside, the glass was indeed very thick, so anyone inside probably wouldn't hear anything from outside.

In other words, the four of them would likely be unable to communicate during the game.

Without communication, the 'gift' rule would seem quite odd, since the person sending the 'Qian' and the one receiving it wouldn't know each other's intentions.

"Another thing to note..." Di Gou added, "Whether you choose to 'gift' or 'make a wish', you can only use one 'Qian' per turn."

After hearing the rules, Lin Geng and Qin Dingdong both felt it didn't sound good—the game seemed too difficult.

But Su Shan didn't seem too bothered. She looked up at the ceiling of the glass house, which had a lot of grids, as if things might drop from them during the game.

Su Shan nodded and turned back to ask, "Di Gou, what's the name of this game?"

"My game is called 'Zai E Nian'."