Chapter 364: A Year of Disaster Relief

Seeing Lin Jian was clearly injured, Su Shan's expression finally broke.

Even though these people were "seniors," even though they retained their memories, and even though they had endured countless trials and deaths here only to be reborn, they were still "human" after all.

How fragile humans were under these metal mechanisms?

If the mechanisms set by Di Gou had been even slightly more ruthless, Lin Jian would already be dead.

Yet, this method of causing a slow death was just as cruel.

As Su Shan watched Lin Jian being pushed into the air by the iron net once again, she gave up.

"Qi Xia, I have tried my best to follow your guidance... but I just can't do it," Su Shan blinked. "If abandoning teammates is the only way to win, I have no idea how."

Su Shan's gaze gradually grew firm: "I want to save them..."

Now, they had reached the final stage of the second round—"Dong."

Qin Dingdong stared blankly at Lin Jian's room until a "qian" popped up on her desk.

"Bianpao Ci Jiu Sui."

She paused for a moment, then picked up this "qian" with a blank expression.

This was the real "killer move," far stronger than the "Nong Yan San Ba Huang" she had used in the previous round.

Just as she was about to insert this "qian" into the hole, she remembered her own ordeal from the last round.

When she was about to be buried by the fine sand, it was Su Shan's "qian" that had saved her.

Following that logic, did that mean she should now save Lin Jian?

But was Lin Jian... still savable?

While Qin Dingdong was pondering, Lin Jian fell twice more, nearly crashing into the table in the room one time.

Her situation was extremely critical—who in the world had ever tried repeatedly falling from a height of three meters while half-squatting?

Qin Dingdong took out the "qian" in her hand: one was "Da Feng Sao Luo Ye," and the other was "Shui Luo Wu Hen."

From the surface meaning, neither of these "qian" seemed capable of saving Lin Jian, but if she did nothing, could Lin Jian survive?

At that moment, out of the corner of her eye, Qin Dingdong spotted Su Shan, who was anxiously tapping on the glass, seemingly trying to convey something.

Qin Dingdong studied her lip movements and realized she was saying "guo."

"Guo...?" Qin Dingdong furrowed her brow. "Could it be... you can save Lin Jian?"

Without time to think further, she quickly inserted the "Bianpao Ci Jiu Sui" into the hole.

A moment later, Di Gou's room lit up with colorful lights, and the cheap firecracker sound effects rang out again.

This time, it was clearly different from before. After the lights faded and the sounds stopped, one of the lamps above Di Gou's head went out.

Di Gou frowned and glanced at Qin Dingdong, a hint of killing intent in his eyes, as he muttered, "What a hassle..."

Everyone except Lin Jian turned their attention to the extinguished lamp.

This was their first step toward victory. Since Su Shan had once drawn "Bianpao Ci Jiu Sui," she was even more convinced of her idea.

The only way to make the "bianpao" attack the "Nian Shou" was to pass this "qian" to "Dong Ji," and then have "Dong Ji" make the wish.

After all, the card said "Ci Jiu Sui," and "Dong Ji" was the end of the year.

The third round began.

Su Shan acted without a moment's hesitation, quickly picking up the "Wan Min Qi Zhen Zai" in her hand and inserting it into the hole on the left side of the table.

This time, she wasn't making a "wish," but a "gift."

After all, this "qian" had a left-pointing arrow drawn on it. If her guess was correct, making a "wish" with it would only affect Zhang Chenze's room, but there was no "earthquake" in her room, so the "qian" wouldn't activate.

Now, the only hope was for Zhang Chenze to make the wish with this "qian."

After sending the "qian," Su Shan received her "qian" for this round—it was a "Ping Qian."

This was the first time Su Shan had seen a "Ping Qian."

Now, in her hand, she had "Si Hai Wu Xian Tian" and a "Ping Qian."

"So there are... 'Ping Qian'...?"

Su Shan had a sense of foreboding. If this game was designed to balance the chances of both sides winning, then among all the "qian," there should be a lot of "Ping Qian." In other words, every "qian" that could be used for a "wish" was extremely precious and had to be used wisely.

But now, there was a huge risk.

Qin Dingdong had wasted a "qian" in the previous round—one that could produce massive smoke.

If every "qian" was exactly meant to counter a specific "zai e," then what "zai e" did the "smoke" correspond to?

Would that leave one "zai e" uncountered at the final stage?

"This isn't the time to think about that..."

Su Shan went to the glass and caught Zhang Chenze's attention. She pointed to the "qian" that had just appeared on Zhang Chenze's desk, then pointed to Lin Jian's room.

Zhang Chenze nodded, picked up the "qian," and looked at it.

Yes, the words on the "qian" were very detailed.

Since Lin Jian's room was experiencing an "earthquake," a powerful natural disaster that was impossible to resist or predict, the only thing people could do in such a situation was "zhen zai."

Zhang Chenze decisively inserted the "Wan Min Qi Zhen Zai" into the hole.

Once again, Lin Jian was lifted into the air. She looked extremely weak, with blood all over her hands and knees. She weakly lifted her head, glanced at everyone in the room, her expression tinged with despair.

She had never imagined dying under such a bizarre punishment.

If she had a choice, she would rather fall directly from thirty meters than drop from three meters ten times over.

The others in the room were equally aware that if Lin Jian fell this time, given her current state, she wouldn't die on the spot but would certainly be unable to stand again.

That would mean "Qiu Ji" would be lost, breaking the most crucial link in the four seasons.

Just as the iron net was about to drop, a broadcast in Lin Jian's room suddenly blared with the shouts of tens of thousands of people.

This heart-stirring sound gave Lin Jian a glimmer of hope for survival; she vaguely felt as if someone had come to rescue her.

Though no one appeared, the iron net slowly descended amid the shouts, finally landing steadily on the ground.

Lin Jian was saved.

But her condition was still very poor; she felt pain all over her body, and her right leg had lost all sensation.

She lifted her head and felt something cool sliding down her forehead. Touching it, she found her palm covered in bright red blood. Apparently, she had scraped her forehead at some point, though not badly—her mind was still clear.

"The second person has finished 'wishing.' The third person, please 'draw qian,'" Di Gou's calm voice echoed from the broadcast, overpowering the shouts in Lin Jian's room.

Zhang Chenze looked at the "qian" in her hand and slowly furrowed her brow.

In this round, she hadn't performed a "draw qian"; instead, she had received Su Shan's "qian."

In other words, the "qian" in her hand hadn't changed from the previous round. So, did that mean accepting a "gift" meant giving up on "drawing qian"?

"'Earthquake' is truly terrifying..." Zhang Chenze said with a heavy expression. "This 'zai e qian' only affected Qiu Ji, yet it left the remaining seasons unable to take any other actions for the entire round..."