Chapter 366: Ripple

"The fourth round begins, with the first player drawing lots."

This brief announcement made Su Shan restless and uneasy.

It was already the fourth round, and the game had passed its halfway point.

If each round represented "one year," then four "years" had now elapsed, and everyone had been tormented by the "Nian Shou" to the point of exhaustion.

Only one of the three lights on the "Nian Shou"'s head had gone out.

In the next four rounds, they needed to extinguish two more lights to win the game, but clearly, the "Di Gou" was not easy to deal with.

Lin Qin was already severely injured, and if another "Zai E" struck her, death was highly likely.

Zhang Chenze's situation was even more dire; her room was filled with gray-green hues, making it impossible to see where she was. However, based on the movements of the insect swarm, she was still struggling fiercely, causing large waves in the insect tide.

I wonder if she can still draw lots and make wishes?

Among them, only Su Shan and Qin Dingdong were in relatively good condition, but they were positioned at the start and end of each round, making it hard to coordinate perfectly.

The "Di Gou"'s next "Zai E" could follow two strategies. The first was an aggressive approach: continue attacking the seasons already affected by "Zai E," using a "misfortunes never come alone" tactic to wipe them out completely. However, this had drawbacks, because Zhang Chenze and Su Shan were connected, and Lin Qin and Qin Dingdong were linked, so theoretically, they could save each other. Thus, unless "Di Gou" took a desperate risk, it probably wouldn't be so bold.

The second strategy was more cautious: direct the "Zai E" toward the seasons that were still safe, lowering everyone's overall status and turning the entire year into a landscape of "Zai E." This would make mutual rescue and cooperation even harder, increasing the difficulty of victory.

The biggest challenge of this game was that "no one can die," but how could she save everyone with her own strength alone?

She had a premonition that after two more rounds, everyone would be injured. Even if they managed to leave the "Di Gou"'s game arena, they would be in no condition to participate in subsequent games.

"Is this what 'Di Ji' is like...?" Su Shan gave a bitter smile. "The memory of meeting Qi Xia last time is still vivid in my mind. That time, I lost to the 'Can Yu Zhe,' and this time, to the 'Cai Pan.' I really am not suited to survive here..."

In her hand, Su Shan only had one "Si Hai Wu Xian Tian" and one "Ping Qian" left.

Theoretically, to achieve victory now, she needed to wish for "Si Hai Wu Xian Tian," but "summer" was overrun with "Huang Zai."

Who would wish for "Si Hai Wu Xian Tian" in "spring" when they knew "summer" was plagued by "Huang Zai"?

Su Shan's mind was in complete chaos; she felt this game was unwinnable.

"I'm really too naive..."

Her eyes gradually grew dim with despair. She had confidently led the group into the "Di Ji" game, and now they were all injured or crippled...

Could they really escape this godforsaken place?

What methods or means were needed to escape?

Su Shan felt a buzzing in her ears, and she waved her hand, mistakenly thinking locusts had come near.

"What's going on...?" She remembered this sensation from when she was cornered in her duel with Qi Xia, when she had heard strange sounds.

If she guessed right, this was the prelude to "Hui Xiang."

But this time, it wasn't as dire as before; she wasn't injured or suffering from "Zai E," so why was she hearing the sounds?

"It seems my 'Hui Xiang' comes more easily now..." Su Shan slowly closed her eyes, letting go of control over her thoughts and allowing despair and fear to fully engulf her mind and heart. "Qi Xia once said she would plunge me into 'despair.' Is it only through 'despair' that I can 'Hui Xiang'?"

Wasn't the current situation desperate enough?

Yes, it was utterly desperate. Forget the "Di Gou"'s game; just "Zhong Yan Zhi Di" alone was enough to crush anyone's spirit.

She had worked in the police technical department for five years and hadn't seen as many horrific cases in one day there as she had in "Zhong Yan Zhi Di." Without the constraints of law, humans would kill each other over trivial things.

Here, the rulers were completely different from the real world; they maintained not order, but a more equitable form of slaughter.

Countless people died and were reborn, reborn only to die again. "Loss of memory" brought new hope, while those who retained their memories suffered in endless cycles of pain.

This place wasn't meant for the living or normal people.

It was true hell.

"Clang!"

A distant, resonant bell rang out, making Lin Qin and Qin Dingdong both furrow their brows. Su Shan slowly opened her eyes, and if one looked closely, they would notice her once sparkling eyes now shone like dazzling diamonds.

She gazed around slowly, feeling as if the entire world had changed. Was this "Hui Xiang"?

Was this the world as seen by a "Hui Xiang Zhe"?

Strange, faint blue lights wandered throughout the room, drifting as if they had a life of their own. Their paths were both regular and peculiar, like ripples or waves.

At a glance, the whole room resembled a wall at night reflecting the shimmering light of a swimming pool, instantly becoming rippling and serenely beautiful.

These lights gathered and dispersed in the air; some collided, bursting into strange patterns that looked like characters, yet were unrecognizable.

"How strange..." Su Shan remembered that during her previous "Hui Xiang," the scene was nothing like this. What was happening now?

Why were there almost no lights when facing Qi Xia, but so many with her teammates?

Was it because the "people" were different, so the "scene" was too?

Su Shan recalled Lin Qin mentioning that every "Hui Xiang" came with a special ability. So, what was hers?

"Seeing these lights... is that my ability?"

Su Shan had imagined gaining some extraordinary power to soar through the heavens and earth, but it turned out to be just seeing these strange lights.

At that moment, some lights hovered around Zhang Chenze's room, desperately trying to gather together, only to scatter suddenly just before they could.

"What on earth are these things...?"

Su Shan turned her head and looked at Qin Dingdong. The scene around her was different from Zhang Chenze's; only a few stable light clusters floated nearby, neither merging nor spreading, just staying put.

She then looked at Lin Qin opposite her; the strange lights gathered most densely around Lin Qin, with waves rippling back and forth, constantly colliding.

Each collision of the waves produced two nearly invisible tiny characters.

Su Shan narrowed her eyes, carefully examining the small characters rippling between the waves. After several seconds, she finally recognized them.

Her lips moved slightly:"I see... the waves of 'Ji Fa'."