Chapter 376: Old Friend

"Hey! Qin Dingdong!"

Su Shan anxiously turned Qin Dingdong over and patted her face, finding her cheeks exceptionally hot.

"This isn't good..."

Su Shan quickly reached out to touch Qin Dingdong's neck, confirmed there was a pulse, and then listened to her breathing.

She was still alive, but she had stopped breathing.

Without hesitation, Su Shan pried open Qin Dingdong's mouth and removed a few pieces of crushed ice.

Then, she unbuttoned Qin Dingdong's shirt, used her thumb to locate the position on her sternum, moved down three centimeters, knelt on the ground, straightened her upper body, clasped her hands together, and pressed down hard.

She used the force of her entire upper body to press down frantically, about twenty to thirty times. After that, she relaxed her hands, pinched Qin Dingdong's nose, and blew two breaths into her mouth.

After releasing, Su Shan lay down again to listen to Qin Dingdong's breathing; it was still not good.

Zhang Chenze helped Lin Geng up in her room, and the two of them moved together to Su Shan's side.

All three had special occupations; they had some knowledge of first aid, but the books never told them how to rescue someone who had gone through sandstorms, floods, poisonous mists, hail, and wildfires all at once.

Soon, Su Shan was covered in sweat, and her hands for the chest compressions were growing weaker.

"Let me take over..."

Zhang Chenze patted Su Shan's back, letting her step aside. Then, she straightened up and began CPR on Qin Dingdong.

Seeing their persistent efforts, Di Gou slowly pushed open her door and walked up to them.

"Is it necessary?"Di Gou asked. "Saving her now is meaningless. Even if she wakes up, she'll be in so much pain that she'll wish she were dead."

None of the three girls responded; they were all focused on Qin Dingdong. Su Shan sat directly next to her, supporting her head with both hands—if she continued lying on her side, breathing would be even harder.

Finally, after their relentless efforts, Qin Dingdong coughed loudly, and a mouthful of bloody vomit sprayed from her mouth.

"Ah!"

She screamed in agony, instantly resuming breathing. She furrowed her brows in pain, lying on the ground gasping for air, and soon started coughing uncontrollably, spitting out fresh blood.

"Thank goodness..."

Su Shan and Zhang Chenze sat on the ground exhausted, exchanging glances and forcing a bitter smile.

This game of "Di Gou" finally ended in victory with everyone surviving.

"Damn it..."

Qin Dingdong slowly opened her eyes, seeing this wretched glass shop. "Are you guys that bored? Why save me...?"

Zhang Chenze was cleaning locusts off herself at the time. She sighed and said,"That wouldn't be right. We could save you, so how could we just stand by and watch? That wouldn't be fair to you."

"Who cares about 'fair'...?"Qin Dingdong coughed a few more times. "My body won't last much longer; it's better to let me die..."

"Lao Qin, although I understand you,"Lin Geng nodded, "but this is just a thought that came up after we've been through so much. How can you use this to restrict the 'newcomers'?"

"Newcomers...?"

Qin Dingdong weakly lifted her eyelids and looked at the determined eyes of Su Shan and Zhang Chenze, feeling a bit melancholic.

Once upon a time, she and Lin Geng had the same look in their eyes. They wanted to win, to defeat the "Shengxiao," and more than anything, to escape from here.

But as they accumulated experience and gained abilities, they gradually began to disregard life. They not only disregarded others' lives but also their own.

Lin Geng knew that if it were just her and Qin Dingdong left now, she absolutely wouldn't save her; she'd just wait for the next reunion.

Is this good or bad?

"Forget it... Sis doesn't blame you..."Qin Dingdong tried to push herself up from the ground but found she had no strength, so she had to stand up with Lin Geng's help and said, "After all, saving a life is better than building a seven-level... what was it? Pagoda or something? Tu Su?"

At this time, Di Gou took out a cloth bag containing forty "Dao" and handed them to Su Shan.

"You can stay as long as you want; I'm off duty."He walked a few steps forward, then turned back. "This place is messy enough; I'll clean it up tomorrow morning. Don't make it any messier."

The four looked at her with meaningful eyes, but no one replied.

Seeing no one wanted to talk to him, Di Gou nodded and turned to leave.

"Wait a minute..."Su Shan called out to him.

"What is it?"Di Gou asked.

"There's something I've been curious about."Su Shan stood up and said, "At the last moment, when I foiled your plan, you seemed to say 'as expected of you.' What did that mean? Have we met before?"

Di Gou looked at Su Shan expressionlessly, his eyes strange. He adjusted his suit collar and slowly said,"Su Shan, how many people are left in your interview room?"

Hearing him say her name, Su Shan knew her guess was correct; they had indeed met before.

"What do you mean by 'left'?"Su Shan said, "There have always been four people in our room. Why are you asking this?"

Di Gou nodded slightly after hearing this:"Let me guess: you, Jiang Ruoxue, Zhoumo, right? And who is the fourth?"

Hearing this, Su Shan slowly walked towards Di Gou:"What do you mean...? You even know Ruoxue and Zhoumo?"

"Is that not allowed?"Di Gou smiled bitterly. "We had so many comrades back then, and in the end, only you four are left. If I weren't still here, those who have passed away would have no one to remember them; that would be more painful for them than dying ten thousand times."

"Who exactly are you...?"

"I'm still curious—who is the fourth person?"Di Gou repeated.

"His name is Fang Zichen."Su Shan answered. "He's a first-year student."

"Zichen..."Di Gou nodded. "His personality isn't suited for surviving this long. Have you been protecting him?"

"What do you mean? Who are you exactly?"

Di Gou thought for a moment and nodded:"There's no rule saying I can't reveal my identity, so it's fine to tell you. Su Shan, I came from the same room as you, but our teammates weren't enough to get us out, so I took a different path."

"Hmm...?"Su Shan didn't expect Di Gou to be so honest even after the game ended, but her thoughts were a bit confused. "You and I from the same room... and now you're 'Di Gou'?!"

"Yes."Di Gou nodded. "Su Shan, do you want to join us?"

"Join you...?"

The four girls were all stunned.

"Become a 'Shengxiao'."Di Gou sighed. "The path you're on is too dangerous. I'm no longer a 'participant,' and you've lost another ally. With the remaining three... Zichen is useless, Jiang Ruoxue is elusive, and Zhoumo is unsociable; how do you plan to escape?"

After saying that, he looked at the people behind Su Shan again and said,"Just rely on them?"

Di Gou's gaze lingered on Qin Dingdong for a long time as he slowly said,"I originally wanted to kill that woman for you, but you insisted on saving her; that's quite whimsical."

"What?"

"Su Shan, that woman has killed you before."Di Gou said lazily. "I thought after so long she'd have learned her lesson, but she still wasted the 'wish slip' in the first round. She'll end up killing you all eventually."

Hearing this, Zhang Chenze slowly stepped forward and said,"Hey... don't say things like that. Everyone has their own judgment; you don't have the right to decide for others."