Chapter 501: Confrontation

Song Qi’s words struck Di Tu’s weak spot precisely.

The rules clearly stipulated that Di Tu needed to be in the same room as the participant to carry out the kill. Now, with the two of them in different rooms, Di Tu could only resort to intimidation and dared not make a move.

“Now it looks like you’re choking my neck… but aren’t you more passive than I am?” Song Qi slowly raised his right hand. “If I throw this punch… you won’t die, but you’ll be in agony for days…”

Seeing the fist emanating a dangerous aura inching closer, Di Tu panicked. He knew that taking the hit wouldn’t kill him, and Song Qi wouldn’t break the rules, but who would want to add unnecessary wounds to their body?

Before Song Qi could land the blow, Di Tu suddenly jerked his thick arm, hurling Song Qi away with force. Song Qi slammed heavily into the wall, sending dust cascading from the entire room.

“Cough!”

Song Qi spat out a large mouthful of fresh blood and collapsed onto the ground.

“You didn’t survive because of luck—it’s because I held back,” Di Tu sneered. “Killing you would break the rules, but I can still leave you crippled. Why did you think your flesh and blood could stand up to me head-on?”

Song Qi felt as if every bone in his body was shattered. He could only lie on the ground, continuously vomiting blood. From the start, this fight had been like a wild dog facing an elephant—as much as he could leave bite marks on the opponent, a single stomp could crush him.

Di Tu glanced back at Song Qi with every step, confirming that the man was truly unable to get up, before heading to the other side of the room to wait.

After waiting for a long time with no movement, Di Tu looked up and shouted toward the corner of the room, “Can’t you see? He’s immobilized! Hurry up and start the next round!”

Song Qi struggled to lift his head and look at the scene. The ceiling corner of the room only had a speaker, yet Di Tu was speaking as if addressing a surveillance camera.

Was there someone else here?

Or… did Di Tu have superiors?

In just a few seconds, the speaker crackled with static.

“The ‘participant’s’ turn has ended. Please begin the ‘Sheng Xiao’s’ action.”

Di Tu snorted coldly, reached out, and opened the door. The door wasn’t locked; after entering the room, he turned right and headed toward the second door, but the sounds from there faded away.

“Oh no…” Song Qi propped himself up on the ground and crawled forward with difficulty. “The rabbit’s escaped… Everyone… we need to get out fast…”

Song Qi’s vision blurred, and he felt a sweetness in his throat as he spat out another mouthful of blood.

“This is trouble… Any bone can break, but not my spine—that would just hold us back…”

It seemed Di Tu had used up all his action points; his turn ended in less than ten seconds.

Song Qi tried to stand and quickly rendezvous with his teammates, but he had no strength left in his body.

“The ‘participant’s’ turn is starting… I need to move right away…”

Click.

The door behind Song Qi opened quietly, and soft footsteps approached. A strong hand slipped under his armpit, steadily pulling him up from the ground.

His expression changed as he turned his head in confusion, only to see Cui Shisi emerging from the room where the Fa Bao had been thrown. She pressed a finger to her lips and signaled to Song Qi with a gesture.

Although Song Qi was full of doubts, he knew not to speak now, as it would expose his teammate’s position.

Without a word, Cui Shisi handed the Fa Bao to Song Qi, pushed him into the door she had come from, and just then, the speaker in the corner crackled again.

The game’s pace seemed to accelerate from that moment. Both the “Sheng Xiao” and the “participants” were moving rapidly, and in the distance, Di Tu gradually furrowed his brow.

“What’s going on…?” He sensed something was off. Even if everyone could act instantly, a severely injured Song Qi couldn’t possibly move this quickly.

But he quickly figured it out. Was it because they assumed he was out of action, so the overseers were skipping him each round?

Di Tu approached the door in front of him. It had been locked in the previous round, so he used two action points to “unlock” it this time, then spent another to “open” it.

He swiftly completed his actions and found everything as he expected. He was now on the edge, and every room he passed through had only three doors. Unfortunately, from this angle, the distant door was locked again, so he would need two more rounds to enter the “Room Sixteen.”

In the next round, he would enter the room ahead, “Room Twelve,” and unlock the door. Then, in the following round, he would “open” and “move” to fully enter. As long as he seized this critical point, no one could escape the game.

Whether it was the boy who had already lost his head or Song Qi, who he had beaten down, even if they dragged themselves to Room Sixteen with their last bit of strength, they would fall into his hands.

Di Tu turned his head to listen to his surroundings. His ears buzzed again, and the sounds around him became faint, but if he listened carefully, he could hear rustling nearby, as if something was close.

Since he was faster than the others, they must be heading this way. Di Tu pondered the overall situation: his fight with Song Qi had lasted at most one round, while the others had to go to “Room Fourteen” for the item first, then take a detour to “Room Sixteen.” He would arrive first.

Di Tu stayed calm, waiting for the speaker to announce the turn change between “Sheng Xiao” and “participants.”

Song Qi had already regrouped with everyone. He never expected they would all be waiting for him in this small room, including Jiang Shi, whose head had been reattached.

No one dared to speak; they just nodded at each other. Song Qi still couldn’t figure out the directions.

He saw Chen Jun Nan leading them through a door that was already open, and the walls in these two rooms were written with “All remain silent.”

The group slowly stood in front of the last door. Song Qi knew this was the final moment—they and Di Tu were both advancing toward this room.

The question now was which path had fewer locked doors, which would determine who reached the final room first.

Chen Jun Nan took a deep breath, reached out to unlock the door in front of him, then turned back to look at the group and made a “stop” gesture.

Although they could unlock the door this round, they couldn’t all enter “Room Sixteen,” as he had already used two action points for unlocking and couldn’t move anymore.

“The ‘participant’s’ turn has ended. Please begin the ‘Sheng Xiao’s’ action.”

Di Tu chuckled coldly, knowing his plan had succeeded completely. He and the “participants” should be in two diagonal rooms, but he hadn’t heard any door sounds from them.

(Bao Geng Preview: There are already 100 participants who have collected 500 Dao pearls. The “Bao Geng Moment” will begin tomorrow at noon.)