Chapter 11

Qi Xia has been sitting in his seat, neither standing up nor searching for clues.

He still felt a bit strange.

The psychologist, Lin Ping, also remained seated.

"What are you thinking about?" Lin Ping casually covered her mouth and nose and asked.

"Me?" Qi Xia was taken aback. "What? Are you going to give me a psychological diagnosis?"

"Not really. Although smart people like you often have some psychological issues, this situation is not suitable for psychological treatment." Lin Ping smiled slightly. "I just want to know what you're thinking."

Qi Xia pondered for a moment and said, "I'm thinking about the reason."

"The reason?"

Qi Xia ignored Lin Ping and instead called out to Doctor Zhao, asking, "Doctor, how long can a person survive after being shot in the heart?"

Doctor Zhao turned around, thought for a moment, and said, "If I remember correctly, a person will lose consciousness within a few seconds after being shot in the heart. However, since 'death' in medical terms refers to 'brain death,' the brain can continue to function for a few more minutes even after losing consciousness."

Qi Xia nodded. "The goat-headed man screamed for a few minutes, which suggests that his body structure is much tougher than an ordinary human's, right?"

"Yes. He remained conscious for several minutes after being shot in the heart."

Everyone fell silent when they heard Qi Xia and the doctor talking.

It was because of the clear thinking of this liar that all nine of them survived.

"So, what do you think is the reason?" Qi Xia extended his index finger and thumb to form a gun shape and placed it against his temple. "Most people would choose to commit suicide this way."

He thought for a moment and then pointed the gun shape at his chin. "Or this way."

Qi Xia retracted his hand and pointed to his heart.

"Regardless... a person committing suicide would choose a way to die with as little pain as possible. Why did he aim at his heart?"

Qiao Jiajin was playing with the goat head mask and then turned the man's head, saying, "Maybe this goat head is harder, and one shot couldn't kill him."

"Since he was spitting blood, it proves that his body structure is the same as ours," Officer Li said. "Even if he is stronger, a shot to the head at such close range would definitely be fatal."

Qi Xia nodded. "If that's the case, I can only think of one reason."

He pointed at the mask in Qiao Jiajin's hand. "The goat-headed man chose to shoot himself in the heart to protect something. The 'game' is probably not over yet."

Qiao Jiajin was taken aback. "You mean... he was afraid of damaging his mask?"

"Exactly."

Following Qi Xia's instructions, Qiao Jiajin turned the goat skin mask over, exposing the rough inner lining to everyone.

A putrid, sour smell emanated from it.

As Qi Xia had predicted, there were words written in black pen on the inside of the goat skin mask.

Some parts were stained with blood, but Qiao Jiajin didn't mind. He wiped it with his T-shirt, and the words became legible.

"What's this?" Qiao Jiajin was stunned and began to read the words in his imperfect Mandarin:

"I am 'Human Dog.'"

"You are cursed."

"I hope you survive."

"The clock never stops, and danger lurks on all sides."

"If you want to survive, turn 100 times in the direction of your hometown."

"By the way, everyone says that bamboo shoots sprout after the rain, but why aren't they afraid of the rain?"

"See you after the rain."

Qi Xia frowned slightly. It was indeed a clue for the next game...

The shadow of death loomed over everyone, refusing to dissipate.

They had already died, but were they going to die again?

"Hey, liar, what does this mean?" Qiao Jiajin asked.

"How should I know?" Qi Xia snorted. "There are nine people here. Do I have to be the one to think about it?"

Lawyer Zhang Chenze slowly sat down in a chair and said, "Although I don't want to admit it, your thinking aligns very well with the 'organizer's.' If you have any ideas, you should share them."

"I..."

Before Qi Xia could speak, the walls around them began to change.

To everyone's shock, holes began to appear out of nowhere.

The cement walls, which were solid moments ago, now seemed to be a constantly changing soft material.

After a moment, the holes aligned neatly on the walls, as if they had always been there.

At the same time, the sound of chains being pulled echoed from all sides.

"What's happening?" Everyone panicked instantly.

"Look at the ceiling!" someone shouted in alarm.

Everyone looked up and saw that the ceiling was also covered with holes.

Qi Xia finally stood up, took the goat skin mask from Qiao Jiajin, and carefully examined the last sentence.

"See you after the rain."

"Rain...?"

Qiao Jiajin tiptoed to the wall, peered into one of the holes, and immediately jumped back in fright.

"Damn!"

He shouted, looking for a place to hide but found nowhere to go.

"What is it? What's inside?" Xiao Ran asked, a bit scared.

Everyone knew that Qiao Jiajin was quite brave, so whatever had scared him must be something terrible.

"Damn you...!" Qiao Jiajin shouted. "It's harpoons! The holes are full of 'retracting' harpoons!"

"What does 'retracting' mean?" Doctor Zhao asked, confused.

"They are probably being 'cocked,'" Qi Xia said. "Since the beginning, we've been hearing the sound of chains from all sides. Now these harpoons are cocked and could be fired at any moment."

"Hey! Liar, think of something quickly!" Qiao Jiajin came to Qi Xia's side, anxious. "If they fire from all directions, where can we hide?"

Qi Xia thought carefully. It wouldn't be hard for him to survive, given that there were already two bodies on the scene.

The penetrating power of the harpoons was limited. By piling the two bodies in a corner and hiding behind them, he could survive with a high probability, even if he might get injured.

"This time, it will be difficult to save everyone. I need to protect myself, so I won't save you again," Qi Xia said softly.

"You..." Qiao Jiajin hesitated, then turned to Officer Li and Doctor Zhao for help, but they looked even more at a loss.

Qi Xia looked at the few lines of text on the goat skin mask again.

Could he have misunderstood?

The game would only truly end when only one person remained.

If everyone continued to survive, the killing game would keep recurring.

After all, this room was very strange, with the walls changing at any moment.

This didn't seem to follow any scientific principles and was more like magic.

But if the organizer was a powerful person capable of magic, why would they torment nine dead people?

Was this some kind of ghost management agency's twisted game?

While Qi Xia was lost in thought, Lin Ping looked at the mask in his hand and said, "This... it says how to survive, to 'turn 100 times in the direction of your hometown.'"

Everyone calmed down a bit and began to think about this.

"Does it mean we should face the direction of our hometown and spin around?" Tian Tian asked.

"That doesn't make sense," Qiao Jiajin shook his head. "How can you determine the direction of your hometown in this room? And spinning 100 times would just make you dizzy, with no real effect."

"Regardless! I'll try it first!" Tian Tian chose a random direction and started spinning.

Qi Xia thought for a moment, knowing that things couldn't be that simple.