Chapter 26

"Ten days from now, I guess today should be considered the 'zeroth day,' right?" Lin Ge switched the hand covering her nose and mouth and continued, "If you go out now, you won't be able to see the road in a while, after all, there are no streetlights here."

Qi Xia knew Lin Ge was right, so he quietly walked to the side and found a clean shelf to sit on.

He was indeed a bit anxious, to the point of forgetting to check the time.

But he was eager to leave this cursed place and see his wife.

To see Yu Nian'an.

To see the girl who liked to wear white clothes.

"Xiao An, I'll escape from this cursed place soon," he muttered to himself, "Wait for me, we'll have money soon."

Qi Xia's expression was always different from the others; he wasn't panicked or sad, just a bit anxious.

As the sky grew darker, everyone found a clean spot to sit down.

Fortunately, the night wasn't cold here; everyone was just a bit hungry, having gone without food or water for almost a day, and everyone felt weak.

No one spoke anymore; they just slowly watched the earth-colored sun set, and the world plunged into darkness.

The experience of this day was like a terrible nightmare for everyone, and they all hoped that when they opened their eyes again, all the strange phenomena would disappear.

The entire city seemed to become silent, as if something was brewing. They heard a rustling sound from a distance, but couldn't hear it clearly.

It was too dark, so dark that they couldn't tell if their eyes were open or not.

Everyone had grown up in the city and had never seen such a pitch-black night.

"Liar, are you asleep?" Qiao Jiajin suddenly asked from not far away from Qi Xia.

"What?"

"Do you think there are other 'participants' here?"

Qi Xia was silent for a moment and then replied, "I've thought about this too. 'Ryūjin' said that millions of people have walked out of the door, so logically, there should be more than just the nine of us..."

Qiao Jiajin was also silent for a while and then asked, "Could that female clerk be one of the people who walked out of the door?"

"Hmm?" Qi Xia was slightly taken aback; he had never thought about it that way, after all, the woman seemed to have lived here for many years.

But upon closer reflection, it didn't conflict. Whether they were brought here ten years ago or ten days ago, it didn't matter. What mattered was that according to 'Ryūjin,' this place would be destroyed in ten days.

They might have different starting points, but their end was the same.

Fortunately, they wouldn't go completely insane like the female clerk, after all, they only needed to stay here for ten days.

No matter what, they would see the "result" after ten days.

"Liar, are you asleep?" Qiao Jiajin asked again.

Qi Xia ignored him and instead turned his head to the side, seriously pondering what had happened today.

What was the reason for all these strange situations?

Without an answer from Qi Xia, Qiao Jiajin didn't want to embarrass himself and gradually fell silent.

After a while, two more people spoke in the darkness, sounding like Doctor Zhao and Officer Li.

"Doctor Zhao..."

"What?"

"I want to ask... if a woman is malnourished for a long time, can she still conceive?"

Doctor Zhao was silent for a moment, understanding Officer Li's meaning. The female clerk looked like she hadn't eaten for a long time, yet how could she have given birth to a baby?

The others seemed interested in this question and were quietly waiting for his answer.

"This is a complex issue," Doctor Zhao said, organizing his thoughts. "If a woman is malnourished for a long time, it can lead to irregular menstruation, even menopause or amenorrhea. In other words, a lack of essential nutrients can prevent ovulation, making it impossible to conceive."

"So... this is another thing science can't explain?" Officer Li asked in a low voice. "The female clerk's condition looks very poor."

"Specific conclusions can't be drawn. In some parts of Africa, people have very low nutritional intake, but there are still high birth rates..." Doctor Zhao sighed. "But this isn't my area of expertise, and it involves individual constitutions and key nutrient intake, which I don't know much about."

Officer Li didn't speak after hearing this and remained still.

The group fell silent again.

Qi Xia didn't want to sleep, but in the complete darkness, his senses became blurred, and he gradually stopped thinking.

Accompanied by the quiet "rustling" sound from the street, Qi Xia's eyelids drooped.

He didn't know when he fell asleep, but in his dream, he saw Yu Nian'an.

"Xia, do you know? There are many paths in this world, and each person has their own."

"Yes, Xiao An, I know," the dream Qi Xia nodded. "I'll be out soon, wait for me."

Time seemed to pass, and then a loud, almost ear-splitting bell rang.

Qi Xia opened his eyes, hurriedly stood up, and found that it was already light outside.

Turning around, the group was still in shock, looking around like Qi Xia. The bell was so loud that it woke them up.

"What's going on?!" Xiao Ran instinctively hid behind Officer Li.

Before anyone could react, a strange coughing sound came from the corner of the room.

The coughing sounded like someone had swallowed water.

Doctor Zhao, realizing the sound came from behind, slowly turned around and saw a terrifying scene.

Han Yimo was lying on the ground, a pure black giant sword piercing his abdomen, pinning him to the ground like a nail. The sword seemed to have been driven in with great force, with most of it buried in the ground.

Blood spurted from his mouth as he coughed continuously.

"Hey! Writer!" Qiao Jiajin quickly ran over to check on him.

"Cough... Qi... Qi Xia..." Han Yimo extended his hand, his voice unnatural, not sounding like pain or fear, but more like confusion.

Qi Xia frowned, then walked over and squatted down, holding Han Yimo's hand.

"I'm here," he replied, looking up at the ceiling.

The ceiling was intact, and the black giant sword didn't seem to have fallen from the sky.

Han Yimo's lips moved, his eyes began to glisten, and after a sob, he started to cry.

"This... this place is wrong... Qi Xia... cough... this can't happen... this 'Seven Black Sword'... absolutely... cough... impossible... Qi Xia... the 'Seven Black Sword' is not..."

His coughing grew louder, and he couldn't form a complete sentence. Blood spurted from his mouth and flowed back into his nose.

Han Yimo coughed loudly a few times, then stiffened and lost his life.

In the struggle to breathe, a few words took all his strength.

Yes... a truly dying person wouldn't have so much time to leave a final message.

Silence followed.

Long silence.

Everyone knew Han Yimo had many more things to say, but he didn't have enough time, and a life was lost right before their eyes.

Seeing Han Yimo's lifeless eyes, Qi Xia frowned, and suddenly his head began to ache.

He clutched his forehead and crouched down, feeling something trying to drill out of his head, and then let out a heart-wrenching scream.

"Ahh—!!"

The group hadn't recovered from Han Yimo's death and was startled again by Qi Xia's scream.

"Liar, are you okay?" Qiao Jiajin asked cautiously.

After a minute of silence, Qi Xia slowly regulated his breathing and said, "I'm fine... let's check on Han Yimo first..."

Seeing that Qi Xia was indeed fine, the group turned to look at Han Yimo's body, feeling a mix of emotions.

A thought kept circling in their minds.

Did he really die?

Can a person die again after death?

"Han Yimo... was killed..." Xiao Ran said softly.

The words "was killed" woke everyone up.

Yes, the issue now wasn't whether one could die again after death, but who the murderer was.

Han Yimo was still conscious when he was found, meaning the giant sword had just pierced his abdomen.

In other words, the killer hadn't gone far and was more likely hiding among the remaining eight people.