十天结束

Chapter 11 Continue

Qi Xia remained seated, neither getting up nor searching for clues.

He felt something was off.

Psychologist Lin Ling, also remained seated without getting up.

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

"Me?" Qi Xia was taken aback. "What, do you want to give me a psychological evaluation?"

"Not really, though someone as clever as you might have some psychological issues to some extent, but the current situation isn't suitable for therapy." Lin Ling smiled faintly. "I just wanted to ask what you were thinking about?"

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

"The reason?"

Qi Xia ignored Lin Ling and called out to Dr. Zhao, asking, "Doctor, how long can an average person survive after being shot in the heart?"

Dr. Zhao turned his head back and pondered for a moment before replying, "If I remember correctly, when shot in the heart, a person will lose consciousness within seconds. However, since medical 'death' refers to 'brain death,' even if unconscious, the brain will continue to function for a few more minutes."

Qi Xia nodded. "The fact that the 'sheep-headed person' screamed for several minutes indicates that his body structure is much tougher than that of an ordinary human, right?"

"Yes. He remained conscious for several minutes even after being shot in the heart," Dr. Zhao affirmed.

The others listened quietly to Qi Xia and Dr. Zhao's conversation.

Qi Xia continued, "So why did he aim at his own heart when most people would choose a less painful way to die?"

Qiao Jiajin played with the sheep mask in his hand and then turned over the head of the man, saying, "Maybe this sausage head has a tougher skull. Maybe one shot isn't enough to kill him."

"Even if he's stronger, shooting oneself in the heart from this distance would undoubtedly be fatal," Officer Li said. "His body structure is likely similar to ours, as he also coughed up blood."

Qi Xia nodded. "In that case, I can only think of one reason."

He pointed to the sheepskin mask in Qiao Jiajin's hand and said, "The sheep-headed person probably aimed at his heart to protect something. The 'game' is probably not over yet."

Qiao Jiajin was startled. "Are you saying... he was afraid of damaging his mask?"

"Exactly."

Under Qi Xia's guidance, Qiao Jiajin turned the sheepskin mask over, revealing the rough, decaying interior.

A foul, putrid smell emanated from it.

As Qi Xia had suspected, there were words written inside the mask with a black pen. Though some parts were stained with blood, Qiao Jiajin wiped it with his T-shirt, making the writing legible.

"What the heck?" Qiao Jiajin paused for a moment and then began to read aloud in his non-standard Mandarin:

"I am the 'Man-Sheep.'"

"You are cursed."

"I hope you survive."

"The clock never stops ticking, danger is all around."

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

"Oh, by the way, they say mushrooms sprout after rain. Why aren't mushrooms afraid of rain?"

"See you after the rain."

Qi Xia furrowed his brows slightly. It seemed to be a clue for the next game...

The shadow of death lingering over them remained unshaken.

They were already dead, yet they had to die again?

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

"How would I know?" Qi Xia snorted. "There are nine people here. Do I have to do all the thinking?"

Lawyer Zhang Chenzhe sat down slowly on a chair and said, "Although I don't want to admit it, your thinking is very much in line with the 'organizer.' If you have any ideas, it's better to speak up."

"I..." Before Qi Xia could speak, the walls around them suddenly changed.

Amidst the stunned silence of everyone, holes appeared out of nowhere in the walls.

The cemented walls now seemed like a continuously changing soft substance.

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

At the same time, the sound of chains being pulled could be heard from all sides.

"What's going on?" Everyone panicked.

"Look at the ceiling!" Someone exclaimed.

The group looked up and saw that even the ceiling was covered with densely packed holes.

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

"After the rain."

"Rain...?"

Qiao Jiajin cautiously approached the wall, peered into one of the holes, and then recoiled in shock, retreating several steps in a row.

"What's wrong? What's inside?" Xiao Ran asked anxiously.

Knowing that Qiao Jiajin was already very brave, the fact that he was retreating in fear meant that there was something terrible inside.

"My god!" he exclaimed. "It's a harpoon! Every hole is filled with harpoons aimed backward!"

"What does 'aimed backward' mean?" Dr. Zhao asked, puzzled.

"It probably means 'cocked.'" Qi Xia said. "From just now, we've been hearing the sound of chains. Now that these harpoons are all cocked, they could fire at any moment."

"Hey! Scammer, you better come up with a plan!" Qiao Jiajin rushed to Qi Xia's side, anxiously pleading, "If these harpoons all fire at once, where are we going to hide?"

Qi Xia pondered for a moment, realizing that the situation couldn't be that simple.