——Rest.
In the fifth round, everyone burrowed into snail shells, leaving the mudfield quiet.
The sound of Jin Qiu's impacts ceased, and no one came out.
Soon after, a frog emerged from the mud, croaking twice. With no bugs to eat, it lay idle in the mud.
Shen Mo, under the cover of the snail shell, watched the frog. He noticed its bulging eye had healed somewhat, but a scar was still present.
This indicated his attack had worked.
If the injury was bad enough, it would be difficult to recover. Perhaps next time he could target a different area...
...
Time ticked by.
No one came out to find the ball, and the frog didn't attack either, so the situation turned into a stalemate.
Someone took the initiative to start a conversation. Everyone began chatting across the snail shells—
"The mud collapses too quickly. If only we could make the ball bounce less, that way with fewer holes, it would be easier to find."
