If the phrase "rules are absolute" still applies to this second "game," then the writing on the mask is likely the key to solving it.
But how can this be cracked?
When will the harpoons be fired?
"The clock never stops..."
Could it be at one o'clock and fifteen minutes?
Qi Xia turned his gaze to the clock on the table, which read 1:05. If "one fifteen" is the time the harpoons will fire, then there are less than ten minutes left.
"Turn one hundred times towards your hometown..."
Each of the nine people has a different hometown, and "one hundred turns" is no small feat.
If they think in the wrong direction, they could easily waste the precious ten minutes.
But what, in this room, other than themselves, could "turn"?
Qi Xia's gaze lingered on the clock in the center of the table.
He leaned forward and gently touched the clock, only to find it firmly fixed to the surface of the table, immovable.
"The clock won't move... Could it be the chairs?"
Qi Xia glanced down at his own chair, an old, musty, ordinary chair that was just placed casually on the ground, with no signs of any mechanism.
If that's the case, then there's only one thing left...
Qi Xia reached out and turned the table. Immediately, a faint sound of chains came from inside the table.
However, the table was heavy, and despite exerting a lot of force, he could only move it a few centimeters.
"One hundred turns..."
This number is impossible to complete by just two or three people. All nine must work together to move the table if they are to have any chance of survival.
Lin Qing, ever perceptive, quickly noticed Qi Xia's movement and stopped everyone.
The others gathered around the table and saw that, indeed, it could be turned.
"Well, well, you really are something, scammer." Jo Jiajin nodded, saying, "If we turn this table a hundred times, it should open that invisible door."
Qi Xia glanced at the clock again. Though time was tight, the problem had become clearer.
Turning this round table towards the "hometown" direction a hundred times means there's only two options.
Left or right.
But the group's hometowns are spread across different directions—how could they know whether it should be left or right?
"Qi Xia, do you know when the harpoons will fire?" Lin Qing asked, covering her mouth and nose.
"The hint said the clock 'never stops.' It will probably be at 1:15," Qi Xia said quietly.
Jo Jiajin's face changed upon hearing this: "That means there's less than ten minutes left. Let's start turning now!"
Dr. Zhao moved the body on the table aside and slowly sat down, trying the table's weight. He said, "But we only get one shot. A hundred turns of this heavy table—what if we get the direction wrong?"
"Then at least there's a 50% chance of survival!" Jo Jiajin replied urgently. "If we don't move, we're dead anyway. If we turn, we have a 50% chance to live. We have to hurry!"
With that, he used all his strength to begin turning the table to the left.
Although Jo Jiajin looked thin, he was surprisingly strong, and with just himself, he managed to turn the table halfway.
"Why are you still standing there? Move! Help me!" Jo Jiajin yelled at the others.
The others knew he had a point and started helping him turn the table.
There was no correct answer, so they had to gamble.
But Qi Xia had not moved.
He didn't know which direction to think in.
Left, or right?
Why was "hometown" the key word?
Since they were all Chinese, was "east" the answer?
With north being up, south being down, left being west, and right being east—could the answer be "right"?
But what about those from the west?
Or maybe, since everyone's hometowns were tied to the ancient "Zuo Zhuan," the answer was "left"?
Qi Xia closed his eyes slightly, originally planning to use the two bodies to shield himself. But what if everyone else died, and the next game began?
"Now is not the time to give up on them."
Qi Xia thought to himself, then extended his hand and grabbed a piece of white paper from the turning table. He picked up a pen, stood up, and walked to the side, sitting down on an empty space to start scribbling something.
Although the others were confused, they kept working, and had already managed to turn the table a dozen times.
"If he hadn't introduced himself as 'the scammer,' I would have thought this guy was a mathematician," Jo Jiajin said to Tian Tian, who had been feeling dizzy from all the turning.
Tian Tian just nodded vaguely.
This time, Qi Xia didn't write out equations; instead, he quickly sketched a map of the country.
"Hometown...?"
His mind raced, and suddenly he realized something.
"Wait a minute..." Qi Xia's eyes widened. "If the 'host' is so powerful that they can find people with similar experiences from so many provinces, then 'provinces' might be the key?"
He turned back to the others who were still turning the table, then asked seriously, "Did anyone lie about their hometown?"
The others shook their heads.
After all, "hometown" involves accents and ways of speaking, and lying would be too easy to expose.
"Good," Qi Xia nodded. "Now, please go around and tell me your hometowns again."
Officer Li was the first to speak. "I'm from Inner Mongolia."
Qi Xia marked a black dot on the map at Inner Mongolia's location.
"I'm from Sichuan," Lawyer Zhang Chengze said coldly.
"I'm from Shaanxi..." Tian Tian said.
"From Dali, Yunnan," said the preschool teacher, Xiao Ran.
"Guangdong," Jo Jiajin said.
"I'm from Ningxia," said the psychologist, Lin Qing.
"I work in Jiangsu," Dr. Zhao said.
Qi Xia marked each person's hometown on the map, then wrote "Shandong" for himself.
At that moment, everyone's attention turned to the writer Han Yimo, who had not mentioned his hometown from the very beginning.
"Han Yimo, are you from Guangxi or Taiwan?"
Han Yimo was taken aback. "How did you know?"
"Time's running out. Answer me now."
"I'm from Guangxi..." Han Yimo finally replied.
Qi Xia nodded. At this point, Han Yimo's answer left only two possible provinces.
Guangxi or Taiwan.
If his answer hadn't been one of these two, he would have been lying.
Luckily, he told the truth.
Qi Xia marked the final province on the map, and now there were nine black dots on the sketch.
"Just as I thought."
Qi Xia murmured, "Stop! Turn to the right."
"Right?"
Qi Xia quickly ran to the table, threw the piece of paper onto it, and began to turn the table in the opposite direction.
The others were puzzled but followed him and started turning.
Dr. Zhao looked at the map on the table and the nine black dots.
"Why to the 'right'?"