"Hold on!" Officer Li shouted, "The harpoons are limited in number. If we can hold on a little longer, we will survive!"
Before anyone could respond, a scream pierced the air.
Turning their heads, they saw it was Tiantian.
She wasn't as fortunate as Xiao Ran; the harpoon had pierced through her palm.
In an instant, Tiantian lost her strength, and the table in front of her was knocked askew by the incoming harpoons.
"Watch out!"
Qiao Jiajin gritted his teeth and reached out to grab the table in front of Tiantian.
In that moment, a harpoon shot through the gap and accurately pierced Han Yimo's shoulder.
Han Yimo let out a painful scream, but he still held tightly onto the table.
"Don't panic!"
Officer Li supported Han Yimo with one hand, then spread his arms to hold up half of the table.
Qiao Jiajin quickly reached out to support the table for Tiantian.
Fortunately, both of them were very strong, and the formation began to stabilize again.
As the crashing sounds gradually diminished, everyone realized just how reasonable this formation was.
If Officer Li and Doctor Zhao had thought of arranging the table boards in a staggered manner for everyone to hold, then the boards would have been perpendicular to the harpoons, making them extremely easy to penetrate.
Now, the "bamboo shoots after the rain" formation would turn the contact surfaces of the harpoons and the table boards into sloped surfaces from all five directions, significantly reducing the penetrating power of the harpoons.
Especially the harpoons shooting from directly above; at this moment, their conical shape altered their trajectory.
After a while, there was completely no sound outside the table boards.
"Is it over?" Han Yimo asked through gritted teeth.
"Wait another minute," Qi Xia replied.
Everyone continued to hold the table boards in silence for another minute, and they noticed that there was indeed no movement outside anymore.
Qiao Jiajin cautiously moved aside a gap to peek outside.
"Oh my..." He was instantly stunned by the sight before him.
Everyone slowly moved the table boards aside and discovered that the ground and the tabletop were almost filled with harpoons.
The two bodies on the floor were a gruesome sight, looking like two hedgehogs, densely pierced with spikes.
Each harpoon was connected by a rope, with the other end attached to a hole in the wall, leaving the room in complete disarray.
Doctor Zhao decisively rolled up his sleeves and came to Han Yimo's side.
His condition was not optimistic; the harpoon had pierced through his shoulder and needed immediate attention.
Han Yimo slowly sat down and gave a bitter smile, "I was just thinking how unlucky I could be, and I really ended up getting hit..."
Tiantian looked very guilty and hurriedly apologized to Han Yimo.
However, everyone knew that this wasn't just Tiantian's fault; she had also been pierced in the palm by a harpoon.
"Hey, pretty girl, come here," Qiao Jiajin waved his hand, "I can help you bandage it."
"Huh?" Tiantian was taken aback, "You know how to bandage?"
"A little bit," Qiao Jiajin replied.
He tore a piece of suit fabric from the head of the dead goat and then ripped it into two strips.
One strip was tightly bound around Tiantian's arm to stop the bleeding, while the other was carefully wrapped around the wound.
"I used to get injured often on the streets, so I learned a bit about bandaging myself," Qiao Jiajin said.
Tiantian nodded slightly, remaining silent.
After arriving here, everyone enjoyed a rare moment of quiet, as if they had temporarily escaped the shadow of death.
However, there was still no sign of a door, and this damned room continued to trap them here.
What on earth was this place?
What was outside the room?
In less than a minute, a sigh came from Doctor Zhao's direction.
Qi Xia turned to look and saw that Doctor Zhao, who was tending to Han Yimo's wound, now had a troubled expression on his face.
"What's wrong?" Officer Li asked. "Is the injury severe?"
"The injury isn't severe," Doctor Zhao shook his head, "but I can't remove the harpoon."
Everyone leaned in closer and realized that the problem was indeed quite tricky.
The tip of the harpoon had barbs, and pulling it out would cause even greater harm to the injured person.
Meanwhile, the tail of the harpoon was connected to a rope.
At this moment, Han Yimo was like a fish that had been shot; no matter where he swam, he would be firmly tethered by that rope.
"We can only cut the rope and then pull the harpoon out from the front," Doctor Zhao said, looking up. "But I don't have any sharp tools at hand."
Han Yimo's lips were turning pale, and the harpoon piercing through his scapula was causing him excruciating pain.
"Let's use another harpoon," Officer Li decisively said. "Although harpoons are sharp, they can still be considered as tools."
"We have no choice," Doctor Zhao nodded. "Writer, I need you to choose the most relaxed position to lie down. We need to cut the rope on your back, so don't rush; take it slow. Be careful of the harpoon in front of you, and watch out for any secondary injuries."
Han Yimo nodded and began to awkwardly shift his body.
Qi Xia watched this scene and felt a sense of discomfort.
Take it slow?
Was there really time for them to do that in this situation?
He glanced at the ropes scattered all over the floor, and a sense of foreboding arose in his mind.
If he guessed correctly, they were still racing against time.
"We can't take it slow!" Qi Xia suddenly spoke up. "Get the harpoon out of him right now!"
He quickly walked over to the doctor and said seriously to Han Yimo, "Hang in there; I'm going to pull the harpoon out for you right now!"
Han Yimo looked confused but didn't refuse.
"What are you doing?!" Doctor Zhao pushed Qi Xia away irritably. "Doing it this way will worsen his injury!"
"There's no time! If we keep delaying, he really will die!" Qi Xia pushed Doctor Zhao aside and grabbed the harpoon on Han Yimo's back.
A scream echoed out.
The harpoon with barbs was easy to pierce through, but removing it was incredibly difficult.
"Hey!" Officer Li rushed over and pulled Qi Xia away, shouting angrily, "Are you trying to kill him?"
Qi Xia, having been stopped twice, now looked increasingly grim.
"I understand you want to save him, but if we don't hurry, the harpoon will..."
Before Qi Xia could finish, the sound of chains clanking echoed around them, as if some massive mechanism had been activated again.
Accompanying this was Han Yimo's heart-wrenching scream.
Only then did everyone come to their senses and realize that all the harpoons were slowly being retracted under the pull of the ropes.
At that moment, Han Yimo on the ground was also being dragged by a tremendous force.
Qi Xia had noticed this a long time ago; the ropes attached to the harpoons were not just for show; they would eventually pull the harpoons back.
In a panic, everyone ran after Han Yimo. During this time, Officer Li tried to grab the rope to resist the immense force coming from the black hole, but it was ultimately in vain.
The table, which was filled with harpoons, was gradually being torn apart by the harpoons and began to retreat.
The force that could tear apart wooden boards was definitely not something that could be resisted with bare hands.
Although Han Yimo was in excruciating pain, he quickly realized another problem.
If he was pulled against the wall and still couldn't free himself from the harpoon, he would be firmly pinned to the wall and left to die.
Thinking of this, he painfully got to his feet and grabbed Qi Xia again, saying each word with urgency, "Help me get the harpoon out! Get it out right now!"