If the phrase "Rules are absolute" still applies to this second "game," then the instructions written on the mask must hold the key to solving it.
But how should they solve it?
When will the harpoons fire?
"The clock never stops…"
Could it mean 1:15?
Qi Xia turned to look at the table clock. It was already 1:05. If the harpoons fire at 1:15, they had less than ten minutes left.
"Turn a hundred times in the direction of your hometown…"
The hometowns of the nine people present were all different, and "a hundred times" was not a small number. If they misunderstood the clue, they could easily waste these precious minutes.
But apart from himself, what else in this room could be "turned"?
Qi Xia's gaze settled on the clock on the table.
He reached out to touch it gently and found it was firmly fixed to the tabletop and couldn't be moved at all.
"The clock can't move… could it be the chair?"
Qi Xia glanced at the chair he was sitting on. It was an old, musty-smelling chair that looked ordinary and showed no signs of any mechanism.
In that case, there was only one thing left…
Qi Xia's eyes turned to the round table in the center of the room. He suddenly noticed something odd about it.
This table couldn't really be called "round"—it seemed to be a polygon with many sides, creating the illusion of being circular.
He reached out and pushed the tabletop, and sure enough, the sound of chains faintly rattling came from within the table.
However, the table was very heavy. Even using considerable strength, Qi Xia could only move it a few centimeters.
"A hundred turns…" This number definitely couldn't be achieved by just two or three people. The nine of them would need to work together to have any chance of survival.
Lin Qin, ever perceptive, quickly noticed Qi Xia's action and called for the others to stop.
Everyone gathered around the table to take a look and discovered it could indeed be turned.
"You're good, conman," said Qiao Jiajin with a nod. "If we turn this table a hundred times, we should be able to unlock that invisible door."
Qi Xia glanced again at the clock. Time was tight, but the problem had now become clearer.
To turn this table a hundred times in the "direction of their hometowns" boiled down to one simple question: left or right?
But everyone present came from different places—north, south, east, and west. How could they determine whether to go left or right?
"Qi Xia, do you already know when the harpoons will fire?" Lin Qin asked, covering her nose and mouth.
"The clue says, 'The clock never stops,' so I'm guessing it will happen at 1:15," Qi Xia replied softly.
Qiao Jiajin's expression changed. "That means we have less than ten minutes left! Let's start turning now."
Dr. Zhao moved the body lying on the table to the side and sat down. Testing the weight of the table, he said, "But we only have one chance. Turning this heavy table a hundred times—what if we choose the wrong direction?"
"Then we still have a fifty percent chance of survival!" Qiao Jiajin argued anxiously. "If we don't move, we're definitely dead. If we start turning, there's at least a fifty-fifty chance we'll live. Let's hurry up!"
With that, he began turning the table to the left with all his strength.
Although Qiao Jiajin appeared skinny, he was incredibly strong and managed to turn the table half a rotation by himself.
"What are you all standing around for?! Help me, dammit!" he shouted at the others. The rest realized he had a point and reluctantly joined in.
For now, there was no definitive answer—they could only take a gamble.
But Qi Xia still didn't move.
He was unsure of which way to go.
Left or right?
Why was the keyword "hometown"?
They were all Chinese, so was the answer "east"?
North is up, south is down, west is left, and east is right. So, the answer is "right"?
But what about the people who lived to the west?
Or could it be related to Zuo Zhuan from the Spring and Autumn period, meaning the answer is "left"?
Closing his eyes briefly, Qi Xia dismissed the idea of hiding behind the two corpses. If everyone else died and another game began, what then?
"Now's not the time to give up on them."
With this thought, Qi Xia opened his eyes, picked up a blank sheet of paper, and a pen from the table, and moved to a corner to begin scribbling something.
The others, though puzzled, kept turning the table. By now, they had completed over ten rotations.
"If he hadn't introduced himself as a 'conman,' I'd think that guy was a mathematician," Qiao Jiajin said to Tian Tian.
Still dizzy from her earlier spinning, Tian Tian nodded absently.
But this time, Qi Xia didn't write out equations. Instead, he sketched a rough map of the country.
"Hometown…?"
His mind raced until suddenly, something clicked.
"Wait… wait…" Qi Xia's eyes widened. "If the organizer has the power to bring together people from so many provinces with similar experiences, then maybe 'province' is the key too?"
Turning to the others still turning the table, he asked seriously, "Did any of you lie earlier about your hometown?"
Everyone shook their heads.
After all, hometowns were tied to accents and habits. A lie would be easy to spot.
"Good." Qi Xia nodded slightly. "Now, tell me your hometowns again, one by one."
Officer Li went first: "I'm from Inner Mongolia."
Qi Xia marked a black dot on Inner Mongolia.
"I'm from Sichuan," lawyer Zhang Chenze said coldly.
"I'm from Shaanxi," Tian Tian added.
"Yunnan—Dali," teacher Xiao Ran said.
"Guangdong," said Qiao Jiajin.
"Ningxia," psychologist Lin Qin said.
"I work in Jiangsu," Dr. Zhao said.
Qi Xia marked everyone's hometowns on the map and added his own: Shandong.
Now, all eyes turned to writer Han Yimo, who had remained silent about his hometown.
"Han Yimo, are you from Guangxi or Taiwan?" Qi Xia asked suddenly.
Han Yimo froze. "How did you know?"
"There's no time—just answer me."
"Guangxi," Han Yimo replied.
Qi Xia nodded. That left only two possible locations: Guangxi or Taiwan. If his answer had been something else, it would have been an obvious lie.
Thankfully, Han Yimo told the truth. Qi Xia marked the final province, completing the map with nine black dots.
"Just as I thought."
Qi Xia murmured, "Stop! Turn it to the right instead."
"To the right?"
Qi Xia hurried to the table, threw his map onto it, and began turning the tabletop in the opposite direction.
Though confused, the others followed his lead.
Dr. Zhao glanced at the map and the nine black dots on it.
"Why the right?"