"Hold on!" Officer Li shouted. "There are a limited number of harpoons. If we can hold on a bit longer, we'll make it!"
Before anyone could respond, a scream pierced the air.
Turning around, they saw it was Tiantian.
Unlike Xiao Ran, who had been lucky, the harpoon pierced Tiantian's palm.
Tiantian lost her strength, and the harpoon caused the shield in front of her to tilt and shake uncontrollably.
"Watch out!" Qiao Jiajing gritted his teeth and reached out to grab the shield in front of Tiantian.
In that brief moment, a harpoon shot through the gap and struck Han Yimo's shoulder.
Han Yimo screamed in agony, but he still gripped the shield tightly.
"Don't panic!" Officer Li quickly helped steady Han Yimo, then used both hands to support half of his shield.
Qiao Jiajing, reacting quickly, moved to hold the shield in front of Tiantian.
Fortunately, these two were very strong, and the formation began to stabilize once again.
As the crashing sounds gradually diminished, the group realized just how effective their current formation was.
Had they followed Officer Li's and Dr. Zhao's original idea of positioning the shields in a staggered fashion, with each person holding one, the shields would have been vertical to the harpoons, making them very vulnerable to penetration.
But now, the "spring bamboo shoots after the rain" formation caused the harpoons to meet the shield at slanted angles, greatly reducing their piercing force.
Especially the harpoons coming from directly above—thanks to the conical formation, their trajectory had altered.
After a while, the noise of the harpoons ceased.
"Is it over?" Han Yimo gritted his teeth and asked.
"Wait another minute," Qi Xia replied.
The group stood silently for another minute, holding their shields, before realizing the sounds had indeed stopped.
Qiao Jiajing cautiously moved a shield aside and peered outside.
"Oh my…" He was immediately stunned by the sight before him.
The others slowly moved their shields aside and saw that the floor and the table were almost completely covered in harpoons.
The two corpses on the ground were horrifying, looking like hedgehogs with harpoons sticking out of them.
Each harpoon was connected to a rope, with the other end attached to the hole in the wall. The room was in complete chaos.
Dr. Zhao immediately rolled up his sleeves and approached Han Yimo.
His condition was critical, as the harpoon had penetrated his shoulder and needed immediate attention.
Han Yimo slowly sat down, giving a bitter smile: "I was just thinking about how unlucky I might be, and here I am…"
Tiantian's expression was full of guilt as she quickly apologized to Han Yimo.
But everyone knew it wasn't her fault. She had also been struck by a harpoon in her palm.
"Hey, pretty girl, come here." Qiao Jiajing waved his hand. "I can help you with your bandaging."
"Huh?" Tiantian was taken aback. "You know how to bandage?"
"A little," Qiao Jiajing said.
He tore off a piece of fabric from a dead goat's head and split it into two strips. One was tightly tied around Tiantian's arm to stop the bleeding, while the other was carefully wrapped around the wound.
"I used to get hurt a lot on the streets, so I taught myself some first aid," Qiao Jiajing said.
Tiantian nodded slightly without saying a word.
After coming here, the group found a rare moment of peace, as if they had temporarily escaped the shadow of death. But the door still hadn't appeared, and the cursed room still trapped them.
Where exactly were they?
What was outside the room?
In less than a minute, the sound of a sigh came from Dr. Zhao's direction.
Qi Xia turned to look and saw Dr. Zhao, who was treating Han Yimo's wound, looking troubled.
"What's wrong?" Officer Li asked. "Is it a serious injury?"
"It's not too bad," Dr. Zhao shook his head. "It's just that I can't remove the harpoon."
The group leaned in, realizing the situation was indeed tricky.
The harpoon had a barbed tip, and pulling it out would cause even more damage to the victim.
And the tail of the harpoon was attached to a rope.
At this moment, Han Yimo seemed like a fish caught on a hook, unable to escape the grip of the rope.
"We'll have to cut the rope, then pull the harpoon out from the front," Dr. Zhao said, looking up. "But I don't have any sharp tools here."
Han Yimo's lips were turning pale, the harpoon piercing his scapula causing him immense pain.
"Use another harpoon," Officer Li said decisively. "Even though the harpoons are sharp, they can still serve as a cutting tool."
"Guess we'll have to do that," Dr. Zhao nodded. "Writer, I need you to lie down in a relaxed position. We'll need to cut the rope behind you. Don't worry, take it slow. Be careful with the harpoon in the front, and don't get injured again."
Han Yimo nodded and began to move slowly.
Qi Xia watched this scene, feeling uneasy.
Take it slow?
Did they really have time for that in this situation?
He glanced at the ropes on the ground, a sense of foreboding rising in his mind. If he guessed correctly, they were still racing against time.
"We can't take it slow!" Qi Xia suddenly said. "Get the harpoon out now!"
He quickly walked up to Dr. Zhao, then turned to Han Yimo with a serious expression. "Hold on, I'll pull the harpoon out right now!"
Han Yimo looked confused but didn't refuse.
"What are you doing?!" Dr. Zhao snapped, pushing Qi Xia away. "You'll only make his injuries worse!"
"There's no time! If we keep stalling, he'll really die!" Qi Xia pushed Dr. Zhao aside and grabbed the harpoon from Han Yimo's back.
A blood-curdling scream echoed.
The barbed harpoon was easy to drive in, but removing it was extremely difficult.
"Hey!" Officer Li ran over and grabbed Qi Xia, shouting, "Are you trying to kill him?"
Qi Xia, blocked twice, had a grim expression.
"I understand that you want to save him, but if we don't act quickly, the harpoons will—"
Before Qi Xia could finish, a loud mechanical sound echoed through the room, as if a massive trap had been triggered.
Then came Han Yimo's heart-wrenching scream.
The group suddenly realized that all the harpoons were slowly retracting, drawn back by the ropes.
At the same time, Han Yimo's body was being dragged by a powerful force.
Qi Xia had already noticed this. The ropes on the harpoons weren't just for show—they were going to pull the harpoons back sooner or later.
Panicked, the group ran after Han Yimo, with Officer Li attempting to grab the rope to counter the immense force from the dark hole in the wall, but it was all in vain.
The harpoons embedded in the ground began to tear apart the shields, and everything started to retreat.
This power, which could tear apart wooden shields, was something no one could resist with their bare hands. Though Han Yimo was in excruciating pain, he soon realized another problem.
If he was dragged toward the wall and the harpoon remained stuck in him, he would be pinned to the wall and left to die.
Realizing this, he painfully stood up, grabbed Qi Xia, and said through gritted teeth, "Pull the harpoon out! Now!"