"I…" The Snake-headed Man paused, seemingly trying to choose an answer, only to realize that whatever he said would be futile.
"Hahaha!"
He suddenly burst into laughter, his body shaking as he leaned forward, only to quickly recover. "You are truly fascinating," he said.
"Fascinating?" Qi Xia coldly glanced at the Snake-headed Man. "What's so fascinating? Haven't I already won?"
The Snake-headed Man slowly walked to the wall and pulled down the lever.
Everyone felt their bodies sink for a moment as the ceiling above them began to descend slowly.
"Hey, fraudster, what's going on? Why does this count as winning?" Qiao Jiajin asked, his face filled with confusion.
Seeing that they were indeed descending, Qi Xia relaxed slightly. "Think about it carefully. The moment this question was asked, we were already saved."
"'If my next question were, Will you pull the lever, would your answer to that question be the same as your answer to this one…'" Qiao Jiajin repeated the question to himself but couldn't understand its logic.
"I see…" Dr. Zhao nodded thoughtfully. "If he answers 'Yes,' then the next answer must also be 'Yes,' meaning he'll pull the lever when we ask the next question. After all, the next question would be, Will you pull the lever."
"But what if he answers 'No'?!" Qiao Jiajin thought he had found a flaw. "Wouldn't saying 'No' work?"
"If he says 'No,' he's admitting that the answers to the two questions will differ, but that contradicts his claim that he never lies," Han Yimo weakly explained. "The brilliance of the question is that if he answers 'No,' he's exposed as a liar."
Qiao Jiajin froze for a moment, then turned back to Qi Xia and asked, "Did you come up with this on the spot? What kind of monster are you?"
"Monster? Hardly." Qi Xia shook his head. "I'm just a wandering fraudster."
As they spoke, the group finally landed on solid ground.
The prolonged suspension had left everyone's hands burning with pain, and the injured among them were in even worse condition.
"Congratulations, everyone. You've survived the 'interview.' Beyond this door lies a new world waiting for you." The Snake-headed Man clasped his hands behind his back and stood beside the wooden door.
"You scum…"
Qiao Jiajin stormed toward him, clearly intent on venting all his frustrations from their encounters with the Goat-headed and Dog-headed Men on this Snake-headed Man.
The Snake-headed Man stood motionless, his cold eyes observing Qiao Jiajin's advance.
"Are you all psychos?!" Qiao Jiajin roared, grabbing the Snake-headed Man by the collar. "Hiding behind these ridiculous masks, constantly putting us in life-and-death situations. Now I've got you!"
The Snake-headed Man smirked faintly and said in a low voice, "If you value your life, I suggest you let go."
"What did you say?!"
Qiao Jiajin raised his fist, poised to strike the Snake-headed Man, but Li, the police officer, quickly restrained his arm.
"Hey, have you forgotten what happened to the man who got his skull smashed in?" Officer Li said sternly. "If these masked people are anything alike, how do you plan to defeat them?"
"I…" Frustration and reluctance flashed across Qiao Jiajin's rugged face. Gritting his teeth, he eventually lowered his fist. "But these bastards…"
"Don't worry, we're getting out of here, aren't we?" Officer Li interrupted. "Once we're out, I'll make sure they pay."
Hearing this, the group refrained from further actions and slowly approached the Snake-headed Man.
Up close, his eerie nature became even more apparent.
The air around him felt colder than elsewhere. His worn-out suit and mask emitted a strange, rotting stench.
Though his eyes peered out from behind the snake mask, clearly human, his overall aura resembled a long-dead snake.
"Welcome to the new world," the Snake-headed Man said in a muffled voice as he opened the door behind him.
With a creak, light seeped into the room.
Qi Xia frowned, realizing the door didn't lead outside but into a long corridor.
"What's outside?" Qi Xia asked.
"I told you, it's a new world." The Snake-headed Man raised his arms. "The future God will arise from among you! A God who will come to life in the new world! How exciting!"
"A God again…" Qiao Jiajin growled. "What exactly are you planning?"
Clearly intrigued by the question, the Snake-headed Man replied, "An omnipotent God! One who can realize any desire!"
"Omnipotent?" Qiao Jiajin furrowed his brow tightly.
Dr. Zhao subtly gestured for Qiao Jiajin to stay quiet, then turned to the Snake-headed Man. "Alright, we understand. Let us out now."
The Snake-headed Man paused before stepping aside to let them pass.
Qi Xia took the lead, followed by the others, who also hurried to leave this unsettling room.
The moment they entered the corridor, a peculiar smell overwhelmed their senses.
How could one describe it?
It was heavy—a suffocating, oppressive stench.
It was as if billions of people had died simultaneously, their bodies decomposing in the open air, attracting countless insects to feast on the remains. These insects bred rapidly, died just as quickly, and then rotted away as well.
The smell of endless decay had settled and thickened, no longer sharp but unbearably heavy.
It took Qi Xia a long moment to recover. When he opened his eyes again, he was greeted by a despair-inducing sight.
They were in a seemingly endless corridor. The ceiling was low, oppressive, and the passage stretched forward indefinitely.
On both sides of the corridor, countless wooden doors were slowly opening, just like the one they had come through.
Soon, figures began emerging from the doors.
Most were bloodied and wearing animal masks. From afar, only a handful appeared to be ordinary people.
Those so-called "ordinary people" looked just as weary and trembling as Qi Xia and his group. They too had survived.
"What's going on…" Han Yimo asked weakly. "We're not the only ones who were captured?"
Qi Xia's expression darkened. The situation before him far exceeded his expectations.
This organization had abducted countless individuals to participate in their death games?
"But… so few survived," Zhang Chenze sighed heavily.
Among thousands of doors, only a handful of survivors emerged.
In fact, a situation like Qi Xia's group—where everyone survived—seemed nonexistent.
"Please proceed."
The Snake-headed Man gestured down the corridor and stood aside. It was clear he didn't intend to leave with them.
"Let's go."
Knowing they couldn't linger, the group lined up and began walking cautiously down the corridor.
As they passed the wooden doors, they got a closer look at the animal-masked figures within. There were cows, horses, dogs…
And the Goat-headed and Snake-headed figures they had previously encountered.
Each one exuded an eerie, rotting aura, and the scenes inside most doors were of blood-soaked carnage—evidence of the games they had participated in.
After several steps, two animal-masked figures ahead startled the group.
To the left stood a massive rat-masked figure leaning against the wall, and to the right, a rooster-masked figure with its arms crossed.
Their masks were clearly not man-made but actual animal skulls.
But where in the world could one find a rat or rooster this large?
Like the others, these two figures simply glanced at Qi Xia and his group without taking further action.
"What are these creatures…" Lin Qin instinctively moved away from the two.
Qi Xia frowned slightly, as if something had clicked in his mind.
A goat, a dog, a snake, a rat, a rooster…
"The zodiac," he murmured softly.
The group froze, turning to look around.
Indeed, all the animal masks belonged to the twelve zodiac signs.