What do the twelve zodiac animals represent?
And what lies at the end of this corridor?
The gates of hell, perhaps?
In the seemingly endless, dimly lit corridor, the group shuffled forward cautiously.
After enduring several rounds of intense and deadly "games," everyone felt utterly drained. Now, with the tension momentarily lifted, the suffocating aura of death that had loomed around them seemed to dissipate slightly.
Qixia turned his head inadvertently and noticed Lin Qin walking beside him. She was covering her nose and mouth with her hand.
"Doesn't that make it hard to breathe?" Qixia imitated her, covering his own nose and mouth. "I mean, the smell here is awful, but isn't breathing harder this way?"
"Breathing?" Lin Qin paused for a moment and then smiled softly. "Not really. I don't feel like I can't breathe. It's just that… if I don't cover my nose and mouth, I feel strange, like…"
"Like what?"
"Like I'm not wearing clothes," Lin Qin replied with a shy smile, then removed her hand from her face.
Her nose was straight, her lips were soft and rosy—there was no real need to hide them. Qixia couldn't quite understand what she meant by "like not wearing clothes."
Lin Qin smiled awkwardly but seemed to still feel uncomfortable. She put her hand back over her nose and mouth again.
"It's kind of embarrassing… Don't you feel awkward?" Lin Qin asked Qixia, her voice muffled. "Showing your nose and mouth like this?"
"Awkward? Why would it feel awkward?" Qixia looked puzzled.
"The 'mask,' of course," Lin Qin replied, equally baffled as she looked at Qixia, as if he were an alien. "Why aren't you wearing a mask? How can you be so casual about it?"
"Mask…?"
Before Qixia could respond, a faint, eerie light appeared in the distance, catching everyone's attention.
It was the exit.
The light looked like the glow of a sunset, spilling faintly into the corridor from the opening ahead.
"We're getting out of here!" cried Qiao Jiajin excitedly. "I can see the sunset!"
His exclamation was like an adrenaline shot to the group. Dr. Zhao, supporting Han Yimo, quickened his pace along with the others.
"The sunset?" Qixia frowned and addressed the group. "We woke up at twelve. After an hour or so of these games, it should be about two o'clock now. Whether it's two in the morning or two in the afternoon, there's no way we're seeing a 'sunset.'"
"You're overthinking it," Officer Li said, shaking his head. "The time in that room might not even be correct. For all we know, it's already evening."
Qixia nodded slightly. Officer Li had a point. All his knowledge of time came from the clock in the room, but there was no guarantee it was accurate.
As they moved closer, a shadow became visible near the exit.
With every step forward, the shadow gradually took on the form of a person—another individual wearing an animal mask. But this mask was utterly revolting.
Unlike the others, this mask wasn't made from a single animal's head. It was stitched together from various animal parts.
The mouth resembled that of a crocodile, the nose was bovine, the cheeks were covered with fish scales, and the neck was adorned with snake skin. The mask was further embellished with a lion's mane and a stag's antlers.
The creature was a grotesque amalgamation. It was as if…
"Greetings, I am the 'Human Dragon,'" the stitched-together monstrosity said in a low voice. "All survivors? How extraordinary."
"Dragon…?"
The group instinctively halted, their nerves taut. It wasn't the mention of a "dragon" that frightened them, but their familiarity with this kind of introduction.
Every time someone introduced themselves this way, it was always followed by a deadly game.
"There's no need to be on edge," the Human Dragon said, raising a clawed hand. Only then did the group notice he was wearing gloves with talons resembling those of an eagle.
Despite the grotesque decay of the animal parts on his mask, which emitted a pungent stench, the Human Dragon seemed oblivious, continuing to speak calmly:
"I won't subject you to another 'test.' I'm just here to offer you some advice."
The group remained silent, huddling together and eyeing the Human Dragon warily.
"You have ten days. In those ten days, you must change everything. If you fail to collect 3,600 'Dao,' your world will perish. Everything you see, everything you know, will be buried alongside it."
His brief statement left the group utterly perplexed.
"Three thousand six hundred 'Dao'?" Qixia furrowed his brows. "What is a 'Dao'? And what do you mean by saying our world will perish?"
"Ah, questions. Good, good." The Human Dragon nodded approvingly. "Questions mean you're still thinking clearly. As for the 'Dao,' it's…"
The Human Dragon reached into the pocket of his black suit, rummaged around, and pulled out four small, golden spheres.
The spheres had a white outer layer and a golden core. They gleamed faintly, exuding an almost mystical aura.
"This is a 'Dao,'" the Human Dragon explained. "Collect 3,600 of these, and you'll be saved."
Qixia hesitated for a moment before taking one of the spheres. It felt surprisingly soft, even elastic, in his hand.
"Take them. They're yours by right," the Human Dragon said with a chuckle.
After a moment's contemplation, Qixia accepted all four spheres.
"You've passed four trials: 'The Liar,' 'The Bamboo Grove,' 'Death from Above,' and 'Yes or No.' These are your rewards, your 'tokens.'"
The group hadn't anticipated that the fruits of their life-and-death struggles would be these seemingly insignificant little orbs. They didn't know what to say.
"'Dao'…" Qixia muttered, holding the spheres in his hand. He asked, "So you're saying if we can't find 3,600 of these little balls, this place will be destroyed?"
"Precisely. If this place is destroyed, you'll never escape." The Human Dragon nodded, his fish-scaled cheeks and lion mane swaying awkwardly as he moved.
"You seem to have plenty of these spheres. Why don't you collect 3,600 yourself?" Officer Li interjected decisively. "You're clearly more powerful than us. Why rely on us?"
"Me?" The Human Dragon let out a mocking laugh. "We are all sinners. The sinful cannot obtain the 'Dao.' Only chosen ones like you can gather the 'Dao' and ultimately ascend to become 'Gods.'"
"This is absurd!" Zhang Chenzhen cut in angrily, crossing her arms over her chest. "Do you even realize what you're saying?"