Qi Xia remained seated, neither standing up nor searching for clues. He still felt something was off.
The only other person who hadn't stood up was the psychologist, Lin Qing.
"What are you thinking about?" Lin Qing asked casually, covering her mouth and nose.
"Me?" Qi Xia paused, then smiled wryly. "What, are you going to give me a psychological evaluation?"
"Not exactly. Although, people as smart as you usually have some psychological issues," Lin Qing said with a faint smile. "But given the current situation, I don't think this is the right time for therapy. I just want to know what you're thinking."
Qi Xia thought for a moment before responding, "I'm thinking about the cause."
"The cause?"
Qi Xia didn't answer Lin Qing directly. Instead, he called over Dr. Zhao and asked, "Doctor, how long can someone survive after being shot in the heart?"
Dr. Zhao turned his head, thinking for a moment. "If I remember correctly, being shot in the heart causes a person to lose consciousness within a few seconds. But because medical death is defined as brain death, even if a person loses consciousness, the brain still functions for a few more minutes."
Qi Xia nodded. "So, the Goat Head, after being shot in the heart, screamed for several minutes, which suggests his body is much more resilient than an ordinary human's?"
"Yes. Even with a gunshot wound to the heart, he remained conscious for a few minutes before finally losing consciousness."
The others fell silent, listening carefully to the conversation between Qi Xia and the doctor.
Earlier, it was Qi Xia's clear reasoning that allowed the nine of them to survive.
"So why do you think that is?" Qi Xia held up his hand, forming a gun shape with his thumb and forefinger, pointing it at his temple. "Normally, people would choose to commit suicide like this."
He paused for a moment, then raised his hand to point under his jaw. "Or like this."
Qi Xia lowered his hand and pointed at his own heart. "No matter what… people who commit suicide usually try to choose a method that minimizes pain. So why would he aim at his own heart?"
Qiao Jiajin, who was playing with the Goat Head mask, turned the decayed head over and said, "Maybe his skull is so hard, the bullet couldn't even kill him."
"Since he spat out blood, it means his body structure is just like ours," Officer Li said. "Even if he's stronger, a shot to the head from this distance would definitely kill him."
Qi Xia nodded. "If that's the case, I can only think of one reason."
He pointed at the mask in Qiao Jiajin's hand. "The Goat Head chose to shoot himself in the heart because he was trying to protect something. The 'game' is probably not over yet."
Qiao Jiajin froze. "You mean… he was trying to protect his mask?"
"Exactly."
Following Qi Xia's instructions, Qiao Jiajin flipped the mask over, exposing its rough, leather lining.
A foul, rotten smell emanated from it.
Just as Qi Xia had predicted, there were words written in black ink on the inside of the mask.
Some of the text had been smeared with blood, but Qiao Jiajin didn't mind. He wiped it with his t-shirt, and the words were finally legible.
"What the hell?" Qiao Jiajin paused and began reading the words aloud in his imperfect Mandarin:
"I am 'Human Dog'."
"You are cursed."
"I hope you survive."
"The clock never stops, danger is all around."
"If you want to live, turn 100 times towards your hometown."
"By the way, they say that bamboo shoots come up after the rain, but why aren't the bamboo shoots afraid of the rain?"
"See you after the rain."
Qi Xia frowned slightly. It was indeed a clue for the next game…
The shadow of death continued to loom over them all.
They had died, but did that mean they were going to die again?
"Hey, liar, what does this mean?" Qiao Jiajin asked.
"How would I know?" Qi Xia snorted coldly. "There are nine of us here. Do I have to figure everything out?"
Lawyer Zhang Chenze slowly sat down on a chair and said, "Although I don't want to admit it, your logic is very similar to the 'organizer's.' If you have any ideas, you should speak up."
"I…"
Before Qi Xia could respond, the walls suddenly began to change.
To everyone's shock, holes began to appear in the walls out of nowhere.
The cement walls now seemed to take on a soft, shifting form.
Moments later, neat rows of holes lined the walls, as though they had always been there.
At the same time, the sound of chains pulling echoed from all sides.
"What's going on?" The group suddenly panicked.
"Look at the ceiling!" someone screamed.
Everyone looked up, and saw that the ceiling, too, was covered with holes.
Qi Xia finally stood up, took the mask from Qiao Jiajin's hands, and carefully examined the final line of text:
"See you after the rain."
"Rain…?"
Qiao Jiajin stealthily walked to the wall, crouched down, and peered into one of the holes. He immediately jumped back, startled, and took several steps away.
"Damn!"
He shouted, looking for somewhere to hide, but realized there was nowhere to go.
"What's inside? What did you see?" Xiao Ran asked fearfully.
Everyone knew that Qiao Jiajin was brave, so if he was this frightened, whatever was inside the hole must be terrifying.
"Damn you…" Qiao Jiajin shouted, "It's a harpoon! The holes are full of 'retracted' harpoons!"
"'Retracted'? What does that mean?" Dr. Zhao asked, confused.
"They're 'cocked'," Qi Xia said, "The sound we've been hearing from the chains is them being set. The harpoons are now ready to fire at any moment."
"Hey! Liar, think of something quick!" Qiao Jiajin rushed to Qi Xia's side, anxiously saying, "If they all fire at once, where are we supposed to hide?"
Qi Xia thought for a moment. Staying alive wouldn't be difficult for him—there were already two bodies in the room.
The harpoons wouldn't penetrate that deep. If he piled the two bodies in the corner and hid behind them, he would probably be safe. Though he might get injured, his chances of survival would still be high.
"This time, saving everyone is probably impossible. I need to protect myself, so I won't be saving you all," Qi Xia said quietly.
"You…" Qiao Jiajin opened his mouth to say something but stopped. He could only turn to Officer Li and Dr. Zhao for help, but the two of them looked just as helpless.
Qi Xia glanced at the clues written on the mask.
Had he misunderstood?
Only one person remaining—then this 'game' would truly end.
If everyone kept surviving, this killing game would keep repeating itself.
After all, this room was incredibly strange, and the walls could change at any time.
It didn't make sense scientifically; it was more like magic.
But if the organizer was capable of magic, why make things difficult for nine dead people?
While Qi Xia was lost in thought, Lin Qing suddenly spoke, staring at the mask in his hands: "It says here… the way for us to survive is by 'turning 100 times towards our hometown.'"
The group calmed down a little and began to ponder the meaning of the phrase.
"Does that mean we have to turn towards our hometown and spin around 100 times?" Sweet Sweet asked.
"That doesn't make sense," Qiao Jiajin shook his head. "In this room, how can you tell which way is 'home'? Spinning around 100 times wouldn't achieve anything other than making you dizzy."
"Forget it! I'll try it anyway!" Sweet Sweet said, picking a random direction and started spinning in circles.
Qi Xia pondered for a moment, knowing things couldn't be this simple.