Qi Xia remained in his seat the entire time, neither standing up nor going to search for clues. He felt that something was still a bit strange. The psychologist Lin Qin was another who had not stood up.
"What are you thinking about?"
Lin Qin asked, casually covering her mouth and nose.
"Me?"
Qi Xia was taken aback.
"What? Are you going to give me a psychological diagnosis?"
"Not really. Although clever people like you more or less have some psychological problems, this situation is really not suitable for psychotherapy."
Lin Qin gave a slight smile.
"I just wanted to ask what you're thinking about?"
Qi Xia pondered for a moment, then said, "I'm thinking about the reason."
"The reason?"
Qi Xia ignored Lin Qin, instead calling out to Doctor Zhao, "Doctor, generally, if a person is shot in the heart, how long can they survive?" Doctor Zhao turned his head, thought for a moment, and said, "If I remember correctly, with a gunshot to the heart, a person will enter an unconscious state within a few seconds.
But since 'death' in medicine refers to 'brain death', even if unconscious, the brain will continue to function for a few more minutes." Qi Xia nodded.
"That goat-head man just now screamed for several minutes. Does that mean his body structure is much tougher than a normal person's?"
"Yes. He was shot in the heart and it took him a full several minutes to completely lose consciousness."
Hearing Qi Xia and the doctor speak, everyone could not help but quiet down. It was only because of this con man's clear thinking that all nine people had survived.
"Then why do you all think that is?"
Qi Xia held up his index finger and thumb, forming the shape of a gun, and placed it against his own temple.
"Most people would choose to commit suicide like this."
He thought for a moment, then pointed his hand up at his own jaw.
"Or like this."
Qi Xia lowered his hand and pointed to his heart.
"No matter what... a person committing suicide would choose a way to die that causes as little pain as possible. So why did he aim for his own heart?"
Qiao Jiajin was toying with the goat-head mask in his hands, then turned over the man's head and said, "Maybe this punk's head is even harder, and one shot wouldn't have been enough to kill him."
"Since he coughed up blood, that proves his body structure is the same as ours," Officer Li said.
"Even if he's stronger, a shot to the head at this distance would definitely be fatal."
Qi Xia nodded.
"If that's the case, then I can only think of one reason."
He pointed at the mask in Qiao Jiajin's hands and said, "The reason the goat-head man chose to shoot himself in the heart was most likely to protect something. I'm afraid the 'game' is not over yet." Qiao Jiajin was stunned.
"You're saying... he was afraid of damaging his own mask?"
"That's right."
Under Qi Xia's direction, Qiao Jiajin turned the goat-skin mask over. The rough inner lining of the goat skin was exposed before everyone's eyes. A rotten, sour stench also emanated from it.
Just as Qi Xia had predicted, words were written on the inside of the goat-skin mask with a black fountain pen. It was just that some places were stained with blood. Qiao Jiajin paid it no mind, grabbing his T-shirt to wipe it clean.
The writing finally became legible.
"What the hell?"
Qiao Jiajin paused for a moment, then began to read the words on it in his non-standard Mandarin: "I am 'Human Dog'."
"You are cursed."
"I hope you will survive."
"The clock never stops ticking, death lurks on all four sides."
"If you wish to live, please turn one hundred times in the direction of your hometown."
"Oh, right, they say 'spring bamboo shoots after the rain,' so why aren't the spring shoots afraid of being hit by the rain?"
"See you after the rain."
Qi Xia frowned slightly. It really was a clue for the next game… The shadow of death hanging over everyone simply would not dissipate.
They were already dead, did they have to die again?
"Hey, con man, what does this mean?"
Qiao Jiajin asked.
"How should I know?"
Qi Xia snorted coldly.
"There are nine people here. Do I have to be the one to think about it?"
Lawyer Zhang Chenze slowly sat down in a chair and said, "Although I don't want to admit it, your way of thinking is very much in tune with the 'organizer'. If you have any ideas, you should just say them."
"I..."
Before Qi Xia could speak, the surrounding walls suddenly began to change. To everyone's shock, holes appeared out of thin air one by one. The originally concrete walls now seemed like a constantly changing soft body.
After a moment, rows of holes were neatly arranged on the walls, as if they had been there all along. At the same time, the sound of chains being pulled echoed from all four sides.
"What's happening?"
Everyone panicked in an instant.
"Look at the ceiling!" someone cried out in alarm.
Everyone looked up and discovered that even the ceiling was densely packed with holes. Qi Xia finally stood up, took the goat-skin mask from Qiao Jiajin's hands, and looked closely at the last sentence on it.
"See you after the rain."
"Rain...?"
Qiao Jiajin tiptoed to the wall, leaned over one of the holes to look inside, and was instantly startled, stumbling back several steps.
"Holy crap!"
He yelled, looking for a place to hide, but found there was nowhere to hide at all.
"What's wrong? What's inside?"
Xiao Ran asked, a little scared. Everyone knew that Qiao Jiajin was already very brave. For him to be so scared that he was stumbling backward, it must be something terrible.
"Holy hell...!"
Qiao Jiajin shouted.
"It's harpoons! The holes are all full of harpoons that are 'moving backward'!"
"'Moving backward'? What does that mean?"
Doctor Zhao asked, confused.
"It should mean they're 'being armed'," Qi Xia said.
"Since a moment ago, the sound of chains has been coming from all four sides. These harpoons are all armed now, ready to be fired at any moment."
"Hey! Con man, hurry up and think of something!"
Qiao Jiajin came to Qi Xia's side and said anxiously, "If they fire from all directions at once, where are we supposed to hide?" Qi Xia thought carefully for a moment. It wouldn't be difficult for him to survive.
After all, there were already two corpses on the scene. A harpoon's penetrating power is limited. He just needed to pile the two bodies in a corner and hide behind them.
This way, although he might get injured, his chances of survival would be very high.
"This time, I estimate it will be very difficult to keep everyone alive. I need to protect myself too, so I won't be saving you again," Qi Xia said softly.
"You..."
Qiao Jiajin wanted to say more but stopped himself. He could only turn to Officer Li and Doctor Zhao for help, but those two looked even more helpless. Qi Xia looked again at the few lines of clues on the goat-skin mask.
Had he misunderstood? Only when there is one last person left will this 'game' truly end. If he kept letting everyone survive, this kind of killing game would just keep appearing.
After all, this room was very strange. The four walls could change at any time. This didn't seem to follow any scientific principles; it was more like magic.
But if the organizer was a powerful being capable of using magic, why bother them, nine dead people? Could this be some kind of sick game run by an organization that manages ghosts?
Just as Qi Xia was lost in thought, Lin Qin looked at the mask in his hand and spoke up, "On here... it says a way for us to survive. It says to 'turn one hundred times in the direction of your hometown'." Everyone calmed down a little and began to ponder this sentence.
"Does it mean we face the direction of our hometown and spin in circles ourselves?"
Tian Tian asked.
"That can't be right."
Qiao Jiajin shook his head.
"In this room, how are you supposed to determine the direction of your hometown? Besides, spinning around a hundred times yourself won't have any effect other than making you dizzy."
"I don't care! I'll try it first!"
Tian Tian casually picked a direction and started spinning. Qi Xia thought for a moment, knowing that things couldn't be this simple.