"Hold on!"
Officer Li shouted.
"The number of harpoons is limited! If we hold on a little longer, we'll survive!"
Before anyone could reply, another scream was heard. Turning their heads, they saw it was Tian Tian. She was not as lucky as Xiao Ran; a harpoon had pierced through the palm of her hand.
Tian Tian lost her strength in that instant, and the tabletop in front of her was knocked askew by the whistling harpoons.
"Be careful!"
Qiao Jiajin gritted his teeth and reached out to grab the tabletop in front of Tian Tian. In that opening, a harpoon flew in through the gap with perfect accuracy and pierced through Han Yimo's shoulder. Han Yimo let out a pained scream, but his hands still held tightly to the tabletop.
"Don't panic!"
Officer Li reached out to support Han Yimo, then spread his hands apart to hold up half of the tabletop for him. Qiao Jiajin also acted decisively, reaching out to steady the tabletop for Tian Tian. Fortunately, these two were very strong, and the entire formation began to stabilize again.
As the sounds of impact gradually subsided, the group finally understood just how rational this formation was. If they had followed Officer Li's and Doctor Zhao's idea of arranging the tabletops in a staggered line for everyone to hold, then the tabletops would have been perpendicular to the harpoons, making them extremely easy to pierce.
Now, the "spring bamboo" formation meant that harpoons coming from any direction would hit the tabletops at an angle, drastically reducing their piercing power. Especially the harpoons flying in from directly above; due to the cone-like shape, their trajectories were now being deflected. After a while longer, the sounds outside the tabletops ceased completely.
"Is it over?"
Han Yimo asked, gritting his teeth.
"Wait another minute," Qi Xia replied.
The group held up the tabletops and waited silently for another minute, confirming that there was indeed no more movement outside. Qiao Jiajin cautiously moved a tabletop to create a small gap and peeked outside.
"Damn..."
He was instantly stunned by the sight before him. The others also slowly moved the tabletops aside and found the floor and tables were almost completely covered in harpoons. The two corpses on the ground were an even more ghastly sight, now resembling two hedgehogs, densely bristling with quills.
Every harpoon was connected to a rope, with the other end of the rope leading to a hole in the wall. The room was now a complete mess. Doctor Zhao acted decisively, rolled up his sleeves, and went to Han Yimo's side.
His condition was not optimistic. The harpoon had pierced his shoulder and needed immediate attention. Han Yimo slowly sat down and gave a bitter smile.
"Just now, I was wondering if I'd be that unlucky. I didn't think I'd actually get hit..."
Tian Tian's expression was full of guilt, and she hurriedly apologized to Han Yimo. But everyone knew it wasn't Tian Tian's fault; her palm had also been pierced by a harpoon.
"Hey, pretty girl, come here."
Qiao Jiajin beckoned with his hand.
"I can wrap that for you."
"Huh?"
Tian Tian was taken aback.
"You know how to bandage a wound?"
"I know a little."
Qiao Jiajin tore a strip of suit cloth from the dead goat-head man's body and then tore that strip into two. He tied one tightly around Tian Tian's arm to stop the bleeding, and carefully wrapped the other around the wound itself.
"I used to get hurt a lot when I was on the streets, so I learned some bandaging myself," Qiao Jiajin said.
Tian Tian nodded slightly, saying nothing. After arriving here, the group had a rare moment of peace, as if they had temporarily escaped the shadow of death. But there was still no door to be seen anywhere.
This damn room still had them trapped. What in the world is this place? And what is outside this room?
In less than a minute, a sigh came from Doctor Zhao's direction. Qi Xia turned his head and saw that Doctor Zhao, who was treating Han Yimo's wound, now wore a troubled expression.
"What's wrong?"
Officer Li asked.
"Is the wound very serious?"
"The wound itself isn't serious," Doctor Zhao shook his head.
"It's just that I can't get the harpoon out."
The group gathered closer and saw that the problem was indeed very tricky. The tip of the harpoon was barbed; pulling it out would cause even greater injury to the patient. And the tail of the harpoon was still attached to the rope.
At this moment, Han Yimo was like a fish that had been shot, tethered tightly by this rope no matter where he tried to go.
"We have to cut the rope, and then pull the harpoon out," Doctor Zhao said, looking up.
"But I don't have anything sharp."
Han Yimo's lips were now a little pale. The harpoon piercing his shoulder blade was causing him unbearable pain.
"Let's just use another harpoon," Officer Li said decisively.
"It may be pointed, but it's still a sharp object."
"It's the only way," Doctor Zhao nodded.
"Writer, I need you to get into the most relaxed position you can, lying face down. We need to cut the rope on your back. Don't rush, take it slow. Be mindful of the harpoon in front of you, be careful not to injure yourself a second time."
Han Yimo nodded and began to move his body with difficulty. Watching this scene, Qi Xia felt a sense that something was wrong. Take it slow?
In a situation like this, did they really have the time for that? He looked at the ropes covering the floor, and an ominous premonition surfaced in his mind. If he was not mistaken, they were still racing against time.
"We can't take it slow!"
Qi Xia suddenly said.
"Get that harpoon out of him right now!"
He strode over to the doctor's side and said to Han Yimo with a serious expression, "Brace yourself. I'm going to pull the harpoon out now!" Han Yimo was a bit confused, but he did not refuse.
"What are you doing?!"
Doctor Zhao shoved Qi Xia irritably.
"You'll make his injury worse!"
"There's no time! If we waste any more, he's really going to die!"
Qi Xia shoved Doctor Zhao away and grabbed the harpoon in Han Yimo's back from behind. A blood-curdling scream rang out. A barbed harpoon is easy to pierce with, but taking it out is monumentally difficult.
"Hey!"
Officer Li also ran over at this moment, pulled Qi Xia away, and roared, "Are you trying to kill him, kid?" Having been stopped twice, Qi Xia's expression turned ugly.
"I understand you want to save him, but if we don't hurry, the harpoons will..."
Before Qi Xia could finish, the sound of chains clanked all around them again, as if some enormous mechanism had been activated once more. What followed was Han Yimo's heart-wrenching scream. Only then did the group come to their senses and realize that all the harpoons were slowly being retracted by the ropes.
And Han Yimo, on the floor, was now being dragged by that immense force. Qi Xia had realized this long ago. The ropes on the harpoons were not just for decoration; they would be pulled back sooner or later.
The group scrambled to follow Han Yimo, during which Officer Li tried to pull on the rope to fight against the enormous force from the black holes, but it was all in vain. The tabletops on the floor, riddled with harpoons, were now being torn to pieces by the retracting harpoons and also began to slide back.
A force capable of shredding wooden planks was definitely not something that could be resisted with bare hands. Although Han Yimo was in unbearable pain, he quickly realized another problem. If he was dragged to the wall and still had not broken free from the harpoon, he would be firmly pinned to the wall to await his death.
Thinking of this, he struggled to his feet in agony, grabbed Qi Xia again, and said, word by word, "Help me get the harpoon out! Get it out now!"