Though none of them had any medical knowledge, they all generally understood what Doctor Zhao meant. For them, pulling out the harpoons was simple, but stitching up a wound was incredibly difficult.
"The Writer's life is saved for now. The only thing we need to do is leave this place quickly and find somewhere with the right conditions to treat his wound again."
Doctor Zhao's words pulled everyone's thoughts back to reality. If they could not leave this bizarre room, their fate would sooner or later be the same as Han Yimo's. "But how do we leave? Is the game over?"
Lin Qin asked, covering her mouth and nose. Qi Xia thought for a moment, then shook his head. The mask had just written it clearly.
The person called 'Human Dog' wanted them to live, and also said, "See you after the rain." Logically, after this storm of harpoons, the so-called 'Human Dog' should appear. He might bring the next game.
But why hadn't he shown himself?
"Hey, con man."
Qiao Jiajin slowly walked over to Qi Xia's side, asking with a serious expression, "You have a way for us to survive, don't you?"
"What about it?"
Qi Xia replied coldly.
"What does my survival have to do with you?"
"I'm not as smart as you, so I need to find someone to work with."
Qiao Jiajin seemed to be recommending himself.
"You've got the brains, I've got the brawn. Let's team up."
Hearing this, Qi Xia's brow furrowed slightly.
"Apologies, but I am a con man. I don't intend to trust anyone but myself."
Before Qiao Jiajin could say anything more, a questioning voice suddenly came from Officer Li's direction.
"What's this?"
Everyone turned to look and saw Officer Li carefully examining the harpoon in his hands.
"What is it?"
Doctor Zhao approached Officer Li and asked cautiously.
"There are words on it."
Officer Li handed the harpoon to Doctor Zhao. Doctor Zhao took it and looked. His expression changed.
On the tail of the finger-thick harpoon, there were indeed tiny words: "I am the 'Goat-Head Man'. If you can see these words, it means you have survived."
"But how many of you actually survived?"
"Is anyone injured?"
"I am truly very worried about you."
"I cannot just stand by and watch you die."
"In a quarter of an hour, death will descend from the heavens once more."
"Dodge them. Find a way to survive."
Doctor Zhao gritted his teeth, then fiercely threw the harpoon to the ground.
"Do you take me for a fool! This is never-ending!" he roared, as if trying to unleash all the emotions he had suppressed until now.
"Calm down!"
Officer Li said in a deep voice.
"If you can't control your emotions, how are you going to survive?"
"Survive...? But we're already dead!"
Doctor Zhao could not take it anymore.
"We're already dead, yet we're still tormented by the fear of death. What does the 'organizer' want?! Can't he just kill us or let us go cleanly?"
Everyone's expression was grim. Indeed, what was the point of these wave after wave of death threats? Was it really as the goat-head man said, to select a 'God'?
Did it mean that besides the one person who would become a 'God', the rest would go to hell?
"Everyone, we've survived two 'games'. Do you think it's because you're smart? No!"
Doctor Zhao clenched his fists tightly.
"We were just too lucky! But what about next time? And the time after that? In this ever-changing room, just how long can we last?!"
Officer Li pressed his lips together, walked forward, and grabbed Doctor Zhao by the collar.
"Hey... buddy! At a time like this, when our lives are on the line, the one thing we can't lose is 'morale'! If you don't want to live, you can go die on your own! Don't shake everyone's morale here!"
"I...!"
Doctor Zhao's lips trembled slightly.
"But how do we get out? Do you have a way to lead us out?"
Officer Li pondered for a moment, then said, "I don't have a 'way', but I know we have to survive! As long as we survive, there's hope for everything."
He let go of Doctor Zhao's collar, walked to the side, picked up a harpoon to look at it, then walked over to Han Yimo and looked at the harpoon in his shoulder. He found the same words on both. It seemed their luck really was too good.
In the last round, not only did they have to dodge the fatal attacks, but they also had to be left with at least one harpoon to get the clue for the next round.
"In any case, at least they gave a clear clue this time."
Officer Li carefully read the words on the harpoon and said, "Unlike before, this time the attack will come from above." He pointed to the small words "death will descend from the heavens once more" on the harpoon. As soon as he finished speaking, the entire room began to change again.
All the holes on the walls were now slowly disappearing. The holes in the ceiling began to change as well, revealing many rectangular openings, each appearing to be about a meter long and twenty centimeters wide. Upon closer inspection, there were nine holes in total.
Was this the "death that will descend from the heavens once more"?
"It seems the game is getting simpler."
Officer Li looked at the nine holes in the ceiling and sighed.
"This is a silver lining in a dark cloud."
"But why has it changed back to the 'Goat-Head Man' this time?"
Lawyer Zhang pointed at the corpse on the floor, which had been torn apart by harpoons, and asked, "Didn't we already kill the Goat-Head Man?" Qi Xia thought for a moment, also finding it strange.
The goat-head man who had just died did indeed call himself the 'Goat-Head Man', but his mask had 'I am the Human Dog' written inside it. A goat one moment, a dog the next. Could this also be a clue?
"We don't have much time," Officer Li said to the group.
"It's already one twenty-five. It looks like it won't be long before those nine holes in the ceiling start dropping something dangerous. Everyone, pick up a table board and stand by the wall."
At this moment, everyone noticed that the table boards on the floor were also a bit strange. These boards seemed to have a special structure. After being torn and shredded by the harpoons, only a square piece with a handle remained.
It looked like the wood in the central part was tougher than the surrounding areas. Although the remaining table boards were very small, thankfully the nine holes in the ceiling were all clustered around the center. It seemed standing by the wall would be safe.
Everyone silently walked over, picked up the shattered table boards from the floor, and went to stand scattered along the walls, far from the holes in the center. But Qi Xia did not move. He slowly closed his eyes again.
No matter how he looked at it, the second game was too peculiar. It was because the 'organizer' had very directly given them the solution. In Qi Xia's view, this hint was completely unnecessary.
Did they want them to die, or did they want them to live? Why specify 'Goat-Head Man' and 'Human Dog' separately? If 'Goat-Head Man' and 'Human Dog' didn't refer to names, then what could they represent?
"Hey, con man, get over here!"
Qiao Jiajin shouted.
"You'll die if you stand under the holes!"
"Die...?"
Qi Xia looked at the holes in the ceiling with cold eyes.
"I can't possibly die here. I have a reason I must get out."
"What's going on... Has the smartest guy among us gone daft?"
Qiao Jiajin was a little confused. Qi Xia raised his index finger and gently tapped his own temple.
"Wait... hold on... give me a little more time."
Everyone slowed their breathing, quietly watching Qi Xia in the center of the room. None of them could understand what there was to think about over and over again in such an obvious game.