"It was said to be ten days later, so this should count as 'Day Zero', right?"
Lin Qin switched hands covering her nose and mouth and said, "If you go out now, you won't be able to see the road in a bit. After all, there are no streetlights here." Qi Xia knew Lin Qin had a point, so he quietly walked to the side and found a clean shelf to sit on.
He was indeed a bit anxious, so much so that he had forgotten to even check the time. But he couldn't wait to leave this damn place and see his wife. To see Yu Nian'an.
To see that girl who loved to wear white.
"An, I'll escape from this damn place soon," he muttered to himself.
"You just wait, we'll have money soon."
Qi Xia's expression was always different from the others. He wasn't panicked, nor was he sad, just a little anxious. As the sky darkened, everyone found a clean spot to sit down.
Fortunately, the nights here weren't cold. Everyone was just a bit hungry. Having gone nearly a full day without food or water, they all felt weak.
No one spoke again. They just slowly watched the earthy-yellow sun set in the sky, and the World fell into complete darkness. The day's experience was like a terrible nightmare for everyone.
They all hoped that when they opened their eyes again, all the strange sights before them would disappear. The entire city seemed to fall silent, as if brewing something. They heard what sounded like a faint rustling sound in the distance, but they couldn't hear it clearly.
It was too dark here, so dark you couldn't tell if your eyes were open or closed. Having grown up in cities, none of them had ever experienced a night so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
"Hey, con man, are you asleep?"
Qiao Jiajin, who was not far from Qi Xia, suddenly asked.
"What is it?"
"Do you think... there are other participants here?"
Qi Xia was silent for a moment before answering, "I've thought about that too. The Human Dragon said tens of millions of people have walked out of that door. Logically, there should be more than just the nine of us here..."
Qiao Jiajin also fell silent for a moment, then asked, "That female clerk, could she have been one of the people who came out of the door before?"
"Hm?"
Qi Xia was slightly taken aback. He had never considered it from that angle. After all, the woman looked like she had been living here for many years.
But thinking about it carefully, there was no conflict. Whether someone was brought here ten years ago or ten days ago didn't matter. What mattered was that according to the Human Dragon, this place would be annihilated in ten days.
They might have different starting points, but their destination was the same. What was fortunate was that they probably wouldn't go completely insane like the female clerk, since they only needed to stay here for ten days. No matter what, they would see the "result" after ten days.
"Con man? You asleep?"
Qiao Jiajin asked. Qi Xia ignored him this time, turning his head to the side to seriously ponder what had happened today. What was the reason for all these strange circumstances?
Getting no reply from Qi Xia, Qiao Jiajin didn't bother asking again and gradually fell silent. After a short while, two other people started talking in the darkness. It sounded like Doctor Zhao and Officer Li.
"Doctor Zhao..."
"What is it?"
"I wanted to ask... if a woman is malnourished for a long time, can she still conceive a child?"
Doctor Zhao paused for a moment, understanding Officer Li's meaning. The female clerk in the room looked like she hadn't eaten properly in a very long time, so how could she have given birth to a baby? The others also seemed interested in this question and waited quietly for his answer.
Doctor Zhao organized his thoughts for a moment and said, "This is a very complex question. If a woman is malnourished for a long time, it can easily lead to irregular menstruation, or even amenorrhea. In other words, a lack of basic life-sustaining elements can prevent them from ovulating, so naturally, they can't get pregnant."
"So... is this something that science can't explain?"
Officer Li asked in a low voice.
"That female clerk's physical condition looked very poor."
"I can't draw a definite conclusion about her specific situation. In some parts of Africa, people's nutritional intake is also very low, yet they have relatively high birth rates..."
Doctor Zhao sighed.
"But this isn't my area of expertise, after all. It involves each person's constitution and the intake of key nutrients. I don't know much about it."
After hearing this, Officer Li said no more and fell silent. The group in the room lapsed into silence once more. Qi Xia didn't want to sleep, but with his sense of sight completely gone, his perception became blurry, and he eventually stopped thinking.
Accompanied by the quiet "shh-shh" sound from the street, Qi Xia's eyelids grew heavy. He didn't know when he fell asleep. In his dream, he saw the figure of Yu Nian'an.
"Xia, did you know? There are many roads in this world, and everyone has their own."
"Yes, An, I know."
The Qi Xia in the dream nodded.
"I'll be out soon. You wait for me."
He didn't know how much time had passed, but suddenly a loud, deafening bell toll, almost right next to his ear, rang out like a clap of thunder. Qi Xia's eyes flew open. He scrambled to his feet and saw that the sky outside was already bright.
Turning his head, he saw the others looking around in a state of shock, just like him. The toll of the bell had been too loud, startling them all awake.
"What's going on?!"
Xiao Ran subconsciously hid behind Officer Li. Before anyone could react, a strange coughing sound came from a corner of the room. The cough sounded as if someone had a mouthful of water.
Doctor Zhao realized the sound was coming from behind him. He slowly turned around, only to see a horrifying scene. Han Yimo was lying on the ground with a massive, pure black sword plunged into his abdomen.
The greatsword was like a nail, pinning him firmly to the floor. It seemed to have been thrust down with great force, as more than half of the blade was buried in the ground. He was spitting up blood from his mouth, coughing incessantly.
"Hey! Everyone!"
Qiao Jiajin hurried over to check on him.
"Cough, cough... Qi... Qi Xia..."
Han Yimo stretched out a hand. His voice was unnatural, sounding not of pain or fear, but more of bewilderment. Qi Xia frowned slightly, then walked over, knelt down, and took Han Yimo's hand.
"I'm here," he answered, while simultaneously raising his head to look at the building's ceiling.
The entire ceiling was perfectly intact. This black greatsword didn't seem to have fallen from the sky. Han Yimo's lips trembled, his eyes began to glaze over, and after a whimper, he started to cry in pain.
"This... this place is wrong... Qi Xia... cough, cough... this can't be happening... this 'Seven Black Sword'... absolutely... cough, cough... impossible... Qi Xia... the 'Seven Black Sword' is n—" His coughing grew more violent, and he couldn't get a single complete sentence out.
Blood spurted from his mouth, then flowed back into his nose. Han Yimo let out a few loud coughs, then his whole body stiffened, and the life left him. When struggling to breathe, just a few short words would use up all of one's strength.
That's right... how could a truly dying person have so much time to leave last words? Then came silence. A long, long silence.
Everyone knew Han Yimo probably had a lot more he wanted to say, but there clearly wasn't enough time for him. A living person had just died right before their very eyes. Seeing Han Yimo's lifeless eyes, Qi Xia's brow furrowed, and a splitting headache suddenly struck him.
He clutched his forehead and crouched down, feeling as though something was trying to claw its way out of his mind. He then let out a gut-wrenching scream.
"Ah—!!"
The others hadn't even recovered from the fact of Han Yimo's death when they were startled by Qi Xia's scream.
"Hey, con man, are you alright?"
Qiao Jiajin asked cautiously. After half a minute of silence, Qi Xia slowly steadied his breathing and said, "I'm fine... Let's check on Han Yimo first..."
Seeing that Qi Xia really did seem to be alright, the others turned to look at Han Yimo's corpse, their hearts filled with mixed emotions. A single thought kept circling in their minds. Were they really dead?
After a person dies, can they die again?
"Han Yimo... was murdered..."
Xiao Ran said in a small voice. Her words, "was murdered," jolted everyone back to reality. Yes, the issue to consider now wasn't "can you die after death," but the question of the "murderer."
Han Yimo was still conscious when he was found, which meant the greatsword had only just been plunged into his abdomen. In other words, the person who killed him hadn't gone far. It was even more likely that the killer was hiding among the remaining eight people.