The crowd was outside the caves, murmuring. The murmurs grew so loud it was as if thunder. Everyone was asking the person next to them what was going on? How much longer did they have to wait? Why did Lao Zen suddenly rush into one of the caves? Was there still a participant inside the cave? It didn't make sense. It was already passed the time limit where one got the maximum score. They thought that they were simply waiting for the officials to finish the score tallying.
Everyone looked around them, trying to see if there was indeed anyone that hadn't come out yet. But it was hard to know. It was not like everyone was assigned a spot. Everyone was free to stand or roam around the place. As long as they didn't leave the premise, it was fine. Hence, they couldn't know for sure if there was anyone that was still missing.