See you after the rain.

"Hold on!" Officer Li shouted. "The number of harpoons is limited—just hold on a little longer, and we'll survive this!"

Before anyone could respond, another scream rang out.

Turning their heads, they saw that it was Tian Tian.

Unlike Xiao Ran, she wasn't as lucky—one of the harpoons had pierced through her hand.

Tian Tian instantly lost her grip, and the shield in front of her wobbled dangerously as another harpoon came whistling toward her.

"Watch out!"

Gritting his teeth, Qiao Jiajin reached out to grab her shield.

But in that brief moment, a harpoon slipped through the gap, piercing Han Yimo's shoulder with deadly precision.

Han Yimo let out a pained scream, but his hands still clutched tightly onto his shield.

"Don't panic!"

Officer Li steadied Han Yimo, spreading his arms to help support half of the shield.

At the same time, Qiao Jiajin quickly reacted, reaching out to hold Tian Tian's shield in place.

Luckily, both of them had enough strength, and the entire formation stabilized once more.

As the violent clashes gradually died down, everyone finally understood just how well-constructed their formation had been.

If Officer Li and Dr. Zhao had gone with their plan—holding the shields in a staggered formation—each shield would have been perpendicular to the incoming harpoons, making them extremely easy to pierce through.

However, with the "bamboo shoots after the rain" formation, the shields at all five attack angles were now tilted. This significantly reduced the harpoons' penetration power.

Especially for those fired from directly above, the conical shape of their formation deflected their trajectory, preventing fatal direct hits.

After a few more moments, the sound of harpoons completely ceased.

"Is it over?" Han Yimo asked through gritted teeth.

"Wait another minute," Qi Xia instructed.

The group remained still, holding their shields up in silence for another minute.

When it became clear that no more harpoons were coming, Qiao Jiajin carefully shifted one of the shields, peeking outside.

"Holy sh*t…" He was instantly stunned by the sight before him.

The others cautiously moved their shields aside and were met with a horrifying scene—the ground and table were completely covered in harpoons.

The two corpses on the floor were even more gruesome, their bodies pierced all over, resembling hedgehogs impaled with countless spikes.

Each harpoon was attached to a rope, with the other end leading into dark holes in the walls. The entire room was a complete mess, a chilling testament to the deadly trap they had just survived.

Dr. Zhao quickly rolled up his sleeves and approached Han Yimo.

His condition was serious—the harpoon had pierced through his shoulder and needed immediate attention.

Han Yimo slowly sat down, forcing a bitter smile. "I was just wondering if I'd be unlucky enough to get hit… and well, turns out I was right."

Tiantian looked extremely guilty and quickly apologized to him.

But the group knew it wasn't her fault—she had also been injured, with a harpoon piercing her palm.

"Hey, pretty girl, come here," Qiao Jiajin called out, gesturing to her.

"Huh?" Tiantian was taken aback. "You know how to bandage wounds?"

"I know a little," he replied casually.

Qiao Jiajin then tore off a strip of fabric from the suit worn by the dead goat-headed man, splitting it into two separate strips to use as bandages.

One strip was tightly tied around Tiantian's arm to stop the bleeding, while the other was carefully wrapped around her wound.

"I used to get injured a lot when I was living on the streets, so I taught myself some basic bandaging," Qiao Jiajin explained.

Tiantian nodded slightly but remained silent.

For the first time since arriving in this nightmarish place, the group experienced a brief moment of calm, as if they had temporarily escaped the shadow of death.

But the room still had no doors—they were still trapped.

Where exactly was this place?

And what lay beyond the walls?

Less than a minute later, a sigh came from Dr. Zhao's direction.

Qi Xia turned his head and saw that Dr. Zhao, who had been treating Han Yimo's wound, now wore a troubled expression.

"What's wrong?" Officer Li asked. "Is the wound serious?"

"The injury itself isn't too bad," Dr. Zhao shook his head, "but I can't remove the harpoon."

The group crowded around and immediately saw the problem—the harpoon's tip had barbs.

Pulling it out would cause even more damage.

On top of that, the harpoon's tail was still attached to a rope.

At this moment, Han Yimo was like a fish that had been harpooned—no matter where he moved, the rope would hold him firmly in place.

"We can only cut the rope and then pull the harpoon out from the front," Dr. Zhao said, looking up. "But I don't have any sharp tools on hand."

Han Yimo's lips were beginning to turn pale, and the harpoon piercing through his scapula was causing him excruciating pain.

"Use another harpoon," Officer Li decided without hesitation. "They're sharp enough to do the job."

"We have no other choice," Dr. Zhao nodded. "Writer, I need you to find the most comfortable position to lie down. We're going to cut the rope on your back—stay calm and take it slow. Be careful of the harpoon in front of you, so you don't get injured again."

Han Yimo nodded and began moving his body with difficulty.

Qi Xia watched the scene unfold and couldn't shake a sense of unease.

Take it slow?

"Do we really have time for this right now?"

Qi Xia looked at the ropes scattered across the floor, and a sense of foreboding filled his mind.

If his guess was right, they were still racing against time.

"We can't take it slow!" Qi Xia suddenly spoke up. "Take the harpoon out immediately!"

He quickly strode over to the doctor, looking seriously at Han Yimo. "Hold on. I'm pulling it out right now!"

Han Yimo was confused but didn't refuse.

"What are you doing?!" Dr. Zhao snapped, shoving Qi Xia away. "You'll make his injury even worse!"

"There's no time! If we waste any more time, he'll really die!" Qi Xia shoved Dr. Zhao back and grabbed the harpoon sticking out of Han Yimo's back.

A piercing scream filled the air.

A harpoon with barbs was easy to pierce through flesh, but pulling it out was agonizingly difficult.

"Hey!" Officer Li rushed over, yanking Qi Xia away. "Are you trying to kill him?!"

Qi Xia, having been stopped twice, looked visibly frustrated.

"I understand you're trying to save him, but if we don't hurry, the harpoon will—"

Before Qi Xia could finish speaking, the sound of chains echoed through the room again, as if some massive mechanism had been activated.

A piercing, gut-wrenching scream from Han Yimo followed.

Everyone snapped back to their senses and realized—the harpoons were being retracted by the ropes pulling them back.

Han Yimo, still lying on the ground, was being dragged by the immense force.

Qi Xia had already suspected this. The ropes attached to the harpoons weren't just decoration—sooner or later, they would pull the harpoons back.

In a panic, everyone ran after Han Yimo, trying to keep up with him.

Officer Li attempted to grab the rope, trying to resist the overwhelming force dragging Han Yimo toward the dark hole in the wall. But it was useless—the strength was far beyond what human hands could fight against.

Meanwhile, the harpoon-studded wooden boards on the floor were also being torn apart by the immense pulling force. The splintering sound filled the room as the wooden boards began to slide backward.

There was no way to stop this.

Han Yimo was in excruciating pain, but another thought suddenly struck him—

If he got dragged all the way to the wall while still impaled by the harpoon… He would be nailed to the wall—left to die.

Realizing this, Han Yimo gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stand despite the pain.

He grabbed Qi Xia, his voice strained but firm:

"Take the harpoon out! Right now!"