One wave after another

Although the crowd lacked medical knowledge, they generally understood what Dr. Zhao meant.

Right now, extracting the harpoon was easy for them, but stitching up the wound was much more difficult.

"The writer's life is no longer in danger. The only thing we need to do now is leave this place as soon as possible and find a proper location to treat his wound again."

Dr. Zhao's words pulled everyone's thoughts back to reality.

If they couldn't escape this eerie room, it was only a matter of time before they ended up like Han Yimo.

"But how do we leave? Is the 'game' over?" Lin Qin asked, covering her nose and mouth.

Qi Xia thought carefully for a moment, then shook his head.

The writing on the mask had been clear—this person called "Rengou" wanted them to survive and had mentioned "seeing after the rain."

Logically, after such a harrowing storm of harpoons, this so-called "Rengou" should have appeared. He might even introduce the next game.

But why hadn't he shown up?

"Hey, liar."

Qiao Jiajin slowly walked up to Qi Xia with a serious expression and asked, "You have a way to survive, don't you?"

"What?" Qi Xia replied coldly. "Whether I survive or not—what does that have to do with you?"

"I'm not as smart as you, so I have to find someone to cooperate with," Qiao Jiajin said, seemingly recommending himself. "You have the brains, I have the strength. Let's work together."

Hearing this, Qi Xia frowned slightly.

"Sorry, I'm a liar. I don't plan on trusting anyone except myself."

Before Qiao Jiajin could respond, a sudden question came from Officer Li.

"What is this?"

Everyone turned their heads to look and saw Officer Li carefully examining the harpoon in his hand.

"What's wrong?"

Dr. Zhao cautiously approached him and asked.

"There's writing on it."

Officer Li handed the harpoon to Dr. Zhao.

Dr. Zhao took the harpoon and examined it. His expression changed instantly.

At the base of the harpoon, as thick as a finger, were tiny engraved words:

"I am 'Ren Yang.' If you can read this, it means you have survived."

"But how many of you are still alive?"

"Is anyone injured?"

"I'm really worried about you."

"I can't just stand by and watch you die."

"In fifteen minutes, death will descend once again."

"Dodge it. Find a way to survive."

Dr. Zhao gritted his teeth before suddenly hurling the harpoon to the ground with force.

"You think I'm easy to mess with?! This just won't end, will it?!" He roared, as if trying to release all the emotions he had been suppressing until now.

"Calm down!" Officer Li said sternly. "If you lose control of yourself, how do you expect to survive?"

"Survive...? We're already dead!!" Dr. Zhao finally broke down. "We're already dead, and yet we still have to suffer through this fear of death! What does the 'Organizer' want from us?! Why won't they just kill us or let us go?!"

Everyone's faces darkened at his words.

Yes—what was the purpose of this endless cycle of death threats?

Just as that goat-headed figure had claimed—was this all to select a "god"?

Did it mean that only one person would ascend, while the rest were doomed to hell?

"Ladies and gentlemen, we've survived two 'games' already. Do you think it's because we're smart? No!" Dr. Zhao clenched his fists tightly. "We were just incredibly lucky! But what about next time? Or the time after that? In this ever-changing room, how long can we really stay alive?!"

Officer Li pressed his lips together, then stepped forward and grabbed Dr. Zhao by the collar.

"Hey… man! At a time like this, the one thing we can't afford to lose is morale! If you don't want to live, then go ahead and die on your own! But don't stand here and shake everyone's resolve!"

"I…!" Dr. Zhao's lips trembled slightly. "But how do we get out? Do you have a way to take us out of here?"

Officer Li was silent for a moment before responding, "I don't have a 'way out.' The only thing I know is—we have to stay alive. As long as we're alive, there's always hope."

Releasing Dr. Zhao, he stepped aside, picked up the harpoon, and examined it. Then he walked over to Han Yimo and looked at the harpoon still lodged in his shoulder.

The same words were engraved on both weapons.

It seemed their luck really had been extraordinary.

In the previous challenge, they not only had to dodge lethal attacks but also had to keep at least one harpoon intact to learn the clue for the next stage.

"At least this time, we've been given a clear hint," Officer Li said after carefully reading the text on the harpoon. "Unlike before, this attack will only come from above."

He pointed to the small engraved words on the harpoon: "Death will descend once again."

As soon as he finished speaking, the room began to change once more.

The holes in the walls slowly disappeared, while the holes in the ceiling started transforming. This time, long rectangular openings appeared—each about a meter long and twenty to thirty centimeters wide. After a careful count, there were nine in total.

Was this the meaning of "death will descend once again"?

"It seems the game is getting simpler," Officer Li sighed as he looked up at the nine holes in the ceiling. "I suppose that's a small blessing amid the misfortune."

"But why is it 'Ren Yang' this time?" Lawyer Zhang pointed to the corpse on the ground, which had been torn apart by harpoons. "Wasn't 'Ren Yang' already killed by us?"

Qi Xia thought for a moment and also found it strange.

The goat-headed figure they had just killed did indeed call itself 'Ren Yang', yet inside its mask, the writing said 'I am Ren Gou'.

One moment a sheep, the next a dog.

Could this be another clue?

"No time to think about it," Officer Li said to the group. "It's already 1:23 AM. It won't be long before something dangerous comes down from those nine holes in the ceiling. Everyone, grab a tabletop and stand against the wall for now."

At this moment, the group noticed something strange about the tabletop fragments on the ground.

These tabletops seemed to have a unique structure—after being torn apart by the harpoons, only a square piece with a handle remained. The wood in the center appeared to be much sturdier than the surrounding edges.

Though the tabletops had become much smaller, it was fortunate that all nine holes in the ceiling were clustered around the center of the room. Standing against the walls seemed to be the safest option.

Silently, everyone picked up the shattered tabletops and moved to the edges of the room, spreading out to avoid the holes in the center.

Yet, Qi Xia remained still.

He slowly closed his eyes.

No matter how he looked at it, this third game felt too suspicious.

The Organizer had provided a solution far too directly.

To Qi Xia, the hint felt entirely unnecessary.

Did they want them dead, or did they want them alive?

And why specifically mention 'Ren Yang' (human sheep）and 'Ren Gou(human dog)'?

What if "Ren Yang" and "Ren Gou" weren't names at all? What would they represent?

"Hey, liar! Get over here!" Qiao Jiajin shouted. "If you stand under those holes, you'll die!"

"Die…?" Qi Xia glanced coldly at the holes in the ceiling. "There's no way I'm dying here. I have a reason—I have to get out."

"What's going on…? The smartest guy here is turning into a traitor now?" Qiao Jiajin muttered in confusion.

Qi Xia raised his index finger and tapped lightly on his temple.

"Wait… wait… Give me a little more time."

The room fell silent.

Even the others slowed their breathing, watching Qi Xia standing alone in the center.

They couldn't understand—what was there to think about in a game with such an obvious solution?