Qi Xia struggled to turn the table while saying, “The positions of ‘Ningxia’ and ‘Shandong’ can form a horizontal line.”
“‘Inner Mongolia,’ ‘Sichuan,’ and ‘Yunnan’ can form a ‘left-falling stroke.'”
While straining to turn the table, Qixia said, “The positions of ‘Ningxia’ and ‘Shandong’ can form a horizontal line.”
“‘Inner Mongolia,’ ‘Sichuan,’ and ‘Yunnan’ can form a left-falling stroke.”
“And the four points—’Guangxi,’ ‘Guangdong,’ ‘Shanxi,’ and ‘Jiangsu’—can form a square, which is exactly the character ‘右’ (right).”
“No matter where Han Yimo’s hometown ends up being, as long as it’s either Guangxi or Taiwan, it will form the character ‘口’ (mouth). So the answer was determined from the very beginning.”
As everyone sped up their movements, they cast peculiar glances at Qixia.
His train of thought was too erratic, yet he had unraveled the mystery twice in a row. This made everyone begin to doubt him.
Realizing this, Qixia spoke up, “Don’t misunderstand me. If the next game is about abandoning you all to save myself, I won’t hesitate to ensure my own survival.”
Hearing this, the others could only fall silent, gritting their teeth as they continued turning the table.
Nine people sat around the table, relentlessly pushing it to the right.
“How many turns now?” Qiao Jiajin asked.
“Twenty-six,” Lin Qin replied.
“How can you even keep count?” Qiao Jiajin blinked. “This table all looks the same.”
“I’ve been counting based on the bloodstains on the table,” Lin Qin said seriously. “Keeping track is important for us psychological counselors.”
Qixia frowned. “Not even thirty turns yet. We need to hurry.”
The group fell silent and accelerated their efforts.
But the table became increasingly difficult to move as they went on, as if the internal chains were tightening.
“What the hell is going on?” Qiao Jiajin gritted his teeth. “This is way too heavy.”
“Keep going… maybe it really is connected to the door!” Tian Tian added, straining.
Her words offered a glimmer of hope amidst the despair.
The door.
If this room could create holes out of thin air, why couldn’t it create a door?
Everyone’s arms were sore, but they continued turning the table, one rotation after another.
“Don’t give up! Just five more turns to go!” Lin Qin shouted.
Everyone was gritting their teeth, exerting all their strength. No one dared to slack off.
*Click, clack.*
As the final rotation completed, the table clearly locked into something.
Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief, the ache in their arms gradually setting in.
It was now only three minutes until 1:15.
“Where’s the door?!” Qiao Jiajin yelled anxiously.
The walls showed no change. In the pitch-black void, the cold glint of harpoons could still be seen.
“Dammit! There’s no door!” Desperation tinged Qiao Jiajin’s voice.
“We were wrong! We guessed wrong!” Xiao Ran screamed. “We should’ve turned it left, right?! We shouldn’t have trusted that liar! We’re all going to die here!!”
Qixia frowned slightly…
Wrong?
Before anyone could react, the clock at the center of the table began to behave strangely.
It trembled slightly, then shot out eight laser beams.
The lasers emanated from the clock, gradually moving to the edges of the table before stopping.
To everyone’s confusion, the clock precisely divided the table into several equal-sized sectors, like a pizza.
*Crash!*
With a loud noise, the table shattered into pieces.
The clock at the center now stood on a small wooden stake.
Looking closely, Qixia saw nine small sectors and one large sector.
No, rather than “sectors,” they were more like triangles, since the base of each table piece was flat.
Time was too tight, and everyone was in a panic.
“What is this?” Han Yimo exclaimed. “Why did the table break?”
Officer Li noticed that each sector had a handle on its back. Years of professional experience made him realize something instantly.
“They’re shields!”
He picked up the largest sector and held it in front of himself.
“We can use these shields to block the harpoons!”
Hearing this, the others quickly grabbed table pieces. Unfortunately, the larger piece was the only one of its size. Everyone else could only take a small triangular piece, barely enough to cover their bodies.
But within seconds, they realized the problem.
“How are we supposed to block them?!” Zhang Chenze, the lawyer, rarely showed panic. “If harpoons come from all directions, we can only block one side.”
“We need to cooperate,” Qixia said, snapping back to reality. “Form a circle and cover each other’s backs.”
Hearing this, everyone quickly adjusted their formation, waiting quietly.
The only sound was their breathing.
Nine strangers had now become teammates, each indispensable.
Qixia glanced back at Han Yimo, the writer, and noticed his face was covered in fine sweat. He was trembling all over, clearly extremely nervous.
Just then, another distant bell tolled from outside the room.
“Are you okay?” Qixia asked.
“I-I’m fine…” Han Yimo shook his head.
“Hey! Dr. Zhao, flip your table piece over!” Zhang Chenze suddenly spoke up.
“Why?” Dr. Zhao looked at the piece in his hand. The pointed end was facing down, the wide end up.
“That way, you can’t cover my legs!” Zhang Chenze said nervously. “I’ll get hit!”
“If I flip it, I can’t cover my head!” Dr. Zhao retorted. “Which is more important, your head or your legs?”
Some people, hearing their argument, found Dr. Zhao’s point reasonable and began flipping their sectors accordingly.
Pointed end down, wide end up.
This created a bizarre situation.
Harpoons flying from all directions would only be blocked in the upper half, leaving everyone’s legs exposed.
“Is this really right?” Xiao Ran paused. “Even if we can hide our legs behind the pointed end and block the front, what about harpoons coming from behind? Or from above?”
“I’ll cover above!” Officer Li raised his large table piece. “Everyone move closer. I’ll protect you.”
Admittedly, this seemed like the best solution now: one person using the largest piece to block above while the others covered the sides. But Qixia still felt something was off.
Lin Qin thought quickly and said, “The rest of us should alternate our pieces—some pointing up, some down. We can stagger them!”
“Right! That makes sense!” Qiao Jiajin agreed.
“No,” Qixia interrupted. “If everyone’s pieces are perpendicular to the harpoons, they’ll be too easy to penetrate…”
“Then what do you suggest, pretty boy?” Qiao Jiajin asked.
Qixia’s gaze fell on the sheepskin mask on the ground.
“Why are bamboo shoots unafraid of the rain?”
The last hint left Qixia deep in thought.
“Wait, wait… give me a little more time,” Qixia frowned.
Everyone held their breath as time ticked away. Only one minute remained until the harpoons were launched.
“Let’s not worry about him!” Dr. Zhao snapped. “Do as Lin Qin said—stagger them!”
“Shut your trap, you asshole!” Qiao Jiajin yelled. “I believe what the liar says.”
“You!” Dr. Zhao gritted his teeth and swallowed his words.
What did the large and small table pieces really mean…?
“No…” Qixia’s eyes widened suddenly. “It’s a ‘lie’! The large piece will get us killed!”
“What?” Officer Li looked at Qixia in confusion.
“Officer, discard the large piece. Take the last small piece instead. Everyone, point the sharp end upward!”
Though slightly doubtful, most people’s minds were blank, so they followed his instructions.
After a moment’s thought, Dr. Zhao also flipped his piece, sharp end up.
After hesitating for a few seconds, Officer Li picked up the last small piece.
“Everyone, crouch down!” Qixia continued. “Move the sharp ends backward and lean them together. Officer Li, you don’t need to cover above—join us!”
Under Qixia’s direction, everyone gradually aligned the sectors, forming a cone.
No one had expected that after discarding the large piece, all the small pieces would fit together perfectly, forming a pyramid that blocked all gaps from every direction, including above.
From a distance, the cone resembled a bamboo shoot, waiting for the heavy rain to come.
In the dark space, everyone’s hearts pounded nervously. Only the sound of their breathing echoed among them.
“It’s coming…”
Qixia calculated the time and softly signaled.
The next moment, everyone heard the sound of something cutting through the air violently, followed by an invisible object slamming hard into the table piece Qixia held.
Then, noises from all directions swept over them like a storm.
The force of the harpoons was astonishingly strong. Everyone felt their arms shaking painfully, on the verge of losing their grip.
Fortunately, all the table pieces were pressed together, creating a delicate balance.
“Ah!”
A harpoon suddenly pierced through the piece in front of Xiao Ran, making her scream.
Qixia turned and saw the harpoon had stopped just two or three centimeters from her eye.
Thankfully, the table piece was sturdy enough—otherwise, Xiao Ran would already be dead.
While straining to turn the table, Qixia said, “The positions of ‘Ningxia’ and ‘Shandong’ can form a horizontal line.”
“‘Inner Mongolia,’ ‘Sichuan,’ and ‘Yunnan’ can form a left-falling stroke.”
“And the four points—’Guangxi,’ ‘Guangdong,’ ‘Shaanxi,’ and ‘Jiangsu’—can form a square, which is exactly the character ‘右’ (right).”
“No matter where Han Yimo’s hometown ends up being, as long as it’s either Guangxi Province or Taiwan Province, it will form the character ‘口’ (mouth). So the answer was determined from the very beginning.”
As everyone sped up their movements, they cast peculiar glances at Qixia.
His train of thought was too erratic, yet he had unraveled the mystery twice in a row, making everyone begin to doubt him.
Realizing this, Qixia spoke up to the group, “Don’t misunderstand me. If the next game is about abandoning you all to save myself, I won’t hesitate to ensure my own survival.”
Hearing this, the others could only fall silent, gritting their teeth as they continued turning the table.
Nine people sat around the table, relentlessly pushing it to the right.
“How many turns now?” Qiao Jiajin asked.
“Twenty-six,” Lin Qin replied.
“You can actually keep count?” Qiao Jiajin blinked. “This table all looks the same.”
“I’ve been counting based on the bloodstains on the table,” Lin Qin said seriously. “Keeping track is important for us psychological counselors.”
Qixia frowned. “Not even thirty turns yet. We need to hurry.”
The group fell silent and sped up their movements.
But the table became increasingly difficult to move as they went on, as if the internal chains were tightening.
“What the hell is going on?” Qiao Jiajin grunted through clenched teeth. “This is way too heavy.”
“Keep going… maybe it really is connected to the door!” Tian Tian added, straining.
Her words gave everyone a glimmer of hope amidst the despair.
The door.
If this room could create holes out of thin air, why couldn’t it create a door?
Everyone’s arms were sore, but they continued turning the table, one rotation after another.
“Don’t give up! Just five more turns to go!” Lin Qin shouted.
At this point, everyone was gritting their teeth and exerting all their strength, not daring to slack off.
*Click, clack.*
As the final rotation completed, the table clearly locked into something.
Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief, the ache in their arms gradually setting in.
It was now only three minutes until 1:15.
“Where’s the door?!” Qiao Jiajin yelled anxiously.
The walls showed no change, and the cold gleam of harpoons could still be seen in the dark voids.
“Dammit! There’s no door!” Qiao Jiajin’s voice carried a hint of despair.
“We were wrong! We guessed wrong!” Xiao Ran screamed. “We should’ve turned it left, right?! We shouldn’t have trusted that liar! We’re all going to die here!!”
Qixia frowned slightly…
Wrong?
Before anyone could react, the clock in the center of the table began to behave strangely.
It trembled slightly, then shot out eight laser beams.
The eight lasers emanated from the clock and gradually moved to the edges of the table before stopping.
To everyone’s confusion, the clock precisely divided the table into several equally sized sectors, like a pizza.
*Crash!*
With a loud noise, the table shattered into pieces.
The central clock now stood on a small wooden stake.
Looking closely, Qixia saw nine small sectors and one large sector.
No, rather than “sectors,” they were more like triangles, since the bottom edge of each table piece was flat.
Time was too tight, and everyone was scrambling.
“What is this?” Han Yimo exclaimed. “Why did the table break?”
Officer Li noticed that each sector had a handle on the back. His years of professional experience made him realize something instantly.
“They’re shields!”
He picked up the largest sector and held it in front of himself.
“We can use these shields to block the harpoons!”
Hearing this, everyone hurriedly grabbed table pieces. Unfortunately, the larger piece was the only one of its size. The rest could only take small triangular pieces, barely enough to cover their bodies.
But within seconds, everyone realized the problem.
“How are we supposed to block them?!” Zhang Chenze, the lawyer, rarely showed a hint of panic. “If harpoons come from all four directions, we can only block one side.”
“We need to cooperate,” Qixia snapped back to reality and spoke. “Form a circle and cover each other’s backs.”
Hearing this, everyone quickly adjusted their formation and waited quietly.
The only sound that could be heard now was each other’s breathing.
Nine strangers had now become teammates, indispensable to one another.
Qixia glanced back at Han Yimo, the writer, and noticed his face was covered in fine sweat. He was trembling all over, looking extremely nervous.
Just then, another distant chime echoed from outside the room.
“Are you okay?” Qixia asked.
“I-I’m fine…” Han Yimo shook his head.
“Hey! Dr. Zhao, flip your table piece over!” Zhang Chenze suddenly spoke up.
“Why?” Dr. Zhao looked at the table piece in his hand. The pointed end was facing down, and the wide end was up.
“That way, you can’t cover my legs!” Zhang Chenze said nervously. “I’ll get hit!”
“If I flip it over, I won’t be able to cover my head!” Dr. Zhao retorted. “Which is more important, your head or your legs?”
Some people, hearing their argument, thought Dr. Zhao made sense and began flipping their sectors over.
Pointed end down, wide end up.
This created a bizarre situation.
Harpoons flying from all directions would only be blocked in the upper half, leaving everyone’s legs exposed.
“Is this really right?” Xiao Ran paused. “Even if we can tuck our legs into the pointed end and block the front, what about harpoons coming from behind? Or from above?”
“I’ll block the top!” Officer Li raised his large table piece. “Everyone move closer. I’ll protect you.”
Admittedly, this seemed like the best solution under the circumstances: one person using the largest piece to block above while the others covered the sides. But Qixia still felt something was off.
Lin Qin thought quickly and said, “The rest of us should arrange our pieces alternating up and down. We can stagger them!”
“Right! That makes sense!” Qiao Jiajin agreed.
“No,” Qixia interrupted. “If everyone’s table pieces are perpendicular to the harpoons, they’ll be too easy to pierce…”
“Then what do you suggest, pretty boy?” Qiao Jiajin asked.
Qixia’s gaze fell on the sheepskin mask on the ground.
“Why aren’t bamboo shoots afraid of the rain?”
The last hint made Qixia thoughtful.
“Wait, wait… give me a little more time,” Qixia frowned.
Everyone held their breath as time ticked away. Only one minute remained until the harpoons were launched.
“Let’s not worry about him!” Dr. Zhao said coldly. “We’ll do as Lin Qin said and stagger them!”
“You dimwit, shut up!” Qiao Jiajin yelled. “I believe what the liar says.”
“You!” Dr. Zhao gritted his teeth and swallowed his words.
What did the large and small table pieces really mean…?
“No…” Qixia’s eyes widened suddenly. “It’s a ‘lie’! The large table piece will get us killed!”
“What?” Officer Li looked at Qixia in confusion.
“Officer, discard the large table piece. Take the last small one. Everyone, point the sharp end upward!”
Although somewhat doubtful, most people’s minds were blank, so they followed instructions for now.
After a moment of thought, Dr. Zhao also flipped his piece, sharp end up.
After hesitating for a few seconds, Officer Li also picked up the last small table piece.
“Everyone crouch down!” Qixia continued. “Move the sharp ends backward and lean them together. Officer Li, you don’t need to block above. Join us!”
Under Qixia’s direction, everyone slowly aligned the sectors, forming a cone.
No one had expected that after discarding the large table piece, all the small pieces would fit together perfectly, forming a pyramid that blocked all directions, including above.
From a distance, the cone resembled a bamboo shoot, waiting for the heavy rain to come.
In the dark space, everyone’s hearts pounded nervously, with only the sound of breathing echoing among them.
“It’s coming…”
Qixia calculated the time and softly signaled.
The next moment, everyone heard the sound of something cutting through the air as an invisible object slammed hard into the table piece Qixia was holding.
Immediately after, noises from all directions swept over them like a storm.
The force of the harpoons was astonishingly strong. Everyone felt their arms shaking violently, on the verge of losing their grip.
Fortunately, all the table pieces were pressed together, creating a delicate balance.
“Ah!”
A harpoon suddenly pierced through the table piece in front of Xiao Ran, making her scream.
Qixia turned and saw the harpoon had stopped just two or three centimeters from Xiao Ran’s eye.
Thankfully, the table piece was sturdy enough—otherwise, Xiao Ran would already be dead.
As everyone sped up their movements, they cast odd glances at Qi Xia.
His reasoning was too unconventional, yet he had solved the puzzle twice in a row, making everyone begin to doubt him.
Qi Xia himself realized this and spoke up, “Don’t misunderstand me. If the next game is about abandoning you to save myself, I won’t hesitate to do so.”
Hearing this, the group fell silent, gritting their teeth as they continued turning the table.
Nine people sat around the table, relentlessly rotating it to the right.
“How many turns now?” Qiao Jiajin asked.
“Twenty-six,” Lin Qin replied.
“You can actually keep count?” Qiao Jiajin blinked. “This table looks the same everywhere.”
“I counted based on the bloodstains on the table,” Lin Qin said seriously. “Counting is important for us psychologists.”
Qi Xia frowned. “Not even thirty turns yet. We need to hurry.”
The group quieted down and sped up their movements.
But the table became increasingly difficult to turn as if the internal chains were tightening.
“Dang it! What’s going on?” Qiao Jiajin grunted through clenched teeth. “This is too heavy.”
“Keep going… Maybe it really is connected to the door!” Tian Tian added through gritted teeth.
Her words gave everyone a glimmer of hope amidst despair.
The door.
If this room could create holes out of thin air, why not a door?
Arms were growing sore, but they persisted, turning the table turn by turn.
“Don’t give up! Just five more turns!” Lin Qin shouted.
Everyone clenched their teeth, pouring all their strength into the task, not daring to slacken.
*Click, click.*
With the final turn, the table unmistakably locked into place.
Everyone finally let out a sigh of relief, the ache in their arms now fully setting in.
Only three minutes remained until 1:15.
“Where’s the door?!” Qiao Jiajin yelled in panic.
The walls showed no change, and the dark hollows still revealed the cold gleam of harpoons.
“Rot in Hell! There’s no door!” Qiao Jiajin’s voice carried a hint of despair.
“We were wrong! We guessed wrong!” Xiao Ran shrieked. “We should’ve turned it left, right?! We shouldn’t have trusted that liar! We’re all going to die here!!”
Qi Xia frowned slightly.
Wrong?
Before anyone could react, the clock at the center of the table suddenly behaved strangely.
It trembled slightly, then shot out eight laser beams.
The lasers extended from the clock, stopping at the edges of the table.
To everyone’s confusion, the clock precisely divided the table into several equal-sized sectors, like a pizza.
*Crash!*
A loud noise followed as the table shattered into pieces.
The central clock now stood on a small wooden pillar.
Qi Xia examined the fragments—nine small sectors and one large one.
Rather than “sectors,” they were more like “triangles,” since each table fragment had a flat base.
Time was running out, and chaos ensued.
“What is this?” Han Yimo cried out. “Why did the table break?”
Officer Li noticed that each fragment had a handle on the back. His professional instincts kicked in immediately.
“They’re shields!”
He picked up the largest fragment and held it in front of himself.
“We can use these to block the harpoons!”
Hearing this, the others quickly grabbed fragments, though only one was large enough to provide decent coverage. The rest had to make do with small triangles, barely enough to shield their bodies.
Within seconds, a problem became apparent.
“How are we supposed to block everything?” Lawyer Zhang Chenze, usually composed, showed rare panic. “If harpoons come from all sides, we can only block one direction.”
“We need to cooperate,” Qi Xia said, snapping back to reality. “Form a circle and protect each other’s backs.”
Following his words, the group adjusted their positions and waited silently.
The only sound was their collective breathing.
Nine strangers had now become indispensable teammates.
Qi Xia glanced back at writer Han Yimo, noticing his face drenched in sweat, his entire body trembling with nervousness.
A distant bell tolled outside the room.
“Are you okay?” Qi Xia asked.
“I-I’m fine,” Han Yimo shook his head.
“Hey, Dr. Zhao, flip your shield upside down!” Zhang Chenze suddenly called out.
“Why?” Dr. Zhao looked at his fragment—the pointed end was down, the wide end up.
“You’re not covering my legs!” Zhang Chenze said anxiously. “I’ll get hit!”
“If I flip it, I can’t cover my head!” Dr. Zhao retorted. “Which is more important, head or legs?”
Some found Dr. Zhao’s reasoning convincing and flipped their shields accordingly—pointed end down, wide end up.
This created a bizarre scenario.
Harpoons flying from all directions would only be blocked above the waist, leaving everyone’s legs exposed.
“Is this really right?” Xiao Ran hesitated. “Even if we tuck our legs under the pointed ends to block the front, what about harpoons coming from behind or above?”
“I’ll cover above!” Officer Li raised his large fragment. “Stay close. I’ll protect you.”
Admittedly, this seemed like the best solution—the largest shield held overhead while others guarded the sides. Yet Qi Xia still felt something was off.
Lin Qin quickly thought it over. “The rest of us can stagger our shields—some high, some low!”
“Yes! That makes sense!” Qiao Jiajin agreed.
“No,” Qi Xia interrupted. “If the shields are perpendicular to the harpoons, they’ll be too easy to pierce…”
“Then what do you suggest, mate?” Qiao Jiajin asked.
Qi Xia’s gaze fell on the sheepskin mask lying on the floor.
“Why aren’t bamboo shoots afraid of the rain?”
The last clue made him ponder.
“Wait, wait… give me a little more time,” Qi Xia frowned.
Everyone held their breath as the seconds ticked away—less than a minute until the harpoons fired.
“Forget him!” Dr. Zhao snapped. “Let’s just do as Lin Qin said—stagger the shields!”
“You idiot, shut up!” Qiao Jiajin shouted back. “I believe what the liar says.”
“You—!” Dr. Zhao clenched his teeth and swallowed his words.
What was the meaning of the large and small fragments…?
“No…” Qi Xia’s eyes widened. “It’s a ‘lie’! The large shield will kill us!”
“What?” Officer Li looked at Qi Xia in confusion.
“Officer, drop the large shield and take the last small one. Everyone, point the tips upward!”
Though doubtful, most were too overwhelmed to argue and complied.
Dr. Zhao hesitated, then flipped his shield as well.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Officer Li picked up the last small fragment.
“Everyone, crouch down!” Qi Xia continued. “Move the tips back and press them together. Officer Li, you don’t need to cover above—join us!”
Under Qi Xia’s direction, the fragments were arranged side by side, forming a cone.
No one had expected that discarding the large shield would allow the small ones to fit together seamlessly, forming a pyramid that blocked all directions—including above.
From a distance, the cone resembled a bamboo shoot, ready to weather the storm.
In the darkness, hearts pounded wildly, and only the sound of breathing echoed among them.
“It’s coming…”
Qi Xia silently counted down.
The next moment, a sharp *whoosh* cut through the air as something invisible slammed into Qi Xia’s shield.
Then, impacts rained down from all sides like a violent storm.
The force of the harpoons was staggering—everyone’s arms ached from the vibrations, barely able to hold on.
Thankfully, the shields pressed together created a delicate balance.
“Ah!”
Xiao Ran screamed as a harpoon pierced her shield, stopping just centimeters from her eye.
If not for the shield’s durability, she would’ve been dead.
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