Chapter 376: An Old Acquaintance

“Hey! Qin Dingdong!!”

Su Shan urgently turned Qin Dingdong over and patted her face, only to feel that her cheeks were scorching hot.

“This isn’t good…”

Without hesitation, Su Shan reached out to feel Qin Dingdong’s neck, confirming she still had a pulse, then listened to her breathing.

She was still alive, but she had stopped breathing.

Su Shan didn’t hesitate—she pried open Qin Dingdong’s mouth and cleared out a few shards of ice.

Next, she unbuttoned Qin Dingdong’s shirt, used her thumb to locate her sternum, moved down three centimeters, knelt upright, and pressed down hard with both hands clasped together.

Using the full force of her upper body, she pressed down frantically about twenty or thirty times before relaxing her hands, pinching Qin Dingdong’s nose, and blowing two breaths into her mouth.

After letting go, Su Shan leaned down again to listen for breathing—the situation still wasn’t good.

Zhang Chenze arrived at Lin Qin’s room and helped her up. The two of them moved slowly to Su Shan’s side.

All three of them had unusual professions and knew a thing or two about first aid, but no book had ever taught them how to save someone who had endured sandstorms, floods, poison mist, hail, and wildfires all at once.

Before long, Su Shan was covered in sweat, and her arms grew weaker with each chest compression.

“Let me take over…” Attorney Zhang patted Su Shan’s back, signaling her to step aside, then straightened up and began performing CPR on Qin Dingdong.

Seeing their relentless efforts, the Earth Dog slowly pushed open his door and walked up to them.

“Is this necessary?” the Earth Dog asked. “Saving her now is pointless. Even if she wakes up, she’ll be in so much pain she’ll wish she were dead.”

None of the three women paid him any attention, focusing entirely on Qin Dingdong. Su Shan sat beside her, cradling her head to prevent her from lying on her side, which would make breathing even harder.

Finally, after their unyielding efforts, Qin Dingdong coughed violently, spewing a mix of blood and vomit from her mouth.

“Ugh—!”

She let out a pained cry, instantly regaining her breath. Her face twisted in agony as she lay on the ground, gasping heavily before breaking into a fit of coughing, each hack bringing up more blood.

“Thank goodness…” Su Shan and Zhang Chenze collapsed onto the floor in exhaustion, exchanging a weary but relieved glance.

The Earth Dog’s game had ended in victory—with all members surviving.

“Damn it…” Qin Dingdong slowly opened her eyes, taking in the cursed glass shop around her. “You really have nothing better to do… Why save me…?”

Zhang Chenze, busy brushing off locusts from herself, sighed. “What else were we supposed to do? We could save you—ignoring that wouldn’t have been fair.”

“Who cares about ‘fair’…?” Qin Dingdong coughed again. “This body won’t last much longer. I’d rather just die…”

“Old Qin, I get it.” Lin Qin nodded. “But that’s just how you and I feel after everything we’ve been through. How can you expect newcomers to think the same?”

“Newcomers…?”

Qin Dingdong weakly lifted her eyelids, meeting Su Shan and Zhang Chenze’s determined gazes. A pang of melancholy hit her.

Once upon a time, she and Lin Qin had that same fire in their eyes—they wanted to win, to defeat the Zodiacs, to escape this place.

But as they gained experience and power, they’d grown indifferent to life—both others’ and their own.

Lin Qin knew that if it had just been the two of them, she wouldn’t have lifted a finger to save Qin Dingdong. She’d have waited until their next reunion.

Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

“Whatever… I don’t blame you…” Qin Dingdong tried to push herself up but found no strength left. With Lin Qin’s help, she stood shakily and muttered, “After all, saving a life is better than building a seven-level… seven-level what? Tusu?”

The Earth Dog stepped forward, handing Su Shan a cloth bag stuffed with forty “Dao.”

“Stay as long as you want. I’m off duty.” He took a few steps before turning back. “This place is already a mess. Just don’t make it worse before I clean up tomorrow.”

None of the four women responded, all staring at him with unreadable expressions.

Seeing no one cared to engage, the Earth Dog nodded and turned to leave.

“Wait—” Su Shan called out.

“What?” the Earth Dog asked.

“Something’s been bothering me.” Su Shan stood up. “At the last moment, when I foiled your plan, you said, ‘As expected of you.’ What did that mean? Have we met before?”

The Earth Dog stared at her, his expression odd. He adjusted his suit collar and replied slowly, “Su Shan, how many people are left in your interview room?”

Hearing her name, Su Shan knew her suspicion was right—they *had* known each other.

“What do you mean, ‘how many are left’? There’ve always been four of us in our room.” Su Shan frowned. “Why are you asking?”

The Earth Dog nodded slightly. “Let me guess—you, Jiang Ruoxue, Zhou Mo, right? Who’s the fourth?”

Su Shan stepped closer. “What…? You know Ruoxue and Zhou Mo too?”

“Is that so strange?” The Earth Dog gave a bitter smile. “We had so many comrades once. Now only you four remain. If I weren’t standing here, the ones who’ve passed would be forgotten—that’s worse than dying ten thousand times over.”

“Who the hell are you—?”

“I’m still curious. Who’s the fourth?” the Earth Dog repeated.

“Fang Zichen.” Su Shan answered. “A college freshman.”

“Zichen…” The Earth Dog nodded. “His temperament isn’t suited to surviving this long. Have you been protecting him?”

“What are you talking about? Who *are* you?”

After a moment’s thought, the Earth Dog said, “No rules say I can’t reveal myself, so I’ll tell you. Su Shan, I was from the same room as you. But our team wasn’t strong enough to escape, so I took another path.”

“Wait…?” Su Shan hadn’t expected the Earth Dog to be this honest after the game. Her mind reeled. “You were in my room… and now you’re an *Earth Dog*?!”

“Exactly.” The Earth Dog nodded. “Su Shan, do you want to join us?”

“Join you…?”

All four women froze.

“Become a Zodiac.” The Earth Dog sighed. “The path you’re on is too dangerous. I’m no longer a ‘participant,’ so you’ve lost an ally. The other three—Zichen is useless, Jiang Ruoxue is unpredictable, and Zhou Mo is a lone wolf. How do you plan to escape?”

He glanced at the others behind Su Shan. “Rely on *them*?”

His gaze lingered on Qin Dingdong. “I wanted to kill her for you, but you insisted on saving her. What a reckless move.”

“What?”

“Su Shan, that woman has gotten you killed before.” The Earth Dog said lazily. “I thought she’d learned her lesson by now, but she still wasted the ‘Wish Slip’ in the first round. She’ll be the death of all of you.”

Hearing this, Zhang Chenze stepped forward. “Hey… don’t say things like that. Everyone makes their own choices. You have no right to decide for others.”