The once orderly formation collapsed almost instantly, with everyone scattering in panic, yet the black bear chased only the bespectacled young man.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it…” The bespectacled man muttered despairingly as he stumbled frantically around the room. “Mom… I’m really gonna die this time…”
In less than ten steps, the black bear had already cornered him against the wall.
His legs completely gave out, leaving him slumped on the floor, unable to move an inch.
Leaning against the wall, he turned his head and saw a terrifying black face filling his vision—
Ugly, ferocious, reeking of rot.
The black bear sniffed his face with its snout.
The young man’s face turned deathly pale, his gaze frozen in terror. He didn’t dare move, even as the bear’s jaws drew close to his neck.
“Mom…” he whispered, “I won’t make it back… Mom… don’t wait for me…”
Just as the black bear opened its foul-smelling maw to bite down, Qiao Jiajin, sprawled on the ground, suddenly bellowed—
“HEY!! Time’s up, dammit!! Are you trying to cheat?! Stop killing people!!”
Everyone turned to look—the digital countdown on the wall had indeed reached zero.
The next instant, the distant iron door swung open, startling the black bear.
A tremendous force erupted from the door, and like a piece of paper caught in a gale, the bear let out a pained howl before being violently yanked inside by an unseen force.
Game over.
They had survived.
“I-It’s over…” A trembling girl murmured after several minutes. “The bear’s gone…”
The girls slowly stood up, embracing each other in tearful relief.
The bespectacled man seemed paralyzed with fear, still sitting on the floor, gasping for air.
“Dang it…” Qiao Jiajin groaned, rubbing his sore abdomen. “That was brutal. Thanks to your ‘Eagle Catches Chickens’ idea, trickster.”
Qi Xia stood up in silence, his expression troubled.
“What’s wrong?” Qiao Jiajin asked.
“Tell me…” Qi Xia murmured. “Did those two survive?”
“Those two…”
Qiao Jiajin knew he meant Tian Tian and Lin Qin, but he didn’t dare speculate.
No one knew what had happened in the other room.
Had they also been hunted by a black bear?
Had their teammates banded together and come up with a strategy like theirs?
Turning around, they saw the staircase from earlier reappearing behind them.
“Don’t overthink it. Let’s just go see for ourselves.” Qiao Jiajin patted Qi Xia’s shoulder. “Come on.”
Old Lü helped the bespectacled man to his feet, and the group slowly ascended the stairs, supporting each other as they returned to the room with the chairs.
The Earth Ox stood there silently, awaiting their “triumphant return.”
“Nine survivors?” The Earth Ox tilted its head slightly. “Not bad.”
“Rot in Hell…” Qiao Jiajin muttered under his breath. “One day, I’m gonna beat the crap out of these bastards.”
“Please wait a moment. The others from the other room haven’t returned yet.” The Earth Ox gestured for them to sit.
Exhausted, they all took seats. After their brush with death, nothing in this room could possibly be scarier than that black bear.
After about two minutes, Qiao Jiajin grew restless.
“Hey, Ox. Isn’t their game over yet?”
“Both groups started simultaneously. By now, their game should have ended too, but they haven’t returned.”
“Wha—?” Qi Xia clutched his forehead as a throbbing pain struck him. “If the game’s over and no one’s back… does that mean they’re all dead?”
“I don’t know.” The Earth Ox shook its head. “Please be patient.”
Easy for it to say—no one could stay calm.
The teams had been randomly shuffled, meaning almost everyone here had teammates in the other group.
Qi Xia glanced at the bespectacled man sitting nearby, whispering something to a middle-aged man beside him.
“What?! No way!” the man exclaimed.
The bespectacled man frantically shushed him, explaining in hushed tones.
“No, absolutely not!” The middle-aged man shook his head like a rattle drum. “I won’t agree to this!”
As he turned, his eyes briefly met Qi Xia’s before he quickly looked away, pretending not to notice. Then, in a low voice, he added, “If that’s the case, I’ll have Zhang Shan settle this for me!”
“Hah.” Qi Xia smirked, already piecing together their conversation.
After nearly five or six minutes, heavy footsteps finally echoed from the other door.
“They’re here…”
More footsteps followed, suggesting many had survived in that group.
A burly man emerged from the dark doorway, his expression grim as he scanned the room before breaking into a faint smile.
“Damn… You all made it?”
“Zhang Shan! Zhang Shan!” The bespectacled man rushed forward eagerly. “Thank God you’re okay! Holy—!!!”
He recoiled with a shocked scream.
The sight was horrifying.
Standing in the shadows, the man named Zhang Shan hadn’t been fully visible at first.
But as he stepped into the light, the extent of his injuries became clear—
His entire body was covered in blood, with three deep gashes across his chest. His right arm cradled two dark, thick objects resembling tree trunks.
Tian Tian and Lin Qin emerged behind him.
“Ladies!” Qiao Jiajin looked them over. “You alright?”
“We’re fine…” Tian Tian forced a weak smile. “How about you?”
“Same old, same old.” Qiao Jiajin sighed. “Thanks to the trickster’s plan, we scraped through.”
“Huh?” Tian Tian stared at Qi Xia in disbelief. “You figured out this game too?”
Lin Qin also seemed astonished. “Qiao Jiajin, didn’t you say you’d handle ‘Ox-type’ games yourself?”
“Ugh, don’t remind me…” Qiao Jiajin grumbled. “If it were a human opponent, fine, but a freaking black bear? Who in this world can fight a bear?”
Tian Tian and Lin Qin exchanged glances before hesitantly replying, “Well… someone might actually be able to kill one…”
Hearing this, Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin turned toward the muscular man named Zhang Shan.
Had he… killed a bear?
Behind him, more teammates filed out. Counting them, all ten had survived.
Their group had suffered zero casualties.
Zhang Shan tossed the two objects he’d been carrying onto the floor with a thud before collapsing into a chair, exhausted.
“Damn… Earth Ox, you really went all out, huh? You even prepared a damn ‘bear’ for us?”
Looking down, everyone realized what he’d dropped weren’t branches—
They were two blood-soaked black bear forearms.
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