The sturdy Earth Rabbit paced back and forth in the room, first glancing at the door on the left before turning to inspect the one at the front.
“Right now…” He scratched his large head with his thick arm. “Does anyone remember which direction we came from? Did anyone bring a compass?”
“You outta your mind?” Chen Junnan said, picking his nose. “A freakin’ compass? We’re in a hurry here.”
Jiang Shi also slowly opened his mouth and yawned. “Yeah… we’re in… aaaah… a hurry.”
Earth Rabbit turned his head in confusion—he hadn’t noticed either of them seeming particularly pressed for time.
“Well, how about you guys wait here…” Earth Rabbit awkwardly waved at the group. “I’ll go scout the path myself and come back for you once I find it. Sound good?”
Just as Song Qi was about to agree, Chen Junnan suddenly took a step forward. “No way, Big Bunny. How could we let you shoulder the burden alone? Since we’ve already entered your game zone, let’s stick together.”
Though Earth Rabbit had the face of a rabbit, everyone could clearly sense the shift in his gaze.
“Stick together?”
“Yeah, Earth Rabbit.” Chen Junnan nodded, pointing at the darkened walls around them. “Every room here’s drenched in blood and reeks to high heaven… Just how many people have you slaughtered in here?”
“Ah… not that many,” Earth Rabbit replied. “A hundred or so before you guys.”
“Right.” Chen Junnan nodded. “Only six people can enter per game. If you’ve killed a hundred, just how many rounds have you played?”
Earth Rabbit’s eyes visibly sharpened at the question.
When Earth Rabbit stayed silent, Chen Junnan pressed further. “Even if we assume you killed sixty people… that’d mean this game’s been played at least ten times. And yet you’re telling us you’re ‘lost’?”
“Oh…?” Earth Rabbit slowly crossed his arms, his muscles straining against his suit. “If I’m not lost… then what do you think I’m doing?”
“You’re screwing with our sense of direction, aren’t you?” Chen Junnan cut straight to the point. “If not for that little slip-up, I wouldn’t have been sure.”
“Heh…” Earth Rabbit’s gaze grew icy. “You don’t strike me as the meticulous type.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t gonna be.” Chen Junnan shrugged. “But then you tried ditching us to find the exit yourself. What if you suddenly announced ‘game start’ at some point? You probably figured we’d be too disoriented to even know which way to run.”
“And what if I did?” Earth Rabbit sneered. “If you knew the way back to the start, why’d you follow me and waste all this time?”
“Because I wanted to see what kinda piss you were brewing in that gourd of yours.” Chen Junnan smirked back. “Bet you didn’t know—I grew up in the alleyways. My sense of direction’s been sharp since I was a kid. Your north-south layout? I’d never get lost in it.”
“You—” Earth Rabbit’s large head twitched slightly, realizing he’d been outmaneuvered before the game even started.
In the past, every time he accepted “participants,” he’d lead them in circles through the rooms. Most people would lose all sense of direction after a dozen rooms—after all, every room looked identical. Once they forgot which way to escape, Earth Rabbit would tear them apart one by one.
“What a sly, disobedient little bunny.” Chen Junnan patted Earth Rabbit’s muscular chest. “Quit wasting time. My teammates are about to fall asleep. Let’s move.”
“Hmph.” Earth Rabbit let out another hollow chuckle before walking to the left door and pushing it open. “Fine. Even if you know the escape route, I’ll still slaughter every last one of you.”
It seemed Earth Rabbit did know the way. He led them forward, turning left and right through the rooms.
Song Qi whispered from behind, “Chen Junnan, you really are sharp. You’ve been tracking the direction since we got here. If not for you…”
“Track my ass.” Chen Junnan muttered under his breath. “I’ve been lost for ages.”
“Huh?”
“That whole ‘analysis’ was Old Qi’s style. Didn’t think it’d actually work.” Chen Junnan covered his mouth. “I got lost in the alleys seven or eight times as a kid. Neighbors had to drag me home every time. If I had any sense of direction, would I have gotten lost that much?”
The nearby “Cat” team members all overheard his muttering. Their brief admiration instantly turned into sheer disbelief.
As they advanced, the group noticed the building might’ve once been a medical facility—the floors were painted blue-green, but all the furnishings had been stripped away, leaving only empty rooms.
After passing through eight or nine rooms, Earth Rabbit finally stopped at the last one.
This room was different. Only two adjacent walls had doors, confirming it as the “top-left corner.”
“Alright, everyone…” Earth Rabbit turned to face them. “My game is very simple. It’s called ‘Penglai.’”
“Penglai…?” Chen Junnan scratched his head—the name seemed completely unrelated to the game before them.
“Think of it as a ‘16-grid board game,’ but the board is these rooms. There are sixteen rooms total—four per row, four columns. Each of us is a piece. Your goal is to move from this room to the farthest diagonal one and escape. That’s your win.”
“Got it.” Chen Junnan nodded. “But how do the ‘pieces’ move?”
“As I mentioned before entering,” Earth Rabbit scanned the six of them, “as ‘prey,’ you get three actions per turn. Actions include ‘open door,’ ‘close door,’ ‘unlock,’ ‘lock,’ and ‘move.’ But note—‘lock’ and ‘move’ each cost two actions.”
“Hold up, let me process that.” Chen Junnan raised a hand. “I’m already lost.”
He turned to the others. “You guys following?”
Jiang Shi opened his mouth. “I don’t… aaaah… get it.”
“Ugh…” Chen Junnan frowned at him. Just talking to the kid made him want to yawn—what a pain. “Adding to my life goals: besides getting Weekend to stop starting sentences with ‘tch,’ I’ll make sure you stop yawning mid-sentence.”
“Oh? Really?” Jiang Shi nodded indifferently. “Good luck.”
“I mostly get it,” Song Qi said. “But I’ve got a question.”
“Go ahead.” Earth Rabbit fixed his gaze on him. “I’ll answer everything before the game starts. Once we begin, your lives are in your own hands.”
“Right.” Song Qi nodded. “You said we can ‘lock’ or ‘unlock’ doors. If we lock one, can you not open it?”
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