Chapter 99: Harpoon?

If possible, Qi Xia really wanted to ask Goat for an explanation.

Why did the card he received have such a sentence written on it?

But if Goat survived, the “participants” of this game would lose.

In other words, there was no way he could ever figure out Goat’s thoughts, nor did he know if Officer Li had received the same card.

While everyone else was excited about being able to stand up again, Qi Xia remained fixated on another question.

“What important message was Goat trying to convey?”

Wait—Goat could lie. Was it possible he had passed on false information?

Qi Xia still couldn’t decide whether or not to trust him.

Now that the “Liar’s” game was over, would revealing that he had the “game guide” for the next phase cause any problems?

To be safe, Qi Xia decided to follow Goat’s instructions for now—after all, it wouldn’t cost him anything.

Even if he concealed everything, he could still lead everyone out of this room.

Qi Xia tried his best to act as he had before, guiding the others to discover the writing beneath Goat’s mask.

But this time, he also wanted to collect the clues he’d missed last time.

While the others examined the mask, he and Officer Li simultaneously approached Goat’s body.

Officer Li gave Qi Xia a meaningful glance and opened his mouth as if to speak, but no words came out.

Qi Xia also stayed silent. As if sharing some unspoken understanding, the two began searching Goat’s body together.

Last time, they had only checked the mask but hadn’t searched the body.

To Qi Xia’s surprise, Goat didn’t even have a single “Dao” on him.

He became even more certain that Officer Li remembered everything—after all, the pistol Goat had used to kill himself was right there, yet Officer Li didn’t even glance at it.

“What’s this?” Officer Li pulled a piece of paper from Goat’s pocket. After a quick scan, he handed it directly to Qi Xia.

Qi Xia took it naturally and read it carefully, only to immediately furrow his brow in confusion.

It was a signed contract.

At the top of the document was written: *”Zodiac Ascension Gambling Contract.”*

“This is—”

“Keep it for now.” Officer Li patted Qi Xia’s hand. “We’ll look at it after we get out.”

Qi Xia knew this wasn’t the place to discuss it, so he folded the contract and slipped it into his pocket.

It seemed they had stumbled upon something truly significant this time. The fact that this Zodiac had this contract but no “Dao” suggested he was fundamentally different from the others.

When the harpoons came, everything in the room would be destroyed.

Last time, Qi Xia had been too focused on escaping to notice these clues.

“What does ‘bamboo shoots after rain’ mean?”

“And what’s this about turning a hundred times toward your hometown?”

The others chattered noisily in the distance.

For Qi Xia, this was now a test of acting skill—he needed to guide everyone out seamlessly, just as he had before.

“If it’s too much, I can take over and give the answers for the next game,” Officer Li whispered.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, but you can’t handle those ‘morality experts,'” Qi Xia replied quietly. “I don’t have any baggage—it’s easier for me to deal with them.”

Qi Xia walked over to the table and stood slowly beside Qiao Jiajin.

“Qiao-ye, I need your help,” Qi Xia said.

“*Qiao-ye*…?” Qiao Jiajin froze, then immediately broke into a proud grin. “You’ve got a silver tongue, pretty boy. Consider yourself under my wing now. What do you need?”

Hearing this, Qi Xia felt an inexplicable sense of relief. “Later, I need you to give it your all to keep everyone alive.”

“Oh?”

Just then, the walls around them began shifting like clay, revealing rows of holes. As the others moved to inspect them, Qi Xia stopped them.

Turning to the group, he said:

“Everyone, ignore the walls for now. I’ve figured it out—’turning a hundred times toward your hometown’ means finding something and rotating it to the right a hundred times.”

“The *right*?” The others turned to him in surprise. “Why the right?”

Qi Xia picked up a blank sheet of paper, sketched a simple diagram, and patiently explained.

“Ohhh, that makes sense. You’re really smart,” Lin Qin nodded. “But what are we supposed to rotate a hundred times?”

“Could it be… ourselves?” Tian Tian blinked. “Do we spin ourselves to the right a hundred times?”

Qi Xia shook his head. “Look around the room for anything *else* that can rotate.”

Han Yimo was the first to notice the tabletop could actually turn and quickly shared the discovery.

Under Qi Xia’s guidance, everyone began rotating the table to the right in an orderly manner. So far, everything was under control.

This time, Qiao Jiajin was especially vigorous, leading the effort with rallying shouts.

After a hundred rotations, the tabletop split into nine pieces again under the laser—this time, they secured the panels nearly five minutes earlier than last time.

“Next, I’ll explain what the second part—’bamboo shoots after rain’—means.”

He instructed them on how to assemble the panels into a cone shape. Drawing from experience, he warned them not to leave any gaps no matter what happened.

Qi Xia was still worried. Last time, the harpoons had killed Han Yimo—if possible, he wanted to save the man’s life this time.

While marveling at Qi Xia’s brilliance, the others couldn’t help but feel suspicious.

Why was this guy so methodical?

Not only had he deciphered the game, but he also seemed to *anticipate* what would happen next—almost as if he’d designed it himself.

“What’s the point of arranging the panels like this?” Qiao Jiajin asked. “Is it really going to rain later?”

“Not exactly. Once we set them up, we’ll—”

Before he could finish, Qi Xia glanced at Han Yimo and noticed beads of cold sweat on his forehead, his body trembling uncontrollably.

“Han Yimo… are you okay?”

Han Yimo forced a smile and shook his head. “I’m fine… I’m just a little scared.”

Qi Xia frowned. “Scared of what?”

“I—”

Before Han Yimo could answer, a deafening bell tolled in the distance.

***DONG!!!***

Qi Xia’s eyes widened instantly—everything felt *too* familiar.

Han Yimo was resonating.

He grabbed Han Yimo’s shoulders, voice low but urgent. “Han Yimo, I’ve already explained everything in advance. What the hell are you afraid of?”

“I… I—”

“*Say it!*” Qi Xia was genuinely anxious now, a terrible premonition creeping over him.

“I’m scared of those harpoons…” Han Yimo looked utterly terrified, sweat dripping from his brow. “I feel like… they’re definitely going to impale me…”

At those words, Qi Xia’s expression darkened.

“Han Yimo… when did I *ever* say the things coming out of those holes were harpoons?”