The third game also passed without any unexpected incidents. Qi Xia led the group to hang from the ceiling, silently waiting for the Snake to arrive.
“Long time no see, everyone,” the Snake finally appeared and began speaking with the group. “I am the Snake.”
“Snake your mother!” Qiao Jiajin roared. “First a sheep, then a dog, now a snake? Do you believe I’ll kill you right now?”
“Please don’t get agitated,” the Snake’s voice was calm. He glanced up at the group and said, “You are currently undergoing the final test. By my side is a lever—if I pull it, you will descend slowly, and no one will get hurt.”
“Will you pull it?” Xiao Ran asked.
“I…” The Snake smiled faintly. “I’ll play a game with you. Whether you survive or not depends on yourselves.”
Hearing this, Qi Xia turned to the group and said, “Later, no one speaks. Leave it to me.”
The Snake watched Qi Xia with interest before stepping forward and saying, “I have an interesting question. Whoever guesses the answer within three tries, I’ll pull the lever and let you down.”
“An… interesting question?” Qi Xia frowned slightly. He felt like the Snake hadn’t phrased it this way before.
“Listen carefully. If you were gravely ill and stranded on a deserted island with two types of identical-looking pills—ten of each—and you knew that taking one of each daily would keep you alive, but you accidentally mixed them up and couldn’t tell them apart anymore… Assuming rescue arrives in ten days, how would you take the pills to survive those ten days?”
Qi Xia furrowed his brows, finding this odd.
The previous Sheep and Dog had designed games identical to the last time, but the Snake suddenly changed the question.
“Umm… do the pills differ in color?” Xiao Ran asked.
The Snake gave her a cold look. “Two attempts left.”
“Hey! Miss?!” Qiao Jiajin shouted. “We only get three tries—don’t waste them!”
“I…”
Xiao Ran lowered her head in distress, looking miserable.
At this moment, Qi Xia understood her better—not only was she self-righteous, but she also refused to listen to advice.
“Qi Xia… what’s going on?” Officer Li whispered to him. “Why did the question change?”
“I don’t know,” Qi Xia shook his head. “Last time, I already felt something was off about this Snake…”
“What was off?” Officer Li asked.
“Last time, we won, but the Snake didn’t die. When we defeated the Sheep, it died, but the Snake didn’t. That’s clearly contradictory.”
“Now that you mention it… it is…” Officer Li shook his head, realizing this wasn’t the time to dwell on it. “So, do you have an answer now?”
“Yes.”
This question, like the “Yes or No” one, was a standard logic puzzle.
Qi Xia suspected that “Snake” games might be “logic-based” or “intelligence-based,” fitting the deceitful nature of snakes.
Noticing everyone staring at Qi Xia, the Snake also turned its gaze toward him. “Do you know the solution?”
“Yes,” Qi Xia nodded. “The answer is to crush all the pills into powder, mix them thoroughly, then divide them as evenly as possible into ten portions. Take one portion each day.”
“Oh?!” The Snake’s eyes gleamed with excitement before it calmly pulled out a small notebook from its robes, glanced at it, and muttered, “So that’s it?”
His whisper was so faint that no one could hear clearly.
Qi Xia found the Snake’s behavior strange—almost as if it didn’t know the answer itself.
A few seconds later, the Snake suddenly burst into laughter. “Hahahaha! You’re truly interesting!”
“Interesting?”
Qi Xia’s expression darkened. He suddenly recalled that in the previous game, when he solved the “Yes or No” puzzle, the Snake had laughed hysterically and said the same thing.
“Wait here. I’ll lower you now.”
The Snake pulled the lever, and the group descended slowly.
“Congratulations, everyone. You’ve survived the ‘interview.’ Push open this door—a new world awaits you.” The Snake clasped its hands behind its back and stood beside the wooden door.
“Rot in Hell…”
Qiao Jiajin stormed forward, seemingly ready to unleash all his pent-up frustration from the Sheep and Dog onto the Snake.
The Snake turned its cold gaze to him but didn’t move an inch despite Qiao Jiajin’s aggression.
“Are all of you freaking psychopaths?!” Qiao Jiajin bellowed, grabbing the Snake’s collar. “Wearing these creepy masks, trying to kill us over and over—now I’ve got you!”
The Snake smirked and whispered, “While you’re still alive, I suggest you let go.”
“What did you say?!”
Qiao Jiajin raised his fist, about to strike the Snake’s face, but Officer Li grabbed his arm.
“Qiao Jiajin, let it go,” Officer Li said. “These people are insane. Don’t bother with them.”
No one else spoke to the Snake. Qiao Jiajin reluctantly lowered his fist, and the group, led by Officer Li, walked out of the room.
Qi Xia was the last to leave. Just as he was about to exit, the Snake suddenly spoke again.
“Qi Xia, I look forward to playing with you again.”
Qi Xia froze, rooted to the spot.
He turned back to the Snake, gritting his teeth. “You all remember everything too, don’t you?”
“Hehehehe…” The Snake swayed its rotting head closer to Qi Xia. “Why wouldn’t we remember? Isn’t this place wonderful? In the days to come, we’ll meet regularly like old friends, and you’ll answer all my questions.”
Hearing this, Qi Xia felt a deep despair.
Yes.
In the days to come, he would meet the Snake regularly.
On the tenth day of the “Endgame,” the world would be annihilated, and Qi Xia would die with it.
But after dying here, he would briefly return to reality, only to wait one day before experiencing the massive earthquake and dying in reality.
Whether in the “Endgame” or the real world, Qi Xia was trapped in a bizarre cycle—one he could never escape.
His life was now either one day or ten days at most.
As long as this cursed place existed, he would never return to his old life.
These madmen hadn’t just trapped Qi Xia here forever—they had also erased Yu Nian’an from her own life.
“Snake, you’ll regret toying with me like this,” Qi Xia said coldly.
“Regret?”
Qi Xia ignored him and walked out to catch up with the group.
The moment he stepped outside, the familiar, oppressive scent hit him, making him nauseous.
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