“You…” Su Shan looked down at Qin Dingdong’s fist.
After staring for a long time, Su Shan finally blinked and said, “Two.”
After hearing this, Qin Dingdong rolled her eyes dramatically and said to Zhang Chenze and Lin Qin, “Xiao Shan can’t see anymore.”
“This…”
After hearing this, Su Shan furrowed her brow, feeling that Qin Dingdong understood her better than she understood herself.
Although the two had already anticipated this, they felt the situation was a bit strange.
Zhang Chenze clearly remembered that after Su Shan woke up, she looked at her first thing, and just now when Qin Dingdong extended her fist, Su Shan was also staring at her fist.
“I… I can still roughly see some things…” Su Shan said with a bitter smile. “I just didn’t want you all to worry…”
“Stop lying.” Qin Dingdong said. “Right now you can only see glowing outlines one by one, but you’ve completely lost your normal vision, right?”
“You even know that?”
“Xiao Shan, I told you, I’ve teamed up with you before.” Qin Dingdong coughed a few times and said, “That damn dog last night wasn’t sowing discord. I really did get you killed.”
“Is that so…” Su Shan didn’t seem very surprised. “In this kind of place… getting the people around you killed is inevitable, isn’t it…”
“Good that you can think clearly about it.” Qin Dingdong nodded. “I don’t dislike you, and I even thought about becoming friends with you, but our two professions determine that we’re not on the same path.”
“Mm…” Su Shan nodded. “Speaking of which, I also need to apologize to you all. In this game… I originally planned to get you all killed.”
“Isn’t that perfectly normal?” Qin Dingdong said. “No one told you that ‘Dog’ games require cooperation. You have to guess it yourself. The fact that you were able to break through my hailstorm at the last moment was already an extraordinary move.”
Su Shan stood up with a bitter smile, then swayed slightly.
“Su Shan…” Zhang Chenze supported her wrist. “Are you really alright? You’re still running a high fever…”
“Fever?” Su Shan was startled, then slowly revealed a strange smile. “No, I don’t feel feverish. I’m fine right now.”
Zhang Chenze could clearly feel that her wrist was very hot, but her consciousness did indeed seem lucid.
“We’re all injured…” Su Shan widened her eyes and looked around at the three people in the room. Her pupils were like shattered gemstones, having now completely lost their luster. “Let’s go back and see that doctor.”
Everyone looked at each other, then nodded. Both Lin Qin and Qin Dingdong knew that their bodies couldn’t possibly heal in a short time, and Su Shan’s eyes were completely murky—with existing medical means it would be completely impossible to restore her sight.
Supporting each other, the several people opened the door and walked out of the house, only to happen upon Earth-Dog walking slowly toward them.
“Oh?” Earth-Dog yawned. “Morning. Did you clock in?”
“Damn dead dog…” Qin Dingdong cursed. “What clocking in? Do you think we’re working here?”
“Oh, my mistake.” Earth-Dog lazily rubbed his eyes. “You’re not working, I’m working.”
“Then go work your damn shift.” Qin Dingdong seemed to feel this wasn’t enough to vent her anger, so she spat at Earth-Dog’s feet. “Work yourself to death.”
Earth-Dog didn’t mind. He just looked at Su Shan. “Su Shan, how are you?”
“I…” Su Shan looked toward Earth-Dog. In her pitch-black field of vision, there was the outline of a thin man. She slowly revealed a smile. “I’m fine.”
“This is an old problem of yours. Save it for later use. Hope I can see you again.” Earth-Dog waved his hand and passed through between the several girls.
Just as he was about to enter the glass shop, he suddenly thought of something and slowly turned around.
“By the way…” Earth-Dog looked at the four people before him and spoke. “There’s a veteran among you, right? How long have you been preserving memories?”
“Big sister here has preserved them for three hundred thousand years.” Qin Dingdong shouted loudly. “What do you want?”
After hearing this, Earth-Dog rolled his eyes dramatically.
Qin Dingdong didn’t back down at all and immediately rolled her eyes right back.
“Too lazy to argue with you.” Earth-Dog said. “I want to find someone. I wonder if any of you know them.”
After hearing this, Lin Qin asked tentatively, “Who are you looking for?”
“Someone called Qi Xia.” Earth-Dog said. “I want to meet him. I wonder if I can have this opportunity.”
All the women were quite shrewd. When they heard the two words “Qi Xia,” none of them showed any unusual expression.
“I can help you look.” Lin Qin said. “But this counts as a ‘transaction,’ right? What will you exchange for this person’s information?”
“Tsk…” After hearing this, Earth-Dog rubbed his chin. “Do you want ‘Dao’?”
“No.” Lin Qin shook her head. “Do you have anything else you can give?”
“You don’t even want ‘Dao’… That’s why I say veterans are really hard to deal with…” Earth-Dog thought for a few seconds, then raised his head and said, “How about ‘food’? I’ll get you a few small cakes, some drinks, plus some fresh fruit.”
After hearing this, Lin Qin swallowed slightly and looked at the people beside her.
“Small cakes… and fruit?” After hearing this, Qin Dingdong was also somewhat tempted.
The things Earth-Dog mentioned—Lin Qin and Qin Dingdong hadn’t eaten them for many years. In their memories, they only remembered the taste of rotten food.
But precisely because their bodies refreshed every ten days, even eating dirt wouldn’t cause malnutrition.
The current situation looked a bit strange. Because they didn’t know Earth-Dog’s motives, the two seemed to be preparing to trade Qi Xia’s life for small cakes, which was full of guilt.
Su Shan stared at Earth-Dog’s outline for a while, then smiled and interjected, “Why do you ‘Zodiacs’ want to meet Participants individually? Is that person very important?”
“He…” Earth-Dog pondered for a moment. “He might be an ‘old acquaintance’ of mine, so I want to meet him.”
He paused for a few seconds, looked at everyone’s expressions, then added, “I won’t harm his life. After all, ‘Zodiacs’ have their rules. Outside of games, we can’t kill people. If you know him… could you help me pass on the message?”
After hearing this, the several girls neither agreed nor refused, knowing in their hearts that this matter could only be decided after asking Qi Xia’s opinion.
“I’ll keep an eye out for you.” Lin Qin said. “We’re leaving now. See you.”
Earth-Dog nodded, turned around and entered the glass shop, while the four girls left along the road.
Along the way, Zhang Chenze supported Lin Qin as they walked forward, while Qin Dingdong held Su Shan’s hand.
Although Su Shan could see the outlines of living beings, she couldn’t see the road at all. Even small stones on the ground could trip her.
After walking for about half an hour, Lin Qin felt that her right leg couldn’t support her anymore and suggested they find a place to rest.
Su Shan nodded. Just as she was about to say something, she suddenly saw two glowing human-shaped outlines in the distance that were exceptionally clear.
“There seem to be people over there.” Su Shan pointed her hand in the direction of the glow. “Are they people we know? Or ‘Zodiacs’?”
Everyone looked in the direction of her finger. In the center of that small square stood a giant clock with a display screen.
Four lines of “Echoes” were currently displayed on the screen.
“Scapegoat,” “Disasteræ‹›,” “Spirit Vision,” “Soul Migration.”