Last round, from when the frog appeared to when it left, it was a total of 3 minutes and 15 seconds.

This time only 47 seconds.

Why did the time shorten?

Was it because the frog was injured and therefore left early? If so, it meant Shen Mo had gained everyone two and a half minutes of breathing room.

After a moment of silence, the frozen atmosphere in the cave loosened slightly. People in the mud tentatively raised their heads, and those in the snails slowly crawled out. Everyone looked around—

All was quiet.

No frog, no golden ball.

…Were they safe?

Tan Xiao was the first to get up, his eyes searching everywhere. “Where’s the ball? Does it still count if we find it now?”

“When the frog burrowed into the mud just now, the ball got buried too.” A young man next to Hui Ge chimed in.

Tan Xiao recognized him. This person was tall and thin like Hui Ge, with a small head and large ears, long arms and long legs, so his nickname was Houzi (Monkey).

There was also a short one whose nickname was Citou (Troublemaker).

Tan Xiao craned his neck to look around, asking strangely: “Where’s Citou?”

The expressions on Hui Ge and Houzi’s faces immediately turned ugly.

Tan Xiao also belatedly realized he’d asked a stupid question, his expression freezing for a moment.

At a time like this, not seeing someone—aside from being eaten by the frog, what else could it be?

Citou wasn’t the only one eaten.

A middle-aged woman wept inconsolably: “If I’d known, I shouldn’t have come out of the snail. Why search for the ball? How is that different from sending ourselves to death… If it weren’t for helping you all search for the ball, my Old Wu wouldn’t have died…”

A fat man on the other side chimed in: “The frog came out so fast, there was no time to hide. It sounds nice to say everyone should work together as one, but really it was just to have live bait while you all play hero!”

These words were truly vicious.

Bai Youwei coldly raised her eyebrows, her gaze darkly fixed on these people.

These people…

When she had been in trouble, these useless wastes had only pretended to sleep! Even if they died here, it would be deserved. What right did they have to blame others?!

“What’s in your heads? Is it shit?!” Tan Xiao exploded like a firecracker, cursing loudly. “I’m risking my life to find the ball to play hero?! You dare say that again?!”

The fat man said nothing sullenly, the woman sobbed quietly.

Tan Xiao was furious, pointing at them and cursing: “And you’re saying it was to help us find the ball! So if you don’t find the ball, you can get out alive?! I’m telling you! Without the ball! None of us can escape! Just wait to die!!!”

He saw Cheng Weicai muttering in the corner, and his anger exploded. He roared: “Old man! What are you mumbling about?! Do you also think we got people killed? Huh?!!”

Teacher Cheng was startled and hurriedly waved his hands: “No, no! There were casualties because the frog came out too suddenly. Originally our plan was very sound, there was no problem. Even if we’re assigning blame, it should be the frog and this game that bear full responsibility. Everyone has lost loved ones, emotions inevitably run high—it’s understandable, understandable…”

He paused, then added in a conciliatory tone: “I was just calculating time. This time the frog came out fast and left fast, so I wanted to calculate…”

“So did you calculate it or not?” Tan Xiao asked impatiently.

Teacher Cheng shook his head shamefacedly. “No… I didn’t…”

Tan Xiao’s brow furrowed even deeper: “Aren’t you a teacher?!”

Teacher Cheng said: “I teach Chinese.”

Tan Xiao was at a loss for words.

At this moment, the silent Shen Mo spoke up: “The frog did come out very quickly this time. If it’s the same next time, our original plan won’t work anymore.”

His voice was very calm, cool and detached, as if he completely didn’t care about the blame just thrown at him.

Tan Xiao scratched his ears and head, irritably saying: “This frog is like it’s having a seizure—who the hell knows when it’ll be fast! When it’ll be slow!”