What did the twelve zodiac animals represent?

What was at the end of the corridor?

The underworld?

On this dim corridor with no visible end, everyone moved forward tremblingly.

After the previous several rounds of high-intensity “games,” everyone felt physically and mentally exhausted. Now that they had suddenly relaxed, the aura of death that had been lingering around them had also faded.

Qi Xia inadvertently turned his head and saw Lin Qin standing beside him.

She was still covering her nose and mouth with her hand.

“Isn’t that uncomfortable?” Qi Xia imitated Lin Qin’s manner and also placed his hand over his own nose and mouth. “Although the smell here is very unpleasant, won’t you have difficulty breathing like this?”

“Breathing?” Lin Qin was slightly stunned, then revealed a smile. “I don’t feel like I’m having difficulty breathing. It’s just that not covering my nose and mouth feels strange, like…”

“Like what?”

“Like not wearing clothes.” Lin Qin smiled embarrassedly, then took the hand covering her nose and mouth away.

Her nose was very straight and her lips were very rosy—there was absolutely no need to cover them. Qi Xia didn’t understand what “like not wearing clothes” meant.

Lin Qin smiled slightly but still felt somewhat uncomfortable, so she covered her nose and mouth with her hand again.

“It’s a bit embarrassing… Don’t you feel awkward?” Lin Qin asked Qi Xia. “Just exposing your nose and mouth like this.”

“Why would it be awkward?” Qi Xia felt it was very strange.

“It’s the ‘mask’…” Lin Qin also looked at Qi Xia with great incomprehension, those eyes looking at him like he was an alien. “Not wearing a ‘mask’—why can you all be so calm about it?”

“Mask…”

Before Qi Xia could react, a trace of bizarre light suddenly came from the distance.

Everyone was attracted by this light and looked forward one after another.

It was the exit.

There was a light like the sunset glow streaming in from the exit.

“We’re getting out!!” Qiao Jiajin shouted excitedly. “I can see the light of the sunset!”

This shout was undoubtedly a shot of adrenaline for everyone. Doctor Zhao supported Han Yimo as they quickened their pace together with the others.

“Sunset?” Qi Xia thought for a moment and said to everyone, “We woke up at twelve o’clock. After more than an hour of game time, it should be around two o’clock now. Whether it’s two in the morning or two in the afternoon, it’s impossible to see the ‘sunset.'”

“I think you’re overthinking it.” Officer Li shook his head. “The time in the room may not necessarily be accurate either. Perhaps the real time now is actually evening.”

Qi Xia nodded slightly. He knew Officer Li was right. All his understanding of time came from the grandfather clock in the room, but no one could guarantee that the clock in the room showed the correct time.

After walking forward a few more steps, everyone saw a black shadow beside the exit.

As they continued forward, the shadow gradually revealed a human form. He also wore an animal mask, but this mask made everyone feel a wave of nausea.

Different from all other animal masks, this person’s mask wasn’t made from the skull of any single animal, but rather a product manufactured by sewing together many organs with yarn.

His mouth was like a crocodile’s, his nose was like an ox’s, fish scales were used for the sides of his face, snake skin was used for the neck. Besides this, he had also sewn a lion’s mane and a stag’s antlers onto his mask.

This animal was simply like…

“Hello everyone, I am ‘Man-Dragon.'” The sewn-together monster slowly spoke. “Everyone survived? How novel.”

“Dragon…?”

Everyone instinctively stopped in their tracks, all their nerves tensing up.

Not because the “Dragon” was frightening, but because they were too familiar with this opening.

Every time someone introduced themselves like this, what followed was a terrifying game.

“Everyone, don’t be nervous. Your ‘trial’ has already come to a close.” Man-Dragon waved his hand, and only then did everyone notice he was wearing eagle-claw gloves on his hands.

All the animal organs on his body were somewhat rotten and swollen, emanating an unpleasant smell, but as if he knew nothing about it, he said to himself:

“I won’t bring you a new ‘trial,’ just give you a bit of advice.”

Everyone didn’t speak. They huddled tightly together, looking warily at the Man-Dragon before them.

“Ten days—you have ten days to change all of this.” Man-Dragon said slowly. “If within ten days you cannot obtain three thousand six hundred ‘Dao,’ then the world you’re in will be annihilated. Everything you can see will also be buried together.”

This short sentence was difficult for everyone to understand.

“Three thousand six hundred ‘Dao’?” Qi Xia furrowed his brow. “What is ‘Dao’? And what do you mean when you say the world we’re in will be annihilated?”

“Questions, hehehehe, very good.” Man-Dragon nodded. “Having questions means you’re still clearheaded. As for ‘Dao,’ it is…”

Man-Dragon reached his hand into his black suit pocket, fumbled around for a while, and pulled out four golden small spheres.

The outer ring of those small spheres was white, the inner ring was golden. They shone with golden light all over and looked somewhat strange.

“This is ‘Dao.'” Man-Dragon continued. “As long as you have three thousand six hundred ‘Dao,’ you’ll be saved.”

Qi Xia pondered for a moment and reached out to take one of the small spheres. This sphere didn’t feel hard to the touch—it even had some elasticity.

“Take them. They were yours to begin with.” Man-Dragon said with a smile.

Qi Xia thought for a while and accepted the four “Dao.”

“You passed through four trials—’The Liar,’ ‘Bamboo Shoots After Rain,’ ‘Death Descending From Heaven,’ and ‘Yes and No.’ This is your reward and also your ‘chips.'”

Everyone had never imagined that what they had exchanged their lives for multiple times turned out to be these unremarkable little beads. They didn’t know what to say.

“‘Dao’…” Qi Xia furrowed his brow with a helpless expression. “You mean to say that if we can’t find three thousand six hundred of these little spheres, this place will be destroyed?”

“Hehehehe, that’s right. If this place is destroyed… you won’t be able to get out.” Man-Dragon nodded. The fish scales and lion’s mane on his face swayed together with his head, looking extremely awkward.

“It seems you have quite a few of these small spheres. Can’t you gather three thousand six hundred yourself?” Officer Li decisively said. “And you’re much stronger than us. You could clearly go find them yourself. Why choose us?”

“Me?” Man-Dragon sneered. “We are all sinners. Sinners cannot obtain ‘Dao.’ Only chosen ones like you can obtain ‘Dao’ and ultimately become ‘Gods.'”

“This is too absurd!” Zhang Chenze interrupted Man-Dragon. Her arms were folded across her chest as she asked somewhat angrily, “Do you know what you’re saying?”