However, Su Shan’s “lot” this time was even stranger than before. It still had five characters on it.

“All People Together Provide Disaster Relief.”

Below this “lot” was an arrow pointing to the left.

“Disaster relief…?” Su Shan looked at this “lot,” feeling that it was the same as the two “lots” she had held before. She could understand the characters written on the “lot,” but she didn’t comprehend the meaning of these characters.

If she wished for “disaster relief”… what would happen?

“Wait a moment…” Su Shan decisively thought of something. “‘Disaster relief’… doesn’t that mean ‘providing relief during famine and rescuing disaster victims’?”

Wouldn’t that be able to counter “calamities”?

She knew this “lot” was extremely likely to be a “life-saving talisman.” Once Earth-Dog directed a calamity at her, what was written on this “lot” could very possibly save her life.

Su Shan set aside “All People Together Provide Disaster Relief,” then picked up the other two “lots” to look at them.

“Fine Rain Falls Continuously” and “No Idle Fields Throughout the Four Seas.”

One had an arrow pointing to the right, one had an arrow pointing to the left.

At this point, one round had already ended. The game only had seven rounds remaining. If they couldn’t extinguish the three lanterns within seven rounds, the game would be over, and Qin Dingdong would have died for nothing.

Speaking of Qin Dingdong… Su Shan turned her head to look at her again. The fine sand had already reached past her thighs. It was estimated that within a few minutes, she would be completely submerged.

Her face was already covered with sand and dust, revealing an extremely despairing expression. Her mouth kept moving, seemingly saying a two-character word, but with the sand flying inside the glass room, Su Shan couldn’t see clearly at all.

“I’m sorry…” Su Shan said. “I’m not confident I can save you.”

She took out “No Idle Fields Throughout the Four Seas” and looked at it, placing it at the hole. Since “Firecrackers Bid Farewell to the Old Year” had already been tried, it was time to try “No Idle Fields Throughout the Four Seas.”

But a moment later, Su Shan’s hand stopped in mid-air.

Before the game started, the two words Qin Dingdong had said through lip reading floated before her eyes.

Su Shan hadn’t paid attention at first, but thinking about it now, the two-character word Qin Dingdong kept saying seemed to be the same as what she had said before the game started.

She furrowed her brows and looked carefully through the sand at Qin Dingdong’s mouth shape.

If she wasn’t mistaken, these two characters were “cooperate.”

“Cooperate?” Su Shan was startled, then lowered her head to think for a moment. “Could it mean that this game requires cooperation?”

But with all four people in their own separate rooms, how were they supposed to cooperate?

A few seconds later, Su Shan remembered the strong wind in Lin Qin’s room.

“Wait a moment… could these ‘lots’…” She looked at the several “lots” in her hands, which had arrows drawn on them. “Could it be that…”

These arrows indicated the “direction of effect”?

An arrow pointing left meant the content of the “lot” would take effect in the room on the left, while an arrow pointing right meant it would take effect in the room on the right.

“This is ‘cooperation’…”

Su Shan seemed to have grasped some elusive clue. The “Fine Rain Falls Continuously” in her hand had an arrow pointing right, meaning that if this lot was thrown in, it would immediately take effect in Qin Dingdong’s room on her right.

But there were truly too few “lots.” Each person had at most only three in hand.

The question that needed to be considered now was… was Qin Dingdong’s “life” more important, or was this “lot” in hand more important?

Su Shan thought for a few seconds, feeling that her brain was a bit chaotic.

How exactly could she be like Qi Xia, decisively betting her own life and her teammates’ lives, and then win the game?

“My thinking is still not perfect enough…” Su Shan slowly closed her eyes and began to reconstruct the original appearance of this entire game.

Assuming her understanding of the “lots” was correct, then in this game, what other rules hadn’t been figured out?

What other things looked like some kind of “rule” that she hadn’t guessed?

Looking at it this way… there indeed was one obvious “rule” she hadn’t figured out.

That was the color of each person’s glass room.

According to the order of play, the four people’s rooms were pink, green, orange, and blue respectively.

The “Nian Beast” was bright red.

If she reverse-engineered the meaning of the other rooms through the color of the “Nian Beast’s” room, then “bright red” very likely represented “firecrackers.”

So what did the “pink” of her own room represent?

With her eyes slightly closed, Su Shan rapidly conducted a brainstorm in her mind.

If speaking of “pink,” the first thing she could think of should be “flowers.”

“Flowers…?” Su Shan’s lips moved slightly. “Blooming flowers…? So that’s how it is…?”

Su Shan’s eyes suddenly snapped open, and she inserted “Fine Rain Falls Continuously” into the hole on the table.

In the next second, the sand in Qin Dingdong’s room stopped, and tiny water droplets actually fell from overhead.

Before she could understand what was happening, the iron mesh beneath her feet also changed. The double-layer floor rotated slightly, immediately revealing many holes. These holes allowed the sand and dust throughout the entire room to begin falling through in the fine rain.

Qin Dingdong slowly raised her head, looking at these shower-like water droplets, her expression even more puzzled.

After thinking for a moment, she cupped a small amount of water in her hands to wipe the sand from her face, then turned to look at Su Shan.

Su Shan nodded at her, and after being stunned for a few seconds, Qin Dingdong also showed a grateful expression.

“So it really is effective…” The corners of Su Shan’s mouth slowly turned up. “Indeed, one needs to view this game from a more grand perspective… After all, the ‘sandstorm’ encountered in ‘winter’ can only be resolved by ‘spring’s’ ‘fine rain.'”

The four colors represented the “four seasons.”

Pink was “spring,” green was “summer,” orange was “autumn,” and blue was “winter.”

Just like the name of this game, “Year of Calamity,” this was a game lasting “eight years,” and every year among these eight years would encounter a “calamity.”

The only way to break through was for the four seasons to support each other, safely pass through spring, summer, autumn, and winter, and then welcome the “Nian Beast” with abundant clothing and food.

Su Shan lowered her head to look at “No Idle Fields Throughout the Four Seas” in her hand, having generally understood the meaning of this lot.

Precisely because she was “spring,” she should play this lot during her own phase. Since the arrow on this “lot” pointed left, it would take effect in Zhang Chenze’s room, which was “summer.”

Once spring planted seeds, summer would begin laboring, autumn would bring harvest, and then winter could resist the “Nian Beast.”

In other words, although four people were sitting at the scene, the only one who could truly harm the “Nian Beast” was “winter.”

After all, if a year couldn’t save up grain, how could winter be endured?

As long as the other three seasons could safely pass, “winter” would definitely have a way to take action.

Su Shan nodded, feeling that although her thoughts were wildly imaginative, they were very close to the truth. After all, as “spring,” after playing “firecrackers,” the Nian Beast had no reaction, which was sufficient to explain that she had “used the wrong timing.”

But Su Shan also understood that all of this was built on the premise that there were no “calamities” throughout the entire year.

The current “Earth-Dog” was precisely the person who could bring “calamities.” He would absolutely not let everyone safely pass through each year.

Adding to the limitation of the “rules,” each person could only wish for one “lot” per round, yet Su Shan had two types of “lots” in hand—one could be viewed as “planting seeds,” and one was “saving people.”

Unfortunately, if she “saved people,” she couldn’t “plant seeds,” and if she “planted seeds,” she couldn’t “save people.”

So at critical moments… should she abandon a certain teammate?

Based on the current situation, “summer” could be abandoned.

As long as “spring” could plant seeds and “autumn” could harvest, then theoretically this year could “survive winter.”

Su Shan turned her head to look at Zhang Chenze on her left, who represented “summer,” and many thoughts had already flashed through her mind.

At this moment, Earth-Dog’s broadcast also slowly rang out—

“The first person’s ‘wish’ has ended. Next, the second person will ‘draw lots.'”