Pain.

Pain that pierced to the marrow.

Qi Xia bit down on his teeth, crouching on the ground in agonizing groans.

He felt as if he truly had some serious psychological problem.

Every time someone died near him, his head would split with pain.

What exactly caused this? Could it be that he would react this way just from seeing dead people?

No, Qi Xia had already seen dead people several times in the games.

Not everyone’s death caused him headaches.

After a full half minute, Qi Xia finally let out a long breath and stood up expressionlessly once more.

The three people outside finally noticed the situation inside the room.

They all rushed in to check, only to discover that Officer Li had already died with the cigarette between his lips.

Zhang Chenze covered her mouth, wanting to cry bitterly but not daring to make a sound.

“Damn it…” She slowly walked to the corner, grabbed her hair, and squatted down. Her previously overly standard Mandarin had now become dialect. “What the hell is all this… what the hell is going on…”

Her emotions looked very unstable, as if she had received a huge shock.

Before Qi Xia could speak, the bell rang once more in the distance.

“DONG!!”

Lin Qin and Old Lu were startled and looked toward the direction of the sound.

Although none of them knew what the bell represented, they had already heard this sound many times when people died.

Lin Qin steadied herself, came to Lawyer Zhang’s side, gently patted her shoulder, then said, “Lawyer Zhang, you need to pull yourself together.”

“How am I supposed to pull myself together…” Lawyer Zhang raised her haggard face, her eyes full of despair. “Officer Li died because of me… he died trying to save me…”

“What exactly happened?” Lin Qin grasped Lawyer Zhang’s ice-cold hand. “Don’t keep it bottled up at a time like this. Tell me about it.”

She seemed to know well how to talk to someone losing emotional control. In just a few sentences, she made Lawyer Zhang lower her guard.

“It’s all that rabbit…” Lawyer Zhang shook her head. “That crazy rabbit… she wanted both our lives… If it weren’t for Officer Li, we both would have died… They’re all insane… they have absolutely no regard for the law…”

Lawyer Zhang slowly recounted what had happened after Qi Xia and the others left.

Their experience was different from what Qi Xia had deduced. It wasn’t Officer Li who had discovered the game mode of this cursed place, but Lawyer Zhang.

After the four left, Lawyer Zhang decisively struck up a conversation with the ox-headed person across from the convenience store.

Just as she herself had said, she needed to gather enough intelligence to make the correct judgment.

After learning that the games in this place wouldn’t cost lives and might even win “Dao,” she explained the situation to Officer Li, Xiao Ran, and Doctor Zhao. But of the three, only Officer Li supported her view and decided to gamble with the one remaining “Dao” they had.

This approach met with strong opposition from Xiao Ran. Knowing full well that “Dao” was the “stake” for participating in games, she insisted on keeping the “Dao” by her side, preferring to let this sliver of opportunity go to waste rather than allow it to be gambled.

Officer Li, considering that she was a weak woman, had been trying to persuade her gently, but Lawyer Zhang didn’t indulge her.

After several instances of clear logic and sharp words, she rendered Xiao Ran speechless.

After all, when it came to “arguing,” how could a kindergarten teacher possibly out-argue a lawyer?

The game designed across from the convenience store was by “Man-Ox.” It was the simplest game imaginable—an obstacle course race.

Many discarded tires and wooden high walls were arranged in the restaurant. As long as they could complete the track within the time limit, they could win two “Dao.”

This game was practically custom-designed for Officer Li. He was originally from the police academy and had frequently practiced obstacle courses during his student days. Although he had become somewhat rusty after so many years, completing the track within the time limit was still more than manageable.

Entry fee: one “Dao.” Victory prize: two “Dao.”

Officer Li seemed to have found some loophole. He participated three times in succession, and their “Dao” grew from one to four.

Only when he truly had no more strength did the two leave the game venue.

This experience greatly boosted their confidence. They believed they had hope of collecting enough “Dao” before meeting Qi Xia.

Later, they stumbled by chance upon “Man-Rabbit’s” game venue.

It was an “escape-type” game. They had thought this game’s difficulty wouldn’t be too great either.

In a small room, the two were trapped in two corners of the room.

Lawyer Zhang was bound in a huge transparent fish tank. The tank was filling with water.

Meanwhile, Officer Li was handcuffed to the wall on the other side of the room.

By his hand was only a wooden stick.

The key to Officer Li’s handcuffs was placed in Lawyer Zhang’s fish tank.

And the switch to stop the water filling Lawyer Zhang’s tank was not far from Officer Li.

Both had methods of saving the other within reach.

But Lawyer Zhang was bound by wire and couldn’t untie the ropes at all, nor could she throw the handcuff key out of the fish tank.

Although Officer Li was close to the water valve switch, his right hand was locked, and he was always two steps away from the valve.

Neither could save the other immediately.

How cruel was this game?

It wasn’t an “escape-type” game at all, but a thorough test of human nature.

It appeared that both were trapped and needed to escape individually, but thinking carefully, Officer Li’s situation was fundamentally different from Zhang Chenze’s.

As time passed, Zhang Chenze would definitely drown, but Officer Li wouldn’t.

He would be safe even if he stayed there for an entire day.

Zhang Chenze said without reservation, “At that moment, I thought I was dead for sure.”

Next, Officer Li tried many methods to break free from the handcuffs.

For him, ordinary handcuffs weren’t difficult to open, but he had no lockpicking tools at hand. The only thing that might be useful was that wooden stick.

“Officer Li was really so foolish…” Zhang Chenze sobbed and lowered her head. “Why didn’t he throw the stick over to break the fish tank…? Instead, he broke his own…”

After hearing this, Qi Xia sighed helplessly. “He had an internal struggle.”

“What?” Zhang Chenze raised her vacant eyes. “You’re saying this was the result after he considered it?”

“Yes.” Qi Xia nodded. “He should have known that using the stick to shatter the glass wasn’t the wise choice.”

“But he didn’t even try…” Zhang Chenze began crying again. “He clearly could have tried…”

“And what if he tried?” Qi Xia said. “What if the stick didn’t shatter the glass and instead fell beside the fish tank… what would you two have done then?”

Zhang Chenze choked up. Qi Xia’s question hit the nail on the head.

If the stick hadn’t shattered the fish tank and instead fell in the distance, the two would have completely lost any hope of escaping from there.

As Zhang Chenze looked on in shock, Officer Li used that wooden stick to shatter his own hand.