Chapter 14: After the Rain, the Bamboo Shoots
"Hang on!" Officer Li shouted. "We only have so many harpoons—hold out a little longer and we'll make it!"
Before anyone could respond, another scream rang out.
They turned to see that it was Tiantian.
She wasn't as lucky as Xiao Ran. The harpoon had pierced straight through her palm.
In that instant, Tiantian lost her strength. The table panel in front of her was knocked askew by the whistling harpoons.
"Watch out!"
Qiao Jiajin gritted his teeth and reached out to grab Tiantian's table panel.
In that brief gap, a harpoon flew precisely through the opening and pierced Han Yimo's shoulder.
Han Yimo let out a pained cry, but his hands still gripped the table panel tightly.
"Don't panic!"
Officer Li reached out to steady Han Yimo, then spread both hands apart to support half of the panel for him.
Qiao Jiajin made a quick decision and reached out to help Tiantian hold her panel steady.
Fortunately, the two men were extremely strong, and the entire formation began to stabilize once more.
As the sounds of impact gradually faded, the group finally realized just how effective this formation was.
If they had arranged the table panels staggered and held them vertically as Officer Li and Dr. Zhao had originally suggested, the panels would have been perpendicular to the harpoons, making them extremely easy to pierce through.
But the "After the Rain, the Bamboo Shoots" formation caused the harpoons coming from all five directions to strike the panels at an angle, greatly reducing their penetrating power.
Harpoons that came flying from directly above, in particular, were deflected off course by the cone-shaped structure.
After a while longer, the sounds outside the panels ceased entirely.
"Is it over?" Han Yimo asked through gritted teeth.
"Wait another minute," Qi Xia replied.
The group held the panels up in silence for another minute, confirming that there was indeed no more activity outside.
Qiao Jiajin carefully shifted a panel aside to peek out.
"Holy shit..." He was instantly stunned by the sight before him.
The others slowly moved the panels away as well, revealing the ground and tables almost entirely covered with harpoons.
The two corpses on the floor were a gruesome sight—they looked like a pair of hedgehogs, densely packed with spikes.
Every harpoon was connected by a rope, and the other end of each rope disappeared into holes in the walls. The room was now a complete mess.
Dr. Zhao immediately rolled up his sleeves and went over to Han Yimo.
His condition wasn't good. The harpoon had gone through his shoulder and needed urgent treatment.
Han Yimo slowly sat down, forcing a bitter smile. "I was just wondering if I'd be that unlucky... and sure enough, I got hit..."
Tiantian's face was full of guilt. She quickly apologized to Han Yimo.
But everyone knew it wasn't Tiantian's fault—she had been injured too.
"Hey, pretty girl, come here." Qiao Jiajin waved. "I can bandage that for you."
"Huh?" Tiantian was taken aback. "You know how to bandage?"
"Just a little."
Qiao Jiajin tore a strip of fabric from the dead Goathead's suit and then tore it into two pieces.
He tightly tied one strip around Tiantian's arm to stop the bleeding, and carefully wrapped the other around the wound.
"I used to get hurt a lot back on the streets, so I taught myself some first aid," Qiao Jiajin said.
Tiantian nodded slightly without saying a word.
For the first time since arriving here, the group enjoyed a moment of peace, as if they had temporarily escaped the shadow of death.
But still, no door appeared. This damned room continued to trap them.
Where the hell was this place?
What lay outside?
In less than a minute, a sigh came from Dr. Zhao's direction.
Qi Xia turned to look. Dr. Zhao, who was treating Han Yimo's wound, now wore a troubled expression.
"What's wrong?" Officer Li asked. "Is it serious?"
"The injury isn't serious," Dr. Zhao shook his head. "But I can't remove the harpoon."
The others moved closer and saw that the problem was indeed tricky.
The tip of the harpoon had barbs. Pulling it out would cause even more damage to the victim.
And the tail of the harpoon was attached to a rope.
Han Yimo was like a speared fish—no matter where he went, that rope would hold him fast.
"We'll have to cut the rope and pull the harpoon out from the front," Dr. Zhao said, looking up. "But I don't have a sharp tool on me."
Han Yimo's lips were already turning pale. The harpoon lodged in his shoulder blade was causing him immense pain.
"Use another harpoon," Officer Li said decisively. "Even though they're sharp tips, they can still cut."
"That'll have to do." Dr. Zhao nodded. "Writer, I need you to lie down in the most relaxed position you can. We'll cut the rope on your back. Don't rush—take it slow. Be careful of the harpoon in front of you, and try not to get hurt again."
Han Yimo nodded and began to move his body with difficulty.
Qi Xia watched the scene and felt a sense of dissonance.
Take it slow?
Did they really have the time to do that in this situation?
He looked at the ropes scattered all over the floor, and a foreboding feeling crept into his mind.
If his guess was right, they were still racing against time.
"We can't take it slow!" Qi Xia suddenly spoke up. "Remove the harpoon now!"
He quickly walked over to the doctor and said seriously to Han Yimo, "Bear with it—I'm pulling it out now!"
Han Yimo was a bit confused but didn't refuse.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Dr. Zhao shoved Qi Xia in frustration. "You'll make his injury worse!"
"There's no time! If we dawdle, he'll really die!" Qi Xia shoved Dr. Zhao back, then grabbed the harpoon embedded in Han Yimo's back.
A scream of agony rang out.
Putting a barbed harpoon in was easy; taking it out was another matter entirely.
"Hey!" Officer Li rushed over and pulled Qi Xia away, yelling, "Are you trying to kill him?"
Blocked twice, Qi Xia's expression darkened.
"I understand you want to save him, but if we don't hurry, the harpoon will..."
Before Qi Xia could finish, the sound of chains rattled again, as if some massive mechanism had been triggered once more.
Accompanying it was Han Yimo's heart-wrenching scream.
Everyone snapped back to reality and saw that all the harpoons were slowly being retracted by the ropes.
Han Yimo was being dragged across the floor by the immense force.
Qi Xia had noticed this long ago—the ropes on the harpoons weren't just for show. They would eventually pull the harpoons back.
The group scrambled, running after Han Yimo. Officer Li tried to grab the rope to fight the immense strength coming from the black holes, but it was futile.
The table panels that were stuck full of harpoons were now being torn apart by the retracting force, sliding backward as well.
This power—capable of shredding wooden boards—was not something bare hands could resist.
Though Han Yimo was in excruciating pain, he quickly realized another problem.
If he was dragged to the wall and still couldn't free himself from the harpoon, he would be pinned there like a nail, left to die.
With that thought, he struggled to his feet, grabbed Qi Xia again, and said through clenched teeth, word by word, "Help me get this harpoon off! Do it now!"