Chapter 20: Seeking the Dao
What do the twelve zodiac animals represent?
What lies at the end of the corridor?
The underworld?
On this seemingly endless, dimly lit hallway, the group moved forward tremblingly.
After several rounds of high-intensity "games," everyone felt both physically and mentally exhausted. Now, with the sudden relaxation, the lingering aura of death that had surrounded them began to fade.
Qi Xia turned his head unintentionally and saw Lin Qin standing beside him.
She kept her hand over her mouth and nose.
"Doesn't that bother you?" Qi Xia mimicked Lin Qin's gesture, placing his own hand over his mouth and nose. "Even though the smell here is awful, covering up like that makes it hard to breathe."
"Breathe?" Lin Qin was momentarily taken aback, then broke into a smile. "I don't find it hard to breathe. It's just that if I don't cover my mouth and nose, it feels strange... like..."
"Like what?"
"Like I'm not wearing any clothes." Lin Qin smiled sheepishly and then lowered her hand from her face.
Her nose was straight, her lips rosy—there was no real need to cover them. Qi Xia didn't quite understand what "like I'm not wearing any clothes" meant.
Lin Qin gave a slight smile, still feeling uneasy, so she raised her hand to cover her mouth and nose again.
"A bit embarrassing... Don't you feel awkward?" Lin Qin asked Qi Xia. "Just exposing your mouth and nose like this?"
"Why would that be awkward?" Qi Xia found it very strange.
"It's a 'mask'..." Lin Qin looked at Qi Xia as if he were an alien. "How can you be so at ease without wearing a 'mask'?"
"Mas—"
Before Qi Xia could react, a strange glow appeared in the distance.
The group was drawn to the light and looked ahead.
It was an exit.
A light resembling the glow of a sunset was streaming in from the opening.
"We're getting out!!" Qiao Jiajin shouted excitedly. "I see sunset light!"
This shout was like a shot of adrenaline for the group. Doctor Zhao, supporting Han Yimo, quickened his pace along with everyone else.
"Sunset?" Qi Xia pondered for a moment and said to the others, "We woke up at twelve o'clock. After over an hour of games, it should be around two o'clock now. Whether it's two in the morning or two in the afternoon, we shouldn't be seeing a 'sunset.'"
"I think you're overthinking it," Officer Li shook his head. "The time in that room might not be accurate. Maybe the actual time right now is evening."
Qi Xia nodded slightly. He knew Officer Li had a point. All his knowledge of time came from the clock in the room, but no one could guarantee that clock was correct.
They walked a few more steps and noticed a dark figure near the exit.
As they advanced, the figure gradually took human shape. He too wore an animal mask, but this mask disgusted them.
Unlike all the other animal masks, this one was not made from a single animal's head. It was stitched together from various animal organs—his mouth looked like a crocodile's, his nose like an ox's, his cheeks covered in fish scales, his neck wrapped in snakeskin. On top of that, he had sewn a lion's mane and a stag's horns onto the mask.
This "animal" was like...
"Hello, I am the 'Human Dragon,'" the stitched-up abomination spoke slowly. "All survived? How novel."
"Dragon...?"
The group instinctively halted, every nerve tensed.
Not because "Dragon" was frightening, but because they were too familiar with this opening.
Every time someone introduced themselves like this, a terrifying game followed.
"Don't be nervous, everyone. Your 'trials' are over for now." The Human Dragon raised his hands, and only then did they notice he was wearing gloves fitted with eagle claws.
All the animal parts on his body looked decayed and bloated, emitting a foul odor, but he seemed oblivious, continuing casually:
"I won't give you any new 'trials.' I'm just offering some advice."
The group said nothing, huddling together, staring warily at the Human Dragon in front of them.
"You have ten days to change all this," the Human Dragon said slowly. "If you don't obtain three thousand six hundred 'Dao' within those ten days, the world you're in will be annihilated. Everything you see will perish along with it."
This brief statement left the group baffled.
"Three thousand six hundred 'Dao'?" Qi Xia frowned. "What is 'Dao'? And what do you mean by 'the world we're in will be annihilated'?"
"Questions, hehehe, good." The Human Dragon nodded. "Questions mean you're still clear-headed. So-called 'Dao' is..."
He reached into the pocket of his black suit, fumbled around, and pulled out four small golden orbs.
These orbs had a white outer ring and a golden center, glowing all over with a faint golden sheen. They looked somewhat peculiar.
"This is 'Dao,'" the Human Dragon continued. "With three thousand six hundred 'Dao,' you can be saved."
Qi Xia pondered for a moment, then reached out and took one of the orbs. It didn't feel hard; in fact, it had a bit of elasticity.
"Take them. They were yours to begin with," the Human Dragon said with a smile.
After a moment's thought, Qi Xia accepted all four "Dao."
"You've passed four trials: 'The Liar,' 'Springing Up After Rain,' 'Death from the Sky,' and 'Right or Wrong.' These are your rewards and your 'chips.'"
None of them had ever imagined that risking their lives multiple times would yield such insignificant little beads. They didn't know what to say.
"'Dao'..." Qi Xia furrowed his brow and said helplessly, "So you're telling me that if we don't find three thousand six hundred of these little beads, everything here will be destroyed?"
"Hehehe, that's right. If this place is destroyed... you won't be able to get out." The Human Dragon nodded, causing the fish scales and lion mane on his face to wobble along with his head—a grotesque sight.
"It seems like you have quite a few of these beads yourself. Can't you just gather three thousand six hundred on your own?" Officer Li cut in sharply. "And you're obviously more powerful than us. Why don't you go find them yourself? Why choose us?"
"Me?" The Human Dragon let out a sneer. "We are all guilty people. The guilty cannot obtain 'Dao.' Only chosen ones like you can gain 'Dao' and eventually become 'gods.'"
"This is absurd!" Zhang Chenze interrupted, crossing her arms indignantly. "Do you even know what you're saying?"