Chapter 69: Self-Sacrifice
Pain.
A bone-deep pain.
Qi Xia gritted his teeth, squatting on the ground with a pained groan.
He felt as if he really did have some serious psychological problem.
Every time someone died beside him, his head would ache as if splitting apart.
What exactly caused this? Was it simply that seeing a dead person triggered this reaction?
No, Qi Xia had already seen dead people several times in the games.
Not every death caused him pain.
A full half-minute passed before Qi Xia finally let out a long breath and stood up again, his face expressionless.
The three people outside the door finally noticed the situation inside.
They all rushed in to check, only to find Officer Li already dead, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.
Zhang Chenze covered her mouth, wanting to cry but afraid to make a sound.
"Damn it..." She slowly walked to the corner, grabbed her hair, and crouched down. Her formerly standard Mandarin had now devolved into dialect. "What the hell is all this... what is everyone doing..."
Her emotions seemed extremely unstable, as if she had suffered a great shock.
Before Qi Xia could speak, the bell sounded again from afar.
「Clang」!!
Lin Qin and Old Lyu were startled, looking toward the direction of the sound.
Although neither of them knew what the bell signified, they had heard it many times now whenever someone died.
Lin Qin steadied herself, walked over to Lawyer Zhang, and gently patted her shoulder. "Lawyer Zhang, you need to pull yourself together."
"How am I supposed to pull myself together..." Lawyer Zhang looked up, her face haggard, her eyes full of despair. "Officer Li died for me... to save me..."
"What happened?" Lin Qin took hold of Lawyer Zhang's cold hand. "Don't bottle it up at a time like this. Tell me about it."
She seemed to know how to talk to someone emotionally distraught. A few short sentences were enough to lower Lawyer Zhang's defenses.
"It was all that rabbit..." Lawyer Zhang shook her head. "That mad rabbit... she wanted both of us dead... If it weren't for Officer Li, we'd both be dead... They're all madmen... there's absolutely no law in their eyes..."
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 discovered the game mode of this godforsaken place—it was Lawyer Zhang.
After Qi Xia and the other three left, Lawyer Zhang decisively started talking to the Ox-head across from the convenience store.
As she herself had said, she needed to collect enough information to make a correct judgment.
After learning that the games in this place would not necessarily kill you, and that you could even win "Tao," she explained the situation to Officer Li, Xiao Ran, and Dr. Zhao. But among the three, only Officer Li supported her view and decided to gamble with their remaining single "Tao."
This approach met strong opposition from Xiao Ran. Even though she knew perfectly well that "Tao" was the "chip" used to participate in games, she insisted on keeping the "Tao" by her side. She would rather let this one opportunity go to waste than allow it to be used for gambling.
Officer Li, mindful that she was a weak woman, kept trying to reason with her gently, but Lawyer Zhang wasn't about to indulge her.
After several rounds of logically clear, sharply worded verbal sparring, she left Xiao Ran speechless.
After all, when it came to "arguing," how could a kindergarten teacher outtalk a lawyer?
The game set up across from the convenience store was run by "Human Ox." It was about as simple a game as could be—an obstacle course race.
Inside the restaurant were many old tires and wooden high walls. As long as you could complete the course within the time limit, you'd win two "Tao."
This game was almost tailor-made for Officer Li. He was originally from the police academy and had practiced obstacle course running often as a student. Though he was a bit rusty after so many years, completing the course within the time limit was still more than enough.
Entry fee: one "Tao." Win: earn two "Tao."
Officer Li seemed to have found some kind of loophole. He participated three times in a row, and the pair's "Tao" turned into four.
It wasn't until he had no more stamina left that the two finally left the game area.
This experience greatly boosted their confidence. They thought they had a chance to collect enough "Tao" before seeing Qi Xia again.
Later, they stumbled upon the "Human Rabbit" game area.
It was an "escape" type game, and they thought it wouldn't be too difficult either.
In a small room, the two were trapped in opposite corners.
Lawyer Zhang was tied up inside a huge transparent fish tank that was filling with water.
Officer Li was handcuffed to the wall on the other side of the room.
The only thing within his reach was a wooden stick.
The key to Officer Li's handcuffs was placed inside Lawyer Zhang's fish tank.
And the switch to start filling Lawyer Zhang's fish tank was not far from Officer Li.
Both of them had a way to save the other.
But Lawyer Zhang was bound with wire, unable to untie the rope or throw the handcuff key out of the tank.
Although Officer Li was very close to the water valve switch, his right hand was locked, and the valve was always two steps away.
Neither of them could save the other immediately.
How cruel was this game?
It wasn't an "escape game" at all—it was a thorough test of human nature.
On the surface, both were trapped and needed to escape separately, but if you thought about it carefully, Officer Li's situation was completely different from Zhang Chenze's.
As time passed, Zhang Chenze would definitely drown, but Officer Li would not.
He could stay there for an entire day and still be safe.
Zhang Chenze did not mince words: "At that moment, I thought I was done for."
Next, Officer Li tried many ways to break free from the handcuffs.
For him, ordinary handcuffs weren't hard to open, but he had no lock-picking tools at hand. The only thing that could be of use was the wooden stick.
"Officer Li was so stupid..." Zhang Chenze sobbed, lowering her head. "Why didn't he just throw the stick over and smash the fish tank...? Instead, he broke his own..."
Qi Xia listened and sighed helplessly. "He struggled with it."
"What?" Zhang Chenze lifted her lifeless eyes. "Are you saying this was the result of his deliberation?"
"Yeah." Qi Xia nodded. "He must have known that smashing the glass with a stick wasn't a smart choice."
"But he didn't even try..." Zhang Chenze started crying again. "He could have at least tried..."
"And what if he did try?" Qi Xia said. "What if that stick didn't break the glass and instead fell beside the fish tank... What would you have done then?"
Zhang Chenze choked up. Qi Xia's question hit the nail on the head.
If that stick hadn't shattered the fish tank but instead fell far away, the two of them would have completely lost any hope of escaping from that place.
As Zhang Chenze looked on in shock, Officer Li used that wooden stick to smash his own hand.