Chapter 70: New Teammates
If their roles were reversed, Zhang Chenze knew she would never break her own hand to save someone else's life.
But Officer Li really did it.
His initial idea was very simple: by dislocating his own palm, he could easily slip out of the handcuffs.
But he made a mistake.
Qi Xia remembered that when Officer Li had saved Han Yimo from beneath the "harpoon" before, the situation had also been extremely urgent, yet he hadn't made a mistake.
Perhaps this time he was truly flustered.
When he struck his palm with the wooden stick, he accidentally hit the handcuffs instead.
And that was how handcuffs worked—if force was applied from the outside, they only got tighter.
He knew that even if he shattered all the bones in his hand, he wouldn't be able to pull it free.
Seeing the water in the fish tank had already risen above Lawyer Zhang's neck, Officer Li made a snap decision. He abandoned his plan to smash his palm and instead turned to his forearm.
This time, his blows were even stronger, so strong that he nearly blacked out several times.
Lawyer Zhang could only tilt her head back, constantly searching for air above the water's surface.
Just as her consciousness was beginning to fade, that man arrived.
He immediately shut off the water valve and shattered the fish tank with the wooden stick.
Then, using his remaining left hand, he untied the wire wrapped around Lawyer Zhang.
In just that short minute or two, Officer Li's broken right hand was already bleeding profusely.
Zhang Chenze quickly snapped off a piece of wire and tightly tied it around his arm.
Only then did the two of them manage to escape from that damned place.
Lawyer Zhang looked at Officer Li's corpse with a sorrowful expression and said, "Just as he said... he was a police officer, so he couldn't stand by and watch someone die."
"No..." Qi Xia slowly shook his head. "Perhaps he was just trying to make up for the mistakes he made in the past."
"Mistakes he made?" The others looked at Qi Xia in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Qi Xia wanted to say something, but he swallowed the words back down. The things Officer Li had just told them probably weren't meant for many to know. Since he was already dead, let that secret be buried with him.
Lin Qin took off her own coat and draped it over Lawyer Zhang.
"Lawyer Zhang, you're soaked through. Be careful not to catch a cold."
Old Lyu, feeling a bit useless on the side, fumbled around for a while before picking up the aluminum pot and said to Lawyer Zhang, "Hey, little lady, my condolences. Do you want something to eat?"
Lawyer Zhang paused slightly and asked, "And this is?"
"I'm Lyu... just call me Old Lyu." Old Lyu gave a simple smile. "Man is iron, rice is steel—you'll feel weak if you skip a meal."
"He's someone we met while participating in the game," Lin Qin explained. "Lawyer Zhang, you must be hungry, right? Qi Xia specifically brought this pot of meat for you all."
"Meat..."
Lawyer Zhang was indeed hungry.
Counting from the time she had arrived here, she hadn't eaten anything in two full days.
She quickly took the pot, grabbed the cold, greasy, and gamey chunks of fat meat, and began eating them ravenously.
Seeing her soaking wet, hair disheveled, and wolfing down her food, no one would ever guess that she had once been an arrogant lawyer.
After eating a few pieces of meat, Lawyer Zhang said, her speech still garbled, "Qi Xia... thank you..."
Qi Xia said nothing.
After all, that pot of meat was meant for Officer Li. Now that Officer Li was dead, giving it to Lawyer Zhang was fine.
At least she seemed more reliable than Xiao Ran and Dr. Zhao.
"Qi Xia, I used to have some opinions about you," Lawyer Zhang continued. "But you not only brought us food, you also brought Officer Li cigarettes. You're really thoughtful."
She pointed to the cigarette dangling from Officer Li's mouth and said, "It took him a long time to find two moldy cigarettes..."
Qi Xia pondered for a moment, then walked over and took the cigarette from Officer Li's mouth.
Qi Xia had never seen this brand of cigarette before. On the filter, there were four characters: "Dongchongxiacao." He brought it to his nose and smelled a rich milky aroma mixed with the fragrance of Chinese herbs.
"That's right, these are the cigarettes I brought," Qi Xia said with a complicated expression. "It's just a shame Officer Li died before he could smoke them."
Lin Qin found it puzzling. She had been with Qi Xia almost every step of the way, but she didn't remember him finding any cigarettes.
Qi Xia also picked up the metal lighter from Officer Li's hand. "This lighter was also something I brought to give to Officer Li. Now it seems I'll have to use it myself."
Naturally, no one objected, though Lin Qin was a bit curious.
Qi Xia walked to the side, holding the lighter and the cigarette, studying them repeatedly.
He felt there was something indescribably strange about this whole affair. Was it all related to that bell chime?
Thinking this, he picked up the old cigarette pack from the ground and examined it carefully, but found no mechanism.
"What's wrong?" Lin Qin walked over and asked softly. "Is something off?"
Qi Xia frowned, unable to answer.
How could he explain it to Lin Qin?
That Officer Li had pulled a cigarette from a pack?
Or that Officer Li had taken a lighter from his own pocket?
These trivial things, if spoken, wouldn't seem strange at all, yet they baffled Qi Xia.
"Maybe I just saw wrong." Qi Xia put both the cigarette and lighter back into the pack and turned around. "How is Lawyer Zhang?"
"Her emotions have stabilized. What should we do?"
Qi Xia nodded and said, "Our goal has always been only one, hasn't it?"
With that, he walked slowly over to Lawyer Zhang and said, "Lawyer Zhang, I'll be direct... Can I borrow a 'Dao' from you?"
"Borrow... a 'Dao'?" Lawyer Zhang raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"That's right." Qi Xia nodded. "To be honest, our 'Dao' were burned up. We don't have a single one left."
Lawyer Zhang listened and slowly lowered her head, as if thinking something over.
"Qi Xia... I can give you all my 'Dao'," Lawyer Zhang said, looking up seriously. "Let's team up."
Qi Xia pursed his lips and said, "It's not that I don't want to team up with you... but being by my side seems to be dangerous..."
He briefly told Zhang Chenze about what had happened to Qiao Jiajin and Tiantian, then said, "I'm being targeted now. They'll kill the people around me to stop me."
"Did Qiao Jiajin and Tiantian's deaths affect you?" Lawyer Zhang asked.
"Well..."
"You weren't affected at all," Lawyer Zhang said. "That means killing the people around you to threaten you—that tactic won't work."
"In theory, that's right."
"Then I'm safe." Lawyer Zhang slowly stood up. "Let's make a deal. I'll give you all my 'Dao,' and I'll help you from now on, but in exchange, you have to help me escape."