Chapter 83: Signs of Giving Up
"Logical connections…"
Regardless, this superpower called "Echo" was already beyond everyone's comprehension.
In this bizarre place, there were not only god-like individuals but also madmen scattered throughout the streets. Numerous contestants had been slaughtered here at will, and now they could even obtain superpowers…
If this wasn't a dream, who would believe it?
"Qixia…" Zhang Chenze looked at Qixia's injuries with a very worried expression. "You didn't fool Jiang Ruoxue just now. What should we do next?"
"Fool?" Qixia shook his head, holding his wound. "I wasn't lying. I really am giving up."
"Huh?" The two of them were genuinely stunned. "You're really giving up?"
"Yes." Qixia's eyes were like a pool of stagnant water. "Someone stabbed a hole this big in me. It's impossible to continue participating in the game."
Zhang Chenze and Lin Qin hadn't expected Qixia to be so decisive about giving up. For a moment, neither knew what to do.
"Don't lose heart. I know some bandaging too," Lin Qin said. "Let's find a place to stop the bleeding first. There are still many days left. Saying you'll give up is too early."
"Stop the bleeding…" Qixia looked up at the sky. This day had been exceptionally long, and it was only now reaching evening.
"That's right, Qixia…" Zhang Chenze chimed in from the side. "You have more hope than either of us of collecting three thousand six hundred 'Tao'. If you give up, we really won't know what to do."
…
The three of them found a rundown massage parlor to settle down in.
In Zhang Chenze's view, the massage parlor had private cubicles and beds, which would at least allow Qixia to rest and recover properly.
Like the other buildings, this massage parlor was almost completely dilapidated inside, but fortunately, they could still find some cloth curtains.
Lin Qin tore the curtain fabric into strips, preparing for bandaging.
Zhang Chenze also cleared out a clean single-seat sofa. The two of them helped Qixia onto it and then took off his shirt.
Qixia's shirt was completely soaked through with blood. It felt heavy in their hands, and with the slightest twist, blood water would pour out of the fabric.
The two of them finally understood what Qixia himself had said—his injury made it impossible not only to continue participating in the game but even to stand without using all his strength.
Lin Qin looked at Qixia's wound and sensed something was wrong.
The bald man had twisted the blade when he stabbed it into Qixia's shoulder.
This action had turned what should have been a simple cut into a blooming blood-red flower of flesh, not only tearing the surface skin and muscle completely apart but also potentially damaging the internal muscle tissue.
"We can't suture the wound…" Lin Qin said. "Bear with it for now. I'll bandage you up."
"Just bandaging won't help." Qixia pulled the old metal lighter from his pocket. "Find a dry piece of wood. Once it's lit, you can use it to stop the bleeding."
"This…" Lin Qin hesitantly took the lighter. "It's going to hurt a lot…"
"It's fine…" Qixia was about to say something when he suddenly heard a faint sound of movement not far away.
The sound was like something rhythmically hitting against a wall.
"What's wrong?"
"Shh!" Qixia silenced them both and listened carefully. "There seems to be someone in this building."
"Someone?" The two quickly lowered their voices and listened as well. There was indeed something making noise inside the building.
"It might be an original inhabitant…" Qixia slowly stood up and said, "I don't know if there's danger. Let's find another place."
"No. Your injury won't allow you to keep moving around. Let me go check," Zhang Chenze said. "We've been in here for a while. If there had been any danger, we would have been dead by now."
"No…" Qixia tried to reach out and stop Zhang Chenze, but she always acted swiftly and decisively. In one quick stride, she had already rushed out. Seeing this, Qixia could only turn and call to Lin Qin, "Stop her. There's no need to take risks."
Lin Qin nodded and quickly followed.
But this massage parlor wasn't very big to begin with. There were only four cubicles total on both sides of the hallway, and in just a few seconds, Zhang Chenze found the room where the sound was coming from.
She thought for a moment, then reached out and knocked on the door.
"Chenze!" Lin Qin whispered anxiously. "Be careful of 'original inhabitants'!"
"Original inhabitants shouldn't hurt us." Seeing no one answer, Zhang Chenze reached out and pushed the door open.
As soon as the door opened, a foul stench rushed out, forcing both of them to take a step back.
Inside the room, a man as thin as a skeleton stood with his back to the doorway, pressing down on the back of a "customer" lying on the bed.
Both of them gasped when they saw the scene before them.
Yes, "original inhabitants" don't hurt people.
But the things original inhabitants do always send chills down one's spine.
The "customer" lying face down on the bed was nothing more than a dried corpse. Yet the emaciated man kept his hands crossed, continuously pressing down on the corpse's back.
He seemed to have been at it for a long time. The entire back of the corpse had been flattened, and foul-smelling liquid had splashed all over the bed.
"Guest… is the pressure all right… Guest… is the pressure all right…"
The emaciated man asked mechanically, without any life in his voice, as he pressed down forcefully.
His hands, separated by the corpse, hit the bed board, making a "thump, thump" sound.
The two girls stood there dumbfounded for a long time without moving.
Qixia walked over slowly, reached out from behind them, and closed the door.
"Don't let it affect you."
Having said that, Qixia found a relatively clean cubicle, walked in, and sat down on the bed. "Go find a piece of wood."
Lin Qin snapped back to reality, knowing that stopping Qixia's bleeding was the most urgent priority. She quickly turned around to search for dry wood.
Meanwhile, Zhang Chenze stared thoughtfully at the room they had just closed. After a few seconds, she spoke up: "Qixia, do you think these people… were once like us?"
Qixia didn't answer. Instead, he said to Zhang Chenze, "Lawyer Zhang, don't be so impulsive in the future. If there hadn't been an original inhabitant in that room, but a group of desperadoes like that bald man earlier, what would you have done?"
Zhang Chenze slowly lowered her head and replied, "I let my concern cloud my judgment. If we can't rest here, your injuries will get worse."
"Concern clouding your judgment?" Qixia felt a little awkward. He thought for a moment and then said to Zhang Chenze, "Lawyer Zhang, you need to understand that I saved you from that giant microwave only because doing so was the way to win the game. It doesn't mean I have any special regard for you."
"I know…" Zhang Chenze nodded. "It might be because of what happened to Officer Li. Someone so good died right before my eyes… I'm afraid the same thing will happen to you."
"Someone so good…?" Qixia fell silent.
He recalled the story Officer Li had told him in his dying moments.
Could Officer Li really be considered a "good person"?