Chapter 101: Breaking the Calamity
Qiao Jiajin immediately withdrew his hand after hearing that.
But the tiny bit of force he had added when he touched the rope was already enough to break the uncanny balance.
A loud chain sound erupted from one of the holes, and the rope trembled along with it.
Qi Xia immediately grabbed a tabletop from the floor and shouted, "Han Yimo! Get behind me!"
Hearing this, Han Yimo quickly ran over and hid behind Qi Xia, gripping his clothes and looking extremely nervous.
"Murphy's Law...?"
Qi Xia kept moving away from the hole, holding the tabletop, with Han Yimo shuffling behind him.
Logically, Qi Xia was no longer perpendicular to the hole, so the harpoon fired from it could never fly toward them, let alone hit Han Yimo behind him. Yet Qi Xia felt an inexplicable sense of unease.
Standing by the hole, Qiao Jiajin was baffled by Qi Xia's behavior. He looked at the rope, then at Qi Xia, and asked in confusion, "Liar boy, what are you doing?"
"Qiao Jiajin, stay away from there. There's another harpoon. Be careful not to get hurt!" Qi Xia replied seriously.
No sooner had he spoken than a loud bang came from the hole, and two harpoons shot out simultaneously.
The first was the intruder that had accidentally shot into the hole earlier, and the second was clearly the one that had been building up force all along.
*Whoosh!*
Everything happened in a single second.
The first harpoon flew out of the hole and landed weakly on the ground nearby.
But the second harpoon, with all its might, shot off in the opposite direction from Qi Xia.
Seeing that the harpoon's trajectory wasn't aimed at him, Qi Xia felt a moment of relief—until he saw it strike the standing clock in the room with perfect accuracy.
That clock had been an important tool for everyone to keep track of time for a long while. No one expected it to become a springboard for the harbinger of death.
A metallic crash exploded, and sparks flew everywhere.
Whatever material the clock was made of, it remained standing after the violent impact, but the harpoon changed direction because of the collision.
Like a venomous snake that had suddenly spotted its prey, it twisted abruptly and charged straight at Qi Xia and Han Yimo.
The harpoon flew low, skimming the ground the entire way. Seeing this, Qi Xia pushed Han Yimo back and stepped forward with the tabletop.
Given the harpoon's current trajectory, it would hit the tabletop before reaching Han Yimo.
Just as the harpoon and tabletop were inches apart, the harpoon scraped the ground. The rebound force sent it shooting upward instantly.
This impossible trajectory made it leap over Qi Xia entirely. A moment later, it hit the ceiling, changed direction again, and charged unwaveringly toward Han Yimo behind Qi Xia.
To everyone's eyes, that harpoon was like a zigzagging bolt of lightning, bypassing all obstacles and flying unerringly toward its target.
Just as Han Yimo had said, he was bound to be hit by the harpoon.
The harpoon's entire trajectory was so bizarre—its target had always been Han Yimo from start to finish.
Qi Xia knew he could never reposition the tabletop in time to block it. A look of despair crept onto his face.
There was no one left to save Han Yimo now. Even if there were a million-to-one chance, it would have to be Han Yimo dodging on his own.
But judging by how he was trembling nervously, he probably couldn't even move a single step. This time, he was going to die.
Just as the harpoon was less than five centimeters from Han Yimo, Qiao Jiajin, standing by the hole, suddenly grabbed the rope shooting out of it and yanked it backward hard.
Pulling the rope affected the harpoon—touching one part moves the whole.
His reaction was lightning-fast. The speeding harpoon instantly lost its balance, like a flower blown by a fierce gale.
The harpoon finally stopped advancing, wobbled reluctantly in the air a few times, and then fell to the ground.
The events of that second were so breathtaking that everyone held their breath.
After a long moment, Han Yimo sat down on the ground, his clothes drenched in sweat.
Qiao Jiajin looked at the rope in his hand and cursed, "Was this harpoon here to party? Zipping around the room—zip your mom's head!"
Qi Xia put down the tabletop, still shaken, and walked over to help Han Yimo up. "You okay?"
"I'm fine... I'm really fine now... You saved my life. Thank you so much... Qi Xia, you're my savior..."
Qi Xia paused as he helped Han Yimo to his feet—he noticed that Han Yimo had stopped trembling.
"So that's it..."
He nodded silently. He had more or less figured out what "Disaster Attraction" meant.
"From now on... will you still be afraid?" Qi Xia asked.
"A little... but not terribly." Han Yimo forced a bitter smile. "Knowing you'll be in the next game, I feel a bit safer..."
Hearing that, Qi Xia felt that saving Han Yimo was absolutely the right decision.
Though the full extent of "Disaster Attraction" wasn't clear yet, it seemed Han Yimo could foresee upcoming dangers.
If he brought Han Yimo along when facing the zodiacs, Qi Xia could judge the danger level of the game by Han Yimo's fear. If things went smoothly, he might even figure out whether he could gamble his life with the opponent.
Of course, that was all just a hopeful hypothesis. The priority now was to keep Han Yimo alive.
From this point on, he didn't need to save unimportant people.
For the upcoming "Heaven-Sent Death" and "Yes or No," it didn't matter if only a few made it through.
"Officer Li," Qi Xia called out. "What did you say about the harpoon?"
"Oh..." Officer Li snapped to attention and quickly played along. "There are words on this harpoon! Come take a look!"
Qi Xia pretended to examine the harpoon, then said, "I see. Now I get it, everyone. The game master this time is the 'Human-Sheep' again, but the 'Human-Sheep' can lie..."
He explained his deduction in detail to the crowd, then walked straight to the hole in the center of the room.
He knew the floor would collapse in a few minutes, and then the rope would drop from the ceiling hole, saving their lives.
Qi Xia's intention in revealing his deduction was only to save some of them.
But unexpectedly, everyone immediately believed him.
When Qi Xia stood beneath the hole, the first person to come to his side was Xiao Ran.
She wore a look of adoration, unconditionally trusting everything he said.
Perhaps because his every move so far had been flawless, Xiao Ran had developed a crush.
"Brother Qi, I don't know why, but I really trust you!" Xiao Ran said fawningly.
"Heh." Qi Xia gave a cold laugh. "Well, thank you very much."