Chapter 141: Seesaw
"Teamwork?" Qi Xia was startled. "You mean... the four of us work together as a team to play the game?"
"That's right."
Qi Xia took a deep breath. He felt that "Teamwork" was much more reliable than "Trivia Quiz."
It meant he could use his own strength to protect Qiao Jiajin and Tiantian as much as possible.
"What are the specific rules?" Qi Xia asked again.
"Enter the room, learn the rules."
Qi Xia looked at the room behind the man-dragon. It was a very small space, didn't seem bigger than a public toilet.
If that was the case, the game conducted in this room couldn't be too complicated. Even in the worst-case scenario, it would at most be some kind of team escape game.
"Does your game... have 'traitors'?" Qi Xia asked.
"Naturally not." The man-dragon shook his head. "As long as the four of you stay united and work together, you will definitely win the game."
"Is there any chance the four of us will end up killing each other?" Qi Xia asked again.
"I promise you, absolutely not." The man-dragon shook his head again.
Hearing this, Qi Xia knew it was worth taking the gamble.
"In that case, let's go together."
The man-dragon slowly revealed a smile.
"Good, very good." He nodded and moved aside from the door behind him. He didn't enter, just clearing a path for Qi Xia and the others.
Qi Xia exchanged a glance with Yun Yao, then slowly walked forward.
Qiao Jiajin and Tiantian followed closely behind. The four of them entered the room.
Only then did they realize that the room was at most three or four square meters in size. All four walls were made of metal, and the floor was a grid of iron mesh.
In the corner of the room stood an old, short wooden stool. On the stool rested a long knife, polished to a shine.
On the left wall hung a countdown electronic clock, set to ten minutes.
In this "little bathroom" where everything was laid out clearly, what kind of game was about to take place?
*Snap.*
A crisp sound. As expected, the door behind the four of them closed.
Qi Xia turned around and found that the door had become a solid iron wall.
"Damn..." Qiao Jiajin muttered a curse. "That bastard didn't even tell us the rules! Did he forget?"
"No, he won't. Be patient and wait."
No sooner had he spoken than the four of them simultaneously noticed something strange.
Beneath their feet was the iron mesh, but the ground below the mesh began to rapidly descend. The four of them stood on the iron mesh floor, as if suspended in midair.
Yun Yao nervously gripped the metal wall, carefully feeling the motion for a moment, then discovered the truth: "It feels like our room is rising... like an elevator."
Yes. Compared to a "toilet," this place was indeed more like an "elevator."
After all, all four walls were metal. But why was the floor made of iron mesh?
The four of them felt the room moving quickly, but they couldn't see anything outside except darkness through the iron mesh below.
Fortunately, the mesh was sturdy enough that they didn't have to worry about falling to their deaths.
"Be careful." Qiao Jiajin walked over to the stool, picked up the knife, and held it protectively. "It's shaking so much. Watch out for the blade."
After who knows how long, they felt the room jolt, as if it had stopped moving—but the situation was still far from good.
They felt like the room was tied to a bungee cord, constantly bouncing up and down, unstable.
When they looked down again, they saw flames burning fiercely some ten meters below their feet. Wisps of smoke were now drifting up into their "elevator."
"What's this for?" Qiao Jiajin crouched down, peering through the iron mesh. "Roasting meat? But the fire's way too far down."
Qi Xia knew the man-dragon wouldn't do anything meaningless, but what did "fire" represent?
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my game venue." The man-dragon's voice suddenly came from all directions, eerie.
"Hey! Where are you, you bastard?"
Qiao Jiajin took a step forward, but this made the room shake even more violently. He quickly grabbed the wall beside him.
"Don't move!" Qi Xia felt something was wrong. "We seem to be hanging from something unstable!"
Everyone carefully sensed it and felt that Qi Xia was right.
The man-dragon's laughter echoed from all directions, then he loudly announced:
"This game is called 'Seesaw.' If you are not eliminated, each of you will receive ten 'Dao.' Now, the game officially begins."
As soon as he finished, the ten-minute countdown started ticking.
"What?!" Yun Yao was stunned. "It's starting now?! What about the rules?!"
"No..." Qi Xia said, a hint of panic in his voice. "The word 'Seesaw' itself is probably the rule..."
He moved slowly, then groped along the wall until he found a hidden window. It was only about five or six centimeters in diameter, about the size of a tennis ball.
He gently pushed it open, and a small hatch swung outward.
Qi Xia swallowed, then peered out through the small window. In an instant, every hair on his body stood on end.
A dragon is indeed a dragon.
Does such a structure really exist?
Qi Xia's eyes flickered as he slowly stepped back a few paces.
Seeing his expression, the others also looked through the small window.
But one glance was enough to chill everyone's heart.
Outside the small window, what met their eyes was a massive metal beam extending outward, dozens of meters long.
One end of this huge metal beam was connected to Qi Xia and the others' "elevator," and the other end was connected to another "elevator."
Inside that other elevator, someone had also found the hidden window and was now looking in their direction.
But the window was too small, and the distance too great; neither side could make out the other's features.
This huge metal beam was like a seesaw, fixed at the center, with two rooms hanging at either end, now swaying slightly.
"Damn... a seesaw..." Qi Xia cursed under his breath. "Is this what you wanted?"
"Cheater... what the hell is this..." Qiao Jiajin kept blinking. He looked at the flames far below his feet, cold sweat trickling down his face.
A seesaw is a physically unstable structure. Before long, due to slight differences in weight, one side would inevitably sink all the way down to the ground.
And the ground beneath them was fire.
If they sank, the people inside the room would fall straight into the flames and be burned alive.
"We have to get lighter..." Qi Xia muttered to himself. "Only if our room gets lighter can we survive..."
Before he could finish, they felt their room slowly descending.
They were heavier than the other side.
"Damn..."
Everyone except Tiantian was alarmed. They immediately moved toward the side closer to the metal beam.
"Tiantian, you come over too!" Qiao Jiajin said.
Tiantian nodded and quickly stood beside the other three.
According to the lever principle, they couldn't stand on the outermost side of the room, or it would increase their room's leverage over the other side.
It seemed the other side had already realized this, meaning they weren't easy to deal with either.
...
Chu Tianqiu hummed a tune and slowly revealed a smile.
"Let me guess." He opened his eyes. "You want to use your own strength to protect your teammates, so you agreed to participate in the 'man-dragon's' game, right?"
Chu Tianqiu straightened up and looked at the chessboard.
On the right were four "pawns." On the left were the "king," "queen," "knight," and "bishop."
These eight pieces were now attacking a monster from both sides.
"Sometimes, being clever is a terminal illness."
Chu Tianqiu pondered for a moment, then reached out and slowly removed the monster from the center of the board.
The formation had become strange.
The eight pieces were now divided into left and right, swords drawn and bows bent, confronting each other.
It no longer looked like they were besieging a monster.
Instead, it looked like they were about to turn on each other.