Chapter 208: Impersonation
The Vermilion Bird disappeared.
Through this encounter, Qi Xia had formed a rough inference about the entire Land of Endings, but now was not the time to sort it out; the top priority was to rescue Yun Yao.
Zhang Shan was still forcefully ramming the door. The iron door was sturdier than imagined, and with the room already flooded to above the door, the resistance was unimaginably great.
The group looked through the glass window on the door—the accumulated water had already submerged Yun Yao's forehead. She was now struggling to keep her head tilted back, breathing with difficulty.
Zhang Shan made a prompt decision and struck the glass window with his hand, but every window in this damned place seemed to be custom-made, extremely hard.
"Zhang Shan," Qi Xia called out. "Don't push inward. Pull outward."
"Pull outward?" Zhang Shan was taken aback. "But this door opens inward..."
"You can't resist the force of all that water inside, so go with the flow," Qi Xia said. "Pull outward and break it down."
Zhang Shan immediately understood upon hearing this. He nodded, then grabbed the door handle with both hands, planted one foot on the left wall, and leaned backward. Soon, his other foot also left the ground.
Now he was practically standing on the wall, exerting force with both arms and legs to pull the iron door outward.
The veins on his arms bulged prominently, and his face turned red from exertion.
"I... damn..."
Qi Xia and Old Lü hurriedly joined in, pulling on Zhang Shan's arms.
"Creak—"
Amid the loud noise, the iron door actually began to warp.
"You two go first!" Zhang Shan said. "It's too dangerous!"
Old Lü nodded quickly and came over to tug Qi Xia. "Kid Qi, retreat!"
Qi Xia quickly sidestepped. He felt like someone was missing from the team. Turning his head, he saw that Doctor Zhao had already run more than ten meters away.
"Bang—"
"Yun Yao! Hold on to the handcuffs!" Qi Xia shouted into the room.
Zhang Shan's formidable physical strength tore a large opening in the iron door. The next second, a massive torrent of accumulated water surged out from the room, expanding the opening into a huge gap in an instant.
The iron door finally gave way, flying outward along with Zhang Shan.
Inside the room, Yun Yao was grateful that someone had just shouted "Hold on to the handcuffs." Otherwise, under the tremendous pull of the water flow, her wrist would likely have been dislocated.
She gripped the handcuffs tightly, letting the massive current wash over her. In a moment, she felt the pressure on her body ease considerably.
At least now she could breathe normally.
After the water flow subsided, the few of them went to help Zhang Shan up and then entered the room together.
Yun Yao looked a bit weak.
The prolonged mental strain had left her physically and mentally exhausted.
"Oh..." Yun Yao gave a wry smile. "What a big fuss..."
"Yun girl! You almost died!" Old Lü shouted. "That rabbit damn well cheated, almost killed you!"
"How could that be... I'm very lucky..." Yun Yao coughed a few times. "I already saved you, so how could I die here?"
Qi Xia knew she was putting on a brave face.
Old Lü had said that Yun Yao "threw her wooden stick several times, and each time it bounced back into her hand." It clearly sounded like a gamble, but fortunately she won. She didn't have an "Echo," so where did her good luck come from?
Zhang Shan stepped forward to examine Yun Yao's handcuffs. They were standard police handcuffs, impossible to open with bare hands. In that case, how could they take her away?
But Zhang Shan was Zhang Shan after all—he quickly came up with an idea.
Since he couldn't open the handcuffs, why not just snap the iron pipe that held them?
Once again, he extended his thick arms and gripped the iron pipe nearby.
Then he gritted his teeth, veins instantly bulging, and within the blink of an eye, he actually bent the iron pipe.
Under the astonished gazes of everyone, Zhang Shan bent the pipe back and forth, producing loud metallic noises.
In a very short time, cracks appeared on the pipe, and after a few more bends, it snapped with a sound.
Yun Yao's handcuffs slid out from the broken end. She glanced at the cuffs still locked on her wrists, then casually slipped them onto her wrist like a bracelet.
"Looks nice?" Yun Yao shook her arm.
"Can you walk?" Zhang Shan helped her up.
"No problem..." Yun Yao nodded. "I need to go back and change clothes quickly... otherwise I'll catch a cold."
Old Lü took off his jacket and draped it over Yun Yao's shoulders.
"Thanks." Yun Yao smiled. "Where's that human rabbit?"
"Don't even mention the human rabbit," Old Lü shook his head. "It was a little girl impersonating it. She's really something—trying to get 'Dao' this way? Pretty clever at a critical moment..."
"Impersonating...?" Upon hearing these words, Yun Yao actually breathed a sigh of relief. "It's good that it's an impersonation... Was it Xiao Ran?"
Qi Xia suddenly felt some sympathy for Yun Yao.
She believed that the "Zodiac" was an impostor, so "Heaven's Mouth's" plan to gamble all the "Zodiacs" to death could still be carried out.
But when she found out that she had a "Zodiac Ascension Betting Contract" in her pocket, how would she feel then?
The "Zodiacs" here were endless.
Even an ordinary person like Xiao Ran, once she willingly put on the mask, as long as her subsequent actions were reasonable and compliant, she would truly become the "Human Rabbit."
In other words, if "Heaven's Mouth" kept leading participants to bet their lives against the "Zodiacs"...
Then the number of participants in the "Land of Endings" would dwindle, while the natives and the disappeared would increase.
One day, there would be nothing left here but "Zodiacs" and "natives."
When that day came, no one could possibly gather three thousand six hundred "Dao," and no one could ever leave—that would be the true "End."
Yun Yao scooped the water out of her ear and asked again, "Where's Chu Tianqiu? Why didn't that scheming man come to save me?"
"Hey, don't even mention it! That Chu kid told me he would 'definitely do his best,' but in the end, he didn't even show up!" Old Lü grumbled. "What kind of person is that? I thought I was selfish enough..."
"Old Lü, don't sow discord," Qi Xia said expressionlessly. "I guess Chu Tianqiu must have his reasons for doing this."
Zhang Shan frowned on the side. He felt that Qi Xia's words were deliberately said for Yun Yao to hear.
Who was really sowing discord?
"Yun Yao, don't overthink it." Zhang Shan knew he was clumsy with words and couldn't say anything nice, but saying nothing at this moment would be inappropriate. "As our leader, Chu Tianqiu definitely can't show himself easily..."
"Zhang Shan," Yun Yao called out. "I suspect that the current Chu Tianqiu is an impostor."
"Huh?" Zhang Shan, Old Lü, and Doctor Zhao next to them were all taken aback simultaneously.