Chapter 364: The Year of Disaster Relief
Seeing Lin Qin clearly injured, Su Shan’s expression finally lost its calm.
Though these people were “seniors,” though they could retain memories, though they had stumbled and scrambled in this place countless times, dying and being reborn—they were still “human” after all.
As humans, how fragile were they beneath these iron-plated mechanisms?
If Di Gou’s trap had been set just a bit more ruthlessly, Lin Qin would already be dead.
But wasn’t this method of slow death just as cruel?
When Su Shan watched helplessly as Lin Qin was once again hurled high into the air by the iron net, she gave up.
“Qi Xia, I’ve tried to follow your guidance… but I feel like I can’t do it,” Su Shan blinked. “If I have to abandon my teammates, I can’t imagine how we can possibly win.”
Su Shan’s gaze gradually turned resolute. “I want to save them…”
Now they had reached the final stage of the second round — “Winter.”
Qin Dingdong stared blankly at Lin Qin’s room until a “lot” popped up on her own table.
[Firecrackers Bid Farewell to the Old Year]
She was stunned for a moment, then picked up the “lot” expressionlessly.
This was the real “killer move,” far stronger than the [Thick Smoke Scatters the Eight Wastelands] she had used in the previous round.
She was about to insert this “lot” into the slot when she remembered what had happened to her in the last round.
When she was about to be buried by fine sand, it was Su Shan’s “lot” that saved her.
By that logic, should she now save Lin Qin too?
But… was she still saveable?
Just as Qin Dingdong was thinking, Lin Qin fell twice more in quick succession, nearly crashing into the table in her room once.
Her situation was dire. Who in this world had ever experienced falling from a height of three meters in a half-squatting posture over and over again?
Qin Dingdong looked at the “lots” in her hand: one was [Great Wind Sweeps Fallen Leaves], the other [Water Flows Without a Trace].
Judging from the names alone, neither of these “lots” seemed capable of saving Lin Qin. But if she did nothing, could Lin Qin survive?
Just then, Qin Dingdong’s peripheral vision caught Su Shan. Su Shan was anxiously tapping on the glass, as if trying to communicate something.
Qin Dingdong read her lips and realized she was saying “pass.”
“Pass…?” Qin Dingdong frowned. “Could it be… you can save Lin Qin?”
Without time to deliberate, she quickly inserted [Firecrackers Bid Farewell to the Old Year] into the slot.
In an instant, Di Gou’s room lit up with multicolored light, and the cheap sound of firecrackers played once more.
This time, there was a clear difference from before. After the lights dimmed and the sound stopped, one of the lamps above Di Gou’s head went out.
Di Gou frowned at Qin Dingdong, a glint of killing intent in his eyes, and muttered, “What a nuisance…”
Everyone except Lin Qin turned to look at the extinguished lamp.
This was their first step toward victory. Since Su Shan had once drawn [Firecrackers Bid Farewell to the Old Year], she was even more convinced of her theory.
The only way to make the “firecrackers” attack the “Nian beast” was to pass this “lot” to “Winter,” and then have “Winter” make a wish.
After all, the card read “Bid Farewell to the Old Year,” and “Winter” marks the end of the year.
The third round began.
Without a moment’s hesitation after her turn started, Su Shan grabbed the [Ten Thousand People Unite for Disaster Relief] in her hand and inserted it into the slot on the left side of her table.
This time, she wasn’t going to “make a wish” — she was going to “give.”
After all, the “lot” had an arrow pointing left. If her guess was correct, if she “made a wish,” this lot would only take effect in Zhang Chenze’s room. But there was no “earthquake” in that room, so the “lot” wouldn’t work.
Her only hope now was for Zhang Chenze to “wish” on this lot.
After sending out the “lot,” Su Shan received the “lot” for this round — it was a “neutral lot.”
This was the first time Su Shan had seen a “neutral lot.”
Now in her hand were [No Idle Fields Within the Four Seas] and a “neutral lot.”
“So there are… ‘neutral lots’…?”
A bad feeling crept over Su Shan. If this game was designed to balance both sides’ chances of winning, then among all the “lots,” there should be a large number of “neutral lots.” In other words, every “lot” that could be used to “make a wish” was extremely precious and had to be used wisely.
But there was a huge problem now.
Qin Dingdong had wasted one “lot” in a previous round — the one that produced a massive cloud of smoke.
If every “lot” corresponded perfectly to one “calamity,” what kind of “calamity” did that “smoke” correspond to?
Could it lead to a situation where, at the final critical moment, one calamity would remain unsolvable?
“Now is not the time to think about that…”
Su Shan went to the glass, caught Zhang Chenze’s attention, then pointed at the “lot” that had just appeared on Zhang Chenze’s table, and then at Lin Qin’s room.
Zhang Chenze nodded, picked up the lot, and examined it.
Yes, the words on the “lot” were explained in detail.
Since Lin Qin’s room was experiencing an “earthquake,” a powerful natural disaster that could neither be resisted nor predicted, the only thing people could do in such a disaster was “disaster relief.”
Zhang Chenze decisively inserted [Ten Thousand People Unite for Disaster Relief] into the slot.
This time, Lin Qin was lifted high into the air again. She looked extremely weak, her hands and knees covered in blood. She raised her head weakly, looked at the others in the room, her expression tinged with despair.
She had never imagined she would die under such a bizarre punishment.
If she had a choice, she would rather fall from a height of thirty meters straight down than fall ten times from three meters.
The others in the room knew just as well: if Lin Qin were dropped this time, given her current condition, even if she didn’t die, she would never be able to stand again.
Then “Autumn” would disappear, breaking the most crucial link among the four seasons.
Just as the iron net was about to come crashing down, the loudspeaker in Lin Qin’s room suddenly erupted with the shouts of tens of thousands of people.
This awe-inspiring sound gave Lin Qin a glimmer of hope. She vaguely felt as if someone had come to rescue her.
Though no one appeared, the iron net slowly descended amid the crowd’s shouts and finally landed steadily on the ground.
Lin Qin was saved.
But she was in terrible condition. Her whole body ached, and her right leg had gone numb.
She lifted her head and felt something cold trickling down her forehead. She reached up and touched her palm—it was wet with bright red blood. It seemed she had cut her forehead sometime earlier. Fortunately, the wound wasn’t deep, and she was still clear-headed.
“Second person has ‘made a wish.’ Please have the third person ‘draw a lot.’” Di Gou’s calm voice came through the loudspeaker again, drowning out the shouting in Lin Qin’s room.
Zhang Chenze looked at the “lot” in her hand and slowly furrowed her brows.
This round, she had not “drawn a lot.” Instead, she had received Su Shan’s “lot.”
In other words, the “lot” in her hand hadn’t changed at all from the previous round. So, accepting a “gift” meant giving up the chance to “draw a lot”?
“‘Earthquake’ really is terrifying…” Zhang Chenze said grimly. “This ‘calamity lot’ only affected Autumn, yet it prevented the remaining seasons from taking any other action for the entire round…”