Chapter 365: An Inescapable Calamity
"The second person's 'Wish' has ended. Please, the third person, 'Draw a Lot'." Digou announced over the broadcast.
Lin Qin steadied herself against the table in her room, gritting her teeth as she stood up. Trembling all over, she reached out and took the 'Lot' for this round.
She felt like she might have been concussed from the fall, because this 'Lot' was different from every other one she had drawn before. It wasn't a 'Plain Lot'; instead, it had five characters written on it.
"The day when spring blossoms and flowers bloom."
She shook her head, trying to shake off the dizziness, and then carefully considered the meaning of the text on the 'Lot'.
Could it be that the 'Lots' the others had drawn earlier weren't 'Plain Lots' either, but all had text like this?
If so, did the arrow pointing to the right under this 'Lot' mean it affected the room to her right?
"My luck is just too bad..."
Lin Qin smiled wryly, then carefully placed this 'Lot' in front of her. Instead, she took out a 'Plain Lot' and dropped it into the opening.
"At least I didn't hit my head hard enough to lose my ability to think clearly now." Lin Qin chuckled, then moved her leg, which had lost all sensation. She figured it was probably broken.
For her, the most urgent task now wasn't treating her leg, but using up all the 'Plain Lots' in her hand and accumulating as many 'Wish Lots' as possible. That way, whether it was for a 'Gift' or a 'Wish', she could at least have a means to respond to a 'Calamity'.
Su Shan saw that Lin Qin had regained her composure and nodded slightly with relief. She knew that no one could die in this game.
If even one died, it would inevitably lead to total defeat.
After all, the four of them, as the 'Four Seasons', formed a 'ring'. They were connected end to end, looking out for each other.
If this 'ring' had a gap, it would leave the rooms on both sides of that gap in danger. After all, a dead person couldn't save the 'Calamities' of the adjacent rooms.
Not only that, even 'Gifts' would be affected. For example, 'Summer' couldn't skip over 'Autumn' to directly 'Gift' something to 'Winter'.
Qin Dingdong looked nervously at Lin Qin. Seeing she was fine, she felt a bit relieved and turned her attention back to waiting for her next 'Lot'.
But the next 'Lot' didn't float up for several seconds.
"You all handled that pretty well. Indeed, aside from veterans, you're all experts." Digou said in a deep voice. "But you've already fallen into my rhythm."
"What?"
"You spent an entire year trying to resolve the damage left by last year's 'Calamity'. That was a good idea, sure. But what about this year's 'Calamity'? What are you going to do with that?"
Hearing this, the group finally snapped back to reality. Yes, the 'Calamities' wouldn't stop.
As long as Digou, playing the role of the 'Nian Beast', still existed, they would remain trapped in a 'Year of Calamity'.
Digou nodded with a serious expression, took out a 'Lot' from in front of him, and said earnestly, "In all my years as a wage slave, the one life lesson I've learned is this: for ordinary people, life is always 'Blessings never come in pairs, but misfortunes never come singly.'"
He inserted the 'Lot' into the opening on his right, directly facing Zhang Chenze. "Everyone ready? This round's 'Calamity' is called the 'Locust Plague'."
Seeing Digou's action, Zhang Chenze was visibly panicked.
"Locust Plague...? Wait... hold on..."
Her expression became terrified. Although she had long known she would suffer a 'Calamity', she never expected it to be the one thing she least wanted to face.
Before she could even say another word, a tremendous buzzing erupted from above Zhang Chenze's head. A massive swarm of something was gathering overhead.
"No... the 'Locust Plague' really won't work..." Zhang Chenze's eyes were red with desperation, her voice choked with tears. "Don't touch me with those things..."
With a slight movement of the ceiling grid, countless locusts burst out from above, accompanied by a deafening insect drone. Like a spill of ink, they instantly blackened Zhang Chenze's room.
The sight made the other girls take half a step back. They were all city girls; who among them had ever witnessed a locust plague at such close range?
In her room, Zhang Chenze flailed her arms and legs wildly. But the more she tried to drive the insects away, the more she ended up touching them.
A locust hopped and landed right on the bridge of her nose, staring straight into her eyes.
Its body was a dull grayish-green, with strong, powerful hind legs.
On its hard, expressionless face, two huge eyes fixed unblinkingly on Zhang Chenze.
Zhang Chenze could no longer bear this terror so close at hand. She screamed at the top of her lungs in the cramped room, but as soon as she opened her mouth, a swarm of locusts crawled inside.
She had never eaten insects, nor had she ever imagined that a live locust could feel so cold. They crawled inside her mouth, their hard hind legs stinging every inch of skin in her oral cavity.
She felt she couldn't breathe at all. Her stomach churned violently, desperate to expel everything.
"I'm going to die. I'm going to die in the ugliest, most painful way in the world..."
Despair filled Zhang Chenze's mind. But she had already lost her sense of direction amidst the sky-obscuring swarm of locusts. She didn't know which way she was facing, nor where her teammates were.
"Zhang Chenze!!" Su Shan pounded hard against the glass in front of her and shouted at the top of her voice, "Calm down! The 'Locusts' in the 'Locust Plague' don't eat people!!"
Unfortunately, Zhang Chenze couldn't hear Su Shan's shouts at all.
"Please, the fourth person, 'Draw a Lot'." Digou spoke coldly, as if he hadn't seen anything.
Qin Dingdong's lips curled into a slight smile. She didn't immediately draw a lot. Instead, she gazed thoughtfully at Lawyer Zhang, who was directly opposite her.
She remembered that when she was a child staying at her grandmother's house, one night the house was filled with countless nameless insects. Her grandmother told her that the best way to deal with insects in such a confined space was to use 'smoke'. So that night, her grandmother lit some unknown dried herbs, filling the room with a strange smell.
Yes, 'smoke' was the correct answer. It would break the 'insects' in this game.
If she connected 'Calamity' and 'insects', the only thing Qin Dingdong could think of was the 'Locust Plague'.
So she had already voluntarily used up that 'Thick smoke scatters the wilderness' lot. And as she had expected, Digou had played this seemingly unsolvable 'Locust Plague'.
"This is the only way to make you all 'echo'..." Qin Dingdong smiled. "Don't blame me. After all, locusts aren't dangerous."
She thought for a moment, then looked at the new 'Lot' she had drawn. It was still a 'Plain Lot'.
She wasn't sure if their luck was good or bad. The important 'Lots' had already been drawn in the first few rounds. What followed might be a long stretch of 'Plain Lot rounds'.
"Su Shan... it's up to you..." Qin Dingdong inserted a 'Plain Lot', then looked at Su Shan. "It's time to fall into despair."