Chapter 369: Hard to Be a Sheep, Hard to Fool People
Lin Qin took the "Rice Flowers Herald a Bumper Year" slip into her hand, enduring the pain all over her body as she thought it over.
As "Autumn," she had managed to "harvest" at this moment, which meant that the previous "Spring" and "Summer" must have used their own season's strategies to allow her—this battered and scarred "Autumn"—to obtain this "slip."
"I heard two bell rings just now..." Lin Qin murmured to herself. "You really didn't let me down..."
She looked up and exchanged a glance with Su Shan, but suddenly froze.
Su Shan's eyes had become as brilliant as diamonds, but at that moment, two streams of bright red blood tears were flowing from her eyes, looking somewhat terrifying.
"Su Shan..."
Lin Qin hesitated no longer and decisively picked up the "Rice Flowers Herald a Bumper Year" slip. As "Autumn," her task now was to safely deliver all the harvested grain to "Winter."
But before she could throw the "slip" into the slot, Di Gou's broadcast sounded at that moment.
"Hold on."
Lin Qin was startled. She looked up at Di Gou, who had turned back to face her, holding a "slip" in his hand.
"What?" Lin Qin didn't understand what Di Gou meant.
"The 'slip' in my hand is 'Cold Current,'" Di Gou said. "If you dare to use that 'slip,' I will send a 'Cold Current' down into your room. This 'slip' will drop the temperature in your room to minus thirty degrees Celsius in a short time. You're not dressed warmly—you'll freeze to death."
Upon hearing this, Lin Qin slowly withdrew her hand, frowning.
Since each person's room only had a loudspeaker and no microphone, she couldn't converse with Di Gou and could only listen to him unilaterally.
"You might be wondering why I don't just use this 'slip' directly but instead threaten you, right?" Di Gou said. "The reason is simple: it's too late today. If you die here, it'll be hard for me to clean the room. I'll have to get up early tomorrow, which is painful. So I plan to make you back off."
Lin Qin looked at Di Gou after hearing this, trying to gauge his truthfulness from a psychological perspective. When a person speaks such a long speech, micro-expressions often give away the lie.
Unfortunately, he had the face of a hound, making it truly hard to tell.
"If you play a 'Useless Slip' this round, I guarantee I won't kill anyone for the rest of the time," Di Gou added. "You should have seen... during the rule explanation before the game, I didn't tell a single lie. That was my 'sincerity' to all of you. Then when you lose the game, you can leave a few 'Paths' and retreat unscathed."
Yes, Lin Qin lifted the corner of her mouth slightly. Before the game started, Di Gou hadn't told a single lie. Most of the rules had been explained clearly before the game. He was a very honest person.
So that was all the more reason not to trust him in this round.
With a smile, Lin Qin placed the "slip" at the opening and, right in front of Di Gou, steadily dropped it in. Their eyes met throughout, Di Gou's gaze especially cold and severe.
"Di Gou... if I remember correctly, before the game started, you also said one more thing—'From now on, I will use every means to kill all of you.'" Lin Qin shrugged apologetically. "I'd rather trust the you from before the game started, not the you during the game."
Di Gou naturally couldn't hear Lin Qin's words, but his expression had changed noticeably.
"Lying is really hard... no wonder 'Sheep' are so rare..." Di Gou shook his head helplessly. "Go die."
This year's "Calamity" arrived, targeting Lin Qin once again.
Lin Qin stood up, looking at Di Gou without fear. She knew she was already injured badly enough; this "Cold Current" wouldn't make much difference.
Besides, a temperature of minus thirty degrees wouldn't freeze a person to death in a short time. She might still have a chance to survive.
A loud mechanical sound rang out above Lin Qin's head, as if something was brewing. A few seconds later, a fierce blast of cold wind blew down from above, bone-chillingly cold.
After a few seconds, she felt something was wrong. If the room stayed at minus thirty degrees, her chances of survival would be high. But if a constant minus-thirty-degree wind kept blowing, she would surely die.
The flowing cold wind would continuously carry away the heat generated by her body. The small room wouldn't allow her to warm herself through exercise. The situation was dangerous.
But from another perspective, their chances of winning were now very high. The only prerequisite was that Qin Dingdong must not save her.
If she solved her "Calamity" this round, the entire year's efforts of the four of them would be wasted.
With that thought, she stretched out her finger and, trembling, wrote three words on the frost-covered wall: "Don't save me."
"Third person's 'Wish' ends. Fourth person, 'Draw Slip.'"
Qin Dingdong didn't hesitate. She reached out and grabbed the "slip" on the table—"Abundant Food and Clothing Year."
Time was precious now. A "Cold Current" had descended in Lin Qin's room. If they didn't act quickly, she would be frozen into an ice sculpture in there.
So which "slip" should she play now?
The three "slips" in her hand all looked extremely valuable—"Strong Wind Sweeps Away Leaves," "Water Flows Without a Trace," and "Abundant Food and Clothing Year."
Judging from the slip faces, her two original "slips" were completely useless against the "Cold Current."
"I'll have to leave it to 'Next Year'..." Qin Dingdong said with a frown. "Old Lin, just hold on a little longer."
She aimed the "slip" in her hand at the hole. "Dead dog, we've been busy for four years now. Isn't it time you let us have a good New Year?"
The "slip" in her hand went into the hole. The next second, cheerful, festive music started playing from Di Gou's room.
It had been a long time since they'd heard that music. If it weren't for being in this dark, stinking room, they'd think they had returned to the real world, sitting around the table with their families in a warm room, eating New Year's Eve dinner.
But unfortunately, they couldn't get out.
They had been dying here, living here, dying again.
Even their corpses couldn't be moved.
Di Gou's face darkened as he slowly stood up. He looked at his second extinguished lamp, then at the ceiling. That broken loudspeaker was actually playing New Year's music.
The joyful, festive notes formed a stark contrast with his cold, gloomy face.
He had played this game many times, and it was rare for anyone to complete all the seasonal duties within a year.
"Looks like your team isn't too bad." He glanced around at the people beside him and spoke. "Fifth round begins. I'll take the first action this round."
Su Shan was about to "draw a slip" when she heard this and suddenly froze.
Di Gou acted first?
He had been the last of the fourth round and now the first of the fifth, acting twice in a row. Was he about to unleash all his killing moves?
"This round's 'Calamity' is called—'Poisonous Miasma.'" He took out a "slip" and aimed it at Qin Dingdong, tossing it in.
A few seconds later, a strange yellow-green gas drifted out from Qin Dingdong's ceiling. She quickly covered her mouth and nose.
She knew this was trouble. The "slip" that could handle "Poisonous Miasma" was most likely "Strong Wind Sweeps Away Leaves," but that "slip" was in her own hand.
Even more despairing, it had a left-pointing arrow drawn on it.
In other words, only if Lin Qin used that "slip" could she resolve the miasma in her room.
That meant everyone would have to keep "gifting" this "slip" around, effectively wasting an entire round.
Now it was already the fifth round. Did they even have time to save her?