Chapter 502: Completely Wrong
Earth Rabbit touched the burn scars on his body, gritted his teeth, and reached out to unlock the door. Then he slowly pushed it open.
But the next second, his sneer froze on his face.
"The 'Zodiac's' turn is over. Now, let's invite the 'Participant' to begin their action."
Chen Junnan's long-suppressed laughter finally burst out. Even with the worst human hearing, it was enough to hear that room "Sixteen" hadn't been opened by anyone. This audacious gamble used Old Qi's favorite approach—who would have thought such a small lie could carry through to the very end?
"You finally fell for it, you bastard..."
Chen Junnan pushed open the door and led everyone into the room.
This was the end point of the game, room "Sixteen."
Not far away, hanging on the door were two bright red Eight Immortals couplets, and beneath them was a ventilation grate labeled "Show Divine Power."
"Brother Rabbit, you're really something. Did you have fun in room 'Thirteen'?" Chen Junnan took various "magic artifacts" from the others and tossed them all into the ventilation grate. "So when you said earlier that you would get lost, you weren't actually lying to us?"
At that moment, accompanied by Jiang Shi's screams, the group pulled off his head, retrieved the last iron-crutch artifact, and handed it to Chen Junnan.
Earth Rabbit's ears twitched, catching Chen Junnan's words clearly. An expression of shock continuously flickered across his face.
He kept glancing around the room he was in—room "Thirteen"—completely at a loss as to where things had gone wrong.
He had avoided all the obstacles, seen through all their strategies—why was he still in room "Thirteen"?
Rooms "Thirteen" and "Sixteen" were the bottom left and bottom right corners of the entire chessboard, far apart.
When exactly had he been led astray in his sense of direction?
"Vwoom—"
Some device in the ventilation grate was identifying the artifacts. Within seconds, the two doors clicked open with a "snap," and the foul air from outside rushed in, mingling with the putrid smell inside.
At the same time the wooden door opened, the broadcast crackled with static: "The 'Participant' has opened the escape door. The 'Zodiac' is requested to respond immediately."
"Oh?" Chen Junnan sneered. "You heartless little rabbit bastard, your head's full of tricks, huh? Even giving yourself an alert like that?"
The cold, mechanical broadcast sounded almost like a taunt, making the expression on Earth Rabbit's distant face even uglier.
There was no need to mention the next round—even if he had two more rounds, he couldn't make it to room "Sixteen" in time.
He let out a bitter laugh. His massive frame suddenly lost all strength, and with a thud, he collapsed to the floor.
What the hell was going on?
He had started using his brain. He had stopped relying entirely on his proud physical strength. But he still couldn't win.
"Tired... so tired..." Earth Rabbit leaned back and lay flat on the ground, a look of resignation on his face. "Haven't been this exhausted in a long time... Can't beat them in a fight, can't outwit them in a battle of wits... Absolutely no way out, hahahaha."
He coughed a few times, touched his wounds, and then tilted his head up. "I'm done. I admit defeat."
The ceiling broadcast crackled again, this time lasting longer than any previous instance. After more than twenty seconds, a cold voice sounded above everyone's heads:
"The 'Zodiac' has voluntarily conceded. The 'Participant' wins."
As the words fell, all the room doors swung open at once. The broadcast crackled a few more times and then fell completely silent.
Chen Junnan turned his head and, through the open doors, saw Earth Rabbit in room "Thirteen," now lying leisurely on the ground, looking utterly exhausted.
"Hey, Brother Rabbit, are we just leaving like this?" Chen Junnan called out.
Earth Rabbit, still lying on the ground, turned his head. Only then did everyone realize how brutal his fight with Song Qi had been. His upper body, legs, face, and ears were all covered in blood and burn marks, as if he had walked through a blazing inferno.
Hearing Chen Junnan's question, Earth Rabbit turned his head expressionlessly to look at the group. He took a deep breath, pulled himself up from the ground, and walked step by step toward room sixteen.
"Dumb team leader..." Jiang Shi, sensing something off about Earth Rabbit, cradled his own head and stepped forward, moving away from the group. "I feel like he hasn't given up yet. Should you guys leave first? Evil will be repaid, and the way of heaven is just. This time, I can still hold him off."
"Don't bust out the poetry, kid. You don't need to worry." Chen Junnan reached out and patted Jiang Shi on the shoulder. Jiang Shi turned around at that moment, but still had no head. Chen Junnan sighed. "I almost forgot you're a headless guy."
"You..." Jiang Shi wanted to get angry but couldn't pinpoint exactly what to be angry about, so he could only mutter, "What exactly does 'headless guy' mean?"
"Forget it." Chen Junnan waved his hand. "What's the use of knowing that? Anyway, don't worry. That rabbit can't make a move."
"Huh? Why?"
"You guys rarely participate in games, so you might not know. Generally, 'Zodiacs' only kill during the game phase. Now that the game is over, they can't actively kill us anymore." Chen Junnan said. "We won this time. No need to panic."
Earth Rabbit walked step by step until he stood before the group. He was very tall, with his ears standing straight up, forcing him to duck slightly every time he entered a door.
"Brother Rabbit, you've got a good build, still pretty tough, huh? With a physique like that, you're definitely going to live till you die."
Earth Rabbit paid no attention to Chen Junnan's taunts. Instead, he stared at him seriously and asked, "What trick did you pull? How did you make me lose my sense of direction?"
"Ha..." Chen Junnan chuckled. "Why don't you take a guess first? That way I can see how much I've learned from Old Qi."
"Old Qi is...?" Earth Rabbit asked.
"A really good man," Chen Junnan said without hesitation. "But he's got a talent for lying, so I picked up a thing or two from him."
"A liar..." Earth Rabbit nodded, thinking seriously. "Then I understand... your scheme earlier must have been this: after I fought with Song Qi, you sent someone to whisper in my ear and deliberately wrote 'All Quiet' in room 'Ten,' a room we shouldn't have passed through. That made me, thinking I was clever, choose the opposite direction. That was the moment you deceived me. While I was heading toward room 'Thirteen,' you led the remaining team members in the opposite direction, toward room 'Sixteen.' By the time I realized the truth, it was too late, since we were heading in opposite directions. Am I right?"
Chen Junnan listened for a while, blinked slowly, and then said, "What the hell are you rambling about? Not a single word was right."