Chapter 134: Lucky Hourglass
Two minutes later, the countdown ended. Xu Huo was still standing in place—neither exploding nor having a white bar appear on the back of his hand.
"You actually managed to do it." Brother Feng was quite surprised. No matter how much information was online, seeing it in person was different. He sized up Xu Huo. "You're really not afraid of death."
"Afraid? Of course I am," Xu Huo said. "I just endure it until it passes."
As he spoke, he shot a provocative glance at the burly man in camouflage. "If you guys are scared, I'll take this round."
The burly man immediately flared up. "Brother Feng, let me do it this time! I refuse to believe I can lose to this kid!"
"You have no survival chance. Qi Shan will go this time." Brother Feng's tone left no room for argument as he flipped his palm, revealing a glass hourglass.
The tall, thin man in camouflage named Qi Shan took the hourglass and walked toward the center of the turntable. He said to the burly man, "Don't make that face. I'll let you have the next round."
The burly man looked reluctant but grabbed his gun and forced the old gentleman and the female player out, making them stand beside Qi Shan.
"What are you doing?" the female player asked shakily. "Can't only one person enter at a time?"
"Bang!" The burly man shot through her calf, grabbed her by the hair, and dragged her over. The old gentleman hurried forward to stop him but took a gunstock to the face.
"If you don't want to die, stay put!"
The old gentleman dared not speak out, only helping the female player, who was gritting her teeth to stay silent, sit at Qi Shan's feet.
The life-or-death round began quickly. Qi Shan's expression shifted as he turned the hourglass in his hand. The gray sand poured from the fuller side to the emptier one.
Xu Huo felt his arm tapped twice. He turned to see a colorful doodle thrust in front of him. The Painting Woman poked her head out from the side, grinning as she pointed at the people in the drawing, then at him.
This was a picture she had just drawn with fluorescent markers borrowed from a child. It showed two people: Xu Huo and herself.
"Big sister's drawing isn't pretty," the child in the woman's arms suddenly whispered. Her mother quickly covered her mouth, glancing fearfully at Brother Feng's group. Only when she saw they weren't looking did she relax and whisper, "Thank you."
This woman was the one the old gentleman had swapped out first.
Xu Huo crouched down, patted the child's fluffy head, picked up the fluorescent marker, and drew a little pig on the white paper, then pointed at the Painting Woman.
The little girl shook her head. "Pretty sister isn't like a piggy."
Xu Huo smiled, folded a paper flower, and handed it to the Painting Woman.
"Uncle, I want one too," the little girl said shyly.
Xu Huo took another piece of paper, tore off a corner, drew a white line on it with the fluorescent marker, and closed it in his palm.
"Can it become real?" he asked the Painting Woman, tapping the back of his hand.
The Painting Woman lightly grasped his hand and then let go. When Xu Huo opened his palm, the corner of paper clung to his palm like real skin, sliding to the back of his hand as he turned it over.
The white line drawn with the fluorescent marker had, under the Painting Woman's ability, merged with the paper into a single object—just like her own nature, where even her clothes and accessories could transform from drawings into real things. Now it looked almost identical to the white bar representing a survival chance.
"Uncle..." the little girl opened her mouth in amazement, but her mother quickly and nervously covered it, whispering, "Don't talk, don't disturb the uncles, okay?"
The little girl nodded. Xu Huo placed the paper flower in her hand, stood up, and turned back to look at the three men in camouflage.
Qi Shan stood inside the pointer circle, with the female player and old gentleman outside. Brother Feng and the burly man stood two meters apart on either side, on guard.
Observing their positions, Xu Huo frowned slightly. His gaze shifted to the hourglass in Qi Shan's hand. The sand in the upper half was almost gone, but it had changed from gray-brown to a mix of gray and white. The moment the sand ran out, Qi Shan spun the pointer.
At the same time he moved, the female player and old gentleman suddenly collapsed, lifeless. The sand in the hourglass emitted a faint, colorful glow that enveloped Qi Shan's entire body before vanishing as he completed his spin.
"Get back!" The burly man raised his gun at Xu Huo.
"Brother! Don't be rash!" Wang Chaoqing quickly grabbed him.
Xu Huo didn't move forward. He glanced at the two bodies and stepped back.
Now he understood why these three had gathered so many people in the mall—they were likely using others' lives to secure their own survival chances.
Too bad it wouldn't work out this time.
Sure enough, when Qi Shan emerged from the life-or-death round, the white bar on the back of his hand had disappeared.
"How is this possible!" the burly man exclaimed. "You didn't land on the white square?"
Qi Shan's face darkened. "No. Did the Lucky Hourglass fail? Or were we tricked?"
"It looks like two people aren't enough." Brother Feng's expression soured as he kicked aside the bodies of the female player and old gentleman, then turned back to glare darkly at Xu Huo and the others.
"What just happened? Why did they die suddenly?" The baseball cap-wearing man, now without a survival chance, cautiously stayed at the edge of the crowd.
"Are you blind? Didn't you see that glowing hourglass? It's definitely some kind of killing prop," Wang Chaoqing said, swallowing nervously. "They're not going to drag us into it, are they?"
"No," Xu Huo said at that moment. "That hourglass probably has usage restrictions. Ordinary people might not have any effect, which is why they chose two who had already obtained survival chances."
"Am I right?" He turned to ask Brother Feng.
Brother Feng gave a cold, humorless laugh. "What else did you figure out?"
Xu Huo asked Qi Shan, "What color was the pointer on the turntable when you saw it?"
"Black."
Xu Huo rubbed his chin. "So that's how it is."
"Spit it out, don't keep us guessing!" the burly man said impatiently.
"Didn't you notice that the life-or-death turntable has two colors of pointers?" Xu Huo said. "What color was it on the round where you got your survival chance?"
"White." Qi Shan looked at Brother Feng, who nodded and asked Xu Huo, "Are you saying only the white pointer can land on the white square?"
"Just a guess." Xu Huo stepped forward. "Maybe it's not that your prop failed, but that there's an issue with the life-or-death round itself."
"Let me try again."
Qi Shan and the other man looked at Brother Feng, who said irritably, "Kid, you don't have a second life this time!"
Xu Huo calmly walked into the life-or-death circle. Ten minutes later, he held out his hand. Another white bar had appeared on the back of it.
Qi Shan reached out and rubbed it, then said, "It's real."
"You'll go again next round," Brother Feng said coldly.
Xu Huo started the second round. This time, he took out the two-colored Rubik's Cube. But when it ended, the white bar on his hand was gone.
"Are you messing with us?!" Qi Shan grabbed him by the collar.