Chapter 227: Strange Snake

Qi Xia pulled Yu Nian'an aside to sit down, then glanced at that "tenth person."

He was a young man with a pale face and messy hair.

A smile still lingered on his face.

If it weren't for Yu Nian'an's appearance, Qi Xia would have wanted to have a good chat with him.

But not this time.

Qi Xia had a new plan.

He leaned over to Yu Nian'an's side and began turning the table with her, as the others gradually joined in.

The game that followed was neither too difficult nor too easy.

After all, there were ten people in the room.

Distributing the escape resources precisely among nine people made everything feel a bit stretched.

Fortunately, they all survived until Ren She arrived.

Qi Xia and Yu Nian'an were holding onto the same rope, swaying in mid-air.

"Long time no see, everyone." Ren She slowly opened the door and entered the room. "I'm Ren She..."

Before he could finish, he froze completely.

Clearly, there were ten people hanging up there!

What an bizarre situation?

Every room in the entire corridor had groups of nine, yet here ten had survived?!

"If you're going to be shocked, you might as well hurry up and ask your question," Qi Xia said. "We don't want to hang here forever."

It took Ren She a while to compose himself before he spoke: "Alright, alright... I have an interesting question. If you can answer it within three tries, I'll pull the lever nearby and let you nine... I mean, you ten down."

No one spoke.

Ren She wasted no more words and continued: "There were two brothers who loved racing cars and always drove at breakneck speeds. Their father was worried but couldn't stop them. One day, he came up with a clever idea and told them to have one more race, but with a twist: whoever arrived at the finish line later would win, and the winner would get the entire inheritance. He thought this would make them stop their reckless driving, but to his surprise, on the day of the race, they still sped off as fast as ever. Why was that?"

Naturally, everyone turned to look at Qi Xia.

But Qi Xia acted as if he hadn't heard a thing. With one hand gripping the rope and the other holding Yu Nian'an, he whispered, "An, don't be afraid. It'll be over soon."

"Mm." Yu Nian'an nodded softly in response.

Lin Geng and Li Jingguan exchanged glances.

In the end, the most challenging game in this interview room wasn't the first three rounds, but this fourth one with Ren She.

For some reason, he always came up with new questions each time.

And his questions were the key to whether they lived or died.

Seeing that Qi Xia had no intention of answering, Li Jingguan decided to guess himself.

After all, Qi Xia couldn't be expected to help them every time.

"Li Jingguan..." Lin Geng whispered, "Do you have an answer?"

"I have no idea if it's even right; I'm just using criminal investigation logic to speculate."

He shared his thoughts with Lin Geng.

Zhang Lüshi and Han Yi Mo, listening nearby, also thought this answer was plausible.

"Since you all agree, I'll go ahead and guess..." Li Jingguan took a deep breath and said to Ren She in the distance, "Ren She, I have an answer."

"Please, go ahead."

Li Jingguan paused, organizing his words: "I think there's something wrong with that inheritance—it's probably illicit money. Inheriting it could lead to arrest, so the brothers did the opposite: they both wanted to pass the inheritance to the other."

Ren She stroked his chin slightly and muttered under his breath, "Is that it?"

Everyone was puzzled by his reaction.

After a moment, Ren She shook his head: "No, that doesn't seem right. It's a bit far-fetched. Think it over some more."

"Damn..." Qiao Jia Jin couldn't hold back. "What do you mean 'doesn't seem right'? I think it's right—why don't you think it over?"

"Uh, well..." Ren She lowered his head and started thinking again after hearing that.

Lin Geng frowned at Qiao Jia Jin; the situation felt like "the fool outsmarting the expert."

But would this trick actually work?

After a long while, Ren She looked up: "I've thought it through carefully, and it's not right. It's too forced. The question doesn't mention anything about the inheritance being illegal, and besides, something called an 'inheritance' is a significant amount of money no matter what. So, that's an incorrect answer."

"Uh..." Now it was Qiao Jia Jin's turn to be stumped. "You're a sly one, Ren She... Didn't fool you at all..."

Everyone was back in a dilemma.

Qi Xia was still whispering to Yu Nian'an, completely ignoring their predicament. No one knew if he was doing it on purpose or just didn't want to get involved.

"What if they tampered with each other's cars?" Tian Tian suddenly whispered. "Like, if they switched the brakes for accelerators? If they both wanted the inheritance and to race, the only way is to make the other go faster."

"Oh?" Li Jingguan was slightly taken aback and thought it made sense. "That's possible... As long as the other can't brake, the one who goes slower would still get the inheritance..."

Han Yi Mo and Zhang Lüshi felt this answer wasn't quite right, but they couldn't come up with anything better.

"Let's try it." After discussing, they told this answer to Ren She.

"Is that it...?" Ren She took a slow breath. "It sounds logical... but I still feel something's off."

"Don't overthink it!" Qiao Jia Jin shouted. "I just thought it through—it's the right answer. If you don't pull the lever, you're breaking the rules."

"Ah, this is tricky..." Ren She looked troubled.

Everyone's arms were starting to ache; they'd been hanging on the ropes for a full five minutes. If Ren She kept deliberating, they might all end up falling to their deaths.

"I don't think it's right." Ren She shook his head. "Think of another answer, or I'll have to go."

This left everyone completely at a loss.

"Qi Xia, do you want to watch us die?" Lin Geng turned and asked. "You already know the answer, don't you?!"

Only then did Qi Xia slowly lift his head, his eyes carrying a hint of despair.

He asked softly: "Suppose one day I'm not around anymore, how will you all survive?"

The brief question silenced everyone.

What did he mean by "not around"?

Qi Xia lowered his head and said to Ren She in the distance: "I'll give the answer."

Ren She perked up at Qi Xia's words: "Great!"

"Given that 'the two brothers loved racing,' 'both wanted the inheritance,' and from the question, 'the one who arrives later wins,' the best solution is for them to swap cars. That way, they can race freely, and the faster driver would still end up with the inheritance."

After hearing this, Ren She finally pulled out a small notebook from his pocket: "So that's it... Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"