Chapter 69: Self-Sacrifice

Pain. A pain that seeped deep into his bones.

Qi Xia gritted his teeth and crouched on the ground, letting out muffled groans of agony. He felt as if he truly had some serious psychological issue. Every time someone died near him, his head would throb unbearably. What could be causing this? Was it just from seeing dead people? No, Qi Xia had already witnessed several deaths in the game, and not all of them triggered this pain.

It took a full half-minute before Qi Xia finally let out a long breath and stood up again, his face expressionless. The three people outside the door finally noticed what was happening inside. They rushed into the room to check, only to find that Li Jingguan was already dead, a cigarette still in his mouth.

Zhang Chenze covered her mouth, wanting to cry out in pain but not daring to make a sound.

"Damn it..." She slowly made her way to the corner, grabbing her hair as she squatted down. Her previously overly precise Mandarin had now devolved into dialect. "What the hell is all this... What's going on...?"

She seemed extremely unstable emotionally, as if she had suffered a huge shock.

Before Qi Xia could even speak, the bell rang out again in the distance.

"Dong!"

Lin Geng and Lao Lv jumped in surprise, turning toward the source of the sound. Although they didn't know what the bell signified, they had heard it multiple times before, always when someone died.

Lin Geng steadied herself and went over to Zhang Chenze, gently patting her shoulder. Then she said:

"Zhang Lvshi, you need to pull yourself together."

"How am I supposed to pull myself together..." Zhang Lvshi lifted her head, her face haggard, her eyes filled with despair. "Li Jingguan died for me... He died trying to save me..."

"What exactly happened?" Lin Geng grasped Zhang Lvshi's cold hand. "At a time like this, don't keep it bottled up. Tell me about it."

She seemed skilled at talking to people who were emotionally overwhelmed, and with just a few words, she helped Zhang Lvshi lower her guard.

"It's all because of that rabbit..." Zhang Lvshi shook her head. "That crazy rabbit... She wanted both of our lives... If it weren't for Li Jingguan, we both would have died... They're all mad... They have no regard for the law at all..."

Zhang Lvshi slowly recounted what had happened after Qi Xia and the others had left.

Their experience was different from what Qi Xia had guessed. It wasn't Li Jingguan who had discovered the game's mechanics in this strange place—it was Zhang Lvshi.

After Qi Xia and the four others departed, Zhang Lvshi boldly struck up a conversation with the Ren Niu across from the convenience store. As she put it, she needed to gather enough information to make the right judgments.

Once she learned that the games here wouldn't actually kill people and could even win "Dao," she explained the situation to Li Jingguan, Xiao Ran, and Zhao Yisheng. Among the three, only Li Jingguan supported her view and decided to gamble their last "Dao."

This approach drew strong opposition from Xiao Ran. She knew that "Dao" was the "chip" used to participate in the games and insisted on keeping it with her, preferring to let the opportunity go to waste rather than risk it on gambling.

Li Jingguan, considering her a vulnerable woman, had been trying to persuade her gently, but Zhang Lvshi wasn't one to hold back. With a few logically sharp and cutting remarks, she left Xiao Ran speechless.

After all, when it came to arguments, how could a kindergarten teacher possibly outmatch a lawyer?

The game set up by the Ren Niu across from the convenience store was a straightforward one: an obstacle course race. In the restaurant, there were old tires and wooden walls scattered around, and completing the course within the allotted time would win two "Dao."

This game was practically tailored for Li Jingguan. As a police academy graduate, he had practiced obstacle courses frequently during his student days. Even though it had been years and he was a bit rusty, he still finished well within the time limit.

The entry fee was one "Dao," and winning granted two "Dao." It seemed Li Jingguan had found some kind of loophole, as he participated three times in a row, turning their two "Dao" into four.

Only when he was completely exhausted did the two leave the game area. This experience boosted their confidence, and they believed they could gather enough "Dao" before reuniting with Qi Xia.

Later, by sheer chance, they stumbled upon the Ren Tu's game area. They thought this game wouldn't be too difficult either. It was an "escape" type of game, set in a small room where the two were trapped in separate corners.

Zhang Lvshi was bound in a massive transparent fish tank that was slowly filling with water, while Li Jingguan was handcuffed to the wall on the other side of the room. All he had was a wooden stick.

The key to Li Jingguan's handcuffs was inside Zhang Lvshi's fish tank, and the valve to stop the water flow was near Li Jingguan. Each of them had a way to save the other.

But Zhang Lvshi was tied up with wire, unable to free herself or throw the key out of the tank. Li Jingguan, though close to the water valve, was restrained by his right hand, always two steps away from it.

Neither of them could save the other in time. How cruel was this game? It wasn't really an "escape" game at all—it was a pure test of human nature.

On the surface, both were trapped and needed to escape, but in reality, their situations were completely different. As time passed, Zhang Chenze would certainly drown, but Li Jingguan would not. He could stay there safely for a whole day.

Zhang Chenze didn't hold back: "In that moment, I thought I was done for."

Next, Li Jingguan tried various methods to break free from the handcuffs. For him, ordinary handcuffs weren't hard to unlock, but he had no tools on hand—only the wooden stick.

"Li Jingguan was so foolish..." Zhang Chenze choked back sobs and lowered her head. "Why didn't he throw the stick to smash the fish tank... Instead, he broke his own..."

Qi Xia sighed helplessly after hearing this: "He must have struggled with the decision."

"What?" Zhang Chenze lifted her lifeless eyes. "Are you saying this was his choice after thinking it through?"

"Yes." Qi Xia nodded. "He probably knew that using the stick to break the glass wasn't the smart move."

"But he didn't even try..." Zhang Chenze started crying again. "He could have at least tried..."

"And then what?" Qi Xia asked. "If the stick didn't break the glass and just landed beside the tank... What would you two have done?"

Zhang Chenze was at a loss for words; Qi Xia's question hit the mark.

If the stick hadn't shattered the fish tank and had fallen somewhere out of reach, they would have lost all hope of escape.

Amid Zhang Chenze's shocked expression, Li Jingguan used the wooden stick to smash his own hand.