Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Song Qingxiao was not surprised that the woman in the same group as number seven—the burly chap—had died. After all, once the burly chap discovered the rules, he would undoubtedly kill the woman to stay alive and find the exit. It was only a question of when he would act.
His physique was strong and muscular, so it would not be hard for him to kill the lady in the red dress. The irony was that the lady in the red dress was so pleased to be in the same group as the burly chap. She felt that the tall, muscular body of number seven would give her a sense of security in the strange space. However, she could never have guessed that her safety talisman would become the cause of her death.
The death of the youth who was number five was also something that Song Qingxiao had predicted. He was quite young, and her impression of him was that he was pretty simple-minded. It was unsurprising for him to have met his end in the hands of someone like Zhou Jing, who had such rich life experiences and seemed mean and scheming.
However, what caught Song Qingxiao off-guard was Zhou Jing’s death and that the office woman in the same group as the doctor was still alive. The office woman was number two.
As she crouched inside the large tank while hugging her knees tightly, Song Qingxiao tried to calm her mind and focus on the clues in her mind more clearly. She was outnumbered. Apart from that, she was the person with the smallest build among all the ones who were still alive. Hence, she was the one in the most dangerous position. Even the slightest mistake could lead to her death.
She was busy trying to hide the corpse and tidy up the murder scene, all while she was looking out for a sneak attack by the others. Hence, she did not notice the sequence of Zhou Jing and the youth’s deaths at the time it occurred. She could only guess what had caused Zhou Jing’s death.
There could be two reasons for Zhou Jing’s death. The first was that both of them had discovered the change in the cards in their consciousness and realized what they had to do to escape the space. They each began to hatch a plan to kill each other. However, their intentions were exposed, leading to a bitter fight between them. It ultimately resulted in both their deaths.
The likelihood of that being the reason was not high. Even though the trial provided each participant with an item they held before entering the space, not everyone would be as lucky as Song Qingxiao to get a weapon like a dagger.
Without a weapon in hand, it was improbable for the two men to lose their lives fighting with their bare fists. However, there was another possibility.
It was possible that the winner of the two—either Zhou Jing or the youth—had been ambushed by one of the other teams when they were weak.
As soon as she reached that conclusion, Song Qingxiao shivered involuntarily. The water in the tank began to splash around. She did not know if it was because the environment around her was too quiet or if it was because she was too nervous, but she could hear the sound caused by the water splashing against the side of the tank clearly.
It was unacceptable! She instantly went into high alert and hugged her legs even tighter. It was not easy, but she wanted to stop her body from trembling. She tried to exert utmost control over her bo. Shehe was even careful when she breathed in and out.
If the survivor in Zhou Jing’s team had died because of an ambush by another team, it proved that the space was connected, and the others would discover her sooner or later. The person who killed the survivor of Zhou Jing’s group could be the doctor, the office lady who was number two, or the burly chap.
Song Qingxiao held her breath and closed her eyes. In the beginning, she guessed that the doctor was an intelligent, cautious person with strong observational abilities. Once he figured out that the game worked y killing one another, the office woman should be in a perilous position.
Yet, five people had died out of the nine, and three out of four teams had encountered trouble. In one of the teams, all of the members had been completely wiped out! Despite that, the office lady was still alive? It was highly suspicious.
Was it possible that after the doctor had figured out the game, he continued to maintain a high moral code and noble conduct?
No! That was impossible!
Song Qingxiao rejected that idea as soon as it popped up in her mind. She did not know the doctor well, and her only impression of him was from the short period of time when they were in the space together.
However, from that brief moment, she could see that when Zhou Jing tried to assert himself and establish his authority as the group leader, the doctor did not challenge him head-on. Instead, he subtly gained control of the situation. The doctor calmly took out his phone and wristwatch, exposing the problems he noticed. In that manner, he won over the group.
When everyone in the group panicked, the doctor managed to establish his position, and after that, everyone listened and followed his suggestions. In that aspect, the doctor was much more brilliant compared to Zhou Jing.
Any person would know that the person who had authority as the leader in a strange place like that would be in an advantageous position. Everything that the doctor did so far showed that he was not an intelligent man devoid of selfish desires.
Instead, he was a man who had the intelligence, the resourcefulness and the desire to succeed. The fact that he had not disposed of the office lady meant that he might have some use for her for the time being.
If the office lady—who was number two—realized how dangerous the doctor was and tried to escape, she might probably find a place to hide just like Song Qingxiao. However, in that environment, every place was dangerous. It was especially true when one was the prey, and everyone else were the hunters. A single woman being on her own was an extremely dangerous situation.
As soon as Song Qingxiao thought up to that point, the cards in her mind began to change once again. The card in the bottommost left corner had been flipped over. The burly chap’s smiling face appeared on the card!
Song Qingxiao found that extremely puzzling. How could the person that she thought would be the trickiest to deal with, the most dangerous person in the group, be dead!?
She bit her lower lip hard. There were only three people left alive, including herself. Since she was in hiding, it meant that the burly chap had died in the hands of the other two.
Based on outward appearances such as height and strength, the burly chap seemed to be far superior compared to the doctor and the office lady. If those two had faced the burly chap alone, it would still be challenging to kill him.
However, if they had joined forces against him, there was a chance of victory.
It looked like what she had guessed was correct. The doctor did not kill the office lady because he had formed an alliance with her, and that was how they had managed to eliminate the burly chap who was number seven.
Since number seven was dead, the only other survivor left was her.
If the doctor wanted to leave the space, he would have to find her sooner or later. The place where she hid was not completely concealed. Even though no one had responded when the girl screamed while she was alive earlier, Song Qingxiao still kept her guard up.
When Song Qingxiao thought about that, her entire body tensed up. The dagger in her sleeve pierced through her clothes and pierced her flesh. The pain seemed to focus her mind, but her heart began to pump faster.
She had no idea how much time had passed. Perhaps it was because she was tightly wound up, but Song Qingxiao could faintly hear the sound of movement over the grass outside. The sound of the breeze over the grass outside sent her into high alert.
Her entire body was covered in large amounts of cold sweat. Her legs curled up involuntarily, and she bit down hard on her lower lip in an attempt to stay quiet. All she could hear was the sound of her shallow and anxious breaths inside the tank, along with the rapid thumping of her heart.
She gripped the phone tightly in one hand and the mouse in the other. The icy-cold water in the tank made her shiver. Right at that moment, the sound of footsteps seemed to become louder. It was not her imagination!
The voice of number two—the office lady—rang out.
“Number nine?”
At that moment, the voice sounded like the devil calling out to her from hell.