Chapter 9
Chapter 9
There were originally three rows of cards with three cards in each row. Suddenly, two of the cards in the top left corner had flipped over. The picture of the middle-aged man and the girl appeared on the cards in that instance. Song Qingxiao felt like she could not breathe when she saw that.
The first card showed the middle-aged man dressed in a black suit with a slight smile on his face. The words ‘Zhao Rongqiang’ were written on the bottom of the card. If Song Qingxiao was not mistaken, that should be his name.
The cards had appeared once the people in the space had split into groups and walked into the thick fog. Nothing happened to the cards throughout their entire journey. However, as soon as number one and number six died, two of the cards had flipped over. Did that mean that someone’s death was the price to pay before any of those cards would flip over?
If Song Qingxiao’s deduction was correct, what would happen after those cards had been flipped over? When she recalled how number one, number six, and herself had searched for the way out from the space, she realized that they had approached it the wrong way. The real clue to getting out of there was very likely hidden within those cards.
An idea popped into Song Qingxiao’s mind. She had a vague feeling that she was heading in the right direction. After thinking it over, she recalled that the words in her head when she entered the space were ‘Will you enter the Trial of God?’.
Once she entered the space, there were a total of nine people inside, including herself. The cards were lined up in three rows, with three cards in each row. Since two people had died, the two cards in the top left corner had turned over.
If she had to conclude from all the information that she had, there could only be one reason that there was an odd number of people in the test space. It was very likely that it meant that only one person could survive in the end and leave the space.
As Song Qingxiao arrived at that thought, her body shivered involuntarily. It was a blessing in disguise. She discovered a clue regarding the task through killing a person in self-defense. However, her situation was not ideal.
Since the instructions given to all nine of the people in the space were identical, everyone would have noticed the change, except for number one and number six. She was the only one with an advantage because she knew that those cards flipped because of the deaths of number one and number six.
However, she was sure that after some time passed, the others in the group would figure it out. Once they figured it out, her advantage would become her weakness. After all, she had been in the same group as number one and number six. Both of them had died when they were with her. The rest would definitely be on their guard against her.
The task required her to be the last person alive before she would be able to leave the space. In all honesty, things would be more challenging and more dangerous for the women compared to the men.
If Song Qingxiao wanted to live, she had to get rid of the other six people. Even before she considered whether the others would be suspicious of her, she had to consider her opponents’ powers and abilities.
Among the men, Zhou Jing was number three, and there was not much to say about him at that moment. The doctor was number four. He had a wealth of experience, a cautious personality, and he was used to witnessing death due to his job. Once the game started for real, he could overcome the psychological barrier much faster than ordinary people and become an incredibly tricky opponent.
At the same time, number seven was the burly chap with a muscular physique. His physical attributes seemed to be the best among all of them. Hence, he would not be easy to deal with either.
Even though the odds seemed stacked against her, Song Qingxiao did not feel content sitting around to await her death. She had escaped death with much difficulty, so she was unwilling to die without putting up a fight in the trial.
She gripped the dagger in her hand tightly. Thankfully, she still had her trump card on hand. In her fight with the middle-aged man, she managed to subdue him unexpectedly. Her dagger would likely be her savior in the trial later on.
Song Qingxiao would have never been able to guess that the thing that nearly took her life would become something she placed her hopes on to stay alive. It was as if life played a huge joke on her.
Once she had calmed down, Song Qingxiao hid her dagger carefully once again. She could still taste the pungent, sickly sweet scent of blood in her mouth. She dry heaved a couple of times before turning to glance at the corpse of the middle-aged man that was number six.
He remained in the position he was in right before he died, struggling against her in his last moments. His appearance was completely different from how he looked in the photo. The stark difference made Song Qingxiao’s hairs stand on its end.
Since the other two people in her team were dead, her surroundings seemed more terrifying. However, since the task on hand was urgent, Song Qingxiao had no time to think or worry about it.
The girl’s dead body lay to one side. She died under the hands of the man, and the cord was still wrapped around her neck. Her clothes were ripped open, and she did not look too bad. The middle-aged man’s corpse was a different story.
His neck had a visible stab wound. If his body was not dealt with and discovered by some of the others, Song Qingxiao’s secret weapon would be exposed. She would be in grave danger. She needed to hide that middle-aged man’s body!
Where could she hide his body? The space was surrounded by grassy plains. There was an abandoned factory in the distance, but no place to hide a corpse…
Song Qingxiao recalled all the places they had explored and suddenly remembered the large tanks in the factory. Each tank was at least as tall as her waist, and they were each sealed with a thick, heavy lid.
When they passed by those tanks earlier, they did not dare to open the tanks because they had no idea what was hidden inside them and whether it might be dangerous. After thinking about it, those large tanks were the perfect place to hide a corpse!
The factory was not too far away from her location. Thanks to her cautious nature, she had pretty much memorized the entire route there, and it would not be hard to trace her way back to the factory. All she needed to do was dispose of number six’s body and go into hiding before the others arrived. It would increase the chance of her survival.
As she thought up to that point, Song Qingxiao used her hands to help her stand to her feet. She still felt a little shaken. Due to the adrenaline rush, she did not notice it when she killed him. However, she finally sensed the panic bubbling inside her. She felt dizzy, and it seemed like the world was spinning before her eyes.
However, it was not the time for her body to give up on her. She gritted her teeth and shook her head a few times to clear her mind. Once she had confirmed her bearings, she started to head off in the direction of the factory guided by her memory.
She silently kept track of the time in her head while simultaneously paying close attention to the cards in her mind. After about a minute, she had finally confirmed the location of the factory. Before she managed to return to where she was, something strange happened again to the cards in her mind.
The third card in the top right corner had been flipped over. It was a photo of the woman in the red dress smiling into the camera.
It was number eight!
She was in the same group as the burly chap, who was number seven. Since the card had been flipped over, it meant that number seven must have killed her!
It was like a signal. Since everyone began to act, more people would die after it. Once they killed off their teammates, the survivor of the group would become hunters and roam around looking for their prey. It left Song Qingxiao with little time to act.
She returned her focus to her surroundings and went to search through the girl’s bag. She retrieved some spare change and a handphone from it. There was no use for money in a place like that. Hence, she only took the girl’s handphone and the mouse that was wrapped around her neck. She held the mouse tightly in her hand and thought that an extra object would always be welcome at a time like that.
Once she had finished rummaging through the girl’s belongings, she ignored the terror and disgust building up inside her and reached out her hand to drag the corpse of number six with her.
Since he was dead, his corpse seemed to weigh a ton. His body slowly grew cold. As she carried him along on her back, his flabby flesh seemed to press into Song Qingxiao and nearly crushed her to the ground.
The wound on the man’s neck had not stopped bleeding, so drops of blood dripped over Song Qingxiao’s shoulders and arms. It seeped into her clothes, making them wet and sticky. The arm of his corpse hung beside her body, swaying as she walked. It put a massive burden on her heart, especially since she killed the man.
It was not an easy journey. When she finally arrived back at the factory, Song Qingxiao felt like she had exhausted all the energy reserves in her body. She threw the middle-aged man’s body to one side and pushed open the lips of one of those tanks with much difficulty. She held her breath in anticipation that something might leap out of the tank at her! However, once the lid was off, she quickly let out a sigh of relief.
The tank was half-filled with some sort of liquid that looked like sewage. Under the dim lighting, it looked extremely muddy. Song Qingxiao spent a tremendous amount of energy before she was able to push the short and fat corpse of that middle-aged man into the tank. All she could hear was the loud splash when he landed inside before she closed the lid. She was ready to conceal the traces of her journey to the factory.
In areas where there were traces of blood, she scrubbed the area hard with her foot to cover the evidence with their footsteps. She could not hide some things, so she could only hope that what she had done would be enough to temporarily confuse the others. However, it was still clear to see that it was the area where she had moved around the most.
Despite that, there was nothing else that Song Qingxiao could do. She could not run away. In that situation, it was highly likely that she might bump into one of the others if she tried to run away like a headless chicken. Once that happened, she would be out of energy. Even with her dagger, the chances of her surviving the encounter were low.
On the other hand, it might be better for her to stay put and wait for the others to come to her. There were several dozen tanks. Each of them had their own lids, and they were extremely heavy. She had inspected the liquid inside the tanks, and it was probably sewage.
Unless they were fortunate, it would take the others a bit of time to find her there. It would be sufficient for her to get some rest. Apart from that, she had the element of surprise and could attack when they opened the tank.
She headed to the large tank beside the one where she had put number six’s body and removed its cover. She climbed in and replaced the cover. The lid gradually blocked the dim light.
For some strange reason, the prickling sensation of the icy water around the lower half of her body seemed like a warning that if she failed, it would be her burial ground.
After she hid in the tank, once she was sure that none of her clothes or hair were visible from the outside, Song Qingxiao began to concentrate on the instructions in her mind. As soon as she started, she noticed that most of the cards in her consciousness had been flipped out!
The girl, who was number one.
The middle-aged man, who was number six.
The woman in the red dress, who was number eight.
The youth, who was number five.
Even Zhou Jing, who was number three.
All of their cards had flipped over!