Ten Day Ultimatum

Qi Xia explained while putting all his strength into turning the table, "The positions of {Ningxia} and {Shandong} can be connected to form a horizontal line. {Inner Mongolia}, {Sichuan}, and {Yunnan} can be connected into a {left-slanting downward brush stroke}."

"And the four points—{Guangxi}, {Guangdong}, {Shaanxi} and {Jiangsu}—can be connected to form a square, which creates the character for {right(右)}."
"No matter where Han Yimo's hometown is, as long as it is in Guangxi Province or Taiwan Province, it will form the character {口}. So the answer was predetermined."
Everyone quickened their pace, exchanging peculiar glances. Qi Xia's unconventional thinking had revealed the solution twice in a row, making everyone start to doubt.

Qi Xia understood their skepticism, so he addressed the group. "Don't misunderstand. If the next {game} requires abandoning you to survive, I will do so without hesitation."
Hearing this, everyone fell silent, gritting their teeth and continuing to turn the table with renewed determination.
Nine people surrounded the table, continuously rotating it to the right.

"How many rotations have we done?" Qiao Jiajin asked.
"Twenty-six," Lin Qin replied.
"You were actually able to keep count?" Qiao Jiajin blinked in surprise. "The table looks the same all around."

"I counted each time the bloodstain on the table passed by me," Lin Qin said seriously. "Counting is crucial for us counseling psychologists."
Qi Xia furrowed his brows. "We’ve only completed less than thirty rotations. We need to speed up."
Everyone fell silent and quickened their movements. But the table grew increasingly difficult to turn, as if the internal chains ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) were tightening.

"What the hell is happening?" Qiao Jiajin gritted his teeth. "This is too heavy."
"Jiayou... maybe it's really connected to a door!" Tian Tian shouted through clenched teeth.
Her words sparked a glimmer of hope in their despair.

A door. Since this room could create holes out of thin air, why couldn't it conjure a door in the same way? Everyone’s arms ached, but they persevered, rotating the table circle after brutal circle.
"Don't give up, everyone! Just five more rotations!" Lin Qin shouted encouragingly.
In that pivotal moment, each person gnashed their teeth and summoned every ounce of strength, with a collective determination that left no room for complacency.

{Creak, creak}.
As the final rotation neared its end, it became unmistakably clear the table had embedded itself into something. At last, a collective breath of relief escaped everyone’s lips, and the fatigue in their arms surged up all at once.
With just three minutes left until a quarter past one, the air turned tense.
"Where's the door?!" Qiao Jiajin's voice rang out, sharp with urgency. The walls surrounding them were unchanged, cold and flat, faintly illuminated by the harpoon’s piercing light in the dark void.

"What the hell! There’s no door!" Qiao Jiajin’s voice cracked with rising despair.
"Wrong! We got it wrong!" Xiao Ran screamed. "Left was the right answer, wasn’t it?! We shouldn’t have trusted that swindler! We’re all gonna die here!!"
Qi Xia furrowed his brow. Wrong?

Before anyone could respond, the desk clock at the center of the table began to act strangely. It quivered, then shot out eight laser beams. The beams swept across the table, slowly tracing their way outward to the edge—then stopped. In the next moment, the clock divided the tabletop into nine equal sectors like pizza slices.
{Thud}! A heavy noise shook the room as the table suddenly collapsed, leaving only the central clock perched atop a stubby wooden stake.
Time was vanishing, and chaos set in.

"What’s going on?" Han Yimo exclaimed. "Why did the table break apart?"
Right then, Officer Li spotted handles on the back of each triangular piece of the table. His years of experience made everything click. "Shields!" He grabbed one piece and raised it in front of himself. "We can use these to deflect the harpoons!"
On cue, everyone followed, lifting a piece each to use as a makeshift shield. But just a few seconds later, a critical issue dawned on all of them.

"How the hell are we supposed to defend ourselves with this?!" Lawyer Zhang Chenze snapped, rare panic slipping through his voice. "The harpoons are coming from every damn direction—we can only block one!"
"We need to work together," Qi Xia said, forcing calm into his voice. "Circle up. Cover each other’s backs."
Without wasting a second, the group rearranged themselves in silence, locking into the new formation. The only thing cutting through the air was their ragged breathing. Nine strangers now stood as a single unit—none of them could afford to falter.

Qi Xia’s eyes flicked to Writer Han Yimo. Sweat beaded on the man’s forehead, his body trembling like a leaf.
Then, from outside the room, a bell tolled.
"You okay?" Qi Xia asked quietly.

"I—I’m fine..." Han Yimo stammered, shaking his head, clearly not fine at all.
"Hey! Doctor Zhao, flip your damn shield over!" Zhang Chenze barked.
"Why?" Doctor Zhao looked down, confused. He was holding the table piece with the tip down and the wide part up.

"My legs are exposed with you holding it like that!" Zhang Chenze snapped. "You trying to get me killed?"
"If I flip it, my head's wide open!" Doctor Zhao shot back. "What’s more important—your damn legs or my skull?"
Others, hearing this, silently agreed with Zhao and flipped their shields. But now, harpoons coming from the sides would only be blocked at the top. Their lower bodies were left wide open.

"This feels wrong," Xiao Ran said, frowning. "Even if we duck behind the points and cover the front, what about the ones from behind? Or overhead?"
"I’ll handle the top," Police Officer Li said firmly, raising his shield. "Everyone close in. I’ll cover the high angles."
"Wait!" Lin Qin said quickly. "We should stagger the shields—one up, one down. That’ll patch the gaps!"

"Good idea!" Qiao Jiajin chimed in.
"No," Qi Xia interrupted, his voice low. "If the shields take the harpoons head-on, they’ll get pierced like paper."
"Then what’s your plan, leng-zai?" Qiao Jiajin asked, narrowing his eyes.

Qi Xia’s gaze landed on the goat mask lying forgotten on the ground.
"Why aren’t bamboo shoots afraid of rain?"
The last clue hit him like a thunderbolt. "Wait… I need a second," he muttered, brows knitting tight.

Everyone froze, tension slicing the air as the final minute ticked down.
"Screw this!" Doctor Zhao growled. "Let’s just follow Lin Qin’s idea and stack them alternating!"
"Shut your mouth, lan-joeng!" Qiao Jiajin shot back. "I’m trusting the swindler on this one."

"You—!" Doctor Zhao clenched his jaw but said no more.
"That’s it!" Qi Xia suddenly snapped to attention. "Everyone, tips up!"
There was hesitation—but the pressure left no time for second guesses. Doctor Zhao grumbled under his breath, then adjusted his shield to point upward.

"Crouch!" Qi Xia commanded. "Pull the tips together—close the gaps! Officer Li, forget the top, get in the formation!"
They obeyed. Slowly, the pieces locked together, forming a seamless cone. To their surprise, the shields fit perfectly—no holes, no weak spots. From above, it resembled a bamboo shoot—tight, solid, ready for the storm.
Their hearts hammered. Breath was the only sound left.

"It’s coming..." Qi Xia murmured, calculating in silence.
A moment later, the first impact hit—something slammed into Qi Xia’s shield with brutal force.
Then chaos erupted. Whistling wind. Crashes from all sides. Harpoons slammed down like a typhoon of steel. Arms shook. Bones jarred. They gritted their teeth, desperately holding on as the shields strained under the assault.

"AHHH!"
Xiao Ran’s scream sliced the air. A harpoon had struck the table piece in front of her.
Qi Xia twisted around. His heart nearly stopped—the harpoon had stopped just inches from her eyes. If the shield hadn’t held...

She’d be dead.