Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Heng Jiangyue stood up from the shrubs with one hand in her pocket.
She lifted her other hand to remove a leaf from her head and tossed it aside. The leaf drifted lightly to the ground, but she was already walking forward.
Only Dr. Du remained crouching motionless in the grass.
“Don’t. Young people shouldn’t be so rash… Ow!” A scorching heat suddenly pressed against his backside. His butthole clenched, and he twisted his stiff neck to look back.
The fire had reached them!
Heat struck his face. The air was burning hot. Dr. Du instantly turned deathly pale.
Forget it. Compared with being roasted alive, having his head twisted off would at least be a more dignified death.
“Wait for me. Dying together feels safer.” He scrambled up from the ground, gritted his teeth, and followed Lin Yinxi and the others.
After Lin Yinxi entered the sports field, she felt the light breeze within it. A dark shape slowly emerged from the gray mist.
Wheels rolled over the lawn.
Blackhead appeared. His upper body was bare, his rough skin a frightening grayish white. His powerful muscles bulged as though they might burst. Blue patterns showed faintly beneath his skin.
Dr. Du’s legs shook so badly he almost fell to his knees.
As the oldest person there, he was frightened, but still stepped forward voluntarily and stood in front of them all with his arms spread. “Students, if a fight really breaks out, you run first.”
Deng Miao waved both hands repeatedly. “Dr. Du, you absolutely can’t say that. It’s a death flag. The girl who led our dorm room said that, and the very next second a monster tore the skin off her face.”
Dr. Du twisted his neck, close to tears. “Could you please wish me a little luck?”
Lin Yinxi said nothing. She watched the black box Blackhead had wheeled out. A ticking sound came from inside, growing faster and faster.
She strode forward and put her hand into the box.
“Yinxi…” Deng Miao tried to approach her upperclasswoman, but Heng Jiangyue held out an arm to stop her.
Heng Jiangyue spoke with guarded gravity. “Something’s wrong with Xixi. Don’t get too close to her. She’s the only variable in our escape.”
Deng Miao looked utterly baffled, her head as round as ever. “Could you stop being so cryptic?”
Heng Jiangyue pressed her lips together.
The black box contained a pile of cards.
Lin Yinxi mixed them with her hand, then drew one at random.
The card read: Betrayal Game.
Then, before anything else, the rules for the game appeared in the group chat on her phone.
As the card came out, Blackhead lifted his head and let out a strange cry toward the sky. Black crows took flight around the sports field.
He wore an enormous gas mask.
The mask projected forward, hiding his eyes. When Lin Yinxi looked up, all she could see was its pitch-black filter opening.
White vapor puffed from the gas mask. A man’s deep, powerful voice came from beneath it.
“Four players in this round. The Betrayal Game.”
Blackhead raised his palm and chopped hard into the black box in front of him. It split into four, becoming four cubes that landed before the four of them.
The boxes turned transparent. Inside each were two pale, living hands.
Blue-green tattoos marked their backs.
The one on the left was called the Hand of Cooperation. The one on the right was the Hand of Betrayal.
What Blackhead said next was an abridged version of the rules in the group.
“Each person makes one choice: cooperate or betray.”
“If three or more people choose to cooperate, everyone survives. Those who cooperate receive no reward. Those who betray receive an additional reward of 1,000 Rabbit Coins.”
“If fewer than three people cooperate, those who cooperate lose both hands. Those who betray lose one finger.”
“If everyone chooses betrayal, everyone loses one hand, and a new card-drawing game begins.”
“Once everyone has chosen, the answers will be revealed.”
Compared with the group rules, this omitted one point: if they drew another game card for a second round, the probability of death would rise.
Blackhead’s gas mask violently expelled a blast of white vapor, carrying a pungent chemical smell.
“The game begins!”
The instant he shouted, the boxes in front of them turned black.
No one could see the choices inside from outside.
The others were still trying to understand the rules.
Ding!
A red light suddenly came on.
Lin Yinxi’s choice was locked in.
Her hand was trapped inside the black box. She could not pull it out. The cold, strange hand within held hers, its fingers resting on her wrist. Her blood vessels trembled slightly, life flowing through them.
While everyone was still somewhat bewildered, Lin Yinxi looked up and announced loudly, “I’ll tell you straight out. I chose betrayal.”
Deng Miao was stunned. “Huh?”
Her already large eyes widened further.
Dr. Du grew paler. “You… how could you…?”
Heng Jiangyue, however, said nothing at first. She stared at Lin Yinxi with hostility, her gaze growing steadily colder. “Selfish.”
Lin Yinxi did not care how any of them reacted.
Under this threat of death, she curved her lips and let out a soft laugh.
“Ha ha… cough, cough, cough…”
She had wanted to play a wicked Disney stepmother and give a proper witch’s cackle. Unfortunately, neither her voice nor her looks suited a villain. She looked more like a beautiful, kindhearted, sickly young heiress.
She was too short of breath. Laughing too loudly made her choke.
“Cough… I’ve already chosen betrayal. The three of you have only one way to clear this without injury: all of you choose cooperation.”
Every other option meant blood.
Heng Jiangyue folded her arms. “But why should you get the reward? That’s such a disgusting move. The three of us might as well choose betrayal and make you lose a hand too. Nobody gets off easy.”
“You can try.” Lin Yinxi took the folding fruit knife from her pocket, opened it, and slapped it onto the box. The threat in her eyes needed no explanation. “I’ll kill you.”
Deng Miao stared at Lin Yinxi, blinking once, then again. Was this still her frail, helpless upperclasswoman who kept failing her fitness tests?
Yinxi looked like a major villain now, as if she could crush all three of them with one finger.
“Heng Jiangyue, why do you insist on fighting me?” Lin Yinxi tilted her head and smiled very gently.
She coaxed her patiently. “I’ve already chosen betrayal anyway. You’re not going to get the reward. Don’t act out of spite. Your own safety matters most.”
By this point, Lin Yinxi was actually exhausted. She was forcing herself to keep going, her skin cold and pale, fine sweat still beading at her temples. But her eyes were bright. She could not show weakness.
“Hmph!” Heng Jiangyue looked displeased. Angry as she was, she also knew which choice benefited her.
Lin Yinxi glanced at Dr. Du. “Dr. Du, you should know very well how big the difference is between losing a finger and losing a hand, right?”
“Huh?” Hearing his name, Dr. Du looked up.
His black-framed glasses had fogged slightly. He looked disheveled and panicked. “Mm… you’re right.”
His lips trembled as he said, “If you lose a finger, you can choose your little finger. In an injury assessment, that only counts as a minor injury.
But if we lose a hand, whether it’s one or both, we could bleed to death after the game.”
Lin Yinxi tucked the loose strands of long black hair beside her cheek behind her ear. Softening her voice, she combined threats with promises. “We’re all from the same school, really. There’s no need to be at each other’s throats. Just be good and all choose cooperation. Once I get the reward, I can split it equally among everyone.”
At that moment, dark clouds filled the sky.
Small black drops of water began falling from above.
They hit the grass with a hiss.
A new message appeared on her phone.