novelraw Chapter 360 360
Chapter 360 360
Zhang Chenze nodded. "Green symbolizes peace. I'll take the green room."
Lin Qin followed with a nod. "I want the orange room."
"Well, no choice then. I'll go last," Qin Dingdong said, stretching lazily. "I'll take the blue one."
Each of them stepped into their respective rooms and stood in front of their own tables, then turned and closed the doors one after another.
Just as Qin Dingdong shut her door, something suddenly struck her. She quickly rattled the door, trying to open it again.
"Shoot…" Her brows knit together; a vital detail had slipped past her.
Although everyone more or less understood the {game rules}, she had forgotten to inform Su Shan about the rules of {End Point}.
From what she could recall from those distant memories, when that woman got serious, she was terrifying—she would, for the sake of the bigger picture, unhesitatingly kill anyone.
Either everyone died, or everyone survived.
After all, this was Terrestrial Dog's game. It symbolized {unity}; scheming against each other would only hasten their downfall.
Qin Dingdong gave the door a few hard shoves, but when it didn't budge at all, she could only give up in the end.
Su Shan was a clever person, but could she really figure out the rules that no one had ever explained?
Unfortunately, none of the games they'd played earlier that day had involved a {Dog}, so there hadn't been a chance to explain to this sharp newcomer what {Dog}-category games entailed.
"Su Shan…" Qin Dingdong looked over at her through the glass, then patted her own wall.
Noticing Qin Dingdong, Su Shan turned her head to the right.
Qin Dingdong pressed herself up against the glass, pointed at Terrestrial Dog, then mouthed the word, "Loyalty."
Su Shan furrowed her brow slightly; it was unclear whether she understood.
Feeling uneasy, Qin Dingdong switched the movement of her lips and mouthed another word, "Unity."
Seeing the movement of Qin Dingdong's lips, Su Shan gave a noncommittal nod.
Qin Dingdong's heart eased a little. With Su Shan's intelligence, even the smallest clue should be enough for her to infer the nature of a {Dog}-category game.
All the locks on the glass rooms clicked shut at the exact same moment with a crisp {click}, followed by Terrestrial Dog's voice over the loudspeaker.
"The game is now underway. All participants, draw two {fortune sticks} each."
Su Shan looked down at the small hole on the table in front of her. To her surprise, a {fortune stick} slowly rose from it, and she quickly reached out to grab it.
Five words were etched upon it: {Gentle and Endless Pattering Rain}.
Beneath was a right-pointing arrow.
"What is this…" Su Shan was still trying to grasp the meaning of the {fortune stick} when a second one surfaced on the table. She picked it up and found another set of five words: {No Land Shall Lie Fallow}.
This one had a left-pointing arrow drawn below the text.
Su Shan narrowed her eyes at the two {fortune sticks} in her hand, utterly confused. Was she supposed to kill the {NianBeast} with just these?
"Pattering Rain…Lie Fallow…?"
Before she could make sense of it, {Terrestrial Dog}'s voice came through once again. "{Drawing} phase complete. Now the round officially begins. Everyone will receive another {fortune stick} at the start of their turn."
As Terrestrial Dog spoke, Su Shan stared down at the two {fortune sticks} in her hand, unable to fathom how these might be used. With nothing more than five characters on each stick, the rest would have to be figured out by reflection alone.
Her turn was fast approaching. All she could do now was wait and see what the next {fortune stick} said, then decide her move based on the meaning of all three.
Very soon, a new {fortune stick} slowly rose from the hole on the right side. Su Shan glanced at the words on it and immediately raised her eyebrows.
Yes, this was the one!
She reached out and took the {fortune stick}. Written on it were the five words most harmful to the {NianBeast}:
{Firecrackers Close Out the Year}.
Unlike the other two, this {fortune stick} didn't have an arrow beneath the text. Instead, it featured the image of a beast that looked like a lion.
"Player One, make your {wish}," came Terrestrial Dog's voice over the broadcast.
Su Shan nodded and picked up the {fortune stick} that read {Firecrackers Close Out the Year}. According to legend, people lit firecrackers precisely to scare off the {NianBeast}. So if any of the three {fortune sticks} could deal actual damage, it had to be this one.
But just as she was about to insert the {fortune stick} into the slot, Su Shan suddenly felt something was off.
Things that seemed too straightforward were often the most suspicious. If harming the {NianBeast} were truly this easy, would that make any sense?
They needed to extinguish the {NianBeast}'s three light within eight turns, yet this was only the first phase of the very first turn.
Could it be… that whoever drew the {firecracker} lot could simply extinguish one of the {Nian Beast}'s lights?
If that were the case, then what were the other {fortune sticks} for?
Su Shan hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided to insert {Firecrackers Close Out the Year}. For now, it appeared to be the most effective option. Until she understood what the other {fortune sticks} did, it would be reckless to use them blindly.
She slid the {Firecrackers Close Out the Year} lot into the small hole on the right and watched as it was slowly swallowed by the opening.
In the next instant, the glass cylinder holding Terrestrial Dog burst into a display of multicolored lights. Accompanied by a low-quality firecracker sound effect, the flickering lights blazed for a full ten seconds before finally fading away.
What puzzled Su Shan was that, even after the lights had flashed, the three incandescent bulbs above Terrestrial Dog's head remained fully lit—none had gone out.