Chapter 28 - 28: Conical Space
“Doll game? What doll game?”
Tan Xiao pulled his leg out of the muck, trudging laboriously towards the bespectacled man, “Mr. Zhang, what did you mean by what you just said? What doll, what game? I don’t understand.”
The bespectacled man hung his head weakly, his entire being steeped in gloom, his lips rigidly opening and closing, “You won’t need me to tell you, you will understand soon… I’ve only experienced it once, that time… there were sixteen of us… In the end, I was the only one who survived…”
Tan Xiao stared at him, his face blank as he scratched the back of his head.
Suddenly finding themselves in such a place was like stepping into the nest of an unknown creature. Everyone was shivering in fear, some already whimpering softly.
Shen MO scooped Bai Youwei out of the mud, looking around only to find no suitable place to put her. Everywhere he looked, there was nothing but wet mud, not a single clean spot to step on.
Bai Youwei pointed to a huge snail shell not far away, so Shen MO carried her over through the muddy pits.
Whether they had shrunk or the snails had mutated, every single snail here was as big as a double door refrigerator! After seeing rabbits as large as dogs, such snails didn’t seem that extraordinary.
Thankfully, only the shells were left, and they were hollow inside. Otherwise, it would have been a horrifying sight.
Bai Youwei sat on the rough surface of the snail shell, her long dress soaked in muddy water. It was heavy and thick, she had to struggle to maintain her balance.
The place they were in was a huge mud pit. The surrounding walls were slippery with wet stones. The higher up they were, the narrower they became, until at the center, there was only a small round hole that went straight up like a well.
The sunlight seeped through the hole, brightening the middle of the cave, while the surrounding areas were dim. The further away from the hole, the darker it became, with the corners being almost pitch black.
In simple terms, this was a conical space filled with mud.
After finding a place for Bai Youwei, Shen MO helped the teacher who was not far away onto his feet.
They had been in the same car, so their landing spots were close.
The poor man in his sixties was pale, covered in mud and his legs were soaking in muddy water. His knees shook uncontrollably.
Shen Mo helped the teacher onto another snail shell, then looked around again — other people were also climbing onto snail shells to avoid sitting in the mud.
So far, they hadn’t seen the Inspector.
However, this place was large, the light was dim, and there were countless snail shells for cover- perhaps the Inspector was hiding somewhere?
Not far away, Dixon and his gang had cornered the spectacled man.
The leader, Dixon, held onto Zhang Hua’s collar. He spoke with a mixture of intimidation and fear, “Zhang Hua! You dare lie to us! Why didn’t you mention the game back at the rest-stop?!”
They were calling him Director Zhang before, but now used his name.
Tan Xiao grabbed Dixon’s arm and joined the fray, “You dare to start a fight?! Not enough of yesterday’s beating? Let go of him!…Are you deaf! Will you let go?!”
The men staggered and struggled in the mud pit, none of them had the upper hand and soon they were panting heavily.
Zhang Hua, the spectacled man, sat in the mud, watching them as if they were dead men walking, “If I had mentioned it before, could we have avoided it?” “Bastard!” Dixon cursed, turning around to climb the slippery stone wall.
However, the walls were slick and the ground was made of soft mud, making it impossible to get a grip.
Zhang Hua sat in the mud, laughing at them, “Don’t waste your energy. If I were you, I would take this time to observe the terrain. It would save a lot of trouble when the game starts, instead of waiting around clueless and waiting to die.”
“Who the hell are you saying is going to die?!” Another punk yelled angrily, stepping forward to teach him a lesson. The light in the cave then suddenly dimmed.
Total darkness.
Then, a childish voice echoed,
“Oh? There are so many players this time…”
Everyone was taken aback, immediately holding their breath.
The rustling sound in the darkness suggested that something was slowly descending from the vertical round hole….