Chapter 112, number 112
This sentence was like a bomb, exploding in the already tense room.
What's going on? Yi Heye frowned.
They're killing each other? They spent so much effort training themselves, only to have them kill each other now? What's the point of doing that?
He thought of the human body parts he had seen in the corridor—the complete body without a single scratch, which suggested that those people were not the result of killing each other.
The treatment plan I just received from my medical examination indicates that I will be given priority in being selected as a sacrificial offering. Does that mean there are other possible treatment options?
Yi Heye looked down and noticed faint, indelible bloodstains on the ground. The bloodstains were scattered in various patterns, new and old overlapping, clearly indicating they had endured countless such baptisms.
Old Qin just said that this is the last hurdle for him and Tang Ruoqi, which means that those who don't make it to this point will not experience this situation.
The more Yi Heye thought about it, the more his scalp tingled. What he was experiencing was a very rigorous and meticulous assembly line. Whether it was a "qualified product" like him who successfully made it to the end, or a "defective product" like Xiao Liu and the others who had flaws, it seemed that they would all be utilized to the fullest extent in the end.
After carefully considering those seemingly less urgent issues, Yi Heye belatedly realized the kind of situation he was facing—
He and Tang Ruoqi are now fighting each other. According to their rules, only one of them can advance; the other must be killed here by the other.
Yi Heye was very clear about his role: he came to save people, not to fulfill his dreams or to kill.
Yi Heye looked up at Tang Ruoqi, whose expression was clearly very unpleasant after hearing this outrageous and absurd request.
He forced a smile, a smile more like a grimace: "Is this some kind of new gameplay? A holographic virtual battle? I'm not very good at online games... Can someone teach me how to play?"
Yi Heye looked at him, unsure how to explain it to him.
But upon closer inspection, it seemed he no longer needed any explanation—at this moment, Tang Ruoqi's face was as pale as paper, her forehead was covered in cold sweat, and her calves were still trembling. Just moments ago she was closely following behind Yi Heye, but now she was pressed against the wall at the other end of the room, trying to distance herself from Yi Heye.
They didn't seem to be completely unaware of what was about to happen.
Tang Ruoqi showed no aggression for the time being; her main concern was wariness and fear of Yi Heye.
Yi Heye possessed overwhelming combat power. He was confident that he could take down Tang Ruoqi in no time, even with his eyes closed. Therefore, he was less concerned about his own safety and more worried about how to break the current situation.
He raised his eyes, looked calmly at Tang Ruoqi, and slowly raised his hands, trying to show that he had no intention of attacking.
But Tang Ruoqi wasn't buying it. He clung to the wall like a gecko, as if he would explode if Yi Heye took another step.
So Yi Heye gave up on the idea of getting close to him, looked up at the recording device on the wall and asked, "Can I give up now and let him debut instead?"
"Of course not." Old Qin's voice came slowly—seemingly influenced by the Little Sheep God, he spoke slowly, and the reverberation was full, filling the room with a divine tone.
"Why not?" Yi Heye asked. "If you want me to kill him, how can I still be in the mood to be a big star? If you want him to kill me, I might as well go back to doing manual labor."
Tang Ruoqi, who was standing to the side, turned pale with fright when she heard him talk back. Yi Heye knew that what he said sounded silly and argumentative, but in fact, he just wanted to buy more time and try to find out the other party's true motives.
But Old Qin clearly didn't want to explain too much to him, and said somewhat impatiently, "Survival of the fittest, some things are not up to you."
Yi Heye was about to argue back when he heard a rumbling sound from above. He and Tang Ruoqi looked up almost simultaneously and then held their breath in unison.
At this moment, the tall roof overhead began to slowly descend, turning everything pitch black, like the sky collapsing.
At this rate, if they can't get out of here in time, they'll both be crushed to death in less than twenty minutes—just as he guessed, there's always a countdown that forces them to act.
Old Qin sneered: "The battle must be decided within 15 minutes, or you will all die."
Yi Heye raised his head, looked at the ceiling pressing down on him, and asked, "You've worked so hard to raise us, and now that things have come to this, are you really willing to crush us all?"
"If you can't even do this, it only proves that you haven't passed the test, and you're still not qualified to see the gods." After saying this, Old Qin fell silent.
Yi Heye seemed to be able to guess the general idea—for them, this was also a way to prove their worth.
This feeling is like raising poisonous insects. After many poisonous insects kill each other, the last one that survives is the "King of Poisonous Insects" with absolute value. And the one who wins in such an environment is the sacrifice that is meaningful to their "god".
As he was pondering this, nearly half of the roof beam above his head crashed down, seemingly compressing the air in the room.
Whether it was psychological or nervousness, both of them began to have some difficulty breathing.
Yi Heye tried his best to remain rational and calm, but Tang Ruoqi on the other side was clearly unable to hold on any longer—his breathing began to become uncontrollably rapid, and his pupils trembled with tension. He stared intently at Yi Heye, his expression gradually changing from fear and panic to uncontrollable anxiety and irritability.
If this continues, something bad is bound to happen. Yi Heye looked up again—it was getting closer and closer.
Tang Ruoqi began pacing back and forth in the room; clearly, his rationality was beginning to crumble little by little.
"Senior..." Yi Heye tried to call him softly. When he heard his name suddenly ring out, Tang Ruoqi felt as if he had heard a thunderclap, which made him tremble all over.
Then, seemingly finally remembering his status as a senior and his promise to protect that junior, he could only force a smile and put on a forced but familiar one: "Don't be afraid, let me think of something..."
Under Yi Heye's watchful gaze, he paced back and forth in the room, touching the walls, trying to find some mechanisms and secret passages that existed in the escape room. After searching for a long time, he tried his best to kick, pry, and ram the door—but of course, it was all in vain. This place was deliberately designed to drive the two of them to a dead end, and it would not leave them any chance to escape.
At this moment, the roof was only an arm's length away from them, and the light in the room was distorted and folded, making them feel so oppressed that they were on the verge of collapse.
Just like Lao Qin said, if they don't take any action, they will both die here.
Yi Heye looked at Tang Ruoqi in front of him, and she happened to see his gaze. Seemingly unable to avoid it, she finally covered her head and squatted down against the wall.
"Xiao Ye..." Tang Ruoqi's voice was squeezed out from her chest, her tone very suppressed and restrained, but Yi Heye could still tell that she had already started to cry.
Tang Ruoqi, a high-quality idol who has always presented a smiling and positive image, finally couldn't help but reveal his extreme fear.
Even so, he did not show the slightest bit of hostility towards Yi Heye.
At this moment, the roof had already reached the top of Yi Heye's head. He first tried to lift it up with his hands, but found that he couldn't stop it. Helpless, he didn't go down and sat cross-legged facing Tang Ruoqi.
"Is this the end of it?" Yi Heye thought helplessly.
Killing this defenseless young man in front of him would have been effortless for him. But he knew he was there to save someone; what would it mean to kill the person he was supposed to rescue?
Perhaps a year ago, Yi Heye might have readily given away his chance to survive to someone else. Afterward, he would have lived a muddled life, repeating the same boring and busy routine every day, as if dying to save someone was something he couldn't do.
But at this moment, Yi Heye realized that he was not ready to die yet. He thought of SHEEP, whom he had not yet personally brought to justice. He also thought of Jian Yunxian, who said that he had something to say to him after the mission was over.
He wanted to know if SHEEP was really Jian Yunxian, and he also wanted to know what kind of feelings Jian Yunxian had for him—he already had the answers to these questions in his heart. He just wanted to live and wanted to hear Jian Yunxian say it to him in person.
He looked at Tang Ruoqi, who was sobbing and trembling in front of him, and tentatively asked, "Senior, do you want to live?"
Yi Heye didn't know what kind of answer he wanted, nor did he know what choice he could make after the other party gave him his answer.
The ceiling pressed down on them again, and the two bent over, their sitting posture turning into a crawling position.
At this moment, Tang Ruoqi finally couldn't hold back and burst into tears.
He didn't answer Yi Heye's question, but instead took off his coat and handed it to Yi Heye.
Yi Heye didn't understand what he was going to do until he said to himself with red eyes, "Help me, I want to commit suicide."
Yi Heye's eyes widened suddenly—he hadn't expected Tang Ruoqi to give him such an answer.
“This was my own choice, so it doesn’t count as you killing me.” Tang Ruoqi smiled through her tears and snot. “For me, watching you die is just as painful as me dying myself. I’d rather you live, as long as it gives me peace of mind.”
Yi Heye looked at the coat in his hand. He knew what this person meant: he wanted him to help strangle him with the clothes. Of course, he couldn't do that. He wanted to live, but he didn't want to see the person he was trying to save die for him.
Yi Heye, who had been trying his best to remain calm, finally panicked. His hands, which were holding the clothes, were ice-cold. At this moment, there were probably less than three minutes left before they were crushed to death.
"Hurry up!" Tang Ruoqi pleaded with him, her voice trembling with tears. "If you don't do it now, we're all going to die."
Yi Heye trembled violently, the ceiling pressing against his back. He decisively threw away the clothes he was holding, pulled Tang Ruoqi close, and shielded her beneath him—
Damn it, damn it. Who told me I was here to save people?
Yi Heye gritted his teeth, feeling a heavy force crushing him, but he could only clench his teeth tightly, with no room to fight back.
This was the first time he felt death descend upon him. His eyes even began to dart around. In the narrow space, Tang Ruoqi's crying stopped. Yi Heye couldn't help but think, "Could this be the world after death?"
Just a second before he lost consciousness, a loud bang exploded overhead. He clearly felt the massive object on his body slowly lift up, and then light and air filled the room again.
Yi Heye was still a little dizzy. When he looked up, he saw the lights around him suddenly change strangely, and then a huge sheep-shaped shadow rose up in the center of the light and shadow.
This time, the design is not the usual cute and cuddly, but rather has a sharp and terrifying twist. Its ram horns are like two clusters of burning flames, making people think of everything turning to ashes and jade and stone being destroyed.
The next second, a familiar voice, filled with extreme anger, ignited from the cluster of black flames:
"Who dares to touch my treasure?!"
Author's Note:
The Sheep God is enraged!
(The motives of these guys will be explained later~ Don't worry~)
Chapter 113, number 113
I'm experiencing oxygen deprivation, pain, and a feeling that my heart is about to explode.
Yi Heye groggily raised his head, feeling a sharp pain in his back as if it were about to break.
At this moment, the interplay of light and shadow before them resembled a radiant deity on an altar, illuminating the entire room with dazzling brilliance while gently cradling the two figures in the center of the room with deep, dark shadows.
After regaining her senses, Tang Ruoqi finally stumbled out from under Yi Heye. She looked at Yi Heye's injuries in a panic, knelt down beside him, and cried, "Are you alright? Are you okay?"
The weight of the beam pressing down on his back was not pleasant, especially since he had subconsciously braced himself, trying his best to create space for Tang Ruoqi. The combined force of these forces had put a tremendous impact on his spine and arms.
Yi Heye felt a burning pain in his back, probably due to large areas of abrasions on top of the pressure injury. His arms also hurt a lot, and his prosthetics were somewhat deformed.
The pain blurred his vision, but that strange pleasure burned up again. "Damn it," Yi Heye cursed as he sweated from the pain, "that feels so fucking good."
Tang Ruoqi was initially very worried about Yi Heye's injuries, but when she saw the uncontrollable smile on his face and the excited light shining in his bloodshot eyes, she was instantly frightened and dared not utter a sound.
He watched as the man staggered to his feet, walked to the door, and lifted his foot.
With a loud "boom," the heavy door in front of him was kicked open from the inside as if it had been bombarded by a cannonball.
Tang Ruoqi stared in utter astonishment at this cute and adorable junior, unable to tell whether he was an angel who would save him or a devil who would devour him.
Meanwhile, even more terrified than Tang Ruoqi was Lao Qin, who was hiding behind the scenes.
He first stared at the eerie sheep-shaped shadow on the screen, his knees already trembling uncontrollably. Then, the angry questioning voice startled him so much that he knelt down on the ground with a thud.
He clasped his hands together, closed his eyes, and nervously and rapidly recited a prayer. In the sudden change of the surrounding lights, his face was ashen and he was covered in sweat. He was on the verge of fainting from the tension.
"Forgive me...Forgive me...I am your faithful believer...I am willing to give everything for you..."
Just as he was praying earnestly, the door behind him collapsed with a loud crash, and a huge black shadow enveloped him.
Old Qin turned around, his face pale, and saw a service robot nearly two meters tall standing firmly behind him.
This is a robot they use to clean and dissect the "sacrifices." It's in the room next to his. It has simple functions and limited behavior, and it never usually goes berserk or rebels.
But this time, the situation was clearly not so optimistic. The blue indicator light that normally illuminated during normal operation had turned an eerie green.
Logically speaking, green is not aggressive compared to other colors. But this time, in the pitch-black room, this cluster of eerie green resembled a burning will-o'-the-wisp, filled with extreme anger, as if it wanted to burn Old Qin to ashes.