TDU Chapter 364
Chapter 364 Year of Reckoning and Repair
Seeing Lin Qin’s obvious injuries, Su Shan’s expression finally lost its calm.
Though these people were {seniors}, though they retained memories, and though they had endured countless trials here, dying and reviving repeatedly, they were still {human} after all.
Humans are rendered helpless against these iron contraptions.
If Terrestrial Dog’s traps were set even slightly harsher, Lin Qin would already be dead.
But this slow, torturous method of death…wasn’t it equally cruel?
Watching Lin Qin being lifted into the air by the iron grate once more, Su Shan gave up.
‘Qi Xia, I’ve tried my best to follow your guidance… but I just can’t do it,’ Su Shan closed her eyes. ‘If I have to abandon my teammates, I can’t even imagine how to win.’
She slowly opened her eyes, her gaze grown firm. “I want to save them…”
Now came the last phase of the second round: {Winter}.
Qin Dingdong stared blankly at Lin Qin’s room until a {fortune stick} suddenly popped up on her desk.
{Firecrackers Close Out the Year}.
She froze for a moment, then expressionlessly took the {fortune stick}.
This was the true {trump card}, far stronger than the {Dense smoke Veils Every Direction} she used last round.
Just as she was about to insert the {fortune stick} into the slot, she recalled her own near drowning in the sand last round.
It was Su Shan’s {fortune stick} that had saved her.
Following that logic, shouldn’t she now save Lin Qin?
But… was Lin Qin still saveable?
While Qin Dingdong pondered, Lin Qin fell twice more, nearly crashing into the table inside her room.
Her situation was extremely urgent; who had ever tried repeatedly to fall from three meters in a half-squatting position?
Qin Dingdong took out the {fortune stick} in her hands: one was {Autumn Wind Clears the Leaves}, the other {Water Recedes Without a Trace}.
From their literal meaning, neither of these two {fortune sticks} seemed capable of rescuing Lin Qin, but if Qin Dingdong didn’t act, would Lin Qin survive?
At that moment, Qin Dingdong caught sight of Su Shan anxiously tapping on the glass, seemingly trying to convey something.
Qin Dingdong watched her lip movements and realized she was saying {Pass}.
“Pass…?” Qin Dingdong frowned, “Could it be… you can save Lin Qin?”
Without further hesitation, she quickly played {Firecrackers Close Out the Year}.
Moments later, Terrestrial Dog’s room lit up with multicolored lights, accompanied again by the cheap firecracker sound effect.
This time was distinctly different—after the lights dimmed and the sound stopped, one of the lights above Terrestrial Dog went out.
Terrestrial Dog furrowed his brow and glanced at Qin Dingdong, a trace of menace flashing in his eyes as he muttered, “What a nuisance…”
Everyone except Lin Qin turned to look at the extinguished light.
This was their first step toward victory. Having previously drawn {Firecrackers Close Out the Year}, Su Shan was even more convinced of her theory.
The only way to allow {Firecrackers} to do damage to the {Nian Beast} was to pass this specific {fortune stick} to {Winter}, and have {Winter} make the {wish}.
Fittingly, the inscription read {Close Out the Year}, befitting {Winter}, the season that concluded the year.
…
As soon as round three began, Su Shan immediately inserted {Masses Unite in Disaster Relief} into the left slot on the table.
This time, she wasn’t making a {wish} but rather bestowed a {gift}.
Since this {fortune stick} had an arrow pointing left, had she made a {wish}, it would only take effect in Zhang Chenze’s room. However, since Zhang Chenze’s room wasn’t experiencing the {Earthquake} disaster, this {fortune stick} wouldn’t take any effect.
Her only hope now was to have Zhang Chenze {wish} with this {fortune stick}.
After sending the {fortune stick} off, Su Shan drew her new {fortune stick} for this round — a {Default} stick.
This was the first time Su Shan had drawn a {Default} stick.
Now she held {No Land Shall Lie Fallow} and a {Default} stick.
‘So there are also… {Defaults}…?’ Su Shan felt a foreboding unease. If this game was designed to balance the chances between both sides, then among all the {fortune sticks}, there should be a large number of {Default} sticks. In other words, {wishable} {fortune sticks} were incredibly precious and had to be used wisely.
But now, there was a significant hidden risk.
In a previous round, Qin Dingdong had wasted a {fortune stick}—one that could produce a thick smoke.
If each {fortune stick} corresponded exactly to a way to counter one {Calamity}, then which {Calamity} did {Smoke} correspond to?
Might that suggest a future disaster for which there will be no countermeasure?
“Now’s not the time to think about this…”
Su Shan moved close to the glass, catching Zhang Chenze’s attention, then pointed first at the newly appeared {fortune stick} on Zhang Chenze’s table, then at Lin Qin’s room.
Zhang Chenze nodded and picked up the {fortune stick} to examine it.
Indeed, the words on the {fortune stick} were very straightforward.
Since Lin Qin’s room was currently experiencing a {Earthquake}, a powerful natural disaster that was completely unpredictable and impossible to resist, the only recourse in the face of such calamity was {Disaster Relief}.
Zhang Chenze decisively inserted {Masses Unite in Disaster Relief} into the slot.
During this moment, Lin Qin was being lifted into the air. She looked extremely weak, her hands and knees covered in blood. With barely any strength left, she raised her head to glance at her teammates in the room, her expression tinged with despair.
She had never imagined dying under such a strange and torturous punishment.
If given a choice, she would rather fall once from thirty meters than endure ten falls from three meters.
Everyone else in the room also understood clearly that if Lin Qin were to fall this time, given her current condition, even if she survived, she would never be able to stand again.
With this, {Autumn} would disappear, breaking the most crucial link among the four seasons.
When the iron grid was about to fall, the broadcast in Lin Qin’s room suddenly rang out with the cheers of tens of thousands.
This overwhelming sound gave Lin Qin a glimmer of hope; she vaguely realized someone had come to save her.
Although no one actually appeared, the iron grid slowly descended amid the roar, finally settling steadily on the ground.
Lin Qin was saved.
However, her body was in terrible shape; she ached all over, and there was no feeling left in her right leg.
She lifted her head and felt something cold sliding down her forehead. When she reached up to touch it, her palm was stained with crimson blood. Apparently, she had somehow scraped her forehead, but fortunately not severely, and her mind was still relatively clear.
“Player Two’s {wish} completed. Player Three, kindly {draw}.” Terrestrial Dog’s indifferent voice came again through the broadcast, overpowering the cheers in Lin Qin’s room.
Zhang Chenze looked at the {fortune sticks} in her hand and slowly furrowed her brow.
This round, she did not {draw} a {fortune stick} but instead received the {fortune stick} gifted by Su Shan.
In other words, the {fortune sticks} in her hand remained unchanged from the previous round. Did accepting a {gift} mean forfeiting the chance to {draw}?
“This {Earthquake}... it’s worse than I imagined,” Zhang Chenze said heavily, “That {Calamity stick} only affected Autumn, yet it rendered the other seasons completely incapable of acting for an entire round…”
TL Note: Apologies if the line ‘Qin Dingdong watched her lip movements and realized she was saying {Pass}.’ reads a little weird, I couldn’t find a better single word alternative that implies 'end your turn without doing too much'. If anyone has something better, feel free to comment below, I promise to give credit!
