TDU Chapter 376
Chapter 376 Old Acquaintance
"Qin Dingdong!!" Su Shan urgently turned Qin Dingdong over and patted her cheek, only to find her face burning hot to the touch.
‘Not good…’
Su Shan acted without hesitation. She reached for Qin Dingdong’s neck to check her pulse—she still had one. Then she leaned in to listen for breathing.
She was still alive, but not breathing.
Without a second thought, Su Shan pried open Qin Dingdong’s mouth and reached inside to clear out a few shards of ice.
She then unbuttoned the top of Qin Dingdong’s shirt, located her sternum with her thumb, shifted down three centimeters, and knelt down, raising her upper body. Clasping her hands together, she pressed down forcefully.
Using the strength of her entire upper body, she performed chest compressions—roughly twenty-five times—before loosening her hands. Then, pinching Qin Dingdong’s nose, she gave her two breaths.
After letting go, Su Shan bent down once more to listen for breathing. Things still looked grim.
Zhang Chenze had made her way to Lin Qin and helped her up. Supporting one another, the two of them moved slowly over to Su Shan’s side.
All three of them had conventional professions, so they each knew a bit about emergency first aid. But no books had ever told them how to help someone who had just endured a sandstorm, a flood, poisonous miasma, hail, and a wildfire.
In just a short while, Su Shan's face was covered in sweat, and her hands, still performing chest compressions, were growing weaker by the second.
"Let me take over..." Lawyer Zhang patted Su Shan on the back, signaling her to step aside. Then she straightened her upper body and began administering CPR to Qin Dingdong herself.
Seeing the others refusing to give up, Terrestrial Dog slowly pushed open his door and walked over to them.
"Is this really necessary?" he asked. "Saving her now is pointless. Even if she wakes up, she’ll be in so much pain she’ll wish she were dead."
None of the three women paid him any mind. They focused all their attention on Qin Dingdong. Su Shan even sat down beside her, gently supporting her head with both hands. If her face remained turned to the side, breathing would be even more difficult.
At last, after their tireless efforts, Qin Dingdong let out a violent cough. A mouthful of blood-tinged vomit spewed from her lips.
"Ugh!" She let out a pained scream and suddenly regained her breath. Grimacing in agony, she sprawled on the floor gasping heavily. Soon, she began coughing uncontrollably, spewing fresh blood.
"That’s great…" Su Shan and Zhang Chenze both slumped to the ground, exchanging tired yet relieved smiles.
This grueling game by Terrestrial Dog had finally ended with everyone alive and victorious.
"Motherfu…" Qin Dingdong slowly opened her eyes, staring up at the cursed glass on display. "What, you all had nothing better to do… so you decided to save me?"
Zhang Chenze, brushing off locusts from her body, sighed and replied, "We had the chance to save you, so how could we just stand there and watch you die? That wouldn’t have been fair to you."
"Who cares about {fairness}…?" Qin Dingdong coughed again, "My body won’t hold out much longer. Maybe it’s better if I just die…"
"Qin, I understand how you feel," Lin Qin nodded gently, "but this is just my perspective after all our shared experiences: should you be enforcing this type of mindset on {newcomers}?"
‘Newcomers…?’ Qin Dingdong weakly lifted her eyelids and glanced at Su Shan and Zhang Chenze’s determined gazes, feeling a pang of melancholy.
Once upon a time, she and Lin Qin had looked at the world with the same resolute eyes; they wanted to win, to defeat the {Earthly Branches}, and above all, to escape this place. But as they gained experience and power, they gradually grew indifferent to life. They no longer cared about others’ lives, nor about their own survival.
Lin Qin knew that if it were just her and Qin Dingdong left now, she absolutely wouldn’t save her—she would only wait until their next meeting.
Was that a good thing or a bad thing?
"Forget it…this jiejie doesn’t blame you," Qin Dingdong said, forcing herself to push off the ground but finding she had no strength. With Lin Qin’s support, she managed to stand and spoke, "After all, saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-floor*…what was it again? Pagora?"
(TLN: The Buddhism-related idiom Qin Dingdong is trying to quote is “saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-floor pagoda (救人一命，胜造七级浮屠)”. Which basically means that the act of saving a life holds greater merit than constructing a pagoda for the deceased. The line originated from the sūtra ‘佛說罵意經’.)
Terrestrial Dog then produced a cloth pouch, handing Su Shan a full forty {Dào}.
"You ladies can stay as long as you like. I’m clocking out," he said, taking a few steps before turning back. "This place is already messy enough. I’ll come clean up tomorrow morning. Just don’t make it any worse."
The four exchanged meaningful glances, but no one responded.
Seeing that no one wanted to acknowledge him, Terrestrial Dog nodded and turned to leave.
"Wait a moment..." Su Shan called after him.
"What is it?" Terrestrial Dog asked.
"There’s something that’s been bothering me," Su Shan stood up and said. "Near the end, when I saw through your plan, you said {I should’ve expected nothing less from you}. What did you mean by that? Have we met before?"
Terrestrial Dog stared at Su Shan with an unreadable expression, his eyes strange and unsettling. He reached out to adjust the collar of his suit jacket, then spoke slowly, "Su Shan, how many people are left in your probation room?"
Hearing her own name, Su Shan knew her suspicion was correct—they had indeed met previously.
"What do you mean by {how many people are left}? There have always been four people in our room," Su Shan replied. "Why do you ask?"
Terrestrial Dog nodded slightly and remarked, "Let me guess…you, Jiang Ruoxue, Zhou Mo, right? The fourth person…"
Hearing this, Su Shan slowly approached Terrestrial Dog. "You even know Ruoxue and Zhou Mo?"
"Is that not allowed?" Terrestrial Dog gave a wry smile. "We once had so many comrades in arms, and now only the four of you remain. If I weren’t still standing here, no one would remember those who have passed. For them, that’s more painful than dying ten thousand times."
"Who exactly are you...?"
"I’m still curious, who is the fourth person?" Terrestrial Dog asked.
"Fang Zichen," Su Shan answered. "A college freshman."
"Zichen..." Terrestrial Dog repeated his name then concluded, "with his temperament, he shouldn't have lasted till now. Were you looking after him all this time?"
"What? Who are you, really?"
Terrestrial Dog pondered for a moment, then nodded. "There’s no rule saying I can’t reveal my identity, so it won’t hurt to tell you. Su Shan, we came from the same room, but our teammates lacked what it took for us to escape this place, so I opted for a different route."
"Huh?" Su Shan hadn’t expected Terrestrial Dog to be so honest even after the game ended, but her thoughts were tangled. "You and I came from the same room... and now you are {Terrestrial Dog}?!"
"Yes." Terrestrial Dog acknowledged with a nod. "Su Shan, would you like to join us?"
"Join you...?"
The four women all froze simultaneously.
"Become one of the {Earthly Branches}," Terrestrial Dog sighed. "The path you’re on now is far too dangerous. I’m no longer a {participant}, so you’re down an ally. As for the other three... Zichen is useless, Jiang Ruoxue appears and disappears unpredictably, and Zhou Mo is unsociable and unapproachable. How do you plan to escape?" After saying this, he glanced at the few people behind Su Shan and asked, "You think they have what it takes to help you?"
Terrestrial Dog’s gaze lingered long on Qin Dingdong, then he spoke slowly, "I originally intended to kill that woman for you, but you insisted on saving her—that was truly a wild move."
"What?"
"Su Shan, that woman once caused your death," Terrestrial Dog said lazily. "I thought she might have changed after all this time, but she still chose to waste a {wish stick} in the first round. Sooner or later, she’ll be the one to kill you all."
At this, Zhang Chenze stepped forward. "That’s beyond your purview to declare. Personal judgment isn't something you can just override for someone else."
TL Note: Omg they were from the same probation room, no wonder why he didn’t target Su Shan at all. I’m surprised that Jiang Ruoxue and Zhou Mo are from Su Shan’s room too. Logical relations girl and Zhou Six, in case anyone needs a refresher.
Also, I knew it was sus that Qin Dingdong claimed she was besties with Su Shan haha, but I also wouldn’t say Qing jie is a bad person, I think she just has a different approach to things… meh, who knows.
