Ten Day Ultimatum

If circumstances permitted, Qi Xia would eagerly pursue Mortal Goat for clarification. Why did his card contain such a cryptic message?
However, if Mortal Goat continued to exist, the {participants} in this game would be deemed the losers. This meant he might never truly understand Mortal Goat's intentions, nor did he know if Officer Li had received a similar card.
While the rest were anxiously absorbed in their hopes of regaining their footing, Qi Xia was troubled by a separate question: What important information is Mortal Goat trying to convey?

Wait—Mortal Goat was capable of deception. Could he have conveyed misleading information? Qi Xia struggled to determine whether he should trust him. Now that the {Liar} game was over, would revealing his possession of the upcoming {game strategy} cause any issues?
Out of caution, Qi Xia chose to comply with Mortal Goat's intentions for now, since it cost him nothing. Even if he kept everything to himself, he could still lead everyone out of this room.
He aimed to replicate his previous approach—guiding the group to discover the writing beneath Mortal Goat's mask. This time, however, Qi Xia was also determined to gather clues he’d missed before.

As the group examined Mortal Goat's mask, he and Officer Li approached the fallen figure together.
Officer Li gave a meaningful glance, opening his mouth but choosing not to speak. Qi Xia remained silent as well; they seemed to possess an implicit agreement as they commenced their joint search of Mortal Goat's corpse.
During their last encounter, they had focused solely on the man’s mask and hadn’t searched his body.

To Qi Xia's astonishment, Mortal Goat didn’t possess a single {Dào}.
He felt even more certain that Officer Li was fully aware of everything, as the handgun Mortal Goat had used to take his own ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) life was placed visibly nearby, yet Officer Li didn’t spare it a glance.
“What’s this?” Officer Li pulled a sheet of paper from Mortal Goat's pocket. After a quick glance, he passed it directly to Qi Xia. Qi Xia took it without hesitation, examined it closely, and was soon marked by a look of perplexity.

It was a signed contract, with the title {Earthly Branches Ascension Wagering Contract} prominently displayed at the top.
“What is this...?”
“Just put it away for now,” Officer Li said, patting Qi Xia's hand. “We can review it once we’re out.”

Understanding the urgency of the moment, Qi Xia folded the contract neatly and tucked it into his pocket. It seemed he had truly obtained something significant—the fact that Mortal Goat had this contract but no {Dào} indicated a fundamental difference between him and the other Earthly Branches.
Once the harpoons are unleashed, all items in the room will be destroyed. Previously, Qi Xia had been too absorbed in planning his escape to notice these details.
“What does ‘countless bamboo shoots after rain’ mean?”

“‘Circle in the direction of home a hundred times’? What?”
Not far off, the rest of the group were raising a cacophony of questions. What Qi Xia needed now was stellar acting—he had to discreetly guide everyone to safety, as he had done in the past.
“If you're feeling overwhelmed, I can provide the answers for the next games,” Officer Li whispered.
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, but you're not equipped to handle those {master manipulators},” Qi Xia replied quietly. “Without any liabilities, I’m in a better position to confront them.”

Qi Xia walked toward the table and gradually stood beside Qiao Jiajin. “Boss Qiao, I need your assistance,” he said.
“{Boss Qiao}...?” Taken by surprise, Qiao Jiajin quickly broke into a proud grin. “Leng-zai, you’ve got quite the way with words! From now on, I’ve got your back. What do you need?”
Hearing this, Qi Xia felt an unexpected sense of reassurance. “When the time comes, give it your all and help everyone stay alive.”

“Oh?”
At that moment, the onlookers noticed the walls around them reshaping like malleable clay, revealing rows of holes. Just as they were about to step closer, Qi Xia intervened, “Everyone, don’t worry about the walls for now. I’ve found the answer: ‘circle in the direction of home a hundred times’ means we need to rotate something to the right one hundred times.”
“Right?” The collective glanced at him, puzzled. “Why right?”

Qi Xia picked up a sheet of white paper and quickly sketched a simple diagram, then patiently explained his reasoning.
“Ah, I see! You’re very intelligent,” Lin Qin nodded. “But what exactly are we supposed to rotate a hundred times?”
“Could it be ourselves?” Tian Tian blinked and asked. “Are we supposed to turn our bodies to the right a hundred times?”
Qi Xia shook his head. “Everyone, let’s look around this room. What can we rotate besides ourselves?”

Han Yimo was the first to notice that the table in front of them could actually be rotated. He quickly shared this discovery with the group. Under Qi Xia's guidance, everyone began methodically rotating the tabletop to the right. For now, all seemed under control.
This time, Qiao Jiajin exerted himself with particular fervor, rallying the group as they rotated the table.
After one hundred rotations, the tabletop was once again segmented into nine sections by the laser; the participants obtained the tabletop shields approximately five minutes sooner than in their previous attempt.

“I will now explain the latter portion of the hint—{countless bamboo shoots after rain},” Qi Xia told them, asking everyone to grasp the tabletop. He then elaborated on how to create a conical shape, informed by his prior experience, and warned that no gaps should form between the tablets, no matter what happened.
Qi Xia still felt uneasy, especially since the last harpoon incident had indirectly caused Han Yimo’s death. If possible, he wanted to do everything he could to ensure this person's safety.
As the group admired Qi Xia's intelligence, they couldn't help but harbor some doubts. Why did he seem so exceptionally methodical? Not only had he deciphered the game’s intricacies, he also seemed to anticipate what would happen next—almost as if he had designed the game himself.

“Why are we setting up the shield like this?” Qiao Jiajin asked. “Is it really going to rain soon?”
“Well, not exactly. Once we arrange the table in this manner, it’ll—”
Before he could finish, Qi Xia casually glanced at Han Yimo and noticed beads of sweat forming on his forehead. His body trembled uncontrollably.

“Han Yimo, are you… alright?”
Han Yimo smiled and shook his head. “I’m fine... I’m just a bit scared.”
Qi Xia furrowed his brow. “What are you afraid of?”

“I…”
Before Han Yimo could respond, a loud toll echoed from a distance.
{Dong}!!!

Qi Xia's eyes widened in disbelief; the familiarity of this moment was overwhelming. Han Yimo had triggered his Reverberation. Grasping Han Yimo’s shoulders tightly, Qi Xia spoke in a low, urgent voice. “Han Yimo, I’ve already laid out all the circumstances to everyone in advance—what is it that you’re so afraid of?”
“I—I…”
“Speak up!” Qi Xia pressed, anxiety mounting alongside a chilling sense of foreboding.

“I’m afraid of those harpoons…” Han Yimo’s expression was one of profound fear, cold sweat sliding down his brow. “I have a terrible feeling that those harpoons will impale me...”
Hearing this, Qi Xia’s countenance slowly hardened. “Han Yimo… when did I ever say that the objects emerging from those holes are harpoons?”