The Genius Game - Chapter 28

However, Jian Tanxi and the others were falling faster than her.

Thus, Jian Tanxi had already spotted an open window at the bottom of the building where Li Chuxia was.

Jian Tanxi came up with an idea and said to Li Chuxia, “Chuxia, ease up a bit and let yourself slide down further! There’s an open window on the wall below. You can hook your lower legs into the windowsill and hang upside down from it. That way, you’ll be more stable and free up your hands.”

Li Chuxia did as instructed. She made her skin slightly smoother to increase her sliding speed.

Soon, she saw the open window and hooked her lower legs into it, hanging upside down from the windowsill.

Then, she maximized the roughness of her skin to increase friction.

This position should hold steady, though being upside down was a bit strenuous, and staying that way for too long would cause dizziness.

Li Chuxia watched the others continue to fall and shouted, “I did it! I’ve stopped falling!”

Hearing Li Chuxia’s words, everyone else was delighted.

There were five participants in total, and now one-fifth of the task was complete.

Hong Zicheng hadn’t used his ability yet, but his ability only worked on males, and the only male left was Ge Zhiwen.

However, Ge Zhiwen didn’t have an ability like Li Chuxia’s. Even if he got close to a building, he wouldn’t be able to grip the wall. Instead, moving away from Jian Tanxi and the others would make communication even more difficult.

At that moment, Jian Tanxi suddenly remembered that she had an interstellar triangular prism that might be able to pierce the wall.

If they tied Hong Zicheng’s prop rope to the triangular prism, everyone could grab the rope and avoid falling further.

So, Jian Tanxi took out her interstellar triangular prism and said to Hong Zicheng, “Hong Zicheng, this triangular prism of mine is very hard and can pierce the wall. I plan to combine it with your rope so we can use the friction between the prism and the wall to stop our fall.”

Hong Zicheng replied, “That’s a good idea, but I don’t think everyone should grab this rope. When the triangular prism pierces the wall, it will inevitably be at an angle. If the weight on the other end of the rope is too heavy, the prism will slip out, and we’ll still end up falling. So, the lightest person should grab the rope, and the others will have to find another way. That way, at least one person can be saved. Among us, my girlfriend is the lightest, so let her use it this time.”

Du Jiaojiao looked smug, while Jian Tanxi was utterly baffled.

Jian Tanxi said to Hong Zicheng, “Bro, the triangular prism is mine. Without it, your rope alone can’t grip the building wall, you already tried that. Even if the rope can only save one person, shouldn’t I be the priority?”

Du Jiaojiao retorted, “Why? We contributed the rope too. Without the rope, even if you embed the triangular prism in the wall, it’s useless because you can’t reach it.”

Ge Zhiwen interjected, “Let me be fair. Both props need to be combined to work, so Jian Tanxi and Hong Zicheng have contributed equally. Neither side should suffer a pure loss. How about this: let Jian Tanxi and Du Jiaojiao both hold the rope and stop their fall first. Hong Zicheng and I, as the guys, will figure something else out.”

Hong Zicheng said, “No. It’s not that I want Jian Tanxi to suffer a loss for nothing, but if this rope is used to hold both girls, the triangular prism on the other end could easily slip out. In that case, neither of them would be able to stop successfully. So, I suggest letting Du Jiaojiao, who is lighter, grab the rope while the others don’t. This is the most likely way to succeed. I admit I have my own motives, but my reasoning is also rational and logical.”

Ge Zhiwen knew Hong Zicheng made sense and said, “I think it’s acceptable to do as you say, but both you and Du Jiaojiao will owe Jian Tanxi a favor. If you meet her in the future, you must repay it. What do you think?”

Du Jiaojiao objected, “I don’t agree! Why should I owe her a favor? We contributed the rope too.”

Hong Zicheng, however, replied, “No problem. Consider it that both Jiaojiao and I owe Jian Tanxi a favor. Jian Tanxi, if there’s ever anything we can do to help you in the future, we will do our best.”

Jian Tanxi said, “Who knows if we’ll even meet again in the future? How about repaying the favor now? Both you and Du Jiaojiao give me something useful, either a tool or a pill, and we’ll call it even.”

Hong Zicheng thought for a moment and said, “Fine, but I can’t give you any tools. I can give you a Sleep Pill. Du Jiaojiao has a Healing Pill she can give you too.”

Du Jiaojiao shook her head, “I won’t give it! The Healing Pill is very useful too!”

Just then, five minutes passed, and their falling speed increased again.

Du Jiaojiao was on the verge of tears, speaking incoherently, “Fine, I’ll give it! I don’t want to keep falling… Please, help me stop quickly!”

Hong Zicheng immediately took out a gray pouch, retrieving a gray pill and a blue pill. He handed them to Jian Tanxi and said, “The gray pill is a Sleep Pill. If taken, it will put you to sleep for five hours. The blue pill is a Healing Pill, which can cure all physical injuries.”

When Jian Tanxi saw the gray pill, her heart stirred.

She also had a gray pill, given to her by Qin Man.

Qin Man had said that her son, Qu Chen, had received two gray pills as a reward, but they didn’t know the effects and were afraid to take them recklessly.

During their last game together, Qin Man had given one of the gray pills to Jian Tanxi, who had kept it but forgotten to figure out its purpose.

The gray pill Hong Zicheng gave her was identical to the one from Qin Man.

It seemed the gray pill was indeed a Sleep Pill.

The next time she saw Qin Man and her son, she could let them know.

This pill would be quite suitable for little Qu Chen. If he became too difficult to handle, feeding him a Sleep Pill would solve the problem.

Jian Tanxi carefully stored the two pills Hong Zicheng had given her.

She had once had Healing Pills too, but she had used them all. Now that she had another one, it was quite fortunate.

The Healing Pill originally belonged to Du Jiaojiao but was kept by Hong Zicheng, suggesting the couple had a close relationship.

Jian Tanxi took the rope from Hong Zicheng and tied it to the base of the triangular prism.

Then, she threw the prism toward one of the buildings.

The prism pierced the wall and lodged firmly inside.

Du Jiaojiao grabbed the other end of the rope.

The rope hung down, and once it was taut, Du Jiaojiao remained suspended, no longer falling.

However, she felt uneasy and asked, “Are you all just going to keep descending? What about me?”

Jian Tanxi was somewhat speechless. “It’s not like we want to keep falling either. Want to swap places?”

Du Jiaojiao tightened her grip on the rope. “No! Goodbye!”

Jian Tanxi: “…”

While she could still see the other teammates, Du Jiaojiao said to Hong Zicheng, “Zicheng, you need to clear this level quickly! I can’t hold onto this rope much longer, I feel like I’m going to fall in just a few minutes!”

Before Hong Zicheng could respond, Jian Tanxi shouted, “Du Jiaojiao, don’t you dare fall! We used two items just to get you through your task, don’t mess it up now.”

Du Jiaojiao whimpered, “Wuwu… you’re so mean…”

Jian Tanxi: “…”

Hong Zicheng looked up to reassure her, “Jiaojiao, hold on tight. If you feel like you’re slipping, wrap the rope around your hand a few more times.”

Du Jiaojiao: “Mm.”

Jian Tanxi and the other two continued to fall. After 15 minutes, they still hadn’t figured out how to stop their descent.

By now, their falling speed was close to free-fall velocity on Earth.

The rapid descent terrified them, evoking a sensation of being forced to jump off a building.

Ge Zhiwen exclaimed, “So this is what jumping off a building feels like? It’s awful, I’m never doing this again!”

Jian Tanxi recalled that Ge Zhiwen had once considered suicide and had even run into a tree before, leaving her torn between amusement and exasperation.

Hong Zicheng asked, “Do any of you have Resurrection Pills? If we self-immolate mid-air, can we revive by taking one?”

Jian Tanxi replied, “We can revive, but it’s useless. We wouldn’t last long before self-immolating again.”

Hong Zicheng already knew this, he was just grasping at straws in desperation.

Jian Tanxi had no solutions either. She opened her personal storage space and rummaged through it aimlessly.

She knew it only contained two eco-spheres and one fire-resistant gauze robe, none of which would help but she still hoped for a miracle, like a magical item suddenly appearing to save them.

Of course, that was impossible.

Suddenly, she remembered something.

She recalled that when she obtained the eco-spheres, they had hovered in the air, seemingly unaffected by gravity.

She decided to try a last-ditch effort.

Jian Tanxi took out one eco-sphere and enlarged it to the size of a yoga ball.

Then, she lay flat on top of it.

The eco-sphere hovered in the air, motionless.

It supported her, and Jian Tanxi stopped falling.

Her guess had been correct, the eco-sphere could indeed hold her!

Thank goodness she had asked the paper figurine for those eco-spheres, now they were coming to her rescue.

Seeing Hong Zicheng and Ge Zhiwen still falling, she didn’t hesitate to throw out the second eco-sphere, commanding it, “Go downward and expand to 80 centimeters in diameter.”

The second eco-sphere swiftly descended and rapidly enlarged.

Ge Zhiwen imitated Jian Tanxi, lying on the second eco-sphere and grabbing Hong Zicheng’s hand.

He leaned his shoulders close to the eco-sphere, tilting his lower body outward to maintain balance.

However, the eco-sphere, now carrying both Ge Zhiwen and Hong Zicheng, was slowly descending.

Though much slower than free fall, they were still falling.

Ge Zhiwen looked up at Jian Tanxi and said, “This eco-sphere can only support one person! Do you have any more?”

Jian Tanxi: “No!”

Jian Tanxi grew anxious.

Just one ecosphere short of completing the mission.

Why was it exactly one missing?

But considering she had only participated in three games before, obtaining two ecospheres was already remarkable.

Watching the two boys drift farther away until communication would soon become impossible, Jian Tanxi first stored her ecospheres in her personal space. Without the ecospheres to buoy her, she resumed rapid descent.

Once she fell below the two boys, she retrieved the ecospheres again to stabilize herself.

This way, she remained in place while the two boys slowly descended closer to her, allowing them to exchange a few more words.