The Genius Game - Chapter 36

Jian Tanxi and the others were taken to a remote location where a solitary, towering house stood. It was covered in old bloodstains and emitted a foul odor.

One of the bodyguards said to the butler, “Butler, we’ve arrived at the stone house.”

The butler nodded. “Lock them inside.”

At that moment, a mechanical voice cheerfully chimed in: “Wow, it’s the stone house! Will this place, where many players have met their end, become the grave of Jian Tanxi and her companions?”

Jian Tanxi and the other two were tense, but since they couldn’t resist, they forced themselves to stay calm.

Soon, they were shoved inside, and the door was tightly shut.

The moment they entered, everything went dark.

There was no light in the room, but a loud rumbling sound came from above, as if something heavy was falling, and there seemed to be a lot of it.

They quickly realized what it was, rocks of various sizes were falling from the ceiling.

Moreover, the rocks seemed endless, continuously raining down.

After being hit a few times, Jian Tanxi nearly passed out.

She fought to stay conscious and immediately took out the Interstellar Tri-prism from her personal space, striking at the falling rocks.

She had never learned to pinpoint sounds, so she couldn’t aim accurately.

However, there were so many rocks that even random strikes could hit some.

Still, she couldn’t deflect all the rocks aimed at her and was frequently struck.

Meng Yuening and Shen Kexin kept screaming in agony, clearly badly injured.

They likely had no weapons or defensive items; otherwise, they would have used them by now.

If this continued, they would surely be crushed to death.

And Jian Tanxi couldn’t hold on much longer either.

Just then, a faint light appeared in the room.

Jian Tanxi looked toward the source, it was Meng Yuening using her item, the Crescent Moon’s Eye.

The Crescent Moon’s Eye was a one-time-use illumination tool that emitted light for twenty minutes. The glow was dim, and it would expire after the time was up.

Still, for them, this bit of light was temporarily sufficient.

By this faint glow, Meng Yuening and Shen Kexin continuously dodged.

However, the rocks kept falling relentlessly, and no matter how fast they moved, they couldn’t avoid being hit.

Their heads and faces were covered in blood, looking both terrifying and pitiful.

Jian Tanxi wasn’t faring much better; she estimated she had at least twenty wounds on her body.

Shen Kexin used her arms to shield her head to avoid fatal blows, but her arms were already a bloody mess.

Meng Yuening dodged while looking upward.

After a moment, Meng Yuening said, “The paths of the falling rocks are fixed. If we can find the gaps between them and hide there, we won’t get hit.”

Hearing this, Jian Tanxi also noticed.

The ceiling had many holes of varying sizes, and all the rocks fell through these holes.

So, where there were no holes, no rocks fell.

However, these gaps were very small, hardly enough for a person to completely avoid injury, they could only minimize the damage.

Meng Yuening and Shen Kexin adjusted their positions, trying to move into the gaps between the holes.

Jian Tanxi felt exhausted after using the triangular awl to strike the stones for a while. She quickly found a crevice and stood still, trying to avoid the falling rocks.

Stones still hit her sides, but she managed to protect her head from being struck.

However, this was not a sustainable solution, as the falling stones piled up around their feet, continuously rising.

Before long, they would be completely buried in the stones.

Soon, the stones had already piled up to their waists.

Shen Kexin panicked and asked, “What should we do…?”

Jian Tanxi remembered that she had an oxygen mask, a gift from Ge Zhiwen, which could sustain a person in a suffocating environment for three hours.

If they were truly buried by the stones, she could wear the oxygen mask and survive temporarily, but what about Meng Yuening and Shen Kexin?

The revival pills were all used up. If they died now, there might not be a second chance to come back to life…

Meng Yuening said, “The butler didn’t say how long we would be locked in here. Maybe he’ll let us out soon?”

Jian Tanxi replied, “I don’t know, but we need to prepare for the worst… Everyone, think quickly. Do any of your abilities or items have the potential to help us through this crisis?”

Meng Yuening said, “My ability is 100% accuracy in throwing, but it doesn’t seem very useful here.”

Shen Kexin said, “My ability is a bit strange, it allows me to consume multi-use items all at once.”

Jian Tanxi’s heart stirred. “How does it work? Explain in detail.”

Shen Kexin: “For example, if an item can be used three times, I can split it into three parts and use them all immediately, rendering the item useless afterward. Take a lighting tool, for instance. If it can be used three times, each time lasting 20 minutes, when it comes into my hands, it will split into three, and all three will light up immediately. After 20 minutes, all three items become useless. The total usage time and effect remain the same, but with three lighting tools shining at once, the brightness increases significantly.”

Jian Tanxi said, “I think I understand… I have an oxygen mask that can be used three times, each time allowing a person to survive for three hours. If I give it to you, will the oxygen mask split into three and activate immediately, with each mask lasting three hours?”

Shen Kexin: “Exactly. The total usage time doesn’t decrease; it just brings the latter two uses forward to the present.”

Jian Tanxi said, “That’s perfect. Quickly split my oxygen mask into three, and we’ll each wear one.”

Jian Tanxi took out her oxygen mask and handed it to Shen Kexin.

With their lives at stake, Shen Kexin didn’t waste time on pleasantries and immediately split the oxygen mask into three identical ones.

Each of the three put on an oxygen mask.

A few minutes later, the stones completely buried them.

The stones were irregularly shaped, so when piled together, the gaps between them were very small. Without the oxygen masks, they would surely have suffocated.

But now, they could hold on for three hours.

It was impossible to tell how much time had passed before the door opened.

They heard the butler’s voice say, “Those three must be dead by now. The Ou family will have new fertilizer…”

Then, the butler pressed a button on the wall, and several deep pits appeared on the ground. The stones in the room rolled into the pits.

Amidst the swirling dust, Jian Tanxi, Shen Kexin, and Meng Yuening stood in the center of the room, coldly staring at the butler.

The butler was startled: “How is this possible… You’re not dead?”

Jian Tanxi wiped the blood from her face: “Sorry to disappoint you, but we’re not that easy to kill.”

The butler’s expression hardened: “Since you’re not dead, clean yourselves up and go back to taking care of Miss Bao’er.”

Jian Tanxi and the other two were taken back to the nanny’s room.

A mechanical voice announced: “Jian Tanxi’s health points reduced by 30, Meng Yuening and Shen Kexin’s health points reduced by 40. Current health points of all players: Jian Tanxi 67, Qin Man 97, Du Jiaojiao 26, Meng Yuening 60, Shen Kexin 60, Wang Juanhua 93.”

Jian Tanxi and the others quickly tended to their wounds before having to go care for Ou Bao’er again.

They felt exhausted, in pain, and worn out, but there was no time for rest.

As Qin Man cleaned their wounds, she said, “How about we take care of Miss Bao’er later, and you three rest here?”

Jian Tanxi shook her head: “No, we’ll definitely be punished if we do that… Who knows if we can survive the next punishment? Ouch…”

Jian Tanxi couldn’t help crying out from the intense pain of her wound.

Qin Man worriedly said, “If only we could get some painkillers, or even just iodine or medicated oil.”

Qin Man, Wang Juanhua, and the others searched the entire nanny’s room but found no medicine.

Wang Juanhua suggested, “How about this: I’ll go out now and ask anyone I meet for medicine. If someone is willing to give us some, it might help Jian Tanxi and the others feel better.”

Qin Man replied, “Besides us, everyone else in this instance is an NPC. Why would they help us? Plus, we need to hurry to Miss Bao’er’s side. If she gets angry, the consequences will be severe.”

Wang Juanhua insisted, “We have to try. What if we get lucky and receive some medicine? I’ll only be out for five to ten minutes and will come back as soon as possible.”

Since there was a little time to spare, no one objected further.

A few minutes later, Wang Juanhua returned.

She said excitedly, “After I went out, I met a girl in a green dress. I told her a few nannies were injured by falling rocks and needed medicine, and she gave me a whole bag of stuff, ice packs, painkillers, iodine, medicated patches, and more. The ice is for cold compresses, iodine for cleaning wounds, patches for bruises, and the painkillers are oral.”

Qin Man was surprised: “Someone actually gave you medicine? I wonder if there’s anything wrong with it.”

Wang Juanhua also hesitated: “I’m not sure…”

Meng Yuening, one of the injured trio, said, “How about testing it on me first? If there’s no problem, then Jian Tanxi and Shen Kexin can use it.”

Jian Tanxi stopped her: “Better not take the risk.”

Meng Yuening reasoned, “I find it a bit strange. If that girl wanted to harm us, she could have just given us one type of medicine and poisoned it. Why give us so many different kinds?”

Shen Kexin added, “What if every type of medicine is poisoned?”

Meng Yuening shook her head, “If you only needed one type of poison to kill someone, there would be no need to bring out several kinds. After all, preparing poisons also incurs costs. That girl gave us a whole pile of medicines, some for internal use, others for external application, as if she genuinely cared about us and wanted us to recover quickly. Anyway, I’ll try them first.”

Everyone thought Meng Yuening’s reasoning made sense and allowed her to proceed.

Qin Man applied ice to her larger bruises and used iodine to clean her other minor wounds. For areas with bruises but no broken skin, she applied several medicated patches. She also took out two painkillers and had Meng Yuening take them.

After a while, Meng Yuening said, “These medicines are all effective. The ice is just ordinary ice, nothing added. We can use them without worry.”

Hearing this, Jian Tanxi and Shen Kexin also used the medicines. Sure enough, they worked quickly, and they were soon able to stand up and walk.

Jian Tanxi asked, “There should only be six players here. Who is that girl in the green dress? And why did she help us?”