The next second, Lin Sizhi realized he was already back in the community hall.
Several cries of surprise instantly rang out beside his ears.
"What the hell happened!"
"So much blood! Someone, help!"
"What's going on? Wait, where's Uncle Ding? Where is he?"
The community hall was in complete chaos.
Lin Sizhi and Cao Haichuan were spectators in the game, so neither were injured and came out unharmed.
But compared to that, Cai Zhiyuan and Wang Yongxin looked equally miserable.
Both of them had wounds on their shoulders from the Farmer's Walk mechanism piercing through them. Though the bleeding had been stopped for now, the sight was still shocking.
Especially after taking off their outer clothes, the clustered, bloody holes left by the piercing were enough to make anyone's heart race.
Wang Yongxin also had terrifying bloody cuts on his hand and neck.
People scrambled all over; some were helping Cai Zhiyuan and Wang Yongxin to sit down, some ran to the vending machine to check if there were any hemostatic drugs and bandages for dressing wounds.
Fu Chen, as always, was the first to do a headcount, and quickly realized Ding Wenqiang was missing from the hall.
But on the floor now lay a solitary visa bracelet.
Fu Chen felt a sense of dread rising in his heart. He slowly bent to pick up the bracelet and saw Ding Wenqiang's name written on it in bold letters.
On top of that, the once-smooth surface was now covered in cracks, as though it had been forcibly destroyed.
The big screen began broadcasting the final results of this round's game.
[Now announcing the final visa time distribution for Community 17 in 'King's Judgment.']
[No.4 Cao Haichuan: 76,000]
[No.5 Cai Zhiyuan: 2,450]
[No.6 Wang Yongxin: 25,000]
[No.10 Ding Wenqiang: Expelled]
[No.12 Lin Sizhi: 44,000]
[5% of the above visa time will be put into the Community Security Fund according to community rules. The remaining time will be credited to each player's visa.]
Cao Haichuan found a chair and sat down slowly; seeing these results, his mood grew heavy.
Because as a spectator, he had watched the entire game and knew Ding Wenqiang had actually accumulated over 100,000 chips during the round.
Even without considering the 500,000 'blank check' the spectators supporting the king gave at the end, that was already an insane number.
If only Ding Wenqiang had made it back safely, that visa time would have been enough for him to live securely for more than two months.
But with Ding Wenqiang dying in the game, all that visa time had been snatched away by the Imitator who designed the game.
Qin Yao and Yang Yuting had just gone to the vending machine, but now ran back in small steps.
"There are first aid kits in the vending machine, but each one costs 499. The Community Security Fund doesn't have enough."
Wang Yongxin and Cai Zhiyuan struggled to get up. "It's fine, we'll buy them ourselves."
Each of them went to a vending machine and bought a first aid kit.
Although supplies purchased with the Community Security Fund could circulate freely among players, when it was set up, each person only had an 80-minute quota per day, so it couldn't cover something like a first aid kit.
So they had to pay out of pocket.
After buying, Wang Yongxin and Cai Zhiyuan were helped back and sat down in the hall's lounge.
Both first aid kits were opened.
There was a complete set inside: medical alcohol, iodine, hydrogen peroxide, cotton swabs, scissors, adhesive bandages, medical tape, and gauze, all kinds of medical supplies.
Painkillers, antihistamines, antibiotics, and other common medicines were also inside.
Looking at all the abundant medicines, Yang Yuting was at a loss: "All these... Who knows how to use them?"
Cao Haichuan grabbed the medical alcohol. "Let me do it."
As an officer in criminal investigation, Cao Haichuan's touch was rough, but generally did the job.
He disinfected the wounds first, then dressed them, then gave them some anti-inflammatory and pain relief meds.
Cai Zhiyuan and Wang Yongxin grimaced in pain the whole time, but fortunately, Cao Haichuan's hands were quick, so the agony was brief.
After they drank some water, the two were helped back to their rooms to rest.
The others tidied up, labeled the first aid kits with their names to avoid mix-ups, then put them away carefully.
After all that, everyone could finally catch their breath.
"Looks like we need to propose a new motion: allocate some money from the Community Security Fund specifically for buying medical supplies.
Otherwise, every time we have to buy first aid kits ourselves—not only expensive, but wasteful," Fu Chen said as he wrote it in his notebook, so he wouldn't forget.
Li Renshu glanced at Cao Haichuan. "No need to rush about medical supplies, we can discuss it later. Officer Cao, what exactly happened during the game?"
The moment the game ended was a mess, and with Cai Zhiyuan and Wang Yongxin both injured, no one could immediately discuss the game's details.
Now that things were settled for the time being, everyone grew curious about what had happened inside.
Cao Haichuan sighed quietly. "This'll take a while to explain; can't cover it in just a few words.
Not everyone is here right now. Better wait for tonight.
Wait for Cai Zhiyuan and Wang Yongxin to rest up, and when everyone's present, we'll do a detailed debrief."
Li Renshu thought for a moment and nodded. "Alright, tonight then."
Cao Haichuan stood up, a bit exhausted. Even though he'd earned the most visa time of anyone in Community 17 from this game, he knew he'd basically won by lying low.
The whole game was suffused with a sense of helplessness.
That only made him feel more guilty.
Cao Haichuan left the hall and stepped out into the open-air area, where he silently lit a cigarette.
...
After dinner, the mood in Community 17's hall was subdued.
Everyone took their seats around the long table, their expressions varied.
Su Xiuqin obviously couldn't accept what had happened yet; her eyes were red and swollen from crying.
They'd only just used the Community Security Fund to solve Ding Wenqiang's food problem, and who could have expected that in a flash, he'd be gone forever.
The others also couldn't help but sigh over it.
Ding Wenqiang's shattered bracelet had also been placed on the empty seat at the long table.
Cao Haichuan glanced at the big screen displaying the detailed rules of the 'King's Judgment' and quietly steadied his emotions.
"Let me recap the entire course of the game first.
In this game, only five people were called 'Sinners,' the ones who had to take part in the judgment themselves. The rest of us—ten in all—volunteered to enter as 'Audience' and didn't have to take part directly; but it was hard to interfere with what happened inside.
By number, I was Audience Number 9."
Officer Cao's memory was still sharp; even though the big screen only listed the game's rules and not the events themselves, he managed to recount the game in detail.
When Officer Cao finished telling the game's events, everyone fell silent.
Speaking all at once for so long, Cao Haichuan was tired. He sat down again and took a sip of water.
"So that's basically the whole game. I don't even know where to begin with the debrief."
Su Xiuqin wiped her tears and looked at Cai Zhiyuan and Wang Yongxin.
"I just want to ask one thing.
Which one of you voted for execution?"