The trust between us had been utterly incinerated, leaving behind nothing but the volatile ashes of suspicion. Every exchanged glance carried a ruthless, unspoken question: Was the person beside them - the one who had just survived the rain of blood - actually a demon lurking beneath human skin?
Before the panic could settle, An Yue flicked her wrist. Instantly, an hourglass crafted from bleached bone manifested, hovering in mid-air. The girl flashed that macabre smile again, revealing tiny, ivory teeth:
-"The game has a time limit, everyone. Let's see... ten minutes!"
-"Ten minutes? That's suicide!" a woman gasped, her voice choking in her throat.
-"There are dozens of us! How can we find an impostor in ten minutes?!"
Curses and lamentations erupted like crashing waves. Yet An Yue remained entirely indifferent; she lay sprawled innocently across the back of her giant stuffed horse, watching the chaotic drama unfold as if viewing a dark comedy.
Amidst the cacophony, my mind raced at full throttle. I muttered the riddle under my breath:
-"In this room, there is something masquerading as someone with four limbs exactly like yours. Point out the impostor."
Four limbs? She used the word "something," meaning the imposter wasn't necessarily a living creature. It could be an object, an image, or a shadow. I scanned the barren room, desperately trying to narrow down the targets.
As a forced silence finally fell over the crowd, Chu Hao Cheng leaned in, his voice a low whisper:
-"Hey kid, could the impostor... be An Yue herself?"
His theory immediately caught on with those nearby.
-"That makes sense! She's the demon, she's obviously baiting us!"
-"I thought so too. She's been the most suspicious since the start."
Chu Hao Cheng turned back to me, eyes demanding an answer.
-"What do you think, brother?"
-"Perhaps..." I replied briefly.
Truthfully, my heart was hammering violently against my ribs. A dangerous deduction regarding that giant stuffed horse was beginning to take shape, but in the Hell Gate, a single miscalculation meant death. There were no second chances. I glanced at the fine sand trickling down - exactly seven minutes left. Time was actively strangling us.
Driven by the ticking clock and Chu Hao Cheng's theory, one man's composure finally shattered. He stepped out from the crowd, his breath ragged but his eyes filled with grim determination.
-"I'll... I'll answer," he announced.
-"Are you sure?" someone called out anxiously.
-"If you're wrong..."
The man trembled but forced a brave, desperate smile.
-"It's fine. I trust my gut. Just wait here for me."
He slowly approached An Yue, who was still burying her face in the plush fur of the giant horse. The oxygen seemed to instantly vanish from the room; the silence was so absolute that the rhythmic thumping of my own pulse roared in my ears.
He cleared his throat, grasping for his last shreds of dignity.
-"I have the answer."
The playful girl froze. Her body moved with mechanical stiffness, her head snapping around to face him with the sickening sound of grinding joints. That dead gaze turned everyone's blood to ice.
-"The answer? Are you sure?"
The man hesitated for a fraction of a second, but the gamble for survival forced him to stand firm. "Yes. I'm sure."
The moment the confirmation left his lips, An Yue's emerald eyes were swallowed by a dense, pitch-black void. A suffocating, murderous aura radiated outward, forcing the crowd to instinctively recoil.
The girl grinned, but the corners of her mouth tore open all the way to her ears, exposing jagged rows of razor-sharp teeth.
-"Tell... me... your... answer..."
Her voice was no longer that of a child; it was a hoarse, distorted growl, like rusted metal scraping together.
The man stood paralyzed, terror acting like an invisible hand crushing his throat. He swallowed hard, his entire arm shaking violently as he pointed directly at her monstrous face.
-"The impostor... is YOU!"
Time ground to a halt. The entire room plunged into a frigid, deathly stillness.
An Yue didn't rage. Instead, she rolled her eyes with a wicked, mocking cunning. Then, with a sickening wet sound, pitch-black tentacles burst through her pale skin, writhing like blood-drenched vipers.
The man collapsed to the floor like a felled tree, his legs shaking uncontrollably as he stared up at the monstrosity. Piercing screams erupted from the crowd.
-"CONGRATULATIONS! YOU... GUESSED... WRONG!"
Her laughter echoed like a definitive death sentence. It was twisted how she used the word "congratulations" for an execution.
In that exact instant, the giant stuffed horse in her arms also shuddered. The coarse fabric split open from within, revealing a pair of glowing crimson eyes staring intently at its prey.
The man frantically scrambled backward on his hands and knees, his voice raw:
-"Please, no! Don't kill me!"
An Yue didn't rush. She dragged her slimy tentacles across the floor, the wet, slithering sound mimicking a countdown, savoring his absolute terror. The rest of us could only huddle in the corner, holding our breath in utter helplessness.
In a fit of total, blind desperation, the man yanked the wedding ring from his finger and hurled it at the girl's deformed face. The tiny band of metal merely grazed her pallid skin, falling to the floor with a hollow clink.
Clink.
That sharp sound echoed in my ears, and a lightning bolt of realization struck my brain. A ring. A circle. No limbs. But the thing she was holding...
Before I could process the thought further, the black tentacles lashed out like lethal whips, binding the man's limbs and neck, jerking him backward into the air. His desperate cries were instantly cut short as the tentacles constricted with terrifying force.
Crack... crack.
The dry, sickening sound of breaking bones mingled with the tearing of flesh.
Splurt!
Crimson blood sprayed across the room, a revolting rain that mirrored the horror outside. A few hot droplets splashed onto my white shirt, soaking into the fabric and spreading into agonizing stains.
The brutal execution shattered the remaining sanity of the survivors. Total mental collapse was etched on every face. Some fell to their knees, covering their ears to escape the grim reality. Even Chu Hao Cheng - the mountain of a man beside me - couldn't take it. He tremblingly raised his tattooed arm to shield his eyes, unable to look at the wreckage that remained of his comrade.