The last person was none other than Manager Wu Dahai.
He was the oldest among them, and also the heaviest, having put on weight in middle age, so his physical condition was naturally poor.
But whether intentionally or unintentionally, Wu Dahai grabbed the person in front of him as he frantically fled, pulling them backward with all his strength, using the momentum to propel himself forward.
The person he pulled stumbled, nearly falling, and thus became the last one.
Whoosh!
A silver flash appeared.
The last person pulled by Wu Dahai was decapitated instantly, without even a chance to scream.
Fang Xiu saw this and immediately stopped in his tracks, feeling his thighs twice before continuing to run forward. He wasn't worried about falling behind; young and strong, with regular exercise, he was at the peak of his physical condition.
He didn't know how to quickly awaken his spiritual essence, so he could only make these meaningless attempts.
The corridor on the right was very long. It took them a full minute to run to the end, where the space suddenly opened up.
It was a restaurant.
The restaurant was large and empty, filled with old tables and chairs. In the corners were stoves and several large black pots.
Prince Teng was overjoyed at the sight: "Restaurants usually have exits leading to the outside world."
Everyone became excited upon hearing this, completely ignoring the restaurant's surroundings. They scanned the area and immediately spotted the door on the far left, then rushed toward it.
Fang Xiu, however, remained in the second-to-last position, running calmly while casually observing his surroundings.
Upon entering the door, they found themselves in another dim, cramped corridor. However, this corridor seemed even darker, with the fluorescent lights on the ceiling appearing as though they might go out at any moment.
No one cared about the environment here; they just wanted to escape as quickly as possible.
The group quickly reached the end of the corridor. Wang Ziting, who was leading the way, looked extremely grim: "There's no way out!"
It turned out that the end of the corridor was a dead end.
This was completely unreasonable. According to Wang Ziting's understanding, a place like a restaurant, which is densely populated, would usually have an emergency exit or a passageway leading to the outside. How could it be a dead end?
Could it be that the entire hospital was completely sealed off, with no intention of letting anyone leave?
"Look! There's a door!" one of his colleagues exclaimed.
On the right side of the corridor's end was a narrow door, so narrow that only one person could pass through at a time. The door was made of wood, with peeling paint and a small glass window.
Upon seeing the door, the group didn't hesitate. They opened it and rushed inside, regardless of what lay beyond—after all, there was danger outside!
Fortunately, there was no danger inside.
It was a small room filled with brooms, mops, and old furniture.
Once the five of them squeezed inside, they had trouble finding a place to stand.
"Damn it! This is a storage room! There's no path here!" Wang Ziting erupted in frustration.
The others looked equally despairing.
A dead end!
This is a dead end!
They've been trapped by the eerie situation.
Did we choose wrong?
Fang Xiu thought calmly, it seems we should have chosen the left path next time.
He wasn't the least bit panicked, after all, this was just a trial and error for him.
He thought for a moment and decided to rewind and start over, choosing the left path.
It was already too late to run back. Two minutes had passed, and there was only one minute left before the female doctor's next attack. Turning back would only give the female doctor an easy target.
Although he could choose to send one person to die to help the others escape, Fang Xiu felt it was pointless.
Currently, including himself, there were only five people left. No one knew how much further they had to run or how many more lives would be lost along the way.
Just as Fang Xiu was about to step out the door to find the female doctor and restart the game, Wang Ziting's angry accusation rang out: "It's all your fault, Fang Xiu! If you hadn't chosen the wrong path, would we be stuck here?"
"Fang Xiu! If you didn't know which path to choose, why didn't you consult with everyone? Why did you insist on choosing the right path on your own?" Wu Dahai also chimed in angrily.
The other person besides Zhao Hao didn't say anything explicitly, but his eyes betrayed some blame.
Fang Xiu's lips curled up slightly. He rarely smiled these days, unless he was facing something extremely bizarre and exciting.
But for some reason, at this moment, facing Wang Ziting and the others, he wanted to laugh.
Zhao Hao stepped forward and vigorously rebutted, "Xiu Ge didn't force you to come. It was your own choice to follow him! You were the ones who asked for directions in the first place. Now that you've chosen the wrong path, you're blaming Xiu Ge? If you're so capable, why didn't you choose the path yourselves?"
"We may not be capable, but at least we wouldn't act on our own like him. If we don't know the way, we can discuss it together! We trusted him and let him choose, but who knew he'd make such a reckless decision? He betrayed our trust and led us into a dead end!"
Wu Dahai, as the manager, spoke eloquently, leaving the tongue-tied Zhao Hao speechless.
"Enough, stop arguing," Wang Ziting shouted. "The urgent matter now is to figure out how to survive.
From what I've observed, this strange creature only attacks one person at a time, and after attacking, there's a two-to-three-minute safe period. So the only option now is for us to choose one person to distract the creature, then everyone else can escape."
As soon as Wang Ziting spoke, the atmosphere in the room grew tense.
Even a fool could tell this wasn't about distracting the creature—it was about sending someone to their death to save the rest.
Wang Ziting took in everyone's expressions and had already made up his mind.
He had suddenly questioned Fang Xiu earlier precisely to lay the groundwork for this moment. Now that everyone was blaming Fang Xiu, who else could be chosen to go out and die?
Wang Ziting knew he had to do this. In such situations, it's about striking first. When people are panicking, they're easily swayed by groupthink and don't think things through.
If someone else were to say that Wang Ziting was a heartless rich kid who should die first, the outcome might truly be fatal.
Just as the atmosphere grew tense, Wang Ziting made an unexpected move, suddenly pushing Fang Xiu forward.
He shouted loudly, "If it weren't for Fang Xiu, none of us would be in this desperate situation. So Fang Xiu must atone for his sins! Come and help me!"
The remaining few looked at each other in disbelief. Though they didn't want to die themselves, they couldn't bring themselves to kill someone else to survive, nor did they have the courage to do so.
"Let go of Brother Xiu!" Zhao Hao roared angrily and charged toward Prince Teng.
Prince Teng was startled and hurriedly shouted, "Wu Dahai, why aren't you helping yet?"
When seeking help from others, it's best to call out one person's name specifically. Assigning responsibility to an individual can yield unexpectedly good results.
Don't say, "Someone, please help me," but instead specify an individual. If you know their name, call it out; if not, describe their features and designate someone to assist.
This simple psychological trick was something Wang Ziting was quite skilled at. Though he indulged in eating, drinking, and leisure, the elite education he received from a young age still proved useful.