CH 4

Chapter 4 – The Correct Finishing Line

Here’s a rough illustration of the scene described:

(T/N: Tada! Credits to the author for drawing that!)

The finishing line was directly on the other side of the starting line, with a translucent signboard marking its position.

Since it was translucent, no one noticed it just now.

The finishing line signboard was parallel to the length of the track. It was unclear what material it was made from, and how it could suspend in midair. Just then, Gentleman Rabbit pointed at the signboard, and two extremely bolded words emerged—finishing line.

Below the “finishing line”, there were two arrows, one pointing to lane No.1 at the left, and the other pointing to lane No.2 at the right.

There are usually six or eight lanes in a running track of a sports arena, but there were only two lanes here.

“The length of the racecourse is 200 meters in total. You may enter the next round of the competition after passing through the correct finishing line. The game ends after three rounds,” Gentleman Rabbit briefed them on the rules.

“Are those hares going to race with us?” Shen Mo took a glance at the hares that were not far away.

“Of course.” Gentleman Rabbit still maintained its gentle tone. “Hares are one of the important parts of ‘The Tortoise And The Hare’ race, participants should avoid being caught up by hares.”

Bai Youwei pursed her lips and asked cautiously, “What will happen if they catch up to us?”

Gentleman Rabbit kept quiet.

Although it did not give a reply, for some reason, Bai Youwei felt that it seemed to be smiling…

The woman hiding behind her husband asked tremblingly, “Do…do they bite?”

Bite?

The others began to criticize her in their minds, Look at those teeth, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that they eat people, let alone bite!

“Alright everybody, that’s it for the explanation of the rules. Please follow me to the starting line, the competition will begin soon.”

Everyone looked at each other in dismay, their eyes glued to each other, everyone was hesitant to make a move.

The corpse that was burnt to a crisp was still there on the ground, faintly emitting an odd charred smell. As the sun shone, the translucent finishing line signboard at a distance reflected a brilliant light, as if it was waving and calling out to everyone.

They ultimately could not resist the fear in their hearts and followed Gentleman Rabbit ahead with heavy footsteps.

Shen Mo lowered his head to look at Bai Youwei. “Running while carrying you on my back should be faster than carrying you in my arms. If you are scared of those hares, I can carry you in my arms.”

Those hares were obviously aggressive. If they attacked from the rear, the places vulnerable to attack would be the back and the leg areas.

“It’s better to give me a piggyback.” Bai Youwei also calmed down. “Running doesn’t only require speed, but also balance, at the same time you need to be agile to evade the hares. It will be troublesome if you carry me in your arms.”

Both of them stopped to adjust their posture, with Bai Youwei lying on Shen Mo’s back.

They soon fell behind from the rest of the group.

“Are you afraid?” Shen Mo asked her.

“Yes.” Bai Youwei replied in a muffled voice.

It would be impossible for anyone to be unafraid when encountering such a thing.

She asked Shen Mo in a soft voice, “What about you? Are you afraid? If those hares ran very fast…”

If they ran very fast, he would undoubtedly be encumbered carrying her.

While carrying Bai Youwei, Shen Mo walked forward steadily. “Do you still remember what that rabbit head said just now? It said that there’s a total of three rounds in the competition. If the hares had great speed, one round is enough to end the game, there would be no need to set up three rounds.”

Bai Youwei was surprised. She hadn’t expected Shen Mo to analyze it to such detail.

She looked at the starting line ahead of her.

Those gigantic hares looked ferocious, but if you observed carefully, you would notice that the limbs of every hare were quite uncoordinated—limping, twitching, scratching the ground and kicking, and some were even biting their flesh, in a state of madness. If they did run, their speed might not be that fast.

Bai Youwei thought for a while and said to Shen Mo in a low voice, “It kept emphasizing on passing the correct finishing line, so, if you want to win the competition, you don’t have to be the first. Instead, you must first run faster than the hare, then only find the correct finishing line.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Mo asked, “Which side is the correct finishing line on?” 

Bai Youwei remained silent.

Since the competition had three rounds, the finishing line would definitely be different each time. It might be at the left or at the right. There must be a hint for the answer in this 200 meters race.

Even if there were no hints, making a wild guess still meant they had a 50% chance of getting to the correct finishing line.

The only problem now was that they had no idea what consequences they would face if they ran to the wrong finishing line.