The Trial Game of Life – Chapter 141

Table of Contents | Character Guide

Chapter 141: There’s Someone Under The Bed (6)

Time went back to more than an hour ago when Jin Cheng and Rong Yi joined forces to corner The Fortune Teller Yan Ye. The two of them had the same plan, for they both feared that Yan Ye might resort to extreme measures and kill herself. Not wanting to go to jail with her, they planned to take it easy and capture her alive.

But they still underestimated Yan Ye. Since Yan Ye dared to attack Rong Yi, she had already left a way out for herself, which was — the hidden dungeon.

The hidden dungeon emphasised the word ‘hidden’ and needn’t be triggered in the game hall. For example, Tang Cuo’s serial dungeon [Kingdom Hidden In The Moonlight] was one such dungeon, which could be entered as long as there were trigger items in hand.

Once the dungeon was triggered, even Rong Yi’s ‘Time Manipulation’ had no way to turn it back. But before entering the dungeon, Yan Ye left behind two sentences.

The first sentence was: “What I’ve foreseen is the truth. I may hide certain things, but I won’t tell lies.”

The second sentence was: “Beware of Lin Yandong.”

Leaving aside the second sentence, the relationship between Yan Ye and Lin Yandong hadn’t been cleared up yet, so who knew if Yan Ye was making up an accusation? But if Yan Ye’s first sentence is true, what should they do about the fact that she kept saying Rong Yi had the 2nd Movement?

What they totally didn’t expect was that Rong Yi honestly admitted it.

“The 2nd Movement is indeed with me.”

Jin Cheng, Rong Yi, Leng Miao, Jiang He and Zheng Yingying joined in the talk in a private room at the Ruby Bar just like before. Chi Yan and Wen Xiaoming were in charge of guarding Scarlet next door.

What had Jin Cheng taken aback was that when he tried to ask Extreme Luck Yu Yiyi if he wanted to come, Yu Yiyi simply smiled and turned him down. Waving his hand, he said he still cherished his life. 

Rong Yi didn’t have any comment, rather, he turned to invite Zheng Yingying.

Really, he invited Zheng Yingying instead of Jiang He. Jiang He was just incidental.

“I know you are wondering why the 2nd Movement is with me, and why I hid it.” Rong Yi was still as plain and forthright as always. He took the initiative to pour a glass of wine for everyone at the scen. Even Zheng Yingying wasn’t missed out.

He put the wine glass in front of Zheng Yingying: “This has to start with your dagger.”

“My dagger?” Zheng Yingying’s hood covered most of her face as her tiny body retreated into a corner of the room. A sense of detachment emanated from her whole body.

“The [Nameless Dagger], the blade that was used to kill God. I think you’ve all more or less heard the rumour. A hundred years ago, an elite team used the [Twelve Movements] to reach the highest point of Yong Ye City. They came to God and tried to kill Him, but they failed. The dagger that almost took down God was then cursed. Everyone in the team died, and since then, it had disappeared from Yong Ye City.” Rong Yi said.

“What are you trying to say?” Leng Miao frowned.

Jin Cheng’s eyebrows arched slightly, and after thinking it over, he now understood why Leng Miao was the first to be on pins and needles. Rong Yi was his best friend in Yong Ye City, but it was obvious that what Rong Yi was saying now had never been made known to Leng Miao. Seeing the unemotional Dr. Leng not get worked up and hit Rong Yi for good, Jin Cheng wanted to praise him for his respectable manners.

Rong Yi cast a helpless glance at him and said: “Don’t worry yet, listen to me first.”

Leng Miao: “You talk then.”

Rong Yi: “You know that my ability is related to time. I once entered a single-player dungeon, and as luck would have it, I got a glimpse of that rumour by turning back time. But I only saw it in the dungeon. Yong Ye City had always been vague about what happened in the past. I can’t find any evidence and can’t be sure whether it’s true or not, so I chose to not say anything.”

Exuding an extremely cold aura just like before, Leng Miao declined to comment.

Jin Cheng took a sip of wine and asked: “What does this have to do with the 2nd Movement?”

“Strictly speaking, there’s no direct connection, but that’s exactly why I took the 2nd Movement and hid it away.” Rong Yi’s calm eyes swept across the faces of everyone present, then he continued: “This thing is invincible. Once it fails, it’ll bring disaster to all players. The [Twelve Movements] are not so much a symbol of power, rather, it’s another trial out of the game. Because of the movements, players become greedy and convinced that they can do anything if they master these movements, even killing God. The desire will eventually destroy themselves and everyone else.”

As he spoke, his voice became lower: “I saw such a scene. In order to prevent the tragedy from repeating, I must make sure that the movement falls into the hands of the right person.”

Jiang He replied: “Why is this right person not you? “

Jiang He began to suspect that Rong Yi was deliberately stepping back during the fight for the 6th Movement, just like how he had the 2nd Movement but didn’t use it. Jin Cheng was also very curious. Could it really be that Rong Yi, while wanting to make a final decision from thousands of choices, would end up choosing Jin Cheng himself?

He didn’t even know he was so loved.

“Creation is always much harder than destruction.” Rong Yi totally deflected from the question. “What’s more, when a person dies, a new one will be born. Once a person who has been devoured by greed reaches the highest point, it’ll be difficult to conclude whether the future will actually become better.”

Jin Cheng tapped the table with his fingers: “So you saw the outcome of the ‘progressive’ party and decided to side with the ‘stable’ party instead? For example, by decentralising the powers?” 

Having different people holding onto the [Twelve Momevements] meant that they would keep each other in check. This sounded like a good idea, but it was also prone to being overturned.

Jiang He bluntly said: “There’s still the 1st Movement.”

The 1st Movement had the greatest power, and no one dared to say whether this movement alone could equal the sum of the other eleven. If so, no matter how good the original arrangement was, it might be all for naught.

Moreover…

Leng Miao folded his arms: “This has nothing to do with me.”

Dr. Leng was always a loner who had no interest in being a man of justice. Yong Ye City could do whatever liked, kill whomever it wanted, or be killed by whoever. He felt most comfortable living this simple, cruel life.

In the corner, Zheng Yingying didn’t utter a word, and nor did she seem to care much.

Jin Cheng smiled and didn’t speak. He seemed to be the person most relaxed and at ease here, but then, he thought of Yan Ye again. Yan Ye once carried out a divination for Tang Cuo, telling him: “If you get the Golden Movement one day, remember to exchange it for an Easter Egg game with Yong Ye City. The name of the Easter Egg game is — [The Gift of God].”

The Golden Movement was the 1st Movement. If Yan Ye had the guts to say so, it was very likely that in the deviation, she saw the 1st Movement appear in Tang Cuo’s hands.

And in their reasoning, the dungeon that gave rise to the 1st Movement was [Kingdom Hidden In The Moonlight]. This dungeon wasn’t related to only him and Tang Cuo, but also to Lin Yandong, Black Hat and Yan Ye.

Although Yan Ye’s divination might not 100% correct, at least, it represented a certain probability. When she told them to beware of Lin Yandong, was he implying that Lin Yandong would snatch it?

Of course, all of this was based on the hypothesis that Yan Ye was telling the truth.

Obviously, Jin Cheng wouldn’t reveal these things. With an unflinching expression, he said: “When he partnered up with me, Lin Yandong also seemed all amicable. You tell me, is he the one pulling the strings behind this whole ordeal with Scarlet? Was it to force the 2nd Movement to come out? Or did he want to take this opportunity to make a mess at Zone G?”

Leng Miao glared at him: “That’s your business with him, don’t drag others into the water.”

Jin Cheng: “Did you eat gun powder today?”

Leng Miao: “It’s none of your business.”

Jin Cheng softly let out a ‘tsk’, then continued: “Even if the matter regarding Scarlet has nothing to do with you, it has something to do with Rong Yi. How now? Will you just cut off all your ties with him?”

Leng Miao: “Shut up.”

“No.” Jin Cheng smiled: “I’m going to drag you all into the water, don’t even try to run away.”

“F**k off.”

When it came to the ability to stir sh*t, if Jin Cheng was to rank second, no one in Yong Ye City would be able to rank first. He clapped his hands and said: “Don’t worry about that for now. Even if I’m here in Yong Ye City, I’m still a working-class communist who doesn’t dwell on superstition1To elaborate, what Jin Cheng means is that he isn’t scared of the God of Yong Ye City. What does this have to do with being a communist? Because, compared to other political ideologies such as capitalism and socialism, communism is atheistic in nature.. The problem now is that —”

He looked at Rong Yi: “What do you want to do with the 2nd Movement? There are still so many living corpses in Yong Ye City, and our big sister in red next door will definitely not show any remorse.”

Jin Cheng still wasn’t aware that Lilith had gone to investigate the corpse poison, but now that Scarlet had been arrested, with Lilith’s strength, Jin Cheng wasn’t very worried about her safety.

He wanted to think more about the plan that this plain Little Yi was calculating after such a long time of keeping himself in the shadows.

Rong Yi said: “You are doubting Lin Yandong, aren’t you? Now, except you, no one knows that the 2nd Movement is with it. We can use it as bait to lure Lin Yandong out.”

Hearing this, Jin Cheng raised an eyebrow, and even Leng Miao seemed deep in thought.

Jiang He glanced around. Scarlet wasn’t dead yet. In order to prevent her from turning the tide, these people in this private room who were neither friends nor enemies would never make any move to snatch the movement away.

Keeping everyone in check meant that an alliance could be formed temporarily.

Leng Miao tried to take no notice of everything, but if he actually wanted to have a foot in this, probably because he was still on Rong Yi’s side. He and Zheng Yingying lacked the right to speak compared to others, so they could only watch from the side.

The final decision makers were Jin Cheng and Rong Yi.

Not out of expectation, Jin Cheng effortlessly came to a decision: “I’ll find a way to solve the issue of the living corpse with this little girl. How about you and Leng Miao go to Zone G to meet Lin Yandong and The Warden first?”

Rong Yi: “Okay.”

Although Leng Miao’s face remained cold, he didn’t refute in the end.

Jiang He’s heart haboured a quiet thought. This person, Rong Yi, was way more scheming inside than he appeared on the surface.

At the end, Rong Yi turned his attention to Zheng Yingying again: “I asked you to come along because I wanted to persuade you to give up the [Nameless Dagger] as soon as possible. It’ll destroy you.”

Zheng Yingying lifted her gaze: “Oh.”

Jin Cheng suddenly became a tad confused. He had been paying attention to Zheng Yingying but never learnt that she had the [Nameless Dagger] with her. It was only back in the dungeon [Realm of Mortals], when Qian Wei described Zheng Yingying’s weapon to him, that he had an inkling.

By the time Zheng Yingying and Jiang He arrived at the scene earlier, the dagger had been put away. How did Rong Yi know that she had the [Nameless Dagger]?

What did Leng Miao tell him?

On the other side, Tang Cuo woke up from the bed in the apartment for the third time and once again verified his guess — he couldn’t escape from the apartment. The radical 犭 of ‘Ju Dog Paradise’ was still not lit up. Could it be that this was another dream, where it was necessary to light up the radical in order to leave?

In the end, which was true and which wasn’t?

Tang Cuo felt suspicion creep into his heart, but his moves didn’t hesitate even one bit. Since he couldn’t run out and ‘Teleportation’ had gone into cooldown time, he simply stayed in the apartment building to search room to room for the phylactery.

The bunch of equipment that Wen Xiaoming stuffed into his hands when he entered the dungeon now came in handy. Those strange things included a transparent protective cover modelled after Leng Miao’s ‘Air Cage’ and a capsule CD player capable of releasing ultrasonic attacks, among many others. Of course, what certainly would be here was the upgraded version of the [Blast Egg].

A [Blast Egg] wasn’t very helpful to Tang Cuo at the moment, but the capsule CD player gave a miraculous effect. This was what Wen Xiaoming created with inspiration from the dungeon [Before Dawn]. Once glued to the wall of the corridor, the specially treated ultrasonic waves would ripple in the air.

Such a sound couldn’t be heard by human ears, but it could hurt spirits, thus making it the best attack against ghosts.

Unable to stand the waves, many ghosts clutched their hair and let out a sharp cry. The wheezing sound was so painful that their heads exploded, as did the voice-activated lamps in the corridor.

“Bang!”

“Crack —”

The glass fragments of the voice-activated lamps flashed past his ears, but Tang Cuo, a true warrior, never once looked back. He neatly marched through a door, opened a wardrobe and lifted the bed board, all in one go.

When it came to searching for things, he was a professional.

After digging through room after room, Tang Cuo’s forehead and back were drenched in sweat. The ghosts under the bed were really endless. Snowflakes began to spread from his original room as the temperature of the entire apartment building continued to drop, and it was so cold that his feet began to feel heavy.

With the voice-activated lamps exploding one by one, his vision was getting darker and darker. Tang Cuo continued to fight hard as he walked, and by the time his search reached the second floor, the ghosts that had gathered on the fourth floor were already so large in number that they almost crashed down like a tide.

They were all ghosts without a tangible presence, squeezing their bodies into each other’s. Twisting and wiggling as they let out eerie, wicked laughs, the ghosts were like a black wave that was this close to drowning Tang Cuo.

Tang Cuo was panting desperately. Even with the protection of the Holy Light from the [Sword of Judgment], his body had gone out of control and started to tremble. It was so cold that he could barely hold his sword.

To be honest, the individual attack power of each ghost wasn’t high, but their number was far too large. With this amount, it was easy for their aura, or to be more specific, their magnetic field, to take shape. The scariest thing now was that this ‘field’ could trap Tang Cuo inside.

Coming dangerously close to his limit, Tang Cuo decisively jumped off the window and woke up from his bed again.

As the saying went, failure was the mother of success. This time, Tang Cuo directly glued the capsule CD player under the bed and waited for the ghost to appear. While doing this, he looked at his palm, which had turned all cold and sweaty.

If it continued like this, he might not be able to last a lot more.

Opening the Character panel, his HP was only 17, and his Soul Instability Index had soared to 18, which wasn’t great.

But this wasn’t what Tang Cuo cared about. He took out a potion and gulped it down, then sat quietly on the bed for a while. The worse the situation, the calmer he became.

He was thinking that this so-called reality matched most of the settings of Meng Ghosts Academy, but what about the peach blossoms?

Where were the peach blossoms?

When did he start dreaming? When did he wake up again?

Was he awake now, or was he dreaming?