The Trial Game of Life – Chapter 153

Table of Contents | Character Guide

Chapter 153: The Pale Heart (2)

A fight broke out inside the tomb.

Although these ordinary adventurers and bounty hunters had no idea why the Rose Sect members were fighting among themselves, this was a golden opportunity. If they didn’t take action now, then when?

The strongest person here was Aesop.

The Rose Sect members couldn’t keep him down for long, and the adventurers didn’t want to confront him directly either. Not to mention, [The Pale Heart] was in Peter’s hands, so of course, they all stood around Peter.

Since Peter was in the middle of reconvening the magic formation, he wouldn’t leave the magic formation’s range. Facing such a large-scale attack, there was no way he could resist, but he knew that Aesop would not let [The Pale Heart] fall into the others’ hands. Because this item was the key to becoming the vessel.

Sure enough, the black umbrella opened wide and fell in front of Peter, fully deploying its defensive magic and blocking all the attacks. Needless to say, Peter couldn’t have the upper hand either. The umbrella’s handle quickly struck once more and directly hit his wrist that was holding [The Pale Heart], knocking the beating heart into the air.

“Quick! Grab it!”

Amidst the shrieks and screams, a bunch of adventurers rushed out. Four of them hurried to stop Aesop, and one headed straight for [The Pale Heart], reaching out his hand to catch it with haste.

At this moment, Peter, whom no one had paid any heed to, pulled out his magic wand and drew a circle with its tip. As he swung it forward, a spell came out. A gigantic, transparent hand was conjured in mid-air, grabbing [The Pale Heart] in the blink of an eye.

The situation had gone back to its starting point.

Standing in front of this chaos, Tang Cuo and Jin Cheng both took a step back. This was what they called when the snipe and clam fought, the fisherman benefited the most1鹬蚌相争, 渔翁得利 [yù bàng xiāng zhēng，yú wēng dé lì], an idiom that describes how a third party will have an advantage when the other two parties are caught in a fight.. Their goal was to destroy the magic formation rather than to obtain the item. They had no need to trot through this muddy water.

At this juncture, a priest clad in red suddenly appeared behind Buzz with a dagger on his neck, sternly demanding Aesop to stop. Aesop sneered coldly: “You lot always bite the people that you bring in yourselves. Fear not, you aren’t breaking any rules.”

A tinge of disgust flashed in the priest’s eyes: “You killed Vincent at the manor outside the Principality of Flange, didn’t you? Don’t you dare think that everything you’ve done will stay hidden forever. You traitor, what a scum! On behalf of the sect, I’ll kill you!”

Hearing this, Tang Cuo’s heart tucked slightly. Vincent and the Principality of Flange — this should be the Red Priest who appeared in the second round [Song of The Wind] and was later killed by Aesop.

And if Vincent was on the same side as Peter, this meant Aesop had a deadly feud with them. It seemed that their hatred ran deep, certainly not the type that could be easily resolved.

“Then, you go to hell with him.” Aesop’s figure quickly flashed and reappeared in mid-air. With his umbrella as a staff, a glaring ray of magic light gathered at the tip of the umbrella and he attacked the opponent without any hint of hesitation.

The Red Priest was shaken to the core, for he couldn’t understand why Aesop could act so nonchalantly even when Bazz’s life was at his hands. Just at this moment, he felt his hand loosen, and as looked down — an ugly puppet the size of a hand was lying on his palm, grinning at him.

Body swap!

He had been tricked!

In the blink of an eye, Aesop swung his arm and turned the tip of the umbrella 180 degrees, aiming at Peter. A wave of magic gushed out in an instant, meeting Peter’s astonished eyes.

The Red Priest dodged and tried to stop Aesop, but as soon as he moved, a sense of danger engulfed him from behind. Waving the staff at his back, he turned around in utter shock: “Law enforcement team?!”

There stood six knights in black armours and red armbands.

“You colluded with the law enforcement team!?” The Red Priest was hit so hard that his ribs broke as he smashed into the coffin, but his eyes remained fixed on Aesop.

“The law enforcement team is responsible for eradicating all heresies that hinder the sect’s expansion. Aren’t you in the way of the sect?” Aesop smiled, and with the black umbrella in his left hand and his right hand on his chest, he spoke courteously: “It’s time for you to depart.”

“How dare you?!” The Red Priest shouted at the top of his lungs as he pointed the staff forward. One after another, walls of fire were erected, and the priest stood in the middle of the raging fire, his eyes glaring dangerously.

The staff beamed brightly once again. Looking at that posture — it was a rose bomb!

Tang Cuo still remembered how powerful this item was, and thought to himself that The Red Priest was so desperate that he wouldn’t mind dying with all of them here. But the members of the law enforcement team weren’t that easy to take down either. Clad in black armours that seemed undaunted by the fire, half of them dashed towards The Red Priest, while the other half started intercepting and killing the remaining members of the Rose Sect.

Although Peter luckily survived Aesop’s attacks, he had been driven to a dead corner by this point. [The Pale Heart] was still with him, but the magic formation hadn’t yet been fully awakened. With a stern look in his eyes, out of the blue, he threw [The Pale Heart] in Tang Cuo’s direction.

He’s trying to divert attention!

Aesop narrowed his eyes. He knew what Peter was having up his sleeve, but he still turned the tip of the umbrella towards Tang Cuo. Tang Cuo and Jin Cheng could no longer stand on the sidelines, so without saying another word, the two immediately headed separate ways, one to the left and the other to the right.

As he sprinted, Jin Cheng plucked on his small harp. A sound wave shook the ground, but it was gentle and melodious, carrying not even a hint of damage with it. With absolute precision, it blew [The Pale Heart] out of the way.

Everyone’s eyes moved along as the beating red heart flew across the tomb. One by one, they hastily stretched out their hands and raced towards it with all their might.

But at this point, the rose bomb exploded. The violent impact knocked away all those who dared to get close, causing them to cough blood all over.

Amidst the smoke and dust, a bunch of puppets suddenly swung down from the dome window as though they were monkeys. Shakingly, they stretched out their stubby hands and hugged the flying heart.

“Hehehehe.” All of the puppets started giggling. With each laughter echoing atop another, coupled with the puppets’ ugly appearance and exaggerated grin, it made everyone feel a chill run down their spine.

“Stop them!”

Someone quickly reacted and attacked the puppets, but he was firmly stopped by the black-armoured knights’ swords. The puppets gasped and started climbing up, one pulling another and returning to the flower dome window in the blink of an eye.

A callused hand that looked like it belonged to a young man emerged in everyone’s sight and snatched the heart from the puppets’ hands. Like Peter, the palm of his hand had been cut and his blood started wrapping around the heart. As a drop of blood dripped from the heart, it passed through the broken window and entered the magic formation.

This was the real Buzz.

Tang Cuo threw a glance at him before turning around and raising his sword to block the attacks of the two black-armoured knights. The enemies pressed on him with all their strength, forcing Tang Cuo’s knees to bend down, but at this juncture, he swept his legs all of a sudden and attacked from below, breaking out of the deadlock in an instant.

First, he turned around; next, he charged forward; and finally, he pierced the armour. Tang Cuo used the most violent method to swiftly take down a black-armoured knight.

On the other side, Jin Cheng was facing Aesop by himself. Most of the other adventurers and bounty hunters had been killed or injured, and there were only a few survivors left. Even The Red Priest was lying on the ground like a dead dog. If it wasn’t for the heaving of his chest, people might think he had died.

In a state worse than them were the members of the Rose Sect, who had all been wiped out by the law enforcement team in an extremely cruel way, leaving not even a single survivor. With blood still dripping from their swords, the law enforcement team once again focused on Peter.

Peter clutched his chest and staggered a few steps back, but he ignored them entirely. He was looking up at Buzz, and their eyes met.

There was a blazing fire in Peter’s eyes.

“Give it to me!” Peter raised his staff towards Buzz. He had nothing left to lose. The magic formation would soon be awakened, and even with his last breath, he had to become the vessel.

There was a trace of panic in Buzz’s eyes, and the hand that held [The Pale Heart] started shaking, exposing his trembling conviction.

Peter’s attack did land on Buzz in the end, but in the nick of time, Aesop pushed Jin Cheng away and rushed back to block the attack. The black umbrella opened and the forceful defence made all the attacks automatically slide down from both sides of the umbrella. As an unruly strand of hair slipped from his cheek, Aesop frowned and looked at Peter.

Up till this moment, except for this unruly strand of hair, Aesop’s clothes stayed completely still. Seeing this scene, people wouldn’t be able to hold back from exclaiming how powerful Aesop The Rebel was.

Peter’s attack had failed. He spit out a mouthful of blood.

The black-armoured knight raised his sword to kill Peter, but Jin Cheng blocked him at once. With his whole face, except for his eyes, concealed behind the mask, the knight glared coldly at Jin Cheng. Jin Cheng smiled and shrugged, but the gestures of his hands were clearly serious.

If the snipe and the clam fought, but one of them died, how could the fisherman benefit from it? After all, Theodore and Lancelot were not Aesop’s opponents. Once Peter died, Aesop would kill them.

Regardless of what infighting the Rose Sect was having, Aesop probably didn’t want the news of him killing Peter and other Rose Sect members to leak out.

Another battle erupted.

“Lancelot!” The moment Tang Cuo shouted, Jin Cheng understood and promptly retreated. As he was stepping back, a spinning [Fidget Cube] passed him by and landed in the middle of the only three remaining black-armoured knights and glowed with a brilliant light.

The magic of dooms had triggered: poisoning.

Seeing this, a tinge of amazement gleamed in Aesop’s eyes. He had no idea what this magic weapon was and what effect it had, because even he himself fell victim to it. He immediately ran to snatch it, but something else was happening behind him.

He turned his head and said indignantly: “Roger Reeds!”

His Excellency Roger Reeds, The Watchman from the Greenvines Alliance, had arrived after receiving Theodore’s heads-up.

Roger Reeds was a man of few words. He didn’t even bat an eye at Aesop. His black cane straightway aimed for Buzz’s hand that was grasping [The Pale Heart].

Bazz was paralysed from his aura alone, his body so stiff that he couldn’t move an inch. But it was also because of fear that his hand trembled, causing [The Pale Heart] to slip off.

In the dim light, the red heart passed through the broken window and fell into the golden coffin.

The magic formation was complete.

[The Pale Heart] seemed to be the final switch. The moment it fell into the coffin, the roses engraved on the coffin’s wall came to life. The heart’s crimson blood soaked the golden lines and one by one, the red roses quietly bloomed. Their branches stretched out and the roses climbed over the coffin, spreading along the pattern of the magic formation and quickly filling up half of the room.

Roger Reeds’ eyes darkened, and Aesop didn’t look better either. Because if Peter and Buzz had both given their blood to [The Pale Heart], who would become the vessel?

Thinking of this, Aesop couldn’t help but shoot a fierce glare at Roger Reeds. If Roger Reeds hadn’t appeared suddenly, he would have killed Peter right now to avoid all future troubles.

But all of a sudden, the roses stopped growing further.

All the people that were left standing looked in the direction where the roses stopped. 

Kneeling on one knee, Tang Cuo inserted the [Sword of Judgment] into the magic formation with both hands and nailed the roses to the ground.

As the roses were unable to move further, the light of the magic formation flickered on and off. The next second, their vines started crawling up the [Sword of Judgment], totally disregarding the fact that the sharp blade could cut them off. Soon, the roses’ thorns pierced the skin on Tang Cuo’s hands.

The sound of the small harp came at the right time. Like a gentle, pleasant whisper of a lover at dusk, it made Tang Cuo feel as though there was a pair of hands that could soothe all the pain, calm his heart and make him feel completely at ease.

Roger Reeds also seized the opportunity to make a move. He had to deal with Aesop as soon as possible and destroy this place. Luckily for him, Aesop had been exhausted by the continuous battles and was at a disadvantage.

Peter had been entirely covered by the roses, while Bazz, who had remained on the window, looked nervously at Tang Cuo and Jin Cheng below with an overwhelmingly worried expression.

But only Jin Cheng saw that Tang Cuo’s blood slid down the blade and landed on a rose’ petals. As the petals lightly trembled, its red hue glowed.

The light seemingly flickered but was continuously transmitted back into the coffin. The heart, now fed with blood, beat even faster, looking as though it was excited.

“Plop.”

“Plop.”

“Plop.”

The heartbeat gradually synchronised with Tang Cuo’s, making Tang Cuo’s cheeks tinted with shades of red.

Jin Cheng’s heart quivered. Seeing that Aesop and Roger Reeds didn’t seem to notice what was happening here, he immediately blocked Tang Cuo with his body.

Fortunately, Tang Cuo’s strange state didn’t last long. Very soon, he snapped out of it.

Unexpectedly, when Tang Cuo pulled the [Sword of Judgment] from the ground, starting from the periphery, all the roses withered. Gradually, the light of the magic formation also weakened.

The two exchanged a look, and without saying another word, they both attacked with all their strength.

The evil roses had no way to fight against the combined forces of the Light of Judgment and the harp’s ethereal sound. At least, that was how it seemed to Peter.

“No!!!” Peter propped himself up from the withered roses and reached out his hand towards the coffin.

However, Jin Cheng was faster than him. With a few steps, he walked to the side of the coffin and, picking up a sword that a black-armoured knight had dropped, he slashed the coffin.

Tang Cuo followed closely behind and passed by a black-armoured knight who had passed out due to serious injuries as well as poisoning. With one swift blow from Tang Cuo, the knight was dead.

The two smoothly reconvened at the side of the coffin. As they covered each other, Jin Cheng quietly took back the heart inside the broken coffin and placed it in his Inventory Bar without anyone noticing.

Standing back to back, the two looked up to find that Buzz had seen everything.

“What should we do?”

“.”

“You said that if we kill Buzz, the system will send a thunderbolt to kill us.”

“You can shut up now.”

Being OOC was nothing scary. Having a boyfriend with a crow mouth was way scarier.

After all, killing was not nice. The benevolent Jin Cheng thus decided to be a good person and winked suggestively at Bazz. Bazz quickly covered his mouth and shook his head desperately, as if to promise that he would never utter a word.

That pitiful look of his really made people feel sad.

“Did he think that we were going to attack? Does it look like both of us have the aura of the worst villains?”

“.”

“The roses.” Jin Cheng suddenly thought of something and grinned: “So were you the one who put the bouquet of roses on my grave? You’ve been secretly in love with me since a long time ago, haven’t you?”

“Shut up.”

Tang Cuo turned his head away.

“Ding!”

“Congratulations to the player for successfully completing the fourth round of the serial mission [Kingdom Hidden In The Moonlight]: The Pale Heart. Difficulty: Hard, Rating: A. Character points to be earned: 80.” 

“For personal rewards, please check the system panel by yourself.’

“Welcome back to Yong Ye City!”

“Ding!”

“[The Pale Heart] has been detected. According to the law issued by the 5th Movement, this item now belongs to civil-servant player D11119.”

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The translator has something to say: Yes, I’m back again. It’s been a long hiatus. If you somehow still remember this story, thank you so much for your patience.

And — Happy New Year!