The Trial Game of Life – Chapter 158

Table of Contents | Character Guide

Chapter 158: Sword of Judgment (5)

At the end of the conversation, K told Rong Yi: “Lin Yandong should be coming out within the next 2 days. If you want to know what he did in Zone G, why don’t you just challenge him? Since you have the 2nd Movement, as long as the Golden Movement hasn’t been found by anyone else, you’re basically invincible.”

Rong Yi said: “I’ve tried that. He won’t take the bait easily.”

“Then there’s Miao Qi.” K smiled. As he leaned back, countless soft and fluffy pillows appeared behind to catch him. He changed to a more comfortable position and said: “Something must’ve happened to that unlucky guy. After the incident with Lawless, I went to check the zones carefully. Given that we already know where he disappeared,  if you want to find him, focus on the border between Zone D and Zone E, towards the southeast. Let’s make a bet — does Lin Yandong really care?”

Rong Yi understood. If something happened to Miao Qi, the person behind it most likely was trying to target Lin Yandong. But whether Lin Yandong was willing to step back to save Miao Qi remained unknown.

Thinking of this, Rong Yi asked again: “Have you ever been in contact with Ji Ning from the Vaccine Research Institute?”

K smiled: “I did tell you to stop doubting me whenever something happens. If you keep doing this, I’ll be very sad.”

Rong Yi wore a blank expression on his face. Not wanting to joke with K anymore, he stood up and left. But as soon as he turned around, K suddenly asked: “Are you really not going to use the movement first?”

Rong Yi’s one-word answer was firm: “No.”

K pursed his lips. Boring.

Time passed quickly, and soon it was the day that Lin Yandong was released from jail.

Xiao Tong hadn’t gone to see Lin Yandong in the past few days. That day, when Xiao Tong asked Lin Yandong why he entered [Descent of Gods and Demons], Lin Yandong’s answer was: “So that I can live better.”

This was no different from the answer he gave many years ago. Lin Yandong was still the same Lin Yandong.

Standing on the tower, Xiao Tong watched him leave and mindlessly reminisced about the first time they met. It was his father’s funeral. At the marshal’s mansion with white flags hung everywhere, guests were coming in waves to pay their respects.

Clad in a moon-white gown, Lin Yandong stood silently in the corner, but many people were still whispering about his presence. A stage actor really shouldn’t be here.

Xiao Tong, who had returned home with haste, rushed to the mourning hall without sparing any time to take off his scarf. As he entered the door, he happened to pass by Lin Yandong.

At that time, Xiao Tong only cast him a confused glance. All he could think about was his bastard of a father who had finally died, so he didn’t take the matter to heart. The next time Xiao Tong saw that man again, he was singing on the stage in the west yard.

The marshal’s mansion was requisitioned and rebuilt from the house of a wealthy family who had been officials in the past. The house was not only spacious and grandeur but also contained a professional stage.

That night, Xiao Tong couldn’t sleep and vaguely heard the sound of opera in the distance, so he followed the sound and walked over.

Later, Xiao Tong’s eldest brother told him that their father had once praised that man for good singing, so the eldest brother invited him to sing a few verses to comfort the soul of the dead. In the middle of the night, there wasn’t a single spectator around the stage. There was only a glass of wine that no one was drinking and the actor on the stage.

Xiao Tong had always been a rebellious man, so he sat down in front of the stage and snatched the wine that was supposed to be his father’s.

That year, Xiao Tong was 17, but Lin Yandong was already 25. The second young master was young, energetic, and he had been studying abroad for a few years. He took pride in his grand vision and superior thinking, but in front of Lin Yandong, he always felt like a child who had to gasp desperately for air.

He originally thought that given his Western education and preference for the open-minded, free mindset of the West, he would have a headache whenever he laid eyes on those people wearing Chinese-style long gowns and jackets, and he definitely couldn’t even listen to ‘zhi hu zhe ye’1之乎者也 [zhī hū zhě yě], are the four auxiliary words that often appear in classical Chinese teachings. The whole idiom basically refers to the basic abilities that a Chinese scholar should possess.. Yet Lin Yandong was the only exception. This man somehow exuded the elegance of a man of letters, as though he came from ancient times. When he wasn’t on stage, he liked to wear long gowns and even glasses on occasions, while his hands always seemed to carry a book.

If there was one phrase to describe him, it would be ‘Confucius scholar’.

Xiao Tong also knew that there were many rumours surrounding him, including some that involved his already-dead bastard of a father, but he hated people who gossiped even more. When he threw people from the second floor to the stage, the actors on the stage quickly ran away in total chaos, but Lin Yandong was the only one who kept standing with a calm expression.

The person whom he beat moaned in pain. Xiao Tong wiped the blood on his face, turned his head and stretched out his hand towards Lin Yandong: “Give me your handkerchief.”

From that day on, they became friends. The second young master didn’t need anyone’s permission to make friends. He couldn’t recall most of the newer memories that took place later; on the contrary, the older the events, the clearer they were.

He died even earlier than Lin Yandong. Those were troubled times, when open bullets were easy to duck but hidden arrows were tough to dodge. After his death, he entered Yong Ye City. Year after year, he met many people born in the new era. He heard them describe many novel things, such as the mobile phone, but he had never seen it with his own eyes, and people outside also couldn’t bring it in.

When K made a deal with him and gave out the information, he suddenly had the idea of ​​going to the new world to see it.

F**k Lin Yandong.

F**k Yong Ye City.

At this moment, he was watching Lin Yandong’s back. Then he turned around and left without hesitation. Love and hate never had any ending, but the second young master now wanted to be Thanos.

If he remembered correctly, the character in that movie had this name. [T/N: To clarify here, if you recall, back in chapter 77, it was mentioned that Yong Ye City’s cinemas actually carry the movies that have been recently shown in the world of the living. So it’s possible for Xiao Tong to know about Thanos.]

Lin Yandong seemingly sensed something and turned around to look at the tower, but saw nothing. He stood there for a long time holding the bead bracelet in his hand. The towers were empty, and Xiao Tong never reappeared.

He will never show up again.

Lin Yandong suddenly had this feeling. All this while, he had looked at Xiao Tong like a child, but he also knew this child always handled things more decisively than him.

Leaving Zone G, Lin Yandong headed back to his residence in Zone A.

Miao Qi’s absence made Lin Yandong frown slightly, but he soon understood the reason. In the mailbox at the door, there was a letter from the post office. There was only an address and a red strand on the letter.

Judging from its texture and colour, this red strand was cut from Miao Qi’s scarf.

Lin Yandong pondered for a moment and decided to go to that meeting point.

On the other side, Tang Cuo’s trial had reached the end of the fourth day.

During these four days, Roger Reeds appeared at Tang Cuo’s side when he deemed it appropriate to teach him magic and swordsmanship. The ruthless Watchman believed in the education style of ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’, so the words that came out of his lips were naturally not very lenient.

“Your magic is terrible.”

“Why is your swordsmanship so bad?”

This latter sentence was a sincere question from Roger Reeds’ heart. The White Knight family was famous for their exquisite swordsmanship, but Tang Cuo’s swordsmanship, although somewhat simplified, wasn’t superb.

Tang Cuo couldn’t answer, but Roger Reeds automatically made an excuse for him: “Is your [Sword of Judgment] damaged?”

“Uhm.” Unemotional guy Tang Cuo replied coldly.

“When?” Roger Reeds frowned.

“In the tomb.”

“I understand. I’ll discuss it with your brother. Don’t worry.”

Having a teacher was indeed very beneficial.

“But you still need to practice hard on your swordsmanship and magic, especially your magic. There is no shortcut to magic except hard work and practice. After you manage to cast the ‘Fire Thorn’ I just taught you a hundred times, I’ll teach you something else. But remember, you can’t drain your magic power during battle, because this is very dangerous for a wizard. When casting magic, pay more attention to your mind power, which may effectively reduce the consumption of magic power and improve the potency of your magic…”

Teacher Roger Reeds was a hundred times more talkative than usual.

Besides the basic spell-casting skills, Tang Cuo learned three intermediate magic spells from him, namely ‘Fire Thorn’, ‘Ice Snake’, and ‘Earth Teleportation’, among which ‘Earth Teleportation’ was his favourite. This was an escape skill. Although he couldn’t escape far and he couldn’t remain inside Earth for a long time because it was challenging to breathe down there, this skill would be very useful at critical moments.

After four days of hard work, he finally figured out Louis XIV’s location. He was never in the King’s tent that was guarded by layers of guards. Instead, he was always out there readily killing the enemies and taking the head of the rebel leader.

Louis XIV was a belligerent king. He was brave, courageous and invincible, and he actually finished off the leader of the rebel army with his own hands.

Standing atop a pile of corpses, he chopped off the leader’s head. His dark-gold armour reflected the light of the flames. As he turned around, blood was dripping down both his face and sword. That image was so overpowering that people’s legs trembled.

“My King!” The knights of the Royal Guard knelt down on one knee and placed their left hands on their chests, paying the highest respect to the great King.

And the madness that followed.

“Louis!!!” The rebels were still screaming with rage. Amidst waves of magic that exploded like fireworks, flesh-and-blood humans pointed their blades forward and rushed towards him.

In the firelight, Louis XIV held his sword high, revealing an incredibly gorgeous red rose on his fair-skinned neck. The rose bloomed from the collarbone to his chin. That was a natural birthmark.

“Kill them all!” The tip of his sword pointed forward.

The loyal knights drew their swords and stood up, ready to execute the order with their lives.

This was a brutal war, and the two sides’ strengths were nowhere similar.

The rebel leader that was killed was a great wizard. He wanted to use forbidden spells to fight Louis XIV, but failed. Roger Reeds appeared next to Tang Cuo again and said: “Your ancestor was also here. He stabbed Louis with the [Sword of Judgment] in your hand. ‘Judgment’ comes from ‘the judge’; that was how this sword got its name. But since you’ve shown up here with your sword, your ancestor won’t be here. You must take his place — and defeat Louis.”

But Louis XIV was too strong. If Tang Cuo wanted to get close to him, he must first deal with the royal guards by his side. These gold-amoured knights weren’t weak; they even seemed a tad stronger than the black-armoured knights of the Rose Sect.

Tang Cuo tried his best to break through their siege, but in a seriously injured state, he was defeated by Louis XIV with just one move.

Tang Cuo had expected it, and he couldn’t say he was disappointed. What he didn’t expect was Louis XIV’s sudden frown when he was running away.

“Turns out……”

Turns out what?

Tang Cuo didn’t hear clearly. He retreated very quickly and Louis didn’t chase after him either. When the time came, Roger Reeds took Tang Cuo out of the secret realm and began his routined repairs.

At No. 14 Walling Street, Jin Cheng had just gotten up and was sitting on the sofa drinking slightly sweet milk tea that was specifically customised for Lancelot. Charles II the black cat was lying on his lap, bathing in the warm morning light and catching up on his sleep.

Suddenly, its ‘cushion’ moved, ruthlessly knocking it onto the sofa. It meowed and opened its eyes to see the ‘cushion’ waving his tail at his own kind.

“Meow.” It’s like this every day; nothing new. Charles II thought so and yawned lazily.

Jin Cheng looked at Tang Cuo’s slightly pale face and couldn’t help but grab his hand. It was cold. He couldn’t hold back from asking: “I’ve prepared hot water for you. Do you want to eat first or take a bath first?”

Tang Cuo didn’t say a word, only looking at him without blinking.

Jin Cheng understood: “You go ahead and take a bath. I’ll bring it to you.”

Tang Cuo nodded. You are really smart.

Roger Reeds saw it and felt that there was something not quite correct with the way these two got along, but he couldn’t quite tell what was wrong either.

That sure was strange.