Chapter 1042: The Pig's Farewell

Ren Zhu seemed to be growing more and more agitated, as if he had a whole host of unspoken grievances.

Yes, ordinary participants wouldn't know the categories of "Shengxiao." After all, "Shengxiao" isn't just divided into "Tiandi Ren." The most numerous type, "Renji Shengxiao," is further split into three classes: "Interviewers," "Judges," and "Assistants." Though they are "Renji Shengxiao," they are the ones among all "Shengxiao" that most resemble humans. They don't have to kill like the "Renji Shengxiao" in the interview rooms, nor do they need to flatter superiors or hand over life-buying money like ordinary "Renji Shengxiao." Their only duty is to open the door after the interview ends and guide the participants from inside to the corridor.

Some of them open the door and find nothing but a pile of corpses, and over time, they get so used to it that they stop bothering to open the door at all. They receive the same treatment as other "Renji Shengxiao"—whether it's housing or food—but they don't have to deal with death. These are the "Assistants," who can never be promoted and can never escape, making it the most idle position among all "Shengxiao."

But yesterday, Qinglong suddenly selected twenty "Assistants" and sent them letters, ordering them to design games overnight and stand by for orders. The "Assistants," accustomed to their leisurely lives, were thrown into complete panic and hurriedly began creating their own "Renji Games." This was a topic they hadn't touched in ages, so it was naturally quite challenging.

In the letters, Qinglong explicitly stated that if any of them could use their game in this event to take a participant's life—even just one—they could break through all restrictions and be directly promoted to "Diji." This was news that left the "Assistants" both troubled and excited. As long as they could kill a participant through a game, they could skip steps like "handing over the path," "signing contracts," "interview rooms," and "killing" to become "Diji." But these "Assistants" also knew that in "Zhongyan Zhidi," nothing good ever falls from the sky; every tempting choice comes with an equivalent exchange that you might not see coming.

Moreover, as "Renji Shengxiao," their "games" are destined not to result in deaths, so the only way to kill a participant is to actively gamble their lives. Although Qinglong didn't mention any "punishment," something as good as killing one participant to become "Diji" must come with other consequences. And what if they never manage to kill anyone?

There are fourteen participants in this game, but the number of "Judges" is far more than twenty. These twenty-plus people don't even know who the other "Shengxiao" are, so they can't contact them or ask for details. All they can do is cling to the "door" that Qinglong gave them and wait desperately—wait for a participant to suddenly emerge from the other side.

Of course, some unlucky "Shengxiao" might not encounter any participants from start to finish, and the game would end just like that. What would happen to them then? All the "Assistants" felt that this wasn't just a game targeting participants; it was also a reshuffling for them.

But after the reshuffling... who would open the doors in the next cycle? Did they no longer need "Assistants"? And besides... who exactly was participating in this "game"? Why was Qinglong going to such lengths to deal with them?

The Ren Zhu standing before them was one such confused individual, overwhelmed by immense pressure. He couldn't afford for anything to go wrong in this game, but after finally waiting for two participants, things didn't turn out as he had imagined. The two of them hadn't even fully experienced his game before completing their transaction on their own.

"Even without chips... but... you can't decide for yourselves..."

Ren Zhu said, "You really don't know how afraid I am right now..."

Han Yi Mo could sense that Ren Zhu was genuinely terrified; the tremor in his voice wasn't faked.

Wen Qiao Yun sighed after hearing this and asked, "So, what do you want to do?"

"I... I..."

Wen Qiao Yun sighed again and said, "In any case, for us, everything we're doing—including entering your game area—is just to decide the ownership of the 'character.' Now that the 'character' has been decided, keeping us here serves no purpose. It's just wasting your time."

Ren Zhu glanced sideways at the dark object in Wen Qiao Yun's hand, his mind racing with thoughts.

These participants' goal... is the 'character'?

They're not after the 'path' or taking lives; instead, they're using the various 'Assistants' to determine the 'character's' ownership?

Ren Zhu shook his head, snapping back to reality, and fixed his gaze on Wen Qiao Yun and Han Yi Mo once more.

Why was he getting tangled up over this 'character'?

What a golden opportunity this was! The steps to reach "Diji" were right here!

With over twenty "Judges" and only fourteen participants—and since only two participants enter a room at a time—the game might only need seven "Judges" to intervene at most for the outcome to be decided. That means at least thirteen "Shengxiao" won't get this chance.

"I... I want to... with you... I... I want to..."

Ren Zhu suddenly raised his voice, stuttering as he shouted.

Han Yi Mo and Wen Qiao Yun were startled, looking at him in bewilderment.

But Ren Zhu couldn't get the words out.

Gambling lives?

With this woman in front of him?

In the first round, she saw through the game; in the second, she confirmed it; in the third, she started strategizing; in the fourth and fifth, she led the opponent by the nose. Now, before the game even ended, she had the 'character' in her pocket.

As an idle "Shengxiao" just scraping by, was he really going to design and host a game for the first time and choose to gamble his life against her?

"What do you want with us?" Wen Qiao Yun asked, furrowing her brow.

She could tell Ren Zhu was mustering a lot of resolve, but after waiting forever, not a single word came.

"I want to... with you..."

Ren Zhu was so anxious he bared his teeth, but in the end, reason triumphed over greed, and he forced out through gritted teeth, "Bid you farewell..."

Wen Qiao Yun and Han Yi Mo exchanged puzzled glances, neither having heard such an expression before.

He had shouted so emphatically, only to say, "I want to bid you farewell?"

"So... that means we can leave?" Wen Qiao Yun said.

Ren Zhu let out a deep sigh: "Yes... go ahead..."

He knew that if he were to gamble his life, it wasn't the right time. After all, he oversaw games related to "fortune," so it was possible some other unlucky soul might wander in with bad luck.

Wen Qiao Yun gave a slight smile, as if she had something in mind, but her immediate priority was to inform Chu Tian Qiu about the situation inside the "door." In this game, it wasn't just the participants fighting each other—they had a second path to take.