Chapter 315: Her Hope

"Indeed," Chen Jun Nan nodded. "What questions did that old thief ask?"

Yun Yao replied, "He said, 'I'm Di She, I've entered the competition, and as long as I survive, everyone will get forty-eight Dao.'"

"What...?" Chen Jun Nan felt a bit confused. "This... is this old thief out of his mind? I'm right here holding the fort, and he just laid his cards on the table?"

"Doesn't he know where you are?" Yun Yao asked.

"How could he not?" Chen Jun Nan stroked his chin. "I contacted Di She through the phone of the person on my left, so he must know my location."

"That's really strange, isn't it?" Yun Yao said with some doubt. "He knows where you are, yet he still sent out that message..."

Chen Jun Nan also found the situation odd. It seemed like Di She, that old schemer, was getting desperate and lashing out. In his view, even if the message only reached from '3' to '-1', every person it could mislead was one more.

Of course, there was another possibility...

That the person delivering the message wasn't Di She at all.

Thinking that way made things even more terrifying.

In other words, among the seats between '-1' and '3', someone had lied.

This liar had figured everything out. Not only did he anticipate that Di She had joined the competition, but he had also plotted a scheme.

He wanted to mislead everyone into thinking Di She's position was '3'.

"But..." Chen Jun Nan turned his head toward the wall on his right, "with just this small group... and someone lied?"

Although he couldn't see them, counting from his right were Yun Yao, the nervous young woman, and the quiet man.

One of these three had lied.

Chen Jun Nan didn't hang up the phone, but he started suspecting Yun Yao.

It seemed a bit strange.

Yun Yao's behavior was really odd.

Thinking it over, had she been lying from the start?

The first question he received was about Einstein, but the first one she got was "Are you female?"

Had she been lying from the beginning?

A thought suddenly flashed through Chen Jun Nan's mind.

Before coming to Di She's game, Yun Yao had clearly said, "You should know what kind of person Di She is. How would he open up to a big guy like you?"

Didn't that mean Yun Yao knew about Di She?

She might have participated in Di She's game before, or perhaps gathered intel from other teammates in Tian Tang Kou.

She had a high chance of lying.

What was her goal?

"Yun Yao..." Chen Jun Nan's voice turned cold, and this time he didn't call her "big star," but used her full name.

"What is it?" Yun Yao asked.

"Are... you lying to me?"

"What...?" Yun Yao hesitated for a moment.

"I'm the type to speak straight. Let's clear the air today." Chen Jun Nan held the phone and sat down on the chair, leaning back and crossing his legs. "From the moment I joined this game, I've been thinking about how to protect you... but you're lying to me?"

"I..." Yun Yao's voice gradually changed. "Have you figured it out?"

Chen Jun Nan nodded after hearing that. "Why exactly? Do you want to kill me?"

"I..." Yun Yao let out a resigned laugh. "I don't want to kill you, but as I said, I can't trust you, so I plan to challenge Di She on my own."

"Ah?" Chen Jun Nan was stunned. "Wait, I don't quite get it. You deceived me because..."

"I think you're a bit naive..." Yun Yao said. "But you seem to have a good relationship with Qi Xia. If possible... you two should destroy this place together. Qi Xia... he's really important."

"What on earth?" Chen Jun Nan felt like he wasn't following. "Big star, what are you talking about? Don't you want to escape?"

"Me?" Yun Yao said with a bitter smile. "Chen Jun Nan, I don't know when it started, but my purpose in existing isn't 'to get out' anymore—it's 'to gamble everything on the Sheng Xiao.'"

Hearing Chen Jun Nan stay silent, Yun Yao continued, "Your words woke me up. As one of the leaders of Tian Tang Kou, I've never proposed a life-or-death gamble against the earth-level Sheng Xiao, and the other members of the organization certainly haven't either."

"Hey, I've got it now." Chen Jun Nan said with some relief. "Big star, you're trying to play the hero, right?"

"Me? Play the hero?"

"If I'm not wrong... you've lived long enough, haven't you?" Chen Jun Nan chuckled dryly. "You want to leave in a way that looks dignified."

Yun Yao was slightly taken aback and laughed. "You seem smarter than I thought."

"What exactly happened? Weren't you getting along great with Xiao Chu?" Chen Jun Nan's expression shifted from a smile to a cold stare. "Did that guy treat you badly? You look like you've completely lost hope."

Yun Yao's whole body trembled slightly at that, her eyes welling up, but she held back the tears.

That day, when she returned to Tian Tang Kou, she only saw bodies everywhere.

Mao had slaughtered everyone in Tian Tang Kou. The number of people gaining "Hui Xiang" had decreased again, and Tian Tang Kou was essentially destroyed.

The dream she had chased for two years, that goal of "gambling to death all the Sheng Xiao" that kept her going, was becoming more and more distant.

"Chen Jun Nan, I really do want to die here." Yun Yao said through her tears. "I'm being selfish. This time, it's either Di She dies, or I do. I won't allow any other outcome."

"So that's why you followed me into Di She's game..." Chen Jun Nan finally understood everything.

Yun Yao had decided from the start that she wanted to die here.

"That's right." Yun Yao nodded. "Chen Jun Nan, thank you for giving me the courage to take that step forward."

"Hold on, not even I can die, right?" Chen Jun Nan asked in confusion. "What if I help you gamble Di She to death?"

"You..." Yun Yao hesitated. "Chen Jun Nan, haven't I made it clear? I don't want to live anymore."

"Alright, let me lay it out." Chen Jun Nan cleared his throat. "I don't know what Chu Tian Qiu did, but from now on, you can stick with me and Lao Qiao. The three of us—oh, and Lao Qi—we won't treat you badly."

"What...?"

"I really don't know what you've been through these years, even changing your preferences, but you used to be someone we all liked..." Chen Jun Nan laughed. "No need to follow the wrong people anymore. I heard you took on a little girlfriend this time, right? What about her if you die?"

The lonely figure of Tian Tian suddenly appeared in Yun Yao's mind.

"Big star, you and Tian Tian are the two girls in Zhong Yan Zhi Di who make me feel the most heartbroken. Bring her along with you."