Chapter 323: Yun Yao's Luck

After everyone had selected their answers, Zhong Zhen slowly stood up. He took off his suit, folded it neatly, and placed it on his chair.

He loosened his shirt collar to make himself as comfortable as possible, then stood up and walked with a creaking sound to the center of the room. He looked up calmly at the ceiling.

"Giant iron ball... Come on, come and kill me."

He spread his arms as if welcoming a storm.

The screen gradually lit up with a line of text:

"The final answer for this question is—'Yes'."

Zhong Zhen smiled slightly: "Dying would be good... If I could forget everything each time, people wouldn't suffer so much."

Boom—!!

A loud bang suddenly exploded, leaving everyone puzzled.

Yun Yao was so shaken by the sound that she couldn't stay seated and fell to the ground with her chair.

She had no time to feel the pain and quickly got up, terrified. She pounded on the wall to her left.

The enormous sound had come from her left side.

Wasn't the person who was supposed to die in this round at coordinate "4"? How could it be at "-2"?!

"Chen... Chen Jun Nan... Chen Jun Nan, you..." Yun Yao trembled as she knocked on the wall, but she didn't know what to say, as if any question now would be pointless.

In just a few seconds, Yun Yao was frantic, her eyes red, with countless questions flooding her mind, yet no one could answer them.

What on earth was going on?

Who had cheated?

"Referee! Referee!" Yun Yao left the wall and rushed to the door, pounding hard on the wooden door. "The equipment is malfunctioning! Your rules are wrong! Is anyone there?"

A moment later, Yun Yao felt a strong gust of wind from the other side of the door, followed by a rush of chilling air.

It was as if Xuan Wu was standing right outside.

"Ref... Referee... Your own rules say the iron ball shouldn't fall here!" Yun Yao reached out and patted the door again. "This is a life-or-death moment—how can you play tricks like this?"

Xuan Wu pondered for a moment before saying: "So noisy, so bold."

Yun Yao stepped back slowly after hearing this; the danger emanating from Xuan Wu outside the door was several levels above that of Di She.

Seeing that Yun Yao said nothing, Xuan Wu continued: "The rules never specified when the iron ball would fall. The game is proceeding normally."

"Normally...?" Yun Yao felt that Xuan Wu had lost all sense of reason. "That iron ball clearly landed on the other side of us, and now it's silently crossed half the area and dropped right next to me—you call that normal?!"

"Bold," Xuan Wu said coldly. "If you keep babbling nonsense, you'll lose your head."

Yun Yao was stunned, all her words caught in her throat.

Why on earth?

She had just found the motivation to move forward, and now it was gone in an instant.

Why, in this damned place, couldn't she accomplish anything she set out to do?

Her painstakingly built "Tian Tang Kou" was now completely falling apart, with fewer and fewer people retaining their memories. She had finally decided to risk her life for a "Di Ji" restart, and now Chen Jun Nan was dead.

His death meant the "participants'" gamble with Di She was over.

Was it impossible to win a gamble with Di Ji?

But... why did Xuan Wu say "everything is normal"?

Yun Yao's hands shook with anxiety, and her ears rang incessantly. Why hadn't she heard the bell yet?

"Wait a minute..." Yun Yao looked up in confusion and scanned the room.

The soundproofing here was too good; it was hard to hear anything from outside.

Maybe the "Hui Xiang" had already arrived?

Yun Yao thought for a moment and smiled.

She had anticipated this day, knowing she might be completely isolated from the outside world and unaware of where the "Hui Xiang" was.

But "Qiang Yun" was still "Qiang Yun."

Yun Yao took a rotten tomato-colored lipstick from her small bag, uncapped it, and twisted it out. She gently applied it to her lower lip, then pursed her lips to give herself a bit of color in the dim room.

"My 'Qiang Yun'..."

Her eyes turned cold as she tossed the lipstick into the air.

The lipstick soared high, tracing a perfect arc before rushing toward the ground.

Thud.

The uncapped lipstick landed steadily upright on the floor.

Yun Yao bent down, picked up the lipstick, and threw it into the air again.

It landed upright once more.

After the third time, Yun Yao was confident.

Her "Qiang Yun" had arrived; she just didn't know how strong this "luck" would be.

Yun Yao held the lipstick cap in her left hand and raised it upward.

Then, with her right hand, she hurled the lipstick hard at the wall with tremendous force.

The lipstick flew like a wild bullet, bouncing off the walls inside the room several times, each time hitting with the base first. Finally, it struck the screen in front of Yun Yao and bounced into the air.

Yun Yao closed her eyes, trying not to control her movements. The next second, the lipstick flying through the air inserted itself back into the cap.

It was all about luck.

"Very good..." Yun Yao opened her eyes and tossed the lipstick into her bag. "'Luck' is strong—it's been a long time since I've felt such powerful 'luck.' I hope it lasts a while..."

She lowered her head and reconsidered her strategy. By now, Chen Jun Nan should be dead, but Xuan Wu said "everything is normal"... Maybe they had to wait for the game to end completely?

Perhaps because Di She was still in the game, there was no reason to let him quit midway?

Or maybe someone else had made a life-or-death bet, keeping Di She occupied?

Whatever the outcome, with "Qiang Yun" on her side, even if the iron ball was hanging right above her, it absolutely wouldn't fall.

It would get stuck, break, or crack—anything but fall.

That was "Qiang Yun."

On the other side, in Zhong Zhen's room.

After the distant crash settled, Zhong Zhen opened his eyes in disbelief.

"Is this a miracle...?"

He hesitated for a moment, then slowly smiled: "Someone actually intervened at this time. It's hard to believe it's not the will of the gods."

After a few seconds, Zhong Zhen turned around, picked up his suit, and put it back on.

Even a one-in-a-million chance had worked out—what was impossible now?

That "substitute" was really here.

What a minuscule probability that was?

Not only was it here, but it had acted at just the right moment to save him from certain death.

If that wasn't the arrangement of the gods, what was it?

"Since the gods have helped me, it's my turn to repay the favor." Zhong Zhen smoothed back the stray hair on his forehead, revealing a particularly sinister face. "My dear neighbor... I'm going to find a way to kill you."

The girl in white slowly furrowed her brow, sensing that something was off.

The rules seemed to have been figured out, but how could the iron ball have appeared there...?