Chapter 64: The Person Who Redeems

"You're not 'Yang' after all," Qi Xia said to Ren Zhu. "The first time we encountered Ren Yang, it gave us a real hard time. You thought adding a lying mechanism to your game would boost your winning chances, but that decision ended up being your downfall."

Ren Zhu fell silent for a moment before reaching up and removing the mask from his head.

Beneath the filthy, stinking mask was a man with well-defined features. He looked to be in his early forties, with an air of wisdom in his eyes.

"It's just a shame I was so close," Ren Zhu said. "So close to walking out of here with my head held high."

Qi Xia's eyes flickered slightly, and he asked, "Ren Zhu, what exactly do you mean by 'walking out with your head held high'?"

Ren Zhu paused, studying the young man in front of him, and realized he reminded him of his younger self.

"Qi Xia, have you ever made a mistake?"

"Mistake?" Qi Xia thought seriously about it. The word "mistake" wasn't easy to define. In some ways, his profession itself was a mistake, but from another perspective, he had no choice but to follow that path.

"It's got nothing to do with 'law'," Ren Zhu added. "I'm talking about a mistake that completely changes the course of your life—one that fills you with regret, makes you despair, and leaves you spending the rest of your days paying for it."

Qi Xia's brows furrowed deeply, and something in the depths of his mind began to stir wildly.

"What are you getting at?" Qi Xia asked coldly.

"We're all sinners..." Ren Zhu said with a bitter smile. "As expected, sinners can't attain 'Dao'. I'll end up dying here after all..."

Sinners can't attain 'Dao'?

Qi Xia felt like he'd heard that phrase before.

"Qi Xia, you know, the business world is like a casino." Ren Zhu slowly stood up and went over to a drawer, rummaging through it for something. "I once bet all the company's liquid assets on a 'hope'. Looking back, it was no different from gambling with my life."

After searching for a while, he pulled out an old revolver from the drawer.

He blew the dust off the gun, opened the cylinder to check the single remaining bullet, and continued, "Back then, my chances of winning were less than fifty percent. The other shareholders on the board were all against it. But I knew I was only risking the liquid assets—it wouldn't bankrupt the company and could bring some hope for the future. But who could have predicted... a global infectious disease outbreak hit, devastating the company's earnings. Later, with insufficient liquid assets, we couldn't keep things going, leading to ongoing losses."

Ren Zhu lifted his eyes, filled with despair, and looked at Qi Xia: "I thought I was betting on a ticket to heaven, but instead, I ended up in hell."

With that, he carefully wiped the gun barrel.

Qi Xia felt that Ren Zhu's words had eased some of his doubts: "So, you think this place is hell?"

"Who knows?" Ren Zhu shook his head. "It was my own company that I built from the ground up, but in the end, the board fired me. As the chairman, I lost all my power. To pay off debts, I sold my shares at a low price. My wife, who had stood by me through thick and thin, didn't even get the money for her medical treatment. My daughter, studying abroad, couldn't afford tuition and ended up becoming a notorious prostitute at her school. Compared to the real world, this place is practically my heaven—I don't have to think about anything here; I just need to figure out how to get all of you killed."

Ren Zhu's tone grew more unhinged: "I often wonder, what if I hadn't taken that fifty-percent chance? How would things have turned out?"

Qi Xia was silent for a long time before finally saying four words: "You lost, so deal with it."

"Ha, haha..." Ren Zhu suddenly seemed to lose his composure, letting out a bitter laugh. "Yes, you lost, so deal with it."

"But there's one thing I still don't understand..." Qi Xia spoke up again.

Ren Zhu lifted his deep, piercing eyes to look at Qi Xia and said slowly, "I've answered too many of your questions already. That's not fair to the other participants."

"What?" Qi Xia was confused. "Can't you share this information with us?"

Ren Zhu opened the cylinder of the revolver, spun it quickly, and with a flick of his wrist, snapped it back into place.

Then, he slowly raised the gun and pressed it against his temple.

"I'll leave it all to 'fate'," Ren Zhu said. "For every question you ask, I'll pull the trigger once. If the gun doesn't fire, I'll answer you."

Qi Xia sighed helplessly and said, "You used to be the chairman of the company. Don't you want to leave with some dignity?"

"Dignity..." Ren Zhu said with a helpless smile. "I've been wearing this foul-smelling, filthy pig mask for so long— what's left of dignity?"

"In that case..." Qi Xia nodded. "I guess I'll have to offend you. Uncle, why did you choose to become 'Ren Zhu'?"

"Click!"

Ren Zhu pulled the trigger without hesitation, not even blinking.

The gun didn't fire.

"Because I want to 'redeem' myself," Ren Zhu answered. "Someone told me that if I put on the mask and send participants to their deaths through games, one day I can redeem myself."

"What do you mean by 'redeem'?"

"Click!"

The gun didn't fire.

Ren Zhu sighed: "To redeem means to change your past, to make up for the mistakes you've made. After all, all the 'Sheng Xiao' are sinners."

Qi Xia pieced together the fragmented clues in his mind, finding it hard to believe. He organized his thoughts and asked, "So, you had a chance to leave here before, but instead, you chose to stay and 'redeem' yourself?"

"Click!"

Ren Zhu frowned, just as he had said—Qi Xia had incredibly strong 'luck'; the gun hadn't fired three times in a row.

"I'm not sure if I could have left, but I stayed." Ren Zhu continued, "I hope none of you have made mistakes, or else you'll end up like me, choosing to stay here voluntarily. Because staying here offers a glimmer of invisible hope."

Qi Xia stepped closer, asking very seriously, "So, what's the quickest way to get out of here?"

"Click!"

Ren Zhu closed his eyes and trembled all over, but the gun still didn't fire.

"I'm not sure," Ren Zhu said. "The three thousand six hundred 'Dao' is obviously the slowest method. Even with the mask on, there are still many things I don't know—after all, I'm still just a 'person'. If you want to uncover the truth about this place, you'll have to find a way to beat 'Tian' and 'Di'."

He paused, then added, "No... don't even think about beating 'Tian'. Just beating 'Di' is enough. The 'Tian Di Ren San Cai Sheng Xiao' are arranged from top to bottom, all led by 'Long'. To survive here, first, don't mess with 'Tian', and second, don't go up against 'Long'."

Ren Zhu's four answers had certainly clarified Qi Xia's thoughts. It seemed escaping this place wasn't as impossible as he'd thought.

He had no more questions for Ren Zhu, but the other man still held the gun, his expression complex.

Qi Xia knew the fifth shot had a fifty-percent chance of being fatal, and the sixth was certain.

The scene felt eerily familiar, like that earlier moment of gambling with a fifty-percent chance.

Qi Xia stood up and turned toward the exit. Lin Jian and Lao Lv, not sure what was happening, slowly followed.

As they were about to leave, Qi Xia turned back and asked his fifth question: "Uncle, do you have any regrets?"

After asking, Qi Xia didn't wait for an answer. He led Lin Jian and Lao Lv away.

The vast chess club was now empty, with only Ren Zhu sitting alone in the center.

He pondered for a long time before slowly uttering three words:

"Thank you."

A loud gunshot echoed, and Ren Zhu fell to the ground.