Chapter 845: White Sheep

It wasn't until I truly entered the Zhong Yan Zhi Di that I realized just how powerful Bai Yang was in that room. His games were even more difficult than those of many of the Di Ji here, yet he called himself a Ren Yang. How could Bai Yang's strength be inferior to those incompetents outside?

I recalled the clauses in the Sheng Xiao Fei Sheng Dui Du Hetong, which stated that Bai Yang needed to experience at least three empty rooms before fully advancing to Di Ji. This place was utterly bizarre. If all Di Ji had signed such a contract, they should be extraordinarily strong. Yet, I hadn't encountered any other Sheng Xiao as powerful as Bai Yang. He was clearly at the Ta Jian level, so how did he end up as the Ji Shi? If the Sheng Xiao here were divided into Ren and Di, then there must be something above that, like Tian, right? Would the Tian here be much stronger than Bai Yang?

I wandered alone in this city for a month, roughly the time of three cycles, and found that the situation was no different from what I imagined. It was a city of despair filled with deception. Extreme conditions and the overwhelming fear of death brought out the "evil" in everyone's heart without exception. No matter what the escape conditions were, as long as these people kept killing each other, all hope would gradually be erased. Even if the games of all the Di Ji weren't difficult, the participants would create difficulties for themselves. Games that could be cleared through cooperation would fall apart due to someone's suspicion, and games that required intelligence would always be disrupted by idiots with low IQ.

Everyone here was questioning why they had come to this place, but I didn't have the leisure to do so. What we needed to do wasn't to investigate why we were here, but to find a way to escape. After all, their guesses about the reasons were wrong. They said everyone who came here was because they "had sinned," but that was absurd, because I didn't remember committing any sins. How exactly is "sin" defined? If I accidentally stepped on an ant while walking, does that count as "killing"? If I hung up on a salesperson's call, causing them to miss their last target and ultimately leading to their breakdown and suicide, does that count as "killing"? If a classmate I hadn't contacted in years suddenly called to say they were seriously ill and needed money, and I didn't lend it, resulting in their death, does that count as "killing"? Why should my "sins" be judged by others?

I wouldn't claim that my life was perfect without any mistakes, but I know I'm not some heinous villain. I've never broken the law or harmed anyone—that's all. But this strange place altered my memories. I'm one hundred percent certain that something invaded my mind. My memories tell me that because I was isolated and bullied in my university dorm, I poisoned the water dispenser. This is utterly ridiculous. The person who arranged this memory clearly doesn't understand me at all. I've been isolated since childhood, so it's impossible for me to suddenly react that way in university. Everything I've done has been to make myself better, so how could I ruin my future for a few "ordinary people"? Although the motive for murder is there, and the method is plausible, if the culprit were me, the case wouldn't make sense. I'm unwavering in my life goals and would never do something so impulsive. To me, people who enjoy isolating and bullying others are beneath contempt, so why would I throw away my life for them? Even if I were to do it, I'd choose a more secretive method.

After several cycles, the other people in the room gradually had their "responses," and the rules of this place began to reveal themselves to me. As the saying goes, those who drown are often good swimmers. If these people didn't have "responses," they wouldn't take risks. But once they started awakening their abilities, they'd pursue higher rewards—in other words... They began disappearing from the room. First one or two, then five or six. No one can blame anyone for this—to blame is to blame Bai Yang and me. The three games in our Mian Shi Fang Jian seemed far more difficult than the Di Ji games here, so many people from the room started confidently trying to gamble their lives against the Sheng Xiao. But they didn't know that the reason everyone could get through those tough games was first thanks to me, and second thanks to Bai Yang—it had nothing to do with their own abilities.

When seven people had disappeared from the room, I started worrying about my own situation. Bai Yang's ultimate goal was to make us all disappear, but I knew my own personality. Everything I do is after careful thought, and I'd never entrust my life to something as unreliable as a "gamble." In other words, unless some unavoidable event happens, I'd never gamble my life with anyone. That would make me the biggest thorn in Bai Yang's side—he'd surely find a way to get rid of me. No... there's one other survivor besides me, and that's Zhang Qiang. He was the only one who supported me in the Shuo Huang Zhe game. He seems steady and silent, probably with a personality similar to mine. The two of us witnessed people disappearing from the room one by one, so we know what that means. They could never return to this room—they were gone forever.

In the next cycle, we woke up in the room as usual, expecting Bai Yang to recite the game rules and explain the Zao Shen Ji Hua of Zhong Yan Zhi Di, but unusually, he changed his tune.

"Man Li' Zhang Qiang, 'Duo Xin Po' Yan Zhi Chun, are you two interested in cooperating with me?"

After he spoke, not just us, but even the Shar Pei and the sheep beside Bai Yang were stunned.

"Bai Yang... what are you saying?" the Shar Pei asked. "Stick to the rules, don't get us into trouble."

"Rules?" Bai Yang snorted, looking at them, his voice muffled through the mask. "I keep telling them those rules we've repeated countless times, then they vote to kill me, and finally use 'Man Li' to break out?"

"So what do you want to do?" the Shar Pei asked coldly.

"Don't be foolish." Bai Yang said, "These two aren't going to disappear from the room no matter what. I can see it in their eyes. If we do nothing, for a long time, the ones dying will be the three of us. So, let's try a more efficient way."

The sheep standing next to them paused slightly at his words:

"But this isn't following the rules... Bai Yang, what if the higher-ups find out? Are you trying to get us killed?"

"It's partly that, but not entirely." Bai Yang said, "If you two agree with my idea, I'll discuss the cooperation with them as usual. If you don't, I'm ready to gamble with the two of you right here."