Chapter 882: Simple Logic

I know I did my best and found Bai Yang as quickly as possible.

From the moment I realized he had disappeared from the venue until I located him, it took almost five hours in total.

But I still felt like I was too late.

When we arrived at Bai Yang's new game venue, the first thing we saw was how completely he had changed.

He no longer wore a mask, replaced instead by a cold, sheep-like face.

His suit was immaculate, and just standing there, he exuded a significant sense of pressure.

However, it seemed he was in some trouble, as several participants were standing in front of him, shouting about something.

A woman asked, "Why aren't you speaking?"

The participants kept questioning Bai Yang, but he had his eyes slightly closed and said nothing.

I suddenly remembered what Bai She had told us: "Bai Yang designed a game full of loopholes, which could lead to violations at any time." Was he just stalling for time?

The people in front whispered, "What's wrong with this Di Yang? Can he not hear us?"

Then someone else said, "Hey... don't just stand there silently. Yang creatures are rare enough as it is... We finally found a Di Yang, so at least let us experience it."

After a moment of silence with his eyes closed, Bai Yang opened them and said, "I'm sorry, the game has been reserved by a VIP. I can only handle participants in batches. Until the reserved party arrives, you won't be able to play."

At that point, I noticed that Bai Yang's eyes were also strange, grayish-white like those of a real goat, with black, rectangular pupils.

And... his voice seemed to have changed too.

Was it because the throat structure of a sheep is different from that of a human?

One person stammered, "Reserved...?"

"Yes, this is a game you've never seen before," Bai Yang said. "I will prioritize service for the VIP, not for ordinary people."

After saying that, Bai Yang turned his head slightly, his gaze passing through the crowd and landing on me and Jiang Ruoxue.

"They've arrived," he said with a hint of relief. "Please wait a moment, everyone. You can join the next batch of the game."

Jiang Ruoxue and I quickly made our way through the crowd to Bai Yang's side. He nodded slightly to us both, then turned and opened the door to the building.

Once inside, we realized this place seemed to be a fairly large bank. The central area had been cleared out, leaving an empty little plaza.

In the middle of the plaza, twelve wooden animal statues were arranged from left to right, each with a table in front of it.

The tabletops were divided into three sections by two vertical lines, labeled "Win," "Lose," and "Kill."

The "Win" and "Lose" sections took up the most space, while "Kill" was the smallest.

The statues followed the order of the Sheng Xiao, from Rat to Pig, covering all twelve animals.

At the base of each Sheng Xiao statue, there were three lights: one red, one white, and one green.

Over by the bank's counter, a display screen hung above, staring down at the twelve Sheng Xiao statues like an eagle circling in the air.

"Bai Yang..." I said, snapping back to reality, "did we make it here early enough?"

"In any case, you didn't arrive too late," Bai Yang replied. "If you hadn't shown up today, I definitely would have been taken away by Zhuque, especially since I set up my game venue at the busiest intersection full of participants."

"I don't quite understand..." Jiang Ruoxue stretched lazily and said, "You're so smart—why not just design a stable Di Ji You Xi? Why risk waiting for us?"

"Wealth comes from taking risks," Bai Yang said. "High risk means high reward. Most Di Ji You Xi games either use intricate mechanisms or involve the Sheng Xiao directly. The first option is safer but progresses slowly, while the second speeds things up but puts you in danger. Since I'm in a hurry, I couldn't choose either of those."

"So you went with 'cause and effect'?" Jiang Ruoxue glanced at the twelve statues in the venue. "Are you planning to imbue all these statues with 'cause and effect'?"

"It's not exactly 'cause and effect,'" Bai Yang said. "I just need a simple logical relationship."

"What kind of logical relationship?" Jiang Ruoxue asked.

Bai Yang walked over to the Rat statue and said, "I'll explain the logic to you next, and you can decide how to apply the 'cause and effect.'"

"Okay."

"This statue represents the Di Rat closest to me," Bai Yang said. "I need this prop to meet a few conditions: Once the Di Rat's game starts, the white light below the statue lights up. If the Di Rat wins the game, only the red light turns on. If the participant wins, only the green light turns on. All twelve statues here operate on this logic."

"Huh...?" Jiang Ruoxue and I both paused slightly. "Is that it?"

"That's the standard situation," Bai Yang said. "There are also special situations."

"Go on..." Jiang Ruoxue said.

"If a Sheng Xiao dies, all three lights will flash rapidly," Bai Yang said. "The flashing will last more than five minutes."

Jiang Ruoxue nodded after hearing that, then stepped forward to examine the lights.

"Are these lights all wired up?" she asked. "I can only manipulate 'cause and effect'; I can't do anything supernatural. If there's no power, these lights won't turn on."

"Of course," Bai Yang said. "All these lights are properly wired, and the display screen behind me is usable too."

"So what's the display screen behind you for?" I asked.

"That's the second part of this game's mechanics," Bai Yang said. "First, let's add the 'cause and effect' to these statues."

"Alright, that's not hard." Jiang Ruoxue nodded and looked back and forth at the wooden statues.

These statues were quite well crafted; even though they were carved from wood, each animal looked lifelike, right down to the fine hairs.

After Jiang Ruoxue murmured a few words to each statue from left to right, the lights began to light up one by one.

In that moment, I felt like this bank was more than just a game venue—it was like a massive chessboard.

Bai Yang could stand here every day and know the status of the twelve nearest Sheng Xiao around him.

Moreover, based on this logic, even if the closest Sheng Xiao was killed, the next nearest one would become the closest, and the game setup would keep functioning.

Add to that the tables in front of the Sheng Xiao, and I suspected Bai Yang's game venue was essentially a "gambling hall."

It was a fairly novel idea, though not entirely perfect.

I wasn't sure exactly how it could be improved, but if it were up to Bai Yang... he probably could design something better.