Chapter 87: The Terrifying Campus, the Sun Doll (25)

Two people have already been eliminated from the first group.

The pressure had now shifted to Lin Mingxue.

Only Lin Mingxue, Fu Yan, Mao Yeyun, and Kou Yuanliang remained on the field.

Fu Yan had a grant card, but her position was unknown. Mao Yeyun had been displaced by Kou Yuanliang and was currently on space 5. Lu Xingye had eliminated Yu Wenhao with the stone stool and was now on space 7. Kou Yuanliang was on space 17.

Lin Mingxue played the number card seven and took Lu Xingye’s place.

She also attached a card of freezing.

“Lu Xingye, eliminated,” the teacher announced without mercy.

As soon as the words fell, Lu Xingye was frozen into a solid ice sculpture.

Because of that sculpture, the temperature in the entire classroom plunged even further.

“Brr, so cold.”

“Yes. This classroom is suddenly colder than air conditioning... It’s freezing.”

“So, whose turn is it to play?”

“Fu Yan, maybe?”

“Too bad she’s using grant cards. No one can see what cards she has in her hand at all.”

“It’s my turn.” Fu Yan again played a grant card. She had already used three grant cards, making her one of the few players present who had survived to the third round.

“Mao Yeyun, it’s your turn,” Fu Yan said to him.

But Mao Yeyun did not even look at her. He kept staring at his own cards, calculating incessantly in his heart.

Originally, space 17 had been an excellent spot for him, but Kou Yuanliang had taken it, leaving him deeply resentful. Yet now he was on space 5, while Kou Yuanliang was on space 17...

Unfortunately, the players’ hands only contained cards numbered one through nine. Even if he wanted to overtake Kou Yuanliang, he did not have a number card twelve.

And in fact, his current position was the safest of all, because among the players on the podium, there was no one with fewer spaces than he had.

He wanted to eliminate Kou Yuanliang, but he could not.

So now there was only...

Lin Mingxue.

“Lin Mingxue, I’m sorry. It looks like you’ll have to die one more time.”

Lin Mingxue spoke up. “I think you should reconsider.”

She said, “If we just keep killing each other here while letting Kou Yuanliang and Fu Yan keep winning in front of us, won’t the ones who die in the end still be us? You and I should be thinking of a way to kill those two.”

“How are we supposed to kill them? You tell me!” Mao Yeyun was beginning to panic. “No one knows exactly what the three grant cards Fu Yan has face-down on the table are. Maybe she’s already reached space 21. And Kou Yuanliang—he’s a black witch, and he’s already at space 17. He’s close to winning too.”

“Not necessarily.” Lin Mingxue, who had already died once, was instead remarkably calm as she analyzed the situation. “Kou Yuanliang still has seven cards. He has to play every card in his hand before he can win. As for Fu Yan, she still has five cards. If we cooperate well, we can definitely kill them before they reach space 21.”

Lin Mingxue’s reasoning was sound enough...

But Mao Yeyun was still uneasy and uncertain. “Why should I trust you?”

“Because right now I’m not your greatest rival. And because we share the same enemy.”

“Mao Yeyun, don’t believe her,” Fu Yan said when she saw Lin Mingxue continually urging Mao Yeyun to attack her and Kou Yuanliang. Naturally, she would not sit still either. “As long as you have a number card two, you can eliminate Lin Mingxue. What are you hesitating for? Play the two and kill her!”

Mao Yeyun, “...”

He could indeed play a two and kill Lin Mingxue. But who knew what the next round would bring?

Fu Yan was shouting at the top of her lungs, and Lin Mingxue was desperately speaking up for herself as well.

“Mao Yeyun, what you should do now is hurry up and play high-numbered cards to catch up with Fu Yan and Kou Yuanliang. If they haven’t exhausted the cards in their hands, they’ll be sent back to space 1 again. By then, when those two easily catch up to you once more, won’t killing you still be child’s play?”

“If you keep me alive, at least I can help you eliminate them. But if you kill me, then you’ll be the next poor soul to die!”

Mao Yeyun hesitated.

He did not know what card he should play to turn the tide in his favor.

“Play the two and attack Lin Mingxue.” Ziyu Shu’s voice suddenly carried up from below the stage. “Kou Yuanliang is already on 17, and so far he has only played a five and a poison arrow. That proves both his low cards and high cards are still in his hand. His high cards—nine, eight, seven, six—and his low cards—one, two, three, four. Nine plus eight plus seven plus six plus one plus two plus three plus four equals forty. Forty plus seventeen is fifty-seven, which means he’ll need at least two full rounds. After you kill Lin Mingxue, quickly play high cards, but make sure your total remains below Kou Yuanliang’s seventeen and Fu Yan’s grant-card count, and victory will be yours.”

...

Tang Mu cast an unhappy glance at Ziyu Shu.

“They’re playing on the podium, and you’re feeding strategies from below. Not very moral, friend.”

Ziyu Shu smiled faintly. “Morality depends on the person. Maybe Lin Mingxue thinks I’m immoral, but perhaps Mao Yeyun should be grateful to me.”

Since Ziyu Shu could voice his opinions so shamelessly, Tang Mu could do the same.

She also raised her voice and spoke to Mao Yeyun on the podium.

“What Ziyu Shu said is right. You can indeed play a two to kill Lin Mingxue. And after you play the two, when it becomes Kou Yuanliang’s turn, he must either move one numbered card to spaces 18 through 21, or play a high card and return to spaces 1 through 5.”

Tang Mu folded her arms across her chest, her expression equally sharp.

“But have you thought about this? Once Kou Yuanliang begins a new lap around the board, will you be able to escape his hunting range? In the end, this board will still only be left to Kou Yuanliang and Fu Yan. As for you, you’d be nothing more than cannon fodder to be ordered about and slaughtered at will.”

As Tang Mu spoke, Ziyu Shu’s gaze never once moved away from her.

If before he had only been somewhat tempted, then now he was naturally even more so.

“Tang Mu, if one of them wins, then we’ll die.”

“The situation isn’t decided yet. Who lives and who dies—can you or I decide that?”

“You seem to have been targeting me from the very beginning.”

“You’re overthinking it. We’re all classmates. What’s this about targeting anyone or not?”

“The conditions for elimination these past few days were all set by you, weren’t they? November ninth... I never expected that, after so many years, you still haven’t let go of the things involving me.”

After so many years?

Tang Mu narrowed her sharp eyes and fixed them on Ziyu Shu.

That face was still a youthful face. But the soul inside this body was no longer the same soul from years ago.

A cold sneer escaped Tang Mu.

“What is there for me to not let go of? Some men are always thick-skinned and always accustomed to thinking too highly of themselves.”