Chapter 89: The Terrifying Campus, Sun-Doll Charm (27)

With her head still lowered, Tang Mu’s eyes flashed with a fierce glint. It was a look that Zi Yushu, busy rushing toward the next round, did not see.

When she lifted her head again, Tang Mu wore the same aggrieved expression as before.

“Actually, you could have descended into my life like a god...” But you have lost that chance forever.

She wiped away the two tears on her face, tears that could never match the ache in her heart, and looked frail and helpless, as though she might faint at any moment. She was as delicate as a wildflower battered ceaselessly by a storm, small yet fiercely alive, so beautiful it was almost dizzying.

“Enough. It’s all in the past. It’s our turn to go up to the podium.”

With Zi Yushu added to the second group, the original seven-person team now had one more.

Tang Mu, Jing You, Yin Juncai, Zi Yushu, Zhu Zhiming, Yi Hongbo, Kan Xinhe, and Jin Jinghan were in one group.

The teacher looked at them expressionlessly and took out the identity cards.

“Begin drawing.”

Yesterday Tang Mu had assigned herself the role of witch. As expected, the identity card she drew was indeed the witch’s.

And Zi Yushu was the second witch in this group.

Jing You was the king, with nine cards.
The prophet, Yin Juncai, had eight cards.
The werewolf, Zhu Zhiming, had seven cards.
The knight, Yi Hongbo, had six cards.
The attendant, Kan Xinhe, had five cards.
The dark witch, Jin Jinghan, had ten cards.

“Tang Mu, Zi Yushu, you must decide who plays first.”

Zi Yushu might have looked like a dutiful protector while standing below the podium, but once his own interests were involved, he would spare no thought for protecting anyone.

“Ladies first. Miss Tang Mu can begin.”

Tang Mu was not surprised in the least by his behavior.

She looked at her hand. With the cards she currently held, there was no way she could empty her hand and still reach the twenty-first square in time, unless some exchange of cards occurred with another player.

She held two attack cards: scissors and cliff.

She held six number cards: nine, eight, seven, two, three, and four.

She held one exchange card and one curse card.

The exchange card could swap the square she occupied with another player’s square.

The curse card sealed another player’s number of advances, forcing them to play only the card numbers Tang Mu dictated. If the other player could not produce that number card, they would lose their right to play forever and be eliminated.

Tang Mu glanced at her hand and chose to pass.

“This round, I choose not to play,” she said. “Next, Zi Yushu.”

“You’re giving up right from the start?” Zi Yushu had not expected Tang Mu to be so bold. After all, holding all ten cards meant the risk of elimination was still quite high.

This game was about the human heart and human nature. No one could predict how the others would play. Even intelligence varied wildly from person to person. No one knew whether misfortune or luck would arrive first.

“Then I won’t stand on ceremony. I play the number one card.”

...

Zi Yushu was even bolder than Tang Mu.

He dared to play a one.

A card anyone could step on.

He did not even fear being struck down first.

The others could not make sense of Tang Mu and Zi Yushu’s choices and were left somewhat stunned.

“How are they both... Do these two even have brains when they’re playing? I can’t tell what they’re doing at all.”

“No idea. But they say Zi Yushu has S-grade spiritual power. The strength and resilience of his soul are beyond ordinary people. Maybe he really does have his own plan?”

“Even if he does, playing a one... He really is not afraid of death.”

The third to play was the king, Jing You. Her heart was evidently too soft; she did not want to eliminate classmates so early, so she played the number eight card, a number that was neither too aggressive nor too dangerous.

The prophet, Yin Juncai, still passed.

No one could see what Yin Juncai had played.

Zhu Zhiming played a six.

Yi Hongbo played a five.

The attendant Kan Xinhe played a four.

Now everyone turned to the dark witch, Jin Jinghan.

The first round of cards was nearly complete. But unlike the previous round, where bloodshed had begun almost at once, this group’s atmosphere was surprisingly harmonious. No one had been the first to unleash a killing mode.

And yet everyone understood that the witches and the dark witch each held ten cards. If they did not play number cards and attack cards, they could never empty their hands. But if the witches and the dark witch did play number cards and attack cards, then someone was bound to die.

Sure enough, Jin Jinghan chose to make her move.

“I play the number four card, plus one stone pestle.”

Jin Jinghan chose to eliminate Kan Xinhe. Among everyone present, Kan Xinhe had the fewest cards, only five, so there was a strong chance that he would reach the twenty-first square at the very moment he finished his hand.

After having watched the game in the previous round, everyone had more or less begun to understand its rules and method.

But Kan Xinhe did not want to die.

“Teacher, can I exchange my cards? Actually, I had a chance just now to kill someone else...”

“What cards do you have in your hand?”

“Number cards: one, two, seven, and eight. I could actually have eliminated Jing You and Zi Yushu...”

At the mention of her name, Jing You immediately grew flustered.

She did not want to die so soon either.

So she immediately looked toward the teacher, silently signaling that the teacher must never agree to Kan Xinhe’s request to exchange cards.

At the same time, Zi Yushu spoke as well.

“If we talk about the number cards in everyone’s hands, they’re basically one through nine. Who doesn’t have the ability to eliminate someone else? But this game is all about the human heart and human nature. Since you did not choose to eliminate others just now, then being eliminated now is the consequence you should bear yourself. And besides, even if you had eliminated Jing You just now, so what? Among the people here, there is almost no one who is completely safe. You kill me, I kill you. That is only the nature of the law of the jungle, nothing worth praising.”

Listening to Zi Yushu, Tang Mu remained calm and unruffled.

Indeed. Human nature never changes.

It was the same more than a decade ago, and it was the same more than a decade later.

“But... am I just supposed to die like this? I don’t want to die...” Kan Xinhe clenched his teeth, his eyes turning red.

“Compared with the others, you’ve already lived long enough.” Zi Yushu said to the enforcer. “Begin, teacher.”

The teacher also nodded indifferently. “Kan Xinhe, eliminated.”

The moment the teacher’s voice fell, Kan Xinhe was seized by a strange and peculiar force and dragged into the interior of a giant stone pestle. As the stone column ground downward, there came the grating sound of flesh and bone rubbing together. The blood, too, began to flow slowly from the rim of the enormous stone pestle as the sound of his screams gradually faded.