Chapter 925: Chapter 881: Just Pretend Nothing Ever Happened
"How is it? Is our Chess Player alright?" Immediately upon entering the room, Hao Laoshi didn’t even pay attention to the ghosts inside the house and urgently inquired Gu Mian and Liu Ruyan about their group’s route of action.
Hao Laoshi didn’t possess the special item of group chat, so he couldn’t get updates from the Chess Player regarding the scene. To know what was happening outside, he could only ask Gu Mian and Liu Ruyan.
Having just heard Liu Ruyan mention how ruthless the three organized their initial moves, Hao Laoshi was very worried about the safety of his group’s Chess Player.
"Dead," Gu Mian replied.
"What..." Hao Laoshi’s face turned pale, and he staggered a step back.
"Your Chess Player is fine, it’s the pawn from the third group that’s dead," Liu Ruyan added beside him, "By the way, you still don’t know about the Shared Death Square, do you?"
In the previous square, Gu Ming and the others only briefly talked to Hao Laoshi about the third group’s plot, without mentioning the second group’s situation.
Hao Laoshi shook his head honestly, "I’ve never seen this kind of square, from the name it doesn’t sound like a good one."
As he spoke, he quietly shuffled his feet to hide behind Gu Mian, seeming somewhat afraid to speak with Liu Ruyan.
Liu Ruyan did not mind, she smiled, "Indeed, it’s not a good square. Once a pawn steps into a Shared Death Square, everyone in the group will die together. The people in the second group entered such a Shared Death Square, and they were completely wiped out together in the first two rounds."
Hao Laoshi’s eyes widened in shock, "There’s actually such a square, with this, even the Chess Player in the initial room isn’t safe."
"Obviously, the Chess Player from the third group thinks the same. The appearance of the Shared Death Square made him feel that he was in danger. No one knows how many Shared Death Squares are on the board. Letting pawns randomly run on the board might lead to the safest Chess Player being wiped out as well," Liu Ruyan glanced at the two ghosts crouching in the corner and then looked away.
"So, the Chess Player from the third group decided to eliminate this risk, directly sending their pawns to the trap square, which was where your group’s pawn stepped in the first round. If the pawn dies in the trap square, it’s a happy ending, and if not, there will be a chance in the next round to enter your initial room to kill your Chess Player. It’s truly a cunning strategy."
"Indeed it’s insidious and deceitful," Hao Laoshi whispered, "The first pawn to step into the trap square is the pawn from the third group, but he still has another pawn left."
"Also dead," Liu Ruyan said lightly, "The Chess Player from the third group couldn’t wait for him to enter the field and directly killed the remaining pawn in the initial room. That’s right, the remaining pawn would have seen the whole process of the Chess Player from the third organizing the scheme to pit the first pawn; if that pawn wasn’t immediately killed, it might have led to a counter-kill."
"However, it’s indeed such people who can survive more easily in the current world. It’s just unfortunate that both pawns from the third group are dead, and we can’t meet them on the board and can’t know exactly who the third group’s Chess Player is," Liu Ruyan lamented. She was actually quite curious whether this third group’s Chess Player was Renle Mountain; his style seemed similar, but if true, it was too coincidental.
It’s not necessarily impossible to meet, Gu Mian thought. If conditions allow, they can completely take a stroll in the initial room of the third group.
However, currently, they’re separated from the third group’s initial room by half the chessboard, and it’s uncertain if they can make it before the instance ends.
Hao Laoshi’s expression was blurred, "The entire second group is dead, the third group’s pawns are gone, so now the only ones who can move on the field are the three of us. The treasure box has to be found by the three of us."
He’s somewhat afraid, hoping Gu Mian can find the treasure box soon, or could directly cause the instance to collapse so everyone could get out together.
He is very afraid after the three-round effect of the Kuibu Square passes, the steps of him and Gu Mian will exhibit different situations.
Although Gu Mian mentioned Mr. Gu would try to let him follow them, those rides steps can’t be controlled; if the two groups have different steps, they’ll stay in different rooms and may face those ghosts alone.
Speaking of which, what is the name of this square?
Knowing he and Gu Mian had entered the same square, Mr. Hao didn’t pay much attention to the room description when entering.
He looked around and saw two ghosts trembling in the corner of the room, back towards them, holding their heads.
Since he entered the room, those two ghosts were like this; it’s unclear what terrible things might have occurred before he came in.
He’s quite afraid when Gu Mian leaves, those trembling ghosts would suddenly leap up and threaten him.
Thinking this, he shuffled back behind Gu Mian again, but this position was too close to Liu Ruyan, so Hao Laoshi fearfully moved a few steps toward Gu Mian’s side.
"Why are you so afraid of Liu Ruyan?" Gu Mian asked curiously.
In his memory, Liu Ruyan hadn’t done something crazy to Hao Laoshi like Chu Changge had.
"Didn’t you know?" Hao Laoshi lowered his voice, ensuring it wouldn’t reach Liu Ruyan’s ears, "Her friend is a maniac, she’s a maniac too. Earlier in the Hidden God Dungeon, she told me she had a friend who set fire and burned a family of three to death..."
Friend? Fire?
Gu Mian thought of something.
Before Hao Laoshi could continue speaking, a door appeared on the wall behind Gu Mian; the rest period is over, and the seventh round has started, and 007 has chosen a direction for them.
Hao Laoshi hadn’t finished talking when he saw doors appeared on the wall leading to the next room. He nervously shrank his neck, wishing he could go along with Gu Mian.
Gu Mian turned his head to look at the two ghosts shrunk in the corner of the room. He approached and grabbed the Honest Ghost, slightly larger in size, and installed it behind him. Then he quietly stared at the Two Ghosts, still trembling in the corner, for a while before turning to leave.
Hao Laoshi wished that Gu Mian could take the Two Ghosts away as well. He watched as Gu Mian patted his shoulder for encouragement, then passed through the door and left the room.
Hao Laoshi looked nervously towards the Two Ghosts still sitting in the corner. Now there was only he left in the room. Though he didn’t meet the Two Ghosts’ requirements for killing, he feared the ghost would hold a grudge and jump up after Gu Mian left to avenge the earlier humiliation.
Fortunately, Hao Laoshi’s fears didn’t come true. After Gu Mian left, the Two Ghosts were still hugging their heads, shivering in the corner, without any intention of seeking revenge.
Probably afraid that killing me, Gu Mian’s good friend, would make Gu Mian seek justice, Hao Laoshi shamelessly labeled himself as Gu Mian’s good friend in his heart.
This round, Gu Mian still walked to the left. In this round, he entered a square that Team Two had entered previously; it was a Question and Answer Grid. The piece from Team Two answered the question quickly, suggesting the question wasn’t difficult.
[Question and Answer Grid]
[Oh knowledgeable one, welcome to this room. In this room, there’s a Question and Answer Ghost that will ask each piece staying in the room a question. If you answer successfully, you’ll receive a reward. If you fail, you’ll lose your life.]
[The Question and Answer Ghost randomly draws questions from the question bucket, difficulty varies.]
[After the ghost asks a question, please answer within fifteen seconds.]
The room’s introduction was more specific than what one could see on the chessboard.
After entering the room and reading the introduction, Gu Mian saw a ghost facing away from him in the center of the room.
Its spine was straight, implying a sense of pride.
Gu Mian speculated that the ghost was facing away so that when it turned around, its appearance would seem special.
Gu Mian heard the ghost, facing away, making a sound, turning slowly towards them as it spoke: "Foolish human, welcome to my room. Here I have a question bucket from which I will draw a question. Please answer in fifteen..."
By the time it said "fifteen," the Question and Answer Ghost was fully turned around, facing Gu Mian and Liu Ruyan.
Upon seeing their faces, the ghost’s previously proud demeanor instantly deflated, its mouth gradually opened wide enough to fit two light bulbs.
The ghost still clutched a big question bucket, nearly dropping it to the floor.
"...within which to answer..." Despite its jaw seeming dislocated from work-related injury, the Question and Answer Ghost awkwardly managed to utter the rest of its lines.
Upon finishing, it seemed unwilling to look at Gu Mian any longer. It lowered its head, intensely focusing on the question bucket, and quickly drew out a piece of paper.
It unfolded the paper at lightning speed to see the content of the question, eager to rid itself of the sinister Gu Mian.
However, upon seeing the question on the paper, its face turned even paler.
At this moment, Gu Mian stepped forward to clearly see the content written on the paper in its hand—
"From the beginning of this instance, how many people have entered this instance? List each person’s name in detail."
Gu Mian: "..."
Question and Answer Ghost: "..."
Previously, the question drawn by the piece was simply "How many teams are there in this instance?" Why has it become this tricky now!
"Please... Please ask..." Although the situation was dire, the Question and Answer Ghost continued diligently fulfilling its duty.
Considering the consequences of reading the paper’s complete content, it suddenly had an ingenious idea.
"What... is your name?"
"Hey, hey," Liu Ruyan interjected upon seeing the paper in the ghost’s hand, "Did you skip too much in the middle? While many people like to omit the start and end when speaking, you only left the start and end."
The Question and Answer Ghost was utterly distressed, glaring fiercely at Liu Ruyan, wishing she would shut up.
But then something even more frustrating happened.
Gu Mian shrugged, calmly replying, "I don’t know."
