“As expected.” Chen Junnan nodded. “What question did that old thief pose?”
Yun Yao answered: “He said ‘I am Earth-Snake, I’ve joined the game. As long as you let me survive, everyone will receive forty-eight Dao.'”
“What…?” Chen Junnan felt somewhat puzzled. “This… does this old thief have brain problems? I’m sitting right here in command, and he’s directly showing his cards?”
“Could it be he doesn’t know your position?” Yun Yao asked.
“How is that possible?” Chen Junnan reached up to stroke his chin. “I contacted Earth-Snake through the phone of the person on my left. He definitely knows my position.”
“Then isn’t that too strange?” Yun Yao said somewhat puzzled. “He knows your position, yet he still transmitted this message…”
Chen Junnan also felt this matter was a bit strange. That old lecher Earth-Snake seemed to have become desperate. In his view, although this message could only be transmitted from “3” to “-1,” he could bewitch as many people as possible—every one counted.
Of course, there was a second possibility…
That the person transmitting this message wasn’t Earth-Snake at all.
Thinking of it this way, things became even more terrifying.
That is to say, among the seats between “-1” and “3,” one person had lied.
This lying person had already perceived everything. Not only had they figured out that Earth-Snake had already joined the competition, they had also designed a scheme.
They wanted to mislead everyone that Earth-Snake’s coordinates were “3.”
“But…” Chen Junnan turned his head to look at the wall on his right. “With just these few people… yet someone lied?”
Although he couldn’t see them, counting from his right in order, they were Yun Yao, the nervous girl, and the muffled-voice man.
One of these three people had lied.
Chen Junnan didn’t hang up the phone, but he began to suspect Yun Yao.
Something seemed a bit off.
Yun Yao’s behavior was really a bit strange.
Thinking carefully, could she have been lying from the very beginning?
The first question he received was about Einstein, but the first question Yun Yao received was “Are you female?”
Could she have been lying from the very start?
A thought suddenly flashed through Chen Junnan’s mind.
Before coming to Earth-Snake’s game, Yun Yao had clearly said, “You should also know what kind of person Earth-Snake is. You’re a big man—how would Earth-Snake open his heart to you?”
Didn’t this mean that Yun Yao understood Earth-Snake?
She had participated in Earth-Snake’s game before, or she had collected information about Earth-Snake’s game from other teammates at “Heaven’s Mouth.”
There was an extremely high probability she had lied.
What was her purpose?
“Yun Yao…” Chen Junnan’s voice became somewhat cold. This time he no longer called her “big star,” but instead called her full name.
“What?” Yun Yao asked.
“Are you… lying to me?”
“What…?” Yun Yao hesitated for a moment.
“I don’t beat around the bush when I speak. Let’s make things clear today.” Chen Junnan sat down in the chair holding the phone, leaned back, and crossed his legs. “Ever since I started participating in this game, I’ve been thinking about how to protect you… yet you’re lying to me?”
“I…” Yun Yao’s voice gradually changed. “You discovered it?”
After hearing this, Chen Junnan nodded: “Why exactly? Are you trying to kill me?”
“I…” Yun Yao smiled with relief and said, “I don’t want to kill you, but just as I said, I can’t trust you, so I’m prepared to challenge Earth-Snake myself.”
“Huh?” Chen Junnan was startled. “No, I don’t really understand. You, you deceived me because…”
“I think you’re a bit foolish…” Yun Yao said. “But you seem to have a very good relationship with Qi Xia. If possible… the two of you should destroy this place together. Qi Xia, he… is truly very important.”
“What the hell?” Chen Junnan felt he couldn’t quite understand. “Big star, what are you saying? You don’t want to escape?”
“Me?” Yun Yao said with a bitter smile. “Chen Junnan, I don’t know since when… the goal of my existence is no longer ‘getting out,’ but ‘betting all the Zodiacs to death.'”
Hearing that Chen Junnan wasn’t speaking, Yun Yao continued: “Your words awakened me. As one of the leaders of ‘Heaven’s Mouth,’ I’ve never proposed life-betting to an Earth-level ‘Zodiac,’ and the other members in the organization would even less so.”
“No, this young master understands now.” Chen Junnan said with some relief. “Big star, you want to play the hero, huh?”
“Me? Play the hero?”
“If I’m not mistaken… you’ve had enough of living, right?” Chen Junnan gave a dry laugh. “You want to leave in a way that seems dignified.”
After hearing this, Yun Yao was slightly stunned, then laughed: “You don’t seem foolish after all.”
“What exactly happened? Aren’t you doing swimmingly with Little Chu?” Chen Junnan’s expression changed from a smiling face to cold gloom. “Is that kid treating you badly? You look like you’ve completely lost hope now.”
After hearing this, Yun Yao’s entire body trembled slightly. Her eyes stung a bit, but in the end she still held back her tears.
That day when she returned to “Heaven’s Mouth,” she only saw corpses everywhere.
“Cat” had already slaughtered everyone at “Heaven’s Mouth.” The people who had obtained “Echo” decreased once again, and “Heaven’s Mouth” had already become nothing but a name.
The dream she had pursued for two years, that goal that kept her alive—”betting all the Zodiacs to death”—had also become increasingly distant.
“Chen Junnan, I really do want to die here.” Yun Yao said with tears. “I’m very selfish. This time, either Earth-Snake dies or I die. I absolutely will not allow any other outcome.”
“So this is the real reason you came with me to Earth-Snake’s game…” Chen Junnan finally understood everything.
From the very beginning, Yun Yao had already decided—she wanted to die here.
“That’s right.” Yun Yao nodded. “Chen Junnan, thank you for giving me the courage to take a step forward.”
“No, even me dying won’t work?” Chen Junnan asked, puzzled. “Me helping you bet Earth-Snake to death won’t work either?”
“You…” Yun Yao hesitated. “Chen Junnan, wasn’t I clear? I don’t want to keep living anymore.”
“How about this—let me have a proper talk with you.” Chen Junnan coughed dryly and cleared his throat. “Although I don’t know what that kid Chu Tianqiu did, from now on just follow me and Old Qiao. The two of us… oh, and Old Qi. The three of us won’t mistreat you.”
“What…?”
“I really don’t know what happened to you all these years—even your orientation changed—but a long time ago, you were quite liked by us…” Chen Junnan laughed. “There’s no need to keep following people you shouldn’t follow. I heard you even took in a little girlfriend this time, right? If you die, what happens to her?”
Tiantian’s lonely figure suddenly appeared in Yun Yao’s mind.
“Big star, you and Tiantian are the girls that make my heart ache the most in this entire ‘Land of Endings.’ Bring her along too.”