Taking advantage of the last bit of time, Baiyang briefed us on the relevant matters.

He took out a ‘Liar’ card and placed it before him, then drew a simple map with a pen before speaking. “Zhang Qiang, I’ve hidden a Man-Sheep mask on the second level of the wardrobe in this room. After you find it, put it on directly, then rest on the spot. Someone will come at night to escort you to the ‘Train’ to sign a contract. When the next cycle begins, you’ll be the ‘interviewer.'”

“Just like that…?” Zhang Qiang took the card in disbelief.

“That’s right,” Baiyang said. “Your path will be smoother than anyone else’s, but you’ll also see the endpoint prematurely.”

“But this isn’t right…” Zhang Qiang blinked. “Although I really hope to settle down peacefully, becoming a ‘Zodiac’ is actually this easy? Don’t I need to go through training?”

“No need,” Baiyang answered. “You’ll play my role in the new room. Just directly announce the rules of ‘Liar.’ Whatever I said, you say the same.”

“Ah…?” Zhang Qiang said with an astonished expression. “You’re saying… I’ll be hosting exactly the same game as you? And for three games, I only need to remember the rules of ‘Liar’?”

“Right. You only need to remember the rules of ‘Liar,’ and I can guarantee you’ll never violate the rules,” Baiyang slowly stepped forward and came to Zhang Qiang’s side. “But besides that, there’s one very important condition. If you lose, when you commit suicide, you cannot aim at your temple. Instead, you must aim the gun at your heart.”

“Why…?” Zhang Qiang was stunned. “If my body has obtained permanent ‘Brute Strength’… then if I shoot myself in the heart with a handgun, I might not die immediately, right…?”

“You’ll die eventually,” Baiyang said. “Either way you’ll die, and either way you’ll come back to life after dying. But only by aiming at your heart will you not violate the rules.”

“But we’ve already cooperated. If you don’t tell me the truth… I’ll feel very uneasy,” Zhang Qiang said. “Why exactly can’t I aim at my temple?”

“It’s better you don’t know,” Baiyang said. “For example, if I told you ‘because there are words inside the mask so you can’t destroy it,’ then you might want to see what words are inside your mask when you’re mentally unstable, thus causing a violation. So I can’t tell you the reason.”

“This…” After hearing this, Zhang Qiang nodded slightly. “So you’re saying it’s not because there are words inside my mask? Then what is it because of…?”

“Alright, then what’s the second thing…?”

Baiyang came to Zhang Qiang’s side and extended one hand, slowly placing it on his shoulder.

“The second thing to note is, if you discover someone who looks very much like me, place your hand on his shoulder,” Baiyang said. “If the other party gives you a response, reveal everything I’m telling you now. If the other party doesn’t respond, just pretend nothing happened.”

“Very… very much like you…?” Zhang Qiang seemed to have never imagined that after agreeing to Baiyang’s request, the situation would still be so difficult to understand.

“That’s right,” Baiyang said. “I still can’t explain the specific circumstances.”

Zhang Qiang lowered his head in thought for a long while, then asked, “You said before… this is a room that can never ‘advance.'”

“Mm.”

“What’s the reason…?” Zhang Qiang raised his head to look at Baiyang. “Can you tell me?”

“This I can tell you,” Baiyang nodded. “I will be organizing a special room. Everyone in the room will be chess pieces and will be strictly selected, so you’ll never be able to advance.”

After hearing this, Zhang Qiang took a deep breath, and many more questions emerged in his mind.

At this time, Baiyang looked at the clock on the table. Seeing it was almost one o’clock, he said, “The ‘Liar’ game is about to end. I’m about to die. Let’s leave some time for Yan Zhichun.”

After finishing, he looked at me. “Do you have anything you need to ask?”

“I…” I was stunned for a moment, then pondered for a few seconds before saying, “Will I be in that room?”

“What?”

“I mean…” I organized my wording. “Among those few teammates you carefully selected… will I be one of them?”

“No,” Baiyang denied decisively. “I said before, before coming to this room I knew nothing about it. I could only gamble on it, so I have no way to include the people in this room.”

“Then how… do I contact you?” I asked again.

“I can only say now is not the time,” Baiyang sighed. “But don’t worry. One day I’ll find a way for you to find me.”

“But… but what should I do before that?”

I was somewhat puzzled. My goal was to become stronger, but if I had no way to contact Baiyang all along, how could I become stronger?

“I’ll give you a difficult problem to solve,” Baiyang said. “When you see me, tell me your answer.”

“Difficult problem…?”

“That’s right.” Baiyang pondered for a moment and said, “First, I need a method to fill the people here with despair and greatly increase the probability of ‘Echo.’ The more capable someone is, the more despair I need them to feel. Second, I need to prevent everyone from collecting 3,600 ‘Dao.’ If someone wants to achieve this goal, you must stop them at all costs. Third, I need powerful, trustworthy ‘Echo’ users who can be used by me.”

“This isn’t just ‘one difficult problem’…” My eyes flickered slightly. “Aren’t these three difficult problems?”

“That depends on how you solve them,” Baiyang said. “But you don’t need to worry too much. When we meet outside, even if you haven’t solved any problems, what we agreed upon remains unchanged. I’ll try my best to share intelligence with you.”

I understood. ‘Try my best’ in this sentence meant ‘If you can’t complete this difficult problem, I can guarantee your safety, but that’s all.’

Fortunately, although Baiyang was cold, the words he spoke were polished as much as possible to sound comfortable. Smart people and foolish people would hear different meanings from one sentence and thus make different choices.

According to what he said, if I could complete this difficult problem and complete it beautifully, I would obtain more than just ‘intelligence.’

“I understand,” I nodded. “I’ll work hard.”

Baiyang then gave us a few more instructions before ending this conversation.

The sheep carried the Shar-Pei’s corpse and shrank into a corner to wait for the harpoons, while Baiyang stood quietly outside waiting to be pierced through.

I never anticipated that the next time we would meet after this parting would be five years later—which was seven years ago from now.