“You know about my past…?” Yun Yao asked with furrowed brows. “You also know Tiantian’s story?”

“Not just that…” Chen Junnan said with a smile. “For us, both ‘Strong Fortune’ and ‘Clever Objects’ are indispensable.”

“Clever Objects…?” Yun Yao lowered her head and pondered for a moment before saying, “I understand. Let’s join forces this time. Perhaps you can help me rediscover my motivation to live.”

“Ha!” Chen Junnan laughed. “Now that’s more like it.”

“But…” Yun Yao’s tone shifted. “Although I’ve lied to you several times before, this time I haven’t.”

“Ah?!” Chen Junnan’s heart, which had just settled down, immediately leaped up again.

“The question I just received really is this one,” Yun Yao said. “Earth-Sheep truly seems to be on our right.”

“If that’s the case…” Chen Junnan said, “it can only mean that old thief Earth-Sheep is much dumber than I imagined. He’s truly desperate and cornered now.”

“Then what should we do next?”

“This time we can only choose ‘No’ for the question, otherwise the iron ball won’t return and you’ll be in danger,” Chen Junnan said. “Leave it to me.”

The two hung up the phone. Chen Junnan calculated the iron ball’s position and directly pressed “No.”

The iron ball’s current coordinates were “2.” It had to return to “3,” otherwise the danger level would be too high in the next round, especially since Yun Yao was at “0.”

After thinking for a moment, Chen Junnan dialed Xu Qian’s number.

“Sister Qian…” Chen Junnan pondered. “Did you pass the question down just now?”

“Isn’t that obvious?” Xu Qian retorted irritably. “I personally witnessed Earth-Sheep participating in the game just now! How could I not pass it down?”

“True enough.” Chen Junnan felt like he might be overthinking things again, but after what happened with Yun Yao, everyone seemed like they were lying to him.

He really wished Qi Xia were here right now—after all, he could see through everyone’s lies at a glance.

“Sister Qian, help me pass this question down…” Chen Junnan said after thinking for a while. “‘Choose No, let Earth-Sheep die.'”

“Isn’t… isn’t that too direct?” Xu Qian said.

“What’s wrong with being direct?” Chen Junnan countered. “Right now the urgent priority is to let everyone know that Earth-Sheep is participating, and then kill him.”

The other end of the line fell silent for a long time before Xu Qian finally spoke: “I think your thinking might be a bit extreme.”

“What?”

“Have you considered this possibility… that not everyone present wants Earth-Sheep to die?”

These words were like a fine needle piercing a balloon, causing Chen Junnan’s thoughts to suddenly explode.

That’s right!

He had made a big mistake!

This was a gamble between him and Earth-Sheep. It was like a game of “betting big or small.” The outcome of his life-and-death wager with Earth-Sheep was like the dice in a cup—numerous participants had their own ideas about “big” and “small,” and they would bet on whichever side they believed had the better odds of winning.

Not everyone would bet on Chen Junnan winning.

If they all attacked Earth-Sheep together but failed to kill him, the time ahead would be difficult.

“So that’s how it is…” Chen Junnan laughed. “Then I understand now. At first I thought everyone present were hot-blooded heroes, but now it seems there are quite a few cowards after all.”

“What?”

“Sister Qian, can you do me a favor?” Chen Junnan asked.

“What favor?”

“Don’t answer your phone for a bit. I need to chat with the person on your left.”

“Ah?” This wasn’t the first time Xu Qian had been startled by Chen Junnan’s ideas. “Will this work? I… I’m not dead yet, so if I don’t answer the phone…”

“I’ve already finished asking my question, so you won’t be breaking the rules. You just don’t want to answer the phone, that’s all. Don’t worry,” Chen Junnan said with a smile.

Xu Qian could only follow Chen Junnan’s instructions. After all, she had already become an “accomplice” in betting Earth-Sheep’s life. For her now, not killing Earth-Sheep would only make things more dangerous.

Fortunately, she wasn’t a participant in the life-and-death wager, so even if she died, she should be able to reincarnate.

Before long, Xu Qian’s phone rang. She chose not to answer it, letting it ring a full ten times.

Sure enough, on the eleventh ring, the ringing stopped abruptly.

It seemed this phone operated mechanically—regardless of whether the person in the room was dead or alive, after ten unanswered rings it would automatically transfer to the next person.

Chen Junnan waited patiently for a while, and the phone was finally answered.

“H-hello?” The voice on the other end belonged to a man who sounded extremely nervous, matching Xu Qian’s description.

“Hey there, big brother,” Chen Junnan greeted with a smile.

“Ah?!” The man jumped in fright. “Y-you… who are you? Where’s that young lady who was before me?”

“If you don’t mind, big brother, I can be that young lady.”

The nervous man fell silent for a long time before asking in a trembling voice, “Did she… die?”

“How could that be?” Chen Junnan realized this big brother still hadn’t figured out the rules. “Maybe she didn’t die, she just wasn’t feeling well and didn’t want to answer the phone, so my call came straight through to you. I’m not disturbing you, am I?”

“What exactly do you want?”

“I want to chat with you…” Chen Junnan smiled. “Big brother, what question did that young lady pass to you just now?”

The man was about to speak when he suddenly realized something wasn’t quite right.

“Why are you asking this?” He countered. “Logically speaking, you should know what question she asked, right?”

“Hey, you’re pretty smart, aren’t you?” Chen Junnan laughed. “To be honest, I’ve already killed the young lady before you. I’m betting my life against Earth-Sheep right now, so I’m paranoid as hell—I can’t let any suspicious person go.”

“Ah?!” The man jumped in shock. “K-killed her?!”

He looked around the enclosed space he was in, suddenly feeling it wasn’t safe at all.

“You don’t believe me?” Chen Junnan smiled. “Do you know why you’re on the phone with me right now? Think back to the rules.”

The man thought about it for a moment. The rules did seem to say that the call would only transfer to the next person after the person in the room died and the phone went unanswered.

“Did you… did you really kill that young lady? You…” The man said regretfully, “That young lady was very nice. She would explain the current situation to me every time…”

“Then consider it me killing the wrong person,” Chen Junnan said. “If I can kill the wrong person once, I can kill the wrong person a second time. Big brother, do you want to die?”

“I… of course I don’t want to.”

“But right now is the critical moment of my life-and-death wager with Earth-Sheep,” Chen Junnan said. “Everyone only has two outcomes—either be used by me, or be killed by me. After all, my ‘Echo’ is fucking ‘Phasing Through Walls.'”

“Ah?!” The man jumped up from his chair in fright. “Y-you… you can ‘Phase Through Walls’?!”

“That’s right.” Chen Junnan said without batting an eye. “Just wait, I’m going to phase through right now and kill you.”

“N-no need for that…” The man laughed dryly. “I feel like you’re even more terrifying than Earth-Sheep. I’ll definitely be on your side.”

“Good, then I can show you some mercy,” Chen Junnan said, leaning close to the phone. “You’re my little brother now.”

“Ah?”

“When my call comes through again, don’t answer the phone.”

“This… not answer the phone?”

“Or would you rather die?”

“Ah, no, no, no…”

Chen Junnan knew this man was very timid and probably couldn’t influence the overall situation, so he could basically be disregarded. He decisively initiated the third round of phone calls.