“Who?”
This time, the person who answered the phone was a man with a sharp voice.
“Ah, hello, hello…” Chen Junnan said enthusiastically. “So, uh… we’ve got this ‘life-or-death gamble’ we’d like to recommend to you. Any interest?”
“No interest,” the man replied coldly. “Who are you?”
Chen Junnan had already gotten a rough sense of the man’s personality. Unlike the nervous guy from earlier, this one wouldn’t be intimidated by threats.
“I…” Chen Junnan paused for a second before answering, “I’m the one who gambled with Earth Snake.”
“What?” The sharp-voiced man was taken aback, then fell silent for over ten seconds before asking, “So that long pause earlier… was your doing?”
“Correct,” Chen Junnan confirmed. “I’m calling to clarify your stance.”
“I see.” The man understood everything in an instant. “So you can actively choose not to answer the phone… You want to know if I’ll side with you or Earth Snake?”
“Yes,” Chen Junnan nodded. “I want Earth Snake gone from the ‘Land of Finality’ for good. But I can’t do it alone—I need allies.”
“I can’t say for sure,” the man replied honestly. “I don’t want to get involved in your fight. I just want to collect the ‘Dao’ and leave once the game ends.”
Chen Junnan nodded. “In that case… you’d want to maximize your gains, right? If we win, we only get forty-eight ‘Dao.’ But Earth Snake must have way more. If he dies…”
“I’m just a regular participant,” the sharp-voiced man cut him off. “I don’t want to get caught up in power struggles between big shots like you. Offending anyone would be bad for me.”
“So in other words… you’re neutral?”
“Not entirely,” the man replied. “I’m leaning toward Earth Snake. After all, a ‘Zodiac’ is far stronger than any participant.”
“Got it…” Chen Junnan frowned. “If I asked you not to answer the phone later… would you agree?”
“No,” the man answered firmly. “Do whatever you want, but I’ll follow the game’s rules strictly. If the phone rings, I’ll answer.”
“Understood.” Chen Junnan sighed. “Then I’ll hang up.”
After ending the call, Chen Junnan refined the current layout on his wall once more.
To Xu Qian’s left was the “nervous man,” and further left was the “sharp-voiced man.”
Since the sharp-voiced man refused to ignore calls, Chen Junnan’s scouting efforts had hit a dead end here.
But at least the overall participant arrangement was becoming clearer.
Though the person to the sharp-voiced man’s left was unknown, it had to be a man—because further left was the “woman in white.”
Chen Junnan drew question marks on both sides of the “woman in white.”
Among all the participants, only the people on either side of the woman in white remained unidentified—though it was confirmed they were both men.
That meant Zhong Zhen was next to her—either left or right—and they must have spoken over the phone.
For now, Chen Junnan had no better options. He could only call Xu Qian and have her start relaying the question, then wait for this round of calls to conclude.
A few minutes later, the screen in front of Chen Junnan finally lit up. This time, it had taken longer than ever before.
“This is bad…” Chen Junnan narrowed his eyes. Things were slipping out of his control.
“The final answer to this round’s question is—’Yes.'”
A loud clanking sound echoed overhead as the giant ball now hovered over Coordinate “1.”
“What the hell…?” Chen Junnan felt like he couldn’t grasp the flow of the game anymore.
The answer this time was still “Yes”?
He was certain his question had been passed to at least three people on the left, and their answers were most likely “No.” Including Yun Yao and himself, that made five “No” votes.
With eleven people in total, did that mean the remaining six all answered “Yes”?
“This is insane… What’s going on?” Chen Junnan turned to his right. The iron ball now loomed over the woman to Yun Yao’s right. Would she die?
“Don’t do this…” Chen Junnan stood up, scanning the room in frustration. “We don’t have many chances… We have to kill Earth Snake…”
But his voice couldn’t carry beyond the cramped, empty room.
He realized now that among the remaining players, there was someone formidable—and they had already made their move.
This round’s question had been given to Player “2”—the “silent man.”
Chen Junnan knew he was “-1,” very close to the other player. And since Yun Yao wouldn’t lie to him now, he had a good chance of learning the real question.
Soon, the phone rang.
Chen Junnan picked up the receiver with a grim expression.
“What happened?”
“I’m not sure either…” Yun Yao’s voice sounded oddly calm. “The girl to my right probably won’t survive.”
“You… why are you so calm?”
“Chen Junnan… I just remembered something,” Yun Yao said. “I think I can’t die.”
“What kind of nonsense is that? Do you know how close the ball is to you now?”
“Yeah, it’s close. But precisely because it’s close, I’m completely safe.”
“What…?”
Yun Yao took a deep breath. “Chen Junnan, I’m an ‘even number.’ Right now, only ‘odd numbers’ can die…”
Chen Junnan was momentarily stunned by her logic, then turned blankly to the layout he’d drawn on the wall.
“‘Even’ and ‘odd’ numbers?”
He placed his finger on “1,” calculating silently before his eyes widened in realization.
If the ball followed a pattern of “one, two, drop; one, two, drop,” then the ball at “1” would never reach Yun Yao’s “0.”
“What?!”
Chen Junnan’s mind reeled. The game’s iron ball could only kill “odd-numbered” players?!
At most, six people could die?!
But within seconds, he realized something was off and looked to his left.
Wait… that doesn’t add up.
Yun Yao’s coordinate was “0,” his was “-1,” but “-2” had already died!
Early in the game, an “even-numbered” player had died. He quickly recounted the previous rounds’ answers—everything had gone exactly as he’d predicted, and the ball’s position matched his expectations.
“When exactly did the death targets switch from ‘even’ to ‘odd’ numbers?”
Hearing his question, Yun Yao exhaled slowly.
“It was when we chose ‘No’ the second time the ball was about to drop.”
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